Disclaimer: I do not own Medabots, nor do I own the characters from the
original manga. I own myself and all of my characters, including Akura
Yukienata and Foxfire. I do not make a profit from this. Rin Horumarin-sama
owns Medabots.
Author's Note: Does anybody remember the old title to this fanfic before it got deleted? Anybody?
Foxfire stood alone in a large dark place. Excuse the description but there was no other way to describe where she was. Foxfire couldn't see any kind of environment or distinction of her whereabouts.
Just one, big, dark, room.
She looked around in confused curiosity. Hadn't she been in the hospital room with Akura? And hadn't she just been sitting in a chair... sleeping?
Foxfire traced her foot around her, expecting to hit the bed stand, a chair leg, something. But there was nothing. Nothing BUT empty space.
'Where am I?' The FOX type thought in confusion. She kneeled down, placing a hand on the ground. It was completely flat, and smooth. So it was a man-made ground. Foxfire had to be inside the hospital.
'I must've fallen out of my chair or something, a little farther away than usual. That's all.' Foxfire cautiously stepped forward a couple paces. She would either hit a wall, a desk, a chair, or a bed.
She continued carefully walking so not to trip over anything for another minute. She made SURE she walked in a straight line.
But Foxfire hit nothing.
The FOX type took in a calming breath, trying to slow down her beating medal. 'Okay, so I'm not in Akura's room. No need to panic. Maybe there's someone here!'
Foxfire couldn't explain where she was or how she had gotten there, but there might've been someone with her who could explain.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" She called out, cupping her hands around her transmission to echo her voice. She listened for awhile, trying to find any sign of another presence.
There was nothing.
"Hello...! HELLO!" Foxfire winced, cupping her hands over her receivers. She'd have to stop yelling so loud otherwise she'd damage her audio receivers.
If she could, Foxfire would've gulped down hard. She was starting to feel a little frightened. She was doing her best to keep her composure but it was hard when she was in a place she didn't know, she didn't know how she'd gotten there and she was alone.
She actually felt a little proud for not freaking out yet.
The FOX type lit a small fire on the tip of tail, making sure the fire didn't go any farther than the tip.
Foxfire slowly waved her tail around, trying to get her bearings and get some kind of clue to where she was.
That's when she heard the voice. The so familiar but medal-wrenching voice.
"You play with fire, you get burned." Foxfire yelped so loudly she lost concentration of the fire and it spread past the tip, soon reaching her central automotive nerve system.
Which meant, it got far enough to her pain receptors. Meaning, it hurt. A lot. Foxfire squeaked loudly in surprise and whapped her tail on the ground a few times before the fire was finally out.
The voice chuckled a little at the performance, bringing Foxfire more fear.
"Who's there?! Where am I?" She called out, the basic famous words to when questioning the captor.
But the captor had chosen to remain silent yet again, frustrating but at the same time frightening her. Foxfire was anything but calm; she was overwhelmed by her fear for what was happening.
"Sh-show yourself! Wh—"Foxfire was cut off by a direct answer from the familiar voice.
"Are you sure? Because I don't think you'd want me to come out..." The voice was sly, and almost trying to dare Foxfire to answer back with a 'yes'.
The FOX type shrunk down a little. Yes, she was afraid of what might happen if the voice's owner actually did come out. But it would certainly be better than being left in the dark with no kind of answers.
"I'm not afraid of you!" She lied. "Come out here, y-you coward!"
Things like that would've most likely be said by her Dark side. But She seemed to be completely silent at the time.
'Wh-where is she? Why isn't she here with me?! Could that person have knocked her offline before I came to?' Her Dark side was supposed to be the one who handled situations like this, how would the Light figure out how to GET out?
"Can't say I didn't warn you. It's your permanent offline stasis after all, not mine." Foxfire squeaked, certainly not liking the sound of her words.
'I'm all alone... no one can help me here.' Foxfire thought. And it was true. She had no one here.
The FOX heard the sudden sound of hard metal hitting the ground. It was to the right of her, and she quickly turned, not wanting to be caught by surprise.
She knew how to defend herself. She knew basics in her fighting skills, thought she never exactly USED them, she knew how to. Foxfire's breath quickened its pace two fold. It still wasn't very reassuring though.
Neither was the fact that she was in one large dark room, completely cut off from the environment. Meaning her elemental uses would be severely cut off.
