Tsubasa Chronicle Fan Fiction ❯ Tsubasa: Revolutions ❯ Dreamscape ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter Six: Dreamscape

 

 

“You look handsome,” a vaguely familiar voice comes from behind me. A hallway of tall, dark mirrors lays before me and I can barely see the shadowy reflection of the slender, blue-eyed, black-haired young man behind me.

 

That happened much faster than I was expecting.

 

“But you may want to wear this instead,” he smiles and hands me an entirely black tunic and a pair of pants, and a mess of armour. And a bow and a quiver full of arrows.

 

The look of confusion on my face is obviously apparent, as I don't even have to ask him what this is all about before he begins to tell me.

 

“You said you didn't like your dreams. Right? And if you're helping me, I shouldn't ask you to stay somewhere you don't want to be. So I'm taking you somewhere else…”

 

What?!

 

He laughs softly and shakes his head. “Hurry and change,” he insists.

 

So I do.

 

Something about this outfit is oddly familiar.

 

“I must explain a few things,” he says, leaned against one of the mirrors, watching me. “Firstly; my sister hates when I come here. I've used Ienyn and a few others before, but as soon as she finds out, she gets very angry. She too has the power to walk about people's dreams, so do not ever let her catch you. The moment she does, and she finds out what we are up to, she'll lock me out again and prevent me from using you anymore. Secondly; stay asleep as long as you can. This is the dream world. Remember that. And also remember that I can only be here as long as you stay here. So the longer you can stay, the better.”

 

I tighten the last of the buckles on my belt and he smiles, “Are you ready?”

 

“I suppose. Where… where are we going?”

 

“I am going to look for Sarûs. You are going… somewhere else.”

 

“Where?”

 

“You'll see,” he smiles again. As regal as he comes across at times, there is a bit of a trickster in him. I see it twinkling in his eyes.

 

I look in the mirror once more and see… both of my eyes looking back at me.

 

He begins to walk down the hallway; I follow. Distant shadows seem to be moving all within the mirrors and we come to a stop. “I should explain one other thing,” he says, turning about to face me. “Where you are about to go is not your dream, but the dream of someone else. Don't ever forget that. You may watch silently, and remain unnoticed if you choose, or if the dream you enter is a dream that some how involves you, you may participate. To do this, you must find yourself in the dream and take them over. But if you do that, you will become an active participant in the dream itself and run the risk of them finding out you're really there.”

 

“Is that what the outfit is for?” I ask.

 

“I just wanted to leave you the option,” he says with a wink. “So? Are you ready?”

 

“I suppose.”

 

He points to the mirror before us, “I hope that it is a better dream for you than your own. Just please, stay there as long as you can…”

 

The mirror before us is gone with the wave of his hand, and a tall, narrow doorway leads into a wide summer meadow with tall, green willow trees that wash the grass and wildflowers with long, cool shadows. I feel him nudge me out the door and as I turn around to look at him one last time, he is all but gone. Only a faint shadow of his smiling face is seen before it fades into the wind.

 

I had at least wanted to wish him good luck. Or thank him. Or something.

 

There isn't a soul around. But it really is quite lovely here. A soft wind blows through my hair, and the scent of lilacs mingles with the slight scent of mist. In my silence, I hear the distant rumbling of what I assume to be a waterfall, and with no idea where I am supposed to go or what I am supposed to do, I wander off and begin to investigate.

 

I wonder whose dream I am in. I only can assume Monagan would lead me into a dream of a person I already knew. But which one of them may be difficult for me to determine.

 

Especially right now.

 

Hidden behind a grove of towering willow trees and overgrown lilac bushes is the rocky cliff that spews water from it's top where it falls to gather in a deep crystal blue pool below.

 

The pool is lined with silver moss covered rocks and currently occupied by two very familiar teenaged children.

 

Sakura and Syaoran.

 

She is giggling and grinning from ear to ear as Syaoran chases after her, splashing her with water. But he can't seem to catch her.

