Repeating the past

[Ghost]

The Apocalypse has come and gone, Memories of the past are so faded now that no one even recalls the 'end of days'. Their was simply nothing before the forming of 'The Legions of the Cross'. A religious organization that helped the forming clans to create towns, and guilds to teach people skills and sell wears and survive as more then wondering vagabonds.

Some people still seek knowledge of the lost years. Some people have heard rumors of the great towers stretching towards the sky or the machines of destruction that brought victory in war torn times to those willing to use them. Others simply seek more simple things, understanding of the current world and ways to help a growing country survive another year. The struggles of growing sustainable food, of trying to tame wild beast, to protect the people from the dangers abound in the land weather animal, plant or man. But these are all still only speculation and rumor real knowledge was lost centuries before, back when The opening of the Veil in the End Days brought with it creatures that had once only been dreams but now they are so common people don't even realize that they were once no more then tales told to children. Yet the balance of the world is ever shifting.

Today's wears are all hand made, crafted with the skills of a true artisan, or a apprenticing pupil. Horse and cart are common and most fields are being turned by manual labor among family members, so that the horses or Oxen don't wear thin or their meat toughen from the labor. Guilds of all kinds exist in every small town and city, these being more profitable, more sensible even then simple school of general knowledge, to teach people their trades to the willing apprentice, Everything from farming and basket weaving to thievery and Wizardry may be learned in these places, but proceed with caution in your trade, for once you pass your apprenticeship test, no other guild will have you, none but your own class. The world is measured by your worth, and your worth by your skills. Its a very harsh world indeed.

Be mindful of the rolling landscapes, they shift like water even when standing still and often if your don't know the currents many a traveler will find themselves lost in the wilderness before finding the place they so eagerly sought. Guilds make themselves available in many ways and how these dark figures came by the knowledge of the land remains an eternal mystery for very few have approached them on the matter, their kind can often be found lingering around the thieves guild and many wonder how the two paths are intertwined.

Welcome to the Boarder Lands, We have fallen far from grace, but weather their is light at the end of the tunnel or eternal flame has yet to be seen, proceed dear friends with caution, You have been warned.

[DalenaShallot]

Takara stood in her saddle stretching her back, while her left hand held the reins loosely as she reached behind her, with her right hand and massaged her lower spine. She looked around her a moment, then glanced sideways at her companion as she sat once again in the saddle thinking. she might never be able to ever walk again, even as she shook one foot loose from a stirrup shaking it then rubbing it, to only turn around and do it to the other. It was to keep them from cramping as she been trained so long ago to do when spending such long hours in the saddle. The dirt packed trail ahead her was long and winding, and she watched for any small changes as she learned could happen when one decided to let their mind travel in direction then where they were going. She shook her head at the silence wondering just how long they have to travel this time and yet hoping again she find something as inspiring as Legion so long ago. She shifted a bit closer to her friend pulling out a leather skin of water offering it to him in mutual silence, even as she took in her surrounding refusing to be ever caught unaware. To the passer by one would only see just another set of travelers with a pack animals as if heading to trade their dress nothing to draw attention. colors of the earth nothing outlandish or out of place even the animals appeared of low breeding but good stalk for plowing and the like. Just another pair of travelers.

[Ghost]

Legion's features were covered by a faded grey robe, his long hair falling out of the hood. One gloved hand clasping the reigns of his beast as he walked. The fingers of the worn gloves were hinged with black luster shimmering plates. Faded black leather ridding pants creaked dully with each step, fallowed by the empty scuff of heavily worn boots. The occasional clink of metal the only indication that anything usual remain hidden under the robe. The eyes with in the hood shifting between scarlet, smoke grey flecked with silver and black. Where everyone else was oblivious to the shifting of the earth he felt it roll under his feet, could see the power sway with his eyes. He accepted the water skin drinking shallowly before he handed it back. The paths shifted before him and he lead his beast forward even as it whined to be pulled into the shifting mire of power it could only vaguely sense, but already the whirl was settling to create the path, which to normal eyes never changed.

