Event Log: Dreamwalker the Second

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the Dreamwalker part 2 event
Where: In your dreams
When: October 14th-20th (the second log will go up on Oct 23rd, please keep the two weeks of the event separate!)
Warnings: All different kinds of dreams falling under the umbrella of Delight, Rage, Sorrow, and Hope.

This time, the weird stuff doesn't happen when you're awake- as a matter of fact, your waking hours are the normal ones. That's because you're forced to sleep by some unknown entity, getting more and more exhausted by the moment as night falls. Better make sure you're always around a soft pillow.

Once asleep, it doesn't get any less weird- your dreams will be influenced by one of the four gods that make up the first week. Something to make you smile, something to make you angry- or something that reminds you of your deepest regret or most vulnerable hope, they're all things that you're dreaming about now for some reason, no matter how hard you may try to pull away from them.

To make matters more complicated, there are others intruding on your dreams who definitely don't belong there, and while they may seem like manifestations at first, it becomes clear that these others are actually the consciousness of other members of Hadriel, getting some top quality exposure to your angriest, happiest, most sorrowful moments. Hope it doesn't get awkward when you see them tomorrow...

► This log covers October 14th-20th.
► 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!
► If you die in dreams you don't die in real life, but if you somehow die in real life anyway, please let us know here.

Comments

lup | open (late game TAZ spoilers abound)

[restinglichface]

[OOC: Plotting comment over here!]

HOPE (eventual warnings for death and spooky ghosts)

[restinglichface]

[OOC: For Hope, I have two different prompts to choose from. The first is just a fairly quick retelling of Lup and Barry standing on the hill where they give up their mortal lives to become liches. It will be pretty short, mostly just DMing through the scene, good for if your character is only interested in the whole process and seeing the scary end result, fairly short and sweet.

The second prompt is basically an extension of the above, where your character will take the place of Taako in canon, when Lup asked him to help give her the best day ever. Liches in canon aren't bound by phylacteries; they're tied to the earth by particularly strong emotions instead. So Lup will be seeing your character as Taako (they are free to argue with her, but her dream self will see them as Taako no matter what) and expect them to give her their interpretation of a day Lup would enjoy. Because it's a dream, anything you want to appear can just poof into existence. Go completely nuts and give Lup a Good Day. Or you know, be a complete dick and give her a shitty day. It may change the end of the dream. Cue ominous music.]

Hope, Prompt 1;

[The sky above is shimmering in purples.

This world that they've landed on, above all else, is quiet. Though signs of civilization exist, there is no life to see. There are no humans, no elves, no dwarves. There are no animals. Not a single bird in the sky, not even the tiniest fish in the sea. The waves in the ocean have halted completely. Instead, it remains flat, as the whole of it was frozen in time. There's no wind, no breeze. This world is entirely, utterly empty of anything but magic.

And maybe it's because of the intense magical aura of this place or maybe it's because the purple sky reminds the pair of their home world, purpled-skied with twin suns, but this is where Lup and Barry decide to follow through on their plan. This is where they'll die.

There's a hill beneath the shimmering sky, where two lovers and a brother are standing near each other.]

Hope, Prompt 2;

[You come to outside, the world around you quiet and endlessly calm, except for the woman at your side, who seems ready to burst.

Lup is there on your arm almost immediately, cloaked in the same, billowing red robe of her lich form, but back in her flesh and blood body. Her touch feels warm, alive, and there's the softest hint of pink at her cheeks while she gazes up at you like you're the most important person in her world.

Because, to her, you absolutely are.] Taako, it's today, isn't it?

[There's excitement just vibrating in her tone. Today is meant to be special.] You've been working on this forever, bro, so you better not let me down. I asked for the best day ever and I meant it. What do you have for me?

hope 2 :V

[pocketspa]

[For once, or at least one night, the dream gets it right. Taako doesn't recognize at first that he's even in a dream, because this is something he's dreamed about before. Something he's thought about, though not always as the best day she had. It's the day they really grew up. It's the day she finally went somewhere he couldn't follow.

