From Whence Answers Came (Open)

[Risa Moontide]

(Night of the 5th of Summer, 511AV)
The sound was thunderous, a huge pounding sound that vibrated her whole bring. Risa had her eyes closed, blank to the world. Her eyes splintered open, letting light flood in as it did the small room she was in. The light pulsed and throbbed, distorting the sound into waves. No, not light. The flood of color had become a splash of water, slowly rising beyond her knees. Risa watched the water raise, flexing herself to swim. It had no temperature on her legs, but as the water reached her waste Risa dived in to acclimate herself better.

Water was everywhere. She felt like a spec and the could then see the hundreds of other specs around her. Little blips of color in the putrid sea, the blue color shifting to the rotten green of badly covered fruit. Each blip seemed to sparkle now, lighting up with internal fire. Risa opened her eyes wide as the blips each became a star above, and she found herself choking on the salty water around her.

Risa felt something on her back now, soft and smooth like sand. She struggled to reach the surface and draw another breath but it was mere inches above her face, so she coughed and choked water as she sat up. Risa looked out to sea from her seat, at the thick mist surrounding her and the boats showing their ghostly forms in the fog. She heard a voice screaming in the distance, a familiar and comfortable scream, panged with panic and urgency. "Reeeeeeessaaaaahhhh!!!! Reeeesssaaa!!!" The voice swelled and grew as the tide around her, flooding up higher than before. "Risa!" A sailboat appeared in the fog as well, much closer, and she could see the silhouettes of those shouting.

Risa stared at a painting now, standing in blackness at the scene before her. She could see herself back on the beach, but a younger her, just a girl i the eyes of the svefra, with the blackness and fog still surrounding her as the sailboat got closer. The forms within the boat couldn't be made out in the painting, but Risa looked closer regardless. The boat had reached the picture of Risa and hoisted the younger version that she stared at into the boat. As the boat was pulled onshore and out of sight Risa's hands traced the frame of the painting, feeling the bark it was made out of.

The bark against her hand was the trunk of a tree now, and the beach was behind her. Her mother had her other wrist tight, dragging Risa deeper into the forest. Her pod was around too, moving with her towards the fire. The voice of her mother rang in her ears, angry but hollow, missing words and most understanding. "...you! Did you forget the swimmi..." Risa looked down at herself, so was so young and this dress was so pretty. The sparkling light ahead gave her pause. Ooh, a bonfire? I can dance for the dumb grown-ups...

The next sight was a heavy axe, held tight in the streaming misty light of the forest. It seemed to be floating as Risa traced the handle, but when she turned to the axe head the tree it was firm in materialized. In fact her eyes now focused ahead; the fog morphed the frames of a dozen other trees reduced to stumps. A shrill whistle called through the trees, loud as a demon, the shriek making her want to cower. Risa ran now. I don't want to get caught messing with the axe!

Risa was above again, looking down through the brush and trees. The world was moving quickly below her and she could feel the ground beneath her feet, even though she wasn't touching it. Each footfall seemed confused, directionless, but the path the world moved in stayed perpendicular to the beach, not deeper into the forest. The vibrations of the dirt and the ground were thrilling feelings, like so little she had felt. Closing her eyes she now was running, moving through the trees like a dolphin through the sea, weaving in and out of the foliage.

There was a boy appearing through the trees and the fog, also away from his pod. He was cute and not much older than her, maybe 13 or 14. Risa grinned to herself, wishing the bird she had met was here with her. Her cheeks were red; she didn't get enough chances to talk to boys, let alone cute ones. He hadn't noticed her yet, or if he had he didn't turn when she had run in. Risa looked back at the forest, biting her lip. Her mother wouldn't find her this far out in the trees. "Hi!" she said, her cheerful voice cracking the silence of the forest. With the same word noise flooded into the forest, she could hear crickets and the shuffling of animals and laughter from the other svefra at the nearby beach.

She didn't want to be shy, not now. "I'm Risa! Who are you?"

[Marlow]

He was floating mid-air surrounded by mist, grey and cold. He licked his lips... Salty. Haar.

He feels more than sees an ice floe beneath him and he starts to hear the muffled sound of waves crashing against breakers. Floating after the ice floe he is witness to its destruction as it disintegrates upon hitting the rocks. He looks up just in time to see himself headed towards a cliff. He shuts his eyes and braces himself for impact...

