songerein | second dream 🌱 happy birthday, zelda

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second dream 🌱 happy birthday, zelda

Who: Zelda and OPEN
Which: Open, Interactive dream (with some passive dream at the start)
Where: A dreamscape in Hyrule Field at nighttime
What: Zelda's birthday is also the day her kingdom was destroyed and she's having a bad dream about everything she lost
Warnings: Mentions of character death, description of funeral

In the dead of night, a soft blue glow lights up the dream lanterns.

The dream begins in darkness. The only audible sound is a few voices raised in song, more or less in key.

Happy birthday to you,
The darkness is pushed away by the light of six tiny flames---candles set atop a grand cake, stacked with fruit and cream. A little girl, recognizable as Zelda, stands on a stool in front of the cake, her expression bright with joy. Surrounding her are familiar faces from Zelda's previous dream, the Queen of Hyrule and Urbosa, and many unfamiliar ones. Beside the Queen is a tall, broad man, helping her to stay standing by wrapping a steadying arm around her waist. Time has not been kind to Rhoam, Zelda's father and the King of Hyrule: his hair and beard have long since turned white as snow, and his face is deeply lined from the stress of the crown. Beyond Zelda's parents are those of her nurse, tutors, and other caretakers close to her. For the young princess, this is an intimate, low-key birthday celebration.

Happy birthday to you,
Though the song continues, the people in the dream stop ceasing. Their mouths move silently, encouraging the princess to make a wish and blow out the candles on her cake. Zelda looks eagerly between her parents and caretakers, wondering what to wish for. Thoughts of books and toys flicker at the peripheries of the dream, vanishing before the dreamer can turn to look at them. Ultimately, they are all replaced by images of the Queen of Hyrule, looking stronger and healthier than she has looked in either of Zelda's dreams thusfar. With image in mind, Zelda blows out the candles and darkness closes in again.

Happy birthday, dear Zelda,
Sunshine pushes the darkness away, but there is nothing pleasant about the scene it reveals. Sunlight streams in through the windows of the Temple of Time. Every pew is full to bursting with people, while others stand in the nave and aisles wherever they can find room. Outside the temple, the square is packed with even more people. It seems like the entire kingdom has turned out for the Queen of Hyrule's funeral.

Upon the altar, beneath the sightless gaze of the statue of the Goddess, the Queen lies in state inside a glass coffin. The Queen is garbed in her most regal gown, with another gown underneath to hide her emaciated form. Her face is painted heavily with makeup, giving her a healthy flesh tone that has been missing for more than a year. White flowers fill every available space in the coffin, further hiding evidence of the illness that ultimately claimed the Queen's life.

The high priest stands at the dais, mouth moving wordlessly as he gives a eulogy for the late Queen. In the first pew, Zelda sits stone-faced beside her father. Though only a few months have passed between her sixth birthday and today, the little princess looks very different. She is the picture of composure throughout the funeral, never shedding a single tear.

Sunlight fades from the temple windows and darkness creeps in once more.

Happy birthday to you...
The song fades into silence. This time, there is no source of light to push away the darkness. Instead, a low, reverberant roar is the first thing to be heard. The color glowing on the lanterns changes from blue to magenta and it pulls the watcher directly into the dreamscape.

The watcher is pulled onto a grassy field overlooking Hyrule Castle. Although it is the dead of night, the castle is clearly visible, lit with an unnatural magenta glow. The sky is empty of clouds, except for the ones swirling around the castle. They circle the castle at a languid pace that belies their maleficent nature. Every so often, the clouds coalesce into a beastly shape with glowing eyes that roars in fury and agony, as though trapped in orbit by the castle's gravity.

Nearby, a fully-grown Zelda, dressed in her stained ritual clothes, is kneeling in prayer before little stone statue of the Goddess. The statue stands beneath a tree with purple leaves and purple lichen climbing over exposed roots and up its trunk. Zelda's eyes are closed and she mumbles inaudible words to the statue as she prays. She's been inside the dreamscape for awhile now and hasn't noticed that she has company.

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It is at last, through the visions the dream itself presents, that the name of the kingdom is revealed to him. Hyrule, and from the a brief view of the castle and plainsland before the blight storms forth, it is everything that she had describes to him before: a region of wild and flowering greens, speckled with broadleaf trees; a land blessed with nature's fertility.

That its majesty is stifled within mere moments of a creature's awakening would be harrowing for anyone to watch, to say nothing of experiencing it. Before the cataclysm can play out completely, darkness mercifully enshrouds all, taking the dream elsewhere.

