Bodies of Stone (Solo)

[Aello]

Fall 10, 512 AV It was her watch. It felt like being the group's eyes always fell upon her shoulders. Lending the young huntress to sigh, for she felt as though there was nothing her muddied gaze would ever catch of true import. But nonetheless, she obeyed, she listened, and allowed the sleepers to partake in dream filled stupor. Despite the ease of slitting their throats while minds remained unaware of her intent, and limbs remained slack and weak. Weapons sheathed, and djed silenced. The huntress sighed as shadows danced across her form. The moon illuminating her skin, casting her flesh in blanket of palor, while the fire forced the epidermal layer to shimmer in reds and oranges. Thin tendrils of smoke wafted from the blaze, as did waves of heat, which chased first frostlings from licking her bones. Nonetheless, the night was a cold one, which cast the girl's body into a fit of shivers, and her teeth into light clattering despite Ivak's birthing. In her right hand, Aello held a twisted branch. Fallen from nearby oak. Its broken edge lay in yellowed shards, while its outer layer remained a bristling brown. Laden with sap, and hollowed knobs. It curled uneasily as the girl forced its end into the fire. Churning the smoldering kindling. She watched it furling as it tossed fireflies. Pests which flurried through the wooden teepee's underside. Tasting its flesh before they snuffed their abdomen's out. Lending further darkness to the blanket of night. Her eyes rested on the ashes as she adopted a far off look. Lazily prodding before removing her aid. The smoking edge sending signals to the birds as she set it down beside, and whispered to the pycon resting upon her knee. "Lily," she began, bringing the young alchemical project's eyes around, onto her own, "do you remember the time we spoke of what will one day happen to you?" she asked. "If your body lasts long enough to make it to the final stage?" The young creature nodded, almost reluctantly. Solemnly. Aello turned to face her then. The curls etched into the back of her burnt body of clay. "Do you think it a true death?" she asked. Lily cocked her head, and peered at her quizzically, with unwavering gaze. "What do you mean by that?" she inquired. "Do you think it a sort of death like mine own?" Aello asked again. "A death like any of the other races would have, when their time has been used?" "You mean...?" Aello sighed, "you said once, that when you go, your body takes a final form. A true form, which represents you, and then it freezes. Turns to stone." Aello paused as she licked her crackling lips, considering. Remembering. "Do you think that a real death Lily? Or merely, a sort of freeze? Do you go on living, despite your inability to move, or is that the end?" Lily remained silent for a long time. "I've never really thought about it before," she answered. "Nor have I. Not before this."

[Aello]

Each fell silent for a time, as the wind whistled through the trees. Rustling the leaves that had yet to be discarded, strewn across the forest floor. Scattered by moving air. "What made you think of it now, then?" the pycon asked. Aello shrugged. "Difficult to say," she replied after a few moments. "Although it is intriguing. Could you imagine, standing tall and mute, as people pass you by? Them seeing you as little more than a statue, but all the time you could hear and see? Could you imagine what you'd learn?" Lily smiled. "Yes." That brought a smile to the aurist's own lips. "It is a nice thought, considering how your kind remains. Curious. Adventurous... you are no different than they." Lily kept on smiling, although she said nothing to it. "But, do you think that is all it is Lily? A nice thought? Or something that could be a reality?" The pycon considered as Aello lifted the stick and prodded the dying embers. Lending a light to the end of her earthen limb, as she forced them to circle the underbelly, spitting sparks as they drew lines in the ash. "It seems nothing more than a nice thought, all things considered," the pycon replied. "For, why should our manner of death be any different from yours? Remember, we are not the only 'unnatural' race. There are nuits too. The Kelvics, they were a creation... or so it is said." The pycon paused. "They die just as you do. Sometimes, their ghosts remain, should Dira be kind. We both know how much she loathes the nuits." Aello nodded, as the pycon shook her head. "No, I think the cycle of life and death is the same for us, as with everyone else. And you Aello, what do you think?" As the question was posed, Aello's gaze lifted. Falling amongst the stars. "It is my belief that you are frozen in time," she replied, finally, as her gaze fell amongst the earthen bases. "Forgive the words you wish not to hear, Lily, for it is meant as no offense, but... I have never met the ghost of a pycon before." "There are not as many of us, as there are of you," Lily said simply. Aello nodded. "But all the same, there is something about it that doesn't bode well." The words were little more than a whisper, seeing as the wind carried them away. "It just doesn't seem as natural as what we have... the same. Although, it is difficult to put into words just why that is." "Try."

