Dreaming to awaken the beast within(Sairque)

[Taln]

5th Spring, 512 Taln/Inferno fell into a deep slumber, infinitely exhausted with ego fighting id betwixt two vital souls vying for dominance of one fragile body. The Velispar sunk heavily into the earth, taking comfort in its fresh volcanic heat, its enormous talons scoring the magma to burst and bleed forth more fire. Taln was tired beyond words at all that had happened and life asking too much of a simple but good-hearted Dek. The warmth seared their souls, bringing comfort and solace from anything beyond themselves. No noise or trouble existed beyond them, buried snug and deep inside the heart of Wind Reach's soil. Sleep overcame the pair and their conscious thoughts twined in a painful tie. He remembered and relived it. The infinity of being water that flowed, shaped and became everything it touched. So smooth. Unceasing movement and cradling eons of life within it. Transition ripped apart his fragile body and he became earth, solid and strong. It gave and received comfort from all that touched it. He nurtured the plants that sunk roots inside his heart. As he started to find solace, horrific images passed his eyes in a myriad kaleidoscope. Taln was on all fours, again feeling the burn of an Avora's talon sword slashing his ribs, back and leg. Before the shame could remain, it shifted to him face down in the dirt, a black eyed Yasi kicking in the already broken ribs and battered flesh. The earth felt and absorbed his pain! It had been there and he had become earth! It was always there for him! Again as he found a shred of solace, it swiftly blurred to the essence of air. An enormous Wind Eagle hurled from the sky, its life ripped to an empty, ugly shell. It hit the ground harshly with a puff of feathers, its once fierce eyes now dead and staring at nothing. The slit-pupiled yellow eye suddenly moved and glared at Taln. 'You killed us. Murderer! Defiler!' The red haired man recoiled from the sight, trying to cover his ears from the foreign and angry thoughts in his already wounded mind. Fire erupted from within and he felt strong and confident and safe. Three vibrant flames burned along his spine, reminiscent of Ivak's touch, and burst into violent fire. Inferno charged into the body and the earth quivered and shuddered in pain at the unnatural fit. Plates shifted and ground and shoved at magma, pushing it to bursting point. Lava erupted violently from several volcanoes, forcing a pyroclastic flow of unheard of proportions. Air, Fire, Water and Earth joined and held onto a piece of Taln, and in doing so, ripped apart a wild djed storm that devastated all living things that it touched. Taln saw it for the first time. Mass genocide of several species of living creatures! Each and every death felt by the battered ex Dek, surging in an endless tide of pain and torture. 'See what you have caused in your ignorance Taln. Feel it and know that you are a mass murderer of epic proportion. Even the Gods don't know how many mortal lives you've stolen. Yet you live, fragile Inarta.' His molten eyes turned back to the indignant and magnificent form of a familiar Wind Eagle glaring back him.

[Sairque]

The divine guardian snapped its wings open, kicking a sulfurous blast of inexplicably icy air over the reborn Dek. When the icicles fell from Taln’s eyes and he turned his gaze back once more, the Eagle had shifted, perhaps it was the same one, perhaps it was a new one, but this one was familiar as well and standing proudly. He was black as the depths Taln had descended, and streaked with the brilliance of Ivak’s power. Molten red, normally only conjured to life under Syna’s loving caress, shimmered across his feathers. But the color dripped, cooling to slag as it hit the ground in forty foot long line from tip to tip. The heat was there, the double-edged life blood of this Dek’s people, and though he was the color of char Catabasis felt it not. Emerging from his chest, a black and red bundle parted his feathers like a curtain and stepped forth. The considerable distance to the sundered ground mattered not as she took one step and stood between his talons. His feathers followed her, obscuring her from view, and settled over her shoulders as a cloak, full and thick, begging for the cleansed breeze of Skyinarta to make them sing as they had done in the past. Unaware of an audience, the cowled figure pivoted and dropped its head back to span the considerable distance to the Eagle’s gaze. Miniscule compared to him, in stature, power and wisdom, she was swallowed up as he encircled her in walls of plumed embrace. The heavens ripped open, sliced in jagged wound by a shriek unlike anything any Inarta had heard before. Water fell, whole stormclouds released from vapor to moisture, pouring and drenching in torrential explosions. But where it impacted, utter immobility took hold and the moisture disappeared. Around the two figures, keening Eagle and struggling man, the world froze. An orb, yellow as venom, found the man and looked to the Velispar within. Malleable scales extended from the smooth glass of his beak, over the elegant curve of his face until it swallowed that scrying orb whole. Blind, the great beast threw his head back and poured more into his song. A torrent fell from the sky and covered the Eagle. As it exploded off the ground, it took him with. In the dead silence that followed, black and red feathers stirred. All that was left was a kneeling shadow. The cowl fell back though at first it didn’t seem so as coloring didn’t change between garment and hair. The figure stood, slow and ponderous under an immense weight. She took a step around, to face Taln, but when heel stilled she had crossed the distance between and stood before him. She knew him. From the babyshower. Feathers shifted as she reached out to take hold of his chin, demanding his attention. But within those sharp golden hues of the former Endal, it was the Velispar and not Taln that reflected. Thoughts were crisp and fresh in a way that they hadn’t been for the last two days. Laughter spilled from perpetually chapped lips, washing over desolate landscape.

