SLEEPING BEAUTIES: DREAM LOG

[yourkeepers]

Bewitched by the thorn's touch, you have been ensnared in the deepest of sleep. Fortunately for you, the world of Faerie doesn't end with the waking.

The world of your dreams is brighter now, more clear than you've ever witnessed it. You've been it before, you think, there fragments of yourself become reality. But now you are somehow more lucid in its presence, and it's more real - something you can reach out and touch.

You find yourself in this world, and you are not alone. Your dreams and those of other join at the edges, pulling into each other along similar threads.

And you are watched by something even greater.

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[whitepawn]

[He's not sure how long he has been wondering the halls of the castle grounds, but it's long enough that the peaceful quiet of the grounds has been interrupted by the fast clinking of armor as small groups of guards begin to rush frantically about. Names and orders have been shouted, but the thick walls of stone between the unicorn and the others make it impossible for him to determine what is really going on.

Something continues to niggle at the very back of his mind, something is without a doubt wrong. However, unable to ignore his own curiosity he keeps wandering, a pale hand set on the wall as he continues to move forward, guided in what direction he knows not, but it feels to be the right way.

Eventually, corridor of stone widens to reveal a much more open area lined with stone columns and archways that surrounds an interior garden. Finding comfort in the presence of the trees Anduin quickly takes his leave of the marbled pathway and slips among the foliage. Nearby he can make out the sound of slow moving water and the thought of a small lake comes quickly to his mind, which makes him smile.

However, the sound of approaching footsteps causes him to recoil against the nearest tree. Since his arrival on the castle grounds he hasn't actually physically seen anyone else and as the shadow cast on the stone wall grows larger he readies himself to greet friend or foe.]

[intothehedge]

"Don't be afraid," says a gentle voice. From behind him approaches a woman. She is so fair of skin as to be like porcelain, with shining red eyes and long red hair that trails behind her like a train. Her dress is simple and white to match her skin, though it seems to be comprised of nothing but a shifting cloud of mist that clings to her body.

She smiles at him.

[whitepawn]

Turning at the words his eyes widen upon landing on the fair skinned woman who has found her way into the small courtyard. His gaze lingers for longer than he knows it is polite, but it is hard for him not to take notice of how she has an almost ethereal feel. Her figure and presence make for a stark contrast to the rough masonry and greenery around them.

"I'm afraid you've caught me by surprise, my Lady." He admits forcing himself to relax when he catches her smile, one he is quick to return.

[intothehedge]

She casts her eyes downward shyly, though the smile is still on her lips. One of her hands runs down a long lock of red hair, pushing it behind her ear.

"I wasn't expecting anyone to be here myself," she admits. "It's been quiet, for a long time."

[whitepawn]

"Quiet?" He can't help but find that bit of news strange given the commotion in the distance, even muffled the unicorn help but feel drawn to investigate the cause.

"I'm not sure how I found my way here," he begins to explain, but even his thoughts are shifting between what he knows and does not realize. "I know this place, but ... is this your home? What is it called?"

He feels like that would be a safe thing to assume, especially, when the woman had only just admitted to this place being quiet for a long time.

[intothehedge]

"Oh, no," she says, shaking her head, his voice falling into something more sober. "This place isn't mine." She looks around, as if she can see something more about the surroundings just be looking at them. "I think it's your home, actually - your dream home."

[whitepawn]

"Oh, that's too bad," it's hard not to sound disappointed, after all, if this place is connected with the one from his other dream he can't help but want to know more. However, before he can dwell on the matter further the woman imparts some of her own insight.

"My what - ?" Some part of him still fights against accepting the idea, which seems silly when he can feel the roughness of bark that line the trees, smell the salt that the breeze from ocean, and feel the softness of the grass beneath his feet.

"What's a dream home?" It's that feeling again, that terrible and ominous feeling that makes him step back and draw a hand up towards the base of the horn that sticks out from his brow. It's like he has forgotten something terribly important.

[intothehedge]

She steps forward, raising a hand as if to aid him, but not touching him out of caution and respect. Her brow furrows in concern.

"It's your dreams. Just your dreams," she explains. "Bits of thoughts and memories. A part of you. It can be anything, really."

[whitepawn]

The truth in her words is difficult to ignore, it solidifies and makes real so many feelings he had since now brushed off as errant thoughts. The sense of them sparks and burns like the warm Light he so often calls upon to aid him, the same Light that has always been there to guide him.

"Is that why everything here is so real?" So everything he had seen before and now were things he had at some point known and more disturbingly forgotten. Drawn from his sounds by the sudden growth in shouts his ears flicker distracted and towards the sounds of clashing swords in the distance.

"That explains a lot," he admits with a grateful smile, but still a hint of concern remains. "That doesn't explain what you're doing here though? Who are you?"

[intothehedge]

"My name is Ruby," she says, nodding her head with a little curtsy. The mist-like dress ruffles around her feet. "I've been in my own dream home for a long time - there used to be others, but now it's just me."

[whitepawn]

"It's a well suited name for someone like yourself," her hair and eyes certainly make her deserving of it he thinks as he tucks one arm at his chest and the other at the small of his back before bowing politely.

"You may call me Unicorn," though his name seems so lacking in comparison, yet it's the only one he can give in return. "You speak of dream homes like they are connected? Is that how you came to find me and mine?"

