In Soul Doth He Return

[Rickter]

In Soul Doth He Return
Searing 90th, 124th Year, A.o.S.

It had been a day of undertaking for someone like Telion, who was usually already busy helping out the Maze family, as well as watching after the little ones that awaited their father. Such a day had finally drawn nearer now that their mother had all the answers that she needed, and all that remained was to assemble the resources necessary, and to time it right so that hopefully as many people as possible would reach out in turn. What was her plan exactly?

Well, having understood that Lykos had been the one to feel the bonds reconnect instead of Rickter, she had surmised that He would have to be the one to make the connections happen once more. While Telion likely felt the Lupine Draegir perfectly capable of drawing such a conclusion on his own, she understood the weight of such a task was too much to leave it entirely up to one individual. Draegir or not Lykos would need all the assistance he could, which is exactly why the mother had taken it upon herself to reach out and seek outer connections to Rickter.

What she had done was write letters to those she could not reach, and then visit those that she could to spread the word around. Tonight would be the night for those who cared, and who remembered, Rickter in any manner or form to reach out and reconnect with him. He needed them just as much as he needed Telion, of that she felt certain, which was why after the instruction had been sent; Telion herself had prepared for the evening with a relaxing dinner spent amongst the family she'd grown to call her own.

Tonight, those who missed or wished to reconnect with Rickter would finally have the chance to do so. And it would all begin deep within the boundless realm of dreams. Having Hannah resting in the nearby lounge chair brought into their bedroom, and the twins nested so that they slept between their parents, Telion cozily slipped into slumber thanks to the warm tea that had been brewed to help ensure she would peacefully walk into the realm of Nod where her beloved awaited her.

Soon as she felt herself slipping away something caught her as she realized how quickly sleep claimed her. "I see you made it back." Lykos commended her as Telion lifted her head to realize he'd held her in his arms, her head rested on his shoulder as he stood within the same spot she had left him in. The sky had cleared, however, revealing the northern lights that danced overhead with a sea of stars twinkling around the moons. Boundless snow and ice stretched into the beyond as the ever-present horizon seemed littered with boreal forests or mountain ranges.

"I had to make sure we'd finish from where we'd left off." She'd mused as He gently shifted to allow her onto her feet, the soft crunch of snow felt beneath her boots as she gave Lykos a warm and appreciative smile. "It was all last minute considering but... we may yet have our chance to awaken Rickter."

"You... thought of a way?" The Lupine Draegir looked impressed with her but only for a moment, after remembering how diligent of a mother and a faithful companion she remained. "Of course you have. What do you require of me then?"

"Well, say that I might have had a hunch after all, and that you were the one who felt those connections restored." Telion started as she turned to face the crystalline requiem that was Rickter. "Then that means you're the one he needs to feel those connections through. But I don't think it'll just work if it's only a few of us..." Telion gazed thoughtfully for a moment before her head lowered in retrospect of the dream she'd had before tonight. "I felt the warmth of our connection but in order to completely free Rickter, we need to unthaw that heart of his, by pouring in every bit of connection he's felt closed off from."

"You want me to... channel the thoughts and feelings of any who might've known Rickter... from across the world?" Even that sounded like a rather tall order to Lykos, but it was when Telion turned with a finger pointed up that He realized there was more.

"Almost! It's not the entire world you need to reach out to, only those who knew Rickter in some form or another. Whether that is by thought, memory, word, or even faith." She elaborated with her hands tucked behind her back. "We may not reach everyone, but the immediate ones who will feel the connection, who will remember, they'll trace that connection back to you if you were to reach out."

"I see now, so then I'm the key or source to all this then."

"More like a proxy or catalyst." Telion mused in return before she shifted to gaze back at the icy sculpture of her beloved. "I've already sent word around in Kalzasi, which has been the brunt of my workload today. But everyone that heeds the word should know, whether they look up to the North Star or know who Rickter is themselves, he needs them to reach out in prayer so that he can hear them. And the rest..."

More footsteps had gathered as Lykos noticed the presence of others, quite a number of them in fact, had already started to gather in this space that seemed isolated to just Rickter before. "Will follow suit if they feel that connection in turn."

