Arrow Rider in the Storm

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Arrow Rider in the Storm

Post by mazeofthorns » Sat Nov 18, 2017 4:08 pm

ARRIVAL
Hurts Like Hell, Fleurie

Beneath the water it was so quiet. So blissfully quiet I wanted to remain there. Yet the need to breathe was over powering, so again, I struggled to get my head up above the water line of the river one more time.

Above it was raging… everything was raging. The river's waters were white and foaming. The dark sky was angry and thundering. Lightning from the storm arched across the sky blinding me. Loud, it was so loud. I recall attempting to take a breath but it burned like fire when I tried. Water joined the air I tried to gasp into lungs that wanted neither.

I cannot recall how many times I tried before the river's fast waters were finally stronger then my arms and legs. The injuries spoke of being slammed against stone which had caused me to lose the memory of what happened next. Nor do I recall how I ended up in the river during that storm in the first place. I have tried to remember. Sometimes I think I dream of it. Yet all I can recall upon awakening is the water. So cold and quiet only to turn into a furious, deafening death trap.

They were all there during my recovery, my brothers, my friends, my family. All but one.

I do not think one can really understand what it is to be one of the green elves until you live with them. I was fortunate to have been taken in at a young age. It was many years before they stopped calling me Oak Bark. Yes I was a wood elf by blood and lacked their carefree nature. I was slower to decide. Careful in my actions. They saw me as stiff, inflexible and entirely too neat. Yet it was not out of spite or mean spiritedness that they called me Oak Bark. It was out of love of a cousin they treated as one of their own.

I never felt that I was an outsider to the tribe hidden in the woods. Not until after Falling Feather died saving me. He thought the risk to his own life was worth saving mine.

I have no n-tel-quessir’s feet at which to lay the blame. I have none to scream at about the injustice that he should die. I have no vengeance to seek. What I do have is a hole in my heart where he resided. Or perhaps I have lost my heart all together for that is how empty I feel as I stand in a human city of stone.

I put into words my journey because you made me promise Wind Spinner. A glimpse into a world you will never have to navigate. A testament that I am still alive. Perhaps at some point you will see that I have even begun living once again.

That is the plan.

~Cael’ean
Arrow Rider
KALYIN -- "Black Cobra will aid your injuries should you stand close.... or he may strike you, depending on mood."

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Re: Arrow Rider in the Storm

Post by mazeofthorns » Mon Nov 20, 2017 5:00 pm

THINGS YOU FIND ALONG THE SCAR
Showdown, Svrcina


“So please.. Be safe.”

Her words still rang in the biting cold air as I came upon another lone traveler on the way from Bendir to Coal Door.

We were headed in opposite directions. She had the unmistakable air of a kin. Humans like to think they are like one of The People if they are short of stature or thinner than the average human. But they are not. There is a special quality that permeates The People. Something unquantifiable. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that we live longer than most other races. There is an unhurried awareness that we have. It affects the way we move, the way we speak and even the way we breathe. It is there just under the surface. We know our own. No petite human nor taller hin can imitate it. At least not for long.

For one such as I who spent over a hundred years interpreting body language… and it /is/ a language, it was easy to tell she had that something special. We faced each other and stopped. I because it is in my nature to stalk and watch. I avoided the ugly scar that the locals call a ‘road’. Instead preferring to use trees and large stones as possible cover. However, for kin I came out into the open. My bow in one hand and an arrow in the other.

She stood with a graceful quality. Her sword down at her side looking relatively harmless. Her hood was up to keep her warm.

A hin scout on patrol made his way along the road. He had no such compulsion to stop out of courtesy as we had. His path took him right past her. Only he did not pass her.

There was no warning. One second they were passersby, the next they were in battle. The hin had attacked her and she defended herself. The hin did not stand a chance as she dispatched him as if he were a candle flame and she… a gale force wind.

To say I was taken aback would be a monumental understatement. I managed a step forward but I did not nock an arrow. She was so fast. I know battle and I can say the unfortunate Hin was dead before he hit the ground. And she had called out something at him. Not to him such as ‘Why did you attack me?’. It was /at/ him.

That is when everything changed.

I found myself frozen and like the early morning sunshine travels the wood lighting the area slowly… bringing dusky grays and browns into daytime colors… I saw her for what she was…

Drow.

I was frozen where I stood. The profound truth that I was utterly alone there against this drow that clearly had battle prowess that I sorely lacked stole my breath. I watched helpless as her glowing green blade turned toward me as she did.

I know that if I had knocked that arrow and fired it at her she would have cut me down in less than three strikes. She was /that/ skilled. Yet I still feel deep shame at my inaction.

She approached me as if she had all the time in the world. Her grace had turned cat like. She stalked toward me with all the assured cunning I have witnessed in forest panthers. I shuddered. And then… then she spoke.

My mind was as frozen as my body as I tried to understand what she had said. I do not understand the drow language. After she had said it twice it suddenly occurred to my rattled mind that she was speaking common.

