A reflection of oneself

by **Evalin** on January 13th, 2014, 4:54 am

21st of Winter, 513 AV
Location: Scarlet Cavern

It was as it always was in this chamber. Quiet, save for the steady drip drip dripping of water from the jagged projections of rock above, or down some long forgotten caver. The girl was gone again, off to do some errand or another, leaving her precious doll to end to herself. Eva now lay in the master's own bed, hands behind her head as she looked up at Tsenrika who floated in a slow circle near the ceiling.

"Least we be not bound in chains and caged as animals as once we were, my dear Tsenrika."

"Yes... Some semblance of freedom yet have we earned." The Irylid agreed, "Though still a far cry from what once was ours."

Evalin smiled and chuckled, "Patience. Be as the water, steady and flowing with no worry for its speed or its course, merely the direction it will ultimately flow."

"Hear I now my own works used against me. Is this humor from my own immortal master? If such be so then no greater surprise might I ever feel."

Evalin smiled broader, "Perhaps Tsenrika, perhaps. Be I yet a focused Master, but I am not one who would so easily push aside the wisdom of one who holds such a place near my own cold heart."

"Oh such honor I feel..." It might have been sarcasm, and Evalin opened her eyes to look up at the Familiar. Despite their growing bond, Evalin still found herself often wondering what the Irylid was thinking. His emotions were... so alien from her own, so different as to be incomprehensible. His emotions were muted, cold as ice no matter what they might be such that Evalin could never be sure if he were truly happy, or sad, or if he ever felt such a thing as anger or regret. In a way it was... unnerving to know that while this creature could so easily pear into her heart, she could not so easily do the same to him.

Shaking her head she closed her eyes once more, No... He is the heart of my heart. He can be no more harmful to me than my own hand can be to myself.

It was then that Evalin noticed something... odd. Evalin blinked her eyes open, and then closed them once more. When opened she could see the ceiling, where above Tsenrika still floated as before. When she closed them she could see something else... like an image seen through a fogged window pain. She could see the cavern, but as though she were viewing it above. The more she concetranted the stronger the vision became, until finally something snapped into focus and Evalin gasped and sat up.

She clutched at her head, eyes firmly held closed to comprehend what it was that she saw.

"Of greatest surprises, mysteries and the like. Tsenrika... This vision I behold... I... I think I do see with the eyes of my other heart."

Her vision shifted and she saw the bed coming closwer, her own visage there within it as the Familiar spoke, "Thus I do feel your presence within me... Tis strange, a result of our strengthening bond... perhaps?"

Evalin nodded and opened her eyes, freeing her mind from the other's vision for a moment, "Think I that this is correct, and truly is it curious to see through the eyes of he whom I hold most dear..." She slowly closed her eyes once more, letting her vision become enveloped, fully opening herself to the intense link shared between Familiar and master. This time the vision was clearer, and for once Evalin could see the world as the Irylid did.

She could see EVERYTHING. Every minute detail of the room, all at once, yet somehow she could understand it. She could see forward, and behind, and to either side, down and up. More than range, the smallest of details were crystal clear. Anything reflected on the Irylid's mirror like surface was painted in perfect clarity on the backs of Evalin's own eyelids. She saw each tiny bump on the wall behind her, the fibers in the blanket beneath her. IN the far corner a mouse scurried to its hole behind the farthest cage.

"This... this is how you see the world...?"

"It is."

A strange sense of warmth blossomed in Evalin's chest, and she knew that Tsenrika could fell it, but she did not care, "It... It is beautiful."

by **Evalin** on January 13th, 2014, 9:40 pm

Evalin slowly sat up, looking down at her hands with her own eyes and not those of her Familiar. She tilted her head, looking upon her flesh and contours with human eyes, and the closed these visages to gaze upon the same with the eyes of an Irylid. It was amazing how much detail that she could see with the eyes of her other heart. Every wrinkle, every mark or blemish was starkly obvious to her vision. The scope of what she could see as well... She could see all around at once. Behind and forward, left and right. In truth it was disorienting at first, and her eyes would flutter open of their own accord, as if in protest of the unnatural sights.

"Then with your own eyes I can now see..." Evalin said looking up at the Familiar.

