memorable

I'm running out of good BEoDs. . .

BONUS ENTRY OF DOOM!™

17.07.2010

Close Encounters of the Raptor Kind (DILD)

★★★★☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID







Walking down the white paneled hallway, I took in the details around me. Wall mounted heaters with books on top, accented by the occasional bright red fire extinguisher, lined the sides of the school interior. Everything seemed so vivid and clean as I approached a branching hall to my right.

Recalling my Velociraptor nightmares from earlier in the night, I couldn't help hoping a Raptor wasn't waiting for me as I turned the corn--

Oh, shit.

Staring me down, less than 50 meters away, stood a 6ft tall, scaly, killing machine. Screeching, it came at me, giving me only a moment to center myself and reaffirm my lucidity. I reached out my hand, and with a concentrated effort of will I stopped its malicious descent upon me. Yet still, it continued toward me in a slow stride.

As it passed, I moved my hand to its snout and brushed its smooth, cold, reptilian face. All the while, I made sure to keep up my emotional direction and willful suppression of this magnificent creature's blood-lust; a single slip-up and I'd be missing a hand.

Luckily, the Raptor continued on its way, and I was left to revel in the incredibly life-like experience. I doubted the students in the classroom down the hall would make out quite as well as I had. . .

To celebrate my hundredth entry, I present my first 'induced' LD.

BONUS ENTRY OF DOOM!™

??.??.????

Humble Beginnings (DILD)

★★★☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Barely enjoying my time at the mansion, I chatted with a few acquaintances. The conversation was rather boring, much like our 2D environment. Sickly orange and brown patterned floors sat, pixelated, on the same plane as the dark wood paneled walls. Beyond the room, there stretched an infinite sea of black nothingness. Of course, all this seemed perfectly normal to me in all my 8-Bit glory. That is, until I stopped listening to these dreadfully uninteresting people and started thinking about something more exciting.

Recalling my incredibly recent readings on the phenomena known as lucid dreaming, I ponder how cool it would be to have one. Following that line of thought, I realize. . .

"Holy shit. This is a dream."

With that, my flat world exploded into detail. I could now see that ugly-ass carpet under the long fancy banquet table we were sitting at. Pillars supporting richly flowered vases and sculpted busts sprang into view. I stand up, done with this social nonsense, and leave the room through the open, towering, mahogany doors. The cold, hurt, and surprised stares from the lifeless DCs don't phase me in the slightest.

Soon, I'm outside, but one of the girls has trailed along, seemingly concerned for my well being. Opening the door to the black limo waiting in the street, I look back to her and say, "You wanna get out of here? Maybe stay in a hotel tonight?"

"Sure." She replies shyly, smiling as I let her into the vehicle first. I figured, even if she was a DC, it'd be good practice if I ever dated anyone again.

The limo took off, into the city. My date sat quietly next to me, obviously too shy, or to mindless, to start a conversation. However, that didn't bother me, as I was too busy being in awe of the dream around me. Looking out my window, everything seemed so remarkably detailed. The luminescent lights of the tall buildings and casinos, the reflections playing off the glass, the subtle chill of night, and the complexly intricate side-street corner-markets, all appeared as real as I could have possibly hoped for. All doubt had been wiped from my mind: this Lucid Dreaming thing was the wasp's nipples--so to speak.

Coming to a stop now, the two of us exited onto the sidewalk. The ambient orange glow of the neo-gothic hotel's lamp-lights surrounded us as I approached the bellboy, in his red uniform. Reaching into my pocket, I know I have to procure some kind of payment. Good thing this is a dream. I think to myself as I grasp onto the credit card that wasn't in my pocket a moment ago. Presenting it to him proudly, he takes it un-amusedly and swipes it.

"Ma'am, this card has been rejected." He tells me flatly.

"What?! That's not possible. Swipe it again." I order.

The girl lightly grasps my arm at the elbow, as if she could sense my rising anger, and wanted to pull me from the situation.

Sighing, the bellboy swipes my card again. "Nothing has changed, ma'am."

"Well, fine, how about I give you cash?" I reach into my empty pocket again.

"We don't take cash."

I pull away from the girl. Now, I'm proper pissed.

"The hell?! DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!"

Obviously, this idiot didn't know he was my creation, part of my mind. A thing whose existence I could destroy with a mere thought. His ignorance to his unimportance was infuriating.

So much so that it woke me up.

06.07.2010

Ideals (Non-lucid)

★★★★☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

It's been decided. Tomorrow morning, I am to be put to death for my rebellious actions against the Empire. My comrades share the same fate. As we leave the presence of our judge--Vader himself--each of us is taken in a separate direction by our respective escorts.

It's night-time on the snowy planet; I only have hours left to live. The prospect is overwhelming, yet the only thing on my mind is an incredible yearning to sleep outside in a bed made of snow.

Taken by my subdued charm, the female guard arranges for this final request to be fulfilled. Time lapses by and, sure enough, I am presented with a mattress filled with soft, cold, pure-white snow. They place it in a trailer, open to the elements, on a bed-frame adorned with heavy leather straps. Contemplating how my last night on earth will be spent strapped down to prevent my escape, I barely notice the giant commotion going on around us.

A powerful being of some kind is attacking the base with huge doll-like creatures. Each guard around me leaves the area, assuming I'll do the right thing and strap myself down. . . It's a good thing I'm no idiot.

Panting, I duck behind a broken concrete barrier as the cold air rips in and out of my lungs. Far from the main compound, it will take some time for them to find me, especially if they think I'm still in the trailer. Now a fugitive with no way off the planet, I decide it's time to sever my ties with the Rebels and start anew. . . . .

Years pass, and in that time I become a distinguished officer in the ranks of Stormtroopers, to the point where everyone at Central knows my name. I had gotten to my position by infiltrating HQ years ago, assassinating a lowly officer, assuming his identity, and avoiding contact with Vader and anyone else who might have recognized me, all the while making the right connections and moving up the chain of command. I was determined to change the system from the inside out, and I'm well on my way. . . . .

Walking slowly along the run-down, grey-paneled corridor, my dark blue cape flows behind me as I walk. Stopping before the rental apartment door, my age-hardened face smiles weakly behind this forsaken mask. Even now, I, a High General of the Empire, second only to the new Empress herself, find it necessary to hide my identity, lest someone from my past recognize me.

