{"sf1_id":665686,"sf2_id":null,"title":" Perchance to Dream","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":6033,"posted_at":"2014-02-10T21:40:00.000Z","tags":["Cum","Emotion","Human","M/F","Ocelot","Oral","Story Progression"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/665686-perchance-to-dream","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/665686","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=665686\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#31 of Robbin Red\n\nThat's right folks, Jon-Tom didn't reset time...just yet. I decided to finish this earlier than I expected. However, the next installment might be a while. Sorry.","content":"Jonathon was enjoying his romp with\nthe lovely Flora. Somewhere in his mind he was thinking of how life was going\nto - or was it - how it had been? It was hard to distinguish between what was a\ndream and what was real. His calculus test tomorrow was certainly in the category\nof too real for his tastes. If he could just magically make it go away.Magic. In the back of his mind was\nthe idea that magic was real. He chuckled to himself. He had obviously been\nhitting the sweet leaf a little too much as of late. It was time to straighten\nup and fly right. With a new girl friend and a new will to do well, life was\nlooking up.Later, she fell asleep in his arms,\ndraped partially over his chest. Her nipples were hard little knots pressed\nagainst his skin and her curves wound their way around his body like a custom\nmade suit. He pulled her in tight and drifted off into happy sleep.When he woke in the morning, his\neyes were blurry and his head was out of sorts. The weight was still pressed\ndown against his chest and side. Good! She hadn't left! He tried to shift his\nbody a little, and found he was constricted by his covers. He tried to tug them\naway and discovered them wrapped beneath him. He stopped struggling and tried\nto think how this had happened. After all, she was still there; how had he\nmanaged to get rolled up in his sheets and not dislodge her at the same time?He put a hand down and stroked her\nhair. She purred under his gentle touch. He smiled. Then he frowned. Her\npurring was real. He felt around a little more. Her hair was soft...and short.\nThat's when he noticed the ears standing atop her skull, not alongside it. A\ncareful examination found she had whiskers as well! He was definitely going to\nhave to stop smoking weed! He was having a daylight hallucination! He moved his hands a little lower,\nnot certain what his brain was going to tell him was there. He found clothing.\nFlora had been nude, he was certain of that. Under the clothes were small bumps\nthat had to be breasts. They positively didn't belong to Flora.  Neither did the voice belonging to the owner\nof those nubs.\"You seem to be getting a little\nfresh considering we haven't been formally introduced.\"He stopped, frozen in horror and\nrecognition. He wasn't a college student, not for a long, long time. He had had\nthat dream before in the past, a release of his inner longing for a normal\nlife. Flora was here, or had been here, or...well if hardly mattered. She had\ndumped his ass and taken up with a hare named Caz. He was on another world from\nhis own, perhaps millions of miles across the galaxy. Magic was real, he was\nreal, and whoever this was laying next to him was real. He sighed.\"Call me Jon-Tom. And you are?\"She slid out from the folds of his\ncloak and perched on top of his chest. She was stunningly beautiful. \"My name\nis Lanana Ubaste. I'm glad to meet you Jon-Tom. If I might be so bold, who was\nthat human female?\"He squinted at her, trying to\nfigure out what human female she was referring to. He was fairly far distant\nfrom Hobarrow, so she couldn't mean Sybeele, and just as likely not Eve. Since\nno one else was around, it narrowed his possibilities to none. \"What human\nfemale?\"She yawned, showing a set of sharp\nwhite teeth. She then lay across his chest and belly, her face right into his.\nHer eyes were turquoise. \"The one I saw in your dream. I snuggled up against\nyou last night because I was cold. I didn't expect to be caught up in your\ndreaming cycle. It was very strong. The girl was very lovely, for a human. Does\nshe have a name?\"His heart dropped. He could already\nsee another emotional attachment coming on. \"Lanana, that's none of your\nbusiness. I am on a quest, and what I do in my mind is of no consequence to\nanyone but me.\"She didn't budge. \"I wish you had\nsaid that like you meant it. I sense that you are lying, at least to yourself.\nI find that for a person with such a good and strong aura, you are embarking on\na quest that you yourself do not believe in. Why would you do this?