Journal #66: A Friend and A Story

Aniks, having told at least Celuriel, was going to try and speak with Jinne for a bit. She was welcomed to join or she could just continue doing whatever she wanted. Regardless of her choice, Aniks found himself with some fruit in hand wandering around this island until he spotted the Samsaran. Sitting alone watching the ocean or what past for the ocean in this plane. Still, Aniks had more than one reason for wanting to check on Jinne. He made no attempt to hide his approach, he still wasn't very loud when he moved. "You doing alright Jinne?"
 
The samsaran didn't flinch at the question, instead of glancing over her shoulder and gesturing for him to sit. Despite her posture - knees hugged to chest, bare feet digging into the white sands - she could still offer him a saddened smile. "It is easier to be finding the comfort necessary in a place like home," she murmured, turning her eyes back to the seemingly endless sea. "Thank you for concern. No, not yet. I will find peace through time as their souls find rest."
 
“Right you’re an Islander, this place is quite nice.” He paused watching the azure waves crash across the shore. For a moment he followed her gaze when was the last time he had been to the ocean and just relaxed? Port Amarin didn’t really count, nor did the black sand river in the boneyard. The Drow sat down in the sand, arms resting on his knees. Offering one of the small oranges he found in island’s inn to her.“I hope you don’t mind the company for a little bit, I thought you might need to talk to somebody.”
 
"I do not mind. I would be hidden by the leaves if I wanted to find silence." Jinne smiled faintly, again turning her attention to the drow to gratefully accept the orange he'd acquired. "Thank you, for both. Syrin was asking similar, but his mind is too busy. I will not make worse that situation. My choice has done too much already."
 
The smell of citrus mixed into the air and was soon overpowered by the ocean in front of them. He placed the handful of oranges he had in between them, in case Jinne wanted more. The sounds of waves crashing replace the silence would have been there. “That journal, I would have given it back if we had to trade. It was much fancier than the ones I carry.”
 
Citrus, sea salt, crashing waves, and warm sunlight: this at least felt peaceful. "Do not be thinking that it is more special because it is prettier," Jinne gently chastised. "It was a collection of many Dreamer stories, told and written. They dream, and I keep them close... but they do not need to be in ink to be precious memories, yes? What is in the journals you keep? I do not remember if we talked much about ink and paper last time."
 
“Well, when we spoke of giving things up we assumed they would have to be important. So for you to give it up, I thought it would be special for a different reason.” Aniks said pealing apart another orange slice to pop in his mouth. Then with interest in his voice “That would have been interesting to read if I had the chance. But they don’t need ink to be special if you think of them as precious then they are. As for my journal, it is just a record of my travels with this group, as well as some thoughts. Which wasn’t something we spoke about. That conversation was of faith, my interest in The Dreamers, and how they work as well as other things.”
Jinne listened with a smile, pushing her feet forwards in the sand to let her hands lay in her lap instead of clutching at her knees. "They are precious memories. I can tell you about them, maybe, but that is not a today's topic, is it? I would like to hear more journeying stories from you, too. Those are precious tales to you, yes? ...You kept the orbs, too. They are also precious, but also linked to our ways. Are you still being curious, then?"
 
“Once we’ve probably dealt with the shard, then we can exchange stories. As for my stories, well some of them are more precious than others, but I can tell you some of them.” Aniks was paying attention to the ocean again, finishing the small orange he had been working on. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about The Dreamers and how they work. We strayed from that topic quite a bit last time we talked.”
 
"That is because there are many things to be talking of," Jinne said simply, rolling one of the oranges between blue palms. The contrast was odd. "It would be nice to hear the stories of yours. Maybe with your partner? She has seemed shy... but this is to be wandering again. There are many things to be said about the Way and its dreamers. What are you wanting to hear?"
“Celuriel is… well it depends on if she likes you or not. Besides she likes stories so I could see her listening to us for a while.” Which wasn’t untrue, Aniks had certainly bought a fair amount of books while in the boneyard. The drow reached for another orange, placing the whole peel of the last one in a separate pile. Then he thought about some of the questions wrapped in his head, some simple others complex. “You explained that in dreams you had the best chance to find this true magic? But you never explained how or why that is?”
 
