Nightmares and Dreamscapes

[Keylaleigh]

Tomas's cheerful thoughts suddenly took a darker turn as Toni continued on with her explanation. She had no clue as to what she would do, because she would hate to have to leave the mountain. Her entire life was here. "I understand why you'd want to keep all of that secret. And I promise I won't tell anybody." She drew a cross over her heard. "But if there's anything I can do to help you out, just let me know. I feel as if I'm kind of a part of this now."

[Tsemara]

The Dreamer chuckled at the childish gesture. But signs and words were one thing. Following through with ones promise was another. She decided to continue with her explainations, before she revealed anything about what she could do. "There are people out there in the world, that are Dreamers. I'm not talking about the people that waste their lives away thinking about the what ifs. These people can access the Dreamscape while they're awake, and do things that you could only find in storybooks. Not all of us are good people. If I'm a Dreamer, it would make Malphas a Nightmare. I don't know enough about the preacher to tell you what side he plays for. And I know of one more Dreamer who's camping as well."

"Something big must be happening to have four in one place." Toni paused for a bit to gather her thoughts. "There aren't very many of us. Dreamers were nearly wiped out some time ago by different things, and by people who didn't understand. It's rare to ever come across one. Having two in one spot was practically unheard of. But four? It's impossible! But here we are with four, with the likely prospect of more showing up!" She stopped. "Sorry. This makes me a bit nervous, talking to a Norm about thes kind of things."

[Keylaleigh]

Tomas took a deep breath. This was a lot of information to take in at one time. "So there are four of you... dreamers together in one place, and they are you, Malphas, the reverend, and another camper. Hmm..." she bit her bottom lip in thought. "And I always keep my promises, so don't worry about me blabbing anything."

The truth of the situation was that she wasn't sure what she would do. If there were bad dreamers, or "nightmares" as Toni called them, out there that knew that she knew, then she might be a target for whatever bad stuff they may do. And the less interactions that she had with Malphas, the better. So she had to keep everything she knew about the Dreamers, including the fact that she DID know about the Dreamers, even more hush-hush than her best friend's biggest crush in seventh grade. And that was going to be difficult.

[Tsemara]

(Toni never mentioned that the fourth is a woman.)

The Dreamer looked at her friend deciding she might as well toss one more bit of information in the other womans' direction. It would either make or break the friendship. She took a deep breath and sighed. "I've been watching you." She looked up at the lodge worker. "Not stalking, or anything. I'm really not that kind of person. But I like the way you play the fiddle at night.

"You've seen me listen to you play. Except for last night. You were very into your music. Almost consumed by it." Toni stated. "I'm not going to blame you if you don't want to have anything more to do with this insanity, or with me."

[Keylaleigh]

((Oops... sometimes OOC knowledge gets ahead of me. Post edited!))

Tomas gave the young woman a funny look. "You've seen me..." She drifted into thought. She had never seen a human sit and watch her play in the evening. But then things started to click. Toni and the strange wolf appeared at almost exactly the same time. "...you're the wolf?" She looked at her friend with wide-eyed wonder.

After about a minute, Tomas finally regained speech, and laughed. "Well, now I don't have to bother the rangers about your prescence anymore!"

[Tsemara]

Toni sat still, watching Tomas's reactions carefully. The younger woman was probably smart enough to figure out the Dreamers' cryptic words. She believed she saw the realization hit Tomas's eyes moments before she spoke. Toni nodded, nervously at the announcement. "Guilty as charged." What she wasn't expecting was for the younger woman to laugh a short while later, after everything had sunk in. The Dreamer felt a smile creep onto her face. It seemed Tomas wasn't the sort to turn her in after all.

"I can do other things too," Toni stated, sounding more at ease. "But shape changing is my main ability. You've seen me another time, I think, and I wasn't a wolf. But I'm not sure. I wasn't really paying attention that time."

[Maeve]

((Gah, sorry for not posting more ))

Stella coughed as she sat up in her sleeping bag. She had spent most of her day laying there, feeling a bit sick. She had probably caught some cold yesterday, when she got wet during her little experimentations alongside the river. She shook her head, feeling a bit stupid. Grabbing a bottle of water she kept nearby, the blond opened it and took a long sip, hoping it would help her throat get better. She then took a look at her watch. Though she wasn't really hungry, she figured taking a warm meal would help a bit too. Or at least, it couldn't hurt.

The girl pushed herself to get up and quickly dressed up. She ran a brush through her hair to place them and grabbed her wallet before she exited her tent. She stopped just outside her little refuge, stretching a bit. She really wasn't feeling like going on a hike or run right now, but the fresh air felt good against her skin. She then headed for the lodge.

[Keylaleigh]

Tomas pondered, but for some reason no other unusual animals came to mind. "I can't think of anything at the moment, but I'll let you know when something comes to mind, okay?" She smiled at Toni. It was good to know that she was comfortable enough with Tomas that she could share all of this information with her. And she would do her best to keep it all top-secret.

Meanwhile, Malphas had put the money back in his room and now he was traveling in snake form around the woods. His initial fear of flying rocks had faded, and now he was back to the ground. He saw a girl that was neither Tomas or Toni go towards the lodge. Curiosity getting the better of him, he decided to follow her, finding an out-of-the-way place to turn back into a human. If a poisonous snake was found near the lodge, there would be lots of panic and things more painful than rocks being flung at him.

[Tsemara]

"Alright. You do that," Toni gave the other girl a grin that showed she felt a bit more at ease about the situation. She might not have been completely comfortable with what she had done, but there was no reason to keep her friend in the dark, if things were going amiss in her home. But this was a very dangerous world she was exposing the lodge worker to. And with other Dreamers involved, especially Nightmares, there was no guarantee that she would be able to protect the younger woman. She sighed.

