The Path Home
~~~
Lay beside me, tell me what they've done Speak the words I want to hear, to make my demons run... Unforgiven II, Metallica
~~~
A hesitant gait, and leaves crunch quietly underfoot. The head beneath the hood rose slowly, taken aback at hearing anything but the unsettling quiet of the Vacuole, and seeing something other than that endless span of nothing. The boy had drank from him, and deeply....he'd been gifted with true darkness"
The lake shimmers.
The lake shines.
The winter nights bring a darker evening, and a lower moon. They shimmer across the lake like broken glass fragments of moondust, and warp. They shimmer, they shine. The sunshine shimmer of darkness - they glint from her crimson eyes, glowing hotter than core of a planet, and far more molten than a eviscerated rock.
Adorned in an elegant red dress, with her ankles submerged in the ethereal liquid, she merely observed. She merely watched the lake shift, and thought of everything.
There is no peace. There is no solitude. There is no thought. There is nothing but the fact, a fact of life: One is alone. A person is born - a pure product of construction between two individuals - the purpose, is what that entity makes it. But what happens when such a basic requirement, is taken from you?
Constantly'
She moved deeper into the lake, until she was waist high in the inky darkness, of shifting diamonds. Then, with a single lift of her hands, she ran damp fingers through her hair, sweeping back the dark locks from her sight and slipping them behind her ears. The icy coldness was her only comfort. Always had been.
A lake"
"was her only shelter.
She bent forward, and dipped her face into the surface, and submerged her features for a second, and then threw back her head, sending a spray of water droplets to hurl behind her, as her hair snapped backwards"
Only to open his eyes" here. Likely, another tormenting nightmare cast on him by Oblivion. Eyes rising from the depths to stare out across the lake from the forests edge, all but confirmed it, and he twitched unconsciously. The remains of one arm rose to his chest, and the his breathing, synthesized as it now sounded, caught momentarily as pain lanced through Pathfinders scar upon his brow.
Staggering against the agony, but proceeding nonetheless, as he felt it every time his thoughts drifted to her since he'd been taken by Azira's forces, and they had removed his Myriad, he waited to awaken to darkness, moving closer all the while....challenging them to torture him further, until his feet touched the icy coldness of the lake, and a rippling reflection was cast out across the waters surface.
Her eyes turned. She stared. The movement was noted. The face was also noted. The way he moved, noted. She barely moved. Then, something happened. She felt herself melt. She felt herself move forward - no, pushed. She pushed forward towards the figure entering the lake's surface. She moved so quick, that the water about her twitched, and become repulsed. She moved across the bed of the shore, while the water parted from her as if a mere servant to her whim.
Wide magma eyes, flecked in azure, remained on her target. "....Identify." It was spoken as an emotionless demand. "Identify." She approached him, hands moving out to grip his shoulders, and to steady him.
"No....More..." his words were halting, he wasn't usually able to speak in the Vacuole dreams, not without being....punished, "....games....stop. I will....sleep."
A fresh lance of pain shot through him, stronger than before, and bringing him to his knees. "Please..."his voice was bereft of emotion, but pleading. As hands touched his shoulders the hood of the cloak fell back, terrible scars around his eyes and on the spot Pathfinder had sat, eyes....dull. "....This is....a ....test?" And he seemed to shirk further, acknowledging he'd dared to ask a question, "....Riven....Riven," eyes lowering, though they'd yet to find hers, "...K-Kaius..." a violent shake of his head, "....we are....Riven."
As he fell to his knees, she remained standing. Coldly, she watched. She heard. "Kaius."
She found a smile curling to her lips.
Then a frown.
Then a scowl.
She lowered her hands to her sides, and merely stood over him. "What is Riven?"
His head raised, something....wasn't right. Eyes slowly following up her body, eyes narrowing on the scowl....which...did seem right....What wasn't he telling them, why were they perpetuating the torment....why hadn't she disappeared, or died while he was bound and unable to stop it, knowing she would just become an ornament for an uncaring, sick, being" Finally, his eyes met hers, and scowl or not, something awoke within him. The pain he was feeling wasn't due to torture....it was blood, calling to its own.
"They..."twitch," They....separated....separated..." his actual voice was a blend that sounded to be coming softly from multiple sets of vocal cords, though it was just a manifestation of the enchantments laid on him to keep him from healing, "R..Ren..." Could one sound emotionless and confused" This one did, the hand that remained sought down into the water, grasping absently at a cord which trailed behind him onto the shore, whatever weighted its end the cause of his semi hitching, stopping, and steps.
Tears fell. She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around him. "....Is it you?"
