A Good Dream, A Bad Dream
Jet has heard stories of the Shikome, who rend men's flesh in ecstatic pleasure, of Kirin, lord of beasts, of liondogs who can bark loud enough to wake an entire temple full of Airbenders...
But he did not know the Baku and he did not know the Penanggalan.
The latter came to him as a beautiful woman, who offered him shelter in her cave. She caressed his hair and gave him food and said she would take him (with such pretty white teeth) to the local village and he would be guided back to his lover.
She reminded him of Katara; her skin was too fair, but her eyes were large and liquid and her hair was thick and curled just so. She fed him the meat of a monkey and the greens of the jungle, but he could only smell vinegar, sour and unpleasant, anywhere in the cave.
When it came time to sleep, she laid him down among furs and bid him rest, while she went to another branch of the cave to sleep as well. But rest did not come easily here. He could not sleep -- not with the stench of vinegar in his nose.
He went to the mouth of the cave to sleep, but then the noise robbed him of rest. Something stirred unseen in the green before him -- so much that he did not hear the slick, wet approach of something behind him.
The woman was lovely, yes; but not so much now -- not when she took him by surprise, the wet rope of her intestines reaching for his hands. Her long, dangling body seemed to be all organ, stomach and intestines, dangling with heavy grotesqueness from her esophogus; her throat smoothed into the gross anatomy, and her beautiful face topped it, mocking him as she bared white teeth and went for his throat.
His swords were by his abandoned bed. But that did not stop Jet from fighting; he was a child of the wood, of earth, a freedom fighter. He rolled, cursing his distraction. But whatever was in the wood was better then that grasping, wet thing and he was not about to be the Penanggalan's dinner.
He ran right into the Baku.
It was an equally strange beast -- the head of a lion adorned the body of a horse, but the legs and paws were stripped like a tiger. This mismatched creature was like nothing in Jet's land, but it looked hungry all the same. He was fairly sure, though, he'd rather be the animal's supper then the Penanggalan's, so when he saw the great paw go up, he waited--
--only to be swatted aside, as the Baku went forward, roaring loudly. The Penanggalan shrieked, and Jet could only watch the two monsters clash. Still, the Penanggalan was no match for the great beast, and fell under the heavy paws of the Baku without so much as a scratch marring it's paws. Then, it turned it's great head and looked at Jet...
And sketched an awkward bow.
Mortal child, this is not the place for you. You have wandered too deep into the Dream Sprit's realm, said the Baku. Jet could not reply -- not even as the creature came over and nudged him with it's shoulder, encouraging him to take to it's back and ride it back to the cave. They fetched his things and the Baku bore him from the woods to a temple.
Sleep here, said the Baku. I will guard you from nightmares, and you will wake in your own skin, in your own world.
Exhausted, Jet could not remember why he did not want to go home.
When he woke up in the filthy cell beneath Lake Laogai, all he could remember was that there was no home to go back to...
...but at least, there was no war in Ba Sing Se.
But he did not know the Baku and he did not know the Penanggalan.
The latter came to him as a beautiful woman, who offered him shelter in her cave. She caressed his hair and gave him food and said she would take him (with such pretty white teeth) to the local village and he would be guided back to his lover.
She reminded him of Katara; her skin was too fair, but her eyes were large and liquid and her hair was thick and curled just so. She fed him the meat of a monkey and the greens of the jungle, but he could only smell vinegar, sour and unpleasant, anywhere in the cave.
When it came time to sleep, she laid him down among furs and bid him rest, while she went to another branch of the cave to sleep as well. But rest did not come easily here. He could not sleep -- not with the stench of vinegar in his nose.
He went to the mouth of the cave to sleep, but then the noise robbed him of rest. Something stirred unseen in the green before him -- so much that he did not hear the slick, wet approach of something behind him.
The woman was lovely, yes; but not so much now -- not when she took him by surprise, the wet rope of her intestines reaching for his hands. Her long, dangling body seemed to be all organ, stomach and intestines, dangling with heavy grotesqueness from her esophogus; her throat smoothed into the gross anatomy, and her beautiful face topped it, mocking him as she bared white teeth and went for his throat.
His swords were by his abandoned bed. But that did not stop Jet from fighting; he was a child of the wood, of earth, a freedom fighter. He rolled, cursing his distraction. But whatever was in the wood was better then that grasping, wet thing and he was not about to be the Penanggalan's dinner.
He ran right into the Baku.
It was an equally strange beast -- the head of a lion adorned the body of a horse, but the legs and paws were stripped like a tiger. This mismatched creature was like nothing in Jet's land, but it looked hungry all the same. He was fairly sure, though, he'd rather be the animal's supper then the Penanggalan's, so when he saw the great paw go up, he waited--
--only to be swatted aside, as the Baku went forward, roaring loudly. The Penanggalan shrieked, and Jet could only watch the two monsters clash. Still, the Penanggalan was no match for the great beast, and fell under the heavy paws of the Baku without so much as a scratch marring it's paws. Then, it turned it's great head and looked at Jet...
And sketched an awkward bow.
Mortal child, this is not the place for you. You have wandered too deep into the Dream Sprit's realm, said the Baku. Jet could not reply -- not even as the creature came over and nudged him with it's shoulder, encouraging him to take to it's back and ride it back to the cave. They fetched his things and the Baku bore him from the woods to a temple.
Sleep here, said the Baku. I will guard you from nightmares, and you will wake in your own skin, in your own world.
Exhausted, Jet could not remember why he did not want to go home.
When he woke up in the filthy cell beneath Lake Laogai, all he could remember was that there was no home to go back to...
...but at least, there was no war in Ba Sing Se.