“I don’t know!”

 

Now that she’s actually shouted the answer out loud to Eyes High she felt a little silly about it. But he had been annoying. Yes, she had dreamed silly dreams of late, that seemed to have no meaning to her every day life what so ever. No, she had no idea where they came from. No, not even the slightest idea. She didn’t know. She could feel the wolfs amusement in the back of her mind even as she was pondering on ways to apologise to him. Not that she needed to. Eyes High understood Sohvi’s frustration better than anyone. That was part of what made him a very annoying wolf right now.

 

Go see Farpaw.

 

Sohvi could pick up on what Eyes High meant with ease now. It didn’t always work as well with other wolves or people, but she figured that that was mostly because she chose to avoid people as much as possible. Timewalker with her constant amusement. The Candarr sisters with their constant questions, arguments and bouts of random laughter. She shivered slightly. It was good that she had her own home now. She’d used Anton’s unwillingness to let Eyes High stay inside as an excuse to leave, but the truth was that she would’ve gone mad if she had stayed there any longer. People. People, people, people, people. More people. At least here she had some privacy. Not a lot, but enough for her to grow accustomed to her new life.

 

“Fine. I suppose I should… but what if…”

 

Just go…

 

She could feel that even Eyes High was getting a little impatient with her shyness now. According to him she already knew Anton well enough for her to be over her dislike of people around him. Of course. It made sense. And yet not… she’d left his hut, after all, and they’d argued about the presence of wolves in houses and… well “What if he doesn’t want to see me?”

 

The wolf answered that question my taking the hem of her dress between his teeth and dragging her out of the hut. “Alright, alright, I’m going! You pushy little mutt…” again she felt the amusement in his mind. The wolf seemed to think she was awfully funny most of the time.

 

Soon enough she found herself standing behind a tree, watching as Anton stealthily moved through the fields that separated their huts. He was close enough for her to call him now, but…

 

“Ow!” she cried out when Eyes High forced her out of her hiding place by leaping up against her. Wolf and girl fell in a heap next to the tree, in plain sight. “Uh… hi.” She said when she saw that Anton was standing quite close now. “So… what are you up to?”

 

~Sohvi Darwin

Shimmer

 

Making his way from the settlement quietly, Anton looked about as nonchalantly as he could in a stealthy attempt to try and avoid attention without seeming to.  The girls from his hut were a lot to deal with and he usually had one of them around him at all times, instructing them as best he could without becoming frustrated.  It had been easy to keep them apart up until they had begun to master sending images to one another.  Someone had taken the trouble to teach them how to do it on the sly, as a result it was difficult to keep the sisters focused unless they actually wanted to be.

 

It was with some surprise as he stopped in his tracks that he saw Sohvi simply fall from behind a tree with Eyes High on her back, tongue lolling even as an image came to his mind that made him smile.  The image of having pounced a field mouse was a very appropriate one, Sohvi was incredibly shy even now.  In fact, it had felt like Sohvi had been avoiding him but with everything on his plate he'd never had time to chase it up.  Well, he had, but those moments had been moments spent by himself in solitude in an attempt to regain some sanity.

 

Chuckling at Sohvi's question, Anton smiled as he answered.  "I'm looking at you lying on the ground looking a little surprised when I think its me that should be surprised. I-"  Cutting off, Anton looked to Eyes High as he exchanged a couple of thoughts with him quickly before turning back to Sohvi.  "Thats interesting.  Eyes High said that you had something you wanted to ask me.  What would you ask of me?"  Leaning forward, Anton offered his hand to help Sohvi up.

 

 

Anton Averdal

Farpaw

“Ehm…” It all seemed rather silly now. She had intended just to say hi and run off again, but apparently her treacherous wolf-friend had already told Anton that she had a question for him. Great. Just great. You cheat… she thought to the wolf. From the look on Anton’s face she gathered that she hadn’t directed her thought well enough.

 

“I mean the wolf. I mean… ehm… yeah… thing. Never mind. It’s not important.” She smiled at him, struggling to her feet again. She was about to walk off again when a tug on the hem of her dress told her that Eyes High wouldn’t let that happen. “Gah… do you mind? I can… like… handle myself. Sort off.” The look on Antons face told her exactly what he thought of her ability to handle herself. “Fine. Questions… I have some… Why do I dream of you?”

