Trust dreams. Trust your heart, and trust your story.

[smallestopener]

Ingress had a brilliant birthday. She’s eleven. Eleven is nearly grown up! It’s also the year when children in the stories she’s read come into their own. Adventures begin, schooling starts, worlds are saved… she can hardly wait to see what will happen next.

Her party earlier was such fun. Door was almost nice to Puck; Ingress had worried a little about that after she invited him. But he was very nice and charming, and Tom was nice, too, and Puck helped Ingress steal lots of roses off the cake while Havelock talked to Tom and Door, and it was brilliant.

She ate far too much icing sugar, but Tom had the peppermint potion waiting for her when the party was over. She feels much better now. And she’s eleven!

It sounds so good in her head. Eleven, eleven, eleven.

She should have asked Mary to stay the night with her, she thinks, as she tosses and turns. She’s never going to fall asleep, even with staying up past her bedtime. Tom and Door insisted she go to bed after she started yawning. They can be so silly sometimes.

She tosses one more time, and she thinks, again, how impossible it will be to go to sleep tonight. Her eyelids flutter and close. It is not long before she’s deep in dreams.

Comments

There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[smallestopener]

Ingress is in Milliways, but it’s not quite Milliways. It’s also the family room in their wing of the House of Arch with stacks of books and comfortable couches. There are board games scattered around the floor – chess, Exploding Snap cards, Snakes and Ladders (which she doesn’t even play anymore), and old toys. She laughs when she sees her dress up trunk by the fireplace. She runs to it and pulls out the tutu she always loved to wear best.

She hasn’t played dress up with tutus in a while. She shimmies into it, and it fits again! Her blue shoes glitter on her feet, and there are shiny beads around her neck. Her sword, however, remains in its scabbard attached to her belt. Some things don’t change.

Re: There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[creator_raven]

The flutter of eyelashes against her cheek might catch her attention.

That and the huge, slightly misshapen, brightly colored butterflies that are fluttering out of the fireplace and swirling around her.

Dancing.

Then they explode, soundless and bright, in a shower of glitter.

And soot.

Raven picks himself up out of the mess, nose wrinkling as he sneezes.

His coat is white.

"It is, I think, almost old home week, yes?"

He reaches forward, cupping Ingress' chin in one hand.

"Try not to forget."

Some things really don't change.

Except when they do.

Re: There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[smallestopener]

Ingress twirls in delight as the glitter showers down.

The butterflies have curly eyelashes, and they wink at her. Ingress winks back as she chases after them.

When she sees Raven, she squeals in glee. Once he speaks, she throws her arms around him in a big big big hug.

"I shall never forget, silly."

She drapes one of her necklaces over his head. It has purple and blue beads with tiny prisms in between. It is one of her very favorites. It can be his now.

Re: There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[smallestopener]

Ingress dances around the chairs and the fireplace, waving to the fishes, and then she pats the dogs from the House of Arch painting on the head. For once, they aren't playing poker. They are all lounging on the sofas or arm chairs.

She plops down on the rug, and Galatea, the House of Arch owl, swoops over her. She circles Ingress' head and then flies down, dropping a packet into her lap.

Ingress opens the packet and lifts out several photographs, some from Wizarding cameras, some not. Bernard and 'Dora, the kids, Sunny, Faith, Arithon, Elaine, Cuthbert - all the friends and family who she rarely, or never, sees any longer.

Pictures don't make her sad. She loves seeing the familiar faces.

Re: There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[gonna_live]

Kaylee's dress -- in the layer-cake style -- is the color of Tonks's hair, and her scarf is a deep, deep purple. "Nĭ hăo, xiăo mèimèi." There's a parasol, and she's twirling it, making the red and green and yellow and white swirl. "What's the news?"

Re: There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[a1enzo]

There's a sprite playing by the fire, which is made of shifting pixels, which are hovering ice cubes. The pixelated fish swim around them, unfazed.

