Hermes’ eyes fluttered open. Ten long hours had passed in the land of the awake, but what felt like days passed in the land of dreams. She pushed the leaves that covered her and her makeshift bed away with two stretching arms, a happy curl taking her lips. Her gaze twinkled with ease, her body fully relaxed and rejuvenated. In all, she never felt better. Happy little remnants of her dreams danced in her head as the world focused past her sleepy gaze, and the first thing she saw was Xiaoli’s own stare, inciting a just waking smile from Hermes. “Good awakening,” Hermes rasped, her throat just returning to use. Xiaoli hummed happily and cracked a pebbly smile, causing Hermes’ gaze to catch the many colored pebbles in her sight, somehow she had not noticed them before. “Good awakening, dear Hermes,” Xiaoli chuckled. “Did you rest well?” Hermes rolled onto her belly, her devious club tumbling from the sticks of her bed, “Mhm, sometimes I wish I could stay forever.” Xiaoli hummed softly in agreement. “You know, I don’t think I’ve actually slept before.” She winced momentarily. “I have lost consciousness, yes, but never slept. What is it like?” “Sleep?” Hermes slowly sat up, running her hands through her long knotted hair, fighting against the biggest of the tangles, “It’s wonderful. I get to be with God. We talk, we dance, we explore.” She shrugged her shoulders, her mind conjuring images of last night’s dreams into her head, “We can do anything we want, and I get to be with him. He makes me feel safe.” Xiaoli nodded softly, her eyes peering at Hermes’ long, white, messy hair. Seeing as she was sitting, she crawled over on all fours and sat down right next to Hermes. “Do you ever braid it? Your hair?” Hermes blunk, and as much as she started to hate saying this, she sighed, “I don’t know what that is.” Xiaoli blunk back. She raised her hand and patted the little knot on the top of her head. “It’s a little like tying your hair up like this, but you braid it into beautiful patterns instead. May I?” She gestured to Hermes’ hair. “Okay,” Hermes gave a smirk and turned her back to Xiaoli, presenting the long cascade of alabaster that was her hair, the tangled tips leading all the way down to just above her waist. She made a face as she felt the first gentle tug, and then the second, but by time the seventh or eighth passed she closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation. The braid took long, since more than half of the task was spent undoing days of knots formed from endless blasts of wind and rolling around in her sleep. Xiaoli eventually turned a nearby rock into a comb to aid her in removing all the knots. In the beginning, she dragged the comb through the hair like finger through a pile of cream - until she encountered a knot, at which point she grabbed the hair around the root with one hand and pulled out the knot with the comb in her other and despite the extra care, the sudden forced caused Hermes’ teeth to clench. In the end, it was all worth it. A certain lightness took over Hermes’ head, her hand reaching back to feel what had been done. Her hair had been left short over her temples, but most had been braided into a criss-crossing pattern that ended with a short, round knot on the top, a little like Xiaoli’s own hair. Xiaoli leaned forward, nearly placing her head on Hermes’ right shoulder and giggled. “What do you think?” “I like it,” Hermes went to turn her head but misjudged how close Xiaoli was, resulting in a soft thump as her forehead bounced off the Avatar’s, she recoiled, embarrassment swelling her stomach, “Sorry.” Xiaoli recoiled too, cheeks flushing, but her eyes not pulling away. “D-don’t worry about it,” she said softly and looked down at the ground. She sat back up on her ankles, looking slightly to the side. “I don’t mind a little contact… Every now and then,” she mused with a giggle. “Oh,” Hermes pondered out loud, “it’s definitely an experience.” The Dreamer stood up and held out her hand to Xiaoli, “Speaking of, where do you want to go next?” Xiaoli put her palm in the Dreamer’s and squeezed affectionately before rising to her feet. She dusted off her dress with her free hand and winked at Hermes. “How about I show you my home, since you were so kind as to show my yours?” She flashed her a playful grin. A cheshire grin played over Hermes’ cheerful face, “Of course!” She spun on her heels, her sandals starting to flap, “Which