driftfleet | 002: Nightmares...

Entry tags:

002: Nightmares...

Who: Wanda Maximoff and others
Broadcast: Yes - Fleetwide (with additional filtered, private messages)
Action: SS Starstruck and Dust Planet
When: Over the past two weeks

[Week One After Nebula Incident]

[After the whole attack and nebula misadventure, Wanda began noticing a few strange occurrences. There were the obvious, random technology and lighting malfunctions on the Starstruck, but those did not take too long to fix and restore to relative normalcy. It was more personal oddities that were beginning to concern her. The first of which was the near constant headache that started to arise not too long after the ship passed through the nebula. At first, it had been nothing more than a dull, but still noticeable ache; however, it seemed to be slowly growing with intensity, and, while it would originally come and go, it also seemed to be becoming more constant. The periods in-between decreasing with each new wave of pain.]

[And then, there were the nightmares... She'd only had three so far, but they were the most troubling. They each started the same, but they were increasing in duration and in detail. She decided to keep the specifics to herself for now, but she had to know how others in the fleet were fairing and perhaps if anyone was experiencing something similar.]

[When the video feed clicks on, Wanda clearly looks somewhat disheveled. The nights of restless sleep brought on by the nightmares had clearly taken their toll on her. She looked tired, frustrated, and also a little bit scared. She does her best to appear calm, however, and speak in a level tone as she addresses the fleet.]

This is Wanda Maximoff on the SS Starstruck.

Has anyone in the fleet been having any headaches after our trip through the nebula? Or perhaps some kind of nightmares? If so, how long have they been lasting for you? If anyone has any advice on how to... numb these effects, please let me know.

[Week Two]

[She had hoped it would all pass: the headaches and the nightmares, though now she wasn't so sure these were mere nightmares she was having. Unfortunately, they only seemed to be getting worse and worse with each passing day. What had started as periodic waves of dull annoyance, had now become full migraines that left her almost reeling for a minutes at a time. Nothing she had done in attempt to quell the pain had lasted for very long, if it even worked at all. In addition, the "nightmares" were becoming much more frequent. It seemed like almost every time she closed her eyes now, she fell into them. What was worse was that they were affecting her surroundings as she slept.]

[Wanda's friends and shipmates will likely have noticed that they have not heard or seen much of her over the week. It seemed like she was trying to distance herself more and more from those around her. Anyone who does see her will be able to tell that she is not looking well. The effects of her lack of restful sleep are apparent in her face and her posture. She looks tired, and even more apparent... she looks scared. Thus, anyone who attempts to engage her will find her to be rather evasive, trying to wrap up their talk as quickly as possible for heading off somewhere. In fact, her shipmates may have noticed her entering rooms on occasion, only to flee when she notices someone else in the room with her. Any visitors to her sleeping quarters will see damage to the walls, ceiling and various fixtures. Items Wanda has collected from previous planetary visits are strewn about on the floor, and some are heavily damaged. It's also likely that Wanda's shipmates will have heard some screaming and banging coming from her room or the cargo hold.]

[The past three days...]

[If Wanda's communication with her friends and her presence on the ship had been dwindling the previous week, it was now completely gone. Anyone who cares to look for her on the Starstruck will not find her. Digging a little deeper, one would be able to find that one of the Starstruck's shuttle logs details a trip in which the shuttle departed for the nearby planet, only to quickly return to the ship on auto-pilot.]

[Wanda's friends and shipmates will find a short, text message from her on their communicators. It reads:]

Do not come looking for me.

[Those who do venture planet-side looking for her in town will not find her there. However, the townspeople have begun talk of strange, supernatural occurrences up in nearby desert mesas. It seems that those journey by have heard what sounds like screams or wails coming from them. Anyone who has tried to investigate has been attacked by red, etheric swirls of light, knocking travelers off their feet or transportation. No serious injury has been done to anyone yet, but it's clear that it's scaring the townspeople.]

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[Natasha may not know all that much about Wanda, but she knows that the woman's behavior over the last couple weeks has been anything but normal. Typos in text messages growing more prevalent, erratic conversations, the occasional way in a video or in person she'll catch the young woman clutching at a temple...something's wrong. Something really bad. And after the events of August, she's especially worried when she sees the text from Wanda on her comm.]

[So here she is, on the mesas, with camping gear and a pack just in case. She's heard the stories back in town, came armed just in case, but she's beginning to form a theory about these occurrences. A theory she hopes she's wrong about, as she rides out, searching.]

[During the day, there is no sign of the so-called "red spirits" supposedly haunting the mesas. There is also nothing that sounds like a scream or a cry to be heard either. If Wanda is here, she seems to have done a decent job of covering her tracks of any noticeable markers. A life on the streets with her brother, she's clearly picked up on a thing or two when it comes to finding places to tuck herself away in.]

