Leonard's Lost Dream

[Lady Hammer]

For a moment when he woke, Leonard could've sworn everything had been real. But of course, it had been anything but. It was all a dream. So vivid, though, he remembered. The ravens and the crows dancing up above and perching on withered and weathered stone columns. An array of broken tiles and benches, and one muddy ring.

Leonard looked up into the sky to see ominous black clouds. He felt it might have been more than a dream.

But how much did a dream constitute?

Either way he looked at it, he couldn't tell, so he merely brushed back his long platinum locks and waited for a sign.

[Kate]

Moonlight streaked through the gnarled canopy, slicing a shimmering pathway through the darkness along which Amaranthine trod. Only the sudden absence of starlight made Amaranthine realise she'd entered the little copse; she'd been walking with her head to the ground, her eyes glazed over with reverie.

She couldn't get to sleep. The dream ran over and over in her mind like a windmill of hazy shadows. There had been darkness. Then a flash of harsh light. Then darkness once again- this time thickened with an unholy foreboding. But it was the screeching that haunted her the most. Oh! It was as if a thousand ravenous birds were being roasted alive.

And so she'd walked, as she always did when she needed to think, out of the city and to heavens knows where. She sighed hollowly and turned her steps the way they had come, her mind still captive of the strange dream. What did it mean? And furthermore, why did it cling to her so?

[Lady Hammer]

((ooc: THANKYOU SO MUCH. <3))

Then, Leonard sensed something. It was a lifesign, and he wanted to praise the keeper of life itself. He hadn't felt the presence of another being for months now, ever since he had walked out on his home to search on his dreams.

At night, his eyes weren't too terribly good, but he squinted to make out the figure that he could tell was around him somewhere.

"Hello? If there is someone near, I make peace!"

[Kate]

((ooc: No probs! Great rp, I don't know why it's taken me so long to join! ))

The voice cascaded over her thoughts like an icy waterfall of trepidation. Amarathine's head snapped up, her eyes now alert and piercing the darkness. It was a man's voice, although it sounded almost, well, earnest- not like the lustful voices of most of the men that spoke to her, and which she skilfully avoided.

She took a deep breath, steeling herself, before turning once again and calling, in what she hoped was a confident fashion (although she faltered slightly), into the surrounding black.

"Um, hello? Who's there..? Show yourself!"

[Lady Hammer]

A voice. It was something that flooded his ears in an almost overwhelming matter. It was a lucious burst of color to his otherwise gray pallette. At last.

"My name is Leonard," he said, fumbling around in his trenchcoat pockets for a match. He remembered leaving home with candles and a lantern for these situations, but he knew not where they had gone. A match would hardly suffice, but it would at least let him see where the woman was. His night vision was horrible.

"I am sorry m'lady, I cannot see you in the darkness."

[Kate]

The tiny flame sent a pool of warm light rippling through the darkness, setting aglow the faces of the two figures.

Amaranthine tried to compose herself in a dignified way, and although her voice was cool and steady, the unnatural vibrance in her eyes betrayed her turmultuous emotions. What were the odds she'd bump into someone here, outside the city, at such an ungodly time of night? Moreso, a man? How could she get out of this situation without any trouble? She was utterly defenseless.

"It is quite alright, sir. My name is Amaranthine Crow. Pray what brings you here at such an hour?"

[Lady Hammer]

"Dreams, Miss Crow. I've been having them for months now, and they have finally sent me here, although for what reason, I can't seem to begin fathoming..."

Leonard's face turned stern for a moment as he surveyed the area, his eyes welcoming the tiny speck of light for the short while it was there. And then, the match burned out, unceremoniously falling to the dirt ground he stood on. He sighed in defeat.

"I doubt I'll ever know with this darkness."

[Kate]

Thin threads of moonlight trickled down through the canopy, stitching lines of worry along Amaranthine's brow. The sudden darkness had startled her, and there was a despair in the man's voice that disturbed her slightly. It was a black night, and despite the wavering moonlight the darkness thickened her concern. Maybe she could slip away into the shadows without him seeing? But wait... What were these dreams he spoke of? How curious that they should both be led here by their thoughts.

"Dreams you say, sir?" Her voice was soft and sincere; her curiosity had stripped its coldness. "I too have been disturbed by a vivid dream; I was walking tonight to ponder it, although I really wish I could forget it. I feel I am fortunate, though, to have had just the one."

She paused uncomfortably, pondering the faint, silvery outline the moonlight had given the man. She gazed intently at him for a full minute, and then, as if having finally come to some arduous conclusion, sat silently down on the leaf-strewn grass.

