Welcome to Gaia! ::

She hesitated, not only on the fact of going to get the circle, but on saying to ruia that she was a crazy old hag...
Finally, she nodded and bent down over the fire, surprised of the lack of heat, and picked up the bracelet.
Around her wrist she put it, tickling her skin with power.
She smiled at all the compliments and blushed at Sora's amazed stare.
"Yes, I do admit, I've had to hide out as this more than once..."
Alianae'S question caught her off guard, as her face was both amazed and... Weirded out, I suppose.
"No, I... Don't believe I've met you before... Terribly sorry"

"But I... How, in the name of the gods, am I suposed to know WHO you are without anything as much a sa clue?"
She shrugged and crossed her arms, her long sleeves flinging in the air with her.
"Crazy? Not really... Just slightly insane"
She smiled then laughed a bit at her ridiculous joke, and looked at the shriking bracelet.
"So now I suppose I'm stuck to this forever?"

Sora couldn't take it any longer. He was hungry, and he could feel Terra's hunger gnawing away at his own stomach. That was the bad part of sharing most of his mind. He had to feel the hunger of two stomaches. And don't forget that one of them was several times bigger than his was. "Well, me and Terra are going to go and eat now," he said to Minasia, and slipped away from the crowd.

Finally, Terrana replied. It feels like we've been here for hours, she said and crouched low for Sora to mount. Yet it is such a shame to miss out on the end of this conversation. Do you think they'll eat soon? she said, lugging herself into the woods.

Sora jumped off her back, and picked several edible vegetables from the forest floor. Yes, but I think I would like to eat in private before I start to eat with people again, he said. He was going to have to train himself to stop checking into the minds of others, and isolation at mealtimes was a must. If he ate, he would get distracted, and then be jumping through their minds like he was searching through archives.

Oh, yes, Terra said, The obsession, she finished off, and jumped into a dark patch of the woods, and emerged with a dead deer in her mouth, and set it down, chomping the meat off, and leaving only major bones, the minor ones cracking under her forceful crunching.

Dear God, Sora said, nibbling on a carrot, Can you chew any louder? He asked sarcastically before finishing three more carrots, and sealed the rest within a sack for provisions.

Sora looked at his provisions. All in all, he now had 8 carrots. "I'm in for some bland meals," he whispered, "Unless I can find some more." He saw a rabbit on the forest floor, and dove into its mind. He flipped through the memories, and found out about a bush with some excellent vegetables. "Thank you," he whispered to the rabbit after he jumped from the animal's mind, and he headed off to the bush.

Terra had finished the deer, and was now looking for some other sustenance. The taste of Urgal still lingered in her mouth from when she ate the head of that one beast. She found another deer drinking from a creek, and pounced, doing the most to end the animal's suffering, and ate the meat vigorously.

Sora had found the bush. It contained several very exotic fruits, some that were completely unfamiliar to him, but based on the rabbit's memories, were tasty and healthy. He picked several fruits from the bush, and bit into it. He heard some labored breathing. He gripped his sword, and without feeling for a presence, ventured to the other side, where there stood several Urgals. Terra, he shouted with his mind, and conveyed images of his troubles. He would have said one of the twelve words of death, but at the moment, the words slipped from his mind. Then, his contact with Terra faltered. The fruits...poisoned? he thought to himself, and screamed for help, his sword now feeling heavy in his hand.

Sora looked up at Minasia, his view blurry and obstructed. He felt his hair matt up with thick sweat, as if he had been running a mile. This fruit was much more potent than any that his teacher at Vroengard had ever put him through. 'Thank You,' he barely managed to mouth out, and fell to the ground.

Terra bounded through the forest, her scales wet from the stream she had been wallowing in. She saw Minae next to Sora, then felt a tug at her mind. The poison was affecting her slightly, but not as much as it was affecting Sora. Will he be OK? she asked Minasia, her mind mixed with anger and anxiety, her eyes now viewing the dead Urgals for the first time.

Terra looked at Sora. Now she wanted to tie Sora to her back. I'll give him all my energy if need be, she said to Minasia, and then reached out to Sora's mind, which was an odd connection. She was so used to just being able to touch the mind-tendrils he had always sent out, that without it, she was doing so much more mind work than usual. She now felt the confusion Sora was dreaming in. Are you OK? she asked, her mind avoiding the odd defenses that had deformed themselves under the influence of the poison.

Te...rra? Sora managed to slur. Wha...happind? he asked. Dim recollections of his nonviolent encounter began to swirl around his mind, the Urgals smiling at him from every direction.

You ate some poisoned fruit, it looks like, she said, watching his memories like they were a play. And there's one of two things. One, Minae says that the fruit is poisonous to all but animals. Or two, that the Urgals poisoned the fruit. But I'd stick to the first option. Urgals aren't that smart, she said, chuckling. In the back of her mind, she felt like she was talking to a mental patient. He was slow, confused, and half-there.

Terra jumped out of Sora's mind. You're right, Minae, she whispered, and looked at Sora. On the outside, he hadn't looked too bad, like he had just fallen asleep, but on the inside, she could still feel the dastrous symptoms of a result of the fruit. She stared at the bush, with all its colorful fruits, and felt no beings inside it. She was about to open her mouth when Sora, in his weakened state, breached her mind.

Sora kept the shaky connection, and then whispered, If you burn the bush down, it'll...spread, he finished, and retreated from her mind, and then attempted to get to Minasia's mind. Thank you for...your help, Minasia, he said, and backed out of her mind.

Sora's mind jangled from the force of Minasia's shaking. He could feel the poison in his legs now, but the shaking was abating it's movement. He felt the poison linger in his mind, though, like a predator, waiting to attack. I'll...try, he whispered to Minasia, and then began to chant in his mind, Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up.

Terra couldn't stand seeing Sora like this, and by Minae's reaction it looked like he was on the verge of death. She dove into Sora's mind again, and looked for Sora. Then she had noticed what Sora's mind was turning into. It was like the end of a storm. That must have been good. She saw Sora's actual soul, apparently standing at some threshold, all the while whispering some awful chant. Sora, wake up! she cried, and grabbed him with her claws. She flung him onto her back and ran to the escape of this torture place. She looked back, and saw the threshold had disappeared. She lay him gently on the ground, and retreated to her own mind.

Aside from being mauled in his mind by Terra, he was feeling better. He fought a heavy restriction against his eyes, and opened them up to the forceful shaking of Minasia. "C-c-can you st-st-stop that?" he asked, stuttering through the shakes.

((Yeah, I had to create what being close to death would be like. So, I created the 'threshold'))