As the ship climbed higher into the air, Vect found it increasingly difficult to watch the city shrink below until he finally gave up and retreated into his cabin below deck. The Absolute required only a few hands to crew effectively, allowing the ship to have plenty of spare cabins for passengers. Unfortunately the quantity of cabins meant each one was rather small and had very little furniture. A chair, single table, and a bed were all the contents of his room. It felt cramped, but the bed was comfortable. Vect lay back on his bed and stared up at the ceiling and tried to trick himself into believing they were on the sea instead of flying thousands of feet above the ground.
(Why did you come down here? I was hoping to see the landscape from up above.) Erress protested.
"Sorry, but I needed to get away from there before I started to panic," Vect frowned, cursing himself for his weakness. "If you wish, I will ask Faral or Edran to carry you above deck."
(No, I much prefer to see things through your eyes.)
"That's nice of you to say."
(That being said, we need to fix your fear of heights somehow.)
"I don't think I'm going to like where this is going."
(First we need to see where this fear comes.)
"How? And secondly, don't I get a say in this?"
(Just relax your mind, this could be a little disorienting.)
Vect's eyes widened, "wait what are yo-!" He suddenly felt as if someone grabbed his very mind and yanked it backwards away from his body. Images flashed before his eyes at blinding speeds, sounds and voices surrounded him and muddled together into an incomprehensible cacophony that pounded at his ears.
"Stop! Stop! ERRESS STOP!"
"I found it."
The onslaught of noises and visions ceased immediately and Vect found himself sitting in a grass field. Anger flooded through him as he jumped to his feet. "WHAT IN THE 9 HE-," he began to yell at Erress but stopped when he found himself staring eye to eye with another elf. Her soft face was framed by a cascade of bright red hair. Her blue eyes were full of life and Vect could detect a hint of mischievous glee. Vect glanced down and immediately averted his eyes elsewhere when he saw she had no clothes on.
"Um, hello. Sorry I thought you were someone...else," he frowned as a thought ran through his head. "Erress is that you?" He still tried to avoid looking below her neckline.
The elf gave a quick chuckle, "well what do you think of this form?"
"Could you not create some clothes?"
"I knew I was forgetting something," she grinned. Her body glowed for a moment before it faded and she was left with a ruby colored off shoulder gown that extended down to her knees and very wide and flowing sleeves. "Better?" She traced her hand along her hip and thigh.
"Yes. Why do you look like that anyway?"
"I thought it would be an interesting experience to see how you see the world."
"Well...you look nice, but-but I'm still angry about that...whatever that was you just did to me," Vect rubbed the back of his head and groaned, "a little warning would have sufficed."
"Sorry."
"So where are we?" Looking around Vect's brow furrowed. "Wait, I remember this place." The hills and scattered trees felt like something from a dream from long ago. He began walking away from Erress towards the top of a hill. Wordlessly the dragon followed.
Down below the pair saw a group of elves sitting in the shade of a tent. There was 7 of them in total; 4 women and 4 men all ranging in age. Most of them were sitting down save the youngest who was running to a tree. Erress glanced over at Vect and began ask him where they were until she saw his eyes tear up slightly. Vect began to run down the hillside toward the group. As he neared them he began to call out to them, but none responded to him and his pace slowed as he reached the tent.
"Vect, it's just a memory. No one will react to you," Erress explained. "Who are these people?"
"My family. My father Corellion and mother Eldratha. My brothers Taegan and Zaren, my sisters; Jarhel, Zyason, and Galladren," he pointed to each one in order of age.
"And the little one running around?"
"Me of course."
"Be careful Vectivus," Eldratha called out to her youngest child. Her voice had a sweetness to it like a songbird in the morning, but had an undertone in it that indicated she knew how to be commanding if necessary.
"I will," the younger Vect called back as he began to climb the lower branches of the tree.
"Are you sure you need to go on this charity trip now," Corellion asked his wife dubiously.
"The surrounding villages need us now more than ever. We need to show them that their lords have not forgotten about them," the matriarch explained.
"How can I be hearing this? I was only 8 at this time and just a child," Vect asked his partner.
"Even though you didn't pay attention to the things going on around you, your mind will still record everything you sense without your knowledge. Yes you might misremember something you saw, but by seeing things through our link we can see things with a remarkable clarity."
"I know, but these damnable dark elf raiders are getting more bold as this war continues," Corellion's voice was full of concern.
"We will be fine. They have no reason to attack Yonkor village. Its population is too small for them to bother with it."
"And she'll have the 5 of us at her side," Galladren, the youngest sister, added.
"Look over at the tree Erress," Vect pointed. A moment later a dry snapping sound was heard and Erress watched as the child Vect fell from a high branch and impacted several branches on the way to the ground. As his younger self landed with a thud, Vect winced and rubbed his arm softly. Vect and Erress ran to the child's side and saw the boy's unsuccessful attempt to stand due to his arm and leg bending at unnatural angles. Then the pain began to register in his mind and the boy started to cry loudly. In mere moments the family was surrounding him and offering comfort to the injured child.
"Oh, my poor baby," Eldratha cradled the boy in her arms while Corellion worker to heal his limbs. Eventually his sobbing quieted down and Corellion took Vect into his arms and carried him away.
"This was our last gathering as a family," Vect explained.
"Why?"
"Yes, Vect why don't you explain what happened next," came a familiar voice that made Vect and Erress spin around in surprise. Standing behind them, hands clasped behind his back was Amnael smirking.