DREAMCATCHER || QIMIR

V: Nightmare

Qimir's P.O.V

The sun had already set, but Qimir has yet to return to the cave. It's been two hours or so since he left Eli alone, but it was probably for the best that they cool down by themselves. Though, Qimir still made sure to keep tabs on her by sensing her through the force, just to make sure that she was not trying to climb down the cliff again. Thankfully, she was just staying in one place, so she was probably sleeping.

It frustrated him how persistent and so hard-headed she was. He had been fighting to convince himself that Eli was not Elysia at all, but the way she stood her ground, the way she stared him down as they argued--- it really felt like he was arguing with Elysia herself.

Elysia.

Qimir furiously shook his head. It was like he was being haunted by her ghost all over again.

He continued aggressively chopping the remaining wood, which he hoped to help take away his thoughts from their earlier argument, but now it's apparent that it didn't help much.

And to ask to become his student?

Yes, he was still looking for an Acolyte, and logically thinking this was an opportunity literally knocking on his front door. But Qimir didn't want to.

He refused to imagine her getting hurt because of him, let alone risk her life in the process of being an Acolyte.

Not her. Not Eli.

Upon finishing what was left of the wood, he tied it up together with the other pile he had gathered and paused to catch his breath. He untied his robe that had been wrapped around his waist and patted down the sweat on his face and on his bare torso. Then, he wore the robe for decency purposes (there was still a woman in his house, after all) before proceeding to carry the pile of chopped wood up the hill towards the cave.

"Two days," His own words from earlier echoed in his head. "You can stay here for two days, then you have to go."

He regretted having to say that, but he had to draw a line not for her, but for himself. If he were to be honest, he wanted her to stay for as long as she could. He wanted to keep her to himself, here on this planet, where it was just the two of them.

But that was the problem. He was struggling to differentiate her from Elysia (which only proved increasingly difficult the longer he stayed with her), and he was afraid of what he'll do once that line blurs completely.

If only Eli knew what goes through his mind whenever he sees those goddamn lips...

Qimir paused as he reached the door to collect his thoughts. He hoped that Eli was asleep so they wouldn't have to interact at all, as it would surely be awkward.

But his trivial worry vanished as soon as he heard groaning from the other side of the door. He burst into the doorway and instantly saw Eli, though asleep on the bed, writhing uncomfortably as if she was in pain.

Qimir instantly dropped the pile of wood he had been carrying and rushed to her side. She was sweating profusely, and her hands that had been gripping the sheets too tightly had started to bleed again.

Nightmares.

Qimir was familiar with this himself all too well, but it wrenched his gut seeing that Eli suffered from them too.

He gently placed his hand on her forehead in an attempt to ease her nightmare, but as he did so, flashes of her nightmare also mirrored in his head.

Chaos.

Blood.

Screams and sounds of lightsabers clashing.

She stood in the middle of a bloodied path in horror, watching the slaughter occur right in front of her.

All of a sudden, her body jolts as a purple lightsaber pierces through her chest.

Qimir withdrew his hand as if burnt by her skin. His veins turned ice cold in horror and disbelief at what he just witnessed in her mind.

Eli suddenly jolted awake, gasping for air as she stood upright. Her hand clutched her chest tightly where the lightsaber had pierced her in her dream. But though she was already awake, her eyes were still staring at an abyss as if the dream was still playing right before her eyes.

"Don't worry, you're ok." Despite his own shock, Qimir managed to comfort her by gently touching her shoulder. Thankfully, she didn't flinch away, and this even prompted her to start blinking.

It took her several seconds before finally snapping out of it. As her breathing evened out, she swung her legs at the side of the bed and wiped the sweat and tears from her face using her fingers.

"Here, let me help you." Qimir gently said as he kneeled to unwrap the blood soaked bandages on her hand. Eli, meanwhile, just watched his moving hands quietly with a blank look on her face.

Qimir was actually surprised that she was not protesting against it at all, but it was probably because she was still in shock.

"Nothing to be ashamed of. I get them too," he said, just to break the silence between them.

It took her a moment to realize that he had spoken. "Get what?"

"Nightmares," he said as-a-matter-of factly. At this point, he had completely removed her bandages, and she proceeded to study the long wounds as it was the first time she has seen them properly.

"...do yours also get as worse as this?" She murmured. Qimir left for a moment to get a fresh set of bandages, but he heard her question anyway.

"Sometimes," he answered as he knelt back down in front of her. "Most of the time." He quickly corrected. He glanced up to gauge her reaction, but her face remained expressionless. Nevertheless, he softly smiled at her, hoping that it would comfort her somehow.

"I think you need a change of clothes." He said as he went to a small room to rummage through his own clothes. "I know you're wearing black, but you just rubbed your blood all over it."

He peeked at the doorway and nodded towards her black turtleneck, and Eli just glanced down as if she couldn't see what was wrong with it.

"Hopefully this is more your style?" He managed to see a black wool turtleneck. Just looking at it, it already looked too large for her, but they didn't really have much of a choice since he didn't have any of Mae's leftover clothes anymore.

He neatly folded the piece of clothing and placed it on the bedside table, silently letting her decide if she will take it or not.

"You can stay awake if you want, but keep away from the cliff." He said as he headed towards the door. He literally felt her roll her eyes at him, which tugged a smile at his lips as he succeeded in bringing her back from her dull self. "I'll just go wash up."

As soon as Qimir closed the door, his face fell serious as the images of Eli's nightmare flooded back into his mind.

It greatly shocked him, because he had been having the very same nightmare too. Except rather that being the one stabbed, he was at a distance watching it happen. How she was stabbed right through the heart. How it left a gaping black hole in her chest, and how her body fell lifelessly to the ground.

It perplexed him how it was possible for Eli to have the same nightmare, because to him it wasn't just a nightmare.

It was also a memory.

****