trans_9 | I can feel the madness slowly creeping in...

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I can feel the madness slowly creeping in...

It is that time again, meatship.

Once again, the King of Nightmares has deigned to spread his touch to all of your dreams.

This time, however, he has decided to give them a much more personal touch, sending his very own children to visit each and every one of you, slowly sowing the seeds of madness within all of you.

Such a kind and loving king he is, isn't he?

[ooc: Alright folks, Nightmare King is ramping things up a bit. These nightmares are a good bit more dangerous now, and he's sending in his minions to make things a little more real. The nightmares will be of a much more serious nature this time, designed to start driving the crew slowly insane. Characters are more likely to run into nightmare minions in the guise of someone or something that will tug at the edges of their sanity. Also, this time, the characters can have joint dreams, as these nightmares are of a more mystical nature this time. Once again, tagging in isn't mandatory, but if you want to, go crazy (literally)!]

[Additional Note: Any injuries won't be carrying over to real life at this point in the plot but don't worry, we'll get there eventually!]

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Keese, mostly, and rats. As the pool of light from the torch approaches, the keese scatter, flying towards them and becoming easy prey for Sheik's throwing needles. Once, one gets past and flies straight for Jamie's face; it finds itself blocked by a wall of solid shadow and falls, dead, to the ground.

"This is too easy," Sheik murmurs as they reach a twisted spire of rock that signifies the approximate half-way mark, "These are hardly an obstacle. What sort of a nightmare is this?"

Quite possibly, he's jinxed it now.

"I don't know. Maybe the Nightmare King stopped paying attention?" Jamie comments, sounding hopeful.

The torch abruptly flickers, then flares brightly before dwindling to the faintest of flames. At the same time, he starts coughing, as the oxygen in the tunnel is depleted and replaced with a noxious smelling substance.

"Ye had to say it was too easy, didn't ye?" Jamie manages to get out, in between coughing fits.

There's a stirring in the depths of the darkness, further down the tunnel, and a giant figure appears to detach itself from the shadows. From what can be seen in the dim light, it has clawed appendages, each easily big enough to hold a human. Beady eyes glint atop large eye-stalks. And Jamie clearly recognizes what it is, as his eyes go wide in horror.

"Macra!"

It begins to advance menacingly towards them, just as the torch sputters and goes out.

Edited 2010-01-19 09:55 (UTC)

"Oh. Run!"

Unbroken hand reaching for Jamie's (where had the blade gone?), Sheik starts down the tunnel, broken arm slipping out of his sling to feel his way along the shadows. He can deal with the pain later - right now, he needs to find the way out.

Preferably without passing out from pain and hypoxia first.

And honestly, if he hadn't said it, it probably would have happened anyway. ...He thinks.

Jamie follows after, trying to get enough of a breath in so he can speak. He's having a difficult time of it, though, as he's still coughing badly.

"Gas...poison..." He has to stop and lean against the wall as his head starts to swim. Behind them, the Macra makes its slow way towards them, the sound of its chitinous body scraping against the rock echoing eerily down the tunnel.

"Human," Jamie manages to get out. The gas is toxic to humans. It might not affect Sheik as badly.

There's a faint light coming from somewhere now, even though the torch is extinguished. He can see where Sheik is, a little ways further ahead. He lets the torch drop and pushes himself off the tunnel wall, staggering a bit.

He reaches forward to grab at Sheik's uninjured arm. "Find...where. Stop it...stop...Macra." His eyes roll back in his head and he slumps to the ground, unconscious.

Despite the fact that he feels like he's at the brink of collapse himself, Sheik isn't quite as badly affected as Jamie is - working quickly to nudge Jamie back behind a rock to protect him somewhat, he draws his blade again, holding it awkwardly in his left hand.

It's more the lack of oxygen than the Macra's poison that's affecting him, but nevertheless, he drops into a fighting pose. "Alright, you... you oversized tektite," he tells it grimly, even as he coughs again. "You're not going to get the... get the better of us."

((OOC: Want to cut to after the fight? If Sheik wins, he'll probably manage to drag Jamie a little way down the passage before collapsing himself. If not, uh, I assume they'll just wake up in the ship? Up to you!))

