Through the alleyways, Espurr made her way back to the Town Square, kinda scared that she would maybe see Hoothoot back in the village, but what really ended up making her feel uneasy were the faint murmurs and oppressive stares from all of the Pokemon around her. She couldn't help but shrivel up a little and avert her gaze from theirs by looking at the ground, seeing that they had not forgotten what she had done in the morning. The attention was really embarrassing! But Mr. Darkrai had promised that they would forgive her eventually, she just needed to be brave and earn it.
She felt pretty bad for wanting someone to have a nightmare, it would make everyone else sad, but it would really make things go a lot quicker for her.
She thought about maybe leaving the Square, part of the advice Mr. Darkrai gave was to not be in places with a lot of Pokemon, after all, but noticing Mothim and Lampent at the door to the library from the corner of her eye made her change her mind. Mr. Darkrai had also said to apply his ideas with moderation, and she really needed to apologise to them.
"Hello, Mr. Lampent and Mrs. Mothim!" They both turned towards her, the first seeming incredibly afraid of being close to her again, while the latter gave her a mean look, but what really grabbed Espurr's attention was the big bandage Lampent had all around the side of his head. Poor him! She had done that to him! "I just wanted to, well, say that I'm really sorry for hurting you this morning, I didn't mean it, really!" She struggled to say it well and make sure that he knew that she meant it.
Lampent sighed. "It's fine, Esp, don't worry about it," he mumbled as he was immediately pushed inside of the library by Mothim, who did not speak a word and instead chose to slam the door shut on her.
That was pretty rude!
She now went back to considering the idea of leaving the center — maybe she would have another opportunity to better excuse herself later on — but before she could act on it, she was scooped up into the air from behind by Miss Leavanny, who she hadn't seen coming at all.
"Finally found you, you little scamp! Where have you been? I was worried sick!" Miss Leavanny did sound really afraid. She didn't do it on purpose, but she felt bad for leaving her without telling first. "You can't just go and disappear on me like that!"
Oh... right! Where had she been? Okay, she needed to make herself feel even worse by lying, now... otherwise she would have been lying to Mr. Darkrai when she promised not to tell the truth, which wasn't better.
"I'm sorry, Miss Leavanny, I was just over in the meadow by the river," that was what Mr. Darkrai had told her to say but not the truth, of course. She had never even seen that meadow. "I won't leave like that again, I promise! I was just a bit sad and decided to take a small walk."
Miss Leavanny didn't continue chastising her and instead patted Espurr's head. "Well, I had to pay the Murkrows just for them to tell me that they had no clue where you were," she chuckled. "Have you calmed down since then? Lampent's okay now, if you're wondering, so don't worry about it too much."
"Yeah, I saw him, but he had bandages everywhere," she felt really bad for doing that to him, but he did accept her excuses. Maybe she should get him a gift of some kind later to make up. "What about Druddigon? Is her shop fixed?"
"Yep, Ursaring put it back together, I got the chance to help by stitching it up with some of my silk. Though she still had some items that got badly damaged, forcing her to leave town early," awww, she always sold such cool things and told her stories about places she had been to! Hopefully Miss Druddigon wouldn't stay mad at her for too long...
She was on the verge of beginning to explain all of the ideas she had and all the recommendations Mr. Darkrai had made to her — without mentioning him, obviously — before a rising cacophony of caws in the distance broke up their conversation, as they both worriedly turned towards Miss Gothitelle's Sanctuary, seeing that an increasing number of Murkrows were beginning to circle over the tent.
"Oh my," Miss Leavanny hugged her tighter as she realised what was happening, then suddenly even tighter when she was startled by one of the Murkrows abruptly crashing next to them.
"Espurr, get to the Sanctuary, quick!" The black bird cried out.
Once he had retreated comfortably deep within the Blightwoods, Darkrai emerged from the shadows and headed back to where he had met Espurr. The damage she had done still required a decent bit of cleaning up, even if the slight crater and the rest of the mess she had made did have the upside of breaking the generally monotonous landscape of the dull forest. It gave it history...
No, he was trying to get himself out of working.
