Dreamlands (Open)

[shadowoftheheart]

I followed her up to the room, pleased. She balanced the meal, the tankards of ale, opened the door ... as though it were something she had been doing her entire life.

In the room, I sat on the edge of the bed. I was further confused at the look of Wonder in her eyes, as she looked around the simple Room as though seeing it for the first time.

"Mistress, your meal and drink."

"Good girl. Now, kneel. You may eat and drink from your own platter and tankard."

I knew there was something else going on. What was on the surface was far from all that was happening here. Layers upon layers, dreams within dreams.

As I watched my new slave, I remembered My own private chambers. Yes, they were mine, and yet I had never seen them with these eyes. Gold, jewel encrusted statues, luxurient fabrics, incense, the vast and accumulated wealth of lost Kthope.

I saw again with a pang of familiarity the brick-paved streets, the vast towering buildings of marble and spires of bronze and iron. Like this City, yet so much vaster. Kthope was on a Scale not seen in Aeons, matched only lately by the great Cities of the Waking World, and even so making such cities pale. Kthope was a Paradise, a place of Wealth and Peace.

I was jolted back into the moment. What was I remembering? What did Kate have to do with this ... it couldn't be Memory. It must have been Dream, or Fantasy. But, was there a difference between the three in this Realm? Too many questions, and I feared no answers.

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Kate ate her meal as she was instructed, she wondered why she was sitting here kneeling and eating from the floor. She knew it wasn't normal for her, and she almost felt a pull to resist, but it quickly went away.

The food was fare a bit bland, compared to what she was used to eating, but it was workable. She took a drink and spit the vile tasting liquid out. Its taste that of the vile potion the nun forced down her throat whenever she tried to speak.

She stood up and glared at her Mistress, "You tried to poison me also. I have done nothing to you, I did as you ask, why did you do this to me."

Her eyes spoke fury and the room began to shift again, but Kate fought to control the room. The gold of the room, empowered her, and she felt her worth here, the small spark of royalty was trying to grow within.

"I served you your meal and now you poison me as the nun does, to quite me so they do not know she is evil!" Kate's fist curled in anger, her nails digging into her skin.

 

[Asa]

Kira

*She smirked watching them move to tosss a slave to her to "Buy her off" and get her to leave in a tone that held only faint growl of what she was she spoke for the first time in the human tounges since being in this place*

You are free.

*The young boy darted off down the street at her words not waiting around to see if the creature changed its mind or if the slavers would not like her words to him*

*Turning her eyes back to the slavers domain she smirked with a growled chuckle and turned to go. Walking towards the tavern she stepped inside. One of the Barhands nodded to her as if old friends and hurried back into the kitchen bringing out a strange shapen yet very clearly raw slab of some creature and a tankard of drink smiling to her*

~Here Old friend Just as you always get. Be at calm for a moment and revel in the air of this place and let it cast off your rage Noble one~

*Nodding she took the offered food and turned moving close to the fireplace seating herself at a table there. Her eyes lock with the flames of the fire as she eats though wolven ears still twitch with ever sound always on guard of what is around her*

 

[shadowoftheheart]

Kate ate her meal as she was instructed, she wondered why she was sitting here kneeling and eating from the floor. She knew it wasn't normal for her, and she almost felt a pull to resist, but it quickly went away.

The food was fare a bit bland, compared to what she was used to eating, but it was workable. She took a drink and spit the vile tasting liquid out. Its taste that of the vile potion the nun forced down her throat whenever she tried to speak.

She stood up and glared at her Mistress, "You tried to poison me also. I have done nothing to you, I did as you ask, why did you do this to me."

Her eyes spoke fury and the room began to shift again, but Kate fought to control the room. The gold of the room, empowered her, and she felt her worth here, the small spark of royalty was trying to grow within.

"I served you your meal and now you poison me as the nun does, to quite me so they do not know she is evil!" Kate's fist curled in anger, her nails digging into her skin.

Briefly, I am surprised by her outburst. I look at her, as she stands, glaring. I can sense the anger and fury ... not just with my normal senses, but actually sense the negative emotions flowing out from her.

I rise slowly, with every ounce of nobility I can summon from ... somewhere.

"Poison? No, there is no poison, only ale. Vile ale, but only ale. Now, kneel, and mind your tone. Do not forget what you are here. I do not want to have to break you, as your Master did in ... I presume the Waking World. I want something different, but as your Queen ... I mean Mistress ... I will not stand for such in this realm.
Kneel, all will be forgotten. I will prove to you there is no poison, by drinking from your tankard. I will find for you a drink more to your liking in fact. But I will demand from you obedience."

I could feel rising in me long-dormant, untapped power. Power that I had not used in Aeons. Power that had never flown into or through this Body. And I feared it, and feared what it implied I ... Am? Was? The question itself was frightening, and pointed to the nature of my Quest.

