Another Sleepless Night

[Fell]

She didn\'t answer. She just... sank. Into the ground. Her eyes changed colour again, too - this time to an eerie green. Oh no! Journey thought with distress, Did I kill her?! That would be the Worst. Thing. Ever. Journey darted down to look her in the eye, then got ready to prod her in the side to check for movement. "Are you okay?" he asked frantically, his welling of tears still present from before, and in fact doing nothing but growing for the moment. If she died, that would be - !

And then, Journey got that feeling... The one of someone sleeping. The silver-haired boy looked down and sighed with relief, slumping down next to her. "You must have been tired," Journey told her gently, looking at her as she slept. Man, did she ever look peaceful...

That was when Journey got the idea - he could give her good dreams! Then maybe she would want to be friends! The nightmate lay his head on her chest cheerily, stepping into her dreams as he did....

((Shall we continue in the dreaming? :3 ))

[The Cedar Witch]

((Completely my intentions XD))

Weak. She had failed again. Storm felt herself slip into the familiar realm of the dream world. It was cold, horribly cold and lonely. The lack of life isolated her - a sponge for emotion and feelings. She wrapped her arms around her body and looked around sadly.

This was all too familiar to her: a corpse strewn landscape, a blood red mist creeping over the land. Each body appeared as though they had been dead for quite some time, and yet there were gaping holes freshly torn out of their chests. As though their hearts have been ripped out of their chests.

She was always alone in her dreams, the area void of every living thing. Ever since she had discovered her spirit form, that fact changed.

Storm brought her knees up to her chin and looked out into the distance. No wind stirred her hair; no wind pushed the mist away. She hated this place.
In the distance she saw a figure, draped in a cloak of blood. She knew that figure.

Suddenly the figure in blood turned, eyes piercing right through Storm\'s. A horrible convulsion ripped through her, sending shivers down her spine and causing her to gag at the same time.

"Hello, Storm. It\'s been awhile..." the figure spoke, simultaneously gliding with effortless speed before stopping within inches of where she was sitting. HER voice was eerie, layered. As though it were her own mixed with some demon.

[Fell]

Journey phased in slowly, only to find himself lying on the ground with a lot of other people. The silver-haired boy looked around, noticing that they were all dead. That made him a little bit sad, but it didn\'t effect him nearly as much as Storm\'s earlier unkindness had. That was because this was the Dreaming, and nothing here was really real. Journey knew that, and so he\'d become more okay with seeing horrible things in dreams than he was okay with seeing them in the real world. Then again, both places felt like home to Journey... this one moreso even than the other, but that\'s where he\'d grown up and lived, and he could only get to this place through other people, so he\'d always thought of Earth as home.

"This isn\'t a happy dream at all..." Journey said softly, closing his eyes and just... thinking, a little bit. The bodies all over the dreamscape healed and began to float upwards, suddenly growing beautifully coloured wings when they were about 3 feet off the ground. Their wings grown, most of them burst into flight, laughing. Some hovered just above the ground, spinning in small circles. Journey watched them all do this, laughing as he did. "Wow!" he said, looking as one shot past him. That was when Journey decided that they wouldn\'t get all the fun; twisting his face up and using just a touch of effort, Journey sprouted his own wings - large, and the same kinds of colours as his hair.

Journey cast a glance back at them, then leapt into the sky with a delighted squeal. He shot around for a couple of seconds before he noticed Storm and... some cloaked lady. "I\'ll rescue you!" Journey called down, because he could tell that wouldn\'t be any good. His words probably should have been lost to all the fluttering around them, but Journey was sure Storm heard him - even if only softly. After all, Journey had wanted her to. His intentions thus voiced, he dove down towards the pair and grabbed storm\'s arm, carrying her off into the sky with him and the rest of the winged beings.

Right now, Journey looked a great deal more regal than he did in actuality. More... full, and wise. Less child-like, though still friendly. Perhaps it was the wings, or the way his hair blew back in the wind. Whatever it was, it was a good sight more impressive than Journey looked back in the real world.

[The Cedar Witch]

Storm, expressionless, looked up at Journey. Her eyes filled with black, invading the whites and taking over the entirety of her soul.

How dare he invade me... she could feel her transformation beginning. To her spirit form. Her skin grew to a dark purple, as though a cancerous cell were spreading through her body. She could feel her fangs poking through as she snarled.

The things that were once haunting corpses sickened her. The fact that they were so flawlessly resurrected when it was plainly not meant to be like that. Rage burned within her, rage that was not her own.

The figure in blood had disappeared, leaving an echoing laughter resounding through her mind. She wrenched free of Journey\'s grip, allowing herself to free fall through her dream.

