Meeting in the Light (Roka)

by **Chamaeleon** on March 13th, 2012, 5:53 am

Spring 20th, 512 A.V

Location: Riverside Isle Park

After the rage of the storm almost half the season ago, the park looked much better than one would have anticipated. No fallen branches littered the greenery and litter from the city itself was exceptionally low in presence. It could be said the park was untouched by the storm that chewed through Mizahar.

To the opinion of thé young Ethaefal, the park was a beautiful blight upon the landscape and had always been this way since the beginning. She didn't see it before the storm or before the gardener had at it. The park was always like this.

She sat with her legs curled under her beneath the low branches of a tree that still bore the scars where it's arms had been ripped out in places. Her eyes were closed as she absorbed the sunlight peering in the clouds, her harp sitting at her side. A soft hum reverberated from her as she enjoyed herself beneath the cheery glow of her mother dearest.

The sound of some people walking nearby caused the Ethaefal to open one eye, a shard of dark blue appearing under pale lashes as they parted. Sun slanted off of green coils to pattern the bark of the tree and the points of the grass. A long, pale hand reached for the innocuous harp, slender fingers drawing it close as she prepared to play her stumbling song for whomever it was that was walking by upon their business.

She trailed her fingers along the strings, inwardly flinching at the off sound of a wrongly tuned string, but smiling broadly nonetheless. Slowly, deliberately, she picked at several strings, playing notes she didn't know the names of, in the hopes of earning a coin or two. She hummed along as she played, guiding herself to the lullaby she hoped she was creating.

She must have been quite a sight, curled in the grass with a harp at her hand, for the woman and man that walked by halted and stared for a long moment at her.

She didn't say anything as they watched, waiting for something like a kind word or a flash of copper for her coffers.

by **Roka** on March 13th, 2012, 12:29 pm

Taking a break from the chaos that was Sunberth's constant feel, Roka had ventured to greener scenery. He paced beneath the canopy of trees at the parks edge, quiet, soaking in the sounds and smells. The air was cool and crisp, whipping at his face and flinging his hair across his face like black smoke.

Spring was recovering from the beating of the weather it had endured, life sprouted in new buds along the grassy carpet. The park was neatly manicured, almost too much for him. He preferred the natural beauty of patches of wildflowers, thistles and bushes scattered about in a maze of undisturbed harmony. This was a fair enough substitute, if you looked in the right places.

He hadn't been wandering long when his ears were greeted with a chiming rhythm of plucking cords. Curious he followed the sound, until he spotted his search’s aim. A woman, balled in a fair heap of gold and white as the light reflected from her made his eyes squint from the shade of the branches above him. Her soft humming caught his attention next, and oddly enough it was a familiar pitch.

He emerged into the sunlight, feeling the heat of the sun stoke his face, and the wind he'd felt died into a silent hiss over the grass. He could see her better now; her face was smiling like that of a painting he'd noticed in an establishment he'd entered. It was an odd scene.

Now he recognized her, he had encountered her only days before, the beauty with one name. His weakness for beautiful, sweet woman made him smile inwardly, glad to have stumbled upon her.

"Your quite a sight to see." He greeted when within range.

"Are you playing for leisure or for profit?" A smile upturned the edge of his mouth, as he stood before her. Yes, she was quite a sight to see.

by **Chamaeleon** on March 13th, 2012, 5:39 pm

Blue eyes lifted as a male voice sounded out, catching the sunlight and showing facets of pale crystals in her sapphire gaze. Upon seeing the familiar face of a man she met in a grimy alley, she smiled again and allowed her fingers to slow and settle upon the sides of the harp as he addressed her.

"It's a little bit of both, maybe, and something more, Roka," she used his name to show she recognised him from that night. How could she forget? She liked him, for he was kinder than the others, and she loved kind people. "Today is one of those rare days that I find I can look up at the sky and desire to play a song for the Sun. Music is a comfort to me and makes me think of her, and by shouldn't I try for a bit of coin? I might put it to some good use tonight."

She leaned forward to get a better look at him beneath the sun. In her opinion, the sun gave people the appearance of vitality and wholeness, where the moon illuminated people in cool shadows that made them almost surreal in her Symenestra vision. Roka was no different from the norm and she liked seeing the change firsthand.

