Prentice Solo #1: "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?"
"There comes a time when one may come face to face with a set of disrupting options which each have a set of pluses and minuses that give them both their charm and repulsiveness. You may linger between them, seemingly trapped within the cacophony that each path brings you, your eyes thirsty and dry. Each day you stand still choosing, still longing, still waiting, for a light to shine upon the one of which you are supposed to take. Destiny does not come when it is wanted, it comes whenever it is appeased to do so, and waiting for that ray of light may take your entire life. But, as we all know, time waits for no one, and may shove you down the path you realize that you shouldn't have taken while you sit there waiting for fate to decide for you!
So, then, young Viveka, son of Zevian the Unwavered and Ren the Fair, if time cannot wait and destiny will not shine, how will you answer the question that burns you so deep?
Will you stay, or will you go?
The hand of which carves the rock changes how the rock originally appeared. You say you wish to be a sculptor, akin to the skill of your mother, then prove it to everyone you see. Carve your own path, leave your own mark, don't allow yourself to be given away so easily. Dear child, time is not on your side. Hurry now, hurry, go!"
---
"Leave me alone!" Viveka cried, shooting upwards in his bed. He clenched the sheets tightly around him and pressed his back against the stone wall of his bedroom. This was the third time a dream like this had happened this week alone! It always started the same way, he would fall asleep easily, and end up in a black world where nothing but a voice could be heard shouting out to him. The voice would always force him to think about his life and where he wanted to be, disrupting his peaceful dreaming! No amount of milk or tea or incense seemed to keep the dream at bay! It was truly unsettling!
He sighed and raised a hand to stroke his forehead. Was he feverish again? Ugh, he hoped he wasn't getting ill! He shuffled back under the covers and began to shiver. Whatever was going on with his body right now wasn't anything friendly, he knew that. The only thing he could do was hope that it was just a simple cold and that it would pass sooner than it had come on. Amber eyes fluttered closed, hoping to catch up on his missed sleep.
---
"Viveka, did you honestly think I would go away? I am your conscience, yourself! You cannot bait away fate my boy, you simply cannot! Rise up! Rise up! Hurry on out the door! There isn't much more time to waste!"
"But I can't just be reckless about this can I?" Viveka retorted. He appeared to be a ghostly vision of himself, his body and features glowing a pale baby blue. The surrounding room was black, the floor below an empty abyss, but despite the unending floor he was hovering, floating like a leaf in the breeze. He had no idea if he was going to hear a reply, or ever figure out what was going on, but it didn't hurt to try... Right?
"Oh Viveka, you worry me so!" The voice replied, echoing through the room like the wind through the mountains. "Everything cannot be as calmly pulled off as you wish it could be, you silly child! You've grown so much and yet you still fear the tiniest things!"
Viveka frowned towards the direction of the voice and suppressed a growl. What sort of nonsense was this voice telling him? He was neither silly, nor did he fear the tiniest things! ... Did he?
He raised his legs to sit cross legged and ended up floating like one of this magic meditation men he had seen in Sauti with Natsu one day. Did he really worry too much? Was he sweating too much over far too little? He peered to his side as he pondered, noticing a white figure standing close by. For the first time in his life, he didn't seem phased by it's presence, and stared at it from his floating position.
The figure resembled him rather closely, sans all of the white and robing, which was flowing and long, much like water. Each time Viveka would blink, the figure would drift closer to him, but the movement didn't scare him much at all. In fact, he was intrigued as to why it was moving so slowly and why it hadn't joined in on the conversation. Soon enough, they were face to face with one another, and Viveka felt a growing need to wrap his arms around it. For some reason... It needed a hug... It just screamed that to him...
Hug me... Hug me... Please...
He reached forward and latched onto the figure, a sudden warmth enveloping him. The darkness turned to light, the dark world vanished, and he felt himself floating downward into the whiteness that now lay below him. He "hit" the ground limply and found himself surrounded by a blanket of feathers. They weaved and bobbed in the air before vanishing in a glimmer of light, just as Viveka reached out to grab them. He found it funny that they would come and go so quickly and that he could never seem to grab one for himself to keep. He blinked and lay flat on his back, deciding that whatever this was would resolve in the morning, and he fell back asleep.
---
He rose in the morning as he had always done after such a strange dream. He allowed his feet to dangle off the bed limply and rubbed his eyes, sniffling softly. Why was he crying...? It was a beautiful day outside! His father was outside hunting, Natsu was coming over to visit as promised, and he was here to live another day! Sore amber eyes peered around the room and blinked dry once more, and he wandered towards his closet to grab his clothes for his morning stroll. But as he did, a glowing white presence was seen lingering at his window, and he couldn't help but wander over to peer back at it.
What was it doing here? He was awake now! ...Wasn't he? He pinched himself quite a few times to ensure that he was, in fact, awake, and tapped the glass upon his window. But as he did, the robed figure vanished with the wind, and left a note carved in the snow.
"GO. Before it's too late."
---
Viveka leaned against the bed frame again and clutched his blanket to his chest. Dawn had just begun to creep it's way through his window, it's warm rays of light cascading upon his blue bed sheets and pillow. He appeared frozen and pale, but not really all that terrified at all. That had been a dream within a dream, something he had never experienced before. His mind played back all the messages he had received again and again.
"Don't miss your chance."
"Reach for your dreams."
"Go now, before it's too late!"
Moments of silence passed as the sun gradually rose, and eventually, he nodded along to his own silent decree. He would go, he would go... He bit his lip and peered out the window at a head stone on the corner of the property, and smiled softly. ... But only if his mother let him leave peacefully.