He proceeded to carefully flatten the ground with his claws and to collect the scattered sticks and stones into a pile he knew not what to do with. Dispelling the dreadful sensation that he was forgetting something, he turned his consideration towards the idea of converting the rubbish into scarecrows of sorts; to dispose some rock piles around the entrance of his woods, doing something similar with the branches as well, turning them into bizarre ornaments, so as to hopefully unnerve intruders.
But, at the first thought of intruders, of the townsfolk, he instantly turned his reflections towards the conversation he had just had.
He still was no closer to finding his place in the world, but at least he had gotten the chance to help Espurr in her quest to find her place in Haven. Perhaps, one day, he would be brave enough to embark on it as well. But that wasn't for soon.
Hopefully, his recommendations would come to be useful to her, but her gratitude made him feel quite content for the time being. Not because he felt as if he deserved the praise she gave — he wasn't doing much of anything, really — but it was as if he had just repaid a small part of a longstanding debt towards them all. It felt fulfilling to be helpful.
Nothing much had change, but everything had gotten better, as nonsensical as that sounded.
Hopefully his little friend would continue to believe in him after the initial few days following their encounter. He'd hate to lose her, even if he didn't intend on meeting her any longer, knowing that someone was out there and believed in him not being a malicious entity felt... reassuring. It was a comforting thought.
And, if she truly did keep her mouth shut about this incident, all he would need to worry about is the aftermath of Hoothoot's 'mysterious disappearance', which, if the best case scenario were to unfold, would simply mean them assuming that he had chosen to leave the village unannounced, after it had become clear to him that he would be replaced.
As he looked to dispose of the last of the exposed rocks, a sudden sensation sent a chill up his spine, the reflexive contraction making him throw the stone away for no discernible reason.
His heart stopped, his body tensed up. It took him less than a second to realise what had just happened, what this vague yet dreadful feeling meant: it was like he could suddenly sense a form without seeing nor touching it and hear voices and mumbling emanating from it without being there to hear them, and the form was writhing in agony.
The Life Orb. He had forgotten the blasted Life Orb.
"Thank you for bringing him here," Gothitelle said as Drifblim laid the tormented Gallade down on the table of the Sanctuary. Obviously, he was dearly suffering, somehow managing to have both fainted and so thoroughly weakened himself beforehand.
"I'm happy to help, but would rather leave," Drifblim responded, not waiting a moment longer before unwrapping her appendages from the twitching Guardian's body and excusing herself through the opening of the tent, looking to escape the situation. "I don't like watching this happen," she didn't want to watch it happen any longer, yet she was less than willing to stand up and do something to prevent it from happening again.
No matter, it wasn't like she was any good as a fighter, if that incident with the Mandibuzz was anything to go by.
"So, do you want to explain what happened to him?" She gave a glacial look to Scyther, the 'partial' culprit of Gallade's fainting, while marching over to her shelves to retrieve a few items which would potentially aid in the Guardian's recovery. As unlikely as that was with the few resources she had left and seeing his current state.
"I really don't know what happened! He wanted to test out that Life Orb or whatever of his that doubled his strength in a battle and I wasn't even attacking him that badly and he just fell over all of a sudden!" Scyther tried his best to give his frantic excuse to Gothitelle, who was now back to examining Gallade's tormented figure.
She reached for the necklace he was wearing which bore the odd object at its end, only to be forced to take a step back as Gallade, in his troubled sleep, almost cut her arm with his blades. Eventually, she managed to get a hold of and remove it from him with a degree of difficulty.
"Of course you were making sure not to hurt him too badly, Scyther, that's why he's all well and good now," she groaned while setting an Odd Incense burner by Gallade's face and putting the peculiar, purple and orange Orb on the shelf besides her. She'd be keeping that, just in case it did have some properties to it.
Hopefully, the smoke would help him fortify his mind and combat the Nightmare Weaver's influence... or something along those lines, she was a lot better at preventing these things from happening, than she was at waking Pokemon up after it had already happened.
As if they had somehow sensed the mounting tension inside, the Murkrows circling above the Sanctuary double the intensity of their cries and unbearable shrieks. She was trying to work here! Were they doing it all on purpose, just to irritate her?
"It wasn't my fault, I swear! I have no clue what was happening with him!" She would heed no more attention to the dumb, evidently lying bug.
