{
(track: 'river', 'loop', true)
(track: 'river', 'playwhenpossible')
}
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:white)+(bg:#6e8ba0))
Cold, flowing water
Cascades below the surface.
It furrows their fur
In flowing clumps
Of algae and ice.
Reaching for the surface,
A tension pulls back
And whispers in a dull tone:
"Surrender,
[[Eira]]."
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:white)+(bg:#6e8ba0))
Their name, once reflective of
Their (text-rotate-y:191)[character], now
Reflective of their (text-rotate-y:191)[form] in
This blizzard, warning of
The [[winter]].
river: https://mewkittyraccoonstorage.neocities.org/Twine%20Integration/river.mp3
stream: https://mewkittyraccoonstorage.neocities.org/Twine%20Integration/stream.mp3(enchant:?page,(text-colour:white)+(bg:#6e8ba0))
Sensation of communication:
A soothing echo of words,
A warm song without chords,
She calls to them.
She has //been// calling to them.
She will always //be// calling to them.
Maybe she can make everything [[Clear]].
{
(track: 'stream', 'stop')
}
(set: $visitCount to $visitCount + 1)
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:white)+(bg:#6e8ba0)+ (css:"min-height:100vh;"))
[
(if: $visitCount is 1)[
"The rush of space takes only twenty-two minutes if you're patient enough for it:
Let me sing you a song in hushed tones,
Underneath the constant rattling of bones.
Let me lull you to sleep,
While the long line of children make you weep.
Let me take your mask down,
And place upon its pillow
Your infinite crown.
Let me in,
Don't shiver."
Wept
[[The River]].
]
(else-if: $visitCount is 2)[
"Arise now,
Frail one.
Bring your friends
and together meet
[[The Sun]]."
]
]
{
(track: 'river', 'loop', false)
(track: 'river', 'stop')
(track: 'stream', 'play')
}
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:white)+(bg:#51cf66))
[[Sable]].
{
(track: 'stream', 'stop')
}
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#00f0a8)+(bg:#304e04))I remember distinctly, the smell of that room. That wet, pungent odor emanating from their bed; it coated the air in a thick, oily gloss. A mess of gasses and particulate decay mixed together creating a substance too viscous for my nostrils to handle, but just slippery enough to still slop through, each globule of atmosphere passing the boundary with what I imagined as a sloppy *thlop*: an eel in algae. I wasn't in that wretched space for even a full minute, but even now I sometimes taste the remnants of that place on my tongue. Like one of those globules of air had stuck itself to my sinuses, only to dislodge, drip down, and coat my mouth in the memory months later.
Here comes one right now...
[[shlorp.]](enchant:?page,(text-colour:#00f0a8)+(bg:#304e04))
//**Stop Sable. Now really is not the time for this.**//
The pale green glow of the two-tiered city's organic megastructure shines down on the forest floor. The twinkling neon of businesses and homes built into the canopy gives the appearance of a starry night sky seen through the branches and understory of the dense forest metropolis.
I look down at my paws. The dark skin on my palms twitching, the muscles beneath too tense for comfort. A dull shudder passes over my body as the memory--that taste--leaves me.
I'm already running late.
//**I need to keep [[moving.]]**//
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#00f0a8)+(bg:#304e04))
I make my way along the lower level paths. Down here is mostly agricultural land. In between the trunks of trees that form the foundation of the city are rows of hydro- and aeroponic growing facilities. A series of black boxes closed off from the rest of city, sometimes emanating a dull grey glow`*` from their massive hangar-bay doors when shipments of crops are sent out to be distributed to homes and businesses. The foundation of food production for the city.
Or, as Theo would theorize, "They're like the perfect place for the dark cabal of elites that control this place to meet and, like, make weapons and stuff--sow pacts in blood and [[whatnot.]]"
`*`"This glow is closer to purple, but raccoons have dichromatic vision and can't see much other than shades of green." {
(track: 'stream', 'stop')
(track: 'river', 'loop', true)
(track: 'river', 'playwhenpossible')
}
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:white)+(bg:#6e8ba0))
Cold, flowing water
Cascades below the surface.
It furrows their fur,
And in it all three
Dance together to her soft, sweet song.
It's a shame it's only twenty-two minutes long.
