Azula (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
itstillhurt) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
dreamcrystals2023-02-09 02:03 am
itstillhurt) wrote in dreamcrystals2023-02-09 02:03 am
Entry tags:
Second Nightmare: Extinguished
Sender: Azula
To: All
Subject: Passive dream recording
Warning: Gore, blood, and violence in the ugly way under the cut.
Azula is wandering through the ruins of an empty, desolated city- a modern city, skyscrapers and concrete and glass, though she’s far from all of that. Instead, she’s in a forested region, a dark park on the outskirts, next to a river.
At first, it’s dark, barely visible at all under the dim moonlight, but Azula holds up a hand and a blue flame flares up in her palm, lighting the trees around her. A body hangs in front of her- humanoid, but not quite human. Yokai, she dimly remembers. It’s been harvested, its body picked at, muscles and organs crudely cut away, eyes gone from the sockets and teeth pulled from the mouth. She flinches away from the suspended body and keeps walking.
She remembers this. Not this exactly, but something about it is familiar. Something about it-
“There you are, little bird.”
She whirls around with a snarl, sees nothing.
“Come out and face me, I’ll be happy to finish you off this time!”
There’s only a laugh from somewhere in the darkness, a sound of a knife being honed against a stone, and a moist ripping sound. She tries to walk toward the voice, bracing herself for an attack.
None comes, but in the distance, she sees them. The only feature visible in the darkness- two intense and wild eyes, spinning hypnotically.
“Come and claim me, little bird, before I claim you.”
That’s all she needs to see. She runs into the trees, pursuing those horrible eyes. She sees metal glinting on the ground- of course. The traps. She remembers the traps. She leaps up to the trees- these aren’t booby-trapped. He probably hasn’t had the time. She leaps from tree to tree, following the eyes and the laughter. Finally, she emerges from the trees on the edge of the river, avoiding the much more obvious bear trap on the ground.
Last time, this was where they’d fought. This time, he wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
“Come on out, Leshy. You never got to see what I was really capable of.”
No response. She turns, trying to find some sign of the eyes.
“Well? Don’t you want to claim your grand phoenix?”
Her face is… different. Intense to the point of mania, on a level nobody in Reverein would have ever seen from her. She looks half wild, whether it’s from rage or panic or sadistic glee- maybe all three.
And yet… nothing.
“Shame, I was hoping you’d burn more prettily the second time around.”
There’s a sudden eruption from the river behind her, and she spins in time to see a massive, massive creature- barely humanoid, covered in leaves and gnarled bark and antlers like twisted tree roots, wild and hypnotic eyes burning in his sockets as he lunges for Azula.
She hastily throws the blue flame in her palm toward him, and it first erupts into a massive gout of fire before just as quickly being doused by the water that pours from his body. He grasps at her leg, and in her blind panic she lunges backward. Her other foot lands in the exposed bear trap, and it snaps shut, shredding flesh and skin and snapping bone as she screams. She falls to the ground.
Then she hears a chain being hoisted, and suddenly that trap around her leg is dragging her toward the river. Desperately, she claws at the ground, kicking flames with her free foot, but he’s already ducked beneath the water, safe from her fire, as he drags her inexorably down. She leaves long trails in the earth as she’s dragged.
She barely manages to suck in a breath before her face vanishes beneath the water. She only dimly sees shapes around her under the water- humanoid shapes, more of them, all missing pieces, and she sees him above her, his hands effortlessly plunging her deeper ino the water, his eyes still bright and burning as everything else goes dark.
The dream ends.
To: All
Subject: Passive dream recording
Warning: Gore, blood, and violence in the ugly way under the cut.
Azula is wandering through the ruins of an empty, desolated city- a modern city, skyscrapers and concrete and glass, though she’s far from all of that. Instead, she’s in a forested region, a dark park on the outskirts, next to a river.
At first, it’s dark, barely visible at all under the dim moonlight, but Azula holds up a hand and a blue flame flares up in her palm, lighting the trees around her. A body hangs in front of her- humanoid, but not quite human. Yokai, she dimly remembers. It’s been harvested, its body picked at, muscles and organs crudely cut away, eyes gone from the sockets and teeth pulled from the mouth. She flinches away from the suspended body and keeps walking.
