Post hoc ergo propter hoc
Hope springs, a strange name for a place. Of course there were stranger names, Rhy'Din for one. The name that came from a conjunction of a place and a dragon. Maybe it didn't really matter where the name came from' Kruger laughed, the act turned the heads of strangers his direction with a look that implied he might be insane. Then again he might be, how the hell had he gotten here" It wasn't like other times he'd traveled without really moving. Then he'd made a gate and stepped through. This was something different, the space before him literally changed right in front of him. There was no folding, no melting of one image over another. One second he was on a street in Rhy'Din, the next he was standing in front of a sign announcing that he was in Hope Springs.
The sign stood adjacent to a beach that would likely fill up as morning progressed. That had been another thing, Kruger had left when the sun had already begun it's descent, but the sun on the eastern horizon was clearly rising. A lone figure sat on a lounge chair made of some kind of grey metal and ribbons. Kruger was drawn towards him, though he couldn't really say why. It was a desire he had no way of fighting. He doubted that if he tried to stop he would be able to.
Kruger had seen devices similar to the one that the figure was typing into. There were some differences of course, the symbols and letters were completely different. Kruger stopped two feet from the man in the chair, a pair of dull green eyes looked up and met his eyes. "You're here, I didn't....well at first I didn't but then I remembered there's power in the world that can't be defined..." The man shook his head apologetically. "No wait, I'm sure you aren't grasping any of what I am saying. For some reason I figured that my thoughts would ring through to you like a conscience....or that little devil of temptation that creeps through the back of your mind. You know the one and how it has gotten you into trouble. Don't deny it, Kruger."
Kruger backed a step, then a hesitant second step. "You have me at a disadvantage, you know me but I really don't know you." It wasn't the first time that had happened either. Often customers would come in and know him before he knew them. That was to be expected, this was just weird, and he had to admit unacceptable. Kruger's hand was so quick to his hammer that the head was a blur as he pulled it from its loop. "You don't look like a wizard, it's sunny so I doubt you're a vampire. Looks can be deceiving though, and rules always seem to change. What exactly are you, tell me now or I will see you ripped from this world."
The singularity within Dark Heart, Kruger's hammer needed to feed to stay alive. If it didn't feed tiny black hole within would simply collapse in upon itself and be no more. Kruger fed it sparingly, and usually something that wasn't living. The nice thing about having stores of metal was that it gave him something to feed the hammer without anyone suspecting a thing about the stockpile dwindling. The hammer had no preference though, it would consume scrap as easily as raw material. Kruger doubted it would know the difference between any of that and the man sitting there looking at him.
The man's face became a moue of concentration. His brows descended as he took a deep breath and let it out through his nose. Those clamped lips weren't going to let anything that wasn't subatomic out of them. "I'm you, or maybe you're me" I don't know the relationship is so hard to define really. I am the voice in your head, the thing that moves you. I'm the one who gets you in and out of trouble. I was there when you danced Apollon Musegettes. I was there for your first fight, your first love. I was there when you laid awake at night in pain from the beatings your forgemaster gave you. The problem is that I was him too, and the stripes that he left so deeply on your flesh. He gave you the brand, but I created the symbol."
The man put the laptop aside and stood, he was of a height with Kruger but at least sixty pounds leaner. He wasn't lacking in muscle tone and definition. Kruger could see that much in the lay of his tank top and the depth of the cuts in his shoulders and at the center of his chest. "You aren't making any sense. Unless your saying that for the past thirty five years you've been stalking me, but that makes no sense. You're about my age, and I know I've never seen you before."
"We're close to the same age. the truth is that you've only been around for about thirty years, the first five were really just backstory that I invented, and rewrote a few times. I think I finally found the one that works best for you though." The man smiled, pushed up his glasses with the tip of his forefinger and stepped away from the chair towards the beach. "There is more to show you, not here, when you go back....you will go back, but I need you here right now. With me at least for a little while."
