Another Sleepless Night

[The Cedar Witch]

It was dusk, the sun barely making its lazy way onto the other side of the earth. Sunsets on nights like this were never spectacular to Storm; all it meant was that night was approaching, and with night, various other unpleasentries that accompanied it. Sunrises seemed far more glorious to her, ushering on a new day, lacking dreams and certainly lacking nightmares as well.

The Akari girl sighed deeply, taking in ever detail of the vibrant reds and oranges. Her eyes held a sad gray color, tinged with the slightest bit of brown, for her mind was on anything but rest. She hadn\'t slept for a few days now; a great accomplishment if you were to ask her. This had caused her quite a problem however, leaving her in a weak unprotected state. She was confident that she could survive out here in the wilderness. After all, what had she seen for the past few days save a small group of deer, rabbits here and there and the occasional flock of geese?

I can\'t sleep...not tonight... She thought quietly, as though encouraging herself to stay awake. She sat with her back against an old, gnarled oak; hoping the texture of the bark would keep her eyes open until sunrise. The wind came in a strong, angry burst, causing her jet black hair to fly, untamed, into the air. Storm pulled her cloak tighter around her body as the wind died down for the time being, hood hiding her face.

The sun was gone, along with any hope and comfort that she could withstand another sleepless night. She knew deep down that it was impossible for her to stay awake for more than a week, especially surviving on what little food she had managed to find out here. In the back of her mind she wondered if she could find a town nearby, venture out from the seclusion of the forest and maybe find something to eat. Her eyes deepened in the grey shade, traces of brown being overcome by the sorrowful color.

What was she running from in the first place?

[Fell]

Night night night! the cheerful nightmare chanted to himself, his hooves falling in time with each repetition. Journey had decided that he needed to get close to Mother Earth again, and because that was kind of hard to do in the city he\'d come out here. It wasn\'t too long before he\'d just reverted to his truer horse form. After all, horses got along better with other animals than people did. He\'d even had a small songbird sit on his horn yesterday! That had been very exciting.

Wheee! Journey thought when the gust of wind came by, rearing up into it. The sound manifested itself vocally in a delighted whinny that sounded decidedly equine and decidedly ethereal - which was accurate. Journey laughed, a very strange, silvery noise to be coming from a horse, then came back down from his rear and gave a playful buck.

It was then that he noticed someone nearby. Journey\'s ears pricked and he trotted over, smiling internally. He had very warm, expressive, intelligent eyes for a horse - though one might be far more tempted to call him a unicorn, given his horn. Journey stopped not far from the girl, then stuck his nose out to sniff at her. All the while, despite the lack of a breeze, his mane tossed and flowed as though there was one. All in all... he looked like a dream.

[The Cedar Witch]

Storm leapt up awkwardly, jumping back from the new presence. Her eyes flashed randomly, shock and fear plainly written on her face. She scolded herself inwardly for not being able to sense the aura of the creature approaching, and again for being so startled.

A unicorn? She wondered, eyes settling on a curious brown color, bits of red flowing in to show her uneasiness. She inhaled deeply, trying to relax herself. She resisted the childish urge to reach out and pet the unicorn on the head.

No...I must be tired. Very, very tired. She shook her head, as though trying to rid her mind of the strange and random hallucination. Storm turned from the creature, cradling her forehead in the palm of her hand. Maybe walking around would clear her head.

[Fell]

Journey moved his head back slowly nickering sadly. She\'d turned away from him.... did she hate him? The thought made Journey sad, which caused his ears and tail to droop. Still, he couldn\'t give up hope! Not yet! Journey thought a moment, trying to think of a good way to make friends. A sudden idea brought his ears and tail up again, and the next moment found the nightmare trotting to stand in front of her again. This time, though, he knelt. I can give you a ride! I know it! Journey thought happily, tossing his head playfully. He sure hoped she listened.

[The Cedar Witch]

Storm stared, perplexed, at the creature.
"You must be real then...considering I know I\'m not sleeping and I rarely hallucinate..." she spoke aloud, softly, tenderly and maybe even hesitantly. Her eyes were an uneasy red as the studied the unicorn.

What do you want? she thought absently. She never had any sort of creature approach her with such boldness, let alone something that was as rumored to be a prideful, vain, untamable unicorn. Her fingers ached to stroke its majestic mane, but she withheld herself. In the back of her mind she wondered if it could talk, she smirked.