 

Neither of them are wearing much more than their undergarments, and from my viewpoint, I can see the clothes that they would have been wearing strewn about the rocky shore. Sakura's folded neatly in a single pile as though she had taken the time to properly disrobe and set them down so as not to get anything dirty, and Syaoran's just thrown to the ground haphazardly. He must have been in a hurry.

 

For now, I am content to sit back and watch them in silence. It makes me happy to see them so very happy. Even if this is just a dream, it is a comforting thought to know that it is not my dream alone.

 

“Sakura! Watch!” Syaoran yells. He has climbed up the side of the cliff and is standing at the top of the waterfall.

 

“Be careful!” she warns. It is quite obvious he's about to jump in the air and do some impressive trick before hitting the water.

 

He just grins though, and jumps into the air, twisting upside down and backwards at least twice before landing.

 

I wonder if this is Syaoran's dream.

 

I wonder if this is Syaoran's world.

 

But along with her squeal of approval I hear pleased clapping, a grunt of some sort and the strangest thing of all: my own voice.

 

“Syaoran is so cool,” I hear myself say.

 

I do say that a lot, don' I? Well, I did at one point in time. To a different Syaoran. Not to say that the Syaoran we are with now is not cool.

 

I walk a bit closer, and find myself oddly touched.

 

Someone else right now is dreaming about me. Even if I am only sitting on the shore watching the children swim, I am still there.

 

The thought of that had never occurred to me before.

 

Away from the rocky shore of the pool there is a clearing of grass and wildflowers where I see myself sitting on a blanket between a lovely woman with long black hair and Kurogane himself.

 

Kurogane looks slightly different than normal however. His hair is long. Quite long in fact, and pulled back into a thick black ponytail. And down his left arm is a tattoo of a long, red dragon.

 

I'd never thought of him as the sort to get tattoos, but it suits him well.

 

Everyone else looks very… normal. Syaoran. Sakura. Even myself. Why does Kurogane look different?

 

Is this… Kurogane's dream?

 

Surely not.

 

I have no idea who the woman is either. I am usually very good with faces, so I am fairly certain that I have never met her before. I'll never find out, if I don't get closer. So I guess I may as well.

 

Monagan did say that I could watch, unnoticed, as long as I did not take over myself in the dream. Considering that I have no idea what is going on here, other than the obvious fact of Sakura and Syaoran swimming in the waterfall pool, I think it's probably best to just observe for now.

 

It is the first time that I notice why the outfit Monagan had handed to me looked oddly familiar. I don't know that I would have noticed it though, if my dream self had not been sitting next to Kurogane.

 

We are dressed alike.

 

Not identical mind you. But similar, and in clothes I am used to seeing Kurogane wear.

 

If this is his dream, then I really don't… I don't know what to think about that.

 

I suppose if this is Syaoran's dream though, it might be that he doesn't know enough about me. We really do not talk much, now that I think about it. For some reason, this makes me rather sad. And if this is Sakura's dream, she's imagined us dressed alike because she would think it to be very cute.

And I suppose that is very cute of her as well.

 

But I don't think this is her dream.

 

And where is Mokona? I don't see him around at all.

 

“It is so warm today,” the black-haired woman says, smiling to Kurogane and my dream self. I've perched myself on a rock nearby just close enough to watch and listen.

 

“Yeah,” Kurogane says with a shrug of his shoulders and leans back comfortably onto the palms of his hands. “Summer is close.”

 

“Will you be staying?”

 

“That depends on everyone else I suppose. But I did promise Tomoyo that I would not be gone too long,” he tells her.

 

“You should stay at least until the blackberries are ripe, so you can take some back with you. I'm sure the princess would like that.”

 

“Blackberries?” my dream self asks the woman just I think the same words.

 

She smiles at him. Me. “Sorry. I forget that you are not familiar with this place. Though looking at you, it is quite obvious. That hair. Those eyes. You are really quite lovely.”