"Tell me about your dreams, sir."

[Lady Hammer]

Leonard pondered Amaranthine's line. Tell her his dreams. He wasn't quite sure if he wanted to do that, but... what could he lose? At the very least, she wouldn't have anything to say about them, leading him in no particular direction towards answers.

With this thought in mind, he began to pace around the dirt colisseum arena, but decided to lean against a column instead, and cleared his throat to speak.

"Every night for at least four months now, I've been having a dream. It's never exactly the same, but it always starts out where I'm floating in an ocean on a large driftwood log, and it's nighttime. The sky is always a glorious shade of deep blue, but sometimes, there aren't any stars in the sky, and the moon will be in a different phase. Sometimes I'm with people, sometimes I'm alone. Sometimes, the dream will go on and I'll find the shore and go on to other places and lead into another dream, but then other times, I'll see myself in the setting and then wake up. The rest of the night will be sleepless."

He remembered seeing his wife in one of his dreams, but tried to shake the image out of his head. He hadn't liked the way that particular dream ended.

"It makes no sense. And I cannot find this ocean..."

[creamwolfgurl]

(can I just join or do I have to post my charrie's bio?))

[Kate]

(I wouldn't know I'm afraid, but it'd probably be easier for us if you did ^^ and Lady; I think I must have muddled the setting. Lets just say there's a small grove of trees growing amongst the ruin? )

Amaranthine sat pensively for a moment, her lips pursed in thought. She picked up a leaf and crushed it absent mindedly between her fingers, gazing at it blankly as though all the answers lay somewhere within its powdered membranes. Then, without looking up, she continued matter-of-factly,

"Well, it's obvious that there is a distant place across the oceans that you must seek; finding it will probably the trickiest piece of the puzzle. I have seen many places and crossed many a sea- can you remember anything else about the shore upon which you birth?" She looked up at the man expectantly, then began crushing another leaf.

"You know, you haven't even told me your name."

She chuckled softly in disbelief, but her mind soon turned back to her own dream. If only she could figure it out like this man had!

[Lady Hammer]

(yes you can join. :3)


"What do you mean I haven't told you my name?" Leonard chuckled. "Not even a few minutes ago I told you. I introduced myself first, remember?"

The presence of this girl made him happy. It was good to finally come in contact with someone, again. Indeed, she knew what everyone else had told him - he must find the ocean. He thought hard about the details.

"The shore... it's always the same. Pearly white sand. And there is always a forest surrounding it. I know not any sea that is specific to this descriptions. Many seem to be the same way. I cannot remember any other features."

But then, one dream in particular rang though his memory at that very second.

"Wait..."

[Kate]

Amarathine shrugged. She'd been so pre-occupied, it's no surprise a few details had slipped from her grasp. She looked up curiously at the man, or Leonard as he called himself- he looked like a man who has known many a cold and lonely night. At least, that was the only way she could rationalise the strange shadow in his eyes.

The island Leonard described was so vague and general Amarathine almost pitied his desperation. Then, she realised he wasn't finished, and her curiosity perked unexpectantly.

"Yes, sir?"

[Lady Hammer]

"There is one detail that my memory chased away.

"In one dream, I went below the surface of this ocean, pulled by some silver string, and I swam deeper and deeper... until I came to an underwater civilization in complete ruins. It was amazing. I wonder if that's exactly what it was, though. Just a dream. Nothing more than subconscious entertainment."

There was a hint of sadness in Leonard's voice, and the words of his wife rang in his mind. Lilitu telling him how his search was ridiculous. He hadn't seen her for so long, now. Months. He longed to see her, but he doubted she would let him back until he finished his search, now.

[Kate]

Amaranthine had to stifle a giggle.

"Silver string, you say? I've never heard of such a method of aquatic exploration. Perhaps your dreams are but colourful fantasy after all."

There was a wicked gleam in her eye that had never been there before. It was a moment before Amaranthine realised it herself, and it scared her. She softened her face into what she hoped was a more empathetic expression. The wind was getting cold, and she shivered violently, her thoughts turning to the warm, firelit bedroom which she had vacated what seemed like an age ago.

"Forgive my brutality. Your dream is fascinating, and wondrous; I wish I could experience such marvels, even in my mind. If you believe such a place exists, then it could exist. I hope it does."

((ooc: sorry it's taking me so long to reply. So so busy... I swear everything in life happens at once. >.> Thanks for being patient.))