Now she prays beneath the protective boughs of a flowering tree. With such a mournful color and long branches, its petals appear to be weeping peacefully about her. He stands at a respectful distance, still in his towering, armored form, and makes no move to interrupt.

It is like this that he waits as she prays. It would not do well to disturb her concentration or her grief, but when it seems that she has finished her prayer at last, he speaks.

"Hail, Princess."

Zelda winces every time she hears the monster roar, squeezing her clasped hands together a little tighter and stumbling over the words of her prayer. She tries to block out the sound and focus on her recitation, but her thoughts are scattered and fear eventually drowns it out. Because the dreamscape is her mind, her thoughts are privy to anyone. The very wind itself gives them voice, rustling through the weeping tree.

'If you had just tried a little harder, you could have prevented this,' it says in a voice imperceptible as male of female. 'You were so close, weren't you?'

"All the time in the world would not have been enough," she says to the statue of the Goddess, eyes still closed. "I was never going to make it."

The beast roars. Zelda flinches. The wind abruptly picks up, tousling the boughs of the tree. 'A few more hours in the Spring of Wisdom was all you needed. You were so very close that time. If only you hadn't given up again.'

"You aren't listening to me." Zelda opens her eyes and fixes the stone statue of the Goddess with a seething stare. "You never listen to me. That was the problem from the outset: you refused to hear my voice until it was too late. It wasn't a matter of time. This is what you wanted."

The little statue doesn't react, but neither does the wind. The gusts stop as quickly as they started, dropping tangled tree boughs and purple petal-leaves to the ground. Zelda stays on her knees for a minute, waiting to see if the Voice of the Goddess---the stubborn half of her mind still calculating what she should have done differently---has any additional retorts.

"I wish that you would let me sleep in peace," she says to the silent statue as she stands up. Tonight, of all nights, the princess would have liked a break from the guilt and regret that play over and over in her mind late at night when she has no distractions to stifle them.

It is then, like the answer to a prayer she didn't realize she said, that she hears a voice not (one of) her own. Zelda turns in surprise to see Somnus, as much the towering armored figure as ever.

"Si-Somnus." She stumbles between two different manners of address. (She's accustomed to thinking of him as 'Sir Knight,' but he gave her his name in his letter to her.) Surprise turns quickly into a frown as she realizes what his presence means. "My apologies. I see that my dream has disturbed your rest."

No one in this realm can control if and when their dreams leak to others, and so his hand raises and lowers, a motion that waves the unnecessary apology away.

Somnus then turns to his gaze from her to the stone statue of the winged goddess, where it does nothing more than remain inert as the earth itself, her stone visage worn with the ages. This is to whom she prays in frustration, and it is obvious that scenario this dream present causes her distress. If no action is taken, a nightmare may ensue.

He turns his helm back to her.

"This realm is yours. What do you wish to do?"

Somnus's assessment of the situation is correct. The threat of a nightmare looms on the horizon, right in plain view. Unbeknownst to Zelda, Calamity Ganon is not a mere manifestation of her deep-seated fears and guilt, but a small Noctaere. Attracted by the princess's stressful emotions as she laid down to sleep on the eve of her birthday, the Noctaere is practically feasting on the miserable dream Zelda has been having all on her own. Since her unhappy emotions have not abated, the Noctaere is not currently concerned by the presence of a dreamwalker; it is presently content to remain in the form of Calamity Ganon, swirling around the castle and growling threateningly. Should its meal be threatened, though, this may change.

Privy to none of this, Zelda's attention is on Somnus. Lines of worry divide her brows as she ponders his words.

"'What do I wish to do?'" she repeats, gazing up at him as though she might glean the slightest hint from his expressionless helm. What sort of answer is he looking for? This is hardly the first time Zelda has asked this question in in her mind regarding Somnus. Really, there are dozens of things she wishes she could be doing right now instead of having this dream about her past birthdays. But one thought sticks in her mind.

"I wish I were able to save them." The princess waves an arm in the direction of Calamity Ganon and Hyrule Castle. It's a gesture meant to represent all of Hyrule. "I wish I were able to go back in time to this day and stop this from ever happening."

((ooc; Sorry about the slowness of these tags! I've been struggling to find the direction I wanted to take these dream threads in.))

They are both well aware that this is a dream, and as a dream, it is a landscape that the owner of the dream may cultivate, should the will be there. Somnus watches her silently as she answers.

The vessel of the Goddess wishes to go back in time and undo all of the calamity that's befallen her kingdom. None who are mortal-born and mortal-dead have the right to question the divine. Timelines are playthings to them; whatever consequences result from altering them matter little to them.

