Sweet Dreams Are Made of These

[daemonomicon.livejournal.com]

Nighttime.

Or, at least, what passed for nighttime on the meatship.

A time when most of the crew was already fast asleep, dreaming away pleasantly throughout the night.

...Or, perhaps not. For you see, tonight, something particularly strange is happening.

Now it is not all that unusual for someone to have a nightmare, especially not on the ship.

Yet tonight, no one will sleep easily, for the Nightmare King deems it so.

Everyone's dreams will have a tinge of horror to them. Nothing so out of the ordinary to rouse one's suspicions, but at the same time, no one is left out.

Pleasant nightmares, meatship.

[ooc: And thus begins the start of the Nightmare King's spree of insanity. He's starting out subtle, of course. The nightmares won't be anything more than your run of the mill bad dream, but he is giving them to everyone. Posting in isn't mandatory, but if you want to have fun with your character's nightmare, go right ahead.]

Comments

[worm-dancer.livejournal.com]

Sheeana briefly boggled. She knew that voice. "Khel?! I had no idea you could oneirinarise! Why are you inside my induced nightmare?" And why the human shape? The good looking, male human shape, she might add.

[akingredeemed.livejournal.com]

He had to pause a moment and remember that yes, he was indeed in his living appearance at the moment. It took longer than one might have expected; he had long since taken it for granted, having chalked it up to a simple matter of the way he appeared to others in the Ethereal plane. "I do not know this term," he replied, "but I was traveling the Ethereal Plane aboard the vessel. I thought I might be able to learn more of our foe when something launched me into another place entirely. It would appear ... I am currently trapped in thy dreamscape until thou shouldst awaken."

[worm-dancer.livejournal.com]

"It's Latin: 'to wander in dreams'. There's something tampering with our subconsciouses and I suspect it has something to do with this 'nightmare king' we keep hearing of." Now her full adult self again, she gestured and the dream-worms buried themselves in the sands and left, spewing plumes of fouled sand behind them. "I can induce waking at any time. As long as you're here, however, would you like to meet some of my predecessors?"

[akingredeemed.livejournal.com]

"Oh, dear," Khel replied, his natural wit getting the better of him, "is this akin to the meeting of a fair damsel's mother? I have heard tell of such practices. Very well, milady, I am ready. Do thy worst."

[worm-dancer.livejournal.com]

Sheeana flicked the knife across the top of her hand. A droplet of dream-blood welled, formed into a little spiral in the air, which she drew onto her tongue and gulped down before sheathing the blade. "A crysknife cannot be sheathed without drawing blood." She explained.

She gave him a look of amusement. "Reverend Mothers, in fact. Come forth." And the three of them in black robes did.

The first had eyes the green-blue color of the sea and the classically Greek features of the Atreides. She bowed. "I am Darwi Odrade, the previous Reverend Mother Superior, before my student and desert mouse." Much like a real mother, she trotted out the embarrassing nicknames.

The other two showed great age, though being Bene Gesserit they could have appeared much younger. It was a statement: I am not confined by my body. "I am Bellonda." Said the shorter, fatter one in a rumbling, faintly irritated voice. "And I am Tamalane." The tall crone. With Bellonda and Tamalane back to back, the four of them could have formed a strange, spooky version of the three fates.

[akingredeemed.livejournal.com]

Khel bowed low to each of them in turn. These were Sheeana's family, and in turn were honored individuals all by Khel's eyes. "Well met, miladies. It is my pleasure to make the acquaintance of thee, and I apologize for my unkempt appearance. I make no excuses for it."

[worm-dancer.livejournal.com]

"Pfah, your unkempt appearance? Look at Sheeana's nightmarescape. A sandscape filled with body parts...Maybe it's one of her attempts to shock in the name of a-" Bellonda was silenced by a look from Tamalane. The tall crone knew the origin of this nightmare for her.

