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Meeting With Medi - Rukashel - (PRP - Syrie & The Medium)

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10.06.06 || In Shop (Pg266/2667)

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The falling of the Dream Iridae had been different than the rest. Usually sleeping without dreams, Medium found herself lost in the vortex of a sucking dream that wouldn't let her go. She saw the spectacular dive of Dream spiralling downward from the heavens. She saw the tears and heard the anguished cry.

She saw the bone-shifting transformation and the melting until the crystal had been formed..and she saw the Kitsune find it.

It was then that Medium woke, sitting up in her bed. He would be here soon. All there was for her to do was wait and she did so in her living room, staring at the door.

The Medium did not like dreaming.

Ever since the kitsune had discovered the strange necklace in Dream he had been sleeping very badly. There was something that the artifact - which he had been calling 'Rukashel' for some ungodly reason - wanted from him. He had been so restless and jumpy that only his mate, Nanashi, had been able to distract him (and even then his slender artisans fingers wouldn't stop fidgetting with the silver filigree around his neck).

Being an empath was not the fun and games that most people seemed to believe it was. Syrie found it quite the annoyance. He didn't like following blindly, but as the days slipped from one to five, he found the pull becoming almost painful. At that point, he held up the gem from his chest and frowned at it.

"Okay Ruka, you lead the way...we'll go."

And thus the kitsune found himself wandering to a place that was very unfamiliar (and unwelcoming, if the aura inside were any indication) to him while clutching at the violet and silver gem he wore.

The presence wasn't exactly hard to pick out - that little crystal seemed to be incredibly too powerful for Medium's liking. Standing from her perch the Iridae glided towards the door and pulled it open, hallow eyes looking at Syrie with an emotionless look on her face.

Then again, she often had that look on her face whether or not she was with someone.

"Been expecting you," came her monotonous voice before she turned and entered the dark abode again, obviously expecting Syrie to follow. She hated the light but most hated the dark and whether or not she liked it it would be a good idea to keep the Spirit Keepers at least somewhat comfortable. She refused to raise the icy temperature, however. Thus, the lights went up just enough to see the inside of the cottage.

The grumpy-faced woman that opened the door before he'd even managed to knock for entrance. It took him fifteen seconds to decide that he didn't like her too much, she felt wrong to him....but this was where Rukashel had brought him, so he would follow.

It was dark, and chilly inside as he followed the odd woman; Syrie was very glad that the'd chosen to dress snuggly. "What is this place?" He pursed his lips a little bit and flicked his tail. "And why have I been drawn here?" He wanted to know. Needed to know, and grumpy hostess or no - walking along or no - he intended to get answers.

"They always bombard me with questions," she said, the tiniest hint of bemusement in her voice, "Can't just let me explain in my own time. Impatient creatures you humanoids are..."

He may have a tail and ears but he was most decidely human to HER.

"This is my cottage. My home. Most people have these, don't they?" They didn't where she was from. Not really.

"You've been drawn here because the spirit, Iridae, in that necklace, has been drawn to my crystal."

Stopping short of the beaded curtain, The Medium turned to eye the Kitsune, "Follow me."

Once again she began to walk, this time walking through the curtain with no disruption to the beads at all. The only spot of color in the dark room refused to move when she touched it. It would, however, click together noisily when Syrie walked through.

The setup in the room was fairly simple and on the table was a large, slightly glowing crystal. Obviously the source of light for the house.

"Naturally, when someone is drawn to a place they've never been before by an artifact the found in some strange way, they would have questions." This was Gaia. Syrie had no doubt but that he was not the first person to tread these halls clutching at some strange relic he or she had found in an odd way. (After all, he had a son born from a book!)

Her explination made sense in the way that things on Gaia do - which is to say not at all, save that it did. Gaia was curious like that.

He flicked his ears and followed through the beaded curtain, brushing the softly clacking beads from his way gently. "I do apologize for the rapid-fire questions, but since I found Rukashel, I've not slept properly." The woman's simple room didn't suprise him at all - one wouldn't expect a woman with a spartan sense of emotion to live in a lavish home, now would they?

"Perhaps, but it does get tiring hearing them over and over again," she answered, sitting herself down on one of her mahogany chairs, "I wouldn't expect you to sleep properly. That Iridae is the Guardian of Dreams."

And what did he do to FALL was the question? "You've already named him? Hmm. Most people who come in do not know what to name them. Likely because we are nameless except for what we guard. I, for example, am Death."

"Yes, I can imagine you do." But he would give her no further excuses - one was allowed to be sick of dealing with the same questions over and over again, but when one was the only person with the answers, one had to get over it and deal. Syrie knew that better than anyone -- which was why he might have empathized with the woman a little.

