March Mingle

[kollomods]

There have been waterlilies throughout summer, clustered around the shorelines and butting up against the jetty. Sometimes they've bloomed, sometimes they haven't, but it's never been quite like this. They're everywhere now, even as we move into autumn. They crowd the beach, they give the ferry a hard time to land, they practically fill the lake end to end — and they're all blooming in golden yellow and bright white.

It's unnatural, in so many ways. Beckoning. Come closer. ]

EVENT INFO

Comments

[norrhamn_residents]

[ Please don't drown in the lake when they've gone to such efforts not to drown her themselves! ]

Of course! You've never heard a horse talk before?

[burntviolet]

... No. F-... Frankly, I haven't.

[ She must be hallucinating, her ears must have caught some spell, but she wouldn't be in this position of none of this was real... ]

We don't have t-talking animals where I live...? [ Do parrots count? She's too shaken to even think about it deeply. ]

[norrhamn_residents]

We don't have that here either, for the most part... but not everything is as it seems. [ The voice is soft and melodic, soothing. ]

I am the Brook. This is my lake.

[burntviolet]

[ It registers in her head in a struggle. Like her mind is racing way too fast to understand at the moment. ]

Brook... [ She murmurs, trying to calm her heartbeat. ] Um-... I'm Hanako. What do you mean with this being your lake?

[norrhamn_residents]

It's a pleasure, Hanako. [ The horse motions to the lake, which isn't hard to do considering they're in the middle of it. ]

Exactly that - it's my lake. A part of me, if you will.

[burntviolet]

[ Hanako looks over her surroundings with even the most uncertainty. She only has more questions. ]

How long have you b-been here...? And... do the townsfolk know about you?

[norrhamn_residents]

I've been here as long as the lake. Long before anyone else settled on this island. [ They are one and the same. ]

And they know. We have an... understanding. They wouldn't be too happy to hear you've been talking to me.

[burntviolet]

... Really? How come?

[ Something tells her she won't like the answer. ]

[norrhamn_residents]

Because they'd rather pretend I wasn't still here.

[ It's a dramatic statement, but the situation calls for it. He has a chance to get newcomers on his side here. ]

[burntviolet]

Have you... done something that displeased them?

[ An even heavier question. Holding back and hiding away out of fear is the opposite of what she came to the island for. ]

[norrhamn_residents]

They are ashamed of their past. I remind them of a time when we had a much stronger bond... when the people of this island respected the forest and all of us who live in it.

Now, they're only interested in clipboards and machine oil.

[burntviolet]

[ Though it's not a crushing revelation, she's still thrown back by the answer. ]

I had assumed the people here were plenty respectful of nature. Perhaps it was just a way to attract visitors like me, but...

[ She trails off for a bit, unsure of how to continue. ]

I always thought they were kind people.