has_a_horn (
has_a_horn) wrote in
applesaucedream2013-04-15 02:42 am
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Hello Darkness My Old Friend [Open to Multiple]
The world is dark and there's a war in heaven. The blackness of the scene is deep, lit only by the graceful, inhuman figures of his brothers and sisters. They dance viciously, hands clasped around long silver blades, slashing as they turn and evade. They bleed light and die like a star going supernova. Gabriel stands trembling, watching. If it wasn't so horrible, it might be beautiful.
He's wearing the same vessel he has been wearing for so long now-
Briefly, the scene shifts. He's kneeling before this vessel, a hand cupping the slightly stubbled chin. He'll shave properly, when he takes it. The man smiles, nods. It looks so sincere.
Gabriel smiles back, in awe of him.
-except he can feel the weight of his wings, the power contained there, his own potential for destruction. Behind him, they sweep up at least twenty times his height, closed in and tight against each other, a gigantic extension of his own horrified posture. Next to any of the rest, he would look so small like he is now. Inconsequential. Still, they'll want him to join in, soon. Michael will come looking, or Lucifer. Enough will have died that he will be needed on one side or the other.
He wonders if this slaughter is really what God wanted, then chastises himself for thinking it. He should fight for heaven, for God. Another supernova lights up the black canvas. A triumphant shout echoes back to him along with a ghost of bright piercing pain. How can they deny the feeling that quakes through them with each death? Is he the only one?
He can't bring himself to take a single step forward. Instead, he drops to his knees and prays. The sounds of his prayers rend the air around him, harsh, beautiful, and useless. No one turns to him, and God isn't listening.
He searches for something, any feeling in the darkness that isn't this, isn't here. When he feels something, he pulls on it like a lifeline.
[[ooc: Gabriel has passed out following events that will be happening in this thread. He doesn't have control over his dreaming, and chances are he won't know he's dreaming most of the time, so expect horror, and expect him to take over the dream.]]
He's wearing the same vessel he has been wearing for so long now-
Briefly, the scene shifts. He's kneeling before this vessel, a hand cupping the slightly stubbled chin. He'll shave properly, when he takes it. The man smiles, nods. It looks so sincere.
Gabriel smiles back, in awe of him.
-except he can feel the weight of his wings, the power contained there, his own potential for destruction. Behind him, they sweep up at least twenty times his height, closed in and tight against each other, a gigantic extension of his own horrified posture. Next to any of the rest, he would look so small like he is now. Inconsequential. Still, they'll want him to join in, soon. Michael will come looking, or Lucifer. Enough will have died that he will be needed on one side or the other.
He wonders if this slaughter is really what God wanted, then chastises himself for thinking it. He should fight for heaven, for God. Another supernova lights up the black canvas. A triumphant shout echoes back to him along with a ghost of bright piercing pain. How can they deny the feeling that quakes through them with each death? Is he the only one?
He can't bring himself to take a single step forward. Instead, he drops to his knees and prays. The sounds of his prayers rend the air around him, harsh, beautiful, and useless. No one turns to him, and God isn't listening.
He searches for something, any feeling in the darkness that isn't this, isn't here. When he feels something, he pulls on it like a lifeline.
[[ooc: Gabriel has passed out following events that will be happening in this thread. He doesn't have control over his dreaming, and chances are he won't know he's dreaming most of the time, so expect horror, and expect him to take over the dream.]]
no subject
At least he seems to have decided to tolerate her, letting go of her neck, and she allows herself a small breath of relief before following him up the stairs hurriedly. She can feel the dying all around too, through him, and braces herself for more unpleasant things.
no subject
Inside, three men startle to their feet, visibly frightened by the appearance of an angel in their midst. Without hesitation, he strides towards them and lifts his hands to two of their faces. Light explodes out of their eyes and mouths as he burns the demons out of the human bodies. As their bodies crumple to the floor, unconscious, he turns around. The third man is standing with black smoke billowing out of his mouth, the demon attempting escape before Gabriel can kill him as well.
He lifts his hand up as he bridges the distance between himself and the cloud, forcing it back into the man's body. A harsh, horrible noise emanates from the man's throat. Gabriel is smooth, efficient. Still a soldier. Soon enough, this demon is killed in the same manner as the previous two.
