Hello, everyone! after dealing with real life and the other nonsense of living, panny and i have decided to bring back war of change. give a round of applause. we’ve worked through all of the information and hopefully improved coherency and cohesion; however, tell us if we missed something. eventually, we’ll announce an event to celebrate the re-opening, so look out for information on that. -RAIDNE, THE HEAD ADMIN
From the moonless night, screams of terror and fear resound, spreading across the world and infecting the masses; however, those sleepless nights occurred years ago. A new era began with the fires of war, and with no end in sight, the residents of Selene Isle trudge through life, basking in the momentary peace. Despite their prayers for continued monotony and peace, a storm brews, stirred to life by the continued presence of Rapture and Wraith. And as we set our sights on the seemingly peace laden isle, we must ask: how shall this tale end?
As the years passed, the number of true pairs increased; however, they continued to live in the shadows, catering to the whims of the mundane. Seven Moons kept watch over them all, instructing them and assisting them, but for many, the attitudes and ideals of the organization were smoldering, suffocating. With Seven Moons and the mundanes, they could not grasp the freedom, the power dangling before their eyes. In the beginning, rebellion was a dream, a fantasy, a figment—developed by the repressed and carried forward due to the nature of humanity. No one expected the call to sound, and no one expected the call to be answered. However, it happened.
Nowadays, Yasuo hardly ever slept. He would stay up all night, staring out the window, wandering around the shadows of his property, wondering if tonight was the night that an assassin came after him. Everyone knew that the best time to kill someone was while they slept. He always tried to convince himself that he was unafraid of death, and that might have been partially true, but he still remained too afraid to sleep on most nights. As the sun rolled up over the horizon, Yasuo spent his morning attempting to make breakfast - he was positive he broke the stove in the process - and climbing all over his furniture in an attempt to dust. Sometime around ten, Yasuo passed out on the couch.
Every single time he slept, he dreamt. His dreams were always insane and bizarre, and unpleasantly vivid. He often dreamt of death or suffering in some way. Today, as he slept awkwardly on the couch, Yasuo dreamt of being attacked by some sort of monster. Yes... a monster. It was the kind of dream where you never really saw the monster. There was this constant sense of fear and urgency as he tried to run away from it. He was running through a forest... like the woods on the outskirts of his home town. He could hear the creature swoosh through the air as it leaped for him. The second it collided with his back, Yasuo awoke.
Startled, he jumped to his feet. Still in a sleepy haze, he staggered around for a second and then stumbled backwards and hit the couch. He sat there was a second, taking deep breathes, before reality poured in. "God damn it," he cursed, loudly. He felt his pockets for his phone. Realizing he didn't have it made him curse again. He proceeded to digging through the couch, exploring the kitchen, and retraced his steps until he finally found his phone atop one of the cabinets he had dusted earlier. Checking it, he realized it was almost eight o'clock. Glancing out the window to the setting sun could have told him that.
"I'm just stir crazy," he told himself. The Japanese man retreated to his bedroom to quickly dress himself in something more appropriate: a pair of worn jeans, a T-shirt, and black and white Converse. After combing his hair, he headed to the fair grounds with his cellphone in one pocket and wallet in the other. He had never been to this place before, but heard the locals talking about it all the time. It was a Wednesday evening, so the place wasn't terribly crowded, but had quite a few couples out on dates and soccer moms with their five - or whatever - kids.
None of the booths really interested him and he ignored most of the venders that tried to get his attention. There was one booth he stopped at just to glance at the odd, cylinder shaped objects. "They're kaleidoscopes," the vender, an older woman with greying blonde hair, told him quietly, as if she did not want to bother him. Out of politeness, Yasuo flashed her and smile and then glanced back down at the many different styles, designs, and colors she offered. They were absolutely useless, only valuable to collectors. Another nicknack... another thing...
DIETRICH TOSSED HIS LAPTOP TO THE SIDE, rubbing his eyes under the glasses that sat haphazardly on the bridge of his nose. An all-nighter, again. He leaned over reaching blindly and grabbed the cellphone from off the floor. Flipping it open, his burning eyes squinted from the sudden light in his dark apartment. Almost immediately the blonde groaned in discontent, “Verdammt.” It was already that early? The german boy rolled over onto his stomach, wrapping his arms around the cool pillow under his head, clinging to it as he mentally prepared himself to get up and get ready for another day.
