[open] under the sea darling it's better down where it's wetter

[oathkeeper]

Who: Anyone!
Which: Interactive Dream
Where: Sora's dream of Disney's Atlantica
What: It's May and Sora is dreaming of an under the sea oasis. Turn into mer-creature and explore the Kingdom of Atlantica!
Warnings: Finny Fun



Dreaming of underwater oceans and deep dark depths of the sea could be anyone's dream. But the dream that opens here is one that is uniquely vibrant and full of magnificent colours and glowing corals. Playful schools of fish and seahorses that swirl around while singing songs. Crabs and lobsters clack away to a beat of a song and whales fill the waters with long sweet notes. Dolphins kick and play and push for others to join in. Jellyfish gloop about and nest in hair and whisper secrets. And devoted sharks prowl and patrol around a large standing castle in the distance.

You might find yourself in this dream surrounded by a school of baby guppies that poke and prod at your new form. Half of your body seems to have changed to help you with your new underwater situation. Perhaps you have a powerful dolphin's tail or several long octopus-like tentacles in lieu of where your legs were. Or perhaps you've gained gills and water-cutting fins on your forearms or flippers for feet. Maybe your hair has been littered with starfish and your eyes glow with the ability to see through the darkness in the water. No matter what happens to your body here it seems you're now referred to as Merfolk.

A. Forest of Seaweed. Upon arrival you may find yourself lost in a forest of long strips of green and blue seaweed. The green is almost dizzying as you try to navigate through the wispy plants with your new body. The seaweed seems to easily attach to you or wrap around a limb if you're not careful. Perhaps you need to find a weapon or sharp piece of broken coral to get yourself through it? Or can you adapt quickly to your new fins and are able to dodge your way through the forest?

B. Singing Seahorses. Once free of the slippery pieces of seaweed the ocean opens to a deep and beautiful chasm of glowing rocks, crystals and plants. Schools of fish swim by and all of them seem to be heading towards that beautifully lit castle in the distance. But before you can proceed several dragon seahorses swarm up to you and demand to know your name. They kiss at your cheeks and forehead as if trying to coax information out of you. Asking you all sorts of personal questions like what is your favourite food or asking you to sing them a song or tell them what the real use of a Dinglehopper is. They won't leave you alone until you indulge them!

C. Emotional Seashells. Along the seabed there are several glowing seashells that can catch your eye. If they are picked up they tend to glow a certain colour to reflect your mood or personality. They will look very nice in your water-swept hair! But be careful because if a broken or chipped seashell is picked up and worn it might induce the wrong or opposite emotion into you.

D. Sharky Noctaere. A dream isn't complete without the presence of noctaere. Make a wrong turn and you might find yourself face to face with a noctaere in the shape of a very strange looking shark. These huge beefy sharkmen are not happy to see you and look like they might make a snack out of you if they can get their hands on you. Swim or fight!

E. Atlantica Castle. Upon swimming into the castle grounds you will be greeted by a plethora of merfolk happy to bring you into the castle. They will make sure you are fed with all sorts of underwater treats like fresh scallops, crab bits or kelp cookies. They will shower you with bits of gold jewellery and pearl bracelets as welcoming gifts. There seems to be an entire festival of some sort going on to welcome in all the dreamers. There is a big hustle and bustle about a music performance coming up and they are missing some key players to sing, dance or play instruments. And they want you to do it. A pretty mermaid might try to pull you to her as a dancer or a merman may hand you a set of handheld drums or a coral horn.

"Swim this way, we'll dance and we'll play now it's very easy, come on in! Just take a chance and shake a fin!"

Comments

[lethechained]

[ The faint concern in her expression ebbs at the sight of his smile as she lets out a soft, 'hee--' in response while he rights her. ]

It wouldn't hurt to be a beginner who knows what they're doing instead, [ she admits, although with a humorous tone. Seriously, she'd be satisfied just not wandering into the seaweed again. ] If I can manage that at least, that'll be enough for me.

[ Still cautious, Naminé takes to carefully wiggling her tentacles in smaller motions. They're not very well behaved, but gradually she's at least starting to work out a general motion for them. Maybe if they curl and uncurl just so...