The job isn't finished. He goes back to the first two men and kneels gently down next to them. He wakes up the first man with a touch to his forehead. Immediately, the man startles and shuffles back on his elbows, eyes wide. Garbled Latin falls from his mouth, pleading that he didn't mean for things to get so out of control. These are lies, Gabriel knows. Gabriel pins him in place with a glance and hefts up the man beside him. These other two men, now that there are no demons in their bodies, are innocent. These men he wakes up and watches as they run away from the horror of this scene and into the horror outside.
The man still sprawled on the floor continues to beg for mercy, but Gabriel doesn't care to offer him any. This man invited Pestilence into the city, this man allowed the destruction of human lives for the sake of personal gain. It doesn't matter that he is human himself. Nothing could excuse the needless death of so many. Gabriel's wings sweep across the room as he turns to go, and the man starts sobbing, saying thank you, thank you, angel, thank you.
As he passes the doorway, he raises a hand and snaps his fingers. The sobbing man bursts suddenly into flame, screaming as he is consumed by holy fire.
(He stands watching as Sodom burns and doesn't know whether to feel horrified or relieved.)
He stands on the top step for just a moment before walking back down into the city. He feels vindicated in his service to God, but the punishment has come too late, there has already been so much destruction and death. He shakes his head of the thought. He was sent when he was truly needed. This is what had to happen.
Gabriel's gaze finally falls on the TARDIS. "You should be helping the people of the city." It's barely a glance, and then he's already leaving again.
no subject
Two of the cured humans run past her without so much as a glance, the third is begging for mercy, making her think he must be responsible for something terrible. It doesn't occur to her to connect it with the disaster that has befallen the city, since to her knowledge it was caused simply by humans being humans, ignorant and careless. Absently she notes what he calls Gabriel, wonders if there's somehow truth to it or if it's just another human name for something they don't understand.
The cruelty of Gabriel's punishment takes her by surprise, though she doesn't bat an eyelash at the grim image, only takes a large step back from the heat of the flames. And there's one thing she does recognize - the ruthless efficiency of the soldier, likely acting under orders. He takes no joy from it, all she can sense is the conviction that it was necessary. Still, his callousness is troubling, and she watches the dying man crumble to the floor with tight-lipped uneasiness.
But it's not her place to judge without understanding the context, the reasons, without even knowing if this ever actually happened at all, and she turns to follow him once more. "I am not here for them," she replies quietly, catching up with him. "I am trying to help you, Gabriel. You don't have to be here, you are dreaming." Spurred on by wanting to leave this atmosphere of death and despair as much as she wants to free him from it, she exerts more power than before over the scene, trying to subvert his hold on it by turning the dust in the streets and on the steps into beach sand, curling the dark smoke covering the sky into a giant moon's silhouette, changing the pitch of the screams into laughter. It's a risky attempt, given how he'd reacted earlier, not to mention a tiring struggle against the leaden strength of his sleeping mind, but she has to shake him out of this somehow.
no subject
A city is burning on the horizon, and two men stand watch over the unnatural glow. The faint smell of ash and burning bodies still hangs in the air, mixed with the crisp evening air. The laughing man might seem like a stereotypical hunk, blond and muscled, if it weren't for the cruelty in his laugh. He pats the other man on the shoulder and leans in to whisper something, smiling. His brother (yes, of course, brothers) is taller, wiry, with dark hair pulled back into a short pony tail. This man nods and might return the smile, but it's hard to tell from this distance.
Gabriel takes a step toward the pair, then holds himself back from going any closer. He recognizes these men, because the first is his brother. The other, tall, dark and quiet, is him. He lets out a sigh. He'd been conflicted, even then. Michael had been trying to reassure him. He can still feel what he felt then - a strange mixture of love, horror and justification, but he's strangely distanced from the entire scene.
He not unfamiliar with seeing a copy of himself wandering about, but this is very different. He can discern that the TARDIS is still trying to influence his mind, but he's not sure for what purpose. Bringing up a memory to distract him? From what? "I don't dream like this," he answers, because he doesn't. He barely ever dreams at all.
no subject
She sighs, not wanting to see this. She has no qualms about smaller minds being laid out in front of her, dipping into them is one of her functions and their emotions and affairs have no significance to her, as a general rule. But Gabriel and her are equals, and she respects him. Not to mention she certainly wouldn't want him to explore her mind while she wasn't in control.
