Reclaiming Pack

[Thalia]

It wasn’t her name, but it was enough of an anchor to her when that it hooked her out of the depths. The maudlin edge of her mood remained, though, and a kin to the wolves did nothing to erase its weight in her chest, even one who inquired over her wellbeing. Everyone leaves, she almost said. But it was the inevitable fate of a fixed point in a world always turning, and it wasn’t in her nature to complain. Alone was not new. She ran her hands over her face and swallowed. Red blooms dropped from her curls as her fingers raked: crumbling poppy petals. The memories drifted on calmer tides. She ran her finger over the script inside her arm. Nimeda. My name is Nimeda.

“Am I not supposed to be here?” she asked. “I will leave if the wolves want me to.”

[Sierra]

The woman looked sad. Sierra knew this wasn't Thalia. "You don't have to leave. Maybe you can help us. You know Tristan, Wyldfire, Sunsnatcher." Sierra wondered what name she knew him buy. She projected an image of the man in to the dream. It was like an image painted in the fog.

"He's lost out here somewhere. You and he will freeze to death if they don't get help. Can you help?"

[Thalia]

The woman didn’t seem perturbed by her presence, so Nimeda let the brief moment of resigned tension drain away. She didn’t stand, just stayed kneeling in the sand with her hands curled in her lap. No introduction was offered, but she didn’t comment on it; her Other’s name had floated between them moments ago, so she knew the woman recognised her, and perhaps presumed recognition in return.

The names listed had meaning, and she knew each one, though none were the one she called him most often. Nimeda glanced over the misty image, but only really to show she was paying attention.

With Need she had pulled the Vanagandr to her before now, but though the woman spoke like she expected Nimeda to know what was going on, she realised they were talking about his body in the waking world, not here. The last she’d seen him, he had promised to aid the Guardian and her child in her stead. This was not that island, though.

She ran her finger over her arm, following the script by feel. Her thoughts were bleeding away, and she didn’t try to stop them. Nimeda couldn’t fathom how the wolves had lost one of their own. Though how much the Vanagandr was truly theirs she did not know, just that he felt torn in his soul in ways that filled her with grief. But it was not her place to question it in his absence, and Nimeda never turned away her aid when it was honestly asked. 

“I know what it was here once, and will be again. That doesn’t help anyone, though.” Her eyes swept the landscape before landing on the woman properly. Then she upturned a palm and held it out in solemn invitation. Sometimes the kin were wary of her, sometimes they weren’t. She didn’t expect this one would be, and there were no wolves at her heels to warn her away. “Need will help if it is strong enough,” she said. She’d been told countless times that it was a dangerous way to travel, to disperse yourself like that, but Nimeda had always trusted the dream’s currents.

[Sierra]

Sierra wasn't sure. But this was Thalia. Tristan trusted her here and in the real world. She trusted her now.

She took the other woman's hand and thought hard about finding the closest place to get help for Tristan and Thalia. She focused on helping them find a way home. She wasn't exctly sure what would happen or how they would help or how this would help Tristan she wouldn't know the location, but it was worth a shot. Wandering aimlessly when there was little time was daunting.

[Elyse]

Elyse was entering the dream more. She found it less scary now that she was helping others figure it out. Marta was beginning to spend a lot of time here, and that necessitated Elyse understanding it more as well. The place was still eerie. It was mostly the quiet and the light that did it for her. The dream was exceptionally dangerous as well, but as she was learning more, she was becoming better at anticipating. Her connection to the wolves and her senses helped with that a lot.

She began to move, traveling with no exact purpose. It was just practicing. She could find anywhere she had been with speed. Other places were more difficult, but she could travel quick. What stopped her was the sudden connection from a wolf. One that she knew. Never! Sierra's companion found her and was in front of her in a moment. A torrent of images went through her mind excitedly. Never had always been a little rambunctious. Elyse was able to decipher the gist of what the wolf was trying to tell her. Sierra needed help to find someone. The last time they had spoken, Sierra had mentioned she was looking for someone - Tristan was his name - maybe?

