[ Pickles now has a device hanging off the strap around his neck, and that's about all that's different. He can be seen sitting near the bonfire, but a little away from it where the seats are. Hello, fire man. he spots Aventurine from a distance. ]
... Cloud? [ Gets up from his seat and puts his plate down so he can go assist Bambi... He'll grab Cloud's arm to try and stabilize him. ] Are you feeling okay?
[ Pickles is on a walk by himself to explore, but then he sees Aventurine. He goes over to greet him, but then shadows envelop the two, dragging them to a small, dark pocket dimension. Pickles is nowhere to be seen and Aventurine will now witness the following: ]
Return to Nihilism: Part 1[ The smell of Kenkel's crackers and a bowl of canned short ribs... It's Pickles's typical breakfast back home, it's just that he's outside at the moment. The little apartment where he lives with Charlton and Wendy isn't so far, and he manages to peek inside the window on the way. He would normally go further, but he stops.
He can see through the window that Charlton is preparing breakfast for... a very cute little puppy that isn't him nor Wendy. The little puppy has a shiny new collar on and Pickles, after moments of silence, starts scratching at the window with increasing agitation. Hello?? That is his breakfast!! Not the puppy's!! Let him in!! That scares the puppy and it retreats, with Charlton looking outside the window, his eyes wide in horror and pulling the curtain to block the window. Pickles doesn't stop here and goes to scratch at the front door. It eventually opens with Charlton looking visibly frightened and yells, "Go away!" and throws a rock at Pickles.
The rock hits his head and Pickles jerks back--not because of the rock, but from how visceral the response is from being told to go away from Charlton. It's weird. Charlton always wanted to do things together to the point Pickles found it exasperating about how it cut into his reading time back home. This is why he even wanted to try bringing Pickles and Wendy, two dogs, to a famous museum, even if they didn't allow pets.
...
Pickles stands there, stunned, looking up at Charlton with the face of someone who is feeling immensely betrayed. He heard wrong, right?
...
Right?
"Go! Get out of here!"
This time, Charlton throws a heavy bottle at Pickles, which he manages to sidestep to avoid. Such an emotional man, such emotions on Charlton's face that Pickles had never seen before... towards him. It looks as if he hates Pickles.
Is this really the same man who changed his life forever? He certainly smells the same, but when Pickles looks down, he pauses, saddened by the fact that it's the translator around his neck instead of the pair of goggles that acted as a collar for him.
When humans are sad, they produce tears. Pickles is aware. However, dogs do not produce tears with emotional connection, but he feels a tremendous sadness that weighs down on his heart.
But Aventurine mostly just looks puzzled witnessing all of this. One minute, he'd been with Pickles, and the next, he's watching something strange unfold before his very eyes. Where are they? Why is Pickles suddenly outside of an unfamiliar apartment?
Before he can think to search for answers, a rock is being thrown at Pickles and Aventurine lurches forward to cross the distance to get between man and dog. He doesn't get there in time to stop the heavy bottle that comes next, but when he finally does reach the threshold of the door, he's reaching out to try and shove the man back. ]
[ Aventurine does his best to shove the man back, but his hands go through Charlton. Surprise! You're a ghost! ... No, it's just that Aventurine's can't affect the memories. The outcome has been set in stone, after all. ]
Return to Nihilism: Part 2 [ The man closes the door on Pickles anyway, and Pickles scratches at it a little, but gives up and lies down in front of the closed door of a home that will never welcome him again.
Some time passes and there's a sound of a truck pulling up. Some men in uniforms come out with one of them carrying a long stick with a loop at the end of it. The others have weapons and there's a cage in the back of the truck. Maybe Charlton called them. Maybe they appeared on their own. Either way, they're set out to capture or kill Pickles. Pickles is familiar with these tactics. He has heard about it from other dogs once upon a time and it feels surreal that it is finally his turn when he thought the day would never come. He stands, lowers his body a little and deeply growls at their approach. His powers surge with the whisper of a woman that sounds distant.
The origins of every arcanist: the arcanum. He feels it running through his body. When making an exit, he knows exactly what to do.
This is what you call turning hedonism into a fetch ball, albeit in a meme format. Pickles doesn't actually grow a buff arm, but that pink ball is formed and he smacks it with his paw, making it bounce between all his opponents. The ball goes viciously fast and strong. He's not over Charlton betraying him like that, so his emotions definitely play a hand in how fast and unrelenting the fetch ball bounces between these dognappers. Pickles fetch balls them to death and the dog leaves behind a pile of blood and broken bodies lying on the ground.
Pickles is aware that he did something bad. The act of killing is frowned upon, and he doesn't have to think too hard for an example. But this is his grieving, and when he feels the arcanum feeling faint, he looks back at the front door of what used to be his home before sprinting out of the apartment area. ]
[ There had been real force behind the attempted shove, so Aventurine goes stumbling forward when his hand passes through the man's chest. He manages to catch himself enough so that he doesn't fall, and he's still reeling by what had just happened by the time the truck pulls up.
