Meaning in Dreams

[Sierra]

Sierra knew she was in the dream long before it became apparent. It always felt different, the way the senses came, how the dream flickered and she was aware of the changes. Sleeping in the dream world was different than the the wolf dream.

And even this was different, it was more like watching a dream - maybe someone else's dream? Sierra didn't understand the dream. None of it.

A series of images flashed passed her a man and and a young woman. There is an argument. Tempers fly. The general feeling of familial ties - father and daughter. The argument is confusing. Death, assassination?

The two part, a rift forms between them. The tie that bound them broken. Sierra's heart sinks as they part ways forever.

Sierra walks after the girl, maybe she can help her...

The scene before her flickers and another one appears. Two men fighting. Again there is a family tie between them. A woman nursing a child looks on, she's tied to one, but the baby tied to another. Sierra watches as each person crumbles into ashes. Their lives broken. More loss...

Sierra turned a different direction - there was nothing to save here.

Another man and woman appear before Sierra. The dagger through the heart. Sierra collapsed to her knees as the daughter died. Why was the dream showing her these things? She wanted out - she opened her eyes and was crying. She missed Snow even more now, the warmth and comfort of her friend was gone.... all those families lost.

[Elyse]

Elyse hadn't been sleeping well since her last foray into the world of dreams. On top of that she was upset about her parents. Ana had spoken to her sensing something was wrong. Elyse said she was okay, but doubted the woman believed her.

Nox was supportive. She didn't rely on him as much to solve her problems at least. She was strong and would get through it. She just had a lot on her mind.

And she was there again - in the world of dreams. It seemed normal - at least as normal as it usually did. The feeling of foreboding that she had felt the last time wasn't there. Last time she had seen prophecies. At least that's what Nox thought they were. Perhaps he was right, but Elyse didn't know for sure, and she had no idea who to ask.

The dream changed. Elyse looked around nervously. "No..."


It was happening again. Darkness was creeping into the dream. More serpents appeared in front of her. She stepped back, but they didn't attack her. The two serpents attacked each other. Each one had the other's tail in its mouth.

It faded, and the dream was normal again. The last one clicked in her mind. What she had saw was a prophecy. She knew it now. The two serpents - the two factions of the Atharim. This would get bloody before long.

Elyse sat and put her head in her hands. She would tell Nox this one too. They had to be prepared for war - a war that Elyse didn't want to see and would likely have very adverse affects on the world.

[Sierra]

The next night Sierra stepped into the dreams - figuratively - to be there physically would have sent Snow into a fit. She smiled at the memory of her friend bouncing around pushing her back. The dream felt different - like it was telling her things she didn't want to know. But she couldn't leave without seeing it. It was an odd sense compelling her forward.

The land was barren. It was nothing but ash, a towering hulk of black rock shadowed the land behind her, a strange orange glow at its peak. The image slide away to a tree, with large red orbs hanging from it's ashen limbs. Sierra picked an orb and it broke in half revealing shiny red jewels - a pomegranate tree? Sierra blinked and the image faded completely.

A voice echoed in the dream - a single word and Sierra turned to look for the source. She headed for the sound. It wasn't a dream? Another person stood in front of her, watching nothing, but watching something.

Between one step and the next Sierra was standing next to the woman, her golden eyes shining and Sierra smiled - a friend. There was a faint tickle of the mind of a familiar friend and then it was gone. Maybe this was who she needed... Snow? Sierra looked around but saw no white fur blurring away, but she knew it had been him. The faint image was her name? "Something wrong Silent Fang?"

[Elyse]

Elyse turned to see another woman. Elyse couldn't help but notice how pretty she was, but what really caught her attention was her golden eyes and how she used her wolf name.

A faint image appeared and Elyse looked around. She couldn't see a wolf, but presumably there was one nearby. It said the other woman's name. "Long eye..."
she said.

She turned to look where the serpents had been. They were still gone, and even though she knew what it meant, it gave her no comfort. Elyse turned back to Long Eye.

"It's behaving strangely. Showing me things - bad things."


Perhaps it was that the two shared abilities, but Elyse felt she could trust this one. Elyse ran her left hand through her hair and looked around more. The vision hadn't reappeared, nor had another taken its place.

This had been the fourth one Elyse had seen. She didn't want to see anymore, but maybe she could change some of them. She didn't know. "I think they're..."
she stopped, not wanting the woman to think she was crazy, but realizing she probably sounded like she was.

[Sierra]

Sierra frowned. It wasn't a coincidence that they'd both been drawn into the dreams of strange devices. "We are too close to men of power. Before the wolves said I shouldn't come here. And I think they might have been correct."


The other woman had cut off her sentence before finishing it, but Sierra was staring at her left arm. Memories flashed. Not in her head, before them - like she was reliving the dream from some ethereal place.

