system downfall . OPEN

[charon]

In the shadows lurked a beast. This beast was tall, like many people would expect a monstrous creature to be, but he didn’t have claws as long as your arm or fur long enough to make Cousin It jealous. This beast had pale skin and eyes that could bore into a soul if he wanted to, but Vihtori didn’t bother himself with things such as that. Dream Beings and Forms alike were boring unless they looked different. He was used to griffins and witches and wizards. Vihtori wanted to see something new and exciting. Couldn’t anyone have a messed up childhood enough to make them crumpled like paper and ripped in several places in their skin? It irritated Vihtori that no one was sad or angry enough that no one had yes burning like Hell or something creepy like that. Everything around him was just so… Boring.

Walking along the path, leather shoes clicking against the ground, cane making a clink every second step, Vihtori glanced at the corner of his eyes. The black top hat was at a slight angle on his black hair, but not so much that it was nearly falling off. Most of his hats were perfectly fitted for Vihtori anyway, so he didn’t need to worry about it wobbling all over the place. The black coat that hid a white shirt had a black rose in the collar, a little flower he had found on the edge of the village. Blinking, Vihtori slowed his pace. Whenever he blinked it looked like he had no eyes because of the black eyeshadow he was wearing. Eventually the man opened his eyes again and stopped for a moment, digging a gloved hand into his right pocket. He took out a small parchment of paper, wrinkled from the travel in his small pocket. He read it over before putting it back in his pocket, starting on his journey again. Vihtori knew where the Demens Inn was, he just needed a little reminder.

Gripping the cane, Vihtori glanced about. Despite it being dark, people were still wandering about. He wasn’t surprised by this, he was used to seeing different kinds of people, but sometimes he did have to take a short double take when something new came along, such as a griffin or a winged person. It caught him off guard, but he would soon gather himself and move on. Vihtori didn’t come out into the village too often, he usually stayed in The Mists, usually in some sort of forest-like area. Whenever he did come though, many beings would move out of the way to let him by, or just shy away from him. Vihtori couldn’t blame them. If anything, he was very pleased about it. He enjoyed being intimidating, even if it meant he wasn’t respected. No, scratch that. Vihtori was respected, people just didn’t want to admit it.

A smirk slowly appeared on his lips at the thought. People were too afraid to admit they respected him for what he did. Way too many people were a bit weak minded for Vihtori. He didn’t have any friends in this place, but did that matter to him? No. These people here seemed far too cowardly for Vihtori’s taste. In his mind, far too many beings in the Dream World expected someone else to stick up for them while hiding behind someone bigger than them. Vihtori would never do that, nor would he stand up for someone unless he thought it was right. Even then, he’d do a pretty bad job at it in purpose. People with no back bone disgusted him.

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[Sorena Feather]

Sorena had fallen asleep the moment she had gotten to her dorm. Mostly because she wanted to visit the Dream World as fast as possible, and also because she was genuinely tired. Exploring the premises of Somnium Academy could come tomorrow and besides, all of the registration and looking for the right rooms was enough work for Sorena. Mentally frowning at her laziness, Sorena promised herself to become less lazy while at the same time knowing that that plan would fall through instantly. Of course, she was only lazy when it came to physical labor. Brain power was usually not that complicated. Laying her head on her downy feather pillow, Sorena slowly dropped off. Almost quite literally.

Feeling as if she had woken up, which Sorena knew wasn't possible, because her bed was definitely not made out of dirt. Sorena found herself laying on the ground in the same position that she had been in when she fell asleep, which was on her belly. Pushing herself up off of the ground, Sorena blinked rapidly and assessed her surroundings and quickly dropped her jaw. Stone pillars were everywhere! For five seconds, Sorena took it all in before remembering to take a look at herself. Closing her eyes, Sorena took a deep breath and prepared herself for the worst. Facing downward, she quickly opened her eyes and saw two brown feet. 'Wait, make that two brown, furry feet.' Sorena corrected herself before reaching down to touch them, which lead to Sorena realizing she had paws. Taken in by the new sight, Sorena looked over her new brown paws and her gaze quickly passed over her arms, which for some reason had blue fins. 'Why do these look familiar?' she asked herself while looking down at her cream colored belly. 'And what is this blue thing around my neck?'

