The Crystal of Urisen (Closed)

Rand's eyes widened. How could he have lost control like that? This was..... most unusual. Kasei's fuming and ranting was now incomprehensible. Rand slumped forward slightly, his head in his hands. Certainly, he had found Rienna attractive. That wasn't an issue. He had never felt that powerless before though. In all honesty, he was still feeling drained. He would take a good day or so to fully recover, and his mind wasn't all here.

After a moment he spoke. "I'm.... sorry. I don't know what I was thinking." his voice was filled with anguish. This was not good. Not good at all. He needed to get control of himself. He'd always been more prone to react upon his emotions when he was exhausted. This he knew. but it had never gone this far.

What to say, what to say? Was there anything to say? Was he sorry? Did he care? Strangely, he did. What an odd feeling, this being lost. It was difficult for him to grasp. It didn't help that Kasei was pounding around in his head. Rand was starting to get a headache. Funny. He thought that after that fight, things couldn't have gotten any worse.

Rienna took a tentative step towards Rand, who had his face in his hands. She could tell he felt bad about kissing her. When he apologized, she nodded, then realized he wouldn't see it with his face hidden. The anguish in his voice had her moving towards him with an outstretched hand. She gently touched his shoulder. "I know you didn't mean to kiss me, Rand, and I forgive you. You're still recovering from the fight and losing energy. Just get some more sleep, and I'm sure you'll get back to normal soon," she said.

Rienna took her hand off Rand after sending a small healing spell to take care of any lingering wounds. "There's food over on the table if you get hungry. Make sure you eat. I'll be in my room if you need me." And with that, Rienna left Rand's room and went to her own, locking the door and flopping onto the bed. Using her magic so soon after casting the big spells she had cast before had left her exhausted. She soon slipped into a dreamless sleep.

Ikarushi seemed to have lost track of time; to him, it felt as though days had passed since he set foot in the town of Burushida. He began to wonder where the time had gone, but at the moment he didn't care; all that mattered to him now was getting to Ishida. Just then Sharaes' gentle voice broke Ikarushi's deep thoughts. "Is something troubling you?" she asked calmly.

"It is nothing, Sharaes," Ikarushi answered back. "At any rate, we must head out now. I do not wish to waste anymore time staying here." As the giant left the inn, he proceeded to where his horse reside, as well as the young woman's steed. Taking both of them out, he mounted his own steed and began to lead the other one out of the town. He had done his supply shopping the day before and he was ready to set out, on his way to Ishida. He kept his steed at a slow pace this time, wishing to take in the sights around him; although there might not have been much to see, Ikarushi did enjoy the scenery of nature from time to time. He smiled as he gazed around, feeling the gentle breeze press against his face...it what was not often that he could enjoy a slow travel and the sights around him. After what seemed like a few minutes, Ikarushi snapped the reins a bit, making his steed move faster and carrying him to his destination: Ishida.

A small grin tugged at the corner of his lips, as she sank into her childhood curiosity once more. It brought back memories of his time spent with her in their youth, and soon his vision of pain faded once more into a distant event.

"No, I am no great thinker", he said, his grin spreading across his face, "I do not have epiphanies, least ways ones not given to me by others. It was simply an old memory. A past wound. One that seems unwilling to heal."

Tuuli nodded in understanding to his plight, having had many such moments where past wounds resurfaced and tortured her. Such wounds never healed completely, and it seemed that something always caught her attention and reminded her of them. She blinked back sudden tears—for him or for her, she wasn’t sure—and cleared her tightening throat, her head bowing to stare at her hands resting in her lap.

“We should rest I think. We’ll need our strength for our travels,” she finally said softly after a moment of silence. With that said, the young woman laid down and curled up on her side, momentarily glancing at him and smiling shyly before closing her eyes.

Reiss woke with a start. He instantly knew he was alone as no presence of life was around him other than that of the forest. He noticed the bread and flask next to the fire pit and was thankful the sorry bastard left him at least that. He knew now that this Randolph was just another kidnapper and must have scared the woman into silence. What woke Reiss though was the sense of magic. The same magic that had healed him. He hadnt slept long but it was enough that coupled with the breaad from before and the newfound bread along with what appeared to be water wouldnt finish restoring. He bit into the delicious bread and took a swig of the "water." It was smooth and refreshing at first, then on the way down it turnt into a firey wrath on Reiss' throat. Once it hit his stomach it felt like a volcano had erupted within him. Reiss began to choke and cough. In too much shock to be angry, but knew it as a kind of joke Randolph wanted to play on him, Reiss began to laugh between the coughs. Actually laugh!

