001 ⚘ dream recording

[skyglider]

Sender: Link
To: Everyone
Subject: Passive dream recording (Ghosts of the Past)
Warnings: Memory loss, spooky stuff, light implications of character death
[aaaand have some background noise if you wanna make it worse]



In the darkness, a voice, hollow and indistinct, several tones and cadences laid one over the other like a collage. Few phrases stand out, but the ones that do come through clearly.

"t𝓱Ｅ 𝓬𝓱𝐢𝔩𝓭 shows much promise."
"It's a h̢̲̤͋͑̑̉u̷̗͓̼̖̬̺ͬg̡̦̬̰ͨ̈́ͭę͖̲̺͔͚͖͛ responsibility."
"... 𝐻𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒸𝓊𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝒻 𝑒𝓃𝑒𝓇𝑔𝓎, 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓎 𝓈𝓂𝒾𝓁𝑒 ..."

[Those who stumble upon this dream will find that it has a quality of indistinct blurriness, like a photo out of focus, or perhaps a very old memory. Details are fuzzy to nonexistent, but you can see three figures outside of a house in a small, quiet village: two smaller, blonde, and one larger, broader, towering over both of them. You feel at once a particular emptiness; you are supposed to know who they are, but you can't place them. It's the feeling of forgetting something important, but being unable to place what that might be.

The smallest figure, long-haired and sporting a white dress, fiddles with a small patch of garden. The other figure might look a little familiar, to those who have met Link, though if you can believe it he's even smaller than he is now. He and the taller figure are currently engaged in some sort of practice match with wooden swords; the adult occasionally offers a note of encouragement in a deep, gregarious rumble: "Much better! Careful now-- watch your flank! Good." Clack! Clack-clack! The wooden swords crack against each other over and over as the match continues. The smallest figure chimes in again: "Don't step on the flowers, brother!" The details become even more nondescript as the practice match goes on, but eventually, both figures fall back onto the ground, breathing heavily.

As the dream carries on, you come to realize that Link himself is standing nearby, watching this just as you are. Unlike the subjects of the dream, he's sharply in focus. The smallest figure flickers, and then appears in front of the place where Link --the one watching the dream-- stands. She retains the same fuzziness even up close: her face, age, even her clothing is an indistinct blur. She looks up at Link, whose eyes widen.

"When are you coming home?"

Link seems conflicted: in moments, he seems almost shocked, as if he's seen a ghost. In others, it's as if he doesn't recognize this figure at all. He searches for words and grasps nothing. Something flickers; it's hard to tell whether it's the blurry figure or your vision, fading in and out of darkness.]

You can't help but feel as if some time has passed, as if it's been a long time since you first heard those strange voices.

"𝐻𝑒 𝓃𝑜 𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓇 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒹 𝐼 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉 𝓂𝑒𝓉. 𝐻𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓁𝓎 ṡ̯̱̾͠p̤̬̜̮̻͍ͧ͝ę̹̟̣͇͎ͪ̇̚aͪ͏̯͖̱̮̦̼k͖̰̭͚̦͖̼̘̈̽̈́́s̵̺̰̪̞͕̔̑ 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝓂𝒾𝓁𝑒𝓈 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓇𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓁𝓎. 𝐻𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝑜𝓊𝓁 𝐼 𝓀𝓃𝑒𝓌, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝒹 ..."
"Our ϝυƚυɾҽ is in h̀̓̒̔͏̠͖̜͔̳̻̤̠i̢̬̝̲ͧs̨̙̲̬̟͉̦̾͒ͬ ̡̼̠̫͇̭̜̘̤́͋́̊h̢̗̼ͪǎ̸͍̘̝̰͙̤̼̋͗ń̦͇̖̹̖̆͡d̹̫͕̘̦͕͐̔̚͜ͅṡ̴̗͎͇̮́͆̿ͅ ̖̝̘ͪ͒̃͝ͅn̗̦̮͖̭̋͞ow."

[Figures flicker back into existence, a dim light in the darkness. Five new figures now join the three from the first part of the dream, surrounding Link. Even the ones that are smaller than him seem to loom ominously overhead, bearing down, staring with eyes that don't seem to exist. Or perhaps they do, beneath the hazy film that masks the figures' details. They seem to expect something from him, but it's hard to say what.

