It's a Waste of Time, Chasing in the Dark

[applesaucemod]

Tonight, the dreamers will find themselves in a forest. Or an office. Or a suburban living room. Or a castle tower. Or a grocery store. The dream is a patchwork of assorted settings, each one blurring inelegantly into the next, most of them only claiming half an acre or so. The hodgepodge makes for quite a sight.

Or it would, if the dreamers could see anything. Natural light is in short supply. In fact, there isn't any light at all, not even a faint twinkle of starlight; you might as well be deep inside a cave. No matter how good their eyes might be, the dreamers won't be able to see their own hands in front of their faces - not unless they can fashion some sort of light source out of whatever they might manage to find. The dream isn't inclined to make things easy; any appliances or electrical light sources the dreamers stumble over won't be plugged in, and any walls, however solid they might seem, won't contain any wiring. A small fire might be the best bet - presuming you can find any means of lighting one.

But there's good news. Each of the dreamers will find themselves with a second set of dubiously useful eyes, because they'll be joined - again, or for the first time - by their dæmons. Granted, said dæmons won't have much more luck seeing in the total darkness than anyone else, but at least no one will have to feel alone.

Just… move carefully. You wouldn't want to trip over someone else's dæmon by mistake. Imagine how awkward that would be.

[ooc: y'all know the drill. Characters don't have to be apped or in the game to show up, and dreamers can remember or forget the events of the dream at the player's discretion. This particular dream isn't a power nerf - a character with the ability to create light could still do so - but the range will be extremely localized, as if the darkness is a solid thing that doesn't want to be pushed back.]

Comments

[rae_of_sun]

Sunshine opens her eyes, then shuts them again in an exaggerated blink. Oh, gods. Oh, gods, is she blind? She bats at the empty air in front of her, as if to shove away a heavy curtain, but there's no curtain, and she's on the verge of some kind of meltdown - it's been the better part of a year since she opened her eyes and saw nothing, even in piss-poor lighting, because vampire vision frigging loves piss-poor lighting - when she realizes she can see something.

She can see her hand. Barely. The light web is there, glimmering a faint gold.

She lifts both of her hands in front of her face, relief seeping through her panic. She can still see. There's not a whole hell of a lot to see, apparently, but her eyes still work.

"Maybe I can turn it up," she muses to herself.

"Spartan," says a familiar voice from her shoulder. "Just light yourself up like a goddamn fishing lure."

Sunshine grimaces, but doesn't bother trying to look at Modomnoc. "You have a better idea?"

Dom buzzes his wings irritably. "I just thought it was worth pointing out that if we can't see what's out there, we might not want to make it easy to see us."

"Well," Sunshine grumbles, patting her pockets, "I can't exactly turn it off, so unless I can see well enough to find someplace safe, I'm a sitting duck either way, right?" She huffs out a tiny sigh of relief as her fingers find the familiar outline of her little knife, and she pulls it out of her pocket. Its warm glow doesn't reach as far as she'd expect it to, but it's something. She can make out the edges of nearby objects, now. Squinting (gods, she can almost feel her eyes trying to draw more from the darkness than the darkness feels like revealing), she edges forward until she can clearly pick out a... shelf full of books. They're clad in ostensibly protective plastic, and there are decimal numbers on the spines.

A library. She's - they're in a library. And it might be pitch black, darker than it could be in any above-ground city, but she feels a little safer. "Okay," she says, putting her free hand on the shelf to steady herself. "Could be worse."

[spiritofwinter]

The glow from Jack's staff is enough to light the ground in front of them as he holds it low, Mary trotting along just ahead of his own bare feet. This library seems to have gone on forever without any sign of other people...at least, until he catches sight of a little golden glow ahead and hears soft voices.

"Think they'll see us?" he murmurs.

"Only one way to find out," the fox replies.

Jack nods, and brightens his glow. "Hello?" he calls.

[andhiswife]

"... Oh, dear," Greta murmurs. This is after several exaggerated blinks and rubbing her eyelids fail to bring a single thing into focus. There's nothing but darkness surrounding her, and she can't even begin to guess whether it's just too dark to see, or if the Rift has seen fit to strike her blind.

