Kaimana watched it all, much like a play. She sympathized with the characters in the scenes as they were set, she felt the panic and alarm as they did, she witnessed their fear as if it were her own, and it reminded her of something. A scene that had played when she had touched a compass. The briefest tint of understanding flickered at the edge of her mind, daring Kaimana to grasp it. But he could not. It seemed as though they could do nothing until their guide instructed them. It wasn't until the words Change his fate. had fallen upon her ears that Kaimana felt that she understood. The panic of these people was long faded, the past of this king was a labyrinth he had locked himself within, and now they were locked in it with him. Kaimana figured any injuries sustained here might not affect them in the present (although lacking caution as a result would be risky), but they would affect him.

So what could Kaimana do? One of their group had created a barrier, which was a good start. Another had run—they looked too small to recognize the unreality of this plane, too small to put up their own fight. They were all too small to fight the intruder head on, but with the skills and the knowledge they did have, and with the "We're allies, likely from the future. As I understand it, this is your memory and you are its prisoner. Your Guardian has asked us to help you awaken. On your own, it is likely that you fail to stand here, but with all of us..." Kaimana's brain faltered as he stared into the violent maw, the violet flesh, and remembered Master Vargas. She wished the inspiration would come, but, well... "I'm not entirely certain, none of us are very large and also their might be a baby along with us which is unfortunate—not because they're a baby, but, ah—" Kaimana sighed and relented. At least the king would know who they were, generally.

Pelly was relatively mentally present until the fight showed up. Then Pelly was extremely mentally present and kind of confused but mostly ready to go. They weren't sure how to "change someone's fate" in a dream where the ending was something that had been predetermined but they had not yet seen. The jaguar was making sense until that last part—Pelly was completely confident they could probably get through this if they all worked together, even if they knew nothing about each other or their enemies or what, in general, was going on. Even if they didn't have that monster strength, Pelly figured they all at least had some magic, and magic was so flipping cool. Speaking of some cool magic: pa—pa—pa—PAH! The magical shield of the Kingdom of the Seven sputtered to life, and Pelly charged with it directly towards the open jaws going for their bird companion. Pelly, in essence, would attempt to wedge the shield into that big old maw.

Pelly rolling to protect @Nemo

Nemo


His feathers crawl as the tiger looks at him- seems to respond to him, but he focuses on the Valkhound tearing down the tunnel.

The jaws don't scare him.

The slavering green slime doesn't scare him.

Nor the bidding to change the fate of the tiger behind them.

It's the idea of maintaining the barrier long enough, or maybe even splitting a way out for all the driven back celebrators... through this monster. Depending on his magic scares him to his core.

Part of him feels like he's betraying what mild alliance he claims with Master Vargas, but... this isn't the Master. This is them, in whatever sort of now this can be considered.

"My name is Nemo," he replies to the tiger, tilting to finally meet the other's gaze and tail twitching once behind him as he opens his wings for another flap. "And we need to all get out of here, alive, and wake. Up."

The lunge of Ampelio into his space allows him to drop the Barrier long enough to pull on some other magic-

Better out than in, huh? If he can alter the air around the tunnel blocker before him, he can possibly cause the Valkhound to collapse and he takes aim again.

The lammergeier holds his ground, only stepping to the side to widen his stance, brace his tail against the ground and snap his wings forwards at the Valkhoud, and draw the breathable air away and into the room, or force the air down the hall.

"When it staggers, run! I'll go for the face!"

Giggle listened, one dark paw in the air, her eyes distant as she tried to figure all this out. At least her question from earlier--'is this someone's dream'--had now been answered, and that with a resounding 'yeah.'

But what could she do in a dream-? Didn't it require that whoever was... was orchestrating this... know every bit of magic, and what it could do, to adapt it accordingly? ...No, she realized. They just have to be able to read minds--to understand our intent. And we're already in a dream with them. It would be easy for them. She had to pause, distracted, to listen to Kaimana and for a moment, she was almost hopeful for some moment of grand heroism from them all. Instead, what she got was confusing (typical cat drivel, she thought) and almost discouraging. She shook her head, black lips pursed with brief confusion and disappointment, and looked around.

What could she do to help-?

Behind them she, too, recognized Vargas; in front was a thing she'd never seen before. Vargas couldn't get to them but... he was blocking their escape. Maybe I can use that? she mused, staring at him. She'd very nearly been on the receiving end of his bullshit before--it was hard to focus with the lurking memory of him standing over her from behind, leering down face-to-face, with death threats and all of that. But Giggle tried anyway, squinting and striding forward. Maybe, at least, we can get the other victims out? If she were lucky, maybe they could all escape.

Temporarily, at least, but--maybe that's all the dream required?

She gritted thick fangs and strode toward the rear of the room, trying to push out the cries and the conversation and the magic all around her, and pushed her magic into latent spores. Go get 'im, boys, she thought to the fungus, half-distractedly and a little hysterically.

