Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Inception... sigh... I wish I did... But please! Nobody should go off copying my OC ok?
A/N: I previously deleted this story to edit the first chapter further... If you want a better summary just go to my fanfic page. Anyway, this story is gonna take a while, and I have no idea when I'll be able to get the next chapter through. Anyway, if you want insurance that I'll continue this story, the best way to get it is to submit reviews and put this story on your alerts list :D I do NOT accept flaming, but I am open to constructive criticism. R&R please! OR I WON'T CONTINUE!
She is a wolf, running under the full moon, feeling the cold, mountain wind comb through her ice-white fur. She is pure power, her muscles rippling as she runs down her prey. Exhilaration lifts her from the ground as she leaps, landing on top of the hare, biting down in savage pleasure. The sweet taste of flesh and blood warming her mouth is a celebration of her hunting prowess as her fangs tear the stringy meat, her whole animal self relishing the kill as she consumes it. Something emerges from the flesh she is eating, something strange. A coin. Her wet nose touches it tentatively, and her ears prick as the cold metal stings her wet nose.
Something is coming towards her, in the silvered darkness.
The white she-wolf lifts her head towards the sound of cracking twigs and notices that whatever it is, its scent is strangely masked; nonexistent. As if the forest is moving toward her on two legs. She turns to face it fully, her hackles rising as a low growl emerges from her throat. He is human, but has no scent. She must be dreaming. Abruptly, she stops growling.
"You're here. So is the coin," she says, her voice deep and throaty, impossibly coming from her wolf's throat and tongue. "I'm dreaming, then."
He stares at her but doesn't answer, the only sound reaching her ears from him being the sound of his breathing. She sniffs uncaringly, a human gesture coming from a wolf. She lowers her head to wipe the blood staining her muzzle off on a paw, but instead finds that her paw is gone, replaced by a pale hand with slender fingers. She is human.
She stands as she wipes the blood from her face delicately, then moves to face him. His blue eyes bore into her with a strange intensity, although the rest of his face is expressionless.
"You know, you've been doing this every night ever since I left my family," she says, brushing some stray strands of dark hair out of her face as she returns his gaze. "You're no stranger to me, but still, I don't know you. Who are you?"
He continues to stare at her, not answering.
"Who the hell are you?" she yells, and her husky voice is harsh, always on the boarder of breaking. She leans back against the tree and pants, her breath steaming in the cold night. The bark is rough, comforting yet strange against her back. Suddenly shocked by the feeling of the bark against bare skin, she glances down at herself and realizes she's utterly naked. She glances back at him in panic just as he steps towards her, his mouth open to speak.
"Arthur and I are coming for our architect. She's the right one. She's Ariadne," he says, and although hearing his voice at last is sweet, it cannot calm her panic as he walks towards her.
"Karis!" a voice jerked her out of her dream, it's urgency pulling her into the grip of reality. Ariadne, Karis realized groggily, just as a hand reached out and began to shake her into wakefulness. Karis moaned, opening her eyes a crack before screwing them shut again as sunlight blinded her.
"I'm up… I'm up!" she said indignantly as Ariadne shook her some more.
"What time is it?" Karis asked.
"Eleven thirty. In case you forgot, today we have Professor Miles at one thirty, but you have your philosophy at three. So you'd better start getting ready. I don't know how you can sleep so long," Ariadne said as she cleared away what seemed to have been her breakfast from the small table in their dorm.
"Let's just say I love dreaming," Karis said wryly as she got out of bed, running her fingers lazily through her long, wavy black hair.
Ariadne pushed a bowl and milk carton and cereal box toward Karis as she sat down across from her.
"Ugh. Ariadne… I told you I don't usually go for breakfast… Remember?" Karis said, slightly whining, but she took the spoon anyway and tentatively took a bite. She seemed to decide it was ok, and continued eating, small, quick bites which she swallowed hastily, as if afraid to taste anything.
