User:Arrow Quivershaft/Forboding Dreams
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{{#ifeq: User |User| Forboding Dreams | Arrow Quivershaft/Forboding Dreams}}[[Title::{{#ifeq: User |User| Forboding Dreams | Arrow Quivershaft/Forboding Dreams}}| ]]
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Author: [[User:{{#ifeq: User |User| Arrow Quivershaft | {{#ifeq: User |User| Arrow Quivershaft | }}}}|{{#ifeq: User |User| Arrow Quivershaft | {{#ifeq: User |User| Arrow Quivershaft | }}}}]] [[Author::{{#ifeq: User |User| Arrow Quivershaft | {{#ifeq: User |User| Arrow Quivershaft | }}}}| ]]
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Author: [[User:{{#ifeq: User |User| Arrow Quivershaft | {{#ifeq: User |User| Arrow Quivershaft | }}}}|{{#ifeq: User |User| Arrow Quivershaft | }}]] [[Author::{{#ifeq: User |User| Arrow Quivershaft | }}| ]]
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Authors: [[User:{{#ifeq: User |User| Arrow Quivershaft | {{#ifeq: User |User| Arrow Quivershaft | }}}}|{{#ifeq: User |User| Arrow Quivershaft | {{#ifeq: User |User| Arrow Quivershaft | }}}}]]
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Author: [[User:{{#ifeq: User |User| Arrow Quivershaft | {{#ifeq: User |User| Arrow Quivershaft | }}}}|{{#ifeq: User |User| Arrow Quivershaft | }}]]
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We went back on the ship on the 18th, and it was a quick transit. The wind was behind us this time, so we made good time, with a planned arrival on the 19th. WIth a bit of luck and some drive, Dawn and I could make it down to the grove by the 20th and meet up with them for more planning. I was still worried about Nick, but there was nothing that I could do until we got there.
On the evening of the 18th, after dinner and some chatter, I’d gotten situated in one of the hammocks they had below decks and started to drift off to sleep, aided by the rhythmic rocking of the ship as we moved. There was some creaking noise but I was able to tune it out mostly. Dawn was already asleep, perched on top of my secured pack. I became vaguely aware of my marksense turning back on...we were back in realm. Good...we could make the grove and then...well. I tried to tune the worry out of my mind and drift off to sleep.
I don’t know how long it did or didn’t take, but suddenly I felt a sensation. I was floating, but not far above the ground. I opened my eyes and looked around, and there I was, in Selene’s grove. It was like...lucid dreaming. I knew I was asleep, and I was aware of it, but at the same time I had no control over anything. Like...a dream message, perhaps.
It was raining lightly, but not bad, just a gentle shower. Nick was visible nearby, waking up, like he’d just had a bad dream. I tried to call out to him, but no sound came forth. Nick stood up, and started searching for something, and as he moved, I felt myself being dragged along behind him, like an observer...something told me my job here was just to watch and learn, not to do anything.
After a short while, Nick found what he was looking for: Blossom, who was out tending to the grove with a few other wardens as per her duties. As I looked at her, she became backlit and I saw what she was doing; she was moving a spiderweb out of the rain. As she finished, Nick approached her.
“Hey...Blossom?” he said, trying to get her attention.
Blossom looked back at Nick. "What is it?" she asked, politely. Again, like a daughter asking her father.
"Know those dreams you keep havin'?" Nick said. I was vaguely aware of other things, but other people were masked in shadow, and beyond a certain distance, everything was blanketed by a thick fog. This was what I was supposed to pay attention to.
"Yeah?" Blossom responded.
"Had something weird go on...few hours ago. Where's Alex?" Nick inquired.
"I don't know..meditating, maybe?" Blossom suggested
"Oh, anyway I have a really bad feeling..." Nick trailed off, looking visibly ill. I couldn’t pin down how, but he looked sick. Something was wrong.
Blossom walked over towards Nick. "Alright...let’s go find him, then?" she said with a smile.
Nick smiled back. “Alri-...” Then his expression went blank, and empty. His eyes looked hollow.
Blossom blinked, staring at him "What is it?"
Nick suddenly started falling to the side, like all his muscles had gone slack.
Blossom jumped with amazing speed to catch him, and lowered him down to the ground. "Nick..? Nick!?" she called at him, trying to get a response. Nick’s eyes slipped closed and his mouth hung open slackly, no reply.
Blossom yelled, trying to get another warden over to help her. She got a response shortly from a dryad and a centaur, who came over. Blossom said something about getting Nick to the sleeping lodges as they hefted up the tiger-man. They responded, but I couldn’t hear it...I somehow knew they answered in the affirmative despite this. But that wasn’t my focus. I could tell Nick was simply dead weight. I could see the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, but beyond that there was no activity from him. If I hadn’t seen the breathing, I would’ve mistaken him for a dead body.
Another backlight appeared, and some...fluid started dripping out of Nick. But not in a gravity fashion, more like it was being pulled by something else. A thick, viscous iridescent substance, like nothing I’d ever seen, came out of him through no visible hole or opening. I watched in shock as it fell to the ground and pooled...and then slipped right through the floor of the grove and disappeared out of sight, the backlight fading after it was gone. I didn’t understand what I’d just seen, but I was pretty sure there was nothing good that could come of it.