10/12/2000

Dreaming: il'Sharil House

A small room, within a small house... far too small for all the occupants
who must have lived here. Two beds occupy it, and look comfy, but
defiantely not very high class. In fact the whole house looks very lived
in, despite it's lack of clutter.


Grrrrrrr. Neelkan still can't believe his sister can do this too. So
bleeding unfair. Anyway, he fell asleep a little bit after he laid down in
his room, careful to keep the terangreal hidden under his shirt because
nosey Sunan would no doubt have a million questions, and if he found out
what it /was/... Well, he wouldn't rest until a certain former bandit
handed it over. As if to reflect his frustration, his clothing shifts
around in a style of the Amyrlin's Army. Not that he's thinking of joining,
but he pretty much assosiates anything having to do with Master General
Christabel as something Grrr-worthy. The rank changes around, as does the
style and basic cut. The only things constant are his necklace (which has
the ring secured on it) and earrings. Once he's sure he's somewhere else,
not a regular dream, he looks around and finds himself in the wrong place,
some field, no doubt also assosiated with the Grrr-worthy Army. He isn't
sure /how/ he's supposed to get himself to the old house, so he just closes
his eyes and thinks about it. Luckily enough, that seems to work. And since
he appears to be alone, he plops down on the bed that used to be his, and
starts to toss his metal fan back and forth from one hand to the other. A
metal fan that appeared out of nowhere. This place is weird, yup.

Time passes... and passes... and passes... and it might make a certain
paranoid person wonder whether his sister got lost and got eaten by some
nightmare roaming the dreamside. No, knowing the evil Aidou she just wants
to keep him waiting, especially after hurting her feelings so! Bad brother!
When she first wakes up in the dream however she's got her novice whites
on, because when you've been wearing one outfit, for as long as she has,
you just get used to it. It's as much a part of her as the heart shaped
hair style she -always- wears, or her log! :) She looks around, and despite
the fact that she was trying really hard to end up in their old room, she
popped up beside her bed at the Tower. Well now what's she supposed to do?
It's a long ride to Eharon, and... well.. you get the idea. Needless to
say, it takes her a long time, but she does eventually materialize, and by
then her dress has started shifting, mostly because she's just a -little-
(yes, that was hyperbole) frustrated by all this. And a little scared, but
that's healthy, and a little excited too...

Well, hopefully a slender she-wolf with deep brown eyes is not grr worthy
as well. For that is what comes striding right through the door, to settle
down lightly by the fireplace as if she owns the world. She crosses her
paws before her primly and looks generally alert and watchful. She doesn't
do very many normal wolf-type mannerisms...no mouth-open panting for
example, or grrring, or any other sort of thing, but her ears do twitch
from time to time. And when Aidou appears, her tail thumps from one side to
the other, looking more like the annoyance of a feline than the welcome of
a canine.

This is so boriiiiing. Wonder what Denn's doing now? The thought turns his
fan into a flower for an instant, before he glares at it and makes it
vanish from his hands all together. He doesn't care for this place at-- eh?
When'd that wolf get here? Neelkan peers over at the wolf, kind of like
it's wandering in /his/ territory, but then shakes his head and mumbles
softly about just being a wolf. Though the Dreaming class did mention
wolves, and how Dreamers often claimed to see them. Then Aidou appears and
he stands up, his outfit turning to an Eharon-style clothing almost
instantly, "About bloody time, did ya get lost 'r somethin' /sis/." Sorry,
he can't help but tease. It's a habit he just can't shake. He's addicted to
it.

Might as well face it, you're addicted to.. er.. uh... sorry, but Aidou is
-not- in the mood for the teasing right now. Then again, is she ever? And
one of the cool things about tel'aran'rhiod... she can tower over him here,
and she does just that! She grows to about 3 times her normal size, enough
to be hitting her heada gainst the ceiling and leans down so she can shout
in his face, "NAW I DID'N GET LOST!" And then she zips back to normal size
and smooths her skirt and then blinks. Wow. I did something! I did
something really really cool! I wonder if I can do it again... and then her
eyes turn on him again, with a hint of an evil gleam in them, like she's
plotting ways of making him her guinea pig in this TAR experiement... Uh...
oh...

