There were answers here... answers to all of what he needed to know. What Karcier was, the history of Eteine, what was hidden here, what he needed to do to avoid either Karcier or Jenova ending up carrying out a fallen mage's plans, Jenova's weaknesses, Karcier's weaknesses... it was all here, somewhere.
Yet Youken found that he couldn't understand any of it. He glanced around at the pictures on the walls, assimilating information from all around him at once, and... he just didn't know what it was trying to say. The battles all looked similar, the important figures seemed to do things at random, and none of it had any real order as far as he could see.
Of course, the last of these problems was hardly any problem to the changeling who could look and anything and everything around him at once, and take in all of that information, but at the same time, he had to be focussing on keeping track of that one beetle, figuring out where Novajen was... it was all too much.
If he could stop time and give himself an hour here, he was sure he'd be able to figure out exactly what to do, but he didn't have an hour, and what time he did have, he wasn't really able to focus on the pictures around him. Instead, he had to focus on the present... damn it all, this was a bit like finding a man with a disease that was killing him, but a wound which was killing him even quicker, and then offering him the cure if he would crawl just as far away from somebody who could heal his wound as he would have to crawl to get to them. He could take the option that would lead to his survival if he could just stay alive as he crawled, or he could take the risk and solve his longer term problems at the same time... of course, a sensible person would evaluate their chances of making it to the medic with or without the cure and then make a judgement.
Youken did just that, muttered a nasty curse, then turned away from the images on the walls.
It was more important to resolve this one way or the other first. This problem had been bothering him for far too long, he needed to deal with it. Plus, his chances of finding something in the images in time were not very high.
"Three yeh say... well, we're two behind... the first was a bunch of golems, but it could change, or they could be reanimated, or they could just be lyin there, bits of rubble... magic ain't easy teh predict. I just know they weren't much more than rubble when the two left... from what the two were sayin, I don't think I'm gonna be much help in the second thingy, but if we're gonna catch up, we're gonna have teh move... real quick."
Alder didn't know that he was talking over somebody else as far as Karcier was concerned, he heard no voice. However, he didn't have time to figure this out as a door opened and he found himself shielding his eyes against the glare.
Karcier was walking forward for something... Youken trained his gaze on whatever was in the room... this was roughly where the first one had been... golems? Things? Difficult things, challenges to be overcome, that was what he was expecting... the room filled with nothing but books made him even more suspicious.
"Ok... this is some kind of test, right? Unless there's a written paper at the end of this, there's some kind of trick here... and we don't have time teh muck around."
So saying, he split off three hundred beetles from the main hive and dropped them to the floor, where they spread out, looking for something, anything that wasn't obvious.
After adjusting to being about three inches shorter, Youken looked at Karcier... there was an incredible wealth of knowledge here, you just had to look at the book titles to know that, but they didn't have time... damn, this was even worse than the images... if for some reason, he wasn't able to come back here, he was probably going to regret not looking at them for the rest of his life, but he would at least have resolved the issue.
They had to move forward... right?
[CRP] Fragments of the Phoenix
Moderator: Community Team
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Krail
Re: [CRP] Fragments of the Phoenix
Trails of the Fallen
"Well...this is a trail, so it is a test. What is being tested however is another question, look at it all ...such history...beautiful...just imagine what could be done with this." he walked up hands clasped behind his back and leaned closer to some of the titles of the books. "The Journey of life. Times end. The Return of the Fallen. The defenders of the faith. The Phoenixs downfall. The Journey of Youken." he kept going, the last name he didn't know who it belonged to but just to know someones life and how it would end...such power in knowledge.
He kept going until he reached a title one that interested him, he let his hands gracefully pick the book from the shelf. The Lone Akavari Phoenix. He let his hand trace the cover, its edges offered a gentle warm sensation that felt fuzzy he felt the connection. His fingers grasped the edge of the book and opened it, the worse was that he knew what this trail was about but one look wouldn't hurt. He skipped till the end chapter, quietly he read keeping it close to him as he walked down the hallway he suddenly stopped.
"Well, that was foolish of me." he said closing the book. "Wasting my only chance to...ah well." he tossed the book aside and turned to Alder. "Your right, let us leave this place." he said with a simple nod. The future was always changing, shifting as events occurred. What was written here was only one of all possible paths, he wondered at it all as he turned and walked past all the knowledge that stood here.
"Knowledge is power and like power it can consume you, let us not waste our time as you said."
Etaine was powerful but what she was now, was a mere shadow. Fragments of a phoenix scattered across the world wanting nothing more then to be reunited, Jenova and Karcier were but pawns to do such. He kept playing possible scenes in his head, would he willingly follow fate or would he take matters into his own hands. After all he'd grown to be less of a follower and more of a lone figure, why would he let anything else tell him what to do.
The doors to the next chambers remained sealed, he pondered and gave the door a kick. He cursed as pain shot through his foot and up his leg. The doors glowed for a moment, refusing to budge. Then slowly they dimmed down and flickered, Karcier could only guess why the doors wouldn't open and he had a pretty good idea why.
