Private Oak and Ash and Thorn

[Vidalu Na'an]

Adelle Bastiel | Sakri | Eliana Shan | Kalic Daws | Darlyn Excron | Taozi Fuyuan | Maximar Fugold | Song
​

She'd turned up towards the cave even before she'd spoken. Maybe it was the rush of blood in her veins, still thrilling from running with a pack, but even her voice seemed deeper, warmer, more resonant than the last time they'd met on this planet. It suited Doc, living here on this wild nexus of a planet, taking up the role of its guardian. She was waiting for them to bridge the gap, put the words to the thing thrumming through them and the planet alike--

​

And then one of them tried.

Not Daws, like Na'an had expected; she spun on her heels to face the redhead, the one that had followed so closely through the run. He'd spoken to her as if she were right in front of them, rather than a hundred feet up and hidden away in the cave temple. Already that far along, then, and him on his first visit! Not bad at all.

And yet, he still had questions.

"If you're asking if we're the ones who brought you here, that's not quite right." She didn't even bother restraining the grin on her lips and in her voice. "I don't think the Force is quite so...conscious as that. The only reason it seems like we know any more than you right now is that we've had more time to put words to what you're feeling. That, and an introduction." That was an understatement. Na'an rubbed at her face with a free hand, feeling a little bashful. It was only fair that they got the same primer she and Doc had gotten, but the idea that she'd have to be the one with the right words? How do you explain something as intimate as a heartbeat, as the blood in your veins? "You were called here....by the planet itself, I guess," she said slowly, "Like me, and like her."

She pointed upwards towards the cave with her thumb. "This place? It's been asleep for a long time, but there's something out here in the Unknown Regions. A threat of some kind. The Force isn't concerned with Light Side or Dark Side, really, not as long as either's in balance with the other. So, if that balance is at risk, then...

Well, then this place wakes up. Calls people to it, people like you, then wakes them up. Teaches them. Changes them. And in exchange..."

Na'an's voice died for a moment, fighting the words, and she found herself now rubbing at the back of her neck. Damn it, she'd hoped that someone else would have been able to explain, or at least understand. They'd had the dreams, hadn't they? Felt the pull of this place, the strange knowing? The connection that led them? It was times like this that she wished Leigh had come along for the ride, that SHE understood the Force in the bone-deep way this place seemed to instill. Leigh would know how to explain. "I'm sorry," she said with an awkward laugh. "It's much easier if you feel it for yourself. That's why I wanted to start with Daws."

And now they were back on familiar territory. She turned back to Daws, her hand leaving her neck to reach out to him again. "Take a deep breath. Focus. Feel it out. There's something inside you, in your head, that shouldn't be there. And I think deep down, you've known for a while."

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic was still overwhelmed by all this. It was just... insane to him. He tried to follow along with Na'an's words, but he would quickly be spooked by seeing something come towards him! He jumped back a litttle, letting out a gasp before hearing a voice in his head. Was that... two people? What was he looking at right now? He kept moving back a little. He... kept staring until Na'an snapped him out of it. He looked over, taking a breath. He wanted to ask just what the heck he was looking at, but it seemed like the one person that seemed to understand this place was ready to help him with whatever happened.

"I.... Ok.... Focus.... Just need to focus...." He would take a few deep breaths, trying his best to focus, but it was becoming more and more clear that his ability to just focus on one thing, let alone himself, was going to be a challenge. He'd keep trying to focus in, but then finally just sighed. "I'm... not the best at this."

Taozi Fuyuan Vidalu Na'an Adelle Bastiel Darlyn Excron

 

[Vidalu Na'an]

Adelle Bastiel | Sakri | Eliana Shan | Kalic Daws | Darlyn Excron | Taozi Fuyuan | Maximar Fugold | Song
​

He was nervous. Overwhelmed. Unsure if what she was insisting was even possible. Na'an felt a rush of anxiety as Daws fidgeted, his focus wavering even as he made the effort to direct it. His heart thudded in an uneasy syncopation, sending the mild spike of nerves through her own veins. "It's ok," she said, careful to keep her voice warm. Quiet. "It's...not always easy to adjust. Here."

