And the Boats Drift On [Open to All]

[applesaucemod]

The water is calm, and the night sky is filled with stars. The only light is natural: a patchy, bioluminescent glow coming from the water below, and the bright swath of the Milky Way above. It's not much, but it's more than enough to see by.

The dreamers will find themselves sitting in their own little rowboats, each stocked with two oars, a length of rope, some cushions, and a little picnic basket full of snacks. There is no visible shoreline, but it won't take the dreamers long to realize theirs are not the only boats in this shallow sea. Anything stirring in the water, be it fish or paddle, causes phosphorescent plankton to glow a bright blue, so there isn't really anywhere to hide.

Feel free to paddle around and visit the other dreamers, perhaps tying your boats together and sharing your snacks in an impromptu picnic. Or you could go for a swim - the bioluminescence makes it difficult to see the bottom, but it's not too terribly deep, so the risk of drowning is all but nonexistent. This setting, unlike the last one, isn't actively out to kill you. Or you could simply lie back and look at the stars.



[ooc: Same drill as always, folks. All are welcome, regardless of whether or not your character is in the game. Characters may remember or forget dream shenanigans at the player's discretion.]

Comments

[peeta_mellark]

Gingerly, Peeta reaches out and runs a hand over the top of Daine's head. The skin feels smooth and slightly cool beneath his hands, and he marvels.

"Thank you," he says as he pulls his hand back again.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine briefly bobs beneath the surface so she can take in a mouthful of water… which she then playfully spits, bright and blue, in Peeta's general direction. It's not a trick she's practiced much, so she does it with more enthusiasm than accuracy. You're welcome.

Then, because the water's quite nice, she says, You should come swimming. She forgets, for the moment, that he has plenty of good reason to give shallow seas a wide berth. It's not as if she'd allow him to sink, and the water glows! What could go wrong? Look at what the water does! She turns away from the boat and cuts a swift arc through the surrounding water, her dorsal fin stirring up a wake of bioluminescence behind her.

[peeta_mellark]

The glow is enticing, and the water inviting, but Peeta -- "I can't swim," he admits.

[wildmage_daine]

You can hang onto my fin, if you like, she offers, returning to the boat and listing to one side a little so she can look up at him. The one on my back. I could tow you around. She's done it with dolphins before, so it shouldn't be difficult for her to play the dolphin's role instead of being the one getting pulled around. It'll be fun, she adds enticingly.

[peeta_mellark]

Peeta's skeptical, but he trusts Daine enough to at least give it a try. He's already shoeless, so he quickly shucks off his shirt and - with some delicate maneuvering - slips into the water, one hand clutching his boat.

"Now what?" he asks, kicking his legs awkwardly and managing to keep himself afloat.

[wildmage_daine]

It's only the work of a moment or two for Daine to circle around and tuck herself beneath his other arm. I've got you, she reassures him, turning her head a little to look back at him. Just lean against me instead of hanging onto the boat. They can start slow, she figures - get him used to the water and using her for support before she actually starts pulling him around at any kind of speed.

[peeta_mellark]

Peeta lets go of the boat hesitantly, leaning against Daine as she's directed and grasping her fin with one hand. "I'm not going to hurt you, am I?"

[wildmage_daine]

I doubt it, Daine replies, an undercurrent of amusement in her tone. Dolphin skin is sensitive, but there's nothing objectionable about what he's doing now. Just hang on like that, and we'll be fine. If he drifts loose and starts to panic, then he might actually manage to hurt her by thrashing around. She's more concerned about him losing his grip than she is about having her fin squeezed a bit too tight.

And besides, she adds after a moment's thought, I'm fair certain this is a dream. Elsewise, I wouldn't be able to talk to you like this.

[peeta_mellark]

Peeta blinks in surprise. "Oh. Right. A dream." The thought hadn't even occurred to him, but now that it's been pointed out, it's obvious they're dreaming.

Even so, they both know from experience that dreams aren't always pleasant. Or safe. So he holds on a little tighter, sure Daine will say something if his grip becomes uncomfortable or painful.

[wildmage_daine]

His nervousness isn't hidden from Daine. She can hear his heart rate picking up a little, and she makes an effort to tow him smoothly through the water. Dolphins can 'see' with sound, like bats, she says, her tone light and conversational. That's how they hunt and talk with one another. Right now, there's nothing nearby but fish. The implication being that if anything else should come along, she'll know straightaway.

[peeta_mellark]

Other animals is something Peeta hadn't even considered, and he can't help but scan the waterline in concern. He forces himself to relax. It's just a dream. And he's with Daine. They'll be fine.

"Have you been a dolphin before?" he asks, trying to focus on the strange sensation of gliding through the water while making no effort at all.

[wildmage_daine]

Oh, yes. Not as often as I'd like. If she wasn't stuck in Manhattan, she'd probably try it out more often, but there aren't any bodies of water big enough on the island for her swimming around as a dolphin to go unnoticed. The press would have a heyday if they spotted her in the reservoir. But I used to take dolphin shape back home whenever we were close enough to the ocean.

She could mention sea lion shape, but she decides not to. The last time he saw her in that shape had been in the last dream they shared, and she doesn't want to remind him of that when he's finally starting to loosen up a bit.