"Have you come to the park to relax too? Or did you have something else in mind?"

by **Roka** on March 14th, 2012, 2:53 am

Roka sat beside her amid the lawn. The way she spoke was lovely, like a sonnet. It felt nice as he passed the words through his thoughts. Singing to the sun seemed like an odd thing to do, yet it sounded like a wonder to behold.

He crossed his legs, tangling his fingers in the blades of rich grass, and lifted his face with secure eyes to better feel the beating heat of the sun upon his face. A happy sigh left his parted lips.

He fell back into the soft ground, his hair fanning out beneath him. "Just to relax, the city becomes too full at times." He felt more comfortable talking to only her and not a group of people as he had on the evening of their meeting.

He hesitated for a long time feeling the mixture of the sun’s scorching and a dancing wind that would brush across his cheeks and cool his pinking face. He was brought back to a time when he had a family that he called home, and a land he matured in, a place where he was unusually isolated but exceptionally free. He had been searching for a balance for as long as he could remember.

He felt unhindered in this content moment and compelled to ask the soft Symestrian "Chamaeleon...If you had to choose, between freedom and being alone for all your life. What would your choice be?"

OOCDo you plan to change the date here too?

by **Chamaeleon** on March 14th, 2012, 4:07 am

Her eyes closed too as she tilted her face into the sunlight, enjoying the play of wind through her hair just as he seemed to be enjoying. She felt another smile touch her face as she looked down upon Roka, basking in the glow of Chamaeleon's goddess in contentment. She appreciated his enjoyment of the day, it made her feel not so alone.

"Roka, have you ever tried to capture water within your hands?" A roundabout method to answering what must have been a serious question, but nonetheless it was what she associated with freedom and being alone forever. "Or the sunlight?" Her blue eyes glinted as she finally leaned back in the grass, moving her harp to her side first, and allowing her blonde hair to lay as a cushion for her head. The shimmer of gold across her skin continued as she shifted in her position.

"Honestly, Roka, I would prefer to be free and unchained. I want to be like the sunlight, uncatcheable and unholdable, but I wouldn't want to be alone. I lived once in paradise with many of my kind. Losing that closeness was a blow I can not ever forget, and while this place is dull compared to where I once lived, I don't want that to diminish any more than it has."

"I guess, Roka, that I would choose freedom, but I would wish to be chained by companions. Does that make sense?" She didn't look at him. She actually didn't want to see if he thought she was a lunatic or something. She liked Roka and wouldn't have liked to see that judgement.

oocYeah, is the 20th okay?

by **Roka** on March 14th, 2012, 4:38 am

Roka tilted his head to her and peeked through a squinted eye. He liked the way she talked, it was easy for him to realize, and she appeared effortless in explaining it.

He stretched his hand up to the sun; his finger spread wide so that it could filter through onto his face, then closed it into a fist. "Like sunlight..." he like that a lot, to shine freely and brightly like sunlight, touching people with gentle arms, but never being caught and leaving as it pleases. "Yes, I think I would like to be the sunlight." he murmured happily.

It was a comfort to think you could be free and still remain in the company of others. Still a troubling thought ate at him. What if it was impossible though? He'd never gotten too close to anyone, not only in fear of loss, but in fear of bonding. What if he got too close and it became unavoidable. Could he truly be happy living that way?

He thought about her speaking of her race, her family. Maybe they were no so different. Though he wondered what it would feel like to be in the a place full of family, would it feel twice as good and hurt twice as much as how he had felt at the loss of his mother, his only true family?

He turned on his side toward her and propped his head up on his elbow. "What if it's impossible, what if no matter what you did, it would be in your very core to become subservient to another?" His troubles bubbled up and appeared on his face, his brow tensing and his teeth clamping down on his lip.

He had no idea why he was speaking to her about such things; maybe it was just because he felt like she could provide some answer, or at least just a comfort. It was a weakness he felt near sick presenting to someone he hardly knew.

OOCMmmhm that perfect my dear

by **Chamaeleon** on March 14th, 2012, 5:34 am

A shard of blue peered through blonde lashes as Chamaeleon looked at Roka, watching him speak and absorbing the gravity of his situation. She couldn't empathize, not truly because she wasn't going to ever allow herself to be tied down or chained, but she sympathized.

