Tender Lumplings Everywhere, Life's No Fun Without A Good Scare [Open to All]

[applesaucemod]

The woods are dark and deep, but not particularly lovely. If anything, they feel dangerous, as if something terrible might come lurching out from behind any given tree and tear into the nearest warm body. What that terrible thing might be is anyone's guess. A cat with hands? Slenderman? Stegosaurus? Actual cannibal Shia LaBeouf? All of the above in a horrible mob? It's anyone's guess. But every dreamer will be absolutely convinced that there is something unspeakable out there, and that it's after them.

The dreamers have two things on their side. The first is that there is actually nothing dangerous lurking in these woods (with the possible exception of other dreamers). The pervasive terror the dreamers are feeling is just that: a rift-given feeling, nothing more and nothing less. That snapping twig or rustle in the undergrowth is almost certainly just a squirrel or something else equally harmless.

The second is that no dreamer is alone. They all will be reunited with - or introduced to - their dæmons, a source of comfort in this dark, intimidating wilderness. However frightened the dreamers might be, at least they have someone with them who definitely doesn't want them dead.

[OOC: as ever, any and all are welcome! You don't have to be in the game to join the fun. Dreamers can remember or forget the events of the dream at the players' discretion. And the party only stops when you want it to; feel free to backtag forever.]

Comments

[all_the_gifts]

Melanie and Nikolaos are making their way through the trees when he sees something and knocks her to the ground. A moment later, someone's foot has caught her leg, and she lifts her head to see Crowley similarly sprawled on the forest floor.

"Oh," she says, and at the same time Nikolaos snaps, "Careful!"

There's a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye, and Melanie turns to look at the fox. But he isn't a fox anymore. He's some kind of enormous creature, looming over her like an oncoming car, and he's giving Crowley a disapproving glare. Before Melanie can even speak, he says, "I know it's only Crowley, but he almost stepped on you. You could've bled."

That's a good point, but Melanie's still reeling from the fact that Nikolaos has just turned into a completely different animal as if it was nothing (never mind that he knows who Crowley is, somehow). "You changed!" she says, barely remembering to keep her voice down as she scrambles to her feet.

"I… did," he replies, sounding surprised by the fact, himself. He has to drop his head just for Melanie to be able to rub his nose easily. "Do you know what I am?" he asks in an undertone.

"No," Melanie admits, "but you're huge." Turning back to Crowley, she asks, "Do you know what Nikolaos is? Oh. And are you all right?"

[anguiform]

'Bloody--' Crowley starts when the little fox he'd briefly noticed at Melanie's side decides to turn into an absurdly huge hippopotamus. 'He's, uh, some kind of hippo, I think. Hippopotamus, that is. Though they've never been quite that... big, when I've seen them. Nikolaos,' he repeats dumbly, shoving himself up into a seated position to look around for the bird who'd been flying with him.

'Have you got a name?'

She flaps over, great claps of her beautiful banded wings, and gives him a sharp look. 'Of course I have a name,' she says, the you idiot implicit in her tone. 'Bayan.' She turns her attention to Melanie and Nikolaos, cocking her head and settling her feathers, tail fanning for a moment. 'We're fine. Well,' she amends, 'not fine, but we haven't been tracked down and subjected to unmentionable tortures yet, so I'd call that near enough as makes no difference. Anyway, I'm pretty sure this is a dream, if you've got a-- whatever I am as well.'

Crowley blinks. 'Uh, yeah. That.'

[all_the_gifts]

"Dream," Melanie repeats, frowning. That's a little reassuring, but not much. Horrible things can happen in dreams. "I'm pretty sure there are soldiers after me," she says, clambering up onto Nikolaos's broad snout. He carefully lifts his head so she can crawl onto his back. It feels safer up here, and she can see a greater distance. "We should probably keep moving, especially if they're after you, too." What they'd want with a demon is beyond her, but she's sure they could devise terrible experiments for him, too.

Then again, if Crowley is here, he might not be the only one. Brightening a little, she asks, "Do you think Aziraphale is here, too?"

[anguiform]

'Soldiers?' Crowley echoes, frowning in thought. 'I was running from-- my bosses. Or, well, whoever they've sent after me. Your soldier pals aren't in league with Hell, are they?'

'Not that she'd know if they were,' Bayan cuts in dryly, which Crowley ignores.

He pulls himself to his feet as well, Bayan winging up to land heavily on his shoulder, muttering subvocal little bird-sounds into his ear. Crowley's a tall guy-- or this body is a tall body, at any rate-- but Melanie on her monster hippo is taller by several feet and he has to crane his neck to look up at her. 'He might be, I don't know. We've been in a few of these shared dreams together, but I don't think all of them.' More important than whether Aziraphale is here, 'How quiet is that thing capable of being?' He jerks his head at Nikolaos.

[all_the_gifts]

"I don't think we had a hell, back home," Melanie says dubiously. She could understand why someone might think they did, especially after the Breakdown, but she's pretty sure that if her universe had angels and demons, they would have been making themselves known.

Niko adds, "But some people don't need the help."

"True." Melanie gives his back a comforting pat - surely Crowley could take care of Dr. Caldwell if she somehow showed up, or any soldiers, for that matter - then tilts her head in consideration of Crowley's question. "What if you were an elephant?" she suggests. "I remember Miss Justineau saying that they could be very quiet even though they're big."

Nikolaos lets out a considering huff of air, then changes shape, slowly enough that Melanie doesn't get all unsettled. A few moments later, he's an African elephant with an impressive pair of tusks. "This should be quieter," he says, his expression suggesting that he's not going to argue about it.