Sharp Teeth and Magic Crowns // O/O // Closed

"I had a dream that these monsters came. I was hoping it would be a nightmare, not a prophecy."

Laurel had been having some strange dreams lately, filled with shadowy monsters with white smiles and sharp claws– and a beautiful person as well, but she didn't really dwell on that. She had put it down to an overactive imagination and too many horror novels before bed. But then she meets that beautiful person from her dreams– and the monsters appear in her town. In order to banish the monsters to their own world, Laurel must team up with the person from her dreams and find a magical crown. Supposedly, it can grant someone the power to defeat the Shadow King, a sorcerer who unleashed the monsters upon Laurel's world. It will be a difficult journey, but Laurel is determined to succeed.

Rules and Stuff!

• All of andrew (Our Supreme Lord and Overseer)'s rules apply!

• So basically, you would be the 'beautiful person' and I would be Laurel.

• There can be romance in this you want– I don't really care– but it wouldn't be the main story.

• The characters probably wouldn't have any sort of magical abilities unless they found an item that gives powers to them, so… try to keep them a normal human. (I'll probably shove some magical items in your hands at some point, so don't worry. :)

• Please try and answer consistently. If something comes up in your life, just tell me! I'll totally understand.

• I might ask for a writing sample, but probably not. Just spell words correctly and have proper grammar and we'll be fine. A few mistakes are fine, though (we all do them).

• I'd like to only know what your character looks like and what their name is, so I'll only be posting a physical description of Laurel if someone joins.

• If you have any questions, just ask me!

(Yeah, sure!)

(Of course! Okay, this is Laurel's description. Could you please post a description of your character? It doesn't have to be too detailed, but it can if you want it to be. :)
Laurel is 5'9", with light olive skin and blonde hair cut into a pixie. Her eyes are light green and she has a sprinkling of freckles across her nose. She's slender and usually wears comfortable jeans, a t-shirt, and worn boots or tennis shoes.

(Nah. If you want to include it, you can, but I'm not requiring it.)

(He sounds lovely! Alright, I'll get a starter up at some point today. :)

(Yikes, this took a little longer than I wanted it to…)
The grass below Laurel's feet reminded her of frost. White, crackling under her feet, and cold. It was cold there, she could remember that much. There were trees too, dark and foreboding at the edge of her vision. Lurking just beyond the tree line were shadowy figures, though Laurel couldn't tell if they were masked by shadow or made by it. They flitted between trees, always in the corner of her eye. And directly in front of her was a boy. Most of his face was blurred, but she could make out blue eyes and dark hair. He didn't say anything, just stood as still as a statue. She turned to look the other way only to see one of the figures peeling away from the forest and stalking towards her. Laurel took a step backward and ran into something solid. Warm hands gripped her arms and a soft, feminine voice whispered–
"Hey, watch it!" Laurel jumped and looked up, angry that her line of thought had been interrupted. She stepped aside to avoid the group of people walking the other way and tried to recall where she was. That mysterious person had whispered something to her, right? What had it been…
"Oh, right. They are coming. Spooky." She laughed softly and turned into the ice cream shop. Summer was almost coming to an end, and she wanted to make the most out of what was left of it. The inside was blissfully cool, filled with other people looking to escape the heat for a while. She spotted a group of people she knew and went over to say hello, then stepped into the line for ice cream.

(Alright, there's no rush!)

(Oh, you’re good! To answer your question, Arlo would probably know a little– about as much as Laurel, actually. He’s probably had close to the same dream as her. So, sketchy monsters and "They are coming".)

Laurel resisted the urge to sigh dramatically at the length of the line– it had been five hours (five minutes) and she was still in the back half of the line. With the intention of seeing the board with all the flavors on it, Laurel stepped back, accidentally stepping on what she thought to be someone's foot. "Oh, I'm so sorry–" She spun around to apologize to whoever the foot belonged to, her eyes momentarily latching onto someone passing the shop. Someone with blue eyes and dark hair. She knew someone who looked like that. She'd just had a dream with them in it. "Oh, this is insane…" Laurel made a split-second decision and jumped out of the line, weaving around people and bursting out of the shop. He couldn't be the man in her dream… could he? Did things like that even happen? Skidding around the corner, Laurel walked as fast as she could towards him, her mind going a hundred miles an hour. What would she say to him? Something along the lines of, hello, I had a dream about shadow monsters and you were in it! 'They are coming'! would probably be too straightforward. And it would scare him away, which was not what she was going for.
"Ah, excuse me?" Laurel tapped the man on the shoulder. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about the phrase "they are coming", would you?"