Guardian of Dreams? Well, that did explain a few things...he would see if perhaps he and Prox couldn't find a way to make him sleep well again. "Ah...am I to expect my sleep forever disturbed by Rukashel then? This could be problematic."

The kitsune tilted his head at the woman's question, ears flicking a little bit. "Ah, no. It's more that I heard the name whispered to me when the necklace came into my hands." That was how he named things. It wasn't necessarily that the object being named told him so much as something did. "But you do have a name, correct?" Ah, he'd forgot something rather important in his quest for answers, hadn't he? "By the by, my name is Syrie Zaire. And yours is?" Grey eyes watched quietly - best to be a on a name-basis with someone that it seemed you were going to be spending some time conversing with, yes?

"I suggest you take measures to guarding your dreams. He shouldn't get powers until he's...much older, however." She nodded at that and tapped her crystal, dimming the light for her sensitive, voided eyes.

"I am nameless, Syrie Zaire. I am but known as the Medium - I was not, and will never be given a name."

She did not deserve one but she would not say that.

"I will, now that I know it is being caused by the gem." Wait, she was speaking in gender terms...was the Dream Relic male?

"Medium is as good a name as any." He frowned a little bit and tugged his fingers away from the silver chain on the necklace he now wore. "Can you please explain what I've found myself involved in? I'm rather guessing that I was drawn to Rukashel for a reason...and from the way you speak, he will grow into something more than this necklace. Would that be correct?"

Syrie couldn't know for certain, but he did feel that Medium was holding something back from her explination. It was probably her job to be creepy and vauge, so he didn't press her for information about herself - it was none of his business, and quite frankly...the russet kitsune had other things to worry about.

Like...sleep.

"Oh, yes. The crystal is attatched to your life force at the moment," she said, not seeming too concerned with it, "Feeding from it. Once it has enough to fuel itself into life, it'll crack and it's essence will emerge. That stage is very short and then he will solidify into an Iridae baby."

Her wings flicked, a rain of feathers falling to the ground, "He should have wings..." a pause, "He's one of my kind. He made a mistake and that mistake was grave enough to have him be cast from the heavens. But because we're somewhat...indespensible, we're given a second chance. Everything we guard would disappear without us. Or run amok...We're not sure since none has ever abandoned their post."

"It's...feeding off my life force?" He didn't really look like he wanted an answer, no...as a matter of fact, he looked worried -- it wasn't common knowledge that his heart was faulty because it usually didn't affect anything, however there was a twinge of fear that this would cause problems. The slender man didn't say anything about it to the Medium however, she wasn't the sort to speak of personal concerns to.

"So, this relic will grow into a child. Am I correct in assuming that he will grow beyond that as well then?" Wings? Wonderful, he rather liked wings - and he could always help the boy learn to fly when he came of age. He'd taught his dreams, after all. "So this 'Iridae' is to be under my care until he grows old enough to reclaim his position?"

Syrie looked thoughtfully at the small purple and silver gem. "I just want to be certain I understand things before I continue. I'm certain you understand my concerns." He paused a moment, then looked up at the woman's blank face. "They are, after all, concerns of yours as well."

"Nuisances to me," she huffed, "But yes, concerns. It's feeding from your force - but it shouldn't cause you any problems. It doesn't need too much. But it will, or maybe it has started already, make you tired. He will grow beyond that a baby...Yes."

The Medium paused and crossed her arms, "Just like a normal child. It grows a bit faster, though..." Yet another pause, "Then again, most things in Gaia seem to grow faster than normal..."

The kitsune with the oddly colored hair nodded a bit, fingers ghosting across the relic around his throat. "Yes, it has. A few days ago I began feeling more fatigued than usual. It's good to know there is an external reason for this." Because he'd been worried it was something internal.

"Children on Gaia grow more quickly, yes. Defense mechanism, I fear." It was a survival tool, really. There were so many strange and dangerous things around that small children and kits couldn't stay small for long...they might be harmed.

"Medium, is there anything else that I should know about Rukashel? Anything special that I must do for his care?" He was such a smart fox -- this woman had answers (or some of them) and he was determined to not muddle through his gem's -- Iridae's life any more than he had to.

Somethings, he knew, were his to discover; any information he could get now would help, so of course he'd asked.

"Just...Let him be innocent," she said, a tinge of...emotion? In her voice, "He won't remember. Let him not remember. I didn't have that luxury. So give it to them."

Her face and voice went back to normal, then, and she stared at him, "Now, if that's all, you can find the door yourself."

