Beyond the Walls of Sleep

[cityship]

Slowly but surely, the nightmares have been chipping away at the mental defenses of the crew.

Even those who attempt to stay awake to avoid the nightmares find themselves too on-edge to completely concentrate their defenses.

And the Nightmare King has not been idle during all this, no. He has been slowly feeding off the crew, gathering his strength so that he may yet break free from his prison.

And he now uses that new found power, reaching out to affect the minds of the crew even in the waking world. Even those avoiding sleep will find themselves drifting in and out of their nightmares, bringing everyone a taste of despair.

After all, no one can escape the grasp of the King of Nightmares.

No one.

[ooc: OH NOEZ. As you can guess, the Nightmare King is getting stronger. As such, the crew will start experiencing waking dreams. These are much more subtle than the normal nightmares, however, and are more so depressing and surreal than actually brain-breaking. Mostly they would be miserable versions of the character's normal life, or perhaps even their life on the ship.]

Comments

[magetrouble.livejournal.com]

She took his hand and rose stiffly, Rising Phoenix's burbling thruming against her collarbone in encouragement. Kala listened, then half nodded absently. Hope was needed.

"What you have faith in doesn't matter," she said, "that you have faith does." Her expression shifted to bittersweet as she recalled the last words her father ever said to her. Kala closed ger hand around his free one, suddenly wordless. She had faith in many things, it was impossible not to have it.

[billy-blin.livejournal.com]

"Aye, but without something to place faith in, it's much easier to loose. Some people choose God, some work, country, art, drama... Personally, my faith is stocked into the human condition. I have faith that people will act certain ways in certain situations, and I can use that to my benefit. It's a bit cruel, I know, but it keeps me alive."

[magetrouble.livejournal.com]

"It's survival," Kala said with quiet certainty. "I won't fault you for that or anything else done in the name of it." She paused her eyes resting on him for a long, near tangible moment, as if she'd given him a good, long study.

"You're not a bad man, Will. I've known bad men and you're not that. I've been there, maybe not to the extent you have, but I've been there enough to know what it can take when things are desperate. Cruelty? That takes joy. And I don't think you enjoy it." Her fingers tightened briefly, lacing through his. "You do what you need to do, no more, no less. Am I right?"

[billy-blin.livejournal.com]

"More or less." Some puns were just unavoidable, really. "See, this is just another example of faith. Ye've put yer faith in that I'm a good person, with very little evidence to back it up." He smiled, a touch more primal than was most like called for. "For all ye really know, my time spent in prison was well deserved. I manipulate people for a living, hon."

He sighed, shifting back into his melancholy. "The fact that I'm good at it isn't really a mark in my favor. I blame society; People like me should have been destroyed by now, not escalated."

[magetrouble.livejournal.com]

"I choose to believe in you because I can," Kala said carefully, squeezing his hand. "What anyone's done in the past is in the past. All we have right now is now. You choose your path and you choose to help or hinder, that all. And someone should have at at least one person who believes in them unconditionally."

She was silent for a moment.

"You have me. And I'll be a mark in your good favor."

[billy-blin.livejournal.com]

Blin smiled softly. Having one person, one truly nice person, one truly good person in his life made it all worth it. Solitary, the explosion, the beating, the pain, it'd all worked out for him in the end.

He was quiet for a minute, figuring out what to say. "You know, I think I'll keep you." He said, returning the squeeze.

[magetrouble.livejournal.com]

"Good move," she said, letting out a sliver of a smile. "I might have had to just...follow you around until you changed your mind. I figure everyone needs at least one person around to tell them they're worth something. It makes life a little better."

[billy-blin.livejournal.com]

"Aye, it is a nice change of pace. I'm used to being the one telling everyone else they have worth, not having someone tell me. I could get used to it."

[magetrouble.livejournal.com]

"That wouldn't be such a bad thing to get used to hearing," Kala said. "I don't mind saying it. I don't mind that at all."

[billy-blin.livejournal.com]

Many tings occurred to Will that he could say in response to that, but none of them were exactly appropriate. For a one night stand like back home, sure, but here? Not so much.

So, for now, he was just going to make due with a smile while they walked on.