\"Despite her beauty and grace,\nJon-Tom dumped her off and stood up. His anger as vividly apparent.\"Look! I'm going to do something\nthat I feel needs to be done. If you don't like it, regardless of how you\nfigured it out...\" His eyes narrowed. \"You were sent by Eve, weren't you?\"She sat on the ground like nothing\nhad happened. \"I do not know of any Eve except what I have seen inside you. No\none sends me anywhere. I go where I please and do as I please. My only rule is\nthat I harm no one in the process. As you see I carry no weapon other than\nthose I was born with, and I eat only that food which would be consumed\nregardless of its place in the chain of life. I have read your very being last\nnight. This was not a conscious decision on my part. Once I was asleep, I\nremained locked into to your soul the entire time. I was not so interested in\nyour dreams as I was of your deeper consciousness. You are an amazing creature,\nJon-Tom. So why do you wish to throw it all away?\"His anger dissipated. \"I don't. But\nthis is too much for me to handle anymore. I'm beyond my capacity.\"She held out her delicate hand. He\ngrasped to pull her up and was surprised when she yanked him down next to her.\nShe pulled out a bottle filled with some unknown liquid. \"This bottle contains\nCorespian Tea. It's filled to its capacity. If I open it and drink some of it,\nthen it's no longer filled to the top.  I\ncan get some more and top it off. But you are not a bottle.  A bottle is rigid. A mind should not be. It\nis only a stiff and unyielding mind that cannot gain anymore memories,\nknowledge, or emotion. Now if I grab my water skin, then I can put more into\nit, both because it's larger and because it's elastic.\"                She\nheld the water bottle out for him to drink from, which he did. It was his turn\nto counter her. \"I am neither a bottle nor a water skin. I'm just a poor stupid\nhuman who got into more than he ever bargained for. And I'm tired. I have been\nfor a while now. I just want to call it quits and start over with my real\nlife.\"She took a pull on the skin. \"That\nhas got to be the most stupid thing I've ever heard. I've been in your mind,\nand I saw a lot of living in there. What would your fresh start get you that\nyou haven't done tenfold here? Your mind is not a bottle, nor a wine skin. I\nthink it's more like a cape.\"He gave her a look. What it was\nmeant to say was, \"Is there anything you don't know about me?\"She smiled, showing those lovely\nwhite teeth. \"That is quite a present your friend made you. I see you have had\nto recreate it several times, but each time you've managed to put it back\ntogether      complete with its contents.\nI see too that you have much more good inside it than you do bad. And yet...\"\"And yet what?\"\"Your cape doesn't have a limit,\nnow does it? You can stuff it with a house-load of goods and it will weigh no\nmore than it did before you packed it full. In that way, it's much like your\nbrain. No matter how full it gets there's always room for more. You're problem\nisn't with what you've done, it's with what you expect. I can certainly claim\nto have no knowledge of what being pulled through space and time does to you,\nbut you keep dwelling on the bad things, as well the things you haven't yet done.\nYou need to treasure your now moments before they slip away forever. Few of us\nhave a chance at a life like you've been given.\"\"Wouldn't you like it?\"\"No, but on the other hand, perhaps\nif I took it from you, you might value it more once it's gone. Would you really\nrelinquish all your memories and all your joy just to have a second chance to\nrelive your life as you think it should be?\"He sat in silence for a while. \"Now\nthat someone's questioned it, I'm not sure. My problem isn't with the good\nmemories, but with the hate and rage and anger. I'm afraid they're going to\nconsume me.\"She stood up and began massaging\nhis shoulders. \"Have you ever cooked a meal?\"He turned is head to stare at her.\n\"Many times little one. What does that have to do with anything?\"\"Have you ever peeled the\nvegetables and skinned the fish, and then threw them back in the pot with the\ngood?\"\"No! That would be stupid. It would\nmake all your work in fixing your dish kind of moot. You might as well throw\neverything in whole.\"\"Like your head. You have to take\neverything in raw. It's up to you to pare away the bad and toss it aside. But\nyou, you collect everything and throw it in the pot and expect it to come out\nwonderful. Trash is trash. It's meant to be thrown away. But you horde\neverything like it has some kind of value. Love and joy, happiness and\ncompanionship are just a few things that are worth throwing into the mix. Bad\nis bad. Why keep it? Even if you have the room for it, why? Don't you think\nthere are better things to remember?