"The new site...should be close, our/my lady." He offered, his voice a deep growl and then a even flat alto in the next moment, the reference to her as his lady both singular and plural without pause for he was both individual and multiple. He was struggling to hold pitch, it had been a very long trip. He withdrew a book from his robe for a moment glancing at its pages before offering the information to Takara, So she could verify the signs if she saw them. They were close...their should be signs soon. The verses were vague but not impossible to decipher...It took an effort to teach some one the ancient languages, but Takara had already known a few of them upon finding him.

[DalenaShallot]

Takara watched as he sipped then taking back the skin once offered, she followed him taking but a sip then resealing it without any thought. She placed it once again beside her clipping it to the saddle. She sighed in re-leaf hearing his words reaching out she took the book. Glancing down she refreshed her mind with what the pages held, following closely beside him as she raised hazel eyes watching for the first outcrop to appear. her expression appearing to all exhausted and weary, lashes hiding a growing excitement as she spotted the first outcrop as they turned slightly towards the setting sun. Anyone with a untrained eye would pass by and did so. So as they grew closer she could see it had remained untouched and slow smile appeared as she let out a breath she had not realized she been holding. She slowed to a almost stop when so close she could almost reach out and touch it."Is the first........so we can hope the rest are as ignored as this one you think? *she looked then to the darkening sky, watching as the sun sank further, her soreness completely forgotten. "Do you think we have time before the sun sets?"She glanced back towards him, her hood slipping half off her head, showing a ringlet of chestnut caressing a fair complexion, now kissed from hours of riding.

[Ghost]

His eyes sought the horizon and gauged its wight by his strength. "...An hour...maybe more if you don't mind the dim light of dusk." His tone was more even this time but the roll of the words was still actuated in strange place with the occasional subtle change in pitch. "Would you like to search here before we move to far? This place appears to shift as a whole...so We will not loose anything staying here a moment." He offered only this much as he could not say if all would be so well preserved as this one. The shift of the earth made it impossible to know if another had crossed the shifting paths they sought. Anything could bear clues and the fruits of finding them were never certain, still he would help her find them.

His beast pulled at its reigns as Legion stepped forward to offer Takara a hand dismounting her horse. The print of his boot shifting to leave a mark more like the talons of a dragon then that of a man but their was nothing but his boot there in its place. Perhaps they would get lucky and some of the coming ruins would provide a more peaceful shelter then the road itself.

[DalenaShallot]

She took the hand offered stepping out of the saddle as he wrapped his hands around her waist so she could land lightly upon her feet leaning a moment against her mount as gained her balance and full feeling came back into her legs. she groaned slightly."At times I think I never want to see the back of another horse after long rides like this." She moved away then turn away from the saddle smiling."But seeing this........always change my mind. Let's look then to be sure this is the only sign....My hope is for another clue." She headed towards the outcrop a little stiff stretching sore muscles pausing only when was at her destination gently moving plant life away with care not wanting to cause any real disturbance. Focusing even as the light moved her hands lightly tracing over the pattern following until she spotted two more signs. Her falling completely over her head once more as she bent further as her hands sent the next image into her mind with each swirl or cut edge of a distinct sign. she stood what seemed like hours as is a statue unmoving. Frozen from even as her hands moved her mind still absorbing anything and everything until satisfied . She stepped back turn to face him her eyes scanning over the pages of the she still held in her hand nodding in silence."when the sun......."she mumbled as she slowly translated as memory of the meaning came slowly in it's translation."mmm when the sun falls beneath......the sea..and the lady...weeps?....scream?"Soft growl was then herd as she walked towards him lost in the book and the translation trying to solve this newest puzzle." The forked tongue serpent shall appear.......to the left it will appear and to the right you should go... In rhyme this time? They actually did rhymes legion?..........and exactly what are you they hinting at? I mean besides the direction you taught me that much ....but the hidden meaning in this is what?"

