Lorina in the Dreamlands

Chapter 4

 I squeezed my eyes shut when light burst around me, like light at the end of the tunnel. My kidnapper grunted when it hit his eyes. He carried me through, me with my eyes tightly closed. I heard laughter as we approached. 

     "Jack!" one called, "Did you find what you were looking for?", I twitched, Captain Jack, with his merry crew of sea dogs. Perfect. 

     "I don't know yet, I hope so" Jack started to pull me off. I scrabbled at his back, wanting to stay in blissful ignorance. I felt him wince. "She has claws though, be careful" he set me down. I landed with a small squeak. This brought laughs from all around. "Is it a cat or mouse?" one teased. "kitten" another answered. I kept my hands over my eyes. 

     Jack pried my fingers away from my eyes. I slapped his hand away. More laughs. "Let her be" an older man rumbled. I sighed with relief and opened my eyes, just to show Jack how cooperative girls could be when adressed by a gentleman.

     I almost gasped when my eyes adjusted. Five young men in leather tunics sat around a fire. Surrounded by a large forset on all sides. Bards? Mountain men? Lords on a hunting trip? All my fantasies derived from books sprang into my mind. 

     "Whoo! Look at them pretty blue eyes!" one hooted. "Gerard, now is not the time" the older man pointed out. I liked him immediately. Another young man stood and bowed, "I am Arthur, forgive my friends for their rudeness", I couldn't help but curtsy. King Arthur? I wondered. Snickers echoed around the fire as Arthur introduced me to the rest of the men. "Gerard, you'll have to excuse him, he's not accustomed to ladies such as yourself", I almost laughed, I was in my nightgown, some lady I was! "This is Jacob, and Baylor, they're brothers", "twins!" one corrected. "yes, and this is Lord Allistar" the old man waved him off, "I am just Ian, I am no lord", Arthur continued, "Jared is our youngest here, and I -uh- believe you've already met Jack" I made sure to send him a pointed glare, which he ignored. "I wish i didn't have to" he strolled off. Bonehead.

     "why am i here?" I demanded. Pleasantries were over,  I decided, kidnappers were kidnappers. Especially Captain Jack. I glimpsed him rolling his eyes. "We are in need of your help" Arthur was the first to answer. "You could've asked" I snapped at him. I felt bad, but I knew I was going nowhere with all this fluffy stuff. "Your sister Alice, she locked the gates when she left", Jack leaned against a tree, "the gates to the dream-lands are closed, and nothing can get in or out", "like I wish your mouth was" I glared, making sure to add more malice to my last comment. The others might be kidnappers too, but he was the one that kidnapped me. 

     "calm down Miss!" Arthur waved his hands in the air. Jared just laughed. "It's not funny!" Arthur said, agitated. "no, it's not" Lord Allistar stood, "the dream-lands are just as important as Earth is. If one is endangered, the other one is also" I blinked, I wasn't on Earth? Jared resumed his laughter at my expression. "Then why am I here?" my anger faltered. "Your sister, Alice, shut the gates on accident when you woke her up. None of the dreams are supposed to be interrupted like that, it's dangerous" Jack spoke up.

     "Oh, so it's my fault" my anger was back in full. "Yes, it's your fault" he shot back. "Please!" Arthur pleaded, "Stop it! both of you!" we both turned on him. "I'll stop when you agree to take me back!" I stamped my foot on the ground. "You always pick fights too, pretending to play lord over all of us!" Jack growled. "well! It's not my fault! all of you act like savages!" Arthur defended himself. Now Gerard was on his feet. "Savages? It's not like your hands are clean!", the twins were also up, "You're just as lowly as us! You just like to pretend!" I was pushed out of the crowd surrounding Arthur, forgotten. I huffed and turned to leave. I had enough of this silliness.