But the fact that the sound of hard metal meant that she was facing a Medabot. Hopefully someone not TOO powerful.
Foxfire could hear the Medabot walking now towards her. They had to be about a 100 meters off. Their steps were firm but small. It was a confident Medabot then, that really got Foxfire's medal racing.
The sound of walking was suddenly replaced by an odd but a disturbingly familiar noise. Just like the voice of her captor. She knew the noise; it was at the tip of her transmission but just out of her grasp.
That familiar noise stopped by an abrupt landing on the ground again. But the familiar noise started up just as quick as it had stopped.
What really got Foxfire was that the landing sounded about 30 or 40 yards away.
It was until the last two seconds that Foxfire realized what the sound was. By that time her captor was only five inches away and she managed to dodge them by making a quick jump to the right.
That familiar noise, the one Foxfire knew so well, was the sound of air hitting metal. She knew it so well only because her Dark side made it every time she was in battle. By leaping into the air in mid pounce.
The FOX type scrambled to her feet, checking that she would face whoever had made a pounce at her and that her back was protected.
Her 'captor' rose to their feet, making Foxfire gasp aloud for them to hear.
The Medabot was a FOX type, with a red and white color scheme. Her should parts in capsule form and two small fox-like ears protruding from her helmet. She had red metal hanging by her face to act as hair. A small wire with a large fluff of fur at the end for the tail swished slyly from side to side.
A blade came out of each arm near the lower part above the hand and her face was made of silver. And her almond-shaped optics were dark purple.
It was Foxfire. Every detail, every angle and every corner was all her. Not a single difference could be seen to any normal person. Except one single thing.
This impostor's optics were dark purple. The same as Foxfire's Dark side.
Foxfire froze on the spot. The voice, the moves, the body. It had been her Dark side all along. That's why she hadn't been able to contact her by thought, she wasn't even able to anymore.
"B-but. I-wh-wha? Y-yer-"Foxfire's optics must've been deceiving her. This couldn't be happening! How on earth COULD it be happening?
"Stop stammering, I'm ashamed being related to you." The dark Foxfire commanded coldly. She slowly walked towards the Light Foxfire.
Foxfire stumbled backwards, knowing that if her Dark side was on the OUTside, it couldn't be good for her.
"I can't believe she liked you better." She quipped angrily, before taking a sudden leap straight to Foxfire, making her fall back onto the floor.
Dark Foxfire's hands clasped tightly around her sister's neck, squeezing as hard as she could. She sat down on her chest, completely immobilizing her.
The Light Foxfire pawed and pulled at Her arms and wrists but neither would come loose.
Dark Foxfire increased her grip, causing her sister to call out in pain.
"KaaAach! Pl-uhn—Please... do—aack!" When Foxfire tried to speak, her dark side would only grip tighter.
The lack of space in her neck was jamming up her oil fluids, disabling them from getting to her systems.
'Oil fluids, blocked. Systems failing.'
"Oh I've waited so long for this. And now it's time to turn out the light." Her dark side said playfully with an evil twist. Foxfire's optics widened at her sister's plot and tried to wriggle free.
But with her oil systems being blocked, the process of movements was becoming harder and harder to do. It was difficult to just call out now.
'Oil fluids, blocked. Systems failing.'
Finally, the dark Foxfire let go of her, but remained sitting on her, keeping her from moving.
"Hmm, shall I do this quickly and get you out of the way? Or perhaps prolong your defeat with torture?" She tapped her finger on her cheek in thought, like the decision was quite tough to make.
Foxfire was having trouble breathing, like the oil problems weren't bad enough! Her tail was still functioning pretty well, seeing as most of the time it moved absent-mindedly.
So Foxfire lifted her tail only slightly, so that the movement couldn't be detected by her Dark form, whom was still trying to decide between quick or slow death. She was apparently trying to tease her with the idea of it.
The FOX type raised her tail all the way then loosely wrapped around the Dark Foxfire's tail, making sure not to touch. When she was sure it was wrapped all the way, she tugged hard.
The dark Foxfire yelped when she felt her tail being yanked so hard. She tried to throw a sharp glare at Foxfire but was soon yanked again, so hard that she was pulled right off of her.
