Ximal...Ximal...ivak's breath. XIMAL....(Solo/Invite)

[Ximal]

7th spring 512AV

Pounding heart beats and the thunderous thud of boots along nthe ground. It felt like an earth quake, the roar of voices all trying to speak over one another. He'd hidden for a day, and now the hunt was back on. Xi was being hunted as a mage. He ran. Just ran. As fast as he could, as fast as his legs would carry him. Sliding beneath, leaping over obstructions. He was doing everything he could to get away. Though he kept his power sealed for the moment, he was just running. On pure fight or flight instinct. Jumping at the right point his arms killed as he jumped uponto and vaulted the wall, ahead of him. Allowing him just a few moments to catch his breath before the mob was back on him. "He's this way. Lets get 'em" Ivaks breath don't these petchers ever take a break?" Xi spun on his heel to see the crowd filling fom both directions at the same time. Just my petching luck...right, one exit." Xi bounced off of the walls either side of him using the momentum of his prior jump to ascend him higher until he could leap over the wall next to him and run back the way he'd came. Now he'd doubled back he could run again. pumping a little of his power into his lgs to give him that burst of speed to help his escape. He could feel himself speeding up but it wasn't enough. Skidding to a halt he turned and slid into a small enclosed alleyway. His hood up he hunkered down at the back in the darkness. Praying no-one would see him. He bided his time in the shadows. Waiting, just waiting for the mob to pass by so he could slip back out and look like a normal person. His legs burned from the speed he'd been running. And his arms fellt as if they were being torn off. The strong metallic taste at the back of his mouth told him he'd been useing too much power to escape and would have to leave it a while before running with it again. He forced his breathing to slow, and his hearts pounding slowed with it. He was in need fo a small break. And he just had to be safe her for a few chimes, just a few. Hiding in the darkness he used it to cover himself along with his cloak making himself some what formless in the blackness. Only those who had the sense to look down that alley would see him. even then they might only see a vague shape. He was hopeing now. Two chimes, Just Two chimes.

[Ximal]

Xi spent fifteen chimes in that alley as the mob surged passed and then dispersed. Xi could feel his pulse quicken as the gaggle of people ran past. some brandishing knives, others full blown swords. They weren't happy with him. Over what the death of a few slavers ? They were committing the ultimate sin in his eyes. No man should sell another. No man should be worth a sum of gold. Their service, their work should be equivalent, to their pay. But not their lives, a freedom is sacred. If someone besmirches and tries to sell another's freedom away. Then they have lost their right to live on as a sentient being. A slave to coin. A slaver is just a slave to their own greed. No man should be a slave. No man should forfeit their freedom. Xi held in the darkness of that alley for a time. The obscurity of his cloak, masking his frame in the shadow. He breathed a sigh of relief as the last of the mob passed. Xi rose and started to move towards the exit. Then three thugs took it upon themselves to come down the alley. Just my luck...Oveks really got a thing for playing with me. One day, he will play fair with me. The alley was only wide enough for one of them to come down at a time. the taste of metal had receded from his mouth so he knew he was ready to use his power again if he needed too. Three men. One short and skinny, another tall and lean, the last middle height and wide. Xi stood at least a head over all three of them. Xi walked forwards slowly as the tall one entered the alley, brandishing a knife. Xi's exterior froze it was as if he's suddenly gone from the mild chill of sunberth to a full blown avanthal winter. Xi opened and closes his hand slowly. His opponent stepped forwards slowly and then made a wild dashing thrust like a mad man. Xi used the back of his forearm clad in a vambrace hand to simply slap the blade out of the way and then drive the edge of his hand into the back of the poor sots neck. Knocking his opponent out. He took another stride forwards. Then the smaller of them, blindly and wildly charged him again btu this time he held his blade to the side. Xi simply brought his boot up to the smallers chin and seen him flying backwards. Strike two, now only one of the three left. Then the last one made a wise decision and bolted for it. The Xi heard his hgh pitched squeal of a voice calling for help. Little petcher. Xi bolted out of the ally. Xi could feel himself needing to run, but his legs felt heavy. His arms felt tired. He could run but he would have to use his power of any sort of getaway running. Running full pelt and sliding beneath two workers carrying a bunch of wooden planks, he disappeared down an alley. Then sank to a posture of an old cripple and hobbled along the streets to try and get himself some respite from running like a rabbit away from a fox.

