Let's Do the Time Warp (Again)

[applesaucemod]

It's that time again, but time seems to be a bit muddled. As usual, people from all over the multiverse are being drawn into the Dreaming by the rift. This time, in addition to (or sometimes instead of) picking up the residents of Manhattan, they take them from their home universe but from a different point in time. You may find yourself suddenly encountering a future version of yourself, or perhaps you bump into a friend taken from long before you met them.

Tonight's setting is also time-twisted. You're still in Manhattan, but it seems to be closer to the 1930s. Specifically, you're in an old hotel. There's the dimly lit lobby, with chairs and tables for relaxed mingling. The bar, where tables are front of a stage, on which a band is playing various hits of the 30s. There's also an outdoor area if you need fresh air. Or you could explore the hotel, but it's mostly corridors, unless you stumble upon an unlocked room.



[Mod note: Usual dream-party rules apply. Both members and non-members are welcome to use any character, be they already in the game or no.

For game-specific characters, you can choose whether or not they will remember their time in Manhattan if they're taken from the future. You can take your character from multiple different points in time, if you want.]

Comments

[aly_brighteyes]

Seeing Daine like this scares Aly more than she can say, more than even her own predicament has done to her. Aly's used to being afraid, in pain, and in control, but Daine...

Carefully, slowly, she crouches in front of her.

"Hullo."

[wildmage_daine]

Two-legger! Not a bandit - someone from the village? No one she knows. Daine bares her teeth in a snarl; she might not know this two-legger, but she knows what the villagers do to animals, and what they want to do to her. She tries to retreat, and her back hits the thin, wrought-iron bars of an ornamental fence. When she glances over her shoulder and sees the impediment, her mind screams, Cage! No, no, no! She lets out a yelp, throws another terrified glance in Aly's direction, and then takes off along the fence line on all fours, bruising the knuckles of the hand that still clutches the knife.

[aly_brighteyes]

Aly doesn't follow. She stays exactly where she is and lifts her hands to show Daine that they're empty. Daine had told Aly, when she was younger, about her wilder and less controlled days, but seeing them is another, painful, matter.

"Daine?" she asks softly. "Veralidaine Serrasri?"

[wildmage_daine]

Daine doesn't get very far before she runs into a corner and has to turn back around, breathing heavily. She's trapped, and there's no sign of the Pack. Have they abandoned her? No, they wouldn't, they wouldn't. But where are they?

Something stirs inside her at the sound of her name - especially her full name, which she hasn't heard in a while. She rocks back onto her haunches, eyeing the stranger uncertainly, until it hits her: that's the name the villagers know. This two-legger must be with them. She's one of the hunters.

Daine's limbs are shaking, and she uses both hands to steady the knife as she points it at the two-legger. She won't be captured, though she'd much rather run than fight. Risking a glance up at the fence, she registers that it isn't that tall. Could she jump it?

[aly_brighteyes]

"I don't mean any harm," Aly promises. She's shaved bald, bruised, and hardly a threat and her own Aunt looks at her like a monster.

"Daine? I'm Aly. I'm a friend."

[wildmage_daine]

That's not right. The wolves are her friends. Cloud is her friend. She doesn't have friends among the two-leggers - why would she?

Daine growls at the stranger in warning, then reaches for the top of the fence with one hand and pulls herself upright, the other hand still aiming the knife in the two-legger's general direction. Her intention was to leap over the fence, but standing on two legs causes her head to spin. She shouldn't be standing like this... should she? She lurches forward almost as if she's going to be sick, then topples gracelessly over the fence and lands on her back on a manicured lawn, too winded to run.

[aly_brighteyes]

Aly doesn't chase, worried though she is that Daine will hurt herself.

"Do you want some food?" she asks. "We can find some? Or look for your friends?"

[wildmage_daine]

It's a fair worry; it was mostly luck that she managed to land without cutting herself on her own knife. Momentarily stunned as she is, she has little choice but to listen to the other girl's words. Food and friends... those are good things. The hunters hadn't offered her food, they'd only told her to give herself up, that she was mad and that she needed to be put down.

Maybe she's not with the hunters. Daine turns her head to look at the girl on the other side of the fence, belatedly noticing her bruises. Did she escape the bandits, too?

She wants to ask, but it takes her a moment to remember the words and how to shape them. Finally, in a cracked whisper, she asks, "The bandits?"

[aly_brighteyes]

"All gone," Aly points at her broken nose and the bruises surrounding it. Fibbing to Daine doesn't feel good, but she needs to get Daine to trust her a bit.

[wildmage_daine]

Good. She's glad they're all gone, and not the least bit sorry for how many she'd personally disposed of. They'd deserved it. They'd deserved worse.

