Flashback In the Woods: A short story

[Daekos Volundur]

Timestamp: 90th of Summer, 499 AV (Morning)


The people of the caravan he had hitched a ride on for most of the journey between Zeltiva and Syliras were able to direct him to the Sunset Falls easily: Follow the Avitar River upriver, and he would arrive at the Falls within a day, if he was fast enough. Most of his night was spent trekking up alongside the river, but he had taken a nap upon reaching the Falls, and was now rejuvenated enough to examine it more closely, having heard of its beauty and strange near-voice that appeared to be coming from the descending waters.

I'd say that this... Voice comes from the action of the water on the rock, which creates sound, but my ears are detecting patterns that I ccannot understand. Perhaps the mishmash of sounds is creating the illusion of a voice speaking in unknown tongues. It's almost certainly not the Nader Canoch - I have not heard anything remotely similar to the words I know, being here since dawn. Oh well, perhaps I should try something I've always read about, but never really had the chance to try.

Daekos made sure that he was stiring in a stable place, not one where he was in danger of falling into the waters, but one where he would also close enough to the Falls to examine it.

He closed his eyes, and assumed a rudimentary meditation stance, allowing himself to concentrate on the roaring of the waters as they hit the bottom of the plunge pool forned.

I am seeking to learn to detect Auras. By clearing my mind, drowning myself in the wild music of this waterfall, I seek to focus on this and thus attempt to see it in a different manner - a perspective shift.

The Djed was easy enough to manipulate within his body, as he had experience with emanating Res from different parts of his body - although doing it from the arse the one time he got caught off-guard while attempting to do something that appeared to be illegal was a different thing - his arse was the only place he could ready enough Res from and not it be seen by the guard; it was embarrassing enough even if no one could have saw it.

Daekos shook his head.

No distractions. Focus on the waterfall.

Minutes passed, and he finally felt calm enough to open his eyes and gaze at the waterfall, looking for answers. The Djed was already channeled to his eyes, waiting to be consumed. All that was left was to see.

His patience allowed him to continue staring at the waterfall, focusing on what aspects he could sense - its thunderous sounds, its waters that plunged down from high above, its faint smell of mountains and rock - in an attempt to view all of that in a different manner, translated into the world of Auras and Djed.

An hour was spent fruitlessly, but after that his mind crossed a transition point as slowly as it could, and a drastic change in vision was made instantaneously - almost as if something had clicked in his mind.

The world burst into colours.

Shock. Force. Loud. Flow uninterrupted. Many particles, yet one waterfall.

Concepts and adjectives forced themselves into his mind, becoming even more complex the longer he could gaze into the waterfall. Few they were, and sporadic and random in nature, but he had finally pierced the veil - seeing through the shadows of the Cave to view a half-Shadow - not the True forms, perhaps, but something truly representative of it, manifesting itself in the auras of the objects.

His eyes were already feeling dry and slightly sore when he finally closed his connection to auras, being unused to examining auras.

Daekos lay back on the grass, taking a short rest before he tried again.

[Shiyami]

A figure could be seen, walking towards the Falls. This figure, was wearing a cloak, with seemed to be waving against the light breeze. A large, black box was following the figure, seemingly floating through the air. The hood of the cloak collapsed, revealing the face of a young boy, no more than fifty and six odd seasons old. Why would a fourteen year old boy be traveling alone through the area, outside of the city? His expression held the answer. On the boy's face, was an expression that one would only see on the eldest of the eldest, the ones who seem everything, and was bored of it all. Yes, this boy, was bored to no end. 

This boy's name, was Shiyami. If he was to ever tell you his age, you would most likely raise an eyebrow, or laugh to your heart's content. The truth is, he has lived longer than normal living beings have, by at least double, or possibly even triple the years. He had traveled to the Falls, in hopes of finding something to do. And since the Falls was a less frequented place than most other areas of interest, that became his destination. Little did he know that this trip would yield more results then the last.

