Just A Dream

"Just A Dream" is a BOTGD 2 thread written on [IRL DATE].
== Summary ==
Verdandi wakes from a bad nightmare and Liam discovers that the Warden has disappeared overnight. The two decide to head to Haligan to find out what's going on.
== Full Text ==
Verdandi Østergård: Verdandi shifts uneasily in her sleep. Behind her eyelids flash scenes of bloody battle. Somehow, it feels more memory than dream. A woman she instinctively knows as sister dies by the sword, her sightless eyes staring up at a red-tinged sky.
In the real world, she turns over, a whimper escaping her throat.
Liam Arnason: On the other side of the room, Liam was sprawled across a poorly-made cot, his face propped up on his forearm. He twitched in his sleep, and made a sudden movement, bumping his head against the wall that served as his headboard. “Aah!” He was jerked awake, and his legs tangled in the blankets as he nearly fell out of bed, scrambling to see what had provoked such a sudden attack against him. Blinking drowsily, he rubbed his head, ruffling his hair, and squinted across the room in the dark. His mind reached out blearily for the Warden, but he couldn’t sense her. There didn’t seem to be anyone in the room, either. Maybe he dreamt of the blow against him?
“Verdandi?” he yawned.
Verdandi: With a sharp gasp, Verdandi’s eyes fly open. She stares about wildly until her gaze settles on Liam. “L-Liam?” she whispers. Her mind is still halfway in the dream, images of death and bloodshed playing out against the backdrop of the room.
Liam: “Did…did you hit me??” He rubbed his face, exhausted but too full of adrenaline from his temporary scare to go back to sleep.
Verdandi: “No?” she says uncertainly. “I don’t… think I did, anyway,” she mumbles. Verdandi wraps her arms around herself and sighs. “Are you okay?” she asks, squinting at him in the darkness of the room.
Liam: “Bluhh…sure.” He swung his legs out of bed and squinted at the gap under their door. It was beginning to slowly light up with the cool, dark blue of sunrise. He yawned again and put his face in his hands. “You?”
Verdandi: “Yeah,” she says weakly. “I’m okay.” 
Truthfully, she’s still shaken from her dream, unable to piece together what it really means. Verdandi can’t shake the feeling that it has something to do with the unexpected powers she displayed back in the wilderness. She still can’t make sense of what happened out there, or how she was able to heal Liam.
Liam: Liam fumbled to his feet and knelt down to dig through his pack, pulling out two linen-wrapped portions of rations and tossing one on the bed next to Verdandi. “You don’t look it.” He started to devour his own pack, continuing to try and reach out for Nala, but finding nothing.
Verdandi: Verdandi huffs a laugh. “No, I guess not,” she admits, untangling herself from the blankets. She nibbles at her own pack of rations, not feeling up to eating, despite the ravenous hunger gnawing at her insides.
Liam: “Eat up, then.” Liam stood and walked to the door, cracking it open and leaning back into the room before leaving. “I’m going to look for that stupid demon real quick and then we can figure out what to do.” There was a dragging sense of unease in his gut but he played it off as annoyance. Where are you, Nala?
Verdandi: The more she picks at the food, the more her appetite rears its head, so Verdandi tears into her rations. After she finishes eating, she hauls herself off of the cot. Pushing herself into a standing position, Verdandi gasps at the pain that radiates through her body–a clear sign of over-exerting herself.
Liam: “Nala!”
He’d resorted to full-on shouting. How far could she have possibly gone overnight? He traversed the streets of Easthold, prodding around immaturely with his limited awareness of consciousness, but he couldn’t find anything. She wasn’t hiding among the townsfolk. He was starting to think she just…wasn’t in the area. The sun had already risen an amount over the treetops before he finally gave up, making his way back to the safe house, growling to himself. But inwardly, he was starting to get scared. What if the freaky hobo came back to attack them? Wasn’t she supposed to be watching him? Did he do something to her?
Verdandi: Verdandi looks up at Liam’s entrance to the safe house. Taking in the frustrated look on his face, she asks, “No sign of her?”
Her thoughts run down a similar line to Liam’s–what are they going to do if Rhenco reappears, and the demon isn’t there to help? He could’ve killed Liam the last time, and… she doesn’t want to know what would’ve happened next.
Liam: “I don’t know!” Liam plunged his paws into his scruffy hair. “She’s just…she’s not here. She would tell me if she left.” Panic rose in his throat and he tried to take a deep breath to let himself think. “We need to…we should leave here, before that nutcase finds us again.”
Verdandi: “I agree, but… where should we go?” Verdandi asks. She reaches out and sets a reassuring hand on his shoulder, offering him her silent support.
Liam: He shook his head, walking past her to retrieve his satchel. “I don’t know. W-west. We need to go west. We need to…I need to talk to my cousin.” He paused, looking confused. “He’s not actually my cousin, he’s–uh–it doesn’t matter. We just gotta go.”
Verdandi: Verdandi frowns, her eyebrows drawing together. “Uh, who is he, then?” she says, checking the contents of her bag to make sure everything is still accounted for. “And why do you need to talk to him?” she continues.
After the misadventure she had with Rhenco, Verdandi doesn’t want to walk into another situation under-prepared.
Liam: “He’s my…” He thought for a second as they left the house. “Mom’s friend’s son? I just need to let someone know what’s going on here. Maybe they can help us better than anyone around here.”
Verdandi: “Okay,” she says. “How far is he from here?”
Liam: “Two weeks. But I don’t want to wait that long. Something’s wrong and we need to move faster.” He rubbed his face, searching the crowd as though looking for answers.
“We need a dragon.”
Verdandi: “A dragon,” Verdandi repeats. She’s never seen a dragon face-to-face in her life. “Where are we going to find a dragon?”
Liam: He puffed out his cheeks and put his hands on his hips as he walked, looking unsure of himself.
“I don’t want to jump the gun…I’m sure there’s someone we could find along the way that’s willing to take us…but, uh, we might need to train one.” If the Warden had been there, she could have easily done it for them, or better yet, helped them travel with her tireless vessel. But she was gone, and Liam was starting to take things into his own paws. 
Glancing at Verdandi, he said, “You wouldn’t happen to know how to do that, would you?”
Verdandi: Verdandi slows to a halt, rocking back and forth on her heels. “Um… no.” She pushes a smile onto her face. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out!” she says, putting every ounce of optimism she has into the pronouncement.
How hard can it be?
Liam: Liam gave a small, slightly-hysterical laugh. “Yeah! Yeah, no problem!” He desperately wished one of his aunts or uncles was nearby, but once again, he couldn’t think of anyone in the area that would be able to help. “I guess we should head out and start looking, then!”
Category:Events
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Liam Arnason
Category:Verdandi Østergård
Category:Act I