Chapter 15: Nightmares

Hey there everyone, welcome back to the latest Chapter of Friendship! This Chapter will be a wee bit different, as with the Mechanic chapter, this one will not be featuring our main protagonist Wyatt. I wanted to try and experiment with this series, and branch it out a bit, and hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Anyway, on with the Chapter!

I do not own Terraria, that belongs to Microsoft and Re-Logic!

Silence had fallen, as night-time fell across the land and washed it in the pale light of the moon and stars. Most creatures were resting safely, sound asleep in preparation for the next day. Well, almost everything was sound asleep. In a small house on the outlier of town, a dull glow could be seen from the filled the small kitchen, only broken by the sound of the muffled ticking of the hands on the clock resting on the wall. Sitting alone in the kitchen, illuminated by the dull glow from a nearby lantern, was Roland the Clothier. The elderly clothier let out a tired sigh, as he rubbed his eyes gently. He didn't need a mirror to tell that he probably looked as bad as he was currently feeling. His brain felt like it was being smothered in a thick fog, still half-asleep and trying to reboot itself. Another night of ruined sleep, the latest in a long line of bad sleep. He honestly had lost track of the last time he had slept soundly. Roland reached towards the chipped mug of warm milk resting on the table in front of him, gently clasping it in his hands, trying to ignore the fact that his hands were still shaking slightly. That nightmare must've rattled him even worse than he originally thought, Roland thought to himself.

Looking over towards the old clock on his wall, Roland took a mental note of the time. Three in the morning, way too early for anyone to be awake. Unless it was a full moon out, then the Zoologist should be up and about at this time. But that wasn't for a few more nights, so the town was about as silent as a graveyard at the moment. It would be at least two or three more hours before the Dye Trader woke up; always an early bird, that Kanmi.

The Clothier hated to admit it, wished he could just put it to the back of his mind and pretend it never happened…but the nightmares were getting worse. Before it was seemingly only every other week, and even then, he barely remembered them. But now, now it was seemingly every night. And the worst part, at least for him, was he could barely remember what they were about. He had vague memories about a ruined temple, a giant skeleton head, and….a cave? Maybe? And in the cave was…was someone. A woman? It was right on the tip of his tongue, the color of her hair. It was unique, that much he knew. A color he had never seen before on a person, or at least he thought so.

Letting out an annoyed grunt, Roland shook his head slightly. It was like trying sand in his hands, trying to remember these nightmares, and he could just feel them slipping through his fingers. He tried to focus on them, hold onto them with dear life, but they just became blurrier. He could feel a small headache starting to form, from straining his memory so hard. Probably best to leave those nightmares to rest, at least for the moment. But tomorrow morning, when the sun finally rose and everyone started waking up, it was time for the Clothier to take some action. He couldn't keep it to himself any longer, not anymore. Time to finally swallow his pride, and finally talk to someone about what's been keeping him up at night. And luckily for Roland, he knew exactly who to talk to.


Roland took a deep breath, as he looked around the small white room he was sitting in. The faint smell of bleach filled his nose, as he couldn't help but notice just how sterile everything looked. It just felt too clean, too lifeless, at least to the old man. She should've been here at least ten minutes ago, at least according to the clock on her desk; what was taking her so long?

As if reading his mind, the door to the room swung open, and Katherine the Nurse entered. A small smile appeared on Roland's face, as he felt his nerves ease, at least somewhat. Katherine sat down at the only other chair in the room, before turning to face Roland.

"Well Roland, how can I help you today?" The Nurse inquired. "Your check up isn't for another few weeks."

"Oh I know, it's just…" Roland explained, rubbing at the back of his head. "I thought I'd take you up on your offer. You know, about talking about that issue I have?"

Katherine sat there silently for what felt like an eternity, an unreadable expression on her face, before she reached over to a nearby desk and retrieved a clipboard and a pen.

"I must admit you've surprised me a bit, Roland." Katherine stated, eyebrow slightly raised. "I really did not expect to see you sitting here."

"A man is allowed to change his mind." Roland said.

"You were very adamant that you weren't interested in my help, last time I brought this up." Katherine continued. "Something about a snowball having a better chance in hell than you being here to discuss your feelings, if I remember correctly."

The Clothier couldn't see it, but he was pretty sure his face had turned a shade of red at Katherine's statement. He really did not handle himself well, when Katherine first thought up the idea of therapy sessions about his nightmares.

"Listen, I'm really sorry about that." Roland admitted. "I was…well, I was acting like a foolish old man, embarrassed about his issues. I should not have taken it out on you like that."

Katherine waved her hand vaguely in Roland's direction, as she scribbled some notes down on the clipboard. "No need to apologize, Roland. Now, I'm assuming that the nightmares have become worse? Or have they increased in their frequency?"

"Well, honestly both." The Clothier admitted. "It has just been…unpleasant, to put it simply. I haven't been able to have a good night's sleep in quite a while."

"Do you remember anything in your nightmares? Anything that has stuck in your mind?" The Nurse inquired. "It would be a good starting point, to try and dig into what the root cause of all of your problems are."

"I must be honest, my memory is well, spotty, when it comes to these nightmares. I can remember vague ideas, like feeling anxious when its all going on. But besides that, its all just blurry half-memories." Roland admitted. "The only thing that I can really remember clearly is that there's a skull in most of my nightmares."

The sound of a pen scribbling on paper soon tapered off, as The Nurse slowly turned her head, as if digesting what she had just heard. She lifted her head slowly, staring straight at Roland, with…well, he wasn't exactly sure with what look in her eyes. It was concern, but mixed with something else. Was it…fear?

"A skull, you say?" Katherine asked slowly, as if she was weighing each word carefully in her mind.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure about it being a skull. Like I said, its probably the only thing from my nightmares that I remember clearly." Roland admitted. "Why, does that mean something?"

Katherine sat there silently for what felt like an eternity, only broken by the gentle tapping of her pen against the clipboard. She soon shook her head and offered a tight smile, before going back to writing notes. The Clothier offered a smile back, but he couldn't help but notice how lifeless Katherine's smile was. It was the kind of smile you used, when trying to hide how you actually were feeling.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something else. Dreams, and nightmares in your case, tend to have meaning and it usually just comes down to interpreting what you saw to dig into the root cause of what you're dreaming about." The Nurse stated. "Now, let's dig deeper into these nightmares; I'm sure we'll find something."

And Chapter 15 of Friendship is done and dusted! I hope to see all of you wonderful readers in the next instalment in this story.

Love,

The Desert Dancer