“This is Dreamland,” said Daniel. “Anything can happen.”
The RRR* of your dreams continues from Part One.
*Round Robin ‘Riting
Patience, Please
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RRR 2007.6 Dreamland – Part Two
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Coooool . . . I like the quote. It sounds a lot more profound when it’s out of context.
Anyhow, short summary and character descriptions in a moment.
Here is a list of powers and their characters, also where the characters live and what they look like.
Flight – I’satta
Invisibility – Clara
Underwater Breathing – Nicholas
“Phasing” – Perla
Psychokinesis – Kay
Some small suburban town, maybe? – Perla
Chicago – Nicholas
San Francisco – Kay
Liberia – I’satta
Eureka, Missouri – Clara
Paris – Daniel
I’satta – African-dark skin; deep brown eyes; African hair in multiple braids and cornrows, just past shoulders; about 5’3″/16
Clara – Extremely fair skin; bright blue eyes; hair so blonde it’s almost white, dead straight, mid-back length; about 5’1″/14
Nicholas – Tan-ish skin; nondescript brown eyes and hair; hair slightly long-ish, just past ear-lobes in front; about 5’9″/15
Perla – Red hair in short braids, turned-up nose, cheerful green eyes/11
Kay – Pale, mid-length black/dark brown hair and grayish eyes, really skinny, about 5’5″ or 5’6″/14
Daniel – /13
And here is a summary:
Kay, Perla, I’satta, Nicholas, and Clara all meet in a dream, and also in the dream they meet Daniel, who wears purple armor and has a magic sword. He explains to them that they are Dreamers, or, in other words, they’re in comas and stuck in Dreamland. Daniel himself is in a coma (from being hit by a car) and stuck in Dreamland. Nightmares then take over the dream that they are in, and when Daniel tries to get them to a place where they can talk safely, they get separated. Perla, Nicholas, Clara, and Daniel are in a dream that appears to be an abstract painting, and I’satta and Kay are also in a painting, but not an abstract one. Kay wakes up, and I’satta continues alone.
that;s all very well for a short summary, but this has more information:
Daniel was hit two years ago, but his parents love him too much to stop the life support. In those two years, he has picked up various bits of information, such as the dreamers, (people like Daniel, in comas. Our five main characters are Elucidates, which means they can have the same dream as the dreamers, but they have powers in it, and they can live other lives at the same time) but he doesn’t really know much. He has a vague idea that the Dream Barriers are breaking down, and something bad will happen when they do, but not much more than that.
When the Dream Barriers break down, everyone but the dreamers and the Elucidates will ever dream again, and they’ll have everyone’s dreams, not just their own. And they will be impossible to awaken. And since there are only five of the Elucidates and not many dreamers, it’ll be way too intense for them, and they’ll slowly die. When that happens, dreams will be lost forever, to everyone, and all magic will fall out of the world, and there will be no more art, or poetry, or literature, and without these essential things, the whole world will die.
Now, the last few posts from this thread:
I’satta, back in Dreamland, panicked. What should she do?! She had to find the others, and quick. She set off at as brisk a pace as she could across the cold, wet, far-too-green grass.
After traveling not too much of a distance, she came across what looked to be a footprint in the painted grass. Sure enough, it was, but it only had three toes, and very long toes, at that. Whatever had made this footprint had to have been huge. A little apprehensively, and fully alert, I’satta followed the trail of footprints along a nearby muddy path. It occurred to her that the thing she was following was probably somebody else’s Nightmare. But what else could she do? She was alone, lost in Dreamland.
“They aren’t here?” Daniel looked around. There was Perla, in her candy-cane-striped pajamas; Clara, who seemed to have regained control but still looked like she wanted to wake up; Nicholas, his hair still the same odd hue of the river; but Kay and I’satta. How could he have missed it?
I hope the newbies had enough courage to read the whole thing . . .
the old therd is still on the rember these therds.
I’m going to be gone for the weekend, and I will have no access to a computer while I am gone. I may get on tomorrow morning, but if I do it won’t be for long.
‘Bye!
~Alice
Ok, question: have we found any actual Dreamers, except for Daniel?
And someone else had to write the next part. Writer’s block, right here.
5- No we haven’t.
Let’s see if I can write this bit in the next three minutes before we leave.
~~~~
“Does anyone know when they vanished?” he asked urgently.
No one spoke. Perla looked at Clara and Clara looked Nicholas, and then Perla also looked at Nicholas. So did Daniel. Nicholas didn’t care to be the center of attention.
“No,” he said. “I only just noticed.”
Daniel looked very worried indeed. “This is very bad,” he told them.
“So we gathered,” said Nicholas.
“Really, really, bad,” repeated Daniel.
“Yes,” said Clara.
“Catastrophic, even.”
“So what are you going to do about it?” prompted Perla.
“That’s the thing: I don’t know.” Daniel looked miserable. “Look,” he said. “This has never happened before. It’s been hard enough trying to keep myself safe, and this is nearly impossible. And when we tried to wake up–that wasn’t supposed to happen. It didn’t happen before.
~~~~
Okay, so now I have to leave. ‘Bye, and I hope that helped with your wb!
ayayaya…I’m finally back…phew! Camp after camp…it’s been two weeks…now I have to read this whole thing…*groans*
ditto
Well, this has been active.
This sounds really interesting. I read the summaries but not the recent story-posts. I had one question: How do the Elucidates live other lives while they’re dreaming, if they’re in comas in the real world? Also, I’m guessing this will be figured out later in the story, but how did they get to be Elucidates instead of regular Dreamers?
10-I would answer your question, but I wasn’t there when they came up with that, so I’m not quite sure…
10- They aren’t in comas. They just have some magic power or something. And they don’t live other lives and dream at the same time, but they can dream without being in a coma.
11- Well, there had to be two types of people in Dreamland, Daniel and our other characters, and a man called Perla an “Elucidate” in the first draft before we gave up. It was too good of a word to waste.
12-Ah…it all makes sense, now…”elucidate” means: to make lucid or clear; throw light upon; explain…hm…
thats a cool word
When i created perla i so did not imagine her that way. In my mind she had a small turned up nose, large pink lips, light skin, and full chocolate hair. She sounds cool here, though too.
“Perhaps they woke up,” Clara suggested hopefully.
Daniel made as if to protest, but a strange thoughtful expression crossed his face and he said, “Perhaps they did.”
Perla shook her head like a dog drying off. “What is that noise?” she asked.
“What noise?” said Nicholas, Clara, and Daniel in unison.
“That one,” said Perla. “It’s–” But she would never finish that sentence, because at that moment she disappeared.
~~~~
“Perla, honey, are you feeling any better?” asked her mother. “Your brother sent a letter, would you like to read it?”
“Did he send any pictures?” Perla wondered.
“Yes, lots!” said her mother, clearly taking this question as evidence that Perla enjoyed the pictures.
“No,” said Perla stubbornly. “I would not like to read it. I have a headache, and I want to go back to sleep.”
“Alright dear,” her mother said, hardly noticing her daughter’s anger. “They’re very nice ones; I hope you can appreciate them a little more later.” She kissed Perla on her hot flushed cheek, and left the room. Perla burst into quiet tears.
Perla had to be homeschooled because of her frequent illnesses, but her twin brother Andreck had won a children’s scholarship last year, and had consequently been sent away to a boarding school in Spain. Now he was wowing his Spanish teachers –and his mother – with “miraculous” abstract paintings, while Perle languished at home.
16- poor Perla.
17- I know. I was just trying to incorporate some of Biblio’s ideas for Perla. It’s not my fault, I swear!
OK. Compilation (hope I get it all)
PROLOGUE
Daniel was happy. School was out in Paris, and he had gotten tens in every subject exept music. Was it his fault that the reed of his clarinet kept falling out?
As he took a step forward, there was a suddent drop. As he fell, he looked down to see that in his bliss, he had steeped completely past the curb. There was a loud beep, and the last thing he saw was a speeding Porshe a few feet in front of him.
He was rushed to the hospital, where it was determinied that he was in a coma.
His mind swam with dreams. He cowered behind a bush. They were trying to get him. A huge sharklike being strode by saying, “That hellish creature must be destroyed. His kind causes nothing but trouble.”
Daniel knew that somehow he had gone to another planet, and that other humans had been before him. The religious group that the planet’s inhabitants were believed that all humans in their world must be crushed.
Daniel ran, and as he ran, he tripped over an old book. The book told of previous humans who had entered the otherworld. Fascinated, Daniel forgot to look out for the soldeirs.
“There you are scum!” growled the captain. “To the pit of rainbow with you!”
The pit of rainbow was a long, wide shaft of colors that changed along the walls until they reached black. No more could be seen.
A guard rode him out on a hovercraft. “May you fall forever,” it hissed. And Daniel was pushed down.
He fell slowly down the long tube of colors. Many discarded items floated past.
As the colors grew darker, he began to lose hope. But as he reached the black zone, something caught his eye.
A shimmering purple glowing sword floated in front of him. Instictively, he grabbed it. He found himself holding a silver sheild in one hand and wearing a suit of mail armor. He stopped falling.