"I'm telling you right now, this is already some weird shit we're doing." Hannah was the first to remark as she held one of the twins, and Patrick held the other as both boys were mystified by the landscape they were brought to. Yet even though snow gently powdered the ground and dusted everyone gathered, not even the slightest hint of a chill seemed to vacate the frozen fields where Rickter's crystallized form resided.

"It's only a start but more will surely join," Telion assured Lykos as he assessed everyone who had arrived thus far. Rickter's immediate pack but there had been more, the Maze family as well as Patrick's family and friends had somehow gathered. And slowly but surely through the veil of snow that fell across the fields of Frost; more and more were slowly coming into view to join the endeavor. "So what do you think? There enough hands and hearts here for you to reach the rest?"

To Him, the soul had always been such an interesting thing. Something that He never really had claim to but grew to understand in His own time, and no matter how much Lykos thought He understood, there was always something else to learn that amazed Him with the soul. All these people, faces he recognized and faces he did not, they were people that had somehow lived within the criteria Telion had explained earlier. They had heard of Rickter. They had seen Rickter. Some even knew Rickter. All were important if they were to help Him reconnect to his other half, the half that should've returned the moment their memories finally came back.

"This... should be plenty to start with." Lykos admitted almost with tears in his eyes, his gaze falling back to His immediate family that had gathered.

"Just tell us what we all need to do." Patrick assured as he approached Telion with Kendrick in hand, Hannah doing the same so that all of Rickter's northern pack knelt next to him.

"Right. Everyone. Allow all your thoughts and prayers to come at the forefront of your mind, let them resonate within you as you seek out his memory." Lykos instructed as he called out to everyone who gathered in ensemble around the northern pack, with hands being placed on shoulders to interconnect everyone who had gathered here.

"Lady of the Stars, we seek your aid in our quest for the Lord of Frost." Telion then communed as she sought solace within her thoughts, thinking of the woman who had helped restore her missing limbs and given her mobility once more. "Please let the North Star shine brighter tonight, so that those who gaze upon it might feel the resonance we create. Our Lord, our Rickter... needs you now more than ever."

Altogether now they all started to bow their heads in thoughtful prayer, a calming silencing washing over the gathered crowd as everyone waited...

And then Lykos concentrated. He focused on every thought, every prayer, and even every wish that he felt pouring into Him. Letting all that wash over him He then reached out, recreating the Resonance that He felt from Rickter in their time shared in the Land of Nod. Family. Friends. Acquaintances. Strangers. Rivals. Anyone. Hear my call and heed my words, the true King of Cold needs you. Please, relay to me any and all sentiments you may share with the name 'Rickter', impart them unto me as if you were to see him again after such a long time.

With the thought imparted into the aura that He exuded into the atmosphere, Lykos sought to find any such connections that might return to Him from the mundane world. For He would relay those sentiments, be they thought or emotion, from any else who gathered here; and direct them to reside in the slumbering half still frozen before Him.

[Hekatos]

In Solunarium, Finn lay in a bed far too small for him, a little girl curled up against him where they had both fallen asleep during storytime. Her erstwhile storyteller began to glow--his brow, at least--as his divine patron relayed certain things, and allowed him lucidity in Nod.

Finn knew Lykos. Now, he remembered Rickter. He didn't know how dreamwalking worked, and he wasn't a dreamwalker now. But he let remembrances float from him toward the sleeping demigod: a gruff man at a bar, always with a pretty woman doing his socializing for him; a man in the news for vigilante murder, for his part in failed diplomatic endeavors in Zaichaer. They hadn't known each other well. He knew Lykos better than he knew Rickter, but now, in the world of dreams, he was synthesizing the two into one.

And now, whatever Finn knew of Rickter, Aværys knew, his memories freely given. And when he woke, he would relate them to Phocion that the Vigilia Argenti be better prepared to work with him.

*~*~*

The Lady of Stars, sometime handmaiden of Naori Herself, sent glass-sharp impressions of him from the Pantheon, another newborn divinity struggling to understand themself among the unknowable.

