36. P̶ O̶ W̶ E̶ R̶ :̶ D̶r̶e̶a̶m̶s̶ | Blacksdale

CHAPTER V

Addison groaned and blinked blearily, his eyes cracking open.

He was immediately greeted by the sun's blinding light, shining down through the bamboo trees all around him. He groaned again, closing his eyes once more and raising a hand to shield them from the sun.

However, just before he did, he caught a glimpse of something odd: a figure flitting across the sun, blocking it out momentarily. It was winged and snakelike, but other than that, Addison couldn't make out any discerning features.

Then, with a reluctant sigh, he saw up and rubbed his head, squinting through crusty eyelids and taking in his surroundings.

He appeared to be sitting in a stream—which was unfortunate, since it meant his clothes were now soaked—in the middle of a bamboo forest. The scene was rather pleasant, all things considered.

Even more so because of the person sitting in the air (What the heck? Addison thought) a few metres away from him.

She was a pretty Asian girl with black hair streaked with white. She wore a sleeveless gray shirt and black pants, and had her eyes closed as she levitated above the stream. Two tattoos wrapped around her arms—a dragon on the right and a gryphon on the left.

Addison recognized her almost immediately. His eyes widened, and he stood to his feet slowly, as if in shock. "The girl from my drawing," he breathed. "But how—"

Then he stopped and let out a somewhat embarrassed laugh. "Oh. I'm dreaming," he realized. "That would explain it."

Suddenly, the girl's eyes opened.

Addison took a step back, startled by the intensity of her gaze.

The girl stared at him wordlessly for a long while, her already-narrow eyes becoming even narrower. "Nǐ shì shéi? Nǐ zài zhèlǐ zuò shénme?" she snapped.

"Wǒ bù zhīdào!" Addison replied in protest, raising his hands innocently and stepping back again. "Wǒ zhǐshì zài shuìjiào ránhòu—"

He stopped.

The girl raised an eyebrow.

"What the heck," Addison breathed, somewhat stunned as he moved both hands to his mouth. "I just spoke Chinese."

"Mandarin," the girl said curtly.

Addison hesitated.

"It's Mandarin," the girl repeated. "Not 'Chinese'. That's the written version."

"...Oh. Sorry. I—" Addison cut himself off yet again, still flabbergasted. "I don't know what's going on," he struggled to say. "I mean... this is a dream, right?"

"A dream?" the girl repeated, tilting her head.

"Yeah. Because, in the real world, you're just a drawing," Addison told her. "You're the project I'm working on right now. It's nothing major; just a sketch. I haven't gotten started on inking or—"

"Stop talking."

"Okay."

The girl uncrossed her legs and set her bare feet down in the stream, letting her hands hang loosely at her sides. She made a gentle jerking motion with her head, clearing hair away from her face. Strangely enough, Addison felt his heart rate increase as he watched her, oddly enthralled.