[Flashback] When A Ghost Discovers A Host

[Hex]

8th of Winter 500AV Eyes opened and flickered at the sensation of sand sweeping past the eyelashes. Their sharp crystal corners poked into Taku's eye and she reached up to rub away the specks, letting them fall over her folded legs. Her last memory was of her running, fleeing in pain and heartache at the reality of her mixed blood and its place in the heart of a purely Chaktawe village deep in the Ekytolian mountainscape. Being only half Chaktawe meant that she was half respected, half loved, half hated. At least, that is how she saw it. This made her paranoid, even when there was little cause for such. Her father, who had been chosen to marry a Chaktawe woman, had the soul of an adventurer and defied his tribe when he fell in love with a fiery Drykas girl. Love knew no limits drawn by culture and tradition. He returned from his voyage six seasons later with a small mixed blood infant. They may have exiled Ash'tuk and the baby had he not arrived to them half in a grave. Because of the skill he exhibited as a hunter and the status he upheld with those he helped, the Chief of their village (also his uncle), agreed to bring the child up. Taku learned to live like a real Chaktawe by absorbing their traditions, language, art, values. But just because she learned Chaktawe living, did not mean she was considered Chaktawe. She was half Drykas, half "horse people to the north". The more she learned about Cyphrus, through what ever means she could, the stronger her desire was to leave the safe environment of her home and the stranger her culture felt to her. Every passing year after the age of 15 she developed powerful thoughts and opinions of her own. She had so much time to herself that she developed a habit of over-analyzing, which then lead to a crippling paranoia of her fellow kin. Except for a small few. A young teen around Taku's age had caught her eye. Romantic feelings brewed between them as they hunted and survived the Ekytolian wild. At 17, hormones raged within them and there were times when the heat of an anticipated first kiss was extinguished by the chill of watchful eyes. When one night it was announced that the boy would be married off to a pure chaktawe girl, Taku felt sick with heartbreak. So sick that she ran from the camp fire sobbing out to the desert air, willingly inviting wild predators to put her out of her misery. In her emotional uproar she wandered into the night, seeking refuge in a place she had explored as a child long ago, but had not returned to since. She felt lost in the fabric of distant moonlit mountains as jagged formations of rock transformed until they looked like an army of people climbing through the sand to get her and force her underneath the earth. All thoughts escaped Taku as she sank to the sandy floor, gasping for breath until her jerking and sobbing stopped. She collapsed face first, uncaring of what might devour her in her sleep.

Artwork Credit:
HIIA

[Hex]

9th of Winter 500AV Rays of a sun dawned over the hills, fanning out across the sand and onto Taku's face as she sat brushing away sand from the skin of her cheeks. A sudden rush of blood left her face as she felt and heard a collection of whispers, riding the wind as it passed through her hair and danced into her ears. Like droplets of water thumping against a taut drum the whispers echoed and cascaded all around her, pushing her out and drawing her in all in the same sweep. Swirling around her like a cloud of hungry bats, trails of soulmist glittered in the rising sun, swimming on the current of air that Taku took sharply into her lungs. Surrounding her with a storm cloud of soulmist, a ghost appeared through its own mist flickering into the material of the desert. The ghost formed its face, a fleshy pair of eyes and brown skin like that of her people. Inside of her, Taku had not feared ghosts, but this one gave her an uneasy chill. She shifted in the sand, moving it away as she pushed with her feet to stand upright. The eerie face watched her, coiling around her like a deadly snake narrowing in on its prey. Taku put her hand out to touch the soulmist, brushing her fingers against the fluid energy that was neither hot nor cold, but both at the same time. The ghost laughed out loud, although it didn't have a mouth. It spouted soulmist at her, curling up her arm and seeping through her flesh and bones. Her eyes flew open, staring into the rising sun as she was paralysed with the flowing of a ghost through her. Spiritually she struggled, trying to shake the ghost off, but it closed its fist around her and broke off the connection she had with her own body. Now there was a haze around everything she saw, the world was fuzzy and distorted. The ghost had control now, and Taku fought lifelessly inside. The first of communication between the ghost and her came not in the form of a conversation between them, but suddenly Taku felt urges that were not originally hers. Her fists curled and feelings of hurt and pain flooded the forefront of her mind. This ghost was angry and sad, and seeking revenge. Thoughts and images of the ghost's past flitted before her eyes as she sat in solitude in the back of her mind. The ghost had been betrayed.. no exiled. It was a man, and he had had a family? No there was something else there, a lover or close relative. Someone had been wronged and the ghost was hell bent on retaliating. More images, this time ones of her chief and village. This ghost had lived there perhaps, and there was a burning rage that roared whenever the Chief was brought to mind. He took them from me! All of them! He must be accounted for what he did! The voice agonized within her, giving her the sensation that she was actually saying the words, that they were her feelings. Images of a family, two children and a wife popped in her head. Emotions over boiled as the ghost wept, shaking Taku's shoulders and pounding her fists into the sandy earth. For the first time since their possession she had caught a glimpse of the ghost and his tormented soul. He had passed on but was not ready to move onto the spirit world, for he felt a blood curdling desire for revenge. Images. An execution. Loved ones being beheaded. But why? Past sharing a body, Taku and the ghost did not exchange words. And when Taku saw what the ghost had intended to do, kill the Chief, she both recoiled in fear at the thought and also felt a heart wrenching compassion for the man's broken heart. How could the Chief, a man of wisdom and decision, kill this man's wife and children? Even if Taku wanted to analyze the situation logically, the emotions of the ghost were hers as well. She was bonded to him now so tightly because of how she related to his hurt that she destroyed any clear perspective of the outside world.

