Tale
New Member
Posts: 43
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Post by Tale on Jul 26, 2021 22:04:35 GMT -6
Tale never dreamed. It wasn't a problem, per se. He was perfectly content spending each night tracing the patterns in the ceiling's wood grain as he waited for rest to come. The next morning, he always woke up too early to sunlight coming through his window, and didn't dwell on the hours lost between those moments. If anything, he's grateful for not dreaming. Touj regaled him with stories of all sorts from his mind's wanderings in slumber, from all his teeth falling out to winding up back in Tumai to chasing his Shijin down an endless corridor. Tale was fine with the relationship he had with his psyche: distant, unexamined, wary. He came into Hall expecting the same. He dragged his fingers along the cold marble walls as he followed the Shalaya, passing countless rooms. After an eternity of walking, he saw it. The wooden framed door was smoothed with age, the top of its handle shining gold. The doorknob in his hand felt the same as that in his old home. His chest clenched as he entered, settling into a too-familiar oversized armchair. He feels another hand in his. It’s small and warm, and grips him tight. Looking at its owner, he sees a familiar face: lavender hair tied up in twintails, pale skin and deep, black eyes. The fae smiles as he stares.
“What’s gotten into you?” she chuckles. Not waiting for an answer, the child pulls his hand and they are moving, headed toward some unknown goal. It’s just like any other day: yet for some reason, his stomach has turned inside out. “Hurry up.”
“Isa, where are we going?” he tries to ask. A croaked, pained noise comes out of his mouth instead.
She looks back at him, exasperated. She does not answer, but moves forward. Tale is helpless to do anything but follow.
There’s so much he wants to tell her. There’s even more he wants to ask her. But he can’t get a single word out: his throat has stopped working, and he can’t even breathe, much less form a sentence. All he can do is clutch her hand harder and squeeze. She squeezes back.
Even though he has known this girl his entire life, his brain feels sluggish and muddled as he tries to sort out just who this person is to him, and why she means so much. This is Isa. This is the girl that raised him, when he was still a harachiu; this is the bright, excitable child whom he outpaced to adulthood, who he argues and plays and eats with. She is everything to Tale. She is his mother, his daughter, his best friend. She’s the most important person in his life, only Touj comes anywhere close —
Tale met Touj after Isa died; he is certain. But he is also certain that Isa is here with him now, and he has no intention of letting her leave again. He wants to pull her in tight and never let go, he wants to run away and never look back so she can find someone who can actually keep her safe, he wants to fall to his knees and beg for her forgiveness for not finding her sooner. They keep walking, hand in hand.
Finally, Isa stops. The world seems blurry and vague around them, but Tale can see clearly the building before them. It’s their house: two stories tall with chipping paint, surrounded by a yard lovingly overgrown with wildflowers. Isa opens the door and he sees his favorite coffee mug sitting on the kitchen table, his book left open face-down next to the armchair. She tries to pull him inside, but only now can Tale control his body.
“I want to,” he tells Isa, pleading, regretful. “But I can’t. I wish I could.”
“I know,” she says. She turns to face him, her smile wobbly. She grabs hold of his other hand. “I just miss you.”
“I miss you too,” Tale’s eyes are stinging, his cheeks hot and wet. “I love you. I miss you so, so much.”
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He wakes up before she can answer. Name: Lillian
Body Type: Deft
Affinity: Memories
Nature: Bittersweet
Pictures: [1] [2] [3] |
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Post by Xentus on Oct 25, 2021 7:47:07 GMT -6
So this is your dream.. Bittersweet remembrance of one once close to you. She is still there.. Kept in memories, kept close to heart. And now.. Perhaps kept, in part, within someone new. Reborn, tangently, within this Draconic who hatched from your dream of them. This new life is already close to you - it would feel like you know them all too well. Close to your memories, love, and loss as seen in your sleep; life given form by your dream..
You awaken. They awaken.
Your hearts beat as one, bound together from this very moment onward.