At least it isn't dark in here.
She pushed the spores in a cloud for Vargas, and spoke up, loudly, as she came. "Vargas! -Yes, we know your name!" (Would that carry any weight?) Giggle realized, then, that she hadn't really thought too far ahead. Shit, what now? She barely managed to avoid outright saying "Uhh..." "Step back, and let all of these pass!" (Would the magic be enough for that, or would she need a reason?) "This is a--test and a secret mission! You've all done well--now let them pass! And order those idiots at the front to stand aside, too!" If only she'd had the time to offer up some fake Chaosy sort of magic--but alas.

She stared up into the dark crack of the rock, and hoped that this would do.

DUST OF DREAMS

The Cave Stories - Canis

For a moment, the white tiger paused to listen to Kaimana. Some understanding, dawning in his face--something that might have turned to confidence--turned instead, after a moment, to confusion. It was Nemo's brief words--'wake. Up,' that jolted him. He stared, blinking.

The tiger hesitated, and then turned toward the entrance, bracing himself just behind Nemo. The pink gemstone at his forehead shimmered, flared, and a moment later a shock of energy burst outward... but rather than striking the slavering Valkhound, it backfired. The white tiger was sent spinning, staggering, blinking in his confusion. When he looked up at the tunnel, it was with a sick and resigned expression, as though he knew what would come next. As if he knew those jaws would soon close around his neck.

As if he remembered.

But... they did not. Nemo was there; Ampelio was there. Their magic not only kept the monster at bay, but choked it, stumbled it--sent it snarling back into the shadows.

Behind them, suddenly, the purple Valkhound was gone. Whether the white tiger knew the name Vargas in his dreams or not, the intent was there, and the magic worked. The tiger seized the moment. "RUN!" he roared. "Run! Get out!" They did--all of those who were huddling, cowering, fled down the tunnel exit. Their stampede was panicked, bodies colliding, ears flattened back, but a moment later the tiger was just behind them, fleeing at their tails. "Come on! This way--we can make it!" He grinned, his eyes lighting up with hope. "We can make it!"

And then... he paused.

One paw hung in the air, and the white tiger looked back at the Gembound present. His face--lit with that hope, with relief and joy--slowly sobered, and he placed his paw back down. He looked at Ampelio, at Nemo, at Giggle and Kaimana, then back down the tunnel, and his face fell.

Around them, the cave shimmered. It went silent, still, motes of dust drifting pink around them, and the tunnels seemed to crack and shift. "...They didn't," he said quietly, and took a few steps toward them. "They didn't make it."

"None of us did-... did we? I-... I remember," he near-whispered, and looked back at the tunnel. "It's all I remember-... over and over. Some of them-... Captured, killed-... when my magic failed us. When I wasn't... careful enough. One mistake. One mistake," he repeated bitterly. "Is this dreaming-? Is this... my fate, my punishment-? For failing them..?"

The tunnel broke into shards, and began to fall away, spilling the Gembound into peaceful darkness.

The white tiger looked at them, his gaze mournful, grief-stricken.

"...Did any of them make it?" he asked, and then the dreamscape fell apart.

---

The Gembound would find themselves slowly waking. A voice--deep, humming, that of the bones--spoke in their minds. 'Thank you.' This was all it said, yet with it came a gift: the knowledge of a new magic, faint but growing, the power of the spores that had sent them drifting into slumber.

The skeletal sentinel crumbled at last, his long watch finished, and slowly collapsed into a heap. The magic keeping him here--in whatever form, and however it had worked--faded.

And beyond--at the bottom of the pool--the purple-pink chrysalis was just beginning to crack.

---

Gembound have now completed Dust of Dreams, and may exit if they so wish. However, they may also remain to meet and interact with the white tiger now hatching from his chrysalis hibernation if they so wish.

This character is a rebel, and associating with him in the long term may cause ire in the more loyal Masters of the cave. On the other hand, turning him in or reporting this incident to those Masters may accrue a reward.

Achievements and spell rewards will be given out shortly.

Spell unlocked:

Dream Dust Medium Intensity Manipulation (Fungi). The caster releases a thick cloud of spores that imposes an intense feeling of drowsiness on any that breathe it in, including the caster. Particularly large, concentrated doses of the spores may cause total unconsciousness.

@Nemo @Infinity @Giggle @Ampelio

Giggle rose from the dream, confusion fading with a sharp click of her mind into clarity. A vision, she reflected, as the flutter of wings announced Omen's landing atop her shoulders.

Head low, she plodded back the way they'd come--to the water's edge, to peer down inside. She didn't know what all of this had been about, not really. Oh, she could guess, of course, the basics: that someone, long ago, had lost his friends. That he'd lain exhausted in the chrysalis, dreaming of his failure for generations.

Yet as to who he truly was, or why they had been hiding, who had killed them, and why--those things, she did not know. So she waited, stepping back from the pool to sit on her haunches, yawning as she came fully awake.

Maybe the stranger could tell them something. And--the sympathetic, motherly side of her noted--maybe she could help him, too.

exiting due to no other replies :(