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Post by BEHIND YOU!!! on Nov 2, 2004 17:46:18 GMT -5
//if you agree, i'll go and take over you again, Jandalf, for however long you want...//
Shadow gazed across the long room, and knew something then-- the shadow was obscuring what was happening. She almost half wanted Maeg to not notice her presence through her powers, but the other elf was now connected enough to the Shadow to know her presence.
She only hoped that she had enough pity to not kill her now if she knew the whole truth now.
The mirror was falling...
...and so was Shadow.
I don't know if they'll notice me or not... I don't know if I want them to.
The Elf took a deep breath. It continued to press against her mind, the presence of the newly found mirror. It reminded her too much of herself-- it hurt.
It hurt almost as much as Light.
And it was there... ever there... as if it was within her, and not without, joined to the mirror that it literally was.
...blinding pain...
...broken connections...
...cut training bonds...
...master...
Shadow had to bite her lip to keep from crying out. Where are you, Master?
...undeserved grace...
...maybe now will be your death...
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Post by Lady Maeggaladiel on Nov 3, 2004 15:53:52 GMT -5
"Oh," Maeg said lamely, once more not knowing how else to respond. Then, realizing that she could do nothing to help either Lara'li or Tiana... and now she supposed they both could fit under the category of Tiana... she gave the short human a respectful distance for her to do whatever it was she was trying to do.
Meanwhile, Maeg was trying to reconnect with the Lady. They weren't in the Shadows anymore, so maybe she could locate the mirror to her homeland. She closed her eyes and let her senses roam.
Empty, dark, cold. Nothing. Her mind sought something-anything-she could touch, but there was no longer a trace of her home. Every now and then, the smallest sliver of recognition floated through her mind, but it was gone just as quickly, dissappearing through the mist. It was like trying to catch the wind.
Wait. There was something out there, hiding in the wispy darkness. Something watching them, lurking... Maeg sharpened her focus in the unknown spy's general direction.
Her eyes narrowed. She did not need to see to know who was there. She recognised the strange sensation associated with the rogue elf.
"Shadow." she murmured. Now she knew that Shadow was a broken reflection of Tiana, as contradicting and unstable as the world she stood in now. And she was near.
She looked over her shoulder at Lara'li, who was still preoccupied with Tiana. She seemed deep in concentration. Interrupting her might be fatal to both of them. Grimacing, Maeg put her hand on her sword belt and stared directly out at Shadow, letting her know that she had recognised her. What happened next was up to Shadow.
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Post by BEHIND YOU!!! on Nov 3, 2004 18:08:40 GMT -5
She knew she was recognized-- knew that Maeg could see her now. And if not just by sight, but through their kinship-- even if Shadow was a rogue elf, she was still elven nevertheless.
She didn't need to look to know that Maeggaladiel had one hand on her sword hilt, didn't need to look to see Lara'li trying to find Tiana in the nothingness of death, didn't need to open her mind to feel the despair of knowing that they had failed.
Because Ariane was still alive. //Ariane is Tiana's mom, if you didn't catch that yet.//
Tiana could die-- Force knows if something doesn't happen soon she will die... and you're doing nothing.
Well, what in Middle-earth am I suppose to do?! Surrender?!
That's probably a better alternative to fighting.
I doubt I could do it though. Not with my nature.
You had another one, once.
That was a long time ago.
She grimaced, and raised one hand to her head, trying to keep the pressing pain of Light at bay. But it was there, and it didn't want to let go of her.
Where are you, Master? A child's voice nearly-- a lost girl.
Shadow stared out at Maeggaladiel, hiding her fear and uneasiness beneath a blanket of shadows. Her eyes seemed to read one thing: Come here, if you're not afraid.
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Post by Lady Maeggaladiel on Nov 5, 2004 10:56:12 GMT -5
Maeggaladiel felt her sword-hand relax as Shadow remained motionless in her hiding place, just out of Maeg’s range of vision. She may not have been able to see the sithly elf, but she could feel her.
She gave a slow nod, letting her hand slide from the hilt of her sword. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. A wave of calm washed over her. She had no idea why—Tiana was dying and she was unable to help her, they were all in an unfamiliar doomed world overrun by shadows, the fate of her own world could be at stake, and a potentially dangerous reflection of Tiana was lurking in the dark mists—but she was no longer fearful or agitated. Even the shadow-induced weariness in her mind and bones was subsiding, renewing her with feelings of purpose and strength. Lara’li would be able to save Tiana, Maeg felt certain of this. Her own purpose was connected to the Middle Earth mirror. And also to Shadow.
That final revelation surprised Maeg. It did not, however, inspire her with feelings of unmixed delight. Yes, Shadow LOOKED like an elf. There was something distinctively elvish about her, other than her looks, but it seemed… fragmented, shattered, almost mangled. As though part of her had been destroyed. From what Lara’li had told her, this probably wasn’t far off from the truth.
