5th Zi'da Late evening, Arc 716
The gentle evening breeze rustled in the trees around him. He was in small cluster of them he had found near the town. It had grown gradually more breezy through the trial, having started off in the morning quite still. A few birds chirped above and the sound of a squirrel burying its nuts were all he could hear in his current state. The night was drawing near and the warmth that had come from the sunny clear day had nearly all gone leaving the air like an icy lake. The moons had already begun to rise and could be seen even with the suns still up and providing their last light for the day.
He sat naked, as he usually would when meditating, in the centre of the small hollow in in the cluster of trees. The last rays of the disappearing distant suns shone on his face as he inhaled deeply. The air was fresh and clear and filled his lungs quite perfectly. His mind was completely clear besides one thing, the pull. It was unavoidable and he couldn't get rid of it no matter how hard he tried. The constant reminder that he was missing her was their nagging at him day and night. Often it would be like he was being prodded and other times it was like a pit had appeared in his stomach.
He continued to sit with his eyes closed as he listened to the life around him. The wind bit at his exposed flesh and blew his loose hair around in a crazy manner. He could hear the birds and the squirrel, he could even hear the trees whisper and groan. They filled his ears, it reminded him of home, distance did not seem to affect nature. The animals and plants here may have been different, but they spoke too and they told the same stories. Everything around him was preparing to hibernate, they were all readying for Cylus and the hard times it would bring with it. He continued to listen the sounds of nature calming him and relaxing him bringing him a sense of inner piece which he had not felt for quite some time following the shadow beasts and now his familiar.
His calmness, however, did not last long. As he listened something strange came to his ears, something not like the rest of the nature. He listened carefully as he tried to keep his mind clear and meditate. The whisper was soft, like it had traveled many miles on the wind. "Find me." It said. He ignored it, he was imagining it it wasn't possible. How could she be calling to him now from all that distance, there was no way, was there? He breathed deeply searching for the calmness he had just felt. His meditation had been the few times in his life when he would always have been comfortable and calm but now this seemed to no longer work. He wondered whether he would ever regain the self he was before this whole series of events had unfolded. He felt different, and currently it was not a good different, not without her at least.
As he calmed himself and returned to just passively listening he heard it again. "Find me." It whispered, a dying sound on the long traveled wind. His soft and relaxed features turned to a frown as he tried to ignore the voice. He felt his stomach turn when the voice came again, louder this time like they were screaming to him. "Find me." It said, tone now in the voice. A soft anxious woman's voice, one he had heard before, the voice in his dreams. His breath caught as he tried to blot it out, attempting to continue his meditation. Then he felt a push like something was trying to force him to his feet and in the direction of the wind.
Spooked he jumped up to a crouch looking to where he had felt the push. He was breathing heavily as he scanned the area. Besides the birds and the squirrel which now looked at him, its head slightly cocked with curiosity, he was alone. He looked towards where the wind had come from, the Willow Woods. He had been there earlier that trial, he had given up his for her and now she seemed to be calling to him, as if she was inviting him to chase her again. It was like she wanted him to run blindly after her, maybe that was what she was like. Maybe she was playful and daring, maybe she wanted him to get lost. Maybe he had to be lost to find her. The idea seemed strangely likely but not enough to calm him.
He placed his head in his hands as he tried to think, how could he find her, where was she. The clearing, it had haunted his dreams and every time he would end up there, he had to find it or maybe he had be lost to find it. That same idea surfaced again as he considered the implications of being lost to find something. A gust of wind blew through the small clearing chilling him to his bone. "Find me!" the voice shrieked, like a lost child calling for her mother. He gulped as he stepped back in shock his mind a blur as he leaned his forehead against the trunk of a tree.
"Oh Moseke, give me strength, guide me in my search for her, show me the way forward. Please help me to find her, without her I am incomplete, you created us this way and now I ask for you to help me complete myself. You are the Earth Mother, the friend to nature and you are my guide. Help me please!" He prayed as he searched for the strength to keep himself here until the next trial when he could go out and search again. He wanted them to be united but he could not bring himself to trust his navigation around the foreign wood, in which she waited for him, at night time. The final arc of the sun dropped below the horizon and plunged the world into darkness. He was alone now in the dark and with only his trust in Moseke keeping him from running like a mad man through the forest.
