[Catch-All]

[heseesonlyher]

Who: Old Man Nier and YOU
Which: Open Log + Interactive Dream
Where: Reverein fields, the town itself, Nier's home village
What: Catch-All for March 2022. Old Man tends fields and mends fences. Old Man picks up orange hate feathers. Old Man picks herbs for Jude and co clinic. Old Man dreams of his home town where no one there seems to know him at all.
Warnings: Probably nothing worth mentioning. Will update as necessary


01. 'Spring'ing into Action

[Just the thought of working in the fields makes him think of older, more simpler days. Although he supposes in retrospect, there was nothing simple about them. Yonah had once asked him to grow her watermelons and somehow, he'd managed to accomplish it. Never does he consider himself an accomplished man of gardens and growing, but when he thinks about the amount of time he spent trying to cultivate a Lunar Tear, then he supposes he might be underestimating himself.

It's provided him a great reason to busy himself. To busy his thoughts. To think less about what happens when he leaves. If he leaves. If the others leave. He wants none of this. Instead, he's focused on the situation at hand. Or at least, he pretends he is. Honestly, he's more caught up in his thoughts than he'd like to be.

Fences are where he's chosen to begin. A decent number of them were damaged and before any planting can begin, they'll need to be tended to. He's in the process of covering some breaks, knelt down, pensive and probably up until the next few moments, has likely been a little quiet. Whether it's approaching footsteps or those being led elsewhere, he's not shy about speaking up.]

Get me that hammer, would you? I left it back there somewhere.

[He jerks his right hand over his shoulder indicatively. Help an old man out?]

02. I'm Not Angry; You're Angry!

[There's no shortage of things to be done in Reverein and Nier is usually more than happy to keep himself occupied by taking on any number of requests from the locals, which seem to be growing in number as the days go by. Gathering feathers seems like a relatively monotonous and unexciting task, which means it ought to be something he can get done in short order.

He's wandering around the town and along its outskirts to gather them, looking high and low. By this point, he's already managed to collect a few, which he has tucked into his somewhat barbaric-looking garb. Nier's a man with a lot of heart, though more than once he's lost his cool in the face of the circumstance. Where he'd normally be a rather patient man, it seems said patience is in absent supply today.]

Hey. You just gonna stand there, or do you feel like moving?

[He's had days where he was nicer.]

03. Go Green or Go Home

[When Jude announced the opening of the clinic, Nier was very quick to jump onto the idea of being able to supply him regularly with useful herbs, plants, and other like things in the forest. It reminds him of the times he's done something of the same for Popola. The names might change, but the situation always seems to be the same. In that respect, it's kind of nice. Something familiar. Just the thought leaves him comforted.

Whatever reason you might have for being out there, it won't be hard to spot him. Nier doesn't blend in well with the surroundings. On the contrary, he kind of stands out. And if he finds you, there's a very good chance he'll be nosy and want to figure out what you're up to. Why not lend him a temporary travelling partner?

Don't mind him as he's huddled down close to the ground, trying to get up a plant without destroying it completely.]

04. Home is Where the Heart Is (Unless You're Nier) - Interactive Dream

[...What is this place? It's a seemingly quiet and laid-back village, many of the structures appearing rundown and touched by the elements of time. There are people by the fountain not far from a dilapidated house.

Up the hill, along a variety of wooden steps that are in slight disrepair, there's a library with no shortage of books and a room that doesn't seem to make much sense.

Gates exist in different cardinal directions that lead outside of the village, each guarded for the safety of the village inhabitants.

Down in the market plaza, there's no shortage of item shops, and a plethora of relatively friendly villagers, who are ever willing to ask for assistance with their daily errands. A tavern, where a pretty girl named Devola plays music and sings a song. And on the docks behind, a little boat willing to take you to places called Seafront and some other main settlements that exist outside of the village.

It's a nice place, if not a little bit sparse. But it's the place that he calls home. He can easily be found wandering through the town, into the library, but spends the most amount of his time at his house, perhaps with his face in a very particular diary. His daughter, Yonah, is also here, and she may seem a little perplexed about what you're doing in her house, but she'll be very polite.

It's no real big surprise to him personally, but it seems like no one in this town knows a Nier. Not even Yonah. Who could this mysterious man be?]


