Title: Entering the Dreaming
authors: teri, ian, stana, emily
date: 4.26

note: wataru's post will follow shortly, and should be
"read" as part of this
one.

She couldn't deny the excitement any eagerness in the pit
of her stomach, nor
contain it. Without focus, she worried that the strength of
her interest was
spilling over, bu the thought of entering what S'kae called
the Aethur was
undeniably fascinating to her. She was reminded of the
tatooed kanji on her
back. "Yume".  Dream. Wrapped in the soft colors of the
Dreamer's mysticism,
Teri took her place in the room. Two pallats facing South
for Fire.  Two
facing West for Water. Two facing East for Earth. To the
North were countless
arches, open to the deepening sky of evening. Billowy
curtains, cloud-hued,
were played by the breeze. A soft wind: warm and moist.

The scent of incense hit her, the flowery and musky scent
filling her lungs
with an almost sleepy warmth. Stana, she thought, would
know the herbs of the
scent- perhaps one day she'd ask the other girl.

Teri's thoughts were beginning to wander, climb. She felt
the gentle touch on
her shoulder, guiding her down to the pallat, and smiled
blissfully at
Shinji. He was swathed in an aura of blue flame, and took
his place on the
pallat next to hers. She began to wonder vaguely at being
able to see his
brilliance so easliy, but her mind slid from thought. Warm
copper was being
pressed to her lips, and she drank. The tonic, herbal and
sweet, dulled her
tongue. She heard the Dreamer speaking, felt her breathing
slow. At a chime
of bells, the candles guttered out, and she was drenched in
darkness.

***

His first impression of the room, as with the rest of the
palace, had been
a sense of great awe, but here it was also tinged with the
mysticism of the
place. Even now, as Shinji moved to his own pallat, the
feeling never
ebbed. His heart was pounding in his chest, but not because
of enthusiasm,
but from a slowly growing sense of worry. Then, his fear
was acknowledged
by that which he had dreaded most.

"Hello Shinji, it has been quite some time," the voice
said, faked
sentimentality oozing from the words.

"You have an awful sense of timing, you know that," Shinji
mentally
snarled. He felt the shrug of the Voice.

"Oh excuse me, I did not mean to intrude," it answered,
sounding as
apologetic as possible. Then, the voice instantly became
hard and very,
very cold. "Perhaps if you hadn't done such a good job of
locking me away
with your petty fears. Where is the gratitude, boy?"

"If I did such a good job, why are you here now?" Shinji
countered. He
could here the Dreamer continuing to speak, but he blocked
the voice out of
his mind. One seemingly dissembodied voice is enough.

The Voice laughed. "Have you not bothered to look about
you? This chamber,
everything in this chamber, was designed to make those
inside calm and
relaxed. It's a constant prerequisite to any trance-like
state. A blind man
can see that!"

Shinji winced.

"Your senses have grown soft, boy. Perhaps in the past, you
might have
noticed this, but now it seems that you're contantly
preoccupied. So," it
shrugged once more, "as your mind begins to lose it's grip
on concious
reality, my prison begins to deteriorate. Oh? And is that
worry I sense?
No, I won't 'come forward' like I have done before. I find
that so very
draining. Besides, it would be pointless to do so now."

Shinji new it was true. His body had become increasingly
unresponsive, and
the part of his mind that was not focused on the
conversation was hard to
read, as if a thick fog had descended and refused to rise.
Shinji managed
to grit his teeth.

"I won't let this happen, I won't let you win!" he said,
and tried fighting
the lethargy that had settled over him. It was difficult,
but apparently
the trance wasn't strong enough to negate concious fighting
of it's
effects, for he was slowly beggining to come out of it. The
Voice, too, had
begun to grow ever fainter in his mind. He almost smiled in
triumph, but
then it spoke once more.

"Very well, you may fight it. I can do nothing to stop you.
However, if you
remain here, who, may I ask, is going to protect...her?" an
image of Teri,
very faint but still distinct, appeared in the eye of his
mind.

Shinji turned his head and glanced at the girl. She had
already gone under,
her breathing was slow and constant. But, the others could
do it, right?
But no, he knew better. She and Stana weren't exactly on
best terms. Clip
was devoted to Stana, and whether he would help Teri
remained to be seen.
The other girl, Estela, wasn't it? They seemed to be
friends. But the
feeling he got when she entered the Throne Room made him
uncertain. He knew
nothing of her companion. That left-

"You," the voice said. Shinji clenched his fist.