But not yet, not now. Now, he can just feel himself smiling, leaning into her touch, mind catching up with the scene.]

Did I already one-two punch you with breakfast yet? 'Cause if not, uh, you gotta climb back in bed, babe, you beat me to the food express.

[restinglichface]

[Lup gives her brother a look, trying for serious, but she can't hide the excitement that shines through in her eyes, the happiness that remains etched into every line on her face. Whatever happens at the end of it, this is their day, a moment in their long journey that's carved out for the two of them alone.

Unable to play the straight man for more than a few seconds at a time, Lup playfully bats at Taako's arm and laughs.]

Hun, if you try and throw me a third serving of carbs, I'm falling into a big, ol' coma. I'm good, Taako. C'mon, show me what's next.

[pocketspa]

[He can't help but let his own smile spread, leaning into her touch. He can enjoy this. Now that he can fucking remember his sister, he might as well at least dream of something good with her for once in his goddamn life.]

Come on, that's not your best day ever? Just, uh, eating a bunch of my cooking and napping? 'Cause I gott say, you ever need to do this for me, keep that idea on lock.

[He laughs, just a little, and pulls her towards the door of the ship, out to this world he remembers so well, and the broken sky.]

Come on, part two, we're going to the park.

[He remembers this. He remembers the anticipation, and even if he hasn't done these preparations now, he has all the confidence that everything will be there, exactly as he planned it. Sure enough, they reach the park, and Davenport is in the tree where he should be. Sure enough, when he reaches into his bag, the water gun is there, just like he made it. All the party, none of the prep. He speaks, and the words come easy, just like they did then.]

Okay. So here’s the next best part. I found out that he does this, like once a day, right here in this tree, and he has no idea I know. And here, I fashioned this for you. So just like, blaze ’im. ’Cause this is gonna be hysterical.

[And he hands her the squirtgun, grin already on his face for what he knows is coming.]

[restinglichface]

Locked and loaded, son.

[Their next birthday is gonna be bomb.

Lup follows after her brother, excitedly attached to his arm as the pair make their way to the park. There's something inherently sad about this broken world, about the population that had suddenly just gone missing, consumed only because of their desperate need for power. But for today, the usual air of melancholy about this plane feels replaced with a soft, excited hum. Lup's corporeal form is practically buzzing, she's so fired up by Taako's plans.

But when they come to the tree where Davenport perches, Lup takes the water gun from Taako and frowns at him, her arms falling to her side.

She looks so unsure of herself.]

Taako, that is-- the Captain of the Institute of Planar Research and Exploration. That is… the Captain of our mission. Why do you think I’d wanna--BLAM!

[And just like Taako would remember it, the woman abruptly spins and shoots right up at the gnome, already falling into hysterical giggles. The tree and Davenport both disappear in a poof of smoke, an illusion the whole time. And before either of the twins can react, the real captain of their long, endlessly journey running through different realities leaps onto Taako's back and simply whispers 'Illusions!' before pulling out a squirt gun of his own to join the fight.]

[pocketspa]

[If by bomb you mean eating themselves sick, abso-fuckin-lutely.

Regardless, it happens just like he remembers- she hesitates, nails him, and the day moves forward. The squirtguns, the directions he somehow knows to the abandoned glass menagerie, the turkey, Barry. He goes through the motions as he remembers them, because this is for her, and he wants this again. He wants this moment, this time, when he didn't know what was coming over dinner and she wasn't about to fucking, to literally die in front of him for technically the last time. But it's eating at him as they get close. As they get to the table, and he's carving this turkey he hasn't remembered how to make in 12 years even though he always had it on his birthday.

But it wasn't for him. It wasn't-- his. None of this was ever his.

She might be able to tell this time, as they're eating, that he's not as animated. That he's waiting for the ball to drop, the death knell on all this, and suddenly he's the one who's holding back everything all over again.

He can already feel the tension in his knees. The way one hand rests in his lap, on and off, gripping at his thigh when it starts to tremble.]

So. Nailed it, right? 'Cause I'm thinkin' I totally nailed it.

