Ember
High Status
Would you carry me from Hell to Home Tonight?
Posts: 90
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Post by Ember on Aug 30, 2007 17:12:59 GMT -5
"There's got to be something for us somewhere...but are the shadows haunting us going to go away or are we just willing them to stay?"
Ember took a few steps away from Dark and looked out over the horizon, she travelled to a new location everytime the need arose and every time she hoped it would be different, that she would be accepted despite being so far from what was considered the norm...but this time she was standing with someone who didn't fit either and in truth they seemed to be wary of eachother despite the fact Ember didn't want to leave, she wondered if Dark wanted to walk away from this.
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Dark Link
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I will grow stronger, no matter what it takes.
Posts: 324
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Post by Dark Link on Aug 30, 2007 21:30:11 GMT -5
Dark wanted to run from this woman as fast as he could. Well, a part of him really thought it would be a good idea to move from her. Ok, so a tiny voice from his past self was whispering that maybe it he might feel a little more comfortable leaning away from her.
Dark sighed and rubbed his fingers against his temples hard. There were so many questions tearing through his head. Why did he feel so easy around this woman? Why didn't the shadows attack when it was just her and him? Why had Ember come to the graveyard seeking him earlier that day? Why was he so grateful that it was raining?
Dark rubbed harder. Questions sprung from emotions, and emotions came from confusion. Dark was obviously just confused right now. He had to focus on what was truly important right now, the one question that really mattered.
"Ember...how much time do you have left to live?"
...why in the world had he asked that? Thank the goddesses his face and voice were still neutral.
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Ember
High Status
Would you carry me from Hell to Home Tonight?
Posts: 90
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Post by Ember on Aug 31, 2007 12:35:40 GMT -5
Ember was surprised by the honesty of Dark's question and for a moment there was a pregnant pause as she fiddled with one of the heavy silver rings on her fingers. She glanced back over her shoulder, making eye contact with Dark for the first time in a while...her emerald gaze was melancholy.
"Four years left, Dreamscapers don't live past the age of 21 years...I guess the Goddesses made us this way so we wouldn't plague the world for too long even if we managed to escape capture, I know the curse can be broken but no one has ever managed it, they're either captured and executed or die before figuring it out."
She sighed and turned her gaze away from Dark again with a deep sigh, maybe it would be best after all just to leave him. What if they formed an attachment and it hurt him when she passed on?
"It's probably best I leave."
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Dark Link
High Status
I will grow stronger, no matter what it takes.
Posts: 324
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Post by Dark Link on Aug 31, 2007 14:25:45 GMT -5
Four years. In his own way of thinking, that was longer then Dark had been alive. There wasn't much hope in Ember's voice when she talked about it being possible to break the curse. Then when she turned away, Dark knew what she was going to say before her sigh even reached his ears.
"It's probably best I leave."
Dark didn't move. His feet remained firmly planted, and his arms were perfectly still. He did not blink. His nostrils didn't even flare when he breathed. He stood there and waited. True his reasons were probably different then hers for why they should not stay together much longer. But was that really what he wanted?
No it was not, but that hardly mattered anymore. They couldn't stay together on this mountaintop forever. Sooner or later, one of them would have to go. Even Link could not be with someone all the time, and that idiot was practically ruled by emotions. No, Ember seemed fully resolved to leave. Dark would not be the first to leave, but he would not stand in her way.
"Yes...I suppose it would be best if we parted ways."
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Ember
High Status
Would you carry me from Hell to Home Tonight?
Posts: 90
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Post by Ember on Aug 31, 2007 14:32:49 GMT -5
Ember took one of her heavy silver rings off her finger, this one had been a precious gift in another lifetime but now it was just a piece of metal despite the sapphires circling the band and the words of love engraved inside it. It meant little to her now, she kept it inside her closed fist and turned to Dark, approaching him without fear or discomfort, took his hand and pressed the ring into his palm.
She didn't want to leave but just like Dark she knew they could stay atop Death Mountain forever despite the feeling of safety here, that they could drop their guards and no one there to hurt them...except eachother. Ember looked up and locked her gaze with his.
"I guess, unless we meet again...this is goodbye."
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Dark Link
High Status
I will grow stronger, no matter what it takes.
Posts: 324
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Post by Dark Link on Aug 31, 2007 14:59:33 GMT -5
Dark looked down at the object Ember had given to him. It was a small ring, dotted in sapphires. Looking closer, Dark could see words etched inside. He looked at her curiously, but he did not refuse the ring. It was a gift, though its exact meaning would still have to be pondered. Dark closed his fingers tightly around it.
He had nothing to give her that he could think of, and although it was not in his nature to give gifts to another he felt a tinge of regret. Doubtless she would forget him over time, especially without anything to remember him by.
He kept still and neutral. Showing emotions at a goodbye would just make things harder. "...unless we meet again then..."
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Ember
High Status
Would you carry me from Hell to Home Tonight?
