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Mar. 23rd, 2009 08:29 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
shadowchaser.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
wrfmlogsarchiveWho: Amy and Song
What: Song has a plan >_>
Where: Rainbow's End and Dreamland ^^;
When: Sometime in the last week
Status: Complete
Song was waiting in her bedroom for Amy, whom she'd asked privately to join her there as soon as she was ready.
She sat on her bed with her legs folded beneath her. Mabry's cat Ember was curled up in her lap, which was unusually patient for the somewhat psychotic calico.
After a short knock, Amy pushed open the door and stuck her head in, grinning as she saw Song and the cat. "Awe, isn't that a cute picture. I managed to distract Jalen with a book on war strategy, so we can talk for a while." She slipped inside and shut the door, leaning back against it.
Song smiled and tickled the cat, who apparently decided that her reputation needed to be reaffirmed now that there was someone else in the room...and attacked Song's hand.
Wincing but still smiling, Song gave a slight wave with her unmauled hand.
"Good plan. Come sit down." There was plenty of room on the bed, as well as an empty chair near her desk. "This is about that magic I'm trying to work out..."
She pushed away from the door and moved to sit in the chair, perching on the edge. Unless she was really comfortable, she always sat on chairs like she was going to flee at a moment's notice. She made a soft 'chk-chk' noise at the cat before turning her attention to her friend, eyebrows slightly raised.
"Yeah? What do you have in mind, exactly?"
There was a brief struggle to keep the cat in her lap, which she lost as Ember twisted away and darted under the chair, attacking one of its legs. This was perfectly normal Ember-behavior, and Song didn't react.
"I, uh... well, one of the reasons I want to adapt dream magic into a standard-style spell is to make it work faster for myself, but the other reason is so that someone else can learn it." She paused there, letting Amy make the connection herself.
For a second she was distracted by the cat, then she shook her head, blinking. "You want me to- But- I'm not sure I'd be good at something like that. I can't even get rid of my own nightmares." She shifted position slightly, forcing herself to scoot farther back on the seat.
"Is it because you think you might need someone to swoop in and save you if things go wrong?" Amy couldn't help the tiny grin that appeared on her lips. Lookit me, I'm a prince! She mentally swatted herself.
"It's not that." Instead of looking at Amy,she glanced across the room at the tall windows, and the look in her eyes was more distant than the horizon beyond that prismatic glass. "I don't think I'll be staying much longer. My heart's not here. You know what I mean... Thing is, I don't want to leave the Refugees without a dream bender."
"Oh..." She bit her lip, watching Song for a moment before glancing down at her hands. She twisted her engagement ring a few times, trying not to think of what she'd feel if it were Jalen so far away. Amy lifted her head and straightened in the chair.
"Okay. I can see why this is so important. I'll help. I'll get really good at it, and then you can go off to Orpheus and not worry...too much, anyway."
Song smiled and met her eyes. "You're sure? Just like that? I do think you can do it. I want it to be someone sensitive and fairly peaceful, and I think your ability will help, but if you're worried about your nightmares, I could ask Emmy, or Midnight, or Ren..."
"You asked me first for a reason, right? And...maybe it'll help with my stupid nightmares. Assuming Jalen doesn't find a way to kill the things himself." She blushed faintly.
"We could try, and if things don't work out, you could still ask someone else."
She started to nod, but then just shrugged instead. "I don't know why I think it should be you more than the others. Maybe it's intuition, or maybe you remind me of myself. Either way, I think you can overcome those nightmares, and I believe you would be a very powerful dreamwalker. But you're right. We can practice a bit and see how well you take to it. We can even start before I get any real work done on the spell, 'cause if it doesn't turn out the way I hope, I can still teach you what I've been using lately."
"Intuition's always fun. Moreso if it's not about the end of the world, or something." Amy twisted her ring again and smiled faintly to herself before resolving to daydream later. "So, how do we go about this? I've never actually tried this stuff with you."
Her lips curved in a small grin. "You want to start now? ...Do you know how to make a dreamcatcher?"
"Well unless you have something better to do...and no, actually. Never tried." She was back to perching on the edge of the chair again, but it was interest now and not anxiety. Okay, maybe a teensy bit. This was definitely something important for her to learn, and she didn't want to screw things up.
"It's simple once you figure it out." She took down the dreamcatcher on the wall behind her and passed it to Amy. "Follow the pattern of the strings in that. Notice the knots, one on each level? That's because it's not one long piece of string, but consecutive loops going inward and intertwining with each other. You can see how the diamond shapes are created by the strings pulling at each other. Now..." She scooted to the edge of the bed so that she was closer. "The method Margaret came up with for me involves weaving dreamcatchers like that one out of pure magical energy, one for each person who's going to dream with me. That's why it takes so long."
She studied the dreamcatcher, running her fingers lightly over the knots. It was more complicated than she'd thought. As Song spoke, she glanced up at her, eyes slightly wide. "I can see why you'd want to find another way. Definitely sounds like a lot of work."
"It's more tedious than anything else. Once you've made a few of those, it starts to become mechanical. Anyway, if you like, you can just watch me this time, but you did learn Fire from Ryuu, right? So you know the principles of manipulating magical energy? That's the most important part. That and the ability to connect to people, which you should be able to do better than anyone."
"Learned them and mostly don't think about them," Amy muttered. "I just...draw from inside myself." She laughed a little at the next part. Oh yes, that she could do.
"'Kay, I'm watching."
Another grin. "Well, that is the key. Drawing from inside oneself... Anyway, I usually don't try to make the magic visible, just see it with my mind, but in this case I'll try." She also didn't ordinarily use her hands to gesture much, but it helped with the visual aspect, so she steadied herself and concentrated, then began to weave a pattern in the air before her. Outward to inward, she spun the faint, shimmering, violet-tinted energy into the outer circle, then wove tendrils of it around and around, working her way inward. She was right about it being almost mechanical, and each level was done relatively quickly but it still required a certain precision and thus about ten minutes had passed by the time she was half-way through. At that point, she spared a small amount of her attention to wave Amy over. "Come sit by me."
...Well. This was certainly riveting, and pretty besides, and she almost didn't catch Song's gesture or her words. A small part of her did notice though, and she almost fell off the chair trying to get up. Scowling, she tripped over to the bed, then sat down carefully.
Song's focus had already fully returned to her work. She finished the first catcher - hers - and then she placed one hand over Amy's. "You can help me if you want." With only one hand now, the complete dreamcatcher drifting in the air like mist, she began the process over again for a second one which interlocked with the first.
Closing her eyes for a second, she furrowed her brow, concentrating, before taking a breath and opening her eyes. The energy that Song was guiding was a deep purple tinged with blue, and she stared in wonder. That was her. She resisted the urge to clap and tried to keep her concentration.
The pattern was the same. Again the looping strings of magic winding around each other and spiraling inward, but this time Song drew from Amy, not draining her, but sampling her essence, her energy, and weaving it into the intricate spell. Another twenty minutes and there were two, light violet and dark purple, attached side-by-side so that their circular forms shaped the symbol for eternity. A coincidental detail that pleased Song's affinity for double meanings.
She allowed the two to float for a moment before slowly fading from sight, though they still existed.
"...And that is that. It will activate as soon as we're both asleep."
"Dude." That had been- was- wow. Amy studied the air where they'd hung, grinning. She couldn't wait to be able to practice on Jalen- or with, rather. He had a habit of not sitting still for things he didn't agree with. She shivered suddenly, rubbing at the back of her neck. All the hairs were up, which happened sometimes when she'd been playing with her Fire. She looked over at her friend, still smiling faintly.
"That was completely awesome."
Song grinned back, though she looked a bit worn out. "Yeah, it's not bad, is it? I'd still rather be able to cast it instantaneously, though!" She shifted a bit, then stood and moved across to the chair where Amy had been, idly petting the cat who seemed to have fallen asleep under it. "I know Yen Sid said it wouldn't be so easy, but I've thought of proper names and everything, if what I know so far is enough to make this work."
"Like what?" She swung her legs up onto the bed and pulled her knees up to her chin, wrapping her arms around them. She tilted her head slightly, watching Song for a second before she spoke again. "You look like you need a nap. Just a little one."
She waved off the comment. "I'm fine. It's late anyway, so I'll get the rest I need and a fun dream when we both go to bed. As for the names... I like the sound of Dream, Dreamira, and Dreamija. Certainly better than Dream, Dreama and Dreamaga. Obviously these are all just guesses and speculations at this point, and I'm sure I'm getting way ahead of myself, but I imagine the first level creating a basic dream dive between two people, the second the same but between three or four, and the final level allowing for at least four people and delving deeper than an ordinary dream. Forgotten memories, metaphysical heart... I've accessed both those things when I was able to use it as a Nobody Element. It will probably be needed again at some point."
"First set sounds better for sure. Hopefully it will work out, because it sounds really, really cool...and with our luck..." She yawned suddenly, then whapped herself lightly on the forehead. "Sorry! You just had to remind me about the time, though. I hope I can get that book away from Jalen; he's probably still buried in it."
