DISCLAIMER:
Nope, I still don't own any of the official characters here, only the fancharacters.
This chapter might hint at some yaoish notions, but it's perfectly clean, honest!
I really don't care for that stuff. I don't mind it, but I prefer not to write it.
NiGHTS just has a warped sense of humor.
I tried to explore Reala's character a little better in this chapter.
He's really not the bloodthirsty, murderous fiend who people seem to think I'm intending him to be.
He does what he does because he's a Nightmaren, and naturally high strung and aggressive.
It's built into the species, which is why NiGHTS is the odd one who lacks that bloodthirstiness.
I hope that this chapter explains the characters a little better. I at least had fun writing it!
Review please, reviews are what keep me writing! Flames too actually.
I enjoy writing more just to annoy the idiot bullies who are cheap enough to hurl insults.
And now, our story. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You were one of us!" Reala screamed, enraged. The figure ahead of him was obscured by fog, but clearly NiGHTS, shook his head sadly. "No longer, Reala. Goodbye. . ."
"NiGHTS!" Reala tried to lunge after the traitor, only to find himself imobile. "NiGHTS!!!"
The vision faded and Reala jerked upright, shaken. Nightmaren did not dream, but what else could that have been? A premonition? Was NiGHTS really going to betray them as Wizeman had said? Reala felt ill deep inside. NiGHTS had always been there, from the first instant that Reala had opened his eyes, NiGHTS had been beside him, sharing his experiences. To lose NiGHTS would be to lose a part of himself. His better half? No, Reala told himself. He was the dutiful one, always doing what was right. NiGHTS was the fun loving fool, always slacking off. It would be no loss to Nightmare if NiGHTS was lost.
Reala paused, thoughtful. Why then, was Wizeman so angry and concerned? What threat could a rogue Nightmaren possibly pose? Or was it the blow to Wizeman's pride that he dreaded? Or maybe . . . Reala narrowed his eyes, he had always been good at seeing countless scenarios. NiGHTS had often teased him that he tried too hard to live up to his name, constantly being realistic. Reala thought hard. If one Nightmaren left, was there a danger that others might? Was that what Wizeman feared?
Reala knew that he could never even begin to consider leaving Nightmare. Wizeman was his creator, his father. Every fiber of Reala's being demanded that he give Wizeman his loyalty and service for as long as he was able. Every Nightmaren surely felt this way!
How then, could NiGHTS possibly betray Wizeman? It could never happen . . . could it? Reala suffered a pang of doubt, trying desperately to tell himself that it would never happen.
NiGHTS had been on the roof for some time before his eyes snapped open and he sat up, looking startled.
The purple Nightmaren looked around to figure out where he was, then tilted his head in innocent confusion.
"That's funny, I thought that I dreamed I was walking through a giant mass of cotton candy. . ." NiGHTS giggled at the notion, hardly bothered by the "dream" that Nightmaren supposedly couldn't have.
Betrayal -
Chapter 4
Dream Away
Rising, NiGHTS flew from the roof and into the night sky, turning sharply and diving toward the base of the castle. He whistled shrilly and had the satisfaction of seeing several slim figures leap to attention inside their barracks, and line up side by side, on the lip of the castle base.
The young Nightmaren watched attentively as NiGHTS drfted closer, hovering just beyond the lip. NiGHTS smirked mischievously before putting on his best "I'm going to reduce you to whimpering scraps of meat" face. It worked apparently, because the youngsters watched in awed silence, waiting.
Satisfied that he was in command, NiGHTS scanned the group. "What are you?" He asked. The group spoke as one. "Nightmaren, sir!" NiGHTS nodded, then demanded, "And what are Nightmaren?!" "FIERCE!!!" The youngsters roared back. NiGHTS pretended to be blown away by the force of the shouting, drawing a few chuckles before he flew back and whistled again. Every face became serious again.
"Nightmaren are fierce. Nightmaren are vicious, and able to kill if they have to. Are you able to be a vicious killer? Are YOU a Nightmaren?"
"Yes, sir!" The group chanted loudly, although most of the youngsters fidgeted nervously. NiGHTS grinned, anticipating a good workout. "When I'm through with you, you will be."
