melodiesofeternity | Event || Once Upon A Dream

Event || Once Upon A Dream

Who: All characters who signed-up!
When: May 31st - June 04th
Where: The Dream Width (+ Curti Center & Airships)
What: Event log for the Once Upon A Dream Event! Should your character have their own memory, start your own top-level with said memory. If not, then tag around in other characters's memories! Furthermore, feel free to use the Mingle threads at the Curti Center and in the Airships for non-memory related CR. Please refer to the OOC Post for details and plotting. Plot Memories and the second Airship Mingle will be unlocked on May 25th.
Warnings/Notes: Memories with specific warnings will be marked as such by their players.

Please use the following form for your memory's title line:
CHARACTER'S NAME | MEMORY TITLE | WARNINGS (IF ANY)
We will add links to your memories here as the event progresses!

Mingle: Curti Center | Airships #1 | Airships #2
Plot Memories: The Dream | The Nightmare | The Premonition
Holographic Messages

Adrien Agreste | Then and Now
Aqua | Thorny Pathway | cw: spoiler for kh 0.2
Castor | Lord of the Inferno | cw: fire, mind control
Ena | Zera Hamlet, Reprise | cw: mutilated corpses
Futaba Sakura | Early Days | cw: references to verbal abuse/neglect and auditory hallucinations
Ignis Scientia | For The Life of the Chosen | cw: spoilers, violence, death
Irhya Pendhula | The Parting Glass | cw: violence, amputation
Johnny D'Amico | United Earth Prisoner
Kanji Tatsumi | You're a BOY, you know! | cw: bullying, mild homophobia
Lelouch vi Britannia | Julius Kingsley
Monika | Just Monika | cw: spoilers, possible horror, possible deletion
Nanamo Ul Namo | A Good Memory
Noctis Lucis Caelum | Light of the Crystal | cw: chapter 13 spoilers
Okuyasu Nijimura | Lending a Hand | cw: blood/injuries
Prompto Argentum | I'm not one of your experiments! | cw: episode prompto spoilers
Selphie | The Answer | cw: gore/death
Takashi 'Shiro' Shirogane | The end of the beginning | cw: end of season 2 spoilers
Tidus | A Broken Dream | cw: death, bullying

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hunk's eyes flicker open, and the red glows of space were... more comforting than he was willing to admit. And then he realized he was in space. Not just any space, but his space. Within the cockpit of the Black Lion. That basically never happened, so he was absolutely certain that this had something to do with Shiro. Maybe he was unconscious in the Dream Width and the Black Lion came out to rescue them both? That'd be pretty cool-

And then he hears the name Zarkon. His shoulders slump, and Hunk just lets out a grumpy little whine. This is going to be weird. But on the bright side, he gets to see Shiro in action. So he walks up behind his leader, while still wearing his own Yellow Paladin armor of course, and figures the best way to keep things from going worse would be to mess with Shiro's memory-fog without really keeping him from doing his job. Don't want Zarkon killing them both, after all.

"Watch out for Zarkon's sword!" Hunk realizes he's shouting, that he has no idea what he's doing, and that even memory Zarkon was terrifying. Oh, this'll be a mess.

Watch out...Zarkon...!

In his seat, Shiro jerks his head up as if Hunk slapped him on the nose. And Voltron's sword meets Zarkon's too soon to properly brace for the impact. The shock forces the giant robot back. Shiro curses, he'd let himself be distracted for a moment.

"Shiro?" Keith had noticed just like he always does. "I'm fine. He snuck in a mental attack before he took that swing." The second sword stroke is far smoother than the first, and he guides the body to respond while trusting Keith to use the blade.

But he leans back in his chair, eyes flicking about the cockpit. "Has to be all it was." He mutters quietly. Loud enough for the cockpit but too soft for his team to hear.

That sure didn't work. It had the opposite effect, even! So Hunk just takes a deep breath in, and sighs. Maybe... it's because he screamed? Startling someone is a great way to make things go wrong. Maybe he just has to be more... conversational?

"Shiro- Don't worry, it's just me, Hunk." He says it calmly, trying to be comforting as he leans over the pilot's chair. "You know what happens next, right?"

He has to. If he doesn't, well, the leader of Team Voltron might have to deal with some back-seat Paladinning. Why'd he have to end up with a combat memory?

Don't worry...me...Hunk

"What?" Shiro's hands move on instinct continuing to turn Voltron into Zarkon's attacks to add to the reach of their blade. He hasn't personally swung a sword in a long time but he knows how the body should move when wielding one.

But he's tipping his head slightly with an eye on the controls. He opens his mouth to talk to Hunk over the coms when that strange voice flows in again.

what happens...next

The world skips. A crushing sense of a presence slams down over both of them and the lion. Like a spider it probes for weakness with one ultimate goal, control the Black Lion. Shiro grips the controls tightly in his hands but his mind is stuck. Even as he mentions what is happening to the team he keeps thinking over that voice.

He reaches up fast and clicks off the com, scanning the cockpit. "Okay, I'm not worried. But Hunk how are you talking in my head like only the Black Lion can?"

