hadriel_logs | Event Log: Dreamwalker the Second

Entry tags:

Event Log: Dreamwalker the Second

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

「There he is... He turns, but he doesn't see him. But his voice is enough to make him seethe.

Atem follows, of course he follows, he risks it to even chase after him, sword in his hand (where did it even come from?)」

Where are you going! Coward!

[Those taunts and teases do nothing except gain laughter in return; the Pharaoh may think himself the hunter but Bakura knows it to be the other way around. And like any good strategist, he knows to engage his enemy in a place where he has the advantage. So the Pharaoh can rage and scream all he likes; the Thief King won't show himself until he's ready.

It won't be long now at all; the place he's chosen is close indeed: an empty tomb, only half finished, its work long since abandoned and forgotten. What better resting place for the lofty Pharaoh?

Racing along the precarious ridge (he's sure-footed, of course he is; there's not a single misstep here) he continues to taunt his quarry as he runs. He'll not let the Pharaoh distract him into turning and meeting the fight early, oh no. He'll wait until he's on the very threshold to toss back one last barb before disappearing into the yawning maw of the dark tomb.]

Follow me to your death — if you dare!

「The small Pharaoh stops at the entrance of the tomb, he knows it's empty, as it doesn't belong to anyone yet, but he also knows what may lie inside.

It's a deathtrap. 」

It is you who will die here!

「He goes inside, with confident steps and his sword ready. For as perfectly levelheaded Atem can be at times, Bakura just makes him lose it, in every way possible. 」

[There's a saying about the spider and the fly, a saying that their modern selves would surely know. but realities of the dream aside Bakura can only laugh as he hears the Pharaoh follow him. It's not completely dark inside, oh no; there are torches lit, but they're positioned in odd locations, casting shadows as much as light, causing shapes to confuse and distort. It's all a part of the game they play, a game whose next stage is to be joined atop a precarious bridge of stone across what may be a deep chasm or may be a shallow pit; the light does not penetrate the space, nor does the lack of illumination suggest great size. It's simply an unknown, and perhaps that is an effect of the dreamspace they share.]

Then best me, if you think you can!

[The Pharaoh isn't the only one who's armed, though the sword in Bakura's hand isn't his only weapon. The curved blade is wicked and sharp and at times shines red like blood and at others as golden as the sands outside — tricks of the shifting light for sure, and nothing more. And should the Pharaoh attempt to rush him, Bakura will meet that charge — he's taller and more solidly built, and figures the advantage should be his!]

「The Pharaoh can already tell this is a bad idea, that he should turn back if he appreciates his life at all. And somewhere in the back of his head, he knows that Bakura is dead and that this was nothing but a petty reflexión of his anger. It is not enough for him to back off, he never will. The thin line between reality and delusion blurs easily under all the anger he seems to be carrying. One he hadn't realized he had been dragging all this time... Or maybe it was the anger dragging him from his feet, making it hard to think, to move even.

Atem steps into the bridge, he doesn't like it, but he keeps going until he's but a couple of steps away from the thief. He glances down at the pit underneath them. No... this is not how this is going to end, not for any of them.」

You really want to do this this way, Thief? Just to toss me into the void? Tch, and here I thought you had higher standards...

「He provokes him, plays with him, he wants to see him react to his words. He wants him to be as angry as he is right now.」

You haven't proven that you deserve anything but this.

[Oh, there is anger — plenty of it! But while the Pharaoh's anger burns hot and bright Bakura's is as cold as ice. He wants this — oh, so badly — and now that it's here, he can practically taste the victory. It thrills through his veins, sings in his blood and makes him bold. It is that boldness that drives the sword stroke, a hiss of steel against the Pharaoh's blade that's surprisingly gentle. There's no need for overwhelming power here; the conflict between the two of them could not possibly be solved by something as simple as a sword fight.

They're just playing with each other here; Bakura is flirting with the thought of killing his opponent like this, and he suspects that Atem must surely think the same.]

