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

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

blue_ajah

The purple light is augmented by a golden glow as a woman gowned in blue steps forward to join them.

Moiraine's gaze is fixed on the attack from the sky as bright fire flashes from her fingertips, but her demeanor is as calm as ever.

"Courage, child," she advises. "Keep your focus; you will do well."

From:

smallestopener

One of the small monsters plunges from the cluster and dives at Ingress' head.

When Ingress was a toddler, her mother and father took her with them into the Chislehurst Caves. They upset a bat colony, and the bats screeched and flapped around them. Ingress began crying hysterically in fear, and she wouldn't stop until her mother rushed her home to the House of Arch. Ingress doesn't remember this, but she remembers the fear.

Ingress squeals and ducks, her hand covering her head. She nearly drops her sword.

From:

not-only-wisdom.livejournal.com

"Light, girl," comes the acerbic voice from her right, a whip of fire dancing from Nynaeve's hand and incinerating a few of the creatures.

"You'll never be a Herald if you can't keep your head and your sword. Come now. With me."

But did she say Herald or hero?

And does it really matter?

Edited Date: 2010-06-03 02:54 am (UTC)

From:

smallestopener

Nynaeve's voice cuts through Ingress' fear. She grabs her sword and stands, swinging wildly.

She still hasn't gone back to a controlled form, but she's not as afraid now. The monsters keep coming, but some are repelled by the light.

From:

taishar_malkier

"Watch your stance, girl." Lan's voice is level, flat, business-like. She's heard this tone of correction dozens of times, if never before pitched to cut through the din of battle. "You're leaving yourself open."

He's yards away, a blur of steel and camouflaged shadow, whirling through forms with the deadly grace earned through years of survival and war. A handful of bat-monster corpses are already scattered around him.

From:

smallestopener

She takes a deep breath and pulls herself into Moon Rises Over Water, her sword sweeping up. The blade slices through the neck of the monster shrieking towards her.

While there are many corpses littering the grounds, the one Ingress strikes turns into black dust.

She hits one after the other, over and over, until her arms start to ache. She's barely aware of the strange sounds she hears over the ever present din of the monsters.

From:

lastgunslinger

It's not the first time there have been bat monsters on the Milliways grounds, nor the first time a coalition -- a tet, if you'd like -- has formed to fight against the things that come from out of the blue, and into

( consign you forever to )

the black.

"Canda," says the gunslinger with the shooter's eyes and the white at his temples, in Cort's dry teacher's voice, "is the distance that assures that outnumbered gunslingers cannot be killed by a single shot."

Shooting one-handed, he is, reloading, with that peacemaker with the sandalwood grips, glowing and golden as soft sand, as late-summer light in the Maine woods, and she'll have no trouble hearing him over the sound of thunder. "Never the same distance in any two situations, my dear." There: the faded blue eyes snap toward Ingress, catching and holding. "Keep thy head, and thy head will keep thee."

A spare second, in which Roland passes close enough to press his three-fingered hand to Ingress's shoulder -- "And con thy vantage." -- before whirling away, firing, head high and eyes cold.

From:

smallestopener

Ingress remembers this man, vaguely, but she knows him the moment he touches her.

Gunslinger

That's what he said. That's what he is. Like Eddie, like Susannah, Cuthbert, Alain... She's known so many of his kind. They've helped her, by their presence, become this brave girl with a heavy sword and aching arms.

Tiny monsters, their sharp teeth biting, graze her head again. Instead of being afraid, Ingress is angry.

"ORIZA!!!" she screams. She has no sharpened plate to throw, but she has a slingshot in her hand. It's much lighter than the sword, and it's a relief to heft and aim and shoot.

The pellets of steel take down each of the monsters she hits. Still they swarm, a dark cloud over the lake.

This is a nightmare, after all.

From:

not_that_spike

"Yo." He's there as always, leaning against... hell, nothing at all, just giving a damn good impression of leaning against something a lot more substantial than it is, smoking like there's no reason not to. And really, he can't think of a good reason not to smoke but... yeah. He's her teacher, or one of them.

Time to fucking teach; he quotes his mentor at her, reminds her of one of the things he taught her pretty damn early on. "Do not be tense, just be ready, not thinking but not dreaming, not being set but being flexible. It is being wholly and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come."

No laugh escapes -- those are Bruce Lee's words, not his -- but he does smile in her direction and it's all casual with him. All casual all the time, because that's the best way to catch an enemy off guard. "Those things up there? Nothing but another damn nuisance. You know how to move around them. You know how to get rid of them." Sure, he could do it for her but what would be the point in that? It wouldn't be a lesson. It'd just be showing off, and how the hell's she going to learn if she doesn't do?