In amazement, he swished the sword in the air. It made contact with something. The next thing he knew, a massive explosion was propelling him upward. The gaurd was still flying on his hovercraft when he saw this. He reached for a wicked looking pistol at his side, but Daniel quickly lashed out, but he somehow willed the sword not to explode. Instead, the guard just was knocked to the depths.
He had to get away. He flew the hovercraft for many miles, over land and sea. He finally settled in a land of purple and green.
DREAMLAND RRR
I’satta woke up, gasping for breath and soaked in an icy sweat. She shivered, despite the hot winds of the Liberian plains that scraped across her body. She’d had that dream again, the one that had come to her every night since she’d been sold into slavery, the one in which she soared over grassy fields and cloud-covered mountains…at least, she soared until she got to the chasm…the deep, dark, mysterious chasm over which she was unable to soar…the chasm into which she always fell. Down, down, down into it’s ever-blackening depths. And then, she would wake, shaking and scared to no end. Every night, again and again, this was how it went.
She got up and stepped out of the hut for a breath of fresh air.
***
Kay reached out blindly, searching for a wall. She found it, barely a foot away from her face. Slowly, keeping her hand on the wall, she turned. A corner, another wall (also only a foot away), then an abrupt ending. She went the other way, found the same thing. So. She was in a sort of three sided box.
Gingerly, she felt around with her foot, looking for a surface outside the box. No such luck. She turned back to the first wall, reaching up, searcing for something, anything, that could indicate a way out, but the wall went up past the point that she could reach.
She was trapped, then.
Which meant she was dreaming.
As usual, upon finding that she was dreaming, the dream shifted. Now she stood on an earthy substance, and could feel a breeze, hear birds. Cautiously, she stepped forward, hands out in front of her so she wouldn’t walk into anything.
A creaking sound caught Kay’s attention and she paused, trying to figure out where it had come from. Then a tremor passed through the ground.
A swooping sensation in her stomach and the sudden abscense of solid ground were more than enough to almost give her a heart attack. However, she landed quickly enough and stood up, shaken but unhurt.
Kay noticed, with mixed feelings, that she could see now. The walls of the cavern she had fallen into were violently hot pink, splotched with a nasty green color.
And there were about a hundred orange bats hanging from the walls.
Kay blinked. The transition from all black to neon color was rather startling. Then she noticed a disturbance in the sleeping bats. They shifted aside, parting for a streak of blackness that rolled through them. It was shapeless, except for a gaping mouth lined with crooked fangs. It headed straight for her, snarling.
Kay found herself rooted to the ground unable to move. The creature closed in, and she screamed.
Kay sat up in bed, gasping, and hit her head on the ceiling. She scowled. Such was life on the top of a bunk bed. She sank back down to her elbows, breathing hard. Cold sweat dripped slowly down her forehead.
She listened to her little sister’s even breathing for a moment, then rolled over and faced the wall. If she hadn’t woken her sister, than it was still fairly late. She closed her eyes, and sank back into a dreamless sleep.
***
Nicholas was falling. He had this dream quite often, but it never got any less scary. He didn’t mind the falling part, but when he looked down- and he always looked down, he couldn’t help himself- he saw the icy water below, and knew it would receive him and crush his bones. He always woke up before he hit the water. Up until now, that is.
Just before he struck the surface, the rushing currents consolidated into a massive whirlpool. He fell into it, the enormous power of the water spinning him around like a top and sucking him down into the depths. He struggled for breath, but there was no air to breathe, and water gushed into his windpipe.
Whereupon, he found he could breathe perfectly well.
He sank towards the bottom of the ocean peacefully, inhaling and exhaling as though he was in open air. Just before the water reached his lungs, it seemed to fizz (a sensation that tickled his larynx) and become gaseous. When he exhaled, the gases he breathed out became water.
So this is how fish feel all the time, was his last thought before he woke up.
***
Clara was walking through a crowd. Something was happening in the middle of the crush of people, and she couldn’t see what it was. No one was taking any notice of her, though she hollered at the top of her voice, “Let me through!” She knew that something important was going on, and she knew that she was needed, but no one heard her, or saw her. She screamed at them, and pushed, but more people appeared, making the mass tighter, and she still couldn’t get through. She yelled at the top of her voice but no one heard . . .
“Jeez, Clara,” said her older sister, from across the room. “Keep it down, can’t you?”
Clara said nothing, but inwardly she thanked Maria for waking her up.
***
Perla waited. She did not know who or what she was waiting for, but she waited. In front of her lay a brick wall. Perla sighed, she knew she was dreaming, but she didn’t understand the dream. What was she supposed to do? Why was she presenting herself with this wall? What was it for? What annoyed her most was how often the dream had emerged.
“Child…”A voice shuddered.
“Who’s there?”asked Perla, unafraid.this is weird she thought to herself.this has never happened before.
the wall began to pulse and beat rhythmically, as if breathing.
“you dare to disturb me child?”the voice raised it’s volume. “why are you here?!?”the voice roared.
“I-I’m sorry…”Perla responded timidly.
A head burst through the bricks, not fully complete, with flesh and skull exposed. The lower jaw was missing, which left the only the teeth on top.
Perla screamed at the wall as it roared. An arm, skin peeling from it, reached toward her. Claws protruded from where the finger-nails would be. The sharp nails ripped through clothes, skin, flesh, and bone. The sensation was unbearable.
“Perla!”A voice shouted.
“What?”Perla yelled in response. She sat up, stiff as a board, looked around, and saw her mother beside her bed.
“You were having a nightmare, relax.”
“Thanks, mom.”
Perla lay back down, but stayed awake for the remainder of the night, fearing sleep.
I’satta breathed deeply, noticing the dryness of in her throat. That horrible dream, The Dream, was a constant reminder of how far away from home she was. Wishing for the millionth time since her capture that she could be with her mother again, she dried her eyes with her wrist and went back inside the hut. The day would be long and hard, and she needed all the sleep she could get. Lying back down on the pile of rags she called a bed, she closed her eyes and tried to will herself back to sleep.
Perla grumbled to herself as the alarm clock went off. Even though she was homeschooled, her mom wouldn’t let her sleep in. Granted, other kids got up about an hour before she did, but still…
She got up and stumbled into the bathroom. She looked in the mirror, and saw herself looking back. That was comforting, knowing that, although the nightmare she kept having seemed so real, it wasn’t, and she was still herself.
After showering and getting dressed, Perla went into the kitchen to eat breakfast.
“I want you to do a special assignment today.” her mom said. “Go out and find some red brick, and then I’ll tell you the rest of the project.”
When she was done eating, Perla went outside to find some red brick. Seeing as her house was covered in vinyl siding, this meant that she would have to really look, a bit. She decided to take a little walk through her neighborhood. On her walk, she noticed a little path that she hadn’t noticed before leading into a patch of woods. Intrigued, she followed it. What she saw there shocked her. It was a wall, made of red brick. The wall from her dream.
Her first instinct was to jump back with a stifled scream. Then, as her mind took control of the situation, she took a deep breath and stepped a little closer. She hesitantly put two fingers up to touch the surface, when she remembered that she had seen the wall before. When she was really little, her best friend, Cissy, had lived on the other side of it. She had never seen it from this side before, which was why it seemed so strange. But she was relieved enough to smile at it, glad that it had not come straight out of her nightmare, that her mind had taken it from her memories so deep down that her conscious mind had forgotten. She snatched a piece of red brick from a crumbling spot in the wall and ran back down the path, laughing.
The kitchen was empty, the clock above the refrigerator reading 4:32. Much too early for anyone to be up, but Nicholas couldn’t get back to sleep after his strange dream. It hadn’t been nightmarish, just . . . strange. He opened the fridge and stared dismally at the contents. Half a quart of milk, which he didn’t like anyways, yesterday’s left over pasta salad, some melting ice cream which his mother must have meant to put in the freezer – ah well. It was too early to be hungry anyway. Perhaps he should just try to go back to sleep.
***
Clara hated mornings. She was not a morning person. To do anything before nine o’ clock went against her nature. Unfortunately, the farm that she lived on was miles away from school, which forced her to get up before six merely so that she could eat something before the bus came.
Every morning Clara tinkered on the edge of falling asleep. “G-good morning mom…”Clara Yawned. Clara looked at her watch. “4:32?”Clara mumbled, her eyes half closed. Clara stumbled over to the sink, splashed some water on her face, and realized it wasn’t her house. She was on an Island, all alone. There was not even a bed or anything she had seen 5 minutes ago.”What?”said Clara, now fully awake. She looked around, and a small salty breeze flew up to greet her. Clara’s feet hit a small rock on the humungous rock that was her Island. She started to fall. She realized at that point that she was a lot higher up then she thought. She screamed.
“Falling towards icy water, hundreds of feet high…”Clara spat “where have I seen this before?” Clara hit the surface of the water with deafening impact. Her spine seemed to shatter. with no air Clara thought I’ll die for sure.
Everything began to fade away as the figure of a boy came towards her gliding as though he was a bird on air. Clara felt strong hands pulling her to the surface, then fainted.
***
And fall asleep I’satta did, only to find herself in that same nightmare again. She flew and flew, until she got to the chasm, where she began to fall, down, down, down…and then, up? It seemed that, this time, she could control what happened when she was…well, in flight.