Foxfire struggled to get up, her systems still extremely slow. Even when she finally managed to get up, her Dark side was still as quick as ever and had the darkest look in her optics.
"You're going to regret that."
The light Foxfire had only gotten a few feet away before getting kicked down to the ground.
"Aaah!" She called out, wincing her optics tightly. Her systems were at their most vulnerable point now. Even if Foxfire did get another chance to escape, she would never make it.
"She chose YOU over ME! And look at you! You're pathetic!" The dark Foxfire came closer and threw another kick to her side, flipping her over two or three times before landing.
'50 percent damage to main body.'
"W-ah-what are you talking about?" She managed to say; though her transmission was half static. Her dark side glared.
"Don't act like you don't know! Akura chose YOU to be the dominant form over ME!" She chose to pause a moment to look over her sister's form. "And I can see that was a wrong decision."
Foxfire blinked a few times then closed her optics altogether. "S-so this about being dominant then? But why attack me? Why not just take control?"
Her dark side merely rolled her eyes at Foxfire. "Yes, I could have. But that still wouldn't have dealt with your incessant interruptions and voice I'm sure."
"E-eh? Wh—"
"Ever since that fight with Rokusho I knew it was time to deal with you."
Foxfire sighed; knowing that her dark form couldn't have been very happy about she had done to keep her off of Rokusho. And of course there was no way she would let Foxfire be the dominant one lying down.
Akura had needed someone kind and social, to fit with her kind of personality, she was a child. The light side was the perfect companion. The dark side however, was more suited for Robattles because she was sharp and didn't like participating very much.
So that was the decision. The light Foxfire would be dominant, unless they were Robattling, then her Dark side would take over and do her part.
"Now I'll never have to be shut up without control! I'll be completely dominant over the body from now on!"
Foxfire opened her optics and tried to sit up, but only found her self back on the ground with her dark form's foot on her chest.
The dark Foxfire inwardly smiled maliciously and had the blade on her right arm slip into the shooter pocket. Foxfire's optics grew round like saucers.
The finishing move.
'Someone, help me! Please someone, anyone! Just get me out of here!'
The blade melted into the arrow head, Dark Foxfire shifted her wrist to aim at her sister's neck, as she tried to free herself from underneath her foot.
'I need someone, anybody. Please, Aki, just get me out of here! PLEASE!'
"And then there was darkness."
--------------
Rokusho nearly fell out of the tree he'd just about to jump out of. He blinked and turned his head to the building he was just about to pass by.
It was the hospital. A couple lights were still on in the rooms but most were out for the night.
He'd heard the outcry from where Foxfire and Akura's room was. Wasn't Foxfire staying with Metabee?
He felt a sudden pang of hope in his medal. Could Akura have waken up and screamed because she was frightened?
He raced up the neatly cut lawn where the Hospital sign was posted and bounced off that sign, soon jumping off balconies from Hospital rooms.
Foxfire was bracing her weight on the arm rests in her chair, breathing heavily through her transmission and almost standing up.
She looked up and around at her surroundings. She stood alone in a large dark place.
Correction, Foxfire stood almost alone in a small dark place, lit with the outside moonlight from the glass sliding doors.
She was kept company by the comatose body of her Medafighter, Akura.
The FOX type took in a large sigh of relief and sat back in her white cushioned chair.
"It was (pant) only a dream."
'Or was it?' Foxfire shrieked at the sound of her sister's cold voice, back in her mind. 'You evaded me this time. But you have to sleep again. I can just get you then.'
The voice stopped when the noise of the sliding door opening sounded off. Foxfire looked up in fright, not sure what to expect.
The figure of a Medabot came into view. Most of him was in darkness because the type wore a cloak with a shadow of night. What Foxfire could make out was two large horns protruding from his head, and two, red, almond- shaped optics. And his helmet was made up of white armor.
The KWG type walked into view and his optics looked at her in concern.
"Foxfire? What are you doing here? I heard a scream an—"Whatever Rokusho had left to say was suddenly caught off.
Foxfire ran up to him and clutched him tightly, her voice coming out in meek whimpers. "Oh Aki, Rokusho I was so scared!"
Rokusho blinked in confusion, but at the same time in surprise. "Was it you who screamed?" Foxfire just nodded against his cloak, her face was buried against his chest plate. She was so happy to see someone besides her sister. "Foxfire—what's wrong?"
