Watching the Wheels [Rune]

[Aurin]

"I was coerced," he confirmed, and left it at that. If she needed more information to keep this safer, he might give it, but he didn't want to bare his soul. He nodded about the troubles, as well. Perhaps someday she would offer more training, and he would offer more details. She had certainly taught him more already than anyone who had given him a Rune, or coerced him into two for the bargain price of a tortured mind.

The corner of his mouth perked up at her moment of warmth. He couldn't quite acknowledge it, but for once he wasn't smirking and deflecting with humor. Nodding seriously, he memorized how she would look to him in the terrible place that had nearly taken his boy from him. He could sense the magic in her voice, the magic in her symbols, and he could actually feel when the Rune began to activate and sear itself into him, deeper than flesh and bone.

He turned his head to look at his shoulder, but then there was too much, and everything was light.

Aurin was looking at himself in the mirror. His skin was blue or—he didn't know if there was a name for that color. His hair looked like burnished bronze. No, like fire. He was a living flame. He was cold as the heart of a star. He was sharp and angular; he shone like scar tissue.

But he wasn't alone. Valencia. He turned around, but instead, he saw an eldritch banquet. Some of the guests looked almost human, or almost humanoid. Others were decidedly not.

The Bronze Fox...

There was a clamor of voices, some audible and others... something else. He didn't know if he was meant to be a guest or a part of the meal. There were carcasses and delicacies, and he was naked and gleaming. They were watching him, and he felt naked in a way that clothes could never cover. His arm ached where his Rune was attempting to filter so much into his senses and not quite managing the feat.

His eyes sought Valencia's truer form, but he did not see her. She had said to wait for her and she would find him, but she hadn't actually said what to do if he was in danger. He was in danger, or so he believed. Trying to get his back to a wall, or what he thought of as walls, did not work. Aurin began to fall backward through the mirror. He fell forever, and then his hands caught the edge, and he was peering desperately up through the mirror.

He daren't look behind him, below.

[Rune]

As soon as Aurin had disappeared Valencia lay back on the bed and put herself in a meditative trance. Traveling into the Aetherium was not a pleasant experience for her and she did so only rarely and at great need. There were others among the Railrunners that spent time in the Other often, even because the liked it. She could not understand enjoying, though the fascination one felt when in the realm was something she was all too familiar with it had never been enough to overcome the immanent sense of danger.

It was easier to get herself to take the sideways-of-reality step into the Aetherium if she was meditating; perfectly calm and logical. The time between Aurin's traveling thus and Valencia following him was only about a minute, but time ran differently in the Other.

She appeared in the tiny sanctuary that the members of the Coven maintained. It seemed a very small space, compared to what was outside it, but it was always empty except for possibly other Railrunners so it was the safest place to stay. From there she poured a minor amount of aether into here Semblance rune (Seeing too much there was as dangerous as not seeing enough.) and concentrated on the Scrivened link she had created between the redhead and herself. The connection was not perfect, because he would be different here as everything was, but it was a string she could follow. When she felt vibration along that string she 'jumped' a form a Traversion travel that could be used in that plane that took one closer to what one was seeking. It was a chaotic and often pointless form of travel without the link, but with it...

She appeared in a bright opened field, too bright, with an impossibly large tree at its heart. She glanced around but the tug from her string was urging her on she so closed here eyes and 'jumped' again.

It took two more steps along the lines of her spells before she found him. An internal shudder ran through her which she suppressed ruthlessly and instantly when she saw where she was. The Feast.

The denizens of this area were always hungry and while their table was never empty it was emotion they slavered for. As much as Aurin suppressed, him symphony was a chorus of undertones, he would be a feast for the creatures all on his own. Left in to The Feast Aurin would spend lifetimes reliving any part of his life, good or bad, that caused the greatest emotional responses, and when they had had their fill of that they would begin twisting the memories, changing them to elicit more and more intense responses till his heart failed and he was discarded with the other bones and detritus onto the rushes of the floor.

