[Dream] The divided heart (Completed)

[Rista]

87th of Summer 511 AV Her body twisted and turned in where it lay, as the mind separated from the restrictions of awareness. Rista sighed and shifted in her bed, the blankets more than enough to shield her from what little chill the mountains of her homeland had to offer in the intense summer. Caught in a restless sleep, her mind strayed where waking thought would never take her, never be allowed to go. Shadows bellowed like tall grasses in the deep valleys, danced and bowed whenever thought touched upon golden fields of barley and wheat, ripe buds of rice that rattled and sang in the wind, accompanied my murmuring water and the cries of eagles. She was flying, soaring across the sky and with the wind in her loose hair she smiled, happier than she had ever been. Tall mountains stretched around her and the sky was blue, the sun setting to the west... And rising in the east. Space moved around her, she soared in the heavens and was then left standing under a ruthless sun that beat down upon her head. She lifted a hand to shade her jet-black eyes as she peered towards the horizon. When she shifted the sound of gravel and dirt came from beneath her, the barren soil of a desert somewhere to the south and east. A feeling of belonging filled her chest and the girl smiled as she waited, watching the horizon for the one that should be coming, the one she was waiting for. A faint feeling of thirst made her wet her lips, longing for water and something else, something she should have known but had failed to learn. Guilt washed over her and the sun was suddenly too hot, it pressed her down on her knees. Despair, hope that slipped through her fingers like beads of glass until she only had two left, as different from each other as night and day. She looked down on the beads in her hand and knew that she would have to choose one or the other, and that she had yet to actively make that choice. The sun traveled over the sky too swiftly, rose and fell, rose and fell as time passed around her and she remained impassive. The choice she had to make, and the ones she had to meet, the longing in her heart and the happiness she had been reaching for... Would any of it come true? Did dreams have any meaning once she woke up again? She spun around and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders, mumbling quiet words that couldn't be discerned. For every breath she fell deeper into the dream, and her breaths became long and slow, the chest rose and fell, rose and fell...

[Lariat]

The desert sands changed violently around her, the golden sand turning pitch black, the sky a pure white as if to counter balance the dark force that had settled across the sand. Winds whipped hard around her, no longer was it possible to distinguish night from day, or even a familiar surroundings. For the blink of a eye, everything vanished, no trace of anything besides a eternal void and then reappeared again in the same alien landscape, only this time two shining doors of white light rested before her, the view within revealing nothing, but radiating everything. A pulse shifted the air, washing over everything, bringing calm, and malice. The contradictions of the world between words was deafening, amplifying the slightest noise, but then turning around to make a scream scarcely but a whisper.

The sand shifted underneath her feet, allowing them to slowly sink into its depths as it turned in on itself, a metallic hiss and a buzz from within. Her decision would have to be made soon, this was not a place to live in, it consumed without thought, and forged that what created nightmares, it was a place where hatred came to rest alongside vengeance, and regret. It was a place where hope tempted the hopeless without guilt, ever staying out the grasp of other, keeping away like a child’s game. An ominous moan raised on the wind, softly at first but slowly growing louder with every toss of wind, the sound of purest despair, speaking of a heart broken in the worst way. A soft ripple ran through the ground, tossing a wave of sand this way and that as the world took notice of this stranger, of this intruder. Screaming echoed in the darkness, women and children's voices merged together in a horrifying chorus. They were coming.

oocIf this is too dark, or anything let me know and I'll remove it

[Rista]

Shock passed through her subconscious mind as the world changed around her once more, this time into something dark, frightening. Still clutching tightly to the small beads in her hand the girl raised her arms up in front of the face. It was a vain attempt to shield her eyes from the strange landscape around her, even more so since it was the doors that really blinded her with their radiance... Wait, doors? She had to look again, she hadn't noticed when they appeared. They were blinding, tempting and alluring, and it felt as if all the evil of the world was gathering behind her back.

