Cloud Hopping

There was no time for her eyes to accustom with the obscurity, because, suddenly, Cleo was standing in the middle of an arena. It was located in a closed space, possibly underground, so she couldn’t see the sky. It was lit by an unseeable source of lighting that made her eyes hurt from how sudden everything had been lit up. There were occasional flickers of light akin to torches, but she couldn’t spot any actual fire. And the arena was almost empty, except for the beast in the middle of it. 

The beast was a humongous mass of darkness - Cleo almost couldn’t discern its physical characteristics. To the pouflon’s shock, it reminded her very much of an Entity she’d heard the stories of not that long ago (not long enough), that which had assailed Bellacoste and spewed Corruption from itself. She thought it was dead, but apparently not dead enough to stop it from haunting her dreams.  

The three lons that had accompanied her there were not by her side, instead soaring next to the being non-threateningly. Even the ursuki, which Cleo was fairly certain did not have the natural ability of flight, had expanded leaf-like wings at their back and was fluttering menacingly, and didn’t seem half-bothered by what she thought about ursukis and them not being able to glide, much less fly. 

Cleo realized they probably weren’t on her side anymore, by the way they looked threateningly at her. She readied herself right at the moment the creature spit a mass of black substance at her direction, managing to evade it at the last instant. 

The pouflon was the first to charge at her, look black and red fog surrounding them in swirls, as if they were being influenced by nightmares themselves. They used that fog to form a shape, and as the otherwise gassy substance shaped itself into a very solid looking hammer, Cleo had to avoid yet another ball of Corruption.

As the pouflon chased her around the arena, she lifted flight in order to escape their cloud-made weapon, which constantly morphed into a different shape. Sometimes it seemed like a mace, sometimes a club, and she could swear she'd seen a morningstar being swung at her as she made a sharp turn to avoid the beast paws from crushing her. 

The vespire was the next to join in the mission to defeat Cleo. They swiped at her with their claws before spewing dark and whimsical looking pneumir, which quickly obscured the whole arena. Cleo blindly dashed around the air, praying the power of (onirical) protagonism would stop her from being hit by any of her enemies.

For a short while, she was starting to get convinced she could tackle the obscure blockage, as only claws and hooves appeared through it, never close enough to reach her. If she could wait until the coverage dissipated, she'd probably be fine. 

Much to her disappointment, the ursuki decided this moment was very proper to join the other lons, and collided right into her in a fierce body slam that sent her tumbling through the air. The ursuki seemed a lot more bigger then they ought to be, as well, but maybe that'd been just Cleo's mind working to disencourage her even further. 

Cleo could only watch, in desperation, as her wings suddenly stopped working, retracting into their hidden form again, as if the tackle she'd gotten had been so powerful she was doomed to fall onto the ground. 

She did fall, but it was slow enough she could see the details unfolding before her. The fog slowly cleared, revealing her adversaries' positions. The beast seemed like it was waiting for her to finish her fall in order to attack (what a gentleman). The vespire swooped above her in a tight circle, menacingly. The pouflon and the ursuki watched carefully, not making any moves, as well, but they all seemed alert and ready to perform a counter attack at any moment. 

Everything was so gradual, Cleo just knew she could do something to revert this situation if she had enough willpower. If it was her dream, then Cleo could meddle with it. It almost seemed like everylon was waiting for her to just do something. Her next action would define her destiny within this dream, she knew that now. 

With a surge, Cleo was able to stop her fall even without her wings. The sensation was very liberating, and when the pouflon looked under her to see what she'd done, she saw a thick looking bed of clouds, just a little bit bigger than her silhouette, like a flying carpet. It was slightly pink, as well. The few moments Cleo took to inspect the said ‘carpet’ were all it took for time to return to its normal pacing. 

 She then willed the cloud, which was floating just above the ground, to move upwards, and it obeyed her. It felt surprisingly stable to stand on the fluffy cloud, considering the fact she didn’t seem stuck to it any way. As soon as it finished it's journey up, the cloud dissipated and Cleo was launched into the air, but she opened her wings before she started to fall again. Her cloud carpet had been an emergency measure she'd been able to trigger, then.

She felt invigorated with newfound energy, and surged forward to tackle the heavy ursuki. Their expression turned into surprise when the force she used was enough to make them wobble. Her other adversaries took this moment to reccompose themselves. 

But the beast looked meeker, and both the vespire and the pouflon were not attacking her with their previous bloodlust anymore. Cleo felt a whimsical energy surrounding her whenever she charged into an attack, and as light pink mist enveloped her fetlocks, the pouflon knew that battle had already been won. 

The beast let out a final roar of defeat, and melted into an enormous puddle on the ground, which got absorbed by the earth in an instant. The three lons, however, remained as solid as they’d ever been. 

Suddenly, they weren’t in an arena anymore. The seats that surrounded the pit disappeared, giving place to open grasslands. The sky, as blue as the sky in Citremery in the brightest days of summer, peaked above her, the sunshine a pleasant warmth in her fur. Cleo felt different in all kinds of ways. 

The three lons, previously her adversaries, smiled amicably in front of her. They seemed like they wanted to talk to her and answer whatever questions Cleo might have, but they were overshadowed by another figure. 

Cleo easily recognized her. A dark-colored pouflon stood in front of her. She noticed her features much more clearly now than when she’d first met them in her dream with the candy-house. This had been the pouflon that had started all of this, and now she was just in front of her. 

She gently smiled at Cleo, a solemn expression on her face. This pouflon had quite a few draconic features, and two slightly different colored horns protruded from her head. She looked at the lighter-colored pouflon with two mismatched eyes in shades of pink, and dark mist, filled with lighter speckles, surrounded her body, engulfing her in a mysterious aura. This pouflon didn’t need to say anything, for when she opened her third, bicolored eye, Cleo instantly woke up.