Striding the Surreal (Rai'ley)

[Jett Variona]

35th of Winter 511 AV His head was swimming. The room was spinning. Far across the other end of the world, there was singing and dancing and merriment. The sounds of the tavern were slipping away like mud through his fingers as he slowly descended into a drunken black. But the blackness did not stay this time. It was replaced by a bright light, which then became a blinding array of rapid colors, blinking across the back of his eyelids so fast he felt sick. And then suddenly they stopped, and Jett Variona found himself standing in the middle of a sunlit room with four figures before him. They bodies were obscured, as if he were looking at them through a stream of water. One of them spoke, or was it all of them at once? He could not tell. "We revoke your status as a monk of Nyka, and you are forever banished from the city." Why were the Celestials banishing him? What had he done? Jett tried to protest, but his voice faded in and out from him like a mouse squeaking pathetically. His robes were torn from him by unseen hands, and when he blinked he was no longer in the Celestial's palace. He was in the woods at night, a full moon hung far overhead. His robes were still gone, replaced by the simple loin cloth he wore beneath them. It was cold and he rubbed his arms in a futile attempt to warm himself. Jett began walking aimlessly. He needed to find his way out of here, get back to Nyka and get back into his robes. His thoughts were disjointed and despairing, and in the dark depths of the forest a pack of wolves began to howl.

[Rai'ley]

This was not Mura. It was no where near. Mura smelled warm and soft. It smelled like the sea and the Konti. It was home. This place was dark and there was no sign of the Konti anywhere. Rai'ley had never been away from the Konti before. He had never even left Mura. There was only one rational thing to do, not that Rai'ley was thinking rationally. He took his Ivaski form. Fangs and claws, not to mention his massive size would be better than his iron staff and short stature. Rai'ley raised his nose to the sky, sniffing to try and figure out something about his surroundings. Everything was so different from Mura. A low whine emitted from his throat as he lowered his head. He wanted to go home. He wanted to be with Woof, T'Setsuna, and Skyla. He wanted to be where it was familiar. A call sounded through the forest. It sounded hauntingly familiar. It was not the bay of an Ivaski. It was the beast of their past, the wolf. Perhaps they would know where he was. He lifted his nose to the sky once more, trying to sniff out the wolves but something else caught his attention. It was the scent of a man. He rarely met men he did not know who were not kelvic. Mura was the land of women and their canine companions. The Ivaski's curiosity got the best of him as he ran off toward the scent of the man. The bay of the wolves was still evident in the air. He would find them later. When Rai'ley was close, he slowed his pace, padding quietly through the dirt until he saw him. He was tall, at least taller than Rai'ley was. His hair was dark, much different than almost everyone on Mura. He wanted to get a closer look but there were wolves prowling. What if the man attacked him, thinking he was a wolf? With a flash of light, the large white dog was replaced but a much smaller, blond man. He was fully clothed though. Something that surprised the Kelvic greatly. He was dressed simply in a light shirt and pants, but he was dressed. He stepped out of the bushes, his hands up in defense. "I won't hurt you if you don't hurt me. Do you know where we are? I need to get back to Mura. I don't belong here."

[Jett Variona]

A light snow started to fall, but the flakes did not seem to touch his skin. He felt the chill all around, as if his body was entirely a solid block of ice. He shivered and huddled himself over. Nothing seemed right in this forest. Everything was too still, too perfect. There were no sounds of life other than the distant mourning of the wolves to the flawless moon, a pale opal in the sky. Jett flexed his muscles in anxiety and to ward off the shivers. How would he know what wolves sounded like? There were hardly any in the city. He had only ever read about them, or more recently heard salty sailors tell passing urchins of the ferocious creatures. They came down from the hills of the forests of foreign cities, harbingers of fear and hate and death. Eyes bred from fire and hearts as dark as the bottom of the Aperture. As if the children of Nyka could be concerned with creatures from legends with the nightly terror of monsters stealing up from that dark fissure in the earth. The wolves were getting closer. Their howls amplified in his ears, filling him with a peculiar sort of dread. He put hands on his ears to muffle their cries, but that was a wasted effort. Still they cried to the moon, and still they gave cause to the cold to pierce his skin. The monk was about to cry out, shout unending through the night when a voice other than his own stabbed through to him from behind. It took him a moment to realize what the boy was saying, or even that he existed at all. His words brought clarity to Jett. What was he doing here after all? How had he gotten here? In a flash he realized that this was not real, none of it. Was the boy real?Or was he the personification of a Lance from the mind of the Aperture? "Aye, it seems that neither one of us do. Belong here, I mean." He let his arms drop to his side and turned fully on the boy, ready to act at a moments notice. The Aperture would not take him without a fight, not again. "As for where we are, it would seem we're in a forest eh? Maybe it's called Enigma, somewhere in the Doesn't-bloody-well-exist area." Jett said with a snort at his own terrible jest. "What's your name lad?"