“Flee.”

I took my first breath. She was out of sword range still and I just stared at her. She wanted to make sport of me? I was not prey to be chased in the wilderness. Was I?

She adjusted her body language and she looked casual as if we were speaking of the weather. “You either flee or you perish.” She purred. “Won't give you the choice soon.” Her stance changed once again and there was no doubt in my mind that she was ready to cut me down as one would a diseased tree.

I did not wait for her to speak again or to move. I ran.

“Run faster.” She called to me and I swear I heard amusement in her voice.

And I… I did exactly that.

~Cael’ean
Arrow Rider


//Thanks to Shadow Queen for the amazing experience for Cael’ean!
KALYIN -- "Black Cobra will aid your injuries should you stand close.... or he may strike you, depending on mood."

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Re: Arrow Rider in the Storm

Post by mazeofthorns » Sun Nov 26, 2017 5:00 pm

MOONRISE

Short Change Hero, The Heavy

He spoke his name. I know his name. Yet I do not wish to use it. A name should represent more than his does. Much more.

I learn new words. Or rather I relearn words that were lost in the hundred or so years I spent in our tribe. Words to describe things we had no use for. What good is a chair when a tree offers a place to perch? What good is a table when a fire pit holds the spit upon which your meat roasts? What good is a fork when a boot knife can carve fruit and an attacker? What good is a bed with sheets and coverlet when a tent and the arms of your lover provide so much more?

He is of the moon, only much more pale. It was his chair in which I sat. In a place with walls and floors of wood. Every time his name was spoken my heart broke. It was given to him by drow.

We heard the tales from our sister tribe of drow keeping our kin. I did not believe it. I would rather believe our kin were killed outright. That was easier to stomach than the truth that my moon brother told.

I felt pity for the drow that our patrols killed. Pity for those that cried out in pain as my arrows took them out of the land of the living. Every time they dug themselves out of the hole in the east of our home that we had caved in, I held a small bit of admiration for their tenacity. No longer. Now after speaking with him… I have contempt. I have rage. I have… sorrow for my brother and the others that are trapped against their will in that hell.

His tea was a marvel. I think he would have enjoyed our method of gathering honey as well. You would like him Wind Spinner. And I would go so far as to say he would fit right in with us. I have much to learn from him for his spirit is as strong as steel and his heart as warm as the sun.

No, I will not call him by /that/ name. He is a bright light in the darkness of the cursed caverns. He is Moonrise.

~Cael’ean
Arrow Rider

//Thanks to Yorn for the amazing, eye opening RP.
KALYIN -- "Black Cobra will aid your injuries should you stand close.... or he may strike you, depending on mood."

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Re: Arrow Rider in the Storm

Post by mazeofthorns » Thu Nov 30, 2017 5:18 pm

ALONE IN A CROWD

Don’t Cry For Me, Cobi

Let us speak of celebrations. First I will confirm that our cousins are indeed more like oak trees than waterfalls in this regard. And that, yes, they would be shocked and most definitely appalled during one of our celebrations. I find that thought highly amusing. No doubt you and the rest of the tribe would too, Windspinner. There was sitting and sitting and some eating and drinking… of what I am not entirely sure. How I miss Firemist’s brewing of fine berry wine.

I spotted no less than twenty items that would have been in need of repair before a candle nub had burned away. Although there was one wrestling match, so perhaps there is hope for them after all. Of course it was instigated by Xellree who is still with me. Or perhaps I should say I am still with him. A small wild token of home. A reminder of what I lost…

There was one among them that caught my attention. He sat upon a wooden thing called a couch. Alone. With a helm upon his head. He caught my attention for he looked as uncomfortable as I felt. A kindred spirit perhaps. Yet to know him would be impossible with that helm upon his head. Not to mention I was curious to know what he was hiding from under there. “Why do you have a helm on, loom hunter?” Was my query to him... Sha, they had called him Sha.

“Because everyone prefers when it is on.” Sha’s reply was terse with the finality that was meant to end the conversation.

Which only made me all the more curious of course. “Why?”

Sha’s reply was a sigh. “All right…” He began. “Perhaps you caught me in a lie… I prefer when it is on.”

I resisted the temptation of leaning closer to him from my position sitting on the grass a little ways away. Something had affected him deeply to think that others would want him to hide, to make him want to hide.

“If you really wish to know…” He continued. “Some time ago, I endured hospitality of a Luskanise prison… they do like their burning irons.”

I regarded Sha thoughtfully, sitting alone with the space around him empty. I cannot ever remember a time when we did not practically sit on top of one another at a celebration. Bumping shoulders, grasping forearms, braiding hair, dancing, hugging, slapping, punching lightly in jest… sometimes harder… it made me smile. An entire tribe of wild elf males and not once was anyone left to sit alone. And I would know I had tried.

