So yeah...while I slept on a proper, if improvised bed, Ares chose to sleep in a fire filled bathtub. Then of course the world had to disagree with our peace.
Somehow, the wind had gotten inside through the flapping entrance of our tent. Within a second, both Ares and I were without a tent, seeing as the flaming fabric was flung into the air, already meters away from us. Ares and I reacted simultaneously. Both of us reached out with one of our hands almost as if to grab onto the tent. Frowns were on our faces while a spark of anger and frustration exploded within our minds.
Now we both lay there, one submerged in fire and the other covered by it. A beautiful but eerie scene unfolded around us. The blizzard continued, snow still pelting the world around but not here.
We were surrounded by frozen snowflakes, never moving, almost as if caught in a photo. The wind no longer howled instead being suddenly silent as if scared to move. And there was an upturned, flaming tent above us, frozen in the moment.
Neither of us noticed. We just fell asleep, to tired to open our eyes properly. To exhausted from a day of excitement to feel the drain and to numb and done to care either. Sleep claimed us, though some might argue if it wasn't us that tackled it in relentless pursuit and dragged it into the darkness with us.
There was a fire. That's the first thing I noticed. Second was the log I was sitting on. Then the smell of lavender and honey teased my nose. My ears detected only silence, not threatening but reverent almost sacred silence. There was no movement in the bushes and trees around us, no noise of broken branches. Only the wind moving in the trees. A full moon hung high in the sky and stars twinkled through the leaves above.
I was sitting at the edge of a clearing, the forest surrounded us, providing a calm atmosphere.
Hmmm....Strange. Us. Was there someone else around? Someone I couldn't see? Were they hidden in the trees or buried within leaves? But no. There was no movement. No breath in the wind and no shaking in the ground. So why did I use "us"?
I watched the clearing, looked closer even. But I could not move, not because I wasn't able to, but because it felt blasphemous. As If the silence around was holy. So I observed.
The leaves looked off. Not entirely right. To pointy on some branches and to broad on others. The way the wind moves made them seem like they were all part of one tree, resembling how the wind pushes the fields full of grass.
The log I sat on, it was to comfortable. Not wood, I judged, but something imitating it.
The campfire before me, burning without fuel, burning free of natural smell. The lavender and honey scent coming from it, mixing with the slight scent right before rainfall carried here by the wind.
Fields of grass and even a lake off in the distance, but clear visible trees growing on the other side. Once again the wind moving through the grass and across the lake, creating hypnotic patterns. And a circle of stones, shining like polished marble in the moonlight bathing them, their glow indicating their stark white colour.
Us?
There was no one here but me. Though I did have to wonder, what were those clothes I wore? Why was there a mask covering my face but drifting in the wind like smoke and fabric from my face. Why were the clothes long and new? The hood was covering my hair (and maybe even horns), the mask hid my features and the jacket, not connected to the hood, covered the sides of my neck with a raised, shirtlike collar. Looking much like a regular shirt collar but intentionally not folded around the collarband. Beneath the jacket was what looked like an nobles ceremonial officer clothes with silver clamps and a few slim silver chains swaying in the wind. The Jacket, black with silver on the inside with a few more buttons, silver and white, was elongated below my waist, looking more like a cloak than a regular jacket. My trousers were as black as the void, no trimmings no color. Just as the combat boots, big and solid things, almost designed to hurt others and be silent even on rough terrain.
My clothes....they made me look like an official. Like someone straight from a military fashion magazine, one uncaring about actual practicality, but aware enough to not be actively debilitating.
This place felt.....odd. Not as much of a dream as it as dreams are ment to be. Like one of those times where you really can't tell if you're asleep or awake. If you're walking down a road or still in bed while your alarm clock is failing it's only job, waking you up. And yet, even though it felt so real, I still knew it was not.
The world around me stayed exactly as it was. No amount of thinking, deviating thoughts changed it. The moon still hung in the sky, the wind still moved the leaves and the grass still imitated waves at sea.
Days passed here, though not really, as the moon never moved, was never replaced by the sun, but I still knew. Time had passed inside the dream and would continue to do so until I woke up.
Soon a week was over. The dream was still a sight to behold and yet, even during the entire week, I never found out why I had used "us", as if there had been someone else there. But nothing had moved, no face or voice had shown itself. It had been just me. Sitting Infront of a strange fire, surrounded by scents and wind. My ears full of empty whispers.
When I woke up, still on my slab, I noticed something was off. But what?
The blanket was still burning, the slab was still warm and toasty and Ares hasn't suffocated, yet. Everything appeared as it was supposed to.
Wait. Where is my tent?