"In this realm, you may realize your wish."

He takes one step in the direction of the castle, pointing a shoulder at her. Determination is an emotion that may effect a dream. He looks to her for any ripples of it. "Let us engage the Calamity."

A cold fear shoots down her spine at his suggestion and, as if in response, Calamity Ganon lets out a mighty roar. An icy gust of wind tears through the weeping tree.

'You know it to be impossible. Even when all was in your favor, you failed. How are you to succeed with but a single knight at your side.'

The wind speaks Zelda's instinctive fears before the princess can respond. How can just she and Somnus hope to triumph over Calamity Ganon when the strength of all five Champions and the entire might of Hyrule was not enough?

But this isn't Hyrule. This is a memory, a dream. However much it may feel like Hyrule (and it feels very much like Hyrule), this is a dreamscape like any other. Zelda is well versed in dreamscapes by now, from her months in Songerein. Even though her skill with the world's dreamotion magic is still lacking, she's not as powerless as she thinks. Hasn't she made the Calamity's own Malice obey her will by now? Is there any reason she cannot do so again?

"Yes." Zelda nods to Somnus, her expression set with conviction. The wind dies down, allowing the branches of the tree to still. A ripple runs over them as hundreds of tiny green buds suddenly sprout. "Please lend me your aid to save my kingdom."

Either they allow this nightmare to pass as it wills, remaining stagnant in fear, or they make a stand. The outcome may not be known, but the choice is obvious. As the tempered wind flows through the spring then stills, and new foliage sprouts to life, decorating the area around them, Somnus motionlessly summons five phantasmal, white blades, and allows them to hover in the air behind him. It seems her resolve is exactly for what he had been waiting.

"On your name day, Lucis will led you its aide."

One of the sabers moves from its spot, flipping over his shoulder and slowly lowering in front of her, handle-height, and adjusting its size for her use. "Should you need a blade, it is yours."

If not, it will return to hover behind him.

Zelda is awestruck as the white blades suddenly appear from nothingness and hover behind Somnus. Despite the dead of night and the moonless sky, the blades seem to glow with their own innate light. There's a certain almost ethereal beauty about them, a beauty that Zelda doesn't typically notice in swords.

Her awe is not lessened as one of the blades slides seamlessly through the air to hover in front of her. She extends her right hand out to it, then stops for a second, hesitant.

'Even a blade as great as this is no weapon in a novice's hand.'

The wind gives voice to her doubts, but she ignores its words and reaches out the last few inches to wrap her fingers around the hilt. The princess expects the weight of the sword to suddenly drag her arm to the ground, but it's so light that she ends up jerking it upward as she overcorrects for the anticipated weight. Zelda stumbles forward a step, but manages to keep the blade aloft.

"My thanks to you, Lucis," she says to the sword, presuming 'Lucis' to be the blade's name. The princess half-expects to hear its own voice respond, tickling the back of her mind, as she once heard the Master Sword.

Edited 2022-01-18 22:27 (UTC)

The light of the blade pulses without a sound. It is cool to the touch, and the energy it carries is excitable and buzzing, barely restrained, and the fine vibrations of which may cause bones to tremble against the decorated surface of its handle. There is something dangerous about the light behind it, but whether he has put a governor on its power or not, he does not tell her. What matters is its usefulness: heavy for its phantom form, it promises to strike with all the weight of a truck.

"The plains await. Let us take you there."

Metal clicks into place as he crouches, extending a hand. Seeing as they have no mount, it seems he means to carry her to battle.

Though it does not answer her in the manner she half-expected/half-hoped-for, Zelda senses a wellspring of energy that runs deep, deeper than she can perceive. Its power buzzes strongly enough she can feel running through her body like an electric current, but not enough to make it painful to grip the hilt.

Zelda hesitates momentarily as Somnus crouches beside her and extends a hand. His intention is unmistakable, yet she feels it would be presumptuous to accept without at least offering to walk. Their pace would be slower, yes, but he is a knight, not a beast of burden.

A breeze picks up, wafting through Zelda's loose hair. She quickly silences her misgivings and climbs onto his palm before the wind can give voice to her misgivings. Zelda has had quite enough of her private thoughts being aired publicly like this! She sits down, hooking her left arm around his index finger while holding the sword in her right hand.

"M-My thanks."

He is no champion of her world, but in this dream-realm, it does not matter. Once she is secure in a carry, he begins with a strong leap up the valley, aided by the mysterious forces of the dream, and clears the steeper slopes to begin a charge down the windward side. They make it to the green basin of the kingdom within minutes, the plains already charred from where their enemy has begun its havoc.