[Ghost]

His ears listened to her translations, uncertain without looking at which words she struggled despite having the entire thing memorized from the pages out of habit. "Scream to wail and cry out loud. Weep to cry or shed tears." He spoke the definitions in the same tongue as what she read then repeated the definitions in translation. Legion contemplated the question, a million voices offering their opinion within the incomprehensible space of a moment and yet he understood them all. "Yes Rhymes...When you wish to hide something in plain view you use rhymes, metaphors are easily manipulated and the untrained would be lost. This is how the truth of history was hidden even when the winners of a war chose to alter the history in their favor."

Were they/Was he not a prime example of history hiding its faults in disguised truth?

"Truth...remains in the eyes...of the beholder. Their is/are to many interpretations of meaning. You must find your own answer. Remember...that many think knowledge a sinful gift. Many would destroy it....some to hold the upper hand over their enemy, others to...save themselves. Simplicity is innocence even now. If all feared the serpent's bite we should never understand the snake." It was not a riddle, or at least not intentionally. Knowledge by religion was granted to man by a snake. To avoid the snake was to avoid the knowledge. Alchemy saw the serpent as the symbol of the eternal cycle after all, but perhaps the hidden thing was to avoid careless action, accepting a gift that had them thrown from the safe paradise of Eden?...Caution was the word, what some ran to escape others sought to covet.

"A serpents road winds....it forks....we....go the way of knowledge over ignorance....this is the path to your quest....the answers....are yours to understand." He was a relic after all, and had she not released him from the prison he had been entombed in, then he might still be there resting, instead of helping revive the curiosity of man. A number of his parts disagreed with this course till it was pointed out that without her they would still be slumbering, to which it must be agreed upon that they owed her for their freedom. So he could not answer her directly nor could he ignore her. She was their's/his'....Keeper?....Friend?...some words did not translate. Some languages called it Love, some called it bonding, some a twisted turn of fate. He had no objection to any answer including calling her his jailer and yet she did not hold him against his will for he could easily have left her if he but chose to walk away. Important, for reasons unanswerable. Enigma. Yes....Enigma worked very well but she was not a puzzle. She did not care that he himself was.....Enigma was a perfect word for their relationship.

"We are/ I am....ready, lady...when you are." He had already with innumerable, uncountable and invisible eyes seen everything within range of their position. The ripple of his shifting energy felt for only a briefest moment as he had expanded and retracted his essence the moment before speaking. "The ruins....wait...ahead."

Beyond her field of vision the remains of a small piece of ancient city lay waiting, nearly undisturbed. A great library of laws, The visages of a civilization forgotten, a tale of a time when Magic was far less then common, when it and other fantasies were little more then petty fable or slight of hand

[DalenaShallot]

She looked up hearing his words a frown then a slightly tilted smile appearing showing a dimple. Her eyes sparkled at his words as her foot steps did not stop until standing directly in front of him. Standing on tip she suddenly leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek then turned back to her horse, as she slipped the book into her pocket. Reaching up she grabbed the saddle horn, then then placed her foot into the stirrup, to quickly pull herself up into the saddle, the stiffness appearing suddenly gone with thoughts of the ruins closer then she thought at last. She glanced at him once more her hood again covering her face completely, her head tilted as she watched him in silence, her thoughts on a new discovery and maybe, she hoped finding someone else...a friend? if one was possible from the age he had come from? If so how would she feel? jealousy? she wrinkled her nose at the thought shaking her head. No he was a friend.bonded maybe for this journey for his own answers...would he stay with her once he had all the answers? she hoped so, but decided even from the moment she had found him she would never stop him from going...would be unfair and she was no ones jailer and he was not a slave, nor would she have him, or any other man, or beast as one. ."shall we see then, what there is left? And hope this time, we might able to camp inside instead of out in the open. So much we need to discuss....and I would like to show you over a meal the signs in the book you gave me to look at that, I discovered so I can truly try and make the right choices, but under advice....as much as I wish to learn what happened even if it's a truth none wish to know.I'm tired of the secrets even now when I must attend court at my fathers side." She sighed as his words circled her mind with the rhyme.thinking maybe answers, but always more questions. 3 are answered and a hundred more always seemed to be added with the thousand not answered. Again and again added to a list that always seemed to be growing never shrinking. Well,enough dwelling on that, it would not, and did not give the answers she even now seeked . She then continued speaking to him as if there was never a pause in speaking to him "And to make sure i'm not misunderstanding the translations..let alone turning something more into a puzzle. we have enough of those for the both of us."