Artwork Credit:
Tuteshot

[Hex]

Taku was familiar with navigating her tribe's territory, and so instinctively took refuge at a landmark that offered salvation from the harsh desert. The day seeped into evening as the ghost sat Taku down on the sand in the only spot of shade she knew of for miles. Having fought with Taku the entire way to the spot, leaving her body exhausted and spent, the ghost began communicating in an attempt to gain graceful possession of her. The ghost went on to tell Taku of the strange events leading up to the death of himself and his family. It was a dark time back then, the wars north of here were raging on, threatening to come south and disturb the peace of our tribes. My love was a great warrior, and our two boys were training hard to follow in our path. I had been spending my time in the north, fighting against Eypharian warriors who seemed to know no limits. Away from my loved ones, I missed them dearly and often wrote letters frequently. Before I left I had entrusted our Chief to care for my family and watch over them. But when they didn't respond after many seasons, my concern turned into full blown anxiety and something within me said that I needed to go back and determine their fates. I snapped one day on the battle field, throwing my sword into the air and marching off in the general direction of south to find my family. Obsession had taken hold of me and I was killed instantly as I walked, struck in the back with a sheet of arrows. I came back to learn the truth, and it was a horror I was not ready to see. He did it to them, he made them disappear! Taku sat in a calm silence, no longer struggling against the walls of her cage. She felt an even greater amount of emotion for the ghost, a mix of compassion and longing for closure. She understood his position after experiencing it through his eyes, listening to his story and growing ever more empathic to his cause. He had opened the gap between them on a psychic level, channeling memories and emotions between them to help her relate to and understand him and what he did. He had initiated a graceful possession with her, hoping she would help him strengthen their connection. There was little resistance from Taku who found it impossible to push away the horrid pictures she replayed in her mind; images of all the ghost's fears over his family. She wanted to help him, to at least guide him in his quest for truth. What if they were still alive? "What is your name?" Taku asked out loud, noticing that since their bonding, she had a tad bit more freedom with her body. "Iro Yikta" the ghost responded. A part of Taku swelled, she had not felt friendly company in many moons and she cherished it, even if it was with a ghost who had an agenda of revenge.

[Hex]

They sat in the dark cool shadow of the rock but positioned the mixing bowl so that the sun's rays could beam down on it. Something about the energy and power of the sun infusing into the dough made for better quality soulmist - if the spiritist was skilled enough. But Taku had no idea what she was doing and even though the ghost took control over her movements, the quality would be questionable. An egg was cracked, then some grain poured, followed by a batch of herbs that were crushed between her palms; all the ingredients were prepped for what looked like bread. Taku became preoccupied with trying to understand what was happening, paying little attention to the ghost as he pulled out the knife from her bag and cut a large scar into her elbow, flooding the bowl with her blood and making her cry out in shocked pain. Then the ghost thrust her fingers into the bowl, clenching and twisting the concoction with her fingers, grinding the gelatinous egg white into the powdery grain until it thickened. Blood that seeped down her forearm was skimmed from her skin and added to the mixture, fixing the dough's hue as a deep almost coppery red, matching the sun's own colour as it bled out of sight after being stabbed by the chilling dark. From the little information the ghost revealed, few of them were memories of explanations from people he had known - showing him the techniques to make soulmist. Taku knew then that the man had been a spiritist in his past life. She had a limited knowledge of ghosts at the time but she had heard of soulmist before, just did not know what was used to make it; tools or ingredients. But what she did know is that the bulky substance was known to give the ghost power, sometimes unspeakable amounts. Taku observed from her cage as the ghost proceeded to take a large chunk of the dough and take it into her mouth for chewing. The taste was horrible and the ghost exclaimed and spat, throwing the entire container of dough out onto the sand. Again!

