(no subject)

[tln-theshifter.livejournal.com]

WHO: The Shifter & You. Yes, you.
WHEN: An ambiguous time that feels like a few hours but will, in fact, be the 24-ish hours 'til plot's end.
WHERE: [See NOTES]
WHAT: The house chases The Shifter.
WARNINGS: Language, violence, disturbing images, etc.

NOTES: Everyone in the house (including Castiel and Annie) has perhaps fallen asleep. The dream resembles reality, or vice-versa. You're not entirely sure. Wounds sustained in whatever this is will hurt and act as real wounds; weapons used will work properly, etc. People can form one large group or multiple smaller groups.

You will be encountering nightmares. These will be of your own devising and not The Shifter's direct creation, so please play them out within your group(s) and try to balance and mix multiple peoples' nightmares together (ie Owen might appear alongside Alastair in an empty school hallway, or you might find yourselves in Hell alongside Michael with key!Dawn trying to help you out). Please recall there are other monsters if you care to use them.

The Shifter will enter when he is found (yes, he will be found).. but that means that it's up to the players to get through at least one round of nightmares. A tip: work together! Please also be mindful of other peoples' activity and either break into groups based on that OR be patient. No one should be left out. If you break into groups, every group will get a Shifter and it will be up to you guys to figure out which is The Shifter.


tl;dr Work together, have fun, create your own nightmares and I'll torment you near the end with The Shifter.

Comments

er, upstairs thread whooo! now with more wacky dream stuff

[longagotomorrow]

Time to sleep. Or are you waking up?

Amy sat bolt-upright, gasping for breath as she tried to remember what had been happening. She'd dreamed... or was she dreaming now? She couldn't keep track anymore. She'd thought she'd been in the second floor common room, but now she was in her bedroom.

"I'm awake now," she snapped at the voice that still seemed to linger in the air. A little uncertainly, she added, "This feels real."

He always leaves you, doesn't he? Alone in the dark. Never apologizes.

The sound of the TARDIS' engines roared through the room, and Amy sprang up, chasing after it, shouting, "Doctor? Doctor, come back!" But when she got out into the hallway, everything was quiet. No TARDIS, no Doctor. "Please come back," she whispered, feeling the same awful loneliness she had as a child.

The sound of feet stomping in unison echoed up from downstairs, followed by Rose's voice screaming. Amy turned towards the stairs, but the figure of a man flickered into being in front of her.

"Poor Amy Pond, alone again." He wore the Doctor's tweed and bowtie, but he wasn't the Doctor.

"I know you, I know who you are," she told him cockily. "And this isn't anything to do with you. You're just another dream here."

The Dream Lord leered. "Bet your life?" In a flicker, he wasn't short and balding anymore, he was tall and young, with messy hair and a pointy nose. The boy from her dream, the one who'd given her the engagement ring. "Bet his?"

"I don't know you." The boy walked towards her, and she could see herself, clear as day, kissing him on a bench under a tree. And hugging him in the rain in Venice, and giving him back the engagement ring, because he'd never let her wear it, always afraid she'd lose it... Flashbacks, to things that never were. "You're just part of the dream."

"Am I?" he asked her, in the Dream Lord's voice. "But what's the dream, and what's real?"

"You aren't real!" Amy insisted, and pushed past him, running towards the stairs. Where her feet fell, grass sprung up, the banister became a tree under her fingers, but she ignored it and ran on, leaving a forest in her wake.

DOWNSTAIRS thread, edited to incorporate just a bit of Amy. :)

[iwantyousafe.livejournal.com]

One moment, Rose had been in the Armory, grabbing as much firepower as she could with the Duke and the Commodore. The plan had been clear- meet the group in the Common Room. Bring the weapons. Easy-peasy. So easy, she'd even been laughing, practicing the witty threats she'd throw the next time they saw their tormentor.

Then, a change.

Rose suddenly found herself alone on the stairs. She stood there for a moment, in between the first floor and the second. Strange. She didn't remember leaving the Armory. She certainly hadn't gathered all she'd wanted. Exhaling, Rose took a quick inventory of herself- a shotgun was on her back, held there by a rope strap she'd constructed with Leo. She remembered doing that. Okay. She could feel the weight of the small Bulldog revolver in her coat. Good. The Enfield was safely in her hand. The majority of the Armory, however, was unaccounted for. Her friends were missing, too. Rose shook her head, dizzy. The room felt dreary, or heavy, or... something.