She's not sure which is more likely, which might be the most terrifying thing of all.

What if she never gets to see Iman again?

"... Greta?" someone ventures from far too close, and she nearly jumps out of her skin before placing the voice.

"Angus?" she flails an arm towards her dog, slumping a little when her fingers sink into his shaggy fur. "You're here?"

"Yes." There's a rustling crunch of paws on loose shale, and a puff of warm air as he snuffles at her face. "Are you all right?"

Greta slings her arms around his neck, her useless eyes stinging a bit, rocks shifting beneath her as she leans into his reassuringly solid presence. "I don't think so. I can't--I can't see anything."

"Neither can I," he replies, not sounding particularly happy about it. "It's too dark." After a beat, he tucks his nose beneath her chin and adds, "It's just too dark."

Greta sniffs once, then gives Angus a grateful squeeze. At least he's here. That's a comfort. She pats his fur for a few moments until she feels a bit steadier, then asks, "What do we do now?"

"Find Iman and Aqil," comes the immediate reply. "If they're here."

Greta smiles faintly. There doesn't seem to be anything inherently dangerous here, but given how dark it is, it's hard to feel entirely safe, either. Even if there's nothing lurking out there, what's to stop anyone from blundering right into a tree or off the edge of a cliff? Finding Iman and her bird would go a long way towards easing Greta's mind, and hearing Angus echo her sentiments makes her feel a bit less silly for having them.

"Right." She gets to her feet unsteadily, leaning on Angus's shoulder for support. It's not easy keeping her balance on the... rocky beach?... with no horizon to focus on. "I guess we'll just... go slowly?"

Angus leans against her leg. "Slow and steady," he agrees, and they set out.

[james_t]

In the dark, the bottom of his boot skids across a few smooth stones and he flings out an arm searching for a wall, but finds nothing. His first instinct is to ask the computer to bring up the lights, but before he can finish the words, a wet weight hits his thigh, then pushes itself up. Instinctively, Kirk gives it his arm for a way up, and a small familiar otter curls herself around his shoulders as if this is where she has always belonged.

"Ah, so I'm dreaming." he says, a faint smile on his lips that he knows Carina can hear in his voice.

"Good to see you too," she responds. Then, as a dry afterthought, "In a manner of speaking."

There's a soft wind, and Carina was in the water, so they must be in some sort of outdoors. Somewhat like the last time Carina was here. A beach, but this is different. A rough beach, not white sand and tropical. And, obviously, dark. Maybe it's a planet with no moon. But then-

"No stars, either," she says, and Kirk nods, lifting a hand to stroke her fur gently as he makes his way carefully along the beach. Maybe it doesn't matter what this place is. It's a dream, but nonetheless it makes him feel uneasy to hear the push of lazy waves against a shore without stars in the sky. It makes him think of ships lost at sea.

Maybe he can find something to make a fire. He presses forward, a little at a time, and wonders idly if Miss Asadi and her bird will make another appearance.

[singthesong]

At first, the Balladeer isn't sure if he's got his eyes open after all or not. He's on his feet and doesn't quite remember how he got to wherever he is right now, but that happens often enough. It's not enough to constitute a real problem.

"No..." muses a low voice in his ear. "Something's wrong. It's like we got caught up between scenes - you know."

The Balladeer grins reflexively - Beth! It's his bird again! But she's right; it's far too dark here to be natural. With an air of experimentation, he reaches out and tries to push through, to whatever time and place might lie beyond this nothingness. His hand encounters only open air. "It doesn't feel like that." He waves around again, still finding no resistance. "I bet it's just one of those dreams."

"Well, of course." she replies sensibly, "It must be a dream if I'm here. But we'd still better figure out what it's about."

They pause and listen.