[Hex]

The day turned into afternoon, and afternoon into twilight. Iro worked her to make a second batch of soulmist, redirecting her towards the task every time she resisted or questioned as to what she was doing making 'blood bread' as she called it since the ghost would not tell her. He was entranced in his own mission, to build up the girl's skill by training her in the desert alone with him. But this was no mutual apprenticeship; Hex was constantly hurt and affected by his lack of patience with her, taking slaps and punches to the body when she didn't do exactly as he instructed. Or when she complained about being hungry. As a Chaktawe, they spoke more with their bodies and pictures in the sand than their mouths. It was good way to stay undetected in the desert and still have full communication happening. Besides the bowls and containers of supplies laid out on the blanket next to their rock, there was a bowl filled with sand for 'sand drawing'. Iro had threatened Hex until she stole several items from her fellow villagers, including a small table top and dark cloth from the village people's tents and set it up as a drawing board with four corner holes meant to pin the cloth by having wide pegs press the cloth through the hole, holding it in place. During one particular struggle, Hex exhausted the ghost and grabbed a fistful of sand. With shaky hands she let a stream of sand fall from the bottom of her clenched hand and she floated her shaky hand in a patterned way to draw out shapes of foods that were common to the Chaktawe. She was desperately hungry and sobbed over the physical breakdown of her body and the pain that went along with being overworked, hungry, tired, and emotionally plagued. Iro slapped her hand at the board with the little soulmist he had, making it spew the sand drawing off the cloth and into the batch of soulmist Taku interrupted the making of when the whole fight began. There was silence as Taku and Iro looked down on it. It was ruined. Taku roared in laughter, cackling and throwing her head back. Iro roared in anger but simply did not have the energy to do anything about it. And so Taku slept, glad she could subdue him for just a moment.

[Hex]