Enzo is no older than four, by human reckoning. The building blocks he's playing with are each made of four cubes, connected in different configurations. He's building a wall, but he never gets it more than four units tall without it collapsing.

Re: There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[agloriousthing]

A Pirate King starts singing from rafters that are almost a mast, "Oh it is, it is a glorious thing to be a pirate king!"

Then he leaps down to bow at her feet as the music swells around them,

"Happy Birthday, fair lady."

Fortify yourself with contentment, for this is an impregnable fortress.

[smallestopener]

Ingress plops down onto a bale of hay in a stable. Sun shines upon her, warming her and making her sleepy. She could be in Valdemar or Ambergeldar or at Milliways. It doesn’t matter. This place stands for all places that smell of comforting horse flesh and tickly hay.

She does wonder where the horses are, but for right now, she is content to wait in this place of comfort and reassurance.

Re: Fortify yourself with contentment, for this is an impregnable fortress.

[aj_crawley]

In dreams, things don't have to make sense.

Here in the stable, with the good warm sun glowing in the hay, and the lazy dust motes glowing in the good warm sun, everything seems peaceful. It isn't silent, but it's quiet; no sound at all save for the soft whickering of the horses and the rustle of hay. The animals seem at peace.

But up in the loft, against the bright halo of the window, something else is moving.

Shadows.

Re: Fortify yourself with contentment, for this is an impregnable fortress.

[mistressmaryquitecontrary]

"Hurry!" Mary says, sticking her head round the side of the stable.

"Ingress, the roses just bloomed - you must come and see!"

Re: Fortify yourself with contentment, for this is an impregnable fortress.

[once_a_queen]

Susan Pevensie, once a queen and once a resident of the House of Arch, sits on a hay bale near Ingress. She's sewing something of purple and white.

It's something for the birthday girl.

Her needle pulls up and pushes down, and she smiles.

Re: Fortify yourself with contentment, for this is an impregnable fortress.

[bloodyrockgod]

There is the sound of a guitar, playing something low and sweet. The notes dance in the air like soap bubbles, bursting with sound against the walls, the bales of hay, even Ingress's nose.

Re: Fortify yourself with contentment, for this is an impregnable fortress.

[smallestopener]

Ingress should clean Megwyn's hooves. You have to make sure all the pebbles are cleaned out.

A friend taught her how a long time ago.

Only... she can't find her. This should worry her, but she's not concerned. Not yet.

Not all is as it seems

[smallestopener]

Out by the lake, Ingress scans the water for Mr. Julia. It’s hard to see because it’s dark. She hasn’t been out by the lake at dark before, so Tom must be close by. Or Door. Neither are. It’s quiet out here. Ominously so. She only hears the lap of water against the rocks. It’s not a good quiet, and she remembers the warnings she’s heard over the years – don’t talk to strangers, be careful, come home straight away, there are things in the dark that will take you away, take your mother, your father, your brother…

She is frightened, but Ingress, Lady of the House of Arch and soon-to-be Herald, does not let fear stop her. She lifts her head high, hefts her sword, and begins to walk towards the far-off lights in the distance, skirting the shore.

It seems a very far way to the safety of those lights.

Re: Not all is as it seems

[it_has_teeth]

The wind stirs eddies in the water, whorls and ripples that grow deeper with time. Deeper and --

Brighter.

A fin the size of a sail breaks through the surface, sudden and swift and arrowing straight toward the shore.

Toward Ingress.

And a voice rises from the water too, cool and dry and dull as death.

(It has teeth in it.)

"Well met, little Opener, little Herald-to-be. Shall you choose, at last, to venture out for a swim?"

Re: Not all is as it seems

[smallestopener]

As she backs away from the robed man, a shadow looms on her left. Ingress raises her sword, gritting her teeth. Her heartbeat quickens, and even though she knows-

this is just a dream

-that she need not be scared, she's afraid.

"Go away," she calls out.