[However, when night falls, that's when things go awry. The first noticeable detail is the sound of a scream, something sounding like a mix of pain and terror. A swirling cascade of crimson light flows through the various holes, cracks, and caverns of the landscape. As the light passes over some bits of rock formation, fragments may even break of. Some shards go flying in odd directions, while others crumble in midair as if being ground into dust by a large, invisible hand.]

[A day of searching brings Natasha no closer to finding anything out here. Still, something in her--experience, instinct, whatever it is in her core whispering--tells her that she should stay. Maybe she can learn something from whatever's happening out here. Maybe she'll die horrifically, another part suggests, but curiosity is enough to overcome it.

Both parts are, perhaps, rewarded when a scream wakes her from a light doze. Leaving her hobbled horse and pack, taking her weapons, Natasha takes off at a quiet run towards the sounds of rock shattering, the faint red light on the horizon. She doesn't make a sound, not yet, just moves as quickly and quietly as she can, creeping towards the commotion and straining to catch a glimpse of the source without getting crushed.]

[The scarlet red, etheric energy continues to lash out at the various rock formations nearby. Foliage is pulled out of the ground, roots and all, and torn apart in mid air. Boulders and rocks are ground to dust. The shimmering strands of energy eventually cease their convulsions, but are whipped into another frenzy when another scream splinters into the night.]

[The tendrils of energy follow this pattern: frenzy, settle, scream and then frenzy again. It is hard to tell where these manifestations originated from, but it seems to be coming from somewhere more central, deeper inside the mesa landscape. It's also fairly clear that the source must be below ground. or at ground level. The bands of energy are not flowing down from some higher elevation, but worming their way out from a lower one.]

[The red lights almost look like living creatures themselves, albeit ones not of this world. Unearthly, ethereal, dangerous. She'd consider them to be perhaps some sort of indigenous phenomenon, something local to the planet, but then there were the stories to consider. The rumors that had just started cropping up, after the fleet's limping arrival. She wonders about the correlation...and that scream couldn't be anything but human. So very human, raw and agonizing. She's familiar enough with screams like that.]

[It's not too difficult to develop a rhythm as she moves closer: find shelter as the tendrils of light writhe and ripple, tearing through the landscape, move as they slow, wait for a scream to find a new hiding place. She has to be getting closer.]

[As Natasha draws closer towards the center of the mesa landscape, the bands of crimson luminescence grow in number. They continue their pattern of thrashing, slowing, resting and then restarting. Her presence does not seem to be acknowledged by them at all. Nor does their pattern of behavior change as she draws closer to their source. While the timing between screams does vary, the purpose of these variations seems to be random. In fact, the more Nat pays attention to the tendrils of energy, the more she is likely to notice that their behavior is similar to the limbs of child, flailing about during a tantrum... or a nightmare.]

[She must be careful, however. One disconcerting sight Natasha may witness is of a boulder getting ripped from out of the side of a mountain wall, but, as it and the produced debris fall through the air, it makes contact with another band of red energy and disintegrates. It does not bounce, break or become powder. It is erased entirely in a crackle and snap of energy.]

[Maybe if this were the first time she'd seen inhuman power or abilities, she'd be more startled, more concerned. She'd think twice, three times, before approaching. But this wasn't the first or the second, or even the third. And for all that every exposure to powers like this makes her feel unnervingly fragile and human, she knows turning her back and closing her eyes to it isn't going to just make it all go away.]

[And besides, there's someone out here who might need a hand. Wanda, who's done nothing but follow her lead. Who may have asked things of Natasha, but always respected her boundaries. Who knew more than she should, more than she'd said. For that knowledge, and for the potential of whatever they might be in the future, she couldn't ignore that. She's got a sneaking suspicion that becoming more of a certainty by the minute that Wanda's headaches have something to do with all of this, anyway, and even if obligation didn't urge her on curiosity would.]

[Cresting a small rise, Natasha peers down into a hidden hollow, searching for the source of the screams. She has to be close, if not right on top of it by now...]

[Sure enough, Natasha is indeed roughly right on top of Wanda's location. If she looks closely, she'll spy what looks like the opening to a small cave at the base of a particularly tall plateau. While the scarlet, etheric tendrils are not "directly" flowing forth from this opening, it's clear that this little entrance is their origin point.]

[In fact, as Natasha has gotten closer, she has likely experienced a new strange development that occurs whenever a new scream resounds. The feeling of static, white noise in her head becomes more prominent the closer she gets. The frequency and duration of these little "mental static" bursts serving almost like a radar, directing her towards the cave's opening.]

[She should know better than to do this. Go into that cave without being more armed, without knowing what exactly is inside. Especially with the faint buzzing noise around the edges of her consciousness. She focuses hard, shaking off the buzz, willing herself to concentrate, and approaches the cave entrance. And as she braces herself against the rock wall just outside the cave entrance (not that the rock guarantees safety), she takes another calculated risk, drawing her weapon and holding it against her side, calling inward:]

If you can hear me--I'm here to help.

