songerein | ( open ) kiss your perfect day goodbye

Entry tags:

( open ) kiss your perfect day goodbye

Who: Oriphi and anyone!
Which: Interactive dream with open and closed prompts.
Where: Dreamscape
What: A nightmare going from bad to worse to the worst.
Warnings: Some descriptions of injury and violence.

1 ✧ all aboard the bad dream bus ✧ ota

[ The kingdom of Duskvale is bathed in, well - the light of dusk. It feels like a beautiful, bustling city, but it doesn't take longer than a moment to notice that there's something incredibly stifling and wrong and suffocating about the place, and especially so in the version of it that exists within this nightmare of Oriphi's. Though there are people on the streets, every human and elf and half-elf alike carries themselves as though they carry the weight of a thousand men on their shoulders, the burden of silence and isolation. Where there are conversations, words are chosen carefully and warily and voices are low, hushed, secretive.

And the middle of it all is a small tiefling woman. Ori trails behind her friends, almost like she's being slowed down by all the staring and whispering that they garner as they pass through. "What are those people doing here?" "Don't they know what it's like, here?" "The Divine Ruler will deal with them soon enough."

Ori has heard all of this before. She remembers it all clearly, because it feels like it happened yesterday - except, did it? Why does it feel like yesterday and two months ago all at once?

A small child runs up to her, then, tugging on her clothes in question. When Ori stops and glances down at the child, they say:

"Why couldn't you stop her, Oriphi?"]

Wh... How do you know my name?

[ "How could you let this happen? Why couldn't you stop her?" ]

Please, I-I don't... understand...

2 ✧ liar, liar, pants on fire ✧ closed to existing cr

[ In the span of what feels like a mere minute, the kingdom of Duskvale is engulfed in searing, purple flames and in the sky - finally freed from its frozen dusk and gone well into the dark of night - soars a dragon. The crushing atmosphere turns into one of desperation, the weighted gait of the townsfolk turns into running for survival, and the hushed whispers of the townsfolk and passersby have turned into screaming and cries for help.

And there Ori is, still in the middle of it all, and when she turns back around she finds herself facing her friends in various states of injury and unconsciousness. Kneeling and leaning against the weight of his sword, utterly spent, is a half-orc, her ever-brave paladin of a friend, and next to him lays an elven monk, an open gash across his chest as the paladin lays a hand upon the other man in a vain attempt to heal his wounds. Elsewhere is an elven woman with braided dark hair, her quiver emptied of all arrows as she lays slump against whimpering wolven companions - and a cloaked figure wearing a mask which has now split clean in half, revealing a face of alabaster skin, similarly unmoving. And just past them, a white-haired elf wielding a blade made of pure arcane energy, dragging himself to stand with all the energy he has left. And finally - a tall, half-elven man with his long, dark hair loose all around him, clutching his bloodied abdomen and barely sitting upright against the rubble of a broken fountain, barely conscious. ]

This isn't—

[ right. We fought the dragon, and we— ]

I have to help. I can still help. I can save everyone!

[ Except that as she lifts her hands to cast a spell, she's greeted by dead air. The half-elven man gives her a wry smile and with a hoarse voice says, "She destroyed my home, Ori. Why couldn't you stop her?" ]

It's all my fault...

3 ✧ and an obligatory childhood-flavored prompt ✧ ota

[ Ori feels a tug on her clothing and looks down and finds - not the child that had appeared to her in another nightmare - but her younger sister, Valphi, as a child. The young, red-skinned tiefling with white hair clings to Ori.

And though the nightmare had started with her in the streets of Duskvale, in another blink of an eye the surroundings are swept away into the landscape of a small village, and where once there were flames, things are now frozen, encased in ice. When the scenery is finally set once more, Ori appears as a child, herself, ostensibly older than the red tiefling by a few years. And despite being the older sibling, it's now the younger tiefling that seems to be the one in a protective stance.

"Those two girls are nothing but trouble. Look at what the younger one did now!" A villager exclaims, starting a chain of similarly charged remarks from others.

"It might have been an accident, but the truth is that they don't know how to control their magic and it's dangerous to have them around!"

"And where does the older one keep disappearing to in the forest? She always comes back not remembering where she'd been. What is wrong with them? I swear, that old man was foolish to have taken them in..."

Ori rests a hand on her younger sister's shoulder and says, ]

Val... don't. Let's just go. Please? I don't want to be here anymore.

[ But where her sister would have backed down and gone away with Ori, she instead says, in a cacaphonous voice that seems to echo the the voice of a grown woman which is then joined by the voices of several others,

"Why do you keep running away, Ori?"

