[Indigo]

On the plain between Aldrect and the Whisper Forest, among various other interesting things, there is a winding road between the two places which isn't often travelled. Near the halfway point of this road is a small, fairly old-looking house. It is a simple place: Two stories, unpainted wood, a large front porch and good-sized windows. Its owner, a Dreamsnare Yonyuu called Aramique, or Ara, at this point in time walked back inside from meeting with her friend Kartossa K'laing and closed the door.

Kartossa sat down in an old rocking chair on the porch near the steps and looked out at the dusty road. She sighed and pushed up her glasses. She was waiting for a friend by the name of Coralinda, who she had met recently at Terrace Park. Ara had asked for both of them to come out to her house in order for her to explain an important situation which they would all have to work together to deal with. Trouble was, Ara wouldn't explain until both Cora and Kartossa were present. Hence the waiting.

She sighed and stared at the distant trees of the Whisper Forest. Perhaps someday Ara would tell her about that strange place.

{21-31}

[Wolfie_Barrow]

What... was she doing here? She had no memory up until this point, and as she sat up and looked around, she realized that she had no idea where she was. She looked around and realized that she was sitting outside a house, and that Kartossa was sitting outside as well.

"Kartossa!" she called, scrambling to her feet. "Can you help me? I don't know where I... where we are..."

She glanced up at the house. It felt... magical. Like something big was going to happen. She took a deep breath. "Why was I brought here?"

[Indigo]

Kartossa leapt into the air, wings open, as if prepared to fight, then relaxed when she saw Cora. "We're at my friend Ara'sh housh. She has shomething important to tell ush. She told me she shent you a letter; didn't you get it? How elsh would you have known where to come?" She shook her head and pushed her glasses up her nose. "Never mind, that'sh not important. Come in!" She flew through the door, assuming Cora would follow.

The first room anyone entered in Aramique's house was her library, or at least it contained part of the massive collection of books that lined the walls of her house. Scattered around the room were various tables, random books, and lamps with stained-glass shades. The floors in all her rooms were wood, but in this room as in most others a large, round maroon rug covered much of the floor. In the middle of this rug was a fairly large round table scattered with books and maps. On one side of this table was an old-fashioned sort of armchair, and across from it were two more of these chairs, but smaller, all three in different colours. Kartossa landed just inside the front door and padded over to seat herself in the smaller chair on the right, assuming Cora would sit to her left.

After a few moments of waiting, Ara entered the room from a door behind one of the twenty-odd bookshelves lining the walls. She seated herself in the larger chair. A large pale purple rat perched on her shoulder, his paws, tail and nose a darker purple, the insides of his ears a shimmering silver. His enormous, luminous eyes were robin's-egg blue, the left one ringed in periwinkle fur, and his whiskers were skewed. He looked at the newcomers with interest. As he opened his mouth, Ara clamped one paw over it.

"Sorry," she laughed. "It's just that he gets the syllables all out of order, and then I have to explain. This is Rupert. Say 'hello', Rupert."

Rupert tried one more time. "Llohe."

Ara laughed again. "I'm Aramique, but you can call me Ara. Of course, Kartossa already knew that. Do you know anything about why you're here, Coralinda?"

{22-32}

[Wolfie_Barrow]

Coralinda shook her head. "No, I know nothing." She first glanced at the rat, and then she gazed at the room around her, amazed at how many books there were. She wished she could have a room like this.

Her eyes traveled back to the rat. It reminded her of the Cheshire Cat from "Alice in Wonderland". That had been one of her favorite books as a child. She would make it a point to call Rupert the Cheshire Rat...

[Indigo]

Ara smiled. "That's about what I was expecting. Kartossa can't have told you anything about it, of course, since she knows just as much as you do: nothing. And any answer Rupert gave you would have been unintelligible. Therefore it falls to me to tell you what I'd like you to do. Now, this will probably take up a lot of your free time, since my story is quite time-consuming. Do you still want to hear what I have to tell you?"

Kartossa nodded and nudged Cora. She wasn't going to miss whatever this was; what little of Rupert's response she'd been able to decipher had sounded intriguing.

"Very well. About a month ago, I was attempting to improve my horrible cooking skills when there was a mysterious knock at my door. Of course, all knocks are mysterious until you find out who's on the other side, but I wasn't expecting anyone. People rarely come out here except to see me. Naturally, I opened the door, and an extremely bedraggled Gyrraptor stumbled into this room, since, of course, it's the room the front door opens into. He seemed very confused and panicked, so I offered him some not-particularly-well-made soup, because it's good for calming people down in my experience. He told me some very strange things while he was there. Apparently some sort of 'evil spirits' had stolen most of his equipment while he'd been in some forest or other, and he'd lost the rest on his way out.

