ℵ second dream ℵ
It's so dark. Blankets are wrapped around her, snug and warm, and she rolls over slightly and let her arm fall free and flop on the mattress. Her knuckles brush the cool smoothness of a woven straw mat.
Thump. Thump, thump, bang bang bang!
"Shut uuuup," she moans, and throws her other arm over her eyes. The banging continues, louder and louder. A muffled voice, familiar and deep, filters into the darkness. She remembers that voice.
".....should keep.....locked in."
Her eyes snap open. "Huh?" Throwing off the blankets, she stumbles to her feet and reaches for - the handle of a sliding door, but it won't budge. "Hey...!" she cries. "What did you do!? I can't open the door!"
"Ask your conscience. How can you try to hide something so important? Stay in there and reflect on what you've done!"
She throws herself against the door, pounding blindly on it - I haven't done anything! I've got nothing to reflect on! - but it won't give. "Hey! Hey! Is anyone there?"
Furious and panicking in the dark, she gathers herself and rams her shoulder against the solid wood, and -
- the world tilts, and flips upside down, and -
- she hits the ground in a puff of dust, knocking her wind out with a squeaky gasp. Someone stands over her, looming up against a sky crisscrossed with branches. She sits up, rubbing her sore shoulder, and then scowls and scrambles to her feet.
"You spikey-headed jerk! One more time, let's go one more time!"
His face is a blur, and she wants to squint it into focus but somehow it isn't happening. He shrugs, turned and started to walk away. "Not interested."
Her fists clench; her stomach burns with humiliation, and the fire comes up her throat and burst out as words. "Thinkin' of running away? Stay and fight! FIGHT, I said!"
The silhouette pauses, turns and starts to glance over his shoulder at her -
- and the trees stretch, warp, shrink and grow faces -
- until she's still looking at the same guy (she can almost see his face!) but they're in a room lined with statues and she's leaning in the doorway, arms crossed and mouth twisted into a frown. She turns her back on him; anticipation of a great trick - a valuable haul - flares in her guts.
"...after we lost the war, we got peace, but with that, we lost something else. Now look at..." She fakes a sniffle. Sounds and shadows flicker, and then there's a loud clang and everything goes black and she can hear her own voice, triumphantly laughing -
- as angry voices tumble over each other, bright colors flashing around her like shooting stars and she reaches to grab for them but they wink out as her fingers touch them -
I know, the mat -
- eria and I want it back...now!
You want your materi -
- a? Remember you gotta steal it! Haha, get it?
Grossness! Don't mess with me, old man! You don't even have any ma -
- teria is back in its rightful place.
Cloud! I've brought mater -
- ia you all had was just too tempting!
Go! Survive until the end! And return! With the -
- and something huge rockets overhead, with an echoing boom like an airship breaking the sound barrier, and she is running and leaping with warm metal clutched in her hand and wind whipping her hair against her cheeks. She sights along the blade and throws with all her strength, and the shuriken slams into a huge stretch of alien flesh. She can see candy-bright jewels glinting in the slots on the blades, and her heart sings even as she plummets like a stone, muscles braced for impact.
Her boots hit metal, jolting her entire body with the force of her landing, and she straightens, looks over her shoulder and sees a woman: a beautiful woman with long dark hair, standing protectively over a little boy who gawks in surprise at her.
"All right," she says, tossing her hair out of her face. "Who's been touching my materia?"
The woman's dark eyes crinkle into a smile. She opens her mouth to answer, and -
- everything fades, leaving her alone in the dark again.
Thump. Thump, thump, bang bang bang!
"Shut uuuup," she moans, and throws her other arm over her eyes. The banging continues, louder and louder. A muffled voice, familiar and deep, filters into the darkness. She remembers that voice.
".....should keep.....locked in."
Her eyes snap open. "Huh?" Throwing off the blankets, she stumbles to her feet and reaches for - the handle of a sliding door, but it won't budge. "Hey...!" she cries. "What did you do!? I can't open the door!"
"Ask your conscience. How can you try to hide something so important? Stay in there and reflect on what you've done!"
She throws herself against the door, pounding blindly on it - I haven't done anything! I've got nothing to reflect on! - but it won't give. "Hey! Hey! Is anyone there?"
Furious and panicking in the dark, she gathers herself and rams her shoulder against the solid wood, and -
- the world tilts, and flips upside down, and -
- she hits the ground in a puff of dust, knocking her wind out with a squeaky gasp. Someone stands over her, looming up against a sky crisscrossed with branches. She sits up, rubbing her sore shoulder, and then scowls and scrambles to her feet.
"You spikey-headed jerk! One more time, let's go one more time!"
His face is a blur, and she wants to squint it into focus but somehow it isn't happening. He shrugs, turned and started to walk away. "Not interested."
Her fists clench; her stomach burns with humiliation, and the fire comes up her throat and burst out as words. "Thinkin' of running away? Stay and fight! FIGHT, I said!"
The silhouette pauses, turns and starts to glance over his shoulder at her -
- and the trees stretch, warp, shrink and grow faces -
- until she's still looking at the same guy (she can almost see his face!) but they're in a room lined with statues and she's leaning in the doorway, arms crossed and mouth twisted into a frown. She turns her back on him; anticipation of a great trick - a valuable haul - flares in her guts.
"...after we lost the war, we got peace, but with that, we lost something else. Now look at..." She fakes a sniffle. Sounds and shadows flicker, and then there's a loud clang and everything goes black and she can hear her own voice, triumphantly laughing -
- as angry voices tumble over each other, bright colors flashing around her like shooting stars and she reaches to grab for them but they wink out as her fingers touch them -
I know, the mat -
- eria and I want it back...now!
You want your materi -
- a? Remember you gotta steal it! Haha, get it?
Grossness! Don't mess with me, old man! You don't even have any ma -
- teria is back in its rightful place.
Cloud! I've brought mater -
- ia you all had was just too tempting!
Go! Survive until the end! And return! With the -
- and something huge rockets overhead, with an echoing boom like an airship breaking the sound barrier, and she is running and leaping with warm metal clutched in her hand and wind whipping her hair against her cheeks. She sights along the blade and throws with all her strength, and the shuriken slams into a huge stretch of alien flesh. She can see candy-bright jewels glinting in the slots on the blades, and her heart sings even as she plummets like a stone, muscles braced for impact.
Her boots hit metal, jolting her entire body with the force of her landing, and she straightens, looks over her shoulder and sees a woman: a beautiful woman with long dark hair, standing protectively over a little boy who gawks in surprise at her.
"All right," she says, tossing her hair out of her face. "Who's been touching my materia?"
The woman's dark eyes crinkle into a smile. She opens her mouth to answer, and -
- everything fades, leaving her alone in the dark again.