Foxfire lifted herself up, still breathing a little heavier than usual but was able to calm herself down. "I-I had a nightmare..."
Author's Note: Does anybody remember the old title to this fanfic before it got deleted? Anybody?
Foxfire stood alone in a large dark place. Excuse the description but there was no other way to describe where she was. Foxfire couldn't see any kind of environment or distinction of her whereabouts.
Just one, big, dark, room.
She looked around in confused curiosity. Hadn't she been in the hospital room with Akura? And hadn't she just been sitting in a chair... sleeping?
Foxfire traced her foot around her, expecting to hit the bed stand, a chair leg, something. But there was nothing. Nothing BUT empty space.
'Where am I?' The FOX type thought in confusion. She kneeled down, placing a hand on the ground. It was completely flat, and smooth. So it was a man-made ground. Foxfire had to be inside the hospital.
'I must've fallen out of my chair or something, a little farther away than usual. That's all.' Foxfire cautiously stepped forward a couple paces. She would either hit a wall, a desk, a chair, or a bed.
She continued carefully walking so not to trip over anything for another minute. She made SURE she walked in a straight line.
But Foxfire hit nothing.
The FOX type took in a calming breath, trying to slow down her beating medal. 'Okay, so I'm not in Akura's room. No need to panic. Maybe there's someone here!'
Foxfire couldn't explain where she was or how she had gotten there, but there might've been someone with her who could explain.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" She called out, cupping her hands around her transmission to echo her voice. She listened for awhile, trying to find any sign of another presence.
There was nothing.
"Hello...! HELLO!" Foxfire winced, cupping her hands over her receivers. She'd have to stop yelling so loud otherwise she'd damage her audio receivers.
If she could, Foxfire would've gulped down hard. She was starting to feel a little frightened. She was doing her best to keep her composure but it was hard when she was in a place she didn't know, she didn't know how she'd gotten there and she was alone.
She actually felt a little proud for not freaking out yet.
The FOX type lit a small fire on the tip of tail, making sure the fire didn't go any farther than the tip.
Foxfire slowly waved her tail around, trying to get her bearings and get some kind of clue to where she was.
That's when she heard the voice. The so familiar but medal-wrenching voice.
"You play with fire, you get burned." Foxfire yelped so loudly she lost concentration of the fire and it spread past the tip, soon reaching her central automotive nerve system.
Which meant, it got far enough to her pain receptors. Meaning, it hurt. A lot. Foxfire squeaked loudly in surprise and whapped her tail on the ground a few times before the fire was finally out.
The voice chuckled a little at the performance, bringing Foxfire more fear.
"Who's there?! Where am I?" She called out, the basic famous words to when questioning the captor.
But the captor had chosen to remain silent yet again, frustrating but at the same time frightening her. Foxfire was anything but calm; she was overwhelmed by her fear for what was happening.
"Sh-show yourself! Wh—"Foxfire was cut off by a direct answer from the familiar voice.
"Are you sure? Because I don't think you'd want me to come out..." The voice was sly, and almost trying to dare Foxfire to answer back with a 'yes'.
The FOX type shrunk down a little. Yes, she was afraid of what might happen if the voice's owner actually did come out. But it would certainly be better than being left in the dark with no kind of answers.
"I'm not afraid of you!" She lied. "Come out here, y-you coward!"
Things like that would've most likely be said by her Dark side. But She seemed to be completely silent at the time.
'Wh-where is she? Why isn't she here with me?! Could that person have knocked her offline before I came to?' Her Dark side was supposed to be the one who handled situations like this, how would the Light figure out how to GET out?
"Can't say I didn't warn you. It's your permanent offline stasis after all, not mine." Foxfire squeaked, certainly not liking the sound of her words.
'I'm all alone... no one can help me here.' Foxfire thought. And it was true. She had no one here.
The FOX heard the sudden sound of hard metal hitting the ground. It was to the right of her, and she quickly turned, not wanting to be caught by surprise.
She knew how to defend herself. She knew basics in her fighting skills, thought she never exactly USED them, she knew how to. Foxfire's breath quickened its pace two fold. It still wasn't very reassuring though.
Neither was the fact that she was in one large dark room, completely cut off from the environment. Meaning her elemental uses would be severely cut off.
But the fact that the sound of hard metal meant that she was facing a Medabot. Hopefully someone not TOO powerful.
