The Nightmare

Triandra, Student of the Ashen Wolves

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

Send 😱 and a subject for Triandra to send your muse a nightmare

Not Accepting

Please be patient, she will give you nightmares in time :) I hope they horrify you!

You may send one for each muse, but if you send one for each muse one after the other I will try to get around to a few other muses before going back to you muse.

If I've answered a nightmare for your muse you may send in another nightmare request for that muse but know it will be much lower on my list to get to. Be polite and let everyone have a chance for the nightmares! I'll try to get to these in the order(ish) I receive them.

Please block #Nightmares if you don't want to see any of these.

If I get too many asks I'll pin a post asking for no more nightmare requests until i get caught up. (Don't worry, they will open up again.)

Threads and events will take priority over nightmares.

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

😱 + flight

It's exhilarating isn't it? Being so high? The air here is so thin. It's hard to breathe.

Can you believe you're climbing even higher? Your lungs are burning now... Your throat burns doesn't it? It's hard to think now... Were those black spots always in the corner of your vision?

You climb higher and that's when you feel yourself leaning back on your pegasus.

No one will catch you here.

You wake up.

[fenrena]

Triandra recognizes the girl of course. She's as bright and as sunny as Peony. They had all played together once, when they were very little.

Lady Freyja claimed that the children they chose turned into alfar were chosen because they were unwanted. So how did a princess with a loving brother who made friends so easily end up in the dream world with them as children?

How much of that did the girl remember?

Her reckless mission to befriend everyone she met reminded Triandra of Peony. Her heart ached at the thought of her little sister. She had sacrificed so much for Peony, she hurt so many people. She had forgotten her memories of her and confined herself to a world of darkness and nightmares, while her sister was able to fly freely in a world of light and good dreams. Could this girl confidently say her brother would do the same? Would her brother become a villain so she could be a hero?

Perhaps it's that feeling of needing to protect her little sister that causes Triandra to approach.

"Stay out of Abyss. Don't go looking for it. The people down there are there for a reason. They don't want to be your friend."

Another new-old friend! And very familiar, too.

Her Kiran did tell her about their dream, where they entered the fairy realm and fought alongside themselves and her (but not her). It was actually super confusing the way they explained it; they kept trying to brush it off, but she just had to know more!

Lucky for her, she met Triandra the dökkálfr — and many more who participated in Kiran's dream. Some of them didn't stay for long, but others stayed a while! In the Order, Triandra and Peony work together to support other heroes during battle.

Smile turns into a grin, and she beams at the dökkálfr. "Hello to you, too, Triandra! You read my mind!" She skips closer, voice lowering when she says, "Actually, that sounds pretty scary. What's the Abyss? How are people there? And do you mean, like, an abyss-Abyss or, like, a place named Abyss? If it's the latter, why is it called that?" Now, she just has to know!

And she's gonna try making friends with them, anyway. The Abyss must be super depressing with a name like that... A good party would be a great start!

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

Triandra frowns. Shareena's bright voice is another painful reminder of Peony. And her curiosity was dangerous... It would be best to try to dissuade her.

The mile a minute questions are annoying too.

"It's a place for those of us with no hope. We're too dangerous to the rest of you on the surface. I only told you about it so you wouldn't go sticking your nose into it. People down there are likely to kill you for doing so." Triandra crosses her arms and gives the younger girl a scowl, like an older sister scolding her younger.

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

Supporting Women's Wrongs

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

@ifvaria

The dead witch's anger is amusing at first. Triandra doesn't even bother to hide her amusement.

And then she makes the mistake of threatening Lady Freyja and Triandra's smirk turns into a snarl.

Triandra slaps the dead witch across the face, anger coursing through her blood. Her long nails break skin and that poisonous miasma that surrounds the dead ones leak out.

She doesn't stop with just a slap. While the witch is stunned, Triandra shoves her with all of her might into the wall. Her fist sinks into the eitr covering Thrasir's stomach, the poison stinging her knuckles. She ignores the burn and continues her assault, pulling her arm back to punch the dead witch's face.

[ifvaria]

Her fight was never the physical, but there is no calling for her other half now. Thrasir touches frantically at her stinging cheek -- does this pathetic excuse for a woman know what it is that she has threatened with a mere scrape of her nail?

There is nothing to cushion her back as it crashes into the wall, but she feels no pain. It's almost laughable, how useless her undead body renders Triandra's assault. Witch grits her teeth, closing clawed fingers around the wrist that has been aimed towards her.

Magic creeps up her assailant's arm, burning everywhere it touches before Thrasir shoves the other away. "You waste your breath," she chides. "Nothing you can do to me will change what I will do to you."

She sneers, arcane flame in the palm of her hand. "Do not make me kill you here," it burns brighter now, hotter with every word of her threat, "immortality will not save you from your fate."

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

Her attempt to punch the dead witch is stopped, and poison begins to burn her wrist where the witch grabs it. It burns, like a child who had carelessly played with poison ivy. And just as quickly as the burn starts, it begins to fade as soon as she's shoved away.

