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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[Emily is unnoticed in the dream, perhaps because she's so out of place that the others' brains can't process her very presence and so erases her from their field of vision, perhaps because she's really invisible. Somehow, though, she knows what's going on. She sees Maketh. She senses her fear.

And she knows that this is wrong.]

Maketh. [Emily's voice is a sharp whisper as she makes her way towards her, slipping between the assembled cadets until she's at her side.] Maketh, this is crazy. You have to do something!

[Shit shit shit. What if Maketh can't hear her either? Emily follows Maketh's gaze, spots the twins, stares at them for a while before she looks back at Maketh. That mask -- that fucking mask. Emily hates it, suddenly, but all the anger in the world won't stick here. She's afraid, breathing fast, pulse rapid, almost as if she's reacting for Maketh.]

Goddamn, Maketh!

[In this dream, it doesn't seem strange that Emily is there. Maketh can see her, but no one else can - all the cadets lined up nice and straight, hands at their sides. Some of them are smiling. Maketh can't see their expressions under the helmets, but she can feel it.

This is what happens when you allow mistakes.

Maketh cries as quietly as she can, hoping no one will notice the jerk of her shoulders.] I can't. I can't. They'll kill me too.

[There's a sound then that makes her stomach drop and the Imperial guards are gone. In their place stands the Inquisitor, lightsaber powered on and gleaming red. He's going to kill them all, Maketh knows, and he'll kill her too if she doesn't hold perfectly still.]

[The sound is completely unfamiliar to Emily, but when she turns to its source, her blood goes cold.]

Shit.

[If Maketh isn't going to do anything to stop this bullshit, then Emily will. No one can see or hear her anyway. God, she never imagined she'd want to be ignored like this.

Eyes narrowed, Emily sprints towards the Inquisitor. The distance grows short for her, and she's going to ram into him, knock him off his feet, make him drop the freaky sword, give these people time to run and hide--

Except he looks at her and bats her aside as easily as if she were a doll in his way.

Emily falls hard on her side, in front of the twins, swearing up a storm as she drags herself to her feet.]

What the fuck. [He's not supposed to be able to see her. What's going on here?]

No! [Maketh steps out of formation without even thinking about it - and sobs when she realizes what she's done; everyone saw, she made a mistake, she's going to die with the rest of them. She made a mistake.

The Inquisitor smiles at her, then down at Emily.

In a certain light, it looks almost friendly. Until you see his teeth.]

Did you forget, Minister?

[He asks it almost casually and puts the sword through Kareem's chest in the same breath.

Kareem's eyes go wide, as if in protest. It takes him a moment to fall. There's no blood at all. Just that smell, rubber and burnt meat, as the saber cuts through him like so much butter.

Itani quivers, silent tears cutting tracks through the mess on her face.]

Did you forget what we are?

[Maketh jerks her helmet off, lets it clatter to the ground. The other cadets are still standing in perfect formation. Watching.] They--they just wanted to leave....

[The Inquisitor looks bored. He always did, in some way.] That wasn't very smart of them. Are you going to be smart, Minister?

[He's watching Emily now. Smiling at her.]

[The sound of the execution -- the murder -- makes Emily's stomach turn, and the smell doesn't help matters. Neither does the fact that she failed, and now Maketh is out here, exposed, and more than likely about to die.

Just like Emily herself is.

Except this-- this is one of those dreams that Fear mentioned. It must be, because this is clearly the Empire Maketh talks about, this fucked up extreme military shit. None of this exists in Emily's world.

So why not defy this one?

With a deep breath, Emily stands, her wide-eyed gaze turning into a glare as she looks the Inquisitor in his creepy eyes.]

She's going to be smart enough to stay out of my way while I kick your ass.

[Big talk, from a girl who probably doesn't even come up to his shoulder in height, but what she lacks in height and strength and training, she makes up for in sheer stubbornness. And, shit, if she could survive being chased by a wendigo with a bona fide vendetta against her, she can deal with this asshole.

Rather than try and get behind him (a waste of time that would give him the chance to get ready), Emily sprints towards him and dives for his middle, aiming the heel of one hand at his belly button and the other just below it. She's not entirely sure it'll work, but if she can at least knock the air out of him, then she and Maketh can escape together.]