Amy unfolded herself and stood, stretching for a second. "I gotta warn you, I dream about cats a lot. Five or six little strays everywhere. Always the same cats, too. That and-" She bit her lip for just a second. "I dunno. We'll probably end up dreaming of the guys in speedos or something else equally ridiculous."
She gave a low snicker. "That should be entertaining. Keep in mind it is a lucid dream and we'll be able to do whatever we want with it within reason, but yes, it will at least start out either one of my dreams or yours, depending on who's dreaming more strongly tonight."
Mischievously, she reached down again and gave Ember's tail a slight tug, receiving an ear-twitch and a playful swat in return. Then she glanced up at Amy with a somewhat more serious expression, ignoring the untrimmed bangs that fell over her eyes at this angle. "If it is a nightmare, it will be good experience. Whether or not you decide to learn the spell, these practice session might at least help you work through that problem."
Smirking at the idea of being able to suggest to dream-Jalen that stripping was a good idea and maybe actually getting him to do it, Amy moved to the door, resting her hand on the knob. "If I end up dreaming of a naked Jalen, you can't look, okay?" She giggled before sobering slightly. If she could get rid of those stupid dreams...
"I'll throw a party when I don't have to deal with them anymore. I've been prone to the stupid things since I was a kid. Night Song. See you."
Letting out another giggle which she really couldn't help - her mind had started suggesting ideas for fun dreams tonight - Amy pulled open the door and slipped out, waving briefly at Song before pulling it closed.
Amy sat on the couch, absently flipping through a book as she waited for Eli to finish cleaning his room. She'd promised him that they'd meet daddy for lunch and then go to the Crystal Fissure, and her son had been so excited that he'd practically flown into his room. She could hear things banging into the wall, and guessed that he was tossing his toys across the room towards his toy box...and missing. Grinning a little, she flipped a page and called out to him.
"Eli! Just pick them up and drop them in! You want to go sometime this year, right?"
The banging stopped, followed by dead silence. Amy frowned and stood, tossing the book aside.
"Eli?"
A few seconds later, her eight-year-old son came bounding out of his room, waving his arms and grinning wildly. He was followed by a Flan of all things, and Amy simply stared. What was a-
"Mom! Aunt Crys wants to teach me magic, can I learn? Huh? Please? I promise I'm not gonna burn down the house or freeze everybody or-"
"...Eli..." She blinked a few times, then shook her head. The Flan was still there. "What're you- Why's- Okay. First, Aunt Crys? She's back on Earth, sweetie. And why's a-"
Her son sighed as though he thought she was completely dense, and pointed to the Flan. "Aunt Crys. Right here. So can I?"
"Uh...No. You're still a kid and- that's a Flan." She sank back onto the couch, shaking her head. Ookay...
Song, meanwhile, had found herself on the roof of all places. Why she was on the roof of Amy's dream house, she really couldn't say, though it wasn't uncommon for her to fly from rooftop to rooftop in her ordinary dreams. It was quite amusing, however, to listen to the voices emanating through the windows, and she took her time in making her way over the roof and dropping down in the front, deciding to play along in her own way and knock on the door.
"But mooooom! I'm old enough! And daddy says I'd be really good-"
"Eli, no." At the sound of the knock, she sighed in relief and stood, ignoring the mass of Jello pudding as she made her way to the door. She'd deal with it later, or torch it when Eli wasn't around, or- Pulling open the door, she grinned as she saw her friend and hugged her.
"Hey! What're you doing here? Do you want a Flan? Eli says it's Crys but you know kids...I dunno where he got it." She released Song and stepped back, frowning for a second. Wasn't there something she was supposed to be remembering?
Expecting something like this, Song just hugged her back and tried to keep her grin from growing to maniacal proportions. "I never was a fan of Flan. Are you sure it isn't Crys in disguise? Maybe the kid's on to something." Amy could take that however she liked. Maybe it would remind her of where they actually were, and maybe not.
"I'd think that if-" She was cut off as Eli shot past her and glomped onto Song, laughing.
"Aunt Song! Are you here to tell me a story? I always liked your stories. Mom and me are gonna go meet daddy, then we're gonna go to the Crystal Fissure, and do you wanna come? It'd be a lot of fun with you and-" His babble was stopped abruptly as Amy clapped a hand over his mouth and gently pulled him away.
"Sweetie, go finish your room, okay? Song and I have stuff to talk about." She glanced back at the Flan and watched as it disappeared. Eli groaned but did as he was told. As his door shut, she turned back to Song and smiled.
"This is really weird. I can understand dreaming about Eli, but Crys-Flan? She's gonna kill me when I tell her."
Song only smiled in docile amusement at the excited child until his would-be mother shooed him away. Amy's next comment made her eyebrows raise slightly and her smile turn back into a grin. "Oh, I think she'll be amused by it," she said airily, waving a hand in a dismissive gesture. "After all, you can't really control your own dreams until you realize that you're dreaming. And now that you have, what would you like to do?"
"Most of the stuff popping into my head right now is either R-rated or would probably scare you." Amy giggled, then bit her lip for a few seconds, thinking. She nodded to herself before she spoke. "Fly. Maybe I can ignore my fear of heights this time. Or should that be fear of falling?"
Song covered her mouth in a dainty yet somehow mischievous gesture at the brief description of Amy's thoughts, but held her tongue. Or tried to... she wasn't particularly good at keeping quiet anymore. "Not much scares me, really. I must be horribly jaded. However, best not to go into detail because you might actually make something manifest. Flying is always a good place to start." She stepped away from the door and gestured for Amy to come outside. "Can you do it on your own?"
She followed her outside, readjusting her glasses slightly. She could probably get rid of these now if she wanted, but she was so used to them it didn't really seem to matter. Laughing softly, she shook her head. "I was thinking more along the lines of a house-full-of-kids-scary, but good point. Um...I dunno, actually. Every flying dream I've ever had, I was already in the air when I realized I was doing it. No wings, either."
"Oh well. It's really quite easy." Song turned her back on the house, squinting up at the sky as if making mental calculations. "I still remember the very first lucid dream I ever had. I was only a child, but as soon as I realized what was happening, I ran straight out the door and jumped off the porch with no intention of coming back down. It was quite disappointing, actually, as I woke up right at that moment."
She spread her arms and flexed them in a practiced motion - a rather convincing imitation of the way a bird's wing moves, not just flapping up and down but cupping the air and pushing it back in a circular motion. She did this slowly a couple times, getting into the rhythm, and then she jumped and flapped her arms much harder, lifting herself up to hover several feet above the ground. "This is the way I usually do it now, when I'm not going dragon. You probably don't have to be as methodical about it as I am, though."
Amy simply stared at her for a moment before giggling madly. "I'm- I'm sorry, but that just looked really weird with a person doing it...and now I'm self-conscious about how I'll look." She took a deep breath and let it out, trying to get the giggles under control. When she was sure she wasn't going to bust up again, she closed her eyes, holding her arms out at her sides. She wasn't going to flap; she didn't feel comfortable doing that, but there was more than one way up. Slowly, she felt herself lift off the ground, and when she opened her eyes, she was roughly level with Song.
"I suppose as long as I'm not moving this probably qualifies more as levitating than flying. But hey, at least I'm in the air!" Amy made the mistake of glancing down then, and faltered.
"Ack, ground..." She jerked her head back up and scowled. "See what I mean? Chicken!"
Song made a face at the teasing, but self-consciously made her arms elongate and grow feathers, resembling distorted wings, but making the movement look a bit more natural and less awkward.
"Just remember, if you fall, you can always turn the ground to water, or a mountain of pillows or something. Stay close to rooftops and such if it makes you feel better." To demonstrate, she maneuvered herself over the roof of the dream house, barely a foot above it, and hovered there for a moment before making a short flight to a house next to it that may or may not have been there before that moment.
"Okay...Or maybe Jello." She watched carefully before following, gliding effortlessly through the air as she tried her best to ignore the drop to the ground. It really was silly to be scared like this; she could land on an air mattress if she wanted. She landed slowly on the roof of the house next door, smiling faintly. Well, it was a start. The smile faded as she lowered her gaze to study the shingles.
"I'm sorry I laughed. Sometimes I don't think. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything."
Once Amy had reached the neighboring roof, Song flew to the next, playing a sort of follow-the-leader. "Oh no, don't worry about it. I need my pride pricked now and then. Usually I don't think about how silly it must look because I only fly that way when I'm alone. During Refugee business I give myself a proper set of wings. Angel of Dreams and all that. Thing is, silly as it looks, it feels natural. This is the way a bird does it, and... well, I could go on quite a tangent about my odd habits of mental shapeshifting, but I should probably save it for later."
"Maybe I'll try wings sometime, once I figure out what I want. Refugee business...Sometimes I think our reality is the dream. It's like too much of what I've always wanted is coming true, so it can't possibly be real. Once or twice...Once or twice I've woken up and been scared to death that Jalen wouldn't be there, that none of you would be there, and I was so relieved that I was only dreaming..."