Things across the galaxy have changed since I received this new power. This power, the power of Geass, allows me to permanently imprint my will upon anyone I so choose. I've found it useful in reshaping the Empire into a sovereign entity that imposes happiness on the inhabitants of the galaxy, forcefully if necessary.

Unfortunately, while it was easy for me to bring down the original Rebel Alliance with my newfound ability and former connections, this new resistance to our mission of peace, prosperity, and blissful ignorance is proving more difficult to tranquilize. So, in order to further my our agenda, I 'convinced' the Empress to re-allow the training of force users, assuring her I'd handle any rogues personally.

Behind these doors was one such rogue. Obviously, a full-on confrontation would most likely end in my death. Thankfully, my Geass has grown strong enough to work with almost no restraints. The door opens.

Across the room, leaning on a balcony rail overlooking the city, is the force user. He turns quickly, eyes going wide, hand raising up--but it's too late. My Geass has already taken effect, wiping away this poor fool's mistaken ideals and replacing them with a more perfect set. A set that will ensure his obedience toward the Empress, but more importantly his undying loyalty to me.

The deed done, I leave with my new pawn trailing behind me. However, there is no time for celebration, I still have a war to win, and an entire galaxy of people that need my help finding happiness.

Below, I've recorded the fight I had with a DV member late last month. Enjoy.

BONUS ENTRY OF DOOM!™

23.06.2010

Enter ?????? (DILD)

★★★★☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID







"Come on!" She commands me, jumping down from the raised section of tiled flooring.

Should I follow?

I hesitate, my lucidity flickering between states.

Running toward the large, open, squared archway she yells back, "Let's get out of here!"

But that's not why I'm here. . .

She's treating me like a DC, and I'm playing along like an idiot. . . Not cool.

"That's not happening," I adamantly state, drawing my blade. Might as well have some fun with this, I think amusedly.

She looks back, notices my Katana, and visibly tenses up. I step forward a bit, and am thrilled to see her extend shiny, steel, wolverine-esque claws from between her knuckles. This might get interesting.

Cautiously approaching me, I can see her sizing me up, determining the best course of action. Maybe she'll multiply herself. That'd certainly make things more fun. Sure enough, what was no more than a passing thought, comes to be. She seems more surprised than myself, especially when the new copy proceeds to make yet another copy. This process repeats itself several times, and before I know it I'm facing down approximately 13 clawed adversaries. They attack as one.

One goes for my head, another for my gut, yet another for my legs, and the rest for any piece of me they think they can hit. Instinct takes over and I launch into the air, spinning quickly with my sword extended in one hand. A blue streak of energy follows my blade as I spin, higher and higher, five, ten, fifteen feet off the ground. Naturally, they miss their strikes, but I'd be a fool to think they aren't prepared with a follow up.

Dropping down, I bring my sword around swiftly on a copy to the right, while hook-kicking one to my left. I adjust my blade mid-strike to avoid the parry I read well in advance. Indeed, my Katana makes contact, but my kick is blocked rather aptly. Landing on one foot, I fluidly let myself drop even further, avoiding a flurry of jabs and swipes. After that, I bring my blade in wide rotational arc above my head, deflecting all the follow up slashes aiming to take me out. Then, still maintaining momentum from my spin, I turn about to my left, cutting down another copy, back-fisting one across the head, and kicking out the shins of one behind me. Unfortunately, this leaves me in a less than ideal defensive situation, and my adversaries pick up on that right away. Sharp steel comes at me from every angle, and there's nothing I can do to stop it.

So, I teleport away, taking a knee as I do. The excitement of the battle is taking its toll on my stability, so I decide to call it there and allow myself to awaken.

I'll give this one to you, Samael.

I smile as everything fades to white.

02.07.2010

Dragon Slayer (DILD)

★★★★★

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

They're probably going to die.

I watch the dragons slowly descend upon two neighbors from inside my doorway. Fearing for my own safety, I shut the red metal door and casually step away.

"Hurry up and get over here." My brother states from his fancy wooden seat at the dining room table.

"There's dragons out there, man."

"Don't worry about that." He brushes me off, as I take a seat next to him. Plopping down in my chair, he starts talking about something in his usual way, but I can't help thinking about that horde of dragons, the ones from the LD I just had a few moments ago before my. . .

DEILD attempt! Right! This is a dream! I realize excitedly. Taking a look at my brother, I wonder if it's Burmes. "Hey, Burke." He looks at me as if I've got three heads. "Sorry, Burnes--Burmes right?"

"No, not exactly." He states coldly.

"Well, whoever you are, you're pretty convincing. You had me fooled for sure." I stand up and head to the door. I figured I'd help out those people in the court. Those dragons did refer to me as prey, after all.

"Where are you going? Hey! Get back here!" My brother shouts at me.

"I'm alright, thanks." I respond kindly, opening the front door to reveal a dragon hanging off the awning over my porch. Leaping out the door, I grab onto its head just as it begins to launch itself toward the center of the court, where those two people still were. Utilizing Super Strength, I break its neck, sending it hurdling onto my car-less, sloped, concrete driveway where it slides down a bit before stopping, dead in its tracks. The rest of the dragons were quick to notice.

One, two, three, four, five, six. . . and probably more just around the corner. Better get started, then. Taking to the air, I pull out a bow from behind my back, and grab an arrow from much the same place. With a burst of will, I light the tip of my arrow ablaze, draw my bow, and aim it at the heart of the nearest dragon, 50 meters away.

FWANG!

My shot is right on target, hitting its mark in the exact center of the dragon's chest. Stunned, the dragon looks down at the arrow protruding form its deep red and orange scaled body. It stumbles forward, but doesn't go all the way down. That's cause enough for me to switch to my Barret .50 Cal. Sniper Rifle. I take a quick shot without scoping, but it goes rather wide. Resigning myself to obscuring my vision for a short while, I peer through the scope, line up the dragon's head in the cross-hairs, and let off a round, which creates a rather large hole in the thing's forehead. Before it can hit the ground, and after dealing with gun's recoil, I put another bullet through its skull for good measure. Yeah, there's no way it's getting up from that.

Off a ways from all this, I see and hear a dragon howl ominously into the afternoon sky. The narrator in my head explains that this particular dragon was upset because his last living brother had just been killed. I was also informed that the dead dragon in question was the one whose neck I had snapped moments ago. They probably shouldn't have started screwing with my dream, if they didn't want me to fight back.

