Better to Receive than to Give [open to all]

[applesaucemod]

Somewhere in the cosmos, there is something bright, and young, and playful. Somewhere, this being watches over their little flock and does their best to make those people safe and happy. Somewhere, that godling and their flock celebrate the winter holidays in the happiest of dreams.

And somewhere closer at hand, a sleeping giant stirs.

The bright tapestry of dream threads gathered by Zephyr is suddenly yanked hard enough to pull it from its temporary mooring. Something entirely unlike the little godling reels in the dreamers so neatly gathered and packaged up for it, bringing its own toys back to their proper place and taking all the others it can with them. Unsatisfied, it reaches out again and again, dragging in dreamers from all across the multiverse. It will snare them, all of them, and then it will possess them completely.

Perhaps it's fitting that when the stolen dreamers arrive in this new shared mindscape, they'll find they've been designated the Rift's Christmas gifts to itself. Each might awaken inside a dark box, or cocooned in…is that tissue paper? When they claw their way out they'll be greeted by the sight of an enormous evergreen tree laden with twinkling lights and kitschy knickknacks looming overhead. Beyond the shadow of the tree the rest of the world -- that is, the living room -- is just as large. Or is it that the dreamers have just become very small? Giant packages wrapped in bright paper form an obstacle course, but the wooden floor of the room is wide open between the tree and the hearth where an enormous plate of cookies and glass of milk await a cataclysmic Santa Claus.

All in all, things are fairly normal as far as the rift's dream gatherings go…at least on the surface. The more telepathically sensitive among the dreamers may notice an undercurrent of something darker, more urgent, and more possessive than normal. The rift isn't just sampling the wares of other worlds tonight; this time it means to play for keeps.


[OOC: This is the second part of our crossover with wethelost! Part one can be found here. Usual dream party rules apply: all players and characters are welcome regardless of whether they are currently in the game, and characters may remember or forget the events of the dream party at the discretion of their players.

For reference, characters of average human height are roughly four inches tall according to the scale of their current surroundings. There is an entire giant house beyond the living room; characters will find a kitchen and dining room on the same floor, a staircase outside the door of the living room that leads up to a second floor with two bedrooms and a bathroom, and another staircase off the kitchen that goes to an unfinished basement. Feel free to add details as needed!

This event takes place on evening of August 8th/morning of August 9th in Applesauce time, and December 31 in WtL time.]

Comments

Melanie | The Girl With All the Gifts | Big Applesauce

[all_the_gifts]

Her crumpled paper cocoon lies somewhere below her, but Melanie can't see it anymore. The branches of this enormous tree are too thick for that. But dense foliage makes for easy climbing. The only challenge is avoiding a jab from one of the long needles, but her little hands and feet can find purchase between them. She's sticky with pine sap and a little breathless from the climb, but she can't smell the people below anymore, so that's nice. It's safer up here.

It's probably safe enough for a break, in fact. She sits down on the striped curve of a giant candy cane. The sweet mint smell is almost overpowering, but that's probably just as well. From here, she can't see much - colored lights as long as her forearm reflect off of shiny glass spheres that hang from the branches, and she's close enough to the trunk that she can only see scraps of the blank, white sky. There is no wind. Also just as well, but it's starting to niggle at the back of her mind. What is this place?

[chalicejoker]

Hajime's still transformed and prowling around the area trying to figure out what's going on here. He doesn't know where he is or what he's supposed to be doing there, but he does know he doesn't like it. Investigating the gigantic tree seems to be a good idea, though Hajime wasn't expecting to see any kids sitting up in said tree on a candy cane.

The Kamen Rider stares up at this spectacle for a moment before calling out to her. "Do you need any help up there?"

[all_the_gifts]

… What is that?!

Melanie tenses, surprised both by being spotted and by the appearance of the spotter. It's human-shaped, but… is that armor? Is he some kind of soldier?

For several long moments, she just stares at him with wide, wary eyes. Then, in a slightly strained tone, she says, "No. I'm okay." She doesn't sound okay.