[Maketh stumbles forward, trying to reach out and pull Emily back - you can't do that, you can't do that to the Inquisitor - but she's too far away. Can't stop it, can't stop anything. Maketh's hands close on air, scrabbling at nothing. She's stuck watching somehow, never close enough to actually change things.] No, no--!

[Except that Emily's already running at him, gaining ground, and the Inquisitor is just smiling - a monster shaped like a man, a thing that gave up its name or had it taken away by force - and he's going to kill them all. He's going to enjoy killing them all.

She's going to die last, Maketh realizes suddenly. She's always the last to die.

He's going to kill Emily and laugh at her corpse.

No, no he's not.

Maketh raises her hands suddenly, finds a blaster clutched in them - standard issue, she knows this too well to miss - and fires just once.

The shot catches him right between the eyes.

There's a moment then, before Emily can crash into him, where time seems to slow - the seconds ticking out, molasses like, through the air. She hears the saber power off. The Inquisitor smiles at her. Then his knees buckle.]

[Emily slams into him while he's falling, but it's only when they're both on the ground that she sees the bullet hole between his eyes and how much scarier his grin looks as his eyes go glassy.

The bravery from before drains out of Emily as she realizes she's half lying on a corpse. Gasping, she backs away, ignoring the ache in her side. She only stops when she's by Maketh's feet, and then she grabs her leg and puts her free hand over where she's hurting so badly. How? What happened? Why--

She grips Maketh's pant leg tighter as she pulls back her hand.

Why is there blood on her hand?]

God--!

[He's down, he's down, she has to go over there and shoot him again or he'll get back up. Make sure, her training is screaming, make sure, make sure. He's the Grand Inquisitor, best of the Empire's soldiers and trained by Lord Vader himself - such things can't just be shot, they have to be decimated.

Except that the Inquisitor doesn't rise with that wild, shark tooth grin. He doesn't move at all.

Itani remains kneeling on the ground with the other pilots. Most of them are dead or dying, Maketh realizes now - bleeding out slowly. Itani is holding her brother's hand, rocking back and forth in complete silence.

Too late. Again.

She kneels down, reaching for Emily worriedly.] Did -- did he hit you?

[Oh stars, what if he stabbed her?]

[This isn't how this is supposed to go. They're supposed to kick ass, to save Maketh's girlfriend, to win.

Emily's hand trembles as Maketh reaches for her.]

H-How? How? He's-- he was holding that freaky sword.

[Tears start to fill her eyes as she shakes her head.]

This isn't real. This isn't real. It can't be real, I can't die.

Y-you're not going to die! [She can't, it doesn't work like this, she wasn't supposed to be here at all. Emily cannot die. Maketh swallows hard, squeezing Emily's arm.] Just...just let me see, okay?

[The blade cauterizes everything, so it's probably just a through and through, she'll be fine. Everything is going to be fine.]

[Sniffing, Emily lifts her shirt up so Maketh can see, but she herself doesn't look. It's not pretty, and Emily can't bear the thought of such an injury, of something potentially fatal.]

This is a dream, it's gotta be. [She grimaces, fighting back a sob.] Please make this stop, Maketh. Please.

[Oh, stars. Maketh shudders, then shrugs out of her uniform jacket, pressing it against Emily's stomach. Stop the bleeding. You have to stop the bleeding.] I--it's fine! It's just fine, it went straight through, okay? It didn't--didn't even hit anything. It's gonna be fine.

[There's just a lot of blood, is all...

Bacta. She needs a bacta injection. Maketh bites her lip, looking around. Her friends are dying on the floor, all lined up just as before, but the other cadets are long gone.] Itani....please...please help me...

[Itani lifts her head slowly. There's nothing at all on her face. nobody home.

Maketh shivers. Let it go. Move on.] They--they keep med kits in the TIEs. But I need you to hold this over your stomach while I get it, okay?

[Emily nods absently, tears falling down her cheeks. It hurts to keep the jacket pressed against the injury, but she does as she's told because this is such an impossible situation.] Can I lie down? [Maybe then, she'll wake up from this nightmare.]

Yeah, it's better if you lie down....

[Stabilize the wound. Clean it, make sure...

There must be a protocol. There's always a protocol.

Maketh shudders, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. She doesn't know how to deal with a wound from a lightsaber. She's not trained for this, doesn't know enough.