For the first time during their whole conversation Syrie got something from the woman beyond that stoic wall of quiet crabbiness and the studiously maintained blank face -- curious.

"I will care for Rukashel as best I can, but I will not protect him from the unpredictability of life -- if someday he should 'remember' then we will deal with that when it comes." In other words, the fox would do his best as an adoptive "parent" to the Dream Guardian, but would make no promises.

Her short attitude with the already cranky fox had him snappish when he responded, though he tried to modulate his tone. If he were Death (as she was) he would no doubt be cranky too...he just couldn't be his usual gentlemanly self when he'd not been sleeping well. "If you'll excuse me, I believe that I shall take my leave. Thank you for your time, Medium."

And with that, the slender demi-human turned his back on the spartan room and made his way back out. For whatever reason, Rukashel's relic was warm against his skin and seemed...calmer than previously. How odd.

10.10.06 || In Dream...
One wouldn't imagine a relic could think or feel or anything even remotely close to emote...but when one is a 'magically endowed relic', well...all bets are off.

Rukashel, currently sealed snugly away inside the violet orb his spirit had been entombed in since before he could remember, fed off of the kitsune's life energies while he slept and haunted the man's dreams. He didn't mean to do anything to harm the demi-human...he just...really wanted out! Thankfully, the Iridae-spirit could take it easy on Syrie, he'd been held close to the man's heart for two weeks, so he'd been able to absorb life force slowly.

Still, he knew from the 'host's' energies that he must be careful -- this man was kind and his life force warm and sheltering -- it was nearing time for him to crack his jem and escape into the world. To have shape and size and a body again. Soon, yes...very soon.

The Dream Iridae whispered these things to the kitsune's heart and mind as he slept, hoping that this wouldn't disturb the man's sleep too much (it wouldn't, because the Nightmare Elder wouldn't allow it, but he did not know of the creature beyond that it's talons were cold, and it had brought him to the kitsune).

Soon.

Rukashel has cracked!

11.07.06 || Grand Manor, Lupix Sanctuary

Note: This was a bit of RP that started with Prox and I poking at the characters to make their tails poof; hence the way it's just...dropped into relevant roleplay.


Nanashi: *POOF* *grumbly*
Syrie: =_= ignore them. *back to boyself, thanks!*
Nashi: *grateful! snuggle* It's ... difficult, some days.
Syrie: Oh, I know that *grumbles, but nuzzles against Nashi* ...been keeping out of trouble?
Nashi: No trouble here~ *innocent* *really hasn't been up to much but can't resist little teasing*
Syrie: *flicks tail* Good. *smiles up at him* I spent two days as a woman before I was able to make the change...since then, I've laid low myself.
Nashi: Was it much trouble to rverse?
Syrie: Not after I threatened to shrink her head :3 *sweetly*
Nashi: *blinks and snickers*
Syrie: *flicks tail again* And...that crazy gem cracked....
Nashi: *tilts an ear* May I see?
Syrie: *nods and pulls the gem from where it was tucked against his heart, the purple has a crack and a wispy ghost-thing coils there* It's a little odd...but this wisp will oneday become a child...at least, that's what I've been told
Nashi: *little unsettled by this, but interested also* A kind of summon?
Syrie: The way it was explained was that the spirit was sealed for some reason, and this is a way for it to be reborn without that sin? It was really unclear...but he feeds from my life force right now...once he's solidified, he'll just be like any other baby, I think.
Nashi: *little more unsettle and trying not to show it* From your life force?
Syrie: *senses this, is creeped out too, honestly* Yes...and...it's very disturbing. I had no idea ...I don't think Ruka means to do it, either.
Nashi: *wraps arms around redfox* Not hurting you, is it? *uncertain ears*
Syrie: *shakes his head* No, I'm just a bit more tired than usual...and I've not slept so well either...
Nashi: *leans back a bit and tries to tug Sy to rest against him* You ought to be getting more rest. You look worn.
Syrie: *goes easily; doesn't really have the wont to argue with the other fox* I try...it's difficult with this...child.
Nashi: *snuggling* Been getting to bed on time, I hope?
Syrie: Early, some nights. I know better than to exhaust myself like this... *nuzzles at his shoulder and purls quietly*
Nashi: *pets hair* Good. I ... when it becomes a baby, will you let me help some so you can get sleep?
Syrie: *looks up, blinking* Yes. Of course. *would loooooove sleep, thanks* Are you sure?
Nashi: *slow nod, this is big trust for him really*
Syrie: *little kiss* Thank you...it means a lot to me. *so tired, ohyes; gets the feeling is bigdeal?*
Nashi: *littlekiss back* Can't have you missing so much sleep. *trying to not be nervous*
Syrie: Just being able to rest with you and Ruka would help so much... *could stay awake and help, but relax; probably best?*
Nashi: *nods and smiles, aware that rest like that sometimes means drift-off-and-sleep*
Syrie: *could probably drift off and sleep right then, all warm and relaxed with Nashi*

