Chapter 62: Waking Moments

Irleen entered Link's cabin, causing Brandon to interrupt himself as he turned toward the open door. Leynne, sitting on Link's footlocker, hissed at her and directed her to shut the door and wait.

Link gave her a moment. Then he asked Brandon, "You're sure that's what you saw?"

Brandon glanced to his left upon hearing Dholit translate for Twali. Then he said, "Yessir. I thought I was seeing things. But the bird disappeared, and the Sky Line just… It kinda threw a couple hunks of meat out, and they just fell out of sight."

Link waited for Dholit to finish translating before asking, "Is that what Twali saw, too?"

"Waba thawicya'ak 'anw maddix 'akwibgin max?" Dholit asked.

"Ay," Twali replied with a nod. "Gnwanu dhin."

"She agrees," Dholit said. "Like meat."

"Captain," Brandon quickly spoke up, interrupting Link. "What was it?"

Link traded glances with Leynne and Irleen. "The Dreamweaver," he told Brandon. "What was left of him."

Brandon gulped, and Twali visibly paled after Dholit finished her translation. "You—… That was… That was the Dreamweaver?" he asked.

Link nodded. "Yeah. A withered, old man living in a rotten body. He's been alive for over a hundred years, but his body just kept on aging."

"Goddesses Above…" Brandon breathed. "Just… Just how?"

"Magic," Irleen replied, causing attention in the room to turn to her. "Rest provides life; that's why we need to sleep. The Dreamweaver must've found out how to take that life, but it isn't as if he was taking anybody's youth. He wasn't locked out of time like Cunimincus and the Smiling Gunner."

"The miasma that surrounded his body did whatever work he needed done," Link continued. "Without it, he would've just been a corpse. If he got rid of the miasma, he couldn't live for more than a second. Maybe not even that long."

Twali waited for Dholit's translation to end before saying, "Nway hacinw 'aridhgin…"

Brandon pointed to her and said, "Whatever she just said, I think I agree with it."

"Indeed, this is all quite mad," Dholit said. "Howevah, Mistah Brandon, I should think it appropriate to youh desiah foh adventuah."

"And this crew doesn't disappoint," Brandon told her. Then he turned to Link and said, "How the hell do you even cope?"

"Just live with the knowledge that we've done what's right," Irleen said.

"He… was sorry for all of the nightmares he gave us," Link said. "That's about all we can offer."

"He was… You mean…" Brandon stumbled over his words, aware that he had just received some astonishing information. "You mean… he talked to you?" Twali put on a shocked look to mirror his once Dholit had finished translating.

Link nodded. "He told me everything once Irleen started the dream. It was all just… part of his plan."

Dholit interrupted her translation to ask, "Wait, what plan?"

"A suicide," Leynne spoke up. "Which seems to tie in everything that the Dreamweaveh has done. Once Link was a threat, it should have been no problem foh the Dreamweaveh to kill him as it had done othehs. We could have been driven from the Symphony and fohced to live on the island at any time. Had the Dreamweaveh lost restraint, we would have suhly joined the population."

"So… you're saying we weren't even in any danger?" Brandon asked.

"Hahdly so," Leynne replied with a headshake. "Even now, Aihman Geohdie lies in a coma in the sick bay. And, had we not noticed Aihman Ray fall ovehboahd, she would have cehtainly plunged to heh death. And Chief Floweh is still quite disabled from the Dreamweaveh's attack on the Conductoh. Pehhaps the most stunning of all is…" Leynne paused and glanced at Link. Then he cleared his throat and continued, "Layna's attempt to take heh own life, likely enacted by the Dreamweaveh's constant barrage of nightmahs. To say that we weh neveh in dangeh fohces us to ovehlook these potentially fatal events ohchestrated by the Dreamweaveh."

"Oh…" Brandon grunted, looking down at the deck in embarrassment.

"Thank you for your reports," Link spoke up. "You three are dismissed."

"Aye aye, sir," Brandon replied, his hand offering a quick salute before he turned to leave. Twali and Dholit followed closely behind, their own expressions concerned.

Leynne waited for the door to close before talking. "I suspect that might have been too much infohmation foh him to digest," he told Link.

"I just hope it's all as clear to the rest of the crew," Link said. "He's gonna spread the word."

Leynne gave a grunt as he stood up. "Then I had betteh see to it that clarity is pehfectly in theih grasp."

"While you're out there," Link said as Leynne made for the door. Leynne stopped and turned to him. "Tell Line to take us into the other Sky Line. Full sails."

