Subj: [ffml] [MW] Into a trance Date: 98-11-18 20:11:09 EST From: jandoc@hawaii.edu (Schala) Reply-to: ffml@onelist.com To: ffml@onelist.com From: Schala The moment Glenn woke up, he knew Schala had wandered off yet again. He couldn't blame her, really. It was nearing the end of peace, nearing the time to returning to the war. He could understand her need to be alone. Still, he worried, and so he went to look for her. She wasn't that far away this time. She was sitting with her back against a tree and staring up into the sky. She turned her head slightly when she heard him approach. All she said was, "The sky is very clear tonight..." He stopped beside her and looked up. He saw why she had chosen this place to sit. There was a small opening in the trees, through which he could see the night sky. The stars had much brighter twinkles than he remembered. The moon was just a sliver now. It was a wonderful picture framed by the gently rustling leaves of the trees. He stopped beside her and looked up. He saw why she had chosen this place to sit. There was a small opening in the trees, through which he could see the night sky. The stars had much brighter twinkles than he remembered. The moon was just a sliver now. It was a wonderful picture framed by the gently rustling leaves of the trees. "It's very beautiful." Glenn looked down at her. He studied her carefully, the way she sat with her hands folded in her lap, her hair softly blowing, her pendant gleaming slightly. He saw the profile of her face, leading down to her smooth neck. He turned away. He could see how any man could grow to care for her so much... "May I ask you something?" he said suddenly. "Of course." He looked at the ground and shuffled his feet. Then he finally asked, "Is there anything between you and Bacca?" Unintentionally, he flung the question out like a sharp barbed arrow, and he was embarrassed. He was showing his hand pretty well. But Schala didn't take offense. She merely laughed softly. "I'll be honest with you...There was a time when I felt something was between us. But I knew he and Lady were much devoted to each other." Her expression became distant. "It was Lady who...who made me remember something about myself...She showed me how wonderful a relationship can be between two people who care strongly for each other..." She shook her head sadly, then recovered and smiled up at him. "Some time after meeting Bacca, a certain part of me was reawakened...but just as quickly it slept again. It...frightened me when I realized he had triggered something that had lain dormant for so long, and I avoided him for awhile. But it was like a magnet that drew me me to him nevertheless." She lowered her eyes. "I don't know if he ever knew how he affected me...But it became irrelevant because, after awhile, I didn't feel much anything anymore...Not for him, not for anyone...Not until..." Her voice trailed off. She cocked her head. "Does that answer your question?" Glenn stood there for a minute, then chuckled. "Yes, it does," he said. They fell silent, staring at the sky. The thought of Bacca had brought to mind the war, and the end of their journey... She gazed up at him. "We're almost there, you know..." "Yes, I know..." "I...I'm sorry to have caused you so much trouble during this time..." Glenn sat down. "I would rather you have gone through that now than to have gone through that when I was not there to help you. It has actually taken a load off my mind, to know that you at least understand yourself better now." "Yes...but there are still so many things that I have yet to know..." Her voice was a mere whisper, so he had to strain to catch her words. "Such as..?" Schala shook her head. "There is something...I feel it. I felt it tonight. It woke me in the middle of the night. There is something about tonight...something about this place...something about myself. They have all come together and are telling me I am near...To what, I don't know. But...just for one day more...I *must* have this peace..." He looked at her carefully. Then he stood. "I understand," he said softly. "I will leave you..." She glanced at him, and the look on her face was a worried one. "Oh, Glenn, I..." But he smiled. "Fear not. We...all have our duties to see to...You have yours, I have mine." He knelt down and kissed her gently on the forehead. "I will be near if you need assitance." Glenn stood up again and walked away. Schala looked after him for a few moments, wondering if she had missed something that could have changed her life forever...So many missed chances led to different opportunities, which led you down different walks of life. It was impossible to know what might have been, for once the opportunity had passed by, it was most likely gone for eternity.... She settled back against the tree. She lifted her face slowly and gazed at the sky. Closing her eyes, she settled herself into the position that Kaitlin had shown her when the druidess had delved into her mind. Her body relaxed, her heart rate dropped. She felt strangely detached from her body. Her mind was a blank. Slowly, the visions began flowing from places beyond the earthly realm...Visions that only The Chosen One were allowed to see... Subj: [ffml] [MW] The First Vision Date: 98-11-18 23:02:49 