How the Years Have Changed You (Kendall, Aello)

by **Alenias** on August 3rd, 2011, 9:03 pm

Season of Summer, Day 65, 511 AV

The day had started off pleasant enough. The sky had been clear and the sun bright and warm. Alenias had spent the morning flying about the trees, singing with the birds and eating berries and seeds she found, and that was followed by a happy nap in warm grass.

As the day wore on the sky grew dark with heavy clouds that threatened, but hadn't yet delivered any rain. The forest grew a bit dull and gray with the loss of sunlight, and a bit more imposing in its appearance. Especially to the Kelvic to whom darkness was a sign of bad things happening.

Spooked by the change of weather Alenias had taken to quietly stalking about the forest in her human form, bare feet hardly making a sound as she carefully tread upon the forest floor. She was hungry again, which was why she'd gone ahead of Aello in search of something tasty, but being away from the woman did little to help calm her nerves. Still, she didn't want to be a bother to Aello, and so she pushed on through the creepy forest by herself for now.

A noise caught her attention, causing Alenias to freeze in mid step, and her eyes widened in fear. There was something out there, something she didn't normally hear in the forest. It couldn't be Aello, it was ahead of her, and it was a sound she didn't really recognize. A bit curious, along with wanting to make sure it wasn't something Aello might want to know about, Alenias slowly resumed her stalking with a slight change in her path to head towards where the sound was coming from.

After a time, which only seemed longer thanks to Alenias' heart pounding in nervousness, she finally came across what might be making the sound. It was a man, taller than her but not a giant, and with light hair that almost seemed to be glowing in the gloom of the forest. Quietly moving behind a tree Alenias cautiously peered at the man, wondering what he was doing, and if he was a bad man or not.

by **Kendall Saarinen** on August 3rd, 2011, 10:50 pm

It had been a while since Kendall's fearful breakdown in front of Hadrian. The mage had helped to calm him, getting him to a place mentally where he could function once again. The tremors still came to him occasionally, although it was only when he was nervous or hit by a flashback. The Azenth did not like being like this. He wanted things to be normal again, like they had been in Zeltiva. The thoughts of home caused a few tears to trickle from his mismatched eyes. "Petch…" The blond sniffled as he whipped the tears away. He did not want to cry anymore. He wanted to be strong, or at least strong enough to find a way to make things better.

Kendall was not particularly comfortable about wandering through the forest alone, especially without Cathan but never the less, he was wandering. He tried to clear his mind as he walked, thinking of fire. When he found his anxiety starting to hike he would imagine the burning element rushing through his mind, singeing all of the things that worried him. "Ivak, let me find calm. Help me to find peace." He trailed his finger over the flames that circled his wrist, his connection to his imprisoned God.

To help with his meditation, Kendall held his hands out in front of him, letting the Res flow from his palms and ignite into a flame over his hands. He tried to pour his emotion into the action of ignition. All of the anxiety, sadness, even some of his happiness was pushed into the Res, letting it glow brightly as a fire of his emotion, or so he liked to think. He smiled lightly at the element before moving his hands away to let it float more freely in front of him. He knew that Ivak was imprisoned but in this way he felt closer to him. He liked to become one with the flame, letting it feed into his Gnosis and hike up his body temperature. Hadrian and the rest of Kendall's group were used to this attribute about him. They knew that his body harbored the raging heat of Ivak's fire. Most others found the Azenth's body temperature as a surprise, hence why he rarely let people touch him.

As Kendall walked, he felt himself calming. The aid of the fire helped him in mediation. Hadrian had taught him to meditate through the use of fire and since then, the pyromancer had found it easiest to calm himself through those means. Meditation took concentration though and because of this he did not notice the girl hiding behind the tree watching him. If trouble did come his way he was ready to use his fire in anyway necessary.

by **Aello** on August 4th, 2011, 3:59 am

Aello was sitting in the center of a clearing, surrounded by blades of long, green grass that grew far past her knee, largely concealing her body from view, for it only allowed the top of her head to be seen from above or to the sides. Sliding down the slender stalks were droplets of clear, cool water, rain from the night before. She had pushed several of the stalks down, creating a sort of bed for her to lie on, as she peered through those that still stood at the line of trees that surrounded her. As she glanced up at the clear blue sky that stretched up before her, at the golden colored sun that had just awoken to a new day. Everything seemed to be just waking up, and the girl appeared to be alone, for neither Yune or Alenias were anywhere in sight.

