Author's Note: Enjoy!

Dream Weaver

Chapter 1

Garnet:

          Jougen was a tree house colony, which was amazing in itself. I found myself wondering about how they kept these perfect little huts suspended forty feet in the air. It was amazing…I had seen nothing like it. Musouka's hut was in the center of this 'village' with a long rope ladder dangling down the side.

          "I'll show you the rest of the village as soon as I get changed for the meeting," She said softly, motioning to the rope.

          I started up it carefully and pulled myself up onto the platform. Musouka climbed up beside me, huffing lightly. She gave me a strange look as I got to my feet. What for, I wasn't sure.

          "What's wrong," I asked.

          "I have to get you in some better clothes. This torn shirt won't do."

          I nodded, seeing as I didn't have the room to complain. Musouka flashed another smile and unlocked the front door to her little house. I walked in ahead of her onto what was supposedly carpet flooring. Now how did something like that get here, especially when it was gray?

          "It's fur, from a dozen wolves. We didn't kill them; we just captured and shaved them. We let them go after a few months though."

          This carpet…from tame wolves? I knelt down and touched it softly. It felt very soft…it sent the image of a brown tail into my mind. But why would I remember that?

          "Something wrong?"

          I glanced up at Musouka and shook my head.

          "No, it's just…" I trailed off.

          "Don't worry, I'm not going to pry it out of you. But…I'll pick out some clothes for you."

          She closed the door and walked into the back of the hut. I got up and settled down in a nearby chair. Minutes later, Musouka emerged from the back room, dressed in a set of black robes fringed with gold stars. She held out a set of brown robes with crescent moons on it.

          "It's not much, but I assure you, it'll be better once I sew a few clothes for you."

          "Thank you," I said sincerely.

          "Um…I still haven't found out your name, but why don't I call you Suteki. It means dreamy."

          Dreamy, huh? I nodded and took the robes in my hands.

          "You can change in the back. I'll be out in the front," Musouka muttered.

          I walked down the small hallway and slipped on the robes. While I did so, I caught sight of myself in a mirror. I looked horrible…I truly did. My face was a bit puffy and my eyes were a wee bit bloodshot and my hair…well, let's not go there. I walked from the mirror in silence, determined to get back to Musouka. Musouka was standing out to the right of the front door, eyes closed tightly. I walked softly, trying not to wake her up. However, it was too late. Her eyes shot open and she shook her vigorously.

          "Come on, Suteki! Let's go to the elder's house!"

          Gods, she must run on nothing but smiles. We both crossed the bridge over to the right side of the village. There were three huts on this side both with a second floor. Each of them sported a different dreamy color resulting from orange to a creamy brown. Musouka pointed to the creamy orange building with a sigh.

          "That's my sister Dori's house. She's not home due to the fact that she's out in the fields. But she's on the committee that governs the laws here."

          "You have laws? That seems so foreign to me somehow. This land is too beautiful to have crime!" I commented.

          "Ah, but your wrong. Jougen may be safe, but it is at the mercy of Yoarashi, the core in the land of nightmares."

          "So…are there two lands within this…section?"

          "Well…you could say that."

          I shrugged her comment off and continued on down the pathway. Musouka pointed at the creamy brown house and smoothed her hair back.

          "That's Iyori's house. He's…um…like family to me. He's one of the committee members also."

          "And the last?"

          "The elder Kusumi's house."

          I touched the door to the elder's house and twisted it, intending to push it open. Instead, the door flew open, knocking me across the platform and a tall figure stepped out. She looked just like Musouka only there were a few subtle differences. One was the color of her eyes. Instead of having orange eyes, they were a sinister dark blue and her hair was completely black. There was the subtle hint of feathers in it, but it was very hair to tell where they were exactly. Plus, she had this darkness that seemed to project from her body and hang in the air around her. I couldn't help but shiver at it. Musouka rushed over to my side and helped me to my feet.

          "What are you doing here, Natiohane?" She asked, with a coldness I've never heard in her voice before.

          The girl now named Natiohane narrowed her eyes at me, a smirk easing across her lips.

          "I see you took in another moral, dear sister."

          "Don't call Suteki that. And she was lost so I just helped her!"

          I felt like something bad was going to happen between the two, so I backed away. I had no idea how Jougen's ideals worked, so I didn't know if they would start fighting or not.

          "Nevertheless, dear sister. I doubt the elder will be pleased with you," Natiohane sneered.

          "Go back to Yoarashi and your own kind!" Musouka snapped.

          "Ouch, my dear sister, ouch."

          And with that, Natiohane strode away. Musouka turned to face me with an unnatural twinkling in her eyes. I couldn't help but notice the speckle of blue in her eyes and hidden fire behind them.

          "What's wrong, Suteki?" She asked.

          "Nothing," I answered.

          "Are you sure?"