As the witch shoves her away, Triandra uses the momentum she is given to fly back farther, summoning her flower in the palm of her hand.

"You threaten Lady Freyja again and I'll ensure your death is a living hell." She sneered. "I had nothing to do with her return, she was here before me. I don't ask the gods for anything anymore. They didn't answer my prayers when my sister and I were starving little children beaten by our step father. They turned a blind eye to his actions and then force upon us a bitter winter after I killed him to save ourselves. Lady Freyja is the only one to have ever shown any kindness." She juts her chin up, looking down at the omnicidal witch. "You'd do well to remember that. You're just as lost as I was once." The flower in the palm of her hand begins to wilt as anger subsides into hurt.

"Why do you bother playing their games? Being their pawns? Hel is gone, you should be free. The only one who can end your nightmares, is you Thrasir." Her voice softens as she floats down to the floor, stepping forward towards Thrasir.

A truce... An ending to the fight.... If she'll take it.

"It was you and Líf who approached Plumeria and I to work together."

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

Supporting Women's Wrongs

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

@ifvaria

The dead witch's anger is amusing at first. Triandra doesn't even bother to hide her amusement.

And then she makes the mistake of threatening Lady Freyja and Triandra's smirk turns into a snarl.

Triandra slaps the dead witch across the face, anger coursing through her blood. Her long nails break skin and that poisonous miasma that surrounds the dead ones leak out.

She doesn't stop with just a slap. While the witch is stunned, Triandra shoves her with all of her might into the wall. Her fist sinks into the eitr covering Thrasir's stomach, the poison stinging her knuckles. She ignores the burn and continues her assault, pulling her arm back to punch the dead witch's face.

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

Supporting Women's Wrongs

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

(o・・o)/ (from mom)

"Nice, kind, beautiful. Would die for you again."

[unsungblade]

send (o・・o)/ for my muse's opinion of yours.

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

Abyss' teaching records were easily within reach.

A penchant for research, undying determination, and newly learned habits of poking where no mortal would had led him to investigate the Ashen Wolves. On the payroll Lif saw a name he recognized: Freyja. And among her listed students, a former ally.

Triandra.

He seeks her out on his day off, descending into the darkness beneath the monastery to make his message clear. They had a hand in a number of things--Nithavelir's invasion coming to mind as she comes into view--but hatred brews at seeing the Queen alive and well.

"Lost one."

Now with a home to return to. Of that fact, the undead is jealous. He can barely contain the strain in his face, eyes narrowing into slits intent to cause harm. "I hear the gods have already granted your wish... How lucky."

Vehemently, he blows a billow of eitr from beneath his mask, the pale blue ectoplasm dissipating into staler air.

"This marks the end of our cooperation together. Your contract is terminated, and so is your allegiance with us..." Us, including his other half. Regrettable that she could not join him for this encounter, but some things ought to be done by Lif's lonesome.

"Pray they continue to show you mercy. If they deem you a threat to their ambitions, I shall not hesitate to strike you down."

Triandra can barely contain her sneer. She wasn't lost anymore. She knew exactly where she was. She was uncertain of how she got here though...

She doubted that the gods had anything to do with her wish. They never answered her prayers before.

"Are you so happy to be rid of me?" She sneered. "I'm merely a nightmare you get to forget when you wake up? I've seen your nightmares dead man, they're the same every night. You see a girl's death over and over by the hand of Hel herself and you sink into your emotions and choke on them every night." She was testing his patience.

But he was testing hers.

She saw him coming down from the surface. From the open air and flowers. He wasn't limited by the ceiling, and while he smelled of rot the air around him didn't. There were colors and stars instead of sewage and stone.

She missed the open fields of Dökkálfheimr, the starry skies and beautiful flowers. She was tired of how damp it smelled.

He was a creature of rot and decay. He and the dead witch belonged down here, not her and not Lady Freyja.

But humans preferred death to fear she supposed.

"I haven't prayed to gods since I was human. I don't need their mercy. But if you threaten Lady Freyja, you won't escape your nightmares by staying awake."

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

😱+forgotten

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You don't get a mention in any history text. Not even the courtesy of a footnote. There will be no songs about you, no adventurous tales passed and embellished along the way.

Your things will be discarded, useless to others. The pretty clothes you owned, the impressive staves you collected. They're better off collecting dust.

Not even your name will be remembered.

.

Is this too much for you?

Would you prefer to be remembered?

Remembered for the spoiled brat you are?

Remembered for all the ways you selfishly and foolishly cling desperately for any chance of fame?

Remembered for your cowardice?

.

Your faith won't protect you from the ravages of time.

Your faith won't remember you.

Your faith won't stop darkness from consuming the land.

.

"Blessings come in threes" so you claim. I've blessed you with fear dear little girl. Won't you wait eagerly for my other two blessings little girl?

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

😱Shackles

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mentions of torture, no details

It's the uselessness that really gets to you. You're so used to being such a strong and capable mercenary. But even you can't break free from these shackles that chain you to the wall.

