Living Nightmare

[Lixue]

[Volinir Orchid] Fall 13, 512 AV The dream did not feel safe. An air of danger rang true. Lixue could taste a metallic tang in her mouth, clinging to her tastebuds. A strangely calm breeze carried the harsh scent of death and the sounds that had haunted Lixue for days: growling, chewing, and yelling. On the horizon, Lixue could see the red stain making its way down the slope. Just a simple red line originating from a location yet to be seen. Nothing more than a foreboding sign. As always, Lixue felt the need to rush. To hurry. To run. This time, however, Lixue resisted the impulse. She knew what would be over the hill, of what was waiting for her. This time, Lixue did not want to face the horrendous sight. Did not want to run toward something she could not control. Instead, struggling against the fierce wind that swooped in out of nowhere and tried to push her along, Lixue walked. One step after another, her cane sunk into the snow. One step after another, she came closer to the nightmare that had plagued her for weeks on end. With each step, the nerves bouncing around inside of her body increased. With each step, a tear slipped out of her black eyes. The hill moved closer. One second it was nearly a mile away and the next Lixue was literally stepping up the base. The wind grew stronger, pushing her; encouraging her; taunting her. The smell of death grew stronger and suddenly the marks her feet left were red. Blood red. The sun smiled down and the snow sparkled back in response. The figures on top of the hill were frantically moving. Arms flew through the air, trying to bring weapons down on an opponent Lixue could not see, but was close with. A man screamed obscenities and ran down the hill. He passed Lixue with a whoosh! Directly behind him a predator came bounding easily through the snow. Teeth stained dark from blood were open, ready for the kill. Neither noticed Lixue who was inexplicably compelled to turn and watch. The creature moved gracefully. Grey fur rippled over defined muscles and large paws kicked up white fluff. Beady eyes zoned in on its target and, slowly, the space between the man and wolf diminished. The man flailed as he ran, arms trying to keep him upright and fend off attacks. He was limping and left a trail of blood from the chunk taken out of his leg. A bow was flung off to the side, disappearing from view in the snow. Quickly, he retrieved a dagger from the belt hanging around his waist and continued running. The man's quiver thumped haphazardly against his back, spilling arrows left and right. Almost in slow motion, the man tripped. A flash of panic crossed his face as he knew he was about to die. The man had one last fight, however. He rolled, dagger pointed straight up in the air. The wolf slid to a stop, head cocked and eyes of death watching the poor Vantha laying in the snow. Tauntingly, the wolf began to circle the man, eyes never leaving his form. The hunter whimpered, trying to constantly keep the wolf within sight. Every now and then, he would jab outwards with the dagger. The wolf was not scared. Finally, the wolf had had enough games. It launched forward, snarling. Sharp teeth sunk into the hunter's left foot, head shaking. A bone snapped, loudly, and the hunter screamed in pain. Frantically, his right leg tried to kick at the wolf's head. One kick connected and the wolf backed away, blood dripping from its jaws. Slowly, a tongue slipped out to lick the blood off, eyes on the man. The circling resumed. Taking initiative to save his life, the man weakly tried to stab the wolf. Surprisingly, his dagger connected and the wolf, with a yip, jumped backwards. A moment of stillness chilled the air. Then the wolf rushed forwards, and caught the hunter off guard. The man tried to scramble backwards, dropping the dagger in the snow. But it was useless. The wolf easily managed to catch the man's throat. With a shake, the hunter was dead.