--Fade to Black--

Innocence & Dreams - A Private RP Session involving Syrie & Felinxis

In a small, neatly kept and brightly lit shop in Barton Town, a slender man with mint colored hair, russet fox ears and a tail was quietly straightening up row upon row of decorative stationary. The shop seemed to be situated in a renovated home - the was a warm sitting room with a fire going to one side, and the acutal store area to the other. Stairs led upstairs to the proprietor's offices and storage (one might suppose).

There was also a room that appeared to be locked with a "Do Not Enter" sign posted on it in several languages. One might do well to stay quite well away from said door, if one knew what was good for them.

At any rate, the kitsune was dressed warmly as he set about his task, tending the Shop. Normally his business associate (and much nicer person to deal with) took the front of the shop while he handled things behind the scenes, but Huni Pi had some pressing business, and that left Syrie to the front.

He hadn't had many customers thankfully - he was very tired from lack of restful sleep and from the strange gem hanging from his neck. Still, the kitsune wasn't going to shirk his duties - no, he was listening quite well for the tell-tale jingle of the shop's door being opened; the sound of a customer.

With nothing but the same, boring routine for the past few days, Felinxis had made the decision to break the chain and had ventured off to Barton without the company of his chattering Feien and meangerie of pets, for an afternoon of street-walking and the occasional burst of Christmas shopping.

His blue-grey eyes darted around the popular Gaian town as he walked, taking in the sites of various shoppers, families, buildings and the Christmas decorations that were slowly emerging. He continued on his path, gently touching his smoking pendant that was clasped around his neck.

As he walked he approached a door and with an overwhelming sense of curiosity, the elven fey pushed the door open and stepped in side. As the door was opened his incoming presence was announced by the jingle-jangle of a bell.

Felinxis glanced around the store he had just entered. He began to walk around the store, examining its contents as he went. a polite "Hello," was ushered by the customer to the kitsune shop keeper.

Well, it might not look like it, but the Stationary Store was actually a wonderful place to go if you wanted to step outside of the "same old, same old" -- all sorts of interesting things happened there from time to time...like children, born from books! But that was something behind locked doors, and most customers never saw that.

"Greetings. Can I help you find anything?" Syrie's voice was low and clear despite his exhaustion and he managed to smile at the elven customer. His expression faltered a little bit when he realized that the necklace the other man was wearing was 'ghosting' like the one around his own neck!

"Oh, you're a ...you've got one too?" Brilliant, really...usually he was much more intelligent sounding, but with his current physical and emotional state...it wasn't going to happen.

The elf picked up a small pencil as he proceeded around the store. Normally he didn't have the inkling to check out writing tools and books. It wasn't his thing, but Felinxis had, on the influence of chance to enter the store.

"I'm sorry what?" He replied when the store keeper replied, placing the pencil back in its original position.

Felinxis looked over the fox man again before realizing what he meant. "Oh. one of those. I guess you say I could."

He touched the crystal dove around his own neck before the elf approached the counter. Felinxis never expected to find another Iridae guardian so soon, especially one that had their charge at the same 'stage' Kiyoshi was.

Syrie hadn't really expected to meet anyone with the same sort of 'child' so soon either, but this was a very pleasant prospect indeed - never mind that the kitsune was generally extremely hermit like. "I see your crystal cracked? Have you had any...problems? Anything odd?"

Syrie's words came out in a rush; he really wasn't good with speaking to others in this manner. Talking with the Medium had been different, he'd had a purpose then, Ruka had guided him there...talking with this gentleman was altogether different. Socializing wasn't really one of his strong points!

"Oh, I'm sorry...how rude of me." The slender man put out one long-fingered hand in greeting, the left curled around his gem almost reflexively. "My name is Syrie Zaire, my business partner and I own and operate this shop." The slight-lavendar wisp danced around the kitsune's curled fingers as though it wanted attention.

Ruddy ears flicked back and forth nervously, "And this..." He lifted the gem slightly, "is Rukashel."

Felinxis shook his head to the kitsune's first question. "No... nothing has happened yet, unfortunately."

He took Syrie's hand in his own and gave it a firm shake. "My name is Felinxis N'irar. Nice shop you have too..." Replied the elf, giving his own intorduction.