 

Well, that sounded wrong. “I mean… sometimes I dream of you. And of Eyes High. And of this really big wolf who lives close to my hut. I think he’s called Rumble because when he was young his father said that when he’d grow up, his paws would be so big that he’d shake the earth when he walked, and… Anyway, that’s besides the point. I keep having these weird dreams about people I know and people I don’t even know yet, and I don’t know why and it’s really messing with my sleep rhythm and… uh… well, I figured you might know what that’s all about…”

 

Sohvi Darwin

Shimmer

Frowning, Anton listened as Sohvi stumbled through an explanation about what was troubling her.  It was a bit garbled, but he nevertheless was able to understand it easily enough.  Anton had thought that it had simply been Sohvi's mind slipping while she was in the Wolfdream, or perhaps she was deliberately checking up on him on occasion where she would flash in the dream near him for a moment before flashing away before Anton could say or do anything.  Since it hadn't don any harm, and it was something that Sohvi would do considering how shy she was, he'd simply let it go and not given it much thought.  Now it was a different matter altogether.

 

"Ah, I see it hasn't been explained to you yet.  Look around for a moment, at the world around us."  Pausing for effect as he gestured here and there, Anton continued.  "Would it be fair to say that your dreams bear a similar resemblance to all this?  In fact, one would go so far as to say they're nearly exactly the same?"

 

The affirmative response Anton got allowed him to build on his observation with the explanation.  "There is another world, a world of dreams.  We simply call it the Wolfdream, though the old tongue reference is Tel'aran'rhiod, the World of Dreams.  All wolfkin can appear in this world as they sleep, your body remains here but your mind and soul go into this world.  Leila musn't have anticipated that you would be there already, some people take much longer to touch the dream world."

 

"Its something you can control with thought, and when you know how you can jump vast distances in the world just like that within the dream world.  There is a lot more I have to tell you, but the best way is to show you.  When you go to sleep tonight, I'll meet you in the dream world and speak to you of it more there.  Then I can show you how to control yourself from jumping around, and a variety of other skills that will allow you to move around there and shape the world around you."

 

 

Anton Averdal

Farpaw

That had gone better than she expected. Anton wasn’t laughing at her. Anton didn’t think she was insane. Anton even wanted to help her out. And if she was lucky, she could even ignore the mental ‘I told you so’ she was getting from Eyes High. Annoying mutt. “That would be great.” She said, smiling widely at Anton. “Well, I’ll leave you to your game of hide and seek with the Candarr sisters for now.” She grinned at Anton, before sprinting off. Eyes High followed her in an easy lope. Wouldn’t it be nice if she could match the speed of the wolves some day?

 

This time when night fell, Sohvi was no longer worried about sleeping. Well, not much, anyway. After all, Anton hadn’t said anything about the world of dreams being all that dangerous. Even as she fell asleep, she picked up a sense of worry from the dark wolf who had taken up sleeping on her porch from time to time. Anton shouldn’t have worried about having Eyes High in his house all the time. Most of the time the wolf didn’t even like being indoors. Such were Sohvi’s thoughts as she drifted off to sleep.

 

As usual, she instantly found herself in the grove where she had met Anton, a mere week after she’d ran away from home. She snatched the bonnet from her head and tossed it into the water. It was a silly thing, and she really didn’t want to be seen with it anymore. People in Mayene didn’t wear bonnets, after all, and Anton had said that she could be from Mayene. She started walking in the direction she’d gone with Anton that first meeting. That had been a long walk. Now it only took her moments to get from Amadicia to the stedding. It really was a great way to travel.

 

She found Anton’s hut. It was never the way it was now. She always expected to find laundry hanging outside, and the smell of herbs coming from the little garden. There was none of that. it was as if the world of dreams was just a pale reflection of reality sometimes. With a shrug Sohvi sat down a few feet away from the door, and waited for Anton to arrive. He had said he’d be there to help her understand the dreams.