Shiyami, as he neared the top of the Falls, he slowed his pace, before stopping altogether, floating several inches above the Falls itself. Why did he stop? There should be only one reason why he stopped. Something, or someone, had caught his attention. Looking down towards the bottomof the Falls, he noticed a man sitting there. A rather well built man, who seemed to be staring at the water falling to the rocks below, almost as if he was entranced by its movement and the like. Curious as to what this man could be doing, Shiyami used his box, and knocked a small rock down towards the man, in hopes to get his attention.

oocWell, I wonder how your character would react to Shiyami seemingly sanding above the rushing water of the Falls.

[Daekos Volundur]

A slight headache had already began affecting Daekos, but it would be easier to view auras now compared to his first time.

One more time, I think, before I look around more.

Before he could begin to concentrate on the waterfall again, a rock fell from above, embedding itself into the mud directly in front of Daekos. Surprised, Daekos scuttled back a few steps, staring at the suspicious projectile. A few seconds passed, and when nothing else happened, he moved towards the rock cautiously, already leaking Res from underneath his shirt with every inhalation and exhalation of air, it slowly spread out across his body in gel-like form, still hidden by his clothes, and more coalesced at the openings of his clothes. It would not be seen easily, but he could easily transmute it into solid earth, enough to take a decent hit or stop another such rock from bashing his brains out. The Res would spread itself out to cover his extremities - hopefully it would be fast enough to transmute before he was attacked again - if he was being attacked.

The slight headache intensified, and his heart and breathing rate increased due to his usage of Djed.

A rock? Thrown at me or simply dislodged by the waters? Coincidence, perhaps.

He picked it up, looking it over before determining that it had no special properties (to the best of his knowledge). He used his left hand to crush it with ease, looking up at the top of the Falls, squinting his eyes to look further.

Nothing.

He could not see that far - two thousand feet was nothing to sneer at, though if it was night, he could see it better.

"Must be something up there - an animal? Yes, most probably. Don't think anyone would be dumb enough to go up there - too dangerous anyway."

He decided against attempting Auristics for the time being, getting up and stretching before beginning a slow walk around the pool.

[Shiyami]

Shiyami signed again, trying his best to ignore the boredom that was slowly edging back, like how wild vines would creep up walls and the like. It had seemed that the man at the foot of the Falls hadn't been able to see him, although he did at least noticed the flying rock. Perhaps Shiyami needed something bigger. Something large enough to at least create enough curiosity about falling objects.

He looked around, before seeing a tree trunk on its side at the riverbank leading to the Falls. He floated over there, before using his box to nudge the trunk just far enough for it to slip into the water. The fast water current did the rest of the work, and pulled the trunk clear off the bank, and dragged it to the top of the Falls. Quickly flying to the top as well, Shiyami looked down, waiting for the man's reaction to a random tree trunk crashing down in front of him. "Let us see, and study, the reactions of the warm, breathing, living beings, shall we?" , Shiyami muttered to no one in particular, with a small smile on his face, like one would watch a performance reach its climax.

[Daekos Volundur]

OOC Note :

If this continues, this isn't going to be much of a thread, eh? Anyway, I am assuming that it's a small tree trunk - with the 5 pounds limit, even if it required just a push, you're not going to be able to budge a medium-sized trunk.

Daekos was perturbed.

The tree trunk had only come crashing down seconds ago, drenching Daekos as it made a rather large splash. Noon was coming, and it would help him dry faster. Even though it was almost Fall. However, the main problem was with who was doing all this.

Gods, this is shyke. Climbing up there is not going to be easy, and that idiot would just continue to throw things down at me. What in blazes is wrong with that person?

Deciding that he would take one last chance to deal with him before leaving the area, Daekos placed his hands around his mouth and attempted to project his voice as clearly and loudly as possible over the waterfall.

"Alright, I've had it with you! What the petch did I do? Come down here, I say; if you continue chucking things down at me, then so be it!"

[Shiyami]

OOCWas waiting for your PC to call out before coming down XD

"Alright, I've had it with you! What the petch did I do? Come down here, I say; if you continue chucking things down at me, then so be it!"

