Disclaimer 1: I do NOT own Zoids.

Disclaimer 2: The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika and Avea do NOT belong to me. They belong to ShadowRebirth37.

Disclaimer 3: The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to ME. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if you use Redai without my permission, however, if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer.

Author's Note: Sorry for the late update. I've been a little busy and not to mention there's my….computer 'problem'. ^^; Anyways, Atherin and Raven have been saved from Driacoul, Rabe and Rika. They've also gotten the enzyme in Raven under control so only the morrow will be able to tell them what his condition is like. However, it seems that there's something bothering Atherin that he hasn't told any one of yet. What's this nightmare that he's having about? You'll just have to read and find out!!

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. Thanks to all of those that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Nightmare Ͼ

Raven looked over at Tyme; there was a distressed look on his face. "Tyme... are you alright?" Tyme's eyes went back to looking at Raven. "I'm alright; it's Atherin that I'm a little worried about... He seems to be having some sort of...nightmare..."

"A nightmare?" Donnie said, blinking his amethyst eyes in confusion. Raven looked confused as well. "Can you tell what it's about?" "No. He's closed his mind to me... I can't tell what it is..." Tyme answered a little worriedly. Last he knew...Atherin couldn't close his mind that tightly... Raven blinked. "That's odd..." he muttered, looking over at Atherin in worry. "Draicoul said some harsh things to him... its probably bothering him..."

"It's a possibility.... But I won't know what it is unless this barrier around his mind weakens a little or he tells me when he wakes up." Tyme replied. Raven sighed. He was getting worried, and didn't like how Atherin was hiding his dream even from Tyme. Donnie seemed worried as well. Tyme was silent for a while, wondering what on Zi his brother was dreaming about. He wouldn't try and forcefully pry his way in that would more than likely damage Atherin's mind. He'd just wait for the barrier to weaken enough for him to at least figure it out what it was with out actually intruding on the dream.

Donnie looked at the clock on the wall. "We should be nearing Horai soon...." he said, "I'm going to return to the cockpit and help pilot. Come get me if anything happens..." he said, getting up and walking away.

Tyme nodded as Donnie left. A few more minutes passed before Tyme was finally about to tell what in the world his brother was dreaming about. {How odd... There's not a single vibe in there about any organoids.... So it has to be about people...} Tyme was just about to pry a little deeper to try and figure out who, when all of a sudden, Atherin's mind closed tightly again and it forcefully pushed him out. The force of it caused Tyme to go flying about halfway across the room. Atherin wasn't doing it consciously; it was his sub consciousness.... Raven looked at Tyme oddly. "Umm... are you a-alright?"

"Y-Yeah... I'm a-alright... ...This dream must be something he's had before....from what I can tell...not just once but a few times... It's even possible that he has this dream at least once a week...or more.... From what I could gather....it has nothing to do with Organoids..." Tyme replied. Raven looked at Tyme oddly. "I don't remember him mentioning a d-dream to me before..."

".....It's probably because he didn't want any one to worry about him... This dream is pretty bad.... I'm surprised....that he can still...sleep at night..." Raven looked over at Atherin in worry. "Should w-we... try and w-wake him up?"

"It wouldn't do any good.... First off it would probably irritate him to have been woken up from sleeping, regardless of the dream, second, he'd growl out why did we wake him and if he were to catch us lying about knowing about this nightmare, he'd get angry at us for prying, third, this dream will just come up again later there's no point in waking him and making him irate, and lastly...he'll tell us when he's ready." Raven nodded. He didn't want to upset Atherin at the moment, especially after what they had just gone through.

Tyme sat back down on his chair after picking it up from when he had been forced out of Atherin's mind. "Let's just hope that he tells us soon...." Tyme said. He didn't like the fact that Atherin was carrying this burden all by himself, but he wouldn't be able to stop him from doing it anyways. He'd talk when he was ready. Raven sighed. He was getting really worried about Atherin. He feared that Draicoul's words and lies had gotten to him.

Tyme was worried too, but he couldn't do much. Atherin shifted slightly, catching both Tyme's and Raven's attentions, as both were trying to tell if he was in pain or not. Raven was getting extremely worried by this point. "Tyme... w-what's wrong with him? Are y-you sure it's... just a d-dream?"

