The ice, the snow, the crowds and the murmering. It was so easy to get lost, detached from his body and completely forget about the other man still tangled with his limbs. The fact that there was a constant throbbing pain in his backside should have reminded him sooner that this wasn't a dream after all, which meant he'd actually hit someone in the middle of the street, intentional or unintentional! The laughter soon died in his mouth. "Ahh, damnit I'm sorry. Didn't see you there, heh. Plus I," he paused mid-sentence to run his fingers along the ground, feeling the lack of friction and the chill, "lost my footing." Eventually he managed to untangle himself and at least catch a glance of the poor soul. Damn, just looking at his face somehow made Nir'wei feel even worse. He'd hit a pretty boy. Not handsome, not anything that he'd appreciate any more than looking at from afar, but... it was like looking at a dove. Pretty, yet fragile. Something compelled him to rise up and offer a hand, but he couldn't quite find the strength to ease himself away completely and find his footing again.
Besides, someone seemed to find it appropriate to literally step over not only his body, but the other man's as well. It looked like he was picking up the bag and fumbling through it; ah, he must have been the victim of the petty theft. Boy must've dropped it when he noticed the men chasing him, hopefully he'd not made off with anything valuable in the process. Oh well. It seemed like everything had returned to normal for now, at least, everything except the damn freak weather patterns. Perhaps now he'd be able to pick out some sewing equipment, patch up his cloak, get the rest of his stuff and get the hell out of this market before he tore any more clothes, or worse.
"Huh?" A hand was offered and he took it. One strong tug and he was straight back on his feet, staring up for a moment at... him. The apparent victim, although he was smirking now, talking about 'playing parts' as if he'd expected all of this to happen. Had he? All he knew was, Ziell was... something else. Attractive men and women came and went like the tides of the ocean and were often worthy of little more than a lingering glance at best. Like Tristan, they held beauty in them, whether it be physically, socially, something completely new, who cared? They could always be appreciated, an extra little smile, a compliment. This was different. His eyes lingered far too long, long enough that Nir'wei quickly realized this fact and glanced away, perhaps too quickly he thought. Would he notice? He hoped not. Or did he?
The cold was freezing his brain, that was it. "Uhm, sure." It sounded lame, but he didn't really know what to say - just that it shouldn't be what Tristan said, with the cheery air that would have fit perfectly for anyone who hadn't just been knocked on their arse. "What he said," he added after a moment, jamming a thumb in Tristan's direction and swallowing down another quiet chuckle. He'd never heard of the frozen ground being compared to the back of a horse, honestly. Perhaps his finer clothes helped cushion the fall but really, what did he have to be so cheery about?
He swept both hands down his cloak, grimacing at the rather obvious rip down the edge of the lower back. Pieces of ice and fresh-fallen snow were clinging to the cotton, soaking in, weighing down on the fabric. "A, oh?" Admittedly he felt rather embarrassed. If not for him, Tristan likely would have caught the boy and the whole thing would have ended there, no need for the fall, or any injury. Yet there it was, a little carved feather charm from Ziell's necklace. For the second time that day he looked back into the man's face. Even though he meant for Ziell to hear, his voice became quiet, likely too quiet for any ears but his own to hear. "I, well, don't really see what I did to deserve it, but I guess... if you think I do, then, thanks?" Damn, it was hard to just talk normally to the man. He wanted to blame it on the paranormal forces working. The power running around them all, the entire crowd, at his command. The snow working to his whim, never even touching his shoulders - the way he charged it into the ring wasn't normal! There was no doubt he was a magician, a sorcerer, something like that, but that wasn't what kept pulling Nir'wei back. There was just something about him in general, his body, his voice, that pulled strings. It was rather indescribable.
Then it ended. "Huh?" Confusion returned, stronger than ever, and like Tristan he found himself oddly absolved from the warning. He didn't love the taste of war, he hated it! He hated it so much he was willing to leave the city and travel elsewhere to escape it. How could anyone enjoy the death and misery of war? It didn't make any sense and yet, he was still horribly terrified as the gentle winds turned into a raging storm, battering his body, sending his cloak flying as he struggled to shield his face from--
A different sorcery than before. Illusions? No, these weren't pure. It was a vision in his mind's eye, sketchy and jumping rapidly but still coherent enough that he could understand, and to at least some extent, control them. He left the city. Went to another one. No surprise there, there was a war to escape from. Took a boat, sailed... longer than he thought, but then again, this was Ne'haer, other end of the world, practically. Searching for his father. Asking around, struggling, but then a sliver of hope. A window, an opening. But he couldn't pass through it, not like before, no.
The vision grew much sharper, clearer. He could make out his mother. Yes, it had to be her, even though she looked absolutely nothing like he'd ever seen her before. The bags under her eyes were gone, her hair looked clean and combed, she was even smiling! Nir'wei had never known what her smile looked like and just thinking about it was enough to light up his own. There was someone else there too, a man, but he'd never seen him before in his life. Short brown hair, piercing blue eyes, a bit of stubble but in a controlled, well-groomed fashion instead of the unkempt look that Nir'wei currently sported. His lips parted. "You know that I'll always love you, right?" She nodded. And then he stabbed her. The knife came out of nowhere and disappeared just as quickly into her chest cavity, carving a jagged line down her front with blood oozing around the wound. Once he was done, he left the knife dangling from her flesh, jammed his hand into the open wound, leaving it gaping while he tore, from inside, her still-beating heart. She never screamed, never yelled... just smiled, softly, while he tore the life from her eyes.
The vision faded. Nir'wei was left shaking, confused. At some point tears had started streaming down his face and the cold weather had started freezing them against his cheeks, making them glisten even after he wiped them away with the back of his sleeve. More tears followed and he couldn't make them stop. "I..." He wanted to ask why, why Ziell had shown him this vision, but other people from the crowds were pouring in now to touch, yell, ask questions of their own. In the end he was just one snowflake in a blizzard. "Nevermind." Again, he wiped his eyes, swallowed to hold down the bile threatening to rise from his throat, squeezed the little carved feather charm in his palm and pulled the cloak a little tighter around his body. He'd never dealt well with cold. "Guess I'll keep your warning to mind," he muttered as an after-thought, "and who knows, if you have to cross paths with me again, maybe I'll ask you what it means, huh."