As the water before her swirls and glows, she says, I've never seen the ocean do this before. Numair said it's because of tiny little animals in the water that light up like fireflies when they're disturbed.

[peeta_mellark]

Peeta lets his free hand drag in the water, watching the curious glow swirl around it. "It's beautiful. I've never seen anything like it before."

He glances around them. From this low in the water, the ocean looks even vaster. "I've never seen an ocean like this, either."

[wildmage_daine]

Oceans are wondrous, Daine says with a good deal of feeling. She used to spend hours quizzing Numair about the various creatures that lived beneath the surface, especially before she was able to take oceangoing shapes and explore things for herself. Dolphin in particular had been a helpful one, and she'd wound up resurfacing with information that was new to everyone, since no one else had been able to gather it before.

Her voice takes a turn for the bitter as she adds, If we weren't stuck on Manhattan, I'd show you the real thing.

[peeta_mellark]

"It must be hard for you, not having space like this." He's never really cared one way or the other - indoors or out - but he knows that not having space to roam can be difficult. He learned that from Katniss.

[wildmage_daine]

She's silent for a few moments. The island has felt more cramped than usual these days, doubtless because it's summer. New animals have migrated to the island over the past few months while others have departed, and both natural occurrences have left her feeling stifled for being unable to do the same.

What would she do with such freedom, anyway? Her universe isn't across the ocean or on the other side of the mountains to the West; there's nowhere for her to go that would be home to her.

But it couldn't be that difficult to find someplace more agreeable than Manhattan. If she has to be stuck, why does she have to be stuck there?

Yes, she finally says. She broods a little longer, towing Peeta in ever-widening circles around his boat, but never so far that he'd lose sight of it. I've been thinking of trying to leave.

[peeta_mellark]

Peeta almost lets go of Daine's fin - not in surprise, but in a kind of subconscious acceptance. He isn't surprised that she wants to leave; all the rifties do, to various extents. The thought of losing her makes him feel hollow inside, but he knows he wouldn't stop her if she tried to go, or if she succeeded.

"Where would you go?"

It isn't something he's contemplated himself, leaving the island. There is nowhere else here that he particularly wants to go, and the island holds his best chances of ever getting home. So he's curious how far Daine has thought this out.

[wildmage_daine]

It's a good question, and one she's not sure how to answer. Part of her motivation to leave the island is just to see if it can be done. She's been told folk can't leave, and heard plenty of horror stories about those who tried, but common knowledge is so often just plain wrong. It'd be one thing if she tried to get out and failed. It'd be another if she stayed on the island forever because she never bothered to test the theory that it was impossible to leave.

But if she succeeded… Somewhere wilder, she says. There are other rifts. Maybe there are some in more tucked away places - ones that aren't so stubborn as ours.

She turns her head a little to look back at him. If I did find one that was more cooperative, I'd come back for you and everyone else. She wouldn't just swan off and leave everyone else stranded.

[peeta_mellark]

Daine's response starts out as what Peeta expects, and he isn't surprised when she insists that she would come back for everyone. She isn't the kind of person to forget about her friends.

But then - "There are other rifts?" Peeta stares at the back of her head. "What? How do you know?" And how did he not know before now?

[wildmage_daine]

He hasn't heard? Well, to be fair, no one's really told her a-purpose, she just has good hearing (sometimes better hearing than she ought to, but that's what folk get for looking at her and then deliberately lowering their voices).

I've heard folk mention a few others in this country, she says, looking back at him. One in Chicago, and one in Los Angeles. But those are big cities, so of course folk'd notice them. Mithros only knows how many other rifts might be hiding in the wilderness.

[peeta_mellark]

Peeta goes quiet, thinking about other rifts out there, pulling people into this world. On the one hand, it makes his being here seem more random - there was a larger chance of it happening. But on the other hand, it makes the fact that he's here, specifically in New York, seem that much less random.

He isn't sure how he feels about either possibility.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine's not sure how to interpret his silence. Is he upset? Probably. She did just announce that she'd ditch him for the mainland if she could. Not that she relishes the idea of leaving all her new friends behind, but if it could lead to them all getting out of this universe, it'd be worth it, surely.

I don't want to leave, she says gently. I just… don't want to be stuck, either.

[peeta_mellark]

"No, I understand," Peeta quickly replies. "Sorry, I was thinking about the other rifts."

He doesn't want to think about them anymore, though. The idea of so many people being pulled out of their lives, what is going on in their lives without them - he tries not to think about that too much.

He takes a deep breath, releasing it as a sigh. "Did you explore here much before you found me?"

[wildmage_daine]

Daine is a little reassured, though the thought of actually leaving is as daunting as it is tempting. She's not about to fight the change of subject.

A little, she says. Must of what she's discovered would be difficult to share with him, as it's too dark to really see anything below the surface besides the glowing plankton. The ocean floor isn't barren here - there are reefs and some interesting rock formations - but she only knows that much because of her echolocation. There's no land close by, but there are reefs and things underwater.

[peeta_mellark]

"It's nice," Peeta says. "Relaxing." It's very peaceful, with the sea and the stars. Then a thought occurs to him.

"Do you think this is somebody's dream?" He glances out across the water. "Has anyone aquatic come through the rift?"