And then something far beyond his comprehension occurs. Aventurine balks as the men are balled to death. He's seen a lot throughout his life, but this? How does anyone begin to explain this??
Before he can process anything, Pickles takes off running, and Aventurine tears his gaze away from the pile of bodies to stare after him. It takes a second longer to react, and then Aventurine forces his legs to move, running after him. ]
Return to Nihilism: Part 3 (FIN) [ Pickles runs and runs. He sees that wherever he tries to go, he'll find that other humans and animals react to him much the same way Charlton did. They look horrified at him with a big side of hatred. Children see him and get scared, running away. Others call him a monster or a mangy beast. People yell and throw things at him. When Pickles tries to run away, they laugh.
Pickles ignores the people who laugh when he runs away or yell at him. He's not sure what he did to be this hated. It's strange, because he was once so popular with people asking him for interviews despite being a dog. He was famous, even though he didn't want to be. Now that he's infamous, Pickles is truly learning the hard way of what it's like to have something after it's gone. He exiles himself to the forest, where he stays there for a long, long time.
One day, he sees his reflection in a passing stream. He doesn't look like the way he used to--his bright eyes and fluffy fur aren't there anymore. The fur still clinging to his body is mangy and sparse while his eyes are glassy and dull. He looks a lot like the time when he returned from the fog on Thursday.
And at that revelation, Pickles softly howls into the forest air, with no hopes of anyone replying to him. ]
[ The actual Pickles reappears next to Aventurine, sitting on the ground, watching it all come to light. The memory fades, with the blackness of the pocket dimension welcoming Aventurine into its familiar darkness. ]
[ Aventurine remains rooted to the spot as the memory dissipates. He doesn't want to be welcomed into anything, thank you very much, but right now, his concern goes to Pickles first and foremost. He looks down at the dog next to him, so different from the one he'd just seen, haggard and wild in appearance, and the comparison is stark.
He's still trying to wrap his head around what he'd just witnessed when he asks, ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
w0 monday
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Well, looks like you didn't burn to a crisp. That's good.
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[ The little device speaks in a robotic voice:
The puppy would like to inform you that he knows how fire is dangerous. ]
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... Are you... translating for the dog?
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Woof.
[ The puppy would like to introduce you to Doggie, the best translating device made by Mr. APPLe.
Pickles snorts when it says "best". He clearly doesn't think so. ]
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[ You know what, this isn't the weirdest thing he's come across. ]
Hold on a second. [ He's got a bone to pick. ] If you knew that the fire was dangerous, why did you run toward it the first time we met?
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The puppy wanted to feel the cozy warmth of the bonfire. ]
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YOU DESERVE SO MUCH MORE THAN THIS HELLISH FREAK PIT ]
w0, tuesday.
What's Pickles up to... Aventurine is seated by the bonfire, eating some very mild breakfast. ]
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Then he barks at Aventurine. ]
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... Cloud? [ Gets up from his seat and puts his plate down so he can go assist Bambi... He'll grab Cloud's arm to try and stabilize him. ] Are you feeling okay?
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Let's get you to a seat so you don't fall over.
[ Patiently leads him toward the bonfire benches. ]
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Okay. He sits on the bonfire bench like a dog while keeping himself balanced with his two hands grabbing onto the bench for dear life. ]
Woof.
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Why are you sitting like that?
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[ ...
He blinks, looks down at himself, and then looks back at Aventurine. ]
A...woo...? Woo... Whoo.
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w2 monday
Return to Nihilism: Part 1
[ The smell of Kenkel's crackers and a bowl of canned short ribs... It's Pickles's typical breakfast back home, it's just that he's outside at the moment. The little apartment where he lives with Charlton and Wendy isn't so far, and he manages to peek inside the window on the way. He would normally go further, but he stops.He can see through the window that Charlton is preparing breakfast for... a very cute little puppy that isn't him nor Wendy. The little puppy has a shiny new collar on and Pickles, after moments of silence, starts scratching at the window with increasing agitation. Hello?? That is his breakfast!! Not the puppy's!! Let him in!! That scares the puppy and it retreats, with Charlton looking outside the window, his eyes wide in horror and pulling the curtain to block the window. Pickles doesn't stop here and goes to scratch at the front door. It eventually opens with Charlton looking visibly frightened and yells, "Go away!" and throws a rock at Pickles.
The rock hits his head and Pickles jerks back--not because of the rock, but from how visceral the response is from being told to go away from Charlton. It's weird. Charlton always wanted to do things together to the point Pickles found it exasperating about how it cut into his reading time back home. This is why he even wanted to try bringing Pickles and Wendy, two dogs, to a famous museum, even if they didn't allow pets.