Aello simply sat in the clearing, enjoying the silence, the peace of the morning, when a butterfly with clear blue wings fluttered down to her and landed on her knee. She smiled sweetly, simply staring at the thing; trying not to laugh as it crawled to higher ground, softly tickling her pale flesh. Everything is about to change, Aello heard, the voice booming within her mind. Instantly, the girl's hands shot up to her ears, covering them in pain. The voice was not her own, it was not her whispering. "Where the petch are you?" Aello screamed, "and why the petch are you speaking so loudly? And cryptically for that matter?"

No, not cryptically... but more or less in riddle, the voice boomed, causing Aello to scrunch her eyes shut to try and block it out. After all, she had to be imagining it, for there was no one else around. No one to speak to her about such strange things. "How is speaking in riddles any different?" she asked, through grit teeth, although she received no answer from the mysterious, booming voice. Instead, she heard a loud, deep, rumbling laugh, that stretched on for what seemed to be ages, before it came to a sudden end. All you need to know, curious being, is that all is about to change. Nothing will be as it seems, and you will lose the last portion of your mind. Everything that remains will disappear, and life as you know it shall cease. Aello frowned, "and what if you were told that the one you are speaking to has already lost it all?" she asked, her voice cold, angry. Then you would be told there is still more to lose. Everything has not been lost... yet. With that, the butterfly fluttered away, and soon disappeared into nothingness. As though it had become a part of the air the girl breathed.

Instantly, Aello awoke from her dream with a jolt. She found herself sitting alone in the forest, surrounded by her things. Several beads of sweat trickling down her face and causing her flesh to glow; her heart pounding in her tiny rib cage. "That was a strange dream," she whispered, as she lifted her right hand to her forehead, and braced herself for a moment, before taking the time to wipe some of the sweat away before glancing around. Now where did Alenias go? She was here last night, wasn't she? she thought, trying to remember, to be certain as she slowly got to her feet and gathered her things, flinging her bag and her quiver over her shoulder, and gripping her father's old bow tightly in her left hand. Yes the Kelvic was with us... probably rose with the other birds, not to long ago. "We should go find her," Aello whispered, as she began to walk deeper into the woods, searching for her friend. "Alenias!" she shouted once, hoping the girl wasn't so far away that she could not hear.

OOCI know, quite the trippy dream... the butterfly was the thing talking to her btw. Heh... I am in a weird mood.

by **Alenias** on August 12th, 2011, 4:55 am

Alenias' eyes widened as she saw the man start playing with fire. Was this magic? She'd heard whispered talk about magic before, and Nex had eaten a magical rabbit once, but she'd never seen anything like what this man was doing. It did kind of remind her of Siriana, the way her hand had glowed. Maybe the man was good like her?

Aello's voice cut through Alenias' thoughts, and the Kelvic quickly turned in the direction of the sound. Without even thinking she began to quickly run through the forest and towards the woman who took care of her. Her urgency in returning meant her travel was far from silent as she passed by brush and over the rough forest floor.

When she found Aello she ran up to the woman a little breathless and excited, "Aello! There's a strange man in the forest playing with fire!" she held out her hands like she'd seen the man doing, "He was holding his hands like this, and there was fire on them, and then floating above them! Is that magic? Do you want to see?"

