It was early yet. }{ open

[Summerchika]

Once one is truly in tune with that which is, one can influence and manipulate reality howsoever one wills. That was an interesting sentence, one that seemed to shape her time with her grandmother.

The change in Deraj made Ainutsa feel as if she was back in one of her grandmother's lessons. She grew serious as she listened to him. Watching as he seemingly battled inwardly, Ainutsa realized that he was yet another soul to whom magic had... complicated his life. She made sure to catalog his words, feeling as if he had seen or learned those things from experience.

When the flower caught fire, Ainusta became slightly alarmed before realizing that it was unharmed. Still, the image disturbed her. It made her feel as if the ghosts of her memory were fighting to get free of their chains. Closing her eyes quickly, she turned her head away.

Still listening, she looked at him instead of the flower and as his fist clenched, she became relieved. Looking at the flower, she put out a hand to caress it, comforting it as if it was as scared as she had been for a minute.

It was hard not to smile as Deraj became amicable once again, but she still felt the burden of his words.

"No, she was not an Elf." she answered, shaking her head. "But she taught and raised me for six years. I never did learn if she was a mage, but she had to have been; she manipulated reality similarly to you. She was quite wise and old." She saved me. she added in her mind.

"I will be honest with you; I do not know how it works for my people either, though I think it is by feel and a communion with what we manipulate. We ask and the world responds. I have heard it almost comes naturally." As she spoke, she stroked the vine and it grew; its tendrils spread upwards and grew more beautiful flowers. The flowers then shed their petals, showering them down on the gazebo's inhabitants, and grew more petals to keep.

As the petals fell, Ainutsa grinned and held out her arms. She continued to speak. "My memories before my grandmother -- the mage -- raised me are shrouded in darkness. If I was raised by Elves before, I do not consciously remember. My grandmother and the forest have been my mentors."

"Are there teachers of magic?" she asked. If there were, she had not seen them yet. Perhaps she would make an effort to find them if they existed.

[deraj]

Seeing her caress the flower, he almost felt regret for setting it alight. He saw that it had disturbed her, though perhaps it was for the best.

He listened as she spoke of her grandmother and her past, wondering who this mysterious woman might have been. There was more to this elf girl than a bubbly personality and curiosity to match.

When she caused the flowers to fall down around them and then regrow he couldn’t help but to laugh.

"Are there teachers of magic?"

“At the rate that things seem to be progressing you might not need one.” He was amazed. It seemed so natural to her. He wondered if she had even intended to do such a thing. “If there are teachers that would take pupils, I wouldn’t know of any to refer you to, I’m afraid. I have mostly taught myself over the ages…” Then his face lit up, “though I might know a good place you might start if you are looking to learn.”

[Summerchika]

Glad he seemed to like the falling petals, she smiled and silently thanked the flowers for their gift. Picking up a handful of the petals, she examined them, wondering if she could fashion them into something to remember the occasion and their sweet aroma.

Despite Deraj's confidence in her progressing abilities, she knew she needed some answers. Her necklace would get in the way of strong uses of magic; this she had learned from experience. It was something that made her nervous, even scared, when teaching herself magic. If she could not defend herself or others out in the world, realistically how far would she be able to get?

At Deraj's words, Ainutsa looked up at him quickly. "Oh?" she asked, eyes alight with hopefulness. The look on Deraj's face made her hope burn brighter.

[deraj]

He felt apprehension in telling her of that terrible place but she might possibly be his only option left.

“Yes. Actually, when you found me in that bar I was waiting to see if I might recruit some people to help me on my next expedition. I’ve recently come across an old journal that spoke of a place in the mountains where a certain dread wizard lord had spent his last days as a kind of hermit but of course this all happen. By now, the terrible hermit has long since passed from his mortal coil but his hermitage should still be intact. I’m looking for a few things in particular but if you were looking for a crash course in magic this might be a good opportunity. You would actually be doing me a favor if you would join me.”

[Summerchika]

Deraj's answer left Ainutsa speechless. The petals she held in her hand slipped from her fingers. Her mind whirled as it thought of the possibilities and known risks. She thought she saw a bit of apprehension in his face, but she could be sure. She wondered if this was what he had seemed to be pressured for when they first left the tavern.

