A Wind Lord's Fury

[Kazanna]

Finding out if she would be attacked was something Oriana would do sooner rather then later. It was a group of Oni, six of them in all, Black Ogre's nearly feral. They had been brought to the island and released there that their minds might heal from the torments that human kind had caused, But of course, they had just gotten worse. Kazanna had let them be for years, let them simply survive they way they could. But now, they had been making their way to the coast to feed on the dead humans, who's scent was drifting into the woods.


Carlith caught wind of them the moment they were within her critical range and froze. She growled and offered Oriana the umbrella, "Hold this for me..." She flicked her blade skyward and let it come back down beside her, slamming into the forest floor, she tapped it near the handle, and the weapon altered, it split open near the top and several slim handles appeared near it's hilt. She drew them out, and slid them into buckles at her side, there were six in all, and it made her back look ribbed with blades, the handles coming out at her sides. She took the now skeletal, and a great deal lighter long blade from the ground, the horse sword hummed as she drew it through the air. She held it on her shoulder after sweeping the mud off of its tip.


"Show yourselves, or I'll simply kill you all right now!" she shouted out into the forest, her composure held steadily.


A voice, deep, and ominous, like the voice one would give to a volcano burbled out like a magma flow, leaving a hot flash through the blood, "Give us... The human..." it said in a slow, halting tone.


Carlith's eyes flashed, and she would look like a dog with her hackles rising, "I said SHOW YOURSELVES!!" She bellowed with the command that was earned of her position as the island lords' retainer.


The voice came again, "No..." It said simply, it's tone was goading, testing her, and of course, because she was untempered, and barely able to control her pent up frustrations, it quickly metamorphed into rage.


"Fine, Have it your way. Now we do things MY way you stupid Oni!" She shouted.


Carlith suddenly vanished and a moment later, a great number of trees had fallen, bamboo reaches that had grown in place for nearly a hundred years went flying and Carlith reappeared in the middle of the swath of destruction, holding the head of an Oni, it's blood still dripping freely, she had her blade over her shoulder as she raised the head so she was face to face with it.


"You were warned... you insufferable... disgusting whelp." She muttered out, venom clear on her tone.


She turned to Oriana as the other Oni fled back into the forest, fully aware now of who they had dealt with, an upset, slightly disturbed look on her face.


"Sorry... I... have anger issues... They know better as well... Stupid..." she looked at the head as she spoke, "And YOU! Go regenerate, and stop playing dead!" She threw the head back to it's body and it bounced off.


She nodded to Oriana, she was soaked in a mixture of blood and rain water now, her long hair laying flat against her head. She motioned towards the temple, which was now visible from the cut trees, "You coming?"

 

[DescriptedEnd]

Oriana quickly took the umbrella and, figuring as to what was about the happen, pressed the inside close to the top of her head, blocking her vision of the field of soon-to-be battle. Carlith's shouting caused the woman to physically flinch in fear, but nonetheless take a step closer to her protector. She wasn't going to just sit around to be Oni-Chow by nothing, and if that meant having to stand closer to the scariest woman she'd ever met, she damn well would do that. What caused her more fear, however, was the deep, earth slashing voice that came from where she couldn't see. She didn't want to see anyways - even though through Carlith's words she could tell they were still hidden, the image of them launching at her was terrifying.


She let out a tiny whine, pulling the umbrella closer to her and slamming her eyes shut as tight as she could. She was ready to be told to flee, leg muscles tight and ears listening closely. Instead, the shattering echo of falling trees and bamboo stalks hit her as she felt Carlith's presence vanish from her side for but a few seconds. She lifted the umbrella from her face, using her free hand to untangle a strand of hair from the delicate supports, only to see the violet-haired woman holding the head of an ogre-like creature. It was slightly disturbing, but nothing worse than what she'd already seen today.


She nodded slightly at Carlith's apology, not bothering to look at where she tossed the head. All she heard was the sound of something rapidly retreating, and that was all she needed. Still clutching the umbrella, she continued on after Carlith at the now visible temple. She had to admit to herself that she was quite excited to get there for two reasons; one was, obviously, to hopefully get out of harm's way. Two was to find out exactly what was in there. While this whole experience was frightening and had rewritten what she thought she knew about the world, she was astonishingly curious for someone of her disposition and current situation. Her pace lightened slightly, no longer as fearful or careful, in addition to speeding up just a tad.

