Canis had been in those woods more times than she cared to count. Every tree, every little creek, even the crickets little choir played like an old record in her mind. A map she could navigate blindfolded. And she might as well have been as she made it through the endless darkness. Well, almost endless. She knew that if she made it through the forest she would find the door.
Fearlessly, she pushed through the thick branches as they scratched her arms raw. Deeper and deeper she plunged into the brush until she came to a clearing, where she waited. The tree's flickered, images swirling in the beginnings of her brother's unconscious. She had watched this happen a million times, and yet, it never ceased to amaze her-the inner workings of a dream being born. Not because she ever had any dreams, of course, one could say her very existence was a dream.
Snap.
In the distance she heard the faint crunch of twigs being crushed. Canis spun around. There, through the trees she say her brother running along the edge of a river bank. Close on his heels, a monstrous shadow chased him, long tendrils reaching to rip him apart.
Jason had grown over the years. When she had fallen asleep he had been a four-year-old-riddled with baby fat. Now he was a tall, handsome high schooler. Which made her around what she guessed was eighteen/nineteen years old.
As she watched the deadly game of tag, she noticed her brother had changed directions and was now running straight for her. The sound of footsteps tearing the forest floor was loud, louder than anything she'd ever heard. A deep hum resonated around her as she stood, listening to her brothers heartbeat. She knew this was just a nightmare, that he wasn't in any real danger, but still it was insane just how real it all seemed. Canis could feel the intensity of his senses in overdrive, reacting as if there were a real threat.
"Canis?" Jasons soft voice called to her.
Her eyes blurred as she turned to look at him. His plain clothes were ripped and torn, bloody slash marks across his torso even though there was no wound from what she could see. Another thing she noticed in that moment is that dreams were often very plain, leaving the individuals brain to fill in the blanks. Such as plain clothes of a single color, that could be imagined as anything. Or a giant shadow chasing you, which could morph into a werewolf or a pack of zombies.
"Canis help me, please," Jason rushed to her. His blue eyes were wide with fear. "We have to go-it's coming."
This was just a dream to him. He thought she was part of it. That was it, all she was to him was a dream. Something he makes up every night. Little did he know that she was real, that she was here on purpose every night to watch over him. A shrill howl cut through the dark as the shadow figured out where he was.
Jason grabbed her arm, pulling her with him as he ran back the way Canis had came. "Don't worry, I'll protect you!"
If she closed her eyes, she might have been able to envision Jason as he was before. A small, scared toddler pulling her hand to play hero. She remembered this game, the knight and the princess (though she had always insisted on playing the knight and he the damsel in distress). Canis inhaled the sweet scent of petrichor and mildew, the fluttery feeling of going home after being away for a long time swirled in her stomach. But this wasn't home, it wasn't even real.
Jason lurched forward, falling face-flat into the dirt. Canis tripped over him, rolling away as the shadow pounced from nowhere. Her brother couldn't move. He desperately tried to yank his ankle free, but it was like the roots had come alive and wrapped around it.
"Canis!" His voice halted her thoughts, pulling her back to the moment as the shadow grabbed at his legs. "Run! Save yourself-AHHH!" The beast took form; a giant half man, half wolf dug its claws into his collar. Canis gasped, trying to remember to breathe as the werewolf mauled her little brother.
It's just a dream, she reminded herself, rising to her feet with shaky legs. Her thought seemed to echo through the forest as the monster dragged her brother away to finish the kill. Trees started to crumble, the sound of falling sand and shattering glass following close behind. Jason was waking up as all do when they die in their dreams. And his Dreamscape was collapsing without him there to provide the foundation.
Canis felt the earth ripple and tilt beneath her, devouring the forest like a blackhole. She could feel her feet slipping as she rushed upward, fighting against the torrent in a race towards the door. In the distance, the faint blue glow beckoned her forward, flooding her body with adrenaline as she neared it. Her hands used the tree roots as if they were a ladder, leading her to salvation.
As her hand wrapped around the golden handle and threw open the door, the backlash of the collapse pushed her into the glowing white hall. In every direction, doors were losing their glow as their dreamers woke, each labeled with a unique name and number code. Canis rolled onto her back, using her hands to hold herself up as she watched the last of her brothers Dreamscape disappear into a black void. She realized the beating heart she could still hear pounding in her ears was not Jason's, it was her own.
She knew not what would happen if she were ever caught in the disassembling of a dream, but so far, she had been lucky enough to never find out. Blood still pumping furiously in her veins, Canis stood, swinging Jason's door closed. She wasn't ready to wander the maze of dreamscapes back to her own, instead, she decided it was a good morning for a walk through the Dream Kingdom.
Though she knew she shouldn't wander, she couldn't help but feel reinvigorated at the possibilities of what she might find. It was far better than returning to her empty Dreamscape; alone.
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