"You bastard..."

"You had better hurry. The rest are already well on their
way," it reminded
him, the sound slowly fading until it ceased to exist.

So, resigned to his fate, Shinji stopped fighting. And when
the darkness
came, he did nothing to stop it.

***

    Clip pranced into  the room, striped head proudly aloft
and hooves
sparkling in the light. Of all the music in this room, his
equine voice
was the most beautiful.
    And he knew it too.
    Not that his arrogance marred his etheral quality in
the least, it
just soured Stana's already tense mood.
    Clip had already explained that the Royal Dreamer would
not be able
to work his magic on him. Clip was naturally immune to the
Human's
charms. There was little need to worry, for Unicorns trode
the Dream
Road frequently, and knew the path. He needed no Mortal's
guiding hand.
     Stana could only admire his aloof attitude-much as she
resented
the ease he exhibited at this coming ordeal.
     She caught a waft of sweet woodruff, mixed with strong
Eurythrius
and rosehips. It was a heady mixture, patterned to be
slightly sedative
in nature. The tinkling of the wind chime-ish bells in the
background,
the gentle patter of the drums, making a pattern
reminiscent of rain,
it was all geared to relax and soothe.
     There were two places laid for her and Clip. Facing
the East to
greet the rising sun.  Stana allowed herself to be helped
down, and
laid out. The hand on her shoulders leaning her back were
feather
gentle.  A touch of a goblet rim and a rush of warm liquid
passed
throiugh her lips. Her head whirled, and she caught the
scent of
alchohol as the cup was moved away. She didn't recognize
the mixture he
used, she searched her limited knowledge and gave it up
soon after.
      There was a heat that was spreading through her
limbs, and her
eyes dipped down; once, twice. She thought that it would be
safe for
her finally to sleep. No Nightmares would find her when
Clip and
Oraiyas were there to protect her... .
      The cold of the medallion against her naked skin
reminded her
that she could hope for the best, but would not get it... .

      The Unicorn snorted, kneeling beside the girl and
touching her
gently with the tip of the Alicorn. His body shuddered once
and his
head dropped to rest next to her.
***
*******************
Wataru's post shoudl go here, and will be sent a little bit
later.
****************
She walked into the room in the thin blue gown, barefoot,
her dark hair wet
from the purification, flowing over her shoulders. Taking
her place beside
one of the blue-covered western pallets, she waited until
Wataru was beside
her to lay down. Even before the helpers aided her in
laying down, she could
smell, strongly, some sort of insence. A slash of fear went
through her at
the thought that her overly sensitive lungs would get her
in trouble again,
then she pushed it back. Insence was fine. Would be fine.
She felt her mind
hazing even as her head touched the pillow. She hated being
drugged in just
about any way...

No.

She wouldn't go into the Aethyr carrying the darkness
already prepared in
negative emotions. She shut her eyes concentrating on the
sounds of the bells
and drums, the breeze on her skin. Slow deep breaths.
Flowing like water.
That's what she wanted. Water.

They brought the copper cup to her lips and she let herself
drink the liquid,
sweet and warm, soothingly so. Another wave of panic rose
as a leaden feeling
swept through her limbs. She was not one given to
fainting.....no matter
what. And the only times she had fainted had either been
from overuse of her
powers --her currently weak powers-- or when she'd been
drugged by the Aoli.
Her breathing, rather than slowing, sped with fear.

And then cutting through her panic came the Dreamer's
voice. Words...she
couldn't catch them. The distraction was enough. She slowed
her breathing
back down, chanting in her mind. *There is no emotion,
there is peace.......*

The candles went out with a chime of bells.

Silence....the fear struggled to rise. Something felt
wrong. *Tadrin!* she
thought, in a desperate, but futile attempt at telepathy.
But the very
thought of him soothed her. She thought of the purification

ceremony......letting everything wash away in the water.
Water. Chosen of
Water who is water. Yes. She is floating within her
element. The water rushes
around her, stills. Mirror-glassy lake under the sky. The
sky fades, the
water fades. She sinks down into the dark, comforting
water, becoming it.
Becoming the water.....another chime of bells sounded, far
away. The sound
distorted through the water, through her mind. As it faded
away, there was
nothing but the silent void of sky, blown by the northern
wind.