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Kate heard the words and a calming came over her, as she kneeled down once more. She had no clue as to why this was happening, a battle was waging itself inside her. There was the need to do as the woman, Mistress, bid her; another need was to defy and fight her, with a sense of stubborness that she knew existed in her.

He body slowly bent down, and her knees slid to the floor. She assumed this submissive position, and found it not to her liking, but for now she would partake in this, for she felt the dream would not allow her to end it. She had not mastered the ability to shift a dream, but she was learning. Had she not, held onto the room, when it started to turn into deep shades of black.

"I will serve you, and I wish to be taught obediance," she whispered. Kate couldn't stop the words from flowing, but she knew being a slave was not her true self, she wished she understood more.

She looked up into the eyes of the beautiful woman, "Oh Mistress, teach me your will." Again, words she had no control over echoed in the room. "I am your servant, and though you are my Mistress, you are also my Queen, just like you said."

 

[shadowoftheheart]

I nodded, picked up her tankard of ale, and drank from it.

"Foul, but would I drink from it were it poisoned? Now, I can sense servitude does not come naturally to you. It is not your Waking Self. Yet it will be your Dream Self. You will indeed Learn.
"I warn you now: Disobedience can and will result in punishments. I will not punish you as I do my other slaves ...."

I pause. My other slaves? I shake it off.

"Rather, as I would do had I other slaves. I do not want to break your Will since I can sense you Need it in the Waking World ... how I do not know. Yet, here there can be no room for Disobedience, no room for you to Assert your Will beyond My own. Trust me, obey me, and you will have rewards beyond what you can currently imagine."

Or, I sense, what I can imagine.

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Kate felt her head bow and heard the whispered, "Yes, Mistress." With no thoughts of how odd this all seemed, she bowed deeper and kissed the woman's feet. Her hair fell in curls and cascaded about her, and fell onto the woman's feet. She lifted herself and continued to kneel.

She suddenly wished to become the best slave she had ever been. She had felt the dream consume her, and she suddenly felt at peace in the world, as long as she was with this woman, she knew she would be safe. If another from a dream entered this one, she knew her Mistress would care for her.

"I hunger to please you, rewards are trival, next to pleasing you, Mistress," she kissed her Mistress's feet again, and waiting for her next request.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

"Good girl," I cooed, running my hand through her hair. Kate's curls wrapped round my fingers and when I pulled away I could feel reisistance. I remained gentle, but did not stop even when I could feel a slight tug which may have caused her a moment of discomfort.

"You may continue to eat. Do you wish another drink, Kate?"

I saw no value in forcing her to drink the ale if it was so vile to her. Had she resisted me, and forced my hand, matters might have been different.

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Kate felt the slight sting in her hair, and said nothing, the pain was minimul, and she had no reason to cry out. "I will finish my meal, and the ale," she was determined to overcome all obsticles before her, in order to please the woman.

Her eyes moved to her plate, and she picked it up and began eating it. No longer was it bland nor was it flavorable, it was just there, as was the drink. It held no flavor, it just quenched her thirst. Kate wondered if it were because she was allowing the dream to move her and she was trying not to fight it, but to take it where it lead.

She finished her meal, and looked up to her Mistress, "I am full, what is your wish now?" Her eyes connected with those of the woman, and she felt the urge to lower them, as well as her head. Kate ingnored the pain of the marble on her knees, and submitted to the numbing feeling they were projecting into her muscles.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

I placed my fingertips under her chin, making certain that her gaze remained on mine.

"You are very good. Take the empty platters and tankards back to the bartender. As before, I will watch to assure your safety. When you finish, return to the room and kneel to await further command."

Briefly, I had the impression of the marble hall that I had seen before, but I retained awareness of the tavern.

This one had the property of a very powerful Dreamer. Very few were able to Change dream reality to this extent. To actually change the World around her. So far, she had done so only in small, incidental ways, but they were strong enough that I was also able to experience the Change.

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Kate felt no fear as she picked up the trenchers, her feet stumbled slightly, but recovered just as quickly. She knew her Mistress had seen her, and she blushed profusely, whispering her apologies before she left.

As she walked down the stares, her eyes stung in pain. Thousands of pricks ran through her skin, from having been on the floor. She can not believe how real this place is, but she bites her lip, and continues on. Katherine is further amazed that the pain in her lip is also felt, and she shakes her head in wonder.

She gives the barkeep the used items, and then moves her way back through the crowd, suddenly she is in the forest. Her heart beating in her chest. He's chasing her, and she can feel her screams ripping from her throat, she runs faster. Her sister's voice is crying out for her, suddenly arms circle her waist and she screams in terror.