Tyme nodded. "I couldn't see anything wrong with him physically when I went to check his wounds over. It's definitely a dream." Tyme replied. Atherin had stopped his shifting and had settled back down again. Raven was about to say something, when the Whale King shook suddenly. "We must b-be... landing..."

"Yeah... It'll be good to let you two rest and recover in a safer place." Tyme replied, watching as his brother subconsciously dug his claws into the couch to keep himself from shaking too much. Raven sighed and looked at Atherin in worry. He hoped that he'd wake up soon.

When the Whale King stopped shaking and rocking did Tyme get up. Atherin didn't so much as register the fact that they had landed. Tyme stood above him and gently pried his claws out of the couch, being extremely lucky that his brother didn't find his touch threatening. He picked him up before helping Raven to his feet.

Shadow helped keep Raven standing as she led him out of the Whale King. Obscura returned to Ibeyla and the others in the cockpit. Tyme carried Atherin, following beside Raven and Shadow just incase something happened. They soon reached where they could get off. Tyme went first to help Raven down, as Shadow was behind him, keeping him standing.

Raven got down without incident, and soon after Ibeyla, Donnie and Karl exited. Shadow jumped down, Avea perched on her head. "Donnie, would you prefer if I put Atherin in the medical room or just take him to his room?" Tyme asked as they entered Horai. "Probably to his room... he needs rest, and the medical room isn't the quietest place for him..." Donnie answered. Tyme nodded and started off to his brother's room, leaving the other's to fuss over Raven.

Karl talked to Raven for a few minutes before Donnie and Ibeyla convinced Raven to go to the medical room. After all, the enzyme was still in his system. After a few minutes of being in the medical room did Tyme come in. Raven immediately noticed that his arm was bleeding a slightly. Raven looked up. Besides Tyme, the only things in the room were Shadow and Avea. "W-what happened?" he asked, seeing the blood on Tyme's arm.

"He panicked when I placed him on his bed. I don't know why exactly, considering he slept through the landing of the Whale King, but for some reason or other he did. He calmed slightly when he saw that he was just in his room, and fell back asleep after being reassured that he was indeed back on Horai. I locked him in just incase... When he woke his eyes were crimson red and fearful... I didn't want an accident to happen." Raven blinked. "That's s-strange.... why would h-he be so s-scared?"

"I have no idea... It could be something that happened to him before he meet any of you... There is that five year time frame when he was alone...." Tyme replied, however, he got the feeling that it had nothing to do with something that had happened to him in the past... Raven sighed. "Is t-there anyway I-I can h-help?"

"I'll be alright. Just some medical tape and it'll heal by morning or early afternoon tomorrow." Tyme replied, getting some medical tape to wrap his arm up. Raven nodded. "Y-you sure Atherin will be o-okay?" he asked, "I-is there anyway I-I can help h-him?"

"I don't think I need to tell you this, but staying his friend is the best thing you can do for him. I have a feeling that he'll only confide in you about this nightmare that's been plaguing him for Eve only knows how long, so...keeping that confidential when the time comes would help him." Tyme answered. Raven nodded. Atherin had kept his past a secret since that day in Jurei, so he would keep Atherin's dream between them when, and if, he told him.

Tyme looked up and over in the general direction that Atherin's room was located. He sighed. "Seems that he's up and none to happy about being locked in his room. I'll go let him out." Tyme said suddenly to Raven, he had just finished wrapping up his arm. Raven laughed quietly. "If I-I woke up and f-found myself someplace d-different than where I h-had fallen a-asleep, and was l-locked in... I wouldn't b-be too happy e-either..." Tyme chuckled lightly before he left. A few minutes later Atherin walked in, but Tyme didn't.

Raven looked up at Atherin. "Hey D-Dracula... you l-look terrible..." he joked lightly, sitting up better on the bed. "I feel terrible too..." Atherin said, sitting on the edge of Raven's bed. He was still tired from the day's earlier events and having found out that he had attacked Tyme in his sleep didn't make him feel any better... "What's e-eating you?" Raven asked, looking at him with a bit of worry.

"What happened earlier today and the fact that I attacked Tyme in my sleep..." "I saw t-that..." Raven said, "W-why were you so s-scared?" "...Didn't know where I was or who was with me..." Raven nodded. "M-makes sense..." he agreed, "B-but... in the W-Whale King... you w-were tossing a-around a lot... are y-you alright?"