 

I can see Kurogane's eyebrow twitch and hear a gentle grumble in this throat, as though he had wanted to say something else on the matter.

 

The dream me does not see it however. Nor does he hear it, as the lovely black haired woman has already begun to explain to him what blackberries are.

 

I assume of course that they are berries of some shape and form and appear black on their vines, and obviously ripen in early summer. I don't know how much more I would need to know. I can't very well eat them anymore anyway.

 

Sakura and Syaoran are still laughing and playing in the water. They are behind me now, so I cannot see, but I do see the soft, hidden smile on Kurogane's face as he leans back to watch them.

 

Everything is at peace here; friendly chatter, happy laughter, the warm sun and a light breeze and the buzz of the falling water. A good, happy dream.

 

“Well,” the black haired woman says with a sigh, “I am afraid I must be getting back. You kids enjoy yourselves. And please, visit me as often as you can.”

 

She smiles, almost sadly to us before she stands. And just before she walks away she leans to Kurogane's ear and whispers words I can barely hear. “You have grown to look so much like your father…”

 

There is a flicker of a smile on his face, but he does not turn to watch her leave. He already knows where she is going. She walks towards the simple pile of stones just behind Kurogane and my dream self before she disappears. But in her last flickering moment before she is all but a whisper on the wind I swear she looks directly at me… the me that is sitting here on this rock, and smiles.

 

“She was a very lovely lady,” my own voice interrupts my thoughts.

 

“Yeah. Yeah, she was,” Kurogane agrees.

 

“I would have liked to really have met her,” I grin at him. Well, the me in the dream grins anyway.

 

“She would have liked you,” he shrugs, but his eyes flicker mischievously and he says, “But my father would have hated you.”

 

“Aww! Kuro-pi is so mean!” the me of the dream pouts. But really, that is not what I am thinking at all. The real me… nearly falls of the rock I was sitting on.

 

I really am in Kurogane's dream.

 

“Truth hurts,” he grumbles, but before our conversation continues, or at the very least, erupts into him chasing me around and threatening me to slice me to pieces with his sword like he usually does, we are interrupted by little miss Sakura-chan, who is all dripping wet and smiling.

 

“Fai-san, Kurogane-san, you said you would come and swim with us!” she says with her hands on her practically bare hips.

 

Kurogane looks up at her with a rather uninterested glance, and then over to my dream self as if to say, “I never agreed to this.”

 

Hey, he's the one dreaming this. He can't blame it on me!

 

“Hai, hai Sakura-chan. We will come along in a moment,” dream-me says to her with a smile and then motions to stand.

 

Kurogane however remains on the ground, stretched out and comfortable propped up on his elbows. I cannot help but find that position strangely, un-Kurogane like. He is never stretched out and relaxed. If he sits, he sits rigid, ready to jump to his feet in half a moment, and he only lays down to sleep.

I am already standing, unlacing and unbuckling all sorts of things and getting ready to follow after Sakura-chan. But Kurogane just lays there, looks up at me and grumbles, “I didn't think cats liked to swim.”

 

“There are many things that I like that Kuro-tan does not know about,” I tease.

 

I cannot help but laugh at this. Kurogane has no idea how true that statement is, and here he is, imagining me saying this to him. How… ironic.

 

“And whose fault is that, do you suppose?”

 

I giggle, “Maybe if you were nicer to me...” just as I remove the cape from around my shoulders and toss it right on his head, practically rip the shirt off, and tear off running for the water, obviously certain that he is about to run after me.

 

He must think I flirt with him like a ten year old school boy. And it isn't too far from the truth I suppose.

 

I am already in, and at the center of the pool before he even stands up. He tosses the cape I threw in his face to the side, slowly stands and takes his time taking everything off.

 

The dream me seems to be content splashing and playing in the water with the kids. The true me however, is actually quite pleased, sitting here perched on my large, mossy rock, absolutely invisible to the one who stands before me.

