Tread softly, for you tread on my...

[princeinexile]

The woods give little solace. This is one last run with the boys, one last run before he goes back -- one last walk with the wolves, breathing in the cold Scotland winter coming up and catching the crisp scent of snowfall on the horizon. The horizon that doesn't really exist-- after all, that is where the Dreaming starts and the bar ends. This is just another Inn Between; bridging lands...

Zuko isn't thinking about it, though-- he isn't thinking about Inns or Fire Lords or Homes or -- anything. Just the crunch of underbrush under his feet and the dogs baying in the woods, spooking everything for miles.

It is hide and seek. His turn to seek, too, nose and ears and eyes all plied to the pups, trying to find them-- better then what he should be seeking...

Better then the door.

Zuko turns this way and that in the wood, and in his rush, does not really notice when one land gives way to the other-- there is something he's never noticed here. Still, this is deeper then he's ever gone. Some people are afraid, often, to face the dark of the woods. Zuko would say he's not.

He'd be lying.

But it doesn't stop him from going deeper, deeper...

Comments

[lord-of-dreams.livejournal.com]

"Zuko." The dogs have given up trying to hide. They are busy, in their way, listening to the Dream Hound and asking questions. Not many dogs get this chance.

The Hound is their Dream, however, and even though he knows their language, what passes between them is not for his ears. Just as the figure that Zuko sees is white, and rail-thin, with stars set in a nearly human face.

[princeinexile]

Zuko speaks the language of Hounds, and sometimes, his one-- wolfen, black, ivory fanged in midnight's mouth-- but this is not that time.

This is a Dream King, a Spirit; it is not the first he's seen in Milliways, but he will not the last. He might be one of the most important, though.

"...do I know you, sir?" he feels foolish for the question, like he should know, like the scent of chrysanthemums should somehow remind him. But he is young, and the young have short memories. It should hardly surprise dream that a boy who does not know what he really wants should not recognize what he really is.

[lord-of-dreams.livejournal.com]

He isn't exactly a spirit, or even a Spirit. He is a concept, given nearly the shape of what speaks to him. "We have spoken in the past, but you were not awake,"

[princeinexile]

To Zuko, there is little difference, truly.

"...oh," he says. "Rachel's-- gift."

It does not take him much to realize, really. He is a bright boy, when properly guided to the ride places.

[lord-of-dreams.livejournal.com]

"All dreams." He corrects with what is, for him, a gentle tone. This means that it, almost, becomes warm.

Slightly less cool? Something like that. "I am Dream."

[princeinexile]

Zuko knows better then to dispute the spirits; if there is one thing that his uncle -- and this place -- has instilled in him, it is a healthy respect for things other.

Which is why he is on his knees.

"I am Prince Zuko, of the Fire Nation." It is a time for a certain level of formality. At least he doesn't start with lineage. One can imagine that it isn't that far from his lips, though.

[lord-of-dreams.livejournal.com]

"I know you." He says calmly, but he doesn't offer a hand or something. Zuko is not a help-up sort of young man, "I am Dream, of the Endless.

[princeinexile]

He will rise when he must; for now, he is a boy on his knees, a boy that is not used to kneeling to many.

To a Spirit? He'll kneel. At least, this one. The Avatar wears a shell of flesh and blood, life after life. THis one does not sully itself with such brazen pretense.

It is pure.

"You are new to me-- with this face, at least."

[lord-of-dreams.livejournal.com]

He's not going to argue, either. It is easier, for some, to face him on their feet. For others on their knees. For at least one of the dogs, in a belly-rub position.

"Most forget me when they awaken. You have wandered deep into my realm, here."

[princeinexile]

"I did not seek to trespass," he assures as some voice that sounds like him about ten years old says, without a doubt uncle is going to wet himself when I tell him, "against your lands."

His people conquer, but Zuko is a son of Fire to the bone, but-- he would not plant his flag here. "It was an error. My apologies."

Fewer still have seen Zuko touch his head to the ground in penance. Dream might, if he knew, count himself fortunate for such a humble sight. Rare, indeed.

[lord-of-dreams.livejournal.com]

"I do not mind." the King of All Night's Dreaming says gently, "My realm is created from the dreams of all things which have ever lived. It belongs to all of you. I stop you, here, because beyond this point is a soft place. They are difficult to escape, often composed of pulls close to the heart."

[princeinexile]

He thinks of-- yes, in his world, dreams of a Mother lost, and then, then others--

"I did not know this place-- was so close. But it-- explains--" It explains the blood in his mouth when he woke from tearing his own throat to pieces.

"I'm not afraid," he finally says. "But I thank you the same."

He will go no further. Neither is he getting up to leave, just yet. He has questions, but they are as unformed and uncertain as what he wants now.

[lord-of-dreams.livejournal.com]

The star eyes of the Dream King show no emotion; they can not. He waits in silence as Zuko struggles with the words, needing at least a little before he is allowed to speak.

