open 🔸 missing

[noblegarnet]

Who: Ferran & dreamwalkers
Which: Interactive dream
What: A space that could not feel emptier. A family lived here once.
Warnings: discussion of injury and death?? idk

[The smell of ash, scorched metal and melted plastic lingers in the cool air, even though the fire that decimated the once two-story home has long since ceased. The light that filters past the overcast sky sets the blackened wreck in a dreary but clear light, making obvious the fact that the rest of the well-to-do neighborhood was left untouched.

A 17 year old with short brown hair stands at the end of the driveway, his right arm in a sling and his face the picture of grief. Behind him, leaning against the sedan that brought them both there, stands a tall, older man with striking eyes, his arms folded and expression tinted with mild concern.]

You're certain you want to be here?

[The teen pulls his eyes away from the house, finding a familiar crack to stare at on the sidewalk as he sniffs, then wipes his nose with the back of his uninjured hand and tries to steady his voice.]

I had to see it. If there's anything... [His gaze returns to the building.]

Don't strain yourself.

[With a faint nod, Ferran steps towards the ruins of his home, a determination in his posture despite his clear lack of energy. The man by the car doesn't seem intent on helping or approaching, but maybe another soul who might have found themselves in the dream would find it odd that an injured boy is digging in the collapsed mess of material left from an apparent arson.]

Comments

[locumstudentesquire]

[When Ryunosuke's consciousness touches the dream, he 'wakes up' to find himself buried in ash and soot.

Aside from generic confusion about his circumstances, the first thought he properly registers is that... He doesn't feel like himself here. And not just in a physical sense; in some ineffable way that he can't quite explain, he only feels like half of him is present at the moment. His personality intact, vague impressions of memories are there, but his identity... It's stripped down to the most basic components. Weirder yet? Knowing this doesn't distress him.

The second thought he registers, is that he's cold. So cold. He would just stay where he is, curled up in a shivering ball under this thick blanket of ash, except that the sound of something very large rummaging about nearby catches his attention, making him stir.

That's when a large eyed salamander comes squirming out of the wreckage, very close to where Ferran is digging. Its body glows dimly, like dying coals, and it appraises him with some vague sense of familiarity blinking its bulbous eyes at him.]

...What are you looking for?

[lethechained]

[ Bad dreams seem to abound, recently.

Naminé's tendency to drift into them - sometimes by choice, sometimes by accident - has proven itself once again. The sight of what remains of a home (she only knows it to be such after a broad glance around informs her of similar buildings nearby) casts a somber tone over the experience even before she realizes who, exactly, has dreamed it up.

And when does catch sight of Ferran, it's not only him she sees.

In the interest of prudence, Naminé elects not to announce her presence. Not right away, at least, and not in front of his guardian. Instead, she waits, tucked in the shadow of a charred beam - one she's selected carefully to block any view of her from the street and the car waiting nearby. She'd be easy to mistake for a ghost as she stands silent vigil in her pale dress, lurking in the darkness and yet so bright amongst it that she won't be hard to spot from the right part of the ruins, once Ferran reaches it. (If he reaches it.)

It seems kinder to offer her condolences than to depart without a word, after all, even if she might not be sure how well they'll be received. ]

....

[empyreancatastrophe]

[Unfortunate as it is, Joshua is used to the sight of ash. The feeling of it. The way the powder is equal parts gritty and fine. The memory of its previous life kept alive only by the weak scent of whatever it once was, before indiscriminate fire consumed it.]

[He can smell the remnants of wood. That's the most familiar in the midst of strange, acrid odors wafting from the burnt out husk of a house.]

[Joshua steps forward and into the mangled skeleton, deliberate and slow with his steps, as if toeing his way through a graveyard. There are memories here, newly lost.]

[And if the voices are anything to go by, newly found, as well.]

[He hones in on the boy, announcing his approach with a reverent, gentle tone while keeping a respectful distance.]

I'm sorry for your loss.

[updrafting]

[Dreamwalking isn't something Revali has spent much time working on in his time here. In fact, he finds the idea of it more than a bit invasive. Not entirely out of concern for other people's privacy, of course; more because he doesn't want his own thoughts invaded in that way.

Unfortunately, things don't tend to work out the way he might like, and it takes Revali a moment or two before he's aware of what must have happened. There isn't a single familiar sight in this alien dreamscape. Rows of similar looking homes and metal vehicles that look nothing like home or Songerein. The only familiar thing, unfortunately, is the smell of smoke hanging in the air.

After gawking at the strange surroundings, his attention turns toward the human digging in the remains of what he can only assume looked similar to the other buildings here. Comfort isn't Revali's strong point, and he wouldn't know where to begin even offering it if it were; in a case like this, it would probably feel hollow and barely help anyway.]

Digging around in there will only make it hurt worse.