10th of Winter 500AV When Taku awoke to Iro's banter in her ear about finishing the soulmist, she had had it; she was going back to her village to seek a spiritist and remove the ghost, banish him from her body forever. Iro was far too weak to control any of Taku's movements, and so she stalked back towards the village with fists clenched and stomach growling. The looks she received were like that of the first time she came back into the village; concern and worry over her well being. Her delusion became one of pure paranoia; they were all judging her. She looked a fright and she knew it. Iro commanded her to retrieve more supplies for the soulmist, to collect the things he needed. But when she refused and began walking towards the spiritist tents he exploded into a fit of pleading. At first Taku cared little for his weeping, but then Iro's memories began flashing in her mind; his wife and sons laughing and hugging, greeting him as he came home from a long journey, his wife embracing him. Enough! Taku broke down and stepped between two tents, soaking in the guilt trip of the ghost. How could she decide the fate of a man who was searching for answers? But it wasn't just answers he wanted. It was revenge. Taku considered taking Iro to her uncle the Chief, but she didn't want to bring his energy into their home lest he be truly violent and hostile. She couldn't live with herself if anyone got hurt on account of her lack of judgment. She felt like she had little choice, and conceded to Iro for the time being. So she returned to her home, and it was empty - no Chief or his children in sight. Iro sat patiently as Taku went through the food they had stored in the tent, stuffing a large bag with several dried items and grabbing a waterskin full of water. Other items for survival were sought out and collected, and a bag was used to carry all that and another supply of soulmist making materials - flour, eggs and more bowls some large some small. Every bit of Taku wanted to run to the spiritists and beg for them to banish him from her. But what held her back? It still came back to the same thoughts; she really didn't have anyone if she didn't have the ghost. Without Iro she was left to her own devices, her lonliness. Whether Iro existed or not did not change how unaccepted she was by her culture. At this point in time, Taku needed Iro more than he needed her. ----- Back at their camp Taku set up the supplies on their blanket as he instructed her to do, organizing the bowls to her right with one large bowl in front of her and the hunting knife and ingredients to the left with the sand drawing board and the food and water Taku required to last out in the desert. They had come to a compromise; that he feed her and give her adequate rest and she would make all the soulmist he wanted. They were fair terms, as fair as kidnapping and forced labour could be. But it was more than that. Taku felt real compassion and sympathy for Iro, even though he forgot his humanity and nearly worked her to death. It was the poison of his purpose, the hungry for answers that clouded his spirit and twisted his perspective. Taku hadn't known it then but every moment that she found herself developing a relationship with Iro, she was giving in to graceful possession which ultimately had it easier for him to control her. She was ignorant of the process at the time and simply gave in to the emotions that guided her decisions. An egg was broken, flour and blood added to the mix, Taku grimaced as yet another wound marked her skin and flowed blood from its mouth. They weren't large cuts, just enough to draw blood. But they hurt nonetheless and some were even reopened, a very painful thing to experience. Into the wet and dry ingredients her fingers went, mushing and crushing and twisting the material in her hands. The powder of the flour had climbed up her arms and she dowsed her hands with water to collect it and force it back into the bowl, mixing it with consistently strong clenches and releases of her hands. Her arms grew numb after awhile and she groaned past the irritation of the pins and needles that shot up to her shoulder. Taku paused despite the exasperated pestering from within, rolling both her shoulders back and forth before diving back in and turning the flour in her hands until the texture became consistent enough to chew. Taku sat back into the sand, her legs full of pins and needles from being tucked under her for so long. As the tiny pains dispersed she chewed a lump of soulmist, her jaw burning as she pulled and bit at the blood flavoured dough. The taste was hideous but Iro urged her to continue chewing until it became slightly cool to the touch. It had the faintest glow to it, illuminating it against the darkening sky. "Good.. you're learning quickly" said the ghost. She popped another ball of dough into her mouth and proceeded to chew, placing the glowing soulmist into a pouch she brought. Next she gathered kindling from nearby dry bushes and tumbleweeds to make a fire, breaking down their branches into a pile and igniting it with the flint. Dung fire fuel was also brought and when the kindling became red embers, she sat the fuel on top of the fire nest to let it catch flame and simmer slowly, giving out a wonderful amount of heat. The remainder of the night left Taku chewing in silence, each new bit of dough growing more and more intense in luminescence. Iro was pleased and before they knew it, the batch made that day was completed and set aside in the bowl. As if giving birth in an instant, Iro pushed himself out of Taku and settled himself in front of the bowl, barely visible. "I want to eat the bread you made.. may I?" Iro seemed to be asking permission and Taku furrowed her brow at the strange request. Ghosts had no need for food, but this particular kind had been glowing. She had little knowledge of what was going on, but hesitantly nodded to him out of pure curiosity to find out what the dough did. A hand materialized out of the swirling mist of the ghost and he raised a piece of soulmist to his ghostly mouth. The light dispersed as it travelled through Iro's body and his overall presence brightened ever slightly. Still the soulmist she created wasn't enough to bring him to full materialization, and despite Iro keeping all of this from her she began piecing together the facts and figured it out for herself. He really did need her more than she needed him.

[Hex]