Turning and spinning into the arms of her captor, she sees the face of her Mistress, and the scene melts away, the marble room her's once more in her mind. She shakes and cries in agony, wanting the torture to end. Kate melts down and kneels at her Mistress feet, her sobs quieter, and her lip trembling in fear, and in relief at having her Mistress with her.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

I smile softly, but hide it from her. She is not yet used to the Dreamlands, the 'reality' of them. The dichotomy of her power, her apparent experience, and her actual rawness here ... It makes me wonder if I have in fact met 'her' before.

I see her give the barkeep our used items. Abruptly, her face changes. She is horrified, and runs through the tavern, weaving in and out of tables and surprised patrons. No one tries to stop her (perhaps remembering the man's reception the other day) and finally I step in, grabbing her around her waist gently, to stop and hopefully to calm.

She screams, looks up into my face ... and shudders, crying loudly. She collapses to a kneel at my feet, quieting but still trembling.

I run my hands through her hair again, sighing quietly.

"Dear one. Your mind is powerful, but tortured. What happened in that forest?"

We are near the stairs leading back to the rooms on the Tavern's second floor, yet I again have the impression of the marble floor and walls of the Chamber.

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Kate looks upon her Mistress, the permission to speak thrills her and she tells her what she saw. "He was chasing me again. I tried to get away, I sent Desi away. I told her to save Marcus, and Stephen and then herself. He wanted both of us, but I told her to go."

She shuddered, and kept her eyes locked with the woman, drawing from her strength, keeping her in this world, and not the one that kept trying to pull her back. "He chased me, and branches tore at my skirt, and thorns tore at my skin. I screamed. He caught me, and hurt me. I am his there, but I think someone calls to me while I am there. My sister's voice and that of Marcus. I hear them, I know they are there, but I can not reach them."

Her brow furrowed, "Mistress, it is like I live three lives now. The real world, the one where the nun keeps me quiet. She is not a nun, Mistress, she is evil." She shuddered violently, "and this world, this dream place. Mistress, why do I not have good dreams, I had them as a child, why can I not dream those, why am I here in this one?"

Kate looked to her Mistress, she trusted her to give her the reasons, to guide her and teach her all she needed. She only wanted free of the mindless terror that consumed her.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

"Come, we should retire to the Room before we discuss such things."

I glanced over the patrons of the Tavern, noticing in particular a wolf-woman. A Dreamer. Doubly dangerous therefore.

I lifted Kate up to her feet, and held her close at my side as I helped her up the stairs.

"I will try to help you answer those questions, but I cannot out-right answer them. The solutions lie within you. Kate, we must learn to control your Dream-powers before we return to My Quest. The Dreamlands are a dangerous place, and there are ... Forces that would covet a talent such as you appear to posses."

I feel in the center of a web. So much flows inward to me, knowledge that I should not know, but do. I am able to Dream small things into the Land, but my Talent seems to be in Knowing. Hers seems to be in Shifting 'reality.' If she can control it, it may be a Talent worth her weight in gold.

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Kate went easily with her Mistress, everything felt so right to her. She seemed to belong here, beside the woman who know owned her. Pressing close beside her, she did not see the wolf-woman, for she only had eyes for her Mistress.

She would let her Mistress guide her, she trusted her, and only felt this need to please her. Katherine decided she would board up her dreams and try to keep them from causing stress in her Mistress' life. Once they returned to the beautiful marble room, she looked up to the woman.

Kneeling at her side, and kissing her feet, she turned her head, and looked up, "What is your will now, my Mistress?" Her need to please evident on her face.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

"Dear one. I have no further Needs currently. However, there is one thing we must work on. Right now, describe the room you are in. When you remember something in the Waking World, do you See and Feel what you Saw and Felt at the time?"

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Kate paled considerably, she wanted to tell her Mistress what she saw, but she was scared if she did, all the things would show themselves, and she would be consumed in them once more.

Closing her eyes she took a deep breath, and did her best to please her Mistress. "I feel everything, just as if I were alive and there, I smell his breath, I taste the vile poision she poured down my throat. The biting whip he laid against my skin, and the rod he used to. . . " Kate whimpered, how could she bring herself to continue.

She bit her lip, and pressed further on, as she did so, the room surrounding them got colder, and she opened her eyes. She and her Mistress were in Horatio's bedchamber. She saw herself chained to the wall, her back pressed tight against the cold stones. Her body bloody and ragged as he struck her with the whip, her breasts stung and she screamed in pain.

Kate looked up at her Mistress she no longer needed to tell her what she saw, the Mistress was watching it. She saw the rod being pushed into her vagina and her anus, she saw the bite marks on her skin, and the constant raping of her body.

Her Mistress saw that Kate was not an ordinary woman, but a pawn to bring a fortress down from revenge. She saw the nun pouring the vile liquid down her throat, blocking her voice, and later her movements.