To his question, she automatically offers the honest answer, a bit preoccupied with her endeavor but not enough so to delay responding. ]

Not exactly. There are many worlds I'd like to visit, but I was never sure if--... [ A beat; pushing aside the sadder aspects, ] In the past, I didn't know how I'd ever get there. But I always thought swimming so far under the sea would be a lot of fun...!

[ So thanks for being a bro and dreaming it up for everyone to experience, Sora!! ]

[oathkeeper]

[Her answers make him smile and he lets out another laugh as they float along. A school of curious little baby guppies swishes up to them and swirls a few playful circles around them as they swim and talk.]

Well, at least you can check this one off your list for now. And who knows maybe someday you can come travelling with me and everyone too. I always thought it would be cool if we could all go exploring together.

[And by everyone he does mean people like Riku, Kairi, Vanitas and everyone. It's a big dream and they'd need a really big gummiship for that. But Sora's always been a dreamer.]

Maybe that's a lot to ask. But I really like some of the dreams we have here.

[lethechained]

[ Naminé's just starting to experiment with a careful, blossoming sort of swim with her tentacles when the guppies wander close enough to catch her attention. She instantly freezes upon the realization, expression wondering as she regards them with as much curiosity as they're offering in return.

A beat late she realizes she'll lag behind and make Sora tow her again if she doesn't get back to trying to swim, and so begins again the cautious cycle, although Naminé makes certain to check whether any guppies have wandered too close first. It'd hardly do to bump one of the poor things out of carelessness. (She'd feel awful.) ]

All of us together... [ Wistfully echoing the idea, Naminé turns it over in her mind. Ever the practical girl, ] I can hardly imagine it. If you brought all of your friends, it'd be like a festival everywhere we went.

[ That's quite the crowd - and so unwieldy that the idea's probably ridiculous, but Naminé entertains the thought even so. This is already a dream, after all...! Softly, ]

Still-- it'd be so much fun to finally meet everyone.

[ She knows them already - the ones he met in their worlds - but seeing them face to face is another matter entirely.

On that topic, though, another crosses her mind and gets caught there as surely as if there were weeds to trap it. ]

Hey, Sora... Do you think it's odd when you dream of someone who isn't here?

[oathkeeper]

[At first Sora lets out a small laugh at her note because maybe she's right a whole group of friends would be more like a festival than a field trip. Maybe he is a little in over his head with that one. But maybe they can just have a festival instead. A big homecoming reunion festival. That'd be really nice.

The guppies swim about them in playful little waves and Sora continues to lead them on in their little swim lesson.]

Dream of someone who isn't here? No, I don't think that's odd. I think that's actually really nice. Are you dreaming of someone, Naminé?

[lethechained]

[ Sora seems to spend a lot of time in over his head, but he always manages to pull through one way or another. It's one of those aspects of his nature that Naminé feels she understands the least - the 'how' of it, that is, other than the hand of destiny and a strong, stubborn heart - but admires just the same.

Watching the guppies that drift close enough into her line of sight, Naminé finds it's easier now to keep up a rhythm with the spread and extension of her tentacles with a little practice. Not dragging behind quite as much anymore though she is, the girl still tucks her chin slightly at that 'someone'. ]

Not exactly...! Not anyone in particular, that is.

[ That thought's slightly embarrassing, but now that she's made herself clear-- ]

I dream about a lot of different people who aren't here anymore, is all, or who never were to begin with. Some of them - are people I miss, but... I guess the reason why it feels so bizarre to me is because those people in my dreams aren't really them. Or at least, I don't think that they are.

[ And she'd probably be able to tell if anyone could, honestly. Frowning contemplatively, ]

Before I came here that wouldn't have seemed strange. But since so many of us are here in this dream world together now, it's not the same anymore.

[oathkeeper]

[As they float along whimsically through the water, hand in hand, Sora wonders exactly who she might mean. He has a good guess for it as Sora is probably missing the same people. He smiles and tilts his head.]

It is kind of weird to think about it like that, huh? We're living here in this dream world but when we sleep and dream there too it's just not the same.

[He chuckles.]

I've probably dreamed about Riku and Kairi a hundred times. Dreaming about them is kind of nice, though. It makes me miss them less.

[He just really doesn't want to forget them or what they look like. It's been a long time so he's really grateful for those dreams.]