She couldn't help but grind her teeth. This couldn't be! They couldn't let it take Gallade! Pangoro, then Grimmsnarl, then Bisharp and now him... seemingly, the demon was actively whittling down their most competent fighters. With those who were left being barely capable of fighting, let alone going against the Moonshadow, it was to wonder if any revenge, any solace in this forsaken place, would ever be attainable to her. Actually, it was to wonder whether she should stay in Haven at all, when none could adequately protect her now.
Who would replace Gallade?
Scyther? She turned her gaze towards him, even he was made uneasy watching as his mentor was on the verge of succumbing. Useless.
Ursaring? The one who knew only normal- and fighting-type moves? Against the ghost-type Nightmare Weaver? No.
A disaster! Her frustration took the form of incoherent mumbling and pacing around the room. So many times she had told them that they should do a minimum of training instead of relying on a handful of fighters for protection, only for them to renege on the grounds of it not being safe. Well, they'd see now how safe that had made them!
These happenings only seemed to confirm that she should give up her attempts at revenge, at this rate, and return to her studies of how to give herself her psychic powers back. She had to face that she wasn't going to accomplish the former, or have someone else accomplish it for her, there was no point in wasting the last decades of her life striving for it. If the poor boy did die, she would at least wait for Chatot to bring her those books and artifacts she had asked for, which she had been waiting to receive for ages now, before leaving this place behind.
As Scyther remained silent, she looked to her lockers, searching for any of the Chesto Berry elixirs, before realising that most had been consumed by Lampent and Mothim in their paranoia. She'd need to ask Morgrem to replenish those.
She turned back towards Gallade. A contrarian idiot, but it would be sad to see him go.
And where even was that useless owl, Hoothoot? "Where even is Hoothoot? Does he want to get replaced for good?" Scyther only shrugged.
Good grief, Gallade's life seemingly now hinged on the haphazard capabilities of the disaster child.
"I'm here to help!" Espurr, almost as if she had been summoned by the mere mention of her name in Gothitelle's head, cried as she arrived along with Leavanny, bringing with her a small crowd of confused and then worried villagers, some of whom dared to enter the tent.
Gallade unerringly followed after Bisharp, with no clear idea of where he was being lead to by his mentor, but he instinctively knew that it was of utmost urgency that they get there, and fast. They were being counted on, that is all he knew.
As he sprinted after him, he tried his best to decipher where it was that they were, but he could not perceive any of his surroundings. It was not a dark void he was running through, but rather a legitimate nothingness, occasionally manifesting as garbled static which itself vanished and reappeared depending on how long he focused his attention on it, as if he was blind to everything but Bisharp just ahead of him.
Suddenly, it was his mentor who vanished, his form shrinking in size as he got farther away and becoming increasingly transparent until it was completely gone, leaving him in total isolation, getting the idea to attempt to feel where it was he was going.
When all he could sense was the dirt under his feet and the invisibility of all else around him lead to a mounting, dreadful idea of where it was that he was penetrating into. A feeling which brought back the distant and harrowing memory of the dark forest he had once foolishly entered. A memory which began to convert itself into a reality, as the nothingness gave way to shapes which twisted themselves to fit the scenery he was in the middle of recollecting.
He felt his stomach sink. He was there again, in the Blightwoods. The trees, the barren, lifeless ground which combined themselves to form a depressing landscape stretching for as far as the heavy fog allowed.
The memories of when he had last erred into it struggled to resurface, his mind was far too crowded with incoherent passing thoughts and fears, but, once it cleared and he finally grasped those fleeting recollections, it was as if they were playing out right in front of him.
He remembered how little, headstrong Ralts had penetrated into the nightmare forest, sick of his village being forced to endure the Nightmare Weaver's torment. He remembered how horrified he was when the shadows around him began to writhe, coalescing into the dark figure of the Moonshadow. He remembered the surge of terror, as he was forced to hide from it behind trees and bushes, like a coward. He remembered Bisharp stepping in to give him a window of escape... and him having to leave Bisharp to rot.
This awful place... he had sworn never to return here, Guardian or not.
Why was he here, then? Why had he come back here? Why hadn't he seen where he was going?
He remembered Bisharp who disappeared on him. Why had he been following him?
He... he didn't care! He was leaving!
