[dream] [slightly forward-dated: night of week 21, day 5]
[There's a somewhat dim and surreal feeling in this particular dream recording, really making it true to its nature of being a dream. The colors are rather dull and wintery, and even the dreamer's own skin, normally a healthy color, is now a milky, desaturated shade -- just creamy enough in hue to know it's really skin you're looking at and not a grayscale movie, but it's noticeable nonetheless.
It starts in the weak, cold light of daytime, in a suburban neighborhood not quite rural enough to be spread out too far. There's a sense of familiarity about it, some weird fondness that you just can't remember clearly, but don't care enough about to think on too long. The architecture, though, is pretty blatantly Scandinavian.
More importantly, there's a ghost hovering in your driveway.
It seems to be an undecided presence, unsure whether it wants to be a simple will-o-wisp or a proper spirit, based on how pale and faint its image is, and how it tends to flicker between being a little ball of light and being a vague, undefinable shape. You speak to this spirit as though you've got a budding friendship with it already.
"You're a spirit? How did you get here?"
It replies, "No. A ghost." The voice is smooth and sonorous without being too masculine or feminine; it's positioned smack in the middle of gender ranges and tones, enough to be truly ambiguous. "I was never born. But... I died, and couldn't come back."
"How?" You seem a bit sad at having to ask such a question.
The next part seems to be a flashback, but it's unclear whether it's your own imaginings or a telepathic projection of what happened. It's the sensation of being smothered in the dark. Very brief, but very recognizable -- for a moment, the heat and pressure are unbearable, inside and out. When you snap out of the trance that conveys this sensation to you, there's a quiet little thought huddled in the back of your mind, a tiny, suggestive little whisper you dismiss out of hand quickly. "What if it's related...?"
Before you can ask any more questions, a car drives down the road, slowing and turning into the driveway you both stand in. You shake your head and smile disappointedly.
"I'll talk to you later."
Time seems to be working disjointedly in this dream, as the next thing you know, it's nighttime. You sneak out to see the ghost again, at some ungodly small hour of the morning when it's coldest out. No cars remain on the street; the only sound and the only light are the monotone hum and the yellowed glint of the street-lamps, light visible enough that you could almost swim in it.
Meaningless chatter ensues; it's so mundane that even in the dream, it's difficult to make out just what you and the ghost are discussing. But it doesn't last; people begin to emerge from the house you left, and your heart jumps into your throat. You move a short ways in front of the garage before you're caught.
"What the hell are you doing out here? And who were you talking to?" they demand irritably.
Another timeskip; this time, it's daytime once again, but you've left the neighborhood, and are now in a park, with everything around you encased in snow and ice a few days old. You're huddled against a tree, bundled up from head to toe in winter clothes, and the ghost simply rests beside you. You appreciate each others' presences, even though it provides neither of you any extra warmth in the cold weather.
Suddenly, the specter springs up with a frustrated scream, startling you a bit. It seems to shake its head for a moment... and for an instant, it's no longer a formless ghost, but a human ghost. You can only see the back of its head before the image breaks, but it's... a little familiar. Without wasting any time, it takes off down a hill. You leap to your feet and give chase, practically skiing down the slope because of how icy and and unstable the ground is. You land in someone's backyard, it doesn't even matter whose anymore.
And facing you is a certain someone you never wanted to see ever again.
He's standing half-turned away from you, and you just sort of gape. How? Why?
"This is my homeland," he says gruffly, tinged with irrational hatred. "I can't humor you anymore."
"You live here?! But you don't have the right to--"
"The hell I don't!! I had every right before you took it away from me!"
Then he pulls a hunting gun, and that just shuts down all pretense of rational thought on both sides. Before you can do anything else, the shot goes off.
But the dream isn't over yet, much as you wish it was so you could just get out of there. The bullet strikes you in the arm, though there's a part of you that doesn't even feel it through the sheer amount of blazing fury you're experiencing otherwise; perhaps because it's a dream, perhaps because there is no gun, and a bullet didn't actually hit you in real life. But you grit your teeth anyway and look at your sleeve -- there's blood, and you want to panic, but there's no room in your heart for panic right now, only anger.
He fires again, though this time you manage to duck to the side. Unable to do much else to defend yourself -- no duel disk, no cards, no spirits to interfere -- you pick up a rock with traces of ice clinging to it and chuck it at him, and it bounces off the barrel of the gun harmlessly with a clank. You can't quite feel the pain, but the arm that was shot won't move of your own will anymore.
No, instead of pain, there's just... cold. Slivers of ice stab into your veins, and you feel a clamminess settle over your entire being for a moment. So cold...
"You're the one who took it away, all by yourself...!"
That's the last thought that escapes you for the Hitomi to pick up as you rise back to consciousness.]
[Johan doesn't wake up with a start or a scream or anything. Instead, he just sort of lies there with his eyes halfway open, too disturbed to move for a moment, but visibly tense. The Crystal Beasts are lying in various formations around the room, with him using Amethyst Cat as a pillow, and Ruby Carbuncle huddled up next to him. He reluctantly lifts himself from his lying position like it was causing him a great deal of effort, when he notices that they're all already awake.]
...What the hell was that...? Did you all--
Yes, we saw it. At the very least, we couldn't not feel it.
--Johan, look at me.
[Amethyst Cat has a firm look in her eyes right from the start. Johan turns to her obediently.]
That hunter is dead. He's dead, and he's not coming back. I don't know what that was all about, but he eventually received his just desserts for all he did.
[A breath.] ...Right. You can't revive the dead.
Precisely. Though, I have to wonder what spurred such a jarring dream.
Perhaps it was some effect of this world. If it can draw spirits fully into it, there's no telling what else might happen. It's not like you to recreate those kinds of unpleasant things in dreams, after all.
[Johan just looks the menagerie over for a long moment before offering them a small smile.]
Well, I'll be fine! I'll probably even forget about it by morning, yeah? And if not, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Dreams have meaning, sure, but you gotta take them with a grain of salt, too...
[The Crystal Beasts nod in agreement, and slowly relax at this statement, offering no more words, just their own, more genuine presences to comfort him. It is a far better reassurance to him than any verbal one anyone could have ever offered. They won't rest again tonight, for certain -- no, they'll be keeping a watch on Johan instead.
But then... perhaps Johan won't, either.]
((OOC: Amethyst Cat, Cobalt Eagle, Emerald Turtle, Sapphire Pegasus.
Quick bit of context: the man in the dream is Giese, a spirit hunter who Johan had a very... unfortunate run-in with in canon. Naturally, "spirit hunter" as a hobby does not sit well with Johan at all, and the total and complete disregard for human and spirit life alike he possessed absolutely pushed every last one of his rage buttons, the way he brandished it all in Johan's face, along with the accusation he only got the Crystal Beasts for the sake of power/fame/money/all of the above.
Giese captured Sapphire Pegasus and threatened to kill both his captive Crystal Beast and the spirit of a friend of Johan's by tearing up the card as slowly and torturously as he could, one they both knew was treasured by his duelist. After being defeated in a duel quite thoroughly and having his energy drained, Giese is preyed upon by the very spirits he hunted and killed in his weakened state. He did, however, state that he once had a spirit partner whose heart he understood, that was taken away from him.
So yeah, massive grudge there, and for a real messed-up maggot of a guy.))