Re: Not all is as it seems

[smallestopener]

Her sword raised in her hand, Ingress scatters the shadows, yelling as she does.

Momentum is a funny thing, though. Once you get going, it's hard to stop. Even in dreams.

Someone is in front of her. She stomps her feet into the ground, trying to slow her progress, but the ground seems to tilt. She slides until she stops herself by sitting down, hard, and she 'oofs' out a breath.

"I nearly ran into you. But I stopped in time."

Re: Not all is as it seems

[anthy-rosebride.livejournal.com]

"Once upon a time," says Anthy, "there was a princess who was very sad, for her mother and father had died. Before the princess appeared a prince on a white horse."

She's standing in a garden of red roses, but the rose in her hands is white. "Have you heard?"

Re: Not all is as it seems

[smallestopener]

The lake sounds like a river rushing far underground. Fog rolls in, and old cobblestones appear under her feet.

This is Milliways. This is the Underside. This is home.

It doesn't make things any less frightening or the lights any closer.

Re: Not all is as it seems

[smallestopener]

Ingress crosses the bridge, and while the shadows draw in and her borrowed torch dims, it does not go out.

On the other side, she finds herself by the lake again. There are clouds in the sky, dark gray against black, and she shivers.

Where's Megwyn? She should be with Ingress. But she hasn't been able to find her all this time. She thought the butterflies would lead her on, but they aren't in sight either.

As she looks around, she hears a strange, rasping flutter above her. It is most decidedly not a butterfly. She looks up, and from those looming clouds burst bat-like monsters. Some are large, some are small. They descend on her, shrieking, as she fumbles for her sword. Her fingers are slippery. They can't get a grip on the hilt. And the monsters are coming!

Green grow the rushes, oh

[smallestopener]

Ingress runs through a forest. The trees stretch high above her head, and golden sunlight filters down through the green leaves. It’s lovely here. Lovely and cool, and she’s not frightened any longer.

She’s never been in a forest quite like this before, but she knows the path to take, threading though the pine needles and crushed leaves, her hands reaching out to touch the rough bark of trunks as she passes.

Re: Green grow the rushes, oh

[ofthatantet.livejournal.com]

There's another girl moving through the woods; a few years older. Not a lot. She looks tired, but less scared than she was once; almost hopeful. Her hair is long and straight and dishevelled, and her face is tracked with tears. She's barefoot, legs scratched, wearing a t-shirt like a dress. There's a rip across the back, and she's bled.

She's got something tight in her fist, as she stumbles through a sort of doorway made by two silver trees.

[last-heraldmage.livejournal.com]

A man in Heraldic whites, his dark hair threaded with silver, leans against one of the trees. Vanyel appears to be engrossed in tuning his gittern, but he looks up, unsurprised, as Ingress approaches.

"This is an old grove," he says, twisting a peg. "As old as Valdemar. Or older."

Re: Green grow the rushes, oh

[honest-johns.livejournal.com]

The path winds through a stand of tall green pines, and the space underneath them -- not a clearing, but a wide gold-lit carpet under the trees themselves. The canopy of heavy branches dips low enough to just barely clear the head of a young girl, or to hang a cool awning over a seated adult.

There are two, here.

She knows them.

Alain is cross-legged, his back against a pine trunk; he has a cigarette, and an easy half-smile that broadens at Ingress's approach.

[smallestopener]

Her eyes open.

It's morning, and sun is streaming in through her bedroom window.

Ingress, Lady of the House of Arch, Opener, and future Herald, is awake. She stays still a moment, wisps and snippets of her dream whirling in her head. She'll never remember all of it, but she'll remember a surprising amount - enough to know that she is loved and she is strong, and she can do anything with a little help and a lot of bravery.

She hurtles out of bed, her feet hitting the cool wooden floor of her room.

::Megwyn! You won't believe the dream I had!:: she mindsends as she runs out the door to the stable.

It will be quite the story for an eleven-year-old to tell.