EST From: Schala She was in the midst of a swirling redness. The color was blinding. She shielded her eyes as she approached it. It was like a wall that completely obscured her view. What was beyond it? She wanted to know. A short distance away from the wall, she encountered a resistance. She brought her hands up and pushed. The resistance was soft and spongy, but firm. She pushed harder, but after awhile she came upon a cold hardness, like an invisible metal. She stepped back and gazed over this awesome sight, and she realized it wasn't a uniform color. The red had darker shades and lighter tints, always moving, always shifting. Then it began to form pictures -- images that were made from and blended with the red, yet stood out as clearly as if they were separate from the rest. Visions that she could see only in her mind. It became a great glowing ball of fire against the background of a red sky. The ball rose slowly, slowly, getting brighter as the sky behind it faded in its intensity. The ball emitted a powerful aura that stung her more than the flames themselves, catching her unawares. It became a delicate flower with many petals. It started as a bud, then it bloomed. As it bloomed, it grew and expanded until it nearly covered the whole plane. At its peak, it burst out more buds that bloomed even more quickly than the first. Then suddenly -- it stopped its growth. It began shrinking and shrinking. The petals withered and fell off. The petals scattered and were blown away by a harsh wind until nothing was left...no trace that any life had ever lived, bloomed, or died there... It became an ocean, with gentle waves that lapped against a shore. She saw herself standing on the beach, watching, looking out to the wide sea. Then clouds began obscuring the sky. The waves grew more and more violent, and her robes and hair were whipped about. But still she stood there. The swells reached 20 feet and crashed on the beach. The wind howled, the sea roared. The waves pounded relentlessly. One of them reached her, towering over her. She saw herself look calmly up at its frothing red crest. She saw the wave hover over her head for a split second before crashing mercilessly down on her. And when it returned to the sea, she was gone as well... It became a liquidy earth -- not quite lava, but perilously close to it. She saw herself walking over it, occasionally stumbling when the ground moved too much. There were deep canyons, and she saw herself walking carefully along the edge of them. When she looked down, there were rivers rapidly flowing, as though escaping something at their source and eager to get to where they were going. But when she dipped her hand in one, it came out stained with a horrifying red...She stared at her hand for long moments in shock. Then she walked on and on, she walked for eternity, but she could not find the source of the rivers... It became a blur that slowly formed into faces. Unrecognizable faces. Faces with hollow eyes and untoothed, open mouths. They had formless torsos with bleary limbs for arms and legs. The hands reached out to her, the mouths cried out to her. The lips moved in an indescribable way, speaking with high-pitched squeals. But she was helpless, for she could not understand what they were saying... It became a flaming ball again. This time it was much further to the right from its original position. The sky was intensely red again. The ball moved slowly, yet it left a long streak across the sky. It seemed to give off powerful emotions...most of them negative. She felt the anger, the hatred, the jealousy...the death... Her heart missed several beats and seemed to lodge in her throat as the emotions blasted her in full force... Almost like an afterthought came quite a different feeling...Her senses perked up and she became more alert, but it was so fleeting she got only the faintest sensation of it... The ball sank lower and lower, the flames dying away. The sky got fainter and fainter. The ball dropped below her sight, and with it took all the heat and swirling redness, leaving an empty, cold, silent oblivion behind. She was in the darkness again. Subj: [ffml] [MW] The Second Vision Date: 98-11-19 00:59:10 EST From: jandoc@hawaii.edu (Schala) Reply-to: ffml@onelist.com To: ffml@onelist.com From: Schala She was surrounded by a silvery veil. It wasn't a thick, suffocating atmosphere. Rather, it was more misty, more translucent than opaque. The mist was cool and moist. She could just barely see the outlines of people and things in the distance. She waved an arm in front of her and felt the dampness gather on her fingers. She clutched at the air, thinking there was something there, but came up empty-handed. It was strange. She *knew* there was something, but she couldn't catch a hold of it... She didn't know what was more frightening: to be completely blind and never see what's ahead...or to have imperfect vision and see something coming, but not fully understanding what it is... People fear that which they do not understand... She looked up at the sky. The pale moon hung there, like a dim lantern set to guide her way. She felt a little comforted. The moon had been her constant companion when she had been struggling through the darkness, trying to make it to the