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

[wintershepherd]

Jack catches the flying tackle and makes sure they land back into the soft snowbank, laughing the whole way. "Ooooh, he's got me! Send in the reinforcements!"

[wintershepherd]

"I... stayed," he said, floundering momentarily at the question before realizing he'd not answered anything with that reply. "I, it just made more sense for me to stay. Here, for the kids..."

[wintershepherd]

"Good thing today is a day off!" Jack quipped back, noting the change in the sky and giving Percy a friendly nudge on the shoulder. "Blackjack, huh? So let's go meet this friend of yours! Hey, maybe I can get some training while I'm here."

[una_persson]

"Some of them picked up the interest mostly through Jagged and me. Their tastes are pretty varied. Jagged's an unusual case." The path winds toward a small footbridge that seems to be carved out of a single giant ruby, which spans a wide stream through which flows a swift cascade of cartoon-blue water. "Jagged's like me. A traveller. One of the greatest." She sets foot on the bridge, which makes a pleasant sound like a tapped crystal glass with every footfall. "He taught me everything I know."

[wintershepherd]

Wow, can you really?

[ A little touch of extra amazement there! ]

Is it... like this?

[ He lifts just a small bit off the ground, the Wind puffing gently against them. ]

[wintershepherd]

"Gladly!" Jack crowed, sending a slick of pure, perfect ice down the curve. "Hang on," he added wickedly, and that was the only warning she got before the cushion of air supporting them seemed to dissipate, giving them a freefall start for the long slide.

[wintershepherd]

"We can do it together," Jack answers and the air around them ripples slightly as though reinforcing their resolve for it. But the spirit glances at Bruce again, still smiling.

"If you ever need help, you know how to find me, right?"

[lookedtothestars]

"I do." He says quietly.

By this point he has quietly taken Lara's hand in his own, and it is comforting as it ever was in long quiet moments on Krypton, but Hayley's previous comment has woken his awareness to the fact that something is awry.

There are only so very few elements present here that are different from before.

He glances at his wife's face, before looking back at Hayley.

"You do not think she will be here much longer, do you?"

[leviathaned]

"An exit?" Sei blinks, and closes his eyes, and jazz pours through the honey-tinted light of an old New Orleans manor. A letter lays on a desk, and Sei pretends very well that his knuckles haven't turned white on the chair he's suddenly leaning on, and looks down at the bloodstained tatters of his shirt.

"...Great. Whatever, there'll be a door out in here."

[lineality]

The seconds before Toph responds are some of the longest Lin has ever known. She has never been given overmuch to self-doubt, but then there were very few people in Republic City whose opinion of her mattered.

And it's a ridiculous thing, she thinks--this Toph doesn't even know she'll have a daughter, and it's not really the same as her mother saying it, and of course, she tells herself, she's known all along--but there's a tightness in her chest that lets go, just a little, at the girl's words.

"You were." The words sneak past her guard before she can think to stop them, and in a quieter voice than she's used in a very long time.

Her fist tightens against her side--just for a moment--at the slip, but then she takes a deep breath, half-smiles. In for a fen, in for a yuan. "And for what it's worth, she's proud of you, too."

[lookedtothestars]

"Of course you are family." Lara looked at Jor-El meaningfully.

He approached Kara, and once close enough, set his hands on her shoulders. "I am proud to have you as a niece."

It is, in full truth, something he should have told her sooner. Each other member of the House of El had in their own ways made it evident in their own way, the most clear of all being the adult Kal-El, doing his best to honor and be an example of a home, people, and family he could not remember.

For Kara, Jor-El must have been a walking memory of everything from their home, and one that did not know her, despite their familial connection. The dissonance, even as similar as their shared experience here must be, the only two of their kind to remember Krypton as it was, must have been piercing for the young woman.

"You are important and beloved as a member of the House of El, Kara, no matter where you are."

[definingfuture]

[Is it wrong to want to linger in Arthur's dream? Yeah. But he doesn't think he's being that invasive. He's just a passerby in the memory, so what harm could he really be doing?

Arthur looks happy. Part of Tony does feel like this scene is a little too enticing. There's always a risk of getting lost in the wishes of the past. He doesn't know Arthur well enough to know if he'll do that, but he recognizes the possibility.]

Are you sure it's okay? I don't want to-

[But Arthur is moving without him and Tony hurries onto the porch to catch up. Dream or not, he doesn't want to get left behind.]

Do people really live in lighthouses these days?

[dustonmyfeet]

Simply because Toph doesn't know, just because she's not the person she'll be in the future, it doesn't change that this Toph is the seed for all things -- that what she is today accounts for all that will be between them. Or the fact that Toph will love her daughter absolutely, fiercely.

