Morning has come. The strange canine creatures slowly filter into the city from the surrounding grasslands. Apparently they don't stay there during the nighttime, opting to go back to… wherever it is that they go during the night. Some of them waddle in on two legs while others walk in on all four.

Rory, the little black unicorn, wanders about. This time, he's taken the precautions of doing his routine little "Obfuscation" cantrip, one of those which he uses most often … and along with a "Shade" cantrip in anticipation of how hot it will be when the sun comes out in full force. He wants to look around and see things, and not attract any undue attention … or collapse from heat exhaustion.

One of the Lacinus emerges from the grasses on four legs. He sits on his haunches and seems to be straining to do something. His body makes a few unplesant sounding popping and cracking noises, and suddenly he rises up and walks around on two legs. Apparently Rory's guess of these creatures being shapechangers wasn't too far from the truth. This particular canine looks like the one that gave Rory the bag of Andor seeds.

Rory winces at the popping noises, his ears flicking. He mouths a silent "ouch".

The canine shakes himself out and waddles into one of the red mud buildings. Everywhere else in the city the sounds of morning begin to filter around. the shiphands are going back to work loading and unloading items of trade to and from the ship. The sounds of hammers hitting nails as the ship is slowly repaired ring through the air. And the noises of barking cubs mixes with the giggles of some of the children from the ship can be heard around on the other side of the ship. Out of the corner of his eye, rory can also see two young Khatta's standing in clumsily drawn magic circles and chanting to themselves.

Rory pads around (not clip-clopping so much, since there's not much in the way of concrete or pavement here), taking in what he can see, trying to keep out of the way … and frequently looking back to make SURE he can still see the ship … and casting glances to the sky to see if it looks like it might rain or not (not that he'd really know. Not his sphere.) That line of thought makes him wonder if he should chance getting a weather forecast from one of his compatriots. He wanders over toward the twin sister Khattas.

The two Khattas pay Rory no mind as he approaches. They're quietly engrossed in the little ritual. Each feline seems to be playing a part in it, as if the two were making pieces of something to put together and form something larger.

Rory just sits down quietly, not announcing his presence, and watches. There's a limit to what one can really tell from just WATCHING a ritual, even with knowledge of magic, since there is so much going on that simply cannot be seen, but it interests Rory, nonetheless – especially the notion of two mages working together on magic, rather than solo or with apprentice supporters.

Something darts by out of the corner of Rory's eye. It's gone before he can see what it was.

As both of the Khattas chant at once, it's hard to make out what either one of them are saying. Rory is able to pick out a few words that are similar to those he uses when he wants to project a shadow in the image of something.

Rory makes an annoyed frown, but, if he can't see it, he can't see it. But, it makes him restless. He decides that he might as well practice some spellcasting, too. He pulls out his supplies, backs up, and makes his own circle, keeping a safe distance from the twins.

The air around Rory starts to look slightly hazy – it quickly snaps back to normal as he distances himself from the two mages.

Rory sits down in his circle, looks around for inspiration … and decides, just for the sake of doing so, to start working on a nice little darkness spell, centered on himself. That should replace the "shade" cantrip for a while…

The little black unicorn whispers his chant, making slow, weaving signs in the air about him with his hands, ritually rearranging stones and making marks in the circle as he continues.

One of the fat egg-laying Tups runs past Rory's circle, it chitters noisily as a Lacinu chases after it.

Rory inwardly winces, but keeps right on chanting. He quietly consoles himself with the reminder that there IS something good about the subtle and not-often-very-impressive-or-flashy spells of his sphere … At least when they get interrupted, nothing explodes.

A soft breeze blows in, causing strange noises to eminate from the grasses. The Tup tries to charge inbetween the two dream mages – and then screeches to a halt, staring around at the empty air.

The canine chasing the lizard steps forward to pick up his prize. He looks around nervously as he bends down and grabs the small creature, takes a nervous step back, and then visibly relaxes.

Rory keeps casting his spell, forcing himself to relax and just keep focused. This is merely practice, after all. But even so, there's something disturbing about having a spell broken, even if it's only for 'play'.

