Paths
Anna took but a moment before she nodded. "Yes, I do."
The Guardian offered a precise nod in return and then strode across the room, shifting a workbench out of the way with one hand to expose a stretch of wall.
"What are you doing?" Anna asked, glancing at the door.
"The doorway leads to adjacent parts of the Dream, places with similar associations. To get to Obsidian through there you would have to seek her out by association and the intensity of her presence. To travel directly from this part of the Dream to Obsidian's focus, there must be a stretch of Dream with the right associations. Something representing the idea of moving from one place to another and skipping those places between. I shall find such a Dream and rearrange connections for a moment so you may step from here to there."
Space clear, the Guardian spun Crescent Rose once more and activated the flowing blade of light just long enough to strike a glowing slash through the wall. An outstretched hand prompted the gap to widen. Yellow light filled the space too densely to see if there was anything beyond it.
"Proceed. There should be a path evident," the Guardian said, voice tight with effort.
With a final glance at the Guardian, hand still raised, Anna took a breath and stepped up to it and in.
For a moment there was light everywhere, and a sound like the ringing of metal on metal but drawn out.
Then the light cleared and Anna was standing on a platform that looked technomagical. Looking out further, Anna's eyes were drawn up to the most incredible view.
Islands. Floating islands.
Enormous, suspended in the sky. The platform Anna stood on was on a cliff overlooking the ground and clouds far below, slowly drifting past. Other islands floating in the distance like titanic blue and green jewels, dotted with white buildings that were all spires and curves. Water flowed off the sides of some of them, seemingly never running out.
This couldn't be real. What was it?
Anna spent a long moment taking it all in before she turned back to survey the island she was on. It was quite small, perhaps a mile long. A worn furrow in the otherwise verdant expanse of grass led away from the platform she was on, and she could see another platform in the distance.
A path.
Anna set to following it. Wind brushed through the grass and her hair as she walked, and the other islands gently bobbed up and down relative to the one she was standing on, suspended by whatever force kept them aloft.
It did not take long before Anna was at the steps to the next platform. She was about to begin climbing when a voice behind her made her nearly jump out of her skin.
"That way is the black wind."
She whirled around. "What?"
A blue haired boy held close a cat with pale purple fur, and looked at Anna. He was certainly not there before. "The black wind from that way comes. You should choose another path."
Anna looked at the platform before looking back, only to have to turn to find the boy somewhere new. "What's the black wind?"
"The black wind heralds change. And death. You should not go."
Anna closed her eyes and focused on feeling. The power she'd felt so strongly when the Frozen Flame activated had been around her all this time, a slight pressure and taste to the air. It was stronger here, and it seemed to be gently nudging against her Aura from the direction of the top of the platform, as if she dipped her hand in a stream.
She opened her eyes once more, and this time the boy was in her way on the steps. "I'm sorry, but I need to go. That's where Obsidian is. She needs my help."
"Then I will stop you," the boy said, raising his hand. In that moment the cat reacted, clawed feet pushing off the boy's chest with a yowl followed by teeth sinking viciously into his arm.
Anna wasn't sure what was going on, but she needed to get past and she knew an opportunity when she saw one. "Thank you!" She shouted to the cat as she raced past, the boy struggling with it as it clawed and bit.
When she reached the top of the platform solid yellow light enveloped her once again, with that strange sound like ringing metal going on and on until the light cleared and she was elsewhere.
It was twilight, nearly dark. Around her was a twisted forest of dead trees and barren soil, only the slightest hint of a worn path underfoot leading onwards. Off to her left she heard the faint sound of waves crashing against a shore. Anna found herself ducking instinctively as the great red wings of an enormous wyvern beat once overhead, gliding in the same direction as the path into the distance. From somewhere off in that direction flashes of colored light from the ground illuminated the clouds above.
Off in the trees around her she thought she could see the occasional red glimmers of Grimm eyes moving.
"Oh hell."
What should Anna do?
[] Choose Speed - Tapping Aura can make a person very fast and nearly tireless, for a time, even compared to the Grimm. Outrun the Grimm of the dead forest and follow the path as quickly as possible. Anna will arrive quickly, but leaning on her Aura so heavily will likely leave it quite low when she reaches her destination.
[] Choose Stealth - Forests are good for keeping out of sight. Anna has a good chance of getting to her destination without drawing attention thanks to the ample cover and the distraction of whatever is going on there. If all else fails she can always abandon stealth and run the rest of the way. Moving unseen will take much longer however, and she'll arrive later to whatever's going on.
A/N - Special thanks to
@Qwertystop for betareading this chapter.
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