[GM RP] This Bruise Looks Like the Ocean (Jamie & Shiloh)

[saedusk]

Whether this was the same place they visited when they'd first fallen asleep, Jamie wasn't sure. To be fair, it probably didn't matter. What mattered in the moment was the blinding white light of nothingness, same as the blackness in some ways, different in others. He couldn't even open his eyes right away, that's how stark it was.

Nothing in this realm felt solid, least of all his legs, all two of them. The tail had vanished, stripped from him by kelp and seaweed and left behind in their dream-turned-sour.

"Shiloh?" he called, but his voice was echo-y and faint, absorbed into the void. As he tried to take a step, his legs wobbled and he almost fell. It was like walking on ice.

"Where are we?" Opening his eyes was difficult, but he forced them. Like seeing made reality, Shiloh was there, and his hand was full again. "It's... like before..." he muttered, and beneath his feet grew a swath of grass, soft and fragrant in a freshly trimmed sort of way. This wasn't the garden, but it tried again to present itself as such as Jamie thought it.

Melancholiessss

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh felt the air ripped from his lungs, his internal mantra being it's only a dream, it's only a dream, it's only a dream; except unlike most nightmares, Jamie wasn't there to wake him up. Instead he was here with him in this weird fantastic dreamscape, the two of them being forced to deal with whatever force that was holding them in.

His eyes had been opened the entire time, but the absence of everything blinded him. He blinked slowly as his surroundings came back into view, the land a vast void and the ground slowly populating with blades of grass. It felt like a computer program with the settings down low still chugging through massive lag. When the sapling re-appeared, he figured out what was going on.

"It looped." It made him think about the eighties, the memories, the rewind-go-forward. It made him think about his conversation with Liam; about how memory magic was complicated and dangerous—would their dream start to slowly crumble like their time at Andromache did? "Why can't we wake up?" He looked at Jamie and the absence of his scales and his tail. He looked up at his sky and the bright facade it gave off despite the absence of a sun. There were no clouds. His feet suddenly sunk into the sand.

"Wait, no, there has to be a way out. I—I'm the key, I should be able to—" He took a deep breath as he tried to compose himself, hand letting go of Jamie's as he fought the urge to pace. There was nothing to fight here. It was an endless void. "We're going to starve to death in the real world. What if it's already been months? And we've been spirited away." He was spewing nonsense now, but it was hard to stay calm after almost drowning a second time.

Something in the air felt charged, dangerous, dark, and he wasn't sure what to do about it.

saedusk

ashdown whaler

 

[Ashdown Whaler]

The air was charged and, for all that they could shape their surroundings, in the distance clouds gathered and began to thunder.

A downpour.

Darkness was on the horizon and it was rapidly approaching them. The ground underneath their feet began to buckle and break, as if it could no longer support their weight.

saedusk

Melancholies

 

[saedusk]

It was hard watching Shiloh's anxiety build, knowing how much effort it was taking for him not to pace. The feeling was building in the atmosphere, a palpable heaviness at the back of Jamie's neck. This wasn't good, but he tried to stay calm, to talk rationally. "I'm sure it hasn't been that long," he said, not knowing even slightly how much time had actually passed. "It'll be okay."

Except instead of palm trees and the salty ocean breeze, the air became hard and steely with the smell of a dangerous storm. They could see it in the distance as plain as day, letting loose so much water it threatened to create the ocean all on its own.

Jamie opened his mouth at the very same moment a loud, ear-splitting crack rattled the ground beneath their feet. The sand shifted and the world started to give way. "S-Shiloh-!" the words bubbled in his throat and almost choked him. "We have to run!" Even if there was no where to go, they still had some control over this world, didn't they? He willed a small set of floating stepping stones into existence.

Melancholies

Ashdown Whaler

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh's eyes were wide as the storm rolled in. He saw Melany's eyes full of lightning and he felt his hair stand on end with the scent of rain. Everything about this was wrong. The world was giving and groaning underneath them. He couldn't wake up—actually, honestly, he couldn't tell if this was really a dream anymore. It felt real. He felt like he was being swallowed up and taken over.

