Cutting Through Dreams (Sabbo)

The Dream Realm was in its usual state of lazy chaos. The sky was a patchwork wonder of various times of day and weather, a stormy night bleeding into a patch of clear blue sky. All these patches represented the inner state of the Dream Weaver residing beneath it, their home turfs. Joker's own land was bathed in morning mist, hiding itself from the perusal of others.

The only constant unchanging thing to be found were the Paths. Meandering roads of solid Dream Mist and Ethers, they were what the Dreamers walked in their sleep. Not physically, since they all appeared as golden spheres to the Weavers, but it was a reason why after certain dreams people could wake feeling as though they had traveled far. Not all spheres moved, some stayed stationary and thus gave the deepest and most restorative sleep.

Joker himself was walking down one path, observing the slow moving Dreamers. The brighter one glowed, the clearer the dream. A white one that floated to his left signaled a Weaver bestowing a prophetic dream. Shaking his head at such a skill, he rounded a corner and stared. A Dream Sphere was caught in a bush, something Joker had never seen before.

Sidling closer to it, he peered down in confusion. The sphere was cracked in places and parts shone more brightly than others. He'd seen a few weird spheres in his time, and this particular one gave him the feel of a psychopath. One who wasn't in complete control of himself or herself.

"Ara, has Joker found something new to join his collection of crazies?" he murmured as he poked it absentmindedly. Shrugging, he turned and walked a few steps away.

With a quick turn and leap he swan dived and vanished within the Dream Sphere, the golden hue changing to a pale lavender to signify it was occupied by a Weaver.

Tera walked slowly through the servants' paths in the walls of the castle, doing her best to stay quiet so as to not disturb the queen and her royal guests as they moved in the halls nearby with fanfare deserving of each of their ranks. Unlike these halls however, which were wide and tall enough to fit a large firedrake, the paths Tera travelled were dusty little things, barely of size to fit a child. Were Tera not crouching in her walk, she would've easily hit her head. She assumed this was partially to show the servants their place - to belittle them.

It took a while to navigate the maze in the walls, but eventually Tera reached her destination - the Main Kitchen - as it was only here that one could find all the best food. Usually, the servants were banned from the kitchen, and only paid cooks could enter, so the presence of a servant, let alone one who had intention of thievery, was highly punishable.

Poking around in all the pots and ovens throughout the kitchen, Tera found it odd that every single one of them was being used, even though none of the cooks were around. she surmised that the queen and her guests were going to eat soon, but she knew she would need to be quick, just in case one of the cooks returned.

When she finally reached the large pantry opposite the entrance to the servants' paths, she started searching through to see what food she might take back with her to where she and the other servants took board. After all, having wheat & rye broth day-in, day-out... it was very unappetising.

Just as Tera had found what she wanted, however, she heard a voice in the kitchen behind her, and quickly ducked into a corner, behind a barrel of salt.

OoC: I started out unhappy with this piece, but now I like it. I'll PM you some info about what's going on here.

The Weaver was a bit perplexed as he stared about the scene. The Dreamer appeared normal and the dream itself one Joker had seen to varying degrees in his time. People had a fixation for royalty and castles, he'd found out. Funny how people, no matter what land or time they lived in, would always experience a dream with a medieval bent.

That little tangent aside, Joker was still confused and that more than anything made him explore the dream in a deeper sense. Weavers had long stopped using their ability to see hidden meaning and potentials within a Dreamer, a silly thing since that was their main purpose - seeing the potential and nurturing it with dreams. Too many had enjoyed the power they had over the subconscious minds of others.

Closing his eyes to focus, he reopened them, the icy ring around his pupil glowing brightly as an outward expression oh his powers being in use. Here was the missing link he was looking for - using this power it would highlight parts of the dream that were integral to the Dreamer. Immediately, he saw the discrepancies as multiple items shone with varied colored lights. The dreamer herself and most of the castle were limned in a green light. Joker understood that clearly, she was one with strong beliefs and was a solid person to depend upon. The little paths she crawled through however... could be taken to mean she was one to think of many ways to achieve an end, taking the most expedient even if it were not the most comfortable.