By now Sorena knew what she was, but was trying to trick herself into believing that she didn't know. It was a kind of game that Sorena played with herself in an effort to make things more exciting. However, it wasn't quite working out this time, so Sorena gave up the effort. 'So I'm a Buizel... an oddly colored Buizel,' she admitted to herself, quickly coming to terms with it. After all, it would be silly to freak out, she had been warned or informed of the weird forms you might turn into. 'Well, I'm definitely not gonna tell anyone my form. Besides, keeping it a secret is much more fun.' Not finding the Forest of Stone Pillars very interesting, even though soccer balls seemed to falling from the sky, Sorena began to make her way out of the Forest while trying to use Water Gun.

Getting out of the Forest was not as hard as Sorena thought it would be. Although it did take a long time, but she didn't mind because she had mastered making bubbles. Now a constant stream of bubbles were coming out of her mouth and Sorena was quite proud of herself. Running on all fours, Sorena still wished that she could already use Aqua Jet. She'd seen it used in the TV show and when Buizel had used it, it was pretty much like flying. Sighing, Sorena had a quick daydream, or would it be a dreamdream, of what it would be like before becoming completely intoxicated with the new scenery outside the forest. It was amazing to Sorena. There weren't any fences and only a wide open plain was before her, and in the middle of it, Sorena saw a building that looked an awful lot like the Somnium Academy. 'There is no way I'm going to be able to cross this...' Sorena thought downheartedly, sighing sadly. 'Well, better get started!'

With a determined expression, Sorena began to run, on all fours, because it was easier for her. Buizel, however, is not a tall Pokemon, so Sorena found herself leaping in order to make herself see better. On one leap, Sorena found herself on a dirt path. 'What?' was all she was able to think, however, before a speeding horse towing a cart full of hay quickly came over the hill that Sorena was on. Leaping out of the way, Sorena ran on the side of the dirt road and was completely surprised when the speeding cart began to pass her up. On a snap decision, Sorena made a leap for the cart, and surprisingly made it, or at least was clinging to the back of the cart with all her might. Grunting, Sorena managed to pull herself onto the cart, which had an open back and was filled with apples. 'This must be my lucky day... er, night!' Sorena thought happily, grabbing an apple and quickly taking a bite. Watching the Forest of Columns fade away, Sorena decided to climb the pile of apples in order to see where they were going, and caused a few apples to fall out of the cart and onto the dirt path. Not pausing to think about it, Sorena found her head in the wind and a town quickly coming towards them. "Amazing!" Sorena exclaimed, and then quickly put her paws on her mouth, because even though she knew what she said, Sorena couldn't deny what she heard, and what she heard was "Bui!" Which was not what she meant to say at all.

'Oh well, I can't have everything,' Sorena lamented with a sigh, just as the town Sorena had seen earlier began to appear around her. The horse pulling the cart slowed down to a trot and Sorena clambered down the hill of apples before leaping off the cart and making a run for cover. After all, she didn't want to be mistaken for a rodent. Fortunately, due to her long journey, it was dark out, and Sorena's dark brown fur color, helped her blend in. Unfortunately, that was not going to stop an owl-like creature from trying to eat her. The only reason Sorena had managed to know it was there, was because she had paused to take a glance up at the sky and saw something flying towards her. Not wanting to know what it was, Sorena made a run for it, but the bird could not be shaken. It would've been easier if more people had been around, but unfortunately it was 'nighttime'.

Seeing the creature closing in, Sorena finally decided to fight back. After all, she was a Pokemon now. Quickly turning on her heel, Sorena faced the creature and quickly spat out a jetstream of bubbles. Not completely confident that it would knock out the creature, but rather to daze it or confuse it into fleeing. Little did she know that she had stopped in front of someone who one did not want to display acts of oddness in front of. However, preventing herself from getting eaten was a lot more important and did not notice 'his' presence.

[charon]

Vihtori watched the scene in front of him. Some sort of weasel was fleeing an owl, with good reason too. The weasel seemed a bit big to be a good meal choice for the owl, but whatever float its boat. He kept his eye on the creature on the ground, an eyebrow slowly raising as his curiosity was reaching its peak. He had never seen something like it around before, and he was sure if he added some wings or took an eye out it could make a very good attraction for the younger crowd. And any attraction was good for business. It got people talking and gossiping about his circus, and Vihtori knew that when people talked they got nosy, and more beings would have to come and find his marvellous circus some time. Admission was costly, but definitely worth it in his eyes. Of course he didn’t need to pay to get into his own circus.

