The sun was so bright. Why was the sun so bright? Takayoshi had not opened the curtains the previous night. Even if he had, he should have risen before the sun, as he always did. Not after when it would be bright enough to burn into his eyelids. His fingers twitched to pull the coverlet up over his head, and hide from it.
"I know you're awake," a very familiar voice said from off to the side of the bed.
Takayoshi's eyes flew open wide, and then squinted closed a little at the glaring brightness surrounding... surrounding... No. Why was Cricket here? And why was he glowing? This must be a dream. "My Prince?"
Cricket smiled, and it was all sunshine, crinkling at his eyes and squishing his cheeks. It made something warm settle into Takayoshi's chest. It had been months since he had seen that smile in anything outside of his memories. Well, he supposed this counted as a memory too as it was a dream. But there was nothing well worn and faded about this memory as the others were. This one was active, alive, almost real. Takayoshi wanted to reach out and touch Cricket's freckled cheek.
There was a creak out in the hall, Cricket's head turned to look at the closed door, eyes narrowing to slits. He seemed to wait, listening to something that Takayoshi could not hear. Takayoshi held his breath, straining his ears, but there was nothing. Then Cricket's shoulders settled, and he slumped forward, head hanging low.
Takayoshi moved across the bed, making to stand. He was not sure what he would do. Would he pull Cricket into a hug? Would he touch his shoulder? Would he—
"No. Stay there." Cricket shook his head. He pulled himself up right again, taking a deep inhale, and nodded to himself.
Do dreams breathe? Takayoshi wondered.
"I just came to give you a message," Cricket moved closer to the bed, stopping just out of reach of the heavy coverlet. His hands moved to clasp behind his back, as though he were struggling to keep himself from reaching out. "A warning, really."
"A warning?"
Cricket met Takayoshi's eyes, his expression grave. "You need to leave this place. You cannot stay here."
"Why?"
Cricket's lips parted to answer, but there was another creak in the hall. His head jerked to watch the door, expression hardening. "It's not safe."
"My Prince, I—"
Cricket held up his hand to silence him, then moved across the room to the door. His steps hurried, and near panicked. The door creaked open just as he reached it, a pale face with hollows for eyes peeked inside.
"Leave him alone!" Cricket roared, shape shifting from the young man Takayoshi knew, to the dragon. Its long snake-like body taking up much of the space from the door to Takayoshi's bed. The end of its tail so close that Takayoshi could reach out and touch it if he just leaned over the edge of the bed. He did not.
The creature hissed, swiping at the dragon. The dragon slammed its body into the door, shutting it hard enough to make the wall tremble.
When Cricket returned to his human shape, his chest heaved with heavy breaths, hands fisted at his sides. "You have to leave, Yoshi," he said in between breaths. "Leave, and don't come back."
Then his shape flickered, the light blinking.
"Time's running out," Cricket said through clenched teeth, turning his eyes back to Takayoshi, wide and pleading. He opened his mouth to say something else, but the next moment he was gone. And the room was dark.
Takayoshi sat staring at the place where Cricket had been, his back bracing against the door. It was a dream. It had to be. He would lie back down, and go back to sleep, and in the morning nothing would have changed. Cricket would not have visited him, and whatever that dark creature was, it would not be there.
He lay back against the pillows, and let sleep drag him under again.
Takayoshi rose with the dawn, and a headache. The dream of Cricket had left an impression, but it was fuzzy around the edges. Their conversation nonsensical, and indistinct. He could no longer remember why Cricket had said he had come. Dreams were like that sometimes, if you did not have them right before you woke. Takayoshi shook off the memory, and turned his focus to the day ahead.
Claudia and Estia had not risen yet, but Alice and Jasper were already in the kitchen preparing breakfast.
"You're up early," Alice said by way of greeting. "Breakfast will be ready soon."
"Thank you." Takayoshi moved to sit at the table, pouring himself a glass of juice from the pitcher at the center.
"Where do you three plan to search today?" Jasper asked, setting a plate of potato pancakes in the middle of the table.
"We will finish in the library, and study."
Jasper waited for Takayoshi to continue, and when he did not, Jasper frowned. It was the first time Takayoshi had seen any negative emotion pass over either of their faces. "And when you're done there?"
"The drawing room, and courtyard." He sipped his juice thoughtfully, there was something about it, tickling at his senses. It did not taste quite right. Takayoshi shook himself, it must be the lingering strangeness of the dream the previous night. Nothing more. "Were there any markers in the courtyard when you arrived?"
"I don't think so." Alice set down some eggs. "At least, nothing we noticed. It was all just grass and shrubbery."
Takayoshi nodded.
"I had the weirdest dream last night," Claudia announced, a loud yawn leaving her as she stretched her arms over her head. "There were these shadows in my room, hovering over my bed."
"Oh you know, strange places sometimes bring about strange dreams. Would you like some juice, dear?" Alice took the pitcher to pour a glass for Claudia.
"You don't happen to have any coffee do you? Or caffeinated tea?" Claudia scrubbed at her eyes tiredly. When she pulled her hand away, Takayoshi could see dark bags beneath them.
"No, I'm sorry dear. Just juice."
"It's all right." Claudia took the glass and took a deep sip from it before settling back into her chair. "What about you? Any weird dreams?"
"I dreamed of Cricket." Takayoshi did not blush. He did not feel the tips of his ears heat.
"You dreamed of crickets?" Jasper's eyes had widened comically.
Takayoshi did not respond, he kept his gaze on Claudia who had gone unnaturally still. She seemed to have something she wanted to say about that, but she did not. She pressed her lips together, and took another careful sip from her glass.