Incapable of turning around towards the way he had entered, he was forced to attempt to walk backwards, only to be frustrated by his inability to advance at all. It was as if he was sliding off of a cliff side, frantically struggling to stop his descent but being unable to adequately latch onto any of its surface.
After slipping and falling over a few times due to this unnatural force, barely keeping himself standing on his weakening two feet, he felt a sudden need to look down to his hands: they weren't the blade arms of Gallade, but the stubs of Ralts.
The confusion as to how he had devolved did not have time to set in before he was overwhelmed with a primal fear.
He didn't know why, but he had to run.
And, counter to all of his reason telling him that it was a horrendous idea, he was compelled to run deeper and deeper into the Blightwoods, unable to stop his stride.
He wanted to — but couldn't — stop himself from running.
At times, it felt like he was Gallade, being able to jump and evade obstacles with little effort, while at others, when he stopped concentrating on what was directly in front of him, he became Ralts again, getting blocked by bent sticks on the ground and small mounds. But, all the same, he could feel himself getting rapidly exhausted, a feeling which was also oddly familiar to him.
His sprint halted when he came across a peculiar object: it was hard to concentrate on it, as if the shape of it was perpetually shifting without him noticing at first, making it just as hard to discern what exactly it was meant to be, but he felt that it was incredibly important to examine it and, upon reaching for the black, metallic — now pile — of objects, he immediately threw them back to the ground, having realised that he was looking at what was left of Lampent.
He stood and stared at the... corpse? In horror, until his attention turned towards a shriek coming from his left: right next to him, barely a few meters even, was Morgrem desperately clinging onto small patches of grass, struggling to dislodged his legs from the grasp of a black, oozing tendril which extended itself from beyond the mist.
Gallade hesitated for a moment before snapping out of his fright-induced paralysis, remembering that he had a duty towards the inhabitants of his village, one he was in the middle of considering to desert in dishonor.
He jumped over to the dark tentacle and sliced off its extremity with his Night Slash, freeing Mawile from its clutches...
Mawile...?
Whatever it was that had just confused him quickly became a secondary concern of his, as the entity attempted to avenge itself by striking at him with a barrage of piercing attacks from a multiplicity of spear-like appendages, most of which he was able to repulse or tear off, though he could still feel himself rapidly tiring and his movements becoming more and more uncoordinated.
Before he was given time to recuperate, the onslaught of puncturing tendrils began anew, hitting him with such force that, even if he was able to block most of them with a cross of his blades, he was still made to fall over from the collision, getting pinned to the ground as he struggle to fight the oozing tentacles off with his legs while shielding his face with his blades.
He gave a quick glance to... Espurr, who was doing nothing but standing there upright and staring at him while he wrestled with the entity.
"Do something! Defend yourself! Run!" He cried out to her but received no response and prompted no action whatsoever before she too was tripped by the black limbs, which then began to constrict her legs, finally making her shriek in pain and fear while the slow drag towards the depths of the forest began.
He latched onto Leavanny's arm in turn, not knowing how it was that he could now keep the tendrils at bay with only one, desperately trying to hold onto her, so that she may avoid whatever fate it was that the thing had in store for her in the darkness of the fog.
His grip became more feeble by the moment, a strange pulse emitted by the tentacles latched onto his blade made him feel as though he was being drained with every wave which surged through his being, but he suddenly felt that the strength with which the tendrils were pinning him down — now without causing him any pain — began to weaken as well.
He allowed himself to break his concentration from holding onto the screaming Leavanny, turning instead to see that a perimeter of pink light was forming around them both, beginning to burn away the forest and rapidly causing the creature's limbs to dissolve.
The momentary relief and joy quickly disappeared, however, as right after the collapsing sphere of swirling light reached Leavanny's legs, destroying the remaining pieces of the dark entity in shrieking agony, those cries of pain were replaced by her's, making him realise that the now purple inferno would not spare them.
Back at Gothitelle's Sanctuary, Espurr could feel herself beginning to tire. She had been using Dream Eater on Gallade for a long while now, but he just wouldn't wake up! It was like she was eating parts of the nightmare but it only kept going deeper and deeper, or like it was growing back!
Not to mention, eating nightmares just made her feel... really sick. The worst headache she had ever had! On top of just feeling plain sick and being on the verge of vomiting...