Shadow was a Sith. Maeg had never known an elf to wield the Force, for good or bad intentions. Elves had their own magic, a distinct flavor of enchantment that stemmed from the world they lived in, made of everything from trees and birds to starlight and song. Elves were part of the magic as they were a part of the world, connected to all things in the living tapestry of Middle Earth. Abandoning elven magic for Force powers was like trading a real arm for one made of iron.
As she scrutinized the broken reflection of Tiana in elf’s form, staring in her direction even though she couldn’t see her, Maeg realized that she pitied Shadow. That came somewhat as a surprise at first. Not long ago, she and Shadow were prepared to fight each other, if necessary, each believing that the other could be the undoing of their plans. Shadow had seemed so dark and purposeful then, so confident in her strength and abilities. Now she hid in the shadows from which she took her name, apprehensive and unsure. Perhaps she was a she-elf not unlike Maeggaladiel at one time. But no longer. Now she was a woman without a people, without a connection, without a home.
Shadow was unpredictable. She was dangerous. She was suffering. Just as Maeg knew that she needed to go through the mirror, against her better judgment, she knew that her purpose in this tale would depend somehow on Shadow. Stepping away from Lara’li so as not to break her concentration, Maeg held up her palm in a greeting.
“Mae govannen, Shadow,” she called, keeping her voice steady. “I know you can sense me, as I can sense you. I also know that you can sense Tiana is dying.” She paused a moment, letting the message sink in. There seemed to be no movement from where Shadow hid.
“Perhaps I am misinformed,” she continued, “but it seems to me that if Tiana dies, then you will share a similar fate. If you wanted to be rid of Lara’li and myself, you would have done something before this point, while we were preoccupied with Tiana.” Maeg removed her glasses and began to clean them with a square of fabric pulled from a pocket, an automatic move that she barely paused to think about.
“I recognized your voice, back when you were talking to Lara’li after switching places with Ennariel. I couldn’t hear everything you were saying, but I assume you were discussing the Middle Earth mirror. You wish to destroy it, but cannot do so alone, yes? Then what say we form a temporary truce? We won’t harm you if you won’t harm us. We’ll work together to find the Middle Earth mirror. And we’ll work together to help Tiana.” Maeg had to hold her tongue to keep herself from mentioning that Shadow was the original cause of Tiana’s distress when she locked her in the Shadow Realm prison. She was trying to make an ally, not start a war.
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Post by BEHIND YOU!!! on Nov 5, 2004 21:26:17 GMT -5
[ooc: Oh, Force, you did nto just say that. <hits head on the wall> YOU CANTHAVE DONE THAT TOO. sheesh. no, dont ask. it's useless because you won't get it. Jandalf might know what i meant though... "a girl without a home, who has the ability to give a home to others." AGH! I SWEAR YOU HAVE TO HAVE READ THE WHOLE OF LOTG! (quote 2 by Jandalf on Dagobah).] Shadow closed her eyes, and sank backwards, sitting down where she was-- the elf now spoke to her, and she knew well enough that there was little way she could escape reply. Inwardly, she wondered what Maeggaladiel thought of her-- what went through the nearsighted elf's mind as she overseen this. Pity, maybe-- Shadow was used to a few placing that emotion on her head. Anger, possibly, if who she was was an understood thing. Sometimes hate, sometimes a fear beyond any other. Almost never trust. Her voice bore a false clarity as she spoke-- anyone truly listening to her would hear the emotions behind it. "You are correct as to why Tiana yet lives," she said blankly. "But I'm not..." She shook her head, forgetting that Maeg could not see her. "I'm not like that. I'm not a murderer." As if she was trying to convince herself. The Sithly elf rose to her feet, and returned the palm-open gesuture. " Gîl síla erin lû e-govaded vín, Maeggaladiel," she said, inside shocked that the langauge still came to her without much thought. It was there, though-- and she could still speak it clearly, though accented with the Basic inflections learned in the Star Wars universe. "You say 'well met', but is that truly your thoughts, or merely a formality?" She pulled her hair where once, a long time ago, she would've worn a braid. Merely old habit but it forced her to think back.
She pulled her hand back, and stared downwards, trying to avoid meeting Maeggaladiel's eyes-- even if the elf was too nearsighted to see her completely. Shadow spoke with a low voice. "Middle-earth should not have a mirror," she said quietly. "When I left... I was..." She grimaced with the vivid memory of the flames and shadows she had passed through. Naught at all akin to the now-fair seeming Mirkwood trees she had lived in before...
Before you cut yourself off, she reminded herself. It was your choice, Shadow.
"I was cut off, and that world was gone, even through the Force-sensitivity I had gained by passing into... into Meleni." Shadow had a visible grimace on her face. "That's why I came here-- Middle-earth can't be mirrored. The Force clouds its magic... the pureness that is of that realm." She knew she was revealing too much of herself, but it was probably no more than already was known. "I know that it cannot exist, anymore than I can exist--" Her voice grew strangely grim, and quiet "--if Tiana dies. And she is dying."
