unless I'm delusional

[fallingdream]

That window thing's back.

Nevermind that it vanished into oblivion the last time I tried to show somebody.

Still wanna go, Amykins?

Comments

[shadowchaser]

Maybe it knew Jalen wanted to tail us. And yes, I do.

[fallingdream]

Great, 'cause I'm already there.

[shadowchaser]

You-

All right, gimme a few to talk to Mabry and sneak- um, head out. Yes. I'll see you soon.

[a wild log appears]

[fallingdream]

Song is perched on a rocky outcropping above the maw, imagining that she was a cliff-dwelling dragon.

Well, it was one way to entertain herself while she waited.

[And is captured by a hungry cat]

[shadowchaser]

It took Amy just a bit longer than she expected to catch up to Song; First, she had to make sure the kids would be looked after (of course they would, but when was she not paranoid about that) and second, that Jalen would be distracted. Once that was taken care of, she made sure she had her bracelet of holding and her Ref boots on, then went in search of Song. Once she found her, she simply stood there for a moment, trying not to grin.

"You're not planning on giving it a go at flying, right?"

Re: [And is captured by a hungry cat]

[fallingdream]

"I'm working on it," was her not so reassuring reply.

She turned away from the drop and slid off her little rocky perch. "First, though, a window! Hopefully its sporadic appearance has no correlation to my coming and going. That'd be creepy, for one."

[shadowchaser]

"Oh goody...and I thought you'd be used to creepy, what with Medrau and everything." Amy gave a shudder. Good riddance to bad rubbish. "But! The Window of Mystery is more important, so lead the way."

She finally grinned, bouncing a bit from one foot to the other. Motherhood was exciting and all, but part of her did miss the exploring...as long as she managed to avoid klutzing out, anyway.

"Has Jale told you what he's got planned for Mother's Day for me? 'Cause I can't get a thing out of him except a smirk."

[fallingdream]

Song set off for the narrow path, mindfully keeping her pace sedate. She was like to take long, sure strides that left any followers behind. It took a conscious effort not to.

"Not a clue," she said with the hint of a smirk. "Now you've made me curious, though."

[shadowchaser]

Amy was used to chasing after Eli, so she could've kept up, but slow was nice. She followed close behind, keeping an eye on their surroundings. It'd kind of suck to have something random jump them.

"Damn, I was hoping maybe he'd let you in on it. I've managed to rule out breakfast in bed and dressing the kids up cute, 'cause he's done that already. And I don't think it's jewelry, 'cause he knows the ring and the locket are enough..."

She lifted a hand and played with the locket for a second before tucking it under her shirt. "Maybe it's just wild sex." Oh god, did she just say that?

[sorry for slowness]

[fallingdream]

Song, of course, took the speculation in stride. "Nah. It's gotta be something more interesting than that. Since it's mother's day, probably something stupidly adorable. He does know how to be painfully romantic when he wants to be."

The cave was not far from the top of the cliff, small and neat like a room carved into the stone. Song was unconsciously picking up her pace in anticipation as they neared it.

[S'okay ^^ ]

[shadowchaser]

"If you ask me, it's pretty damn interesting all on it's own." Amy muttered, trying to ignore the blush creeping up. She was glad Song hadn't introduced swing sets into the conversation. Yet, anyway.

"Painfully romantic...that's pretty accurate." She smiled a bit as she hurried to keep up with Song. Maybe the window would be a way around the barriers. Maybe she'd be able to get back to Heatherfield to see her grandparents.

"I miss my dog." Amy blurted suddenly. "Eli does too."

[fallingdream]

"But it's predictable," she argued. "I mean, not for Jalen, but in general. It's what couple do." When they're not spending the vast majority of their time worlds apart, she did not add.

"And predictable is not interesting." She paused as they reached the cave entrance, then slipped around the protruding rocks to disappear inside.

"Ha! Still here!"

[shadowchaser]

"Yeah, maybe..."

Amy shrugged. Sometimes predictable could be interesting, but then maybe she was just weird. She waited while Song disappeared inside, suddenly nervous. What if they went through the window, and couldn't get back? What if-

She shook it off as Song's voice rang out. Quit being a baby. Explore! Have fun. Amy slipped into the cave, blinking a few times as her eyes adjusted.

"At least there's no dragon in here."

[fallingdream]

The 'window', as she'd called it, was quite a bit too small to get through, though the term did suit its shape. It was a rectangular hole cut into the back wall of the smooth-stoned cave, lying long on its horizontal line and just above Song's eye level. As she'd described, the view was of another place entirely, with blue skies and a hint of wide open plain. It was as if a little patch of some other world had been misplaced.