I got up and moved over to the couch and did my best to find a comfortable position upon the thing. Sha should not be alone and it was a simple enough thing to fix.

Sha turned his helmeted head in my direction. No doubt I looked strange as I ended up sprawled out. “Touch the helm and the ‘under the table squabble’ is not the only one tonight… otherwise… I guess you are welcome for the seat.”

At first I thought he had intended an invitation for a game of wrestling since Xell and the other kin, Jadoth, had been under the table when wrestling. Then my hopes were dashed as I realized he was actually fearful I would end his hiding. I smiled reassuringly at him. “I would not do wish to make you more uncomfortable than you are. I sit here so that you know you are not alone.”

“Mmrhm… appreciated… I suppose.” He said. Then, “Though, curious... what makes you think I am alone here? I have many friends present, some close ones too.”

I turned and looked at him. Really looked at him. There was much going on around us, it was a celebration after all even if a sedate one. Little groups clustered together, yet not near him. “Yet you sat alone on this big piece of furnishing.” I pointed out quietly.

He was just as quiet. “Perhaps they know me well enough, so they let me?”

“No… that is not it.” I disagreed.

“No?” Sha queried.

“These the same friends who make you feel as if you must wear a helm?” I asked pointedly and offered him berries to eat. Something sour should be followed by something sweet.

He looked at me then and sighed. Then he removed his helm, fiddling with it a moment before strapping it to his belt. It was obvious to me that he was giving everyone there time to take him in thinking they could do it without him knowing since his attention was on his helm.

I grinned at him, marveling at how /he/ was the thoughtful one.

~Cael’ean
Arrow Rider

// Thanks to all the ELVES! Such a rich group of characters. And to Sha'aveil - such an interesting, mysterious character with great RP. I can't wait to learn more.
KALYIN -- "Black Cobra will aid your injuries should you stand close.... or he may strike you, depending on mood."

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Re: Arrow Rider in the Storm

Post by mazeofthorns » Fri Dec 08, 2017 8:04 pm

I LOVED…

Razors Edge, Digital Daggers

I dreamt of you.

It was autumn. The wood was rife with the colors of sunset. The leaves were being plucked from branches by the wind. A chilly wind that announced winter would be soon. The red, yellow and orange leaves danced and swirled in the breezes. And we… we did not watch them fall. We danced with them.

You laughed. I had almost forgotten your laugh. Such a simple thing that still rings in my ears long after I awoke. Woke to find you gone. I did not think I could miss you more. Yet here I am emptier than before.

I have sat here in the wood near Myon scripting slowly trying to remember all the things we did together. Dropping handfuls of snow down upon our sisters from high in the trees during winter celebration of tribes. Swimming at the lake to see who could catch the most fish with their teeth. I am not sorry I did not win that particular bet. Trading stories of our sun kin over a bottle of berry wine deep into night.

Do you recall how we spoke of them? Our lost Ar-tel-quessir. So far from the natural world that they have gone blind and deaf to what really matters. That is how we saw them. And we pitied them for their eyes only looking into a mirror. You said that one could walk through our encampment and only notice that their boots had been muddied. Thisseltail suggested that they would then demand that one of us clean their boots lest they be ruined evermore.

There is one here who makes me rethink those opinions. He is called Coronal, yet I think that is a title for the sun love their titles. He told me his name was Keryvian. In appearance he is all you would expect. Clothing that would seem to easily rip in one of our forays into the briar bushes. He has an air of someone taller than himself as you would expect from our sun kin. Yet… he caught me by surprise.

“Arrow, I have something for you.” He said.

I would expect a lecture on my less than proper behavior or some such and yet when I turned to face him - he held two rings in his palm. I am uncertain what my expression was at that moment. I am hopeful that I at least offered my thanks, yet I was taken aback by the gesture. It is more likely I stood mouth dropped open in surprise and confusion.

“Useful for wildswakers, on quick appraisal.” He told me.

“You… are kind to have thought of me.” I managed.

Then came words I never expected to hear on this isle. I was sent here to heal but in truth I came here to lose myself. I planned to simply fade into the wood and vanish like early morning mist at noon time. And this sun kin has changed that. In part I am angry that my plan to fade into nothingness without you has been broken apart like kindling for a fire. In part I am stunned and maybe even hopeful that healing might be a possibility. I know that thinking of another keeps them real. I do not think Keryvian knows what he has done. And I will never be able to repay him fully.

“Hmm,” He said while lofting a brow. “I thought of you very first, brother.”

~Cael’ean
Arrow Rider

//Thanks to Keryvian Starym for such a fantastic sun elf character.
KALYIN -- "Black Cobra will aid your injuries should you stand close.... or he may strike you, depending on mood."

