A Single Moment of Sincerity
The moons were both high in the heavens tonight as the summit of the circle gave it's usual faint glow, the moonlight bathing the lower peaks of the Astralar Mountain range. Rickter and Hannah stood at the summit near the circle, the rogue walking about with her hands at her hips. It was a chilly night tonight and for what they were about to do, her dark woolen jacket was due to keep her warm in the process. While Rickter hardly felt afflicted by the cold, he did wear his trench coat out to at least help regulate heat. He wasn't sure how long this would take after all, since they were both going to be occupied with the process. "And to think I finally have you all to myself tonight."
It was Hannah's little coo toward him that led the wolf to curl his head aside, a light smirk of humor softening the press of his lips. "Come now, I thought we were well past favors." He gently remarked toward the rogue as she parted strands of hair behind an ear, the brunette quickly grinning over her shoulder to him as they walked into the threshold of the circle.
"Be still my beating heart, who knew I had room in your little love pack thing!" She retorted casually as she turned to stand facing Rickter, the wolf still grinning at her as he came to stand a few feet apart from her. "You ready to do this, then?"
"Well, that depends, is it gonna hurt any?" He tested with the raise of an brow, the rogue chuckling toward him as she elevated her chin also.
"Nothing you can't handle. We'll cover the basics afterward, but for now..." Hannah brought up here left arm, a finger pointed to his right shoulder as the wolf glanced between the two. With a nod he held the cuff of his right arm with his other hand, slipping the arm out the sleeve as to reveal the bicep. As he rolled the sleeve of his shirt up to his shoulder Hannah's fingertip glowed a vibrant aquamarine, as the aether she manifested gave off a soft resonance to Rickter's ears. He watched as she started to press the tip of her finger into his arm, a slight clench of his jaw made as he couldn't help remark.
"Nothing vulgar I'll have to live with I hope." The rogue paused to see him grin at her yet again.
"Shut it." She ridiculed him in her quirky manner, before finishing the trailing of her finger with a curve across his skin. As the aether pressed into his deltoid seeped into his spirit he felt struck by a hurricane suddenly, his entire body immediately shuddering as he felt the change in his core. Hannah stepped away as he clenched his right hand hard, a minor wince made at the glowing rune that burned brightly into his skin. "You're gonna want to lie down for this one."
His eyes began to narrow at the horror of what he felt, as if a whirlwind of aether was intent to shred him from the inside out. He felt such a strong pull that even the vertigo inflicted upon him remained brief, as he was already out within two seconds flat of the Rune settling into his flesh. He tried to fidget hard to regain his consciousness but to no avail, his body felt helpless to respond as he tried to hold onto to his bearings. His senses had been thrown completely off until finally, he felt he was able to twitch again. Starting with his fingers he came to groan out from where he had fallen, still winded by that intense surge he felt coursing throughout his being. Yet as he stirred to rise from where he'd fallen, Rickter realized that something was off about this place.
His eyes had opened to... An alternate version of the Circle? He stood up to see shapes and outlines where they were supposed to be, however, colors were darkened and shadows were white here in this place. Or dimension? The wolf had felt an urge to panic, already about to call out a certain name... until he she came with a giggle. "Crazy isn't it?" Hannah remarked with a nod to their surroundings, her eyes warily about as though she were keeping an eye out for something. "Thank goodness you landed where you did, not everyone is that lucky." She then nodded for Rickter to come along, with her hand brought out to wait for him to grasp it. Rickter hesitated for a moment but then accepted it, surprised with the initial rush of aether that whisked around them.
In a blink of his eyes, the wolf stood on the peak of a lower mountain, with the Circle of Wandering and valley of the Black Road visible below. He shifted back a bit in response to the change of scenery, both relieved and somehow stressed about their new location. Where had Hannah taken them to now?! "Hannah..." The wolf looked down to her unamused now. "Where have you taken us?"
"It's no fun if I can't make you work for it." She teased as she took to sit at the edge of the mountainside, Rickter looking out to see the circle's specific location, and needing to urgently gesture at what he saw remaining at the center of it. Both his and Hannah's bodies were incognizant. Yet Hannah chuckled it off with a wave of her hand, telling him in turn, "Nah we have plenty of time." The wolf sighed exasperatedly through his nostrils at her, before giving in and reluctantly taking a seat on the edge with her. "So level with me here, big guy." Her tone was softer now as she looked comfortably on toward where the Circle was. "It's time we talked about things here."
"Things?" Rickter pondered with a look as he yearned for a cigarette at least. Gods knew he could use one right about now, especially if this was headed in the direction he suspected it was.
"You've been through an awful lot within the past two seasons. And things were difficult for a while there." Suddenly there was sympathy in her brown eyes, and somehow Rickter could only bear the glum look of guilt as a response.
