Nightmares Are Bad [Tsubaki]

[Samejima]

Cold... Why was it so cold? And why did she feel so... drenched? Naoki tried to move her limbs, only to find that they wouldn't move like she wanted them to.

She opened her eyes, only to force them shut again as the water pushed her back down. The young genin was, at present, amidst a roaring thunderstorm. And in the worst possible location to be in as it was occurring... Out in the open sea. She thrashed about, having lost her cool in the cold water, strangely unable to recall how to swim as well as why she was out there. Couldn't think, couldn't move right... What on earth happened?

She felt herself being restrained by the surrounding water. Not just hindered, restrained, as if the water had solidified around her arms and legs. She continued to struggle against it, but couldn't for the life of her break free, quite literally. 'What was happening?' is the question that should have been burning in her mind. Instead, all she could think to ask was 'where are they?' It was all she could do to stay afloat, to keep breathing in the bitingly cold air and feel her throat burning up, though it didn't feel like it was from breathing too quickly or too much. The sound of the thunder was... muffled? It was quieter than she remembered thunder to be when in the middle of the storm. She tried to take a look around but needed to keep the water out of her eyes, and kept them shut for just about as long as she could, trying to find her way back to whatever piece of land she'd so foolishly decided to step away from. Or was it a boat? She recalled a dinghy. Why was she on a dinghy? And where was it? The thinking part of her had vanished, and she was unable to reason even with herself as one rather deeply buried fear appeared to have become reality; lost at sea, in the middle of a storm, with no direction or solid material to hold onto. Things were looking rather dire.

In her mind that is. "Calm down already! Geez..." It was a good thing Naoki couldn't bring out her full physical strength while she was this sick, but her body being in bad condition meant that her mind wasn't in tip top shape either. Oriza was upstairs, doors shut for the night, taking care of her niece as she struggled with both her and the fever she was under. Good thing she doesn't get sick too often. I can't keep this up much longer. Then as soon as the girl woke up she'd require some porridge that the aunt still hasn't started. For some reason, tonight's nightmare seemed to be far worse than the others.

 

[Kazumi]

Collapsing onto the soft bed, Tsubaki could not wait for sleep to claim her. They had arrived early this morning and after only a single essence she was feeling absolutely exhausted. It was hard to put of a front in front of her family when she felt so... consumed from the inside out. That gnawing hunger that ached in the back of her mind, that sucked out all her energy when she didn't have a seed to consume. Here they were though, civilization! Surely there would be many minds out there sleeping tonight, and if she was lucky she could find out that she could help... Though part of her simply wanted the food...

Ice stabbed her bones as she took a great gasp for breath. Water soaked her hair and tried to fill her lungs as she felt herself tumbling through dark cold waters. As it always had, she took a few moments to recognise that sensation... the familiar tingle in the back of her mind that tethered her back to reality. Tsubaki closer her eyes as she was tumbled and tossed through the underwater currents, trying to focus on that thread and firmly anchor herself to it. This was not real after all, she knew that much. Nothing that happened to her here could hurt here. Nothing here could affect her and she was not bound by its chaotic laws...

She felt a rush of energy travel up her spine as she took in a deep breath of water. The sensation was strange, but she pushed herself past the hesitation and with little surprise she was breathing the liquid as if it were air. The currents that buffeted her stopped spinning her around and within moments she was swimming her way up towards the surface of the water as quickly as a fish. Breaking through the surface of the roiling water she reached up and placed her hand upon its surface. Her first attempt failed, but after more concentrations her hand pressed against the water as she somehow managed to climb atop the unsteady surface.

"Now lets see, I am sure someone must be out here somewhere..." Tsubaki spoke with a confident voice of a girl her age, a sensation that always brought a smile to her lips, no matter how dire the dream was. She closed her eyes, feet unstead on the shifting water below her as she tried to will her voice to pierce the storm. "Where are you! I am here to help!" She called out in a resonating voice that sliced through the muffled veil that covered the nightmare.

 

[Samejima]

A voice? Out here? Naoki found herself now trying to locate the source of that voice. She didn't recognize it in the least but it seemed to be audible over the thunder for some reason. Her thrashing stopped, and though she was still floating in the water and it was still violently swirling about some points in the tumult, she seemed to have stopped being tossed around. What... Who's there? The words she thought in her head were audible, another strange occurrence. What is this?