[Taln]

Molten eyes flared hot yellow at the insouciant, casual touch of a mere mortal and the Velispar snarled a warning. Taln trembled out of habit, his form shimmering back down to the lean and hungry Dek. He looked down and to the side, a tumble of long red hair obscuring his eyes from the Endal authority. 'Will she beat me? I think I killed her Wind Eagle. Was that Catabasis?!' Taln's mind wrestled and twisted with anguish, matching his gut. 'It's her right as an Endal to--' 'Idiot Inarta! You are NOT a dek any longer! You share the ancient and revered body of a bloody Velispar! You bow to no mortal. Ever!' Inferno's voice lashed his mind like a whip and he visibly winced. The tall man still couldn't quite accept all the changes that had happened and wasn't sure he ever would. The Inarta was a creature of habit and would likely remain so all of his days. He couldn't meet the woman's eyes. The Endal. What's her name. Sairque! That was the name. Not the most eloquent of men, he dropped to his knees in a very well practiced motion and begged the woman and Wind Eagle's forgiveness. Taln bowed his head in deep shame, staring at the ground and knew that harsh retribution was only fair. "Please forgive me Endal Sairque, Catabasis. This humble Dek knows not what he does."

[Sairque]

Fingers fell away as he shrank, the lingering touch of Taln’s past sloughing off with casual disregard. Her gaze replaced it, hard and scrutinizing. Unfazed by the shame display, by the pathetic expression of apology and regret, the flight leader stared at the cowlick at the back of his head. How confusing life must be for those like him. Did he understand? Even most Endal didn’t have half a clue. “No, no you don’t,” she murmured in agreement, head cocking to the side. Feathers brushed a pallid cheek. Her hand returned to his jaw, a lone finger hooking under the ridge of his chin and drawing his face up. Cool and light, her other hand brushed thick red locks out of glowing eyes. The gesture could have been tender. Brows contracted, eyes nothing more than slits peering though him, resigned and pensive features frozen. Silence stole the breath from supple lips and plugged straining ears. She was small enough that bending down to bring her face to his took no more than a slight hunching. Her hand dropped, the cup of her palm brushed over the scars of his chest. “Tell me,” she said. “Tell me what it is you’ve done.”

[Taln]

Her slight feathery touch made a shudder ripple down his spine. Both instinctive fear and deep attraction trembled like an earthquake through Taln as she forced a direct look. He mentally fought the demanding eye contact with a superior, but lost the battle. Sairque's beauty was like a fire diamond; exquisitely beautiful, but hard and untouchable. Sai's words caressed his ears with a lover's tone and his molten eyes flared brightly, revealing everything he felt. Her slim, cool hand ran through his hair but it was different now. So many times before he would flinch at someone touching so near his face, but her gaze held him transfixed. Sensuous fingers tousled his hair and a part of him longed unbearably for the tender contact. The delicate hand moved deftly across his chest, hovering briefly over a raised, ugly scar and he shivered. For the longest chime, Taln couldn't speak or think, and he swallowed. His breath hitched for a moment, caught under the spell of her dangerously enticing voice. Every Dek knew this trap as well as their own breathing. Forcing you to incriminate yourself with your own words, not daring to disobey despite the beating you knew would ensue. They were always the most beautiful and most deadly. The silky tone paired with a gentle touch was always like a snake about to strike when you were cornered. With a dry mouth, Taln answered, barely above a whisper, "I am partly responsible for the death of Catabasis, Endal Sairque." There was so much more to explain, but her presence always undid what little composure he had. Who could even remember to -breathe- with her around?!