He opens his eyes. He's lying down on a rocky beach, looking up at the vault of the sky as it slowly darkens and the stars appeared. Beyond him he hears the sound of wood being piled atop each other. We're going to have a bonfire! He sits up...

...and reaches up to touch the bump forming on his forehead. "I told you to chop down at an angle and not straight out. Otherwise the axe might bounce off." He stands up...

...and is looking at a girl. A Svefra girl by the looks of her. He hears her ask his name. He opens his mouth and though he knows he mouths his name, no sound comes out. Apparently the girl didn't have that problem because she smiled.

Where am I? Who am I?

[Risa Moontide]

The boy spoke to her, but his voice came out silent. This wasn't right, something's different. She could see the next action, like reading ahead in a book. Each word was supposed to be someplace, but instead letters now leaked over the scene. Risa looked at the trees, each now dropping words from its branches. Leaflets and big blocky words came down like rain, heavy and thick as tar.Risa knew she didn't want to touch the words, didn't know why but she had to leave. She reached out for the boy's hand and yelled, "We have to go!"

Risa looked behind her, her mother's form looming huge in the trees. The armored silhouette took a demonic presence, wielding the same axe she had just seen, the monstrous beast of the axe bleeding sap from its sharp maw. Light stretched around the form like grasping hands, wanting to tie her down. Her eyes were wide but she couldn't let the shock stop her now. The beast roared, like her mother calling her name but violent and evil. She started running, leaving the boy behind, deeper into the forest. Risa heard a whistling of birds above her and she looked up, the hundreds of feathers falling around her.

Risa sat on a feather now, big enough to hold her own weight. Everything was wrong, she was going to get caught hiding here. Her hands traced the smooth fabric the feather was made out of, the ropes that now tied it to two trees. The feather was a pattern, a reflection of light now on the cloth below her, and she saw the colors drip off and fall into nothingness, leaving her on the hammock. The monster chasing her was nowhere to be seen, and the forest floor grew up in patches on the ground wherever Risa looked. Risa put one hand on the rope and dropped from the tree, the rope contorting and growing so she slid with grace unlike that which she'd ever known.

Things felt right again, comfortable and curious, the forest was back to normal. As soon as Risa landed her feet knew where to go, taking strides like they knew this path before. In fact the grass ahead f her pushed apart like footprints in the sand before each step, marking the trail before Risa had noticed it was taken. She was walking with the boy, a step ahead though she wanted him to lead and show her the mysteries of his pod. "What's it like to work on something so important?"

[Marlow]

He turned around...

...and he was walking on a forest trail. The girl was ahead of him; eager, excited.What's important? He looks down...

...at the keel of a boat. "It's important that you learn how to build them." He looks up...

...into smiling blue eyes waiting for an answer. He feels himself shrug. "When you're working on one it's a pain, but the sense of fulfillment when you..."

...are done for. He thought. He flailed around in the cold water until his hands managed to latch on to something; a keg. Desperately he tried to keep his head above water. It was dark. The water, the sky, everything was dark. This is what I...

"...get when you finish it is like nothing else." he heard himself say. Looking ahead he spies a tell-tale glow beyond the trees. "They've lit the bonfire. Come on!"

[Risa Moontide]

The boy's story bled and warped in he ears, losing meaning. The feelings were strong; his pride still filled her mind. Risa could feel it in him. He started to race off, time slowing with his footsteps, and she reached out for his hand. It was just out of reach as she stretched as far as she could. The light around her seemed to bend oddly for a second and distort everything, misshaping his form and the trees and even the sky above.

The world melted away, leaving Risa in the blank cold. It was in her bones, she could only feel the movement of her own shivering now. She tried to yell or scream but no sound came out. Instead light trickled out of her throat, vibrating the surface like the wind over the tide. The blackness began to burn, the intense heat of her limbs warming from the freeze. She wanted so desperately to scream and escape. The light seemed to answer her plea, removing the pain and forming into a single object, a bonfire before her.

Risa was sitting on a log, laughing at the jokes and stories told around her. Her face picked up several of her own pod intermixed with rows of strangers. The boy sat next to her. Music was being played around and people were dancing, fabrics casting malicious shadows on the horizon, shadows that turned wrong and stared at her. She stared at the shadows for a second longer before she stared now at the boy, letting the world fade around her.