"I hope she would be a friend. You smile when you talk of her, in mouth and eyes. It is nice to see, and I would like to know the girl behind it." Jinne wasn't one for mincing words. "So, when you are dreaming, your mind is wandering through this world of your creation. It is a magic all its own, yes? Because the Dimension of Dreams contains many infinite demiplanes to be sharing what you create like it is real. A magic you have can be affecting some of reality. This is not a magic given by a god, and it is not arcane either. Or psychic," she added as an afterthought, glancing back to the inn far behind (and above!) them. "If we can be using that, especially when our minds are already wandering, we can find little... doors, yes? Ways to step to new paths that take minds on adventures. Some of these paths are leading you steps closer to the magic and understanding, but there is always barrier. Unless other magic is used, yes? Then the dreams are more vibrant and the magic stronger than one barrier... I am sorry, this is much remembering and talking."
 
Aniks had been smiling and hadn’t noticed. It made sense that thinking of his fiancee would make him smile. The idea of Jinne wanting to meet Celuriel was funny to him. As Aniks knew Jinne’s idea of his partner, wasn’t going to match up to the actual Celu. The drow knitted his fingers together placing his chin on top of them. Listening as if she was teaching a lesson.
“That be interesting, you’re always welcome to meet her. As for the dreams, that’s pretty close to how I thought it worked. It’s essentially lucid dreaming. So the more clear or vibrant a dream is the closer you are to that magic because the mind creates easy paths to follow, but something stops you. Maybe because of the nature of dreams, one could handle and understand more making it easier to touch that magic, but not wield it. For example, a human child can fly as easily as breathing in a dream, because they understand how it works in the dream. But can’t when they are awake or something like that.”
 
"You are understanding very easily the essential theory, yes!" She was genuinely pleased at this, granting him a bright smile. "It is also important to know about things that can interfere with dreams, because they could be the ones making the barriers if they are not self-made - sometimes, we can find out even who made them. Desna is special with dreams, you know? She leaves a mark where she touches them, and it burns with her power. But when you can see the paths of that power, it is like... it has colour, and it has flow. Flow that is not just hers, flow that is in all magic. In dreams and in life." Jinne drew an image in the sand as she spoke - a doorway leading to a barrier made up of a swirl, with one strand of its waves leading off into the sea. "And I would like to talk with Celuriel properly. Maybe she will no longer gift me with glares..?"
 
“Hopefully, Celuriel’s rather protective of me... huh I think she’s making a sandcastle right now,” He leaned forward gesturing to a spot not too far down the beach where Celuriel was. Ironically it was because of her mention of Celuriel and the drawing that made him remembered something. But he was going to finish his thought before mentioning it. “If they are self-made, then they can change and have possibly have many different personal barriers. Also, Is it a good thing for Desna to be involved with those dreams? I guess what I mean to say is she often the causes of barriers for Dreamers” Then paused for a moment pointing to the drawing his eyebrows furrowed a bit. “I’ve seen that before. Or similar to that at least. I think it was because of that card the Dreamers gave me.”
 
"Desna is a goddess, yes? It is not a good or bad thing for her to be there, it is just... a thing that is. Her barriers are many times to heal and to help, so they have goodness within them. To walk the Way is not to dislike the gods, not for the most of us." Jinne looked pensive at his mention of a dream, watching his reaction with curiosity. "When, if you have mind to say? I am glad for you to have seen, and also surprised that Celuriel is using the knives to be making her fortress." She'd taken a moment to glance up when Aniks indicated his elf.
 
When? Not what I saw? If she wanted to know exactly what I saw she would have mentioned it. So why when? Anik thought however he was smiling. “Celuriel’s very fond of her knives, if she had one that wouldn’t damage books. She’d probably use one as a bookmark.” He remembered having the dream, but not exactly when. So he thought, watching his elf across the beach shape a tower carefully. “When? That had to be around the time we went to the Celesthem Temple. So two-ish years ago I think, not including the time stolen from us.”
 
"Could you not be finding a knife made of paper for her?" Jinne wondered, on the topic of Celuriel, before wandering verbally back over to the more important of the two topics. "At the temple of.. that is the Aletheian temple, yes? Maybe so much magic made it easier to wander into the Way's gifts, or maybe a Dreamer was present...? It is possible to have magic 'leak', especially if much power is involved - maybe their dreams and yours were close in the Dimension?"
 