 

[Kazanna]

Carlith led the way to the ten thousand steps of the the temple, and began walking up them immediately, disregarding Oriana's possible need to rest. She had slowly been returning her blades to their appropriate place on her large sword, which seemed to be less awkward to carry then the smaller blades would be across her back as they were. Her rain soaked figure was wreathed in steam despite the cold of the climate. She paused mid step and turned as thunder peeled out overhead, lightning cracking an instant before against a pillar near the top of the temple. Carlith eyed Oriana with what would look nearly like disdain. She stared at her for a long moment before she spoke.


"If you haven't figured it out yet... I'm not... Human..." she said flatly, "None of us here... Except for the master... Are, or even tolerant of your kind... I used to be. But if you make an aggressive move..." she hesitated. "My masters hand may rebuke me, but I shall do what I know is needed to keep the peoples of these lands safe... That includes killing you." she finished with an odd tone, as though she was sad.

 

[DescriptedEnd]

"That wasn't too hard to figure out - your hair seemed to be the first clue, but nothing about you was ll that inconspicuous," Oriana huffed, shifting the umbrella from side to side in a rhythmic manner. She would've appreciated a rest before they had started their ascent, but she wasn't going to complain about that. Her own pace had slowed to a complete stop and she stood two steps before Carlith." "And I have stated before, the only 'threat' I plan to make myself is if I am threatened myself. The principal of self defense still stands true I would think." Her words came off as slightly defensive, as if she was trying not to question the other woman's tone. "I really don't care why you don't like me, but I'm not here to make enemies." She sighed, shrugging her shoulders and then continuing up the stairs, still breathing slightly heavy and the umbrella held closer to her head. She attempted to keep her posture strong and sure, instead of scared and submissive. Inside, her thoughts were begging that walking away from Carlith wasn't seen as a threat or a sign of disrespect, and that things would just continue along until they got to the temple. Her paranoia was made worse by the fact that the wind was whipping against what skin and clothing was wet, especially since she was still currently akin to a half drowned rat.

 

[Kazanna]

Carlith's eyes widened slightly as she stared at Oriana's miserable state. She took a moment to approach the girl and let her arms drift around her, the weapon she held dropped to her side. Carlith took a long slow moment to let her bodies natural overwhelming heat wash over Oriana's smaller frame. Carlith's eyes shimmered with an odd light. She took a moment before she shifted her attention and pulled away.


"I... I... arg!!! Just dont even ask!!!!" Carlith turned on her heel and began running up the stairs.


If Oriana had been paying attention at all to the woman's face she would have seen the emotions of attraction, adoration, surprise, and then embarrassment flash in rapid succession before she fled. She came to a halt at the top of the stairs, standing there rigid, as Kazanna stood before her, a brow raised. For Oriana, it would be a longer run up, Carlith was after all, inhuman, and had much more strength then most as well as stamina.

 

[DescriptedEnd]

Oriana was caught slightly off guard when she felt arms wrap around her being, muscles tensing for a moment in the thought that she was being attacked. However, the quick spreading of highly welcomed warmth and the fact that no pain had yet to be experienced calmed the woman down quickly, confusion still spreading in her. It was obviously Carlith from the way she quickly stepped back, words sputtering from her mouth like a broken hose. She had failed to see the woman's face before she took off up the stairs, nodding to confirm that, indeed, she wouldn't ask even though she couldn't see the gesture. "Hey, wait!" Oriana called out, replacing the umbrella to its original state above her and grabbing what she assumed was the hilt of Carlith's weapon, immediately finding it heavier that it appeared to be. Grunting, and heat still pulsing through her previously bitter appendages, she proceeded to start dragging it up the stairs in a clumsy fashion, determined to reach the top where Kazanna and Carlith stood. "Y' forgot this!" she yelled through her pants, slowly conquering each stair one by one.


It was taking her a little longer than she had anticipated, having to take rest stops every now and then, but she was damn well determined to get this thing back to the feminine figure at the top of the steps. She kept her eyes trained on the stairs themselves, huffing and breathing heavily, before she felt she could drag it no longer. Hesitantly glancing upwards towards the temple, she found she was only about 30 steps away - but her arm pulsed with bitter pain and her legs protested every shift in weight. "Damn it," she hissed, pushing the weapon to lay horizontally against one step and plopping onto the one above it to rest, ignoring the pooling rain water soaking her pants as she regained her stamina.

 

[Kazanna]

Taking a step forward, Kazanna let his right hand flick towards the stairs, clearing them of the building debris from his storm, water, and anything else. He himself was not even wet yet, the rain seemed to not fall upon him. He took several steps down the stairs and took the weapon up in one hand, staring at it with a scrutiny that made Carlith shudder. She knew she was in trouble. Kazanna tapped the blade gently, and then snorted. He tapped the joint of the weapon and it's hilt, scoffing slightly. He tapped the blades body and it began to melt slowly, it collapsed rapidly in molten steel, the metal falling to the steps. He glanced at Carlith, a growl escaping his lips.