"I wonder if everyone else is seeing this, too?" He senses, more than feels, Beth's shrug. Either way it comes out the same. "We'd better go and find someone. Keep an ear out for Steven." As far as he knows, Steven hasn't had one of these dreams yet. That...probably should have been something he mentioned, honestly, but there's just so much to process with the Rift. The occasional lucid dreams hadn't seemed as important at the time. It's a shame: utter blackness isn't a good one to start out with.

"Could've been worse," Beth points out.

He starts inching forward, arm outstretched in front of him. It's quiet here. If anybody were in the general area, they probably would have heard them one way or another by now. They might have to search a while before they run into anyone, which means they'd better get going.

Beth's claws tighten in the fabric of his shirt. "Careful," she urges quietly in his ear.

The air is too still and temperate to be outside, not to mention that his footsteps sound like he's walking on wood or tile. Other than that, all he knows is that it must be a pretty big open space. Probably not a shop or someone's home, else he would've knocked his shins against something already. But his strides grow longer with each safe step, until he's almost moving at a normal pace, turning his head from side to side as if expecting to catch some distant light.

There's a short flutter of wings as Beth leaves his shoulder to settle on his head. Once she's settled, she taps the side of his temple with a wing, tilts her head upwards and screams as loudly as she can.

As it turns out, parrots are extremely loud birds.

Both of them wait and listen as the echoes bounce around the space. "It's big," Beth observes. "Maybe some kind of warehouse or something? Let's just get outside."

[cheeseburger_backpack]

The good news is that once the Balladeer manages to find his way out of wherever he is, he won't have to go far before he finds Steven. He and Allirea are pretty easy to find, largely because Allirea is trying out dragon shape and spouting jets of flame.

"Awesome!" Steven cheers after one such blast. "I think you almost got it."

"It would be easier if I could keep it up for longer," Allirea says, sounding a bit breathless. "One more time, though." She pulls in another breath and lets out one more blast of fire, directing it towards a pile of sticks they managed to gather from a patch of forest a short distance away. This time, it takes.

Steven pumps his fists into the air in the new light of a cheerful (if somewhat muted) fire. "Yeah! Quick, be something with softer hands!" Allirea chuckles and changes back to lion shape, holding up a paw so Steven can give her a high-five.

[omnomnom_feels]

"Now I have gone blind?!"

His voice echoes in the narrow space, as does the sound of his own breathing. Unjust. This world is unjust and he has suffered enough for any creature. He has already lost the core of his being; he does not deserve to begin losing what senses he possesses in this repugnant semi-mortal body as well.

"Calmly," says a little voice by his ear, and then again when he starts in surprise, "Calmly. Assess the situation before drawing a conclusion."

His breath catches, and it is with hope now that he asks, "Janan?"

"You know it is I," she replies, and it is true. "Now, let us consider -- calmly."

"Calmly," repeats Rashad, taking in a deep breath through his nose. He can remain calm. He is not a mortal to be controlled by his emotions. He is calm, and he is rational, and he is logical -- and there is an obvious way to test his sight. Another deep breath, and blue flame licks out over his hands, its flickering light illuminating the concrete stairwell in which he finds himself, along with the metal door beside him.

The little reptile on his shoulder blinks in the light, eyes pointing this way and that. "Better," she says blandly.

[johnny_truant]

One can't sit around forever. Johnny carries Nova in the crook of his arm as he fumbles his way along in the dark, periodically bumping into walls and furniture. He's got a good light bruising by the time he manages his way through a heavy metal door. Wherever he is now is a bit colder, but there's light coming from somewhere close, and at least one voice.

"Hello?" he hazards. He takes a cautious step forward, but there's no floor to land on; he plunges down a step, unbalancing completely and lets out an undignified yelp as he reaches out with his free hand, grabbing at the railing. This whole thing has left him in a precarious position, hanging from the rail, half-sprawled down the stairs.

"Jesus H," mutters Nova, clambering onto his shoulder.

[biscuit_powered]

At first she doesn't understand. Her eyes are open -- she thinks they're open, though there's not even any difference when she tries to close them -- but she can't see anything. It's like she's been cast out into the void, except there's still solid ground under her feet, and that's definitely a solid...thing...she just tripped over. Solid wood chips gouging into her palms, too, when she hits the ground.