Dropping the gun, I pull out a weapon from a more civilized age (No, not that, you silly Star Wars fan, you). My steel Katana glints luminously in the slowly failing sunlight. The mass of dragons--plus one enraged ex-brother--smoothly move in my direction. I too move forward, as one of them takes out a missile launcher. Oookay? I think as he fires it, sending a missile careening toward me. . . very very slowly, I might add. Watching the missile sputter out halfway and drop to the ground, isn't too surprising. However, I don't expect the resulting explosion to be as large as it is. If I had been any lower in altitude, this could have ended badly. I need to deal with this before things get even more out of hand, and if there's anything I've learned about efficiently dealing with large groups of enemies from my HvZ exploits, it's that you should always rush them before they rush you.

Shouting ferociously, I fly at high speeds toward a dragon to my left. Raising my sword high above my head I scream, "Getsuga Tenshou!" tearing at the air before me in a dramatic swipe. A blue cyclical wall of energy erupts from my blade and flies forward, hitting the dragon and creating a huge gash along its entire body. Feeling confident that would be enough to put that one out of the fight, I turn my attentions to the others around me, just in time to block a claw from removing my head. I back off from my attacker, and start to fly around him, being sure to make a note of the positions of the other dragons. Right then, that asshole with the missile launcher tries his luck at blowing me out of the sky again, but my next maneuver will put me well out of range of the blast.

Flash Stepping into striking range, I unleash a flurry of slashes on my attacker, before Flash Stepping to the other combatants and doing the same. I finish just in time to feel the shock-wave of the explosion behind me. Unfortunately, my strikes barely break through the dragons' skin, and I'm forced backward yet again in order to avoid being cleaved in half. I let off another Getsuga, but this one is deflect by. . . A dragon with two gigantic sabers? Fuck me.

I strafe aerially in a wide arc, carefully watching not only this new threat, but all those still in the fight. It's then I notice the second blade in my off hand. How'd that get there? I wonder for a moment before realizing how unimportant that information is. All I know is that now I should be able to take on that monstrosity slightly below me.

Changing my flight path, I dart diagonally toward the dragon with the giant twin blades. "Getsuga Tenshou!" I yell, but my blade fails to perform the technique. Ignoring my seeming lack of control, I engage her in direct combat. Yet, as it turns out, fighting with two swords is a lot harder than you'd think, even when acting on instinct. Despite my best efforts, each attack I make, no matter how complex, is subsequently parried and met by a counter. What's worse is some of my opponent's attacks actually manage to nick me a bit. What gets me is that here's this target five times my size, I can't even land a single blow, but she manages to make contact with my skin on several occasions!

"Come on!" she taunts me, "Is this the best you've got?!"

"No, actually." I state as coolly as I can in my agitation.

"Well, then bring it!"

Jumping backward, I warn her, "Remember, you asked for it." Then, throwing my arms out to the side, I proclaim, "Ban--kai!"

FWWOOOOM!

The energy deep within me bursts forth in a remarkable fashion, violently throwing about the air around me. My dual blades are now wider, more ornate in design, and encased entirely in glowing, bright, yellow energy. But that isn't the only new thing I have to show off. Moving toward her, my speed is so great that the world blurs around me and she herself seems to be stuck in time. I circle her, once, twice, three times, four times in less than a second, with each pass I cut into her with a volley of slices faster than even I can make out.

"I'm not quite done, yet." I comment with a grin as I slow down enough for her to register where I am. "Reverse Bankai. . . Resurrection!"

At that, my body is covered in white light as I immediately transform. I switch to the third person to get a good look at my new form. I'm completely shirtless, with smooth pale skin, flared white sleeves sporting two lavender and orange squares overlaid on top, and white bone-like gloves. My shorts are also pure white, and my feet and lower legs are fitted in a bone-like material as well; they too bear the colored squares. My medium length green and blue hair spikes out to the side, flowing subtly in the warm twilight air. A metal loop is affixed to my stomach, from which a thick silver chain is passed through. On the end of that chain is my new weapon: a pair of red marble nun-chucks with gold plated tips.

"But that's still not all I've got lined up." The dragon's eyes are visibly wider now as they continue struggling to follow my movements. Reaching my hand to my face, I rip down my Vizard mask. I feel a cold wave flow out from the center of my being; my desire to utterly destroy this creature rises as the numbing current overtakes me. Allowing myself to act on the impulse, I Flash Step in front of the target of these urges, bringing my weapon down hard across her head.

BOOOM!

The explosion from my strike sends overpowering vibrations throughout my neighborhood. Standing behind my opponent now, I slow down time for the both of us and explain to her why she's missing half her face and falling to the ground, while I'm completely unharmed.

"It seems every time this weapon makes an impact with something, it lets out a fairly powerful blast. I'd say the actual force is around ten times as strong as what those missiles your friend was shooting could produce. Luckily for me, this new form has a built in perk that protects me from attacks below a certain level. Unfortunately for you, its limit is high enough to let me use something that devastating as my main attack. I don't think you're body will be able to handle it like mine can. Let's find out, shall we?"

Resuming the flow of the battle, I move back in front of her and begin my assault--and what an assault it is. Every blow from my viciously spinning nun-chucks is coupled with an enormous explosion. Smoke, fire, and smoldering flesh flies around me as I continue my attack, each strike taking a good sized piece of her body with it. She drops her blades, but I'm not just going to let such massive weapons go to waste. Snatching them from the air, I use a bit of chain from my stomach to bind the sabers together, creating a pair of sword-chucks three times the size of my body. Expertly utilizing both weapons, it's only a short time before all that's left of the dragon is an unrecognizable husk of meat and bone.

My brother comes up to me, his mannerisms completely different from before. "Well, if that doesn't scare them off, I don't know what will."

Nodding to whom may have been Burmes, I turn to the rest of the dragons. Staring them down, shock splayed against their collective faces, I instruct them, "Run, while you still can."

The dream fades as I watch these beasts who once thought of me as prey vacate the area with a hurried purpose.

29.06.2010

Mission Improbable (Non-lucid)

★★★★★

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

I'm attending some kind of school function in the auditorium. It hasn't started yet, but the guest of the evening is everyone's favorite Emperor, Darth Lord Sidious. It's up to me to bring him down.

