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

[drinksnotears]

"You were possessed by a demon-?" The warrior woman has to look a little alarmed at that, followed by admiring for the fact Mika apparently survived such a feat. "You must be strong to have survived that."

Ophelia clearly found a good ally if anything. "I'm Ophelia. I'm certain together we'll figure this out."

[wolfishsurvivalist]

"Yeah, it was awful and I try not to think about it." She shuddered visibly, remembering those years with a mixture of dread and terror. "I think it was more luck than anything else. Blasted thing needed to feed, kept me around because I was useful. Don't really want to talk about that though." Making a small face, she waved it off like she was trying to dispel a bad memory.

"Two heads are always better than one, and a pack works best with ten or more." The smile reappeared, even if it was faint this time. "Always worked out for me before."

[drinksnotears]

"You've survived though, you're a worthy warrior." Ophelia compliments in turn, briefly thinking of her own... problems and figuring she's found someone she can put trust in.

The brunette nods at that, her smile genuine as she tucks her swords away for now. "We should get somewhere a little higher then, survey the area. See if we can spot anyone we know."

[wolfishsurvivalist]

At that she could only smile, raking her claws through her fur with a small note of sheepishness. No sense in arguing her skills when they had bigger fish to fry.

"Well, my people aren't really ones for climbing, but I should think this tree won't be too hard to scale. If we drag some of the broken boxes over we might even be able to stack them up around the base to give us a way to climb into it." Gesturing with a claw at the battered presents, Mika huffed as she thought.

"They're made of a fairly lightweight but sturdy stuff, there's a good chance we'll still be able to lift them even at this size and they'll be able to hold our weight while we climb."

[drinksnotears]

"I'm thinking more of that table honestly." Ophelia jerks a thumb in the direction of the table with cookies and milk. Her smile is friendly if anything. "Not the highest vantage point in here obviously, but people would see us and we'll see them more easily."

[wolfishsurvivalist]

"The table?" Mika boggled, staring at it and the height. It'd be like scaling an apartment building at this size! Her ears folded flat, her expression tensing as she thought it over.

"Yes, but how are we going to get to the top?"