dawn. Distant sounds reached her ears. It sounded like people talking and laughing and having a good time. She wondered where they were. She wanted to join them. She began walking forward, toward the sound. She walked for a very long time, but she got no closer to her goal. The silky sounds seemed just as far away as they had been when she first started out. Her feet moved faster. Her hand brushed against something, and she became aware of dampness. She stopped and looked down, and was surprised to find her robes were wet with dew. The soft laughter reached out to her, persuading her to catch them, like a faint rainbow that moved away with each step forward. She continued on her way. A damp smell reached her nose. Drops began to fall gently from the sky, thickening the mist. The rain dotted her hair like tiny diamonds. "The heavens are crying now," she thought. "They are sending their tears to me, and I...I can feel their pain..." Suddenly the laughter no longer seemed friendly. It became harsher, more mocking. But still she wanted to find them, to find out why they were laughing and wondering if she could share the laughter with them. It seemed to move away faster and faster. She finally broke into a run, even though her vision was still obscured by the soft mist that pervaded. Her hands and feet brushed against unseen plants and grass, disturbing them, shaking the raindrops from their leaves and letting them fall to the ground. The distant sounds became a deadly blade that pierced through her skin, straight to her heart, and took the life out of her body, and to regain her soul she knew she must catch up to those whom she could not see... A loneliness overtook her. She ran faster, wanting to reach them sooner, to dispel her solitude. She wanted to reach them. She *needed* to reach them. She had a fleeting glimpse of a pair of gossamer wings fluttering by, brushing against her cheek. It left shimmering dust trails behind, which disappeared almost as soon as they were made. It zigzagged ahead of her, visible only to the extent that she could see it moving. She too wanted to grow wings so she could fly to her destination. So she could reach journey's end. Soon the wings were swallowed up by the mist. The mist that was subtly changing... It became a shining armor that engulfed her unwilling person, protecting her body but hindering her movements. The armor felt oppressively heavy, just the opposite of the delicate wings she wished she had. She became weary, each step a small torture. But it could not protect against the feeling of desperation that was growing within. It did not protect against her unfulfilled need to reach those that were her goal. The ethereal laughter continued as she slowed down and finally stopped. She sank to the ground. The sounds moved further and further away. Her hands clutched desperately at her armor, trying to rip it off piece by piece. She sobbed out her frustration, her urgency, her aching loneliness. "Don't leave me here," she cried out, "please don't leave me alone..." But her plea was a mere whisper, drowned out by the sounds of the ghostly laughter. The rain made gentle splashes on the cold, glinting, ominous steel of her armor. Fainter and fainter the laughter became...and then...there was silence. A solitary tear ran down her cheek and glistened in the soft moonlight before being blown away by the wind. Subj: [ffml] [MW] The Third Vision Date: 98-11-19 02:47:23 EST From: Schala She opened her eyes to a gentle white. It had a very soothing effect. She felt content, almost happy. Her clothing was a pure white, rather showy dress that went down to just below her knees. It had lots of ruffles and a lace collar. Each ruffle was trimmed with fur. She couldn't move very easily. Her arms and legs felt stubby. But despite the encumbrance of her clothing, she felt wonderfully free, unburdened by any thoughts or cares. All she wanted to do was run around and play. The ground was soft. Her feet sank in slightly whenever she walked, and she had to pull her feet out every time. But she loved the feeling. It was so fun, so different. She was curious about it. Flopping down onto her knees, she touched the softness with an innocent, wondering hand. Her long hair fell around her face. Was it...? She picked up a handful and brought her to her face. She tasted it. Her eyes lit up as she realized what it was: It was snow! She heard noises just then. She looked up, and a few feet away were a dozen children, running around having a snowball fight. Each boy was dressed in white fur pants and a thick white shirt, and each girl wore a white fur dress. Everyone had tall, white fur hats, white gloves on their hands, and white boots. Their feet kicked up the snow as they chased each other around. She giggled happily and ran to join the kids. They welcomed her easily. She grabbed a great handful of snow, packed it into a messy ball, and threw it at the nearest child. Another child threw one at her, hitting her on the arm. She quickly gathered up another ball and threw it, laughing as her ball knocked the hat off one boy. The snowball fight went on for some time. She began to slow down, becoming tired from her exertions. The children continued to play around her. Eventually, she lay down on the