Memories and Dreams
Posted on July 13th, 2016 by T'Lira

A bird chirped from very close by, startling T’Lira out of her meditation. A small bird sat mere centimeters from her, twitching its head as it watched. It seemed rather young, or it was simply a member of a smaller avian species. It hopped once, moving a bit closer, but then a stick cracked from behind her and it flew off, startled.

“Who knew that meditation would be such a great way to bird watch?” Elena commented as T’Lira stood and turned.

The human woman was surprisingly out of her uniform and wearing rather short pants, considering the forest they were currently in.

“Hey, did you find her yet?” an accented voice called out. Another human female appeared, a smirk crossing her face.

“Marena, I told you I would,” Elena complained.

Marena Diaz shrugged, “Don’t mean I exactly trust you on that.”

The three made their way back to the campground, where seven tents waited. Apparently, summer camping was a tradition in Edward’s family, thus why fourteen people now inhabited this area.

Michael Peterson, a friend of Edward’s, was poking something in a pot over the campfire as Kyrembril and Charishar th’Shevas watched.

“What are you doing?” Elena walked over to the pot, sniffing it, only to get batted away by the chef.

“I’m making a meal for those of us who don’t particularly enjoy meat.”

Several pairs of eyes turned towards the rather large human.

“You can’t possibly be as… musclely as you are and not eat meat,” Elena scoffed.

“Tell that to him,” Michael pointed at the other Vulcan in the group who, despite being a scientist, was well-built.

“Well, he’s a Vulcan. That’s part of who they are.”

Michael chuckled, “My grandfather is Vulcan.”

“Oh.”

“Now that that’s over with…,” Rish muttered, “Someone dish me up some food and some ice, in that order. It’s hot right now!”

“It’s 63 degrees Fahrenheit right now,” Elena pointed out.

Sorak looked over from his focus on an odd sort of device, “For an Andorian, that is indeed too warm.”

“Hey, I can’t help that I was born in one of the colder parts of Andoria!”

Michael chuckled, “There’s fresh fruit if you want it, Rish. Sorak, how’s it going on that cooling unit?”

“My work is nearly complete.”

Squeaking footsteps announced the arrival of a shivering cadet.

“The water is warm but the air is not. Why is this a problem that exists?” Moran complained. He appeared to be a lighter shade of blue than usual.

“Welcome to Earth,” Edward muttered, “Where the weather-“

Elena smacked his shoulder, “You make that joke and I toss you in the lake myself.”

“Fine, fine!”

Something caught T’Lira’s eye and she looked over at it. It was a large boulder that seemed rather out of place, given the forest they were in.

“Something wrong?” Elena asked, but when T’Lira turned, she saw Elena in a command maroon tunic with the uniform vest, a combination she preferred, and four pips.

When had… ah, this was a dream. Likely she had fallen asleep during her meditation, however unlikely.

“You didn’t fall asleep during meditation,” Kyrembril said calmly, “You’re unconscious, and injured.”

“I am dreaming, then.”

“In a way.”

Everyone else disappeared, leaving the two of them.

“What do you mean?”

“That boulder,” Kyrembril pointed at it, “You were caught in a rockslide. This isn’t a dream, ‘Lira. It’s… oh, how do I describe this… it’s not a hallucination, not a dream… it’s… you know what, let’s go with dream for right now. Except you have control here.”

“Why did the others disappear, if I have control?”

“Because I needed to talk to you, alone.”

T’Lira took measure of that and asked, “How are you here?”

“Consider me a ghost image. Do you remember the time you mind-melded with me because I was lashing out telepathically within a nightmare? It was back during the Dominion War… or shortly after it.”

“I remember.”

“That left a ghost image,” the Betazoid nodded, “So, to sum up the situation… rocks fell on you, you’re unconscious and doing a sort of wierd dreaming thing, and I’m just the ghostly thing here to keep you company.”

“There is someone else here,” T’Lira commented, sensing another presence within the dream-state, “It is very weak.”

“You already know that someone… well, sorta. They’ve been with you the whole time. Did you not read the info you asked Shari for?”

It dawned on her that she did indeed know exactly what she was sensing.

“I see,” was all she replied.