"Whatever, Karis. You don't go for any food at all usually because you're so caught up in your perfect dreamworld, right?" Ariadne said teasingly, a slightly amused quirk to her lips. The two were acting amused to each others' faces, but Ariadne wondered how much of their conversation was true sometimes. When she had met Karis three years ago, things had been tense and awkward, due to Karis' drug-influenced behavior, not to mention the fact that she spent so much time sleeping. It was only after Ariadne had finally had enough and had had an outburst of frustration that Karis, well, became nice. Ariadne still wasn't sure if she had stopped taking drugs though.
Ariadne watched her black haired roommate eat breakfast quietly for a few seconds, and soon determined something was wrong. Karis' hands were shaking ever so slightly, and every time the gaze of her blue eyes would wander or go distant, Ariadne could almost see Karis pull herself sharply back to reality. It was usually the opposite for Karis.
"What's wrong?" Ariadne asked, breaking the silence by tossing a few words carelessly at her roommate.
Karis laughed shortly, and though she meant for it to be reassuring, it only sounded bitter to both of them. She shook her head bitterly while scowling, avoiding Ariadne's eyes.
"Nothing's wrong," she said, her voice matching her expression. She sighed. "Nothing a dose of reality can't fix."
"Doesn't that mean there is something wrong?" Ariadne said, the tone of her voice making her sound slightly superior, as if she knew Karis' mind better than Karis did. Which, sometimes, she did.
Karis' jaw clenched, and it was clear to see that Ariadne had struck a nerve with the tone of her voice. Karis pushed the three-quarters finished cereal away from her, a foul look on her face as she stood up from the table abruptly and walked towards the bathroom.
Ariadne sighed indignantly, getting up to follow with a roll of her eyes. Arriving at the bathroom, she found Karis leaning over the sink, splashing cold water on her face. Leaning against the doorframe, Ariadne crossed her arms and tried to make her voice apologetic.
"Look, Karis, I'm sorry how I made that sound, alright?" she said as Karis lifted her eyes to the mirror and saw Ariadne's reflection in the background. "It's just that after three years of knowing you, we're still-"
"It's fine!" Karis interrupted abruptly and shortly, before burying her face in a towel. Don't say it, Ariadne, or I'll kill you, she thought. Stop trying to get close to me.
"Karis-"
"I said it's fine, Ariadne," she said, cutting Ariadne off again. This time when she turned to meet her roommate's eyes, there a was a smile on her lips. "Better get out. I'm gonna shower."
Ariadne returned the smile a little more warmly, though she still rolled her eyes at Karis slightly before turning to leave as Karis began stripping, not even waiting for Ariadne to close the door behind her.
Once the door was closed and locked behind her, Karis leaned heavily against the sink, her forehead against the cool glass of the mirror, and closed her eyes, breathing shallowly through her lips. She raised her piercingly bright blue eyes to her reflection and studied herself. Though her eyes were piercing, they were considered so because they seemed always focused on a distant horizon. When she looked at people, it seemed as if she were looking, into and beyond them, as if within every person she was looking at a landscape and she was seeing right through them to the horizon. Her brows were prominent, though they had never needed to be plucked or threaded, and her nose was generally fine-boned. Actually, despite close to too-prominent features, particularly her strong jaw and gaunt cheeks, Karis' face was built from fine bones. She scowled at her wide-eyed reflection, making it disappear beneath a layer of anger and disdain.
"I look a lot like my corporate-tool brother, don't I?" she whispered bitterly. "Tell me, brother. How is our father, huh, Robert?" Angrily, she dumped her nightshift to the floor, as she spun around to stomp her way into the shower.
"I won't let you leave me behind, whoever you are. You can't take Ariadne without taking me. Not when you've been in my dreams for so long," she whispered to herself as scalding hot water poured down on her in lacerating streams.
A/N: So how was it? :D Reviews please!
~P. Viper