Morrigan wakes up in a cold sweat to the sound of a booming thunderclap. Her eyes dart around frantically, gradually adjusting in the dark and discerning the walls of a small, windowless cabin by the faintest bit of moonlight peeking through a crack in the door. Her hair stands on end. The air smells eerily nostalgic, as if from a bad memory that was just out of reach, and it tastes wrong in a way that deeply unsettles her. Everything about this cabin has her instincts begging her to flee and never look back. She looks towards the door again, prepared to do just that, when she hears it: the pained, guttural scream of some unnatural beast from just beyond the entrance, alongside a fearsome roar - cut short by a nauseating gagging sound. She pauses for a moment, but can't imagine anything that could keep her in this foul place any longer. She runs towards whatever danger lurks beyond that door.

As Morrigan throws the door open and takes her first few steps out into the pouring rain, she feels her muscles get incredibly heavy. She slips, hard, falling face-first into the mud. The downpour is oppressive, like a weighted blanket pinning her to the ground. She manages to lift her head enough to see a large grove illuminated by the light of the full moon. There's a blurry mass of raging fur and muscle in its center violently and repeatedly driving a spear into something beyond her vision. The beast suddenly turns and looks in her direction, cocking its head as its beady, pale-white eyes shine towards her. Morrigan attempts to crawl to her feet, but her left hand slips in the mud, causing her to fall forward again. She's feeling dizzy now. Sleepy. She hears the frantic movements of the creature rushing towards her, but her body won't move. Everything's shutting down-

"Morrigan! Morrigan, wake up!" a young man's voice pleads through the pouring rain.

Her eyes begin to focus as she realizes she's standing - well, being held up - by someone she doesn't recognize. Black, shaggy hair nearly hides his intense gaze. His features are rugged, handsome. His clothes are well-tailored but absolutely filthy. She looks down at the hands holding her by her shoulders to see wrists covered in horrendous burn scars.

"You have to get out of here, Morrigan! Run! Run back towards the tree line and don't stop! She'll be back here any minute now!"

"Who-" She coughs and clears her throat. Her voice is weak from underuse. "Who are you? Who's coming back? How do you know my-"

"There's no time! She-"

"Hello, Big Brother."

The voice is shrill and haughty, like that of a spoiled child. Morrigan looks past the boy to the source of the sound, just making out the silhouette of a small girl floating near the tree line across the grove. She lowers herself to the ground and slowly walks towards them, the moonlight revealing a confident smirk as she leaves the shadow of the forest. Her hair is platinum blond and styled in obnoxiously large, curled pigtails. She's wearing an elaborate dress, far fancier than even those worn by the merchant's daughter from the town Morrigan used to visit years ago.

A murky green aura appears around the girl's body as various bones shoot up from the ground towards her outstretched hand, merging together in the form of a scythe. At the same time, numerous armored bodies begin to rise across the grove, propping themselves up with swords and spears as they shamble towards the cockatrice and the disheveled young man.

"Morrigan, you have to listen to me." The boy's voice is low now. "Turn around and run back to the cabin, but do NOT go back inside."

"I-"

In an instant, Morrigan finds herself completely spun around with her feet dangling above the ground, the back of her cloak held in one of his clenched fists. She looks over her shoulder to see the young man's other hand holding an outstretched spear mere centimeters from the face of the strange girl from before.

"You've gotten faster, Big Brother." The girl mocks with a devilish grin.

"Run around to the backside of the cabin and reach for a door handle. Your eyes won't find it, but your hand will." He says sternly, not taking his eyes off his sister. "The next people you meet will be friends."

The boy gently drops Morrigan as he's rushed by his sister, barely managing to block several attacks the cockatrice can hardly follow.

She turns towards the tree line to see the cabin she'd come from earlier. It's halfway across the grove, far further than it should be after taking only a few steps out the door. Or maybe it's her who'd moved far further than she should have. Morrigan looks back towards the boy as he holds her would-be attacker at bay.

Why is he protecting someone like me? She thinks to herself. No. No no no. Morrigan shakes her head. She couldn't just run. Not in a situation like this. Morrigan readies her claw as an intense pressure begins to emanate from her being. Her scarlet eyes flare with determination. These are not regular people. She's used to being treated like a monster, but this time she feels the most in danger. They aren't scared of her. She's the one who's scared. It's almost a good feeling, oddly enough.

The siblings continue their chaotic clash, with undead joining the battle as Morrigan searches for an opportunity to help. She'd never seen people move this fast before. The young man is clearly struggling against his sister and her hoard of fallen soldiers. The longer I stand here, the more of a burden I am to him. Finally it comes. It's just a moment, but that's all she needs. While jumping over a low sweep from the boy's spear, the younger sister's gaze briefly meets Morrigan's accursed eyes, the same ones that had brought the cockatrice so much pain. This time, they'd be used to help someone. The sister's nose begins to bleed and her knees buckle slightly, enough that she's unable to keep her feet planted as the boy delivers an upward strike with his spear. She's sent flying across the grove, slamming into and splintering a tree with her flailing body.

"Yes!" Morrigan exclaims victoriously.

"I told you to run!" The young man snarls, taking on the entirety of Morrigan's ghastly vision with no reaction and cutting her celebration short. His own eyes shine a familiar pale white.

"You have to leave now. If he's already looking for you then you want to be as far away from me as possible. Go!"

Her body runs on its own towards the cabin. Someone protected me. She thinks as she drives her fist through the helmet of an undead soldier. And I was able to help him too! She runs around the cabin and reaches towards the blank boards of its back wall. Just as the boy had said, Morrigan's hand grasps a handle. She pushes it and steps into a black void, hoping he'd be ok.

Morrigan wakes up to a blinding light, squinting and feeling the warmth of the sun on her face. She puts her hand out in an attempt to block its rays. Birds chirp all around her. She sits up and takes in her surroundings. She's in the middle of what appears to be the same grove from her dream, but everything is...nice now. Standing up, Morrigan hears the familiar shuffling of undead from beyond the trees. Yep, still Sanctuary too. It's just this grove that's...nice. She remembers what the boy had said. The boy. She'd never gotten his name. No matter. She'll ask him next time she sees him, just as soon as she makes her first friends.