Shadow Slave alternate paths: The sun of song

Sunny opened his eyes.

A beautifully adorned ceiling of Ravenheart's castle hung above him. No one could dispute the majesty of the castle's design, but to Sunny, even if he had woken up back in the outskirts, it would have been just as beautiful.

He was back.

It was safe and familiar—no tyrants falling from the sky, no crazed swordsmen trying to kill him.

He felt incredible. Not only was he physically enhanced, but he had also almost forgotten what it was like to not feel cold, hungry, or in pain.

What a blessing.

Now that he was free from suffering—and with his new, strengthened body.

Sunny could almost cry.

'I did it!'

He looked down and almost yelped. Sitting on the couch propped up near the bed was Silent Stalker, watching him quietly.

"Uuhhhmmm... hi?" His voice was a little raspy, as to be expected after sleeping for so long.

She glared at him.

"What took you so long?" she asked in a quiet voice.

Sunny wanted to reply with a sarcastic joke, but to his shock, when he opened his mouth, the words he meant to say didn't come out.

Instead, what came out was:

"I was in the cold, shackled as a slave, and had to walk up a mountain for three days, killing many things in the process," he said flatly.

Silent Stalker blinked slowly, her expression unreadable.

"That... doesn't seem like a typical first Nightmare," she finally muttered, staring at him quizzically.

"It also wasn't a very normal way to enter said Nightmare," he retorted, hoping to subtly change the subject.

Silent was quiet for a moment, and then:

"I'm sorry," she said in a whisper. "I shouldn't have pushed you like that."

Sunny almost choked on air.

Never—never—during all his brutal training, the endless insults, or the hours of being beaten by her, had Silent Stalker ever shown a hint of remorse.

"Has the world ended? Am I hearing things right? You're apologizing?" he asked with a mischievous smile.

Silent said nothing and looked up at the ceiling, muttering something about stupid men that Sunny was fairly sure wasn't aimed at him.

She tossed him a towel. "Go shower. You reek of Nightmare... and sweat."

Then offhandedly, "I'll ask you about your abilities later."

She turned back one last time. "Oh, and congrats on becoming a Sleeper, Sunny."

And just like that, she was gone.

'Sleeper Sunless, huh?'

He was no longer "Hey, you!" or "Brat." He was Sleeper Sunless of Clan Song.

'Ah, this is bliss,' Sunny thought as hot water soaked into his skin.

He could've sworn he still smelled blood, grime, and sweat, but he knew it was all psychological.

Reluctantly, he got out of the tub. There was no running water in the Dream Realm, and the next best thing was a magically heated bathtub that never went cold.

He dried himself off and walked over to the mirror. He wanted to see the changes in his body.

He was slender and lean now, no longer starving and showing ribs.

Then, out of the corner of his eye—

A flicker of movement.

He turned around but saw nothing. Then he looked down... and saw his shadow.

Facepalming.

"Hey... did you just move?" Sunny looked like a crazy person, talking to his own shadow.

The shadow stood still, almost as if pondering the question, then shook its head.

"What do you mean 'no'? You just did!" he said incredulously. "You take me for an idiot?"

The shadow nodded without hesitation.

'You...!' Sunny calmed himself.

"Your shadow is more independent than most. It is an invaluable helper," he muttered in realization.

He turned back to the shadow. "So... what can you do?"

The shadow didn't reply.

Because it was a shadow.

'Curses.'

"Uh... show me?"

Still no reply.

It seemed perfectly content acting like a normal shadow after insulting his intelligence.

'I'm doing it wrong,' Sunny deduced.

He closed his eyes and turned his perception inward. Maybe exploring himself better would give him some clues.

There—on the edge of his mind—was something new.

A whole new sense.

He tapped into it and felt an entirely new sensation.

He willed the shadow to sit, stand, kick. It changed shapes—circles, lines, even outlines of monsters.

The only thing that stayed constant was its size.