[Sairque]

His voice, trembling, made the feathers at the clasp of her cloak flutter. Like they, Taln quivered with the knowledge that he was at the mercy of something else. He admired her, those remarkable glowing eyes told no lie, and he feared her. His desire for approval, for positive human contact, was supplemented by conditioning to seek out the pleasure of his superiors. Experience insisted on wariness. Desire insisted on muddling. Warm and curious, her touch retreated to be replaced by sensitive fingertips seeking to learn the outline of his poorly-healed scar. Skittish, it quickly moved along the cusp of his pectoral, meandering to the next mar in his oft-abused flesh. It was a game he’d played frequently, she could tell; it was a game to Endal because they never lost. Sai didn’t play games—malicious and slanderous rumors spread by her sister aside. Every blow dealt by the austere little woman carried with it the sobriety of unflinching desire for pain. For meting out discipline to those that couldn’t seem to learn from words. But Taln didn’t know that. And he wouldn’t. His misplaced fears worked to her advantage for now, and she would scoff at giving that up for some naïve notion of alleviating his temporary discomfort. Feathers rustled, loud in the unnatural stillness surrounding them, as her arm moved. Wire-like, fingers textured with razor thin blue scars wrapped over the thick muscle sloping from the base of his neck to his shoulder. Years of labor had made it as hard as the gritty stone digging into his knees. “Elaborate,” she said. What composure he didn’t have, she had in spades. Neither anger nor surprise flicked even briefly across those disciplined features. There was something wrong, tickling the back of her mind.

[Taln]

Two decades of memories flooded him of this very same situation. Forced to kneel before someone's authoritative whim, tracing the proof of past beatings. Each raised cicatrix a vivid and permanent reminder of agonizing pain, humiliation and shame. Far more real than the new gnosis marks that scattered across his him to mix with the other scars. Sairque's strong fingers chose the largest of the marks, sparking a sharp memory. 'Stay still target dummy. I have to practice my talon sword and don't want to ruin the new blade on fabric.' Rage and fear warred at the Avora's condescending tone. At six feet tall and heavily muscled, he could easily kill the tiny female before him with no effort. She was a full foot shorter and carried a talon sword, and more importantly, the authority that Wind Reach society granted her. The sharply glittering sword came down at him and there was no petchin' way he could stay still for that! Taln threw himself to the side, falling heavily in an attempt to avoid the attack. The angry Avora had counted on his moving and the talon sword had a taste of Dek blood to the shoulder and swept across unprotected ribs with a searing bite. Sairque's soft, warm breath hovered closely near his face and enticingly dragged him back to the present. It was strange. Not like at the baby shower. Taln's skin was unnaturally hot to the touch, and this time, hers felt soothingly cool. The unique sussuration of rustling feathers sounded almost painfully loud in the smothering silence. Something -different- wavered through his mind and a gnosis mark gleamed on his pale skin, infusing his mind with unbidden knowledge. 'She has no intention of harming me! She wants only common courtesy and her questions answered. Her interrogation holds no malice within it. Yet.' gnosis generated thoughts made his mind clear for a chime. No fear of pain or death of body or mind. Taln simply knew he was safe at the moment. The mark from Sylir/Glav softened and returned to normal; just a mere seeming tattoo. Taln thanked Ivak for a moment's clarity that he was able to speak and actively look at Sairque directly without fighting it. For the first time in his life he felt calm, confident, rational and fearless. "I followed Leo Zaital to help free Ivak. Along the way, we learned to become the essence of Djed. It was the only way to free him, but it caused the death of millions to do so. In this, your respected bird, Catabasis is dead." He placed a large hand over her small one, feeling how cold it was next to his burning hot skin. As he rubbed a thumb over the top of her little fingers, he asked, "Why? Why do the scars fascinate you so?" Taln's voice was again, pitched quietly but sounded much calmer now.

[Sairque]

His warmth sidled up her blood vessels, and she almost shivered at how cold it made the rest of her feel. The sensation was nice, she decided, but was forestalled from pulling her hand away by Taln’s massive one. Rutilant gaze chilled, a displeasure pulling at the corners of narrow lips. But it wasn’t just his physical presumption, or the control she lost as his spine straightened and voice strengthened. Leo Zaital…she knew that name. Ulric and Torc. A warning lost in a haze of mead. But…but the Eagles had known. Perplexed, her blank gaze drifted over his head. His question passed by her ears without stopping for tea. In the blink it took for her gaze to return to him, a proud crest of blue and orange feathers erupted along the sleek line of her skull. She didn’t seem to notice, beyond shaking her head, as a lion would his mane, or a person after exiting water. Her cloak became a little less garment and a little more intrinsic. “They don’t, Taln.” Her gaze was hard and sharp, yet her voice pensive. “Everyone has scars. Some you can see, some you can’t. Some disappear in time, and some stay ugly forever. You’ve helped scar the whole world. What kind do you think it will be?” She pulled her hand out from beneath his, forcing herself to keep from enacting the violent shiver his touch shot up her spine. Emphasis on the violence. “You scarred yourself, too, Taln. Do you understand that?”

