What Nightmares May Come

((Original thread is located here.))

The depths of sleep, whence dreams define existence, the bounds of mortality are shed and the soul takes flight, what nightmares may come…

The world consisted of black. Neither shadow nor darkness, simply emptiness. Then there was a green mist. It did not come or go, it simply was. The mist gave the world a boundary, a floor and grounded the drifting dreamer. Time passed and sounds began to drift through the world, from murmurs to whispers to words and back again, the voice constantly changing but always female.

"… taught you… made you… named you." The world shifted, the darkness filling. "Slayer. Slayer of enemy. Slayer of friend. Slayer of kin. Slayer of foe." The darkness roiled suddenly, flooding the world. With a cry that defined the world, the darkness exploded. "SLAY ME!"

Hakage sat bolt-upright in her bed in the Park District. Light-blue eyes shot from one corner of the dark room to another as sharp ears picked up the echo of her scream as it died in the air about her. She huddled alone in the night against her fear.

Felena's eyes shot open, staring at the ceiling of her chamber, a place of solace in the world. Surrounded by simple and elegant furnishings she placed a hand over her face. "What in the Light was that?"

He couldn't remember moving and had no conscious memory of it. He had just laid down to sleep a few hours before here in Elwynn beneath the trees. Now he stood with the uloph-talah in his hands, a clean slice through the trunk in front of him. His face betrayed no emotion, a collection of sharp angles set into stone, but behind those silver eyes horror reigned.

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((The next portion wasn't written out as it happened in game, but essentially it was found that Durgaraf's and Hakage's mentor, Therashar Dreamstrider, was secretly a green dragon and was now falling victim to the Nightmare corrupting the Emerald Dream. While Durgaraf lead a party into Sunken Temple to destroy Therashar's body, Hakage prepared to do the same on the Emerald Dream...))

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Hakage quickly checked over her preparations for the millionth time; light blue eyes frantic as they darted from object to object. They were simple enough: three blankets laid out on the grass beneath a tree, a privacy screen, some tea (not really necessary, but always nice), a small table and chair for Nara, and... was something missing? Was that it? She knew she was being nervous, very possibly ridiculous, but she couldn't help herself. Too much was running through her head. Too many questions that had no answers. What exactly had happened to her Shan'do? Was Father wrong? -Could- Father be wrong? Why hadn't he told her Ms. Therashar had been his Shan'do? Why hadn't he told her about -anything- in his past? What was he hiding? Did she want to know? Would Shan'do be in pain? Would she hurt her back? Could she have prevent Shan'do's pain? Round and round the questions went in her head, serving only to whip her up into a nervous frenzy. Nearly frantic she fussed over every detail, smoothing out the blankets needlessly and making sure the small table sat evenly on the grass.

Yasic was the first to arrive, with a large leather satchel over one shoulder which he set on the ground just inside the screen. That odd little robotic yeti device began taking the objects out and spreading them around in a seemingly random pattern but neither of them seemed to pay it any attention. The older druid tried teaching her about the Emerald Dream, describing how it was now more difficult to connect to it since Nordrassil was ravaged. She tried to follow along with what he was explaining but it all sounded so complex and her mind couldn't focus. She didn't think it would be polite to tell him that she had spent a month and a half with her Shan'do learning the Emerald Dream because she had gotten caught entering it on her own before she had been taught how. She tried listening though. Yasic was much older than her so he must know more, right? The others arrived soon after, Edeonis bringing nothing but an unlabeled book and Nara with a decidedly uncertain look on her face. Hakage showed the young priestess to the table with the pitcher of tea and tried to be as friendly as she could but she just felt too frantic. She jumped when Edeonis turned from his guildstone and mentioned that the other group was about to engage Therashar.