*~*~*

Kala Leukos was deep in meditation when her memories returned to her and she felt the strange, somnolent call. She remembered Telion and Hannah more fully, with the full context of their shared acquaintance with Rickter. A strange hole in her memory was filled, and she offered it back: Talon Novalys' wolf; the man who had taught her how to ward; the ridiculously capable man who, she thought, wanted more than anything for someone to pet and call a good boy.

*~*~*

Aurin didn't know why he thought of Rickter while balls deep in a Dardouen dowager. For a whore, he had always been so coquettish about offering himself up to a predator like Aurin. Later, asleep in the lady's boudoir, he dreamed of Eshar asking him a question: Did you desire him?

And laughter.

He dreamed of Rickter, and didn't know why.

*~*~*

Half-tangled in sex-sodden sheets, the High Sentinel of Zaichaer's post-coital dreams turned into a nightmare. Lucrece, his wife, lay blissfully unaware; even with help, motherhood was exhausting.

Eitan dreamed of the pidge prince and his rabid dog, about the damage he had done to Zaichaer on that poor excuse for a diplomatic mission. He dreamed of the mountains of paperwork, some protected, some recovered or restored, and some other accounts being taken down again before memory of recent events became even more twisted by time.

This enemy of the state was hardly the most dangerous or most pressing, but who could say why a man dreamed what he dreamed?

!

Message from: Hekatos

All of my characters (except, I guess, Sivan) know Rickter on some level so I figure he's getting some memories, some impressions from various sources, but didn't think I had enough to write a solid post for any one of them in particular. Hope this helps! Just for the record, I'd rather Rickter/Lykos and his posse hadn't intuited that Kala and the mysterious moritasi in the Pantheon were one and the same. I'm not adverse to people finding out, but I'd much rather have it come out in play, so lemme know if that's a thing you're interested in pursuing!

[Hilana Chenzira]

In different parts of the desert Kingdom, the sisters remembered as they felt the call.

Athalia was settled in a comfortable chair, a case of thread on the table beside her as she worked on her embroidery. The toddler’s skirt was trapped in the embroidery hoop, holding the fabric taut. Her memories were called up - she had known him first as Lykos, as the one who had given up everything to effectively save the world from another Sundering. Student, teacher, friend, companion, colleague. Many hours had been spent with him over the seasons, teaching him and learning from him in turn, and watching him come into himself and grow. And in time... Lykos had become Rickter. Friend, teacher, ally. It was different, and in some ways, it was not. They had found his original family, and in turn, had forged strong friendships with them... even if she had been protective of him, cautious and watchful and reserved with his Kalzasern family to try to safeguard his feelings and emotions. She remembered the discussions in matters of language, magic, and soul, planning days and rituals. Enjoying meals, relaxing in the sands and watching the fire dance in a bonfire.

As for Hilana, riding on her camel in the deep sands while she foraged for plants, she remembered other things. The way that they had raced across the sands together, him in his lycan form while she hung onto his back, and he had howled at the stars and made it rain in the oasis while they had sat together and she had tried to comfort him. Of him stuffing his face at the table after particular bursts of magic, and simply a massive appetite. He was always down for pretty much everything she made, and he had a sweet tooth for days. She remembered practicing the purification rituals with him, with different poisons and different animals, and testing him with her practice falcata. Or, rather, attempting to at least land one hit somehow. Of remembering who he was again, after sitting in that room full of freaking Orcani. Of this last season, checking on him as he slept, making sure he stayed medically hearty, and waving cooked meat under his nose. "Your family needs you," she said to no one in particular in the sands, though her camel shifted his head to angle it to look at her. "It's time to wake up."

[Imogen]

In the depths of the jungle, the magic slipped between the brush and under bough, through the sweltering heat of the summer night. It traveled unseen, through the sleeping forms of lemurs and hippos as though none were there at all, poking and prodding throughout the ruins there as if in search of something in particular. Lykos' power tripped quietly past a glowing ward of metal and dragonshard, passing betwixt the barriers a witch had raised against the unnamable imps of Thiovan's realm in years past, and entered into a erected on the edge of a great river.

There, it encountered a curious guardian. The darkness within the tent opened golden eyes, blinking as it observed the tendrils of Dream questing through the night. It reached out and batted at the magic with a velvet-black paw, but the feline limb passed through the resonance without effect.

