Whether to Weather the Weather: part 2 (Alori)

[Lavira]

Timestamp: Fall 19, 513

Third Bell

Gods, not again!

She was falling, the rush of the wind around her sweeping over her naked body and through her loose hair. She could smell the release of volcanic gases rushing up from the crack below to embrace her, consume her, smother and kill her and send her off like so many before to Dira waiting with her dark and ugly arms to sweep her away into oblivion.

She screamed, her body shaking and torn, her side sending rivers of blood up to the cliff she had fallen from. No, she had not fallen, she had been pushed! The teen twisted in the air and looked back to the cliff far above to see the figure even from here she heard laughing. Taunting. His horrible face a sneer and covered partly by that of another woman, far more beautiful than she.

And oh how she loathed them in their beauty and their perfection, for she was not perfect. Lavira was ugly with her empty-staring eye and her ruined side. She was not worthy of such a man. "Garren!!" She wailed in dismay, watching with sheer horror and disgust as he turned to the woman who snaked about him. Vira realized that they too were nude and as she watched, her heart filled with pain, a jealous pain to see that awful Akalak not only thrust his tongue into that too-beautiful woman's mouth, but thrust himself inside her and rut like dogs upon the cliff, all the while staring down at her.

And she screamed, a wail of agony as she felt the world below rushing to greet her. It swarmed like bees upwards on the wings of eagles clawed at her. It broke her and rended her, gutting her from behind and spraying her insides across the ground below. She felt herself spinning though she was certain she had hit the ground by now, and saw the horrific display. Her stomach was in the maw of a wolf that seemed to disappear into the background while her intestines were being fought over by some kind of freaky weasel. Her liver and kidneys were being gnawed upon by what looked like some kind of malicious snake with a massive head and endless body.

And she screamed again.

Vira was shaking against Mohya so violently that she had actually pulled one of the eagles feathers out, it clutched in her hand. Her mouth was open in an unheard scream that had at some point left her lungs empty and her lips blue. Her whole body was locked into a fetal position, muscles tight save for the violent trembling that rippled across her skin.

It was Mohya's voice desperate in the young womans mind that tried to rouse her, but her rider was trapped inside the nightmare moreso than usual and was not rousing to the eagles maternal carress. The bird was forced to call upon the other. Her mind reached forth with a shout if Alori was not already aware of it.

~Alori, wak up, girl. I cannot rouse her!~

[Alori Sai]

Alori had fallen asleep not too long after Lavira. She had gotten used to sleeping on the ground, but with the icy cold, it wasn't as easy. The cave that she had once lived in was positioned right under a lava pit which had warm spots inside to keep her from freezing in the winter. But there was no heat to be found here besides that which Mohya offered. It took her a while to fall asleep, but no sooner than the teen had given up had she drifted off into the world of dreams.

The little huntress found herself in a familiar scene, a familiar dream that she had a few times before. Alori stood inside her room, tan linens covering parts of her body and her bare feet upon the floor. She stared out the window, looking to the horizon where the faded gray trees met with the glowing fire in the sky. Alori remembered that day, the day that had changed everything in her life and it all felt so real. She could feel the warmth of the light on her skin and even the floor beneath her feet. She remembered and she could still hear his voice.

"You know what you have to do.."

"Strike a blow against them..."

"Release your fire.."

The tiny Avora remembered it all as if it had just happened. But there was something different. She didn't feel as she did then and the unwavering desire to claim what she wanted was no longer there. Instead she felt sorrow, as if she were being forced to do something that she didn't want to do. Warm tears rolled down her pale cheeks as she stared into the distance. Alori felt her heart thumping inside her chest, and a rising heat, almost overwhelming as it covered her body. The choice had already been made, and she knew there was nothing she could do to change it.

The voice continued to repeat inside her mind even as the tears dripped from her chin and dropped onto her shirt. Alori glanced back at Skye, the gyrfalcon resting on his perch waiting for her to pay him attention, though he wouldn't like what she asked of him. Another voice spoke suddenly, a female voice, and one that she knew. It took her a moment to remember, but as she did, Alori remembered the real world and the dream that she was in disappeared at once.