But it's too late, and the young Ori runs without thinking, crashing into whomever as she tries to run in the direction of the woods nearby. ]

(( ooc: although I wrote the prompts kind of as one continuous nightmare, please feel free to have your character jump in at any point! the prompts are meant to be flexible and the character doesn't have to have seen the whole thing basically. feel free to reach out to me at

camerata if you have any questions or something else you want to plot out with me! ))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[There's that pull again. Tifa's learned not to resist these accidental stumbles, and embraces it easier than she would her own, only to find herself standing in the middle of another new place, in the streets of an icy town, and she hardly has the time to look at her surroundings and take it all in before something—or someone—is crashing into her from behind. The collision is light, but it does send her stumbling forward a step out of surprise, her foot thumping on the ice to root herself.

Turning, she finds a girl who she catches by the arm before she can fall over herself.]

Whoa, careful.

[Her grip is as gentle as her voice as she sets her upright again.]

Are you okay?

[ Ori suddenly finds herself caught by the arm of a woman; she's learned to be wary of strangers, especially adults - and so she immediately curls in on herself, shrinking her presence as much as possible. Instead of answering to are you okay?, she instead says, ]

I-I'm sorry!

[Already, there's a sad, sinking feeling in Tifa's stomach, and a pressing feeling on her chest. The way the girl curls in on herself like that, shrinking away from her... It's sad to see, but she maintains the small, patient smile that's formed, hoping that it will at least help to ease some of that fear or anxiety or dread that she's feeling.]

No need to be. I'm the one intruding.

[So Tifa should be the one apologizing!

Her eyes flick to the others waiting several feet away and she frowns, but her focus turns back to Ori quickly. Had something happened there that made her want to run the other way?]

Where were you headed? Maybe you could show me around?

Edited 2022-01-08 18:50 (UTC)

[ Tifa's brief glance back at the others in this nightmare is met with an unquestionable, suffocating and cold air emanating from the way that everyone else just seems to be staring with contempt at Ori's retreating form.

The pressure of their collective gaze seems to weigh on the young tiefling. When she answers, her voice is quiet and as shrunken as her form, like she's afraid of taking up any space. She casts her own quick glance up at Tifa and finds the woman's patient smile to be something entirely unfamiliar, but not unwelcomed, and so despite everything she still answers. ]

To the forest... It's quiet there. But if you come with me people will talk about you, too...

[Well, that's a concerning thing to hear a young girl say... even if it is just in a dream.

Not that Tifa cares what these dreamfolk think of her, but she does wonder what this could have stemmed from. She's been there before, so she feels for her, and feels compelled—wants to help.]

I don't think they can hurt my feelings. I promise.

[Besides being a dream, Tifa's grown a pretty thick skin over the years. Thick enough that she hopes she can at least help bear some of that burden that seems to be troubling Ori.]

Let's go anyway. Wouldn't mind someplace quiet myself, to be honest.

[ This person has a very kind voice, she thinks. She can only very vaguely remember the last time anyone ever spoke to her in such a way. It's not as though living in the village has been like living in a state of constant fear, and Ori and her sister have not gone without any kindness, but there's something especially warm and caring about how Tifa speaks to her that has the young child reaching out for her hand. ]

Okay... Will you promise not to leave me alone there later?

[Tifa immediately takes the extended hand in her own, holding it in a reassuring grip, but there's a frown that crosses her face again, and she can't help but look back over her shoulder to the others, casting them a stare that says plenty of what she wouldn't dare say aloud. Not in front of her, anyway... and even though this is nothing more than a dream, if they look back, they'll know exactly what Tifa means to tell them.

But she's focused on how small the hand is between her gloves, and she grips a little tighter.]

Promise.

[Though how much of that promise can she say she'll keep? When this dream is over, the two of them will go back to where they were... Tifa takes note of her features, trying to memorize them as they walk, so that she'll remember them when she wakes up in Reverein again.

She wants to ask about what she's said... if there are others who'd left her alone, and the question pauses on her lips before she gives her head a shake, remembering her own dreams that people had fallen into. Best to not be so direct.]

So, is there anything special about this forest?

[ As Tifa looks back at the crowd in the village, she'll find them all looking right at her and Ori, albeit with a blank stare, unsettling stare. The other tiefling that Ori had been speaking to - her sister - seems to have disappeared, as well, and the rest seem to begin to fade into the background as Ori and Tifa begin to walk towards the edge of the forest.

Then as they enter, the atmosphere of the dream shifts further. There's something unquestionably serene about the woods, although there's also a distinct feeling of something sinister lurking just beneath the veneer of tranquility. Where there is much light, there too are shadows, after all.

The tiefling child doesn't seem to see it that way, though, and she's noticeably happier trekking through the woods with a new friend. And she remains blissfully unaware of this experience all being a product of her mind. ]

There's lots of pretty trees and flowers and animals here. Do you like animals, miss?