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Re: Arrow Rider in the Storm

Post by mazeofthorns » Sun Dec 31, 2017 4:59 pm

THE MAKERS OF STONE MONSTERS
Country Song, Seether

The human made stone monster makes my skin itch. Not a good feeling like a scab that is healing, but a dirty feeling like a tiny insect crawling upon your arm. You feel it and immediately want it gone from you. They call it Coal Door which is fitting since you cannot avoid the grime that gets stuck to you every time you touch it.

I was surprised to find animals inside the stone structure. No, not surprised. Horrified. I have befriended an oxen whom I try and visit when I can. Hoofs that should be trotting across fields stand on unforgiving stone. Yet he claims to be content. My heart breaks for him since he is only content since he has known nothing else. A human stands nearby claiming to care for my oxen friend. And like most humans he is blind to my friends plight. How can their hearts be so cold… then again, why should I be surprised their hearts are as cold and hard as the place they built to live in.

We did not speak to the humans who blundered into our wood. We caught them and threw them out. It was enough for me that my brothers said it was the safest way to deal with them for they do not listen. They do not see. And they think that their short lives, lived fast, makes them all knowing.

Yet here I stand just outside the stone monster next to my brother, Xell. I popped nuts into my mouth, anything to help me ignore wanting to itch my skin raw.

The human male moved into my field of vision and spoke as the animals of the wood. It took me a few seconds to understand what he said because I was surprised. “You are Cael’ean, right? From the moot a few nights ago?” He asked.

Since I could think of no reason why he might want to speak to me with Xell sitting right there I merely gave him a nod.

“I was there also, I think I recall you saying soemthing about struggling with common. I am looking for something made, and Xellree tgought that perhaps you could help.” He forged ahead making only minor mistakes with pronunciation.

I found it interesting, suspicious and annoying that he did not bother to introduce himself. “You have a name?” I asked.

“I do, gave it at the moot to everyone.” He began. “Names Lock-ear. Pleasure to meet you.”

I was surprised he was pleased to meet me considering I was certain we had not hunted together nor shared a meal, nor wine. “Are you guardian or druid?” I queried.

Druid Rasa, sitting nearby, interjected then, although since it was in the human language it I was hard pressed to translate quickly. “No take it personal Lock-ear, Arrow not big on humans.”

I have respect for Rasa since she is a druid and more importantly a friend to Xell. Yet my wariness regarding humans has caused friction between us. I do not know if there is a bridge long enough or sturdy enough to span the fact that she seems determined to defend all humans no matter what their transgression -- and the fact that I will not give my trust as if it is berries on the vine in summer. Nor will I stand by as humans bully my sisters and brothers.

Lock-ear told me the name of his god, one I do not know and that he was a guardian. It still amazes me that humans claim to be guardians of the wood. My experience is that they are as blind and deaf to nature as most of the Ar-tel-quessir. And nothing I have seen here has changed my opinion. “I am hoping to have some armor made to help me better perform that role.” Lock-ear said.

Ah, I thought, there it is. He wanted something from me. Yet not just a little thing. No, he wanted a guarded and precious gift. “You want armor.” I asked him as a test.

“I do, yes.” He replied… failing. “I am told that some guardians who are skilled with a needle can make suits of studded leather that are extremely well suited for the wilds.”

“It is a skill taught only to the worthy wild elves of The Wood. And a skill that takes much time to master.” I began to explain. “Is there a particular reason I should share such a secret of my tribe with you?” I did not think he understood what he was asking for. The thought of giving such a gift to a human let alone one I did not know was shocking enough to make my blood cold.

“I do not ask you to share the secrets of your tribe, only the fruits of the tree of knowledge you tend.” He told me.

I just stared at him for a moment, unbelieving. He was asking for a gift that I had not received from my wild brothers after /decades/ of brotherhood. Corellon’s blood! I was the lover of the most experienced guardian in the tribe and I had agreed with him that I was undeserving of the Guardians Blood leathers! I have still not made them for myself. “I do not know you.” I began to explain. “Nor your spirit. And my experience with humans has shown them in a very unfavorable light. So, why should I give you such a priceless gift?”

Lock-ear tapped the amulet around his neck. “This should speak to my heart. As for your past experiences, I cannot speak for others that you have had dealings with, nor can you speak for any dealing I have had with your kin in the past. As for why you, could, be kind enough.....are we not working towards the same goal?”

I had no idea what the amulet had to do with anything, was it an offer in trade for what would literally be my life's blood put into the Guardians Blood armor? As for working towards the same goal? I had no idea what his goal was, nor he mine. “I am not kind.” I could hear the change in my tone, it was cool now. “I am a member of the tribe of The Wood.” Green of The People, Wild Elves, I wanted to shout at him. A tribe that was ruthless to those who would harm our home. I was happily called savage by moon, wood and sun. “You speak of a gift as if it is merely… armor. Which it is not. You will have to convince me that you are deserving.” I am not certain, even now, why I gave him the opportunity. Why I did not shake my head at him a leave right then. Instead I gave him council of what was ahead of him in asking for this gift. “And you being human will make that doubly hard due to the actions of others.” If any of my tribe discovered that I had just given a human Guardian Blood with no cost, without knowing the man… they would find me and slit my throat. Of that I was certain. I was also certain that I would let them do it without a fight.

