Okay, this brings in a character from another story that I am working on. Kind of going with the funny way dreams work, especially since I remember a dream where I had dinner with the Forman family from That 70's Show. Before anyone says anything, yes, that happened, they are tricksters and everyone's idea of a joke is different.

...

Vlad looked up toward the misty hills as he took in his surroundings. He couldn't recall ever coming to this part of Scotland before; he might have needed to check his memoirs to be sure. Coming up a hill in the valley, he saw a great tree sitting on the top. As he drew closer, he felt his heart clench as he saw ropes and what he knew to be Gwen's foot. He raced up the hill only to pause when she was in full view. She looked peaceful as she hung in the intricate workings of Japanese bondage called, Kinbaku. Fabric waved in the breeze as it was bound with her, covering her modesty. He walked up to her as she opened her eyes and smiled at him as he took her head in his hands.

"Hi," she said.

"Hello," he replied, "now how did you get into this predicament?"

"I ran into a tanuki," she answered.

"A tanuki?" he repeated, "I thought it was kitsunes that were supposed to be the pranksters?"

"How is this a prank?" she implored.

"I'm hoping it is, or else that tanuki will be answering to me," he stated.

Looking at the ropes, Vlad searched for the safest place to start in getting her down. He flew up to the branch that she was hanging from and slowly undid the knots that kept her bound there. Upon hearing her mention his name, he looked over to see a man hanging in the tree. He stiffened, knowing that the sight would be uncomfortable for Gwen. He quickened his pace and then gently laid her down in the soft, green grass. She never took her eyes off the hanged man as Vlad undid her bindings. Once she was loose, she stood, wrapping the cloth around her to make a makeshift dress, and stepped closer to view the poor soul.

"Brother!" a man cried out in a terribly thick Scottish accent.

Gwen turned and gave the man room as he raced up and threw his axe at the branch that held his brother before catching his body. He collapsed to his knees as he held him close and wept fiercely into his twin's chest. Vlad placed a hand on Gwen's shoulder to stop her as she reached out to comfort the man. She looked up at him before frowning as she gazed back at the tragic scene.

"Why God, why must you take my brother from me?" he wept to the skies, "Was it because he loved a Fae? What was his crime?"

As if to answer him, rain began to pour down as the very heavens wept with him. Gwen's head shot up as a beautiful woman came into view. She was tall and graceful, as she seemed to glow. She stared at the weeping soul with sympathetic, blue-green eyes. Her strawberry blonde hair framed her face in wet tendrils, giving her a look of a halo. A soft, melodic voice came from her delicate, pouty lips as she spoke.

"The best ones are always taken from us early," she said soothingly, "we can never hold onto the ones that are called back home, no matter how much we may want to."

The man looked at her in a moment of awe before turning back to his brother's corpse and holding him close again. They both had long, striking red hair with beards to match. While the one's eyes had gone grey, his twin's eyes were an intense emerald. He was strong and burly, while his twin had been built more for agility. The mourner's form contrasting the woman's delicate frame while they seemed to fit like Aphrodite and Ares had fit while being exact opposites.

"Let us go, your brother would not want you to catch cold," the woman suggested softly.

Nodding, he lifted his brother up and cradled him as he followed the woman and they faded from view. Gwen and Vlad both looked this way and that to see where they might have gone. They were alerted to another presence when a man said that they wouldn't find them there. They looked up to see a tanuki, the very tanuki Vlad suspected of putting Gwen in the tree, sitting on a branch looking down at them sadly.

"Why is that?" Gwen asked.

"And what, pray tell, is a raccoon dog doing in Scotland?" Vlad snapped, hands on his hips.

"What you had seen angel was the memory of this place replaying, and yet its audience is a pair of dreamers," the tanuki spat begrudgingly. "I am here because I wanted to see the world, and happened to find friends on an island half way around the world from the island I came from. One might call that ironic, especially one as old as you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Vlad growled.

"What happened to the man and woman after that?" Gwen implored earnestly.

"The man wanted vengeance over his brother and became what you call a berserker on the battlefield," the tanuki explained, "he inspired such fear that he was renamed Grendel, after the legendary monster. His birth name was forgotten; even I can't remember it anymore. The woman that you have seen became his wife and birthed him two boys, twins. When they were born, he took up carving. His craftsmanship was beautiful.

"His boys grew up and took on wives of their own," the tanuki stated, "as I stayed and watched them grow. His youngest married a woman that was said to be an angel, much like his wife was. The two women seemed to know each other vaguely. This tree became very important to that family… and now, they probably don't even know it exists."

"Why not?" Gwen exclaimed, finding that hard to believe.

"Because when they went to America, they became too blind in their faith," the tanuki scoffed, "bunch of Pharisees."

Gwen looked at the tree and placed a gentle, loving hand on it. "It misses the family that cared for it, doesn't it?"

"Aye child," the tanuki sighed, "I can only imagine what happened to the boy's family. After he had married that woman, Valorie, his brother's side of the family started distancing themselves. I don't know why to be honest. Their children adored each other, but as the line continued, they drew apart and one side, I lost to the sands of time. One child I lost entirely."