Some time later, Rory finishes casting his spell. Toward the completion of the spell, the air around him begins to darken … until a shell of intangible black surrounds him, its radius corresponding to that of his magic circle. Presto. You can't see the unicorn. But, of course, that shell hiding him is particularly conspicuous. Still, it just seemed the thing to do at the time – and it certainly provides a nice shade, though, through the wonders of magic, the unicorn can still watch the dream mages from his "shelter".

The two Khatta sisters aren't focusing as much on casting their ritual as much as chanting to themselves to keep it going. They now sit in their respective circles and chat to one another while they pantomime sipping something from a cup and eating something.

Rory hmms to himself, pondering what they might be doing, and thinking back to the spells he uses when HE feels a compulsion to play-act … such as the time when he danced with Silhouette…

Thinking of … Rory looks around, wondering where Silhouette might have gotten off to … but then deciding that now isn't the best time to go searching.

A shadowy form glides in front of Rory and signs, "Excuse me, mister black shadow ball… but you haven't seen my friend Rorschach around here anywhere, have you?"

Rory smiles and giggles, and lets the spell "coast" for a while. He waves at the shadowy form, certain that it can see him just fine, and winks, grinning.

"Is this what you've been doing this morning?" Silhouette signs. "I knew you'd find some way of keeping the sun from toasting you, you're smart like that." She grins.

Rory whispers, "Step inside! I wish we could join the sisters for tea, but I don't have an invitation. And I don't know that spell."

Sil sidesteps into Rory's shadow ball. Amazingly, she doesn't crowd him inside the spell at all. "We can have our own tea party later," she signs.

Rory smiles. "Maybe we could invite them, too. I'm not quite experienced on proper tea party etiquette."

"The more the merrier," Silhouette signs. A young Lacinu cub walks up to the shadow ball and sniffs at it. Silhouette makes a face at the canine since it can't see her inside the ball. (Well, it can't see her outside the ball either, but that's a small detail.)

Rory hmms. "Silhouette, I wonder if they could see you, while they're play-acting?" He pauses a bit, doing some more chanting and cantripping to "charge up" the sphere, just as a good practice.

"Maybe… " the shadow muses. "I don't know. People only tend to see me if they want to see me."

One of the felines looks up from her circle and blinks at Rory… or more accurately, the big shadow ball that's in the place of Rory. She shrugs, such things aren't too terribly unusual for a mage student, after all, and goes back to chanting as she and her sister recharge their own spell.

Rory goes back over his scant knowledge of Dream magic, and particularly focuses on those aspects of the magic that seem in some ways like some of his own spells. He mentally goes through his repertoire, searching for a proper spell or combination of spells that might allow him to politely join in without disrupting. For the meantime, he works on sustaining his spell – Even though it can go on for a while on its own, it doesn't hurt to put a little more into it, so that, should he get lost in conversation or some other distraction, it can go on all that much longer without his help.

The two felines clink their 'cups' together and giggle to themselves. Besides that quick glance of acknowledgement, they don't seem to be paying too much attention to Rory.

Rory, once certain that his current spell can keep itself up long enough for him to do some more casting – with some time to spare – works on a collection of cantrips and minor spells, calling up his own portable toybox of incantations … conjuring up a shadow-play of images that should be all he needs to play the part of a well dressed unicorn gentleman and his dignified guest … just as long as the felines are good enough sports to let him play along. If not, his efforts are entirely wasted … and really amount to nothing more than any child could accomplish with playacting and a suitably vivid imagination.

Rory finishes his little spells … then, with considerable concentration, slowly moves forward, taking his magical "toys" with him … until he's much closer to the two felines. He settles down and just listens and watches – trying to be receptive if the felines are willing to "share" their play-act world with him so that he can step inside it for a little while.

As the unicorn steps forward past a certain point, the shadow sphere, the dirt at his feet, the city, and she ship all seem to melt away. It's replaced with a grand ballroom with haunting music coming from somewhere imperceptible. It's less solid and ordered than an actual illusion, but still more realistic than one of Rory's own shadowplays. Silhouette takes the form of a pretty unicorn maid with black hair, black fur, and a black dress – while Rory himself is now dressed in a fine black suit.

The sisters giggle to one another as Rory enters, then scoot closer together. One of them chants softly to recharge the spell again while the second motions to a table set in front of her. "Tea?" she purrs. In front of her is a crystal table with a silver tea set and a plate full of fancy pastries.

