SLEEPING BEAUTIES: DREAM LOG

[yourkeepers]

Bewitched by the thorn's touch, you have been ensnared in the deepest of sleep. Fortunately for you, the world of Faerie doesn't end with the waking.

The world of your dreams is brighter now, more clear than you've ever witnessed it. You've been it before, you think, there fragments of yourself become reality. But now you are somehow more lucid in its presence, and it's more real - something you can reach out and touch.

You find yourself in this world, and you are not alone. Your dreams and those of other join at the edges, pulling into each other along similar threads.

And you are watched by something even greater.

Comments

whoops sorry

[vinetattoos]

"Any music is better than screams. Let's go." He accepts the nudge and begins to walk, trying not to see his surroundings. Anywhere not here. It isn't real. It's a dream.
But anywhere not here.

"Huǒ? I think we met in the gardens, soon after I woke up. I.... I don't have a name either, I guess."

Re: whoops sorry

[manelesscatking]

"All there really is to finding a name is to think of something that describes you the way that a friend would," they say, raising an eyebrow to Tongues to see if she's coming or, better yet, leading the way. "Actually, it's best if a friend names you. I wasn't the first one to call me Huǒ. As long as you have something better than what Mason called you," they chuckle, violet eyes twinkling as they dance over the boy.

[fuzzyduck]

She can't say the name "Tongues" doesn't rub her the wrong way. What she actually says in response to it, though, is nothing, choosing instead to squint at Huǒ, disgruntled.

"Your name can be Vines," she says to the boy as she steps ahead and walks in the general direction she remembers coming from. "Almost sounds like a real name."

[vinetattoos]

"For now, at least," he accepts. He's not fond of the idea of being called "Vines", but it's better than "veggie boy" or something similar.

Vines walks alongside Huǒ, following the girl and trying to focus on anything except the surroundings. "Speaking of vines... did they get you too? Is that why this is happening?"

[manelesscatking]

"Yeah," Huǒ grunts, "I was enough of a fool to barricade myself in the hearth room with no exits. I dropped sometime in the late afternoon, I think."

"It wasn't too bad, looking back." The page glances briefly at their companions. "I...think I learned some things from this dream nonsense, at least."

[vinetattoos]

The garden opens his mouth to comment that that's impossible, but closes it again - if this is a dream, then the passage of time wouldn't have to make sense. "They got me in the gardens this morning," he admits. "And by 'me' I mean they started growing through my garden. Though I imagine they got to my skin soon enough after that."

"Learned some things?" All the garden boy has learned is that fear is a difficult beast to control, even when you know you're in a dream.

[manelesscatking]

"Ouch." The page winces jovially.

Their expression drops. "I, uh...I dreamed my childhood. And it didn't look like a boy's childhood, but it did look like mine. And it felt right, if not totally perfect. I think I'm not a boy - not totally, at least. Maybe I just need to figure out what 'being a boy' or 'being a girl' really means."

Huǒ's expression has gotten more and more nervous throughout this speech. They attempt a deflection: "Speaking of girls, how did you get snagged, miss?"

i. i still need more less hostile icons

[fuzzyduck]

She listens to the two as she leads the way, unsure if they can really get back to her dream from here.

Vines is a garden, huh? He could easily be responsible for, well, the vines. But if that's true, then he's faking it well. And it may just be a little too rude to accuse him right now, even for her.

Boy, it must be nice to remember something useful, she thinks to herself when Huǒ starts speaking. Then they go on, and she's not so sure if she should be calling them lucky anymore. She isn't even sure what they're talking about - certainly doesn't sound like anything she's ever put much thought into, herself. Not quite that way.

The deflection is welcome.

"Well, I was inside..." And then she ran outside. To the gardens. Why the hell did she do that? The deflection is no longer so welcome. "... And, uh, then it's all kind of a blur, y'know?"

[vinetattoos]

Not a boy, but not a girl either? The garden turns over the page's words in his head, while he continues with the conversation.

"It looked like they were headin' for the house pretty quick - and if they made it to the hearth room, seems like they succeeded pretty well. I just wanna know who was behind 'em...." he comments, brow furrowing. He's not used to plants not listening when he asks a question or gives a command.

[manelesscatking]

"I heard some shouting from Mason shortly before I went under - does the house have that kind of power?" Huǒ furrows their brow as well. "At any rate, it might be nice to poke around in the gardens once the plants have had a chance to deteriorate."

[fuzzyduck]

Tongues - argh, what an embarrassing name - isn't certain if she understands the logic behind the possibility that a house may be able to control vines. But maybe she should forget logic, too.

On that note, there is a clear, bright set of stairs leading up to the sky, just ahead of them. The image almost rings a bell, but knowing her luck, she's probably just about to remember more Smash Mouth. Hell no, she's keeping her mind away from music right now.

"'Kay, I'm pretty sure this is the way back to my dream."

[vinetattoos]

"Good. Let's get out of here," he says with relief, and begins to climb the stairs. As soon as he sets foot on them, the sky is clearer, less scorched. He begins to breathe easier.