【EVENT】 New Year's Wishful Dreaming

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Wishful Dreaming Event

On the Eve of the New Year, the city of Starsand is surprisingly quiet. For a place so eager to throw parties, you might think that the streets would be full of life. But instead, Starsand’s streets are quiet and it’s citizens shutting down shops early. In this city, the last night of the year is contemplative and quiet. Citizens might make their last shrine visits, but it’s uncommon to see them out past 11.

They say that it’s important to fall asleep before the New Year, because you want to treasure your first dream of the New Year. Supposedly it’s lucky and prophetic. If you write it down and remember it, that dream can even guide you to your greatest desire. And rumors are always good ideas in Starsand.

Sleep comes easy on this night. Characters will find themselves getting drowsy by 4am at the latest. When they do fall asleep, they fall into a deep and elaborate dream.

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OOC NOTES

The first dream of the New Year will show characters their wishes come true. They will get to enjoy the life they long for. But strangely, they may find other Fallen Stars wandering into their dreams. These encounters may shake them out of their dreamlike state and make them aware that the dream is just that: A dream. If the dreamer denies their dream or has doubts, then the dreamscape will fall apart into a nightmare before both dreamer and visitor wake up.

It is possible to have multiple dreams: Characters must wake between dreams, even if just briefly, then fall back asleep in order to change their dream. There can be multiple visitors before the dream ends for good.

On the morning of January 1st, all characters who had a dream will find a prismatic crystal clenched in the palm of their hands. The crystal will reflect the contents of their dream, so long as they hold the same wish. If they change wishes or lose faith, then the crystal will turn black and melt into Rumor goo.

NPC characters may reply to dreams with clues. Please indicate which characters you want to receive clues by putting a “*” in their toplevel title. You may request clues for up to 3 characters. Thank you for your help!

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Comments

[mothornly]

[ In any other circumstance she'd say yes, take his hand and allow herself to go home.

But here... she finds herself conflicted.

What is he doing? ]

Is... it really okay?

[fauxther]

[ It's not. He knows it's not.

Ultimately, it puts him at a strong disadvantage. Having worked at city hall, there was nothing to dispute that she could have, at one point, worked for the Ostanian government. The second that she finds out he's a Westalis spy, there would be no saving Operation Strix. For that matter... the Forger family would cease to be, and there would be a very strong chance that between the two of them...

...One of them would have to disappear for good.

Still, he doesn't retract his hand. He... owes it to her to be honest. ]

I don't know. [ A momentary pause. ] When I see your face... will I see Yor Forger, or will I see this "Thorn Princess" I've heard about?

[mothornly]

"Thorn Princess" doesn't have any reason to deal with you.

[ Don't give her a reason.

She doesn't want to.

She... wants to stay with him. That's her selfish wish. ]

So...

[fauxther]

[ He wants so badly to believe her.

...why? Why does he want to?

Twilight finally retracts his hand, only to come up with a follow up "threat." ]

I'm going to come to you. You and I can go back home together.

[ Twilight slowly makes his way towards, ensuring his hands are up.

No issues whatsoever. No concealed weapons (that she could see) ... just, the hope that the sight of his face doesn't end with his untimely death. ]

[mothornly]

[ She doesn't move from where she stands, instead just waiting for him.

The last thing Yor wants is for him to see her as a threat -- as someone who would hurt him.

...the opposite is true.

If she was told to assassinate Loid, she doesn't think that she'd be able to do it. ]

[fauxther]

[ No response, then.

It was a standstill. To trust anyone in this line of work was foolish, and he'd never be sure if he can reveal who he is. Even now, for once, slipping into the role of Loid Forger, father and husband, was difficult.

However... if she hadn't decided to kill him yet...

Slowly. Carefully, hands raised palms forward, Loid finally appears before her. He wishes he could greet her with a smile, but instead simply... just meets her gaze. ]

[mothornly]

[ The second he meets her gaze, red eyes immediately dart away as if ashamed of herself.

Why was she so ashamed?

She was proud of her work - with it, she could actually protect the lives of others.

But the way Loid was approaching her, the way he was looking at her...

...this wasn't what she wanted. A part of her wants to cry, but she refrains. All she can do is speak up, dully: ]

Let's go home.

[fauxther]

[ He sees her. Despite how she's dressed, the blood splattered on her, he still didn't see Thorn Princess.

He takes two actions.

One is to take her hand. As he had planned to anyway.

What he hadn't planned was for his other hand to rest on her cheek, to caress her slightly. Something about this whole set-up was odd, and even his behavior here...

...had to be a part of this. Naturally.

Quietly, he speaks. ]

It is you, Yor.

[ Beneath this all, she's still Yor Forger. The woman that he-- ]

[mothornly]

Y-Yes...

[ And now her face is red, if only because she finds herself rather surprised at how odd he was acting. How he takes her hand and even is gentle with her, in spite of the bodies that surround their feet. ]

It's still me.