"Well...this is a trail, so it is a test. What is being tested however is another question, look at it all ...such history...beautiful...just imagine what could be done with this." he walked up hands clasped behind his back and leaned closer to some of the titles of the books. "The Journey of life. Times end. The Return of the Fallen. The defenders of the faith. The Phoenixs downfall. The Journey of Youken." he kept going, the last name he didn't know who it belonged to but just to know someones life and how it would end...such power in knowledge.
He kept going until he reached a title one that interested him, he let his hands gracefully pick the book from the shelf. The Lone Akavari Phoenix. He let his hand trace the cover, its edges offered a gentle warm sensation that felt fuzzy he felt the connection. His fingers grasped the edge of the book and opened it, the worse was that he knew what this trail was about but one look wouldn't hurt. He skipped till the end chapter, quietly he read keeping it close to him as he walked down the hallway he suddenly stopped.
"Well, that was foolish of me." he said closing the book. "Wasting my only chance to...ah well." he tossed the book aside and turned to Alder. "Your right, let us leave this place." he said with a simple nod. The future was always changing, shifting as events occurred. What was written here was only one of all possible paths, he wondered at it all as he turned and walked past all the knowledge that stood here.
"Knowledge is power and like power it can consume you, let us not waste our time as you said."
Etaine was powerful but what she was now, was a mere shadow. Fragments of a phoenix scattered across the world wanting nothing more then to be reunited, Jenova and Karcier were but pawns to do such. He kept playing possible scenes in his head, would he willingly follow fate or would he take matters into his own hands. After all he'd grown to be less of a follower and more of a lone figure, why would he let anything else tell him what to do.
The doors to the next chambers remained sealed, he pondered and gave the door a kick. He cursed as pain shot through his foot and up his leg. The doors glowed for a moment, refusing to budge. Then slowly they dimmed down and flickered, Karcier could only guess why the doors wouldn't open and he had a pretty good idea why.
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TheStoryTeller
Re: [CRP] Fragments of the Phoenix
[url=ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQPeOeu_7qQ]Shadows of the Fallen[/url]
She fell back to the ground, staggered by the creature that attacked her. She had only blinked and the creature was readying itself to slash her with its shadow claws, until he saved her with a swift strike of his silver longsword. She quickly got back up and covered circled around another, these creatures had appeared from no were just as they had seen the next doorway
"What are these things ?" he asked.
"Shadows" she replied. All she heard was him grumble a curse as he side stepped away from her to fight another one, she was helpless she refused to let her basic instincts take over her for fear that they would control her. The shadows that attacked them had forms, all differed by the face was the same. Etaine, her mother. The Lady of the Phoenix and Fallen Mage. These creatures had spawned around them from the reflections just as they had reached the doorway, Jenova ducked and rolled forwards as one swooped over her. Seeing as it had missed Jenova the creature kept flying towards him who was facing the other way yet somehow he rolled to the side and cut midair with his silver sword.
The sound it made as it sliced through the figures was horrific, it felt like a thousand bells rung in the air tearing the fabric of life itself. She gritted her teeth and saw that the doorway was open. "Quick !" she shouted as he motioned for the doorway, all around the frame of the door the ice was melting sand poured in partially over the doorway.
She saw him nod, so she ran as fast as she could. She was almost there when one of the creatures spawned from the ground, its torso peeking from the ice. It caught her legs, a sense of dread came over her as she clawed at the ice in a desperate attempt to get away. Slowly it pulled her into the void it had created, she screamed and hissed. She turned on her back and let her instinct kick in, her hand instantly changed into a sharp metalic shape and she cut at the shadow creature.
Her eyes were red with hatred, she watched as the creature evaporated and just sat there. That is until Reaver grabbed her by the neck, almost choking her and dragged her into the third chamber. He only let go when they made it past the doorway, she coughed violently as air came back to her lungs.
"Are you trying to kill me ?!" she shouted "That hurt !"
"And you think grabbing that sharp edge you have as a hand would of been in my best interest ?" he said as he pointed to her arm which was still in the shape of what she thought was a sword, she frowned and tried to focus on it until it returned to normal. "Better." he said. "Now, what were those things. You called them shadows but I saw the look in your eyes, you recognised them."
Jenova took a moments pause, more interested in her neck then anything else. She stood up wiping the sand and snow that was still stuck to her, only then did she reply. "Those were shadows of Etaine, different versions of her. Like there are different seasons in the year and you have different names for the same person. I told you, what awaits us is not Etaine but a gift of the goddess..."
"Uhuh...what will you do when you get to this gift ?"
"I don't know...be free...I hope."
She fell back to the ground, staggered by the creature that attacked her. She had only blinked and the creature was readying itself to slash her with its shadow claws, until he saved her with a swift strike of his silver longsword. She quickly got back up and covered circled around another, these creatures had appeared from no were just as they had seen the next doorway
"What are these things ?" he asked.
