"Rose Red..." Dammit, not again... This shouldn't be a recurring dream. It couldn't...
This time, there was a presence beside me. It wasn't the same as the first time, though. It was... Weiss? This time I could see his face. He was sitting on that ridge, beside another figure. The black shadow descended, and Weiss turned to face it. I tried to do the same, but my body wouldn't move. Once again the snow was stained with red, and the screams filled my ears with terror and pain. "Stop..." I clasped my hands over my ears, but the sound couldn't be drowned out. The cold stung my cheeks as tears streaked down toward the snow, and my chest ached as a smothering darkness covered me. It became impossible to breathe, and the screams echoed in my head as the world faded. One last voice joined the ghostly echoes, whispering as it had every time... but the words had changed.
"Red... For my Rose Red..."
I gasped for breath as I broke from the dream, finding myself lying on my side and wrapped in the covers. Disentangling myself, I let my breaths come slowly, trying to slow my heart-rate from its panicked rhythm. The room was chilly in the Winter morning, and I realized when I laid back down that my pillow was damp. The tears from the dream had been real... Feeling ridiculous about the nightmare, I flipped the pillow over and flopped down onto it, hating the emotion it left me with. Feelings suck.
I rolled over and glanced at my watch. It was only seven in the morning, and I didn't feel like wandering around again, but I couldn't dawdle in bed much longer. With a slow sigh I brushed aside the comforter and rolled out of bed. I could visit Weiss and see that alpaca... I was unnerved. Every night since I was a child, I'd always had different dreams. A lot of times they would predict future events, or be rehashings of things that had already happened. When mom and dad died I stopped dreaming for a month. The darkness of dreamlessness was not a comfort, but after what my last dream had been I would have welcomed it like an old friend...
Taking a deep breath, I cleared my mind and took up my white collared shirt, wearing it under a green vest that I'd cleaned last in apple-scented soap. The faint scent was calming as I threw on a pair of black pants and my combat boots, and I let my thoughts be of my visit, and the animals. That was how I'd always dealt with discomfort. If something was frightening, troublesome, or frustrating, it was buried beneath my love for animals and a load of work I'd tackle as though it were the thought. As a child I could have gone to my parents, but they didn't need to be troubled with my silly problems, so I'd take up extra chores and let them get more sleep while I worked away my stress. It had always worked. As long as I could get to Weiss' place before he finished his work, I should've been able to take care of the nagging thoughts.
It was a quiet walk to Snow Farm and I figured everyone was either sleeping or having breakfast, so I decided against dropping in on Dunhill on the way. Once again my thoughts turned to the orchard as I walked under the wooden arch that announced the farm's name. Weiss was trying to play matchmaker with me, but I wasn't about to get attached to some guy I didn't know anything about. He should have known better. I've been avoiding love my whole life. I'd just go to that festival with the man I was most likely to become friends with, and we could sit there and look at the stars and go home no different from before. Then I could start replanting the orchard without any distractions. Once the trees sprouted here, I'd build a house where there was open space... That meant I'd be living here permanently. If this town became my home, would I be able to continue my life in solitude?
Of course I would... There was a feeling of hollowness in my gut, and I realized after a moment that it wasn't brought on by emotion. I hadn't eaten anything since coffee and cake with Dunhill two days before... How the heck did I forget to eat for that long? I feel like an idiot. With a blank expression and a growling stomach I knocked at Weiss' door, giving a sigh at my forgetfulness. After a few moments he opened it, gesturing to his table. "Come on in, Red."
He gave me one glance and pointed at the chair across from his. "Forgot to eat again, didn't you?" There was a plate stacked a foot high with crepes, and even though it looked like he'd been cooking out of nerves again, this time the kitchen had been scrubbed down. My stomach growled at the buttery smell, but I didn't want to seem hopelessly forgetful, so I grumbled, "No..."
His raised eyebrow told me I wasn't the best liar about things like that, and I crossed my arms, sighing, "I came to do some work." Weiss shook his head, brown eyes showing his disbelief. "Eat, now. Then MAYBE I've got some extra chores you can do." I gave him a grateful nod and tossed a couple crepes on a paper plate before sitting down. A moment later I stared at the one in my hand, surprised at the first bite. "Your girlfriend been teaching you to cook? These're edible, and even though they're a little pancakey, they're actually pretty good." His cheeks reddened, and I decided that was enough teasing for the moment. "Ya know, Felicity seemed really excited when I mentioned that star festival thing."
His white hair and pale complexion made his blushing even more drastic, and he coughed, "Er, that's..." With a nervous laugh, he tried to change the subject. "So, why do you want to work here?" Typical. Weiss had always been the fun one, but he also had a range of emotions I couldn't grasp, and he was easily embarrassed. "Sleep troubles," I muttered with half a crepe hanging out of my mouth in hopes that I wouldn't have to elaborate. He'd never let me live it down if he knew I was creeped out by a stupid dream.
"Are you having the dreams again?" I almost choked on my pancake-crepe. I put a hand over my mouth when I started coughing, shaking my head. "Th-rnt... real..." Weiss gave me his least convinced look, arguing, "Of course they're real. You have premonitions. You experience things in dreams before they happen, and they're always right." He reached a hand over to pat me on the back as my coughing subsided.
I slapped his hand away. "NOT THIS TIME!" I blinked as Weiss drew back, trying to get my heart to slow down to a normal rate and looking down at the floor. "It's not real this time. It can't be, okay?"
