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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FEAR. cw: torture.
[ Johanna Mason steps out into the rain. Everything is peaceful for a moment, but then the drops hit her skin, and everything falls apart. The dream blacks out, and the only thing that the visitor perceives, for now, is Johanna's muffled cries.

The dream appears in flashes, harsh, dissonant, disjointed.

A cell. No windows, no door. Johanna paces around it, muttering to herself. She has not eaten in days. When she still has energy, she punches a wall or yells. She sits on the edge of a cot. She doesn't have much energy next door.

Screams from next door. Blackout.

Two men open enter her prison. Johanna remains rooted to her spot, gripping the edge of the cot. The men are wearing surgical masks. Johanna can see nothing but their eyes. They grab her. Blackout.

We have a couple questions for you, Johanna.

They strip her naked and plunge her in an icy bath. She shivers, not only out of cold, but out of fear. Blackout.

The men bring wires. The dream becomes more piecemeal at this point, flickering in and out of awareness. They tape the wires to Johanna's skin. They leave no body part untouched, not even the head, which they shaved for this purpose.

Tell us about the Mockingjay.

Johanna screams when the current enters her body. She screams and she shakes, but she does not speak in words. She can't anymore. She gave up all her secrets a long time ago. The current keeps coming, and coming, and coming. When they remove the wires, Johanna is shaking, unable to move. They drag her from the tub and throw her back in the cell.

The screams next door still don't stop. ]

RAGE.
[ The rebels win. They decide to hold a Games for the people of the Capitol, to give them a taste of their own torture. No one is more supportive about it than Johanna. She even volunteers as tribute, to represent the victors.

You and Johanna stand in the center of a large arena. This year's theme is a ruined cityscape. Johanna has an axe, but more importantly, she has bloodlust. She moves through the ruined city in the dim lighting, snarling, ready to kill. She sees you move, and assumes you are an enemy. This is a fight to the death, after all. She glares at you, stands up straight, and hurls her axe with sickening speed in your direction. ]

DELIGHT.
[ You are standing in a beautiful pine forest. The trees are tall and old, strong and fragrant. There is no one cutting them down today. Nature is completely unaltered, except for the small stone path that meanders its way through the forest. Off in the distance, a bird sings.

You see two figures walking along the path. One is Johanna, and the other is a boy younger than she, but somehow, you know that this boy is her older brother. That the only reason she is older now was that he died too soon.

Johanna doesn't speak much, but the brother does. He is lively, obviously intelligent. When he speaks, he talks with his hands, and his whole face lights up. Johanna's face is different, too. It's softer than it ever was in the waking world. She's smiling, just a little bit, and holding the boy's hand tightly. She loves him. She loves this place. The dream itself seems to glow with that warmth, that peace. ]

[ Castiel is drawn in by the beauty of the forest. Normally speaking, he's learned not to intrude in other people's dreams unless there is a good reason to do so--unless the world is on the line. It feels intrusive to be forced into it now, slipping into another's dreaming unwillingly. It's unfair on them.

But the forest is different. It feels different to his own dreams, all of which turned to horrors. No--this is peaceful, and Castiel feels its warmth sliding into him, filing him absolutely. He breathes in the pine smell, and exhales relief.

When he steps onto the path, he knows it's the dreamer who walks just ahead of him. She seems content, and he's not in a hurry to disturb her, although he supposes the presence of a stranger in something so peaceful is bound to be exactly that. He could tear himself away, probably, use his own ability to wrench himself free and leave her be, but this is an oasis, a peaceful spot in all the horrors he's been enduring here, and after facing Hell itself in his own mind, it's something he needs. Craves. The sun cutting through the greenery is alive, thrilling nature, and oh, he already misses the sun.

It'll be okay if he stays just a little longer. ]

[ Johanna spots Castiel eventually -- she knows these woods better than anyone. It's her dream, after all. She nudges her brother, and he nods and murmurs something back. They both laugh. Johanna waves the man over. ]

Hey, asshole! C'mon, don't stand over there like that. You'll get leaves all down your coat and maybe some fungi, too.