It only took a step to close the gap between her and the others. Na'an reached out and closed her hand around Daws', pulling him away from the others until he too was at the very edge of the water. "Let's start with something simple," she murmured, aware that the whole group's eyes were on the two of them now. Her eye flicked towards the redhead, watching him watching her. This would be...a lesson, it seemed, for all of them. "Tell me what you feel. Not in your brain..."

She squeezed Daws' fingers lightly--thin fingers, twitching in her grasp like the legs of a spider--and tugged. Not hard, but just enough so that Daws was forced to take a step forward into the pool, where the water would quickly soak through his boots. "But here. Tell me what your skin is telling you."

​

 

[Taozi Fuyuan]

A voice. A woman, and something other, speaking as one. It was... unsettling, to Taozi, as she stood on the edge of the water, staring across the water toward the misty falls. Darlyn Excron spoke back to her, it, them... But words seemed caught in Taozi's throat as she could feel the energy of the planet begin to wrap itself around her.

Vidalu Na'an speaking with Darlyn and Kalic Daws was barely processing in her ears, as a shiver went down her spine.

It felt like a hug, almost. The gentle weight spread across her body, almost like a comforting weighted blanket. She rolled her shoulders, and could almost liken the feeling to her ba'buir, before she passed. Then, she felt it push against her. Not aggressively, no, more like it was trying to get her attention. Like it wanted to go through her rather than into her.

Flexing her fingers, Taozi looked towards the mouth of the waterfall. Again, a push. Something akin to the feeling of when she used her Healing flowed through her veins, and she didn't have the words to describe it.

Adelle Bastiel

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

One of them tried. Clumsily, with the finesse of a Gamorrean attempting ballet for the first time, but something hindered him. Out of all of them, this one had seen a glimpse of their combined presence. Perhaps a projection might help focus the prospects' attention. The calmer waters of the lake closer to them rippled unnaturally, the surface bubbling up for a moment before sliding over the head and shoulders of the projection. Their image could not be called human but was vaguely humanoid. The features shifted constantly, from animal to vegetable and back again. The only constant was a green aura tinged with blue. If any could use the Force to see beyond their natural sight, they were sure to see their image.

For a brief moment, barely lasting the blink of a human's eye, there were two forms instead of one. The shifting animal and vegetable creature stood still on the water's surface, radiating green. A human woman held Na'an's shoulders and rested her forehead against the smaller woman's, bathing her skin with blue light. Then there was just the one figure, standing patiently on the lake.

Darlyn continued to remain quiet, following Na'an as close as he cpild. At one point he seemed to be the one keeping the best pace with her, even as they all began moving more in synch. Ah, so that was the planet's deal. Strengthening life's ability to form bonds, wasn't it? That made sense.

He could understand the principle. Less obvious was the voice speaking to them. Both a woman's, and something else. Someone who was able to sink into the nexus somewhat, perhaps? But why did they ask such a pointless question? "That's not the question you mean to ask, is it? Because you know what. I wager you know how, maybe who. You probably can even guess why, whoever you happen to be. Because if you are the nexus, you're not so ignorant, and if you are not then doubly so are you aware of the circumstances."

"Rather, we don't know what, or how, or who, or why. Or we can't know the full truth. Should not we, then, ask what brings us here, when I would wager most of us can't answer beyond 'a feeling'?"

Life. Ahead, below. Under the water, he could feel the streams of the Force flowing out from him, to the other sensitives. This one in particular, however. It was like a magnet, nowhere as potent as his connection to Auburn but, opposites always drew one closer. He didn't step up to the water, but stared at the ground, roughly directly towards that strong flow.

