Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

Timestamp: Vhalar 10, 720 following Under a Violet Moon

The man opened his eyes and looked around him. To his left, he saw a long road winding along next to a stony coast line. There were many tall-masted ships in the harbor, backlit by the moons, green and crimson and white, behind them. There were many peoples of all walks of life, men, women, human and beastman and everything in between, all walking in pairs toward the man. The pairings were just as varied as the people within them, and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to them other than they came in twos. That and they were all finely dressed, but in vast array of styles from many walks of life and culture.

The man cast his eyes to his right now. There, he saw a forest, standing tall and foreboding pine trees, their bases shrouded in fog, lit by a blue moon over them. There was a road there, and people were walking out of there, alone, one by one. They didn't seem to notice one another, and all were dressed in various rags and threadbare garments. As they crossed the edge of the town, they seemed to wake out of their stupors and notice their surroundings.

The man cast his eyes downward, seeing that he too was wearing rags. He must've come from the forest too. He looked back toward the town, seeing that couples only seemed to be moving in his direction, when he saw them heading off behind him. Turning, he saw a massive building, giant doors thrown open, as music, light, and laughter poured out. There were no guards, no weapons, no fences or security. There were simply an endless number of people dancing in an impossibly large building.

The man walked over toward the nearest couple, "Excuse me." The couple stopped, one being a black furred felinesque woman in a corset and a hoop skirt and her partner being a human woman in a tuxedo. They both smiled at the man, "Yes?"

"Where can I find some better clothes?"

The two laughed, "They will find you."

Confused, "Well, how do I get into there?"

The feline woman stepped forward, touching his hand gently, giving it a squeeze, "When you find your dancing partner, it will make sense."

The man smiled at them, "Thank you." The women nodded at him and they started walking toward the dancing hall. He held his hand up, the vague semblance of a memory there. Someone had squeezed his hand before. And he felt comfort and safety emanating from his hand. Small gold and silver pulses washed out in a sphere around him, gentle tides. And those from the forest that walked through them began to feel that comfort and safety too.

And a name escaped his lips, "Elisabeth."

He didn't know who that was, but he did know that Elisabeth was to be his dancing partner. And that was when he realized that he didn't know who he himself was. And in that realization, fear and loneliness set in, and the waves of gold and silver shifted to reds and blues, and as they touched the forest people, panic and depression began to spread among them. The man's eyes grew wide, and he began to walk swiftly away from them, seeing them return to normal as he distanced himself. He walked past some of the couples, but the waves just bounced harmlessly off of their exquisite outfits, and they continued to walk on, not seeming to notice anything had affected them at all.

The man wanted to dance. He wanted to find his dancing partner. But he didn't want to bother anyone, including whoever this Elisabeth was. And so, he began to walk further into the town, away from the forest peoples, but also away from the dancing hall. Maybe he could dance by himself, in the darkness.

The man was striding purposefully toward town when a touch on his arm stopped him. The moment it alighted there, the crimson and cerulean waves were shattered, scattering into a million glittering stars before winking out of existence. As the man turned to face the owner of the hand, he was wrapped in a soft glowing of silvers and golds. As his eyes found hers, he was adorned in a slimming suit, the color of moonlight and sunlight interlaced in an intimate dance. It was a simple cut, without a flashy tie or additional adornments.

And he heard her say her name.

The fears and sadness gone, he smiled softly at her, "Elisabeth."

"You found me."

There was a strong instinct taking over him, pulling him toward the dancing hall at his back. But he ignored it as he looked into her azure eyes. He knew that color well. Here she was, with him, at the place where this world wished them to be, where they were supposed to be, and yet there was still a sadness deep within her. And as he looked into her eyes, his own dark, loamy eyes faded into a soft, icy blue as well. He didn't feel her pain, he couldn't, for that was for her and her alone, but she needn't go it on her own.

He turned, not toward the dancing hall, but toward the town, offering up his arm for her to hold onto, "Might we walk? I would love to know more about you, Elisabeth, if you'll allow me." People that passed them, both dressed couples as well as the wretches from the forest stared at them openly. Something strange was happening, and those closest to them could feel it. "I don't think I want to dance this night. Not yet, at least." A small man, walking arm in arm with a tall woman, gasped, and began whispering to his partner in scandalous tones. His words carried a viridian hue to them and began to spread among those heading into the dance.