The girl shuddered in fear and chewed on her lip, indecision apparent on her face. Horror made her feet heavy even as the moans behind her made it obvious that she needed to hurry. She began to move forward, black eyes shifting from one door to the other, back and forth and for each step she took it felt like the voices grew stronger. She had to move faster. She had to decide.

Anger flooded up within her, as always whenever she was pushed to do something she didn't want. She had been comfortable there at the crossroad, standing with one foot on each side. Why was she forced to choose now? It felt like both of the doors were traps, dangerous and capable of bringing her pain. But in comparison to the horrors that surely had to wait if she lingered, they were like beacons of hope. If she could only decide.

Time was growing short on her, the need to move forward was overwhelming. With a pained cry the girl finally squeezed her eyes shut - or tried to, she could still see everything that happened around her clearly - and threw herself towards one of the doors. The left. What was it that made her choose that one? Who knew. In the waking world the right hand was her dominant one, but even with that she was unskilled and incompetent. Perhaps this was an attempt to try something new, to take a chance and see what it could bring her.

It wasn't a conscious decision, and it probably didn't matter. The important thing was that she had chosen, one of two roads... and the gods only knew where it would take her. Unless the darkness behind took her first.

oocThis is awesome, no worries at all

[Lariat]

For a moment, the world around her as far as the eye could see was a white void, impenetrable in all of its essence. A pain leeched behind her eyes, spawning a fierce throbbing that brought thoughts of staring into the sun for too long. Then like a fading memory the glare disappeared, slowly revealing a whitewashed pasture, before the more natural hues of the world restored to its surface. A bright green flush first flowed like a wave over the ground before her, the grass of the rolling hills springing to life with a rich green hue, speaking of the start of spring, a time for new life. Next, like tiny pin pricks over the land came the blossoming of color of blooming flowers, colorful purples, blues, and yellows spreading amongst the grass.

The very world around her seemed to take in a deep breath, as life suddenly came into being in the blink of a eye, the golden sun shining brightly down on her, warming her skin pleasantly, not too hot to be uncomfortable, just providing warmth, and sustaining light. A firm gust of wind even provided a steady breeze in case her body got to hot, cooling the surface of it as it made its way, stirring the grass and flowers around her. The smell of fresh grass, and pollinating flowers filled the gust with a sweet scent, pleasant enough to put everything around her into a relaxed state, the birds in the sky not even calling out unless it was to chirp a beautiful tune on the wind, and only white rabbits hopping nearby, chasing each other playfully.

To Rista it would all seem perfectly natural, as if she had woken up from her strange dream, and found herself in a field that she had chosen as a safe place to lie her head. The only odd thing would be, besides the vividness of her nightmare, and not being able to recall getting up, would be that she could not feel the cooling touch of grass underneath her feet, even though she certainly wasn't wearing any shoes anymore. Instead, the ground underneath her feet felt like hot sand, gritty and clinging to her feet, and working its way between her toes. A glance would tell volumes of why the feeling was absent, but would do nothing to comfort her. Where her feet stood a blacken patch of earth was spreading, the grass already blown away after crumbling to ash from the touch of her skin. The decay, the corruption spread out from her, its pillar of destruction, cutting a small swath of death in a circle around where she stood. Whatever she touched in this world, wherever she walked, and the decay would follow, death would steal the life from any animals to foolish to get in her way. Food and water alike would spoil in her hands, and as if the wind died to her very touch, so too did it disappear. Now the sun seemed all the more imposing for it, bearing down the fullness of his heat on her, and baking her where she stood. A small feathered song bird knew nothing of the danger she presented, and alit on her hand, only to fall to the ground, its heart stilled. She had brought death into this land. She had brought destruction.

[Rista]

It was like passing from hell to heaven in a single step. Overwhelmed, she could only stand and stare as her eyes adjusted to the scenery - or was it the other way around? - and the feeling of stress and fear seeped away. The girl looked out over the landscape and found herself smiling, breathing in deeply as she savored the warmth and the beauty. A feeling of content, a wish to pat herself in the back for a good choice passed through her mind, but left again as it didn't strike any memories; already she was beginning to forget about the door and the world on the other side. Only this place was important, and with a bright smile she stepped forward, longing to go up in this paradise, fully and completely.

