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

[wildmage_daine]

I didn't hear any mice when I was exploring, Daine says with a pensive flick of her ears. That doesn't mean there aren't any, of course. Mice tend to be secretive (at least with folk they don't know; they're terrible gossips with one another), and at this size, her influence might not spread as far as it ought to.

If there were mice, she's certain they'd be happy to share their space with a few friends. Especially if she asked nicely, and maybe brought them a snack (one of the cookies by the hearth would work). It's certainly worth checking--which means finding some way to boost her magic.

I can check, but I need to boost my range, she explains, getting to her feet and looking around. Getting cold and wet does the trick, but… well, there's no straightforward means of doing that, at least not that she can think of.

[watcher_giles]

Giles doesn't know what to say. Is searching for mice really what they should be doing right now? To be fair, he doesn't want to come across any animals while he's this size, but he doesn't see how it would be a problem if Daine can communicate with animals they way she says she can, the way she's attempting to now. But who knows? Maybe if there are mice, they can tell them things they wouldn't otherwise know.

As such, he opts not to say anything, but simply watches with polite curiosity, and not a little interest.

[peacefulexplorer]

"Any small space, really," Daniel amends. "I mean, if we can't find a way out at least we should find someplace safe in case the owners come back or, or - uh." He swivels his gaze to Daine with no small amount of trepidation. "You don't think they own any pets, do you?"

[wildmage_daine]

What, and now they don't want to look for mice? It had seemed a fine plan to her. But maybe they're right; any small space would do, and it would be better not to impose.

I'm sure I would've noticed if any were here when I was looking around, she says. Mice have reasons to make themselves scarce; a family pet wouldn't. But whoever lives here might have taken their dog out with them or something. She glances between them, a little baffled by how hesitant they both seem at the thought of running into any of the People. What part of 'I can talk to animals' is so tricky? With deliberate patience, she adds, If there were any animals here, you'd be perfectly safe with me. I can talk to them. I can even boss them if I have to, though it doesn't often come to that.

[watcher_giles]

"Yes, of course," Giles immediately replies, not wanting to insult Daine or in any way imply that he doesn't trust her abilities.

"I will do whatever the two of you think is best," he adds, glancing between them. "You seem much more familiar with this dreaming thing than I am." So he's going to assume they know best. At least in Daine's case; he isn't so sure about Daniel. He can't tell whether the man's uncertainty is a product of their current situation or just his natural state.

[peacefulexplorer]

The uncertainty would have more to do with the fact that these dreams rarely tend to go well, but Daniel doubts that's what Giles needs to hear. Nor does he really need to know how unpleasant they can get at length before waking enters the equation.

"All right." He yanks off his glasses again, rubbing at his eyes with one hand. They're going to need to come a decision and get out of the open, and soon. "I think - in this case, playing to our strengths would be best. Which, I guess now would be throwing in our lot with the hopefully existent mice." They have a wildmage with them, apparently, and if there are mice taking up residence in the walls it's possible they could help with information about this place and who lives in it.

[wildmage_daine]

If there are any. Boosting her range would be quicker than actually flying around again to check, and Daine huffs out a breath and looks around. If she could just find some water that isn't all the way off in the kitchen… her eyes rest on the thick trunk of the tree, and she cants her head.

That tree's alive, isn't it? she muses. It's a real tree, I mean, and the needles aren't dropping off. So it's getting water from somewhere. Which is her cue to trot towards the base, ears pricked forward.

[watcher_giles]

Giles frowns slightly at Daine's question about the tree before her meaning hits him. She did mention water before, didn't she? He watches her trot off for a second or two before strolling after her. If she's going to perform more of her magic, he definitely wants to see.

"So, do you have to get completely wet for this to work?" he calls.

[peacefulexplorer]

Daine's been here longest, and Daniel's comfortable enough following her direction.

"Oh yeah, tree seems real," he comments as soon as she mentions it, falling into step beside her. "Y'know, big, but real." Just like everything else in this oversized household. Everything from the paper of the gifts to the grains in the wood of the floor feel exactly like their real world equivalents, simply differing in size.

"If we can't find water there, I mean," he glances over at the variation of doors, all shut but with the promise of further exploration. "I'm assuming this place has a pretty average house layout. Might be we could find a kitchen or a bathroom, though accessing water there could also be, erm, problematic." Like figuring out how to turn faucet handles when they're dwarfed simply by the counters.