"You were given a task, you are not fulfilling it as you are meant to. To your room. Now. That is a command." Kazanna said with a terrifying octave.


Carlith shivered, visibly, tears welling up in her eyes, she turned away from Kazanna, but found herself looking directly at Oriana. She turned the other way and fled into the temple, faster then Oriana would be able to track. Kazanna paused, then turned his attention back to Oriana, he was frowning, a concerned look on his face, "A tad harsh... wasn't I..." He glanced towards Carlith's departure, and his shoulders slumped before he turned back to Oriana once more. "Come... I will show you what you were sent here to die for." He turned from her, and began making his way into the temple.


From the outside, it was grand structure, but simple in it's design. It appeared as a Japanese style temple, it's pilings were stone, with laquered bamboo, that was black, and dense white paper panels that served for walls of the structure. Most of these were closed, save for a direct path into the temple, that led into the primary rooms. Around it, was what could not be mistaken for anything other then a training ground for a great many students. Kazanna stepped into the temple, and made long, slow strides for him, which Oriana would need to move swiftly to keep up with his gait, until he was near the buildings center, which, was simply an open floor, filled with sand, devoid of any structuring.


"This... is the only thing on this island of value, This, is what you were sent for." He would say when she arrived, he would motion to the sands, shimmering like stars in the low light of the temples candles, for within it's walls, there was little light. "This, is the reality, that there is nothing of value here save for those that know what this is... and the Diamyo of the Southern Clans, knows nothing of this." He paused to let the information sink in before he finished, "Making this useless to him."


Kazanna sat beside the sand, which was below the floors level, submerged as it was, on the polished wooden floor. He motioned towards the center of the pit, and the sand shifted, displaying, what to Oriana, would look like a complex map of the island, "This... Is Oracle Sand. A Relic that is not of this world..." He murmured.

 

[DescriptedEnd]

Oriana barely glanced at Kazanna as he started his way down the steps, instead, her eyes locking onto Carlith. She trembled slightly, muscled locked in a famished nervousness that threatened to completely overtake her if she felt overly threatened. It wasn't hard to achieve this state, no; not even knowing his full abilities, Oriana could tell he was dangerous and could most likely slaughter her with a single finger. Confusion joined in the dance of whirling emotions in the woman's head as the male started to what seemed like, inspect the sword, letting out a flurry of unimpressed noises that caused her to flinch.


Yelping as the weapon melted in his hands, she quickly retreated a couple steps up to avoid any molten material from grazing her skin. The words that escaped Kazanna's lips, almost as if they were echoed from the devil himself, struck her with such a fright she backed up upon the current step she was on, edging away from the frightening male.


When Carlith turned towards the woman, Oriana felt her heart almost split into two as she noticed the tears in her eyes, the distraught gaze. A hand, belonging to her, reached out towards the violet-locked woman, lips curving in a way that showed that she wanted to speak. But no words brushed past her chapped, bruised lips.


She did not reply to Kazanna after she disappeared, instead opting for just following him up the remaining stairs with a solemn attitude. She bit each thought back, half tempted to give the male a piece of her mind, each thought coming violently and choking her. But, nonetheless, she attempted to keep her appearance relatively natural as not to upset him.


Inside, she was glad to be out of the rain. She was well conscious that she was dripping water all over the floor, each drop of water an annoying tick in her brain as she continued to trail after him. The umbrella hung by her side, swinging in time with each step she took, keeping her mind from snapping at the dribble of water trailing her soaking form. She felt bad creating a mess in a beautifully simple structure, passing through a training ground like place and a direct hallway.


They soon came upon an area in which the floor was covered in sand, her breath catching in her throat at the soft sparkling. Her mouth fell agape, partially in site of his words, but also in a childlike awe as the sand shifted to create a shifting mad of what she could only assume was the island she was currently stranded upon.


A wave of bravery overtook her as she snapped her head to look at Kazanna. "So," she hummed, feeling the urge to reach out and touch the magical substance. "What does it do?" The question hung off her lip like stale air in a stuffy room, suffocating slightly as she chewed her bottom lip in anticipation of his answer.

 

[Kazanna]

With a grin that was nearly feral, Kazanna turned to her and then, with a sweeping motion of his arm, he said, "The Oracle sands were once actually from your homelands. I relocated them here when Delphi fell... It was a tragedy... but alas, that is a tale for another day. You asked about what they do, not where they came from originally."