"Shadows" she replied. All she heard was him grumble a curse as he side stepped away from her to fight another one, she was helpless she refused to let her basic instincts take over her for fear that they would control her. The shadows that attacked them had forms, all differed by the face was the same. Etaine, her mother. The Lady of the Phoenix and Fallen Mage. These creatures had spawned around them from the reflections just as they had reached the doorway, Jenova ducked and rolled forwards as one swooped over her. Seeing as it had missed Jenova the creature kept flying towards him who was facing the other way yet somehow he rolled to the side and cut midair with his silver sword.
The sound it made as it sliced through the figures was horrific, it felt like a thousand bells rung in the air tearing the fabric of life itself. She gritted her teeth and saw that the doorway was open. "Quick !" she shouted as he motioned for the doorway, all around the frame of the door the ice was melting sand poured in partially over the doorway.
She saw him nod, so she ran as fast as she could. She was almost there when one of the creatures spawned from the ground, its torso peeking from the ice. It caught her legs, a sense of dread came over her as she clawed at the ice in a desperate attempt to get away. Slowly it pulled her into the void it had created, she screamed and hissed. She turned on her back and let her instinct kick in, her hand instantly changed into a sharp metalic shape and she cut at the shadow creature.
Her eyes were red with hatred, she watched as the creature evaporated and just sat there. That is until Reaver grabbed her by the neck, almost choking her and dragged her into the third chamber. He only let go when they made it past the doorway, she coughed violently as air came back to her lungs.
"Are you trying to kill me ?!" she shouted "That hurt !"
"And you think grabbing that sharp edge you have as a hand would of been in my best interest ?" he said as he pointed to her arm which was still in the shape of what she thought was a sword, she frowned and tried to focus on it until it returned to normal. "Better." he said. "Now, what were those things. You called them shadows but I saw the look in your eyes, you recognised them."
Jenova took a moments pause, more interested in her neck then anything else. She stood up wiping the sand and snow that was still stuck to her, only then did she reply. "Those were shadows of Etaine, different versions of her. Like there are different seasons in the year and you have different names for the same person. I told you, what awaits us is not Etaine but a gift of the goddess..."
"Uhuh...what will you do when you get to this gift ?"
"I don't know...be free...I hope."
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Silence
Re: [CRP] Fragments of the Phoenix
The door didn’t open... ah hell.
Youken was beginning to get the feeling that the only test here was whether or not you would greedily go after the knowledge and sacrifice your time and chances of getting to the end before the others or whether you could move on.
It was tempting, really tempting.
After all, his goal was to become powerful, and knowledge was one kind of power. Hell, it was the most useful kind.
He glanced at the book on the journey of Youken, and then scanned the room again. There would be books here about every person in the world... if he wanted to blackmail Rieron, this would give him the tools to do it. If he wanted to figure out what motivated any person in the world and so know when he could manipulate them and when he could trust them and when their own vendetta would run against his, this would tell him it all.
This room could solve all of his problems.
Yet the longer he spent here, the more his third most important problem got away from him. The other two, he’d just have to deal with in their own time.
Youken carefully picked up the book on Karcier Akavari, and returned it to its place in the bookshelf, then looked at the door.
“What? You want me teh say that I don’t care about all this too? Alright, fine, I care about this, and would give almost anything for a few hours in here... except the hours themselves. So, we’re done here... we’re leavin.”
Damn, this place would probably leave after he left... he’d never get another chance to look at the things here... somehow, he’d have to puzzle his way through the riddles and half answers that people would trade with him for favours and for other stuff that would be inevitably for their own ends. That was how everybody else had to do it, or else they were born above him.
Youken stared at the door defiantly.
He already knew what was in his book anyway. It would state that Youken died at the age of five after the tragic death of his adoptive parents, and... well, it was a nasty story, and he hadn’t much liked the end at the time, so he’d just made a rude gesture at Fate at the time, then written himself a new one.
Right now, he was an anomaly, and he was going to cling to that fact, after all, if he wasn’t an anomaly in the timeline, he was dead, and he couldn’t go dying yet, he still had work to do.
“Try telling that teh Teide” Youken said as he placed both of his palms against the door and felt for something which might open the damn thing.
“So... any ideas on how teh get through this thing, or do we improvise?”
Youken was beginning to get the feeling that the only test here was whether or not you would greedily go after the knowledge and sacrifice your time and chances of getting to the end before the others or whether you could move on.
It was tempting, really tempting.
After all, his goal was to become powerful, and knowledge was one kind of power. Hell, it was the most useful kind.
He glanced at the book on the journey of Youken, and then scanned the room again. There would be books here about every person in the world... if he wanted to blackmail Rieron, this would give him the tools to do it. If he wanted to figure out what motivated any person in the world and so know when he could manipulate them and when he could trust them and when their own vendetta would run against his, this would tell him it all.
This room could solve all of his problems.
Yet the longer he spent here, the more his third most important problem got away from him. The other two, he’d just have to deal with in their own time.
Youken carefully picked up the book on Karcier Akavari, and returned it to its place in the bookshelf, then looked at the door.