The instant she was about to hit the ground she spread her newly sprouted wings and gained altitude at a gradually increasing speed. She spotted her first target, a joy filled corpse. With mouth open wide, a frightening expression on her face, she flew with great agility towards the body, latching onto its back with her unusually sharp nails.
The two began to spiral down. The Akari flipped it over so that its chest was exposed to the sky. With a bloodcurdling shriek, she buried her fangs into its neck while tearing its heart out at the same time with her clawed hand.

She released the body, letting it drop like a rag doll to the ground with a muffled thud. She took to the sky once again, selecting her next victim.

[Fell]

Journey was right, she was having a bad dream. Or maybe this was just how she dreamed. Oh well! he thought cheerily. Journey had never seen the harm in dreams. He was a little bit sad when she killed the flying person, but as soon as the thought entred his head, the corpse was alive again, and giving Storm a hug. It hadn\'t traveled there, it just *was* there, in the manner of dreams.

Journey looked around at the ground. "Not very nice," he said softly, doing a loop-de-loop. By the time he could see the ground again, it was a plain of rainbow-coloured grass - it looked more like a surrealist painting than anything else, honestly - especially when Journey looked up to put two suns in the sky (one pink!).

Oh yeah. Definitely surrealist. The fact that it suddenly seemed to be raining flower petals didn\'t help things much, but Journey sure liked it. The Nightmare laughed joyously, spiraling upwards too quickly - after all, who needed physics either?

[The Cedar Witch]

It was almost as though Storm was a completely different person in her dreams (and in her spirit form on top of that). Her expressionless eyes searched the sky for the one who was causing all of the disgusting changes to take place in HER head.

The change in the landscape infuriated her. The darkness was her blanket, misery her pillow. How dare he take such comforts away from her? Yet at the same time, a part of her felt grateful for the sudden change of mood. That part was buried deep inside her human form now. She had no control over what she was doing.

Fangs glistening in the light of a sickeningly cheerful sun, she took off after the boy, the one who thought he was her friend. He would loose a heart now, she would tear it out right in the sky. A demonic smirk grew on her face, changing rapidly into a twisted smile that grew in intensity as she gained speed and altitude.

[Fell]

Journey knew she was coming. It was the Dreaming; Journey knew everything. It made him sad that she wanted to hurt him, but that had happened before too. A subtle shift, just there - and Journey was unreachable. Storm could get close to him, try to hurt him, all of that, but never actually touch him. It was an infuriating mechanism, but Journey felt better about doing that than about messing with her moods.

"Why so mad?" Journey asked concernedly, hanging upside-down nearby. Maybe I should give her a plot...? he wondered, tilting his head to the side. The horizon tilted with him. That could be fun! But... Let\'s see... She looks like she belongs in an action movie! Journey wheeled up, then popped out of existence.

Suddenly, Storm wasn\'t where she had been either. No one was, and everything had changed. The landscape looked like a forest of some sort, and somehow Storm knew it was Halloween. "The mask?" It was a voice to her left - that of a strange frog-ish, lizard-ish quadruped with gigantic golden eyes. Storm knew what the mask was, too - something in the forest. In the forest, and very important.

Journey himself watched from a tree. Maybe she\'ll like this better, he thought, smiling from his perch. He sure hoped so! Journey really couldn\'t figure out why she hadn\'t liked the first place... Journey loved those plains.

((Sorry for the slight god-moding... But you know how it is in a dream, where you just suddenly *know* things? Yeah... Hope you don\'t mind! <: / ))

[The Cedar Witch]

The forest scene gave Storm little comfort. This more so added to her confusion. All of this, however, dissolved as soon as a new voice spoke.

Storm gazed at the lizard like creature with uncertainty.
Mask...? She thought to herself quietly. Something told her that this was a matter of utmost importance, but the details in her mind were vague.

She could feel her body reverting back to its human form, as though the blood-lust demon had grown tired of trying to kill people that would refuse to stay dead. She was thankful for this change, she enjoyed being in control.

"...where is it?" she inquired tentatively, the feeling in her stomach implying that she had to acquire this mask as soon as possible. Yet she hadn\'t the slightest clue where to look.


(( -_-;; at first I was a bit peeved at the power play, I\'m not going to lie. But I guess I\'ll deal since you cut down on the happiness. ))

[Fell]

((Yeah... Sorry about that, but from the way Nightmare power was described, they have complete control over people\'s dreams. And with Journey...? : / ))

Journey began to play "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" with himself, listening to the conversation with half an ear. Maybe he\'d go play in a different part of the forest... One with unicorns and stuff! The thought delighted Journey; they could run up rainbows together!

The giant frog-lizard, for its part, licked its thick lips, then shot its tongue out to catch a fly. "It\'s in the forest," he said, his voice slow and thick as molasses, "Don\'t you remember?" With that, the frog-lizard began to turn, blending into the forest as he did.

A man next to Storm, one that may or may not have been there before, brought a hand to his chin in thought. "Well... There\'s a lot of forest.... Where to, Sir?" he asked, turning to look at Storm with scintillating eyes.

