05-04-2015, 11:34 PM
Acres of churned up soil greeted Muse. It spread outwards with clumps of grassy knolls, fields of yellows, browns and greens, and finally, the groves that parted way into a nigh impassable canopy of trees and their roots. The thickets weren't so broad this close to the Gateway, but a keen eye could place that further within, only fractured rays of the sun could pierce the Tangles of Green. A person could pass through and disappear into the forest after a few minutes of walking, but she lingered for moments, briefly shifting back to examine what had hastened her arrival: the Arch with pure energy at its precipice.
From this viewing, it reflected the endless spans of bark, stem and leaf, but with a squint, she could make out the Void in the murky shimmers that she had departed from: the Nexus. Despite all the unknown dangers of exploring a new World, Zelda much preferred this realm to that of the White where Omni had first summoned her. At least it felt real to her, and the air not so thin upon her chest. Thankfully, she appeared to be alone for the time being. Yet, she had made that assumption and been in error only a few hours prior. It would be best to have some means of defense.
Omnilium gleamed in a palm once more. She stared at it, concentrating on the shape she wished to form. Slowly, the sphere extended in bright flashes of light, and in many colors. Without so much as a footfall onward, she allowed some of that precious source drain from her. Glimmering behind her the Portal fluctuated, reacting to the sudden influx of power, but thereafter stabilizing. As a few minutes passed, she now stood armed grasping tightly upon a familiar blade. Simply put, the brandished Rapier slid into the sheath at her side - a perfect fit.
Sure enough, the equipped and the ready for trouble: find it. A voice first hummed to the West. Not far, but not so near that it drowned out the breeze that blew, and the wildlife that beckoned from deeper in. As such, it wasn't really threatening per say, just odd. A soft lyrical cadence if anything at all, and then, words - surprisingly not in a foreign tongue as Muse expected.
Rend the mane stay the flesh.
Take the sharp toss the dull.
Break the tooth and carve the ear;
But, watch where puss spews.
If infected burn the corpse;
Pour acid on its bones;
Bury the dust where none dare tread.
The Blight will not take me.
The Plague will not save me.
Lies. Lies. All lies to draw us in.
The Fair Lady seeks an end.
But, foolish as so many lost;
Among them I am not.
Scorn those that Hunt.
Purify those that return.
Talanniel will not.
All the while as a woman sang, Muse approached. At first merely curious, but she soon feared for the singer. The lyrics were not those of a sane mind. Nor was the melody anything that urged her to feel welcome. However, she needn't convince herself to press on. The way onward and to the West, crept towards an enclosure surrounded every which way by life, but at its center leaning against a boulder was anything but.
A humanoid of discolored skin and pointed ears rested; half her face eaten away and rotten with holes that burrowed inwards, concave into chunks of flesh. The spared side still had a bright eye that could look upon where the footfalls of a visitor fell. While alive bits of purple skin (that which had yet to turn utterly black and decay), prickled into goosebumps. She watched, tilting her head as Muse parted between thick blades of grass. Thereafter, she fiddled with the dagger in her hand.
Muse pulled back her hood as she drew near. Her golden locks fell unevenly into a mess along her back. It clumped for a second, but then, she shook it out. At any other time that might have been a playful greeting. But, honestly all she felt was the hot sweat that had gathered during her travels. She too observed with a stern face. The suffering of the individual before her, that much she could tell.
"You have beautiful voice." Muse began. The cackling deep laughter stirred birds from their nestling. Taken aback by the response, she cautiously slipped a firm hand around the hilt of her blade. She didn't need to be a telepath to understand pain, but she felt it all the same. Something was quite literally tearing into the very fabric of this person's existence and rewriting it. The fact that the former Night Elf could still communicate at all was amazing.
"Have they sent you then, she-elf. Sentinel? No, I think not! Such an odd thing. Your skin's wrong. It wants me to kill you." Whispers and shouts, the way this lady spoke made little sense. "You should strike first, before the Blight takes me. I've wandered so far from them all - thought I could escape; there's the Portal that way, but death is coming. And, I but am mortal."
