Falling [Open to Multiple]

[wildmage_daine]

The last time Daine so thoroughly exhausted herself was during the siege at Pirate's Swoop, so it's no great surprise that in her dream, that's where she wakes. She sits up on the cot they've set up for her in the stables, where the ponies could keep an eye on her. Her head swims, and she grips the edge of the cot until the sensation passes.

A familiar gray nose enters her field of vision, and Daine smiles as Cloud, her pony, sniffs her over. "I'm fine," she reassures the mare, reaching up to give her neck a pat.

You're no such thing, Cloud replies tartly. You've drained yourself again. I won't always be there to lend you strength when you need it.

"Good thing you're here now, then." Daine steadies herself against the pony as she rises to her feet, ignoring Cloud's irritated snort. "Where's Numair?"

It's trouble enough to keep an eye on you, let alone the stork-man.

Daine sighs. "Fine. I'll find him myself."

She makes it to the stable doors before the scene begins to disintegrate around her. Daine whirls about to look for Cloud, but the stable is gone, replaced by nothingness. Within moments, nothing remains but the planks below her feet - and then they, too, crumble away. Daine drops into the Dreaming with a cry of dismay, not knowing where she'll land.


[OOC: Daine's taking a two-day nap after the events in this thread, giving her enough time to drop into the minds of a good number of people. Go nuts!]

Comments

[wildmage_daine]

Daine blinks in surprise at hearing Andrew call him 'Master.' Seems a bit much to her... and then her eyes widen as it hits her: he's made Andrew a slave. That's why Andrew's trapped at that desk and calling him 'Master.'

The rap on the nose is the final straw, and she rears back with an indignant huff. She's not going to let this person enslave her friend! Let Andrew go! she snarls, lashing out at the Master with a heavy paw.

[bluesuit_handy]

The funny thing is, she's really sort of right. She's misunderstood why Andrew is calling him that, but Andrew has been enslaved.

As a librarian.

"Don't hurt him!" he protests, dropping his stamp as he struggles again. The Master staggers under the blow, looking more indignant than injured.

"You'll regret that!" he promises, getting out his sonic screwdriver and pointing it at her.

Andrew's breath catches. "Daine -- do what he says," he begs, not wanting to see her get hurt. The Master lifts his eyebrows and smirks at her, expecting her to listen.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine had drawn her paw back for another blow, but Andrew's voice stays her. Why shouldn't she hurt him? He hit her, first.

When he brandishes the sonic screwdriver at her, she eyes it warily. It doesn't look like much, but it must be dangerous if Andrew's so upset about it. Maybe it's like a gun. She shuffles back a few paces, not liking this at all. What do you want? she asks.

[bluesuit_handy]

The screwdriver -- the wrong screwdriver, actually, if Andrew were paying more mind -- whirs dangerously. Andrew holds his breath as he keeps stamping books, not looking down at what he's doing but instead watching the encounter.

"Poor little hand can't handle it," replies the Master. "Help him."

Now the desk is closer, brought near like it wants to help the Master make her sit down at it and work.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine stares down at the stack of books before her, then looks over at Andrew to see what he's doing. Does the Master really think she can operate a stamp with these giant paws? She tries to pick up the stamp, but it takes both of her paws to do it - and now she can't open a book, because her paws are full. Letting out a low moan of complaint, she sets the stamp down, and it clatters onto its side. She manages to crack open a book with one of her claws, but the stamp is much harder to pick up now that it's toppled over. In an attempt to nab it, she accidentally shoves it off the desk.

Odd's bobs, this is going to take forever! Bracing her paws against the desk, Daine leans forward to look for the stamp, the wood creaking ominously beneath her weight. Several books tumble to the floor as she inadvertently elbows them aside.

[bluesuit_handy]

The Master pats Daine on the head in a condescending fashion, despite the fact that he has to stand on his tiptoes to do it. Andrew hisses through his teeth, and the Time Lord grins and returns to his side. "I haven't forgotten you," he reassures the meta-crisis. "Now be a good boy."

Andrew grits his teeth as the Master departs to wander through the stacks. Turning to Daine, he tries to get her attention. "Psst!"

[wildmage_daine]

Daine snarls as the Master pats her head, then growls at his retreating form for a few moments before returning her attention to the wayward stamp. The desk groans beneath her as she stretches a paw towards it, her claws just barely scraping against it.