He stepped down into the sands themselves, and oddly, left not even a single footstep. It was as though they were solid. He raised his right hand out over the sand, his eyes lighting with an odd, unearthly glow as tiny particles of the sand began to rise around him. He spoke in an odd language, something akin to Latin, but with an odd animalism about it.


After he had spoken, the sands shifted, and showed the island itself, an orb of sand was in his hand then, and it seemed to control the movements and shifting of it. The map altered rapidly as he pressed on it, or rolled it in his hand, until it showed a small model of the two of them within the temple, exactly as they were then. He pulled the orb up slightly, and so did sand model, then he rolled it forward, and the entire scene changed. It showed his vassal, Carlith, within the room, off to the side, creeping through an entry portal that seemed to be hidden. The detail was even to the degree that it showed proper color and fascinatingly, all the fine details each person had about them.


He rolled the orb back, and relocated its location, it showed Oriana's arrival on the island. He suddenly clenched the orb in his fist, and it disintegrated, the scene smoothing out. He turned to Oriana and shrugged, "It shows time, Honestly. It's like a recording device. It's shown me things that... I wish I did not know... No man need see his own future, Especially in the details that this thing does. It is, however, most valuable for ability to show the past, and the present. The future is fluid, ever changing, but the past, and the present, they are places where justice lies, it allows for Carlith to do her job very well..."


He stepped out of the sand and shrugged, "But it has a flaw. It only shows a person things based on their power levels... Spell-force as it is. I have a decent amount of it myself, so manipulation of the sand is easy for me. For people like you..." He shrugs, "I have no idea, But that is it's other function!" He grins lightly and waves his hand over it, uttering a single phrase in his odd language again, a moment later, the sand raised up around him in spires, there were millions of them, each a single grain wide, straight up and down. He stepped through them and they made way for him as he stepped out of the sand, the spires falling rapidly.


"Every person has a level of spell force, though most do not know what their level is, nor can they find it out by most means. The Oracle sands show spires, for different levels of not only spell force, but also physical strength, mental acuity, and willpower. You stand in the center and each corner shows you the levels it reads... Though I've never told anyone which corner's tell which parts..." He grinned lightly, "Makes things interesting for me. Keeps people guessing." He chuckled lightly and motioned to the sands, "If you'd like to be gauged... Your more then welcome to." He walked away from her, and slid a panel out of the way on the wall where Carlith had been shown before, he stood, leaning against the wall, waiting for her to appear.

 

[DescriptedEnd]

With a sharp inhale, Oriana sat quiet and patient as the male rambled on, lips pursing with a definitive curiosity as the sand morphed about in a spectacular fashion, individual grains reflecting color that the woman had never thought possible to be portrayed through such a mundane material. So clearly were the events in time portrayed through millions of minuscule particles that, for a moment, Oriana was confused as she watched certain events that she had experienced unfold in front of her from a different perspective - but she pushed any confusion out of her mind in favor of keeping her rebuilding sanity and, instead, refocused on the entirety of the sands themselves. When he finished his small speech, she spoke up, voice quiet as if not to disturb the mystical material in front of her.


"Would it even be appropriate for me to guess?" she questioned, shifting slightly closer to the sands and kneeling in front of them. The urge to run her hands through the fine grains, like a small child at the shoreline, was persistent; but for the sake of not upsetting anyone on the island, she withheld with cautious attitude. "I'm assuming there have been many others before me that have tried their best to guess which is which." She finished her statement with a huff, carefully taking in the spires with a concentrated look.


"Guess there's no harm in doing so," she muttered, returning to a standing position and picking the now only damp shreds of clothing from her uncomfortable skin. She sighed, looking to Kazanna with an expectant gaze.

 

[Kazanna]

The sands rose, and fluttered, they created gaps among themselves, and showed broken potentials, points that had been suppressed, and broken. Kazanna read it all without betraying a single reaction. He studied the map that was Oriana's ability carefully before he waved a hand and cycled the sand back several years, then further. He frowned, as the sand shifted, rose, and then fell, and then spiked dramatically, he wave a hand at the sand again, and it fell flat. He looked Oriana over as Carlith slid out of the panel and dropped into place behind Kazanna.


"You appear to be... gifted young one... a bit more then you should be. Tell me of yourself, of your life. I want to hear it from your lips. Come." he said as he motioned for her to follow him.


