Team Nightwatch

Nightmares

     I was walking through crumbling ruins, evidence of walls and stubs of what must have been towers.  The flagstone path was cracked and holes peppered its surface.  I've never seen a more devastated area but something about this place felt like...home.  Something inside me told me that I knew this place but I can't think of where it could be....  Perhaps venturing further into the ruins will help.
     A fountain stood in the center of a great courtyard, it's bowl cracked and no water in it.  Must've been beautiful when it was working.  This place should be a beautiful place to relax and study, but there was no grass and the wind was sharp and harsh.  Still I feel like I know this place.  I made my way to the ruins of the largest tower to see if that held anything.  Turns out I'm not alone here.
     A man was standing with his back to me, a bastard sword with a rifle barrel down the middle in his right hand and a human skull beneath his right foot.  As I approached he crushed the bone beneath his foot and turned around to face me.
   
     "Andrew, wake up."  I was thrashing around and a yell that I never knew I could make escaped my lips.  I felt an hand on my arm but continued to struggle.  "Andrew, it's just a nightmare!"  My eyes flashed open and I looked around.
     I was in the dorm, cacooned in my sheets, breathing heavily and drenched in sweat.  Leah was the person who had a hand on my arm and both Destiny and Isabel were looking at me from their bunks. 
     "What happened?"  I breathed, surprised to hear myself whispering.
     "You were having a nightmare," Isabel said.  "You were also thrashing and moaning and...things."  I stared up at the ceiling.  The way she said things didn't improve my already frayed nerves.  What did I do?  "You kept muttering a word...."
     "What was it?"  I demanded. 
     "Shade," Leah interjected.  "That's it, but you said it like a name...."  Shade?  Why does that sound familiar.  "So what was going on?  In your nightmare I mean...."  I closed my eyes and tried to remember what had happened.
     "I was in some ruins," I told them.  "I've never seen a place more devastated.  Anyway, there was a man in the ruins of the largest tower.  He had a sword in one hand and a skull, human skull, under his foot.  He smashed it and turned around and he looked...."  The words jammed in my throat.
     "What?"  Destiny asked.
     "He looked like," I paused again, "like...me."  I immediately realized how ridiculous that sounded.  The girls' faces reflected my thoughts.  "Listen, I know that sounds really strange...."
     "That's an understatement," Isabel interrupted.  Destiny punched her on the arm to shut her up.  "Sorry."
     "Anyway," I continued, "I don't think he was me but...," I took a deep breath, "what if he is...."
     "Is what?"  Leah asked.  I dropped my gaze so that they wouldn't see the tears.  It only came to me where I'd been in the dream...Beacon.
     "You can't seriously think that he was you?"  Isabel asked.  I didn't respond.  "Andrew, there is no way that you could become that dangerous...."  I looked at her and a angrily sarcastic face.
     "Yeah," I snapped at her.  "'Cause I'm not already dangerous...."  Leah opened her mouth to talk but I was on a roll.  "Yeah, my semblance isn't that dangerous is it!?  I control the elements as well as space, time, light and darkness!"  My breathing was heavy and I could feel the anger in my eyes.  "I'm a liability...!" 
    I took a deep breath to start talking some more but I never got to say it.  The weirdest thing that's ever happened, and that's really saying something happened.  Leah pulled me off my bunk and within about five seconds her, Destiny, and Isabel had me enveloped in a group hug.  We stood there for a few moments, not talking until I decided to speak up.  "I'm sorry guys.  I shouldn't have shouted at you like that."
     "It's okay," Leah said, squeezing me a little.  "You've just been under a lot of stress."  She was right...as usual.  Being team leader isn't an easy job but I wouldn't give it up for the world. 
     "I don't think that I tell you this enough," I said, freeing my long arms to put them around them, "but you all are the best teammates ever...." 
     "We know," Isabel gasped.  "Could you please stop squishing us though...?"  I smirked as we broke apart.  Isabel was gasping for breath and Destiny was stretching.  This is what a real team looks like...but I'm not dropping that nightmare.  It seemed more like a vision...or a memory.