But still, this is progress, he didn't lash out against her and now he's observing the dream, commenting on it rather than being part of the action. She turns her gaze back on the version of him at her side and presses her advantage. "I know, something must be affecting you. If you wake up, you can find out what it is and defend yourself." Before he can object, she goes on. "We were just in Rome, were we not? And now we are here, watching you and your... friend. How?"
no subject
The most ready explanation is that this has something to do with the TARDIS. Besides, when has someone who so eager to be called a friend ever been trustworthy? He keeps watch over the scene in front of them, but he's definitely on his guard now. He stands a little straighter and even feathers are more puffed out and demonstrative than they had been. He's waiting for the twist here, and he really doesn't like not being in control. "What would I need to defend myself from?"
no subject
At his question she shakes her head, concern gnawing at her. It's mostly concern for him, but whatever is capable of suppressing his mind like this could be dangerous to her too. "I don't know. I can't try to detect you while I am focused here, and my sensors don't cover all of Manhattan to begin with." She glances up at him sadly. "You probably don't remember falling through a rift between universes and being trapped in an alternate New York."
She senses his mistrust more than she sees it in his posture, and is on her guard as well, needing to be ready in case he changes his mind about tolerating her. But she doesn't try to exude reassurance anymore, seeing how it would likely fall on deaf ears or make him even more suspicious. He'll find nothing but sincerity and compassion if he looks, anyway. But that would bother her, having gaps in her memory, reality not quite fitting together. So she tries again. "How do you think I know you, if you don't remember meeting me? I don't believe your universe even has sentient time ships at all."
no subject
Still, he doesn't take his eyes off of the scene in front of them, and the two figures stay just out of hearing range, in turn watching the city.
He lets out a sigh, but it comes out sounding more like exasperation. When he speaks, it's dripping with sarcasm. "You want me to believe that I'm asleep in an alternate dimension where you are a sentient time machine and I'm...what? Your friend? Forgive me if I don't take your word for it."
no subject
So she does her best to provide a kernel of calm and companionship amidst the continued turmoil of emotions in the atmosphere. "I understand that it makes little sense to you now," she admits patiently, though regretfully. "And I'm not certain 'friend' is the appropriate word. We only met once, four days ago, but I... do not often have the opportunity to converse with agreeable beings who are not so different from myself anymore, and I valued it." She doesn't usually feel alone or is bothered by her lack of communication with others like her, since all she's ever needed was the Doctor's company. But with those memories of the War stirred so forcefully, her words and bearing are strangely heavy, carrying the weight of a loneliness reserved for the last of a kind.
"You seemed to enjoy our conversation as well," she adds after a moment, trying to quell her own troubled emotions. Instead, she focuses on him and tilts her head. "What would convince you?"
no subject
It's just a few minutes later that Gabriel returns. For a few moments, they're standing in the hallway of the Rebel base, surrounded by scattered feathers. Then, they're in destroyed hotel room. Then, they're back outside, Sodom burning in the distance. He turns to her, his teeth gritting in pain. "You might be right."
no subject
Before she can decide to leave the Dreaming herself and try to locate him in the real world, his mind flows back into place around her. She watches with something vaguely like motion sickness as they rapidly switch through a few sceneries, unable to make out any details. Once they've settled back into the previous view, she sinks to her knees beside him, an expression of both shock and concern on her face. "Did you wake up? What did you see?" She starts focusing her energy on easing his pain, but it's everywhere, along with a gruelling strain, and she's having a hard enough time just preventing it all from seeping into her own mind.
no subject
He can feel the pressure of that room even now, how it's pulling at him to lose control. In the distance, the burning city disappears and the two figures, Michael and Gabriel, stand motionless on an endless plain of sand, the moon shining down on two sets of enormous wings. With an effort, he sits down and wraps his arms around his knees, physically trying to contain himself while his mind fights a larger battle.
no subject
She can tell his mind's grip on the dream is weakening as all of it is concentrated on resisting... being pulled away? apart? She doesn't understand the feeling at all, but that doesn't matter at the moment. What she does understand is the despair with which he is fighting it, and what's important is to help him stop it, or at least slow it down until a solution could be found. Placing a hand on his arm, she offers, "Hold onto me," and expands her influence into the pain and exhaustion, forming an anchor of untempered power.