"...Ow," she says. Then she quiets at a rustling sound, alert and tense. Was she attacked? Has she truly been blinded? That's going to be a real bitch in a world without healing mages.

Then something big and feathery lands on her, and in another world that would be cause for shrieking and the unleashing of spells, but for some reason the contact is cause for instant calm. "Yhohm," she breathes in relief. "Hang on, I'm getting up."

"It's going to be a real bitch if we've been blinded," huffs Yhohm, ruffling his feathers and shifting his weight here and there to end up perched on her shoulder once she's standing.

Asmodia rolls that shoulder in a shrug. "Yeah, but if I can see you, I'm pretty sure that means it's just a dream. Come on, let's find someone to be blind with."

She'll just be feeling her way through the playground now. In the dark, because it doesn't occur to her that light would work when her tiefling darkvision doesn't. Her shins are going to be very badly bruised in short order.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine and Coromotto have been wandering for some time through the assorted scenery. Her dæmon can't see anything, and neither can she, despite the assorted eyes she'd tried on. At a loss, she'd finally taken bat shape and settled herself between Coromotto's ears. She can direct him easily enough from there.

It isn't until they get near a complicated jumble of structures that both their ears pick up someone moving around, and hushed voices.

"Hullo?" Coromotto tries as Daine swivels her ears towards the others. After a few squeaks, she realizes she recognizes this one. Not many two-leggers have horns sprouting out of their heads.

Asmodia! she calls out. It's Daine. After a beat, she adds, Hang on, we'll come to you. We can... sort of make our way. Bear left a little, she adds to her wolf, guiding him around a swingset and some sort of climbing thing until they're within a few feet of Asmodia and her bird. Are you okay?

[cheeseburger_backpack]

"One, two, three... glow," Steven mutters to himself. His gem stubbornly refuses to listen, and he gives it a tap with his fingertip. "C'mon. Just a little glow?" There's a pause, a grunt of effort, and a disappointed sigh. Still nothing.

"Steven? What are you doing?"

The voice startles him, and he turns towards it even though he knows he won't be able to see anything. "I'm trying to make my gem light up," he explains to whoever it is. There's something faintly familiar about her voice, but he's certain it's not one of the other Crystal Gems. He squints, brow furrowed with effort, but it's too dark for him to even make out movement. It isn't until he feels warm breath on his face that he realizes the speaker's very close to him. "Uh." He lifts his hands, blinking as his fingers find warm fur. "Hi."

"Hello," she replies, sounding faintly amused.

She doesn't seem to mind being touched, and it only takes a few moments of experimental patting for Steven to realize there's something familiar about the shape of her face. "Are you a lion?" he asks, sitting up a bit straighter.

"Not really." She lowers her head so he can reach between her ears. "I think I could look like almost anything, the way Amethyst can, but I picked lion because," she pauses a beat, as if embarrassed, "I thought you'd like it."

Steven grins. "You know Amethyst?" This is awesome! Maybe this means the other Crystal Gems aren't far behind!

"I know everything you know." She presses her broad forehead against Steven's chest. "I think I am you, or... part of you. My name is Allirea."

"That's so cool!" It's also definitely weird, but Steven's seen plenty of weirdness over the course of his life, and he's good at rolling with it. He has a lion buddy again, and this one can talk! No complaints! He hugs her head, which seems like a perfectly natural thing to do, then leans back a little. "So, hang on, if you can turn into anything, could you turn into a flashlight?" Because they could both use some light about now.

Allirea considers that. "I can try. Hang on." She sits back, leaving Steven to clasp his hands together in his lap and wait. There are a few moments of intense silence, and then an echo of his own disappointed sigh. "Flashlight's not happening," she admits. "But maybe..." there's another pause, and then a chitinous rustle of wings and a warm, pink glow.

