A/N: Well now, certainly been a few years since I dared to do a Magic Roundabout story. I've been wanting to do a reboot of my old series for a few years now and this marks the official reboot of it. I'll still keep Belonging and Family up mostly to show how I've hopefully improved from them both.
I don't own any characters used in this story, they belong to Serge Danot
Train once again found himself on the stone bridge leading to the first diamond.
"Ok just take it slow and it'll be fine. Just don't look down." He reminded himself trying to ignore the growing fear inside.
It only took a few moments for him to hear the groaning of the rock.
Was it even going to take the weight of all of them?
He knew nobody wanted to be the first to cross it so it fell to him to make the journey.
He felt himself slow down, his body starting to shake in fear.
"What's happened? Why have you stopped?"
"Come on, we need to get to that diamond before Zeebad does."
He could hear the others but couldn't bring himself to move.
"I-I can't move."
Not that it would do any good, they couldn't understand him anyway.
"It's ok dude, you've got this." Dylan said, trying to reassure him.
No doubt they'd noticed him shaking by now.
It took a few moments before Train felt himself start moving again.
"That's it nice and steady."
"You're doing fine."
"Look, we're almost there."
Train hardly felt any better despite the encouragement.
"This'll be easy." He said trying to psych himself up not noticing the crack in the bridge in front of him.
He instinctively jumped backwards in fright when it gave way only to knock the carriage behind him off the bridge.
"NOOO!"
He could feel himself being pulled backwards, the shouts and screams of his friends and passengers the only thing he could hear.
If he could get his back wheels on the ledge.. maybe he could pull them up.
But the more he pushed himself and scrambled, the more the ledge started crumbling.
It only took moments for the crack to grow around him before finally giving way.
….
Train woke with a start letting out a terrified high pitched whistle.
Out of sheer panic he tried to run but found he couldn't.
He didn't even notice the strained voice beside him.
"It's ok Train, you're fine." Zebedee assured while trying to use his magic to keep Train from bolting off.
Of course with him still recovering energy and magic since the fight with Zeebad it was not an easy task.
Thankfully it only took a few seconds for Train to calm down.
He finally noticed Zebedee trying to catch his breath and the sound of running footsteps approaching.
"Is everything ok?" Florence asked.
Zebedee nodded.
"Just a bad dream for him."
"Neither of you guys look good." Dylan said voicing his concern.
"I'm fine Dylan. I just need more rest before my magic is back to full strength. Not an easy task to keep Train from running off and hurting himself." Zebedee assured.
Dylan gave him a sceptical look but kept quiet.
"You doing ok there?" He asked looking at Train.
He shook his head in response.
"Yeah, Florence told me you've not been sleeping great lately and asked if I can help." Dylan said though be it more quietly before sitting down in front of him.
"Dylan I would honestly not sit there. If both of you fall asleep and Train panics I can't necessarily stop him again." Zebedee warned.
He didn't want them thinking Train was now a danger, but as the guardian of the village he had to make sure they weren't in danger.
Plus it was clear with the right emotions Train could easily bolt despite the added difficulty.
There were a few moments before Dylan spoke up.
"I trust him not to hurt us."
Zebedee sighed.
"Okay..but I'm keeping watch to be safe."
Dylan nodded.
"So. You wanna tell us what's been going on in there?"
Train let out a sigh he didn't know he'd been holding.
"You remember what happened at the volcano on the bridge?" He asked, glancing up.
Dylan nodded though his face showed some guilt.
"Hard to forget... sorry I wasn't much help. But you did a great job getting us back on track."
He paused before realising the unintentional pun.
"Well..I keep having recurring nightmares that it just...I can't..I can't pull us up in time." Train eventually said, though it was clear from his body language it was hard for him to do so before explaining to them about what happened.
Florence and Zebedee were visibly shocked.
Dylan however didn't seem phased, like he'd been expecting that answer.
"Falling dreams are the worst."
Train nodded in agreement.
"I'm concerned at how calm you are after hearing that." Florence asked.
"Well it's because." Dylan said getting to his feet.
"I've been having nightmares about it too. Well at least I was until I remembered about lucid dreaming. Was able to change that dream pretty quick."
"What is this dream thing?" Train questioned.
"Well put simply it means you can control your dreams." Dylan replied before letting out a yawn himself.
Train gave a sceptical look.
"Ok and how is that possible?" He asked.
"Depends on the person. Most people are able to create an object, if you see the object you'll know you're dreaming. Not something that happens overnight though." Dylan explained.
Train only nodded as a wave of tiredness hit him, his body slowly slumping down.
"He's going under again." Zebedee warned, both Florence and Dylan taking a few steps to the side of him.
"Hey stay with us here Train this is important for you to listen to. Picture a football before you fall asleep and focus on it." Dylan instructed though he didn't know if it went in or not seeing Train's head drop.
"Why a football?" Florence asked.
"Easy enough to see. But it's all up to him now." Dylan replied.
They still kept their distance just encase.
"Dylan.. what really happened? Dougal's only told me so much." Florence asked not knowing how much of what Train said had happened and what was in his dream.
"Well.."
He jumped back seeing Train's body jerk.
"Probably not the best time."
"Agreed, wait until he's awake." Zebedee nodded.
"Or alternatively you can tell him he's having a dream and to wake up, but that doesn't usually work in a nightmare." Dylan added, trying to ignore the fact he usually had his name shouted a few times to wake him up.
Despite being asleep it was clear Train was trying to pull himself forwards with his front wheels.
"That's not a good sign." Dylan said taking a few more steps backwards towards Zebedee.
However they were surprised when he started to calm down.
Neither had noticed Florence approach Train.
"It's ok to be scared Train. He's gone now and whatever you're dreaming about won't hurt you. You're with friends here and safe. You'll always be safe and protected here. It's just a dream." She said softly, placing a hand on him.
It wasn't until she was sure he was having a more peaceful sleep that she stood back.
"Dude..was not expecting that to work." Dylan said honestly.
"Sometimes reassurance is all someone needs. I did the same thing with Dougal when he was a puppy." Florence explained.
