xinoehp512

Pheonix felt his heart begin to crack. He could stop it, he knew. He should stop it. And yet, he didn't. He couldn't let go of his feelings. Not yet.

The sounds of joyous reunions reached Pheonix's ears, but he heard nothing. I thought... I thought I had a chance. But he had been wrong. His master had been right. He shouldn't have tried to involve himself in the Narrative. He shouldn't have made himself a character. It had led to disaster in Queen of Shadows, and it had led to disaster here.

Narrator Pheonix's heart began to sink slowly as he watched the pair. He lowered his head and stared at the floor.

Narrator Pheonix felt his heart freeze.

Narrator Pheonix cocked his head at the newcomer. "And your name would be?"

In the Cognitive Realm, Sha-thoexis swirled. Tendrils of silver mist, already strained from reaching all the way through the protected city, struggled against the powerful barrier the house presented. But slowly, surely, they were making way. One brushed against the mind of one of the Radiants. The sound of whispers intermingling could be heard, faintly- then faded as the tendril drifted away.

Pheonix released Star, blushing slightly. "It sounds like he's looking for a peaceful resolution, which is good." He grinned. "Maybe he's finally seen the wisdom of submitting to you."

A quick reread of the thread has made me interested in an Alvron lynch. I'll post reasoning later.

Draug went up to his room. It had been a tiring day, even with Stormlight to sustain him, and he was ready to sleep. So Draug slept, and while he slept, he dreamed…He was standing on the shore of what appeared – at first glance – to be a beach, with a long, sandy coastline and waves lapping at the shore. The sky above was a clear blue, with the sun shining brightly down. But this was no idyllic beach scene, a fact made immediately obvious by the color of the water - a deep, pitch black. Draug looked around with a sinking feeling. He'd thought that by coming here to Seattle, where, he'd heard, Sha-thoexis was weak, he could avoid the constant battles every night. But it looked like that was not to be. As he mused, the tide began coming in and the waves swept further and further up the shore.He could see small black creatures scuttling along the sand each time a wave withdrew, digging themselves into the pale sand to hide from predators that didn't exist here. This was his life. When he was asleep, the real world seemed like a dream to him, and he felt the same about the dream world when he was awake. He'd been fighting Sha-thoexis for so long, living in the simulated environments she instigated, that he'd started to feel like he was two people. The sky began to darken as clouds rolled in. Draug shivered as the temperature dropped a few degrees and imagined a cloak to cover him. Below, the waves pushed harder and harder towards his position. He could step back, he knew, but it wouldn't forestall what was to come. He'd seen all of this before, and he'd see it all again. His dream-battlegrounds were always one of a set; he hadn't seen a new one form in years. They were patterns, specific to him; analogies for how he unconsciously interpreted the attacks. His subconscious had developed them from the formless dreams they had been when they had first arrived. He knew what would happen. So when the few plants that could live on a sandy shore began to wither and die, he did nothing. When a powerful wave surged forwards far harder than should have been possible and began to race up the bank, he just stood there braced to meet the onslaught. And when the black water reached his ankles, he was ready to face it. A whisper began to echo in his head. It was indistinct, composed of what sounded like a dozen different voices all saying different things, all mixing together into one. The voices overlapped and shifted, a chorus of shifting voices gradually getting louder and louder. Draug gritted his teeth, raised his sword, and swung, pushing against the force in his head. He could feel himself crashing against Sha-thoexis, desperately fighting back her advances- but he was woefully underpowered. .And then, abruptly the voices started to fade. Draug stumbled and fell in mid-swing, surprised. The wave slowed its advance, then began sliding back out to sea. The clouds rolled away, the temperature rose, and plants began to revive- all within seconds. Within no time at all, the scene had gone back to the way it had been at the beginning. Draug stood up slowly, confused. What had that been? Sha-thoexis never withdrew from a fight. Why would she? She was always stronger than he was. Or was she? Maybe Seattle's protection bubble was helping him out after all. As he mused on this, a crazy notion began to come to him. If Sha-thoexis was weaker, here and now, could he- perhaps- win? Could he make her let him into her mind? He took a step forwards, towards the water, paused to consider, then continued. When he had gotten to the highest point of the last wave, he stopped, breathed in and out, and raised his sword. Then he charged straight into the water. As soon as he touched it, he heard the whispers. But this time, instead of defending against their attacks, he went on the offensive, pushing at them with some mental force. The voices wavered for a moment, then broke. He tripped as they gave way, crashing onto ground that had - all of a sudden- become solid. The setting around him shifted and changed, sky darkening. Slowly, he stood up, surveying the new landscape. The sky above was a solid black. The only light came from glowing globes of clear gold that hovered nearby. A thin mist made of flashing silver particles lay over everything he could see. But it wasn't thin everywhere-Tendrils of thick silver smoke were forcing their way forwards, brushing against the golden globes. He shivered. Somehow, without knowing, he knew that the golden globes were the minds of people, and that the mist represented Sha-thoexis. From the looks of it, these people had never faced Sha-thoexis before, not in her strength- how would they react now? Would any fall? He reached out and touched his hand to a nearby globe- then yanked it back quickly, as though burned. That was a powerful nightmare, he thought with worry. Would their defenses be enough to handle it? He moved over to some of the other globes- some were awake, but those who weren't had nightmares. None of them was in as much danger as the first, though- a relief, for sure. But that didn't stop him from worrying. And then his eyes fell on a globe that was almost entirely clear. All of sudden, he remembered Jamie. And with that came the memory of his tutor telling him about why exactly one never found people of magic systems wandering about the Western US. With horror, he realized that one of the dark tendrils had almost reached the globe. He flung himself towards the globe, not even thinking about it, just trying to get there before the tendril. His hand touched the globe. And then the scene changed.

Pheonix embraced her back, holding her tightly. "We believe in you, Star," he whispered into her ear. "I believe in you."

"In the words of a wise man: 'Accept the pain, but don't accept that you deserved it.' You've made mistakes. But we all have made mistakes! At least you're still a Narrator."

@I think I am here.

@Dr. Dapper

Argh, QF's go by too fast. I'll try to get something up tomorrow, but nothing today. Sorry.

Narrator Pheonix shook his head. "You've dwelt on that for long enough, Star." There was pain in his voice. "Can't you move on? Let go?"

Pheonix got down on one knee and looked her directly in the eyes.

Narrator Pheonix shook his head. Don't believe that, he said loyally. If you have problems, fix them. I know you can.