The realm of mist

[Sinbad]

Sinbad had been hoping for something reassuring. All of this, this place, everything, was so strange and unsettling, so remote of what he was used to and where he felt strong that he had hoped that she would say something ... else. Why he had hoped so he didn´t know because her eyes told everything about what she thought when it came to this place. That it wasn´t real. But this agreement with him, just like his earlier urge to deny her, seemed to fuel a stubborn hope, turning it yet into another direction.

He scowled slightly, taking in what she said and the sadness in her eyes made him feel horrible. Made him want to do something, anything, to make that sadness go away. He knew nothing about places like this, nor about the meanings of dreams. To him they were strange, fading things that he could never truly grasp. But if this was a dream, it was different from his usual ones. And whereas his thoughts briefly drifted into the horrible direction that if this was a dream, Maeve was a part of it, was just a figment of his imagination, his mind torturing him with the illusion of her presense, he decided to abandon that thought and try to get some hope from it.

"But if that´s true." he said, having to gulp before he trusted his voice enough to speak, "how does that make it unreal?" He shook his head slightly, his gaze drifting away for a moment but fixing back on her when it found nothing but fog. Unreal fog. But she, she seemed real. Was she real? "I know I am real. If you tell me you are, I will believe it." Of course this was no guarantee, it was merely the desperate attempt of a man who was far more used to things he could prove and touch than things mystical and magical. He preferred proof. Even though, if Maeve was really just part of this dream, he knew, he would believe her anyways, no matter what she told him.

[Maeve]

Maeve felt her throat tighten and found it hard to swallow at the sound of his words. She realized that he was so lost and so confused about everything, that he was putting all his faith and his hope and his trust in her. The sorceress became dangerously aware that he would blindly believe anything she would say and it terrified her. A huge pressure was now heavily weighting on her shoulders and Maeve knew she had to choose her words very carefully, for Sinbad’s sake. Attempting a small reassuring smile that didn’t reach her eyes, the redhead started slowly. “Of course I’m real. We’re both real.” Then the little improvised smile she had tried to put on faded. “But we’re both dreaming.”

Then, suddenly, something occurred to her and she felt uneasy. An old switch seemed to turn on in her head as she realized they were still holding onto each other. But now that she knew what this place was all about and that they were both really their own respective selves, and not just some mere fragments of their dreaming imaginations, their closeness rendered her nervous. Therefore, ever so slowly she detached herself from him, instantly regretting it as a dreadful coldness seized her sharply. Fighting to ignore it, Maeve brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to capture the warmth they had just shared. The sorceress made sure to stay a simple step away from him, within arm-length, fearing the fog might take him away at any second.

When she was able to focus properly again, she went on, glancing at her surroundings as if to confirm what she was saying. “If I’m right, this is The Realm of Mist, a place where the spirit sometimes meanders when the body is asleep.”

[Sinbad]

For a moment, Sinbad had to fight the urge to raise an eyebrow at her, wondering what it was that made her step back from him all of a sudden. Then he knew. If she had drawn the same conclusion he was struggling to draw right now, she had realised that he, too, was real. Which explained her sudden uneasiness at physical contact which of course she was now trying to play down. Even though he had never admitted it, he knew her better than she guessed, having studied all her typical little things in her body language. Playing with her hair was one of these little signs. And he knew what it meant.

However, ths small smile that had almost formed on his face at the realisation that she had apparently not changed at all when it came to these things never appeared on his face, because reacted just like he usually had. When she stepped back, so did he. Old habits died hard he thought, calling himself a coward. Another voice interjected, insisting that this wasn´t of any relevance now.

He watched her for a moment before slowly bending down to grab his sword. He didn´t dare look down into the fog as he did so, fearing that once his eyes lost focus, so would his mind, therefore his eyes followed hers, looking up at her for a moment while his fingers felt for the hilt. Then he straightened up and put the blade back into the scabbard, the soft sound of leather against metal muffled by the everlasting mists.

"So this is...a magic place then?" he asked, daring to look around a bit but glancing at her from the corner of his eye. If that was so, this opened up more questions, one of them being: had she managed to get the both here?