She drifted down towards the water at the bottom of the chasm, curious as to what lie there. She peered closely at the surface of the river, trying to gage its depth. Suddenly, out of the water flew a boy, holding a girl who appeared to have fainted! I’satta shot away from the surface, startled but wondering.
The boy seemed not to have seen her. He dragged the girl to the river bank and peered at her. He bent over and put his ear to her mouth, listening for breath. He sat up. She must be ok., I’satta thought. The boy’s eyes (he had such strange eyes) held compassion and knowledge, and yet, they showed wonder, too, and a look similar to that in her own. She drifted a little closer.
“Hello!” she called out. He turned.
Nicholas spun about at the sound of a girl’s voice behind him. She was…floating, or so it appeared. He studied her face. No hostility, simply…concern, and yet, a touch of curiosity. Someone like this did not belong in his dreams. No one else belonged in his dreams at all. There was never anyone else in his dreams.
***
Kay awoke the next morning with only a vague feeling discomfort to remind her of the horror she had felt the night before. Clumsily, she climbed out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. Kay yawned and brushed back her bangs, then looked in the mirror. Seeing her reflection briefly reminded her of the nightmare she had had, the bags under her eyes making her look as though she hadn’t slept a wink. Sighing, Kay got ready for school, had breakfast, and headed out the door.
***
“Who are you?” the boy asked, looking up. His hair was a strange color, the same rippled greeny-gray of the river.
“My name is I’satta, though that probably doesn’t mean anything to you,” I’satta replied. “Now, what is yours?”
“Nicholas. What are you doing in my dream? I never have any dreams with other people in them.”
“I could ask you the same question. I’ve never seen you or anyone who looks remotely like you before in my life.” He seemed more real than most of his surroundings. Almost like he and I’satta were together in the same dream.
A loud rumble from beneath the water interrupted her thoughts, and a massive, humped, gray back rose dripping from the river.
The back proved to be part of a large shell that looked like that of a turtle, except that the holes for the legs were rather too numerous. A long, slimy tentacle extended from each one, and a snapping turtle’s head emerged from the front. Instead of a beak, though, its mouth was filled with rows and rows of white, sharp teeth.
The unconscious girl suddenly sat up, gasping for breath, only to see a nautical monstrosity bearing down on them.
She automatically disappeared.
Nicholas didn’t wonder too much about that. It was a dream, after all.
The maddened creature sloshed right past her and came at Nicholas. Grabbing a large stick, he desperately hacked at its face. With a whine, the turtle-octopus retracted its head and whipped a tentacle around the boy’s leg.
Nicholas was dragged down the bank and into the water. Obviously, the creature meant to drown him. It didn’t realize that he could breathe underwater.
I’satta didn’t, either. She gave a horrified gasp, then plunged into the river.
A girl-shaped empty space in the water followed her.
Neither I’satta or Clara could breathe underwater, though, and several seconds later – curiously, time seemed to follow normal rules in this dream – they burst out of the water. Clara reappeared. The girls stared at each other, one slightly translucent and treading water, one perfectly solid and floating in the air a few inches above the surface of the water. Clara gasped, spit out some of the river, and said incredulously, “You can fly?”
A bolt of purple shot through the water and struck the creature’s snout. There was a look of shock on it’s face, and a second later, everyone was blasted out of the water.
The three children turned to see a panting young teenager in armor that reflected only green, blue, and purple bending over near the water’s edge.
He turned.
“Oh, hello,” he said. “I’m Daniel. I assume your’e all dreamers?”
“We’re dreaming,” said I’satta. “Or at least I am.” She looked at the other two oddly. “I’m not sure about them.”
“I’d better be dreaming,” said Clara, looking first the brown-haired boy in purple armor, then at the African girl who spoke perfect English, and finally at the other, silent, boy, with the strange-colored hair who had rescued her. “This is just too weird to be true.” The green-haired boy nodded in agreement, but said nothing.
Daniel shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. But never mind. You must be dreamers, after all, you’re here, aren’t you?” He looked at them appraisingly. “Though I must say you’re all a bit weird. I mean, you,” he pointed to Clara, “are see-through.”
“I am?” said Clara in surprise.
“Yup,” responded Daniel. “But I imagine it’s just something to do with the other you.”
“The other me?”
Daniel shook his head. “Never mind. But gosh! Three at once . . .” he trailed off, staring.
All Kay had done was lay her head on her desk during math class. That was all. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but that was the only explanation for the sudden appearance of a river, an island, and four kids, one of whom was wearing the most ridiculously gaudy armor Kay had ever seen.
The armored boy – he couldn’t have been older than Kay – gaped at her appearance. The other three looked at her flatly, evidently seeing nothing odd.
“Four!” gasped the armored boy. “Four all at once! This is dreadful!” And he dropped his purple sword onto the sand.
“Why?” asked Kay. It was only a dream, but she was not accustomed to people in her dreams doing odd things, at least not without her knowledge. In her dreams, she was all-knowing.
The armored boy pulled himself together. “Okay,” he said, breathing deeply. “I’ll do my best to explain what’s happening, but we need to find a safer place.” He gestured at the dead turtle-octopus. “That was a nightmare, and it wasn’t supposed to be in this dream. More will follow, since the barrier’s cracked. We need to get to an uncorrupted dream.”
“Clear as mud,” Nicholas said, unhelpfully.
The other boy ignored him. “Whatever you do, don’t jump out of the way.”
A truck appeared from nowhere. Nicholas knew it sounded silly, but that was the only way to describe it. That was his last thought before it hit him.
He blacked out momentarily and landed on hard pavement. As he groggily looked around, he saw the other people from his dream getting up and dusting themselves off. They were all standing on a freeway that was apparently suspended in nothingness, extending to infinity.
“Well, it’s like this,” Daniel Explained, “If you do die in a dream, I have seen this happen before, you’re dead here, and…”
“AND?” Kay said, telling him with her eyes to keep going.
“Well…you can’t go back…”He trailed off again, as he had a habit of doing, and looked away.
“Great.” said Nicholas, sarcastically.
“But that can’t be right,” I’satta said. “You always wake up just before you die in dreams. It never fails.”
Daniel sighed. “Well, recently, the barriers between dreams have begun to break down, and people are having nightmares they weren’t meant to have. And if that happens, your subconscious doesn’t know to wake up.”
He stared out along the freeway. “Speaking of which… ”
A small black dot was thundering towards them, getting larger as it approached. It seemed to be a large truck, with an ornamental grill that looked like a mouthful of fangs, and ornate patterns on its deep black body. Things were hanging from the windows. Some had too many appendages and not enough heads, while the reverse was true for others.
“Another nightmare,” Daniel said. He sighed. “They followed me in. I’ve been stuck in Dreamland for the past two years, either running away from nightmares or fighting them, but there are always more…”
“But you wake up, don’t you?” Kay asked.
“No. I’m in a coma. Not brain-dead, otherwise it wouldn’t qualify as sleep, but there’s no way for me to wake up again.”
“In fact,” he said, looking around at the other four, “if you’re here, and you know you’re here, then we’re all in comas. Is there a war out there or something?”
“Well yes,” said Kay, “but it’s not where we live! Or not where I live, at least…”
Clara was looking shocked. She kept mouthing the words, “A coma. I’m in a coma.” Finally she burst out, “But I can’t be in a coma! I remember going to bed last night!”
***
Through the red-brick project Perla tried to ignore the headache that threatened to swamp her brain, but by lunchtime she was felling too ill to concentrate. She got sick often – short, intense, illnesses that came every two months or so and lasted for a day – and she had long since learned that the best way to deal with it was to sleep it off. Her mother tucked her into bed and closed the curtains. Perla laid her head on the pillow and closed her eyes, willing sleep to come.
***
No one was really surprised when a redheaded child in red and green striped pajamas appeared next to them in the middle of the road. The girl herself had a dreamy, not-at-all-surprised-by-anything look on her face, and when the next moment a car came barreling out of nowhere, she stepped out of the way without really noticing and bumped into I’satta.
“Sorry,” Perla said, stepping back and taking stock of the situation. A pale girl in a long white nightgown was sobbing in the center of the small huddle of teenagers, and everyone else, particularly a boy in purple armor, was looking at her with exceedingly uncomfortable expressions. Only now they were looking at Perla.
“Is she part of the dream?” asked a boy with greenish-gray hair. “Or is she in a coma too?”
“A coma?” gasped Perla, while the girl in the nightgown sobbed even louder.
“The proper term is dreamer,” said the armored boy, “but yes. If you’re here, then you probably aren’t there too. A brain can’t split itself in two.”
“Uch, well, how did this…one… get here?”Daniel said with a mixture of confusion and dismay.
“Nonsense, she’s obviously in trouble and needs help, what’s your name girl?”Asked Perla.
“Alright,” he said. “This isn’t really the best place to talk, anymore. The nightmares are here too. We need to go to a untouched dream.” He looked at the new Dreamer. “Don’t be alarmed, whatever happens.” The child nodded. The truck came rushing out of nowhere again, and despite themselves, the Dreamers flinched almost in unison. Daniel stood perfectly still. And then the split second had passed, and they stood in a silent dark green forest.
