Post by Hiroshima on Jul 14, 2005 5:16:05 GMT -6
[NOTICE] I plan for this to be long, and it will take a while for me to complete. just a little heads up -Also- this doesn't completely "follow" FFTHG's story -line, there will be some discrepancies with spells, transformations, abilities of the Chaotics, etc. {enjoy} [NOTICE]
Nexus, how did i get here?
I'm barefoot on a narrow, rocky shore, and the sharp pebbles are biting into the bottoms of my feet. I stumble left and right, struggling to walk. The wind picks up, blowing hard, tangling my hair around my face so that it's almost impossible to see. The air smells faintly of brackish water, algae, and fish.
Where am I? How did i even get here?
I realize now that I'm afraid. I'm incredibly afraid of being here. Every cell in my body is begging to leave this beach. I could take off into the lake or head into the woods that border the water. Anything to get off this rocky shore, where i feel so vulnerable, so alone. Where am I? What lake is this? It's completely unfamiliar. I glance over at the woods, and then a dark shadow appears over me.
Cold. Black. And getting bigger.
My whole body goes rigid in anticipation. Everything in me knows that this shadow means danger, is danger. Looking up I'm shocked at how close it really is, and i reflexively crouch down on the stony shore. Now I can see its source: a huge dark-feathered hawk, flying just overhead, its vicious, golden eyes glowering. Who are you? my mind screams. What do you want with me? But the hawk has caught sight of something else. Thank Nexus.
As I watch, consumed with panic, the raptor tucks its wings to its sides and shoots down like an arrow. Ten feet above the water it swings powerful claws. A moment later it spreads its wide, dark wings and beats the air, bringing itself upward slowly at first and then with increasing speed. In its talons a large, speckled rainbow trout is twisting frantically, arching back wards and forwards in an attempt to drop free and back into the water. As the hawk surges upward, soon to become a small speck in the sky, I see the fish's eyes go blank with death.
The fear I feel is overwhelming, even though the hawk is gone. My whole body feels shaky, numb, as though i had just avoided death myself. Without understanding it, I know the hawk was after me. Is after me.
I have to get off this beach!
I run for the trees, pebbles flaying my feet. Soon I'm limping, stumbling, looking back over my shoulder, desperate to make the ling of trees before the hawk returns. Then, just as quickly as the hawk appeared, I'm at the entrance to the thick woods. I plunge into the darkness. It's cooler. It takes a minute for my eyes to adjust to the dimmed light. The ground is covered with pine needles, ground-hugging vines, weathered bits of leaves, all dry and crackly. I look around but can't see any kind of path, any destination.
Oh, Nexus, where am i? Without knowing that, i feel so alone and scared. What woods are these? One thing is clear though: I have to find my way out. I'll have to make my own path. A quick glance finds a slightly less overgrown section and i head for it. I hold slim branches aside as i pass through heading deeper into the woods.
Then I stand quiet and unmoving in the woods and realize that all of my senses are prickling. Magick. There is magick here. More than the constant low hum of energy that most mages can pick up on and ignore as background noise. This is magick being worked, being created, brought into being by design and effort and thought. My skin tingling, my breathing faster.
Closing my eyes, I cast out my senses, searching for the magick's source. I concentrate, slow my heartbeat, remain perfectly still . . . there. My eyes pop open and automatically search ahead of me at eleven o'clock, north and slightly west. I ease my was through closely grown trees, step over fallen lots and thigh-high vines blocking the way. I get ever closer to that elusive, irresitable vibration, the vibration of a mage pulling magick out of air. Now the woods 'smell of humus, dry bark, fungus, and insects is overlain with crisscrossing ribbons of smoke from burning herbs. Somehow i know without a doubt that a powerful mage is working this magick, and that they are stronger than me, and that i could learn from them. My fingers twitch with anticipation--what can they teach me? What can i show them of my own powers? My chest fills with both pride and uncertainty: I know I am strong, unusually strong, and I have impressed many mages, even some more educated than I. I also know that my successes are sometimes flukes--that my abilities are unpredoctable because i am untrained.
I can feel it now, raw magick threading through the trees like a scent. These vibrations are strange to me--is this good magick being worked? What if it's not? But surely I would pick up on it if it's dark magick. For a moment i hesitate. What if . . . But I press onward. Just ahead of me the greenish light filtering through the trees' crown grows brighter: there's a clearing ahead. I swallow and try to press forward, crashing clumsily through the trees and brushes, slapping the vines aside. This is it--soon, soon I will see the magick worker. Soon I will compare myself to them--she will be moretrained and more knowledgeable, but I will be stronger. My throat is tight with excitement. Soon, soon, just another step . . . and then my foot catches on a tree root, throwing me off balance.