I'd had dreams before where terrible things happened. A dog was struck by a carriage, but I didn't know where. A woman had a heart attack after forgetting her medication, and I couldn't help her. I'd never been able to change what happened. The dreams were always the future. It would play out over and over in my mind, changing itself to keep me off guard, but it always ended up happening the way the first dream decided. This wasn't like the other dreams. It wasn't going to happen. I wouldn't let it. Not to Weiss, and not to whoever was there in dream one. I would never go to that ridge where the flowers grew, I would avoid those star patterns, and I wouldn't become close to anyone...
I found myself stuck in one of Weiss' too-tight hugs when I returned to conscious thought, and grumbled, "Leggo." He relinquished me after a few seconds, snapping, "This is why I challenged you! You're always alone. You go through all your problems by yourself, and you never let anyone know what you're going through. I'm tired of seeing you suffer, Red."
"It's not suffering... They're just dreams." Denying it was how I usually got people to stop asking questions, but this was Weiss. He gave me a stern frown, asking, "What happened?" I shrugged. "Nothing..." Weiss put a hand on my shoulder, and I cringed, remembering the dream's transition right before I met Soseki. "You can tell me."
"You died, okay!?" I stood quickly, knocking over the chair, and shoved him away, not wanting him to know any more about the premonition. "Never mind about the chores... I'll find something myself..." I ran off, slamming the door behind me and hoping Weiss would dismiss my words. I knew he wouldn't: He'd seen one of my dreams in action...
I felt stupid for getting sidetracked by a stupid dream that was never going to happen. It was just so... stupid... This town was a place of peace, focused on farming, shops, and the villagers. From then on I decided I'd totally ignore it and start getting work done.
Since Weiss wasn't following yet, I slipped into the barn and sank to the floor beside the wall, letting Bean the alpaca approach me. Petting her soft wool, I was easily calmed enough to mumble, "Thanks, Bean..." Her eyes were kind, and though she couldn't possibly know what was wrong, she seemed determined to fix it. I gave her a couple of treats and made my rounds, petting each animal so none felt less cared for and slipping them extra treats. "I'll be back tomorrow, guys..." Checking that Weiss was nowhere in sight, I snuck back out and jogged out into the town, feeling bettter already.
I didn't feel like talking to anyone, so I headed to the river, remembering the stock of fishing traps Dunhill had told me he'd leave for public use. Kneeling on a boulder that sat just right in the water, I set out a trap. I'd been told I could catch eel at that spot, and since it was both a good profit and one of the few seafood items I'd eat, I figured shooting for eel was my best bet. I sat for about half an hour, listening to another playlist on my mp3, before the trap started to shake in the water. With a genuine smile I opened the top, dropping the smile at the sight of a branch that had somehow drifted into the trap. Yanking the stick out of the box, I set it aside, figuring somebody could use it. A stack of branches, six traps, three fish, and an old coin later, I was sprawled on the grass, awaiting my next catch with a sigh. A shadow fell over my face, and I opened an eye to see an angry-looking blonde guy frowning at me. "Do you have business here?"
With an annoyed frown I took out my earbuds. I pointed at the trap I'd set, firing back, "I'm fishing. Why?" He still didn't seem convinced that I was there for a good reason, and I guessed who he was from his attude. "You're Neil then? Don't you have a shop to open in an hour or so? I saw his cart behind him, and noticed that my pile of sticks was blocking his horse's way. Neil gave a snicker, replying, "I just closed my shop... Lose track of time catching all those sticks?"
"Hey, I was gonna volunteer to move them, but now you can do it yourself, Blondie!" It was already past six? I'd been pretty out of it all day, and i guess the time it took to get these catches in the trap was enough to waste an afternoon.
Another guy came forward from the second cart. His hair was a little darker and spiky, and he had blue eyes. "Everything alright Neil?" he asked, looking at the other shop owner and then at me. "Oh, hi! You must be Red... No, Rose, right? Weiss said you were coming to live here!" He grinned and added, "He described you pretty accurately, too. Although he did say you were really grumpy and secretive and he calls you by your middle name. I'm Rod, by the way. Nice to meet you."
"Uh, you too," I replied, studying the two of them. Weiss had been right about their polar opposite attitudes. I smirked as Neil started moving my pile of branches out of the way of his cart, calling, "I'll help if you ask nicely." His face said there was no way in hell, so I shrugged and gave Rod a smile. "You sell pets, right?"
"Yup! Mine are the cutest pets you can get." He gave a proud grin and glanced at Neil before adding, "He sells livestock. If you get to know him he can be less gruff, but as long as you take care of your animals you shouldn't have a problem."
I nodded, watching Neil finally leave with Rod following before turning back to my fish-trap, which had been full for who knows how long. Expecting to finally get some eel, I opened the lid, dropping my shoulders at the sight of more old coins. "How do those even set it off? It's ridiculous." With a sigh I stood, putting the fish in a bag for shipping and tucking the coins in my pocket. Looking back at the pile of sticks, I decided I might as well take them to Weiss' storage shed. I'd go back and chop the pieces into lumber sometime when I felt like talking to him.
I dropped off the fish and branches without incident and then decided I was feeling well enough to make a few visits around town. At Hana's house I declined a bowl of fish stew and listened to a story about Kosaburo in his youth before taking my leave with a promise to visit the shop the next day.
There was a similar house in the Eastern style next door to Hana's, but I decided to visit Emma across the street first, since I'd met her once before. I knocked at the door and prepared to be dragged into the house by the apple-loving woman who'd been so impressed with our family's orchard that she'd made us an apple pie fresh every day during our stay in exchange for a few extra apples. I wasn't wrong about her enthusiasm, but before pulling me in to the house that forever smelled of apples and spice, she took a moment to study me and gave a determined nod. "Not much to work with, but we can do it. Yuri~ That visitor is here. Go fetch your tape measure. I'll call Allen!"
Oh dear Goddess...