You can pull and pull all you want. You'll only succeed in tearing into your wrists, not that the blood that flows from them will make it any easier to break free.

There's so much they could do to you while you're helpless and useless like this. They could torture you of course. But lashes and knives against your skin seem too easy.

No... perhaps they'll bring your lover in and torture her instead. The lashes and knives against her skin, while you stand there shackled to the wall useless to defend her. Her screams will be echoing in your mind forever.

You thought she had died?

You'll wish you both had before the night ends.

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

😱(+father)

He's the looming mountain on everyone's minds.

Everyone fears him.

Especially your fearless siblings.

His nails are like claws, dripping blood.

His skin is grey and tight. Like a corpse, before the skin separates from the body.

How long do you think before his marbling skin slips off? What's underneath that rotting form? Will you see blackened muscles pulling on white bones? Will his eyes become no more than tache noire?

If you look close enough, you'll see maggots. They burrow and feast upon his rotting skin. Flies lay eggs in the orifices, don't you see them hatching?

He begins to bloat. Maybe he'll explode. You're standing so close to him, you'd be covered in him if he does.

The smells of rotten citrus, days old wine, and fish left in the hot sun assault your nose.

Is this the first corpse you've seen? Your first experience with death? Prepare yourself for it. All sons become their fathers after all.

x

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

😱 + sisters.

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They stand before you, tears in their eyes. One falls to her knees and weeps, she's failed you as the oldest sister. The other is frightened to see you, a ghost from their past come back to haunt them.

Why couldn't they just listen to you?

The power you had gained was more than worth it.

But still you play their game, luring them to their doom.

To your father's clutches.

Their screams echo through the stone as their souls are ripped from their bodies, leaving them the same hollow husks as you are.

The three of you together, reunited once again. You've led them to this soulless life with only the purpose of serving Duma.

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

😱 + weakness

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You lay there on the ground, useless and weak. Your sword is just out of reach. If only you had the strength to grasp it, let alone stretch out to reach it.

But oh can you see everything from the ground.

The dried grass scratches your cheeks and cuts what ever skin it can touch. Much like how Elusia's soldiers cut down your friends.

All you can do is watch, helpless and weak, as one by one they fall.

And then he steps in front of you, a valiant knight with a bow. He draws the string back, aiming, powerful and strong.

A bolt lands in his throat. You can see the arrow head sticking out from the back. He loses his grip on the bow, his own bolt striking his own brother's head, and crumbles to the ground, staining it as red as his brother's armor. He's so close, you could almost touch him. If you had the strength to lift your arm.

Don't worry little one. You survive the battle. It seems you had strength enough for that, even though you were too weak to protect your lord.

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

😱(+loss of family)

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All alone

The last of your kind

No one who understands you

You're all alone

And there's nothing you can do

The emptiness tears at your insides

All alone

It eats you

Consumes you

You're all alone

And there's nothing you can do

You can't escape the loneliness

All alone

It drives you mad

They're all gone

You're all alone

And there's nothing you can do

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

😱 + falling

Send 😱 and a subject for Triandra to send your muse a nightmare

You've mouthed off one too many times to him and now he holds you high above the ground with one powerful hand tight around your throat. Just when you think your lungs will explode from the lack of air, he drops you.

You wake up with a jerk.

It's foolish of you to voice your protests Do you think you were safe in the skies on your wyvern? The skies are his domain. He has you in his grip, pulled away from your wyvern. He promises to watch you fall onto the castle spires as he lets go.

You wake up with a jerk.

You're so invincible in the air. No one could compare. Your wyvern is powerful under you, your lance is an extension of your arm.

And then the archers strike and tear through the thin membrane of your beloved wyvern's wings and soon the two of you are falling.

You wake up with a jerk. It's time to go to class. How unfortunate you didn't sleep last night. Good luck on your flying test.

[flowerofsorrowandnightmares]

😱 - “there’s a reason he left you behind.” (people leave eventually…?)

Send 😱 and a subject for Triandra to send your muse a nightmare

You've finally found him again. You don't know how long it's taken but finally you've found him. You would recognize that scarlet form anywhere.

He turns and his frown is different. There's anger and hatred in his eyes.

And it's all for you.

His words are as sharp as his blade. He didn't want you to follow him. You slow him down. You're useless. You're stupid. You're dead weight. You think you can inspire him when he's exhausted? You're pathetic. A sloppy excuse for a dancer.

He's tired of saving you over and over and over again. Go away, leave him alone, find some other circus to join. He's tired of you. He's done with you.

You can protest all you want. You can cry all you want. You'll only irritate him more.

He's quick with his blade, deep cuts to your ankles and you're on the ground before you even realize whats happened. It would be near impossible to follow him again. But you did it before, surely you could do it again?

He must have the same thought because his blade pierces you, pinning you to the ground. All you can do is watch as his scarlet form disappears over the horizon.

There’s a reason he left you behind.