Slowly he looked up at the owl as it flew away, and his eyebrows were level again. Vihtori took a step back and aimed a poke at the weasel with his beloved cane to make sure it hadn’t died of a heart attack or something while he was distracted. He pursed his lips and bent over, not thinking it was worthy enough for him to actually bend down to its level. Was it male or female? Vihtori had no idea, and was pretty sure gender didn’t matter. This thing could get him money, and Vihtori liked money. Peering down at it, he sneered and straightened up. Could it speak? So many questions popped up in his head, but he decided to calm down and do what he usually did. Be himself. That didn’t always get him what he wanted, but force was acceptable.

Tilting his head to the right, top hat moving along with the motion, Vihtori wondered what to ask first. Should he just introduce himself? Should he ask why it wasn’t running away? Usually people looked nervous around him. Was it looking nervous? This was an animal for god’s sake, it wasn’t like Vihtori was an expert at reading facial expressions on little furry animals. A smile crept onto his lips. His smiles were always creepy, and they only seemed to happen when he was scheming. It would be easy to get this little rat, and if it didn’t comply after a bit of training, he could just harm it and throw it into The Mists. Someone might find it, but Vihtori didn’t care.

“What are you?” he asked, his low raspy voice nearly stopping everything else in the vicinity making a noise.

[Sorena Feather]

Watching the owl turn and flee, Sorena paused in the middle of the street. Happy that she'd won a battle, but was brought out of her happiness by a poke in her side. Annoyed, she let out a snarl and leaped away from the cane, and the person holding it. If it had been anyone else, Sorena probably would have dashed away like nobody's business. However, this guy was interesting in a very, creepy way. So Sorena stared straight back at him in an equally analyzing way, taking in the man's gloved hands and top hat. 'This guy looks like a creepy ringmaster!' was all Sorena could make up her mind about the stranger.

Standing up on her hind legs, Sorena took a few steps back out of caution and was surprised when the man finally spoke. At least he'd asked a question that she could answer. "Buizel!" Sorena proclaimed proudly, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. Hopefully, she would be able to prove to this guy that she was a sentient creature and not 'just' an animal.

[charon]

Ah, so the creature could speak. Buizel. Right. What the hell was that? Vihtori didn’t care. It sounded rare, and the rarer sounding the animal was, the more people it attracted. His smile was still there, but Vihtori was irritated that she didn’t seem afraid. At all. He needed to look a bit more threatening apparently. Running his tongue along the inside of his cheek, he looked it up and down again. He glanced round, wondering if anyone was watching their little meeting, but everyone’s eyes seemed to be somewhere else. He didn’t know if they quickly looked away so Vihtori didn’t notice them or they were honestly not staring, but it didn’t matter.

The man’s smile faded, not really liking the feeling it gave him. Of course Vihtori felt happiness. He was happy when he had money, when he got when he wanted, when his ego was being stroked. He just didn’t like being happy for no reason because it made him think he was becoming a happy cheery person. It was certainly possible, but it just wasn’t Vihtori. Vihtori was used to the scary, slightly gothic look that made him him. Vihtori paused for a moment, aiming a poke at her again with the cane to see exactly what she could do when provoked. If the audience provoked her enough, Vihtori needed to know what he could do apart from whack her with his cane. He certainly didn’t want people demanding their money back.

A strong wind picked up and Vihtori glanced up for a split second before looking back at Buizel, whoever it was. What kind of name was that? Gripping his cane tighter, as if it was suddenly going to disappear, he took a step closer to the creature to see what she’d do. If she didn’t flinch away, which would be surprising considering his appearance, then she’d be a good petting animal to attract a bigger audience. If children demanded to go to the circus to see Buizel, it’d be perfect. Parents would have to pay, and he’d be richer.

But there was something in his way.
“Are you a new dream being?” he questioned, "Or is this just a dream form?"
He said the words like they were poison. Vihtori despised dream forms. They were stupid, and wherever they came from was stupid too.