Welcome to Gaia! ::

(Feb 7) In the beginning...

...she stared at the goblet. Not a nice stare, but not a cruel one either. The woman known as Mouse was giving the goblet a very suspicious stare. It was something she'd never before heard of, never before encountered, and she wasn't inclined to trust it.

The instructions that had come with the thing said that she was to drink the contents just before bed. That in and of itself was highly suspicious. Delicately, she sniffed it. The scents inside were...rather insubstantial. Hard to get a fix on. But they didn't smell dangerous or even negative. Not that they smelled very positive...but whatever was inside couldn't be bad.

"Here's hoping it isn't poison."

She commented to the scarecrow hat seething on the dresser as she drained the goblet dry and lay back in her hammock. Almost instantly she fell asleep, and a dream twisted out of memories came to the fore of her mind...

Blood. The scent was everywhere. But where was "everwhere," when she knew not where "here" was? The whole landscape was foggy, with the suggestion of trees a ways away. She looked around, trying to find the source of the bloodscent, but it was too omnipresent. Like at that village...

Unbidden, images of the carnage her scout group had stumbled upon leaped to her mind's eye, mercilessly depicting the shattered shards of bone, shredded flesh and spattered blood all over the ground and the homes of the vilage.

She shook her head violently, to clear it, and found herself floating in the sky. Not like she was on Thunderclaw's back though, this was weightless and effortless and above more foggy land. A person was standing below her on a hilltop waving. She automatically dove down to see what the person wanted.

As she lost altitude, the person below became clearer and clearer until her focus sharpened enough that she could make out details. Blanching, she tripped and stumbled through the air. On top of the hill stood a skeleton, dressed in rags, it's eternal smile just grinning at her. Shaken, she landed and approached hesitantly.

The skeleton's rags were in the style of her people and Clan...worse yet, the colors of her family.

"H-hello there."

She said as calmly as possible.

"Heyla, Ikki! You finally came! I've been waiting for you for so long!"

It was Kira's voice. Why did it have to be Kira? Of all her cousins...why Kira? Ah, she knew why. It would have to be one of her only childhood friends...but damn it, why did it have to be Kira, dead before her thirteenth birthday?

The skeleton began laughing, a cruel, evil thing in Kira's voice, as the world began to spin and blackness overtook her.

Mouse sat upright in bed with a jolt, sweat soaking her nightclothes and blanket. Out the window, the moon was only just setting and the night was peaceful. All was right with the world.

Except that after such a crazy dream, Mouse was unable to sleep.

"I'll bet it was that stupid potion. I haven't had a nightmare in so long..."

(Feb 8.) Continuity...

As she had promised herself, Mouse turned in early. The day had been long, and quite tiring. Fighting off memories was not the way she''d wanted to spend her days, and was part of the reason why she was in Gaia, as opposed to so many other worlds.

For the first time in a very long time, she''d sent up a prayer for peaceful dreams before climbing into her hammock. Such a shame that Fate did not intend for that prayer to be answered...

You knew a dream was going to be strange when it was a sequel. That, at least, was the thought echoing around her head as she found herself on a misty hilltop with a skeleton laughing in Kira''s voice. Again. Abruptly, rage filled her that this...this thing would so defile Kira''s memory, and she sliced the skeleton in half with her spear. (Hey, who said logic applied in dreams?) Then, appalled at herself, she ran off, further into the dreamscape.

She stumbled into a forest clearing and knelt there, catching her breath and trying to regain her calm. There was no enemy here...right?

A squirrel popped up to her right and began investigating her thoroughly. She smiled at the small creature. How helpless it looked. She reached out, as if to grab the rodent, and stopped. There, off to the right beyond the squirrel, where a moment before had been merely trees, was a mirror image of the clearing she herself was in. The image included her. As she watched, her double grinned a predatory smile full of sharp teeth and snatched the squirrel. As she gazed, horrified, her twin bit into the squirrel and began eating it.

And she could do nothing. Her body wouldn''t move, it was just shaking in place, and her tongue seemed to big to form any words. She was frozen in place as the other Mouse devoured the helpless squirrel. Finished with the meal, the twin gave her a bloodstained smile.

She screamed. Not a warcry, not out of anger, but a shrill, fear-filled scream like in a bad movie. But that broke the strange paralysis and she fled.

Now the dreamscape took on no particular form as she ran, tears streaking down her face. What was she supposed to see in this? The sort of monster she might have become? Why she shouldn''t separate herself from her people? The questions were endless and no answers came to mind.

Finally, she collapsed, exhausted from her terrified sprint. Please, she thought to herself and whoever might hear in this nightmare borne of her deepest fears, please let it be over soon...

She awoke, sweating and shaking, for the second night in a row. This time, she didn''t even bother to deny her fear to herself. Someone, maybe some god, wanted her to see all of this...why?

It didn''t matter. All that mattered was that she didn''t want to go back to sleep, for fear of another dream like that.

(Feb 8.) First meeting...

She was back in the gray mist of the dream. That same dream...or a different aspect of it. Now she walked a path that crunched eerily like bones beneath her feet. However, she didn't walk the same proud march that she had before the dreams started. Now she took more, shorter steps with shoulders hunched and arms close to her body. Rather than allowing keen senses to tell her what was around, she nervously glanced from side to side, as though something would jump out at her at any moment.

And then, something did appear. It didn't ambush her from the side or behind, but rather just appeared in front of her, sitting squarely on the path.

It was a dragon. But not a dragon as she was accustomed to seeing. This one had torn skin and only bone showing in some places. In others one could see what looked like blood or muscle tissue. Curling around its head were a pair of rams horns, like some idiot humans portrayed their Devil as having. And on its skull there seemed to be a scar. All in all, the dragon was not an appealing sight.

She froze, taking in every aspect of its appearance, too startled and frightened to speak. Luckily (or not), the dragon spoke first.

~It is good to finally meet you. I have been waiting for you.~

"Wh-what?" she stuttered, totally nonplussed.

The dragon sighed. ~I have been waiting for you. My name is Morbus.~

Yeah, I'll bet you are morbid. She thought to herself, cynical nature aroused by the dragon's tone to overcome her fear.

"I'm Mouse."

Morbus just gave her a look, as if to say: "do you really think I'm that stupid?" and shook his head. ~Let us try this once more. My name is Morbus.~

She stared at the misty ground. "Ikorra." She muttered to the dragon, then looked him straight in the eye. "I'm Ikorra Lissani. And I won't let my fears rule me."

Morbus seemed to smile at that. The kind of smile that says: "oh you won't, huh?" He said nothing though, merely offered her a kind of salute and began moving backwards, into the dreamy landscape without seeming to move.

~It is our destiny to be partners. In order for a balance and union to be reached, we must complement and support each other. For that to happen, we must know the others fears.~

He then continued to move away, and soon faded from view.

She snorts and yells to Morbus after he is gone to her sight. "I already have a partner, and you'll never be him!"

(Feb 10) Building trust...

She sighs as she opens her dream eyes to the same world as she's seen too many nights in a row now. Was this Fate, as Morbus claimed...or something else altogether? Either way, she'd never had any control over her dreams, and had no way of doing so now. She took a seat on a handy rock that had formed from the ever-present mist and waited for Morbus to show up. She wasn't long in waiting.

He appears from the mist as suddenly as he'd vanished the night before, and doesn't seem surprised to see her waiting for him. Making himself comfortable a length away, he gives her a draconic smile, rather creepy seeing as he has no skin over his skull.

~And how are you doing today, Ikorra?~

She gives him a Look. He seems to know so much about her...surely he has to know how much she hates being called by her real name.

"I could be better. Maybe you could make me feel better by answering some more questions."

Morbus pauses to consider this. Then he nods.

~I don't see why not. If it makes you feel better about having me for a partner, then it should help.~

"Okay...two questions first. One, why can't you just call me Mouse? You seem to know some things about me that you have no right to know, and one of those must surely be that I dislike being called by my name," she pauses for breath, and to observe Morbus' only reaction; the lashing of his tail. She continues. "Two, just what are you?"

Morbus chuckles, though it's not as if he's laughing at her.

~True, true, I can see everything in your mind. No, don't try to put up stronger barriers, it's a part of what I am that I can't change. And,~ he says slyly, ~you need to be reminded of who you really are, else you might forget and never go home.~

He pointedly ignores the muttered and obscene remark his last statement prompts.

~I am a dragon, but you already knew that. You might also notice that you can't control me. That's because I'm a part of you. I'm your fears--and your guilt and bloodlust--personified. Your worse half, to put it bluntly,~ he says quietly, as if he wants no one to overhear.

She blinks rapidly at Morbus' answer to her second question. It was a possibility that she'd never even considered. And it wouldn't make the dragon her partner...more a part of herself and her soul. Was such a thing possible?

Apparently, it was.

"Wait a minute..." she said slowly, turning things over in her mind, "if you're a part of me in some way...why are you dead?"

Now it was the dragon's turn to think hard. It was a good question. If only he knew the answer.

~Unfortunately, I myself do not know. Perhaps the Orbkeeper might?~ he suggested, having picked up on the Orbkeeper and his job from Ikorra's memories.

She nods reluctantly.

"The next time I go Home," she promises, "I'll talk to the Orbkeeper about you, and see what he says."

Morbus nods in acceptance.

~I suppose that's all we can do for now. And now,~ he says, standing up, ~I shall take my leave of you.~

For once, he simply walks away, though he pauses and turns back towards her, empty eye sockets staring right through her.

~Thank you, Mouse. For finally beginning to trust me.~ With that, he turned away once more and walked on until he was lost to sight.

She nods again, and frowns. Now the last place she wanted to go was the one place she needed to go for information. Ah, the ironies of life.

(Mar 2) MOUSE'S JOURNAL

Last night I met other dragons and their partners. It was interesting, but a tad upsetting. No one else has a half-dead dragon. In fact, a strange little creature commented on it.

I know the world isn't fair and all that, but why me?

I've been in Gaia over a year now, and have only just realized that by starting to dig around for my communication equipment. I buried it in my bag thinking I'd never want to use it. But I must see the Orbkeeper.

I think the Darkseas is really and truly dead. That's sad...but I must then find a new place to live.

...

Better keep digging. I'd like to find out sooner rather than later if I need to recharge the keystones.

(Apr 1) Perhaps a different route...

Mouse hadn't come. It had been over two weeks since she'd last visited. And therefore, Morbus had had no communication with his bonded in over two weeks. He was totally disconnected.

The strange dragon he'd been sensing hadn't diminished at all...though it hadn't grown stronger...a blessing? Either way, he wasn't happy to just sit around and wait for nothing.

Gathering his courage, Morbus began to make his way to Dragonz's house in Almahat.

(Apr 6) Odd occurances...

Mouse caught herself pacing around the house for the third time that hour. With effort, she forced herself to sit down and try to think of rational explanations. She pulled out a pen and paper to write down her ideas.

Hmmm...nope. She'd know if she had problems paying attention by this time in her life.

Definitely not. The trident next to the door was used daily, though only in practice. She was always sweating and tired when she finished. Not an incredible amount of energy left to spare after that.

The same thing when it came down to it...but so totally different! Mouse grinned. Only a miracle could make her a mother...or could it? She had Galerus...

No, it didn't work that way. "Mother's intuition" worked only with blood-children as far as she knew. But Foresight...

It was one of the weakest abilities Mouse had, and usually only meant strange hunches and occasional murky dreams. Could this be related to Foresight?

She examined the restless and nervous feeling again. Nope. It didn't ring instinctually as Foresight did. Next item.

There. That one resonated with the feeling of being right. Okay. One problem solved. Next one: who was this link with?


This wasn't helping yet. Mouse knew she'd know if these feelings came from Thunderclaw. His sharing always had a special flavor to it that was missing at the moment.

