DANIEL ??? (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
amongthelions) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
towerofanimus2013-04-03 07:35 pm
amongthelions) wrote in towerofanimus2013-04-03 07:35 pm
Entry tags:
[open] oh lord, in the darkness - lead me on my way
Characters: Daniel and you.
Setting: Dormitory 3-18, Floors 1 and 3. (Final prompt takes place at night!)
Format: Starting with action, I'll match.
Summary: Daniel wakes up, wanders around, and is generally put through the wringer.
Warnings: Spoilers for Amnesia; the Dark Descent, possible disturbing imagery.
[DORMITORY 3-18: When Daniel comes to upon his new dormitory bed rather than the cold, dusty stones of Brennenburg's prison, his exhausted mind lurches off the edge of rational thought and into bleak despair. He immediately believes that he's perished in the elevator crash, falling victim to the Shadow at last. A sense of failure pervades every weary inch of him, momentarily overwhelming the selfish relief that all terror and unease is now at an end. But of course, Daniel isn't that fortunate. The proof of his continued existence - the pounding of his heartbeat, his ragged breathing - pull him back to reality with rough fingers. He sits up and warily takes in his surroundings.
There's the instinctive, self-comforting urge to take out his lantern, even though the room is plenty bright already, but it's nowhere to be found.]
What...?
[Soft, incredulous words; this isn't the castle, isn't anywhere Daniel can recall ever visiting before. (Not like that means much, is the rueful thought that comes a moment later.) And when he gets around to reading the first of the letters set out for every new arrival, his mind reels yet again: his world, destroyed? Everyone and everything in it reduced to ash, to nothing, consumed by oblivion? The letter falls from nerveless hands as Daniel struggles to understand....and in this stunned and silent moment, some of the clouds that have filled his mind disperse. He remembers Hazel - sweet, sickly Hazel, his younger sister. How they both cowered under the shadow of their abusive father, how he would read stories to her as if doing so could keep her alive. How could Hazel just.....be gone?
For a short, merciful span of time, everything else flies out of Daniel's head. He buries his face in grimy, aching hands, and cries.]
[FLOOR ONE: Eventually, sorrow gives way to a gnawing and ravenous hunger, and Daniel stumbles his way to the cafeteria. He mulls over the contents of the other, second letter he had received as he goes, the fingers of one hand lightly toying with the orange collar encircling his neck. So, he was expected to survive here? With others? It's a prospect that seems so alien, utterly impossible....but he had found his journal and lantern in the chest by his bed, among other things, and they had brought him comfort in their familiarity. Perhaps this....situation, such as it was, could be dealt with, step by step.
His movements are slow and skittish when he eases into a seat with a platter of food (he had refused the oatmeal provided, wanting something more flavorful for his first meal after countless brushes with horror and death), and fear still smolders dully in his eyes as he glances around, but Daniel feels....a little better, despite everything. He can't bring himself to dwell on the idea of his entire world being brought to ruin, so he will focus instead on the here and now. And the here and now (for the moment) doesn't seem nearly as awful as the dark depths of Castle Brennenburg. There's people here, and no Shadow to haunt him. Maybe things will turn out all right....!
Daniel entertains this delusion right up until the moment that his stomach violently rejects the food he's just swallowed, and he vomits messily all over the table.]
[FLOOR THREE: Daniel is a curious man, even when he ought not to be. After filling his stomach (eventually, anyway, damn that oatmeal) and adjusting, however cautiously, to his new predicament, he sets out to explore what he can of the Tower. He reasons with himself that this is a sensible thing to do, and feels a certain rush of validation when he comes across the library that houses the network terminals. Not that he chooses to fiddle with those just yet - no, instead he's drawn to the shelves and stacks of books. He had been something of an aspiring scholar back home, after all, and a thirst for knowledge is a part of him that not even an amnesia potion could wipe away. So it's perhaps inevitable that Daniel sets to work reading everything he can get his hands on, curled up in a quiet and secluded corner away from all eyes.