<<We called. We know why. You answered.>> The image tilted its head, listening for a moment, before it continued. <<Many are called. You answered. We wish . . . to know.>>

They felt the implication of their words to be enough--that the intentions and integrity of the called mattered. Their corporeal counterpart disagreed that so short an answer would suffice. But they were in agreement that holding these users, these potential guardians' hands throughout this process would not do them any good. This small herd of humans and humanoids had to be willing to jump into the unknown in the Force, as they had in their physical forms.

A voice. A woman, and something other, speaking as one. It was... unsettling, to Taozi, as she stood on the edge of the water, staring across the water toward the misty falls. Darlyn Excron spoke back to her, it, them... But words seemed caught in Taozi's throat as she could feel the energy of the planet begin to wrap itself around her.

Vidalu Na'an speaking with Darlyn and Kalic Daws was barely processing in her ears, as a shiver went down her spine.

It felt like a hug, almost. The gentle weight spread across her body, almost like a comforting weighted blanket. She rolled her shoulders, and could almost liken the feeling to her ba'buir, before she passed. Then, she felt it push against her. Not aggressively, no, more like it was trying to get her attention. Like it wanted to go through her rather than into her.

Flexing her fingers, Taozi looked towards the mouth of the waterfall. Again, a push. Something akin to the feeling of when she used her Healing flowed through her veins, and she didn't have the words to describe it.

This one was . . . not resistant but not pliable. If they could not establish a connection, or rather, the connection they needed, this one would be hobbled. Their image turned their head towards the one that hid her face.

<<Let it flow like water,>> they said, letting their chosen counterpart lead the words. <<You are not a vessel to contain. You must be a river. A channel.>>



Vidalu Na'an | Taozi Fuyuan | Darlyn Excron | Kalic Daws | Song | Eliana Shan | Maximar Fugold

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic was a bit calm as VIdalu came up, taking his hand and quickly leading him to the water. The fact that it was hard to adjust was an understatement. Everything looked so strange to him. There was... something in the air here. He was almost sure he hadn't had to practice keeping his vision focused before he would've been blind right now with the how much Force seemed to be here. Then he was tugged into the water. He looked down. It was freezing, and now he'd have wet boots the rest of the day. He looked at Na'an for a second.

"This is why you said no shoes isn't it?" He took a bit of a breath, hearing her question, and giving as puzzled of a look as a Miraluka could give. "Well... it feels wet and cold...."

Vidalu Na'an Taozi Fuyuan Darlyn Excron Adelle Bastiel

 

[Vidalu Na'an]

Adelle Bastiel | Sakri | Eliana Shan | Kalic Daws | Darlyn Excron | Taozi Fuyuan | Maximar Fugold | Song

​

Na'an snorted with sudden amusement. She had, in fact, told them all they'd be happier without shoes. "It feels colder because the air's so warm. That, and you're overheated."

Still holding on to Daw's hand, she followed his step, inhaling sharply as a tiny wave washed over her toes. "This pool's not much more than a wide area in the river dug out by the falls," she said, keeping her voice soothingly low. "The turbulence keeps it fresh. You can hear where the falls are, right?"

Daws didn't say a word, but gave the tiniest twitch of his head--a simple angling of one ear towards the thundering water. He was responding to her on instinct. That was good. Na'an let her eye slide closed as she stood next to him. If the Miraluka did not have sight, then for the moment, neither would she.

"It's harder with boots," she continued, "but barefoot you can feel the current as it passes. It's smoother than you'd think--like cold silk sliding over the tops of your feet. If you focus on it, you can tell what direction it's flowing in, where the pool exits back into the river."

She squeezed Daws' hand again, feeling his heartbeat in his fingertips slow. In a few seconds, she thought, her own pulse would match up with his again, the way it had in fits and starts when they'd run together. And with hers. "Tell me where the water’s going."

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic honestly began to feel... a bit odd. He didn't know how to explain it, or if it was a good thing or not. It didn't feel like a vision... or like his vision was about to be blinded by Force energy, it felt more like.... He didn't know. He simply tired to just... feel for a moment. To try and feel where the water was flowing in his water filled boots. It was all new to the Miraluka, and he wasn't too sure what he'd have to do after this, but he did his best to focus again.