"Or a really thin sheet of metal shaped like a dagger, with flat edges of course." Aniks remarked picking up a third orange. Then thought about it for a moment, another dreamer? "That's the place. But it was sheer coincidence that I was there when I had that dream. So I'm not sure how much those other things might have affected it. I'm no expert on the topic. I can't recall having another dream quite like that one."
 
"Metal can be damaging books... it is maybe not the best choice. Maybe I am having, um, bias? I have had a book broken by metal recently because I did not see where I was walking, and did not See the consequence." Jinne looked up at the thought, seeing if she could see any sign of her friends on the cliffs and sighing when nothing came to view. Her fingernails tugged at the remnants of orange peel she'd been playing with - at least it smelt nice, even mingled with salt. "Are you sure it is coincidence, and not fate? Aletheia has many dreamers, because they are welcomed there.. it is not so harsh a country, yes? Sonja misses being there." A slight frown pulls at her brow. "If there are dreamers at that temple.. I think she would have knowledge of them? She is very smart. Oh! I do not wish to pry into the privacy, but maybe there is a hint in the dream you had? It is something you should think on maybe."
 
Given the state of his first journal, he was inclined to agree. It had been worned over the past two years. He cared about how his books looked. "You might be right with the paper-knife then. I hope that metal it didn't damage the book too bad. As or whether the dream was the product of coincidence or fate who knows. But the dream wasn't really anything special. Silvery haze, blindingly white pendulum that swung behind me on a endless path I was running on." However when she looked back for her friends he continued with "Want to check up on them?"
 
"A pendulum? Time, running.. running out? White is many things - maybe it is death, but maybe it is light, or safety, or... The haze, it is magic, and the endless path - a journey?" Jinne's thoughts seemed to be racing ahead of her words, if the scattered interpretation was anything to go by. She caught herself after a moment, shaking her head. "I am sorry, it is often my task to lead interpretation if it is wished for. I do not know if the others would be wanting interruption at the moment. Sonja, she is the only one I am very familiar with, and she was needing to research some pieces. The others, Zelas is kind but needing the space..." She trailed off before touching on the others. They didn't seem to be as close with her. "We could visit your Celuriel and her castle, if you would like to move on from silent beach?"
 
The drow collected the remaining oranges and the discarded peels. Then stood with a stretch dusting himself off, but given the nature of sand he wouldn’t get all of it. “Perhaps in time I’ll figure it out. However I really haven’t had a dream similar to that in a year or two, or how for that matter. And you don’t have to apologize Jinne, you did nothing wrong. Well if they need space, then I guess I need to properly introduce you to Celuriel.”
 
The ebony elf walked the length of the white sand beach. Then stopped at a spot near Celu, examining her work on the rather impressive castle. A low whistle of approval escapes the drow “that’s really good celu.”
 
Jinne stood, too, her cloak tumbling down her back in its newly-ragged length, and she followed Aniks barefoot along the pale beach. "There is maybe chance that you could, if you were searching to have another," she mused as they walked - but fell silent when they reached Celuriel and her castle. The dark-haired elf didn't spare her a glance, instead slowly blinking at Aniks's compliment.
 
"it is not as tall as it should be yet. the tower fell onto the courtyard." She gestured to a pile of 'rubble'. A pair of feet had been moulded at its edge. "...onto the rats."
 
“Shame nobody will miss them.” His smile was mischievous as Celuriel mentioned rats, and was still a bit cautious about attempting to help. He didn’t want to ruin her hard work. So Aniks sat near her, so she could easily continue to work. Leaving the small oranges next to him, and after a moment he pulled out two different knives. So she could have more tools to shape her castle. “Celuriel, there is somebody who wants to meet you. This is Jinne, she’s a friend.”
Celuriel didn't hesitate in stealing the knives from him before anything else, testing their edge on a scrap of blue fabric sitting in her pocket and making a "hmm" of content when they cut smoothly. Jinne watched politely, sitting opposite the couple carefully - didn't want the castle to shift with her movement.
 
"we met her in the shard before. why are you friends?" Well, Celuriel had never been anything but blunt. Jinne seemed taken aback by Celuriel needing to ask that.
 
"We have talked much about much, including his smiles for you," the samsaran offered, gifting Celuriel with the serene smile she usually wore. "You are a sailor..?"
 
Celuriel looked down at her coat and back up to Jinne, expression slightly puzzled. "no." She looked to Aniks. Jinne blinked, and did the same.
 
