smash_logs | I'll have a cup of tea and tell you of my dreaming

I'll have a cup of tea and tell you of my dreaming

Who: Everyone
What: DREAMS
When: A whole 24 hours spanning from September 14th-15th
Warnings: Creepy nightmares? Innuendo? I don't know, the usual.

There had been so much buzz about those stupid lollipops for weeks now. Not only out loud, but in her head - thoughts ranging from what's the deal with those things? to gotta have more to pricy as fuck. Eventually, she confused the cravings of others for her own, and it just so happened that her very own roommate had a box right on her side of the room!

Casey wasn't supposed to touch it, but she didn't see why. Money issues, or something. She didn't get the big deal about money either. She wasn't a Meowth, so there was no reason for her to have any. Therefore, the rules about it didn't apply to her.

That was her logic, anyway.

When Ai was asleep, she opened up the box and put her telekinesis to good use. Five of the candies lifted into the air - two green, three yellow - and the wrappers tore off in perfect synchronization. Too bad nobody was watching. The Abra opened her mouth wide and crammed all of them in at once, because she had no concept of savouring anything.

Shortly after, she fell asleep, the sticks still poking out of her mouth. That had to be bad for her teeth.

Soon the dreaming began...

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Of course, that much felt obvious. That was his dream, but why? Why Crisis City? Why- Why whatever that thing was? That was not Iblis, surely. He couldn't forget how Iblis appeared, towering over them and roaring with so much intimidating might. This thing was different, inherently dark and enigmatic, and it left him mildly shaken.

Something about it felt familiar, yet... not.

Shadow stepped closer to him, hovering just behind him, his voice nothing higher than a stern whisper.

"Tell me what that creature was."

He needed answers, and he needed them now. He didn't want him to be hurt like that again, dream or not.

Edited 2012-09-17 14:38 (UTC)

It was here Sonic was unsure of what to do. The internal conflict was harsh and his choices were very few. He could continue to ignore the subject, knowing relentless questioning was to follow, or be honest with his friends, but admit something he wasn't sure he felt like discussing. In a way, he had hoped reliving through Time Eater would've repaired what he wasn't supposed to remember, but even when the timeline had returned to normal for this world, it meant nothing to him.

Sonic turned back toward Blaze and Shadow with a serious complexion. It was an uncanny lack of emotion, but when he spoke finally, it was introduced with a sigh.

"Me--" he paused, crossing his arms to his chest before continuing, "Mephiles." He looked toward Blaze. He didn't like to exactly remind her of what they had discussed already. He went back to Shadow. "Remember that thing we smashed heads with in Crisis City? That was his other half. He, uh..." Sonic sniffed, running his finger under his nose to brush off his attempts to delay. "He might've gotten the upper hand on me. Once."

Blaze's eyes widened. She didn't recognize the name, but all the same, something managed to best Sonic? Not only best him, but do... that to him?

"Sonic... But... You made it through. You're all right." There was no small amount of worry on her voice as she realized just how serious this admission was.

"But that is impossible," Shadow blurted out, butting in and stepping close to him, enough so to make his distressed expression hard to miss. His fists held themselves tightly, his stance strong and tense. "If he'd wounded you as he did in the dream, that would have been fatal, and you are clearly still alive today."

Oh, he had no idea, though. He had no idea that it really was all too real. He'd be sucked back into the world of the living just in time, just before he could fully pass on, with the power of the Chaos Emeralds.

Of course, Shadow was obviously unaware of that.

Sonic was about to smile at Blaze and agree. Yeah, exactly. He was fine and he made it through the ordeal, so who really cares now? It was over.

Not to Shadow. He cared. Whether it was about Sonic himself or just about the information not adding up, however, wasn't concrete to the blue hedgehog. He'd give him something to work with, though.

"You're right," Sonic admitted carefully, "It would have been fatal." He punctuated this with a shrug, back to looking away from the both of them. "I think it's something I'm not supposed t'know," he continued, voice mild now that he's speaking up about it. "Coming here screwed somethin' up."

"What do you mean, coming here?" Blaze asked, approaching. "Please, Sonic. You can tell us..." She wanted to help, that much was clear in her voice and the way she spoke to him.

Shadow gave a frustrated mixture of a growl and a sigh, the irritation building dangerously within him. Was Sonic really that terrible logistically? Of course he was. He surely wouldn't realize the science behind dreams contradicted his statements. He just wasn't a bright enough bulb.

