|
|
Post by Thor Odinson on Aug 27, 2012 22:19:12 GMT -6
Thor wakes up from a fitful sleep in what he believes is a dream, in the middle of a vast expanse of terrain he has never seen before. Everything is flat land that stretches as far the eye can see. And it is raining. Thor raises Mjolnir to the heavens, commanding it to stop, so he can get his bearings, but it pays him no heed, soaking him to the bone.
He attempts a second time to summon his powers, to no avail. Perplexed, he lowers the hammer and lets it sink into the soft mud near his feet, as he ponders what to do. The rain feels stinging, cold.. real. Sleeves appear on his arms, scales whirling and linking together.
He decides to fly out of the mire, but Mjolnir will not seem to listen to him. Dejected, the tall blonde trudges onward across the plain, hoping the dream will end soon, or the rain will stop, as the weather only gets worse, lightning flashing and illuminating the surroundings.
It was said that one's dreams could mean something. He could not figure out the meaning of this one.
|
|
|
|
Post by Vaken Radmos on Aug 27, 2012 22:48:51 GMT -6
"How in Kale's name did I get here?" Vaken thought. It must have been a dream. It had to have been. There was no way it could be real.
The Hali Kra had no idea what had happened. The last things he remembered were the tastes of mead and sweat on his tongue, and then, darkness...
He had woken up here, in the middle of a storm, soaked to the bone, with no idea where he was, and both hearts beating so quickly he thought they were both going to give out.
He had scrambled to his feet as quickly as possible. The sky over the plain was thick with clouds, and the storm that he had been caught in seemed like it was never going to let up. This wasn't anywhere on Coryzon that he remembered--this wasn't anywhere familiar on Eloran. Everything looked different. Sounded different. Smelled different. The air itself tasted different. Charged, but not from the electricity dancing above in the sky. Something else. Something foreign.
Vaken had no time to ponder where he was, or how he had gotten there. He was immediately more concerned with finding shelter. He scrambled to his feet. There was hardly any cover, save for the few crippled remains of buildings. He had made his way over to one of those, and decided to wait it out there. It couldn't rain all the time, could it?
|
|
|
|
Post by Thor Odinson on Aug 27, 2012 23:01:56 GMT -6
He walked for a seemingly endless amount of time. Finally, he saw the ruins of some small buildings in the horizon. Maybe there were inhabitants on this realm, after all. But when he arrived at the site, it appeared vacant and empty; whomever had dwelt here had long since died or moved on. He sighed, furrowing his eyebrows as he leaned against a nearby stone pillar, and he raised a hand to wipe the rain, mud and sweat from his brow. The rain was relentless, and he pondered taking shelter in one of the small ruins nearby. Not since his banishment had he felt like this; he had no control.
Then, the rain seemed to relent a bit, and the clouds passed, a short lull in a seemingly neverending storm.
Thor thought he heard something, just then.
|
|
|
|
Post by Vaken Radmos on Aug 28, 2012 8:03:59 GMT -6
Just when Vaken thought the rain was never going to stop, the clouds above the almost never-ending plain finally thinned. The sky turned from a black almost as black as night, to a softer gray. The electric charge in the air subsided, and the rain slowed. It didn't stop, but it was now a softer drizzle, as opposed to the torrent he had found himself in earlier.
Of course, this didn't actually change anything for Vaken. He was still huddled under the ruins of some ancient building, soaked to the bone. His robes—black, long, flowing—were utterly impractical for this weather, and as he stood there, arms wrapped around his chest, his clothes clung against his body, soaking him completely and making all his body's efforts at getting warmer, futile. It certainly didn't help that he had enough trouble warming up on his own, what with being a reptile. But now, he wasn't sure what was going on.
“Am I being punished for something?” he mumbled, thinking that no one could hear him. His eyes turned towards the still overcast sky. When he had woken up, he had thought this was a dream. Sometimes, he had dreams like this. Dreams with rain and cold. Dreams that felt so real he thought he would die. But normally, there were others with him. His sisters. Rena. Other members of court.
His mother.
Still, his dreams never felt this real before. He could feel the goosebumps rising up on his skin and his whole body was shaking with cold. “Damn,” he muttered to himself, teeth chattering with cold. He couldn't shake the feeling that this was real, that this was something that was happening. It all felt real, as far as he was concerned.