"Mortals have names, like anyone else, what is yours?" Coughs replied. Blood trailed from the Elf's lips; even the armor was corroding, and morphing to suit the needs of the disease. Muse frowned. It wouldn't be long now.
"I am - was - Talanniel. Tali to friends. The High-Priestess bade me to go, so off I went. Scouting she said. I met death instead." She laughed then, far more naturally - it almost sounded fully filled with life. Like her voice, that too was a type of beauty. "It's ugly, by the way, in case you're curious."
"Is the forest ill?"
"Yes and no. The Fair Lady will see it saved. And, soon - others helped. But, many were lost." For the first time Muse noticed the hair: naught but straw and strings nearly all fallen out with the Rot. She wanted desperately too turn away, but she didn't have the heart.
"Do you wish for me to stay?" She would stay regardless, but the question still needed to be asked. The answer would be a testament to the last refuge of sanity to she who would be yet another lost to senseless chaos.
"Yes."
"Do you still desire to end me?"
"It does, yes."
"Will you though?"
"No." The dagger fell from her hands and stuck into the earth. Its rusted steel bore marks of a terrible journey through rushing waters, and the faintest hints of blood of all manners lingered around its edges. It did kill, but not now and never again.
Muse hummed quietly, at first to herself. She knelt down breathing deep and allowed the tune to bolster. She sang. Not a lullaby, that would be too sad. Instead, she sung something half-remembered. In a veiled memory of a far of distant time, when the Goddess still protected the realms, and evil could not be named. Zelda hoped that the departed found peace in the Omniverse, but she had no other way to ease the passing.
She remained until the ballad finished. When it ceased, the Night-Elf breathed no more. Muse stood again, she let her hand fall away from her blade, and with it, she brushed hair that had fallen astray out of her eyes. An affliction that feeds on death, she resisted attacking, but, the body wanted to. I pray that this 'Blight' is almost over, as I believe I've learned what an Elf is (was). As her thoughts swirled ever on, she walked on beyond the clearing and into the nearest Grove.
From this viewing, it reflected the endless spans of bark, stem and leaf, but with a squint, she could make out the Void in the murky shimmers that she had departed from: the Nexus. Despite all the unknown dangers of exploring a new World, Zelda much preferred this realm to that of the White where Omni had first summoned her. At least it felt real to her, and the air not so thin upon her chest. Thankfully, she appeared to be alone for the time being. Yet, she had made that assumption and been in error only a few hours prior. It would be best to have some means of defense.
Omnilium gleamed in a palm once more. She stared at it, concentrating on the shape she wished to form. Slowly, the sphere extended in bright flashes of light, and in many colors. Without so much as a footfall onward, she allowed some of that precious source drain from her. Glimmering behind her the Portal fluctuated, reacting to the sudden influx of power, but thereafter stabilizing. As a few minutes passed, she now stood armed grasping tightly upon a familiar blade. Simply put, the brandished Rapier slid into the sheath at her side - a perfect fit.
Sure enough, the equipped and the ready for trouble: find it. A voice first hummed to the West. Not far, but not so near that it drowned out the breeze that blew, and the wildlife that beckoned from deeper in. As such, it wasn't really threatening per say, just odd. A soft lyrical cadence if anything at all, and then, words - surprisingly not in a foreign tongue as Muse expected.
Rend the mane stay the flesh.
Take the sharp toss the dull.
Break the tooth and carve the ear;
But, watch where puss spews.
If infected burn the corpse;
Pour acid on its bones;
Bury the dust where none dare tread.
The Blight will not take me.
The Plague will not save me.
Lies. Lies. All lies to draw us in.
The Fair Lady seeks an end.
But, foolish as so many lost;
Among them I am not.
Scorn those that Hunt.
