Day One

[Wayfarer]

"Good morning...  Good morning?..  Good morning..."

 

Repeating himself as he shook Lianrin's uninjured shoulder gently, Anton grinned as he saw how stubbornly her subconscious was trying to keep her sleeping.  It was a bit earlier than what they had been getting up at when they were travelling, he'd gone easy on her because he had wanted to make sure he didn't push her and do any permanent damage to her.  But she was in the clear now, that and he was fairly sure she'd gotten the best sleep since leaving her home.  A bed could do wonders after time spent sleeping on the hard earth, as it clearly had for Lianrin because she was so reluctant to awaken.

 

Eventually he began to get through to her as he took her arm and began to move it in a pumping action.  It might be easy enough to ignore being shaken this morning, but getting her blood pumping by moving her arm would be a different matter altogether.  It resulted in her snatching her arm away as she realised what was happening and him getting swatted with her pillow and none too gently either.  Chuckling, Anton knew he at least had her attention now.

 

"Time to get up.  Now, in case you don't remember, we're at the Tracker Lodge.  I'm Anton, and you need to get ready for the day ahead of you.  Now, I've laid out some things over there."  Pointing to the desk, there was both a towel and a bar of soap there.  "There's stream outside about eighty or so yards away.  Go have a good scrub, but be quick because its a bit chilly outside.  I'll be in here cooking breakfast, with any luck it'll be done by the time you're finished.  Don't take too long or it'll be cold."

 

Standing, Anton decided on a particular exercise that would perhaps help her wake up as much as the cold water.  "While you're out there, I want you to focus on your surroundings.  Your senses as a wolfkin are enhanced, but they need to be worked upon in order to be developed.  When you come back, I want you to tell me several things you noticed that you might have otherwise not noticed before."

 

"Go on, or the bath will come for you in here in the form of a bucket of icy water."

 

Humming to himself, Anton left the room and shut the door behind him.  He hoped her bath was as enjoyable as his this morning, nothing like a predawn swim to make you truly appreciate the hours when the sun was up.

 

 

Anton Averdal

Farpaw

[Sorandha]

Rising from a deep sleep, she hadn't even reached half consiousness before she realized that someone was moving her arm...and the blanket was down to her waist...and she was in her shift! With a snarl she gripped the pillow, pushed herself up to a seated position, pulled the blanket up to her neck and smacked the intruder as hard as she could in the mouth with her pillow.

 

Seeing Anton and not Dayn, her older brother, her face turned a deep scarlet. Now she remembered where she is and why. At first she felt relieved at the thought of a bath, but her eyes grew wide and her face redder when he mentioned a stream.

 

Oh, she would be paying attention to her surroundings, all right. Having grown up with four brothers, she had created a very airtight system for keeping her privacy, and she had most assuredly never taken a bath outside!

 

Grabbing the soap and towel after getting dressed, she wondered if she could throw the soap at Anton and cause any real harm. Unfortunately her right shoulder was healing nicely, but not quite up to where it had been before just yet. She growled to herself the entire way to the stream.

 

Staring at the water, she kept trying to look around her in every direction at once. As far as she could see, there wasn't anyone who could be watching her...and then she saw the windows at the lodge facing the stream. She was going to strangle him with the wet towel!

 

Despite her predicament, she could not stand another minute without washing. Undressing faster than she had ever done in her life, she leaped into the water and couldn't help but scream for the cold. Keeping only her head above the water, she kept jerking around to see if anyone was within sight range as well as lifting her arms to be washed, and then sticking her legs up into the air...and then running out of ideas when it came to her torso.

 

Blushing furiously, she stood up in the water but only for a minute to wash herself before dropping back down and finally using the soap in her hair. She felt amazingly better and she was even getting used to the cold.

 

Sneaking into the towel, she ran back to the lodge, narrowly avoiding slipping in the grass with her wet feet, threw the soap at the back of Anton's head and slammed the door to her room behind her.

 

There was a minute of silence, and then the door cracked back open. "Um...Anton?" She spoke so quietly even he could barely hear her. "I..forgot my clothes...could you get it for me?" her scent told that she was nearly overwhelmed with embarrassment.

[Wayfarer]

Nursing the back of his head as he picked up the bar of soap, Anton was a touch confused as to why he'd just been assaulted.  What had he done?  He hadn't even gotten the chance to turn around and tell her that breakfast was nearly ready and she'd managed to hurl the bar from the front door all the way from the front door, through the doorway to the kitchen and smacked him squarely.  In fact, Anton mused, that was rather impressive aim and accuracy if the truth be told.  The fact that he was the one who had been on the receiving end of it didn't help though, he could have still admired it if she had hit anything else.