"If one is destined to serve another, and there is no escape, then embrace it and be like sunlight to whoever it is that captures you so they know they trap what should be free." She lifted her hands and reached for the sun, imagining the golden light as the warm arms of Syna reaching to scoop her up and cradle her close. "Even the sun is trapped in the sky, but she rejoices for it allows her to be as one with her love in purpose."

Where did that come from?

Her mind drifted from sun-splintered highs down to the warmth of the earth again as she turned her head and smiled brightly at him. "What are you worried about, Roka? I think you are strong, and freedom is in your destiny, I am sure of it."

by **Roka** on March 14th, 2012, 11:07 am

Roka felt surprised by her sentiments, and he observed the sky as if to examine the truth in it. He'd never viewed it in that approach, but it was a lovely thought that filled his chest so that it felt tight.

Maybe if it was a relationship such as that, like the Sun's relationship with the sky, then he could live with it. He allowed himself to imagine feeling love for another and them feeling love for him, and in that he could bond himself to them, and feel content to follow them, not out of nature but out of love.

A smile dancing over his lips; for the first time he wanted to meet his sky.

Gold eyes traced her face as she continued. She really did look like she was beaming, like the sun took special favor in her being. He felt lucky to behold such a sight.

"Freedom is something that I've fought for, I've been running from anything that could chain me down for so long, but in this most unlikely city I find I'm making more connections than I ever have in my previous travels. I feel this place hard to leave, and I feel it becoming harder to out run who I am. I just want to know that I'll have a say in how my life turns out." His voice was a quiet monotone as it spoke. His finger ripped at the grass nervously. He had never spoken of this to anyone before, it was a bit embarrassing doing so, but she was just very easy to converse with.

by **Chamaeleon** on March 15th, 2012, 2:33 am

"We all have a say, Roka," Chamaeleon murmured gently. "Even those in tethers have the choice of what to make in their lives." She closed her eyes for a long moment as a breeze trailed across the grass. It was amusing how such a peaceful sanctuary could be found in a city rife with corruption. It was paradise to lay in a park and absorb the healthy glow of the sun with no one making threats.

When she opened her eyes she looked again at Roka, meeting his yellow gaze and smiling slightly. "Perhaps you were meant to come to Sunberth and meant to be bound here? Maybe it is in Sunberth that your heart feels like it can be tied down, and your body caged by your own love."

Chamaeleon liked this pleasantness she and Roka shared in this moment. It was that rare peace that escaped the other citizens of Sunberth that they were currently enjoying. There was no peace like this in Syliras, where the knights urged everyone to participate in the rebuilding of a wounded citadel. It was ironic that the corrupted city run by anarchists should offer the Ethaefal and her current companion some relaxation.

"No one should run away from themselves. Who knows you better than you, afterall?" She stretched out slowly and reached across the short distance to poke him in the forehead. "If your destined to be tied to someone, then make sure you love them first and don't fight. Don't fight, or you'll never be happy."

by **Roka** on March 15th, 2012, 4:03 am

Roka's nose scrunched up, even in the soothing words, he couldn't help but feel terrified by belonging to anything. It was such a deep rooted fright, it made him unreasonable. He did feel improved, however, the knots in his intestines loosening their strangling grip.

A wide smile touched his face as she poked at him; a smile that bared teeth and crinkled his eyes, his lungs sung a throaty laugh. She was right, but he still had to figure out what that meant he had to do. Would he really just lie down and permit things happen as they may? He wasn't definite he was even capable of undertaking that.

"Chamaeleon..." Roka leaned frontward, he wasn't thoughtful, and he felt nimble and only let his actions take form as they happened. He did what was in an animal’s nature to do in showing affection. His face inched towards her, and he pressed his nose to hers feathery light. A smile tugged on his mouth revealing a single dimpled cheek. Backing away a little to look her deep sapphire eyes he added in a whisper "Thank you."

He lay back in the grass, thinking nothing of his actions, not that it would be odd or too intimate. He just basked in the day listening to the birds, chatting within the trees.