Still not quite comprehending the wrongness of it all, the blonde began walking up the stairs. Only after a good 30 seconds of climbing, though, did she realize she wasn't actually moving. It was like being stuck on a treadmill. Rose couldn't get up to the second floor rendezvous.

Then, she heard it- the sound of steel. A chorus of stomping, robotic feet was echoing from beneath her, pursuing her brain. Her eyes went wide. This was the fear she'd named. Nothing she was holding could stop a Cyberman. Hoping, praying that she was still on the real staircase, Rose broke into an upward run. She cried out as she climbed, "'ello? 'ello?! Is anybody above me?!?"

Up, up, up went her legs. Her muscles burned, but Rose got nowhere. The stairs regenerated endlessly from an abyss above, spilling into an identical one below. The lonely companion was beginning to tire. Breathing hard, she stopped for just a moment to look back. Clanging in the dark was the unified, metallic march. Rose couldn't see them yet, but the Cybermen grew closer. Cybermen knew no fatigue. Having no solutions, she screamed, hoping the second floor could hear.

"Commodore! Duke! Can ya 'ear me? I'm trapped!!"

At her feet, springing up through cracks in the stairs, were little tufts of grass.

"SAM! DOCTOR!!!!!"

hope you don't mind me jumping in here?

[longagotomorrow]

Amy sprinted down the spiral staircase, not stopping until she got to the second floor landing. Behind her, the staircase had become a tree and grass was slowly spreading out across the landing.

On the stairs in front of her, Rose was running, and the sound of marching was much louder here. Amy grabbed hold of the banister and reached her hand out as far onto the staircase towards Rose as she could.

"Can you grab my hand?" she called urgently.

Not at all! CHICK RESCUE~

[iwantyousafe.livejournal.com]

The stairs below her began to crack. Tiny saplings were breaking the structure, pushing upward, and threatening the ground itself. Rose looked around in a panic. Foliage above, metal below- this couldn't be real!

Before she could scream again, Rose heard Amy's voice. It felt like waking up. Was she awake now? Had she fallen asleep? The other girl's hand was there, reaching for her. Rose tried to grab it, but the stairs had other plans. Just as before, they moved beneath her feet, locking the blonde in place.

She hesitated for just a moment more. Rose could hear the Cybermen clearly. They had to be just a few stairs below. Coming to her senses, she hoisted the shotgun from her back and extended it toward Amy.

"Grab this an' don' let go! I'll 'oist m'self up!"

FTW

[longagotomorrow]

Amy took hold of the shotgun and braced herself to help pull Rose up. Those stomping feet were louder, closer, and even though Amy didn't know what it meant, the sound was starting to freak her out.

"Come on, hurry!"

There was a burst of static, and Amy glanced sideways to see one of the clerics' communicators lying in the grass. There was a voice coming out of it.

Don't blink. Blink and you're dead. It was the Doctor's voice. Not her Doctor, the other Doctor. The one in the trainers. You can't kill a stone. 'Course, a stone can't kill you either, but then you turn your head away, then you blink, and oh yes it can.

Amy gulped. She really didn't want to think about what that meant. Right now, she just had to focus on getting Rose off the staircase before whatever was marching towards them arrived.

[iwantyousafe.livejournal.com]

Thankfully, it was Rose's legs that had grown tired, not her arms. Amy's presence grounded her, and she was able to pull herself off the stairs.

The pair stood on solid floor, surrounded by plants. In about half a second, Rose gave Amy a look of thanks, then confusion, then urgency. The older girl tried to catch her breath. She wanted to ask where the forest had all come from, but there was no time. "We 'ave t' run!" Rose exclaimed. "Wha's comin' will kill us both."

It was then that she registered the voice in the grass. She looked toward the communicator with awe. For a moment, the Cybermen, the trees, the stairs- none of it mattered. Rose's voice quivered. She turned to Amy with a grave stare. It was time to ask the question she'd been keeping to herself all week.