See, he wasn't expecting Zarkon's mental presence to slam into them like Hunk often did into the kitchen. It didn't just catch him off-guard, but it kinda hurt, and he found himself physically off-balance, falling to one knee. Thump. But it was refreshing to see Shiro piece together that Hunk was there in the cockpit, and not in the Yellow Lion. And as much as he wanted to ask about the presence of the Black Lion (Hunk always felt Yellow's presence more in his gut. Or maybe he was just hungry?) he had goal here.

"Don't worry about it," says the member of the team who worries about everything. "Imagine I'm the Black Lion, if that helps." He knows he sounds ridiculous- he knew he would get a kick out of being the head of Voltron, but this was too confusing. "What's important is that you know how this fight ends. We both do. Right?"

And Hunk silently hopes that Shiro can remember that.

Shiro flicks his com back on but the world around him feels one step off. Hunk is right. This already happened. He remembers this. His hands tighten on the controls and he breathes in. "I only know how it ends because you told me."

Now he can recall it. The chain wraps around Voltron's neck and pain rips through him. He bends back with a pained hiss and everything goes dark. But thanks to Hunk the voices fade in faster and Shiro sits up, his breath escaping him in a rush.

Everything hurts just like last time. The aches are fading as he glances to his left. "Still with me? Sorry, I don't think I can block all the pain for you. I guess you're semi-experiencing what I did." Speaking of experience, there's a presence all around them rolling through like a storm wind.

Shiro smiles, just a little. "Including Black."

Every fiber of Hunk's being starts vibrating with glee as he whispers a quick "Yes!" and starts grinning. Shiro knows that it's a dream! Finally, a memory that's easy to-

As the chain reaches Voltron's neck, Hunk lets out a yell and falls from one knee to face-down on the ground. He was so excited for Shiro that he forgot entirely about Zarkon, who's very much still a threat. "I think it'd be easier to deal with if I had a chair."

So he starts to push himself back up onto one knee- if he stands he'll probably get pinballed around the cockpit. But that presence is oppressive. Tense. Everything Hunk didn't like to deal with. The Yellow Paladin was very unhappy with this turn of events.

"This is what you were dealing with?!" Hunk fully believes that this is beyond terrible, and that Shiro apparently has the worst luck ever. But since that's not helpful he'll go with, "Do you still remember what to do?"

"Of course I do." He reaches out to steady Hunk as the Lions sweep in and battle with Zarkon. Each time one is batted aside another rushes in. "And yes this is Black." He isn't bothered at all. His best friend is a lot like a storm himself. The side console rises up to expose the slot for the bayard and Shiro pulls back from Hunk to grab the controls.

"Brace yourself. We're going to rush him." Just like he had last time. He breathes in and throws both controls forward. Black bursts into motion like a bullet out of a gun and picks up speed. The storm wind like presence and Shiro's mind mesh together until they're one singular whole, something Hunk will be able to feel. The red wings glow and the pressure that had been building bursts, blade-like feathers appearing on the red wings in a wash of energy and light, the rolling roar of the Lion making Shiro laugh.

It's just as amazing this time as it was the first.

Hunk was glad that Shiro told him to brace himself, because he had but a moment to stand up and nestle himself into the curves of the wall before the speed, the light, the connection with Black. It was beyond anything Hunk could imagine. Sure, they'd used those weird mind-melding hats during training and they synched up to form Voltron all the time, but this?

Well, he loved Yellow more than he loved some meals, but they hadn't meshed like this yet. And man, did he want to. The speed was a bit much, but he'd get through it- it was a memory, after all. But that wasn't what captivated his attention, it was Shiro. He was laughing, riding the high of piloting a psychically-linked, winged lion.

And Hunk found himself laughing. Well, not so much laughing as whooping and cheering, like someone fully invested into a roller coaster ride. His eyes were wide, and the adrenaline was palpable, a concerning fact given that Hunk tried to keep his nerves in check. But that didn't matter, not right now, because he just synchronized with the Black Lion.

"Whoo!" He shouted, not caring for volume control. The Black Lion was definitely louder. "That was awesome, Shiro! Do... do you think we can do that?" And then he just sort of collapses a bit, sitting on the edge of the cockpit, taking deep, deep breaths. And grinning like an idiot.

He remembers the first time. He'd been so focused on protecting the team and getting Zarkon that he hadn't gotten to really experience the wonder of the moment. At least this time they both get to experience the rush and the feeling of being so much more than merely a person or even a Lion. He breathes out as they phase through space and into the expanse within, the glass-like floor reflecting the stars as he passes through Zarkon and takes the Bayard from his hand.

His Bayard.

He grins at Hunk as they appear on the other side of Zarkon's mecha suit and he holds up the bayard. "Now you know what happened." It reshapes into the small Bayard shape in his hand and he waves it once before storing it in his armor. "I think we can break out by finishing this fight as far as I remember it." His grin returns, making his eyes bright grey. "I felt the edge of this when I saw through the Lion's eyes before. If I can do it, all of you definitely can."

"Really?! That's so cool!" Hunk sounded like he was a child told he'd be going to Disney World, because to be honest he figured that sorta trick was just for the Black Lion. "I mean, we drilled through the ground once, but..."

