Lambicorns // Festival of Dreams • Dreamland

[bakuraas.]

I'm collecting spring water!
Username: bakuraas.
Art/Writing: [573 words (short bc i'm sleepy) ]

For once, a task he had been sent out on was quiet and uneventful, much to Iso's dismay. Especially as of recent- there had to be something going on if there was a strange silence in his life after the past two days. Maybe it was just that some deity was too tired to come up with a hurdle he had to tackle today- but perhaps that was a bit too on the nose. Even so, Iso couldn't help but be a little on edge as he started to go past some of the magical landmarks, thinking that at any moment something could come around the corner and cause him problems.

Maybe someone would be following him to try and steal some of the water? Maybe someone was going to try and capture one of the fish in the spring and cause some sort of chaotic event through whatever power, if any, that the fishes had. Oh, perhaps someone might even fall into the spring and cause a ruckus and get trapped in there like the tide pools! While Iso didn't hope for any of these things to happen, they were on his mind- and he was accepting the fact that if something did happen it wouldn't be too out of the ordinary for Team Dream.

And yet, when he got there- nothing. There was no evil lambicorn trying to steal a fish or steal spring water, only a lambicorn he recognized from the dreamscape carefully filling up the vial, making sure not to bump into the fish in the spring. The fish were fine, and didn't seem to have any signs of distress anywhere around them, and there certainly wasn't anyone stuck underneath the water. Though it was peaceful, it was almost disappointing. Iso continued on however, moving to fill up the vial he had with spring water, admiring the cool feeling of the water around his paws. He actually had a moment to really breathe and take in the moment, appreciating the scene he had been allowed to see and watching the fish calmly swim in the water.

The peace seemed to carry on into the night, but eventually as multiple lambicorns started to head back home to see Nai'a once more the peace started to waiver ever so slightly. For some reason it wasn't enough to get anyone into a panic, talking about how someone lost their vial of spring water and said someone stole it. Iso was keen to believe that it was stolen, especially with the events as of recent- but he was quickly calmed by some of the other members of the team, assuring him that the lambicorn in question was clumsy already, and that they probably just assumed the vial was stolen out of anxious worry. Part of Iso wanted to go back to see if he could find it, wanting to help the poor lambicorn out. The other part of Iso, however, wanted nothing more than to go home and finish the day off by saying that he had a full day without any chaos.

He did wonder about the lambicorn that had lost their vial as he went to sleep, hoping that they had found it. After all, nobody would steal something spring water of all things... unless they were really evil. Maybe he would ask Nai'a if someone said they got their vial stolen when he got the chance... she would know, right?

[Shadow Milk]

I'm collecting spring water!
Username: malitiae
Art/Writing: Athena gave Nai’a a weird look before she vanished, a bit confused. Whatever, anything she needed to do to please the dream queen, she’d do it. Besides, this trip may serve as a little break from the craziness of the recent missions she’d gone on.
The journey was long, but peaceful. Athena spent most of her time reflecting, thinking about various unimportant things. She stopped several times along the way to say hello to the animals, and to rest her legs.
She arrived at the end of the trail, looking down at the vial of liquid. She drank it up without hesitation, feeling a bit dizzy as she began to see something that wasn’t there before. She approached the strange object, figuring it must be one of the markers Nai’a spoke of. She immediately began searching for the next marker, then the next, following them until she reached the spring.
Athena began to collect water in the vial, spotting a very strange looking fish. It eyed her as she looked at it with confusion. “Hello,” she spoke to the fish, which looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. It swam away. Athena shrugged and continued gathering water until the vial was full, then making the long journey back to Nai’a.
“Those fish are so weird... whatever did you mean when you said they were old friends? I didn’t bother them, of course, but one of them approached me and looked at me as if I was some kind of alien.” She chuckled a bit as she recalled the memory, giving Nai’a the vial of water.

[EchoIre]

New prompt is up!

-Fishy Scroll (adds small to medium-sized patches of scales to your lambicorn)
-Ancient Water (adds two additional eyes to your lambicorn in any location)
-Natural Mountain Climbing Gear (adds claws to your lambicorn's paws, can only be applied to lambie's with paws)
-Fishy Blessing (adds up to four fins of any size anywhere on your lambicorn)
-Ancient Knowledge (makes your lambicorn's eyes galaxy-like)
-Clear Water (changes one or more of your lambicorn's eyes to a shade of blue)