Rory notes Silhouette's appearance, then dream-bows to the felines. "Yes, we would be honored. And, I have brought with me a sampling of sugarfir sweets with me, imported from Ur, if you would care to share them." They are, of course, not real, but he at least has his most pleasant memories of those rare occasions when he got to try such confections.

Strange creatures swim through the air. Beings that live in dreams and trail music as they pass by. Some resemble fish, others look more like delicate bugs or small furred animals fly through the air.

"Ohhh!" the other Khatta squeals as she finishes chanting. Her sister gives her a gentle poke in the ribs. "Ahem. I'm Kell, and this is my sister Kiz. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Rory smiles and bows again. Maybe it's a bit too much bowing, but he doesn't know proper etiquette. "I am Rorschach. And this is Lady Silhouette." He gestures to his companion.

Silhouette makes a quick little curtsey to the two Khattas.

"You were the shadow mage that got stuck with that snob of a fire mage back in Himar, weren't you?" Kell says, sipping daintily from her silver teacup.

Rory says, "Well, I do not think it would be polite for me to call him a 'snob'. Nor would it exhibit any sense of self-preservation. He IS a fire mage, after all."

Rory looks around, smiling, and says, "This is a rather nice place you have here! Not at all like I imagined." He sets down the imaginary packet of sugarfirs between the two felines.

The two sisters giggle and munch on their pretend pasteries. "He gave Kiz the hotfoot once when she ate the last blackberry muffin at breakfast." Kell says. Kiz blushes furiously; strangely, the walls turn slightly pink as well.

Kell does her stint of recharging the daydream… Pity that the two have to constantly work to maintain it instead of being able to simply sit back and enjoy the thing. Kiz 'samples' one of Rory's fruits, "It's different every time. Dreams are hard to control," she says between bites.

Rory smiles politely. "So, what did you do to show your appreciation for his attention?" He winks conspiratorially.

"He… didn't sleep very well for a few nights," Kell says as she finishes chanting. She picks up her teacup and sips at it again.

Rory nods. "I'm not surprised." He frowns, remembering his own dreams. "I hope it's not rude, but might I tell you about a strange dream I had recently? I never know when a dream is just a dream, or when it MEANS something … and maybe you could tell me?"

The two felines look at one another and shrug. "Sure. Just as long as there's no icky stuff innit."

Rory hmphs, looking faintly offended. "No icky stuff." He pauses to recollect his thoughts, then starts recounting his dream of being on the airship deck, seeing the "gold" on the horizon that manifested into a great dragon … of the really nifty warrior on the dragon's head … and all the way until the dragon ran into the airship and he woke up, ending with a self-depreciatory account of the state he found his cabin in once he did.

Kiz rubs her chin. "Have you read any books about dragons?"

The black unicorn shakes his head. "No, I haven't. But I have a friend on the ship – Reece – who says he knows about dragons. He looks like a Naga, only with legs. And he says that big puff of smoke that comes up every once in a while over that way is from 'Mother' – A really BIG dragon, I guess."

"What do you think dragons look like?" Kell asks as she pours herself another cup of tea.

Rory hmms. "Well, I guess I think they look like what I saw in my dream. Like really really big Nagas, but with Chibix wings."

"Sometimes dreams are just conglomerations of things we see around us. The airship, the talk of dragons… although the dragon's rider – maybe it was a representation of yourself?" the two felines say almost in unison.

Rory blinks. "ME? But then why did I have to come back and wreck the airship? That wasn't very nice of me." He frowns at the thought. "Especially since Silhouette was on board, too! I'd never want to hurt Silhouette … or anybody else on the ship!"

"Hmmm," Kell muses. "Do you know anyone who dislikes you? Someone on this ship?"

Rory says, "Well, there's Vester, but I don't think he really has it out for me. I think he just sees me as easy prey."

Kiz shakes her head. "He left the ship in Himar to be a pain to his parents." She shrugs. "It could have just been a dream brought on by all the turbulance amd all the talk of airships and dragons and storms. Or it could have some meaning too deep for us to comprehend all that easily."