She remembers this. Not this exactly, but something about it is familiar. Something about it-
“There you are, little bird.”
She whirls around with a snarl, sees nothing.
“Come out and face me, I’ll be happy to finish you off this time!”
There’s only a laugh from somewhere in the darkness, a sound of a knife being honed against a stone, and a moist ripping sound. She tries to walk toward the voice, bracing herself for an attack.
None comes, but in the distance, she sees them. The only feature visible in the darkness- two intense and wild eyes, spinning hypnotically.
“Come and claim me, little bird, before I claim you.”
That’s all she needs to see. She runs into the trees, pursuing those horrible eyes. She sees metal glinting on the ground- of course. The traps. She remembers the traps. She leaps up to the trees- these aren’t booby-trapped. He probably hasn’t had the time. She leaps from tree to tree, following the eyes and the laughter. Finally, she emerges from the trees on the edge of the river, avoiding the much more obvious bear trap on the ground.
Last time, this was where they’d fought. This time, he wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
“Come on out, Leshy. You never got to see what I was really capable of.”
No response. She turns, trying to find some sign of the eyes.
“Well? Don’t you want to claim your grand phoenix?”
Her face is… different. Intense to the point of mania, on a level nobody in Reverein would have ever seen from her. She looks half wild, whether it’s from rage or panic or sadistic glee- maybe all three.
And yet… nothing.
“Shame, I was hoping you’d burn more prettily the second time around.”
There’s a sudden eruption from the river behind her, and she spins in time to see a massive, massive creature- barely humanoid, covered in leaves and gnarled bark and antlers like twisted tree roots, wild and hypnotic eyes burning in his sockets as he lunges for Azula.
She hastily throws the blue flame in her palm toward him, and it first erupts into a massive gout of fire before just as quickly being doused by the water that pours from his body. He grasps at her leg, and in her blind panic she lunges backward. Her other foot lands in the exposed bear trap, and it snaps shut, shredding flesh and skin and snapping bone as she screams. She falls to the ground.
Then she hears a chain being hoisted, and suddenly that trap around her leg is dragging her toward the river. Desperately, she claws at the ground, kicking flames with her free foot, but he’s already ducked beneath the water, safe from her fire, as he drags her inexorably down. She leaves long trails in the earth as she’s dragged.
She barely manages to suck in a breath before her face vanishes beneath the water. She only dimly sees shapes around her under the water- humanoid shapes, more of them, all missing pieces, and she sees him above her, his hands effortlessly plunging her deeper ino the water, his eyes still bright and burning as everything else goes dark.
The dream ends.
Sender: Yamatonokami Yasusada
is this why she once told him she didn't like spirits and spiritual creatures? No wonder... he felt like he could still feel this intense pain in his own chest.
If Azula glanced at her journal she'd see a page almost completely filled with scribbles as yasusada tried to figure out what to send her, everything scribbled out.
"hey Azula are you okay?","Hey, some dream that was haha?""Nice night tonight dont you think?"No none of this was good.]
Hey...
As someone who I have grown to admire a bit, I thought... it would only be fair to warn you that your dream was showing. I'm sorry for eaves dropping on it.
Would you like some fresh air?
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It hadn't even occurred to her that it might have been broadcast again until her restlessness compels her to check her journal, and she sees... well, an entire page of butchered attempts at communication, followed by the successful final attempt. Which she read with a frustrated scowl.]
I never asked for your admiration, and it makes no difference to me what you saw.
[Okay, so that was probably not entirely productive or helpful, she should-]
Thank you for informing me. You're right, fresh air is probably a good idea.
[Maybe while she was gone she could chuck this stupid dream lantern into the fountain. It wouldn't accomplish anything, but it would make her feel better.]
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Sorry, I probably came off a little pushy. Swear at me if you must. Or better yet, lets meet in person and you can have a free punch. Right in the face!
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[For one thing, it takes all the fun out when they let you hit them.
There's another long delay, and then, finally-]
I'll be at the fountain in the plaza. Come if you like, it makes no difference to me.
