[action 004] In dreams, in nightmares

[nekophobic]

[The first thing you'll notice is the fire. It's burning everywhere, hot - getting hotter and hotter - it's everywhere, all around you. There's people screaming too, somewhere out there, there's a lot of screaming, shouting, and as much as the air reeks of burning, desperation is a dark blanket over everything

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[pharles_at_life]

[ Presea likes fire - as a smith, she works with it almost daily. Fire is powerful and beautiful and courts respect. But this isn't the kind of fire you can trust. This is the fire of too-much and too-strong and getting out before it eats you. This isn't fire as a tool; it is wildfire. She feels Gil's urgency but she doesn't know what she's looking for, which is probably why she almost collides with him when she turns the corner. ]

[nekophobic]

[Gil ends up on his ass. He's small again, small enough that the sword almost cuts him rather than missing him, and he's shifting it in his hands, using it to try to stand up again.]

I have to hurry!

[pharles_at_life]

You need to get out of here! And be careful with that sword! [ She doesn't like the way he's using it so she offers a hand to help him up. ]

[nekophobic]

[Gil shakes his head and grips the sword tighter, standing up and finding his balance again.]

I have to find him!

[knaveswitness]

[The first thing Break notices is that he can see. This is a nightmare- but in dreams, he still sees. He wasn't born blind, after all- he still remembers how.

But this...

It's going to be a curse. He knows for sure because he recognizes this architecture in brief flashes of drawings and accounts, and he knows he recognizes that child.

Gilbert... ? Break stands back, back in the shadows.

Watching the flames. (Remembering how this goes.)]

[nekophobic]

[Gil's running past him. Still searching. It's a nightmare, and Break just looks like another shadow to him, another body maybe - but that's not what this is about.

He's got to find Master Jack. He has to find him before something goes more wrong than this.]

[knaveswitness]

[There's a part of him that sees that, and wants to help. A part of him that he tends to ignore- that tells him to help the people he cares about, tells him to care about them in the first place.

... But this is an opportunity he may not get again. As confused as this nightmare is, it's still part of the answer he's looking for.

... and Break only follows, intent on observing the truth as far as Gil knows it. The other emotions- are for later.]

[nekophobic]

[He's still running. More and more bodies, and Gil's getting more and more frantic.

He doesn't know where Jack's gone, he only knows he has to get to Master....]

Master Jack!

[existais]

[He's walking around and tugging at his collar- it's too hot, and he doesn't understand where he is. As he's walking along, a small child runs by him. It's so quick he almost thinks it's a memory - he wouldn't forget that face anywhere. He whirls around and reaches out]

Gil-!

[nekophobic]

[His name makes him turn around, makes him stop for a moment because it might be Master Jack - and then the hand's on his arm and he spins slightly, off-balanced by that touch.

Familiar.

That's all he thinks when he looks up into those eyes. So familiar.]

Master?

[existais]

In a place like this...what are you doing?

[Shouldn't be surprised to see Gil so small. This City is really too much...]

Come on, Gil. Let's go home.

[nekophobic]

But. This place - I have to...

[If his Master's here, then why is he still running?]

[topaintroses]

[ Lost. Lost, she's lost in memories she doesn't remember. She feels it, knows it, but it's as foreign to her as the cold edge of a knife against her skin. It's burning, and she knows in her gut that something terrible has happened.

She sees him - Gil, and she darts forward - why is he so young? ]

Oi, Raven!

[nekophobic]

[He doesn't recognise the name. He does, except not really, and he speeds past her, barely looking in her direction.

He's got somewhere to be and someone to find.]

[topaintroses]

[ Surprised, Alice gives chase, annoyed and confused at being so thoroughly ignored. (and why is he still a kid?)

She darts forward, and she knows she should be terrified. something very wrong happened here, something that had stretched so far, beyond all of them.

Snagging his sleeve, she tries again, louder this time. ] Hey!

[nekophobic]

[Gil trips over as he feels his sleeve being snatched, and he falls, turning over to look at her with wide eyes.]

Alice...?

Hope you don't mind!

[bill_to_sis]

[Her eyes were stinging from the dry heat of the flames and her breath was nearly gone as she stumbled through the house. This was a nightmare, the worst kind of nightmare she could have if she dreamed at all. So dry there wasn't a drop of moisture left in the walls.]

Damn exit. It has to be around here somewhere!

[Logic dictated it so. Coughing, April reached for the door handle to another room and another corridor, hoping this one would lead her outside and then, if there's any spare booze around, she'll show this fire what it meant to mess with April!]

[nekophobic]

[He dashes past her, pushing past with barely a glance in her direction. He's still rushing, still hurrying, still trying to get places even if it means he's running towards the center of the blaze and not away from it.]

[bill_to_sis]

[stares after him for a second before rushing after him.]

Hey! You're asking for death going in there!

[She coughs again, her mind racing to calculate just how much damage she'd received from smoke inhalation and how much longer she could realistically hold out. Just a little longer perhaps before she'd have to turn back.]

[nekophobic]

[He hears someone behind him, turns to look at the person, obviously confused - and he shakes his head.]

I have to! You have to leave. This whole place...