Willow's Dream

"Tuck into bed after a long night, the scent of Vanilla-infused Cucumber Melon gracing the pillows... The taste of magic lingering on the tongue as you slip into sleep."

- Cressa Candles

He moved the copper ringlet from Willow’s pale face tucking it behind her ear. The tips of his fingers brushing the softness of her face. A small sigh escaped her lips as the tiniest smile played at the corners of her mouth. He felt her energy reach for his fingers, an oddity from a woman such as her. He was sure she had no idea what she was or what she was capable of. Cressa was right about avoiding her full awakening. Her power could be very destructive if it is tied to her emotions. He could see the other side of the coin as well, the good she could bring into the world. Cressa cleared her throat from the beaded doorway leading into her reading room. 

“Thane LJ Hopkins, what do you think you are doing? Let her sleep.” She chided the man who towered over her. Moving into the room and shooing him out of the way so she could squeeze into the small space between her two favorite velvet chairs. Pulling the crocheted throw from her personal chair she draped it  over Willow making sure her shoulders were covered. Thane watched as Cressa mothered Willow in her sleep slightly envious of how tender she was with the young woman. He ducked his head and  turned into the healing room not wanting to deal with emotions he just felt. Looking up, his visualization of reality was drastically shifted by the room he entered.

The room had tendrils of smoke billowing through it, a large table with two bandaged bodies lay in the middle of the room. The silhouette of the table being lit by a small oven burning the bottom of a blackened soup pot. Herbs hung from shelves and strings around the room. Books and bottles lined nearly every shelf that didn't have a drawer. Thane looked back at the bodies, a sharp pain twisted through him knowing the Twins lay beneath. The last he had seen of them they were beaten near to death and covered in blood. He had been out investigating the patch of woods, where Scar found them. So far, the trees and foliage had not reared any evidence. He only came back to town because Scar made him. They had been on duty the night the twins nearly died. They were the best on the team. Something had to have caught them by surprise. Shaking his head he called to Cressa, “Hey, how  are they doing?” Hearing her move closer toward him he walked into the room stopping next to the table. Antowonette’s chest lifted as she breathed and Alistair’s fingers twitched. A smirk pulled at Thane’s lips, even in their sleep their personalities were vastly different. Antowonette’s cool and calm demeanor was countered with Alistair’s sporadic and energizing attitude. Cressa came into the room and went straight for the pot. Taking the wooden spoon on the wall she began to stir it and give him a rundown on their progress.

Willow’s sleep hazed mind picked up on the voices in the other room, their soft murmurs bringing her close to consciousness. Sleep drew her in again as she began to stand, dropping the cover to her feet. To her right in the doorway of the shop a faint luminescent glow beamed towards her. Turning she walked into the cooled shop. Batches of herbs and crystals lay on shelves but the glow emanated from one the small shelves of books next to the floor to ceiling display window in the front. The glow dulled the usual visual energy that vibrated from the shelves making the herbs and crystals appear more decorative than useful. In a type of daze Willow walked over to the shelf and pulled the book. Turning it in her hands it shimmered like the inside of a sea shell or like a raw ammolite, shades of deep green, vivid purple, and midnight blue caught the light of the moon high above her head.. The cover read “Healing Magic: A book to guide the new witch Volume 1". Filigree entwined with vines and crystals trimmed the outlying edges of the cover. Everything in Willow called for her to open the book. With curiosity and caution she reached to turn the cover and open it, her fingertips gently gripping the cover. A shadow moved in the moonlight along the window edge catching her attention. 

Amber eyes framed in strawberry blonde fur met hers. The wolf in front of her was large, taking up a good bit of the window space from snout to tail. The moon's light reflected gold flecks of fur mixed into the red blonde hue. The connection she felt to the wolf taking up the sidewalk in front of her was soul deep, as though this animal in front of her was her own. Another piece of her embodied in the beast before her. Willow reached her hand out, the book all but forgotten, as she pressed her palm to the cold glass. At her touch the glass shattered and the wolf before her started transforming. A violent shaking came over her as she fully awoke from her dream state.

“Willow, Willow wake up…” Cressa was shaking her left shoulder violently as she came to. Willow jumped from the chair, the table shaking at the violent burst of energy from her bumping it. 

