Hop, skip and stumble

[silhouette]

The area around her cottage was never quite the same when Sohvi appeared there in the dreamworld. Sometimes things that had been gone for weeks already were still lingering there, as if the cottage clung to their memories, while other things that were new were still missing from the dream. It had taken some getting used to, but as long as her basic surroundings were the same, she was fine. Even though she now shared her home with Anwen and Timewalker, she rarely saw them out in the dreamworld. Anton had mentioned something about everyone having different starting points, but she didn't really understand that yet. All in all she was just happy that she appeared in front of her home, instead of somewhere less appropriate.

 

Closing her eyes for a moment, she got rid of the dress of amadician cut she was wearing, and changed it into something a little easier to move around with. Loose breeches covered by a loose tunic, and subtle leather boots. It was a lot more comfortable than the tight stuff John seemed to prefer on her. After a few moments of contemplation, she snatched the bonnet that always appeared off her head. "Begone, you..." she told it, and being the obedient bonnet that it was, it shimmered in her hands for a moment, before disappearing. She knew it would be there the next time she entered the dream again though. It was a stubborn thing, the bonnet, and one of the few reminders of her old life that she couldn't seem to free herself from.

 

Humming softly to herself, she walked over to Anton's home. She knew there were easier ways to go there, but she didn't quite trust herself yet. Who knew where she'd end up if she just tried to go there instantly? she might end up in the Trackers Lodge, or the farm where she grew up, or maybe even the ranger training ground. She didn't quite trust herself enough yet to take that gamble. Maybe Anton could teach her how it worked tonight. He always made it seem so easy. "If only it was that easy." she muttered as she came to a stop in front of Anton's home.

 

Sohvi Darwin

 

[silhouette]

"Hi."

 

Grinning as Sohvi whirled about, Anton poked her stomach.  He'd waited until she was outside his door then used a very simple trick to do what he had just done.  A trick that he was going to show Sohvi tonight as she had gotten a good grasp of the basics, perhaps she would become a Sage or a Watcher.  Anton knew she wouldn't be a Ranger and he had his doubts about being a Tracker.  She could make a good one if she was willing, but her inherent shyness made him wonder whether she would even seriously consider it.  Something they would discover when the time came though, not before.

 

"Today, we're going to try something new.  Specifically, how I just managed to do what I did then.  See, all your training so far has been focused on imposing changes around the Wolf Dream, using your will power to make things occur.  Thats all well and good, but there are other ways to do things in the world of dreams.  Need is a very powerful force within the Dream with it being so malleable.  In this case, if you need something badly enough, you can guide yourself to it.  Just then for example, I needed to be behind you, I felt the need greatly enough that I shifted from where I was to where I needed to be.  Just to show you again."

 

Anton blinked out of existance, disappearing from Sohvi's sight only to be tapping her shoulder from behind her, causing her to whirl around again.  "Now, I'm going to go by the stream a little bit down aways.  I want you to stay here, and hone the need within you to be beside me.  Hone the need, feel it intensely, and you can shift through the dream world and appear beside me.  Trust me, once you get this down pat, you can save a lot of time around the Dream.  But, I'll see you there."  Smiling at her, he simply vanished again from her view to reappear beside the stream.  Walking over to it, he then turned his back on it.  If she even thought about appearing behind him to get her own back, she was going to get a surprise of her own.

 

In the meantime he waited, confident that Sohvi would be able to achieve the feat.

 

 

[silhouette]

 

 

Sohvi couldn't hold back a little squeal of fright when Anton suddenly appeared behind her. She hated it when people did that. Her displeasure at being scared soon faded into glee when she discovered that she was going to learn how it was done. All the things she could do with that. it would be brilliant. She could be the one to sneak up on people now, and she could see the world,  in the dream at least, and... another yelp escaped her when Anton demonstrated it's uses again.

 

"Alright, alright, it's useful..." she muttered, willing him to get on with it already. He explained the objective of the exercise to her, and showed her how to do it. Then he disappeared. "But..." she started, expecting to get more of an explanation from him. "But I don't know how." she muttered to herself. it was something about need, and then it was supposed to just happen? It didn't make any sense at all. She closed her eyes, thinking of the stream. Maybe it was the same as making things in the dreamworld? if she just got a clear enough picture of the stream in mind, she'd just go there?

 

The sound of running water brought a smile to her face. When she opened her eyes, the smile faded again. "Oh no..." she muttered, staring at the little stream she'd created right in front of Antons house. "That wasn't supposed to happen. With a sigh she made the stream vanish. "So what am I doing wrong?" Maybe she shouldn't focus on the stream, but on Anton instead. Or rather, on appearing behind Anton. She smirked. "Revenge will be mine." With that thought it wasn't too hard to 'Need' her way to the stream. She closed her eyes again, feeling that it would be easier that way.