[OOC: Please feel free to wander around the village by yourself, with a friend, or visit Nier. Character thoughts and feelings may affect the surroundings and the things witnessed, or experienced in this place.
Please also forgive how small these images seemed to be. Evidently larger images from Gestalt are difficult to come by. I may update these at a later point.
There is no restricted access to the town and its inhabitants. Do note that given this is also Brother Nier's home village, he has the same influences that Old Man Nier has here.]

05. Wildcard

[If the above don't strike your fancy, please select this option for whatever something special we might be doing. You can plot with me via PMs, discord (available upon request), and by contacting me via ofthesky.]

Comments

1!

[inveilsible]

[ Sana prefers to stay busy and given how the people and fairies around do need assistance with several things, it's basically the least she can do. Never mind that she's never worked a field before, she'd played a mobile game where she'd raised cows and built MANY MANY WALLS to keep them safe and this is maybe 3% nostalgic because of that.

But this isn't so bad. She can gather seeds. She has gathered seeds and she's tentatively inching her way along, being as nonintrusive as possible, when the man working on one of the fences suddenly speaks.

Sana jumps, only barely managing to hold onto her handful of seeds in time and hastily slipping them into a pocket. Her? Is he talking to her??

This is never going to not be strange. ]

Um-- y-yes? One moment... please...

[ And she turns abruptly to go find the hammer, stumbling over a furrow and only catching herself right before she falls. She'll return soon enough, silently placing the hammer down beside him. ]

[heseesonlyher]

[Honestly, it's fault for not actually looking and just assuming that the next innocent passerby is in any position to actually lend him assistance. It's not as though he can't just... get his hammer himself either. All the same, he hears the retreating footsteps and assumes either he'll find a hammer near him soon enough, or they will have simply disappeared and he'll have to retrieve it himself anyway.

Beggars cannot be choosers, right? Nier assumes he's in no place to be particularly finicky.

His attention turns when Sana places the hammer down beside him. When he needs it, he finds it there and settling a hand upon it, draws his attention onto her.]

Thanks.

[A... kid? Looks like a kid. What's she doing out here? Shouldn't she be leaving the harder stuff to the adults? No. That's not fair. Yonah's done plenty of stuff that she shouldn't have had to.]

Feel like helping me some more? I'm gonna hammer these together, but it might help to have someone holding them.

[inveilsible]

[ It's fine, she doesn't really look like she's capable of being useful. And she startles a bit when he speaks to her, poised on her heels as though she's ready to bolt like a deer in the Nier equivalent of headlights.

But he... wants help. Her help?

Oh, she definitely can't mess this up. ]

Um... the boards? I-I can try... to hold them steady, I mean.

[heseesonlyher]

Yeah. That's all you have to do.

[He makes it sound so easy, but truthfully it's probably not that simple. Mending fences is hard work, doesn't matter how little or large the body is doing the mending. Two pairs of hands are always better than one.

Nier beckons her over to join him and he demonstrates where he wants her to hold the fence in place.]

Just hold it together. I'm not going to hammer it super hard.

[inveilsible]

O-okay.

[ She looks like she's Absolutely Braced for him to hammer it super hard, from the grip she's got on the wood once she settles, but. At least it should be a steady one! No boards will go flying today!! ]

01 gotta get two old men springing in to work (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ

[steadypulse]

[The moment he'd heard that the farmers, the few that there were, needed help 76 had gone to work almost immediately. He already spent a lot of time out there, pitching in for work and tending animals; whatever it was he could do. Growing up on a farm made the work nearly second nature despite how long he'd spent as a soldier- and as a figurehead.

It was good work, and it made him a familiar face that they didn't mind having around. Knew he could get some good pointers from them whenever he needed something, too.

He'd been passing by, a dragon and a yetox attached to an old topless wagon following along. Wagon already had a good bit of debris and the like piled in to it-]

Yeah, sure.

[Hammer spotted, 76 picked it up and moved over to place it in to the other man's hand.

Face guard of his mask was in place, and the hood of his jacket drawn up- there was no hiding the slight glow to blue eyes in the bit of shadow the hood made.]

Need a hand other than that? Mending fences can be harder than with an extra set.

I AM SO READY FOR ALL OF THIS. OLD MEN POTENTIAL BESTIES.

