Just Breathe – Orianna Èirigh – 6.07.2022
Jul 7, 2022 14:09:59 GMT
Jaezred Vandree, Velania Kalugina, and 5 more like this
Post by Orianna Èirigh on Jul 7, 2022 14:09:59 GMT
Taking place after ‘Wait it Out’ 💫
One minute she was enjoying some deliciously sweet and fluffy cake with Gerhard, Beets, Derthaad, Laurel and River the awakened tree just outside of the Three Headed Dragon, the summer sun peaking out from behind the overcast skies.
“I hope the home you’ve made here is better, Beets. The people here… they are good.” Orianna glances at Gerhard with a secret smile, just for him.
In the next, she couldn’t move, could barely breathe, and the levity their group started to have was cut short as a silver mist fell over them.
“Tsk tsk tsk, I am disappointed in you, Gerhard.”
A figure stepped out from behind the awakened tree, a slow, curling smile twisting his lips. He appeared to be a tiefling but there was something unusual about him that reminded Orianna of-
“I didn’t expect you to betray me to my sister. Well done.”
Beside her, Gerhard tries to struggle, to break the invisible bonds holding them all in place. But he can’t. None of them can. Derthaad’s eyes widen in recognition, whilst Beets’ inner fury begins to make her face contort. Laurel is confused, but no less concerned with their predicament.
As for Orianna? Well she-
“But you’re doing so has ruined my plans and that won’t do.”
Violet starlit eyes dart back and forth between the grinning man and Gerhard. She has seen a shadow of the emotions currently flitting across his eyes before when the bull elephant nearly gored her in two in Arva. Some might have been terrified to see such anger coming from the one they loved. But this was different. Looking at Gerhard, Orianna realises what he felt then is nothing compared to the unbridled rage shining forth from his cold, hard earthen eyes this time.
Which must mean-
The tiefling stops beside Gerhard and leans down, their grin spreading wider and wider.
“Do you really think I wouldn’t find out?” he says in a low voice. “About your betrayal? About… her?”
For the first time, he glances at her and Orianna feels a pit of dread tear open within her stomach as she realises who this person must be, where he comes from, how he is connected to Gerhard. The tiefling straightens up and comes to stand just behind her, placing one covetous hand on her shoulder, the other stroking the side of her face in mock tenderness.
“Seems like you’re going to have to learn the hard way.”
For a moment, Gerhard looks at her and the anger is gone. All she sees is panic, the tendons on his neck straining against the magic that holds them all immobile, frozen. Helpless. As the tiefling digs his fingers into her shoulder, gripping her tightly, as strange, unknown arcane magic swirls around them both, Orianna, with every fibre of her being, every breath in her lungs, and every beat of her heart, wills Gerhard to hear the words, the promise, she is saying over and over in her head.
I’ll find you, imi-ib*! So long as there are stars in the sky, our hearts will find-
Then she is torn away from him — her Altair, her humble prince, her heart’s desire — to Infinities unknown.
*imi-ib – “heart’s desire”
OBSERVATIONS & EXCERPTS from the JOURNAL of SECOND ASSISTANT ARCHIVIST ORIANNA ÈIRIGH of ASHKHA
I don’t know where to begin. How did this happen? Why did he bring me here?
Why could I do nothing but sit there and be taken away? Gerhard, I am so sorry…
The Thing of the Infinite Staircase calls himself ‘Mister’. I call him Malevolent Desire.
He has ‘asked’ for my help, as if it is a request I could refuse. This Thing knew that I would say no, was already prepared for it when he told me…
Things I cannot write. Words I wish not to remember…
So many words left unsaid. So many moments we did not get to have.
“If we are always seeking the Future or searching the Past we miss the gifts of the Present.”
I know he’ll come. He was going to anyway, for Henri. But now-
What if I am the reason he cannot find his way back? What if he searches forever and he becomes lost to the Staircase?
No. I cannot give up. I promised him…
Their emotions had been tearing across the space between them for over an hour now. When Gerhard had first arrived, Orianna couldn’t do anything but sit and just be with him. The release of pent up strain and worry that had been hardening into a knot between her shoulder blades finally let go at the sight of him and she had practically thrown herself into his arms. The tom, once called Sweet Little One by Orianna, then Edward by Gerhard, then, finally, Maurice by the cat himself, had also been glad to see him, in that way that only cats can be — with mild enthusiasm.
Then they talked. Tentatively at first. Orianna didn’t know how to ask the things she wanted to know, that she would need to know if there was to be any hope of there being… whatever this was.
It hadn’t been easy on either of them. Gerhard had struggled for words, tried for honesty, and at times succeeded, but for others his words fell short. Orianna tried to be gentle, to not let the impatience of wanting to know get the better of her, to not ask the wrong thing at the wrong time that would push him away.
“This wasn’t how this conversation was supposed to go,” she had said, holding her head as the tears had started.
Then she had said the words, prepared for the inevitability she had Seen in the vision where Henri had presented a letter written by Gerhard to her in that mysterious, unknown Library/Archive.
“I don’t want my feelings to hold you back. Love shouldn’t be a cage, my feelings aren’t meant to hold you down.”
Gerhard had looked at her, tears in his own eyes, the reality of the cliff’s edge they both stood upon clear and vast before them.
“When I was burning, when I almost died in that field, there was only one person I was thinking about.”
It was too much to hope for, too much to believe was possible. It was there, plain as day, clear as the stars in the desert what Gerhard meant.
“If I could grant you peace of mind, if you could let me inside your heart…” She had stepped closer, reaching for him, wishing only for him. “I could be a part of the narrative. We could be the story they will See in the stars, one day.”
How many times had he said, “Ask me to stay,” and how many times did she ask, “Do you want to stay?” Now they both could see where the other wanted to be. All that was left was to open the door and walk through into that new life, together.