[Rai'ley]

Rai'ley sniffed in the man's direction, making a slight chuffing sound before turning to try and scent the wolves. They would come and from the sound of them, they were hungry. The Kelvic was without his iron staff and he knew that fighting unarmed was a good way to get killed. He would need to rest as long as he could before the wolves arrived. That way, he could shift when the time came. If he smelled the wolves, there was no doubt they smelled him right back. The hound cocked his head slightly at what the man said. Enigma? They did not have those on Mura. For the love of Avalis, Rai'ley did not even know what an enigma was! "There are no forests like this on Mura. It does not smell right." The kelvic simply looked at the man as he laughed. He wanted to laugh as well but he did not get the joke. "It must be something to do with enigmas…" A light growl hummed in Rai'ley's throat before he replied. "Rai'ley, in-training guardian for the Opal Order." The Ivaski was not a lad, at least in his opinion. He was a full grown dog! He brushed it off for now though. Less people on Mura mistook him for a younger man since everyone on the island was short and young looking. His aggression was better placed elsewhere though. Besides, he was not one to take a bite out of someone just for mistaking his age. He was just scared and like all animals, he was getting ornery. "What about you?" Rai'ley itched to be back in his canine form. He was nervous and more so, he longed to rid himself of these clothes. Another howl ripped through the night, causing Rai'ley to stand up straight. This was the reason he needed to stay in his more human form. He needed to protect the man, or so he believed. He was raised from puppyhood to believe his purpose in life was to protect. The man clearly was not of the Opal Order but he believed Rak'keli would want him protected all the same. "They don't want us here. This is their forest… or enigma, as you said." The snow was starting to get thicker and seemed to nip at Rai'ley's feet. He longed for his furred paws in place of such unprotected feet. "I can try to reason with them but I doubt it will work. Wolves are stubborn. How good are you at fighting?" The man stepped forward, and pulled his hands up to his mouth. He cupped them over his mouth and let out a long, soulful howl. It was not as accurate as it could have been if he was in his Ivaski form but he would have to make due. The howl was a simple one. We come in peace, in rough translation. The bays that were howled in response were not as kind though. The howls and barks were getting closer. Rai'ley could smell them. A low growl echoed from Rai'ley's throat and his hands were already gripping the hem of his shirt. "Like I said. Wolves are stubborn. They'll kill us if they have to. We either have to leave, or fight. What do you want to do?"

[Jett Variona]

He was still not quite sure of the status of this boy's-Rai'ley's- existence, but regardless he knew that there were things that wanted to hurt him in this forest, and he would not be able to fend them off alone. He just had to hope that Rai'ley did not also want to kill him. "Jett Variona, monk of Nyka, loyal to the grand Xannos." He said. No, you're not. You were banished. Remember? A frown crossed his face at this doubt. Had that happened? He could not trust his own senses and memories. After all, currently he was in a forest that looked straight out of some shoddy painter's landscape, talking to a boy that growled at him while being pursued by a pack of howling wolves. So what else was new? "Why exactly do you know so much about wolves? I've never heard of Mura, or the Opal Order. Have you ever heard of the monks of Nyka? How furious and righteous we are in a scrap? Here, watch this." Jett closed his eyes and concentrated. There was earth here, this would work fine. He breathed out slowly, extending his hands and... Nothing happened. He tried again. A third time. The res wasn't flowing, and the dirt wasn't shifting. "Oh what in the Aperture is going on now?!" He fumed and kicked the ground. "Move damn you!" As if to torment him, the rocks beneath him began trembling the moment his foot touched the ground and shot up, clocking Jett right in the jaw and knocking him onto his back. He let out a loud oof! as the wind in his chest left him. When he looked up from his downed position, a white shadow loomed over him. He cried out in surprise, just barely avoiding the jaws that snapped where his head had been a moment before. The monk had meant to retaliate immediately, but was caught off guard when he faced the wolf and realized that in place of a normal canine head, his uncle's face stared back at him grinning with a mouth full of razor teeth. "You always were a disappointment Jett. No wonder they excommunicated you from the order." The wolf snarled. As the rest of the pack came in, the pair saw that each of the wolves had a different, strange face. Some had snake heads, some rats, others human faces. Jett did not recognize all of the faces, but some were those close to him. There was Azura, his monk sponser, his friend Ezra, and his father. All of them circled the group, saying things that he never thought that they would say, mocking him and daring him to attack. Those that Jett did not recognize were focused on Rai'ley, grinning with their sharp fangs.