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Of Dreams and of Wasting Time... and Leaving it
Taran and Dreams
Having slipped softly into a light sleep, Taran's mind raced around in circles. Not the busy ones like when he'd been given intricate and complex missions to follow that regulated every nuance of his behavior, but the slower circles that one followed when exhaustion hits and all you want is to soak in all that had occurred.
During the few hours that he slept lightly, Taran lightly dreamed of quite a few things. More like daydreams, as they were based off real events and people, they were sometimes insightful, as they helped Taran understand how things affected him personally.
His first dream had him swatting off mosquitos and trying to force a lizard back into a tomb. His second dream had him with double-vision, trying to convince someone that he was dead, while the someone insisted that Taran was not who he claimed to be. The person who was supposed to be dead finally told Taran that he would only accept death if Taran did. So Taran gave himself a wound that would kill a human. Thankfully, the person didn't know that Taran was not a human, and Taran walked away, though bleeding quite well.
It was some kind of spinoff from this dream that led Taran back to Rose. He was wandering around a lake, bleeding, just looking for a place to do some research. And Rose- in full kitsune form- ran into the clearing at the lake shore from in the forest. She looked at him, wagged her tail, and ran back into the forest. Taran ran after her, calling for her to help him, and he got lost in the forest.
Hearing sounds up ahead, he kept forward, but tripped. Suddenly he was on his back, staring up through the trees. Then a pair of golden eyes below red fox ears looked down at him. Rose stared at him like this for a moment, then whispered two words in his ear, and was gone. Taran got up, but didn't notice his wound was healed at first because he was suddenly in a vast desert. Rose's words hung in his ears like an echo until Taran finally woke from this light dream; "You lied."
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((ooc: warning; long post))
Se'rox; Wasting Time... and Leaving it
Kaitan was not as she had remembered it, and from the little she saw, Se'rox was unwilling at first to see parts of it that used to be as familiar as the bottom of her feet. But Nealiminity refused to allow her to seclude herself in the green dragon's cave, and after three days, Se'rox was once again walking toward the house Se'rox had lived in for quite a few years.
Se'rox stopped still 50 feet inside the forest, and Nealiminity watched her closely. She herself could not yet see through the thick trees to what was ahead, but she supposed Se'rox could already see the whole thing.
"Oh no. You don't get to stop here. Feel the earth there under your very own feet." Nealiminity scolded.
Reluctantly, Se'rox walked toward the edge of the forest, and finally past the last few tight-knit trees, into an area that had once resembled a garden.
It was now a huge, barren crater.
In this area of Kaitan, life had abounded. Forests were thick, and plants grew everywhere. There was hardly ever an inch where a plan had not successfully rooted. Apparently, though, that was before the Organization tried to find Se'rox.
Now there was nothing. The earth was dead, in a way that Se'rox found hard to describe. It was as if the earth had simply ceased being capable of founding life, and harbored only death. Se'rox stood there, both feet just in the crater, and could not move for some time.
Nealiminity stood near by, satisfied to see Se'rox finally comprehend what had happened here. She expected Se'rox to be done in a few minutes, but Se'rox did not move. For an hour, Nealiminity waited quietly. But as Se'rox stood there, not moving except to breathe, Nealiminity decided she didn't need to stay with her.
"When you're done..." Nealiminity said, knowing that Se'rox would understand that she was welcome back in the cave at that point. Nealiminity, getting no response from Se'rox, simply turned into her full dragon form, and leapt off the ground, flying in circles as she gained height, and was gone a moment later, off to hunt food, search for treasure, and then sleep in her cave.
Se'rox, however, still just stood there.
Empty. Of life, of potential, of everything. Se'rox thought, feeling the crater. She had heard Nealiminity, but it was more important to stand still for now. No hint of life to come, nor of life past. No history, no future. This ground is dead. More dead than anything before it. No wind here, no moisture... all repelled as if disgusted by the lifelessness of this place. And this... this is where we all lived.
Se'rox stood there, trying to force herself into some kind of acceptance of the desolation of the square mile crater laid out before her. As if trying to reason out how she could have been important enough to go through so much trouble for. But that line of thought chilled her. She tried focusing on the deadness of it. There was something in it almost... comforting.
For days, Se'rox stood in that crater, feeling nothing from the crater, and wondering why it seemed so perfect that that nothing should almost resonate in herself as well. Except, it did not. That irked her. She could not echo the perfect nothingness that surrounded her. And after four days, she left the crater.
Nealiminity had been by twice a day, every day, to check on her. Se'rox refused to eat, refused to sleep, and Nealiminity had a true concern for her old friend. So when Se'rox walked quietly into the cave that afternoon, Nealiminity simply raised one eyebrow.
Did she... cut her hair? Nealiminity wondered, as Se'rox first crossed the threshold. Impossible to tell from the profile before the entrance, and unable to tell a moment later as Se'rox crawled into a pile of blankets to sleep, Nealiminity simply drank her tea from her newest golden cup, and waited for Se'rox to recover.
That evening, Se'rox joined Nealiminity for some food, though neither talked during the meal. Nealiminity noted that she had, indeed, cut her hair. Odd.
"So." Nealiminity said, clearing away the dishes. "Leaving, then, are you?"
Quickly turning her head so as to seem to stare at Nealiminity, Se'rox's face held a look of slight surprise.
Nealiminity chuckled. "You forget. I helped you all those years ago. I know who you are, Se'rox. And you are no coward. You do not run from anything but impossible odds. And these odds are not impossible- not like those that came here and scarred Kaitan. You will face your trouble. And-" she paused, smiling. "just remember to slap him before you kiss him. Keeps them in line."
Se'rox watched Nealiminity, and shook her head, amused.
"Why would you think this has to do with someone?" Se'rox said stiffly.
Walking out of the kitchen-chamber, but still audible, Nealiminity called back, "Not a someone, a Nobody. But probably a fine male specimen, knowing you, dear."
A second later, and Nealiminity came back, backpack slung over one shoulder.
"Well? The least you can do is give me a lift." Nealiminity said to Se'rox's arched eyebrow. "'Bout time I have myself a decent vacation from this place. And I want to make sure you don't over-nobody yourself and try to live in that crater. So. Let's go, then, shall we?"
Sighing, mimicking frustration, Se'rox stood. She wanted to argue, or to at least feign arguing, but she knew it was useless. Nealiminity had access to a spaceship if she needed one, and would follow Se'rox anyways. After all, Se'rox had spent the first few days catching up, and Nealiminity already knew where Gaia was.
Standing, then, Se'rox made a large portal, and stepped through. Nealiminity followed.
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