Daine's vision blurs as her eyes fill. She wants her friends back. If she can't find them, she'll have nothing. "Where's the Pack?"

[aly_brighteyes]

"Safe, I think." And brilliant allies, to hear an older Daine's version of events.

[wildmage_daine]

Then all she needs to do is find them. Which might be a bit tricky, given that she's no longer where she was. The air is warm, here, and there are no mountains.

Daine rolls onto her hands and knees, blinking down at her hands for a moment. They're two-legger hands, and she spreads her fingers, as if to verify that they belong to her. Then, she turns to the bald girl, squinting in curiosity - and a little suspicion. She doesn't recognize her, but it can be hard to recognize folk without their fur.

"Who are you?"

[aly_brighteyes]

"My name's Aly." She sits in front of Daine and looks at her with wide eyes, occasionally blinking slowly the way you're told to do with cats.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine's no cat, but the slow blinking relaxes her a little, nonetheless. Whoever this 'Aly' is, she seems to be in a bad spot, too. She's also definitely not from Snowsdale, which means she's probably not one of them that's after her.

Daine rocks back into a crouch, not quite sure whether she wants to stand up on her hind legs or go galloping off on all fours. She has a vague suspicion that the former would be the proper thing to do, but the latter is still tempting. It'd be more tempting if she knew where the Pack was, but she can't hear them. Scenting the air doesn't get her very far, either. Where is she?

"I'm lost," she finally admits, frowning at Aly as if it's somehow her fault that things are so confusing just now.

[aly_brighteyes]

Aly nods looking worried, but also feeling very tired herself. She needs to take stock of her surroundings and then find the tools to escape back home.

"D'you want to try and find food?"

[wildmage_daine]

The mere mention of food causes Daine's stomach to rumble. How long has it been since she last ate? She's having a hard time remembering.

She doesn't trust Aly, or anyone outside the Pack, for that matter. But she still has her knife if she needs to protect herself, and she really could use some help finding food. Looking sidelong at Aly, she nods once.

[aly_brighteyes]

"I'll not harm you," she promises, her hands open and peaceful.

"I think I saw something inside."

[wildmage_daine]

Inside. That's a place for two-leggers, not wolves. She frowns for a moment, then rises somewhat unsteadily to her feet. The ground seems too far away, now, and she feels as if even a light shove would topple her. But it's also easier to hold the knife, and that makes her feel a bit better.

"How far inside?" she asks, eyeing the hotel warily. She doesn't like the thought of being cornered indoors.

[aly_brighteyes]

"Just there." Aly points at the cafe windows.

"If you wait here, I could go and get you some instead?"

[wildmage_daine]

It's not too far... but she still doesn't like the thought of being penned in. When Aly offers to retrieve some food, though, she can't keep a look of gratitude from flitting across her face. She nods, and as memories of being human start filtering back into her head, she offers, "Please?" Manners are quick to return, perhaps because wolves have them, too (of a sort).

[aly_brighteyes]

"Of course," Aly promises, trying to squash down the painful concern for her aunt, forgetting her own injuries in the process.

"Just wait here, all right?"

And she's off like a shadow, stealing through and returning with a small feast before they notice her.

[wildmage_daine]

Once Aly disappears, it occurs to Daine that she could run off - or even just drop back to all fours while she waits. But... no. Until she can find the Pack, she has to be smart about things, and she's smarter as a two-legger.

So she paces, instead, relearning how to be comfortable on two feet. As her balance improves, she starts to feel more like herself: Veralidaine Sarrasri from Snowsdale. A small part of her doesn't want to be Veralidaine Sarrasri anymore, but it can't be helped. At least this definitely isn't Snowsdale. Pack or no Pack, she might be somewhat safe here.

Or not. How did Aly get that broken nose, and all those bruises?

When the other girl returns, Daine manages a brief, tentative smile, and a, "Thank you." Then, brow furrowing, she asks, "Who hurt you?"

[aly_brighteyes]

"Slavers," Aly replies indifferently. "They're long gone now and they're not taking me again."

She spreads out a stolen napkin and lays out cooked pieces of steak with potatoes as well as a couple stolen sandwiches. In the interest of speed, she'd picked and grabbed indiscriminately.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine blinks at Aly in astonishment. Truth be told, she's a bit awed by how casually the older girl talks of escaping slavers. "Goddess," she breathes. "So you're running away?"

When the food appears, she carefully sits and looks it over. The steak is tempting, but she makes herself take a potato, instead. It takes some effort to stop herself from wolfing bolting it down, nevertheless. She feels as if she hasn't eaten in days.

[aly_brighteyes]

"Certainly nothing to stay for." Aly has to eat slowly and more carefully–it's hard to chew and breathe at the same time with a broken nose.