"Child?" Vlad interrupted.

The tanuki waved his hand and the scenery changed to a cabin. They peered into the window that he stood near to see a woman, who had aged but time had certainly been kind to her. She rocked in her chair as held a dress that a child would be christened in and sang.

Lavender's blue, dilly, dilly, lavender's green,

When he is king, dilly, dilly, you shall be queen.

Who told you so, dilly, dilly, who told you so?

T'was my own heart, dilly, dilly, that told me so.

Vlad winced at the pain in her voice as well as the love. He knew the dress belonged to a child that she no longer had by the way she held it in her arms and looked off at nothing in particular. He knew that heartache that echoed in her song as he gripped the edge of his cloak. Looking up, he could see a younger tanuki looking down at her from the rafters. His face was downtrodden as he watched her sadly.

Call up your men, dilly, dilly, set them to work

Some to the plough, dilly, dilly, some to the fork,

Some to make hay, dilly, dilly, some to cut corn,

While you and he, dilly, dilly, keep yourselves warm.

Gwen gently placed her hand against the window as she gazed curiously at the woman inside. Her white hair glistened like a halo in the fire's glow. Her skin while weathered, had few lines and was pale as well with a few spots here and there from life in the sun. Her eyes were a soft green as her time drew to a close. Her voice was soft and sweet as she sang.

Lavender's green, dilly, dilly, Lavender's blue,

If you love me, dilly, dilly, I will love you.

Let the birds sing, dilly, dilly, and the lambs play;

We shall be safe, dilly, dilly, out of harm's way.

I love to dance, dilly, dilly, I love to sing;

When you are queen, dilly, dilly, he shall be your king.

Who told me so, dilly, dilly, who told me so?

I told myself, dilly, dilly, I told me so.

When she had finished, she simply smiled sadly before she gazed down at the dress and straightened the edges. The young tanuki leapt down and walked over to her. It was obvious that something was troubling him as the same look appeared on his older self next to them.

"Come on Demi," he whispered, "where is the child so that I may guard it?"

"She's safe and sound," she cooed, "do not worry yourself over her when you have my cousin's children and my nieces and nephews to look after."

"I know, but you know I feel incomplete when I know that one is missing," he whined.

"She won't be missing forever, Jirai," she stated, "She won't be missing forever."

Gwen gasped, catching Vlad's attention before he followed her gaze and saw a portal had opened as a man was escorted by a strange looking beast. It was cat-like and gangly as it rushed to the woman and rested its head and large ears on her knee. The woman lovingly ran her hand through the creature's vivid lime-green hair. Gwen gripped Vlad's sleeve as she continued to stare at the man that came with the creature. Vlad glanced at her curiously before gazing upon him.

He was still quite young as he stood before her. His hair flowed in ebony locks with a moustache to match it. He was dressed in fine clothes if a bit tattered by strong winds and water. Vlad paused as he glanced down to see a hook for one of his hands. It can't be, he thought with baited breath.

The man kneeled down, mindful of the creature as he tenderly grasped the arm that held the dress, "Dem, will you not come with me? Be buried at sea where your heart roamed free?"

She cupped his cheek, "Jimmy, you know that I wish to be buried with my family. My papa bear had crafted a headstone for me that looks just like the figurehead on my ship before he passed. Do you remember?"

"I do, he took great care when crafting it for you," he commented.

"Daddy didn't care too much for my ship," she giggled.

"He didn't care for your career choice," he chuckled.

Vlad watched as Dem bit her bottom lip, "I miss her Jimmy. I have missed her since I gave her up that day after you had christened her for me. There were so many times that I wanted to go back and get her, but I couldn't! I made damn sure that I couldn't, and it's killed me little by little over the years!"

She wept as Jimmy wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back in a soothing manner. "I know Dem, I know. You did it for her own good. Besides, you know that I would do anything for you."

"Stay with me?" She asked as she looked up at him, "Having Jirai here is nice, but I want you."

"I'll stay," he said as he winced.

The image faded and they were standing in the valley. As the tanuki revealed to be Jirai stepped up to them, depressed by the memories he witnessed once again. Gwen took his hand as she smiled at him with great sympathy as he smiled weakly back.

"She died in his arms that night," he stated, "before he was sent back home. I never found the girl, but I did stay with the family as best as I could. Eventually, the side I had followed rejected me because of what I am."

"I am sorry for your loss," Gwen stated. "You won't stay lost forever, though."

Jirai looked at her confused as she smiled sweetly at him as he faded into the realm of the waking world. Vlad wrapped an arm around her as she faded shortly afterward with a confused glance at him. He sighed, knowing that he shouldn't try to see if he could find her on his own in the dream world. He faded away as he bit his lip in frustration.

...

Alucard pokes and prods MsN: Our story, what about our story?

MsN: I'm suffering writer's block. I don't know about your story!

Chase: "Our" story?

Alucard: You wouldn't have one without me, so yeah... our story.

Chase: -_-*