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!]

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[bluesuit_handy]

Memories are leaking back in: a long day out, turning in for the night with James beside him...and further back, the Master's dead body. Of course he couldn't have been taken captive by the Master. Andrew gives a forlorn little sniff, and shoves the thought aside.

"So this really is Kitten?" he asks, having realized just a moment ago that he ought to doubt it. "From your own world?"

He furrows his brow as the enormity of that sinks in. "That's -- that shouldn't be possible," he says, coming closer to stare at Kitten.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine nods as Kitten sits up a bit straighter in her arms. "Dragons can travel between realms. Where I'm from, there's the divine realms, the mortal realm, the Black God's realm - where humans go when they die - and the Dream King's realm. A dragon could go to any of those places, though they live in the divine realms and don't seem all that inclined to leave." She readjusts her grip on the little dragon and sighs before continuing, "I'd thought that was all the realms there were until the rift got me. But if there are oodles of 'em, maybe that's why it took Kitten so long to track me down."

The dragon nods, and Daine notices for the first time that her scales are edged in a blue so pale it's almost white. "It's tiring her," she says with a frown, running her finger down Kitten's neck. Kitten snorts indignantly; she'd rather be admired for managing something clever than pitied because it's worn her out a little.

[bluesuit_handy]

It makes a kind of sense, though Andrew's having trouble grasping the idea of dreams being a 'realm' into which a being can travel. What they're experiencing right now, as he understands it, is a shared mental event during unconsciousness. Daine can't have meant that dragons travel between dreams and reality -- Kitten must be asleep and dreaming, and just very clever at manipulating that state or telepathically riding the currents of the rift.

"Can you show us the path you took?" he asks Kitten.

[wildmage_daine]

Kitten shakes her head and fists a forepaw in the fabric of Daine's shirt, crooning apologetically. "I'm not sure we can travel the same way she does," Daine says, lifting a shoulder in a shrug. "Maybe a grown dragon could carry us somehow, but Kit's still a baby. It's fair impressive that she got here in the first place." Never mind that Daine has been waiting for ages; she can tell Kit's disappointed that she can't do more, and she definitely doesn't want the dragon to feel unappreciated.

[bluesuit_handy]

However Daine feels about it, Andrew's unable to hide his own disappointment. He takes a big sniff and nods reluctantly, accepting the answer for now. Maybe he can do something to augment Kitten's abilities, but he'll need time to think about it.

"Still," he says. "First proof we've had that anyone can travel to this end of the rift voluntarily."

[wildmage_daine]

"Not sure how much good it would do you if she could, anyway," Daine points out with a little smile. "You'd just end up in Tortall."

After Andrew speaks, Kitten brightens a little, looking less sorry and more pleased with herself - which suits Daine just fine. As far as she's concerned, Kitten deserves all the kudos anyone can give her.

"Was it easier to find me because I've been asleep so long?" Daine asks curiously. It's only just occurred to her that it might have made a difference. She doesn't know how long she's actually been asleep at this point, but she can guess from experience that she'll be out for a couple of days - maybe even longer, since she drained her magic more than her physical strength.

Kitten nods, looking worriedly up at her. "I'll be fine," Daine reassures her.

[bluesuit_handy]

"One pathway might show us how to find another," Andrew points out. He gives a little shrug. "It's not me I'm worried about. If it weren't for having to stay on the island, it wouldn't be that different to how James and I were living before." Apart from the still-missing dogs, of course. He feels a flash of guilt before reminding (reassuring) himself that William is there to take care of them.

He gives her a puzzled look. "How long have you been asleep?"

[wildmage_daine]

A fair point, though it doesn't change the fact that Kitten can't take them anywhere. Daine cuddles her close, not wanting her to feel as if she's failing them somehow.

"I don't know," Daine admits a bit sheepishly in response to Andrew's question. "I expect I will be asleep for a couple of days, but I'm not sure how long I've already been at it."

[bluesuit_handy]

"Why?" Andrew's actually a bit alarmed. "Did something happen? That isn't something wildmages just...do, is it?"

He leans in close to look at her, as if he can give her dream-self a physical exam and work it out that way.

[wildmage_daine]

"Well, yes." Daine hesitates, considering what she can tell him without giving Yuri's secret away. "I sort of got captured by Romac. They weren't after me, they were going for a friend of mine, so I took mouse shape and hitched along so I could break him out the next morning. I wasn't hurt or anything." Well, she was a little, but not badly enough for it to be worth mentioning. "But using that much magic wore me out. Something similar happened a few years ago, but after I slept for a couple of days I was all right."

[bluesuit_handy]

"You what?!" Andrew grabs hold of Daine's arm, really alarmed now. "If I'd known, I would have helped," he says, frustrated and more than a little worried at the thought of one of his friends going into danger alone -- or with this mystery friend of hers.