[heseesonlyher]

[He hears the turn of wagon wheels, which isn't so surprising in the grand spectrum of things. Farms tend to need larger objects and it's just not feasible for people to be lugging that kind of equipment around. Although if he's honest, it's not like Nier's ever had much of a farming background. He's not about to consider the fields next to his house to be anything equitable because they're just... not.

When the hammer hits his hand, he turns his attention onto the owner of the voice that greets his ears. It's not a... a face he knows. It's not a complete face at all, but that's not really the point.]

Yeah, actually.

[Who is he to turn down free help when it's being extended? He'd love to claim he can do everything alone, but honestly, anytime he's gotten somewhere, it's been because others have assisted. And he's grateful.

He cracks a lopsided smile.]

If you're offering, make yourself at home.

S A M E. LET THE OLD MEN HAVE OLD MEN FRIENDS

[steadypulse]

[His had tipped a bit, some bit of a nod in greeting as he pressed a hand over the end of the blue dragon's nose lightly, keeping her in place. Which had the dragon sitting, feathered wings tucked back, and showing she had a worn leather harness on, a few pouches there at her chest.

In turn the creature pulling the wagon stilled as well after turning to a spot to graze once it was unhooked from the wagon. No sense in leaving it to stand in one place, right?]

Yeah, old hand at farm work- including fence mending.

[Which was reason enough to stop by and help, even if the one it was being offered to was doing a good job. Made the work a little easier.

Was moving to the other side of the fence, bit of a hop over, and all the better to hold things in place.]

Reason I'm out here, and it never hurts to be on a farmer's good side.

[Or a farmer's wife- you could get some good gossip, along with good meals once lunch or dinnertime hit.]

[heseesonlyher]

[He wonders, for just a moment, if the animals intend on helping too, though he supposes it might be a little insulting to just refer to them as animals. They aren't shades, so he's pretty open to whatever assistance is about to come his way.]

So this is probably just another day in the life, eh?

[Nier grins before he continues, nodding along. He doesn't know any of the farmers, but 76 has a good plan of action. Better to make friends than enemies and he supposes he's technically been doing that with all of the other locals. Why should a farmer be any different?]

Only experience I've got here was a pretty unimpressive field outside of my house back home. Used to grow some things. Nothing real exciting. Some vegetables. Wheat. Rice. Did some crossbreeding of flowers. That kind of thing.

[None of these things look like they make sense coming from someone who looks like him. Somehow, he gets the feeling he's in Good Company.]

[steadypulse]

Bit nostalgic- before this place, been years since the last time I stepped on a farm.

[Reason he kept coming back out here, felt like some piece of him lost and gone was just on some horizon- but he never reach out for it. No, he kept his head down and did the work that needed to be done. Help make sure there'd be enough food to go around.

More so for people who wanted to cook their own food, rather than trust the literal fae.]

I grew up helping work a farm- family owned, smaller side of things. Help my mother in her flower garden, learned a lot about herbs from her, too. Still, good essentials to have growing for you. Crossbreeding flowers isn't all that easy, so it's not too bad if you ask me.

[This was a man who went so far as to add orange zest to making pancakes from scratch. Good Company indeed.]

Going Green

[zomboii]

[ Papa Nier is not the only out and about in these woods--a certain zombie is also on the prowl; on a mission, if you will. Not from the job board in town. This mission is a personal one: a hunt...for food.

Your average person would probably forgo the forest in lieu of heading to a shop or store. They might even opt to cook their own food, which is certainly much more easy than stomping around in the woods stalking woodland critters. When you come from a post-apocalyptic world where the era of food convenience is a long-gone dream and you happen to have a diet which consists of "meat meat meat", though...

Well, you stomp around in the forest stalking woodland creatures.

He's got his eyes set on a particularly plump-looking hare now though; he's zeroed in on it, poised and ready to go. He shifts his weight to lean into a crouch--and that's when one of the twigs beneath his feet gives with a loud snap! the hare takes off like a shot. ]

Uh--!

