As one, they both stepped into the water's currents.
Pain surged, threatening to break bones. A thread of consciousness waved and he grasped hold, using it to pull himself free.
Kira's past rose around him. Shadowed and insubstantial as if afraid to show itself.
A boy walked out of the gray, tendrils clinging to his form until he stood in front of Graydon. He was young, on the cusp of puberty, his ears pointed, his eyes wide-set and familiar. His eyes were a bright yellow. His hair was black, and his skin was brown.
There was a familiar sarcastic light in his eyes, and his lips were pulled up in an expression Graydon had seen more than once on Kira's face.
"Jin?"
"In the flesh." Jin glanced down. "Well, in the dream flesh."
Jin held up a hand, flexing the fingers before opening and closing them to make a fist with a look of fascination. His hand dropped, and he looked up at Graydon. "Shall we continue? Kira is waiting."
Graydon was slow to respond, Jin's appearance causing him to reconsider everything he thought he knew. Why was Jin in the form of a boy?
More importantly, why did he resemble so closely a boy Graydon already knew?
"Why did you take that form?" Graydon heard himself ask.
Jin's shrug was dismissive as he stuck his hands into the pockets of a pair of jeans, a decidedly human invention. "It felt right."
The dreamscape shimmered, the half-formed figures wobbling before dissipating.
Jin looked up, his expression wiser than any child's had a right to be. "Damn, I'd hoped she'd stay out of those memories. Nothing good ever comes of revisiting them."
Graydon was still stuck on Jin's appearance and didn't speak.
Jin shook his head in regret. "She's going to hate me for this later, but some things are worth the risk. I hope you don't betray the trust I'm about to put in you."
He didn't give Graydon time to respond. The scene spun.
Graydon ran through a field, trees all around, the dark pressing in, cloying in what it concealed. A small hand was clasped in his as his lungs burned with the need for air.
Kira/Graydon looked back, looking over the boy's head at the tree line behind them. The terrible bay of an animal hunting them floated out of the forest. The creature wasn't far. They'd never make it to the other side of the field in time.
The boy tripped, holding in his cry as he hit the ground. Kira/Graydon crouched beside him and eyes the color of sunny daisies looked up at them.
"Go," the boy whispered. "You'll never make it with me slowing you down."
He was right. They were going to be caught.
Desperation and terror threatened to strangle Kira/Graydon at the thought of returning to that cold, damp place.
The scene spun, and they stood in the rain, a rifle held in front of them. Their hands too small to properly grip it, their arms shaking as they struggled to keep it extended. Failure was too terrible a prospect to consider.
A shadowy monster the size of a giant paced in front of them. "Weakness won't be tolerated. Fail, and you will be punished."
A whimper came from beside her.
"Stay strong," she whispered to the young one.
It was a risk to speak. If their masters caught them, the beating would be brutal.
The boy's rifle clattered to the ground, the sound loud despite the pouring rain. Kira's face remained blank and uncaring. Emotion was pain here, and she was intent on surviving.
The giant's smile was cruel. "It seems we have a winner. Bring him."