"I can't believe it. He just came barging in, bullied Puff, then you know what he did?!!"
Clawz slapped two clawed hands over his ears, growling as a warning to the caped chatterbox in front of him. Jackle took that as an invitation to continue. "He took my mantle, can you believe it?! My mantle! You never see me tugging at him, do you? No! And I wasn't even doing anything! Really, Reala should have picked on NiGHTS instead. HE was the one making all that awful noise!"
Clawz sighed as Jackle took a breath between sentences, and attempted to tiptoe toward the door. The enormous feline yowled in dismay as a card embedded itself in the ground in front of him. Jackle frowned. "Bad cat, Clawz! I haven't even told you about the conversation that I had with Jack and Jill this evening!"
Clawz groaned and fell onto his side dramatically, sensing no escape from Jackle's neverending stories. Jack and Jill were the names that he had given to the monstrous Jack in the Boxes that sat in his lair. Both were broken with one resting its head on the ground, and the other forever bouncing around, unable to be returned to its box, but Jackle never even noticed. To him, his roommates simply had some odd quirks that it would be rude to point out.
Clawz closed his eyes, concentrating on saving what remained of his sanity by blocking Jackle out. Jackle continued to tell all about Jill's observation about how to make lead out of gold and what a help that could be to the pencil industry, or Jack's philosophical views concerning goats and cream cheese. He even included his own thoughts on life.
"So I think that's where babies really come from, the stork's just there for show and the other birds and bees do all the real work. Don't you think so? You're an animal, you ought to know. . ."
Clawz groaned miserably. Jackle nodded. "Yes, exactly!"
In the end, Clawz began desperately gnawing at one of his hind legs in a vain attempt at escape.
Puffy was also relating the night's events, but she managed to stay on track, contentedly slicing a gourmet ham, which GillWing was waiting impatiently for. When Puffy finally placed the slices on the dragon's plate, GillWing blinked in dismay. For a monstrous creature, two pitiful slices of ham were not going to be very satisfying.
Puffy chose to forego the ham in favor of a nice salad with kalamata olives, feta cheese, and fine oil and vinegar with special herbs. "Oh GillWing, I DO wish you had been there! It was just awFAl! NiGHTS woke me with the most horrid noise. Of course, I proceeded outside to give that tonedeaf imbecile a piece of my mind, but I met up with Jackle and. . . oh GillWing, not the entire ham at once!!!" The operatic rabbit gasped in dismay as GillWing became greedy and simply stole the largest morsel on the table. The dragon growled at Puffy's scolding, looking her over as if to say that she herself was not above being added to the menu if she did not play her cards right.
Puffy wisely decided to let it go. "In any case, Reala came along then and interfered, SO we. . ."
GillWing calmly ignored her, happy to have food. Puffy always had food. GillWing liked Puffy.
The waters of Splash Garden were deep and clean, and sparkling blue as if infused with the essence of countless Blue Ideya. But Gulpo liked it anyway.
The enormous fish swam at a leisurely pace, happy to do nothing but swim in random directions.
Swimming dreams were rare, so Gulpo didn't meet up with many dreamers. That too, was how Gulpo liked it. Peace, solitude, and no sound save for the gentle roar of the water flowing over his gills.
In short, Gulpo was a boring fish with a tendency to do nothing for long periods of time. But tonight, something completely unexpected happened.
Gulpo was floating lazily as he normally did, allowing the sun to filter through the water, warming his scales and lulling him into a semi-conscious state. Gulpo was unaware of any others, since he was the only true fish and most Nightmaren and Nightopians were not strong swimmers. The Dreamer was similarly unaware of the enormous fish as he sank through the water. He was too focused on the drowning nightmare he was having. It wasn't until his breath gave out and his mind began to blur that he became aware of the blue nose he had settled on, or the giant, bulbous eyes glaring at him in a cross eyed fashion.