[ His take-off is not so graceful as the hare's. He starts. Stumbles--then immediately trips over an exposed root and winds up crashing face-first into the underbrush in such spectacular display that it sends all the birds in the immediate area fleeing. Anything and everything within half a mile can hear the ruckus he just caused. ]

[heseesonlyher]

[Whatever thoughts Old Man Nier has got going up inside of that melon of his are shattered immediately upon the echoing of what... sounds like the snap of tree branches. It takes him only mere breaths to rise to full stature. It takes him only a few more to reach for the great two-handed sword that remains strapped to his back, taking it into hold.

He strafes carefully, as quietly as a man of his size can possibly muster, and what should cross his path than an utterly panicked hare. He's not inclined to stop the circle of life and there's no doubting that bigger beasts than rabbits are going to make a meal out of them, but...

Well. Sometimes those beasts are tempted to make a meal out of a man, as well. Better safe than sorry, honestly. What he finds as he proceeds in the direction that the hare was running from was no grand beast at all, but rather a—

—Is that a boy?]

You okay, kid?

[Which, in retrospect, seems an awful silly question for him to ask, but no one could ever accuse Nier of being the sharpest tool in the proverbial shed.]

[zomboii]

[ Some people have brains, some people have rippling muscles gifted unto them by the gods themselves. Some people are undead and uncoordinated at the best of times--and a bit deaf. It takes a few seconds for him to draw his arms in and push himself up onto his knees, only to see a pair of feet in front of him. Big feet. In boots!

His head snaps up and up, and up...to see the tallest, buffest person he has ever had the honour to lay his eyes upon. Like dang. Nier is built like a brick wall. He's never seen so many muscles on a person before.

If he knew it was rude to stare he might not be doing so much of it, but since he doesn't... ]

Ouuuuh...

[ is this man a pirate angel ]

[heseesonlyher]

[yarrr hee harr harr]

[He cocks an eyebrow, taking several moments just to assess a situation that he can only guess as to how it's come to be the present moment. The boy simply could have tripped. It'd be more than enough to send a hare in the opposite direction, given how very flighty they tend to be. Nier would much rather chase down sheep for mutton than hares.]

Is that you sayin' you're hurt, or what?

[He doesn't speak in 'ouuuuuh's or related sounds, nonsensical words, whatever one might want to classify them as.]

If you are, you're gonna have to tell me where. And if you're not hurt, let's pick you up and set you straight, eh?

[zomboii]

[ Oh--right, he should probably do something other than gawk here huh? Just give him a second or two here Nier, gotta fix that slack jaw of his and quickly stand, brushing himself off. ]

Auh--

[ Right, right. Those sounds don't help. Doing as he's been shown before, he brings a hand up and points to an ear, shaking his head to show that he can't hear. It's a very useful gesture he wishes he'd known about at any other point in his life before now. It would've been so handy :c ]

02!

[shithogs]

[Looking for feathers isn't all that exciting, but it's a quick and easy job, as far as Kainé's concerned, and all of the rewards for those really do add up— not to mention the good will they foster with the locals, something she's enjoying banking a whole lot of more than she's willing to admit. It's a nice change, having people be grateful for the things you do to help them, protect them.

She could get used to this. She's finally starting to get why Nier is always so quick to pick up odd jobs wherever he goes.

Speaking of whom, today it almost feels like they've traded places. She raises both eyebrows as she hears his voice come from behind her, turning to look at him over her shoulder with a feather in hand.]

Damn, who pissed in your breakfast this morning?

[Wasn't her, she swears.]

[heseesonlyher]

No one. You're just in my way. So... move.

[He's always sounded gruff. That's just how he is. Maybe it's what he's been through. Maybe it's just because of circumstance. Either way, even he can't help thinking that maybe he sounds... just a touch more irritated than he normally does. He's had his moments of one-track minded anger, though it's usually been directed at the shades.

Maybe there's an inner Nier wondering what the hell has gotten into him. Or maybe Kainé is rubbing off onto him. Finally. Hasn't she told him before that he's too nice? She should be happy that for once he's not all sunshine and rainbows.]

If you need some help doing that, I can make that happen.

[He leans down to her, setting a hand atop her shoulder. He seems very willing to just push her aside. Leave the feather gathering to him, little girl.]

[shithogs]

[Considering how often she does complain that he's too nice to people, she can't necessarily say she's opposed to seeing him take a harder stance, but it feels decidedly unlike him. He's always gruff, sure, sometimes he's even short, but he's never been an asshole— that paired with his annoying persistence were what had convinced her to tag along with him in the first place.]

