Day Trippin'

[doulou]

John stepped into the Dream. Almost immediately he had the urge to return to his own body. He knew that time flowed differently here, and his day today was packed full of commitments. That and he was still uncomfortable with how closely this felt like a chemically induced vision. That was what scared him the most.

He was in Moscow. Still in his loft. Al told him that he step into the Dream from anywhere on earth to anywhere in the Dream, but John still always began in the Dream right where he was on earth. Then he had to 'shift' to where he wanted to go. He had so much to learn. Unfortunately, his apprehension of how much the Dream reminded him of his past hampered his ability to learn this place properly.

He 'shifted' to the MSU Library, to the Red Square, and then back to the library. Then he started to wander the campus. Aimlessly and without purpose or direction.

John needed a teacher. Like that was going to be likely. "Um, I have no fucking idea how to develop my skills here, and I don't know anyone in Moscow that I can ask 'Ever have an outer body experience? Can you show me how to control it?'" Yup. That felt stupid. John shook his head calling himself all kinds of a dumb-ass. Shouting out to nobody in an empty Dream.

John 'shifted' back into his loft, and them stepped out of the Dream. Maybe he killed enough time so he could go see his realtor and collect his shipment from Texas.

[Jon Little Bird]

NPC: Bear

Bear took his wolf-form in the Spirit World, a hulking, monstrous beast with thick fur white as snow, and trotted around the University campus green. The image he projected of a powerful and fierce animal one lunge away from tearing out a man's throat was, of course, somewhat misleading to his true nature. In truth, his physical size was tempered with a kind and gentle touch. His wolf-brothers certainly did not call him Bear-Who-Runs-On-Ice because he charged through life with a heavy hand - or paw. But that didn't mean he didn't have real strength to draw on if necessary.

He shifted from lawn to lawn, circling the campus. Bear had news for Jon Little Bird, and hoped his friend would show soon. It was unlike him to be overdue for a meeting. Something must have held him up. Keeping meeting times right wasn't an exact science in this place, what with differing time zones and the inability to send to one another if there was a delay, complicated further by the fact that time just didn't correlate between the Spirit World and the waking world in any way that made sense. One day, an hour here could be two there, and the next day it would be the opposite. Delays and missed meetings happened, and often for that reason, and perhaps that was the case tonight. If Jon didn't show, Bear would just seek out his dreams and send him a message through those means.

Bear sat down and rolled in the grass. That felt nice. He hated being in the city, even in this place where people were few and far between, and often vanished within moments. There was so much cold, hard and emotionless concrete and asphalt. It was not a place of a wild thing. Nothing to hunt, and his wolf brothers never came near any places like this as reflected in the Spirit World. He sent out his thoughts to see if any were around, and got nothing but silence in response. That was to be expected. Rather than waste his time here, he should go find some of them and see if they had any news for him. There had been rumors of others showing in the Spirit World, and after all that he had seen and heard -- Jon bringing him Nimeda, for instance -- Bear believed them. The wolves whispered that things of old were waking again, here and in the waking world.

Bear sat back up on his haunches. He sniffed the air, sent his mind out for any trace of Jon. Nothing. If Jon didn't show soon, Bear decided, he would call it a night and go seek his wolf brothers. For lack of anything better to do, he threw back his head and howled, sending out a clear, deep note across the reflection of the University campus.

[doulou]

"Well ain't this a bitch?", John thought to himself. waking up in the Dream because he let his thoughts wander while drifting to sleep. He considered returning to his body to get some real rest, but he decided to take a quick jaunt around the University first. So he dragged his butt out of bed, and shifted from his loft to the campus.

John was a Grey Wolf here, common in North America, North Africa and Eurasia so as not to cause too much commotion should he encounter anything undesirable. The silence was deafening. In Texas there were always so many wild animals that the Dream was never this quiet. At least not unless a predator was there.

A scent... Something that didn't seem to belong here in Moscow. Of course John didn't belong here either. A howl burst through the silence. John knew that he should leave, like fucking now. He couldn't flee though. This was the first time he had seen or heard anything in the Dream since arriving in Moscow. So he shifted to where the new arrival was located.

Now John reconsidered his rash behavior. Standing before him was a wolf. A snow white creature that towered over John. John smiled. All of a sudden he remember the professor in Whitley Scrieber's book, The Wulfen. As he approached the creature he put of his scent, and silently wondered if he too, like the professor, was about to die. 'Allies. You must go to Moscow and seek allies.' Al was such a cryptic asshole sometimes.

