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xp_logs2004-10-17 10:00 pm
x-dazzler.livejournal.com) wrote in xp_logs2004-10-17 10:00 pm
Entry tags:
[Alison, Askani]
Sunday, during the night. In answer to Alison's invitation, Askani visits her dreams.
Set specific times and warn him in advance? Schedule weekly committee sessions so the random doesn't happen so often anymore? I don't know, borrow someone else's head for it?
She was in the garden again, sipping lemonade and watching the roses bloom. The dream was a welcome respite from the nightmares she'd had the previous week - Betsy's work she suspected, the faint sense of being kept safe pervading the entire garden as the telepath likely kept the nightmares at bay for the third night in a row, although there was a distinct fuzzy edge to the dream whenever Alison tried to focus on her.
Askani appeared at the edge of the garden. "I remember this," she said idly, wandering over to where Alison sat. She was wearing her white robe this time, looking considerably younger than usual. "The... lemonade? Was excellent."
This was getting disturbingly easier, Alison thought - she knew she was in a dream, was aware of what was going on in a very clear, almost too sharp way. "I thought you'd liked it." She rose to her feet automatically, extending her hands in greeting, palms facing upward.
Askani mimicked her gesture. "Safe the evening, little sister," she said. "You wanted to see me?"
"Yes. There are a few things I would like to address," she had slipped into a more formal cant without even realizing it - had been speaking in Askani from the very start in fact. "First off, Nathan's rampant insomnia?" She raised an eyebrow wryly at that, and waited.
"Ahh." Askani sank into the chair opposite hers. "It is happening less often," she said, with perhaps a trace of defensiveness. "But there are some times that we must be... active, and it is still impossible to shield him."
"Set specific times and warn him in advance? Schedule weekly committee sessions so the random doesn't happen so often anymore? I don't know, borrow someone else's head for it?" she suggested, very possibly grasping at straws on the last one. Or maybe not. "He keeps spraining his brain. That has to stop or else there won't be anything left to sprain at one point."
"It does concern us," Askani admitted. "Especially given what is to come. If he doesn't have sufficient time to heal..."
"And he needs sleep to be able to think clearly and heal." Alison narrowed her eyes. "Not getting into fights and all banged up? That's another way for him to heal."
"That was not my idea," Askani insisted, her lips twitching slightly. "Your Clanmates being protective."
"..." Alison stared blankly. "Wait - what, because Haroun yelled at me?" she stared at her incredulously for a moment. Well, they hadn't had a fit about the whole thing with Cain - of course, she reflected the instant afterwards, she'd been less than in the right with that one. That had to be it. "We worked that out, it's fine." She frowned at the memory of the bruises, still unreasonably irked about that.
Askani gave her a steady look. "As you wish," she said, oddly, and reached for the other glass of lemonade. "Moira had much to say to us about influencing him unduly. We may have been... incautious."
"It gives him something steady to build things on," Alison replied, then looked up, a little surprised with what she'd just said. But it made sense, bone deep. "The Clan, I mean." She sighed and shook her head. "You know what his upbringing was like. You're giving him a stronger framework to work out new reactions from."
Askani sipped at the lemonade, giving Alison a thoughtful look. "Yes," she said slowly. "The reclaimed have to be taken back to childhood, to rebuild."
The reclaimed? Oh, that. It was a touch disconcerting to just know what Askani meant at times - just as the sudden information flow was startling but familiar when a new concept typical to the Clan was introduced to her. "You've been teaching him the fighting styles," she didn't quite blurt out.
"Not I," Askani corrected her calmly, "but yes, he has been learning the fighting styles. Our philosophy of war, as well. Every night, in his dreams, for weeks now."
"I'd been meaning to ask about that since he mentioned it in passing a few weeks ago," Alison said, a touch hesitantly. From the way Haroun had described it, this might just suit her own fighting style - or least aspects of it might.
