Enter the Jungle

by **Evalin** on November 15th, 2013, 9:06 pm

75th of Fall, 513 AV

It was a most... Terrible occasion. The day slipped by over head, blocked in part by the weave of leaf and vine overhead as night quickly approached. She knew what night brought, things by which would make life, or rather unlife, quite miserable. There was nothing for it however, so what point was there in worrying? She knew what she could do...

Evalin walked one step at a time, a measured pace as she carefully made her way through the brush and undergrowth. With her staff she pushed aside wayward limbs that would block her path, a note of disdain written across her features at the state of this world.

"Why is it then that I must do such things as this... Of what use is it to venture into the deepest jungle, or rather to venture ANYWHERE but especially here?" The question was directed at no one in particular, but hung in the air to fill the silence. Evalin pushed back a stray hair that dared to obstruct her vision, glaring at it as if it were the soul cause of all her misery. The hand that moved was small, a child's hand in fact for she had broken her solemn promise and once more opted for the body of a young girl. This one, at least, could at least stand higher than the waist of the average man. Human once more, for to Evalin human was indeed what was most fitting to harbor her soul, for this round she opted for shorter hair with a slight curl, a dark brown with the slightest tent of auburn. She could change it if she wished, but Evalin felt little need in this.

An orb floated slowly up and down over her right shoulder, an ever present companion in the journey of immortality. Tsenrika, the creature who signed the contract with the Witch to stay by her side through the darkest journey ever to be recorded. One who could share insighte, knowledge, and possibly friendship... if such things existed for the immortal now.

"The path to one goal is rarely simple or easy to follow, but twists and winds like the river." His voice was cold, without emotion but every word was stated as a fact that could not be denied. Evalin shook her head, "This path by which my goals are to be accomplished is far more winding than should be necessary. Curse this path, for if it were a path like what I walk now in this retched jungle I would carve a quicker way as I always have, with my power and magic."

As she said this she called the power within her to stir, that essence known as djed to knot and swell, ebb and flow to fill the palm of her hand in the form of res. With a sudden flick of her wrist she sent it flying forward, spreading out in a thin arch as she hissed, "Hakin!". Flames burst forth, burning through leaf and branch they came to contact with and etching a streak of black where once there were obstacles before her. The fire still burned, catching upon the plants beside it until, with another careless waves Eavlin pulled the flames back to the remaining res she held in her hand. Closing her fingers the fire was extinguished, leaving a scar in the once lush green before her.

"The fires of impatience burn more than what is intended..." Tsenrika observed solemnly.

by **Evalin** on November 15th, 2013, 11:38 pm

Evalin shrugged, continuing forward once more down her newly created path, though quickly the brush consumed trail once more. It was a sea of green, sickening in its beauty. Oh how she hated it.

"There is too much life here..." Her bitter words cut the air with the hatred that swelled within. What right have these things to live so healthy? What blessing cursed them to be vibrant and fool while she wilted a little more each and every passing day? By what right have they to have what she could not? Why was it that Fate hated her so...

In a sudden range Evalin swiped at a large leaf with her staff, breaking through its middle and sending particles trailing to the floor. it was just a leaf, a small part of the whole, and with disgust Evalin saw how full and mighty the tree on which it was growing stood. Looking away she kept her pace forward, brushing aside the life that surrounded her, a beacon of that which would befall all that lived.

Tsenrika floated close to Evalin's ear, speaking softly, "Pangs of regret fill this heart of ice? You gave up that which you now long for. It is you that has no right to the claim of life."

Evalin glared at the orb, swatting at it with a hand but the Familiar simply floated to the other shoulder, "Your flame flickers in the winds of regret. Careful lest that flame be extinguished."

"Be silent. It is not good to mock the master that binds you to this world you hold so dear. Need you not forget that it is I who holds sway, and not you." She walked a bit faster, irritation blossoming in her soul quickly as the words of the Irylid sunk deep into her long dead heart. It was a biting truth, but a truth none the less. She had tossed aside the thought of life in favor of immortality, the possibility that she might live countless years and life times in pursuit of her goal. Her goal...

Evalin's steps slowed, coming to a stop beside a large tree. Resting her back against the park the girl looked up to the half hidden sky, not splashed with the beginnings of orange as Syna made her decent. Pressing her hood back the Nuit shook out her hair, pulling on the strands to bring them before her red eyes. Eyes full of hate, eyes full of sadness, eyes full off...

"Is it really so wrong to regret..." She said slowly, looking sideways at her Familiar, "Some might say that which I have lost is worth far more than the greatest riches this world has to offer. Is it wrong to regret that the chance for life was never mine? That I could never experience that which so many take for granted...?"

Tsenrika did not respond right away, floating slowly to the girl's other shoulder before saying slowly, "Perhaps for another... but to Evalin, the Immortal Witch of Flame and Shadow, such things are pointless, and worst yet they are dangerous." Cold truth once more, and Evalin looked away, back at the hair in her hands. Not her hair, but the hair of another. These hands that she used now were not her own either, but borrowed from some poor lost soul whom she had killed herself. This was a vessel, not a body.

"I wonder what I used to look like... It has been so long now that I have forgotten." Slow words, hatred that usually laced every fiber of every note uttered was lacking, replaced by a more resolute tone. Not quite sadness, but not quite unfeeling either as Evalin turned her hand over before her eyes, "I wonder what could have been, had I not been trapped in a Fate I could never escape."

That word, Fate, would usually bring the light of passion burning into Evalin's eyes, but not today, not this night. Instead they brought forth a thoughtful ponderous expression, something not quite right that settled heavy in Evalin's chest. Tsenrika could feel this as well, the notes humming through their bond.