Shadow closed her eyes, seeing the world only through the Force for a time. "And it is my fault," she whispered. "Just like it was me that created the mirror."
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Post by Tiana, eh? on Nov 6, 2004 18:29:25 GMT -5
((Maeg... I think you have a new character that you may have to play as well-- Galadriel. Heehee. Ergh... I think we're losing Tiana here... *annoyed*))
It was like wading through a pond full of silt. Lara'li hadn't ever been trained to use the Force, and what she was trying to do was near to impossible. True, for a Jedi, it probably wouldn't've been so hard, but for her...
She fought through the barriers of Tiana's mind that shouldn't've been there to her, barriers that should have been invisible. Lara'li couldn't find Tiana, just an empty shell-- though the girl was obviously alive. The scientist pulled herself from the Force-state, observing that Maeggaladiel had moved away-- and picked up Tiana's hand. She checked-- the pulse ws strong, but she was cold. The chill that nothing can reach... complete zero... her mind filled in. A chill within that slowly spreads from within to without.
If there was ever a moment she wished she could've used her Force-powers, it was now. Take a different point of view, Lara'li, she told herself inwardly, reaching around...
To hit nothing.
"She's turned into a sieve," she muttered, reaching out to her. Everything I do will slip through her.
When she fell backwards, she thought differently. "What the heck..." Lara'li swore in Elvish, and stood up, eyes showing defeat. She's fallen so far into this that I doubt Jandalf could call her back.
Escaped death once, and now...
Lara'li crumpled to her knees, burrying her head in her hands. "You can't do this," she murmured. "You can't leave like this... not now, Tiana..." She closed her eyes, and without a change in tone she spoke to Maeggaladiel. "I can't. I've lost her."
Cut off. That was everything that Tiana felt-- the everything that equaled to nothing. I feel dead, she realized, though she knew she was completely alive-- in a sense. Alive, yet cut off from everything... everyone.
"You're getting used to this, Padawan Tiana," Ariane said darkly.
"I'll never let go, mom."
Ariane smiled. "You're never going to understand, are you, Tiana? The only reason I'm doing this is because you continue to hold on." She punctuated this with swift chops of her hand. "Let go of those lost bonds, let go of Anakin, let go of the worlds you knew, and you'll live."
"I won't. I'll never let go of Anakin... Jandalf..." Master, where are you? Don't abandon me again-- don't let go... "...they're a part of me, as much as you are."
Ariane shook her head. "Poor, poor, Padawan-- you're all stuck up in this, all tangled up. You keep on holding onto what is lost, what's abandoned you. You'll never get free now."
Tiana sighed harshly, and sat down. "It is my choice to hold on."
"And mine to let you live."
Tiana didn't speak, toyed with the lightsaber she wore. When she looked up, her eyes were dark. "You'd kill your daughter? I have no doubt that you would, could," she continued. "But then-- I'd ask a small favor."
"What's that, Tiana."
A soft voice. "Set Shadow free."
"What?"
Tiana jumped up, faced her with flames in her eyes. "You heard me, mom. Set Shadow free. She's bound to me and I to her-- if you can cut a training bond, you can cut that. Set Shadow free."
"You're not being much of a business person right now."
Tiana snorted. "Of course not. I'm being a Jedi-- being who I am-- being who I was born as and born to not escape. Maybe it was inevitable that I would die of the Shadows, but that doesn't mean Shadow has to die."
This time it was Ariane's turn to be silent.
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Post by Lady Maeggaladiel on Nov 7, 2004 0:43:35 GMT -5
/Wow... creepy. I've never read LOTG, Shadow. I just wrote my interpretation of your character. /
/Yeah, Eowyn, I might end up playing Galadriel too, if the story turns in that direction. Do you mind?/
Maeggaladiel's eyebrows rose in suprise.
"You created the mirror?" she asked incredulously. "You know where it is?" Maeg ran a hand through her hair, blown away.
A small wry smile cracked at the corners of her lips. Her face looked strange, almost macabre, as the grin contradicted her suddenly-pale complexion and haunted look in her eyes.
"Mirrors," she said, as though finally understanding a punch line to a great joke. "I see. Mirrors. All shall turn to silver glass." And silver glass shall be thy end, unless the shadows of the soul bear thee back to the light. She wasn't sure whether to laugh hysterically or scream. Those had been the words of Galadriel, spoken to her many years ago. They had remained a mystery for decades, almost forgotten. Now they began to make sense.
She swallowed. Nothing was set in stone. Or in glass.
Maeg placed a trembling hand on Lara'li's shoulder.
"You have done the best that you could," she said, her voice hollow. "There may be another way. Let's take Tiana through the Middle Earth mirror. The Lady of the Wood posesses great magic and wisdom. She may be able to help her. If anything, it's bound to be warmer there than it is here." They had nothing to lose and everything to gain. At least they would be doing something.
