Speed is of the Essence [Nehsmay & Seliarus]

[Nidassasyae]

Nida followed Nehsmay with weary steps, feeling as though she were about to fall over with every movement. She was too tired to ask what 'bleak' meant. In truth, she was too far beyond tiredness to care. As they entered the cave, Nida would look around, find it defendable, and promptly sank to the floor where she stood, not caring about the pain that caused. Within moments, she was fast asleep. There's too many of them! She thought wildly, her raven hair whipping in the breeze. The wolves surrounded the trio, but there was no bridge behind them, no river. Where was the river?..." No... not the same dream! Nida struggled with an internal battle, trying to tell herself that it wasn't real, that they were alive! She knew this, she'd seen this dream before! But when she saw her friends die before her eyes, as they had in the last dream, and as they had seemingly done in the real world, she didn't care about truths and lies. As Nida had done before, she flew into a hateful rage, abandoning all sense and reason. And it all followed it's course. At the same point in the dream, she woke up. But not shrieking this time. No, this time silently, a hiss on her lips, teeth bared. Morning light streamed through the mouth of the cave, giving the woods a peaceful appearance. But to that, Nida paid no heed. She curled up tighter, pulling her legs against her chest. The girl shivered slightly, and her eyes were pressed shut. Damn you, she growled at herself. You're so hopelessly craven, can't even bear your own dreams. Damn craven!

[Nehsmay]

As soon as she entered the cave again Nehsmay made sure to light the fire again. Although she was tired and achy she knew they needed fire... as soon as it was cracking merrily near the entrance of the cave to distract predators Nehsmay allowed herself to relax. She watched the smoke that rose in the air and quietly drifted to sleep. She was running... fast... something was chasing her... But what? He was by her side, protecting her back as she fled. Arrows flew all around them... a dagger glittering in the sun. He fell and she stopped running. There was so much blood everywhere, on his clothes, on her hands... he smiled sadly and a light engulfed him... "No!" She whispered and woke up gasping for air. "It was a dream again." Outside the first rays of the sun were shimmering between the trees signaling a new day. Her wrist was throbbing less painfully a sign that it was simply a strain and not something worse. Next to her Shade was still sleeping soundly and she smiled softly glad that he had remained unscated through the whole ordeal. "No more thinking about that..." she told herself and looked at her friends trying to see what they were doing.

[Seliarus]

The sun had not even started to rise as the Dhani awakened. He salvaged his own backpack from one of the saddle bags, and silently went outside. He got some of the spare clothes from his backpack and finally covered his body with something. Meh, some of the blood was still on his body, but he did not really care. he'd take a bath or something later on. After getting dressed, and covering that which needed to be covered, he'd make his way up, and climb on the entrance of the cave. With no real interest of waking the two up, he simply waited up there, for the first sunshine tendril of light, which lightly dancer over his body and warming him up. Even though it wasn't summer, the light on his body felt good. he'd take his flute from the backpack, and mindlessly start to play a soft tune, more for himself than for anyone else. He kept the volume on a minimum, and sitting on the not really comfortable rock frame of the cave, the picture wasn't perfect. But, he long ago stopped caring about the perfect in the world. he simply enjoyed the fresh air, and the morning light. That's when he remembered... His back was still hurting like mad.

[Nidassasyae]

Don't be stupid now, there's no time for self-pity, the Kelvic thought to herself, even though that was the opposite of what she was doing. The dream's over, and this is reality now... it has to be. Now get up and make yourself useful Silently, Nida uncurled herself from her previous position, slowly standing up. She grimaced at the pain in her stomach, which she had almost forgotten about. Unlike Sel, she was completely uninterested in clothing herself. That was only something she remembered when she was thinking clearly, and her mind was anything but. Besides, animals didn't wear clothing, and it was the putting on of any of those things that seemed unnatural to her, and therefore: unnecessary. On weary feet, she padded over to Nehsmay's still sleeping form. But just as she sat down, the Vantha woke up, gasping for air. Not sure how to comfort her, Nida simply sighed in sympathy. "Do we always dream badly, you and I? But that doesn't matter, we're awake now. Or, at least I think we are...." The girl shook her head to clear such thoughts. Nehsmay didn't need her fears. No one in the trio needed extra burdens. So Nida spoke no more of questioning reality, but just smiled sadly to the Vantha. "Are you alright?"

[Nehsmay]

Nehsmay glanced at Nidae won had come and sat next to her and shrugged. "I'm alright... I think I'm just being silly with these dreams. I know the chances of them coming to pass are zero, but I just can't shake this feeling of dream." She closed her eyes trying to chase away what remained of the dream. "I guess the location isn't really helpful. It doesn't esactly inspire you to dream about pink clouds and ponies." Nehsmay looked at her friend and sighed again. "What excuse do you have? I keep dreaming that I'm running through some woods and someone is shooting arrows at me? You? I'm not even sure about this whole trip anymore... it seems like the further I get the dreams increase in number as if daring me to go further."

[Seliarus]

Unaware of the two being up, the Dhani kept sitting on the frame, but no longer playing anything. After the first few notes, his breath became shaking due to the aching sensations his body endured, so he decided to simply lean his back on the cold stone, and hope it'll pass. His flute was put back in the backpack, and, finally, his eyes closed. He told to himself, he'd probably hear the two walking out, so they wont leave him there alone. Hopefully. A sigh escaped his lips as he did so. Unlike others, he had no dreams to share. No nightmares to fear. His sleep was simply...An excuse to rest. He didn't really know what haunting slumber even meant. Usually, his dreams were filled with random things that happened, combined together into one mess of a story, with no real begin or end. He did not know why, but he long stopped to ask himself why. He lazily opened his eyes, as the sun shinned directly into him. With a silent grumble, he titled his head aside, trying to cover his eyes from there. The direct shine was just too much. he saw only red while having his eyes closed. And it even burned a bit.