Gulpo couldn't imagine why a Dreamer had chosen to take a nap on his nose, but thinking wasn't the big fish's specialty anyway, so that hardly mattered. In matters like these, Gulpo simply allowed instinct to take over. He opened his jaws wide to gulp the Dreamer - only to find himself alone, the Dreamer having jolted awake as he realized that he was about to drown and be devoured all at once. This happened far more often than Gulpo would have cared to admit, even if he could have remembered back to the last Dreamer he'd seen. This was about as exciting as things got when you were a giant fish with the ability to generate an electrical current.
"Fly faster, you lazy clowns!" NiGHTS demanded as he watched the young Nightmaren fly laps around him. "Shar, quit paddling and suck your tongue in! I'm not telling you again!" He smirked in satisfaction as Shar hastily obeyed, fearful of the veiled threat.
NiGHTS had a reputation as a fair and honorable Nightmaren, but he was not above striking anyone who he decided deserved it. NiGHTS did not follow Wizeman's set of guidelines on how to manage trainees, but had developed his own methods of teaching.
Palis, a pink and white youngster cried out at a sudden searing pain along the delicate spine. NiGHTS landed beyond the unfortunate trainee, twirling easily into a battle stance. "I only nicked you, Palis. Do you think that it's funny when your classmates get in trouble? Should I let them laugh at your misfortune?" The purple instructor glared, displeased. Palis landed clumsily, hurting and afraid. "No, sir! I'm sorry, sir!" Palis shrieked at another smack. NiGHTS glared harder. "Have a little pride. You're a Nightmaren, not some whiny little Dreamer! If you're afraid of being hurt, then use that as motivation to do better!"
Palis straightened and nodded, then took flight again. NiGHTS smiled in satisfaction, not about to admit that he was very fond of that particular youngster and proud of Palis' progress so far. To admit that his students were meeting and exceeding his expectations might inspire them to become lazy and not try as hard.
"NiGHTS!" NiGHTS turned at his name and laughed delightedly as Reala flew over. "Reala!" He flew to meet his brother, but cried out and blinked in shock as he was batted out of the air, landing roughly on his back. He stared in dismay as Reala landed over him, glaring. "What have you done, NiGHTS?!"
The students knew better than to stay around when NiGHTS and Reala were together. The fact that they had not been dismissed hardly mattered, especially since NiGHTS had a tendency to forget whatever he was doing whenever Reala appeared. For some unfathomable reason, NiGHTS absolutely adored his uncharismatic, cold, and egotistical brother.
NiGHTS was pinned on his back, staring into Reala's icy blue, slitted eyes in shock and dismay. "R. . .Ree?! What's wrong?" NiGHTS blinked as Reala stepped aside only long enough to lift him by his collar. To Reala's annoyance, NiGHTS simply hung patiently in his grip, waiting for an answer. Reala hated it when his victims failed to struggle.
No, Reala quickly corrected himself. He was letting his predatory instincts get the better of him. NiGHTS was no victim, but an ally. And a family member.
Reluctantly, Reala set NiGHTS down, suffering another pang of disappointment as he realized that NiGHTS had known that he would, hence the lack of struggling. Why fight when you knew that it was not necessary?
Well, it was fun. Reala thought. He had always loved wrestling matches and tests of strength, any chance to prove that he was the strongest Nightmaren around.
Reala felt disappointment once again as he realized that NiGHTS lacked that aggressive streak. Some Nightmaren he was!
NiGHTS rubbed his collar thoughtfully. "What's bothering you, Ree? What do you think I did?"
Reala couldn't bear to face a perfectly fair question like that and growled, hoping to awaken some of the fighter in NiGHTS.
NiGHTS had been perfectly active and aggressive a moment ago while handling the trainees! Why did he refuse to turn that temper loose on anyone else? NiGHTS was still waiting patiently or an answer, even as Reala was becoming too enraged to think clearly.
Reala sighed, deciding that he could simply beat NiGHTS in order to settle his own irritation and confusion, and worry about visions and traitors later. Despite Wizeman's prophecy, NiGHTS still didn't seem like a traitor to Reala. Even after his vision. Reala blinked as NiGHTS lowered his tone, asking in a gentle voice, "You had a vision too?"
Reala jumped. "How did you. . .?! Nevermind. Just tell me if it's true!"