Steven blinks against the sudden brightness, then grins as an oversized firefly hovers in the air before him. He lifts a hand, allowing Allirea to alight on his fingertips. "Hey, that's perfect!" She might not be the brightest thing in the world, but she still seems bright compared to the darkness pressing in around them. Her glow is enough to illuminate the ground beneath Steven's feet, which means he can walk without tripping. He stands, absently tugging his shirt back down with his free hand. "Maybe we can find a way out of here." Wherever 'here' is.

[literatimariano]

Jess is still pretty new to this, and it doesn't occur to him that he's dreaming. Mostly he's just really confused, and more than a little bit worried, that he can't seem to see anything. Not that power outages are new to him, but usually there's at least a window to give a sliver of light.

Where is he, anyway? He reaches out around him, searching hands trying to locate some sort of furniture or fixture or anything to help him figure out where he is. The quiet sound of his footsteps and carefully shuffling in the silence tells him he's indoors.

Then his hand touches something soft, something that flinches upon contact, just like he does, and there's a loud, indignant caw.

"Watch it!" comes a harsh but feminine voice.

"Sorry," Jess answers defensively, instinctively. "Who's there?"

"Jane."

"Jane who?"

"Jane the talking raven, genius."

"Right." He decides not to question that, and the raven doesn't seem particularly eager to either. If they were both less affected by the tendency of dreams making you take things for granted, they would probably be a bit less blasé about it.

Further exploration and cooperation eventually makes it clear that they're in some sort of shop, possibly a gas station. Maybe he can find some light somewhere, matches or a lighter... You'd think he'd have a lighter on him, but no luck. Blindly exploring it is.

[boneshaker]

Hey, this guy has a lighter!

For all the damn good it's doing him. He's still tripping over his feet while Persis grips his shoulder with her pointy little grabby hands. The lighter simply refuses to illuminate more than a dismal patch of space around his hand, even when balanced against a white surface. This place - this entire place, whatever it is, changing topography and all - absorbs light.

He can hear okay though, and he hears some snatches of conversation - two voices quipping back and forth, and then nothing. He hesitates, considering calling out, but Persis is so against that idea he can practically feel her vibrating. So he just keeps inching forward, hoping he doesn't-

He collides with another body suddenly enough that he dislodges Persis entirely. She hisses and skitters frantically into his hood, as if she were a real actual squirrel, even though they both know by now she is not that thing.

"Sorry-!" he blurts to whomever his collision partner is.

[powerdealer]

Seth's here! Seth hasn't been here in a long time. Exactly how much time, and where he should be currently, he's not sure. He doesn't even really remember the last time he was in Manhattan, or whether that was even the last place he was. He only recognises the familiar feeling of the dream.

And the feeling really is all he has to go on, cos it is dark. He fumbles forward blindly, stepping carefully, until his hands touch solid rock. Concrete, it feels like. The room sounds small and smells musty, and gives Seth a very bad feeling very quickly.

"There's a door over here, Seth."

He whips around, momentarily startled, but he quickly realises who that voice belongs to. "Sephronia?" Well, having the margay to accompany him makes this a little less worrying. He feels his way over to her and reaches down to give her a quick greeting pet.

Without speaking further - as they're both thinking more or less the same thing, and neither feel the need to discuss the situation - they set off together, down an empty corridor.

[has_a_horn]

A man riding a huge griffin isn't exactly the best fit for the corridor, but Venia had found the building and both of them had been curious to see what was inside. So far, not much except a few empty rooms.

He's managed to keep up a bit of ambient light around them, which will be enough to announce his presence to anyone in the hallway, but not enough to see where they're going. Venia goes slowly. Mostly Gabriel is just enjoying being in her presence again.

[spiritofwinter]

For a few moments, there's only the sound of his own breathing, loud in his ears. It's dark, and he's alone, and in the darkness his mind conjures up the jagged floor and shifting shadows of Pitch's lair.

"Jack?" A small voice speaks from the vicinity of his feet, and he gasps in a surprised breath. Then he's stooping before he's even really thought about what's happening; his hands touch soft fur and then there's an animal climbing into his arms.

"It's alright," he reassures her, holding her close. "It's just a little dark, that's all."

