fortiscor | TDM #1

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TDM #1

"Well, good morning, Sleepy Head,"

The voice was sweet and pleasant on the ears. You open your eyes to find a smiling face looking down at you. A face that looks human enough. Two eyes, a nose and a mouth, all in the right places. But something feels off about it... "We've been waiting for you to wake. It's about time!" The nurse, for now that she's moved away you realise that she is indeed dressed how you would imagine a nurse would be dressed, continues to talk and fuss about the room. In doing this, she explains:

❝You've been asleep for such a long time! Several years ago there was an Event that caused many people to fall into deep, deep sleeps. Some woke within days or weeks of their fall, but there were some, like yourself, who have been asleep for so much longer. It's hard to tell just how long you have slept, and I fear the world you remember is very different now, but we are here to help you through your transition from Dream World to the Waking World.❞

The nurse leaves and you are left alone. You will find that even though you have been in a coma for years, you are as physically fit as you remember. Any injuries you believed you had are gone now, as if they were never there. At the foot of the bed are clothes and any items you own. Take them. Go. The urge will take you. Once you leave, you will find you can not enter the hospital again, nor can you quite remember how you got out in the first place. All you can remember is the strangely haunting nurse and her words...

Welcome to Williamsburg!

The town before you is a hodgepodge of colour and style. No two houses are exactly the same. Some made of wood, or brick or even strange metals. Some are no more than holes in the ground. But all are warm and welcoming inside and not many are inhabited. In fact you'll find that the town itself isn't that populated at all. The busiest place is Main Street. Here you will find all the shops you need.

From food to beauty and fashion and furnishings for home and garden, there is a café selling the most delicious of sweets and a pub that never closes. The Main Street is the place to be, if there is something you are lacking. And it is only a hop, skip and a jump from the Hospital and around the corner from everywhere else.

● [The Nowhere Inn] is the local watering hole where you can come and share a drink with a friend. Or, if just passing through, spend the night. Here you will be greeted by Bert, the owner and bartender. A seven foot tall bear of a man with a magnificent beard and a loud, booming voice! And a desire to one day create a cocktail that will take the world by storm. It's just a shame that not all of his little experiments hit the mark... Newcomers to the town will be offered a drink on the house. Choose wisely, as some of these drinks can often come with side effects, both good and bad.
✦ Apricot Smash: A refreshing glass of fruit squash. Made from the concentrated juice of a sour and sweet type of apricot, this is a simple and thirst quenching kind of drink. If asked nicely, this can also be made into a slushie! Anyone who tries this deliciously fruity drink will find themselves enjoying a chance to dance and/or sing at any given opportunity. (Side effect: It can cause insomnia.)
✦ Lemongrass Twilight: Made from spicy and sour lemongrass syrup, this mildly alcoholic drink is served in a tall glass with round, purple coloured balls of ice. The drink is a swirling green, yellow and purple colour. Those who try this drink will find themselves feeling very mellow and warm and more inclined to feelings of affection. (Side effect: It can cause headaches.)
✦ Mint Blast: Pale blue-green with light swirls and served in a wine glass. The drink is heavy on the mint and light on the alcohol, with even a little sprig of it resting on the rim of the glass. Drinking this will leave you feeling a chilled and shivery. A nice cuddle should soothe those chills away. (Side effect: It causes sleepiness in the drinker.)
✦ Blue Smooch: This drink is a deep blue with white, creamy foam atop. The drink smells like chocolate and tastes wonderful. It leaves the drinker feeling happy and optimistic, almost childlike. (Side effect: It is rumoured to cause truthfulness in the drinker.)
✦ Burning Wine: Pale gold with yellow-orange swirls, this mulled wine is served in a clear glass mug and tastes like cinnamon and oranges, with a hint of chili. It has a nice, warming burn as it goes down. This drink will put a fire in your belly and keep you toasty and warm through the cold nights. It may also make drinkers a little more amorous than usual. (Side effect: It can sometimes cause tingling and numbness in the extremities.)
✦ Frosted Starlight: Sapphire with silver flecks and glittering sugar around the rim of the glass. This is an intoxicating alcoholic drink that is only served in the evening and at night. The drink itself smells like coconut yet there is no coconut within the drink. The taste is almost floral, with a slight hint of grape. Those who have tried this drink often find themselves with the brief ability to touch another and see their surface thoughts. (Side effect: It can cause blackouts.)

