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rainbowfic2013-07-02 02:14 pm
auguris) wrote in rainbowfic2013-07-02 02:14 pm
Transparent 8, Dove Grey 21
Name: auguris
'verse: Ghost Sight
Story: The Stone
Colors: Transparent 8. Smoke/Fog, Dove Grey 21. Here is one of the worst things about having someone you love die: It happens again every single morning.
Supplies and Styles: Charcoal, Pastels (holy place)
Word Count: 1000
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Summary: Nieve is shown something extraordinary.
Nieve's boots crunched across the forest floor. Droplets of rain fell from her hood when she peered down to see if she had strode on anything noteworthy. Ahead of her Aldric coughed, not to get her attention but from the increasingly worrying cold the man couldn't seem to shake. She glanced at Kaija, her unease mirrored on the other woman's face.
"How much further, old man?"
Nieve scowled at the detective. Jarod Actotum, too tall and too broad and too much pudge for a crime-fighter. Doubly insulting that he worked with her niece and the Followers.
"We're here," Alrdic said, voice hushed.
Nieve felt no different, saw nothing extraordinary. Disappointment sunk deep in her gut, a lead weight attached to her heart -- until she stepped closer, over some threshold she had failed to sense. The air stilled, the last of the rainfall scattering to the ground. Shadows lengthened as the sun disappeared behind a thickening canopy of pines.
The working encompassed them, both subtle and massive, incorporating all six of her senses and yet somehow out of reach, always at the corner of her eyes, a whisper on her neck. The land called to her, the magic knew her, and the earth rippled as a disturbed lake.
Kaija caught her wrist, anchoring her to the reality beneath their feet. She said, eyes bright, "Don't be afraid."
Even as her legs trembled Nieve said, "I'm not afraid."
Kaija took Nieve into her arms, a sudden warmth chasing away the chill in Nieve's bones. "Of course you are," she whispered into Nieve's ear. "You are in Her presence. She is here, all around us: in the earth, the trees, the air. You tread upon Her and breath Her in. How can you not be afraid?"
Nieve wrapped her arms around Kaija, who hummed at the returned embrace. Nieve breathed her in, something earthy and coconut and if Donat knew what ran through her mind...
She chuckled. Donat would strike her down at "Follower of Morgause," long before she got to "I would like to bathe your daughter with my tongue."
Kaija released her embrace, keeping an arm around Nieve's waist. Actotum knelt nearby, his face hidden in Aldric's cloak. Aldric stroked his hair; Nieve could not tell if the detective shook with laughter or tears.
At the center of the clearing -- and they did stand in a clearing, how had she not noticed before -- lay an immense boulder, smooth as a marble and black as night.
"Is that," Actotum asked, voice heavy and wet.
"It can't be," Nieve said. "Not here, not so far south."
Aldric approached the stone, hands hovering above it. "It is, and is not." He did not touch it, a sort of fearful reverence in his wrinkled face. Aldric Dwemer, Master Necromancer, afraid.
"This is what they would destroy," Kaija murmured.
Actotum sighed, "Not all of them."
"Enough," Kaija snapped.
Nieve entwined her fingers with Kaija's and closed her eyes, steadying herself. "Aldric, I don't quite understand."
"This place is a representation," Aldric said, hushed. "This is not the Stone, yet it is. In the same way the dead are not alive, and yet they are."
Nieve shook her head. Alive was the wrong word; aware, perhaps. Thinking, in a way, but not alive.
Alive but not alive. The Stone but not the Stone. Here but not Here; Here but There.
She snapped her eyes open. "I've been here."
Aldric stared at her, something like anger in his eyes. "Nieve--"
"The night when we crossed over, Aldric, I was here. This is the forest. I was in the Deadlands but I was also here!" She fell to her knees, too sudden for Kaija to hold her up.
"Sister--"
"I know this smell, I know these trees, I know this place. I was here!" She toppled forward, barely catching herself before her face struck the dirt, breathing heavily but taking in no air. Kaija's insistent voice faded behind the sway of the forest, immense boughs creaking overhead, footsteps nearing.
Nieve, spilled from the forest and she would always know that voice, had wrapped it around her heart, longed for it in every moment, wanted nothing more than to hear it again and she rose, running, Kaija's hand slipping from hers.
The forest parted, the path clear and she pushed everything she had and everything had ever been and ran, had no choice but to run, to reach that voice, tell her, make sure she knew, above all else, what she meant
she stepped into the lake, the forest gone, the water waist-deep. Around her swirled gray mist so thick she could not see her outstretched hands. Fingers found hers, slipped up around her wrists and held on tighter than steel. They pulled her further; the water rose to her breast, her neck, her mouth. Her black hair drifted about her head as she submerged, joining blonde hair, and those blue eyes met her own and those pale pink lips found hers and the cold in her bones and the water seeping into her lungs didn't matter because she'd found her, she'd found
"Moira."
She stood alone in the forest, clothes soaked through, water in her throat. She spat it out, felt along her mouth, knowing those lips had touched hers, those hands had clasped her own.
"Nieve!"
She turned slowly, Aldric rushing to her, rasping her name. He hunched over a moment, catching his breath, and Nieve knew she should help him but couldn't make herself move. Aldric straightened, finally, standing close enough that she had to look up to meet his eyes. Again he said her name, tone harsh and tight. That Aldric angry with her, on top of everything else... she covered her eyes to hide the tears.
"What happened to me?"