He brought a hand up to pinch at the bridge of his nose, tension coursing through his entire body, all the way to his fingertips. He had to wonder why he worried about him and his safety in the first place.

"These are dreams," he hissed, "meaning that these sprout from your subconscious. Whether or not it is for the better, you are supposed to know something of it." That was seriously the simplest explanation. It wasn't rocket science.

Grr...

Okay, he told himself. Just breathe and explain. They deserve that much.

His eyes settled onto Blaze for a moment, considering how unfair he was being in concerns to her. How they met and under the circumstances, that denying help wasn't a fair play on his end of the deal. He began to feel the haze of what he saw in Crisis City washing over his mind, then seeing her fight in that place again in that nightmare. That she really wanted to...

Then he looked back to Shadow and, boy, how much he had changed. From the two of them wanting to do nothing but fight to being mutual friends. Real friends. Sure, they still got on each other's nerves and went at it from time to time, but he was trying. He really wanted to stay with him. That he really wanted to...

Protect him.

Sonic played with the idea of a smile, palm pressing to his forehead. "Man, when did it get to this? I'm supposed to be the hero around here..." Not that this resolution made saying what he was preparing himself to say any easier, but it certainly helped.

That sorted, Sonic's face fell away to something stern again, bracing himself for the honesty he was going to have to embrace.

"This is probably gonna all sound crazy, but when you're Sonic the Hedgehog, right?"

And so he began. He did his best to keep the events in chronological order, starting with the Time Eater fiasco that had landed him into the academy in the first place. Time had apparently failed to readjust itself, and, frankly, he had been worried about everyone back him, including their counterparts. Though he didn't need to really repeat it for Blaze, Sonic did for Shadow, elaborating on what entailed with the events surrounding Mephiles, Iblis, and the final entity known as Solaris.

And what it took to achieve that: His life.

"I was dead," Sonic finally confessed in more blatant terms. "And this is just a guess, but I'm bettin' with Eggman's monster tanglin' up time, I'm rememberin' something that I shouldn't be." He looked between the two of them.

"Y'follow me or what?"

Edited 2012-09-19 21:57 (UTC)

All of that was a bit much to grasp. Sure, he gave her the broad strokes, but this... She was starting to understand just what he had gone through. And she could scarcely imagine it herself.

"I see... You came face to face with mortality," she reasoned. She knew what it was like to lose people close to her, and the idea of losing one of the first real friends she ever made sickened her. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like to actually die.

Dead.

At the very word coming into play, Shadow crossed his arms and faced away from them both, brows knitting together and eyes squeezing shut. Sonic had died, apparently... yet now he was alive and well, surely revived by some means. To know that he even skirted death at all, however, left his heart sinking so deeply into his stomach that he felt like he was going to be sick.

That thing, Mephiles, it killed him, it hurt him...

He needed to protect him. The thought entered his head without any difficulty, as if he was reacting on instinct, just as he did Maria. He had to protect him from this Mephiles, from whoever wanted to do him harm, to ensure that he lived a long, happy life by his side. He didn't want to fail Sonic like he'd failed her.

All he gave his rival was a minute nod. Should either of the two be looking at him closely, they may notice his tail was beginning to dip between his legs, a sign of fear.

He was afraid of losing him.

When Blaze's words came and went, Sonic took a moment to listen to his own breathing.

In and out. A natural flow with not so much as a skip. The way his chest rose and fell, even within this dream, and how he began to feel it shift just from thinking about what he did unconsciously. He cast the thought aside so as to focus on the next one: he was breathing. Alive.

Truth be told, the entire discussion had lifted a burden off his shoulders he was unaware of carrying. Sure, remembering the ordeal was an unasked-for undertaking to which Sonic felt responsible, and he was clearly seeing that withholding the information had likely been the right thing to do for his companions. He remembered how he felt when he thought both of them had died; Shadow way back when and Blaze just only recently. He at least knew how they must've felt to watch him meet his cycled fate. He had watched them both "die", too.

However, the elation to see them again had been immeasurable, a rapture no force on the planet could ever take away from him. That was the part he cared to remember, and that was the part he was going to encourage now.

"Ooookay! Enough mopin' around here. Ain't got my foot in a grave just yet. Besides," he paused to cross his arms against his chest. "I die hard, if ya can't tell, and that guy isn't gonna bother me or anyone anymore. I blew his candle out. Literally." Sure did. Snuffed him good with a pretty princess.