"And I with yours." the Irylid said, floating closer to allow Evalin to softly stroke his surface. She gazed into her own eyes then, looking upon them with new wonder as never before, "Then stronger we grow... closer even. With each passing tick I can feel that link between us strengthen. Now you may access my own power, my strength is yours and now the same is true as I may take from you your abilities as well. Where next do you think we shall ascend...?"

"Know I not... but to our advantage is it to know the other and to be as one."

Evalin nodded slowly, "Ever be it so... For trapped as we are in these maze of tunnels among beast and monsters... Have we only each other... Have I only you my dear Tsenrika. Know you this well, for you are my greatest companion." Evalin looked away, unable to believe what he had just said. To be so open with a Familiar... It was unheard of. She shook her head, "You are the companion I shall always have, for now we can never be separate. You are the heart of my own heart, the twin to my soul and truest companion through eternity. Such is it that we are not two separate creatures, but one united. Such it be in my own mind at least."

She looked back at the Familiar, about to continue even as her voice caught in her throat. Where once floated the orbed familiar, now there sat a girl... A girl with the same body as she. WIth a start the immortal lept from the bed, backing some distance to summon forth the power within her. Res licked at her fingertips, ignighting in a spark of fire as that expression of serenity morphed to one of fury, the face of the true Sorceress, "Mocking intruder, foolish copycat, who be you? Speak you now and bow to my rage, lest you be consumed by it." Evalin brandished her hands, tendrils of fire licking out around her wrist and up her arm as she glared at the sudden intruder.

The girl whose face she stole from Evalin merely glanced up at the Witch as she raged, before those eyes of red flicked down to her own fingers. They curled once, opened and curled once more. It was now that Evalin noticed that the woman was devoid of clothing, her hair free and flowing. It was as if the Immortal gazed into a mirror, at a reflection she thought she recognized but could not be sure. Slowly the other stood from the bed, her hands going out to her sides to balance as if she did not know how to balance on her own.

Evalin slowly circled to the side, fires at the ready as she studied this creature, wary and intrigued at the same time. She glanced around the room, wondering from where she had come, but then another thought flew to her mind and she sought out the shape of her own familiar, My dear Tsenrika, where be you now...? The strangest of curiosities has come to intrude upon us.

The other girl looked up at Evalin, her head tilting as if she could hear the Witche's thoughts, but no... No that wasn't possible. Evalin stepped forward, eyes narrowing as she reached one flaming hand forward, "What manner of being are you... A shifter of which I know not? From where did you come? Speak you the truth and swear I that no harm shall come to you..." Evalin lied, already preparing to strike the beast down when the truth was revealed.

It was with the strangest sensation that Evalin watched her own lips spread into a sneer, a grin that she had certainly given many others in the past. A look of superiority, of amusement. It set the flames alight within her and she clenched her teeth, deciding she did not really need to know who she was at all. The other flicked her wrist, an arrogant wave of dismissal that set Evalin on edge and would have caused her to strike... had her flames not slipped from between her own fingers, flying across the gap to collect in the mirror's outstretched palm.

"Know I well when you lie my Master, and would I not wish for you to harm this body I only recently obtained." The familiar's voice echoed from the copies lips, and Evalin's eyes widened, "Be that you my dear Tsenrika? Truly?"

The replicant nodded, looking down at himself... or herself. He ran a finger up the stolen body of his master, tracing soft lines and pausing at bits of rotting flesh, "Truly it be me... though how I know not." He raised his eye to look at Evalin, and the girl blinked in surprise. Never before had Evalin been able to tell when the Familiar looked at her... but now that she could it felt so... wrong.

Looking at the fire in his hand Tsenrika clenched his, or her, fist, extinguishing it and setting both hands upon his hip. Then the strangest thing of all occurred. Those lips turned upward, a smile tracing faintly on the copy's lips, "Curious indeed... but perhaps not an unpleasant one."

by **Evalin** on January 13th, 2014, 10:13 pm

Stepping forward to shrink the gap between them, Evalin raised a hesitant hand to gently touch the cheek of her Familiar, her own cheek as it might be. The girl's eyes were wide, hand traveling over soft flesh, trailing over neck and chest, lingering on arms and sides, "You are me... yet not me."

"So it seems." it was odd to hear the deeper, colder voice coming from her own lips. Were it not for this none would ever know which were which. Stepping back Evalin looked the Familiar up and down, a smile curling on her lips, "This body suits you well my dear Tsenrika. Perhaps now we might find a similar fashion, and fix our hair to match as well. Twin immortals in every aspect." She chuckled, not bothering to hide her smile as she looked the body up and down, "Wonder I if you will take whatever form matches the vessel I yet dwell in..."

