Regaining Power

[Ariana]

She closed her eyes and the dream changed instantly. She had never been in this much control of her dreams til now. Who knew what had changed but what ever it was it would show Ceverus what her home became in the end. Trees were torn down. Fires burning.

"We became enslaved and plagued with disease brought on by strange creatures.."

She opened her eyes and looked around. It was as she had left it. Bodies of her people in piles rotting slowly as those who were alive were used as slaves. Tortured and abused. Tears filled her eyes when she saw someone who resembled her father. It took all of her might not to run towards him.

"Welcome to my hell.."

[Ceverus]

Cev hesitates for a moment before resting a hand on her shoulder. "I am sorry for your loss." He says, not knowing what else to say. Even with his dark tendencies he found it hard to look at the scene infront of him. "Perhaps this wouldn't be the best of memories to have, given the timing. But this seems to be how it normally happens. Life goes on happily until change is introduced and all hell breaks loose. Happened to me too." he says as he looks to her again.

[Ariana]

She turned and looked at him, not wishing to look at the scene any further either.

"You can not get rid of a memory. You might be lucky to suppress but it will creep up on you even when you least expect it. I have come to live with these memories and these feelings. Perhaps the battle earlier merely brought them back to the surface with my mind being so fragile with my exhaustion. Even in sleep I feel the same had I been awake."

She smiled and shook her head. The images around them blurring in a color of smoke before vanishing completely. When any color returned it was them standing in a field. Horses running around them. Tossing their heads around in play.

"Thank you for your sympathy Ceverus..you are the only one in the Coven who knows.."

[Ceverus]

Cev smiles softly, giving a slight nod and saying "Of course. And it will remain so unless you are the one to tell another." he moves his hand from her shoulder and places it in his pocket. "Not to be funny, but people are usually put in an asylum for talking to their shadow...they just want someone to listen. And I am always there." he adds, his smile shifting to a smirk of amusement.

[Ariana]

"Well technically this is a dream.."

She smiled and reached out to push him even though he was just a shadow. But if she could make her dreams seem real than she should be able to make him feel real enough to her when the palm of her hand would have touched his shoulder. Honey amber eyes brighter than they had been before when she had first escaped into her dreams.

[Ceverus]

Cev chuckles when he is pushed, his shoulder being quite real. His human for was quite solid contrary to popular belief. "This is true" he says, glad to see her in a lighter mood. These were grim times however, one needed to make the best of them. "But In all seriousness, if these memories come back to haunt you, I want you to keep in mind that the shadows are listening. And it's not crazy to talk to them." he adds before lighting another cigarette, being sure to blow the smoke away from her not knowing how she felt about the smell in spite of the sweet scent of his particular blend of tobacco.

[Ariana]

"What about you Ceverus? Would you be listening or do I need to worry about the shadows telling my secrets on me?"

Tilted her head and narrowed her gaze at him. It was not like she had many secrets anyway. Her falcon friend was the only other one besides herself that knew her inside and out. Past that no one knew her. She was just the woman who kept in the woods and was quick to aim an arrow at someones' head if she did not know who they were.

[Ceverus]

Cev pretends to ponder this for a second before saying, "I think I could pencil you into my busy schedule." Before giving a laugh and shaking his head, "Right, like I have a schedule. You have nothing to fear with the shadows. There are some that are intelligent enough to listen to the prayers, for lack of a better term, spoken to the shadows but none would dare disobey my command. I'm a kindly god, however if you go against my word I will strike you from existence...you being a shadowkin of course. So you can be assured, I will be on the listening end" he says once again returning to his more serious nature.

[Ariana]

"I am shaking in my boots."

She grinned and looked out towards the field again. The horses coming closer until she was able to put her hand out and stroke the nose of one stallion. He reminded her, still, of home. But of a better time. Ariana moved to the side of the creature, her hands remaining on the stallion at all times so he knew where she was.

"Your schedule meaning your mind correct? Try not to forget about our meeting in one week at sunset."

[Ceverus]

Cev nods with the comment. "I'm aware that we have just met. Its in my nature to be friendly to those I meet. Might I remind you that in spite of that fact, you have confided in me what no one else knows about your past." he says, taking anothe drag off his cigarette and exhaling the smoke away from her and the horse. Creatures of the mortal realm had always taken a liking to him, however he tended to shy away from them. He gives a slight start when another of the horses deems it necessary to nudge him with its nose as though he had known the animal for years. "Er...hello there.." he says as he looks at the horse.

[Ariana]

She shook her head with a smile at his comment. Her fingers brushing through the mane of the horse to work out any brambles that had been caught in the run from earlier. Ariana turned her head when Ceverus started when another horse nudged him.

"You look at him as though he will trample you at any moment. Perhaps just start small and reach your hand out to see if he allows you to pet him."

[Ceverus]

Cev looks towards Ariana for a brief moment before looking back at the horse, slowly extending his hand after withdrawing it from his pocket. The horse in turn brings its nose to the palm of his hand, illiciting a petting of the animal's nose moving up slightly. "It's not that I fear them, I just don't understand why they like me so much..." she says to Ariana as he continues petting the horse, clearly perplexed as to why he was always attracting the creatures of the mortal realm.

[Ariana]

She patted the stallions side and walked over to Ceverus. Animals were her strong point. She tracked them, hunted them, worked with them. She did not reach out to pet the horse that Ceverus was petting, instead she stood just beside him and watched.

"Animals, like yourself, have a way of knowing about the deceased. They see things better than the average. They sense things before the average might. They probably know this about you and for that they are drawn to you more than say another."

[Ceverus]

Moving his hand from the horse's nose to its neck he turns his head to Ariana, "This could be the reason...I've never thought of it that way." he says as he flicks his cigarette away, once again a shadow catches it and expelled it from the dream. "Strange...though comforting that something won't scramble away in terror when they realize who I am and what I can do...well, the humans at least... Then again there are some within the coven who are human and don't fear me regardless if they've seen me feed or fight." he adds with a light shrug.

[Ariana]

"That is because within the Coven there are creatures of all different walks of life which means the humans that live there need to be just as accepting as the rest of us."

Ariana looked at the horse and then back out over the field. It was so peaceful here that she did not want to return to reality. Here she could do almost anything she wanted. Pain would not last. Only Mandre was not permitted here and she did not wish to relive memories over and over again if she could stop it.