[Sweetsong] Saoire's most favoured fairy-ferret

[Winston]

43rd Zi'da

Saoire's most favoured fairy-ferret

Continued from here ...

OOC

Just to dispel any confusion, off the back of the previous dream issued to him by Saoire, I decided to have this trigger a lucid dream and some Dreamwalking for Winston. So this entire post and those to follow are in the dreaming, none of this is in the waking world.

Winston rose from his slumber, placing a hand on his cheek absent-mindedly. It was warm. He frowned as he looked down at the cookies. "Jinja-bread un cinnamon soft-bake cookies? MMmmmmm....". There was a familiar feeling in the air, the feeling of home. "Saiore?..." He looked around, but there was no one to be seen, noe-one but the tiny purple turtle that hovered by his bed. He could not suppress this feeling, a light-hearted sensation. He giggled and he pulled himself up out of bed. "Dis feelin' ... Me es dreamin'.". His words were not quite a question. There was something about seeing the little turtle that told him this was so.

He held out his hand and willed the turtle to move towards him. There was something almost tangible about it. "Come wid me, den." The words helped focus his intent and the turtle floated over and landed on his shoulder.

He gave a smile and moved over to the door. Reaching out his hand, he closed his eyes for a moment and thought of Saoire, of home and of the dream he had been having... He opened the door and stepped through, into a world full of tutrles of purple, orange and gray, that were dropping cakes all around him.

Somehow, he knew, he knew she had touched him. She was nowhere to be seen, but he could feel her nonetheless.

He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a mirror. Inside it, he saw a smiling ferret standing a short distance from him. It waved and turned to present its back. It had a tortoiseshell pattern on it, the trademark of Saoire's chosen. Winston let out a chuckle. "Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Woo-HOO!". He did a little dance in the cake rain. His joy was such, he could not contain it. He knew the ferret in the mirror was him and he knew that Saoire had been. Disco music began to play and a spotlight shone down upon him as he did fist-pumps, skips and back-flips in an ever-changing rotation of changing coloured lights. There was cheering and flowers thrown upon the ground.

... It was unclear how long this went on for, but he became compelled to share his experience with someone. He ran to the door, through which he had come originally and passed back through it. This time it lead back to the hallway inside Chest, but now it was longer and full of doors. There were too many to count. This felt normal even when he was awake these days and he run to a door with one person held in his mind ... Her name appeared on the door and he opened it and passed through.

"Vega?! Veeeeeeega!" He called. Winston was hopping up and down and waving his arms furiously. His tone was excited and babling. While obviously urgent in some way, it was a good kind of urgent if his beaming smile was anything to go by.

OOC

Vega, I'm only a novice, so cannot control much (if anything) outside my own dream worlds.

Please feel free to kick off the new setting etc. as Winston tumbles towards you.

[Vega]

43rd Trial of Zi'da during Arc 722

Vega was dreaming.

She had not been able to dreamwalk for a long time after she died, but slowly and surely the ability came back to her and she enjoyed the dreaming once again. On this particular trial she was enjoying a regular sleep, however, not engaging in lucid dreaming but sleeping and dreaming as she did.

In her sleep she was sitting, at the side of a very very wide road. As well as being wide, the road was long and stretched into the distance both ways as far as the eye could see. Vega was sitting on her suitcase, a large trunk filled with apricots. She wore a very posh green frock, a nice green coat and a hat which she ensured was always at a jaunty angle. On her hands were green gloves. Soon, the carriage would come and then the carriage driver would load the trunk on which she now sat (and thus, the apricots) on to the carriage. She'd climb on and then they would Go.

She was Going Somewhere, Vega knew. In that moment, it was all she needed to know, and she accepted it without question or pause. Wherever she was Going it was Somewhere Important. So she sat, and she waited. Pulling her lacy pale-green handkerchief out of her sleeve, she touched it, pointlessly, to her nose. She wasn't sure why she did that, but it was something that posh people did - people with jaunty hats suitcases, who were travelling with apricots to Somewhere Very Important.

