Patchwork Universe

Rose Briar · Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 11:27 pm Post subject: Rose, Ice and Shadow

From the mist to the east a shape appeared: a mounted figure on a horse. As the mist faded away the silver unicorn tossed its mane and the girl on its back shook out her waist-length crimson hair in a single motion.

"Look Karkadann," Rose Briar whispered into the unicorn's ear. "A brave new world awaits us."
Turning to look behind her she called:
"Jack! Lilac! Come and see what lies ahead!"

Lord Doomshadow · Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2004 12:01 pm Post subject:

A distant voice could be heard through the mist, raised in exasperation.

"Nonsense, Ivor! Your body may contain organs from more than one species, but certainly not from more than one gender!"

A bulky form clad in black leather strode into view, leading its furry, hunchbacked companion by the hand. Unnoticed, a crumpled rose fell from the first figure's metal helm and was trampled underfoot.

Doomshadow looked out across the world. Fields, countryside, rustic hedges... not too promising. But you never knew. It could be dragon country, after all.

"Jack!", he shouted, turning back towards the mist. "Jack Frost! Do you not wish to be the first to meet the natives?"

Jack Frost · Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2004 2:40 pm Post subject:

"Coming, Lilac!" was the cry. The blue-skinned prince waltzed gracefully through the mist, a few dregs clinging to his clothes as he capered. Then he paused.
"Green! The floor's all green! Good heavens, what's wrong with this place?No snow, no rain, no wind to speak of." Jack eyed a patch of daffodils. "Well, at least there are some more of those roses. At least Rose Briar can feel at home."

Rose Briar · Posted: Sat May 01, 2004 9:57 am Post subject:

"They are flowers of another family," the rose maiden said, considering the daffodils. "But attractive enough in their own way."

Sliding down from the unicorn's back, so that she could walk along with her two friends, she pointed out the shapes of buildings in the distance.
"The lands appear to contain some small hamlet or town, yonder," she said. "It reminds me a little of my friend Jones' inn. everything here is so neat and well-kept."

Miss Mercury · Posted: Sun May 02, 2004 2:47 pm Post subject:

For those who wish to read it, a small and slightly mildewed sign just outside the nearby village reads:

_________________

Welcome to
LITTLE BOTTOMLEY
"Excellent"
_________________

Lord Doomshadow · Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 1:11 am Post subject:

Lord Doomshadow considered the universe. There was definitely something wrong with it. Sleeping Beauty, it appeared, had never been asleep for longer than a night in her entire life. Not only that, but she was quite unsurprised by the presence of an alien world next door to her briar patch, and believed herself to be in communication with the gods. In Doomshadow's experience, this last point was an especially bad sign.

On the other hand, many things seemed to be much as he had expected. Of the stories he had visited, one was obviously a version of Briar Rose's tale, even if it was strangely distorted, and the other appeared to be some kind of literary fantasy. "Jack Frost", he thought, was probably the Snow Queen's pet gigolo.

So the invocation must have worked almost as it was meant to... but not quite. He must be trapped in some universe of alternate fictions, abandoned versions, unfinished stories... Tales that had not yet been unleashed, to corrupt the minds of innocent youth with their obscene notions of "purity" and "happy endings" and "poetic justice". This was still a place where he could do good work.

Where, then, could they be now? A charming piece of countryside, a neat, well-ordered town, surrounded by mysterious mists... Perhaps this was a town with a rat problem? A town waiting for the arrival of a many coloured piper who lived beneath a mountain?

The conclusion was disturbing, but no-one had ever called the Doomshadows weak.

"My friends", he said. "I fear there may be... children here."

"But we must be strong. We must press on, no matter how horrifying the prospect that lies before us. We must go down to the village, even if that means confronting our deepest, darkest fears."

Miss Mercury · Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 8:43 am Post subject:

As if on cue, the sound of children's voices reached them, and soon they saw, coming out of the village, a gaggle of children of various ages, some running, some bicycling.

The boys wore black trousers, the girls wore black and blue tartan kilts, and all wore simple long-sleeved tops in a variety of colours.