Kazanna stepped away from the sand, and pushed a pair of doors open, leading to the inner recesses of the temple. He strode forward into an unlit hallway. As the entire building seemed to be made of black marble inside, this would seem as though he was stepping into solid blackness. He made his way forward and pushed open a pair of sliding doors, blasting the hallway with sudden light. In the center of an open courtyard, was a koi pond, it was abnormally large, and it defied the dimensions of the building they were in. The pond was filled with several massive koi and a turtle the size of a small boat, floating near the surface of the pond. At it's edge, was a pair of women, who seemed to be in the process of killing one another, sparring with perfect motions within several different martial arts at a rate the human eye could barely follow.


Kazanna moved to the edge of their marked off combat zone, and sat down on a pillow beside a low table that had a tall pitcher full of steaming water, a box filled with tea leaves, a stack of cups, and several small plates. There was a large plate covered in fruit and vegetables, a second one with a pile of rice, a third plate with what could only be fresh raw meat of some origin or another, several small bottles with various Japanese markings, denoting flavors of sauces, and lastly a moderately sized flat iron pan with slightly raised edges, heat shimmered above it, but what was heating it was unseen.


Carlith came to stand beside Oriana, muttering, "Best to follow him. He'd have moved you if he didn't think you would on your own. I tend to not try to ever prove him wrong with that sort of thing..."


She would follow after Oriana, closing the doors behind the woman if she moved.


There were several pillows across from the one Kazanna sat at, as he watched the two female combatants continue their savage sparring match, but the one he sat upon seemed rather pathetic in comparison to the posh pillows that were for guests, more like the bed for a dog, then a place for a noble to sit.

 

[DescriptedEnd]

With a look of skepticism, pointedly directed at Kazanna, Oriana shrugged her shoulders and decided that his original statement was not that big of a deal. The likelihood that she would become anything greater than what she was now was - at least, to the woman herself - slim to none, if she even bothered to consider it. She couldn't see herself ever improving upon what she had, let alone to whatever 'full potential' that Kazanna had settled upon her shoulders like a light scarf. For the moment, she returned her gaze to the sands, almost hoping she could will them into movement once more for another spectacular show. As she expected, not a single grain moved under her attempted force, and she was removed from her futile day-dream by a familiar voice that appeared beside her.


"Oh, yeah," she mumbled, turning away from the sand to lurch forward in step, pace stretched farther than was comfortable, but pressed by her need to catch up to the other male. She had no doubt that Carlith would trail behind her, so she continued easily.


"My past," she began as she entered the room Kazanna now sat in, doing her best to ignore the dueling women that also resided in the room by simply allowing them a quick glance before she hesitantly took a seat on one of the cushions.


"My parents were farmers, hunters, general traders. I helped around a bit, learned the trades, the normal." She paused for a moment, taking the time to adjust a shoulder. "When I turned, I'unno, 22 I think, I decided to leave the village and travel to the farther lands. Our guide was an old man, really old, to the point I'm surprised that he could walk as far as we did. He said something of this land called 'Japan'." The word rolled off her tongue weird and uneasy, with an odd pronunciation that came with never quite learning how it was pronounced. "The original plan was that it was to take many years - he said maybe 10, 15. But... we got there way sooner than he anticipated. He'd been on the route before, he said, but it was almost as if we'd passed through some kind of rift..."


She trailed off, pursing her lips and donning a confused expression on her already frustrated brow. "So we made it in almost 4 years, which would place me at... 26, yeah. And less than a year later I was looped into this damnable 'mission'. And that's about it." With that, she turned her gaze to their supposed 'entertainment', crossing one leg over the other, attempting to get comfortable.

 

[Kazanna]

As she finished her story, Kazanna closed his eyes and sighed quietly. He scratched at his chin and pondered her story for a few moments, before he raised a hand to the two warriors, who came to a sudden stop mid way through strikes. Their limbs held and they were breathing heavily as they came to a complete start. Carlith had closed the doors behind herself as she came into the room, and come to sit beside Oriana. She was looking between Kazanna and Oriana quietly, when Kazanna finally spoke.


"You passed through a rift you say... The year when you left... I expect that..." He paused and glanced to Carlith for a moment, "That as you left you heard reports of alterations in the practices. Borders were closed around you almost..? Or rather, you passed them without being allowed."


He tapped the table in front of him and a shimmering gossamer light appeared around his fingertip, a moment later, as though assuming it's shape from his will, A shimmering map appeared, floating above the table. The amount of information would be beyond Oriana, but it was the distance between Italy and Japan, the fastest routes as well as the different territories ruled by each warlord or respective government, whichever was in power per area.