\"She touched the nape of his neck,\nsending chills down his spine. Suddenly he saw Roseroar's face, purring into\nhis. He felt tears well up in his eyes. Other faces appeared in turn. In the\nblink on an eye a triple lifetime of faces went by in quick succession. Some of\nthem were fairly recent. Every one of them made him smile.\"How did you do that?\"She went back to massaging his\nback. \"I didn't do a thing except trigger your memories. Maybe you should do it\nmore often. There is more love there than you have in negative emotions. Your\nproblem has been in living with the bad like it has been the focus of your\nlife. You know very well that you have always tried to live a good life. Your\nremarkable talents have never been used for evil, much less for solely selfish\nreasons. You have great power and you have great wisdom.\"He corrected her. \"I had great\npower. That was taken away and I'm better off for it.\" Her caressing fingers suddenly\nturned sharp. Her nails came out and raked his neck.\"Hey! Watch it!\"She smiled. \"Why? It's not like you\ncan't heal them.\" Even as she spoke, the thin scratches vanished. \"I don't know\nof anyone who can do that. To most of us that in itself is great power.\"He stood. \"I suppose you're right.\nBut what is that when compared to that power I used to have?\"She sat down and plucked his duar.\n\"You're really a crybaby, aren't you?\" She played with it for a moment before\nheading full tilt into a melody that was both foreign and lovely. She was\nswaying with the tune, enraptured in her own song. She looked for everything\nlike a hippy at Woodstock. He looked around, expecting some magic to spring\nforth from her playing. The world remained as it had been.She patted the ground beside her\nwhen she was done. \"Sit! Your mission to reset time can wait. After all, that\nis the advantage you have over everyone else. You're in the position to rewrite\nthe lives of everyone on this planet. Maybe that's a good thing, and maybe it's\nnot. Since when you do this thing will not change the outcome of actually doing\nit, why don't you talk it over with someone who isn't biased?\"He plopped down with a bemused look\non his face. \"How do you figure that you're not biased. You've apparently been\nrunning around my head. That automatically makes you biased.\"She plucked the strings of his\nduar. \"Informed, not biased. I'm not trying to judge you. You see, if you do\nwhat you have set out to do; only this portion of my life will change. I will\nnever have met you. Everything else will remain intact. Therefore, this portion\nof it will never even be a memory for me. I will never know that I missed it.He nodded. \"And the same will\nhappen for me. It will be as if nothing ever happened. I won't even miss it.\"\nHe sounded morose.\"Correct. It will be a lot like\ndying. You see, only the living worry about dying. Once dead, your worries are\nover. So you must decide carefully before you do this, or else once it's done,\nthere will be no going back. It is ironic though, if you think about it, that\nonly by your presence here will your presence no longer need to be here.\" \"Huh?\"She smiled. \"Think about it. You\nwant to go and kill off the entire population of a species. It doesn't matter\nthat I happen to hate them as much as everyone else. An entire species! You are\nbackwards from your own time by some four hundred years. You have great power\ngained through your learning of magic. If you do kill off the Plated Folk, you\nwill never have come over to learn the magic to do what you intend do. I\nbelieve that's called paradox.\" He was sitting there with his\nstupid face on. In one fell swoop she nullified his plan! If he did what he\nintended to do, the end result might end up being catastrophic. His movement\nthrough time-space had apparently already caused some problems. Performing a\nfeat of magic on this scale might disrupt the universe itself. But then again,\nwhy should he care? He had been growing more and more tired, and he was wearing\nout. Why not let the universe suffer as he had been suffering? He went to say\nsomething, but a soft velvety paw covered his mouth.\"Don't speak. Don't say a word.\nThere's time. I'm not going to tell you what to do. You have more than enough\nbrainpower for that, even if you are kind of stupid at times. You go where you\nwill, and I'll tag along. It seems to be to be a good chance for me to learn\nfew things. I don't like having my mind getting soft! I prefer it to be in as\ngood of shape as my body.