Which posed an entirely different problem. He had no idea where he was. It didn't smell like home, and there was no one around for miles. He wanted to step out from the safety of his shelter, to go back into the rain, but a chill ran up his entire body with the mere thought. So he was stuck here, at least until the rain finally subsided, if it would ever.
“Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit,” Vaken hissed. Wrapped in his own thoughts and ideas, he had absolutely no idea that he was not alone on the plain, and that someone else was approaching him...
|
|
|
|
Post by The Pantheon on Aug 28, 2012 18:16:28 GMT -6
 Now that the storm had ceased, there was a different sort of rumbling. At first anyone who heard such a racket would assume it were an earthquake, or perhaps a newly forming storm in the distance. Such things weren't unheard of in this region of Eden. However, it almost sounded like…something breathing. It seemed to originate in a nearby outcrop of rock with moss and trees growing out of it. However, no leaves grew on their branches. And elsewhere, blue green crystals appeared to be growing on what looked like…feet and a slightly stubby tail. The dragon, because that's what this outcrop of rock really was, seemed oblivious to the two that had gathered nearby. First two glowing green blue eyes opened and a wedge shaped head lifted itself from the ground. The dragon gave a massive yawn before shaking his head to clear the last remnants of sleep from it. |
|
|
|
Post by Thor Odinson on Aug 28, 2012 20:26:42 GMT -6
He paused, listening, but the sound faded to nothing. Thor ducked under the stone awning of one of the ruined buildings, making his way down a short flight of steps, pacing back and forth. This dream had grown tiresome. He wished he was awake and back in Asgard. He sensed magic around him, strange magic. This wasn't one of Loki's schemes, was it? No, it couldn't be. Thor suddenly felt a wave of sadness wash over him.
Was he drugged? Was he hallucinating?
No, this was all just a very sad, strange dream, in an imaginary realm inside his head.
He began walking around the ruins some more.
There was rumbling off in the distance, that obscured any breathing he would have otherwise noticed that came from a mysterious figure huddled nearby.
|
|
|
|
Post by Vaken Radmos on Aug 28, 2012 21:04:18 GMT -6
Vaken's entire body stiffened as something rang in his ears. It wasn't the sound of rain, this time. The rain had all but subsided. No. It sounded like the ground itself was shifting. Moving. It sounded like an earthquake, was what it sounded like. His ears weren't as sharp as they could have been, of course, but Vaken thought he knew what that sound was—so why wasn't the ground shaking beneath his feet, like it should have been?
Maybe he had simply misheard...maybe he was just hearing the sound of thunder in the distance. The clouds were still overhead, and he stared upwards at them. None of them were dark enough to bring a thunderstorm...as far as he knew.
“Dammit,” he muttered to himself, wrapping his arms tighter around his dripping chest. “What in Yirral is this place?”
It was at that instant when Vaken said those words that he realized he wasn't alone. How had he missed that there was someone nearby? Instinctively, he clamped his hands to his mouth, as if to silence the words that he had already said. Why though? What did he need to be worried about? He had no idea if the man—at least, it looked like a man, to be honest, it sort of resembled Drakmar—he was seeing was a foe.
But then again, he actually had no idea if he was a friend, either. That was the problem with other people, you could just never tell. And that was the problem with this...this alcohol induced dream, or whatever this was that Vaken was currently experiencing. He didn't actually care what it was at this point, he just wanted to get into some warmer clothes and get a Kale-damned drink.
“Fuck,” he muttered against his damp palms. His hands fell to his sides, and he sighed. If this was a dream, it wasn't like he could get hurt, right? He wouldn't be hurt, he would just wake up in his bed, and everything would be alright.
Right?
In an unusually uncharacteristic display of bravery, Vaken took a few hesitant steps forward, shivering as he left the relative safety of the ruins. “Oi,” he half-shouted through the cold and his own unease, “You have any idea where we are?”
|
|
|
|
Post by Thor Odinson on Aug 28, 2012 21:35:27 GMT -6
Then the silence was broken by a string of muttered words and Thor spun around, squinting, searching the shadows. A figure stepped forth, someone Thor had never seen before, and suddenly the Thunderer knew this was no dream at all.
The man was asking him the same question he himself had been wondering.
