It was a struggle trying to keep on her feet against a man who was taller than she was and a lot stronger, but she made up for that by being mindful of where she stepped and how she moved around Aisen. The claws were digging into her skin like an owl’s talons clasping around prey caught in the night, eliciting a cry of pain from her as she shifted to try and ease the pain but not so much as to give Aisen an opportunity to overwhelm her. A few unsavoury words from him were tossed her way in a low mutter that seeped with just as much hatred as the murderous look in his eyes, threatening her to back down while she could. With his tall and strong build, it was obvious who had the upper hand and the girl was forced back quite a bit. [i]‘No, no, no..’[/i] Rosalie thought to herself, fighting to keep hold of her knife. If she could think of a knife to conjure up in this dream of hers, couldn’t she think of another thing to help her? [i]‘Focus.’[/i] She told herself and it was what she was trying to do until the appearance of dragons in the peripheral of her vision caused her mind to go blank with fear. Snarling and snapping, the jaws of the dragons were lowered a little too close for comfort, but at least it provided a distraction that had Aisen forget about her for a few seconds. She backed away, unsure of where to hide as she looked up at the creatures looming tall, proud and honourable above her. It was then that she realised these dragons, whoever they were, held themselves well and not like the mindless beasts that she believed they were. Their eyes, gleaming with tamed ferocity, seemed to stare down at Aisen as if their gazes held weight against him. Rosalie’s breath caught in her throat and she bit back a whimper as she used this chance to push herself away from the man and scramble away. Where to? She didn’t know. She didn’t know if the dragons were friendly and she’d rather not push her luck by deciding to hide behind where they were perched. In this field, it was clear the dragons had the upper hand, able to see the goings on before them. She had braced herself for when the dragons would attack her, but they didn’t. They continued to snarl at her attacker like they were distracting them. That had to be it, Rosalie realised, slowly straightening while deciding to put her knife back at her side just in case. She didn’t want to be thought of as a threat. If anything, they were more of a threat to her, but she was glad she wasn’t the one in the centre of their attention. [I]’What is this place?’[/I] Rosalie wondered, taking a moment to look away and glance at the strange symbols on the walls. Despite fascination causing her gaze to turn, she still kept watch over Aisen out of the corner of her eye. It was only when she heard Gore say that it was his realm did things begin to make more sense. It would explain the number of dragons and the shift in scenery -for which she was somewhat thankful for and would have genuinely been even more grateful if she hadn’t been surrounded by dragons. Rosalie knew Gore had disposed of the imposter, and he now had his attention on Aisen. As impressive as the crimson dragon was in dealing with her attacker, the girl had to turn away at the last second to avoid seeing the aftermath of his attack. What passed by went in a blur: Dragons attacking, Aisen’s being obscured by the charging dragons’ bodies, and then she was on Gore’s back, clinging onto his scales to keep herself from falling off. Leaning forward, it took all she had not to turn back and see what had happened to her attacker. “Thank you,” she breathed, resting her head against his neck for a few moments as the wind rushed by her. For a dream, it felt so real. Her wrists hurt from her encounter with Aisen and, she thought while biting her lip, they’d be lucky to wake up feeling as if they’ve had a good night’s rest. However, there was one thing she wondered. Leaning back a bit, she stared ahead, looking over the top of Gore’s head as the darkness of the cave was quickly being replaced by fast-approaching light. However, it was not the skies that greeted them both, and something else that left the girl confused for a good few moments. What was going on? It felt rather gloomy all of a sudden. She watched what transpired before her quietly, understanding that this was all before her time but a few of what Gore had gone through. Was this the same Blood Dragon she had with her now? There was a blue dragon that Gore was trying to defend and for the first time, she saw how cruel people were. She saw what the Blood Dragon did and she had to cover her eyes. It did nothing to drown out the sounds of the blue dragon’s suffering. It was difficult to watch and it was only through the little bit of courage that she mustered up did she decide to peek around her fingers at the scene of cruel treatment. She bit her lip, feeling sympathetic for the dragon and upset that the treatment didn’t seem justified despite what the ones dishing out this treatment thought. It was unfair, and