"The staff -- I think I stepped on it a second ago," says the -- cat? No, it (she) doesn't feel quite like a cat.

Jack shifts her weight to one arm and casts about on the ground. When his hands touch the familiar weathered wood a blue glow spreads down the staff's length, and he laughs in relief as he stands, willing it to glow brighter and illuminate the rows of desks flanking them.

"...You're a fox!" he exclaims, delighted at the discovery.

The fox looks down at herself, apparently just as surprised. "I think I'm part of you," she says.

[boneshaker]

Castor has only just found a door and a new room, and he's already running into things. He trips over a short chair and immediately bangs his hip solidly on something else - a desk? - enough jostling to dislodge Persis and cause him to drop his lighter somewhere.

"Fuck!" he yelps, and Persis chitters at him in irritation before going abruptly silent. Castor looks up and spots the nearby light, and the outline of a boy and - a fox, he thinks.

"Oohh," he says, straightening up and feeling very awkward about everything. "Hi."

[johnny_truant]

For a long time there is nothing to distinguish this dream from the ones he usually has, except, perhaps, this void has a solid floor of some kind, not the ashy earth he's come to know. He's not drifting along with his circles of thought, he's - well, he's sitting.

Something soft brushes his hand and he startles back instinctively, though he knows who she is immediately. There's always something sort of familiar about these dreams.

"Nova," he says, and scoops her up.

"Johnny!" She burrows against his chest. "I missed you."

The last time they saw each other was truly ridiculous, and they hadn't been getting along on top of it. He holds her close now, feeling a lot better despite sitting in the damn dark.

"Not really a scenery dream, is it?" he comments drolly.

She scoffs and says, "Maybe if we sit still long enough the plot will trip over us."

"Maybe there's no plot to this one." He looks around, pointlessly. "I'd be okay with that I guess."

The premise alone - all this oppressive darkness - should be upsetting to him, but at this point, he can't work up the energy to be afraid of the dark. He's faced down every monster and he keeps bouncing back. What's the worst that could happen?

I've missed these trash nerds

[powerdealer]

Seth and Sephronia are wandering, looking for anyone to talk to. Mostly they're doing this not by actually looking - a futile effort - but merely not being quiet as they clumsily fumble their way forward. Sephronia's a bit better at it than Seth, but her soft padding is also quiet enough that Seth can't follow it.

They're both terrible at small talk, so they've solved this by humming. Currently it's Terrible Love. In addition to giving Seth something to follow, it has the added bonus of announcing their presence to anyone nearby, and to calm their nerves. There is of course always the chance that they're announcing their presence to someone unfriendly, but the risk is preferable to sitting or sneaking in silence. Besides, it's a dream, so even if they get brutally murdered by someone with a hatred for indie rock, it won't stick.

[has_a_horn]

A loud huff makes him turn his head sharply in the darkness, but once he reaches out a hand and finds feathers, he immediately relaxes.

"Hello," a warm voice says, and Gabriel grins. "Mind casting some light on our situation?"

That's a good suggestion. He tries to illuminate the entire room, but only succeeds in illuminating a small circle that barely encompasses him and Venia, but it's enough to see their face, and he reaches out a hand to stoke a hand down their beak. "It's good to see you."

The room their in seems to be some sort of deserted nondescript government building. Maybe a courthouse. Whatever it is, he's not interested in sticking around. "Come on," Venia says, kneeling just enough to let Gabriel climb up to sit at her back. "Let's go find something more interesting."

"High-ho, Silver," Gabriel says, and Venia snorts dismissively at the implication that they should be charging anywhere. Instead, they carefully push their way through the double doors and into the darkness beyond.

[johnny_truant]

Nova goes abruptly still at the noise of the doors opening; Johnny holds her close, feeling her twitch under his hands. They sit motionless and silent, listening, trying to determine who or what has just come in.

There's light - just a soft glow - moving slowly toward them. Johnny squints at it for a moment, and catches sight of a beak, feathers. Massive, and moving not like a bird.