direction?” Xiaoli looked around for the location of heliopolis on the sky. Upon finding it, she turned her head slightly to the left and squinted. After a moment, she lifted her hand and pointed. “About that way, I believe. Have you been to the Dragon’s Foot before?” “Uh,” Hermes pursed her lips in thought, “Probably, but I don’t know the names. Hold on.” The Dreamer suddenly extended both her arms as if making a “T” and then pointed one at the sky and slowly moved the other one, her eyes darting all around. She dropped her arm skyward arm, it suddenly pointing north, bringing her other arm to pointed in the same direction as Xiaoli, “Yes! I’ve been there. I met Narzhak there.” “The Iron Giant?” Xiaoli exclaimed and grabbed Hermes’ closest hand with both of her own, “he didn’t hurt you, did he?!” Hermes let out a funny little laugh, “No! Narzhak is my be-” She stared at Xiaoli, who almost appeared ready to pout, “One of my best friends. He gave me my club and taught me the ways of the world, well some of them at least.” She all but whispered, “And I taught him a thing or two as well, I think.” Xiaoli blunk a few times and cocked her head to the side. She then burst out into an uncharacteristically loud guffaw. “So -that’s- why you showed up at the Jiangzhou with-.. With a club-ahaha...!” She let go of her hand and staggered back a few steps, seemingly unable to stop laughing. Hermes carefully laughed along with Xiaoli, her mind desperately hoping the joke wasn’t her, “Of course!” The Dreamer picked the club up off the forest floor and held it out for Xiaoli, “Want to hold it?” “Oh! No, no. I am not fit to bear weaponry - my role is that of advisor,” she said, shaking her head, “and the hour does not call for warfare nor training. However, should such a time arise, then I’d love to!” She knelt down and picked up the flute box, promptly pocketing it in the wide band around her waist. “It is a nice weapon, though. What exactly did you teach the Iron Giant, if I may ask?” “Well,” Hermes went for her hair and then remembered it was now braided, suddenly her eyes widened in horror, “Xiaoli!?” Xiaoli’s eyes widened at the tonal shift and she stormed over to her, voice permeated with worry. “What? What’s wrong? Did something happen?” “Xiaoli,” Hermes’ own voice was laced with concern, “Where is Poppler?” Suddenly there was a very angry crackle that muffled out from the tight braids causing Hermes to jump. [i]”Pop pop pop pop![/i] With a loud [i]Zzt![/i] the cloudling oozed out from between the fibers of Hermes’ hair, it’s fluffy body a dark storm. It whizzed around the two for a brief moment before calming down, Hermes apologized profusely to the tiny cloud. Xiaoli also came over, her eyes pooling with guilty tears. She reached out to pat the cloud, but received nothing but a surly zap. She collapsed to her knees. “I’m sorry, little Poppler! I didn’t see you in the white hair and-and-and… I just-!” She choked a sob. “I’m sorry!” The cloudling continued it’s crackling march of anger, eventually calming down enough to seep back into Hermes’ braid, leaving a tiny wet spot. Hermes stared at Xiaoli, her chin beginning to wobble as she stifled a laugh, “Oops.” Xiaoli wiped a tear away and let out a few more sobs, which gradually turned into chortles and then into a loud laughter. She bonked her temple playfully and stuck her flower petal tongue out. “Silly me,” she whispered playfully. Hermes’ laugh stopped as she stared at Xiaoli’s strange tongue. She didn’t know if it was weird or not to comment on someone’s tongue being ‘pretty’ and so she decided to keep it to herself. Xiaoli, however, seemingly noticed the target of the stare, her laughter abruptly ending halfway through a chuckle. She immediately raised her sleeve and held it in front of her mouth, casting her look to the side. “I’m sorry - it’s unsettling, isn’t it? My mouth? All these rocks and plants… It looks like a riverbed...” Hermes idly tried to move Xiaoli’s sleeve, her curious eyes static, “No, I like it.” At the beginning, Xiaoli resisted, but then promptly stopped upon hearing Hermes’ comment. She raised her look and stared into the Dreamer’s eyes. “Y-... You mean it?” “Yes, you shouldn’t hide what makes you unique, either,” Hermes nodded, “K’nell once told me that uniqueness hidden is uniqueness kept from the world, and that the world could always use more beauty.” Hermes paused, “I agree.” Xiaoli’s pupils