The Trees Were Mistaken

May 16th, 2014 12:32 AM

David stared at an inverted world. The night sky was below him and the trees grew downwards. Camden Lake was his window to this world; no ripples to betray the illusion of glass. The right-side up world that he lived in bathed in the silence only the night brings. No cacophony of birds all seeking to stake their claim, the low thrum of cars have dissipated to a trickle, the world was already asleep.

Astride his bike, one foot flat upon the ground, the Mortician turned his gaze upward. The Pleiades twinkled just above his head, the seven sisters eternally joined together. The scent of new growth and green touched his nostrils just as surely as the scent of water.

It was a long bike-ride, down winding paths and ribbons of asphalt. To be truthful, David had never come this far south, but he was making time to Patrol the Regency. Reading his name on the proclamation was a bit of a surprise and David read and re-read it just to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. As it turns out, he wasn’t and so he rode through Florin becoming acquainted with its mass-produced homes and well-manicured lawns.

Even in the center of Sacramento’s unique version of suburbia, with its curling streets and big box stores, there were jewels.

For the man who missed the lakes of Minneapolis, Camden Lake was a welcomed sight.

Bigpaw

**Aileen McFarlane** · May 16th, 2014 04:57 PM

Even though she didn't really know what patrol meant, Aïleen had decided to abide by the Regent of Florin's will - the excellent Dr Redfill - and drive or walk at night every so often in the area he had earned.

Starting around the UC Davis Health Hospital she was somewhat familiar with, the Mekhet drove through little streets toward Tahoe Park, where she only found underage students drinking under a tree. From there, she headed toward Hiram Johnson High School, and found it empty at night. No light to be seen, even to her sensitive eye. Keeping down on 65th St, she reached St Mary's Cemetary. It was as quiet as she had expected it to be, and she kept down at a slow pace until she reached the Florin Towne Center, and Florin Rd. Again, there were some vagrants, but nothing seemed noteworthy to the young Shadow.

Turning left on Florin Rd, she headed west, until she reached the junction with Power Inn Rd, and followed it southward, all the way to the Countryside Community Park, where she parked. Another cursory walk through it revealed nothing special, and she was about to pause there and gaze at the stars when a police patrol stopped nearby. Unwilling to be engaged by the SPD, Aïleen went back to her car, and resumed her tour. Well, if anything, it was informative.

Power Inn rd all the way down. Left. Sheldon Rd. Right. Elk Grove Florin Rd. Right. Bond Rd. And there she paused again, as she noticed Camden Park. It looked exactly like what she was looking for. A place to see the stars, and feel good under God's gaze. She left her car, and started walking along the lake, hardly perturbed by the dimmed sounds of the street and looking at the stars above, feeling at peace and hopeful for a moment of break in the Danse.

May 16th, 2014 07:08 PM

Along the edge of the lake, David’s gaze remained fixed on the stars. Every star that littered the sky was bright, burning at unimaginable heat, and yet, each one was so very far away. The Night’s companions have been mythologized, named, guided by, but David wondered if the world understood them at all. He couldn’t help but compare himself to them. It was a natural comparison; even the Order compares the Shadow to the far-away star.

David reached up with a hand, as though he could reach Vega from his position standing with his bike.

It was a useless gesture; the Mortician knew that all he would grasp would be empty air.

Perception 3 Successes

Was that a rustle of the underbrush? Or was it the sound of a person moving over the grasses? Turning his gaze earthbound, David noticed a silhouette moving nearby along the edge of the water. He paused and called out lamely, “Hello?”

The Mekhet wasn't sure why he didn't simply push aside the darkness to see behind its veil. But perhaps, in some strange way, David wanted to be wrapped in it and remain safe in the illusion the darkness afforded.

David’s bike clicked forward three times as he inched forward towards the silhouette.

**Aileen McFarlane** · May 20th, 2014 03:31 PM

Lost in her contemplation of the stars, Aïleen didn't register at once that someone had talked to her. Her brain didn't deign to be bothered by it, as it savored the emptiness of the night.