There are Rules.

[princeinexile]

"I cannot-- stay here, can I?" He has been trying to deny, sickness and spirit, he has. But some words have Rules of their own, and not even Milliways can deny them forever. There are cycles, laws, and Zuko is a part of them, too.

[lord-of-dreams.livejournal.com]

"No." And his voice is almost apologetic when he says it. Some questions are easier to answer than others, and this one, well. It has no other answer.

[princeinexile]

"I--"

I wanted to hear a different answer.

"I didn't think so."

His fingers curl against his pantlegs; he does not know what to say next. That killed it all for a moment-- knowing, without a doubt, that this was a temporary haven to be enjoyed--

--but never to be a home.

But he--

He knew that, didn't he?

His eyes flicker over the ground, and he says, "I just-- wanted--" A place where he was wanted and safe, a family, but-- a borrowed world is just that; borrowed.

"It doesn't matter what I wanted," he realizes. Oh, this one has Desire's stamp all over him.

[lord-of-dreams.livejournal.com]

"There is a kind of wizard that says that nothing loved ever dies." He is informed by the pale lord of this place, "And this is a true thing. It is also true that what is wanted, hard enough, may be grasped in the end. The question to ask yourself is, do you love this place and people enough to struggle in attempt to return once you have left for what must be done?"

[princeinexile]

Does he--?

Love Stephanie? Love Wells? He hates that word; it is a traitorous one. His father loved him, didn't he, yet, put a brand to his face--

--his sister loves him, but is too sick, too sick--

He--

"...what if you -- do not believe in love, sir?"

[lord-of-dreams.livejournal.com]

"I do." he says quietly, "If you do not, you must define what matters to you. What you will fight for."

[princeinexile]

Another question within an answer; not on, not on! Zuko's eyes flicker away, guilty for even the suggestion that he doesn't--

--but he doesn't want to call love what these people give him... when he knows what love is. Love is hard, and unrelenting and love does not let you make mistakes.

Love is a demanding master, indeed.

"I am glad you believe it," he mutters. "At least one of us can."

[lord-of-dreams.livejournal.com]

Dream isn't about answers, not really. He's thought, and consideration, and question...but what answers are found in dreams?

What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet

"My sibling killed me. I love it still."

[princeinexile]

Zuko flinches;

I know you're going to tell me I ought to try and get along with my sister...

No, she's crazy and she needs to go down.

"My sister nearly killed all I have for family. I--" I will never forgive her, I hate her, I want her humiliated and defeated and--"I-- I don't know how I feel."

[lord-of-dreams.livejournal.com]

"It took my sibling, and myself, longer than the world known as Earth has been in existence, to forgive each other. If you do not know how you feel about her, that is fair." He doesn't judge. Dream is not good. He is not evil. He is beyond those descriptions.

[princeinexile]

"Fair?" Zuko gives a rough, hoarse laugh. Fair! he calls it. He shakes his head, and then says, "No, nothing in our lives is fair. But-- that's--"

That's just how it is. He knows that.

[lord-of-dreams.livejournal.com]

"Fair." He repeats, "Not right, not wrong. Acceptable in the minds of some, and not in the minds of others. Fair."

[princeinexile]

"As you say it, Lord," Zuko mutters, but it still does not give hime ease. Fair has never ben fair, in his mind. But neither is it changable.

"Lord," he says. "The gift of Rachel's--" Dream's gift, really, passed on, "Can it be given again?"

[lord-of-dreams.livejournal.com]

"Yes." He tells the boy, "I gifted it, she passed it along, and you may pass it along again."

[princeinexile]

Zuko nods quietly; at least he knows that now-- thought not yet where it must go. But it's been too long in his hands, he thinks -- and does not prevent his world's messages from reaching him, either.

"Thank you," he finally says. For -- the gift, by proxy, for-- messages, too.

[lord-of-dreams.livejournal.com]

He dips his head in acknowledgment of the boy's words, spoken and unspoken.

It is always hard to leave.

[princeinexile]

Zuko has never been good at accepting painful truths; this more then anything has hindered him.

Zuko's eyes search the ground again, and he dips his head; farewell. He has questions, but every answer the Lord Shaper gives him only leaves him-- lost, confused, bewildered! More questions. It's like a hydra; an answer cleaves away a head, only for a new pair to arrise.

"Perhaps I will see you again when I return," he says as he rises.

When he understands better.

[lord-of-dreams.livejournal.com]

"If you wish to speak with me, we shall." He says in return, "I will know by your dreams. Safe journey, Zuko."

[princeinexile]

Strange, but he nods. "Thank you, Lord," he says again. The path back through the woods is instrinctual--- from Dreaming to Waking and --

-- huh. Smells different, just a little, this far out. "Gifr? Gheri?" He hears them in the distance, wondering what they saw, if anything.

They won't tell; they had their own questions to ask, after all, and answers to ponder. Still, they reunite happily, with petting and licking and laughing. Time to go home...