Foxfire could hear the Medabot walking now towards her. They had to be about a 100 meters off. Their steps were firm but small. It was a confident Medabot then, that really got Foxfire's medal racing.
The sound of walking was suddenly replaced by an odd but a disturbingly familiar noise. Just like the voice of her captor. She knew the noise; it was at the tip of her transmission but just out of her grasp.
That familiar noise stopped by an abrupt landing on the ground again. But the familiar noise started up just as quick as it had stopped.
What really got Foxfire was that the landing sounded about 30 or 40 yards away.
It was until the last two seconds that Foxfire realized what the sound was. By that time her captor was only five inches away and she managed to dodge them by making a quick jump to the right.
That familiar noise, the one Foxfire knew so well, was the sound of air hitting metal. She knew it so well only because her Dark side made it every time she was in battle. By leaping into the air in mid pounce.
The FOX type scrambled to her feet, checking that she would face whoever had made a pounce at her and that her back was protected.
Her 'captor' rose to their feet, making Foxfire gasp aloud for them to hear.
The Medabot was a FOX type, with a red and white color scheme. Her should parts in capsule form and two small fox-like ears protruding from her helmet. She had red metal hanging by her face to act as hair. A small wire with a large fluff of fur at the end for the tail swished slyly from side to side.
A blade came out of each arm near the lower part above the hand and her face was made of silver. And her almond-shaped optics were dark purple.
It was Foxfire. Every detail, every angle and every corner was all her. Not a single difference could be seen to any normal person. Except one single thing.
This impostor's optics were dark purple. The same as Foxfire's Dark side.
Foxfire froze on the spot. The voice, the moves, the body. It had been her Dark side all along. That's why she hadn't been able to contact her by thought, she wasn't even able to anymore.
"B-but. I-wh-wha? Y-yer-"Foxfire's optics must've been deceiving her. This couldn't be happening! How on earth COULD it be happening?
"Stop stammering, I'm ashamed being related to you." The dark Foxfire commanded coldly. She slowly walked towards the Light Foxfire.
Foxfire stumbled backwards, knowing that if her Dark side was on the OUTside, it couldn't be good for her.
"I can't believe she liked you better." She quipped angrily, before taking a sudden leap straight to Foxfire, making her fall back onto the floor.
Dark Foxfire's hands clasped tightly around her sister's neck, squeezing as hard as she could. She sat down on her chest, completely immobilizing her.
The Light Foxfire pawed and pulled at Her arms and wrists but neither would come loose.
Dark Foxfire increased her grip, causing her sister to call out in pain.
"KaaAach! Pl-uhn—Please... do—aack!" When Foxfire tried to speak, her dark side would only grip tighter.
The lack of space in her neck was jamming up her oil fluids, disabling them from getting to her systems.
'Oil fluids, blocked. Systems failing.'
"Oh I've waited so long for this. And now it's time to turn out the light." Her dark side said playfully with an evil twist. Foxfire's optics widened at her sister's plot and tried to wriggle free.
But with her oil systems being blocked, the process of movements was becoming harder and harder to do. It was difficult to just call out now.
'Oil fluids, blocked. Systems failing.'
Finally, the dark Foxfire let go of her, but remained sitting on her, keeping her from moving.
"Hmm, shall I do this quickly and get you out of the way? Or perhaps prolong your defeat with torture?" She tapped her finger on her cheek in thought, like the decision was quite tough to make.
Foxfire was having trouble breathing, like the oil problems weren't bad enough! Her tail was still functioning pretty well, seeing as most of the time it moved absent-mindedly.
So Foxfire lifted her tail only slightly, so that the movement couldn't be detected by her Dark form, whom was still trying to decide between quick or slow death. She was apparently trying to tease her with the idea of it.
The FOX type raised her tail all the way then loosely wrapped around the Dark Foxfire's tail, making sure not to touch. When she was sure it was wrapped all the way, she tugged hard.
The dark Foxfire yelped when she felt her tail being yanked so hard. She tried to throw a sharp glare at Foxfire but was soon yanked again, so hard that she was pulled right off of her.
Foxfire struggled to get up, her systems still extremely slow. Even when she finally managed to get up, her Dark side was still as quick as ever and had the darkest look in her optics.
"You're going to regret that."