[restinglichface]

[The day is everything that Lup had hoped for and more. The obscene breakfast in bed, the water gun fight in the park with Davenport, the flames whipping around her head inside of the DMV, the birthday dinner for two...

And all of it spent with the most important person in her life. The one who has always been there and always will be. There just is no Lup without Taako, just like there is no Taako without Lup. They can exist on their own as their own people certainly, but is an existence apart even worth living through at all?]

I had my doubts, but you... [And Lup moves to pluck the napkin from her lap, setting it atop her plate, her eyes meeting his. This is it.]

You did good, Taako. I... [She pauses, still staring across the table at her brother, picking up on the nervousness in his body language, in the sharp features of his matching face. Lup can tell that something is off, has been able to tell the whole meal, but she pushes forward to continue anyway. This time, however, she slides a hand across the table, to reach for the hand of his that isn't gripping at his legs, so she can twine their fingers together. She's always promised to share her strength with him when he needed it.]

Here in a couple days, Barry and I are going to do something, and, I want you to be there for it. We’re--[She squeezes his hand.] Don’t freak out, promise me.

RAGE (warnings for combat, could get violent all up in this dream)

[restinglichface]

[You are unceremoniously dropped into a black curtain-lined chamber, small and round, completely empty but for one figure. Lup's body is made up of living flame, the reds and oranges and yellows blindingly bright against the black backdrop, embers flying off of her with each turn of her head, every flick of her long ears. Her back is turned to you as she claws at the walls and seethes. She's tearing at the thick curtains, burning straight through them, trying to make her escape from this hell and back out into the world where she's needed.

But not even her powerful fire can make a dent against her prison. Lup raises her hands up to cradle her own head and screams, loud and agonized, every bit of her rage and her pain filling up every inch of this small space.

Something changes and she suddenly shifts, finally noticing the newcomer to her chamber. The elven woman's head tips to the side, considering you. Her voice is surprisingly calm when she speaks,]

Are you the one who’s been hurting my brother out there?

[And no matter what answer you try to give, it seems like Lup's mind is already made up. She grits her teeth, flame rising up over her clenched fists.]

I’m gonna fucking kill you now.

[puzzlingly]

「The confining space is the first thing that makes Atem feel sick. After thousand of years of being in this dark, isolated space... it is just a really bad reminder of what he's been through. The teen starts hyperventilating, trying to keep his cool to the best of his abilities, he looks around, trying to find an exit and then, he sees her, he can recognize her through the flames.

He approaches to her without thinking twice, no matter if she's trashing the place, because if someone can get them out of there, of course, it is her--

but Atem stops in his tracks when she turns at him. This is not what he was expecting. He can feel his stomach drop at the rage in her eyes.」

W-what?

[restinglichface]

[Dream Lup is, unfortunately, not nearly as fond of conversing as her real half, the lich's palms raising upwards as Atem speaks, fire flickering up around her already flaming head. The woman glares, seething and almost feral, before she lets loose an ear-splitting scream and casts fireball.

Flames streak through the air towards Atem, and whether they hit him or the black curtains behind where he stood, the spell explodes on impact, setting anything flammable near it ablaze.]

[puzzlingly]

「Oh shit--

No, no, no, no! He cannot move, he's not that fast! He sees it coming and just covers himself with his arms.

There is only one thing Atem can think of before the flame impacts him, but it doesn't -- it hits something else, something that starts taking shape, something that lets out a mighty roar...

Apparently, his plea did go through, that's what he wishes to believe, unaware that he's asleep, that's he's sharing a nightmare with Lup.

When the small guy finally looks up, he can see it, a dragon -- no, not just any dragon, a god! -- sheathing him with his serpent-like rings, crimson and black, protecting Atem from the fire around them, growing protectively at the fiend in front of them.」

Lup, snap out of it! I don't want to hurt you!