Edited 2012-09-22 12:55 (UTC)

Blaze wasn't sure what to say. Sonic didn't want to dwell on it, that much was clear, and she wasn't about to force him to. It was enough for her that he had seemed to come to some form of resolution about it, and that would have to be enough for her for now.

"Yes, you do. You're very resilient," she remarked.

"... I know."

That was the only thing Shadow uttered before turning completely away from them, tail still tucked as he somberly stepped for the door to his own dream. He needed to go back. It was a place of solace, of comfort in its tragic familiarity, and right now, that was what he sought the most.

He...

He didn't want to think of losing him.

At that thought entering his head, he broke into a jog, bolting out of there with negativity sapping any other emotions from within him. "I die hard." He only partially believed in that.

Sonic is still mortal, after all.

Sonic looked rather startled to have Shadow suddenly exit stage left, but he kept the instinctual reaction to call or chase after him to himself. He let him go, opting it the better decision. He had a good feeling what was bothering him, but Sonic wasn't ready to explain himself to Shadow again. They had that talk already.

That cast aside for now, he turned back to Blaze.

"Looks like I really owe you one, huh? Mephiles didn't stand a chance." He chuckled.

Relief washed over her face, and she visibly relaxed. It was comforting to see things back to some semblance of normality; Sonic in a positive mood, Shadow being his usual antisocial self...

"No enemy ever stands a chance against us," she replied, offering her hand.

He swiped her hand up with that boyish grin, leaving nothing of what had been hounding him laced into his expression. With a squeeze, he added, "Y'got that right!"

Still, he was sorry they had to see what they did. He pondered if the dream would ever return to continue its haunt, but until that happened, he'd assume the chapter closed.

He released Blaze's hand and looked back toward the casino area and its array of doors. With a few guesses and where Shadow had disappeared to, Sonic figured they really did all lead to different dream worlds. "Hope your dream was a lot better than mine was."

Blaze frowned.

"No... It wasn't." She couldn't even pretend. She crossed her arms, looking away from him.

"'No'?" Sonic echoed, turning back to her with lifted eyebrows. "Man, who's hoggin' all the luck around here?" He approached her, hands on his hips and body open to anything she may want to say. "Somethin' on your mind?"

She looked down at the floor and sighed. "I dreamed... I dreamed I was back home. In my own dimension. But it was wrong... Eggman Nega took over while I was gone..."

Ah. Sonic could understand those concerns more than he was willing to confess, though he had a number of times just to ease that underlying dread. He had been pulled away from his world, his place in time, prior to the end of a crucial battle and still had no idea what had happened to everyone. Sure, he could hold true to his innate optimism, but it didn't mean he was right.

"Please," he chimed into her gloom. "Any version of Eggman couldn't conquer their way outta a paper bag." Sonic took a step closer and relaxed his palm on Blaze's shoulder. "Hey. It's fine." He smiled.

She didn't face him. Not yet. "But you don't know," she said. "There's no way anyone can know. It's been so long since I've been here... Anything could have happened while I've been gone. My kingdom... My world... They need me, and I've been letting them down!" She punctuated that by punching a nearby wall.

WOAH!

Oh, man, he hoped that wasn't come kind of crazy dream wall with dream feelings or something.

Sonic's ears take a bow back to respect her concerns, but they perk right up when he knows it's time to simply do something about them.

"So all we gotta do is getcha home, right?"

"Yes... Even if it was for a little while... Just to make sure," Blaze told him. Her voice wavered; this clearly bothered her a great deal, and after her display of anger she was starting to crack. She pulled out the one Sol Emerald she had. "But I've only been able to find one Sol Emerald. I can't go home without them all..."

Sonic had a whole queue of happy expressions just waiting for Blaze. From grins to smirks to simple ol' smiles, he wasn't going to let her down with a frown. Not now. Not after what she did for him.

"Then we'll just hafta get them all! I already told ya you can count me in, and I mean that from start to finish." He laughed. "Besides, a kingdom under your rule isn't gonna go down so easy."

Blaze sighed. She took a few deep breaths to steady herself. She didn't want to show this kind of weakness to anyone, not even Sonic. She'd let out enough of her insecurities. And there he went again, cheering her up, reminding her that her burden was not hers alone.

She squeezed the Emerald, and finally looked back at him. "How can you always be so confident..." She wasn't accusing. In fact, there was a small hint of a smile on her face as she asked.

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