“What? You want me teh say that I don’t care about all this too? Alright, fine, I care about this, and would give almost anything for a few hours in here... except the hours themselves. So, we’re done here... we’re leavin.”
Damn, this place would probably leave after he left... he’d never get another chance to look at the things here... somehow, he’d have to puzzle his way through the riddles and half answers that people would trade with him for favours and for other stuff that would be inevitably for their own ends. That was how everybody else had to do it, or else they were born above him.
Youken stared at the door defiantly.
He already knew what was in his book anyway. It would state that Youken died at the age of five after the tragic death of his adoptive parents, and... well, it was a nasty story, and he hadn’t much liked the end at the time, so he’d just made a rude gesture at Fate at the time, then written himself a new one.
Right now, he was an anomaly, and he was going to cling to that fact, after all, if he wasn’t an anomaly in the timeline, he was dead, and he couldn’t go dying yet, he still had work to do.
“Try telling that teh Teide” Youken said as he placed both of his palms against the door and felt for something which might open the damn thing.
“So... any ideas on how teh get through this thing, or do we improvise?”
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Krail
Re: [CRP] Fragments of the Phoenix
The second trail
"There is no need." he said as his fingers touched the stone doors, the light fading with every second. "Someone is still in the other trail." he said, he could feel it. The power emanating from the illusions, the magic that flowed through the conduits that gave forth the illusions just like this room it mingled with his blood and left a fuzzy feeling in him.
"Tell me, why do you hunt this Jenova ?" he asked. "What has she done to you to earn your wrath ?"
Moments passed and the doors finally opened, he might have been facing Alder with his back turned to the door but he instantly felt the cold. His face showed the sudden nerve twitch. "Oh joys....more cold weather..." he said followed with a few curses. He felt at home in these places, the magic the sourrounded and the artistic layout all felt famillair. He realized as he walked into the second trail that it felt like home, strange notion really he'd never been here before.
"I don't really know what this trail is meant to be about...there was no inscriptions ...no voices nada."
As they walked he noticed footprints in the snowy path, one seemed more heavy boot prints whilst the other left more human like footprints. There were two people here, one was Jenova there was no doubt about it but whom was the second. "Alder, Who cast the barrier." it might of sounded more as an accusation then a question, he suspected Alder knew. After all how else would he of been able to work around it if he hadn't had prior knowledge of how it worked.
The snow below crunched under his own boots, the path seemed fairly straight forward and they couldn't take any other because either side was a bottomless pit of darkness with only the ice walls past that. He felt uneasy after a while as if something was watching them, following them but his suspcisions fell when he saw the stone pillar.
It called out to him, he dragged himself through the snow and saw the blue blood he traced it and could feel the memories within. Without realizing he found himself repeating the memory outloud.
"Without her we are lost, without her guidance we will be consumed and fall into the void. What once gave us life will take it from us in a wild fire of magic, as our souls are torn from our bodies and our bodies erased from existence. Our souls shall wonder, never straying from the pure love that never fades. We are weak without her, she is the giver of life and the bringer of hope. The goddess descends from the skies, saddened by our destruction but determined to bring us back."
"There is no need." he said as his fingers touched the stone doors, the light fading with every second. "Someone is still in the other trail." he said, he could feel it. The power emanating from the illusions, the magic that flowed through the conduits that gave forth the illusions just like this room it mingled with his blood and left a fuzzy feeling in him.
"Tell me, why do you hunt this Jenova ?" he asked. "What has she done to you to earn your wrath ?"
Moments passed and the doors finally opened, he might have been facing Alder with his back turned to the door but he instantly felt the cold. His face showed the sudden nerve twitch. "Oh joys....more cold weather..." he said followed with a few curses. He felt at home in these places, the magic the sourrounded and the artistic layout all felt famillair. He realized as he walked into the second trail that it felt like home, strange notion really he'd never been here before.
"I don't really know what this trail is meant to be about...there was no inscriptions ...no voices nada."
As they walked he noticed footprints in the snowy path, one seemed more heavy boot prints whilst the other left more human like footprints. There were two people here, one was Jenova there was no doubt about it but whom was the second. "Alder, Who cast the barrier." it might of sounded more as an accusation then a question, he suspected Alder knew. After all how else would he of been able to work around it if he hadn't had prior knowledge of how it worked.
The snow below crunched under his own boots, the path seemed fairly straight forward and they couldn't take any other because either side was a bottomless pit of darkness with only the ice walls past that. He felt uneasy after a while as if something was watching them, following them but his suspcisions fell when he saw the stone pillar.
It called out to him, he dragged himself through the snow and saw the blue blood he traced it and could feel the memories within. Without realizing he found himself repeating the memory outloud.
"Without her we are lost, without her guidance we will be consumed and fall into the void. What once gave us life will take it from us in a wild fire of magic, as our souls are torn from our bodies and our bodies erased from existence. Our souls shall wonder, never straying from the pure love that never fades. We are weak without her, she is the giver of life and the bringer of hope. The goddess descends from the skies, saddened by our destruction but determined to bring us back."