「She doesn't know it, but he hurts... Not as much as the dragon, no, but whatever hurts Osiris, hurts Atem in his very soul.」

[restinglichface]

[The circular room they are in is small and tight, so the sudden appearance of a great dragon was as much of a shock to the dreaming lich as it was to the boy it had leapt in to protect. Lup recoils at the sight, floating backwards, but Taako's agony outside of this place seems to roll in aching waves across her flaming form, bolstering her against this new opponent.

Her hands clench at her side, sneering across the short distance at the boy and his god.]

Don't you dare hide from me! I felt what you did to him!

[puzzlingly]

I have done nothing!

「Does he even know who he is? Atem leans on Osiris' coils, trying to reach for her, but the dragon (having conveniently adjusted his size to the space) tries to keep him away from her.」

Who is him?! Let me help you!

:)

[dedikated]

( Her first thought is that Carl fucked up teleportation again. That he dropped her into the underground because he's an asshole-

Her second's that it doesn't fit. There's no smell of damp soil, no softness underfoot and the fire burns Kate's vision before she really has a chance to figure out anything else, heat beating against her skin like the thud of fists against it-

Angry, if she had to give it a name. Angry like the scream that follows which Kate feels down to her bones, her heart and soul. It aches in her chest with a familiarity that burns hotter than the flames which heat the chamber. Kate stands too-still, muscles tense and ready to move, as though awaiting some sort of cue, a sign that determines fight or-

Well. Perhaps not flight, not if the searing embers against the curtains are any indication. )

What-?

( But it's all too easy to recognise a tone like that, and Kate doesn't even need to rely on her sight to know the path of flame as it begins to rise in her hands.

Well. Shit.

Kate feels the circulation of her own power, fluid and light inside her body, concentrates on it, shifts it to her legs and gets ready to spring. )

[restinglichface]

How dare you! [The lich screams, Taako's agony rolling over her incorporeal form in waves, his whimpered cries echoing in from some unseen place outside of confines of this chamber. Lup's palms, coated in flame, stretch upwards, the fire arching higher, growing brighter and stronger, before she's hurling it straight to Kate. Whether the other woman springs out of the way or not, the blast explodes on impact, the curtains of this room instantly catching aflame.]

I won't leave anything behind!

[dedikated]

( Fucking hell. Seeing Lup's powers in action is one thing, being stood behind her, or with her at your side - flashy, fantastic, and an asset. But staring them down as a target is like staring down your impending death and Kate leaps over it, legs tucking up tight as the air flies out of her lungs and her heart beats wildly.

She's got scars on her shoulder to prove why you clear fire as fast as possible, and the explosion that rocks through the chamber has her diving to the floor to be certain she's out of the way.

Crap. And there's nothing in her hands for defence. )

The hell- ( Kate clears her throat as she rolls back onto her feet, smooth, well-practiced movements coming back in this foreign space. ) -What're you talkin' about?

[restinglichface]

My brother! [The specter shrieks, high-pitched and full of the trembling wrath that's taken her over, before she sends a burst of flame towards the curtains of this room. The empty side of the chamber rattles under the explosive impact, curtains burning up as the fire spreads, but they always fall from the wall to leave nothing but more curtains behind them.

They are trapped in here, woman and lich, and there's just no way out.] You're the reason he's hurt!

[dedikated]

( Kate bites her tongue. No words are going to get through here, not when Lup's rage sets the small chamber alight, temperature rising. Layers upon layers of curtains collapsing into a burning heap, but never reaching the end. Dodging each of Lup's attacks is doable, certainly, but the increasing heat and the effort needed to do so takes its toll, her lungs aching with the difficulty breathing in the furnace this place quickly becomes.

She has no weapons and no way of knowing if her power will even truly work on a woman who exists without a true physical form, but it's the only option she can see. With her next jump, she tries to get closer, channelling power into her fingertips to try and nullify the blazing fire.

As she reaches out, Kate already knows this will fail.

But she has no other option. )

SORROW (warnings for death, lots of death)

[restinglichface]

[Hadriel is on fire and there's absolutely nothing Lup can do.

It seems to have started from nowhere, a single spark and the entire north end of the cave went up in flames in an instant, the fire raging so powerfully that the reflection of the flames against the cave ceiling bathed the entire underground city in red.

