Deep Dreams Are Made of These - Open

[tempredmental]

Who: Keith, Huntress crew, Shiro, open text message
Broadcast: Text
Action: Huntress
When: The night of and morning after the visions/nightmares

[Darkness. Stars. It’s nighttime and the ground trembles. A deep underlying sense of panic permeates everything, tangible in the way your limbs shake and the expressions on people’s faces, though specific features seem to melt away. The darkness turns to red, and the red turns to fire… fire everywhere, uncontrollable and hungry. It burns at your limbs and for a brief second, you see a world-- a planet-- engulfed in a wave of red-orange death.

The background noise is a strange alien wailing, neither male nor female, but it is deep and you find you can almost understand the words. They are strong enough to be word-feelings, which makes them a little hard to concentrate on with the chaos otherwise found in the vision.

<Fire.> <Run.> <Help.>]

=====

on the huntress

[Keith jumped up in bed with a yell, breathing hard. He didn't have nightmares often, but that sure was one. He rubbed his face. Was that... tears? He looked at his hands for a moment, noticing that they were trembling. Keith hesitated, but then eventually reached for the communicator.

After speaking with Shiro, he made his way out to the common area for a bit. He needed to get out of his room. After the common area, he went to the shuttle bay to beat up the punching bag for a bit.]

=====

private to Shiro

hey

are you awake

=====

next morning, after seeing a few posts on the network

so a few people had these nightmare vision things

i think we should compare what we saw

Comments

[tsunergy]

[One would think that, it being the middle of the night (or perceived night anyway, since they're back in deep space with no real day-night cycle), the ship would be quiet with everyone asleep. But Keith's not the only one who gets awoken by bad dreams sometimes, even if they're not sent from an outside source. Usually Mikleo prefers to stay in his room, let Sorey keep him company or just try to get back to sleep, but some nights are spent elsewhere: in the kitchen, in the water room on the Iskaulit, or sometimes, like tonight, in the lounge.

He's tucked away in the corner, reading a book so quietly his presence could easily go unnoticed at first. He looks up as Keith enters, however, surprised at first, then concerned. What's he doing up so late?]

Are you okay?

[tempredmental]

Hm?

[Keith definitely looked... off. He was pretty shaken and, having woken up in the middle of the night, he was tired, but there was no way he was getting back to sleep after that. He shrugged, trying to make it seem less like he was off balance from this.]

Weird dreams, I guess. Not one I've had before, though.

[tsunergy]

[Geez, it's worse than he thought. Mikleo tucks a mark into his book and sits up properly. Mom-mode quasi-activated?]

Want some tea or coffee? I've got a kettle boiling, so I can just as easily make a cup for you too. Might help clear your head.

[tempredmental]

[Keith took a moment to respond, but then nodded.]

Yeah... tea would be okay. Thanks.

[He took one of the other seats in the lounge, folding one leg under himself and then pulling his other knee up to his chest.]

Did you have anything weird happen tonight?

[tsunergy]

Nothing unusual, no.

[Bad dreams come and go in waves, but he's long used to them by now.]

Do you need to talk about it?

[tempredmental]

This one was different than any other bad dream I've had. It felt... more like a vision... a message.

[He frowned.]

I've never had something like that before.

[tsunergy]

[Vision... in the form of a dream? That's new.]

Do you remember it clearly?

[tempredmental]

I'm having trouble forgetting it.

[Keith's tone was dark. He actually wanted to forget it, but he had a feeling he shouldn't let it fade like a dream if he could help it. There was just something about it that felt important.]

It was at night, on a planet, and there was an earthquake. Then, everything started burning. Everyone was panicking and yelling, but I could only make out three words.

Fire. Run. Help.

I think I saw the destruction of a planet.

[tsunergy]

That's... pretty extreme.

[If it's actually a vision, that doesn't bode well for the future.]

By vision, you mean... it felt especially real? Could it be some kind of premonition? Or maybe something from the past?

[The past would be easier to swallow, since he's seen that sort of thing himself before. But who even knows what's possible in this place.]

[tempredmental]

It definitely wasn't a normal dream. I've had nightmares before. This was different.

[Waaay different.]

I'm not sure if it was the future or the past, though. It was hard to tell.

I've never exactly gotten stuff like this before, either. I don't know what it means.