"Um, h-here!" Once Naoki shouted those words, she began to feel the waves have an effect on her once more, and the moment she began to feel like she'd be able to do something she was smashed against a suspiciously familiar rock formation that popped up out of nowhere. It knocked the breath out of her lungs and caused her to lose her current sense of purpose, making it revert to finding "them", whoever or wherever "they" might be.

To help, that was her current thought. She wanted to help "them", but where were "they"? Why was she unable to do anything? Didn't she have some kind of ability she could use to help, something she worked hard for these past few years? The flailing began anew, no sign of her ability to think clearly or swim returning, but at least now she could scream. "HEEEELP!"

 

[Kazumi]

Tsubaki surveyed the stormy sea, doing her best to keep stable atop the water which shifted about beneath her feet. This certainly was not a dream. In this world, things tended towards extremes. There were blissful dreams of wishfulfillment or fond memories were common, but just as common were deeply seeded fears which manifested in nightmares. Both were often far worse than reality, magnifying a person's hopes or fears into unrealistic proportions. As best as she could figure this likely had something to do with either being lost at sea or drowning, both she had seen before.

Hearing a distant voice, Tsubaki turned towards the sound and spotted the figure barely surfaced from the water a few dozen paces away. She recalled back to when she spent her first few dozen nights in situations like this, how she was swept along in the fear that encompassed the dreamscape. It took a firm grip on that which tethered her to reality to keep that fear from seeping into her, but it still left a sense of urgency in her which urged her into a run across the unstead seas. With a tall leap she hopped over a forming wave which thretened to separate the two, and while she cleared it the figure had dissapeared beneath the waves as she crested the wave's peak.

A feeling of relief rushed over her as the person appeared once again, thrashing in the water as she landed with smooth grace atop the water. She broke into a sprint once more and within seconds she slid across the murky surface to a halt as she reached down to try and take hold of the girl's hand. "Grab my hand!" she called. Thankfully she was much stronger here than she was in the waking world, and if Naoki did not resist her attempts to do so, she would attempt to pluck the girl from the water with the goal of cradling her in her arms as if she was a child. She had to get the person to calm down, and the best way she had found was to separate her from whatever her fear was. In this case she presumed it was the water, most likely drowning in it.

"Shh shh," she tried to sooth the frantic girl. "It is alright, you will be fine. Everything is okay, don't worry. I won't let you fall back in."

 

[Samejima]

The thunderstorm happening drowned out much of anything Naoki could try to think, but at the sound of the girl's voice she reached her hand out as quickly as she could manage in the direction of the voice, grasping it and wishing she didn't have such slippery hands at just that moment. Don't slip, don't slip, don't slip... Then suddenly she was being cradled, and having not had that happen in a long while, felt content to just scrunch herself up as small as she could and be soothed. The storm raged on, and the waters didn't calm. In that space though, where the person with that mysteriously soothing voice cradled her, the little fishergirl had a peaceful expression on her face, breathing even breaths. She was currently in her 5-year-old state, still of an average size for a girl her age. She still had her little white sundress on, the one her mother sewed for her, as she still hadn't grown out of it back then.

She didn't snap back to any sort of consciousness in the real world, but as her eyes slowly opened Naoki would blink twice at the girl currently holding her. "Umm... thank you." You're nice. Who are you? Where are we? Did you bring a boat? Did you come to help me find them? Can you fish? What's your favorite kind of fishing style? That's a pretty necklace. Where are you from? I don't think I've seen you around before. Some of those words sounded like they came from all around. The first few were spoken, as Naoki had actually moved her mouth to do so, but the rest seemed to have been thoughts that Naoki simply failed to keep to herself. Tilting her head and looking confused, she asked finally, "Do you know what that weird voice is? I think it's reading my thoughts," she commented, craning her neck up towards the girl's ear a little and whispering the last sentence, hands acting as a little funnel for the whisper.