Rory frowns. "Oh well. I guess I was just hoping for an easy answer, but … I appreciate your help." He looks to Silhouette, then back to Kiz and Kell. "I had another odd 'dream' that happened when Silhouette and I were dancing. But I don't know if telling you about that would be much help, since it was the SEEING that really made me wonder about it all."

Kell closes her eyes and chants again while Kiz examines Rory's shadowy friend. "Those tend to be the most powerful types of dreams. What happened?"

Silhouette straightens herself a bit at the attention.

Rory looks to Silhouette, reminding himself that he's leaving someone out of the conversation. "Silhouette? Do you mind if I tell them about it? I'm sorry, but something about that still bothers me … like there's a question I can't answer, and I don't even know the question to ask."

Silhouette makes a 'go ahead' motion with one hand as she picks up a teacup.

Rory nods, and recounts dancing with Silhouette, taking care to be politely flattering of Silhouette's prowess in dancing, and humble about his own average abilities. Of particular interest to him is to try to describe how she appeared to him in the dream, and how his surroundings seemed when they appeared so vivid, and not mere projections of his imagination … or so he felt.

"Strange. How long have you known Silhouette?" Kell asks. "And have you ever sen anyone like the person she seemed to resemble?"

Rory looks to Silhouette and shrugs. "Well, I've ALWAYS known Silhouette. At least, as long as I can remember. But there are lots of things I don't remember, so that isn't much help." He looks back. "And, no, I've not seen anybody she resembles – except me – except that she's a girl, of course!"

"It could have been that you put your face on her. Or maybe she's someone from the part of the past that you don't remember, just like the rider of the dragon," Kiz says. "Memories are a large part of dreams."

Rory frowns. "But her face didn't look like mine. Did it, Silhouette?" He turns to his friend. "YOU don't know of anybody else that we'd look like, do you?"

Silhouette shakes her head.

Rory shrugs and sighs. "I guess I was hoping for something a bit more. Oh well. Thanks again, though." He blinks, then says, "I suppose you could try the sugarfirs now." He smiles.

"Maybe you should try and find out about the parts of your past that you don't remember." Kell sets her teacup down.

Rory pauses as he hands out the sugarfirs, and frowns again. "But I don't know how to do that. I don't have anybody I could ask. I don't have a family, like most people … and my mentor died before I got sent to Rephidim. I guess … maybe my past is just lost now."

The two Khattas begin whispering to one another quietly…

Kiz speaks up, "We could help you with that… maybe." She itches at her neck. "I mean, we can make you dream about memories, but they wouldn't be all that accurate. Your subconscious might fill in a few of the gaps."

Rory frowns. "I guess that makes sense. Maybe it would be worth a try, though? But I don't know what I could do to return the favor. Unless you wanted to hide something for a while, that is. I'm pretty good at that, when I have time to prepare."

"But no rules-breaking!" Rory amends quickly. "I don't want to give Mage Latania any reason to be upset with me … even if she never finds out."

Both of the felines nod. "Of course. Nobody wants to cross Latania. Hmmm." Kiz whispers in her sister's ear and prompts a big toothy grin from Kell.

"Could you… help us with one of those shade thingies?" Kell asks. "It gets so hot out here."

Rory smiles. "Certainly! That's just a cantrip … but if I put a bit more work into it, I should be able to make you 'shades' you can take with you … and they should last a while. Unfortunately, I'd have to keep casting them for you to start them off. I think it would take us all a lot of work and research for me to figure out some way you could keep them going by yourself, of course, since it's not your sphere. Probably not even possible… " He muses in this vein for a little while, before remembering himself. "Sure! I can do that."

The two Khattas squeal happily. Kiz pours Rory and Silhouette a cup of tea. "It's a deal then!"

Rory smiles. "Thank you." He sips at the tea.

Kiz and Kell both raise their teacups, offering a toast.

Rory grins as he raises his teacup as well, looking at Silhouette. He sobers a little, looking at how she appears in this little dream world of the two Khattas … and wondering just what sorts of memories he might have. What IS Silhouette? An imaginary friend he never grew out of? A memory? Just one of his cantrips that took on a life of its own? A ghost? A figment of his own overactive imagination? An alien from another world, secretly bent on the domination of all sapient life forms? A spectre that fee – No, she's not that. She's his friend … and while he feels a need to learn more about her – and himself – he's scared at the same time, too.