100 Things 8/100: A Dream of Other Lands
Title: A Dream of Other Lands
Fandom: Original Fiction
Series: Calrazen Lake
This is a sequel to New People
Rating: Gen
Orientation: Gen/Het
Word Count: 1,012
Prompt: Dark Bingo Fill: “Nightmares”
The newcomers had joined the fire circle and told tales of their journey to Calrazan Lake, speaking long into the night until the torches burnt out and the woodpiles were gone. Only then did they go to the sleeping places that had been prepared for them within the village.
Mia had been unable to look away when the one named Rahn Shay had been telling of his time serving his people. He had been a warrior of sorts, it seemed, in a place where there were many troubles and warriors were needed to protect the villages and people. His fellow travelers treated him with respect; he was apparently responsible for leading them across the wastes, over the mountains and through the jungle to get to Calrazan Lake. In halting words and many hand gestures, they told their tales. It took all three of them to do so, and their muddling of the language of Mia’s people often resulted in humorous sentences.
She had not thought the tales they told disturbing, until that night, when she attempted to sleep. The dreams came to her then, dreams of violence and blood, of people dying. Her mind filled in the gaps of the unknown, her imagination creating images of the cities the new People had spoken of, so different from the villages of Calrazen Lake. Many little houses and huts crowded together, many, many people speaking a variety of different languages. All destroyed in a series of battles that she could barely understand the scope of. Troublesome, worrisome, horrible dreams came to her that night, like none she had ever had. She woke with a scream, trembling and shaking from fear that did not dissipate when she opened her eyes.
The thought of trying to sleep more filled her with dread; she did not wish to revisit that distasteful sleep world again this night. It was nearly dawn and so she wrapped herself in a warm shawl and went out to the front of her little house. Her home had been built in the trees, though not very high up as some of the young warriors preferred. She was just barely above the height of a roradon’s reach, in the lowest tier of the tree houses. Her home was a single room with an open space in front a platform with a hammock swing where she could sit and enjoy the breeze. She curled up in her swing now to watch the dawn’s light break through the trees. She was too sleepy to climb to the highest part of the village to see the full dawn, this little light would suit her perfectly; it was all she needed to banish the dark dreams away.
She heard dull footsteps on the forest floor and twisted her swing around to look over the edge of her platform. In the dim light, she could make out the stranger, Rahn, walking the trail below, his golden hair as well as his height making him easy to identify.
“You are walking early,” she called out softly in greeting as he passed directly beneath her.
He stopped and looked up as she peered over the edge of the platform. He smiled as he recognized her. “Is that Mia Armank I spy up there?”
“It is. Did you not sleep well, Rahn Shay?”
“I slept briefly, but very well.” There was a rope ladder on the tree and he did not wait for an invitation before using it to climb up to the platform. Among her people, it would have been considered rude, but she forgave him the slight, since he was New. As he settled himself beside her swing, sitting cross-legged on the platform, she felt she should educate him so that he did not accidentally insult someone in the future.
“You should always seek permission before climbing someone’s ladder, Rahn Shay,” she gentled the rebuff with a warm smile. “Though you are welcome here.”
“I will remember that in the future, Mia Armank. Please just call me Rahn, as my friends do.”
She nodded. “And you should call me Mia. Shall we be friends?”
“I hope so. You were the first person to greet us here, surely that is a sign from somewhere that we were meant to be more than acquaintances?”
The sun was up now, and the forest around them was growing lighter. The early risers of the village were awakening and beginning to move about. “I have learned not to question the ways of fate or to guess at the motives of the other world. I am glad to count you as a friend, Rahn.”
“Do you always wake so early, Mia?” He playfully batted at her swing, making her turn in a slow circle and then rock back and forth.
She snuggled her shawl closer and shook her head, letting herself be lulled by the rocking motion of the hammock. “No. I admit that I had bad dreams in the night. Was your homeland truly so violent and bloody?”
He nodded sadly. “At the end, it was, yes. Terrible things happened. Those who escaped the destruction of our city were very lucky. I fear there were far too few that made it out.”
“I shall pray for their souls and offer fruit at the shrine in their memory.” She did not know what else she could do to sooth the discomfort she felt at the thoughts about all those people who had died.
“For people you don’t even know?”
She tilted her head and regarded him oddly. “A soul is a soul, Rahn, the loss of one is a diminishment to all.”
“Perhaps if more of my people felt that way, my homeland would not have been destroyed.”
He seemed sad, lonely, and very young suddenly. Mia reached out and brushed his cheek with her fingers. He reached up and caught her hand, holding it as he watched the village beyond her platform wake and greet the day. There seemed to be no more need for words as they sat silently together in the early morning.
Originally posted at http://rinkafic.dreamwidth.org/