when he sleeps, Hau finds himself upon an island. small and secluded. familiar yet strange. there sits a man, hooded, hunched. he gazes up at Hau with eyes unlike any he had ever seen—like crystal clear water, reflecting the sky back at him. eventually he looks so deeply back into them that he falls in.
hau sees his home. his friends, his family. the faces of people he loves. alola stretches out before him. out beyond the island, the bars of a birdcage rise up into the sky. the door is open.
he feels compelled to fly. to soar up and out of the cage that confines him. beyond its bars he will see the world, many worlds, all laid out before him. landscapes both familiar and alien passing beneath him as he flies, as the seasons change. spring, summer, autumn, winter, and repeat. over and over again as he ventures further and further from his home.
eventually his journey brings him back to alola. to his home. the people are gone, replaced with faces not quite familiar to him. the seasons continue to pass. the faces change. less and less like the friends he once knew.
they are gone. now all that awaits him are strangers.
(the hooded man watches on the whole time, somewhere in the edges of Hau's consciousness. Hau awakes with a pit of dread in his chest.)
He barely realized he had dozed off, but it was bound to happen. Curled up in the sunshine that poured in through his bedroom window on his brand new bed, Hau finds himself on an island.
There's a strange guy on the island. He's never met him before, and yet he feels so compelled to look into his eyes. They're not a sight he can place, and yet--
He falls in.
The dream starts off warm. Cozy. Like a tight hug. There's a birdcage surrounding them on the horizon, but the door's open. The sight of his loved ones gives them the courage to fly, and so he does. Faster and faster he goes, towards the opening between the bars. What he finds beyond the door is amazing. Sights he's never seen, and sights he could've only dreamed of seeing when he was younger. Some he recognizes, others are brand new and therefore even more thrilling.
Before he knows it, seasons pass. He's enjoying his life, feeling free, and then... He's back in Alola.
Hau looks around, but barely recognises anyone. The people he cared for aren't around anymore. There's not much familiarity left besides the islands, and even those are looking different than he remembers.
Where's everyone gone? No, it couldn't be-- The courage and joy he once had fade, and the door closes once more.
He wakes up gasping for air, tears streaming down his cheeks.