[Fell]

Journey lifted his head, then literally *hopped* in place. Oooh! I don\'t think she knows horse! Journey thought, badly wanting to play with this woman. Only she didn\'t seem to like his horse form very much. Okay then! the little nightmare thought, changing back into his human form.

There was more to it than that, though. Journey didn\'t just *poof* from horse to man. The ground under him seemed to send a glow upwards, and it seemed as though reality bent around him. For a moment, every dream that anyone had ever had was in the air, with them right there. Then his horse form shattered into specks of iridescence, coming back together in what most people knew of as "Journey".

Granted, a very naked Journey. A naked, but widely smiling Journey. "Hi! I\'m Journey!" the rainbow-haired youth said, giving the girl before him a cheerful wave. He looked completely joyous, not that there seemed to be a reason for it. A soft wind blew, causing the boy to wrap his arms around himself. "Wow! It sure is cold out here, huh?" Journey went on, still smiling widely. I hope we make friends! the nightmare thought happily...

[The Cedar Witch]

Storm jumped at the sudden transformation, eyes flashing randomly once again to mirror her fear and confusion. Her mind was screaming caution, but the strange behavior of the boy standing before caused her to relax. He was childish; his personality seemed at least five years behind his age. The fact that he was completely unclothed did not hit her until he began to speak.

“Journey…?” She breathed, flushing crimson, eyes to match her embarrassment.

“Um…you want my cloak…?” she hesitantly began to take off her pitch black cloak, as though exhuming extreme caution with it, as though it meant the world to her. She held it out gingerly, hoping the strange boy would take it and cover himself.

Her mind was whirling. What was this rainbow-haired guy? One minute ago he was a playful unicorn and the next… she couldn’t believe that she was actually awake, but of course her dreams were never anything this…cheery.

And cheery he was indeed, Storm could feel it. His emotions leaked onto her like an overflowing cup. She couldn\'t help but smirk, eyes giving way to a little happy blue.

[Fell]

Journey looked at the cloak, his eyes bright and happy, then grinned widely. The subtlety of her actions and the gingerness with which she held the garment was lost on him. "Thanks!" Journey exclaimed, taking the cloak gratefully. He smiled at it, too, then greeted it with a cheery "Hello, cloak!" before putting it around his shoulders.

The rainbow-haired boy examined the cloak gleefully. "Look! Now I\'m like Captain Planet!" Journey concluded, striking a heroic pose before bursting into giggles. Wide, innocent eyes met Storm\'s own colour-changing ones. "Let\'s be friends!" the nightmare said, offering a hug.

Nothing in his demeanor seemed faked, or suspicious. One had to wonder whether this guy had any sort of emotional subtlety, or whether he was even capable of manipulation. The boy just seemed so... trusting, and open. Like a small child. Like the world had yet to leave its mark on him. In a way, it was refreshng to meet such a creature - it was like there was still joy alive and, apparently, thriving.

[The Cedar Witch]

"...Friends?"  Storm echoed, confused almost, brown eyes reflecting this. She stared at his outstretched arms, not prepared to hug anyone that naked. Not that she was prepared to hug anyone at all at his point. She was very taken aback at the innocence of this boy, if not drawn to him. It was such a stark contrast with what she was accustomed too; hatred, darkness. She shuddered involuntarily.

I don\'t even know what he is... she thought to herself, unsure of how to behave. Why would anyone want to be friends with her? Let alone, someone she had barely just met. She was worthless.

"What exactly are you? I\'ve never seen someone...well...I\'ve never even seen a unicorn before..." she trailed off, hating the sound of her own voice out loud. It was a stupid question, she was talking to an illusion for all she knew. Gods, she had been tired before but this was ridiculous.

[Fell]

"Friends!" Journey exclaimed in return, waving his arms a little bit. He really liked how her eyes kept changing colour; it was really cool! Journey wondered if he\'d ever get his own eyes to change colour like that... I should start working on it, Journey thought happily.

Journey didn\'t care what she looked like, or how she acted. In the nightmare\'s mind, they were already friends. "What am I? Hmm..." Journey said, putting a hand on his cheek as he thought. This is a hard question! he thought, putting on his "determined" face. I wonder if it\'s a *trick* question! Journey paused a moment after that, looking up thoughtfully. I wonder what a trick question is! Journey thought, by now having lost sight of the original question.