Lup stands in her blood-and-flesh body, watching the fire rage on with a horrified look, disbelief twisting at her mouth.]

No, not again--[her voice breaks, the usual walls she kept up demolished in the wake of this blaze.] This can't be happening!

[Something breaks her out of her thoughts and she turns quickly to find the visitor to her dream behind her, the elf's head shaking as her entire body trembles.] I didn't.... I'd never....

[Even with all that Hadriel has thrown at the woman, she's never once looked quite so vulnerable before.]

[sciencelizard]

[She doesn't know what started this.

When the fire ravaged Hadriel, she was a little far off; the advantage of living in Delight's apartments often becomes getting to shut the door, burrow a little further underground, and forget the city going crazy around her. It's gotten her through more than one tough event, with only one exit meaning no one can get in, either.

It means she never saw the city like this, and it reflects off her, in a way she can't quite describe.

She's shocked into a gasp when Lup turns, and immediately, she's scared, reaching forward entirely on instinct to take her hand and start to pull.]

C--Come on, we'll, we'll find somewhere safe! We'll get out of here!

[restinglichface]

[Lup, though looking thoroughly beaten down already, doesn't allow herself to be tugged away, even as the flames raise higher and higher, twisting upwards towards the rock ceiling above. She shakes her head weakly, but stands her ground. It would be so easy to give in and just follow after Alphys, to let the other woman drag her to safety and care for her. To hide away until the flames she's responsible for died down.

But Lup can't just up and abandon the people she's come to know here. She can't stand to watch this city burn to ash, leaving nothing behind but a circle of perfect black glass.]

No! We-- I can't leave it like this. I have to find who... [Her sharp eyes scan the area. It can't just go off on it's own, someone has to be using it. Without realizing that she's still holding Alphys' hand, Lup darts forward further into the burning city, dragging the smaller scientist behind her.]

[sciencelizard]

[She doesn't understand what Lup is saying, searching her face for some understanding, something that could explain what's going on. Is she trying to play the hero? Is there something else going on? A person she left behind?

Lup moves, and Alphys doesn't fight it, running with her, just a bit behind with the difference in their height. Still, she keeps their hands clasped tight.]

Who're-- Or, uh, what are you looking for??

[Thankfully, she's much more at home in the heat than the cold, having lived alongside lava for so much time. But this is a clear and present danger, and if Lup won't leave without something, she needs to help her find it quickly.]

[restinglichface]

[Not now and maybe not even for some time after, but Lup will eventually look back on this nightmare and realize what Alphys did for her. That the sweet woman who was always stammering nervously and shying away didn't immediately tug out of Lup's grip and run from danger, but instead held the elf's hand tightly and ran with her towards it.

The significance there will sit with Lup for years after this.

For now, the elf is frantic as she runs forward with Alphys, head snapping back and forth as she peers through the smoke and flame, searching for something but coming up empty. There's a touch of hysteria in her tone, wild and panicked, while she pulls Alphys sharply to the left, straight towards the shops, heading north towards the coliseum.] The gauntlet! I don't know how the fuck it's here, but I need--

[She's cut off by a scream, the first of many that quickly rise up from the burning buildings, silhouette's behind the flames, crying out for help.

[sciencelizard]

[Since coming to Hadriel, Alphys has found more than once that running from her problems has never once fixed them. It's hurt people she loved, it's gotten her killed more than once, it's spiraled things worse and worse to a sharp point. She wants to do better. She wants to be better. And sometimes that's following someone who has always been kind to you, has never been cruel even when it would be easy, into the gulch.

It doesn't even occur to her that she could run away from the fire. That would mean running away from Lup. And she doesn't want to be that person, anymore.

Lup's frantic tone only serves to wind her up more, legs working as fast as they can just to keep up until she skitters to a stop when Lup does. Oh, god, what is happening? What would Mew Mew say?]

We, uh-- we have to find it, then, to stop all this!

[She tugs a moment more at Lup's arm, trying to get her to keep moving again.]