[Ximal]

Bells, two petching bells. Xi had been running from that mob now for two bells. If nothing else his stamina was in human though it was starting to ebb hugely. His legs burned, the breeze against the cuts on his arms sent knives through them. He was exhausted. he was tired. He'd over given on flux now and he was starting to feel he could use it a little further. But he knew with the sheer burn on his thighs and calves. Something was wrong. Skidding beneath a low rch and then running down left hand alley stopped and hunched hunkered down and sat in absolute silence. The majority of the mob ran past him. He prayed the rest would follow, who ever was listening he prayed too. He exhaled his chest tightened, his heart pounded hard fast, feeling like it was going to burst. He's played this game of cat and mouse for two hours. Every time he'd get some where safe he'd be there for three to seven chimes and then he'd be running again for twenty to thirty. He sat silent, his arms weighted. Heavy. His legs burnt, roared in agony but he was safe he'd slipped out of view for the fifth time in two bells and this time there was no-one who'd seen him slide under there. The mob was too far back after the sprint he'd made them follow. His breathing was heavy, slow, haggard. He was tired but to anyone who was only vaguely listening it would sound like someone suffering the blight. He sat motionless looking like a beggar on the edge of a street. out in the open for all to see, but he was hunkered and pulled small as he could get. To anyone he would look like just another beggar. From the tightness of the ball he'd curled himself into he looked like any other beggar. Xi sighed a relief but let his breathing continue. The mob raced by not one of them noticing him. Some one up there was playing with him or enjoyed tortureing him. Still he was silen t as the grave. Day faded to night and still he hadn't dared move. He was akin to a boulder. receiving almost the same amount of coin a boulder received though he did get a few unexpected coppers. Not much but then again he wasn't a beggar. Then he heard a voice in his head, a soft taunting whisper, only light. Head heard it before but never taken any notice. It was willing him to use his power again. Egging him on into using his power to kill the mob hunting him. He would not succumb but he was tired, and needing for some sort of respite. The voice knew this but still pressured him. He was resolute. the voice had made him snap. The voice was the reason his emotions ruled him. Since the day he'd snapped and lost control against kolin he'd been plagued by this immense need to follow on with what he had within. He resisted his urges to let out the beast. Instead he caged that primal need, that rueful monster. The bane of his life, the reson why he wa now on the run. The reason his emotions ran rampant, why he was mercilessly enslaved to theri pure overthrowing needs. The reason his emotional state could be read by all those around him. He wore it like he ware his cloak , shapeless form less but non the less intimidating. Common people left him be but the more intimidated threw him coins. The mob ran past too blind with their own rage to notice his, seeping out like blood through an open wound. He was a a monster internally but he was gentle. He had no reason to hurt anyone but the monster within forced it's way to the surface dragging a staggering and rueful amount of emotion with it. But after the impulse was carried out. The emotion died. Stranded it'self. He felt, disturbed. Deeply sick. He could do nothing about this....this monster he had within. And he hated every second of having to deal with it.

[Ximal]

Nightfall. Xi's best friend at present. Even his huge frame was aided by the curtain of darkness. He finally started to move from his position. The stiffness in his joints coupled from the strain of running and the force he's exerted on them through the use of his power. He felt sore, he felt claws digging into his brain. He felt tired. Above all he felt like he had to survive. Something within him felt a refusal to give up. Like his primal self was bursting forth driving him, forcing him to not give up. He forced himself up from the position he'd been seated in. His joints felt rusty. As he stood he snapped his neck and all of his joints cracked, as if he's been made of stone and was just coming to life. The blue fire in his eyes sparked back into life, he was now rising and ready to start making his way to a safe haven. Somewhere he could spend the night just to stay out of the way of the mob. No matter what he was going to find some where. Rising from that seat and that position was the longest moments he'd taken in his life. Scared that someone may find him. Scared that the mob might return and he was in no state to start running again. He started to hobble down the alley he was in, leaning on the wall as the feeling began to return to his legs, the first sensation , numbness, then tingling, then the pins and needles. Then pain, sheer searing harsh pain. He gritted his teeth hard as he stumbled down that alley. His breath fogging in the air. Xi wobbled as he walked, his legs stumbling making him look like any other drunk wandering home. Some cover at the very least. Blinking his eyes slowly, and adjusting them to the limited light he stumbled bracing himself against a wall he could feel his energy slowly returning too him as the soreness loosened and then his arms began to burn. The two cuts raging with pain. He felt like he'd just been through the worst bar fight on record. Shaking his head he wandered out down into the large open main street where many people were still gathered. All still hunting him but with the positioning of his body and the way he was walking he just blended in with the drunken crowd. For once he ducked into a bar thanking it for being filled with complete morons all of which as drunk as he looked. Slamming down into an open chair he waited silently for any possible issues that might arise. He was in no state to fight but he was feeling better. Much better.