Amy shrugged as she flew, nearly forgetting her worry of falling. It was a small shadow in the back of her mind, easily ignored at the moment. She was more interested in the conversation.
"How odd? ...Though maybe you're right, and we should save it for later. What else should we be working on?"
A strange expression crossed Song's face as Amy spoke of dreams and reality. It started as her usual mild amusement at the irony of their lives, but then it was as if something deeper clicked and her eyes took on that distant, yearning look which often corresponded to thoughts about Orpheus, or Xemnas, or the Dreaming. When she answered, the words were quiet, almost mumbled. "Sometimes... I think you may be right. It seems unreal..."
And then, just as quickly, she came back to the present. "Anyway, yeah, I'll tell you about it later if you want, and if you're tired of flying then you should work on your control over the dream itself." She perched on the nearest rooftop and allowed her arms to shift back to normal, beckoning Amy to join her.
"We can do that- the control thing, I mean." She moved over to Song and eased herself into a sitting position, trying not to tilt over and fall off. She had her klutz moments in reality, and planned to avoid them as much as possible in her dreams. She'd caught the look in Song's eyes and the words, but decided not to respond. Maybe later, when they had less fantastical things to talk about. Though really, with lives like theirs...She found herself smiling suddenly. 'With lives like theirs' indeed.
Instead of talking her through it at first, Song just held out her hand and dreamed a flower into existence, one of the Alverian flowers that grew in Radiant Garden now that the world was healed. "You should remember how this works. The principle of the Dreaming is controlling the space around you, and creating matter out of thought."
The grin turned into an outright smirk as she looked at the flower. "Like my lightsaber." Amy waved a hand, and the silver-hilted weapon materialized in her grasp. She turned the hilt away from herself and flicked a switch. The purple beam blazed forth and she cackled happily. "Behold, I'm a Jedi again! " Waving the weapon around gently, she glanced over at Song.
"I don't think I'd do so well with all the rules, though. Don't get attached to this, don't do that...I'd be more likely to end up using the Dark Side." Amy flicked the switch again, extinguishing the blade. "Or maybe not, because the thought of Crys beating me with Igor for eternity doesn't sound like fun."
Song snickered at the act. "Well, whether or not you'd make a good Jedi, I must say you're much better at the creation aspect of dreaming than you are at flying. So... since I mentioned shapeshifting, do you think you can manage that? It's really the same thing, only you change your own body rather than space outside of you." And though she'd already shown the technique with her arm-wings, she performed a more thorough demonstration by transforming herself into a gargoyle-like beast. Crouched as she was on the roof, it seemed appropriate. Rather, it came to her naturally, with very little concentrated thought. In her mind, that was the form her body had already taken, based on her current position and surroundings, and that was the mental shapeshifting she'd spoken of.
"I dunno...I've never really thought of ever being anything besides myself. Okay, I've thought of being other people, but that's obviously not the same thing-" Her babbling died abruptly as Song changed, and she clapped. "Oh, that's brilliant! Um...god, what should I try..." A dozen ideas raced through her head, but none of them seemed right. She had a sudden urge to see if she could turn herself into a life-size Rubik's Cube, but decided against it. Something alive, idiot. A moment later, she let out a yelp as the obvious choice hit her.
Amy closed her eyes and pictured her cats, with their soft fur and long legs, and whiskers that brushed her skin as they nuzzled her. A few heartbeats later, a large orange cat was perched on the roof next to Song. She meowed, then flicked her tail. Whoops. Better try that again.
"How's this?"
The gargoyle bared its shark-like teeth in a rather frightening grin, and spoke in a slightly rougher, hissing version of Song's voice. "That'sss perffect. Can you movvve like a cat?"
Large talons flexed, damaging the shingles beneath, and her heavy tail shifted, draping loosely around herself. Her muscular shoulders were hunched, beaky head slung low almost like that of a vulture. She seemed to fit into this predatory form as easily as she did in her human body, if not more so.
"I think..." Amy stood and began to move along the ridgepole, tail high as her confidence grew. This wasn't so hard! She mentally smacked herself a few seconds later as she put a paw down wrong and slipped. Her back end slipped sideways and she scrambled to dig her claws into the shingles. Well hell. It was funny when her cats did it. After she pulled herself up, she slunk back to Song and settled herself, trying to act like nothing had happened. She was glad cats didn't blush.
Song had leaned forward a bit when Amy slipped, watching closely to see if she would fall and if she could manage to pull the twisting trick which cats used to land on her feet, but she seemed to do a good enough job using her claws to scramble back up, so Song had to be satisfied with that.
"Not bad. It may not be neccesssarrry to do much shifting, ssshould you take the job, but it'sss a good trrick to know." With that, she sat back normally and resumed her human shape, the change happening at the same time as the movement occurred. She reached out idly and scritched the Amy-cat's head. "Anything else you want to try, or do you want to keep practicing what we've gone over so far?"
"I was wondering..." A low rumble started as her head was scratched, and she jerked away, shifting back to herself. Her cheeks were bright red, and she coughed.
"Damn cats, purring over everything. Anyway," Amy started again, the blush fading. "I was wondering if there was a way to- my nightmares- not my normal ones. The other ones. Do you think there's a way to lock them up? I mean, I've been thinking about it and it's probably not that great an idea, but I just hate not having any control over the damn things. They scare me and I can't even remember them until they happen, and then it's too late...so what's the point of having them, then? Or maybe there's a way to remember them when I wake up, so at least I can have a little more warning..." She sighed and shook her head. "I just need to do something about it. "
She gazed out at the dreamscape's horizon, tapping a curled index finger against her lips thoughtfully. "We can probably do something about them, if we can find them. Find the source, that is. You say you never know when they're going to happen, so that might be tricky, especially with my current limitations on dreams. I don't think I can go digging around in your Heart like I did with Axel. Still, since they are dreams, we might have a chance here. If so, you'd probably know best where to look for them." She gestured vaguely, seeming to indicate that she wanted Amy to either lead the way, or change the dream itself into the proper setting.
"I was worried about that, too. I'm not sure myself where I get the things...though that last one, the boy? It was about Josiah, wasn't it? And Calum. All the blood and darkness were more symbolic than literal, I think." She shook her head and an instant later, they were back in the house, sitting on the couch. It was silent now, empty except for them. Amy leaned back and closed her eyes, thinking. She spoke slowly, trying to find the right words.
"Maybe they do come from my Heart, somehow. Seems more likely than- Oh, I don't know." She opened her eyes and folded her arms across her chest.
Song watched her for a moment, then let her eyes travel slowly around the room, picking out shadows and corners and little random imperfections. "I don't suppose they'd answer if you called them out, but who knows? If they are related to Calum, well, he does seem the type to accept a challenge."
"Not sure if I want to." She muttered, rubbing her arms. "It's funny, after I calmed down I started thinking that I could deal with him. If he went after me again, that is. I wasn't scared of him anymore. Just angry. I was gonna go find Lilith because I wanted to ask her if the grimoire had a sealing spell...Not like I could cast it, forget any potential I might have. But I wanted to find a way to seal him so Josiah could be himself again, so we could get the rat-bastard out without him causing any more trouble..."
God, you talk too much.
"That got off track, didn't it? Sorry. I just- keep things to myself too much, and then they spill out with people I trust."
She shook her head. "No, don't worry about it. It's good to think and talk. You'd don't even know how I get, even when I'm by myself, going through my trains of thought aloud to organize them. I dunno, actually I kind of do that when I'm talking to others, too. I read a book recently which included a group of friends who called those sorts of conversations their talkroads, and at the end of the talkroad they might find a good answer to the problem, and... there, you see? I'm doing it too."
Her expression was a cross between a smile and a grimace. "Annnyway, back on the subject of Calum, it's kinda the same with..." she paused, blinked, "no, actually, it's the opposite with me. I wasn't scared of him at first, and now I'm bloody terrified. It's that darkness he uses. I... I guess I just can't handle Darkness anymore, after the whole Heartless thing... I think it's the one thing that still truly scares me..."
"There's a novel idea. I used to talk to myself at home, not really to organize my thoughts, mostly 'cause I was lonely...but now I've got you guys." She laughed, then sobered as the conversation changed back to Calum. Yeah, whatever it was that the pirate used was scary all right...and friggin' cold.
"It's good that you're afraid of it now. Not- I mean, it makes you cautious. It sucked losing you the first time, you know? None of us would want that to happen again. Don't think we'd be getting third chances." She chewed on her lip, wishing she could think of what she really wanted to say.
"I'm still afraid of the dark, but the funny thing is, I think I'm actually more afraid of the kind of darkness the boogeyman hides in, and not so much actual Darkness. Maybe Calum's the boogeyman." A small snort showed what she thought of this idea.