Shall I pass judgement on you, Pharaoh? Well, here it is: you don't deserve more than the void. No grand funeral, no wailing mourners, no afterlife. Just darkness and death, forgotten and alone forever.

「This is nothing but a fight of wills, not of steel. Atem knows it, he can feel it when he parries easily the blow that comes down at him, and for as angry as he is, there is a creeping cruel smirk that takes shape in his lips, one that never reaches those fiery eyes, they only reflect how much he hates the man before him. He didn't use to, Atem tried, so very hard to understand, to atone for his and his father's sins in the past, but this is not that place this is not the past, this is a place where he cannot question his hate, where he cannot control it, where it can be left loose and let it ruin him, completely.

But only Bakura, despite of being nothing but a memory (?), can make his soul burn in absolute despise like the fire of a thousand suns. He knows him better than Atem wishes he did, he pushes his button, the most tender ones. Forgotten... alone? It has the Pharaoh losing his cool.」

I never did anything to you--it was you who took everything away form me!

「The rage comes back at full force, giving him some strength he would normally not have, disarming Bakura of his blade in a swift, harsh movement. The blade falls and its sound against the bottom never reaches them. Atem advances, his blade aimed Bakura's throat, pushing him to the other side of the bridge.

The memories of his losses, his father, Mahad, his friends... he had lost everything, his life even, to this man...」

I will never forgive you, Bakura!

Edited 2017-10-17 16:14 (UTC)

[The blade is knocked out of his hand and that hardly matters; it's not like he'd had any silly attachment to a stolen weapon in the first place. His whole life is a collection of stolen objects and stolen moments, the natural balance to a childhood stolen much too young.

For that, he'll never forgive the Pharaoh.

Even so, when the smaller man presses his attack Bakura just laughs. He'll let the steel kiss his skin, let the red of blood wash over him. It delights him, energizes him like nothing else. The Pharaoh energizes him like nothing else, fuels his rage to a level of divine ecstasy. It brings clarity of vision and strength of conviction just as much as it brings excitement to his breathing and a flush to his skin.

His feet find the edge of the bridge, and behind him Diabound explodes into being.]

Forgive me? [His laughter is bright and wild, reflected in his eyes as arms fling wide.] It is you who should be begging forgiveness from me!

「To see him bleed, Atem will deny it if asked, but it brings an immense satisfaction to the Pharaoh.

If only he pressed a little further, but he wants to see him suffer, he wants to see him beg for his life.

He could dream, right?

Bakura's monster makes its appearance and Atem barely has some time to finally go for the stab.」

[Begging? Suffering? Nothing of that is going to happen here, not at all. While the Pharaoh is good with a sword and Bakura won't deny that fact, he's not good enough for this chance. It's obvious to the thief that he's going to press the attack; it's also exactly what he would do if their positions were reversed. It's for that reason that he's already dodging the blow, for that reason that Diabound's arm already moves to intercept the sword stroke.]

You didn't think it would be that easy, did you? You disappoint me, Pharaoh.

[And he manages to make it to the other side of that bridge, away from the chasm and onto slightly more solid ground — as solid as a half-built tomb can be, anyway. Still intent on pursuing him, Pharaoh?]

「Damn! He had been too slow, he had let his pride take over again, instead of finishing Bakura he went about showing off his fleeting power! When is he going to learn?! Step on the cockroach don't play with it!

But Diabound is already blocking the way between them, and as skilled as the Pharaoh might be with the sword, he is no match for his newest opponent. So, this have become a battle of Gods now? Fine by him...」

Obelisk! To me!

「He calls for his own, the ground shakes and from the very pit below them, the God begins to arise. A massive hand tries to squish the monster, while Atem takes the chance and sprints towards the thief, agile like a small cat.」

What are you afraid of! Stop running away form me, Bakura!

[While the Thief is larger and stronger than the smaller, agile Pharaoh, that is reversed in their monsters. Diabound weaves and snakes away from Obelisk's attempts to pin it down. The bridge and walls shake; the unfinished tomb is probably going to take some damage from the battle (and that thought suits Bakura just fine).