As she heard her name being called, Vega turned and looked. There, atop the carriage (which was made entirely of glass), was Winston. He was waving madly and as she realised that she recognised him, Vega "awoke" in the dream and smiled. Always, she thought, that bloody hat. She waved back at him then, and stood up. "Winstaaan!" Vega waved and watched as the carriage got closer and closer and ....

"Bloody hell that's big innit?"

Vega mumbled that to no one in particular. But, it transpired that the combination of his dream and hers had collided into this, and she was more than happy to go along with it. Winston was, indeed, atop a carriage, standing on the roof and waving. The carriage was being driven by a cadouri (mouse) and pulled by four cadouri (mouses, white). And they were all the size of human / biqaj (in the case of Winston and the driving-mouse) or horses (in the case of the pulling-mouses).

As the carriage arrived, Vega was aware that, in fact, the road wasn't wide to Winston and the mouses. No, it was wide to her because she was - in this dream - awake-Winston-size. Whereas he was awake-Vega sized.

"Well," she said with a grin. "This is new. Wotcha Winstaan, what are you doin' here?" She didn't know if he was lucid or not and she didn't want to wake him suddenly. It could be dangerous that so, she cautiously found out what she could.

[Winston]

Yee-haaaaw cow-ferret!

Winston squinted in order to try and see the tiny Vega more clearly. "Wow, mun. Dem's so far away." He said to no one in particular, as he adjusted his hat. At first he thought she was far away. but then as it became apparent that she was not distant, but small, he placed his hand over his mouth, his shoulders rising and his tiny little floating tortoise betraying his thoughts as he giggled.

The Devil (Tortoise) on My Shoulder
The Tortoise (Curiosity): Why is she so small?
Winston: Me don't know.
The Tortoise (Curiosity): Where ARE we?
Winston: Me don't know.
The Tortoise (Curiosity): Is this her dream?
Winston: Me don't KNOW!
The Tortoise (Curiosity): Where are all the dragons? Why is she not dreaming of dragon?
Winston: Me don't KNOW, mun! Shhhhush.

"Hehehehe. Hi Vega! *giggle* Yuh so cute, mun! Yuh commin' aboard?" If she did he would suddenly seem to remember something. "Oh! OH! Yuh want tuh sit an me shoulda?" It would be very clear from his expression that he wanted her to sit of his shoulder, even if she did not. He offered his hand down for her to climb up or simply on to.

The tiny turtle floating just off to his side approached Vega and without hesitation asked. "Where are all the dragons?" Winston's little face was one of shock as he realised that she could see and hear the little voice that was usually only in his head.

The carriage set off again, the dust from the road kicking up behind them and the dry, hot air drawing the moisture from their lips. "OH! Yus!" He said, as he remembered that she had enquired and why he had came in the first place. "Me 'ope yuh don't mind me visitin', bot Saiore woke me en me dream an' look-look-LOOOOK!" He said, doing that thing where something tries to look at its own back by turning around and just ends up chasing themselves in little circles. He pointed at his exposed back, where the tortoise-shell pattern indicative of Saiore's marked could be seen. Right now however, rather then just a pattern, it was an actual hardened, ferret-shaped shell, like an armoured backpack. "She 'as blessed me wid 'er mark." "We can go to Saiore's Dream any time we want to!" "An' she cun protect meh." "I like your hat." Winston and the turtle spoke together without a gap as in his first dreaming experience, he spilled every single thought he had out at her whether he wanted to or not.

[Vega]

Vega-sized Winston looked very dapper, Vega thought. Meanwhile she, a Winston-sized Vega was seeing the world from a whole new light. As the carriage rumbled up to her, it felt big and imposing. Not that it bothered her, because she knew she was dreaming and she understood at a fundamental basic level that, no matter what her size, she was fine.

And, even had she ever been inclined towards nerves at being so small, she couldn't be anything but happy with Winston and so she gave a very chipper grin and clambered up on to his shoulder. "Schnizzle my snoot, Winston, I feel like I'm up a mountain. " she said, honestly. "How comes you don't hold on tighter?"