snow and slept. When she woke up, the children were gone. She found the snow had melted away, and in its place was a firmer ground. She got up and tried walking. It was more spongy, and her feet didn't sink in as much. She looked down. Her dress now had less ruffles, was plainer in style, and stopped at mid-calf. It had long, slim sleeves that reached a little way past her elbows. She sensed changes in her personality as well. She felt more worried, less sure of herself. Her steps were slower, more careful, less impulsive. She felt awkward and clumsy. She had more mental, rather than physical, weight. She walked on, trying to figure out where she was and where she was going and how to get there. She had a destination in mind, but in was in the recesses of her brain. She wanted to know what that destination was. Traveling seemed the best way to coax it to the front of her mind. The ground seemed so much further away, and she constantly kept her head bowed. She felt that if she didn't do so, it would fall from her sight. After a time, the ground become less rubbery. The sponginess gradually disappeared, and in its place was a solid, firm ground. She lifted her head, dropped it again, and blinked. Her dress had changed a third time. It was now more ivory than pure white, and the sleeves were long and loose. The design was very simple, reaching down to her ankles. A braided white silk cord was tied around her waist. Off to the side she heard faint sounds. She turned toward them. There were the same children she had played with before. She smiled, but this time she felt a queer sadness within her heart. She wanted to join them, but something constantly pulled her back. One child strayed far from the others. She saw his feet sinking in the ground and knew they were playing in snow. She wondered why there was no snow near her. The child ran further and encountered the hard ground. Caught unawares, he tripped and fell on his front. He began to cry. She hurried over to the child and knelt down. He looked so young, so vulnerable, so strangely disparate from her, even though they had played together not long ago. She helped him sit up, and he rubbed his ankle as he cried. She put out a gentle hand on his leg. A faint glow surrounded her hand, and she felt a wave of comfort pass from her to the boy. The child stopped crying and stared at her hand in wonder. He looked up at her in amazement. She smiled and nodded. He returned her smile, then jumped up and ran to join his friends. She watched him. The children became more and more distant until they were small specks on the horizon. Soon the specks disappeared. She stood up very slowly, gazing into the distance. Her heart felt a pang. She felt as though she had lost something very precious, but she didn't know quite what it was. She turned and continued on her original way. In some undefinable manner, everything seemed smaller, and yet...it was also as though her world had expanded. She knew things she hadn't known before. She could do things she hadn't been able to before. But there was also the feeling that, in becoming the person she was, she had sacrificed something that she could never regain... Ahead of her, she saw small hills. Hundreds of hills, thousands of them. They had smooth, gentle slopes. As she approached them, they changed. The hills took on a shape like snowmen, huge snowmen that dwarfed her. Then they melted and became large creatures that were more than twice her size. She stopped and stared up. They seemed benevolent, and at first she had no fear. Then the creatures thumped towards her, reaching menacingly out to her. Her eyes widened. As they came closer, she turned and ran. But it was no use, for they caught up with her within a second. She felt herself being lifted, then dropped. They pushed her around roughly from creature to creature, like a ping-pong ball out of control. Her heart was beating and beating in a rhythm of terror. She wanted to scream, but could not. The creatures overran her, engulfed her, smothered her... And she was left on the ground...she lay so still, as if dead... When she finally had the strength to lift her head, the creatures were gone. Once again there was smooth land. She got up carefully. Her body felt battered. But she set her jaw and walked on, despite a growing pain in her chest. She hunched over, her breathing labored, questioning if she would be able to survive... Her steps were calculated, wary. She wondered if there were anything else lurking beneath this pristine world... She was so intent on penetrating the secrets that the very earth might hold that she didn't see the slow movement that began at the tip of one of her sleeves. A red stain seemed to come alive and work its way slowly up her clothing, quickly gaining in speed. She finally saw it and stared in horrified dismay as the color spread rapidly, eager to coat her in its thickness. Alarmed, she stepped back. She felt the ground give way behind her, and she tripped backwards, falling on her back. The red traveled all the way up her bodice and, as her clothing touched the ground, invaded the rest of the whiteness. It covered the ground with a sickening red pallor. More red bubbled up from the ground, spreading out and towards her in a crazy, almost