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 Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 10:36 am
"I..... I have... to see." Nikolai whispered, voice barely able to make it above that volume. Stepping away from Guin, he climbed up onto the ledge of his balcony and opened his wings. He turned to meet her eyes; he couldn't back down now. What was held tight to his chest appeared to be some sort of picture frame, though the face or faces of those in it were pressed to his pajama front. The snow under his feet chilled him, but not so much as the wind that seemed to put an urgency to his quest as it tried to blow him off of the ledge. Now it was far too important to back down from.
"Please...." He held out a hand to her again, hoping she would come flying with him. This was more important than his health to Nikolai. Because now, he felt he might know just what it was that he had done in his former life before staying with Jade. And if these vague feelings of unease were true, he had to leave his Guardian before she was conflicted once again.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:01 am
Guinevere shook her head. "Nikolai..." she pleaded hopelessly. But if he really was going to do this, she couldn't let him do it alone. Still not ready to stop trying to persuade him to wait, she climbed up to grab his hand. If he jumped without her...
"Nikolai, please, can't it wait until you're well?" Guinevere said urgently. "Yes, you want to know more about your past, but please, please, Nikolai. Think about your future, too." She met his look with one of her own. "If your past is worth more than your future to you, that's fine. It's fine, really. But your future is worth a lot to me, and to Jade too." She had just barely met Nikolai again. Going out in the cold off a balcony with a fever was not in his best interests. She didn't want to lose him because he was trying to find himself. "Your past will still be here tomorrow. And the day after that, too. But a future is a very tentative thing!" Guinevere spoke with authority. She had it from a very reliable source.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:07 am
"No..." Shaking his head, Nikolai grasped her hand tightly and looked at Guinevere sadly before showing her the picture he held onto so tightly. It was yellowed at the edges, and clearly taken from somewhere in the house without permission if it was hidden away in Nikolai's drawer for so long. In the picture was a younger Jade- twenty or so years old- with someone else. A man of similar age, with glasses and a pin-stripe jacket on.
Face almost darkening with a frown, Nikolai held onto the picture tightly once again to hide it from sight. "He.... he was the man wh-who spoke... in the past." Nikolai said quietly. The sudden hastiness he felt returned all the more. If this person really was the one he'd foretold would die, then he could not stay with Jade any longer. He would feel far too guilty for that. So he had to know now, while he had the strength to fly.
Grasping Guin's hand all the more tightly, Nikolai opened his wings and gave an experimental flap before looking at Guin to be sure he wouldn't take off without her.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:24 am
Guinevere looked at the picture and back at Nikolai. And then at the picture again. "Oh." she said quietly. She began to see why Nikolai thought this couldn't wait. "Just promise to be careful." she said firmly. "Don't do anything too rash."
She gripped onto his hand as well, and flapped her wings.
In some situations, important details are easy to forget. Such as when one is in imminent danger or when one is in shock or has had something unpleasant revealed to them. Nevertheless, one should never forget that one is poor at flying, especially if one is on a balcony holding hands with another person who isn't too good at flying and also happens to be quite weak at the moment. Guinevere did not remember this helpful bit of advice. She flailed her wings desperately as she rose. "Ahhh... Ah!" Determined, she tried to sort herself out while at the same time holding her skirt down so at least no one would see her underwear while her wings flailed her about in the air.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:35 am
Holding fast to Guin's hand, Nikolai spread his wings out and glided as they left the balcony. He didn't dare loosen his grasp of his friend's hand; she seemed to be having more trouble than he was after all. When the descent was getting to be too much he flapped his wings and tried to go higher. The little Herald knew what he was looking for, but this little flight was going to take them a long time to get to the destination; if they could even find it.