"Did Telion put you up to this?" He wondered as he could only guess the difficulties between them at the start of the season. That divide existed for everyone before the bout between him and Talon. Even if he didn't come out the victor of that match, he didn't care really, because he realized more about himself and the ones around him. Of course Hannah quickly gave him an appalled glare, before pouting harshly at him to try and make him feel bad. It kind of worked.
She then shook her head at him. "Nope! This is entirely me, Ricky. Tell me what's been eating at you. You may hide it from them, but you know you're gonna tell me." She pressed as he chuffed in response to her confidence. Though... she had a point.
"Is it wrong then? To love 'em all?" He remarked with a knowing look toward her, the rogue gently smiling toward him in return. "I mean... I only know how to protect. That's what I'm supposed to do, is it wrong that's all I want with all of them?"
"But it's more than about wanting to protect them." She called with a casual tone, eyeing him favorably with a suggestive smirk.
"Aye... I know what I want, but also, why put something like that on her." He then admitted with his gaze averted to the valley below. "It's a completely different world than what she's used to, and I don't want to put her in a situation where she feels... required?" The wolf couldn't really put it into a better word, seeing as how Telion didn't come from a polyamorous culture. Hannah couldn't help but tilt her head toward him with sarcastic judgment in her eyes.
"Yeah, but believe me, she's a lot braver than you'll ever believe. And if you let her, then I"m sure she'll gladly embrace your world, as much as you will embrace her's." The rogue expressed firmly but still with a fondness in her tone, her eyes back out toward the summit once more. "When I met her she was on her way north, said there was something about it that called her here. She had enthusiasm and already seemed adventurous, I knew from day one a girl like her would need a woman like me at her back. Believe it or not, that same enthusiasm led her to you, when you then smashed her own instrument into whoever that prick was." There came a soft echo of a laugh out of the wolf, his eyes slightly lifting a bit as he remembered when they first met. "The thing is you have to trust she can handle it. Believe me, nothing gets that girl down easily."
"You've got that right." He agreed sighingly with a lookup to the stars then. "I keep wondering what I should do next... What they need me to do."
"I'm pretty sure they want you to take a moment and just be happy for once Rickter." Hannah flatly told him with a straight look of expectancy. To which the wolf raised his eyebrows and gave her a couple of reasonable nods. "Trust me when I say, we all just want you to feel genuinely happy." He then narrowed his eyes at her momentarily, before looking back out to where their bodies still were. "I'd say it's about time, anyways. Now, onto the lesson!" The wolf looked over to her sharply as Hannah smiled nearly deviously without looking over to him. "You see where we are there? Your first task is to jump back over there."
"Uh, jump?!" He looked to her mortified and raised an eyebrow, as within moments she was whisked away by a flash of aether.
"Over here!" Her voice called out to him from near the base of one of the statues, an arm waved outward to signal her location as he spotted her. "Jump into the Slipspace with this area as your point of interest, and bear that in mind when you do, you'll want to see where you're landing precisely at all times." Her voice echoed before a gust of wind started to fill the valley, leaving Rickter to gaze down at the one thing awaiting him below. But hang on... if he wasn't... what? A ghost or spirit of some kind right now? Would he even fall down there? His gut, if it were really there, felt close to wrenching at the thought of jumping into that vast open space. But then again... Hannah wasn't remarking toward him just 'jumping' over there either. No this was a test now, he had to use the Rune to relocate his astral body toward his physical one.
Thus he focused on the Circle once more, his eyes somewhat narrowing as he observed its outline within the light of the moons.
His eyes closed then as he focused on reaching out with his aether, coaxing the air around him with it through his Rune of Traversion. He could feel it around him now, like a shroud that vibrated with the will of his aether. Was this what she referred to? He'd found himself within there, to begin with, was he supposed to jump through that instead? One theory would only to another in this case, and so Rickter took a step back to focus on his destination. With an aquamarine flash, the wolf immersed himself within the shroud and slipped through into the Slipspace that awaited beyond when he did. Now he could see what she meant, for the landscape appeared the same, yet the change in lighting made things blur, and difficult to judge proper distance. He still had that clear point in mind though and as his eyes searched hard, their narrowed gaze gradually pierced through the dark haze within the open valley.
He hunched his shoulders and bent his knees down, determined to make one hefty leap that would send him hurtling forward. Sure enough, the push-off sent him flying through the air of the Slipspace, as the statues and glimmer of the Circle came into view almost five seconds within the trajectory. Once he felt his feet crash onto the stone slabs he crashed into a roll for a moment, releasing the hold he'd maintained within his aether before jumping. The Slipspace around him then warbled before his aether flashed out, leaving Rickter to be standing within the outer circle just several yards from Hannah's astral form. "Took you long enough!" The brunette teased with a friendly smirk on her lips. "Now come on, let's get you back in that body, huh?"