● [Sugar ‘n Spice Café] is a peculiar place. From the outside it looks like any other store front, but as you enter and the little bell tinkles, you will find the interior to be bright and open. Warm colours and bright lighting, and from somewhere soft music is always playing. A very modern sort of café selling a wide selection of handmade sweets and pastries as well as an espresso machine.
For the next month, if you come in for a hot drink you can have your choice of their specially made, homemade cheesecake free of charge. Subject to availability, of course.
✦ Roasted strawberries and cream cheesecake: Made with a chocolate biscuit base, sumptuous strawberries and homemade cream.
✦ Coconut cheesecake with lime and passionfruit sauce: This zesty citrus cheesecake has a buttery base, creamy coconut filling and fruity lime and passionfruit sauce.
✦ Triple choc upside-down cheesecake: The name may say upside-down, but this cake looks right side up to us! Juicy raspberries give it a fresh bite and for the chocoholics - oozing sauce.
✦ Gingernut cheesecake tart with sticky maple pears: A creamy cheesecake with high visual impact for that special dessert finale to your dinner party.

● For those looking to add a little something extra to their wardrobe, they'd be best heading to [Dreams Come True Boutique]. For the month of April the clothing store will be offering all new arrivals free vouchers for up to three new outfits of their choosing. Within reason, of course. But most all of the clothes here are decently priced with an odd array of fashions from the very old fashioned to near futuristic.

● [Linlae Botanical Gardens] resides not far from Main Street. Part of the gardens are covered, housed within a large green house, but most of the gardens are outside and easily accessed. There is much to see here, from the [Hedgemaze] with the secret gazebo at it's centre, [Hanging Gardens] and the weeping willows reaching into the waters of a large koi pond. If you're lucky you might see a large white carp, said to be 2,000 years old by the name of Etherus. Who knows how long he'd lived in that pond, but they say if you catch sight of him it's a sign of good luck. And if you manage to see him during a full moon, he may grant you a wish.
There are benches all over, places to sit and take in the peace. But don't expect much quiet, the twittering of birds is a near constant companion within these gardens.

● [A Home]. As you explore you will realise that you're going to need somewhere to stay the night. Of course you could always go to The Nowhere Inn and wait until morning, or you could just... open a door.
87% of the houses within the town of Williamsburg is vacant, and well maintained, for many years. These houses wait for someone to come and bring life into them. Inside your pocket you will find a key. If your key doesn't fit the lock, that house is occupied, so find another. When you finally open a door, you'll notice that the key has changed subtly. That key is now unique and can be used only for this house. It is yours.
Some houses come fully furnished, some might need some work. You might even be surprised to find that the house is one that looks vaguely familiar...

A Familiar View

It may have been immediate or it may take days for you to notice, but when you do...

The memories of your Dream World are coming back to you. It doesn't feel much like a dream at all. Those things that happened, those feelings you had, all seemed so real!

And then you find it.

It could be something as simple as a book, or as large as a building. You know this thing. This thing has been pulled directly from your memories, whether those memories are good or bad is entirely up to you. But there it is, as large as life, right in front of your eyes. What does this mean? Which world is real and which isn't? How did these things from that other world make it into this?
This is your chance to explore this new addition to Williamsburg. Maybe you will find the answers you seek? Or maybe you will be left with more questions. Just know that you aren't alone. It seems that almost everything in this world was pulled from another, brought here by 'others', and left here.

Maybe this new landmark, or item, leaves you with a warm feeling and questions are the last thing on your mind? Perhaps you would like to share with your friends, or even a perfect stranger, the joy that this thing brings you? Tell them your story. Share with them it's the history. Or maybe the feelings attached are feelings of anger, of horror and fear? Misery does love company, so don't go through with this trip down memory lane alone.

Down the Rabbit Hole

It starts with something small shifting around you. Maybe it’s a door or window, but as you walk down the street things take a turn for the bizarre. It’s far too late to escape by the time you notice the buildings themselves bleeding into the sky or folding back onto themselves.

You are stuck in The Corridor now.

And you appear to be alone. Or are you? As the buildings creak in protest you seem to hear footsteps. Is that a fellow waylaid traveler?

Before you can determine the direction of the sounds, one thing becomes clear to you: these homes and businesses, all that brick and mortar, seem to be closing in on you…

It is a gradual squeeze but you can tell that if you don’t get out of there you’ll eventually be crushed. As you explore this place where time and gravity seem to have lost all meaning and your senses may even betray you, you search for a way out or an end to this madness and that is when you finally realize that the buildings are taking shape according to your will. The more you panic, the more claustrophobic and chaotic things become. But if you remain calm and focus your attention you find you can tame the buildings back into their original shapes and places. Of course, it helps if you have a partner.

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"That... might take a while. My garden isn't much right now. But it will be! Not to say you can't come by for a visit though. I can still cook for you both," She'd actually enjoyed doing that a great deal. Sephiroth had a habit of wandering off, which was just fine. She wasn't his keeper. So the company was always welcome!