[Ghost]

Legion chose to walk, they/he did not tire easily, and it spared the beast his rather immense weight, something he doubted a normal animal could bear anyway. Not that it mattered he could have kept pace with a horse in full gallop. "Their will always be secrets...if you are lucky you fine the answers to the ones important to you. Your father I think is proud...of you...the kingdom....dependent...."His words faded off lost from verbal translation as many eyes watched the shifting energy of the land, a distortion was approaching...those rare shifts in the earth that would swallow a man not unlike a sink hole but leave his bones lost to his kin, exposed months later leagues upon leagues away from its kin. These anomalies were uncommon by some strange grace of god to the remaining population but their existence was a hazard upon all crops and structures of solid unyielding materials not of natures birth. "We need to reach...the bridge..." He did not mean a literal bridge, in his mind it was a bridge, a joint of reality, to her he could not say what it appeared as. This joint would bring them to the ruin and...it would bring them away from the anomaly. They could talk later, eat calmly when they arrived, first they needed to pass this shift before it settled, the ground would rip open soon....and no one would see it but him, the strangeness that came from those voids. "Want....our/my helm...." He was not wearing the full armor, it was far to large to wear without drawing attention. The helmet would have made it easier to focus his eyes. Each component had its benefits and hindrances to him. As it was even now, disguised he wore only a minimal amount of it but the rest was hidden, crushed by his strength to small, easily hidden and transported shapes, indiscernible from common metal scrap but for their shinning black luster. He could by power reconstitute it but this used energy and attracted attention, on top of taking a moment to accomplish when he had no time to spare. He was sure they could make the distance, but he wanted the certainty that their was no danger to Takara anywhere ahead as well, something he could not say for sure under his limited pretense. No bandits or scared farmers, no rival country or powerful beast...though they would need to catch something for dinner...SurvivaL...Such an interesting thing, physical form required a certain sustenance. Each phase of existence a certain thing to sustain it. Such as before Takara had freed him from the tomb of his temporary imprisonment, he had not been in this solid shape but at the same time it had existed, it was she that brought his consciousness back to this phase...her hunger, had drawn out Legion. Like waking from being asleep.

To his frustration at the moment, He could not lead her in the right direction, only offer hints, if she could not see the path he could not point her on it. Thus he had taught her to read the signs, and though she did not have his senses she had something far greater then other humans a willing mind to learn, to search and accept the unknown as a new knowledge or undiscovered truth. Still he struggled not to shift shapes, forced himself to remain as human like as he could even though their were endless choices to ease the journey, even in moments of duress like now, though this was mild at best compared to others. She wanted to travel incognito and he could not hinder her task, would not....even if having wings would have been faster, or gazelle legs more nimble. Using his power drew attention they did not want....and depending on expenditures made him weak for a frame. He could use his eyes easily enough...multiply them many times to see, could generate a number of limbs, though this had its limits for a number of reasons that defied real explanation.

The stone ahead of them though broken in places had once been an exterior wall decoratively placed around one of the great libraries of law in the city of Din. Little of it remained but this broken remnant of its restrictive but peaceful era of existence. An era no one at all remembered, not even in stories. This was a part of the lost times, it and at least seven others or more like it, of eras completely lost.