 

The word “stalker” comes to mind right now, and I snigger to myself. What other word would you use to describe me right now, sitting here watching him?

 

And he has no idea. No idea that while he performs the mundane chore of disrobing down to.. well… not very much, to go swimming, I am sitting right in front of him doing my best not to blush. Or at the very least, drool.

 

This is not to say that I have never seen him this way before. We have shared more rooms than I feel like counting right now. Slept in the same bed. But I don't get to watch him really. That might… give things away, so to speak.

 

He stalks slowly to the edge of the pool and stands there, his feet in the water and his arms crossed over his chest. I remove my shoes and roll up the legs of my pants to follow him. Soon I am right beside him, my own feet in the cool, refreshing water.

 

Sakura-chan has apparently decided that it is her turn to climb up the side of the cliff and take a stab at jumping off.

 

Kurogane watches her, eyes narrowed. Concerned. Like a father watching his young daughter.

 

How very cute.

 

How very… real.

 

It makes me feel just a little guilty actually. Because right now, throughout this whole dream so far, I have seen nothing unusual. The way he talks, walks, dresses, acts. I see it every day. Because this is who he really is.

 

He hasn't hidden anything from me.

 

She jumps straight into the air and dives right in. A clean, beautiful jump.

I bet Sakura would have been very good at playing sports.

 

Syaoran and I clap excitedly from the middle of the pool. None of the others can see Kurogane's smile lingering on the corners of his mouth.

 

He eases himself into the pool, walking slowly out towards the center but never going deeper than where the water get to over his shoulders.

 

Surely he can swim…

 

I've seen him swim before. Haven't I?

 

Oddly enough, I cannot seem to recall.

 

“Now it's Kuro-me's turn to jump!” I hear my own voice say excitedly.

 

“I'm not doing that.”

 

“Aww,” I whine. “Why not?! Is Kuro-wan scared?”

 

“I don't want to,” he shrugs.

 

Sakura swims beside me and looks over with sparkling eyes, “Are you going to try it Fai-san!?”

 

“If Sakura-chan would like.”

 

“Yes!” she nodes eagerly, and I hear Syaoran's voice agree as well.

 

And only because the real me is closer to Kurogane than he realizes, I hear him mumble, “Show off,” under his breath.

 

Hey! I'm not a show off!

 

Am I?

 

I'll admit though, I probably would pull some sort of graceful back flip twist dive thing. I… don't know any technical terms for them. But I know that Sakura would enjoy watching. I love watching her eyes sparkle and hearing her happy laughter when I do silly, pointless things like that. It's really why I do them at all.

 

And of course, to try and get a rise out of Kurogane.

 

That was how I used to be anyway. Now all we do is fight and argue. And I try my best to blow him off and ignore him.

 

Why is he dreaming of me acting like this still?

 

Me calling him stupid names just to see how long it takes before it pisses him off. Me flirting with him like a grade-schooler.

 

Didn't he hate it?

 

Thinking about it is making me dizzy.

 

Everyone swims for a while, and as fun and happy as it all seems, I'm not particularly interested. Are all Kurogane's dreams so… normal?

 

Where are the talking alligators from outer space? Or giant cities made of cheese? Doesn't he ever dream of having the power to burn holes into things with his laser vision? Or a castle full of half-naked woman running around with the sole desire to feed him grapes and fan him with palm leaves while they dance? After all, I know he is just as sex deprived as I am…

 

I've returned to the blanket that Kurogane and my dream self had been occupying earlier and lay down, watching the clouds pass by over head. Even his clouds are normal. But it isn't too long that I lay here before I hear… singing?

 

Yes. Singing.

 

It is distant at first, but grows louder. And louder. And louder.

 

And finally, just as it is almost loud enough for me to make out actual words, I hear Kurogane's yell from the water, “Everyone! Get out!”

 

I sit up, almost eagerly.

 

Finally. Something interesting.

