this is Salem, a land filled with magic and maladies. It is a place where witches and their elemental familiars gather, a home to legend and
lore that predates time itself. Yet of all the wicked and wonderful stories the past can tell us of, the most magical are the ones yet to happen.
This is Salem - this is the start of your very own journey. Welcome to starfall
Starfall is an animaga witch roleplay set in mostly modern times. Members play as witches in a world plagued by monsters, where the only safe spots are walled cities. Starfall strives to be a character-driven roleplay with expansive lore and a highly interactive plotline. We want to allow members to
create and look back on a magical journey, and mold the site and its plot as their characters grow.
"Frickin binding magic." He was surely working his way through the magic. Honestly one more turn and he would be free to do as he pleased. As long as Aiden continued to distract her... or at least she stayed focused on him he could probably easily teleport between them and blow the powder in her face.
The woman just smiled that kind of twisted smile as he blocked her attack. She wasnt even trying to fight. It was like going up against a boss at level one. He stood no chance. He was just in luck that she wanted to draw this out.
The woman would slash again and again stepping closer to the boy each time. She would always aim for the extremities and never use nearly as much force as she clearly could. Aiden could probably easily tell she was playing with him.
"I think Ill start with your fingers. You have to do better than this if you wanna save your little boytoy. What kind of knight are you~." The woman was trying to rile him up as much as she could. She enjoyed it. Fed on it. She was being a big butt face. A doodoo head as the kids say.
"Im starting to get bored~ How about I start cutting up your little boyfriend. Ill let you decided where I start hmmm~." The woman was much to strong to fight normally. Well he just had to hold out for a few more seconds and pray she wouldnt see this coming. With all this taunting though she seemed to be leaving herself open intentionally for attacks. Like she wanted him to hit her.
Swords clanged and for dramatic effect, the dream provided sparks in this dimly lit basement. Though, it was obvious he wasn’t a threat. He didn’t feel threatening at all. He had no idea what he was doing and at least magic he could sort of wing it. Could he make up a speed spell in the dream? He didn’t really have time to consider it as he held up his sword, triceps aching already form the exertion. He stepped back as she came for him, though the going was slow. It took everything in his wrists to deflect the sword or stop it, arms shaking when he managed to block her instead of dodging. The sword swooshed loudly near his ears like she was really trying to cut them off. He doubted the swords were that sharp. Maybe she was strong enough to cleave through, but he imagined it would mostly just embed a steel sword into his skull. They were sharp, but not chopping wood sharp. They left harsh cuts though. She’d managed to land a few on his shoulder’s already as he’d hunched up defensively to protect his neck. There were others scattered around his ankles and shins having been unable to step away quick enough. He had yet to really land a scratch on her.
“Boytoy?” Aiden echoed, annoyed at the dream villain reminded him of Dream Aiden’s status as not only useless but bring life to the joke ‘this shirt is boyfriend material’. “Don’t think that’s any of your concern right now.” He returned unable to keep himself calm. As much as an obvious tactic toying with his emotions was, it wasn’t like he could keep from reacting to it. There was a lot going on tonight and he hadn’t even been given enough time to full grasp or deal with it. Unable to have a spare moment to think he easily defaulted to anger. At least anger would keep him defensive, alive. As she threatened to prey on Charani Aiden stepped forward aiming a jab thrust towards her abdomen. “I’m gonna make you regret giving me a pointy stick.” He growled, visualizing the sword skewering his opponent. “Fractura!” he snapped quickly forcing himself to expel mana directly at his opponent’s sword. Best case scenario, no sword. Worst case? He’s given her a more jagged edge to carve him with.
Something else happened with his spell. Fractura. Instead of his intended target... the sword the entire form of the witch shattered like glass. Like a mirror that was broken. It was like she was never really there.
The woman clapped as she sat on the stairs... her image slowly coming into sight. She was having so much fun. So much fun indeed. Well fun for her at least.