“I am well aware it is not merely armor.” He began well. He acknowledging the importance of the gift. “What it is is a means to aid me in better serving Meilikki. And I would think that you would know not to base all off of the actions of a few.”

A few? I thought to myself. Nay, it was every single human I had encountered before I arrived on this isle. And those I had met here did little to counter the poor showing of their predecessors.

Then he said, “Should your tribe be despised due to the actions of the Drow?”

I ran the sentence over in my mind several times. I was so stunned I did not breathe. Could not breathe. He had just compared me and my brothers to… drow… compared me to the filthy, obscene, immoral…. Drow…

He continued speaking although I could not listen. “You… /dare/…” I could barely get the words out as my anger began to boil. It was a cold anger, my voice low and as frigid as winter ice. “You /dare/ compare me and my tribe with /drow/?”

I did not reach for my sword hilt. No. I wanted to beat the human with my fists. I saw it as clear as summer’s sunshine in my mind. Rage pulsed in my veins making the world around me slow. Lock-ear was still speaking but I shifted my gaze to Xell. For if I continued to look at the man I feared I would rip him apart. “Xell, if I see this human again I will gut him.” I heard myself say in elven.

I cannot say how I ended up in Myon, here in my tent. I can say that the blood and gore of goblin and orc upon my leathers is from battling with my bare hands since my blade is clean.

Had I been with my tribe brothers… yet they are not here. I shall have to seek Xells wisdom for I am at a loss as to why I should keep attempting to have anything to do with humans who do not listen. Who automatically assume I am rude because I do not know their language. Who demand gifts that they refuse to earn. If there was not an exception I would not give it a second thought. If all humans were as deaf and self important as those like Lock-ear then I would not care. Let them live their short lives without me. Unfortunately for me, there is an exception.

Shea, fair Shea is the exception I have found. Thank Solonor there is at least one exception. For she gives me hope for them. She does not judge that I am rude for not knowing and speaking the human trade language here. She is kind and intelligent. She accepts me with all my faults. You would call her sister, Wind Spinner. I do.

//Thanks to Locklear Naoli, Rasa, Shea Webber and Xell for helping make Cael’eans journey an unexpected and interesting one!
KALYIN -- "Black Cobra will aid your injuries should you stand close.... or he may strike you, depending on mood."

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Re: Arrow Rider in the Storm

Post by mazeofthorns » Thu Jan 11, 2018 4:45 pm

THE WALL
Pieces, Red

I watched the ox from beside the old man. I suppose I felt pity for the animal. I felt compelled to check on it periodically. Perhaps I simply felt the need to punish myself by coming here to Coal Door. For who willingly enters a place that exists to devour nature and those like myself. One wracked with guilt, that is who.

Mired in my own thoughts I did not realize the large human male was speaking to me right away. That and I honestly hoped he would just leave me be. So, when he just stood there I finally lifted my gaze to him. It was a direct gaze that moved from his red hair over his metal cage to his heavy boots. It was an impolite nonverbal ‘What the hells do you want?’ gaze.

“Forgive, though you may have forgotten there is a law stating all weapons must be in a sheath or shouldered.” His tone was expectantly polite.

It took me a moment to separate the words. To my ears the human language is like listening to metal scraping against metal. It screeches and oft times they rush their words as fast as their lives are lived. As the words shifted into something I could understand I realized that he meant my bow. I looked down at my hand, white knuckled, holding my bow. No… not holding. In my tribe your bow is a part of you just like an arm or leg. The only time one did not carry their bow was when bathing or making love. And oft times not even then.

I was in a foul mood and was about to point out that the nearby spellslingers staff was a more dangerous weapon than my bow without an arrow knocked. Instead I tied my hands behind my back by shouldering my bow. “I should pretend it is a stick.” I declared in my wild dialect.

My elven made no sense to the human yet he politely nodded his thanks. “Forgive, I have not yet learned your tongue.” He smiled softly. “I am guessing the trade tongue is just as foreign to you.”
Forgive? That was new. He had just asked forgiveness for not speaking the language of The People. Usually humans considered me rude for not knowing the human language. The fact that I had never spoken or really heard much more than cursing before I arrived on this isle made little difference to those I met here. Could this human be different?

I placed my hand over my heart. It is a motion borne of the respect and love I have for the one who gave me this name. “I am called Cael’ean.” I did not translate my name to the human language.

“I am Vence ofHouseKalosofNeverwitnterServantoftheHallsofJusticetoLord Torm.” He replied.

I furrowed my brow at his impossibly long name. “Vence Torm.” I told him what I had caught out of all of that so he tried again and more slowly. Which did nothing to aid me. “Human with very long name.” I told him. I am quite certain that my thick wild kin accent did not help with my poor human language attempt.