Katherine's room was marble again, and she looked up to her Mistress. "Why did it end?" She was confused as to how they were now back in the marble room.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

I saw it all, along with her. The horrifying treatment, the abuse, the endless rapes ... It all swirlled, went past faster, turned black, then faded to the marble chamber of "my" audience chamber.

"Why did it end?"

I crouched down before her, caressing her cheek softly.

"I do not know. Only you can answer that question. Within you is the Power to make this change. What we see now is ... a Reality that I feel ... that I know I Lived once, Aeons before. I do not know how I know this, nor do I know how you are Making this change.
"We are still in the Tavern room. See the shoddy wooden walls. See the unmade bed. See the chamber-pot. This is 'reality,' in that anything in the Dreamlands is real."

I looked into her eyes. Confusion, pervading her soul.

"I do not understand either, but it is something you must learn to control."

I lean in, and kiss her forehead, caressing her cheek, arranging her hair out of her eyes and face.

"We will learn together."

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Kate didn't understand, she had no clue what was happening to her. She decided to keep her fears to herself, she had all ready been a nuisance to her Mistress, and she didn't want to continue to be a burden, she would keep her dreams inside her, or try to.

She felt the kiss on her forehead, and the smooth fingers caress her cheeks, and brushes back her hair. Katherine looked up into the kind face of her Mistress, and smiled. "I will try to learn," she would do whatever her Mistress wanted, she would just do it, and there would no longer be any questions about her other life. She didn't want to return to him, she wanted to stay here with her friend, and Mistress.

"What is it we do first, Mistress." She pressed a kiss to her Mistress' hand and waited for her to tell her the next steps of her learning process.

 

[shadowoftheheart]

Kate didn't understand, she had no clue what was happening to her. She decided to keep her fears to herself, she had all ready been a nuisance to her Mistress, and she didn't want to continue to be a burden, she would keep her dreams inside her, or try to.

She felt the kiss on her forehead, and the smooth fingers caress her cheeks, and brushes back her hair. Katherine looked up into the kind face of her Mistress, and smiled. "I will try to learn," she would do whatever her Mistress wanted, she would just do it, and there would no longer be any questions about her other life. She didn't want to return to him, she wanted to stay here with her friend, and Mistress.

"What is it we do first, Mistress." She pressed a kiss to her Mistress' hand and waited for her to tell her the next steps of her learning process.

"Sweet, sweet Kate. What must we do? I have a Quest that I must follow. I did not understand it before I found you. You, somehow, showed its nature to me. Well, I had seen the Cyclopean Ruin of the City, the corpse-bloated battle field before. You, how I do not know, showed me my marble audience chamber, where we first met. I am sorry, it was not you, was it? It was my slave at that time. But, you did show me my bed-chamber, with its exquisiste fabrics, gold, gems, and zebrawood furnature, especially the great four-poster bed with satin sheets where we ... I mean, my slave and I, spent nights entwined in one another's embrace, exploring our bodies. I remember now too the great Bronze tower where we stood, hand-in-hand, surveying my domain. My city, my lands around it, my People."

I blinked, and looked at Kate. Looked into kate through her eyes. She was confused, but eager to learn.

I hoped she could not tell that I was equally confused. I didn't understand how her Dreams worked, how they effected this realm, or if they could be changed by the Things that we would inevitably meet out there. The Dreamlands were very dangerous as I well knew from when I first entered them and nearly was torn apart in the Enchanted Forest.

That was only this morning? Why did I feel as though I Owned the Dreamlands, when I had been here so short a time?

Of course, I had been here before. My Quest was to find my Birthright within the Dreamlands, to Recover what had been Taken from me untold years ago. And somehow Kate was that slave I had loved, so many years before. I didn't understand that either. Maybe, just maybe, I was in fact projecting Her image onto Kate, in a way like how she could impose her Dreams on the realm.

"I can only say Kate, we will learn together. Rest now, dear. Regain your strength. When we are both strong, we will Try something to see if you can Control your power. I have no doubts that you will obey Me in all ways, as well as you can. As a slave, you have nothing else to learn but that."

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Kate did as she was told, and looked around the room. Soon she found a place to sleep, and nestled snuggly into the warm blankets that were on the mat, that was found on the floor.

She watched her Mistress, for any signs that she would need her, and soon she relaxed and felt her body succumb to the weight of the day. She sighed, and felt the smile on her face. Her hands traveled down her body, and she rolled over to the wall, and began to trace her body's shape, as sleep came to her, and a deep wieght settled against her.

As she slept, the last thought she had, was... "Does one dream in a dream?" Soon her mind was working new fantasies of sexual delights, her body moving to them by instinct alone.