She turned back to Shadow.
"I know you are not a murderer," she said softly. "And I am sorry for implying that you were. Please help us, Shadow. This may be our only chance of saving Tiana. Can you lead us to the Middle Earth mirror?"
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Post by Tiana, eh? on Nov 7, 2004 16:44:22 GMT -5
((Yeah... but you're very good at mind-reading, Maeg. *grins broadly* Because you're turning this the same way I would too. Yes, you'll be playing Galadriel since we'll be heading to ME...))
"If I had done the best I could," Lara'li murmured, tears streaking her normally pale, and otherwise straight face, "I could've saved her from falling like this. If I could have felt her in the Shadow Realm, she wouldn't be in this impossible state... if..."
Her voice cracked, and she burried her face a moment longer, rocking herself back and forth. "Alway 'do or do not'... and I couldn't do it..." She glanced up at Maeggaladiel. "If your lady can save her, I'll owe her so much... mayhaps this is the only hope we'll have."
Kneeling beside the collapsed Padawan, Lara'li wrapped the girl's robe tighter around her in a useless attempt to give her some slight comfort, and took off her own cloak, wrapping that around her as well. She picked her up-- Tiana was a dead weight in her arms, but at least she felt alive, and at least she wasn't too heavy, due to her Shadowed nature now.
"Don't die on me, Tiana," she whispered. "What'll I tell Jandalf then? Don't let go."
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Post by BEHIND YOU!!! on Nov 7, 2004 17:04:50 GMT -5
//Doesn't that sound like "Lead us to the Black Gate". you;re making me into Gollum now?! hehe. also, Shadow's name from before is Almarien. Girl without a home.
an encounter between Shadow and the lady of the Woods may be intesrtiing. with you writing it... it should be very good, Maeg. I know you never read LotG, just seems like it, is all.//
Shadow smiled softly. "You don't know anything about me." Nevertheless, she bowed her head in aquience to the request put upon her by Maeggaladiel.
"You ask for my help," the rogue elf said wryly. "Why would you have any reason to trust me?" She carried on, not waiting for an answer. "They are not true mirrors as you and I know them-- as Lara'li very well knows, they are only represented by mirrors in this realm. I can lead you through... but you'll have to trust me. Completely."
Shadow held out one hand, noted with interst that it trembled just slightly. I'm worried... she realized. I know that if I reenter Middle-earth, what could happen.
Well, it's time you faced the concequinces of what youdid. Even if you are killed, it's high time it happened, she told herself resolutely, but inside she was completely afraid.
I'm no longer one of the Eldar in spirit, am I?
She closed her eyes, unconsiously lifting a hand to cover pointed ears. "Will you trust me though?" she asked softly. "Can you trust me with all your lives to enter the Shadows once again, and pass to the Mirror?" Tiana would... Jandalf did once, a long time ago. But can they?
Then the other voice. The lady of the Wood possesses great magic... can you enter there again?
Well, we'll just have to wait and find out.
Nothing was ever written in stone-- not even what seemed impossible to escape. Even if everything was inevitable, nothing could not be escaped.
Shadow dropped her hands, and hoarsely spoke. "And even if you can trust me... will you?"
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Post by Lady Maeggaladiel on Nov 8, 2004 13:47:41 GMT -5
//Boo yah! Here we go, into the wild. Hee hee. No, I didn't think about the Gollum thing. Hmm.. Does that make me Frodo or Sam? Or Gandalf? *wonders what she'd look like in white*//
"Don't blame yourself," Maeg said to Lara'li. "There are forces at work here that are more powerful than all of us, I think. I do not know if the Lady can really help us; even she cannot See all ends. But it's worth a try."
Maeg looked at Tiana, who seemed so frozen and pale. She could... yeah, it was worth a try.
Tiana? she called, using the same mental path as she had to contact the Padawan before. Tiana, are you there? We're here, Tiana. We've found Lara'li. We're going to help you. Hold on. She had no idea if Tiana could hear her, but it felt good to be doing something. She added her own cloak to the pile of capes on top of her.
"I trust you, Shadow," Maeg said suddenly, not looking up from Tiana. She smiled. "Sometimes we need no reason to trust, no reason, only feelings." She had been relying heavily on those feelings lately. She dearly hoped that they were reliable.
A name formed in her mind. The smile cracked. Yes, it suited her.
"Almarien," She said, tasting the word. "That was your name. You were once Almarien, weren't you?" A girl without a home.
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Post by Jandalf on Toast on Nov 8, 2004 17:34:51 GMT -5
((Okay, go ahead and Shadowize Jandalf. It should be verrrrry interesting...MWAHAHAHA!))
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Post by Tiana, eh? on Nov 8, 2004 22:35:40 GMT -5
((Maeg, I'd be likely to say that you're Frodo. Heehee. Does that mean Shadow's going to die? Does that mean I'm Sam? *shrugs*
Shadowizing Jandalf?! Eek! Have a bad feeling about this... because Shadow told me what she was going to do if you said yes... *is scared* I should'a never told her she could borrow A'karon and Ariane...))