"Heh. He might as well be," she said a bit darkly. "And actually this is my third chance, if you'll recall. I lost my heart twice already. Rather glad Heartless have disappeared, cuz I don't think I'd leave even a Dusk the third time around. Still, it does let me sing that Buffy song..." and here she did start singing.
"Apocalypse, we've all been there.
The same old trips, why should we care?
What can't we do if we get in it?
We'll work it through within a minute.
We have to try, we'll pay the price.
It's do or die, hey I've died twice..."
She allowed another small smirk. Song seemed able to smile at everything. "Okay, obligatory singing aside, where were we?"
"Banging our heads against the wall." Amy facepalmed, then grinned as she lowered her hand. "We were going to try to find the source of my little annoyances, but maybe it should wait for another dream, since we seem to be so good at distracting ourselves." She giggled. "Next thing you know, we'll have naked guys parading through the room."
"Don't even suggest that, because if my imagination gets carried away and warps your dream beyond all reason, I'll blame you." She stuck out her tongue playfully, then sobered, or at least attempted to. "Alright, alright, this is a cruel suggestion, but maybe if you let yourself get scared, it might work. Can you do that?"
Hee, a room full of naked Jalens....no, don't want Song looking. Not that she would. But...okay, a room full of naked Orpheuses...wait. Half and half? She smacked herself upside the head before blinking at Song. What?
"What?" She verbalized, then made a face. Oh yes, that would probably work. "I guess..." She sighed and closed her eyes as she settled back again, wondering how she was supposed to get scared when she was relaxing. She should be perching on the edge of the couch, waiting for shadows to creep out of corners and eat her. Or freeze her to death...She shivered despite herself. Okay, that wasn't a good memory, and that was the point. She'd been scared that he'd get in her Heart and see things that no one was supposed to see, the little fears she had about things, and the big fears, and maybe worst of all, she didn't want him seeing what made her happy because he'd use it against her and she could barely protect herself, let alone anyone else-
Amy's eyes flew open and she shifted position on the couch, pulling her knees up to her chest. Everything still looked normal, Song was still beside her, but the creeped out feeling she'd had when dealing with Calum was back.
"Goddamn it."
Song watched her carefully, from the corners of her eyes, but kept note of the room around them at the same time. "That's it..." she said quietly, in a voice that wasn't too soothing. Almost demanding, in fact, but in a subtle way. "Don't fight it. Not yet. Let it take you...Give yourself to the terror, Amy." She felt quite bad saying that, but if it worked and they were able to fix the problem because of it, then, well... sometimes she still thought that the ends justified the means.
"You know, you suck sometimes." It came out as a whisper, because the shadows that hadn't been there suddenly were, and her breathing quickened. She kept expecting to see Calum step into the middle of the room, and was almost surprised when he didn't. The temperature in the room was dropping though, and she didn't like this...she didn't like it at all. Her heart pounding, she closed her eyes tight. "I can't do this, Song. I can't. I might bring him here and even if it is a dream I just can't."
Almost unnoticeably, Song stiffened, and willed herself not to shiver. The cold... and the shadows... were getting to her too.
But this was a dream. This was her territory, and with that thought, she once again ceased to be human, and in her place sat a wolf, hackles raising in fear and anger. "Yes you can," she snarled. "Let him come. Let him come so I can tear him to shreds." Just to make sure that her ferocity didn't reassure Amy so much that her fears dissipated, Song shot her a piercing glare from dark wolf eyes, looking like a nightmare herself.
If the situation had been any different, Amy might have laughed at her words, but as it was, it only served to make her anxiety worse. Freezing shadows, a rat-bastard pirate, and a very pissed off Song-wolf. Oh yes, this was not fun time. Shaking, she reached a hand up to brush her hair back, and remembered when Calum had done the same, but it'd been Josiah's hand that had touched her. That did it. Letting out a gasp, she opened her eyes slowly to see Josiah - no, it was Calum, come striding out of the shadows as if he'd always been there. And maybe he had, this whole time, just waiting-
Amy pulled in on herself again and buried her face against her knees.
Song waited only long enough to see Amy's reaction - retreat - and then she sprung into action, teeth bared and tail flagged in the manner of an alpha wolf confronting a challenger. She leaped at the dream-vision of Calum, going straight for the throat as she sometimes imagined when watching someone she greatly disliked. Gentle as she usually was on the outside, things passed in her mind that most would never expect. The sensation of her fangs sinking into flesh and tendon, the taste of warm blood as it splattered over her jaws, the feel of muscles straining and contracting as she shook her head violently, ripping, shredding, decimating...
On the outside, in the real world where she had only her weak, human body, Song was tame, but in some ways it was the tameness of a beast on a leash, and when the leash and the muzzle of reality were removed...
In her mad ferocity, Song did not exert her own will over the shadow of Calum. She controlled herself and herself only. If this nightmare was to be defeated, it had to be done on its own ground.
Amy continued to cower, trying to ignore the sounds of Song attacking Calum, but found herself lifting her head enough to peek. Even though he seemed to be getting torn to shreds, there was a weird sort of overlay to him, one untouched by the wolf's teeth and claws. She was absolutely certain that when Song backed off, he was going to be totally unharmed. A small flame of anger began to grow inside her. It wasn't fair, he screwed Josiah six ways to Sunday and nothing happened to him...Josiah was the one paying the price because of a stupid, selfish-
Fire, he was scared of fire, remember? You really pissed him off with that, he was scared.
Before she could give it further thought, she rose from the couch, hands cupped in front of her like before. A grin slipped onto her lips, and she laughed.
"Hey Song, better move. Don't want singed fur, right?" The flame blinked into existence and grew steadily into a small ball, much like it'd done before. This time, however, instead of surrounding herself with it, she sent it outward - right past Song and into Calum.
The wolf who was Song dodged away, swifter and more agile on her paws than she was even as a lightfooted young woman. With a fierce, blood-stained grin, she watched as Calum emerged unharmed from her attack only to be struck by Amy's fire. Good. Perfect. The girl had been inspired to fight him herself.
She watched as Calum burned, writhing in the flames, and seemingly only seconds later, there was nothing left but ashes on the ground. After a dismissive wave, not even that remained. She turned to Song, still grinning. She felt...different. In a good way. She leaned down and hugged the wolf.
"Thanks. Thank you so much, Song."
The fur on the wolf's neck and shoulders smoothed down and her tail began to wag. The blood on her muzzle was gone - it had only been imagined anyway. She snuggled up to Amy, transformed from killer to caring protector without even changing shape. "I knew you could do it if you tried. You think it's gone from here for good?"
"If it's not, I think I can handle it now." Amy gave her another hug before letting go and straightening up. "That was a lot worse than facing myself." She made a face. "Hopefully I'll never have to do either again." Yawning, she shook her head. "S'funny, getting tired in a dream. Maybe it's time to wake up." Boy, wait until she told Jalen about this. He'd either be really proud of her, or demand to know why she hadn't dreamed him into it to protect her. Probably both. She snickered.
The wolf stood up on her hind paws, and then she was human again. "That's just your subconscious making you feel the way the way you think you should feel. You could make yourself un-tired if you wanted to, technically, but I think we've done quite enough this time around."
"No kidding." She yawned again before catching herself. Un-tired, right. She could do that...another time. "So do I make myself wake up now, or what? I've never actually tried to get out of a dream- I don't think."
Song shrugged. "Just stop dreaming, or whatever works for you. Actually with this technique, it's not as easy to make yourself wake up. The old way, I wasn't actually asleep, so I'd just will myself out of the other dreamer's mind and back into my own, but this way's different. Also, time tends to flow in dreams about the same as it flows in the waking world, so it might not actually be time to wake up, just time for this dream to end. And actually, people wake up several times during the night without realizing it, and go through multiple cycles of dreams, so..." She grinned suddenly and put a hand over her mouth. "Okay, I'm going to stop with the pseudo-science now."
Amy laughed. "No, it's interesting! But yeah...maybe if I just let go it'll shift to something else..." She pointed behind Song suddenly and snickered. "The Flan's back! Guess I'll see you in the waking world." She turned her head as Eli's bedroom door opened and the boy slipped out, carrying a notebook and a few empty jars. He grinned at them both before walking past them and out the front door.
"Bye Aunt Song! You've gotta tell me a story next time, okay?"
She smiled, and relaxed further as the dream resumed its normal flow. "Alright, Elijah. I promise, next time. Maybe I'll tell you the story about the evil pirate ghost." And then she faded out of sight, as if she was only a ghost herself, letting the spell dissipate and returning to her own natural dreams. Tonight it was a sandy beach in the light before dawn, running through the surf on the delicate, powerful legs of a horse, a comfortable weight on her bare back and gentle hands in her mane...
What: Song has a plan >_>
Where: Rainbow's End and Dreamland ^^;
When: Sometime in the last week
Status: Complete
Song was waiting in her bedroom for Amy, whom she'd asked privately to join her there as soon as she was ready.