But it felt wrong when she placed down her foot. Fluent like a running water her expressions changed as the girl looked down and saw how the grass and the moist soil gave way in front of her, brought death and destruction in it's wake.. Like a wave of death it felt like her awareness of the danger only made it spread faster; she tried not to think of it, but it was impossible to remain unmoving when this heavenly place was destroyed in front of her eyes.

Emotions stirred within, her eyes watered by tears of sadness and guilt. Fear clawed beneath and tried to dig it's way up to the surface, take a hold of her; so far Rista managed to suppress it, managed to convince herself that this change had nothing to do with her. As a song bird came flying towards her she stretched out her hand, smiled as it slowed down to perch on her finger. When the small animal then fell dead to the ground, the panic began to spread at a more rapid pace. A scream of horror and grief as the beauty in front of her was destroyed tried to work its way up her throat, but a distant memory of pain and humiliation made her squeeze her mouth shut. She wasn't allowed to scream!

She couldn't take it anymore. This place couldn't be right, it couldn't have been her that brought this with her. It wasn't fair. She hadn't done anything, and yet bad things always happened to her... Biting back tears and a wish to scream out her pain the girl spun around on her heels, tried to go back to where she had come from. She would do anything to make this undone! Anything, even if it meant going back to the dark, twisted world she had left. This was necessary, she had caused this.. yes, she had actually caused this, and now she had to set it right. It was the only thing she could do... The world spun around her as she moved, her eyes tearing away from the now deserted landscape, so hot under the relentless sun... If only there was a way for her to set it right again.

oocThis is surprisingly hard.. but way fun ^^ I can't wait to see what you throw at me next..

[Lariat]

The death the clung to her skin was unstoppable now, consuming the world around her like it was paper in a fire. Ground crumbled and flaked underneath her feet, her toes sinking in deeper with every step. Behind her high in the sky, the sun seemed to chase her, and every other moment a pulsing throb of pain seared her back, the suns race lighting her clothing on fire in some parts. The yellow glare quickly turned white with heat, cooking her flesh, and causing her elbows and calves to blacken under its sheer might. All around her the greenery was replaced by a desolate ashen plane, the sea of fine grit pulling her deeper and deeper into it till she was up to her knees in the deathly cold ground.

In front of her now was the sun, shining so bright it turned the whole of the land white, besides the black ash she almost sat in now, and it flickered violently with a bluish light. The whole world crackled and buzzed with the angry sound of a fire gone out of control, raging across the cold dead surface of the world. Then the roar was gone, and for a moment nothing could be seen, only a white hot feeling spreading across her skin. A deafening roar echoed out, and the ground under her feet split open, leaving only open air to fall through. Above her, the sun shattered, waves of angry flame chasing her down as she spiraled in open hot air, soot catching in her mouth and making it hard to swallow. The heat caused the skin of her arms to flake off before her eyes, floating into the air behind her till only bones where left underneath the flesh.

Then she woke up, a cold sweat covering her body, but little out of the ordinary in her room, and no evidence of any of the horrible things that happened in her dream following her back into reality. She was safe now, alone in her room, with scarcely a whisper of noise about her besides her own rapid breathing. After a few days the dream would be forgotten whether she wanted to or not, her subconscious fighting to keep her mind stable and away from such thoughts. It was just a dream after all.

A season and a half would pass, and it would be late into the fall when she arrived in Riverfall, the magnificent city of the Akalaks. She was close to home now, all seemed to be going well, even a man or two in the street had offered to help her find lodging. It was not as beautiful as spring, but fall held its own beauty, and birds still hung in the air, resting here for a few more days before traveling further south to warmer lands. A cheery tune floated on the wind, the product of a small yellow and black song bird that winged its way to her, as carefree as ever. With a nimbleness respecting the agile creature it alighted on her fingertip, being mindful of its small claws and cocked its head to look up at her. It kept singing that same merry tune, strangely reminiscent of something she heard once, the soft tone growing louder and louder as it continued till it sounded like all one note so shrill was it. The song bird was bigger now, and heavier, sidestepping to perch on her wrist. It seemed even there though it continued to grow in size, now roughly the side of her own head, and so to, did its song grow louder, yet no one around seemed to notice. A large black eye stared at her a moment, before it hoped off of her arm to the ground, but yet it was still eyelevel with her, the song bird now roughly the size of her, and possessing arms with wicked claws at the end. Its song now turned into a hideous cackle of what it once was, sounding hoarse, and infernal, before turning into gut turning laughter.