[chalicejoker]

"You sure?" Because even if he can be emotionally dense at times, Hajime's aware that something has this kid a little spooked...

...and then he looks down at himself and has some idea of what the problem might be. "I'm...uh...not going to hurt you or anything." This is accompanied by an open-handed gesture he hopes is nonthreatening.

[all_the_gifts]

She certainly hopes he won't; even her wounds are weapons. Whether he has any weapons is harder to determine; with a suit like that, a gun could pop up out of anywhere. She eyes him warily, but her tone is a bit more controlled when she says, "Yes. I climbed up here on purpose; I'm not stuck."

[chalicejoker]

That's not a bad bit of caution on her part. Hajime's never produced a gun out of nowhere, but pulling a longbow out of thin air is a thing he does often. Still, he's always been a softie where kids are concerned, and he's not quite sure how to deal with this situation. "You see anything from up there?"

[all_the_gifts]

"Just the rest of the room." Which, depending on your perspective, is either not much or quite a lot. "It's very big. Or we're very small." She considers it a moment, then hazards, "I think we must be small. Otherwise the room couldn't be this big without more support."

[chalicejoker]

"So it really is just a room, then?" Hajime isn't really sure how he feels about this. "If whoever or whatever is behind this is powerful enough to bring a bunch of people here like this, shrinking everything likely wouldn't be much more of an effort..." Probably easier to contain, too.

[bigbadsheriff]

He's got no idea who the kid is, but Bigby finds it hard to ignore the sight of Melanie settled high above in the tree branches. The fact she's covered in sap pings at something paternal and makes the wolf feel awkward. He covers up by gruffly calling up to her.

"You alright up there, kid?"

[all_the_gifts]

Oh, she's been spotted. Melanie leans over a little so she can get a better look at the man calling up to her. She probably shouldn't be talking to him. She definitely shouldn't be talking to him. But the sharp tang of the pine sap covers any smell he might be producing, and it's not as if he's climbing up after her or asking her to come down. It should be safe enough to talk to him a little, at least for now.

She lifts a pale little hand in a wave. "Yes. I climbed up on purpose." That should reassure him, right? She's used to people worrying about her - about what she might do to them, specifically - but she doesn't have much experience with people worrying about her safety, especially strangers. After a moment's pause, she politely returns, "Are you all right?"

[bigbadsheriff]

"That purpose being what exactly-?" Bigby is not very great with kids, much less able to converse with them in the 'correct' way. If Snow White was present she'd likely poke at him once or twice.

"Considering I'm on the ground, yes. I'm doing much better than you are." The big bad wolf is also not particularly great at heights, so Melanie is on her own in that tree for now.

[all_the_gifts]

Fortunately for Bigby, Melanie only loosely qualifies as a 'kid,' and she isn't the least bit put off by his gruffness. It's actually kind of reassuring. Being treated like a child is often tantamount to being treated like an idiot, and Melanie isn't one of those, either.

"To get a better vantage point," she replies. That's part of it, anyway. Not the biggest part, but he doesn't need to know why she felt the need to remove herself from the people below. "You can see farther from up here."

[bigbadsheriff]

The wolf hmms at that, his gaze only briefly drifting away from the child to look at their surroundings. "Smart." That's as complimentary as Bigby can get. "Only real problem comes from being covered in sap."

[all_the_gifts]

"Sap," she repeats blankly, confused. Has she heard that term before? Her gaze grows distant for a moment as her mind dredges through old lessons from what feels like a lifetime ago, and then she brightens. "The fluid that runs through plants! That's what this is!" She looks at her fingers with newfound appreciation, clenching her fist and feeling the tacky resistance as she uncurls her fingers. "I thought it would be runnier."

[bigbadsheriff]

"Depends on the tree I think." The big bad wolf muses when Melanie finishes speaking. He isn't exactly knowledgable when it comes to nature, but he can figure that much. The conversation has certainly taken an odd turn but could be worse. The girl isn't crying and running away from him. "Probably doesn't help that it's sap from a giant tree. Would make it thicker I think."