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#00f0a8)+(bg:#304e04))
I keep moving, slow at first--my body still feeling the effects of recall--then faster as my knees stop shaking. I dash between the trees, only appearing as a shadow in the light shafts of streetlights for a split second before disappearing back into the void.
Finally, I come upon the mouth of the massive concrete drainage tunnel at the edge of the cropland that flows out to the river. Unbeknownst to most, there's a divergence in the tunnel about two thirds of the way through. If you turn down and follow that path for another two-hundred-or-so meters, the tunnel opens up into a clearing--a gorgeous field of tall grasses and prairie flowers that push right up to the river channel. Out there you can see the real night sky, and the quiet dark emptiness of space calls out to you as if to say, "come, Sable, and float into me. Drift forever in my cold emptiness. Release yourself from the noise and light of the city, from your fears and sadness. Forget they ever existed..."
Tonight, Theo is supposed to be waiting for me [[out there.]](enchant:?page,(text-colour:#00f0a8)+(bg:#304e04))
The drainage tunnel is cold and damp inside. It has a faint mildewey fragrance that almost pulls me back into that memory, but I can smell a bit of Theo still in the air as well which keeps me grounded. It's nice to know they've already been through here.
As I push ever deeper into the tunnel, the pale green glow of the city fades and I have to rely solely on the scent of Theo to keep myself oriented.
I begin to hear a quiet trickle of water in the distance. I'm far enough in to hear the river, the divergence must be near. I drag my paw along the left wall of the tunnel until--//flthp//--there it is.
The opening is elevated about a foot off the bottom of the tunnel and is just big enough to squeeze through on all fours.
It's a slog to crawl through, but I eventually reach [[the end.]] (enchant:?page,(text-colour:#00f0a8)+(bg:#304e04))
I pull myself out of the opening and roll over onto the grass. The open space is refreshing after dragging myself through a damp tube for fifteen minutes. I stand up, shake myself dry, running my paws through my fur several times in an attempt to unstick the wet clumps of hair from my skin. A breeze drifts by, picking up the moisture from my coat and carrying it off to who knows where. How sweet. I hope the breeze makes good use of that.
I can hear the river not far away, rolling over in its channel as to better aquaint itself with the fresh sediment it pulls into its current from the shore.
Theo should be nearby. They're always [[early.]](enchant:?page,(text-colour:#00f0a8)+(bg:#304e04))
I walk out to the shore of the river. There's no one here. Strange. I wonder briefly if Theo has wandered off somewhere while waiting for me, but I get an odd feeling that can't be the case. Something is off about this. Theo just isn't a wanderer. When we come out here it's always, "where are you guys running off to? Why don't we just lay in the grass for a while and listen to the water?" They're always just content to stay and watch the stars, telling endless stories of evil conspiracies, alien invasions, and rogue AI. I can't imagine tonight should be any different, even given [[the circumstances.]] (enchant:?page,(text-colour:#00f0a8)+(bg:#304e04))
I surveil the area, but Theo really is just not here. There's no sign that they've been here either. That slight sage musk that follows them everywhere they go and lingers in the air long after they've gone is completely absent. All I can smell is water and cold earth.
When did their scent trail end? Why didn't I notice?
The sound of water echoes in my mind. My thoughts drip and slosh into each other, a rainstorm, a waterfall, a flood of panic pushing against the levee walls in my skull. This is not how things were supposed to go.
Theo was supposed to be here. We were supposed to get to the bottom of what //happened.// We were supposed to figure it out //together.// They //told// me they had an idea, so where are they?
I feel myself start to lose control of my breathing. Each gulp of air is sharp and chunky. It's like swallowing handfuls of dice. The. Corners. Are. Scraping. My. Asophagus. And. They're. Piling. Up. Clogging. My. Throat.
Something rests itself on my shoulder. It's [[soggy.]](enchant:?page,(text-colour:#00f0a8)+(bg:#304e04))
I choke on a chunk of air still trying to force itself through my trachea. Tears fill my eyes as I cough, keeling over in pain. The slippery wet thing on my shoulder withdraws itself as I convulse. I turn my head, trying to see whatever it might have been attached to, but my vision is too blurred to make anything out but the vague sillhouette of a dark figure behind me. Two blazing mirrors in the back of their eyes shine out, distinct against the rest of their shadowy blur.