[DalenaShallot]

If one could have seen her face under her hood they had seen her expression change to one of wistfulness with the love of her father."Never any doubt my father loves me...........As far as the kingdom being dependent..." Her words trailed off as she wrinkled her nose at the thought and lightly kicked her horse into a swift trot. She let the images appear in her minds eye again overlaying the landscape. Her mind swift as she took in the landscape even as she tilted her head letting legion lead them to the ruins and a place of safety. She knew he was a extraordinary man......Legion.he was simply her Legion and friend and it was the easiest to grasp in her understanding of him and the creation of him from her basic understanding of him. So much to still learn..take so many life times. None the less she would grab hold and absorb what she could in this life and not look back. Her mount never paused or flinched as she road on her instincts making the small hairs on her neck stand on end only to be confirmed by legions request for his helm a moment ago. He may not have warned her but the time they spent had taught her to respond quickly when he voiced certain key words..let alone the bridge....That a little unsettling in it's self....was like a tiny twist when it happened and caused the muscles to tighten in her stomach. For her it left her feeling as if suddenly falling to be caught. Only way she ever been able to explain it. lasted but a blink of a moment and was gone. The other..where men just disappeared......or did not.....was not a pleasant thing to see...........let alone bones appearing..........for man or beast caught in it because something was different about them?...she had them in the past put out of their misery. if they even survived such a thing. They suffered greatly without the skeleton they once had. she seen that once before ........as a child in the court yard....Had brought the man back and he had been still alive. she had nightmares for months even after her father ordered his death as a act of kindness. The next event, was days just before she found Legion. she lost almost everyone in her party to it and in a panic those that survived had scattered in fright leaving her alone. And she had wondered but followed what she she knew then, which was really nothing back then. But a young women excited, she been given this task for the kingdom and it's people. To follow her dreams, why they tried and failed to find her a husband. She laughed softly at that still following legion even as she took in every rock and tree even a creature scurrying out of their path. her last thought how long ago that seemed but great full the powers that be had lead her to find him and she no longer brought others with her. That was a re-leaf for now there would be no risk of death of exposure except to the two of them and she need not worry about those she took charge of or were directed to keep her safe and tend to her every need. Suddenly something........caught her attention not sure what but she quickened her pace knowing then seeing at last where he was leading her. their pack animals followed without choice tide behind both mounts not given time to panic if the shift appeared or what have you. "It is there......" she said as if in confidence always trying to learn more as he patiently taught her, not wishing to disappoint her friend no matter that he seemed a endless pool of patience even when he went over old lessons with her from time to time to refresh her memory or began teaching her something new..........or tried to explain something that just seemed out of range of simple explanation...or on those days when found she had no patience when he tried to explain but could not. as if it was a double edged blade with so fine a edge it was, and was not something he could speak of. she thought out loud then."More answers about you..how we are connected..and in moments when at home and you are not close I feel a deep panic. why such devastation....WHY?"Falling silent again with those thoughts running circles, was always the biggest question why bury it so deep no one recalled even a whisper. no stories, nothing in the kingdoms libraries unless it was now by her hand. She new in her soul if the past could have removed even the ruins they would have left not even those.........but she wondered if that was not now the design of the thing that appeared and would destroy buildings, farms and anything in it's path when it appeared? It was something she should perhaps mention to Legion and hear his thoughts on this sudden idea that appeared in her mind that, that was exactly what it was created for.......like a well made rip you could never find for it shifted with the most delicate material that did just that as you moved, swearing it moved of it's own design, but as everyone knew this one did.

