dance with the devil // open

[Sarafine Duchannes]

She somehow doubted that there were very many people in the world who could say they'd died twice.

Death wasn't the end of everything the way so many people seemed to think it was, though - certainly not for a Caster, at least - although perhaps she would have preferred it to be. Though her memories of her time in the Otherworld were all...jumbled...blurred, the unpleasantness associated with the time she'd spent there was still fresh in her mind. One thing she most certainly could remember was what that wretched, overly ambitious mortal - Angelus - had done to her.

Which was why she was startled to find herself staring up at a murky grey sky...or, more accurately, to be staring up at anything at all. Sight. She had her sight back. She jolted upright from her position on the ground at the realization, probably looking like some sort of feral animal as she stared around wildly - disheveled black hair, glowing yellow eyes and all. The next thing she noticed, after she registered the fact that her most important sense had returned, was the fact that the pain in her wrists and ankles - that which had come from being chained for such a long time - was gone. Holding one of her wrists up to eye level, she examined it curiously. If it was like her entire time spent in...well...a world apart from the living had all been a dream.

The only thing was, she was absolutely certain it hadn't been. And she was almost as certain that it shouldn't have been possible for her to be here now. Her...her soul should have been destroyed. She remembered that much as well, though she couldn't remember how, exactly - just that there'd been fire. Lots and lots of fire, just like the first time. Even if this place (whatever it was) was just an extension of the afterlife, it shouldn't have been possible for her to exist there at all if her soul had been lost. And yet all of this felt strangely...real.

Slowly, Sarafine picked herself up, lifting her chin, squaring her shoulders, and standing almost regally as she gazed around at her unfamiliar surroundings. It was difficult to see much in this dense fog - she could see maybe fifteen or twenty feet in front of her at the most, and it was almost enough to make her wary. But then, she reminded herself, at least she was seeing at all. She needed to gather information. To find out where she was, and whether this was part of the real world or the Otherworld - and to find out how she'd gotten there. Perhaps, in time, she'd be able to piece her memories together, but for now it looked like she was going to have to rely on whatever information the inhabitants of this town could give her. No doubt this place was filled to the brim with Mortals - but she'd need to play nice, at least until she had things figured out.

So she tried to look as subdued and nonthreatening as possible as she began to move quietly through the town. There were...various elements working against her as far as that was concerned, though. The tattered black dress, the equally black hair, the unnatural golden eyes - combined with the way the mist rolled through the down and crept up around her feet, it all made her look like some sort of specter (which, for all she still knew, she might have been). For once, however, it was not her intention to scare anyone off - and she hoped that whoever she happened to encounter would at least be willing to stop and speak to her. Not that...this town seemed very heavily populated. In fact, it was almost disconcertingly quiet at the moment. Empty.

Sarafine couldn't help but get the distinct feeling that something was very wrong.


OOC // so who wants to be stuck in silent hill with sarafeen :] :] :] best idea rite

[Peter Pan]

When Peter had gone to sleep, he had been in Neverland. At first, he had thought that he wouldn't be able to sleep. He had so many adventures ahead of him and all the time in the world to have them. Despite overwhelming excitement, he'd managed to get to sleep. Of course, he went to sleep after changing out of that stuffy suit he'd managed to steal during his brief return trip to Earth and back into his regular, more comfortable clothes. He definitely wasn't going to dress in something like that on Neverland, especially not when he was sleeping. So, he'd changed back into the clothes the Tree Spirits had fixed for him.

Obviously, he hadn't woken up where he'd gone to sleep. Finding a place to sleep in Neverland was harder than he'd thought it would be, but he eventually found out that some of the trees had hollow areas that lead into strange caverns. He'd gone to sleep in one of the caverns and expected to wake up in it. Instead, he'd woken up on a hard, stone ground. His first thought was that he had rolled onto a stone area of a cavern or been captured by Hook and taken aboard his ship. Instead, he found himself in some kind of town. It wasn't too much like any town he'd seen. The buildings looked sort of different and there was a weird fog covering pretty much everything, making it hard to see.