He could almost start to tell he and Vidalu were syncing, but he still didn't know how to describe it. And then when she asked where the current was going something sounded... different. He wasn't sure why, yet at least, but he figured it would be best to just answer. He felt carefully, still feeling her hand holding his, and decided to point with the held hands when he noticed the Force User's eyes closed.

"That way."

Vidalu Na'an Taozi Fuyuan Darlyn Excron Adelle Bastiel

 

[Vidalu Na'an]

Adelle Bastiel | Sakri | Eliana Shan | Kalic Daws | Darlyn Excron | Taozi Fuyuan | Maximar Fugold | Song​

The smile that spread across her face was slow, but wonderfully satisfied. The river's exit was hard to spot, masked as it was by an overhanging veil of viney branches dipping into the water. But Daws had stretched out their hands towards it without so much as a moment of hesitation. "That's it," she said. "Simple as sight or sound or touch when you let it be, isn't it? I bet you can even feel what's in the water, too. The vines?"

His head twitched upwards to take in the full curtain, as much in surprise as in confirmation; she laughed in response. "The Force isn't just in the river, Daws," she chided. "It's in the trees feeding from the river too. The flow of life is the same everywhere, connected everywhere." As Na'an spoke, she pulled Daw's hand back close to them, releasing her grip and flipping his palm to expose the inside of his wrist. She pressed two fingers to the delicate skin there, against the faint purple line of a vein.

"It's here, too," she said, sounding almost wistful. "Flowing...just like the river."

And for a moment, only a moment. as she focused on the vein, Na'an lost herself in Kalic Daws. The blood just under the skin was warmer than the river water, but the movement was similar to the touch. Smooth and liminal as it passed through the vein, diffused through the fingertips where it fed the into the muscle of his palm, only to strengthen again as it converged into another channel to flow up his arm. It was just another river, like she’d said; another cycle of fluid bearing the energy of life itself. A perfect system, connecting heart and mind and lungs to each other, liquid and undisturbed and wonderfully, wonderfully warm---

Except for one place. A spot deprived of warmth, starving for it. A shard of ice, buried deep.

"Follow the flow again, Daws. Find where it can't go."

 

[Taozi Fuyuan]

Taozi looked up when she felt eyes on her, and stared at the new entity standing above the water of the lake. Be a river? Let go? Words such as those sounded... Foreign to Taozi's ears. All her life, she had been taught to be in control of her emotions. To be the most composed person in the room, and control the conversation. Letting go of that control over herself just did not compute in her brain. It was like a resident asking her if IV's needed fluids.

The answer seemed so obvious, and yet...

Again, a gentle push. The weight upon her shoulders growing ever so slightly heavier. A pull.

With a shaky breath, Taozi looked down at the palms of her hands. Let go? How could she ever think about letting go? Last time she lost control... Flashes of Tanaab rushed through Taozi's mind, and she clutched her hands to her chest. No. Letting go meant she could become a danger. She took an oath, and to uphold that oath she had to hold onto the control she had with a beskar fist.

"You... Do not understand how much I can not let go."

Adelle Bastiel Darlyn Excron Kalic Daws Vidalu Na'an

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic took a breath as he calmed himself, feeling the water and vines. He could feel Vidalu bring their hands back before she pressed against his wrist, and explained that the Force flowed though him like a river too. At least that what he figured she was saying. He then looked around, trying to concentrate and focus on the Force around him again. He thought he could sort of see it. At least until he seemed to notices something... wrong.... In him.... Kalic was spooked by this, and would've opened his eyes if he had them.

"W... what was that?"

Vidalu Na'an Taozi Fuyuan Darlyn Excron Adelle Bastiel

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Darlyn sighed at this all going on around him. Taozi was being more stubborn than a rock, and had taken up the brunt of his attention. He had planned on a sarcastic retort to the entity that decided to speak, but instead there was something else more pressing. He released his hold on himself in the Force, the small measure to restrain his presence, and immediately he became submurged in the flow of the Force.