"That bastard!" Reiss said aloud laughing.

Once the coughing fit had ceased Reiss felt a warmth upon him that was calming. It seemed like he could focus a little better and he felt renewed after eating the bread, which complimented the "water" quite well actually. Reiss had taken a couple more sips of the water but knew it for the alcohol from the north so he was very sparing with it. By the third sip he could keep it down without coughing.

Time to find the companions that just so convienently forgot him though. He could feel within a few meters of accuracy where Rienna had used her magic. It wasn't long til he ccaught up to that point, but the two were already gone. Probably only by a matter of 15 to 20 minutes really. The tracks from the steed were still fresh and it wouldnt be hard for Reiss to track them.

He followed the tracks to a road which then lead to s small village. All the way up to a barn and inn, with no name. He stepped into the stables and saw a lil boy sleepin til the next tendor came in. Reiss immediatly spotted Randolph's horse in the most exquisite stall with a bucket of the finest oats and a superb brrush job already taken to the animal. That meant to Reiss that they had been here for a while and may already be up in their rooms, or were they stayin in seperate rooms?

Reiss went inside and was just in time to see a few large men carrying Randolph upstairs while Rienna seemed to take control of everything. It was apparant that there had been a bar fight and seein as to how Randolph was being carried alive upstairs and there were a few unconcious fellows layin around and one man bled out to death meant Randolph must have won. Obvious though that he had lack of rest and overdone himself.

Reiss ducked behind a support beam just before Rienna could have spotted him. Sending out his sense he "followed" her upstairs and found the room she entered. Same as that bastard! Heh, so they were sharing a room were they?

Reiss went back outside and found it that luck had his side and there was a tree that went staright up by the window of the same room. He climbed up there to spy into the room where Rienna and Randolph were staying just in time to feel that same magic come alive. Rienna was healing the Randolph again! The poor woman must be exhausted by now Reiss thought to himself.

He watched as Rienna sat down and kept wach over the man throughout the night. Reiss took advantage to catch some cat naps here and there, thinking about what he would do in the morning. Confront the two or keep following? It seemed untrustworthy to follow them instead of bringing himself to their attention again, but at the same time they were the ones who left him. Nonetheless Reiss decided he would confront them in the morning. Anyways, he was well rested in comparison to Randolph so any violence would only be had on his part.

He woke up to hearing Rienna saying quite loudly, "You KISSED me!" and was instantly angered. From this perspective it was obvious they werent "together." But it didnt sound like either was truly upset about whatever just happened. Intrigueing thought Reiss to himself.

It was at this time that he finally got a stir out of Talaenar. What does that man think hes doing? Urisen would never approve....

"Urisen?" Reiss asked Talaenar in return.

Ah, nevermind. Dont worry about whatever I just said. I may be thinking too much.

Confused, Reiss let it slide. He climbed out of the tree and decided he was going to go in and get freshened up real quick and wait down in the main hall for them to come downstairs. He was gonna aim for as little drama as possible meeting back up with his "companions" seeing as to how they already had their own drama going on. But at least now he had something to work with on this Randolph guy.

Watching her quietly with a soft smile on his face, the night deepened around him. Her peaceful form rose and fell with her breath, and a strange sensation took hold of him. As if she breathed for him, each intake filling him with precious air. He shook his head breaking his focus. The bind on his life to hers was not so literal. Finally turning to his food again, he ate his now cold dinner in silence. Getting up he tended the fire so that it would burn out peacefully, without spreading. Pulling his blanket out of his pack he pulled it over Tuuli's legs, then stretched out on his back several paces away and watched the stars.

Rand sat on the edge of his bed for a long while. Kasei's incoherent rantings had diminished in intensity, and now Kasei was completely gone. She was a very jealous companion. This Rand knew all too well. However, there was really no reason to be thinking on it much tonight. It was impossible to focus and even harder to think too deeply. Rand wasn't worried though. He still felt Kasei around the edges. She'd cool down soon. None of this really mattered though, because Rand soon plopped back down on the bed as exhaustion overtook him again.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Rand was not aware of dreaming at first which was due, in large part, to the fact that he wasn't dreaming. However, his black sleep began to slowly change. First it was a hazy gray, as if a mist engulfed the world. The landscape soon began to solidify into blackness. It was not just dark, but black. A void in the universe. Rand sat, his knees up casually, his arms draped over them.

He wasn't really surprised. He'd been here before. Granted, the complete blackness was new, but he couldn't mistake the feeling. This place, this half-way world, had a very distinct air about it. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't a vision. It was a very real place. Rand existed here as he did in the real world, though he didn't exist in quite the same way. It was quite hard to describe. One thing, however, set this world apart. Kasei existed here. Once more not a vision, nor just an image, somehow she truly existed.