Somewhere deep beneath layers of confusion, this dream begins to generate feelings of anxiety, of emptiness. Of a loss that means everything and nothing all at once.

"Have you really forgotten us?"]

"He can't f̡̤̤̩͕͋̄ͫâ̴̳̺ĭ̧͎̺̮̦̝͈̘͓ͤl̝͉̩̩ͪͩ̎ͭ͟."
"ɖɨɖ ɨ օռƈɛ have a ϝαɱιʅყ?"
"How do you m͖̞ͯ̅͠o͓̰̞͎̣͚ͣ̏͑̿͞ͅu̵̞͚̠̭̣̻͆͗͌ȑ̟̼͖͙̻̜̗̣̾͞n̜͚̙̏̔̇͛͢ someone you have ṋ̸̹͙͈͓̲̭̝̐̉͒o̡̟̯̤͎̙͆ͅͅ ͎͔̪͒ͭ͌̅́m̰͖̺̤ͬ͘ẻ̦̭̥͇̳̼̩̖̔ͩ̓͟m̯̞̩̄̕ỏͬ҉͚̙̱͍̼ͅȑ̵͈͖̭̠̫y̹̮̻̼̖̽̒̍́ͅ ̿ͯ̓͛҉̣͈ǒ̹̬͚̟͡f̢̞̲̥̊͂̀?"

"H̰͚̘̠̻̤̭̱͂̽̈́͜e̺̠̤̱̟̰ͦ͠ ̜̫̝̞ͫͪ͡m̶̗͕͙̽ṵ̷̰͍̲͈̳̍̆ŝ̵͓͙̤̜̣̙͕͌̑ͦt̊̔ͬ҉͙̠͕̲̲̪̞̺ ͖̪̟̝̑͘n̷̰̣̑̍͊͋ͅo̳̲̙̼͗͊ͣ͜ẗ͉̝̜̞̜͎̮̅ͧ̃͘ ̦͇͙̯̙̬͖̯̄́f̡̤̤̩͕͋̄ͫâ̴̳̺ĭ̧͎̺̮̦̝͈̘͓ͤl̝͉̩̩ͪͩ̎ͭ͟."

[Like an old film, the image flickers, and then fades. This is how the dream ends: slowly, gently enough to leave a residue of anxiety and regret.]

Comments

[skyglider]

[Link puts pen to paper but it still takes him a little while to figure out how to respond. There's something particularly uncomfortable about feeling like he's in the spotlight like this, something that leaves him feeling raw and exposed. For someone who doesn't normally talk about himself, it's...a lot.

There's also the word friend echoing around in there -- a word he's never been quite used to.]

Thank you. [Somehow that doesn't feel like enough.]

I'm not sure what to say. How to explain. It's hard to process.

[refire]

It's okay if you haven't figured it out. There's a lot of things I don't have answers to either.

Just take the time you need. You'll get there.


[ Link's confusion is only natural. Alphen offers a sympathetic look as he's writing a couple messages back. ]

I believe you'll come around. Besides, you're really strong. Last time I saw you fight you had some seriously impressive moves.

So I don't think you'll give up just like that.

[skyglider]

[Perhaps it's the slow ebb of the dream's influence that makes him doubt the truth in those words. It's hard to say, but something about them sticks with Link. You're strong. He tries to be, of course -- as far as he can recall, he always has. But...]

What do you do when strength is not enough?

[Perhaps that's what he's been afraid of all this time.]

[refire]

Stop to consider things carefully. It won't do you any good to rush ahead.

There was someone important to me who taught me that. I'm just sharing what I've learned.

[ Zephyr was a really good teacher. Alphen still listens to his advice whenever he feels lost. ]

[skyglider]

[What Alphen says makes sense. If strength won't cut it, then you have to use your wits. Being patient, being thoughtful...admittedly, neither is his strong suit, not when it comes to action. How much grief would he have been spared if he measured his actions as much as he measured his words?

... Did he ever have someone to teach him lessons like that?]

I'll remember that. Thank you, Alphen.

[refire]

It's advice that I'd better use more myself.

It's too easy to get caught up in everything and lose sight of the bigger picture. Well, I figured what matters is how you act in the present.

Even smaller things have meaning.

[ That's what he believes anyway. Link might think differently. ]

[skyglider]

... Yes. I agree.