Just then, a turtle popped out of Winston's back, it seemed, and asked her a question. "I dunno," she said. "I mean, this is a dream, right, an' there aren't none in this bit. Hey, do you want to come see my Dreamscape?" She asked that and looked at Winston wide-eyed and she beamed in delight. "Oh, congratulations, Winston! That's awesome that is. A very well - deserved mark it is too." As he explained that Saoire woke him up, she nodded. "So, you've not done Dreamwalkin' before? Right, we need to make sure that you're safe an' whatnot."

They spoke together then and Vega laughed. "You two are adorable. Thanks, I like it too. It were a hat I saw many many arcs ago, when I were a kid. We had docked somewhere, to pick up supplies, an' I were fightin' with my cousin in the sandy beach. I was pummelling his face," she said, with no small amount of satisfaction "An there were a woman sitting there. She were sittin' on a suitcase, her hands in gloves and held together tight in her lap. Her hat was just-so an' she looked really beautiful an' really sad." Vega shrugged slightly "I wondered what made her so sad, an' I wanted to go talk to her, but my cousin's face needed poundin'. She's popped up in my dreams lots of time since then."

Thus, the hat. "An' yeah, that's really great. Well done. It's a big deal for an Immortal to put their mark on you. " It was for her, anyhow, and she suspected it was for Winston.

Vega knew that even though they were sleeping, Winston needed to understand what was going on here "So, I reckon we might wanna do some talkin' about dreamwalkin', what say you?" she said. "Yer dreamscape is an important place, an' dreamwalkin' is great fun, but it can be tricky, too. Want some help?"

She wouldn't start spouting out lessons without his approval, and she was far from able to tell him all, but Vega knew that she knew a bit more than him and was happy to help.

[Winston]

Yee-haaaaw cow-ferret!

Winston giggled with glee, in part because of Vega's lexicon, which made her even MORE cute right now, but also because of the query. "Cus me don't want de shoulda-owna tuh tell me tuh get aff." He said this with no indication that this was likely to happen to Vega, but was, simply put, the truth. "'ere, sit like dat, wid dis dere... an'... yeah, like dat." He said, offering a little advice with regard to Mount - Biped. "An den keep behind me ear an' me wont nock yuh af when me turn me 'ead." He smiled brightly.

As she replied to Winston's outer inner turtle, he nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yeah. Me kinda tought dat was dis? Me es very knew to dis kinda ting dough." The turtle floated around to hover beside Vega, upon Winston's shoulder and whispered. "Will there be dragons? Please say yes..."

"Me nat sure dat me like dat yuh are no langa only inside me 'ead." He said to the turtle, which in reply simple poked out its tongue and buddied up to Vega, should she not shoo it away.

Winston pulled a semi-playful 'oh-oh' face when it became apparent he might not be safe. It had not occurred to him that he might not be and the suggested brought to mind a whole host of thoughts. "OOOooo... Maybe we can get eaten by the Dragons?" Winston now pulled a shocked-face. "Dat's nat a GOOD ting." He scolded the turtle. "Cun dat 'appen?" He asked Vega, with a healthy does of caution and a glance at the sky outside the carriage.

Winston said nothing in reply to her hat/pummelling story, he simply listened with genuine interest and nodded. The turtle however giggled. "You were very pummelly wen't you? Based on your reputation, you still are. I'm glad we don't have a face that needs pummelling." The thoughts were unfiltered, perhaps not polite, but innocent in oregine. If anything, the turtle was impressed. The ferret, however, looked pretty horrified at the turtle's total lack of respect and tact.

"Me sarry. Does everyone 'ave one af dese? Do me need tuh 'ide 'im?.. Ar turn 'im aff?" He said looking around for Vega's mind-vomit-creature.

