[First Dream] The Adventures of Young Jade
He is young again. A boy, eleven years old, standing alone on a small rowing boat in the dead of the night, in the middle of winter, heading steadily away from the shore. He's in need of test subjects again, and had decided to focus on marine species this time. Diversity was good. He had focused far too much on mammals and birds.
The shore is almost out of sight when the first monsters attack. He's prepared for this, of course, and a fiery arte sends the majority fleeing. He looks at the ones left, and doesn't see any appropriate for his experiments. With a shrug, he kills them all with another arte.
No ordinary child would have been able to do this, of course, but Jade is hardly normal.
A few more minutes pass in utter silence, the waves rendered soundless in this dreamscape. Jade is almost unsurprised when another monster, much larger than the ones before, bursts out from the water and tries to drag him down. Jade had expected this, had prepared for it, and stabs his knife deep into the monster's skull.
What he's unprepared for is another monster arriving so quickly. He didn't have time to cry for help before he was dragged down into the icy waters. Perhaps it's just as well. Nobody was around here, and Jade hated it when his instincts took over and he became illogical and emotional like the people that surrounded him.
He kicks at the monster and struggles to surface, trying to shrug off the heavy cloak that was dragging him down. The monster held on. Jade tries to cast, but his words come out thick and distorted in the water, and he's beginning to tire. I'm in danger of hypothermia, he realizes quickly. But the monster was far more important right now, its claws digging into Jade's arm, and the boy frowns when he sees tendrils of blood drift along the water.
He begins to realize that the probability of dying was quite high. His body would likely never be found. He thinks about the consequences: his sister would refuse to believe he's dead, Peony would comfort her, Saphir would whine and life would go on.
And the professor? What would she think?
Jade is numb, now, too tired to continue fighting against the monster and the cold, his eyes slowly beginning to drift shut. But it seems someone has other ideas.
A burst of white interrupts his descent into darkness. He doesn't open his eyes, but a hand drags insistently at his own and he frowns slightly in annoyance. But he has no strength left to argue and allows himself to be guided upwards, until his head breaks through the surface of the water and he inhales deeply, a rush of cold air filling his lungs--
Thirty-five years old again, Jade lifted a hand to his temple and rubbed the side of his head, frowning. He reached for the Dreamberry, frown deepening as he saw the burnt orange glow surrounding the device.
"So this is what it feels like to have a dream broadcast." He mused, and promptly began trying to find a way to filter the dream.
The shore is almost out of sight when the first monsters attack. He's prepared for this, of course, and a fiery arte sends the majority fleeing. He looks at the ones left, and doesn't see any appropriate for his experiments. With a shrug, he kills them all with another arte.
No ordinary child would have been able to do this, of course, but Jade is hardly normal.
A few more minutes pass in utter silence, the waves rendered soundless in this dreamscape. Jade is almost unsurprised when another monster, much larger than the ones before, bursts out from the water and tries to drag him down. Jade had expected this, had prepared for it, and stabs his knife deep into the monster's skull.
What he's unprepared for is another monster arriving so quickly. He didn't have time to cry for help before he was dragged down into the icy waters. Perhaps it's just as well. Nobody was around here, and Jade hated it when his instincts took over and he became illogical and emotional like the people that surrounded him.
He kicks at the monster and struggles to surface, trying to shrug off the heavy cloak that was dragging him down. The monster held on. Jade tries to cast, but his words come out thick and distorted in the water, and he's beginning to tire. I'm in danger of hypothermia, he realizes quickly. But the monster was far more important right now, its claws digging into Jade's arm, and the boy frowns when he sees tendrils of blood drift along the water.
He begins to realize that the probability of dying was quite high. His body would likely never be found. He thinks about the consequences: his sister would refuse to believe he's dead, Peony would comfort her, Saphir would whine and life would go on.
And the professor? What would she think?
Jade is numb, now, too tired to continue fighting against the monster and the cold, his eyes slowly beginning to drift shut. But it seems someone has other ideas.
A burst of white interrupts his descent into darkness. He doesn't open his eyes, but a hand drags insistently at his own and he frowns slightly in annoyance. But he has no strength left to argue and allows himself to be guided upwards, until his head breaks through the surface of the water and he inhales deeply, a rush of cold air filling his lungs--
Thirty-five years old again, Jade lifted a hand to his temple and rubbed the side of his head, frowning. He reached for the Dreamberry, frown deepening as he saw the burnt orange glow surrounding the device.
"So this is what it feels like to have a dream broadcast." He mused, and promptly began trying to find a way to filter the dream.