He's there if she needs him -- like hell he'd leave anyone he cares about to fight all alone if they weren't capable of doing it -- but he'll just give her one more piece of advice.

"You're better than they are. Kick some ass, and you'll have one hell of a story to tell later."

Still, he takes the ready stance. Just in case.

From:

smallestopener

The funny thing about scary dreams is that sometimes you can find pockets of calm in between the frightening parts. Spike is all about the calm.

Ingress breathes in and out, as she listens. She tries to let the anger flow away. Anger can get you in trouble. That's one of the first lessons she's learned well. Anger and fear - they stop you from being your best, from listening to your heart and your mind.

"Okay," she says, and she nods her head. Spike has her back. The Aes Sedai and the warriors have her back. "I'm going to kick some serious ass."

She loves telling stories later. She can do this.

The bat monsters are swarming around Mr. Julia. His mighty tentacles take out as many as can be caught, but she has to help him.

From:

white_flowers

Laughter floats through the air, high, thin, and chillingly cold.

"Such a brave girl you are, cariad. Such a pity."

She's a bright shadow within darker shadows, the whiteness of her cloak and of the yarn tangled in her bone-thin fingers a stark contrast to the clouded air that surrounds her.

"All will fail and be lost, you not the least." Silver needles appear in her hands, and she slices them through the yarn with a sharp slash better suited to more traditional weapons such as knives, even though these blades are no less deadly.

Blodwen laughs again, and smiles a poison-sweet smile at the blue-haired girl.

"Such will be the fate of all who seek light, in the end."

From:

smallestopener

Ingress wheels around at the sound of Blodwen's voice, and she sneers.

She forgets Mr. Julia's plight.

"Shut up. Shut up. You're the liar. You're always the liar."

She advances on the woman, her sword raised. There are few creatures Ingress truly hates. Blodwen is one of them. The anger wells up inside her, and, as she'll learn the hard way, easily distracts her and clouds her judgment.

Before she can close the gap between them, something bright and white rushes in front of her, coiling and writhing as it dispels the shadows.

Blodwen disappears, and Ingress turns her head to see the man with the frightening face under the black hood. The man with Tom's voice.

From:

young_tmriddle

Tom lowers his wand as his Patronus, a king cobra, fades away. He tugs his hood from his head.

"Little one, you were born with the light in your heart. You've known its glow longer than I have. You shall not fail."

Another cloud of bat monsters whirls down to attack them. Tom casts repelling charms and hexes, bringing several down.

"Go, Ingress. You must."

From:

smallestopener

She nods and turns to Mr. Julia once more. How could she have let Blodwen trick her into forgetting him?

The giant squid is flailing under the claws and teeth of several large bat monsters. Ingress sees him coil a protective tentacle around a smaller squid. She can't tell if it's Raspberry or one of the other babies, but she knows she has to help him.

Only it's so hard to cut a swath through the oncoming monsters. The lake seems quite far away.

From:

cutting_edgex23

A slim, swift figure darts by, all sharp claws and brutal efficiency.

And silence.

Always silence.

At least until she turns, a splash of bat's blood on her cheek.

"Tired is not relevant. They are. It is important not to forget."

Beat.

"Or you will always have to remember."

She leaps then, the claws in her fists and feet flashing so brightly as she launches herself back into the fray.

Edited Date: 2010-06-12 03:37 am (UTC)

From:

smallestopener

Ingress wishes she could fight like her. She's getting closer to the shore, but Mr. Julia is still under serious attack. She is much too slow.

"I'm coming to help!" she calls to him in between thrusts and twirls. "I'm coming, Mr. Julia!"

From:

ellectrical

There's enough lightning streaking through the sky to make one think that a storm had abruptly swept up upon them. But no thunder rolls with it, only sharp cracks and sizzles, and high-pitched shrieks as the arcs strike the bats in the air.

Elle's long hair flashes in the bright blue light she casts up into the sky. She doesn't slow, or hesitate, not even as sparks snap at her shoulders and the bats swipe too close for comfort.

A particularly strong surge of electricity lights up Elle's face. She smiles at Ingress.

It's not an entirely pleasant smile.

"And really -"

She turns at the sound of an incoming creature, striking it head on with another arc. It also shrieks, and falls aside.

"It's not as hard as it looks."

From:

smallestopener

This is not a time for pleasant smiles, and Elle's does not worry Ingress. She pauses only long enough to gape at the arcs of electricity clearing more monsters in her path to the water.

It's beautiful, Elle's power and how she uses it. She wonders if she knows.

When Ingress faces the water again, several bat monsters block her path, hovering and chittering with rolling eyes and red maws.

Her sword is gone. She sees Mr Julia waving a tentacle protectively in the air. Behind it, a large purple butterfly wobbles in the night sky, its curly eyelashes batting rapidly in the face of the giant bat monster bearing down.

