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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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?"

Daine beams back at him and nods. "Her name's Kitten. She found me!" Her vision blurs for a moment after that last - she's been waiting ages for someone to find her, and now it's finally happened - but she sniffs in a sharp breath and gets herself under control. Right now, getting back to Andrew is the task at hand.

Daine surveys the maze as Kitten sits up on her haunches and trills a greeting at Andrew, lifting one of her forepaws in a little wave. There are only two shelf-walls between them, and after a moment, Daine shrugs and points to the corridor they form. "Want to just meet in the middle?"

"You know her? From before?" Color Andrew intrigued! He's already scrambling over the top to come nearer when she makes her suggestion. "I'm Andrew," he calls to the dragon belatedly, ruining the flow of the conversation. Looking down, he gives a little nod and starts his descent, excited by this development (though nowhere near as excited as Daine was. "See you there!"

"Yes." Daine scoops the dragon up in one arm and shifts her hands and feet into squirrel paws to more easily make the descent. "I've been looking after her almost since she was born." They reach the ground quickly enough - should've done squirrel paws before, Daine thinks - and start up the next shelf. "That was, oh... about three years ago. She's still a baby, really."

Even with one arm around Kitten, she makes quick work of the second shelf. Once she's on the ground, she shifts her hands and feet back and grins up at Andrew. "But she found me!"

Andrew looks down at Daine from where he is struggling to get down from the last shelf. That's not fair, he thinks, seeing her hands and feet just before they change back. "That's not fair," he informs her, before falling about half the way down.

He nearly lands on his feet, but can't keep his balance and falls on his back instead, getting the wind knocked out of him.

"I was carrying someone," Daine points out, wincing as Andrew takes a tumble.

"Are you all right?" She crouches next to him, setting Kitten down so she can offer both her hands to help haul him back up.

"Ye -- no." Andrew readily takes her hands, and considers. "Yes," he decides, and tries to pull himself to his feet, not thinking how he might just pull her down on top of himself.

Unfortunately, Daine had stopped bracing herself at the 'no,' so the 'yes' and the tug catch her off guard. She tries to brace her feet against the ground, but they slide from beneath her, and she ends up sitting down hard next to Andrew, instead. "Whoops." She bites back a giggle, then plants her feet again. "Want to try that again?"

Andrew tries to shield himself from having a Daine fall on him, impaired by the fact that they're still holding hands. He titters, not even trying to bite it back, and nods. "Ready this time?"

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