((Author's Note: The following was originally posted on the RoH Duel of Fists Board in May 2004 under the title Insomnia. This is from when ShadoWeaver first took over Matt and gives some backstory on Koy's life pre-RhyDin.))
There would be no sleeping tonight.
Normally, when she needed to think, Koy visited her favorite spot in between the dunes of the Ports' beaches. Tonight though she found herself leaving that place even more confused than before: Matt had been there, just as she had guessed, but the salt air did little to clear up his clouded head. More and more she felt as though she were dealing with two different people -- Matthew Simon the man and Matthew Simon the puppet.
Harris had jokingly advised her to bring a can of mace before trying to find Matt, who had run off from the Annex after a harmless situation between the two men had gotten seriously out-of-hand. The rage she had seen flash across Matt's face shocked her, but she was not afraid of him: she was terrified for him. As long as he insisted on holding on to that awful rock, he left himself at the mercy of ShadoWeaver's designs, whatever they might be.
What threw her off tonight was Matt agreeing with her when she told him he could not control the black opal. He conceded almost too easily, making Koy suspicious of whether she was talking to the man or ShadoWeaver's plaything. One minute he would go off on a philosophical analogy about the moons controlling the ocean that she didn't buy and the next he was inquiring after what made her hair smell sweet.
And then he did the one thing Koy wanted and feared the most -- he offered her the opal.
As she walked along the Port's docks, she silently cursed herself for her reaction. Instead of doing the one thing she knew Matt needed, she recoiled in horror.
Pausing to lean on a railing overlooking a series of fishing boats preparing for the day's sail, Koy watched the dockhands and listened to the water lapping against the barnacle-laden vessels, frowning to herself. She did not explain to him what had spooked her, not wishing to revisit the past; however, Matt's insistence about studying the unknown no matter what the price and his growing temper reminded her more and more of someone she would rather forget. Whether she liked it or not, she could not block out the memory of a summer night that remained with her regardless of how far she traveled away from Elanthia.
There was a reason Koy feared foreign magics. His name was Redd.
There would be no sleeping tonight.
Normally, when she needed to think, Koy visited her favorite spot in between the dunes of the Ports' beaches. Tonight though she found herself leaving that place even more confused than before: Matt had been there, just as she had guessed, but the salt air did little to clear up his clouded head. More and more she felt as though she were dealing with two different people -- Matthew Simon the man and Matthew Simon the puppet.
Harris had jokingly advised her to bring a can of mace before trying to find Matt, who had run off from the Annex after a harmless situation between the two men had gotten seriously out-of-hand. The rage she had seen flash across Matt's face shocked her, but she was not afraid of him: she was terrified for him. As long as he insisted on holding on to that awful rock, he left himself at the mercy of ShadoWeaver's designs, whatever they might be.
What threw her off tonight was Matt agreeing with her when she told him he could not control the black opal. He conceded almost too easily, making Koy suspicious of whether she was talking to the man or ShadoWeaver's plaything. One minute he would go off on a philosophical analogy about the moons controlling the ocean that she didn't buy and the next he was inquiring after what made her hair smell sweet.
And then he did the one thing Koy wanted and feared the most -- he offered her the opal.
As she walked along the Port's docks, she silently cursed herself for her reaction. Instead of doing the one thing she knew Matt needed, she recoiled in horror.
Pausing to lean on a railing overlooking a series of fishing boats preparing for the day's sail, Koy watched the dockhands and listened to the water lapping against the barnacle-laden vessels, frowning to herself. She did not explain to him what had spooked her, not wishing to revisit the past; however, Matt's insistence about studying the unknown no matter what the price and his growing temper reminded her more and more of someone she would rather forget. Whether she liked it or not, she could not block out the memory of a summer night that remained with her regardless of how far she traveled away from Elanthia.
There was a reason Koy feared foreign magics. His name was Redd.