[Volinir Orchid]

Volinir felt cold. Even though it had been years since he had been in Taldera, he could feel the bite of frost, the burning white flakes searing his face. He had his arms wrapped around himself for warmth, and his bare feet burned as they stumbled through the snow. He couldn't recognize what part of Avanthal he was in, or any landmarks at all, and his paltry clothes did nothing to protect him from the elements. Clearing a hill, he caught his first glimpse of civilization- A woman in her twenties, and a man running from... Well, it was something he hadn't seen in quite a long time indeed. "Wolf." The Symenestra's knees bent slightly, and his arms unwound around him in the event that the beast should decide to change tack. It wasn't showing any signs of doing so, however. No, it was far too busy chasing prey that was already drawing its last breaths. Volinir watched with mild distaste as the predator dispatched what used to be a hunter. It was, after all, just a human, and the less of them there were, the better. Still, it didn't seem like a pleasant way to go. Trudging as quietly as he could through the heavy snow, Volinir began to make his way towards the woman. She shouldn't be out alone in this weather, and the wolf might choose her if it saw them together. He didn't call out to her or try to make any other contact, though. He was content to watch events play out... For now.

[Lixue]

Lixue felt disconnected from the event. She knew tears were most likely streaming down her face, but Lixue could not force herself to feel anything other than... Well, Lixue did not even know what she felt! The wolf made sure the man was dead, a deep bite out of his neck proved this, before stepping back. Blood dripped onto the snow below, only adding to the red river going downhill. The wolf turned, met Lixue's eyes, and froze. A staring match ensued, neither moving. One lip curled upwards, showing off a red tooth. A snarl was ripped from the throat of the wolf, but Lixue neither cowered nor recoiled. She knew the wolf would not hurt her. After all, it had not in the previous nightmares. Why would this dream differ from the path of finding Ly? As in previous dreams, the wolf was the first to glance away. His mouth closed and, head low, the wolf moved gracefully back up the hill. His paws did not seem to touch the red snow. It seemed as though Lixue was not even there when the wolf passed by, paying her no mind. Through black eyes, Lixue glanced at the man laying in the snow. There was no saving him. His throat had been ripped out and his bodily functions had given way. Even in death, the hunter's arm was outstretched toward his dagger, as if he could still fight. Lixue sent a prayer to Dira before turning away. Halfway up the hill, the wolf had turned its head to watch her. Beady eyes were trained on her every movement. Somehow, Lixue knew the wolf wanted her to follow him. Perhaps the quick toss of his nose in the general direction of the fighting told her. Or perhaps it was the expectant look. Or the wind that gave a rough shove to her back. With steady hands, Lixue lifted her cane and started walking up the hill. Against the river of red coming her way. The wolf turned and ran back to the fighting, now that it had seen her go the direction he wanted. What would have happened if Lixue had went the opposite? Four more men were alive. Without counting, Lixue knew this to be true. The number only made sense, after all. Five were brought back to Avanthal. Trudging through the red river, Lixue was surprised as a tear dripped from her eye and dribbled down her cheek. She was not even that she had been upset, so numb were her emotions. Four men still fighting were losing. They faced all three wolves now, back to back. One had a spear, another a bow and arrow. A third wielded a long dagger. The fourth, Ly, had nothing more than a branch he had found on the ground. All four feigned bravado, trying to scare the wolves off with simple bravery. All four had injuries of some sort. A tear in a sleeve, an wound oozing blood, a limp, a bloody face. Ly had a cut the whole length of his forearm. The wolves circled them, akin to how the one had circled the hunter. One went the opposite direction of the other two. All three had eyes only for the hunters, jumping back at every movement. Every and now and then, one of the hunters would feint at the wolves, who would snarl and jump backwards. And, every now and then, a wolf would feint at the hunters, who would yell and jump backwards, weapons raised. Blood stained the ground. One man, bleeding horribly, stumbled out of the square. It was obvious the lack of blood caused him to do this. His long dagger dropped, disappeared into the snow. The wolves wasted no time and one jumped forwards, mouth clamping onto the man's arm. It proceeded to drag him backwards, away from the other Vantha. Two stood guard as the wolf snapped the man's arm at the elbow, ripped it away from the other half of his appendage with a few shakes and twists. The wolf threw the half eaten arm off to the side and proceeded back toward the man, who had fallen where he stood. The beast was driven by the scent of blood filling the air. Lixue was helpless as she watched the second man be slaughtered.