Of course around him it was more, tumultuous, like the rapids around stones rather than a calm stream or pond. But without himself holding back, he could trace the link right back to Taozi, and spun to face her. He reached out mentally and physically, bringing his hand to the side of her head as his mind collided with hers.

Inside her head, and hers alone, he made his voice very clear. "Vod you better start learning, because nothing is stopping you here except you being more stubborn than my brother-in-law. Now you can put your faith in me that this will be alright or I can break your barriers down myself, but I'd prefer the former."

Taozi Fuyuan || Vidalu Na'an || Kalic Daws

 

[Taozi Fuyuan]

Taozi flinched when she felt Darlyn Excron take hold of her head, and looked at him in shock behind the mask. The feeling of his mind colliding into hers was... Unpleasant, but she knew he could do so much worse if he wanted to. Biting her lip at his mental communication, she nodded slightly, and took in a shaky breath. She knew what Darlyn could do, and that he could protect the others from anything she could accidentally do.

So, one by one, her walls fell. If the others couldn't feel her emotional pain before, they'd soon be able to as for the first time in her life, Taozi let go.

Though Taozi was, and desperately tried to be, of the Light, she had forever been scarred by her violent awaking on Tanaab. A sliver of Darkness was buried deep within her, and it scared her. She knew what the Darkness was capable of. She'd seen Darlyn on Concord Dawn, conjuring that awful storm... And it terrified her to think that if she fell...

<"Happy now, vod?">

Kalic Daws || Vidalu Na'an || Adelle Bastiel

 

[Vidalu Na'an]

Adelle Bastiel | Sakri | Eliana Shan | Kalic Daws | Darlyn Excron | Taozi Fuyuan | Maximar Fugold | Song

<<Very.>>

The word that flowed between them, through them, around them. Not a voice, but a warmth like a voice, like sun on the skin, like the thrum of a pulse in their veins. Warm, and pleased, and beyond that unafraid. It knew of storms. It knew of fear and pain and failure, the rage of men and the terror of prey. It knew. It knew.

And it had been waiting.

These two were needed.
​

***

Daws's arm jerked reflexively, almost pulling away from Na'an as he felt his way deeper into his own mind. She had to fight to keep him with her, keep him from giving in to the sudden jolt of fear that came with the cold.

"No, nonono, it's okay!" she said, struggling to keep her own voice low and soothing. The Miraluka's hand in hers was trembling slightly; the pulse under her fingertips had spiked, thrumming like a scared animal's. "It's you. It's just you. It's a part of you that's been hurt, badly, and sealed away, but it's still you. Here, I'll show you."

She hovered at the edges of it, sharply aware that her own pulse had spiked to match Daws'. The part of him that had been damaged was dark--so dark, and sharp, and cold as ice. Where the cold touched her, it felt familiar--like the months on Kalidan she'd spent hiding. She'd been so afraid on that dark icy planet, desperate to help but knowing she was unable, that her help was unwanted, that she'd been abandoned yet again in a place that hated her--

No. Dammit, no. This, here and now, was about them. Unpacking that particular foolishness, it wasn't useful now. But the familiar cold, the Kalidan cold, now that was useful. Na'an let that familiarity linger, inching into her awareness until she could see inside a little. The old Emperor and the new Empress, they felt very much the same, didn't they? They did the same horrid things, in different ways and for different reasons, but the cold--the cold always lingered.