[intothehedge]

She beams.

"I chose it myself," she says, as if proud of the acquisition. Regardless of what he thinks, she seems to like his name well enough, however literal. "But, yes, they are! The dreams are all connect." She raises her hands, crossing them over one and other. "Emotions and landmarks intersect, and you can follow their paths if you know how. It's something I'm very good at."

[whitepawn]

"Fascinating," it's his turn for his attention to perk and his face to glow thanks to the prospect of learning something new. "Considering you found me, I would have to agree. Is it something that can be learned easily and if so would it be rude of me to request that you show me how?"

If he was going to be here for a while, such a thing would surely be good to know.

[intothehedge]

She grins.

"Well I could try to teach you the basics! It takes practice, like anything, but there's not much else to do when you're asleep, right?" She gestures up at their surroundings.

"You have to follow the flow of the dream. It helps if you know where you're going. I usually think of where I want to be and take the first path that seems like it could lead there. Like...if you want to get into castle, you could first enter a house."

[whitepawn]

"Right," except explore and as much as he wants to know more about this place, he knows passing up this opportunity would be just as worse.

"In my case I've just been walking, I don't know much about this place to want to be anywhere in particular, but from the way you make it seem any doorway or path could lead to any destination I want." Which he could imagine for some rather tempting, especially, if these places could be anything a person wished.

[intothehedge]

"In a way," she says, nodding as he seems to get on the same mental paths she is. "Once you have the experience, you can create anything you can imagine. The easiest things will appear on their own, like the pieces that come from you. Or other people, if you're travelling."

She looks down, batting her eyes shyly in a moment of private embarrassment.

"It's been so long since I could do this sort of thing properly - it's so exciting to be able to talk about it again."

[whitepawn]

"It's quite the ability and I imagine handy if wish to seek out others." It is not his intent to add to her embarrassment, but Ruby's talents to travel so freely are something to be admired.

"You mentioned before that there were many before... they all woke up?" He doesn't wish to get off on a complete tangent but it seems an apt time to ask since she mentioned other people.

[intothehedge]

"I'm...not sure." She places a hand to her forehead as she tries to think. "I think I may have been separated from them. The two of us..." she trails off.

"There is somewhere else here with me, and it is important that you don't listen to her."

[whitepawn]

So then there were possible other ways to escape this than awakening? An interesting fact, one he tucks away for now as he watches Ruby think.

"Why not?" He asks more curiously than cautiously as his eyes narrow carefully on the young girl's face and body language. Though he was never charged with being a a lie detector the unicorn had always had a knack for being rather perceptive.

[intothehedge]

"Because she's evil," is all she says at first, as if so much should be obvious. He frustration curbs quickly, though, as she sighs. "She's cruel, and she's a liar."

She seems to believe whatever she's saying, whether or not it's true.

[whitepawn]

Those descriptors certainly painted whoever this other being was in quite the negative light, "Those are strong words to use against another. What has she done to deserve such a horrid reputation?"

[intothehedge]

"It's not about what she's done, but what she will do..." she says, looking a little upset. "I've been charged with stopping her, and she's tried to hurt and kill me many times before."

[whitepawn]

Something in his chest aches over the way her voice shifts with urgency and her voice becomes distressed and he reaches out timidly with a hand to calm her without invading any further personal space.

"What will she do and just how do you plan on stopping her?" The latter question comes out as quickly as it came to mind, perhaps it wasn't his place to ask, but he can't help but wonder just what exactly stopping this other woman entailed.

[familicide]

[ He came from...nowhere, really. Out of the air, out of a wall, insubstantial nothingness giving way to stolid stone walls and a floor that turns his steps into grating sounds that echo up and down a loud hall. He stumbles loose from the stones, first on his feet, then on his knees, and only breathes, shaking from head to foot.

It's not hard to see why.

He looks like he’s lost a fight. Or several, going by the state of his clothing, the polearm strapped to his back, and the numerous deep cuts and growing bruises that color his face and show on his skin, visible through the tears. He’s already had time enough to be confused and horrified by them; there’s blood, real blood seeping from the wounds, and where a metal frame would simply weather blows, vulnerable flesh is growing an angry, mottled purple.

The relative silence of the castle is a godsend. His exhausted mind and the continued pounding in his chest propels him up off the floor, back onto his feet, and forward through the corridors. It’s empty and quiet now, but he knows—

There’s a door, an archway, a slice of green. He heads for it, drawn by the sunlight. ]

[whitepawn]

[He's not sure how long it's been since the woman with the red hair and eyes has left him, but it feels like a while and he's filled with what feels like even more questions than he had when he first woke up in this strange dream land. Ruby's words and warnings about the other woman walking this dream land linger as a new set of hurried steps draw his attention away from the courtyard's trees and to the hall just in time to catch site of much more familiar face.

Quick to turn on his hooves, the pace of his steps increases dramatically when blue eyes catch tattered and blood stained clothing. The dragon's grievous wounds and panic expressions are enough to override the strange flip flop his stomach does when his eyes shift to the long polearm strapped to the other boy's back.]

What happened to you?

[He calls out with his bare hands outstretched peacefully to catch the dragon's attention and to calm him as the distance between them closes.]