She was who rand began scanning the horizon for. He knew she'd be here. Rand wouldn't be here otherwise. It didn't take long for Rand to spot her blazing hair pacing back and forth. She was some way off, but he could still see her face oh so clearly. She was simply breathtaking. There was no other way to express it.

Her face, however, was contorted in fury. She was spewing words from her mouth that Rand could not understand. He could, however, tell it was a different language. Quite old too, by the sound of it. Rand couldn't even give it a name, which was quite a feat for Rand knew most languages at least well enough to say what language they were.

Rand knew she'd wear herself out eventually, so he simply waited. After some time, she fell silent. After a longer time, she stormed over to him, stopping several yards away. After another moment, she said one word. "WHY!" Her shout echoed in Rand's head. Rand, for his part, just shrugged. Kasei fumed for a little while longer, pacing right in front of Rand. He knew just to let her wear herself out.

After some more time, her angry words began to turn to angry sobs, and then the anger faded and she was left with only the sobs that tore through her body.

"I know...." her voice broke before she continued. "I can't give you.... I can't... I can't offer you what she can, but.... I..... why?" she burst out into more hysterical sobs. Rand hadn't seen her quite this bad before. It alarmed him. Without thinking he stood and moved over to her. Gently, he wrapped his arms around her and she sobbed into his shoulder. He could feel her pressed against him, feel the tears soaking into his shirt. He could smell her sweetly volcanic scent. This was an astonishing world that they shared.

The goddess cried for some time. Rand quietly held her while she worked through her emotions. Finally, he spoke.

"My dearest, calm yourself. I am yours. You know this. Shhhh......" Her tears slowed and soon stopped. Rand held her and once more marveled that he loved her. He shouldn't. It wasn't right... but he did. The two were quiet for a while as the blackness slowly shaped itself into a more pleasing landscape. The surroundings always matched her emotions.

"I..... I'm so... sorry. I've been so... so horrid."

"Shhhh...... It's okay, Kasei. It's okay."

Gently, he released one of his arms, cupping her chin tenderly. As he brought he face up to his, he couldn't believe how even so tear-streaked her face was astounding. Without thought, without words, he kissed her.

~NARRATION~

And thus the Chosen drifted into sleep, dreaming their various dreams to the start of a new day. Rand, in an otherworldly dreamscape with his goddess, Kasei. Rienna, in her own with Urisen, learning ways to get around not being as connected as they would both like. Reiss, who had fallen asleep sitting at a table, dreaming of a more peaceful dreamscape than he had dreamed of lately, speaking with Talaenar about things he would not remember in the morning. Einnar and Tuuli, both dreaming of their pasts before the incident that threw them apart; a peaceful time they both wished to return to. Ikarushi had made a camp and slept by a fire, dreaming of talking with Sharaes about what was bothering him.

A new day begins with Niriko still on the move, leading Rienna to the Ishidan capitol. What this day will hold, no one knows.


IC: Rienna

Rienna woke up the next morning, feeling refreshed. She had slept herself out, regaining the stores of energy that her magic had consumed the day before. She rolled out of bed, sighing, and stretched, arching her back as she stretched her arms over her head. She looked around, and realized that her clothes were laid on a table in her room, clean and smelling vaguely of roses. A maid had cleaned them while she was tending to Rand the night before. She grinned and changed out of her dress, washing her face quickly in some water left over from her bath the day before, and dressed in her traveling clothes again. She ran her hands down her stomach, smoothing her shirt, and slipped her jacket on.

Rienna went to her mirror and brushed out her hair before tying it back out of her face. That done, she left her room and went to Rand's, knocking on his door to see if he was awake yet. She wanted to tell him about her dream of Urisen, but she was still wary of telling him.

It was morning and Rand's eyes fluttered open. He heard a vague whisper from Kasei, a gift, my sweet. That was when he realized he felt astonishingly refreshed. He carefully sat up. Not a single bit of pain could be felt. Obviously Kasei had worked some of her magic... or something along those lines.

Thank you, my love. Before she responded there was a knock at his door. It could only really be one person. Rand looked himself up and down, suddenly rather nervous. He was shirtless, so he grabbed his white long-sleeve shirt and threw that on. He quickly slid into his black vest and spoke up.

"It's open. Come in." He kept sitting on the edge of the bed.