The wolf...coughs. At the sight of this giant superdeforming act of
Aidou's. The canine seems almost to lift a single eyebrow at Neelkan, as if
querieing if he can figure out how to do something similar. She seems
perfectly content with the surroundings. The children don't need to be
wandering about, nope. Though if they are going to, she can handle that, as
well.

Hrmpt. Neelkan's eyes narrow and he frowns in that slanted way he seems to
do so often, but he doesn't shrink down, or look afraid. The only sign that
he feels lower suddenly is the fact that his hair is a lot longer all of a
sudden, as it was when he was still living in this house. When she's done,
his hair returns to it's current cut and he crosses his arms, actually
managing to look bored, "So ya were just slow 'en I take it." He shakes his
head and peers over at the wolf, wondering why it's sticking around, then
turns his attention back at his sister, "So are we supposed t' throw a
yellin' match in 'ere? I somehow doubt 'at's what Kaomi gave us 'ese f'r."
He fingers the ring on his necklace, and is suddenly wearing his usual
Tower clothes, though details continue to flicker around.

Aidou crosses her arms too, but she looks anything but bored. In fact,
storm clouds start to roil over her head, but thankfully they don't
actually start raining. They just show her displeasure. At the mention of
Mother though, they vanish and she looks towards the door, and then back at
him. The accent is gone when she speaks (because she's not as angry as she
was before). "First of all, don't call her... what you called her. The
proper title is Mother, or Amyrlin...." how can she get this into his head
in a way he'll understand? There's the tried and true 'jamming it in with a
log' method, but she has another idea. "Kind of like you like to be
called... Neelkan. You wouldn't like it if everyone went around calling you
Shun'u, would you? Shun'u?" ;) "So I can't imagine she likes you call
her... what you called her." Not that this is going to make Aidou stop
calling him Shun'u, or old man, or even Red Chicken if she has a mind to,
but she's a sister, she gets special privledges. She looks down at her
shifting dress, and tries to settle it on the kind of clothes she used to
wear at home, which actually, once she gets over her hangup, comes easier
than the whites did. "And I don't know why she gave them to us, but I plan
on making use of them," and with that she starts for the door, clearly
planning on going first even if he's supposed to be self proclaimed leader
of this mission.

The wolf stands and stretches, yawning deeply. She moves to trot after
Aidou. Mother, Kaomi, Amyrlin, its all the same to her, really. She can do
her job whatever people choose to call her. Even 'hey mutt', which is
likely in her current disguise.

"/Kaomi/ has ne'er complained, 'n 'til she does, I'll call 'r b' 'er first
name." The only time he calls anyone by a title is when he hates them too
much to call them by their name, or is too worried about something else to
bother. Which is why you'll never see him call Christabel just Christabel.
Master General Christabel Aes Sedai it is! It's not respect. It's /spite/.
Respect for him is to call people by their first name. Yeah, he's weird. Go
figure. He growls softly as she starts to go out the door, "Burn it,
Aidou... If ya run off 'n get yerself killed I'm not gonna be bloody held
responsable, ya 'ear?" Though, oddly enough, he's now got a sword on his
hip, as if he plans to use it against anything that might go after his
sister as he moves after her.

Woah. Hold up there horsie.... does that mean he respects Aidou? Nah,
that's gotta just be habbit. She stops in the doorway, concentrates on him
really hard (and you really don't want to know what she's trying to make
him look like, though you could probably guess) and for just a split
second.. she makes him look like a red chicken. Beak, wings, claws,
feathers... everything, but it really only lasts for a blinking of an
eyelash. It's enough to make her giggle though, and feel vidicated, even if
he is trying to play Big Warder Dude. Paleeeeease. She rolls her eyes a
little at the sword and continues through the doorway, tossing back at him
over her shoulder, "No, you're not going to be held responsible, because
I'm not going to run off and get myself killed." She adds more in a mutter
to herself, "as if... could... protect me... Creator... brothers...
torment..."

The wolf shakes her head. Memo, Kaomi. Next time you want a couple of
students to go try to learn a thing or two on their own, don't put brothers
and sisters together. They'll spend the entire time arguing and turning
each other into strange animals. The wolf falls into step with Neelkan,
sympathizing with him since so far she's watched Aidou torment him and him
not retaliate much. Then she chuffs. Her own...brother...and she often seem
to have encounters on the same vein, if the subject matter is more serious
and the tone more calm, what of it? A sobering thought, there. Maybe its
just a Univeral Law of Siblinghood.