[Ximal]

Xi As Xi sat in that chair in that tavern thing flipped through his head. Closing his eyes quietly and sitting there silently he tried to quiet his mind. And find out what was causing this will to survive to spring forth so harshly and so fervently he now found himself willing to kill to stay alive. He quieted the voices around him slowly drowning out their sound. He's never been one to try and meditate he thought it was something monks did or kolin did just to annoy him. And show that kolin could squander time, and show that he could whilst Xi had to run around doing work. Just thinking about it made him angry. Severely angry. Breathing out slowly he took a deep breath and repeated, until his mind calmed and the voices faded from existence around him and he was left with his thoughts. And then he heard it. That voice if survival. Minuet. Tiny but still there. And when ever xi had a strong impulse it got more powerful. And riight now it was feeding on the impulse of anger. It just repeated the same thing over and over in his head. Smash something your angry. Do it. It's simple releave the anger. No...i wont. I need to stay hidden. Xi kept this state though listeing to nothing but his thoughts and trying to clear his mind. The voice got louder, and louder the clearer he began to think. Xi was scared now, the voice was growing more and more corrupted and more primal. Was it his lower instincts? Was it his true nature? Or was it the trigger that had pushed him over the edge and made him kill kolin and olin....No this was the trigger that made him kill quela's mother. This was the monster that had driven him all those years ago. This was the monster within him. He'd found it but it was not strong enough to control him yet. Not powerful enough to start to try to devour him. Not enough to attempt to break him. But Xi began to put his mind into context. the world of his mind was simple...blank. But as his mind slowed, from it's racing over having figured out what kind of monster lie within him, his mind began to take shape. Before him lie a broken mirror. Huge, immense. At least twenty stories tall. Within this mirror as Xi peered at it, it was broken. Smashed. The fragments and chips of the mirror lay on the ground, Broken crushed. The mirror in all it's ornate and delicate beauty, had been completely obliterated. Except for only two large shards which remained both were slightly taller than Xi himself. But none the less only two fragments of the whole thing. In one Xi saw himself when he stared deep into it. Himself but clean shaven, scar-less, free...But when Xi looked into the other fragment of this mirror he saw the opposite. A dark bleak world, trees ablaze with fire, the sky painted crimson with the cloud cover reflecting the firs below. And then a beast moving within the fragment. Something was off about this beast. It stopped. Looked over it's shoulder directly at Xi and spoke. Hello Xi...Welcome to your mind...Fractured. Fragmented. Broken...Nothing here is stable, and out of the whole that is Ximal. Only you and I remain. But don't worry, between us the fragments will restore. It may take chimes, bells, days, weeks, seasons, years. But this place will be repaired...Only i dont see you as the new master of this world. Xi gazed a tthe monster and then the voice hit him. You, your the primal side. Your the one who wants to control. But as long as your trapped in there and the mirror remains broken... You have no power. True, however...This elaborate prison that was constructed will not hold. The beast pressed a clawed paw at the mirros glass, and it stretched like magic. This prison will break eventually, maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But soon it will shatter. And when i get out. You will never be the same again...

[Ximal]

Xi couldn't believe what he was hearing within his own head. The beast that lie before him entrapped within this beautiful mirror was his lesser more primal self standing along side his true self. The one he wished to be? Were these two possible roads he could follow? Or were these two separate beings? Or were they counterparts? What did this mean. Looking at the sheer vast scale of this mirror, his mind had a shocking revelation, showing each seven feet of glass within it held a different piece of him that he was missing. Right now he was running on two emotions and factors purely...Freedom and survival. Xi was freedom, the bestial creature, was survival. The creature was human yet somewhat feral. More beast than man in appearance but still it held itself like a human. Stark naked with no attempt to hide himself, no morals, no cares. It's hands were akin to a wolf or a tiger, yet still human in shape but coated in fur with sharp claws instead of fingertips. It's legs looked human apart from the feet to the knee. They were almost as if they were plated with scales, like armour. From it's waist hung no fur but instead a long tail akin to a lions yet some what thicker. His chest was more like a beast than anything else, it looked like a gorilla's chest bold and brazen with a framing of fur. But his face was more human than anything else, it was Xi's face but his mouth had long fangs going down to half way down his chin and his eyes were not the deep black blue, they were a burning and intense molten gold yellow. Whilst Xi's eyes were serene, his were full of raw emotion. Hatred, lust, passion, jealousy, and above all. Want. Want in a scale xi had never seen in anyone nor seen ever, but it was clear of the overall encompassing power that flowed and emanated pure from that section of the mirror. Madness. Sheer unbridled, uncorked, unleashed, in-containable, incontestable madness. It then became clear that the only two pieces of him that remained were basic things. Peace...And madness. The peace was free, but every time xi lost a grip on what he was supposed to do...The lock on the madness loosened and it flew out. Driving his powers to the surface. Then the demonic demented beast spoke. Well Xi it seems that you've been relying on your power. Or rather our power. The power that resides within you. I want you to channel it, focus it. Harness it. The power within you allows you to briefly surpass the limitations of normal people. Use this power. Be more than a normal man. To use this power, act like you have. But cut the emotion from your actions. Focus upon where you wish the power to go. Focus it, harness it. Though there is an expense. The normal human body, it is not designed to undertake this kind of strain. So train yourself, hard. I may want to take over. But i will not have you, the conduit for my ascension, use a body too weak to even defend itself. Make this body able to with stand this power. Make it able to use this power, without cracking apart like a normal worthless person. We are not normal. Use it, every time you do. Your mastery over it grows. Why would you of all things be helping me? After all your in this for your own gain are you not? You idiot. I cannot believe were parts of the same person. I am survival, i want to survive and the best if failing the fastest way is to tell you how to harness your own damned powers. I want this body yes but what point is there to taking it if it dose not have the power to defend itself? You...You have a point...How do i focus my power? Calm your mind, keep it blanketed and quiet. Keep your mind upon what you want to focus your power on. If you cannot do this. Then there is no point letting this power flow through you... Could this monstrosity be telling the truth? Was Xi above normal humans? He could not ascertain what the bestial figure before him meant. Was harnessing his power as simple as focusing on it? But then again Xi had only ever used it when in an emotional state...What if he removed emotion from the equation. Would his power be stronger? Harder? Faster? Would he be able to use it without the consequences that plagued him every time he used it? Or would he have to focus on retraining and tempering himself? Would he have to both steel and loosen his body at the same time? Great power was a great responsibility. And from what he'd done thus far...He'd squandered it...Use it for his own gain and purpose....Would his actions be to the benefit of many or the salvation of few? Xi found himself wondering if madness was the key to peace or if peace lead to madness....?

