Residue of Sorrow

(ooc: Wow, that's one hell of a dream!)

It takes Arren a moment to realize that he is dreaming as the parade of familiar faces speaks to him.

Carmelo, Emma, Bryn…

Wait. Is that Ummi? So does that mean she's talking to…?

He quickly turns around because, as much as he despises that person, he cannot help wanting to see his face. Unfortunately, the motion is met with the sudden pain of a ceramic bowl smashing straight into him. His last thought before everything fades to black is that his mother is really strong, and that he has never seen her that angry before.

But waking up is not the end of it, apparently. Mydri appears next. But no. That braid is unmistakable. That is not Midry. But, who is Miyako talking about...?

Waking up and Leaving Lory's Hostelry brings him a brief sense of peace, but not for long. That voice again, when he was not even seeking it this time. Arren turns back, and is very surprised that the honeyed voice has finally decided to show herself.

A very tall woman — the tallest Arren has ever seen — stands before him. Her hair is black streaked with white, though not with age. She appears neither young nor old, but strangely timeless. Her hair is impossibly long as well, soft waves falling all the way to her ankles. It moves constantly, as though stirred by some invisible breeze that touches nothing else but her.

The woman is dressed in black, though not a flat or lifeless black. The fabric catches hints of deep green, purple, and silver beneath the shifting light. The dress clings tightly around her chest before flowing freely from the waist down, moving together with that same impossible breeze, and Arren cannot quite tell what it is made of. Are those raven feathers? Wisps of smoke? Or shifting shadows given form?

Arren watches her silently for a moment before finally meeting her grey eyes.

"And yet, you told me to think about flowers. Lots of flowers," he says. "Did you truly not expect I would summon her?"

He exhales and shrugs faintly. What does he really have to lose by speaking to this woman? This entity. This… whatever she is. Perhaps, at the very least, he might finally learn something about the meaning behind these dream visits.

"Fine," he says at last. "Let's talk."

Arren does not waste time asking who she — or her sister, for that matter — is. She will either tell him, or he will learn it himself eventually. For now, he simply wants to hear what she has to say.