It was hard to keep doing it, but she had to, for Gallade! He depended on her right now, and everyone else depended on him. Even if Mr. Darkrai wasn't actually going to attack them, they needed Gallade to feel safe, and she had promised Mr. Moonshadow that she would help those who got his nightmares, multiple times over, at that!
The worried Miss Leavanny put her claw on Espurr's shoulder, looking on as Gallade began to twitch and turn in his sleep even more. "Is that a bad sign?" She asked.
"No, no, he might be waking up, actually," Miss Gothitelle replied, sounding pretty surprised that this was working.
He was waking up! Espurr could feel the dark energy of the nightmare clearing up, finally, and without growing back this time. He was waking up!
Suddenly, the Guardian's spastic movements stopped and instead he used his arm to push himself into a sitting position on the table, awaking to gasps and shouts from all those around him.
"A— Am I awake?" The half-asleep Guardian murmured while holding his head in pain.
"You're awake!" Leavanny shouted, startling him and all those in the room.
Gallade looked around, initially confused, before locking eyes with Espurr standing right beside him. His eyes widened as he understood what had just happened, prompting him to instantly reach for and embrace his little savior in a hug.
"He's awake! He's awake!" The Murkrows, which had also infiltrated the tent to notice his rise, began to cry out to the public surrounding the establishment, their cries soon being drowned out by a surge of applause.
Darkrai was turbulently ejected from Gallade's nightmare, reemerging from the same shadow in the forest he had used to enter it. He was left confused as to what had just happened for a second, before realising that it had, in fact, all come to an end for Gallade.
As painful as it was to get through them, already knowing the most likely end result, he always spectated his victims' torment through to the end. It only felt fair for him to keep them company in their last moments, and it was always a good reminder of the damage he caused, to never let himself get desensitised to it.
He quickly groomed himself, removing any sand or rocks stuck in his plume, levitated up through the canopy and extended his legs to perch himself up there on the tree, overlooking the small village at the base of the hill from a distance.
Surely that had been it for the poor boy? Even in passing, his main concern was being incapable of saving those he had sworn to protect... Gallade hadn't deserved this.
The Dream Realm was his own dominion, where he was nigh omnipotent, possessing a level of control over the fabric of it which no other Pokemon, not Mismagius, nor Hypno, and not even Musharna, could rival... well, with the exception of his twin, the Lady of the Moon. She didn't have the caveat which he possessed, of being unable to use that power to incite anything other than misery or deathly comas, as he just had.
Some irrational part of him still held out an ounce of hope that it could have had a positive resolution. He had long ago made the calculation that pessimism lead to him being disappointed less often, as opposed to optimism, which rarely worked in his favour, and he had for the most part adhered to that logic, but here... it felt different to him, could Espurr maybe have saved him in time?
It would be best to act as if she hadn't, is what he finally decide. This would have been her first attempt, after all, and he had already been made frail by the Life Orb before falling into the coma. There was no chance, really, Gallade was gone, and that illogical optimism quickly faded as he accepted this evident truth.
...
No, it would be irrational not to believe the seemingly optimistic explanation! His night terrors did not dissolve into voids of bright pink and magenta, none of his victims' last seconds were spent within a fae-like astral mist. That was the effect of Dream Eater, and there was but one Dream Eater in Haven.
Espurr had done it, she had managed to save Gallade, suddenly he became very certain of it, dispelling the results of whatever cynical calculations he had made prior.
He heaved a deep sigh and his attention turned back towards the pile of sticks and stones he had been arranging. There was not much else he could do, other than to mind his own business for now, anything else would be but unproductive procrastination.
Not much will have changed for him by the end of it, but it would all still be far better than it was at the start of the morning, that he was certain of. Darkrai would allow himself to believe this. Yes, this day will have ended on a good note, he could trust that Espurr had made sure of it.
And he realised that there was indeed a way for him to make sure as well.
"So, Gothitelle had to explain to everyone why we have you around," Mawile said as she walked up to her and pulled a gray bell with a little red ribbon tied around it from behind her back. "And so we decided to brainstorm some ideas for a sort of 'you're still welcome here' gift. This is what we got you!" That was such a nice thing to do!
Espurr immediately fixated upon it, grabbing it a bit rudely from Mawile's hands and starting to play around with it by tossing it from one hand and into the other. "It's so cute, I love it!"
