((OOC note: This was written waaaay long ago. Last year, back before Ari and Garret were packed. Yeah. That long ago (: I just got access to it again (it was on the school network) and decided to post it in the shiny new Lits section!))
When Even Your Dreams Betray You
Ari smiled, walking down the stairs of the Bed and Breakfast into a wide open sitting area. She was wearing a light blue sundress and black baby doll shoes with frilly white stockings. Her hair hung in two long braids, bouncing against the backpack she wore on her shoulders.
“Hello everyone!” She exclaimed brightly.
“Hello Arianna!” A chorus of voices answered with just as much cheer.
A miniature version of Staren, barely scraping three feet tall and dress in old fashioned knickers, ran up to her. He tugged at the bottom of her skirt urgently.
“Ari! Ari! Read me a story! Please! Please! Pleeeeease? Please? Please?!” He bounced up and down, holding up a brightly colored children’s book that read “The Litany” in large bubble letters.
Ari opened her mouth to speak but Staren was quieted by a bustling James.
“Hey now little guy. Let the girl breathe, she’ll read you a story later.” The kinfolk swatted playfully at Staren’s back. James was dressed in an apron, holding a feather duster in one hand. He leaned down and kissed the top of Ari’s head.
“And how was your day?” He smiled at her.
“Good, and yourself?” Ari reached over to ruffle the cub’s hair as she looked up at James.
“Grampy Calvin barked at me!” Staren whined.
“He did?!” Ari knelt by him, looking shocked.
“Uh huh!” He nodded his head emphatically.
“I see…” Ari nodded sympathetically. “Did you do something to make Grampy Calvin bark?”
“No!” Staren exclaimed defensively.
James cleared his throat.
“…Maybe…” Staren amended shiftily.
Ari laughed.
The kinfolk shooed the cub away, talking of needing to get dinner on the table. Ari kept walking into the room.
“Hey kiddo!” Patrick hailed her from his spot on the recliner. He had a pipe in his mouth, holding a newspaper. The newspaper was titled The Nightly Veil and read in the biggest headline Wyrm Threat Threatens Caerne![/u]
“Hi Patrick!” Ari bounced over to him.
“How was school?” He smiled up at her, putting his paper down.
“Good! I got an A on my Rites test and my electronics lab!”
“And what about your etiquette class?”
Ari grinned sheepishly.
“Ari.” Patrick said.
“I’ll do better next time! I promise. I just… I can’t handle that teacher. Shadow Lord much? Ew.” She makes a face. Patrick chuckled and rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
“Fine. Fine. Go on you. I think Alice was looking for you.”
“Where is she?”
“She’s-“
And then the door burst open and a smiling boy with raven colored hair and dark eyes bounded through the door holding a pan.
“Hello everyone! My mom sent me over with some brownies! She said I could stay for awhile! If it’s okay with you that is.” The boy added sheepishly.
“Hello Ralin,” Patrick interjected from his spot on the chair.
“Ralin!” Garret came barreling down the stairs, or a much younger version of Garret. “C’mon in ya goof! S’almost time it is! He can come in, right da?” Garret beamed at Patrick.
“Yes, yes, come on in.” Patrick groaned good naturedly. “Gaia forbid, I keep you two from your television.”
“Hold it!” Edina appeared from down the hall and everyone stopped in their tracks. She looked Ralin up and down and then nodded curtly. “All right.” And then she morphed into Bobbi and slapped Ralin’s ass. “Enjoy your stay, cutie.” And then disappeared back down the hall.
“C’mon! In here-“ As he barreled into Ari, sending them both sprawling. He looked up as he went flying. “Oof!” And then his eyes caught sight of the young Glasswalker. “Ari! Yer home!” He exclaimed with excitement. “Come watch the Tellie with us! S’almost time!”
“Hi Ari…” Ralin said shyly from where he was standing. He blushed and looked down at the brownies.
“I would Garret but-“
And just then the television flickered on. In big letters the words “Wyrm Hunter!” Carrick’s voice filled the room as he moved across the small screen, babbling on about Blood Banes. Both Garret and Ralin cheered and raced to sit down in front of it.
Out of a side door appeared a large sullen figure. Dark hair was pulled down into his eyes and his obviously muscled body leaned against the door frame.
“Can you turn that down?” He muttered.
“Maybe if you came out of your room more-“ Patrick intoned darkly from his spot on the chair.
“Maybe if you weren’t such a-“ Whatever he was going to say was drowned out by a loud interjection.
“In my day people listened to their Elders!” Ari turned to see Calvin sitting in a rocking chair, waving his cane as he ranted.
