hadriel_logs | Event Log: Dreamwalker

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Event Log: Dreamwalker

Who: Everyone!
What: The Dreamwalker event
Where: In your comfy bed and your sleepy head.
When: May 16th-26th
Warnings: Good dreams, weird dreams, bad dreams, straight-up nightmares. Please remember to tag for warnings in the header if things are going to be bad!

Have you been having trouble getting a good night's sleep? Tossing and turning, unable to rest those tired eyes? Or maybe you don't sleep at all, and never have. Not to worry! For a little while, you'll have no trouble at all falling asleep - in fact, as night falls, you'll find yourself overwhelmed with exhaustion whether you want to sleep or not. Lay down and rest your weary head, friends. Everyone could use a little extra sleep.

But what will your dreams bring? Something happy, images of a perfect day? Something hopeful, something you've wanted for a long time? Maybe you'll dream of anger, of the face of your worst enemy. Or maybe - just maybe - you'll have a horrific nightmare, and wake screaming, covered in cold sweat.

Not before others have time to see it, though. As you sleep, as you dream, the other residents of Hadriel, friends and enemies and people you've only met once, might find their way into your dreams. Or you might find your way into theirs - and then have to deal with someone's else's nightmares, or hopes, or anger. For the next ten nights, you'll find yourself either a host or a visitor, and no matter how you try you won't be able to stay awake once night falls.

Sweet dreams, Hadriel. Don't let the asshole fear gods bite.

► This log covers May 16th-26th.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well!
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► You can't die in the dreams, but if you somehow manage to trip and fall and kill yourself getting out of bed, please report it on the death post.

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[It's when he lifts the gun that he realizes this isn't right.

Not because he hasn't aimed a gun at anyone before--he has, and not just aimed but fired, more than one--but because of the reason for it. It isn't right, this person isn't posing any threat, what is he doing--

And then he's there and himself, standing off to the side, staring at the scene unfolding; Maketh looks his age but it's definitely her, and he doesn't know the woman but he knows this is all wrong.]

M-Maketh, what are you doing?

[He steps forward, not afraid of Maketh shooting at him despite how strange the situation is, glancing once at the older woman and then back at Maketh.]

[This isn't right. Maketh's eyes dart from Chris to her mother and then back again. Somehow she knows him, though he's not a cadet and isn't supposed to be in the room. No one is supposed to be in the room, that's the whole damn point.] I don't...I don't understand. Is this part of the test?

W-What test?

[But wait, he knows what test--sort of, anyway--only it doesn't make sense, because this isn't a test. It's just wrong, in a way that's somehow both foreign and sickeningly familiar.

He steps forward again, between the woman and Maketh, raising his hands slightly in calming gesture.]

I-I don't think she can hurt you, s-so there's no reason to... I-It's okay.

No, no...

[This isn't right. Maketh shakes her head furiously.]

You can't trick me!

[It's just another trick, another part of the test she has to pass. She is a soldier of the Imperial court, she has a duty and it must be performed with all due haste. The orders have been laid down and they must be followed. This is so. This is fact.

Her mother takes another step forward, frowning.] Maketh?

[Somehow, that's worse than any curse. Maketh flinches back violently, trying and failing to hold her weapon steady.] I am a soldier of the I--imperial Court--

[Okay, now he's getting worried; this is all so messed up, and he knows--somehow--there could be consequences if Maketh doesn't do this, but he can't just let her shoot this woman. He doesn't think she really wants to anyway, her words sounding like weak attempts to convince herself to go through with it, and her hold on the gun is shaking...]

Maketh, come on, just... I-I know you don't want to do this. J-Just give me the gun, okay?

[He takes a cautious step toward her, glancing briefly toward the woman and then back at Maketh, feeling a sense of an impending time limit; he doesn't know if it's imaginary or not, but it's there.]

Edited 2016-05-20 02:48 (UTC)

[No, no, no, this isn't right. This isn't how the test is supposed to go. Maketh makes a choked sound, rocking back on her heels, nearly dropping the blaster. She doesn't want to do this but that's probably the point. The last test must be the hardest of them all. The Empire must account for her metal. Her spine. Of course. Because if she cannot demonstrate her conviction, then how can they possibly trust her?] I have my o--orders, I will do as I am told...