@bakuraas.
Nai'a seems a bit frustrated when you hand the water over. Still, you ask her if anyone's water got stolen, only to have her roll her eyes. "That's what they claim must have happened - they put it right there, you know." She shakes her head. "It's not impossible, but very unlikely. Why steal it with everybody still around? Why steal it instead of getting the water yourself? How did they get there if they weren't on Team Dream, and if they were on Team Dream, why steal someone's water when you're right by the spring?" You get the idea she isn't looking for answers, so you stay silent. Nai'a sighs. "Still, with what you told me about the traps in the forest, I guess I should be... more careful about where I send you. I swear, if it's not me and Grimm, it's something else..." She grumbles. She looks away and drums her claws against the clouds for a moment before turning back to you. "Thank you for collecting the water for me." With that, you're awake, with a strange scroll sitting in the usual place. (+Fishy Scroll)

@matilae
Nai'a chuckles with you. "That sounds about right." She's smiling as she talks. "They're not so much old friends as they are old.. pets. In a way. When I was made, so were they." She tilts the vial in her claws, holding it up in the light. Though you can barely see it, you can tell it sparkles gold and pink. "In that way, I've 'known' them for as long as I've been alive. Hence, they're like old friends. Sorta. As much as fish can be." She chuckles and shakes her head. "I hope that answers your question." Frankly, you're a bit surprised she answered so readily. And so openly too... she seems much more... at peace than you're used to. Wonder why. You wake up a moment later, and find a tattered and yellowed scroll by your bed. (+Ancient Knowledge)

You may now post for today!

[bakuraas.]

I'm trying to find dream dust!
Username: bakuraas.
Art/Writing: [695 words]
[ feat. Iso ●, and Orin ● ]

Iso had taken Nai'a's advice and gone back to many of the different places he had been before. First he had gone back home, asking his grandmother if she knew anything without any luck. Orin had joined him before he left, and of course Iso wouldn't refuse; Both because Orin was a friend, and because as a fae, he should be able to sniff out some magic anomalies, surely. Either way, Orin definitely filled the silence during the walks to the magical locations, mostly blabbering about his home life or sometimes entertaining some of Iso's questions about magic. Overall it wasn't anything too crazy.

They checked the tide pools, not being too surprised when there was nothing of note visually, it was still morning so of course the tide pools appeared normal and shallow. Iso was about to call it clear and move on, but he noticed Orin was seemingly frozen in place, his ears perked up and a slight frown over his face. "Hey... do you hear that?" Iso paused, his ears perking up slightly as he listened around him. The younger male twitched slightly as he caught a noise. It was muffled, but there wasn't much to decipher from the noise anyhow. It came from the tide pool he remembered collecting pearls from. It sounded like clacking, and though confused for a moment, Iso soon sighed with relief. "Oh, those are probably just the moon oysters. No need to worry Orin!" Iso then continued to walk off, Orin following behind, allowing a comment to leave him as they left the tidepools behind. "Weird oysters, then."

The next stop was the forest, the next logical step with Iso knowing he wouldn't be able to see the spring again without the vial, and Iso's resistance to go into the Bog of Nightmares again to check there. The morning had cleared up a bit, and some of the cuttlebeaks were flying around above the treetops. Iso's eyes were glued to the ground, looking around in case there were any traps laying around like last time. There weren't any that he could see, but to say that there weren't any traps would be a dangerous assumption. As they walked, a small shimmer caught Iso's eye, looking over to see small lightly-colored particles of dust, it wasn't a lot but it sure was a start to what Iso needed.

As Iso attempted to grab the dust, he suddenly felt his paw being wrapped up and pulled down. It happened far too fast for him to react at all until he had been dragged to the ground. He let out a scream of pain that echoed a bit in the forest, and immediately called for Orin's attention. Orin looked over and quickly ran over, gasping as he saw the state of the other's paw. Fishing line was wrapped around it, digging into the other's skin and seeming to force Iso's paw into the dirt. Orin acted quickly, and thankfully for the both of them had a much easier time biting through the fishing line than Iso would have had. When Iso released his paw from the trap, he looked at his injury, thankfully noting that nothing looked too damaged besides a little bit of an indent under his fur.

After that, Iso and Orin took it among themselves to search out more of these traps. Iso didn't expect to see many, and to be honest he didn't really keep track after the first three traps that they found, baited with dream dust and working in the same way. By the time that the duo had gone through most of the forest looking for traps, Iso looked in his bag to find that the small bag was almost completely full of dream dust. With how much he had seen on each trap, he knew that it wasn't anything good. Iso quickly rushed home with Orin, not even able to say goodbye to the other with how quickly he rushed back to his bed.

He had to tell Nai'a. Something, or someone, had been using dream dust to bait traps out there. What in Aurorae's light could they have been hunting?

[Shadow Milk]

I'm trying to find dream dust!
Username: Malitiae
Art/Writing:

[EchoIre]

New prompt is up!