Perla turned suddenly to look at Daniel. “Whaddya mean,” she asked, sounding bewildered, “‘a brain can’t split itself in two?'”
“Well, you know… if you’re here, you’re here, not… you know… there…” he spread his hands in a helpless sort of gesture.The silence that followed his words stretched on for what seemed like an age, punctuated by Clara’s sobs.
Kay shook her head, eyes closed. She opened her mouth, closed it, then finally spoke. “Now, hold on, just a minute, please.” she realized that her voice had a sort of pleading edge to it, and kicked herself mentally. “You- Daniel- these… these dreamers… don’t usually end up in the same dreams… all at the same time, right?” He nodded, frowning. “So… how do you know… How can you be sure…. I mean, if this is an anomaly, well, does that mean there’s a chance we’re not… all in… you know… comas?” the other four looked up hopefully at Daniel.
“Well, I really don’t- I mean, that is to say, I-” Daniel broke off, shaking his head like a dog bothered by flies. “I don’t know!” he cried. “I’m just stuck here and everything I know- I just picked it up! I- I’m just as confused about this mess as all of you… I mean, this has never happened before…” He trailed off weakly. “I just don’t know… I’m sorry. We’ll know if you’re right if you… you know. Wake up. I hope you do, really.”
Clara took a deep breath, tried to get back in control. It helped, having a shred of hope to cling to. “Tell us everything you know, please.”
Daniel took a deep breath. “Dreamers are people who are in comas,” he explained, “and are stuck in Dreamland. This is Dreamland.” He gestured to the empty highway suspended in the air. “Well, this is a dream, but all dreams are in Dreamland. I’m a Dreamer, and I assume all of you are, too. Only Dreamers are . . . I don’t know . . . aware, during their dreams, and only Dreamers can meet each other in their dreams. Which is why I think all of you are Dreamers.
“But I don’t really know much; all this is just stuff I’ve picked up in the two years I’ve been here. Maybe there’s another type of Dreamer, that can be here without being in a coma. I don’t know.” He looked miserable. “I don’t know much. I just want to wake up.”
“Well, then we all have something in common, don’t we?” Kay said, sarcastically.
“Yeah…”Daniel trailed off, he looked stumped, “hang on, I’ve gotten pretty close to getting out myself, let me show you.”
“Wait what do you mean-“Perla began, but she was cut off by Daniel making a motion to keep silent.
“What?”Perla whispered, hoarsly. Again, Daniel put a finger to his lips, more angrily. The others looked to each other with similar looks that showed concern and confusion. Daniel closed his eyes, and seemed to try to focus, when a loud humming broke the silence. The sky seemed to flash different dark colors like black and purple, like a strobe light. All of the group was lifted above the ground, and stayed there, floating.
“Ok,”Daniel yelled above the noise,”hold hands so you don’t get lost!”
The elucidates held each others hands hastily.”What’s going on?”Yelled I’satta. Suddenly the dreamers all rocketed foward through the colored sky. They stopped in front of what appeared to be a hole. Through the hole, they could recognize their homes.
Abruptly Daniel began to scream, “Ahhh! Don’t let go, what ever you do!” Wind sucked at the faces of the group, and Daniel passed out. The party landed on the ground, above some grassy hills, roughly. The buzzing and flashing lights were gone.
I’satta tried to sit up, head throbbing. She cried out in pain.
“What’s wrong?” she heard Kay ask from a few feet away.
“I think I broke my arm.” said I’satta through gritted teeth.
“Oh, no…” Kay rolled onto her side, got up, and walked over to I’satta. She inspected I’satta’s arm.
“Yup, it looks like you’re right. Hold on, I’ll find a stick ad something we can use to tie it to your arm.” She propped I’satta up against a nearby rock. I’satta looked around.
“Where’s everyone else?” she asked, bewildered.
For the first time since she’d regained consciousness, Kay really looked around.
“I don’t know.” she replied.
At that moment, everyone else was wondering the same thing.
“Where is this?” asked Perla, gazing at the surrounding countryside. “It looks like a painting.”
There was a pause, while Daniel, Nicholas, and Clara contemplated this. Then Perla said, “It is a painting!”
“It isn’t,” said Clara.
“Yes, it is!” Perla was not giving in. “It’s an abstract painting, see.” She gestured at the large 3-dimensional splotches of color hanging in the air around them.
“It can’t be!”
“This is Dreamland,” said Daniel. “Anything can happen.”
Perla nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes,” she said, doing a little jig on the white tile floor.
“If it’s a painting,” said Clara logically, “then why is the floor normal?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Perla. “Maybe the painter made it that way. Or maybe it’s just one of those dream things.” She seemed so fixated on it being a painting that Clara let it be. Even if she hadn’t intended to, what Nicholas said next drove all thoughts of that out of her mind.
“Where are Kay and I’satta?” he asked.
Kay ran and got a stick and tied it to I’satta’s arm.
“You stay here and rest. Here’s a stick you can use to fend off anything that might come while I’m gone…I’m going to find everyone else, if I can, or at least have a look around.”
“Wait!” protested I’satta. “I’m coming with you!”
“No, you’re not!” insisted Kay.
“Yes, I am!”
“No!”
“Yes!”
“NO!”
“Yes, whether you like it or not!” I’satta was adamant.
“Alright, fine…but if you get too tired, tell me.”
“I will.” I’satta agreed.
They trudged on for what seemed like hours, days, months, even. You never can tell about these things in dreams… Eventually, they came to a stream, but when I’satta scooped some up in her hand, it wasn’t clear. She sniffed it, a bit hesitantly.
“It’s…it’s paint!” she exclaimed. It was true. They had stumbled across a tiny stream of thick, blue paint.
Kay looked both terrified and bewildered. “This is weird,” she muttered.
“Of course it is,” said I’satta. “It’s a dream.”
“Well, I wish I would wake up.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said I’satta. “It’s better than some things, definitely. And at least this isn’t a nightmare.”
No sooner had she said that Kay jumped and gave a little scream, falling into the stream of paint. I’satta heart threatened to break out of her chest, but she waited for five seconds, and when nothing more happened, she glanced around.
Nothing.
Nothing? Well, there was still the landscape, with it’s sky too blue, it’s grass too green, but nothing really scary.
Then why had Kay screamed?
I’satta turned to ask her that very question, but Kay had vanished. The stream was empty of everything but brilliant blue paint.
I’satta swallowed. There had to be a logical explanation. There had to be. But what was it?
In a panic, she threw herself down on the bank and thrust her good arm in as deep as it went. It was only a foot or so.
WHERE WAS KAY?
“Wake up, Kay!” shrilled Deb in Kay’s ear. The older girl shifted in her sleep. “I want to wake up,” she mumbled.
“Then DO!” said Deb. “It’s nine-thirty!”
Kay did. Her eyes opened wide and she said, “It’s not a nightmare, it’s not, it’s not!” Then she noticed that she was not sprawled in a stream of paint, but laying in her bed with her little sister talking in her ear. She could have cried with relief.
“I’m going to take a shower,” she announced, and swung herself down the ladder. She seized a bundle of clean clothes and her bathrobe, walked across the hall, and slammed the bathroom door.
I’satta, back in Dreamland, panicked. What should she do?! She had to find the others, and quick. She set off at as brisk a pace as she could across the cold, wet, far-too-green grass.
After traveling not too much of a distance, she came across what looked to be a footprint in the painted grass. Sure enough, it was, but it only had three toes, and very long toes, at that. Whatever had made this footprint had to have been huge. A little apprehensively, and fully alert, I’satta followed the trail of footprints along a nearby muddy path. It occurred to her that the thing she was following was probably somebody else’s Nightmare. But what else could she do? She was alone, lost in Dreamland.
“They aren’t here?” Daniel looked around. There was Perla, in her candy-cane-striped pajamas; Clara, who seemed to have regained control but still looked like she wanted to wake up; Nicholas, his hair still the same odd hue of the river; but Kay and I’satta. How could he have missed it?
“Does anyone know when they vanished?” he asked urgently.
No one spoke. Perla looked at Clara and Clara looked Nicholas, and then Perla also looked at Nicholas. So did Daniel. Nicholas didn’t care to be the center of attention.
“No,” he said. “I only just noticed.”
Daniel looked very worried indeed. “This is very bad,” he told them.
“So we gathered,” said Nicholas.
“Really, really, bad,” repeated Daniel.
“Yes,” said Clara.
“Catastrophic, even.”
“So what are you going to do about it?” prompted Perla.
“That’s the thing: I don’t know.” Daniel looked miserable. “Look,” he said. “This has never happened before. It’s been hard enough trying to keep myself safe, and this is nearly impossible. And when we tried to wake up–that wasn’t supposed to happen. It didn’t happen before.
“Perhaps they woke up,” Clara suggested hopefully.
Daniel made as if to protest, but a strange thoughtful expression crossed his face and he said, “Perhaps they did.”
Perla shook her head like a dog drying off. “What is that noise?” she asked.
“What noise?” said Nicholas, Clara, and Daniel in unison.
“That one,” said Perla. “It’s–” But she would never finish that sentence, because at that moment she disappeared.