Then Andrew hisses at her and she glances up at him. Actually, it's more of a glare; she's not sure how she managed to get roped into this, but she can't help thinking she could have avoided it if Andrew had just let her swat the Master around a bit like she'd wanted to. Another pile of books cascades to the floor, and she heaves herself back onto her haunches, giving up on the stamp for now. What? she asks, mind-voice sharp.

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew hunches his shoulders, shrinking under her gaze. Is she angry at him? Why is she angry at him? She hates him, doesn't she?

"...Help me?" he requests in a small voice.

[wildmage_daine]

How can she help him when she has all these books to stamp? Daine transfers her glare down to the desk in front of her. This is stupid, she decides, and she shoves another stack off the desk - on purpose, this time. This is stupid, and she doesn't have to do it.

Which means Andrew doesn't have to do it, either. She climbs over her desk, knocking a few more books to the floor and gouging the wood with her claws, and lumbers up to Andrew's. Are you stuck? She remembers how he'd struggled to get up before, but she can't see what's holding him in place. It just looks like an ordinary chair to her.

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew flinches again -- the books! She shouldn't be shoving books around like that, especially not the Master's books. He nervously stamps another one under her gaze, then nods.

"He's locked me in," he says, twisting to look at the chair. It's all polished wood and plastic casters, and he knows just from looking at it that it's hopelessly stuck in place. He squirms to demonstrate, rising partway out of the seat before the tops of his legs catch on the desk, too close in to twist and pull them up through the gap. Sitting back down, he grabs another book. "He's going to come back," he says, worried. "He always comes back."

[wildmage_daine]

Daine pats the chair with her paw, confirming what Andrew has already demonstrated. It really is stuck in place.

Then we won't be here when he does, Daine says. She sits beside Andrew's chair, checking to make sure there's enough clearance between his legs and the desk that she won't hurt him with what she's about to try. Then she rears back and surges forward, slamming her forepaws against the desk. It's heavy enough that Andrew might not have been able to move it, even if he'd tried, but it's not solid enough to withstand a polar bear's efforts. It scoots forward a few inches, books tumbling to the ground. Crossing behind Andrew, she repeats the gesture on his other side, grunting as she shoves the desk forward.

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew yelps and tries to get away from the bear suddenly slamming her paws into his desk. She doesn't hurt him, though -- but when she does it again on the other side, his attempt to claw his way out of the chair is less the result of rational recognition of the fact he's been freed than it is a general attempt to flee. He's rather surprised when he actually gets out, feet catching on the arm of the chair and sending him sprawling across the books on the floor.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine's quite pleased with her accomplishment, and it doesn't occur to her that Andrew's eagerness to scramble out of the chair is prompted by fear of her. She lets out a huff that's somewhere between amusement and worry when he lands on the floor.

Careful! she admonishes, padding over to him. She gently wedges her head beneath his arm so she can help him to his feet. Are you all right?

[bluesuit_handy]

As soon as she's not hitting things or getting growly, Andrew remembers that Daine is Daine and calms down again. He lays panting on his pile of books for a moment, trying to get his bearings and wondering where his stamp has gone.

"I'm alright," he confirms, leaning on her to get up. Books slide from under his feet, and he hangs onto her fur to keep his balance. "You just startled me."

"I don't hear stamping!" calls a phantom voice from the stacks.

[wildmage_daine]

I'm sorry, Daine says, wrapping a paw around him to help steady him. I should've warned you it'd be noisy.

The Master's voice drifts through the stacks, and Daine instinctively tightens her grip, hugging Andrew closer as she snarls in the direction the voice came from. How do we get out of here?

[bluesuit_handy]

And smoosh. Even when he's not split into itty bitty bits of himself, Andrew seems destined to be smaller than Daine. That's what it seems like at the moment, anyway. He sucks in a breath as best he can under the circumstances, thinking fast.

"The bookdrop!" he exclaims. "He can't have locked that. He needs the books returned." Lifting his chin, he indicates a path through the shelves. "That way."

[wildmage_daine]

Daine nods, then trundles off in the direction Andrew pointed out, keeping her pace slow enough to match his. It's a tight squeeze through the shelves, but she wants to be large enough to protect them if the Master catches up to them. Andrew might not want her to hurt him, but if the Master tries to hurt them, she's not going to sit idly by and let him.

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew follows along behind. It's too narrow for them to walk abreast between the shelves, and he finds himself hopping to see over her every few steps. He's about to ask if maybe he can ride on her when there's a sharp tug on his shoelace. Yelping, he thumps to the floor and grabs at Daine's hind leg to stop himself from sliding under the shelf with whatever's grabbed him.

