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 Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:03 am
Neviah Bakura and Tasma
We Are the Next Generation
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:05 am
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:06 am
Tasma washed her neck in a pool of clear water. It was soooo hot. She had been flying up above the clouds, bearing the full brunt of the sun on her back. But now she was tired. She wiped her face. "Mmm." This was a nice place.
Neviah was standing beneath the trees. The dragon had landed quite surprisingly close. She watched the other female, appraising her. It probably wouldn't be best to play too much of mind games on this one.
Tasma glanced around. She felt eyes on her. No, it was probably nothing. She was probably paranoid. She sand deeper into the pool. Maybe a short relax.
Neviah tentatively reached out to portray an illusion, but the halted herself. She wasn't sure that she wanted to...which was odd, because she always liked to play mind games. However, her last run-in with a dragon had left her a little wary of crossing them without certain assurance. Walking out, she said nothing but moved closer making herself visible.
Tasma looked up and nearly inhaled water. "There you are," she said. She noticed the marking on the girl's flank. "You... you wear the Millennium Puzzle..."
Neviah furrowed her brow as the girl spoke to her. "Yes, I do. What does it mean to you?" She tilted her head to convey interest, something she seldom did.
"It's the mark," said Tasma, rising from the water, "of my father’s most hated enemy. The mark of the Pharaoh. But yours is upside down for some reason..."
Neviah nodded, "Well I'm not your enemy." She didn't know how else to say it. She wasn’t' very concerned with history, she was too much concerned with games and minds. When they intersected, it was all the better.
"Which is nice to know," said Tasma. "I am Tasma."
Neviah reached out again, and felt the same sort of resistance. It wasn't tangible or even projected, but it was like a wall around the other girl's mind. It was something she had seldom experienced. I'm Neviah." She approached the girl closer.
"Are you related to the Pharaoh?" asked Tasma awkwardly. There was not much talking to this girl.
"Uhm...maybe?" She kept pushing at the girl's mind, but it was protected like with some kind of...bubble wrap. She could feel the sweat on her back.
Tasma felt something press on her, like a pillow in front of her nose. She frowned. She let go of her shield for a moment and felt an intruder, then pushed her shield back up, forcing the intruder back. "What are you doing to me?" she growled slowly. Suddenly her appearance looked very much like Brittania.
Neviah tilted her head as if it were a very interesting question. "I was testing you, but you're very much not weak. Worthy of more than just idle chit chat, I think." She tossed her hair, "It was very rude of me. But you're sense of self, your resistance to me. It's fascinating."
Tasma's eyes relaxed but she was still very angry. "You're disgusting. How dare you assault me and then call me fascinating! How dare you intrude on my MIND! Don't you have a soul?"
Neviah tilted her head again, anger....that was interesting reaction. She would have thought she'd be pleased to be found interesting. "Well, I mean. I'm not sure? Can you see a soul? If not, I've not seen mine so...no?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:07 am
"I mean," hissed Tasma, "don't you have a conscience? Do you not feel shame for how you treat people? Their mind is their scared place, that which lives on beyond them- you invade, it’s like attacking someone!"
"It is?" Neviah looked genuinely shocked. "I never thought of it that way...I guess that was very rude of me then." She paused and tilted her head again, "Why do you want to hide your mind? I bet it's beautiful."
"But it's mine," said Tasma sadly. "Mine to keep to myself and mine to show to someone. If I choose to show it."
Neviah looked a bit sad, "You don’t' want to share it with me? But I bet it's so lovely, the guarded ones always are. It could be the most beautiful I've ever seen!" She took a tenative step closer, "Just a little peek?"
Tasma showed her fangs and roared, flinging up her shield against Neviah, aiming for her. "It is MINE to show to who I WILL! If you ever try that again I WILL kill you."
"Fine," Neviah sulked as she tossed her hair. "I'll play nice. Friends?" She tilted her head and smiled.
"You are a parasite," said Tasma, relaxing again. "I'm not friends with parasites. You're a leech. A louse. No, you're worse, because those parasites only feed on others to survive. You do it for fun. I pity you."
"Well, I'll take what I can get for now," Neviah shrugged. Most fascinating this Tasma was. She had spunk, a lot of spine. She would be interesting to know better.
Tasma frowned. "Do you understand at all?" She sighed. "No I guess not." She smiled. "Maybe one day someone will do it to you and you'll know how it is to be so violated." She wrung out her mane. "So where do you come from that you have that marking?"
"Oh, my parents? They gave birth to me, so from them?" Where else would her marking have come from? She tilted her head again and smiled, "I only hope my mind is that interesting."
"I meant to say, who were your parents that you got that marking," said Tasma, keen to get off the subject of minds as this girl seriously didn't understand the sanctity of bounds.
"Oh, Yami Bakura and Merritt." She nodded. "But I stay with Queen Aeronwen."
"That must make you related to Akane and Yuzuki?" asked Tasma curiously.
Neviah fidgeted a little, "Yes....Why?"
"I just never heard them talk about a demon sister. And I've never seen you before. So I guess that explains where you got the Pharaoh's Mark from," Tasma smiled awkwardly.
"I guess so?" She hadn't really ever been around them too much; most of her memories were with Aeronwen. Her overpowering presence seemed etched into so many memories. "What brings you here?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:08 am
"I was just exploring," said Tasma tiredly. "Trying to get out of the rut I'm in."
"A rut?" She walked closer to the girl she could feel the girl's presence of mind. She wasn't reaching; it was just there--pushing out on her. "What's the matter?" Her voice was soft, interested.