NiGHTS blinked in confusion, thinking back to his own vision. "Um. . . if what's true? Mine was just some cloudy, cotton candy stuff and you were being grumpy." He squeaked as Reala caught him by the collar again.
Reala snarled into NiGHTS' face. "You insufferable, oblivious fool! How dare you call me grumpy?!" NiGHTS winced as he was shaken. "Relax, it was just a vision! Not the real you! Anyway, you do get grumpy and irritable a lot. . . well, you do!" He protested as Reala glared fiercely.
Reala shook NiGHTS harder. "You idiot NiGHTS! Do you think that I act that way for no reason?! You don't even know!" He stopped as he caught himself saying too much. He had been about to reveal the prophecy to NiGHTS! NiGHTS looked appropriately startled, giving Reala an idea. Maybe that was the way to get through to the fun loving NiGHTS. . .
"NiGHTS, Wizeman isn't only worried about how you act. This is something bigger than anything we've ever encountered before. Can you handle it if I tell you?" Reala gazed into his brother's amethyst eyes, which were currently wide and filled with emotion. "R. . .Reala. . ." NiGHTS winced as his voice broke a little. Reala noted that. "What?"
NiGHTS closed his eyes, smiling in a silly fashion. "Be gentle." He grunted, then giggled when Reala threw him to the ground in disgust and humiliation.
Reala didn't know what was worse - being thought of as a cold, irritable jerk, or being flirted with by NiGHTS. He was silent for several minutes before he covered up his confusion with his usual attitude. "WILL YOU SHUT UP?!!!"
NiGHTS smirked, well accustomed to Reala's temper and unaware of the pain it masked. "It was just a joke, Ree. Relax!"
Reala growled. "Well, this isn't. Wizeman isn't worried about your weird habits, NiGHTS. He's looked into your future and seen what kind of 'Maren you really are!"
NiGHTS instantly forgot what he had been about to say, shocked into muteness for several long moments much to Reala's satisfaction. When NiGHTS finally managed to speak, it was a weak, pained and fearful squeak. "W. . . what?!"
The purple Nightmaren was for once caught without a witty retort, numbed to his core by the seriousness of what he had just been told.
To Be Continued. . .
Nope, I still don't own any of the official characters here, only the fancharacters.
This chapter might hint at some yaoish notions, but it's perfectly clean, honest!
I really don't care for that stuff. I don't mind it, but I prefer not to write it.
NiGHTS just has a warped sense of humor.
I tried to explore Reala's character a little better in this chapter.
He's really not the bloodthirsty, murderous fiend who people seem to think I'm intending him to be.
He does what he does because he's a Nightmaren, and naturally high strung and aggressive.
It's built into the species, which is why NiGHTS is the odd one who lacks that bloodthirstiness.
I hope that this chapter explains the characters a little better. I at least had fun writing it!
Review please, reviews are what keep me writing! Flames too actually.
I enjoy writing more just to annoy the idiot bullies who are cheap enough to hurl insults.
And now, our story. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You were one of us!" Reala screamed, enraged. The figure ahead of him was obscured by fog, but clearly NiGHTS, shook his head sadly. "No longer, Reala. Goodbye. . ."
"NiGHTS!" Reala tried to lunge after the traitor, only to find himself imobile. "NiGHTS!!!"
The vision faded and Reala jerked upright, shaken. Nightmaren did not dream, but what else could that have been? A premonition? Was NiGHTS really going to betray them as Wizeman had said? Reala felt ill deep inside. NiGHTS had always been there, from the first instant that Reala had opened his eyes, NiGHTS had been beside him, sharing his experiences. To lose NiGHTS would be to lose a part of himself. His better half? No, Reala told himself. He was the dutiful one, always doing what was right. NiGHTS was the fun loving fool, always slacking off. It would be no loss to Nightmare if NiGHTS was lost.
Reala paused, thoughtful. Why then, was Wizeman so angry and concerned? What threat could a rogue Nightmaren possibly pose? Or was it the blow to Wizeman's pride that he dreaded? Or maybe . . . Reala narrowed his eyes, he had always been good at seeing countless scenarios. NiGHTS had often teased him that he tried too hard to live up to his name, constantly being realistic. Reala thought hard. If one Nightmaren left, was there a danger that others might? Was that what Wizeman feared?