Shrugging, Joker left that part of the dream and walked through the kitchens. Here the red that surrounded all the various cooking pots was not indicative of the heat, but of another presence asserting itself within the dreamer. He had no doubt that the green, being the most dominant color was the main aspect but this red... was it the advent of another personality slowly coming out? The way some of the pots were bubbling, Joker didn't think it would be a pleasant process.

Puzzling over it, he peeked outside to where a voice had called out. It called out again, and Joker realized it was one of the people who had been with the Queen. This female attendant was not bathed in any light and dressed in an outfit befitting a servant who spent much of their time in the kitchens.

"Now now, where be the dish for those favored by the Queen? I'm sure Sally left it here earlier..." the maid muttered. She was moving towards the pantry in her efforts to find this elusive dish and Joker followed, a specter unseen by those in the dream.

"Ara, so many personalities within this one dream and unseen unless looked for deeply... be this why the cracks were appearing? Something is breaking apart within the Dreamer's mind?" the Weaver thought aloud, yet unheard. He was curious, too curious to let such a dream go by and he wanted to know what would happen should this Green Spirit be caught by the nosy maid. Would she be brought forth to this Queen who was bathed in a brilliant white light and held a court of people who seemed to be the most uptight folk Joker had laid eyes upon?

Hiding behind the barrel, Tera felt a rush of adrenaline through her body. The voice is getting closer... maybe I can get away if I go quickly, she thought. Heck, there was only one voice, and therefore one person, so of course I can!

Acting on this impulse, Tera jumped out of her hiding place, startling the maid Tera found just outside. Tera, not realising that the maid would've likely helped her, jumped past the woman and up onto a benchtop. As swift as a bird, she darted along the benches and tables, running straight over dozens of burning and bubbling things being cooked without a single misstep. If it weren't for the fact that she wasn't meant to be there, just watching what she was doing would be exciting.

As she reached the other end of the kitchen though, Tera saw that some crates had been moved in front of the hidden door to the servants' pathways. "Gah; no way out... where should I go?" She thought aloud, "Ah, I know..."

Running as fast as she could at the crates, she focused and ran on the crates, lucky enough with her momentum to take three steps on the wall and launch herself up to the rafters. Clambering up, Tera wondering what she should do now.

"Hrmm... perhaps the main door?" Tera considered this, but then shook her head, "no, there are too many people out there... I need to think harder."

Walking along the rafters, Tera considered her options, while the maid below - having given up the chase long ago - was returning to the dining hall carting a large trolley stacked with countless local and imported chocolates, as per the queen's wish.

OoC: 'Nother PM, coming your way.

Joker raised a brow in admiration at the girl's quick thinking and agility. Really, it was interesting how her personality and aura had changed from being stable minded green to a proactive red. It told Joker how fragile a state the Dreamer was in, a situation that could go in so many different directions that Joker immediately knew he had to get his hands in personally to see what would occur.

Figuring his hair would be a bit too odd given the location, Joker changed it to a dark brown and left his clothes as they were. He probably looked like a minstrel down on his luck and the girl would be too happy with his help to question him strongly.

Deftly twitching the Dream Ethers that gave things form in dreams, he positioned himself in a newly made tunnel that would lead to the room the Queen was. Looking around its corner, he waved to catch the young woman's attention.

"Psst! If you're looking for a way out, come this way!" winking at her in a conspiratorial manner, Joker beckoned her towards his tunnel.

"If you be really quiet we can sneak into the empty minstrel wings above the main area and spy on Queenie!"

OoC: Sorry sorry this was so short and so.. bland >_< I've been stopping and starting this post for the last couple of days... and I figure this way you can determine where they go next ^^

OoC: Short and "bland" is fine; it's not like I'm great at non-blandiness. :/

BiC: Not one to reject a good idea when she heard one, Tera flipped off from the rafters, landing in a crouch. "Sounds like a plan," she said as she stood up.

Oblivious to the fact that this tunnel had only just appeared, Tera entered and followed the young man through. It was a short walk through the slightly-crumbled path before they reached a ladder, which the man pointed up, indicating that they should climb it.

Spying on the queen sounds like a great idea; I wonder if I'd be able to steal some of her food, or at least have a little bit of fun. Tera began to get excited as she climbed the ladder.

