[Flashback] You're My Best Friend!

[Alea Davenport]

Spring 89, 503

Running, running, she had to keep moving. There was something in her house, something she had to escape. Which direction? Through the village. Little Alea ran past the familiar buildings running as fast as she could, always moving, never stopping. If she stopped it would catch her.

She ran until the land stopped being familiar. She passed all that she had known in her short seven years, and when she ran out of what she remembered, she ran on into what she imagined. The landscape around her became unfamiliar; a model of far-off places that she only saw in her dreams.

She ran through a line of trees, and knew that she was somewhere different than she had been before. But she was still too close to the thing chasing her. She might be okay for a while, but if she stayed still too long, it would catch up!

She noticed then that she was not alone. There was someone else here.

[Ray]

Well, Rayes thought, this is odd. He was standing in the center of a street that stretched to infinity behind him and to infinity before him. The houses, if they could even be called that, were blank, with no doors or windows or anything besides roofs. Rayes looked behind him. He couldn’t go back that way. There were good things there and bad things there, but he couldn’t go that way. He turned to look in front of him. There was no difference between the two, but he knew that he had to go that way. He didn’t know what was there, but he couldn’t go backwards. Chewing his lip in frustration, Rayes set off to where he was supposed to go. No, he was going too slow. Something was going to happen. His walk turned brisk, then turned to a jog, then a run, then a sheer sprint. He wasn’t going to get there in time! Then the street suddenly dead-ended into a wall and the only door that seemed to exist in this place. Above the door was a wooden plank engraved with a tankard and loaf of bread, and though there was something written next to it Rayes just couldn’t seem to figure it out. He didn’t care to, either, and without hesitation he yanked open the door and bolted through. To find himself in a forest. Hm. That was surprising. Rayes had been in the forests outside of Syliras once or twice and this looked exactly like where he had once accidentally swallowed a mosquito. Was he in the right place? Rayes turned to look at the door only to find that it had vanished into the trunk of a tree. The urgency slammed back onto him and he whipped around frantically. He needed to get to somewhere or something, and he needed it now. As if in answer to his wordless thoughts of alarm, he spotted a girl running through the trees. He spurred towards her. “Hey!” he shouted.

[Alea Davenport]

Alea trusted the man instantly. After all, the thing that was chasing her was behind her, and this man was in front of her. She sprinted up to him and grabbed his large hand with her tiny one, slowing down as she tried to tug him forward.

"Come on! We have to go! Hurry up, or they'll get you!"

They weren't in sight yet, but she could tell they were coming. "Run!" she yelled. They had to keep moving. What was on the other end of this forest? It all looked the same from here; she couldn't find a road or anything!

She slowed, not knowing which way to go. She started whimpering uncertainly, and clung closer to her new friend. "They're coming," she whispered, afraid.

[Ray]

The girl rushed to him and grabbed his hand, tugging him after her urgently. “What? Who’s going to get us?” He looked behind them and was immediately hit with the distinct feel of threat. He looked back at the little girl, deep-seated instincts to protect pulling him towards her. He didn’t know what was following them, but they weren’t going to hurt her while he was still breathing. “What are they?” he asked as they ran. “How many are there?”

[Alea Davenport]

The little girl made a sound of distress. "They're coming!" she whimpered. She had to run. Tugging her new friend's hand, she pulled them through the forest in a random direction. Soon, they breached the trees, and were suddenly in a valley with low hills on all sides. She started to climb one of the hills, but going uphill was so hard. She was going so slow, they were sure to catch her! Then she made the mistake of looking back...

Cresting the hill behind her came a huge, ginormous, pincer-like claw. Then another, and another! Soon there were several giant crabs at the top of the hill, waving their pincers in the air.

Clack. Clack. Clickitty clack clack Clack-a-clack-CLACKCLACKCLACKCLACK!

The crabs began to scuttle rapidly down the hill, clacking their claws menacingly, coming straight for them.

Alea screamed.