A man, strong, big, frightening, the face blurred - a snake wrapped around his left arm - not a tattoo - the real thing biting its own tail. It wasn't the memory - the imagery of it - like the strange workings of the dream. He towered over her brother cowering in a corner, he was more wolf in the dream. His features were elongated into a snow, there where skin might have been was soft downy fur. His eyes were golden. His teeth were human as he barred them at the man.

The man grabbed him. Sierra heard a scream, It was her voice, but it didn't come from her mouth. A visiage of a girl came and tried to stop him. He tossed her to the side and he grabbed the wolfman by the scruff of his neck and ran a knife across his throat then tossed it aside.

Her mother wept far away from them, in a door that led into the earth. Home. But yet it wasn't home.

Sierra fell to the ground on her knees. The memory came to life in the dream was still staring at her - her brother's death. The snake. Sierra crouched in defense of herself and looked up at the other woman, the snake on her left arm. "Who are you people that you kill innocent children?"

[Elyse]

Long eye fell to her knees. Elyse smelled a variety of emotions, she had no idea what the woman felt, but it wasn't happy. Long eye looked up at her and Elyse understood. This woman had faced Atharim before. She had lost someone to an Atharim blade.

Elyse slowly went to her knees. She didn't want to seem threatening, and standing over the woman would do that. "Please listen to me..."
her voice was pleading.

Long eye didn't move or respond in any way so Elyse continued. "We're called the Atharim and our goal is to protect mankind from the supernatural. But we're fragmented now...broken."
Elyse paused, closing her eyes. She wasn't holding back. Long Eye deserved to know. "Some use extreme ways. Anyone who is a threat dies. But there are others...others who think it's wrong to judge based on what abilities someone is born with. And for that belief...I am a traitor."


It was a lot. Tears started to drop. "Most of us were born into the order. War is coming within it now. You have to understand...not all of us are the monsters that we claim to fight...I..."
Elyse wanted her to understand. "I'm sorry for whatever happened. Whatever another did that hurt you so much. It should have never happened."


Elyse's apology was sincere. She couldn't take back what happened, but she could stand for what she believed in.

[Sierra]

The woman cried. Sierra smelled the sincerity of her words. The truth.

Tears falling always made Sierra weak. The desire to protect the hurt. It was the wolf thing to do but Sierra moved in a half crawl towards Silent Fang. Sierra dressed in her normal garb, her deer skin coat worked with bear fur. She'd killed both with the help of Snow of course. It felt like home. She nuzzled the other woman accepting the pain and returning comfort in its stead.

While this woman might not have anything to do with her brother's death - she knew who was. Sierra whispered, "My mother called the man. She is as much to blame as he. Help me find him. Bring him to justice."
Sierra was certain she couldn't kill the man, but she knew the law. He had murdered her brother - she was a witness to the crime. If Snow were here, he'd rip the man's throat out without a second thought and Sierra would let him. But he was not here. "With a name like that, you would be good at hunting."
Sierra smiled. "Please, help me bring that man to justice."

[Elyse]

Long Eye must have believed her. She moved in a half crawl and nuzzled her. Elyse felt emotions build up as she hugged the woman, crying into the fur coat's shoulder. The tears intensified as Long Eye mentioned that her mother had called the Atharim man. The pain she had felt from her own parents' abandonment resurfaced.

Elyse composed herself and separated from the woman wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry...I'm a little bit of a wreck right now."


The mention of the hunting caused Elyse to smile. Her clothes shifted as her mind did to the black clothes she wore while hunting. A silenced pistol was on her right hip and a crossbow slung over her back.

Justice...could she bring the man to justice. Elyse wasn't sure what the other woman meant by that. It could mean a variety of things. Long Eye didn't have the feel of a murderer.

Elyse made her choice. "I'm in hiding from them right now, but if I can help I will try."
Elyse meant it too. She would help. "Elyse...that's my name. Elyse Andersen."

[Sierra]

Sierra smiled at the changing of clothes. The dream knew your deepest desires - it could manifest them without a second thought. It knew your nightmares too and that was where the danger lay.

"Sierra Lupita. My brother was Aaron."
She didn't know if it would be helpful or not. But she knew could help.

Sierra changed their surroundings to the same coffee shop outside of Red Square where she had met the strange men. The view of the monument was seen from the window. "Meet me here. I will give you the only clue to who the man is that I have. Maybe it'll be helpful, maybe not."


Sierra smiled. "And we can hunt another. Poachers are killing our friends. They need to be stopped before the wolves around Moscow are gone. "

[Elyse]

Aaron - it must have been who she lost. Families broken apart. That thought made Elyse sad.

A coffee shop appeared and Sierra - it was a pretty name for a pretty woman - told her to meet her there. Elyse nodded.

"Okay"
" feeling sad that poachers were killing wolves. They were majestic and intelligent beings. Killing for sport wasn't right either. "I'm not sure I can kill anyone."
It was the honest truth - even though she was not sure that is what Sierra meant. "And I can't get out of here on my own yet..."
She had meant to start training with the wolves, but it hadn't happened yet.