When they reached the top, Tera pushed aside a large wooden board - the standard form of door for the servants' tunnels - and crawled through, out onto the lower tier of the left minstrel wing.

Looking down below to the expansive dining hall, the two of them saw the queen and her guests all seated at a circle table at one end of the room, while the cooks returned to the kitchen with the remains of the main course. "Good thing we left that place when we did then," Tera thought aloud.

Glancing across at the man who'd helped her made Tera start to think about what she was doing.

Why the heck am I watching the queen? It's not like she's doing anything interesting - she's just eating. I may as well just follow the tunnels pack to the servants' quarters.

Looking back, Tera could no longer see where they had entered, and when she turned to ask the man about it, something occurred to her.

"Did you always have blue hair?"

OoC: Mwahaha! PM Time!

Joker blinked in surprise at her question. He had made his hair brown had he not? He was certain he had... a quick roll of his eyes upwards confirmed the girl's words.

"Ara, how strange that Joker's hair became this shade!" he exclaimed, pulling a lock down and staring at it until he was cross eyed. Beyond the strand he could see the girl watching him closely, her eyes growing more suspicious and less... reckless.

Narrowing his own, he again used his powers and realized the main personality had changed once more. Now the light surrounding her reflected that of the current room, a white that apparently cut through his pretenses and illusions.

"How annoying you will be," Joker sighed morosely, crossing his arms as he regarded her. "Joker can see you will be a stick in the mud... but not even muddy mud but CLEAN mud. Joker made sure he avoided people like you while he was growing up... mayhap we should detour through to the kitchens once more? You had a nicer glow there..."

Trailing off, he put a hand to his chin as he considered the options before them. He could continue try and see if her personality was dependent on location or if it was based on the situation at hand. Would danger spark a quick change to her red personality? The current area led itself to the current righteous looking character before him...

Realizing he was regarding her as a scientist would a guinea pig, he suddenly grinned at her in a decidedly winsome way, "Ara, do you have any strange urge to run around a cage wheel? Or to run beneath the tables of food and nibble on Queenies toesies?"

OoC: Sorry its so short and ... well... I'm rusty and didn't quite know where to lead this XDDDDD

"What are you talking about? 'Toesies'? Are you five?" Tera asked, growing tired of this strange and rather childish man.

The man who called himself Joker did not seem to like this answer, continuing to look around for something. Perhaps through a plan of some sort or perhaps regular foolishness, the man jumped off the edge of the balcony, sliding down the hanging curtain to the floor below, and while staying out of sight, quickly made his way to the kitchen.

"Ugh; what is that man doing?" Tera said to herself. "If he gets caught, I... I better go catch him."

Following the energetic man's lead, Tera climbed over the edge of the balcony and slid down the curtain, albeit with less skill than her target. Landing louder than she would've liked, Tera quickly hid behind the curtains, waiting until as many of the diners were as distracted as possible. After a few minutes, she darted to a nearby table and hid behind it, carefully finding her way to the kitchen.

As Tera did her best to make sure the nobles didn't see her, she noticed that the queen seemed very bored, picking at her chocolates slowly and every few seconds absently nodding at what the old man next to her was saying. When the old man finally stopped talking, the monarch looked around the room, admiring the intricacies in the room's architecture. Unfortunately for Tera though, one of these intricacies happened to be the floor-to-ceiling stained glass window she had to run past.

"Bring that servant to me," the queen declared, standing up from the table and pointing, "I will not tolerate such disobedience!" Upon hearing this command, all the maids and chefs hurriedly stopped what they were doing and ran after Tera, along with just shy of half the nobles doing the same. Fearing for what may happen to her, Tera bolted for the kitchen, hoping that the strange blue-haired man would have an idea. After ducking past a number of pursuers, Tera finally made it into the kitchen. Before she could find the man or a place to hide however, the staff and nobles had caught up with her.

"Bring me a pan," the queen said to a cook as she entered the kitchen, motioning with her hands for the nobles to step aside. As Tera glanced around one last time to find the strange man, she felt conflicted on whether she should admit defeat, or keep running.

From his vantage point under a table beside the doorway, Joker frowned in confusion. He wasn't puzzled by the girl of course; he could read her expression quite clearly. It was the queen who was an unknown in the dream.