All Shiyami did when the man finally responded, was laugh. I finally got a reaction!, was his thoughts, as he looked down. Bored of his own little game, he decided to come down, along with his box. He sat on said box, before maneuvering it down the side of the Falls, the sight would probably be something that one would not normally see. The box landing next to the pool of water at the bottom, Shiyami, or the lack of words, dismounted from his box, before looking more closely at the man. Damn, he looks like he could crush heads with his bare hands..., was Shiyami's first thoughts. The guy was heavily built, to the point where Shiyami could swear, that this man's muscles had their own muscles. Remembering that the man had called out, sounding none to happy with random objects being thrown at his general direction. "Ah, you must be a boxer! Or, if that is not the case, you must be a blacksmith.", were the first words that Shiyami had spoke, which was directing to the man that he was previously tossing objects at.

[Daekos Volundur]

A faint echo of a laugh.

Daekos narrowed his eyes; the Res inside his clothes began swirling more violently in response to his heightened irritation. He had stopped generating more Res for the time being, as he could already hear the Sweet Whispers getting louder, and a strange taste in his mouth akin to that of the iron he had spent many a year working with. Miniscule strands began to crawl up into his hands, slowly coalescing there into a rough ball-like shape. He kept his palms facing away from the direction of the pool.

The box landed, but Daekos would not flinch. He was already prepared to meet whoever it was that had been throwing things at him, fixing a blank expression on his face.

A bloody boy ghost of unknown age. He can move objects; therefore, he can project his Soulmist. My Reimancy will be able to affect him, if required.

"Tell me, ghost..." Daekos spoke, his tone even except for a hint of annoyance, "why did you do such a thing? And make it a good reason, or I will be tempted to attack you."

He shouldn't be able to detect my Res, unless he has learned Auristics or some other detecting skill. Best to keep it a surprise.

"I am not a boxer, neither am I a true blacksmith."

His eyes wandered over to the black box. There was no hint, no clue as to what was inside, but it would have to be of some importance to the ghost, if it took the trouble lugging it about.

[Shiyami]

"Tell me, ghost...""why did you do such a thing? And make it a good reason, or I will be tempted to attack you."

Shiyami sighed, when he heard what the man had to say about his little game. "Because...it amused me..? Would that be an adequate enough answer? Or were you looking for something else?", he spoke, with a calm yet curious voice, and composure. It was not like he didn't believe that this man probably wanted to kill him. The man had a reason to hit Shiyami after all, but he just waited for the man's answer.

"I am not a boxer, neither am I a true blacksmith."

Nodding at the man's answer, he looked around, before venturing another question. "Then...what brings you around this area? It wouldn't be the first choice for a partial blacksmith now, would it?", he asked, genuinely curious on what the man seeked to gain from the Falls.

[Daekos Volundur]

"Amused." He makes himself sound old. Certainly older than his appearance shows. Either that, or he has some mental issues that cause him to speak thus. This bears investigation. "I came here to investigate some rumors I have heard of this place, and you have interrupted me. I am not a partial blacksmith. I am no master of the art, therefore I am not a true blacksmith." Amused. "You still have yet to make amends for your interruption." Daekos was unsure if he could use water from the pool and injure the ghost. On one hand, he was using Res to attract the water and move it towards the ghost, but the water was non-magical in nature and it would probably just pass through him. He would have to generate the water himself using his own Res, but it would at least guarantee a hit. Amused. Bloody idiot.

[Shiyami]

"I came here to investigate some rumors I have heard of this place, and you have interrupted me. I am not a partial blacksmith. I am no master of the art, therefore I am not a true blacksmith."

Tilting his head as he thought for a minute, Shiyami turned his attention back to the man. "Rumors? If I may ask, what did these rumors speak off?", he asked, out of curiosity, and possibly hoping for something else to relieve his bored.

"You still have yet to make amends for your interruption."

Ah, I forgot. He must not be in the greatest of moods, due to my little game. Well, that little game was born out of excess boredom..., Shiyami thought, before speaking again. "Oh...then my sincere apologies, for giving you a fright, via moving objects.", was his words, with the tone of a person scolded by a teacher.