"Now, I'm not superstitious in the 'evil spirits' way, but I have some experience with the otherworldly, as you can see. After the Gyrraptor left, I did some studying. I own books about spirits and dreams, and of course, I have my friends. I summoned a dream of a horse made of fire, known as Klinker for some reason, and I discovered the truth about these so-called 'evil spirits'. You see, there are two rather nasty spirits, well-known in the world of dreams. These spirits, a sister-and-brother team called Kweet and Thwawreath, have somehow been released from their realm and into this world, and are now wreaking havoc in various places. My last report from Klinker reveals that they are currently attacking explorers in the Tengel.

"This is where you come in. There are two unusually-coloured pets in one of my other rooms, a male and female; each has agreed to be a receptacle for one of the spirits. The female will take Kweet, the male Thwawreath. The spirits will take over these bodies and be imprisoned in them by means of these." Ara held up two green glass bracelets. "Each of you will take one back to your home, and he or she will live a mortal life thereafter. I have chosen you two because Kartossa can see spirits and Coralinda is a witch, and therefore the boundaries between worlds are thinner for all of us. Once you agree to help you cannot back out. Any questions?"

Kartossa shook her head. "I'm willing to do thish."

Ara smiled. "Good. Coralinda?"

{23-33}

[Wolfie_Barrow]

Coralinda swallowed, unsure of herself. "I'd... be very willing, but..." She took a deep breath. "I'm not the best witch in the world."

And that was the truth. She'd only been studying for about five years, which was nothing compared to those witches she idled. She was just a novice, in reality, but if Ara really wanted her...

Then she'd do it.

She nodded firmly. "I'll do it."

[Indigo]

Ara waved a paw vaguely. "Oh, I don't know. You must be a pretty good witch. You certainly caught Kartossa's attention. Oh, and there are things I can teach you about dream magic. But now, I think, is not really the time. Here, take these." She handed each of them a green glass bracelet. Kartossa examined hers. On closer inspection, it appeared to be shaped like a centipede.

Ara cupped her paws around her mouth and called, "You can come in now!"

Kartossa watched as the male pet, the one who'd agreed to hold the spirit called Thwawreath, came up to her. He was a Piyo, and indeed very odd-looking. His left eye was green, his right pink. His feathers were white with light brown spots, one forming a ring around his left eye. His beak and legs were a goldenish colour. His hat was a dark olive, with greyish-green trim instead of white. He smiled at her. "Hello. My name is not important, since I'll soon be host to Thwawreath anyway, but it's a pleasure to meet you, Kartossa K'laing."

"Nishe to meet you, too." Kartossa smiled and turned the bracelet over in her hand.

{24-34}

[Wolfie_Barrow]

Cora stared down at the tiny but thick green glass band in her hand. She looked up but didn't see any other pet, and at first she thought something had gone terribly wrong, but then she saw something small and dark coming towards her.

She dropped down on her knees to see a Snicky slowly making it's way towards her. She let out a tiny squeal before biting her lip- she'd wanted a Snicky for as long as she could remember. This one was dark green with a black shell that had small white dots covering it.

"Hello, Miss," it said in a squeaky sort of voice. Cora picked it up, receiving a squishy popping noise as it left the ground, and put it in her hand where she could see it better.

"Hello," she said.

[Indigo]

Kartossa was deep in conversation with the Piyo. He claimed not to really have a personality, which was why he had been willing to let Thwawreath take over his body. Personally, she didn't buy it, but if he wanted to be self-deprecating that was his choice. It wasn't as if she'd have to put up with him this way forever, anyway. She'd be exchanging this for...

...a troublemaking spirit.

Right.

Ara clapped her paws, and Rupert scrambled up to sit on her head. "Should go get weing," he suggested. Ara laughed at his clumsy attempt at speech and nodded. "Yes. You four, follow me." Kartossa and the Piyo followed her outside, assuming Cora and her Snicky would do the same. There was a stagecoach waiting outside; Ara was old-fashioned in some ways. Kartossa and the Piyo boarded together, but Ara stood and waited. She wouldn't give the signal to go until everyone was aboard.

{25-35}