She sat on her bed with her legs folded beneath her. Mabry's cat Ember was curled up in her lap, which was unusually patient for the somewhat psychotic calico.
After a short knock, Amy pushed open the door and stuck her head in, grinning as she saw Song and the cat. "Awe, isn't that a cute picture. I managed to distract Jalen with a book on war strategy, so we can talk for a while." She slipped inside and shut the door, leaning back against it.
Song smiled and tickled the cat, who apparently decided that her reputation needed to be reaffirmed now that there was someone else in the room...and attacked Song's hand.
Wincing but still smiling, Song gave a slight wave with her unmauled hand.
"Good plan. Come sit down." There was plenty of room on the bed, as well as an empty chair near her desk. "This is about that magic I'm trying to work out..."
She pushed away from the door and moved to sit in the chair, perching on the edge. Unless she was really comfortable, she always sat on chairs like she was going to flee at a moment's notice. She made a soft 'chk-chk' noise at the cat before turning her attention to her friend, eyebrows slightly raised.
"Yeah? What do you have in mind, exactly?"
There was a brief struggle to keep the cat in her lap, which she lost as Ember twisted away and darted under the chair, attacking one of its legs. This was perfectly normal Ember-behavior, and Song didn't react.
"I, uh... well, one of the reasons I want to adapt dream magic into a standard-style spell is to make it work faster for myself, but the other reason is so that someone else can learn it." She paused there, letting Amy make the connection herself.
For a second she was distracted by the cat, then she shook her head, blinking. "You want me to- But- I'm not sure I'd be good at something like that. I can't even get rid of my own nightmares." She shifted position slightly, forcing herself to scoot farther back on the seat.
"Is it because you think you might need someone to swoop in and save you if things go wrong?" Amy couldn't help the tiny grin that appeared on her lips. Lookit me, I'm a prince! She mentally swatted herself.
"It's not that." Instead of looking at Amy,she glanced across the room at the tall windows, and the look in her eyes was more distant than the horizon beyond that prismatic glass. "I don't think I'll be staying much longer. My heart's not here. You know what I mean... Thing is, I don't want to leave the Refugees without a dream bender."
"Oh..." She bit her lip, watching Song for a moment before glancing down at her hands. She twisted her engagement ring a few times, trying not to think of what she'd feel if it were Jalen so far away. Amy lifted her head and straightened in the chair.
"Okay. I can see why this is so important. I'll help. I'll get really good at it, and then you can go off to Orpheus and not worry...too much, anyway."
Song smiled and met her eyes. "You're sure? Just like that? I do think you can do it. I want it to be someone sensitive and fairly peaceful, and I think your ability will help, but if you're worried about your nightmares, I could ask Emmy, or Midnight, or Ren..."
"You asked me first for a reason, right? And...maybe it'll help with my stupid nightmares. Assuming Jalen doesn't find a way to kill the things himself." She blushed faintly.
"We could try, and if things don't work out, you could still ask someone else."
She started to nod, but then just shrugged instead. "I don't know why I think it should be you more than the others. Maybe it's intuition, or maybe you remind me of myself. Either way, I think you can overcome those nightmares, and I believe you would be a very powerful dreamwalker. But you're right. We can practice a bit and see how well you take to it. We can even start before I get any real work done on the spell, 'cause if it doesn't turn out the way I hope, I can still teach you what I've been using lately."
"Intuition's always fun. Moreso if it's not about the end of the world, or something." Amy twisted her ring again and smiled faintly to herself before resolving to daydream later. "So, how do we go about this? I've never actually tried this stuff with you."
Her lips curved in a small grin. "You want to start now? ...Do you know how to make a dreamcatcher?"
"Well unless you have something better to do...and no, actually. Never tried." She was back to perching on the edge of the chair again, but it was interest now and not anxiety. Okay, maybe a teensy bit. This was definitely something important for her to learn, and she didn't want to screw things up.
"It's simple once you figure it out." She took down the dreamcatcher on the wall behind her and passed it to Amy. "Follow the pattern of the strings in that. Notice the knots, one on each level? That's because it's not one long piece of string, but consecutive loops going inward and intertwining with each other. You can see how the diamond shapes are created by the strings pulling at each other. Now..." She scooted to the edge of the bed so that she was closer. "The method Margaret came up with for me involves weaving dreamcatchers like that one out of pure magical energy, one for each person who's going to dream with me. That's why it takes so long."
She studied the dreamcatcher, running her fingers lightly over the knots. It was more complicated than she'd thought. As Song spoke, she glanced up at her, eyes slightly wide. "I can see why you'd want to find another way. Definitely sounds like a lot of work."
"It's more tedious than anything else. Once you've made a few of those, it starts to become mechanical. Anyway, if you like, you can just watch me this time, but you did learn Fire from Ryuu, right? So you know the principles of manipulating magical energy? That's the most important part. That and the ability to connect to people, which you should be able to do better than anyone."
"Learned them and mostly don't think about them," Amy muttered. "I just...draw from inside myself." She laughed a little at the next part. Oh yes, that she could do.
"'Kay, I'm watching."
Another grin. "Well, that is the key. Drawing from inside oneself... Anyway, I usually don't try to make the magic visible, just see it with my mind, but in this case I'll try." She also didn't ordinarily use her hands to gesture much, but it helped with the visual aspect, so she steadied herself and concentrated, then began to weave a pattern in the air before her. Outward to inward, she spun the faint, shimmering, violet-tinted energy into the outer circle, then wove tendrils of it around and around, working her way inward. She was right about it being almost mechanical, and each level was done relatively quickly but it still required a certain precision and thus about ten minutes had passed by the time she was half-way through. At that point, she spared a small amount of her attention to wave Amy over. "Come sit by me."
...Well. This was certainly riveting, and pretty besides, and she almost didn't catch Song's gesture or her words. A small part of her did notice though, and she almost fell off the chair trying to get up. Scowling, she tripped over to the bed, then sat down carefully.
Song's focus had already fully returned to her work. She finished the first catcher - hers - and then she placed one hand over Amy's. "You can help me if you want." With only one hand now, the complete dreamcatcher drifting in the air like mist, she began the process over again for a second one which interlocked with the first.
Closing her eyes for a second, she furrowed her brow, concentrating, before taking a breath and opening her eyes. The energy that Song was guiding was a deep purple tinged with blue, and she stared in wonder. That was her. She resisted the urge to clap and tried to keep her concentration.
The pattern was the same. Again the looping strings of magic winding around each other and spiraling inward, but this time Song drew from Amy, not draining her, but sampling her essence, her energy, and weaving it into the intricate spell. Another twenty minutes and there were two, light violet and dark purple, attached side-by-side so that their circular forms shaped the symbol for eternity. A coincidental detail that pleased Song's affinity for double meanings.
She allowed the two to float for a moment before slowly fading from sight, though they still existed.
"...And that is that. It will activate as soon as we're both asleep."
"Dude." That had been- was- wow. Amy studied the air where they'd hung, grinning. She couldn't wait to be able to practice on Jalen- or with, rather. He had a habit of not sitting still for things he didn't agree with. She shivered suddenly, rubbing at the back of her neck. All the hairs were up, which happened sometimes when she'd been playing with her Fire. She looked over at her friend, still smiling faintly.
"That was completely awesome."
Song grinned back, though she looked a bit worn out. "Yeah, it's not bad, is it? I'd still rather be able to cast it instantaneously, though!" She shifted a bit, then stood and moved across to the chair where Amy had been, idly petting the cat who seemed to have fallen asleep under it. "I know Yen Sid said it wouldn't be so easy, but I've thought of proper names and everything, if what I know so far is enough to make this work."
"Like what?" She swung her legs up onto the bed and pulled her knees up to her chin, wrapping her arms around them. She tilted her head slightly, watching Song for a second before she spoke again. "You look like you need a nap. Just a little one."
She waved off the comment. "I'm fine. It's late anyway, so I'll get the rest I need and a fun dream when we both go to bed. As for the names... I like the sound of Dream, Dreamira, and Dreamija. Certainly better than Dream, Dreama and Dreamaga. Obviously these are all just guesses and speculations at this point, and I'm sure I'm getting way ahead of myself, but I imagine the first level creating a basic dream dive between two people, the second the same but between three or four, and the final level allowing for at least four people and delving deeper than an ordinary dream. Forgotten memories, metaphysical heart... I've accessed both those things when I was able to use it as a Nobody Element. It will probably be needed again at some point."
"First set sounds better for sure. Hopefully it will work out, because it sounds really, really cool...and with our luck..." She yawned suddenly, then whapped herself lightly on the forehead. "Sorry! You just had to remind me about the time, though. I hope I can get that book away from Jalen; he's probably still buried in it."
Amy unfolded herself and stood, stretching for a second. "I gotta warn you, I dream about cats a lot. Five or six little strays everywhere. Always the same cats, too. That and-" She bit her lip for just a second. "I dunno. We'll probably end up dreaming of the guys in speedos or something else equally ridiculous."