Excitement filled her at the thought of learning more. He was offering to her a course in magic; Ainutsa knew she learned best hands on. This was a great opportunity. And if she would not be a burden; if she could actually be a help, the prospect of going seemed to be even better.

The mountains; that was where Reixou said the ruins of the Night Elf city rested; it was where the necklace he had given her originated, where she was supposed to have grown up. Among the many other things, this stood out to her.

There was one major complication: she had never traveled that far away from the forest in all her days, at least to her understanding. The forest was her source of energy. Without it, there would be many changes to which she would need to adapt. She did not know what type of changes, but she knew there would be some.

However, her worries and complications did not change the outcome. She had known that she had to accept. It felt right with her. However, there were still many questions that needed addressing.

Finally, Ainutsa found her voice. "If I would not be a burden and if I could be of some help, I would love to accompany you." she said in a careful voice. The excitement came back, making a small smile appear on her lips.

"What is your plan?" Embarking on this large of a mission seemed to need a solid plan, she could only imagine. "Will you acquire the help of others as well?" she asked.

[deraj]

He panicked when he saw her drop the petals but then he saw her jubilant face. There was no fear or apprehension at all so far as he could tell or at least there was not enough to stop her from joining him.

He was filled with a tainted sense of relief when she verbally accepted the invitation. I hope you know what you are doing, Deraj.

“For reasons I cannot yet explain, we need to leave as soon as possible. At first I had considered bringing a small team with me on this venture but I doubt we have enough time left to find anyone else or at least anyone else that we could trust.”

Suddenly Deraj saw the glimmer of hope that there might be another out there to take the place of this innocent creature should a sacrifice truly be necessary for the ritual. “However, if you would happen to know of any who were trustworthy and up for the task, we could use the help. We can make it with just the two of us but another person might make things considerably easier…”

“Other than manpower, all other arrangements have already been made I’ve hired a stagecoach that will drive us out of the village at dawn to the foothills of The Ularian Ridge, should you still decide to come with me. Once there we must travel on foot. I considered hiring some pack animals for the return trip but the risk is simply too great...“

“Another thing I have probably forgotten to mention. The wizard was a lord after all and left a considerable amount of treasure behind. I’ve no need to raid his coffers and had actually planned on using it as an incentive for others to come with me. You are more than welcome to it, though I suspect, Ainutsa, that you are not one to lust after mere material wealth.”

“But I get ahead of myself. Are you absolutely sure you want to come with me? As I have already said, you are more than welcome and would be of great help but do you think you can handle the journey? How well can you defend yourself should some of his minions have decided to outlive their master? I do not mean to insult but I am merely concerned for your well being. The trees are thinner at the altitudes at which we will be traveling, and though I do not know much about elves, I haven’t seen or heard of any up in the mountains for a very long time.”

Deraj was sincere in his wish for her safety. He knew deep down that if the time came and a sacrifice was necessary, he would give up his only chance for immortality and finally embrace the grave that should have been his long ago. This was all becoming like a horrible dream and there was no waking up now. The ball had begun to roll and it was out of his power to stop it.

“You are welcome to join me and you would be of great help. I cannot do this alone but know that you are under no obligation. If you come, come freely and of your own will.”

[Summerchika]

Ainutsa had been correct in assuming that there needed to be a solid plan in place; Deraj seemed to have that plan. She listened with an open mouth as he spoke and explained and asked questions. The entire thing was a lot to process. Trying to follow, she categorized in her mind the things she needed to address and the things she needed to mull over. She hoped she could remember it all.

At the end of his speaking, she held out her hand to count off the things she needed to address with him. Putting herself in the mindset to plan, she realized that this was really going to happen. "Alright," she began, taking a deep breath. "Let me make sure I understand correctly."

Putting one of her fingers down, she addressed the first topic. "First, there may be another available person, but we may have to meet him on the way. He has other things he must do, I am sure. I will send Ciar, my hawk ally, to ask him."