haphazard fashion. But there was an order to the chaos -- and she was in the center. Again she tried to scream. Again she failed. She could only look on in horror as her entire world, and even she herself, were rapidly transformed... After the stain had covered every bit of white, it began to change. It became a mass of garish color, hurting her eyes. Neon yellows combined with bright purples. Hot pink swirled with greens and oranges. Electric blue shot out with lightning streaks of blazing red. She squeezed her eyes shut to try and block out the sights...but she could still see the indelible impressions the colors had made in her mind's eye. The colors flickered and changed ever more rapidly, flashing faster and faster until they seemed to blend into one horrid, painful color... It overwhelmed her. Her eyes flew open, and she looked frantically around for an escape. But she couldn't escape. There was no place to go. The color had overtaken the whole world, a world that was once pure and wholesome... And now it was tainted, corrupted, tarnished... She tried to take deep breaths to calm herself, but her chest was tight, like a big bear were crushing her. She couldn't breathe...she was gasping desperately for air. Her mouth was wide open with the effort, her eyes bulged in terror. But the tornado of swirling color continued to rotate and change in a hideous pattern until she could no longer remember how it had been like in the other world...or even that a different world had ever existed at all... Subj: [ffml] [MW] The Fourth Vision Date: 98-11-19 03:33:45 EST From: Schala She was pierced by an icy blue. The ground was cold to the touch, so cold that it burned. She was lying on her side when she opened her eyes. She didn't feel the cold at first. She simply ran her fingers along the ground, feeling only its smooth texture. Her eyes traveled slowly around, taking in what she could see without moving her head. Then she lay on her back and gazed up. The sky was a soft, clear blue, so clear and bright that it nearly hurt. She saw a frozen river nearby. She stood up and walked to it. Even walking felt strange. She seemed to encounter resistance with every step. She wanted to move faster, but she couldn't. Her feet were bogged down with an unknown weight. Her clothing was pulling her down. It took such a long time to reach her goal... She finally made it to the river. She knelt on its banks and peered into it. Just a little ways down, it became tinted with blue. She could not see any running water below. Was it completely ice? She looked carefully. There were no signs of life -- or of any kind of movement. She stood up and listened carefully. There...she heard it. There was a sound behind her. It was the sound of a river flowing. She walked toward it and found that it had once been a small ecosystem. Grasses about ankle-high grew in clumps along the bank. Every now and then was a taller reed that seemed out of place somehow. But all the plant life was blue -- frozen stiff with it. The north wind failed to move so much as a single blade of grass. She touched a clump of grass. Suddenly she drew back her hand, gasping in surprise and pain. Frozen, each stalk of grass was a sharp knife, honed to an edge by the forbidding cold. She had cut herself on one such stalk. She pulled back her hand and stared at it. Her blood was a thin stream of blue that ran easily from the cut, down her hand, and fell to the ground. It made dark blue spots. She touched her cheek. Her hand was deathly cold, and so was her face. Carefully she knelt down at the edge of the stream, both legs tucked under her. She leaned over and peered into the water. She saw her face, but it was a face she did not know. The skin had a faint blue tint. The lips were a deep shade of blue. The pupils matched the sky. The gently waving hair was pale. It was a face of eternal sadness, of eternal grief. It was a face that knew no happiness. It was a face that showed a hardness through its seemingly gentle countenance. It was a face that did not forgive... The stream flowed pleasantly. Some of the current became more defined, shorter, wavier. A circular whiteness rose up and pushed away the water. It was a man's face, with wavy blue hair. A face that mirrored her own. A face that was identical in expression...and deadness. The man opened his eyes, and she saw they were a steely blue. He rose out of the water as she watched in awe. He was wearing a blue cape that blew around him. He stepped onto the bank and looked down at her, hands on his hips, while she looked up at him. His eyes changed to a dark blue, almost violet, lightened to blue-gray, and finally became their original color again. He abruptly turned and walked a short distance away, along the bank. One hand he kept holding the side of his cape. He stopped and stooped down, caressing a frozen flower with his fingers. His hands wound around the sharp stem. A gentle snap, and the flower was free from the stem. He turned back to her with a flourish and bowed slightly. She stared. He seemed so familiar, and yet, she could not place him. She did not know where he came from, but she felt she should know. He approached her and knelt down on one knee before her. He proferred the flower. She hesitated, afraid