 

Still rubbing his head, it was a very quiet voice that caught his attention and lured him out of the kitchen.  Wandering over to her door, it took a vast degree of self control not to laugh.  He would have if not for the overwhelming scent of shame and embarrassment that was flowing from Lianrin who was using the door as a shield to hide behind.  Controlling his voice took a great degree of, well, control, but he managed to say without laughing.  "I'll go and get them now."

 

Stepping outside, Anton tossed the soap on the porch so it could dry as the sun's rays touched it as he made a run for the bank.  Breakfast was nearly done and he didn't want it to burn on him.  Almost slipping down the bank, he quickly retrieved Lianrin's dress and shift.  Running back up towards the house, he quickly ascended the few steps onto the porch in one leap and darted through the door and closed the door behind him.

 

Smoke?!

 

Tossing the dress and shift against Lianrin's bedroom door, Anton called to her.  "Your clothes are just outside your door, and hurry up, breakfast is ready!"

 

Too ready.  Managing to burn himself as he forgot himself and tried to snatch the toasting iron from the fire, Anton cursed and quickly grabbed a nearby cloth so he could pull it off.  Opening it up to reveal a couple of burnt slices of toast, Anton was less than happy but he put a couple of more slices in the toasting iron and hung it back on the fire before retrieving a knife.  Opening the back door, Anton proceeded to begin shaving the toast of the worst of its charcoal while he looked around the doorway at the porridge, nearly done.

 

 

Anton Averdal

Farpaw

[Sorandha]

Pulling her dress over her head, she sniffed softly. Smoke? It was faint, but still recognizable. Brushing her hair, the water still in it pulled it straight and showed its true length without the wild curls; to the middle of her back, she peered through her bangs and for the hundredth time swore that she would cut them soon.

 

Walking towards the kitchen, the smoke smell was getting stronger. "Anton, is everything o.....k?" the pause brought on when she looked into the kitchen to see him sitting at the table with what looked like very burnt toast and porridge in front of him. The food set out for her looked perfectly fine, though. His scent gave her the idea that he was angry. As though to emphasize the feeling of ruined breakfast and thick silence, a bird twittered outside. Biting her lower lip, she sat down at the table.

 

"So, Lianrin.  What were some of the things you noticed that you otherwise wouldn't have?  And why did you throw that bar of soap at me?" Anton asked.

 

Using the spoon to play with her porridge, she wouldn't look him in the eye. "I do believe if anyone had come anywhere near me I would have heard them. As it was I could hear birds rustling the leaves. And creatures, but I couldn't tell how far away any of them were. I was paying too much attention too..." again she blushed and fidgeted a bit. "You should be able to figure out why I threw the soap at you." she barely stopped herself from asking if it had hit him or not, she had been running to fast to see.

 

[Wayfarer]

Nodding at what Lianrin said she had sensed, her evasion about why she had thrown the soap made Anton wince and not just because of the headache.  At least it was only just her, when he'd had to deal with all three of the Candarr sisters at once, he was fairly sure he'd nearly gone half mad on a few occasions.  But, Lianrin was young, it was what young women did.  They didn't seem to understand that when you asked a question about something, it was usually because you didn't know the answer.  Not that young men were much better, but for some reason Anton never seemed to end up training them.  He wondered if it was Miryana's sense of humour.

 

"Well, its good to know that your senses are beginning to develop.  You just need to test them here and there, block out one sense so you can focus on the others.  Blindfold yourself to rely more on your hearing, muffle your ears so you focus more on your sight and smell, so on and so forth.  We'll be doing a lot of those exercises over the weeks so we can develop your senses further."

 

Taking a mouthful of porridge, Anton decided that he might as well question her about the soap again.  It would be easy to let it go, but she needed to understand that when he wasn't a mind reader and he certainly wasn't going to make pretenses of being one.  "As for the soap, no I don't know.  And I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a nice lump at the back of my head, how did you learn how to throw like that anyhow?"

 

 

Anton Averdal

Farpaw

[Sorandha]

Her scent said she was angry, but a smirk formed as she finished a piece of toast. "When you grow up with four brothers, you tend to be drug along to play their games. They liked to play a game where they threw  pebbles at one another in a kind of tag, and of course they loved to pick on their younger sister...until I learned to throw back."