shrank. She looked to the side again, though her expression persisted. “Not even my lord has said something so beautiful to me. I-...” Her eyes, already red with previous tears, welled up once more. “Hermes, I-...” She looked back at the Dreamer’s face, and for a moment, her eyes flicked to Hermes’ lips. Hesitantly, she moved her face forward a little, towards Hermes’ face, then a little more, until their face were a mere inch apart. Her breathing was ragged; her cheeks, flushed. The river girl’s fingers on her right hand reached out to slowly knit together with those of Hermes’ left hand. Hermes felt her breath splash over her face, her own chalk-white skin turning a soft rose, but then suddenly her brow-knitted, “Xiaoli.” The breathing stopped. The dilated pupils in Xiaoli’s just empty eyes focused into small dots. Her fingers froze as if turned to ice. “Y-yes?” she whimpered softly. Hermes bit her own lip, “Are you thinking about Shengshi?” There was a long, uncomfortable pause. After a spell, Xiaoli pulled away and sat back on her heels, grabbing her left and with her right in a sheepish manner. “N-not until you mentioned him, no,” she pouted in a tone that conveyed a mixture of disappointment and embarrassment. “I was thinking about-... About…” “Ugh,” Hermes almost growled, “Why am I stupid, Xiaoli?” Xiaoli blinked and bent back forward, reaching out to grab whichever of Hermes’ hands was closer. “You’re not stupid, Hermes! It’s fine! Really!” She calmed down a little and looked away. “I-... I got ahead of myself, really. I had no right to-... To assume.” She sniffed as discreetly as she could, failing immensely. “I can’t seem to read, things,” Hermes threw her hands to her sides, “I thought you were upset about Shengshi, since you brought him up. But it’s not just that.” “Forks, tea, alcohol, [i]vines[/i],” Hermes’ usual cheery voice was gone, “I get needing to experience, but I’m getting real tired of everyone knowing so much more than me. I didn’t even know what this was!” She gripped her new braids, inciting a pop, “and now it’s on my head!” Xiaoli seemed taken aback. She put her hands on her thigh and let out a sigh. “Well, I would gladly teach you, if you would like - though I am uncertain of what a fork is. Is it a weapon?” “YES,” Hermes nearly screeched, “See! You don’t even know what it is and you already know what it is.” Xiaoli looked stunned at the outburst, but her expression became a wry smile and she cocked her head slightly to the right. “You were made to learn, my dearest Hermes - I was made to advise. Our purposes are different, so our masters allocated the appropriate knowledge for us to fulfill our tasks. Struggling on one’s way to fulfilling one’s task is nothing to be upset about - it is part of the task.” She let out a weak chuckle. “I get frustrated too, you know…” By this time Hermes was sunken, her cheery expression was long gone as she fondled her club, placing her fingers between its spikes. As she sat, her eyes were scanning the length of it, but her ears were listening to Xiaoli, “It’s just hard, and it never stops. You just keep learning, and as far as I have learned, you never stop learning.” She looked up, “I just want to be right, I want to do the teaching for once. I want to help my own Dreamers, like how K’nell helps me. I want Tendlepog to have crowds and crowds of Dreamers, all learning, all teaching.” Hermes huffed a breath, “I’m sorry, it’s all just been a pressure in my head, and when I misjudged your emotions, it was just the final wrong.” The Dreamer let the head of the club fall to the ground, her hand on the haft, a simple joy vibrating up as the head smashed into the ground, “Thank you, for being my friend.” Xiaoli wiped away yet more tears from her pink-circled eyes. “I-I’m sorry... I cry a lot, don’t I…” She sniffed, a chuckle breaking through the sobs. “Again, it’s nothing to be sorry about. Misunderstandings happen, my dearest, and-... Well…” She shuffled a little closer, sitting herself on the ground opposite of Hermes to the club. She adjusted her position a little, then slowly lowered her head and placed it on Hermes’ shoulder. “Thank you, for letting me.” A moment passed. The wind danced gently past the two and the small, colourful orbs of the forest were floating gently around the area. Xiaoli suddenly began to hum quietly, ponderously. The gentle humming caused Hermes to visibly relax, her body slouching