[No response. But the cave is not that small. A few steps in, and already Natasha would be at its end. Tucked away in a corner, lying on a poorly make-shift bed--really just a blanket laid on the ground with another one on top, is Wanda. She is curled up, the top blanket wrapped around her. Her expression is clearly troubled. She looks like she's in pain, trying to withstand some great amount of pressure. Sweat running down her head.]

[She makes no sign of movement as Nat approaches. It's clear that she seems rather oblivious to the other woman's presence at all. Then, suddenly, she lets out a scream. As she does, her body is lifted into the air but unseen hands. Red luminescent energy encapsulates her. She thrashes about in the air, her limbs swinging about at random. Outside, the sound of rubble falling and more crackling of energy. The tendrils having destroyed more of the surrounding landscape. The ground even shakes a little this time. However, as it passes, Wanda's body slowly lowers itself back down, her muscles relaxing, but still looking tight with pain. Her expression goes back to its troubled, struggling look.]

[There's no answer but restless noise, and Natasha swings silently around the entrance, gun up and ready...only to see nothing but a shape on the ground, fetal, shaking. She manages one step in, two...and then the show starts. Red light, another scream, and she reflexively ducks back against the outside wall, watching as rocks fly and disintegrate, feeling the earth shake under her feet. When it stops, she looks back inside, seeing nothing's changed. No collapsed ceiling, no scars or visible burns on the rock. The damage is outside, not in here. Apparently a defense mechanism. Are these powers something Wanda had before she came here, or did they come with the implant? It suddenly occurs to her again how little she knows about the other woman, really, and that thought is enough to chill her. She's lost her focus in this place, or had it taken. Hard to tell. She'll fix that. This time, she watches from just inside the entrance as it happens again, watches the light show and Wanda writhing, timing her approach. As the dark-haired woman sinks to her blanket again, Natasha approaches, gun still ready. She calls louder this time, voice careful and steady.]

Wanda. Wanda, it's Natasha. Agent Romanoff. You're having a nightmare. You have to wake up now, Wanda.

[Wanda doesn't move, her body shifts a little in its struggled sleep, but there is otherwise no indication that she can hear Natasha. However, Wanda's voice can suddenly be heard. There is a disembodied echo to it; it is not coming from Wanda's mouth. Her voice is not exactly coming from within Natasha's own head either. It is some bizarre mixture of the two: internal and external sound.]

Na- Natasha? Agent Romanov? How- how did you find me?

[Reflex has Natasha lifting a hand to her temple, as if that's going to somehow change how she's hearing that voice. Half in her head, half out of it. A frown creases her brow, and her voice when she speaks again is sharper.]

Out of my head, Wanda. You need to wake up, use your actual voice now. If you want to know how I found you, I'll tell you when you sit up and look at me.

I- I can't-

[Before the voice can continue, it's abruptly silenced by another scream. This time Wanda's body flies up much more violently than before. Her whole body flares with scarlet energy. It crackles and pops off of her. Outside, the rampaging etheric tendrils are even louder than before. It sounds like explosions going off outside. Debris even scatters into the cave, the Earth itself shakes.]

[When it's over, Wanda's body falls much more violently too. She is not softly lowered, so much as dropped. She lies on the ground, unmoving. However, the red energy that had been fluctuating around her before was now gone. In fact, it was much more quiet outside. Poking a head out, Natasha would actually see the energy manifestations have all vanished. However, Wanda's body stays unmoving, crumpled on the ground.]

[She only hesitates a moment after that final scream, after seeing that red light vanish, seemingly for good now. Wanda isn't moving. Natasha approaches her, kneeling by her head, setting the gun down just to her side--safety still off--and checking Wanda's pulse with the other. Is she okay? Is she still breathing? She hopes so.]

Wanda??

[There is a pulse. It's there, but it's faint. She also seems to be breathing, though it is rather shallow. Her chest moves up and down, but it's so slight of a movement that it's easy to miss if you're not looking for it.]

[She seems to stir slightly when Natasha speaks this time. She mumbles something, her eyes flicker, but they don't fully open yet. She seems weak, worn out--even despite that she was supposedly sleeping when Natasha found her.]

[The response is encouraging, but not enough right now. She risks shaking Wanda, just a little, one hand on her cheek and the other on her shoulder.]

come on, Wanda. I need you to open your eyes, now. Don't make me make it an order.

[Just guessing now, running on instinct and years of ingrained habit. She's out of her depth, but there's not much helping that, is there?]

[Wanda's eyelids flutter, begin to slowly open, and then suddenly she sits up. Very much awake, she looks around wildly. Almost looking confused as to where she is or how she got there. But then, she appears to remember where she is, and what's happening. She looks over, sideways at Agent Romanov. Her panicked expression being replaced with a worried grin. She can't quite think of what to say... so she settles on...]

Sorry... bad nightmare...

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002: Nightmares...

Searching on the planet:

Mesas

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