|
Hearth had taken the current situation... poorly. She hadn't been sleeping well, her temper had been on edge, and the fact that she hadn't been involved in the rat problem to begin with was creating a spiral of guilt and fear for Dandy. But eventually she did drift off, sleeping fitfully on the couch.
Of course, it finally happens that Dandelion is reaching out across dreams just as someone who she's trying to reach falls asleep. And so, as Hearth's mind crosses the threshold from waking to sleeping, there's Dandelion's Astral Form, waiting.
Here's the quickest way to tell Dandelion's Astral form from an eidolon: she's always in her mid twenties, the daring hardy little weed who just joined the Arrows, when she's in the Astral, instead of the mother or the old bat she's grown into. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, a bandana tied around dark brown hair (not a hint of grey yet), she's perched up on a small brick wall near an apple tree in the dreamscape.
Heather froze when Dandy appeared in her dreams, then ran to her and threw her arms around her astral form. "Mom! Oh stars! You're here! Are you ok?"
Dandelion gives Heather a big old hug, kissing her forehead a couple times. "Not really, but that's part of why I'm here. I know you all are working on a rescue--make sure someone's primed to heal, when you do--I'm not doing too well. Most of the captives aren't, particularly, but I've been off my meds almost a week, and it's getting to me. Is everyone else alright? I haven't seen any other Sleepwalkers, and certainly no mages down there."
Heather didn't let go of her, her expression stricken at the news of her health issues. "We're all fine. And I'm coming," she said fiercely. "Just focus on staying healthy and in one piece. Nevy's staying with us right now, and they're really worried too."
"Of course they are. You can let them know I'm alive and enduring--and that they need to be careful; I'm not the only psychic they took. They may be targeting it. The kid in the cage next to me is a pyrokinetic. Don't worry, they know better than to light up, down there. Here..."
She pulls a piece of chalk out of thin air and begins drawing on the brick wall, the layout of the room she's being kept in. "One entrance, one way in or out. Cages line the sides here; there's...a few dozen of us being kept in cages. The burrow, where the rats come from. It's off to the side, here. And here's the altar. Where they do their sacrifices."
Heather shuddered and stepped up to focus on memorizing the information without letting go of Dandy. "Do you have any idea of their numbers?"
"There's humans in chains--slaves, and also a man in a nice suit, who clearly isn't a slave. The Alpha Rat Host is some type of a leader. He's intelligent, but manic, possessed by a religious zeal to resurrect the Plague King and break the Gauntlet down, and he thinks the sacrifices will help that along. There's not really a guard on us, not a dedicated one. There's just a constant coming and going of Rat Hosts, numbering from somewhere between five dozen and a hundred." She sketches that route, between the burrow and the exit. "So, that's going to be a lot of your problem right there. Here's which cage is mine. Here's Calamity's--they're the pyrokinetic. I've promised them we'll make it out together."
She gives Heather a bit of a weighty look--that promise clearly means a lot to her.
"I'm coming for you, mom," Heather said fiercely. "But we're not going to leave anyone behind. We aren't going to let them pull this Spirit bullshit."
"Good. I was hoping you'd be coming for me. My Sprout, I am so proud of you." She pauses to wrap herself around Heather. "You've grown up to be a fine young woman. Joined a cabal that's quickly earned the respect of everyone in town. I trust you to get me out of there. I have more information, but let me just get a good hug in first."
She squeezed her tight. "You should come join our cadre when this is over," she grumbled.
"I have a cadre, dear. One that's still finding its feet, finding its purpose. They need me. Besides, do you really want to go back to living at home with your mother?" There's a bit of tease there. "Do the rest of the 'wardens know about our relationship, yet?"
"They know. If I can't trust them with it then I wouldn't have joined the cadre. Our connection could be important at some point- like it is right now."
"Good. I was going to tell you to get on that, if you hadn't. I haven't told my kids yet, I might when I get home, if you're alright. The sympathy between us...it matters. I want to keep you safe, but this matters." She kisses Hearth on the cheek. "My girl."
"Yeah but I was thinking I'd be in a shitpile of trouble and we'd be using your connection to me to get you out. This shouldn't have happened to you."
"Oh, dear. It's hardly the first time I've been kidnapped, you know. Those religious cultists on the farm up north, the scelestus in the early nineties...I'm used to being in trouble. I'm more worried about everyone here for whom this is their first time. Some are having a lot of trouble with the conditions and the air quality."
"Mother!" she exclaimed. It was the first she'd heard of those particular adventures. "I'm not used to you being in trouble. Damn Arrows." She muttered the last, but it was still audible.
"Damn us indeed." There's a rich laugh. "You should make sure to check in with Yoshitsune, before you come in for the rescue. I trust you all with making a plan, but he might have some final advice. Are you ready for more information about the prison?"
She scowled at her. "They're irresponsible and lax! You're important, they should be looking out for you more! Now tell me everything you can."
"Oh, Sprout. I'm a single Arrow in the quiver, not all that important in my own right. Talons are strong because we stand together, love. That's the point."
She runs her chalk around the perimeter, the outer walls of the diagram. "The human slaves, in chains, have been bringing strange jars into the chambers. They're not uniform, although some groups are, some small sets here and there, but the wide wall, the perimeter along the cages that faces the center of the chamber, is practically lined with jars now. They're empty now. I can't help but wonder if the plan is to fill them, once the Beshilu start on sacrifices. Soul jars, perhaps."
"But you're my only mom," she countered. She scowled and then buckled down to focusing on remembering, the information, repeating it to herself as she went along.
"And I'm going to make it out, going to make it back home. I've promised Calamity, and I'll promise you. And you had better make a cake I can eat, once I'm back. I have been craving something with strawberries." There's a gentle, loving boop on the tip of Heather's nose. "The food here is awful."
"Strawberry cake," she promised with a little sob. "I'll bring you some."
"Good. Very good. Now, do you have this all memorized? Are you ready to share it with your team, so you all can get us out of here?" A pause. "...is anyone coming for Calamity? I worry very much about them. They're living with a gang, their parents kicked them out because they're queer. They need...to feel like someone was missing them. Like someone came looking."
"We've got a team forming, and not all mages. I...don't really know all the associations or motivations. But tell them we're coming. For you, for Calamity, and for every other fucking person in there."
"Good. Very good. I should get back to my body soon. But one more hug before I go?"
Heather held onto her tightly, not really wanting to let her go. "Stay strong, mom. Don't give up. I'll be here if you need me. I'll try to sleep more, in case you need to talk or have more information to share."
Dandelion laughs. "Tell Nevermore to sleep once in a while, too. Please?"
"I will," she promised. "Even if I have to give them some melatonin or knock them out directly."
"Good. Very good. I love you dear, and I'm so glad you're on the team coming for me. I need you." She closes her eyes. "Alright, I'm going to head back to my own head."
"I love you too, Mom."
Dandelion kisses Heather's forehead, and then makes her way off down a road that wasn't there a minute ago.
|