Fall From Grace To Darkness (Solo Flashback)

[Xavior Silhouette]

Winter 39 500AV “Bright, so bright. What is that which blinds me? Faces, voices, what are they?” The dot, which appeared on the moon’s surface seemed to slowly descend across its face. “Could it be the sun, or have I gone blind? I don’t remember,” Xavior’s hand was brought to his face to push against his eyes. When the clearing hand moved away from his face, he was met with the same blinding light as before. A roar filled his ear and only added to his disorientation. The sensation of weightlessness slowly crept up his body as he began to come to his senses. The bright, white light began to fade and gain color to it. The roar in his ears softened to a voice, almost as if he had been transported. “Its okay, I’ll catch you.” A sultry, excited, familiar voice called to him. He recognized the voice but couldn’t place a name or even a face to it. “You’ll catch me?” His voice rang through the air, “How do I know I can trust you?” A chuckle, “What are you talking about silly? Just fall back, you do trust me right?” Xavior wasn’t sure he trusted anything, “Whats the matter, you don’t trust your own fiance?” The question made Xavior stumble upon the low stump he stood upon. He felt his body fall backward as he lost balance. “I got you sweet Sha--” Xavior felt impact, though it was far from the warm, soft, embrace he had expected. The water felt like soil as his bare back slammed into the still water. He was ripped out of the scene and was greeted by the sky, full of stars and the celestial body that was the moon. Chrystal like tendrils arched to the heavens before they began to make a move back toward the olive colored body that disturbed it’s slumber. He realized, he no longer walked in the heavenly body. The water spread wide from his body’s weight before it collapsed in with great force. His ears rang from the crash of water, which slowly recovered to the sound of bubbles as they drifted in the water. Time seemed to slow as the Ethaefal’s body began to drift into the darkness of the water. “Why was I brought back? Did I do something wrong, why Leth would you curse me to the realm of mortals?” He thought to himself beginning to feel an anger well up inside him, though he didn’t know why. Leth always has a purpose, he loved him like son to a father.His eyes closed as he drifted in suspended animation and shock. His hands moved to explore his body or was it his body? Unfamiliar hands traced over the slightly, wash boarded, tummy and up to his smooth chest. His fingers groped himself more out of disbelief than anything else He began to panic as he held his breath, “No, no I don’t want this.” The salty water whisked away a tear, “I should stay, drown in the sea and let my soul reach the horizon where it can reunite with you Leth.” “No!” A voice echoed in his head. He watched the bubbles that caught the moon’s light and began to twist and contort into another scene. “No, Shadow you can not die like this,” The bubbles formed into the image of two ziths He recognized the feminine voice, in fact everything seemed so familiar as he drifted within the cold embrace of the ocean; spectator to the scene of suicide. One of the Ziths, held a dagger in hand. The silvered tip pressed against the skin of his chest. The other Zith’s arm extended to stay the man’s wrist. “Why not, she might as well have shoved the blade in herself!” The zith cried loudly, voice filled with passion and rage. “She was with child, and then she left me--” “Shut up you fool. Drop the blade Shadow.” The other zith, more feminine in looks, but with an obvious strength that matched Shadow’s own. Her muscles flexed and strained as it was clear to Xavior, Shadow was still fighting to end his life. Xavior felt his own arm flex and grip just above his heart now as a pain so thick drove through it. Perhaps it was asphyxia, or maybe the emotion he felt was so great it effected his own. “Please brother, drop the blade. I don’t want to lose you, over a girl no less,” her arm wavered with Shadow’s own until finally the blade dropped. Shadow seemed to wilt and curl into a pitiful ball. He cried and sobbed as the other zith reached over to push the blade away from him. She jumped when Shadow’s arm snapped to grab her own. The crying had stopped abruptly as those, black eyes looked up at the woman. “Please Razor, forgive me.” Razor’s arms flexed as she pulled Shadow up to his feet. Shadow wiped his face and soon composed himself. His wings flexed and stretched behind his strong back as he gave Razor a heavy hug. Shadow walked away from Razor wings spread in preparation for flight. “Where are you going?” She asked curiously. Xavior looked over his shoulder, “Where I always go, to forget.”

[Xavior Silhouette]

