Under The Full Moon

Nightmares

It was nightfall when they finally reached the other side of the lake. Gale had offered to fly the villagers over to the other side, but it would have been several trips. At most, she was only large enough to carry three of them at a time, and there were quite a few of them. She had resorted to walking with them to keep them safe from ambush should anyone or anything decide to put up a block to try to get in their way. The travel from their previous camp to the current location had been a long one, and when it was finally complete, Gale was happy to lay down. Dillan and Wysteria had ridden on her back, Dillan rolling off with a laugh when Gale flopped down on the ground. Wysteria had been holding onto her rather tightly, having seen the action before it had taken place. Rolling her eyes at Dillan, Wysteria smiled. She slid down off of Gale, the staff gripped protectively in one hand, the other rested against Gale's soft fur. 

"This side is better suited for a camp. I hadn't thought about it before... it was just the three of us for the longest time," Wysteria spoke, standing beside Gale, Broin joining up with the two of them after a few minutes. 

"It does. It might be better for us in the long run too," Broin mused, his voice exhausted. He had helped carry things from one camp to the other, and though the supplies had been few, they were still heavy. He seated himself against Gale's front leg, lifting a hand to rub his eyes. 

"Sleep," Gale spoke softly to him, lowering her head to nuzzle at the top of his head, exhaling a soft breath against his hair. Broin chuckled, setting his hands against her nose. He sounded as if that was what he was about to do.

"I will in a little while. I just want to take a minute to catch my breath before I go check on the others," Broin responded. He drew his hands back from Gale's nose, removing his bow and quiver from his back and setting them aside. He watched a few of the villagers as they began to settle in, though, after a few minutes, Gale noticed a heaviness on her forelimb. Looking down to where her friend had been rested, she saw that he had fallen asleep. With a soft laugh, Gale rested her head on her opposite forelimb. She watched the villagers herself for a little while before she finally began to doze off, soon joining Broin in sleep. 

Wysteria stayed awake for a while after even the villagers had gone to sleep, watching over their camp for a while before she made her way to Gale's side. She, Dillan, and Broin had taken to sleeping near the dragon where it was the warmest, as well as to keep her safe if someone should attack. Carefully climbing up onto Gale's back and nestling between her wings, Wysteria sighed. Gale, in her sleep, shifted her wings to nest her a little further, making the young woman smile. Resting back in Gale's fur, Wysteria allowed her eyes to shift from star to star. She might have been relaxed at some other time, but now... right now the silence after the fight with her father was almost unsettling. So was the fact that Gale continued to see shadows. 

Something about that had really begun to weigh on Wysteria. Her mother used to use shadows in order to catch the attention of someone that she was fighting, though that was before her father had turned her. When Grimora had become a dragon, she had lost that ability. The shadows that Gale was seeing now were more likely to be some kind of diversion of the Crone's... or her followers. Furrowing her brow, Wysteria shifted a little to get comfortable, crossing her arms before she finally fell into an uneasy sleep. 

Broin, Wysteria, and Dillan were all woken up at around midnight, the rumbling of a growl vibrating through all three of them. Jumping up from where he was laying against Gale's side, Dillan looked at her with an expression of deep concern. As he reached to wake her, Wysteria stopped him with a shake of her head from where she was perched on top of the dragon. If he woke Gale and she reacted violently, Wysteria had a risk of being tossed... not to mention Broin who had been all but pinned between her front paws in his sleep. Looking up to Gale, Broin began to speak gently to her. "Gale... it's just a nightmare... you're here with us," he whispered, the dragon's upper lip trembling and sliding up off her teeth as she growled again, making him a little nervous. Gale had never had this bad a nightmare before, and he had never been this close to her while she had any kind of an aggressive streak. Now, staring directly at her sharp teeth, Broin felt about like what he could imagine a deer would feel like facing her down. Slowly, he tried to pull himself loose from under her head and from between her front paws. 

In doing so, Gale's growl grew louder. Dillan moved a little to the side of Gale's head, looking to Broin. "I'll lift, you get out of there as fast as you can," he said. Broin shook his head. If she reacted that way to the simple movements of his trying to get from under her chin, he didn't want to find out what would happen if she felt Dillan trying to lift her head.

"You do that and you could be killed..." He whispered, his voice sounding almost desperate for Dillan to abandon the idea. Dillan looked between Gale and Broin. 

"Yeah, and what do you think is going to happen to you if you don't get your ass out from under there?" The young man sounded determined and his expression matched. Broin didn't answer. Instead, he looked up to Gale again, watching her for signs that she might try to take a bite out of either of them. When she didn't move to even growl again, he relaxed slightly. 

"I think it's alright now... whatever that was seems to..." Broin started, though he was frightened into silence by a snarl that burst from Gale's lips, which pulled back to completely expose the rows of sharp, dagger-like teeth that lined her maw. Without another word, Dillan reached forward and grabbed Gale's muzzle, lifting her head a little so Broin could squeeze out from under her. In doing so, it seemed to wake the dragon, her head snapping up with a hiss. Looking between the two of them, she looked a little confused and dazed. "It's alright..." Broin said, getting to his knees. Wysteria climbed down off Gale's back, moving to stand beside her. "You had a nightmare. I was trying to get out from under your head so you didn't end up thinking I was prey or something," he continued, Gale nodding once. She finally understood what was going on now that she was a little more awake and aware.

"I'm sorry. I didn't even know I was having a nightmare," Gale mumbled, shifting a little to rest her head back down on her paws. It was apparent that she wasn't yet fully awake, and Broin wasn't going to push her. All that mattered was she was awake enough to break the nightmare. Something that did concern him though, as he watched the dragon fall back into her slumber, was that up until the shadows Gale had had no nightmares of this strength.

"I wonder if it has something to do with all the fighting..." Wysteria spoke softly as she sat down beside Broin. Looking at her, he nodded. The thought had crossed his mind.

"It might... I'm wondering if it has something to do with what she's been seeing. She's been acting kind of strange the last couple of days," Broin had observed his dragon friend from a distance while they trained and he had caught her a couple of times, her gaze fixated on the treeline. Making an attempt to try again at sleep, Broin pushed away from the thoughts. "I'm sure that things will get better, we just have to get through this. Not just for ourselves, but for Gale," Broin sighed, Wysteria nodding once. Broin would discuss it with Gale in the morning. For now, he'd let her rest.