hadriel_logs | Event Log: Dreamwalker

Entry tags:

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

On one hand, he has a point. Her life isn't in any less danger now than it was when she was in that room.

Though, on the other hand, it isn't her life that she's so worried about. Far as she is concerned, Firo is an innocent in this. Or at least an uninvolved party. He doesn't deserve whatever punishment they would give him if they're caught.

"How? There isn't anything for me outside of this place. Nowhere I can go. I'm... I'm out of people that I can trust."

Someone sure as hell had made certain of that.

She also can't expect Firo to do any more for her than he already has. That's asking for far too much.

Just then, the lights flash red. Sounds of footsteps echo down the corridor where they're headed. Her eyes widen as she abandons her train of thought, grabbing Firo by the arm and pulling him along with her down an adjacent hallway, away from the sounds of marching footfalls.

"This way. May have remembered the exit." If it's still available to them, that is.

"You don't have to trust me. But there's a whole world out there--you can find a way." He says it firmly, because he knows it's possible. You either scrape by or you don't--isn't it better to die trying?

"Shit!" He's quick to follow as she pulls him around. "All right, let's hurry!" That 'may' isn't comforting, but what else do they have?

In a way, she had already died trying. At least, a piece of her has. A piece that she'll never be able to get back, or mend.

That's all in the past, though. Nothing she can do will ever make it right. Best to move on and learn from that, if she's allowed to live long enough...

"This way," she says, abandoning her previous line of thought for the time being to guide them through a downward slope into another tunnel. At the end is seemingly a dead end, except for a hatch in the ground.

The heavy steel looks like it'd take several people with substantial strength to move. For her, however, she pries it open with one hand. She throws the hatch open, revealing a man-sized hole to jump through, and looks to Firo.

"Down here. You first."

Several indistinct voices can be heard down the red-lit corridor where they had come from. They don't have much time.

So long as they keep moving, he doesn't lost hope. Even when it seems they've come to a dead end; he marvels at her strength.

It occurs to him that he'd balk at going first if he were warier, but there's no time. And besides, it pays to be bold. He nods and goes right for it.

"What're we up against if they catch up to us?"

He normally dives into a fight headfirst with no information. But this place is strange to him, and this lady seems worried--he imagines he should know what to expect.

Once Firo has jumped, she follows. Grabbing the edge of the hatch, she swings it close as she drops to her feet, landing over a rocky floor after a fifteen-foot drop. Though it's hard to see, the drafty air and the stone surfaces appear to be the interior of a cavern where the facility was built. Even if they had a light, it'd be too dangerous to utilize it, so she takes Firo's wrist again and starts pulling him through the darkness.

"Guns," she finally replies, more focused on leading them down a passage into a cold tunnel than she is in talking. "Most likely maser weapons. Doubt they'd bother with non-lethals at this juncture."

Since she was supposed to be killed, anyway. And Firo's actions may as well have been a capital crime... aiding and abetting and all.

Firo barely recovers from his fall before she's dragging him along again. He doesn't hesitate, though, and speeds along as quickly as he can. Relying almost totally on her vision and direction is unsettling to him, but there aren't any other options.

Hopefully he judged her right and she won't kill him.

"Masers? The hell're those?"

Not that Firo can see it, but she looks at him like he had suddenly started cursing her out in Aramaic. Suppose, however, even in this day and age, maser weaponry is still new tech. But damned if she knows how to explain things to a person who has no idea what they even are. What does she look like, a scientist?

"It's energy, that discharges radiation within the microwave range." And if he doesn't understand that, then... "Old weapons that utilize bullets pierce their targets. Masers can cause severe to fatal burns."

Not that she's in any danger of that, but she can't say the same for Firo here.

Firo’d already been opening his mouth to ask her what the hell that meant when she offers her second explanation. That’s good—really all he needs to know.

He snorts, “Sounds like a pretty fancy name for something that isn’t that complicated. My friends do that with oil and a lighter.”

“Sounds like those’ll give ‘em away if they try to come after us. We’d see the fire.” He’s assuming there’s fire.

