Dreamcatcher [OLD]

Anora started climbing up the rope ladder. It swing under her, and she looked fearfully down at Tikaani. 

"Ahhh, this goes up so high!"

"Suck it up. Unless you wanna go fend for yourself in the forest."

She pouted and kept going, and Tikaani followed soon after. The little creature that had brought them there climbed easily up the tree, and would stop periodically to wait for the two kids to make their way up. Strange bird calls Anora had never heard before resounded in the trees, and other bugs and critters scrambled by her on the bark. The sky was getting darker and darker, and the creature more and more impatient. It suddenly ran all the way up, not bothering to wait anymore and scratched at the wooden door, whining. 

A huge roar boomed from below them.

Anora turned and looked down, but couldn't see very much in the dark. All she saw were strange glowing white patterns on what must have been a much larger creature, and burning eyes looking hungrily at her, brighter than anything she had seen before. 

"What is that???" She asked, freezing on the rope.

"What does it matter?? Keep moving!!" Tikaani yelled over the sound of the beast, which was now trying to crawl up to them. 

Anora couldn't move. She looked at the beast, petrified, and all other thoughts ceased. Her hands were starting to relax their grasp on the rope.

"What are you doing??" yelled Tikaani, shaking the ladder to wake her. 

"The eyes," she managed, and let go of the rope. 

The beast let out a victorious roar and backed down from the tree, opening a mouth with bright white teeth wide to engulf Anora. Tikaani closed his eyes-- he couldn't really care less for this girl, but he definitely didn't want to see it happen.

Anora felt anxiety set in. Why was she here? Where were her parents? Was she about to die for good? Her breathing quickened. She held herself in with her shaking arms, and tears made their way out of her eyes. She screamed an ear-piercing scream, closing her eyes and curling up into a ball in midair. She was about to be eaten. This was the end.

But of course it wasn't as suddenly she was surrounded by vines and caught by a tangle of plants. The beast snapped its jaw shut, but it was too late-- the vines had tightened and pulled her up and out of danger. The beast angrily roared, and started to try and crawl up again. 

     

Anora felt she was trapped in a shroud of darkness. She could not see anything. She was detached from the world around her. She cried and screamed, twisting and shaking in the vines as they brought her up the tree. 

Anora opened her eyes to see a gaunt pale face looking at her anxiously. 

A weak voice called out from the newcomer, but the sound rang in her head and she held it in pain. She could not understand what he was saying.

He continued, in a whisper. He had mint hair, dark circles under his eyes, and wore an orange sweater, one that was greatly over-sized for his frail body and whose sleeves his hands disappeared in. He also had a bandage over his right ear, she wondered why. The inside of the log cabin was modest, with lots of shelves loaded with books and jars and glass displays. There was a desk off to the side, and a small bed in the corner. A huge tree branch went through the bottom and out the top, weaving its way through the house. She still could not understand a word he said, and he looked back at her, perplexed. 

She saw Tikaani crawl over to her, and she saw him smile for the first time, even if for a moment. 

"What the heck happened to you? Why did you let go?" He whispered cautiously.

"I have no idea," she answered.

The boy looked at them, confused, then ran up and got something out of one of the jars on the shelf. He returned with two huge worm-like things that were wriggling in his hands, grey slimy matter that made the both of them want to vomit.

     

He then started forcing them into their ears. 

Anora and Tikaani screamed at the top of their lungs, Anora's head exploding from the noise, but the both of them were too tired to fight back. The worms slid in their ears and there they stayed, their cold wet bodies wriggling deeper into their skulls.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR??" Anora screamed.

"So that we could talk," suddenly she could understand what he was saying.

"Those are Word Worms."

"What?????" Tikaani was trying to get it out of his ear.

"Because we don't speak the same language. No we do! It automatically translates anything I say. I have one myself. People are usually equipped with them at birth, so this is we--"

"What was that thing?" Anora interrupted.

"It was the Nightmare Demon," said the mint-haired fellow, smiling encouragingly at Anora, but with great pain in his eyes. 

"What are those?" Anora managed as her head throbbed. 

"They are the beasts of your inner consciousness. They are what haunt you in your dreams. Your fears. Your insecurities. They are always hunting, especially at night, and once you look them in the eyes, once you get entranced in their bright white eyes, you are theirs. You aren't yourself anymore. You get trapped in the emotions they bring... and get swallowed up in them. "

Anora sat up, her head clearing up. "So all you have to do is not look at them?"

"It's not that easy." light blue eyes of the little guy shone with a glint of fear.

"They sense you. They know. They know every thought. They play off of them, tell you things, whisper them to you. You cannot help but be taken by them. Believe me."

Tikaani turned to him. "What is your name? Where are we? We are dead, right?"

"Akane, and that's Ro over there," he pointed to the creature that was now snacking on some berries. 

     

"And this is the Dreamscape." He smiled at the two of them.

"How did we get here?"

"No idea. If you don't know, how the heck am I supposed to know??"

"And where is this 'Dreamscape'?" Tikaani pushed forward with questions.

"What do you mean?" Akane looked perplexed at them. 

"Never mind."

"How... how did you save me?"  Anora looked up at Akane. He didn't seem like the fighting type. 

"I can control plants that grow out of Ro's back, and we used his vines to catch you! Then I healed you with some potions I made earlier-- I keep at least 20 anti-Demon ones on me at all times."

Anora looked at the wooden ground, the situation hitting her hard. Where were they? Was this some magical world you go to when you die? And if you died here, where then would you go? She held her legs up to her chest and started to cry.

"Stop crying, idiot," Tikaani stood up and went to the other side of the small house.

"No, it's okay," whispered Akane, running his hand along her back. Ro looked over at her, annoyed at all the noise. 

Tikaani sat down near the bed by himself. He ran his hands over the wood, his long fingernails catching on tiny nooks and crannies.

"Is that... is that who I think he is?"