~~~~
“Perla, honey, are you feeling any better?” asked her mother. “Your brother sent a letter, would you like to read it?”
“Did he send any pictures?” Perla wondered.
“Yes, lots!” said her mother, clearly taking this question as evidence that Perla enjoyed the pictures.
“No,” said Perla stubbornly. “I would not like to read it. I have a headache, and I want to go back to sleep.”
“Alright dear,” her mother said, hardly noticing her daughter’s anger. “They’re very nice ones; I hope you can appreciate them a little more later.” She kissed Perla on her hot flushed cheek, and left the room. Perla burst into quiet tears.
Perla had to be homeschooled because of her frequent illnesses, but her twin brother Andreck had won a children’s scholarship last year, and had consequently been sent away to a boarding school in Spain. Now he was wowing his Spanish teachers –and his mother – with “miraculous” abstract paintings, while Perle languished at home.
~~~~~~~
Wow, that’s long…
:idea:TNÖ:idea:
Wow. That’s so cool.
Yeah, it tripled the page length.
Now that Kay was awake, all she wanted was to get back to Dreamland so she could tell the others that they weren’t in comas. Except for Daniel, of course.
***
I’satta had been following the Nightmare for several minutes now. She noticed, with some aprehension, that the sky was rapidly darkening as swollen purple clouds gathered overhead. She wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to be caught in a dream-storm while following a Nightmare.
Slowly, she became aware of a low growling, punctuated occasionally be high pitched squeaks. Licking her lips, I’satta continued on her way.
~~~~~~~
:idea:TNÖ:idea:
Finally, she spied in the distance a towering building. That was alright in itself, but the fact that the building was a deep blood-red was slightly off-putting. Still, she could see nothing obviously dangerous about it, and the Nightmare was not in sight, so she broke into a run and suddenly found herself standing just outside the open door without having made any real effort. The walls were not a solid color as she had presumed, but a rippling, shifting, mass of olive green, crimson, flame blue, and fuschia.
“A dream,” she muttered, and then shrugged and walked through the door.
It closed behind her, and on the outside the colors rearranged themselves into a the shape of a Chinese dragon.
The house was beautiful, almost castle-like, but empty. Lush red carets covered the floor, carpets that felt real and warm to I’satta’s bare, cold, feet. The ceiling vaulted up so high that I’satta could not see it, but she knew that if she could it would be the same strange combination of colors as the walls outside. Apart from this, there was nothing in the room. Not a stick of furniture, not a window or a painting, not even, she realized, as she turned in a slow circle, a door.
Wait! screamed a voice inside her head. Stop! Where is the door?
23- ooh, scary!
24- Thanks.
I made a poster, of sorts, about dreamland. Should I send it in?
26- Yeah!
It’s sent.
28- I can hardly wait! In the meantime, I might as well write.
~~~~~~~~
No sooner had she thought that than the door appeared again, but it was not as welcome as she would have liked, because it was accompanied by a strange rhythmic drumming noise that came from beneath her feet. Slowly, the floor began to heave and the door to buckle inwards. I’satta shrieked and scrambled back from the rising hump in the plush carpet.
“No!” she gasped, knowing full well that whatever came through either – the floor or the door – was not going to be benevolent. “No! I want to wake up! Now!”
But she could not, no matter how hard she tried. Oh yes, she remembered bitterly. I’m in a coma. And with that angry thought, she started to rise, slowly at first and then faster. She saw that the walls were ringed with galleries, and doors into other rooms, and then she saw, through one of these other rooms, three very familiar-looking people.
~~~~~~
I really need to find out what I’satta means. I picked it because it sounds nice, but now I realize that it could mean anything… What if it meant something like, “Earthbound”?
This is all I can find, and it’s from the site where I got it in the first place.
I’SATTA – Is a girl’s name,from the VIA tribe – and it pronounced as ( I-sat- tie)
30- I can’t find anything else either.
~~~~~~~
“Clara!” cried I’satta. “Daniel! Nicholas!” The three other dreamers whipped around.
“I’satta?!” Clara said, bewildered. “Where did you come from?” I’satta didn’t answer, but shot into the room and slammed the door behind her.
“Are you ok?” Nicholas asked, noticing the panicky look on her face. “What-”
I’satta shook her head and explained, briefly, about following the nightmare and running away from whatever it was that had been trying to get into the first room.
~~~~~~~
:idea:TNÖ:idea:
“You followed a Nightmare?” Daniel gasped. “You’re either very brave, or very stupid.”
“Thanks,” I’satta said, sarcastically. “And- ”
She was interrupted by a splintering noise. The door began to break, and a large, black beak was thrust through the gap.
“Stay very still,” Daniel hissed. Each one of the Dreamers froze.
“I’ve faced this nightmare before. It can’t identify patterns very well, but it can see movement better than anything I’ve ever met. And it moves fast. I call it the Spideraven.”
Clara immediately vanished, which did not increase the confidence of her companions.
The beak withdrew, and a thick, furry, many-jointed leg stuck through the gap, followed by another.
Ooh. I’ll write later.
lovely. I’ll write later, too. minor writer’s block at the moment.
Clara breathed deeply and slowly with closed eyes, concentrating and standing perfectly still. Perfectly still. Perfectly still. Not moving an inch. Perfectly – perfectly gone. She opened her eyes, glanced down at herself, and saw that there was nothing there. She relaxed slightly. It was a dream, and being invisible was nothing surprising in a dream. It had happened before, she remembered, on the island. “You’re see-through Daniel had said. Yes, she thought now. I am. And I’satta can fly. How odd. And inside her mind, she laughed, and she closed her eyes again.
Outside of Clara’s peaceful little bubble of invisibility, the other three stood rigid and unmoving, staring, fascinated, at the creature who came though the door.
It had the eight hairy legs of a tarantula, every one of them coal-black. That was fine. Neither Nicholas or I’satta were scared of spiders, not even huge ones.
But that was before they saw the body.
It was the body of a raven. And not just any raven. It was three or four times the size of a normal one, ten times blacker, with wings the size of bedsheets and folded awkwardly, and, most horribly, it had teeth. Huge ones.
~~~~~~~
I don’t much like Daniel’s sword. If it explodes whatever it ouches, then the boy’s practically invincible! And if he’s invincible, then there’s no conflict.
So, let’s say it’s iffy and only picks up on his commands to expode 75% of the time.
Or maybe it creates an explosion that may or may not destroy its target.
No no no! He wills it to explode, and some beasts could have thick skin!
38- Oh.
38 That’s TOO EASY!
Ok, so Daniel wills the sword to explode. We get that. Some creatures have attributes such as impenetrable hides or invunerability to anything but purely magical attacks or whatever. Additionally, swords of this type have to be custom made for each individual user. As we know, Daniel merely found his sword while falling into a bottomless pit. The sword wasn’t made for him, so it’s not fully functional for him, and explodes less and with less power than it would for whoever it was made for.
That sound ok?
:idea:TNÖ:idea:
41- sure.
41- Yes. Much better.
good, glad that’s settled. shall we continue the story now?
44- Yes. I wrote the last post, so it’s someone else’s turn now.
um…
~~~~~~~
i’satta had a sudden urge to clamp her hand over her mouth to keep herself from screaming, then remembered that she wasn’t supposed to move and ended up wiggling her hand and letting out a pathetic kind of wimper.
The sideraven locked onto the movement immediately and lunged forward at a frightening speed.
“Run!” Daniel yelled. The five friends sprinted in different directions, except for i’satta, who shot up and away from the spideraven.
They flung open doors and soon found themselves lost and seperated from each other, with absolutely no idea where the nightmare was.
~~~~~~~
sorry the i’s aren’t capitalized- i’m on a computer with no i button, and i’m having to c+p. LOL.
:idea:TNO:idea:
wow…impressive, writers.
ARGH! POST!!!!
clara found herself in a jungle, filled with trees. she had never seen so many trees. in eukra there were forests but not with this many trees. there were vines on the trees but as she moved up to one it turned into a snake.
~~~~
do you like it? i like the story and I hope this fits in. I love rrrs!
49- Yes! I like it!
~~~~~~
Clara leaped back, hr scream turning into a little whimper and then dying entirely. The snake turned its head towards her, and tears sprang into her eyes.
The head was perfectly diamond-shaped, emerald green, and its eyes glowing like jewels of fire. Its right eye burned golden orange, and its left garnet. It hissed, and the hisses seemed to form words, nonsensical words, words that Clara hated as soon as she heard them.
“No!” she cried. “No! Stop! Please!”
The hisses continued, boring into Clara’s head like corkscrews . . . deceptively soft corkscrews, that threatened to drive her slowly insane.
~~~~~
Very weird. On thing I love about this RRR is anything goes. You can say something that makes no sense and it fits perfectly, because neither does Dreamland make any sense.
I’satta watched the spideraven from ten feet above it’s head. She was terrified for her friends, and worried about the fact that dying here was now a frighteningly real possibility.
And then she heard Clara screaming.
Somehow, she knew that Clara was in the second room to the right of the hall. She swooped down, feeling a rush of wind as the Nightmare snapped at her, and shot through the door, slamming it behind her.