As I feel myself falling my muscles tense and I fling out my arms. My wrist hits something hard with a startling smack. Wild-eyed, I jerk to a sitting position, not able to make sense of what I am seeing. Did I faint? Did the mage put some kind of spell on me?
Part I
Nexus, how did i get here?
I'm barefoot on a narrow, rocky shore, and the sharp pebbles are biting into the bottoms of my feet. I stumble left and right, struggling to walk. The wind picks up, blowing hard, tangling my hair around my face so that it's almost impossible to see. The air smells faintly of brackish water, algae, and fish.
Where am I? How did i even get here?
I realize now that I'm afraid. I'm incredibly afraid of being here. Every cell in my body is begging to leave this beach. I could take off into the lake or head into the woods that border the water. Anything to get off this rocky shore, where i feel so vulnerable, so alone. Where am I? What lake is this? It's completely unfamiliar. I glance over at the woods, and then a dark shadow appears over me.
Cold. Black. And getting bigger.
My whole body goes rigid in anticipation. Everything in me knows that this shadow means danger, is danger. Looking up I'm shocked at how close it really is, and i reflexively crouch down on the stony shore. Now I can see its source: a huge dark-feathered hawk, flying just overhead, its vicious, golden eyes glowering. Who are you? my mind screams. What do you want with me? But the hawk has caught sight of something else. Thank Nexus.
As I watch, consumed with panic, the raptor tucks its wings to its sides and shoots down like an arrow. Ten feet above the water it swings powerful claws. A moment later it spreads its wide, dark wings and beats the air, bringing itself upward slowly at first and then with increasing speed. In its talons a large, speckled rainbow trout is twisting frantically, arching back wards and forwards in an attempt to drop free and back into the water. As the hawk surges upward, soon to become a small speck in the sky, I see the fish's eyes go blank with death.
The fear I feel is overwhelming, even though the hawk is gone. My whole body feels shaky, numb, as though i had just avoided death myself. Without understanding it, I know the hawk was after me. Is after me.
I have to get off this beach!
I run for the trees, pebbles flaying my feet. Soon I'm limping, stumbling, looking back over my shoulder, desperate to make the ling of trees before the hawk returns. Then, just as quickly as the hawk appeared, I'm at the entrance to the thick woods. I plunge into the darkness. It's cooler. It takes a minute for my eyes to adjust to the dimmed light. The ground is covered with pine needles, ground-hugging vines, weathered bits of leaves, all dry and crackly. I look around but can't see any kind of path, any destination.
Oh, Nexus, where am i? Without knowing that, i feel so alone and scared. What woods are these? One thing is clear though: I have to find my way out. I'll have to make my own path. A quick glance finds a slightly less overgrown section and i head for it. I hold slim branches aside as i pass through heading deeper into the woods.
Then I stand quiet and unmoving in the woods and realize that all of my senses are prickling. Magick. There is magick here. More than the constant low hum of energy that most mages can pick up on and ignore as background noise. This is magick being worked, being created, brought into being by design and effort and thought. My skin tingling, my breathing faster.
Closing my eyes, I cast out my senses, searching for the magick's source. I concentrate, slow my heartbeat, remain perfectly still . . . there. My eyes pop open and automatically search ahead of me at eleven o'clock, north and slightly west. I ease my was through closely grown trees, step over fallen lots and thigh-high vines blocking the way. I get ever closer to that elusive, irresitable vibration, the vibration of a mage pulling magick out of air. Now the woods 'smell of humus, dry bark, fungus, and insects is overlain with crisscrossing ribbons of smoke from burning herbs. Somehow i know without a doubt that a powerful mage is working this magick, and that they are stronger than me, and that i could learn from them. My fingers twitch with anticipation--what can they teach me? What can i show them of my own powers? My chest fills with both pride and uncertainty: I know I am strong, unusually strong, and I have impressed many mages, even some more educated than I. I also know that my successes are sometimes flukes--that my abilities are unpredoctable because i am untrained.
I can feel it now, raw magick threading through the trees like a scent. These vibrations are strange to me--is this good magick being worked? What if it's not? But surely I would pick up on it if it's dark magick. For a moment i hesitate. What if . . . But I press onward. Just ahead of me the greenish light filtering through the trees' crown grows brighter: there's a clearing ahead. I swallow and try to press forward, crashing clumsily through the trees and brushes, slapping the vines aside. This is it--soon, soon I will see the magick worker. Soon I will compare myself to them--she will be moretrained and more knowledgeable, but I will be stronger. My throat is tight with excitement. Soon, soon, just another step . . . and then my foot catches on a tree root, throwing me off balance.
As I feel myself falling my muscles tense and I fling out my arms. My wrist hits something hard with a startling smack. Wild-eyed, I jerk to a sitting position, not able to make sense of what I am seeing. Did I faint? Did the mage put some kind of spell on me?