And then his eyes glaze over with wonder for a moment. Yellow was already a bit of a wrecking ball, but if he could get cooler somehow? More armor? A giant rocket so he could be an unbreakable torpedo? Or maybe-

Wait, they're still in a dream. Fighting Zarkon. Whoops. "S-sorry, I zoned out for a second there. You got this under control, right Shiro?" Hunk chuckles at his own question- Shiro knew this was a memory and how it ended, and this was Shiro he was talking to. His leader always knew what to do, and the chance at having the freedom to just contemplate Yellow's untapped potential had Hunk grinning ear to ear too.

Both his eyebrows go up as he mouths, 'drilled through the ground?' Curiosity flickers in his eyes and he wants to ask more about it. But they have a job to do. He nods, turning back to the controls as the memory moving towards its conclusion. "I've got this."

He leans onto his controls, straightening his back and calls out. "Form Voltron!" It's the same as it ever was the five falling into a whole unit. But it feels differently being slightly outside of that and yet completely within it.

He turns them face the approaching Zarkon as the team together moves to meet him. There's no blasts of energy this time. "This is our last chance! Let's finish this!" He throws the left control forward and they run Zarkon through.

"Hunk. This is going to hurt! ...Brace yourself." He watches the hands close over the head of Voltron and sucks in air just before the energy lashes into the cockpit and forces him back in his chair. Even the echo of it hurts, he grunts with the effort to move and directs Hunk's attention with a jerk of his head to the console frantically flashing. "This is what happened in here."

Maybe it's a clue. Maybe they can learn what happened to him. He summons his bayard and rams it into the slot and twists. Light rips along the tracks and lights the cockpit up like a beacon.

Edited 2018-05-31 21:31 (UTC)

Hunk just exhaled, relieving some of his tension with a smile at Shiro's confidence. Seeing his friend handle all of this pressure as an outside observer just solidifies that Shiro is basically the coolest guy he knows. So when the order comes out to brace himself, Hunk moves to one knee, gripping part of the cockpit with one arm for dear life.

As the energy courses through his body, Hunk just grits his teeth and growls. He and Shiro both know how this ends, so he's allowing himself to be done with Zarkon. So very done, in fact. So as Shiro gestures towards the blinking console, as the bayard goes in and everything lights up, Hunk's eyes went wide. There was no mistaking that it was beyond amazing to see Shiro in action up-close, but Shiro wasn't Hunk's goal anymore.

"How long until you disappear, Shiro?" That was his goal. Hunk shouts it over the din of the fight, over the adrenaline and stress, memory or not. His mind was on full alert, taking in every single detail. Somehow, the end of this fight threw Shiro into Vaikuntha, and Hunk needed to find out how.

"What am I looking for here?" His tone is confident but still concerned. Hunk wouldn't get another chance at this, and he was desperate to get it right.

"Right now!" He calls out as the light gives way to the weightlessness of the Dream width and a different space. The pain fades away back into the past as Shiro reaches out and grips Hunk's arm. He won't let either of them drift too far away from the ship. He can see it approaching at a steady pace gleaming silver in the glow of the stars.

"The Lion told me to use my Bayard. I don't know what about that battle caused me to disappear. But, now you've seen it. What happened right after that?" That's something he's wanted to ask but had been reluctant to do it when they'd both been off balance. It feels right.

Hunk was ready for the signal, he was taking in everything he could, and then... the flash of light put them back in the Dream Width. There was nothing to work off of. Nothing! So he's mad, he's furious that the one chance he had to help Shiro, the one chance they had to figure out how he ended up in Vaikuntha, was gone in just a flash of light. They were so close.

But then Shiro's gets a good grip on his arm, and Hunk's forced back into reality. They don't know what happened or how. Maybe the quintessence of the lions and Shiro reacted with the quintessence from Zarkon and his crazy suit? A reality-altering explosion that forced the lions apart and threw Shiro into another dimension altogether. It didn't sound impossible...

"The Lions separated and Black was still out of commission. Pidge and Keith had to grab him so we could get back to the Castleship and escape." He sounds sad. Remorseful. He wanted to help Shiro and now he can't. "When we got out of there, Black still hadn't woken up, and you were gone."

And then he whines a bit, even letting out a small sniffle. "I... I didn't see anything aside from that light, Shiro. I'm sorry."

Shiro snags the line thrown out with his free hand. “But you did. You saw what happened from my perspective. There’s some sort of clue there. Whether the lion is responsible...” The thought feels a bit like being betrayed so he doesn’t let it linger. Not right now. “Or Zarkon and I both bonded to the Black Lion at the same time triggered some sort of phenomenon. We’ll find out.”

The line starts being wound in and he glances down at the ship, adjusting his grip. “So...all of you checked Black and the cockpit was empty?” The last thing he remembers is the Lion telling him to use his Bayard. “Just because the end isn’t pivotal...doesn’t mean what happened right before it isn’t.” He adds as he stares out at the expanse of this space.

“It’s a start. That’s more than we had.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Event || Once Upon A Dream

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