[Taln]

A nameless emotion flickered in her eyes and her feathered cloak ruffled up like her expression. For a moment, he saw her go someplace beyond him. Taln felt her tiny bird bones within his hand. It fluttered feebly, cool and fragile. It stirred something within him, seeing fear and weakness. Ssena's mark writhed obscenely on his shoulder, pulsing and illuminating the slim ex Endal's fears. Something sinister coiled within Taln, fed by Ssena's gnosis, wanting to pounce on the moment. It was too foreign, too harsh to be a natural part of him. A chime of struggling and he mastered the urge to strike down the woman before him. He could easily have crushed her lithe form without a second thought. His muscles were strong and the wealth of six gnosis marks filled his senses briefly. All the years of frustration, rage and shame remembered, could be taken from her all too tender flesh. Yellow eyes shifted from violent inferno to a smoldering, banked flame. His mind struggled beneath the burden of too much knowledge not fully recognized. 'It's not me! I don't want to kill!' 'Don't take orders from this idiot female, Taln. Kill the uppity little mortal and have done with her petty games.' 'NO!' Sairque's quiet but sharp tones brought him out of the internal struggle that held him captive. She was the difference between knowledge and wisdom. He knew now there was an ancient cache of so much available at just a thought. But the simple man had no idea how to use its wealth. What Sai had, she knew how to use it, and more importantly, wield it like a deadly talon sword. "I think scars make us more aware of mortality regardless of seen or unseen." He carefully released her hand, not wanting to chance unleashing the virulent beast lurking beneath the surface. His voice seemed distant, somehow not his own. Its tone as distant as Sai's eyes had recently been. "Scars do matter. At least to me. They're stories, memories of who we once were. I didn't know I caused so much damage. The earth's scars hurt at first, but in time, grass and trees take root within its heart. They heal each other by existing and together they again become whole." Glowing yellow eyes blinked at her comment and he slowly shifted to sit on the ground; an ingrained habit of old. The ex-dek was confused and his gnosis drawn comfort was short lived. Fears lurked at the corners of his mind and he didn't know if he should have moved to sit without her permission. Having no words to convey all the answers that swirled around, Taln shook his head. His eyes dropped to the ground in front of him, and thought as well as he could. Hidden potential for ancient wisdom, untapped gnosis marks and a vast strength was his to command--when he had the courage to use it. It was too much, too soon, too fast and he'd rather go back to what he knew. When he finally spoke again, it was with unconstrained self-loathing. "No Endal, I do not understand this, especially myself. Can you?"

[Sairque]

Near his hands, feathers sharp and plated scraped the ground yet left no marks. They’d gradually hardened, glinting in the filtered frozen light, while Taln battled his new nature into submission. Sai didn’t seem to notice the new armor, for her every move they yielded as pliantly as they had when natural. Inferno would know it, though, as dormant vestiges of a Wind Eagle reacting to his silent threat. Hair-turned-plummage sharpened and whisked with each turn of her head, obscenely bright and cheerful compared to the red and black cloak. She stared at him, understanding on an instinctual level that danger had teased the edge of reality, it was those eyes. The way power combusted there was so much of concentrated in that hulking Drudge. But the man sitting at her feet…she did not know. It took long ticks to trust that the man sitting at her feet wasn’t going to act on that brief moment of threat. And she wondered if she’d imagined the look in those eyes. The source and implication, what his subtle changes in demeanor meant… There was something wrong, and it tickled the back of her unconscious mind. Perplexed, the petite woman peered off into ruptured landscape, at great boulders and sheafs of stone caught mid-explosion. His answer rolled around through her mind, resituating in focus. She sat on a low rock, metallic cloak pooling, with wiry forearms on spread knees. First glimpse of her attire, traditional white bryda, but her shirt was a light, fluttering thing rare to Skyinarta. She shook her head, disagreeing with him, or maybe answering his plea. The stark mask of discipline revealed little. “I understand more than I care to,” she murmured, and when she looked up from her hands, anguish and resiliency sighed across gaunt features. “Rebirth is slow. Herds take years to rebuild after a winter of heavy hunting. Change can feel sudden, and adaption painful, but rebirth will come. It will come after peace.” Words, empty in and of themselves, but a tug at the corner of her lips offered so much more than he could ever ask for.