There they encounter the beast, whose roar quakes the ground once it sees them.

Somnus does not falter, and his phantom blades remain at the ready. He urges the same. "No mercy unto behemoths."

He sets her down. Whenever she is prepared to attack, he will do the same.

Zelda is silent through the brief journey to the castle, trying to keep hold of her courage to face a foe she feels woefully unequipped to fight. Doubt eats at the corners of her mind and the wind whips harshly against her, but the buzzing power within her phantom blade helps to keep her grounded. This world is a dream of her own making, no matter how real it feels, and she has complete power over it. She just has to believe in that with all her heart.

When they come to a stop in the ruins of Castletown, the dark nighttime sky has turned red, glowing with the light of the Blood Moon as it rises up from behind the castle. Zelda carefully climbs out of Somnus's hand, gripping the hilt of her borrowed blade in both hands. Her home, broken and charred almost beyond recognition, looms before her. Monsters and Guardians of all shapes and sizes swarm about the wreckage of the city.

'A princess who could not awaken her sealing power can never hope to defeat the Calamity itself.'

"I can," she insists, though her body trembles as the ground quakes beneath her feet. "I must."

Zelda removes her hands from the blade's hilt. Instead of falling to the ground, it hovers before her, much like it did before at Somnus's command. The princess finds herself able to emulate his technique with unexpected ease.

"Cut a path to the palace," she instructs Somnus. "I will follow close behind and support you with my magic."

If nothing else, this is an exercise in wielding dreamotion energy, one upon which he will capitalize. While the realm isn't borne of his mind or memories, he can cultivate his own power to assist him with forging his weapons of light in lieu of his true powers.

Following her instruction, he storms forth, brandishing his many blades at a distance against any enemy that stands in their path. Somnus' movements carry a weight that stops at nothing, precise and powerful, and his momentum crescendos with each subsequent attack. This man has seen many battles, and it shows in the slaughter of his enemies. If fighting is a dance, his partner wears the life crimson of their opponents.

Of course, he is not one to abandon whoever fights with him, and he's mindful to look towards her either for instruction of where to head next or to assess her wellbeing.

Zelda keeps a safe distance from Somnus and his blades, giving him a wide enough space to fight without worrying if he will catch her in the crossfire. She has no direct experience in battle, but she has had countless opportunities in the past to see knights sparring. Zelda understand how wide of a berth to give him, including accounting for his larger-than-human stature.

Somnus is as skilled in battle as Zelda expected---far moreso, truth be told. Not a single foe can slip past his advance to attack the princess he is protect. It affords her a moment to be captivated by his movements. Where she would have expected ten feet of solid plate armor to be slow and bulky, Somnus seems uninhibited by the armor. It's almost beautiful in a way Zelda has never considered about swordplay.

But she doesn't give these idle thoughts more attention than they deserve right now. With no enemies to threaten her, Zelda is able focus on her magic. She stands still, turning her sense inward to block out the din of battle. Her blade hovers idly before her as she clasps her hands in prayer, prepared to strike any threat that might come within range. Deep within herself, Zelda finds the core of her magic. It's quiet, her magic, nestled so deep within the princess that it's no wonder it took her ten years to reach it. Quiet, but strong. She reaches for it and phantom fingertips connect with the cool, steady light of her divine magic. It's a completely different sensation from the dreamotion she managed to summon with Kor in Whoville just a few days ago; where her dreamotion was warm and golden like sunlight, her sealing power is solid and blinding in its radiance.

Power snakes through her nerves like electricity, so strong and so intense that her entire body begins to glow with its holy aura. This is the power she used to seal Calamity Ganon all those years ago, the power that has locked it into a cocoon with her for decades. This is the power she can use to defeat it.

"Ganon is probably within the throne room," Zelda says. Though she's far out of earshot, Somnus can hear her words clearly. "It is located at the top of the central keep of the castle. There are two gatehouses up ahead that allow passage through the inner walls around the castle. When we pass through them, we will arrive at the main entrance to the central keep."

He is aware she stays behind at a safe, but easy-to-defend distance, so the clarity of her voice causes his helm to raise. In a break between the charge of beasts and automated enemies between them and their path, he is able to watch her. There she stands, radiant as the sun. The light which surrounds her seems almost solidified.

One would expect no less from someone of divine blood. Perhaps it is curious, then, that when she is channeling such might, he gives her a wider berth.

