Issue 1 Downtime

Steve sat meditating on the lawn. The last time he exercised blocking out other minds by meditating, he had felt his mind brush what he interpreted as a door not within his own mind. However, he lost the feeling before he could investigate. He suspected that, just maybe, it was a doorway to that mysterious land from dreams. This time he went looking for it.

It's bit of an elusive feeling but having a visualization to look for seems to help. It takes a while to really get the hang of it but eventually the mental image of an old wooden door a closet, a trapdoor, a cellar, an attic hatch, a mirror takes shape in his mind and his consciousness slowly drifts through it and along an impossibly long path tunnel, crawlspace, staircase that flashes by in a couple heartbeats and leads into a wide open field of rolling hills. A warm gentle breeze creates soft ripples across the field.

It took Steve's mind a moment to adapt to what just happened.

"I... did it..." he thought, his inner voice sounding... well, seeming to actually have sound though it reverberated in his... was he wearing an astronaut's helmet? He grabbed at the thing with the gloves to match. Yep. Astronaut.

"This is too weird..."

The sprawling fields don't seem to care, they just faintly sway in the warm wind while the sun seems to hang low on the horizon, casting everything in a faint golden glow. And somehow Steve would know that no matter how long he would wait, it wasn't going to move.

"Man, what a view..." he sighed in awe when the beauty of the place registered. Despite the most likely purely imaginary spacesuit, he could hear and smell and touch, and perhaps even taste if he wanted to, the wind and the sun and the grass as well as he could see. Curiously and cautiously, he waded forward.

For a moment it feels like there's a presence with him, a shadow that slithers through the field. But it's probably nothing. The low hanging sun and gently waving plants are all there's too it.

Steve glanced around nervously, but no that was silly. Nothing dangerous could possibly be lurking in this tranquil sea of grass.

Of course not. That would be silly. And against the very nature of this place. Of course it's also kind of boring here.

But wasn't there something? Thinking there must've been, he walked onward, watching the grass with interest.

It is hard to tell, especially with the wind moving the grass but with a bit of imagination one could see a pattern of something moving away form him in the field. Every once in a while Steve would lose the trail but something was always moving and at the very least it was a pleasant walk. And after a while he would realize that it had gotten darker, as if clouds were gathering and draining the colour from the fields.

He looked up and stopped, tilting his head.

"Huh... looks like rain..."

Then he resumed walking.

It didn't quite rain yet, but it certainly looked like it might, a slight haze hanging in the air. Looking around he would notice that he has gotten close to the end of the rolling fields somehow, the landscape changing slightly and at the edge on a grassy field stands a brick-built gazebo.

The building seemed like a good place to see something more interesting. Steve headed in that direction, very much entranced by the wonders around him.

As he gets closer he'd notice a strange effect. Depending on which side of the building he looked at he would see a different landscape through the pillars, yet looking past the building the landscape seems to go on as normal. A very strange, disorienting effect, especially since the landscapes seen through the gazebo seem to change depending on perspective as well.

He quickly walked around the strange gazebo, curiously watching the shifting views within and stopping after he went full circle.

"Coool..." he grinned. This was what a companion to The Doctor must feel like seeing the true nature of the TARDIS for the first time. Yet he still debated stepping inside. McManus had said there were dangers in this plane. However his Astral feet decided for him and he found himself crossing the threshold.

Stepping through is a very unspectacular experience in itself, though everything around him changes immediately, even the gazebo itself seems different. The rest of the landscape seems relatively barren except for the purple growth around the structure, though in the distance Steve could see a tree that seems to stretch into the horizon in a way that just seems wrong for a tree.

A growing unease spreads through his being as he studies the landscape, relieved only by still being able to see a way back when he checked. Then he noticed that what he thought was row of odd trees had a single trunk. For whatever reason, this sent a stubbornly delayed shiver up his spine.

Unlike on the other side this place seems cold and deathly quiet. The sky seems to be as it was on the other side though, clouds continuing to gather while a faint haze hangs in the air. Then, after a couple moments the clouds slowly begin to congeal into a giant face that stares down at Steve. It doesn't blink, though with eyes that merely seems like shadows it'd be hard to imagine how it would.

"Something stumbled out." it says with a whisper that seems to come from all around him at once.

Steve froze in instant terror, unable to run despite his every desire to do so.

"How did it find the way?" then, when Steve doesn't answer immediately the voice grows more insistent. "How did it find the way!?"

"... I... I j-just... there was a d-doorway..." he mentally stammered.

The face lets out a drawn-out moan as it melts into the clouds.

Steve shuddered and stepped backward in the direction from which he had come.

And promptly tripped over one of the purple vines growing around the small building. And suddenly it wraps itself around his ankle.

He fell on his back with a yell of surprise and fear, fighting desperately to free himself.

The vine doesn't seem to want to let go that easily and with all the struggling some of the shelf fungus explodes into clouds of spores. It's probably a good thing Steve is wearing a space suit, though it's becoming hard to see out of the helmet.

"... ohgodpleasegetoffofmepleasepleaseplease..."

He tugged and tore at the evil vine with no luck. This was like a dream right? Maybe he could wake up or... yes! Control it! Or at least his part. Think Steve think. Astronaut... spaceman... science fiction heroes... ray gun!

He concentrated hard on the image of himself shooting the horrible plant apart, attempting to will the weapon into his avatar's aimed hand.

"Get... OFF!" he called out as he felt his will grow. If it worked, he'd pull the trigger as soon as it appeared. He didn't need to keep it up, he just needed one shot.

And it works! A very Flash Gordon looking raygun manifests itself in his hand and shoots out a beam that disintegrates the vine. Really, it's wonder he doesn't hit his foot instead with how little he can see, but then again he probably could have pointed the gun into the sky and still hit if that is how he thought it'd work.

In too much a hurry to marvel at his accomplishment, Steve scrambled backward through the opening.

He does and the landscape he's looking at changes into what seems to be a bird's eye view of a forest from quite the significant height! Of course that's just the portal he's looking at from wherever he ended up but it's still very dizzying.

He shakily rises to his feet and turns around to assure himself that he's back in the field.

He is indeed. Or at the edge of it anyway. around his leg the (dead) remains of the vine are still clinging to him, but they seem to be slowly fading and becoming translucent.

He tore off the ghostly remains with a disgusted groan and flung them back through the portal. He then made haste for the golden field and the way back to the waking world.