No, no, she can improvise. It's fine. Everything is going to be just fine.] I'm gonna get the med kit now. I'll just be gone a minute. You're...you're doing just fine, Emily, you're gonna be fine!

Okay.

[What choice does she have anyway? Lying down hurts, but she feels better when she's flat on her back. Less woozy, more able to breathe. While Maketh is gone, Emily starts up a quiet chant.]

Wake up, wake up, wake up...

[Maketh is back before she even realizes it.]

[None of the others are going to help. The cadets are gone and Maketh's friends are dead or dying on the floor, most of them gone blurry around the edges - as if they weren't there to be begin with. A hologram of some sort. Another trick. The Empire does so love its tricks.

The closet TIE is empty and unlocked, med kit right where it ought to be. Maketh comes running back and nearly slips on a pool of blood. She goes down to her knees but catches herself, wheezing.

The Inquisitor's dead eyes are staring at her, his teeth bared in a rictus grin.

Maketh scrambles back with a yelp, clutching at the med kit. No, no, you have to focus. Ignore the dead thing, it doesn't matter. Emily needs to live. Emily needs help.

It's going to be fine. Everything is going to be just fine.

Maketh pushes her hair out of her eyes and kneels down by Emily, popping the cap off the syringe of bacta gel.] This is going to hurt, [she warns] but it's going to fix you. On three. One...

[She doesn't get to three, just slams the syringe down into Emily's stomach and depresses the needle. It's going to hurt a lot. Possibly even more than being stabbed. But it's going to save her. It is . It has to.]

[Emily screams, large tears rolling down her cheeks as if to make room for the medicine Maketh injects into her.]

This better fucking work--! [she somehow manages, her voice thin and shrill as all of her tenses under the pain. Her muscles and tendons are so tight that she feels they might snap at any second, and indeed, she's trembling from the effort not to lash out in revenge for this fucking bullshit treatment.

She doesn't notice how quiet it's gotten, how the room has slowly emptied, as if by magic. If she did, then she'd take up her chant again, only she'd beg it of Maketh this time.]

H-How-- long? [Shit. Come on. Breathe, Em.] How long til I'm healed?

It's okay, it's okay, it's working...

[Maketh shifts to cradle Emily's head, petting her hair. Trying to comfort her as best she can. Either the bacta will work or it won't, but it must work. It is going to work, no one else is going to die here. Maketh tries to smile, even though her tears have returned, making her vision go blurry all over again.] Just another minute. You're almost done, I promise.

[Maybe... maybe it is working. Emily can't feel the tension in her feet anymore, the heat of how her body strains. They relax and cool, the sensation traveling slowly up her legs as she sniffs.]

It doesn't hurt. [She stares at Maketh through half-open eyes. Is it getting darker? Colder? No. Not possible. This isn't even real.] I'm not dying. [No matter how much it feels like she is, how relaxed her body is as the chill creeps up past her knees.]

No. [Maketh's breath hitches.] No, I did everything right!

[Emily can't be dying. She can't. It's not allowed.]

P--please, I need an instructor! [In this dream, Maketh is sixteen. In that moment, she sounds even younger.]

It's fine. [Somehow, Emily manages to grab one of Maketh's hands; her grip is weak, though, not at all what one would expect of the girl who can knock someone off their feet with a slap.] I-It's okay, it's one of those dreams Fear talked about.

[It has to be.]

Wake up, Maketh. Please. Please. I don't want to die.

No, no, no...

[Maketh squeezes Emily's hand tight, praying that the bacta is working - it might be a little slow but it's working, it has to be working - and finds herself crying again. She wipes at her eyes furiously with her free hand. No crying, you don't do that, don't show weakness.

Emily can't die. She can't.]

I did what I was supposed to! It--it's working, it's working, you just have to hold on a little longer, Emily. Please just hold on.

Wake up.

[It's getting so, so cold, but her tears are hot as they fall down her face, into her hair, Maketh's uniform.]

Forget protocol, okay? Please. Please...

I don't--tell me how. [Maketh feels her breath hitch painfully in her chest.] Please tell me what to do.

Just... do it. [Emily shuts her eyes, her fingers shifting slightly in Maketh's grip.] Just do it. You can do it, you don't-- need orders. Please.

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mismanagement - 2016-05-21 01:44 (UTC) - Expand

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Event Log: Dreamwalker

im ready

yessss

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