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It might be nice to get some fresh air myself. I think I might stop by.
->Action
She doesn't seem to be looking out for his arrival, she seems instead to be... concentrating on something. Something in her hands- something materializing, slowly, through dreamotion. A throwing knife, from the look of it, slowly emerging from a thin vapor of smoke in her hands and becoming solid.
She gives a triumphant smile and holds it up to examine it, eyes gleaming.]
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He was making sure to step in every leaf debris he could, just so she wouldn't jump when he started approaching, and while he wanted to greet her with a normal greeting, instead he saw the way she formed what looked to be a small blade and his eyes widened. ]
Azula! How did you do that?!
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[She scarcely even looks at him as he approaches- and she certainly doesn't seem startled by his presence, regardless. Instead, she's feeling the knife in her hands, testing the weight, the balance, the sharpness...
If the cold- or the recent nightmare- bother her, she certainly doesn't show it.]
I finally made it work.
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Azula, that's amazing! I had no idea you could form weapons with dreammotion!
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[Her first day in Reverein, she'd been shown Dreamotion by Nanashi the zombie boy, but all her attempts to use it had either backfired or done nothing. Until tonight's inspiration.
She seems, very suddenly, to remember herself, and sets the knife down.]
You wanted to talk.
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[ He was so distracted, facinated by the knife she made and wondering if he could do something similar and make a sword appear that his whole reasoning for coming out here left his mind. Frantically he moves to place the spare haori around her shoulders, clearing out his throat. ]
H-here. It's cold and I know you don't care for the cold much!
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I have a coat, I just don't like to run in it.
[...Which didn't mean much now, since she wasn't running, but-]
It was just a bad dream, I'm a little old to be traumatized by such things.
sender: lyria
It was not. In fact, this may have been a little worse.
She fumbles for a response, her heart aching and terrified about what she saw. ]
I... I am so sorry. That is not something that... actually happened, right? Was this just a nightmare—
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No, I did not actually get drowned by a horrible tree creature and die.
[... mind you, she did almost do that. She only escaped through sheer persistence and a bit of luck.
But she doesn't feel like getting into that just now.]
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[ Good thing she can't pick up on sarcasm through the journal. ]
I was really worried for you!
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I neither need nor want people 'worrying' for me.
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I'm so sorry!! But you're right, you seem like someone is really powerful! That monster would be no match for you... I'm sure of it!
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When I actually fought him, I nearly killed him. I escaped his attempt at drowning me and it was he who was forced to flee.
[Yep. Definitely that simple. No trauma associated with it. No madam.]
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It hadn't really been scary... at first. Not until she got sloppy because she thought she'd already won.]
I don't recommend it. Unless you can create and control fire, anyway.
[Cavalier. Flippant. Definitely not bothered. N o p e.]
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Ah... not exactly, but something like that I would try to avoid.
I am glad you are safe, though.
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But have you ever experienced a dream where you have found it hard to move, even after waking up? I know it is not nearly as close to compare, but sometimes it can be just as scary.
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Fear is only valuable when it's keeping you alive. Dreams aren't dangerous, so the fear isn't worth paying attention to.
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So even scary dreams aren't a bad thing? If it can't hurt you, then you're okay! They don't have to make you feel scared!
Sender: Wendy Carter
What a strikingly terrifying monster. I too have met my end being pulled into the water. It is one of the less pleasant ways to die.
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...interesting place to start a conversation.]
You're quite expressive for a corpse.
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You are a pyrokinetic? I had read about it and about spontaneous human combustion...
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When I actually faced that creature, I was the victor.
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Just one.
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Firebending being the preferred term I assume. There is a surprising amount of control for something as uncontrollable as fire.
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Though few are as skilled at it as me.
[Bragging about your talents is the best form of therapy.]
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I see. Miss Willow couldn't do what you could in the dream, but she wasn't able to catch alight herself, and she can burn things much longer than the rest of us could. I wonder if she could have learned, she would have enjoyed it.
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Were you regularly assaulted by this creature?
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[She'd very nearly killed one by winning a game. She was, uh, not going to mention that. Besides, the captive hadn't died, so...]
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