Event | Landfall | Dreaming

[ironwood]

Characters: Any and every!
Date: August 10th - 31, 2013
Location: The realm of Dreaming as accessed via Sinbrilee
Situation: Dreaming is but one of the three realms and here characters are subject to their fanciful thoughts.
Warnings/Rating: Please place content warnings in subject headers!

Sinbrilee | Dreaming | Death

Life. Dreaming. Death. Three realms overlaid upon one another and yet each distinctly their own. They dwell in Life and do so live upon the back of the great turtle as those of Sinbrilee did upon the shell of his sister. However, there stand numerous arches of marble throughout the ruined city that are inlaid with runes beyond understanding. Those that live and breathe which step through those whose runes glow with faint, iridescent light tread instead into the realm of Dreaming.

Here, there exists no single defining characteristic beyond the visitor's imagination. The landscape sculpts to their individual thoughts, the events to their dreams. From a drab gray nothing to the most brilliant of displays, the senses perceive all that they wish to perceive for all that nothing here truly exists. This far from Tu Vishan, the ability to shape their surroundings is all they have, for Sinbrilee's Dreaming does not have the energy to sustain powers, only the bodies of those that dwell here.

Should two parties near, then the Mesh begins. Dreams, you see, not only can be shared, but they strive to be. These visions sculpted into reality reach out for one another and blend. They begin an exchange akin to a linking of the minds, within which one visitor can learn the other's deepest thoughts. Their limitation is but compatibility, for two minds that cannot flow upon the same current cannot hold the Mesh.

Happiness or loss, the landscape and events play out memories and fancies with a most convincing air. The mood rises and falls with the tide of the visitor's mind, detached as they are from the soothing influence of a great turtle's mind. Nothing here, however, is real; 'constructs' simply fade if taken through the archways and even the greatest scientific minds or tools will reveal nothing of its source. This is an ancient magic of an ancient realm, long practised in concealing itself from any prying.

Note: Due to the fluid and highly individual nature of Dreaming, no official subheaders will be provided in the comments of this post. Feel free to post and thread however you like, so long as the rules of Dreaming are adhered to.

Comments

[wingedwarrior]

[scenario 1

The overall mood is one of feeling at home, at peace, acceptance. Various League members talk to her as the memories shift. A few games of chess with Batman (a few she won), conversations with Superman, Flash making ridiculous jokes, J'onn going over a few League matters with her, laughing and sharing a drink with Vixen. Her friends being around her, still trusting her. The view from the Watchtower were Shayera resides is a jaw dropping one. Countless stars fill the dark sky, and it's one of her favorite views she's ever seen. One of her most touching was being reinstated to the Justice League. There's a strong bittersweet feeling here, a feeling of not belonging, but happy to have people who care about her. A lady and her child give a grateful smile to Shayera, and one begins to feel accepted once again, not so much like an outsider.

The more personal ones involve John Stewart, along with a soothing sense of love and belonging. A few instances of laughter are shared between them, as they stay close in each other's arms. Kisses are exchanged, along with a few simple flirtatious glances. These may be personal memories, but she doesn't have much against people seeing them. She looks a bit longing as she relives these particular memories.

scenario 2

These are the much darker memories Shayera holds. The first one is walking past the imprisoned League members, Flash, Superman, Batman, John Stewart, and Wonder Woman. All of whom look at her with a certain disgust and hatred. A sense of sorrow is felt, but a stronger one of fulfilling a mission is also there. Of needing to do what is best for her people, despite having lied to all of Earth.

Another is Shayera in combat (and judging by how malicious it looks, it's not training) with her ex-fiance, Hro Talak. An intense pain is here, but also the need to protect. Both her and John Stewart are a mess after the fight, words are exchanged between her and Hro (unheard), and she walks out on her fellow Thanagarians. A certain disdain is felt, covering the underlying hurt at turning her back on her people. The wound is still there on her heart, dooming her people the way she did.