Reala knew that he could never even begin to consider leaving Nightmare. Wizeman was his creator, his father. Every fiber of Reala's being demanded that he give Wizeman his loyalty and service for as long as he was able. Every Nightmaren surely felt this way!
How then, could NiGHTS possibly betray Wizeman? It could never happen . . . could it? Reala suffered a pang of doubt, trying desperately to tell himself that it would never happen.
NiGHTS had been on the roof for some time before his eyes snapped open and he sat up, looking startled.
The purple Nightmaren looked around to figure out where he was, then tilted his head in innocent confusion.
"That's funny, I thought that I dreamed I was walking through a giant mass of cotton candy. . ." NiGHTS giggled at the notion, hardly bothered by the "dream" that Nightmaren supposedly couldn't have.
Betrayal -
Chapter 4
Dream Away
Rising, NiGHTS flew from the roof and into the night sky, turning sharply and diving toward the base of the castle. He whistled shrilly and had the satisfaction of seeing several slim figures leap to attention inside their barracks, and line up side by side, on the lip of the castle base.
The young Nightmaren watched attentively as NiGHTS drfted closer, hovering just beyond the lip. NiGHTS smirked mischievously before putting on his best "I'm going to reduce you to whimpering scraps of meat" face. It worked apparently, because the youngsters watched in awed silence, waiting.
Satisfied that he was in command, NiGHTS scanned the group. "What are you?" He asked. The group spoke as one. "Nightmaren, sir!" NiGHTS nodded, then demanded, "And what are Nightmaren?!" "FIERCE!!!" The youngsters roared back. NiGHTS pretended to be blown away by the force of the shouting, drawing a few chuckles before he flew back and whistled again. Every face became serious again.
"Nightmaren are fierce. Nightmaren are vicious, and able to kill if they have to. Are you able to be a vicious killer? Are YOU a Nightmaren?"
"Yes, sir!" The group chanted loudly, although most of the youngsters fidgeted nervously. NiGHTS grinned, anticipating a good workout. "When I'm through with you, you will be."
"I can't believe it. He just came barging in, bullied Puff, then you know what he did?!!"
Clawz slapped two clawed hands over his ears, growling as a warning to the caped chatterbox in front of him. Jackle took that as an invitation to continue. "He took my mantle, can you believe it?! My mantle! You never see me tugging at him, do you? No! And I wasn't even doing anything! Really, Reala should have picked on NiGHTS instead. HE was the one making all that awful noise!"
Clawz sighed as Jackle took a breath between sentences, and attempted to tiptoe toward the door. The enormous feline yowled in dismay as a card embedded itself in the ground in front of him. Jackle frowned. "Bad cat, Clawz! I haven't even told you about the conversation that I had with Jack and Jill this evening!"
Clawz groaned and fell onto his side dramatically, sensing no escape from Jackle's neverending stories. Jack and Jill were the names that he had given to the monstrous Jack in the Boxes that sat in his lair. Both were broken with one resting its head on the ground, and the other forever bouncing around, unable to be returned to its box, but Jackle never even noticed. To him, his roommates simply had some odd quirks that it would be rude to point out.
Clawz closed his eyes, concentrating on saving what remained of his sanity by blocking Jackle out. Jackle continued to tell all about Jill's observation about how to make lead out of gold and what a help that could be to the pencil industry, or Jack's philosophical views concerning goats and cream cheese. He even included his own thoughts on life.
"So I think that's where babies really come from, the stork's just there for show and the other birds and bees do all the real work. Don't you think so? You're an animal, you ought to know. . ."
Clawz groaned miserably. Jackle nodded. "Yes, exactly!"
In the end, Clawz began desperately gnawing at one of his hind legs in a vain attempt at escape.
Puffy was also relating the night's events, but she managed to stay on track, contentedly slicing a gourmet ham, which GillWing was waiting impatiently for. When Puffy finally placed the slices on the dragon's plate, GillWing blinked in dismay. For a monstrous creature, two pitiful slices of ham were not going to be very satisfying.