 

The smirk dissappeared and the blush returned. She was far too embarrassed to admit why she had thrown the soap, and she didn't know whether he could see to the stream from the lodge with his heightened eyesight. She swallowed her pride. "I'm sorry, I was still angry at how you woke me. I should not have thrown the soap at you." She glanced out the window. "Please call be Lia, I can't stand being called by my whole name."

[Wayfarer]

Frowning as Lianrin spoke, Anton looked up from his porridge at her.  Well, if she wanted to be Lia then that was all well and good, but he didn't like the scent he was getting from her.  She wasn't lying, but she wasn't telling the truth either and he didn't want to have to leave something that was clearly embarrassing her alone when he could nip it in the bud now.  "Lia it is, then.  But you're not telling me everything.  One of the other peculiar gifts is we get to learn how to tell when people are lying, or not telling the entire truth.  Out with it, I won't bite."

 

Worked into a corner, she wished more than anything that she had simply not thrown the soap. She would have to keep her temper in check from now on. Not looking at him, she instead looked out the window and talked rather fast and quiet. "You can't tell me that a man your age wouldn't be tempted to look out one of these windows at a young naked girl bathing in the stream."

 

Going a little red in the face at the thought, Anton chuckled as he shook his head at her.  He might have stumbled a bit more on the topic once, but he'd trained enough women to be past that sort of embarrassment.  Sort of.  Of course, he'd trained enough of them that maybe he should have guessed, but then none of them had stayed in the Lodge as they'd all ended up taking his previous homes, ones that didn't sit along the stream.  "Temptation is all well and good, but thats a tad wrong.  That and you're my student, I'm meant to be taking care of you, not sneaking glimpses like an old lech."

 

Looking ashamed that she had been so sure that he had been purposely trying to put her in the position for embarrassment, she simply continued to eat her food in silence.  After about a minute of silence, she muttered softly. "That water was bloody cold."

 

"Don't I know it."  Anton smiled as he reached over and clapped her arm gently.  "Where do you think I go to wash?  The stream is it.  I haven't gotten around to making a tub yet, hasn't been the highest thing on my priority list when I've got a stream outside to use.  Its a bit cruel, but its enough to wake the dead let alone the tired.  Though, now that you're here, I might be getting to making a tub sooner.  Will need to get through a few projects first though, like panes of glass.  Speaking of which, do you know how to hunt?"

 

Raising an eyebrow as she looked up at him, she shook her head. "Any hunting that needed to be done was done by my father and Dayn...the eldest. Sure I know what to do with an animal once it's been killed, but I've never actually killed anything."

 

"You know how to butcher?"  Anton grinned, he'd always had to do it himself.  It would be good to have someone to pass that onto now, well, to help him with it anyway.  He needed to make sure the pelt was taken correctly.  "Well, thats going to be useful.  What other skills do you have?"

 

Having finished her porridge, she put her spoon down and counted the skills on her fingers. "Tending plants, sewing, cleaning, caring for animals; cows an horses anyway..." her hands fell into her lap. "My mother had planned on bringing me to Emond's Field in the next spring, in hopes that I might meet someone during the festivities..."

 

"Really?  Quite accomplished then."  Anton was already thinking of ways he could put her to use around the place, solitude was all well and good, but since this student was going to be under his wing anyway, he could definitely see things that he was going to delegate.  But, first things first, she might have finished her breakfast, but he was still having his...

[Wayfarer]

The morning had been long, but it had been important to run her through the first sets of exercises when it came to the senses.  It was one of the real trump cards that Wolfkin had over normal people, it needed to be as finely honed as possible.  Blindfolding her, covering her ears, making her block her nose and breath only through her mouth, these were some of the things Anton had done as he'd led her around the general area surrounding the Lodge.  Not only was it to help train her senses, but it also helped to familiarise Lia with her surroundings.

 

But, with the morning finished they had returned to the Lodge to have lunch.  Behind the Lodge was a fenced off area, and that was where they were going to retrieve a couple of things.  Namely, a couple of tomato's and a bit of lettuce that would go well with the sandwiches that Anton was going to make.  While they were there, they were also going to take care of a different aspect of Lia's training.  No doubt she was familiar with some herbs coming from a farm, but those would be mainly for cooking.  Her education was going to have to be expanded from that.

 

Closing the gate behind Lia, Anton started walking over to the tomato patch as he pointed to the other end of the fenced area.  A place where a wide variety of herbs were growing, because, well, thats what herbs do.  "Lia, I want you to go over there, see if you can recognise anything.  Anything that you do recognise, I want you to call their name out to me and tell me what they're used for if you know.  I'll collect what we need for lunch while you do that."