She gave a low snicker. "That should be entertaining. Keep in mind it is a lucid dream and we'll be able to do whatever we want with it within reason, but yes, it will at least start out either one of my dreams or yours, depending on who's dreaming more strongly tonight."
Mischievously, she reached down again and gave Ember's tail a slight tug, receiving an ear-twitch and a playful swat in return. Then she glanced up at Amy with a somewhat more serious expression, ignoring the untrimmed bangs that fell over her eyes at this angle. "If it is a nightmare, it will be good experience. Whether or not you decide to learn the spell, these practice session might at least help you work through that problem."
Smirking at the idea of being able to suggest to dream-Jalen that stripping was a good idea and maybe actually getting him to do it, Amy moved to the door, resting her hand on the knob. "If I end up dreaming of a naked Jalen, you can't look, okay?" She giggled before sobering slightly. If she could get rid of those stupid dreams...
"I'll throw a party when I don't have to deal with them anymore. I've been prone to the stupid things since I was a kid. Night Song. See you."
Letting out another giggle which she really couldn't help - her mind had started suggesting ideas for fun dreams tonight - Amy pulled open the door and slipped out, waving briefly at Song before pulling it closed.
Amy sat on the couch, absently flipping through a book as she waited for Eli to finish cleaning his room. She'd promised him that they'd meet daddy for lunch and then go to the Crystal Fissure, and her son had been so excited that he'd practically flown into his room. She could hear things banging into the wall, and guessed that he was tossing his toys across the room towards his toy box...and missing. Grinning a little, she flipped a page and called out to him.
"Eli! Just pick them up and drop them in! You want to go sometime this year, right?"
The banging stopped, followed by dead silence. Amy frowned and stood, tossing the book aside.
"Eli?"
A few seconds later, her eight-year-old son came bounding out of his room, waving his arms and grinning wildly. He was followed by a Flan of all things, and Amy simply stared. What was a-
"Mom! Aunt Crys wants to teach me magic, can I learn? Huh? Please? I promise I'm not gonna burn down the house or freeze everybody or-"
"...Eli..." She blinked a few times, then shook her head. The Flan was still there. "What're you- Why's- Okay. First, Aunt Crys? She's back on Earth, sweetie. And why's a-"
Her son sighed as though he thought she was completely dense, and pointed to the Flan. "Aunt Crys. Right here. So can I?"
"Uh...No. You're still a kid and- that's a Flan." She sank back onto the couch, shaking her head. Ookay...
Song, meanwhile, had found herself on the roof of all places. Why she was on the roof of Amy's dream house, she really couldn't say, though it wasn't uncommon for her to fly from rooftop to rooftop in her ordinary dreams. It was quite amusing, however, to listen to the voices emanating through the windows, and she took her time in making her way over the roof and dropping down in the front, deciding to play along in her own way and knock on the door.
"But mooooom! I'm old enough! And daddy says I'd be really good-"
"Eli, no." At the sound of the knock, she sighed in relief and stood, ignoring the mass of Jello pudding as she made her way to the door. She'd deal with it later, or torch it when Eli wasn't around, or- Pulling open the door, she grinned as she saw her friend and hugged her.
"Hey! What're you doing here? Do you want a Flan? Eli says it's Crys but you know kids...I dunno where he got it." She released Song and stepped back, frowning for a second. Wasn't there something she was supposed to be remembering?
Expecting something like this, Song just hugged her back and tried to keep her grin from growing to maniacal proportions. "I never was a fan of Flan. Are you sure it isn't Crys in disguise? Maybe the kid's on to something." Amy could take that however she liked. Maybe it would remind her of where they actually were, and maybe not.
"I'd think that if-" She was cut off as Eli shot past her and glomped onto Song, laughing.
"Aunt Song! Are you here to tell me a story? I always liked your stories. Mom and me are gonna go meet daddy, then we're gonna go to the Crystal Fissure, and do you wanna come? It'd be a lot of fun with you and-" His babble was stopped abruptly as Amy clapped a hand over his mouth and gently pulled him away.
"Sweetie, go finish your room, okay? Song and I have stuff to talk about." She glanced back at the Flan and watched as it disappeared. Eli groaned but did as he was told. As his door shut, she turned back to Song and smiled.
"This is really weird. I can understand dreaming about Eli, but Crys-Flan? She's gonna kill me when I tell her."
Song only smiled in docile amusement at the excited child until his would-be mother shooed him away. Amy's next comment made her eyebrows raise slightly and her smile turn back into a grin. "Oh, I think she'll be amused by it," she said airily, waving a hand in a dismissive gesture. "After all, you can't really control your own dreams until you realize that you're dreaming. And now that you have, what would you like to do?"
"Most of the stuff popping into my head right now is either R-rated or would probably scare you." Amy giggled, then bit her lip for a few seconds, thinking. She nodded to herself before she spoke. "Fly. Maybe I can ignore my fear of heights this time. Or should that be fear of falling?"
Song covered her mouth in a dainty yet somehow mischievous gesture at the brief description of Amy's thoughts, but held her tongue. Or tried to... she wasn't particularly good at keeping quiet anymore. "Not much scares me, really. I must be horribly jaded. However, best not to go into detail because you might actually make something manifest. Flying is always a good place to start." She stepped away from the door and gestured for Amy to come outside. "Can you do it on your own?"
She followed her outside, readjusting her glasses slightly. She could probably get rid of these now if she wanted, but she was so used to them it didn't really seem to matter. Laughing softly, she shook her head. "I was thinking more along the lines of a house-full-of-kids-scary, but good point. Um...I dunno, actually. Every flying dream I've ever had, I was already in the air when I realized I was doing it. No wings, either."
"Oh well. It's really quite easy." Song turned her back on the house, squinting up at the sky as if making mental calculations. "I still remember the very first lucid dream I ever had. I was only a child, but as soon as I realized what was happening, I ran straight out the door and jumped off the porch with no intention of coming back down. It was quite disappointing, actually, as I woke up right at that moment."
She spread her arms and flexed them in a practiced motion - a rather convincing imitation of the way a bird's wing moves, not just flapping up and down but cupping the air and pushing it back in a circular motion. She did this slowly a couple times, getting into the rhythm, and then she jumped and flapped her arms much harder, lifting herself up to hover several feet above the ground. "This is the way I usually do it now, when I'm not going dragon. You probably don't have to be as methodical about it as I am, though."
Amy simply stared at her for a moment before giggling madly. "I'm- I'm sorry, but that just looked really weird with a person doing it...and now I'm self-conscious about how I'll look." She took a deep breath and let it out, trying to get the giggles under control. When she was sure she wasn't going to bust up again, she closed her eyes, holding her arms out at her sides. She wasn't going to flap; she didn't feel comfortable doing that, but there was more than one way up. Slowly, she felt herself lift off the ground, and when she opened her eyes, she was roughly level with Song.
"I suppose as long as I'm not moving this probably qualifies more as levitating than flying. But hey, at least I'm in the air!" Amy made the mistake of glancing down then, and faltered.
"Ack, ground..." She jerked her head back up and scowled. "See what I mean? Chicken!"
Song made a face at the teasing, but self-consciously made her arms elongate and grow feathers, resembling distorted wings, but making the movement look a bit more natural and less awkward.
"Just remember, if you fall, you can always turn the ground to water, or a mountain of pillows or something. Stay close to rooftops and such if it makes you feel better." To demonstrate, she maneuvered herself over the roof of the dream house, barely a foot above it, and hovered there for a moment before making a short flight to a house next to it that may or may not have been there before that moment.
"Okay...Or maybe Jello." She watched carefully before following, gliding effortlessly through the air as she tried her best to ignore the drop to the ground. It really was silly to be scared like this; she could land on an air mattress if she wanted. She landed slowly on the roof of the house next door, smiling faintly. Well, it was a start. The smile faded as she lowered her gaze to study the shingles.
"I'm sorry I laughed. Sometimes I don't think. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything."
Once Amy had reached the neighboring roof, Song flew to the next, playing a sort of follow-the-leader. "Oh no, don't worry about it. I need my pride pricked now and then. Usually I don't think about how silly it must look because I only fly that way when I'm alone. During Refugee business I give myself a proper set of wings. Angel of Dreams and all that. Thing is, silly as it looks, it feels natural. This is the way a bird does it, and... well, I could go on quite a tangent about my odd habits of mental shapeshifting, but I should probably save it for later."
"Maybe I'll try wings sometime, once I figure out what I want. Refugee business...Sometimes I think our reality is the dream. It's like too much of what I've always wanted is coming true, so it can't possibly be real. Once or twice...Once or twice I've woken up and been scared to death that Jalen wouldn't be there, that none of you would be there, and I was so relieved that I was only dreaming..."
Amy shrugged as she flew, nearly forgetting her worry of falling. It was a small shadow in the back of her mind, easily ignored at the moment. She was more interested in the conversation.
"How odd? ...Though maybe you're right, and we should save it for later. What else should we be working on?"