Sheeana concentrated and suddenly they were in a peaceful orchard (http://izar.deviantart.com/art/Miles-Teg-and-Darwi-Odrade-35482347). In the far distance there were dust clouds, but here the oranges, apples and pears still hung fat and ready to fall. This place too concealed death: a Sister was buried under each tree, helping to feed future Bene Gesserit. But it was a peaceful, natural death.

"This is our orchard on Chapterhouse, the headquarters and teaching planet of the Bene Gesserit." Darwi explained. Underneath their feet, herbs crunched and released their fragrances.

[akingredeemed.livejournal.com]

"An orchard. I have not seen one in thousands of years."

[worm-dancer.livejournal.com]

Sheeana plucked a peach and offered it to him from her palm. It was ripe, heavy with juice and dashed with dew.

The Reverend Mothers from Other Memory exchanged looks. They could have made so many jokes.

[akingredeemed.livejournal.com]

Khel accepted the peach gingerly, half expecting it to wither at his touch. When it did not, however, he brought it up to his mouth and bit in. Teeth that were not worn and grayed from centuries of dust tore into rind and flesh, and wet lips brushed against the peach, bring juice and flavor against his tongue. When he felt the flavor hit, when he realized that here, as a spirit nestled among memories and the mind of a woman who had considered him a man regardless of the face he wore, he could feel...

He found no strength in his legs, and fell to his knees hard. The tears and sobs came unbidden, but in between them was the occasional bit of laughter. It was all paradoxical, but being undead was not exactly a state that supported logic.

[worm-dancer.livejournal.com]

Oh. Well. Gods below, she couldn't seduce him now...Sheeana made another one of those dismissive gestures and the other Reverend mothers faded into the background. She dropped the peach too and it became nothingness.

She bent to one knee and put an arm over his shoulder. "Why do you shed water for the dead?"

[akingredeemed.livejournal.com]

"I can feel, Sheeana," Khel said, losing his poise in light of the revelation that seemed nothing short of miraculous.

"Gods above, I can feel."

[worm-dancer.livejournal.com]

She knelt to his level and gathered the ersatz skeleton knight in her arms. "Has this ever happened before?"

[akingredeemed.livejournal.com]

"No, it hath not. Then again, I have never been forced into someone else's mind before. I wouldst surmise that, in this place, my spirit becomes something of a mental body."

[worm-dancer.livejournal.com]

"A body in full?" No. Bad Sheeana. Bad. And stop letting that hand wander.

[akingredeemed.livejournal.com]

Khel nodded, only barely coming to realize what Sheeana meant. It was slow to come on him, for he hadn't felt such urge for a long time. "A body in full, milady," he replied, already getting his faculties under control.

[worm-dancer.livejournal.com]

"Then...perhaps some time we could reawaken more senses you had thought lost...When you are well, that is." Which was one of the most gentle comeons she'd ever given.

[akingredeemed.livejournal.com]

Okay, Khel had to laugh at that. "Such a forward offer, milady! I admit that it has been ... a while since I hath experienced such." A while was certainly an understatement.

[worm-dancer.livejournal.com]

"I am not one of the timid maidens you are probably used to. And confinement and this godsdamned thinking machine have left me so...frustrated!" She realized she'd been shaking him, looked embarrassed. "...Sorry."

[akingredeemed.livejournal.com]

"Certainly not timid!" Khel replied, now laughing harder than before. The shaking was especially comical. Bringing himself up, he arched an eyebrow at Sheeana's admission of frustration. It seemed here, in the mindscape, the two of them were on much more even ground.

"I can understand thy frustrations." Then, changing tone, he smiled at Sheeana.

"Wouldst thou aid in the removal of my mail? 'Tis most inappropriate for such a location as this."

[worm-dancer.livejournal.com]

"Certainly, brave knight." Deft hands went to the laces and joints of the armor. And the fruits of the trees were not nearly so sweet as what happened at the roots.