"...It...was just a nightmare...nothing more..." Atherin answered quietly, as if afraid to make the horrors return. "A n-nightmare?" Raven said, "W-what about? You seemed t-terrified..." Atherin's hands clenched the sheets a little tighter. So far he had been able to keep it a secret, but he guessed with the recent events, it was bound to be found out eventually. "....You....won't tell...will you...?" Raven shook his head. "I-I won't tell a-anyone, Atherin..."

Atherin nodded, but hesitated, unsure about where to start or how to phrase it exactly. He decided. He would say when he had started having this nightmare unless asked, but he'd figure our how he wanted to phrase it.

"....In the...dream...I'm in some sort of...military base... I think it's Imperial....as you're in it as well as Karl and there's someone else too... He has long white hair. I know that I've never seen him before.... I seem to have been summoned for some reason or other, but I never get to find out why....'cause on my way there...I'm attacked....and then all hell breaks loose...

Every one has a silver weapon of some sort, whether it be daggers or bullets, but it's clear that their aim is to kill me. I fight back and manage to escape them and the military base, but not without some serious wounds. It starts to get harder to breath and I realize what I have to do to try and reverse it, but...before I get to...you and Karl stand in my way…

At first, I thought that you were there to try and help me, but...that wasn't...the case..... From there...it starts to....terrify me because I'm thrown all over the place and I have no idea what's going on as I'm thrust about half a year into the future from that point... But...you and Karl have been 'hunting' me since then..... For some reason...you're always the one that corners me....and nearly....kills me....before I'm thrust to the beginning of the dream to start it over again...but each time it does that I get hurt worse and....it gets harder to avoid you as you do more and more damage. I'm afraid of when and if that dream will end.... Because....with the way it goes....you'll eventually kill me...."

Raven stared at Atherin. He didn't even know what to say. "A-Atherin... you know Karl and me would never d-do that to you..." "....I know....that's what makes it so confusing to me... I don't know why I keep having this dream..."

"And... also... the w-white-haired man, you mentioned..." Atherin looked at him questioningly. "Do you know who he is?" Raven nodded slowly, unsure of Atherin's reaction. "What's wrong? Is he....a bad person?" Raven sighed. "W-well... that man... his n-name is Gunther Prozen...."

"...Gunther....Prozen...? Do you not like him or something?" Atherin asked, mistaking Raven's reactions to the man as a bad sign. "No, no..." Raven said, "Prozen is... s-sorta like my father..." Atherin only gave Raven an extremely confused look. He didn't quite understand what Raven meant.

"Prozen t-took me in... after my family... died..." "I understand now." Atherin said. "But....any idea as to why I would see him in a dream of mine?" Raven shrugged. "D-don't ask me..."

Atherin sighed. That didn't help him in the slightest. He wasn't sure if he was the one that had instigated the attack or not.... He also didn't know why he kept having this dream after having to get to know Raven and Karl.... He had hoped that they would have stopped....but because he now knew who it was nearly killing him...it made it 100 times worse.

Raven noticed Atherin's distressed expression. "What's w-wrong?" "....I don't know if it's Prozen that instigates the attack or not.... And because I now know who it is that...attacks me....it makes the dream a hundred times worse..." Atherin answered quietly. Raven sighed and patted him on the back. "Hey, d-don't worry... Karl and me w-would never hurt you, Atherin..."

"...I know that...but....I've been having this dream for a little over three years now.... I had hoped that they'd stop when I had met you and Karl..." Raven blinked. "Hmm... I d-don't know how t-to help you..." Perhaps there was something he was missing.... After all, when one's fighting for their life, even if it is in a dream, things tended to be missed...

Raven looked down in worry. He was worried by the fact that Atherin was having nightmares about him and Karl trying to kill him. And why Prozen was involved... he didn't know. Atherin noticed Raven's worried look. Perhaps telling Raven his nightmare wasn't the best thing.... "Sorry.... I...didn't mean to make you worry with something like this...."

"It's a-alright... I'm g-glad you t-told me..." Atherin only nodded. He felt a little better now that he had told someone about it, but it still weighed heavily upon his mind. "D-don't worry Atherin... Karl and m-me would n-never hurt you... and I h-highly doubt Prozen would d-do anything against y-you..." "I know.... But...it's a little hard to just get rid of a dream that's been plaguing you for three years...." "I k-know... I've g-gone through the same t-thing..."