Risa was sitting at a table now, the grooved wood seemed to wave slowly like the sea before her. In the center sat a single cup, wrought iron and brimming with the bonfire. She could still hear the music around them, and ghostly images of the dancers also floated in the background. Across from her sat a man she'd never seen but knew as the boy, his face was the same but so different. She looked down at herself, no longer the girl from a second ago. "Where are we?"

[Marlow]

Marlow was sitting at a table across from a woman he recognizes as the girl from earlier. She now wore the tattoos marking her as a Moontide, while his own skin was bereft of any markings even that of his Pod. "Where are we?" he repeated the young woman's question. "We are home."

The table and the surroundings solidified once again and they found themselves seated on a log beside a bonfire. Around them, other Svefra ate, drank, talked, sang and caroused. Beyond the circle of Svefra was a new Palivar still in its berth and beyond that the forest where he and Risa met a few years ago. "Tomorrow she goes into the arms of Laviku." Marlow pointed at the Palivar. His arms devoid of any markings, Oceanus marks and pod tattoos alike."And soon you too shall go home."

[Risa Moontide]

oocI've decided to give it a bit more consistency, make it into more of a real post. Also it's easier to screw with for the mods that way
When she was back at the blazing bonfire Risa looked out above the ships before her, to the starry horizon. The stars seemed more solid, no longer blazing back and forth between realities. Her mind, too, was more... solid, she could hear her floating thoughts concentrate in her head again.

The hour was far from late for the adults; the continued their dance in the sand seemingly without tire like the waves of the ocean. Risa looked down at the flowing dress she found herself in, a pale white floral dress her pod had sown for her. Tonight was all abut this party, the new friends and drink to share among them. It was a celebration. Risa was happy to just take it all in, be a part of this. It was always good times when pods got together.

It was nice having a real friend. This boy next to her had been a friend to her all night, dealt with her childish antics. Something about him was so much more mature than her, it seemed, like he was more solid than she was. Adults were coming over with fish, a recent catch to cook upon the large bonfire before them. They looked tasty. "No matter when I am to leave. It's been nice spending this day with you. Do you know where your pod sails next?" Her voice was still singsong, taking up parts of the music that flowed around them as she went. She couldn't help it; she just game him a smile as she realized she was doing it.

[Marlow]

Risa's comment about spending time with him made him smile. There have been a few Svefra from other pods who have not been so kind about his lack of markings. He remembered the day that they met a few years ago when the Moontides first came to ask help building a Palivar.

"Yes, I've enjoyed your company as well. As for where we're going, that's up to Lia Teak. More often than not we visit Novallas and some of the other coves in that area, but we have gone as far West as Avanthal and as far East as Mura. Your pod usually travels up and down the Suvan, right?"

[Risa Moontide]

"That's right! We dwell among the islands there." Even as Risa spoke those words, they felt repeated and not her own any longer. The setting was more distorted again, like the blurring of water. Risa knew she wasn't a child anymore but kept feeling the same strange pings of being younger. She shook her head, trying to clarify everything. She almost felt dizzy, nothing is making sense. "But I'm not at the Suvan Sea anymore... or with my pod." The settings corrected in a flash and she was more her real self, her voice coming out much more grown than the previous statement. Risa touched her own pod marking while she gazed into the flickering light of the bonfire, concreting her current older appearance as well. She had been lost... in a memory?

The older Marlow before her seemed to sad, something was tragic about his eyes. Gone was the innocence of his youth, but also gone was the pride of the knowledge, everything he had shared with her throughout that day what seemed so long ago. He looked... lost too. Maybe he was as lost as she just was.

Risa spoke slowly, her voice sounding far off, like every word she said had to float like fog through the forest before being heard. "The years have carried differences to us both, I think. It feels more like a memory, the last time we were both here." Risa's idle hands twiddled among themselves, fingers dancing together to some unheard symphony of rhythm. "You were my first friend, I miss being that innocent. I used to think about seeing you back after I left this beach, when I felt alone." She awaited his response, still staring into his eyes. Changed eyes.

Shortly after the talk Risa stood up, the same as she had those many years ago. Her dress flowed around her as she moved, the cloth moving more like water. One hand out and silhouetted by the bonfire, she smiled at Marlow as she asked, "Want to dance? Again?"