7. [Action and Audio]

[brodakota]

[Despite all he's done to try, North is still not getting enough sleep. Luna's visit helped, but Theta is still anxious, and North can't get to the end of the dream where things start to fix themselves. Theta gets stuck at the breaking apart, with memories of how he was created from the Alpha still very fresh for him. It's painful to go through, even if North is just getting the memory of the experience, and he would rather not put both of them through that.

So no sleep for Freelancer or AI.

He's hid it well enough for the past while he thinks. He's stumbled a few places, but otherwise, he's still functioning. He made it through the mansion alright after all.

Now, however. Now he'd not so sure.

He'd just wanted to go out for a walk, get some air and try and calm Theta down. It's really annoying how these streets can't be walked without encountering nightmares. It's worse that he didn't sleep at all last night because Theta had a particularly bad time. Cactus and Winnie are doing what they can, but it's hard for North to break away and put some distance between them to use his rifle effectively. Just bashing the nightmares on the head isn't doing much.

Still, he'd holding his own for the most part, until he finds himself surrounded by a few Kooma pandas and no way out. He tries to activate his shield but they're too close for it to be effective. Turns out the nightmare versions of Kooma pandas hit really hard, and North goes down. Immediately Cactus and Winnie are there and Theta's activated the shield. He's panicking, and scared because North being knocked out is not a good thing and he can't be in control. He knows he needs help so he goes to the communicator.

To his credit, he manages to sound somewhat in control.]

North's been knocked out by some nightmares. I've got the shield up but he needs help. Like, really soon.

[He can keep the shield going for as long as North's suit has power, which is a while, but he's worried about Cactus and Winnie, since he can't give them potions or anything like that]

We're in the backstreets of Traverse Town.


[ooc: Okay, so, to keep things organized, the first person to respond to this post will be the person rescuing North. Other people can respond, but Theta will tell them someone is on the way to avoid 20 people showing up to rescue North. It's a giant game of first, so have at it.]

Comments

[4letters4ninja]

[Ziva was awake from some dreams from her own, and trying to distract herself until she was tired.]

I can get there.

[brodakota]

[Theta nods. He just need someone right now.]

Please hurry. I can protect North but I'm worried about Cactus and Winnie.

[4letters4ninja]

[She's seen grabbing something off screen, then poking Fluffy to wake him up, before taking off, her two spirits behind her before her movement clicks off the video.]

[Five to ten minutes later, she's there, side arm in hand to fight her way through.]

Get them, you two. [The command sends the two spirits at the Nightmares as she's digging through the bag she grabbed earlier for some of the potions inside. She moves up to the edge of the shield as her spirits distract the nearby Nightmares.]

Who needs one of these? And would you let me in?

[brodakota]

[Theta brightens a little to show that he's there. He points at hand at Cactus the Pricklemane.]

He does. North's just unconscious, but he's not really injured.

[He opens the shield just wide enough for her to get in and closes it right behind her.]

[allfunandgamesuntil]

[York hasn't been sleeping great either; it's been worrying him when he wakes and Wash isn't there. They're still all broken up and they need to do something about it.]

D and I will be there soon. Hang in there, Theta.

[brodakota]

I'm doing my best. Someone else is coming to.

[allfunandgamesuntil]

[York moves out quickly; clearly he should have been looking after North more. Delta's focused on something else, though, like he does.]

Theta, does North's armor have a sufficient charge to protect the dream eaters as well?

[brodakota]

[Theta pauses for a moment, running the calculations]

Yeah, I think so. I'm using all the power from the non-essential parts. I was going to bring them in if they started to get hurt.

[unrecovered]

[Wash, of course, has been sleeping horribly, and has actually taken to sleeping in out of the way places in Twilight Town so nobody has to put up with him. This puts him across town and in the completely wrong world when he sees this post. If it were anyone but Theta, he'd be swearing up a storm.]

Keep the shield up. I'm on my way.

[brodakota]

Others are to. I'm using all the extra power on the shield.

[It's also smaller than usual, and won't break easily]

[unrecovered]

Good.

[And he's off and running. It's going to take him some time to get there - hopefully Theta can hold up until then.]

[brodakota]

[Theta is doing surprisingly well. He's forcing himself to be brave and not fall to pieces. That's what go them into this mess.]

I'm looking after him.

[skysmirror]

[Yet another person awake due to dreams and thinky-thoughts about things.

Now add adrenaline to the mix of things keeping Xion up--she's worried about her bro and hurrying to find him.]