Posts: 90
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Post by Ember on Aug 31, 2007 15:06:50 GMT -5
Ember was a little hurt that Dark held back his emotions but knew he must have felt something otherwise he would have refused her ring, the words on the inside were a gift from someone who was to be her betrothed until the Dreamscaper curse emerged. The engraving on the inside of the band was small but legible, it read 'As long as you're mine'. She left this with Dark because that was something of another life, holding onto it just hurt.
"Before I leave I want to ask you a blunt question...do you want me to leave?"
She felt a fool for even asking this, forming ties with someone just would end in pain. If they hurt her or if her Phantasms hurt them...anyway she didn't have that long left. Why bother?
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Dark Link
High Status
I will grow stronger, no matter what it takes.
Posts: 324
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Post by Dark Link on Aug 31, 2007 15:22:57 GMT -5
Dark blinked, and there was a very long moment of silence as the question hung in the air. The rain was barely drizzling down now, and the two of them could see each other's faces quite clearly.x
"I don't think that anyone has ever asked me what I wanted before Ember, certainly not like this." And how ridiculous it was to ask him such a thing. Of course he wanted her to go, and of course he did not want her to go. There were so many answers, and all of them were true to some extent or another.
But Ember deserved a straight and simple answer. Dark thought for a moment, considering how best to express his feelings. He doubted that anything he said or did would change her decision, and he couldn't really blame her. Then again...
"What would you do if I told you that I didn't want you to leave?"
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Ember
High Status
Would you carry me from Hell to Home Tonight?
Posts: 90
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Post by Ember on Aug 31, 2007 15:29:56 GMT -5
Dark's response was a surprise to the Dreamscaper and there was another silence between them as she considered his reply. She hadn't expected her question to be answered with another question...she didn't want to leave but then again she did for reasons she couldn't really explain in any coherent sense.
"Maybe if the world doesn't accept us...maybe we could just accept eachother? I mean, it's clear for both of us that we can't live out the rest of our lives alone even though it's easier...I wouldn't leave if you didn't want me to."
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Dark Link
High Status
I will grow stronger, no matter what it takes.
Posts: 324
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Post by Dark Link on Aug 31, 2007 15:42:55 GMT -5
"...I wouldn't leave if you didn't want me to."
That was not the answer that Dark had expected. He had expected her to go on about the 'right thing to do' or something like that. Then he could have done the simple and noble thing and let her walk her own path because she would leave him either way. Or at the very least he could say nothing and just watch her go.
But now there was no easy way out. He would have to be honest. He would have to say the truth. And in order to do that, he would have to accept the truth himself.
"Do you remember what I said to you when we met, out of the blue, at the graveyard again today?"
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Ember
High Status
Would you carry me from Hell to Home Tonight?
Posts: 90
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Post by Ember on Aug 31, 2007 15:54:32 GMT -5
Ember was uncertain on what Dark meant so she shook her head...she didn't want to leave because Dark was the closest thing Ember had to a trust worthy companion. He may sometimes be cold and unpredictable but he was all she had. Maybe she should just go back to her original plan of just leaving him behind and avoiding Giomanach on her own until the last grain of sand in the hour glass that was the life of a Dreamscaper, fell and she with it.
'Maybe I should just leave anyway...this is too complicated, it's easier just doing this alone!'
But a little voice in the back of her mind contradicted that thought.
'You can't do this alone.'
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Dark Link
High Status
I will grow stronger, no matter what it takes.
Posts: 324
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Post by Dark Link on Aug 31, 2007 16:01:38 GMT -5
"I was just wondering if the goddesses would even let us be apart. The seemed to have worked so hard to bring us together simply to let us part ways now and never see each other again. Perhaps in their cruelty they imagined a tortured fate for the two of us, being together and tearing at each other's souls until there was nothing left."
He was musing now, rambling even. This was not the clear answer that he had wanted to give her. Dark took a deep breath and stared through Ember's eyes to her very soul. "Ember, I don't care."
He took a deep breath, relieved to be able to finally say it. "I don't care if you're going to die. I don't care if there are hunters or monsters or an entire nation hunting you. I don't care that you can't control these monstrosities you conjure, and I don't care that you are cursed. I don't even really care if an evil fate is trying to force us together or keep us apart. That is not what I care about."
Again, so much for a simple answer.
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Ember
High Status
Would you carry me from Hell to Home Tonight?
Posts: 90
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Post by Ember on Sept 1, 2007 14:01:02 GMT -5
Ember was just as bemused by Dark's cryptic answer towards her but she was surprised when he said that he didn't care that she was going to die, that if there were hunters after her blood or that she couldn't control that Phantasms that burst forth from her own mind.
"Then what do you care about? Speak some sense."
What did he care about? Maybe he was simply cursing the fates that brought them together time and time again...not letting them part for too long before bringing them together again despite the fact that they dragged eachother out of what felt safe and confused eachother.
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