One of the feathers tied into his hair reminded him. Journey\'s face lit up. "Oh! I\'m a flower child!" the rainbow-haired boy exclaimed, the hand that had been on his cheek shoooting up into the air triumphantly. Journey smiled at Storm happily. "That\'s what! And I\'m not a unicorn. I think... Anyway! What are you?" the happy boy continued, unperturbed by the fact that he really wasn\'t quite sure what he was.

[The Cedar Witch]

Storm averted her gaze, eyes becoming a deeper shade of grey.

What am I... she wondered silently to herself, turning away from the boy.
A demon? An akari? She didn\'t know. Her spirit form was...not like others. She hated it, it controled her. She didn\'t want to think about it. She turned back to the boy, glancing over him briefly.

"I am just a girl." she replied simply, smiling sadly. How could she answer such a question when she didn\'t even know the answer herself?

She could feel herself growing weaker as the night drew on.

[Fell]

Journey ducked down a little bit, smiling up at her. "Just a girl? Really? Promise?" he asked before collapsing into a fit of giggles. He pulled himself together fairly quickly, still grinning. "You look sad, though. What makes you sad?" Journey asked. Despite his bubbly nature, he sounded as though he genuinely cared and cared a lot. Truth be told, he *did* care a lot.

It wasn\'t that it was his job or anything so much as the fact that he liked this girl. Journey really did want to be her friend, and learn how she changed her eye colour like that. "I like your eyes! They\'re pretty," he told her, not very bothered by the fact that it was completely off the topic of what they\'d been talking about. "Can you teach me to do that with them?" the silvery-haired youth continued, his acid-trip eyes curious and friendly.

[The Cedar Witch]

She glared at him, suddenly angered for no direct reason. Truth be told, she had no reason to be mad at all, after all, Journey was only trying to be friendly. Something inside of her shrunk back whenever he smiled, something that wanted to hate, something that wanted to run. Happiness confused her, his innocence only fueled her annoyance. She bit her tongue, unsure of how to react to this boy.

Why am I sad..? She boiled inside, how dare he ask such a personal question?

The comment about her eyes made her flinch. If anything this was a curse. Something else for people to single her out for, something else to be hated for. Her eyes settled on an infuriating black. She should have meditated this morning.

"It\'s something...you have to be.....born with." she said through grit teeth. "You can\'t learn how..."

[Fell]

Journey could tell as soon as she got angry. He always could... Negative energies flew through the air just as easily as happy ones did, only the negative ones burned. The silver haired boy flinched back at her glare, looking almost as though she\'d kicked him. She only got more upset, though Journey couldn\'t figure out why. He was only trying to be friendly...

Journey perked up a little when she spoke, but... Even though her words weren\'t mean, they had a lot of anger behind them. It hurt Jouney deeply to hear. The silver-haired boy looked down, his eyes filling with tears. His entire posture was a mixture of confusion, hurt, and hope, and he almost seemed to shrink down. "I\'m sorry..." Journey said softly, scuffing the ground a little with his foot.

It wasn\'t a response to her answer, but just a general apology, even though he had no idea what he\'d done wrong. Journey was sad to hear that he couldn\'t learn how to make his eyes beautiful too, but it was worse to know that she was mad. And at him. Well, anything really, but especially at him, because that meant that something he\'d done had made her mad! And that wasn\'t spreading the peace and love at all...

[The Cedar Witch]

Storm had to sleep. Every inch of her body screamed with the desire to close her eyes. Her stubborn refusal to give way to her body\'s demands slowly began to unravel. Her eyes flickered from an angry black to an empty green. She shook her head, as though shaking out the desire to sleep.

Storm looked blankly at Journey, unsure of what to say to him or even if she should apologize for her lack of control.
She knew he hadn\'t done anything wrong but her inability to understand his motives for trying to befriend her was frustrating.
 
She couldn\'t remember the last time someone dared to approach her in such a manner. She was, after all, defective, for lack of a better term. A freak. Her parents had always told her...

She could feel her eyes drooping and did nothing to stop them as she lowered herself gently to the forest floor.