[The Cedar Witch]

(( XD yeah, I knew that Nightmares have that power, but the lack of influence I had was frustrating since I didn\'t know how to react. This is fun though ^^ and journey\'s hippie dream was making me giggle...))


"W...wait!" Storm reached out for the lizard creature as he blended into the trees. The stared into the forest, discouraged at this lack of explanation. She sighed heavily, racking her brain for any sort of memory of where this mask would be. In the back of her mind she wondered where the strange unicorn/boy had gone.


"Well... There\'s a lot of forest.... Where to, Sir?" The sudden relevance of the presence of this new stranger caused Storm to jump, eyes flashing momentarily with shock before settling on a more subtle, uncomfortable red. He did not seem as though he was a threat. The face that he called her "sir" caused her to flinch. It was as though the two should be acquainted, given how informal the man had spoken.

"Um..." she glanced up at him, red eyes locking on his as though trying to place a name.
"Do you have any suggestions, Mr...um..." she trailed off.

[Fell]

Journey looked down at Storm\'s interaction with the man, then covered his mouth guiltily. He\'d forgotten to make sure she knew him! Phooey! the Nightmare thought, scolding himself. The silver-haired boy closed his eyes momentarily, opening them a moment later.

Right. This man was called Mountebank, but he was her subordinate, so it was usually just Admiral. And she was... a leader. Of something. Something important, like the mask. Journey hadn\'t really known what to make her the leader of, but it was important and... powerful! But secret too! Journey floated off of his tree branch, lying down in the air above it. Hmm... he thought, Maybe I need to stick around here... That was too bad, but at least Storm would be happy! Maybe she would be his friend then!

Admiral seemed as though he hadn\'t heard her slip-up. He shouldered a large gun (it actually shot gumdrops, but Journey had made sure it didn\'t look like it) and cocked his head. "We can try that path, Sir," he suggested, pointing to their right. The path led into the thicker, deeper woods, where everything looked slightly translucent - almost as though it were made of pure cut emerald or something like it, though the way things moved belied the thought that they were stone. Here and there down the path were flowers - flowers that looked to be made of cellophane. It was a pun on Journey\'s part, and he hoped Storm would get it!

[The Cedar Witch]

Storm blinked as new information seemed to flood into her head. She was actually important? She supressed a giggle, this dream was so ludicris.

She led the way into the strange forest, still unsure of what the purpose of the mask was but she did know that it was dreadfully important to find it. She pulled her cloak close to her body, eyes a wary brown.

It was mid day, the sun high in the sky, barely touching through the green canopy. Birds chirped absently in the distance, the area lacking of wind entirely. The woods had a strange but cheery feel to it. Oddly, however, this was in a way comfortable.

"...so. Tell me...What is it exactly that we are looking for, Admiral." she stated monotonously, keeping a straight path. She had to get something out of this guy, he seemed like such a stiff.

[Fell]

The Admiral pulled his cigarette out of his mouth, throwing it to the ground and stomping on it. Had he had a cigarette before this? Apparently... "The Mask, Sir. You know the one," he said, looking off into the jungle. "\'Ey!" he cried suddenly, pulling up his large gun and firing at something that moved quickly through the trees. The thing hooted, then darted onwards through the foliage. Admiral must not have hit it.

He was cross, though. He spat to the side, then snorted. "Missed... Damn masks," he muttered, shouldering his rifle again. Journey giggled silently in the treetops above. He had taken the shape of a forest spirit from a movie he\'d seen once - he looked kind of like two potatoes put on top of one another, and the lower one had sprouted small arms and legs while the upper had sprouted eyes and a mouth. I hope he shoots at me next! Journey thought, though he knew it was a silly thing to think. After all, he could just make him shoot at him. But that would be boring! T-t-t-t-tick! the nightmare thought, cocking his head slowly to the side only to have it spring back with a funny noise.

[The Cedar Witch]

Storm blinked, quite perplexed, as the Admiral fired at a mask that she had failed to actually see. Or even feel for that matter. She eyed him narrowly.

"Okay, so we\'re looking for a mask, but you just shot at one?" Her eyes were brown with confusion. "I don\'t understand..." she felt very stupid. His gun was peculiar, though. It reminded her of a board game from her childhood at the orphanage. Candy Land or something like that... She loved that game...

She shook her head out of the memories, turning her attention instead to this quest that had been set suddenly before her in a quite arbitrary manor. She glanced around, the trees seemed to hold their secrets as they tempted the journeyer to come and discover.

Storm couldn\'t help but feel very out of place. She couldn\'t understand how she came to this high rank of being the leader of this...er...group. For the moment, all of this was real, not a dream. She felt as though this was reality, yet she had no recollection, as though she had suffered amnesia in this life.