"Some of those able to teach it could come to you in your dreams as well," Askani conceded. "If you wish. I would prefer you do not share his other lessons, however. Those, you do not need."
"I'm not a War Leader." Alison leaned back in her chair, perfectly at ease with that particular notion. "And I tend to have a very hodge-podge style of combat. Comes from not wanting to hit things with my hands. But if there are some who wouldn't mind sharing, I'd like that." She paused, then smiled a bit. "Music sharing would be welcome, too. More than welcome. I'm still laying down to track the first set of songs we worked on, but..."
"Dreamwalking is simple. Barely a drain on his energies at all. We will see what can be done," Askani said with a smile.
"You're always welcome here, you do know that, don't you?" It seemed suddenly very important to her that Aksani knew this - that all of the Clan knew it, really. "And Nathan has no clue you're working him up to War Leader status, does he?"
"Thank you," Askani said quietly, her smile turning whimsical. "As for the rest... he knows. But only in dreams. Awake, he does not have the confidence in himself needed."
That's what it had sounded like to Alison, when they'd spoken on the back porch, late Wednesday evening. "It's hard to have confidence in yourself when you've been trained not to from childhood, and then moreso into adulthood." She took a sip of the lemonade, the sun high and bright in the sky. Maybe this would mean she'd never see that little boy lost in the snow again. Just maybe.
"It is coming," Askani said enigmatically. "The time when the little boy will rise from the snow and pick up a sword."
It was... eerie when Askani did that. "Is this something I can ask about, or something I should just be content to not worry about until the time comes?" Alison asked the question calmly, ready to accept the answer whatever it might be.
"You will be a part of it," Askani assured her calmly. "One of our 'policy debates', as Nathan puts it, was what to do with the other reclaimed."
Blink. Oh. "Oh?" Other reclaimed. Not quite any of the answers that she'd anticipated, that. There was a brief moment were Alison felt rather like a five year old waiting to hear the big secret about Santa Clause. Deathly curious and yet none too certain she wanted to know.
"We have decided," Askani said, sipping at her lemonade. "They are Clan. His, and thus ours. When he is ready, our strength goes with his to free them." She gave Alison a keen look, her green eyes lit from within. "And yours as well, I think?"
Mistra. The ones still left behind. "Yes." The answer was instant; underline by something Alison couldn't yet understand, but knew without doubt would only support her words. As though the decision had been made already, before the question was even asked.
"They are... critical," Askani said, her eyes narrowing, a flicker of doubt in them as if she wasn't quite sure she should be telling Alison this. "The lost children. I feel things shifting, still, and they are one trigger of many."
"Nathan can't move forward if his past keeps calling to him." She shrugged a bit, looking towards the roses again, standing out in vivid shades of red and pink against the green leaves, before looking at Askani again. "I don't think he could become what you want him to be unless he faced that. He'd always be crippled, otherwise, blindsided when you least expect it."
"More than that," Askani murmured, and then set her glass of lemonade down. "You will know when to act, little sister. Alison. You are one with us in mind, more than you realize when you are awake."
This was, Alison thought, a very odd sensation - both knowing and not knowing, all at the same time. She nodded slowly, both the fact that they were the garden, this particular garden combined to Askani's presence somehow dispelling any fears.
Askani smiled, almost maternally. "You will not remember," she said gently. "When you wake. You will merely know, and that will be enough." She raised a hand and a delicate form like a fluted pillar made of silver light took shape, hovering there. "Dona'ahria, Alasen," she said. "A gift from the heart, Alison. Music for your dreams."
And again, with the knowing that wasn't quite knowing - smiling a bit, Alison leaned forward, content to observe the glittering form for a moment, the light reflected in her eyes. "Thank you," she finally whispered with a hand to heart gesture before she reached out, fingertips brushing against the pillar.
It flashed into incandescence, its light filling the garden. When it faded again, Askani was gone.