Between Japan and Italy were enough obstacles to make the journey impossible, so as Kazanna motioned to the map, he spoke.


"You were led out of Greece, through the Persian Empire, past the entirety of the lands known as China, and those known as India as well, boarded a ship that crossed from the enemy territories of this land, and landed in Japan. In four years... so the Oracle sands tell me..." He said incredulously.


He sighed, and waved his hand at the map, it expanded showing lands to the west of the continent of Italy. Scotland was the starting point of the next marker, it leaped from there to the European lands of Transylvania and then through Romania, down through Italy, where it stayed for a time before carving a chaotic path through the Persian empire, and finally to the lands of Egypt. It was there for a time before it moved north again, where it followed the coast from Egypt to India where it moved inland and out several times, the pathing was chaos, utterly, there was no order to it, as though a person wandering with no intention. Finally, it seemed to spend a great deal of time in a particular city before it left, and made its way deep inland to the borders between China and India, at the Himalayan mountains. It crossed these mountains after a point, wandered through China, and finally came to the coast, where it traveled to Japan, near it's northern tip, and wandered south until it reached the island chain they were currently in.


"This is the journey of my life. It has taken me..." He paused and looked up thoughtfully, then turned his attentions back to her, "The better part of Five Hundred Years."


He paused to let that sink in.


"So tell me. Grecian... once more. About your past, and how it took a normal human four years to make the journey it took someone of my power five centuries to make." He spoke in a different tone, his eyes boring into her, like he could see something she could not.

 

[DescriptedEnd]

"You passed through a rift you say... The year when you left... I expect that... That as you left you heard reports of alterations in the practices. Borders were closed around you almost..? Or rather, you passed them without being allowed."


"Of course," she responded, tone submissive in a way of it's own. And, after such an outburst, she simply close her mouth and gazed upon the map. For a time, she lost herself in the twisting and turning of the routes, eyes the only piece of her that actually followed as her mind quieted into a nervous lull, a white noise of her own thoughts as they passed in the background of her mental absence.


However, as the images continued, Oriana felt a pressure behind her eyes. It was not as if she felt like crying, but almost as if something was trying to push the organs out of the way to crawl out of her skull, and it was uncomfortable. Letting out a very light whine, she pressed the heels of her hands into her oculars, doing her best to listen what Kazanna said next.


"I never said it made sense!" she snapped, only pressing the her hands harder into her face. "I just went along with it because it made it easy. I never expected to get to Japan, I didn't ask questions, I didn't pester the old man. I just wanted to get away and explore!"


She heaved, attempting to calm her angered breathing and steady her raging heartbeat, the pressure alleviating itself as her madness was vanquished, mood returning to the steady murmur of passiveness as it had been before.

 

[Kazanna]

After a moments pause, Kazanna began to laugh, he shook his head, and stared at Oriana with a glee that would be unnerving to most within her situation. Carlith seemed to be in on the joke as she was covering her mouth, a tiny giggle escaping her lips as Kazanna continued to bark out an uproarious amount of laughter. He finally calmed himself, wiping his eyes of tears of mirth before speaking once more.


"Leave it to one such as you to not realize the insanity of a being several centuries old when he asks you a simple question." Kazanna said as he shook his head at Oriana.


Rising, he motioned to the map again, and it shifted, showing the thousands of laps he made through each area, followed by a series of lighter marks, and deviations. It was convoluted, and constantly changed.


"This is what the Oracle sands showed me, this is my past, my present, my possible future. Few things are constant young Oriana. But one thing is. Here, In this temple, with you, I am supposed to awaken chaos and unleash it upon the world. I am to become the destroyer of order and justice as a cannibal of the mind and a monster of the soul."


He waved at the map and it seemed to focus on the island they were upon, zooming in. There was a path, one that belonged to Oriana, It stopped where she was, and there was Kazanna's as well as Carlith's.


"Apparently." He said with a grin, "You are supposed to bestow upon me my most ultimate weapon, regain your memories, and help me empower that weapon to it's full potential."


He grinned savagely, bestial fangs peeking out between his lips as he did.

 

[DescriptedEnd]

At the sound of Kazanna's demonesque laughter, a panic welled up in Oriana's chest that caused her knees to lock and her throat to clench tight. Fear was stilled in her chest and, quite honestly, she wanted to run. None of this made sense and it made her head - the same one that had been empty just moments before - swim in a manner that was similar to that of a tornado. It spun and spun, and for a moment she felt dizzy, until that harrowing laugh slammed into her skull once again, followed by words that only added to her distress.