 

~Sohvi Darwin

Shimmer

Slipping off his bed, Anton looked at himself and frowned.  It didn't happen often these days, but once in awhile he could pop into the dream much like he'd popped into the world, without a shred of clothing to call his own.  He'd cultivated an image over time, of himself in brown trousers to match his boots, a green shirt and a studded leather vest to go with it.  A couple of daggers at the belt, his stave came to hand which had long since become a part of him.  Double checking and making sure he hadn't forgotten anything, Anton took only a moment to shift through the dream, appearing outside his home and before his new student.

 

Wincing at the small shriek his sudden apparition engendered from Sohvi, Anton held up his free hand as he spoke.  "Its alright, it happens all the time.  Sorry, I didn't think you'd be right outside my door so I thought I'd cheat and st-  nevermind that, its something you'll get to learn later on.  At anyrate."  Walking over to her and offering his hand to help her up, Anton smiled.  "Its time we got started."

 

Lifting her to her feet, Anton gestured to their surroundings with his stave.  "You see all of this?  The Wolf Dream, tel'aran'rhiod, the world of dreams, every Wolfkin and some others can come to this place.  Its a half world, where your will and your imagination are the key aspects to manipulating it.  You can already tell that things aren't ordinary, no sound of wildlife, no wind, and if you look up."  Anton pointed to the sky with his stave.  "You can see the sun visibly moving across the sky, time passes much faster here than in the real world."

 

Letting go of Sohvi's hand as he used it to take hold of the lower end of his stave, Anton smiled.  "Now, I want you to be prepared.  I'm going to do something that will surprise you, but its the best way to show you how malleable this world is to a trained mind."

 

It started as a small wisp from the ground, smoke yet not, a mist that began to spread and expand towards them, encapsulating them even as he felt Sohvi grab hold of his arm.  "Its alright.  The main thing to remember is that if you imagine something hard enough, project it enough, it can take form here.  Even unconscious thoughts, so you have to be very careful about it.  Even flights of fancy if thought about too hard can manifest, or dangerous thoughts.  If you were afraid of fire for example, enough that you thought about it constantly, by accident you could create a firestorm around us."

 

"That would be bad, very bad.  While this world is malleable, it is dangerous.  Any wound you receive here, you will find upon your body if you wake.  If you are wounded fatally, you will not wake at all.  That is why you need to be very, very careful.  Its also why you always have someone with you while you come here until you are better able to handle yourself."

 

Letting go of his stave, it vanished as he turned to Sohvi.  "Now, I know thats a lot to take in, but you're safe here as long as I am here.  Now I want you to do something for me.  Just close your eyes, don't worry I'm not going anywhere.  I want you to imagine all of this, and I want you to think of a breeze.  A breeze that gently rolls the mist away, concentrate and focus on that thought and project it out of yourself."

 

 

Anton Averdal

Farpaw

With her hands still pressed to her mouth after uttering a surprised screen, Sohvi looking up at Anton. Standing before her. Appeared out of nowhere. This dreamworld thing was going to be a little harder to get used to than she thought. Still feeling a little shaky, she let Anton pull her to her feet. As long as he was close, she was safe. That was the association she had with Anton, ever since he’d taken her to the stedding with her. Anton, safe. No Anton? Not safe. So as long as Anton was there, there was nothing that could happen to her in the dreamworld.

 

Except of course random bits of smoke rising up around her. Instantly clinging to Anton, Sohvi watched in shock and awe as she misty substance grew bigger and bigger. As Anton explained to her that she too could create such things, she has to push thoughts of things she feared out of her mind. What if her father suddenly appeared there? Or old Marty? Or that bully from the village? Or… Best not to think of that. Hesitantly she followed Anton’s instructions, closing her eyes and thinking of a breeze.

 

That wasn’t too hard. She thought of the breeze that had sometimes washed over the fields in the height of summer, when everything was dry and sometimes big tumbleweeds would roll over the fields, almost through the backyard. She could feel the breeze now, in her hair and pulling on her clothes slightly. When she opened her eyes she saw a tumbleweed roll through the clearing, rolling and rolling until it came to a full stop against someone’s legs. She followed the legs up to find a very familiar sight.