He pointed to the emminating dove around his own neck. "This is Kiyoshi. He apparently guards innocence, according to the Medium." Felinxis continued.

The Medium. Their meeting was so long ago, but the crabby nature of the grown Iridae had stayed with him, and Felinxis hoped he would never have to encounter her again, expecially after she had taken him so close to death.

Felinxis paused before posing a question. "So, how is your crystal going? I mean, has anything happened? I'm just waiting and waiting for it to burst into a child or something..."

"I would not consider myself unfortunate to have nothing happen. Rukashel is the Dream Guardian, and I've been quite unable to sleep properly since his gem came into my care." And the kitsune did look rather worn, his hair was flat and dull (despite being mint colored) and his shoulder drooped just a little.

"Ah, innocence. That is an excellent thing to be a guardian of. I believe that the Iridae perhaps have trouble retaining their own. Innocence, that is." During his meeting with the Medium, she had mentioned as much.

For whatever reason, he did not find the strange and hermit-like woman too worrisome; he could well understand how she might have become such a grouchy, unlikable creature. Then again, he'd been very tired, perhaps he had been too tired to notice much beyond the woman's words. "Ah, you met the Medium? What did you think? Did she tell you what to expect?"

There was a bit of a pause, but again...Syrie wasn't very good with social situations, so he spoke again; words tumbling across each other. "I feel that Ruka will come out soon...but I cannot be certain. I've never been near Iridae before, let alone one that walks in Dream." Not "dreams" but Dream - the place Between where the conscious and unconsious met and the Lord of Dream held sway. "Actually, yes. But that may be due to the...child's ability to Dreamwalk. I find it difficult to sleep."

He wasn't complaining though - he'd promised he would care for the child, and he would deal with Ruka's gem siphoning his life-force and keeping him from sleeping properly until the boy was "born".

Felinxis paused before recounting his experience with the Medium. It wasn't exactly the best experience he had. "I met the Medium shortly after I found Kiyoshi. I was drawn to her home, where we talked. I didn't believe what she said however. So she ripped Kiyoshi from me... and honestly I felt like I was going to die. It was horrid." He touched the ribbon which held Kiyoshi around his neck, subconsciously making sure it was still there.

"So my experience with her wasn't the best of encounters. I really hope I never have to meet her again." He finished, a bitter hint to his words.

"Dream Guardian eh?" Did that mean once he was 'born' he could enter Felinxis' dreams? He hoped not. "Sleeping isn't really a problem for me. When Athemius is not acting like a child." He said, mentioning his small Feien Fairy.

"How can you tell that it is near? I have no clue." Secretly he hoped it was soon.

Syrie listened intently to the other man, ear tips flicking as Felinxis related his encounter with the generally unpleasant Death Iridae. The words falling upon his large russet colored ears were quite disturbing to the kitsune - his encounter with the Medium had not been nearly as traumatic as Felinxis was relating.

"My own meeting with the Medium wasn't nearly so...dire, and yet I don't relish another meeting either." No, Syrie had done just fine with the white-robed figure though she had certainly rubbed him the wrong way on a personal level.

Talk of Ruka brought his silver-grey eyes back into focus and his train of thought returned to the present. "Yes, Dream. That's currently why I have problems sleeping. Ruka is always there." The small demi-human blinked a bit, "Athemius?"

"Oh, I'm not completely certain, of course...but...with Rukashel feeding from my life force, I can feel him becoming stronger." It also helped that the kitsune was empathic, he could read his gem and the wisp enough to gather the clues that led him to his hypothesis. "Also...there are many variables..." But he trailed off and shook his head; no need to try to explain something so dryly scientific that it would bore anyone but the most die-hard researcher.

"It's a feeling I get, that's pretty much it. And my hope, also."
It was Feinxis' turn to listen, and thats what he did. He wondered if it would be possible for Kiyoshi to have an effect on his innocence, like Syrie's Rukashel was affecting the kitsune's dreams.

"Would it be possible that Kiyoshi could hvae an affect on my innocence?" Felinxis asked himself out load, not really caring if the other responded or not.

Felinxis pondered exactly how to word the answer to his aquaintance's next question. His Feien could certainly have many different explanations. "Anthemius is.. well he is my Feien Fairy, though I though faires would be a calm and gentle, sensible race. He is quite different."

"You can feel his feeding off your life-force? I can't really tell. I'm always really worn out by the end of the day. Though I am finding myself sleeping in longer." Felinxis smiled to himself. He didn't know if that was a result of Kiyoshi, or some form of laziness finally showing in the elf.