[wildmage_daine]

She thinks she can smell water, so that's promising. Not completely, she says in response to Giles's question. Salt water works best, but getting any kind of cold and wet helps boost my magic. The downside, of course, is that it won't work if she takes a shape too well-suited to water. Oh, well. She can be something furry and waterproof afterwards.

The tree's trunk disappears into some sort of clunky, plastic base. She shrinks into cat shape to more nimbly clamber to the topmost rim of the thing, then peers down into the dim gap between the bark and the inner wall of the reservoir. There's definitely water down there. It doesn't look especially pleasant, but there's enough room for her to jump down, and she can always climb the trunk back up.

All right, she says, turning to look back at Giles and Daniel. There's water in there, so I'm going in. I'll let you know what I find. She looks back down at the water, allows herself an unenthusiastic little huff, then gingerly walks her forepaws down the inner wall before letting herself drop down into the reservoir.

Well, it's cold, and it's wet. The water goes right through her fur, and she has to hook her claws into the bark to keep from sinking. She shakes her head, sneezes, and calls up an, I'm all right! to forestall any fussing. Then she shuts her eyes and sends her magic out through the house, checking for any familiar sparks of copper fire.

There's no one upstairs, and no one on the ground floor - not even around the kitchen. It seems unusual, even for a dream - it's rare to not come across any of the People, even if all they really are are very thorough fakes of her own invention.

She hasn't checked the cellar, though.

She doesn't much want to, but she's not about to climb back up there and tell Daniel and Giles that she was too scared to even look. So she shifts her grip on the bark and carefully extends her magic down through the floor, casting about for anything familiar. Even a rat wouldn't be that unwelcome a discovery, but she doesn't see anyone.

She's about to withdraw when there's a sudden yank on her magic, like a fish on line, but what's doing the yanking? An unhappy yowl tears itself out of her as twin orbs of white blink open in her mind. Something sees her.

The catch on her magic releases, and she reels it in as fast as she can as her paws scrabble at the bark. By the time she opens her eyes, she's already managed to climb halfway up the distance between the water's surface and the top of the base. She hauls herself up until she's level with the top of the well, her fur drenched and dripping. Too rattled to negotiate a leap across the little gap, she clings to the trunk and lets out another feline wail.

[watcher_giles]

Giles reaches the tree base at about the same time that Daine climbs onto reservoir. He gives her an encouraging nod and watches with interest as she disappears beneath the lip. He expects silence while she performs her magic, and there is quiet for a few minutes. The sudden cry ringing out from inside the reservoir startles him as a result.

He leans against the reservoir, standing on tiptoe in a vain attempt to see inside. "Daine? Are you all right?"

Even as he searches for a way to hoist himself up, he ears catch the sound of claws and bark and Daine emerges, wet and frantic, clinging to the tree trunk. "Daine! What happened? Are you okay, do you need help?"

[peacefulexplorer]

Okay, so the search for water is successful. Hopefully this means they'll get a better grasp of what, exactly, is going on with this too-large house and its too-small guests, and for a minute he and Giles can do little more than stand there, Giles watching Daine disappear over the ridge of the tree's plastic base with apparent intrigue and Daniel with his arms folded in mild, tenuous apprehension.

They both unfurl in tandem when they hear the yowl.

Well that's not good.

"Daine?" he calls sharply, bracing both hands against the lip of the thing, ramping anxiety stiffening in the taut line of his shoulders but there's no way he can just cram himself down there after her. For one he wouldn't even fit, for another that's a terrible idea, for yet another Daniel's more likely to end up needing help himself than giving it because that's generally how things go with him, and he mercifully clips that train of thought off when the top of Daine's head crawls into view, smaller and sleeker from the water streaming off. She looks fine, physically, and she's clawing herself up the tree like the motor-functionally adept cat-shape she is, but she's yowling and not forming mental words and Daniel knows enough about feline body language to know that wide eyes and flattened ears and agitated cries are not good.

"Daine," he says again, pointlessly, and strains one arm up and across as far as he can, which isn't far considering how small he is relative to everything else, but he doesn't know what else to do.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine turns her head to look at Daniel and Giles, distantly registering their worry. Far more of interest to her still-reeling mind is Daniel's arm, not long enough to reach her, but long enough to make the jump easier. So jump she does, claws snagging his shirt sleeve as she starts to slide right off of his arm. Too big, she's too big for this, but she doesn't have the presence of mind to shrink herself into anything else. She just clings onto his arm with all four paws, hoping he'll be able to pull her in before she falls (and that she isn't scratching him up too badly).

No mice, she manages, trembling in some combination of cold and shock. No People. Something else.