...
Pickles stands there, stunned, looking up at Charlton with the face of someone who is feeling immensely betrayed. He heard wrong, right?
...
Right?
"Go! Get out of here!"
This time, Charlton throws a heavy bottle at Pickles, which he manages to sidestep to avoid. Such an emotional man, such emotions on Charlton's face that Pickles had never seen before... towards him. It looks as if he hates Pickles.
Is this really the same man who changed his life forever? He certainly smells the same, but when Pickles looks down, he pauses, saddened by the fact that it's the translator around his neck instead of the pair of goggles that acted as a collar for him.
When humans are sad, they produce tears. Pickles is aware. However, dogs do not produce tears with emotional connection, but he feels a tremendous sadness that weighs down on his heart.
He softly howls.
The puppy asks what did it do wrong. ]
no subject
But Aventurine mostly just looks puzzled witnessing all of this. One minute, he'd been with Pickles, and the next, he's watching something strange unfold before his very eyes. Where are they? Why is Pickles suddenly outside of an unfamiliar apartment?
Before he can think to search for answers, a rock is being thrown at Pickles and Aventurine lurches forward to cross the distance to get between man and dog. He doesn't get there in time to stop the heavy bottle that comes next, but when he finally does reach the threshold of the door, he's reaching out to try and shove the man back. ]
Hey! What do you think you're doing!?
no subject
Return to Nihilism: Part 2
[ The man closes the door on Pickles anyway, and Pickles scratches at it a little, but gives up and lies down in front of the closed door of a home that will never welcome him again.
Some time passes and there's a sound of a truck pulling up. Some men in uniforms come out with one of them carrying a long stick with a loop at the end of it. The others have weapons and there's a cage in the back of the truck. Maybe Charlton called them. Maybe they appeared on their own. Either way, they're set out to capture or kill Pickles. Pickles is familiar with these tactics. He has heard about it from other dogs once upon a time and it feels surreal that it is finally his turn when he thought the day would never come. He stands, lowers his body a little and deeply growls at their approach. His powers surge with the whisper of a woman that sounds distant.
The origins of every arcanist: the arcanum. He feels it running through his body. When making an exit, he knows exactly what to do.
This is what you call turning hedonism into a fetch ball, albeit in a meme format. Pickles doesn't actually grow a buff arm, but that pink ball is formed and he smacks it with his paw, making it bounce between all his opponents. The ball goes viciously fast and strong. He's not over Charlton betraying him like that, so his emotions definitely play a hand in how fast and unrelenting the fetch ball bounces between these dognappers. Pickles fetch balls them to death and the dog leaves behind a pile of blood and broken bodies lying on the ground.
Pickles is aware that he did something bad. The act of killing is frowned upon, and he doesn't have to think too hard for an example. But this is his grieving, and when he feels the arcanum feeling faint, he looks back at the front door of what used to be his home before sprinting out of the apartment area. ]
no subject
And then something far beyond his comprehension occurs. Aventurine balks as the men are balled to death. He's seen a lot throughout his life, but this? How does anyone begin to explain this??
Before he can process anything, Pickles takes off running, and Aventurine tears his gaze away from the pile of bodies to stare after him. It takes a second longer to react, and then Aventurine forces his legs to move, running after him. ]
no subject
Return to Nihilism: Part 3 (FIN)
[ Pickles runs and runs. He sees that wherever he tries to go, he'll find that other humans and animals react to him much the same way Charlton did. They look horrified at him with a big side of hatred. Children see him and get scared, running away. Others call him a monster or a mangy beast. People yell and throw things at him. When Pickles tries to run away, they laugh.
Pickles ignores the people who laugh when he runs away or yell at him. He's not sure what he did to be this hated. It's strange, because he was once so popular with people asking him for interviews despite being a dog. He was famous, even though he didn't want to be. Now that he's infamous, Pickles is truly learning the hard way of what it's like to have something after it's gone. He exiles himself to the forest, where he stays there for a long, long time.
One day, he sees his reflection in a passing stream. He doesn't look like the way he used to--his bright eyes and fluffy fur aren't there anymore. The fur still clinging to his body is mangy and sparse while his eyes are glassy and dull. He looks a lot like the time when he returned from the fog on Thursday.
And at that revelation, Pickles softly howls into the forest air, with no hopes of anyone replying to him. ]
[ The actual Pickles reappears next to Aventurine, sitting on the ground, watching it all come to light. The memory fades, with the blackness of the pocket dimension welcoming Aventurine into its familiar darkness. ]
no subject
He's still trying to wrap his head around what he'd just witnessed when he asks, ]
What was that?
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The puppy says it was the adventure he went on last Thursday. ]
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That's why you were acting like that...
feel free to drop since it's been too long!
(no subject)