[prp] not in kansas anymore (kim/gloom)

[toogay]

They weren't dreaming, not this time.

Kim blinked, dismayed. Their mind struggled to catch up to what had happened. Seconds ago, they'd been walking into their bedroom at home. As soon as they'd crossed the threshold, however, they'd found themself somewhere else. Somewhere both familiar and unfamiliar. A place they'd visited, unconscious, countless times.

It was a playground, reclaimed by nature; empty and cold. Rain fell loosely around them, the drops small and light and almost refreshing but not quite. The clouds above were thick and gray, making the world timeless and dark. Kim had a sort of deja vu feeling that formed a hollow pit in their stomach and spun cob webs in their mind.

A noise from behind turned them around. "H-hello?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Rain in other ashdown was not as common as it had been in the previous year. The weather patterns was just as capricious as they could be in the real world and the only constant it had was that it's seasons were the opposite of the real world.

When they turned from the noise, there was nothing there.

Instead there was only the sound of the chains of a swing creaking and deep shadows everywhere. The kind that moved in ways that made one think of their childhood and the monster under the bed or the one that lived in the closet that you only saw in shadows and never in the light of day.

toogay

 

[toogay]

It was cold.

Kim was very aware that all they wore were a pair of loose-fitting pajama pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and slippers. They shivered where they stood, hugging themself in a pathetic attempt to gather warmth.

There was nothing behind them, just dead air and shadows. Shadows that seemed to be... moving? Kim frowned. They took a step back.

"H-...hello?" They repeated, quieter this time. More unsure. They felt like they'd stumbled into some sort of horror movie. Any moment now, a monster would leap from the shadows. The audience would scream. Kim would die. They hugged themself tighter. I wish Lee was here...

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

There was still no answer, just the creak of chains as the swings continued to move. The shadows themselves seemed to move, pressing closer towards Kim.

So maybe, just maybe, they were alive. Especially with the way one shadow seemed to separate and then merge with another.

toogay

 

[toogay]

"U-um..."

The shadows pressed closer and Kim took a few quick steps back. Everything about this situation screamed RUN LEAVE GO DANGER but for some reason they couldn't seem to turn themself away from the writhing darkness.

They squinted when they saw something amiss, a tiny bit of shadow detaching itself from one and disappearing back into another. What?

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

It continued again, multiple times, as if the shadows themselves were chasing each other. If Kim kept watching it might have just become clear that somehow this looked like a game of tag.

"Y'should be careful," a sweet voice called to them. "They're feeling playful." A pair of white, luminous eyes were watching from on top of the swingset. The swish of a tail, inky and black, was just barely visible.

toogay

 

[toogay]

Kim tensed at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. They scanned the playground, searching for the person whose approach they must have missed.

They saw the tail first, swishing lazily, and then they saw the eyes- glowing white in the dim evening. Some sort of creature was perched atop the swingset. There was no one else around. Just Kim, the shadows, and those wide little eyes.

Kim squinted at the tailed thing, to try and get a better feel for just what exactly it was, but they couldn't make out much.

"U-um." They glanced at the shadows again, making sure the things could be seen in their peripheral- making sure they weren't coming any closer. They fidgeted, nervous and unsure as to whether or not it really was the creature that spoke. "C-can you help me? I don't know.. where I am... or wh-what, what this is..."

_azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

The shadows were making a game of it. When Kim looked away, they darted forward. When Kim looked at them, they darted back. It was an uncomfortable game of red light, green light - except that they did not even follow those rules. Not precisely.

"Y'crossed over," the voice responded, a chitter escaping that sounded like a yawn. "This isn't y'Ashdown." In the pale light, as the creature stretched, he was briefly visible. An outline gave away the shape of something that looked like a pine marten but was not quite right. "Did y'get lost? Can help y'if you need it."

Except they had just said but it never heard to make sure they really wanted help.

toogay

 

[toogay]

Kim looked suddenly alarmed and they forgot about the shadows.

"C-crossed over, you mean like... am I- am I-" Panic swirled within their chest, making it harder for them to form a sentence as their breathing quickened involuntarily.

"I'm dead?" They asked when they could finally choke the words out. Surely there was some sort of mistake. Surely they would have remembered something as eventful as their own death.

Did y'get lost? The creature had asked. Was it some sort of underworld guide? Kim wheezed painfully, tears pinpricking the corners of their eyes as the panic attack continued to constrict their lungs.

They looked at the shadows and stumbled back when realizing how close they'd gotten.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

A noise was made, something of confusion. "... y'not dead, Gloom said y'crossed over. To the place that y'can only find in Ashdown but it's not Ashdown, it's other. Don't y'know the stories?" His form - Gloom's form - was visible as the shadows seemed to pull together and give him shape.

Definitely something that looked close to a rather large pine marten (if they were made at perpetually moving shadows). "Y'should take a deep breath," he told them. "It's okay. Y'just in a place y'haven't visited before."

toogay

 

[toogay]

Take a deep breath.

It was easier said than done. Kim continued to wheeze pitifully for a few more minutes, their hand splayed across their thin chest while they fought to quell the anxiety that had bubbled up within them at the thought of having actually died.

But they weren't dead. They were alive. It was small, but for someone with their sort of luck- it was a victory nonetheless.

And they had heard a few stories. Or rather, they'd read a few on the internet about this place that Gloom called 'other'. There just hadn't been too much information written, and Kim hadn't bothered to look into it. They'd written it off as some sort of weird drug-induced delusions produced by the bored Ashdown youth.

Now, they wished they'd done a bit more research. But Gloom, well, Gloom seemed friendly enough. As friendly as a talking pine marten made of shadows could be.

"O-okay..." Kim said finally, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. "Why am I here, though? And- um- can I get back, or..." They trailed off, suddenly at a loss for words. They looked up at Gloom with wide, nervous eyes.

_azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Y'live in a world where magic is real," Gloom told them, "and there are more magic people around y'than in any other place in the world. Y'should listen to the stories. All the old ones are true."

Gloom hopped down then and landed with a soft thump. All the shadows, the ones that seemed alive, dispersed and pulled back as if they listened to him.

"Y'here because y'got magic. Only people with the right kind of magic can come here. Y'can get back too but probably not without help from Gloom. Y'new here, y'don't even know y'magic yet."

toogay

 

[toogay]

Kim kept their eyes on Gloom as the creature hopped from its perch and landed on the ground among the shadows. They took a hesitant half-step back, to give the pine marten some space. The dispersed shadows earned only a quick glance, and then they were focused again on the small otherworldly creature and its words of wisdom.

"M-magic? I-... there's no magic in my family, I mean- beyond a few sparks here and there, b-but I didn't think I had any sort of aptitude, I mean- my sister, maybe, but n-not me..." Kim fidgeted as they spoke, still fighting the anxiety that was brought forward by the unfamiliar. "I just... I just wanna get home... if you'll help me..."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Gloom's nose twitched, his tail twitching a moment later. "Y'don't even want to know?" he inquired. "About any of this?" It was really, really strange to him but he did the shadow marten equivalent of a shrug.

It was a little hop.

"Gloom can get y'home if y'want but it won't stop y'from ending up here again over and over."

toogay

 

[toogay]

Kim's hand nervously fluttered across the lower half of their face. A particularly chilled breeze swept across them and they shuddered. The idea of ending up in what Gloom had called other against their will, more than once, was foreboding. What if the next creature they ran into wasn't as friendly as this one?

With one arm, they hugged themself. Their other hand stayed curled around their mouth, voice muffled by their long fingers.

"Is it-- is it d-dangerous here?" They weren't even sure what to ask. The entire situation was so... surreal.

azuredreams