"What would you like to do first?"

And the moment he asked that, the chains tethering him to the ballroom, that threatened to yank him into it, were shattered completely and utterly. They had no visible structure to be seen, but the air was filled with the sound of the most delicate of glassware cracking, a sound both gentle and powerful, unnatural yet known. And as that one chain broke, so did something else. And the first tendril of fog crossed the threshold into the village, seeking new lands for the first time in its history.

As her tears fell, he turned toward her. He watched her with the soft, azure eyes he borrowed from her. And since he had her eyes he could see her better now. Her body, her face, her clothing, all of her, was covered in deep cracks. She was being broken apart. And seeing that cause cracks to begin forming in Ezner's borrowed blue eyes and started to spread across his face as well. She told him she was hurting, and now he could see the pain. But he still didn't know why she was hurting.

That was okay.

He wasn't here to know why she was in pain. He was here to be with her. Nothing more. He looked beyond her face, and could see the cracks of her body spreading into the world. She was about to break it all down, destroy everything, ruin everything. People around them were clearly feeling uncomfortable by something, but without her eyes, they couldn't see why. And she was doing this not out of desire, not out of necessity, or evil intention, but because the pain she bore was simply too much for her to handle alone. And so, the man reached out toward her face, his thumb gently brushing her cheek, catching the first of the tears there. He brought it back to his own face, pressing it against one of the cracks there. He repeated the process to the other side of her face, to the other side of his own.

And as the tears touched his face, the cracks began to close and began to shrink away.

So he stepped a half step closer to her, gently cradling her face in his hands, and he leaned forward. He pressed his forehead against hers, looking forward into her matching eyes. "Let them out. Let them all out, Elisabeth. I'm here with you and you with me, and for that, we are both safe." And then in a light whisper, "And I will never leave you behind. No matter what. I would wait a thousand arcs and more for you."

And as he was connected to her in this way, his suit began to take on new colors. They shifted from the silvers and golds of daylight and moonbeams into the swirling blues and greys of tears and cloudy skies. "Shed your tears, Elisabeth. You're not alone, and you never have to be again." And every tear that would be shed would further reduce the cracks, first in the world around them, then upon Ezner's face, before working to reduce those in Elisabeth herself. "I'm here with you. You found me. Hear my voice."

The man listened to the words she spoke, his eyes still focused on hers, despite not receiving such in return. It mattered not to the man. And in his focus, he didn't see her dress change colours. He felt her hands slip over his, and he squeezed them both once more, sending out reverberations of gold through the air around them. Now, he shifted his intense focus on the words she spoke. Each word she spoke was now accompanied by a sound that it seemed that only he could hear. Some words were the smashing of a porcelain plate, some the cracking of a stone, and a few the breaking of a bone. The pain within her was imbedded deeply, completely through her.

She asked him so many questions. She was seeking understanding, but of him? Or of herself? His hands let go of hers, moving up her forearms as he stepped a half step closer. His arms moved around her back. One pressed against the middle of the curve in her spine, pulling her body against his, and the other glided upward, gently cradling the back of her head as he pulled her into a close embrace. He hugged her firmly, their hearts beating against one another. And with each beat of his heart, syncing up with her own, Ezner spread his strength within her. Each beat was a mingling of golden sunlight, warm and unyielding.

His eyes, her eyes, closed as he whispered, "No one is strong enough to be alone."

He let go of the embrace, taking the half step back once more, but his hands finding her own. He smiled at her, "I trust you. That is a gift you gave me, when I knew nothing." He placed his hand over his heart, and when he pulled his hand away, a small, golden sun was there floating in his palm. "I did not have this before you." He turned his hand and pressed it against her chest, pushing his heart into hers, so that she could feel exactly what he felt while he was with her. "This is why I will always wait for you."

The glowing orb sent out waves of wonder and curiosity being sated, of the comfort of being under a blanket when it is cold, of the taste of eggs cooked in a hearth, of the feeling of eyes on them both. And then there was a voice. Her own voice, uttering words that he had heard. Words that had ignited the sun within his chest, within her chest. And now, he was speaking them to her.

"Just some time with you, that’s all I ask"