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Silence
Re: [CRP] Fragments of the Phoenix
“Huh? I already said didn’t I... right? She’s been killin people all over Widu, and that’s bad enough... but then yeh get how dangerous she could get if she gets there before you. Plus, what if she ends up makin the same thing that she’s created from again?”
“It basically comes down teh the same reason that I don’t like killin... I keep thinking that if I was born in a different place, the person bein killed could be me, and then yer takin something from them and their families that they can never get back, no matter how much it means teh em. If yeh take gold or wealth, or social status, that can all be gotten back through enough work if it matters teh somebody, but a life... well, not everybody gets teh live four times.”
“So, I’m just out there teh stop a whole bunch of people that coulda been me from losin somethin that they can never get back... but then, it wouldn’t be fair teh expect her teh give up somethin like that either... she’s gotta live somehow. That makes things tricky, real tricky. So, if I can, I’m gonna try and figure out some other way teh sort this out. If no opportunity comes along like, then I’ll make one somehow... hopefully.”
“The other reason is that this mess is kinda my fault… well, at least, I kinda had a chance teh stop it from ever happening, and I didn’t take it, so everybody is now paying for my mess… think it’s about time I found some time teh clean it up.”
The door opened as he finished answering, and Youken spent a good few seconds thinking up an appropriate curse. After some consideration, he said three words which carried more meaning behind them than an entire rant about the cold.
“Well... I ain’t gonna be much use in this next one... I can’t really do much in the cold. So long as you keep goin, I’ll follow you. That’s about as much as I can promise.”
He followed Karcier, since he didn’t trust himself to lead under those conditions. Within seconds of entering the place, he felt his reflexes slow and the world around him seem to speed up as the connections between his beetles broke down in the cold. The numbness that followed, he knew was the result of the connections breaking down.
Karcier was saying something. In his current state, Youken was in no position to think to hide information even if he’d wanted to.
“A witcher... Reaver... I thin-...”
He trailed off as he forgot what he was saying and what had been asked of him, or even how to speak. Anything else said to him wouldn’t be heard as his sense of hearing faded into the numbness, the nothingness that was the consciousness of a hivemind whose members couldn’t communicate.
His breath didn’t mist, after all, there was no moisture in the changeling’s lungs.
It was barely thirty seconds before his form was falling apart. His skin had already gone bleached white, facial expression fading into the featureless mask of the changeling’s base form. What concentration he could muster up, he used to watch the ground on the places he was about to step, then move the foot into that spot.
He didn’t even have the mental capacity to think up a good curse. Munay didn’t really help here either as his connection even to her was cut off under these conditions.
It was two minutes before beetles started dropping from him, frozen husks. Not enough to worry about, but enough to leave a trail of small black objects every five or six feet in the changeling's wake.
It was when his foot landed in a space occupied by a footprint that wasn’t Karcier’s that he paused to consider something. Jenova... too small... Reaver.
He stared blankly at where his foot had landed, then continued onward. Another footprint, smaller than the one he had stepped in before ended up under his feet a minute later.
Karcier... Reaver... Jenova... Other... Jenova.
Once again, he stared blankly, then searched for Karcier’s footprints so that he could follow. He didn’t think to look up to find his companion amongst the snow, his world had been turned into the two dimensional plane of the ground. He was following footprints.
A single beetle gave a report of... something... another gave a report of something else, and then the hive was silent to Youken’s ears. There was only a single pinprick of light through which he viewed the world, a pinprick through which he would search for a footprint, then place his foot in that footprint, then repeat.
He’d managed to find a way around his weakness to water, but as for cold… there was little he could do. Knowing Munay, if a danger to him came about, she’d alert him and drag his mind back, but what she’d have to do to the hive in order to do, he wouldn’t have wanted to think about even if he was capable of doing so.
“It basically comes down teh the same reason that I don’t like killin... I keep thinking that if I was born in a different place, the person bein killed could be me, and then yer takin something from them and their families that they can never get back, no matter how much it means teh em. If yeh take gold or wealth, or social status, that can all be gotten back through enough work if it matters teh somebody, but a life... well, not everybody gets teh live four times.”
“So, I’m just out there teh stop a whole bunch of people that coulda been me from losin somethin that they can never get back... but then, it wouldn’t be fair teh expect her teh give up somethin like that either... she’s gotta live somehow. That makes things tricky, real tricky. So, if I can, I’m gonna try and figure out some other way teh sort this out. If no opportunity comes along like, then I’ll make one somehow... hopefully.”
“The other reason is that this mess is kinda my fault… well, at least, I kinda had a chance teh stop it from ever happening, and I didn’t take it, so everybody is now paying for my mess… think it’s about time I found some time teh clean it up.”
The door opened as he finished answering, and Youken spent a good few seconds thinking up an appropriate curse. After some consideration, he said three words which carried more meaning behind them than an entire rant about the cold.
“Well... I ain’t gonna be much use in this next one... I can’t really do much in the cold. So long as you keep goin, I’ll follow you. That’s about as much as I can promise.”