Tasma smiled. "It's not something someone like you can understand. You don't live with your family- it's a... hierarchy and expectancy thing. My sister is..." She sighed sadly. "I was fine with being the protector of my sister. But now..."
"What happened?" Neviah pushed back her hair, "I live in a Coven, we all pledge allegiance to Queen Aeronwen. She's not to be disobeyed. It's not tolerated...I know of hierarchy."
Tasma smiled sadly. "But because you're adopted in, your options of ascension are limited. I have lived my whole life as the second born, the never-to-rule. Now my sister, the heir, is abdicating and that leaves me... unprepared... to rule and expected."
"Why don't you want to rule?" She shrugged her shoulders, "There's never been hope for my place. Though I am respected, I'll never be become more than advisor."
Tasma's face crumpled. "I never had the... ferociousness for the job of head of my clan. I was always protecting the others from my sister. I just want to rest."
"Rest is...well, it's nice. But after awhile, it gets tiring. And lonely. Rest is all I've been up to lately."
"I would like to feel how it is to rest, though," said Tasma. "I was always following after my sister in case she did something irreparable... or hurt someone. And now everyone is trying to get me to fill her place. I was never raised to be the heir; I was raised to be number two."
"Well, tell them that. Tell them you refuse. She did, why not you?"
"Because she was strong," said Tasma. "She was raised to believe in her decisions. And I was raised to believe that my duty was to her and to protect my family. I don't want to lead our clan, but maybe... I have to."
"Maybe? But why not wait until it's time. You could be good, you won't know until you try."
"I need to figure out if it's what I want. I mean... you never know. I might be skipped over..." Tasma smiled hopefully. "Maybe there will be another."
"Maybe, more heirs...more choices. It's nothing you have to decide now," she shrugged her shoulders gently. "When it's time, you'll know." For a moment, she considered. "Do you know...a blue dragon?"
"A blue dragon?" asked Tasma. "There are a few... Tranquility, who I've heard tell of. But you probably think of Mikuko, yes? My stepsister?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:09 am
"Mikuko, yes." Neviah's face paled for a moment, then brightened. "She killed Fanta. It didn’t take, but we did get a day of peace."
"Kill?" asked Tasma in horror. "Mikuko killed?"
"Well, kind of?" She grimaced. "She said it was for her family. To protect them, but it didn't take. Azrael had to bring her back."
Tasma looked sick. "Looks like the one I should have been protecting us from is Mikuko... Rage would never... rage is my sister. She might... hurt accidentally but..."
"But for safety?" She tilted her head to look at Tasma. "Besides Fanta gets killed once a week."
"Who is this Fanta?" asked Tasma. "I feel like I'm not getting all the facts...?"
"Oh, she's a witch. A very bad one. She likes to torment people, make them do things they don’t' want to do. Steal their abilities and make them do horrible things in the process. No one likes her, we just...tolerate her."
Tasma gasped. "How terrible. But... Mikuko killed her? How did that happen?"
Neviah shuffled her feet a bit. "She...did something for Fanta once. Brought someone to her, in exchange for a potion to help...well, she knew that Fanta would be after her then. Knew that Fanta would come for her and everything she loved, so she stopped her. Queen Aeronwen has forbidden her to go after Mikuko or her family for now. Or else she'll let her stay dead next time."
"Oh," said Tasma. "What an awful thing."
"I guess so, but it means you’re safe from her. Being safe from her...it's a blessing."
"I suppose that's true," said Tasma. "Looks like Mikuko would have been the better choice..."
"If she's gone, then maybe it wasn't the choice she wanted."
"It seems like it isn't a job anybody wants, but I have to do."
"Then why worry about it." She shook out her hair again, "If you're stuck with it no sense in worrying."
Tasma felt herself crumple. "It seems so. But I don't want it."
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:10 am
"Alot of things, I haven't wanted to do. But I had no choice, so I did them even if I hated myself for doing them.
Tasma frowned. "But do those things chain you to a mountain for the rest of your life? Making decisions for others that take over their lives? So much responsibility..."
"Yes, we...can only do what we ordered to do by our leaders, or else we become them."
"That's exactly my problem. I'm being lead to be the leader. But I don't want to be," said Tasma.
"Then be lead, " she really didn't understand. It should be nice to have choices.
"I wish I knew how..." Tasma felt defeated.
Neviah approached her slowly, "Let me lead you?"
Tasma looked at her witheringly. "You are not strong enough to lead me."
"No, no," Neviah shook her head. "I mean, let me show...." She shut her eyes, "You're being lead to be something, but everything I do. I'm lead to do. The reason I'm here. I want you to understand that leading and being lead. It's all a...choice. Some of us don't have a choice."
"I don't have a choice. Rage had a choice. I don't. But I wish I did. Unless I can figure out... another way."
"Leave? Run away? Join your sister? Produce an heir better able to lead, better willing to lead?"
"And I would be taking away the choice of my own child," said Tasma sadly. "I was raised to honour my responsibilities... even when I don't want to."
"Then honour them. There's nothing left to do." Neviah splashed a hoof in the water rather offhandedly.
"And if I don't like my choice?" asked Tasma very quietly.
Neviah lifted her head and looked at her a bit alarmed, "We can like our choices?"
"I would prefer to like my choice."
Neviah shrugged, "I've never enjoyed my choice. Just hated one a little less than the other."
Tasma sighed and pressed her lips together. "That's a sad way to be..."