Set specific times and warn him in advance? Schedule weekly committee sessions so the random doesn't happen so often anymore? I don't know, borrow someone else's head for it?
She was in the garden again, sipping lemonade and watching the roses bloom. The dream was a welcome respite from the nightmares she'd had the previous week - Betsy's work she suspected, the faint sense of being kept safe pervading the entire garden as the telepath likely kept the nightmares at bay for the third night in a row, although there was a distinct fuzzy edge to the dream whenever Alison tried to focus on her.
Askani appeared at the edge of the garden. "I remember this," she said idly, wandering over to where Alison sat. She was wearing her white robe this time, looking considerably younger than usual. "The... lemonade? Was excellent."
This was getting disturbingly easier, Alison thought - she knew she was in a dream, was aware of what was going on in a very clear, almost too sharp way. "I thought you'd liked it." She rose to her feet automatically, extending her hands in greeting, palms facing upward.
Askani mimicked her gesture. "Safe the evening, little sister," she said. "You wanted to see me?"
"Yes. There are a few things I would like to address," she had slipped into a more formal cant without even realizing it - had been speaking in Askani from the very start in fact. "First off, Nathan's rampant insomnia?" She raised an eyebrow wryly at that, and waited.
"Ahh." Askani sank into the chair opposite hers. "It is happening less often," she said, with perhaps a trace of defensiveness. "But there are some times that we must be... active, and it is still impossible to shield him."
"Set specific times and warn him in advance? Schedule weekly committee sessions so the random doesn't happen so often anymore? I don't know, borrow someone else's head for it?" she suggested, very possibly grasping at straws on the last one. Or maybe not. "He keeps spraining his brain. That has to stop or else there won't be anything left to sprain at one point."
"It does concern us," Askani admitted. "Especially given what is to come. If he doesn't have sufficient time to heal..."
"And he needs sleep to be able to think clearly and heal." Alison narrowed her eyes. "Not getting into fights and all banged up? That's another way for him to heal."
"That was not my idea," Askani insisted, her lips twitching slightly. "Your Clanmates being protective."
"..." Alison stared blankly. "Wait - what, because Haroun yelled at me?" she stared at her incredulously for a moment. Well, they hadn't had a fit about the whole thing with Cain - of course, she reflected the instant afterwards, she'd been less than in the right with that one. That had to be it. "We worked that out, it's fine." She frowned at the memory of the bruises, still unreasonably irked about that.
Askani gave her a steady look. "As you wish," she said, oddly, and reached for the other glass of lemonade. "Moira had much to say to us about influencing him unduly. We may have been... incautious."
"It gives him something steady to build things on," Alison replied, then looked up, a little surprised with what she'd just said. But it made sense, bone deep. "The Clan, I mean." She sighed and shook her head. "You know what his upbringing was like. You're giving him a stronger framework to work out new reactions from."
Askani sipped at the lemonade, giving Alison a thoughtful look. "Yes," she said slowly. "The reclaimed have to be taken back to childhood, to rebuild."
The reclaimed? Oh, that. It was a touch disconcerting to just know what Askani meant at times - just as the sudden information flow was startling but familiar when a new concept typical to the Clan was introduced to her. "You've been teaching him the fighting styles," she didn't quite blurt out.
"Not I," Askani corrected her calmly, "but yes, he has been learning the fighting styles. Our philosophy of war, as well. Every night, in his dreams, for weeks now."
"I'd been meaning to ask about that since he mentioned it in passing a few weeks ago," Alison said, a touch hesitantly. From the way Haroun had described it, this might just suit her own fighting style - or least aspects of it might.
"Some of those able to teach it could come to you in your dreams as well," Askani conceded. "If you wish. I would prefer you do not share his other lessons, however. Those, you do not need."