[She must. There is no choice. Her mother is already dead. This part is inevitable, it is fate, she has to pull the trigger. She has to shoot Maize Rosen and then her father, still huddled against the wall. Kill them, prove her worth. Show them all she has a spine after all.

It's supposed to be simple. It's supposed--]

What are you doing?

[Maketh flinches. Her mother is advancing again, searching. Maketh jerks away, from her and Chris both. If they touch her, it's over. If they touch her, then she'll lose her nerve.] I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry--mother, I'm sorry!

[He knows Maketh must be afraid, and from what little he understands of what's going on she surely has reason to be. But whatever it is that might happen if she doesn't kill this woman--and the man who hasn't spoken--he can't let her do this, especially since he doesn't think she wants to at all.

He's about to speak up again, to try to calm her down, when the woman moves forward again and Maketh speaks, and oh god, this is her mother?

Chris knows nothing about Maketh's mother, really, only the one thing he remembers her saying to him about her, which was that she enjoyed Irish coffee. But he thinks of his own mother, a slightly timid woman with blond hair and a bright smile, and can't imagine what it would be like to be expected to kill her.

But he couldn't imagine what it would've been like to choose which of his friends should die either, and he'd done that. So he realizes, suddenly, that Maketh might really be capable of going through with this choice too.]

Y-You don't have to.

[It's as certain as he can manage, once again trying to get between Maketh's mother and Maketh, but his focus is mostly on the latter.]

You don't have to. Y-You know this is wrong, Maketh. Please just... G-Give me the gun.

[And they'll figure out what to do from there.]

No, I have to-- [Orders have been given and they must be followed. It's inevitable. The idea of having a choice is foolish. If it's not her, then the next cadet will come in and finish the job. Or the instructors will come in and shoot them all if she takes too long. They'll shoot Chris dead just for being there.

No choice, no choice--]

Officer on deck!

[Maketh snaps to attention, dropping the blaster. It clatters away across the floor. She holds herself rigidly still, waiting for inspection, and only after she's dropped the weapon does she realize it was her mother who barked the order. And that she's dropped her weapon.] No! No, no, no....

[Chris flinches at the sudden order, not because it means anything but just because it's loud and commanding and he's not expecting it, but he realizes who had given it just as Maketh drops her blaster. Chris immediately goes for it, picking it up so as to avoid Maketh making any desperate move for it; it's weird and unfamiliar, but he doesn't intend to use it himself unless he has to so it really doesn't matter. What matters is getting everyone out of here, now that Maketh can't complete this test.]

Okay. Okay, Maketh, it's over. We've just... We've gotta go, now.

[All four of them, they need to make a run for it; he's not sure what the impending threat is, but he knows there is one. They need to leave, but--

Where do they go?

Chris moves to help the man in the corner up, pulling the bag off as he does so, but his attention is mostly on Maketh still.]

M-Maketh, how do we get out?

[She's dead, she's dead, she's dead. They're all going to die now, shot dead because she didn't follow the rules. Maketh takes a shuddering breath, trying not to cry, and wishes she'd been allowed to keep her helmet. It would have been better if she'd been able to hide her face. She could have done it then. It was just another test, one of hundreds, and she's never failed them before. Not like this.

Her mother reaches out, grabs her roughly by the shoulder and pulls her in close. Squeezing tight. Maketh puts her forehead down against her mother's shoulder and sobs. That way she doesn't have to see the way her father stares when Chris pulls the bag free. The horror in his eyes. He's afraid of her, Maketh realizes. Of course he's afraid of her, this person who nearly---

No. Enough.

Jes Tua was always a gentle man, even during the war.

This isn't a war. This is peacetime, Maketh thinks wildly. It's supposed to be better.]

Th--there's no way out. They're coming. They're gonna come and see...

[Her mother squeezes her tight.]

The door's locked.

[Maketh lifts her head slowly, trying to face Chris without flinching.] I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

[She's crying, and that makes something in his chest twist in sympathy, but this was the right thing to do. Wasn't it?

But then Maketh speaks again, and a cold feeling of dread settles in his stomach.]

No, there has to be a way out.

[There has to be. But he knows, both logically and from experience, that that isn't true; sometimes there really is no way out, and sometimes you're trapped and that's it. Sometimes you've done all you can.

But he doesn't know if that's truly the case here, and he isn't ready to give up.

He shakes his head when she starts apologizing, not willing to let her just give up either.]

N-No, t-there's got to be... T-There's got to be something we can do, Maketh.