 

Wasn’t that odd? In her seventeenth summer, she’d seen the exact same thing. One of her brother’s friends, standing in the same field as she, stopping a tumbleweed. While staring at her with a lecherous smile on his face that reminded her of Marty. It made about as much sense to her now as it did then. Efron had always been little more than a bully. He had no reason to look at her that way. He had no reason to want to… Sohvi let go of Anton and backed away from the memory she’d created slowly. “Please don’t…” she whispered as the image followed her every step.

 

~Sohvi Darwin

Shimmer

 

Proud of how quickly Sohvi had taken to the task, Anton was going to tell her as much when he noticed they weren't alone.  Well, they were alone, it became quickly apparent that this was a phantom conjured from her mind, just like the tumbelweed that had rolled by.  As he heard her stepping away, Anton stepped back and grabbed a hold of her hand.  "Sohvi, he isn't real.  You're imagining him, he can only exist as long as you believe in him.  Just stop think about him, just focus on me, don't worry about him, he is not real.  Remember, not real."

 

Sohvi’s breathing felt a little erratic as she stepped away from Ephron. He followed her, much the way he had that summer. It had started that way, just with him following her around, making comments about how she’d grown into a fine young woman. That had been the start. It had gotten worse over time… Rita and Rema had hated her fiercely for getting his attention. “I never wanted it.” She said, looking at Anton. “I never even wanted it, and they still hated me for it.” She would have backed away further if not for Anton’s hand on hers. “But he’s there.” She whispered when he said that the bully was only in her imagination. “He’s always there, just waiting for me to return…”

 

Sighing, Anton focused on the phantom lending his belief to it as he also believed in a sudden gust of wind that emanated from the space between them and blowing directly at the man.  Unable to stand against it, the man was carried away further and further until he ceased to be visible and then ceased to exist altogether.  He'd rather Sohvi have done it, but she was getting too shakey to take care of it herself and it had been too close.  "Now do you see what I mean about random thoughts?  They can easily become dangerous here so you have to school your mind against them.  Focus only on what you wish to happen here, don't let other thoughts take hold because otherwise they will manifest.  Understand?"

Still mesmerised by the bully even as he flew away farther than her eyes could see, it took Sohvi a moment to snap out of her memories. When she finally did, she turned bright red. “Oh Light, I’m sorry, I don’t know what that was all about… I was just thinking of the breeze, and then the tumbleweed, and then… I did everything wrong, I guess…” The dream was obviously harder to control than she had thought. She would have to keep her mind in check if she didn’t want to be jumped by her memories at every turn.

 

Feeling more than a little embarrassed, she let go of Anton’s hand, which she’d been squeezing quite a bit without really knowing it. “I’ll try harder next time.” She said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “I do want to learn… And I know that the things I left back in Amadicia can’t touch me here. I just panicked, I suppose. I won’t let it happen again.” She was quite sure that Timewalker didn’t have that happen to her when she first entered the dream. Or Anton himself.

 

“What’s the next lesson? I promise I won’t set any more bullies free on the dreamworld this time.” She grinned broadly at Anton trying to convince him that she was quite well, even though she’d just seen a ghost from her past.

 

~Sohvi Darwin

Shimmer

 

Reaching over and squeezing Sohvi's shoulder, Anton smiled as he nodded in acquiescence.  There would probably be a few more hiccups over time, but he was confident that she would be fine as she gained more confidence and focus in the Wolf Dream.  It was good to see she had bounced back so quickly from the appearance of, well, whoever it had been.  It was a good bet that the man, and perhaps others, were the reason that Sohvi had become so skittish of those around her.  It was a thought that made him angry, to think of Sohvi mistreated by idiots and yokels who hadn't appreciated Sohvi, but he was careful not to give it weight lest it manifest itself in the dream.

 

"One more lesson for today, the second of the two challenges that you will be working on until you have mastered them.  Watch."  Dropping his stave, it vanished.  He materialised a new one and let it disappear, then manifested it once more.  "Here we may shape different things for our use.  We can create weapons to wield, and we can also change our clothing at will."  Looking down, he changed the colour of his studded vest to orange, then purple, blue and then white before reverting back to the natural brown.

