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]

Oh, of course - because it's her fault Andrew belittled her and then refused to keep up. "If you'd been nicer, this wouldn't have happened," Daine points out, scowling at him. "Or has no one ever told you it's wrong to scorn folk for not having had the same opportunities as you?"

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew stops up short and gives her a deliberately uncomprehending look. "This wouldn't have happened if you'd stuck to the plan," he argues, though he can feel his ears heating up. "I didn't scorn you."

[wildmage_daine]

"Yes, you did," Daine replies flatly, stopping as well. "And I'll thank you not to look at me as if you've no idea what I'm talking about." She can feel her temper starting to rise, so she takes a deep, deliberate breath before allowing herself to continue. "I don't expect to be the cleverest person in the room, but that doesn't mean I deserve to be treated like an idiot - especially about things I couldn't possibly have known, anyway. It'd be like me looking down my nose at you because you can't tell what animals are saying."

[bluesuit_handy]

"It wasn't personal," mutters Andrew, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking away. One moment -- he allows himself one moment of superiority, and he gets this. No one else used to kick up this kind of fuss, he's sure. "I joke," he says defensively. "With friends. It's a thing I do."

Except he does know better. He just doesn't want to know better.

[wildmage_daine]

"Felt personal," Daine replies, her righteous indignation slipping just enough for some of her hurt to show through. "Didn't feel very friendly, either." It certainly isn't something any of her friends from home would have done. "Where I'm from, pressing your obvious advantage just to make someone else feel foolish is something you do to your rivals, not your friends."

And that's if it's done at all. She could mention it's the sort of behavior folk would expect from children or cowards, not the decent or honorable, but she's not out to insult Andrew. She just wants to make sure he quits lording things over her.

[bluesuit_handy]

"...Sorry," Andrew finally says reluctantly, wishing he were more confused about why he has to apologize. "Most people just...hit me on the arm or whatever."

Because a lack of emotional reaction (except expressed by minor acts of violence) totally means it's okay.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine presses her lips together, then nods. "I forgive you." The corners of her mouth quirk upwards as she adds, "I'll hit you next time, if that'd help."

[bluesuit_handy]

"Violent, aren't you?" asks Andrew, as if he hadn't just suggested just that. He hesitates a moment, then offers his hand to hold. "Book drop?"

[wildmage_daine]

"Oh, very," Daine agrees. "I don't carry this bow around just for show." She only hesitates for a moment before taking his hand when he holds it out to her. She knows a peace offering when she sees one. "Book drop."

[bluesuit_handy]

"Brilliant!" Andrew gives her what must be a genuine smile...and picks a direction without consulting her and starts to stroll off.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine follows without complaint. She didn't spy the exit when she was atop the shelves earlier, so one direction is as good as another as far as she's concerned. Still, they could be at this a while. "I could take bird shape," she reminds him. "I'm sure I'd be able to find you again if you chucked books into the air to get my attention."

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew starts to nod, thinking it's a good idea -- but then sucks in a breath and tightens his grip as a frightening thought occurs to him and latches hold in a way it shouldn't. "You won't leave me, will you?"

[wildmage_daine]

"Leave you?" Daine repeats, so baffled by the suggestion that she thinks she must be misunderstanding him. Surely he can't think she's going to just abandon him in here, to be enslaved by the Master all over again.

Then she glances down at his hand, which has gone white-knuckled around hers, and wonders what else he could mean by the question.

"No," she says, frowning a little as she tries to decide if she ought to feel insulted by the implication that she would do such a thing. "Why would I?"

[bluesuit_handy]

"Because I was rude," explains Andrew, feeling somehow both foolish for thinking it, yet still worried he might be right. "Because -- because you've got better friends you could be helping."

[wildmage_daine]

Daine blinks up at him, at something of a loss. She might not have harped on so much about his rudeness if she'd known he'd actually take her scolding so much to heart that he'd think she was going to leave him alone in a book maze just because he annoyed her.

The comment about 'better friends' is stranger, still. For a split second, her breath catches at the thought that he might be right (at least to a point; she's not in the habit of ranking her friends). What if some of her other friends are caught in the maze, too? There was a Coldfang, after all, which could only have come from her realm...

But almost as soon as the thought occurs to her, she realizes it can't be true. Kitten or Numair would have found her by now, and she can't imagine why any of her other friends would be here. The thought still troubles her, though, if only because Andrew thinks she'd just turn her back on him like that.

"You'd have to do a lot worse than being rude to get me to leave you here," she replies, shaking her head. "And I don't think any of my other friends are here, but even if they were, I wouldn't just forget about you." Smiling a little, she adds, "It'd be fair silly of me to go to the trouble of stealing you from that other man and then not even get you to the door."

[bluesuit_handy]

Normally, Andrew wouldn't be quite this irrational about it. He knows intellectually that Daine's not going to abandon him over a little disagreement, and he's frankly embarrassed he brought it up. She did go off ahead of him and get them separated, though, even if she didn't actually mean for the latter to happen.

And see? That look on her face, the way her breath hitches...she does have other people to worry about. Other people probably a good deal less annoying and more useful than Andrew. Maybe the Doctor's even around here somewhere for her to go talk to.

