onepassingnight | In the woods with no one around...

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In the woods with no one around...

[The forest is dense enough to inhibit light, leaving a dappled pattern of shadow on the ground as the thin sun filters through the leaves. There are no obvious landmarks, but Mercury walks purposefully, as if she knows the way.

For all her bravado, the distant sound of a waterfall grows no closer; and when she comes to a small pile of rocks, she stops short.

She was here just a moment ago.

Cautiously now, Mercury keeps a wary eye on her surroundings and stays alert to every noise and rustle. To be sure of herself, she slips off one glove and lays it beside the rocks.

Straightening, the senshi moves forward again. But although she seems to make progress, ultimately she finds herself back at the pile yet again - and the glove remains exactly where she left it. She is lost.

Or trapped.]

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[no. No, Cloud's got LOTS of experience with girls in short skirts and he's very good at behaving himself. It's a show of respect - and he also knows he'd get his teeth kicked in. He may be male, but he's not suicidal.

Once Ami's safely at the top though, he can concentrate on just himself. He has no idea what's at the top, whether it's another trap or something else entirely but being on the cliff face and unable to be a help isn't how he wants to spend his time. So he doesn't bother hold back and try to pretend he's 'normal' once it's just sheer cliff face in front of himself. Tightening his fingers on a sturdy outcrop, he lets his feet and free arm go. A quick heft with his anchored arm and he gets the soles of his boots almost directly under him, so that he's all but crouched vertically on the stone face. Then it's just a matter of pushing off hard and arching.

Gravity takes a kick to the nuts.

Cloud lands in an easy crouch at the top of the cliff and straightens smoothly, eyes narrowed slightly. He's not sure what the shimmer in the air means but Ami doesn't look alarmed. There's single chin dip of a nod to show he's ready to go.]

Now what?

[That seems to take her aback, just for a second, when she hadn't even batted an eye at his physical abilities.]

You don't see it?

[It's there, thin and hard to see but so present to the girl straining to look for it. Mercury nods towards the portal to draw attention to the right point.]

That leads back to the human world. [Which is another thing Cloud can ask about once they're there.] I'll go first. I can re-open it if anything happens.

[Without further delay, she steps forward, and if she's nervous about where she may end up after all, she doesn't show it as her head stays high.]

[he doesn't see what she's gesturing toward. He can tell there's something strange about the air in front of them but there's nothing specific for him. His eyebrows do go up a little at the 'human world' term but he's not going to ask. When she starts forward though, he takes one long stride and falls in next to her. Of course he's not going to simply trust this place or shimmery air. He'll put a hand on her shoulder. He's not letting them get separated.]

We'll go together.

[She stiffens, as she almost always does at touch; but with a conscious effort, she relaxes her shoulder again, and nods.

When she steps through the portal, their hands stay joined, though she seems to be pulling on Cloud's arm suddenly.]

[he's familiar with that reaction to foreign touch himself so he doesn't let it phase him. He also doesn't let go of her either though, taking her hand and wrapping his fingers firmly. At her nod, he gives his own in return and steps through.

Things blur. But he feels the tug on his arm and he tightens his grip, other hand sliding back to curve around the hilt of his sword.]

[They're in a spacious, clean, white building. Mercury seems to recognize it; at least, she relaxes a little once they're inside and the warped space closes behind them both.]

We're here. [She turns her head to the side, speaking to Cloud over her shoulder.] You weren't injured? It normally takes a person with a good amount of power to travel between these dimensions so easily.

[whether it's because it's Ami's dream that goes easy on him or Cloud just is that used to strange power coursing through him, but he shakes his head. A little vertigo - but no where near as bad as his motion sickness can be. He lets go of her hand but he stays close as he looks around the building.

It's new to him.

Looking down at her hip, curious to whether it's still there or if it disappears when it finishes its use, he asks:]

Do you still have the string?

No. It vanished once it wasn't needed anymore. [But somehow she doesn't quite meet his eyes when she says this; in fact, she looks away.

