Search found 3 matches for Mystery

I currently have 

#OffTopic
#PlotTwist
#Mystery
#CharacterDeath

In my tag list. Tag something in a post with those, and I'll see it! I highly recommend adding these to yours as well, as I'll be using them frequently!

Unknown Time, Unknown Place




The deafening hum of rain rang through the dark woods, black clouds hiding the moon as droplets fell to the trees and ran off the umbrella of leaves. The rains poured over every surface, coating the bark and swirling into pools around the forest roots. The mud beneath the trees shimmered with each flash of lightning, and the leaves shook with the powerful roar of thunder. Through the murky black emerged the shadows of trees, lit only by the glistening water when moonlight cut through the sky, and the flicker of a distant candle. Moving towards the small warm glow of the candle was the shadow of a bird, it's feathers cloaked in darkness and dripping with the soak of the thunderstorm. Laboring with each movement, the shadow drew closer. It kept under the treeline, doing its best to remain as dry as possible as it quietly pushed through the crowd of raindrops.

In the darkness of the storm, other small flecks of candlelight shone through tiny holes in many trees, but the shadow only glided toward one. A traveler of long and far, the shadow in the rains came to a brisk stop as it perched at the tips of a hollowed tree, talons resting unsteadily on slick branches. A flash of lightning lit the traveler for a glimpse of time, feathers and tree both a mix of the same colors.

From the soft glow of the candle, a second shadow emerged from the hollow, beckoning the traveler inside. The bird nodded after a moment's hesitation, and followed the second shadow into the warm safety of the candlelit tree. Once inside, the traveler kept still as the second shadow moved to touch one candle to another, brightening the hollowed tree enough to see the bird who had arrived. The second shadow lifted with the glow of the candle, and emerged as an aged Golden Eagle, his beak riddled with burn scars and his feathers no better. The traveler remained cloaked in the darkness of the hollow entrance, opting to remain that way as the Eagle accepted with a small smile.

"You don't have to hide here. Our eyes do not speak." The Eagle spoke softly, his graveled voice just short of a whisper.

The traveler nodded politely, but remained in the shadows as they replied. "Don't mistake caution for mistrust. You know why I come at this hour, as another did before."

The Eagle grew silent, his eyes pondering downwards for a moment before he met the traveler's gaze. He sighed, from exhaustion or sadness- it wasn't clear, as he moved to a small perch nearby. The old bird settled down to rest his talons while the traveler kept still. Once he was still as well, the Eagle looked once more to the traveler. "... Your position is sensitive... why would you risk everything coming here, chasing a story without a kind ending. Tell me... do you seek the horrors, or do they come to you?"

The traveler flexed their talons, thinking earnestly for a moment before giving an honest reply. "Could be both, but today I come for truth. If horror follows, then so be it."

The Eagle was quiet, a small smile across his beak as if the answer amused him. "I'll not ask how it is that you're here, but I may continue to question why. I fear that what I have to tell you will break you open in ways no healer could mend. I don't know why you want to know this information, or how you know that I have it, but with the questions you've asked before, I'm not sure I want to know. I'll tell you everything I can tell you... but I won't be responsible for what you do with it. I refuse to be burdened and branded as the one who undid you... you must swear to be strong."

The traveler took a deep breath, listening to the muffled storm outside. Weary wings and talons finally feeling justified for their journey as the Eagle spoke. At last the traveler nodded through the shadows, pulling their wings in close to get comfortable as they began to listen. "I must know. I have to be strong for that.... take me back to the first night. Start from the moment you got the first letter."

The Eagle nodded, craning from his perch to reach a small carved bowl of rainwater. He brought it to his beak and finished the drink with a sigh before settling down once more. "Then so be it, indeed. From the beginning then..."


(#Mystery)

THE DAY OF THE RIFTS (THREE YEARS AGO)


(Part Three)

---

"I SPEAK NOW TO THE QUEEN. YOUR LOVE IS DEAD, AND JUSTICE HAS BEEN PAID. DO NOT RUN, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO HIDE FROM ME, OR ANYONE YOU COME NEAR WILL DIE AS WELL. COME TO ME NOW AND RELINQUISH THE FIRE YOU STOLE, AND I WILL ALLOW YOU TO LIVE." 