It reached out for her, grabbing her shoulders gruffly, and suddenly she was somewhere else, deep in a forest it seemed. A humid feeling thickened the air, and giant trees rose all around her. FALYNDAR came a thought, unbidden in her mind, and a sickening red light began pulsing somewhere behind her. Growls, and screams echoed from all around her, but the origins of which could not be that easily discerned, and before her kneeled a man, his golden eyes looking up at her.

[Rista]

No passage was to be found, no gateway to salvation. Her wish to escape didn't help her one bit, Rista was caught within this horrid curse that ate away all that she longed to save. Tears streamed freely down her face as she no longer could contain her feelings, but still her mouth was pressed together tightly. Not a sound would slip from her...

There was nothing the girl could do to affect the happenings around her. Like a twig in a maelstrom she was dragged along by the events, hung out to simply feel and react to the events thrown at her. As the ground gave in beneath her, when the sun fell down, chased her in her painful descent it was as if she was shedding her skin, having it peeled off in some twisted ritual to purify her from whatever sins she might have committed. Beneath the pain and the horror her subconscious remained thoughtful, observing, continuously trying to understand what it all meant. Answers teased her and slipped away again, time and again it felt like her mind was teetering on some hidden truth, almost visible but constantly beyond her reach. And above it, emotions boiled like hot water, trying to cause her mind to erupt into blabbering madness when the skin and flesh flaked away from her arms until white bone was the only thing remaining...

Horror, disbelief, panic and a wish to scream out loud. Those were the feelings that forced her awake, or seemed to do so. As her still dreaming mind stared wildly around her small room she found herself longing for her mothers arms; it was the first time in a very, very long time that she had felt so alone, so distanced from the people she called her own. Still, the emptiness of her room was comforting in comparison to the dream, and with a sigh she fell back onto her blankets, shivering for a while before she once again was swept away by the currents.

Time passed. A distant feeling of puzzlement lingered for a moment as she looked around in the city, knowledge about her journey mixing with a stray though.. why would she ever leave home? It was soon gone though, her attention was brought to a small songbird that came to perch on her finger. A smile of happiness and delight spread over her face, humbled by the brave affection the little one showed by coming to her on its own; she was absorbed by it, so much that she didn't find anything wrong with the growing size and increasing weight.
Not at first, but as it grew too large to be accommodated by her arm, alarm bells began to ring in the back of her mind. Fear erupted once more as she saw herself stand there, still smiling while the bird grew into a beast, a monster. Her mind screamed in horror when he grabbed her by the shoulders, longing for the claws to touch her and fearing the longing in itself.. It wasn't -him- she was waiting for.

They moved, the sensation of something being wrong too strong to cast off. For a moment Rista regained some of her senses and remembered having moved around a lot, a thought of dry, humor filled irritation considered her new location. Of all the places. Why on earth would she be in Falyndar?

Her gaze seemed to move on its own, her ears taking in the sounds and her lips tasting the humid air; jet-black orbs met with golden one, and Rista found herself smiling, a wide, bright smile of untainted happiness. She couldn't help herself, it was just something with those pale golden eyes that made her feel good, about herself and the world around her, and then it could be however chaotic it wanted. She wondered why he was kneeling; a wish to help him up passed through her mind and at the same time she tried to reach out, wanting to offer him her hand in aid, for whatever purpose he was acting by.