He followed Karcier, since he didn’t trust himself to lead under those conditions. Within seconds of entering the place, he felt his reflexes slow and the world around him seem to speed up as the connections between his beetles broke down in the cold. The numbness that followed, he knew was the result of the connections breaking down.
Karcier was saying something. In his current state, Youken was in no position to think to hide information even if he’d wanted to.
“A witcher... Reaver... I thin-...”
He trailed off as he forgot what he was saying and what had been asked of him, or even how to speak. Anything else said to him wouldn’t be heard as his sense of hearing faded into the numbness, the nothingness that was the consciousness of a hivemind whose members couldn’t communicate.
His breath didn’t mist, after all, there was no moisture in the changeling’s lungs.
It was barely thirty seconds before his form was falling apart. His skin had already gone bleached white, facial expression fading into the featureless mask of the changeling’s base form. What concentration he could muster up, he used to watch the ground on the places he was about to step, then move the foot into that spot.
He didn’t even have the mental capacity to think up a good curse. Munay didn’t really help here either as his connection even to her was cut off under these conditions.
It was two minutes before beetles started dropping from him, frozen husks. Not enough to worry about, but enough to leave a trail of small black objects every five or six feet in the changeling's wake.
It was when his foot landed in a space occupied by a footprint that wasn’t Karcier’s that he paused to consider something. Jenova... too small... Reaver.
He stared blankly at where his foot had landed, then continued onward. Another footprint, smaller than the one he had stepped in before ended up under his feet a minute later.
Karcier... Reaver... Jenova... Other... Jenova.
Once again, he stared blankly, then searched for Karcier’s footprints so that he could follow. He didn’t think to look up to find his companion amongst the snow, his world had been turned into the two dimensional plane of the ground. He was following footprints.
A single beetle gave a report of... something... another gave a report of something else, and then the hive was silent to Youken’s ears. There was only a single pinprick of light through which he viewed the world, a pinprick through which he would search for a footprint, then place his foot in that footprint, then repeat.
He’d managed to find a way around his weakness to water, but as for cold… there was little he could do. Knowing Munay, if a danger to him came about, she’d alert him and drag his mind back, but what she’d have to do to the hive in order to do, he wouldn’t have wanted to think about even if he was capable of doing so.
-
Krail
Re: [CRP] Fragments of the Phoenix
Walk of the Faith
The world around him began to change, the memory coming to life as the freezing cold hallway turned into that of a buslting captial town with tall floating crystal castles and floating solid rivers that served as paths between the buildings. He hadn't remembered the words he spoke, he simply looked in amazement as his home came back to him. One of the few things he truly desired, was there infront of him. He finally decided to reply to him."You did. I...just wanted to be sure you wouldn't hesitate. Once you are set on a path you can't turn back and if you want to become like her than that is fine." he paused, that had been harsh but it was true. "Isn't it beautiful...Kelona..." he walked on at first stepping on nothingness until he was on one of the many water paths, he could hear the gentle flow of the water and the soft splash they made as he walked on them.
"Its hard to remember it, my own memory is so faded. Its been two hundred years, this is the centre of the Kelona Kingdom..was." he sighed and lowered his head. He saw the blood crystal standing high atop the grand temple of Kelona, the Phoenix Goddess statue wrapping its arms around it. "Sometimes, the choice is taken from your hands and thrown in the air. Your left to act without thinking...you may regret it...or not." He raised his hands in an attempt to touch the water paths but as he did so they faded as if interrupted by his hand, as he pulled away they returned to a natural flow. "Sometimes...you can't make sense of anything and you'll just ...act." it was as much as advise to Alder as it was a reminder of the desperate Kelrons who used the forbidden magic. He was surprised when he turned to see the boy having returned to his original form but as the boy kept following Karcier kept walking.
The cold had finally faded, replaced by a cool breeze from the ever speeding water ways and far away ocean breeze. The skies darkened as they turned to night, stars filled with feathered clouds and the moonlight reflected off some of the crystal buildings making it look like dazzling lights were beaming from them. Karcier closed his eyes, this wasn't real. The water way ended and left them on a plateform, the temple of the phoenix lay a hundred steps away.
"I ... I gave my life to serving her. The Lady of the Phoenix, to be her loyal soldier and dedicate my life to protecting her creations. Its hard to think ... that in my life she was our savior and in another world she was the destroyer. My Kelona wasn't deeply religous, we'd long since cast away religion and set up a monarchy yet look were it got us...unguided...lost and fighting one another ...till we exterminated our entire race' he shook his head and saw the temple doors pulsing with the same magic as the Library doors. This trail he realized was far more tempting then knowledge ever could be, even if it was a memory. Just to be here allowed him to ...feel alive again. "Can you manage another hundred steps ?"