Hope springs, a strange name for a place. Of course there were stranger names, Rhy'Din for one. The name that came from a conjunction of a place and a dragon. Maybe it didn't really matter where the name came from' Kruger laughed, the act turned the heads of strangers his direction with a look that implied he might be insane. Then again he might be, how the hell had he gotten here" It wasn't like other times he'd traveled without really moving. Then he'd made a gate and stepped through. This was something different, the space before him literally changed right in front of him. There was no folding, no melting of one image over another. One second he was on a street in Rhy'Din, the next he was standing in front of a sign announcing that he was in Hope Springs.
The sign stood adjacent to a beach that would likely fill up as morning progressed. That had been another thing, Kruger had left when the sun had already begun it's descent, but the sun on the eastern horizon was clearly rising. A lone figure sat on a lounge chair made of some kind of grey metal and ribbons. Kruger was drawn towards him, though he couldn't really say why. It was a desire he had no way of fighting. He doubted that if he tried to stop he would be able to.
Kruger had seen devices similar to the one that the figure was typing into. There were some differences of course, the symbols and letters were completely different. Kruger stopped two feet from the man in the chair, a pair of dull green eyes looked up and met his eyes. "You're here, I didn't....well at first I didn't but then I remembered there's power in the world that can't be defined..." The man shook his head apologetically. "No wait, I'm sure you aren't grasping any of what I am saying. For some reason I figured that my thoughts would ring through to you like a conscience....or that little devil of temptation that creeps through the back of your mind. You know the one and how it has gotten you into trouble. Don't deny it, Kruger."
Kruger backed a step, then a hesitant second step. "You have me at a disadvantage, you know me but I really don't know you." It wasn't the first time that had happened either. Often customers would come in and know him before he knew them. That was to be expected, this was just weird, and he had to admit unacceptable. Kruger's hand was so quick to his hammer that the head was a blur as he pulled it from its loop. "You don't look like a wizard, it's sunny so I doubt you're a vampire. Looks can be deceiving though, and rules always seem to change. What exactly are you, tell me now or I will see you ripped from this world."
The singularity within Dark Heart, Kruger's hammer needed to feed to stay alive. If it didn't feed tiny black hole within would simply collapse in upon itself and be no more. Kruger fed it sparingly, and usually something that wasn't living. The nice thing about having stores of metal was that it gave him something to feed the hammer without anyone suspecting a thing about the stockpile dwindling. The hammer had no preference though, it would consume scrap as easily as raw material. Kruger doubted it would know the difference between any of that and the man sitting there looking at him.
The man's face became a moue of concentration. His brows descended as he took a deep breath and let it out through his nose. Those clamped lips weren't going to let anything that wasn't subatomic out of them. "I'm you, or maybe you're me" I don't know the relationship is so hard to define really. I am the voice in your head, the thing that moves you. I'm the one who gets you in and out of trouble. I was there when you danced Apollon Musegettes. I was there for your first fight, your first love. I was there when you laid awake at night in pain from the beatings your forgemaster gave you. The problem is that I was him too, and the stripes that he left so deeply on your flesh. He gave you the brand, but I created the symbol."
The man put the laptop aside and stood, he was of a height with Kruger but at least sixty pounds leaner. He wasn't lacking in muscle tone and definition. Kruger could see that much in the lay of his tank top and the depth of the cuts in his shoulders and at the center of his chest. "You aren't making any sense. Unless your saying that for the past thirty five years you've been stalking me, but that makes no sense. You're about my age, and I know I've never seen you before."
"We're close to the same age. the truth is that you've only been around for about thirty years, the first five were really just backstory that I invented, and rewrote a few times. I think I finally found the one that works best for you though." The man smiled, pushed up his glasses with the tip of his forefinger and stepped away from the chair towards the beach. "There is more to show you, not here, when you go back....you will go back, but I need you here right now. With me at least for a little while."