Rienna opened the door and said a cheery "good morning!" to Rand. She had decided to not tell her dream, since he was basically still a stranger, even if he did kiss her. She also wasn't going to mention the kiss. "Did you sleep well?" she asked, smiling at the man. She fidgeted slightly, nervous about how he would respond. He looked better, even better than her healing spells could have done. She frowned slightly and walked closer, checking him over. "You're fully healed, aren't you?" she asked, then smiled. "In that case, we can move on today!"

Rienna was still hiding the fact that she was after Niriko. She could feel the time weighing on her, increasing the danger that he would somehow figure out how to make Urisen bow to his will. Her own connection with Urisen was stronger though. The goddess had appeared in her dream, telling her things about being a Chosen of a god, abilities and boosts of their own abilities that could happen, even up to the god fully possessing the Chosen in an emergency.

Reiss felt movement upstairs near where Rienna and Randolph should be. It seemed like each passing moment after the woman healed him with that light his senses were getting stronger and his mind more intune with Talaenar. They still had little conversation but it was more due to the fact that it seemed like they were becoming one entity instead of two in one body. He went ahead and ordered some breakfast and a mug of snakebite, a rich and dark drink known to be made by beans found in various places like the woods, mountains and sometimes supposed islands off the coasts. It was served hot and some people preferred milk and/or sugarcane in it. Reiss had never had it before but had heard of it and decided to try it plain. It was most defiantly rich in smell and flavor but had a bitter taste to it and he could see why some would prefer the sugarcane. His meal, a piping hot slab of lamb, boiled eggs, cheese and some sort of crispy bread came and he devoured it nearly in a few minutes. He felt great and full of energy. He was lookin forward to whatever the day brought to him even if Randolph got fussy. Rienna though he didnt think he could handle cause as the saying goes hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but he saw her as a mild a tepid woman of regal air.

While waiting patiently for the two upstairs to show up Reiss decided to let himself drift away in his mind. There were so many holes of just absolutly nothing that concerned him. Sometimes hed come across one of these voids in his memory and bright colors and images would flash then disappear not to be seen again. Talaenar seemed to be concerned too at these holes but it seemed like for a different reason to Reiss.

While lost along in his own mind he felt a tingle run up his back just for a split second. A darker character had just entered the inn. This place very easily could have been a waypoint for theives and brigands, but this was a dark feeling and a whole different playing level. Reiss instantly spiked into reality and eyed for the newcomer, but he didnt see a single new face.

It is not one whom you can see Chosen, let you open my eyes Talaenar's voice said calmly in Reiss' mind.

He didnt quite close his own eyes, but let his vision dimmed for a moment. To anyone looking at Reiss they would notice his eyes as bright green then see them change colors to a shimmering gold with hues of black. Reiss' pupils narrowed then exploded into what appeared to be almost tear shaped slits. As these "new eyes" came to see everything around Reiss changed. He saw everything in shades of what they were in life and death. He saw all things living as dieing and things inanaimate as just cold outlines.

In the far corner near the bottom of the stairs was a creature that looked almost human other than the spindly fingers protruding from the hands. As soon as Reiss focused on this apparant target the creature looked straight at him and lunged.

Now to anyone who couldnt see what Reiss was seeing this would have been almost a comical sight at least until the magics started to slay the people around.

This thing spit several darts of fire and ice straight and Reiss chest which he deflected with a shimmering dark veil. In retalition he grabbed what nobody else could see and threw it to the floor. It wasnt a very strong creature and it best attribute was probably the fact that it was fast, agile and most of invisible. With a quick flowing manner Reiss conjured an energy that was more like anti energy, power that only Talaenar himself could control and made this creature into nonexistant. To everyone else though it looked as if Reiss had lost his mind and pointed at the floor, unless they too could use magic and which case they would feel the suprisingly amount of energy flowing at that particular moment.

A few people screamed and retreated out of the inn, the more veteran type just shrugged their shoulders and continued on with their breakfast or early time drinks. Reiss knew though that this wasnt a good sign.

OOC: About that post... I hate to say this, but I have to ask you to rewrite your post, We. It's creative, and well written for the most part, but you really need to talk to me about the rp's world before you post things about invisible creatures. So I'm pulling my rank as gm and declaring the post temporarily to be ignored until rewritten. Thanks for being patient, guys.

So We_kings, please try to get a hold of me, and next time, please discuss anything magical (like invisible thingies) with me before posting, even if you have to wait to post.

OOC: NOTICE! I'm closing Urisen here. L-Factor is going to come back up soon, so I might restart it there. Probably not though, since I'm tired of restarting the same freaking rp over and over. So those who are on Beyond, see you there, or on LF when it's back up.