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 Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:53 pm
Quietly, Shun waited for Xiu to get ready. Once the second cup was poured, he took it and downed the concoction. Once again, the drowsiness hit him like a storm and he was out within seconds.
The world around began to form. It looked as if it was some old, if not ancient city from the past. Shun was out, running from rooftop to rooftop. It was hard to say where he was going exactly or what he was doing really. Regardless, he seemed to have a pretty clear destination in mind.
He was also wearing rather old fashion clothing.
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Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 11:19 pm
This was...an interesting dream. But this time, Xiu wasn't going to work on easing Shun into the idea that he was in a dream, since the last attempt hadn't worked. From what she heard, some people had better luck if they were made aware early on in the dream. This called for a rather...blunt attempt.
Without any hesitation, Xiu immediately walked up to Shun, put her hands up on her hips, and went, "Aniki, you're dreaming right now."
She wasn't sure if this would actually work. Xiu would think that the second announcement would abruptly jerk the dreamer out of slumber, but apparently some people said that it jerked them into lucidity. They became lucid, but still remained sleeping. How this was possible, Xiu didn't know, but she figured they should cover as many techniques as possible. This was the first time she had ever tried teaching someone lucid dreaming, so it was a learning experience for her too.
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Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 11:28 pm
Landing onto one of the rooftops, Shun looked up as he saw Xiu there. He paused in his actions and it looked like he was going to say something but her words cut him off.
"I wh-"
He didn't even get to finish his sentence before the dream practically shattered.
Sitting up, the Reaper was a bit disoriented. Seeing how quickly that happened, he was also still incredibly drowsy from the tea.
"Nn..."
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:09 am
Whoever's research that said that the blunt "you're dreaming" technique worked should be fired.
Or at least, when Xiu was immediately jerked back into the waking world, the Baku thought that it was possibly the least affective method she knew of. She rubbed at her back and winced--sleeping against a wall was not very comfortable, that for sure--and glanced over to Shun. "I...I'm sorry," She groaned, pushing herself to her feet, "I wanted to try all the possible methods, but that one clearly didn't work."
She went to refill the teacup for the last time, but she didn't hand it over to the reaper. Considering that he still looked kind of tired, there was always the possibility that he would go right back to sleep and she could try again. That, and she didn't want to give him the tea so soon after the last cup.
"I wonder if there's anything we can do in the real world to help you in the dream world," Xiu murmured, though it was so soft that it sounded like she was talking to herself. Maybe...something to help Shun remember or recognize when he was dreaming. "Hmmm." That gave her an idea, though she wasn't sure it would work.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 11:54 am
Shun was kind of out of it, still under the effects of the tea. Groaning lowly, he didn't even really register everything Xiu was saying. He also couldn't remember what that last dream was considering it was so short.
At some point while she was talking, his eyes closed and he fell back to sleep.
It was storming hard overseas. The Reaper rushed out onto the deck of the seaworn ship, running to work the ropes to try and get the sails tied up.
"Jack dammit! Get all hands on deck. We need to get these sails up stat!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 4:35 pm
Oops! She had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice he had fallen asleep! Hastily setting down the teacup, she lay down on the floor right there and then and concentrated on finding the path. Considering how many times she had already done this, it was an easy task to find Shun's and walk right in.
What in Jack's name was happening.
After the last dream, Xiu had entered this one gingerly, just in case she found herself on a narrow beam again. However, it wasn't anything of the sort--she was on the deck of a large ship, and with each wave that it sailed through, the Baku felt as if her body was momentarily lifting off of the ground. Grabbing onto whatever she could get her hands on, she tried her best to steady herself when she spotted the reaper yelling orders nearby.
"Aniki! What is happening?!" She had not been expecting anything like this!
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 4:42 pm
Turning around, Shun saw Xiu asking what was going on. A sort of annoyed expression took a hold of his features as he turned his attention back to the ropes.
"What do you think?" he hissed, speaking just loud enough over the raging winds and rain, "There's a storm and if we don't get the sails up, the ship will end up capsizing!"
Other faceless people were scurrying about the deck, trying to do what they could to keep the ship in one piece.
"Well don't just stand there, help out!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 4:58 pm
"What, I...help out how?" Caught up in the moment, Xiu glanced around to survey all the other people who were trying to help, trying to find out what exactly she should be doing. There was an obvious sense of panic in the air, and the Baku felt herself being pulled into this sense of panic.
