The Waking Dream.

The lights had appeared in the night sky, they glistened upon stone, rock, ice and snow; the tiniest speckled reflection of light beneath a blanket of shimmering colour. The air was more than bitter and whistled its way through the boughs of the forest in which a couple strode through silently. Their steps were slow and cumbersome, upon their feet were thatched frames to ease their footing and spread their weight. They spoke in hushed murmurs as they reached a wide and out-stretched plateau, thick with snow. A frozen lake lay beneath it, freshly covered with the latest of the snowfall. So far south of the Ice bay and tundra the weather seemed not so wild. Whether the shelter of the valley or perhaps its edging toward warmer climes, it was still harsh and unforgiving and even more so for the unlearned. “We must move quickly across yes? The ice may prove thin.” The man’s voice rose over the wind as he gestured outward over the lake. Rhoana briefly nodded as she re-adjusted an assortment of bound bags in preparation. The crossing of the lake was a matter of urgency. Courtship had allowed the dark to set in at the most inopportune time, thus the temperature had dropped even more significantly and the winds would give way to yet another blizzard. Shelter was needed. They began their crossing of the lake in a swift yet not so graceful run. The snow kicked upward beneath snow shoes and slowly but surely one of the figures lapsed behind. Snow began its gentle flurry and the winds braced themselves against the trees pushing stronger against the wills of most people in the land. It was folly to be out in it. Though they were, and there was little else to be done except make it homeward and in haste. Rhoana had dropped in pace, her breath taken from her by the sharp current of air. Beneath her the ice quietly groaned as she struggled onward. She swept the hair clinging to cheek and lip, sending a hastened and panicked look toward her companion. He ventured on, unwavering, searching the swiftest route and without pause. Stumbling further forward she tried to pick up pace but the creak echoed and replied to her every move. Panic overcame her. She stilled. She dared not move as the splitting worsened as she did. “Onni!” The wind embraced the word and swept it away, unheard. “Onni!” In the distance he turned against the wind. The space between them appeared ever-long. “Onni! The ice moves!” He paused for but one moment before he threw his belongings to one side and hastened in step back across the lake. Rhoana cropped up in sight through the growing, fluttering snow. The wind wailed it's way around her stealing the calls and shouts away from her ears. Onni lowered himself to the ground and lay flat against the ice, slowly edging his way toward her. “That’s it Rhoana, stay still...” That was all she did, arms outstretched simply waiting, keeping balance as the ground creaked and sunk to one side. Her gaze pleading and helpless she watched as the cracks of the ice spread. The sound seemed to echo; the one noise able to to reach her amongst the winds. It was sudden, one moment the flurry of snow and Onni approaching, the cracks spreading and distorting; and then the frozen depths received her. Bubbles sprang up in the dark, the water was black, vacant and empty save for the occasional slivers of a deep charcoal grey. Sound wavered in and out between air and water as Onni shouted out toward her. She struggled, breaking the surface only occasionally, the rush of water bursting around her ears, through her nose and seeping into her lungs. Amongst her wavering arms a rope appeared, sent down into the tumultuous depths. She reached for it, clasping it as she returned slightly to the surface. “Rho-... Rhoana! Take this, now! Take it!” She couldn’t. Her muscles seized and she gave up the struggle against the icy waters. The cold enveloped completely. The muffled call became ever distant as her body drifted toward the bottom of the lake. How long had that dark lasted? How long did it take till she reached the bottom? Her feet brushed the stones and felt a softness, some vegetation growing at the bed of the lake. Suddenly the water grew warmer, her lungs awakened and desired to seek the air once more, she was able to move her limbs. The water was not so dark and unwelcoming as she began to swim ever further toward the surface. Further and further, light sprang in columns through the water, hues of blue and green. Breaking the surface she gasped for air, her lungs raw. Her eyes flickered open and saw a blue sky dotted with clouds and a burning sun. She swiftly looked about her; the mountains, the land were green, covered in wavering grasses and shrub, trees lined the edge of the waterside and clinged to the hills. She swam toward the shore and stood on the soft earth, her gaze flitting to and fro before a voice made its way from a rock not too far away. “I thought you’d never come out!” Rhoana stood still and peered over toward the rock, water dripping from the tips of her hair, fingers and chin. Olver was sat there, a boyish grin on his countenance. Confusion and perplexity wrought itself upon her own expression before she uttered in a quiet croak, “How long...?” “Not long enough to make me worry, but quite a time... are you alright?” Rhoana wrung her hair of water and nodded, her frown still set in place as she sat herself upon the ground. She pawed at the grass, tearing it from the earth and inspected it closely. The scent and the feel of it was most real as she passed it over and over through her fingers, but how it could be she did not know. “I was freezing... but...” Olver stood from the rock and wandered over, he perched himself upon the grass beside her. “You? Freezing?” Rhoana hummed a strange agreeing yes; she suddenly felt compelled to lie down and the wish for sleep washed over her. She closed her eyes and the blue sky diminished... ... Something was shaking her from side to side, though her eyes were unwilling to open. Strange sensations came over her, numbness in her limbs the feeling of entrapment. There was the sound of crackling flame to her left and the mutterings of someone... Olver? ... Onni? She drifted back towards what was thought to be sleep... The sound of flesh hitting flesh, a dull pain rhythmically making its way up her legs. She shifted beneath it, the feeling coming back to her numb limbs; beyond cold. Above her was the curve of hides stretched over large tusks glowing from flame. The silhouette of a figure crouched over her feet doing the rounds of bringing blood to the surface of her skin, letting it flow and circulate, bringing the warmth. She tossed and turned muttering loudly, the figure swiftly let go, standing over her, though his features remained obscured. Hidden in shadow the figure rose to the height of the hut engulfing the room in darkness. ____________ Startled, perspiring and short of breath; she found herself sitting. She was in a different place once more, though one which felt altogether right. To her right she found Riku and Kirri sleeping soundly, and she recalled at once where she was and had been. With luck the sun was on its way to rising as the thought of sleep was not a joyous one. She left the hut, glad to see the ice bay as she recalled it, no grass, no trees and with her family at her side.