57th of Vhalar 722
Your daughter sees you every night, just as you see her. Minds are powerful things...
The words of Ziell haunted Rakvald in his dreams, even as he delved through the Atramentous Trench, now looking desperately for signs of an emergent dream world. Looking for signature items, tokens, visions that reminded him of a certain little munchkin. His little girl, Svartholda.
Rakvald bore his mutations into the Atramentous Trench. From tentacle to claw, he bore proudly. Yet, his daughter was not raised among magic. He worried that she might be frightened by mages even. Perhaps even learning to hate them. He couldn't bear the thought.
Rock... The mage could hear her voice, speaking the word that she took for his name. A voice he would always look for in his dreams, rarely finding it. But now she was growing already more than three arcs old. Old enough to dream, to chatter, to play and walk around, even run. Rock, where you go?
Salty tears poured from the cephalopod's eyes. He swam through the mists of the Emean dreamscape, the connection was there. He just had to find the right point of entry...
Whether an object, or a common memory, something they'd shared together. His mind went through the list of moments, and brought more tears to his eyes to think of them. He wondered how much of the sentiment was from the All-Father's influence, and how much of it was Rakvald, the father of Svartholda, who missed his little girl. A memory came to him, of a piece of flesh long lost to him. A hand of a goblin-like creature from Desnind.
He thought of it, and as if in answer to the thought, something nipped him by the collar of his robes, and pulled him into the swirling mist, through the barrier that separated his dreamworld from the ones he sought in the Trench. He arrived at a strangely colorful place, a large field, with fish floating in the air, and strange teddy bears all around. Then he realized, they were the same type as the lucky bear he'd given Svartholda.
"Kodi!" He heard her voice exclaim behind him. "What you got, Kodi?"
The hand on his collar jumped up, and skittered across the skin of the back of his neck, up to his bulbous cranium. Rakvald rose to his the full height of his gestalt form, 6'4" or so. And Svartholda held her breath for a time, her mouth opening just a small bit agape. Rakvald looked down on her sadly, fearing that she would scream. To be safe, and to ensure that no harm befell her, he swifty invoked Sanctuary over the dreamscape, putting Unity's power to work.
I also believe that those that know and love us, will always recognize us on some level.
She stood agape for a few more seconds, and then...
"Rock Da!" She squealed with delight to have recognized him, and he nearly collapsed when she ran up to him, and threw her arms around his spindly legs that held him up.
Eventually he did kneel in front of her, and pulled her into a warm embrace. "I missed ya Da." She whispered.
He couldn't respond, his voice caught in his throat, and failed him for the first time since he'd regained it from the Broken Mindscape.
Rakvald could only think, remembering the words of hope and faith that Ziell had instilled in him so many seasons ago, Thank you, Ziell...