[Nidassasyae]

Nida arched her brows in confusion. Pink clouds and ponies? What did that mean? Pink clouds didn't exist, and ponies were a bit too... horse-ish for her liking. Humans certainly were strange, but she wasn't about to tell Nehsmay that. "I dream of death, of pain, of everything I fear for those I love," Nidae replied tiredly. "As long as you travel, I come with you. It's your journey: your decision." The Kelvic shook her head. She didn't want to talk about this. It was just a display of her weakness. But there was something that she needed to tell Nehsmay, and it had nothing at all to do with dreams. Nida knew that if she kept thinking about it, she'd back out at the last moment. Tersely and unexpectedly, Nida said the words aloud. "Sel and I Bonded. Like, Kelvic Bonding." She blushed furiously at how stupid she sounded, and shut her eyes, waiting to hear Nehsmay's reaction. Waiting to hear the Vantha's thinly veiled disgust.

[Nehsmay]

Nehsmay's eyes widened a bit as she heard Nida's explanation of her dreams. She knew not how to comfort the Kelvic for she knew Nida was stronger and braver than her and if dreams unsettled her than she, a tiny Vantha had no power over them. She simply nodded and drew a bit closer to her friend, offering her support. At Nida's next statement Nehsmay froze. The first thing that came in her mind was that she should hug and congratulate her friend. The second thing was that Nida as a wild leopard while in her true form, might not appreciate the hug even in human form since a sudden hug was alike a form of attack. The third thing made Nehsmay get sad as she remembered how heart broken Shade, the Kelvic, had been after losing his bondmate and how she had never managed to make him feel better. Afther three seconds of shock in which she analized her discoveries she concluded that: a) she should congratulate her friend and make sure to look happy about it and not scare poor Nida to death thinking Nehsmay was in some way dissaproving of the bond Nida had with Sel and b) she had to make sure that nothing ever came to pass to either of her friends to leave them in the state Shade had been. In the end Nehsmay smiled brightly and to anyone else her pause would have been due to the shock the news had brought her and not due to the through analyze she made. She placed a comforting hand on Nida's shoulder instead of hugging her and half said, half squeaked. "I'm so happy for you!" She then composed herself and said more calmly "You two are good for each other. "

[Seliarus]

The Dhani sighed lightly. Thanks due the bond he made with Nida, he managed to feel a slight feeling of uneasy emotions traveling trough the bond. But, they were so slight, Sel thought they are caused by some bad dreams her bondmate might had. it was quite saddening, actually. She still got haunted by the past. Yet he couldn't do anything against it. The true reason of those emotions weren't clear to him. All he felt was that she was feeling just a tad uncomfortable. He'd ask about it as soon as they'd start walking forward. Maybe he could do something after all. But for now, he shouldn't bother the supposed sleep the two girls would have. He enjoyed the sun on his body, trying to build up enough energy to ignore the arching pain. Sel was a bit of a strange being. He never understood something, that was told directly. Even though he learned some phrases over the time, the majority was still unknown. He couldn't always understand complex emotions the humans did. Hate. Love. Care. He understood that. But humans tend to complicate so much with them, it makes him confused. He couldn't even explain the feeling of discomfort his bondmate was feeling. At least, he couldn't really understand why. What kind of dream would cause that? If somebody died...That wouldn't be discomfort. That would be sadness. If something was hunted and killed, that would mean happiness. But, discomfort? Maybe the dreams were more of an psychological level. Or were they dreams to begin with? The Dhani grew confused. he wouldn't wait for later. Even though he might wake her up. He might wake both of them up. That reminded him. Nehsmay needed her sleep. She kind of brought the three to savety, found shelter, and kept a clear head when both he and Nida went into berserk. not to mention, she fixed the two up. Wolves or not, the Vantha kind of was the hero of the battle. If she was sleeping, Sel wasn't going to wake her up. And with that thought, he jumped down the rocky frame, and after a moment of pushing the pain back, he entered the cave again. For a short moment, he couldn't really see anything, as his eyes were just getting used on the light from the outside. But, as soon as they adapted themselves to the dim light of the cave, he would see the two in the cave. And none of them was sleeping. He tilted his head to the side, as he hid his smile he carried due to the sunlight he got. "Morning." He greeted the two of them. "What'sss going on?" He asked. Trying not to sound as cold as he usually was. he imbued his words with a bit of care, and a slight drop of curiosity. He peered over the both of them.

[Nidassasyae]

OOCSorry, short post. Rushing off to school! "Y-you're happy?" asked Nida, feeling relief wash over her, calming her fears. Nehsmay approved! For a moment, Nida simply didn't know what to say. She was, perhaps, as shocked as Nehsmay had been. "So... err... now you know why I've been acting kinda... odd... lately. I just, didn't know how to tell you," the Kelvic said, her face still crimson from blushing. Yep, now I look even more stupid, she sighed internally. The young girl nodded at Sel's greeting, not sure how to return it. She could feel his confusion, satisfaction, and curiosity through the Bond. Nida decided that she'd ask him about that later, since she had a bit of an explanation to do. "Umm... Sel? I told Nehsmay about... us," Nida reported. She was more than a bit confused about how this was all going. It seemed that he had entered at just the right time.