Broken Dreams
Characters: Ceireia Shadiene morbid_bloom, and OPEN
When: 3/18 - 3/31
Where: Ceireia's mind.
Rating: PG-13, may go up.
Summary: Ever wonder what goes on in her mind? Here's your chance.
( A scattered dream that's like a far-off memory... )
When: 3/18 - 3/31
Where: Ceireia's mind.
Rating: PG-13, may go up.
Summary: Ever wonder what goes on in her mind? Here's your chance.
( A scattered dream that's like a far-off memory... )
Sniper spotted the girl first. As uncaring as he could be, seeing someone's house- presumably hers- burn down before him was enough to draw some sympathy even from him; however, as he neared the figure, he changed his mind about approaching her just yet. First, she was crying, which alone was enough to make him turn and head in the other direction; secondly, there was a strange feeling that welled in his chest as he neared her, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. He stopped before he got anywhere near her, fighting down that feeling and stepping back, not trusting it in the slightest.
Instead, he headed through the shadows around the house, looking for survivors. Knowing what it was like to burn to death, he thought he might see if someone needed putting out with Jarate. Alternatively, a quick shot to the head would put them out of their misery if they were too badly injured. They could test out the respawn and possibly come out better on the other side. He'd be doing them a favor.
The glint of metal on the ground caught his eye, drawing him over. Even from a few steps away, he recognized the katana, the blade a bit like something Demoman would go running into battle with. He approached it slowly, trying to get a good look, wondering what it was doing out there.
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As Sniper approached the katana, he would see flashes of a brutal, bloody fight between Ceireia and her twin brother, Zephyr. She was being controlled by something and attacked Zephyr relentlessly, but he refused to strike back against her. At least until something took control of him. Here, a feeling of pure darkness emanated. A flash of a nightmarish looking reptilian creature, its back covered in quills that tapered down a long finned tail, but its eyes were solid white, as if soulless.
The memory flashed again to after the battle. Zephyr held Ceireia in his arms and although both were heavily injured, there was an odd feeling of secureness. Zephyr spoke calmly to her, telling her that she was safe now. Then the images faded back into the fire.
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Though they'd only been with him for an instant, they were enough to give him pause- not because of what was in them, but because of their existence at all. His immediate thought was he was hallucinating, or that this was all another horrible nightmare. Maybe the house before him was somehow the mansion he'd seen before, the girl just waiting to be spoken to before she started shrieking, causing the world to collapse around them.
It seemed odd to recall one nightmare while in another; however, just as the one before had been so vivid that he'd considered it reality without much thought, this felt real, right down to the emotion that pulsed through him on occasion. And yet, as tangible as the world around him felt, there was a disconnect- he didn't belong there. That anger, that sadness- neither was his.
He looked back to the girl, eyes hardening. If she was an apparition like in the other dream, or if this was a return to that awful place, there was a chance she'd attack him if given the opportunity. He continued around the side of the house, keeping his eyes on her. With his sight elsewhere, he didn't even see the syringe as he stepped on it, cracking it beneath his boot.
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Brief flashes showed many horrifying looking surgical instruments, as well as vials of DNA, and blood dripping onto the previously clean floor. Two of the scientists dropped to the ground, spasming as some form of toxin spread through their bodies. A very neatly dressed man steps into the room and Ceireia screams in pain as the flashes end once more.
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Deep breaths, in and out- he pushed those thoughts from his mind, realizing they weren't his. Though the pain felt real and dredged up his own memories, he convinced himself they were more conjurations of the nightmare and whoever haunted him there. He didn't understand them, but he knew one thing: they were starting to feel like personal attacks.
His gaze shot across the space to the girl he'd seen; she was still sitting in that same spot, unmoved from when he'd last looked at her. His eyes narrowed as he pulled his rifle from its holster, taking aim. He'd been attacked by one nightmare too many already.
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"...well? Going to finish me?"
She looked down at her hands before speaking again.
"I couldn't protect them."
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"Who?" he demanded.
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"You saw what they did to me. To my brother. My family...my friends..most of them are gone. This was my home."
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As far as he was concerned, she was still no more trustworthy than the little girl he'd been following through the mansion. The innocence was all an act, something to get him to drop his guard. Paranoia kept him watching her.
"Who's 'they'?"
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"Scientists, gods, soldiers, government officials. They took my future away. My family."
She shook her head and closed her eyes, turning back to the fire. "My brother is all that's left...but they changed him. That monster is corrupting him." The RED would experience another memory flash showing the nightmarish creature from before.
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"Knock it off!" he shouted. He brought the gun back up, keeping one eye open in spite of being unable to see the world around him, the vision blinding his senses to everything except the memory.
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"That is one of the gods of my world."
She raised a hand toward the fire, flowers blooming all over the back of her hand. They began to fall off one by one into the fire, incinerating them in seconds. "There's nothing I can do."
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And yet, he did have a shred of pity for her, having seen what they did to her. Of course, that was granted the hallucinations had been true at all, and weren't just some images meant to trick him, get him off-guard. He'd fallen for that with the girl in the mansion- not this time.
He took a step toward her, then another, keeping a close watch on her as he searched the area around them, rifle always at the ready. "Why're you still here, then? You the one that started this fire?"
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