“Vence is fine.” He said as if he might have understood what I said. “Caelean is a good name.”

Was he continuing to be… polite? It was such an odd thing to encounter from a human I attempted more of the human language. “For you, Arrow Rider.” I translated for him.

Without missing a beat he spoke. “Mine means… protector.”

I regarded him with interest now. He stood impossibly tall in that metal cage yet his manner was as if I was of worth. Knowing that humans did not have much time to waste I was curiously honored he intended to waste his time on me. “Guardian of The Wood.” I motioned to myself. “You protect… what?”

“Guardian of those that cannot protect themselves.” He said simply.

I considered that. From what I had seen of the isle and the humans here that would be… well all of them. “Many for you.”

“Much evil out there… yes.” He agreed.

I knew that word, ‘evil’. “Drow.” I said.

“Drow, Bane, Cyric… many.” He agreed.

I had heard the name bane. Humans are an opinionated and chatty bunch. Gossip was that bane was a god. That a human had determined a human god was evil like drow was strange indeed. None of the Seldarine would ever be spoken of as evil. The thought of any of my gods or goddesses being evil was impossible. This made me curious. “Bane? Is human god, yes?”

“Yes.”

I could not help but be impressed with this human. “You battel god?”

“I battle his followers. His servants.” He clarified.

This did nothing to stop me from thinking this man was several arrow short of a quiver. In my experience, most humans were in some state of insanity. This was an entirely new level on insane. Specifically targeting the servants of a god and proclaiming it in the open was either deranged or a level of courageous that I had not thought humans capable of. “They are here? In stone monster?”

“Yes, they come here.” Then he felt the need to correct me. “This is a city.”

I arched an eyebrow at him in amusement. “Is monster of stone.”

“Why is it a monster?” He asked even though his expression told me he disagreed.

I found that to be intriguing. This human kept surprising me. Instead of arguing as most would, he actually paused to find out my point of view. “It… gathers and… devours. You.” I made a motion that took in the entire area. “All.” Then I stomped my boot lightly on the stone at my feet. “Even below.” My heart hurt as I concluded. “Is dead here.”

“It does not devour me. Like the rock on the ground…” He knelt and picked up a small loose stone from the ground. I honestly thought he would topple over wearing all that metal but somehow he did not. “It is inert. Stones forming a path.” Then he pointed to one sad tree, equally sad flowers and some moths caught in the throws of dead by torch light. “Life is here.”

“Shadows of life.” I countered. I could see he really believed these examples were what life was and it made me sad for him.

He began to choose his words carefully. Another surprise. He actually /cared/ that I understand him. “Life, like hope, never truly dies.. It just… evolves.”

I saw the spark in his gaze. He spoke of more than his words conveyed. ‘Life never truly dies.’ How could he possibly know of death? Of loss. I was suddenly angry. “Metal cages you.” I told him. “If never felt wind nor life in soil nor flow of water from falls… how to tell you.. is... impossible.”

“But it is why we sometimes to wander the forest… to reconnect and enjoy the beauty.” He explained.

“You? In that?” I accused.

“Sometimes, sometimes in cloth.” He said as if cloth might be the catalyst to bring him closer to nature. Which it wasn’t.

I was about to admonish him and his stupidity when his expression registered. It was open and honest. This man understood far more than I had been willing to give him credit for. It was still leagues away from what I knew of nature but he was on the right path. “I know not that ones such as you would try.” I told him my anger fading. “I see you as in metal cage. No touch, no /feel/, no way to know nature.” After all the only thing not covered in metal was his head. “Ears free but still deaf.”

“Elves are more built for nature than humans. For us, this is safe.” He explained.

“Safe?” I asked.

“Yes from animals, monsters, bad people.” He told me.

“You wish to.. Avoid harm?” I asked hoping I was using the correct words.

“People do. I try to help protect them from it.” He explained.

It occured to me that he was not caged in metal for himself but on behalf of others. That thought sent my head spinning. “So, you want to be… wall?”

“In a sense, yes.” He replied.

I was having trouble believing it. Humans were selfish things after all. “Not wall for you?” I asked.

“No, I do not seek protection. I give protection.” He confirmed.

I was stunned. A human who thought of others before himself as kin would? “No fear for you? For harm to you?”

“I have fears.” He admitted. “But will die protecting those that need me.” The truth and conviction in his voice rang like a silver bell.

“I did not know ones as you were true.” I told him.

He nodded. “We are rare but those of us that stand… will stand for as long as we can.”

I regarded him with newfound respect. He /knew/ the cost of being a guardian might be his life and he accepted that. Moreover, he understood that he was a rarity in human society. I did not detect any prideful boasting, only truth. “Be wary,” I felt the need to caution him. “For if you do this, die, those here left will broken be.” As I am broken I thought but did not say aloud.

He nodded. “I understand. I will always try to be careful.”