Most carried flat leather satchels and many carried other bags, some small, some large, some soft, some hard and shiny, some clearly heavier than others.

A few of them spotted the visitors and looked with interest; a girl, looking up in excitement and hope, then looking away disappointed when she didn't recognise them; another boy looking at the large figure of Lord Doomshadow before moving away; a girl entranced by the flowing red hair of Rose Briar; a boy who stared quizzically at the group for a short time, then gave a shout of laughter, pulled out a recorder, and marched at the front of the group playing it. The group followed, and they turned South from the village along a road leading to a large grey stone building some distance away.

One girl had stopped, and stood looking at them, the others leaving her behind. Her face glowing and dreamy, she walked slowly towards them, with a gentle smile.

As she got closer to them, they could hear a soft crooning noise that she was making, apparently unconscious that she was producing it.

Closer still, and it was clear that it was not the beautiful spirit of the rose, nor the sinister presence of the dark lord, nor the icy blue of the cold sprite that held her attention.

Her face ecstatic, full of wonder, tears in her eyes, the girl slowly approached Karkadann, making a small obeisance, and held her arms out to the unicorn in a gesture of love and welcome.

Rose Briar · Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 1:35 pm Post subject:

The Unicorn is a noble beast and, unlike the Dragon or Griffin, is rarely roused to anger. Though often hunted he is fleet of foot and need have no fear of the clumsy efforts of man to capture him. Like all the noble beasts, those that have some language and magic of their own, he cannot be tamed.

But a creature possessed of so much beauty and grace must have a weakness and the unicorns's particular susceptability has been well-documented. Though man, with his horse, hound and hawk, shall not fetch him from the thicket; a maiden, so long as she is virgin and innocent, can summon him. The the unicorn will come and lay his head in her lap.

Karkadann was not tame, but he was loyal. To the rose maiden he had bowed his head, in her lap he had lain and her soft hands had twined the silver strands of his mane around her fingers.

But as the young girl approached, the unicorn recognised something in her and responded to the crooning call. Stepping forward in a graceful pavane, he fixed his eyes upon her and bowed his head; arching his neck so that the pearl horn pointed to the ground at her feet.

[ooc attribution note: the style here owes something to T H White and the final line is an altered quotation from the Witch in the Wood. See Copyright and Quotation thread in the Beta test forum for more about attributions.]

Jack Frost · Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 5:13 pm Post subject:

After the quiet of the garden, Jack was overwhelmed by the noise, and the clamour. But he recognised the beat of the tune, and the flow of the melody. This was something he could enjoy.
Skipping and dancing, springing gracefully from hedgerow to unfrozen hedgerow, singing with the simple joy of the dance, he followed the procession south towards the building.

Miss Mercury · Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 7:29 pm Post subject:

For some time, unicorn and girl looked at each other, talking without speaking aloud, save for the odd crooning song. Joy, sadness, enlightenment played over the girl's face, until finally she looked straight and clear at the beautiful beast, murmured "I understand", and kissed him once on the nose.

Turning to Rose Briar, she curtsied deep. "My lady, I thank you. I have found myself."

Placing a hand on the unicorn's neck, as if drawing strength, she turned away quickly, and began to walk away to catch up with her fellow students.

Rose Briar · Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 9:28 pm Post subject:

"The people of this place must be very like ourselves," the rose maiden said, as the girl left. "See how that girl recognised Karkadann." She stroked the unicorn lovingly and then glanced up.

Jack and the dancers were already some distance away and Rose Briar whirled round in a flurry of streaming hair.
"The dance goes on without us," she said. "Come, good Lilac, or we shall be left behind."
Following the notes of the recorder and the distant figure of Jack, she ran lightly after them, feet already skipping to the tune.

The unicorn turned its head to look at Doomshadow. The beautiful sorrowful eyes seemed to glint with almost human understanding, then the creature turned and cantered after its mistress.

Miss Mercury · Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 11:06 pm Post subject:

A large, mellow grey building, the Juniper Music Centre was beginning to fill up for the afternoon.

