Of Dreams and Intrigue

Prologue - Dreamscape

There was nothing in sight except for a low wall standing in the middle of a vast emptiness. There was no other way to describe it, as it was unlike the darkness that was the absence of light, but rather the space between nothingness and imagination.

The young boy sitting on the low wall appeared unconcerned, his feet dangling as he watched the patterns of being swirl around his limbs before dissipating as they were left unformed. He looked out ahead, watching as shapes began to slowly form as the dreamscape began to merge with his reality, forming familiar patterns as he waited.

He stared at his hands, rough and tanned from the days working at the ports slightly amused at how so many features of his daylight appearance transferred to the dreamscape and wondered if that was true to everyone he met there. He hid a smile as another young boy joined him on the wall. There was always some reserve about him, as if he held himself tightly, controlled, wary, and watchful. He decided to prod the younger boy to see his response.
"Do you ever wonder if all this is real, and what we face when we 'awake' is really the dream?That everything that goes on in our life is just our imagination, trying to come up with ways to try us?"

"If that is the case, I think my imagination is too much trouble," his companion said, a hint of wryness in his tone.

Uravath turned to him and gesticulated earnestly. "But what does all this mean, Kora? Does that mean that this is just our imagination? Am I dreaming of you, or are you dreaming of me?"
"Or perhaps this is just as real, but different," Kora offered. "Maybe this 'dreamscape' as you so like to call it is another reality in which we both co-exist, one which intersects with our own."

Uravath chuckled as he sprang down from his perch. "Still, there must be some rules of the how and the why. And what makes us able to meet here. We don't have much in common, not really," he said, gesturing to himself.

Kora was silent before he swung down beside him, his shorter height making the distance longer. The two of them were close in age, though Kora had the features he was more accustomed to seeing in the island nobility. He was paler, like he had been kept indoors for most life, a contrast to Uravath's sun kissed features from his days working in the ports. The contrast between them was one of the things that, on the one hand, made him consider he might be just dreaming, but on the other hand, vehemently believe that he was not.

Kora shook his head as he followed him. "Aside from the obvious, you mean? We are alike where it matters. Brothers," he said, holding his fist for a bump.

Uravath looked at it before bumping it back. "Brothers," he agreed. He sighed as he watched the dreamscape form around them, hints of thoughts and messages that he knew that he may spend his days without ever finding the meaning of. He frowned as he watched a wisp of something blowing close to their corner. "Looks like something dark is coming."

Kora mirrored his concern. "Do you think we should tell the others?"

Uravath watched the wisp before shaking his head. "I don't know."
Kora moves ahead, walking down the path that formed ahead, the briskness of his pace, the only thing that showed how much the conversation disturbed him.
Uravath moves ahead to follow him, trying to catch up. Kora slowed down to let him keep apace.

"Where are we going?" Uravath asked, his eyes looking around for signs of his earlier misgivings.

"Do you remember what I told you? About myself, I mean?"

"Not much, you know. Only that your father died and your uncle is a regent for his seat on the council till you are of age."

"I think there is something dark happening. In the real world. And I think you see signs of it heading our way."

Uravath looked troubled. "What do we do?"

Kora looked at him, his heritage showing in his sharp eyes and regal bearing. "We need to find out more. And figure out what to do next."