• Mature • [Emea] The Sandy Ocean

[Wald Lowca]

7th or Cylus, 719

The sun above was blistering hot, even the ground seemed to be on fire. The rolling dunes of the vast desert was like waves in the ocean, moving up and down, as far as the eye could see. A man cloaked in long garbs, shielding him from the heat of the sun, was making his way through this ocean of sand. His feet sunk in the sand with each step, his feet would bring the sand up causing the sand to move down. As he moved to the top of the dune, he could feel is body ache from the heat.

Looking over the sun baked land, a gust of wind blew against the man. It made him step back, and made the hood he had fall to his neck. The face was rough and dirty, his eyes nearly closed but remained open. Wald had been tracking through the desert for many Trials it would seem. Though just ahead he saw something blue, was it a trick of the eyes? No it had to be some water, in which he desperately needed now. Near the small blue green island was an even smaller building. It was small and quaint, and something completely out of place. It was made of stone bricks, and seemed to be something ripped out of a city. Not something that belonged in a dead landscape such as this.

Wald moved to the oasis, with what speed he could. Sliding down the dune most of the way down. His lips were cracked by the heat, and his mouth began to water in anticipation of the water. When he made it down to the pool, it was crystal clear, the water seemed very clean. Though instead of drinking immediately, Wald simply splashed some on his face to cool off. He was a hunter, and a survivalist after all, he knew the dangers even if it seemed clean. He began to make clanging noises, as he got something ready to gather the water safely.

[Sybil Malach]

Xanthous rested against the chair outside of the home. It was made of stone, but had a smooth rim at the bottom, allowing for a rocking motion to be achieved. Its face was obfuscated by a tawny cotton hood, casting a deep shadow over its face, offering a brief requiem from the sun. Xanthous seemed to have a willowy build, almost akin to someone who had lived hand to mouth for a very long time, or at the very least, someone who lived a very active lifestyle, favoring dexterity over direct might. Rocking slowly, the fluttering of the hooded, bisque robe seems to almost blend with the sand that was slowly seeping its way among the stone. Even this far from the rolling dunes, the sand was omnipresent among life here, near the Oasis. This place had no name. It had no true purpose. Rarely had anyone even visited, let alone know of its location. It was an anomaly, as though a fractured piece of another reality.

The clanking of the man's equipment could be heard. But Xanthous was in no mood to even raise from the seat in which it sat. Its eyes simply remaining upon Wald, as it lounges. The sun of this place was not even a full sun. It looked more like a ring, forever eclipsed. But it is the blinding halo of light that surrounded the darkness, that heated this landscape into a hellish wasteland. No one dared bear bare skin against the sands, it would burn them to the bone, deeply singing to the core. This is simply as it's always been. Xanthous was here since the very beginning, after all. When the Oasis was far larger, when the land was green. But that simply wasn't the case anymore. As the sun eclipsed, time and time again, the Oasis would shrink in size. It was utterly horrifying to most. But to Xanthous, reality was simply playing out its course. It had happened before Xanthous's time, and it would happen long after it.

"Why do you collect the water?" Asks Xanthous, slowly rocking upon the porch, shaded amber eyes glancing towards Wald with a steady gaze, "You will run out, at this rate. It would be far easier just to stay near, and drink from the source."

[Wald Lowca]

Wald was busy with collecting water for himself, he was not one to stay still. He sent the water through a filter and filtered again, one filled with sand, the other filled with something more green. The clear water filtered down into a large water skin, this would hold enough water for Wald for a while. As he was filling the container he heard a voice from the building. The man seemed to match the environment, which may be why Wald did not spot him at first. "Why do you collect the water?" The person said as he looked over to see who it was. That is when he saw the amber eyes, almost like the sand itself was crystallized. "You will run out, at this rate. It would be far easier just to stay near, and drink from the source."

Wald simply continued to ready the water. As he did, Wald spoke back to the man. "I am not one to stay still, It is something I shouldn't do." Wald was filling a second skin and a cup for him to from there. After, Wald pulled out a piece of dried meat, he began to eat and drink the water in the cup.