[wildmage_daine]

Andrew? Daine lowers her head to peer back at him from between her forelegs. What...?

Her question is cut off by a tell-tale rattle from the next aisle over. Daine lifts her head as the shelves around them glaze over with frost, and her alarmed whuff makes a visible cloud in the suddenly freezing air. Through the gaps between the books and the shelves, she sees a flash of beaded skin colored in vivid, poisonous hues.

Andrew hadn't told her the Master kept a Coldfang.

Hold on tight, Daine orders, an edge of panic to her voice, and don't look at it! Digging her claws into the floor, she drags herself forward, trying to break the monster's hold on Andrew.

[bluesuit_handy]

"What is it?" demands Andrew, immediately failing to follow orders in that he twists and tries to see it. The angle's all wrong, though -- there's only a bit of movement visible through the shelves, and his head is too high to see the -- hand? paw? -- of the creature that's got hold of him. He tightens his grip on Daine and wriggles his foot and -- there! His foot slides out of his shoe, leaving the latter behind in the creature's grip.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine stumbles a little as Andrew suddenly jerks free, and there's an angry hiss from the other aisle. Coldfang, Daine replies, resisting the urge to turn around and check on Andrew lest she catch sight of the creature's eyes. They're thief-trackers, she adds, feeling a bit sick at the implications. She's no stranger to slavery, for all that she loathes the practice. Andrew is a person, but to the Master - and the Coldfang - he's stolen property. And she's the thief.

Climb on my back, quick! she urges. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see frost blooming along the spines of the books as the Coldfang drags itself down the adjacent aisle, its pace slow, but relentless.

[bluesuit_handy]

On the one hand, there's an unknown (to him) monster trying to drag him under the shelves and apparently scaring the daylights out of Daine. On the other, Andrew has just received an invitation to ride on a polar bear. He's on her in a flash, somehow scrambling up her shaggy side, kicking at the bookshelves for footholds and sending hardbacks flying.

"I'm not a thief!" objects Andrew. He has to pause a moment and amend that. "I'm not a thief lately," he says instead. "Why did you say not to look at it?"

[wildmage_daine]

As soon as she thinks Andrew's settled, she breaks into a shambling run. Hopefully she can put some distance between them and the Coldfang, though she knows that unless they kill it, it'll never stop pursuing them.

I'm the thief, Daine says, suppressing a shudder. I took you. And if you look at its eyes, it paralyzes you.

At least it's in the next aisle over. But within moments of that thought entering her head, there's a loud crash from behind them as the Coldfang slams into one of the shelves between their respective aisles. Books cascade across the floor as the shelves topple like dominoes, and the Coldfang's tail rattles as it slides into the aisle behind them.

[bluesuit_handy]

"You can't steal a person!" Andrew protests. "I give you permission to take me -- hear that?! She has my permission --!"

For all that he's been told not to do it, and for all that he knows precisely the reason why he mustn't do it, it still seems almost inevitable when Andrew looks over his shoulder to see their enemy and to scold it. His breath catches in his throat, eyes wide as they meet the creature's gaze. Its appearance hardly registers; he has only an impression of bright scales. His entire body goes rigid, and he panics internally as he feels his unresponsive hands and legs lose their grip on Daine. He slides off her back and lands hard on the floor, winded.

Winded, but unfrozen again. Gasping for air, he scrambles after Daine -- but hearing the Coldfang approaching from behind, he panics and dives through a shelf instead, ramming the books aside with his head and shoulders in his attempt to get into the next aisle over.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine's about to point out that Andrew's permission isn't worth much, given that the Coldfang doesn't take orders from him, when she feels him still on top of her, and then start to slide. I told you not to look! Daine cries as she skids to a halt.

The aisle isn't really wide enough for her to turn around, and she nearly gets stuck in the attempt. With a grunt, she shoves aside the shelves in her way - fortunately, not the same set as the ones Andrew's wriggling through. She sees his flailing legs - and then she sees the Coldfang.

Daine drops to her suddenly human knees, unable to focus on holding the polar bear shape - unable to focus on anything but the Coldfang. It drags itself toward her at a leisurely pace, head swinging from side to side, tail rattling as it bumps over the books littering the floor. Andrew is casually bypassed; the Coldfang is more interested in the thief than the stolen property. Its mouth opens, revealing rows of sharp, silver teeth and two hinged fangs, like a snake's. Daine shivers, her breath ghosting in front of her.