She hoped Aello would want to see the man, because Alenias was very curious to see what he was doing. Maybe because he was in the forest, instead of the city, he wasn't a bad man? Or maybe he was like Siriana and the man they had met in the forest? Either way she wanted to see more of the strange man.

by **Kendall Saarinen** on August 13th, 2011, 3:01 am

Kendall was feeling himself calm, slowly but surely. A voice shattered this calm though. A familiar voice calling through the forest. It called the name "Alenias". The blond knew that he knew the voice but how could he? There was no way that he knew anyone from Ravok. This was the first time he had ever been in the city. Still, he knew the voice, he just could not place it.

The voice could have been shrugged off but shortly after it called through the forest a sound of running in the brush caught Kendall's ears. "Who's there?" Kendall tried to come off as being brave. He did not want whatever was hiding in the forest to know that he was scared, even if he was. He was not sure what to do except stand in the forest, waiting for whatever it was to come and get him or run off. If he was going to wait the least he could do was be prepared. He pulled the flames in close to him, letting them burn fiercely above his palms. He would not call out again to whatever was in the woods but he was considering his choice in arcana. Perhaps he should have used shielding instead? Only time would tell now and the most he could hope for was that whoever had called out the name was not looking for blood.

by **Aello** on August 13th, 2011, 7:06 pm

"Alenias? Is everything alright?" Aello asked as her eyes first fell on the returning Kelvic girl. When Alenias spoke, Aello grew silent, her heart skipping a few beats when the words first penetrated her conscious understanding of things. Just like Liam, she thought, as her eyes grew somewhat wide, and she was forced to swallow the clump of saliva that had gathered in the back of her throat. Her palms had grown sweaty, and suddenly, her eyelids seemed somewhat heavy. She was so not in the mood to deal with another magic user right now. But Alenias... Alenias was young, and seemed to be rather interested in such a prospect. So Aello sighed, knowing that it'd be difficult to keep Alenias from giving into her more curious side. Not to mention, it may be somewhat unfair for her to do so; to shelter her from everything.

"You must have found yourself a fire reimancer Alenias," Aello explained, slightly unnerved by the element the man wielded. Fire always made Aello uneasy. Not only that, but they were in a forest, surrounded by trees and dried leaves; which would take easily to flame should they get too close. It is somewhat odd that the reimancer didn't consider the risks before lighting up, Aello thought. For all they need is one misstep; one instance where they lose control and it could all be over for this forest... everything from here to the lake where the fire would be snuffed out; could be turned to ash. Aello's eyes took on a far off look as she considered her next set of words. "It is a dangerous sort of magic Alenias. Something that is difficult to understand or explain... perhaps you could ask the man when we meet him," she finished with a small smile. "Just lead the way. Surely he isn't too far off." Aello gulped, she couldn't decide if that was a good thing.

by **Alenias** on August 17th, 2011, 4:48 pm

Alenias listened intently to Aello's explanation, her eyes going wide with amazement as the woman explained it was a magic person. When Aello told her to lead the way she gave a huge smile and took Aello's hand eagerly, "He's really close, this way!"

Eagerly leading the way through the forest as quickly as she could, not trying to be quiet any more, it didn't take Alenias long to lead Aello to where she had seen the man. Luckily he was still there, and with the fire burning just above the palms of his hands. Without any attempt of being stealthy or cautious she burst into the area near the man, and then turned to Aello, "See Aello! He's got fire!" she then turned her attention to the man, scrunching up her face as she tried to remember what Aello had called him, "Are you a fire.... Ray-dancer?" she watched the man with wide, eager eyes, anxious to hear his answer.

by **Kendall Saarinen** on August 17th, 2011, 9:23 pm

There was a rustling in the woods as time went on. Kendall could feel the fear rising in him as he tried to think of what could be in the brush. His fire blazed obediently over his palms, feeding into his already high body temperature. "Ivak protect me." His eyes darted around him, trying to see all around to where the noise was.