"Mew?" asked Kitty, plaintively, unsure of what was going on.

~~~

Within Nod, Imogen suddenly found herself dreaming of dreams.

"We're never alone. Papa is always with us," chimed the pair in a horror movie like unison. The boys gave Imogen the skeletal equivalent of a wink, which to many, looked like absolutely nothing happened, but Imogen knew better. And with that wink, the world was suddenly alive, and the two wolf boys were there, whole and intact and fleshy and furry once more. Much like Imogen herself, minus the fur. It was just as Imogen had first seen it.

"They're coming, Imogen," as a pair again.

It had been a long time since she'd thought of the skeleton dream. That had been when she'd met the strange man--what was his name? Maze, that was it. Rickter Maze. It occurred to her that she hadn't thought of him in years, which was strange.

"If our Sunsinger friends are in that part of town, then which place should I go to if I wanted to see them?" He inquired rather humbly still with his head leaned into his hand, curious if Imogen might now something about the door that he was told to find. "And do you know anything about this 'door locked between moments'?" He added with the raise of an eyebrow, waiting to see what she would say.

Yes, that was right. That was when she'd met him in the real world, the first confirmation that the dream had been somehow true. She wondered idly if he'd ever found what he was looking for, out there in Zaichaer. But what had he been looking for?

There was a vision of a winged man, burning so brightly that she could not look at him, not even in dreams. Slowly, the man descended towards a nude figure lying below, on the verdant fields...

Strange to dream about that man, now. She'd seen him fight, in his soul, in his dreams, and once in the flesh, against the dragon Aoren. They'd been good fights, by her reckoning--she wouldn't have wanted to try her odds against him in a duel--but nothing like the power she'd seen the young Arcas unleash that night in Gel'Grandal, or the casual mastery she'd faced in Arbiter Car’euv. So what caused her mind to linger on that now?

Perhaps it was that quality of resilience she'd seen in the first dream, when the fire consumed the rotten trees; the invincible quality of the spirit which had refused to concede to its corruption, even though victory over the darkness within was no longer an option. Yes, it was a sort of deep-seated optimism she admired, an indomitability of the soul. Or at least a sheer bloody-minded stubbornness which had led to those skeletons shambling onward, refusing at the last to fall even with every tendon cut and every muscle flensed away.

Yes, that was it. Dreams and bones, that's all she really knew of Rickter Maze, but it was enough.

[Dreyfus]

⚜ Sleeping was not something he had done, not in a long while. He didn't need to if he was being honest, as there was no true need to. Tonight however he slept, and he dreamt. His dreams seemed to drift from the nightmares of his revelations of murder to the time he spent with a familiar wolf. He stood upon a cliff, the land encased in snow as the howl of wolves echoed in his ears. He could see in the distance like a towering dragon stood a mighty wolf. It was one he had come to know and was familiar with.

The massive wolf looked in his direction and howled up into the night sky, and with that howl, the vampyre could feel the notion of what was being asked."You don't get to sleep Rickter, we have been through far too much for you to be taking a beauty nap. Get up......now!!! There is still work to be done." he scolded, pointing at the wolf as it seemed to represent Rickter. He found himself thinking of how far his feelings for the Rathari male had come since first meeting him.

He smiled, as he knew Rickter was one of few people who could cause him to go from foe to friend with them, but when you meet gods as fight alongside one another on multiple occasions. Whatever the case he was certain his words and sentiments would reach the wolf, they had to. He could feel that the wolf had been gone for far too long. He couldn't be the only wolf roaming the forests of Kalzasi. He would come to visit the wolf once he had awaken, to make sure everything was ok with the man. ⚜


"Common Speech"
"Silandris Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Hikami]

龍 Hikami had been resting for most of this season, as Searing was the warm season, and there wasnt much he could do in his current situation. The one thing he could do when not trying to recover from his overstepping a year ago was sleep. Tonight was no different. He dreamt he was a dragon, majestic and beautiful, in all his glory. He dreamt of the spirit of ice that had bonded with him and mourning the loss of it after his confrontation with the corrupted Hydra. He landed upon a mountain ledge overlooking Kalzasi and could feel a great force of cold overtake him.

