and I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem

[sageprincess]

Who: Princess Zelda + YOU
What: Zelda accidentally goes dreamwalking. Shenanigans ensue.
When: September 1st, night
Where: ~the land of dreams~
Warnings: Please put any content warnings in your subject lines!

[Gods and shinki, strictly speaking, do not need to sleep. The biological need simply does not exist in the spiritual beings of the far shore, and if the old gods, beings with no experience in being bound by the physical needs of the body, were still around, perhaps we wouldn't be having this discussion.

But it is said old habits are hard to break, and sleep can still offer some benefits to the denizens of the heavens besides, even if it is no longer truly necessary for survival. So it is a quiet night, and though the air is warm, the rising of the moon brings with it a breeze that keeps it from being nearly unbearable as it is during the light of day. You drift off, as you have likely done a thousand times before, but something is different now--

Your dreams are not your own tonight.]

_{[ooc; dreamwalking log! set up the kind of dream your character is having in your starter and zelda will appear in the middle of it, mildly befuddled. and again, please make sure to put any content warnings that might come up in your subject lines. thank you!]}

Comments

[sageprincess]

[This place is... strange. Unearthly. Like the Heavens themselves and the way they perpetually shift and change with little rhyme or reason, there's something intrinsically wrong about this place that she just can't shake. Like it's something that's not supposed to exist.

Still, she stares, at the gears hanging in the air, at the rocky crags looming in the distance, at the endless, unlimited swords standing sentinel over a world of nothing. At least until the smoke makes her cough, alerting the other to her presence.]

I... I am not entirely certain. [She answers, and coughs again, but this time, a gentle, barely there breeze forms from nothing around her, clearing the air enough so she might speak unhindered.] What is this place?

[boneofsword]

[Archer frowns. He has no knowledge about this place, only fear that warns him to not think think about it. So he shrugs, taking his time to watch his dream guest, noting how different she is from their surroundings.]

I suppose it belongs to me. [he answers finally, with a bitter smirk.] Not that I truly remember.

[While he doesn't remember he is quite sure this place is removed from space and time.]

[sageprincess]

[Wisdom truly is a double-edged blade at times. She blinks when he mentions his failing memory, and immediately makes the connection to the supposed "greatest secret of the gods." And just as suddenly she understands she's standing upon a razor's edge, one wrong step away from potentially damning this man into becoming a malevolent spirit preying on humanity.

But that knowledge doesn't stop the flurry of questions clouding her mind, even if it does stop her from voicing them.]

... I see.

[She offers plainly, a thought spared for adding a statement of sympathy for the man's plight, but everything she can come up with in the moment sounding unsatisfactory at best and patronizing at worst.]

Forgive me. I did not mean to intrude.

[But if that apology sounds a hair insincere, well. It's a very lonely place to have belong to you. If she were in his shoes, she's not sure she would turn a visitor away, even if they were unexpected.]

[boneofsword]

Hm. [Archer turns to face her fully, hand on his hip.] There's no need for an apology. Rather it's me who should apologize for not being able to offer any hospitality.

[His voice is a bit sarcastic, his words a bit mocking. Perhaps it's the last bits of pride left in him, or a way to shield himself from possible madness awaiting in this desolate wasteland.]

[sageprincess]

[Her lips purse slightly at his tone. Geeze, guy, she was trying to be nice. But perhaps it's intuition, or maybe her connection to the mental world informing her, but regardless she senses the sharpness isn't necessarily directed at her, but rather the whole situation around them. And she can hardly blame him for that, knowing what she does.

So she tilts her head, and leans back against an appropriately sized rock (was it always there, or did it just form from the smoke?), countering his vitriol with courtesy.]

You could offer your name, instead? Mine is Zelda.

[boneofsword]

It's a pleasure. I'm called Archer. [it's a moniker instead of a true name, but he doesn't feel comfortable sharing the latter. His God knows it and that's enough.

He's aware of how rude he is, but neither his expression nor his tone does change. Archer is too used to hiding all of his feelings under the blank mask.]

[sageprincess]

Archer...?

[She's not unfamiliar with aliases, having spent seven years under one herself, but it does make her curious as to the reason behind it. It's a curiosity she'll leave well enough alone, however; she is also familiar with the dangers that might force one to abandon their own name.

Besides, there's something else curious about that moniker...]

It would seem this place does not suit you very well, Archer. It is a veritable armory, but I do not see a bow or arrow in sight.

[why are there so many swords, my dude]

[boneofsword]

[His lips curl into a bitter smirk at those words. It's enough to dismiss the awareness of his true name that Archer had never spoken to anyone but his God.]

Perhaps. [he shrugs, his bow materializing in his hand as one of the swords appears in the other. Archer nocks it like an arrow and the sword changes shape, thinning as jagged spiral runs its length. He aims at something left of Zelda.

Their surroundings change, no longer being a wasteland of swords but a ruined, burning city. There are people there, too, all of them holding various weapons.

Archer doesn't hesitate. Arrows fly, each finding its target easily. People around them fall, each pierced by a black arrow. It's a slaughter. Soon there's no one left standing aside him and Zelda.

Archer hesitates for the first time, lowering his bow with half-drawn arrow. His instincts scream that no one should be left alive, yet she clearly doesn't belong here. Finally he comes to decision, both weapons vanishing in a burst of blue motes.]

You don't belong here.

[sageprincess]

[And of course, Zelda reacts the way any person with modicum of sanity would: with fear. She ducks down, trembling as the bolts start flying, their speed and power far too great for her to even think about countering them. The people scream as death takes them, and they sound like the wails of the Royal Family's knights on that horrid day seven years ago, and she's afraid, afraid, afraid, she doesn't want to die--

Then, it's quiet. She chances a glance up and sees him standing over her, ready to kill her, entirely capable of doing so, but... not. He spares her.

He's saying something too, but she can't make any sense of it, not while adrenaline courses through her veins and a single question is crying out to be asked--]

What did they do?!

[What could they have possibly done to deserve such indiscriminate slaughter?]

[boneofsword]

[Archer regards her for a moment, his face as impassive as a mask. He doesn't understand why, he doesn't know the answer, he only knows one thing - all the humans in this location have to die. If he starts to wonder there's that fear again, all the warning that he needs to know he shouldn't even try.]

I don't know. [he replies, suddenly feeling weary. Their surroundings change, once again becoming a wasteland full of swords. Yet here and there are other weapons too. Archer leans on one of those, a red spear that witch of Dun Scaich passed to her beloved pupil, and chuckles. It rings hollow even to his ears.]