He would be so lucky. "Venia?" he says hopefully, standing up. "We're over here. Please don't trample us."

[lonelyghost]

Dark, quiet, lonely, but not alone. There is something - someone - some part of him, floating, fluttering, flickering just over his shoulder. He can feel her even without seeing.

"You're... me," he says slowly, quite surprised by the discovery. He's never met anything that was him before. He's already two things, and now there's another. She isn't quite there, though, just like him. Sometimes she's there, and sometimes she's not.

"Am I Compassion, or am I Cole?" she wonders. "I don't..." She is gone, and then she is back. Cole doesn't like it when she fades out. He raises his hands instinctively, and she settles down into his palms, just as instinctively.

"I think... you would have been Cole's," he says after a moment of consideration. "If I were still just Compassion, you wouldn't be here."

"But I'm you," she says.

"I don't understand it either," he agrees.

She is quiet for a moment. He feels her dusty wings brushing featherlight against his fingertips, vanishing and back again.

"I think my name is Near," she says finally.

He nods. "Yes."

He wants to move, but has nowhere to go. They are dreaming, he knows this, remembers the feeling of it - like the Fade, but not. He wonders if there are others. Beneath his feet there is grass, and the air smells faintly of dirt and wood, but this is all he can tell.

"Hello?" he whispers into the dark. Near flickers next to his ear.

[cheeseburger_backpack]

Steven and Allirea are on a mission. It's a little weird, being on a mission without the other Gems, but it's not much like their missions were, anyway. They're not trying to stop a mutant Gem from wreaking havoc, or find out what the Homeworld Gems are up to, or anything that requires strength and teamwork. Mostly, they're just trying to find other people and make sure they're okay.

Steven has a makeshift torch in one hand, and a few more strapped to his back. Thanks to the hodgepodge nature of the dream, it hadn't taken all that long to locate some good sticks, a bedroom with a drawer full of t-shirts for the repurposing (as well as a few belts), and a garage with a dusty bottle of lighter fluid on one of its shelves. He's being very careful with the lighter fluid. Safety is important.

"Hello?" he calls out, lifting his torch a bit higher as he skirts around a produce stand.

Allirea, trotting along in goat shape as a homage to Steven Jr., adds, "Is anyone out there?"

"It's okay!" Steven says for good measure. "We just want to help!" He holds the flickering flame close enough to read a dangling overhead sign, then announces, "We're by the Cereal, Oatmeal, and Granola aisle!"

ellis here with a shiny new piece of garbage

[boneshaker]

Well this is certainly some shit. No amount of channeling effort nets him light, which is worrisome in and of itself - usually even with limited supply he can make some kind of light burst. In the end his only recourse is to dig his lighter out of his pocket and flick it open. The light it casts is sickly and weak, barely showing anything apart from his own fingers. He gropes around, attempting to illuminate his surroundings. The dim glow tells him precious little, right up until it glints threateningly off two beady little eyes low to the ground.

"Shit-!" He jerks back, disproportionately startled by what must be a very small creature. He hesitates, then leans forward again, expecting it to have scurried off, but it's still there, just staring at him.

Wary but not entirely scared, Castor leans forward to get a better look. He sees tufty brown-gray fur, little needle-claw hands, a somehow judgmental face.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," she snaps, and he shrieks, actually shrieks.

"The fuck!" He drops the lighter and it goes out. He reaches around for it and instead the rodent clambers onto his hand. "Agh!"

"It's me, dumbass," says the squirrel.

"Y-" He stares at the blackness where he can feel her tiny paws gripping his hand. "You're a squirrel."

"Ooh, get the boy a medal so he can rust it on up," she chitters. "Get with the program, Cas. I'm you. You're me. We're us."

It's absurd, but he does have the overwhelming sensation of arguing with himself.

"Yooouuu are," he says slowly, with no prepared end to the thought She jumps down off his hand and, a moment later, nudges at his leg. His fingers find her and find his lighter clutched in her paws. He takes it almost begrudgingly and lights it again. "You're an extension of my what, my inner self?"