"The Doctor. Where is 'e? Why 'aven't we seen 'im through all this?" Unintentionally, her voice came across as demanding, almost blaming. Rose returned the shotgun to her back. The instant she got an answer, they had to sprint for their lives.

[tln-theshifter.livejournal.com]

Somewhere in the trees, a shadow stirred.

"The Doctor's gone," whispered a voice inside the girls' minds. "It's only me and you now."

Barely lighter than the shadows cast by the foliage around it, the figure flitted across their eyelines.

"And them."

It came into plain view, then, still just a shadow but easily identifiable as the shape of a person. The sound of the Cybermen grew louder, and deep in the trees, light shone off the wings of stone angels.

"Catch me if you can."

In that sleep of death what dreams may come?

[duke-of-albany.livejournal.com]

As he advances toward the Common Room, the saber in Leopold's hand seems to grow terribly heavy. He swings it a bit, casting a glance behind him to see if his companions are all right, senses alert to anything that might be amiss. But the room has changed around him, and he is alone.

A warm swell of fear pools in his chest. He pushes away rising panic as he switches the saber to his left hand and pulls one of the pistols from his belt. As he looks down, he catches sight of bright, seeping red on his waistcoat and a sharp, burning pain suffuses his stomach. He drops the weapons and claws at his shirt. What was a mere bruise is now the bullet wound from his dream.

“This is a dream,” he says aloud, voice shaky but clear. “I am asleep, or drugged.”

“Quiet, boy,” snaps a voice behind him.

Leopold whirls, biting back a cry as the movement wrenches bullet-torn muscles. “You are not my uncle,” he tells the apparition as firmly as he can manage.

“Don't be absurd,” the figure, who looks for all the world like his Uncle Millard, orders him. “See what these contraptions of yours have come to? The death of a boy, and soon they will be the death of you. Why you bother with the things is an eternal mystery to me.”

Leopold casts around him for the weapons he dropped, but they have disappeared. He reaches for the remaining pistol in his belt with a trembling hand and levels it at the advancing shade. “You are not my uncle,” he tells it again, voice breaking.

“Does it matter who I am?” The form ripples, blurs, and Otis, his dear old butler, is standing before him. “You know I speak the truth. Goodbye, your grace.”

Leopold fights to hold the gun level with all of his quickly waning strength, but he cannot bring himself to pull the trigger on his truest friend in the world. Soon the gun grows too heavy and slips from his fingers. The figure of Otis merely watches him with a bemused smile.

Hot tears prickle at Leopold's eyes, and he blinks them back. “I know-” he begins, and then the floor seems to rise up to meet him. The pain in his stomach is numb now, his shirt soaked through as he crumples down.

[tln-theshifter.livejournal.com]

A shadowy figure appeared in front of Leopold. No features were distinguishable, only the shape of a person, barely lighter than the shadows surrounding it.

"Catch me if you can," said a voice inside Leopold's mind. "Make the dreaming stop if you can."

It was suddenly closer without seeming to move, staring down at the wounded man without any eyes to speak of. "But you can't, can you? Failure." The last word echoed through Leopold's mind. Failure. Failure. Failure.

/CRASHES IN

[family-remains.livejournal.com]

"HEY-" Sam shouted as he came around the corner.

He had been on his way to meet everyone in the common room when this began. The normally well lit halls were dark, a dirty bulb flickering here and there. It was silent, quieter than it should have been with the alarm raised, and there was something sluggish in the air. Like that feeling you got when you were in a dream.

In fact, that's exactly what it felt like. And then it hit him. This was a dream. Whatever was behind all of this must have caught wind of their plan and attacked before the house could congregate, leaving them scattered, undisciplined, and unarmed.

But here they were all the same.

Realizing what was going on, he launched into action, rushing to close the space between him, the shifter, and the wounded Leo. Without thinking, he raised his weapon (the fire poker from his room) and swung, hoping to beat the creature away from Leopold before it killed him.

[tln-theshifter.livejournal.com]

The shadow didn't turn around, but it was looking at Sam all the same. It waited for him to swing the fire poker, making no move to stop him.

The poker connected, and the figure fell sideways, clutching its side. "You think you can defeat me with that?" its voice whispered in Sam's head. "Are you even trying to defeat the real me?"

A figure identical to the one in front of Sam melted out of the shadows behind him. "Now there are two. But which is real?"