to take it. She looked up at him in indecision. Looked into his eyes. Into his begging, pleading eyes. An incredible sadness overcame her. She took the flower, not even wincing as it cut into her skin. He smiled. So did she. She twirled the flower around slowly, ignoring the gouges and slices it was making into her hand. Each frozen petal had captured the beauty of the flower perfectly. The only thing missing from it was...life. He offered his hand to her. She looked and saw he, too, had been cut by the flower. Her head shot up, her eyes met his in concerned surprise. He shook his head and waited. Finally she placed her hand in his. They both stood up. She tilted her head, asking a silent question. He only smiled. They began walking, hand in hand, quietly, peacefully. Off in the distance a palace rose into view. They walked closer. She saw the palace spires rise high into the air, piercing the sky with their sharpness. They were almost there. Suddenly he stopped walking, and so did she. He stood in front of her, put his hands on her shoulders, and held her away at arm's length. He looked deep into her eyes, and she knew without words that she was to stay there, that she must wait for him. He nodded once, very slowly. He continued on toward the palace without her, his cape blowing out toward her, as if it were reaching out to her, begging her to follow. She took a worried step forward. He seemed to detect the movement and swiveled around fiercely. He glared at her, and she fell back, her eyes wide. He walked on again. His figure got smaller and smaller until she could no longer see him. A fanfare rose up at the palace, a celebration so large she could see it from where she was standing. Fireworks that blazed glittering blue trails rose into the air, where they exploded into blue sparks, then died away. Pale flags rose from each tower and waved in the breeze. She almost heard thousands of voices crying joyfully in unison: *He has come home...* The wind blew harder, stronger. It bit into her with sharp coldness. She shivered, waiting and hoping for him to return. She wanted to leave, she too wanted to go home, but she had promised to wait... *Doesn't everyone think of home?...* Dust swirled up. But it wasn't ordinary dust. It was made of minute slivers of ice. One slashed against her cheek. Another flew against her forehead. Tears sprang from her eyes and froze into tiny drops on her cheeks. *Where...where is _my_ home?...* She had the feeling that even if she knew where home was...she could never return there... She heard a loud rumble. She looked towards the palace. It seemed to be dissolving, slowly sinking out of view. She could almost hear the same voices, which had been so happy just a short while ago, now crying out in terror... The same eerie, chilling resistance worked against her as she lifted her feet and took one slow step after another. She was desperate to get to the palace. Somehow, she knew she was not wanted there, but she needed to go there anyway. The wind continued to blow shards of ice around her face like tiny blades. It became colder and colder. Although the strange blue liquid flowed from her many wounds, she was so numbed that she could not feel the pain. The flower fell from her hand. The flower dropped to the ground with an amazing sluggishness, yet at the same time was so fast that she could not catch it. It hit the ground and shattered into a thousand pieces, each piece caught up by the wind and joined by the other millions of tiny blades that made a lethal storm. One tiny piece struck her directly in the heart... She fell to her knees, stunned. For her heart was the only thing that had not been touched by the cold...Her heart still had its warmth, its feeling, its tenderness... And for one brief moment, she knew...For one split second, her memory was whole...and the words came from somewhere in the depths of her soul to grace the freezing atmosphere for a single point in time... "My brother..." The soft words were blown away and scattered, never to be heard by any living soul... Snow began falling. Hard, heavy flakes that had no mercy on whatever they touched. Her hand went to her chest as the pain became acute. She sank to the ground, her head bowed. She shivered uncontrollably for a few minutes. Then her body stopped trembling. She looked up, gazing at the now-empty horizon where the palace had once stood. A half-smile curved her lips slightly. The strength left her body. Any warmth that might have been within her was now a thing of the past. Only an apathetic, emotionless shell was left. The snow continued to fall, joining the icy shards in cutting away at her unfeeling skin. She fell onto her side. But a smile was on her lips even as she felt the growing cold against her cheek...and slowly she closed her eyes. Subj: [ffml] [MW] The Final Vision Date: 98-11-19 11:28:43 EST From: jandoc@hawaii.edu (Schala) Reply-to: ffml@onelist.com To: ffml@onelist.com From: Schala She found herself standing on a vast brown expanse. It stretched out as far as she could see, without any end. She shaded her eyes and looked out at the horizon. There was nothing around her, no landmarks of any kind. Dust swirled up around her feet, almost challenging her, taunting her to follow