Purify those that return.
Talanniel will not.
All the while as a woman sang, Muse approached. At first merely curious, but she soon feared for the singer. The lyrics were not those of a sane mind. Nor was the melody anything that urged her to feel welcome. However, she needn't convince herself to press on. The way onward and to the West, crept towards an enclosure surrounded every which way by life, but at its center leaning against a boulder was anything but.
A humanoid of discolored skin and pointed ears rested; half her face eaten away and rotten with holes that burrowed inwards, concave into chunks of flesh. The spared side still had a bright eye that could look upon where the footfalls of a visitor fell. While alive bits of purple skin (that which had yet to turn utterly black and decay), prickled into goosebumps. She watched, tilting her head as Muse parted between thick blades of grass. Thereafter, she fiddled with the dagger in her hand.
Muse pulled back her hood as she drew near. Her golden locks fell unevenly into a mess along her back. It clumped for a second, but then, she shook it out. At any other time that might have been a playful greeting. But, honestly all she felt was the hot sweat that had gathered during her travels. She too observed with a stern face. The suffering of the individual before her, that much she could tell.
"You have beautiful voice." Muse began. The cackling deep laughter stirred birds from their nestling. Taken aback by the response, she cautiously slipped a firm hand around the hilt of her blade. She didn't need to be a telepath to understand pain, but she felt it all the same. Something was quite literally tearing into the very fabric of this person's existence and rewriting it. The fact that the former Night Elf could still communicate at all was amazing.
"Have they sent you then, she-elf. Sentinel? No, I think not! Such an odd thing. Your skin's wrong. It wants me to kill you." Whispers and shouts, the way this lady spoke made little sense. "You should strike first, before the Blight takes me. I've wandered so far from them all - thought I could escape; there's the Portal that way, but death is coming. And, I but am mortal."
"Mortals have names, like anyone else, what is yours?" Coughs replied. Blood trailed from the Elf's lips; even the armor was corroding, and morphing to suit the needs of the disease. Muse frowned. It wouldn't be long now.
"I am - was - Talanniel. Tali to friends. The High-Priestess bade me to go, so off I went. Scouting she said. I met death instead." She laughed then, far more naturally - it almost sounded fully filled with life. Like her voice, that too was a type of beauty. "It's ugly, by the way, in case you're curious."
"Is the forest ill?"
"Yes and no. The Fair Lady will see it saved. And, soon - others helped. But, many were lost." For the first time Muse noticed the hair: naught but straw and strings nearly all fallen out with the Rot. She wanted desperately too turn away, but she didn't have the heart.
"Do you wish for me to stay?" She would stay regardless, but the question still needed to be asked. The answer would be a testament to the last refuge of sanity to she who would be yet another lost to senseless chaos.
"Yes."
"Do you still desire to end me?"
"It does, yes."
"Will you though?"
"No." The dagger fell from her hands and stuck into the earth. Its rusted steel bore marks of a terrible journey through rushing waters, and the faintest hints of blood of all manners lingered around its edges. It did kill, but not now and never again.
Muse hummed quietly, at first to herself. She knelt down breathing deep and allowed the tune to bolster. She sang. Not a lullaby, that would be too sad. Instead, she sung something half-remembered. In a veiled memory of a far of distant time, when the Goddess still protected the realms, and evil could not be named. Zelda hoped that the departed found peace in the Omniverse, but she had no other way to ease the passing.
She remained until the ballad finished. When it ceased, the Night-Elf breathed no more. Muse stood again, she let her hand fall away from her blade, and with it, she brushed hair that had fallen astray out of her eyes. An affliction that feeds on death, she resisted attacking, but, the body wanted to. I pray that this 'Blight' is almost over, as I believe I've learned what an Elf is (was). As her thoughts swirled ever on, she walked on beyond the clearing and into the nearest Grove.
![[Image: c7u9HTN.png]](http://i.imgur.com/c7u9HTN.png)