THREADJACK.

[iwantyousafe.livejournal.com]

The sound of a gunshot rang out. Suddenly, Rose Tyler was standing off to the side of Sam and Leopold, feet planted, knees bent, Boswell aimed at the second shadow.

Well, this was nice. She wasn't dead, after all. The real question, though, was whether or not she'd woken up.

The blonde looked toward Sam, but darted instead to Leopold, who seemed to need her more. Rose dropped to her knees by the Duke. She swallowed hard, trying not to react poorly to the amount of blood. The last thing Leo needed was someone screaming over his obviously awful wounds.

"Can't leave ya alone for a second, can I?"

O HAI

[family-remains.livejournal.com]

"Wh..." The question died in mid air as the thing split into two identical halves. He glanced from the twins, to his weapon, then to Leopold, and finally back to the shifters.

"Shut up." Delivered with as much menace as possible - swinging at the second shifter's head before Rose's gun was fired.

It was a lucky thing they hadn't gone after the same shape, or it would be Sam on the other end of that bullet.

A Hallway

[doubtheaven.livejournal.com]

His footsteps echoed in the hall as Castiel walked down it. Each footstep began to slow and eventually he stopped, pausing to look around. Confusion creased his brow and he parted his lips, unsure of what to say or how to respond.

Wasn't he in his room? Why had he decided to leave all of a sudden? Was he looking for the Winchester's? Maybe that was it, but he didn't recall actually getting up and leaving his room... he was just here. And he wasn't entirely sure where here was. Which hallway was this? What floor was he on?

A sigh of annoyance escaped him and his hand briefly rubbed the back of his neck. This might be another dream or false reality. If it was, he was trapped here until he woke up, and he ran the risk of encountering something dangerous. His hand reached into his trench coat and he found the bottle of holy water he'd prepared in the kitchen. At least this came into the dream with him. The bottle was tucked away again and he began walking, though the hallway seemed to go on forever.

[tln-theshifter.livejournal.com]

Behind Castiel, a shadow moved. It was roughly the shape of a man, but that was all that could be said for it.

"Where are you going, angel?" The voice was in Castiel's mind without bothering to get there via his ears. "Come to stop me? Come to save them?"

[doubtheaven.livejournal.com]

With that feeling he was being stalked, the angel turned around swiftly to look. The voice was definitely in his head, he decided, and this was probably another dream, given the strangeness of the situation. Either that or he was thrown into some sort of hallucination.

"What do you want from us?" His voice was cold and demanding, but he doubted the shadow-figure would be direct with its responses.

[tln-theshifter.livejournal.com]

"What do you want?" The shadow held out its hand, and dropped a handful of white feathers onto the floor. Though the figure stayed cloaked in darkness, the feathers were hit with light, and Castiel would be able to see that their ends were bloody.

"You're falling, angel." And suddenly, the floor dropped out from under Castiel.

[doubtheaven.livejournal.com]

Castiel creased his brow when the shadow extended its hand. He prepared to defend himself if necessary, but saw only feathers. The blood was noticed and he recognized the same image as from the dream he had.

With the remark, he parted his lips to speak, but instead of words there came a gasp and a yell as the floor disappeared out from under him. If he had a chance to grab the ledge he would, but if not he knew he'd be plunged into darkness.

[tln-theshifter.livejournal.com]

There was a ledge there for Castiel to hang onto. The shadow closed in on him, suddenly, far away one second and sitting on the ledge next to Castiel the next.

"How long can you hold on?" It's hand, stained with blood from the feathers, reached out towards him.

FINALE

[tln-theshifter.livejournal.com]

It's night; the moon is barely visible, a waning nothing hidden away behind clouds. The sky is starless; if they're up there - and they may not be - they certainly aren't visible. Everything's cast in long shadows; the only thing clear is the crossroad.

Five dirt and gravel roads converge in one empty space, weeds growing along the center thanks to disuse and abandonment. No one's been here in a long time; perhaps no one should be here. And yet, several people are. There's a surge of relief; each thought he or she was completely alone, lost on this old and unused road, forgotten and unneeded. If they disappeared, no one would notice.

But there are others! That's cause for hope; others to be recognized, to offer help. Because as dark as the night is, as far as they are from any hint of civilization, that's what they need most: help.