"Yes, please." Rickter once more urged as he quickly turned to approach his ragdoll form, which had fallen over with face buried in his upper armpit. He was ready to be physically connected to the world once more.
Searing 72nd, 121 AoS
It was Hannah's little coo toward him that led the wolf to curl his head aside, a light smirk of humor softening the press of his lips. "Come now, I thought we were well past favors." He gently remarked toward the rogue as she parted strands of hair behind an ear, the brunette quickly grinning over her shoulder to him as they walked into the threshold of the circle.
"Be still my beating heart, who knew I had room in your little love pack thing!" She retorted casually as she turned to stand facing Rickter, the wolf still grinning at her as he came to stand a few feet apart from her. "You ready to do this, then?"
"Well, that depends, is it gonna hurt any?" He tested with the raise of an brow, the rogue chuckling toward him as she elevated her chin also.
"Nothing you can't handle. We'll cover the basics afterward, but for now..." Hannah brought up here left arm, a finger pointed to his right shoulder as the wolf glanced between the two. With a nod he held the cuff of his right arm with his other hand, slipping the arm out the sleeve as to reveal the bicep. As he rolled the sleeve of his shirt up to his shoulder Hannah's fingertip glowed a vibrant aquamarine, as the aether she manifested gave off a soft resonance to Rickter's ears. He watched as she started to press the tip of her finger into his arm, a slight clench of his jaw made as he couldn't help remark.
"Nothing vulgar I'll have to live with I hope." The rogue paused to see him grin at her yet again.
"Shut it." She ridiculed him in her quirky manner, before finishing the trailing of her finger with a curve across his skin. As the aether pressed into his deltoid seeped into his spirit he felt struck by a hurricane suddenly, his entire body immediately shuddering as he felt the change in his core. Hannah stepped away as he clenched his right hand hard, a minor wince made at the glowing rune that burned brightly into his skin. "You're gonna want to lie down for this one."
His eyes began to narrow at the horror of what he felt, as if a whirlwind of aether was intent to shred him from the inside out. He felt such a strong pull that even the vertigo inflicted upon him remained brief, as he was already out within two seconds flat of the Rune settling into his flesh. He tried to fidget hard to regain his consciousness but to no avail, his body felt helpless to respond as he tried to hold onto to his bearings. His senses had been thrown completely off until finally, he felt he was able to twitch again. Starting with his fingers he came to groan out from where he had fallen, still winded by that intense surge he felt coursing throughout his being. Yet as he stirred to rise from where he'd fallen, Rickter realized that something was off about this place.
His eyes had opened to... An alternate version of the Circle? He stood up to see shapes and outlines where they were supposed to be, however, colors were darkened and shadows were white here in this place. Or dimension? The wolf had felt an urge to panic, already about to call out a certain name... until he she came with a giggle. "Crazy isn't it?" Hannah remarked with a nod to their surroundings, her eyes warily about as though she were keeping an eye out for something. "Thank goodness you landed where you did, not everyone is that lucky." She then nodded for Rickter to come along, with her hand brought out to wait for him to grasp it. Rickter hesitated for a moment but then accepted it, surprised with the initial rush of aether that whisked around them.
In a blink of his eyes, the wolf stood on the peak of a lower mountain, with the Circle of Wandering and valley of the Black Road visible below. He shifted back a bit in response to the change of scenery, both relieved and somehow stressed about their new location. Where had Hannah taken them to now?! "Hannah..." The wolf looked down to her unamused now. "Where have you taken us?"
"It's no fun if I can't make you work for it." She teased as she took to sit at the edge of the mountainside, Rickter looking out to see the circle's specific location, and needing to urgently gesture at what he saw remaining at the center of it. Both his and Hannah's bodies were incognizant. Yet Hannah chuckled it off with a wave of her hand, telling him in turn, "Nah we have plenty of time." The wolf sighed exasperatedly through his nostrils at her, before giving in and reluctantly taking a seat on the edge with her. "So level with me here, big guy." Her tone was softer now as she looked comfortably on toward where the Circle was. "It's time we talked about things here."
"Things?" Rickter pondered with a look as he yearned for a cigarette at least. Gods knew he could use one right about now, especially if this was headed in the direction he suspected it was.
"You've been through an awful lot within the past two seasons. And things were difficult for a while there." Suddenly there was sympathy in her brown eyes, and somehow Rickter could only bear the glum look of guilt as a response.
"Did Telion put you up to this?" He wondered as he could only guess the difficulties between them at the start of the season. That divide existed for everyone before the bout between him and Talon. Even if he didn't come out the victor of that match, he didn't care really, because he realized more about himself and the ones around him. Of course Hannah quickly gave him an appalled glare, before pouting harshly at him to try and make him feel bad. It kind of worked.