...except, Jamie was there. Jamie was keeping him grounded to reality. Jamie was his anchor and his light. He turned to face him, posture scared but resolute. He wasn't sure if they could get far, but he had a similar thought; they had to have some control over this place, if it was their dream.

He hopped across the stones with a surprising amount of athleticism, his hand outstretched for Jamie to follow and hold on. "Come on!" In the swell of the storm, his voice was very nearly lost.

Still, he was the key, he had... he had to have some sort of knowledge or insight or natural talent or something for getting out of things, being free, something. He took a deep breath to steady himself.

saedusk

Ashdown Whaler

 

[Ashdown Whaler]

The stones Jamie willed appeared but they wobbled and cracked as they were stepped on by Shiloh. Weight was supported but it would not be long.

Water swelled around them, rushing in under the stones and rising as the storm continued its approach.

... yet as they went along the path, a great cliff rose from the ground, pushed up out of the pliable dreamscape.

saedusk

both of you need to roll a 1D10. whomever rolls higher loses their footing and must be pulled up by the other. in the event that you both roll the same number, they're both okay and can continue onward ~

Melancholies

see above <3

 

[saedusk]

The wild waves lapped at Jamie's ankles as he hopped across the stones, supported in part by the hand Shiloh offered. It made him feel the tiniest bit securer considering their perilous situation, but he tried not to rely to heavily on the help. The last thing he wanted to do was pull Shiloh down.

"Look!" he shouted, too busy keeping his balance to point. "A cliff, head that way!" Even now the weary stones beneath their feet were being tossed and nearly overturned. Occasionally his toe caught on a nasty crack.

"A-Almost there!"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Jamie was worried that he would be the one to drag Shiloh down? Honestly, that was probably a conversation they should have, since Shiloh almost felt the same. It was hard—and he whole heatedly believed it when he said they were equals—but they were also nervous, clumsy, inexperienced teenagers in a lot of different ways. They both had a lot of their minds at any given time. They both had a lot of insecurities.

His foot landed on a rock, only for it to splinter into a number of different ******** went down afterwards, smashing his chin on one of the other floating faux-stepping stones. Thankfully it was just a dream; it looked like it hurt, but it didn't.

The terror at being swept away though, that was pretty legit. He let go of Jamie's hand at the last second—a reflex—I won't take you down with me, get out while you can, go on without me sort of dramatic sap bullshit. Shiloh wasn't the self sacrificing type typically, but for the people he cared about...

...it probably wasn't the best quality for a principal to have, honestly.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

They were equals, equals who would have that talk at some point, because heaven knew they both needed it. Hell, Jamie himself knew they both needed it. Whatever ******** up s**t this dream had in store for them, they'd make it through, they'd fight and grow together and it would be alright. After all, even if you die in the dream it doesn't mean you'll die in real life.

Right?

Another stepping stone cracked beneath his feet, nearly catching him quick enough to throw him into the drink. By some miracle he managed to slam chest-first into the cliff and pull himself up with his weak, wobbly arms. It was only then he realized he didn't have hold of Shiloh's hand anymore. The heat of the moment had blinded him from it.

"Shiloh!" he shouted, wheeling back around almost immediately and throwing himself to the ground at the edge of the cliff. Jamie caught his arm, then his shoulder. Shiloh wasn't getting off that easily. It was awkward and slow and he nearly lost him to the rush of water more than once, but he managed to pull him up far enough that he'd be able to catch his footing.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

His eyes had squeezed shut—they opened back up again—under the weight of the storm and the rush of water around him, he found a small bit of peace. "s**t—I-I'm fine, I'm okay, it's—"

He hauled himself back up to his feet, wheezing slightly like his breath had been knocked out (but this was just a dream, right?). "I'm okay." He reiterated, his own hand on Jamie's arm like a vice grip. "We gotta—we have to keep going, come on."