Neviah shrugged then laughed lightly, "I didn't want to come here, but I was told to. And now I'm happy, I did." She smiled brightly.
"Why were you told to come here?" asked Tasma curiously.
"I wasn't told why exactly, but Azrael said to look sharp and be nice." She shrugged her shoulders, "But I do look nice, I think?" She looked at her reflection in the water.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:10 am
"You look pretty nice to me," said Tasma, a little put on the spot to be asked such a question.
"Well good!" Neviah smiled, "I can tell Azrael that I did look sharp. I have been nice haven't I?" She tilted her head to look at Tasma.
"I wouldn't say someone who tried to invade my mind is nice," said Tasma drily.
” Oh, well there is that...." Neviah grimmaced. "Still one out of two isn't bad."
"Depends what the one is," said Tasma brightly.
"True...." Neviah shrugged. "Do you swim? Wanna go somewhere? I haven't got to do something this fun in a long time."
"I prefer to fly but, yeah, I can swim," said Tasma with puzzlement. "What's something fun to do in the water?"
"Well, we could fly if that's what you wanted...There's lots of things, like swimming and splashing. Diving and...I don't know."
Tasma blinked. "What...ever you like?"
"You don't care?" She tilted her head, "Aeronwen said we were alike."
"I don't mind," said Tasma. "And she did?"
"Yes, she did. She told me to come here."
"Why did someone like that want you to be here?" asked Tasma curiously.
"She didn't tell me. She just said go, and Azrael said to look smart. So I did."
"Well," said Tasma shortly, "why do you think she sent you?"
Neviah shrugged, "I really don't know. I learned long ago not to question her. I was sent here, and I've come. I've done what I'm supposed to do, so now I can do what I like. And I think I'd like to swim."
Tasma smiled. "Sounds like fun. Enjoy your swim." She laved her claws one last time in the water.
"Oh, you're going to leave?" Neviah looked disappointed.
"You haven't given me a reason to," said Tasma tiredly. "And I came here to be alone. So I'll go be alone elsewhere." She shook off her claws. "See you, I suppose, Neviah."
"I like you. I don't like...well anyone really. No one gives me a chance to. Is that reason enough?" She looked at her pleadingly.
Tasma sighed. "Maybe another day, Neviah. I need to go... brood. If you find me again, we can do something."
"Okay, If I'm ever free again--I'll look for you." She looked away sadly, it had been a long time since she'd got to talk or well anything with anyone outside the Coven.
Tasma smiled again and shot up into the air, beating her powerful wings. She rose above the tips of the trees and eventually settled on the tip of a mountain peak. She turned her face to the wind and let it tangle her hair into a mess.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:11 am
Eerinna kissed Zared goodbye and pulled her hood up. No, no, don't be silly, darling, I don't need you to work weather magic just so I can visit my sister. I can deal with a little rain. She said. After she got behond the sight of home, she really grasped the chill in the air and wondered if it was worth visiting at all.
Neviah had been watching, waiting for a sign of Tasma. And her waiting in the torrential downpour was rewarded. A slow moving, cloaked figure was walking away, and Neviah followed behind, unconscious of the torrential drops that pelted her, and the shivering, teeth chattering cold it inspired in her. When her mind was occupied, it was whole-heartedly, and finding out all about Tasma, why she thought her poor…she needed to find this out. She didn’t care about the sniffles, or freezing…instead she followed behind the veiled figure, hoping that she would learn something.
Eerinna rubbed her hands together for warmth and was aware of the twilight that surrounded her for lack of sun. She glanced around, the hair standing up at the back of her neck. It was creepy. She thought about starting a handheld fire for warmth but was unwilling to draw attention to herself.
Neviah watched the figure, it wasn’t Tasma though….For a moment, she considered going back, waiting on Tasma to show. Then, something occurred to her. Maybe, she should follow this pony and see what she knew of Neviah, to find out how Tasma interacted with others.
Eerinna's breath rose before her in a mist. "Okay, that's it!" She snapped her fingers and purple flame licked up her palm painlessly. She held the purple fire between her two hands and warmed herself as she lit her path.
Neviah felt herself jump as the light of the purple flames flickered suddenly in the darkness. It was a bit frightening to see it appear so suddenly. She felt herself drawn to it, and the light colored face she could see beneath the hood. For the first time, she felt conscious of how cold and wet it was. She was out here in this miserable weather… Without though or hesitation, she ran to catch up with the figure.
Eerinna swung around at the sound of the heavy damp foottreads. She held the fire away from here, ready to use as a weapon if necessary. "What do you mean by following me?"
Neviah looked taken back, “Do you know Tasma?” She chattered out, her teeth knocking together in the cold.
Eerinna blinked water out of her eyes but without a free hand to right herhood, she dealt with it. "Who are you?" she asked again, in a curious tone.
“Ne-Neviah Ba-Bakura,” she was shivering now, hungering to approach the flame more. But she knew others were more wary than her, and that she shouldn’t’ push it.
"Oh!" said Eerinna. "Your brother is Akane?" She chuckled. "My sister is..." She looked up. "This really isn't stopping, is it? Come over here." She drew away from the road and set the flame amongst the trees where it swayed in place, impervious to the rain. Eerinna tossed her cloak in the air and it hovered, providing a cover. Eerinna swept the damp ground clean of rocks, drying it with a movement of her hand and sat close to the fire. "I'm Tasma's sister Eerinna."