Somnus turns and heads through the first gatehouse, charging against whatever enemy he may encounter. The same goes for the next. These creatures within the castle walls are merely vermin, ones he can dispatch with ease. It will be the final one they meet that she must face with him taking the role of support. He remains her sword until then, and when they finally reach the keep, he stops and dismisses his arsenal.

He turns partly from her, stepping to the side for her to lead. "Are you prepared?"

[ Ori has been looking on in the dream with a bittersweet smile and sympathy for her Zelda, her friend. It starts out as such a comforting, fond sort of dream, and though Ori has not felt the warmth of family in a very very long time, the scene makes her smile. Then, at once, she's swept away into a sadder sight, until ultimately she finds herself next to her friend, looking on as a shroud of darkness swirls around her friend's old home. An unsettling view, to say the least, and she's an outsider looking in.

It is with great care and a gentleness about her that Oriphi finally approaches Zelda as she's praying. ]

Zelda...?

[ Zelda doesn't initially sense Ori's presence as she enters the dreamscape, but the dream itself does. Dark violet flowers sprout up through the grass at Ori's feet as the princess's subconscious recognizes her friend. The little buds bloom in the span of seconds to show Ori their eager faces. As Ori approaches Zelda, the flowers follow; new buds sprout around her as she walks, while other blooms wilt and die as she moves away from them.

When Ori is within arm's reach of Zelda, the wind whistles through the boughs of the flowering tree. It almost sounds like it carries a voice, but the words are inaudible.

And yet, Zelda startles, jostled from her prayer milliseconds before Ori speaks. She looks up at Ori, still on her knees before the little goddess statue. Several expressions flit across her face as Zelda examines Ori's features: confusion and recognition flip back and forth as Zelda struggles against the emersion of her nightmare. ]

'Oriphi.' [ It's the wind that speaks, in a voice imperceptible as male or female. ]

[ Ori notices the flowers blooming with her every step, but she sees that they wilt, too, and a pang of pain arises in her heart for her friend. Her sympathetic expression remains unmoved, patient even as several different emotions seem to flit across Zelda's face.

She knows that this is a nightmare, and that she must help Zelda realize this in order for the young woman to wake up from it. But she doesn't want to do so in a way that's too sudden or jarring, or painful. So she kneels down next to Zelda in the grass and faces the statue before them. ]

I'd like to pay my respects, too. Will you show me how?

[ The patience and care with which Ori approaches Zelda in the nightmare will be key. Despite the fact that over 40 years have passed since this day, the trauma is still very fresh for Zelda. Before 'awakening' in Songerein, the princess spent those decades locked inside a gruesome cocoon with the very beast that circles the castle on the horizon, existing in a state of semi-sleep that she doesn't clearly remember. Emotionally, only a few months have passed since this event, the Calamity.

Because of this, Zelda is easily locked into the illusion of the nightmare that she is living the Calamity all over again. The roaring monster taking the shape of Calamity Ganon is actually a small Noctaere, tormenting the princess so it can feed on her stress. The wind carries Zelda's inner voice, and with it, the turmoil of a psyche constantly pulled back and forth between the Noctaere's influence and reality.

Privy to none of this, Zelda scoots over slightly on her knees so that Ori has enough space to face the Goddess statue. She nods her agreement to teach Ori how to pray. ]

Hold your hands together like this. [ Zelda clasps hands together, right over left. ]

Then call on Her to make sure She is listening for your voice. I suppose there are many different ways to do so. Each race tends to have slightly different traditions. [ Zelda glances at Ori, gaze flicking up and down her familiar-but-unfamiliar appearance. ] I'm afraid I'm not familiar with your race's traditions, but the Hylian address will probably serve: "White Goddess, hallowed Mother of Hyrule, hear my voice, the voice of Your child. Grant me Your ear and Your aid."

[ She can sense that inner turmoil, that back and forth pull in the wind, and it makes her heart ache for her friend. Ori has grown rather fond of Zelda in the time that they've known each other, and she wants to help her navigate this without making the nightmare any worse than it already must be for her younger friend.

And so dutifully, she follows instruction, clasping her hands together as she's told, and giving a reassuring smile even as Zelda appraises her with some confusion. Then she turns her gaze back towards the Goddess statue before them and quietly commits Zelda's words to memory before closing her eyes and reciting it in kind with great care and trepidation, lest she get the words wrong: ]

White Goddess, hallowed Mother of Hyrule, hear my voice, the voice of Your child. Grant me Your ear and Your aid.

[ And as she prays, Ori thinks about her friendship with Zelda and her desire to help, now. ]

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second dream 🌱 happy birthday, zelda

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