[Aello]

Aello sighed as she pulled the stick from the embers, and set it aside their huddled forms. "Very well," she said simply as her hands came to her thighs, where they rubbed thoughtfully in a futile attempt to build up some sense of heat. "It's just that when you consider what happens, and what you have described occurs to the body itself, it just doesn't seem possible. Perhaps, I am taking too literal an approach to this, but you have said that one day, if you live long enough, your body will choose a final form. One that encompasses all that you were. Shortly thereafter, your body will harden. It will not be as malleable as your current form, and within a short period of time, you will no longer be able to move. You will be as much a statue as that which lines the University back in Zeltiva. Or a devotional to the gods." Aello paused. "You will be a stone Lily. One that once contained a very confusing sort of life, at least, that's how it settles within the confines of a human heart." The girl bit her bottom lip nervously as the cogs twisted in her head, trying to find the words. But even so, she struggled, felt as though she were doing little more than grasping at straws. "A stone seems like something neither living, nor dead. Something in between, for a natural stone, if you will, never had life. So it can never have death," Aello wore on, after a time. "You, becoming something like... like that... well, it seems as though life would merely be given pause." The girl's fingers furled, and soon she was scrunching the folds of her dress, tugging them up and down the length of her limb. "To me, your life would stop. Remain unmoving, as a rock, and yet, it would not end. For a rock doesn't live, or die. Not truly, does it?" Lily shook her head. "No, it doesn't live or die." "Thus, you wouldn't die. Not truly. You would merely be frozen. Like your body. Stuck within a moment in time," Aello finished.

[Aello]

"Whether or not you still see, is up for debate. Although, the notion that it may possess a shred of truth seems laughable. Why is it that your kind would be able to do such things whilst ours decompose and our ghosts remain? Assuming, we don't go directly back to the cycle?" Aello asked. "But then again, a ghost may see, in a sense, it may go on living still, after it has been said to die. So perhaps then, to maintain a sense of balance, your kind too, can see, if it so chooses. For, imagine, Dira must present you with the same set of options upon your passing." The huntress licked her lips as she considered. "Although, why she wouldn't simply allow you to become ghosts is beyond reckoning. Should that be the case." Aello sighed. "So perhaps then, it is nothing more than a falsity." It was then she shrugged. "But we could never know, not until you died, and even then, you wouldn't be able to commune and tell one who wondered just what it was." The wind rustled the leaves on the trees, and tousled the girl's hair as both she and her companion fell silent for a time. "Suspension then. In time, just as a ghost. For it can do nothing without possession, and even then, the art has limits, and takes ages to learn," Aello went on. "Your encasement within your own body. Enshrouded in stone, that keeps you from progressing. Perhaps then, such a death could be said to balance your life. One ripe with exploration and adventure, ending in monotony. A single view, when a human's bones would have withered alongside their flesh, and made such things near impossible." The girl shivered as darker thoughts crept over her skin. Like small black spiders, their legs tickling. "Perhaps that is the god's way of maintaining equilibrium within the world. When it is time, Dira reaps, while Tanroa nods. Saying that all the grains of sand have been spent, and it is alright to wield her majestic scythe." "I don't know Aello," Lily whispered into the wind. "Nor do I," the huntress replied. "But it would be fascinating, wouldn't it, to find out?" she asked, only to receive a single, solemn nod. "What happens to us all at the end of time." She sighed. "Suffice it to say, that it's likely only the ghosts and the undead understand. Blasphemous as the creatures are in that they keep taking the sand from others, and pooling it as their own... but they have died once, haven't they? Just as will you and I." "As we shall," Lily whispered. "Whenever Tanroa decides, you will be frozen, and I will turn to dust. Blown away by the winds, as though I never were." It was then that the winds blew most fiercely. Scattering the sparks and the ashes, forcing the huntress to douse the flames. Allowing smoke to fill the air, as vaporous tendrils rose from the earth. Shards of illumination which spoke far more volumes than the fireside ever could.

[Accolade]

Aello

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Philosophy	+ 3 XP
Interrogation	+ 2 XP

Lores

•	Lore Earned
•	Having a philosophical conversation with a pycon
•	Theory of the pycon: what happens to their bodies when they die

notes :

Interesting read, the kind of thread I could read for pages more..hint hint

The Sylir has spoken

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