-Fishy Blessing (adds up to four fins of any size anywhere on your lambicorn)
-Ancient Knowledge (makes your lambicorn's eyes galaxy-like)
-Moonlight's Voice (adds up to three glowing markings to your lambie)
-Star Pearls (adds a piece of jewelry of any type (pendant, earrings, bracelet, etc.) featuring a glowing white pearl anywhere on your lambie) (string of pearls allowed)
-Magical Mermaid (replaces your lambie's tail with a large aquatic tail)
-Dreamland Frequent (adds a tired expression to your lambie)
-Friend of Nai'a (adds one of Nai'a's bracelets to your lambie)
-Featherwishes (adds a pair of wings of any kind to your lambie, doesn't have to be on their back)
-Whispers of the Primals (adds a pair of horns to your lambie)
-Rainbow's Blessing (adds two random colors to a dreamfusion palette)
-Ancient Amulet (adds a glowing jewel amulet to you lambie)
-Strange Dreamcatcher (ups the chance for your roll by 10% at the Dreamcatcher's Tent)
-Honored Herbalist (adds vine accessories to your lambie)
-Fairy Flowers (adds a flower accessory to your lambie) ((i.e. flower crown, flowers in the mane/tail, flower bracelets, flowers at the base of the tail, etc.))
-Bottled Fae's Song (adds iridescent small to medium sized feathered wings to your lambie)
-Stardust Savant (adds a halo of glittering stardust above your lambie's head)
-Stardust Collector (adds glittering rings of stardust around your lambie's front paws/hooves)

@bakuraas.
"Traps? In the forest? Using m- using dreamdust?" Nai'a's exclaims. Her tail lashes behind her. A shadow settles over her face. "That is one too many odd occurrences. I will look into this." She looks off in the distance, her face hard, drumming her claws against the clouds. Sometimes, you actually almost forget how massive and scary Nai'a can be, until she gets like this. "Thank you for letting me know." She says after a moment, turning her attention back to you. You're awake a moment later, and find quite a large pile of gifts in the usual spot. (+Fishy Blessing, Ancient Knowledge, and Rainbow's Blessing)

@DaniCalypso
Nai'a raises an eyebrow at you. "A... clam? Did you-" She stops herself short as the clam falls open in her paw, revealing a modest amount of dreamdust inside. She makes a surprised sound. "Well, that probably wasn't healthy for it. Unless you put the dreamdust in the shell yourself, and didn't find it like this." Her middlemost eye looks up at you while her main two remain focused on the dreamdust. You nod quickly, which seems to be enough for Nai'a. "Well. Thank you for your help." The dream quickly falls away around you, leaving you in your bed. There's a large pile of stuff where Nai'a usually leaves your prizes. Wonder why today was special? (+Fairy Flowers, Magical Mermaid, and Moonlight's Voice)

@matilae
Nai'a's eyebrows rise when you show her the amount of dreamdust you found. "That's... an almost concerning amount, actually. Where did you find this?" Nai'a quickly turns her eyes on you, causing you to flinch. She shrinks slightly when she notices, and you quickly explain that you found it in the forest. "Seems there's a lot there these days..." Nai'a grumbles. Before you can ask what that means, she moves on. "Well, for your sake, I hope you didn't breathe any in. Thank you." Before you can ask what that very concerning comment means, you're awake and in your bed. You don't feel weird, so maybe Nai'a was just... being Nai'a. In any case, there's a large pile of prizes in the usual spot that distracts you soon enough. (+Strange Dreamcatcher, Whispers of the Primals, Bottled Fae's Song)

You may now post for today!

[bakuraas.]

I'm trying to find another daydream primadonna!
Username: bakuraas.
Art/Writing:
Iso was going to go out even though he felt a bit overwhelmed, but it's almost as if fate smiled down on him as one of his fathers came in holding a very interesting plant...

[bakuraas.]

I'm off to gather... more feathers!
Username: bakuraas.
Art/Writing: [720 words]
[ feat. Iso ●, Minerva ●, Phoebus●, and Pally● ]

At this point, Iso was no longer surprised by anything. In a way, he almost felt numb in response to everything that Nai'a said. However, it wasn't a painful type of numbness, it was more just an acceptance of things being chaotic but knowing that Nai'a still cared. He somehow couldn't believe how much he had fallen from how he was before because of the scavenger hunt and the events around it. He was cheerful and excited at first, but over time it just fell down more and more until it got to this point, where he couldn't bring himself to smile or frown as he got out of bed, grabbing the vial he woke up next to, collecting his gift from the previous night, and heading out to the mountains.