 

"At the moment, you're wearing a nice blue dress, but I want you to think and try to change your clothing in different ways, as well as try and create different items you might use.  From a stave like this to a bowl, or a spoon, so on and so forth.  It requires a more intense focus than the previous trick because the focus isn't nearly as general as the world around us but on specific items and forms."

 

"I want you to try a few different things as you're comfortable with, first forming the clothing and items then maintaining them by remembering yourself within that form, but not having to focus heavily on it."  Turning away so he couldn't see, Anton sat down as he added.  "And I'm turning away because you'll need to envisage yourself naked before you can add the new clothing.  Whatever you do, when reforming your undergarments keep your hands free.  First time I popped into the dream with no clothing and my tutor told me how to form clothing.  I didn't move my hands and I got my hands stuck in my undergarments.  Don't laugh."  The last was said with a smile, it had been a stupid thing to do after all.

 

 

Anton Averdal

Farpaw

Anton seemed determined to send her from one sticky situation to the next. Sohvi stared at his back for a while, wondering if he was serious. First he wanted her… and then she was supposed to… and right after she… was he mad? Absolutely bonkers? Did he have some stitches loose on him? There was no way in the pit of doom she was getting naked, not when she’d just seem Ephron. That would of course mean that she failed the lesson, and that would mean disappointing Anton, what she really didn’t want to do, and… sighing wistfully, she knew that she’d have to do it sooner or later anyway, if she ever wanted people to stop seeing her as a helpless little girl.

 

Anton’s presence was soon forgotten as she focussed on her appearance. Envisioning herself without a stitch of clothing was perhaps the hardest part. She’d grown up in Amadicia, after all, and there had never been any full length mirrors in which she’d been able to study herself without any clothing on. It was easier when she closed her eyes for a moment, and envisioned herself without the feeling of having any clothing on her. Soon enough she could feel the ground underneath her bare feet, and the wind on her bare shoulders. Resisting the urge to look and see if Anton was still looking away, she went to work on assembling a different garment.

 

The choice was easy enough. It was the garment she’d seen in the window, the one that her mother had forced her to look away from. The Mayener cut had always intrigued her, especially when Anton said that he thought she might have been born in that region. It was easy enough to envision it on her, for she had done so many times before. It wasn’t until she had it on that she realised she’d forgotten something. Undergarments. Muttering to herself about becoming a loose woman the moment she put the garment on, she focussed on being naked again, before she could try creating the undergarments that would fit with the dress.

 

Though why anyone would call these garments… garments was beyond her. The shift barely covered her hips, and the stockings would do very little to keep her warm. Oh well. Focussing on the dress again, it appeared on her far swifter this time around. The deep red silk felt nice on her skin. Glancing down, she almost gasped at the sight of the neckline. Closing her eyes again, she did her very best to raise it an inch or two. Mayener clothing was one thing, but Sohvi had no desire to show her breasts to the entire world. When she was satisfied with it, she went to work on the other assignment.

 

After the clothing, the creation of an object seemed almost easy. At first Sohvi focussed on things she knew, like the stave she’d seen Anton with so many times, or the comb she used to comb her hair with. In the end she ended up with a vase. “I’m done.” She said, grinning broadly. This had been a lot easier than dealing with that bully earlier. At least this time she’d been able to follow Anton’s instructions a little better.

 

~Sohvi Darwin

Shimmer

Turning around as Sohvi spoke, Anton blinked then laughed.  Of all the things he'd been expecting to see, that was most certainly not it.  "A vase?"  Sohvi even looked a little sheepish as it disappeared.  Anton's laugh had already died though as he'd taken into account the new dress she was wearing.  It was almost Mayene except it had perhaps been modified a touch, perhaps it was something that Sohvi had seen before?  It was too close to the style to be something she had simply imagined, he had to admit that she looked beautiful in it as well.  It seemed to suit her much more than the plainer clothes she usually sported.

