Night shift on the Eternal Wanderer. The great Dreadnought was one day out of the Rock of Bral, moving at Spelljamming speeds toward the spherewall. It's captain, the samurai warrior known only as Onestar decided it was time to return to the sphere of his birth, Omnispace. Recent events in his homesphere drove him to this decision. It was the first time he was willing to return in nearly ten years.
His friend, the leader of Omnispace's ruling body, Lord Monitor had resigned and his most hated enemy, Tannenbam Colicor was going to assume command. Colicor, acting in agreement with Te'Ess-Arr the Arcane, led an attack against Onestar and his shipmates. Onestar grew tired of letting Colicor try to attack; he decided to take the fight straight to him.
The Eternal Wanderer was quiet. Phantom was on the bridge, with the drow Damian Josh manning the helm. Very few others were moving about. Kath was the only other officer 'officially' on the bridge, although the Giff Karamon was there keeping them company. Phantom listened in as the other security officers discussed former battles, exaggerating most of the better parts.
Elsewhere on the ship, Blaise Pascal was in his lab experimenting with his old Nextasy Helm. He was able to attach a Wild Surge Crystal retrieved from a broken ship, but did not wish to test it without a Wild Surge Suppressor. Onestar promised the Arcane they'd stop at Toram before they left the sphere, to see if any Arcane traders might have one.
Nearby, in an adjoining room, Zebart, Blaise's assistant and ship nuisance was fast asleep. Although he snored like a dragon, Blaise didn't mind: it was far better than the constant talking Zebart did. Like other Tinker Gnomes, Zebart talked without ever stopping, or even breathing for that matter. One day, Blaise promised to himself, he decided he'd see how long Zebart could talk without breathing. It might be worth a paper to someone.
Hall and Belieth were snuggled together under the covers in their room. They had just finished making mad, passionate love, and were slowly falling asleep in one another arms. Belieth had spent several hours casting modified versions of a silence spell on the walls of their room, since some of the crew complained that the noise the half-elves made could "not only wake the dead, it'd turn them as well!" Any time someone would mention anything about their lovemaking, Belieth would blush, but Hall would justify everything with the "we've been separated for five years, and we have a lot of catching up to do" line.
Not everyone on the ship was resting as comfortably, however. In the captain's quarters, Onestar tossed and turned in his sleep. His head jerked back and forth, and his legs shook and twitched. Crystal Ravenheart, the elf maiden who fell in love with the samurai laid on her side watching him fight his battles. Every time she tried to comfort him with a song, or a loving touch, it didn't seem to help.
She knew that he had terrible nightmares, which Onestar believed were suppressed memories coming back to haunt him, but it didn't help. Since hearing that Colicor was taking charge of the Council on Omnispace, the nightmares seemed worse, and they might soon taking their toll on the samurai.
Crystal tried to wipe his sweat-covered brow, hoping he might recognize her presence and it would calm him down. Suddenly, he leapt from the bed and grabbed one of the wooden practice katanas he uses to keep in shape. His eyes were open, but it was obvious to Crystal even in the dark that he was still asleep.
"Onestar?" she asked quietly. The samurai didn't hear her; rather he just began to turn and pace around the room. Crystal grabbed her robe from the nightstand and stood up, staying well out of his sword's length. "Onestar, it's me. It's Crystal. My love, what's wrong?"
The samurai said nothing, but instead opened the door and stepped into the hall. He began to move cautiously, like someone exploring ruins or an unfamiliar dungeon. Crystal moved quietly to follow.
"Damian, are you on the helm?" She said quietly, slipping on a pair of soft, elven slippers to follow Onestar.
[What's wrong, Crystal?] Damian's voice seemed to come from the bed they were just laying on.
"Damian, wake Hall and the others. Something's wrong with Onestar."
[I see him. Be careful, Crystal.]
The samurai moved into the lighted hallway. As it turned out, Onestar had a penchant for sleeping in the nude. His hair not pulled back into the ponytail like it usually is, it flowed evenly around his shoulders. Onestar made his way carefully down the hall, as Crystal followed quietly behind.