Puffy chose to forego the ham in favor of a nice salad with kalamata olives, feta cheese, and fine oil and vinegar with special herbs. "Oh GillWing, I DO wish you had been there! It was just awFAl! NiGHTS woke me with the most horrid noise. Of course, I proceeded outside to give that tonedeaf imbecile a piece of my mind, but I met up with Jackle and. . . oh GillWing, not the entire ham at once!!!" The operatic rabbit gasped in dismay as GillWing became greedy and simply stole the largest morsel on the table. The dragon growled at Puffy's scolding, looking her over as if to say that she herself was not above being added to the menu if she did not play her cards right.
Puffy wisely decided to let it go. "In any case, Reala came along then and interfered, SO we. . ."
GillWing calmly ignored her, happy to have food. Puffy always had food. GillWing liked Puffy.
The waters of Splash Garden were deep and clean, and sparkling blue as if infused with the essence of countless Blue Ideya. But Gulpo liked it anyway.
The enormous fish swam at a leisurely pace, happy to do nothing but swim in random directions.
Swimming dreams were rare, so Gulpo didn't meet up with many dreamers. That too, was how Gulpo liked it. Peace, solitude, and no sound save for the gentle roar of the water flowing over his gills.
In short, Gulpo was a boring fish with a tendency to do nothing for long periods of time. But tonight, something completely unexpected happened.
Gulpo was floating lazily as he normally did, allowing the sun to filter through the water, warming his scales and lulling him into a semi-conscious state. Gulpo was unaware of any others, since he was the only true fish and most Nightmaren and Nightopians were not strong swimmers. The Dreamer was similarly unaware of the enormous fish as he sank through the water. He was too focused on the drowning nightmare he was having. It wasn't until his breath gave out and his mind began to blur that he became aware of the blue nose he had settled on, or the giant, bulbous eyes glaring at him in a cross eyed fashion.
Gulpo couldn't imagine why a Dreamer had chosen to take a nap on his nose, but thinking wasn't the big fish's specialty anyway, so that hardly mattered. In matters like these, Gulpo simply allowed instinct to take over. He opened his jaws wide to gulp the Dreamer - only to find himself alone, the Dreamer having jolted awake as he realized that he was about to drown and be devoured all at once. This happened far more often than Gulpo would have cared to admit, even if he could have remembered back to the last Dreamer he'd seen. This was about as exciting as things got when you were a giant fish with the ability to generate an electrical current.
"Fly faster, you lazy clowns!" NiGHTS demanded as he watched the young Nightmaren fly laps around him. "Shar, quit paddling and suck your tongue in! I'm not telling you again!" He smirked in satisfaction as Shar hastily obeyed, fearful of the veiled threat.
NiGHTS had a reputation as a fair and honorable Nightmaren, but he was not above striking anyone who he decided deserved it. NiGHTS did not follow Wizeman's set of guidelines on how to manage trainees, but had developed his own methods of teaching.
Palis, a pink and white youngster cried out at a sudden searing pain along the delicate spine. NiGHTS landed beyond the unfortunate trainee, twirling easily into a battle stance. "I only nicked you, Palis. Do you think that it's funny when your classmates get in trouble? Should I let them laugh at your misfortune?" The purple instructor glared, displeased. Palis landed clumsily, hurting and afraid. "No, sir! I'm sorry, sir!" Palis shrieked at another smack. NiGHTS glared harder. "Have a little pride. You're a Nightmaren, not some whiny little Dreamer! If you're afraid of being hurt, then use that as motivation to do better!"
Palis straightened and nodded, then took flight again. NiGHTS smiled in satisfaction, not about to admit that he was very fond of that particular youngster and proud of Palis' progress so far. To admit that his students were meeting and exceeding his expectations might inspire them to become lazy and not try as hard.
"NiGHTS!" NiGHTS turned at his name and laughed delightedly as Reala flew over. "Reala!" He flew to meet his brother, but cried out and blinked in shock as he was batted out of the air, landing roughly on his back. He stared in dismay as Reala landed over him, glaring. "What have you done, NiGHTS?!"
