[ooc] Second Dream
Things Lost:
- All memory of Smoke. Memories of events where Smoke was present are altered so that he's missing but Ghost is still able to remember everything else. If he tries to think too hard about the strange gap in his memories he will begin to flicker.
- All memory of his job at the bar. People and conversations he had at the bar while on duty are retained, but the context of how they occurred is blurry like a faded memory.
- The metal flask Clé made him. (BAWWWW)
His first dream. This second dream makes a lot more sense if you've read the first.
---
There was nothing but him and the bright, burning light.
At first.
Then slowly the terrible brightness began to fade, like the center of a slowly dying flame. The sensation of being surrounded by heat dissipated, morphing from an impossible to describe intenseness--burning, aching, melting--to something much more bearable, like the touch of the sun on a warm summer day. The light against his eyelids dimmed and he opened his eyes.
There were tall, almost identical concrete buildings completely surrounding him. They were giant sized and should have blocked the sun with their bulk. But somehow, against all odds the light found it's way, bouncing off windows and shiny surfaces to illuminate the streets around him. The place was quiet. Not a single car moved in the abandoned neighborhood. A radio was quiet on a windowsill.
He had the strangest sense he'd been here before.
"We’ve been on the streets a long time together."
The voice came from behind. He turned around and a girl--a woman--with shoulder length dark hair, brown eyes and wearing a yellow shirt and short black jacket stared back at him. She looked intimidately familiar and extremely sad.
He knew her. He forgot her.
She nodded, as though she could hear what he was thinking. "I told you, if we're gonna make a difference, then we're gonna have to be a part of something bigger!" She sighed and shook her head. "But you forgot. Now you're not quite Robin Hood, not quite Red Ranger." She smiled. "But you're still Ja--"
Her voice was lost to a fierce wind that suddenly ripped past them, kicking up trash at their feet. He saw that the girl was trying to tell her something but suddenly the city was alive again with noises, as though the wind had brought it to life. The noises became louder. Deafening. He winced, tried to block them out with his hands.
The stomp of feet. The rush of traffic. Shrill alarm sounds, an endless screeching. A cat yowling. Twisting of metal. Sparks of electricity.
The girl in yellow was crying and reaching out to pull his hands away from his ears. He let her, despite the painful ringing in his head, and she grabbed both of his hands. But even as she touched him, he felt himself being pulled backwards, yanked down. He was going to slam into the ground, hard. He heard the sound of a window breaking--and the woman screaming at him as he was pulled out of her grip.
"Brother!"
He shut his eyes and braced himself for an impact. But instead of hitting solid ground he felt...nothing.
Nothing at all.
He tried to open his eyes and found himself standing atop a hill, overlooking a city--the city he'd just stood in. Only it was in ruins. Fires blazed in tall skyscrapers, smoke poured from windows blown out and entire buildings were reduced to rumble. The wail of emergency vehicles rang in the distance. Standing in the middle of this war zone were two giant robots. One of them, sleek with flashing lights, held a giant gun at it's robotic opponent. It's blocky modular form was made from green and blue legs, yellow and pink arms with a red head and chest. It's robotic opponent was a dull green and brown, with long circular tubes that looked like giant snakes. It had fire-red eyes and in one hand it held a building sized wooden shank. As he watched, the green robot tried to stab the other robot repeatedly, aiming for it's red head. The rainbow robot blocked. Together the two of them knocked over another building.
Who was winning?
"No one."
The man appeared out of nowhere to stand at his right side.
No. Not a man. A Dog. He was at least a foot taller than him with a long scale covered canine snout, giant brown eyes, fin like ears and thick long dreadlocks running down his back. He wore thick leather armor with a silver dog's badge upon his chest.
"This isn't a battle." The dog man said. "A battle has a chance of being won. This is a lesson in swordsmanship."
He didn't understand.
The dog growled at him. ""Cadet." There was a sudden blur as the dog pulled out a long metal pole with a crescent blade attached to it on one side and a shovel on the other. "Fight."
He jumped and tried to back away but suddenly there was an impossibly small sheathed pink sword in his right hand. It was half the size of a normal sword with a flower motif and small wheels on one end. He also noticed that his left hand was now decorated with four different colored ribbons; Red, Blue, Green and Pink. The dog had three ribbons on his arm; Black, White and Yellow.
There was no way his sword could beat the giant crescent blade. But even as he thought this he saw the dog growl again, showing him large sharp teeth.
"Your arrogance is blinding. It has you believing that it is the sword that makes the difference, and not the swordsman."
With that the dog swung his giant blade, leaving him no choice but to lift up his tiny weapon.
There was a crash of metal against metal and to his amazement, the crescent blade broke into a thousand pieces as through it were made of glass. Even before the pieces could hit the ground, the entire weapon dissolved into the air. The dog looked pleased.
"Yes. You see now. It is truly the swordsman, and not the sword. Don't you agree....Ghost. "
With that, the dog also faded away, dissolving just like the sword, leaving Ghost clutching the tiny sword. His ribbons danced merrily in the wind but for some reason he couldn't help feeling a deep sense of loss.
Far away, the two robots continued to battle in a stalemate and the sky grew darker and darker.