Grrrrrrr!! Or should that be 'Bawwwwwk!!'? His eyes widen and he looks
infuriated! "SIS, I'm gonna flamin' kill ya m'self if ya mess with m'
'gain!" He really, really hates his sister when she's like this. Neelkan
runs a hand through his hair and keeps his consentation on /himself/. He
won't let her Chicken-ise him again. And nope. He doesn't retaliate at all.
It's a fact of life with him. He'll threaten, he'll yell, but he'll never
actually /do/ anything harmful. He's starting to get a backbone where his
family is conserned, thanks in most part to the Tower training. Pranks on
the other hand... He narrows his eyes and consentrates on the floor in
front of his sister, trying to imagine the wood rotten and weak. He loses
hold of his clothes when he does this though, and oddly reverts partly back
to 'Chicken Neelkan', or at least in terms of now his clothing has red
feathers all over it.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm so sca-" You really -are- trying to kill her
aren't you?? Aidou not only gets a foot pushed through the floor, the whole
thing collapses under her, leaving a big, black hole where she went
through.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..............................." Woah, that must have been
a really... really.... really... long drop....

Sigh. Children. The wolf sticks its nose inquisitively down the hole. And a
big bouncy trampoline...we're talking super-bounce -- appears beneath the
Novice. The wolf's tail wags slightly in humor at this entire affair, but
she doesn't want anyone getting hurt. Yellow's can't do much about
Tel'aran'rhiod inflicted wounds...

"..." Neelkan stands there a second, a little stunned, then mutters
something about how she would have to fall into a really deep hole,
wouldn't she? As if he wasn't the one who /put/ it there. He doesn't even
hesitate a second longer as he readies himself to jump down... when he sees
the bouncy thing there to catch her. Wow. Go sis. Or is it the wolf? The
Dreaming discussion seemed to point to wolves knowing a lot about this
place. He kneels down in front and reaches over to pat the animal on the
head. A silent thanks. "Ya should watch where ya step, sis." He holds out a
hand for her to grab after a bounce or two if she hasn't caught the side.

".......eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAaaaaaaaaiiiiieeee.....eeeeeiiiiiaaaaaaA-" Aidou
stops screaming her way back up and blinks as she realizes she's bounced
back to where she began and promptly clings to the hand offered to her. "I
should watch where -I- step?! Why ya lil'!" If she wasn't holding onto his
hand right now to keep from falling she would make a really -big- log to
thump him on the head with, as for right now though that will have to wait
till she has solid footing. "'ow 's 'is fair?? I make ya-" ahem. "I make
-you- into a chicken, and you make the ground fall out from beneath me??
That's hardly equal punishment!" Actually... the bouncing was kind of fun,
once she got over the terror for her life... not that she's going to admit
that.

Kaomi licks Neelkan's hand. Eyes twinkling, as she thinks if events force
her to reveal herself she will be dealing with some very surprised
students. Along the lines of...my hand got licked by the /Amyrlin?/ My
/hand/ got licked by the Amyrlin! My hand got /licked!/ by the /Amyrlin!!/
And so forth. Which is what, in Kaomi's whole mind, makes such an action
funny. She's gonna be a wolf, so she's gonna play wolf. Her jaws gape in a
wolfy grin.

"Last time I checked, the floor under 'is wasn't /'at/ flamin' deep. Ya
must've made it 'at way. I just meant f'r ya t' stumble, 'n maybe get yer
foot stuck." Neelkan smiles at the licking wolf, then brings the licked
hand down to grab his sister, securing his hold of her as he hauls her up
and puts her on her feet. "Now... lemme see..." He consetrates again, this
time trying to put the floor boards back. It works, to an extent. They're a
totally different color then the original, kind of a sickly green color
like mold has grown on them, but at least they looks solid. He steps his
foot out, letting go of his sis to test it, then nods. "There. Good as
new." And... um... Aidou. Your brother has feathers all over his clothing
now. What does he think this is, the Festival of Birds? It's her fault! She
called him a Red Chicken.