The two male druids lay down on their blankets, one on each side of Hakage's and she sat down with an uneasy appearance. As both elder druids schooled their expressions to concentration and gradually slipped into sleep, Hakage calmed her mind. The uneasiness disappeared instantly as she reached out to commune with the nature around her. She talked with the grass, listened to the bushes, felt the tree above her and she slowly closed her eyes. When she opened them again she stood in the midst of a vast green field. The entire world seemed to have a greenish tint to it and the world itself was indeed different. There was no Stormwind in the Emerald Dream, just the world as it would exist with none of the mortal races upon it.

Edeonis and Yasic stood beside her, looking suitably grim and determined. To her surprise they were also translucent. She and Therashar had always seemed perfectly opaque before, but she didn't mention anything. There could be lessons later. Yasic's eyebrow flickered upward for a second when he looked at her but then his expression returned to stern disipline. "Take us to her."

She gave a quick nod and then closed her eyes again. She focused on Therashar, everything she knew about her. How she looked. How she smelled. How she sounded. How she spoke. How her head hurt when she smacked it with her staff. She could sense the world shift around her, as if she was not moving but the world itself was moving around her. She quickly reached out and touched the other two, taking them with her. When they opened their eyes again the three of them stood in what appeared to be a cavern looking down into a shallow spherical chamber in the midst of which stood a nightmare.

Form was a transient thing in the Emerald Dream, often simply shaped to what the dreamer assumed it to be. Before them now was a terrible creature, made of dragon and kaldorei and corruption. The essences could not always be rendered visibly but there was no denying them in this place. They -felt- that way. Hakage's heart sank to her toes. There were no questions any longer.

The nightmare before them seemed distracted at first, snarling and swiping at unseen enemies, that must have been the others, but when Edeonis stepped forward it gave them a savage look and suddenly none of them could move. The corrupted dragon's will and inerrant mastery of the Emerald Dream left them utterly immobile. There was nothing they could do but stand there and watch. A few moments went by and Hakage began to feel ill and weak... she would have placed her hands on her stomach if she could have moved. She could not see the others but through the dream she could feel them growing weaker as well. Then she knew what was happening. Their bodies in the real world were paralyzed as well, and they were suffocating. They were going to have to stand her, unable to move, and slowly drown in their sleep. No sooner had she realized this than the sensation passed, or at least weakened. She still couldn't move though... Nara! The priestess had saved them!

Whether the Nightmare noticed or not it showed them no more interest, fighting its invisible opponents. After an indeterminable time, it screamed and clutched wildly at its chest, falling backward to lie still on its back. The corruption within it seemed to melt and Hakage could feel the massiveness of the nightmare shrinking; fading away. "Come here, child." The voice surrounded her and was within her all at once. And then she could move. She did not walk to the fallen form of her mentor, but simply took a step and was kneeling down beside her.

Therashar's face was pale, her eyes dull as she cast them towards the young druidess. "There... you are strong. I had hoped it would be you..." The voice was softer this time, and just inside her mind rather than from the world around her. "Do not blame your Father. He is simply following his nature. If you must blame someone, blame me. I took the darkness that was overwhelming him and forged it into him." Her eyes shifted to the other side and she spoke to another who was not there. "Forgive me, please. I can not let it end here... the conflicts continue and my charges are still young." She looked back to Hakage with a truly mournful look. "Please... forgive me." Therashar's hand came up and touched the side of of Hakage's face. "I am sorry."

There was no transition. There was what was, and then what was was not. Instead there was pain and savagery and confusion and feralness exploded.

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Nara stood attentively over the three bodies watching the carefully. She had dropped the small cup of tea when they'd noticed they had stopped breathing and now she prayed to the light to keep them alive. Hakage had started breathing again on her own a few moments ago but the other two remained stone still and unflinching, all too much like corpses.

There was no warning before Hakage suddenly jumped up, emerald eyes blazing as she changed forms mid-leap, knocking her to the side, and bounded off. She quickly checked the other two, and a few moments later they began to breath again, but when she looked around the screen Hakage was no where to be found.