\"He was listened, but at the same\ntime he was drawing in her scent. Her paw smelled like jasmine and oranges. His\nnormal human nose, or rather its limited ability, had been replaced with a more\nsensitive one a long time ago. Usually he ignored it, for he found the myriad\nof odors on this world overpowering. But out here, there was only him and her.\nHe inhaled and held his breath. Maybe it was just her tea, but she reminded him\nof tropical beaches and exotic fruits.Then he shook his head clear. \"What\nif I don't want you coming with me? It's going be dangerous. There's a chance\nyou could get hurt or killed.\"She shrugged. \"So what? If you\nsucceed, and assuming there isn't an apocalyptic backlash, then it's like\nnothing that has happened since I met you ever happened. By that same token, I\nintend to get as much out of this, just in case that outcome never happens. I\ndon't like having regrets, and if I've learned one thing, I have always regretted\nthe things I didn't do over those that I did do.\" So saying this, she stood,\ndid a little twirl, and in and one fluid motion dropped her dress. He finally got a good look at her.\nHe had known her species; or rather he thought it did. Now he was sure. What\nmight have been mistaken for makeup on her face were the lines created by her\ndark fur overlaying the lighter, creamier tones. The lines changed down her\nback to oblong spots and rosettes. Her chest and belly were cream colored,\nright down to her pink... He tried not to stare. He also fought down his natural\nreaction. He wasn't going to get tangled with yet another female. She smiled,\nand tickled his nose with her tail. \"I've never considered playing with\na human before. Generally they're rather dirty and uncouth. You are a gentleman\nand a scholar.\"He choked back a snort. \"What makes\nyou think I'm interested? And for that matter, what makes you think that I\ncouldn't just have my way with you?  I am\nmuch bigger than you.\" \"You're a male. That automatically\nmakes you interested. If you were gay, then maybe not so much, but I've been in\nyour head. You have had many experiences. You've had many lovers. As for taking\nme, you cannot take what is freely given.\"He tried to stand up but found she\nwas standing on his cloak. \"Look Lanana, I'm already married. I can't...\" He\nthought of Alma, and Huntchy, and the twins, and...gave up. \"Look Lanana, I think\nyou're very pretty, and whether or not I'm male is hardly an excuse.\"\"I agree. You see farther into a\nperson than most, even if you're kind enough not to mention it to others. You\ndo some very noble things. Now allow me to offer you some assistance. You are\nno better and no worse than most everyone else. Your problem is that you see\nthis world as your antagonist, not your friend. I can show you how to overcome\nyour...how did you call them; oh yes, your inner demons. I have them to, if you'd\nlike to see.\"She placed her head against his and\npurred. It was like having a very large (OK, a very, very large) tabby sitting\non your chest staring you in the eyes. In an instant he saw pain and heartache,\nfear, anger, and just a touch of hatred. Then it was washed away in a flood of\nhappiness, joy, humor and peace.\"You see human, you control what is\ninside you. No one else has that ability. Putting up walls and corrals may\ncontain your emotions, but it doesn't give you dominion over them. It's like\nputting them in prison. They only grow more dark and dangerous. You must let\nthem out, reform them, reshape them; make them better!\"\"You make it sound so easy!\"She unclasped his cape and began\nunbuttoning his shirt. \"Easy? Easy is the way you heal. Easy is the way you\ntake for granted all of the gifts you've been given. Easy is the way you play\nyour duar and make magic. I think you've grown soft. You've grown out of shape.\nA fat marmoset can't get out of his own way and must rely on others to do his\ndaily living for him. Quit feeling sorry for yourself and take control again.\nThere is nothing wrong that isn't caused by you!\"He was ready to tell her where to\ngo. He stopped because she was correct. He was tired. He was tired because he\nwas still thinking like a human. He was still human, but a human who had been\nso my other animals it was hard to remember them all. He had slept with even\nmore. He had pried an entity from the very heart of this world and set her\nfree. He had traveled back in time, back to his own world, and lived lives that\nhistorians would kill for. Instead of savoring his experiences, he had spiced\nthem with salt and vinegar until they were no longer palatable.   