Aidou has to pull out of her ire for a moment to notice the feathers, but
when she does she keeps an absolutely straight face. What? Give it away by
laughing? No, she'll let him walk around like that for a while. Hopefully
they'll run into some people and... you know... ;) "Hmph." She does however
create a log over his head and thump him soundly with it, and then she
just.. disappears... did she do that on purpose? Did she accidently think
of somewhere she'd rather be? Did she (meep!) get pulled off by someone
else in TAR? Or is she just playing hide and seek knowing that it will
upset him to not know where she is or what trouble she's getting into?
(Tag! You're it!) Now if you were an Aidou... where would you hide?

Thump. The wolf's tail hits the floor with an extremely annoyed air.
Alright, Kao, this expirimental learning thing has got to be at the very
least modified. She looks up at Neelkan. Hopefully he'll come up with the
solution on his own, find her, and Kaomi can just follow the both of them.

"OW!" Burn it. Why does she always hut him with that bloody log? Then
she... vanishes. Neelkan frowns for a moment, then gets really pissed off
and kicks the wall with his foot. Blood and ashes! What does she think this
is, a GAME!? Grrrrr. He settles down a second later and tries to think.
Where would she go? Well, in the house, there was always the attic. She was
fond of hiding up there, especially in the large crates mama kept up there
for storage. He closes his eyes and tries to picture it, but just can't
seem to. Grrr. He turns and heads for the normal way up instead. And the
feathers fall off his clothes behind him and vanish as he walks. "Sis!?!"
He calls out as he goes. Come on. Don't make your brother worry, Aidou.

Why not?? He made me fall through a hole in the floor! Vindictive much?
Much! There is a giggle, and a "bawk bawk bawk" from behind one of the
crates, and a few red feathers poof out. But after that there is silence,
and stillness. Behind him there is the scamper of feet, and then the door
up to the attic slams shut, the giggling coming now from behind it.
"Gotcha" Ok, so.. they weren't given these rings so they could play
around... sorry Kaomi... she'll stop now, really... Shun'u just.. brings
out he worst.. most childish parts of her, for some strange reason, and
finally being home.. even if it's just sort of... for the first time in
years is affecting her too. She's feeling a little home sick. And she wants
her real Momma, 'cause she loves her unlike -some- -ungrateful- people. She
calls through the door, "Last one back to cherry tree is a red chicken."
And we all know who the red chicken is. Yes, she got a head start 'cause
she picked the place, and yes she's an evil, evil cheater. Bad Aidou. Bad,
naughty, evil Aidou.

Well, Kaomi is no red chicken. The wolf disappears, only to reappear,
calmly, next to the tree in question. She tilts her head at Aidou as if
asking, 'what's taking you so long?' Perhaps, too, that will aid Neelkan in
figuring out how to win this particular conflict!

Neelkan grumbles loudly and crosses his arms over his chest. He's a Red
/Peacock/ burn it, not a chicken!! There's a difference! Peacocks are
cooler! Though honestly, he was only given the nickname because of his eyes
and fan. There are lots of animals that would suit him better. Espiria said
so! ... And that is so the wrong thing he should think about in
Tel'aran'rhoid. Here come the fancy clothes. All embroidery, and silk, and
fancy cut. He sighs after a minute standing there, unable to picture the
cherry tree, and hence, unable to get there easily, so instead he goes
downstairs again, breaks into a run down the halls and out of the house and
starts in the direction of the tree. Only to grind to a screetching hault.
What in the Light...? There's a giant /cat/ in the fields. What is a giant
/cat/ doing in the middle of /his/ fields!? It's front legs are the same
size as him!! Alright. Who had a nightmare about a giant cat? -.-; This has
Li'an writen all over it. She was always afraid of cats. And that cat
certainly seems to think he's something tastey like a Red Chicken. Blood 'n
ashes, Aidou, this is all /yer/ fault!! Suddenly the young man has a tree
branch in his hand, the ends burning, and is waving it in front of the
giant cat. Shoo. Let him pass. Of course, this means he thinks it's real.
Tsktsk. Well, maybe Aidou and Kaomi will hear the rather loud hissing from
the cherry tree.