[Ghost]

Legion was grateful to her for seeing the obvious, or perhaps not so obvious really. The path to the ruins suddenly opened to them like one opens a book, the road seemed to become even and straight where even a second ago it had barely existed at all and stretching above them as if in repentance to the heavens stood the crumbling towers of the buildings themselves, not really an entire city just a little section of its streets, a garage from a long lost and forgotten home, the fallen spire and symbol that belonged to an old church of law makers, though the church itself seemed to be missing, the library filling the vast majority of this section of ruins. Their was an old maintenance shed towards that back hidden behind the library, and a garden now gone wild, the back covered in blackberry vines, the onions growing like a little patch of lively grass against the dark thorns of some dead dried branches, wild rabbits having been drawn to the rows of now lost carrots and the ever expanding plods of potatoes here long ago were now nibbling at the edges of the onions. A leaking fountain pipe having helped to keep the little maintenance garden well nourished.

Legion slowed his pace now relaxing despite that he could still feel the passing of the anomaly behind him, they were safely past the boundary, the shift however had cost them the little light that had remained and he realized the dimming light of the sun was nearly gone. While this eased the wight placed on him, it would mean Takara could not see as well. He glanced at the ancient bit of street and moved now to examine one of the old lamp posts in silence. His mind breaking down the science like little gears in a clock. They required energy...electricity to function, alternating current patterns of raw energy at approximate voltage. Voltage a measurement of electrical proportion, which would cause the bulbs within to burn. Bulbs, light bulbs...glass, with a filament suspended with in burning to create luminescence...electricity...will turn pumps on fountain also, bringing forth more then just a trickle of water, will illuminate interior of buildings, will turn on computers....will....pause....This was all little more then Alchemy restricted by tiny wire ceramic boards to conform to a set design.

"These....are older...then the church..." Legion did not appreciate the popular religion Legions of the Cross, It may have helped society survive but it did not help cultivate knowledge of the past. To the Legion of the Cross the past was a sin erased from history by the divine hand of the one on high, to prepare and cleanse the people. The thought of it actually made him sick, one of the only things he responded to much like exposure to light instinctively rather then consciously. Thankfully not everyone prescribed to the same belief and he had been spared exposure to the church on Takara's last visit home. The Church would certainly not approve of him and he already knew it....maybe it had been Takara whop had taught him of this new religion?...he wasn't quite sure where knowledge of it had come from which while not unusual was certainly not normal even for him. He needed to devour something from this time to comprehend it all. Learning manually took time and exposure. Something he had been gathering during the journey.

[DalenaShallot]

Once passed the bridge she slowed then stopped as she looked from one building to another, or what she knew had once been buildings. Her eyes beginning to strain with the long shadows blending into the fading light. She looked into the distance spotting that last visage of the sun setting, then in Legions direction a moment watching him as he moved to what he had explained to her was a sort of light ran by electricity . Oh they had them, never doubt it for a moment, but nothing like these. Theirs you used oil and if lucky and you had one who could use magic which most preferred, but was rare in the most common villages. Watching a moment longer she patted her mounts side, then lightly dismounted this time without any assistance. She stood a moment as her feet became used to the solid ground stretching her back. "you my dear friend are as loyal as always I shall have to serve you warm oats this eve and see if I might be able to find you a lovely treat." She unhooked the saddle to,walk around and remove the bit less harness the resting her cheek against the horses forehead as she scratched the other cheek. Her mount stepped back raising it's head in the air a moment to appear as if suddenly bowing waiting for her to remove it's saddle."Alright just a moment." She untied the lead reins pulling the pack beast to what could be safely used to secure them yet let them graze without escape, to which she obeyed in silence only then pulling the saddle and the blanket free from his back letting it settle in the road in front of her for now. "well your highness there you go. happy now?" He bobbed his head up and down in response, his bright green eyes sparkled with a hint of amusement as he winked, then trotted off to a near by field leaving her standing in amazement and wondering again, if he could be touched with magic and understood her. She shook her head as she re-directed her attention towards the direction where Legion knelt to study the broken street lamp replying to his words."Are you for sure of that? Remember everything we have uncovered and learned so far. The older religions? They are different in some way...many ways, but they do run parallel to each other in some degree."She shuttered thinking so far she managed to slip by without having to find a mate and bare off spring, watching but suddenly not seeing legion recalling again finding him. stretching her spine and arms while standing on her toes as she did so. Her thoughts carrying her contemplation to one day would tell her father and the king the truth about legion...But for now she had them thinking he had been at the right place, at the wrong time in saving her from a horrible end. It really wasn't a lie, but it was not exactly the whole truth and the voice within her mind assured her, it was the right thing until she could be sure they would not try and lock him away in some vault, or prison trying to learn or.......The Legion of the cross. They would consider him the evil returned needing to be destroyed. She herd rumors. Who had not? She had herd enough, to make sure she kept copies of her work hidden away, and certain artifacts only the king even knew about. and those were kept well hidden for now until they could, without doubt, show no harm would come to anyone.........as far a threat to the church? what did they consider a threat? Legion himself was one.......Maybe herself if they knew her thoughts. She let her hands fall to her side slipping them in her her pocket as the chill begin to sink in and the darkness crept in. Her fingers brushed the book." should we not find a place to rest and set up camp for the night.....tomorrow we can decide just how long we will stay...tonight, tonight we can do nothing else but enjoy the glow and speak where no words will reach ears that should not."

