has_a_horn: (wtf is that)
has_a_horn ([personal profile] has_a_horn) wrote in [community profile] applesaucedream2013-04-15 02:42 am

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.]]
theoldgirl: (side)

[personal profile] theoldgirl 2013-04-22 12:43 pm (UTC)(link)
She allows the examination freely, but the result is disappointing. If he can't tell who she is after the mental equivalent of looking directly at her , she has no hope of convincing him verbally. All she can do is to try and earn his trust within the dream setting, a dangerous and unpredictable place.

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.
Edited 2013-04-22 13:19 (UTC)
theoldgirl: (looking up)

[personal profile] theoldgirl 2013-04-25 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
The TARDIS watches the scene from the doorway, trying to understand. For all that she's seen so much of her universe, she's never encountered anything quite like this; thick black smoke emanating from one of the humans, the underlying certainty that it's alive and hostile, Gabriel burning it out of the three men with a touch of his hand - parasites, perhaps?

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.
theoldgirl: (attentive)

[personal profile] theoldgirl 2013-04-27 08:41 am (UTC)(link)
Well, that wasn't a total failure, though it's hardly what she was trying to achieve. Another city on fire. It seems Gabriel has seen as many of those as she has. She tries to get her bearing among the new emotions, tries to discern the relationship he has to the two figures in front of them. There's a strange sort of familiarity with the taller one, distanced but profound, and after a moment she recognizes the feeling - it's not dissimilar to how the Doctor feels about past incarnations of himself. Once she realizes this, the mixture of love and horror for the other man click into place as well; she might almost be looking at the Doctor and the Master. Another of his kind, then, someone particularly close, whom he can't stop loving despite the cruelty in him.

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?"
theoldgirl: (arguing)

[personal profile] theoldgirl 2013-04-28 08:32 am (UTC)(link)
She can't stop herself letting out a humorless huff, realizing how ridiculous it is that she's the one trying to argue for linearity, here. "That it is," she agrees wistfully and looks back out at the glow of the burning city. This line of reasoning would hardly work on her if she'd somehow lost her grasp on continuity. But what would?

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."
theoldgirl: (side)

[personal profile] theoldgirl 2013-05-01 09:45 am (UTC)(link)
Isn't her staying with him through all this and trying to steer him towards less unpleasant scenarios reason enough to believe she might care? But of course he isn't able to appreciate that, and if some outside influence is really affecting his mind like she believes, it's understandable for his subconscious to be so wary and defensive.

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?"
theoldgirl: (D:)

[personal profile] theoldgirl 2013-05-02 08:11 am (UTC)(link)
The unexpected surge of pure pain takes her by surprise, and for a moment she feels like she's breaking apart right with him. But then she's left reeling in an empty dreamscape, pain turning into panic as all his emotions are pulled out from under her like a rug, and she does the mental equivalent of spinning around searching for him.

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.
theoldgirl: (concerned)

[personal profile] theoldgirl 2013-05-02 09:26 am (UTC)(link)
That confirms her suspicions about something purposefully suppressing him, but it doesn't give her any information she could use to locate him. And the worse he's getting in front of her, the more her focus is consumed by the need to help him right here.

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.
theoldgirl: (say that again)

[personal profile] theoldgirl 2013-05-02 11:10 am (UTC)(link)
The intensified contact soon makes her shudder with him as more of his misery and strain bleed into her, and her grip on his arm tightens. She's uncomfortably reminded of the pressure she felt just before her systems overloaded and she was torn apart, taking most of the universe with her. But she knew what she was doing when she decided to support him like this, and she tamps down on the memory quickly.

"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?"
theoldgirl: (wat)

[personal profile] theoldgirl 2013-05-02 12:27 pm (UTC)(link)
For a moment she blinks in confusion at his answer. She'd simply assumed he had constructed his human form, like she had, but apparently he'd... what, possessed it? The bloodied feathers falling to the ground quickly remind her that there's no time to worry about that now, though.

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.
theoldgirl: (surprised)

[personal profile] theoldgirl 2013-05-03 11:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Once she's put herself in place around him, she hunches over a little under the weight of his power. There's a lot of him, and the outside force pulling at him is relentless, but she knows she can do this. After all, she once contained an exploding time station without bursting, this is manageable in comparison.

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."
theoldgirl: (side)

[personal profile] theoldgirl 2013-05-04 10:08 am (UTC)(link)
It surprises her to hear there's someone else involved in helping Gabriel, but she trusts him to have an idea of what's going on wherever he is in the waking world, and she is so relieved to know they won't have to worry about that particular facet of this ordeal that she completely misses the doubt behind his words.

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."
theoldgirl: (thoughtful)

[personal profile] theoldgirl 2013-05-06 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
His talk of candy brings a bemused smile to her tired face, though she soon realizes it's his way of expressing gratitude. And how did he know how much she likes sweet things? She certainly wasn't thinking about it. A lucky guess, perhaps, but now that he's going on about it she warms to the idea too. Besides, she's quite familiar with certain people's need to babble in the face of danger, so she listens gladly.

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."
Edited 2013-05-06 04:03 (UTC)