as she threatened to fall back asleep, her apparent outburst sapping her energy. “By more Dreamers, do you mean children?” she inquired. Hermes’ eyes blinked open, “I guess, yes.” She watched one of the dreamweavers do a loopdeeloop and made a thoughtful face, “Just more of… Dreamers, like me. A lot of them.” Xiaoli hummed softly. “Have you tried asking His Holiness K’nell about making you some?” She tugged playfully at some of the hair hanging over Hermes’ temple. “No,” Hermes quietly answered, “He does so much, I didn’t want to seem spoiled.” Hermes paused and sunk into her own thoughts, remembering the words of Kalmar, “You know, I hear tell that some beings can make more of themselves naturally. I don’t know, I’ll figure it out someday… be it divine or mundane, call it a dream.” Hermes gave a soft smile. Xiaoli looked upwards at Hermes, which actually turned out to be sideways, considering the angle of her head. She carefully moved her hand and placed it on Hermes’ stomach, causing the Dreamer to squirm a little, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After a moment, she removed the hand and let out a sigh. “Has your master told you?” she asked, her voice conveying deep sympathy. “Told me what?” Hermes looked down at where Xiaoli’s hand had been. Xiaoli gasped quietly, not saying anything for a long time. She then took a deep breath and pulled herself back into an upright position, her eyes downcast. “That you’re… You’re…” She stuttered, then took another deep breath, looking sideways at Hermes. “You’re infertile,” she said somberly. A loud silence broke between the two, Hermes’ body tensing back up. It seemed as if the silence was never going to end, and then finally Hermes squirmed away from Xiaoli, her arms crossed defensively across her chest, her eyes downcast, “I think we should go on our journey, now.” Xiaoli looked broken, her pale face ever paler and her mouth gaping in shock. She reached out to Hermes with a shaky arm and a quivering voice. “Hermes, I-...” Light began to shiver on Hermes’ eyes as water pooled, but before a tear could form, she suddenly blurred, leaving a sonic boom in her wake as she retreated, a surprised Poppler tumbling out of her hair. The cloudling whirled in confusion with gentle crackles. Tendlepog blurred past Hermes’ and not just because of her speed. She felt a cold grasp in her stomach, which swelled and choked her throat. She never experienced this before, but it hurt more than the boar, and in places she never expected. Her heart was palpitating under the stress, and her teeth clattered. Wherever her cheery complexion went, it was a forever hole she couldn’t find. She finally stopped, her sandals touching down on a flat stone in the middle of the flat lands. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground with little care of what happened to her. The rock scraped her knees causing a stark contrasting crimson to grow out of her chalk-white skin. She felt alone, she felt incomplete. Then, as if she had said an unspoken prayer, a great flash erupted in the distance, where she had left Poppler and Xiaoli. Only a few seconds passed and that flash suddenly shot out of the mountains, over the fields and onto her flat rock, leaving nothing but a sweet smelling breeze in its wake. There the flash stood, its blurry form turned into that of K’nell. Without missing a beat, Hermes lunged at the figure and clung to him, the God of Sleep unmoving. “I don’t like it,” Hermes cried over and over as tears flowed down K’nells clothing. “What do you not like,” A grainy voice swirled. “I’m incomplete.” Hermes cried, “I don’t know anything. I can’t create anything.” A great hum eclipsed across the two forms as K’nell thought, “You say you are incomplete, but I would know, as I am your creator.” “So?” Hermes looked up at the God with tear stained eyes. The hum sounded again, “There are a great many things in store for you. Do not despair over what you currently see as your plight, for it is with a reason.” “But my dream,” Hermes sniffled. Suddenly two long arms awkwardly squeezed the Dreamer, her scraped knees suddenly healing shut, “I am the Lord of all Dreams.” Hermes looked up at K’nell with comforted eyes, which widened when a white faced, silver eye’d gentleman smiled down at her. K’nell had taken the image of a Dreamer, older and kind, but just as gentlemanly as ever. Hermes squeezed him tight and they stood there