[Volinir Orchid]

While a small, unacknowledged part of Volinir might have wanted to help the hunters, and probably wanted to help Lixue, the part that he was listening to just wanted to survive the wolves. He didn't know he was in a dream yet, naturally. Fortunately, both parts of the Symenestra agreed on what to do. A spindly hand clamped down on Lixue's shoulder, trying to push her into a crouching position so the wolves would have less to notice. "Hey, lady, are you brain damaged, or do you just have a death wish?" he hissed in her ear. "You want to get yourself eaten, you run down that hill, but otherwise, you do as I say, and we'll get through this in one piece, okay?" Even when he was asleep, Volinir was not nice.

[Lixue]

The surprise Lixue felt when someone touched her was immense. The dream was changing! Never before had anyone who did not belong exist in the dream. Never before had someone touched her until the last possible second. Especially not with such a tight grip on her shoulder, practically cutting off all circulation. Who was the person? Surely not one of the dead hunters back from the dead! Even as she thought it, Lixue shoved the possibility away and tried to think rationally. She failed; rationalization had no place currently. As she was not expecting to be forced into a crouch, Lixue stumbled and her legs gave way. She fell to her knees in the snow. The wooden cane Lixue had had since she was a young child was just out of reach, the tip just barely sticking out of the white fluff. Slowly, the cold seeped into her flesh. But the thought that she may miss the most prominent piece of the dream chilled Lixue to the bone. What if something changed because of this? What if there was a new chance to talk to Ly? What if… what if the ending did not happen the way it always had? Lixue shrugged off the man’s hand and whirled to face him. Her hair got caught in the wind, whipping it into her eyes. With a nearly translucent hand, she reached up and pushed the strands behind her ears. The movement seemed too peaceful for the current circumstance. Afterwards, Lixue gave the man’s chest a sharp shove. Lixue grew herself up to fullest height she could achieve in a sitting position and leveled black eyes at the man. Behind her, all action was completely frozen. Even the wolf launching through the air, trying to avoid the sharp spear a hunter was trying to stab it with. The hunter’s fierce expression was frozen as well. “Do not,” the tone was steely, “touch me.” A pause. “Thank you.” What was she thanking him for? For saving her life, for making her miss a part of the dream or for something else in entirely? Perhaps making her feel the emotions that had been vacant so far? Still, she gave him another shove. “But you screwed everything up!” Um, what? “There is a pattern here and you disrupted it!” Huh? “Those wolves were not going to attack me!” Yet. “But now, I do not know what will happen! Gods and goddesses, are you deranged? Did I look like I needed saving?” No damsel in distress here. “Everything was going as was planned! The pattern was being followed! Now, you screwed it up!” Lixue flung a hand out, barely slipping past the man’s face, toward the fight behind them. “You screwed it all up!” What would happen now? Would the dream end? Would the pattern change? Would Lixue become one of the attacked or would she remain the observer? Would Ly survive? Would the hunters live and kill the wolves? Or would everything go to hell?

[Volinir Orchid]

"What the petch?" While Volinir had seen his fair share of strange things, time freezing was not one of them. Stranger still was the rant he was receiving. Of course, his shock didn't completely dampen his indignation. "I wasn't trying to save you, azo!" Volinir snapped back, drawing a clawed hand back as if to slice into Lixue's face, "I just don't want your idiocy to kill more than yourself. You want me to use you as a distraction, go ahead, keep shouting!" Volinir was slightly confused, but dreams had a way of avoiding logic. "Otherwise, sit down, shut up, and hold still, understand?" The Symnestra's frustration wasn't helping matters. Behind Lixue, the wolves were growing larger, and red streaks were starting to appear in their fur. What that meant, only time(?) would tell. What it did mean, however, was almost certainly not something good.