Bending her thumb into her palm, she moved on. "Second, thank you for telling me, but even if I had access to treasure, I would have no idea how to utilize it."

Then, on to the questions, she found that much of her concerns that she wanted to bring up would in fact be in the answers to his questions. Holding her mother's necklace, with the hand that she was not counting on, she began to answer the questions.

"I need to further my knowledge in the art of magic. I gather that we will have time to explain on the way, but it is of the utmost importance to my future." She thought to tell him about her necklace at this moment, but felt that it would be too complicated to explain now. Continuing, she answered his first question. "If this adventure of which you speak is the key, I am absolutely sure that I want to come with you."

Putting down her fourth finger, she continued. "I am well trained to defend myself and others. I may not look it, but I am quite capable. My grandmother was quite thorough in my defense training out of necessity and I have been improving since living on my own. Even if my magic fails me, I have my own strength on which I can rely."

"However..." she put down her last finger and addressed the topic about which she was most concerned.

Looking at Deraj, she made sure he understood what she was going to say next. "I have never left the forest for this distance or time before. This forest, not the trees alone, has been my source of energy for the past nine years. I do not know what effect leaving the forest long term will have, but I do not believe that it will put your life or mine in danger. Elves do not only reside in the forest, I am told. Apparently, I am partly descended from the Night Elves, who in fact lived in the mountains for a time. So, I do not believe I will be all that weakened. Still, if you are unwilling to take that risk, I understand."

Taking a mental step back, she could not help but feel awed. They were to leave at dawn? He had this very well planned out. It was all happening so quickly. "If you will still have me, I have a question. I take it the minions are not the only risks involved. For what else should I prepare?"

[deraj]

He listened as she listed off those things that concerned her and waited until she finished. About halfway through she pulled out a curious necklace with her free hand. At first Deraj thought he felt some energy coming from it but merely dismissed the notion. She is probably just playing with it to release some nervous energy of her own.


He was curious about this other person that she suggested but then became wary when she did not go into any description of him. The fact that she also seemed to have animal companions piqued his interest. Not only will these things make it nigh impossible to use her for my original purposes but now my entire plan may be at the mercy of the character judgment of this trusting young elf.

He no longer doubted the fact that she could hold her own if necessary. For some unexplainable reason, he trusted her in this respect. He was wishing more and more that he could have met this mysterious woman who helped to raise Ainutsa.

Deraj could see that the thought of traveling that far from the forest truly concerned her. Despite of this fear of not knowing what would happen, she was still willing to go with him. He realized at this moment that in his heart of hearts, he no longer expected to find the key to escaping death. He would try his best to pass his wisdom on to this girl. That would be enough for him.

Then the dreaded question came.

"If you will still have me, I have a question. I take it the minions are not the only risks involved. For what else should I prepare?"

He let out little sigh and struggled within himself on how to answer this delicate question. “I will not lie to you. This will be a dangerous trip. There are fates far worse than death. I’m far older than I appear. I’m not the spry young lad I once was. This journey could very well be my last among the living. If I should fall, you will need to go on without me.”

[Summerchika]

Having covered the first topics of the trip, Ainutsa felt settled and anxious. Her attention was split between what she would need to prepare to leave behind and what Deraj was thinking. If they were to embark on this dangerous trip, she would have to learn how to read him better. For some reason, she felt that it would be very important, especially if they were to battle side by side.

Feeling something change in Deraj as she spoke, she became uncertain that she would really be a help. However, he did not seem to change his mind in accepting her to travel with him, so she pushed that concern away; it would only serve for harm if she doubted herself.

At Deraj's words, Ainutsa felt the true weight of what this trip would mean. It was much more than an adventure or a simple trip up a mountain. This was life or death for Deraj. She had just met this man, and yet she very much did not want to see him dead. She accepted death as something inevitable for many creatures, but she still held a strong distaste for it.

"But there is a chance that this journey will not be your last among the living?" she asked, but the tone of her voice seemed to make it more of a statement. "I do not like death." she said bluntly. "If you expect to fall, then I will do all I can to keep you from falling." she vowed.

She wondered if it was entirely rational to vow this to someone she had just met, but she would not take it back. She meant what she said. She disliked losing to death in anyway.