Jamie found himself detached from his body, watching helplessly as Sheik pulled him behind the rock. He would be fascinated - if he wasn't furious at himself for not being clearer about how to stop the Macra. He can see the pipe where the gas that it fed off of was coming from, only a short distance away. If Sheik could find the pipe and block the opening, the creature would drop into state of semi-hibernation and they could get away.

The Macra moved down the tunnel towards Sheik. The passage seemed to be narrower here, and it was a tight fit for the large creature. It swung one massive claw out in an attack despite the limited room. The edge of the claw caught an outcropping of rock, smashing it into smaller pieces. One of the pieces bounced onto the pipe with the sound of rock striking metal, then fell, partially covering the opening.

The amount of gas being pumped into the tunnel dropped, and as the Macra went to attack again, it seemed to be moving slower than before. Jamie felt himself being pulled back into his dream-body, and didn't resist.

He started to come to, coughing again as he inadvertently took a deep breath of the gas already in the area. "Och, my head." He still felt very dizzy, and wasn't sure if he could stay conscious for long. Trying to raise his voice enough to be heard over the sounds of combat, he called, "Sheik...the pipe. Block the pipe!"

Edited 2010-01-20 21:15 (UTC)

Sheik only caught the trail end of it, but it was enough. Switching the hand the blade was on (and cringing as he closed the fingers of his right hand around the hilt), he scrabbled for a rock of the right size.

Then, as hard as he could, he threw it, using solid shadow to guide it unerringly in to the pipe.

Immediately, the amount of gas in the area dropped. Stumbling over, Sheik held out a hand for Jamie. "Come on," he coughed, still out of breath from the exertion and the gas and his broken wrist, to say nothing of the few scratches he had got from attempting to fight off the Macra. "Let's get out of here."

Jamie accepted the hand up, and steadied himself against the rock for a moment while he shook his head and cleared it of the worst of the fumes, then picked up his sword. "Aye, lets!"

The Macra, deprived of the gas it consumed, twitched a little but no longer appeared to be a danger as long as one stayed away. However, it still filled the corridor, allowing no room to get through.

"I hope we don't find ourselves back where we started," Jamie mutters as he starts to feel his way along the rock wall.

"Shouldn't," Sheik nods back as they continue onwards - he can see well enough in the dark. "A little further on, there's a... chamber. Was used as a hidden base. It -" He pauses to cough, dragging in relatively fresh air as they move along. "It should have supplies, and a bit further on is an exit."

And then they'll find Zelda. He almost forgot her, in the fight.

He sighs, and murmurs to himself, "I want to wake up." This was not a good time or place.

Jamie's coughing periodically as well, although it's easing as they get further away from the gas and he can breathe in some fresher air.

"I just hope we can wake up. I thought I would when the gas knocked my out, but..." He shrugs, looking frustrated.

He also hopes the chamber's still intact, but he doesn't say that out loud. Maybe if he doesn't, nothing bad will happen.

"Is it much further?" he asks, instead.

"It's close enough."

Really, it was on the tip of his tongue to say that it was right around the next bend - but he has a horrible feeling that if he did say it out loud, then, well - it wouldn't be.

Instead, he's profoundly relieved to find the chamber exactly where he had left it - coated in dust, its supplies of food and water and potion long gone, but otherwise intact. "We're here," he murmurs, and immediately heads to what was once the medical supply area.

Nothing. He levels a glare at his wrist, then straightens up and shakes his head. "It looks abandoned."

Far above, a gap in the rock allows a shaft of sunlight to penetrate the gloom. Sheik gazes it up for a moment, then looks away. "The entrance on the other side of the hill is not far," he tells him, "Although I don't know what we will see on the other side."

The Hylian-Sheikah camps, perhaps? Or only the Hylians, with the deed already done? Perhaps it would be an empty field.

Perhaps it would be Jamie's world.

"Are you ready," he asks softly, "Or do you want to rest first?" For his part, he does not want to stay. Not after the betrayal that took place here.

"I don't think I'll be able to rest until I wake up," Jamie says absently. But in a way, it's true. This nightmare is oddly draining.