The world around him began to change, the memory coming to life as the freezing cold hallway turned into that of a buslting captial town with tall floating crystal castles and floating solid rivers that served as paths between the buildings. He hadn't remembered the words he spoke, he simply looked in amazement as his home came back to him. One of the few things he truly desired, was there infront of him. He finally decided to reply to him."You did. I...just wanted to be sure you wouldn't hesitate. Once you are set on a path you can't turn back and if you want to become like her than that is fine." he paused, that had been harsh but it was true. "Isn't it beautiful...Kelona..." he walked on at first stepping on nothingness until he was on one of the many water paths, he could hear the gentle flow of the water and the soft splash they made as he walked on them.
"Its hard to remember it, my own memory is so faded. Its been two hundred years, this is the centre of the Kelona Kingdom..was." he sighed and lowered his head. He saw the blood crystal standing high atop the grand temple of Kelona, the Phoenix Goddess statue wrapping its arms around it. "Sometimes, the choice is taken from your hands and thrown in the air. Your left to act without thinking...you may regret it...or not." He raised his hands in an attempt to touch the water paths but as he did so they faded as if interrupted by his hand, as he pulled away they returned to a natural flow. "Sometimes...you can't make sense of anything and you'll just ...act." it was as much as advise to Alder as it was a reminder of the desperate Kelrons who used the forbidden magic. He was surprised when he turned to see the boy having returned to his original form but as the boy kept following Karcier kept walking.
The cold had finally faded, replaced by a cool breeze from the ever speeding water ways and far away ocean breeze. The skies darkened as they turned to night, stars filled with feathered clouds and the moonlight reflected off some of the crystal buildings making it look like dazzling lights were beaming from them. Karcier closed his eyes, this wasn't real. The water way ended and left them on a plateform, the temple of the phoenix lay a hundred steps away.
"I ... I gave my life to serving her. The Lady of the Phoenix, to be her loyal soldier and dedicate my life to protecting her creations. Its hard to think ... that in my life she was our savior and in another world she was the destroyer. My Kelona wasn't deeply religous, we'd long since cast away religion and set up a monarchy yet look were it got us...unguided...lost and fighting one another ...till we exterminated our entire race' he shook his head and saw the temple doors pulsing with the same magic as the Library doors. This trail he realized was far more tempting then knowledge ever could be, even if it was a memory. Just to be here allowed him to ...feel alive again. "Can you manage another hundred steps ?"
-
TheStoryTeller
Re: [CRP] Fragments of the Phoenix
Meanwhile Outside of the temple
Shiny Bugs
"Hiisssss ttttttiiiiiiiisssssks" a singular hiss echoed throughout the forest. It quietly died down but soon after the forest began to stir, the wilderness came to life as hundreds of silver crystal like bugs spawned from the trees and ground. They Shook off the dirt and wood from their sensitive wings and slashed irratically at the air with their razor sharp claws.
"Hiiisssssssss Huuuusssssshhhuuuu" The ground began to tremble as hundreds if not thousands of these crystal bugs zig zagged towards the temple entrance, the lone wolf that was at the front of this army of crystal bugs was stronger and visibly smarter then the others. It had observed as the tainted cell and a mutant had entered the temple, sealing themselves inside. Then the changling and the phoenix had crawled through, like Jenova and Karcier it was drawn to the Queen.
The creature, hissed once more ordering its fellow to begin clawing at the barrier and the stone around it. Eventually they would break through it and thanks to the changling it had weakened the frame of the entrance and the barrier. Like a cascade they would fall on their prey and rejoin their Queen, the hundred years of waiting had ended.
Shiny Bugs
"Hiisssss ttttttiiiiiiiisssssks" a singular hiss echoed throughout the forest. It quietly died down but soon after the forest began to stir, the wilderness came to life as hundreds of silver crystal like bugs spawned from the trees and ground. They Shook off the dirt and wood from their sensitive wings and slashed irratically at the air with their razor sharp claws.
"Hiiisssssssss Huuuusssssshhhuuuu" The ground began to tremble as hundreds if not thousands of these crystal bugs zig zagged towards the temple entrance, the lone wolf that was at the front of this army of crystal bugs was stronger and visibly smarter then the others. It had observed as the tainted cell and a mutant had entered the temple, sealing themselves inside. Then the changling and the phoenix had crawled through, like Jenova and Karcier it was drawn to the Queen.
The creature, hissed once more ordering its fellow to begin clawing at the barrier and the stone around it. Eventually they would break through it and thanks to the changling it had weakened the frame of the entrance and the barrier. Like a cascade they would fall on their prey and rejoin their Queen, the hundred years of waiting had ended.
-
Silence
Re: [CRP] Fragments of the Phoenix
The changeling didn't reply, he just kept putting one foot in front of the other... In actual fact, there was not even a consciousness there anymore. Youken, the collective mind of thousands of weak creatures no longer existed as the creatures could no longer communicate.
Yet the hive kept moving forward, following Karcier. Similar to a chicken without a head, each beetle knew only that it had been commanded to perform one task and repeat that task until further notice... So each beetle kept performing its one task that would take the hive further.
A few beetles attempted to reestablish order and communication, but they were only a handful within the many. About fifty of the beetles stopped performing their tasks and rallied the ones around them, or tried to... But the less independent ones knew only what the hive commanded and would follow that command to their deaths.
