Rodentia Adventures

CHAPTER 9: BATTLE ROYALE

Jerin did not spend the night carefully soul searching, and certainly didn't spend it strategizing or in prayer. Even if she were the sort to do those things, the long day had taken a heavy toll on her, even more so than it had on the others. As a result, she simply slept. She slept and she dreamt. 

In this dream, she was back at the shrine where she had first discovered the holy sword, but it had become a much different place than she had remembered. Everything was dark, and the mouse could see nothing but the shining floor, along with her reflection within it, beneath her. The reflection was still joined to the mouses feet, as reflections are known to do, and she looked towards them to see it, but her own feet, her own entire body, for that matter, showed the mildly distorted pattern of the floor texture. At once she had realized that she was, in fact, the reflection, looking out at the real Jerin. 

While joined at the feet, the two didn't quite mirror one another's movements, with her looking to the real mouse, but the real mouse scanning ahead of herself, seeking a path through the darkness. That was when the eyes began to appear within the blackness. And the teeth. And the claws. Creatures of all manner of shape and size formed from behind the non-reflection, little more than shadows themselves within the darkness. All the while, the swords-woman, seemingly oblivious to their presence, continued to look ahead. Jerin shouted to warn her, but she was just a reflection, and reflections can't talk, can they? She crouched down and slammed her fists into the glass-like wall between worlds, but of course she could make no sound, much less hope to break through. All the while the looming, terrible figures within the dark drew ever closer. It was at this time the other her, the real her, looked down to the terrified reflection at her feet with a knowing smile. With a single sweep of it's paw, a streak of light tore through the darkness, removing the eyes, teeth and who knows what else along with it, the holy sword simply appearing within her hand. The reflected Jerin looked on in awe, before looking down (or up, as it were) at its own paws, seeing the long, shining blade lying across them. 

The two smiled to one another, the reflected Jerin immediately feeling foolish. No matter how dark things may have seemed, there was nothing to be afraid of. 

Like so many dreams, this one was forgotten soon after she had awakened, the details slipping away within seconds, and within minutes, she hadn't remembered dreaming at all, let alone what it had been about. Even when each and every individual component of it fell from her memories, however, she still carried something of it within her. It seemed so silly to be bothered by the boundless nature, those stupid birds or the words of a dark lord who, despite it's massive size and strength, was too cowardly to truly live. There were far more important things to focus on. There was a battle to be fought, and an enemy to slay. 

<3~ <3~ <3~ <3~ 

Mathias, always an early riser, quietly stepped out from the shared room. By the time they had returned to the walled city, it was already getting dark, their spirits, as a whole, in a similar state. It had been a long day, and they needed rest. They all, of course, had homes within the city, but opted for a stay at the inn for multiple reasons. It was helpful for an adventuring party to remain together, for one. Beyond that, the two siblings thought that it would be awkward to just come back home within one day of their grand farewell, and Mathias simply didn't want to have to deal with his room-mates. As for Rowan, going back down and up all of those stairs was an significant ordeal in itself. Plus, sleeping at the inn was just the sort of thing that adventurers did. It wasn't as though the city tended to get many tourists, yet the inn itself thrived, primarily due to the business of adventurers who sought to feel as though they were some epic journey, even when their own homes were mere minutes away.