 

"Go on."

 

 

Anton Averdal

Farpaw

[Sorandha]

Walking over to the herbs, she crouched down among them to take a very close look. Trying to remember her herbs, her thoughts wandered to her mother's garden. She always managed to keep something for when one of the boys would get in a fight with another, now which...?

 

"I recognize some mardroot, here. For bruises." She continued to dig. Memories of her mother tending the garden together tickled the back of her mind. "Goatstongue, and broomweed." she swallowed "They're for stomachaches." Mother, how many times did you give these to me?

 

"And flatwort. For energy." Her mother had often asked her to aid in making tea with it for her father before a hard day in the fields.

 

Picking up a bit of an herb, she stares at it closely. A memory of a very sick brother and a frantic ride into the city for the Wisdom flashes through her mind. "And feversbane. For living up to it's name."

 

She stood up and dusted her skirt off, subtly brushing a tear away and running her hand through her hair at the same time.

 

[Wayfarer]

Listening and watching Lia, Anton made note of the different plants she pointed out.  It was more than he expected from her to be honest, it was one thing for people to use a concoction but it was another thing for them to be able to identify what plants had been used to make the said concoctions.  Much like the way that there were more people who could read than there were who could write.  But, she had some basics so that would help when it came to teaching her about the others herbs that were to be found in the garden.

 

Wandering over to her as he took a pair of tomato's in hand, the needed lettuce had also been retrieved but he wanted to point something out to her in particular before they went back inside and had lunch.  It didn't take him long to find, he already knew where it was after all and squatting down beside it, Anton gestured for Lia to come over and have a look.  "This here is Marisin, be sure to remember it.  It'll help you sleep, but unlike Sleepwell which is over here."  Anton gestured to it.  "It won't leave you feeling groggy.  Can be handy not only for yourself, but other people if they 'need' to sleep."

 

Drugging people wasn't something Anton did often, but he'd had to a few times as a thiefcatcher, it had made his job much easier.  That and it was good to be able to look out for it so you weren't the one to suffer.  "Lastly, for now, look over here."  Anton gestured to a particularly fine flower.  "This is the Gheandin Blossom.  Excellent for dealing with heart pains and counter acting a good many common poisons."

 

"Just keep in mind what the three look like for now, we'll go inside and get some lunch.  Afterwards, we'll come back out here and I'll go through a few more things about these plants, like how you grind the Gheandin Blossom into a fine powder.  Come on."  Standing up, Anton led the way to the kitchen, anything less than immediate food would have resulted in his stomach performing a coup detate.

 

 

Anton Averdal

Farpaw

[Wayfarer]

The afternoon had been spent going over different plants and herbs that were to be found in the garden.  Not only did Lia no doubt find it somewhat enlightening, he was even able to get a few tips from Lia about the vegetables.  One of the good things about being a teacher Anton supposed was that you also got taught things in turn.  Things you could then pass on to others, or simply put to practical use.  Like what was the best time to plant which plants.  Namely ones he didn't have, he'd have to see if he could secure seeds at some point for cucumber and a few other odds and ends.

 

With dinner approaching, Anton had been curious to see how the girl's cooking turned out.  Lia hadn't turned out to be half bad, in fact, Anton was pretty sure he'd be delegating some of the cooking to her in the future.  Well, after her shoulder healed anyway, it was still awkward for her to get about and do things without her putting strain on that shoulder.  Anton planned on her getting as much rest on that shoulder as possible so it healed quickly and she would be able to take up the more physically challenging aspects of her training.

 

It didn't take long after dinner for Lia to start yawning, and to be honest, Anton was rather tired as well.  Whenever he was at the Tracker Lodge, he found he tended to slow down a little, a comfortable bed to go to was a bit more of a siren's call than the dirt of the trail though, perhaps that was a factor.  Either way, before she went to her room, Anton stopped her so he could have a word in the Dining room.  "Before you go anywhere, I just want to talk to you about something."

 

"When you go to sleep tonight, we are continuing your training.  The Wolf Dream is...  There is more than one world for the Wolfkin, another world of dreams that can only be reached in one's slumber.  You'll awaken in your room but your room will be...  different.  You'll understand when you fall asleep and it happens.  When you awaken in the dream world, you will be conscious and have conscious control, I'll be waiting in the Dining Room for you there."