The bubbled image of Shadow dissolved into black and left Xavior to see the look of sadness and concern on Razor’s face. She too seemed to dissolve and left Xavior alone in the suffocating embrace of cold, inky, water. It was then he realized, he couldn’t die now. He had been given a new chance to amend whatever it was that landed him back on the mortal realm. He orientated himself as he found the moon’s guiding light. He frantically began to swim toward it. He felt the burn in his chest as the need for air grew. Painfully, his lungs worked hard to suck in air through the tightly clenched lips. His eyes drifted to the moon, its light overwhelmed him again. Suddenly he felt a firm punch to the side of his face. He felt off balanced a moment as hell to the side and felt the cold, dirty, wooden floor. “I know what you did with Mareska, we all know you killed her.” A male’s voice echoed off the dimly lit walls of the tavern. “I don’t know...what you are talking about.” Xavior hissed in return as he attempted to pick himself back up. Another kick to his ribs sent him back to the floor. A heavy pressure pressed against his back as the soul of someones’ boot dug into his spine. “Don’t give us that!” Another voiced called, “Yeah, we knew you couldn’t be trusted, filthy Ziths!” Xavior attempted to struggle out from under the man’s foot, but found his movements to be sluggish. The room perpetually tilted to the side, his vision impaired. It was then he realized, he was drunk, very drunk. Being called a Zith struck him as odd, he wasn’t a zith, at least not now. The man’s voice from before manifested next to his ear, “We know you killed her because she left you. You vanished two nights ago drunk as Hai. Where were you Shadow?” “Shadow?” Xavior’s brow furled questioningly. “I am not Shadow,” he protested, which earned him another bone crunching slam to his ribs. He felt a searing pain roll up his spine when one of his ribs yielded to the kick. “You liar, we know you went after her. You slaughtered her and left her in the forest to rot, with your own child in her!” Another slam to the side of his chest, then a volley of slams began to rain down on his body. The viscious drunks unleashed their hatred on Xavior. The pain grew from singular spikes, to an all over throb as he was beaten to a pulp. He felt someone pull a dagger and slice the membrane of his wings to ribbons. “Wings?” Xavior brought his hands up to protect his face. His eyes were met with the fuzzy texture of navy blue fur and long ebony talons. “I am Shadow? Gah, this pain!” It was so great, the beating went on for what seemed like days but was only minutes. Xavior felt rage run through his body, “Monsters,” he managed to choke out.

[Xavior Silhouette]

He could taste blood in his mouth as his lungs were punctured. He felt himself being turned over on his back. The blood turned the wood a darker brown as his wings at some point were completely cut off. They were thrown at him by someone, “Hold your wings.” Xavior couldn’t move his arms to embrace them. The men chuckled at this, laughed at the pain he was in. Another man came over him and dug his blade into the flesh of his chest. The blade had already been stained with innocent blood, only fed more as he sliced a large X into the chest. “Lets scratch him out boys?” The man yelled, which garnered a collective cheer. Xavior, dazed from drunkeness and pain, felt his body being roughly pulled along the rough floor. The coarse wood scraped at the meat of his wing stubs. Xavior wished at that time he’d pass out from the pain. However, he wasn’t blessed with such an act of mercy. Soon he could smell the scent of soil, which turned to clumps of mud from his tainted crimson. Before he knew it, a rope landed around his neck. Like a constricting snake he felt it tighten around his flesh. It tightened more and more as his body was hoisted up. Soon his talons that adorned his feet scratched across the earth’s surface. The pressure on his neck restricted his air as he hung suspended from a tree. A pool of burly men surrounded his body as it twisted at the end of the rope. He couldn’t fight as he was slowly suffocated. His ears were ringing as his sight began to blur. Xavior’s body burned with a desperate need. He almost wished to feel their blades once more instead of the slow torture at the end of the rope. Something flew into his vision from the right, but he couldn’t focus on it. He could faintly hear the sounds of men protesting and the sickening sound of claws as they tore through flesh. “He’s innocent, let me through!” Razor called at the crowd as she fought her way through it. “Michael, he is the one you want. He killed her for the money!” Ravor shouted as she finally made it to her brother. Xavior could feel his life as it slipped away, Razor’s arrival was to late. “Brightness, so bright. Why?” Xavior’s head soon breached the surface of the ocean. He began to suck in the air and coughed as the droplets of salt water stung his throat and lungs. His legs kicked and kept him afloat as he caught his breath. A mix of emotions, he looked to the sky and yelled. His voice carried across the ocean hopeful to the point where ocean meets sky. “What is my purpose in being left with these monsters, damn them to Hai!” Xavior’s arm slammed into the water’s surface in anger. “Haven’t I suffered enough?” Xavior felt his mood quickly turn from blind fury, to sadness. “I don’t want to live with these monsters. What have I done Leth to warrant such a cruel torture of life?” Xavior shivered as his tears merged with the salt on his face. He felt his body as it grew tired. He began to look around for something to rest on. Off to one side, was the horizon, the place where ocean meets heaven. He kicked and turned his body in the surf and was greeted with a shoreline. He began to flail his arms in an attempt to swim to shore. When he found his uncoordinated flails was not moving him, he began to synchronize his strokes. “Am I supposed to love you after this Leth?” He thought to himself, “I do not see how I can forgive you.” He continued to swim as the shore began to grow larger, “Why do I feel guilt for admitting that? Give me a sign Leth, please I don’t want to stop loving you.” He breathed hard, hard enough to move the water in front of his mouth. He continued for a half hour until he could make out figures at the shore line. Bright dots could be seen, like fireflies, near them. “Are those monsters? Should I swim somewhere else?” He thought to himself as he continued his journey. He felt a cold shiver run up through his back, though a normal body function, Xavior felt like it was a nudge from Leth. “Over here! We saw you fall!” The group called from the shoreline. “Is that it then Leth? You want to show me that monsters can be good? No, I refuse to believe that...”

[Legion]

Thread Award Xavior: Skills: Swimming +3 Lore: Zith Past Life, Ethaefal’s Fall Consequence & Commentary: Excellent and creative interpretation of ethaefal race lore. I see you’ve corrected the past life gender issue and appreciate that. You’re going to rock this race. Feel free to hit me up with any questions or concerns regarding your award and/or the ethaefal race as a whole. Colombina is the ultimate authority on the race, but I’m pretty well versed in it myself.

[Xavior Silhouette]

Dang, you did that fast. Thank you Legion. I was still fixing pacing haha! Glad I can add some Xp and lores to my page.

Once again thank you,

X.S