[lethechained]

[ Aside from the personal struggle of re-learning basic locomotion, the experience is an oddly peaceful one, twice as pleasant for the opportunity to spend time with a friend like Sora. With some practice moving forward, Naminé's more easily drawn into the topic of conversation now that she's a bit less worried about keeping up with him, and nods a touch bashfully at his response.

Those names, however, cause her to draw in a breath. (Or as much of one as applies, given they're surrounded by water.) ]

It does? [ Perhaps he was correct when he assumed who she was thinking of, because she follows that with, ] For me - I think it makes me miss them even more.

[ Because hasn't she spent enough time already longing for the company of others who were beyond her reach? Now that she's finally gotten to be near some of them, she wants to cling to that reality - or the dream that's closest to it, anyhow - as much as she can. Being reminded of the agony of separation is... almost wholly bitter, rather than bittersweet. ]

But if it helps you, then - I'm glad. After all, it's been so long since...

[ They were all together for any significant length of time. Except that's not somewhere she wants her mind to go, or more importantly wants Sora's to. Faltering, the girl presses her mouth shut for a beat before shaking her head, expression scrunching. Voice quieter, ]

Sorry. I shouldn't bring up things like that.

[oathkeeper]

[Her response makes Sora smile softly and there isn't a hint of anything sad in his expression when she almost speaks about how long it's been. Sora knows how true that is and honestly, he misses them every day and has his own set of worries and thoughts and dreams about them all the time. But he's used to it. And as sad as that might sound he's come to terms with a lot of it.

So he decides to tug Naminé into a gentle little twirl through the water almost like they're going to play a game of slow dancing in the water.]

It's okay, it's not that hard to think about these days. I know that no matter how far apart we are that we're always going to be friends. I'll see them again someday.

[He grins.]

I think if they were here right now they would be swimming around with us just like this. I'll just have to tease them for missing all the fun.

[lethechained]

[ Watching Sora as closely as she is, Naminé has no illusions about whether or not he's recognized what she meant to say. She's already given her apology, so there's no room for another, but part of her almost feels more regret for how used to this he must be, how at peace he is with it already. (Part of her is reminded of herself, although she's quick to shove that thought aside, since the comparison feels unfair.) Still, his lack of sadness manages to comfort her just the same as he pulls them into a delicate spin, and the girl elects to try to be as willing as he is to let go of the sadder aspects of their situation. ]

Even though that's true... you're as brave as ever, Sora.

[ And she'll never cease to admire that. Emulating it, however, is more of a challenge than she'd like it to be. It's not as easy for her to perpetuate their spin through the water, either, but she makes an effort to extend it just a little longer in the nonverbal hope of enjoying the moment in spite of her misstep.

Exhaling a soft laugh at his grin, she nods. ]

They would be. But if they were, someone would probably have talked about starting a race by now. I don't think I'm quite ready for that.

[ Things are easier on her this way, but-- ]

So - since they're not around to do that, we'd better make sure we have lots of other stories to tell them later when we do see them again.

[oathkeeper]

[Sora is also mature enough these days to know what that bittersweet feeling he has is. He can tell that she's struggling with the idea of it all too. But he's still honest with what he says even if the sadness of the situation is always there. It's better to smile, anyway.

He chuckles at her response and nods.]

Yeah, we better have a whole laundry list of things to tell them about when we see them again. I bet Kairi would love to hear everything, too. Riku might tease us but he'll have to deal with it.

[Through the water they go and for a moment Sora just forgets about all the ache he has in his heart. Glad that he has a chance to be here with Naminé too since he never had much of a chance for that.]

[lethechained]

[ There's something soothing about their flow through the water, about imagining what his - their? - friends would do if they were here. She laughs gently along with Sora, nodding fondly as the sadness ebbs and she agrees, ]

Mm. We'd better. Besides - even if Riku acted grumpy about it, I'm sure he'd still want to listen, if it was you.

[ They'll have plenty to talk about, she's sure, regardless of whether or not the two of them here put any effort into lengthening that list. But it's a fun idea, one she wants to pursue, so she smiles a little more broadly as she gives a conspiratorial, ]

Since you're the one who's had practice... what's your favorite thing to do when you're underwater?

[ That seems like a good place to start. ]