“Yes, Calvin.” The entire room said in unison. This seemed to appease him enough, and he went back to scowling at everyone.
“Look, Dimitri. If you don’t want to work with the Sept then-“
“Then I may as well just not be here at all. Heard the speech, Patrick. Not exactly interested.” The Ahroun growled, turning to storm back into his room. He slammed the door behind him.
Ari looked from the Alpha to the closed door. Patrick looked angry, glaring at the newspaper now, as if it was the most disgusting thing he’d ever laid eyes on. She carefully stepped around the bodies littered across the floor with their eyes fixed on the television.
“Patrick… I…”
“You go talk to him.” Patrick said angrily. “I can’t get through to him. He’s your friend, not mine. You try.” He waves his head dismissively.
She nodded and slipped through the side door.
The room was all black, holding all black furniture and no windows. Arcing down the walls were bolts of silent lightning, striking again and again. When she touched the walls, however, there was no pain. What appeared to be a ball of lightning hung from the ceiling, providing cold light across the room. Dimitri was in the corner with a black punching bag, striking and kicking it repeatedly in a flurry of blows. The rage was radiating off of him.
“He means well you know.” Ari murmured, leaning on the edge of a black desk. Dimitri didn’t respond. “He cares about you, he just… He-“
“He can’t lead. What good’s an Alpha that can’t lead.” Dimitri interrupted her darkly, slamming his fist once into the punching bag. Lightning arced across his arm, through his fist, and into the bag.
The punching bag burst into flame and the Ahroun sighed, reaching around it to grab a fire extinguisher. He put out the fire.
“He can lead. He just leads differently than you.” She walks up and rests a gentle hand on his arm. “He’s a businessman. You’re a warrior. They lead differently.”
“All Garou are warrior.” Dimitri growled, not looking at her.
“And some are designed to fight in different ways.” Ari added gently. “Different places. Different Wyrm.”
Dimitri looked down at her and sighed.
“Fine.” Was all he said.
She smiled. “Make nice?”
“Later.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.” A smile broke his angry mask and he shook his head. “Of course, little one.” He pauses and she turned to leave but he said two more words. “Thank you.”
She paused and turned to smile at him over her shoulder. “Don’t sweat it.”
Back in the living room she returned to Patrick.
“Where is she?” She asks simply.
“In her room.”
“Thank you – Patrick?”
“Yes Arianna?”
“He means well.”
“I know.” Patrick sighed and rubbed his eyes, putting his newspaper down.
“Try to work it out?”
“I will.” He said simply.
“Thank you.” She leaned down to kiss his cheek and he rested a hand on her arm.
“Thank you.” He said sincerely. She smiled and turned, walking down the hall.
The door was ornate, carved bone, or maybe it was ivory, with hundreds of glyphs moving up and down. They seemed to swim gently, but in a welcoming way, like they were inviting her in.
On either side of the door were two shadowy figures in Crinos form. One held a staff and the other held nothing at all. They both stood silently with their arms crossed over their chests but neither moved when she went to open the door.
On the other side of it was the Rite Master’s Glen, down to the sleeping flame spirits sitting in the glass orbs.
Alice sat in the middle of the Glen in a rocking chair, knitting. When Ari closed the door behind her Alice glanced up and smiled warmly.
“Hello, Ari.” She said quietly.
“Hello, Alice.” Arianna Fireau smiled shyly, putting her hands behind her back.
“How was your day?” The Child of Gaia asked.
“It was okay.” Ari moved closer.
“Do you want to tell me about it?”
The Alice in Ari’s dream spoke more softly than the one in reality. She set her knitting needles on her lap and looked up at Ari with a warm smile.
“Sure.” Ari beamed happily, moving to sit beside the rocking chair onto the ground, leaning her back against the faded wood. She babbled happily about her day and Alice listened.
When she’d finished her story about her day, painfully detailed as it was, both teacher and student sat in silence. It wasn’t a strained silence though, a gentle one where the quiet wrapped around them both like a blanket. Ari heard the gentle tink of Alice’s knitting needles and she reached into her bag for a book. She hummed to herself as she read, filling the comfortable silence.
Time passed.
Thump.
Arianna jumped and looked around wildly. She looked up to Alice. Her teacher was sitting up a little bit straighter, head cocked slightly as if listening very closely. She’d laid the knitting implements in her lap.
“What is it?” Ari asked, staring into the woods. Each trees shadow seemed to stare a little colder and a little darker than it had in the few seconds before. The tiny flame spirits were very awake and staring outwards… They had bolstered themselves and seemed to be fighting off the Darkness that surrounded them, fighting to enter the Glen.