Blinking a bit, the teen sat up and noticed Lavira twitching as if she were in pain. "Hey, Lavira? Hey, are you ok?" The woman's last words came back to her then, and she recalled her saying something about nightmares. "Hey, it's me, Alori. Lavira?" moving closer, she wrapped her arms around the woman and squeezed her tightly. "Come on, it's just a dream. Wake up."

x

[Lavira]

There was such unbelievable pain she was not sure she could make it and far above, yet in plain sight, that wretch of a man continued to pound away at the too-pretty girl, sneering down upon she who lay crushed upon the mountainside far below while beasts ate her alive.

And where was Kovac? Where was he in all his kindness and his love? Why wasn't he here helping her now! She felt no anger at him for somewhere deep down, the teen knew this was really just an awful dream. Yet, it did not make it any less awful.

She screamed, feeling her heart flutter in her chest, the looming presence of death swimming its way to her on wings of black growing and growing and she was sure that at any moment, she would succumb. That was when the world began to shake and swirl into fire as something rang in her ears like an explosion. Everything began to fall away and Vira felt her body torn asunder once more as the beasts were destroyed and the world was lit in the raging inferno of a god released and sh-

-flung her eyes open, gasping for breath. For a moment, her single eye would not focus. It saw only the ruin of the world and the destruction of herself in the infidelity of that purple man and whore he had taken. She felt only the agony of three days in that pit and the fear that something was sure to come before dear sweet Iosha could get her out.

And then, Alori's face floated into focus and a different sense of horror overcame her. The girls face contorted in anxious agony and she rolled pained away from the ginger, paused as she laid on her side then hastened to get to her feet. She stumbled hastily away from Alori and Mohya both (the giant eagle looking upon them both with the same fret she carried when seeing her rider like this) and to the edge of the cave where ice slicked the ground and hung in heavy spears from the ceiling-entrance. Vira bent over and placed her hands on her knees and heaved and heaved, the light meal they had managed earlier emptied onto the ground now. Bile burned at her throat and when it finally ended she straightened, sucking wind with both hands pressing into the ruin of her side, shivering and closing her eyes.

~Are you alright, Lavira?~

Mohya's mind in hers, queerying gently while the bird urged Alori with a light touch of her beak to the other teens shoulder.

But Vira did not immediately respond, staying straightened and quivering at the entry, tears streaking her face in silence as she tried to ride out the horror of the dream in the waking world, let it slide into her subconscious and leave her waking self be.

[Alori Sai]

"Is she always this hard to wake?" Alori asked glancing up at the giant eagle. Lavira was having a nightmare, that much was clear, but she wouldn't wake. Alori shook her gently, not wanting to be too rough and startle the teen. It happened anyway, without or without her help. Lavira woke, glared at her and rushed away. Alori sat still, eyes wide in mild surprise. It was as if Lavira didn't even know her.

Are her nightmares always this bad? I understand nightmares but...I don't know what to do.

She silently hoped the Wind eagle had an answer as she sat there and watched the young Endal stumbled away from them. But instead of an answer, all she received was a nudge forward. The teen almost tipped over but got her hands down before she did. Alori pushed herself up and slowly moved towards Lavira again, hoping the woman wouldn't snap on her.

"Hey, it's okay it was just a dream."

This time she only placed a hand on her shoulder, not wanting to get hit if she got to close. The little huntress looked back to the eagle again, hoping she had more to add, or something to break the new ice that had formed. "Uh...Lavira, you're gonna get sick, let's go back where it's warm ok?"

x

[Lavira]

As the throb that was usually a present spike and not searing stab finally began to recede, Vira tilted her head back down and looked out at the post-midnight world. The trees were heavy with ice and the night-sounds of animals had long since fallen silent. It was as if the mountains were waiting too for the storm to abate.