When she offered to explain a little about Dreamwalking he nodded with great interest, before suddenly remembering that she was trying to balance on his shoulder and he suddenly stopped with an apologetic smile. "Um, yuh, mun. Dat wud be right nice." Winston had taken to using a few Vega-isms when he was around her. It was his attempt to become familiar and as such, it would be expressed with a fondness and devoid of mockery.

The turtle however was quite happy with it's own approach to conversation, much to the ferrets chagrin. "Oh! Say we can summon dragons. I might never wake up if THAT's true. Big ones with mighty wings. I will call it sam..." Winston pinched the turtles lips together. "Shush, mun, let Vega talk." Perhaps only because the turtle wanted the answers she had to offer, it complied.

[Vega]

Vega very much appreciated Winston's help with how to sit on someone's shoulder and didn't mention that, in fact, she could make herself entirely comfortable here and, should there ever be someone in the waking world who was this big, she was unlikely to be shoulder-sitting. He was being helpful and she appreciated it, very much. The turtle was funny and Vega couldn't help but smile and nod. "Yeah, I've always been a bit prone to face pummellin' it's true," she grinned at Winston and shook her head. "Never anythin' wrong with the truth, my friend."

He said he thought this was her dreamscape and Vega nodded. "It is," she said. "But a dreamscape is a right big thing. This is part of it. There's another bit I'd like to show you," and the carriage came to a stop. "There aren't dragons, no, I'm sorry." That was to the turtle. "But only friends get to come to this bit. Where we were was the outside edges, sort of." It was hard to explain really, but they made their way along a more narrow path, she continued. "But there aren't dragons an' that's because I don't want them. As Winston grows in power, he migh' want them in his dreamscape. You're his turtle from Saoire, though, right?" She smiled , obviously happy to meet the small creature. Hopefully, she would calm down and realise that she was there for Winston, not to sate her curiosity about dragons. "I like Saoire, she's righ' nice so she is."

The carriage came to a halt and they got to make their way to a small - but familiar - tent. It was Vega's tent in Sweetsong and she jumped down off Winston's shoulders. Somehow, as they walked to the tent, Vega grew. Winston, however, didn't shrink so they were able to be eye to eye with each other. "Come on in, an' have a seat." There was a place for the turtle, for Winston, whatever they wanted.

"So, Dreamwalkin' 101," Vega said with a smile, thinking how she would, at least, be able to show him what she was saying"The most important thing to remember is that Dreamwalkin' is about two things. Mental focus an' imagination. We shape the dreamin' with our imaginations, see," she said and held out her hand, palm up. A small bird appeared in her palm, coalescing into shape before singing a few lines and then flying off. It disappeared in a small puff-cloud a few seconds later. "In order to make somethin', to shape this dreamscape, I had to imagine that bird. But the focus is importan', because if I say to you, think of a bird, chances are you don't jus' think of one bird."

As she said that, a small train of birds started floating around her head - not just one type, but many. It looked very cartoon-y, as they danced and flapped about. "If I were tryin' to make jus' one bird, an' I got distracted or my mind wandered, well, who knows what I'd end up with," she said and grinned. The birds disappeared.

She looked, then, checking that Winston was following her and understanding what she was saying. When she was happy with that, she continued. "So, the reason why I don't have dragons here or nothin' like that is simple." She gestured around. "Dreamscapes are shaped by imagination. Populatin' your dreamscape with big things with teeth is not, in my 'umble opinion a wise thing to do. Cos if someone comes here an' is a better Dreamwalker than me an' has bad intentions towards me? Well, I've given them a dragon."

Motioning to Winston with a small smile, she continued. "It usually helps if you start out by doin' something that's possible, usually." On the table in front of them was a tea-set, with cups and so on. "Why don't you fill that cup with some tea, Winston? It makes sense, it's somethin' you've seen. Nice warm tea, in a cup." Nodding her head, she was sure he would do it. "Don't try an' do it, jus' make it so. Like it was always there."

[Winston]

Seeing eye-to-eye

He swayed gently as the carriage stopped and the little flying turtle shot out of the window in a flurry of excitement. When she mentioned that only friends came here, he blushed a little. "Yuh 'ave a very interesting dreamscape. Me neve been tuh a place like dis beffar."