"It was Morgrem here's idea," Mawile lightly pushed the timid imp forward. "So I'll let him present it to you."
"Well... It has some functionality to it," he started. "It's called a Soothe Bell, and the sound, well, soothes you, I thought that it would come in handy in case you're having troubles with, you know, the thing, and you needed to calm down." She hadn't even considered that! What an incredibly useful gift! Morgrem really was smart, actually.
She began to ring it again, paying closer attention to her mood this time and she could actually feel herself relax, it even made her notice how tensed up she was before. She had been through a lot today, really.
"I think it works! I can feel myself getting a lot calmer already. That's such a marvelous gift!" She reached to hug Morgrem and then the rest in turn. She also got the opportunity to use one of the big words that Darkrai used, the way he spoke me him sound pretty smart, so she wanted to give it a try, too. "Where'd you get it?" It kinda reminded her of another bell she had seen before, but she didn't remember where.
"Murkrows," Morgrem responded. "They sold it to us for only one piece of gold. Mawile paid for it, by the way," she had gotten a job helping Ursaring carry things around with her mouth... hair... thing she had on her head.
Her memory of Ursaring reminded her of exactly where she had seen such a bell before! "I think Miss Druddigon had the same bell when I looked at her shop this morning," it wasn't that important of a thing to say, but still interesting. Maybe it was the same.
"That's probably hers, Espurr," Mawile huffed. "They stole a bunch of stuff when you left."
The doors to their room in the Shelter suddenly opened and Leavanny peered inside. "Hey, it's time to sleep, but I just wanted to tell you that Gallade is doing fine beforehand, he's been at the Sanctuary but is making a steady recovery," she was so glad he was fine! It was nice that he woke up, but sometimes Pokemon would still be dizzy or tired or vomiting for days after the nightmares!
"Phew," Morgrem wiped his forehead with his hand. "That's good, I got really scared that he wouldn't be around anymore, honestly."
"Sorry, but did you ask him about the training?" Mawile asked.
"Well, he's still healing, so it will take a while, but him and Gothitelle have decided that more Pokemom needed to train, so they accepted both you and Espurr."
Espurr's expression lit up. "That's great news!" She wasn't sure if they would have been fine with her training at all if this hadn't happened, which was a scary thought.
"They have place for you as well, Morgrem," Leavanny turned to the imp.
"Yeah, no," he responded, sounding almost terrified and shaking his head really fast. "I'd rather not risk doing that at all. It's scarier when you're a dark-type like me," that made sense, Miss Gothitelle told her that Dream Eater didn't work on dark-types, so he needed to be extra careful all the time.
"Suit yourself," Mawile said. "Me and Espurr are going to become so strong that we're going to be able to beat up the Moonshadow ourselves!" Saying this made them all look at her with widened eyes at first. For Espurr it was because she knew that Darkrai was nice, actually, and he didn't need to be fought, but the rest were more so scared of what she had just said.
"Don't say that!" Morgrem exclaimed, jumping and burrowing into his hay pile.
"Mawile," Leavanny started, crossing her arms and giving her a mean look she normally never gave anyone. "Please don't mention it just before bed. And especially don't mention it... like that."
"Sorry, sorry..." they were all so scared of him that it made it kinda funny when you knew that he wasn't all that bad, really.
"Anyway, I know that today's... not been the best day, but do try and get some sleep, we're going picnicking in the meadow, like you asked, Espurr. I have faith that you'll all wake up. Goodnight," they all wished Miss Leavanny a good night in turn and then blew the candles of the lamps in the room as she closed the door behind herself, leaving them all to uneasily drift off into dreamland.
Darkrai dissociated himself from the fabric of Espurr's dream, having entered it by melting through its barrier, and landed right behind where Espurr's manifestation within it was located.
He was far enough away from her physical body for his ability to avoid acting too strongly on its own but, still, he could not produce a pleasant dream, leading to the previous imagery — whatever it was, he had not paid attention and was in a hurry — to instead be replaced with the manifestation of the familiar, uneasy, foggy forest. This wasn't great, but it would be bearable enough for her while obeying the constraints of his capabilities.
A visible chill ran up Espurr's spine, as she sensed that there was now something behind her but she dared not turn around at first and instead shrivelled up in the midst of the oppressive environment.