"Theo --cough-- is that --cough-- you?" I splutter out, still trying to regain my senses. The figure does not reply. They simply stand there, motionless, [[staring at me.]]
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#00f0a8)+(bg:#304e04))
I blink away the tears, but when I open my eyes again the figure is gone. A sweet odor lingers in the air. There's something familiar about that scent that I can't place. Before I can think too hard about it I feel a warmth at my side, like someone is breathing down my neck.
"Don't turn around."
Their voice is no louder than a whisper, but I'd recognize it anywhere. It's not possible.
"I don't want to scare you. So just please, Sable, don't [[turn around.]]"
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#00f0a8)+(bg:#304e04))
I can't even respond. I'm just frozen here. I can't move. I can't breathe. I can't think. I can't.
I feel the soggy object touch my shoulder again.
"Hey, are you still with me? Do you need a second?"
[[I can't.]]
(set: $visitCount to $visitCount + 1)
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#00f0a8)+(bg:#304e04))
(if: $visitCount is 1)[
[[Please.]]
]
(if: $visitCount is 2)[
[[Please.]]
]
(if: $visitCount is 3)[
[[Please.]]
]
(if: $visitCount is 4)[
[[Please.]]
]
(if: $visitCount is 5)[
[[Please.]]
]
(if: $visitCount is 6)[
[[Eira?]]
](enchant:?page,(text-colour:white)+(bg:(gradient: 0, 0,#ffffff,0,#000000,1,#05664e)))
[[I can't.]](enchant:?page,(text-colour:white)+(bg:black))
"[[Yeah.]]"
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#00f0a8)+(bg:#304e04))
I try to turn my head to look at them, but the wet thing on my shoulder grabs the side of my face, stopping me in my tracks.
"Sable, now that you're here with me. I just need to talk to you for a little bit, and I can't have you freaking out or locking up on me. There isn't enough time for that. Not here at least. So you can't turn around, okay?"
"Why would I freak out if I saw you, Eira?"
"You just would. I mean, Theo did, and...how do I say this...you've always been worse at taking any kind of shock than them."
"Theo did?"
"Sable, we don't have time, can we just-"
"[[Okay.]]"(enchant:?page,(text-colour:white)+(bg:black))
"Okay, round two, here goes...
One day, I came out here and I didn't come back. I hadn't planned on coming back anyway. I just wanted to be free. I craved a deep rest. The world had become so tiring and I didn't see any way to sleep a sleep as restful as I needed other than to just walk into the river and never walk out of her again. It felt like my only option. I made that choice, and when I did, she swept me up and soothed me with her song, and I faded into her like I had wanted to for so long, but I didn't sleep. She wouldn't let me. She stole away my body, leaving it in my room for you to find. And she forced me to watch what seeing that did to you--to your relationship with Theo. Over and over and over, I watched time pass in slow and fast motion, in reverse, repeating itself. Not just that moment, or the months that followed, but all time. Every time someone made the same choice as me. Every thought that ran through each one of those people's heads. She showed me, not hurt me, not make me feel guilty for trying to solve my problems myself, but to make me realize that what I had seen as the //only// solution, wasn't. The //only// solution that is. When I was gone, you and Theo came together. You soothed each other's pain. You found community and solice in each other instead of letting yourselves be consumed by it. You see, I had never noticed that the only times when I felt rested--free--were when all three of us would come to this spot and just be in each other's company at this river. Eventually, I stopped feeling free and restful when I was here with you, because I //wasn't// here with you. I had gotten so encased in my own individualism I forgot it was possible to feel those things at all while alive. I started to see my problems and the one solution I had to those problems as one and the same. I pathologized myself into oblivion, and every day I just got more and more tired. She showed me, not that I had made the //wrong// choice, but that I had made a choice at all. Let's be real, Sable. I still crave that rest. I still crave that freedom. I don't want to suffer anymore. I didn't return because I was wrong to want those things. I came back because She gave me a second chance to actually feel that freedom. To finally [[rest.]]"
"She can't bring me back to life, Sable, but she does have space for two more."(enchant:?page,(text-colour:#00f0a8)+(bg:#304e04))
I didn't know what to say, but I did know what to do. I had told Theo about a hundred times in the past couple months that I would do literally anything to spend even one minute more with Eira. I had gotten that minute. I had //gotten// that minute... But I still wanted just one minute longer. Just one minute. [[Anything.]]