 

[Kazumi]

Tsubaki's footing shifted around as she tried to keeo steady, her surprise at holding a younger child causing her a moment of unfortunate distraction. Thankfully she was able keep her footing well enough to not send them both plunging back into the sea below them. A smile traced her lips as she took in the much younger form of the other girl in her arms, silently giggling to herself as it reminded her of one of her brothers. Looking around, she quickly caught sight of the rock formation which had seemed to appear out of nowhere from earlier.

With a slight crouch and a hop, she flew through the air the half dozen feet over towards it, landing gently atop it as to not startle or jostle her passanger needlessly. Her smile widened as she heard the girl give her quiet thanks, only to perk her head up and look around at the formless cacophany of other thoughts which seemed to echo around in the void. Then, as Naoki attempted to reach up to whisper, Tsubaki leaned her head over to make it just a little easier. Finally she began to giggle softly before she shook her head at her with an amused smile. "Mmm, that would because those are your thoughts." That was what she figured at least, and if she was wrong it wouldn't matter much in either case.

Kneeling down Tsubaki attempted to help turn Naoki so that her young feet landed onto solid rock, away from the tumultious ocean that was only a few feet below them. "Are you feeling okay now?" She asked, making sure Naoki was steady before she let her stand completely on her own. "You'll be safe up here okay? Just close your eyes and think nice thoughts. Can you do that for me?"

 

[Samejima]

Naoki nodded once she was given the instruction, and looked around. It seemed like there was not much to behold, at least not for a (perceived) five-year-old who had decidedly little interest in storms aside from how scary they were. She covered her ears instead, and tried to focus on happy thoughts as her eyes shut just about as far as they could shut. So my thoughts can be like, heard? That's kinda cool, but I won't be able to sneak cookies out of the jar anymore whaaaaaa wh-what is this how do make stop She was now nervously grabbing at her hair, poking her head as if she could make it stop if she hit juuuust the right point on her noggin.

How do I- oh it stopped. Why'sit do that? There some kinda word in my brain that I think of accidentally that makes it come out like this kinda voice? Naoki scratched her head now, trying to figure out the secret of the thought voice. "I'm trying to solve a mystery~ The Mystery of the Voices!" she said, hopping a little in place. "I'm not gonna talk for a while but you might hear my thoughts sometimes, cover your ears!" The demand was made in a higher, squeakier voice than Naoki had intended, and had she been lighter skinned the blush on her cheeks would've been visible. "I-I mean, like, don't listen in! Okay?" She would start thinking about thw 'case' in earnest once she had the girl's ok, but it didn't stop her from literally thinking out loud as she waited for a response. Her hair's pretty. Can I grow my hair that long? Mom said long hair's just a big pain but I haven't really seen mom spending too much time on her hair. I should ask again later when I get back.

The scene began to shift, as Naoki thought of home. The waters calmed down a little more, having gradually grown very slightly less angry since Naoki first decided to try and figure out why the thought thing only works sometimes.

 

[Kazumi]

Tsukino chuckled softly and nodded at the girl's request, reaching up and placing her hands over her ears in an exaggerated manner. It did not do much to stifle the thoughts, however. They were not actual sounds after all, but the essences of thought that floated around the dream. It had occurred to her a time or two before to document these sorts of things, but that notion was lost after less than a night or two as she lost interest in the amount of effort it would take. It didn't matter if she documented it after all, it was for her own use and as long as she remembered things it was just fine.

As the dark tendrils that encompassed the nightmare began to lose their grip on the young girl's dreamscape Tsubaki's eyes opened and she lowered her hands away from her head with delight. Consciously she did all of this to help people, and that was certainly true. However, when the time drew near to collect her prize she eagerly awaited just the right moment to... Now!

Tsubaki's eyes closed as she reached and pressed her hands onto her chest as she focused intensely on the seed that had taken root inside the dreamscape of this girl's mind. She could picture it... a small dark red seed of pain, suffering and fear. It was not as large as many others she had seen, this was not a particularly powerful nightmare, but it would be delicious all the same. She envisioned the dark tendrils stretching out in all directions, invisibly corrupting everything as it worked to torture its host. Then, with a warmth that seemed to pervade her entire being, Tsubaki reached her hands up towards the sky and in one slow motion she put her hands around the invisible source.

