Dreamwalking [open to multiple]

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Topher is dreamwalking. It's a trick he picked up when he came through the rift in San Francisco, and he's gotten quite good at it since then. He's not quite able to pick a specific dreamer's mind yet, but he's learnt how to visit only those who've been significantly affected by the rift, either by coming through it, or being changed by it.

He jumps from one mind to another, looking for rifties he hasn't met, at least not in dreams. These days he barely sleeps at all without jumping from mind to mind, perhaps because he's lonely. Christmas hadn't exactly helped.

Some people will barely notice he's there, but there are those who do, who recognise him as an outside element rather than a figment of their own mind. Having a certain amount of control over his avatar while in dreams, he chooses to appear as a hooded ranger, straight out of a fantasy novel. Mostly because he thinks it looks badass, and stops him from being recognised easily.

[OOC: Anyone feel free to make a thread with their character asleep and dreaming, and suddenly having Topher appear in their head. Whether they'll be lucid or not, or what they're dreaming about, is up to you.]

Comments

[wildmage_daine]

Daine and the Long Lake Pack are hunting.

Who they're hunting, and why, is a bit less certain. Sometimes it's Lady Yolane, as it was in Dunlath. Sometimes it's Kitten or Numair whose scent fills her nose, and she runs faster, desperate to find them. Sometimes it's Emperor Ozorne, not yet a stormwing and reeking with fear.

And suddenly, there's a two-legger who has no smell at all. She can't see his face, but she can tell he's staring at her. She's not frightened--not exactly--because she feels safe with the Pack, but she's not happy that someone is interfering with the hunt. Daine stops in her tracks and snarls at him.

[brink]

Topher yelps and does a little flail-jump when he appears right next to a hostile-seeming wolf. It takes him a couple moments to remember it can't actually harm him.

"Jeez, don't scare me like that," he says before really thinking about it.

And then he notices that this wolf is the Dreamer. Well, that's special. Animals can't generally enter the Dreaming - or if they can, Topher isn't likely to jump into their mind. Clearly there's a higher level of sentience here.

"Um. Hello," he says tentatively. He's forgotten about his mysterious demeanor and everything. He still looks pretty mysterious, but he's not acting the part.

[wildmage_daine]

He doesn't seem all that threatening, but he's still in the way. Daine's snarl shifts into something less ferocious and more annoyed. Don't interfere with the hunt! In reality, she wouldn't attempt to talk to a two-legger if she was in an animal shape, but in the dream, it seems like a natural thing to do.

[brink]

Right, wolves. Of course they're hunting. He considers his options, but she doesn't seem too keen on talking to him. But maaaaybe...

Where Topher stood a moment ago, there's now a similar looking wolf. The good thing about the Dreaming is that he doesn't really need to know what wolves work like to be able to take the form one of. Just point and think. Though it takes a certain amount of concentration to appear as something that comes so unnaturally to him, something so different to his mental image of himself.

'What are you hunting?' he asks, the same way she had spoken to him.

[wildmage_daine]

She's not as surprised by his shape-shifting as she should be, but his question troubles her. What are they hunting? She sniffs the air for a familiar scent, but all she can smell is the Pack and the cold--snow and pine. Like--she sniffs again--like the mountains around Snowsdale.

And then she remembers what they're after. Bandits. With a furious snarl, she takes off into the trees.

[brink]

Bandits. Okay then. Topher runs after her easily, the experience coming naturally mostly because it comes so naturally to Daine.

'Who are you?' he asks, which is the most pressing question at the moment. Along with WHAT THE HELL. But he's fairly sure most of his current questions can't be easily answered by her, at least not at the moment.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine glances at him, a little baffled by the question. There are more important things going on. Daine, she replies before returning her focus to the hunt.

But she doesn't have the bandits' scent. They have to get it, first. She doesn't want to--doesn't want to go where she has to go--but she has to, because they'll get away, else, and that can't happen. She won't let them get away with tearing her life apart.