These all shift between the above, as well as fighting a small group of Thanagarians led by Paran Dul, currently attacking her, Vixen, and Vigilante. Words are shouted, but nothing is heard. A strong, intense feeling of failure, of letting loved ones down. Through all of this, Shayera seems to remain unfazed, but one hand gripping her arm is trembling as she relives her most painful memories, of betraying Earth, Thanagar, her friends, her loved ones.

2

[imaginate]

[He's no stranger to prisons. Iron bars or not, he knows one when he sees it, and he's on board one: a Thanagarian ship, by the looks of it. The tension doesn't escape him - wartime, probably. The design is unfamiliar, so this isn't his own memory of their vessels. It must be Shayera's.]

[He steals across the corridors, self-conscious. His uniform is going to get him spotted and he has to-]

John?

[The word escapes him before he can come to his senses, and he stares. That's - that's a man who he considers as close as a brother, held down like that.]

John!

[wingedwarrior]

[Shayera refuses to have the dream as it used to be, with her in her uniform. She's in regular civilian clothing, and keeping the dream as more of a movie. She doesn't want to interact with anyone from the dream, and hell, she'd rather not even be reliving this moment. It pains her to see her friends looking at her like that, now that she reflects upon it.

But once Kyle's voice reverberates through the dream, Shayera steels herself for the oncoming storm. A mental one, in this case.] He can't hear you. None of them can.

[imaginate]

What did you - get him out!

[He's frantic, and his own clothes flicker into a bloodied uniform, he's clawing at the glass, desperate. No, can't lose him, not to this, no, no, no and then he sinks to the ground and exhales, leaving his hand up and looking in, at John's eyes, completely hollow and betrayed.]

[wingedwarrior]

I can't. [Apparently, I can't do a lot of things. Big surprise there. She catches a glimpse of his bloodied uniform, and a million questions pop up in her head. But this isn't the time to ask them. Not here, not like this. Her voice is apologetic, sorrowful, bitter even. There's a hell of a lot of emotions that go through her at this point.]

I betrayed them, Kyle. This is because of me. [Still don't care about what I did?]

[imaginate]

[His hand slides down, and he draws his knees up to his chest. Her sadness tempers his rage and grief. She's already guilty. It hurts to see John like that, but this isn't Kyle's to forgive.]

You had a reason.

[He glances at her, even he looks betrayed.]

Tell me.

[wingedwarrior]

[She takes a seat where she stands, not attempting to get any closer to him. But that look just breaks her heart in about ten places, and she tenses up as she begins to speak. No more secrets, no more lies.] When the Thanagarians came to Earth, they said it was because the Gordanians had their sights set on Earth for invasion. We-- they were there to help. Hro Talak [She points to the Thanagarian in front of the cells.] told the world I was actually an lieutenant in the army, sent ahead as an advance scout to prepare for their arrival. I'd been lying to them all this time. [Some still hated her, but she bore with it.]

The Thanagarian army told everyone they wanted to build a force field. The League saw no reason to doubt them, so they helped. Batman inspected the Gordanian ship that crashed onto Earth, the one the Thanagarians shot down, and told the others they'd been dead for ages. Then they took the League prisoner. [She scoffs bitterly at the memory.]

I looked John in the eye, lied to him, and used his love for me to get his guard down and take him prisoner. [Still kicking herself for that one.]

[imaginate]

[He puts a hand on the glass, fingers splayed and looks at John. That's my brother, you hurt him is written all over his face and body, so loud he might as well be screaming it. I'll hurt you back.]

When they came. Did you know? Or did they use you, too?

[He can't meet her eyes, not wanting her to see the hatred that courses through him when one of his own is down for the count. She didn't just kill John - that would have been easier. The man in the cell is broken. His will is gone, and that hurts worse than anything anyone could ever do to Kyle.]