"You can't just let Shadow die," Tiana pleaded, her voice suddenly that of a child. Ariane looked at her, and smiled-- it was not a fair smile.
"And why not, Tiana?" she asked sharply. "What happened to the business person within you--"
"That's my father's job," a rather annoyed Padawan shot back. "You can cut me out, you can cut Shadow out. Let her free."
"And what would I have to gain from it?"
"Who's the business person now, mother?" The bleak sarcasm was merely a cover for fear. She can't kill Shadow...
"Oh yes I can." For a moment Tiana was startled, until she realized they were within the Force's circles-- Ariane could still read her mind.
"What mother kills her daughter's reflection?! Let Shadow go." Her eyes pleaded with Ariane to conceed to her wishes, but the blank shadow within her mother's eyes was too concealing to let her understand.
I've lost you... again.
"You never had found me. You never wanted to."
"Get out of my mind!" she half-screamed in reply.
From what she could reach of the other realm, she could only find Maeggaladiel-- and she had the feeling that the elf was trying to reach her. And it was too distant; she knew neither of them could hear the other. Please hurry... Maeg...
She changed her focus.
Master... please hear me...
Nothing. I'm completely cut off.
"Yes, that you are, Tiana."
Tiana wanted dearly to slap the woman who was her mother, but she fought with it-- fought what wanted her to react like that. "If you leave Shadow as who she is now, you'll lose me too," Tiana spelt out. "There's your bargin-- it's me, or neither of us."
Araine smiled. "Now we're getting somewhere."
"Try..." Lara'li murmured. "Try find every loss / only seeing me cry / every new day that starts / always ends up breaking hearts."
She closed her eyes. "Varda willing, your lady will be able to help us." Audreidi had always used that term-- Varda-- so had Jandalf. Before it had made little sense, but now...
Now Middle-earth existed, and all too close to home.
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Post by BEHIND YOU!!! on Nov 9, 2004 0:20:18 GMT -5
//[smiles at Jandalf's new signature] Hm. "I'll help you find it again". Hidden meaning? CONSIDERING... yah. Both you and Eowyn have new sigs, I see... both of you doing the eyes thing...
And if I get too scary with the taking over thing... well... you can go jedi master on me and i'll stop it. because Tiana's right, I do have an evil plan here.//
Shadow's breath was a sharp intake in the silence. "That was a long time ago," she whispered. "Too long ago for the name to be of any meaning." Yet it does...
It hurts.
"Yes, I was once Almarien," she said clearly, though her voice threatened to cut out, and crack. But she held it clearly. "Come-- now we enter the Middle-earthian mirror through Shadows." She set her hand on the older Elf's shoulder, who did not look up from Tiana-- Tiana who was so pale, so strangely young looking now.
"I trust you in return, then," she said softly. "You have that much, if merely for a shadow's sake, Maeggaladiel of the Four Eyes. We will find a way to save Tiana."
Even if it'll kill me...
She closed her eyes, and led the way across the long hall blindly, following instinct rather than human choice. Their footsteps were harsh, and echoed through the room.
Inside, she made silent note of the pendant Lara'li had given Maeg. She thought ahead...
The Shadow was near, and yet so far away. Shadow moved her hands of another's will, seeking the gate that lie there. "I once could open the doorway to this realm without thought, but it too has been taken from me," she murmured, seeking the Shadow Realm.
When her hands plunged through empty space into nothingness, she suddenly became aware of nothing but that-- the emptiness of Shadows. And pulled it open, though the effort drained her. The complete mirrors lay within the shadows, but to enter shadow was akin to letting a person enter her.
Because I am the Shadows. The reason they exist.
"Enter quickly," she said hollowly, "and stray not from the narrow path within."
***
//godmodding... sorry...//
Ennariel and Jandalf spoke quietly for a time-- simple conversation, neither of them were trying to say anything to the other. It had taken a while, but the Orange Istari had understood Enn's reasoning to placing Maeg into the Shadows...
It wasn't much reason, but t'was enough. Enn knew Jandalf well enough to know that she could understand the strangest things-- enough had happened that she had learned to accept in the past. For both of them.
But the oddest flicker in the jedi master's eyes made Shadow's reflection suddenly suspicious-- the change in posture as well.
Impossible...
The voice behind her made her jump just slightly-- a male voice, and a voice she recognized all too well. "A'karon," she said, forcing herself not to studder, or bolt away in fear.
Then Jandalf's eyes were no longer her own, and Ennariel knew who it was who spoke through that body.
"Good morning, Ariane."
"It's good to see you as well, traitor," Ariane said in Jandalf's voice.
Then...
Darkness.