Nikolai was already panting unusually hard by the time they got above the houses, but he didn't dare try to turn around. He was steadfast in his quest, and he wasn't going to stop no matter how much his body protested. With Guinevere there, he hoped that they would both find strength in each other to learn more of themselves along with Nikolai's past.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 4:19 pm
Guinevere let Nikolai lead her, slowly coming to grips with her flight pattern. She wondered where the Herald could possibly be going. It seemed he had a destination in mind. At this pace though, they might as well be walking, and Nikolai was tiring out pretty quickly, it seemed. Guinevere flapped her wings harder, the ribbons that were so permanently attached to them shipping around in the air. "Where are we headed?" she asked the other Herald, stubbronly trying to control her direction as she beat her wings hard as she could. She wouldn't let him heft most of the weight in his condition.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 6:14 pm
Nikolai didn't answer; when his breathing was hard enough to control between his fever and his wing flaps he didn't want to waste it talking. All he could do was try to focus on the scenery.
The town was slowly left behind. Left for the more sparce trees and the only buildings were old warehouses and one large factory that seemed to be out of business. Nikolai seemed to take quite an interest in the old building as he circled it once trying to get an idea of it without descending lower. There was a bad feeling here for Nikolai, but the Herald knew he'd never been inside before. He'd flown over it before though; that he did remember. Flapping higher, Nikolai conserved his energy as best he could by gliding a ways. There was a large water tower close by, and Nikolai made his way over towards the old graffiti'd and rusting building with curiousity.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 7:11 pm
Ah. Silence.
Guinevere flapped her wings harder anyway, trying to make it easier for Nikolai. What she did not do was look down. Somehow, her logic was that if her strength gave out and she fell, not seeing it would make it better. It would at least prevent the urge to be sick. Instead she looked straight ahead at her friend determined to keep up with him. The ground was a long way away, and Nikolai was the only familiar figure up here. Flying as close to him as she could without accidentally bumping into him, she wished she had practiced staying aloft more often. What with the whole 'witch' business it had not seemed very important to learn yet.
All of a sudden it was shooting to the top of her list of priorities.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 7:45 pm
Within a few minutes they were at the water tower and walking along the cold mesh of metal ringing the large squashed sphere. It was then Nikolai let Guin's hand go, certain she wouldn't plumet to the ground without his help. Now that he was still Nikolai's shivering became all the more apparent as his bare feet sent some of the icicles below them clattering down below.
Seeming to search for something, the lad held the picture frame close as he looked on what appeared to be a dirty blanket that resided out of sight of those who would frequate the factory. Kneeling down, he touched the cloth and suddenly froze as his eyes lost their focus.
The memories started to return as if a fog was beginning to lift from the recesses of his mind. He had lived here. Every morning he would see Tobias- the man in the photo- before he went to work or in the evening after he'd finished for three days. Three days he kept trying to help the man who did not believe in destiny. Three days he tried to blatently explain the danger the man would face.
There had been long hours watching the humans talking, interacting, and laughing with one another. Nikolai had wished then to try and speak with them despite the rules, but he did not dare to interact with anyone but his objective.
Then the accident happened.... and Nikolai felt a horrible pain wrack his body. While in a trance, Nikolai's knuckles turned white as he held fast to the picture frame. After reliving the moment the bond between his contact and messenger was broken Nikolai nearly collapsed again while his body shook as if he'd just been plunged in ice water. Sweat dripped from the end of his nose, and his fever had peaked at an all time high. There were no more memories to find here, they were elsewhere to be collected.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 7:59 pm
Guinevere looked at Nikolai as he headed towards the cloth. He looked cold. He was sick, she remembered, he shouldn't even be out here, let alone make such a long flight. She got closer to him, trying to at least let her body heat help a bit.
Then he touched the cloth and for a second, he hesitated. Guinevere didn't know why until she saw his eyes. Suddenly his grip tightened on the picture, he began trembling, and he started to sweat. "Nikolai!" Guinevere called in alarm. She reached out to grab him, to try to pull him back. She wanted him to be home. She knew he wasn't ready for this, she should have tried harder to convince him. "Please, please Nikolai." she begged. "Let's go home. You've seen one, let's go home and wait."