"And we feel VERY honoured!" The turtle added as they dismounted the carriage.

The little turtle gasped as Vega described that she didn't want dragons. "Well, I guess if you have enough of them when you are awake, who needs to dream about them?" This time Winston kinda nodded in agreement with the turtle.

When Vega suggested that the turtle might be from Saiore, they both looked at each other for a moment, as if each were actually inspecting the other for the first time. "Me don't know, actually." he admitted. "Maybe." He shrugged. "I'm his curiosity. I'm usually a little voice inside his head, but here I'm a little voice OUTside his head." Winston was not sure he approved of this arrangement. "Mun, you'er 'ard enough tuh keep unda wraps wen yuh in me 'ead. Me es dooooooomed!" He exclaimed with light hearted mirth and smile at Vega.

As they reached the tent and Vega was big again, he giggled. "Dat es so cool, mun." He admitted, almost to himself and they entered.

The turtle darted in and whizzed around the room before dipping into a goldfish bowl with a little 'plop'. It bobbed about in the water for a while as the two of them talked, squirting little fountains of water to entertain itself.

Winston sat down and continued to listen with great interest. As the bird popped into existence, his face was filled with joy "Oh! Yay! Hello birdy..." and a moment latter, something vaguely resembling dismay as it as suddenly 'poofed' out of existence. "Oh..." He looked back at Vega, reminding himself that the bird was never really here.

The turtle giggled. "Dufus." It whispered to itself playfully.

Vega: "who knows what I'd end up with," ...

"Lats af birds." The turtle rose out of the water. "OOooooo......"

When she explained about the dangers of dangerous things in your Dreamscape, he nodded slowly. "Dat makes sense, me tink. Bot ef DEM want dragon, den dem cun just make dem right? An' den day 'ave dragon an' yuh don't? Me cud make dragon dat are me friends. Den me 'ave friendly dragons." The turtle piped up. "But what if you have a nightmare? Can he get hurt here?" Winston decided that this was the first VERY good question the turtle had asked since it came into existence and looked to vega with a sense of urgency to his expression.

Whatever Vega's answer, the Ferret set about his task. He looked at the cup and imagined some tea. He smacked his lips, deliberately bringing to the front of his mind the flavour of Woe's Hot Totty. It was not tea as such, but if they were going to drink something, this was a goooood choice.

The cup was filled with the drink. He let out a little yelp of joy. "Yay!" He picked it up and offered it to Vega. "Yuh shud try et... Oh, let me try et first, in case me made sometin' wrang..." No sooner had the thought he held in his mind turned from a lovely Hot Totty to something sour and unpleasant, did he take a sip and cough the unpleasant flavour over the floor. "Oh! *cough* Nope! *cough* Yep. Dat wus... Yep. No dragons. Got et." He cleared his thought and smiled apologetically as the turtle laughed raucously a few inches above the surface of the water.

He held up a hand. "OK, lets try dat again..." He said, once he had composed himself. He cleared his mind of the unpleasantness and then imagined the Hot Totty again. This time he simply smelled the aroma and sipped. With a wide grin, he repeated the process in a cup for Vega to try, taking all due care to ensure she got something nice and not something gross.

"Mr Woe Sir... Woe, very kindly showed me 'ow tuh make dis. Et's very gud an a cold trial. Doh tuh much cun go reet tuh yeh 'eah." He warned with a wizened nod.

As they drank and before Vega moved on to another topic, Winston queried casually over their drinks. "Me wus tinking, Et wud be gud tuh 'ave sometin outside Chest tuh use as me shap front? Some peepal" ..."Tovan! He-means-Tovan. Poor Tovan does not like it inside chest. Hehe." ... "... yuh, like Tovan, don't like et en Chest. Me wus wonderin' ef yuh wud make me one af dem lovely verdo af yars, but far like to attach tuh chest an' tuf sell me tings?" He looked across at her, not looking up had very quickly become totally normal.

