applesaucedream | Falling [Open to Multiple]

Current Music: January 28th - 29th, 2013

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Falling [Open to Multiple]

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!]

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

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."

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?"

"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?"

"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."

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."

Edited 2013-04-29 04:07 (UTC)

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.

"'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.

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.

"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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Andrew peers out across the endless shelves, still picking out Daine's moving form and tracking her whereabouts. It doesn't take him very long at all to get bored, though. First he begins to try to get a better look at his immediate surroundings. Then he examines a book or two and finally, feeling foolish for spending so long waiting and doing nothing, he climbs down the side of the shelf nearer to Daine.

Of course, once he's on the floor, Andrew realizes she won't be able to see him if she looks his way. He scrambles up the next shelf and clings, trembling, to the top as he scans again for her. It takes much too long for him to find her again, and then it's only just in time to see her dive down between the shelves.

"Daine?" he calls uneasily.

"I'm all right," Daine calls back, though 'all right' doesn't even begin to cover it. She sinks to the ground, hugging the little dragon close and blinking back tears as Kitten's familiar chatter washes over her. "You're really here?" she asks, and Kitten nods vigorously in response. As Daine strokes the dragon's scales, she lets out a laugh that's at least half-sob. "What took you so long?"

She just spoke out loud, didn't she? But why would Daine go human again -- and why does she sound so pleased?

Andrew clambers over the top of his current shelf to start making his way down the other side. Theoretically, he could wind his way through the maze -- but it seems wiser to make a beeline for Daine's last position. "I'm coming to you!" he calls.

"Okay," Daine replies. She supposes she could take bird shape again and try to meet him halfway while directing Kitten from above... but that would involve letting Kitten go, and it'll be a while before Daine feels up to that.

"Is everyone all right, back home?" she asks as she cuddles the dragon in her lap. Kitten nods again, then chirrups the little tune that's come to mean, I missed you! The dragon always has been good at making herself understood, though right now, Daine wishes she could talk with her the way she does with the People. Kit's too young for that, which means most of the questions Daine wants to ask her couldn't be answered to her satisfaction. "Numair?" she asks anyway, because she can't not. Kitten nods again, though the gesture is accompanied by a sad croon. "Is he looking for me?" This time, the dragon's nod is a bit more indignant, as if to say, of course he is!

Daine doesn't even realize she's crying until a few tears splash onto Kitten's back. "Sorry," she says with a watery chuckle, mopping her face with one sleeve while she uses the other to blot the dragon's scales.

Andrew pants as he tops what feels like his fiftieth bookshelf, pausing on top to scan the area again. "Daine?" he calls, wondering why she hasn't at least tried to direct him or come meet him. Right now he wants to know whether he's at least headed in the right direction.

Daine starts when Andrew calls again, realizing with a guilty pang that she'd almost forgotten about him. That's no good - especially after he was so worried about her doing as much. "Over here!" she calls, climbing to her feet a bit unsteadily with Kitten still in her arms. At least he sounds close.

Sniffing, she eyes the nearest shelf, wondering how best to scale it without having to put Kitten down. "Hang onto my back?" she suggests, and Kitten nods. Daine shifts the dragon around, waiting until she's sure Kitten has a good grip before she starts to slowly climb the shelf. They reach the top without incident, and Daine looks around for Andrew. There's no sign of him, so he must be down in the maze somewhere. "We're here!" she calls, chucking a paperback into the air for good measure.

Andrew cranes his neck, flinching when he hears the flapping of pages. This time, though, the book doesn't come down on top of him, but in another aisle. "Saw that!" he calls with relief, going to the next shelf to pick his way up again.

There's no point climbing down until Daine knows exactly where Andrew is, though she can guess the general direction by where his voice is coming from. She clears a few books aside so she can settle more comfortably atop the shelf, and Kitten clambers off her back to perch on a stack of leather-bound volumes. She looks at Daine with an inquiring little whistle.

"That's Andrew," Daine explains. "He's a friend. You'll like him."

Edited 2013-05-06 02:22 (UTC)

Andrew reaches the top, knocking several encyclopedia volumes loose without really meaning to. A smile breaks out across his face as he spots the prodigal Daine (and he can give her a good lecturing on not running off, he's sure), only to be replaced by a look of (no less joyous) surprise.

"Is that a dragon?"

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