When a hand settled on her shoulder, she flinched a little, but turned towards the face, pensive and unsure. Her eye had the weepy look of the troubled but she did not try to dump it all out there. Wiping another bit of spit and bile from her lips she rubbed the goo off on the side of her bryda after flicking the most of it away. "Yes, I'm fine." She said quietly, allowing the other hunter to guide her back and settling down heavily. "S'not so hard to wake usually..." As if sensing what the pair had thought. "I haven't gotten used to all of this yet, I guess."

Once down, Vira would lean on Alori in a show of acceptance for her concern. "I hope I didn't frighten you too much. Kovac bout pee'd himself the first time he saw. Thought I was having a heart attack, myself, when they first started for how bad they were. They used to be really bad, truth be told. Usually the same, but elements of reality have started joining in. Makes them worse." The teen shuddered in stress then before looking to the Avora. "What about you, Alori? You ever had something so bad happen it just...just haunted even your sleep?"

[Alori Sai]

Alori thought about her last words as she looked at the bile on the floor. The Avora had said that the teen might get sick, but looking at the floor, she was already there. Turning her head away from it, she gave the Wind eagle a worried look. It was so sudden and having just waken up, the teen wasn't at her best. Once Lavira was ready to go, she was glad to move away from the icy winds and head back towards their comfort zone.

"D-don't worry about it. Let's get you warmed up."

She was glad to be back in the eagles warm fur, and she could really feel the difference. Alori sat down, pushed tightly against the eagle and wrapped her arms around Lavira. They were seeing each other at their worse possibly, though more Lavira than Alori. Still she too was having trouble and the truth was they needed each other more now than before. The teen gently combed her fingers through her friend's hair and listened to what she had to say.

"No, I'm ok. I just didn't know what was going on. Mohya kinda freaked me though when she woke me up."

Alori could tell that the teen was hurting from something, that much she could see without the use of her gnosis mark. The last question she asked surprised the little huntress and she wasn't sure what to say. She couldn't tell her the truth, not even hint at it. Turning her head away, Alori looked out into the night where she could make out nothing but darkness beyond the trees. "No, I guess not. I mean...I've had..troubles but..it's nothing."

x

[Lavira]

Vira had enough perception to know that the other woman could tell some experience in her own young live haunted her, but she did not want to say. The Endal would not push the matter, if Alori ever did want to say,she would be able to and Vira told herself she would not judge. "Okay..." She said, hugging into the other girl and ducking her head down with eyes closed. There was still several bells to dawn, they may as well try and get some more sleep.

------------------------------

Morning came gold and frozen and Vira peeked out through the feathers that blanketed her and Alori, Mohya dozing above them. The dreary sight that greeted her was not nice. The winds had picked up at some point after they'd awoken earlier, as had the rains.

The teen grabbed her katinu and pulled it around her, glad that it had finally dried enough to wear. She moved to the coals of the fire and moved a hand in close to see if there was any heat left, but it had died at some point after she had at least fallen asleep. Grabbing a new log and stripping some kindling from it, she set to work striking the flint and bringing it back to flame before moving to the entry to look out, shivering, at what awaited them.

"No way we're flying in that..." She muttered, beholding just how bad it was.

Smokey waters lay just to the south, but the mists that usually consumed the death-zone were nowhere to be seen, only a bare swath of ground with bones and creeping tendrils of steam from cracks in the rockface. The winds were so intense that they were blowing the mists away before they could build up to the dangerous covering that so often trapped other creatures, leading them to starvation. It was a rare sight and one Vira could not be in awe at for long.

The rest of the pine forest that lay beneath the ledge of the cave had been turned blue-white with the weight of ice from the branches. Whenever the wind gusted, branches snapped beneath the force and fell crashing to the ground. The smell of moisture and broken would abounded and on the ledge outside their cavelet, ice three inchest thick clung to the stone. Icicles that were more like spears hung from the eaves at the cave lip, tinkling quietly in the unforgiving wind. The clouds above were still thick and dark, laden with more rain. It was very unpleasant.