After all, Joker couldn't fathom why she was calling for a pan now of all times. Having just captured an erstwhile servant did she intend to clap her over the head with the cooking implement? Did she feel that showing her prowess in the kitchen, and the fact a queen did indeed know the name of a lowly cooking implement, would bedazzle her subjects?

The far more likely truth was she probably thought Tera would make an excellent addition to her meal.

The confusion on Tera's face was becoming more pronounced - Joker could practically hear her trying to decide whether to run as her red aura would have or to give herself up to the queens justice as her most recent state of mind would have her do.

That left Joker wondering what he in turn would do. Should he observe and see what path her auras would lead her or would he play the dashing hero and rescue her from her plight?

A servant gingerly handed the Queen the cleanest pan currently available in the kitchens.

The Queen inspected it carefully before turning her piercing gaze on Tera.

Joker realized as well that it was now or never to rescue the girl. Rolling his eyes at the chore since she was only meant to be a puzzle, not a damsel in distress, he opened a portal above her and dropped down beside her. Neatly whisking her snugly in his arms he gave the Queen a cheeky wink.

'Arara, Joker cannot have you eating his puzzle! He needs all the pieces to make it right!' he proclaimed, skirting around a table then kicking it over so it made a barrier between the two groups.

'Seize them!' the Queens words echoed in the kitchens.

'Do you have a plan?!' Tera asked quickly.

'Duck!' Joker answered pulling her down so the table hid them from view, smoothly making another portal that dropped them into another part of the castle he sensed. Really, he’d never fully appreciated his Dream Weaver powers until now.

The new room they were in was dark except for a sliver of light that came from a gap in the heavy curtains that covered the windows. The other impression Joker had was one of size. Standing, he absentmindedly pulled out his dagger, disregarding Tera's sudden stillness at the sight of the weapon.

'What -' she began but Joker cut her off with a grin, his teeth a fleeting impression of white in the heavy darkness.

'Joker needed a light,' he explained, and on the last word his dagger became luminescent, illuminating the room.

Joker gave a small whistle of appreciation, 'Well they won't find us in here for a while... Not unless Queenie wishes to take a nap in her royal chambers of course.'

The blue-haired man's actions had utterly confused Tera. First it seemed like he wanted to get her into trouble, and then he got her out of it? The young woman just wished the man would calm down.

Focusing on the matter at hand though, Tera faced the odd man. "What is going on here? Who are you? And what is with that knife of yours? I hope for your sake that you don't want to hurt me." She was speaking rather quickly, not caring if her sentences ran into one another.

Just as the man was about to respond, Tera recalled what had just happened in the kitchen, raising her hand to stop him. "...And did you just call me a puzzle?"

OoC: Sorry about the shortness, but Tera's a bit muddled at the moment.

Joker couldn't help but give a little giggle at her words. Harm her? If he wanted to he wouldn't even need a knife since they were residing in what could be termed as a manifestation of her mind.

Rather than getting into a discussion about her mental state, he focused instead on her last question.

"But of course you be a puzzle and one of the more interesting sorts Joker rarely gets to see! You be a morphing puzzle with changing shapes and colors so Joker never knows when something will fall out of place~!" Grinning at her, he twirled around, his dagger shining a beam of light around the room as he did so.

Really, the room was quite a scene of harsh decadence. Harsh in that everything was so very proper and straight with nothing out of place, why just looking at the bed with its tightly tucked in sheets filled Joker a strong urge to jump upon the pristine sheets and rumple them...

Turning back to Tera he grinned wickedly before quickly hoisting her up and throwing her on to the bed, following after in a more dignified manner.

"What are you doing?!" Tera hissed at him, struggling to get off the bed but being hindered by Joker's bouncing that made moving a lot more difficult than normal.

Looking at her with wide innocent eyes he answered, "Why, rumpling the Queen's bedding of course! It be a horrid shame that all this rich velvet covering and plush pillows be so strictly made - Joker is but making them more comfortable!"

Before Tera could respond they both heard a door open and they both froze, turning towards the only door in the room. As it remained shut, Joker concluded that the Queen must indeed have a suite of rooms, and that the door to what must be her receiving room had opened.