He pushed her off. He stood,\nfinished removing his cloak and shirt before stripping off his pants. She let\nout a low whistle. \"That was part of your memories I had difficulty in\nbelieving. I see they are true. So is, I hope, that part about adjusting your\nsize?\" For an answer, his cock reduced in\nsize to something she could handle, if only barely. She smiled again. \"You\nwould make any female a good mate. It's too bad I'm not interested in settling\ndown.\"\"I told you, I'm already married\"\"Yes you did. How many times over?\"\"Shut up Lanana!\"\"Fine, I will. But where there is\nno talk there must be action. Unlike you, I have a limited time on this planet\nand I have no intention of wasting any of it on idle nothingness. You are a\nmixture of tangled emotions and conflicts. I would like to help you sort them\nout, but for me to do that, we must become one.\"She was on her knees in front of\nhim. Her loving hands cradled his balls while her tongue ran up and down his shaft.\nHer mere contact sent chills through him. His brain tried to analyze what was\nhappened and was unceremoniously shut down. She stopped long enough to explain.\n\"I have a few abilities myself human. Lesson number one, sex is a physical\nfeeling. It doesn't need to be examined. It needs to be felt. Let go of your\nworries and your morals. Even when you think you have, there is still a\nstranglehold on them by your mind. Let your emotions loose. Air them out. Give\nthem a fresh start.\"He again tried to figure out what\nshe was doing. Again his mind was forcibly shut down. He relaxed and allowed\nhis hands to rest on the side of her head. \"That's better!\" she purred out in\nbetween licks.\"Oh, that's a whole lot better!\" he\nsighed.She concentrated on the head of his\ncock, lubing it up with plenty of saliva. She might have been preparing to taste\nher favorite dish. With practiced ease, she slipped her mouth over the end and\nworked it with her tongue, all the while making certain her sharp fangs didn't\nget in the way. She allowed him to guide her head back and forth. As long as he\nwas gentle, she didn't mind. As long as he didn't get too rough, she could\nhandle him.With his brain shut down, most of\nthe way at least, Jon-Tom relaxed and allowed the pure pleasure of her touch to\nconsume him. He suddenly found himself in a dream, and the person in front of\nhim kept changing. Sometimes it was Roseroar, at other times Talea, or Sybeele,\nor Eve or... He tried o fight the flow of faces and concentrate on the one here\nand now, but the flood of them as unrelenting. Another flood began to build up\nbehind the dam of his emotions. When that dam broke, he was nearly swept away\nby the force of it. His body responded by blowing a load that started so deep\nit took a full minute to make it to the surface. By then he had a grip on her\nhead that was unbreakable. She mentally said a prayer and hung on for the ride.\nShe wasn't expecting the flood when it reached her. It poured out like a tidal\nwave, nearly choking her with its fury.He left go just in time for her to\ncome up sputtering. When she had her airway cleared, she cocked her head and\nlooked up at him. \"Do you always blow like a horse?\"He dropped to his knees in front of\nher. \"Yes, I'm afraid I do. It's the aftereffect of having been a unicorn\nonce.\"She spit her mouth out. \"Once? I\nthink I saw more than once in your history. I think you owe the generous benefactor\nof these gifts a special thanks.\"He gave her a hug. \"Oh I did. I\nnearly lost my life bringing him back into this world. I think that was thanks\nenough.\"She pulled back from his hug and\nstared him in the yes. \"You see. You've been willing to go out of your way for\nfolks. You didn't have too, but you have. That should make you feel good\ninside.\"He was wobbly even on his knees.\n\"Yes, I guess so. But it always seems like everyone else gets ahead, and\nI...well, I'm still here.\"She looked around. \"Here isn't so\nbad. I grew up here and I'll die here. You can't spend your time wishing to be\nsomething else. You either have to be who you are or you have to be who you\nwant to be. Wishing is fine when you're a child, but you have left those clothes\nbehind so long ago it makes my head hurt to think about it. Once you put your\nbig boy clothes on, you made a commitment to act like an adult. That means\ntaking the bad with the good. That means knowing that for every act of good,\nthere will be some bad that results from it. You can't save a damsel in\ndistress without first terminating the source of her discomfiture. You cannot\ndo good things only. It's impossible. Someone will always be on the receiving\nend. You must simply reduce the collateral damage.\"His eye brows went up. \"You speak\nawfully sure of yourself. Might I ask why I should listen to you?\" She pressed her head against his.