It was almost like controlling a limb... except it wasn't made of flesh, just the absence of light.

The shadow seemed to pout and begrudgingly raised up a thumbs up.

'I'll explore this later.'

For now, he had one thing on his mind...

Food.

***

Sunny sat at an excessively long dinner table. Only three people were dining.

Revel, Silence, and Sunny sat in silence, each waiting for someone to start the inevitable conversation.

Revel had greeted him warmly when he came out safe, and had even commended him for surviving—despite the fact that he'd been sent into the Nightmare unexpectedly.

Luckily, Sunny was saved from questions—for now—by the arrival of food.

He began to unceremoniously scarf it down. He had never tasted anything this good in his life.

Revel and Silence looked at each other, then at Sunny, both wearing identical expressions of mild disgust.

"We really should hire an etiquette teacher," lamented Revel.

Silent simply nodded.

Sunny ignored them, but his thoughts wandered. His situation was already bleak. Combined with his flaw, his innate ability was going to be a pain to hide.

"So... Sunny, what are you thinking about?" Revel asked innocently.

Sunny choked on the piece of meat he was chewing.

'Think. THINK!'

A pressure formed in his mind, growing bigger and bigger until it turned into blinding pain.

"I'm thinking... about my aspect," he managed to choke out.

'That worked?' Sunny was stunned. 'So, half-truths count. I don't have to give the exact truth.'

To be honest, he would've been royally done for if he hadn't thought of that at the last second.

Revel nodded. She clearly wanted to ask more and learn about his Nightmare and aspect.

Sunny was in for rough waters ahead.

"Did you get anything interesting? Like memories?" she asked curiously, trying to make conversation.

"I did get this," Sunny set down his fork and summoned [Burrowing Claw]. "Got it from a dormant beast."

The description of [Burrowing Claw] still creeped him out. He wasn't very fond of that memory.

'The Mountain King does not build his kingdom with stone. He builds it with corpses, and the children he plants inside them.'

"So... what was that about climbing a mountain?" Silent asked.

"That was a conflict in the Nightmare," Sunny carefully chose his words. "We had to get to the top of it."

'A' conflict, not 'the' conflict. He hoped they wouldn't linger on the phrasing.

Luckily, they didn't.

"What are your general affinities?" Silence asked, studying him closely.

Sunny pondered a moment before answering, "I think it's more toward shadows... and, uh, something about divinity?"

Silent and Revel exchanged a glance. An affinity for divinity was rare. Shadows too. Between them, they could probably name fewer than ten Awakened with a shadow affinity.

"So, about your aspect ran—" Silence was abruptly cut off.

The doors slammed open as Bin entered the dining hall. She laid eyes on Sunny and broke into a wide grin.

"Little brother!" she said cheerfully. "You're alive!"

She walked up and sat beside him. "We were so sure you were going to die," she said with a hint of sadness. "You should've seen how much Silence freaked out."

Silent Stalker turned a little red, clearly forgetting what she was about to ask. "I did not!"

Bin ignored her. "So how'd you survive?"

Sunny smiled. "How else? With a lot of spite."

Bin's grin widened. She began filling him in on everything that had happened after he passed out.

Silent had sent him straight to the infirmary, hoping to wake him before the Nightmare fully claimed him.

The three legacies had been escorted back to their citadels by Moonveil.

Revel had stayed by his side for a day before duty called her elsewhere.

Bin had overseen matters within the domain.

And surprisingly enough, Silent Stalker had remained by his side the longest.

Bin claimed it was out of guilt—which Silent vehemently denied.

Eventually, the laughter died down. Sunny didn't want the conversation to circle back to his Nightmare, so he asked a question first.

"So... what comes next?"

Revel spoke up. "Training for the Winter Solstice, naturally."

"Except I won't be training you anymore," Silent Stalker added. "I can't hold off my duties any longer. I am still a Saint."

Sunny frowned. "Then who?"

"We will..." Bin said with dramatic flair, "...be sending you to the Academy."