"Well this has been fun but it looks like time is up~." The door behind them started to vanish away like smoke in the air. Next would come the sword in Aidens hand. Tick tock the clock strikes again. It was loud. Very loud for where they were.
"This next part is gonna blow your mind~." The woman hummed as she to vanished into smoke as did all their magic. Their wounds slowly vanished until there was nothing but blackness. All that was left was swirling darkness and the two boys. Tick tock its death oclock.
A vision would play before them. There was a girl whose face was obscured stabbing Aiden in the back. She was much taller than him and seemed to be sad. Or at least regretful. Aiden was crying for sure. It didnt seem to be fatal though. It would play for a few seconds without color or sound before vanishing. Soon enough the two would also start to vanish into smoke and the dream would end. Tick tock. Time is almost up.
He thrust forward, but felt no resistance, no sound. The body before him shattered before his sword ever made contact. For fuck’s sake… He felt cold as he turned to stare at her. Rage bubbling up inside him and intertwining with frustration as killer intent manifested so easily in those few moments of condescension. He wanted nothing more than to strangle her for interrupting his sleep schedule. Aiden watched the sword vanish, eyes darting down to his hands and then back at her. The dream was fading. Were they waking up. “You don’t get to tell me when this ends, you sadistic fuck!” he snapped attempting to sprint at the witch as she vanished from existence. How he hated this dream. It pulsed through him and set him shaking.
He felt energy drain from him and he could only turn to Charani, pleading with him to make it stop. He owned this dream after all. He made it after all. But he didn’t see the seer when he turned around. He only saw a slow scene play out, an inevitable one. Aiden doesn’t see anyone but himself, unable to defend against such a blow. A backstab. His mind went into overdrive, but it wasn’t with over-rationalization because of a dram state. It was his mind trying to wildly translate this. He didn’t have visions, much less understand him. But now, he felt like he was analyzing literature except the author was Fate and he didn’t even know what the fuck an extended allegory was.
Aiden doesn’t hear what his own vision-self says. No clues, no hints. Just an appearance which is vague at best. Tons of women in Salem were taller than him and field stabbing weapons. He trusted this one though. There was no way he’d stand in front of someone he didn’t trust or want to protect. The vision left him colder than ever, liquid ice holding his body down, unmoving, while his mind ran and ran and ran and unraveled as it ran in circles trying to process, trying to begin to understand what the hell was going on anymore. He hated it. He wasn’t afraid of getting hurt or being stabbed…it was the inevitability of it and the type of wound this would be that had him blindsided. She’d been right, his mind was fucking blown. As his form began to vanish he stood, floated??, slack jawed before slowly closing his mouth and trying to mouth again, to forget. She was gone, he needed to wake up.
Aiden would be the first to wake up. Charani was gripping him tightly like if he let go everything would fall apart. Everything would escape his grasp like he was trying to catch smoke. His face was buried in the other boys neck with as much body contact as he could muster in his sleeping state..
Aiden may not be used to visions but Charani was. Nothing was ever completely straight forward. Everything was a metaphor wrapped in four more symbols wrapped in another metaphor. It was kind of exhausting to learn to decipher. Thats why he liked his tarot cards more... they tended to be easier to figure out. Charani would have a grip of steel before waking. Aiden was probably strong enough to get himself out of the other boys grasp but it would take effort. He was just really cuddly in his sleep at the moment.
On the plus side at least the dream was over. It was still dark out... well sort of dark at least. The sun would rise in about an hour or so. Charani wanted nothing more than to just lay here as they were for the next few thousand years.
Dark green eyes snapped open, body tense as he stared upwards at the canopy of his bed. Cold sweat soaked his back and bangs. His breathing was quick, slowing down now that he was gathering his wits about it. Consciousness came so quickly but it was slow to remember where he was and remember this wasn’t a dream state. This was reality. He was not well rested. He took in the empty room, the time of day, and finally, Charani, laying right beside him. He didn’t know why but he felt an intense urge to get away, to be alone. He needed to think, calm down. He felt wild, with an immense urge to not only flee but to stay awake, bury himself in his notes, sear spells and trivia into the backs of his eyelids because e felt so fucking useless it was visceral for him.