A clock chimed somewhere. It rang two times before it quieted again. "I think I'm going to try and get some more sleep... You should too, you need it... Would it be better if I just stayed here? In case the enzyme starts to act up again?" Raven nodded slightly. He didn't really want to be alone with the enzyme still in his body.

Atherin got up off Raven's bed and took the one next to his. He wasn't about to sleep in a chair when there was an open bed right here. "You don't have to worry about me not waking if you were to try to. After that dream...I usually don't get much sleep after I wake up..."

Raven nodded slowly. He felt extremely uneasy about sleeping with the enzyme still in his body, but he was too tired to really care at that point. He sent Shadow to turn off the overhead light, which she did, and curled up on the ground beside his bed. Avea jumped up onto Atherin's bed, curling up to sleep. Atherin was soon sleeping, but as he had told Raven it was an extremely light sleep. He was resting, but it wasn't near enough to recover his energy completely.

Raven wasn't sleeping well either. The enzyme had started to eat at him again, but he was asleep and unable to realize it. Not even Shadow realized it; she was too deep in sleep to notice. Atherin tossed a little. He couldn't get comfortable to even attempt to try and get back to sleep. His eyes were closed and his breathing soft, but he was far from actually being asleep. Raven rolled over and woke up. He drew a sharp breath and clutched his stomach. The enzyme had begun digesting him in his sleep, and the pain had woken him up. "A-Ath... A-Atherin..."

Atherin woke up, not that he was really asleep in the first place, and got up, going over to Raven. He rolled Raven back onto his back so he could better 'see' where the enzyme was attacking him. The gold rim returned to his eyes as he located the troublesome enzyme. Raven coughed weakly, blood leaking out of his mouth. "H-how bad... is it?" he choked out, in extreme pain.

"It's not too bad... It's just trying to start back up again. I can take care of it." Atherin said as he started to do repair the minor damage that the enzyme was trying to do. Raven groaned in pain. "J-just... d-do what you c-an..."

Atherin continued to try and 'heal' the damaged tissue that the enzyme was heading toward. He had to use a little more energy than Tyme did, but he'd get the same results...at least on a small scale.

Raven took a deep breath, this time with no pain. "T-thanks Atherin... I-I feel m-much better now..." Atherin pulled his hand away and his eyes returned to normal. "Glad to hear that. If it starts to act up again let me know." Atherin said as he sat back down on his bed, leaning against the wall, since he still couldn't fall back asleep.

Raven nodded, but hoped the enzyme was gone for good this time. He quickly fell asleep, exhausted. Avea lifted her head and yawned, woken up by Atherin's movement. Atherin had his eyes closed and thus couldn't tell that Avea had woken up because he had moved. He had laid back down again in a vain attempt to try and fall back asleep. Avea crawled over to him and licked his cheek. "Atherin?"

Atherin opened his eyes at his name and looked over his shoulder to see Avea looking at him curiously. "What it is Avea?" "What's wrong?" she asked, nuzzling his shoulder. "...Just having a hard time going back to sleep." Atherin answered quietly to not wake Raven back up, as he caressed Avea.

Avea purred softly, licking his hand and rubbing her muzzle against his fingers gently. Atherin scratched behind her head. He knew that Azel liked to have his belly rubbed, but he wasn't sure where Avea like to be patted. Avea purred loudly, wagging her tail. She licked his hand, cooing happily... Atherin sat up and picked her up so then he could lie down on his back. He placed Avea on his chest and caressed her muzzle. Avea curled up and licked at his fingers, purring softly...

Atherin continued to pet Avea. He hoped that he'd be able to get at least one more hour of sleep. He'd feel a little bit better rested even with that. Avea yawned and curled up sleepily. "I sleepy..." she said quietly, closing her eyes and falling asleep. Atherin staid awake for another hour before he finally was able to drift off into a light sleep….

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Author's Note: So Atherin's nightmare is really bad… What could it possibly mean and is there a way to make it stop? Raven's having to fight with the enzyme again and hopefully this'll be the last time that it acts up. What'll happen in the next chapter? You'll just have to wait and find out!!