Once upon a dream... (4th Wall Event/TDM Combo platter)

[missrecalled_mods]

[((OOC note: This fourth wall is open to any character who would be game legal. If a character who posted here reserves or apps in September, these threads can be considered game canon as long as all involved agree. If a character doesn't app, for those in game already... wow that was a weird dream. Wait, what did you dream about again?))]


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For Jordan, still comatose after the magical mishap that had resulted in the first Misrecalled being summoned, it began with a dream. A dream so strong, that it had her stirring fitfully even in her current state; and eventually caused her to release an uncontrolled burst of magic.

For everyone else, unaware of what was coming, it began with falling asleep. Whether or not someone was tired before hand, whether they even could sleep, they simply fell asleep - or a reasonable facsimile - wherever they happened to be. Maybe they remembered falling asleep, maybe they didn't. But either way they suddenly found themselves in... a very strange place.

First all there was that they could see was a vast featureless plain in shining gold and silken draperies. But that was only a glimpse, for just by existing in this space, each dreamer warps it. Changes it. Not all at once, but bits, constantly changing between them and whomever they encounter. Each person brings with them bits of three places... where they had been last, a familiar place from memory, and whatever place they call home. But this is constantly changing and shifting, more so the more dreamers are present in any space. Before long, Bits of different landscapes, different environments, even different weather conditions will cover the landscape like some crazy patchwork quilt. Here a bit of a sunny, idyllic garden, there a section of shadowy, graffiti covered slum. To one side, a chunk of charming cobblestone streets under sunset tinged skies, to the other, a forest of towering trees, some of which seem to be moving. And glimpsed through the gaps between some of the odd terrain sections, some remainder of the poorly defined golden space, hung with colorful draperies could still be seen.

And the ground itself was not immune to the changes. While the ground on which they stood might seem stable enough, if someone walked more than a few paces in any direction, that could change. Solid ground could become shifting sand. Or water. Or a wall might suddenly appear to block their path. Doors might lead to places they definitely shouldn't or open to the edge of a sheer cliff. And if the complete lack of logic to the landscape wasn't enough of an indication that this was some sort of dream, then the unreadable signs would clinch it. Because any signs - or indeed, anything with writing on it that they didn't have on their person when they arrived - was covered with nothing but unreadable gibberish.

And it got even more surreal when a dreamer spotted anyone else in the dreamspace, or even looked at their own reflection - for each person appears in the dream in whatever way they see themselves. So someone with low self confidence might be short, someone with a huge ego might tower. If someone sees themselves as a horrible criminal who needs to repent, they might be in prison togs. If the change is dramatic enough people who know each other well might still fail to recognize each other within the dreaming.

Now normally such a bizarre dream might have been put down to stress, a meal that disagreed with them, or maybe indulging in some sort of illicit substance, but this clearly was no ordinary dream, if for no other reason than that in this dream, they weren't alone. The other people they encounter are not just figments of their imagination, and they too change the shared dream space.

Those already either on the Isle or in the kingdom of Auradon proper would find themselves all thrown together in the bizarre dreamworld. And that would have been strange enough. But more than the current populations of Auradon and the Isle could be found in this place. Maybe the faces where familiar. Maybe they weren't. But they definitely hadn't turned up in the physical world that was home to Ben and Mal. Yet anyway.

Given the extremely variable geography, exploring the area might be dangerous. At least as dangerous as anything in a dream could be. But investigating might help them find a way back to the physical world faster, for those who realize they are dreaming. Or they could just stand around and talk or complain about the latest bit of magical weirdness to happen to them and hope they woke up soon. Or they could go with it and enjoy the weird. It was their dream, after all. They could pretty much do what they liked. Or at least try to. Either way, they seemed stuck there for the present, for better or worse.

Comments

[souls_of_roles]

"Moko is here? Where?"

[aquawayfinder]

She pulled him into a tight hug either. "I'm not sure either. But we can hope. And trust in the connections between our hearts. In the end, we alway find each other. Aways will."