 

Laughing at the look his explanation got, he grinned at her.  "I'm not insane, as insane as it sounds.  Just trust me, go to sleep and remember what I've said when you 'wake up'."  At that, Anton said goodnight and retired to his own room.  Quickly shrugging off his clothing, he slipped into his bed and passed out with little to no effort.  Travel for many years had taught him to take sleep where he could, the moment he wanted to fall asleep he passed out.

 

Slipping out of his bed, Anton looked down at himself.  Simple clothes of brown wool and good boots appearing on his figure, Anton let himself out of his room and into the Dining Room.  In the World of Dreams, things were slightly blurred and brighter, as if slightly out of focus.  Taking a seat, Anton waited for Lianrin to join him.

 

 

Anton Averdal

Farpaw

[Sorandha]

Still giving Anton a quizzical look as she watching him walk away, she closed the door to her room. "First I have weird dreams every night, and he wants me to think of...what?" What he said to her barely made sense, but she got ready for bed anyway. It wasn't hard persay to fall asleep, but she had to keep her mind from wandering as she closed her eyes.

 

It felt as though she had blinked. One moment she's staring at the ceiling, she closes her eyes, and the next she's staring at the same ceiling but it looks...different. The wood seemed to be glowing in a way, and as she sat up she noticed that everything in the room was brighter as well, but it looked less substantial than when she was awake.

 

Standing up, she felt fine fabric rustle against her legs and was shocked to find that she was wearing her best dress, which she had left behind when she fled her previous home. With a thin flowing skirt of pale yellow embroidered elaborately with orange and red rosebuds along the bottom hem and the collar cut in such a way as to expose her shoulders, she wondered how this dress had managed to make it into her dream.

 

The dress flickered back and forth. For a blink of an eye she was in her field dress, dirt stains along the bottom, and another she was wearing her riding clothes which she had made herself; a pair of pants and a fine plain shirt, and even for one blink she was naked! Closing her eyes, she shook her head and was relieved to find the yellow dress when she opened them. She stepped outside to find Anton.

[Wayfarer]

"Its good to see you made it."  It was also good that Lia had turned up dressed, nothing quite destroyed trust than waking up in a strange place with no clothes and a man nearby.  Looking over the dress, Anton smiled as he nodded.  "Thats a rather nice dress, I'm assuming it has some special significance to you.  But, as nice as it is, you're going to learn how to change it using your mind.  Then I'm going to show you how to change objects that are around you, but come a bit closer if you would."

 

Anton continued as Lia moved a bit closer, holding up his right arm as he did so.  "Now I want you to observe, as you can see my shirt is brown, but now, watch this."  The brown sleeve transformed into plate mail sleeve, then again into a tight black sleeve, then again to a set of red roses before it changed back to the simple brown sleeve it had been before.  "As you can see, its possibly to create things here with the right imagination and willpower, the same applies to maintaining what your mind creates."

 

"So, I'll want you to change your clothes using your mind.  Focus on a piece of clothing then change it within your mind and if you focus hard enough, it will change.  Once you've done that a few times, I'll then want you to try and attempt to change existing things in the world.  For example, take that chair there."

 

Pointing to the said chair that stood next to him, Anton looked at it and within a few moments it changed to marble.  It then was changed again into a rosebush, and then it transformed into the chair it had been beforehand.  "Any object you change in the dream only remains changed as long as your will makes it retain the shape you force upon it.  After you change your clothes, change the chair into anything you want.  Simply imagine a new imagine, and slide the old image into it.  It'll work, go on."

 

 

Anton Averdal

Farpaw

[Sorandha]

Shock painted her face as she watched Anton's sleeve change, she she shook her head slightly. "I really don't know about this..." thinking about what had happened in her bedroom, she prayed that she didn't end up embarrassing herself. Holding up her own sleeve, which was cut short in a springtime fashion, she squinted her eyes in concentration.

 

Slowly, ever so slowly, the sleeve grew longer until it was a tight pattern that reached her wrist, and seemingly growing the same small rosebuds slithered down the side of her arm. She gasped and the whole thing reverted back to its original state. Looking more determined, she glared at the sleeve until it was back out to her wrist, and this time it was a looser design with orange ribbons pulling the fabric to bunches at elbow and wrist. She continued to glare at it for about a minute before finally relaxing and the sleeve reverted back.

 

This is beyond weird. She though, glancing at Anton before turning her attention to the chair, she applied the same determined stare at it. Slowly the back of the chair elongated, the design of the wood becoming more elaborate as etchings of woodland creatures seemed to work themselves into the wood along the back. Etchings of leaves covered the arms and legs, and the legs changed to become the bowed legs of a rocking chair before reverting back to its original form.