"Greetings again, Espurr," he called to her, finally pushing her to turn around to face him, which she was not willing to do on her own. It was still far too monotonous of an opening line, but he was no longer too concerned with her perception of him.
"Mr. Darkrai? You're still nice... right?" His friend whimpered while taking small, hesitant steps towards him, quickly glancing back at the darkness to make certain that nothing had appeared. She was on edge, but this was normal due to this being her nightmare. Bottled up distrust was bound to emerge rather easily and he would do his best not to hold that against her or get upset by it.
"Of course, Espurr," fingers crossed, he would not need to do anything more to assure her of his amicability again. "I just wanted to check up on you."
"Thank you for being here," without warning, and totally to Darkrai's surprise, she jumped to hug his legs, latching herself onto them and using them as cover to hide. "I think there's something scary in the forest," she explained, looking back to the heavy fog-filled forest. "Can I climb up on your shoulder again?"
He... wasn't sure how to respond to that. He really did not expect her to be this... cozy with him at all, and especially not after her brief hesitation.
But he wouldn't wholly ignore his friend's request when she was scared, of course, what would he be good for if he did? Instead of putting her on his shoulder, he simply picked her up and let her stand on the palm of his hand, which would make it easier to converse with her.
"Well, do not worry, this is but a nightmare," he explained, causing her to gasp and her hairs to rise.
"But aren't your nightmares dangerous? I won't get up!" She cried.
"You will get up, it's only dangerous if my physical being is close-by," he decided to hesitantly give her a pat on the head while she was at that height, which she did not seem irked to receive, much to his relief. "You're safe, friend, though I am sorry for inflicting it upon you."
"Oh... okay, it's okay. I trust you," it had only been a few hours since they had last spoken in the Blightwoods, but he had already began to miss her company. "But why are you in my dream? Not that I want you to leave or anything."
Right, to see if his rare moment of optimism would be vindicated. "Can you tell me if Gallade—"
"I saved him with Dream Eater! He's awake!" She preempted, lighting up with unparalleled cheer.
"Oh, that's marvelous!" This was a true relief to hear, this day would not be ruined!" "Thank you a lot for helping him for me, Espurr."
She nodded. "Everyone became much, much nicer to me after I saved him, so you were right about that! They even got me this cute bell, called a Soothe Bell, that's supposed to calm me down when I get anxious or anything like that!" That was... a beyond excellent idea, he felt dumb for not having recommended it himself, actually. It was so simple yet it should theoretically be highly effective.
Alas, again, he now knew what he desperately needed to know, it would be time to leave her, so that she may have pleasant dreams once more. "I'm happy to hear that everything is working out for you. Now that you've received my gratitude for a second time, I bid you farewell. Truly for good, this time," he began to meld back into the very fabric of the nightmare immediately upon uttering his goodbye.
"Wait!" Espurr called, prompting him to prepare to explain to her how the paranoia-inducing forest would instantly evaporate upon his departure. "So, if you can come into my dreams like this and it's safe, can we meet some other times, too?"
His widened. That was unexpected, there went his short efforts at elaborating another explanation of his powers. "It would be possible, but it would always be in nightmares."
"Then please come more often!" She was fine with experiencing the nightmares? To talk to him?
"Uhh... I guess I would enjoy talking with you more often," he really, really would. "Though it would need to be for short periods of time in your sleep. It's quite hard to keep it so that the atmosphere of the dream is only uneasy, rather than legitimately terrible."
"Even the scarier nightmares I can handle!" She huffed with a determined look in her eyes, jumping down to the ground for whatever reason.
"You would twitch in your sleep and it would be quite obvious, you might distress those around you," that she was willing to show that resilience to fear and pain to meet with him was incredibly heart-warming, but it was not only a matter of her being capable of enduring it.
"Aww... okay, fine, only for small bits of time, then."
He nodded. Feeling grateful for the opportunity as much as she did. "I will visit every so often, once I have something to say. Farewell," he resumed his vanishing act, as he felt himself tiring, and the dark energy which surrounded him followed along in evaporating from her dream, leaving in its stead the scenery which had preceded it.
"Bye, Mr. Darkrai!" Espurr's lucidity dulled with his departure and she returned to dreaming.