"Estia probably won't be up for a while, we should eat quick and get started." Claudia leaned over to start filling her plate. "I'll go check on the horses when I get done, and you can head to the library and finish up."
Takayoshi nodded. He appreciated Claudia's work ethic. She never seemed to shy away from what needed to be done, and was always ready to tackle it as soon as possible. He would not mind continuing to travel with her after this was all over to aid in her own research. It would only be fair as she was providing him with so much help now.
"Should we leave something out for your friend?" Jasper took a bite of a potato pancake, chewing thoughtfully. "Then when they're ready to eat, they can."
"Nothing that'll get cold. Estia hasn't been able to sleep in this whole journey. We won't see zir till at least ten." Claudia laughed, easing the tension that had settled between the four at the table.
Alice and Jasper chortled with her, and the conversation turned more amicable. Takayoshi let it wash over him as he ate.
Just as they were finishing up, Estia dragged zirself down to the kitchen, scrubbing a hand through zir light colored hair. There were bags under zir eyes, and zir step was sluggish.
"You should be well rested," Takayoshi said, his brows pinching together a little.
"Well, I'm not." Estia snapped, squinting at Takayoshi through zir long lashes. Ze brushed past Takayoshi, heading into the kitchen for breakfast.
"We will be in the library."
Estia grumbled something under zir breath that Takayoshi decided it was better he did not completely understand, and Takayoshi headed down the hall to pick up their search once more.
He was hardly through the door when Claudia rounded on him. "So you dreamt of Cricket, huh?"
Takayoshi held back a sigh. He also did not tell her that dreams of a loved one were generally considered private things. It would not stop her from questioning him. "I did."
"And?" Claudia leaned forward on the balls of her feet, pressing her face in closer to Takayoshi's, eyes wide with curiosity. When Takayoshi did not respond in an appropriate amount of time for Claudia's standards she grumbled, pressing back on her heels. "You can't just leave it at that. What happened?"
"He said something." Takayoshi moved around her to go back to the shelf where he had left off, and started on opening the books one at a time again. "I thought you were going to check on the horses."
"What did he say?"
"I do not remember." Takayoshi kept his posture straight, his shoulders pressed into a firm line, even as they threatened to sag forward. It was sad, yes, to have dreamed of Cricket and to only remember impressions. But it was not the end of the world. "I just remember him being there in my room, and saying something, and smiling."
Claudia grinned at that. "That's kind of sweet. Have you dreamed of him before?"
"Not that I remember." Takayoshi pulled another book from the shelf to check. Was it strange that he did not ever remember dreaming of Cricket before? It had been nearly a year and a half since he had last seen Cricket, and he could not ever remember having dreamed of him. At least not quite so vividly. "It felt so real."
"They do that sometimes." Claudia nodded.
Takayoshi wanted to tell her that his did not. That his dreams had always been just that, dreams. They had always been obvious nonsense. "He was worried about me," is what he said instead.
"Worried? Why?"
"I do not remember. I just remember the vague impression that he was concerned. And he had come to express that concern." Takayoshi's lips twitched into the smallest frown. He did not like the idea of Cricket worried about him. But there was nothing that could be done for it.
"If it happens again, try to remember. It might be that something about this quest is bothering you, and this is your subconscious' way of telling you."
"I will." Takayoshi turned back to the shelf, fingers tapping against the spines. "Until then, we should focus on our work."
"Right. Of course."
"And you ought to check on the horses, as you said."
"Yes, Your Highness." Claudia gave a playfully dramatic bow, and left to do just that.
They were not finished with the library and the study until just before lunch, in spite of the three of them working together. Time seemed to slip strangely through their fingers, like sand or water on the shore. Takayoshi was not sure if it was really that there was simply so many places to search, or if they were just moving slowly.
"Lunch time," Alice announced when she stepped into the study that afternoon. "I brought it to you, I thought this way you didn't have to stop your searching."
"That is very kind." Takayoshi gave her a small, respectful bow. "Thank you."
She nodded, and left them to their work again.
"The drawing room at least should be pretty quick," Claudia said hopefully.
"I could do that by myself." Estia clapped another book closed, and moved to the table to eat one of the sandwiches Alice had brought.
"You will help Claudia in the courtyard. I will attend to the drawing room, and join you when I am finished." Takayoshi moved on to the last of the scant bookshelves in the study. He was grateful it was nowhere near as large as the library, but still it felt as if it had taken them hours to clear it.
Estia made a noise that could have been disgruntled, but did not protest.
"What should we look for in the courtyard?" Claudia had a sandwich hanging from her mouth so her hands were free to knock along the paneled walls, looking for hollow places where something might be hidden.
"Any bit of ground that looks like it was disturbed at some point. Alice and Jasper said there was nothing that looked like a marker when they arrived, but I imagine you have a keener eye for these things." Takayoshi replaced the last book on the shelf before he let himself turn to the plate of sandwiches and grab one for himself.
"No sense in flattering me, Your Highness," Claudia teased around a bite that was arguably too big for her mouth. "I know your heart isn't in it."
Estia snorted into zir cup of water.
"Finish your lunch. We have work still to do. I would like to have this place cleared before supper. I do not want to spend another night here."
"Why not?" Estia's cup dangled from zir fingers, zir dark eyes searching Takayoshi's face for something.
Takayoshi took a breath, holding it for a moment, and released it. It was against Uncle's rules to lie, but Uncle was not here, and he did not wish to explain the disquieted feeling that had settled into his chest after his dream of Cricket.
"I would like to continue on our journey as soon as possible," Takayoshi said. It was not technically a lie. He would like to continue on as soon as possible. He would like to find the library and return to Cricket with some answers before too long. It was also not technically the truth.
If his companions realized this, no one said anything. They merely nodded and got back to work.
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