A door opened suddenly, and Hall stuck his head out, fixing his robe. Onestar didn't notice Hall step out and come up beside Crystal. Moments later, Belieth followed.
"Oh, my stars!" Belieth exclaimed. "Would you look at the size of..."
"BELIETH!" Hall yelled quietly. "Now is not the time for that." The bard turned to Crystal. "What happened?"
"He was having a nightmare, and suddenly he jumped out of bed." Crystal shook her head. "I don't think he's ever had one this bad before."
"In all the years we've known each other," Hall commented as Onestar stopped in front of storage room door, "he's never done this before."
Onestar stopped, and pushed the door open with his katana. It opened silently, but Onestar still acted like it creaked. He looked inside, as the others gathered around. By this time, Blaise and Tabatha joined them.
"What's wrong?" Blaise asked.
"He seems to be sleepwalking, but I've never heard of any case this bad." Hall replied.
"He seems to be well built, for a human," Tabatha commented. Belieth just nodded her head, while Crystal blushed slightly. Meanwhile, Onestar used his katana to seemingly probe something over his head.
"Do you two mind. We have a pro.." Hall stopped in mid sentence. Onestar jerked around toward them, then walked to the open doorway. He stood there, checked the edges but seemed to look like it was shut.
"What's happening?" Crystal asked.
"It looks like he thinks he's trapped," Blaise replied. "He appears to be reliving some experience. This could prove interesting..."
All attention was turned toward Onestar. He looked around, seemed to probe something above him with the blade a few more times, then stopped. He walked over to a corner of the storage room, and pointed his katana toward the middle of the room. He stood there pointing for a few seconds, just pointing...
Suddenly, he dropped the katana and began to writhe on the floor in pain! He screamed at the top of his lungs, grabbing his head. He cried out in pain, agony and despair. Crystal pushed past Hall and Blaise to run beside the samurai. Suddenly, he stopped screaming and fell limp. Crystal gently cradled his head in her arms.
Kath and Karamon ran down the hall, weapons drawn.
"What happened, sir?" Kath asked.
"I wish I knew. I wish I knew." Hall was at a loss for words.
Onestar sat there limp for a few minutes, Crystal holding him gently. Finally, he blinked his eyes open. Looking around, he finally realized where he was. Looking at Crystal, he just grabbed her, held her tightly, and began to cry like a newborn baby. Hall came over to Onestar and, placing a robe around his shoulders, knelt down to comfort his friend.
"Onestar," he asked quietly, "what happened?"
"I just relived my death, Hall." Onestar cried. He buried his head in Crystal's chest, sobbing.
Karamon and Kath returned to the bridge, while Onestar and the others retired to the library to talk about what had just happened. Hall sat on his desk while Belieth sat in the chair behind it. Blaise stood over near the door, while Onestar and Crystal sat on the couch. Onestar took another sip of a ginger tea Belieth prepared. He seemed to calm down, although his eyes were still red from crying.
"You saw yourself die?" Hall asked. Onestar took another sip.
"More than that, old friend. I relieved my death, back on Sphereworld."
Crystal wrapped around his free arm. She rested her head on Onestar's shoulder, as the samurai rested his head on hers for a second.
"I don't suppose you want to tell us about it," Belieth said, breaking the silence.
"Not really," Onestar said, "but I know it will help. We were exploring some dungeon...it doesn't matter where. I was taking the point, checking for traps and monsters. I entered this room...the others were just a few feet behind me. Nine frosted glass globes hung from the ceiling, suspended by a small wire. They were too far into the room for me to tap with my katana or my quarterstaff..."
"A quarterstaff?" Hall interjected. "I've never seen you use a quarterstaff?"
"It turns out I'm quite proficient in it."
"You never told me this before."
"Hall, up to a few minutes ago, I didn't know this myself." Onestar continued. "I entered the room and tapped one of the globes with my katana. When I did, the door closed behind me..."
"Sealing you in the trap," Belieth added. Onestar just nodded.