They make a turn down a cave tunnel, leading deeper into the underground city of the AUC. It actually doesn't seem that much different from the caverns of Hadriel, though the facility they had escaped from is a more unique scene. The walls are also lined with wires, and eventually flickering, unreliable light fixtures shine the way, as well as bioluminescent fungus, grown organically within the stone surfaces.

As it becomes easier to see and hopefully Firo's eyes have adjusted to the light and darkness, she releases her hold on his wrist. She keeps walking ahead of him, leading them down cold and drafty pathways.

"Not fire. It's laser tech. And they shoot as fast as bullets, so there's not much seeing them coming." She makes another turn, her perfect memory being of great help.

It's still strange, being able to talk. She could always understand people's words, even before they realized that she could. But this communication thing is still new to her, so she struggles to figure out what she should say, let alone carry a conversation.

"Nice. They sound like a treat." Fast. And probably long-ranged. That doesn't sound like a good mix for them.

With his newfound (relative) freedom, Firo continues along behind Rey, snatching occasional looks at their surroundings. He has to remind himself of the urgency of the situation to keep from examining the mushrooms. "This place is weird as hell. What's it supposed to be?"

Definitely not. She may have a natural resistance to fire and heat, but she isn't certain if she can withstand laser damage. Either way, she can't say the same for Firo, who would be more exposed if they find themselves being shot at.

"It's the Ashwater Underground City, also called the AUC." You know, in case it becomes a mouthful. "It's about a mile under the surface city and is several miles wide, housing three sectors. There should be a monorail tunnel that'll lead us above ground."

While she talks, the echoing mechanical whirs capture her attention as well. She pulls on Firo's shoulder, indicating that they make a left down a more cavernous passage than continuing onward towards the more man-made looking tunnel. Because a patrol vehicle the size of a tank just happens to be coming their way.

It does sound like a mouthful, and her explanation leaves Firo with even more questions: namely, why they'd need so much underground. "Why would they--"

He follows with no struggle. Once they're away from the turn by a few paces, he asks quietly, "What was that?"

"Roller. It's a patrol tank dispatched by the military department in one of the other sectors."

Like it wasn't bad enough when all they had to worry about was the mad scientist types in the facility. If only it would be that easy.

She nods at the passage ahead of them. "Down here. Should cut into a route that leads to the monorail."

For someone who has been trapped in a glass box for most of her life, she sure does know a lot about where to go. Helps when she has the layout of the whole underground city downloaded into her brain. One of the few things she can thank her previous 'rescuer' for.

“Tanks? Shit, why’s the military runnin’ things? Don’t you have normal cops?”

Firo finds his mind going immediately to the normal concerns of the gangster—wait, how to bribe these guys? How are they supposed to run their rackets if they don’t know the guys personally? Then, of course, he realizes that this is the least of their concerns and that the Martillos aren’t here anyway.

She continues down the winding tunnel, leading Firo to a nearly pitch black tunnel, unlit by artificial and/or bio lighting. Despite this, she seems to carry on like she knows where she's going.

"In the surface city, yes. Things work differently down in the AUC. More militarized. Most civilians don't even know much about its existence."

The whole underground city beneath Ashwater is more or less an old legend to the surface world.

Firo’s listening closely for any more tanks or strange noises, but he keeps one ear attuned to her steps to follow them. It occurs to him that there could be any number of traps lurking in the darkness, but what can he do? It’s pointless to worry about it—either she knows what to look for or she doesn’t.

“No civilians? So who lives here, huh? Just soldiers?”

He finds that hard to believe—they haven’t seen a single shady bar or nightclub, and those always do well where there are soldiers or sailors. Not that he’s disappointed not to see such things.

No shady bars or nightclubs here. Not in the tunnels, at least. The AUC is vast, though -- they've barely scraped the edge of it.

"Researchers and the like," she replies curtly. "Heard that they have living quarters for their families down here, too."

Hard to think that anyone would bring their family in this place, but most of the researchers weren't allowed to return home. Someone must've thought that it'd be easier that way.