First thing's first, I need to eliminate the prisoner who know's I'm coming. Unfortunately, he'll be well guarded, so I need an alternative means of entry. Spotting a bathroom next to the room they're keeping him in, I nonchalantly enter it, lock the door behind me, and push my way through the ceiling tiles. There's still a brick wall in my path, but that gives way when I apply some pressure.

Looking through a slit in the ceiling tiles, I sneak behind the metal cage the Rebel prisoner is in, pull out my silenced USP and solemnly unload a few rounds into the back of his head, dropping him to the floor. The guard hears what's up, and turns around. It's too bad I've already got him in a lock at this point. He tries to shout for help, but I cover his mouth with my hand right before snapping his neck.

Next on the to-do list: take out the Emperor's decoy. Using the ceiling, I make my way to the back of the auditorium. I toggle on Invisibility and Fly and fly down to the stage, where the Emperor and his decoy are speaking. The decoy has to go get ready for the presentation, so the two of them part ways. While it's tempting to simply take out the Emperor here and now, I know that I need to kill the other guy first. Quickly and quietly, I follow the decoy to a rear exit which eventually leads to the secondary guest quarters. Before the door can close, locking me out, I Teleport into the hallway. Now it's just him, me, and my silenced pistol.

As he enters his large and ornate quarters, I pull out my pistol, turn off invisibility, and fire. Somehow ready for me, he dodges to the side and runs off behind a large golden fountain. Flying over to his hiding place, he jumps out at me, yelling maniacally at the top of his lungs. Still, it doesn't take much for me to move aside and put him in a headlock. Shoving my USP under his chin, I embed three bullets in his brain. For some reason, he refuses to die, so I'm forced to snap his neck like I did with the guard. Dropping the body, I mentally prepare to face my real target.

Bursting through the rear exit, I stare down the cause of so much pain and suffering throughout the galaxy.

"Your reign ends tonight, my lord." I spit out the last part as sarcastically as possible.

"I beg to differ!"

At that, he takes off, into the air, gliding effortlessly to the very center of the auditorium. Keeping up, I unleash a volley of Force lightning in his direction. With a crazed sneer, he deflects it and sends his own right back at me. Erratic blue electricity begins pulsing through my body, but he can't hurt me with my own weapon. Reveling in the sensation, I absorb the energy from the bolts, storing it for use at a later time. From the crowd, two people lift off the ground and help me surround Sidious.

"Looks like you've started sooner than planned!" exclaimed the girl as she took out her blue lightsaber. Her male comrade follows suit, breaking out two green sabers.

"I don't remember calling in for backup." I state, as I watch Sidious, still sneering, remove a saber from his black cloak. "Just stay out of my way."

Sidious attacks me, lighting his red blade. I go to block, whipping out my light blue ice-saber, but the searing hot plasma cuts right through its polar opposite. Crap, I think as I jump backwards to avoid the slash. It needs more juice. Before another thought can even cross my mind, Sidious assaults me again. This time, my ice-saber, now being fueled by pure willpower, stops his cut. More than that, it begins to freeze his weapon. The two newcomers begin blasting him with force lightning from behind, preventing him from retreating as my unique weapon completely freezes his saber and hand.

Pissed right the hell off, a strange, barbed, long, sickly-tan, mutant-like tail extends from under his cloak. With it, he knocks the others to the side, breaks off his own hand, and impales me in the back. The shock is enough to make me drop my ice-saber. Sidious starts laughing, as if he's already won. Grimacing angrily, I rip my Katana from my side, empowering the blade with black and red energy. A single upward swipe is all I need to cleave his monstrous tail in two. I followed that by shoving my sword into his stomach and twisting it up though his chest.

No longer laughing, Sidious' expression changes dramatically as I watch the life fade from his eyes. Good riddance.

11.06.2010

Enter Walms (DILD)

★★★★☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

My brother explodes in a puff of flame and smoke, leaving behind two flaming eyes that fizzled out after a moment or two.

"Burmes? Is that you?"

"Yes," states a disembodied voice.

"Oh, okay. Hey, can you help me find Walms?"

There was a pause before he replied. "Yeah, sure."

"Cool, thank you."

I Teleport away, letting Burmes guide the new scene. I end up in an open outdoors setting with none other than Walms standing a good distance away. He turns as I make my appearance, eyeing me strangely, almost as if he were sizing me up. "It's me, Walms! Mzzkc!"

"Oh, good job on finding me. . . We can start when you like."

"Very well." I say cooly, taking a stance and drawing my Katana.

Immediately, I turn on the pressure. Teleporting close to him, but well out of arms reach, I make a quick swipe, which he readily evades. Before he can do anything else, though, I Teleport again, and make another lightning quick attack, but am foiled a second time. TP, this time he's got claws out to block my thrust and follow up with his own attack, which I deflect before TPing yet again. This goes on for a good six or seven seconds, with me TPing, attacking, and defending about three or four times each second. The attacks themselves are varied and range from basic slash and thrust combinations to much more complex sword-work. Still, neither of us can can land a hit.

Without warning, Walms launches into the air. I'm quick to follow, purposefully dropping my blade as I do. Before he can reach altitude, I start charging a Kamehameha, chanting the telltale phrase that goes along with it. Walms immediately stops, turns, and Teleports directly below me, but that's just what I wanted. Using a Time Skip, so he doesn't have a chance to react, I change it up and deliver a huge downward arcing punch that instantly makes contact (thanks to the Time Skip). He looks visibly surprised as he plummets down to earth.

"I don't have to follow what I say I'm gonna do." I taunt, playfully, before TPing below Walms and Time Skipping a huge uppercut into his gut. This time he's ready, though, and makes a grab for my arm, so I TP away from him and follow him as he shoots back up into the air from the force of my blow. He rights himself quickly enough and speedily starts closing the relatively small gap between us. I start charging a real energy blast this time, but I screw it up as Walms tries for another grab. He rebukes me, commenting on my attempts at an actual energy attack, as I avoid his assault and Flash Step away, closer to the ground.

Still moving, I start charging another energy attack, but he's on top of me without warning, and now I don't have a prayer of getting away. So, I do the next best thing and direct a blast of energy at the ground, causing a massive explosion that envelops me and blasts him away.

Unfortunately, as the light of the explosion overtakes me, I lose my hold on the dream, and enter into a FA. I quickly get up, go to my laptop, and record the events. After publishing it, Walms responds almost instantly, saying he remembers the fight, and very much enjoyed it, pointing out how good the pacing and flow was.