Elyse didn't hesitate in asking Never to take her to Sierra. Never may have been overeager, but his sendings were enough to show this was urgent. In moments she was there with Sierra. There was another woman there she didn't know. Her eyes went to Sierra. "Never tells me you need help. Seems urgent," she said, her voice serious. "What can I do to help?"

[Thalia]

Nimeda

Nimeda didn’t rush the decision to trust. Not intending harm was not always the same as not causing any, and she couldn’t promise safety, only the sincerity of her help She didn’t smile when the woman reached out and took her hands either. Her mood was unusually sombre, quiet in a soul-weary way. This place made her feel sad.

The world around them blurred almost immediately as warm hands anchored in hers. It was a wild passage, frightening when it was unexpected; an unmaking in a way most dreamers fought instinctively. Jon had been the one to exclaim how dangerous it was, back when he’d try to teach her about rules. But Need was what had brought Nimeda to the Vanagandr once before, and the woman would not be wandering this desolate place without good reason. That seemed path enough to trust.

When the spinning stopped, they were in the gloom of an interior space. Light from frosted glass caught cool shadows, and made the woman’s eyes almost luminous gold. Nimeda’s chin tilted up to take it in, at least a little curious. It was still cold. She did not think they had moved far. The environment around them morphed between abandoned desks and something shinier, like it remembered a purpose faded to dust. There were no incidental dreamers here, just the memories.

She stepped back when it was done. Her arm was oozing fresh blood, and for a moment she could feel the sharpness of the pain – her own guide for the moment, since she supposed her own waking body was in the same trouble that propelled the woman to help Tristan. Another kin appeared before Nimeda’s lips parted to speak, though what she’d been about to say she didn’t really know. Comfort maybe. Some found the passage exhilarating, others terrifying. Instead she only turned her eyes away, distracted herself quietly while they spoke.

[Sierra]

They popped to a new place. It was disorienting. Sierra felt woozy and like she might lose her lunch -- except this was the dream and it didn't happen. Though it wasn't like transportation she understood. And she knew the wolves would have said something about it. It felt wrong somehow too. But it had done what she'd asked. She was in civilization -- someplace that she could find.

"Elyse..." she said when her friend found her way to them in the strange place they were. Never was with her. Never could always find her. And she could always find him. She smiled at Elyse and held up her finger. "Never go find where Tristan is, where he left us to sleep. So we know the direction." Three was a quick affirmation from Never before he bound off. He wondered what he was relaying to Tenzin and how frantic he was talking to her. At leat there wasn't a language barrier any more than there was with her.

She hugged Elyse when she returned to her friend. "We need to know where we are. And maybe brain storm away to tell the people here to go find Tristan and Thalia whereever Never is. They are cold and freezing and don't have much time before they'll die." Sierra didn't introduce her other friend she wasn't Thalia. But they hadn't exchanged names either. She wondered if they should. She smiled at her "This is Elyse, and I'm Sierra. What should I call you?" She knew it wasn't Thalia, even though she was her.

[Elyse]

Elyse just listened at first. Sierra had found Tristan, so that was good. What wasn’t good was they didn’t know exactly where he was and how to get him out. Never was going to find out where Tristan was, but the would need to get more information to mount a rescue.

For that she had an idea. Sage. Sage might be able to do something. Perhaps like he had done to alert her father of her location. Elyse gave the unknown woman a nod in greeting. ”I have someone I can talk to about a rescue if we can find out where he is. If he can’t directly help, he might be know someone who can.”

[Thalia]

Nimeda

After a moment Nimeda sat on the ground, resting her chin in her hands. The wilted crown of flowers in her hair dropped its last crimson petals in her lap. She watched the interaction with quiet interest, but was reticent to bring attention to herself beyond answering the first woman – Sierra’s – question. “Jon named me Nimeda,” was all she said. She wielded the name like an anchor still, disturbed by the softer currents of her thoughts: of another name, the one which surrounded her with such sadness. She was taken by the deepness of both women’s care and the focus they applied to the task of finding their friend. Her own life might also hang in the balance of their efforts, yet she felt detachment. There was little she could do to help: they spoke of things she had no way of understanding.