[wildmage_daine]

Kitten lets out a soft cheep when Andrew takes Daine's arm, and Daine winces - not because he's hurting her, but because she regrets alarming him. She couldn't think of any way to soften 'captured by Romac,' unfortunately.

"It's all right, we got away easily enough." Daine smiles a bit cheekily. "They didn't even know I was there until I turned into a bison in the middle of a hallway." She doubts it would be so easy a second time, but she has no intention of getting captured by them again.

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew runs his free hand down his face, pausing to rub his eyes. "They don't know it was you, do they?" he asks, still concerned. As long as one stays invisible, he doesn't think of Romac as being all that dangerous. Being captured, though, becoming known -- that could ruin a person's stay in the city.

[wildmage_daine]

"I don't think so," Daine replies. Now that she thinks about it, though... "Well. Topher and Luke are the only two with Romac who know a little of what I can do. But Luke's just a boy; I don't think they'd even tell him about the breakout, let alone ask him if he has any ideas about it." She's counting on that, actually; she's not sure Luke would be able to lie if they asked him outright if he knew any shapeshifters.

"Topher... I don't know about him." She frowns, a bit worried, now. "He's known about me for a while and never tried to find me or anything, but that was before I broke out."

[bluesuit_handy]

"I don't know either of them," admits Andrew. For a moment he thinks he'll start walking again, head for the bookdrop -- but there's no need, is there? Already, the labyrinth is getting less dense, the space around them slowly growing more open and navigable.

"Do I know this friend of yours?" he asks, wondering if he has another friend to worry about.

[wildmage_daine]

"His name is Yuri. Tall, a few years older than me...?" Daine shrugs. "He's around the base a lot; he lives there, too." Granted, she's not about to tell Andrew why Romac captured him, but that doesn't really matter, anyway.

[bluesuit_handy]

Handy sniffs and shakes his head. "Nope. I think I've heard the name, but I can't say I know him." And maybe he ought to spend a bit more time around the base, keep closer tabs on these rebels. If they're going getting themselves and his friends captured, they need someone keeping an eye on them.

[wildmage_daine]

"Yuri's the one who found me when I first arrived," she says. It doesn't change the fact that Andrew doesn't know him, but it might help explain why she risked Romac to help him. "Anyway, I think the whole mess with Romac was harder on him than me." She frowns, wishing she'd done a better job of keeping him safe when he was a bear. Maybe if she'd taken polar bear shape right away, or held him in the hallway until help arrived...

Kitten lets out a worried croon and pats Daine's arm. "I'm sure he'll be all right, too," Daine says bracingly. She's just not sure she'll be allowed anywhere near him when he's in bear shape again.

[bluesuit_handy]

"What happened?" If Daine was hoping to avoid probing questions, she confided in the wrong person. Andrew reaches out to take her hand. "Should I be looking for him in my dreams as well?" he asks, only half joking.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine shakes her head, mustering up a faint smile for Andrew's benefit. He's trying to help, and she can't begrudge him that, but she can well imagine how Yuri would feel if he suddenly had Andrew asking him pointed questions about what had happened.

Trouble is, she's not about to tell him what actually did happen, either. Nor does she want to lie to him, or leave him thinking she doesn't trust him.

"I'm sorry," she says, giving his hand a squeeze. "I'd like to explain it, but I can't. Not without telling you things I have no business giving away."

[bluesuit_handy]

Andrew frowns, brow furrowing. Being told he can't know just makes him want to know more -- though at least she's being upfront about why she's not telling him. That at least means one less mystery to solve. "And if I ask Yuri?" he asks almost cautiously.

[wildmage_daine]

The smile slips from Daine's face, and she unconsciously tightens her grip on his hand. "Please don't. He'll just be upset that you asked, and he won't tell you anything, anyway." And he wouldn't just be upset with Andrew, either; he'd be upset with her for spurring Andrew on, whether she intended to or not.

[bluesuit_handy]

That just makes his brow furrow more deeply. "Alright," he concedes. Yuri equals off-limits. He'll have to keep his ears open and try to find out in some less intrusive way.

[wildmage_daine]

"Thank you," Daine says gratefully, letting out the breath she'd been holding. She doesn't like keeping secrets from Andrew, but this one isn't hers to tell. If she wanted to give him a hint, she could advise him to keep an eye on the news... but she's probably been asleep for long enough by now that if he was going to hear about it, he would have.

And that's assuming Romac didn't find some way to keep it all out of the news. It might not have been that difficult; no one died, after all, and she'd done a well enough job keeping him away from everyone. Honestly, she doesn't much like the thought of it being in the news, either, but it troubles her to realize that she and Romac were on the same page, or that her actions might have made their job easier.

Pulling in a breath, Daine readjusts her grip on Kitten and looks around at the opening maze. "Now what?"

[bluesuit_handy]

"Now," starts Andrew before he really has an answer, sucking in a breath and holding it for a moment as he looks around. "...Now we decide what we want to dream about," he suggests, unsure if that's really how it works. "Or we wake up. Dunno how long I've been out."