[Jon Little Bird]

NPC: Bear

Bear tilted his head forward in surprise and curiosity as the gray wolf appeared before him. He raised himself to all four legs and his eyes narrowed -- he didn't recognize this one. The wolf had not sent his presence before appearing, had not made connection with Bear, and that was just not how things were done. Wolves sought each other out in the Spirit World, but they didn't just pounce upon one another. This was some trick, perhaps of a waking nightmare or perhaps someone intent on doing harm -- a demon in wolf's clothing, perhaps. Bear growled and prepared to lunge at the first sign of evil intent.

Instead he was assaulted by a clumsy sending from the other wolf. A healthy imprint of the other's scent, some fear and apprehension perhaps, overwhelmed by curiosity. But one thing in the scent cut through everything -- this wolf was also not a wolf, much like Bear himself. He had that familiar stink of man, the same kind of smell that Bear first noticed around himself every time he woke from the Spirit World.

Clearly this young pup was new to experiencing his dream in the Spirit World as a wolf. It was well he'd thought to bare his scent, even as clumsy-pawed as he'd done, else Bear might just have attacked. He relaxed his rigid stance and allowed his own scent, tinged with a hint of mirth, to send outward toward the other wolf. You are a brave and foolhardy pup indeed,
he sent. In the language of the wolves -- if it could be called that -- It wasn't spoken words but a blend of images and scents that came through the sending. Bear's message to the strange wolf came out more as an impression of a mewling cub bolting out from the den, so excited to go take his first crap in the woods outside he had no head for the dangers that could befall him. Do you even know where you are?



Edited by Jon Little Bird, Sep 30 2013, 03:32 AM.

[doulou]

The huge wolf smelled amused. If he wasn't a wolf, John would have expected to have seen him rolling on the floor laughing. John didn't think that he could be that much of a novelty.

Bear-Who-Runs-On-Ice, that was the wolf's name. He had presence here that John had only encountered once. The first wolf he talked to, some 10 years ago, Chases-Snakes-Through-The-High-Grass. He was killed in the Dream. It was one of the most horrifying experiences in John's life.

John sent out the image of Chases-Snakes-Through-The-High-Grass. He projected the scene where 'something' came out of nowhere and chased John. Whatever that 'something' was, it was obviously hunting John. Chases-Snakes-Through-High-Grass went bat-shit crazy. He attacked the creature with both the desperation of a drowning man and the savagery of a bitch protecting her cubs. The wolf never once relented, even when it was obviously mortally wounded. The creature was destroyed, but Chases-Snakes-Through-The-High-Grass lay dying. There was no remorse in the wolf, he did what was necessary, what was expected. John was baffled. When the wolf died next to him, John howled. He howled until he thought his lungs would explode. When his voice finally broke, he heard the baying of what had to be a thousand wolves. A dirge sadder than anything he had ever heard before.

He was my teacher, John sent to Bear-Who-Runs-On-Ice. The memory put tears in John's eyes. "I am in the Dream. The real question here, is do I understand what this place is. The answer is 'no'. I have vague ideas and no answers."




Edited by doulou, Sep 30 2013, 08:06 PM.

[Jon Little Bird]

NPC: Bear

Bear caught the image projected by the young cub, and an echo of sorrow from the pup reverberated within him. Yes, he'd been familiar with Chaser. The wolves still howled in remembrance of his soul. Lost forever, so they claimed. Death in the Spirit World was forever to one of them, though the why wasn't anything Bear really understood. If a soul died here, would it not be as if it died in the waking world, set free to be born again?

Bear cocked his head at the pup's answer. Claiming he knew the real question -- no, he did not understand the question put forth to him, which gave Bear all the answer he needed. You may call this place the Dream, but it is not what you think it is if you call it that,
he sent. You truly know nothing.


Bear shook his mane. This place is the Spirit World. It is a reflection of our own world, and while you may believe yourself to be dreaming here, young crapper, there is a part of you that really exists here.
He cocked his head toward a building off to the left, where an image of a man suddenly appeared, falling toward the ground. In an instant, the man disappeared, mere feet from the unforgiving concrete.

That man, in his dream, merely brushed against the Spirit World,
Bear sent to the young cub. Had he hit the ground, depending on how strongly he brushed this world, he might have awaken with bruises, or perhaps never woken again at all.


He focused his eyes upon the young cub. You have not brushed against this world. You have entered it fully in spirit. What happens to you here is real in the waking world, do you understand that, young crapper?