 

Rubbing her forehead, she sighed. "This is tough. You make it look too easy."

[Wayfarer]

"I've had a lot of practice."

 

Anton liked how Lia was going so far, she wasn't a power by any means, but given time she would develop her ability until she was capable of far more and doing so far more easily.  She'd been exerting very deliberate control as opposed to simply blundering her way through, and that was important when it came to training.  Strength was developed regardless through use, but control was only developed when it was done properly.  If it wasn't treated seriously, then the lack of control and dependence on strength would undo her later.

 

The work on her dress had been very specific, and likewise the chair had required a good deal of control for the amount of detail she had worked into it.  But now it would be time to test a much more general skill, and Anton was going to give her a very specific test for it.  Crooking a finger at Lia, he smiled as he began to walk towards the door.  "Come with me outside, another trick I am going to show you tonight that you will be practicing for the nights that follow this one."

 

Opening the door, Anton looked towards the stream as Lia stepped outside.  "I'm going to walk to the stream, in the dream sometimes a single step can take you many yards.  Meet me by the side of the stream."  It took only ten steps, and Lia joined him quickly enough with confusion evident on her face.  "Its the dreamworld, not everything functions the same here.  Distances are compressed here, much like time.  Time passes more quickly here, several days and nights can pass here while a single night slowly passes in the real world."

 

"But, the next challenge for you.  Don't be afraid, a mist will appear and its me that is doing it."  The mist began to rise even as he finished speaking, a mist that quickly began to spread and envelop the stream and expand from there, approaching them.  "Don't worry if we are lost within the mist.  I want you to imagine a breeze, doesn't need to be strong, just persistent.  I want you to imagine it and project that piece of imagination out.  Unlike the other two tricks where your focus is very specific, this one is more general because you're affecting the entire environment.  Start when you're ready."

 

 

Anton Averdal

Farpaw

[Sorandha]

While following Anton to the stream and feeling the sensation of distance being compressed, Lia couldn't help but remember this same feeling from her dreams running as a wolf. Is this how I managed to run so fast I thought I could fly? she wondered.

 

Listening to Anton and watching the mist come up to them, she tried to think of how it was he was controlling this environment. Closing her eyes, she tried to think of a breeze, how it felt and sounded. A memory of working hard in the summer sun crouched among the plants, working so deep that they towered over her head and the stifling heat from the ground was nearly suffocating. She remembered finally standing back up and feeling a gentle breeze blow past her, cooling her. Opening her eyes, she noticed that the mist had gotten much higher and she struggled to keep the memory of the breeze in her mind.

 

In her minds eye she visualized the breeze running through the mist, causing it to swirl and break up in patches. As she imagined it, a week breeze did run through, the mist just in front of her legs swirling and dissipating, but she couldn't keep it persistant. With a tired sigh the breeze died and the mist simply reformed. 

[Wayfarer]

"Excellent!"

 

Praising Lia for the effort she had put in, Anton was glad to know that she had at least been able to make a start on the environment around them.  A weak breeze was small, but her experience with the dream world was minimal so it was, as he said, excellent.  She would come along with time, performing feats in the dream was similar to lifting stones, the more you did it the stronger you would become.  For now, he was just happy with how far she had come in a single day, especially with how he had kept her busy from morning till night and even in her dreams now.

 

Dispersing the mist, it rolled away until it simply vanished, his will no longer sustaining it, it simply evaporated from the dream.  "You've done well for your first try.  Another thing to keep in mind is that things created in the dream can only exist if they are sustained by will.  Without me sustaining the mist for example, it simpled dispersed and disappeared.  It applies to many things within the dream, including some of the dangers here.  But those we will take care of another day, for now you need to return to sleep."

 

That got a confused look.  "Time spent in the dream world is the same as spending it awake.  You spend all night here while you sleep, when you wake up you will feel like you didn't sleep at all.  So, I'm going to show you how to release yourself from the dreamworld and return to your normal sleep.  All you need to do is simply relax your will, let yourself fade away from here as its your will that keeps you here.  If you do not sustain yourself, you simply disappear and wake up whenever you wake up.  Go on, try it now."

 

Anton watched and it wasn't long before Lia did it, disappearing altogether.  Not finding her within the dream world as he cast his mind and will to the task, Anton quickly followed Lia's example and disappeared in turn.  Tomorrow would be another big day.

 

 

Anton Averdal

Farpaw