\n\"Look inside. I have nothing to hide. I am who I am. I walked through your\nmemories, now maybe you should walk through mine. Just be careful where you\nstep. I have pitfalls that might make even you quiver in fear.\"He stepped into her mind and was at\nonce struck by the chaos. Clashes of color, sharp edges and dark shadows were\neverywhere. Here and there were bright patches; sunlit meadows and flowering\nfields. He saw faces that meant nothing to him, yet they danced around him like\nchildren around a maypole. Some were pleasant, some were not. One particularly\nnasty looking face bothered him, so he went to push it away. His hand sank in\nand he was overwhelmed with a feeling of disgust. The things this guy did to\nher! He recoiled and fell into another face. This was her best friend. The joy\nthey had as child nearly neutralized the evil of the other. He continued\nstumbling along until he felt his head lose contact with hers. There were tears\ndown both of their faces. She spoke first.\"You're very, very sweet to think\nthat you can save me from all of this. But haven't you been told before that\nyou're a sum total of your parts? You take away anything that makes me me, and\nyou take away a part of my being. Some of it is bad, but if I dwell on it I\nonly make it worse. So I look on the brighter side of life. You on the other\nhand have tried to organize and categorize so much of your life that it has\nbecome rigid and fixed.\"\"I do that so that I don't lose a\nsingle memory.\"\"A noble effort. Yet, what has it\ngotten you? Walls? Boxes filled with love? Crates filled with hate and fear.\nLet them go! Crack them open and allow them to be free. If they are yours to\nkeep, you won't lose them. You need not keep every one of them on a shelf like\npretty little trinkets. They are to be embraced and relished, and when the time\nis right, let go of. You have plenty of room for more, even if you don't make\nspace. But think of it; if you let go of them, how much more will you be able\nto enjoy your present life? Besides, you're willing to erase them all to an\nunknown end. Give it a try.\"   He thought of Roseroar. She was his\nfirst. He never wanted to lose any of his memories of her. She deserved better\nthan that. But it occurred to him an old Earth saying. If you love something\nset it free. If it comes back to you it's yours forever. If it doesn't, it was\nnever yours at all. He suddenly felt like an old miser, hoarding up his past\nand failing to see the future, or the present.He opened up his mind and began\nflipping through the memories like an old fashioned nickelodeon. As the images\nraced past, he loosened his hold on them and the images spun out wildly in all\ndirections. He felt her mind with him, giving him comfort without interfering\nor commenting. The space they stood in was soon carpeted with memories, though\nhere and there were blasts of heat from his anger and fear. Tongues of flame\nlicked out, but none of the memories caught fire. They stayed intact, though\nnow piled in a chaotic mess on the floor. More heat and more memories. It went\non for an eternity. By the time it was done, his anger was gone. But so were\nhis memories.\"What do I do now? There's nothing\nleft for me.\"\"You have everything left. Go wade\nthrough them now.\" He did, and as he did, they vanished from sight. At the same\ntime, he grew larger and larger until he was a giant in the landscape of his\nmind. Each tread touched more memories until not a single one remained. Then\nshe touched his foot and vanished as well. He heard a quiet voice in his head.\n\"That'll do human, that'll do.\"\u003c?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = \"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office\" /\u003e    He came to back in the real world.\nLanana was sitting by his side, holding his hand. \"You see, you've aired it out\nand gotten rid of the excess. All the negative energy has dissipated, leaving\nyou room to reorganize your memories and your thoughts. They may not be neat\nand tidy anymore, but you will find them more interesting because of it. He shook his head, trying to clear\nit. It was a mess of color and patterns and... He stopped. He focused on his\npresent wife. Memories unfolded like butterfly wings. There she was, back in old\nGermany, a tender delicate flower. Then he thought of his tigress love.\nRoseroar's face appeared, and with it the soothing sound of her voice. He\nsearched for Talea, half fearing the ever present image of her nearly\ndecapitated body lying on a cot outside of Zaryt's teeth. He was greeted by a\nsmiling redhead, standing there with her hands on her hips, giving him a look\nthat said some many things. He began to cry.Lanana let him go. He was powerful,\nhe was well versed in magic, but he was born mortal and even if he ended up\nliving forever, he would always think like a mortal. Crying was a part of life.