Neviah nodded her head and followed her. She could feel herself warming a bit in the shelter, “Oh--her si-sister?” She hadn’t really expected that. But then, this would be most helpful. “I don’t think she likes me, but I don’t understand why I’m so bad. She said she pitied me.”
"Tasma is a very caring person," said Eerinna. "She tried to take care of everyone, whether she likes them or not. So..." Eerinna smiled. "Whatever she's said to you, you should pay heed to."
“Oh, well that’s good then.” She could still feel herself chattering still in the cold, “But I’m not sure…well how to fix myself. She said I didn’t know boundaries or decency, but I wasn’t taught. I want to be taught.”
Eerinna blinked. "Oh," she said softly. "Well to be honest, the best teacher in the cases of decency and boundaries is yourself. If you think about how you'd feel about some things, you can see how others feel."
“But I have,” Neviah felt a bit confused. “I didn’t think they were wrong, but she did. So I don’t know if I’m the best judge.”
"Ah," said Eerinna. "I'm afraid that this conversation is a little vague for me to really have any... concrete answers, Neviah, was it?"
“Yes, well…I tried to examine her mind, but she said that was bad. Because I have power, doesn’t mean I should use it. But they …my Coven, they taught me that. But Tasma sad that’s bad, so I don’t understand.”
Eerinna nodded. "I understand. I myself have great power. I have the power to make this rain stop and turn th sky upside down. But I don't because I shouldn't. If the rain stops, the plants will die. If you... examine someone's mind, something bad might happen."
Neviah smiled, “I understand that. But is that the only reason I shouldn’t?”
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:12 am
Eerinna was shocked. "Isn't that enough?"
“Well , yes,” she shuffled her feet a bit. “But she said something about sanctity, I don’t understand. There are things others don’t want others to know? The only one who keeps secret is the Queen, and those secrets..usually they’re bad.”
"Everone has the right to privacy in their own mind," said Eerinna uncomfortably. "My grandpa... and my father, too, I suppose, they had penchants for screwing with people's minds. And I know that my father, at least, regrets it."
Neviah nodded, she’d never really had much to keep to herself. Everything was pretty much open with the Coven. Some things were not discussed, but they were known. “What’s it like to have secrets, thoughts to yourself?”
"It's like," started Eerinna awkwardly. "Like having a world to yourself where you can be yourself without restraint for propriety and you can think things and imagine things..." Eerinna blushed and she remembered what she liked to imagine between herself and Zared.
Neviah considered for a long moment, “That must be nice, but isn’t it lonely?” She noticed Eerinna’s blush, “Is it embarrassing?”
"It's only one's mind," said Eerinna cheerfully. "You have your whole life to spend with others."
Neviah smiled, “That must be nice.” She’d never had a chance to be alone, to have friends, to well anything. “Do you think, she might notice that I’m trying to change? I want to understand, I don’t want her to pity me. I don’t want to be who I was.”
"Well," began Eerinna cautiously, then the paused and stuck her head out of the shelted she had constructed. "Rain's easing," she said. "See? Sometimes without you doing anything at all, things you want can happen. Maybe just try and talk to her again?"
Neviah smiled, “Okay, I will. Thank you,” it wasn’t something she could really remember saying before. It hadn’t been something they particularly observed. It was more a nod of obedience or gratitude, but this was what others did, what was polite.
Eerinna smiled. "You're welcome. Well." She took down her cloak and draped it over herself and scooped up her violet flame. "I should be on my way. I'm visiting today."
“Blessed be,” it was how Queen Aeronwen always bid them safe journey when she sent them out. Turning, she headed back to wait for a glimpse of Tasma.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:16 am
Neviah felt light-headed and feverish. She kept feeling herself shaking on and off. It'd only been a little rain, she hadn't even noticed until after when she hadn't found Tasma again. Why was it that she wanted to see Tasma so badly? Tasma had insulted her, had told her she had no manners but instead of infuriating her it had caused her to want to change or something. Her head hurt trying to think about it as she moved further into the wilds looking for Tasma. She wanted to call for her, but that seemed stupid. Why would Tasma even want to see her?
It was then she noticed, it had begun to rain again
Tasma was woken by the sound of thunder. She was lying in a comfortable cave where she rad sheltered from a sprinkling of rain which had started earlier that day... or was it the day before? She always slept long when it rained. But it seemed now to be storming. She quickly stretched and got up to put out some water dished which collapsed into water skins. Rainwater was the most easily trusted in these northern parts
She remembered Azrael's words in her mind, like some weird mantra. Look sharp, kid. Look sharp. Sharp. Sharp. Sharp. Sharp. It echoed off the edges of her mind and she wondered if this was what it felt like to be trapped in her mind games?
Neviah couldn't bear it any longer and called out hoarsely, "Tasma!"
Tasma stepped back from the weighted drink bottles. She heard an echo reverberating around the mountains and squinted her eyes to make her ears focus on it. "Sounds like..." she mused. "A person... sounded like... 'Athsma.'" She looked around. "There's a person around here?"
It would have been dangerous to fly in the lightning storm, so she walked down the mountainside in the direction the echo had come from.
Neviah staggered forward, her hair hanging in wet gobs around her neck. Sanctity. No shame. But she hadn't known to be ashamed. She hadn't! They'd told her it was okay. It was what you did. And that girl, the girl who said she could turn the sky upside down. Her thoughts were all muddled, nothing making sense.
Then she was there, through the veil of rain a dark green form that seemed to call to her like a beacon. She could sense the bright spot of Tasma's mind even from this far. "TASMA!" She broke into a stumbling run.