no subject
He lays his own hand atop hers and accepts her influence fully, practically clutching onto the force of it. This is something that he can use. It hasn't fixed things, not yet, but it's enough of a mitigating power that he unclenches his teeth and heaves out a sigh. "What are you doing?"
no subject
"Helping," she replies tersely, while sharing yet more of her strength. She's starting to feel like she's propping them both up against whatever is holding him, or draining him, or pulling at him; the sensations are all merging together. "What are you trying to...," She frowns, casting about for a word that conveys what she's sensing. "... contain?"
no subject
He takes a few deep breaths and keeps his hand on hers as he tries to use her help. Any hint about her own distress is lost in the sea of his own strain. He's afraid that he may be starting to panic. "The vessel is human. My Grace is usually...usually I can keep it locked up inside. If I burn out, people will be hurt." That, and he'll probably die himself, given that he's stuck in a parallel dimension with no way back to Heaven. For a moment, he focuses on the possibility that he could lose everything and hurt people in the process.
A deep pang of grief overtakes him for a moment and Michael laughs in the distance, still not moving. He clenches his eyes tightly together and takes another deep breath, focusing on his containment once more.
no subject
She's also not sure what Grace is, but it's clear it must be something like the raw force of his being, and that does give her a better idea of what they're trying to achieve. She knows how to contain things, she contains an infinity herself, and she shares that knowledge as wordless reassurance.
Her idea of offering her own mind as at least partial containment for his power is interrupted by the force of his momentary grief, and his fear makes her tremble as well, nearly pushing him away with the sudden terror of what would happen to her if they failed at containing him. Against a flash of panic she tells herself he isn't antitime, isn't inside her actual structures, and isn't going to erupt. Then, with a deep breath, she extends herself as far as she can while being sure she'll be able to maintain this for some time, and enforces his containment like a secondary wall.
no subject
He shudders out a breath and laughs, sharp and tense. His heart is still beating fast in his chest, the panic taking hold of him. He has to reassure himself that this is helping, that he's not going to hurt the TARDIS by keeping her here. "I could kiss you," he finally manages to say. "Thank you."
no subject
At his relief washing through them she looks up, a shaky smile spreading on her face. "Perhaps later," she replies with a weak attempt at humor, mostly because it occurs to her he can use the assurance that there's going to be a later. Taking another breath, she continues more seriously, "Do you think you can wake up? We can try to maintain the connection." She's not at all sure if that would work without the telepathic current linking them, but they are very closely entwined right now and neither of them can keep this up forever just waiting for the attack to stop on its own. "If it fails, you could come back."
no subject
There's one more problem. He doesn't know how to let go of the TARDIS and...there's someone else. He concentrates a moment, searching for the name. Daine. When he wakes, the TARDIS might be able to get out of his mind, but chances are that Daine will still be trapped in this dream space until he manages to get out of the room.
"I can't wake up. Not now. There are others here." He lifts a hand to tap the side of his head. He doesn't want to leave Daine or the TARDIS or even Topher shipwrecked inside his mind. What horrible torture would that be? His stomach clenches on the inevitable knot of guilt. He's so scared that he might do more damage than he can heal, that he might not get out of this alive himself. As his thoughts race over the possibilities, he forgets to mention what he's thinking aloud. By the time he finally speaks again, he's already taken several steps from that last thing he said. "She'll be lost if I go now."
no subject
His next admission is somewhat less surprising, but a lot more disconcerting. She'd gotten an inkling of other dreamscapes when they quickly switched through them before, but then she became too engrossed in his pain to completely formulate that realization. Now she understands that it must be almost impossible for him to let go of these other minds while he is straining so hard to hold onto himself, and... she can't really think of a way to help with that as well.
As soon as it occurs to her that she might not be able to escape either, his utter fear for himself and others shudders through her, again threatening to make her panic and bolt. But she refuses to allow his emotions to get a hold of her, and reminds herself that she has absolutely no intention of leaving him. They've reached a fairly stable combination of their efforts to contain his power, at least for the moment, and it will hold until he is released.