But he's little enough time to worry about the structural integrity of the tomb beyond the surety of his next step, because the Pharaoh is still springing toward him and he's still armed where Bakura is not. But while the Pharaoh has clearly been taught to attack and defend himself, the Thief has had to learn by the simple teacher that is survival. Maybe it makes him more of a scrappy, unconventional fighter but in close quarters he has both size and muscle to bring to bear, more that the smaller Pharaoh. So he'll allow his opponent to pursue him with the idea of getting close enough to grapple, where the advantage should be his.]

Do you really think you can best me?

「It would have been some kind of poetic justice if it had been Obelisk himself that had brought the bridge down with the Pharaoh, but fortunately for him, he finds himself on the safe side of it when he hears it crumbling, he doesn't have time to turn around to check, however, focusing on Bakura instead. He's luring him inside, he know it, it is himself screaming in the back of his head, don't fall for it! but he doesn't listen, he keeps going even if he knows how it is going to end. Besides, there is no turning back, the bridge is gone.

Maybe this time it will be different. Maybe this time he will win. Maybe this time... he will live.

The Pharaoh corners him (he thinks he did) and closes the distance, sword ready to slice through his flesh, to puncture and make him bleed; he doesn't deserve a quick death.」

I have before!

「He has grounds to say that, he's sure he does, but it all seems a little blurry right now.」

Don't make me laugh.

[No really Pharaoh, you think you can challenge this? Diabound still slips around Obelisk, teasing and darting away while the Thief does much the same, dancing out of the range of his opponent's blade and drawing him in deeper. He wants the smaller man enraged and off balance; he wants him overconfident. That's what leads to stupid mistakes, and the Thief is confident he can taunt his opponent into just that thing.

The opportunity comes sooner than he'd hoped, a chance to sidestep and slip around to the Pharaoh's back. He'll waste no time in grabbing his opponent, one forearm around the throat and the other hand pressing the knife he'd hidden up his sleeve against the Pharaoh's side, poised to slide between ribs and into a lung. He makes sure to pull his opponent right against himself; Obelisk cannot get to him without risking hard to the Pharaoh as well.

His voice is a low, pleased purr right next to the Pharaoh's ear.]

Tell me again how you plan to beat me?

Edited 2017-10-26 04:29 (UTC)

「Just as Bakura predicted, Obelisk's attack come to a halt, his massive hand trying to reach for the pair, but hovers instead over them, he cannot hurt Bakura without hurting the Pharaoh.

It doesn't fucking matter! Atem's arms are still free and, despite of being nearly immobilized and very aware of the steel on his side, he slides and cuts through that arm that's holding him.」

[Even as the Pharaoh starts to move Bakura slides the dagger home, slipping it between two ribs and jerking it sideways, tearing through skin and tissue and lung. The injury to his own arm doesn't matter; he'd gladly lose the limb if it means besting his enemy.]

You never had a chance, you know.

[And he'll make sure to hold onto that bleeding body no matter what, because the Pharaoh is his shield against Obelisk, at least until the man loses enough strength that the summoning can no longer be held firm. To that end he'll try to wrest the sword away, or at least knock it out of the Pharaoh's grip.]

「Atem is sure he's screaming, he opens his mouth and can feel his vocal chords trembling, but he cannot hear it. Everything in the dream has gone deadly silent, except for Bakura's voice nearly purring into his ear. It's disgusting.

Not even the humongous hand of Obelisk makes a sound as it goes lower and lower onto the two, just to suddenly dissipate under the Pharaoh's pain. The god fades completely and Atem is alone again. But he keeps trying to free himself off Bakura's grip, going as far as to grasp his blade with his hands for a better reach -- his palms and fingers suffering immediately -- and he raises his arms, it hurts, it hurts so much but he manages, and tries to deliver a stab to Bakura's face.」

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Event Log: Dreamwalker the Second

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject