Once upon a Dream (Atten:Valadin)

[Siera]

Lirievin Tesiva For once Liri was starting to feel like she had her life under control. She was catching up in her studies, slowing learning about Tel'aran'rhiod, and she was making some progress in her Ajah choice, at least she had taken a few off the list. Reaching her room, Liri set a few books on her desk, she had planned to do some more reading but she had just starting getting the hang of a few new things in Tel'aran'rhiod and she wanted to practice that first, she could read tomorrow.

Lying down on her bed Liri curled into a comfortable position, entering Tel'aran'rhiod was getting easier each time she did it so she didn't have to lie flat anymore to focus. Liri closed her eyes and focused, when she opened them again she was standing in her room, still wearing the Accepteds dress. Liri closed her eyes to picture a nice blue dress, with a deep neckline, she could keep outfits now but she still needed to focus to picture the outfit. Looking at herself in a mirror, Liri gave a satisfied nod and walked out of the room. For the most part Liri kept to the Tower, she found it easier to learn when she was in a familiar place, plus most Aes Sedai and Asha'man protected their dreams so she never saw anyone here. Sometimes it felt lonely, but Liri felt like she could feel Amadie's presence here, and that comforted her. She didn't know Amadie well, but the sacrifice she made for her had Liri feeling eternally grateful.

Liri had been so lost in her thoughts as she was wandering she hadn't even realized that she was in the Solider Quarters. Liri was just about to turn around when she saw a figure flash into existence. Liri was sure her mouth dropped open in shock, in all the time she had been here she had never seen a soul so she was surprised. It was a man she knew, he was a distance away but she knew he was taller then her. Liri waiting a moment to see if her flashed out, she had seen that happen in other Towns, but he didn't leave. Liri cautiously walked up to him, waiting incase he was going to hurt her.

"Who are you?" She asked as she got closer.

[Sean]

Valadin Manelle

As the World of Dreams materialized around him Val struggled to separate reality from the allure of the imagined world. Immediately the uncomfortable sensations of being watched etched itself upon him, but he ignored it as always. Not yet comfortable in his talents for traversing the Dream he closed his mind for a moment to still his flickering form. Several eerily silent moments passed before the belief in himself of everything being temporal took root and as he became more substantial the image of his black Asha’man coat cut a fine figure against the gloom of the largely vacant Tower.

Like breaking through the surface of a cool lake, Valadin found himself dressed suitably in a tunic of intertwined fibers of gray and black. The knee-high boots were a rich black, the leather reflecting the ethereal illumination of Tel’aran’rhoid.

“Who are you?”

The question sent shivers down his spine as the silence was disturbed. Wheeling around quickly, his balance instinctively controlled, Val angled the short sword clutched tightly in his grasp towards a…girl?

Soundlessly the blade vanished as curiosity overtook the fear of attack. Though he approached her with an expression that lacked emotion, his stride which quickly crossed the distance between them, held the unhurried caution of one waiting for an attack. The World of Dreams was a place where many visited though very few remained. Even Val had only mastered maintaining his grip in the immaterial realm, more often finding himself fading from the Dream without warning when his concentration waned. The girl before him didn’t appear like anyone he’d seen in the Tower before. Her dress was of fine cloth—a majestic blue that seemed to fit her poise. It was with difficulty that he hadn’t risked a peek down the plunging neckline. “She’d probably catch you and give you a good spanking; she’s good enough to hold her place in the Dream. Better not estimate her…” he thought to himself though his feelings were betrayed as suddenly a shield and sword appeared at his back.

“Um, forgive me,” he apologized. He concentrated on the weapons, but no avail; there was little hiding for the inexperienced here. It was a trait he rather liked about the Dream World. “I’m Valadin, Soldier of the Grey Tower.”

His response to her question though late was felt owed and accompanied by a half-practiced bow. Given that most had little control over their appearance when they first entered the Dream Val guessed that this was the girl’s true form and she looked like a noblewoman. “If I may ask, milady, your name?”

For a long time after the last of the words fell from his lips, they echoed through the stone halls that were constructed from the tiniest fabrics of the human mind. Though he didn’t consider himself learned, Val found himself staring reverently at everything around him. The perfection of it was overwhelming and yet…there were clear signs that everything here existed in a Dream.

“Have you ever seen anything like it?” Val asked, before hearing the girl’s name.

OOC: I'm so sorry! I didn't even know this thread was up! Next time it'll be responded to within the day. That's a promise.

[Siera]

Lirievin Tesiva Liri watched the man in front of her carefully. He must not have been here often as nothing really stayed constant with him, his clothes changes and he seemed to be having a hard time keeping himself there. At first when he had the sword pointed at her Liri took a small step back and opened herself to Saidar, she had no idea who this man was and what his intentions were. She was sure she could outthink him if it came to that but that was only as she was more practiced in the World of Dreams, not from any talent. Cautiously Liri moved forward as the weapons winked out of existence, for the first time, they seemed to come and go with him. He introduced himself as Valadin, a Soldier of the Grey Tower.

Hearing that sent a small shiver down her spine and Liri debated on if she should switch her clothing to her Accepted’s dress. She knew wearing other clothing was not allowed until she was an Aes Sedai but at the same time you never knew who would be entering the World of Dreams and she didn’t want any nightmares following her back home again.

“I am Lirievin Tesiva, I am actually an Accepted of the Gret Tower." She was still cautious of the man, as she had kearned anyone could lie and if they made a habit of it they lied well.

Liri smiled at Valadin's awe of the World of Dreams. She remembered feeling like that herself when it had been her escape and even know she felt it at times but she had gotten use to it. "It is quite amazing." She agreed following his gaze down the hall they were in. "But you haven't seen anything yet. Follow me i will show you something interesting." She finished moving down the Hall. One of her favourite places to visit was the Library. Things were always changing there so it was quite a sight.

"How long have you been entering here?" She knew he may not answer but it was something that interested her and there were so few people who could enter the World of Dreams, she hoped they could help eachother out while learning about this strange place.


Ooc: no worries! I am a little bit busier with my puppy so my responses may not be as fast.

[Sean]

It was a strange question to consider.

Until meeting the girl, he had considered the Dream his own world, but learning that it was an even grander mystery than he'd thought it was hard to explain, "I've been passing through here for some time, but..."

He paused as a nearby chair flickered from its place at a long table and reappeared across the room behind a clerk's desk. Books opened and closed of their own volition as often appearing with words in them as not. Everything in the library was in constant motion, a clear antithesis to monotonous pace of it's real life counterpart. Val's smile widened as stepped into the confusion, his excitement coming over in unexpected waves. “Accepted...this is...the Brown Ajah library?"

He knew the answer, but the significance behind it was something he hadn't considered once since discovering the Dream. This wasn't an imaginary place with no origin or basis; it was a reflection of the real world that constantly shifted based on any number of influences. Watching the large library shift a thousand times in what seemed like fleeting moments, he began to understand that real world impacts affected the Dream as well.

As mind wandered, his clothing sent through an assortment of wardrobes. Some were pieces he'd been given by the people of the Four Kings out of pity while others were fine garments that draped and billowed over him as if he were royalty. These were fashions he'd seen from the merchants that passed through with wares for trade. Dismissing them with a thought Val willed his Asha'man blacks to return. Although he'd envisioned the clothing easy enough, the Dream tried to pull them away as surely as he fought to maintain them.

“You make it look so easy," he said to the Accepted, his voice strained. He could feel his Dream essence being pulled at by an unseen force; if relented even the smallest amount he knew he'd fade from the Dream. “How do you remain here...so...so firmly without losing yourself in the Dream?"

[Siera]

Lirievin Tesiva Liri found herself smiling when Valadin realized where they were. She had gotten use to the coming and goings of these areas, but to see such amazement in someone again made her feel happy that she had essentially caused that happiness. Liri nodded in answer to Valadin’s question, she figured the answer was obvious and didn’t want to say anything as he seemed to curious to really want to listen anyway.

Liri watched Valadin carefully, although she was sure he was a danger, she was curious about him. Since she realized that she could enter the World of Dreams she had not met anyone in here so the interaction was weird for her. The man seemed very competent and polite so Liri was glad to finally, maybe have a partner to experience this strange place. As Liri was watching him his clothing kept changing things Liri had never seen before appeared then disappeared from him until he finally settled back into the Asha’man blacks. Liri didn’t miss though days when she didn’t have the control to maintain her appearance, it had been such a hassle and she had constantly worried someone would come after her.

Done staring in wonder Valadin turned towards her and asked her how she kept herself so firmly here. Liri looked away for a second, doing this had always been so easy for her, especially when she didn’t want to be back in the real world on her first visited. She always wondered if that had made things easier for her, and apparently it had. She waited a few moments before responding, trying to decide exactly how much information to divulge.
Taking a deep breath Liri composed herself, she had not talked about what had happened to her to anyone since she had gotten back, she had avoided it and the one person she wanted to talk to had been avoiding her.

“My entrance to the World of Dreams was a bit different. Not long ago I was kidnapped and tortured for reasons I don’t know..”she trailed off as flash backs flashed through her head, only stopping when she looked down and realized she was wearing the rags she had been wearing when she was in the basement, and blood was dripping down her limbs. She mouth dropped open for a moment before she refocused and her clothing switched back to her blue dress, any sign of blood gone. “The first time I came here it was a sanctuary for me. It was the first time I had been pain free in a long time so I had no wish to go back, which made it easier for me. I also, at first wanted to believe that this was reality, not the basement.”

Liri was shocked at how calm she felt. She tried not to think about anything that happened to her and figured the first time she actually talked about it she would be a mess, but she felt nothing but anger and a deep urge to come out above it all. I will not let this be the end of me. “Depending on how long you have been here, it may be hard. I’ve been coming her quite often so I’ve gotten used to everything. With a little practise you will get the hang of it.” She finished with a small smile, trying to not get him down with her sob story.

“I’ve done a lot of reading to figure things out, so I can help you if you want?”

[Sean]

“Y-yes…Accepted Tesiva,” Valadin murmured his face tight with the effort of holding the wavering strands of his dream-self intact.

Many times trinkets from his past appeared and vanished in the space of a breath though often enough they were recognizable relics of previous encounters. A fancy gold armband gleaned amongst the wares of a Domani merchant momentarily shimmered about his right arm before fading away softly, leaving only touches of gilt behind in its memory. The sudden weight lighting upon Val’s upper body directed his gaze towards a gaudy chest-piece that had been brought through the Four Kings on its way to be delivered to the Queen’s treasury. Recollections of a life now lost to him coursed through Valadin in an endless river and soon the chairs, tomes, and reading tables of the library were interspersed amidst trundling carts and braying nags. Arlen materialized, a specter of his past, though this Arlen appeared gaunt and more aged than the lively miscreant he’d known back in the stables.

The unnatural light of the Dream world pulsed slowly at first, but gradually Valadin’s feelings and fears poured out from him as his mind worked furiously to reclaim control. How could he though?

So much had been lost since he’d come to the Grey Tower. The peaceful meadows. Having quiet games of Stones with the laughter of the Common room at his back. Even tending to Nessie, the dappled mare owned by a poor woodsman, who’d once sought comfort at the Dancing Cartman after a long night’s ride and then thereafter frequented the inn every silver moon. These treasures haunted Val in the waking world, but here in the realm of Dreams were ideas and emotions were the foundations of creation they bloomed horribly and wonderfully around him until the Tower around them was consumed by his emergent Dream. ‘Don’t let fear overtake you…then it’ll become like last time…’ Val warned himself.

Even steeling his thoughts against the fright of his first foray into another Dream proved to no avail as a half-sized Trolloc arose from between the polished stone floors of the Library where Lirievin stood. Ugly and misshapen, the creature lacked the fine details that demonstrated whether it was beast or man instead coalescing into something that was not quite either. A lion’s head, its fur matted and rotting against sickly flesh, stood atop the body of a squat adult man. Endless rows of curved, browned teeth glimmered with the eerie light of the Dream as the beast grunted in guttural tones and gestured towards where Val and the Accepted stood. Closing his eyes, Valadin imagined the Library the way it had been moments ago: safe, mesmerizing, and docile. His desires rebounded against the walls of his Dream as he and Livi were swallowed by it, its nightmarish realities strengthening and becoming permanent.

Valadin cursed himself, his concern and difficulty controlling the Dream becoming secondary as he rushed to where the Accepted was. Everything was happening too fast for him to simply ‘think’ them all away.

“Help me.”

His voice came out weak, nearly drowned out in the din of the chaos. Now the horses grew fangs and their eyes blackened with otherworldly malevolence as the wagons they towed twisted, the wood darkening and the windows clouding with many eyeless faces peering out from them.

“How do I make it stop?” he asked, the words just making it out of his mouth before the skin of lips grew together and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.

All remnants of calmness shattered as he clawed as the freshly grown membrane and howled in dismay as the Trolloc made its way towards Liri, sickled blade in hand with blood ruining the Library’s floor. ‘Look out!’ Valadin cried in his head, ‘Accepted! Run!’

OOC: Thought I’d give you a chance to exercise some Dream control writing/skill…then you can give Val a lesson…and a brow-beating for losing himself like that.

[Siera]

Lirievin Tesiva Liri smiled at the young man before her. He spoke in such a way that made her feel like he was afraid and Liri knew the dangers of that. Memories flashed through her head of Amadie’s nightmares and the Dream crashing down. She was sure something had flickered in the Dream which brought Liri back to reality. The Dream was no place to loose control and have all your fears spill out. It was strange, anywhere here her dreams could come to life but it was here that Liri felt the safest. She was sure that her first few visits had cemented the feeling that the World of Dreams was a joyful escape not a place for fears.

Liri looked over to Valadin as he had gone quiet, she knew it was a lot to take in so she was trying to be understanding. One look at his face and Liri knew something wasn’t right. She could tell he was loosing control, fear was written plainly on his face. She walked quickly to stand beside him in hopes that she could stop anything from happening, but before she could even take a step things started to unravel. A trolloc appeared in front of her, although she felt some fear Liri pushed it to the back of her mind, If was not there and even if it was, she was from the Boardlands, she could fight this creature. She would not let her sanctuary become full of these beasts. Out of habit more then thought Liri had a blade in her hand was was about to cut the beast in half before she heard Valadin’s quiet voice from behind her.

Liri whipped around the sword disappearing from her hands, chaos was surrounding her and Valadin and slowly she watched as his lips grew together. Liri knew she had to get this under control before one or both of them got injured or even killed, if you died in the Dream you died back in the waking world as well. Liri walked calmly towards Valadin, she knew the only way to eliminate all this chaos was to get her emotions under control and calm Valadin down. He needed to learn to control his fears and keep them out of here.

Liri was about to kneel down and grab Valadin to try and calm him down when he yelled at her to run. Liri whipped around and saw the trolloc following her. Without even thinking Liri embraced the source and sent a fire ball flying towards the beast, not that it really helped much. That one disappeared but other creatures took it’s place within seconds. Getting frustrated with all of this Liri cleared her mind and pictures what the Tower actually looked like. It was calm, with white walls. There were no creatures lurking in the bookshelves. The trollop wasn’t real, the darkness around her wasn’t real, none of this was real. She flung her arms out as she projected this image out around her, keeping her emotions calm, she may have been frustrated but projecting that emotion could also have some bad side effects.

Liri opened her eyes once again to find everything back in it’s place, all the beasts gone. She looked around trying to find Valadin, but he was behind her. She turned herself around and walked towards him, kneeling down to the ground as she reached his side.

“You really need to learn to control your fears.” She said, trying to keep her voice calm, although she knew some of her frustration was coming through. “Once you loose control, that is what happens.” she continued gestured towards where the trolloc once stood.

“If you don’t learn any control this will keep happening, and next time you may not be as lucky to have another Dreamer here to save you. If you die here you die in the waking world as well.” She finished standing up. She offered Valadin a hand, he still seemed shaken by everything that had just happened, so although Liri knew he needed a lesson, she didn’t want to add any more negative emotions to the pile.

“Control takes a while and I suggest if you want to come here again, let me know. I can join you and make sure nothing bad happens again. I know you can’t always control when you are here but until you are able to control you emotions I strongly suggest not coming here alone.”

[Sean]

Val took her hand. He stared about in wonderment when his feet finally steadied. A moment ago the Library had been host to chaos and destruction, but with the flick of her wrist the small girl before him had cleansed the nightmare.

Touching a finger to his now-parted lips he turned to look at Lirievin, eyes considering her with more scrutiny than he had initially. In the Dream she possessed a gentle, yet firm spirit which seemed to fit her face. He hadn’t quite expected her to be strong, but looking at her now Val knew that she might be able to help him. Bowing respectfully, lower than he should have, he expressed his gratitude.

“Thank you Accepted. Forgive my…weakness. I’ve only been to the Dream a few times—many of those times not by my choice as is the case this time.”

Straightening again the shame of having to be saved by a young girl half his size made him shrink suddenly until he and Lirievin were of a similar height.

“Light…” he groaned. Closing his eyes he imagined himself as he was in the waking world. Muscles honed and built upon by hours of training, height given to him at birth and used to sometime intimidate those that meant to cause him harm; these images he affixed to his state of being. When next he opened his eyes he found that his regular stature had returned.

“Accepted. If you don’t mind, maybe a quick lesson on the basics might do? After all it seems regardless of my desire I’ll keep ending up here. Maybe just tell me about the Dream so I at least know what to expect? Anything would help,” he pleaded.

[Siera]

Lirievin Tesiva Liri watched Valadin as she helped him up. She was still wary of the Soldier, but at least now she knew how little he know so she could control the dream. Valadin bowed before her and Liri felt awkward, no one had ever bowed before her so this was strange for her. Plus he was new to the Dream, a slip up was bound to happen. Liri nodded to as he apologized for his slip up. She understood why he would want to say it but really this was a brand new world to him and Liri was just glad that she had been there to bring him back from his fears.

Liri’s curiosity peaked as Valadin changed in height before her, Liri had never done that herself but it did make her wonder what he had been thinking about. Who knows, strange things happen in this world. But even with all the strange things, Liri still felt like this was a home away from home, her sanctuary, where nothing else mattered.

Shaking her head gently, Liri looked back at Valadin. “Please call me Liri, or Lirievin if you prefer. But yes I will do what I can to help you.” She said gently. “Let’s have a seat here.” she finished taking a seat.

“Now, there is no way I can teach you everything I know tonight but I will do what I can as I myself and still learning about this place. If you ever need anything else, remember my name and ask around for me. I know how hard it can be to stumble around this place alone.”

“First things first, control is key. The moment you loose control over your thoughts or fears they appear here and will terrorize you. You need to stay calm at all times, or as often as you can. There will be times when your emotions may run high but you need to learn to rein them in as quickly as possible. If you loose control for a few seconds, nothing, generally will happen but its best not to take the risk. As for how to keep your emotions calm? That is not something I can answer as easily. Each person has their own ways, and their own coping mechanisms. I learned control while I was essentially tortured, as I did not want to get the man any satisfaction of seeing pain on my face. But I do not know what will work for you.”

“The next important thing is time. 5 minutes here could be 5 days back in the waking world, or 5 days here could be 5 minutes there. You never know how long you are going to be away. If you have a friend you trust you could ask them to wake you up, but it’s hard to say. I just tend to do shorter trips here, but I have still lost a few nights sleep because I spent too long here.”

“If you ever do loose control, I know it’s hard but you have to rein in your emotions and force the ‘perfect picture’ around you. That is hard and takes practise, if you can’t get everything back in control move. If you picture a place in your mind and feel how much you need to be there, you will go there, Worst comes to worst, you can use that to get out of a hard place.”

Liri paused for a moment. She didn’t realize how much she actually knew about this place until she started talking about it. She had spouted out a fair amount of information, stuff she wished she had know on her first visit, but she didn’t want to overwhelm Valadin with information.

“I know that is a lot to take in, and I think I’ll leave it there for now. I know you must have questions, so please ask me anything you would want to know and I can do my best to answer. If you wish we can also go and try a few of these things out.”

[Sean]

Val nodded at the Accepted’s words.

Despite her claim of having little knowledge about the Dream, her explanations were thorough and clear. Few Dedicated possessed her ability to elaborate points of detail in such a way that even a buffoon could make sense of it all.

Around them the Library continued to shift, its state remaining relatively the same in each sequence save for small adjustments. Books appearing on desks, chairs shifting back and forth—once or twice the silhouette of a person stalked the shelves which themselves transitioned between being fully stocked and sparsely populated. The adventures he’d already had in this realm had already confirmed much of what…Liri?...had said, but the notion that the entirety of the Dream was a reflection of the physical world was a mind-boggling concept to wrap his head around.

Reaching out to feel the long reading table before them, Valadin marveled at how authentic the grain of wood felt to the touch. He was almost certain that if he pressed his nose to the tabletop’s surface he could smell the polish. These thoughts seemed to stabilize the wood and the contents that sat upon. For a brief instance their forms were constant, no longer flickering in cadence with the state of their real-world counterparts. With the strengthening of the table’s existence, Val could feel his own being pulled at by the hooks of the Dream. The eerie sensation of being observed by countless eyes pressed against him and it was only when Val closed his eyes to force his will upon the surrounding that the feeling faded.

After the tension settled and all was as it had been before he opened his eyes once more, a relieved gasp escaping him.

“Acc—I mean Liri,” he stumbled. “Did you feel that?! It’s like…like the Dream is alive…constantly fightin’ with ya to make you part of it! Light…one slip and…”

Again dark thoughts threatened to consume him as images of him tumbling into a never-ending nightmare nearly materialized around him, but again his mind sharply rebuffed the allure of such influences with the knowledge that Liri had given him.

Everything before them wasn’t real. They were the only things that were real.

“I’d like to try out some of this, but first: how do you know if you meet another real person in this world?” he asked, turning his seat to face the Accepted. It occurred to him that no action ever needed to be taken here. A simple ‘need’ to turn about and face her would have sufficed to turn him according to the explanation he’d given. Had he greater command of his powers here an attempt to test the theory out might have been enticing. “What I mean is,” he continued.

“…suppose someone’s tryin’ to pull the wool over yer eyes and they come into yer dream like they’re part of it. It’d be pretty hard to know what was real and what wasn’t, wouldn’t it? Or do ya just ‘know’ that kind of thing once you’ve gotten used to…to…well all this.”

As he spoke his eyes wandered from her to their settings. There was a world beyond his dreams; that much he’d known, but he had only believed that it was other people’s dreams. ‘What else could beyond the sleep-visions of people’ he wondered. It was one of the few mysteries that warranted the risk required to find the answer.

OOC: It’s entirely up to you about what you’d like to do with this thread. I’m really just following your lead at this point. I want Val to be a Dreamer too so future threads will definitely have more, but for the time being I’m more interesting in helping Liri grow her Talent. Or if you’ve had enough…that’s fine as well.