I thought he was just saying what he thought I wanted to hear. How could he possibly know the pain of being the one left after being saved? The agony of knowing you were the cause of the death of your dearest love? “No you cannot.” I told him quietly before my voice betrayed my suffering. “I think you still be wall, yes? I do not think you careful. I think.. You like maddened oxen to rush and bash to aid another.”

“I do understand.” His voice grew strangely stronger as some emotion began to color it. “I have lost.. Some that stood as a wall.” He gave me a small sad smile.

I knew that sad smile. The one used when one admires the sacrifice of another yet wishes it would have been them that made the sacrifice. Not for accolades or for duty but because the one lost meant everything to them. “Lost one when the lost should have been… you?” I am not certain how I got the question out. Was it possible that another knew my pain?

He nodded. Wallwolf.. who called himself Vence.. /nodded/.

“A human?” I had trouble wrapping my mind around a human doing what a wild kin from my tribe would do.. /had/ done.

“Yes… my own brother.” He admitted and the jumble of emotions that colored those words gave them the weight of a ton of stone.

The world I knew suddenly tilted and spun. I am not certain how I managed to stay on my feet. It never occured to me that anyone could possibly experience agony similar to my own. Let alone a human. Yet here he was standing before me. My voice was rough as I finally spoke. “So different.. Yet same.”

I would have wanted something else as a bridge linking me to a human. But it was not to be. Perhaps it is fitting that what makes this human and I connected is the terrible pain of loss. In my experience, there is nothing stronger. Nothing that scars ones soul deeper. Especially the specific way we have lost.

I wonder if Wallwolf felt what I did in those moments. As for me, I have another reason to walk into the maw of the stone monster besides the ox. I look for Wallwolf, brother in loss.

~Cael’ean
Arrow Rider

// Thanks to Vence Kalos! It is the random encounters such as this that makes my time on Arelith so special.
KALYIN -- "Black Cobra will aid your injuries should you stand close.... or he may strike you, depending on mood."

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mazeofthorns
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Re: Arrow Rider in the Storm

Post by mazeofthorns » Sun Jan 14, 2018 1:57 pm

THE DANCER AND THE GUARDIAN
Castle of Glass, Linkin Park

It squatted in the swamps like a stone gargoyle. The gate was its maw. It opened to devour us whole. We walked right in.

The guts of the stone monster they called Gloom were just as dead as its exterior. There were humans to guard and maintain the place. They seemed comfortable as they offered pleasant greetings to us. Watching Lorin I could tell she was just as uneasy in the monster Gloom as I was.
“Shall we see this portal to the Shadowplane?” She asked.

I was more than a little surprised when she stepped right through a doorway shrouded in mist. For I had stepped through earlier not realizing it was one of the cursed spelled doorways. I would need to be more careful. It made my skin crawl every time I was taken to a totally different area of the isle just by taking a couple steps. Through a doorway, into a light, it did not matter. It was unnatural and I did not like it at all. And clearly we were still inside Gloom. Could we not have walked to whatever side of the stone monster this was?

The security measures on the other side of the door were smart enough. But it was not the human guards and heavy doors that had my attention on arrival. It was Lorin. Her complete demeanor changed. Her shoulders relaxed and any tension in her expression simply drained away. Then she exhaled, a long slow exhale as though she had been holding her breath for a very long time. “I … know this place.” She said.

“The color is strange.” I offered not quite able to put my finger on what had me feeling odd. It had me wondering what part of the isle named Arelith I had moved to.

“Mmm yes. It is… the nature of the plane.” She offered as she turned in a circle.

My gaze drifted to our surroundings. Stone. Trees in the distance. Water below us hugging monster Glooms walls. Again I could tell there was something off about what I saw but I was unable to put it into words. “Water is… odd somehow. Wait.. plane?”

“This, my dear Cael, is the plane of shadow.” She said as the tension in her voice seemed to lessen.

I felt like an idiot. I had not been paying attention to where we were just who I was with. The plane of shadow was where the drow sent slavers to gather kin and whoever else they could get their hands upon. “Shadow?” I could hear the startled surprise in my voice.

“This disturbs you?” Her tone was disappointed.

I stopped sweeping the area for danger and looked at her. From her expression I could tell I had offended. “Not the place.” I assured her. “I have been warned that drow run slavery out of the shadow place. I would rather not aid in their business.”

Lorin looked unconcerned. “Unless the drow are citizens of Myon they can not access this castle. Neither here nor on the Prime.”

“You… look calm.” I observed using her relaxed manner to counter my own tense body language.

“We can go back if you wish.” She offered.

I could tell she did not want to return. Like ones first experience with snow, she wanted to continue the experience as long as possible. “As a matter of fact…” I told her. “You look centered.” I took a deep breath, if she was certain we would not be troubled then I believed her. “All right, as long as we are safe from them here.” I gave her a smile as proof -- I hoped -- that I was not about to start firing arrows at random like some startled child.