[Maeve]

When Sinbad bent down to pick up his sword, Maeve couldn’t help but watch him from the corner of her eye as well. She realized that he had seen right through her, yet she wasn’t able to decide if it bothered her or not because her mind drifted to the fact that he too, had detached himself just as she had. This was just like them. One minute, they could be very intimate and caught up in a highly emotional tensed situation and the next, their pride and cowardice would kick in.

At that, Maeve tossed him a sideway glance and couldn’t help but smile at their respective stubbornness. They hadn’t seen each other for half a year and now that they were face to face, stranded in a place they didn’t really comprehend the extent of, they were still pushing each other away. Shaking her head almost imperceptibly, sadly amused, she didn’t let her eyes linger on him for too long and returned her gaze to the fog, remembering he had just asked her a question.

“Aye.” Maeve nodded. “But it’s nor good nor evil.” She added the last part thinking it might reassure him to know that the realm held no threat, since she knew he was probably on his guard. And, truth is, she didn’t really know what else to say. At this point her knowledge was limited to where they were and the redhead had yet to come up with an answer as to why exactly they were there.

[Sinbad]

She didn´t keep his gaze for too long. Another thing that was typical about her and another thing that he had missed about her in the last months as he admitted to himself.

The area around them, if one ignored the fact that everything was veiled in these strange fogs, seemed kind of stable, meaning that he no longer had the fear that everything could dissolve in the next second. He still kept watching her cautiously, trying to make it not too obvious of course, but the fear that she could fade before his very eyes at any second faded a bit as time passed on. If there was something like time here, that was.

He gave a nod at her words and allowed himself a wider look around. Mist. Them. Nothing else. That was still kind of weird, even though encountering something weird when it came to magic was nothing that should surprise him. "So..." he said, not entirely sure what to make of this situation, but starting to wonder how all of this worked. Why they had ended up here together. Who had caused it. Her? Well, certainly not him. He knew too little about magic for that for sure. If it had been her that was... interesting. If not, it meant that it could have been someone else. But who? And was that other someone here as well? But at least for now they seemed to be alone. "...then it´s not too bad, isn´t it?" The mist was irritating of course, but the question of course wasn´t meant with regards to the landscape and he knew that as he uttered it. It was a testing question, just like he was still trying to find his way around here. Only this was testing in another way.

[Maeve]

Maeve could sense that something was bugging him; she could read it on his face. After all, she too, could sense that something wasn’t right about the whole situation and she simply hated not knowing what she was up against. And as much as the sorceress restlessly tried to remember any clue Dim-Dim might have given her during his teaching, she couldn’t recall anything about the strange mechanism of the foggy realm.
Then, as she tried to shrug off the dizzy sensation her spinning mind was giving her, her mentor’s words echoed in her head: “The dreamers themselves are the only ones responsible for ending up in the mist.” Maeve frowned thoughtfully, pondering the statement’s implication. Then, she and Sinbad had brought themselves here on their own without even knowing it. That meant that it was their doing and theirs only, and not someone else’s cruel set up as Maeve had originally believed.

Feeling she ought to inform her captain on what she had come up with since he seemed as troubled as her, Maeve’s thoughts were interrupted by what he said next. The sorceress had always been mesmerized at how easily he could regain his composure and quickly attempt to see the bright side of any situation, but since she hadn’t seen him for quite a while, his almost sly question caught her off guard and Maeve couldn’t resist raising an eyebrow at him “Compared to what?”.