[ Johanna's voice is brusque, but for once, she's genuinely friendly. nothing could go wrong here. No one is dying today. ]

[ It was very lucky for her that brusque voices and casual friendly insults are his friendship bread and butter, because otherwise he might have taken the name some other way. Instead Castiel read it as the invitation it was, and came over, head tipping cheerfully. ]

If I stood still for long enough for fungi to grow on me, I think I'd probably deserve it. Not that I mind. I admire them very much.

[ So just a little weird, but yes, not lethal. This is a good dream, and he feels that. ]

This is your brother? [ The dream practically implies it, humming it lightly under the current of everything else. ]

[ Johanna and her brother turn to each other and laugh. This new guy is a real charmer, that's for sure. ]

Glad you know your shit about plants. You wouldn't last a day here if you didn't.

[ Johanna nods, beaming. She really, really likes her brother. the brother waves hello. ]

Yup. Devin, meet....this guy. What's your name?

Castiel. It's nice to meet you, Devin.

[ He stepped forward, carefully, lifting his hand up in a wave of hello. He rocked slightly back again. ]

This is a beautiful forest. Is it yours?

[ Devin smiles. Castiel is awkward, in an endearing sort of way.

Johana laughs, and it's only a little bitter. ]

I mean yeah, we live here, but it doesn't belong to us. I suppose it belongs to the Capitol, although between you and me, it's pretty hard to own a forest.

It's yours if it's in your heart. And this...this does seem like a place that is close to your hearts. It brings you together.

[ They weren't standing close enough to the trees to touch them, so Castiel just paused to admire them again, in particular peering up at the glossy green canopy, with the sun shining through the leaves. ]

It's so lovely, and teeming with life. I didn't realize how much I missed it.

[Josh is not really down with all this screaming. Or with the torture, either, and he recognizes Johanna even if they aren't quite the best of friends. It's not real - this isn't the first night he's wandered into strange dreams, so by now he knows that, although to be fair about half the time Josh isn't sure Hadriel is real either.

But it sure seems real. He's not a fan.

He's in the cell with her, but not in nearly the same state. He holds himself distant, in a way, because he can. Because it's not his fear, and because Josh has enough of a disconnect from the world at times that it isn't so hard to make it happen.

He kneels down next to her.]

Hey. Hey, let's get out of here.

[ Johanna does not look at Josh, even when he's kneeling next to her. She can't trust her own head right now -- especially not after the shocks, when things black out intermittently, and Johanna can barely remember her name, much less where she is. Or why she's in this cell.

Johanna's muscles shake, and her breaths are quick, sharp, and painful-sounding. She rests her head against the wall of the cell, willing herself to breathe. Never, not since the games, has she allowed anyone else to see her so vulnerable. The only reason Josh gets to see her now is because she doesn't believe he exists. ]

Wow. G-genius. There's no -- no way out.

[ For once, she sounds desperate. ]

I tried.

That sounds like quitter talk.

[He looks around. It's not a great situation, but Josh is both sure this isn't reality and totally unconcerned for his own safety. That's gotta count for something, is the way he sees it.]

We'll make a way out, murder everyone in our path, go out in a final explosion. Sounds like fun, right? So you better get up so we can get started.

[He crouches down by her.]

This is bullshit.

[ Maybe it's the bullshit Johanna responds to, or the promise of being able to blow stuff up. She wants out, and if this hallucination says he can make it happen, she'll trust him. She presses her hands against the wall and, trembling, manages a standing position. She's leaning on that wall heavily, though -- near-starvation and repeated electric shocks does not a strong body make. She takes a few deep breaths, as if even that endeavor has worn her out. ]

What now.

Now we smash shit up.