After a bit of flying around and exploring, Peter found out that he was in a town called Silent Hill. It certainly wasn't anywhere in Neverland, that much was obvious from the fact that it was... a sort of regular town. Peter could have sworn he'd seen some weird shadows and heard even weirder noises while flying around, but he figured he was probably just seeing and hearing things as a result of being somewhere totally new. He was, of course, overwhelmingly disappointed that he wasn't in Neverland. That had hit him hard the moment he realized he wasn't where he was supposed to be. Even worse was the fact that his friends weren't anywhere to be found. In fact, there was pretty much nothing to be found in Silent Hill. No people or... anything. Not even in the houses.

As he was flying, Peter spotted someone walking through the town. She was in a tattered black dress and there was just... something off about her. He could feel the strange extra senses he'd gotten from the Tree Spirits going off the moment he saw her. That probably wasn't a good sign, but she was the only only one around - his only hope of finding out where he was. Peter landed in front of her and looked her over. Now that he was closer, he could see that her eyes were a weird yellow color. Maybe this wasn't the best idea after all. After all, she was an adult. He knew that adults couldn't be trusted, but this was a special case. Deciding to skip any greeting, Peter simply said. "...Any idea where we are?"

[Sarafine Duchannes]

If she'd perhaps been...well...looking up, she might've noticed the boy flying overhead, even through the fog. But Sarafine was far too preoccupied with trying to make sense of her surroundings to be thinking of that. The air was cool and...strangely dry for a place with so much mist, and though her skin was probably actually a good deal colder, a slight shiver was sent down her spine. That was...very unusual indeed. This place held some strange sort of power, and the emptiness was probably the most bizarre part. Perhaps she'd be able to find some information, at least, if she headed inside one of these buildings? There was what looked like some sort of restaurant nearby, its windows dark. But when she turned towards it, it was only to draw back sharply a moment later. Something had just abruptly landed in front of her.

Or someone, rather.

Sarafine initially tensed when the boy landed, narrowing her eyes. Where had he come from? He literally seemed to have just fallen out of the sky. This place was getting stranger and stranger by the moment - and although she was getting the increasing feeling that she was indeed alive (this all seemed too...real to be part of the dreamlike Otherworld), it was becoming increasingly evident that this was not the world she knew. And from his question, it seemed that this boy had no more idea than she did. She surveyed him carefully, relaxing a little. He couldn't be more than maybe thirteen or fourteen. And perhaps not as human as he appeared to be? There weren't many Mortals she knew of who could fly, but then, who knew what was and wasn't possible in a place like this. Regardless, he could be useful. Even if he didn't know a thing about their current circumstances, it would be wise not to travel through this world alone until she had a...reasonably better idea of what was going on, at least. And a child like this, well - he wouldn't be too difficult to manipulate.

"I couldn't tell you, I'm afraid. I only just...woke up here a few moments ago." Sarafine wondered if this child had been here for much longer than that. She realized that the idea of a child wandering around in a place like this alone ought to evoke some amount of concern in her - but when she tried to reach for it, she felt little more than the usual hollowness. Instead, she slipped into a feigned demeanor of bewilderment and uneasy, glancing around as if she were frightened something might jump out of the fog at them at any given moment. ..Which, now that she was thinking about it, could indeed be possible. She had the odd feeling that something was watching them, but...after her time in the realm of the dead, perhaps she was just allowing her imagination to run away with her.