[Sinbad]

The look she gave him for his simple question was one that he knew all too well. A look that told him that he was supposed to be careful and yet it was reactions like that that had so often gotten him into a daring mood - ending up in situations where he had probably just been an inch away from having one of her slightly disoriented fireballs up his butt. Just that look, eyebrow slightly raised as if she didn´t trust his question to be as straightforward as he had uttered, and in this case also as he had intended it.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, at the first moment slightly confused (and mildly bemused) at her reaction before he gave a barely noticable shrug. "Well," he said, drawing out the word. "compared to some weird place with sea monsters or other evil things around each corner. After all, I can hardly see a thing here, so knowing this place is...neutral,... is good." He wondered what this place really was. If this was a sort of dream world, who controlled it? Or what? Neither good nor evil, well, that sounded fine for starters but still, he wondered if that could change. The thought kept him on guard, just like he usually was when entering new territory. Not overly much so, but even if he could accept that he was just dreaming, his instincts had a word to say in letting down his care completely. Especially since he was not alone and didn´t just have himself to look out for. Of course he didn´t say that.

[Maeve]

For a brief moment there, Maeve felt like she was back on the Nomad, having a simple and care-free chat with him. Their exchange just now, as short as it could be, brought the reminiscence of the old times and made her realize just how much time had passed since she had left and how much she missed the crew and her life aboard the ship.

But Maeve quickly shrugged off the nostalgia, her eyes finding the floor for a split of second right before wandering to the mist once again. Her gaze pierced the hazy veil thoughfully “At least we don’t have to worry about someone hiding amidst the fog…and pulling at the strings.” Growing fidgety all of a sudden, the redhead started pacing a little, making sure to keep Sinbad in her sight, still fearing he could dissolve at any time.

Knowing that they were completely alone and that they were the only ones to blame for being stuck in the realm was frustrating the Celtic sorceress to no end because the simple fact that they had been the ones to lure each other here unconsciously betrayed too many thoughts and feelings that Maeve wasn’t ready to face yet. Having someone else to blame would have made things a lot easier.

[Sinbad]

With every passing moment, Sinbad was more certain that this was indeed her, not just part of a dream that entirely sprang from his own mind. The way she talked, the way she showed little signs of uncertainty (and which he was mirroring without being aware of it), the way she rephrased what he had said only to say something instead of keeping silent or saying something she didn´t want him to hear - that was Maeve as he knew her. That knowledge felt good and he stiffled a smile.

But then there was another thought, the same thought that had kept his senses alert all the time, the same thought that caused his hand to never stray far from his sword belt. "Yeah..." he said, glancing over to her again. "unless there´s something we don´t know. Talking of strings, you have any idea who got us here?" There was the possibility after all that someone had lurked them here. It wouldn´t be the first time someone walked into a trap and even if this was a dream where no one could get harmed really, there was magic involved as he sensed and that of course pressed the limits of what was possible and what wasn´t. And there were quite some ideas that he could think of in a moment about who might come up with something like this, setting a trap like that before something else happened.

[Maeve]

Maeve kept on pacing, aware that he was watching her and aware that he could sense she knew more about their whereabouts than she was letting it show. Truth was she was still trying to sort out how on earth they could possibly have worked their way here on their own. It didn’t make any sense to her. Her being stuck in an alternate dimension, him sailing the world on his ship; they were millions of miles away from each other. How had it come down to this? She was simply unable to come up with any logical magical explanation whatsoever.

Her thoughts were interrupted when he spoke, causing her to stop her restless walking. Maeve realized that her mind had run ahead of her as she sensed the slight confusion and uncertainty in Sinbad’s voice. A sad smile appeared on her face as she lowered her head for a moment, thinking about how to break it up to him that the answer to his question was them. She opted for the simplest of way. Slowly turning her head to him, she locked eyes with his, her voice unwavering and calm. “We did.”

[Sinbad]

Sinbad had not expected that kind of an answer and for a moment, his composure slipped, his mouth dropping open, but since he was at a loss of words, let alone being able to drop a smart remark, he just closed it again after a second or two. Us? That didn´t make any sense. At least not immediately, but he blurted out before his rationality was pushed aside by what he knew deep inside?

"What?" There was a faint chuckle of disbelief in his voice. That, too, didn´t echo. Nothing did here. "But I don´t even know what this place is or how to get here. Didn´t you say that´s a magic place?" His voice betrayed confusion. And that confusion, mixed up with everything, the fear, the joy, the disbelief and the slight tinges of uncertainty ran deeper than he wanted to admit to himself, reaching right into his heart, not his mind.