"Ara... this be a lot sooner than Joker anticipated..." he stood a top the bed, lightly scratching his chin with the tip of his still lit dagger as he pondered what they could do next.

He could forcibly wake Tera up, but to do so he would have to leave her Dream Sphere first so he could mark it and make it easier to find next time she woke. Or he could continue letting the Dream unfold as it would, and see if any more answers were to be had. As of yet he had found nothing conclusive about her mental state aside from what seemed to be a case of multiple personalities residing within her.

The Queen? Tera wondered in her confusion ...No, that's impossible; we're too far away for her to have gotten to her main bedroom already from the dining hall.

"Joker. I'm not sure who that is out there, but what I am sure about is that they won't take kindly to us being here. We've got to get out of here before whoever it is sees us, and since I'd rather not go through whatever you just did again, we're taking the servants' paths." Upon finishing her words, Tera quickly got off the bed and headed to a corner of the room.

"Now I know that there's a door here somewhere..." Tera was mumbling as she passed her hands along the warm stone wall. "Ah, here we go," she said as she found a groove she could get her hand into. Pulling the door out carefully, Tera took a quick look at the main door of the room and then the weird man.

"I don't care if you think I'm a 'puzzle', but could you stop looking at me like that? It's unsettling," Tera told him. "Now are you coming or what?" she said as she ducked into the passageway, leaving the man behind to make his own choice.

Joker twirled the end of his long ponytail about his finger, watching as Tera disappeared into the secret passage way. Really, it made him wonder if this place actually existed - she seemed to know where things were in a way that made it likely. Either that or she was manifesting things within the dream as Dreamers were wont to do in times of trouble.Amazing what the imagination can conjure when in need.

From behind he could hear the person who was in the other room moving about, coming closer to the door to the Queen's bedchamber.

Servant or someone else? he wondered idly, moving towards the gaping hole in the wall. On his way he paused to pilfer an apple that was sitting in a bowl by the Queen's bed. Queenie apparently liked the fruits as a snack before bedtime.

When he entered the tunnel, Tera was tense, keeping an eye past him. Eying her, he perceived she was now in her 'green' mode; he could just imagine she would have been bristling with impatience for him if she were in her red one. Needless to say, she shut the passage opening, plunging them into darkness.

"I don't suppose you'll light the way?" her voice was steady in the deep shadow.

Grinning, Joker fished out his dagger, lighting it up and looking at her in the pale glow, "Where did Mistress Tunnel Finder wish to go? Joker assumes you have a place in mind?"

About to say something, she frowned when she noticed him holding the apple. He raised a brow and lightly threw it to her, watching as she took a bite.

"There are other kitchens in this castle," she finally said, "We were in the main one earlier but we should be able to get into the others. I haven't eaten in awhile and with all this excitement..." she paused, turning around.

"Follow me and don't get lost."

Joker snorted. It was more likely she didn't want to lose the light he had but he followed meekly behind her. Not see her as a puzzle? She was the one who was experiencing hunger in a dream!

Tera may have known these tunnels like the back of her hand, but she did not trust the same of this stranger. Periodically taking bites from the apple Joker gave her, she figured some conversation was in order; after all, she didn't even know anything about who she was with other than his name.

"So. Joker," she began, "what's with your hair anyway? I've never seen blue hair before." Tera faced the man, starting to walk backwards and holding her left hand against the wall to use the number of bricks she felt to keep track of where they were.

"Ara, obviously you don't go out much! Or, if you do, obviously you hasn't seen everything in the world as yet. It be fine, Joker understands you are still young. Can't have been everywhere and seen everything yet. Would be boring, yes?" the strange man replied.

"Umm... yeah, I guess so." Tera sighed and faced back forward. Why did I offer him to come with me in here again?

Around half a minute later of silence, Tera stopped and crouched, looking at the stones on the floor. Although a bit uncomfortable with the childish figure peering over her shoulder, she continued her search. Brushing away the dust, Tera found a wooden box in the floor in place of a stone and started to pry it out. Finding a large yet dull knife inside, she smiled slightly, taking it out and holding it back-handedly. With one swift movement, she then stabbed it into the wall she had earlier been counting the bricks of, perfectly in the crevice between two stones.