          I nodded. Something told me there was more to her than people originally saw. The image of a white haired man flashed into my mind instantly. I blinked, trying to identify it with some difficulty. But a sharp pain in my head prevented me from thinking on it further. We entered the elder's hut solemnly. The interior of the hut was dimly lit with candles and in the back corner sat the elder, a very young girl with pure white hair and pale skin. She was different than Musouka in the respect that she had no feathers. The elder opened both startlingly beautiful eyes and stared at me.

          "Who is this child? She has great power…"

          I blinked.

          "I don't have power…at least I don't remember having any," I said softly.

          "She has lost her memory, Lady Kusumi. I found her on the beaches outside," Musouka added.

          The elder, Lady Kusumi stretched and yawned.

          "Your sister already knows that this child is here. It's best that you keep her hidden away."

          Musouka seemed to show disgust at the elder's opinion, but wisely covered it up.

          "Oh, and Musouka, I want to speak with you alone. Take the child to Iyori. He's on the other side in the tree branches."

          I would have protested this command if Musouka hadn't suggested me out of the hut. She took me without a sound around the pathway that took us to the right side of Jougen. Sure enough, in the trees was a guy with shoulder length black hair, with the addition of feathers. His skin was as pale as the elders (even though I don't know why) and he was wearing a set of gray robes to match.

          "Iyori," Musouka called softly.

          The guy now named Iyori turned around and narrowed his eyes at her.

          "Ah, sister, what brings you over here?"

          "This is Suteki, Iyori. Can she stay with you while I talk to Lady Kusumi?"

          Iyori glanced at me, his silver/black eyes twinkling in the light.

          "No problem."

          Musouka nodded and ran off, leaving me all alone with Iyori.

          "You're an unusual little person, my dear. Apparently, the elder thinks so too if she's got Musouka running around like this," Iyori commented.

          "I don't understand this land. There are so many things I don't know and…" I trailed off.

          Iyori laughed.

          "What do you want to know about Jougen?"

          There was one question on my mind.

          "Who is the Natiohane person?"

          Iyori's expression darkened for a moment.

          "Natiohane is Musouka's twin sister. It's not hard to guess really, seeing how they look just like each other."

          I settled down on the pathway and met Iyori's eyes.

          "But why don't they live together?"

          "Well…Natiohane is dark and Musouka is supposedly light. Or at least, it was supposed to work that way. Sometimes Musouka takes in the darkness Natiohane feeds on by accident and she'll grow colder. She's trying to get better, but it isn't working. That's why she doesn't weave dreams that well anymore."

          I thought about this calmly. Is that why she looked at me so strangely?

          "So how do you weave dreams?" I asked.

          "Easy. Just watch."

          Iyori grabbed a small stream of sun that had peeped through the trees and wound it delicately into his fingers. I watched with awe as the beam wave into a small floating fish with glittering scales.

          "Of course there is a lethal aspect to this weaving of dreams," Iyori whispered as he balled his hand into a fist. Black tendrils of smoke drifted out and snatched at the fish, shattering it's image.

          "What did you do?" I asked.

          "I used what is normally called black magic."

          "Can anybody else use it?"

          "Only a select few in Jougen can do so, but I will tell you that it's me and Musouka, who can use it freely."

          So…Musouka had magic. At that moment, the image of a little boy in blue popped into my head. It had orange glowing eyes and a wide-brimmed hat on his head. Who was that? The image faded away as quickly as it had came, leaving me with a sense of disappointment.

          "Suteki, let's go to the dream field. Maybe it will help you relax," Iyori suggested.

          I glanced at him carefully. Did he just read my thoughts? Iyori jumped down from the tree branch and grinned.

          The dream field was…well, a large expansive field. Well, in a sense it wasn't. Underneath the thin layer of soil lining the top was water, clear water at that. So when you walked in, you kinda got the feeling of sinking, but I'm get excited (and I digress). Multicolored orbs flew out of the ground and eventually became small clouds that floated around the field freely. Iyori yawned and stretched.

          "The cloud/orb are dreams. They float up from the water up to a level where we can capture and weave it. Also, there is always someone playing music here."

          "What for?"

          "Well…it's rumored that it makes weaving easier. Other than that, I really don't know."

          Iyori chuckled and strode across the field towards a cloud. He reached out and touched it gently. Instantly, his body took on an azure glow and spread the cloud apart with some kind of energy. The area around him went dark for a moment or two then returned to normal. He let it go with a sigh and watched it disappear underground.

          "It's nothing flashy really. After all, we are just the moderators. The dreams that come up here are in need of moderation. Understand now?" He muttered.

          I nodded and said nothing further. It was quiet for a few moments later until Musouka arrived. She appeared to be upset and there were hints of tears stains on her cheek. Now I had to wonder what upset the mighty Musouka so much.

          "Are you ok, Musouka?" I asked.

          "I'm ok."

          "Will you weave today?" Iyori asked.

          "No brother, you are the better weaver than I. Besides, I need to talk to you later in private. Meet me in the forest grove when the sun hides its face from the world. Come, Suteki."

          And with that, Musouka left. I waved at Iyori lightly and followed her out.