She took his hand, wove her fingers through his, and said, “Let this moment be the first chapter where you decide to stay.”
One minute she was enjoying some deliciously sweet and fluffy cake with Gerhard, Beets, Derthaad, Laurel and River the awakened tree just outside of the Three Headed Dragon, the summer sun peaking out from behind the overcast skies.
“I hope the home you’ve made here is better, Beets. The people here… they are good.” Orianna glances at Gerhard with a secret smile, just for him.
In the next, she couldn’t move, could barely breathe, and the levity their group started to have was cut short as a silver mist fell over them.
“Tsk tsk tsk, I am disappointed in you, Gerhard.”
A figure stepped out from behind the awakened tree, a slow, curling smile twisting his lips. He appeared to be a tiefling but there was something unusual about him that reminded Orianna of-
“I didn’t expect you to betray me to my sister. Well done.”
Beside her, Gerhard tries to struggle, to break the invisible bonds holding them all in place. But he can’t. None of them can. Derthaad’s eyes widen in recognition, whilst Beets’ inner fury begins to make her face contort. Laurel is confused, but no less concerned with their predicament.
As for Orianna? Well she-
“But you’re doing so has ruined my plans and that won’t do.”
Violet starlit eyes dart back and forth between the grinning man and Gerhard. She has seen a shadow of the emotions currently flitting across his eyes before when the bull elephant nearly gored her in two in Arva. Some might have been terrified to see such anger coming from the one they loved. But this was different. Looking at Gerhard, Orianna realises what he felt then is nothing compared to the unbridled rage shining forth from his cold, hard earthen eyes this time.
Which must mean-
The tiefling stops beside Gerhard and leans down, their grin spreading wider and wider.
“Do you really think I wouldn’t find out?” he says in a low voice. “About your betrayal? About… her?”
For the first time, he glances at her and Orianna feels a pit of dread tear open within her stomach as she realises who this person must be, where he comes from, how he is connected to Gerhard. The tiefling straightens up and comes to stand just behind her, placing one covetous hand on her shoulder, the other stroking the side of her face in mock tenderness.
“Seems like you’re going to have to learn the hard way.”
For a moment, Gerhard looks at her and the anger is gone. All she sees is panic, the tendons on his neck straining against the magic that holds them all immobile, frozen. Helpless. As the tiefling digs his fingers into her shoulder, gripping her tightly, as strange, unknown arcane magic swirls around them both, Orianna, with every fibre of her being, every breath in her lungs, and every beat of her heart, wills Gerhard to hear the words, the promise, she is saying over and over in her head.
I’ll find you, imi-ib*! So long as there are stars in the sky, our hearts will find-
Then she is torn away from him — her Altair, her humble prince, her heart’s desire — to Infinities unknown.
*imi-ib – “heart’s desire”
OBSERVATIONS & EXCERPTS from the JOURNAL of SECOND ASSISTANT ARCHIVIST ORIANNA ÈIRIGH of ASHKHA
I don’t know where to begin. How did this happen? Why did he bring me here?
Why could I do nothing but sit there and be taken away? Gerhard, I am so sorry…
The Thing of the Infinite Staircase calls himself ‘Mister’. I call him Malevolent Desire.
He has ‘asked’ for my help, as if it is a request I could refuse. This Thing knew that I would say no, was already prepared for it when he told me…
Things I cannot write. Words I wish not to remember…
So many words left unsaid. So many moments we did not get to have.
“If we are always seeking the Future or searching the Past we miss the gifts of the Present.”
I know he’ll come. He was going to anyway, for Henri. But now-
What if I am the reason he cannot find his way back? What if he searches forever and he becomes lost to the Staircase?
No. I cannot give up. I promised him…
Their emotions had been tearing across the space between them for over an hour now. When Gerhard had first arrived, Orianna couldn’t do anything but sit and just be with him. The release of pent up strain and worry that had been hardening into a knot between her shoulder blades finally let go at the sight of him and she had practically thrown herself into his arms. The tom, once called Sweet Little One by Orianna, then Edward by Gerhard, then, finally, Maurice by the cat himself, had also been glad to see him, in that way that only cats can be — with mild enthusiasm.
Then they talked. Tentatively at first. Orianna didn’t know how to ask the things she wanted to know, that she would need to know if there was to be any hope of there being… whatever this was.
It hadn’t been easy on either of them. Gerhard had struggled for words, tried for honesty, and at times succeeded, but for others his words fell short. Orianna tried to be gentle, to not let the impatience of wanting to know get the better of her, to not ask the wrong thing at the wrong time that would push him away.
“This wasn’t how this conversation was supposed to go,” she had said, holding her head as the tears had started.
Then she had said the words, prepared for the inevitability she had Seen in the vision where Henri had presented a letter written by Gerhard to her in that mysterious, unknown Library/Archive.
“I don’t want my feelings to hold you back. Love shouldn’t be a cage, my feelings aren’t meant to hold you down.”
Gerhard had looked at her, tears in his own eyes, the reality of the cliff’s edge they both stood upon clear and vast before them.
“When I was burning, when I almost died in that field, there was only one person I was thinking about.”
It was too much to hope for, too much to believe was possible. It was there, plain as day, clear as the stars in the desert what Gerhard meant.
“If I could grant you peace of mind, if you could let me inside your heart…” She had stepped closer, reaching for him, wishing only for him. “I could be a part of the narrative. We could be the story they will See in the stars, one day.”
How many times had he said, “Ask me to stay,” and how many times did she ask, “Do you want to stay?” Now they both could see where the other wanted to be. All that was left was to open the door and walk through into that new life, together.
She took his hand, wove her fingers through his, and said, “Let this moment be the first chapter where you decide to stay.”