Aldric's hand fell on her shaking shoulder, gently, as he told her he didn't know.
auguris'verse: Ghost Sight
Story: The Stone
Colors: Transparent 8. Smoke/Fog, Dove Grey 21. Here is one of the worst things about having someone you love die: It happens again every single morning.
Supplies and Styles: Charcoal, Pastels (holy place)
Word Count: 1000
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Summary: Nieve is shown something extraordinary.
Nieve's boots crunched across the forest floor. Droplets of rain fell from her hood when she peered down to see if she had strode on anything noteworthy. Ahead of her Aldric coughed, not to get her attention but from the increasingly worrying cold the man couldn't seem to shake. She glanced at Kaija, her unease mirrored on the other woman's face.
"How much further, old man?"
Nieve scowled at the detective. Jarod Actotum, too tall and too broad and too much pudge for a crime-fighter. Doubly insulting that he worked with her niece and the Followers.
"We're here," Alrdic said, voice hushed.
Nieve felt no different, saw nothing extraordinary. Disappointment sunk deep in her gut, a lead weight attached to her heart -- until she stepped closer, over some threshold she had failed to sense. The air stilled, the last of the rainfall scattering to the ground. Shadows lengthened as the sun disappeared behind a thickening canopy of pines.
The working encompassed them, both subtle and massive, incorporating all six of her senses and yet somehow out of reach, always at the corner of her eyes, a whisper on her neck. The land called to her, the magic knew her, and the earth rippled as a disturbed lake.
Kaija caught her wrist, anchoring her to the reality beneath their feet. She said, eyes bright, "Don't be afraid."
Even as her legs trembled Nieve said, "I'm not afraid."
Kaija took Nieve into her arms, a sudden warmth chasing away the chill in Nieve's bones. "Of course you are," she whispered into Nieve's ear. "You are in Her presence. She is here, all around us: in the earth, the trees, the air. You tread upon Her and breath Her in. How can you not be afraid?"
Nieve wrapped her arms around Kaija, who hummed at the returned embrace. Nieve breathed her in, something earthy and coconut and if Donat knew what ran through her mind...
She chuckled. Donat would strike her down at "Follower of Morgause," long before she got to "I would like to bathe your daughter with my tongue."
Kaija released her embrace, keeping an arm around Nieve's waist. Actotum knelt nearby, his face hidden in Aldric's cloak. Aldric stroked his hair; Nieve could not tell if the detective shook with laughter or tears.
At the center of the clearing -- and they did stand in a clearing, how had she not noticed before -- lay an immense boulder, smooth as a marble and black as night.
"Is that," Actotum asked, voice heavy and wet.
"It can't be," Nieve said. "Not here, not so far south."
Aldric approached the stone, hands hovering above it. "It is, and is not." He did not touch it, a sort of fearful reverence in his wrinkled face. Aldric Dwemer, Master Necromancer, afraid.
"This is what they would destroy," Kaija murmured.
Actotum sighed, "Not all of them."
"Enough," Kaija snapped.
Nieve entwined her fingers with Kaija's and closed her eyes, steadying herself. "Aldric, I don't quite understand."
"This place is a representation," Aldric said, hushed. "This is not the Stone, yet it is. In the same way the dead are not alive, and yet they are."
Nieve shook her head. Alive was the wrong word; aware, perhaps. Thinking, in a way, but not alive.
Alive but not alive. The Stone but not the Stone. Here but not Here; Here but There.
She snapped her eyes open. "I've been here."
Aldric stared at her, something like anger in his eyes. "Nieve--"
"The night when we crossed over, Aldric, I was here. This is the forest. I was in the Deadlands but I was also here!" She fell to her knees, too sudden for Kaija to hold her up.
"Sister--"
"I know this smell, I know these trees, I know this place. I was here!" She toppled forward, barely catching herself before her face struck the dirt, breathing heavily but taking in no air. Kaija's insistent voice faded behind the sway of the forest, immense boughs creaking overhead, footsteps nearing.
Nieve, spilled from the forest and she would always know that voice, had wrapped it around her heart, longed for it in every moment, wanted nothing more than to hear it again and she rose, running, Kaija's hand slipping from hers.
The forest parted, the path clear and she pushed everything she had and everything had ever been and ran, had no choice but to run, to reach that voice, tell her, make sure she knew, above all else, what she meant
she stepped into the lake, the forest gone, the water waist-deep. Around her swirled gray mist so thick she could not see her outstretched hands. Fingers found hers, slipped up around her wrists and held on tighter than steel. They pulled her further; the water rose to her breast, her neck, her mouth. Her black hair drifted about her head as she submerged, joining blonde hair, and those blue eyes met her own and those pale pink lips found hers and the cold in her bones and the water seeping into her lungs didn't matter because she'd found her, she'd found
"Moira."
She stood alone in the forest, clothes soaked through, water in her throat. She spat it out, felt along her mouth, knowing those lips had touched hers, those hands had clasped her own.
"Nieve!"
She turned slowly, Aldric rushing to her, rasping her name. He hunched over a moment, catching his breath, and Nieve knew she should help him but couldn't make herself move. Aldric straightened, finally, standing close enough that she had to look up to meet his eyes. Again he said her name, tone harsh and tight. That Aldric angry with her, on top of everything else... she covered her eyes to hide the tears.
"What happened to me?"
Aldric's hand fell on her shaking shoulder, gently, as he told her he didn't know.