 

With a splash she appeared behind Anton, right in the middle of the stream. "Blood and Ashes!" she cried out, immediately clasping her hands in front of her mouth in an attempt to pretend that she didn't just curse. Apparently the need thing worked, as she had appeared right behind Anton. She just hadn't counted on him being with his back to the stream.

 

[silhouette]

Turning about as Anton heard the splashing and cursing behind him, he grinned as he saw Sohvi soaked.  He knew she wouldn't be able to resist once she had the idea, and he'd been proven right.  Besides, it wa sa good way to prove a point about the tricks in the dream, even though you could do things, people could anticipate what you were going to do and act accordingly, even doing something as simple as turning their back to the stream.  Offering his hand to her, he helped pull her free of the water and onto dry land with a grin on his face, it was always fun to catch someone out.

 

"Now, what we learn from this is that even though you learn tricks, people can still anticipate you and take steps.  We also learn that when I tell you to appear beside me, you really should appear beside me."  Anton smiled at the look that got, but truth was truth, she had no one to blame but herself.  "Now what I'm going to do is I'm going to travel a lot further.  Don't let distance bother you, distance has little meaning in the Wolf Dream as you should know by now.  But I'm going to take you a few places so you can see them for yourself.  Not the same as seeing them in the real world, but still breathtaking nevertheless."

 

Smiling, he patted her on the shoulder.  "Also, don't try and appear behind me again.  In fact, from now on, need to appear infront of me.  Otherwise it won't end well, I'm warning you."  At that, Anton disappeared.

 

[silhouette]

Before Sohvi was well and truly out of the stream, Anton was gone again. "No, wait!" she called out to the empty space in front of her. "I wanted to ask you something..." she muttered, pouting slightly. With a sigh she bent to pull off her wet boots, only to realise that there were easier ways to fix her attire. She focussed, and soon enough she was wearing the same thing she'd work before, only dry. She snatched the bonnet off her head. "Away, I said." It disappeared again, slowly as if to mock her efforts.

 

Then she went to work on moving herself to where Anton was. Far away, he had said. Sohvi didn't really have a grasp of far away. What was far away for someone like Anton, who the wolves knew as Farpaw? She found herself focussing on places again. "That's not the way it's done." she muttered to herself, trying her very best to clear her mind. "Focus on the man in stead. I need to be in front of the man. In front of the man. In. Front." she closed her eyes again, and embraced the need to be in front of Anton. When she opened her eyes again, she was staring at Anton, who was grinning at her. "So, where are we?" He pointed at something behind her, and the turned to look.

 

They were on a snowy mountain peak, well above the clouds. the air seemed thin there, and it was cold, though not as cold and thin as it would have been in the real world. "Woah..." she muttered, looking around. "Where are we?" Anton said something about the mountains of mist, but Sohvi wasn't really listening. "Follow me." he said after a while. "Huh?" she turned around, but he was already gone. "No, wait! I wanted to ask... gah." Again she closed her eyes, and imagined herself standing in front of Anton. Facing away from him this time though. "I need to be there." she muttered, allowing her need to take her there.

 

When she reappeared, she was standing on a steep cliff, with waves battering the rocks below her. "Woah..." she muttered again, taking in the sight of the ocean and the waves and everything. It was oddly familiar somehow. "Mayene." Anton said. Sohvi stood with her back towards him for a while, taking in the sights and sounds from the place where she was born. "Thank you." she finally muttered, but when she turned to look at Anton it appeared that he was no longer there to hear her words. When she focused on needing to be in front of him again she kept her eyes open, not wanting to waste a second of what he was showing her. "Tremalking." oddly enough she heard his voice before  the world around her became clear. "I don't even know where Tremalking is." she said with a little laugh.

 

The next place Anton took her was more familiar. It was where he first found her, when her howling had only just begun. Sohvi stood facing him again. "But now I know how to follow you. How can I get somewhere without needing to be next to a person? When I tried that earlier I just managed to create a stream."

 

 

[silhouette]

 

 

"Ah, the next part of your training."  Smiling, Anton spread his arms out before him as he explained.  "It differs slightly from finding a particularly person, which, incidentally is the same way you can find a specific object.  You can use that to travel specific places by the way, if you know a particular landmark, you can imagine your position in relation to that particular object.  For example, if you have been to the White Tower, you can imagine yourself infront of it and you will be there.  Its an easier way of stepping, and its easier to do as a whole."

 

"What you need to learn next is a bit more difficult.  You need to focus solely on the need and the idea of the place.  Say for example, you feel a need to go to a plain in Shienar, wrap this need around you and you will shift through the dream.  It takes a bit more effort, and also a good deal more caution.  When you step in this manner, you step blindly and you cannot be precisely sure where you will end up.  Its the same with trying to find an object through need that you only know of, rather than know, your need could take you anywhere and that requires care."