Syrie didn't have the answer to Felinxis' question, all that he could do was guesstimate and suppose. "It's possible, but I can't be certain as I know very little about the Iridae in general." He did believe it could be possible, but likely not until Kiyoshi was much 'older' -- the Medium had stated that Ruka was much, much too strong for his 'stage'.

"Ah, I've heard of the Feien Fairies, though I've never seen one up close...I imagine, as any Gaia-touched creature - they are quite ...interesting." And changable. Odd how the magic of Gaia tended to effect everything.

The silver-eyed kitsune nodded slowly and absently touched the gem resting against his chest on it's silver cord. "Yes. But that is...well, my kind...." He didn't know quite how to explain that it was his very nature to notice things like that.

"I'm not certain if that's because of your gem, or just your nature..." Ouch, he hadn't meant to imply that the other man was lazy...it had just come out -- there was a reason that Syrie Zaire was a hermit and rarely came out to tend the shop: he was not good with others! "My apologies, I'm not used to conversing with others..."

As his discomfiture was quite apparent, the russet fox couldn't meet the other's eyes any longer so he did what he was supposed to be doing and offered up a very nice cream colored stock with green stripes in a fairly masculine pattern, his long-fingered hands tremoring slightly -- not all of it was from his embarassment, he was exhausted.

"Again, I apologize....Huni is usually here to greet our clients..."

Felinxis' eyes flitted from the man to the pendant around his neck. At the mention of his own 'nature' Felinxis mearly turned away and dismissed the notion, not showing whether he was offended or not.

With his slender elven fingers he brushed a stray lock of his black hair behind his pointed ear and looked at the items the kitsune had just offered. "No thankyou," Felinxis was not interested in the small stationary, and feeling that he had sent enough time in the presence of the kitsune and his Iridae, the elf turned and headed towards the door. "Farewell." He uttered as he strode out the door, absently touching the crystal dove as he left.

Syrie's delicate ears twitched a little bit; he could tell that his comment had an effect upon the elvish man and he felt foolish though he couldn't help his sometimes coarse manner of addressing things.

He had most assuredly not meant anything ill by saying that...but alas, it was too late to take it back; with a bit of a mental shrug the kitsune nodded graciously to his 'guest'.

"Have a pleasant day, both of you." No mention was made of talking again; he didn't think he could handle it in his present state - but the kitsune did want to speak with Felinxis again the in the future...if nothing else, their Iridae could play together, perhaps...once they both had materialized.

"Old fox, you really need to stop scaring away customers..." Syrie murmured to himself as he sat behind the counter.

10.05.07 || Fever Dreams...
Inside the gem, it's never dark nor light - it just is. Outside the gem, it's dark and light and there are sights and sounds and scents for those with the senses to experience them. Rukashel, as a wisp, could only sense these things existing around him, but could not truely experience them.

And the memory of what they had been like, the memories of the past that had forced him into his gem-prison, were all but gone. The longer he remained attached to the kitsune, the more the past was lost, forgotten...erased. All was as it should be; the fact that there were few memories that the wisp could draw from meant that he would soon be strong enough to manifest himself!

Oh, it would be grand to have a body that was firm and lithe, to have eyes to see and a mouth to speak and hands with which to touch and hold and feel.

Ruka felt along the ephemeral ties that bound him to his host, his caretaker upon rebirth -- the fox was weak in health, but strong in will...and he had the Dreams. The creatures that watched their bonded jealously, guarded him carefully and kept him from being driven wholly crazy by having the dream Iridae in his life. He could feel the bond between the man and the strange creatures just as they could feel the bond extended between Syrie and himself.

Currently, his host was sleeping uneasily, a thin sheen of sweat covering what parts of his body were not tangled in the cream colored sheets of his bed. The Elder Nightmare, Uisce, was perched with his great gunmetal wings outspread, feathers glimmering in the dim light of the moon and the digital alarm clock. The beast clacked and hissed at the wisp that coiled itself upon the gem that rested against the man's damp skin. Time was up! Uisce would tolerate no more of this torment for his bonded - it wasn't healthy, it had to stop. Even with all of the Dreams that lived in close proximity with the mint-haired man, they couldn't keep him properly buffered from the Iridae.

But he couldn't help it - they understood that...it was still time.

'Fuzz-tail Dreamer not-well. Time for gem-baby to up-go.' The buzzard clacked and hissed again before dissappearing in a swirl of paint-spotted grey and black feathers. He would go into Dream, yes. Syrie was there - he would join him and lead him to where he needed to be lead. Tonight was the night!