Aidou sniffs at the wolf (no, she's not sniffing the wolf, she's.. being
snooty...) "Ye'h, ye'h, show off. Ya practica-" Ahem. "You practically live
here though, don't you." Tap tap tap tap tap. She waits. Ok Shun'u...
what's keeping him? She's about to pop back to the house when she hears the
hiss. What was that? She glances at the wolf, and then starts to walk in
that direction. He's gone and gotten himself into trouble hasn't he? She
knew it, she just knew it. Without her there he went and... she stops dead
and stares at the scene when she's finally close enough to see... He went
and got attacked by Tama? Yeah, that's the cat they got after he left...
not that it took his place or anything.. though Aidou might tease him to
that effect later. Right now she's actually quite worried about her little
brother. And of course, as required she yells out, "Shun'u!" and runs
forward to try and help him. She stops just as quickly as she'd started
though and thinks up a huge pile of logs, grabbing one off the top in rapid
succession and hurling them at the kitty's head... of course.. with the
size of that cat... all shes' likely doing is annoying it...

Oh for pity's...the wolf runs after Aidou, becoming Kaomi, clad in brown
breeches, a white shirt, and the stole, as she does so. "Neelkan! Aidou!"
she calls out. "The more you fight the cat, the more it will become
reality! You must refuse to acknowledge its existance! If you find yourself
unable to do this, you must pull the stone ring off and drop it. You will
wake up, then!" Easier to just get them to do it than to wrestle with a
nightmare that /two/ dreamers are holding.

"Aidou! Burn it, get 'way from 'is 'ing f'r ya get yerself scratched!!"
Then... Kaomi? What's she doin-- The wolf!? She /licked/ his hand!! The
AMYRLIN!! (Yup, she was right. The cat is totally forgotten and the burning
branch vanishes from his hands as Neelkan /stares/ at Kaomi. What is he
supposed to be doing again? Oh yeah... Denying the cat. The cat is not
real. The cat is not real. The cat is not real. The cheese will not protect
you? No! The cat is not real! Ok sis, all up to you. Better deny it before
it decides to swat your cute little brother with it's claws. Your cute
little brother in silk and finery?!

My cute little brother in silk and finery?!! Hmmmm... he should wear that
more often, he looks good in silk... and finery... and oddly enough
feathers, and she says as much, if only because she knows it will annoy
him. She stops dead when she hears Kaomi's voice, and is instantly back in
her novice whites. She turns from her log throwing and stares at the
Amyrlin, before dipping a curtsy, and just kind of standing there stupidly
otherwise. The Amyrlin licked Shun'u's hand?!?!?! Um.. Mother.. no
offense.. but.. none of us knows where that's hand's been, and knowing
Shun'u... it's probably dirty. Eeeewwwww. Then again the Amyrlin also saw
her making a complete brat of herself... and that drives her into serious
embarassment. With all this other stuff going on, it's actually not all
that hard to forget about the cat. I mean let's see.. am I more afraid of
the Amyrlin Seat, or a big household pet? I'd have to say Chair Lady. Nope,
the cat is not real. Then again, without said distraction next time.. it
won't be nearly as easy.

Kaomi smooths her stole and looks at both of them, smirking slightly as the
cat goes away. "I think, children, that it is time to wake up in any event.
Sleep in Tel'aran'rhiod is not as restful. In the morning, you will both
come to my office. We will discuss what you did right, and what you did
wrong." She waits, patiently, for them to disappear.

Doh. Well, what they did right is okay at least. Neelkan looks at his
sister and glares for a moment, before reaching up to smooth back his hair,
"G'night, /sis/." There's a pause, and he growls a momement, biting on his
lip before saying, "'n 'anks. f'r tryin' t' help." He reaches up, grabs the
ring from his neck and pulls it off. Ow. Ow. Ow. Remind him to learn the
/other/ way to get back into his body one of these days, Kaomi. That stung.

Aidou looks at her brother, and relief actually floods her for a moment.
She -was- worried abotu him. In spite of everything she didn't want him to
get eaten by a cat, or actually hurt. She smiles back, but just a little.
"You're welcome." See, this is why -she- should be in charge. She would add
an insult or soemthing else but.. but.. Mother's there... So she remains
quite, and watches him depart. Hrm, that looks like it hurt.. um.. she'll
just try willing herself awake now... she gives Kaomi this pitiful look,
and says "Yes mother," before she too vanishes.