[elvendryad]

He paused at that, and turned to look back to her again. "Whose is it?"

"You should come join the party," came a voice from the castle... sort of. It was someone standing between Chell and the door, closer to the door... but he hadn't stepped out of it while they weren't looking, had he? It had happened too quickly, and there hadn't been any sound of it, or time for it... but the door was standing open now, the hallway lit up behind him. It certainly looked like the same blond elf that the trees had just shown them, down to him holding the same clearly-magic staff... but he was dressed slightly differently. It looked as though he'd simply changed his clothes... but why would that have happened? ...Unless he were here now, maybe?

Chell looked back at that, eyes a little wider, not expecting him to be there. Well, this wasn't his doing this time, it was clear....

"You came this far; why not?" He looked between Mal and Chell, addressing them both.

[mal_contented]

"She's proof. And I'm the mistake. I'll see myself out." She shook her head.

[phoenixwiz]

“Follow the open door. Okay, I got it then. I will keep an eye on that as much as I can.”

[phoenixwiz]

“Um actually, the place I have been to and experienced those things is called the Isle of Avalon. That is supposed to the place that King Arthur was sent to recover after a long rough battle. Um speaking of which, what’s an Agrabah?”

[missrecalled_npcs]

"Good then, boy. Good."

[nobodys_puppet]

She shook her head, backing up again.

She wasn't supposed to talk to Somebodies about her missions. Or.. at all.

[phoenixwiz]

“Hey, Miss: you can’t just leave right away. There are no visible exits to be found be and I can’t even find one either. If you try to do it on your own now, it will be harder for all of us to leave this place safely,” Harry tries to tell Xion, noticing that this weird dreamscape doesn’t have any noticeable dream exit doors to be found, “And I haven’t even gotten your name either.”

Is it safe to wrap it up here?

[phoenixwiz]

“Either way, it is very nice to have this meeting with you, Merlin. I really enjoy getting to talk with you personally and have tea with you too. Maybe we can meet again in the waking world and talk some more someday soon.”

[windslept]

Aqua...! But. Right. I still have my thing you made. The Wayfinder.

[Ven doesn't push her away though. He will return the hug after a brief moment where he clicks she is hugging him again. He returns it, his arms around her waist as best he can as she pulls him to her again. Ven is at least used to her, to Terra, ruffling his hair and treating him like a little brother tagging along with them.]

[cheep_soongbird_knockoff]

"It is certainly worth a try." Rren followed Mallia out. They were a bit more solid while following her, not so much in that they actually felt more solid here, but because keeping pace with someone without necessarily looking around involved much less flitting about. They were still curious about what they passed, but that wasn't the full focus.

Would they be able to share with Mallia as she had shared with them? They certainly hoped so, but they wouldn't know for sure until they were out of her home.

[logic_in_unity]

Skisan shook his head, just shy of dismissing the offer. Accepting it with something that might be of use to both of them seemed far more logical. "It was a simple matter to allow you to assist yourself. If you wish to aid, we should seek out the cause of this shared dream space together. I am quite curious what brought us here."

[logic_in_unity]

"While this statement is accurate, it is not in my nature to leave another in distress. Certainly not when I have the tools to assist." What sort of life had she had thus far that this offer had her worried he had ill will?

[jedi_scrapper]

Don't mind the Jedi Knight cracking up despite his best efforts to keep a straight face. "Y'know, I didn't call that," Pretty sure Lea hadn't either. That was possibly the strangest and cutest method of forging a path he'd seen.

Could he pet them? Y'know what, he was going to try. Starting with the bouncing little animal on this side of the strange bridge. He gave it a brief scratch before focusing back on the light.

"But hey, it works. Shall we go check it out?" Not that he was waiting, rushing to test out the light even as he asked. Jumping in without thinking first was a bit of a recurring theme for him. But between the force and luck it hadn't failed him (too seriously) yet.

... BD would be so proud to know he was doing this even without his influence.

