The Initials | Nanowrimo 2023

13| Conquering The Flame

That night Cloud sleeps in a gorgeously decorated shoebox of a room with bookshelves built into the walls on either side of the bed, fairy lights and false vines hanging from the ceiling, and an empty desk located at the end of the bed.

It's nice but still only a shoe box and he already misses his own room back home with all his stuff in it.

Lays on his back, sweat clinging to his skin like an outer shell as the line between vision and dream are blurred together.

In it the water rises above his ears but the once flowing river is now still.

That's not the only change; the flowery summer petals that usually float past have drowned, the morning birds no longer chirp, and the deer that usually graze on the banks of the river are no longer there.

The alarms in his mind have already been rung but it's only when he twists his head around and notices that he's alone that he sits up. "Freya?"

Even after he calls a few more times she does not appear, which shouldn't make sense when this is his dream.

His breathing becomes shallower and sharp as he starts frantically searching the river, growing increasingly more frustrated when the waters only offer up tiny pebbles and smooth stones.

"It's a dream. It's a dream. It's a dream.." he repeats to himself, spinning around in circles until he acknowledges what he is mumbling. "This is my dream!"

Cloud scrunches his eyes closed, trying to fix things back to the way they should be, becoming unaware of his surroundings as a thick smog suddenly rolls over the river.

When he opens them again again he is barely able to see three feet ahead of himself as the chill in the air starts nipping at his exposed skin and his damp white shirt starts feeling heavier as it clings tightly to his body. "Alright, I'll admit, this is creepy."

Cloud is startled by fish swimming past his feet, the shiny scaled creatures swimming away hastily as his fast turns red once realising the truth.

It only takes him a second to get over the embarrassment of overreacting before he notices something strange about the direction of its course.

"Upstream?"

The word leaves his lips mere moments before the real danger swipes at him from behind, surging out of the mist with incredible speed and agility.

Cloud dodges at the very last moment, instinctively throwing his hands up to protect himself when a jolt of panic runs through his heart.

His arm starts to sting and he notices the fresh wound sliced into his flesh, hurting in a way that dreams aren't supposed to hurt, making him swallow even harder.

Only the tips of the mysterious figure's large black wings touch the water, originally blocking Cloud's view of her until she pins them behind her back to reveal her feminine form.

"Freya?" Cloud chokes, lowering his fist as he takes in her new bloodied form. "What happened to you?"

Red tears stream down Freya's face, her messy blonde bob slicked back after surfacing from the river. "I never wanted this for us. I wanted you to be happy."

Cloud shakes his head, ignoring the droplets of water rolling down his face. "Without you...how could I be?"

"You always were sentimental C.J." she whispers, her entire demeanour suddenly morphing as she lunges at him, her talon like nails aimed straight for his head.

Before they can gouge out his eyes, Cloud feels a fist grab the front of his shirt from behind and yank him backwards, flinging his dream self back into his body.