Part of an early lucid. The dream as a whole was fairly uninteresting, but this piece has stuck with me since I experienced it. Enjoy.

BONUS ENTRY OF DOOM!

??.??.????

They Paved Paradise (DILD)

★★★☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID







I struggled. Each time I lifted my arms up to find a new handhold in the snow-covered cliff-face challenged my fortitude. My breath shot visibly from my lungs into the chilly night air. Determined to complete my objective, I pressed onward. Soon enough, I pulled myself up onto the ledge overlooking the forested valley below me. Taking a moment to study my surroundings, I turned my head to the left. What I laid my eyes upon will stay with me for the rest of my life. Before me, amidst all this seemingly natural beauty, was a parking lot.

And yet, the presence of the parking lot was not what caught my interest. You see, the detail overwhelmed me. The lot stretched out into the distance towards an indeterminable end, the light from the streetlights played perfectly on the dancing snow as it fell, and I could actually make out every distinct texture and color along the hard black asphalt. The amazing part? Everything I just described existed solely as a creation of my mind. I was dreaming.

22.05.2010

Green Grass, High Tides, and Tall Drops (DILD)

★★★★☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Looking down at her finished painting, I smiled at the stick figures it had taken her five Fast Forwards to complete. It was a rough depiction of a hilled cliff-side, and each person in the piece was crudely labeled. Well, let's see what I can do. I grab her hand.

"Hold on tight."

I Teleport.

The world around us spins as it fades almost instantaneous into blackness. Remembering the painting of the supposed future, I reach my other hand down into the void and feel the cool dew-covered grass that was going to be beneath us momentarily. Sure enough, we reach our destination.

Vivid blue skies with their whiter than white clouds lined the green-hilled cliff-side. In the distance, deep-blue shining oceans met the lighter colored skyline. The beauty of this place was both surprising and awe-inspiring. A little ways below us were a few of the characters from the painting, lounging on the edge of the cliff. I let go of the painter's hand, and she immediately took off.

Wanting to really bring the picture to life, I started rolling down the hill. Spinning, spinning, ever faster, alternating blue skyline and green grass--oh the wonder of it all. And then I ran out of ground.

Shit.

As it was, my current trajectory would land me face first into some rocks protruding from the cliff-face about a hundred feet down. Not fun. Turning mid-fall, I powerfully kick off from the side of the cliff, netting me just enough distance to have nothing but air between me and the water 300 feet below. Tumbling downward, I couldn't help but think, Hitting the water at this height will be like hitting concrete.

Thanks rationality, you're a real life-saver.

Not wanting to take the easy route out and fly away, I let myself drop, picking up speed every second. Almost at the water, I brought my feet below me, pointed my toes downward, and crossed my arms in front of my chest. Below, several groups of people were already in the ocean, enjoying the relatively calm waters. Almost there. . .

SPLOOSH!

The sensation as my feet broke the surface and my body shot down into the refreshingly brisk water was beyond words. A blue universe surrounded me, and I didn't have a care in the world. Floating there, weightless, pumping cold liquid though my lungs, I relished the experience. I didn't want to wake up.

So, I didn't. . .

Not for awhile anyways. >.>

14.05.2010

Friendly Fire is On (Non-lucid)

★★★☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

They surrounded us. Upwards of 40 low-life frat boys, all wearing the exact same grey shirt, sneered at me and my new-found HvZ friends. Well, this outing just got interesting. As they moved ever closer, our small group was soon split up. One of the punks pushed me backwards into his bro. The bro grabbed my arms, but I wasn't going down without a fight. Breaking free, I elbowed him in the gut, which made him stagger back and fall to the ground. It's a start.

Reaching down to my side, I drew my Katana in a quick motion and put it to use immediately. Two down, three down, four down. . . They dropped like flies as my skillful slashes tore through their numbers. My blade thrusted forward into the gut of one of them; I tore it out his side, before realizing my mistake. This was one of my new friends. Tossing my blade to the side, I catch him before he falls. "Fuck. . . Didn't mean to do that."

"Watch where you're swinging that thing," he sputters weakly. I put my hand to his wound.

"It's going to be okay," I assure him as a green light emits from my palm. Infusing the area with energy, I quickly heal the wound to the best of my abilities. "That should hold up for now, but take it easy for awhile." He nodded and walked off.

Turning my attention back to the frat-boys, verily pissed, they don't seem too phased by the incident. We'll just have to change that. Picking my sword up, I swiped at the nearest one, rending open his chest. The fact that all of them were unarmed didn't matter to me one bit. I'd kill them all the same. Turning, I bring my blade down across the left side of my victim's neck. As he died, he looked into my eyes, as if to ask 'Why?' It was another friendly.

"Goddammit! I haven't know any of you long enough to distinguish you in battle!" I stormed off, frustrated. Passing everyone on my way to the nearby woods, ignoring them into oblivion, the small golden colored dog from before--the one we had followed into this mess--yipped at me annoyingly. With a single flick of my Katana, I silenced it, cleanly severing its head from its body. The body stood there for a moment, as the bloodied head rolled out of sight, before slumping to the ground. I just kept walking.

04.05.2010

Serious Business (DILD)

★★★★★

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

CRASH!

I burst through the glass, quickly drawing my blade. Still arcing in the air to the grass below, I shout "Bankai!" releasing the true power of my sword. As I looked down on the lightsaber battle ensuing in my backyard, I see several friends caught up in the fray. Still falling, I bring my hand up to my face and tear down my Vizard mask, enjoying the rush of power. Landing skillfully on the grass, everyone notices my entrance. The clash of sabers ceases as I look up through my red and white mask. I pick a target.

Walking casually into the battle, I relieve someone of his fight, pushing him to the side. Taking a relaxed stance, my blade in one hand, the young 'Jedi' acting as my opponent stares back at me, terrified. He makes a cautious pass at my left side with his green lightsaber. Sneering behind my mask, I parry, flick his weapon away, and stab him in the shoulder, all in one motion. As he staggers backwards, it's easy to see how pissed he is. He charges at me, letting loose a guttural cry.

Still relaxed, I deflect each of his thrusts and slashes, but my complacency gets the better of me. The saber cuts through my side as I jump away, avoiding the brunt of what would have been a fatal blow.

FZZSHHEEWW!