Tyrin stared in Agathar's direction while the dragon spoke, barely able to feel the feathers on his skin as he watched the Dragon's tail-tip drip with his own blood. Shock had already set in, and there was no pain. Fire rose in his chest as the Phoenix within him struggled to survive. He knew from the sight of his blood that there was no coming back. Desperately, he threw open his mind and felt for his mate. Through their bond he would be able to speak to her, and warn her of what had happened. Just as he found her and began to make the connection between their minds, his body began to wither. As if blown by the steady breeze, Tyrin felt his talons, wings, and feathers turn to ash as they had done so many times before. He had been killed once before by Syrune, her being manipulated by Zarrock. Another, by Zarrock himself when he had become a Dark Phoenix. Again, by Archeus to trap his soul in the Ethyrium, where he was killed three more times over the eight years he spent there. As per the rules of the Phoenix, your seventh death is final.


Tyrin knew this, as his body turned to ash. The last thing his eyes saw was the blood of his father creep across the splintered wood beneath his talons. 


Rinka!


Before he could say more to his mate, his body had faded, and Tyrin was no more. The vision of blood beneath his talons was enveloped in a curtain of darkness, and pulled into the void of death.


First there was pain, then nothing. Everything had become nothing. No thoughts, no loves, no fear, no body, no mind. Tyrin had become nothing. Everything had ceased to be or have been as the nothing of Tyrin soared through the void of black. When out of the nothing, came something, a voice.


"What is this? ... Where am I? ..."


The voice was Tyrin's, though he was unaware of how he had spoken. His thoughts had now become physical, part of his consciousness as he floated through the void. 


Again, he cried out into the nothing. "Is this how eternity ends? .... Is this my fate? ... Where is the Ethyrium? How do I move to the place of souls?" 


"I have been there before! I have conquered the red skies and I have escaped! Send me there again so I can come back! Let me save the others!"


No response, again. There was simply nothing.


".... Help me! .... Someone help me! Send me back!"


"I wasn't finished!"


"I can still save them, all of them."


"HELP ME!"


Again and again, the nothing of Tyrin cried into the darkness. There was no time here, and Tyrin did not know how long he waited until something changed. All he could do was think. He had no body, or not one that he could see. All that was Tyrin had become a thought, a swirl of memories and ideas that called for help again and again. Had a lifetime transpired? Or two? An eternity, or perhaps only a moment later, a response had come.


"You are afraid."


"......Who's there?"


"There is no more fear. There are no more 'who' and no more 'there'. There is only nothing. This is not death, Tyrin, Fireblood, Phoenix, King, Mate, Son, Brother and Father. This is nothing. This is what becomes of those who pass from your world. I will offer you a choice now... Stay here, in the space between spaces, or move on."


"I don't... I don't understand... What happens if I move on? What happens if I stay?"


"If you stay, this will forever be your fate. There will be many who come and go from this place, but you will never follow. You will not have to choose between returning or leaving, but instead remain somewhere between. You will not see your kin who have moved on without you, and they will never see you.... If you move on, you have seen one of many possible places you be sent to spend eternity. The place you call Ethyrium is not one place but many, each infinitely different in it's own right. The one you seek may not be the one you will go to, but when you are there you are free."


"Well that's.... that's hardly a choice, isn't it? Stay here and never choose, or choose and never come back....Can I ask you something?"


"You are. You can. You will."


".... Who are you? Who are you to demand I choose? Why can I not go back? I am not finished!"


"No one is ever finished, and I... I am death. I am life. I am the caretaker of souls. The final knot to tie. I am the end of existence. I am the beginning of all."


"I want to go back. I don't want to move on and I can't stay here. I don't know what you think you know about me, but I will never stop until the ones I care about are safe... I will fight you to the end of time, whatever you are, and I will not stop until I'm free. So now you choose. Set me free, or suffer my defiance for the rest of eternity..."


"You have a strong soul, Tyrin. And you are right to seek another path, not many have done so in the past, and not many will do so in the future... I cannot promise you that you will never return here, as one day all will. So understand this. If you return to your world, you will be making your choice. As I said before, the void keeps all who do not choose to move onwards. When you return here, you will never be given another choice. You will stay here, in the nothing, in the void of time, in the space between spaces, for the rest of eternity.... what say you now?"