"That wasn't 'asthma,' said Tasma slowly. "Oh, no!" Heedless of her own safety, hoping her talent would protect her from lightning the same way it protected her from her sister's lightning attacks, she threw herself into the air.
"Hello?" she called out as she flew. "Someone here?" She saw a sodden, huddled figure staggering amongst the shale of the mountain and landed in front of it. "Neviah?" she said in surprise. "You look wretched, are you sick?"
Tasma's face rose up in front of her like a mirage. "You're not here, are you? It's just a game. This isn't real." She closed her eyes, her body shivering again violently "Why can't I find you?" She reached out and touched Tasma's face then jerked back. "You feel so real. Are you...Oh, Tasma." She rushed against her. "You're real," she let out a choked cry.
Tasma flinched. "Fine, fine," she said, patting Neviah's shoulder. "Let's get out of the rain, you're making me wet, come on, there's a cave, one foot in front of the other..." She dragged Neviah behind her. She could tell Neviah was getting worse in the loud and nearing lightningstorm. Soon it would be hard to see a step in front of them and the footing was already dangerous.
Neviah clung to Tasma as she drug her up the mountain. The heat coming off Tasma felt impossibly warm--both searing and just right. She could smell the scent of woods and lush, wet earth.
She saw the cave looming up ahead of them, and she felt as though she were gliding along. "Cave? With you? Is there warmth?" She shivered again. "I looked for you. I looked and looked."
Tasma could barely hear Neviah over the storm. "Looked for me? Looks to me like if I hadn't found you, you would have died. Why doesn't a sane person find shelter when it starts to rain?" she asked. It wasn't much further, she knew. 'i can see it,' she said. Se felt horribly cruel to force Neviah to walk on and would have carried her, but the footing was too dangerous and there was every chance a fall could kill either or both of them. "Bit further..."
Neviah felt herself being pulled further and further under as though Tasma's voice was coming down a long tunnel. "You told me I was crazy once," she shouted. "I remember that, I think."
Then it was as if the rain disappeared and she realized they were inside the cave. She took a few steps then fell to her knees. "I don't think I can..." The words felt thick on her tongue. "I don't know."
Tasma glanced around. "I don't have a towel..." she said fretfully. "Come back here, Neviah, into the back of the cave, maybe you can get warmer..." She sat down where she had been sleeping such a short time before and wrung out her hair. "I suppose I might have," said Tasma. "That's no excuse for acting insane, though."
Neviah crawled further into the cave and nestled close to Tasma. Tasma felt as hot as a burning star and she was like a moth to that warmth. She moved her clumsy hooves and wrung out her hair. "I'm sorry, I tried to be better." She didn't know how to explain herself, how that what Tasma had said had haunted her and ensnared her so completely.
"But I'm here, I found you."
"I found you," retorted Tasma, putting her arm around Neviah and rubbing her side to warm her up. "You're a lunatic to be out here in a storm. You can't have been wandering out here for so long, can you?"
Neviah closed her heavy eyes. "I looked for you for weeks," she murmmerred against the other girl's skin sleepily. "I stood in the rain and waited till someone left that mansion. I talked to that girl with frames." She looked up at her through fevered eyes. "You want to see me right? I'm so...tired."
Girl with frames- flames!" repeated Tasma. "Oh, that's Eerinna, my sister... are you falling asleep?' She saw Neviah's eyes half close. "No!" she shook her. "Don't fall asleep, you could die!"
Tasma's voice sounded as though it was down a long tunnel and then she felt herself being shook. Her body ached with it, and she felt her hair tumble down around her neck. Her eyes tried to focus. "Might die?" She whispered. "I found you." No , that's not right. "Why might I die?" Neviah pushed through her foggy mind trying to push away the pain in her head. It was then she realized, she had a fever.
Tasma looked around the cave desperately for some kind of pharmacy to pop up and dispense whatever medicine could be used to Neviah. She was cold and tired. She needed warmth, food and rest. Tasma brought over her bag of supplies. She had long ago gone through the stuff she had brought from home and now existed on a strangely filling luminous moss which grew in the depths of the mountain. She pulled out some moss. It was drier and older than she would have liked, only faintly glowing, so she held it out of the cave in the rain for a few moments to wet it and shook off the excess water. Then, she brought it over to Neviah and tore a strip off. "Eat this," she commanded, shoving it into her face. "Stay awake and eat this, then you can sleep."
Neviah chewed methodically, her stomach roiling in revulsion at eating food. She'd missed a few meals here and there. Her body was sweating it felt like, but she was cold. "What is this?" She asked weakly as she chewed and leaned against the other girl. "Will this help? I'm sorry for all this trouble. I guess I haven't changed as much as I wanted."
It's... um..." said Tasma, unwilling to admit it was moss Neviah was eating. It felt odd to her to eat something that grew off a rock. "It's travelling food. Food will help you." She watched carefully as Neviah chewed the moss. She was a little hungry now as well, but there wasn't a great deal of moss left, and who knew how sick Neviah was? So she left the rest of the moss in the bag. "You did what you were told," she said to Neviah. "You never would have done what I said before."
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:24 am
"I did," Neviah felt a warmth spread through her. "Silver linings," she laughed low before she coughed. Her head felt a little clearer, but she still felt awful. "It was worth it, you know. Worth it to find you, but you'll think that's just the fever talking."