 

"That dress suits you, I'm beginning to think my suspicion of Mayene was more well founded than I previously thought."  Smiling as he grabbed a couple of nearby rocks, Anton made his way over to Sohvi and offered her one of them before holding the one he was left with up.  "I want you to watch this Sohvi, carefully.  This takes a bit more effort, its one thing to create something that isn't here, its another thing to alter an object that is already here, transforming it from one thing to another."

 

Focusing on the stone, the stone blurred and reshaped itself into a large lavender flower.  Dropping the flower on the ground, it blurred back into the shape of a stone as Anton looked to Sohvi.  "Look at the rock, imagine what you want it to turn into and then 'pour' what is into what you want it to be, much like one would pour water into a cup.  Like I said, its more difficult than just creating things because you're changing something that already exists here.  Just take your time, there's no rush."

 

 

Anton Averdal

Farpaw

After seeing Anton take in the dress she was wearing now, it took a considerable amount of effort to keep the neckline from plunging back to where it had been to start with. She blushed again, while trying to shrug it off. “I’ve always wondered how a woman is supposed to walk around in these dresses. They’re awfully tight, and you can’t even bend over to pick something up without… uh… well, you know.” Anton fortunately had the good sense to continue the lesson before Sohvi made an even bigger fool out of herself. Muttering to herself about being a silly twit, she followed him over to the place where he picked up a couple of rocks.

 

She didn’t quite see why changing a rock into something else was harder than making something out of thin air until she tried it. The rock resisted. It was as if in it’s little rock-mind, it had decided that it liked being a rock, and that there was no way on earth that it was ever going to bend to her will. She had planned on making a flower much like Anton had, but decided on something a little simpler first. A spoon. There was nothing wrong with a spoon. A good wooden spoon was much more useful than a rock. Surely the rock would want to be a spoon.

 

Frowning with concentration, Sohvi went about changing the thing. Rock to spoon. Rock to spoon. Rock to spoon. When it finally morphed into a spoon, she let out a little squeal of joy. Only to find that she’d cheered too soon. “I said wooden spoon, not stone spoon! Gah!” Hearing laughter coming from Anton’s general direction, she decided she wouldn’t be bested by a rock… spoon… thing all that easily. She envisioned it the way it was supposed to be. A sturdy wooden spoon, like the one her mother had used to stir the stew and whack Jimmy on the head with if he’d been an annoying brat. She could see the colour and the texture of the stone spoon begin to change.

 

Holding it up for Anton to see, she couldn’t help but grin. “That was harder than I thought. It was like the rock didn’t want to change. I guess rocks are like humans that way. Once they decide they’re one thing, you’ll have a hard time getting them to decide they’re something else.” Feeling content and somewhat weary, she looked at Anton to see if they would continue their lessons now, or another time. To be honest she could use some regular sleep, now that she’d learnt to deal with some of the dreamworld’s dangers and opportunities.

 

~Sohvi Darwin

Shimmer

 

It had been an amusing display between Sohvi and the stone spoon, though Anton was glad of her success as she successfully transmogrified it from a stone spoon to a wooden one.  She was showing a good aptitude for the dream world, something that made him feel quite good about how the entire exercise had gone.  With time, she'd hone her ability and she would become a fine wolfsister, she certainly wouldn't put his teaching to shame at least.

 

But, she was clearly tired and they had been in the Wolf Dream for quite awhile, if she stayed for much longer she wouldn't get any sleep at all so Anton decided to end it for the night.  There would be plenty of other opportunities during other nights to practice, for now she had been introduced to some of what she would be able to accomplish with little thought later.  "You've done well, but for now Sohvi it is time for you to rest.  I want you to close your eyes for me."

 

As she did that, Anton continued.  "Clear yourself of any distractions, just let your consciousness unfocus.  Much like when you go to sleep you drift and pass out, the same here but when you do so you leave the dream and return to your body for normal sleep.  Go on, I'll talk to you tomorrow."  It was a little while before she disappeared, but once Anton was certain she was gone then, he too, simply vanished from the Wolf Dream.

 

 

Anton Averdal

Farpaw

 

OOC: Dream class complete. :)