She slows down to a stop when they reach an opening. More lights illuminate the tunnel, revealing what appears to be some sort of subway system.

"This is it."

Seriously? Firo can easily imagine someone like Szilard letting themselves be holed up in here, but whole families? He shakes his head. “Nice place to bring up a family.”

“Wow.” Firo looks up and down the length of the tunnel before them. It looks almost like the trains and the like back home.

“I don’t have any change for fare.” By which he means, how the hell are they going to sneak onto this thing?

"Not... really."

Sorry, Firo. Your sarcasm may have just been lost on her.

She steps onto a narrow walkway, usually reserved for the maintenance staff when they need to work on the tunnels. The lighting leaves something to be desired, given how dim it is here.

"Don't need a fare." She points to her left and keeps walking in that direction, her footfalls and voice echoing off the concrete walls. "There's a security checkpoint up ahead where supply cars are supposed to stop. It was supposed to be an alternate escape route when leaving this place the first time, in case the original plan didn't pan out."

Implying that this isn't the first time she's ever made it this far.

It’s not every day that Firo, not the best-adjusted person himself, realizes that someone else is completely socially tone-deaf. He does with this lady, though. …And, actually, it reminds him of someone. He files that remark away for later. The rest of what she’s saying is more important than reflecting on friends.

He glances around as he follows. “What happened the first time?”

That explains how even a lady in a cage knew to get around so well—though Firo’d initially assumed that she’d simply been free before being condemned, so he hadn’t been too worried. The idea that she’s failed before isn’t so comforting, but they know better now, right?

Some questions you're just better off not asking. That one, Firo, would happen to be one of them, as she abruptly stops.

"I-I don't... I don't--" The wavering she had expressed earlier when he had found her return to her tones. She brings her hands together to realize that they're shaking now. Her skin starting to burn up. "--don't want to talk about it. I can't. Ca... n't. Can't."

She whips her head from side to side, trying to rattle the sense back into her. Focus. Don't lose it here!

Jaw clenched, she attempts to straighten herself and push forward down the walkway. They can't wait. Not for long.

"Th-there's not... much time."

As she says this, a single light peers through the end of the tunnel behind them. The sound of a train gliding across its tracks approach them.

Firo raises an eyebrow as he watches her—that really turned around quick. “Hey, what the hell’s wrong with you?” Despite the wording, he earnestly sounds concerned. This can’t be good, whatever’s happening.

He reaches out for her shoulder, wanting to steady her. “You don’t wanna talk about it, you don’t have to. Come on, let’s just hold on and wait for it.”

The warning sounds of a mechanical whistle echoes down the vast and seemingly endless tunnel. Her hands start to come over her ears, to drown out the sounds of the approaching machine and Firo's voice beside her.

That's when she feels his hand on her shoulder. And something just snaps.

She is wicked.

Not much time, she reminds herself. There is not much time.

She deserves to--

Without another word, she moves to hurl her weight towards the tracks, into the path of the speeding train.

No, no, no, not on his watch. As soon as Firo sees her move, he darts forward. One hand reaches for her arm again; the other goes for her shirt, hopefully less easy for her to shake off. If one or both land, he’ll grip as hard as he can and try to pull her back.

“Hey! Cut it out! What the hell’re you doin’?!”

Just when her sick concept or redemption seems so close, she's being ripped away from it. Firo caught her in time, just before the train blurs past, horn screaming down the tunnel.

For a moment, she screams with it, her voice drowned out by the raucous sound. It disappears into the tunnel, the light fading into the blackness, just as her hope of ever finding an end to this nightmare also fades.

Her knees buckle then, her whole being almost despairing as the train comes and goes. She collapses to her knees, over the narrow walkway.

Eyes wide, she shivers and bites down on her lower lip. If she was equipped with such a feat, she'd be bursting into tears right now. But she can't muster them. Even if she did, what right does she have to cry now?

No. She doesn't get to cry. Monsters don't cry.

Firo is probably expecting an explanation, or at least an answer to his question. But she doesn't have anything beyond a choked noise and an empty stare.

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tw: suicide attempt (fiOHNOOO)

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