“Celuriel has a style she likes to wear. It’s just more common to see it among people who live near or work on the sea.” Aniks said with a simple shrug, as well as giving an explanation for Celu’s puzzled look. “As for your question, I’m friends with her because we’ve spoken before. I haven’t known her too long, but I’ve had interesting conversations with Jinne that I have enjoyed. It doesn’t take much to make or have friends. You and Mrtyu were friends.”
 
"Mrtyu?" Jinne breathed, her smile growing ever so slightly. "You have met with Death's Consort?"
 
"yes." Celu was confused by the bluenette's smiling, so she kept her focus on Aniks. "we are friends because we love idiots and the garden was pretty. and because we talked a lot.”
Jinne didn't really seem to know how to handle this.. coldness, shying back. "Maybe you could tell of the garden..?" she suggested. Celuriel frowned.
 
"it's a big garden. there are flowers and trees. dead people live there, but I can't see them most of the time. it is pretty?"
 
"Our lore - samsaran lore, not anything of the Dreamers - says that the first samsarans were born from the flowers of that garden," Jinne murmured, looking at her hands. "I have never seen it in memory or Seeings, so I am happy others are able to."
 
“Celu, are you just building a random sandcastle, or do you have a design in mind I could help with?” Aniks asked, but he thought something else as he spoke. Did she just… well that was bold of her. Still he found Celuriel’s words filling him with an odd amount of pride. Glad to know he wasn’t the only person with odd feelings for the gods. However that aside this introduction was going about as well as he expected. So he turned to Samsaran, “we’ve met a fair few people, and seen some places. As have you Jinne, and it’s interesting to hear of how Samsarans were created. As I told you last time, I was not overly familiar with Samsarans in general. Oh right I nearly forgot, you wanted to hear a story or two. Was that something you wanted to hear now? Or after we dealt with the shard? But if not now, if you have questions you can ask those instead.”
 
Celuriel looked at her castle for a long moment to figure out the answer to Aniks's question, then shrugged. "it is a castle. its design is castle. you can help. you have probably been to more castles than me." She offered him one of the knives, and a wooden spade.
 
Jinne smiled at the little interaction before focusing on what Aniks had said to her - she was clearly intrigued by Celuriel's odd mannerisms, even stranger than her own. "Oh! If you are finding the want to share, I would welcome much storytelling. We have time before the dreams should take us still, and the skies of our minds are clear and unmuddied by the shard at the moment - it would be a good time, if Celuriel is also feeling like listening? Or telling." Said girl didn't expect to be consulted. The only sign of that surprise is the way her blade slid into a near-perfect wall when she didn't want it to; she glared at it.
 
"...what are you telling?" she asks Aniks, indirectly answering Jinne's question.
 
With knife and spade in hand, he began removing the toppled tower that tragically fell on a rat. No point in leaving a fallen tower down, less room to expand the castle. So Aniks worked on fixing that tower before anything else. A part of his mind questioned where she got the wooden spade but his mind quickly filed that away under ‘Celu’s weird knack for finding things.’ “Well… it wouldn’t make sense for me to retell a story you’ve heard before Celu. So something you haven’t heard. Hmmm, well huh I could tell you about the time my father disappeared. It’s not a sad story, it’s just something that happened. Or what I can remember of it, I was rather young. That was nearly a century ago, so you might have to excuse some gaps in memory. As I hardly could speak any more than Undercommon and Elven.”
 
Aniks took a moment to understand how Celuriel used the knife to shape the castle. In his head he sorta understood to some extent how it was done. The drow still looked as Celuriel sculpted, as he scraped together what was probably one of his earliest memories.
 
“It's not even a particularly odd drow tale, I assume it's a rather common one really. Betrayal. It happens even at a young age to any drow, but I was never really sure why my father Alaran betrayed us. My Mother always said he was going to try and kill my older sister and I. In his attempt to escape from my house by having attention drawn to the two dead noble children or use us as hostages to then kill. She used it as a lesson to teach us never to let our guard down even if we had to sleep. Good way to get a child to sleep with a knife under their pillow, and to check every corner of their room. In fear of assassins and killers, a good lesson to learn for any young drow noble. Glad I grew out of one of those habits at least.”
 