[They can't just... He doesn't know what the 'they' Maketh is speaking of will do when they get here, but he knows somewhere on a deep level that it's something horrible. But really, that's no surprise from the same people--or organization, or whatever--who would set up something this twisted.]

[Maketh shudders, crying into her mother's prison clothes. It's not supposed to be like this. She's worked so hard, she's been so careful to do everything right, and yet --

Here they stand. Here they stand, waiting to die.]

I'm sorry....

[No. This is her fault. She did this. Maketh pulls back from her mother, wiping at her face and trying to meet Chris's eyes.] Y--you, uhh. You have to run. When they come in, you have to run. They'll look for me, not you...so you'll have a moment. So run. Go the hanger deck. It's one floor up, can't miss it. Mother--mother can get you out if you help her. Okay?

[He wants to do as she suggests and try to run for it, try to make an escape, but he can't. He can't leave Maketh, especially not since he's part of the reason they're in this situation--he'd done his part in trying to convince Maketh not to complete her trial--and even if he could morally he doesn't for a moment think he could pull it off. There's no way that whoever is coming would just ignore him, let alone him and Maketh's parents as well.]

No, we're... W-We're in this together.

[He has the blaster, and as unfamiliar as it is and as much as his stomach flips at the thought of shooting whoever might come through that door it's what he'll have to do. He would just give the weapon back to Maketh if there weren't some part of him afraid she'd change her mind.]

Edited 2016-05-21 17:10 (UTC)

[Maketh swallows hard, trying to slow her breathing. Think, think, come up with a plan. Protocol says there will be two guards at the door, backup for the instructor. Three soldiers. All of them armored and carrying blaster rifles. The instructor might only have a pistol, but that won't matter very much. If she acts quickly, blitzes them before someone can raise an alarm, then maybe --

But that's hoping they haven't already raised the alarm, that someone isn't watching right now.

She can't let them die, Maketh realizes suddenly. She has to protect Chris and her parents. It's her fault this happened in the first place.] Okay, I---umm, just let me think....

[Get to the hanger. That's the endgame. It isn't as heavily guarded as the formal exists. Her mother can fly a TIE, of course she can, and half the pilots won't be there at all - it's parade day, most of them are out showing off to the locals. So that's something.

They just have to make it through an entire floor of Imperial instructors and their storm trooper guards.

They need a distraction. Maketh shivers, nodding to herself.] Power station. I need to get to a power station. The guards...they have grenades. If I can get one, then maybe...maybe I can blow the shields on the upper levels. Send them there. But you...you have to help me. There's going to be three coming in. I can't...I can't get all of them. You have to help.

[Chris is silent, giving Maketh the time to think and then listening carefully to the plan. Some of it is unfamiliar--power stations, upper levels; the words make sense but the context is lost--but it's the best and only plan they have. So he swallows, gathering his courage, and nods.]

Right.

[He takes a breath, fingers shaking on the blaster, but otherwise he's calm and focused. This is their only chance. One step at a time.]

How do I shoot this thing?

[Because he'll need to for them to take out the three people Maketh expects to come in. There's no other choice.]

Safety's on the--

[Something closes around her throat, painfully tight, and Maketh's hands fly to her face as she wheezes, lifted bodily off the ground to hover. Her boots kick helplessly in the air. Her thoughts run wild as she kicks, trying not to panic. She's seen this before but only once, and that was--]

Is that really all you could muster?

[No, he can't be here. He's not supposed to be here.

The Inquisitor rises to his full height, holding her aloft with his outstretched hand as if it's nothing. He bares that shark-tooth grin and shakes off the last bits of the illusion that made him look like her father huddled in the corner.

The thing that was her mother smiles as well, and fades out.]

I'm disappointed, Minister Tua. [He sounds like it, strangely enough, as if he truly regrets her failure, as if he's sorry he's choking the life out of her. Then he turns, frowning at Chris.] You shouldn't be here at all, wanderer.

[Chris' gaze is on the blaster as Maketh talks, looking for the mentioned safety and flipping what he thinks must be it as she talks, but then suddenly she stops; he looks up in confusion that very quickly turns to alarm. What the hell--

The sound of another voice stops him from immediately trying to help Maketh, looking toward the new person, and he's... Terrifying. The almost all-white face is close enough to the mask Josh had worn while posing as a murderer to instill a low level of instinctive fear all on its own, even before the glowing eyes and sharp teeth and whatever he's doing to Maketh.