Something about him seemed a little ragged though. Didn't mean they could stop and wait for the void to swallow them back up again though. Even if he couldn't wake up, he was going to try and do everything in his power to make sure Jamie did.

saedusk

Ashdown Whaler

 

[Ashdown Whaler]

The moment their hands touched again after their grips were lost there was a flash of something in their mind. Something that was warm and brilliant, glittering brightly.

It flared once and then disappeared but the impression remained. The cliff rose above them, the rocks they were hopping on disappearing behind them as they continued upwards.

In the water below there was a shadow under it's surface.

Melancholies

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

This wasn't bubbles, this wasn't warm tendrils of light. It wasn't anything like hearing Shiloh's thoughts out loud in a way that barely differentiated them from spoken words. Instead it was almost indescribable, there and gone in only a flash, but the feeling lingered.

Spots of light like stars clouded his vision, making the sky not-so-dark, the clouds not-so-ominous, the ocean crystal clear and brilliant. Completely banishing the fear he felt was impossible, at least in his current mindset, but Jamie momentarily forgot the fact that it seemed like they were fighting for their lives. It took a few hard blinks to clear the illusion.

"Wh-What...?" he muttered, a wet sheen to his eyes. "Shiloh, I-" The rocky outcropping he'd used to help steady them began to fail, cracking and crumbling into the rising stormwater below. The splashing sounded like roars, the surface an angry bubble that hid a growing shadow. Jamie swallowed hard. Shiloh was right, they had to keep going.

He didn't let go of Shiloh's hands as he maneuvered back onto the floating stones, scaling them like stairs.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

What it was, Shiloh didn't know, but the second it started to fade he found himself craving it again like a drug. It was warm and safe and soft—connective like tissue and cold as it faded. It still buzzed in the back of his head when his vision refocused, the world a glorious blur around him.

"It...?" He tried to speak, but his tongue felt like led. He was vaguely aware of the stones falling again, of his grip in Jamie's hand, of the swell of the ocean beneath them —the stones, the stones, the stones.

"s**t." He swore under his breath as he ascended the stairs behind Jamie, his eyes wide and his mind still hungry for ******** that was. "I don't know." He answered Jamie belatedly, somehow sensing the 'wh-what was that' that never quite made it past his throat. "I don't know."

Move forward, move forward, don't think about anything else. He took a deep breath.

saedusk

Ashdown Whaler

 

[Ashdown Whaler]

The rocky cliff was there and, as Jamie and Shiloh found their way to it, the crumbling rock path completely broke apart and left them with no other way to go but explore where they were currently.

As the water below bubbled, intermittent roars could be heard. Whatever was down there was angry, the water constantly rising and the storm almost upon them.

Down the path, for there was a stone path now, was a sapling. It glowed brightly, a soft purple, almost as if it was beckoning.

(Strange that it was that that sensation lingered in their minds as their fingers were twined. Rays of sunlight peeking through storm clouds, warm and bright; but it was still just out of their reach.)

saedusk

Melancholies

 

[saedusk]

Move forward, move forward. Reaching the top of the cliff afforded them a short moment of respite, though Jamie felt a surprising lack of fatigue after their arduous climb. That was fine, he attributed it to the dream. This wasn't real life, after all, even if the strange, new sensation that had nearly overcome him at Shiloh's touch was pretty damn real enough.

Neither of them knew what it was, so he tried not to dwell.

"That sapling..." he muttered. It obviously wasn't your average tree and it drew him in with its glow. "Hey, can you like..." he made a vague motion with his hands, "make it grow? Maybe it can help somehow?" Maybe it would sprout like a beanstalk, maybe they could climb it into the clouds, to the sun, to the warmth he thought would lead them home.

In fact... Jamie thought he could see the rays of sunlight peeking through the clouds, but he couldn't quite tell if it was really there or only the buzz at the back of his head reminding him of what he'd felt only moments ago.

Melancholies

Ashdown Whaler