~~~
Lay beside me, tell me what they've done Speak the words I want to hear, to make my demons run... Unforgiven II, Metallica
~~~
A hesitant gait, and leaves crunch quietly underfoot. The head beneath the hood rose slowly, taken aback at hearing anything but the unsettling quiet of the Vacuole, and seeing something other than that endless span of nothing. The boy had drank from him, and deeply....he'd been gifted with true darkness"
The lake shimmers.
The lake shines.
The winter nights bring a darker evening, and a lower moon. They shimmer across the lake like broken glass fragments of moondust, and warp. They shimmer, they shine. The sunshine shimmer of darkness - they glint from her crimson eyes, glowing hotter than core of a planet, and far more molten than a eviscerated rock.
Adorned in an elegant red dress, with her ankles submerged in the ethereal liquid, she merely observed. She merely watched the lake shift, and thought of everything.
There is no peace. There is no solitude. There is no thought. There is nothing but the fact, a fact of life: One is alone. A person is born - a pure product of construction between two individuals - the purpose, is what that entity makes it. But what happens when such a basic requirement, is taken from you?
Constantly'
She moved deeper into the lake, until she was waist high in the inky darkness, of shifting diamonds. Then, with a single lift of her hands, she ran damp fingers through her hair, sweeping back the dark locks from her sight and slipping them behind her ears. The icy coldness was her only comfort. Always had been.
A lake"
"was her only shelter.
She bent forward, and dipped her face into the surface, and submerged her features for a second, and then threw back her head, sending a spray of water droplets to hurl behind her, as her hair snapped backwards"
Only to open his eyes" here. Likely, another tormenting nightmare cast on him by Oblivion. Eyes rising from the depths to stare out across the lake from the forests edge, all but confirmed it, and he twitched unconsciously. The remains of one arm rose to his chest, and the his breathing, synthesized as it now sounded, caught momentarily as pain lanced through Pathfinders scar upon his brow.
Staggering against the agony, but proceeding nonetheless, as he felt it every time his thoughts drifted to her since he'd been taken by Azira's forces, and they had removed his Myriad, he waited to awaken to darkness, moving closer all the while....challenging them to torture him further, until his feet touched the icy coldness of the lake, and a rippling reflection was cast out across the waters surface.
Her eyes turned. She stared. The movement was noted. The face was also noted. The way he moved, noted. She barely moved. Then, something happened. She felt herself melt. She felt herself move forward - no, pushed. She pushed forward towards the figure entering the lake's surface. She moved so quick, that the water about her twitched, and become repulsed. She moved across the bed of the shore, while the water parted from her as if a mere servant to her whim.
Wide magma eyes, flecked in azure, remained on her target. "....Identify." It was spoken as an emotionless demand. "Identify." She approached him, hands moving out to grip his shoulders, and to steady him.
"No....More..." his words were halting, he wasn't usually able to speak in the Vacuole dreams, not without being....punished, "....games....stop. I will....sleep."
A fresh lance of pain shot through him, stronger than before, and bringing him to his knees. "Please..."his voice was bereft of emotion, but pleading. As hands touched his shoulders the hood of the cloak fell back, terrible scars around his eyes and on the spot Pathfinder had sat, eyes....dull. "....This is....a ....test?" And he seemed to shirk further, acknowledging he'd dared to ask a question, "....Riven....Riven," eyes lowering, though they'd yet to find hers, "...K-Kaius..." a violent shake of his head, "....we are....Riven."
As he fell to his knees, she remained standing. Coldly, she watched. She heard. "Kaius."
She found a smile curling to her lips.
Then a frown.
Then a scowl.
She lowered her hands to her sides, and merely stood over him. "What is Riven?"
His head raised, something....wasn't right. Eyes slowly following up her body, eyes narrowing on the scowl....which...did seem right....What wasn't he telling them, why were they perpetuating the torment....why hadn't she disappeared, or died while he was bound and unable to stop it, knowing she would just become an ornament for an uncaring, sick, being" Finally, his eyes met hers, and scowl or not, something awoke within him. The pain he was feeling wasn't due to torture....it was blood, calling to its own.
"They..."twitch," They....separated....separated..." his actual voice was a blend that sounded to be coming softly from multiple sets of vocal cords, though it was just a manifestation of the enchantments laid on him to keep him from healing, "R..Ren..." Could one sound emotionless and confused" This one did, the hand that remained sought down into the water, grasping absently at a cord which trailed behind him onto the shore, whatever weighted its end the cause of his semi hitching, stopping, and steps.
Tears fell. She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around him. "....Is it you?"