11th of Winter 500AV Taku dreamt of monsters that night. Vibrantly coloured feathers and scales and teeth that shone and sparkled in the moonlight. Her hair had been chopped off, the long tendrils tickling her legs as they lay scattered around her. Her hair was her strength. Her strength was gone. In the dream Taku pulled at the shortened locks, whimpering and choking on her own tears in the dark, feeling the rest of her limbs to make sure they weren't missing too. And then suddenly the moon grew to an astonishing size, as if it were careening towards the earth, straight at her, ready to envelop her in its nasty moonlit claws. She got up to run but her feet sunk into the sand and it felt as though she were wading through mud, trying to escape, trying to break free. It was Iro, his face was etched into the moon's surface. His mouth opened and with it a crater on the moon split in half and widened astronomically. There was no rescue for her, there was no getting away. Gusts of wind blew through the campsite, flaking bits of charcoal against her and marking her skin with black streaks. How long would she be in the ghost's company? What was going to happen to her Chief? Would Iro ever succeed? Questions flared like sunspots in her mind as she threw together more ingredients for the soulmist. This time a large amount was mixed; flour, eggs, herbs, blood. The largest bowl of the lot was used, and her hand beat through the mixture furiously as Iro floated in front of her, supervising her work. This time the sticky dough was not only put into her mouth for chewing but she was instructed to swallow it. The thick slimey texture made her gag several times, but she faught the urge to expel the substance, taking hold of her bottom lip with her teeth and ignoring the sensation to vomit. "I don't feel so good" Taku moaned before the last handfuls could be ingested. "Shhh.. this is all natural. Please continue." Taku moaned as the dough expanded painfully in her gut. She felt unusually heavy and it made her uneasy; if she were to be approached by a wild animal, she would be unable to move as gracefully on light feet with such a weight in her body. Taku declared her discomfort but it was more psychological than anything. The weight she felt was the burden of the ghost next to her, egging her on through the task of making soulmist, not her overwhelmed stomach. Eventually the mixture was gone from the bowl and she rubbed her belly thoughtfully, as if the tightness of her gut was a delicate child, not a large portion of uncooked dough. Taku rested her back against the large rock that shaded their camp. She wiggled her toes out in front of her and gazed off into the horizon. The shade was cool where she rested but looking out at the hot desert she could see heat radiating from the sand. She was thankful to be out of the sun, she might explode if she were exposed to its rays of fire. Trails of soulmist ascending into the air as Iro skulked back and forth in front of her. Taku eyed the look of intensity in his face and rubbed her swollen belly. He was clearly plotting his revenge on her Chief. A swirl of guilt broke through her system, she wasn't just encouraging this revenge, she was directly helping him materialize by making his much needed source of energy - soulmist. "What are you scheming... Ghost." Taku called out to him in a mockingly dry tone. He stopped in his tracks and inclined his head in her direction before responding. His eyes were barely visible through the steaming mist around his face but she could see where he was looking and it was straight into her eyes. He straightened up and smiled deceptively, masking the emotions that came with the thoughts he had of killing. He didn't bother answering her question and instead strode right up to her face, making her recoil away from him in suspicion. His smile was sweet and innocent, devoid of the nastiness she knew of him. He loved to hide things from her and then twist the situation to spear her back emotionally. "Taku. When I found you you were out here in the desert waiting to be scavenged by birds. Were you darkening the colour of your unusually pale Chaktawe skin or were you exiled from your village like me?" Taku, being young and sensitive whimpered at his comments. She made no effort to hide the hurt, she wore it like war paint on her cheeks. Her skin tone had always been a sore subject for her. She was darker than most Drykas, but far too light to be considered a true desert dweller. Jokes amongst the children claimed that if she spent too much time in the sun, she would turn red like an unworldly creature. Yes, Iro knew exactly how to pin her down with her emotions. She wasn't angry at him for pointing out the obvious, it was who she was and it was plain as day to anyone who laid their eyes on her. In the short time that they were together, a dependency grew within her for him. At this point there was little she had energy to hide from him. She wasn't strong willed in that department like he was. Her honesty even crippled her by giving him fuel that could and would be used against her later. "I ran from them!" Her voice cracked with emotion. "Its not fair! I love him!" Now the tears began to flow as she recalled the young boy who was destined to make a lover of someone else. Not just a lover, a partner for life. A whole bell passed by as she sobbed in front of Iro, slowly pouring out the few words she could muster verbally. When the crying kept her from speaking any more words she took the cloth drawing board into her shaking hands and drew out three people, two standing close to each other and one off to the side. A line of sand was drawn over the two close figures, connecting them at the chest; symbolizing their union. The figure to the left stood alone on the board and she gripped the sides with shaking hands. Tears welled up and dripped down her hot cheeks until they spilled onto the board, darking spots were it hit sand and soaked into the fabric. As a last symbol to the story she drew, she violently swiped away the lone figure to the side. Then the ghost knew that she loved someone who was promised to another and that Taku was now out of the picture completely. Torrential emotion churned inside her chest, her heart aching and throbbing with utter honesty and sorrow. Her sobs wracked her body painfully and she rocked back and forth on her knees still gripping the board with her hands. And then the waves of nausea began, first passing flutters of anxiety in her solar plexus and then roiling rounds of nausea that punched at her insides, clawing to get out. Her hand flew instinctively to her mouth and she let out a small burp of liquid that dribbled out from between her fingers onto the sand. "Taku! The Bowl!" Iro roared, completely concerned over his soulmist. Taku grabbed the large bowl just in time and heaved the contents of her belly into it. Volumes of icy soulmist poured from her throat, cool in sensation and glowing with a brighter luminescence than anything she had created before. "Good.. yes that's good. Oh yes! Taku thats wonderful!" Iro may have been excited but Taku was in agony. She didn't just expel the dough from the bowels of her gut, she threw from her body the emotions that had plagued her all this time. The anger and sorrow and shame that held her down. After the entirety of the soulmist had left her body she tried to lift up onto her knees. She swayed in place and then toppled over onto her side into the sand. Her ears rang, her throat was raw, her chest ached, her head was pounding. But she honestly felt relief. She felt.. Free.