[doubtheaven.livejournal.com]

Castiel walked a few steps until the road brought him to the center of it all, where it branched out in different directions. What was he doing here?

"Sam? Dean?" Those two had been in the hall with him. Castiel just hoped that they were alright. Maybe they were lucky and were out of this nightmare, but if they weren't, he'd rather they were here so he could keep an eye on them.

[iwantyousafe.livejournal.com]

Rose blinked into existence, sitting on a blanket in the woods. She faced none other than her dear friend, Jack Harkness. The pair laughed merrily beside an adorable picnic lunch. The sun was bright, birds were singing, all was well... and... Rose had no idea what was funny. It was as if Jack had just told a joke, but she didn't remember it. The girl quieted. She hadn't seen Jack in months. This wasn't right.

Somewhere, someone flicked a switch. The sun itself went out. Rose Tyler was suddenly picnicking with an 1879 Queen Victoria in the dark. The blonde rapidly bowed her head, confused and rushing to be reverent. Too late. "We are not amused," scowled the gray-haired matriarch. Feeling an overwhelming urge to make amends, Rose quickly fumbled to fetch a sandwich for Her Majesty.

...and there was no food, only a dismantled clockwork droid, its brass pieces scattered across the prickly ground. The mask from its disguise sat in the dirt, smiling up at Rose. She shuddered. A noise inside her brain: Tick... tick... tick... I'm... I'm...

"I'm still dreamin'!" Rose exclaimed, jumping to her feet. Looking about, she shook her head disappointment. She'd almost lost herself that time. The environment morphed yet again, and she stood in a crossroads. The shotgun was back, as were all of her frustrations.

Someone was up ahead. "'ello??"

[family-remains.livejournal.com]

Sam, too, had been in the middle of another dream. Something far more dangerous than this, but the same ominous overtones were humming in the air.

He approached the crossroads quietly, worry etched across his face. This journey had begun at a crossroads, and now it seemed the nightmare was returning full circle.

Quietly, and with a touch of hesitation, the hunter pulled the small bullet out of his pocket - rolling it's small surface with his thumb and forefinger. He had the feeling that it might come in useful, and at the very least the repetitive motions kept his anxiety at bay, and his hand busy.

Rose and Castiel were before him, each having traveled from their own direction, but there was no conclusion as of yet. No signs nor explanation as to what would happen next. And yet, there was nowhere else to go, either. the other roads seemed wrong, and the notion of turning around seemed equally bleak. So they were at an impasse, waiting for something. Anything.

[iwantyousafe.livejournal.com]

Rose had to resist the urge to go to Sam. Choosing him automatically had become a reflex. Now, though, she'd seen his nightmares. A resentment was stewing inside of her, born of all of the things about himself that Sam had apparently hidden. Some friend. It likely meant he was after The Doctor, or the TARDIS, or similar... just like everyone before. Rose frowned, staying in place. Little girls weren't supposed to talk to strangers.

...Of course, Rose Tyler's mind never settled that easily. A few silent moments passed, and she found herself watching Sam from the corner of her eye. He looked tired, anxious. The blonde bit her bottom lip. Sam could be just another liar, chasing a Time Lord... or maybe he just had issues like hers. Cursing her gullibility, she made a decision.

"'ey!" Rose called out to Sam. "You. Me. After this. Serious sit-down." She didn't expect or need a reply. The order was left to hang in the air.

She turned, at last acknowledging the other person at the crossroads. Rose had seen him earlier. With Dean. Right away, she labeled their introduction doomed. Any friend of Dean's probably got a (totally ridiculous and unjustifiable) warning about her. Trying to hide her worries, the blonde put on a friendly smile. "'lo," she greeted, taking a few steps forward. "I'm Rose."

[doubtheaven.livejournal.com]

Castiel spotted the pair and began to walk toward them briskly. He was glad to see Sam, but his blue eyes searched the area for the other Winchester brother. Dean would be sent here with them as well, wouldn't he? Cas just hoped Dean wasn't in any trouble.

When Rose introduced herself, the man in the trenchcoat looked straight at her. He didn't sneer, but he didn't smile either. "I'm Castiel." He answered simply and looked between her and Sam. It was more of a curious look than a disapproving one.