And the cold...the cold remembered Padesh. It remembered the table and the needle, icy fingers and icy Force--pain--pain and cold and terror and pain and pain and pain--

"Do you know how your body will react if I cut you off from the Force?"​

When she opened her eyes, Na'an found herself half bent over their clasped hands, struggling for breath.
"It--oh. Oh." Her voice was thin and shaking. She'd known it was going to be bad. She'd known that from the start, from the day she'd seen Daws again and felt that first chill. But to be so open to it? To go so deep, to see what the Empress had done? To feel it firsthand, courtesy of the Force? She couldn't have prepared enough in a hundred years. "For days and days, she--oh, gods, she didn't even know what she was doing the first time. She just forced her way into you--and then--"

The space behind her left eye burned-- the familiar burn of her long-lost tear duct, that matched the throbbing in her chest. She rubbed at other eye furiously with her free hand, and her fingers came away wet.

"I'm sorry," she found herself saying--nearly sobbing. "I'm so, so sorry. You didn't even get a chance to cry, and here I am--and nobody---"

​

Her knees felt watery--like she was going to topple over into the water entirely--

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic held only Vidalu's hand as he was spooked. It did make him feel a bit more comfortable. But then she showed him, going into the moment that seemed to be locked away. He could seem to feel... something from her, but she seemed more focused on helping him. Then it came flooding back as she went in..... He saw her bend over their hands, and quickly put his free hand on her shoulder for a moment before the full extent of the pain hit him. He... he had just... forgot this.... All this that happened? He looked down, trying to keep himself calm, but finding it a bit impossible. Everything that happened.... His grip tightened a little. It was just so much. The Emprise had tried to take his sight..... His vision.... She was the one who made him have these painful visions.

As Kalic grappled with what he had just felt and remembered, along with his heart rate spiking with Na'an's, he would look over, hearing the stronger Force user's reaction to what they just found. He looked at her as one eye teared up. He could tell it seemed to hit her hard, and he just looked to her, taking a breath.

"It's not your fault it happened.... It's not.... I tried to sneak aboard an Imperial ship when I was captured. This... this is all on me...."

Vidalu Na'an Taozi Fuyuan Darlyn Excron Adelle Bastiel Eliana Shan Maximar Fugold Song

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"A bit rude to answer a question not posed to you."

He was aware there wasn't a person to speak to, really... but the words made him feel better having been spoken aloud. Still, he could feel Taozi opening up, the sliver of darkness that she hid away in her heart. Yes he knew it was there, he had for a long time. Her walk had always been bearinf its weight after all.

More than that, he knew he couldn't help her with it. Perhaps no one here could, because she wouldn't be convinced to face what caused it to begin with. But that was alright, making her open would be enough. Had to be enough.

He turned to look at the other two, feeling the ripples that their activities presented. Even amid the rapids he could feel when Na'an made her dive into Kalic, the splash was more than noticable. And look, she unsteadied herself.

He patted Taozi's shoulder, or at least tried to, before moving over to Na'an. He managed to get right behind her before anyone could fall, and reached out to grab her in a gentle hug to keep her upright. After the cold dive, he let his presence burn. A roaring fire, that's what he was by all Anam standards. A wildfire. But he would try to let her feel only gentle warmth as she tried to find her feet.

"You should be more cautious. Diving in without hesitation can get you hurt, and you'll help no one if you hurt yourself in the process. Focus on standing upright again, then we can handle the next issue." His voice wasn't just physical, but echoing across the fledgling bonds with everyone in the room. He would only release Na'an once she seemed confident enough to stand again, lest she get hurt dropping.

Why had he gone to take care of her so quickly? Perhaps she reminded him of his daughter. So full of empathy...

Kalic Daws :|: Taozi Fuyuan :|: Vidalu Na'an

 

[Maximar Fugold]

"It feels colder because the air's so warm. That, and you're overheated."

With everything that they are talking about. The sun beating down on them in the hot jungle and everything else Max came back having been exploring the area in a shadowy form much like a child would being at a fair by themselves. Switching back to his "normal-looking" form and asked. "if you don't mind me asking Whats overheated mean? and how did you get a cool looking eye?"

there was a lot about being alive that Max wasn't aware of since most of his life so far involved being used for a contract killer by the black Suns due to his abilitys. there was so much he wanted to know and with the world around him making him come out of his shell despite how strange it felt he enjoyed it.