A sharp pain shoots up my right arm as I finally take notice of the other 'Jedi' who have come to aid their comrade. Surrounded, a feeling of panic blossoms at my core. Sensing my moment of weakness, the group attacks as one. I do my best to defend myself, but a few blows end up getting through. I shout violently, emitting a wave of energy that pushes them all backwards. My fiery rage burns away any previous inhibition. "That's it. No more of this fucking kiddie shit."

In a flash, I cut down a 'Jedi' to my left, severing his body into 5 pieces instantaneously. Fear strikes the others as I stand there, bloodied blade in hand, 20 feet from where I was less than a second ago. Before the pieces of the man I just killed could hit the ground, they begin to run, but not fast enough. I speed from one victim to the next, dismembering and mutilating their bodies as I go. My speed and precision is unparalleled. And yet, despite my rampage, save the first, I leave them all alive. . . mostly.

Here's another "short" part of the long LD. I might do another one later too. Try to guess which one of the ones I posted happened first. XD

14.01.2010

A Dark Reality (DILD)

★★★★☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

The following excerpt comes from an hour+ long LD.

Is that. . ? A Mew?

"Mew!" the pink Pokemon coos as it floats about in the air before me. It's stylized, exactly as it would be in the anime or a drawing. It seems like it wants me to follow it. Sure enough, it starts zipping away through the brightly, and naturally, lit building motioning for me with its tail.

I take off at a run, but it just isn't fast enough. Fly gets toggled on, but I'm still only barely able to keep up as it darts over and around various beams and corners. Before long, I lose track of it. Not giving up, I go the direction I think it went, which leads me outside to. . . my court?

There's the Mew, hovering high above my driveway. Dropping to the ground, I follow it to the street in the middle of the culdesac. The cloudless blue sky shone brightly and clearly, and to my surprise many more small airborne Pokemon scattered the sky around my neighborhood. I felt oddly at peace.

The Mew, still in the air, motions to the street below. Particularly, it motions to a strange portal. The portal looks almost like an old oil spill: A shiny, dark, blue, film-like, center with moving wavy gold loops along the outside. The whole thing is sparking visible bolts of electricity all around the inside. I couldn't make out what was on the other side. I didn't know what the Mew wanted me to do. I figure jumping through it wouldn't hurt. Maybe someone I know will be on the other side? I take the plunge.

The oddest feeling rushes over me as I quickly slide into the opening. I don't have time to savor it as I'm spat out into a brand new world that is. . . also my court? Weird. Weirder still is the blood red, black streaked, sky above me. It is unsettling. I don't have time to take that in either, because before I know it some humanoid creatures start to approach me. They look mostly human, but their features are augmented by spiky jaws, white bony skin, and claw like fingers. At least they're wearing clothes.

"Git 'im." One of them says to the other. It try to pull out my Katana, but they're on me too fast. One gets my arms into a lock behind my head, while the other subdues my feet. Things are looking really bad. What the hell was I supposed to do now?

Fire! Instinct takes over and large jets of molten hot fire shoot out of the ground around me in an large Area of Effect. This feat startles the creatures into loosening their grip on me. Instead of simply breaking free, however, I take control of the very earth itself, forcing huge jagged spikes to jut out of the ground. The creatures are killed instantaneously. Their bodies and clothes are rent to shreds, freeing me from their grasps.

I think I'm free and clear, but almost right away I see there are more of them coming for me. One of them has a really long Katana. I reach down to my side and quickly pull out my sword. It's not nearly long enough. Before I can use a finger trick to extend it the guy with the Katana attacks me. It's all I can do to block it in time.

The others start to surround me. There's around five or six of them, all with similar features to the last two guys. They're grinning widely, some of them let out a sinister chuckle. I'm freaking out. I keep my stance, but back up as to not let any of them behind me. An almost paralyzing fear and worry gripped me. What had I gotten myself into? Everything was so nice and peaceful before. . .

Regardless, I had a battle to fight. I strike out at the guy with the Katana. My cut only goes skin deep. He looks down at it and laughs maniacally, mockingly, violently swatting my blade out of his skin with his own. He swings at me again. I block, backing up even further, now entering my garage. I perform a quick volley of assaults, faster than the average eye could follow. All of them hit their mark, but again, all of them only pierce the topmost layer of skin.

I was getting nervous. It had to be my blade. I needed a new one. How about his? Instinctively, I pull on all my archetypes that involve severing limbs. I ended up focusing on the Monty Python and The Holy Grail scene in which King Arthur fights the Black Knight. I swat down at his arm sloppily, I don't need to actually cut it. Sure enough, his arm plops off nice and cleanly.

Their smiles turn to displeased grimaces as I grab the long blade from the air before gravity could take hold of it, throwing my old one to the side. "What the hell?" the now armless creature bellows. I proceed to quickly sever the right arms of all the creatures in the same manner, lightly and sloppily 'pushing' on their shoulder socket with the tip of my new sword. "Aww, that's just fucking idiotic," says the guy who had previously owned the Katana.

Suddenly, they all look out to the distance. What's going on? Is something happening out there? The same one speaks again: "You all go and take care of it. This kid ain't got nothin'. I'll deal with him myself." He regenerates his arm and sword as the others take off into the darkness outside. I'm still slowly backing up, on my garage stairs now.

My opponent gives me a smirk. Sensing my continued fear. We're at the top of the stairs. He rushes at me, I quickly open the door and step to the left, parrying as I did so. Before he could recover, I whipped myself and my Katana around severing his blade arm in a downward thrust. I follow that up with a swift kick to his side, knocking him clumsily into the house. Before he can come back out, I sever his other arm and close the door on him. I focus on the lock and do something to it so it can't be opened from the inside.

After a moment of waiting, I realize I'm home free. I discard my blade and head out to the street. What was this place? Could Raven be here by chance. . ?

08.01.2010

Europium (DILD)

★★★★★

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Trying to meet up with some family, I see the person I'm looking for. She looks. . . tense. I head through the crowded plaza, bumping into other nervous looking people. I notice exchanges of money as people passed each other. It was happening all around me.

One person that bumped into me freaked out a bit and followed me, apologizing profusely. I kinda just ignored him. I made my way all the way to the other side only to lose her again. A tall man in a hoodie comes up to me and tries to push some kind of plastic baggy into my hands saying, "Hey, man, here you go."

"What is this?" I asked, refusing to take the bag.

"Europium, dude, now go sell it." He looked to his side, showing signs of paranoia.

