[ Video ] Broadcast Dream
[ She's dreaming again.
In her dream, the rain was coming down heavily, but the girl trudging through the muddy trail doesn't seem to notice it. Her clothes were tattered, and she was soaked to the bone and barefoot, hugging herself. She almost didn't notice the man lying on his side on the side of the road, clutching his leg. A grey mare milled nearby. She paused, looking at the man curiously. "Are you all right?"
The man looked surprised, and then embarrassed. "My pride and joy spooked at a noise when we were heading home. Stepped in that hole there and threw me when she lost her balance. I haven't been able to get close enough to her either - I seem to have hurt my leg pretty badly. Do you think you can coax her over here?"
Freya hesitated, and slowly nodded, her steps light and gentle as she approached the nervous horse. The mare backed up a step until Freya caught the rein with one hand, a black mark on her forearm visible. She used her other hand to pet the mare to calm it. She didn't seem to notice the man's sudden stare when he noticed the mark, and he was looking away when she led the horse back. "Will you be all right now?"
He smiled, "It shames me to ask, but you wouldn't mind seeing me to my home would you?" The man seemed dismayed. "It isn't far, and if she spooks again I doubt I will encounter another kind soul to help me as you have. Besides, the weather is terrible - in return, you can stay with my wife and I until the weather clears up."
Freya hesitated - but the man seemed genuinely nice, a fatherly sort. She was tired. She was wet, she was cold, and ... her stomach growled. The man chuckled. "I'm sure my dear Lyssa has meat on the table waiting as well. She'd insist that you join us."
Freya smiled.
* * *
The dream shifts, and now Freya was watching the rain fall outside the window. She'd been allowed to clean up a bit, so she was content, so much so she didn't hear the couple talking quietly, but urgently in the other room. It was the first time in a long time that she'd had such comfort and kindness. She'd dropped her guard. She should have been more careful.
She moved away from the window only when she heard Lyssa call to her. The food was prepared, and it smelled quite good. It was curious that the man wasn't there though. Lyssa noticed her confusion, and smiled uneasily. "Oh, Henry? He's checking on his horse - he loves that silly beast."
"But his ankle -"
"I know, I told him he should rest, but he wouldn't listen. You know how men are." She added with an airy laugh. "Sit, eat, he'll be along shortly."
Freya hesitated, an uneasy feeling settling in the air. She only relaxed when Lyssa joined her to sit at the opposite end of the table. Freya had taken only a few bites before they were interrupted by Henry's arrival. And one other. A bounty hunter.
WHen she saw the visitor, Freya jumped to her feet. "No-" she turned to flee, only for the room to suddenly sway beneath her feet. Her surroundings blurred, and she realized the reason too late. She stumbled back into the wall, doe brown eyes unfocused, turning her head to the couple. "You ..." Drugged. She was drugged. How could she be so foolish - to trust someone like that.
Fear. She had to get away. But her legs refused to move - her limbs felt heavy, and soon so did the rest of her. She hit the floor with a heavy thud, struggling and failing to remain conscious. She could see them, just barely. The woman, Lyssa... she'd seemed so nice - she couldn't look at Freya. Henry was taking a pouch of coins from the hunter. The last thing Freya saw before her dream faded out, was the bounty hunter approaching to pick her up. ]
[ Freya awakens from her dream with a start, jerking back wildly and uttering a pained grimace when it awakens the pain in her leg again. A pair of ducklings are cozily dozing on a pillow at the foot of the bed, and with her violent awakening, they make sleepy quacks at her in protest. She offers them a half hearted smile, the expression melting away when she sees the Forge recording again. She reaches over and turns it off. ]