He had wisely chosen to flee the situation but had slipped into one of the many mirrors that lined the hall. Only one of them ever reflected at a time and which was individual to the person looking. There was no knowing where one would land if one fell into the reflection. Stepping over with haste but no trace of emotion she reached in a hand that would appear that of a giantess to Aurin and lifted him out. As he came back into The Feast room he grew until he was his normal size, which made the process difficult. Valencia persevered and, in a moment, they were both standing. The denizens at the end of the table nearest them had stopped feeding and turned to stare through the masks that were their faces, teeth extending, eyes starving.

Taking Aurin's face in her hands she made him look only at her,

"Come with me." It was a command, made partly of Mesmer, which would attract the creatures but it was the only way she had to open him to parts that he hadn't had until minutes before. Her Traversion rune came on and flared, it wasn't needed but this way he would be able to sense it and what she did easily. When his rune flickered to life in answer to her own she snatched his hand into hers and pulled them both away.

Once they were back in the sanctuary she let him rest for a few moments, meditate if he could, center himself. Sense of self was easy to lose in the Aetherium and, once lost, stepping back into reality became near to impossible.

When he seemed to have settled she led him in jumps to places that were, generally, considered safer. Each jump she withdrew her lead strings a little so more and more of his own volition was required to travel. Once he could make a jump on his own he could step back into reality and they would be done, but she was patient, no use rushing it. As they cycled back through the same few locations repeatedly he grew in confidence, or, at least, ability until she brought them back to the sanctuary.

"I think you will be able to return to our world now. I suggest you try to get back to the room where we left. If you don't concentrate you could step out literally anywhere. Most likely where your mind or heart are wanting to be, but it could be the bottom of the ocean, so don't play with it. If you don't end up back in reality try and step back to this sanctuary, or one of the other places we've been going. If you can't, I'll come for you again."

[Aurin]

You will be devoured in time, Valencia Gr—

But then they were gone. Her enormous hand had fished him out of the mirror, and he could sense so much—almost too much—and then he could sense his new Rune flaring to life as well. From the safety of her sanctuary, he learned how much to engage his Semblance trick here in order to know what was going on around him but not be overwhelmed. There she took the time to hold his hand while he learned to walk, so to speak. She showed him places that were relatively safe in case he got stuck in the Aetherium through some blunder with his newly minted power. He hoped never to get stuck here, but she told him that it was unlikely until his power grew enough to get himself into real trouble—enough rope to hang himself, so to speak.

It felt good that if Torin disappeared into the Aetherium, however, Aurin might be able to chase him down and bring him back.

Bronze, inhuman eyes stared back at her from a discolored, more fey version of his face. He was the Bronze Fox here, just as Torin was The Smith.

"They called you by name," he noted when the time came for him to attempt the journey from the sanctuary to the room where she had inscribed the Rune and her scrivened glyphs onto his skin. It was a secret, and he liked secrets. He didn't pressure her for information, but it was clear he was curious.

He turned his face away, closed his eyes. Damping out his Semblance, he focused on his new Rune, on the room they had left behind. The world was a tapestry, but rather than hanging on a wall somewhere, it went on in every direction. He found the one thread and then the other, wishing he had the innate weaving skills of a spider. Eventually, he managed to connect the two, albeit temporarily. He tested the tensile strength of the connection he created, and then pulled himself—sort of—along that ley line. This was, perhaps, the framework of Creation. Everything was connected if one had eyes to see and vision to see the larger picture.

Aurin slammed into a wall.

"Fuck!"

His eyes opened. They were hazel again. He was back in the room, his body covered in a cold sweat. His head hurt and his joints ached as if his body had been physically stretched and molded into that other version of himself. Perhaps it had. All this to be able to escape prison cells and travel, but he had to believe it would prove worth it in time.

"Valencia?" he turned toward where he remembered her being and waited.

[Rune]

R E V I E W

Lore: 12

Points: 15, can be used for Traversion

Injuries/Ailments: Mild Threshold sickness

Loot: + 1 Rune of Traversion

Notes: Don't fall now, it's a long way down.