[under_the_raptors_wings]

Æn'kae chuckled, shaking his head. "Well, if you want to know something about me, a common greeting roughly translates to 'you see nothing' with a typical reply of 'nothing to see'." Look it technically was more information about him.

[hermesbird]

She felt the weight of her burden lighten somewhat. That he's more than willing to hear her. Time is all she needed and she is glad this dreamscape granted it. Thousands of years ago, she feared sharing the knowledge with him, knowing what knowledge she shares will be seen as a danger to everyone, and that she will be terminated by the council and in their judgement, seen as a failure of a familiar without a spare thought or a fair trial of her thoughts and feelings.

The council is not here. So, it should be safe. "My sisters and I searched far and wide across the universe to find your answer." Keeping her voice steady.

"What we found as a collective. There were very little signs of life, and most stars have no lifeforms at all. There were traces of homes long abandoned but no residents could be found. Some stars have hostile environment unsuitable for life. And then there are some stars where the inhabitants choose the path of war, death, and destruction upon themselves thus ending their own civilization."

[nobodys_puppet]

No visible exits wasn't usually an issue for her. She thrust a hand - the one holding the ice cream - out to the side. She tried to summon a dark corridor. And in the dreamscape a huge black and dark purple glowing swirling vortex appeared. She ran into it and... bounced.

She it the ground, crumpled.

Sounds like a plan. Thank you for the thread.

[missrecalled_npcs]

"We shall see, lad, we shall see!"

[aquawayfinder]

"I'm glad you still have it, Ven. And I know I will always have you. You will always be my wonderful baby brother." She kissed his hair, not letting him free of the hug yet.

[nobodys_puppet]

A long pause as she processed and then she seemed to slump a little. "Oh... you think I'm a Somebody... don't you?" she whispered, and then shook her head. "You... don't have to bother with a broken Nobody like me..."

[professorsong]

"Oh sweetie... you do realize you're only making me more interested, not less, yes?"

[queen_butterfly]

She smiled a bit more as they went; she might have been bringing the two of them outside, but she was happy to take that little trip at whatever pace Rren wanted. There was plenty to see, and she'd have been lying if she tried to claim she didn't want to share it. It was rather the point of her home being as it was, after all.

The evening air was pleasantly cool, the scent of roses faintly everywhere in the courtyard and its bit of garden... and she led out through it, to the forest just beyond.

"These," she said quietly, gesturing to the trees, "are ents."

As they approached, it became more obvious that their little movements weren't simply a matter of the breeze stirring a couple leaves here or there; the ones they were approaching were starting to move of their own accord, pulling their roots up closer to themselves. They shifted, beginning to rearrange themselves, forming a bit more of a path for them, pulling branches aside and everything. Those were the trees she'd mentioned approaching carefully, on account of them having a more empathic nature... which probably explained them parting now, in the dreamscape; she would expect them to be able to figure out that she wanted to leave, so this was how they'd behave for her.

"Were they real... I'd say that this might serve as an introduction enough, honestly."

[logic_in_unity]

Skisan arched an eyebrow upwards. He did not need to context to know there was more weight to her words than might seem on the surface. "I assure you, my offer remains, I did not have to make an offer regardless, I chose to make it and whatever intricacies there are to your origin would have no affect on that choice." While he did not quite smile there was a warmth behind his eyes. "I would introduce myself, if belatedly, I am Skisan."

[elvendryad]

"The more the merrier! Please, we've far more than we could eat ourselves. And we'd love to hear your stories as well...."

"Who are you?" That might have gotten Mal's attention: something in Chell's tone wasn't as relaxed as he'd been so far.

....Not that this elf seemed to pick up on, anyhow. "A winemaker," he said cheerfully. "Co-host of this reunion. Tree-wrangler! Oh, how about--"

"No." The wooden knight took a step backward, away from him. "You're not that brother." He glanced back to Mal. "Something isn't right, here."

"Who else would I be?" He looked more amused -- and confused -- than anything.

The trees stirred again, shifting their roots to stand, readying to move as Chell took another step back....