Then what he said just before caught up with her. So he was much older than he seemed. The news of his age surprised her, but she did not doubt the truth of it. "I will make up for your lost youth, if that is what you are worried about." she said, smiling a little, trying to lighten the mood a little.

[deraj]

The ancient mage was actually put at ease by her vow to protect him. He knew that there was no possible way that at the end of this trip he would still be alive. In the best of outcomes, he would gradually grow weak, his body would die, and his soul would be trapped elsewhere to carry on.

“Thank you for your help. I truly appreciate it,” His eyes grew distant now. It was as if he were looking at something beyond her, looking at what she might become, at the good she might do. He looked on all this with an inexpressible approval.

His thoughts then drifted back to his own situation and what bleak future loomed before him. “But death comes to us all, my dear. This is inevitable and the gods know I have already had more than my fair share of life.” He turned and looked out at the children playing in the field. His countenance lit up at their love of life. His hope was renewed. He was not yet ready to resign himself to the grave. He turned back to Ainutsa with a fire in his eyes and a grin on his face.

“Though I am curious. What would you say if I told you there was a way to carry on after life had left the body, if there existed a way to survive death itself? If there were such a means out there, would you do it?”

[Summerchika]

Following his eyes, Ainutsa saw the children playing in the field not too far away. She glanced back at him and saw his countenance change from dark to light as he watched the children laughing and rejoicing.

Glad to see the hope Deraj now carried in his eyes, Ainutsa returned his grin with a smile of her own. His words made her think. He seemed positive enough about the prospect, but question seemed odd to her somehow.

Being an Elf, she did not die by natural means. In that respect, she did not fear death. But she had seen death and knew that she very much disliked it. If she was to die unnaturally, she would go down fighting. She would always fight death, whether it be for herself or for others.

At the same time, she had a reverence for the natural order of things, whether she liked it or not. Her grandmother's lesson on the subject was burned into her mind forever.

"How do you mean? Survive death itself?" she asked, curiously. She had to admit it was a taunting prospect. "It would depend on the what the means entailed. Cheating death is different than fighting against it." she explained. Again, her grandmother's lesson taught her this. "To what are you referring?" she asked again, her curiosity growing.

[deraj]

Deraj was relieved that she kept asking questions. It's good to be in the company of someone that will actually hear out my argument instead of trying to burn me at the stake or run me out of town. I did not realize it at first but as an elf, Ainutsa probably has her own views on the subject. Her perspective will definitely be different being as she has no reason to fear death.

“I’m not suggesting that one cheat death or even fight it. That battle, at least for my kind, is lost the day we are born. This mortal coil simply wears out. We age and our bodies loose the power to repair themselves. The most we can hope is to slow down death but medicine and the accepted schools of magic can only do so much.”

“What I suggest is much more passive. The body longs for death’s cold embrace. I say let it have it. However, I see no reason why the soul needs to dissipate as the body does. I say, give the soul a new dwelling place, a vessel that won’t rot away. Give it something that is built to last.”

He spoke offhandedly, as if this was a mere a hypothetical concept instead of a dying man’s desperate attempt at putting off his eternal judgment indefinitely.

[Summerchika]

Raising an eye brow in thought as he spoke, Ainutsa's idea of mortality was brought into a different perspective. Here was one who seemingly ran from death, or rather one who sought a way to very literally live after death. Who was she to say it was wrong? In fact, it seemed very reasonable to Ainutsa.

"A vessel that is built to last?" she asked, quite intrigued. Her thoughts raced to find such a vessel, but did not even know where to begin. She thought of the already occupied bodies of the Elves or the undead people, but he could not mean those surely.

"What is this vessel of which you speak?" she asked, not having been able to think of one.

Her thoughts continued to race, however and another thought escaped from her lips. "From the way you explain it, it seems as if it has not been done before? Can it be done?" She should have waited until he had answered the first question, but she was quite curious. Besides, she felt that this was very important information to learn.