[tsunergy]

I see...

[Hmm, hmm... give him a minute to ponder as he goes to get them both some tea, offering a mug out to Keith when he returns, a dish with sweetener and spoons on the table.]

I wonder why it was sent to you, and not all of us. Random chance, or intentional...?

[tempredmental]

Honestly... I'm kind of hoping it's random.

[That sort of came out on its own before Keith could really think about what he said. He cringed a little, the muscles in his jaw tightening visibly.]

[tsunergy]

I imagine so. Being chosen for something special isn't always a good thing.

[Sometimes it suuuuuuucks. And it's impossible to miss Keith's reaction to his own words- a seraph can see into one's heart, after all. He hesitates, then reaches out and lightly touches Keith's shoulder. He's not the most tactile person ever, but he can't ignore someone when they're upset.]

Drink the tea. It'll help you relax, I promise.

[tempredmental]

[Keith ran his thumb over the lip of the mug, and then nodded.]

Thanks.

[He had enough 'special' going for him lately. The oddly strong bond with Red, finding out he wasn't fully human... all the times he'd been called out for being leaps and bounds above everyone else as a fighter pilot, on track to beat Shiro's records and scores. Being normal sounded nice right about now.

He took a careful sip, being mindful that the tea was still hot. It actually was pretty good.]

[tsunergy]

[Mikleo sips at his own tea, letting the silence drag for a moment while it works its magic. It's some herbal concoction Sorey got from Stefan to help with sleeping issues, nerves and the like. He tries not to dip into it too much since there's a limited supply and Sorey actually needs sleep, but sometimes emergencies call for it. Now he's glad that tonight was a night he chose to brew it, if it helps Keith any.]

Based on experience, I think it's unlikely that you'll be the only one to have had weird dreams. You may want to ask around.

[tempredmental]

[Keith looked up at Mikleo.]

You really think so?

[He thought about that.]

Does this happen a lot?

[tsunergy]

I can't say if this specifically has happened before, but it very well may have, considering how long this has been going on. And it's far from the first time they've messed with our heads while we were sleeping.

[Those calibration dreams weren't that long ago, after all.]

[tempredmental]

Yeah, true.

[A lot happened during calibrations... a lot of weird stuff. He took another sip of the tea, starting to feel it kick in already. Huh...]

What's in this?

[He wasn't accusatory in his tone, just curious.]

[tsunergy]

Muscle relaxants mostly, herbs that are good for soothing nerves and removing tension. I'm not positive on all the ingredients, but that's the intended effect. It's supposed to help you calm down and get back to sleep.

[tempredmental]

Well, it's definitely doing something.

[Whether he actually got back to sleep or not was still to be seen, but he was definitely starting to feel more relaxed.]

Thanks. Maybe later I'll ask if anyone else is having these dreams... or visions... or whatever they are.

[tsunergy]

If it helps in any way, then it's worth it. I'm sorry I can't do more.

[Mostly with the dream stuff- he's neither an interpreter nor an informant with this situation, so he's all but useless. But every little bit helps, and the least he can offer is some reassurance via tea.]

[tempredmental]

It's alright. I still appreciate it.

[Keith sighed slightly, finishing up the tea. It would definitely help.]

I just need to get away from how it made me feel, I think. Look at it from a different angle.

[tsunergy]

Is that how you deal with such things? Analyzing it?

[How very scientific... and familiar.]

[tempredmental]

I guess so. I mean, I was never really into symbolism stuff and all that. I just try to put together what I know to see how it all fits.

[Keith shrugged a little.]

It just... helps, I guess.

[If Mikleo had ever walked past Keith's room when the door was open, he might have noticed a lot of the information that was currently stashed in the Iskaulit's lecture hall copied and arranged on Keith's wall along with an erasable board he had things written on. To most people, it probably looked like an unorganized mess.]

[tsunergy]

Makes sense. Everyone has their own way, and that's a logical route to take.

[He's not familiar with conspiracy boards, but he's done plenty of analyzing with Sorey over the years, spreading papers and sketches and diagrams of ruins across the floor and piecing them together bit by bit, page by page. It's something he can appreciate.]

I think you're on the right track. If the emotional aspect of it was forced on you through the dream, try to look past it and find the message it's trying to send you. We had something similar happen on my world, and it turned out to be incredibly important.