".....Do it."


"You are sure? So suddenly, you are sure? This cannot be undone. You will return to your world... but the day you die, you will suffer the void until the end of time."


"... I know.... But if it means saving the others... If it means a second chance, and a way to end the suffering of others after me... then do it. Send me home."


"You have chosen. Fly well Tyrin, Fireblood, Phoenix, King, Mate, Son, Brother, and Father. I leave you with this, a token of faith. You have chosen your own path. Do not curse me when your consequences come for you. I am just, and fair, and your fate was decided by your own desires. I will not welcome you again, but you were a pleasure to converse with. I hope you accomplish what you seek to do."


"....Wait. There has to be more.... there has to be something else. You claim to know all that was and is... help me then. Tell me what I need to do. You say you are just and fair, yet I have agreed to be tortured with silence until the end of days. Unless you wish to see me live that through moments after I go back to my world, then give me a fighting chance!"


"...Very well."

---

(Sorry for deceiving you, but this "Kale" scene is more of a teaser. It will be a while before we get to see into Kale's head, but don't worry, he won't be a mystery forever.  )


The smells for charred leaves and singed grass reached Raiya's small nose as she was carried deeper into the forest. The wolf who held her was moving incredibly fast, but from fear or determination she could not tell. The pup shifted uncomfortably, not understanding why she had been held so long. She had never been carried this far from home for this long. She had no idea about the events from the camp, having been sheltered beneath K'Rule and later under the roots of a tree. She could not make sense of the sounds she had heard, but she knew it was something bad. After a long time of being carried, Raiya's eyes watered as she remembered how long it had been since she saw her parents. To the small pup, an entire day was like a lifetime, and this finally prompted her to speak up.

"M-moony?"

The white wolf did not reply as he ran, unable to form the words to comfort the small pup. Moonpelt turned sharply, turning away from the direction of the distant embers. 

"W-Where are we going?"

Again, the bigger wolf did not respond, much to Raiya's confusion. She let out a small growl of frustration, beginning to flail her legs. "I want mama and papa!! ....Are we going to them?"

When Moonpelt did not answer her questions, the pup flailed her legs even harder, tears starting to form. "I want NAJMAH! That's mama's name! I learned-ed that all by mySELF! And papa's name is- .... Uh, papa's name is.... Droolin! Now you, you just take me home right now mister or else! ....... Moony, pleeeeeeeeeaaaaase- "

Slowly, Moonpelt came to a stop, temporarily calming Raiya. The small pup was too busy complaining to realize what had stopped the bigger wolf in his tracks.

The white wolf had paused at the edge of the forest, staring out through a gap in the trees at the field beyond. Only a few deer leaps away shone a brilliant light, just like the one he had seen before in the burning forest. The white and yellow light tore through the open air for several feet, emitting a low hum that grew louder by the moment.

Moonpelt stared into the light, trying to understand what was happening while Raiya began to struggle once more. 

"What is that? .... Can we play with it?!" Raiya asked, staring into the lights. Before Moonpelt gave her an answer, the bigger wolf had already started forward. 

Moonpelt stepped out of the woods and into the clearing to get a better view. "I... I don't know Raiya... Let's just try and find out what they-- "

"Wolf! Stop! Step away from the Rift! ....I'm not going to hurt you, or the pup. I can take you somewhere safe... but I need something in return... my name is Kale, and I know exactly what those lights are."


The white wolf flinched, whirling to the right to lock eyes with whoever had spoken. Through Raiya's scruff he let out a warning growl, his peppered back fur bristling as he stared at who had spoken. A few feet away stood a small Peregrine Falcon, his cream and blue-ish feathers lay calmly as he stared over at the wolf.


Kale took a small step forward, "Hey, it's okay... I know a safe place. You're looking for Drellan, right? I saw where he went. I'll explain, but I need you to come with me. It's not safe out here, too exposed. They'll be coming down the mountain quite soon, and it would be unwise to rest in a clearing when there are flying hunters nearby-- it's how I spotted you."


Moonpelt looked on at Kale for a moment more, "H-how do you know Drellan?"


"I don't.... but I'm looking for the birds who do."


(#Mystery)