she didn’t think she’d ever believe it, but that dragon didn’t deserve it. Not like this. “G-Gore?.. who’s that dragon you were trying to protect?” Her voice was pathetic even in her own ears. She was using Gore as a distraction for herself, not wanting to see anymore of what was being done and it might have been obvious, but she didn’t care. Gore had already seen her at one of her breaking points. She disliked it, but who else did she have to rely on? Rosalie did not have the chance to speak anymore even as she drew in a shaky breath, a voice she and Gore remember quite well gaining their attention. Marian’s face was as clear as day. This confirmed that this particular.. memory -if she could call it that- might have been a more recent one compared to the others. “Isn’t that..,” she began just as Gore had, trailing off straight afterward. - Rosalie woke up when she rolled right off her bed, falling onto the carpeted floor with a muffled thump and a suppressed groan. For a moment, she just stayed as she was, sprawled out on the ground without a care in the world as her mind slowly came back into focus. It took a few seconds for her to remember the crazy dream she had and she began to groggily pull herself up with as much energy as someone who had only taken an hour nap as opposed to someone who had gotten a full night’s rest. She started rubbing her eyes, wincing when she found her wrists hurt from the mere action. “What?” was her mumble as she pushed herself up with a groan, staggering a bit as she moved along the walls for support. Passing a mirror, she only stared for a bit, taking in her dishevelled for only a few seconds before stumbling on. She wasn’t lively enough to even care at this point, but something caught her attention that made her move back to the mirror and pay more attention to her arms. They were red around her wrists with a couple of scratches around her wrists. “Wait..,” The girl leaned forward, not quite believing what she saw before looking down at herself, gasping at the injury she had sustained from the ‘dream.’ Dreams didn’t work like that, did they? Rosalie shook her head, sure that it didn’t. The bruises she had gotten were there, and the cuts were actually seeping a bit of red. Being quite early in the morning, the girl doubted anyone would be up, but still, she should at least bandage herself up and get ready. As sleepy as she was, she didn’t think she could sleep after.. [i]That.[/i] She shuddered at the thought, wiping at a few tears that sprang forth as she was reminded of what exactly happened. Even if it wasn’t real, it was real enough to break her. She wasn’t sure if she was for eating breakfast, but she might as well get something considering that she had skipped out on dinner the night before. - Patched up and wearing a thin sweater to cover her arms, Rosalie went about with making herself breakfast, opting for the easy option of toast and scrambled eggs, thinking all the while; If she had gotten hurt and kept the injuries from her dream, did that mean Gore was in the same boat? [i]’Then again..it’s impossible that Dream Gore is the same as.. actual Gore.[/I] It didn’t seem plausible in the least. She was ready to dismiss the thought when she saw Gore heard footsteps come in from the kitchen doorway. She turned, fearing that it was Aisen, but upon seeing Gore, she relaxed a little. Her first instinct was to pull him aside and ask him some questions about her dream whilst being vague, her second was to tell him all about her strange dream and how it turned out differently than most, and thirdly was to ignore him. The last one made her stop. She oddly didn’t want to ignore him. She wanted to speak to him. She [i]needed[/I] to speak to him as there was nothing more she wanted at this moment than to have someone to talk to. She took in a deep breath. “Good morn...uhh...” her eyes trailed over the gashes that ran over his chest, widening a bit before she forced herself to regain composure. “Gore?..” The gashes, she realised, were the exact same that she had seen in her dream, the same angle, the same.. everything, Rosalie believed. She warily approached him, and in the way she did, it was clear that she was still a bit shaken up from the dream as her movements were awkward and she seemed afraid to accept what she was seeing before her. “Does that mean.. Umm.. that dream really happened and that it was actually you in it?” The young woman paced about a bit, taking deep breaths as she fought to keep herself calm. “Are you sure you’re alright? That doesn’t seem fine at all.” She dared to lean closer and inspect his injuries, careful not to prod to hard and wincing at the extent of them. “I know I’m not still dreaming.” Rosalie muttered under her breath. “How are you still standing? Unbelievable.. but I’m glad. Dragon of legend or not, wait here.” She took his wrist in her hands in an attempt to guide him -if he let her- to a seat where she insisted that he sit down before she would go up to her room and grab the medical kit.