[o] into the change

bring me your suffering
the rattle roar of broken bones

Hak Etme reminded Melita of worlds she could never return to – little pieces here and there jutted out and brought back such forceful memories of a life well beyond Caido. Of dragons screeching overhead and the crimson dirt and dust settling over the land, of long pieces where crag and bone and absolutely nothing lingered so far over the horizon, no one knew where it ended –

And then there was the Sea of Dreams.

Something lurched her horrid little heart the moment she could see the reflective edges of the slim pools; and she sighed, sadly nostalgic for instances and images she’d never have again. Because while this vast desert was still a place where they’d bombarded and maimed, it still held tufts of glories, puffs of substantial regard she’d never quite shake.

So if her breath was a little shaky as she landed the skyboat, what of it.

“All right, Dream Cactus, in and out,” she mentioned towards both companions as they all disembarked. She grabbed her bag and some gloves, not intending to be gnarled by the damned plant, and they set off on a rushing march, grateful for the setting sun.

the honeybee

Bring me the riot in your heart
angry, wild, and raw

Alys

There was no reason for Alys to be in the Sea of Dreams - none, at least, that were logical. And yet, here she was, gnawing on her lip, looking surreptitiously around as though searching for any approaching threat. The last time she'd been here, she and Tal had almost died. She hadn't been back since, fear keeping her from approaching. Perhaps that was why she now stood upon the sands. It was finally time to test her mettle against memories of the past.

Sascha sat at her feet, glaring up at her bonded, not particularly keen to relive the horrors that the Void had inflicted upon them during their last adventure here. But Alys was determined. She would not die today - of that, she was fairly certain - and she would conquer the trepidation that had her heart stuttering wildly in her chest.

What she had not expected was for there to be an audience as she struggled to come to terms with her near death experience. She vaguely remembered meeting the woman at some point of other, but a name eluded her. Maybe this wasn't such a bad thing. Maybe this experience would be better with some company. "Hey!" she called, then started to make her way towards the woman and the creatures that appeared to be her companions. "Wait up!"

Oh, I had a dream that you couldn't hear me screaming
Trying to tell you everything but it wouldn't stop you leaving

bring me your suffering
the rattle roar of broken bones

Melita hadn’t expected any company amidst the desert, save for her own companions, so the distant call of “Wait up!” caused her to furrow her brows, and glance over her shoulder. The woman was too far away to recognize at the moment, and initially, she wondered about ditching her and shoving off.

When she didn’t, however, and the individual came more into view, she realized she did know the stranger – albeit mildly – remembering her as a more serious figure. Wrinkling her nose and sighing, hoping she wasn’t slowed down by the other, she gave a half-hearted wave. “What’re you out here for?” She inquired, on the off-chance they might have similar goals, as Fangorn grumbled up ahead, already spotting one of the cacti necessary for her quest.

the honeybee

Bring me the riot in your heart
angry, wild, and raw

Alys

As Alys approached the stranger, she felt a keen wave of disinterest wash over her, which was strange, given that she had chosen to approach the woman and not the other way around. She paused for a breath, confused and wary - what if there was some sinister force at play again? - but she couldn't figure out why something dangerous would be disinterested in her, as though she wasn't worthy of its time. She might have believed it - after all, she was about as threatening as pudding - if not for her last experience on the Sea of Dreams, where the Void had been less than discerning about who it tried to kill.

"Long story," she replied as she caught up to the other woman, shaking off her brief confusion and deciding that perhaps she was simply paranoid. "Short version is, last time I was here I almost died, and I don't like avoiding the area just because I'm scared it'll happen again." A stupid reason? Sure. But it was all the explanation she had. "What about you?"

Oh, I had a dream that you couldn't hear me screaming
Trying to tell you everything but it wouldn't stop you leaving

bring me your suffering
the rattle roar of broken bones

“Huh,” Melita managed, head tilting, trying to orchestrate meaning and experiences through the reasoning. She could fathom some of it – after all, having already died, it didn’t mean she feared Sah; in fact, it emboldened her to eventually snag at vengeance and repay the endeavor. She hadn’t noted it in traces of lands though, and overcoming those aspects, but she supposed it made sense if she’d relented to something horrendous across these terrains. “Gotcha,” she offered thereafter, requiring nothing else.