 

Syaoran is practically dragging Sakura out of the water by her arm. He doesn't look back, just breaks for the shore and does not stop until his feet are standing on dry land. Kurogane and my dream self however, are still almost in the middle of the pool by the time the heads begin to surface, completely surrounding us both.

 

“Kurogane-san! Fai-san!” both children yell from the shore.

 

The singing is so loud now it almost hurts my ears, but I don't understand what they are saying.

 

Sirens?

 

Mermaids?

 

Something of the sort, have surrounded Kurogane and myself in the pool. The two of us are in deep water and without weapons and, although I hardly think it has anything to do with it, scantly clad.

 

How fun! Kurogane and I are being kidnapped by mermaids!

 

If I want to watch, I have to follow after the action I suppose. I take off everything but the pants before diving into the water to follow.

 

There are dozens of them swimming and swirling about the depths of the waterfall pool. Their long, slender arms grab and pull at Kurogane and myself, slowly, carefully, as if they were trying to drown us as painlessly as possible.

 

Being that I am merely an observer, this apparently lets me do as I wish here. I could probably fly if I wanted, as I am not bound to the rules of the dream. So I watch, albeit, slightly disturbed, as they drag us under, struggling and squirming against the dozens of arms that hold us. Armed, and on land, I don't think this would have been much of an issue. But then again, it would be a boring dream now, wouldn't it. Neither of us are dying by the looks of it. No pain. And though they are kidnapping us, the mermaids really are quite lovely with their silvery hair and eyes and long, elegant blue tails.

 

Further and further down we go, and beneath the rocks of the cliffs to a maze of caves unseen from the surface. Kurogane manages to push off two of his captors, but it is not enough to escape, and they are quick to latch back on anyway.

 

They slide around the two of us, their slender arms refusing to let us go, their long, lithe bodies slithering up and down us as we swim. One, occasionally hovering near our faces, lips locked in either deep kisses or breaths of air until we surface again.

 

They push us up, onto a small, cold pile of rocks some might call an island. Their voices echo almost unbearably against the hard, dark walls of the cavern before their heads submerge once again to leave us alone in our cold, dark, windowless, barless prison.

 

“What the hell just happened?!” Kurogane yells, wiping at his mouth with his forearm.

 

“Well, from the looks of things, I would say we've just been kidnapped by mermaids,” my dream self shrugs with a smile while I pull myself onto the same island as well. Aside from the walls of the caves, there is nothing but dark black water all around.

 

“No shit, smart ass,” he growls at me.

 

Well, what else was he expecting me to say!?

 

“Are you alright?” he asks shortly afterward, probably just to keep me from saying anything else to annoy him.

 

“I'm fine. Are you ok?”

 

“Fine,” he growls again.

 

For some reason, swimming has made me dizzy…

 

We are in silence now, with only the soft sounds of the water lapping against the rocks at our feet. With hardly any light, I can see just his shadow, and the glisten of water still on his skin. We care cold. Beautiful. Alone.

 

“How do you think we can get out of here?” he asks, climbing further onto the tiny rock island and away from the water.

 

“I don't know. It is too far for us to try and swim back. Too many tunnels to get lost in.”

 

“Do you think the kids are alright?”

 

“Yeah. They got to shore on time…”

 

“Isn't there some sort of magic trick you can do?”

 

The sound of my laughter echoes quietly through the cave, “You know I don't use magic…”

 

“Won't and don't are two different things,” he snaps. “Or don't you remember? I've seen you.”

 

Actually, no he hasn't. Not my true magic at least. I am hoping that he will never have to.

 

“So Kuro-pin wants to see my magic tricks?” I tease.

 

“No, I don't want to see your stupid magic tricks. I want you to get us out of here if you know how.”

 

“Why?” my dream self taunts him, twisting around in an oddly graceful manner to face Kurogane. “Do you not like it here?”

 

“No.”

 

“Are you scared?”

 

“No.”

 

“Maybe we should wait to see what they want. They haven't hurt us. Maybe it isn't bad.”