"Whatever this place is, I get the distinct feeling that something is very wrong here." Such a blatant statement might frighten him, and Sarafine didn't particularly want that - he wasn't going to be of much use to her if he spent the whole time cowering - the fact that he didn't seem too shaken up by their situation thus far suggested that he was most likely more resilient than she would have expected him to be. Besides, there was little point in pretending that their situation was not a bewildering one. "I was about to try heading inside one of these buildings - in case someone's still around, or they left some information behind. Would you like to come along? At the very least, we'd probably be able to find a phone..." Keeping her tone light and friendly, she flashed him a reassuring smile. Children...Sarafine was never really sure how she felt about children. She vaguely wondered if how easily she slipped into communicating with them was some manifestation of the maternal instincts she'd once had - but either way, they were typically ridiculously easy to manipulate. That was the important thing here.

[Peter Pan]

Well, she was obviously not going to be useful. Not only was she an adult, but she had no idea where they were. That pretty much meant double the uselessness, especially since she looked all afraid of everything. But, he couldn't just leave her here. He wasn't like the pirates in Neverland, who would just leave the place and let anyone left behind die. Even though Peter hated to admit it, he sort of had to help her out of there. "You just woke up here too?" Peter asked, cocking his head to the side slightly. Alright, that was sort of weird. Two people waking up in a weird, abandoned town? That was just a tad strange.

"Oh yeah?" Peter asked, sarcastically. "What, is it the weird mist or the fact that there's nobody else here?" He couldn't stand it when people just pointed out the opposite... especially if they were adults. In fact, he couldn't stand it when adults did pretty much anything anymore. He figured that if the one adult who he thought he could trust the most ended up being entirely untrustworthy, why should he trust any of them? Sure, it was childish, but he was... a child. Peter turned away from Sarafine to get a better look at his surroundings. He could barely make anything out through the mist, but what he could tell was that there was nobody else there with them, at least not close to them.

"... A what?" Peter asked, turning back to Sarafine. He'd never heard of a phone before. It was probably some weird invention from this time. After all, traveling around from Neverland tended to get confusing, when it came to time. It was sort of a price to pay from not ever growing old. It sounded like a phone would be helpful, though, and it was probably best to get inside... Especially since Peter was starting to get the feeling they were being watched. "...You're right, we'd better get inside."

[Sarafine Duchannes]

The way this boy spoke implied that he, evidently, had only recently woken up here as well. Well, that was...vaguely troublesome. Did this place exist in some other dimension - one that drifted between life and death? Of course, without knowing whether or not this boy had been dead previously as well, she could hardly say whether his situation was the same as her's. It wouldn't have mattered, except that she really would have liked to know exactly what was going on here. And why it was occurring. "Ah - so it's not just me going crazy. Well, that's reassuring!" She flashed him a distracted smile, still more intent on taking in her surroundings than anything. Perhaps a Cast could clear this bothersome mist away - but she didn't want to reveal herself if it wasn't necessary, not over something so trivial.

Her attention only shifted back to the boy upon hearing blatant sarcasm - she raised her eyebrows at him, mildly taken aback. Teenagers - they did love their snark, didn't they? This one, however, was several years younger than Lena and her friends, and rather misleadingly innocent in appearance - but he certainly wasn't afraid to tell her exactly what he thought. She betrayed her amusement with a quick smile. "It's like something straight out of some campy horror movie, isn't it?" Sarafine remarked with a light laugh. It wasn't until his next response that she realized that these modern references...seemed to sort of be going over his head. If the fact that he seemed puzzled by her mention of a telephone was anything to go by. She tilted her head a little to one side, bemused. This could mean any number of things. Perhaps, if this place transcended space and time, this boy was from a different time - or a different world entirely. Interesting.

She would wait to question him on it, however. For the present moment, she only offered a brief explanation. "It's a device that allows for communication with people who are very far away. A way of getting help." Not that she particularly wanted it - not from any Mortal who might come running to her rescue - but it was the most logical option to suggest, especially in the presence of a child. The rest of the conversation could wait until they got indoors. This place...well, Sarafine couldn't say she feared it, exactly, but with every passing moment she was becoming more and more aware that something was distinctly, horribly wrong. And it just didn't make sense to stay out in the open and wait for all hell to break loose! Merely trusting that he would follow, she turned and headed into the nearest building, which...was a cafe of some sort, by the look of it. Predictably, it was just as empty as it looked.