The light Foxfire had only gotten a few feet away before getting kicked down to the ground.
"Aaah!" She called out, wincing her optics tightly. Her systems were at their most vulnerable point now. Even if Foxfire did get another chance to escape, she would never make it.
"She chose YOU over ME! And look at you! You're pathetic!" The dark Foxfire came closer and threw another kick to her side, flipping her over two or three times before landing.
'50 percent damage to main body.'
"W-ah-what are you talking about?" She managed to say; though her transmission was half static. Her dark side glared.
"Don't act like you don't know! Akura chose YOU to be the dominant form over ME!" She chose to pause a moment to look over her sister's form. "And I can see that was a wrong decision."
Foxfire blinked a few times then closed her optics altogether. "S-so this about being dominant then? But why attack me? Why not just take control?"
Her dark side merely rolled her eyes at Foxfire. "Yes, I could have. But that still wouldn't have dealt with your incessant interruptions and voice I'm sure."
"E-eh? Wh—"
"Ever since that fight with Rokusho I knew it was time to deal with you."
Foxfire sighed; knowing that her dark form couldn't have been very happy about she had done to keep her off of Rokusho. And of course there was no way she would let Foxfire be the dominant one lying down.
Akura had needed someone kind and social, to fit with her kind of personality, she was a child. The light side was the perfect companion. The dark side however, was more suited for Robattles because she was sharp and didn't like participating very much.
So that was the decision. The light Foxfire would be dominant, unless they were Robattling, then her Dark side would take over and do her part.
"Now I'll never have to be shut up without control! I'll be completely dominant over the body from now on!"
Foxfire opened her optics and tried to sit up, but only found her self back on the ground with her dark form's foot on her chest.
The dark Foxfire inwardly smiled maliciously and had the blade on her right arm slip into the shooter pocket. Foxfire's optics grew round like saucers.
The finishing move.
'Someone, help me! Please someone, anyone! Just get me out of here!'
The blade melted into the arrow head, Dark Foxfire shifted her wrist to aim at her sister's neck, as she tried to free herself from underneath her foot.
'I need someone, anybody. Please, Aki, just get me out of here! PLEASE!'
"And then there was darkness."
--------------
Rokusho nearly fell out of the tree he'd just about to jump out of. He blinked and turned his head to the building he was just about to pass by.
It was the hospital. A couple lights were still on in the rooms but most were out for the night.
He'd heard the outcry from where Foxfire and Akura's room was. Wasn't Foxfire staying with Metabee?
He felt a sudden pang of hope in his medal. Could Akura have waken up and screamed because she was frightened?
He raced up the neatly cut lawn where the Hospital sign was posted and bounced off that sign, soon jumping off balconies from Hospital rooms.
Foxfire was bracing her weight on the arm rests in her chair, breathing heavily through her transmission and almost standing up.
She looked up and around at her surroundings. She stood alone in a large dark place.
Correction, Foxfire stood almost alone in a small dark place, lit with the outside moonlight from the glass sliding doors.
She was kept company by the comatose body of her Medafighter, Akura.
The FOX type took in a large sigh of relief and sat back in her white cushioned chair.
"It was (pant) only a dream."
'Or was it?' Foxfire shrieked at the sound of her sister's cold voice, back in her mind. 'You evaded me this time. But you have to sleep again. I can just get you then.'
The voice stopped when the noise of the sliding door opening sounded off. Foxfire looked up in fright, not sure what to expect.
The figure of a Medabot came into view. Most of him was in darkness because the type wore a cloak with a shadow of night. What Foxfire could make out was two large horns protruding from his head, and two, red, almond- shaped optics. And his helmet was made up of white armor.
The KWG type walked into view and his optics looked at her in concern.
"Foxfire? What are you doing here? I heard a scream an—"Whatever Rokusho had left to say was suddenly caught off.
Foxfire ran up to him and clutched him tightly, her voice coming out in meek whimpers. "Oh Aki, Rokusho I was so scared!"
Rokusho blinked in confusion, but at the same time in surprise. "Was it you who screamed?" Foxfire just nodded against his cloak, her face was buried against his chest plate. She was so happy to see someone besides her sister. "Foxfire—what's wrong?"
Foxfire lifted herself up, still breathing a little heavier than usual but was able to calm herself down. "I-I had a nightmare..."