2 successes

Alas, the ears had heard something, and in its recesses, the brain knew it couldn't pretend forever it hadn't been disturbed. Grumbling mentally, it made the face turn toward the source of the sound, and reply.

"Good evening." hopefully, the frosty tone would be enough to deter anyone from further bothering it.

May 20th, 2014 04:30 PM

Frostiness that cowed the Mortician from saying anything immediately. The syllables were sharp, pointed, and to the point and suggested that the silhouette wanted to be left alone. David thought that the voice might have been familiar but he disregarded the thought as his own imagination. His Companion, the clockwork Shrike, laughed at him and reminded him of a conversation between self and also self.

David shook his head, ignoring the Companion entirely.

Instead, David removed his phone and turned on its flashlight; using that to find good skipping rocks while crouched near the ground. It was something he did while he thought and while he was okay at it, he was no master. David once saw his Father, Regan Sr., skip a rock eight times across a nearby pond by their home.

David has still never been able to replicate that.

**Aileen McFarlane** · May 20th, 2014 04:58 PM

The unsaid message seemed to have been received, and Aïleen watched the silhouette walk away. She smiled as the quiet reasserted itself around her, and would have soon forgotten the event, were it not for an incommodating light that had sprung from... there. That man again !

She turned to get away from the disturbance, but out of the corner of her eyes, something tingled her. That shape was familiar. Tall, lean... the light from the flashlight dissipated the last doubts, and Aïleen stopped. David ?

Well, she could hardly ignore him now, could she ? Of course not. The coincidence was too unlikely. There had to be a Will behind it. She walked back toward the other Mekhet, and spoke softly.

"David ? Is that you ?"

May 20th, 2014 05:20 PM

A promising stone revealed itself in the mobile phone's light. David set the kickstand down to free up his hands and to pick it up, but a voice emerged from the gloom and he paused, mid-motion, to look towards where it came from.

For a moment, he looked as though he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Surprise was an understatement and David's tone betrayed it, “Aileen?” It wasn't his imagination after all. Standing, and forgetting about the stone, he looked towards Aileen's figure as she neared, “What brings you all the way down here?”

The light of his phone shining nothing but a small, circular patch on the ground.

**Aileen McFarlane** · May 23rd, 2014 06:07 PM

So it was him indeed !

"Well... I'm patrolling..." she replied meakly, feeling foolish for saying it out loud. It sounded like she was some kind of Sheriff or something, when she was just a girl, really. That was how she felt, at least.

Her eyes downcast, Aïleen noticed then the stone David was holding, and raised a quizzical eyebrow. "What about you ?" she asked in turn.

May 24th, 2014 11:00 AM

“I … uh,” David tries to say while suddenly remembering his phone and shutting off the flashlight app, plunging the pair back into darkness, “Well... patrolling.” What would he have done if he had found something? What could he have done? David couldn't decide where the questions came from, his Companion or himself.

With his now free hand, David ruffled his hair; that motion the Mortician does when he feels a mite silly.

“But,” David adds, “I guess...more exploring, looking for inspiration than anything.” A pause, pregnant, bubbling up between, “Have... you ever skipped rocks?” David's question came from the realization that he still held the rock in his other hand and brought he it up to inspect.

**Aileen McFarlane** · May 25th, 2014 03:02 PM

Patrolling too ? It seemed to the young Mekhet that their meeting must have been ordained, because what where the odds, really ? It only outlined the many similarities she already shared with David, and she wondered what else she might find if she were to dig deeper... Even his body language. It could have been her ruffling her hair like that.

"Exploring ? Like... urban exploring ?" she asked with a knowing smile, sure he would understand. His next question took her by surprise, though. Rock-skipping ?

"I... have sometimes, yes." it wasn't the first thing that usually came to her mind near a pond of water, though. "You enjoy it ?"

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-05-16 18:50:50		David Regan rolls 6 to Wits + Comp (Perception) (10 Again)		8, 10, 6, 5, 10, 7, 1, 5		3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-05-20 15:29:04		Aileen rolls 5 to Wits 2 + Comp 3 (10 Again)		10, 2, 1, 2, 4, 8		2 successes

The Trees Were Mistaken

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