Rescue Mission!

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Reasonably neat pencil note, smeared with mango, dated 1/10/08
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"She's gone" that’s how Blue greeted me out front of Haven. Bloody demons never talk proper. Who's gone I asked. "Joah, I’m going to miss her...she left with Emo-boy to find the Brat, shes been gone a long while" Translatin, Spirit Gal got escorted inta tha Dreamin by tha Maker ta snatch tha Little One outta her captivity. Things must notta gone smooth. All I could say was a hearty "fuck" and sit there considerin options.

Tha Dreamin aint a place ya should travel too on a whim, unless yer goin in tha usual way, in yer sleep. Tha rules are different fer dreamers and Realm-walkers. Fer one thing ya don’t wanna fall asleep there, or ya may never wake up. Other thing is that ya don't wanna go alone. Reality isn't fixed in tha Dreamin and havin a buddy about can make all tha difference between makin a quick trip and getting stuck like tha Little One did. Like I hoped Spirit Gal hadn't.

I needed a jaunt buddy. Someone that had tha grey matter and tha spiritual grunt ta take it serious. Normally I woulda asked tha Maker or tha Spirit Gal, but they were tha ones missin. Bright Gal woulda been good too, but I don’t have a hotline to tha heavens ta get in touch with her, even if it was fer her Little One. Captain Featherpants was on scheduled walkabout. Wasn't gunna make a bigger deal outta it than I needed to, without tha facts. A Reccy mission.

I collected tha Messenger, who came when I summoned a Messenger from Raven, filled with portents and visions. Who better ta take along with me inta tha Dreamin. I got a connection with Spirit Gal, a pretty strong one, I hope, and between that, and knowin where they launched off from, in this case, more eyewitness accounts, in front of tha Fireplace, I was pretty sure I could home in on tha Spirit Gal, at least, if they were still in there, or, wherever. I bundled up my kit, and fetched a smoke bundle.

Smoke is a good way ta break through to tha Realms, ta move inta tha Other. Helps even more, when ya have someone yer gunna pull through with ya. I went down to tha Fireplace, and took tha Messenger’s hand in paw, and asked her if she trusted me. “oui, you have never steered me badly so for” Close enough. I took a good grip, and tossed tha bundle inta tha fire. Tha dry leaves and resins caughts, and flared up in a plume of smoke, and with an act of will, we dragged our bodies inta tha Realm of tha Dreamin.

Funny thing about tha Dreamin. Ya often see yerself as ya dream ya were, or how ya dream yerself ta be, or, even yer past. It’s a crazy place. Tha Messenger, when she recovered, well, she had wings, nice frilly black wings. We were in a tall arched corridor, it was dim, cool and carved. Some kinda stone, I guess. It stretched away to tha left, but I heard water sounds to tha right. And turning my muzzle, I say that tha corridor ended and a swamp began. There were trees in tha water, like up North, where tha Croc’s live, but this didn’t look like mangroves. More like rainforest. It was dim, and there were figues in tha mist.

Most important, Spirit Gal was right there, at my paws. Oh, yeah, I was in my Native form, Four Legs, and I couldn’t talk. Win some, Lose some. In some dreams I can, in some I cant. She was asleep, and breathin slow. Tha Messenger tried talking to her, and I licked her ta wake her. She stirred but didn’t wake. I licked her some more, and pulled at her with my teeth. Still no good. Well, when a Packmate is down, and ya need ta wake them, there’s always pain. So I bit her.

On tha Shoulder, where I’ve bit her before. Just light ta start with, and gave her a bit of a shake, settlin my teeth in ta get a good grip, not hard enough to bite inta her flesh but. I shook her and managed ta get a noise outta her. Least that was a good sign. Tha Messenger spoke to her again, and she stared ta come around. When she did, and she saw who it was, we got a bit of tha story outta her as ta what had happened. Seems her and tha Maker had a difference of opinions and tha Dreamin drew it out of them and made it epic. That place does that too.

Short story, it got heated, too heated fer tha Maker, and he bailed, ditchin Spirit Gal in an exotic Realm she didn’t know how ta deal with. It did its thing, and sent her ta slepp. Problem is, if ya sleep in tha Dreamin, where do ya Dream into? And what is there ta wake ya? Nothin.

Getting back out, well, that’s not hard, if ya know how, neither, and can work it by will or skill. Some beins, like tha Fallen, or Feathers, can do it under their own steam easy. Magic. Some of us know how ta use tha Realm, and tha tagetherness of tha Other, ta skip from one to another. Tha Goddess is everywhere, and everywhere is of tha Goddess. Ya just have ta know how ta get her blessin. So we looked for a path. I lead, makin sure we passed tha other denizens at a distance, never good ta get mixed up in someone else’s dream if ya needn’t. We walked and waded through htha swamp, onta a beach, over hills and through lightning to a wall.

I saw tha sea on tha other side of tha wall up tha mountain, and it was just a matter of scalin it in order ta reach tha Sea. Tha Wide Water. I know it well. When we got to it, I had some trouble explainin tat ha Messenger and Spirit Gal they had ta look inta tha water, but not touch it. Ta see tha reflection of themselves at tha point and pass through. Times like that, talking is real bloody useful.

But we did it, Spirit Gal was afraid. Afraid of tha water. I wonder if she understood, that it bein tha Wide Water, it was connected to tha Wide River. Maybe she felt that. Not something I can recommend swimmin. That water is as cold as Death. Pardon tha pun. No death fer us on this trip though. I took them Home. To tha Island. We arrived on warm sand, under a gentle sunrise, and tha smell of seagrass and palm.

Her Ladyships island. Home. I took my Fleshie form for a bit, I like tha feel of sand between my toes and tha soft silks of tha couches on my skin, and made sure I could feed them both. THAT was hard work, but a tail fer another page.