Her eyes, leaving the offending male warily, shifted to look, once again, at the map. It had changed again, this time displaying motions that made no sense to her strained eyes. It morphed, jostled itself, at a speed which she couldn't follow at any point in time. Once again feeling the pressure behind her eyes, she shook her head as if she could kick it out like water that was stuck in the ear; as if it were just a mere annoyance rather than a factor in her growing paranoia about continuing her life on this island.


"Here, In this temple, with you, I am supposed to awaken chaos and unleash it upon the world. I am to become the destroyer of order and justice as a cannibal of the mind and a monster of the soul."


She wanted to scream. Release a screech so harrowing that maybe, just maybe, for a moment, distract the freakish beings on this island for long enough for her to run down the rain-slicked steps, back into the wilderness, and into the unforgiving, brackish waters that had plunged her to this fate in the first place, to drown and restore a sense of peace to her widely disturbed soul.


"Chaos?"


The word held in her throat, chocking her, almost making her gag. Wasn't her current predicament 'chaotic' enough? This island was containing enough madness for the rest of the world to remain in a peaceful, undisturbed prism by taking it's own pace, the decisions left to the beings that were currently working on dominating the planet


She whipped her gaze back to Kazanna, with not even the presence of Carlith making her feel the slightest bit secure. She couldn't fight back, and with the way the male was currently acting, it was almost like he planned to rip her apart right there, part of his so called 'possible future' or not.


"Apparently."


He started with a grin, and even if it wasn't intended to be malicious, it sent shivers down her spine as the sense of her impending death, whether sooner or later, grew stronger with each pounding of her heart.


"You are supposed to bestow upon me my most ultimate weapon, regain your memories, and help me empower that weapon to it's full potential."


Time almost seemed to freeze. Her heart skipped a couple beats and her thoughts simply stopped - even the blood in her veins seemed to freeze with the bravery-crippling omen that she'd just received from her host. Her vocal chords spasmed with two urges - one to scream at him, tell him he's wrong, to fuck off, leave her alone. The other wanted to stay quiet, simply let the tides roll over her aching bones and tired muscles at just let things as it went. Two very different sides on the cover, both emotional states seemingly on two opposite sides of the world but actually varying by only slightly. Instead, as both her heart and brain fought battles and the life rushed back to her body after the brief pause in the continuum, all she could manage was a breath, barely loud enough for herself to hear, a pathetic unleashing of a question that gnawed on her marrow;


"Just what memories are you talking about?"

 

[Kazanna]

With a grin, he changed his entire demeanor, no longer was he the mad, laughing monster from moments before, he stared at Oriana with a gentle, forgiving expression. Kazanna released a sigh, and reached into the folds of his clothing to extract a long pipe that was already stuffed with an unknown substance, he whispered something and the end of it lit with flame for a moment. He took a very long drag from it before releasing it.


"The Oracle sands are never wrong Oriana. You are not who you believe you are. But.." He paused, "It is up to You." he said with an emphasis that could not be missed, "As to whether or not you seek to find out who you once were." He took another long drag and let the smoke trail out from between his lips slowly, "But you must understand, who you are now, is not a lie... it is an incarnation... a different version, of who you are. You must discover the other, to find out if both can be embraced however..." He took another drag, then offered her the pipe.


"Flax?" He said with a smile, as the smoke trailed up from the tip of the pipe. The smoke drawn from the pipe would be cool, with an odd freezing burn that would drive itself deep into the lungs and release calming chemicals throughout the body.


Carlith glanced between the two, and signaled to the two warriors, who had been holding position for quite some time. They relaxed, and came to sit beside the table, between Kazanna and Oriana, opposite of Carlith. Carlith motioned to them, remarking, "They both went through similar ordeals, They are spirits of the sun, and the moon. Sisters, and found they could coexist with who they were before. Now they live here, with us, as our companions, as our friends, and as constant sparring partners. They are, ironically, known as Yin and Yang..."


Kazanna tut-tutted at Carlith, "That hasn't been invented yet, no one gets the reference.


Carlith paused, and rubbed her head, "Oh... right..."

 

[DescriptedEnd]

Perhaps, when the days passed and this whole cacophony of nonsensical scenarios had passed, the woman would look back fondly upon these memories and laugh heartily, only lacking in the crazed laugh she had reverberating through her skull only minutes into the past. Or, maybe, she would sit and sob at the fact that she had not let herself be carried away by the malicious storms, whose maws were wide and hungry, eager to swallow where up and place her bones among the many others, human or not, that already lay there, some of which had been for millions of years. Both options filled Oriana with a brief sense of familiarity, back to the times in her homeland where she would dream of the adventures to come in her future.