The scenery shifts, and she finds herself on a familiar path. Her hackles rise, and she whines at the thought of what she'll find at the end of it, but she continues forward.

[brink]

Daine. Okay. That'll make her slightly easier to track down in the waking world, at least if she's been picked up by Romac, and perhaps even if she hasn't.

He continues following her, noting the scenery change, and noting her anxiety at it. He can feel her emotions pressing in around him, if he pays attention to it.

He decides to save his questions for later, and just go along for the ride, see where they turn out. And if it turns to a nightmare, perhaps he can swing it back in a less upsetting direction.

[wildmage_daine]

Fog rolls in, bringing with it the smells of burnt wood, blood, and roasted meat. Daine's pace slows to a creep as shapes begin to appear through the fog, indistinct at first, but slowly revealing themselves as she approaches.

The farm is a ruin. Fire has taken the roof and upper story, though the lower floor was warded and resisted the flames, at least. Windows are broken, the door smashed in, and a good portion of the house's contents are scattered across the ground outside.

It's not just objects on the ground. The yard is littered with bodies. Mostly animals--dogs, ponies, cats, even chickens--but with two notable exceptions.

Daine is no longer a wolf. She's a thirteen-year-old girl, stumbling towards the remains of her farm and family and calling for her ma.

[brink]

Topher is apprehensive from the first smell that something's not right, and worried what he's going to see. He's not going to turn back now though, but he feels invasive, moreso than usual, and dreading whatever's coming.

He shifts back to human form as well, and feels a jolt when he sees the girl's age. He assumes this is from her past, but that doesn't necessarily mean she's much older by now. He can't do anything but stand and watch quietly.

[wildmage_daine]

"Ma? Ma!" Daine falls to her knees beside her mother's body, but when she reaches for her, she finds it's not her ma at all, but Mammoth, their old boss dog. The only one who was still alive--if only just--by the time Daine and Cloud had arrived home.

We all fought, Mammoth tells her, trying to wag his tail. All of us. It made them angry.

Daine cradles the dog's head in her lap and smoothes his fur with shaking hands. "I should've been here," she tells him, trying to keep from sobbing. "I should've--someone should've..."

The knowledge that it was two whole days before any villagers bothered to show up at the farm to see if they were all right is already in her mind, and she looks around, fury beginning to weave its way through her grief. If Ma had lived, she would've been in the village by now with medicine, helping treat the wounded.

Daine spies the only other living human in her dream. He doesn't look like anyone from her village, but it doesn't matter. "Why didn't you do anything?" she screams at him.

[brink]

So not only is she a shapeshifter, but she can speak to animals. Good to know. Topher can hear Mammoth's voice as well, because Daine can hear it.

He starts a bit at being addressed. He had forgotten he was visible and sort of part of events. He's fairly sure he won't actually be able to reason with her, though.

Instead of answering, he focuses on changing the environemt. Just a random grassy field, on a summer's day. He calms down the setting, filling the air with a relaxing and pleasant vibe, trying to calm Daine down.

[wildmage_daine]

At first, the disappearance of the farm is more upsetting, and Daine whips her head around as the scenery changes and Mammoth disappears. But the calming vibes help, and she begins to forget what she'd been dreaming about previously or why she'd been so upset.

The downside (upside?) is that Topher is now the most interesting thing happening in the dream. For the first time since he showed up, Daine looks at him properly. She frowns a little when she realizes he's a perfect stranger, though she's more baffled than upset.

"Who are you?"

[brink]

"Just a friend," he answers, by not really answering the question at all. He's still hooded and cloaked, not all that recognisable even if she had known him. "How long ago was that?" he asks. She looks older now she's been removed from that scene. He assumes this is her more natural appearance.

[wildmage_daine]

A friend, is he? She frowns up at him, confused. His voice isn't familiar, and she can't see his face. Daine's not much for lucid dreaming, but when she does, it's usually because she's being visited by a god.