Tsenrika looked down at himself, a frown on his own lips, a bit muted however, as though he were not used to making true expressions with his features... which in fact he wasn't, "Beyond my Master's mocking yet still there is truth in your words... At some time there is use in having similar forms yet... At others most inconvenient. Perhaps a change is required..."

Evalin watched as her own eyes closed, Tsenrika taking a deep breath as he raised his arms out to his side. Evalin stepped back, tilting her head, "Of what shall you change? Think I not that much is required in truth." Yet the Familiar was no longer listening to his Master. She could feel his concentration reverberating through her body, plucking at her own power through their strengthened link. She watched as his skin shifted slightly, hesitantly almost, as if he were feeling out just what he was able to alter. First Evalin was surprised as robes and cloak fell upon his shoulders, materialized from thin air as if the djed of their link realized that to replicate the master the Familiar had to be clothed as well. HIs body increased slightly in height, though he grew to only the height of the average male, for now as she watched Evalin could see that was what he was becoming. Soft, feminine features became more masculine, harder lines, thicker, though his frame remained thin and somewhat lanky, as if he were starved. Hair cropped close to the scalp, becoming a swoop over his brown and becoming a darker black to almost appear blue in shade. Breathing in once more, Tsenrika opened his eyes, clenching his fist as he looked down at Evalin, her red eyes still remained, "There now... Might we blend in better if I wear a form closer to this, than to be your copy at all times?"

His gaze was cold, and intense, and pierced through Evalin's very core. That look and intensity sent a shiver down Evalin's spine, a strange feeling blossoming in her chest that she did not recognize. Being looked at by her Familiar now was... A different feeling. She knew he looked at her often as the Irylid form, but now she could see his eyes burrowing into her. IT was almost like a thrill of excitement coursed through her undead flesh at the thought of...

Evalin blinked, "Indeed, you are correct my dear... dear Tsenrika." She stepped forward, much slower this time, her hand pressing against the man's chest as she looked up into his red eyes. Tsenrika did not yet seem to understand how to shift the expression of his face, but still she could feel the question flickering through their link, "I approve very much..." She paused again, closing her eyes and trying to understand this feeling. It was strong, alien, desperate almost... It made her mind bubble and boil with uncertain thoughts.

Without warning Evalin lay her head against the chest of her familiar, not looking up, "Say it... Say it now. So command your master."

Tsenrika's face finally found the expression it was searching for, one of surprise as he looked down at the little mistress that could command him as she wished. That look, however, did not last as it quickly slipped to be replaced with something... Cold. Indifferent... Almost condemning. He raised one hand, placing it gently on Evalin's shoulder, "I love you..."

Those words made Evalin shiver and she pressed herself closer. She knew it was a lie, but still it was all she ever wanted to hear. She wrapped her hands around the Familiars waist, thin as it was, and Tsenrika brought both of his hands around to hold her close. The Irylid simply looked down at Evalin, eyes cold as always, no feeling escaping through their link, but Evalin didn't care. She hugged him all the same... Hugged another person. For the first time in centuries she was... close with someone. Unbelievably close. Inseparably close. She would have wept in the sudden spring of joy that welled within her, but her tears had dried up so very long ago.

"I love you too Tsenrika..."

Evalin clung to the Familiar with desperation, as if she were afraid to release him for fear that if she did she would be lost in the sea of her own immortal existence. Tsenrika was her rock, that which held her strong, but up until now he had only be such in word and spirit. NOw... Now she could hold him, and that more than anything seemed like the greatest of all miracles. As for Tsenrika though... HIs expression was unchanging, though from time to time something so close to disappointment would flitter across his eyes. Just for the briefest moment, before it was gone as though it had never existed in the first place.

by **Traverse** on January 28th, 2014, 12:17 am

Evalin

Experience:

Familiary 3 XP
Observation 3 XP
Rhetoric 1 XP
Socialization 3 XP

Lore:

The Ability to See Like an Irylid
Tsenrika: Taking On Human Form
Tsenrika: Aid For Suppressing Loneliness

Additional Notes :

If you have any questions, concerns, accolades, complaints, etc about your grade, drop me a PM and we can most certainly talk it out.

As always, Safe Travels!

Solo A reflection of oneself