The room was comfortably furnished, with various landscape paintings and bookshelves lining one wall.
Clara was staring fixedly at some sort of pattern on the otherwise generic wall, screaming “Stop!” at the top of her lungs.
I’satta didn’t think about that too much, just started to fly forward to find out what was wrong.
And then she heard it- a sort of soft hissing, a sort of musical, meaningless speach. I’satta didn’t like it one bit, and pulled herself away hastily, surprised by how hard it was to do so. Obviously, this was what was bothering Clara.
I’satta looked around, and noticed some candles burning on a table some ways away. She zoomed over to them, put out the flames, and gingerly shaped the mallable wax into earplugs. She shoved them into her ears and made another pair. Tentatively, she floated up to Clara. She couldn’t hear a thing.
I’satta had just gotten the earplugs into Clara’s ears when she felt a sharp sting at her side.
“Wake up, you useless lump!” shouted a voice.
And then suddenly I’satta was curled on her side, her overseer kicking at her to get her up.
She scrambled up, noticing a sharp, stining pain in her arm. She looked down, and did a double take.
Her arm was still broken.
~~~~~~~
I thought the room Clara was in should be different for everyone, since it’s basically the snake thingy’s way of trapping prey, and the room appeals particularily to everybody’s interests, thus making it more likely for them to approach to a point where it can capture them.
:idea:TNÖ:idea:
51- oh, good!
thank you.
here is some more:
Then nicholas ran in. He had heard Clara’s screams and wondered what was happening. All he saw was a grassy plain. With a large buffalo… near clara… moving toward her. Then the buffalo charged toward him and miss by a inch. And then the buffalo disappeared and to clara the snake disappeared. And then daniel entered.
“ what is happening?†asked daniel “ there is nothing here.â€
“ can’t you see the jungle?†asked clara
“you mean the plain. Can’t you see that?†asked nicholas, puzzled
“ no. All I can see a door way.†said daniel
“ that my friend is because you are a dreamer, and they are elucidates.†said a man who just walked in to the room. “ this is a room that only elucidates can see.†seeing Nicholas’s face, ready to interrupt he added “And to every elucidate sees differently.â€
“ who are you and what are elucidates?†asked the three teens together
“ sigh. Sit down. There is a lot to tell you.
A thousand years ago, as dreamland was being set up, there were ten creatures. Five were good, five were bad. The five evil one tried to take over the world by killing people in there dreams. But the good one defeated the bad ones before they could attack. They bad ones were chained up and the good ones sent to earth. Ever time they fell asleep they came back to dreamland. And they protected dreamland, and stopped the evil ones. And soon the good ones were named elucidates, and the evil ones nightmares. And then more nightmares were created. But they were mere clones, not powerful like the first five. And the elucidates were not taken back expect in a time of crisis. And now there is. The dream barrier, or elucidmare, is falling. I have called you here to destroy the five nightmares and put the elucidmare back together.â€
“ but who are you?†ask clara
“ I am king william V of dreamland.â€
~~~
so what do you think?
Ooh, nice.
We finally know what Elucidates are.
~~~~~~~
“So, wait a minute,” said Clara. “You mean to say we’re… these, uh, protecters of Dreamland? So we’re not in comas?”
“And we’re supposed to save Dreamland?” added Nicholas.
“Of course you’re not in comas! Whatever gave you that ide- Oh, I see. No, you’re not dreamers, you’re elucidates. Where are the other three?”
“Um…” answered the teens in unison.
“And, what exactly do you mean, ‘King William V of Dreamland’?” asked Nicholas.
“Dear me,” said the strange, eratic man. “You mean to tell me you don’t know? About- about anything? The rise, and fall, of the Golden Age? The Fall? The Final Balance?”
“We would if you told us,” Nicholas griped.
“Fine, fine, I will once the other three get here- because I assume that they’re as undereducated as you are.”
~~~~~~~~
:idea:TNÖ:idea:
Wow. Just wow.
I’ll write later.
55- Daniel should know some.
“I heard some from the shark-men who attacked me. Apparently the one who commands them had something to do with the fall. Is he one of the origanal nightmares?
King William shot him a look. “The commander?” he asked, surprised. “He was merely an exceptionally powerful clone. The general, of sorts, of Chernobog’s army.” He noticed the strange looks he was getting, and elaborated. “Chernobog was one of the nastier of the Five Nightmares. He was a sort of blob of partially solidified grief and despair. And he also smelled like rotting leaves.” The King wrinkled his nose. “He fed on his opponents fear, grew stronger off of it. That sort of thing.”
“Look, could you please just tell us now, about all this stuff?” asked Clara pleadingly.
King William gave her a long, scrutinizing look. “I suppose… It’ll mean more talking for me, but I suppose you do need to be prepared.” He cleared his throat, then launched into his tale. “Dreamland was created to save the world from suffocating under an unbearable sea of despair, during the time you would call the Dark Ages of your world. The creator of Dreamland created ten human-like beings to watch over the new world. At this time, there were almost no Nightmares, for all the Elucidates who held sway were on the side of Good, and only created Nightmares when they grew particularily angry. These were the Golden Ages, and they were fueled as the humans who visited Dreamland in there sleep began to throw off their burdens of woe and express their imaginations freely.
“The Golden Ages, however, could not last. The beings grew powerful as a result of the human’s prosperity. Now, great power has a rather annoying habit of corrupting those who possess it- or some of them, at least. So it was with five of the Elucidates of Dreamland: Chernobog, Angra Mainyu, Jabez, Nekane, and Morana. These are not, of course, their real names- to speak the true name of any of the Nightmares would be to assure the death of your mind. These five- led by Morana, the worst of them all- rose up against the remaining Elucidates- called Ahura Mazda, Charis, Ebele, Dara, and Anima.” As he said the last names, Nicholas and Clara felt a peculiar jolt in their stomachs.
“The Elucidates won the war, but only just. They banished the Nightmares into a dream surrounded by dream barriers, though the rest of Dreamland remained free. The Nightmares released nightmares, reflections of their rage and hate, into the rest of Dreamland, and it is those that you meet now.
“And that is the story of the Golden Age of Dreamland.”
“And the Fall?” asked Clara. “The final balance?”
King William shook his head. “Not until the others get here, for those events are the very reason for your being here right now. The telling of those events would set in motion an unstoppable flood of happenings- some good, some bad. I will stay with you, and when the others arrive, then you will know.”
~~~~~~~
I have a vague idea that the barriers collapsed once before, not long after the first battle. The Elucidates were overwhelmed and the Nightmares ruled (the Fall), but were eventually forced into submission again in an incredible war, leading to barriers everywhere (the Final Balance).
Or we could do something comepletely different.
:idea:TNÖ:idea:
oh this is geating good!
getting. Yes, I agree.
“Wait, wait, you’re telling us that dreaming is some sort of “magical” process created during the “Dark ages”” Said Nicolas, with dripping sarcasm. “Why should we believe you? And how can we know to trust you?”
Sorry, I love this story, but I can’t think of anything to write…
” have you ever had a dream that you don’t know why you got? that is because you were given a “used dream”. alot of the time we can only change one to two detail, not make a new dream. and anyways, what do you thing is happening? this is a just, just what? It is A dream! there is no other way to explain it!
61- no, that’s good.
~~~~~~~
After arriving home from school, Kay immediately locked herself in her bedroom and curled up under the covers.
She fell asleep quickly and found herself with Daniel, Nicholas, Clara, and a strange man who looked very annoyed.
“Of course you can believe me!” he was saying. “And Dreamland is not just ‘some magical process’ as you put it. It’s another whole realm of existence, and- Oh, hello,” he added as he caught sight of Kay. “I am King William V of Dreamland. I’ve just been arguing with your friend here about the nature of Dreamland.”
“Huh?” Kay asked, completely confused.
King William sighed and told her about the Golden Age of Dreamland.
“So,” said Kay, “let me get this straight. We- that is, Nicholas, Clara, Perla, I’satta, and me- are the five Elucidates of Dreamland? And we’re supposed to save it from inevitable destruction caused by the barriers falling and releasing the five Nightmares?”
“Precisely.”
“But, wait,” Kay said as another thought struck her. “You said that the only dream barriers were put up around the original Nightmares. So how come… humans… can’t meet each other in dreams, like dreamers can?”
“That’s not the end of the story,” said King William apologetically. “But that’s all I can tell you at the moment, you see, because telling you the rest would put you all in grave danger.”
“But why?” asked Clara.
“Well, the Elucidates weren’t supposed to forget, you see. But they had to, in the end, in order to keep the barriers functioning. To tell you now of your distant past would cause almost complete collapse.”
“You two can’t actually believe him,” said Nicholas scathingly. “Can you?”
The King sighed. “I can prove to you that I am not lying, Nicholas. But not until the last two arrive.”
“Yeah? And what’ll happen when we wake up?” Nicholas demanded. “You’ll never have all five of us here long enough to prove it to me.”
“On the contrary, once all four of you are here, I will tell you the rest of the history. You will remember. Then I won’t have to prove anything. And those of you who haven’t discovered your powers yet,” and he looked meaningfully at Kay, “will do so.”
Nicholas glared at him.