Where was once an egg with you on the chair is a young draconic already known as Lillian. Delicate, yet resilient. Here, but.. Not. Their form bridges the veil between life and death. Still, within them there is a certain light which few can truly behold.
First born of the Iivarii, a new member to the Clan of Sacred Hope. With your guidance and with time you'll see them grow, no doubt.
| STATS
General
Intelligence: 7
Size: 3
Power Level: 5
Movement
Crawl: Yes
Leap: Yes
Flight: No
Swim: No
Burrow: No
Stats
Stamina: 5
Strength: 2
Resistance: 5
Dexterity: 8
Mentality: 5
Powers
Abilities: Danger Sense
Moves: Intangible Body, Rapid Bloom, Buck
Breath: Holy
Innate Magic: Life or Death |
(You may continue to roleplay if you wish, this thread will be locked in 7 days. Lillian will grow in approximately 1 month, after which the rest of their kind will be released to the public. Worry not, they are still unique solely to you.)
(You may take their image and stats from here.) |
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Tale
New Member
Posts: 43
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Post by Tale on Oct 25, 2021 14:24:23 GMT -6
Tale's eyes remained blurry, staring off into the distance as he regained consciousness; But in his arms, he could feel a warm body where the egg once was. Even though he could feel it take breaths, curling closer toward his abdomen, it felt too light, almost immaterial. He wasn't completely sure he had actually woken up. He hoped he hadn't. Maybe he had taken the chance, entered the house, and Isa was here - but when he looked around, the uncannily familiar room was empty except for him and the small being resting on his lap.
"Tale?"
He flinched so violently that his neck burned, spasming as he looked around the room. It was her voice. But Isa... He looked down.
The little creature looked up at him with searching, pale eyes. He took a hand away from its side to wipe away the film of tears in his vision and the draconic gave a grumble of discontent. He knew this was whose voice he heard, but it was too much. It hummed again, not breaking eye contact, and reached its small front arms up to drag his hand back down. He stroked its side, feeling the heartbeat, the rise of breathing in and out. This wasn't a dream.
"How do you know my name?" He rasped out. The dragon cocked its head, giving him a look both fond and exasperated, confused but knowing.
"Because. You're Tale."
[1/5]
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Tale
New Member
Posts: 43
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Post by Tale on Oct 25, 2021 15:05:02 GMT -6
It was her voice he could hear rumbling through the being's throat. His stomach lurched and Tale had to stop himself from just getting up and running away. He squeezed his eyes closed until sparks appeared in the edges of dark. He tried to slow his breathing, forget about what was happening and calm down but a little paw rested purposefully against his chest. He opened his eyes again.
"Why does it hurt?" Isa's voice asked.
His panic returned twofold. He didn't want to cause Isa pain. He didn't want to cause this draconic pain either. But he couldn't escape the spiral his brain was pulling him down. Wiping his face had been for naught, and he tried to blink away the tears forming as he gasped out an answer. Numbly, he hoped he wasn't getting this little creature wet.
"I - I don't want to - " His voice cracked even trying to say a simple sentence. "You should - who - Isa - who are - "
He couldn't even get out a sentence close to intelligible. He knew he was making the draconic feel even worse, and that feeling only furthered his emotional descent. As he shook, the creature shook with him. Despite his warring feelings, he pulled it close, hoping to at least offer some physical comfort as he assaulted their mind with his own. Why did hugging this newborn make him feel so guilty?
"I'm..." the creature spoke softly against his chest, cuddling closer. "Who is Isa?"
[2/5]
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Tale
New Member
Posts: 43
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Post by Tale on Oct 25, 2021 19:09:33 GMT -6
"Isa is..." Tale couldn't even begin to think of explaining Isa. Coming from her own voice made it all the harder. "She's - You sound like her."
"Is that okay?"
His guilt takes a different form. "It's not your fault."
