therealbrianna | Come As You Are // Open Post

It's fine. Our story was over a long time ago.

[Yeah, she got the habit of saying 'it's fine' from... guess who?

Anyway.]

Here. I'll teach you how to control what you dream about now.

[ She puts on her serious face to show Lia that she's not thinking about it anymore.

Besides. More important stuff. ]

Okay ma'am Lia.

[Liandrin shut her eyes, and a moment later, the scenery faded back into the black void.]

Concentrate. Try to imagine the world as a tapestry, and every single being in it and beyond it as a thread.

[ Tapestry. Thread. She repeats it in her head, imagining the real 3D world slowly transforming to the likes of those woven textile art pieces they have hung at home. Then she imagines a still of her family, happily eating dinner, frozen in time as her mom passes her a dish, her siblings telling the family how their day was at school, and herself, playfully teasing Roy. Slowly, their faces and body turn cloth-like, as if applying a filter on them using a photo editing program.

Tapestry.

Thread. ]

[And it takes significantly longer for the void around them to fill up with glowing, intimately entwined threads of energy - each one a different color, a different length, a different texture. Some thirty 'waking world' minutes later (it only feels like five minutes where they are), the two of them are standing at the center of it, bathed in their scintillating light, surrounded by the quiet rabble of countless whispers.

The beginnings of their own respective threads are now wrapped around their pinkies, and run down to their place within the Dreamscape's Tapestry.]

Well done. You might want to take a look at this.

[ She opens her eyes, and then...

And then she is lost for words. Brianna just stands there, looking around and taking everything in. Then she looks down and sees the thread around her pinkie. She tries to spot where it ends up, but there is just too much.

She manages a quiet but elongated "Wow". ]

Remarkable, isn't it?

[She's enjoying the scenery.]

In order to enter another's dream, you need to find their thread and pull it out... with more training, you may be able to view dreams of the past, whether they really happen to be dreams or memories. They might resist, though.

Yes ma'am. [ More like incredibly remarkable. Nothing she has ever seen comes close to this. ] ...It really is remarkable.

And I see. But how can I know for sure if a thread really corresponds to a certain person I have in mind? Not that I'm...planning anything. [ She lets out a short, innocent laugh. ] Just technicalities. I wanna be careful with... This. [ She gestures to the whole scene. As remarkable as it seems, Brianna feels like one wrong tug can set things off. Of course, she doesn't have a clue how it really works yet. ]

Identifying it is simply a matter of touching the thread yourself. Some of them will call out to you, especially if you have ties to them. You can also attempt to summon them for yourself.

[Folding her arms across her chest now.]

Why don't you give it a try?

[ Who should she try it on? She couldn't think of a specific person on the spot, so she just allows the threads to do whatever they want. She scans the multitude of threads, trying to spot one or two that stand out.

I hope this works, she thinks to herself. ]

[It isn't too long before two threads flare with energy. Both of them are twined with Brianna's own thread within the Tapestry.

The voices that rise up above all of the rest are familiar: her parents.]

[ Brianna spots them and she can hear her parents' voices.

Mom and dad?, she thinks to herself. What could this contain? Might as well.

She reaches for the one that's wrapped around her own thread the most. ]

[The threads and the darkness around them melt away, placing both Brianna and Liandrin on the other side of an observation window. They're standing beside the Lopezes: younger, soft with exhaustion, but happy.

Her mother is touching the window, her fingers grazing over one particular child in a crib.

Isn't she beautiful, honey?

Yes. Yes she is.

They watch as they turn to each other and smile. Brianna's father threads one arm over his wife's shoulders and pulls her closer.

The dream fades away, bringing them back to center of the Tapestry.]

Your parents really love you.

[ That scene touches Brianna more than it should have. She loves her parents, of course. She loves them so much. After all, she is who she is today because of them. They supported her decision to join Netsach, plus most of the other decisions she's made before that.

But to actually see this, her parents reacting to her birth. It's something else. And her mom... She's never seen her mom so happy.

Her pride tells her 'Of course they should, I'm their firstborn! Plus I'm their favorite.' The vision tells her otherwise. She can't explain it. A single tear drops down to her cheek and she doesn't even bother to wipe it away.

She suddenly feels a bit guilty because of how little time she's made for them recently. She hopes they understand.

Maybe it's high time she talks to them more. She avoids talking to her parents about her day. She thinks they'll freak out or suddenly become stricter because of the nature of her activities.

I should probably trust them more.

As the dream starts fading away, she wipes the wet line on her cheek. ]

Yeah, even more than I thought... [ Her voice trails off. ]

[A quiet nod.]

As I said: secrets. [She turns away from Brianna to give the girl time to compose herself properly.] Seeking too many out, though, comes at a price.

[ She runs her hands down her clothes to straighten them out. Kind of a habit. When she's done, she manages a small, soft cough. ]

Yes ma'am Lia, I understand. I know better than to take advantage of this.

[ A pause, then: ]

Thank you for that, ma'am.

You're welcome. Just remember: diving too deep and too often will make the dreams bleed into reality for you.

[She cocks her head for a moment, as if she's listening to distant music.]

I'll bring us back now.

[ She tries to remember everything Ma'am Lia has told her: instructions, things to remember, warnings and the like. ]

Okay ma'am.
[ She pauses. ]

Ma'am Lia, I can't thank you enough.

You have a gift. It deserves to be used.

[With moderation, of course. But she doesn't need to keep saying that, right?

She breathes out, and before Brianna knows it, they're both back in their own bodies, back on the floor of the Hallow.

Liandrin is already pushing herself up, smoothing out her skirts, fixing her hair. She is used to this.

She had a feeling, though, that it was going to be a little more difficult for Brianna. Dreamwalking was exhausting, especially when one was doing it consciously for the first time.

It also happens to be a little past midnight now. They had been in for hours.]

[ Hearing that makes Brianna's face light up. She obviously enjoys feeling special. ]

Yes ma'am, I realize that. Thank you again.

[ It takes Brianna longer to get up. She stays on the floor for a good 5 seconds, trying to get up. She tries several times before finally siting up, tucking a strand of her behind her ear. At least doing that didn't require that much effort. Finally, she is composed and standing. ]

[Which gave Liandrin more than enough time to whip up some tea. She hands it over to Brianna with a smile.]

This might help. I hope your parents don't mind you going home a little late.

[ Brianna accepts Lia's offer with a small laugh and a smile. ]

Oh yeah that's okay. I don't think they'd mind, especially when they find out that I've been with you all this time anyway.

[ She takes a sip of the tea. ] Ohmigod, yum!! [ She interjects with a huge smile. ]

You like tea? I can pack some for you.

[It's been a while since she's done that for anyone that didn't happen to be a Malice King.]

[ She thinks about it for a split second, smiling. ]

Yes, [ she nods ]that would be nice. I'm sure my parents would appreciate it as well.

Very well.

[She's turning towards the back of the room, where she set up a small table. The tea packs itself in two convenient tins, which float right over to Brianna.]

Please greet them for me, and inform them that, with your consent, you and I will spend every weeknight training in this fashion.

(no subject)

therealbrianna - 2014-02-07 09:13 (UTC) - Expand