Advent Prompt 5

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Bifrost Janger
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Advent Prompt 5

Postby Bifrost Janger » Sun Dec 05, 2021 9:48 pm

The dream catcher was a trap; a small and lacking one. Bif did not know who had planted it in the corner of Jam's Ana; above the chair in which he slept. But he noticed its appearance in the cluttered room as soon as he entered.

Bold of you, Dream catcher, to assume that any dream of mine can be caught. My dreams are too big for your net. My dreams cannot be contained. My dreams are vaster and wilder, than for what you have been built!

So, Bif did not pay the dream catcher any mind. He slept beneath its twine without care. And for what it was worth, the boy was right. His dreams were too big for such a humble catcher. A fishing net, like the sort carried by seafaring boats, would be more apt a tool for capturing a dream of Bif's magnitude.

Though the little catcher did feel Bif's dreams. Some of them moved through it as gently as whispers. While others were loud and riotous; punctuated with Ogre-shouts and the bright colour purple. Some, wept in grey and shady blue. Lust was pink and hazy. But the love of Bif was forever orange and warm; a hue darker than his tawny hair.

But it was always as the lad promised; too big to be held.
Fear is a strange soil. It grows obedience like corn, which grow in straight lines to make weeding easier. But sometimes it grows the potatoes of defiance, which flourish underground. - Terry Pratchett

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Blythe
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Re: Advent Prompt 5

Postby Blythe » Mon Dec 06, 2021 10:47 pm

The dream catcher hung over his bunk at Stryfegorge Fortress. It was a gift from his bondmate, to keep him protected while he rested there - often too exhausted to make it home after long turns training and fighting or doing other commander-y things.
But after so many turns, even this expertly woven dream catcher found that its tangle webs were full. So full, in fact, that not even the peaceful dreams could wind their way through to drop softly on his slumbering head.
The spiders came along, as this was their calling, to untangle as much as to weave the webs, and carry away what the dream catchers held.
The silvery threads turned black in places with the terrors laced within them. Dreams of demons and dark fortresses were held tight with sweat and fear. Many of the small creatures feasted on the nightmares and they grew larger and larger for each one they consumed. Their own protective shells growing harder because of it and their mandibles sharper, clacking just a bit louder and more viciously as the raw power filled them. Each nightmare that hung in the web fueled their hunger for the dark powers. The humans panic, insecurity, anger, and fear were just some of what they thirsted for.
Oh yes, this one had the most tasty nightmares in his dream catcher. The spiders came in droves. They each wanted a turn at devouring the tainted webs that remained invisible to human eye.
It wasn't long before the dream catcher was emptied of his nightmares. The spiders, much larger now and with a hunger to hunt, fled before sunrifter rose.
He could continue to rest peacefully and once again enjoy the peaceful dreams of happy days that seemed to have disappeared in recent turns. The dream catcher would continue protecting him from the terrors that haunted the dark corners of his mind. And the spiders would wait for their next feast, growing ever larger and more voracious for what humans had to offer in their webs.
I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am :D
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Turcko
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Re: Advent Prompt 5

Postby Turcko » Sun Dec 12, 2021 10:16 pm

“Here uncle Argoth, hang this over your bed to keep the bad dreams away”.

Argoth picked up the dusty thing from its support and recalled the turn that little Ivan had offered it to him. A smile made its way to the aging face of the man, a rare sight indeed.

He looked at the sealed bottle of wine on the small table of his sparsely decorated room. This brought back far darker memories, of darker times.

For the hundredth time he felt the pull to grab it and open it. For the hundredth time he resisted, tightening the grip on the dreamcatcher a child once gifted him, many years ago.

With care he dusted it, each passage of the silk rag bringing back different memories.

The turns helping the trainers by polishing swords and armors, feeling useless.

The nights looking for the bottom of glass after glass.

The family he never had.

The dark emptiness of meaningless turns, and the demons lurking in the corners.

But then, as his task was done and the dreamcatcher looked as new again, he returned it to the support over the bed and smiled again, feeling lighter.

He shook his head, sending all the dark memories back into the depths of his mind, and remembered what mattered.

The turns training when an old man took up the life of adventurer.

The nights healing the wounds of his fellow adventurers, or praying in the temple and feeling the warmth of the God’s blessings.

The family that found him, not by blood but by fate.

The feelings of duty and valor while fighting demon hordes to defend those he cared about.

And the pure, genuine smile of a little boy, like a grandson to him, as he uttered words that were truer than he knew:

“Here uncle Argoth, hang this over your bed to keep the bad dreams away”.
Turcko, Falx Monde, Ivan Monde, Argoth

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