The Halo sun was never a good sign for Wald, though it did signal a way for him to fix things. The desert was not always as harsh as it was, once the whole area was full of the Oasis just like this one. Though that changed the first time the sun had gone through this cycle. The world slowly drained from there, the people moved in great number to the coasts, with the hope of salvation from the drought. Though now even the oceans themselves are slowly leaving, if the cycle continued on, the world would be drained in a few decades.

"Why are you still out here? Why did you not move with the rest of the people?" This question itched in the back of Wald's head the moment the person made themself known.

[Sybil Malach]

"Because I will not be forced by the whims of the world." Xanthous responds to Wald in a very calm tone. Unseen eyes settle upon the traveler. Xanthous was always here, since the beginning. Many would have had that sort of story to tell, had it not been for centuries upon centuries of fighting and genocidal quarrels. Those who were born first among the people of this world, simply, had died out. Those who carried with them the maxim of humanity's survival, an adage to be repeated until world's end, in hopes of the mistakes of the past cycle not be repeated. But many had fallen to such esoteric, panic inducing realities, that this would likely, eventually, all end with such an important thing simply slipping from the world's consciousness. And indeed, it had. Xanthous didn't even remember its meaning. "Running will only end with the soles of your feet scorched, and nothing gained. Is it not better to simply rest?"

It was strange. Despite the Oasis being so pure, being so potable, there was only this one person here, draped in such strange robes. The meaning of the design lost to time, but it looked as though it was a singular, continuous wrapping, covering almost all flesh, hiding every square inch from the dying sun itself. "Soon the Eclipse will end. But not before it ends all life. This is simply the nature of things. We have failed." The voice coming from behind the wrappings is calm, matter of fact about such a cataclysmic assertion. Many men and women of the Wastes shared this sentiment, but there was always hope that it would eventually get better, that the sun would finally hide behind the dunes once more. So many blood prices were offered, to that end. So many men and women brought beneath the knife, to satisfy the perceived whims of mercurial beings, far beyond comprehension in their motives for this.

"Our world is built from the ashes of lives past. We are simply returning to the cursed clay from which we were shaped." Xanthous offers, in quite the conspiratorial tone. Something shifts behind the part of the wrappings that should cover the mouth of the speaker, an indent forming, as though an expression was being offered, but far from being able to be perceived. The yellow clad man hardly tries to rise from the chair, simply rocking, allowing Wald to take as much of a reprieve from his struggles as he needed.

[Wald Lowca]

The man seemed to talk with an aged tone.

Wald watched and listened to the stranger, though each word that came from their mouth just angered him. After, filling his equipment with the fresh water, Wald slowly got up. Each step seemed to be debated upon, as if struggling with his on will to move forward. The idea of stopping the journey was not bad, sometimes Wald thought of doing so. But he continued his steps to the rocking chair, he raised his hand about to strike the stranger. His hand shook for a moment in the air, before falling onto Wald's side.

With a shake of his head, Wald removed the thoughts. "Striking you will not change anything." Wald juggled through his equipment. He grasped onto something, a large paper rolled up. Slowly he unrolled the paper, it was faded but if you looked at it closely, the image of a map was still visible. The map was old, much older then what Wald appeared to be. It was from before the draining of the world, before the eclipses. Wald pointed to a large body of water surrounded by desert. "There was a city here, do you know where it is?"

Wald was on the hunt for this city for many arcs. As the desert had swallowed so much, if this old stranger could help. Then maybe he could stop the events that have transpired. It was a mistake that could be fixed, If only Wald could find the broken lines in the cycle. The City he was looking for, was named Andiroud. It was swallowed by the desert well before Wald could begin his search here. Solely due to the vast distance he had to travel to get this far.