 

“Don't you know anything about sirens?” he growls, his crimson eyes wanting to burn a hole in my skull, I'm sure.

 

“I thought they were mermaids?” I say dumbly, holding my finger to my lip in an attempt to look cute.

 

“They're the same thing,” he shrugs. “But it doesn't matter. It isn't going to be good, whatever it is they want from us.”

 

“How do you know?”

 

“Sirens are known to capture men and eat their souls. Does that sound nice to you?”

 

And this will happen in a… good dream? That's a little weird.

 

“No. Not really,” my dream self just grins at him.

 

“Then unless you would like to wait for them to come back so you can ask them not to kill us, we need to come up with a plan.”

 

“We could throw rocks at them,” I smile.

 

I'm not sure why he doesn't push me off, back into the water for being annoying, but he doesn't, he just sits there looking at me, studying my face before he speaks again. “You really aren't going to do anything, are you?”

 

“Nope,” I watch my own face grin at him.

 

“How long do I have to wait for you to tell me anything about you? To show me anything? I hope you know that I am not going anywhere until you do.”

 

I don't understand why I am still… so… dizzy.

 

“That is what worries me, Kuro-chan,” my dream self smiles.

 

“You think that I will leave you once you do?”

 

“Maybe.”

 

“I'm not going to.”

 

“You say that now…”

 

“Yeah, well whoever hurt you, or told you that before, didn't really mean it.”

 

“And you do, Kuro-chan?” I hear my voice ask innocently, and watch as my dream self props himself up on all fours and crawls to him like a cat.

 

“Unlike you, I'm not any good at lying,” he says; dead serious.

 

I feel the blood rush into my face, and thank whatever heaven or God is on this world, that I cannot be seen. This is all… a bit unexpected.

 

I cannot shake how dizzy I feel though. I thought for some reason it may have been the swim. Or the change in light. Something. But it isn't going away. In fact, with my flushed face and sweaty palms, I'd say I'm getting worse.

 

Dizzy.

 

Disoriented.

 

Nauseous.

 

“Kuro-tan is so mean…” I purr, practically into his ear.

 

He just stares at me, numb. Unmoving. I look like I'm about to pounce on him, and he just sits there. What the hell is going on?

 

“If there is one of us who is mean,” he says flatly, “It's you. Not me.”

 

“I'm nice!” I pout, tilting my head like a confused puppy dog. Or… kitten I guess.

 

“Not to me, you're not,” his voice is so… serious. But not angry.

 

I'm confused. But undeniably curious. Even though, to be honest, part of me feels like this is something I shouldn't be watching. He would be SO angry with me if he knew…

 

I wish I didn't feel as though I were about to pass out, face first onto the rocky ground.

 

What is wrong with me? Is this supposed to happen?

 

“Why would you say something so mean Kuro-chan!?” I hear my own voice continue to whine.

 

“Because its true,” he says. “If you were really so nice, like you say, then you would stop playing your stupid little games with me.”

 

“Kuro-chan doesn't want to play anymore?”

 

“No. I want you to be serious for once.”

 

“About what?” I purr again.

 

“Take a good look at yourself right now. Take a look at where we are. And then you explain to me why you think its ok to just play. Do you think you're funny? Or are you just afraid still?”

 

“I'm not -” my voice chokes, but he interrupts.

 

“Don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about, Fai.”

 

No. Way. You have got to be joking…

 

And did he really just call me by my name? I don't think he ever has before…

 

I can literally hear my own heart beating in my ears. My face it hot, and this dark, damp cave is spinning all around me. I don't know if it is just me anymore, or the fact that I am so completely confused about this that my brain is going to burst.

 

I want to… sleep.

 

But I am asleep.

 

My head hurts. My whole body hurts. I feel as though someone has crawled beneath my skin and is pulling me apart slowly from the inside. And it is only getting worse.

 

I want to watch this dream. I want to listen to everything he is imagining to say to me. But I can't anymore.

 

Something is wrong…