A strange expression crossed Song's face as Amy spoke of dreams and reality. It started as her usual mild amusement at the irony of their lives, but then it was as if something deeper clicked and her eyes took on that distant, yearning look which often corresponded to thoughts about Orpheus, or Xemnas, or the Dreaming. When she answered, the words were quiet, almost mumbled. "Sometimes... I think you may be right. It seems unreal..."
And then, just as quickly, she came back to the present. "Anyway, yeah, I'll tell you about it later if you want, and if you're tired of flying then you should work on your control over the dream itself." She perched on the nearest rooftop and allowed her arms to shift back to normal, beckoning Amy to join her.
"We can do that- the control thing, I mean." She moved over to Song and eased herself into a sitting position, trying not to tilt over and fall off. She had her klutz moments in reality, and planned to avoid them as much as possible in her dreams. She'd caught the look in Song's eyes and the words, but decided not to respond. Maybe later, when they had less fantastical things to talk about. Though really, with lives like theirs...She found herself smiling suddenly. 'With lives like theirs' indeed.
Instead of talking her through it at first, Song just held out her hand and dreamed a flower into existence, one of the Alverian flowers that grew in Radiant Garden now that the world was healed. "You should remember how this works. The principle of the Dreaming is controlling the space around you, and creating matter out of thought."
The grin turned into an outright smirk as she looked at the flower. "Like my lightsaber." Amy waved a hand, and the silver-hilted weapon materialized in her grasp. She turned the hilt away from herself and flicked a switch. The purple beam blazed forth and she cackled happily. "Behold, I'm a Jedi again! " Waving the weapon around gently, she glanced over at Song.
"I don't think I'd do so well with all the rules, though. Don't get attached to this, don't do that...I'd be more likely to end up using the Dark Side." Amy flicked the switch again, extinguishing the blade. "Or maybe not, because the thought of Crys beating me with Igor for eternity doesn't sound like fun."
Song snickered at the act. "Well, whether or not you'd make a good Jedi, I must say you're much better at the creation aspect of dreaming than you are at flying. So... since I mentioned shapeshifting, do you think you can manage that? It's really the same thing, only you change your own body rather than space outside of you." And though she'd already shown the technique with her arm-wings, she performed a more thorough demonstration by transforming herself into a gargoyle-like beast. Crouched as she was on the roof, it seemed appropriate. Rather, it came to her naturally, with very little concentrated thought. In her mind, that was the form her body had already taken, based on her current position and surroundings, and that was the mental shapeshifting she'd spoken of.
"I dunno...I've never really thought of ever being anything besides myself. Okay, I've thought of being other people, but that's obviously not the same thing-" Her babbling died abruptly as Song changed, and she clapped. "Oh, that's brilliant! Um...god, what should I try..." A dozen ideas raced through her head, but none of them seemed right. She had a sudden urge to see if she could turn herself into a life-size Rubik's Cube, but decided against it. Something alive, idiot. A moment later, she let out a yelp as the obvious choice hit her.
Amy closed her eyes and pictured her cats, with their soft fur and long legs, and whiskers that brushed her skin as they nuzzled her. A few heartbeats later, a large orange cat was perched on the roof next to Song. She meowed, then flicked her tail. Whoops. Better try that again.
"How's this?"
The gargoyle bared its shark-like teeth in a rather frightening grin, and spoke in a slightly rougher, hissing version of Song's voice. "That'sss perffect. Can you movvve like a cat?"
Large talons flexed, damaging the shingles beneath, and her heavy tail shifted, draping loosely around herself. Her muscular shoulders were hunched, beaky head slung low almost like that of a vulture. She seemed to fit into this predatory form as easily as she did in her human body, if not more so.
"I think..." Amy stood and began to move along the ridgepole, tail high as her confidence grew. This wasn't so hard! She mentally smacked herself a few seconds later as she put a paw down wrong and slipped. Her back end slipped sideways and she scrambled to dig her claws into the shingles. Well hell. It was funny when her cats did it. After she pulled herself up, she slunk back to Song and settled herself, trying to act like nothing had happened. She was glad cats didn't blush.
Song had leaned forward a bit when Amy slipped, watching closely to see if she would fall and if she could manage to pull the twisting trick which cats used to land on her feet, but she seemed to do a good enough job using her claws to scramble back up, so Song had to be satisfied with that.
"Not bad. It may not be neccesssarrry to do much shifting, ssshould you take the job, but it'sss a good trrick to know." With that, she sat back normally and resumed her human shape, the change happening at the same time as the movement occurred. She reached out idly and scritched the Amy-cat's head. "Anything else you want to try, or do you want to keep practicing what we've gone over so far?"
"I was wondering..." A low rumble started as her head was scratched, and she jerked away, shifting back to herself. Her cheeks were bright red, and she coughed.
"Damn cats, purring over everything. Anyway," Amy started again, the blush fading. "I was wondering if there was a way to- my nightmares- not my normal ones. The other ones. Do you think there's a way to lock them up? I mean, I've been thinking about it and it's probably not that great an idea, but I just hate not having any control over the damn things. They scare me and I can't even remember them until they happen, and then it's too late...so what's the point of having them, then? Or maybe there's a way to remember them when I wake up, so at least I can have a little more warning..." She sighed and shook her head. "I just need to do something about it. "
She gazed out at the dreamscape's horizon, tapping a curled index finger against her lips thoughtfully. "We can probably do something about them, if we can find them. Find the source, that is. You say you never know when they're going to happen, so that might be tricky, especially with my current limitations on dreams. I don't think I can go digging around in your Heart like I did with Axel. Still, since they are dreams, we might have a chance here. If so, you'd probably know best where to look for them." She gestured vaguely, seeming to indicate that she wanted Amy to either lead the way, or change the dream itself into the proper setting.
"I was worried about that, too. I'm not sure myself where I get the things...though that last one, the boy? It was about Josiah, wasn't it? And Calum. All the blood and darkness were more symbolic than literal, I think." She shook her head and an instant later, they were back in the house, sitting on the couch. It was silent now, empty except for them. Amy leaned back and closed her eyes, thinking. She spoke slowly, trying to find the right words.
"Maybe they do come from my Heart, somehow. Seems more likely than- Oh, I don't know." She opened her eyes and folded her arms across her chest.
Song watched her for a moment, then let her eyes travel slowly around the room, picking out shadows and corners and little random imperfections. "I don't suppose they'd answer if you called them out, but who knows? If they are related to Calum, well, he does seem the type to accept a challenge."
"Not sure if I want to." She muttered, rubbing her arms. "It's funny, after I calmed down I started thinking that I could deal with him. If he went after me again, that is. I wasn't scared of him anymore. Just angry. I was gonna go find Lilith because I wanted to ask her if the grimoire had a sealing spell...Not like I could cast it, forget any potential I might have. But I wanted to find a way to seal him so Josiah could be himself again, so we could get the rat-bastard out without him causing any more trouble..."
God, you talk too much.
"That got off track, didn't it? Sorry. I just- keep things to myself too much, and then they spill out with people I trust."
She shook her head. "No, don't worry about it. It's good to think and talk. You'd don't even know how I get, even when I'm by myself, going through my trains of thought aloud to organize them. I dunno, actually I kind of do that when I'm talking to others, too. I read a book recently which included a group of friends who called those sorts of conversations their talkroads, and at the end of the talkroad they might find a good answer to the problem, and... there, you see? I'm doing it too."
Her expression was a cross between a smile and a grimace. "Annnyway, back on the subject of Calum, it's kinda the same with..." she paused, blinked, "no, actually, it's the opposite with me. I wasn't scared of him at first, and now I'm bloody terrified. It's that darkness he uses. I... I guess I just can't handle Darkness anymore, after the whole Heartless thing... I think it's the one thing that still truly scares me..."
"There's a novel idea. I used to talk to myself at home, not really to organize my thoughts, mostly 'cause I was lonely...but now I've got you guys." She laughed, then sobered as the conversation changed back to Calum. Yeah, whatever it was that the pirate used was scary all right...and friggin' cold.
"It's good that you're afraid of it now. Not- I mean, it makes you cautious. It sucked losing you the first time, you know? None of us would want that to happen again. Don't think we'd be getting third chances." She chewed on her lip, wishing she could think of what she really wanted to say.
"I'm still afraid of the dark, but the funny thing is, I think I'm actually more afraid of the kind of darkness the boogeyman hides in, and not so much actual Darkness. Maybe Calum's the boogeyman." A small snort showed what she thought of this idea.
"Heh. He might as well be," she said a bit darkly. "And actually this is my third chance, if you'll recall. I lost my heart twice already. Rather glad Heartless have disappeared, cuz I don't think I'd leave even a Dusk the third time around. Still, it does let me sing that Buffy song..." and here she did start singing.
"Apocalypse, we've all been there.
The same old trips, why should we care?
What can't we do if we get in it?
We'll work it through within a minute.
We have to try, we'll pay the price.
It's do or die, hey I've died twice..."