[Ghost]

Legion, only after watching Takara, realized he still held the reins of his beast who was impatient at best by now. He released the reins to let the beast wonder knowing it would not go far as he still needed to remove the gear from its back, it snorted at him in return. With both hands free now he placed these against the concrete and steel beam before him the broken glass collecting as if it were breaking apart in reverse to reassemble itself. the growing power emitting from Legion spreading like rushing water outward across the space and soon, the lights fluttered to life startling a few of the animals in the area, Legions mount screeched a moment and stomped one cloven hoof down onto the head of a large rat before snapping it up into its mouth and practically swallowing it whole.

"Yes....It predates the...current church." He offered in clarification before he moved to remove the gear from his beast. "We...can walk around the larger building...see if it is stable....heavens willing...we may camp sheltered." with the saddle and gear of his mount flung carelessly over one broad shoulder he pulled down his hood as the last of the light fled away, revealing pale features and long black hair. His eyes shimmered with flecks of gold, swimming in pools of crimson. His eyes sweeping the street level even as he let his power run through the broken veins of energy lines sensing out the surrounding from within. His shadow cast in the luminescence of the artificial light moved like snakes, slithering outward into the dark places. He should have been more careful about such expenditures, conserved the energy perhaps but their were times when containing it all was like holding a star at the point before it went nova.

The day Takara had brought his consciousness back to this plane from its atheric slumber, had felt very similar, as if containing all the energy of the universe in a single vessel of ceramic or glass, this in itself had been very like the day he had been born. A dormant shape crafted of flesh and not of flesh, carved with symbols arcane and unknown. He had sat on a throne of stone surrounded by the remnants of slaughter. At the time of his birth that slaughter had been fresh, and caused by the hands of many others...at the time of his reawakening, it had been ancient and caused by his own devices. he had walked through the barriers faded with time still standing eternally strong to bind his willfulness away...and she had touched that enormous, monument of unknown black glimmering metal, traced her fingers along the runes carved there and was not instantly overcome with fear, or with desire for power or destruction, but curiosity. They had been drawn to that externalized question, a thing she had not spoken so much as thought. He had felt her hand, the throb of life that was her frightened heartbeat. She did not seek shelter here, though she was, she did not seek knowledge here though she learned, she did not seek power over anything, though she possessed the potential...She asked for nothing but top know not how....or what, but why and who?....Who had he been? What had he seen? Thought these were not the words for she had not spoken to him a single word when she had found him. When he moved his head to look at her....when she realized and he saw surprise that the thing she had been examining was moving...when she had realized it was not just her own imagination or a trick of the pale glowing light of the symbols on the walls.