"Rescuing," he interjects firmly. "You rescued me. It's only stealing if it's property, and a person can't be property." So there. Take that, worlds with slavery. He readjusts his grip, trying to make himself stop squishing her fingers.

[wildmage_daine]

"'Rescuing,' then," Daine amends, flapping her free hand dismissively (though she can't hide an approving smile at Andrew's attitude towards slavery). "Point is, I'm not abandoning you."

When Andrew loosens his grip, she gently frees her hand so she can shrug off her bow and quiver. "You'd best hold onto these for me," she says, passing them over. "I'll scout around for the exit and sing out when I find it - then you can start throwing books so I can find you again. At the very least, we'll know what general direction to head in." Which might not be much, but it's more than they know, now.

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew swallows down a protest when her reaction to his loosened grip is to immediately slip free of him. He awkwardly accepts the weapons thrust at him, but proves adept enough and putting them on himself.

"If I climb a shelf, I can watch where you go," he points out.

[wildmage_daine]

"Good idea," Daine says, smiling up at him. She hadn't missed the look that had flitted over his features when she'd pulled her hand free, and while a small part of her thinks he's being a bit ridiculous, the larger part is just sorry he's so anxious over the thought of her leaving. On impulse, she steps forward and wraps her arms around him. "I'll be back soon enough. Promise."

[bluesuit_handy]

He knows he's being too vulnerable -- or letting himself worry too much. He knows it, but he can't seem to drive it away. He wraps her up in a return hug, not quite lifting her off the floor but definitely thinking about it. "I trust you," he repeats from earlier.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine smiles into his shirt, then steps back. "I'll take owl shape so you can spot me easier," she says. It's plenty bright in the labyrinth, but not so much that it'll bother her eyes, and she suspects her falcon shape would be easily lost, given how fast it is.

She takes a breath and shuts her eyes, and a moment later, there's a barn owl sitting on the floor. She launches herself into the air and perches atop one of the shelves, waiting for Andrew to climb up before she goes to search in earnest.

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew watches in unabashed fascination -- he'll have to ask her to do that again, later, so he can watch again. Something niggles at him as being odd -- something about clothing -- but it seems perfectly alright within the logic of the dream, so he just gives her a little nod and gets to climbing.

"That way, I think!" he tells her, pointing.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine swivels her head in the direction he's pointing. The exit must be along one of the walls, two of which are surprisingly distant. The one Andrew points at isn't so far, though, so it makes sense to check it out, first. Got it, she says before launching herself off the shelf and flapping off over the maze.

The vaulted ceiling allows her enough space above the shelves that she can see a good deal of the maze, but what she sees isn't very encouraging. It's far bigger than any building she's been in before (unless you counted the TARDIS), and the corridors twist and snarl together in a manner that's almost dizzying when viewed from above. She focuses on the wall, instead, confident that if there's any movement in the maze below, she'll notice it.

Once she reaches the wall, the book drop is surprisingly easy to find. There's even a lit sign above it, with "BOOK DROP" printed in foot-high letters. Daine alights on the nearest bit of shelving and turns to look back the way she came, wondering if Andrew's reached the top of the shelf, yet.

Found it! she calls, letting out an ear-splitting screech for good measure.

[bluesuit_handy]

This endless maze -- it's no wonder he never escaped before Daine came. Andrew surveys the labyrinth from atop the shelf, kneeling amongst the books. He loses sight of her for a moment or two, but then there's a screech to direct his attention (after it makes him want to flinch and cover his ears).

Shielding his eyes from the light with one hand, he peers in Daine's direction. "Is there a path through?" he calls back, hollering at the top of his lungs.

[wildmage_daine]

Good question, Daine thinks to herself. She can see where the path emerges from the rest of the maze, so it must join up with where she's left Andrew at some point, but Mithros only knows how long of a walk they have in store if they decide to go that route. Maybe it'd be quicker to just climb over the shelves.

I think so, she calls back, ruffling her feathers. Not sure how long and twisty it is, though. Hang on, I'm going to check it out!

Daine rises into the air and begins to follow the path from the book drop. It's slow going; even though her owl vision makes it relatively easy to pick out dead ends quickly, there are still a lot of branching pathways to check out and dismiss. As she works her way deeper in the maze, she has the idea to pluck books off the top shelves with her talons and drop them onto the correct path whenever there are a few branches to choose from. They won't be of any use if the maze changes itself again - really, this whole venture will have been useless if that happens - but she might as well, just in case it doesn't.

She's investigating a corridor about twenty yards from where Andrew's waiting when she sees a flicker of movement through the shelves. Rising higher - both to more easily see into the neighboring corridor and put herself farther away from whatever's over there, in case it's nasty - she cautiously peers over the shelf. It better not be another Coldfang - or the Master. She doesn't fancy tangling with the slaver if Andrew's just going to get all upset with her for defending herself.

The creature between the shelves turns out to be neither of those things. It's small, only about two feet long from nose to hip, with an additional foot of tail. It lifts its slim muzzle and blinks up at Daine, then lets out a loud chirp of recognition. In the same instant, Daine drops to the ground beside it, nearly falling over in her haste to shift back to human. "Kitten!" she cries, scooping her up. The little dragon clings to Daine's shirt, claws pricking her skin through the fabric, and lets out a musical series of chirps and burbles that manages to sound both relieved and scolding.