The changeling didn't respond, merely followed its instincts, which told it to follow that man until further notice.
Only as it approached the door did anything change... Although it had seen none of the things that Karcier had, it did feel a change in the temperature as it left the cold. It wasn't much, but after two minutes, Youken found himself looking at a world seeming to move at double speed. Yes, his reflexes were dulled by the cold, but he could at least think again.
And that meant he could retake Alder's form again. Slowly, as if the words were new to him, he turned to Karcier and asked.
''What... What happened? I mean, did I like... Err... Miss? Miss anything important? Why do I feel like... Like... Like... Something... Horrible, well, pretty damn nasty nasty... Is going to... Gonna happen?''
The changeling wrapped his cloak more tightly around himself for all the good it would do. Only then did he realise that they were standing next to another door and he started laughing, a sound which came out as more than a croak.
'Well, whatever... Ever it is... I'll face it gladly rather than spend more time here.''
He sneezed wheezed out another chuckle, then looked at the door, waiting for it to open.
Yet the hive kept moving forward, following Karcier. Similar to a chicken without a head, each beetle knew only that it had been commanded to perform one task and repeat that task until further notice... So each beetle kept performing its one task that would take the hive further.
A few beetles attempted to reestablish order and communication, but they were only a handful within the many. About fifty of the beetles stopped performing their tasks and rallied the ones around them, or tried to... But the less independent ones knew only what the hive commanded and would follow that command to their deaths.
The changeling didn't respond, merely followed its instincts, which told it to follow that man until further notice.
Only as it approached the door did anything change... Although it had seen none of the things that Karcier had, it did feel a change in the temperature as it left the cold. It wasn't much, but after two minutes, Youken found himself looking at a world seeming to move at double speed. Yes, his reflexes were dulled by the cold, but he could at least think again.
And that meant he could retake Alder's form again. Slowly, as if the words were new to him, he turned to Karcier and asked.
''What... What happened? I mean, did I like... Err... Miss? Miss anything important? Why do I feel like... Like... Like... Something... Horrible, well, pretty damn nasty nasty... Is going to... Gonna happen?''
The changeling wrapped his cloak more tightly around himself for all the good it would do. Only then did he realise that they were standing next to another door and he started laughing, a sound which came out as more than a croak.
'Well, whatever... Ever it is... I'll face it gladly rather than spend more time here.''
He sneezed wheezed out another chuckle, then looked at the door, waiting for it to open.
-
Krail
Re: [CRP] Fragments of the Phoenix
As he reached the lasts steps, he turned to see the capital one last time. To have its memory as it had stood fresh in his mind, war never ends and the endless repetitive nature of all creatures would ensure that. There would be other nations that would fall overnight by a simple mistake, a desperate action that at the time seemed like the only option.
"They unleashed her power, that was the blood Crystal's forbidden magic. Thousands of years worth of dead kelron souls mixed with her own, ever growing power. It tore through everything she had made, maybe another type of Reunion encase her other creations failed. Well...its time to leave this memory behind...shall we ?"
He said as the doors behind him opened, the loud grinding of stone against stone. The last trail was upon them, he wondered what it would be. It seemed that the trails reflected the occupants, how it judged what was necessary was beyond him but he found it an interesting notion. Perhaps he'd try to replicate it one day.
As he stepped through to the next chambers he was surprised, it was barren just a simple hallway with nothing lighting it nor any magic flowing through the conduits. He paused looking back at the other chamber which its doors were slowly closing then back to this one. "That isn't normal" he said. As the doors behind him sealed he heard a loud thud and hiss as something hit the doors behind them. "... I think we should get moving."
He hurried his pace, as he looked to either side of this hallway he saw that the conduits had been damaged by a sword sliced vertically. That banging behind them became louder, the stone above them shaking and crumbling down. If that wasn't an indication to hurry he didn't know what it else would.
"They unleashed her power, that was the blood Crystal's forbidden magic. Thousands of years worth of dead kelron souls mixed with her own, ever growing power. It tore through everything she had made, maybe another type of Reunion encase her other creations failed. Well...its time to leave this memory behind...shall we ?"
He said as the doors behind him opened, the loud grinding of stone against stone. The last trail was upon them, he wondered what it would be. It seemed that the trails reflected the occupants, how it judged what was necessary was beyond him but he found it an interesting notion. Perhaps he'd try to replicate it one day.
As he stepped through to the next chambers he was surprised, it was barren just a simple hallway with nothing lighting it nor any magic flowing through the conduits. He paused looking back at the other chamber which its doors were slowly closing then back to this one. "That isn't normal" he said. As the doors behind him sealed he heard a loud thud and hiss as something hit the doors behind them. "... I think we should get moving."
He hurried his pace, as he looked to either side of this hallway he saw that the conduits had been damaged by a sword sliced vertically. That banging behind them became louder, the stone above them shaking and crumbling down. If that wasn't an indication to hurry he didn't know what it else would.