[How you act in the present. It's funny, isn't it? In Hyrule, he felt very...free of the past, in that way, despite the quest he was undertaking. So being here, having to face the things in his past again...it's easy to get caught up in it, he supposes.]

Perhaps I've been caught up in the past too much.

[refire]

It's good to take a step back and look at things once in a while but you shouldn't lose sight of what's important.

I didn't really have much of a past to dwell on or so I thought. You see I was suffering from memory loss and my senses were off.

[ Alphen's memory still feels so dodgy even if he's remembered plenty of things by now. ]

[skyglider]

[It's a moment before he responds; this time, not because he doesn't know what to say but because he's so surprised. In a roundabout way Link knows there must be other people who have gone through something similar to what he's experienced, but he didn't think he would encounter that here.]

That sounds much like what happened to me. I've regained some of my memories, but...only more recent ones.

[The struggle is r e a l]

[refire]

[ Too real and too relatable. Alphen wonders if losing your memories is just a thing that happens the longer you stay in this weird dream world, but he shrugs off the passing thought. ]

Were you happy to have your memories back? Sometimes they're not all good memories. I can only imagine how hard it must have been for you.

[skyglider]

Yes and no.

[It's complicated.]

They are important. But sometimes they feel like they belong to a different person.

[refire]

You too?

Sorry, it just sounded a lot like what I went through. My memories just left me more confused and I didn't know what to do with it. Frankly. I'm still trying to figure things out as I go along.

We have to keep going even if it's hard.

[skyglider]

I understand. The person with no memories and the person who has them...they're not the same.

[At least, that's the best way he can think to describe it. Without the burdens of long-forgotten duty and failures, he had become a little more open. Less quiet. Remembering the way he used to be...puts him in a difficult place.]

Yes. There's no other choice, when you have something you must see to the end.

[refire]

It's not an easy thing to describe but you might be right. It's like you feel disconnected from everything and can't sense yourself.

For a while my senses weren't working right either. I couldn't feel pain.

Do you have anything else that feels off?


[ He's just getting more concerned! ]

[skyglider]

Ah. No. I feel plenty of pain.

[skyglider]

... That must have been difficult. Not knowing when you're injured.
My memory troubles are linked with old injuries, in a way, but I haven't noticed anything else off.

[refire]

It got so bad sometimes I didn't even know when I was knocking on death's door. If people didn't tell me when I got hurt I would have had a really bad time.

So it's just your memories and nothing else feels off. Does your body feel like yours?

[skyglider]

Yes. I can imagine. It would be important to be very careful.

[......................and honestly Alphen he's not getting a "careful" vibe from you]

I think so. How would one know?

[refire]

I still have a lot to work on there. Law still thinks I'm being too reckless and Kisara agrees with him.

That's a good point. When I first woke up I didn't know anything.

I didn't even know my own name. I wonder if you were able to remember that much before.

[skyglider]

Law and Kisara...friends from home?

I was awakened at first by a voice calling my name. If that hadn't been the case...it probably would have been the same for me.

[refire]

Of course they are! There's Law, Kisara and Dohalim. Shionne used to be here and I really miss her.

She's someone important to me.

You heard a voice calling your name. There must be a significance behind that.

Are there important people in your life too?

[skyglider]

That sounds like quite a party. [He doesn't mean like a "join my party!" video game mechanic, but I sure do.] I'm sorry. I hope you see her again soon.

Many of them have passed, but...yes. The voice I heard -- belonged to someone like that. Someone I wish to protect.

[refire]

There's someone you want to protect too. We all need someone in our life.

Thank you, I know I'll see Shionne again. I just have to be patient. If I can wait a while longer I'll return to her side. I only knew my name because I was with her. So I owe her more than I could ever say with words.

I just hope we're going down the right path. It's easy to feel lost.

[skyglider]

I understand. It's the same for me, in a way. It was my duty to protect her. I failed, in the end, but...she saved my life. I have much to make up for.

[Tied together by fate. Perhaps their circumstances are different, but he's grateful to know someone else understands.]

I believe we are. And any movement is better than staying still.

[refire]

I'm sorry for your loss. There's no deeper sadness than losing someone you hold dear.

You don't need to be too hard on yourself. Just try to learn and improve as we go on.