Just outside the cave entrance, a large lump covered in ice could be seen. It was about the size of that weird wolf that had came to seek shelter with them but through the ice, it was hard to see just what it was. "Hey, Alori? Come look at this. Can you make out what it is?" She called back over her shoulder, staring at the icy mound in mute interest.

[Alori Sai]

Alori was glad that Lavira didn't press her for answers, she truly was. There was nothing she could say, no part of the story that she could tell the teen that wouldn't put them both in danger. It would have turned into another argument and the two had just made up from the first. Smiling, she hugged her friend back and closed her eyes. There was nothing else to do but sleep.

There were no dreams that night, the Avora couldn't reach the proper level of sleep to dream. She awoke again and again, only to reposition her arms and legs, before going back to sleep. She awoke a final time that morning after Lavira moved away and took with her the blanket of heat that she had felt on her left throughout the night. Alori rose slowly, taking a peek at the sleeping Wind eagle. It was the first time that she had ever seen one asleep before, and there was a feeling inside that she couldn't explain.

Alori slipped out of the eagle's warm feathers to check her clothing. All of her garments were dry enough and she quickly dressed herself fully, looking to find the extra warmth. After dusting off her katinu, the teen slipped into it and moved closer to the new fire Lavira had created. There was a dull ache in her back and in her legs from sleeping on the ground in the same position all night and she hoped the feeling would go away once her body woke up.

She looked up after hearing Lavira's comment about the weather and how they were still trapped inside the cave. The little huntress sighed, thinking what a waste it had all been to go out as they had. Perhaps she had been wrong to think so, but the teen imagined that having a wind eagle would have made the hunting a lot easier. Thanks to the bird they were both still alive, but Alori didn't know what they were supposed to do now.

Finally she made her way over to where Lavira stood, looking out into the opening at the large lump covered in ice. If it was the wolf, it looked even bigger up close than it had that night, and that was eerie enough. "I can't tell. You think it's that wolf? I thought it had run off."

x

[Lavira]

"I dunno, it might be." She replied, tucking her hands into her armpits and frowning deeply. Going out into the steady rain would mean pneumonia, but neither of them knew how long they were going to be stuck in the cave. The storm didn't look like it was going to let up any time soon and the ice was just getting thicker. Even now, Vira could hear trees breaking under the weight of the ice, tension in the branches simply making them collapse and fall in a loud and tinkling clamor.

"Too much work to try and salvage it if it is...petch it's cold." She shivered, finally moving away from the entry and slipping her arm into Alori's to pull her away from there too. "We need to get more wood, too, if we're going to keep a fire all day and maybe tonight." Her eye turned to Mohya, the giant bird watching the two of them with that natural 'glare' birds of prey seemed to possess, though it wasn't actually a glare. "Unless there's something in here that might burn." She shivered against the other huntress, teeth chattering and her eyes shutting to keep them moist.

"I hate to say it, but I honestly don't have a plan at this point. What do you think we should do, Alori?"

[Alori Sai]

A bitter wind reached into the cave as the teens stood by the opening. Morning had come and the storm continued on it's path to freeze everything in it's path. Alori had been hopeful, thinking that it would let up soon and they could be on their way, but she was wrong. It was about survival now and the two were stuck in the cave. Shivering, she moved away from the opening along with Lavira to find warmth in the back of the cave.

"There might be something we can use. I hope." She hugged Lavira tighter, trying to form more warmth between them as they waited and planned. "I'm gonna look, ok?" Alori moved away and started to search the cave, hoping that maybe someone had used it before and left spare wood behind. It was a far stretch, but she was desperate for anything at the moment. She picked up a few sticks, things that had been blown in from the winds, but not enough to make a good fire. "I guess we wait, and if this keeps up...we will have to take a chance and go out."

Alori put what she had besides the fire and moved back to sit with Lavira, where she huddled under Mohya's body. She smiled at them both before leaning against Lavira and resting against her shoulder. "So..what do you talk about when you're hunting and stuff?"

x