The third night
One had to admit that Kathryn had a lot of persistence and stubborness in her. As she was falling asleep, focusing on the moment of transition, the dream had tried to take shape of some nonsensical field, but she promptly stopped it and tried to recall the vision of the ballroom.
And she found herself standing in some kind of a corridor.
- Okaa-y, - she drawled, - Some pop-up mini-map please? No? Thought so.
They say that if you are ever stuck in a maze, you need to turn left wherever possible. She wasn't quite sure if there was a maze waiting for her, and then again, the dream could mess up with that theory...
She focused on the ballroom image. Now that she had a set goal, reaching lucid state was easier. Not that it resulted into any kind of superpowers, though.
She walked, then paced, then began to skip. Moving around was tedious and made her giddy, and soon she found herself running. The best part of it was that she wasn't panting.
It's a dream, she had to remind herself. I'm not really running. Okay, maybe my body might be thinking I do, with heartbeat quickening and such, but I won't be really panting.
The most important thing, she thought, was to not get too exited, otherwise she might accidentally wake herself up.
Kathryn realized she had been moving in a series of prolonged skips. She kicked off the floor, flew through the air meeting some kind of resistance, landed and kicked off again. She felt like she was moving in water. Very liquid and fluent kind of water. I'm covering about a meter and a half with one skip, she thought. And I'm not really pushing myself.
There was a door at the end of the corridor. She hovered before it and pulled at the doorknob. Then she gave the door a good push. Nothing.
She looked around in case there was any tables with keys or suspiciously labeled treats. No such thing.
The girl grumbled and eyed the door, then shaked the doorknob and tried to pull and push it again.
- Oh, please, - she cried in annoyance, - I need to get inside.
Strangely enough, the door opened with a faint creak.
- Oh... thank you very much, - she hurried through, in case the door might change its mind.
The ballroom looked the same - the parquet, the ceiling high above, the long narrow windows with sunbeams shining through. And the small balcony up there.
Kathryn could only wonder how had the lady got there the other night. Only one door seemed to be leading to the ballroom - the other one was leading outside. And there didn't seem to be any kind of passage up there, from what she could tell.
That was a proper dream, she had to remind herself. The lady could had teleported there as well.
But Kathryn wasn't sure she could teleport. Balloon drift was the best she could do - and that was pretty much embarrasing the other time that NiGHTS had seen her. But what other options did she had?
Right, no other options.
She heaved a sigh and walked towards the balcony. Looking up, she focused on feeling light and nimble. I'm full of helium, she told herself. Full of helium, and do not obey the gravity. I'm weightless.
Her feet lost touch with the parquet. The wall sped by at somewhat alarming speed, and she soon found herself high up, drifting a little below the ceiling, the balcony under her.
Kathryn heaved another sigh and recalled the sensation of having weight. And then she nearly crashed down.
- Ow... - she sat up with some struggle, trying to figure out where the source discomfort was, - That definitely need some work... owww...
She reached under her leg and pulled out something that dug into it. She held the object up to look at it.
It was some kind of a shard, semi-transparent and tinted blue. It seemed to emit a soft, subdued glow.
Kathryn closed her eyes. The shard felt a little bit warm in her hand. She clenched her hand into a fist, the shard between her fingers. There was something moving in the back of her memory, something important, something she might remember, if she could only catch a glimpse, a loose string to pull at...
Her head began to ring faintly. She opened her eyes and took a breath. Then, Kathryn stood up, walked to the edge of the balcony, looked down for some moments, and then jumped off.
She got it much better this time, as she promptly landed on her feet, maybe just swaying a little. She smiled a confident, proud smile.
And then she blinked in puzzlement.
That was it. There was something about it. About being confident. About being proud. About smiling that way.
Kathryn felt an odd longing. She wasn't smiling just for the sake of it. She wanted to give that smile to someone. Not just anyone, that certain someone, she wanted him to see her confident and proud...
The feeling came to a halt as quickly as it had poured out.
She looked at the shard resting in the palm of her hand, doubt hovering over her face.
Then she cletched her fingers and headed towards the door she thought would be an exit.
It gave her little surprise that there was grass at the doorstep, and that gentle breeze blew in her face when the door opened. She couldn't remember what was seen out of the windows in the ballroom, but assumed it was the same twilit field she was looking at. Blades of grass tickled her bare feet, and Kathryn came to realize she had white pajamas on, with a baggy top that got blown in the wind. She slipped the shard into the pocket, maybe absent-mindely a little, and stepped out.
I need to meet the blue lady, she thought, as she gazed at the white chrysanthemums poking their heads out of the grass, bright against the dusky air. The girl let her hand touch grass and flowers, brushing occasional firefly, as thoughts got her mind absorbed. Blue lady will be able to answer, she thought. About the shard. About the feeling. About that person. Everything.
The question remained whether or not will she be ready to understand, but she saw it more important to remember the answer. She could figure out the meaning later.
Something clicked in her mind, messing up the lazy pace. The meaning. The reason behind things. She gave herself a nod and began to recall her previous dream, slowly and patiently. She was looking for a partner to dance with. The blue lady appeared as her partner, Kathryn herself playng a male role. They began waltzing. And they were talking.
"Ever heard about the dragon?.."
No, she told herself, even earlier than that. The lady said that, since she was feminine, Kathryn had to be masculine... or something along the lines. Then, about the dress?.. Oh, that's right. The lady made it sound as if she had taken some dress from her. And that if she accepted the lady, she got her dress back. It had something to do with the whole male versus female idea.
Kathryn frowned her nonexistent brows and lower, grass rustling beneath her invisible body. Loose petals trailed behind her.
She felt like a fluttering feather, only more straight-forward. Borders ceased to exist, her line of view widening as the horizon stretched. Something tug at her heart faintly, a shadow of a nostalgic pain. There had been times when she felt this free. This light. This powerful, to an extent where power didn't matter anyone.
Unity. It was like she tuned with the whole world around her. She sped through the dusk like a sylph, flying.
And yet, it felt sad somehow.
These are not my emotions, a thought dawned on her. It's like that smile. Like that odd longing.
And that nightmare, too.
Kathryn gasped as she realized she wasn't really flying. She was given the ability to experience the sensation of flying. And that wasn't the same.
She closed her eyes, feeling hurt, and crashed in the grass.
And then she woke up to the sounds of her alarm clock ringing.
Kai: So, Kathy found something... but that means that shard? =3 She don't know - for mow... R&R! =3
And, BTW, if anyone wants and can - we'd be happy to have a beta... =3