"Well, good for you," said Tasma distractedly. She brushed the back of her scaly hand against Neviah's forehead and then checked the temperature against her own. Not good. "What have you been doing since I last saw you?" She asked to keep the conversation going.
Neviah wrinkled her brow with her eyes closed in concentration. She chewed for a moment. "I went for a swim. Then I went back home. They asked me about my day, about meeting you. Then I did my job. I searched through minds, rifled through thoughts looking for something that Queen Aeronwen wanted. But I didn't find it. All I could think of was you..."
Her voice quieted to a hoarse whisper, "Azrael told me to take some time away, to rest my gift. So I left to find you. I searched for weeks. It was like a hunger, an urge to find you that I couldn't quench. I don't understand it. I've never felt that way before." She looked up at Tasma, the dim light making it look as though she was emerging from darkness--the only bright thing in the world, the only thing green and vibrant in the dark desolation of her sight.
Tasma's eyes filled with pity and she blinked slowly. Her parents... they had been like that. Obsessed to the point of death and destruction. Her mother was healed by her newest children, her father by his eventual growing up, but the people in the life of someone who was obsessed would always suffer. Tasma noted that this Azrael had probably hoped to distract Neviah and failed. It was good that someone was looking out for her.
But Neviah was still very sick. It would be foolish to upset her now by saying these things. Neviah now needed pity and compassion, not to be told to change.
"Well," said Tasma in the terse way of a nurse. "Do you feel better now you've eaten? There's more if you want it."
"I do. I think I better rest now, if it's okay," she smiled weakly. She listened to everything that Tasma told her to do and followed her instructions meekly without a fight even when she started to feel like resisting.
Waking up, she stretched slightly. Her body was sore as was her head, but the fevered feeling was gone. And so was the warmth of Tasma. She had been able to feel the heat of someone else in the cave, but now that she was awake it was gone. For a moment, she feared she'd dreamed it all and that she had never found her.
Her heart lifted when she saw a rocks made into a shape of an arrow that pointed to deeper in the cave. Getting to her feet, she moved a bit clumsily in that direction.
Tasma heard footsteps on the rock in front of her, but the echoes in these tunnels were misleading. "Neviah?" she called. "I'm coming up, just a second." She continued up to where the back of the cave met the mountain tunnels. In her arms was a small amount of luminous moss.
"I just went to get some more of this stuff," explained Tasma. "It's not a lot; I've gone through a lot of the best stuff in the caverns here. Do you feel up to travelling to the next mountain over?" she asked. "It has a steam pool which might help you recover. And much more of this."
Neviah leaned against the wall to rest, "I think I can." Tasma was beautiful standing there in the glow of illuminated moss. She looked happy and smiling and kind. Neviah wanted to reach out and brush her mind, she knew it would be beautiful--but she knew that Tasma thought it was wrong. Maybe it was wrong, she didn't know. It hurt to think about too much.
"Is it very far Tasma?" Her voice caught over her name.
"No, especially if you can fly. Only a minute or two," she replied. "This cave was only a last minute hide out from the storm."
Tasma quickly packed her belongings back in the cave and lead the way to a mountain close by. It was a much larger mountain witch more moss almost everywhere you could look. The moss fed from the steam leaking up out of the deep underground spring.
Tasma hungrily tore a corner of the moss off and ate it. "We should visit the spring," she said. "Then there's something you should see here." She was beaming. She had taken a lot of time and effort to explore these caves and it had been scary at times, when the mountain groaned and creaked overhead, when the ground gave way beneath her, when she had been desperate for food before finding the moss was edible (a last ditch hope which she was glad hadn't poisoned her). Now she could guide someone into her private little world. Also, she thought wryly, her sense of her own odour might be faulty by this time and she had no idea if she smelled or even when her last bath had been. Adventuring. Classy stuff.
Neviah felt her cheeks flushed from exertion but she felt better. The sky was clear and there was the sun. She'd forgotten what the sun felt like it seemed, though she knew it couldn't have been that long. It warmed her pale skin, bringing colour back to her body after being sick
The mountain Tasma showed her was lovely, everything lush and green and cool. "What is it?" She asked eagerly doing her best to keep up. She flipped her lank hair back. "How did you find this place?"
"I'm not telling you yet," said Tasma cheekily. "After the spring you'll be better to see it." She led Neviah down to the hot springs. There were many pools, but most had different temperatures and some were very deep, too deep to bathe in. These ones were usually the hottest. Tasma sank into a pool about the size of the goal area on a soccer field. "This one's my favourite," she said lazily. "It's not too hot. I could stay in here for hours... constant temperature." Tasma was a dragon after all and dragons loves the warm.
Neviah stuck out her tongue at Tasma as she sank into the pool beside her. Dipping down she dunked her head underwater and then came back up, pushing her hair back. "This feels wonderful," she eased closer to Tasma. "Am I the first person you brought here?" She asked without any feeling of impropriety. "It's so warm, and lovely." She splashed light at Tasma.
Tasma simply closed her eyes when Neviah flicked water at her. It wouldn't hurt and she was too relaxed to fight back. "I haven't seen another person in months," she admitted. "You know, it's partly because of you that I came out here. My sister was changing her life, my mother was changing, my whole family was changing and everyone wanted me to fit in nicely just where I had before. But I came here instead. I don't think I would have if I hadn't met you..." Tasma opened her eyes halfway and looked at Neviah. When I saw you those times, Tasma thought, I saw myself. I didn't want to be used by my family, the way you are. Tasma patted Neviah's hand.