"Naw, it's cool, I don't do that kinda thing." I state bluntly walking away as he shook his head at me. I made my way into an open building without doors showcasing a light orange interior. Three men approached me.

"Not, gonna follow the rules, eh?" The one in the tan sweat shirt says in a deep voice. "Then you're gonna have to face the consequences!" He whipped out what looked like a quarter and put it between his digits, making a fist and smiling broadly. "This here's a coin blade. It'll slice you up real nice." He swings at my head, but I put up my right arm to block. The coin cuts through my green trench coat and does, indeed, 'slice me up real good.'

Fuck fuck fuck. This hurts way too much.

Calm down. It's just a dream. I regain my composure. I stand, relaxed, with my hands at my side. I know this is my world. I have all the power here. "I'm impressed that you managed to cut me. I commend you for that. However, it won't happen again." He simply smiles that big toothy smile and comes at me like a maniac, swinging wildly. His mouth practically foaming.

I block and deflect at his forearm, avoiding contact with his small blade. One of his friends tries to come at me from the side. I dodge his punch, grab his wrist, and hurl him into the man with the grey sweatshirt who is also in the middle of a punch. They end up exchanging blows with each other. Before they can recover, I proceed to properly disable them, practically turning them into joined pretzels.

The other guy looks terrified. He takes a hesitant step back before deciding to come at me anyways. I just throw him hard into the other two. He gets back up, and I give him a strong glare. He takes a look at the two men lying crippled on the floor, gets the message, and scampers off the way I had came in.

I walk out the back door. There's a large twisted walkway with large natural barriers on either side. I turn a corner only to come face to face with what I can only assume are more of these drug dealing nazis. I go to the big one that looks like the leader of the group. He's wearing a red sports sweater with some words on it. I treat him like an ordinary DC. "Tell me how to get out of here."

"Why would I do that?" He asks, slightly perturbed by my presence for some reason.

"Look, I just kicked the asses of the three guys you sent at me. And I'll do the same to all of you if you don't tell me."

"Did you kill them?" he inquires in a somewhat expecting way.

"No, I try not to kill if I don't have to. Now, are you going to tell me or not."

Subdued laughter ripples through the group. One of them steps forward, wielding a Katana. He reminds me of Sasuke for some reason ((so that's what I'll call him)). Two others, one male, one female, join behind him, also wielding Katanas. I reach down to my side to pull out my blade. Unfortunately, I have trouble forming the handle and all I manage to pull out is the blade with a thin metal extension where the hilt is supposed to be. I know I can work with this, though, taking my stance.

All three come at me. Sasuke starts his volley. I deflect every cut easily. The girl attacks from my left. I parry her blow, and flick my blade around her sword, pushing it out of the way. The edge of my Katana's blade now rests against her neck. She looks terrified. "You're done, step out." I say to her.

"But--"

"Don't argue with me. Step. Out." I apply a bit of pressure to her neck. She quickly drops her sword, backs off, and joins the others. I throw down my blade. I need a decent sword if I'm going to do this. I reach back down to pull out another blade. I feel the hilt form properly and begin to pull it out. I look down to help solidify it.

Suddenly, from the corner of my eye I see Sasuke dart at me. I don't manage to draw my blade in time and am rewarded with a Katana piercing through my body. Sasuke removes his blade from my right lung, making sure to rip it out at an angle to cause even more damage. My eyes go wide. The hell? This is the most intense pain I have ever felt, dream or no. My body feels like it wants to shut down. . .

. . .

No. I can't give in. I stand upright, ignoring the searing pain in my chest. I rush at him. He parries almost all of my attacks, but even the ones I land don't do much damage at all. Screw this. I stop. I grab my right arm and hold out my Katana.

"Ban--kai!"

Invisible energy explodes from my body, creating a huge gust of sustained wind that throws about the dust from the ground around me. I move at incredible speeds, closing the distance between us in less than a second. He is unable to match my speed, and the torrent of cuts I rain down upon him go un-deflected.

Still no damage?! I swing harder, losing myself in attack as I push him back farther and farther. Out of nowhere, his blade comes in from the right. I jump to the side, but my reaction is too late. More blinding pain wracks my body. I push it out of my mind as Sasuke barrels at me once more. I dodge, throw my blade to my left hand, grab his wrist with my right hand, and attempt to sever his arm.

Oddly, though, my Katana has transformed itself into a razor sharp metallic whip. I strike his arm several times in succession, each time tearing a large portion of skin and muscle from his right arm. Everything starts to fade. The fighting isn't helping matters. I start to run in the opposite direction. Sasuke isn't able to keep up with me. Once he's out of sight I sit and cross my legs. Everything is fading fast. I figure I'll just go peacefully. Sasuke's male henchman has other ideas, though.

He's running towards me carrying what appears to be a large plaster board. I don't bother getting up when he reaches me. For some reason he starts lightly hitting me on the top of the head with it. "Look, dude, all you're doing is stabilizing the dream for me." Sasuke appears behind him and throws him off to the side. Gorrammit. . .

Looks like it's not quite over, yet. I start to attack him, yet again, but he starts doing backflips away from me. This is just getting annoying now. "Getsuga Tenshou!" A streak of blue energy erupts from my sword, which was a Katana again. Every swing of the blade shot out another cyclical blast. I keep up the pressure as he flips over and dodges each one. Finally, one of them clips his side, tearing his baggy white clothes and knocking him to the side. I quickly close the distance between us.

I point the tip of my blade at him. He tries to scamper away as he gets up. In a raspy determined voice I whisper, "Getsuga Tensou." Sure enough a brownish orange tornado forms from the tip of my blade and traps the bastard in its vortex. "Not so tough, now, are ya?" I bang his spinning, trapped, helpless body on the ground a few times. For some reason, my blade is now an ornate spear-like halberd.

I start to walk back toward the others while Sasuke is still stuck in the violently swirling wind protruding from my newly morphed blade. Everything is starting to fade again. I doubt he's still conscious, but the tornado is sustaining itself just fine without any help from me, so I allow myself to wake with Sasuke still ensnared by my sword's power.

29.12.2009

The Atrium (DILD)

★★★★☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Around me was a gathering of students of all trades and disciplines. Okay, most of them were Comp Sci, students, but that's not the point. The point is, the group seemed diverse. All of us were inside of this huge atrium. The Balcony above us surrounding the area, the tunnels that branched off, and the general architecture had the look and feel of Hogwarts.