[deraj]

“You bring up a good point. In all likelihood, I’m not the first to go down this road though if others have before and succeeded, they were regarded as devils and abominations. Even the oldest of texts only hint at obscure legends of individuals who had continued on after their times were up. If there were legitimate records of such discoveries, they wouldn’t have lasted long. Those would have gone the way of those brave men and women who penned them.”

“To answer your first question, when I mean vessel, I don’t mean another living body. Personally I don’t see stealing or sharing another living body as a good investment. Why would a person run out of a house that is falling down around them into yet another one that in a few moments will be in the same shape?”

“Perhaps an anchor would have been a better word. When the body dies, the soul leaves it. Having no physical thing to associate with, no material substance in this material world, it goes to wherever souls go to. If, however, the soul could have something to hold on to, something to bind it to this plane…Amulets and weapons can be enchanted and imbued with magical attributes. Why then couldn’t such an object have a soul associated with it?”

“Though one might wonder, ‘What good would this do someone, to be bound to Valear, trapped in an amulet, with no form by which to interact with the world?’ This is where the will comes in and why I do not think that many have been successful with this. I think that if a person’s will were indeed strong enough, one could use another form as one would use a puppet. The form that one would be most likely to use would be their former body being as they would already be familiar with it. Theoretically, one could use any form but one that was already in use would have the obvious issues to deal with and it would take a lot of energy to learn how to use forms unlike one's own.”

Deraj had never been good at teaching others and all of this explanation felt strange and tedious to him but he wanted to help all the same. “You’ve obviously dabbled in a little magic already.” He gestured at the petals strewn about the floor of the gazebo. ”If you don’t mind me asking, what else can you do? It might be beneficial to know one another’s limits if we are to travel together. “

[Summerchika]

Ainutsa listened to his explanation silently, nodding when she understood and tilting her head to the side when something he said made her think. He in fact answered all of her questions she had about the process. His explanation thorough, she saw no large holes in it.

She did wonder, however, if the soul had to leave the body in the first place, how was the will of the soul able to continue to keep the body in tact? She thought that it was a valid question, but one to which Deraj probably had a good answer, so she left it alone.

Then Deraj brought up a good question, one Ainutsa had an obligation to answer truthfully. Not like she would have an easy time being untruthful; that was not how she was raised.

"Right. Let's see... you have seen how I manipulate Earth. I ask; the Earth responds." she said, thinking she did not need a visual for this, as the petals and vines were a good indication already.

"I can manipulate the Air as well... to move objects for me." she said, asking a gentle wind to blow through the gazebo, picking up the flowers petals and carrying them around the two. Despite the wind around them, Ainutsa and Deraj were untouched by it.

Letting the flower petals down gently, she continued. "In town I used these powers to stop a fight between a and a human; they were fighting needlessly and they were both kind, really. So, I stopped the dagger with Air, then thrust it into the Earth, and the Earth kept it for me until the danger had passed." she explained, thinking that perhaps a practical example would help more than flying flower petals.

Remembering Reixou's amazement when she had belatedly told him that she could change her form, she decided that she should come clean with that one now. "I can changed my appearance." She shook her head, and her hair turned black, her eye brows turning the color to match. "My grandmother had only touched on this before she died, so can only change my hair length and color, eye color, and skin color."

Returning to her original appearance, she added a recent power to her list. "Recently I have learned how to manipulate the moonlight, but I have just learned it and am not so good at it. I can ask it for its light if need be."

Now it was time to explain her necklace. "I manipulate and experiment with these powers, to know my limits, but I can only go so far. I try to improve them or learn other powers, but..." Putting a hand beneath her mother's necklace, she showed Deraj the source of the problem. "This inhibits my powers. It moderates them, I suppose. I can do nothing large or uncontrolled, or else this necklace heats up and then enacts a power of its own." she said this in a heavy tone. "Bad things happen when my necklace interferes, so I avoid that whenever possible." This she knew from experience.

Heart heavy, she sighed and looked up at Deraj to see if he understood or had any questions. "Does that answer your question?" she asked. "If so, I am most curious to know what you can do." she admitted, smiling sheepishly. "If you do not mind me asking." she added, feeling quite rude after Deraj's impeccable politeness.