It had been an eventful day for Ayako, what with the talk with Shizuku, the healing ritual in the evening, and the rumors of attacks. When the Crab turned in for bed, she fell asleep quickly.
She found herself walking through a village, Shizuku at her side. The village lay within the walls of a beautiful mountain fortress. It was incomplete just yet, but it wouldn't be long now! She could feel it in her arms.
Literally.
she was carrying a massive stone block on one shoulder and dragged multiple on rope behind yet. Yet she didn't feel tired and they only felt like a little weight. She grinned down at Shizuku. "Want a ride?" She nodded cheerfully and Ayako found herself scooping her up in one arm and putting her on top of the stone cube on her shoulder before continuing upward.
The dream moves forward, and suddenly she's on top of the fortress, setting the stones where the masons had already laid mortar. they were the final stones she needed to complete her new home, Shiro Ayako. It would be the start of her new home and family. She and Shizuku stood together, looking out over the green valleys and stark peaks, smiling.
It didn't feel like a dream - it felt close, within her grasp. Like a future. But there was no way she could do it with her own two hands. Not without something... more.
Of course, no one could build a castle entirely on their own, no matter how strong they were. Ayako looked about and saw the carpenters and builders and other workers who had labored to rebuild farmhouses, so long ago in the village where Ayako and Shizuku had met. Yukara, Naraku and Sora were there, too, hauling building materials and serving hot stew, just as they had before.
It had been a good feeling, doing honest labor and working as a team to repair the farmhouses. It seemed only natural - in Ayako's dream logic - that they had worked together to raise Shiro Ayako. That was what had been missing, Ayako decided: the people, the friends, who had worked together to build something that would last.
Shiro Ayako would be the newest and the best of all Crab strongholds!
The dream ends, leaving a lingering warmth - for Yukara, Shizuku, Sora, the villagers who had joined her - when she wakes. Whatever happened, she had the friends she made along the way.
Crab Clan • Samurai • Great Destiny • Directionally Challenged • Dreaming? Status 1.0 • Glory: 3.5 • Exceptional Honor carries: heavy armor, masakari, daisho, biwa