[Sybil Malach]

If Xanthous could smile, beneath those wrapped, bandage like linens, it would have. Instead, a cold chuckle emanated from it. Wald hadn't known what had happened to the city. Just as many before him had. If Xanthous had a copper piece for every man, woman, and child that came here, and was faced with the reality that their destination was long gone, the elderly being would be the richest entity in this dying, decrepit world. Staring before Wald, however, something was more clear now than it had ever been, to Xanthous. A slow gaze upwards, towards the sky, seemed to confirm the suspicions. It wouldn't be long now, until the sun finally eclipsed. Until the world was shrouded in the dark, and left with nothing but an icy chill. Man and beast alike would soon die, as the last candle flickers, and surrenders its warmth to the sunken abyss that forms from this world's eventual corpse. It was all inevitable.

"You passed it, if you made it here." Xanthous finally admits, rocking in its chair, slowly. The dull, idle creak coming from the cracked stone of the chair itself, "You wont find another city that size, either, I'm afraid." The admission was something that would destroy most people. And often it did. A slow gaze turned to the Oasis, in which Wald came from, "I had assumed you came to drown yourself in the Oasis, like all the rest. It's one of the only ways this world may continue to live, even if its threads to it is tenuous." Indeed, that was one of the reasons many visited Xanthous. There was often very little that could be done for others, in this dying world, aside from the piles of bodies contributing to the eventual heat death of it all. The glowing light around the blackened sun seemed to be dimmer by each day. The winds were becoming more and more cold during night, "It won't keep the sun from dying, but it will keep the waters flowing."

[Wald Lowca]

Wald sighed as he heard the person tell him he passed his goal. That could be rectified by walking back. As long as he knew he was close, he could find his destination. Talking about other cities was none of Wald's concerns either. His chest started to itch, it was just over his heart where the sensation was. Though at that point was an object, something Wald had been living with for so long now.

Then the man started talking about people dying to keep the waters flowing. Waters that were going to end no matter what happened. "You are joking right? You did not let people just kill themselves for no reason did you?" Wald could tell it was true even if he could not see their face. This was disgusting to Wald, knowing others fell for such things.

Wald let out a great sigh once more, turning away from the person. He put the hood of his clothing back on, and spoke again to the being. "I am not looking for people. I am looking for the Academy." Wald began walking towards the desert again. "There is a hole dug deep into the world. That is where I must go." Turning away Wald gripped at a dagger under his clothing, buried deep in his chest. Wald had caused the mess that had happened, and he was going to fix it. The reason for the eclipses were from the lack of rotation on the world. The world had been stopped, though the rest continued on. This side of the dying world was hit by the endless sun, as the other was freezing in eternal night.

[Sybil Malach]

"It's too late, Wald. You've reached the end of this world. I think you know this very well." Xanthous spoke with a calm sort of voice, in despite of the conviction behind the amount damnation behind its words. It was confident, as though this was the simple fact of the matter, "The only hole that remains, you will find, is the one formed of the decay that is being burned from this world. You may keep walking, to be sure, but you won't find anything. Scream against this fate all you wish, but just like those that inhabit the bottom of the Oasis, Wald, you will only be staving off the inevitable. You will only be putting it off for one more day. Perhaps, if you even manage, even a season. But it will come crashing to an end, eventually. You are scratching against your fate with claws, but in doing so, you will break your nails, and splinter your fingers. You will prolong the moments that remain, rather than reversing the illness." The words were calm.

Something is reached for. Taking a pole with an iron hook upon in it one hand, Xanthous simply plucks one of the lanterns from the wire that hanged above the home, and slowly brings it down. The sight of it is familiar to Wald. But it's hard to truly remember from where it came from. It is wrought of iron and glass, the flame within glowing a stark blue. The candle within was completely deteriorated, little more than a malnourished stub. It is brought to the stone porch of the home, as Wald begins to walk away, "Instead of marching into your inevitable realization, perhaps, you could do something useful with your time." Xanthous's words carried, without any sort of need to strain its voice. The entity swaddled in yellow simply had no need for such things, "This lantern, holds the means of putting this world to its merciful death. You may take it with you, or you may extinguish it. I have little use for it now. But you may put us out of our misery at a whim, if you so choose."