Onestar swallowed hard before continuing. "I looked the room over. There seemed to be no other exits, nothing on the walls. Only a layer of dust covered the floor, nothing underneath it." He swallowed again. Hall stood, walked over to a pitcher of water, and poured a glass, which he handed to Onestar.
"Thanks."
"We saw you check out the 'room'," Hall said, sitting back down on the desk, "but then you did something strange. You pointed your katana at the spheres..."
"I did. The katana was sentient, it seems. Not like the blades I use now. That one had a personality, which somehow gave me...suggestions. It suggested to me to use its 'sonic scream' ability...don't look at me like that Hall, I have no idea about what the sword was...to destroy the globes."
Belieth leaned forward. "And so it... screamed..."
Onestar bowed his head. His voice dropped to a whisper. "The globes shattered. It turned out that they were quite fragile. From some of them, gold fell, from other, magical items. But most of them contained....puddings, oozes, molds. Most of them had psionic powers. They sensed my abilities and attacked my mind and body at the same time. I was helpless. I could do nothing more than to call out to Hachiman for salvation. They began to cover me, eat away at my very flesh. My mind was reduced to jelly, I...i..."
"By the stars," Blaise commented.
"And you just relived the entire experience? That must have been...horrible."
Everyone gathered sat for a few moments in silence. Finally, Hall stood and walked over to the samurai. He placed his arms around Onestar and held him like a brother for a few seconds. Finally, when he let go, he asked him one more question very quietly.
"Do you remember anything after that?"
Onestar looked at the bard, tears streaking down his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words could form. The samurai just shook his head.
"I think we should all try to get some rest," Belieth said, not knowing what else to say. "In two days, we'll dock at Toram, then we'll be off to Omni. Once we get there, we'll..." She paused, and looked behind her.
"Hall, dear?"
He answered, still looking at Onestar. "Yes?"
"How long has this door been here?" She stood, and walked three steps to a large, oaken door.
"What door do you mean?" He turned, and his eyes opened wide when he saw the newly-formed portal. By now, all were on their feet looking at the sight. Blaise stepped over next to Belieth, checking the door. It was large, going from floor to ceiling, and wide enough to let three people walk through at the same time. It was well crafted and carved with intricate ornate designs. On the right, there was a gold-and-platinum handle.
"This leads to the outer hull of the ship," Blaise said, running his hands over the door, checking its structure. "Until two minutes ago, this door wasn't here."
"Maybe it's another trap," Crystal commented. "Maybe Onestar's dream was a warning."
"Warning or not, we've got to check it out." Onestar looked around the room to notice an old magical stave Hall had in the library for examination. It's powers long faded, he was using it to learn more about the history of Athaspace.
"You're not thinking about doing what I think you're thinking about doing?" Hall asked as Onestar took the stave.
"Look out. Blaise, be ready to open a dimension door for the rest of you to escape. Hall, everyone, get to the other end of the room." Onestar took the stave and walked carefully for the door. A small elven hand grabbed his right arm.
"You're not going in there alone," Crystal said, looking up at the samurai.
"My love, please go with Hall," Onestar said.
"She is," Hall said, "since I'm going in there with you."
"Me too," Belieth added.
"It appears to be a unanimous vote," Blaise added. "The majority rules."
"This is not a democracy. I'm a dictator. Get out of here." Onestar added.
"Like hell," Crystal added. Hall opened his desk and retrieved a small weapon, handed something to Belieth and stood on the other side of the samurai.
"Do we have to argue about this?" Hall added. "You know you'll lose."
Onestar grumbled. "All right. Just get behind me." He looked at Crystal, softness in his eyes. "Please?"
She took one half-step behind him, while Hall moved up beside him just as Onestar took the handle.
"You never listen, do you?" Onestar asked, sarcastically.
"Just open the damn door," Hall added, a grin on his face.
Onestar shrugged his shoulders, sighed, and then took the handle. Cool to his touch, he pushed the door open slowly. The door made no sound, no creaking noise. It seemed surprisingly light, considering the size and quality of the wood. Ever slowly the samurai opened the door, until he could see inside...
