Rhea could not help but note the confusion that dashed over Eden’s face when Rhea talked about comfort. The words came out soft enough that she could have missed them if she had not seen her companion’s lips move. Her gaze never left Eden as she studied the emotions that passed over her features. You could see the emotion that came with each of her thoughts. Rhea could not help be let a small smirk tug at her lips for a moment. She could see when one thought ended and another began. It made her curious to know if Eden even realized that she wore her feelings on her sleeve, especially when it came to confusion and her process of trying to figure out what someone meant it.

Her brow furrowed as Eden answered the next question that she had asked. She had never heard of a shackle that had not a single weak point. They had to have been bonded at a point, so she could only assume that there was some form of magic that was holding it all in place. She did not want to imagine what it had been like to have the shackle placed around her neck. For them to form two pieces into one around someone's neck must have been painful for the subject. The fingernails of her lose hand pressed into the skin of her thigh. If it had not been them being in a dreamscape, it could have cut her skin and caused bleeding. The idea of what her new friend could have gone through angered her. It angered her in a way that she had not realized she even still owned.

Maybe there were people that she could grow close to? The idea was almost bizarre. She had spent so much time around her family that she had begun to think that the only people close to her would be that family. She could only recall her friends growing up being the children of her Aunt and there had been so many of them through the years that sometimes she lost track of who she had met and hadn’t. She had never been the best with names, but she always remembered a face. There was something about someone’s face that always ran out in her mind. There was a pure uniqueness to each person that made them special and made it easier to catalog in her mind. Even twins held a similarity, but a difference that could be kept to recognize them. She knew a few twins who had tried to trick her when she was little but it never worked unless they resorted to magic to make themselves perfectly identical.

It appeared that Eden was not taking well to the answer either. She grew silent after she spoke the simple words but soon her breath grew labor and pulled Rhea from her own thoughts. ”Eden?” She whispered, her eyes worriedly watching the smaller girl. Her hand softly rubbed against her bare back, trying to calm as she struggled to breathe but it did not seem to help. Eden had gotten trapped in her own mind and Rhea was forced to sit and wait for her to return. Rhea jumped slightly in her spot when Eden suddenly screamed. The simple word was enough to take Rhea’s breath for a moment as let Eden slam at the ground. The moment passed almost instantly as Eden spoke out again in the same broken words. What did she mean about ‘taking peace’?

Rhea let all thoughts be abandoned the moment she saw the tears that began to roll down her companion’s cheeks. ”Eden, what is wrong? Did I say something wrong? Forgive me.” Her words came out quickly as a slight panic. Her arms wrapped around her and her mind raced for a moment on what she was supposed to do? She was not completely sure what would be the best action in a situation like this. She could only think of one other thing to do in a moment like this, outside of the hold she already had around Eden. Diverting from the main idea, she did follow through with something close to her idea. She leaned down and softly pressed her lips to the top of Eden’s head. The kiss was soft and sweet, something that was not normal from the siren. ” I am not going anywhere. It is okay.” She let her head softly rest on Eden’s, keeping her arms wrapped tightly around her. This was probably one of the first time she was innocently holding someone naked.

Eden could feel Rhea's arms wrap around Eden as she recovered from her panic, her breathing feeling really heavy as she tried to catch her breath once more. It seemed whatever Eden went through threw Rhea into a panic, causing her to try and do whatever she could to relax the tigerkin. In her head, she would have probably found a solid object to wail upon to relieve the stress and pain she was feeling, but for her partner, it seemed holding and… eating her forehead was the way to do it? Well, not really eating… sucking? She could feel Rhea's lips on her forehead and not her teeth… was she trying to suck away all the bad thoughts in her head? While she could understand why it was supposed to help, it did not stop her from smiling to her friend's acts of comforting her.

As the two were placed closed together, a strange echo suddenly filled the dreamscape. Something very out of place. A loud grumble…. a bit of a roar… sounds of… a bear? Yeah, it would have been bear echoes that found themselves into her realm for a strange reason. Intermixed with it was a strange sound, but it was hardly noticeable, let alone legible. However, it was enough to cause Eden's ears to perk up and break away from Rhea's head as she looked around, the realm about warping around them, signs of white closing in on the pair. It was as if a wave that washed away all the color started to flood around them on an island that was about to be consumed, taking everything and everyone it touched with them until the realm itself disappeared.

Eden's eyes darted open in the real world, finding her head resting upon the breast of a sleeping Rhea, whose arms had been placed around her waist. Slipping free of her grasp, the naked tigerkin stood up, taking hold of her weapon before heading to see where the sounds of the bear came from, her eyes adjusting to the night sky, only to find it casually drinking from the lake they once bathed in…

Everything began to relax around them as the moment passed. Eden relaxed in her arms and rested against her silently. Rhea was unsure what else she could ask her new friend, but she was enjoying just having her close. It was a strange thought to just be comfortable curled up with someone outside the normal situations. Maybe this was the idea of having a friend and the comfort that came with it. She was learning a lot about the way her heart worked and new things that she never fully understood before. It made her want to spend all the time in the world lost in the dream with Eden but, sadly, the moment passed as a soft rumbling sound echoed into the realm.

