To Walk Through a Dream Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven With Wavering Footsteps Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Stone Song Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three A Tale of Winter Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Destiny Inescapable Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Epilogue The Cycle's Continuing Beginnings Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Two Spirits Akin

[A/N: This story is set to take place after "The Tale of a Dream" and "The Consequences of Taking a Walk at Night", and quite probably messes up royally any other stories written in that timeline, but consider if you will that with alternate dimensions such things can happen. My extreme gratitude to Autumn Loweck for her characters Jehan, Melisande, and Samira, as well as her artful portrayal of Clopin. I strongly encourage you to read her stories. This particular figure of Clopin is property of the modern day Disney company of which I am certain Walt would disapprove. I do not, however, condone hate mail sent to Michael Eisner. (Well maybe just a little, but I'll never admit it.)] To Walk Through a Dream By Reya Cil Chapter One .....She turned down an alleyway, the dark beast still hot on her heels. The cobblestones beneath her manacled feet were slippery with orange slime that gave off a faint luminescence and smelled like the corpses in a peasant's mass grave. Ahead of her she could just make out in the dim orange glow that the alley opened out into a square and she skidded to a halt momentarily when she saw the gallows in the center of the square where they had hanged her father when she was a child. His body hung there still before her. And she felt the black beast's claws as it pulled out another chunk of her essence as it so often did. She awoke and tried to scream, but she was too weak now. "Shhh. It's all right Rubis. Lira is here. She says you must take these herbs." Melisande bent over the woman and helped her to sit up. After she had drank the herbal tea Melisande laid her back down. She fought to stay awake, but her body was so weak, so tired. The black beast! Her eyes closed..... Melisande left Lira with her and went to see how Jehan was faring with Marya. She found Jehan stroking the girl's forehead while she slept fitfully. He looked up when she entered the tent. "How is she?" He inquired softly. "I left Lira with her. She's too weak to even talk now." "All Marya could whisper was something about the 'black beast'." He looked down at the girl. "She's so young. First Harpine, then Rubis, now Marya, and they all dream of black beasts. This is too bizarre. Who's next?" He was there in the middle of the woods, holding the box he now kept hidden. It was open in his hands and he gazed down at what was inside. A worn-out pair of gloves, his first, and a torn pink scarf. He saw a black shape lurking behind the trees from out of the corner of his eye..... Clopin awoke with a start and realized he'd actually been asleep this time. So often before he had seen Her, or the Dark Gypsies, only to come rushing back to his own tent to find Jehan shaking him by the shoulders. Too often. He roused himself and poked his head out of the tent to see how his kingdom was doing. Then the scream reached his ears. "Oiseau! Oiseau, it's all right. It was only a dream!" Moelleux tried to reassure his brother. "Beast! A horrible black beast!" Jehan stifled a groan. Most definitely too bizarre. That made four people now, and if Oiseau followed the pattern, he would grow ill and weak as the nightmares worsened. By now half the tribe had gathered around, drawn by the scream, including a grumpy, half-awake Clopin. He grabbed Jehan's sleeve and dragged him through the milling crowd towards his tent. Jehan, in turn, collected Melisande on the way. Clopin flopped down to sit on the bed, a scowl firmly planted on his features while Melisande and Jehan traded glances. He suddenly leapt off the bed and began pacing the floor muttering to himself and Jehan took his place on the bed. "Maybe it won't happen to anyone else," Melisande spoke up. A miniature figure of Clopin appeared on her shoulder, doing it's best imitation of a scowl. "How's that?" "All four of them are fortune tellers, prophets. But we don't have any more fortune tellers. Maybe these nightmares only affect them." "Dang." "What?" Jehan looked up angrily, annoyed by the puppetry he had found so amusing as a child. "Well I'm no prophet." "What!?!" The puppet slid off Melisande's shoulder as she turned and held Clopin by the arms. "You saw it too?!" The arms she clutched hung limply at his sides and his head hung, the thick black hair curtaining his face from Jehan's view. "Tell us you didn't!!" he shouted angrily. Clopin shrugged Melisande's grip off, his old energetic self once more. "Don't shout." Jehan received a thwack on the nose from the stick in the puppet's hands. He lunged for Clopin's wrist but the gypsy king was too quick for him and he ended up sprawled on the floor. You must learn to restrain your temper." Clopin said, maintaining the puppet voice. He leaned down and ruffled the blonde hair and walked out. Chapter Two