 

[Vidalu Na'an]

Adelle Bastiel | Sakri | Eliana Shan | Kalic Daws | Darlyn Excron | Taozi Fuyuan | Maximar Fugold | Song​

"You should be more cautious. Diving in without hesitation can get you hurt, and you'll help no one if you hurt yourself in the process. Focus on standing upright again, then we can handle the next issue." His voice wasn't just physical, but echoing across the fledgling bonds with everyone in the room. He would only release Na'an once she seemed confident enough to stand again, lest she get hurt dropping.

"I'm....I'm alright. Really." Despite her words, Na'an let herself lean back against the solid wall of the redhead's chest, sucking in as deep a breath as she could manage. The jungle air suddenly felt warm again--much warmer than her skin breaking out in gooseflesh from the cold. "Just dizzy," she said, and forced her eye open to meet his concern with what small, shaky smile she could manage. Behind him, she could see Rabbit, too, halfway into the water with a look of alarm on her face. "Daws here, he's been in a lot of pain. I can handle a little dizziness."

The redhead's arm had wrapped securely around her chest, holding her up. Na'an put a some weight into her legs, finding she could stand, and pushed it down a little, but not so far that it couldn't support her in an emergency. Daws was still reaching out with the hand she had dropped, looking stricken by the memory she'd dragged out of the mud and into the surface of his mind. She reached out and took his hand back into hers.

"I'm sorry," she said again. "I'm so, so sorry. I can't take the visions away--you were always going to get them eventually. But the pain doesn't have to last. Rabbit's a healer, Red here's got the stability, and I....well, between the three of us and Doc, we can do a lot to speed things along.

There's one other thing, though."

Na'an inhaled deep again, holding the humid jungle air in her lungs as long as she could before letting it out. "Only that first day was the Empress doing the damage that hurts you," she said slowly. Once again, she was having to put to words something she'd learned without words. "The rest, the stuff with the needles, it was...brainwashing, I guess you'd call it. Makes it easier for her to find you in normal places, and even easier to... get you to do what she'd want you to do. Like an imprint of her will on your mind. It's possible to do something about it, I think, but I....it's delicate. Even here, in this place, forcing the issue would be no better than what she did. It may even cause just as much damage.

I need you to give permission to help you."

 

[Adelle Bastiel]

Taozi flinched when she felt Darlyn Excron take hold of her head, and looked at him in shock behind the mask. The feeling of his mind colliding into hers was... Unpleasant, but she knew he could do so much worse if he wanted to. Biting her lip at his mental communication, she nodded slightly, and took in a shaky breath. She knew what Darlyn could do, and that he could protect the others from anything she could accidentally do.

So, one by one, her walls fell. If the others couldn't feel her emotional pain before, they'd soon be able to as for the first time in her life, Taozi let go.

Though Taozi was, and desperately tried to be, of the Light, she had forever been scarred by her violent awaking on Tanaab. A sliver of Darkness was buried deep within her, and it scared her. She knew what the Darkness was capable of. She'd seen Darlyn on Concord Dawn, conjuring that awful storm... And it terrified her to think that if she fell...

<"Happy now, vod?">

Kalic Daws || Vidalu Na'an || Adelle Bastiel

"A bit rude to answer a question not posed to you."

He was aware there wasn't a person to speak to, really... but the words made him feel better having been spoken aloud. Still, he could feel Taozi opening up, the sliver of darkness that she hid away in her heart. Yes he knew it was there, he had for a long time. Her walk had always been bearing its weight after all.

More than that, he knew he couldn't help her with it. Perhaps no one here could, because she wouldn't be convinced to face what caused it to begin with. But that was alright, making her open would be enough. Had to be enough.

The voice stayed silent but the waters lapped at their clothes, their bodies, things hidden and things unseen. Currents pulled and pushed them towards each other, the others, and others still. Not currents in the water--so close to the shallows, the lake was placid, a pittin to play with.

"Connected, you are more than yourself," the voices said. The projection's head turned to consider Kalic and Na'an. "All are parts of one body."