The man turned around and said something she'd never thought she'd hear. "You… you do?" Laurel stared at him, feeling slightly relieved that she could finally see his face. He looked hopeful, about as hopeful as she felt. Maybe, now that they'd (somehow) met, she'd get some answers.
"Uh, yeah, I did. With those monsters and the freezing woods?" Half of her mind was screaming at her that this wasn't really happening, that she was going crazy. And the other half was laughing hysterically. It was a miracle she was actually making complete sentences.
"I don't really know… just the dream. I know there's something in the woods, but so do you. Probably." She shrugged slightly and looked around, half-expecting one of those mysterious figures to leap at her. A shadow slid over the sun and Laurel shivered at a sudden cold breeze.
"Do you–" Laurel began, intending to ask him if he had any idea who "they" were. Her eye caught a movement on the wall of the building near them. The shadow of a person slid along the wall, which was creepy because one, there was no sun and two… there wasn't a person to cast the shadow in the first place.
"Gah! It's one of them!" Laurel wildly pointed towards the shadow, though it disappeared behind a tree a second after she yelped.

(boop)

(Okay!)

"I– I mean, I thought I did." Laurel continued staring at the place where the shadow had been, trying to spot the tiniest clue that she was, in fact, not crazy. "It was a shadow of a person, but it looked all wrong, and there wasn't actually a person there!" She took a big breath and looked back at Arlo. Her heart was beating faster than it should be, and her mouth was so dry she almost couldn't swallow. "Well, I guess we're both real now." A soft, breathy laugh escaped from her lips as she looked back at the wall. "Given all the evidence, I guess we have to accept that we are both screwed. I mean–" Laurel was cut off by a loud clicking sound. It rang out through the streets, causing people to stop what they were doing and look around in bewilderment. After a few seconds, the noise started to fade, leaving only a ringing in Laurel's ears.
"Mommy, look at the sky!" A little girl's voice rang out from the silence, loud and full of wonder. Almost in slow motion, Laurel tipped her head back to look at the sky. Instead of the normal light blue, it was now darker, almost navy blue, with strange streaks of purple and black. It was almost like looking at one of those pictures of galaxies people liked to use as backgrounds.
"Uh…" Laurel tore her eyes away from the sky to look at Arlo, feeling like her head might explode. "The… the sky? It's… what?"

(Arlo does not know the woman Laurel mentions.)
"Agreed. I, uh, my place is on the outskirts, kinda. I don't know anywhere else to go, really, unless you have a better idea." Laurel glanced at Arlo, noting the sudden change in tone. She hoped that she could trust him because there really wasn't anyone else to talk about this with. "We should probably leave before people start rioting or something," she continued, looking around at the people. They were all talking amongst themselves, pointing at the sky. Some were screaming about aliens, others about the apocalypse, and some were simply just standing there in shock. Laurel sighed and turned back to Arlo, only to find his eyes locked onto hers. She instinctively stepped back a tiny bit at the tone of his voice. It was probably just because of all the new stuff, she told herself, but it still bothered her a bit.
"Umm…" She searched through her memories, trying to remember what happened after the person whispered to her. They'd let her go, then the monster that had come from the woods had lunged at her, and–
"There was a woman." The words burst from her mouth, along with a new memory. "She… had this crown on. And a staff in her hand." She frowned, another memory hovering just at the edge of her mind. "She… she said… 'They are coming, Laurel. Find him, and find these, and you might survive to meet the King'. And she pointed at the crown and staff. What do you think? You saw her too, right?" She looked at Arlo quizically. Surely, he'd seen the woman too.

(Just checking if I need to reboot this or not!)

(Okay, cool!)

"Oh." The word was small and hardly heard over the growing noise. Laurel wasn't sure what to think about the fact that the woman had only shown up for her. What did it mean? She glanced up at the sky, which was still weird. The air was still cold– that first cold breeze didn't seem to have gone away.
"I mean, she might be able to. Unfortunately, I have no idea where to find her." Laurel turned back to Arlo. "But you're right, we shouldn't talk here. My place is this way." She started walking down the street away from the center, hoping he would follow her. Once they got to her place, what would they do then? Analyze the dream until nothing remained? Fall asleep and hope for a dream to guide them? Laurel navigated around a clump of people and glanced over her shoulder to make sure Alro was still with her. Losing him in the crowd would be a disaster since the mystery lady had said that she needed "him". Laurel could only hope she meant Arlo.

The path Laurel followed was so familiar she didn't really need to think about it. Which meant she could focus on the problem at hand: their impending doom. Unfortunately, Laurel was so worried about what the future held– if it existed at all– that she couldn't focus on anything but the sidewalk in front of her. Otherwise she might break down. It was a toss-up between laughing and crying at the moment. They rounded a corner and Laurel looked over her shoulder at Arlo.
"It's only a few more blocks before we get there." She offered him a weak smile, then looked forward again. And froze. Standing about a block away from them was a figure. Laurel couldn't make out details, but she was pretty sure it was one of the monsters from the dream. Standing about 7 feet tall was a figure made of void-black… something. It wasn't moving, but she had the feeling it was getting a feeling for the area.
"This way!" Laurel unfroze and took a few quick steps towards a space between two buildings. It would seem they would be taking the long way.