The draconic, this creature, this person, this one who is not Isa burrows closer into his stomach. Just as they can feel his suffering, he feels the remorse in return as an apology is whispered to his chest. This isn't fair, Tale knew, especially to someone just brought into this world. He wished he could explain everything. He wished he could get over his feelings, do the right thing, provide comfort and warmth and welcome. He wished he could do anything but continue sitting limply in this chair which is his and not his, feeling the world closing in on him and the too-light weight of the dragon tethering him to a reality he wants to escape.
Tale wants things to be different. In a distant way, he marveled at how someone new could know his name and speak to him just moments after it was born. He wanted to take them home and get them food, treat them well and get to know who this new little one in his life was. But even contemplating these actions weighed him down, his hands too heavy to pet and adore the creature still dutifully sitting on his lap.
[3/5]
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Tale
New Member
Posts: 43
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Post by Tale on Oct 28, 2021 1:23:22 GMT -6
The room was growing more claustrophobic by the second. It wasn't hard to understand why: the chair, the bookshelves, everything he recognized from the familiar room he spent years puttering around was no longer the gigantic expanses he knew as a harachiu, but places where he now fit and felt crowded. The chair that once swallowed him up now sagged under his weight.
Was this the actual dream? Trapped in his own home but not, with someone new who was Isa? His brain was playing a very cruel trick on him, if so. Tale chewed the inside of his cheek and blood slowly pooled into his mouth. It hurt.
"Why are you doing that?" The draconic asked.
He wanted to meet their eyes, but he couldn't. Tale focused on his hand against its side, resting against the cream-colored flank. He swallowed the blood-spit, clogging his throat further. It gave him more time to collect his thoughts, but he wasn't sure what to say. It felt like too big of a burden to explain everything going on in his mind to this creature; He wasn't sure he'd want to even if he could. At the same time, that feeling in his gut was preventing his better side from properly caring for his new companion.
"I don't want to be here anymore, I guess," he settled for. His voice was thick, rough. He was a bit surprised he hadn't started crying again since he woke up, but found no tears.
The dragon-child seemed to accept his answer. "Should we leave?"
We. It wasn't a surprise, but the word still stuck with him. This draconic with Isa's voice and mannerisms was a part of him now, forever. He nodded.
[4/5]
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Tale
New Member
Posts: 43
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Post by Tale on Oct 28, 2021 1:38:24 GMT -6
The draconic leapt off of his lap gracefully. While the featherlight weight left his legs, so did its warmth. He couldn't figure out if he wanted it back or not. But regardless, Tale acknowledged while standing up, leaving the limbo he was stuck in helped him gain a bit more clarity about what exactly he had gotten himself into. Looking at the pale creature, the sprite contemplated his dream and reached down to caress the sunrise petals around its nape.
He felt a surge of excitement, hope at the gesture - and tried not to flinch away. But he was caught: the bright feelings subdued, but the creature did not shy away from his touch. He needed to do better, Tale knew- but. But. Gazing into their eyes, he looked for any spark of recognition. He tried not to get his hopes up.
"You said you didn't know Isa," Tale started. "But you know me."
Blinking, they inclined their head in acknowledgement and a twinge of regret. "I don't know why. Who is Isa?"
It was the second time the question was asked, and Tale was just as unprepared. "She was - someone, important."
"And..." Isa's voice took a pensive tone, the same way she sounded when puzzling over a device she was rebuilding, a book she mulled over. "I remind you of her?"
"Yeah." With a deep breath, Tale rose to his feet. "Yeah. You remind me of her a lot.
Do you remember... Are you," he stumbled over his words. He wished he knew how this all worked. It would've been a good idea to learn more about this egg, this whole process when he started this. Learn what a soul contained, what it meant for someone new to come from a dream. It was too late for that now. But meeting eyes with his new companion, the new part of his soul, he knew the answer.
So did she.
"I don't think so," Still unsure, still young. Circling around to press against his side, she led him to leave, back to the real world. A world she now lived in with him. "I think I'm Lillian. Is that okay?"
Tale nodded. He opened the door.
[5/5 - Fin]
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