For a moment, he thinks he is back on Kartiel. The town is as lively as the one he once loved. But the faces are not the ones of those he will always hold close in his heart, and the town is unfamiliar. He is somewhere else. It is impossible to tell when. Is this a final message from a civilization from long ago?
Ash descends from the sky to settle over the ruined town, charred bodies decorating the hill like some twisted field of flowers.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
He jerked his hand away from the magical device, stumbling back from her and falling to the ground. "No," he desperately whispered. "No, no, no." His limbs couldn't stop shaking, and it was taking of his control not to completely break down. The memories rushing into his head were a confusing jumble of his own and the ones he had just experienced. The town from long ago and his beloved Kartiel were engulfed in uncontrollable flames.
Rowan abruptly drops the rock, eyes wide. She's pale as a ghost. The fire, the blood, the charred bodies...it's all to familiar, carnage like that. Her pack...
The minute his hands leave contact with it, the vision stops and it lays, pulsing, on the grass, a seemingly harmless object.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
He resisted the urge to engulf the object with a Detonation or some other destructive attack. Destroying it woudn't bring back the dead. It would only push back memories that he needed more than ever. Though he wished he could forget about what he had seen, something had to provide a clue to why he was here.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
"I don't know, but staying is asking for trouble." She slips her thumbs in her belt to still her hands, not wanting to reveal the fear she really feels.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
"Where do we go?" he questioned. Where do I go? He didn't have The Lotus and he couldn't find a stargate. If he couldn't complete his charge, he couldn't return to the Other Place. He was suddenly overcome by the incredible urge to cry - though spirits were unable to shed a single tear. He was stuck here, wasn't he? Stuck here like he had been on Earth for countless centuries.
"I have no idea..." Getting home is an impossible prospect by now. No waypoint, no map, no roads, just an endless sea of trees and these abandoned shambles of some ancient village. Alone, without barely even hope to be able to carry out her blood oath, she doesn't know what to do. For once in her life, Rowan is completely and utterly lost.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
Whenever he did want to cry, his essence always struggled to do exactly that. It was impossible for tears to suddenly well up in his eyes, but he had seen many humans cry. His essence tried its best to replicate the sight of it. His shoulders sagged, and he ducked his head down. Breaths that he had never truly needed became unsteady. Even his body began to shake, but no tears rolled down from his now very red eyes.
She falls into silence, struggling to maintain her steady demeanor with a clenched jaw and fingers in fists.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
He sniffled and looked over at her. The memory had easily wrecked havoc on their already fragile hearts; now the two of them had been reduced to pathetic shells of their former selves. "...Do you need a hug?" he hesitantly asked.
That question catches her off-guard. Usually she'd respond with a snappy comment about finding a knife in his gut, but the words she intends to say turn into a mumbled, non-committal noise with a slight shake of the head.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
He understood the meaning and kept his distance, though he had secretly been hoping that she would let him; it would mean that he would also get the comfort of a hug without confronting his tangled mess of emotions.
"My people are gone," he suddenly said. He promised himself that he wouldn't tell her anything more than she needed to know, but the words come tumbling out of his lips before he can even think of stopping them.
"I was out in the woods, far enough away for no one to find me. I was looking for resources - our food was running low and I...and I..." His voice caught in his throat. "I saw the ships come down. By the time I got back, my village was in ruins. The people I had loved were nothing more than burned corpses and ashes. I took the bodies that I could find and I tried to give them the funeral they deserved...That's my dream. I love exploring the universe, but I just want to get revenge for what was done to them."
He glanced over at her. "And when I saw that vision, I saw it as my village."
Gender:
Points: 1234
Reviews: 590