[Maeve]

The sorceress watched him as bewilderment and perplexity appeared on his face. She had anticipated his puzzled reaction, but she didn’t have time to predict what he would say. And so, when he spoke, confusion coloured his voice and even though Maeve knew the whole situation was hard and complex to sort out, especially for someone who had no basics in magic, the last part of what he said irritated her.

“It is a magic place, sailor.” She hissed, taking a step closer to him, the little fire in her chest flaring up like it used to when she would argue with him, such a long time ago. She didn’t really know why, but something in his formulation sounded accusatory to her ears, as if he thought she had something to do with all of this, and that suspicious non-trustful tone bothered her.

Standing right in front of him, the redhead looked around them and went on agitatedly, letting out some of the frustration that had build up inside her since she had arrived here on him. “And I don’t know how I got here either! Or how to get out for that matter!” Bringing her fiery eyes back to his, Maeve remembered how it felt like to bicker like this. How nice it felt.

[Sinbad]

Bad move, Sinbad thought, realising too late that his words must have sounded as if he was accusing her of being responsible for this ... whatever it was. He insisted on not calling it a mess. The last half a year had been a mess compared to this if anything.

"I was just stating a fact." he said, raising his hands slightly in what he believed to be a calming manner, trying to show her that he didn´t think it her fault. For him, imagining that he was responsible for triggering something ... magical was similiar to imagining that he could fly. He was no sorcerer after all and wrapping his mind around the idea that he needn´t be one to let something like this dream happen was something that took a bit longer, so, as so often when around her, he spoke before he had thought things through properly. Then his thoughts caught up with his words and he interrupted himself before he could get himself deeper into trouble. He probably was already, as usual, even though he didn´t have a clear picture about why she was glaring at him.

It was obvious why they were here and somehow even he, without any deeper knowledge (or even basic knowledge, to be honest) of magic, could add one and one and come to the conclusion of how this had happened. Because they had wanted this ... The thought made his heart beat faster. And yet he didn´t know how to deal with that knowledge.

[Maeve]

Maeve’s glare softened a bit as he retreated. Strangely enough, she was almost disappointed he hadn’t replied something arrogant that would have kept on infuriating her, because the angrier she could get right now, the better it would be for her sake since she was dangerously beginning to understand why their spirits had lured each other here. They had both wished for this. They were yearning for it. They needed it.

That thought made the redhead nervous and edgy. She was not going to deny that deep inside she had wanted for this to happen for a long time, but knowing that unconsciously, her inner desires had actually been able to reunite her and Sinbad scared her. It was like losing control over everything at the same time, especially over herself, and Maeve was having a hard time coping with that.

The sorceress, feeling she couldn’t hold his gaze any longer, turned her back to him, muttering to herself. “Whatever…” She ran a hand through her hair, wondering how long they were going to be stuck here and how long she was going to have to endure her heart throbbing in her ears. Glancing at the snaking fog, she sighed. “Perhaps there’s a way out somewhere…We just have to find it…” But deep down, even though she wouldn’t admit it, she didn’t want to find the exit. She didn't want to leave. Not yet.

[Sinbad]

He watched her, closely, again trying not to make obvious that he could barely get enough of simply looking at her. He hadn´t been able to do so for too long and the faint dream images his lonely mind had come up with had been too blurry to focus on. Maeve´s words, even though her eyes told a different story, gave him a strange feeling in his chest and he tried to distract himself from it by looking up and around and nodding slowly as if pondering what she had just said. "Right..." he said.

A way out? Even though he didn´t completely feel at ease in that place, that was the last thing he wanted. He wanted to tell her that he wanted to do anything but leave. That he would rather stay here in utter Nowhere than anywhere else right now. And he hated the coward inside him that kept his mouth shut about it. That coward was never there around other women. Another thing that bugged him.
"Even though..." he said, pretending to try and orientate his way around. "since this is a dream, I guess we will find our ways out sooner or later anyways." No need to waste energy. Or even worse: what little time they might have. The strange feeling in his chest stayed.