[ Despite it all. ]

[fauxther]

[ He may have questions when he wakes up, and if this is who Yor truly was, then it only reinforced how much he had to keep his emotions in check. He can't grow attached.

..."Grow". The wrong verb. ]

We'll discuss this later. Perhaps over breakfast.

For now... let's get out of here. There's not much left for you to do here.

[ If there are some surviving Facility members, then that might be a problem later on down the line, but that's something for him to do later--

What time is it right now? ]

1 / 2

[mothornly]

Right.

[ She can feel her anxiety spiking up nervously about that conversation. But she nods, allowing herself to be led -- but the dream starts to blur and fade, trying insistently to wake the users of it up. ]

2 / 2

[mothornly]

[ ....except when she wakes up, she's in a panic, eyes wide and staring at the door like she's going onto her death. She doesn't notice the crystal on her bed just yet. Instead, she's just absolutely horrified at the prospect of Loid finding the truth about her and leaving her for good.

And while she'd like to say that she'd like to stay -

In her addled panic, she just.

Chooses to not go out the door and instead sneak out the window.

She just needs to clear her head! It was just a dream! She can't panic here, or else she'll be found suspicious! She can't have that!

Anyway, she's jumping out the window like a cat and running the hell out of the house for a nice jog. That's what it is. It's barely even sunrise and she's just gonna.

Get on the horse and have it run into the sunrise or something. ]

[fauxther]

[ Truthfully, in waking up in his room was a slight relief. Dreams are hardly admissions of anything really, and he could always phrase it that way. Mention the wild dream he had, sweep it under the rug, and then... potentially, force himself to go and tail Yor for a little bit. See if there were any hints of this possibly being true.

Unfortunately, the hint that he got was more damning than that. When he woke up, and knocked on her door to no avail, and searched the house... she was gone. The horse that she had won was even gone as well.

...He doesn't go right away. He needed to process this. Yor Briar of Ostania. Clean background, brother in the secret police, brought into a marriage of convienence to avoid suspicion. Evidence of abnormal strength, agility, and even, while drunk... nearly attempted to kill him during their performance for Anya.

So many things, clicking into place that it was hard to ignore the truth. The only question was: what now? There were very few people that Twilight could rely on in this city. Only one left from his world, and she could become his enemy in an instant--

No. No, she wouldn't. That's not who Yor is--

Who is she? No, right now, the bigger question is why is he the one not leaving? This was a dangerous situation he was in all of a sudden, and he simply wanted to speak to her. Who is she to him? His wife of convienence...

Damn it.

He was still alive. Isn't that evidence enough?

Once dressed, he takes off to search for her. Outrunning a horse would be too great a feat even for him, but as long as there were tracks, traces of the direction they had gone in, he can track them down.

Damn it, Twilight. You don't have much time.

What are you going to say to her when you find her? ]

[mothornly]

[ Eventually she needs to make sure that the horse gets some rest, so she can eventually be found at a park with lots of space. She can't help but apologize to the poor horse as she just hops off it and finds herself sitting next to a tree.

What is she supposed to do now...? ]

[fauxther]

[ It takes him a while... but he's able to locate her. A wide open area... no real way for either of them to hide that easily, should the worst come to pass.

...he's determined to keep that from happening.

Loid makes sure to at least announce himself, before he gets too close. Trying to remain calm, letting concern into his voice. ]

Yor.

[ He felt like air had completely fled his lungs, unsure of where to start. Not sure of... how to confidently console her after this. ]

...may I sit with you?

[mothornly]

--Loid!?

[ This was probably the worst place to hide, but now she's stuck, frozen in place.

It probably doesn't help that she called out his name in a rather, over-the-top surprised manner. ]

Um.

Yes. Sure.

[fauxther]

Thank you. Excuse me.

[ Loid steps forward, and takes a seat right next to Yor, not... really able to look at her directly just yet.

How does he start talking about this... ]

...Did... you have a similar dream to mine?

[ Slightly dancing around it. ]

[mothornly]

Huh? Uh... what... kind of dream are you talking about?

[fauxther]

[ He... really shouldn't sugarcoat it. ]

I had a dream that I had found an odd medical facility. There were figures wearing animal masks strewn about the floor, and the only one I saw standing... was you.

...

Am I allowed to ask?

[mothornly]

[ She quiets down, curling into herself a little bit. ]

...You can.

[ There's no point to lying. ]

[fauxther]

[ He thinks over how to say this... and finally, just speaks. ]

Was that a vision of the past, before I arrived here? Did... all of that truly happen?

[mothornly]

It wasn't.

[ But... her feelings towards the Facility, wanting to crush them under her heel? That was something that she felt strong feelings for. ]

[fauxther]

...is it something you're capable of?

[mothornly]

If...

[ She hesitates slightly before continuing. ]

If it was... what then?

[fauxther]

...

[ There's a lot he wants to say. He knows this isn't something that would end well for him. However... ]

If it is... I would ask you to be careful.

[ He can't condemn her. He refuses to say that it's fine, but he can offer support. ]

...I don't want to lose you.