while she finished her cry, her sniffles and choking sobs slowing down in the comfort of K’nell. Finally Hermes spoke up, her voice clearing and hinting at her usual joyish tone, “Will there ever be more of me?” “Yes,” The voice answered. “How?” Hermes looked up at K’nell. “Wait and see,” The God let go of Hermes, “But do not forget your first purpose, while you have certainly outgrown only one, do not forget it.” Hermes rubbed her arms across her eyes, “Okay.” With a reassuring nod from K’nell, Hermes took off in a blur, Tendlepog once again stretching to pins. In moments Hermes blasted her way over the mountains and through the woods. When suddenly she came to a drastic halt, reappearing in the grove, eyes and nose stained as red as her freshly healed knees. Poppler and Xiaoli were both missing, but something glistening had been left in the grass. It appeared to be the flute box, and on its top a sentence had been written, written in elegantly, if a little hastily drawn characters. Picking up the note gingerly, Hermes’ heart pounded, “I can’t read-” Suddenly that bright light zipped by once again, but before it disappeared into limbo a single wisp of light lunged out and disappeared into Hermes’ ear. Almost instantly the note made sense, she blunk and read the note: [i]Dearest Hermes If you are reading this, know that we are currently looking for you. The thought if you being alone with those horrible thoughts I planted in your head - it is tormenting. I will apologise properly when we find you; for now, I can only express myself in writing. I am so sorry, my dearest. Your friend, Xiaoli.[/i] As Hermes finished the letter, there came a distant echo from the west. “...-mes!” With new resolve, and all the items Hermes and Xiaoli had left behind, Hermes erupted into a westward sprint, quickly following the sound of the voice. Her search took her deep into the mushroom forest, and as the calling grew stronger and stronger, she exited the forest and entered the endless, red plains with stampeding trees - there, by a waterhole, jogged Xiaoli, followed closely by Poppler. “Hermes!” Xiaoli yelled away from Hermes, evidently not having noticed her. Hermes zoomed towards Xiaoli, slowing down just in time to collide into Xiaoli safely, wrapping her arms tight around the woman. Poppler managed to instinctively dash into Hermes’ hair as she did. As fast as she collided, Hermes suddenly took to the skies, Xiaoli in arms, Poppler in hair. Xiaoli instinctively struggled to begin with, but quickly realised who it was, and wrapped her arms around Hermes, squeezing her tightly. “I-... I am sorry… I am so sorry.” She rubbed her face against Hermes’ chest. “I’m so sorry, my dearest, sweetest Hermes.” “No,” Hermes looked forward, suddenly changing direction to Southeast, “It’s okay.” [hr] [hider=Bloops] Hermes felt her breath splash over her face, her own chalk-white skin turning a soft rose, but then suddenly her brow-knitted, “Xiaoli.” The breathing stopped. The dilated pupils in Xiaoli’s just empty eyes focused into small dots. Her fingers froze as if turned to ice. “Y-yes?” she whimpered softly. “Easy,” Hondros looked ahead, “She’ll be there when we dock.” [hr] “Told me what?” Hermes looked down at where Xiaoli’s hand had been. Xiaoli gasped quietly, not saying anything for a long time. She then took a deep breath and pulled herself back into an upright position, her eyes downcast. “That you’re… You’re…” She stuttered, then took another deep breath, looking sideways at Hermes. “You’re adopted.” [hr] With a reassuring nod from K’nell, Hermes took off in a blur, Tendlepog once again stretching to pins. In moments Hermes blasted her way over the mountains and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go [/hider] [hider=Might cost] K’nell used the power of Dreams to appear as a dreamer for a time, 0MP K’nell helped Hermes read a letter, 0MP [/hider] [hider=Summary] Hermes awakens from her dream and reconvenes with Xiaoli. The two share a moment, but it is soon soured by Hermes' own insecurities and she goes off on a tangent of how she is sick of being wrong. Eventually it all comes to a dream Hermes has of wanting to fill the world with Dreamers and to be a teacher, to which Xiaoli points out that she is infertile. In shock, Hermes leaves, only to be found by K'nell, who comforts her. She returns to Xiaoli and they head southeast. Shame on you for reading this. [/hider]