...but then time slips away from him, and night has fallen when Daniel finally shakes himself free of the library's grip. Darkness surrounds him, presses in, and it triggers a burst of white-hot panic and fear. He shrieks, whipping out a tinderbox from his pocket to light the nearest candle. But this isn't Brennenburg....there are no candles, and instead Daniel fumbles the tinderbox, dropping it and setting his trousers on fire. He runs out of the library in a blind, screaming panic, torn between slapping the flames out of existence and letting them continue to scorch his pants in return for lighting the way down the corridor.]
Setting: Dormitory 3-18, Floors 1 and 3. (Final prompt takes place at night!)
Format: Starting with action, I'll match.
Summary: Daniel wakes up, wanders around, and is generally put through the wringer.
Warnings: Spoilers for Amnesia; the Dark Descent, possible disturbing imagery.
[DORMITORY 3-18: When Daniel comes to upon his new dormitory bed rather than the cold, dusty stones of Brennenburg's prison, his exhausted mind lurches off the edge of rational thought and into bleak despair. He immediately believes that he's perished in the elevator crash, falling victim to the Shadow at last. A sense of failure pervades every weary inch of him, momentarily overwhelming the selfish relief that all terror and unease is now at an end. But of course, Daniel isn't that fortunate. The proof of his continued existence - the pounding of his heartbeat, his ragged breathing - pull him back to reality with rough fingers. He sits up and warily takes in his surroundings.
There's the instinctive, self-comforting urge to take out his lantern, even though the room is plenty bright already, but it's nowhere to be found.]
What...?
[Soft, incredulous words; this isn't the castle, isn't anywhere Daniel can recall ever visiting before. (Not like that means much, is the rueful thought that comes a moment later.) And when he gets around to reading the first of the letters set out for every new arrival, his mind reels yet again: his world, destroyed? Everyone and everything in it reduced to ash, to nothing, consumed by oblivion? The letter falls from nerveless hands as Daniel struggles to understand....and in this stunned and silent moment, some of the clouds that have filled his mind disperse. He remembers Hazel - sweet, sickly Hazel, his younger sister. How they both cowered under the shadow of their abusive father, how he would read stories to her as if doing so could keep her alive. How could Hazel just.....be gone?
For a short, merciful span of time, everything else flies out of Daniel's head. He buries his face in grimy, aching hands, and cries.]
[FLOOR ONE: Eventually, sorrow gives way to a gnawing and ravenous hunger, and Daniel stumbles his way to the cafeteria. He mulls over the contents of the other, second letter he had received as he goes, the fingers of one hand lightly toying with the orange collar encircling his neck. So, he was expected to survive here? With others? It's a prospect that seems so alien, utterly impossible....but he had found his journal and lantern in the chest by his bed, among other things, and they had brought him comfort in their familiarity. Perhaps this....situation, such as it was, could be dealt with, step by step.
His movements are slow and skittish when he eases into a seat with a platter of food (he had refused the oatmeal provided, wanting something more flavorful for his first meal after countless brushes with horror and death), and fear still smolders dully in his eyes as he glances around, but Daniel feels....a little better, despite everything. He can't bring himself to dwell on the idea of his entire world being brought to ruin, so he will focus instead on the here and now. And the here and now (for the moment) doesn't seem nearly as awful as the dark depths of Castle Brennenburg. There's people here, and no Shadow to haunt him. Maybe things will turn out all right....!
Daniel entertains this delusion right up until the moment that his stomach violently rejects the food he's just swallowed, and he vomits messily all over the table.]
[FLOOR THREE: Daniel is a curious man, even when he ought not to be. After filling his stomach (eventually, anyway, damn that oatmeal) and adjusting, however cautiously, to his new predicament, he sets out to explore what he can of the Tower. He reasons with himself that this is a sensible thing to do, and feels a certain rush of validation when he comes across the library that houses the network terminals. Not that he chooses to fiddle with those just yet - no, instead he's drawn to the shelves and stacks of books. He had been something of an aspiring scholar back home, after all, and a thirst for knowledge is a part of him that not even an amnesia potion could wipe away. So it's perhaps inevitable that Daniel sets to work reading everything he can get his hands on, curled up in a quiet and secluded corner away from all eyes.