There was something about death that made it feel almost tangible, something that made your spine prickle and you knew it was there. Guinevere felt it here, strong as if Aaron were standing next to her. It was the first time she had ever feared it. She didn't want to feel that sensation, not now, not with Nikolai so weak like this.
Guinevere had wanted to see Aaron again. Now she was considering all the circumstances in which that could be possible and one of them she didn't like at all.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:14 pm
Falling against Guinevere, Nikolai once more had tears in his eyes from these visions of his past. Though this time it was mostly the pain he had felt-- he hadn't realized the bond between the Messenger and the one receiving the message would have ever been so strong.
Lifting a hand to grasp the girl's coat, Nikolai's wings were limp at his sides as he held onto her as if for dear life. The boy simply couldn't muster strength enough to move any more, let alone sit up and wrap his wings around himself for warmth.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:30 pm
Guinevere looked at Nikolai and her eyes prickled with tears as she reached out to wrap him in her arms. Her wings curled to shield them from the wind, and half crying, she said "Stupid, stupid stupid." She trembled as she held him, and she supposed that made two of them. She had never seen Nikolai this weak before, and she never, ever wanted to see him like this again. She couldn't scold him, not when he was like this, and she didn't want him to know how much it hurt to see him do such things to himself. He felt he had to. But she didn't want him to look for more memories until he was better. Part of her didn't want him to look for more memories ever again. She had never felt Aaron so close to her before, not for a long time. And she never wanted to feel that sensation around Nikolai again. "...Don't do this to yourself" she said, not even sure the other Herald could hear her. "Don't do this to me."
Finally, she broke into a weak smile, too tired to cry anymore, too tired to do anything but stand there holding Nikolai. "Jade is never going to trust me again." she said faintly.
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Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 9:55 am
Racked with silent sobs, Nikolai was far too weak to move in the slightest as his head whirled with thoughts. Why did it have to hurt so much? Why did messengers have to perish? Why was it the one person who had saved him had to be the same one he had wronged?
Drawing comfort from the warmth Guinevere provided, the little Herald didn't realize how warm his fever had made him, nor did he feel the cold any longer. His whole body had gone numb after the vision, and parts of him still twitched slightly with his quaking. His little hand clenched tighter around a fistful of Guin's coat and he whispered something barely audible in the wind.
"The sanctum...."
If they remained out in the cold they would both freeze to death. The gateway was close enough, but Nikolai knew that Guin was the only one who could save herself. Trying his best to push her away, Nikolai's consciousness began to fade away as he tried to get her to go on without him.
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Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:39 am
Guinevere looked fearful as Nikolai pushed her away. "NO!" she said, almost petulantly, childishly. She didn't know what he had seen. She didn't know what he was going through. But one of them had to think clearly, and she wasn't going to let Nikolai give up. She gritted her teeth determinedly. We're getting you to the Sanctum." She took off her coat and put it on him, hefting him up and walking towards the gateway.
Guinevere was a determined child. She had to be. She had been determined to be a witch and determined to see Aaron again one day and determined to live, as hard as she possibly could. She was not going to let Nikolai give up, even if she had to drag him all the way to safety.
It would take too long though. Nikolai was getting further and further away and she couldn't wait any longer. She closed her eyes, bit her lip and thought.
Presently, she began to slowly flap her wings and fly. She wobbled as she held onto Nikolai. Slowly, she rose into the air, and she gasped at the effort. The higher she flew, the easier it would be, the faster they'd get there.
Keep flying. She had to keep flying.
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Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:54 am
When he was lifted Nikolai clung to Guinevere instinctively, wings scrunching up against his back, and darkness seemed to engulf him. An unconscious weight in the girl's arms despite how tight his hold was.
Ahead of the pair was an expanse of forest, and somewhere within that forest, near a sleepy little town Jade and Nikolai had left behind, was the stone that summoned Heralds to the Sanctum. It was over a mile ahead of them, but if Guin made it above the trees it would be quickly conquerable distance in a long glide.
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