The turtle piped up suddenly. "OH-OH! You could imagine one up right now! And like design it, with a veraaaannnddaaaa and a chimenyyyy, with little hanging gardens for faaaaariiieees and a perch for our tiny dragon when we get one and, oh, and a signnnnn, that says 'Winston's Emporium of Wonder' OR-OR-OR...!" Winston tried to shush the turtle to allow Vega chance to actually reply.

[Vega]

"I believe so yeah," Vega said of being hurt in the dreamscape. So she had been taught by Arlo, and so she believed. She'd never been hurt and Emea had changed more than once in the last few years. "But I'm far from an expert, I gotta say." Arlo knew far more about that sort of thing than she did but then, she pushed that thought out of her head and focused on Winston and his most peculiar turtle.

She grinned when he filled his cup with tea and then laughed when he suggested that he should drink it first. "That's a fair point," she said with a nod. "An' somethin' to keep in mind. If you've got any doubts at all. Emea is a place where the subconscious is strong." Vega looked at Winston to make sure that he was fully understanding because it was important. If was vital to understand where they were, in order to stay safe.. "So, even if there's a slight doubt in yer mind that your mind migh' have wandered or somethin', then the thing to do is check."


They sipped their tea and then the talk moved to something different. A vardo? Vega grinned. "I will do that, aye," she said. But when the turtle went into the idea of making one now and so on, Vega shook her head. "I'm goin' to make a gift for my friend," she said, firmly. "An' I'd like my friend to be surprised an' delighted when he sees it. Because what I imagine now won't be what happens when I make it. Things will change along the way, an' then the reality won't be the same as the dream, an' that's a disappointment."

With a smile to them both Vega nodded. "I've got to wake up now," she said, glancing just over Winston's shoulder. "The baby's cryin'. I'll see you soon, Winston, an' it were righ' nice to meet you," she said to the turtle.

Then, she woke up.

[Winston]

Rewards Requested

Notes/Warnings: because of Vegas expert teaching we get and extra knowledge

Thread: [Sweetsong] Saoire's most favoured fairy-ferret
City/Area: Sweetwine Woods

Renown: none
Wealth Points: none
Collaboration: Yes
Local Language Thread? No

!	Message from: Pig Boy
	Done!

[Pig Boy]

Winston

Rewards

• XP: 15

Knowledges

• Dreamwalking: You can make others lucid
• Dreamwalking: You can affect your own dreams
• Dreamwalking: Entering other people's dreams
• Detection: Distance and perception
• Dreamwalking: Subconscious manifestations
• Teaching: Speaking from experience
• Dreamwalking: Everyone has their own Dreamscape
• Dreamwalking: The Dreamscape can be a dangerous place
• Dreamwalking: The dreaming land is called the Dreamscape
• Dreamwalking: Summoning familiar things

Vega

Rewards

• XP: 15

Knowledges

• Dreamwalking: Recognising someone in your dreams
• Teaching: adapting teaching methods to where you are - even when you're asleep
• Dreamwalking: A dreamscape can have multiple places within it
• Teaching: Teaching dreamwalking in the dreamscape makes demonstrations easier
• Teaching: Check learning is taking place
• Teaching: Check understanding as you go
• Dreamwalking: Understanding Emea is important to safety

Oooh, I remember this one. After Winston gets marked he had a meeting with Vega in her dreamscape... This was quite an interesting shift in perspectives, as Vega got to be small and Winston stayed normal sized, they shifted their proportions. A very novel and funny idea for a dream apparition.

I'd just like to take a moment to remind you guys that manipulating the Dreamworld is a bit tough at anything short of expert. While at competent you can change all you want about how you appear, real changes to the dream world, conjuring items, drinks, etc. are available at expert at least.

That out of the way, we can chalk the hot totty up to the dreamworld's randomness.

This was a very pleasant one, albeit cut a littl short. Still, it was done in an entirely plausible fashion, with Vega saying the baby was cryin.

Great writing both! Western Winston driving a cadouri carriage is really cute, by the way.