Someone was calling out to him, and he knew that presence all too well. Rickter needed his help, he needed the iceborn's support. "You can't stay asleep buddy, there are so many more adventures for us to experience. Plus how else am I supposed to get a rematch if you are sleeping for so long huh?" he jested, sending his mental nudges towards the source of whatever was calling out to him for Rickter. He knew that if he was experiencing a level of fatigue during this season, then Rickter was also going through it, albeit worse.

In his dream form of a dragon, he let out a mighty roar that whipped up a mighty snowstorm, a tribute to the lord of winter, to his friend and fellow reaver of Kalzasi. He hoped his contribution would help in some way, he needed his friend back as soon as possible. "Come back to us buddy, we miss you." he added, nodding as he took to the skies, reveling in his dream of soaring through the air as a dragon, a literal dragon. 龍


"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Talon]

Dreams were never just dreams. Not for gods. There was a part of Talon that was forever and always actively channeling and attuned to the highest of realms, the Aetherium. For it was in this realm of eternal ideas and possibilities that the Land of Nod bordered, indeed the Land of Nod was the final frontier before that realm where only the divine could walk unscathed. Talon walked that Land of Dreams and Nightmares, in his full glory for he could not mask himself in Thiovan’s domain, no god could. He followed the call that tugged at his heart and filled a hole that had been aching for so long. Talon followed it readily, he followed it eagerly, for it was leading him ever closer to a familiar cold that brought him only warmth and joy.

Until he found him, at least, until he found the Dreaming of him.

Talon looked upon slumbering form of a face that filled him with as much joy as it did pain, as much pride as it did shame.

Joy and pride in who Rickter had become.

Shame for being robbed of him and failing to find him.

His eyes remain fixed on Rickter’s face and it was without hesitation that he crossed the dreaming tundra, shedding silver light wherever he went. He reached up and cupped his wolf’s face in both of his hands, awash with emotions that were almost too overwhelming for him to give words to. Leaning forward, Talon pressed his lips to the Dreaming of Rickter.

“Come back to me, sorumeito. I cannot face the cold of winter without your warmth.”

A gift of fire, silver as the morning dawn, was given to the Frost King’s frozen domain.

And then he waited.

For that was all he could do but he would wait. Even if it meant he waited until the world has turned cold and grey, there at the end of all things, he would wait.

[Rickter]

There were those who had come by word, and then those who had come by the simple feeling alone. Either way, everyone who had reached out, all of them, was relaying every little bit of thought and memory they had. Everything they understood and everything they remembered in regards to the name of Rickter, it all started to come through like the first water of a long emptied channel, until at last everything the wolf had felt long disconnected from started to flood through him once more.

Wolf. Hound. Performer.

There were those who had known Rickter probably the longest without ever truly knowing him at his core. The harlots and the bouncers of the Cabaret, the headmistress herself, Lunaria having played such a tiny yet monumental role in seeing him cared for after his birth. There had been times where there were those who he worked with, like Aurin, who had shown him that despite his rough outer disposition he could be amiable toward those he liked. There were those who he had scruples with but not for the sake of bitterness, rather, a simple means of entertainment or easier pay than what other job opportunities might've held.

Brawler. Warrior. Fighter.

There were those who knew him from the early days as a caged fighter before the pits in the Low City were closed down. Those who would regularly see him return to his favorite venues, eager to keep the ruthless cold at bay with a hot meal to keep the warmth of his spirit going. Then there were those who also were there, when he would rather accept the beatings posed upon him rather than simply fight back.

Alpha. Friend. Protector.

There were the ones who had seen him in a different light than the ones who originally knew Rickter. The people of Kalzasi who had watched him grow into something more, someone determined to keep the ones he'd venture with close and safe from danger. The kind of person he had been at the time, the type of guardian who would lay down his own life to protect others; sometimes without even a single thought.

Menace. Nuisance. Rabid.

There were those who once chided at the thought of the name, of what Rickter meant to them and who he was as a person. After all, there had been times he had acted without consideration, driven by the powerful whims that governed his heart at the time. There were times when he had been pushed mentally, driven to the point of desperation even, and acted out in the best whim that seemed viable as the solution at the time.

Caretaker. Lover. Guardian.

