Steady, her presence seemed to whisper, as she gently tried to pry apart the ice in his mind. It's okay. Like a trickle of warm water she slowly worked her way through his fear, resting for a while where he would not yield before before allowing her warmth to form a passage. Don't worry. Warm, soft, loving even, Irma was a weight both on his body, and on his mind, soothing him. He didn't realize he'd clenched both his ears and tail, but apparently he had. Slowly, he rotated his ears forward, drawing deep breaths to calm himself. The rim of white remained around the edges of his irises, but with each quivering exhalation, the pace of his heart slowed somewhat. Stupid.

She said, "You are in the Dragon's Throat," but he couldn't help but wonder, am I? Had it borne that name, even in this day? Slowly he let his head sweep in an arc. Old, sturdy trees rose towards the sky, the earth underhoof grainy but still moist and rich — he could understand that it had turned to sand, though. It wasn't the dark soil of the north, but the trees seemed to thrive all the same. And, why indeed, should Onni not be in her home? Because I'm losing my mind. His nostrils were wide, and he pulled in yet another breath of air. He had expected it to be dry here, but the proximity to the ocean moistened it, and he realized that he quite much preferred this Throat to the other.. but to stay here? No. He'd claw out his own eyes and mind in the end, if he didn't find a way out. One of his ears rotated back, listening to the faraway sound of waves, and his pale blue eyes landed on the shadow of Onni again. Was she even real, or was he just hallucinating? She did not exist in his alternate reality, at least not yet. Kri was, mainly, the reason for that. Yet, Onni was one of the individuals he knew were missing, and now that he was in the ancestor of her home, would it not make sense if his tired mind conjured her up? But I was getting better...

Hah. Better.

"I don't know," he answered her honestly, quietly, slowly moving his head from side to side and widening his eyes, trying to see her properly. She was hazy, her contours more solid than what lay within, and he was fairly certain it was his memory which filled in her colors. After hesitating for a moment he drew closer a step, the one which he had previously backed. "You - you're not like the others..." Still uncertain, his large hooves drew him yet another step closer, the owl a silent, steady weight on him still. The others were his only company, all those dead personalities which would never see daylight, all the deeds that would never be done; they were solid, real but for the fact that they weren't themselves. She... she wasn't solid. And, he wasn't in that world either. He was here, stuck in some old limbo, where he never met anyone. The trees were testament to that, and he cast a glance behind him, at Dragon's Blood. And then, back to Onni, to her pale white face and sad, gentle eyes — at least, that's what he assumed they were. He couldn't see them properly.

His heart quickened again, much the same way when the stupid notion that Ophelia had been dreaming with him hit him, and the blood rushed through his veins like fire. What if.. what if... But it was silly, stupid, and yet, she seemed to be enough of herself.. in the Dragon's Throat... Nothing was odd about it, but why? How? He ground his teeth together, trying to swallow hope and the question alike, but in the end, how could he? How could he contain something which was so large, which grew until it felt like he would burst from within?

"Are you.. real?"
And then, he waited, for damnation or salvation.