[Ray]

Threat perceived, Rayes swooped down to scoop up a stray branch that had fallen from a tree without breaking stride. He didn’t know what they were running from, but he had no intention of being caught unarmed. The broke through the trees and into grass, rolling little hills ahead as far as the eye could see. The two unlikely companions sprinted up the first hill without thought, but Ray became aware of the hand tugging him back. The little girl’s legs were short, nice enough for running but not yet good for climbing when speed was of the essence. Not wasting any breath with asking permission, Rayes dropped his branch and put took the girl under the arms, swung her into the air and settled her onto his shoulders. He could feel them coming from behind, gaining quickly. Ray snatched his branch again and began running. He felt her twist to look behind them, but had no real warning before she screamed. Loudly. In his ear. Head pounding and eyes wobbling, he turned to follow her gaze and tries to focus his sight on what was chasing them. Gigantic crabs were running them down, snapping their claws angrily. Big and pebbly and spiky and loud and chasing them and now would be a wonderful time to speed up. Ray leaned forward and quickened as much as he was able to carrying a child on his shoulders, sprinting over the rolling hills until his lungs burned. And so when he saw the hole, he was quite sure that it was a godsend. They pelted down a hill, cutting off the crabs’ line of sight, and Rayes skidded to a halt beside the rectangular dip in the ground. They were coming, and without a look back he slid the girl from his shoulders and hopped in.

[Alea Davenport]

There was an oogly falling sensation in her stomach as she dropped down the hole. It was pitch-dark as well, and she wasn't able to see until she landed abruptly on soft, moist ground. Despite there being no obvious light-source, once she got to her feet she could see her surroundings.

They were in a cavern of sorts, surrounded by stone walls, but the floor was covered in soft earth. An underground stream trickled beside them, and on the far side was what looked like a forest, though the trees were of a strange shape. Pale white, with rounded tops instead of leaves.

Alea looked at her new friend. "Do you know which way to go?" She cold see that he did not. She looked upstream, then downstream. A different adventure lay in each direction, but she had no idea which one wold be more fun. She shrugged and picked on at random. Following the stream uphill, she said, "Come on, let's try this way!" After a few steps it occurred to her to ask, "What's your name, Mister?"

[Ray]

The threat seemed to have passed. The little girl stood and Rayes tensed, automatically cautious to any more threats that might appear. But none did, and as the girl looked around he followed her gaze. They were in a hole and appeared to have landed in an underground tunnel. The walls and floor were cobbled, and a single trench ran through the center for an eternity in either direction. The girl regarded each with a critical eye. He shrugged in response to her question, still a bit too out of breath to respond, and she returned to her scrutiny. It took little more than a few seconds for her to decide, and she took to a direction, gesturing for him to follow. He reluctantly stood and obliged, sliding into a tired lope to catch up. “Name’s Ray,” he replied. “what’s yours?” The trench seemed to be getting smoother and the cobblestones were getting finer. Something was up ahead.

[Alea Davenport]

"Alea," she responded, right before she was distracted by their exit from the cave into a brightly lit cobbled street. An amazed expression claimed her face at the sight... of a parade marching along the street. She had never seen anything so grand, so colorful...

She had never seen so many bears in one place before.

Yes, thousands of bears, marching with proper military posture, dressed smartly in uniforms that Alea didn't recognize. "Wooooow!" she gasped, tugging at Ray's hand so that they could get a closer look. Before long, she noticed that some of the bears wear carrying a huge glowing box.

A dangerous curiosity gripped Alea then. "What's that?" she asked Ray as she leaned forward hungrily. She had to find out what was in that box. The curiosity would probably kill her dead otherwise. She let go of Ray's hand to dash into the sea of bears, making her way eagerly to the glowing box.

OOCGeneric apologies for lateness and shortness. I hope you can get something interesting out of this

[Traverse]

Just a Dream

Alea

Lore:
Fear the Crabs


Comments:
Since there is no experience to be gained in Dreamscapes, I gave you the most amazing lore you could ever ask for, remember to fear those crabs.


Questions, Concerns? PM me and we'll get to the bottom of it. Safe Travels!