But then, of course, some saw the better side of him than most anyone would. The parts of him that always did come through in the end, determined who he had been at his core deep down inside. They were the ones who would remind Rickter of his place in the world, his sincerest hopes and dreams when he strove to love and appreciate the family he had garnered in time.

Skirmisher. Mage. Killer.

Some could still remember him from the days spent fighting so much, whether it was carrying out a promise to protect a friend from danger, or going out of his way to survive against the odds before him. There were those from Zaichaer who could even remember his role in the diplomatic envoy, who had either seen or heard of the dangerous powers he possessed, and the war that would eventually break out between two great nations residing in the Northlands.

Father. Seeker. Obstinate.

Those who could recall his desperation when he sought to reclaim that which had been taken from him, that which drove him to fight for what he loved even when it meant fighting against all odds. Some deemed him a madman and thought such extremities beyond devotion, while others saw the optimism behind his unwavering hope and perhaps even believed in him.

Explorer. Soldier...

Draegir.

There were those within the ranks of the Slayers, the Sunsingers, the Dawnmartyrs, even the Argent Hand he'd served a part of for a while. Some people knew him from the time spent serving as a guardian and faithful companion, to when he would finally enter the Warrens, only to return as something far beyond what he had already become. Divine.

Lord. Herald. King.

Rickter.

"It's time for you to wake up." A voice reached deep inside him as it came with a resounding reverberation of others, voices of people who all had imparted their thoughts and memories back to Rickter. Lykos could feel the swell of everything that had been offered from everyone around Him, He could see everyone that had gathered within dreams of their own to remember the wolf by, experience every sentiment they had to offer before they flowed through Him as intended. "Do you see now, Rickter? Why it has to be you?"

Because everyone who knew him had waited, and expected the day in which he would finally return. The warmth that the wolf had felt before and desperately held onto, all that he sought to preserve, came back to him in a rush that nearly overwhelmingly assailed the senses. Lykos felt the pain and tears, the laughter and the joy, the hardship and absence they even all felt. Everything. He reciprocated all of this and more as it continued to course into Rickter's form, stirring a faint light that had been vacantly residing within the icy form.

Everyone... His hollowed voice started to resound through the icy features on his face, strongly resonating with the increasing warmth that Talon himself imparted upon seeing Rickter once more.

"It's time, Rickter."

"You heard us, Wolfman."

"You've rested long enough, big guy."

"We're all here. We've waited long enough, so please, come back to us."

That warmth he felt governed by the sentiments pouring inside him fueled something in Rickter. A wildfire that had been reduced to embers for so long now, that is until everything he heard and felt poured life into that smoldered kindling. A new heat burned inside his core now, a rising flame that resonated with the silver light of His beloved Talon, a coursing flame that burned brilliantly to venerate warmth to the ones he truly and desperately loved with no end.

I am here. His voice reached out across the multitudes of sentiments relayed into him, seeking assurance among the throngs of thoughts that revitalized him with a new sense of life. I am home. The lights within his icy form shone brighter than ever now, creating a swirling vector of neons as hues of an aurora danced vibrantly outward from his frigid requiem. The ice that had layered and caked his form brittle and cracked away, leaving the expansive dreamscape he and everyone had gathered within to sense a turbulent change on the rise. The stars themselves shone brighter and even moved across the shining skies at outstanding speeds, marking the coming tides of change as Rickter's very outline remained visible within the aurora emitted from within.

Thank you... for everything.

And as the morning drew near for people to start awakening, all that they experienced would be returned with utmost gratitude. Many would've either found some small satisfaction and going about their day with renewed vigor, while others likely quick to dismiss the dream entirely and chalk it up to nothing more than that. However, within the House of Waves, in particular, excitement would soon give rise to jubilance and joy all around.

For when the Maze family had risen they would all find another had risen with them. On the final day of Searing, Rickter had finally opened his eyes to see the mundane world for himself.

[Chronicle]

All Participants

Points: N/A
Loot: N/A
Injuries: N/A

Comments: No points for dream-related threads. It was fun and exciting to see how everyone added to this before seeing the conclusion, and am ecstatic to see how this influences Rickter's reunions with every one of you.