[doulou]

John was surprised that Bear knew of Chases-Snakes-Trough-The-High-Grass. Surprised and pleased. He did not really understand spatial differences here as you could travel around the world in the blink of an eye.
Time was not the same here as it was in the waking world.

I was taught that this is the Dream World. Not a dream, but THE Dream. It is the world of the wolf. The only thing that I know here is that when a wolf or a wolf-brother dies here, they die the final death.
John showed Bear his front left leg. There where the words 'wicked and faithless slave' were branded in Koine Greek. I received this during a vision while I was here on the day I met Chases.


John knew that he was giving off so many different scents that Bear might not know if John was sane. Relief at finding someone here at last, amused at the name 'little crapper', surprised at the apparent worry Bear had for John's safety, stoic in his remembrance of receiving his brand, and a sense of being overwhelmed of the memory of Chases death.

I must return to the waking world soon. I must meet a friend who might aid me in hunting the 'monsters' that are now loose in the waking world. You are right, here I am a pup barely weaned. I wander the University most nights, and I would like to learn more about the Spirit World. Will you help me?



Edited by doulou, Oct 1 2013, 10:53 PM.

[Jon Little Bird]

NPC: Bear

Bear had no idea what the branding on the young wolf's paw meant, but apparently it held some deep meaning to him. He stooped his furry head in acknowledgement of that fact.

The young pup spat out labels like he understood what they meant -- wolf-brother, Dream World, death...did he really not understand that names meant so little? Labels did not define the place, or the person, or the wolf. All these things simply were.

You wear your brands as if they were chains,
he sent to the young pup. A chained wolf is no wolf.


Bear gathered himself, considering the young pup again. Very well, should I see you here again I will teach you. Your first lesson is how to wake.


Bear sprung from his crouched position and sprung his jaws open, reaching for the young pup's throat.

[doulou]

John snapped wake with a start. Smart-ass wolf. That's not how to wake. That is how to wake someone else.


Continued in http://w11.zetaboards.com/TheFirstAge/topic/9159466/2/


Edited by doulou, Oct 5 2013, 06:27 PM.

[doulou]

Power. The Dream is power.
The lights came on, with all the bells and whistles. He wasn't sure just how it came to him. Either insight or epiphany. But he realized that he if the Dream was connected to everything, then he should be able to go there. Like for real.

Every time John entered the Dream, he entered at the place he fell asleep. Was that it? Similarity? He formed the Dream around his conception of the real world. So what if he formed his conception of the real world around the reality of the Dream?

What the fuck? What could it hurt?
John took step forward... and fell on his ass. He was in the World of Dreams. He was really fucking there. Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, John shifted.

John found himself standing on roughly the spot where the Egyptian vessel was discovered. On the water in the middle of The Gulf of Mexico. How fucking kewl is this?
John shifted again, and this time he was standing in the middle of the wreckage on the ocean floor.

John, feeling self-justified, took in a deep breath and tried to savor the moment. The sea water rushed into his lungs. FUCKING IDIOT!
His lungs were on fire. John visualized the water as being as breathable as air, and at the same time he shifted to dry land.

That was stupid.
John chastised himself for his rashness. No wonder Bear referred to him as 'young crapper'.
John was a dumb-shit.

John returned to the wreckage, and began investigating the ship. He looked at the hold and stopped cold. Along with the hieroglyphics that were written in various places, John found a stone tablet with Greek writing on it. The Greek languages was supposed to only be a little over 3000 years old but this vessel was clearly scaring the hell out of 5000 years. What the fuck was going on?




Έρχεται. Το ένα προείπε της από Άτροπος. Το αντιτορπιλικό. Η αναίμακτη κατακτητή, ο οποίος δεν θα κατακτήσει με στρατούς και μηχανές του πολέμου, αλλά και με χρυσό και πονηριά. Θα σημάνει την αρχή του τέλους. Θα πρέπει να επισημαίνονται με το σκοτωμένο ζώο, και ο κόσμος θα καταρρεύσει με τον ερχομό του. Απολλύων έρχεται. Φύγετε πριν από την επιστροφή των νεκρών θεών.

He is coming. The one foretold of by Atropos. The Destroyer. The bloodless conqueror, who will conquer not with armies and machines of war, but with gold and guile. He will herald the beginning of the end. He will be marked with the slain beast, and the world will crumble with his coming. Apollyon comes. Flee before the return of the dead gods.



John sat down on the ocean floor to collect his thoughts.



Edited by doulou, Oct 7 2013, 11:07 PM.