onepassingnight

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[001]

For anyone wandering into this dream they would find simple countryside, dirt roads passing through rice patties and wooded areas, the surroundings hazy and implied but coming into more distinct clarity the closer they came to a small house. The weather was chilly, the wind bringing a bit of a bite when it came through the trees now and then, taking leaves with it on each gust.

Tomoe was cleaning, a simple broom in hand as she swept in front of the small house. Her expression, as always, was markedly blank, at least for anyone who wasn't used to her. In truth there was a faint note of unease in her frame and the way her brows were subtly drawing now and then as she worked--but the list of those who would pick up on that were few and far between. She had misplaced something. Forgotten something. She was well aware of it, but no matter how hard she thought on it or looked she could not find it. She couldn't even remember what she was looking for, only that 'it' was missing.

It was then that she noticed someone approaching and moved carefully to the path leading up to the house, watching the newcomer owlishly. They certainly didn't look like they had traveled from Otsu.

"Are you looking for the medicine seller...?"

[ooc; I'm going to do something a bit weird with Tomoe. She subconsciously remembers dying, but the greater part of her mind is trying to suppress it... so I'm going to try to bring that out in weird subtle things in the background or with her (i.e. snow falling inside a building or in the middle of 80 degree weather, spots of blood appearing on her clothing only to disappear again when attention is called to it, maybe sudden but brief phantom pains in her right side, who knows /o/) SO if I write something weird in a tag, that's what I'm going for. I don't know how long the memories will stay repressed, probably a few weeks at least. 8D; tl;dr intro note is tl;dr...]

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She noticed the roll, but without knowing the reason behind it, she thought it was simply a stiff shoulder. A little funny that someone would get stiff in a dream, but she supposed it could happen. Maybe this woman wasn't sleeping very comfortably. (And she was kind of right, even if she didn't know how morbidly so.)

"Okay, I'll wait. Don't let me distract you from what you were doing." She simply got closer to the entrance, looking for a place to rest her staff -- and then her feet, if she could.

Though she was curious about this dream. Was it really as mundane as it seemed? One woman in a lonely house ...

"Don't other people pass through here, to get to town?" she called. "I haven't seen anyone."

Tomoe paused a moment before taking a step back, moving to set the broom against the outer wall of the building. "I would not be a good host if I did not invite you in," she said.

"Others pass by, but mostly people come from Otsu to see my husband. I'm surprised that none of the children have come..."

"But you'd be careful. I know I must look pretty strange," Aerith answered, still taking the opening offered to come inside. She carefully placed her staff in a corner so it would stand upright without hitting anything. "Maybe they'll come by soon? But..." Her forehead wrinkled with thought before she turned to Tomoe. "It seems like such a sad day, in a strange way. Do you feel it too? ... Are you feeling all right?" Especially since she was the one dreaming this ... a dream where you were all alone ... for Aerith, such a quiet dream would always feel a bit strange. No crowds, no voice of the Planet, nothing but a quaint house. Nothing was happening. Wasn't that kind of weird for a dream?

"You are clearly not Japanese," Tomoe answered bluntly even as she made room for the self-proclaimed strange guest to enter the genkan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genkan) of the small one-room dwelling. 'Quaint' certainly described it well. The furnishings were sparse but there was still a homey feel to it, though that atmosphere was cut by that lingering unease.

Tomoe moved to work with the fire at the center hearth, pausing to remove her geta first. "It is getting colder," she answered. "Most people feel as such as the season changes..."

Even as the words left her lips that unease filled her, like pressure behind her eyes, a high pitched whine filling her ears and as if from a memory she heard Kenshin's voice in the back of her head No wonder it's so cold. It's snowing. She abruptly shook her head, the movement making both the pain and the empty noise recede. It was odd, downright disturbing--but she didn't want to acknowledge it. Whatever it was... something was telling her not to give it any attention.

"I can't help that," Aerith murmured at the blunt declaration. She almost moved further into the house, but then noticed Tomoe's care to remove her footwear. The flower girl did the same with her boots, wriggling one socked foot's toes on a whim; how strange it seemed, watching one's manners in a dream.

She looked up just in time to see that moment of unease, the shake of the head. She pursed her lips. Something was bothering Tomoe. But if the other woman wasn't talking about it, maybe it was better left alone. This was a dream. Maybe if she could get her to think of nice things, it would turn better ... and she would rest better. Being well-rested was always important for facing troubles.

"Even when winter comes, it means we've got spring to look forward to," Aerith said, standing up. "Those days will be much brighter. I'm going to plant more flowers in my garden." That topic for Aerith was nearly automatic, tried and true, something that always made her happy and seemed to at least interest others. Even if most were just astonished something actually grew in Midgar. It was worth a try. "Do you do anything special for spring?"

"We only came to Otsu a few months ago," she answered, reaching to set some water to boil. "We haven't begun any traditions yet." She tried to take Aerith's other words to heart, but there still seemed something so utterly permanent about the upcoming winter.

If Tomoe was aware of the change she didn't show any sign, but the interior of the house seemed to cool, both in temperature and in atmosphere.

"We started a garden here... I imagine we will plant another..."