He really didn’t want to get up. After sitting up and trying to remember the correct compounds for his organic chemistry homework, his brain was fried and all he wanted was to get some sleep before he had to think about trying to function like a normal human being. The blonde’s hand snaked around to the opposite shoulder, stroking the word that was scrawled across the pale skin. It was still such a strange thought for Dietrich… Memories of his mother swarmed inside his mind.. He had pretty much left her alone back on her home country when he left for college, and he hadn’t even brought up the fact that he was now living in the midst of the world she had left. No, no he didn’t want to talk to her about it. Too many ruined memories… It would hurt her too much, and she didn’t deserve that.
Dietrich sat up quickly letting his feet hit the ground. Rubbing his forehead with the palm of his hand he forced his weight to shift to his feet and pushed himself up from the bed. First he would shower. Of course, the water would just have to be icy cold. The chilled droplets fell harshly on his head, running down his body as they pulled the heat from his skin. The blonde stood under the water, his head pressed up against the tile wall of the enclosure. ’So tired…’
After leaving the chilling shower, Dietrich tugged on a simple pair of dark-wash jeans and pulled a long sleeve shirt, it’s baggy material draping elegantly from his thin pale frame. Hair still wet, the blonde left his apartment and began his walk through the surrounding streets. It started merely as a simple meander, but soon lead to a short shopping trip at a local convenience store. Inside he shuffled through the tiny aisles, finding himself subconsciously drawn to the coffee in the back of the building. He left quickly, hot coffee in his hand and a pack of cigarettes in his back pocket. A terrible habit, but one that would bring Dietrich back into the real world instead of his sleep deprived state.
Soon enough Dietrich found himself surrounded… By people. Why were there always so many people? While the streets weren’t swelled with masses of people, it was confining enough that Dietrich would occasionally brush up against someone, sending the blonde into a stream of apologies and awkward interactions with strangers. Cigarette now lit in his mouth, the blonde did his best to avoid bumping into people in his dazed state, but soon found himself more frustrated that anything else. Booths were set up, smells permeated through the streets, and the vendors kept harassing him to buy their products. His eye landed on black haired figure standing over a collection of various… kaleidoscopes? Dietrich hadn’t seen the small cylindrical toys since his early childhood in Germany. Seeing them brought back both pleasant, and negative memories and soon found himself standing next to the booth, rolling one of the small objects around in his hand.
“Ich habe nicht gesehen...” the blonde mumbled, his native tongue rolling smoothly from his vocal chords. It felt so familiar and yet so distant, the rest of the words seemed to be invading him with all their might.
Not long after glancing down at the useless little devices did the mood of the carnival begin to shift. The sun just barely tipped down over the horizon line and hid behind the buildings and distant mountains. Right as the sun disappeared, the lights that lined up and down the crowded streets lit up. The kaleidoscopes Yasuo had been glancing at suddenly reflected the bright lights. The Japanese man stood up and straight and craned his neck, just for a moment, to look at the suddenly illuminated street.
It was as if the place suddenly shifted entirely. The parents who had brought their kids here were clearing out, heading home to handmade dinners and crowded dining room tables. Young couples, teenagers, preteens, and even young adults started coming out to spend the evening together. Many school kids with nothing better to do came here so they could run around aimlessly and shoot at each other with water guns.
Yasuo had not realized it, but someone was suddenly standing beside him. The first thing he noticed was the aroma; he could spell the burning of tobacco, something that he had not smelt in a long time. Yasuo enjoyed his fair share of alcohol, but cigarettes was that one thing he never got into. His best friends from high school, however, always smoked, for some reason. It only reminded him of that faint memory.
When he turned, it was then he noticed a blonde haired male had wandered over to the stand and was examining one of the kaleidoscopes. The man muttered something in a language Yasuo was not familiar with. His father made him learn fluent English when he was ten, something he once loathed him for; though, now, it was his most common tongue. Two languages was good enough.
A group of twelve year-olds ran by, shooting at each other with their water guns. One of them nearly ran into the two men; the boy did not pause to apologize, but chased after his friends, cursing at them, loudly. Venders merely shook their heads at the boys, not knowing what to do or say. "Hey!" Yasuo inadvertently shouted at them, suddenly fuming. When he was their age, he would have been beaten for acting that way. "Damn kids," he snarled.