WHAT. A Raven finds her Dream WHERE. Vallo Forest WHEN. Very early on Sep 28th WARNINGS. References to animal loss in the past but otherwise not much other than Dream being a woobie. STATUS. Complete!
Dream spent more time in the waking world here than he did at home. He could not say he liked it, but he had always been more drawn to mortals than most of the other Endless, aside from his sister. But here, the Dreaming was not quite so large. It was a contained entity, with less people as members, and less chaos on a normal basis.
That was not to say people did not have their traumas and their nightmares. But here, Dream did not add to it. He helped the world with what it had already had, keeping things on the right path, watching, waiting, protecting. Here in Vallo, there were those that would and could harm through dreams, walking and watching. Demons, witches, monsters. It had been an unexpected discovery on his arrival, despite having jumped into the Greywarden’s dreamspace on the first night. That had been contained, and peaceful.
Even with the demons and new job requirements, Dream still had less time asleep than normal. Timezones were not an issue here, and it gave him too many hours that he did not know how to fill. He had no need for shopping, yet visited the Greywaren’s market twice a week. He had no need for food, or entertainment, yet went to bars to observe. And then there was Kenzi, who had apparently taken it upon herself to occasionally force him to socialize.
Right now he had quiet. He had the shifting forest in it’s waking hours, sunlight still unable to peek through the trees and warm his skin. Instead it was damp and dark as he explored, and he felt at peace.
Until he heard the rustling of leaves.
As an immortal, it was nearly impossible to surprise or scare him. He could not die, though even if his body were to somehow be destroyed, he would merely reform into another being to take over the Dreaming. So he ignored the noise.
The second noise he heard was the familiar caw of a raven. He had seen the Greywaren’s, Chainsaw, and had offered her treats a few times in his visits, but this was different.
Familiar.
For the embodiment of dreams, he didn’t like to hope. Matthew had been a Raven of find standing, after Dream had adjusted to having another, but Matthew was not Jessamy. It felt mean to think that, since Matthew had helped him through a great deal and had his own merits to be talked about.
Jessamy had been with Dream a very long time, though, and he still thought of her both fondly and bitterly, as her final moments were ones he would never forget. He heard the rustle again, and then another caw, and finally he looked.
Just as a monster lunged out of the dark woods and a black and white streak soared through the sky past it, raking a claw against skin. Dream vanished in a swirl of sand, and appeared again a few feet away. The raven found him easily and landed on his hand, and Dream nearly buckled.
“Jessamy.” He had missed her very much, and she almost sounded smug as she replied with both a caw and a hello.
He smiled. A faint thing, as Dream rarely smiled much more than that, but the pleasure was in his eyes as he took her in. She was here, healthy and whole, and never relenting from her duty as his raven.
He felt more whole than he had in many years.
The monster hadn’t quite lost his trail, however, and Jessamy gave him a quiet warning. Behind you.
“Yes, very well. We’ll go. I have much to show you.” With another swirl of sand, he left the monster puzzled and alone in that dark forest, as Dream and Raven disappeared from sight.