\nIt wasn't always bad. Sometimes, it was just what a person needed.She pushed him down and stretched\nout over him. She wasn't trying to seduce him. She figured that he would either\nrespond in time, or they would fall back asleep. She could wait. Her contact\nwith him was giving her ringside seat to his newly evolving emotions. She\nrelaxed and eased into his mind. She was able to walk through things like she\nwas a ghost. She had just been here, but it was much more personable now. True,\nit was a little disheveled, but she didn't think that was so bad.She pushed her way right to where\nhe was. He was sitting on a rock, looking out over the new landscape of his\nmind. She crawled up and sat beside him. \"What do you think of the view?\" he\nasked.\"It's quite the extensive\nlandscape. It beats what I saw earlier. I rather like the lovely colors of the\nsunset.\"He corrected her. \"Sunrise I think.\nIt feels like the dawning of a new day. Thank you.\"She purred into his face. \"You're\nwelcome. I'm glad I could help. I've never met anyone just like you before.\" She\nhad maneuvered herself so that she was sitting on his lap. It was only a dream,\nbut it was what it was. She knew that what she did here would be mirrored in\nthe outside world. And even here, he was a bit outsized for her. \"Listen Jon-Tom,\nI like a challenge, but do you think you can make an accommodation for me?\"\"In this shared dream or in real\nlife? I think that whatever happens here, you can control. If we're doing this\nout in the real world, then why don't we wait? I rather enjoy the peace and\nquiet. It's the first time I've had it in quite a while. It's not that I have\nanything against your offer. It's just that I would like to savor this moment.\nLater on, I promise you I'll be open to anything you suggest. I feel I owe you,\nfor that matter this whole world owes you a favor.\"She purred. \"There is nothing the\nworld has that I want that I don't already have. You, on the other paw, have\nmuch. Enjoy your peace and tranquility. There will time as we wander towards\nyour destination.\"\"Destination?\"\"Yes. You were intent on heading to\nthe lands of the Plated Folk. If you don't go, you'll never know if killing them,\nor not killing them, was the correct decision. You were determined to kill off\nan entire race, just to achieve your own goals. I'm not saying I don't think\nthey should die, but it's not my decision, nor do I think it is anybody's sole\nresponsibility. Therefore I am going to accompany you to their lands. I want to\nmeet some. If they simply try to kill us, then I guess my opinion is well\nfounded. But I believe there is good to be found in everyone, even the\nmisguided.\"\"But I don't feel the need to kill\nthem now.\"\"It doesn't matter. There is no\nguarantee that you won't try it again in the future. I think it behooves you to\nget to know your enemy before you think about destroying them.\"He was mildly irritated. \"I do know\nthem. I have been in their lands. Overall, they are of one mind set. Kill the\nWarmlanders. I lost one that I love to them, and only through extraordinary\nmagic did I get her back.\"\"Yes, I saw. But those were the\nPlated Folk of your time. This is centuries in the past. Will you claim that they\nare all the same in this time?\"\"If they are, would I not be doing\na greater favor in destroying them, for their good as well as everyone who will\ndie in pointless wars in the future?\"\"Maybe. It sounds good to the ear.\nBut you know better. You can't put your own morality on a whole world. But you\ncan take in the morals of the whole world. You can see their point of view,\neven if you don't agree with it. Understanding is the key.He sighed. Here in his mind, it had\nthe strength to stir up little dust devils that scurried away towards the\nhorizon of his mind. \"You seem to have put me back on my track to destroy the\nreason I came here. Is that what you want?\"\"It doesn't matter what I want.\nWhat matters is that you do what you feel is right. I feel that directing you\nto fulfill your destiny is the correct path. I think your path diverged from\nwhere it was supposed to be heading. You were carrying too much baggage. Now\nthat your load has lightened, I think you should carry on. If you still do this\nthing after all of this, then I believe it was meant to be.\"He sighed again. \"Life never has\neasy answers.\"She smiled and gave him a hug.\n\"Which is why it remains so interesting. Nothing will kill you quicker than\nboredom.\""}