"We'h going back to Obeeta, Link?" Leynne asked.

"We can change the Sky Lines and make the journey back home faster," Link explained. "And it would be a good time to try repairing the mizzen-masts. This crew deserves to see home as soon as possible."

"I see," Leynne said with a nod. "Undehstood." With that, he stepped out of the room.

Link heaved a sigh and looked at Irleen. "How's our new passenger?" he asked.

"Sleeping now," Irleen said. "She more or less cried herself to sleep, but she seems to be getting some rest. A hundred years is a long time to be locked away in a shield."

Link glanced at said shield sitting beside the head of his bed. Once things had calmed down and he had returned to his cabin, he had noticed that the shield had changed. While it was still the same shape rather than having been split apart as in the dream, the purple field was completely bare. No more white bands, no more eye staring out at people. The shield looked completely innocuous, possibly because it no longer had to bear Janni. Link rubbed his brow and said under his breath, "Talking about coping…"

"Huh?" Irleen asked.

"Nothing," Link said. He relaxed against the back of his chair and asked, "So… what is she, exactly? I've never seen a Sorian like her, all dark like that."

"She's a Bloodwing," Irleen said. "It's a rare arrangement of features, something that only pops up once in a while. I've only ever seen a few at home."

"Bloodwing? Sounds kinda grim, especially since she was the Dreamweaver's daughter."

"Only superstition and unimaginative fictions condone relating one with the other," Irleen told him in an irritated tone.

Link quickly raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay," he replied. "So… what, that just happens to be what you call them?"

"A lot of Sorians have nicknames for certain skin and plumage," Irleen explained. She opened her left arm to show Link her feathers. Now that Link had a good look at her wing, he could see that her dirty-white coloring was caused by small spots of brown mixed in a white base. The spots were thicker just under her arm, letting the feathers almost blend into her tan skin. "I'm a Dusty. My coloring's a mix."

Link pointed at his own head as he awkwardly asked, "What about the… hair?"

"What? My hair?"

"Yeah. You're pointing out your arms to me. What about the feathers on your head?"

Irleen shrugged. "It's like your hair; it can come in any color." She pointed to her head. "You think this looks weird next to my wings? You should see my mom. Then you'd th—…"

Link watched a gloomy expression form on her face. "Irleen?"

She sighed and raked her fingers through her hair. "Sorry, Link," she said. "I just… I kinda realized that… with all this going on, we didn't really find any clues to where the other Sorians went."

Link put on a grim look and covered his mouth with a hand for a moment. "We didn't, did we…" He sighed and asked, "Do you think you could find anything if you had more time? It'll take Leynne a bit to repair the mizzen-masts."

"I don't know," she groaned. "That library's a mess, and I can't read half the books. I was kinda hoping they might've been here, but… you don't think the Dreamweaver got to them already, do you?"

Link caught the sudden undertone of fright in her voice and quickly shook his head. "No, of course not," he told her. "If they'd landed here, I'm sure Janni would've said something. I don't think the Dreamweaver could've changed them that fast."

"I hope not…" Irleen then heaved a sigh. "I think I'm gonna go take a nap, too. Can you… have someone wake me when we get there?"

Link nodded, although Irleen had already turned to leave. "Sure," he said. He watched her trudge out the door. He waited a moment, anticipating someone else coming into his cabin.

Then he pulled out his logbook.

~~Same day, about 1500.

~~The Dreamweaver is dead. And Janni has been freed from the shield. But I can't say I feel very accomplished. I suppose part of it has to do with the hell my crew just went through. The Dreamweaver was using us to commit suicide, and he arranged everything almost from the moment we moored. In killing him, I feel like I was beheading my own dad. Everything around me just seems so depressing. We haven't found any leads on the Sorians' disappearance, so our entire reason for coming here feels like a waste of time. Add that to the fact that various members of my crew are either injured or less sane than when we arrived and I'm surprise my crew hasn't k—

The ship jostled, forcing Link to grab the edge of his desk to brace himself. He listened for a moment, checking that the Island Symphony had gone into a Sky Line. The howl of wind against the hull was familiar enough. He gave the stray dash on his logbook page an irritated look. "Line…" he groaned to himself.

~~We're on our way back to Obeeta. I know it's gonna be a pain to the crew, but it's our opportunity to get back home faster. Between repairing the sails on the mizzen-masts and changing the Sky Line, I'm hoping to get this crew home as soon as possible. They've had enough. And so have I.