However, there was no magic going on in these walls. Instead we had all been assigned a winter break project that was due tonight at midnight. It was already 10:54 PM and all of us had to write a two page paper on the functionality of the memory allocator we wrote before break. I questioned a STB about it, wondering if we had already done something similar. He rebuked me, and stated he had already finished his paper and had given it some fancy name. A guy who was supposed to be our professor laughed from across the room and commended STB.

After that we started to toss a Frisbee around. One side of the atrium, vs. the other. I kept missing my opportunity to get the Frisbee, and everyone on my team was sucking something awful, so I started to cheat. I used TK to do some fancy throws that weren't even possible. I also used my powers to direct the Frisbee into my hands whenever someone threw it. However, after a long time, it seemed as if my TK was waning.

Wait, this is a dream, how can I be getting tired from overuse of my TK? I can't even properly lift that balloon over there. This is pathetic. I lift off into the sky and float over to the second floor balcony that wrapped around the middle of the atrium. I decide to test how much energy I really have left.

"Chidori!"

Blue sparks fly from my right arm, a massive charge builds up in my palm, and all the while an all encompassing screeching fills the room. I slash my arm into a nearby stone wall to test it out, and sure enough, it cuts into it with ease, but not as deep as I would have liked.

I decide to have a bit of fun, completely forgetting any and all goals. I jump down into the middle of the crowd, and shout, "Alright! This is how it's gonna go down! All of you, against me!" Everyone looked at me funny, a few people to my left start to come at me. I whip out a bo-staff and begin to twirl it around, charging at them. I knock a few to the side, before drawing them into a small foyer that leads to another hallway into the the atrium. Several of the people from the room attack me, grinning wildly, but a few good knocks to the head and chest take them out quite handily.

Suddenly, a girl walks through the archway. She is dressed much more ornately than these previous louts, and carries a huge staff-like sword. Several sweeping halberd-esque blades protruded from the long, thin staff at the blade's core. They shone brightly and were framed from behind with beautiful red and gold waves. Well, that's cool.

She swings it at me, but I parry it to the side, stepping in and hitting her shoulder with my simple black staff. She tries for another swipe, but I block, and return a strike of my own, this time across her head. We go back and forth like this for awhile, before her frustration builds to a peak. A downward strike from her blade is met with a swift kick from my boot.

Hilariously enough, her blade gets lodged in the thick leather bottoms of my boot. She tries to pull out her blade, but can't, a look of surprise on her face. I twist my foot and disarm her, taking her blade for myself. I ditch my staff, and test out my new bounty. A quick slash cuts away at her poofy clothes, but does not draw blood. I thrust the blade into her. "Oh, fuck." She says, looking down at the gaping wound in her chest. I can see the life drain out of her as she goes limp. I pull out my blade and head back into the atrium.

Everyone inside is playing some silly game in groups around the room. "What the hell is this?! I thought I told you all to fight me." I take a large arcing slash at the people in the group before me, cutting into the necks of everyone there, spilling their blood onto the floor. They just turned in shock and stared at me, in a semi-circle. I took to the air as people started screaming around me and running for the doors. Soon enough, the room was completely empty except for a few people scattered around the room who just stood there calmly.

"Where did everyone go?" I asked them.

"All the stupid ones left." One of the remaining people said.

I wanted to investigate further, but the dream started to slip and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Well, I guess I could have tried to stay in a little bit longer. >.>

Alrighty. I remember a ton of fragments from last night, but no full dreams, and nothing very interesting. Loaf was in a couple. Also, all of them involved LDing in some way. No idea why I didn't get lucid.

BONUS ENTRY OF DOOM!

??.??.????

Crash Course in Control (WILD)

★★★★★

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID







I felt the transition.

I'm dreaming. I get out of bed and climb over my couch, toward my window. The sun pelted through my blinds as the green leaves of the trees outside swayed gently back and forth. I pressed myself against the window, ignoring the blinds, they mean nothing. As expected, the glass starts to give way to my pressure, conforming to the shape of my skin, like a cool sleek putty.

In a mere moment I'm outside, hovering above my backyard. I glide over the trees, simply enjoying my surroundings. There's a large clearing below me. Just like before they put all those town-houses in. In it, are people having a Nerf War. I drop down to join them, but I don't have a blaster. I inquire to a nearby DC, "Where's my Recon?"

he looks at me like I'm an idiot as he replies, "What are you talking about? It's right there." Sure, enough, on the grassy hill lay my Recon. I grab it from its resting place and join in the fray. A time lapse finishes things up rather quickly, but I'm content with the amount of action I got.

Heading toward a nearby house now, I decide to track down my DG. It's been awhile since we've met. I walk in the back and am greeted by a few random DCs and a good friend I know IRL. I approach him, and ask, "Hey, M, where's my Dream Guide?"

"She's downstairs with your parents."

"Thanks dude."

"No problem, man."

Trusting my friend, I locate the stairs. The house I'm in is more of a building than anything else. I make my way to where I believe she should be, but a guy with a nice shirt and slacks is blocking my way. I tell him, "Bring out my Dream Guide for me."

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Bull shit. Bring her out, now." He leaves for a second, a look of worry on his face. When he returns he has a random female DC in tow who is obviously not my DG. I'm getting pissed now. "I'm gonna say it one more time before I bring this entire building crashing down on your head. Bring. Me. My. Dream. Guide."

He scampers off, sensing my intent to follow through with the threat. Sure enough, he comes back with none other than my DG right behind him. She looks annoyed for some reason. She steps up to me and looks me in the eyes with her penetrating gaze. She demands of me only one thing: "What do you want?"

What happened next I simply cannot accurately explain. I began to speak: "I want to be strong. I want power. Unlimited power. I want the ability ro destroy universes upon a whim. The power of a god. . ." I couldn't stop myself from talking. Worse, I couldn't even control what I was saying. I poured all of my willpower into stopping my mouth from spurting out these words, but, again, I had no control. This went on for a good minute, and there was nothing I could do about it. I was, in a word, powerless.

I eventually finished talking. The gravity of what had just happened hadn't quite hit me yet, and it wouldn't for a long time afterwards. My DG had just taught me a lesson about how little power I actually had in the grand scheme of things, and had shown me how meaningless my previous quest for power and glory had been. At the time, though, I was still in shock. My DG, noticing I still didn't get it, gave me a look, shook her head,

And the dream ended.