He tries to pull away form Charani, gently at first and then after two tugs, harshly, ripping his arm away as he was finally allowed to sit up and hold his head. He felt remorseful of it but he also felt off kilter. Unwell. After a few minutes of silence, he took off his shirt and tossed it on the ground before crawling over his friend and fishing out a dry one from his bag. He needed to get comfortable. As much as he wanted to get away, that would be selfish. He’d just had the same experience at his friend, except now he was free. How many times had Charani done it alone and been as angry and frustrated as he’d felt? Countless. He’d spoken of nightmares and he’d even shared some, but this was just beyond a simple retelling of a traumatic experience. And he couldn’t help. He knew that. And even then, he wanted to try.
Aiden adjusted the blanket, noting only a scrap on Charani and began pulling more of it onto him before trying to wake him up. He needed a break, and they needed to touch base anyway. “Charani. Hey! Are you awake yet?” he whispered, wondering how he would explain this to his grandparents. Hopefully they weren’t around tomorrow morning, or barged in. No one really respected Aiden’s room privacy these days.
Charani whined at the loss of warmth from Aiden. He was somewhat awake... like that kind of sleepy not yet awake but can still talk or answer things awake. You know when you just wake up. You feel me? I mean he definitely felt you. Oops.
"I am awake and snuggleless." He would mumble this while keeping his eyes closed not totally all there obviously. He would try to maneuver his body closer to Aiden and force him back into snuggles. He was a sleepy boy. The nightmares were nothing new to him. This particular one seemed to show up anytime he had a sleep over with the red haired boy. Probably because the vision associated with it was about him. That made sense right? Right.
On the plus side at least it was still kind of dark out so his grandparents probably wouldnt discover them. Well... there was a noise outside the doors but that was probably just the wind right? Right. Because wind blows inside. Totes. Haha. Yeah.
Aiden held back a sigh as his groggy companion, shaking him a little harder. “Well, I need you to be awake and paying attention.” The redhead explained before standing up, shivering as cold feet touched a cold wooden floor. He dug through his belongings, tossing aside clean, more casual, clothes brought from the Hovel before pulling out a small backpack of holding. He reached deep inside and focused on the thing he as after before pulling it back and dropping it on the ground. He sat back down on the bed, careful not to squish a much closer, and as he noticed, much more undressed Charani. He reached over giving the boy a few light slaps on the face to make sure he would actually keep his attention for the few moments he needed. This was important.
“Snuggle up right here while we talk.” Or was it more, ‘snuggle up here while he tried to lecture’? With the promise of affection tossed out he hoped the seer would be more receptive to the boy pulling him upright and onto his lap before shaking him briefly. Gotta make sure he’s awake. “Listen, I got this a while ago, but I don’t really use it, and I think I’ve milked any information I can get on it…so why don’t you take it? It’s a Dreamcatcher. It’s supposed to keep you from having nightmares.” he asked waving the flashy colored item in front of his friend’s eyes. In the dim light he could sort of make out more details in his friend, like how dirty he was and was that- he lifted a hand to carefully brush off a bit of sand clinging to his hair. He noted miscellaneous scrapes and bruises before glancing over at where he’d entered from, the window still open. Damn.