"Sure," she says. "Whatever. I don't get it either, all right? I'm not usually out here, all talky. But you don't see me throwing a fit. Name's Persis."

"Okay," he says, desperately trying to impress a small talking rodent. "If you're so damn smart, where are we?"

"The fuck should I know?!" She leaps onto him and settles up on his shoulder. "But we're together, that's all that counts."

Well. He'll give her that. There is something weirdly comforting about her being close to his ear. This is all very bizarre. He stands up and shines his sad little light around, then lets out a shrill whistle. "Hello?" he announces into the dark.

"Way to advertise our fuckin position," Persis grits out.

[rae_of_sun]

Okay, so she's left the library, after all. She's not even entirely sure how, because there was no traditional exit. It's more like traveling through Nowheresville, except instead of reality coalescing around her feet, it melts into being in what little light her knife manages to cast. And instead of being otherwise surrounded by a bewildering, ominous whirl of ill-defined things, it's just garden-variety, boring blackness. So, all in all, more pleasant than Nowheresville.

All she's missing is a destination. 'Find Spike' is a pretty vague goal, after all. Her internal compass doesn't seem to be much use in dreams, so it's more likely that he'll spot her than anything else, what with her being so damn spot-able and all.

Not that her light seems to be going all that far. Maybe she's less conspicuous than she feels.

... Or maybe not. Sound has no problem traveling its usual distance, and she freezes when someone from not-too-far-away shouts out a greeting. Definitely not Spike.

"Just keep walking," Modomnoc mutters from her collar.

Sunshine frowns. That's certainly an option, but it's also undeniably a dick move. Whether Shouty McStranger has actually seen her or not, it's one thing to politely avoid a fellow dreamer and another to just outright abandon them - especially when she is has a light source. Sure, it's only a dream, and falling down a surprise staircase would only result in a rude awakening, but that doesn't make not-really-dying pleasant. Gods, what would even happen to their animal-thing, in that scenario? Yeesh.

She's just... not gonna think about it. Or take her bee's mean-spirited advice.

"... Yeah?" she calls back, her wince pretty much audible. This is awkward, and not just because Dom is huffing at her in disapproval. What is she even trying to do, here, really? Rescue some random dreamer from a clumsy accident? She peers into the interminable darkness. "You okay?" she asks, uncertainly, like she's reading off a cue card written in exceptionally shitty handwriting.

Kristine with another trash child

[royaldick]

Richard is not enjoying this one bit. Which frankly is not new. There's been a lot of things he doesn't enjoy one bit lately, so this just gets added to the growing list with little more than a frustrated sigh.

The surprise is when there's a similar-sounding huff, just at a lower level.

"Who's there?!" he asks immediately, twisting around on the spot.

"Just me!" replies a reassuring voice, much nearer to the ground, and accompanied by the rustling of.. feathers?

Richard kneels down, reaching out towards the voice, and is met with a wet nose and soft fur. A dog?

"Oh, aren't you wonderful!" he reacts immediately, going to pet her as she makes a pleased noise. He then realises that what he thought sounded like feathers actually was feathers. Wings? This dog has wings!

"I'm Victoria," she introduces herself. "I'm Richard," Richard replies happily.

Well, this took a much more pleasant turn all of a sudden. She's small enough that he can pick her up, which he does, and she nuzzles cheerfully into his neck. They both giggle.

medieval musical muses must meet

[andhiswife]

Greta is making her way along through the darkness, one hand on Angus's shoulder, the other holding a torch that Steven gave her some time ago. Given the rather miserable mess this dream has stuck them all in, it seems only right to try and find others, now that she has some light at her disposal. The glow doesn't extend as far as she'd like it to, but at least they can manage to walk without tripping over anything.

"I think I hear someone," Angus says, a moment before Greta's ears pick up what sounds like... giggling?

Well, that's not what she would have expected.

"Er." She lifts the torch a little, then raises her voice to call, "Hello? Is someone out there?" After a beat, despite how silly the question seems, she goes ahead and adds, "Are you all right?"