She watched me serenely. Yes that was it she looked serene. I knew the feeling. I felt it in my tribes territory. It was curious to see it in someone not of my tribe. More so that this was the first time I had seen it since I had left. “This place welcomes you, yes?” My voice was quiet.

I watched as she let her eyelids drift closed. It was a slow languid motion of tranquility. “Yes.” Was her simple reply.

“I feel.. Not quite here.” I tried to explain. “That sounds odd. But you, it is like a shaft of light shines on you here making you more real.” I shook my head. “That sounds odd too.” I chuckled at myself for not being able to express myself properly.

Her eyes opened. She quirked her lips and the corner of her eyes crinkled making her seem warmer than she had been. “A.. lovely description.” She said.

Perhaps I was not as bad at speaking what I saw and felt than I believed. Emboldened I continued. “Like this is your /home/.”

She extended her hand much like a mage might. The very stones on the edge of the turrent began to morph slightly into a dark cloud of shadow and swirled around her hand. “Once... the forest was my home. Nothing.... brought as much peace as that. I'm sure that is something you can understand.” She told me.

To say I was astonished would be an understatement. I had never seen such a thing. “I can.” I responded finding my voice. The connection I felt with my brothers and The Wood did indeed bring peace. It was a tangible thing, experienced with every fiber of my being.

She straightened her fingers as if releasing the energy and the stones reformed. I reached out and placed my gloved hand upon them and they felt… as stone. I admit I was a little disappointed.

“As a mage manipulates the weave to cast their spells… this.. This is what I draw from for my own… abilities.” She said as her hand dropped languidly to her side.

I shook my head. “To be such a tangible part of a place. Amazing.”

She lifted her right hand, her index finger extended as a black thread winds like a loose ribbon around me, then it flew off with a flourish. I had not felt a thing. “You too.” She said. “Not exactly like me… but… your tie is.. To the forest I think. Nature itself.”

Light illuminated her words in my mind and I understood her meaning. She spoke of the way I could call up on nature to aid in making me unseen. I had seen her do the same. There - then suddenly gone from view. Where she used the shadows themselves, I was accepted by the natural world as its own. As a brother of the wood I was able to become hidden, like a single leaf in the leaf litter of hundreds, unnoticed if I so choose.

Her home was the shadow plane in the middle of the very shadows she could be a part of. But I was no longer in The Wood, my home.

“Me?” I said. “By a thin margin these days. I left my home.” It was more difficult than it should have been for me. I was still disconnected and it was only through the grace of Solonor and His connection to nature that I was accepted as a brother here on the isle.

“During our long lives, isn’t home… where we make it?” She asked.

“Kin yes, but not for a guardian. Being in a place does not make it home.” I explained. Yet how did I explain to kin who did not have the intimate tie to nature that I did?

The human word was ‘ranger’ yet that could not be further from the truth. I had been chosen as much as I had chosen the territory of my tribe. It was not because I was standing next to a tree. Or that I could speak to the animals there. Or even that I was willing to protect the balance of a place I saw as beautiful. With my life if necessary.

It was home because I knew every plant, tree, animal. And more importantly they knew me. I did not stick a load of stone blocks in the place and think I owned the area simply due to my proximity. I /was/ The Wood.

I could see Lorin considering what I had said. I could see she did not really understand. I could see she would not press me for further explanation. That was when I realized my expression must have been one of pain. I had lost so much. I had no home. /I/ was lost.

“Most things here are actually made... of the plane itself.” Lorin’s gaze held mine as she explained the shadow plane to me. “Trees, water, mountains... stones. So it looks like stone... it feels like stone... but it is actually... just energy.” She shook her head thinking she was unable to explain properly. “I'm sorry... I know that doesn't make much sense.”

“Actually…” I began because it made perfect sense to me. “The Wood could be described the same. Everything connected, an energy about it that you could only feel if it were your home.”
Her lips quirked up as she realized I understood her.

“Here this is just... stone to me.” I continued. “The forest outside Myon there are just trees, animals. Yet in The Wood, there is /more/. It is as if I am a part of everything there. And when I left... it is like I have faded, colors are less bright, I feel heavier, things are muted... I think that is what you experience when you are not here, yes?”

I…” She stared at me in wonder, the expression of one who did not believe another would ever understand such an intimate feeling. “Yes. I still have some connection to the forests... that moment when I break through some underbrush and an area reminds me of my first views of the eastern edge of the High Forest near Jalanthar... but… I... Thank you Cael.”

I admit it gave me comfort knowing she could understand a little more of who I was. I hoped I gave her the same. We were kindred spirits this dancer of the shadow and I.

~Cael’ean
Arrow Rider

// Thank you to Lorin who always provides surprising and meaningful RP with me! <3
KALYIN -- "Black Cobra will aid your injuries should you stand close.... or he may strike you, depending on mood."

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