“Where’d you even…come from anyway?” he asked, brows knitting together in the ever-common look of concern he always seemed to flash when dealing with his friend. He lifted a hand whispering a small incantation to get Telekenesis to work and close the window, flicking his wrist to make sure it was locked before sighing. He felt unrested, something he knew would happen the minute he reached peach lucidity in that dream. Aiden was vaguely aware of the noise outside his door and the stamping of heels on smooth wood. The door flung open, for once unlocked, and in burst in a couple of maids who sounded concerned and then gasped loudly despite themselves. Aiden turned, noting wryly it was some of his Grandmother’s personal attendants. Fuck. “Um.” Was all he managed once he stopped glaring as he noted a heated flush on the woman’s faces before he remembered not only his disheveled appearance but Charani’s as well as the rest of the room. “I-It’s not- I didn’t- I- Uh” the door slammed back shut now that they had confirmed nothing was wrong and simply left him there. Oh… oh no… He flicked his wrist, quickly locking the door with his magic before resting his for head on Charani’s shoulder attempting to hide his shame. He felt like a human tomato. “This is the last thing I need to happen…”
Charani whined as he allowed himself to be righted and pulled into the other boys lap. He was fine with this. His eyes were unfocused and full of sleep but he was in fact staring and present. At least for the most part.
"Mmm. Okay..." He would mutter as he stared unfocused at Aiden. He was at least watching him at least. The information took a little bit before he responded but it at least showed he was paying some amount of attention despite his excessively tired state.
"Dreamcatcher... youre so sweet <3" In all reality he really was. He had thought of his friend at the very least and remembered his nightmares or... at least that he had so much trouble sleeping most nights because of them. It was unfortunate but a very sweet gesture.
"Desert mission. Fought a duneworm." I mean that was pretty much what he had been doing. It was that stupid thing that caused the more recent bruises at least. On the plus side thanks to not being that awake he didnt seem to care much about being busted in on by those maids.
So that was a plus. Besides with how affectionate he was normally with Aiden it wasnt that out of the norm for him. Sure it wasnt normally with him nearly naked most times but still. "Youre very warm~" The blush probably wasnt helping though he was for sure not breaking apart from his friend. In fact he seemed to grip onto the boy even.
Charani was too tired to really push him out of his discomfort and he was half grateful for that. Let him stay groggy, he wanted the guy to be able to fall asleep quickly anyway. “Mhmm. H-Hang it over your bed or something…We’re putting it on the bed stand for now.” Aiden said, his words half muffled as he directed them down to his lap. He managed to distract himself by focusing on his exhausted friend. He didn’t blame the guy for trying so hard to stay asleep. “I’ll…have someone pull you a bath tomorrow…if you want…we have bath salts to help muscle relaxation…” he murmured remembering the cabinet full of colorful, smelly salts under his sink.
He grumbled something at Charani as he felt the grip on him tighten. “You’re half dressed.” He returned to his sleepy friend as he adjusted his hold on Charani before dropping onto his back. It was very slow going and there was a lot wriggling and kicking of sheets involved, but he eventually got back close enough to the pillows. He scooted a bit to avoid the wet spot left by his back during the panic inducing nightmare from earlier. He strained to pullover him and his friend some sheets and, more importantly. A blanket to help the seer stay warm.
He dropped the Dreamcatcher on the night table before attempting his best to get comfortable again. At least if they snuggled, it’d be warmer, and things should heat up with the windows closed. He thought about the dream he’d had that slowly turned into a nightmare, and his lingering fears and frustrations. “Hey, if you still awake, I-…I’ll help you out against that if you want me to. I don’t mind.” He stated as he closed his eyes, sleep beginning to dull his senses once more.
"Mmhmm. That sounds nice... We can take a bath together~" He was obviously still very sleepy. That and part of his brain was still in that dream world. It was a strange feeling.
The young man would follow all the directives and directions used by Aiden. When he tried to scoot them up in bed... when he pulled the other boy down. All of these he would find the young man cooperating with pretty easily. It made things much faster and easier.
"Good night Aiden." Those were the last words that would escape his lips before he drifted off to sleep totally. He would try to tangle his limbs with the red head as he slept. The other boy may feel a strange pull like before but this time nothing happens. There is no dream like before.
This time there is just a simple couch. They two cuddle while watching a cartoon with a large blanket around them. There is no speaking. No sound. Just a warm feeling. The sleep becomes peaceful... and for the first time in over a year Charani has a good night of rest curled up with his friend.