They were no longer alone. Rhea knew almost instantly that the sound had not come from the dream. She was unsure how she had not detected a creature moving closer to him but it was enough to break the meditation instantly. It was enough to wake up Eden as well as she shifted out of Rhea’s grasp. Rhea had to blink a couple of times as the world became solid around her. She had been in the meditation for so long that she had almost fallen asleep herself. Maybe that was the reason something had gotten so close to them?

The lack of Eden in her arms brought the cold breeze against her skin. She softly shivered as she slowly pushed herself out of the hole in the tree. Eden had already disappeared from sight by the time she was up and without grabbing anything she followed quickly behind her. Her magic would be enough to protect her if anything bad were to happen. She pushed through the brush and found the creature that let out the noise. Eden was standing there silently watching the bear. Rhea's hand reached out and softly touched against Eden’s weaponed hand.

“Leave it be. It does not seem to care about us. We have no reason to fight something that does not want to fight. Let us get dressed and move on. I think this is a sign that we should move on.”Rhea's voice came out as a soft whisper. She wanted the voice quiet enough to not scare the bear. It continued to drink away from the lake uncaring about the shuffles in the trees. It probably knew it did not completely care because it knew its own strength. She could only hope that Eden would understand her words and touch. She knew a lot of her language was not understandable for Eden.

With a quick blink, Eden looked down to the touch on her hand before up to the hands owner, seeing Rhea's smile and comfort right nearby. Her words felt once again foreign, as if able to translate a  bit from her dream, but was able to make read of what was offered… At least the simple terms of it. A simple breeze blew by, covering Eden in a quick shudder as the night air was much cooler than it was in the evening. Maybe it was time to call it a rest.

With Rhea by her side, Eden was quick to follow the path back to the tree before resting the weapon in the earth again and picking up the cloth pieces that rested upon the ground. It had only taken Eden a few minutes to work the pieces of clothes back together on her (even if it was a bit sloppy with the bands holding things together) as she finished putting on the final piece, throwing her mess of hair out of her clothes and down her back. Still, a yawn escaped her as she once again looked up at the night sky. It was quite late. A proper rest would do her good.

However, it felt like she was in more control of her sleep now than last time. Giving one final look at Rhea, Eden seated herself upon the grassy floor, weapon resting on the floor and her shoulder as her head drooped down, possibly showing Rhea how she had slept since her escape: always on alert. However, a second flow of wind once more sent a shiver down her spine.

To Rhea’s relief, Eden took notice to her words enough to stand down from the bear. The bear could care less about them and with the fact of how close they were, it was clear the bear was interested in water, not food. She could not be sure exactly what she understood from her words but it was enough to make Eden turn around and start walking back to the tree they had rested in moments before. Rhea gave a soft smile as she followed along with her. They remained in silence as they walked back. For once, she felt no need for words because they would just break the comfortable feeling that rested between them. The silent communication was simple and beautiful in its own way.

Their clothes had been left forgotten at the tree, but thankfully nothing was interested in them and they still rested there when they returned. Eden began to cloth and Rhea knew that she probably should as well. She noticed before that Eden was shivering from the wind, but for Rhea, the breeze felt wonderfully cold against her skin. She was more excited by the cold environments over the hot ones, which was interesting since she spent a lot of her childhood in a city near a desert and jungle. It always had a layer of heat to it that she had grown to enjoy, but it was the cold, watery environments she loved.

She slid her dress back on adjusting the fabric to sit comfortably on her body. It was one thing that she actually enjoyed about dresses or at least the ones she crafted, they were easy to get off and on quickly. She was slightly sad to be dressing again. If it was up to her, she probably would never wear clothes but there was an odd rule to the world that you should be clothed. She was not sure who came up with the rule but she really did not like them, but she also didn’t like the people who were angered by her not wearing clothes. She had a beautiful body, so why not show it off?

Once she had her dress and slippers back on, she gave a soft smile to her companion. She knew that she could have made her leave now and continue to the city but her body ached to spend a little more time with Eden. She softly sat down beside Eden and pulled her cloak over the both of them. Hopefully, it would be enough warmth to keep the shivers from returning to her friend. Rhea gave a soft smile and rested her head on the shoulder of the Eden and cuddled up to her. She was going to have a good sleep she could feel it. It was too bad that when they woke they would need to return to civilization. She was slightly amazed the comfort that they were able to find in this terrifying forest. She just hoped their luck would continue for their few more hours of rest.