[wingedwarrior]

[She can't hold any of his anger or pain or hatred against him. This all happened months ago, but she still can't blame anyone for hating her. Not after something this severe. She looks away, not to the cells, to a random spot on the wall for her to focus on. It hurts too much to look at anyone.] I knew. Almost everything the Thanagarians were doing, I knew about.

[imaginate]

Almost?

[His voice is small, plaintive. He so rarely begs - even if he's not proud - and there's a flicker of light surrounding him, bright blue. Hope.]

[wingedwarrior]

[The soft blue surrounding him is another question Shayera marks down to ask later, when she's not about to break inside. One thing at a time.] They didn't come to Earth to build a force field generator. They were going to build a hyperspace bypass, to go directly to the Gordanian home world. But it would've destroyed Earth in the process once activated. No one bothered to tell me about it.

[She could've stopped so much hurt if she'd known about it from the start. Patched up relationships better, made fewer lies and secrets.]

[imaginate]

She didn't know.

[He looks at John, taps it on the glass again, to emphasize. He doesn't bother verifying if she's telling the truth, he just knows she is.]

You hear that? She didn't know about any of it. That's what they do. They lie, they use us.

[He looks back at her, and his expression is soft, and pained.]

Duty came first, huh?

[wingedwarrior]

[His unbelievable faith and trust in her is something Shayera may never get over. And he even goes on to emphasize that to John? Shayera swallows to prevent her tears from leaking out.] Yeah. It was a no-win situation. If I followed my planet, Earth would be destroyed. If I saved Earth, my people would despise me.

You know the rest. [Or at least, most of it.]

[imaginate]

[He taps his fingers on the glass, to an unknown tune.]

But it hurts.

[He wants to burn worlds. He would, for his people, and the fact that he can't, not her, anyone but her, is eating at him. Quietly, he closes his eyes, and breathes.]

[wingedwarrior]

War always hurts. Choosing sides hurts. [Being pulled back and forth between what's right, and what's best for your people. To this day, it still hurts her, for all the people she let down.]

[imaginate]

Choosing between duty and love hurts.

[He stops tapping on the glass, and lets his hand slide down, clasping the other, drawing his knees up to his chest.]

[wingedwarrior]

... yeah. [The pain is getting to be too much for her, she needs the scene to be something, anything besides the war. The first thought, memory, idea that pops into her head, and the scene changes, melting away like ice. The scene that replaces it is... her and John making out. Better than what was there before.]

[imaginate]

[The change is so sudden his jaw actually drops and he can't come up with a witty comeback for at least a few minutes.]

Ew! Cooties!

[Accompanied by gagging noises because mature adult.]

zee, that's not sleeping

[wingedwarrior]

[It's a little weird, watching herself kiss John. But much less painful than what she was viewing before. Rolling her eyes, she gets up to smack the back of his head.] Oh, grow up.

i do what i want!!

[imaginate]

[He grins brightly at her, before it fades, and he looks at John and the memory-Shayera walk away.]

I don't blame you.

[Her betrayal isn't his to forgive. But he understands.]

fine, but you're only hurting yourself!! no, I'm serious, look at out threads. OW

[wingedwarrior]

[She can't look him in the face, turning away as she tries to hide the pained look on her face.] You'd be one of the few who don't.

[imaginate]

I wish it wasn't "a few".

[You deserve better.]

[wingedwarrior]

I can't expect anything better, Kyle. I lied to them, and it almost got Earth destroyed. [It's what I deserve.]

[imaginate]

If it hadn't been for you, there wouldn't be an Earth at all.

[He looks at her, gaze steady.]

I've felt planets die, Shayera, I know firsthand what you saved us all from.

[wingedwarrior]

All I did was tell the League what the Thanagarians were really planning. [The scene fades again, showing the Batcave and the League in civilian garb as they gesture for her to leave. It's only there for a few seconds, and Shayera forces it back to a view of space from the Watchtower. Keep it together, girl.] They saved the world.