[Lariat]

He took her hand, and that’s when the world fell away from them, fraying into strands of nothingness until all that was around them was infinite darkness. Yet he remained kneeling, and she remained standing, as sure footed here as if she was back on the mossy ground. He pulled himself up, getting even closer to her, his golden eyes flashing brightly as they came to level with hers. Fire she could see there, a flicker of the tortured soul beneath those all knowing orbs, and also compassion. It was not a common site, staring into the eyes of a man and seeing phantoms but yet in the brief moment she could see all the flashes of his past within the blink of an eye. Murder, retribution, a chase that crossed the continent and a final confrontation on the shores of some unknown, inland sea where it all would come to a close and finally brings peace to all. The book that was his soul closed then, and it was just the two of them, him unblinkingly staring at her, and his arm still holding hers. He made no move to speak, only study her and for the longest time that seemed like all he would do. Then he spoke up, but the words where not his own. " Child, many things await you in your future, your actions, your very thoughts affect heavily on the course of events to come. Go now in safety and guidance, and make something of yourself in this new world. We are watching. "

Then the man was gone and she was all alone, lost in the maze of her own thoughts that projected themselves in this void. Words suffused with greater purpose was the final test her mind set for her, a final hurdle for her to overcome and see what remained of herself. It was the most powerful test, and also the most subtle, easily breaking most into its own cause because of delusions of grandeur. Hero's where not chosen, they were made, but sometimes just the hint that it might be a possibility to seize with minimal effort is enough to drive people to abandon normally held morals in a effort to claim it. The most devious test of character is the one most often overlooked, it had tried her, it had tested her, and at last it came up with a most hideous solution. It woke her up.

[Rista]

Her smile faded slowly as the world crumbled around them, only lingering like a faint flickering light before it died out. He took her hand and pulled himself up, and the girl looked him in the eyes; tales were told then, long and deep, too personal for her to remain in that happy, comfortable state of mind. Rista wasn't sure that she wanted to see the contents of another soul. Her own memories were a burden to bear, with all it's happy and unhappy moments. Why would she welcome the burden of yet another story, yet another life?

She breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't have to see anymore, but with a lingering sense that she had already seen too much. Who was this man? What did he want? This place was strange too, so full of nothingness except the two of them that stood there, unblinking, arms locked. The dark-eyed girl shifted a bit, wished to speak, but her lips were sealed and her eyes locked; moving wasn't an option.

And then the man with the golden eyes spoke, and in the way you can know something in a dream without having a reason for the knowing, she knew that it wasn't him who spoke. The words made her tremble, her mind recoiled and wanted to escape from the simple truth that she knew but wished to forget about. They were watching. She had no way of saying for sure who this speaker was, but her subconscious only had one answer for her when she asked. When loneliness sunk in over her and the darkness was all that saw her, the little girl sunk down on her knees and wrapped the arms around herself, shuddering from the implications of the words.

Rista had never been one to believe, not for real. Oh, of course she acknowledged the existence of the gods, only a fool didn't in a world like this where they walked among the crowds of people and so easily meddled in the affairs of the living. She prayed herself but it had always been half-hearted, like a whispered confession to someone who might or might not be listening, and probably wouldn't care anyway. She had been content with that, dealing with her own business and letting the gods deal with theirs. This message however, it ruined the peaceful setting she had made up for herself. It was like standing on a summer field, bathing and sunlight and warmth, only to suddenly discover that it was in fact a blizzard in the middle of the night. Rista didn't want the attention of the gods, she didn't want to have a role to play in whatever schemes they were playing. She just wanted to...

Hesitation made the thought drag out into the empty silence. What was it that she wanted again? It was something she had longed for dearly for a very long time, something glorious and grand. What was it? Panic began to rise within her again, like the bile in a persons throat. She tried to remember her dreams, her wishes, but the emptiness was swallowing her thoughts, one by one until she felt numb, unthinking, unfeeling, only existing; stripped bare of all defenses, for a moment there was nothing but her very core left, soft and glowing and unprotected in the dark, laid bare for anyone to see... Then she woke up.

oocThanks for the ride, Lariat! It's been very interesting, I'm looking forward to get to write with you again ^^