Both his parents saw him like this and were worried, but they simply let Iso go out on his way- only pausing him so that they could wish him well and give him a small packed lunch. After Iso went out the door, he heard a loud slamming noise. He sighed, continuing on towards the mountains because he knew what was happening. He knew especially well once he heard Minerva begin to yell.
---
"Phoebus, this is ridiculous! Did you see how he looked back there? That CREATURE has ruined my boy!" The skinny male said, his face starting to turn red with anger almost immediately. "You can't let elders do ANYTHING I tell you, all they think about is themselves!" Phoebus nodded as he heard the other speak, calmly putting his arm over the other's hoof. "Minerva, I'm sure Nai'a didn't mean for this to happen. Grimm probably doesn't understand the emotional aspect as well as most, and I don't think you can blame Lambent for wanting to help- even if it was a bit over the top-"

"WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW, PHOEBUS? YOU'VE NEVER REALLY MET AN ELDER!" Minerva blurted, pulling his hoof away and starting to shiver a bit as his voice tore at his throat. The moth-lambicorn sighed, walking over to try and console the other in some way. "Minerva, please calm down... Not all elders are like the Fae elder that you knew back then, I'm sure they didn't mean to hurt so many lambicorns..." Minerva let the other get close, but turned his head towards a small cradle in the room, holding a now watermelon-sized horizon gem with two soul-hearts swimming around inside. Minerva's voice started to break, tears falling down his face as he looked towards the gem. "And what if they are? What if they let them do this another year, what will that mean for the twins, Phoe?"

A pause, deafening silence as Phoebus tried to think of what to say; only to let the truth fall out of his mouth as he too looked over at the horizon gem. "I don't know, Minerva... I don't think anybody knows."
---
Iso's walk to the spring wasn't too interesting, simply picking up feathers he found on the way and sticking them in the fluff of his jacket. Soon enough he was sitting up near the spring tapping on some stones to make a small bit of a tune. It was far too early for things to really happen, but there were a few other lambicorn chatting among themselves. Iso soon also had someone to talk to, as he saw a pink and blue figure sit next to him, and he heard a familiar voice, though this time in a much more somber tone.

"Hey, Iso. You doing okay? You look...off." Iso tilted his head slightly in thought, only to sigh as he spoke in response. "I'm tired. I left the house today and heard one of my dads screaming. I'm pretty sure once the event ends I won't be able to go outside or do anything for at least a month...maybe even a year if I'm really unlucky. Even so, I don't blame my dads for anything... they're just worried about me, plus they're expecting twins. This is probably stressing them out a lot. Plus, it's probably not even worth it. Nobody cares about...gems or accessories or scrolls or blessings. I'm pretty sure if anyone told their parents they almost lost their paw for dumb fish magic they'd be grounded for life."

Iso then sort of collapsed on himself, slumping to the ground and keeping himself from crying. Some of the feathers in his hoodie fell out, but a lot remained as he put his paws over his head and started to sniffle. Pally's normally smiling face now showed a frown, softly patting the other on the back. He wasn't too good with comforting others in moments like this, but he thought he'd at least say what he was always told. Surely that might help, somehow.

"It'll be okay, Iso. Things like this will work out in the end. Nothing's going to be awful forever."

[EchoIre]

New prompt is up!

-Dreamy clouds (adds clouds/smoke around your lambie's paws/hooves)
-Creeping Vines (adds a vine accessory to your lambie)
-Fresh Flowers (adds up to four flowers to your lambie)
-Dream Seer (adds an extra eye to your lambie in any location)
-Plains Walker (adds a long, flowing mane to your lambie, or a short backmane)
-50 gems

@DaniCalifornia
Nai'a smiles some as you tell her about your friend's misadventures. "Well, at least she's safe." She replies distantly, carefully taking the pink flower from you. "I wouldn't take her near any other magical creatures; if she doesn't know to stay away from a dwarf gryphon's nest.." Nai'a trails off, making a disapproving sound with her tongue. You're awake a moment later, oddly enough, and find a pile of vibrant flowers in the usual spot. Wonder if any of them are special? (+Fresh Flowers)

@bakuraas.
Nai'a takes the plant carefully, shooting you a quizzical glance. Nobody else had brought back a potted plant - though it's possible she assumes this may be another gift, like the mini moss garden. Still, she doesn't seem quite all there. Nai'a thanks you quickly before making you wake. There's a few clouds hovering in the usual spot. They remind you of the dreamland, in a way. (+Dreamy Clouds)

You may continue to post for today!

[Shadow Milk]

I'm off to gather... more feathers!
Username: Malitiae
Art/Writing: