Playing in the water

[forgerofsouls]

Despite her age Lyrial was still very much a child at heart. As today was about to see. Lyrial stood at the edge of the river smiling. She had not grown once since she had arrived at Deep Forest. A pitty she though when she conscidered some things. Today was a nice day, the river was looking good to take a dip in to. In fact she thought, she might as well make it into a nice experience. But what to do? She thought about it for a little bit before getting an idea.

She looked at the ground and walked several feet away from the river. Than placing her hands on the ground she concentrated, and slowly but deliberatly she raised her hands. A soft orange glow was noticable between her hands and the ground. As her hands raised so did the ground. A circle about 20ft in diameter to be precise. As the circle raised out of the ground it soon became apperent that it was solid stone, no dirt or soil mixed in. She stopped raising it once it reached about 4 feet tall. Stepping back she pressed her palms together and then aimed them at the stone. As she did, all the loosed dirt, gravel, soil, anything that wasn't part of the stone was removed from the top and sides.

She looked at it for a few seconds while she cathered what power she would need for the second part of the spell. Once down she made a small quick motion with her hands and soon she was hovering above to the stone's top. Gathering some energy into the palm of her hands she that touched them to the stone surface. The stone started to give away, falling inward, making a somewhat bowl like shape, but with what appeared to be a surface for sitting on around the edges. Once it finished being reshaped she than landed on the ground outside of the bowl and took a few deep breaths. Gathering herself she looked towards the river, she was getting tired from the use if so much magic all at once. But, with what she was doing she would soon be able to relaxand get back the lost energy.

She pointed her hands at the river and concentrated, as she lifted her hands and moved them towards the stone bowl she just made a portion of the small portion of the river lifted into the air and angled towards the stone bowl. It created a floating stream of water into the bowl filling it up quickly. Lyrial had made sure that nothing but water was going into the bowl with her magic. It didn't take long for the bowl to fill up, and once it was full she caused the water she had redircted to remerge with the river. Taking some heavy breaths to help calm herself from the use of so much energy she concentrated for the last part. Touching the water she caused its temputure to jump up, causing it to become very hot quickly. It was to the point that it was now a true bath, a nice hot bath.

Grinning widely despite the exhustion she felt she took in her handy work. Then she quickly looked around making sure no one was around. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary she placed her hands on top of the stone and hoisted herself up, as she did her clothing dematerialized. Soon she was lowering herself into the bowl, naked, contempt, happy. Seriously, she thought, what could go wrong? She laid back lowering herself till her head was touching the water, her hair spreading out around her obscuring anyone's sight.

[showersinger4amo]

Tal had found a good spot to set up a more permanent camp, at least for now, until he could get a better idea of his surroundings or where his brother might be. After the strange things he had encountered just to enter here, he figured he needed to find out more about this forest before he pursued Edward. After all, Tal could sense Edward, and Edward didn't seem to be going anywhere outside the forest.

Tal stretched his arms and let out a loud yell that was half yawn, "Home...", he said finishing the yawn before talking at a more appropriate volume, "I haven't rested in like..." Tal put his arms down from his stretch, and paused to think, he arrived in the forest two years ago not stopping his search once, and before that it had been another two years since he had properly rested. "Four years? Can that be right? That is a long time..."

Tal took his sword and sheath from off his back and held it in his right hand, "Well, time for a nap!" With that Tal stretched, and then with a great leap, jumped into the river, the cold water not bothering Tal in the least. As Tal submerged his entire body and sank to the the bottom like a stone, closing his eyes. While he relaxed in the water he marveled at how he could still breath. He had heard that an Angelline had a strange ability to filter the oxygen in the water, and after much experience resting underwater he had no choice but to believe it.

Tal found a spot off from the main current, and sat down there, relaxing. And he started to rest. Rest like an Angelline rested, that is, half conscious, completely submerged in water, his breathing so slow that if someone found him they might have mistook him for being dead. He was incapable of falling asleep entirely or dreaming, but while he did not dream he still did think and as his mind wandered he often thought of his fiance, and his brother who murdered her. He rested, the whole time in great anticipation of waking up and continuing his search to find and confront his brother.
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Tal woke up, knowing intuitively that he had been asleep for two weeks. he figured maybe four years without rest was too much. On the one hand he was completely rested and restored by now, except he was exceptionally hungry.

He used his wings to hop out of the water, and then made the wings fade once more. He stretched and strapped his sword back across his back. His clothes were so clean it was almost hard to believe. They weren't even wet. Then again, it was Angelline equipment, it did that after six hours in water.

After some morning workouts, Tal began to search for some good food to eat, deciding to stay along the riverbed he began to travel. After walking a few miles down stream Tal stopped next to a tree that seemed to have some sort of fruit, he ate the strange red fruit he hadn't seen before, and could not but help shouting, "That's good!" Little did he know that someone not far off was taking a bath, someone who thanks to his shouting, would probably spot him. Unknowing of someone's presence however, the oblivious young warrior continued to eat bent over and on his knees, with the tip of his sword touching the floor, fruit in his hands and mouth, and his translucent wings currently faded and out of sight.

[forgerofsouls]

Lyrial, though not really paying attention to her surrounding had indeed heard Tal's yelling. It startled her out of her happyness. Putting on a serious look, her magic quickly covered her in a single piece swimsuit, white in color, as she stood up looking around for the disturbance. "Whos out there! I heard your yelling! Please come forth and let yourself be known!" She yelled back to the forest in the general direction of Tal. She did not know who was yelling or why. But she would find out she thought to herself.

Then suddenly the earth moved beneath her feet. A small weak earthquake as it was. Though sudden, it wasn't strong enough to throw her off her feet. But it did startle her enough to cause her to start flying above the surface of her custom made open air hot bath. Looking at the ground for signs of anything else that might have caused the earthquake she almost forgot about the other person that was yelling. Even the delay brought about from the small earthquake might have been enough for it to look like she had forgot about him. Almost though. She quickly remebered about the one yelling and returned her attention to her surroundings searching for anyone else around.

Then suddenly almost like a calm in the area had appeared before a storm, she felt scared. She didn't know why but looked around looking for this new source of terror. And suddenly she heard it, the new earthquake struck harder then the previous one. If it wasn't for the fact that she was flying she might have been thrown to the ground due to the force of the earthquake. As it was she watched as the stone that was her bath started to crack from the force. But she quickly stopped it with her magic. Thus her bath stayed whole and no water was lost. Than just as suddenly it had started, the earthquake stopped.

She slowly landed into her bath and sat down thinking about this new development. Why was there a stronger earthquake after a weak earthquake? She didn't understand it much. And once again if anyone thought that she had forgotten about Tal, they were wrong. "Hey! Who ever you are, come out and over here if you are ok." She yelled out load.

[showersinger4amo]

"Whos out there! I heard your yelling! Please come forth and let yourself be known!"

Tal jumped in complete surprise his halo glistening, how could someone have noticed him? He was being so aware as he was walking along the stream, then suddenly he decides to get food and lets down his guard? Oh of course that was it, food, he forgot he had the tendency to yell out loud what he thought about the food, what a stupid habit! How careless he had been! In any case however it seemed this person wasn't sure exactly who he was either which means he must have surprised her too. He felt a little better knowing that he wasn't the only one who let down their guard. Tal kept a fruit in his hand and stood up to step out from the bushes. He didn't make it three steps when the earth started to shake.

He was thrown off balance for a moment taken again once more by surprise. What happened after that was more auditory than more earth shaking, but it didn't last long and soon faded. Tal froze still for a moment, had this person he had just "encountered" done that just now? His halo dimmed. Perhaps he should be careful about proceeding and not make any sudden movements, he would hat to mess with someone who could do something like that so nonchalantly. Before he could figure out exactly how to proceed the earth began shaking again.

This time was worse though, Tal staggered backwards and in a moment lost his footing completely. However he was quick enough to activate his wings and the semi translucent wings sprouted from his back keeping him floating in the air. The rumbling continued however, it was louder than last time, even a few fruit from the fruit tree he just discovered fell to the ground. The fruit probably bruised from the impact and Tal's halo dimmed even greater after that thought. For some reason he found it much more difficult to eat bruised fruit, then again he had more pressing matters. The earth's trembling continued for a few more moments before finally subsiding. Tal looked out towards the river and towards the voice he heard just earlier, could one person really have so much power? He had hesitated there for so long the voice called out again.

"Hey! Who ever you are, come out and over here if you are ok."

Tal thought about the words for a minute, it seemed whoever was saying them seemed a bit concerned for his safety. Someone like that wouldn't just go around throwing fruit bruising earthquakes at people would they? At least, not on purpose. Tal deactivated his wings and landed softly onto the ground, his halo brightening once more, this time to a more neutral shade somewhere between dim and bright. He took a deep breath and reached his hand forward and after spreading some branches he stepped forward into the open next to the river.

He looked around and before long spotted a girl who appeared to be hiding in a giant earth cup filled with water. An earth cup? Maybe this girl was responsible for the earthquake, then he realized suddenly, his eyes widening as he realized it with his fruit he was holding dropping to the floor, this girl was taking a bath. "Sorry!" he half shouted turning around quickly, his halo once more dimming. He kept his back turned towards the river and the girl and kept his eyes very focused on a leaf on a nearby tree. Then again didn't this girl look a bit familiar?

Tal without thinking turned around a little to get another look, he squinted his eyes as if it would help him distinguish details. No it wasn't who he thought it was. How could it be, she was dead now after all. It took him a good couple seconds to realize he was technically peeping and he blushed and turned around once more, "I'm so sorry!"

Where he was from people were very, very modest, he was a little unsure of how to act here. But another apology seemed to work. "Really I'm so sorry!" He covered his eyes with both of his hands, although he was still looking away, "My name is Tal. I didn't mean to, to... do anything. Sorry..."

[forgerofsouls]

When the stranger finally revealed himself she just looked at him, thinking about the earthquakes and all. Than he started to apologize. He was even blushing and turning around. She found this funny, for she was wearing a bathing suit. So nothing showed. But still, atleast it showed that he at least had some manners. And is was obvious that he was unharmed, which was good. Wouldn't have been a good if he had been somehow injured from the earthquakes. Than she would have to had worried about some hurt stranger. But she started to laugh as he continued to apologize.

But he had at the very least apologized and while doing so itroduced himelf. Her eyes shifted through many colors, the colors swirling and mixing together constantly. But the colors were currently bright and cheerful. Her hair at the moment was a bright cheerful red color. She stood up out of the water. "Greetings Tal, I am the great and powerful Lyrial Eailiolery!" She said making a makeshift bow/curtsey as her current getup would allow. It was obvous to anyone from her height and build (and near flatness) that she was still a child.

"Don't know what your apologizing for, I am not naked. So its not like you were peeking on some naked woman that was taking a bath." She said giving him a wink and a mischevious grin. "By the way, do you know if earthquakes on this planet are supposed to happen like that? Week ones followed by much stronger ones? All the other planets that I have visited had it the other way around, typically the first earthquake is the strongest followed by some aftershocks that were much weaker, but those aftershocks tend to happen after a few hours of time or so. Not immeditialy following the intial earthquake." She asked her eyes looking at him questing for the answers she sought, though she doubted that he knew anything.

[showersinger4amo]

This girl started to laugh at him as he continued to apologize, which on the one hand helped him to think she wasn't offended, but on the other hand just made him feel more embarrassed. Although although the mood lightened, he still did not dare turn around. While still facing the opposite direction he heard water splashing as if she were getting out of the water, then she politely introduced herself as "the great and powerful Lyrial Eailiolery". It was an interesting introduction, even without the awkwardness of his entrance. He was familiar with titles from his own kind, although usually such titles were said after the name. Such as Delphina the gentle, or Korphan the brave, it seemed Lyrial Eailiolery's custom was to proceed with the titles first, which was new to him but nothing he couldn't handle. The idea that she was being stuck up or overly proud did not even occur to him entirely due to her politeness, had she had been more rude or condescending, he very well might have figured the title self given, but as things stood currently did not even consider the notion.

She started to explain that she was wearing some sort of suit which judging from the name apparently was used for bathing. Some of the color on Tal's face disappeared but not fully. He turned around to see she was wearing some clothing, albeit very skimpy clothing, and she also appeared to be fairly young. His blush receded once more and his halo returned to its typical bright glittering golden glow. More relaxed, he took a moment to get a closer look at her face, he hadn't noticed before that her hair and eyes seemed to alter colors continually, however even these things considered she still looked very much like Emma, although this girl appeared younger, he still could not deny basic similarities. Lyrial Eailiolery seemed to be a very cheerful girl, and he figured that even had she been not wearing any clothes at all, she might not have been very upset with him even then.

Then she asked him about the Earthquakes, and while he hadn't ever experienced an actual earthquake before, he vaguely recalled reading about them in his study materials. While he didn't receive any typical schooling, he had been a fantastic and avid reader. "It is a pleasure to meet you Lyrial Eailiolery," putting his hands together right fist to left palm and offering a deep bow with a sturdy yet elegant posture. "Earthquakes working the other way around? I hadn't even considered that," in truth though he had figured perhaps she had done the earthquake, but decided not to say that out loud. He crossed his arms and looked towards the sky recalling everything he read about. While looking at the sky, he couldn't help but think Emma would probably know. He shook his head to toss the thought from his mind, now looking to the ground, but after a pause it all started coming back to him. "Typically natural earthquakes should work that way. Logic would follow it is that way too, when you get an excess of force pushing in different directions it would build up tension. The initial break would be the greatest shock because it would release all that stored energy at once, the after shocks would just be adjustments of the earth to return to an equilibrium. First the earth snaps, then after it would grind together until it became relaxed again. Like... a rock slide. There would be an explosion of force and once things settled down everything would seem to be calm, when in reality not everything has settled down yet. A few rocks here and there might still fall later and it might be a little while before absolutely everything becomes still again completely."

Tal looked back up at her to see her reaction, she seemed bright and smart. She would probably realize his rambling at the end was just speculation on the rules of what he thought was called physics. Which he always saw as a mess of forces just applying to each other or effecting one another in some way. There were an awful lot of variables to remember like friction and wind resistance, but the simplified version he used to remember it all was that everything has an arrow or direction of force. Even a person standing still, there was still the force of gravity pulling down and his legs pushing up, which only created a net value of zero. In a rock slide every tiny rock would have their own arrow and it wouldn't be calmed again until all their net values returned to zero. The theory seemed sound but he wasn't sure if Lyrial Eailiolery would buy it, or perhaps she was even smarter than he was and found a flaw in his logic in which case he just wasted a lot of time to look like an idiot.

"So Lyrial Eailiolery, Do you think something unnatural caused it?" He tried to think of something that would cause the earthquakes to respond in that order, a smaller, then larger shock. But aside from some conflict between two really great forces, he couldn't come up with anything. And even in that case he didn't think it very likely. He looked back at Lyrial Eailiolery, only to once more avert his eyes not being used to someone who wore such minimal garments.

[forgerofsouls]

Lyrial nodded in full understanding as Tal explained how earthquakes worked, at least, how he was taught. But, that was no real help because that was how she was taught. So when he finished and than asked her if she thought if something unnatural had caused the earthquakes she frowned and then looked up at the sky thinking hard about it. It was true, while every planet worked that way as described and taught to the two of them, what would be the possibilities of a planet that did not work that way? But if that was the case, wouldn't there have been other signs of the planet's unique qualities that made it work in reverse? She shook her head no, there was no way that would have been the case. Something unnatural had to have been the cause. But what could have caused it?

She looked once again at Tal. "As far as I can guess, yes. Something unnatural has happened that caused the wierd earthquake...or...I might just be overthinking and overexamining." She said smiling as she finished with what she had said. Than she realized that maybe how she was dressed was something Tal was not used to. So she decided to change, right in front of him. But first, she needed to get out of the water. So she raised on foot above the water level and placed it on top of the water, firmly set she then stood up on that foot and placed the other foot on top of the water. She was at that point standing on top of the water. Than just as soon as she had firmly placed her feet she started to walk to the stone sides, as she did so, the water calmed, eeriely it calmed down, as if it was being forced to calm down. No ripples or distortion, no disturbances at all on the surface. She was doing that on purpose, she was getting ready to use the water for another spell. One that she figured would help them figure out what was going on.

As she reached the edge and her feet went from water to stone she shone with a bright light. When it had settled, she was fully clothed in a black long sleeved shirt with a pink kness length skirt on, with white socks and black shoes on. Why did she choose that outfit? Only she knew. "Sorry if I was making you feel uncorfortable because of what I was wearing. But yeah, I do indeed think something unnatural happened. How about you? I would certainly like to hear your opinion on the matter, and if we should be worried about it." She didn't really think they needed to be worried, but something told her to be worried.

[showersinger4amo]

Tal didn't really think she was over-thinking, something that could cause vibrations like that was nothing to be taken lightly. It could be a major problem if whatever caused that earthquake was planning to do something immoral, then the earths problem would become Tal's problem. Which was something Tal didn't look forward to, and in fact didn't think he could handle alone. Soon after Lyrial was expressing her concerns that perhaps she was thinking about this too much, she began manipulating the water and after a brilliant flash of light, she was wearing altered clothing.

"Sorry if I was making you feel uncorfortable because of what I was wearing."

Tal laughed reaching one hand to scratch back of his head, his halo glittering brightly, "Sorry about that. Where i am from the modesty of women might seem a little outdated, but i still grew up in it. I was raised to treat it delicately," Tal looked again at Lyrial, stepping forward with one foot and waving his hands in the air in a sort of "jazz hands" way, "Not that you are or aren't delicate or anything." Tal resumed his more neutral posture, "Just we treat the modesty with delicacy, out of respect or something like that."

"I do indeed think something unnatural happened. How about you? I would certainly like to hear your opinion on the matter, and if we should be worried about it."

"Well first of all i don't think you are over thinking it," Tal said with a nod, "Better safe than sorry!" he said this while closing his eyes, placing his left hand on his hip while his right hand up in the air with one finger up in the air as if he had a brilliant yet simple point which has been neglected. He opened his eyes and looked back at Lyrial. That phrase was something Emma used to say, and she said it with that exact posture. It was then Tal realized he was acting a bit more... well for lack of a better word, outgoing. Perhaps it was because she reminded him of Emma? If anything this did remind him that Emma wasn't completely gone, she was still, how do you say... in his heart. Or in the sky, so to speak. Then without thinking he blurted out something he often had said to Emma, "That outfit looks pretty cute." Which probably seemed awkward due the pause and total change of subject, however at the time Tal didn't see how odd the change of subject was, and blew right past it without ever noticing.

"We should give this careful consideration because even if now it might not be our problem it might become our problem. Or my problem or your problem anyways. If it is nothing and nothing ever results in our thinking that is fine too though right? But if we do come across whatever we would be dealing with, even with the small chance we could come up with something helpful with as little as we know, it still seems best to give it thought, just in case. And considering the magnitude of what we might be up against i think there clearly is risk enough to justify taking such a chance." Tal crossed his arms and tried to think of something that could result in something like a pair of earthquakes. Thinking of ideas weren't the issue, it was limiting the ideas to the most probable ones that was an issue. It was true that they didn't know much at this point, so coming up with something accurate might be tough. Although, he just argued the fact it would be best to consider it, he believed it too, but there just wasn't much to go off of. "Ugh, the more i think though the more i think we just don't know enough yet. But I do think we should be worried."

"I think we should be worried. I definitely think it is unnatural. That being said i can't think of many 'good' things that could result from such a pair of earthquakes. So right now i'm leaning towards the theory that whatever caused this is bad, maybe even evil. That or perhaps it was the resolution of something. Something ending, like a great building falling down. I seem to recall that the plains somewhere in this forest used to have a barrier against evil, now they don't." here he was speaking from his ability to sense the darkness and the light, he tried to be aware of such changes. "I wouldn't think it hard to believe that is somehow related. But i'd like to stop there and hear your thoughts on the matter Lyrial Eailiolery." He smiled as he said the last sentence.

[forgerofsouls]

Lyrial knew that it was wise to respect what other cultures thought and acted. Best to have friends than people that hated you because you couldn't respect their views. And thats also another reason why she listened to what he had to say. After all, whether or not they were overthinking on the earthquakes, it was to unnatural to write off as overthinking. And he was right, it was always better to be safe than sorry. But what he said after that caught her by surprise. To the point that she couldn't control the blush that creeped up her face unannounced. What he said was unexpected at the moment. And she hadn't even choosen the outfit to impress him.

And he kept on trucking as if what he said was perfectly normal and not at all awkward. But she best also proceed as if it wasn't anything to think about much of. Though she couldn't do anything about the blush. He was, of course, correct about anything that could become a problem in there future if they let it be as is. But, the part about how little they knew was what kept her grounded in not knowing what to do. It almost seamed like they should at the very least ask someone else for imput on this. But who would they contact? She thought it through. She ruled out basically everyone she knew here at the forest because it seamed like none of them would be the right people for figuring this out. So she came to a conclusion as Tal finished talking.

She nodded as he finished. "I heard about the place, the Meadow of Peace as it was called. Do not know the specifics about the place fully myself. Or on the barrier for that matter. But the barrier left a while ago, and I do not recall it making earthquakes. So chances are high that the barrier itself and the meadow of peace are not connected to the earthquakes." She said, as she finished her speech, she sat down on the edge of the earthen bowl, not placing her feet or anything into the water though, and lightly touching the surface of the water with her finger without causing any ripples. She started to whisper, words that held more power than one could comprehend, yet they would be able to notice that the language was something that was not a typical language that would be able to be learned by mortals. For one, the langauge seamed to be spoken so that many words were spoken at the same time, making it sound like she was speaking sveral different languages at the same time. Yet, it was still harder to comprehend that that simple description made it sound. It was a very ancient language known only to the gods and worldeaters.

Suddenly the water rippled forth from her finger. But, the water showed not the water, or the reflection of the trees or sky. Insteed, it changed to show them, from an over head view. Than the view shifted to show more trees, and than the view shot off in the direction it was showing. It continued despite trees and other obstacles. "Now we wait for it to show us who to speak to for possible advice on the matter. Or at the very least, someone that might be more concerned with these earthquakes than us. Someone that we might want to help with this issue." She said as she removed her finger from the water, making no ripples as she removed it. The view continued until finally it came to a stop, showing a lavender color unicorn with wings.

"I knew I should have went out of my way to meet the others of the forest, but nooo! I didn't want to bug anyone, so I have no idea who this unicorn is...how about you? Do you know who it is?" Lyrial said with an apologetic look on her face.

[showersinger4amo]

"The Meadow of Peace? Yeah i guess earthquakes is not a common factor which would mean they are probably not so related. Too bad." Tal was a bit disappointed that his idea was so off the mark, even more so considering he was wrong in company. However she didn't seem to think him an idiot so he got over it. Still, what an unfortunate fate for such a peaceful place. He wondered what they called the meadow now, or if it was still peaceful.

Lyrial turned to her bath and began to whisper something, it must have been some ancient or sacred language because the words seemed to have power. Tal thought maybe it was the language of the universe, which according to Tal's studies was like knowing the true name of everything. True names had power, knowing the true language, and pronouncing it with a supernatural perfection, potentially could control everything. This Lyrial Eailiolery must have studied it for a long time, or have been a real natural at it. If it was what Tal thought it was, the language would have be as old as the universe itself. Of course people did things similar with the use of magic. These magic chants had a similar effect, less potential but much more common because of it being much easier to master and much more is known about it. For some reason though he had a hunch that whatever Lyrial was channeling was closer to the former.

Tal took a few steps closer to the water out of curiosity. This looked like scrying, he had seen someone whose gift was scrying preform a similar action using water and some sort of ritual. Although this seemed much more accurate, the scrying he witnessed was like their ability to sense good and evil. Everything you tried to pick up was a ripple in a pond, sometimes it would be fresh and accurate, other times it would be distorted, sometimes you would miss it entirely or pick up on the wrong ripple. This however seemed to be dead on, Lyrial seemed to act as if it were.

"That's really amazing," Tal said, his eyes watching the shifting colors in the water, now it was going through trees. Lyrial mentioned something about asking about advice from someone, someone who might also be concerned, someone who might be able to help. Tal looked at Lyrial as she said it, then turned back to the water. "Someone... else..." Tal murmured quietly. He had depended on himself for so long, he forgot what that was like. He remembered Emma telling him that he would be stronger if he wasn't alone. Tal lost himself in thought.

The water finally revealed something, or someone, a unicorn. Tal lowered to his knees to get a closer look, but also because for some reason his legs were feeling weak. "For the past two years i have been pretty selfish. Actually, really selfish. Since i entered the forest i spent most of my time by myself taking care of my own problems. Seems all i have done is make more than a few enemies and no friends. All the while people have been having their own problems and i have kept to myself." He remembered especially spending time in the mountains were the stench of evil was so thick he couldn't pinpoint any one vibration. He fought and killed a lot of nameless monsters, evil monsters, but even then did that do any good? Tal had to start dedicating some time to help others, Emma would want him too, even if it took him longer to help her. He shook his head, maybe this was an opportunity to do something helpful, maybe. Emma and Edward would have to wait. Tal looked from the pool back to Lyrial, "Sorry Lyrial Eailiolery, I don't know this unicorn. Where does that leave us?"

Tal fell backwards into a sitting position, somewhat gracefully but he could have done it more gracefully than he had, "I won't be much help in the finding someone department." He had been searching for someone in two years and a lot of good that search was doing.

[forgerofsouls]

Lyrial listened to Tal with actual interest. The two of them shared on thing in common. They had both made a mistake of not meeting others in the forest over the past two years. Both had the own reasons for doing as such. But Lyrial realized that she had been foolish. But, on the bright side of things. She was about to go meet with this lavender unicorn. Even though in essence, the meeting was for something that may or may not be important. Shw wish she could go back and make it so that she had met others in the forest. Indeed, she didn't even visit the village often. Maybe not even once a month did she visit the village.

She touched the surface of the water again and delicately traced a pattern into the surface, leaving a small inditation in the surface of the water as her finger slid across the surface. After she lifted her finger off the surface of the water it glowed a soft lavender color, than suddenlyThe light gathered at the center of the water and then formed an arrow pointing off in a direction. Lyiral looked at the arrow and looked at the direction it was pointed. She sighed softly thinking. Then she realzied that it would be best to not worry to much about anything uless soemthing serious was happening. In the mean time, meeting with this unicorn could be helpful with this situation. If anything, concedering that unicorns were typically closer with nature than other creatures this unicorn should be able to tell if this was a natural or unnatural earthquake. But this was all speculation.

Turning back to Tal she smiled. "Well, I can not tell you how to run your life, or how to fix your problems. But, as my goddess told me, if you have problems that are to much for yourself to handle, or that you just can't seam to fix, to ask others for help. Even if they are not capable of outright fixing your problem, at the very least they might be able to provide you some advise that may help. Even if it is the smallest of help, sometimes, it is the key that you need to start fixing your problems. She said, not knowing if what she said would help or not. But she decided to continue with what she was taught. "She also said that no one is capable of existing or truely living alone. That for people, especialy mortals, to help one another is natural and is at its core, a way to survive and exist happily. Without others, one can not do anything properly alone. She continued than decided to throw in a little extra. "In a way, thats why ritual spells require more than one person. With one person, the spell would either not work or be weak. But with many people working together on the ritual, it works the way it was supposed to due to everyone working together. In a way, its like living. You are week alone, or amount to basically nothing. But when you work with others, the results are greater then the sum of the parts. In a wierd sort of way it would be like saying that in a group working with others, you can indeed get two plus two to equal twenty-two, instead of just four." She finished at long last. She knida thought she might have rambled on, but, she figured as long as anything she said would help, then so be it.

"But, back to the topic at hand, this arrow, as you might have figured out, is pointing to the unicorn. So I suggest we follow its direction and find this unicorn." She said.

[showersinger4amo]

Tal listened to Lyrial's point of view, and while he was listening he felt tingles all over his body. It was almost as if someone else in another plane was sitting in that exact spot with him. Tal could feel Emma with him, and could feel Emma agreeing with Lyrial. Almost like Lyrial and Emma were standing next to each other, and while Lyrial was talking, Emma was nodding her head. Tal had always seen himself as a loner, in the castle he had his family, but even though nine times out of ten he was with either his brother or mother he still considered himself a loner. Then once he was allowed to leave but just to keep secret who he was, nine times out of ten he was with Emma. For whatever reason however, still he considered himself a loner. Then when Emma died he actually was alone, tasking himself with something he thought he could only do alone, after all he was a loner. Emma had always tried to convince Tal this was not the case, and that he could trust people, but she had always thought she had more time to do so, and the lesson didn't yet stick. Tal kept trying to imagine himself mingling socially, and the whole thing felt awkward and pathetic, it seemed easier to be alone. Then he realized it would be hard if he tried to stop being alone all by himself, like Emma and Lyrial were saying, you are stronger in every way when not alone. And Tal wasn't alone, he had Emma with him, and for the time being, Lyrial.

"Thank you," Tal said briefly dipping into a soft yet well postured bow, "You are right," he said looking up at her, "People are stronger united together, and they are happier together. i like especially the part when you say together people are stronger then the some of the parts. That's like saying people are stronger than themselves when they are alone. I wonder -" Tal stopped mid sentence, his face frozen in the shape of someone pronouncing a really long "r" sound. He closed his eyes for a moment and smiled.

Tal stood up and gave a long yawn with a stretch, "Well I'm going to get more fruit for the walking, then i'll be all set. You want some?" Tal smiled genuinely turning towards the fruit and walking through a layer of bushes before reaching the tree with delicious fruit. He drew his sword and held it low while intensely studying the tree with his eyes, waiting to here if she wanted some fruit so he would know how many to gather.

[forgerofsouls]

Lyrial was happy that her words had seemed to have helped him. If anything, he seemed to be more happier to have recieved some advice. But, what was that presence that Lyrial had felt that had been with him while she had spoke? She figured that since it wasn't something evil feeling, indeed more like a benevolent spirit or presence, than she shouldn't worry about it. Then her stomache rumbled a little reminding her that she hadn't eaten for a while. "You are welcome Tal, and yes, I would like some fruit myself. Thank you very much. She said politly as she folled Tal to the fruit.

Than her mind wondered about what the earthquake was all about. For some reason she found that it was not possible to get it off her mind. Than again, maybe it had something to do with the forest being her new home for a long time to come? Thus if it was in danger, so was she? When she looked at it that way it made sense that she was worried about the place. Than she just remebered something else, though while nothing really important, it still was something that she should take care of. So she turned aroun d back to her makeshift bath. She than raised her hand out to the bowl of water with her palm down.

Slowly she lowered her hand and as if something was pressing down on the bowl it slowly sunk into the ground. Her other hand formed a cup and she raised it into the air, the water in the sinking bowl slowly raised into the air. Beads of sweat formed on her head as she concentrated on the taks at hand. Once the bowl has fully into the ground she made a quick gesture with the hand that was controling the bowl, and suddenly the ground had reformed itself to look like nothing had disturbed it. With her hand controling the water she moved it towards the river, and once there she slowly but the water back into the river. And thus, her bath was no more.

She smiled at her own skills, though she knew better than to be overly proud of her abilities. She still needed more training, particurly in the area of control. She had more than once used more power than needed in the past. And thus had been punished for it. Suddenly, she collapsed to the ground, though she only landed in a sitting position. She felt a little tired and exhausted. She hadn't had enough time to recover enough energy from the creation of the bath in the first place. And than she went directly into using light and shadow magic for divining. Than she had jumped directly into fixing her bath so that it was like it was before she tampered with the area. But she only need a few minutes of rest...and perhaps something to eat...before she would be ready to move again. "Heh, think I used a tad bit more magic than I meant to there." She said jokingly.

[showersinger4amo]

Lyrial thanked him for the fruit preemptively, but even so he followed with "You're welcome," with a sincere smile. He however was still trying to figure out the best way to get the fruit, he had an idea but it would require a bit of effort, and it might be a bit tough to do it on his own if he didn't want the fruit to touch the floor. Tal turned around to express this concern and instead watched as Lyrial used some kind of power to return the river to a more natural state. It really was quite amazing, she could control the water and the earth at once, and considering the image of the purple unicorn, seemed to have a hand in what Tal thought was called divination as well. It really was an amazing sight, she seemed to have a great deal of power. Tal was really quite impressed.

Then without warning she fell to a sitting position, channeling that kind of energy must have been exhausting. It really said a lot that she took the time to return the river to what it was despite the draining aspect of her power, as if she cared about this forest, or the very least, cared about nature.

"Heh, think I used a tad bit more magic than I meant to there."

Tal gave what he hoped was an empathetic smile, "Well worry not, delicious food is on the way!" Tal had originally planned to carry the fruit as they walked, but sitting down would actually be easier and probably smarter too. Someone once told him it is not good to walk and eat, apparently it increased your chance of choking, but really he was thinking about collecting the fruit and making that easier, if they were sitting, he could just fashion a sort of blanket to set the fruit on, and they wouldn't have to carry them.

Tal concentrated for a few moments pointing his sword up high with both hands, in a moment he focused a blast of wind through the trees knocking leaves off the branches. He put his sword away then reached forward with both hands, redirecting the wind currents to bring all the loose airborne leaves to bring them slowly towards a localized spot on the ground. There were a few hundred leaves to control so it took every bit of his concentration. He wasn't quite talented enough to manipulate wind with just his mere thought like others of his kind were, but for now he could manage with concentrating. The leaves drifted lower to the ground and gently touched the ground. He created a blanket of leaves around Lyrial, which to him seemed much more sanitary than eating off dirt.

Then Tal drew his sword and turned to the fruit tree, he made three quick cuts and eight of whatever type of fruit it was fell, Tal reached his left hand forward while holding his sword in his right hand and managed to catch the fruit before they hit the floor with the wind. He redirected the wind once more, and each fruit one by one started to move towards the river. Once he had foolishly tried to dip fruit in a river only to find he wasn't talented with the wind enough to bend the wind through the water and the fruit, and he lost the fruit to the current. So this time instead he kept the fruit above the water level, and using waves of wind he splashed small blankets of water over the fruit cleaning them that way. Then he redirected them one final time towards the leafy blanket and slowly set them down.

Tal sheathed his sword and sat down across from Lyrial on the other side of the pile of fruit, his sword scratching along the ground behind him as he sat down. He let out a sigh of relaxation, then focused the wind and carried one of the fruit to him, and after grabbing it, also used the wind and brought a second fruit and left it hovering in front of Lyrial. "You know before we leave there is something i think we should try," Tal said with an especially glittering halo, "It was like my favorite hobby back before i came here, remind me before we start looking okay?" Tal looked at the river then remembered the purple unicorn. "Oh before i forget," he focused the wind and using precise wind control he drew an arrow in the dirt to remind them which direction the unicorn was in in case they forgot. Then afterward, Tal took an enormous bite of his food, making a loud crunch!

[forgerofsouls]

Lyrial watched with as Tal used his own powers to gather the fruit and to wash them off in the river. It was always amazing to watch others that were not gods, worldeaters, celestial beings and other such beings use magic and powers akin to magic. Just goes to show that mortals were just as able with such powers as the immortals. Though at times it seamed like they were not as able. Must be individual talent. Sort of like how each god had their own areas of expertise, like her goddess is the goddess of hope and moons. So to would each and every mortal with power wield said power differently. Same with worldeaters, no two worldeaters held the same powers. Many of them were similar, though still different.

But still she was happy that at least it seamed like it was a good time to rest for a short bit. Eat some fruit, and rest before searching for the unicorn that they needed to find. But why would they need to search for this unicorn? Maybe it knew something? And if it didn't; maybe, it knew of another source of information. But what ever the case, she figured as she grabbed the fruit from the air and bit into it enjoying the flavor and texture, at least she would be meeting others and possibly making some friends. So, it wouldn't be a total waste of time.

"You have excellent control over the wind it seams. Do you have any other abilites? And what is it that you want to try?" She asked after swallowing some of the fruit before biting back into the fruit. The arrow was a good idea to start out with, but as with the forest and the trees, it could be nearly useless once the get some distance away and have had to go around some trees. Lyrial silently searched through her spells for something else that might be able to help with the direction keeping.

[showersinger4amo]

"Um other abilities?" Tal thought aloud taking another bite, he swallowed, "Maybe just wind. Although i still haven't mastered it, ideally i should be able to do simple things without concentrating, but i'm not there yet." The truth was he was in no condition to train his wind control until he "found himself". Once he figured out who he was, it would be easier to figure out more about the gift of wind within him. "But there are a few other things that go beyond physical things anyone could do like swordplay. I can fly, at very high speeds, even faster if i focus and bend the wind in my favor first. After spending a year here i started to use it more for long distance if i wanted to, but i like walking. Then there is sensing darkness, although that ability is more luck and chance than anything else." Tal nodded his head, "I'm afraid that's it though, not too exciting. You though seem to have really impressive abilities. I read once that it was possible to have control over every aspect of nature or even beyond if they had an understanding of... magic? or mana? or something like that. My control is limited to wind, but someone like this supposedly isn't limited to a single aspect of the universe. Is your power something like that?"

Tal took a few more bites finishing whatever type of fruit it was before tossing it into the river. He always thought about the river carrying seeds down stream and wondered if they ever took root anywhere or if some animal ate them first, either way, Tal felt he was doing some small part in nature. Tal smiled at the second part of her question, "Oh the thing i wanted to try, well it's something that pleases the inner child. I was going to make it a surprise but i guess the surprise is just as good now than it would be later."

Tal stood up and walked to the edge of the river, he closed his eyes and concentrated, "For more impressive wind feats i have to close my eyes and give everything to focus on the wind. I can't see thought, but i can sense everything through the wind. I know where everything is because of their contact with the wind, things that move and things that don't, both disturb the wind, and because of that, i can still see. If it gets hard to see i can send out the tiniest of wind pulses to see with." He sent out a pulse of wind which only the most sensitive or aware person could notice,then he felt through the wind and using a lot of focus he could feel even the tiny air shifting through the crevices between the rocks. Then he selected the ones he wanted and pushed each one with a gust of wind and blew them into the air, then snatched all of them with localized air pressures and moved them into a pile, save one which he blew to himself then opening his eyes he caught it.

He turned back to Lyrial and held the stone forward, it was a perfectly smooth flat stone, "This plus water," Tal said with a smile and a glittering halo, "Get it?"

[forgerofsouls]

Lyrial smiled as Tal explained his abilities. He had good control over the wind, and he was still modest about having not mastered it. For it seamed that he was still able to use it for simple things and not even show any hints of any type of drain on him. Unlike her and magic. She was a conduit for the energies she channeled into her spells. It was taxing on her. Than again, she figured that is why most mortals could only do a limited amount of spells per day. Because of the energy they controled took its toll on them.

At least they both could fly, so it might mean they could fast travel to find this unicorn. And if what he said about sensing things with the wind...then...finding the unicorn might be easier than she thought. But for now, she was asked a question about her magic. After swallowing the bit of fruit she was happily munching on she decided to answer. "Magic, is indeed what I use. And while one isn't always limited in the type of powers and energy, it has more to due with the knowledge of spells they are gifted with. Thats the limit that magic users face, is the number of spells they know. And the energy they channel to use the magic is taxing both mentally and physically. Those are your typical casters though. Me? I was personally trained by Slyphianess, Goddess of Hope and Moons. In a wierd sort of way you could say she is my grandmother though I am no goddess myself. Though I am fated to become her High Priestess soon enough."

"My magic is powerful enough that you could say that I virtually have no limit on spells. Though, energy wise, as you have seen yourself, I am limited. All in all, I have access to spells that use fire, water, earth, electricity, wind, sonic, positive, and negative energies. Those are the easiest type of magic energies to manipulate. Other types of energies that can be manipulated as magic are, holy, unholy, shadow, light, divine, and omega energy. Spells that use those elements I find to be harder to use and more taxing. Especially divine and omega energies. Those two are the ultimate energies in the universe. Though truth be told, I can't use unholy energy for spells. Plus there are other types of energies out there that could possibly be manipulated for magic. Though I am still researching and training for use of those, but first I got to figure out what they are." She said at length.

[showersinger4amo]

"See I don't use magic, my gift relies on a sort of manipulation of wind, so as long as i have the concentration capacity, ideally my power would be limitless. However the mind has limits and i'm afraid of reaching them. Bad things can happen if your mind snaps, i could die, lose my gift, or worse hurt a great number of people. Wind can do a lot of damage. I can only gain in wind with the right state of mind. I'm simply not there yet, so my limit for the time being will have to be what i already know. If i risk going farther before i'm ready, then those bad things can happen. If I am able to find out who i am and what i want to stand for, the wind will come more naturally to me without my even trying." It was a hard thing to explain, but he thought it best to stop there. He didn't think he did a good job explaining it, but trying to clarify it now would just make it more confusing. In short, increasing his skill in the wind wasn't something he could force, they had to come naturally, and they would do so when he became, for lack of a better word, enlightened.

Tal smiled, "High Priestess? That is really cool! Do you ever just take a step back and wonder how huge a thing like that is? Hey when that happens would it be too much for me to ask if i could come see? I think that would be really great!"

Tal crossed his arms, he thought perhaps he could help her think of some spell types from his studies. "As for types of magic..." Tal's halo started to flow smoothly, like a golden gently flowing stream spinning around and around, "I have studied a lot and what i know might not be of used to you but it can't hurt to try right? You said water, but not ice, of course from your purpose they might amount to the same thing. Of course you might want to consider cold, simply lowering temperature can have profound effects, lowering it enough can almost halt time in a sense, halt the process of living or process of movement. What they call absolute zero. Then time might be able to be affected by magic more directly. I seem to recall reading about research into Void magic, and similarly, Dimensional magic. I have also heard of Chaos magic, Cosmic magic, and Gravitational magic. I was thinking about it once and i came up with one of my own, although it is just theory. Friction magic, it probably isn't a magic but if it could be manipulated it could do really powerful things. Also healing magic, unless that is included in holy or divine magic, i'm really not sure. That's all i can come up with off the top of my head, they might not be what you are looking for of course but its all i could think of. If you have any questions you can ask me anytime, although i only have a basic understanding of each one, for some merely a theoretical understanding. The library i used to spend time at might have more, but i myself am not allowed to go there anymore so, I'm sorry!" Tal gave an apologetic bow.

He stood straight again, perhaps he got a little carried away in that rambling, then perhaps even more so for the apology. He didn't really do anything wrong did he? Or did he? Then again, if sorry meant, "I'm sorry it is like that" or "I wish things were differently" then sorry is indeed what he was. Tal decided to lighten up. He smiled and using the wind picked up a smooth rock. "So unless there is anything you want to talk about, which by the way i would be more than happy to do, lets try my game."