However, whenever she tried to let go and make her way towards the ropes, she would find that the rocking of the ship was forced her lose her balance and make her stagger in another direction. This wasn't good! If she didn't help out, then they might end up capsizing and drowning--
--Waaait a minute. This was still just a dream. Even if either she or Shun died here, they would still be unharmed in the waking world. Okay, she would have to use this chance to work on the lucid dreaming again. Maybe...having him manipulate his settings without realizing it? Taking a deep breath, she shouted, "The others just got the sail up, aniki!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 5:03 pm
The question had Shun staring at Xiu for a moment. Why was she on this crew if she didn't know how the hell to work the jacking boat.
"Help hoist the sails," he hissed through his teeth before turning back to tug at the ropes some more. He was straining to get his work done and the Baku was not helping him with all the distractions and whatnot.
When she mentioned the sails were finished, he furrowed his brow and glanced up. Oh. They had been. Seeing how his attention had been divided, he didn't think that was all too strange to have just suddenly happened like that.
"Well great. But we need to make sure the canons are secure so they don't start rolling all over the jack damn place."
As he said this, one rolled right past them.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 5:25 pm
Cannons? What cannons--
...
"...Those have been secured too. All of them except that one." Okay, now she was just grasping for straws. Before Shun could say anything, the Baku rushed towards the object that had just rolled past, trying to grab it. Unfortunately, with the lurching of the ship and with Xiu's size and (lack of) strength, the poor Baku ended up getting dragged along with the rolling cannon.
"W-where does it have to be secured?" She huffed, having managed to plant her feet firmly enough so that the object would stop pulling her along like a ragdoll. Oh Jack, this dream so far was not one that she liked.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 5:34 pm
Furrowing his brow at what Xiu said, Shun turned and indeed the other canons had been secured. Damn the rest of the crew was efficient. Turning his attention back to the girl, he let out a sigh as he saw her be dragged along by the hunk of metal. Rushing over, he went on and gritted his teeth, shoving it into place.
"Take that rope and tie it down," he ordered. There was a few rings sticking out of the wood where the canon could be secured, "Hurry up. I can't hold this all day."
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 5:44 pm
Obediently, she snatched up the rope, mimicking the way the other cannons were secured and making sure that she finished it off with a tight knot. Her muscles were aching from the effort it had taken her to hold onto the cannon, but now that everything was secure and the sail was up, they were done, right?
"I-is there anything else that needs to be done?" She rubbed at her arms with a little wince before remembering that she ought to hold onto something. Grabbing onto the side of the ship, she leaned over peered down at the waves with a small grimace. This really was a strange dream. Was this just a random one that Shun was dreaming up, then? He didn't seem like the seafarer type to her, but then again, there had been a lot of things that she didn't know about the reaper.
Now, how to make him conscious that this was all a dream? She had already indirectly manipulated the setting through suggestion, but it seemed as if none of these things had fazed Shun in the slightest. She needed something a little more drastic. Something a little more...odd.
...Suggesting that the storm had magically cleared might be a little too odd, though.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 5:55 pm
Letting out a breath, Shun looked around, trying to figure out if anything else needed to be done. He was about to speak but his eyes widened as he saw a rather large wave coming towards the ship.
"s**t!" he cursed out, but quite frankly he was at a loss for what to do here.
"Brace yourself!" he barked out before grabbing onto something secure as the wave crashed down onto the boat, rocking it violently in the process. Aside from the water, he could hear cracks in the wood. The ship probably couldn't take too much more of this storm.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 8:10 pm
Xiu immediately pushed herself away from the edge of the boat, grabbing onto whatever she could find when the wave came crashing down. The force and coldness of the water stole her breath away, and the Baku was left there soaking and shivering. Nope, she did not like this dream in the slightest.
"Oh, for goodness sake..." She didn't want to waste this dream, but she didn't want to end up going overboard and drown either. She rushed over to where Shun was standing, firmly grabbing onto something secure just in case another wave decided to come by. "Aniki, can you tell me why we're on a boat in the first place? What are we doing, Where are we going?"
Dreams had a strange habit of shoving the dreamer into a random situation, she had noticed. For some reason, the dreamer usually just went along with it, even if nothing made any logical sense whatsoever. Would Shun realize this, she wondered?
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 8:36 pm
If the heavy rain hadn't drenched him, that wave certainly did the job. Taking a deep breath as the water drained away, the Reaper let go of the mast and glanced over towards Xiu.
"I..."
He tried to figure that out. Quite frankly, he didn't know the answer to any of those questions. Why the hell was he on a boat?
"I'm.. on a boat..." he started, but he couldn't finish the sentence, "I don't know.."
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