...but then time slips away from him, and night has fallen when Daniel finally shakes himself free of the library's grip. Darkness surrounds him, presses in, and it triggers a burst of white-hot panic and fear. He shrieks, whipping out a tinderbox from his pocket to light the nearest candle. But this isn't Brennenburg....there are no candles, and instead Daniel fumbles the tinderbox, dropping it and setting his trousers on fire. He runs out of the library in a blind, screaming panic, torn between slapping the flames out of existence and letting them continue to scorch his pants in return for lighting the way down the corridor.]
[Floor 1]
... You must be new here.
no subject
It hurts to swallow hard, but Daniel manages it, bringing himself back under some semblance of control before looking over at Hakuno.]
I...[It's at this moment that Daniel regains enough presence of mind to fumble for napkins, and he wipes his face before continuing.]...y-yes, I suppose I am. Just woke up here a short while ago, but...what do you mean by that?
[His voice is quiet, softly British, as he regards her - this unfamiliar girl with mild disgust written plain as day across her features. Exhaustion is etched deeply upon his own face, puzzlement slightly less so. A pause, and Daniel glances warily at his plate.]
....is the food poisoned?
no subject
No, it's not poisoned. [Though she wouldn't really put it past Jason, if this really is his month.] The administrators, the people who run the tower... they do something weird to us. When we first wake up in the tower, we can't eat anything other than oatmeal, or else we get sick. That's how I was able to tell that you were new.
It's weird. I know. I don't think many people try to question it.
no subject
That's a rather beastly thing to do. [And at those words, Daniel feels a twinge of guilt - but why? For what? He shakes his head as if to clear it, grimly setting about mopping up his vomit with more napkins.] Hmph, first I've heard of it....this whole situation is already quite insane, but surely some sort of warning wouldn't have gone amiss.
[A grumble, and then Daniel's shoulders go slack. He sighs.]
One of those letters told me I was saved, but what does any of this have to do with salvation?
no subject
Well... [She hesitates only for a moment, expression falling a bit.] The story is that the world - all our worlds, because all of us come from different versions of Earth or other places - was destroyed and the administrators brought us here to escape from that destruction. But I'm not sure if I really believe that... a lot of people don't.
no subject
Daniel continues to clean as he thinks. For a man who hails from a time when candles brought light and warmth to homes, the concepts that Hakuno speaks so casually of are fantastical, impossible. But if his experiences with the Shadow have managed anything, it's the stripping away of conventional ways of thinking; Daniel has had to embrace the supernatural, so the idea of other worlds is no longer beyond his reach. In fact, it invites that ever familiar rush of curiosity....the desire to seek out answers and dismantle mysteries.]
Yes, I read about that part of it as well. Gave me a terrible shock, but I don't think I quite believe it either. [A rueful, tired smile as he remembers his crying fit from earlier. What an unmanly display of emotion! Ah, well...] Perhaps I simply don't wish to.
[On one hand, it would be a simple solution to a number of problems: Alexander would be dead, as his former self had wished. The Shadow would be gone as well, and with the destruction of the castle, Daniel would no longer be pressed to learn of the dark events that had conspired to result in him drinking an amnesia potion and calling for the death of an old man. But....it would also mean the loss of Hazel, of England, of so much else. He bites his lip for a moment, then attempts to change the subject by giving Hakuno a weak smile.]
If it's not too improper to ask, what's your world like?
[He almost says was but catches himself.]
no subject
[But... it's still hard explaining her own situation. How do you explain "I was stuck in a supercomputer on the moon with the digital spirit of a long-dead genderswapped Roman Emperor fighting mythological and historical figures for me" without sounding crazy?
... Maaaaybe she shouldn't. Not until this guy has more time to adjust to the strangeness of the tower.]
As for my world... I guess you can say it's not all that different from here. A lot tamer in some ways, but I was trapped in an area that consisted of nothing more than a school and a church.