[Lixue]

Lixue did not flinch away when the man raised a hand as though to smack her. Her eyes fleetingly flickered to his black nails before she glanced back at his face with a raised eyebrow as if to say, really? Not impressive. But she did listen to him and sat down, not because of his foolish words or his commanding tone, but because when she went to stand, Lixue found her legs had been frozen to the ground. There was some wiggling room, of course, but the ground did not let her travel far. This was an unexpected surprise and Lixue's fingers subtly tugged at her legs. The ground did not let go and Lixue could not truthfully say she thought it would. Indeed, the frozen ground tried to latch onto Lixue's fingers. Not with fingers, but with ever growing ice. The area under her legs was frozen and, encouraged by Lixue's body heat, was spreading. Within only a few chimes, the frozen area was under Volinir as well, freezing his feet to the ground. Lixue's eyes flickered from one area to the next, trying to keep an eye on where the was going next. Now, she did not try to conceal her movements from Volinir. Let the scrawny man panic. It was his fault, anyways. Lixue was not certain how, but she knew it was all Volinir's fault that the ice was happening. The feeling was deep in her bones and spreading as quickly as the ice surrounding them. Somehow, some way, Lixue knew it was Volinir's fault that the dream was reacting this way. That the dream was attacking them both. With sharp hands, Lixue shoved at Volinir. "This is all your fault!" she informed him, yelling. "All your petching, vagik Tikita!" Lixue flailed a hand toward the ice. "All your petching fault, you little shyke! Now what are we going to do, smart one? Obviously sitting down and shutting up did not petching help!" Lixue may have been yelling, but no one besides Vol was able to listen. The scene behind them was still frozen and a sharp wind carried her words away in the wind after reaching Volinir's ears. With each of Lixue's words, and of Volinir's, the ice spread a little farther. "What now, Tikita?"

[Volinir Orchid]

"It's not my fault the landscape is trying to kill us!" Volinir snarled as he hopped and danced around the biting frost, occasionally swinging at the encroaching ice, "This is petching... Ridiculous..." he muttered, "Just... Calm down, and let me think for a moment!" While it was difficult to do so in his current state, Volinir was still able to think critically to some degree. The ice spread from the ground, and seemed to be attracted to warmth. Therefore, either finding somewhere elevated to avoid the ice, or something warm to occupy its attention would protect him. The corpse was unlikely to have any warmth left, but there were still trees nearby, and he could run faster than the ice could spread... He hoped. The proper course of action was natural, then. The Symenestra took off in the direction of the tree line, leaving Lixue to be swallowed by the ice. It wasn't like anyone would miss another human, right? Besides, how would he free her legs?

[Lixue]