He turned to look at the other two, feeling the ripples that their activities presented. Even amid the rapids he could feel when Na'an made her dive into Kalic, the splash was more than noticeable. And look, she unsteadied herself.

He patted Taozi's shoulder, or at least tried to, before moving over to Na'an. He managed to get right behind her before anyone could fall, and reached out to grab her in a gentle hug to keep her upright. After the cold dive, he let his presence burn. A roaring fire, that's what he was by all Anam standards. A wildfire. But he would try to let her feel only gentle warmth as she tried to find her feet.

"You should be more cautious. Diving in without hesitation can get you hurt, and you'll help no one if you hurt yourself in the process. Focus on standing upright again, then we can handle the next issue." His voice wasn't just physical, but echoing across the fledgling bonds with everyone in the room. He would only release Na'an once she seemed confident enough to stand again, lest she get hurt dropping.

Why had he gone to take care of her so quickly? Perhaps she reminded him of his daughter. So full of empathy...

Kalic Daws :|: Taozi Fuyuan :|: Vidalu Na'an

Adelle Bastiel | Sakri | Eliana Shan | Kalic Daws | Darlyn Excron | Taozi Fuyuan | Maximar Fugold | Song​

"I'm....I'm alright. Really." Despite her words, Na'an let herself lean back against the solid wall of the redhead's chest, sucking in as deep a breath as she could manage. The jungle air suddenly felt warm again--much warmer than her skin breaking out in gooseflesh from the cold. "Just dizzy," she said, and forced her eye open to meet his concern with what small, shaky smile she could manage. Behind him, she could see Rabbit, too, halfway into the water with a look of alarm on her face. "Daws here, he's been in a lot of pain. I can handle a little dizziness."

The redhead's arm had wrapped securely around her chest, holding her up. Na'an put a some weight into her legs, finding she could stand, and pushed it down a little, but not so far that it couldn't support her in an emergency. Daws was still reaching out with the hand she had dropped, looking stricken by the memory she'd dragged out of the mud and into the surface of his mind. She reached out and took his hand back into hers.

"I'm sorry," she said again. "I'm so, so sorry. I can't take the visions away--you were always going to get them eventually. But the pain doesn't have to last. Rabbit's a healer, Red here's got the stability, and I....well, between the three of us and Doc, we can do a lot to speed things along.

There's one other thing, though."

Na'an inhaled deep again, holding the humid jungle air in her lungs as long as she could before letting it out. "Only that first day was the Empress doing the damage that hurts you," she said slowly. Once again, she was having to put to words something she'd learned without words. "The rest, the stuff with the needles, it was...brainwashing, I guess you'd call it. Makes it easier for her to find you in normal places, and even easier to... get you to do what she'd want you to do. Like an imprint of her will on your mind. It's possible to do something about it, I think, but I....it's delicate. Even here, in this place, forcing the issue would be no better than what she did. It may even cause just as much damage.

I need you to give permission to help you."

Something like empathy, a knowing of that pain, washed over the projection. The blue woman seemed a little stronger for a moment before blending back together with the Entity. It beckoned to Maximar then looked back at Taozi, holding her gaze steadily, weighing, measuring. "One body. A part of you is ill."

Taozi Fuyuan | Vidalu Na'an | Darlyn Excron | Kalic Daws | Maximar Fugold | Song | Eliana Shan

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic listened as reality started to hit him. He'd never stop having the visions. This scared him a bit, especially considering the pain they always seemed to cause. It didn't help that the weird being was being... less then helpful. There was at least one hope it seemed. Maybe they could.... Wait...

"Br.... Brainwashed? You're telling me she had... she had them mess with my mind...?" He looked down, taking a breath as he thought. Na'an said it would be delicate.... Right now he basically had Ingrid stuck in his head....

"Do it....."

Taozi Fuyuan Vidalu Na'an Adelle Bastiel Darlyn Excron Maximar Fugold