A voice caught Kendall's attention. Mismatched eyes searched for the origin of the sound until a girl stepped out in front of him. He was not sure what to do. She seemed innocent enough but what she said struck Kendall. She called out the name Aello. For a moment Kendall wondered if this was the same Aello that he had known in Zeltiva. It couldn't be. There were bound to be many Aellos in the world and besides, Aello had perished in a house fire. His hands closed around the flames that glowed over his palms, snuffing them with a quiet hiss against his skin. "I'm a Reimancer." He could not stop wondering who this Aello person was. Aello was not the most common name but he had to be rational. His best friend from Zeltiva was gone and even if she was with this girl she would not know him anymore. Markus had shunned him in his body. Why wouldn't Aello. Everyone from Zeltiva was leaving him or had already left him. That is except Hadrian but he had not known the mage too well back then.

Kendall looked at the girl, taking in the colors of her aura. She seemed calm enough, almost shining with a shade of wonder. He found it hard to keep his attention on the girl's aura when his mind was mulling over the days when he spent time with Aello. He looked around, trying to pick up an aura from the girl's companion, Aello. He had never known what Aello's aura looked like and the whole process seemed a bit futile. Kendall was just a lost girl looking for her last friend. If this Aello was his Aello she was his last connection to his life in Zeltiva.

by **Aello** on August 18th, 2011, 11:53 pm

Aello followed silently behind Alenias, no more than a few steps behind at any given time. Unlike the girl, she tread with far less enthusiasm, hoping to drag out the time it took to reach the reimancer just enough to ensure that whoever it was had moved on. That way, they would not have to come face to face. However, the gods did not seem to be favoring her today, and when Alenias greeted the reimancer, she cringed, before stepping out and into the clearing to say hello.

When she spotted the blonde-haired man, who hardly seemed a year older than herself, Aello smiled weakly. "Hello," she said somewhat coldly, as her eyes danced up and down the boy's body, trying to take him in. As she stared, she could feel her body temperature rising, although, it was not from anger or embarrassment; for her skin failed to change to a light pink, or even a deep red hue. She could just make out tiny tendrils of smoke rising off in the distance, as the smell of smoke reached her nostrils causing them to flare from sheer irritation.

So what Alenias said is true, the boy does play with fire, Aello's mind whispered as her pupils dilated, and her heart began to pick up the pace, pounding all the more ferociously in her tiny rib cage. Along with some other magic- auristics, like yourself, and something you have not come into contact with much before. Instantly, the girl's muscles began to tense. This could not be good.

"Who are you and what are you doing in the forest, alone?" Aello inquired, her voice still cold. She was tightening her grip on her father's old bow as she stared, willing her magic or the boy himself to supply her with all the answers she so desperately wanted and needed. "Allowing fire to sprout out of your palms?" she asked. "When you could so easily take one false step, and find yourself tangled in the underbrush, setting everything ablaze?" There was a slight pause, "it will only end when the fire reaches the lake, for Rhysol doesn't seem to allow the rain to reach us... in the city anyway." There was a slight pause, "the forest on the other hand, is a slightly different story. Truly wild, although, not quite as chaotic as Rhysol's city, in all of it's glory," the girl finished, with a small smirk. Knowing that in a way, the last sentence she spoke was a lie.

by **Alenias** on September 2nd, 2011, 7:07 pm

Alenias' eagerness was quickly dampened by Aello's reaction to the man. There were lots of bad men around Ravok, and Aello always seemed to know when one of those bad people was around. Clenching her fists slightly she moved a little closer to Aello, ready to protect the woman if the man did something bad.

As Aello spoke Alenias' dark eyes narrowed beneath her wild and rather dirty hair as she glared at the man. Maybe he was like those bad men that had tried to take her and the Zith lady? That would be really bad with his magic fire, but Aello was here now so she could shoot him with her bow if he did do something bad. Alenias wanted to help too, but she didn't have a bow. After a moment's thought she started to walk slowly towards the man, her eyes nervously watching him for signs of attack.

"Yeah, what are you doing out here?" Alenias called to the man as she continued to watch him warily, "Like Aello said, why are you playing with fire, Ray-mancer?" the word felt weird to Alenias, but Aello had said that was what the man was.