"Take up this crystal, and attest to both worlds that you walk as a reaper. Bind yourself to the void, and claim the strength that the weak of heart shun." Drusilla said to Kisunya, offering her a crystal with the emblem of a Reaper engraved upon it.
Kisunya clasped the crystal in her hand and everything went dark, much more than the mere snuffing of a few lights. Instead she was floating amongst utter darkness, a place not wholly unfamiliar to her: The Void.
"What do we have here?" Asked a voice from behind her. Kisunya wanted to turn to face it but the Hrothgar found herself unable to move, lacking any substance to move against. The sensation of sharp, metallic talons effortlessly slicing through her form brought her firmly into the now and made the fur on her neck stand on end.
"This light, it's like a beacon. How fortunate that I was the first to find it. But this light isn't yours is it? No, this is from Hydaelyn." She couldn't answer the Voidsent, even if she could bring herself to make some sort of noise she felt like all she would do is scream.
"But what's this? Anger, disdain, chosen by the light but desperate to reject it." Kisunya could somehow feel the Voidsent grin. "Let me make you an offer. I cannot remove her mark, but I can share my darkness with you. Enshroud you. Stave off the light so that you may know the embrace of darkness instead."
She agreed and the darkness parted from around her. Instead it found a new crevice somewhere within her to dwell. As she glanced between the crystal and Drusilla that ordeal had taken. Drusilla herself continued on unfazed, leaving Kisunya in silent confusion.
HELLO! I was given a set of prompts by the wonderful @chrono-vi! (Follow her if you haven’t please! She’s doing her own set I gave her for this month!)
I’m excited to share this because I haven’t written anything like this in awhile. Hope you all enjoy!
Note: Valei belongs to @shard628!
The trees shook with the sound of a gun ringing. Birds fleeing as it echoed throughout the forest of the Black Shroud. Underneath the boughs of the great trees a woman was standing in front of a wooden dummy. She was dressed in black and gold, a long flowing trench-coat. It was thick, and capable of keeping her warm in the coldest of winters. Her hands were covered in thin, but sturdy leather gloves. Her boots were worn down from the constant training, and her pants were stained with the dirt kicked up.
In her hands was a glittering gold and black gunblade, aether powder staining its golden surface as it was currently stuck in the ground. Her last strike having missed the dummy entirely. She panted with heavy breath as she pulled the weapon back up, and tried to focus.. She had trouble seeing the dummy as she focused. Though her dull lifeless eyes weren’t capable of sight any longer; she was able to see one way. The pearl-like gem embedded into her forehead glowed as she tried to focus. A very faint outline of the area around her slowly coming to her mind.
The Garlean third eye.. Capable of seeing spirits, and of sight if trained hard enough. She tried to hone her third eye, and grunted in annoyance as she struggled. Her mind was elsewhere, remembering the day she had lost her eyes. A flame spell shattering her old gunblade in half, and both the flames and shrapnel flying into her eyes. The pain was nearly unbearable at that moment. As she recalled the memory, she swung again.. The gunblade missed the dummy, and flew overhead. Niandra loses her footing from the momentum, and slamming into the ground on her shoulder.
Niandra gasped in pain as she was shocked throughout her body from the impact. As she tried to stand she heard someone stand up and step towards her. She raised her arm to stop them, and looked over.. A small weak smile formed on her lips. There was one thing that her new vision had given her.. It had gifted her the ability to peer into people's souls.
And the golden, brilliantly shining soul of her beloved stood in front of her.
“You’re going to end up hurting yourself if you keep this up..” Valei said, arms crossed. Her voice made her worry clear. “Seriously, you’ve been at this for days now.. You’ve improved, but if you work yourself to exhaustion you’ll do more harm than good!”
Niandra stood up tall and emptied the chamber of her gunblade. The used cartridges fell to the grass; and she silently reloaded her weapon. Valei crossed her arms and pouted. Niandra smiled as she heard a silent huff, and gently placed a hand on Valei’s head as she snapped the weapon shut.
“Dear, I’ll be fine. I’m able to see much more clearly now.. I don’t even walk into walls anymore!” Niandra chuckled, and smiled.. Though Valei wasn’t convinced as she stepped between Niandra and the training dummy. “...Seriously, I’m fine. I’m not going to let what happened hold me back.”
“You SHOULD slow down! You’ve done nothing but train this sight of yours nonstop since your eyes healed!” Valei protested, and sighed.. Her frustration was evident enough, and Niandra lowered her gunblade down a bit. Valei gently placed her hand on it. “You’re going to end up hurting yourself.. I mean for Heavens’ sake you just fell!”
“Valei.. If I slow down, I won’t be able to do much. I need to get better, so I can get back to how I was-'' At that, Valei just gently placed her hand on Niandra’s.
“Dearest.. You’re fine the way you are, and I think it’s commendable that you’re trying to better yourself,” she looked up at Niandra and locked eyes with the blindfold over her eyes “..but you’re going to hurt yourself if you keep trying to ‘return to normal’. You were hurt.. And you need to understand you can’t fix that immediately.”
Niandra stood there, not sure how to really respond.. Yet Valei started to speak again. “You’ve been out here trying to compensate.. But it’s not even been a week since you were told your eyes were healed.” Valei’s hand started to tremble a bit, and Niandra froze as she felt it. “I.. don’t want you to get even more hurt.. I just want you to slow down..”
“...But what if I can’t get better fast enough? If I slow down you could also get hurt.. I need to-” She paused, her hands slowly clenching together. The arm holding her gunblade trembling violently. “I.. I need to find a way to get better..”
..Valei gently wrapped her hands around Niandra’s cheeks, and pulled the taller woman down. She placed a gentle kiss on her third eye, the pearl giving a soft shimmer as Valei placed her forehead against Niandra’s own. “You have.. Just take a moment to relax..” she whispered.
Niandra let out a sigh, and stabbed her gunblade into the ground. She stepped back, and fell to the ground. Valei let out a sigh of relief as she sat down next to her, both of them leaning back against a fallen tree. She nestled her head on Niandra’s shoulder, and Niandra in the meantime just tried to calmly focus on her surroundings.
She might not be training via a dummy.. But working on her new abilities just to see the world around her? She supposed that would work too. She would need it, to better see the world she had sworn herself to protect. A broken world, a shattered world. Yet one she, and several people, cherished with all their heart.
“And perhaps more then that..” She whispered to herself, as she wrapped her arm around Valei. Both of them sitting underneath the boughs of the great trees, and taking in the scenery. In their own little ways.
One gazing upon the lush life.. And the other gazing at the dozens of tiny souls running about.
