Chosen [Part 27]
Nov. 27th, 2011 11:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
esp_dragonFandom: Original
Summary: Ras has just been chosen by the Gods to protect humans from geists, beings that prey on people's souls. Sent by Them to aid her is Aldran, a psyven; through the bond forged on their first meeting, Aldran can pass his magic to Ras for her to use against the geists. Only those bonded with psyvens can fight the geists, as a psyven's magic is the one magic that is truly effective against them.
But stories are told to children to placate fears and soothe nightmares. Ras has to learn that Aldran and living as a khertan are not what she expected and that the danger is very real.
While she adjusts to her new life, she and Aldran begin to discover all is not as it seems; however, realising and accepting the truth is not easy and ultimately, in the end, is it worth it?
Rating: PG
Notes: You can find my commentary on this part here.
Genre: Fantasy/Friendship
Word count: 994
Total word count: 61,858
Status: Work in progress
Ras hummed, seeing his point, but not liking the fact that there were no other options.
"Are you going to bed soon?" Aldran asked, his head tilted to the side, worry written on his face.
Ras scrubbed at her eyes with a hand and then glanced at the books on the table. It wasn't likely she was going to get much more reading done, and she was starting to feel sleepy again.
"I'm going to bed now,," she said, hefting herself to her feet.
Aldran grinned at her. "Good."
Ras shot him a dry look as they made their way back to their beds.
* * *
Ras was just able to get her sleeping patterns back in order before she and Aldran were called out again. It wasn't the particular geist, but it was just the one geist that she and Aldran were able to kill it before it fed on anyone else.
Really, Ras mused as they walked back to their bedroom, they seemed to run between mostly easy fights, to extremely difficult ones, with not much in between.
She shook her head as they entered their bedroom. They didn't really need the rest, but it was becoming a well-formed habit to take as much of it as they could before the next time they were called.
The pile of books from the library were still sitting on the table, Ras saw with a little embarrassment. If other people had been needing those books…
She set aside the first book on top of the pile, and then started to flick through the second book, out of curiosity for what it would say. It was mostly the same things, the same details that she already knew but she paused when she saw the page of what psyren's could do. They could heal faster than humans, and were resistant to magic.
Just like geists.
That…Ras stared at the paper in front of her in confusion. That was a strange coincidence that she had never noticed before.
But, that was what the Gods wanted (why the Gods would create geists in the first place, well, that was Their decision, and Ras couldn't question it). It didn't sit well with Ras though, if the Gods had deliberately made them similar.
But geists ate souls; psyven… Ras had a flicker of a memory of what that geist had told her. No. No. The geist had been lying about that!
"Ras…?" Aldran put a hand on her shoulder, worry written over his face. "What's wrong?"
She had to stop thinking about what the geist had told her, but it would come back to her in snatches, little things that had happened that reminded Ras of what it had said.
Ras raised a hand to rub at her eyes. "I'm thinking about things too much," she told him.
Aldran blinked at her. "Like what?"
She huffed, shaking her head. "Like how you're similar to geists."
Ras had expected a response, but Aldran's hand tightened on her shoulder, and all she heard was silence. She belatedly realised that she hadn't actually said that she didn't believe it, and when she looked up at Aldran, his face was pale, a haunted expression on his face.
"I – was wondering when you were going to notice…" Aldran said softly, his gaze sliding away.
"What? Aldran, what are you talking about?" Ras was suddenly feeling that she had been missing something very important. Other than psyvens being similar to geists.
He screwed up his eyes and sighed. "It – it doesn't matter," he said quietly, his shoulders hunching as his hand dropped from his shoulder.
Ras grabbed it before it could drop fully, using it as an anchor so that Aldran wouldn't walk away. He tugged at it, trying to get it back, but Ras kept a tight hold.
"A psyven being similar to a geist doesn't mean you are a geist," Ras told him firmly.
"Doesn't it?" Aldran shot back, uncharacteristically sharp. "It…" He shook his head. "Ras, please, just let me go." He tried to regain his hand again, but Ras wouldn't allow for it.
"And this is clearly bothering you."
"I… I can't tell you." He let loose a hopeless laugh that made Ras stare at him in bewilderment.
"But why not?" The words were already out her mouth before Ras realised she had said them. She sounded like a petulant child! She had opened her mouth to take back her words, but Aldran's next words stopped her dead.
"Because you've already chosen that you don't want to know." The words were barely a whisper.
Ras' mouth hung open as she tried to figure out Aldran's words. He slipped his hand away from her limp fingers, and she only noticed when her hand dropped to her side.
"How… How could I have chosen?" Ras asked uncertainly. The topic seemed to be running towards a completely different direction than it should have been. "You aren't a geist!" He couldn't be – he didn't eat souls; they had always been by each other's side, and she knew that he ate normal food.
"Ras…" There was pain in Aldran's face, and he was backing away from her, his head bowed. When Ras tried to close the distance he kept it, and that was a bigger shock than everything else that was happening. He was backing away from her like a wary animal to a stranger, even worse than when they had first met.
"You already knew this; you chose to forget."
Confusion swelling in Ras again at Aldran's words. "I don't know what you're talking about – I haven't chosen to forget anything." She frowned, realising he may not know that. "Not even what the geist told me, no matter what I've said."
But Aldran was shaking his head, his hair falling free from behind his pointed ears. "If you truly hadn't forgotten, you wouldn't have been surprised at what you found – you wouldn't have gone looking."