She almost laughed at the next two names. Her childhood best friends, both quite dead now. And this didn't having the feeling of a ghost...or at least, she didn't think it did. She'd never actually dealt with a ghost, and had no wish to start now.

The fourth name she gave a thoughtful frown. While it was entirely possible, it also might not be possible. No one had ever known precisely what abilities the Sleeper possessed, and those who tried to find out were said to go mad and lose their minds.

Anyway, none of them felt right. So she added to her second list.

She smiled. Not a bad idea...but he was sleeping soundly on his pallet. And he wasn't having any nightmares as far as she could tell...so it couldn't possibly be him. Who did that leave?

Wide jade eyes stared at the drying ink.

(Apr 28.) The discovery...

Galerus was, for once, being a good boy and practicing his sign language. All day Mouse had been acting strange. She couldn't keep still, which was part of why the hatling had noticed something strange was going on. Normally his guardian could sit still as stone for hours on end. That was one way in which today was different.

Eventually, it seemed that Mouse herself noticed that something wasn't right. The boy watched out of the corner of his eye as she sat down and began to write. She would write, pause and think and frown, then write some more. It got boring after a while, and Galerus returned his attention to learning how to speak with his fingers.

Then he heard a small gasp. Mouse was now staring at what she'd written. He watched openly as she made a face, and slumped onto her bed.

Long minutes later, Galerus decided that she must be asleep. From the circles under her eyes, she'd probably be out for a while. He grinned. Opportunity had finally come a'knockin'!

But what to do? He could try to break the spell-lock on the books...but that would probably alert her, being her wards.

The sunshine brightened, illuminating the paper Mouse had been writing on. A smug smile crossed the hatling's face. Nature itself had chosen his area of focus for the afternoon.

He clambered up onto the chair and studied the paper, face falling. It looked like shorthand...but not in any language he'd even heard of. Disappointed, he continued looking around the desk. His eye fell on Mouse's journal.

The boy stared at it. Reading that book would violate almost everything he knew. Almost everything. It was, he decided in a rush of impulse, worth the risk. Galerus grabbed the book and ran over to his cubby-hole hiding place in the corner of the room.

A quick look around the room assured him that Gemwing wasn't around. Then, impatience got the better of him. Slowly, reverently, the book fell open in his hands.

MOUSE'S JOURNAL

Morbus knows a lot more about me than I know about him...objectively. However, he said some very interesting things about us and our relationship and him.

Apparently, Morbus is a physical representation most of the negative things about me. I say most, because he doesn't have my temper. That's probably so that the both of us work together, rather than sitting separately and seething at the other. But he does represent my fears and some of the less-than-lovely things I've done.

However, there are a number of disturbing gaps in his memory. I do not look forward to the day when we fill them in.

But before that can happen, I must return Home to speak to the Orbkeeper. There are some things that I feel only he will know, and that only he would speak of to me. Apparently I am some sort of hero there...I do not think I deserve this at all, and would rather not be treated as such. I know the Orbkeeper will never change how he treats me, and that is reassuring.

I shall take some nice, fresh fish when I go. I think Thunderclaw likes fish over squirrels.

One thing was sure. This journal entry that the book had chosen for him to read was not what Galerus would have ever expected. However, many things were unclear to him. Who, for example, was Morbus? Or better, what was he? And who was Thunderclaw? And the Orbkeeper?

The boy frowned. The more he learned about Mouse, the more questions there were to be answered. Hoping for enlightenment, he went to turn the page, but they, sensing his intention, flipped for him, revealing another entry.


Well, now he had some answers. Morbus was a half-dead dragon. But...where was he? How could Mouse be interacting with a dragon other than Gemwing without Galerus knowing? It didn't seem possible...and yet it had to be true. Mouse didn't lie. There were a lot of things in her journal that didn't make sense, but the hatling was much more interested in people. Especially Morbus and the mysterious Orbkeeper.

With a resounding snap!, the journal suddenly closed itself. Startled and angry, Galerus tried to open it again. Suffice to say, the book remained stubbornly closed. After half an hour of trying, the hatling put the book back and picked up his own journal to reflect on what he'd learned.