Hang on Theta, I'm on my way.

[brodakota]

It's okay, Xion. Other people are coming to help.

North's okay to. He's just knocked out.

[skysmirror]

I know, but there's a lot of Nightmares, right?

[That and she's worried and wants to see for herself that North's okay.]

[lessabrasive]

[ Late to the party or not, Lin does look mildly concerned at the message.

However, Lin doesn't offer assistance - it does look like others are already on their way to his location, people familiar with the individual in question. ]

What happened, exactly?

[brodakota]

[Theta is doing his best to sound brave and not like he's falling to pieces.]

North was fighting nightmares, but they got too close and knocked him out.

[lessabrasive]

Others will be with you shortly.

[ The waver in bravery is something she's heard before in new recruits, though Theta manages to sound younger than even that. Schooling her features neutral, her tone of voice remains calm. ]

How long was he engaged in combat? Are you hurt?

A few hours later...

[brodakota]

[It's been a long time since North has woken up from a hit like that.

The last time he can think of might have been when he'd been shot protecting South on that oil platform. It sucked then and it sucks now, is the conclusion he's managed to come to. Perhaps even more so because he wasn't even protecting anyone when he got hit this time. He should have been paying more attention. He also shouldn't have been out fighting nightmares when he was that sleep deprived but that's beside the point.

He turns his head weakly, trying to figure out where he is since it's clearly not that back street where he was. Somehow he's gotten back to the hotel. He doesn't put a whole lot of thought into it, he figures he'll find out later and his head hurts too much for that.

As his senses become clearer, he becomes aware that Cactus has pressed himself up against him, making a raspy sound that somewhere between a purr and a growl. He raises a hand and runs it through the pricklemane's fur. He can make out Winnie at the end of the bed standing guard. Theta is hovering nervously beside him. If there's anyone else in the room, North hasn't gotten to them yet. He's still waking up and his body's decided to do it slowly.

However, despite his head hurting a bit, he feels more awake than he has been in the past couple weeks.]

North! You're awake!

[unrecovered]

[Wash had already passed the hotel when he'd gotten the text from Theta. It hadn't taken him long to double back and make his way to North's hotel room. From there, it had been nothing but waiting. He'd sent Melody to stand guard outside the door - no point in upsetting Cactus more than he already was - and settled in with Fang on his lap to wait for North to wake up, having to occasionally fight to stay awake himself.

And when North finally did wake up, he sighed in relief and kept quiet. If North and Theta needed a moment, he wasn't going to take it from them.]

[allfunandgamesuntil]

[York wasn't sure when he'd become the sane, reliable adult of the group and sometimes that worried him. He was keeping together just fine these days; he regretted that he wouldn't be able to meet Carolina again unless she showed up here, but she was safe, and that would let him rest easy. Clearly he needed to be more proactive about looking out for North and Wash, though. It wasn't like he and Delta couldn't help.

He held back as well; North needed to get his bearings before they started talking about what had happened.]

[skysmirror]

[It takes Xion a little longer than she would have liked to get to the hotel, since she'd run into more trouble from Nightmares than expected. Then she has to find North's room.

That done, she settles in to wait for North to wake up. It's not the first time she's looked after a friend who's asleep after all, and Axel and Manda are good company. Axel does his usual impression of a scarf around her neck, and Manda's happy to lay in her lap.

She's close to nodding off herself when North wakes. Setting Amanda down for the moment, she goes over to check on him.]

How do you feel?

[brodakota]

[ooc: I'm setting this after his thread with York and Wash, so he's sort of drifting in and out of consciousness.]

[It takes him a minute to wake up fully and realize that it's Xion there this time. She must have also seen Theta's message. He shifts a bit, and receives a look from Cactus who has curled up beside him again.]

I've been worse, honestly. Sorry I worried you, Xion.

[4letters4ninja]

[Ziva had plopped herself on a chair nearby, intending on staying at least until he woke up, to make sure he was ok. She was watching Fluffy and Abby play a game of keep away when she heard Theta say something. Turning, she noticed he was awake.]

I would ask how you are feeling, but I am sure I know the answer. [She knows the feeling, trust me.]

[brodakota]

Yeah, I've been better.

[He says, trying to shift again to make himself more comfortable since he's starting to feel better. But that's hard to do when a pricklemane's on your chest and growls anytime you move.]

Theta said you helped him out. Thanks. I guess I owe you one.