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There was something at the edge of his consciousness, voices? Or was it the angry meows of a cat who was wondering where his breakfast was? His thoughts stirred, his mind awoke, he became aware of his own consciousness. But, how was that possible? How was he aware of anything? He was sure there had been nothing, that he had--

He awoke with a start, bolting to his feet so suddenly that the cat who had previously been at his side was sent scurrying across the room. He was...alive? But how? Had it all been a dream? No, it couldn't have been, it had been far to real to be only a dream. All he had seen, all he had felt, the horror, the fear, the pain, no, it was more than a dream. Maybe it was this that was the dream. No, if that were true there would be no dreams, there would be nothing at all, and yet...

It was as he tried to sort his thoughts, moving around his room as if lost in a fog that his eyes fell on the document that had been left on his desk. Exam authentication approval? He read over the words in disbelief. An exam? That's what this had been? All of it, everything, it had all been a part of the trials? THIS is what the trial had been?

Feelings of anger, hatred, fury, and or horror came flooding into his mind. The horsemen had done this to them, they had done THIS. They had been toyed with, tortured, killed, and destroyed for this, for the trials. Who in jack's name were these horsemen?! What kind of twisted mind did this to other creatures, and why had the professors allowed this to happen? He had never trusted the horsemen, never certain of their goals, but now, now he was far from convinced they were not as bad as or worse than the hunters. Oh god, what had they done to him, what they done to them all?

Sheridan curled against himself as images, emotions, and senses of those events all came flooding back to him. The ruined world, the hunters, the white lights, cages, the chamber, the knife, oh god, oh god! Memories of his friends and teammates, Petro, Seph, Ange--

He nearly jumped, the sound of his found suddenly jarring him from his thoughts. Standing to his feet again, he searched his room until he found the eyephone, quickly flicking through the screens until he found the text. It was from Angenora! She was alive, she wasn't a weapon?

His still reeling thoughts and emotions were pushed down for the moment, the thought of his friends suddenly taking over. He had to find them, he had to make sure they were okay!



The text hurriedly sent, he shoved the eyephone in his pocket and rushed out the door on his way to the library.

He barely paused in his steps, taking a moment to read the text before returning the phone to his pocket. There was no need to respond, he would find her in a moment and whatever there was to say, or not say, could be said then.

Talons clicked on the floor with his steps, his pace quickened the closer he got to the library. He was still not convinced this was not a dream, the last dreams of final moments. He couldn't shake it, would they wake again the next moment, only to find the dream was real and that this was the dream?

He rounded the corner, stopping in his tracks as he saw her. She was really there, she wasn't alive, she wasn't a weapon. Thank god. For the moment it didn't matter if it was a dream or not anymore, for now his fear was forgotten.

Several quick strides and he had closed the distance between them. Before she responded, before she could answer, he had already reached out, catching her in an embrace. She was okay, she wasn't a hunter's weapon, she was really here.

"You're okay?"

It seemed he hadn't let her go yet...

It was a moment before he remember where he was, that he was holding his one time teammate off her feet in a hug that he had not yet released. He was so relieved to see her, his fear that they may all wake up and return to the nitemare fading bit by bit.

Still, maybe he should put her down now...

He set her back on her feet, giving her a small smile. If she was flirting, he didn't mind, maybe he was just too relieved they were alive to really catch it.

"Maybe we could go outside?"

Normally he would have liked the library, but now being somewhere open felt more comfortable. Somewhere like the roof, it was quiet and peaceful there, or under a tree, somewhere he could see the sky.

He didn't miss the shiver, his gaze turning downward, arms wrapped around himself. His own nitemare had been horrific, but hers... He remembered watching, helpless to stop as she was destroyed and changed before his eyes, unable to help no matter how hard he tried. Being turned into a weapon, it was his greatest fear, he did not envy the fate she had seen.

"Maybe the roof? It's quiet up there."

His tail twitched lightly, uncertainly.

"Or there's a tree down..."

His voice trailed off, he really wasn't sure where he wanted to go. He wasn't even sure how much he wanted to talk. But being with his friends, being with Angenora right then, he did know that it was something they both needed. And maybe, maybe talking would help they get through it, even if they only talked a little and just sat quietly the rest of the time."

Sheridan nodded, the roof it was, the roof was good with him.

"Yeah."

He rubbed the back of his neck not sounding entirely convinced. They were here, they were alive, surely Petro and Seph were as well. Logic should have told him so, and yet, and yet he could not shake the fear.

His accent to the roof was quick, a single beat of his wings and a light landing on the roof above. He held out a hand, offering help if she needed or wanted it, though it seemed she was perfectly capable of climbing herself.

"I like to watch the stars from up here."

There had been many nights he sat on the roof above his dorm, looking up at the stars above until he fell asleep. Sleep, he didn't want to think about that, no, he didn't think he'd be sleeping for a while.

"My cat is more likely to bite my tail than meow."

There was a half-hearted smile, he was trying at least.

His tail flicked, his gaze turned toward the sky for a moment as he stood on the edge of the roof.

"When I look up at the stars...I feel...closer to home."

He didn't know if she knew what he meant, it was difficult to explain if one did not understand dragons. Though after a look at his star littered hide, it would hardly be a surprise that the stars meant more to him than lights in the sky. To the cosmic (or celestial as they were also know), the stars -were- home.

"No, I suppose it's not, but he has his good points too."

Not that he could think of any at the moment. Still, mean as the cat was, he did have his moments, those times he would curl up to Sheridan and allow himself to be petted, those times he would purr in contentment at an ear scratch or two, or a shared spookie. Of course there were also the shredded books, stolen treats, teeth marks in his tail...why did he put up with that cat anyway? Whatever it was that may or may not have held them together, Sheridan would have missed the cat were he gone.

He was quiet as he sat next to her, one knee drawn to himself, his arms wrapped around himself. For a moment he listened in silence, even his tail curled and still.

"I do, I'm still not entirely convinced it wasn't real. I'm afraid...afraid I might wake up and be back in that nitemare. Are we really here? Or is this a dream?"

His voice shook as he spoke, oh please let this be real and not a dream. He didn't want to wake up there again.

"We're not really reptiles."

Despite any similarities they may have shared with reptiles, they were about as closely related to lizards as lizards were to mammals. For one, dragons were not cold-blooded. It might have been debatable if they were warm blooded either, at least in the sense of their blood itself being warm, it was...rather more complicated than that.

But he didn't dwell on the subject, it didn't seem that important right then.

"I...I don't know what happened to Petro and Seph."

He looked away, his tail curling tightly. He couldn't bear to speak of it, didn't want to think, he didn't want to remember, if only he could forget.

"I'm sorry...that I couldn't stop them."