 

"For example, if you imagine a certain treasure that was lost, your need might take you to the bottom of the ocean where the wreck of the ship is and you'd drown.  So, be careful about how you use this skill, very careful and be certain of yourself.  The wrong decision and need could easily get yourself hurt or killed.  Now, I want you to try and do this step, the moment you disappear, I will follow after you and make sure you're alright.  Go on, when you're ready."

 

[silhouette]

It sounded every bit as difficult as she'd imagined. When it came down to it, following someone wasn't particularly scary, especially when that someone was experienced, like Anton. Now she would have to do it on her own, and she didn't have all that many memories to go by. She clenched her jaw for a moment, trying to come up with a place to go. In the end she settled on a place she knew from her memories, a wheatfield a short distance away from the farm she had grown up in.

 

She closed her eyes and imagined what it looked like at this time of the year. the memory filled her, and soon she could see it as clearly as if she was actually there. "I need to be there." she whispered. When she opened her eyes, she was. Instantly she sank into a low crouch, her head barely peeking out over the wheat. Now that she was there, she kind of didn't want to be. What if one of her brothers was accidentally dreaming a dream in which he entered the dream world? one of of her brothers friends?

 

Anton appeared in front of her, looking confused for a moment until he looked down. "Shht!" she said, pulling at his hand in order to get him to crouch as well. "They might be watching." She liked the mountains of mist a whole lot better than this place, that much was certain. She closed her eyes again, and imagined another place she knew relatively well. The tracker's lodge. She appeared in the center of it. Much to her surprise, it was empty. "I suppose the trackers don't dream of coming here when they dream." she muttered.

 

Anton appeared in front of her again, but Sohvi was already focussing on a different place. She wanted to see Mayene again, but instead of focussing on the shore she focussed on the royal palace. She'd only heard about it from stories, and read about it in books, but she felt like she could find it anyway. All she wanted was to go there, to the main hall. Just to see what it was like. She needed to go there... When she opened her eyes, she was standing on a long table. She shifted slightly, which lead her to knock over a goblet. "Blood and..." She looked up to see if no one had seen her, only to find Anton in the middle of the hall, smirking at her. "Oops." she muttered, smiling innocently at him.

 

[silhouette]

Smiling as he walked over to the table, he held out his arms to help her down.  It had taken him a little bit to realise where he was, but this place wasn't unfamiliar to him.  While thiefcatchers were by no means gentry, they could end up in the most interesting places and it had been his distinct pleasure to visit this very room on at least two occasions.  Sweeping her off the table and lightly placing her on the ground, even though it wasn't necessary when she could have simply imagined herself there, Anton smiled at her as he patted her arm.

 

"You're doing well, these are the new skills that you are going to be honing for now.  Once you have these mastered, you'll have the knowledge of all the basic skills that any Wolfkin must have to be acknowledged as a Wolfsister.  We keep working on these, and you will be nimble through the dream, able to shift about as you wish and reach places that may otherwise be impossible to reach.  Just remember to always be careful, like anything in the Wolf Dream, it does have its inherent dangers."

 

"But, in the meantime we will work on your ability to follow others through the dream.  In fact, I have just the right idea."  Grinning at Sohvi, he reached over and touched her on the arm.  "You're it!"  At that, Anton vanished, he'd lead her on a merry chase before she managed to tag him.  Just had to keep sliding about the dream, see whether she could catch him or not.  Might even land her in some water again while he was at it, a thought that made him grin wider as he continued to slip and slide from place to place.

 

-

 

Still wide-eyed about being where she was, Sohvi didn't notice the mischievous grin on Antons face until he touched her arm "Wha.... hey!" she called out, watching Anton disappear before  her very eyes. "But... I wasn't even... gah." she threw her hands in the air and formed a solid picture of Anton in her mind. Doing as Anton had said in the first lesson, she appeared next to him. Just as she reached out to touch him, he disappeared again. "This is taking too long." she muttered, forming the image again. She lost several seconds each time she had to form an image of Anton, and her position relative to his. There had to be an easier way. Instead of letting go of the need and the image that went with it, she held on for dear life as she hopped from city to city, nation to nation.

 

Until Anton decided to pull a prank on her, and stopped in the middle of an icy lake. He stood there for a few seconds, long enough for Sohvi to catch up to him. Or so she thought. She slipped as soon as she moved, landing on the hard ice. "Oof..." she muttered, glaring at the laughing Anton. He wouldn't escape her that easily though. She pushed herself towards him on the ice, and this time, because of the momentum she had, she actually reached him on time. "Gotcha!" she said, grinning broadly.

 

"Well?" he said, helping her up from the ice. "Well what?"

 

"Aren't you going to run?"

 

"Oh... uh... sure!"

 

Next thing Sohvi knew, she was on the shore of the icy lake, trying to think very hard of a better place to hide.