"Ah, my friend, I do not know. It not familiar to me. But it is hard to tell, as you are the first living being I have encountered." He smiled, though he kept Mjolnir close at hand in case the man proved an enemy. "What realm are you from, then, if you know not this one?" He surveyed the other's black robes. The man was eerie, with yellow eyes. He did not look Midgardian. Asgardian, or a strange alien race perhaps?
"I am Thor, of Asgard. The air here is tinged with magic, of a strange kind. We should keep moving, now that the dread storm has passed. Come along, what say you? Surely we will run into other inhabitants."
|
|
|
|
Post by Vaken Radmos on Aug 28, 2012 22:53:32 GMT -6
For a brief moment, Vaken was taken aback. He had not expected this other man to react with kindness. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but something in the back of his head had been pessimistic. Like this blonde man was a local. But obviously, he was no more local than Vaken was.
Still, he couldn't help but be suspicious of this man. They were both stranded on some foreign world, but this man...Thor, was his name? What a silly name that was. And there was no way he was a Hali Kra. He didn't smell right. He smelled like...magic and meat and alcohol and something clawed at Vaken from inside him, and he realized for the first time how badly he needed a drink.
“Right, right, yes,” he said impatiently, though his impatience was directed only at himself. “I'm glad—I guess I'm glad that you're as clueless as I am,” he said. Something in him nagged at him, telling him he was forgetting his manners, he wasn't being polite. But he was soaked to the bone, somewhere that may not have even been real. The last thing he should have been caring about was politeness. Still, he extended his arms out and lowered himself in a tiny bow, all while grimacing. He was still dripping wet and freezing cold, after all.
“Vaken,” he said.
He didn't think there was a need to give more information than that.
“And thank Kale you can feel that too,” he said, referring to the unusual magic that he could practically taste on the air. “There's something that I don't think we should get near in this area,” he said in a low voice. “I agree, though, we need to get out of here as soon as possible...figure out where in Yirral we are.”
|
|
|
|
Post by Thor Odinson on Aug 29, 2012 21:58:43 GMT -6
The other seemed to dance around his question, but they were strangers to each other, so Thor shrugged it off. Perhaps the other would tell him more about himself in due time. For the meantime, Thor was glad to have company.
"Let us depart, then, friend!.. Yirral? The name of this realm is Yirral? I have never heard of a Yirral. Where in Yggdrasil are we?" His brows knitted and he motioned for the other to follow, moving at a fast gait. "If I can get Mjolnir to listen, we may be able to fly out of this place," he suggested to the other man. "But for now, I am afraid we shall have to walk." He rubbed his bearded chin, pacing about. "As far as I am aware, you and I are the only living beings here. I have not met anyone else, foe or otherwise. In case we do need to go into battle, can you fight? As you are aware of the magic, I assume you are a mage of some kind?"
He stepped out onto an outcrop of rock with a clear view of the expanse toward the east. Thor looked out at the plain and the unknown that lay beyond.
"We should find food, or water. I do not need to eat often, so I shall be fine, but do you? Though I am parched!"
|
|
|
|
Post by Vaken Radmos on Aug 29, 2012 22:46:25 GMT -6
Oh for Kale's sake, did this...this...Vaken hesitated to call it a man, because he wasn't sure this thing was Hali Kra...he didn't understand anything that he was saying did he? Vaken scowled as the blonde—Thor, right, Thor was his name—started walking away, and was taking rather large strides to keep up with him.
“No, no, no,” he hissed through chattering teeth. “I have no idea what this...what this place is called,” he said. “I'm not...sure what this place is called,” he said. He shook his head, and let out a rather loud sigh. He was starting to think that this was some crazy, alcohol-induced hallucination, because what else could account for a strange not-Hali Kra person, a plain of endless rain, and this constant smell of magic in the air?
As Thor stepped out onto the rocky outcrop, Vaken remained at the base, staring up at him. He was trying to remember everything Thor had asked him—and trying to answer them as vaguely as he could, when he realized that he was facing what must have passed for a warrior in whatever strange culture he was from. It...probably wouldn't be a good idea to admit that he wasn't a fighter. Even with what magical skills he had, he had never been meant to be a fighter. He was meant to live the cushy life of an academic, a scholar.
Not like his powers were useful for anything aside from killing the already crazy and traumatizing those who were already deeply sad inside.