[shadowchaser]

Maybe there wasn't a dragon lurking in the cave, but what was there...

So much cooler.

"What in the hell-" Amy approached the window slowly, stopping just a foot away to stare.

"This is- How exactly- This is awesome." She turned to look at Song, grinning. "The stories we're gonna have to tell the kids, I swear."

'The stories the kids are gonna have to tell us' went unsaid.

[fallingdream]

"Awesome and a little bit alarming," she tempered. "What really gets me is how it disappeared and came back. D'ya think it has to do with that whole Dreaming thing I don't get to remember?"

[shadowchaser]

"Okay, there's that."

Amy turned back to the window and eyed it some more before reaching out toward it. She stopped just short of putting her hand through and simply held it there, as if waiting for something to touch her. After a few moments she let her hand fall.

"Maybe. It was completely gone? Except for the disappearing act, it reminds me of His Dark Materials...but I need another read-through."

[fallingdream]

"Well, it wasn't visible. Hell if I know whether or not the connection was still there." If there even was any real connection. She hadn't worked up the guts to stick her hand through it or anything.

"Hadn't thought of Golden Compass, but you're right." She leaned a hand against the cave wall and eyed the window with a challenge in her eyes. It was definitely the sort of thing she'd like to poke at.

[shadowchaser]

Amy had known her long enough to recognize that look. She snorted and shook her head. "Find a stick or a rock if you want to poke. I couldn't feel anything when I had my hand up. I mean, I sorta could, but it seemed muffled. Like there was a cushion between us." That made about as much sense out loud as it had in her head.

"Maybe we should start out by marking the rock where the window is. Then we can tell if it gets any bigger."

[fallingdream]

"That's... a really good idea, actually."
She'd experimented with this particular stone already. As she'd pointed out, the cave had been in use for some years now. Fading scratches on the wall revealed previous attempts at, well, copying the Destiny Island cave, to put it bluntly.

She plucked a palm-sized stone from a small pile that looked out of place in the otherwise barren floor. This she used to score a thin, faint mark in the wall as close to the edges of the window as she could get it without sticking her hand in.

Afterwards, she threw the rock at the window and watched it bounce off, skipping back a bit to avoid having a toe smashed.

[shadowchaser]

"I'm thinking logically for once, fear for your sanity."

Well. Amy hadn't expected the cushion to be literal. She'd jumped a bit when the rock bounced off, then moved closer to stare at the window again.

"Isn't that nifty. Didn't think that would happen, thought it was just how I was interpreting the vibes."

[fallingdream]

Song picked up the stone and squinted at it, looking for signs of damage that weren't there.

"I should probably still not poke it though, huh?"

[shadowchaser]

"Ummm..."

Her hand went up again, stopping just a fraction away from the window. Still muffled. Still confusing.

"Naw, it might pop. Or maybe the stick would get stuck, like in taffy." Now where had that come from? "C'mon, talk to me already." Amy muttered, more to herself than anything that might be listening. She doubted anything was, anyway. It was only an opening.

[fallingdream]

"So I'm guessing you don't remember anything from your fun times in dreamland that could account for this?"

She tilted her head and leaned sideways, as if viewing the thing from a slightly different angle might reveal all its secrets.

"I swear, Orpheus should have left us a memo, or instruction book or something...."

[shadowchaser]

"Nooo."

It came out a frustrated whine. Whatever she had remembered seemed to slip farther away with every day that passed. She actually didn't mind much...except when it could be useful.

"Yeah, well, if he ever makes a reappearance, be sure and ask him for one. We're entitled."

Amy stuck her hands in her pockets and took a step back, glaring at the window as if the lack of proper vibes was an intentional snub on its part.

[fallingdream]

"Sooooo, until then what do we do with it? Leave it alone? Throw magic at it until it does something? Drill it out of the wall and mail it to somebody we don't like?"

She managed to say all this with the same flat tone of voice, ending with a shrug of her shoulders.

[shadowchaser]

"Just so you know, 'throw magic at it until it does something' is giving me bad ideas. Well, one in particular. Okay, two."

Amy pulled a hand free and snapped her fingers. Barrier came into being for only a few seconds before she let it fade.

"One, I make Barrier just a bit smaller than the window and try and push the cushion or whatever it is out of the way." It'd take some effort, but hey, she'd kept a pissed off dragon out of a cave with it, right?

"Or two," And here she turned to look at Song, grinning just a bit. "I try and toss up a shield big enough for the two of us to hide behind while you throw the magic of your choice at it."

They were both possibly the worst ideas ever; Jalen would be throwing fits if he knew. "The smarter thing would be to just leave it and go home to our rugrats."