If he manages not to panic, that is. Somewhat wearily she shuffles over to his side and lets herself lean against him lightly, companionably providing something to lean on in return. Mindful of his wings, she places a hand atop his in the dirt. Obviously the important part of her use to him is her telepathic support, but a little physical comfort has never gone amiss, at least to those more entrenched in physicality than her, which Gabriel seems to be. "Then we shall wait," she assures him patiently, doing her best to mask her increasing exhaustion. Really, this wouldn't be so hard if this universe wasn't keeping her in a permanent state of tiredness to begin with. And if she was a few hundred years younger. But no matter. "And I will do what I can to pull the others out, if necessary."
no subject
"It shouldn't be long," he reassures her, though the worry still racing through him betrays his easy reassurance. He waits with her like this for a while, his body taut and waiting, holding back the tidal wave of his Grace. Meanwhile, he babbles, because it's too hard to focus on anything meaningful and too much to sit in silence.
He speaks low and with just enough precision to be comprehensible, "When I'm out, I'm going to bring you so much candy you're going to drown in it, you just wait. Or booze, or cake, or whatever it is that sentient time ships like to shove into their semi-corporeal mouths. Or...whatever it is you have. Ah-" His voice trails off for a moment, losing steam under the stain. He takes a deep breath, swallows, then continues. "Definitely any part of my anatomy. Part time loan on those. Though I have a feeling you'd...rather have the candy." He huffs out a pained gasp and his eyes close in concentration. Everything hurts, but especially his wings. It's so intense that it's as if they're being torn from his back.
The very idea of losing his wings makes him shudder and his stomach roil. Could that be a result of this? He hadn't even thought of that before now, but it's entirely possible that, if no one comes, the only way out of this alive might be to rip out his Grace and become human. He feels a surge of panic, deep seated and raw, before he remembers to contain it. As an exercise in concentration, he stretches out his wings, feeling the presence of each painful joint, the brush of feather against feather. They're painful, but they're still there. "They have..." He only brings his wings half of the way back from their stretch, forming an instinctive protective barrier around himself and the TARDIS. "Candy with booze too. And liquor that tastes like candy. Cake soaked in rum. It's delicious."
no subject
To be honest, the distraction is somewhat helpful to her too as the pain she's feeling through him gets worse. His shudder makes her tremble with exhaustion, a reaction she can't seem to stop entirely for some time. And the next surge of panic, more powerful than the ones before, force a small gasp from her throat as she struggles to resist the almost overwhelming urge to run. Curse her deeply rooted instinct for flight, as though she were a spooked beast of burden. In a physical expression of her own forced self-control, she draws her legs in close and entwines her fingers with his tightly, mirroring his taut bearing.
When she feels something large and soft brush against her shoulder, she lifts her head to watch his wings move behind them. She has no concept of beauty to apply to them, but she gets the clear impression that they're not just a part of his body, they're who he is, and through him she feels a profound sense of importance and attachment for them. Then his stream of words runs out, perhaps too weak to continue, and she turns back to look at him and pick up the conversation.
"I have been meaning to try every kind of sweets available, so your contribution will be greatly appreciated," she assures him with as much enthusiasm as she can muster through somewhat labored breaths. "When you bring them, you must come inside and let me show you my interior. I have..." She stops to lick dried lips and think on which rooms the Doctor likes to impress his companions with. "A swimming pool, and several libraries containing most of the literature ever written in my universe. There is a zeppelin hangar and a menagerie, with animals extinct on their own planets. A mountain range, a squash court..." She trails off, frowning vaguely as her concentration is dimmed by the weight of her tiredness. "No, no, I lost that one. Or will lose it? And where did I put the steeple chase? Entropy must have gotten to it..." While she speaks, she sinks against Gabriel's side more heavily, but her efforts to contain him are unfaltering. "Oh, you should see the hat wardrobe. My Doctor adores it. Spends hours trying them on. Amelia disapproves, of course."
no subject
He's aware, now, of just how much this is taxing both of them, can feel her trembling against him in the effort. It seems like forever that they stay, holding in his Grace together. He slumps against her, and is just about to reassure her again that it won't be long, when he realizes that someone is trying to wake him up.
He doesn't move from his hunched position, but he does widen his eyes, a flare of hope lit amongst the pain and tension. "He's here. I...if you could hold on. Just a little longer. I'm not safe for him." He takes a deep breath, trying his best to ignore the pull of the room and the hand shaking him awake. "I'll let you go, then." He doesn't have time or the ability to explain in any more detail. He's thrumming with the desire to get out and get out now.
In the blink of an eye, he's gone, and a blank whiteness fills the empty dream space as the tension and pain builds to a crescendo.
A minute later, Gabriel releases his hold on her and all that she can sense of his emotions and pain vanish with it.