While Joker stepped around Tera, holding up his knife and thus making it easier to see what she was doing, Tera put both her hands on the handle of the knife and pushed as hard as she could to the side, slowly levering open a thick stone doorway. After putting knife back in its box and into the floor, Tera began to walk down the new corridor, moving faster the closer she got to the end.

"Welcome, Mr. Joker," Tera announced as they reached the end of the path, "to the bakery." Sliding away the board which covered the exit, Tera clambered out, grabbed the nearest chef's hat and stuffed her hair inside, and turned around.

"Do I look like I can cook?" she exclaimed, oblivious to the two people waiting for their bread to bake in a far corner of the room.

OoC: I've stuff to say now!

Before Joker could comment, on the ill-suiting hat and her sudden personality change she picked up a skillet (Joker had no idea where she pulled it from since they were in a bakery and skillets had no place in one that he knew of) and looked around for a place to put it. Apparently he wasn't the only one to have sudden doubts about her ability in the kitchen.

"Now see 'ere, lil missy, no hat is all it takes to make a cook!" he stood up, almost menacingly given his wide bulk and pointed a meaty finger at Tera, "If'n ye be wantin' to learn, then watch good an' proper as the young'uns should!"

He puffed over, pushing Tera aside with the mere bulk of his body as his friend just shook his head and tisked in a put upon manner.

Joker sidled closer to Tera who was watching the big man avidly.

"Ara, Joker gets the impression he be a man who gets patronized often by the higher chefs..." he didn't even bother murmuring it, as would have been more polite. The other man looked over and laughed.

"Ah yes, old Gustav here always likes to mutter and moan about the chefs of the Queen. We're not the important ones, we only ever cook the bread and what attention does she pay to it with all her finer meats and desserts piled before her?" he smiled and shrugged, "A hard life it is, to be unacknowledged."

"Unacknowledged! Oh if'n I wanted acknowledgment I've a sure fire way to gettin' it!" Gustav roared as he pummeled a round of dough on the table. Joker stared at him then at Tera. Dreams were all well and good but he couldn't for the life of him imagine what dark corner of her mind had conjured up a character of this ... magnitude. Had she met a crazy baker like this before or was it just the imaginings of her red aura'd mind? Creating a person of as volatile a nature as she herself was projecting?

Absently, Joker sheathed his dagger and hopped onto a table to watch Gustav's almost frantic but strangely ordered actions. Having no real input he picked up another apple that just happened to be on his table and threw it at Tera.

"Joker thinks the bread can do with some apple. For sweetness!" He smiled at her all innocent like and waved his other hand, motioning for her to give it to the chef in a bit of helpfulness. He was almost certain Gustav would either chuck a bigger hissy-fit at the addition to his bread or create a culinary wonder.

Either way, it gave him uninterrupted time to turn inwards and survey the castle. He wanted to know WHY this Dreamer's personality changed so much. Perhaps he might need to dig deeper into the foundations of the castle so to speak and unearth some clues.

Tera thought the apple was a wonderful idea as she rolled it around in her hand. Pinching a fistful of dough from Gustav, she set to rolling the fruit up inside the potential bread. While Gustav at first wanted to take the dough back, when he saw what Tera was doing with it he pulled back his hand. "Now that'll be a baked app'l I've ne'er 'av seen before," he laughed, "I look forward t'see what it makes!"

Tera picked up her creation and turned it in her hand, frowning. "Something seems wrong," she mused, "I wonde... Ah! I know." Turning halfway around, she dug her thumb and forefinger in and pulled, revealing what remained of the stem.

"Wouldn't want to eat that," she said as she ran over to the oven the smaller man was tending to. Opening the iron hatch, Tera threw the dough-covered apple directly into the fire, ignoring the man's complaints, closing the door and pushing a table against it so that he couldn't get her apple out.

A few minutes later, when Gustav came to bake his own bread, he easily pushed aside the table Tera was leaning on and opened the door. After switching what was baking in the oven, he used a long fire-poker to he skewer Tera's apple, pulled it out, looked at it with curiosity, and set it on the table. "It got quite a bit of char on the outside... but hey, it might be edible."

OoC: So that took around half an hour of in-character time (not writing time) in case you were curious. Also, I'm bad with accents .__.