World Refugees Final Mix

Despite the situation, Aya seemed pretty calm. She was anything but worried about the threat of gorgons (being a bit of a mythology fan, she knew how to deal with those) and harpies should they not get back in time. A fully-powered Maleficent was tons more of a problem then a couple of beasties.

Getting Aya into the dreamscape, being one who had outright rejected The Dreaming when the opportunity had presented itself. Though since Aya wasn't rejecting this power, Song does find herself successful, as evidenced by a loud splash in the water. Thrashing followed and the sopping wet woman emerged from the sea moments later. "I guess I need to work on my landings."

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"So this is what walking through someone's dream is like?" Ren asked as she managed to find her way to the others. "This is so trippy..." With that perfectly astute observation aside, she looked around at the vague landscape and shivered. Something just felt... off, somehow, though it might have just been her imagination.

"Yeah, so how do we do this, anyway?" she asked. She'd always pictured a dream dive as being an exercise in willpower, but she wasn't sure what the proper... etiquette for this situation was, if that was even the right word for it.

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There was no sign of Margaret.

But distantly, as if on the horizon, a shadow loomed, a hint of darkness deeper than the void, ominous and threatening. This might not be a sign of Margaret, but it might very well point to where Maleficent herself might be found.

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Song covered her mouth to stifle a snicker at Aya's rather unfortunate landing, but any comment she might have had was interrupted by Ren's questions.

"It's simple enough if you don't bog yourself down with your own imagined limitations. This is a lucid dream. Control it any way you like, just like we did in the Dreaming. Now then..." She moved past the other two, facing the dark variation in the distance. "That looks like something worth investigating."
But she hesitated, glancing back at her companions. "... Why don't we practice, since you two haven't done this before? We can get there much faster than walking, but it's up to you to decide how." To demonstrate, the dreamwalker was surrounded suddenly by a flash of light. When it cleared, her form had changed. She was a horse, but no creature of nature. Lean and long-legged, silver-white, she had dreamed herself into a wind spirit. A gallop would take her to the disturbance in no time, provided its creator didn't interfere with her passage.

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"...really? Seriously? I can lucidly dream it up in here?" Aya questioned as she wrung the salt water out of her ponytail. After a beat, she shook her head and then with a thought she was perfectly dry again. Idly, she brushed a few strands off her shoulder. "Wow, should have dragged Ryan along then."

She watched Song curiously then ran a hand through her hair, pulling out the small rubber band that had been holding it together. Relaxing, she lowered her hands, palms facing upwards, and tilted her head to the sky. "May as well start simple, then." For a long moment, nothing happened save for a small scattering of sandgrains around her feet. Moments later, said feet left the ground.

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Ren folded her arms over her chest and whistled. "Nice. So if that's the case, then..." She furrowed her brow in concentration and slowly took off her glasses. She blinked a few times as she got used to seeing perfectly well without any aid, then grinned. "Very nice," she said as she tucked her glasses away into a pocket.

"You won't mind if I pick a different way of traveling, do you?" she asked as she turned to the motorcycle that was now beside her. "I've always wanted to ride one of these without worrying about killing myself..."

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Song simply nodded her equine head affirmatively, somehow giving the impression of a smile as she watched them experiment with the dream. Of course, none of them were entirely omnipotent here. Ren's thought concerning willpower had hit it on the nose, though experience and adaptability played roles as well. If it came down to a struggle, it would be their wills against Maleficent's, and in all honesty, Song couldn't predict how that would turn out.

She didn't say this to them, perhaps because she assumed it would be the natural conclusion they'd come to. For better or worse, she said nothing at all, but only reared and whinnied a battle cry before charging forward. She did hold back at first so that they could catch up. Bolting too far ahead kind of ruined the point of having them with her.

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Closer to the darkness, some shape and form became visible.

There was a forest beneath swirly black mists. The trees partook of the darkness, the normal greens and browns and greys of the woodland, verged on black. No breeze moved the branches. No birds or animals filled the silence. A cool, still mist hung in the air.

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"I sure don't." Aya grinned as she narrowed her eyes, gazing off into the distance and focusing in on the darkness. After a few seconds, that focus suddenly zipped in further.

She made no move to chase after Songhorse as she took off, silently mentally setting a few things in place, carefully redefining her rules and resetting various boundaries.

A ring of blue light shot out from around the girl and in a second, she was gone, a sonic boom sounding a few more seconds later. After a moment of showing off and looping through the air like a fighter jet, Aya settled floating overhead of the mists before dropping down into them without fear.

She alit on a branch far too small to support her weight without it bending the slightest. She didn't arm herself, not visibly at least, but wass very much on guard as she hopped to the ground proper to wait for the others.

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"Good to hear. Thanks." Ren took an extra moment to call up a helmet and protective jacket for herself before hopping on the bike--even if this was a dream, old safety habits were hard to break. After a little more time spent figuring out how to get it started, she was zipping along after Song and Aya.

"All that's missing is a kicking soundtrack," Ren said to the others as she pulled up near the mist's borders. Part of it was trying to keep herself psyched up and not out, but hey, mood music rarely hurt, right?

Like Aya, she wasn't carrying any immediately visible weapons, but her pockets were loaded down with Potions and other curatives, just in case.

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"We'd have one if Ryune was here," the horse that was Song pointed out, amused by Ren's comment. Stay light-hearted, that was the trick. Light-hearted and confident. Fear was more dangerous in a dream than anywhere else. Fear could turn dreams into nightmares.

The mist swirled around Song's legs and seemed to intertwine with her mane and tail as she moved through it, walking forward slowly now with all senses alert for a sign of their quarry. She didn't bother resuming her original form or a more combat-oriented one just yet. For one thing, when it was needed, she was practiced enough to do so quite swiftly. For another, she didn't expect an all-out attack from Maleficent. At least, not immediately.

