Completed Sun and Sea and Sky (Solo)

Orin takes some time for reflection

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A vast city of soaring towers, spirals, and platforms, Abura is the home of the Akvatari. [Lore]

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Sun and Sea and Sky (Solo)

Postby Orin Fenix on September 9th, 2015, 4:06 am

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Morning, 1st of Fall, 515AV


Even in the most unfamiliar of surroundings, a farner's son would keep to certain rituals. Especially a son who would be beaten if he didn't follow them. So Orin rose with the coming of dawn, as he had every day since he was a child. It wasn't as if his nights had anything to fill them, but his mornings still did. Life of Abura seemed much more laconic than it did back in Syliras and Orin didn't know if he liked it or not. Not having as much to fill his time left him with nothing but his thoughts, which was a mixed blessing.

Alone, stripped of everything but the clothes on his back, he made his way to the nearest shore and settled into the sand. He didn't look back, to see his footprints stretching along and leading into the fantastic and eclectic city that was Abura. No, Orin kept his focus strictly in front of him, trying as he always did to live in the present and not dwell in the past. Still, there was a storm churning inside of him, one that belied the endless blue of the untamed sky. Although thinking of it that way wasn't quite true anymore, since Orin had come to the land where the inhabitants slid from sea to sky with ease. But for Orin, it still held mystery and power, even when calm.

One aspect of Abura that he was quickly growing accustomed to was the quiet. It wasn't silent, not at all. Even this early, strains of music drifted faintly and the city seemed to breathe as soft voices and the sounds of people eating, sleeping, loving were carried on the wind. But, perhaps because of its openness compared to the stone corridors of Syliras, those noises seemed comforting rather than the bold and brash ones of the fortress city. It was similar to the Akvatari themselves. Although Orin still had little contact with them, they usually lived in their own worlds, but still made room for others as they came and went from each others' lives. But they never pushed, never intruded, tried not to leave a mark unless you let them in. That lack of scrutiny was an enormous difference. In Syliras, which was much more crowded, there always seemed to be someone watching Orin's every move. And, knowing what he did of the Order, they probably were. Here, he could go for days without seeing another soul if he didn't want to, but he knew they were there in a lovely way, kind of the same as the background buzz of the city only being really audible if he paid attention to it.

Orin scrutinized the landscape in front of him, staring off into the distance where sea met sky. All the colors of dawn unfolded in front of him, in soft peaches, vibrant oranges and the remaining blues of the night. At least dawns here and in Syliras were the same.

A lot has happened in just the season he'd left. At least, that's what it felt like. And yet, this sea was the same one that touched the shores of his old home, the same sky stretched endlessly overheard. And the same sun poked its cautious way up from over the horizon, reaching out with the first tentative tendrils of day. It bathed Orin and he closed his eyes, letting the world fall away as he did.

Perhaps Orin was a new man, to match this new life he led. But some habits died hard, and some traditions continued through the ages unchanged for a reason. Orin didn't think anyone out there was listening to him, but these words were as much for him as they were for beings who he knew he'd never see. "As always I offer thanks to Leth, for guiding us safely through the night, and to Syna who brought us another day."

Usually that's where he stopped but something inside him prompted him to expand upon his usual simple but profound prayer. "I wonder if you two ever think about simply running off to be together. To leave the world in darkness and not care. To lose yourself in your love, which ensures through the hardest of separations. If, in these fleeting moments of time you have together, dawn and dusk, where the world stands balanced on a blade, you are tempted to throw it all away for each other." He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them as his thoughts slowly turned over and the waves lapped up against the beach below. "I wouldn't blame you if you did and I doubt anyone would." Smiling, but sadly, Orin dropped his head, resting it on his forearms. "You're stronger than I, to resist that. I'm not even strong enough to confront my own doubts. I flee from them like rats from a sinking ship. So, though I'm well aware that I'm too lowly to merit your attention, I'm trying to make up for it if others don't give you the credit you deserve." Opening his eyes, squinting against the light, Orin saw that day had claimed dominion over night. Leth had slipped away to wherever he went when his beloved showed her face to the world.
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Last edited by Orin Fenix on September 9th, 2015, 1:52 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Sun and Sea and Sky (Solo)

Postby Orin Fenix on September 9th, 2015, 4:07 am

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Religion had never been one of Orin's strong suits. It wasn't that he didn't believe in what the gods and goddesses stood for, because he did. But he felt that he lacked zeal, the seemingly burning desire that some people he knew had. And organized services baffled him. Somehow he had a hard time believing that the deity cared about these stylized shows of supposed worship. They'd stuck Orin as unnecessary and counterproductive to what he thought religion should be, a way for people of all walks of life to get closer to the gods they believed in.

But for all that, Orin had faith of a kind. He had trouble expressing it clearly at times. And he knew that if his chosen goddess examined his history, he'd almost certainly fail to hold up to her standard. But he clung to his tenuous connection with Priskil, as he saw it, despite never receiving a sign that he was on the right path. Never having received instruction on the formal ways to approach her, if such ways even existed, Orin muddled along as best he knew how. Lying back, sliding the fingers of his hand together, Orin took deep breaths until he felt he was ready.

Once again, awkward as it seemed, Orin spoke aloud, knowing it fell on deaf ears. "Radiance. Hope. Vigilance. Light. I don't really know what all those encompass. I haven't the learning to decipher it. Nor do I feel I am pure enough at heart to understand it as it probably should be understood. All I have is what I believe in my heart to be true. That you are the candle burning in the dark to light the way home. The lighthouse in the storm illuminating the dangers to sailors. The notion that you always have to guard against dangers both seen and unknown. And, in my mind at least, the most important one of all, the idea that you gotta believe that tomorrow will be, has to be, better than today, and if not, then you'll make it so." He let himself trail off, simply letting even the echoes of his words subside. Not that he expected a response but even in a one sided conversation it seemed polite to give someone a chance to respond.

"I know that I have pain within me. That, somewhere, deep down under all that the world sees, I'm broken in ways that I don't quite grasp yet." His hand moved towards his hair, a nervous tic he'd never been able to cure himself of. Still, it settled him somewhat, helped him focus in some way . "But maybe that's a good thing. You know, I can take the broken pieces and fix them up into something new, become a better person." He paused, then proceeded in a whisper. "There's a part of me, a pretty big part, that knows that isn't going to happen. In my bones, my dad would probably say." It hurt to admit that, even to the empty air. But this was one of the few moments of honesty he could steal from the world. "But that doesn't stop me from trying anyway. And isn't that kind of the point? To succeed against impossible odds?" A breeze sprang up, carrying the smell of the ocean to his nose. It curled around his body, caressing him like a lover, not that he knew what that felt like, before moving on. It seemed as good a symbol as any that he should wrap up his business here and move on to the day's work.

Standing up and brushing the sand off, though he could never get all of it, Orin drew the mannerisms that kept him functioning to him like a cloak. Before he resumed them completely, though, he had a few more words. "If you're out there, Priskil, I appreciate you listening to these inane ramblings of mine. I bet you feel pretty silly sometimes, listening to supplicants. I don't even need you to listen to me. It's enough to know you might be."

With that Orin turned and started walking slowly back to the city. He slipped on the mask, the cheerful and awkward cook that was all he let most people see. It wasn't quite an act, but it was only one part of what Orin was, the least painful part, the easiest one to live with, and what people expected to see. Then, though, something struck him, and he looked back over his shoulder.

"Maybe the point is that one day I can drop the mask and let the real me into the light."
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Sun and Sea and Sky (Solo)

Postby Liminal on January 31st, 2016, 7:07 pm

I had fun reading this one ^_^

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