Hey, no need. I can move my own ass.

[She puts both hands up as she steps to the side, but her gaze never leaves his face, brows drawn downwards as her shoulder pulls away from his grasp.]

The hell is wrong with you today?

[heseesonlyher]

[She moves and perhaps, in this instance, that's the wisest course of action. He knows he's practically built out of chiselled stone. It'd be all too easy to hurt her, which is a thought lingering in the back of his mind, easily drowned out by whatever growing annoyance is creeping up along him. And annoyance must be something of an understatement. He doesn't even know how to describe it.

He begins to move past her and at her question, Nier pauses sharply. Turning his attention onto her intently, he simply remains rooted, the feathers he's gathered in firm hold.]

You got a problem?

[Yes. Of course she does. Him. He's the problem.]

[shithogs]

[Even on Nier's best days, stubbornness is something the two of them have in common. She'd learned a long time ago to pick her battles when it comes to him, though they usually have a different tone— she's the one who's sharp and prickly, who usually needs to be pushed into seeing reason.

He looks back at her, and she folds her arms in front of her chest, lips pursed as she looks him up and down. Aside from the scowl, he looks normal, and even that isn't so out of place, even if she wouldn't expect it in this situation.]

Yeah, I do. You're acting like—

[Her, honestly. Her with a stranger, more specifically, which is something they're both a long way from being able to consider one another.

She scoffs, shaking her head.]

You've got a real fuckin' chip on your shoulder, that's all. I thought that was my job. You're all friendship speeches and 'help the common man' and all that crap.

For Kiki — @longsilence

[heseesonlyher]

[Whenever Nier thinks of the Forest of Myth, he remembers the leader. The others who were locked into their dreams. That silent, sombre disease that threatened to pull its victims into a world of endless slumber. In many ways, the world that Reverein lingers in makes him think of it. It's also a dream world and sometimes Nier feels like he's just infinitely drifting through a dream that he can't rouse himself from. Even if he were to, he has no world in which to return. There's no place waiting for him. No person waiting for him.

Nier is a man without a home. Without a country. Without a region. Without a soul who would know him. He has only himself and the purgatory that he's imposed upon himself in the name of what he believed to be the right course of action.

The Forest of Myth that he finds is the same one that he's familiar with. A quiet and eerie silence lingering in the air where it's as if he can hear every creak of a tree branch and every whisper of the wind that flutters past the ear. The people in the forest, few in number they are, the tree in the centre that seems to be the one connected to all of the others, it's just as he remembers it. Except the people are sleeping. In this dream world of his, they sleep.

...He wonders why. He's saved them, after all. Not just once.

His footsteps echo as he moves past barren trees, lacking the lush greenery that would make them more welcoming. Instead, they look like the frightening dark arms belonging to a monster in a children's story book. The last time he was here, he had Weiss. Kainé. Emil. Now he has only himself.

Why has he come here? A familiar feeling tugs upon his heart. Something heavy with burden and ache.]

cw: suicidal thoughts

[longsilence]

[The only nice thing about the Mizuhanome System was that she could dream and forget. Over and over for each Id well, she would become Kaeru, die, rinse and repeat. She would never remember her true self, and each death would not build up in her mind unless awoken. Such deep sleep was how a part of her heart was able to heal. Only a fraction, but it was something. She has been blessed with no dreams since her arrival in Songerein-- which, in itself, has been an almost-perfect haven for her. The only downside is remembering; she may not have to die in her dreams or in this one, but the memories still creep upon her waking mind. Distractions and learning how to...simply be around people have helped greatly.

But that doesn't mean others don't dream.

Since learning about dreamwalking, Kiki has avoided all lanterns she's noticed in passing. Her powers may have been restrained, but it's better not to test new waters. Who knows how she could affect the dream, the dreamer, or even herself. The last thing she wants is to become broken (again) within this sort of paradise. Curiosity would not even tempt her to voluntarily peek. In fact, the moment she spots the active dream lantern, the psych turns to walk away only for something to grab her roughly...