"I'm not a War Leader." Alison leaned back in her chair, perfectly at ease with that particular notion. "And I tend to have a very hodge-podge style of combat. Comes from not wanting to hit things with my hands. But if there are some who wouldn't mind sharing, I'd like that." She paused, then smiled a bit. "Music sharing would be welcome, too. More than welcome. I'm still laying down to track the first set of songs we worked on, but..."
"Dreamwalking is simple. Barely a drain on his energies at all. We will see what can be done," Askani said with a smile.
"You're always welcome here, you do know that, don't you?" It seemed suddenly very important to her that Aksani knew this - that all of the Clan knew it, really. "And Nathan has no clue you're working him up to War Leader status, does he?"
"Thank you," Askani said quietly, her smile turning whimsical. "As for the rest... he knows. But only in dreams. Awake, he does not have the confidence in himself needed."
That's what it had sounded like to Alison, when they'd spoken on the back porch, late Wednesday evening. "It's hard to have confidence in yourself when you've been trained not to from childhood, and then moreso into adulthood." She took a sip of the lemonade, the sun high and bright in the sky. Maybe this would mean she'd never see that little boy lost in the snow again. Just maybe.
"It is coming," Askani said enigmatically. "The time when the little boy will rise from the snow and pick up a sword."
It was... eerie when Askani did that. "Is this something I can ask about, or something I should just be content to not worry about until the time comes?" Alison asked the question calmly, ready to accept the answer whatever it might be.
"You will be a part of it," Askani assured her calmly. "One of our 'policy debates', as Nathan puts it, was what to do with the other reclaimed."
Blink. Oh. "Oh?" Other reclaimed. Not quite any of the answers that she'd anticipated, that. There was a brief moment were Alison felt rather like a five year old waiting to hear the big secret about Santa Clause. Deathly curious and yet none too certain she wanted to know.
"We have decided," Askani said, sipping at her lemonade. "They are Clan. His, and thus ours. When he is ready, our strength goes with his to free them." She gave Alison a keen look, her green eyes lit from within. "And yours as well, I think?"
Mistra. The ones still left behind. "Yes." The answer was instant; underline by something Alison couldn't yet understand, but knew without doubt would only support her words. As though the decision had been made already, before the question was even asked.
"They are... critical," Askani said, her eyes narrowing, a flicker of doubt in them as if she wasn't quite sure she should be telling Alison this. "The lost children. I feel things shifting, still, and they are one trigger of many."
"Nathan can't move forward if his past keeps calling to him." She shrugged a bit, looking towards the roses again, standing out in vivid shades of red and pink against the green leaves, before looking at Askani again. "I don't think he could become what you want him to be unless he faced that. He'd always be crippled, otherwise, blindsided when you least expect it."
"More than that," Askani murmured, and then set her glass of lemonade down. "You will know when to act, little sister. Alison. You are one with us in mind, more than you realize when you are awake."
This was, Alison thought, a very odd sensation - both knowing and not knowing, all at the same time. She nodded slowly, both the fact that they were the garden, this particular garden combined to Askani's presence somehow dispelling any fears.
Askani smiled, almost maternally. "You will not remember," she said gently. "When you wake. You will merely know, and that will be enough." She raised a hand and a delicate form like a fluted pillar made of silver light took shape, hovering there. "Dona'ahria, Alasen," she said. "A gift from the heart, Alison. Music for your dreams."
And again, with the knowing that wasn't quite knowing - smiling a bit, Alison leaned forward, content to observe the glittering form for a moment, the light reflected in her eyes. "Thank you," she finally whispered with a hand to heart gesture before she reached out, fingertips brushing against the pillar.
It flashed into incandescence, its light filling the garden. When it faded again, Askani was gone.
no subject
no subject
(And my girl? A really solid thwap upside the head. Oh yes. She needs one of those. *rolls eyes*)
no subject
(She's not aiding the whole "_Not_ brain sucking parasites cause, no...)
no subject
(*snerks* Oh, I'm not even going there. Though of course, there's whooole lot more to this than it seeeems. *inno*)