~~~~~~~
:idea:TNÖ:idea:
whoops, I meant “‘…once all five of you are here…'”
Ah, darn, didn’t see TMfA’s post. That’s not… exactly how I see Dreamland… As being a big machine churning out dreams. It’s more like a world where anything is possible, but people get other people’s dreams since the DBs are breaking down at the moment. You know?
Sorry for triple posting.
65- Yeah, it’s not really like that. Oh well. We can fix it later.
I ought to write, but I really can’t think of anything to say.
58- Not ahura mazda. It’s the zoroastrian god.
67- Is it? ok we can change it then- do you have any suggestions?
67-68- I like that because he is the bad devil like god. forget post 62.
The bad, devil-like Zoroastrian god is Ahriman. Ahura-Mazda or Ormuzd is good.
So are we good? or are we changing it?
71- we should cahnge it to ahriman. just because I like the
sounds of that name.
But Ahriman (or Angra Mainyu) is an EVIL god. Ahura Mazda is one of the good guys.
73- then why is agagbagbga zepa is telling us this? both of them are in there! I think the few people who are zorastrian ( an dI mean few : this will not sell very many copys and I do not know how likly it is a zrastrian is at picking up this book) will not be offended by that. in fact they might be impreased by are knolage of there gods.
zoroatrain therd? anyone?
65-Same.
75- We’re ignoring 62.
76-Goody.
And, yet again, I have no idea what’s going on…*sigh*…I’m so sorry…maybe I’m involved in too many RRR’s…Dreamland, Spirits and Blood, The Empowered, MB FanFic (which I hardly even count as being a part of anymore), etc….yeah, way too many. Should I drop any?
77- wtich one is the empowered? if it is before 2007.1 I would drop it. also I think that you should drop anyone you have not posted on for the past 2 weeks.
78-
HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST THAT?????????????????????? The Empowered thread needs dedication! Without
Lsyerm, Shadowkat it would die!Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Oh well, I don’t suppose you could understand, seeing as you’ve never been on that thread. I forgive you.
77- Shadkat, that’s NOTHING. I’m on eight of them. Granted, I could drop one and one’s done except for the editing.
But I still like to brag.
Wait . . . eight? Or nine? Two from 2006, the 6 unfinished ones from 07, and MB FanFic. Plus Etheterre, which we’re editing. So ten.
See last line of above post.
I am on time travel, dreamland, 2007.1, fractured fariry tale, and school. I lurk on can’t pye and the sea roc, read sci-si and etherre, and has no idea about 2007.5 ( blood)
I am also an museblog fanfic. but I do not post much anymore.
ahh! the empowered is the rpw therd! I do not like rpgs or rpws because that is the first thing that people think of when the think of geeks! I am not a geek! I am a nerd! or just gifted! of muser! but not nerd!
It’s quite fun, not your standard RPG at all.
83- it is proboly fun but then I will be a geek/nerd.
79- So it needs help, does it ? Don’t expect anything from me! You turned me down!
82- Just embrace it, man!
82-yes, once you feel it truly, it is natural. No, it will not change your status with non-muserly friends.
85- That’s not what I meant. We only turned you down because you wouldn’t read the whole thing. What I meant was if you start, you have to keep going. You can’t just leave; it’ll ruin the story.
87- I never planned on leaving. You kicked me out!
88- You were trying to enter the story without rwading the previous thread. And you were trying to be a were-beast when we already had one. I don’t quite remember why we kicked you out, and I don’t really want to argue about it.
Guys, guys! Let’s get back to the story, shall we?
I’d write, but I have to go to school.
Later.
this is weird… no story has been posted from 65 on… I have writers block.
Huh, not for long.
Are we staying with the name Ahura Mazda for the Elucidate?
~~~~~~~
I’satta’s days were always rife with misery and monotony, but today set a new high. Her arm throbbed painfully with every movement, and there was absolutely nothing to distract her from it, since her hands and feet had long since been hardened by the long days. She went through the day with teary eyes from the sharp pains, and lay awake for at least an hour sobbing into the pitiful pile of rags she called a bed because of the pain.
~~~~~~~
Finally, though, I’satta slept, and found herself once more surrounded by friends- Daniel, Nicholas, Clara, and, to I’satta’s relief, Kay. And a strange man she’d never seen before.
I’satta didn’t worry about that to much- this was Dreamland after all. “Kay!” she cried. “I was so worried after you disapeared!”
Kay grinned. “Yeah, me too, for a while there. Anyway, I’satta, this is King William V of Dreamland- he’s just been telling us about the origins of Dreamland. He says we’re-”
She hesitated, and King William said hastily, “Elucidates, five protecters of Dreamland. There were ten originally, but half broke out of the order and became the Original Nightmares. They’re held by the dream barriers, which are breaking down, which is why we’re here. When the last one gets here I shall tell you the whole story.” I’satta blinked several times.
“Okay…” she said. “Hey, can you tell me why my arm was still broken when I woke up this morning?” she asked, lifting her arm.
“Oh, that.” said the King. “It’s an Elucidate thing. You’re here physically as well as mentally, so by injuring yourself here you injure yourself there; you see?”
“So,” said Clara, feeling a small tremor of fear, “if we die here…”
“Yes,” said William. “I’m afraid you will die there as well.”
~~~~~~~
l have the ancient eluciadates and their nightmare enemies. The nightmares are on the right.
Barong; Rangda (Balinese)
Ahura-Mazda; Ahriman (Zorastrian)
Vishnu; Ravana (Hindu)
Christos; Satan (think about it)
Zeus; Typhon (greek)
All of these are powerful, but Ahura-mazda and ahriman lead the packs.
Since these makes since, we should change the others. Please. I did research.
92- Yes, it’s the only keeper. And they can only die since they’re eluciadates. Daniel should seem to die, but come back, because to him it’s just a dream.
93- But then we have to put religion into it. Ew.
So? It’s peaceful religious coexisstence.
Yeah, but the Elucidates aren’t gods. I just named the two of them after zoarstrian gods because they seemed to fit the parts. The names I chose kind of reflected what I thought the Elucidate/Nightmare would be like. I don’t like the whole Christos; Satan/ Zeus; Typhon thing; that’s like, I dunno. I’m ok with the first three sets, though I’d honestly rather go with the original names. I am biased towards that, though, since it was me who selected them.
I agree wholeheartedly with having Azhura-mazda and Ahriman being the leaders.
Not to mention the fact that 4 of the Elucidates are female. And you’ve got at least three male names in the Elucidate category, so…?
:idea:TNÖ:idea:
97- I agree that this should not be religious. and let us keep the orinagl names. agagabagabag does not need to get his way all the time.
I think we should keep the original names. I am likely to stop reading a book with an overtly religious theme, and I would stop writing one, too.
99-Definitely.
98- Have you noticed that l never get my way?
101- Not many people do.
So, we’re agreed that we’re keeping the original names?
102- yes, we are.
101- you got you way on the pie isle therd, i think.
103- Ok.
Continue story, someone?
103- If you’ll recall, people yelled at me until l changed.
105- and then you did. muse blog is about *people pies TMFA before he uses “we’re all musers here”
I have a block right now. any ways of getting over it?
106- Go onto a Appleworks/Word and keep an RRR open to a certain post. Sort of rewrite it… That works for me maybe 75% of the time, because it doesn’t require too much originality, so…
Deep thought tends to ruin whatever creative scraps you have when you suffer from writers block, for some reason.
If that doesn’t work, just start writing whatever comes to your head until you don’t have writers block anymore.
And try not to think so much.
Good luck.
:idea:TNÖ:idea:
107- I’ll have to try that, because I have block.
I have a rather bad cold and a headache. Ugh. Staring at a screen isn’t exactly curing that either.
~~~~~~~
Nicholas stared blankly at the King. Clara automatically disappeared and Kay went rather pale. I’satta looked horrified but unsurprised. And Perla appeared in their midst, tracks of salt barely visible on her cheeks.
She brushed a furious hand across her eyes and turned an accusing stare on King William V. “Who are you?” she demanded of him.
He sighed tiredly. “I am King William V of Dreamland,” he said. “You, I take it, are the fifth Elucidate?”
“What’s an Elucidate?” asked Perla.
“We are,” said Kay. “We’re supposed to save Dreamland from Nightmares.”
“Us?”
“Yeah, us,” said Nicholas. “Like we could stop something like that spideraven, or the sea monster, or the buffalo.”
“The snake,” said Clara’s voice from the air next to I’satta.
“Whatever. I don’t believe it anyway.”
King William shook his head. “You wouldn’t. [Nicholas’s Elucidate name] is famously stubborn. It was partly because of his stubbornness that the Nightmares won the first battle, which brought about the Fall. But it was also because of him that the Final Balance was restored when it was.”
“Whatever,” said Nicholas with scathing carelessness.
“I don’t get it,” said Perla. “What the Final Balance? And the Fall? And [Nicholas’s Elucidate name]?”
108- Hope you feel better. Nicholas = Azhura-mazda. And the Nightmares won the second battle, not the first. But oh well.