A sliver of panic slid through Lixue when Volinir up and ran. Now what was she to do? The ice quit spreading but still clung to her appendages. Lixue knew because she tried to pull her legs away from the ground and the only result was pain erupting from the attached areas. In order to test the ice, Lixue quickly tapped her fingers against the ground. The frozen liquid attempted to crawl up her fingers and hug them tight. Lixue's hand flailed in an attempt to remove the ice, shaking this way and that. Though the ice separated from the main patch, it tried to stay on Lixue's fingers. Only after she gave a solid thwack to the ground did the ice slip away, almost as if Lixue had hurt its feelings. Tears welled in Lixue's eyes, both from panic and desperation. What if the ice never let her go? What would happen to Ly? What would happen to the wolves who were attacking the hunters? Would the wolves come for her? Could she fight back or would the wolves toy with her for only a little while before ripping her arms from her sockets and eating her alive? Would the ice that entrapped her keep the wolves in place, as well? Or would the wolves go after the man who was running away from her, leaving her to die? "No..." she whispered into the wind, both as an attempt to call the man back and as in denial of the thought that she could die here at the teeth of vicious beasts who wanted nothing more than to kill and eat a prey that would fight back. Then again, would that not be fitting? To die the same way her husband had; at the teeth of the wolves, fighting for her life in a futile attempt to stay alive? The irony alone would practically kill Lixue, if the wolves did not reach her first. "I do not want to die," Lixue cried. Tears fell from her eyes. No, she did not want to die. Not here, not now. She wanted to live. Wanted to have this nightmare again, and have it go right. Where Ly died and Lixue cried and woke up in her own bed, covered in a cold sweat and hugging the pillow Ly had used before his death. Fist hands smacked at the ice below, which seemed to recoil, as if the ice feared her emotions. As if the ice did not want to disappoint her. If Lixue had been paying closer attention, she may have noticed the ice racing toward the man running away from her. May have noticed how the puddle of ice surrounding her was thinning out now that the man had left. She may have noticed the soft crunch of snow behind her. May have noticed the soft drip of red drool falling to the white fluff below. May have heard the heavy breathing. May have noticed the wolf sneaking up on her. As it was, Lixue only noticed when moist breath tickled her ear. Lixue froze, eyes wide and tears freezing on her face. Her muscles tensed and she forgot to breathe. A wolf stood directly behind her, breathing into her ear and hovering over her shoulder. It was nearly twice as tall as the sitting Lixue and was almost three times bigger than her alone. Perhaps the dream was doing it; making the beast larger than life and scarier. Red stained teeth glittered and dripped red. The wolf was so close Lixue could have turned her head and touched the rough fur with her cheek. Instead, Lixue stayed still. Perhaps if she did not move, the wolf would ignore her. But the wolf reached out and sniffed Lixue's hair, lifting the tresses from place. Slowly, the wolf circled Lixue, sniffing at her clothing and limbs. Once, its clammy nose brushed against her hand and Lixue had to stifle a gasp and quell the automatic reaction to jerk away. The wolf, assuming she was not worth the trouble and was nothing more than a piece of the landscape, turned to the side. Its eyes latched onto something in the distance and zeroed in. Lixue's eyes also moved to see what the wolf was watching. And then it clicked. The man who had left her. He was still running in the opposite direction and a moving white line was following him. Before Lixue could warn him, the wolf took off. Snow was kicked back at Lixue from such fast movements and she sputtered, flinging the snow out of her now cold eyes. With horror, Lixue realized the man would not be able to outrun both the moving white line and the quickly approaching wolf. "No!!" The word burst through the air just as the wolf leaped, kicking off the ground and arcing toward the man. And just as the white line appeared to reach him as well.

[Volinir Orchid]

Perhaps it was Lixue's will that had caused Volinir to hear her desperation. Perhaps it was just happenstance. Whatever it was, he found himself in a very familiar situation. "I'm going to regret this... So much..." he muttered under his breath before he turned around and started to jog back towards Lixue. And then he saw the wolf. While his original intention was to avoid wolves at all costs, what he did was definitely not avoidance. With a loud whistle and waving arms, he tried to bring the beast's attention to him instead of the prone Vantha, smiling grimly when a turn of its lupine head signaled that he had succeeded. "Hey! Hey! Chase me! Chase me!" Of course, then he had to start running again, since wolves were rather skilled sprinters. Around the same time, he noticed some sort of white, earthbound comet racing towards him. It didn't take long to infer what that was. To make matters worse, the wolf was gaining on him. If it were real life, Volinir would have probably met his end then, his meager acrobatic skills insufficient to dodge anything moving as fast as that monster. But this was a dream, and in dreams, one was only as fast as they could think. And Volinir could think pretty damn fast. In a flurry of flaring snow, the Symenestra tumbled out of the way of the slavering wolf, the white line turning almost a full ninety degrees to follow him... Before the predator, now unable to change its course, made contact with the sentient frost, and was frozen to the ground. Volinir didn't wait to see if the line had stopped. He had a Vantha to return to. In a couple chimes, he was back at the clearing Lixue was at. If the ice had cleared, he'd attempt to scoop her up and dash to the nearest elevated point. At the very least, they'd have time to think of something there.