“I don’t know.” Alice glanced around warily, eyes moving left and right. “My Sensory gifts aren’t…”
“Mine either.” Ari said quietly. She stood up and walked to the edge of the Glen. She could feel the evil around her yet she couldn’t Sense it. It was like something warm and wet and old slipping across her skin, sending shivers up her spine.
Everything was still and quiet as the young Theurge moved closer to the edge of the Glen. She peered into the woods, feeling her fear nestle in her stomach like a some warm fuzzy creature.
Roar!
The Cliath spun and stared up into the face of a monster. She couldn’t comprehend what she was looking at, couldn’t make herself give it words to describe it. All she knew was that it was horrific and evil.
And Alice was nowhere to be seen.
Spirit-Encoder threw back her head and felt the ripples of her power surge threw her as her body twisted itself, growing and changing and becoming more than she had been second ago.
The young Garou stood proudly in her Crinos form, brandishing her claws and howling to the cool starlit sky.
She fought the horrible mass until it was dead, lying in a sputtering mass of tentacles and slime. She ripped its corpse to shreds in a victory bloodlust.
And then she saw the eye, the clear blue eye staring up at her.
Arianna fell backwards in alarm, keeping her form.
The pieces of the monster she had just killed were now pieces of Alice, staring at her in pain and disbelief. An arm there, a finger there…
Why, Ari? The dead eyes asked her, mouth slightly agape as blood trickled from her lips. In Ari’s dream, Alice remained Homid, even past her death.
“Oh, God! Alice!” The Theurge rushed forward, trying to pick up the dismembered pieces but finding her claws clumsy for such a task.
And a crash happened and Arianna spun. Two more monsters. She lunged at them in her grief and fury. Her claws struck true and she tasted blood in her mouth, warm, fresh blood.
These took less to transform. There Owen lay, one of his blood splattered hands laying limply across one of Alice’s dismembered hands. His lifeless eyes stared at the hand, dazed and unfocused. Thoth stared right at Ari, giving her a tiny smile even in death. As if he forgave her and this was all some teaching experience she would learn from.
The Glasswalker fell to her knees, whining almost painfully in her large Crinos form. She didn’t know what to do or how to respond. She just sat there on her knees beside the dismembered bodies of her Septmates. Besides the pieces of Alice. Besides Thoth’s smile and Owen’s devotion.
She hadn’t done this. She knew she hadn’t. It was a trick.
Another roar from outside the door. Arianna leaped to her feet and charged from the Glade and back into the bed and breakfast.
Banes. Hundreds of crawling banes. She lunged and snarled and fought because it was her duty to Gaia. Because it was the way. And it felt good. Adrenaline and Rage all flooded through her system and she slashed and fought. They got some hits on her but nothing that could stop her. She was unbeatable, unstoppable. And it felt good.
Moments passed and her fur was sticky with blood and gore, some of it her own but most of it not. She grinned. Time slowed. She killed. She did what was necessary.
And then they were all dead. All the banes. But then they weren’t banes.
Patrick lay in a pool of his own blood, pale tie darkened to nearly black as it absorbed the blood. He looked annoyed but nothing more. Like he did when she poked fun at him. As if he’d get over it by tomorrow. But he wouldn’t.
Dimitri was ripped limb from limb like Alice, as if he’d given her a fight. The white ribbon around her wrist was soaked and splattered with red. His face held no emotion and one clawed hand was extended towards her.
James was curled up beside the Cub, as if he had died trying to defend the tiny Staren. Trying and failing.
Calvin was impaled on bits of his rocking chair.
Garret was ripped into two clean halves.
Ralin’s throat was ripped out.
Dead.
They were all dead.
Arianna was in homid, curled up in a ball. Her clothes were soaked with blood, her hair saturated with it. She was throwing up and crying. Oh god. What had she done? What had she done?! She had done it. She had killed them all.
She saw the knife. The silver knife. The Klaive.
You have to kill the monster. A tiny voice in her mind whispered. The monster who killed all of them.
The young Glasswalker wrapped her fingers around the grip and the pommel. In this world, her dream world, the weapon increased her Gnosis. As if she was doing the right thing so the Earth Mother flooded her with energy.
Because she was killing a monster.
She raised the knife high. Higher. And then with all of her strength dragged-
~*~
Arianna sat up in bed with a whimper. She was soaked with sweat and shaking. She looked around the room, left and then right and the left.
“A dream. Please Gaia… let it have been a dream.”
Regardless of whether it was or not… She did not go back to sleep for the rest of the night.
Topic: Nightmares (Read 2482 times)