Kiki remembers herself. That alone is enough to send a chill down her spine. This is also not an Id well, therefore she does not know the truth of this world. Would she corrupt this dream now, would she be fated to die? And...who was she meant to be? The length and color of her hair is different, but without a mirror she's not sure what else has changed. Except she could care less about appearances. This desolate place practically screams death, and any sort of sound that breaks the silence makes her startle.

If she must die, shouldn't she just get it over with?

It's a thought that crosses her mind as she sneaks between trees and shadows. The option tempts her. It wouldn't be the first time she's accelerated her death to avoid a drawn out, torturous one. Unfortunately for Kiki, the dark idea creates her own undoing. The tree she just ducked behind almost roars to life as its bark and branches crackle and warp. A gaping hole in the trunk opens up to swallow the psychic whole, dragging her inside by teeming roots that begin to dig into her limbs.

She screams from surprise and pain, but never for help. Because no one has ever been there to rescue her before.]

[heseesonlyher]

[Nier is still piecing together the steps from the past that have brought him to the very present moment. A bizarre turn of events with what seemed to be a witty, tongue-in-cheek narrator, and Weiss with his own brand of sarcastic retaliation. And even his own input where he was applied descriptors he wouldn't have chosen for himself. Every trip to the Forest of Myth has been an interesting one at the very least.

This one seems that it will be no different.

It pierces the heavy silence and at first, Nier wonders if he's heard it at all or if it's some grand delusion of his own. This isn't the first time he's dreamt of home. It's not the first time he's found himself locked into thoughts of the past, wishing for a place to belong. The home he's been so well-acquainted with, even this place, he understands that to visit it would mean to everyone there, he's just a stranger. Why visit a place he has no position in?

He discovers quickly enough with hastened paces, the grasp on his grand two-handed sword tightening, that the scream is quite real. But it's to whom it belongs that stumps him entirely. Why is... she here? His daughter has never seen the forest. She's barely even left the village, except to go wherever the Shadowlord saw fit to take her. Answers to questions he'll never get.

He would know her anywhere. Just the sight of her makes his sense flee him, turn tail and disappear into proverbial shadows and silhouettes. But that's always been the kind of man he is. Excessively dedicated to her. He would fight through anything to get to her time and again.]

Yonah!

[His voice is gruff and sharp, rough and as tinted by age and circumstance as his appearance. In the emptiness of the forest, he is as boisterous as her scream. No shade could keep him from her. No tree shall either, as he's determined to prove.]

Just hold on! I'll get you out!

[longsilence]

[She should be used to it all. Metal cutting into her skin, the pressure of ropes digging into her sides, being pulled at all angles to the very limit of her muscles and bones. The roots act as a combination of deaths she's already experienced, so why can't she just give in? The white, hot pain of being burrowed into makes Kiki's head spin. The scream turns into a series of defeated groans as the roots suspend her movement while invading her flesh.

Bellowing enters her consciousness, and she wonders if the worst has yet to come. How much more would this nightmare make her suffer?

..."hold on"? Kiki wasn't even aware that she had shut her eyes, but now they crack open. The notion of someone coming to her aid is unprecedented. As if sensing the intruder, the roots stop digging into the psychic so that they may begin forming something like a cocoon. It will get harder to breathe, she thinks, yet suffocation would be an easier death.

But if he's truly determined to free her...]

Don't...pull. [The words are pitched with pain and muffled by the tree's efforts.] Cut.

[heseesonlyher]

[They're on the same page. He's oblivious to the thoughts rolling around in her head. He's oblivious to a lot of things going on. All he can see is what's in front of him. In this world, he knows not everything is what it seems to be. Maybe all of that logic and rationale just leaves him when Yonah plays a part in the equation. He'd believe that.

He's a lout when it comes to her, maybe. And maybe Kainé and the others aren't so excluded from that either. Maybe it's just him with a heart that's far too big for his own good.

Either way, he hears the words and he's already to work on it. The grand sword at his back comes down and he's wasting little time in trying to carve his way to her. Carve her way to freedom. With as much care as he can that he not somehow exacerbate the situation she's already in.

...Why is she here? Why is she here??]

Y'gotta tell me if it hurts. I'm gonna do my best. Hang in there!

[He's desperate. It's a feeling he's not had enough time away from. It feels like he had it recently, though he has no way of knowing how long it's been since he sacrificed his existence. It's the same panic coursing along his veins, reminding him of why life itself is so important.]