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Some light still penetrated in the outer reaches of the forest, but deeper in it seemed to get darker and darker, until there was nothing that could be seen.

Just barely within sight, a path leading deeper into the woods could be seen.

There was still no sound, not of wind or anything that lived, and the mist seemed to absorb something of every sound that the travelers made, leaving them with an odd empty tone.

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"What's keeping us from thinking up our own? A little Requiem for a Dream musical score here and there, irony of the song notwithstanding." She seemed content with walking on her own two feet now though the ground seemed to move oddly beneath them as she did. In fact, her steps were unnaturally long.

With a jerk of the head, she signaled to the path and took to taking point. She was struck with just the tiniest urge to hop on Song and ride her back, but she fought it off, realizing how awkward that would be to bring up later.

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Ren dismounted and left her helmet on the bike's seat. "Well, we could start singing, provided we can all agree on what music to use," she suggested with a shrug as she hurried to catch up with the others

"Well, that's nice and inviting," she said dryly as she looked down the path. "You don't suppose we could turn this into something out of Andalasia, just to screw with Maleficent's head?"

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"La lala~" Song sang quietly in response, then said, "we could try. Actually it might be a good idea, countering all this creepiness before she gets too much control." She looked around at their surroundings speculatively as she followed the path.
"On the other hand... or hoof... she might not feel like bothering with us if we're just gonna mess up her little dream forest. She might make it harder for us to track her down. 'Course, there's no telling, really."

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The strange quality of the forest had the same effects on the notes Song sung as it had on all other sounds, making the quiet music into a faint dirge.

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"And since this is the dream world, I can imagine that I actually have talent." Aya said half seriously as Song drummed up a few notes of her own. She quieted as she walked, taking notice of the way the sound interacted with the environment.

"..hey, hey. Do that again. You know, maybe if we make enough noise, she'll come to us. ...or..." A sly smile slid across her face. "I could use my Maleficent call."

Before anyone could ask the obvious question, Aya cupped her hands around her mouth and began to shout at the gloomy forest ahead. "I'M CONSIDERING SELLING MY SOUL IN EXCHANGE FOR UNTOLD POWER AND MASTERY OVER THE DARKNESS! IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE THAT CAN HELP ME WITH THIS?!"

Previous real-life experience has taught Aya that this was clearly an extremely effective way to get Maleficent's attention.

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Ren opened and closed her mouth several times, but there were no words. All she could do was make a few incomprehensible sounds and point at Aya.

Well, at least it was a more direct approach than just singing "It's a Small World" over and over to annoy Maleficent out of hiding, and they now knew what was coming... right?

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Deeply within the forest, Maleficent chuckled, a laugh that echoed all the way through the forest, making the leaves shake an ripple in a nonexistent wind.

That was an offer she would never take up. For one thing, she was not incapable of detecting an obvious lie tinged with sarcasm. For another, Aya would make a poor student. Too stubborn, too tied to her own notions of right and wrong and how the world worked. Too strong in herself to be easily manipulated. Similarly Ren was just a little too . . . pure.

Such an offer, genuinely spoken from Songbird . . . now that might be tempting. The girl had already shown herself to be flexible in her notions of good and evil.

But that was not her plan for these three. Not on this night. They could be so mch more useful in other ways, if only she could bring them to do what she wished.

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Song raised her head and her ears flicked forward, focusing in on the dark laugh. "Well, it certainly got her attention. Good work, Aya." She was not being sarcastic.

Of course, she would never make such an offer. Only once had she ever turned to Darkness, and that was out of fear. She knew better now, and nothing would drive her to make that choice.
Well, almost nothing, but any loved one whose life she might try to save using Darkness would surely have mixed feelings on the matter.
No, she was quite through with that, thank you very much.

With a toss of her head - for she really couldn't get enough of being in an equine form - she trotted on ahead, letting her mind wonder over the various scenarios that might lie ahead and what to do about them.

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Aya turning to the darkness actually wasn't that unheard of, it would just take some extraordinary circumstances and she had considered it a few times before. A lot went on in her head that people didn't know about and Aya liked keeping it that way. She also wouldn't go to Maleficent for the dark powers hook-up either since being Yen Sid's student and her student wouldn't work out so great.

"Got her attention well enough." Aya grinned like a lunatic and walked after Song. "HEY YOU GONNA COME OUT AND SAY HI OR WHAT?"

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As much fun as it would be to join Aya in taunting Maleficent to build up some confidence, Ren figured karma would smack both of them upside the head if they were too busy talking smack to look out for a sign of an attack. Not that Aya wasn't likely to catch a clue before it was too late, but Ren was just paranoid like that. Besides, Aya had played that card first, so it was only fair.

Instead, Ren stayed close to the others--the last thing they needed was to get separated somehow. "So, if Maleficent decides to start using psychological warfare on us, I vote we fight back by singing the most obnoxious songs we can back at her to drown her out," Ren suggested. "My favorites are 'I'm Henry the Eighth I Am' and 'It's a Small World.' What do you guys think?"

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Maleficent did not appear, though the path leading deeper into the forest appeared to widen somewhat.

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"I know a better one," Song said mischievously in response to Ren's suggestion. "This is the song that doesn't end. Yes it goes on and on, my friend. Some people started singing it not knowing what it was, and they'll continue singing it forever just because..." she trailed off before anyone decided to throw something at her.

"But really, this dark forest act is a little overdone. I wonder how she'd respond if we started trying to overwrite it with our own dreams?"
Experimentally, she focused on the path ahead and tried to will it even wider, mentally pushing at the trees to see if she could make them move back.

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