“In light of more recent events, I’m not so sure anymore. See I never knew my father, not really. To be frank, he never seemed to be a drow that worshipped Demonlords. Weapons seemed to be his religion. Sure he was my mother's personal guard but not by choice of course. The Man was a skilled swordsman that nearly rivaled Vasindra. If not for her skill in magic making that gap so wide, part of me wonders if he had a chance at all. I never really thought about him too much after it happened, I wasn’t upset about it or angry at him. When I was younger, the betrayal made sense. Besides that particular night when he escaped, it would have been pretty easy to kill us. We were exhausted from a day of training, so I hadn’t even woken when he entered my room. Showing that in some regard he could be stealthy for a swordsman. Then again it’s not hard to sneak up on an exhausted child fast asleep.”
 
“In fact I didn’t really wake up till we were outside my sisters room. So silent as he crept around, nearly getting the chance to pick her up as well. That’s about when my mother got wise to whatever he was planning. Whether a guard tipped her off or bad luck on his part I couldn’t tell you. A very sleepy Nivinle basically demanded one of the guards tell her what was happening as they stormed into her room, she wasn’t as stoic back then. She was just a child after all. At this point, my tired child self attempted to get out of my Father's arms. In fact, if I was some hostage. Alaran never showed it. Or held a blade to my body which should have told me something. Some of the guards and my mother made it very clear they would stop my father from doing...” Aniks made some gesture in that air “whatever he was going to do. He fought stupidly well while holding me. All while attempting to find an exit. I was scared, it was a pure fear only a child could have. Knowing I should be scary, but barely understanding why. I couldn’t tell you if I cried but I can’t really remember the fight. My father was cursing at the other drow guards in another language and I am embarrassed to say I don’t remember which one. I have hazy memories of the words but it could have been common or gnome for all I know. It’s been years since I thought about that night.”
 
“When my mother entered the fight, everything changed. Normally when those two fight, from what I recall Vasindra never really aimed to kill my father. This was an exception, he had crossed some line. While they were our parents, we were Her children. I don’t think she took too kindly to Alaran attempting to take or kill us. Which really allowed my mother to let loose one him. And she was terrifying, she ripped me from my father's grips. While she had ‘some’ concern for her son. I doubt if she hadn’t taken me from his grip so quickly, she would have fought with little care for my safety. Back then I always thought my father was using me as a shield in that fight. It would have made a perfect way to escape, especially if he got his hands on Nivinle as well.”
 
“My mother tore into him, there were no words to this fight, their last fight. When I finally got behind the guards after I was tossed, which ushered Nivinle and I off for protection. We looked behind through the guards legs, our childlike minds unable to really understand why our parents were fighting at the time. I remember the hall shaking as my mother casted spells. I could feel it in my bones as she raised a hand. Letting loose howling wind that cut the stone walls as easily as blades through flesh. Flinging Alaran back into the glass window, hearing the glass crack. She was near him in a second, the poor man hardly could stand after that as she raised a blade intending to kill him. Instead of blocking a blade he chose another path, letting her blade take his arm that held his balde. His other arm shattered the window. That’s how he escaped, while he lost his sword and an arm, it was just enough of a chance to let him leave. Escaping into the underdark to who knows where. Leaping out should have been his death. He wasn’t a caster, or somebody with the natural abilities to help him with this. The last thing we saw was our mother cursing in abyssal, flinging some spells at her target hoping to kill.”
 
“They never found a body, and there was no real blood trail to follow. How much of that is true I am not sure. When Nivinle and I snuck out to see if our father left a trail of blood the next morning we found nothing. Just broken glass that was too small to be cleaned. He could still be out there, in his old age for all I know. My Mother, while annoyed at this, would have made mention if she had killed him. As a lesson to teach us, but she didn’t. We had questions sure we were curious kids, but learned not to ask them quickly. Still given that night, I’m not sure what was going through his head. But I don’t think he was trying to kill us. This wasn’t some happy story, it was just on my mind recently. Mostly because I found out I have another older half sister. A girl named Daeris. She went on some quest to find her parents which led her to the information she wanted, but never found them. She found siblings instead. When we talked, she gave me some brief details on what happened to her parents. Apparently my house took our Father from some drow sorceress. As she disappeared by some spell to who knows where. Part of me wonders if after all this time he just wanted to get back to her? Or just escape. Maybe he wanted to take us with him. But that's just a story, not even a long one. It’s kinda weird thinking about my parents again. How little of my life they were actually in it.”