Oh, no. If the giant monster gets the butterfly, she'll never find Megwyn. But the monsters before her are terrifying, and she has no sword.

She feels for her slingshot, for her crossbow, for anything to help her. She only has a dagger in her boot, but it's a tiny tool in the face of the wall of horrors before her. It will have to do.

From:

oneman_onevote

Tiny or not, a tool is made to be useful.

It just depends on how you apply it to a given situation.

With a hoarse scream, one of the creatures lurches in mid-air and drops writhing to the ground, sending the others into a brief flurry. From the other side, Havelock emerges from the shadows far enough from Ingress that the creatures have to split their attention or ignore one of them.

One hand calmly indicates for Ingress to raise her dagger as he draws out a small hand-sized device, flicks off the safety catch, and fires at a second.

As it turns out, a good flanking manouvre and a concealed horsebow are a pretty good tool, too.

From:

smallestopener

Her teacher's silence is, somehow, comforting. His distraction is even more so.

Ingress wields the dagger, slashing at the wall of beasts before her. Some have gone after Havelock, and her other friends, she reckons, but there are still plenty before her.

Before too long, she closes her eyes with each thrust of her blade. Her wrist hurts, and the black blood from the monsters coats her arms and splatters her face. They are no longer puffing into smoke as she kills them; their bodies flail messily about her.

It's horrible. Horrible. She wants to wake up. She can't do this. She can't save anyone.

Edited Date: 2010-06-16 02:46 am (UTC)

From:

river_meimei

"It's okay."

River's voice is gentle; somehow, it manages to carry over the shrieks and thuds and squelches anyway.

Black blood has spattered River's pink dress, streaked down her arms and legs and clotted in her hair. Whether there's red blood there too is hard to see in the shadows, but River's still moving swift and tireless. Somewhere she's acquired weapons, a ragged sword and a one-hand axe, and in spite of the mess her grip on them never slips as she spins and kicks and slices. There's a moment, now, when she kicks out high behind her, that her eyes meet Ingress's, and she smiles, small and sweet.

"Do the job, mèimei. What needs doing."

From:

smallestopener

River has cut a path through the monsters. Ingress can see through to the other side, and that, plus River's calm exhortation, keeps her moving. She hacks her way past the barrier, and she makes it to the waterside. She stops a moment, panting for breath and trying to figure out what to do next.

Mr. Julia is barely keeping the giant bat monster away from the purple butterfly, which is losing altitude. This battle is close to shore, but high in the air. How can she do this job?

She sets down the bloody sword and takes her slingshot out, and a steel ball from her pocket. She aims and fires.

The ball plops into the water after arcing up and out over the lake. It was a fine shot. A slingshot simply does not have the lift to hit the monster in the air.

Ingress frowns. Oh no.

From:

stillbecoming

Buffy's on the other side of the mass of wall of monsters, too, swinging a red Scythe like she's trimming hedges.

"Balls," she says, ducking under a clawed limb, "are overrated as a combat necessity."

There's a hot pink crossbow in her other hand; then there isn't anymore, because it's flying through the air toward Ingress. "You have weapons."

From:

smallestopener

Ingress catches the crossbow and smiles fiercely at Buffy.

"Thanks!" she calls out to her.

Wow, Buffy has a cool weapon. She wishes she had time to watch her in action.

Ingress turns to the task at hand. She pulls back the bolt, aims, but - just before she fires - the bat monster dodges past Mr. Julia's tentacles.

She lets the bolt fly, and it strikes the bat monster in the eye. It's not soon enough. The bat monster's talons descend upon the butterfly, clutching hold and shaking it in its grip.

The butterfly tears apart and bursts into a hundred fluttering pieces. Ingress covers her eyes as the bat monster plummets into the lake. She wasn't in time. This is terrible.

When she opens them again, the lake is quiet. Mr. Julia is gone; he's back under the water, hopefully. There are hundreds of small purple butterflies hovering around her.

Maybe not all is as it seems. Maybe she didn't fail.

Even if she was successful, she doesn't want to stay here. It's dark, and she's cold, and she can't see anyone. The butterflies flutter off into the direction of the forest. Ingress plods after them. She's so tired.

From:

treading_dawn

As she walks the light grows brighter (or maybe it is only that her eyes are better adjusted) and the number of butterflies --

Does it double?

Triple?

The air, at least, has grown incrementally warmer, and the smell of honeysuckle and violets fills the air.

"Be welcome, Opener," says the Lion, voice deep and rumbling and warm, mane flashing tawny-gold in the ever-increasing light.

"Though you shall not linger here overlong."

The next time pays for all.

But that, of course, is another story, and shall be told another time.

Here and now --