For the moment wide, pale eyes whisk towards Lin at the words, startled. As the dream ends and the link between them ends, Lin will be able to see them -- and Toph herself, confused, mouth opening to speak.

But it's too late. The world is already slipping away between them. It shreds away, leaving the landscape of gray.

Toph is nowhere to be seen.

[lookedtothestars]

There are no words for how much joy it gives him when Kal-El pulls him into the embrace, that they have the chance for this moment, but he will never be able to ignore or deny the importance the Kents had in Kal-El's life- either Kal-El.

"We will always treasure you, Kal-El, and for that I am glad the Kents were involved in your life." For what they did and more, Jor-El would want the chance to thank them, if it did not mean that they too would have to be here for it to happen.

"We love you, and we wanted you so much, Kal."

[bridgetothemyscira]

Memoirs? [Wow, talk about narcissistic. And she thought that was a trait only Narcissus could possess. The mention of German though has her looking at the text again, trying not to squint as she figures out if he was really telling the truth or not.

What is this loopy writing even.] And the drawings? What do they mean?

[bridgetothemyscira]

Then let us go look for your father. In such a place, if you believe enough, you should be able to locate him.

[bridgetothemyscira]

Do not focus on the noise. [She moves to help her up, frowning.] Think of a good memory. Focus on that.

[trifurcate]

"Really?" she asks, a surprised and pleased. It makes her day to hear that. Askoupur has always brought her joy, but it means the world to her to know that someone else can appreciate it the same way.

Looking over the pug and it's wiggling legs, she beams. "Absolutely. Now you're just going to have to stand in the water to set it go when the spark goes off!"

Did she forget to mention that?

[backwordscompatible]

O...okay.

[She takes a deep breath, lifting her chin. Her cheeks and eyes were still wet, but there were no more fresh tears.]

Where do I do that?

[backwordscompatible]

[It puffed at her hair too, blowing it all around. The tiny girl gave a loud squeal, squeeze his head so tightly that the friction alone would have compensated for any lingering chill.]

Yes! Yes!

You can do it too! That's so cool!

this is the only icon that accurately expresses the level of emotion I am feeling

[notdreaming]

The tears certainly blinded her now, but it was a strange sort of happiness that overwhelmed her in place of grief. To know that she was part of a family, important, loved, to have those things affirmed by a voice far more believable to her than her own broke something in her - a damn that had held back more emotion than she would have felt possible. She turned to bury her face in her uncle's shoulder, sobbing quietly into his shirt.

It wasn't the same, no. But it was home.

[dustonmyfeet]

Toph listens to the exchange between the two boys -- so obviously fake -- and as the other boy leaves the alley, only listens briefly to the conversation with the woman before sliding back in after Mako.

". . . You know, there's a lot easier ways to get money out of people."

[urbanmagic]

There's a big if in that statement. See, there's this tiny little problem.

I don't have my magic.

[inseine]

"Pardon?"

Marius's sudden run nearly pulls Javert's arm from its socket. If it were not for Javert's quick response time and his long strides, the boy would have overtaken him. He makes a sharp noise, not quite a shout or a cry, and bounds after Pontmercy, wondering what on earth could have lit the fire at his heels, shaken him from his paralysis, and urged him to snatch at the archway while he can.

So he allows the boy to carry the pace. He is headed in the right direction, after all. Why stop him, no matter what he is after, whatever delusions have sprung to his mind?

When they are almost upon the arch, Javert twists in a certain way, his glance catching the Marius's target at last. There he discovers it: the pretty face, the smooth skin, the dainty dress, the fiery eyes, and the heady smile. Of course! Javert's lips part in a savage, manic grin.

"Of course it is that mouthy girl that pulls you out of it!"

For what Javert remembers of her brief stay is her forwardness, the way she managed to recall the night he led a chase against them through the blackened streets of Paris. It was wearying, her intrusive interrogations, his attempt at dodging answers for the sake of protecting the honor of an ex-convict; all discomfiting and terribly unnatural to a direct and intrinsically honest man such as himself. Her face did not bring to his mind any pleasant memories.

But then it is gone in a violent lurch.

Marius and Javert breach the arch's threshold at last and all bets are off. The grass drops out, and they crash to a heaping mess of long limbs on an uneven and battle-worn pavestone path. The dreamscape shatters before their eyes, Cosette is gone, the lavender is gone, France is gone. All that remains is a dark, wobbly, marine blue sky, and nothing but a faint glow from the flickering runes at their tangled feet.

Sinbrilee. For better or for worse, the two men have returned to their present predicament in a crumbling, forgotten city beneath the sea.

[wintershepherd]

Say hello to the North Wind! Wind, say hello to Zatanna!