Cylus 1, Arc 720
When the Mortalborn opened one of the numerous doors in the city of glass and metal that the Veil was to him, he discovered that it led to a meadow that was covered with numerous colourful, sweet-smelling flowers and that was bisected by a narrow stream. In the distance, a lush forest could be seen, and even further away there were a few low hills. Judging by how green everything was, it was late spring or early summer, at most. The sky above the lovely landscape was almost uniformly blue, with only a few small white clouds here and there, and there was a light, pleasant breeze. For a moment, the Mortalborn who had recently explored someone’s nightmare, just stood there and took in the scenery and the sights and sounds that surrounded him. Despite whatever conflicts he had with his sire Ziell, such peace did not leave him entirely unaffected.
In fact, he needed it from time to time.
When a butterfly with bright yellow wings appeared in front of him, fluttering, his eyes widened slightly, and he watched the creature for a while before it left again. There were no butterflies in Viden where he lived, and the world was always covered with snow, no matter what the time of the arc was.
After a while, he finally decided to walk on. He wanted to see if he could find the dreamer. He wanted to know what kind of mind had conjured such a place and if their entire dreamscape was like that or if the peace would be disturbed by something dark sooner or later. He followed the river and eventually reached a dirt path that led to a small village made up of thatched-roof cottages and a few pens with chicken, pigs as well as goats.
A child, a girl of no more than ten arcs of age with long, curly black hair, pale skin and bright blue eyes that wore a red dress with a white apron was standing in front of one of the cottages, looking left and right as if she were waiting for something – or for somebody.
The Mortalborn decided to stay behind one of the trees that surrounded the village and watch. For several bits, nothing happened, and then a loud bark could suddenly be heard. A large dog, an old mutt with shaggy brown fur came bounding towards the girl from the opposite direction, its tail wagging rapidly and its long, pink tongue lolling out of its mouth.
He wondered if he should intervene and stop the creature – it was unlikely that serious harm would befall someone in a dream; but then again, he had no interest in watching a child being ripped apart by a dog – when the girl suddenly knelt down on the ground and extended her arms, smiling all over her face. Apparently, he realized, she knew the animal. He decided to stay where he was.
“Oh, Teddy!” she exclaimed and wrapped her arms around the mutt who attempt to lick her face before she buried her face in its fur. Tears were running down her face. “Mummy and daddy said that you had died, but I knew that you were still alive and would come back to me! Oh, Teddy, I’ve missed you so so much! I’ll never complain when I have to go for a walk with you again! You are my best friend in the whole world!”
The Mortalborn who frowned on such sentimental behaviour more often than not found himself strangely touched by the scene in front of him, perhaps because he had rarely witnessed such pure and unadulterated joy in the waking world. There was no reason for him to linger though; the girl had been reunited with her dog that had apparently died in the waking world, at least for the duration of one night, and he would move on to the next dream, to watch and to learn, about Emea, Idalos and the nature of those that inhabited it.
When the Mortalborn opened one of the numerous doors in the city of glass and metal that the Veil was to him, he discovered that it led to a meadow that was covered with numerous colourful, sweet-smelling flowers and that was bisected by a narrow stream. In the distance, a lush forest could be seen, and even further away there were a few low hills. Judging by how green everything was, it was late spring or early summer, at most. The sky above the lovely landscape was almost uniformly blue, with only a few small white clouds here and there, and there was a light, pleasant breeze. For a moment, the Mortalborn who had recently explored someone’s nightmare, just stood there and took in the scenery and the sights and sounds that surrounded him. Despite whatever conflicts he had with his sire Ziell, such peace did not leave him entirely unaffected.
In fact, he needed it from time to time.
When a butterfly with bright yellow wings appeared in front of him, fluttering, his eyes widened slightly, and he watched the creature for a while before it left again. There were no butterflies in Viden where he lived, and the world was always covered with snow, no matter what the time of the arc was.
After a while, he finally decided to walk on. He wanted to see if he could find the dreamer. He wanted to know what kind of mind had conjured such a place and if their entire dreamscape was like that or if the peace would be disturbed by something dark sooner or later. He followed the river and eventually reached a dirt path that led to a small village made up of thatched-roof cottages and a few pens with chicken, pigs as well as goats.
A child, a girl of no more than ten arcs of age with long, curly black hair, pale skin and bright blue eyes that wore a red dress with a white apron was standing in front of one of the cottages, looking left and right as if she were waiting for something – or for somebody.
The Mortalborn decided to stay behind one of the trees that surrounded the village and watch. For several bits, nothing happened, and then a loud bark could suddenly be heard. A large dog, an old mutt with shaggy brown fur came bounding towards the girl from the opposite direction, its tail wagging rapidly and its long, pink tongue lolling out of its mouth.
He wondered if he should intervene and stop the creature – it was unlikely that serious harm would befall someone in a dream; but then again, he had no interest in watching a child being ripped apart by a dog – when the girl suddenly knelt down on the ground and extended her arms, smiling all over her face. Apparently, he realized, she knew the animal. He decided to stay where he was.
“Oh, Teddy!” she exclaimed and wrapped her arms around the mutt who attempt to lick her face before she buried her face in its fur. Tears were running down her face. “Mummy and daddy said that you had died, but I knew that you were still alive and would come back to me! Oh, Teddy, I’ve missed you so so much! I’ll never complain when I have to go for a walk with you again! You are my best friend in the whole world!”
The Mortalborn who frowned on such sentimental behaviour more often than not found himself strangely touched by the scene in front of him, perhaps because he had rarely witnessed such pure and unadulterated joy in the waking world. There was no reason for him to linger though; the girl had been reunited with her dog that had apparently died in the waking world, at least for the duration of one night, and he would move on to the next dream, to watch and to learn, about Emea, Idalos and the nature of those that inhabited it.