“I’m so sorry I didn't mean to fall asleep.” she started looking up into Cressa’s concerned face. 

“It's alright you needed your rest after helping heal the twins.” Cressa said, walking back to the small kitchenette while Willow regained her balance. 

Thane watched from the doorway. His heavy frame leaning against it. He could see the slight film of sweat that had broken out over Willows skin. Her scent causing him to have to breath through his mouth. Willow slumped back into the chair with her hands on her face. She rubbed away what was left of the sleep and looked at the table in front of her. The tea cup that she had been drinking from lay shattered into many pieces on the table. The cards were scattered across the room as though blown away from her. Cressa came back into the room.  Her eyes cast slightly above Willow towards what was behind her then back at willow. She sat down in her chair next to Willow and placed the serving tray full of tea on the table. 

“What were you dreaming, love?” she asked, pouring the tea into three cups, passing one to Willow and placing the other on the opposite end of the table. Willow looked at Cressa, fear and lack of understanding filling her eyes. “Take your time, love dreams of the nature you just had need a moment to process. In the meantime Thane,” Cressa said pointing to the chair across from Willow, '' Sit down and drink your tea you have plenty to process as well.”

Willow sipped on her tea, leaning back into the velvet head rest of the chair as her mind wrapped fully back into reality. A six foot two, scrawny, man in all black walked around her chair into view. She took note of his blonde hair and the look of sorrow in his eyes. 

“Willow, hun, are you ready to tell me why you magically bombed my tarot room?” Cressa asked an amused knowing smirk laying on her lips as she watched Willow’s level of attention to Thane. 

Willow automatically looked to Cressa and sat up a bit straighter. She cleared her throat roughly and began to tell the both of them what had happened in her dream. Cressa sat back in her hair both arms resting on the armrests as her fingers played along the wooden edge of the armrest. She appeared to be sleeping with the way her eyes were closed in thought. She took a deep breath and looked at Willow. Her skin seemed to be healthier than it was earlier that day, her hair had taken on an almost ethereal shine and volume. Her eyes seemed to call to the depths of Cressa's soul a homesick ache pulling at her chest. 

“Willow dear,” Cressa began very cautiously. She wanted to take the time to find the right words before she spoke. “Willow I believe you may be coming into your powers….more fully.” She said tilting her head to the side and waving her hand at Willow. “Your dream indicates a thirst for knowledge  as well as the ability to find it, however you may be a bit distracted by what's to come to fully focus and should tread carefully. You have a choice to make. You'll have many as you take your current path but this particular choice will decide how the first steps of your path will take you.” Cressa said in a teaching tone.

Willow took the time to process what Cressa was saying. Questions ravaged her mind. “The book exists?” she finally asked. 

“I’m not particularly sure to be honest. You do have a tendency towards healing magic but that particular book I have not read, nor heard of, in my time working energy,” Cressa replied. 

Willow finally looked at Thane again. There was a  faint scar above his right eye and a light one on his nose. His eyes were a light green with shades of emerald and gold racing through them. His jawline was strong and the profile he presented sensing her examination was that of a lost artist. She giggled in her head amused by the façade but interested in what lay beneath the calm exterior he laid before her. “What of the wolf?” she asked. Thane’s eyes automatically shot to hers, intrigue and curiosity shining in them. A small smirk played across her lips. 

“ I’m not sure,” Cressa responded, “ It may be something locked in you, a familiar, a message from the universe for you to pay attention to, or a call to your soulmate.” 

Willow relaxed back into the chair behind her shifting through the multiple options that Cressa just gave her. “How will I know which one?,” Willow asked with a child-like fear and curiosity filling her voice. 

“That my dear I do not know, only time will tell I suppose,” Cressa responded in a calm manner. 

There was a sudden loud bang from behind Willow which made everyone jump from the hard contrast of deep silence the conversation had brought into the room. Willow, Cressa and Thane all shot into the hospital room to find one of the twins had gotten up at some point and fallen onto the floor knocking the pot of healing bandages that were being soaked from the stove. Thane rushed to her side slowly easing her up and getting her back onto the bed whispering  calmly to her as he did so. Cressa went to clean up the bandages from the floor while Willow went back into the store to grab a mop.