Then she realized she did recognize the woman, from some brief venture in the Greatwood. “Alys, right?” She pointed and snapped her finger towards the Abandoned, momentarily pleased that she’d recalled the event – even if it hadn’t been anything substantial.

Gazing back where Fangorn stood around, waving his vines, she started towards the cacti. “I need to get a spine from one of the Dream Cactus for a quest.”

the honeybee

Bring me the riot in your heart
angry, wild, and raw

Alys

Melita accepted her explanation with little fanfare, and Alys was content to let it go at that. After all, she owed the woman nothing. They weren't friends. They weren't even acquaintances. Although, if she thought back, Melita had met her at a time in her life where she was much... surlier than she was these days. Perhaps she hadn't given the woman much of a chance back then.

There was a surge of pleasure that took Alys once more by surprise, and she blinked, her eyes unfocusing slightly as she tried to pinpoint the source. What was happening to her? This was decidedly not her emotion. Was it something in the Sea of Dreams? Last time she'd been here, she'd seen nightmares that weren't real. Perhaps now she was feeling things that shouldn't exist. Or maybe Melita was doing something to her. She didn't know anything about the woman. Maybe she was another Abandoned. But what reason would she have to use magic on Alys?

Confused and concerned - maybe she was finally going mad - she followed aimlessly as Melita approached a cactus. "Yes," she said in response to Melita's question, though it would be clear that she was distracted. She hardly even registered the woman's goal, so wrapped up in her thoughts was she. Something weird was happening to her... she just had to figure out what.

Oh, I had a dream that you couldn't hear me screaming
Trying to tell you everything but it wouldn't stop you leaving

bring me your suffering
the rattle roar of broken bones

Continually unaware of Alys’s inner experiences, Melita grabbed some gloves out of her bag, pondering over the best way to conquer her newfound foe. The cactus itself was simply that, but she didn’t want to be mauled by the sharp protrusion, given what she knew about the plant. When the Abandoned simply gave her a one-word response, the Honeybee brushed it aside, funneling all her concentration and focus into the task. “Ooh, I know,” she whispered, as if just instantly struck by an idea.

Given that her staff was the one due to get upgraded, she snagged that too – testing it out with a few motions, before ultimately swinging it wide, and smashing into the nearest spine.

With absolute and chaotic glee, she gave a vicious little grin as it sailed through the air and landed nearby. “Nice,” she granted, picking it up with said gloves and then looking for a good spot for the little culprit. Finally glancing back up to Alys, she arched her brow. "Anything you need out here?" Or maybe the venture was enough, given her past circumstances.

the honeybee

Bring me the riot in your heart
angry, wild, and raw

Alys

Pleasure was replaced by a smug sort of excitement, and Alys watched distantly as Melita smashed her staff into the cactus, gleeful and satisfied, and it dawned on the seer that she was feeling Melita's emotions. But how could that be? None of her magic worked that way.

Unless, of course, she had unearthed a new magic... in which case, she wasn't sure how she felt. It seemed like such a vast invasion of someone's privacy to be able to read them this way, though she could certainly see the usefulness of such magic. Then again, maybe it was simply as she'd thought before, and she was going mad, or the Sea of Dreams was assaulting her senses, or something else entirely... so how to test it?

It occurred to her that perhaps Melita wasn't the best person with whom to test the ability. She didn't know the Honeybee well, and she wasn't sure how many people she wanted to know if this was some new magic that belonged to her. So when Melita asked if there was anything she needed, she shook her head. "No. Thank you for letting me tag along. It was nice to see you," she said, before trudging back the way she had come.

fin

Oh, I had a dream that you couldn't hear me screaming
Trying to tell you everything but it wouldn't stop you leaving