Staff and caterers set up tables, chairs, cups and saucers; groundsmen stood ready to direct cars and their occupants to appropriate locations.

Students arrived from their morning lessons to warm up for the afternoon's concert. Morning and lunchtime instrumental lessons were still in progress in many of the practice rooms. Snatches of music filtered through the old building. The unbearably-beautiful rich fulfillment of a Bach fugue, a few seconds of Beethoven passion like distant thunder, the beguiling trace of a Mozart flute concerto, a sudden brass scale coming unexpectedly through a wall, a dreamy moment of Debussy, the virtuosity of Liszt, haunting Gaubert, disconcerting Schoenberg, a soprano cadenza, the faint noise of timpani being tuned.

In the Great Hall, the orchestra's seats and music stands were already arranged, the piano, celeste and harp already in place, only the hard-working percussionists, so often becoming unpaid stage managers for their orchestras, were still setting up, tuning, planning.

JUNIPER SCHOOL FOR THE GIFTED
....................presents..........................
...................the unique........................
.....SYNAESTHETIC SYMPHONIA.......
..........with a programme of music.........
.............including works by...................
.........Schoenberg, Liszt, Scriabin..........
........Rimsky-Korsakov, Messiaen..........
....Free entry to all Open Day visitors....

One hour until the concert.

Lord Doomshadow · Posted: Tue May 04, 2004 12:50 am Post subject:

The road to hell, it seemed, was paved with mud and daffodils. Lord Doomshadow walked slowly down the lane, and watched the dead children dancing. Somewhere, he was sure he had seen them all before.

That too thin girl with the long red hair... hadn't she been lying at the bottom of the Deepest Well, her head bent backwards and half detached?. The boy dressed all in blue who danced like a broken kneed scarecrow - he had seen that one's body cast up on the shores of a subterraenean sea, his eyes eaten away by fish that had never seen the sun. Or, if not him, one that looked exactly like him.

They were not real, he thought. They had never been real. They were just spear carriers, imaginary actors playing unimportant roles in a drama whose significance they would never understand. But it did not seem to matter.

He kept on walking down the lane. In the end, there was nothing else to do.

Miss Mercury · Posted: Wed May 05, 2004 1:34 pm Post subject:

Miss Mercury was already at the Juniper Music Centre before the visitors approached the building.

Parents were arriving, parking their cars, some stood in small groups chatting, while others went straight inside, to look around, or to take refreshments. Miss Mercury greeted, directed and mingled, standing just outside the entrance door.

Groups of children were still arriving, and one large group, led apparently by a boy playing the recorder, was just entering the yard in front of the building.

Miss Mercury was too busy talking to parents to notice the strange additions to this particular group of students, but would no doubt spot them before they got much closer.

Lord Doomshadow · Posted: Sun May 09, 2004 9:51 pm Post subject:

The blow to his ear was shockingly painful, and somehow familiar. Turning, Doomshadow noted that his father had grown a new head. It was excellent work, he thought - you could scarcely see the join where the old one had been cut off.

"What's the use of having the stick if you can't poke the bear?"

His father's speech was slow and strangely lacking in inflection. Doomshadow stared at him. He could have replied, but it seemed pointless. This place was hell, and he was surrounded by the dead. The weight of despair fell on his shoulders and pushed him to his knees.

"You think you're the goat with wheels", his father said, leaning closer and slapping him across the mask. Doomshadow looked up at him, waiting for the killing blow. He had disappointed the second Lord Doomshadow once too often, he knew. The line would end here.

Somehow, a giant billhook had appeared in the figure's hand.

"Throw open the robe and reveal the power inside!"

The voice was slowing down and dropping in pitch, as if he was hearing it through a speaking tube full of water. The weapon began to sweep down towards his neck. Doomshadow closed all three of his eyes, and waited for the strike.

And waited.

Eventually, he opened his eyes. The figure was gone.

Climbing to his feet, he looked around him. The children looked different now. Some of them resembled bodies he had seen, but no more than that. These were different children. They had not died. Not yet.