as it blew off in different directions. She was barefoot. As she stood there looking around, she felt very in-tune with her surroundings. This was her element, where she felt most comfortable in. It was the best feeling she'd ever had. There was something she was feeling, something in the ground where she stood. It was a prickling sensation on the soles of her feet. It was not painful, more like gently shocking. She took a step, and the prickling stopped as soon as she lifted her foot, then started when she touched the ground again. It gave her a strange thrill to feel it, as if she were finally knowing something that had eluded the understanding of people since time began... She began exploring. As she walked, she discovered the shocks seemed to get stronger in one direction, and weaker in another. She continued in the direction where the sensation increased. It became stronger and stronger until she cried out with each new step. She dragged her feet, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to continue. It was calling her, leading her, telling her to find it. And she must. She *must* find it... She finally came to an area where the ground seemed to tremble with the humming. She kept both feet planted firmly on the ground and looked around. There was nothing about this area that distinguished it from the rest. No plant life, no living creatures, and no large inanimate ones, either. But she knew the power was there, for she could feel it. *I would never have known just by looking,* she thought. And it suddenly came to her. She suddenly knew that true power could not be gained by looking for it in the most lavishly decorated of places. True power was hidden in humility, in self-sacrifice. It was hidden in dedication, in perseverance. It was hidden in tenderness, in affection, in love. Everyone had the potential to find their true power...but only very few actually do. Many stray and take the gilded path, thinking it would lead them to glory, not dreaming that it would actually lessen their inner strength and make them slaves to those primal desires... As these thoughts flew through her mind, the ground shook worse. She fell down as the ground in front of her blew open and a huge, hideous, spiked creature burst forth. It had a sharp beaklike mouth that glinted evilly. The creature flew to her and snapped, its jaws stopping just short of her face. Then it drew back, and she stood up again. She faced the monster with her fists and jaw clentched. She stared at it and didn't flinch even as it snapped at her several times. It flew around her, but she had no fear even as she felt the whoosh of the wind it created. Finally it came to a stop in front of her and fell with a heavy thud onto the ground. The creature opened its mouth and screamed at her, a loud wail that blasted her ears and shook the ground. She felt a familiar chill throughout her body. Surely she had heard the scream before... Once, after fighting the Mystic... Second, while fighting Suroos... Third, in the forest... She had heard it, she had felt it, she had even transmitted it through her own mortal mouth...An immortal sound that all feared, and few truly understood... Her head shot up, her eyes widened. The Dreamstone gave out a fierce light as her knowledge and understanding grew and she mentally put together all the jagged pieces of the puzzle. But now it was different. Now, she had one final piece...The gaping hole that she had sought to fill since time began...the enigma she had tried to fathom for so long...was solved. The stones glowed brighter and brighter, responding to her mental processes. They reached blinding proportions and emitted a sound that became ever-more piercing in its tone... And then...they shattered... Her head shot back and she closed her eyes as the fragments blasted out around her. Then, just as quickly, they reformed and began glowing. And the cycle began again, repeating over and over as she thought and finally cleared away the rest of the darkness that had been obscuring her mind for a long, long time. Now she knew! She knew what it was! And in understanding that, she finally knew how to control it.... It was the sound...of Hell...of Power...of the souls that were trapped in neither heaven nor hell...those doomed to remain in limbo until something set them free...the sound of the very heart of the Planet screaming its agony to any who would listen... The pendants shattered one last time...When they came together, they were no longer separate...The re-formed into a new shape. It became the outline of a bird with its wings outstretched. It was so delicately formed it seemed to be the work of a master craftsman. She picked it up and held it in her hands. It began to glow and vibrate and hum. The humming increased, and the pendant screamed, the same sound that the creature had given off... It was the sound...of Lavos... The way to meet your fate is to try your hardest to avoid it. --- Wilma Jandoc aka Enya *ICQ: | "We Immortals can't afford to waste jandoc@hawaii.edu *14710984 | our tears on their brief little nabiki_tendo@geocities.com | lives. We must think of ourselves." http://www2.hawaii.edu/~jandoc | - Masato, http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9800 | "The Mermaid's Scar"