Chapter 3.2: Dream Catchers, continued

Chapter 3: Dream Catchers, continued

“Oh I see you admiring that picture,” said the old man as he reentered the room, now carrying a porcelain tray with several cups and a large ornate teapot.  Steam billowed out of the spout of the teapot and the tray had a plate of many small and delicate looking cookies. “That’s a picture of me and my apprentice, Laura. That behind us is the Fuga. It was her last test. She is fully qualified to go and take the Dream Catchers exam in The City of Brass now.” He beamed with happiness at his student’s accomplishment. He began to pour tea into the little cups. Both Abe and Margaret took their seats around the small wooden table he had placed the tray on. The seats were also made of wood and seemed to be hand crafted.

“The City of Brass you say? That’s where we are heading. We need to go to the great library. There are some old documents that we need to find.” Margaret said to the old man. Abe starred at her, just now realizing he had had no idea where they were going. Now upon hearing that they were heading for this “City of Brass”. He now had questions about why, and when, and frankly what the City of Brass was.

“Really? That’s great! I’ve been looking for someone that’s going to the City of Brass for a full month, but people form the villages further north hardly ever go in that direction. One moment let me call her down for you I think she is still in her bedroom. LAURA! Laura get down here we have visitors and they are willing to take you to the City of Brass.”  The old man was visibly excited now seemingly invigorated by the opportunity that had just presented itself to him. There was a creaking of bed springs and a thump from above.

“Wait! I never said that I would take her, she needs to find her own way!” Margaret began looking at the old man angrily. The old man seem unperturbed though and stared back at her with a enormous grin.

“Oh but why not, having a fully qualified dream catcher with you would do wonders for your journey. I am even willing to pay you to take her with you, and I can give you supplies for your journey. The benefits far outweigh the risks of bringing her.” The old man was now grinning so widely it showed his full smile revealing several gold teeth.

“No, I will not have it, she hasn’t taken her exam yet. How can I know that she can control dreaming correctly.” Margaret said to the old man. There was some more thumps and bangs from upstairs and then the bang of a door being open and shut. Abe had now forgotten about the city and was now instead thoroughly confused about what a dream catcher was.

“Umm… Excuse me, but what exactly is a dream catcher?” Abe said finally finding a momentary break in the conversation in order to say something. The two of them both looked over at Abe. Both had clearly forgotten that he was still in the room, and both had been completely absorbed in their argument. Both opened and closed their mouths several time trying to start a sentence and both failing spectacularly. Finally a voice came from the doorway that the old man had come through while bringing the tea.

The girl from the picture stood there. He was not able to see her features clearly in the picture and was not able to fully appreciate them.  She was shorter than both him and Margaret, but not by much. Her dark skin made it clear she was not related to the old man, as her smooth ebony complexion was the exact opposite of the old man’s pasty white and wrinkled skin. Her hair was black and was pulled back into a functional ponytail, though that did not disguise the fact that if it had not been it would have been a curly mess. She was not wearing the overalls from the picture but instead wearing brown baggy trousers and a loose fitting gray shirt. Both looked as if they had been home spun like the green wool shirts. Her eyes were the most shocking though, a bright toxic green. He had seen them in the picture, but something about them, some special quality had been lost to the camera. Her hands were at her hips and she was starring at Abe.