Her skin hummed where Tasma touched her hand. She looked down at the water quickly, and then back up. Gently, she scooted closer to Tasma and leaned forward slowly and placed a slow kiss on the other girl's cheek. She put all her feelings behind, her searching for Tasma and the warmth in the pit of her stomach.
When her lips touched Tasma's cheek, she could feel the bright beautiful mind of the other girl glowing so near, but she resisted reaching for it.
Tasma was so warm and comfortable. A few months before she would have shrieked at the unwanted physical contact. But she hadn't been around anyone for months. And poor Neviah was harmless. In fact, Neviah was vulnerable and ill. Tasma leaned her head back on Neviah's and inhaled and exhaled slowly. "Nice in here," she said quietly.
Tasma had nestled close to her instead of flinching away. Her mind glowing like a light bulb beside her.. Neviah relaxed against her. "Very nice," she echoed as she breathed in the scent of Tasma.
Her thoughts spun around in her mind, had Azrael known she'd care for this girl? Is that why he had wanted her to meet her? Look sharp he'd said. Look sharp, but she'd been all blunted edges and Tasma had rebuffed her and left her. And she had not been able to stand it.
Tasma wasn't looking at Neviah how she had before with disdain. She felt as though perhaps, Tasma was the first person to see her as more than just her talents or her uses. "I am trying to do better, you know."
"I do," said Tasma, straightening up and stretching. "So am I. Trying to do better, that is. That's why I'm here. I don't know if I can stay as happy as I am here if i go home." She rolled her shoulders and stood up. "Well. Want to see the surprise now?"
Neviah stood up with Tasma, hating that the moment had ended. "Well, I think you're the first person who ever listened to me. Everyone just dismisses what I say. I'm glad you're happy." She shook the water out of her hair, "Yes, I want to see this surprise, I hate waiting."
"Then follow me," said Tasma, smiling. As they walked, Tasma thought about what Neviah had said. "Everyone deserves to be listened to," she said to Neviah quietly. "If you want, you can always talk to me. If you can find me!" She laughed loudly and it rang on and on and became awkward in the echoing tunnel. She looked embarrassed and shrugged. "Not far," she said.
"I don't plan on losing you again, at least not soon," she said quickly without realizing it might sound odd. She walked on behind her, "Don't think I'll forget you said that. Now you'll have to listen to all the droll things I say."
"I can't believe you just said 'droll," said tasma. She looked up ahead. "Ah! Here it is. Just inside here. Now close your eyes and I'll lead you to the best place to get the best view."
'What's the matter with droll?" Neviah laughed.
Complying, she closed her eyes as her cheeks blushed a bit as Tasma put her hands over her eyes. Her breath hitched in her chest. "Now don't lead me off a cliff just because I said droll."
"No, I won't," said Tasma, pulling Neviah into the cavern. "I think... yes, here's the best place." She took her hands away and let Neviah see the cavern. It was a wonderful place filled with refracted light passed down from the sun outside- which was why it was best to see it at a certain time of day. The walls were filled with clusters of gems, sometimes worn smooth by the passage of water or by the grinding force of a falling stalagmite. It was blue and purple and silver with odd seams of green through it. Wide, shallow puddles of water reflected the ceiling and walls and made the cavern seem like there was no real floor, just more gems and colours,
Neviah opened her eyes and saw the gems. They refracted all around her and she couldn't stop glancing at a new place every second to drink in the beauty of the place. "It's so lovely."
She walked further into the room and turned around and around, "It's like standing in a rainbow or something." She pointed toward a beautiful stream of green, "That one is just the shade of your skin." Her luminous eyes found Tasma and her arms motioned for her to come closer.
Tasma beamed. It was so nice having someone appreciate something she liked so much. "Took me a long time to find it," she said, stepping closer. "It's one of the prettiest places I've seen in my travels. There is a nice waterfall to the west of here... very beautiful. Always a rainbow in the mist above it."
Neviah watched her smile. "You're a rainbow," she laughed. It sounded stupid in her own ears, she knew that. "Like the sun after a long, cold night. Sounds foolish, I know it. But being near you," she touched her hand to Tasma's cheek. "I can feel the energy of you, the brightness and the beauty. I want to see things how you do. I want to--God, why am I talking."
Neviah laughed again as she pressed her lips slowly and gently to Tasma's lips.
Tasma stepped back from Neviah. Her expression was kind, but firm. "When you talk like that... it makes me think you can only... you only want me... for reasons that aren't about me. They're about you. You're obsessed. If I encouraged you, would it make you throw me away?" She shook her head sadly. "Can you honestly say what you would love me with, when you can see nothing but me?"
"You're being cruel," Neviah's voice broke. Did Tasma only see her as some broken, pitiful thing? Like she still needed fixing? "I would want you you if you wanted me. That wouldn't change." Neviah couldn't see that it would, that wanting and needing were different--that she still was that broken girl.
Oh, Neviah," said Tasma sadly. "What would I love if all there is of you is your love for me?" She brushed some of Neviah's hair from her face. "I would love a person who was a person whether or not I existed in this world. Can you give me something to love?"
Neviah felt tears burn the back of her eyes, and she blinked to find them rolling down her cheeks. She'd never cried in front of anyone before, but she did not look away. "I would give you everything, all of me. It's what I'm offering. It's all I have, it has to be enough."
"What if it isn't enough?" asked Tasma, brushing away Neviah's tears. It was hard for her to say these things, but they were necessary... weren't they? "If there is more to you, then show me. I would love to see what you have to show me."
