Nunka's Nonsense

‘The dream is freezing over. Negative emotions?’ Tysiga squinted, looking back at the continuously stretching hall. He could barely recognize the silver lupine as the room got further and further away, the Healer had come to visit with a darker haired man. ‘What does it mean?’ From here the dreamwalker couldn’t see their expressions or hear their conversation but he knew he had to go after the dreamer. She had fled towards the doubled doors at the other end, leaving one cracked as she disappeared through it. ‘I need to catch up to her.’ Making a quick decision, the small mouse jumped into the air, sprouting a set of feathered wings. He was off, plunging head first into the light coming through the crack. Before him was a massive room, walls and floor covered in a sprawling maze of shelves. Each shelf was lined with an endless supply of books, title after title distorted till he was dizzy. Tysiga fluttered to a stop at the end of the first bookshelf, stopping to stare, eyes trying to comprehend how much of the size or these numbers could be misrepresented by the dream. ‘Where did she go?’ The celestial left behind small pawprints, bouncing along the frosty tops to make his way further in. ‘If she’s fleeing the cold… somewhere warm?’ His head snapped as eyes spotted darker shelving, not yet touched with frost. ‘Over there.’ He was quick to find her, huddling between a gap of shelves against the far wall. Small feathered wings spread, dropping to perch on the dreamer’s head. “Why is it so cold?” Tysiga inquired, the shelves above loomed, growing higher with the new distortion. Animela hesitated to answer, squeezing her knees. “She wants me to go home.” “The Healer?” “Ryn already went back but I don’t want to.” The girl whimpered, huddling further into her knees. The disguised mouse slid further over her bangs, balancing to look into her face. “Why?” “It was horrible there.” A frustrated sniffle came from below, rubbing her nose against her sleeve, partially to bury herself. “It was always cold, I couldn’t go anywhere. There was nothing to do but sit and wait for her next demand. It was like a prison but I don’t know what I did wrong. They both get angry every time she comes. I can’t tell if she’s angry at Father for not being able to teach me or at me because I’m too stupid to learn.” “You’re not stupid, you’re just not a normal majai-” “I know that! I can’t use incantations, I can’t make sigils. If I was normal I wouldn’t have these problems. The only thing that works when it should is mage mode but nobody can sustain that!” The girl barked in frustration. “It’s not fair. How can I be dangerous when I’m this useless? I don’t want to do it again but I don’t even know how-” “I promise, you’ll figure it out.” Tysiga interrupted, patting her forehead with his tiny clawed fingers. “Even if my magic worked, I’m sure she’d still hate me.” She sniffled again, leaning her head down onto her knees. The tiny dreamwalker felt himself slide, plopping onto the ground in front of her feet. “At least doing what father says makes him love me. Nothing I did for her ever made it warmer."