The voice called out to him again carried on the wind this time softer, with more word. "Find me. I am at the glade where the flowers grow." It said softly in his ears. He felt crazy as a tear ran down his cold cheek, his body reacted so strangely to the call of his familiar. She made him feel more empty inside with every moment he was without her, it was like he was slowly draining away and would be left the shell of what he was before if he did not come upon her soon. But now she has told him more, she had shown him the way forward, he knew now that the forest glade from his dreams was indeed what he need to find.
This new discovery comforted him, it helped him to be reassured that he was on the correct path. He wondered whether his prayer had worked and if that was why his familiar had revealed this new piece of information. She had helped him before in Desnind when he had asked for it and maybe now she was again guiding him through the voice of his familiar. A slight smile managed to creep onto his lips as he considered the possibility. She was one of the few things Ti truly believed in and the only person he completely trusted.
With this new lease of hope he turned his back to the tree and slid down the trunk landing on his arse. His clothes were scattered around him and he gathered them up quickly dressing himself as protection from the cold night air. He crawled into a small tree hollow next to him and curled his body into a tight ball. Here he was protected from the elements and was warmed by the earth below him. He still felt sick to his stomach about staying and ignoring his familiar's call but he would answer it tomorrow with a search much stronger than today's.
"I will find you, even if it takes all my strength, I will find you. You are my other half, the part I have been missing all my life and together we will be strong we will be happy and I will always protect and treasure you." He whispered as he felt the call of sleep and the world of dreams pulling him gently from the realm of consciousness. He heard the voice whistle past his ear one last time before he drifted into sleep. It was more comforting than the rest as if he had finally done something right in this long and tiring journey. Like he was finally getting his feelings validated, like he had achieved something meaningful and acceptable in his familiar's eyes.
"I believe you."
The gentle evening breeze rustled in the trees around him. He was in small cluster of them he had found near the town. It had grown gradually more breezy through the trial, having started off in the morning quite still. A few birds chirped above and the sound of a squirrel burying its nuts were all he could hear in his current state. The night was drawing near and the warmth that had come from the sunny clear day had nearly all gone leaving the air like an icy lake. The moons had already begun to rise and could be seen even with the suns still up and providing their last light for the day.
He sat naked, as he usually would when meditating, in the centre of the small hollow in in the cluster of trees. The last rays of the disappearing distant suns shone on his face as he inhaled deeply. The air was fresh and clear and filled his lungs quite perfectly. His mind was completely clear besides one thing, the pull. It was unavoidable and he couldn't get rid of it no matter how hard he tried. The constant reminder that he was missing her was their nagging at him day and night. Often it would be like he was being prodded and other times it was like a pit had appeared in his stomach.
He continued to sit with his eyes closed as he listened to the life around him. The wind bit at his exposed flesh and blew his loose hair around in a crazy manner. He could hear the birds and the squirrel, he could even hear the trees whisper and groan. They filled his ears, it reminded him of home, distance did not seem to affect nature. The animals and plants here may have been different, but they spoke too and they told the same stories. Everything around him was preparing to hibernate, they were all readying for Cylus and the hard times it would bring with it. He continued to listen the sounds of nature calming him and relaxing him bringing him a sense of inner piece which he had not felt for quite some time following the shadow beasts and now his familiar.
His calmness, however, did not last long. As he listened something strange came to his ears, something not like the rest of the nature. He listened carefully as he tried to keep his mind clear and meditate. The whisper was soft, like it had traveled many miles on the wind. "Find me." It said. He ignored it, he was imagining it it wasn't possible. How could she be calling to him now from all that distance, there was no way, was there? He breathed deeply searching for the calmness he had just felt. His meditation had been the few times in his life when he would always have been comfortable and calm but now this seemed to no longer work. He wondered whether he would ever regain the self he was before this whole series of events had unfolded. He felt different, and currently it was not a good different, not without her at least.