A ripple echoed throughout the sky and the disappearing sea as an inaudible and quickly silenced scream was silenced in an instant. A sense of content excitement enveloped Tsubaki as she lowered her hands, cupping something hidden inside of them as she lowered it to her eye level. As she opened her palm a small red crystalized stone seemed to shake and quiver in agony for a few long seconds as the girl stared down at it, her mouth already beginning to water. In one quick motion her hand closed around the crystal and it shattered into fine dust that expanded around her hand for a few seconds. As her palm opened once more the dust began to coalesce into a dark red sphere no larger than her eye.

Unable to keep herself restrained any loner, Tsubaki pinched the sphere in between her fingers and tossed it into her mouth, swallowing it in one clean gulp. A rush of energy coursed through her as the vanishing sky cleared to a crisp blue and the seas around them smoothed to a glassy pane. The dark blue haired girl took in a deep slow breath of satisfaction as she looked down towards the small girl. "You have a pleasant night sweetie." She gave the girl a playful wink, and when the dream did fully shift into the next dreamscape the tall girl would be gone...

 

[Samejima]

Request complied with, Naoki the five-year-old started down her path of investigation, only to find that each and every one of the random childlike thoughts she had next ended up being heard out loud... That wasn't the part she was concerned about however. Even as the scene shifted to make the seas less and less turbulent, she didn't take her eyes off the girl who'd scooped her out of the danger in the first place. What's she doing...? First she took her hands off her ears, which Naoki was about to protest to, but once she saw those hands pressed against her chest as she'd read in a few storybooks meant she was concentrating on something, Naoki decided to stay quiet and observe.

A few moments passed, and the barely-no-longer-a-toddler had decided to sit down on the rock formation, feet lightly touching the surface of the now somewhat calm waters, watching the girl focus on something. She could feel a sort of concentrated point of what she understood was something bad, floating about somewhere around them. Her expression scrunched up into one of discomfort, and she tried to curl up into a fetal position but found the rock formation to be far too rough for that to be comforting. Instead, she did something completely out of character and stood back up to ask the girl about that something bad. Turning however, she found a very curious sight.

A small red sphere had appeared in the girl's hand. Naoki was about to ask what it was but found herself unable to interrupt what was going on. She continued observing, and managed to not gasp in surprise when it broke before reforming in the girl's hand. That seemed to be the source of the something bad, and as it reformed she could hear a faint sound...

It resonated with her, that sound, and it continued to play upon reformation at a marginally louder volume than before. Her eyes followed it about as far as they could until it was swallowed, upon which the sound, the song, abruptly ceased. What was the feeling she got from it? Naoki tilted her head downwards as she thought hard about it. Replaying the song over and over again trying to remember. It was... Warmth? No, something else... She felt stable, serene, passive, accepting. Or was it accepted? But there was something else in that song. Abandonment?

The genin's head snapped back up in her 13-year-old body, staring at the spot where the girl's voice had bid her a pleasant night. Her face was frozen in an expression between panic and confusion as the girl disappeared, and she'd lost the ability to see once more. Where the dreamscape had been changing into a scene of home, the shadows intensified and engulfed the area which had been transformed before melting back into the water, which was as calm as it was before. Now in a world of darkness, Naoki reached forward, walking ahead until she eventually stepped off the rock formation and into the now murky black waters...

"Whoa-!" Naoki of the real world jolted in her bed, sweaty and tangled in the covers she had on. She was panting a little as she realized it was all a dream, and struggled to remember what the girl's face looked like...

There was a bowl of warm porridge at her bedside, and Oriza seemed to have fallen asleep next to her on the bed. The earlier jolt didn't wake her (or so it seemed) and so Naoki was content to correct the position of the covers to keep both she and her aunt warm in the cold desert night. Not often that Oriza-san is okay with me being this close... I could carry her back to her bed though, what should I do? Upon reevaluating her current state of mind, she shuffled downwards so she could rest her head close to Oriza's chest and sought a hug. Which was oddly but pleasantly given by the probably-sleeping Oriza, probably because she was still sleeping and did it unconsciously. Probably.

 

[Kazumi]

[Scene Concluded]