~~~~~~~
King William cleared his throat. “After the Nightmares were defeated the first time, the Elucidates became lazy and failed to maintain the barrier keeping the Nightmares in place as well as they should have. The Nightmares broke out and attacked the Elucidates. However, they did it with stealth and trickery, so that it was difficult to tell that they had even escaped at all. Azhura-mazda, the leader of the Elucidates, had always been stubborn and refused to believe that the waves of nightmares that were plaguing (sp?) the humans when they entered Dreamland were from the Original Nightmares, and thus decided that there was nothing to be done about it but wait it out. As the humans began to fear Dreamland and its nightmares, the Elucidates weakened in power. When they were to weak to withstand, the Nightmares attacked, and won. They imprisoned the Elucidates and ruled over Dreamland. This was the Fall.
“The Fall lasted for precisely 13 years. The Elucidates, though imprisoned, began to grow in strength as the Nightmares began to relax their grip on the human’s experiences in Dreamland. As more and more humans found dreams with no nightmares, the Elucidates felt their strength returning. They eventually burst out of the barriers holding them and fell upon the Nightmares and their armies with a passionate fury. The Nightmares were defeated once more, and the Elucidates made the ultimate sacrifice; they used their memories of the events to strengthen their dream barriers so that the Nightmares would never again escape.
“The Elucidates forgot who they were, and departed to live out human lives all around the globe, never to see Dreamland again.
“Something is going wrong, however. The barriers are breaking down, enough so that the spirits of the Elucidates have once more entered Dreamland, albiet in different forms. Nicholas, you are Azhura-mazda. I’satta, you are Ebele, Clara, you are Charis, Perla, you are Dara, and Kay, you are Anima.” As he said this, the five felt the most peculiar jolt. “Anyway,” the King continued, “That was the Final Balance, which is also sometimes known as the Great Forgetting. Once you five remember your true selves, the collapse will be nearly complete and you will have very little time with which to prepare yourselves for the third Great Battle of Dreamland. You will have to build up armies of creatures who allied themselves with you last time, and Dreamers, perhaps even some humans. And, of course, you will have to figure out how to control your powers. Especially,” and he shot Kay a very signifigant look, “You.”
~~~~~~~
:idea:TNÖ:idea:
“What?” said Kay in confusion. “I don’t have any powers. Do I?”
108-Really??? Me too! It totally vacuums…blah. (Story behind using “vacuums” instead of “sucks”: my soccer coach won’t let my teammates and I say “suck”, so we decided to say “vacuum”, instead.)
Totally.
” you are anima. she started as a nightmare. you must not let you become one again. and as for your power, you can talk to animas.”
111- vacuums.
113- uh, no, she’s psychokinetic, see post two.
114- so what is her name?
115=- Anima. Animate, Anima. Psychokinetic.
What? I’ve tried to follow, but now I’m getting a little confused. Who is Anima?
117- Kay is Anima. Nicholas is Azhura-mazda, I’satta is Ebele, Clara is Charis, and Perla is Dara. These are the original protectors of Dreamland, or something like that.
118- precisely.
o.k. so this is it:
” dara, see that rock in the conner? think about moving it.”
as perla thought, the rock moved, up and then over to the king.
No! That’s KAY, not PERLA!
121- this is confusing.
120- you mean, “Anima, see that rock in the corner”… and “as Kay thought,”… right?
120- no, I was confused. I thought that Dara/perla had psychokinetic.
Problem: Daniel is the only one who can fight.
125- intill the kids know ther powers, that is.
But even then, they have the kind of powers that you can’t fight with.
127- well, you can attack from apove if you fly, sneak up on people if your invisble, and of course, drop thing on people with psychokinetic.
Draw swords out of thin air through phasing, and fight underwater creatures with underwater breathing.
Yeah, lt’s the water thing that get’s to me. He can confront underwater creatures, but not fight them. Maybe he could breath under water, and with more effort transform into an amphibian thing with more effort. That way, he could fight on land, and we wouldn’t have to edit the other parts.
124- Well, anyway, whatever.
You know now…
128- LOL, “drop things on people”
130- I like it. How will we have him discover said amphibian form?
PoSt pOsT PoSt pOst PoSt pOsT PoSt pOst PoSt pOsT PoSt pOst PoSt pOsT PoSt pOst PoSt pOsT PoSt pOst PoSt pOsT PoSt pOst PoSt pOsT PoSt pOst PoSt pOsT PoSt pOst!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
132- please pay the popopo.
*gives virtual choklit*
So, can someone please post in a way that contributes to the story? I would but I have writer’s block. Again. *sigh*
Please?
~~~~~~~
Kay was utterly shocked. The King was beaming at her. “I- I’m Psychokinetic?” she said.
“Yup,” said King William.
Kay suddenly remembered another thing the king had said. “And… I was a nightmare part of the time? During the First Battle…?”
“Yup.”
“Why?” she demanded. “And why can’t I remember?”
“Well,” said King William, “You were kind of… dissatisfied by your position on the Elucidate council. You were at the bottom of the pecking order, as it were. So you rebelled. But, at heart, you were good enough that you were unable to remain with the Nightmares. Things got better after the First Battle, though. And don’t worry- it will come back to you.”
~~~~~~~
:idea:TNÖ:idea:
“But what will come back to me?” moaned Kay. “I don’t want it to come back! I was a Nightmare! I don’t want to know what I did.” She shivered.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemed to repeat it,” said the King.
Kay glared at him.
The Elucidates, Daniel, and King William were quiet for a few moments, then Kay broke the silence, her eyes widening suddenly. “I remember… a bit.” she hesitated, then continued. “I was… created… last, so the others seemed to think of me as the baby of the group. After the Nightmares broke away… Azhura-mazda figured I was the weak link, I would break the easiest. So he wouldn’t let me in on the council of war. The others were ready to accept me, but he was stubborn, and wouldn’t allow it. So, I left and joined the Nightmares…” she shuddered. “But I couldn’t stick with them, and do the things they wanted me to do. I went back, about halfway through the first battle. Things got better then, since Azhura-mazda realized that his stubborness had pushed me away. After they knew that they could trust me everything was fine.”
“Now hold on a minute,” said Nicholas, annoyed at having been portrayed as the reason Anima became a Nightmare. “You were an immature, self-centered little-”
“Oh stop it,” cried I’satta. “We haven’t the time to argue! Nightmares, escaping, plaguing humans and trying to kill us? Remember?”
“She’s right,” said Clara, as Perla nodded. “We can argue later… After we beat the Nightmares.”
“That’s the spirit!” cried the King. “Your army is mobolizing as we speak… The Third Battle is coming!”
Daniel spoke, suddenly. “I am assuming that you’ll let me fight alongside you, of course? I mean, it’d be pretty bad form of me to just stand by and watch my home be destroyed…”
“Of course,” said Nicholas, smiling.
~~~~~~~
:idea:TNÖ:idea:
Please, people! Post! I will even use the dreaded pwease! This thread has been dormant for over a week and it’s driving me insane! Or are we all just to busy thinking about NaNo?
138- Later. In a week or two. Really.
Ok.
l think we’re jumpin’ in too soon. The kind of dreamland part should wait.
…Perhaps. Give it a month, maybe?
142- in the story or real life? :puzzed:
in the story. At least, that’s what I was thinking.
“but any was, the theart has subsised, at least for now. I will call you back soon, but go, rest, for the rest of the school year.”
“so, the battle begains a month from now? during summer vachtion?”
“yes.”
does that fit?
I’m confused. And running out of time on this computer. And I have to look on the NaNo forums. ‘Bye!
145- No, no, no. l meant the proccess to learning that they are the eluciadateds should be more gradual.
145- Uh…
ls anyone still interested?
l hope to write, but it’s late where l am. My point is that we should go back to before the thing with the king. the children should take a while to learn they are eluciadates. 145 won’t work.
149- NaNo, rember? see you in decmeber. hmm. that rymes.
149- I’m interested but I have a hard time coming up with anything.
Erhum. Nano is over.
149- no. this is good. 10,000 words: introduce dreamland
20,000: battle agianst clones
30,000: battle agist first nightmare
40,000: 2nd
50,000:3rd
60,000: 4th
70,000: 5th
75,000: end.
We have over 10,000 words. I want to get this story moving again.
—-
“What about me?” asked Daniel. “I can’t go home, so what am I supposed to do for the next month? Or . . . is there any way you could . . . sort of . . . send me back?”
King William V shook his head sadly. “No. If I could send Dreamers back I would, but it is not in my power.”
“Oh.”
“It’s alright,” said Perla, trying to comfort him. “This way you get to help us fight the Nightmares. If he sent you back, you couldn’t.” She cast a questioning glance at King William as she said this.
“Yes, Dara, you’re right. Ordinary people cannot control their dreams. They cannot help with the battle.”
“So you see, Daniel. You can help defeat the Nightmares, and then we’ll find a way to send you back. I promise.”
Daniel shrugged. “If you say so.”
“I do,” said Perla earnestly.
Listen to me! You’re starting to soon, and the story will be cut short! It should be a gradual thing, their learning that they’re eluciadates!
155- I understand. I just want to get somewhere, and to waste all that stuff that was written earlier…
Well, I feel like I should let you have your way just this once, but…let’s wait for TNÖ.
“Now go. and quick. you will need a lot sleep for school tomorrow.”