(Word count: 1267)
"There comes a time when one may come face to face with a set of disrupting options which each have a set of pluses and minuses that give them both their charm and repulsiveness. You may linger between them, seemingly trapped within the cacophony that each path brings you, your eyes thirsty and dry. Each day you stand still choosing, still longing, still waiting, for a light to shine upon the one of which you are supposed to take. Destiny does not come when it is wanted, it comes whenever it is appeased to do so, and waiting for that ray of light may take your entire life. But, as we all know, time waits for no one, and may shove you down the path you realize that you shouldn't have taken while you sit there waiting for fate to decide for you!
So, then, young Viveka, son of Zevian the Unwavered and Ren the Fair, if time cannot wait and destiny will not shine, how will you answer the question that burns you so deep?
Will you stay, or will you go?
The hand of which carves the rock changes how the rock originally appeared. You say you wish to be a sculptor, akin to the skill of your mother, then prove it to everyone you see. Carve your own path, leave your own mark, don't allow yourself to be given away so easily. Dear child, time is not on your side. Hurry now, hurry, go!"
---
"Leave me alone!" Viveka cried, shooting upwards in his bed. He clenched the sheets tightly around him and pressed his back against the stone wall of his bedroom. This was the third time a dream like this had happened this week alone! It always started the same way, he would fall asleep easily, and end up in a black world where nothing but a voice could be heard shouting out to him. The voice would always force him to think about his life and where he wanted to be, disrupting his peaceful dreaming! No amount of milk or tea or incense seemed to keep the dream at bay! It was truly unsettling!
He sighed and raised a hand to stroke his forehead. Was he feverish again? Ugh, he hoped he wasn't getting ill! He shuffled back under the covers and began to shiver. Whatever was going on with his body right now wasn't anything friendly, he knew that. The only thing he could do was hope that it was just a simple cold and that it would pass sooner than it had come on. Amber eyes fluttered closed, hoping to catch up on his missed sleep.
---
"Viveka, did you honestly think I would go away? I am your conscience, yourself! You cannot bait away fate my boy, you simply cannot! Rise up! Rise up! Hurry on out the door! There isn't much more time to waste!"
"But I can't just be reckless about this can I?" Viveka retorted. He appeared to be a ghostly vision of himself, his body and features glowing a pale baby blue. The surrounding room was black, the floor below an empty abyss, but despite the unending floor he was hovering, floating like a leaf in the breeze. He had no idea if he was going to hear a reply, or ever figure out what was going on, but it didn't hurt to try... Right?
"Oh Viveka, you worry me so!" The voice replied, echoing through the room like the wind through the mountains. "Everything cannot be as calmly pulled off as you wish it could be, you silly child! You've grown so much and yet you still fear the tiniest things!"
Viveka frowned towards the direction of the voice and suppressed a growl. What sort of nonsense was this voice telling him? He was neither silly, nor did he fear the tiniest things! ... Did he?
He raised his legs to sit cross legged and ended up floating like one of this magic meditation men he had seen in Sauti with Natsu one day. Did he really worry too much? Was he sweating too much over far too little? He peered to his side as he pondered, noticing a white figure standing close by. For the first time in his life, he didn't seem phased by it's presence, and stared at it from his floating position.
The figure resembled him rather closely, sans all of the white and robing, which was flowing and long, much like water. Each time Viveka would blink, the figure would drift closer to him, but the movement didn't scare him much at all. In fact, he was intrigued as to why it was moving so slowly and why it hadn't joined in on the conversation. Soon enough, they were face to face with one another, and Viveka felt a growing need to wrap his arms around it. For some reason... It needed a hug... It just screamed that to him...
Hug me... Hug me... Please...
He reached forward and latched onto the figure, a sudden warmth enveloping him. The darkness turned to light, the dark world vanished, and he felt himself floating downward into the whiteness that now lay below him. He "hit" the ground limply and found himself surrounded by a blanket of feathers. They weaved and bobbed in the air before vanishing in a glimmer of light, just as Viveka reached out to grab them. He found it funny that they would come and go so quickly and that he could never seem to grab one for himself to keep. He blinked and lay flat on his back, deciding that whatever this was would resolve in the morning, and he fell back asleep.
---
He rose in the morning as he had always done after such a strange dream. He allowed his feet to dangle off the bed limply and rubbed his eyes, sniffling softly. Why was he crying...? It was a beautiful day outside! His father was outside hunting, Natsu was coming over to visit as promised, and he was here to live another day! Sore amber eyes peered around the room and blinked dry once more, and he wandered towards his closet to grab his clothes for his morning stroll. But as he did, a glowing white presence was seen lingering at his window, and he couldn't help but wander over to peer back at it.
What was it doing here? He was awake now! ...Wasn't he? He pinched himself quite a few times to ensure that he was, in fact, awake, and tapped the glass upon his window. But as he did, the robed figure vanished with the wind, and left a note carved in the snow.
"GO. Before it's too late."
---
Viveka leaned against the bed frame again and clutched his blanket to his chest. Dawn had just begun to creep it's way through his window, it's warm rays of light cascading upon his blue bed sheets and pillow. He appeared frozen and pale, but not really all that terrified at all. That had been a dream within a dream, something he had never experienced before. His mind played back all the messages he had received again and again.
"Don't miss your chance."
"Reach for your dreams."
"Go now, before it's too late!"
Moments of silence passed as the sun gradually rose, and eventually, he nodded along to his own silent decree. He would go, he would go... He bit his lip and peered out the window at a head stone on the corner of the property, and smiled softly. ... But only if his mother let him leave peacefully.
(Word count: 1267)