Aerith wrapped her arms around herself as the temperature lowered, but she didn't press them tight together or make it too obvious she was doing it out of cold -- it wasn't too bad, maybe it was a draft. Still strange, though, and she paused before answering.

"Do you like it? Gardening, I mean."

"It is peaceful, certainly," she answered, looking back to her. "You are welcome to sit, Aerith-san." She motioned to the area catty cornered to her at the small hearth.

"Okay. Thanks." She sat, crossing her legs at the ankles as she did so. "I've always found it relaxing myself. I grow a lot of flowers, and I sell some of them too." There was a discreet glance at the water, wondering if it would boil as it normally did. She had already seen tea waterfalls in another dream.

The water indeed boiled--perhaps faster than it physically should have, and like much of the other inconsistencies of the dream, Tomoe seemed unaware. "I see," she answered, moving to add the tea leaves to the water to let it steep. "I have done some ikebana*."

[ooc; Japanese flower arranging]

The word--like so many others Tomoe had spoken, actually--was not in sounds that Aerith understood, yet somehow she got the meaning anyway. Like bouquets, yet ... different, somehow. Different just like the house Tomoe lived in was much different from hers in Midgar.

"I'd love to see that," Aerith said, momentarily distracted from the tea and the fact that Tomoe didn't know they were dreaming. "In fact, how about you show me something you've done, and I'll show you some of my flowers?"

In real life, the distances were insurmountable. But in a dream, the possibilities were only limited by imagination.

"I'm afraid that will need to wait until spring, Aerith-san, I haven't had flowers to arrange for several weeks now," Tomoe answered. "I'm fond of purple irises..."

"Yellow is my favorite for flowers," Aerith said, "but the two colors can make a nice contrast. But we really don't have to wait. We're dreaming, you know." She put that information out there impulsively -- it didn't really matter, right? Tomoe would have realized she'd been dreaming once she woke up, anyway.

Tomoe looked up abruptly at the statement, blinking a couple times. What an absurd statement, she thought. It seemed Aerith meant it quite seriously, but that was silly. "Are you sure you didn't come to see my husband, Aerith-san...?"

But there was a part of her that took the statement quite seriously--and that same part seemed to be the center of her unease. The mere action of thinking on the concept brought that whistling pressure back to her head and the sharp ache along her back.

The house became colder, the atmosphere becoming grayer, almost as though the walls were disappearing. Tomoe gave no sign that she was aware of this shift either, even as snow almost seemed to begin falling on the outermost edges of their vision.

This shift in atmosphere was much stronger, much more noticeable, and Aerith stiffened in her seat, pulling herself more firmly upright. Had that been a wrong thing to say after all? "I'm not," she said, politely but confidently. "I'd never heard of him before talking to you."

Tomoe obviously was convinced of the dream's reality, just as much as Aerith knew it wasn't real. Yet there was the strange shift, gray sky and white snowflakes dancing along her vision ... she shivered, both at the chill and a feeling that something was very badly wrong here.

"Are you trying to get back home?" she asked. There was a note of worry in her voice. The mind could blur reality and fantasy so easily; she thought back to one who had said she was in real danger, despite her happy dreamland. What if this woman's dream was keeping her from facing a threat? If it was already winter, and she wasn't home -- if she was alone, without shelter -- "Miss Tomoe. Where are you really? Please wake up."

That sound--like whistle or a siren--just seemed to get louder and louder in her mind, the pressure almost unbearable. The discomfort finally found her face in the slightest of grimaces, her left hand lifting to press against her eyes in an attempt to force it back.

"I..." she looked up again, brows knitting in clear pain and confusion. "What are you talking about--I am--"

"You should be happy Nee-chan. The time of Tenchuu has finally come for Battousai," it was a boy's voice, disembodied and almost echoing on non-existent wind--but there was no boy.

But Tomoe still reacted--eyes widening momentarily before she hunched forward, hands moving to cover her ears as the sound and pressure became deafening, that pain blossoming like fire over her shoulder. "No--no--I don't want to hear this--I don't want to know this--!!"

And just as suddenly as the scene had shifted to gray it was forced back to the rustic house, the atmosphere and temperature back to where it had started, the only thing out of place being Tomoe's posture.

She breathed shakily, her voice quiet, "I think... you should go now, Aerith-san..."

"Tomoe?" Aerith shot to her feet when the other woman hunched forward, her arms out to steady her if it was needed. And that other voice ... what did it mean? "Tomoe -- "

The cold vanished. The gray relented. But Tomoe stayed like that, and Aerith hovered with concern, shaking her head when she first heard her speak.

"But you ..."

"I'm fine," she answered, straightening, letting one hand fall to her lap, the other moving to cover her eyes as the deafening whistle dulled back down to a hum. "Please."

"No, something's not..."

Her protest died away when the dream abruptly faded to black. By the time she could see anything again, there were only the blankets in front of her face. She sat up in bed and rubbed a hand over her face, frowning.

"A sad place ... I hope she's all right."

Edited 2011-04-11 18:44 (UTC)

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[001]

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bah, sorry for slow

no prob, I've been a zombie myself XD;

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thiiis can't end well.

8D; not sure yet! pfffff

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ignore this edit, just fixing tense