[It's a cell. There really shouldn't be any way to do that. But this is a dream, isn't it? And if there's anything Josh is good at - besides making terrible decisions - it's being imaginative.

Luckily - maybe - Josh seems to have an axe. Because when he thinks of Johanna, he thinks of axe murder, and so why wouldn't he have one? It all makes perfect sense, of course.

He swings at the door, hard.]

[Bianca always rather enjoys ruins; but it's not the scenery that holds her attention. Johanna stalks through it like a hunting tiger: here is everything that attracted Biance, from the anger crackling off her like vapour off ice, to the resilient grace with which she moves to the light in her eyes.

And then Bianca makes an involuntary sound, and Johanna strikes like a snake. If it weren't a dream, she's fairly sure she wouldn't actually have been able to dodge; as it is, the axe thunks into the doorframe behind her, missing Bianca's ear by a whisker.

She grins.]

We must never stop meeting like this. Who are we hunting?

[ Johanna grins back, and tosses Bianca an axe. ]

The people who killed everyone I loved. The people who fucked me up.

[ She makes a grand, sweeping gesture. ]

Welcome to the motherfucking Capitol. You ready to provide some entertainment? That's all murder ever is, you know. That's why they make us do it. [ Johanna snorts. God, she loves revenge. ] Because it's fun.

Bianca snorts, and holds her head higher. She catches the axe with easy grace; she may not be used to it like Johanna, but she has always been a consummate entertainer.

"The Time Lords also have a tradition of gladiatorial combat - criminals and aliens only, of course."

She does not expand on this. This is Johanna's dream, and while Bianca is historically bad at supporting roles, she's pleased to accept this one.

She makes a theatrical show of testing her axe's edge.

"Nearly as sharp as you are, my saltfish. Let the fun begin."

Nice catch. Johanna grins. This is going to be a terribly formidable alliance. Excellent.

"Here, the tradition is children. I was in one when I was fifteen." Johanna grimaces, but it's soon replaced with her dangerous grin. "But now, we're giving the gamemakers a taste of their own medicine. Only requirement is to make them suffer."

Johanna hears the sound of rubble shifting. She slips into a fighting stance. "On my mark. One, two, three --"

Johanna throws the axe. Distantly, there's a squelching sound and the shower of blood. Not bad.

"I can do that."

It's an understatement. They haven't exactly had a conversation about Johanna's history, but Bianca pays close attention to the network - "slaughtered everyone I loved" has come up more than once. It adds a weight of rage to Bianca's playfully predatory demeanour.

She doubts she can throw the axe as efficiently as Johanna, and besides, Bianca wants a look at these people she means to kill in cold blood.

She creeps closer. They are very much what she expected - soft, overdressed for this exercise, and the one left standing looks as though she's in shock. An easy target, even with an unfamiliar weapon. Bianca weighs the axe in her hand, considers aerodynamics and the application of forces and the vulnerable spots on the human frame, and makes her throw.

It's not perfect. Instead of the severed artery she envisioned, the axe catches her victim on the temple with the blunt side; but that's enough to drop her, stunned, and Bianca discovers that her long knives have come with her into the dream. She darts in, staying low, but mostly trusting Johanna to watch her back while she delivers the coup de grace.

It's been centuries, literally lifetimes, since Bianca has been held prisoner - the barge doesn't count, even when she found herself suddenly an inmate - but this is familiar enough, nonetheless. So is Johanna's restless anger: and in this context, Bianca abruptly recognises how like her former self's stubborn terrier persistence it is.

She's still reeling from that insight when the men in the masks come. And then time slips, as it does in dreams, and Bianca is at Johanna's side, holding her hand, and the men don't seem to see her; but she can't touch them either, and she can hear the electricity recharging. She is powerless, and the current will restart any second -

No. She doesn't say it aloud, but she lifts her chin and looks Johanna in the eye.

"Johanna. You're dreaming. Can you wake up?"

