004 - Lucid Dreaming

[tabularasa_mods]

Lucid Dreaming Event Info Pt.1 ▲ Event Info Pt.2 ▼ Comments Please see the two info posts linked above for details on the nature of the event, the nightmares within, and the setting it takes place in. You may ask any unanswered questions in either post. If your character dies at any point during the dream event, please leave a comment in the death report thread to notify the mods.

As a final reminder, all characters will fall asleep for the full duration of this event whether you decide to take part or not. You may continue tagging threads that take place before the event, but everyone will fall asleep simultaneously.

▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲
Falling Asleep, Waking Up
The shift happens without warning, much like the first time people appeared in the world. Perhaps you remember what you were doing in the last moments before a strange feeling of exhaustion overwhelmed you - or perhaps you remember nothing at all. Whatever it may be, you've appeared somewhere new. A seemingly ordinary train station, if not for the bizarre walls of flesh blocking the only exits. The only path forward is down into the pulsating depths, a humid breeze pushing at your back.

There may be others here with you, or you may be alone. Could there be more people trapped in this strange place? You won't find them just by standing around.

Nightmares
The screeching of a distant train will echo through the tunnels on occasion, shadows flicking through the translucent flesh of the walls. Sometimes, however, instead of fading away the noise will only grow louder, closer, until it sounds like the train should be upon you. It never appears, but something else always will.

The train is a siren call for nightmares, and you're unfortunate enough to be their victim. The shadows turn alive, twisting and growing as they rise up from the ground and begin to transform. What form they take varies, but the shadows of the mind know the true fears of those who walk among them. Are you prepared to face the darkness?

Volcanic Panic

The shadows congeal at the edges of the floor, and soon after a hot orange glow begins to fill the room - molten lava is pooling in from the other end of the tunnel. It rolls slowly forward, devouring everything it touches with an unquenchable searing hunger, leaving behind only the charred bones of its victims... although, strangely, the tunnels themselves appear to be completely unharmed.

Outrunning the flow of lava shouldn't be a problem, but there seems to be no end to it. How long can you run from something that never stops? Or worse, what happens if you find yourself surrounded? You'll need to find a way to higher ground before that happens.

A Radiant Plague

The shadows rise up into familiar shapes, and at first glance it'd be easy to mistake them for people. They may even share the faces and voices of people you know, stumbling towards you with wide, open arms... and empty, glowing eyes filled with an orange light. Something smells sickly sweet, and it's only once they're close enough to grab you that they begin to attack.

These are not your friends, and they'll do whatever it takes to make you one of them instead. Unfortunately, it's not an experience you'll be able to survive. Your only hope is to fight back before the plague can take hold, lest you become another mindless husk that knows only to further spread the infection.

Trust No One, Not Even Yourself

The shadows stretch and fill the air, choking everything in a thick blanket of darkness... before dispersing just as quickly as they'd appeared. A few moments pass and nothing else seems to be happening. You must've gotten lucky this time!

... Or did you?

Surely it can't be that simple. Nothing else here has been, so something must have happened just now. It's only you and the person you're currently traveling with... but are you sure that's really them right now? How do you know they haven't been possessed by another nightmare, waiting until you let your guard down to stab you in the back? Should you interrogate them to be sure, or start with restraining them and ask questions later? Wouldn't it be better to just kill them before things get out of hand? The sooner you strike, the safer you'll be when their true form emerges.

Yes, that must be the real explanation. It has to be them that's been possessed by a nightmare. What else could it be?

Joker’s Wild

There’s no limit to what form the shadows can take. The world may have its own perception of fear, but your nightmares are something only you could understand. What darkness lurks in the depths of your heart?

back to top

code bases by tricklet

Comments

[bachagain]

[ nope. nope. nope.

they still hadn't run into cole. the guilt from that is enough to choke him, the fear of thinking that cole is hurt, out there, and it's his fault... izumi letting go of his hand, admitting he's scared, is just the cherry on the piece of shit sundae.

it's not undeserved. leo-- doesn't know what to do. what to say.

after all, he was scared too. scared that it was that easy to cut down someone he loved again, even through the hints of hesitation he can recall. so, how would it feel to be witnessing that? to be on the other end of that blade?

he's scared now, with the thought of seeing sena's back combined with cole's back and just being alone in the aftermath of his mistakes. but what was the source of that? it was sena, it was sena, it was sena, and this time he really can't shut that wrong, wrong thought up.

he already wants to actually vomit from recalling the feeling of his sword in cole's flesh, but here's the word vomit: ]

... You think I wasn't scared? I thought maybe we understood each other a little better after Requiem... but maybe we didn't, if you think I didn't know that was too far. Man, who knew you could get hurt this much without a blade?

[ no, he already knew that. ]

Anyway, are you gonna act like just a victim when that's what you wanted first? It must be really convenient, to have a sword you can swing around, blame... then still have it come back like a boomerang!

[ he can't get hurt if he hurts first, right? no, no, nope. horrible, horrible, horrible.

releasing those words sure lessens the effect of those whispers in his mind, though, and he regrets that they got loose almost immediately. no, maybe he's the one that didn't learn after requiem-- ]

Ah, wait...

[obsessiveness]

[ ow.

like, that wasn't a simple slash from a sword anymore. they've both gone beyond that. leo's words just now resonated like bullets to the heart, and all of a sudden izumi couldn't breathe. no, he feels disgusted and hollow and for the first time in his life, he couldn't bear breathing the same air as his old friend.

the hand that was holding leo's until now grasp at his own chest, his face stricken with so much hurt and betrayal. this is just like that one time at the corridor, isn't it? only worse, because yumenosaki may be a rotting hell of an instition back then, at the very least they only had to deal with some powerhungry student council president. now, they've got no one else to blame for their shortcomings but themselves.

izumi's mind starts to shut down, as it does when he faces a lot of pressure, but the first thing he's got to do first is to get out of here, now, and he takes a step back while shaking his head. ]

...!

[ he isn't too quick to react to a deadly misstep, unfortunately.

it's as if everything's happening too fast and too slow at the same time (which can be blamed on the lack of sense of time in this world, really), with izumi letting out a gasp as he extends a hand for leo to take once more out of sheer instinct than anything else -- ]

Leo-ku--

[ but it was too late. the tightrope they call their tumultuous relationship has finally snapped, and there's no other way to go from here but down. izumi doesn't even scream when he falls into the chasm, too shocked and hurt to even do that, but it's only for the best; leo wouldn't be able to handle it if he does stop yelling when he reaches the bottom. if there even is one.

all that remains now is leo, and utter silence. ]