[Ximal]

As the word now came into colour and picture the giant mirror grew, not in size but fragments of the mirror began to return to it. Almost as ift Xi was rebuilding the mirror. A new shard was forming between the fragment of peace and the fragment of madness. He couldn't tell much about it as it was only half reformed. But still inside of it was now visible. Within he could see a world but not ablaze but not at peace either. it was blue as opposed to red as madness portrayed or green as peace displayed. Within he couldn't see much more than the lowest two feet of the shard but with the way it was forming and from the scale, and looking at the size of the mirror it was clear. There was not a small number of shards but rather an immense number of pieces he was missing. Out of this huge mirror only two and two-sevenths fragments remained. When Xi finally prised his gaze off of the mirror he noticed where he was. The world he stood in was...Blank. A world of grey scale, monochrome. Only then did Xi see something which scared him. One of the trees was green, bright an full of life whilst another directly opposite was burning. Red ablaze with madness. That's when the beast spoke up again, fully facing Xi. Did his inner self actually look like that ? Then he took a step back...Looked back into the mirror of peace and saw that this self was also staring at him. But unlike th bestial counter part. His peaceful self was only naked to the waist. But the scar of the brand was removed from his peaceful self's chest...Whilst it was emblazoned in black upon his bestial self's chest. That was the key. The brand was the trigger. That was what had shattered him. Then he took a gaze into the little of the blue that he could see. Was blue sadness? Depression? Or perhaps it was positive? Such as joy? Hope? Whatever it was it was not revealing much other than the fact it was blue. Then his bestial self decided to speak again. Well Xi, will you use your power ? Or will you let yourself fade into obscurity? Madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other and every time someone like us is chosen. The gods toss that coin into the air. And then the worlds holds it's breath to see how that coin will land. Though rarely...It lands on it's edge...That's what happens when the participant is broken. Like us... What do you mean like us? Theres more than one? Probably, but they will be broken in different ways, and because of that, each will see us in a slightly different light, as we will see them in a different light. It's simple. Nothing is ever simple...Nothing is ever that easy. Just trying to understand is hard. Xi couldn't help but notice more fragments re-flowing back into the mirror, around the blue. He was now certain what the blue was. Understanding. Learning, being able to see more than what was being told. But what was the beast within not telling him? What more could he learn if he pried? The the world around him started to shake, the ground trembled. The i was suddenly pulled back into the world of reality. Ashis face slammed into the cold floor outside the tavern he'd taken refuge in he'd heard the crowd re gathering. To them he'd just look like some rowdy drunk being thrown out. And from the effort and number of times it took him to try and get up... it wasn't surprising why. He scrambled to get his feet and when he did he was unstable and prised himself up against the wall. He was shaky and lost. Now he had his reason and way to escape. Stumbling out of the alleyway and back out into the open air. He could see his refuge. Only a little while to it. Xi smiled inwardly and mustered his strength to make it.

[Fallacy]

XP Award! Name:Ximal XP Award: +1 Meditation +2 Running +1 Climbing +1 Negotiation +2 Flux +1 Stealth +2 Rhetoric +2 Unarmed Combat +2 Observation Lore: Thundering Heart Chased by an Angry Mob Hiding in an Alley Relieving Anger is Simple Looking into the Mirror Notes: Any questions or concerns about the rewards gained please send a PM