It began to rain.
- All memory of Smoke. Memories of events where Smoke was present are altered so that he's missing but Ghost is still able to remember everything else. If he tries to think too hard about the strange gap in his memories he will begin to flicker.
- All memory of his job at the bar. People and conversations he had at the bar while on duty are retained, but the context of how they occurred is blurry like a faded memory.
- The metal flask Clé made him. (BAWWWW)
His first dream. This second dream makes a lot more sense if you've read the first.
---
There was nothing but him and the bright, burning light.
At first.
Then slowly the terrible brightness began to fade, like the center of a slowly dying flame. The sensation of being surrounded by heat dissipated, morphing from an impossible to describe intenseness--burning, aching, melting--to something much more bearable, like the touch of the sun on a warm summer day. The light against his eyelids dimmed and he opened his eyes.
There were tall, almost identical concrete buildings completely surrounding him. They were giant sized and should have blocked the sun with their bulk. But somehow, against all odds the light found it's way, bouncing off windows and shiny surfaces to illuminate the streets around him. The place was quiet. Not a single car moved in the abandoned neighborhood. A radio was quiet on a windowsill.
He had the strangest sense he'd been here before.
"We’ve been on the streets a long time together."
The voice came from behind. He turned around and a girl--a woman--with shoulder length dark hair, brown eyes and wearing a yellow shirt and short black jacket stared back at him. She looked intimidately familiar and extremely sad.
He knew her. He forgot her.
She nodded, as though she could hear what he was thinking. "I told you, if we're gonna make a difference, then we're gonna have to be a part of something bigger!" She sighed and shook her head. "But you forgot. Now you're not quite Robin Hood, not quite Red Ranger." She smiled. "But you're still Ja--"
Her voice was lost to a fierce wind that suddenly ripped past them, kicking up trash at their feet. He saw that the girl was trying to tell her something but suddenly the city was alive again with noises, as though the wind had brought it to life. The noises became louder. Deafening. He winced, tried to block them out with his hands.
The stomp of feet. The rush of traffic. Shrill alarm sounds, an endless screeching. A cat yowling. Twisting of metal. Sparks of electricity.
The girl in yellow was crying and reaching out to pull his hands away from his ears. He let her, despite the painful ringing in his head, and she grabbed both of his hands. But even as she touched him, he felt himself being pulled backwards, yanked down. He was going to slam into the ground, hard. He heard the sound of a window breaking--and the woman screaming at him as he was pulled out of her grip.
"Brother!"
He shut his eyes and braced himself for an impact. But instead of hitting solid ground he felt...nothing.
Nothing at all.
He tried to open his eyes and found himself standing atop a hill, overlooking a city--the city he'd just stood in. Only it was in ruins. Fires blazed in tall skyscrapers, smoke poured from windows blown out and entire buildings were reduced to rumble. The wail of emergency vehicles rang in the distance. Standing in the middle of this war zone were two giant robots. One of them, sleek with flashing lights, held a giant gun at it's robotic opponent. It's blocky modular form was made from green and blue legs, yellow and pink arms with a red head and chest. It's robotic opponent was a dull green and brown, with long circular tubes that looked like giant snakes. It had fire-red eyes and in one hand it held a building sized wooden shank. As he watched, the green robot tried to stab the other robot repeatedly, aiming for it's red head. The rainbow robot blocked. Together the two of them knocked over another building.
Who was winning?
"No one."
The man appeared out of nowhere to stand at his right side.
No. Not a man. A Dog. He was at least a foot taller than him with a long scale covered canine snout, giant brown eyes, fin like ears and thick long dreadlocks running down his back. He wore thick leather armor with a silver dog's badge upon his chest.
"This isn't a battle." The dog man said. "A battle has a chance of being won. This is a lesson in swordsmanship."
He didn't understand.
The dog growled at him. ""Cadet." There was a sudden blur as the dog pulled out a long metal pole with a crescent blade attached to it on one side and a shovel on the other. "Fight."
He jumped and tried to back away but suddenly there was an impossibly small sheathed pink sword in his right hand. It was half the size of a normal sword with a flower motif and small wheels on one end. He also noticed that his left hand was now decorated with four different colored ribbons; Red, Blue, Green and Pink. The dog had three ribbons on his arm; Black, White and Yellow.
There was no way his sword could beat the giant crescent blade. But even as he thought this he saw the dog growl again, showing him large sharp teeth.
"Your arrogance is blinding. It has you believing that it is the sword that makes the difference, and not the swordsman."
With that the dog swung his giant blade, leaving him no choice but to lift up his tiny weapon.
There was a crash of metal against metal and to his amazement, the crescent blade broke into a thousand pieces as through it were made of glass. Even before the pieces could hit the ground, the entire weapon dissolved into the air. The dog looked pleased.
"Yes. You see now. It is truly the swordsman, and not the sword. Don't you agree....Ghost. "
With that, the dog also faded away, dissolving just like the sword, leaving Ghost clutching the tiny sword. His ribbons danced merrily in the wind but for some reason he couldn't help feeling a deep sense of loss.
Far away, the two robots continued to battle in a stalemate and the sky grew darker and darker.
It began to rain.