"I'll be working on my garden soon enough though," Aerith glanced up at the sky above and smiled. "When the weather starts to warm up will be the perfect time. Then you can come over as often as you like, Wufei."

"I certainly wouldn't mind coming by before then, but do let me know when you plan to start work on the garden. Preparing the land tends to be the most difficult part of the process," and he doesn't say it, but he thinks it's much too difficult work for a young lady. Normally he would just say it, so he's not entirely sure why he keeps his mouth shut.

"Do you plan to grow daisies?"

Even with his memory betraying him, he is still wise enough not to belittle Aerith. Which is good. She'd hate to have to slap him upside the head for being an idiot after such a lovely friendship with him.

"It shouldn't be too hard. Not nearly as tricky as growing things in the last world, anyway. The land here seems a little more... sturdy?" She actually tapped her foot against the pavement then and gave Wufei a bright smile. "You liked the daisies before, I remember that. If I can find them in this place I'll be sure to grow them again."

He laughs at the idea of land being more sturdy. "Yes, I do think we're on a planet of some sort. The dirt tends to be much more compact with real gravity holding it down. Gardening back home made me wish for the soft soil of the colonies, even though it's much more difficult to work in other ways."

He nods at the question of daisies. "I'll keep an eye out, as well," maybe there'd be a nursery somewhere around here, or even just a seed store.

Aerith knew what she meant. The last two worlds she'd been pulled to, the land had been... strange. The first had been a dying world and the second damaged by time and magic. This one seemed to have more life to it. Though she hadn't had time to explore that just yet. When she was able to start growing things again she would have a better idea.

She grinned, somehow feeling like Wufei was teasing her, until she remembered what he'd told her about having lived out in space.

"Mmhm, it's a planet, I can confirm that much at least," So it was real, as far as she was concerned. Unless it was a VERY fancy illusion... Aerith decided not to think along those lines and laughed. "Between us I'm certain we'll find some! And then maybe we can grow some in your garden, too?"

"Though, now that you mention it, the gravity does seem a little off. Not in the way a colony's is," he said thoughtfully, glancing down at the ground. "It reminds me of the moon, a little," but he wasn't going to think too hard about that or he was going to need a brown paper bag.

When she mentions his garden, he laughs. "Yes, absolutely. I think I'll focus more on vegetables, but there are plenty of flowers that help vegetables they're planted next to," and if he had a little plot of daisies just to have daisies, he was sure no one would complain.

Aerith raised a brow and looked down at the ground. Again, she tapped a foot against the pavement and even went and jumped up and down a few times. If there was any difference in the gravity she couldn't actually tell.

"I can't tell the difference! But since I've never been on a moon..." As far as she knew. Who knew? The planet they were on right now could have been a moon? Aerith blinked and looked at Wufei with a bright smile. "You're going to grow a vegetable garden? That would be so cute! I'll help you in any way I can."

He laughed warmly. "I've spent a lot of my life switching from varying types and amounts of gravity. The way a planet or moon moves is very different from artificial gravities." But he doesn't expect her to tell the difference -- most people who didn't spend their lives in the colonies wouldn't be able to tell.

Wufei nods in agreement. "I enjoy gardening, and I think it's something Duo will find interesting, taking something from a seed all the way to a meal," and he imagined having food right outside their door might give Duo a particular sense of security. "I'm a little surprised I didn't have one before."

She hadn't lived the same kind of life that Wufei had. He'd told her stories, both of them had. Their world seemed incredibly dangerous to her and her heart had broken knowing just how hard their lives had been. And it had made her so very happy to know that they were able to put all of that aside so that they could live the life they had deserved.

And now they were in a new world in which they could all continue to do that.

"Growing food in Nippon was tricky. Growing things, breeding animals... Even some flowers could be hard to grow. Time could be very strange. There was a magic there called 'Kizuna', and it made those things tricky at best," But so rewarding when they could manage it. Luckily her skills with plants had helped her but not many others were so lucky.

Wufei hums as he listens, nodding along. "Speaking of breeding animals, getting some chickens is probably a good idea. They're very beneficial to gardens and quite easy to maintain. I wonder if Duo would mind..." he got a feeling their chickens would probably get very interesting names.

And that he'd better only get egg layers and not try to convince Duo that raising chickens for meat was a good idea.

"I wonder if you can...?" Aerith cocked her head to the side, her tone curious. Admittedly she hadn't explored too far and not outside of the town yet, so she hadn't seen any livestock. But there must have been for their to be food in this world.

There had been no replicators in her house! Thankfully that didn't seem like it was going to be an option. She could actually go out and buy food and for that she was grateful.