//You can have Ariane back now, Tiana.//
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Post by Lady Maeggaladiel on Nov 9, 2004 11:32:41 GMT -5
//Well, I’m glad you’re here with me, Sam, here at the end of all things. Hee hee.//
Home. The word felt strange, but surprisingly right. It had been many, many years since she had last considered Lorien as her home. She would have never thought she would be returning to that mysterious realm so soon. There was no way around it, though. Tiana’s life held precedence over any of her own petty aversions to the place.
It wasn’t that the Lady was the source of her quarrels; Galadriel’s powers and insights had been incredibly helpful to her. The Lady had always treated Maeggaladiel kindly, even answering questions about the mysterious mind powers that they both possessed. Not that Maeg’s mental abilities could measure up to Galadriel’s. The Lady was centuries older than Maeg was, and by far the more gifted. Maeg’s powers were like a trickling stream of magic; Galadriel’s was a roaring river. Maeg whispered in people’s minds; Galadriel shouted. To be absolutely honest, Galadriel was so powerful that she was a bit scary.
Maeg looked down at her slender hands, suddenly sensing pain. Her fingernails had been biting into her palms all of this time, she realized. That was one of her signature signs of nervousness. Why was she getting so worked up now, when she was returning home?
She forced her fists to unclench. Four crescent-moon indents marred the skin of her palm where nail had dug into flesh, along with the imprint of the strange pendant she had been holding. She WAS nervous. She had good reason for it, too. Tiana’s life was in danger. If Galadriel couldn’t help her, she would die. And what about Shadow? Maeg personally had few doubts about Shadow’s intentions, but she was not entirely certain that the perimeter guards of Lorien would trust Maeg’s blind instincts.
Her friends did not look any more confident than she was. Shadow was on edge, fearful and hesitant, her limbs almost moving on their own accord. Hers was the face of a woman who had resigned herself to her fate, walking into death. If she held back, Tiana would die and so would she. If she went forward, she could die but Tiana might live. She could not win, this shadow of an elf.
Behind her, Lara’li trudged along with Tiana in her arms. She kept looking down at the pale and empty shell that was once a living, breathing person, now little more than a porcelain doll wrapped in a cloth cocoon. Lara’li felt that Tiana’s condition was her fault, that she was powerless to do anything but let Tiana fall into death.
There they were, the battered and weary trio, crossing the threshold between worlds with little more than wild hope and fear of failure to drive them on. They had much to gain and much to lose.
Maeg sighed and followed Shadow into the dark, narrow passage, thinking of the towering trees of Lorien to keep her mind off of other, less pleasant things.
____________________________________________
The Lady could sense their presence. Like the stifling calm before a thunderstorm, Galadriel could feel their approach. Much would come of this meeting, she knew. Once more, the fate of so much was at stake. This mirror, this door between worlds, was a danger to all.
The smallest smile played upon her fair features. Two homecomings. Almarien and Maeggaladiel were returning to Lorien after years of wandering. How would Lorien recieve them? How would she herself recieve them, these outcasts?
"Even the wisest cannot see all ends," she murmured to herself. They had a great part yet to play in this tale, and their fates were linked to each other and to the entire realm of Middle Earth. They could be the salvation or the downfall of their world. Galadriel would be ready for them.
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Post by Tiana, eh? on Nov 9, 2004 14:34:57 GMT -5
((I can't carry the ring for you, Mr. Frodo, but I can carry you!))
And then... nothing.
Dark, cold, and the chill of death-- yet I'm not dead-- was everything that surrounded her. Tiana almost wondered if she missed Ariane in that darkness.
Nothing. It was the essence of shadows there, and the feel of nothingness that surrounded her. She could feel it, through the Force, and her own feelings-- it was not the same as wherever Ariane had pulled her, but it wasn't different either.
Paradoxing its seeming nothing, there was technically something there-- but Tiana wasn't about to embrace that death. I'll never fall, even if I have to die to keep it from happening, she swore to herself.
She reached out, touching the darkness, and letting it surround her for a bare moment. I'm becoming empty, hollow... a shell of who I was. Again. Tiana crumbled to her knees, fighting the mental barriers that held her apart from the world. The Force was still there, Jandalf was still there, Lara'li was-- they had to be. Are my predictions coming true-- am I to be the death of myself and my Master?
Tiana hugged her knees to her chest, whispering a call to those she was connected to-- but knowing they couldn't hear her. "Master," she whispered. "Don't leave me again..."
And then there was something in that darkness beyond death-- tears.
Lara'li rarely had appreciated the shadow-paths between the realms, and she didn't now either. Around them there was little to see, but she ignored that, focusing on directing her grief within. Tiana can't die...
If she does, it's my fault.
The girl's body looked pale, cold, and empty--nearly dead, though she still breathed and her pulse was strong. All the signs of life were there, and yet they weren't. "If this were only a wound by a blade," she murmured, "then t'would be alright... but 'tis not any longer... hold on, Tiana... hold on."
And yet, she had the feeling that there was nothing for her to hold onto anymore. "It's like she's been isolated into a tiny room within her mind."