[Tifa's gut instincts are never wrong, and while wandering far into the woods isn't what triggers it, there's something that feels... off. Or perhaps it's a feeling born of her own experiences in these dreamscapes—things are never as they seem, and there is always something lurking in the subconscious that could come out and bite, so while her grip remains soft, Tifa herself is on alert for anything that might spring up at them.

That doesn't mean she isn't taking in the sights, sounds, and smells, though. It isn't often she comes to a place like this, and she isn't even sure if somewhere like this would exist on Gaia, after Shinra's sucked most of the life from the planet. Surely there ought to be one somewhere, but like this? Maybe years and years ago when the Ancients still lived...

Ori's voice pulls Tifa back out of her own memories, and her smile goes lopsided.]

I do. I did have a cat when I was young... name was Maru. He was a little unruly, so I can't say I'm much of an expert on animals.

Maru... That's a cute name.

[ Young Ori hasn't taken to naming any of her forest friends, it seems. ]

I bet you were really nice to Maru, though, miss. Like you're being really nice to me, right now.

[ She glances up at Tifa once more, and for just a brief moment, something that almost resembles recognition flashes across the young tiefling's face; she's never met Tifa, certainly, but for that instant she seems to recognize that there's something off about her presence here. ]

Huh...? How come... you're being so nice to me?

[The question gives Tifa pause, and her pace suddenly slows, and in that instant, she's reminded of another young girl whose small hands gripped hers the same way Ori's are now, who looked like she needed not only help, but to be shown that there is still kindness left in a world filled with dread.

After a brief stretch of silence, she huffs out a gentle laugh, and continues on with the pace they had already set.]

Why not? Shouldn't that be the default?

[And although she's smiling down at her, there's a twinge of guilt for not turning back around and giving those kids a piece of her mind that she has to ask...]

Are people not very nice around here?

[ The child's brow furrows as she looks back on the memories of these woods, and of this town - both of which feel simultaneously present and yet so distant at the same time - and the dissonance pulls her lips into a frown. ]

Gerrell is... [ was? ] Gerrell is the nicest one of everyone. He took Val and me in...

[ She looks up at Tifa once more. ]

You're not from around here, are you, miss?

Nope.

[In more ways than one that Tifa has to have a laugh about it.]

I'm from a world called Gaia. Probably far away from this one, maybe even on the other end of the universe.

[Or in an entirely different one, for that matter.]

I doubt you've heard of it.

Oh... I don't think so...

[ That tugging, nagging feeling of things not being right only gets stronger, now, with the realization that there is someone here who isn't from this world. This isn't really something that happened in her childhood, is it...?

And just like that, the dreamscape begins to shift— Tifa may not be from this world, but the realization has perhaps, jogged Ori's memory of otherworldly experiences in her past. ]

It's a different... world?

[ The tiefling's small hand slips out of Tifa's as she clutches her head; their surroundings begin to morph and change into a markedly different forest scenery. As soon as the environment seems to settle around them, though, the air gets thick with moisture, and voices carry through like whispers coming from everywhere and nowhere at once, pleading: help us. ]

[These shifts...

Tifa worries that this is all her doing as the world around them begins to morph into something else. It had happened before in her own dreams, and not by her own doing, so she knows how jarring this can be, especially for someone so young. When it's all wrong and they know it is...]

It's okay.

[It'll all be okay.

She lowers herself to Ori's eye level and grips the girl's shoulders, but her gaze flicks around at their surroundings, searching for the owners of these new voices. Tifa tries to think back to how it all felt to be in Ori's position, and the things that had helped her get through it.

One step at a time.]

Do you know where we are?

[ Amber eyes flutter open at Tifa's words, first locking eyes with the woman before she, too, finds herself looking back and forth across the shifting landscape around them. The young woman's voice goes a long way to keep the young tiefling from feeling all to overwhelmed by everything this dreamscape is showing her, now that she seems caught in this space between awareness and continued dreaming. ]

This is...

[ When she speaks next, Ori's voice seems dichotomous, echoes of the voice of her older self resonating with the voice of her current form. ]

The place I always ran to... I'd get lost but... It never looked this scary, did it...?

I'd like to think not...

[She takes Ori by the hand again and continues to walk beneath the branches that stretch overhead. If they stick to one place too long, she fears that something might leap out of the shadows at them, or worse, Ori will give into whatever negative emotions this place has stirred within her. Tifa continues to put on a brave face, because if she lets her own wariness show beneath it, what good would she be...?

Past experiences have made her fully aware of how these dreamscapes can play with the dreamer's form, and hearing that echo of an older woman, who she can only assume is Ori, is a step in the right direction—getting the heck out of here in one piece.]

What about this place makes it scarier?

[She can count the number of things in a single cursory glance, but Ori needs to be the one to point them all out, if her own dreamscape was any indication of that.]