Johanna doesn't see Bianca, doesn't see anyone but the men and their wires and the cuffs strapping her down. There's fear in her eyes, and she shakes and sweats. She does feel Bianca, though, and she grips the hand tightly. It's her last lifeline. She can feel the ghost of a current on her skin already, her body anticipating what's about to happen.

"N-no," she moans, half a whisper. That's all she can manage. "You got what you want, l-leave me the fuck alone."

The current comes anyway. Johanna screams, and clutches the hand tighter. Bianca can probably feel the schock at this point, too. Johanna'a vision flashes with blue, and eventually she stops struggling and goes limp.

Bianca absolutely feels that current. Her native constitution is stronger than human, and it's still enough to make her yelp. She holds Johanna, cradling her head, and for a moment she feels the rage in her hearts like a living thing, ready to spring out of her chest and tear the masked men - and their employers - into quivering red shreds.

Instead, she clenches her jaw and gathers her will, quieting the beast by force. The way out, she realises, is to use the dream's own nature against it - and no will of Bianca's can do that unaided. It isn't her dream.

She turns Johanna's head until their eyes meet, and for the first time since she stumbled through Hadriel's door, Bianca brings the full force of her will to bear.

"Listen to me, Johanna. I've rewired their generator - next time they shock you it's going to short-circuit through me."

Bianca hasn't, of course, altered anything. None of it's real in any case; the important thing is that Johanna believes it, and Bianca drives that impulse into her mind as hard as she knows how.

"When that happens, you'll have two minutes. Get out and hide. When you reach the hallway outside, wake up.."

She speaks low and urgently, and the hypnotic command - believe me, obey me, trust me - is laced into every word, its wellspring in the dark pools of her eyes.

She kisses Johanna on the forehead and braces herself.

Edited 2016-05-30 15:26 (UTC)

Bianca will find Johanna's eyes unfocused, like the electricity has sapped the very light out of them. This is a very different Johanna than the one Bianca knows. This one is broken, subdued, beaten. It's the Johanna she doesn't allow anyone to see. There's a reason why she'll throw around the death of her family but not this. When her loved ones died, she got angry. When she was tortured directly, Johanna shattered.

At least, that's how she sees it. At this point, the very act of living feels like cowardice.

Johanna doesn't believe Bianca. She doesn't trust her. But like Sleeping Beauty, she awakens from the kiss, gasping and shaking.

Slowly, she rises to go find Bianca. She grits her teeth. She has to be strong -- she has to. Bianca can't see how this affects her. No one can. She has to make sure Bianca knows that none of this is as bad as it looks.

(But in reality, it's much worse.) ]

The thing is, Bianca knows intimately how people break. She knows far too well that everything sentient has its fault lines, its places where the right blow at the right amount of force will shatter even a diamond. Seeing Johanna's fault lines exposed this way doesn't make her think Johanna weak; if anything, she is only mildly disgusted at these torturers' hamhandedness.

When she broke Zane, on the Barge, she didn't shatter him into fragments. She crafted him with loving care, building on the damage already done to whet him into a more perfect, more graceful weapon.

That Johanna is the glorious battleaxe she is is a testament to her own native resilience. These people were only interested in wasting her, and that makes Bianca shiver: not with fear but rage.

She bares her teeth at the dream-torturers, when they come. Bianca is not particularly afraid of the electricity: it hurts, but her frame is built more durable than human, and more important, she hasn't been systematically worn down by it already.

She could, she supposes, have suggested something that didn't require her to take the shock for Johanna; but it seems right that she should. Part of it - the part Bianca doesn't examine or acknowledge - wants it for the value of a romantic self-sacrifice, but also she feels vaguely that the gods' price for taking Johanna out of the dream will still be demanded somewhere. And the cost to Bianca is lighter.

She grins as the current floods through her. And Johanna wakes, and Bianca does too, still grinning.

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Event Log: Dreamwalker

johanna mason | fear, rage, delight

delight

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fear

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rage

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Fear

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