Running. He was running from something...someone...several someones that all wished to do him harm, horrible harm. He knew this, because he'd lived this. A nightmare surrounded him - one that Uisce would never have approved - this was how much the Dream Iridae, Ruka, interfered with his sleep. It was less a dream than a memory changed and revisited through the mercurial and whimsical (in a sadistic sort of way sometimes) magic of Dream.

"No!" Syrie shouted but nothing came out; hands were reaching, tearing and pulling at his skin - yanking his tail cruelly as they pulled him back. Part of him knew that the hands on his body were only memories; that he was suffering at the hands of his own mind, that the Dream Realm had caught up in it and made it more real than it should have been. But that part reasoned that Uisce wouldn't have allowed it - and in his sleep-fed terror, he didn't imagine that perhaps something was keeping the Elder Nightmare away from him.

Ruka...this had to have something to do with that gem-child...

Syrie fought like a deverish to escape his 'attackers'; fingers curling around a wrist that wouldn't let go, squeezing the bones and howling with a surge of rage that came from nowhere. If this had something to do with Rukashel...he would not be dragged down! "Uisce!" Mentally the kitsune called to his bonded Dreams, but to no avail - they were there...but could not touch him.

The rage had been fueled by the Elder Nightmare's anger when it had realized that reaching it's Dreamer was not an option.

It was so warm. He didn't know how or why precisely, but he knew it had something to do with him. He was making the man who's life force had nurtured him so gently sick. Sick enough that the Nightmares and Dreams were skulking about. But he couldn't help it! It was warm. Ruka was burning up inside the gem, so he retreated into Dream, regaining an adult-looking body - but it was still hot there so he moved deeper into Dream. As he went further into that unstable realm, he regressed to a child, crying for it's parent.

"Papa!" His voice cut shrilly through the swirling mists of Dream. "Papa, I'm hot. Help me!"

Still too hot, the Dream borne child went further still, getting himself more tangled, more lost; growing younger and younger until he was a small infant sitting in a gray light and clutching something in his tiny, pudgy hands. Silver eyes filled with silent tears; Ruka was alone and scared and he wanted more than anything in Dream or Waking, was to have the warm security he'd felt with Syrie.

At the boy's cry, Syrie's ears - currently long like a rabbit's - twitched. He was being called again...but this time, he didn't have Uisce to help guide him. He was alone...or thought he was alone. The boy's emotions poured off of him and filled Dream with his misery and fear; perhaps it was only the part of Dream they were inhabiting currently that felt the ripples that changed it and shaped it into frightening scapes, but if

Dream quieted suddenly, and with it came an odd sort of apprehension. Syrie tried a trick that had worked a few times when he was lost: he visualized what he wanted to be near (Ruka). Instead of Dream folding and placing him with the boy, he found it shifting and a strange path forming. As in Alice's tale, little creatures scrabbled at his feet to make an arrow pointing in. The kitsune nodded and stepped over the tinies, only to note that they dissappeared in a puff of oddly colored smoke.

As he moved down the path towards a distant grey point, he wondered what he would find. Ruka? Something Else? He didn't know the answer to that, nor to any of the other questions that filled his mind and flitted out as quickly as if they'd never formed. Movement in Dream changed his shape and his look, but he always retained some of himself.

"Ruka?" The kitsune's soft voice echoed and bounced around and formed into letters that swirled and danced in mid-nothing. Colors and sounds and the whole of the Dream world seemed to move around him; this he was used to, this was not scary at all...acutally, he was feeling much better now that whatever nightmare had gripped him had been banished - also, he felt...cool for some reason.

The world beneath his bare feet solidified as he stepped down onto it, returning to a soft, soggy state (at least, that's what it appeared to do) the moment his feet left it. He continued down the 'path' for what seemed like hours before he finally caught a glimpse of the Dream Iridae; instead of bolting towards the child, he continued to move at a slow, measured pace -- everyone knows that if you run towards someone you want to be with in a dream, the farther away they are.

"Oh kiddo, it's okay...I'm here, shhh...I'll make it better." He murmured, but the sound carried to Ruka's huddled, lavender form. Delicate, feathered wings fluttered and stretched as the child turned his head towards Syrie's voice. "Papa?"

Ruka reached for the kitsune and suddenly Syrie was there, his cool hands around the warm child, cradling him to his chest and crooning softly to calm him. Uisce too came crashing into the scene, outraged and puffed up beyond belief, following him was a very straaangely colored mutant Dream that seemed pleased for some reason.

"Papa...It's hot..." The little boy didn't speak so much as...Syrie heard the words inside him. Rukashel's diminutive body was very warm to the touch...as though a fever - the same one he had been suffering through earlier? - had taken over him.