It's no lie; he can see that for himself easily enough. But she, at least, is not surprised the help only lasts this long.]

[Cloud doesn't consider himself the most observant but he still notices the change in her. For a minute, he's simply silent, looking at her and then, voice low as always, he asks:]

What was that string, Ami?

That string was someone deciding to help us. [It's not nearly adequate enough of an explanation.]

[since they seem to be in no immediate danger, Cloud will simply stay where he is - waiting for the rest of the explanation. It's not demanding; she can 'distract' him any time she wants with a dozen other things but it's strange to see her so closed in and he can't decide if she wants to tell him something or not.]

[When she wakes up, she'll decide this dream self was deluded, for the simple reason that she's drifted so far from Kunzite's ideals that she can hardly imagine he'd still pick her up (but she'll be so relieved that he did, that she hasn't been abandoned).

Right now, it's simply the fulfillment of their promise.]

The leader of the shitennou, Kunzite. He has power in this forest. Probably, that thread came from him. [Who else could it be?]

[o-kay... She's mentioned the shitennou before. He'll give a grunt and a single nod to show he heard. It does make him wonder about this Kunzite though. Because it was either the forest or the man that's made Ami go quiet like this. Either way he doesn't pry. Instead he looks around them and asks the obvious question.]

Where are we?

We've returned to the human world. The Dark Kingdom is within a separate subspace dimension. [She gestures to indicate their surroundings.]

This is the science building of the university. It may seem strange, but it's one of the places, along with a nearby bridge, where the borders between those two dimensions is at its easiest to cross.

[he'll nod, that single chin dip but his eyes go back to her after another scan of the room. He's still waiting.]

Now what?

[This is what she likes about Cloud: He's quick to understand the situation as she explains it.]

Now we return. This is only the dream world.

Cloud. Because of you, I started to move again.

[he looks at her. And blinks. Of course, it's just a dream. It makes sense. Except he hadn't thought it until she'd said it. His brows do come down though at her second statement and he'll gift her with an amazingly articulate:]

What?

[She slips into an explanatory, almost didactic tone.]

This is a part of the dream world; whether the human world within it, or the Dark Kingdom. Sooner or later, we'll wake up from this.

Does that make it futile?

[he was actually talking more about the 'her starting to move' bit with his question but he'll just accept her other answer instead with a soft sound low in his throat. At her question though, his eyebrows come up. Luckily she caught him today. Not tomorrow. Because today he can seriously think over her question and then shake his head. Cloud's not the best at explaining things sometimes but he'll try.]

If we're both real and we just cross in our dreams than - no. If one of us is just part of the dream than it's something the dreamer needs to hear but can't work out themselves. So the answer's still no. Tonight was important. Dream or not. I'm glad I got to be a part of it with you.

[She's not going to revisit that statement. In fact, the misunderstanding was at least half intentional on her part.]

Dreams are sometimes just dreams. [She doesn't really believe that, not somewhere deeper inside her; she gives them more significance than most people might, in fact.]

Sometimes. I don't think this is one of those.

[Does he really want this story? 'Kunzite is the one who brought me to the Dark Kingdom. When I betrayed him, he would have killed me here. That timeline changed.']

You shouldn't give them too much importance. Besides, we're already away from the forest.

[And then, after a pause that suggests this sort of thing is harder for her to say than telling him the full story would be:]

Thank you for helping in that.

[his eyes lift and he watches her for a moment. He understands by now what her verbal 'thank you' means. After a minute, he simply nods, a single duck of his chin. Anything else would probably embarrass them both. Instead, he raises his face. If it's a dream that means it's time to go. Morning and deliveries can't be far away. It's the first time he's consciously been aware enough in a dream to decide to wake up. His body starts to blur at the edges, trailing white light tinged with blue - and the winding whisper of black soot.]

I'll see you around than, I guess.

Until later.

[It's a nice change from goodbye.]

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In the woods with no one around...

very, very sound plan ;)

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