[Wald Lowca]

Wald heard the words the person was saying, realizing he spoke his name. Wald had not spoken his name to the being, this troubled him as he turned around. The being lowered a lantern, slowly towards him. The make was familiar to him, though it was not sure until he saw the spark within. Wald swallowed, in realization of who he may be talking to.

Wald reached into his pocket, pulling out a vile of grey liquid. "You know me then. Then you should know, the plan worked." Wald popped the cork from the vile and drank the contents. The taste was dreadful and his body screamed not to consume it. After the contents were gone, the liquid mixed with his stomach acid. Wald's body slowly expanded, it bubbled out almost randomly. Until a loud bang was heard.

Wald scattered all over the area, the dagger that was buried in his chest flew past the being landing into the door. Flesh and blood scattered around the area. Soon enough the dagger began to hum and vibrate. It flung itself out of the door, floating in place as the flesh and blood started to gather around it. Wald was soon formed again surrounding the dagger. Wald popped his neck, and readjusted his joints. "As you can see, I am a perpetual. Now tell me, Xanthous."

Wald walked up to the being and tore the cloths from his head. "Why did you get us to do this, I am sure you new the price." Wald took the lantern and began to open it.

[Sybil Malach]

Wald's hand was trapped in an infinite loop. The thin layer of yellow cloth that surrounded this being's face was endless. it didn't matter how much he pulled, or how hard, he would never reach the end. He could feel the impressions of an expression beneath it, but that was it, in the end. There wasn't anything that he could possibly pull from it. it simply stared at Wald, through the indented, bandaged area. There wasn't a single chance in its perceived expression, aside from the very same one that Wald had become accustomed to seeing from this entity. The lantern came from its grasp easily, however. There was no fight, it allowed Wald to do as he pleased. It simply rocked, as a clump of yellow bandages lay at its feet. Watching him, as he opens the lantern. Watches him as he explodes into viscera. It did not reel in shock. It couldn't. It had seen this many times before, endlessly, this was a train that arrived on time.

Nothing more, nothing less.

"I wear no mask, Wald. Why must you grasp at me like so?" It asks of Wald, calmly, as its palm raises. A rising pain in the man's chest. The knife that ensured his immortality was something that could be manipulated. The pain was immense, and unbearable. But it wasn't long, before the knife dislodged itself from Wald's chest, leaving behind a gaping hole. A hole that would, in turn, devour Wald from the inside out, quickly. All the while, not a single movement was made from Xanthous. As Wald was disintegrated into nothingness, all that remained of him was the knife, the being simply looked down, towards the knife in its hands. It simply, slowly, blinks. A slow cant of the head is given, curiously, before simply raising the lantern with its offhand. "You should have drowned yourself, like the selves before you. It is a more painless existence. But you chose to eloign yourself from what was meant to be, to abscond from it all."

Xanthous reached up to its bandages.

All it took for Xanthous to remove its bandage was a single layer of unwrapping. Something that was a complete defiance against all known common logic. Beneath, was the striking resemblance of Wald, as he looked down upon the knife. His features aged, as he looks up, to the Oasis. The bodies that lined the bottom was nothing but Wald. The skeletal hands reaching out from the waters beneath. The skulls settling in the sediment. It was all him. There was no one left, other than him. "This is how the world of ash and sand comes to an end. Nothing but the dessicated remains of what was. Allow the end to come. Let it all turn to ash within our mouths. May we become free from the cycle we have presented ourselves with." A weary Wald raises the dagger, that was once within the body that looked exactly like him's chest.

It is tossed to the Oasis.

"May the next world rely on the succor of water, than the vitriol of flame. An accursed existence, led we. But nevermore." Wald's hand reaches towards the flame, extinguishing it between the thumb and index finger. Bringing life to a new world. Ending the cycle that had trapped the inhabitants of this dying, decaying world. Freeing them from torment, to dream freely in the spreading darkness. To join the packs of wolves in the stars, to find purpose.

The lights finally, at long last, dimmed.