Chapter 1 – The Same as Always

Link awoke in a cold sweat, his eyes darting about. From the neon light of his alarm clock, he recognized the dark room as his own.

It was that same dream that jostled him awake. For years it would come to him in the dead of night; bits and pieces of a world he didn't recognize tantalized him. Most importantly, there was always a monster present, and it killed him. And predictably, there was that scream reverberating through the back of his mind.

Link, as he did countless nights, rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. But as he closed his eyes, the image of the time was imprinted on his retinas: 6:29. And that meant...

All at once, Link was greeted with the blaring of his alarm, rising of the window blinds, and chatter of his TV. It was a measure taken by his mother to make sure he always got up on time for school, and it worked.

Link whipped his legs across the bed and onto the carpeted floor. He silenced the alarm and pressed a switch on the device next to it. A globe of light illuminated his room, overpowering the nascent morning light from the window. He sat there for a minute, watching the TV and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

The floating glass screen near the wall showed the image of a fox with long red hair draped over a pink shirt. It was Iris Aelita, the Centropolis News weather girl, and she pointed to an image of the Volesdale district – Link's home district.

"Those in Volesdale can enjoy lots of sun today with a slight wind. In the west, Deelburg should expect scattered showers..."

Iris adjusted her glasses as the image next to her changed to Deelburg. Link had already zoned out; his heart fluttered at the thought of another beautiful day.

"The Gardens should be radiant today," he said to himself. Hopping off of the bed, he crossed a pile of clothes to his open closet. An image from his dream flashed in his memory, but his smile only slightly faltered.

Nothing is going to ruin this day, he thought as he instinctively grabbed a green shirt and white jeans. On top of the forecast, today was the last day of school before the weekend, and he got a quick but delectable whiff of breakfast. But nothing excited him like a visit to Lucent Gardens.

"Nope, nothing," Link reassured himself out loud.

The school bus hovered to a stop in front of Volesdale High. Link poured onto the school grounds with the rest of the students. The mass of students littered the area, killing time before classes begun.

Link scoped the lawn for his friends to no avail. It didn't really matter, though – they'd find him eventually. They always did. With that in mind, he climbed the stairs to the school's entrance and was not surprised when a hand yanked his sandy hair, pulling him to the side of the sliding doors.

"You just gonna go to class without us?" Freddy Marshall, a redheaded teen in a black shirt and blue jeans, asked as Link pried away from his grasp. Next to him was Derwin Tate, a brown raccoon in a green jacket, white shirt and black pants.

"I looked for you guys, I swear," Link defended himself sheepishly.

"Sure you did," Derwin replied with a skeptical nod. "I sent you a message this morning. You never replied."

"Oh...must have been preoccupied." Link fished his phone out of his pocket saw the text message alert. "...'Bring food?' Really?"

"My dad's away again and you know my mom can't cook to save her life."

"That's true," Freddy agreed, ignoring Derwin's dirty look.

"Anyways, I'm dying for some real food! I know your mom always makes a great breakfast."

Link shrugged. "Sorry Derwin. I would have brought something if I knew."

"That's okay." Derwin grinned and pointed, "Hey, look who it is."

A girl with curly blonde hair walked by, carrying a school tablet against her chest. She stopped long enough to smile.

"Hi Link," she greeted in a slow, sensual voice.

"Hey Hilda," Link responded, giving a half-wave as Hilda walked through the doors. He leaned against the metal banister when she was gone.

Freddy raised a brow, leaning forward and examining Link's face. "You're not giving her those googly-eyes you usually do. What's up with that?"

"You had that nightmare again, didn't you?" Derwin blurted out in realization.

Link was annoyed. His friends were putting more stock into it than he was. "I don't let it bother me anymore."

Freddy threw his arm around Link, tapping his forehead. "I'm tellin' you, lucid dreaming is the answer to your problems. Switch some details and kick that monster's ass!"

"Doesn't work. It's like it has to play out the same way every time."

"This is depressing," Derwin muttered, remembering Link's descriptions of his nightmare over the years. "Maybe we should change the subject."

"Fine by...?" Link stopped mid-sentence, sensing the presence before he felt a small wind brush against him. The stunned looks on his friends' faces only confirmed that something was behind him before he whipped around to see for himself.

Poised atop the banister was a blue, bipedal jackal. A single white spike protruded from its chest and the back of each hand. Its deep red eyes bore into Link, making him step back. An unsettling vulnerability crept along his back, as if his life and thoughts were an open book for the creature to read on a whim.

"You are Link Jensen, correct?"

The voice was low, stern, and gruff. Link nodded, though he could tell from the tone that the jackal knew that before he even posed the question.

"And who the hell are you supposed to be?" Freddy inquired indignantly.

"Be silent!" the jackal demanded, pointing at the teen. Freddy jumped back in surprise when a blue spark ignited at the tip of his paw.

The jackal turned his immediate attention back on Link, unenthused by Freddy's cursing.

"Do you not wonder about the recurring nightmares you have? Many people have tried to explain or dissect them, but you found none of their answers satisfactory."

Link remained silent, but he could feel his heart rapidly beating within his chest. Something was stirring inside of him.

"You see sudden images and flashes of people and places you have never witnessed before. You feel nostalgic of times you can't recall. You ask your parents why you have pointed ears when they do not."

"And what's your point?" Link questioned. He was frightened, annoyed and enamored by the jackal's words. "You have answers that no one else has?"

"Meet me in the Lucent Gardens this afternoon if you are ready for the truth. Come alone." The jackal began to levitate and a fiery blue aura engulfed his feet. "What you learn you won't be able to deny." He disappeared in a blur, zipping back before launching over the roof of the school.

A commotion had started. If no one had noticed the jackal before, they did when a blue streak narrowly missed their heads. Thankfully for Link, the conversation was low enough that only those in the direct vicinity picked up anything useful from it. People had already known about his dreams; he didn't want to be associated with the jackal too.

Link replayed the event in his head but could still make no sense of the jackal's presence. The sudden appearance and the confrontation of Link's lingering questions...the acts were so brazen.

"Hey, Link!" Derwin shouted, shaking him out of his daze. "What are you going to do?"

He didn't have an answer.