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

[constants]

I think you will find I am quite opposite of silly.

[ Said with such an air of offense. Please. And yet, she stands up, a clear indication that she's willing to see what he has to offer. ]

[imaginate]

That's okay, my house has physics.

[He goes to the door, which has changed into a bright blue, with an ornate handle. Light is pooling in from the other side.]

C'mon!

[constants]

[ The Archive follows him with well measured steps, her shiny leather shoes sounding quietly on the wood floor in the quiet room. She stops next to him at the door and gives it a look over. It's a bit silly and clashes terribly with the rest of the house, but then again it's not hers. She looks at Kyle. ]

Very well.

[imaginate]

[He opens it, and the ground beyond isn't even visible, it's a carpet of endless, endless stars. Turning back, he grins at her.]

You're gonna love it!

[And with that, he jumps through, spreading his arms as though he's flying directly in space, before he turns so he's on his back and waves excitedly at her to join him.]

Water's great!

[constants]

[ All she can do is stare. It simply isn't anything she could ever fathom, and that is enough to completely stun her. Her attention is always focused on Earth, on humanity, and she so rarely turns her gaze to space. It's even so shocking that it's not something her child self is equipped to deal with, and it banishes the memory so by the time he looks back at her, she's fourteen again, visibly stunned.

She walks forward until her toes are at the very edge of the door frame and she stops there, unable to step any further. Unconsciously her hands reach for the door frame to grip it for safety, her usual smoothness completely paralyzed by fear. It's endless and for all the stars it has, it's empty to her. She doesn't even know if her powers work in space, and she wonders if this is where they live. The things she lives to destroy exist outside of her universe, and perhaps this could be it.

Kyle is grinning and excited, but she can't see anything but fear in front of her, and she doesn't know how to cope with it. This is her Achilles heel, being overwhelmed by emotions she's not capable of dealing with and grinding to a complete stop. Belatedly the Archive realizes that she's been standing there for a while, gripping the door frame as if her life depends on it, and she finds a shaking voice to call out in. ]

I'm not sure I should. I can't.

[imaginate]

[Kyle floats where he is, watching her. He's no stranger to fear, or doubt, and the fact that she's showing it so visibly sobers him, but can't dent his joy. Space is endless. Empty. Lonely. This must be a stark mirror for her, a void that she can't see the end of, but to him, it's always meant freedom.]

[He comes closer, just outside her personal space, and holds out his arms, expression soft. She can reach out, but she'll have to trust him, because it'll mean taking a step out in space.]

Fear is meant to be conquered.

[constants]

[ She looks at the hand, just too far away. This isn't a leap she can make on her own. She doesn't have the capacity to do this. Perseverance is not something she knows. The Archive does not know how to challenge things, it's not one of the things that she was taught. She was taught safety, solidarity, and stoicism. She shakes her head. ]

If I am scared, it must be for a good reason. I have to take care of myself, be safe. I cannot overstep my limits.

[ She was never taught to trust anything but herself. ]

[imaginate]

[He shakes his head, stubborn, and floats slightly nearer to her.]

Yeah, everybody's got good reasons, but sometimes, you want to stick a finger at it and say no, you're not the boss of me, I'm stronger than you. You're strong, aren't you? That means you won't be scared, but you have to try.

[constants]

[ Did she want to prove that she was strong enough? Of course, there was so much doubt thrown at her competency, she had to prove that she was a good Archive, that she could hold up and be strong. But this was a different strength. This was a strength she didn't have. It was one thing to be a strong Archive and another to be a strong human. One she could manage and the other she couldn't. The way to be the best Archive, the strongest Archive, was to be safe, to have the strength necessary to keep out of danger, whatever that meant. That caution had been conditioned through thousands of years.

The Archive retreats half a step from the edge, less unsure than she had been before. ]

That is not the way I am designed to be strong. My strength comes from surety and safety. This is not a fear I must conquer, this is one I should listen to.

[imaginate]

[She didn't have to be only what she was designed to be: she may be a being of power but she was ruled by the instinct of self-preservation. What she carried with her was important...and Kyle recognised now wasn't the time or place to try and explain the nuances. She was scared, of his mind, of the monsters that could be here, and so, a deep green road appears, fading into asphalt, smelling just like it. The stars start to fade, fields of poppies come into view.]

Wanna come see my other house?

[constants]

[ Very hesitantly, she stretches a foot out to the road beyond the door and tests it to make sure it's actually real. But it does seem real, so she lets go of the door frame and carefully puts her whole foot flat on the asphalt. After a moment she transfers her weight to that foot and moves the second to join it, stepping fully out onto the road. There's an air of caution around her, since she's not so easily over her fear of that emptiness from before, but the flowers and solid ground have eased it a little. ]

I would like that better.