“I can hunt if I need to,” Vaken said. He would have preferred not too, especially not knowing what was around here. His stomach could digest almost any meat he needed to, but still, he was not about to go hunting not knowing what he was up against. And right now, his last priority was food. “I could really damned use a drink though,” he said, a little bit of a sardonic grin appearing on his face.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Pantheon on Aug 31, 2012 19:20:25 GMT -6
Earth rose from the ground onto his four feet and shook his whole body now. Dislodging a small flock of birds from his back and a few others who had mistook him. He turned his muzzle back toward his front foot and itched at it with his claws. Once his itch was placated, he was reminded that he had heard voices earlier. From their tone of voices, it as almost certain they were Dreamwalkers. Newcomers to Eden. He was most certainly not Time's children, Emotion or Knowledge but he could at least give them a welcome...or at least a way out of the Plains. Earth spent so much time in the Plains because lightening didn't really affect him that much. But Dreamwalkers often proved vulnerable to the strikes. Summer could get carried away at times. But how to approach them without scaring them? Earth doubted they had dragons where they came from. Oh well, it's not like they wouldn't hear him coming. |
|
|
|
Post by Thor Odinson on Aug 31, 2012 19:34:21 GMT -6
Thor stepped off the rocks, continuing onward, occasionally glancing at his traveling companion. He contemplated striking up a conversation but decided against it, and the two walked mostly in silence. The man did not seem particularly friendly; however, this seemed excusable as the rain had started again. It was a light drizzle this time, though, not a full-on storm. There was rumbling again, it sounded not far off. Thor raised a hand to his brow, squinting and looking around for lights, any sign of civilization; but the rain picked up and the wind blew it straight into the odd duo's faces.
There was nowhere to go for shelter, except back. Thor kept on trudging forward. At least the land was flat, which made travel easier.
There was another rumble, directly behind them. Thor turned around, then grabbed the other man's wrist, most likely to his dismay.
"There's a ...dragon." Thor whispered, and readied himself for a fight if the beast proved unfriendly. He had no experience with these creatures, though he'd heard lore of them. Though the magic emanating from the creature he felt in his very core. This beast was surely old, and very powerful.
|
|
|
|
Post by Vaken Radmos on Sept 1, 2012 12:45:58 GMT -6
The silence between the two was definitely awkward as they walked down the plain. But Vaken certainly had nothing that he wanted to talk about right now. Or, at the minimum, he had nothing he wanted to talk about until he got out of the rain, got a clue about where he was. And a drink. That was all that Vaken really wanted right now.
And, of course, the rain had to start up again. But now that he was soaked to the bone, Vaken wasn't really that concerned about that. What he was concerned about was a sudden shift in the air. It smelled of magic, it smelled of...well, he wasn't really sure what it was.
Then he heard the rumbling behind him.
And then Thor grabbed his wrist and said the stupidest, most obvious thing ever. Vaken was about to tell Thor not to touch him when he finally got a glimpse of the dragon.
It was massive. Sure, there were dragons on Eloran—dragons that flew with wings, dragons that were slender, and dragons that swam in the vast oceans of Eloran—but he had never seen anything like this before. Dragons on Eloran were the size of horses. This was bigger than any living thing he had ever seen before.
Vaken stared at Thor with wide eyes as he readied to fight, and then back at the creature. This was different than the dragons he had been used to on Eloran too. He could tell just by looking at the plants and moss growing on its back. It was old. And it was the source of this weird smell and taste in the air. If it had wanted to hurt them, surely it would have done so already, right?
“It's alright,” Vaken hissed in a low voice to Thor, “put the weapon down. If that thing wanted to hurt us, it would have done it already.”
|
|
|
|
Post by The Pantheon on Sept 1, 2012 18:39:34 GMT -6
One of them raised a weapon to him. Earth tilted his head at the gesture until the Sleeper's companion urged him to lower it. "I mean you no ill intent, Dreamers." The dragon stated calmly. "I am called Earth. And this is really not a place to linger about in one area for too long. That is...unless you have an immunity to the lightning bolts. We have spoken to Summer but he gets carried away at times." As the name would suggest, the dragon was more a golem of rock then flesh and blood. "Welcome to Eden. Such as The Precursers called it when even we were young." |
|