He suddenly exhales, then takes a deep breath. "Let's go see what else is in store, then."

It's not so much that he's picking up on any of Sheik's feelings about the area. But he's getting to the 'Och, what is it now?' state of mind that he gets after running for his life a half-dozen times or so.

Jamie looks over at Sheik, pausing a moment. "That is, if ye don't want to rest." It occurs to him Sheik is probably as exhausted as he is currently.

"I'm fine," Sheik nods.

Well, for a given value of fine.

"I did not want to come back here," he sighs to his companion as they press onwards. "There have been many clashes in Hyrule's history, but this was... I saw too many good people die, here."

"Oh." He can certainly understand that - after all, he had something similar happen in his own past. As a matter of fact, he had been reliving it very, very recently. Something clicks in Jamie's brain.

"I think," he says as he follows Sheik, "that may be why I saw Culloden. If we're linked in this dream somehow, it needed to pull on something we had in common. I saw a lot of good people die in that battle."

He smiles, but it's sad. "No matter what the world, war is universal," he says quietly, then stops short. A gap in the rocks - the exit to the caves.

Nothing can be heard outside.

With a glance back at Jamie, Sheik takes a breath, and steps through - and steps straight back in to a nightmare. Because he recognises the camp - he recognises the group of Sheikah bound and on their knees before the war-time king, he recognises the white-haired Sheikah staring defiantly at him.

He recognises the burnt and torn banners bearing the Sheikah eye - conspicuously lacking the tear, but soon to gain it.

On the wind, a snatch of the white-haired Sheikah's words float up to them - "We are not vermin for you to order to our deaths! The days of dying needlessly on your orders are over!"

In the group, bound and forced to his knees, Sheik can't see himself. And for that, he's profoundly grateful.

The king's words come back to them - "You forget your place, Sheikah," he hisses. "Your lives belong to me, and to my ancestors and to my descendants. No one else. And if you refuse me, then nowhere in Hyrule will be safe for your kind ever again. You will be sent in to exile or you will be exterminated like the vermin you are."

"We would willingly go in to exile rather than serve one like you," the Sheikah says calmly.

And then the king raises the sword, and Sheik turns away hastily, grabbing Jamie's wrist. "We have to go," he manages through the bile threatening to rise. Not this... not again...

"Are those your people?" Jamie asks in a whisper, trying to peer over Sheik shoulder and get a better look. "What's going on?"

And then, he can see exactly what's going on and cringes a little despite his efforts to hide it.

He swallows hard and nods as his wrist is pulled, certainly willing to go - and go quickly, but stops as he catches sight of what look to be a couple of guards. Who, unfortunately, seem to have caught sight of them as well.

"Sheik," he hisses. "Run!"

That would seem to be an excellent idea. Spinning around to enter the caves again, he finds themselves unable to do so - largely because the cave entrance is now gone.

His breath catches, and he turns back - and then the guards are right there, so-called allies, wearing the crest of the Hylian guard bearing down on them.

"Sheikah," one says in disgust, "You belong down there with the rest of your filthy people. May all your tears be of blood."

Sheik clutches at the emblem on his tabard, barely glancing down as it stains his hand red, and closes his eyes.

And a soft, quiet voice demands, "Stand down, guards."

If Sheik were to open his eyes, now, he'd find the two guards saluting, one snapping off a brisk, "Yes, your highness!" before marching off. And, not a ghost, not a memory, but a very real girl stands before him.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, her eyes bright with tears, then pulls him in to a hug.

((OOC: Sorry for the delay >.> Got distracted by Spirit Tracks!))

Jamie was just about to distract the guards in an attempt to let Sheik escape - after what he had just seen, he wasn't at all sure they wouldn't want to take his head too, just on general principle.

But then the guards stand down, and then there's a girl who apparently knows Sheik - and is being referred to as 'Your Highness'. Jamie narrows his eyes thoughtfully, looking back and forth between the two of them.

He lets the hug go on for a little while, though, before clearing his throat meaningfully.