[ Tifa's hand around hers, that feeling of not being alone, seems to bring Ori closer to awareness as they forge on through. Ori casts a glance around, taking in the ways in which the scenery before her feels both welcoming and warning at once. ]

Usually there were animals around... I used to play with them a lot.

[ The way in which she seems to be speaking of the past seems to surprise the child, unaware that her voice is has fully taken on this discordant sound. ]

What's happening? Why does this feel so wrong?

Places like this don't like strangers.

[For one, but there are so many other things that feel odd about this place that she doesn't need anyone to tell her. Just that sinking feeling is more than enough to put Tifa on edge, and she watches the lines of trees for a sign of something that could be manifesting from Ori's unease.]

None of this is real, and nothing can hurt you in here, so just try to be brave and let's find another way out, okay? There's gotta be something like that around here somewhere...

[Someplace where they'll feel that pull of reality tugging at them...]

[ It's then that the tiefling child looks down at her own hand - the one that isn't held in Tifa's - and realizes what form she has taken, and what this all means. She knows, now, that she's trapped in a nightmare and that the woman beside her... ]

You're another dreamwalker. I'm— I'm so sorry.

[ More than anything, she feels guilty to have pulled a stranger into this, and more and more her voice starts to sound like her own, even if she stays small. Awareness now brought to light, the forest around them seems to waver and shift again, confused as to whether or not to appear like the serene forest from before or this blighted sight, a reflection of Ori's own experiences with such dichotomous places. ]

This isn't real, this isn't real. We have to get you out of here...

Edited (picked the wrong icon oops) 2022-02-10 20:33 (UTC)

[Well, that could have gone a lot worse, or better, especially when the dreamscape begins to shift, faltering between what it thinks it should be and what it actually is. Sensing that sign of panic, she only holds Ori's hand tighter, and won't let go, even if she should shift from younger self.]

Don't be. I was the one who intruded. But you need to stay calm, or else it's just going to be harder for us to get out of here, okay? Take a deep breath, and we'll keep walking, but don't let go of my hand.

[If she could shift it back to the less frightening forest, that would be ideal, rather than watching it flicker back and forth as the two sides fight against each other, but... she'll take what she can get.

If that means getting out of here without the same wild emotional whiplash she experienced, then that's what she'll aim for.]

[ Usually, when somebody tells someone like Ori to stay calm, she ends up doing the opposite of what is asked of her. But there is an understanding and a kindness in Tifa's eyes and her voice that soothes Ori's soul like a balm. The young tiefling nods slowly. ]

O—Okay. I'll do my best to stay calm...

[ And so she does as she's told, and takes a deep breath as they keep walking. More than anything, she wants to get out of here for the other woman's sake. Her small hand tenses in Tifa's as flashes of the more sinister forest appear in her periphery, but the more that they continue to walk, the more familiar and present Ori feels. Like her memories are coming more into light, beating back the nightmarish aspects of the woods. The woods have always been a place of respite for her, not of fear.

...Right? ]

How does someone wake up from a dreamscape...?

[If she hasn't woken up yet, even after realizing it was a dream...]

We need to find a way out of here.

[That's her assumption, at least. It was always either that or be jerked awake, and the latter was way more jarring than it really should be. But at least she's making progress—it's starting to feel less and less of a nightmare the further in they wander.]

Is there someplace in the forest you always liked to go? Somewhere you felt safe? We should go there and see.

[ Almost as if on cue, they soon come upon another clearing— this time, it's much more serene, and earnestly so, as Ori's fond memories of this place and her newfound awareness overshadow what the dreamscape might otherwise want to show her.

When the sight of this place fills her eyes, in fact, Ori can't help but sigh in relief. ]

This... this place, I always felt safe here. I-I think... I think I might wake up soon.

[ Her voice has completely changed by now, although she remains her childhood self. No matter what, that feeling of being pulled back into "reality" - which is also a dream in and of itself - is a strange sensation. She looks up at Tifa as flowers begin to bloom in the forest floor around them, and the sun seems to shine down a little more warmly in the clearing. ]

Thank you... You're a very kind person.

Anytime. I'm glad we could find a way out.

[Seeing the flowers, Tifa lowers herself into the grass of the clearing, the rays of sun hitting just the right spots that she can bathe in its warmth for a little longer before she begins to feel that familiar tug. Closing her eyes, she inhales deep to take in the fresh scent of the forest and how it reminded her of her own home, a long time ago, in the simpler days.]

You're not so bad yourself. I bet we'll see each other soon.

[And with that, she's already begun to fade from the dream, allowing herself to be pulled back to Reverein. When they meet again, she's going to have so many questions about this place! Hope you're ready, Ori!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( open ) kiss your perfect day goodbye

3

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject