i followed fires toward the sound, cold upon the mountain to which i'm bound.

[nightmarist]

WHO: Residents of the Meadows & OPEN to visitors
WHERE: The Meadows outside De Chima
WHEN: Throughout May
WHAT: Day-to-day encounters at the magical farm commune.
WARNINGS: Look to the subject headers.
NOTES: This is a mingle/catch-all log. Start your own threads! Tag around!

[The Meadows, being a place largely created from magic, has a subtle strangeness to it. From the outside, it could be taken for any old Appalachian farm: scattered barns and stables, a lakeside castle, a roomy wooden farmhouse, a 19th century stone chapel that some hoodlum graffitied. There's evidence that the farm is occupied by unsupervised teenagers, too, in the donut tracks that mar the grass and the remains of regular bonfires. As long as the monsters are out of sight, everything seems ordinary.

Once inside the farmhouse, however, the odd discrepancies become more apparent. The layout of the rooms doesn't quite match how the house appeared from the outside. There are windows where windows shouldn't be, stairways like vertical mazes to secluded rooms, and views from rooms that look into other worlds entirely. Half of the appliances work without any source of electricity, fresh coffee's always waiting in the pot without anyone having to brew it, and the refrigerator never seems to run out of leftover pizza. Things are simply wrong about the place, for all the cozy warmth of its design.]

Comments

[dreamkid]

[ ... Oh right, this part doesn't feel great either. The staring. Matthew is reminded of when he found out what he is, waking up from what he thought thought had been a short nap and wandering into the kitchen like it was any other day, only to find Adam and Gansey staring at him like he'd grown an extra head. Not that he could blame them then, and not that he can blame her now.

He isn't a regular kid. He wondered at first, but by now he's accepted that much as fact. But then she promises to keep him safe, and-- ]

Thanks. Thank you. [ He wants to hold her hand again, this time out of gratitude, but he can't because his arms are full of blankets.

Blankets. Right. Henrietta. The reminder kickstarts him back into motion; he's still looking at Hange but his feet are carrying him towards the door. ]

Once we find Henrietta, I can-- I'll go back to the house, to my room. Then you won't have to do anything.

[aberrant_type]

One problem at a time! Henrietta first, and then we'll make sure you're all right.

[She'll round up one of the horses to help drag him to shelter --

Wait, no, that's impossible right now.

What an inconvenience. There ought to be at least one or two real animals at the Meadows, for situations just like this. Ah, well - there's nothing to be done for it now. Hange follows Matthew. He's so tall, Hange is tall for a woman from her homeland and background but she has to pump it up to keep pace with him.]

Well, you know Henrietta's hunting grounds best. Lead the way, kiddo. [She and Ronan met Henrietta near the woods, so if Matthew doesn't take steps to lead, Hange will guide them that way.]

[dreamkid]

Okay. Okay. One problem at a time. [ Hange's right about that, too. ]

She likes the church, [ Matthew says, forgetting that he already mentioned as much. And that's the direction he takes, holding the blankets tight against his chest. He's anxious and pressed for time, unintentionally forcing Hange into an even faster pace as they hike across the fields towards the chapel, and then straight into the woods behind it.

Normally ever the chatterbox, he doesn't say anything more until they find Henrietta--by pure luck, she isn't too deep in the woods at all. There's a scrap of shiny fabric on the ground near her claws, one of Betty's gifts. ]

Oh, Henrietta. [ Matthew drops the blankets and rushes to her, running a hand over her feathers. She isn't slumped onto the ground like a puppet with cut strings. She appears settled, her beak tucked against her back like any other bird taking a nap, which makes him glad and breaks his heart a little at the same time. He doesn't know which he feels more. It hurts to see her like this, to know she can't wake up on her own. ]

[aberrant_type]

[Hange doesn't complain about the pace, and takes to the silence easily. She's in Work Mode right now, so to an extent she appreciates Matthew's silence and focus.

Hange takes one of the dropped blankets and unfolds it. It's scratchy and nubbly, but will serve well enough for dragging over the ground because it's thick. It's also large; Hange folds it in two, making it a manageable size but also large enough for Henrietta.]

C'mon, kiddo. She's asleep, not ill. Let's get her loaded on here and move her under shelter.

[dreamkid]

[ Matthew hears Hange's instructions, but this time he needs a few seconds before he can make himself jump back into action. ]

She might-- [ He swallows, looking at Henrietta because he can't look at Hange. ] She might never wake up. [ Ronan's beautiful bird monster may not be ill, and she may not be suffering, but if Ronan never comes back then she'll sleep forever. It's not all that different from dying.

Matthew gives the faintest shudder, trying and failing to roll that thought off of his shoulders. Ronan will come back. Of course he will. The Porter always brings him back.

And if it doesn't, it's not like Matthew will ever know any better anyway. (That thought doesn't comfort him at all.) ]

[aberrant_type]

[Right... he's a civilian, not one of her young soldiers. He's so much less prepared to deal with these possibilities than any of the kids she usually works with would be.

She can't let that fact slow them down, but she can afford to be comforting. Hange moves nearer and reaches to squeeze his shoulder firmly.]

Courage, Matthew. We'll square her away so she can rest safely. Don't think about the future and things we can't prevent; think about what we can do right now.

[dreamkid]

[ Matthew looks at Hange, and there's fear in his eyes, but he nods shakily. He wishes there were a way out. That Ronan would reappear right in the nick of time. That Henrietta would stir, stretch her wings, and give his head an affectionate tap with her beak the way she so often has before. That he didn't have to fall asleep too. ]

This is just what happens, [ he reminds himself. And then he helps Hange get to work.

Henrietta is much lighter than she looks, being more or less a bird; it's her size that creates the need for a team effort to get her tipped onto the blanket. By the time they manage it, she's looking a bit ruffled in the feathers, and Matthew wants to fix her up and smooth her out but he doesn't know if there's time. ]

Like this? [ he asks Hange, grabbing corners of the blanket. In his head, he tells himself not yet not yet not yet. ]

[aberrant_type]

Yes. Pull her this way. Where's the closest cover? The church? If we can move towards the house as we put her away, that's for the best.

[As she'll have to get Matthew into the house... well, in with the horses will do in a pinch, but she'd prefer to leave him with his friends. She brushes at his hand, signaling he should drop one corner.]

I'll help. We must hurry.