He stays frozen for a few seconds as the Inquisitor continues talking, then addresses him, and he struggles to control his own rising panic. Normally he'd try talking, try getting out of this peacefully, but he somehow doesn't think that's an option and even if it is, he doesn't know if Maketh has time for that.

So instead he doesn't respond, raising the blaster in an instant and taking a shot aimed at the Inquisitor's forehead.]

[The blaster discharges. The Inquisitor steps aside, as neatly as a dancer, and waves his free hand. Maketh hears the blaster ricochet off the wall. Something cracks, breaks. She can't tell what. The world is going red around the edges.

Then, just as abruptly as it started, the Inquisitor drops her. Maketh hits the floor hard, clutching at her throat. Oh maker, it hurts.]

What did you think would happen?

[The question isn't directed at her. The Inquisitor advances on Chris, head tipped slightly to the side, as if genuinely curious.]

You---are unexpected.

[What the hell; the blaster slams into the wall and there goes his only weapon, but at least this guy stopped whatever he was doing to Maketh. Chris wants to go over to her and see if she's alright, but then the Inquisitor is talking to him again and coming toward him and he backs away on reflex and tries to stay calm.]

I-I... I-I don't...

[Whatever he thought would happen it definitely isn't this, and he doesn't know what to say. He's not really sure there's anything he can say that's going to help get them out of this.]

[Maketh pushes herself up to her knees, wheezing. At least he didn't crush her throat, he didn't kill her outright. That means he's either bored or intends to say something. She knew the Inquisitor once, foolishly thought him an ally. It was never true. But she can still read his face just a little, enough to know he's smiling as he stares at Chris - shark-tooth grin widening with every step.]

You've come to strange company, Minister Tua.

[He turns back to grin at her - or sneer, it's hard to tell this time. Either way he pulls his saber from his back and--

No. Oh, nononono.]

No!

[It comes out in a wheeze. Maketh pushes herself all the way up, swaying, and tries to stand at attention.] I--I order you to stand down!

[Her only answer is the hum as his saber activates, gleaming red.]

[Chris feels his back hit the wall of the room, and part of him wants to just slide down the wall to the floor and cower and hope that maybe some miracle will happen instead of what his sense of impending dread is telling him. But that would be giving up and he can't do that while there's still a chance, especially when Maketh's life is on the line here too.

His gaze flickers to Maketh as she's moving--at least she's still alive--but quickly looks back at the Inquisitor again as he pulls... Something from behind his back, and then Maketh stands up and says something and the Inquisitor--

What is that? A weapon, doubtlessly, and really does anything else matter? Chris tries to back up further but can't, just pressing up against the wall as much as possible, mind racing for an idea of what to do.]

L-Look, I know I shouldn't be here, b-but I can just... L-Leave. M-Maketh too, and w-we'll just...

[Just what? Even he doesn't know what he's saying, and he knows it's pointless; he'd just resort to begging if he thought it would do any good. But on the mountain he'd begged for his life, for his friends' lives, and it had just been ignored; Josh had been the one behind everything but the wendigos there, and if someone who had been his closest friend for ten years hadn't been swayed then he doesn't think for a moment the Inquisitor would care.]

[The Inquisitor brings his saber up. Maketh shudders. He can't possibly be saluting Chris, can he? It's a sign of respect reserved only for a few; masters of the Force, proper enemies, or high ranking officers. None of those things should apply here.]

We'll meet again, Minister.

[Then he turns and puts the saber through her chest.

Maketh looks down, surprised, and wonders at the lack of pain. Then she falls.]

[He's expecting, when the Inquisitor lifts his sabre, for him to attack him next, so he tenses and just waits for it to happen. But then the Inquisitor turns and Chris realizes what he's about to do a moment too late, but it's not as though he could've stopped him anyway.]

Maketh! O-Oh, god...

[He's so sorry, this is all his fault, he should've just left her alone and let her complete the test and none of this would've happened; there's nothing he can do to help her--is she even still alive?-- and so he doesn't move from where he is, vision blurring with tears and just waiting for his turn.]

[Maketh feels the world tilt as she falls, everything going sideways. The Inquisitor turns toward Chris now, saber raised, and--

And she wakes up, clutching at her chest and yelling at the walls.]

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Event Log: Dreamwalker

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