Summary: Ras has just been chosen by the Gods to protect humans from geists, beings that prey on people's souls. Sent by Them to aid her is Aldran, a psyven; through the bond forged on their first meeting, Aldran can pass his magic to Ras for her to use against the geists. Only those bonded with psyvens can fight the geists, as a psyven's magic is the one magic that is truly effective against them.
But stories are told to children to placate fears and soothe nightmares. Ras has to learn that Aldran and living as a khertan are not what she expected and that the danger is very real.
While she adjusts to her new life, she and Aldran begin to discover all is not as it seems; however, realising and accepting the truth is not easy and ultimately, in the end, is it worth it?
Rating: PG
Notes: You can find my commentary on this part here.
Genre: Fantasy/Friendship
Word count: 994
Total word count: 61,858
Status: Work in progress
Ras hummed, seeing his point, but not liking the fact that there were no other options.
"Are you going to bed soon?" Aldran asked, his head tilted to the side, worry written on his face.
Ras scrubbed at her eyes with a hand and then glanced at the books on the table. It wasn't likely she was going to get much more reading done, and she was starting to feel sleepy again.
"I'm going to bed now,," she said, hefting herself to her feet.
Aldran grinned at her. "Good."
Ras shot him a dry look as they made their way back to their beds.
Ras was just able to get her sleeping patterns back in order before she and Aldran were called out again. It wasn't the particular geist, but it was just the one geist that she and Aldran were able to kill it before it fed on anyone else.
Really, Ras mused as they walked back to their bedroom, they seemed to run between mostly easy fights, to extremely difficult ones, with not much in between.
She shook her head as they entered their bedroom. They didn't really need the rest, but it was becoming a well-formed habit to take as much of it as they could before the next time they were called.
The pile of books from the library were still sitting on the table, Ras saw with a little embarrassment. If other people had been needing those books…
She set aside the first book on top of the pile, and then started to flick through the second book, out of curiosity for what it would say. It was mostly the same things, the same details that she already knew but she paused when she saw the page of what psyren's could do. They could heal faster than humans, and were resistant to magic.
Just like geists.
That…Ras stared at the paper in front of her in confusion. That was a strange coincidence that she had never noticed before.
But, that was what the Gods wanted (why the Gods would create geists in the first place, well, that was Their decision, and Ras couldn't question it). It didn't sit well with Ras though, if the Gods had deliberately made them similar.
But geists ate souls; psyven… Ras had a flicker of a memory of what that geist had told her. No. No. The geist had been lying about that!
"Ras…?" Aldran put a hand on her shoulder, worry written over his face. "What's wrong?"
She had to stop thinking about what the geist had told her, but it would come back to her in snatches, little things that had happened that reminded Ras of what it had said.
Ras raised a hand to rub at her eyes. "I'm thinking about things too much," she told him.
Aldran blinked at her. "Like what?"
She huffed, shaking her head. "Like how you're similar to geists."
Ras had expected a response, but Aldran's hand tightened on her shoulder, and all she heard was silence. She belatedly realised that she hadn't actually said that she didn't believe it, and when she looked up at Aldran, his face was pale, a haunted expression on his face.
"I – was wondering when you were going to notice…" Aldran said softly, his gaze sliding away.
"What? Aldran, what are you talking about?" Ras was suddenly feeling that she had been missing something very important. Other than psyvens being similar to geists.
He screwed up his eyes and sighed. "It – it doesn't matter," he said quietly, his shoulders hunching as his hand dropped from his shoulder.
Ras grabbed it before it could drop fully, using it as an anchor so that Aldran wouldn't walk away. He tugged at it, trying to get it back, but Ras kept a tight hold.
"A psyven being similar to a geist doesn't mean you are a geist," Ras told him firmly.
"Doesn't it?" Aldran shot back, uncharacteristically sharp. "It…" He shook his head. "Ras, please, just let me go." He tried to regain his hand again, but Ras wouldn't allow for it.
"And this is clearly bothering you."
"I… I can't tell you." He let loose a hopeless laugh that made Ras stare at him in bewilderment.
"But why not?" The words were already out her mouth before Ras realised she had said them. She sounded like a petulant child! She had opened her mouth to take back her words, but Aldran's next words stopped her dead.
"Because you've already chosen that you don't want to know." The words were barely a whisper.
Ras' mouth hung open as she tried to figure out Aldran's words. He slipped his hand away from her limp fingers, and she only noticed when her hand dropped to her side.
"How… How could I have chosen?" Ras asked uncertainly. The topic seemed to be running towards a completely different direction than it should have been. "You aren't a geist!" He couldn't be – he didn't eat souls; they had always been by each other's side, and she knew that he ate normal food.
"Ras…" There was pain in Aldran's face, and he was backing away from her, his head bowed. When Ras tried to close the distance he kept it, and that was a bigger shock than everything else that was happening. He was backing away from her like a wary animal to a stranger, even worse than when they had first met.
"You already knew this; you chose to forget."
Confusion swelling in Ras again at Aldran's words. "I don't know what you're talking about – I haven't chosen to forget anything." She frowned, realising he may not know that. "Not even what the geist told me, no matter what I've said."
But Aldran was shaking his head, his hair falling free from behind his pointed ears. "If you truly hadn't forgotten, you wouldn't have been surprised at what you found – you wouldn't have gone looking."