"Shh...I know kiddo...but it's okay now, you'll feel cooler in a minute..." The kitsune looked to the Dreams with his ears back against his head. "We need out...quickly." Both creatures hopped and floated; Uisce clacked and whistled and seemed to be ignoring his request until a portal opened.

'Up-step. Take dream-baby. Go go go. Quick-fast. Wakey-soon.' First Syrie went through - it wasn't a portal to the waking world, but to "normal" dreaming where one could wake and resurface at will, without help. There were reasons they couldn't take Syrie and Ruka out immediately, but they weren't explaining.

'Fuzz-tail bond again, stupidhead. Keep say, only need Uisce!' But the Mutant only fluffed at Uisce before lazily wheeling after the kitsune; the Elder followed shortly. Everything would be fine now, yes...it was okay. The Dream Iridae had shaken them all up, but that was over.

For now.

Grand Manor; Lupix Sanctuary

Syrie chuffed a little and sat in a rocking chair, the small Iridae child nestled against his chest; Rukashel chewed sleepily at the orb that was now around his neck instead of Syrie's. "Today's a big day, little Dream. You get to meet Veloren and Khia."

At least, he hoped the small child would be able to meet Khiarhu. Khia was a rather wild young man and tended to go off for periods of time into the woods by himself. What he was doing or why the kitsune didn't always bother with - as a teenager, there were things the Tale didn't want his parent knowing, and Syrie trusted his boy to let him know anything truely important.

The little Dream-born Iridae looked up from his gentle gnawing and smiled at the kitsune - he didn't remember much of anything at all, but this man felt like home and that was all he needed to know. Ruka's silvery eyes swam in and out of focus as he hadn't quite gotten used to having a body, least of all one that was as...new as this one was.

He made a little sighing sound and then settled back to resting against the slender man's chest, little ear pressed against his breast bone as he listened to Syrie's heartbeat; comforted by that. Delicate wings twitched just a little bit, feathers tickled just lightly by the gentle breeze caused by the slow rocking motion of the chair they were in while they waited.

Sunlight streamed down onto the resting pair through the glass window, bathing them both in a light that both warmed them and made them sleepy. Now was not the time for sleep, however - any minute Veloren would be there...and, if they were lucky...Khia would show.

The kitsune smiled a bit, he could sense his Lykin child coming, with a friend it seemed. Phaid, a gentle and beautiful common Pard came into the room before Ren did, but that didn't change the warm smile that the visit brought from the slender man; if anything it made it wider.

"Ren, welcome home." Syrie didn't stand as he was holding the small Iridae child, but his eyes and his manner spoke of the great love and affection he held for the lykin.

"Thanks Dad." Veloren smiled and approached his adoptive parent and the baby; Phaid settled down at Syrie's feet after sniffing at Ruka's wings and hair and assuring himself that all was well. "Did he come from the gem? He's so cute." The lykin boy leaned down to give his parent a kiss on the cheek, and then again to peer at the Dream Aspect cradled against said parent's chest.

"Oh, it really is him! And I see he's got the orb now." Which, you know, made sense...what with the strangeness of Gaia and all that. Veloren didn't even question that the cracked gem that had previously been draining his parent's life while hanging around his neck was now whole again, had borne a child...and now belonged to said child.

This was Gaia. The 'impossible' was more than probable here, it happened every day!

"Hi Ruka, I'm your big brother, Veloren. You can call me 'Ren' when you're older, okay?" Dark-tipped fingers reached out to ruffle the child's silky-fine hair fondly; any of the previous ill-feelings towards the "gem" were gone - this was a person he could interact with...it was very different now.

Ruka reached for those slender fingers and grasped at one of the dark digits, much to the Lykin's delight. Luminous silver eyes watched the candy-pink 'sibling' curiously - this creature had ears like the Father...but didn't look the same. Interesting. And he felt softer than the Father too! These were things that weren't thought of in a wholly conscious way, but were processed by the little Iridae's brain none-the-less.

He was slowly learning about the world around him...and this 'Ren' creature was apparently something he would need to add into his rapidly growing world.

Ah well, the Lykin was soft and Ruka liked that; he rubbed his chubby cheek against the chocolate-colored hand and made a happy sound.

The remainder of Veloren's visit was very much the same as it usually was. The two men would talk of life and love and the pink-haired boy's band...and then they would part ways after some time; Phaid rising to leave with Ren (whom he had adopted as his charge).

It seemed that Khiarhu would have to meet his 'brother' another time. Ah well. Win some, Lose some. They would meet eventually. Perhaps the Tale's absence had something to do with the odd under current that Syrie had been feeling recently?

Only time would tell.