An Unseen Friend - Serroya's POV

Featuring Serroya, Reybahn, Doristay (NPC), and Seetari (NPC)

Fall, Year 757 of the New Age

Silver Vale, Silverthorne

    Two fires burning bright,
    Flicker on into the night.
    Hiss, crackle, snap,
    Roar, dance, fizzle. 
    Leaving in their wake
    Unheard, unseen, unknown...
    A spark.


        Dark and light!  Cold and heat!  Fiery flames, moonbeam mirages, roaring waters, dancing streams, and above all...the endless...open...eternal sky.  Stretching on and on forever...a range of unknown, unnameable colors...holding the broiling, churning, dancing collection of cosmic forces.  Fire, water.  Passion, peace.  Grace, strength.  Sky.

        It was all there was...all there could ever be...yet nothing that could ever be understood.  Confusion, chaos...beauty.  

        And the voices!  The voices!  All around!  Singing, talking, murmuring, whispering, bellowing.  All one.  All different.  All overwhelming.

        It was too much!  Too much...

        Then slowly...ever so slowly...it morphed...separated...faded...changed.  All aspects of like kind tore loose from their balance, floating serenely from their place...serenely through space...until they touched...felt...merged...  

        There were five.  Five.  The names were never said, never spoken...just known.  Grian...Luan...Sroth...Miur...Adhar.  Guardians, givers, gods.

        "Hello," Adhar breathed.  His voice...unspeakable...indescribable...inadible.  But...able to be felt...

        Who?  Hello to who?

        The great stag chuckled, "Why, you of course."

        You?  What is...'you'?  What is...'me'?  Am I a 'me'?  Am I a 'you'?

        "Yes."

        "No."

        "Some of it."

        "All of us."

        Confusion.  Confused.  Afraid.  Confused.  Confusion.

        "You are a part of all of us," Luan explained gently, stepping forward to shine more of her soothing light, "You are a soul."

        "But not just any soul," Miur tossed his curly mane, the sound of a mighty water following the motion, "A Silverthorne soul!"

        What is a 'Silverthorne'?  ...What is...'soul'?

        Without warning, a sixth presence appeared, "Your first question will be answered in time.  As for the second..."

        Aeveen turned to Adhar.  This was his to address.

        "A soul...is made of pieces of all of us...like them," he stated, nodding his great rack to the heavens above.  Glowing orbs hung suspended above, flickering and dancing.  Even looking at them, the voices began to swell and rise to the surface again.  

          Looking away.  Loud.  Confusing

          “Yes,” Sroth murmured gently, a light bubbling sound swirling around him, “Much here is confusing to you now.”

          Agreement.  Solution?

          The five gods and Aveen laughed gently at the abrupt reply.

          “You shall walk upon the earth,” Adhar stated, a gentle rumbling accentuating his words, “It is a good place…a place where you can touch, and feel, and live…sensing our presence always, without being overwhelmed.”

          Touch…feel…live?

          “Yes.  Live,” Grian answered, “Live with the light of my sun upon you, and the blessing of my fire within you.  Rejoice!  Flourish!  Thrive!  But always remember…always see…the gentility and beauty in life as well.”

          See…  I will.  I will ‘see’.  For you.

          The goddess smiled, stepping back to stand with her fellow deities in a ring, “Good.”

          Wind swirled, pushing, pressing, pulling away…away from the gods.  No!

          “Do you not want to see?”

          Want to see… Want to be… Don’t want to be…alone.

          “We will be with you always.  Go in peace.”

          Wind swirling. No!  Not the same…not so close!

          “Stop!” Aeveen demanded from outside the ring.  The wind stopped.

          Turning towards the soul, Aeveen carefully asked, “What is it you want?”

          To see.  To be.  No alone.  Close.

          “A friend…” Aeveen whispered, turning to face Adhar, “A soul-friend.”

          A pause… A silence…

          “Very well,” the stag consented, “Do you trust us?”

          Trust.  Honor.  Yes.

          “See,” Miur huffed, stamping a hoof with the sound of a breaking wave, “A Silverthorne soul!”

          “Then let it be,” Adhar continued, “That a friend is granted to you…upon your arrival on the earth.”

          Gratitude.  Relief.  Joy.

          The dieties smiled, sensing the acceptance.  Slowly, the winds stirred into existence, gently pushing and pulling away from the gods.  They faded slowly…slowly…slowly…until finally they were gone.

          Gone.  All of it.  Silence.  No souls, no fire, no water, no sky!  Panic, loss, grief, fear, FIRE! 

          Small flames bloomed into existence, sprouting around like flowers, floating as if on a lake.  A sense…sense of self slowly seeped into her as the warmth did.  I am a ‘she’.  Testing the newfound feeling of self, she reached out to touch one of the bright, flaming flowers.  Too far.  It was too far from her.

          Disappointment.  Another flower.  Optimism.  Attempt.  Failure.  Dejection. 

          Slowly drifting through the winding river of nothing, she tried again and again to reach out.  No success.  All were too far…too far away.  Eventually, she came to rest in a small pool.  Close by were two flaming flowers burning bright and hot next to each other, and mesmerized, she reached out to touch them.  Maybe…just maybe…

          Something caught her eye.  Something strange.  A black...dark…closed flower.  Alone. None other like it. 

          Curious.  Approaching.  Exploring.  Gentle.  Accepting.  Enjoying. 

          She smiled.  Happy.  This flower might not be bright like the others, it might not be open…but still.  Warmth.  Joy.  Peace.  Contentment.

          These words were wrong.  They were not what she felt.  Not in the emotion’s entirety.  Cozy.  Calm.  Safe.  Excited.

          No!  All wrong!

          Love?  The flower suggested, a petal tentatively opening...only one.  She thought.  Yes.  That sounds right.  Love.

          She snuggled into the flower, smiling.  Love.  It felt like an eternity, but was only a moment.  Abruptly, she leaped away, giggling.  Mischief.  She moved closer to the fiery flowers, seeking to examine them.  But all the while, she stayed by the dark flower.  The flower she loved.  Her ‘friend’.

          She liked that word too...  Love.  Friend.  Happy.