All three of them that were on their feet looked so lost, so hopeless. And Lara'li wondered if that was not the case.
((I'll take Ariane after you use A'karon to... explain what's going on, and why she had to take Jandalf's appearance. Ergh... I don't like this. At all. EGADS! Heehee. Nevertheless, Maeg, you're doing fine. Shadow, take one elf for a border guard, I'll take the second if we need another. Maeg, you have the Lady, and that's enough.))
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Post by Lady Maeggaladiel on Nov 9, 2004 16:30:51 GMT -5
((But you can't carry me: you're carrying Tiana! Wait... Nevermind.)) ((How can you lose me, Sam? We're not even out of the Shire yet! *suddenly falls down very deep pit.*))
//Actually, I had planned on taking a perimeter guard as well. Three characters won't be so bad, all things considering. *winks*//
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Post by BEHIND YOU!!! on Nov 9, 2004 17:58:41 GMT -5
//Oh, shaaadup. I can't help... oh, never mind. yes, take a guard, Maeg-- I CANT DO THIS ON MY OWN! erg.//
Shadow walked as of another's will rather than her own, a stiff and lost appearance, really. I can't win... not now...
Her voice was as if another prompted her, and it was there-- soft, clear and ringing within the shadows-- a song that brought back memories. "Home is behind, te world ahead... and there are many paths to tread. Through shadow, to the edge of night. Until the stars are all alight. Mist and shadow, cloud and shade... all shall fade... all shall fade..."
The implications hurt. Shadow raised one hand to push aside the tears that clouded her perception. She walked the knife's edge that held all this balanced together, and one slip-- it would all fall. She clenched her hands tightly, embracing the pain it caused her rather than fighting it. Four marks it left in each hand, but she didn't really care.
The path was narrow, and short-- though trecherous to those who did not know the way. It also brought back memories of another time-- had Tiana been conscious, the same memories would've lay there, in the depths. Ennariel died here, once, a long time ago, her thoughts spoke for her. You killed her... how can you now return?
Shadow closed her eyes, fighting the memories that taunted her. "Go away," she muttered. "Go away. Leave me alone-- I'm relying on another now. Go away!" Quiet enough that the others couldn't hear more than her voice.
She raised one hand, halting their party, and suddenly she regained complete control of herself. "It is here," she said calmly-- an impossible calm for the look on her face. "We enter through the mirror." Her eyes drifted to Maeggaladiel, who had never traveled through the mirrors before. "It will feel like you... are lost," Shadow said. "Hold onto what connections you have, or you will fall into the shadows. I'll do my best to protect you-- I promise-- but I cannot swear I can hold the Shadows away."
Shadow set one hand on the elf's shoulder. "Trust that your home can lead you such, or you'll fall into the mirrors of your soul." A moment she was quite. "We enter the mirror."
*******
//well, Jandalf, I did tell you this was going to happen, to a degree... I think...//
Ariane, in Jandalf's body, sat down, and crossed her feet beneath her, getting used to the taller form. It had been a few years since she had done the shapeshifting, and it took a while to get used to. After a time, she looked up at Ak'aron. "How is she?"
"Ennariel will live," he answered coolly.
"And Jandalf?"
"In Shadow, no more, no less. You're more likely to come to harm than she is."
Ariane smiled humorlessly and stood up, pushing her hair back. "Good. But I doubt Tiana can harm me-- even more so now that I hold her Master hostage."
"You really think you can do it, don't you?"
"Of course."
"How?"
Ariane shrugged slightly, using some clips to fix Jandalf's hair from falling into her eyes. "I look Middle-earthian now-- I almost wouldn't doubt that Jandalf was Elven born-- there is little doubt we cannot succeed."
"You are certain of that?" A'karon looked down at Shadow's unconscious mirror-- he still held her in his arms. He shoved away the feelings for the Elf-like mirrored girl quickly, and wrapped his hood over his face. He wore tan colored robes, not unlike the Jedi's, and yet completely different. Ariane glanced at him a moment, and picked up the mirror, taking a closer look at her new appearance.
It wasn't uncomfortable-- the biggest change was her height-- she could now look down on A'karon. Her eyes were her own-- Tiana's in another form-- and that was the only way you could tell she wasn't the orange Jedi Master.
"I am certain," she said firmly. "You carry on with your side of things, and I shall continue with mine."
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Post by Lady Maeggaladiel on Nov 10, 2004 10:01:21 GMT -5
//Oooh, the plot thickens!//
Maeggaladiel stared into the entrance to the mirror. It looked unwelcoming, all right. It looked like it wanted to swallow her whole and-- she pushed aside her thoughts and strode after Shadow.
Shadow was right. Travelling through the mirror was strange. Where was she? Which way was up? Clenching her teeth, she forced herself to think of Lorien. The sun rising over the ancient trees, their large leaves wet with dew. The smell of fresh earth and rain. The feel of soft grass beneath her feet, the warmth of the sun on her face.