"We've been out here for a while, you probably should be getting back," Toni stated, eventually. "I don't know how messed up reception is at the campsite, but I figure I ought to give you my cell number when we reach the lodge. Just in case something happens and you need some help. I can't say how fast I'll be able to get to where you are, but it'll be better than no help at all." The Dreamer shrugged.

[Maeve]

Stella walked slowly to the lodge. She had a small fever, making most of her body sore, and her throat was giving her an annoying itching sensation, but the rest seemed fine. She let go a sigh as she saw exit the wood path and climbed the stair leading to the lodge's door. A small group of people exited the building at the same time she reached the entrance, so she moved to the side to let them pass. She took the time to look around while they moved, feeling like if something was observing her. Stupid fever is messing with my mind, she thought with a shrug as she noticed there were a few people around, but none of them seemed to be following her. Well, except the man over there, but he was probably just getting back to the lodge.

The blond entered the building and headed for the kitchen. It was a bit passed the normal lunch time and the room had started to emptied. It was a relief for Stella, as she didn't feel like having a ton of people speaking around her. She headed for the counter and grabbed a warm bowl of soup and two bottles of water. She had emptied the ones she had at her campsite and forgot to refill them, so she figured she would buy some new ones while she was at the lodge. She paid her things and headed for a small table close to the window, in a quieter corner of the hall. Placing her platter down on the table, she took a few seconds to look outside before she sat down and started to eat.

[Keylaleigh]

Malphas brushed invisible dirt off of his coat, just in case there really was something there, and walked into the lodge. Watching the blond girl, he followed her to the kitchen. He was kind of hungry, so it was actually kind of fortunate that she was headed that way. As he walked by, he waved hello to Edna, giving her a polite bow. She smiled and waved back. It was interesting that everybody else trusted the man, except for Tomas and her friend.

He neared the kitchen to see that it was almost empty, and the blond was sitting at a table by herself. Looking at the food selection, he chose a turkey sandwich and a bottle of lemonade and sat at a table near the young woman.

"Yeah, I probably should." Tomas looked around. "My break is probably about up." She smiled. "And yeah, it would be good to have your number just in case." She handed a piece of music paper and a pen to Toni. She always had a pen and paper with her, just in case inspiration hit her and she had to write down a new song. "Sorry for it being manuscript paper. It's kinda all I have?" She shrugged.

"Oh yeah... thanks for feeling that you could open up to me. It feels really good to know that somebody trusts me enough to share such a big secret." She grinned. She had never had a close friend before, so she had never gotten into the 'sharing your deepest, darkest secret' thing before.

[Tsemara]

Toni was a bit surprised at the kind of paper she had been handed. Though, taking into consideration, the source, she figured it ought to have been expected. "Don't worry about the paper. As long as I can write on it, then it serves its' purpose." The Dreamer used her knee for support as she scribbled her phone number down. Then, she stood up and handed the paper back to Tomas. "Okay, here you go," she said with a little grin. "Well, I could hardly leave you in the dark, when all of this is happening in your home, especially after you've seen in in the works," she replied with a touch of embarrassment in her voice.

She walked back to the lodge with Tomas. Once inside, Toni nearly bid her friend a farewell. But she was distracted by the people in the dining area. She stopped Tomas and discreetly indicated the diners with a tilt of her head. Malphas was there, along with Stella. She didn't think that the woman was involved with Nightmares, but she figured she ought to let Tomas know. "She's the last Dreamer I know of." the Dreamer said softly. "She seems nice. So I'm not too worried. But he might try something. Want me to keep an eye on them while you work?" Toni offered, shrugging. "I haven't had lunch yet, so it gives me a reason to lurk around the dining area for a bit."

[Keylaleigh]

"Okay." Tomas looked at the blond. She didn't feel any bad vibes coming off of her, so she assumed she was alright. She had a bit of work to do, though, so she chose not to go talk to her at the moment. "And thanks. I'd love to do some snooping myself, but I'm so busy around here." She grinned. It was good to have a second set of eyes in this situation. She pocketed Toni's phone number and waved farewell. She had some sweeping to do outside. The trees were starting to drop seeds like crazy, and they were cluttering the path.

[Tsemara]

Toni nodded. "Alright. I'll keep an eye on them as long as my food will allow me. Take care." She bid Tomas farewell, and left the lodge worker to her job. She wondered how different the lunch menu was from the breakfast menu. And it seemed to consist largely of soups and sandwiches. And that was fine. The Dreamer went with a black forest ham sandwich, an orange, and a bottle of water.

She looked for a spot that didn't involve being up close and personal with Malphas. Her usual spot was currently occupied by Stella. With a sigh, she settled for a table that gave her a clear view of the window, as well as the other Dreamers. She gave them a friendly wave before pretending to concentrate with her food.

[Maeve]

Stella was absorbed in her thoughts, looking out the window to the nature outside. She vaguely noticed another girl - was that the one who had shown her her campsite earlier? - waving at her. She smiled back at her and concentrated on her food for some time. The warm stock was calming her sore throat, but each sip was still a little painful. She let go a small sigh as she pushed back her empty bowl. Leaning on he back of her chair, she took a little time to look around, drinking from one of the water bottles at the same time. The room was now almost empty, except from two little groups of people, a family with younger kids, the girl she had met before and a strange man sitting nearby. For a few seconds, she paused and looked at the man. She shrugged and turned her head, not wanting to stare at him for too long. Having finished with her meal and not seeing any good reason to stay at the lodge longer, Stella got up and grabbed her platter, bringing it back to the counter to drop it where it was supposed to go.