But, oh, no, she had never imagined anything like this.


An island full of mystical creatures and super humans that could most likely kill her frail human organism with a tap of a finger, either crushing her bones or stripping the skin from her precious human organism. Nonetheless, the completely demeanor change from the previous irrational musing caught Oriana's attention from her brief flashback, oxygen filling in with a breath she didn't know she had excluded herself from.


He had calmed, retrieving a pipe from somewhere, but that was not her current focus. She watched the inhale of his chest, his pause, then his exhale, all while slowly releasing the tension in her pent up muscles, energy leaking out one small, steady drip at a time.


And when he continued his prolonged rambling, the emphasis of you, it restored to her some sense of peace. She had control of something - to either abandon this 'destiny' she had unwillingly stumbled upon, forget whatever her supposed previous self had been and continue to life this life; or she could accept who she had been, who she truly was, which was something her current mind was unaware of. The decision made her steady a bit more, but her blood still rushed and her heart still pounded with the startled malice of a heard of wild horses. She listened, processing slowly, steering herself - or, at least, attempting to - towards a more rational state of mind.


"Flax?" Kazanna offered, and Oriana found herself staring at the object, watching as the smoke wafted away from it's burning tip, before shakily grasping the piece for herself and taking a shuddering drag, resisting the urge to cough. She felt as if snow had entered her lungs, the coolness reminding spreading it's wings and feathering through her systems, her heart finally starting to slow and her entire demeanor beginning to shift into a calmer perspective. She managed to exhale without cough or shudder, but quickly handed it back, denying another inhalation of.. what was it again? Flax, yes, she told herself.


And then the fighters were gestured over. She found herself unaffected, simply giving them a hasty nod, taking in their features before craning her neck to view Carlith.


Perhaps it wasn't only the flax that was putting her mind to ease - it was the calming of the waves, and the low after the high of adrenaline that had tore at her psych. She felt almost numb in the mind; there enough to make proper, conscious decisions, but not quite present in original personality. The names Ying & Yang, she payed not too many thoughts, accepting Kazanna's reasoning that yes, she herself didn't know what that was yet, and it was probably something that she wouldn't care to know for a long time. When there was a lull in speech, she brought her voice to a normal volume, even and cool.


"Then how do I go about retrieving my..."


She grasped for words, as we would grasp at straws falling off a table.


"Previous self?"


She spoke with a bit of hesitation, not quite sure if that was the name she was looking for. For a moment, she pondered to herself, looking for alternative phrases she could use. To no avail, she gave up, instead looking back to Kazanna.

 

[Kazanna]

Shrugging, Kazanna crossed his arms over his chest. He looked to Carlith who nodded at him. With a sigh, Kazanna's shoulders slumped.


"Well, I have to apologize for something Oriana. Carlith there has been... examining your genetic history. She found the last seven years. But everything further back then that is..." He sighed and motioned to Carlith. "You explain it."


Carlith looked slightly shocked, a blush spreading over her face before she spoke, "Well aren't you polite, make me fuck the girl then I get to be the one to clean her up too." Carlith mumbled. She sighed quietly and turned her attention back to Oriana, "It's true, prior to seven years your genetic history is muddled beyond comprehension. As far as I can tell, you either didn't exist, you weren't human, or you were one of the astral Gods. Put simply, your a very large wolf in a very small sheeps clothing. As far as I can tell, that's how you survived the storm, that's how you found your way here... Master has a tendency to pull beings of power to him, as well as those in need of some sort of help..."


She looked down at the table as she finished and scooted back slightly. Kazanna nodded to her in thanks of her report before he turned his attention back to Oriana.


"I can use a series of spells to find out who you were prior to who you are now, and you can decide from there who you wish to be. It's not necessarily a cut a dry situation either Oriana. Some of the time... Gods do this to themselves... to find a reason to continue on through the eternity they are damned with. As you are now, you will age, you will probably die, and when that has happened, you will become a god once more, or be reborn once more as a human, but this," He pointed to her, "This is the first time you have done this to yourself, or had it done to you. You were placed into the body you have now, seven years ago, and it has aged to the point it is at now. Because gods, Gods do not age."


He finished speaking and then sighed, "But for now, I think you should eat, and rest, and I need to assess the remaining forces of my... Rival... Diyamo in the north. He will need to be dealt with soon..."


Kazanna motioned to the food, commanding with a voice that would brook no argument or excuses, "Eat, Replenish yourself, before you succumb to the shock of what has been told to you."