She then shook her head at him. "Nope! This is entirely me, Ricky. Tell me what's been eating at you. You may hide it from them, but you know you're gonna tell me." She pressed as he chuffed in response to her confidence. Though... she had a point.
"Is it wrong then? To love 'em all?" He remarked with a knowing look toward her, the rogue gently smiling toward him in return. "I mean... I only know how to protect. That's what I'm supposed to do, is it wrong that's all I want with all of them?"
"But it's more than about wanting to protect them." She called with a casual tone, eyeing him favorably with a suggestive smirk.
"Aye... I know what I want, but also, why put something like that on her." He then admitted with his gaze averted to the valley below. "It's a completely different world than what she's used to, and I don't want to put her in a situation where she feels... required?" The wolf couldn't really put it into a better word, seeing as how Telion didn't come from a polyamorous culture. Hannah couldn't help but tilt her head toward him with sarcastic judgment in her eyes.
"Yeah, but believe me, she's a lot braver than you'll ever believe. And if you let her, then I"m sure she'll gladly embrace your world, as much as you will embrace her's." The rogue expressed firmly but still with a fondness in her tone, her eyes back out toward the summit once more. "When I met her she was on her way north, said there was something about it that called her here. She had enthusiasm and already seemed adventurous, I knew from day one a girl like her would need a woman like me at her back. Believe it or not, that same enthusiasm led her to you, when you then smashed her own instrument into whoever that prick was." There came a soft echo of a laugh out of the wolf, his eyes slightly lifting a bit as he remembered when they first met. "The thing is you have to trust she can handle it. Believe me, nothing gets that girl down easily."
"You've got that right." He agreed sighingly with a lookup to the stars then. "I keep wondering what I should do next... What they need me to do."
"I'm pretty sure they want you to take a moment and just be happy for once Rickter." Hannah flatly told him with a straight look of expectancy. To which the wolf raised his eyebrows and gave her a couple of reasonable nods. "Trust me when I say, we all just want you to feel genuinely happy." He then narrowed his eyes at her momentarily, before looking back out to where their bodies still were. "I'd say it's about time, anyways. Now, onto the lesson!" The wolf looked over to her sharply as Hannah smiled nearly deviously without looking over to him. "You see where we are there? Your first task is to jump back over there."
"Uh, jump?!" He looked to her mortified and raised an eyebrow, as within moments she was whisked away by a flash of aether.
"Over here!" Her voice called out to him from near the base of one of the statues, an arm waved outward to signal her location as he spotted her. "Jump into the Slipspace with this area as your point of interest, and bear that in mind when you do, you'll want to see where you're landing precisely at all times." Her voice echoed before a gust of wind started to fill the valley, leaving Rickter to gaze down at the one thing awaiting him below. But hang on... if he wasn't... what? A ghost or spirit of some kind right now? Would he even fall down there? His gut, if it were really there, felt close to wrenching at the thought of jumping into that vast open space. But then again... Hannah wasn't remarking toward him just 'jumping' over there either. No this was a test now, he had to use the Rune to relocate his astral body toward his physical one.
Thus he focused on the Circle once more, his eyes somewhat narrowing as he observed its outline within the light of the moons.
His eyes closed then as he focused on reaching out with his aether, coaxing the air around him with it through his Rune of Traversion. He could feel it around him now, like a shroud that vibrated with the will of his aether. Was this what she referred to? He'd found himself within there, to begin with, was he supposed to jump through that instead? One theory would only to another in this case, and so Rickter took a step back to focus on his destination. With an aquamarine flash, the wolf immersed himself within the shroud and slipped through into the Slipspace that awaited beyond when he did. Now he could see what she meant, for the landscape appeared the same, yet the change in lighting made things blur, and difficult to judge proper distance. He still had that clear point in mind though and as his eyes searched hard, their narrowed gaze gradually pierced through the dark haze within the open valley.
He hunched his shoulders and bent his knees down, determined to make one hefty leap that would send him hurtling forward. Sure enough, the push-off sent him flying through the air of the Slipspace, as the statues and glimmer of the Circle came into view almost five seconds within the trajectory. Once he felt his feet crash onto the stone slabs he crashed into a roll for a moment, releasing the hold he'd maintained within his aether before jumping. The Slipspace around him then warbled before his aether flashed out, leaving Rickter to be standing within the outer circle just several yards from Hannah's astral form. "Took you long enough!" The brunette teased with a friendly smirk on her lips. "Now come on, let's get you back in that body, huh?"
"Yes, please." Rickter once more urged as he quickly turned to approach his ragdoll form, which had fallen over with face buried in his upper armpit. He was ready to be physically connected to the world once more.
"Every side attacks you when you don't pick sides."
"Common" "Synskrit"
"Rickter" "Hannah"
"Rickter" "Hannah"
