A Twisted Dream [POV=Max]

[Sky]

I slowly sit up in my bed, stretching sleepily and rubbing my eyes before glancing around my small room. A dreamless night, the first in a while which is a lot better than the usual nightmares. It’s nice not having to wake up screaming for a change. I smile to myself and look up when I hear the soft padding of paws on the rough stone floor.

“Good morning Kenya.” I say cheerfully.

“G’morning Max, sounds like you’re in a good mood today. One of your rare dreamless nights or are you just happy about something?” The young Serval, basically a cat about the size of a house cat, but don’t tell her that unless you really want to anger her, asks as she jumps up onto the bed next to me. Her voice sounds as irritated as ever, though I don’t understand why she is always in this mood. Maybe it’s just the fact that she has to put up with Sabre, King Falkor’s saber-toothed cat and her “arch rival.”

“You could say that. After I change out of my nightgown I think I’ll take a walk through the garden.” Kenya opens her mouth to say something but I hold up my hand to stop her, “I don’t care how cold it is or who is out there. Holly always makes sure that it is beautiful no matter what time of year it is.”

The cat sighs and nods slowly in understanding. “I gotcha, I will join you then. Anything to lighten the mood that this dreary castle gives off, who knows, maybe I will actually enjoy the time outside.”

I laugh and push the cat playfully off the bed, “Oh come on you little spoil sport. At least Acerbus Umbra has better décor than my room back at the arena in Celestial City.”

“I didn’t know you at the time so how would I know?”

“Good point, you can just take my word for it then.”

“Fair enough.” Kenya shrugs and walks out of the room. At least if you call what she did a shrug, do cats call it something else? I sigh and stand up, stretching momentarily before walking over to my dresser to grab my clothes. I grab my warmest clothes and look longingly at my only dress hanging in the room. It had been years since I last had a reason to wear it. I sigh and change quickly. I step out of the room and turn to head towards the garden.

As I walk down the hallway I spot Holly, the healer who has been bringing me back to health for close to a year. Something off with her though, she doesn’t seem to be acting like she normally does, she is acting a little tipsy. I approach her and smile cautiously, “Good morning Holly, how are you this morning?” I ask, not really wanting my suspicions to be true.

“Morning Max. Just feeling a little sleepy and dizzy is all.” I lean away from her a little in surprise. She does reek of alcohol which is definitely not like her. Holly never drinks, ever. I step around her lightly and quickly walk down the hall, wanting to get away from Holly.

“What’s with her Kenya, you would think I just woke up from a dream world or something. Next thing you know Sabre is actually not going to hate you.”

Kenya lets out a huff of laughter, “Yeah, that’ll be the day. Let me tell you, if she actually got along with me then-“ Just then my eyes widen in surprise as Sabre seems to come out of nowhere and lick Kenya.

“Morning Kenya.” I gape at the cat as it walks off, not even trying to harm Kenya.

“Okay, since when do I get greeted like that? Is this a new torture device she has devised?” Asks Kenya miserably, her entire back now soaked from the big cat’s tongue.

“Well, at least she was right on cue.” I say teasingly to my young companion. I laugh as she lets out a huff of air and walks off, now thoroughly irritated by a combination of my teasing and the unexpected lick from Sabre. I laugh lightly and walk after her. “Oh come on Kenya, can’t you take a joke?”

“Not when something like that just happened. I mean really? Come on! You don’t just change that quickly and then ruin our conflicts. Often times teasing that big cat was the only fun I could find.” I sigh and shake my head, waiting for her little tantrum to stop.

“You done yet?” Without waiting for an answer I start walking again, quickly coming to the entrance hall where King Falkor and Countess Roxanna were just coming out of other hallways. “Uh oh, here come the daily fireworks display from the bickering siblings.” I sigh and stop, not really wanting to hear this but at the same time wondering why the insults hadn’t started flying around, instead they were approaching each other like civil people. “Okay, Kenya I hope you see what I see, or am I just going crazy?”

“I see it too, are those two finally going to make up or something?” Kenya asks, rolling her eyes knowing how unlikely her last statement is compared to the day we have been having. First a drunk Holly, then a super friendly Sabre, and now this, what is going on? I shake my head and look at the two approaching each other, hoping they both draw a knife so at least something will seem somewhat normal. My eyes widen when they suddenly embrace each other and speak.

“Good morning Falkor,” says Roxanna in a not so hostile voice.

“Good morning Roxanna,” Falkor replies, also without the usual hostility.

“What is going on here?! You two hate each other!” I yell and run past the two. I vaguely hear one of them ask what my problem is but I ignore this. I run out to the garden and run straight into Dire, King Falkor’s other companion which just happens to be a huge dire wolf. He instantly spins on me and growls warningly. I back up a few steps, surprised by his aggressive behavior. Dire has never growled at me like that before. I can’t even remember him ever growling at me at all in the past.

“S-sorry Dire, I didn’t see you there.” I say, backing up slowly and slip back into the castle. I hear him growl again and look up to see him jumping at me. I cry out in surprise and cover my face with my arms, squeezing my eyes shut waiting for the impact while I slowly back against the wall.

When it doesn’t come I slowly open my eyes and move my arms. I blink in confusion when I see that I’m back in my bed, Kenya at the foot of it. I sit up quickly and look myself over only to find that only the usual scars and a few small cuts from my nightly thrashing about are present. Kenya looks up at me in surprise, taken off guard by my sudden waking. I shake my head slowly and swing my legs over the side of my bed.

“Well....that was an interesting dream.” I state simply, standing up and changing quickly while ignoring Kenya’s confused stare. At least now that I’m no longer in a dream I know what to expect from people. Though maybe I’ll tell Sabre about the licking thing. IT would be hilarious if it actually happened.