The students knew better than to stay around when NiGHTS and Reala were together. The fact that they had not been dismissed hardly mattered, especially since NiGHTS had a tendency to forget whatever he was doing whenever Reala appeared. For some unfathomable reason, NiGHTS absolutely adored his uncharismatic, cold, and egotistical brother.
NiGHTS was pinned on his back, staring into Reala's icy blue, slitted eyes in shock and dismay. "R. . .Ree?! What's wrong?" NiGHTS blinked as Reala stepped aside only long enough to lift him by his collar. To Reala's annoyance, NiGHTS simply hung patiently in his grip, waiting for an answer. Reala hated it when his victims failed to struggle.
No, Reala quickly corrected himself. He was letting his predatory instincts get the better of him. NiGHTS was no victim, but an ally. And a family member.
Reluctantly, Reala set NiGHTS down, suffering another pang of disappointment as he realized that NiGHTS had known that he would, hence the lack of struggling. Why fight when you knew that it was not necessary?
Well, it was fun. Reala thought. He had always loved wrestling matches and tests of strength, any chance to prove that he was the strongest Nightmaren around.
Reala felt disappointment once again as he realized that NiGHTS lacked that aggressive streak. Some Nightmaren he was!
NiGHTS rubbed his collar thoughtfully. "What's bothering you, Ree? What do you think I did?"
Reala couldn't bear to face a perfectly fair question like that and growled, hoping to awaken some of the fighter in NiGHTS.
NiGHTS had been perfectly active and aggressive a moment ago while handling the trainees! Why did he refuse to turn that temper loose on anyone else? NiGHTS was still waiting patiently or an answer, even as Reala was becoming too enraged to think clearly.
Reala sighed, deciding that he could simply beat NiGHTS in order to settle his own irritation and confusion, and worry about visions and traitors later. Despite Wizeman's prophecy, NiGHTS still didn't seem like a traitor to Reala. Even after his vision. Reala blinked as NiGHTS lowered his tone, asking in a gentle voice, "You had a vision too?"
Reala jumped. "How did you. . .?! Nevermind. Just tell me if it's true!"
NiGHTS blinked in confusion, thinking back to his own vision. "Um. . . if what's true? Mine was just some cloudy, cotton candy stuff and you were being grumpy." He squeaked as Reala caught him by the collar again.
Reala snarled into NiGHTS' face. "You insufferable, oblivious fool! How dare you call me grumpy?!" NiGHTS winced as he was shaken. "Relax, it was just a vision! Not the real you! Anyway, you do get grumpy and irritable a lot. . . well, you do!" He protested as Reala glared fiercely.
Reala shook NiGHTS harder. "You idiot NiGHTS! Do you think that I act that way for no reason?! You don't even know!" He stopped as he caught himself saying too much. He had been about to reveal the prophecy to NiGHTS! NiGHTS looked appropriately startled, giving Reala an idea. Maybe that was the way to get through to the fun loving NiGHTS. . .
"NiGHTS, Wizeman isn't only worried about how you act. This is something bigger than anything we've ever encountered before. Can you handle it if I tell you?" Reala gazed into his brother's amethyst eyes, which were currently wide and filled with emotion. "R. . .Reala. . ." NiGHTS winced as his voice broke a little. Reala noted that. "What?"
NiGHTS closed his eyes, smiling in a silly fashion. "Be gentle." He grunted, then giggled when Reala threw him to the ground in disgust and humiliation.
Reala didn't know what was worse - being thought of as a cold, irritable jerk, or being flirted with by NiGHTS. He was silent for several minutes before he covered up his confusion with his usual attitude. "WILL YOU SHUT UP?!!!"
NiGHTS smirked, well accustomed to Reala's temper and unaware of the pain it masked. "It was just a joke, Ree. Relax!"
Reala growled. "Well, this isn't. Wizeman isn't worried about your weird habits, NiGHTS. He's looked into your future and seen what kind of 'Maren you really are!"
NiGHTS instantly forgot what he had been about to say, shocked into muteness for several long moments much to Reala's satisfaction. When NiGHTS finally managed to speak, it was a weak, pained and fearful squeak. "W. . . what?!"
The purple Nightmaren was for once caught without a witty retort, numbed to his core by the seriousness of what he had just been told.
To Be Continued. . .