And there's only one two-legger god she knows of that visits dreams. "Are you the Dream King?" she asks hopefully, climbing to her feet. If he is, maybe he can tell the Badger or Numair where she is.

As for his question, she ignores it for the moment. Now that she's left the farm, she doesn't want to return there, and finding out who he is seems far more pressing than anything else.

[brink]

Fine, potential friend.

...Or Dream King, that works.

Topher hesitates. "Not one that you're familiar with, though in a manner of speaking, yes. I am Morpheus."

You know what, he realised Daine wasn't from his world and that she wouldn't see through his reference, and he just went with it, okay? He sometimes gets carried away. It happens. So sue him.

[wildmage_daine]

"Morpheus," Daine repeats, trying to mask her disappointment. It's not the answer she'd been hoping for. Still, she doesn't want to be rude to a god, even if he's not one of her gods. To that end, she adds, "Sorry I shouted at you before. It's nice to meet you."

If it all rings a bit hollow, that's because... well, it is. She's not sure why some foreign dream god is even bothering with her, but she's having a hard time thinking up a reasonably polite variation of, 'what do you want?'

[brink]

"Quite understandable, given the circumstances. Memories can be terrible things," Topher answers, playing the part now.

He doesn't have a follow-up question, he's busy being enigmatic and mysterious and impressive here, can't you tell? It's very distracting. She'd better ask the questions.

[wildmage_daine]

At least he doesn't seem to be upset with her, so that's good. She's still rather confused, though, and his air of mystery isn't exactly helping on that front. It seems fair strange to invade someone's dreams and then refuse to get to the point (though she does assume he must have one).

Daine fidgets for a moment, then tentatively asks, "Can I help you?"

She regrets asking almost immediately, remembering what happened last time she was chosen as a goddess's vessel. The Graveyard Hag had told her mortal vessels were hard to come by--which would explain why some god she's never heard of before is in her head. Odd's bobs, this is the last thing she needs! Holding up her hands, she tries to sound polite as she adds, "I'd rather not be given any gifts or--or cause any ruction, mind." Once was more than enough.

[brink]

RIGHT, right, he had questions, didn't he.

"I only want information," he assures her. "I can walk the mortal plane of this world, but it is dangerous to gain too much attention. Therefore I seek people out in this realm, so I can better protect those who have fallen from their worlds to end up here. How long since you came through the rift?"

Yeah, he's having fun.

[wildmage_daine]

It's a relief to hear that he just wants to talk, though she's surprised to hear that he can visit the mortal plane. Gainel can't, which is partly why he visits mortal dreams in the first place--and also why he's not particularly known for protecting folk. She's not sure she wants a strange god's protection.

Strange as Morpheus might be, she can't think of any reason to lie to him. "A couple weeks."

[brink]

"Have you sought the protection of anyone while you're here?" he asks.

After he claimed to be Morpheus, his ranger outfit has grown darker, ending up black and blue as the night, his hooded cloak longer and more flowing. If she looked hard, she could see the universe inside his cloak. After all, why do it if you're not gonna do it properly? His face remains hidden, however, and his voice unfamiliar and different from his own.

[wildmage_daine]

She's suitably impressed, Topher--or she would be, if she didn't expect as much from a god.

"'Sought'?" Daine repeats thoughtfully. "No. They just found me."

[brink]

Just don't expect him to be at all impressive in real life. Except impressively nerdy and incomprehensible.

"The rebels or Romac?" he asks. If she was found by them, Topher would have an easier time finding her if he needs to.

[wildmage_daine]

If he does seek her out in reality for some reason, he'll probably find her a good deal less cooperative with him than she would be with Morpheus, though she's beginning to frown a little at the presumed god, now. He has an awful lot of questions. In her experience, it's getting information from gods that can be a challenge; giving them information is rarely necessary, what with them being gods and all.

"Not Romac," she says emphatically, her expression undoubtedly showing just how unappealing--and a bit frightening--she finds that prospect to be.