It was no that their was to much in to small a container so much as no coherent constant, no way to remain a single solid by his own perspective. They had no spoken for a long while as he walked around the space of his confinement then, just as they walked silently now. Understanding had come in other ways. It had taken him a long time to remove himself from the armor so that she could see what lay underneath....because honestly at first he had been only the conjoined armor, not by original design but because he had top remember to do so, top be more then just armor...He rubbed at the cuffs on his ear with his free hand, these helped him keep contained rather then letting his energy bleed unchecked into his surroundings, not that he would cease to exist in that case, but it was safer to those in proximity to him.

He was staring at the overgrown garden, his eyes and essence still looking and yet his form was mesmerized by the simple overgrown vines, gone wild even without the care of whomever had once planted them. The fact any of it was edible already processing through his many consciousnesses how to prepare it into a hundred different substances for consumption and health.

[DalenaShallot]

She lowered her head a moment as if blinded by the sudden light so her eyes might adjust. After a minute or so she raised her head still covered." I forget at times you would know......but is it safe to use even that much here? I like for us to remain undiscovered until, I have no choice and we have to return again.. *she turned away walking back to the blanket and saddle. draping the blanket over the saddle she lifted it sit against her flat stomach with both hands. She was considered a strong female from the "GOOD STALK" she came from, but even so she could not carry it as easily as Legion did his own, with packs in hand. She wrinkled her nose wishing for a just a ounce more to make her load seem just a bit lighter or better still they found a place to camp inside so she might place it there then remove the rest of the packs as I sign they might be there a while. She followed his gave her brow furrowing as she saw the vegetation, at first not recognizing any of it, especially in this lighting it was not as bright as it had first appeared but at the very least she could wonder where it shone and not stumble out of blindness and re-leaved over that simple little fact, he was able to do such things, but again worried more for him then herself. She again looked to the buildings surrounding them and headed in the direction of the library. Her thoughts on finding a secure place to put their gear, and rest for the night. His beast enjoying it's snack of rat was something she now come to be accustomed to with the simple fact of it being within the circle of life bringing home how important each outing was especially when they discovered anything to help makes the lives easier for those outside their line of sight , or so she hoped. She stepped inside the walls pausing as her senses kicked in while her eyes adjusted to the slightly dimmer lighting inside as she took shallow breaths while her heart slowed. It stepped up a beat for a few moments as flashes of memories raced threw her mind. She pushed them aside then stepped further inside. Her leather booted feet making a soft scuffing sound and she sneezed softly at the dust she raised, but continued deeper inside then stopped and suddenly let saddle and blanket fall at her feet with the clink of metal and a light thud of the gear she turned towards the way she had come pausing as her hair stood on end for a moment her breathing stopped as her eyes tried taking in every shadow and dark outline that was not covered in the light of the once dark room.

[Ghost]

Legion was a few moments befor fallowing her into the interior of the building, his eyes hovering a moment over the shelves of books, and rows of computer towers storing information as digital files...He wondered how much they would be able to gather from them given their age...it might all just be corrupted gibberish now. He saw the ancient wooden tables, some simple things others slightly more elaboritly carved, with their overturned chairs here and there. He would have to look at the stairs later to see if they could reach any of the higher levels safely. Still this looked like a good palce to sleep. He was currenly sporting an extra set of arms on his torso....A rabbit slung by its hind legs and a assortment of veggitables horded into a hankerchief for dinner, plus he still carried his saddle and bags over one shoulder.

"We are hidden on all sides by the shreaded remanats of an old veil....no one will see us even if they can feel the power."

He settled his bags on one of the tables and lowered his saddle to the floor rummaging a moment ine one bag till he found a small mortar and bowl. The second set of arms receeding like shadow once they were free. The rabbit for now vanished into a bag where no one would have to look at it till he was ready to prepare it for dinner, a strange habbit of his considering he did not feel remorse for killing it. A few dried herbs went into the bowl and he started crushing them with slow motions.

Above them in one of the higher floors a light flickered to life and took in its surroundings for the first time in many years. Calmly anyalyzing the new situation.