She allowed another small smirk. Song seemed able to smile at everything. "Okay, obligatory singing aside, where were we?"
"Banging our heads against the wall." Amy facepalmed, then grinned as she lowered her hand. "We were going to try to find the source of my little annoyances, but maybe it should wait for another dream, since we seem to be so good at distracting ourselves." She giggled. "Next thing you know, we'll have naked guys parading through the room."
"Don't even suggest that, because if my imagination gets carried away and warps your dream beyond all reason, I'll blame you." She stuck out her tongue playfully, then sobered, or at least attempted to. "Alright, alright, this is a cruel suggestion, but maybe if you let yourself get scared, it might work. Can you do that?"
Hee, a room full of naked Jalens....no, don't want Song looking. Not that she would. But...okay, a room full of naked Orpheuses...wait. Half and half? She smacked herself upside the head before blinking at Song. What?
"What?" She verbalized, then made a face. Oh yes, that would probably work. "I guess..." She sighed and closed her eyes as she settled back again, wondering how she was supposed to get scared when she was relaxing. She should be perching on the edge of the couch, waiting for shadows to creep out of corners and eat her. Or freeze her to death...She shivered despite herself. Okay, that wasn't a good memory, and that was the point. She'd been scared that he'd get in her Heart and see things that no one was supposed to see, the little fears she had about things, and the big fears, and maybe worst of all, she didn't want him seeing what made her happy because he'd use it against her and she could barely protect herself, let alone anyone else-
Amy's eyes flew open and she shifted position on the couch, pulling her knees up to her chest. Everything still looked normal, Song was still beside her, but the creeped out feeling she'd had when dealing with Calum was back.
"Goddamn it."
Song watched her carefully, from the corners of her eyes, but kept note of the room around them at the same time. "That's it..." she said quietly, in a voice that wasn't too soothing. Almost demanding, in fact, but in a subtle way. "Don't fight it. Not yet. Let it take you...Give yourself to the terror, Amy." She felt quite bad saying that, but if it worked and they were able to fix the problem because of it, then, well... sometimes she still thought that the ends justified the means.
"You know, you suck sometimes." It came out as a whisper, because the shadows that hadn't been there suddenly were, and her breathing quickened. She kept expecting to see Calum step into the middle of the room, and was almost surprised when he didn't. The temperature in the room was dropping though, and she didn't like this...she didn't like it at all. Her heart pounding, she closed her eyes tight. "I can't do this, Song. I can't. I might bring him here and even if it is a dream I just can't."
Almost unnoticeably, Song stiffened, and willed herself not to shiver. The cold... and the shadows... were getting to her too.
But this was a dream. This was her territory, and with that thought, she once again ceased to be human, and in her place sat a wolf, hackles raising in fear and anger. "Yes you can," she snarled. "Let him come. Let him come so I can tear him to shreds." Just to make sure that her ferocity didn't reassure Amy so much that her fears dissipated, Song shot her a piercing glare from dark wolf eyes, looking like a nightmare herself.
If the situation had been any different, Amy might have laughed at her words, but as it was, it only served to make her anxiety worse. Freezing shadows, a rat-bastard pirate, and a very pissed off Song-wolf. Oh yes, this was not fun time. Shaking, she reached a hand up to brush her hair back, and remembered when Calum had done the same, but it'd been Josiah's hand that had touched her. That did it. Letting out a gasp, she opened her eyes slowly to see Josiah - no, it was Calum, come striding out of the shadows as if he'd always been there. And maybe he had, this whole time, just waiting-
Amy pulled in on herself again and buried her face against her knees.
Song waited only long enough to see Amy's reaction - retreat - and then she sprung into action, teeth bared and tail flagged in the manner of an alpha wolf confronting a challenger. She leaped at the dream-vision of Calum, going straight for the throat as she sometimes imagined when watching someone she greatly disliked. Gentle as she usually was on the outside, things passed in her mind that most would never expect. The sensation of her fangs sinking into flesh and tendon, the taste of warm blood as it splattered over her jaws, the feel of muscles straining and contracting as she shook her head violently, ripping, shredding, decimating...
On the outside, in the real world where she had only her weak, human body, Song was tame, but in some ways it was the tameness of a beast on a leash, and when the leash and the muzzle of reality were removed...
In her mad ferocity, Song did not exert her own will over the shadow of Calum. She controlled herself and herself only. If this nightmare was to be defeated, it had to be done on its own ground.
Amy continued to cower, trying to ignore the sounds of Song attacking Calum, but found herself lifting her head enough to peek. Even though he seemed to be getting torn to shreds, there was a weird sort of overlay to him, one untouched by the wolf's teeth and claws. She was absolutely certain that when Song backed off, he was going to be totally unharmed. A small flame of anger began to grow inside her. It wasn't fair, he screwed Josiah six ways to Sunday and nothing happened to him...Josiah was the one paying the price because of a stupid, selfish-
Fire, he was scared of fire, remember? You really pissed him off with that, he was scared.
Before she could give it further thought, she rose from the couch, hands cupped in front of her like before. A grin slipped onto her lips, and she laughed.
"Hey Song, better move. Don't want singed fur, right?" The flame blinked into existence and grew steadily into a small ball, much like it'd done before. This time, however, instead of surrounding herself with it, she sent it outward - right past Song and into Calum.
The wolf who was Song dodged away, swifter and more agile on her paws than she was even as a lightfooted young woman. With a fierce, blood-stained grin, she watched as Calum emerged unharmed from her attack only to be struck by Amy's fire. Good. Perfect. The girl had been inspired to fight him herself.
She watched as Calum burned, writhing in the flames, and seemingly only seconds later, there was nothing left but ashes on the ground. After a dismissive wave, not even that remained. She turned to Song, still grinning. She felt...different. In a good way. She leaned down and hugged the wolf.
"Thanks. Thank you so much, Song."
The fur on the wolf's neck and shoulders smoothed down and her tail began to wag. The blood on her muzzle was gone - it had only been imagined anyway. She snuggled up to Amy, transformed from killer to caring protector without even changing shape. "I knew you could do it if you tried. You think it's gone from here for good?"
"If it's not, I think I can handle it now." Amy gave her another hug before letting go and straightening up. "That was a lot worse than facing myself." She made a face. "Hopefully I'll never have to do either again." Yawning, she shook her head. "S'funny, getting tired in a dream. Maybe it's time to wake up." Boy, wait until she told Jalen about this. He'd either be really proud of her, or demand to know why she hadn't dreamed him into it to protect her. Probably both. She snickered.
The wolf stood up on her hind paws, and then she was human again. "That's just your subconscious making you feel the way the way you think you should feel. You could make yourself un-tired if you wanted to, technically, but I think we've done quite enough this time around."
"No kidding." She yawned again before catching herself. Un-tired, right. She could do that...another time. "So do I make myself wake up now, or what? I've never actually tried to get out of a dream- I don't think."
Song shrugged. "Just stop dreaming, or whatever works for you. Actually with this technique, it's not as easy to make yourself wake up. The old way, I wasn't actually asleep, so I'd just will myself out of the other dreamer's mind and back into my own, but this way's different. Also, time tends to flow in dreams about the same as it flows in the waking world, so it might not actually be time to wake up, just time for this dream to end. And actually, people wake up several times during the night without realizing it, and go through multiple cycles of dreams, so..." She grinned suddenly and put a hand over her mouth. "Okay, I'm going to stop with the pseudo-science now."
Amy laughed. "No, it's interesting! But yeah...maybe if I just let go it'll shift to something else..." She pointed behind Song suddenly and snickered. "The Flan's back! Guess I'll see you in the waking world." She turned her head as Eli's bedroom door opened and the boy slipped out, carrying a notebook and a few empty jars. He grinned at them both before walking past them and out the front door.
"Bye Aunt Song! You've gotta tell me a story next time, okay?"
She smiled, and relaxed further as the dream resumed its normal flow. "Alright, Elijah. I promise, next time. Maybe I'll tell you the story about the evil pirate ghost." And then she faded out of sight, as if she was only a ghost herself, letting the spell dissipate and returning to her own natural dreams. Tonight it was a sandy beach in the light before dawn, running through the surf on the delicate, powerful legs of a horse, a comfortable weight on her bare back and gentle hands in her mane...
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OOC
Date: 2009-03-24 07:49 pm (UTC)...
Anyways, I love this log. Amy + Song + Dreams = EPIC WIN.
God, now I want to draaw Crys-Flan for some reason...>>
OOC
Date: 2009-03-24 10:21 pm (UTC)Me too. Lol, do it. Scar everyone. I might not have done a good enough job.
ooc
Date: 2009-03-24 11:02 pm (UTC)....and please don't burn me ;_;
ooc
Date: 2009-03-24 11:36 pm (UTC)*pat pat* Woulda chickened out and avoided the Calum thing, but Song-wolf has sharp teeth. >>;;
Re: ooc
Date: 2009-03-25 03:14 am (UTC)