Show her?
Neviah crushed her lips to Tasma's hard and without warning. She put all of her feelings, every rushing emotion she felt into it. She wanted Tasma more than she had ever wanted anything. The possibility that she wasn't enough that this wasn't enough, couldn't be right. It had to be right, if felt so right. She didn't want to breathe or pull from her. Show her. Show her. She pulled back just far enough that her lips brushed Tasma when she spoke. "It's all I have, please say it's enough."
Tasma waited for Neviah to finish and draw away herself. Her expression was the same. "All I see in you is a hunger for me," she said quietly. "I'm sorry I have this effect on you. I'm sorry you nearly killed yourself by running away. I'm sorry all this happened because of me." Her eyes filled with grief. Truly, it wasn't her fault, but she still felt sorrow for this person, her friend, maybe. Her friend who had never met herself except in hungers to be fed. Hunger for power, for approval, for love. Neviah had fought for all the things she had hungered for and achieved them eventually, and she knew no other way to satisfy herself. Tasma's heart was heavy.
"It's not enough?" There was grief and pain in her voice. An aching deep in her chest and stomach. "Sorry means it's not enough, that I'm not enough. Doesn't it?" She let out a choked little sob.
"I'm sorry you're hurting," said Tasma. "I don't think you came out here to find me. Maybe you came to find yourself. Maybe you should stay here for a while.Come and see me when you find what you need to." With that, Tasma left. She took her bag with her and headed north west. She had had enough of mountains. The forests of the north would be her home for now.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:48 am
Neviah did not go home.
She couldn't bear it. When Tasma left her standing there, she left a lot of questions with her. What was she doing with the coven? Did she even know?
She kept away from everyone and practiced her craft on small animals that came into her vicinity. She learned all the sounds of silence. But still her thoughts of Tasma remained.
Eventually, she left to find her again. A bit more reserved, determined not to hurt so badly again. Ghosting through the trees she listened for the sounds that would mean Tasma would be near by.
In the distance she spotted Tasma. For a moment, she stopped holding onto her bag wondering if this was the right choice. "Hey," she called out smiling broadly.
Tasma was plaiting cords in the shade of a tree. She had split the reeds herself and was trying to make a new bag, as her old one was showing signs of falling to bits. She glanced up when she heard the call; she had not heard a person talk for a long time. "Hello!" she called excitedly. She hurriedly began to finish her work; even seeing someone suddenly would not make her waste an hour's work by leaving it to unravel itself.
Neviah watched the cool grace that Tasma displayed, but she could see the other girl's smile. The bright spot of her mind shone out like the sun. She wanted to brush against it, cause a shiver--show her the things she'd learned. But Tasma would not approve.
She walked closer and sat down across from the girl, "It's...good to see you. It's been a long time."
"It has," said Tasma eagerly. "I've been up here in the wilds so long, I don't know if I'll go home." She put a knot in the weaving and stood up. "Come on, I'll take you to where I'm living at the moment."
Neviah got back up to follow her, "Not leading suits you well. You look really happy," she slung her hair back. "This place is lovely, not droll at all." She laughed.
"I don't know about that," said Tasma lightly. "I lead myself here, I am my own master and no-one controls my fate but me. I am not forced to take command of anyone else's lives. And, you know," said Tasma, turning to Neviah. "I think my family gets it. They haven't come after me. Either that," Tasma laughed, "or they disowned me!" She laughed.
They entered a wooded dell running along the face of the ever-present mountains. A fall of rock had made a small shelter at the foot of the mountain side, but Tasma lead Neviah in a short hopping flight to a cave a few metres up. It was this cave she had chosen for safety in case of flooding or predators, or rock slippage.
But I came for you..
She didn't say the words though part of her wanted to. They took several short flights before landing Neviah surveyed the view with a deep breath. "Well, if they disowned you--their loss. I don't know who'd want to lose you."
Neviah breathed in the cool air, "I've been alone for a while to. Self-discovery and all that jazz."
Tasma nodded. "It's not all it's cracked up to be, is it? It doesn't feel like I found myself, it doesn't even feel like I've grown while I've been out, it feels like I just now am able to understand how big I am." She smiled apologetically and brought out a waterbag. "Sorry, I keep talking about myself. Drink? I don't have any cups..."
Neviah took the skin and took a long swig, "Cold." She sighed contentedly. "I...found what I'm capable of. Realized my limits I guess. In the end, I went to look for what I wanted. Still wanted," she looked pointedly at Tasma then smiled. "Sometimes, things don't change with time."
You'd be surprised," said Tasma. "I'm glad you're here, anyway. I have been getting lonely. I'm thinking of going home." She chuckled. "Oh, it will be a long time until I end up going, if I do go, but... I've started getting lonely. Eventually I'll have to do something about it." She didn't say what she'd do.
"Do something about it?" Neviah smiled cocking her head at her. "I could tell you a few things I'd like to do, but perhaps your imagination will do that for me."
"Hmm?" Tasma glanced up. "I wasn't thinking about that." She sighed quietly. "You probably want to see the waterfall! That's why you came, isn't it?"
"Sure, the waterfall." Neviah dropped her bag and pulled Tasma's face to hers roughly and kissed her hard. She opened her mind, let all the passion and hunger open for Tasma to touch and see if she felt like.
Tasma prised her mouth away from neviah's. "Have you ever thought that you come on way too strong?" she asked idly. "Come on, waterfall," she said.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:49 am
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:53 am
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