The One of Pink Clouds

Chapter 2: Taking Flight

There are situations and fights she's had where she misses being able to fly.
In truth, she is perfectly capable of flying in reality. Yet in dreams, it is the one thing she cannot do. A consequence of losing some of the power she had been entrusted with at the start of her 'guardianship', she is fairly sure. To fly, she would need to dispel her form to wake up in her true body. And unfortunately, that means temporarily stepping away from her work.

Very rarely, she does such a thing.
She steps away, wakes up, and walks from the large stone-cold slab that is her bed.
She leaves the shrine made of white, built into a spot near the top of a mountain.
She looks at the abundant greenery that covers the mountains and surrounding area, as well as the mist beyond that marks the edge of the territory.
She glances at herself, through the mirror set in a secret spot.

Light blue skin, white cloud hair and sky-blue eyes instead of pink.
Still the same hairstyle as her dream self, but a difference in the look of the clouds. Swirls instead of simple curves.
A reminder to herself of who she used to be, what she lost, what she gave up just to spare others from her fate.
Her white wings, ever-present on her back, extend outward... all to leap off the edge to take flight.


Something she wishes she could do in current circumstances, which are less favourable than she would like. There is a Dreamer, a child, across a large chasm that is bisected by what is the untainted dream and what is the corruption that comes with Nightmares. And unfortunately, she is on the pure side while the child is on the other, in immense danger.
If only she could fly. Alas, her wings are smaller than the ones she has in reality and do not work the way they are meant to. Consequences of old mistakes.
But she cannot dwell on what-ifs when the present is far more important.

Using the powers she does have in dreams; she attempts to create a bridge to the other side. The ground beneath her shifts, as it starts to stretch to the other side.
But... it stops halfway, suspended above the chasm. She will need to jump the rest of the way, which is doable. The distance is not too far for her to make, but her greater worry is getting the Dreamer on the other side. She doesn't have the strength to carry the child and leap across with herself and them.
Which means she'll have to risk it. Jump over, take a bit of corruption so she can affect the nightmare landscape like she can with the dream to connect to the bridge already made. Even if she leaves a small space to avoid direct connection between tainted and untainted, it'll make the rest of the distance anyway. This plan will give more ground to the Nightmare, but sometimes certain battles must be lost to win the war. Besides, the Dreamer takes priority over the dream itself. A dream can be easily made and replace; a Dreamer cannot.

She takes a few steps back... and runs towards the edge. As she leaps off, crossing the distance to the other side with a stable landing. The child, who has been crying and not even aware of Dimenyx until this moment, is startled.

"A-ahh!"
"Calm down, little one! I'm here to help you."
"G-get away! Don't touch me!"
"I won't force you. But we need to get out of here. You're not safe here."
"Mmrgh..."
"Do you see the other side of that chasm there?"

She points to it, which the child looks at and is surprised to see a peaceful forest on the other side. Dimenyx continues to explain...

"We need to get you over there and hide you somewhere safe where no Nightmare will find you."
"N-nightmare...?"
"Or monster, if you prefer that. But are you alright with that?"
"... Ok."
"Good. Tell me if you hear anything strange. Now, don't get too concerned by what I'm going to do next."

They seem alarmed by whatever scenarios they imagine could be her next action... but her actual next action is as such. She crouches down to have her hands touch the tainted ground, wills it to make a bridge. However, such an action causes the corruption to seep from it into her hands. It turns them into claws, but the black that covers her hands only reaches there. Regardless, it is enough to make a proper bridge across the chasm even if it's also a bridge for the Nightmare's influence to spread across the dream.