A/N Yo Atral and Tanner, what kind of quirk would you guys pick if you could, or any other power ig.
For a while after the cow race things were peaceful, we built slowly on the house and barn, as well as mending the fences from where the rats had destroyed everything. I had made little progress with anything new with my quirk but my sword moves were starting to flow more naturally.
As time passed though I could feel a subtle tension, it was everywhere. In the air, the forest, the people, it was pervasive and felt wrong. I could feel something had been following and watching me for about a week now. It would always stay out of sight no matter what, and even at night I could feel its gaze. I was starting to feel like I was going crazy but I held on as I fell asleep.
I awoke with a start. The sun was bright and peaceful, the sky was blue and bird calls could be heard in the forest. I looked around and saw that I was in a clearing. Looking down at myself I saw that I was in my Nightwing form, something that I hadn't been in for almost two decades.
Before I could begin to try and piece this bizarre dream together, I heard the sound of an instrument playing; it sounded like a flute. I slowly walked over to where the noise was coming from and I came across a small cave with Thorn inside. She looked barely old enough to run around and a large green dragon was in the cave with her.
I stayed a bit aways near the shadow of the forest but I didn't enter it, it felt wrong. I watched as Thorn played her little flute for a bit before she got permission from the green dragon to go outside the cave. She went and sat in the grass and started to play again.
As she played a voice called out to her "Thorn?" I rasped and I felt chills. Whoeve- NO whatever that was. It was NOT supposed to be here! I bounded over to Thorn just as the figure reached out to her before she disappeared, probably having woken up, but I didn't see the look on her face as she saw me because I was too busy with the figure in front of me that was wearing Fone Bone's face.
"What creature are you?!" I hissed at it as it slowly rested its hands. "What are you doing in this dream?" I demanded as Fone Bones' face glared at me with unnatural green eyes. "What kind of dragon are you?" It rasped, its voice like sandpaper "There is no record of your creation." it said as it looked me up and down "How peculiar, the Lord will take interest in you." it crooned as it slowly backed up into the forest but I didn't let it. FWOOM!!
"You will state your purpose or be burned, creature!" I snarled as I set fire to the forest. The forest screamed in agony as the creature fell to the ground and writhed in pain despite the flames not touching it. "WHAT KIND OF DRAGON ARE YOU?!" It screeched as it lunged at me but I smashed it to the ground with a talon. "One that protects." I hissed as it writhed beneath my talon, clawing ineffectively at my scales. "YOU ARE NOT FROM THIS WORLD!!" It screamed as it broke its claws on my scales trying to escape "WHY ARE YOU INTEREFFING?!" It demanded as I snorted "Because the price was paid, and this world has been marked." I said before crushing its head as the body slowly stopped moving, only twitching occasionally. As the fire blazed through the remains of the dark forest, I felt a tug in the back of my mind and knew that I must be waking up, I let loose another jet of flames to good measure before I returned to the waking world.
Snapping awake next to the fire I leapt to my feet only to find Thorn already awake and staring at Fone Bone, who appeared to be having a dream of his own. I listened to him mumble for a bit before I turned to Thorn. "What was that?" I asked but she didn't answer immediately.
Finally after listening to Fone mutter something about 'Ishmael' she turned to face me "Are you a dragon?" she asked. 'So she saw that form' I thought, I didn't answer her and she eventually went back to sleep as did I after a few hours.
The next day I put myself to work trying to ignore the gaze that was still burning a hole in my head. It felt angry today, like I had hurt it or something. Rose had Thorn hauling water today as Lucius had dug a well a few years back and they were taking full advantage of it. Fone Bone eventually woke up and I dragged him with me to do things.
Thorn came to check on us at some point and Fone was a blushing mess as usual since Thorn told him she had a dream with his face in it, though he didn't notice Thorn leave nor hear the heavy breathing of the dragon as he lay where she was a few seconds ago. As he offered the dragon the flowers he was going to give to Thorn I chuckled as the dragon teased the Bone over his failed love life.
Fone Bone did ask about his dream though. "Hey wait a minute dragon! You gotta hear about this dream I had last night, you were in it!" He exclaimed and the dragon paused "I saw this giant image of your head! You didn't say anything. You just stared at me silently!" he said as I felt like smacking him over the head for how loud he was being "You don't think it's weird you were in my dream last night?!" he demanded.
No, not at all." the dragon says as he gets up and stretches before walking away, he turns and looks at us, looks me dead in my eyes. "Thorn had intruders in her dream last night. So did you." he said before walking away. "Welcome aboard Ishmael."
Getting past that mess the rest of the day was decent. Smiley and Phoney teased Fone Bone for his love letters to Thorn, and Rose made me kill the chicken we ate for lunch after Fone Bone and Phoney passed out at the thought of killing. "City boys." she grumbled as Smiley brought the water to a boil. Lunch was good though I felt an extreme sense of schadenfreude watching Smiley and Phoney pull the plow through a patch of dirt that Lucius was going to turn into a garden.
The next day was quieter as Lucius had taken Smiley and Phoney to town to get some more supplies leaving me and the others to take a slower pace as clouds started to roll in. Not liking the weather I had been patrolling when I stopped to take a break with Fone and Thorn where they were working in a flower bed when Fone found something.
"Hey Thorn, what's with these little rocks? They have carvings all over them." he asked as she explained how Rose had brought the stones from the south, and how they were supposed to ward off ghost circles. "What is a ghost circle?" I asked seeing as Rose had never talked about such things in front of me. "Have you ever walked in the woods at night and felt a chill go up your spine?" she asked and I nodded, though it had been happening a bit more frequently since the night the rat creatures had destroyed the farm. "That's a ghost circle!" She exclaimed as she went on "They're supposed to be openings to the spirit world." she said and I wondered what else this world was hiding beneath the surface.
Thorn explained a bit more to Fone Bone before rain started to fall. "Into the barn, now." I told them as it started pouring down. "Man is it raining out there!" Fone Bone exclaimed as I secured the barn door and closed windows that I couldn't see or weren't easily accessible. Thorn lit a candle as I went up into the loft and stared out through the front into the storm, waiting to see if the presence outside would finally make its move. "Carter, can you come down?" Thorn called and I glared at the rain for a little longer before joining them on the lower lever where Thorn and Fone Bone were sitting next to a candle, "It's time to talk about dreams."