She brightened, smiling widely at Wufei. "I expect fresh eggs in the morning if you do!"

Wufei shrugged. He hasn't explored much, either, but having livestock around seems like a very simple and necessary part of infrastructure to him. Then again, he doesn't remember being transported to strange worlds before, so maybe he's wrong about how things work in these places.

"Of course. Even if we only have two or three, Duo and I probably won't go through that many eggs," Wufei chuckles warmly, letting his gaze wander the other trinkets in the shop window. "Where were you headed when you happened upon me, anyway?"

"Only if you have spare, of course!" She wouldn't take more than they could offer, they were growing boys after all! And considering how skinny they both were... Aerith knew she fussed over them both, mothered at them whenever she had the chance to, but they'd never seemed to mind much. Something had told her that they had needed a mothers touch on occasion.

"Me? I was on my way home! I've been exploring a little every day since I arrived. Just to be safe," Just to make sure that this town, this world, wasn't one of those strange ones she'd been to before. Up until now she hadn't seen anything really that was out of place. Aside from her home. The one that looked very similar to her one back in Midgar. And then this. Meeting Wufei and Wufei finding an object from his own home in the window of a curio shop.

"Duo and I are both fairly community-minded, if we have extra of anything we will ensure it gets put to good use," he replied with a smile, rather than bothering to argue. He knew Duo wouldn't hesitate to share even if they didn't -- better for them all to be a little hungry than for one to starve, after all, though that didn't seem to be a likely problem for them to run into here. If nothing else this place seemed to have plenty readily available.

"I see, then allow me to escort you," he replies easily. "Just to be safe," and because she was a woman, alone, and no matter how capable she may have been just having a man with her would lessen the likelihood of harassment. "Have you found anything of interest?"

"You're both good boys," Aerith agreed warmly. And just as warmly she laughed and offered Wufei her arm to take.

Once upon a time she might have taken offence at Wufei for trying to treat her like some weak woman. But she knew better now. And even if his memories weren't there, they would come back, she was sure. So she'd suffer the indignity of him thinking that she was a helpless woman and accept his help... Though she would have done it memories or no, simply because she liked him. And enjoyed spending time with him. And she would get to show him where she lived so he could come and visit. It was a win/win situation, Aerith thought.

"Then lets go! ... And unfortunately not. The town seems boringly normal. Though I did see an apple farm not far from here, but it was all fenced off. And the apples looked like they were rotted..." And that had been unfortunate.

He slid his arm through hers with a smile and a chuckle, happy to follow her towards their homes. One day soon he would remember, and he would think himself silly for his reasonings, but he would've offered regardless.

When she mentions the apples, he lets out a quiet hum. "All rotted? There must be some kind of disease in the soil. I hope it won't affect our own attempts to garden." And hope it didn't start to affect the food chain, either. Food scarcity wasn't something he ever wanted to experience.

She patted his hand gently, all smiles as she walked alongside him. Aerith was more than happy to spend some more time with a friend.

"It was strange... I wanted to go in but there was a fence all around and..." Honestly, she hadn't wanted to go running around the perimeter looking for a gate. If there was a fence that high then surely that meant that someone wanted to keep people out? Or keep something in...

"There's a large gardens here and that area seems healthy enough. Sadly, like with most of these strange worlds, I think it's all just a matter of the world being strange. But keeping a close eye on anything we grow would be a good idea." And, in turn, the things they ate. Just in case the rot effected those things also.

"There must be a gate somewhere," Wufei reasoned, still not entirely familiar with how strange these worlds could be, since he was still remembering things. "Perhaps some other time we can investigate together, it's probably quite large, but I'm sure we can find a vehicle of some sort to make it quicker," or he could just job around the whole thing. He could go for miles without needing to stop and catch his breath, after all.

He hummed at the mention of the healthy gardening area and nods. "I'll see if I can find the chemicals necessary for a testing kit," he offers, because that's the sort of thing he worried about a lot when he first went to earth -- or rather, he'd been intentionally inoculated against that kind of thing. Earth had a different microbiome than any but the newest colonies, after all. "Though I've had no problem with the prepared foods thus far, so there must be good soil somewhere."

"There probably is. Somewhere," She agreed easily, smiling. Aerith just hadn't looked hard enough, it had only been in passing, after all. She did intend to return at some point and see just who lived there and whether she would be allowed to help the fruit hanging from the trees.

Aerith's smile widened and she gave a shake of her head. "No need for that, Wufei. I can test it myself. I'm magic, you know?" There was a teasing lilt to her voice and a light that danced within her eyes. Was she playing with him or telling the truth? It was hard to tell. And until Wufei remembered her, she probably would keep him in suspense.

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TDM #1

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