As he calmed himself and returned to just passively listening he heard it again. "Find me." It whispered, a dying sound on the long traveled wind. His soft and relaxed features turned to a frown as he tried to ignore the voice. He felt his stomach turn when the voice came again, louder this time like they were screaming to him. "Find me." It said, tone now in the voice. A soft anxious woman's voice, one he had heard before, the voice in his dreams. His breath caught as he tried to blot it out, attempting to continue his meditation. Then he felt a push like something was trying to force him to his feet and in the direction of the wind.
Spooked he jumped up to a crouch looking to where he had felt the push. He was breathing heavily as he scanned the area. Besides the birds and the squirrel which now looked at him, its head slightly cocked with curiosity, he was alone. He looked towards where the wind had come from, the Willow Woods. He had been there earlier that trial, he had given up his for her and now she seemed to be calling to him, as if she was inviting him to chase her again. It was like she wanted him to run blindly after her, maybe that was what she was like. Maybe she was playful and daring, maybe she wanted him to get lost. Maybe he had to be lost to find her. The idea seemed strangely likely but not enough to calm him.
He placed his head in his hands as he tried to think, how could he find her, where was she. The clearing, it had haunted his dreams and every time he would end up there, he had to find it or maybe he had be lost to find it. That same idea surfaced again as he considered the implications of being lost to find something. A gust of wind blew through the small clearing chilling him to his bone. "Find me!" the voice shrieked, like a lost child calling for her mother. He gulped as he stepped back in shock his mind a blur as he leaned his forehead against the trunk of a tree.
"Oh Moseke, give me strength, guide me in my search for her, show me the way forward. Please help me to find her, without her I am incomplete, you created us this way and now I ask for you to help me complete myself. You are the Earth Mother, the friend to nature and you are my guide. Help me please!" He prayed as he searched for the strength to keep himself here until the next trial when he could go out and search again. He wanted them to be united but he could not bring himself to trust his navigation around the foreign wood, in which she waited for him, at night time. The final arc of the sun dropped below the horizon and plunged the world into darkness. He was alone now in the dark and with only his trust in Moseke keeping him from running like a mad man through the forest.
The voice called out to him again carried on the wind this time softer, with more word. "Find me. I am at the glade where the flowers grow." It said softly in his ears. He felt crazy as a tear ran down his cold cheek, his body reacted so strangely to the call of his familiar. She made him feel more empty inside with every moment he was without her, it was like he was slowly draining away and would be left the shell of what he was before if he did not come upon her soon. But now she has told him more, she had shown him the way forward, he knew now that the forest glade from his dreams was indeed what he need to find.
This new discovery comforted him, it helped him to be reassured that he was on the correct path. He wondered whether his prayer had worked and if that was why his familiar had revealed this new piece of information. She had helped him before in Desnind when he had asked for it and maybe now she was again guiding him through the voice of his familiar. A slight smile managed to creep onto his lips as he considered the possibility. She was one of the few things Ti truly believed in and the only person he completely trusted.
With this new lease of hope he turned his back to the tree and slid down the trunk landing on his arse. His clothes were scattered around him and he gathered them up quickly dressing himself as protection from the cold night air. He crawled into a small tree hollow next to him and curled his body into a tight ball. Here he was protected from the elements and was warmed by the earth below him. He still felt sick to his stomach about staying and ignoring his familiar's call but he would answer it tomorrow with a search much stronger than today's.
"I will find you, even if it takes all my strength, I will find you. You are my other half, the part I have been missing all my life and together we will be strong we will be happy and I will always protect and treasure you." He whispered as he felt the call of sleep and the world of dreams pulling him gently from the realm of consciousness. He heard the voice whistle past his ear one last time before he drifted into sleep. It was more comforting than the rest as if he had finally done something right in this long and tiring journey. Like he was finally getting his feelings validated, like he had achieved something meaningful and acceptable in his familiar's eyes.
"I believe you."