"Just what exactly could empty out a whole town like this?" she murmured, half to herself.

[Peter Pan]

Looked like Peter wasn't only stuck with some adult, but it was a crazy adult, too. She was just... rambling about things that didn't even exist. What was a "movie"? Maybe it was some word for book that Peter hadn't heard. There were plenty of books with horror stories in them. Hook had kept a rather large library, since he used to be some kind of scholar or something, and Peter had ended up reading a few of the books there, mostly out of boredom. He'd read some horror stories, but none of them really worked in actually scaring him.

"Yeah, I guess it is sort of like a book." Peter replied, assuming that she was talking about books. As Peter looked around the town, he started seeing weird shapes in the mist. They weren't there for long and he wasn't sure he really was seeing them and not just imagining things, but they were weird. Not like anything he'd ever seen. It was probably just his imagination, though. He had an awfully big imagination, so it wouldn't be too hard to believe. However, there was something a bit off about that mist. Peter didn't like looking into the mist for too long.

Wait, what was she going on about now? Peter turned his head in confusion as the woman spoke again. Now she was talking about... devices that people could use to talk to each other from a distance. That was just weird. As Peter followed her into the cafe, he asked about it. "Are you just making this up?" He asked. The cafe was just as empty as the town, but at least he didn't have to deal with the mist in there. Instead, he actually got something even worse. The powers that the tree spirits had given him allowed him to sense things from a mile off. He could sense that there was definitely something off in the cafe.

Peter couldn't help but wonder the same thing. He wasn't sure that anything could clear out a town like this, at least not without leaving something behind. Although he'd never admit it, he was definitely afraid of whatever it was that had cleared the place out. However, despite his fear, he was also a bit excited about exploring the place. In a place like this, where he had no idea what was going on or what lurked in the shadows... he was sure that there were adventures to be had.

[Sarafine Duchannes]

So he knew what books were - but not movies. Sarafine didn't bother correcting him right then, more focused on getting off the streets, but she couldn't help but find it interesting. She wondered if this boy would be adverse to telling her where - or when - he was from. He didn't seem to trust her, which wasn't entirely unsurprising. Intelligent children usually knew not to automatically trust any stranger they happened to run into (especially in a place like this), but it was more than that. He actually...seemed to actively distrust her. Not that she was a particularly trustworthy person, but she was a fairly skilled actress, and she was relatively confident that her behavior thus far hadn't been too suspicious despite the fact that she was...rather distracted at the moment. Perhaps there was some other reason for his sharp wariness?

Regardless, she did not speak again, not even to answer his question, until they were both inside. The accusation that she'd been 'making up' all she'd said about the telephone elicited a slight headtilt from her. "Now, what would be the point of me making it up? Just because you haven't seen something for yourself doesn't mean it doesn't exist, you know." Sarafine commented lightly before turning to survey the cafe. "If I may ask - what year was it, the last you remember? And where are you from?" Something about the boy did seem to suggest that he was from a world similar to hers - just an earlier time - and yet at the same time, he had a strange...otherworldly quality about him. And it extended beyond just the fact that she'd witnessed him flying a few moments earlier.

While she waited for an answer, she continued to scan the cafe for any sign of a telephone. There were none on the walls, none behind the counter... perhaps there would be one in the back? She craned her neck a little and caught sight of a door behind the counter. Perhaps it led to the kitchen area, or storage room, or basement? Whatever the case was, it was likely their best shot. Sarafine proceeded to move toward it without another word, although the steps she took were careful and almost cautious instead of casual or hurried. There was no guarantee that, even in here, they were safe. In fact...this place felt no less unnerving than the streets outside had.

How interesting.