(OOC: Hey, no worries. It's all good. :) )

Edited 2010-01-23 01:59 (UTC)

Sheik doesn't move, just clinging to Zelda until Jamie clears his throat - he never gets to see her like this other than in dreams, never gets to hold her like this. So it's with a little reluctance that he breaks away, with a murmured, "It's not your fault", and a nuzzle against her hair.

Beyond, the king's betrayal continues, but caught in a mist - it's a memory, long since passed but never forgotten, no longer something real and immediate before him. "I'm sorry," he says quietly to Jamie, "This was a dark day for the Sheikah. Betrayed by those we served and trusted and died for."

He smiles, but it's small and bitter. "And something I was not keen on seeing again - the Nightmare King must have chosen it for that purpose."

((OOC: Let's see if we can get one more in before LJ goes down!))

Jamie nods in acknowledgment, and says, "Aye. And we should probably figure out a way to wake up before he throws something else at us."

He doesn't move just yet, though, and gives Sheik a rather expectant look. He's waiting to see if Sheik is actually going to confirm his suspicions on who Zelda is - or if he's just going to sidestep the issue.

Sidestepping it is - at least for now, until Sheik and Zelda can discuss what the implications of Jamie's new knowledge will bring. He isn't sure whether Jamie has made the connection, yet - the nightmare proves that he was there, when the Sheikah had been betrayed. And the betrayal he had told Jamie had taken place three hundred years before his own time.

His own time. Heh. A long time, indeed.

"There's a field," Zelda murmurs quietly, "A little distance away. It's tranquil, there - I felt like I could awaken, there."

Sheik nods, taking Zelda's hand in his unbroken one and starting along the indicated path, nodding at Jamie to follow. "Why didn't you?"

"I was waiting for you. I couldn't leave you here."

He nods, frowning faintly as he realises that the nightmarish sense of unreality was somewhat diminished around Zelda. "Jamie," he called back hesitantly, "Is it starting to feel... better? Like it's less of a nightmare?"

Ah, so that's how it's going to be. Well, if Sheik's not going to broach the subject, Jamie will let it go - for the moment.

He follows them down the path, not saying much of anything. Instead, he's got a hand on his sword and is glancing around, expecting the Nightmare King to throw something else at them. But...there isn't anything. And when Sheik calls back, he realizes that it is feeling a little less like a nightmare.

"Aye. It does feel a wee bit better." That's...odd.

"Perhaps it means we will awaken soon," he says quietly.

Or perhaps it's Zelda, with her vivid, prophetic, lucid dreams, remaking the world of her subconscious so that she may understand the vision she's granted.

And there's something else, too - a sense of simultaneous sleepiness and wakefulness. He doesn't question it; he merely embraces it.

The field they're walking in is misty, its edges obscured. It's easy to believe the world is simply himself, and Zelda, and Jamie.

((OOC: Want to wrap this up in a tag or two? Also, Sheik would be willing to contact Jamie the next morning and try and explain, if you're willing?))

"That would be verra nice," Jamie says wistfully.

As they walk, things seem to definitely be more peaceful, and Jamie starts to relax. As he does, there's that sense that he is not quite there, almost like the dream world is dissolving around him. But rather than a sudden shattering that thrusts him into true consciousness, it is a softer, gentler awareness.

I can wake up now.

Between one step and another, Jamie simply vanishes...

And back on Stacy, his eyes pop open. He sits up, rubbing absently at his temple as he tries to make some sense out of what just happened. After a short while, though, he lies back down and drifts into a thankfully dream-free slumber.

(OOC: Works for me. :) And I am certainly willing to have Sheik contact Jamie for explanations, so um, new thread?)

And over on another part of the ship, Sheik opens his eyes with a start, more reassured than he would have thought possible to see the familiar ceiling of his room.

He will have to explain to Jamie, soon - Zelda murmurs a sleepy assent, too.

But that can wait until the morning. Turning to curl up on his side, he and Zelda both drift off in to a similarly dreamless sleep.

((OOC: Up on trans_channel :) Although any threading will have to wait until tomorrow, I'm about to crash. Got less than four hours sleep last night @.@ ))

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I can feel the madness slowly creeping in...

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