She thought of Galadriel, and of Elrond, and of her friends across Middle Earth. She found that she didn't feel quite so lost if she concentrated hard enough on something else.
/I'll write more later, possibly tomorrow. I have to go to class./
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Post by Tiana, eh? on Nov 10, 2004 22:05:01 GMT -5
She'd done this before, and managed-- nevertheless, Lara'li still clenched her face together, fighting to hold onto her addenity while she traveled through the mirror. It hurt, and yet it didn't...
She held Tiana's hand, using her as her one rope-- her anchor to the real world. Though the Padawan was nearly lifeless as a doll-- she looked almost as pale as one-- she still lived, and that was something. The cold skin made Lara'li shiver in aprehention. Have I lost her?
Nothing, and everything pulled her into that strange Shadowy nothingness of traveling through the mirror. You couldn't breathe, and yet the oxygen flooded you. You couldn't see, and yet the sights overwhelmed you. You couldn't hear, and yet the sound nearly deafened you. You couldn't feel anything, and yet everythin surrounded you, pressing against you, throwing you into a state of insanity. And it tried to bash your anchor aside.
In that mirror, the only bright spot was Shadow-- a light beaming in that flame as she forced the mirror to her command as before. Reflecting it into another location, another time, and keeping its power from flooding the other elf.
Lara'li held the unconscious Padawan tightly, and prayed to anything that could hear her in that strange shadowy nothingness that she would survive the traveling through realms without an anchor.
A blinding flash of flame, and Lara'li screamed--
Then the travel through was over, and they tumbled to the soft grassy ground under the trees on the outskirts of Lothlorien, the Golden Wood of the Elves.
Middle-earth.
The fair land of the fay folk, the world of the true magic, and a pure world-- like nothing Lara'li had ever seen in years of travel. Just falling to the ground there was enough to make up for the pain of passing through the shadows-- it was fair, beautiful-- though it had its own shadows as well. She set Tiana down and rose to her feet, mouth ajar in awe.
"How could anyone leave?" she whispered, placing a hand on a nearby tree, staring at the pure life of the place. "How could anyone ever want to leave this place?"
Reality wasn't that far off... she grasped at it... pulling...
...And Tiana stirred slightly. "Master!" she screamed in a half-whisper, trying to sit back up, but her body wouldn't let her, it was frozen. She fell backwards, shivering, and closed her eyes as the shadow pulled her back. "Master..."
Gone.
Lara'li stared at what was around her, and the slight reaction Tiana had had went unnoticed.
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Post by BEHIND YOU!!! on Nov 11, 2004 17:16:38 GMT -5
Shadow forced her mind to stay on one thing-- keeping Maeggaladiel alive. Though she held the key-- the pendent Lara'li had given her-- the rogue elf still was not sure that Maeggaladiel had the mental powers to withstand the strain of mirror travel.
She only hoped that the Elf had enough of a connection to her home world to hold onto it.
With the confusion the mirror created, making you see illusions, making who you were an illusion, Shadow quickly had to form herself as an anchor for Maeg, and hold on herself, otherwise she knew she would fall into darkness just as quickly. Even if she knew she might die before the end.
Force yourself to remember. Force yourself to hold onto a world long past. Make yourself think...
Shadow forced those memories into her head, forced them to anchor her to reality. Forced herself to remember the golden trees dripping with dew in the morn, forced herself to remember the patter of the creeks and rivers as they rushed down from the mountain tops, touched with sunlight as the morning rose up to meet the afternoon. Made herself remember the golden green of the trees in the afternoon as fall rushed upon them, and covered them in orange and red. Anchored herself to the memory of the fair elven folk of those places. Bound herself to the image of Lorien, and the fair purity of that place.
And still the Shadow wanted to swallow her whole. It always happened-- she always screamed for a name... always called for another who no longer was there for her. Always.
"MASTER!" she screamed, in the rush of flame and shadows that tried to grasp her.
Then it was over, and she was falling down onto the clean grass of Middle-earth through the mirror.
*********
A'karon picked up Ennariel, and shoved her over to Ariane. "I will keep with my side of things," the tall desert-dweller muttered. "And you yours, Master Ariane," he shot.
"Sometimes I really wonder about you," Ariane said, calmly. She pushed Ennariel back to A'karon, and handed him a length of rope. "If you're bringing her back for the time, you'll need this."
"I'm not calling her out until we know she's sundered correctly," A'karon said, calmly.
Ariane had an evil grin on her face. "You love her, don't you."
He didn't answer, which proved to be more of an answer in itself.
"There's nothing wrong with that, just don't let it get the better of you," she shot back. "There was nothing wrong with me loving Elachi, there's nothing wrong with you loving Ennariel, A'karon. Just be careful it doesn't override your task."
He bowed his head in aqueince to that. "It will not, Master."
///thickens to a near paste...//
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