"It will never be known. That life is gone, lost to you now, a shadow, a dream. It never was meant to be. Forget you not that with the flames of your passion and hate you did sever all ties with that woman. Evangeline lives no longer..."

The Nuit's brows knitted together as she clenched her fist, slowly lowering it to her side, "Yes... Evangeline is dead. I killed her, and all those who would claim to know her..."

by **Evalin** on November 16th, 2013, 12:07 am

Shadows lengthened, gaining upon the light that fled in their wake. Such as it was every evening, and morning, the two waring sights of darkness and light that filled this world. A similar struggle, though much smaller in scale, warred constantly within the girl. Anger and pain, passion and hatred, love and loss... all things began to dim with time, and with less and less fuel to the fire Evalin found herself questioning, wondering what her greater role was. She was no longer a foolish youth. She was well passed 200 years in age. She was not a child, yet something within her felt she acted as one.

Resting her head against the bark of the tree, Evalin looked up to watch the passing of another day. Another tick to her, but a moment of significance to those who yet lived. What was a day to her now... A mere moment in her endless existence. Just another second ticking by, another moment drifting lazily down the river. So like its brother's that came before it, yet nothing like the ones that came after it. Time was a very abstract concept to the Immortal. Time was something by which the mortals measured herself, but not Evalin. Time was just the waxing and waning of day and night, winter and fall, summer and spring. It meant nothing... not really.

"I am tired Tsenrika... I am tired now, more so than ever I have been before. I do not sleep, yet I wish I could dream. To dream, and to forget, for just a moment, who and what I am. To simply float on the waves of subconsciousness, and let what ales me slowly fade. Perhaps that is what I envy now. Not the beating within the living's chest, or the rise and fall with each breath. No, the dreaming. I have not dream in over 200 years. I think my dreams are now lost to me."

"Dreams are for those without real purpose. Dreams distract, betray, and give illusions of Grandeur. Dreams are the things of fools and children, not for those who wish to change the world."

Evalin shook her head slowly, the sky now inky black as stars sprang readily into the nights embrace, "You are wrong Tsenrika. Dreams are what keep the fires burning, passions high, and goals in sight. If you can dream, you can see that which you wish for. You can learn what you wish, you can claim what is yours... You can find inspiration when nothing else exists in this world." She sighed, turning to look up at the tree. She ran her cold fingers over its living bark, tracing each groove, writing the feeling into the memory of her fingers. Then taking a firm hold of a knot in the trunk she pushed herself up, kicking with her feet and grasping the lowest branch with her left hand. With some effort, and much wriggling, the nuit pulled herself up to wrest in the crook where the base of the branch met the trunk. Using her staff and one hand on the trunk for balance, Evalin regained her feet. There were several smaller limbs above her head, vines wrapping about them, and so grabbing one of these vines the Nuit wrapped the green appendage several times around her staff, then lodged this precious item between two smaller branches so that the staff would stay put through the night.

Adjusting her cloak Evalin settled back into the crook of the branch once more, resting her back against the rough bark as she prepared to wait the night out. Night brought with it more than just darkness. Beast and terror alike abounded at this time when light no longer held sway. Even for an immortal, one who held the magics of the elements, night was no time to be wandering about aimlessly.

by **Evalin** on November 16th, 2013, 12:36 am

"Dreams are just that, dreams... An escape from a world mortals cannot comprehend." Tsenrika floated up next to Evailn, recapturing his position at her right shoulder.

Raising her hand Evalin gently stroked the Familiar's smooth surface, "Your right, but that's not a bad thing. What happens to a mind that has no rest, cannot escape reality, cannot contemplate the meanings of what has and has not happened through the day. Dreams do more than provide distractions, they bring clarity to the mind and soul. Through dreams we know what we desire, what we wish, what we want and what we should do. So... For one who cannot dream, how can they ever know that which they want? How can they know what they must do?"

"By asking what it is they want." Tsenrika said simply.

Evalin grasped the little orb with both hands, pulling it before her eyes. She saw herself reflected there, eyes of red burning with something not quite sad, but not anger either. No more like complacent, for her eyes were the eyes of someone who was not sure whom or what she was, or what she wanted, "I ask myself that now then. What do I want? What do I wish to do?" She fell silent, looking into her own eyes as she waited some inspiration to spring forth. Of course none did and she released Tsenrika who floated back slightly, "I cannot answer my own questions any more Tsenrika. Where has it gone, that purpose by which my life was driven forward? Where has it gone, that which gave me meaning? Where is my hate now, when there is nothing left to hate?"

For once Tsenrika had no answer, and remained silent. Bobbing up and down slowly. Evalin pressed her palm against her forehead, but no, she reminded herself, it wasn't her palm. It was another's palm. A palm that she had stolen. Blinking slowly Evalin held her hand before her eyes, "When did I start to think such things? Stolen... This hand, this body is stolen. A vessel by which my soul travels the centuries. Tsenrika, I have no home. I have no purpose. I am adrift in the sea of time, with no where or when to go. My dear Tsenrika, what point is there in what I do? Where is my purpose? To slay a GOD? Is that my goal...?" Her brow knit together and she closed her eyes. She could see the flames of her home, hear her father's words to her, feel the hate deep deep inside, "Tsenrika, surely there is more to me than this. I am Evalin... But who is Evalin?"

"She who shall bring the world to its destruction, in order to save it. She who shall destroy the world with the flames of her hate, to end the suffering of the man. She who will right the greatest wrong and return freedom to the world. Evalin, the Contractor, the Immortal Witch, the All Consuming Flame, the Darkness between the stars. You are the shadow that breaks upon the world, because there is light within it. You are she who does what must be done, for that which must be changed. You are my master whom I have signed a contract with."

This made Evalin smile slightly, "Maybe Tsenrika. Maybe your right..."