[color=F4A460][b]E'nasha Williams[/b][/color]
[i][indent]It was dark, no lights anywhere except for a lone candle in her hand. There were people, familiar faces, but all of them moved about silently, seeming as if they were talking to each other without her being able to hear even a breath of air. The silence was too eerie, and despite the movement of the people around her, it as all too still. [color=F4A460]"Wha... How... why can't I hear anything? Hello! El'kan? Bau-"[/color] A hand reached from the shadows and covered her... covered [u]my[/u] mouth, stopping my calls. Everything around me froze, and I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe.

[color=696969]"Now now, weren't you wondering why it's so silent...?"[/color] The hand over my mouth pulled away slightly, only to trail over my cheek towards my ear and then move to grab my chin, forcing me to tilt my head back so I could see the hand-owner's face. I could feel the other hand grab my waist, pulling me up against this creature's body before both arms wrapped around me, trapping me there. The face smiled before continuing to speak.

[color=696969]"You've always had this... one sound with you, for your whooooooole life."[/color] One of the hands moved to hover over my chest, tapping twice while the face moved closer to my own, grin getting wider.

[color=696969]"I'm not surprised that the first thing a dead girl would notice is her heartbeat."[/color] 
[color=696969]"Or, her lack of one."[/color][/indent][/i]

For the first time in almost 2 years, E'nasha woke up screaming from a nightmare. El'kan was next to her within 3 seconds, pulling her into a hug and asking what was wrong. She closed her eyes and leaned into her friend's arms, staying silent for a moment as she collected her thoughts. [color=F4A460]"It's... nothing. Just another nightmare that somehow managed to be worse than the others."[/color] She pulled away and El'kan stood up, looking at her like he didn't quite believe her. He knew not to push her when it came to the nightmares though, and so he went back to his side of the room while she suppressed a yawn. [color=F4A460]"What time is it?"[/color]

[color=8b4513]"Uhh, I don't know. Mid-morning I'd guess, I've been up for a little while already and it sounds pretty active out there."[/color] As he spoke he grabbed his coat out of his wardrobe and put it on, fastening the buttons quickly. [color=8b4513]"I'll meet you in the dining hall once you're ready, ok?"[/color] She mumbled a sound of agreement and he was out the door in seconds. 

Once he was gone, E'nasha lay back down in her bed, pulling her blanket around her tightly as she yawned again. She didn't want to go back to sleep, but she didn't want to [i]do[/i] anything else right now either. Her stomach grumbled slightly as she thought about going to follow El'kan to the dining hall. Food did sound good right now, but not good enough to make her want to go out of her nice dorm room and into the biting chill of winter just outside the door. She couldn't get the image of that creature's face out of her head. She couldn't stop thinking about the nightmare at all. She felt so... empty, as if the eeriness of the dream had clung to her and followed her back to the real world.

She lay there for a good while, the only sounds in the room being the slight rustling noise Sir made every time he moved in his cage, and the reassuring beating of her own heart. After a time, the emptiness had eased, if not dissipated, and all that remained was her empty stomach, as it reminded her by growling again, prompting her to finally get out of bed.

Once she was up she moved quickly, brushing her hair and tying it off into her usual pigtails before picking out a suitable outfit for the day. She hated winters outside of Yarosmere, not because of the cold, but because of the need to wear specific clothing to protect oneself from it. Her entire wardrobe was still as if she lived in the desert, light but durable and good for spending time out in the sun, not for keeping heat by you. The only wintry change she'd made was to get a coat and a couple pairs of trousers to wear rather than the shorts or skirts she'd prefer, but still she couldn't stand it. If you didn't want to stay inside, you had to spend forever bundling up just so you could leave, and then there's nothing to do outside because all the plants have frozen and the people are about to be. Worthless effort.

She sighed at the end of her mental tirade and pulled her boots on before leaving her dorm room, practically running towards the dining hall so she could be out of the cold, lifeless outdoors as soon as possible. On her way she passed through the courtyard that held the notice board for missions in it, and decided to stop and see if there was anything interesting she might be able to go on. She wasn't sure if she would go on a mission yet, considering how useless she felt she'd been on the last one, but perhaps...

[color=F4A460]"Wait, what!?"[/color] Her eyes fell upon a notice for a mission to Yarosmere, with a somewhat-sketchy description. A zealot gave the college some warnings of a coming tragedy in Yarosmere, and they want a few students to go investigate the situation and report back to the college. [color=F4A460]"That's it? No, 'watch out for' this or 'make sure not to do' that? They're sending us practically blind!"[/color] She took a second to double-check that there hadn't been any hidden hints on the flyer before walking away somewhat disappointed. She had to go. If there was trouble in Yarosmere, that was her home, the only place where every memory she has of being there was happy. 

She got to the dining hall and glanced around for El'kan, not seeing him. Of course, the room was pretty full of people, so he could be there somewhere. She went and got a plate of food before walking around the edge of the room to try and find El'kan, but again got nothing. She did however see one person she was always happy to spend some time with: Baulder. As she walked over to his table and sat next to him, she wondered why she liked to be around him so much. Sure he could be a little strange sometimes, but he was always interesting, and always seemed so alive and interested in everything. He was eating as she walked up, so she simply said [color=F4A460]"Hi!"[/color] to him before digging into her own meal. She was no stranger to talking between bites.