Cor Cordis

[Patrick]

He drifted deeper and deeper into the depths of the water as darkness soon started to shroud all around, his eyes only able to open slightly as he watched the light above slowly dim in his descent. "What's happening to me?..." He wish he knew the answer to that... deep down inside his heart he felt ache, he felt truth resonate within the confines of regret lingering inside that beating instrument.

As he continued to slip deeper and deeper within he felt a sense of loneliness yet again, a solitary confinement he'd grown accustomed to because of his past. The lingering influence of his mistakes haunted him still, never letting their hold over the shadows in his heart wane even to this day. The descent felt slow and peaceful to him for whatever reason, and the cold he felt from before seemed a fargone sensation the deeper he fell.

And yet he wasn't as alone as he felt, he just needed to look deep within himself; to hear the answers that called out to him from within...




Sybil wandered the long night for what might've felt like an eternity, her will surely tested the longer she tried to remain. The dream nearing the end however meant they'd soon have to awaken, both the dreamer and dreamwalker lost within the shifting reality. As Sybil walked she soon found that for the last time she was warped again, to the final place which would be the end of her spiritual journey in this special place.

Sybil had arrived to discover a pond before him and the forest at his back, the water at the shore somehow quiet and undisturbed. Surrounding the pond was the forest with a cavern hidden away on the other side, as a waterfall soundlessly poured into the still water at the entrance. Up high in the clouded night sky hung the moon, it's pale glow illuminating the serene place as it appeared isolated from the world; much like the glade Sybil had first arrived in. However close inspection revealed a glint beyond the waterfall, a pair of sharp eyes slowly opened to noticed the presence of another there; one the color of gold while the other silver.

A low and menacing pur echoed from within as the sound of claws raked against stone, signaling movement as the predator within stirred to a rise... and stepped out into the open. Before Sybil walked a massive lion with fur as dark as the sky, his head kept low as the eyes remained locked on the dreamer present. The water which trickled over it's mane and fur seemed to barely disturb it, in fact it almost created an effect that made it glisten with stars. Heavy paws touched the surface of the pond, and with a slowly proud stride he reached the center of the pond.

"What do you wish?"

The creature's maw moved as he asked the question, curious to hear what Sybil would say much like the others before her.

"Pat", "Ri", "Dom", "NPC"

[Sybil Malach]

The creature before Sybil was hidden behind an astral waterfall. The dreamer's focus was fading, and none of the stars were correct. Something wasn't clicking. Slowly, creeping up Sybil's frame, ice began to ebb at the ability to move. It wasn't long, as the eyes made themselves known, did Sybil's legs become clear in nature. Reflecting the glistening void between the starlight betwixt. It wasn't long before the ankles stopped being able to be bent. The knees would soon follow. Eyes widening, the steps forward slowly became harder and harder to make. Gaze remaining upon the grand creature stepping out from behind the waterfall, the dreamer simply pauses. Unable to move forth, the ice had finally reached the joints at the knees. Any movement from here on would be like walking with straight planks for legs. A daunting task for anyone, at this point.

"What do you wish?"

The question, from this great, blackened lion was something that Sybil's mind struggled to answer. It was as though the dream knew that this was the right question to ask of the genuine personality fragment of Sybil. It would not be hindered by inhibitions. It would not be held back by the limitations of culture, not even by the limitations of survival. A glance is given down to the legs. What would Sybil wish for? This was something that was harder to answer. It was something that the dreamer was almost taken aback by. A hand raises, and grasps at the shuddering forehead. The edges of Sybil's existence was crystallizing, and breaking, like some strange, fractured aura. Slowly being eroded by the air itself. Being forced to reform, and break apart. Concentration was being forced to keep the dreamer's form together, and it was paradoxically leading to Sybil waking up.

"I wish to understand this. Here." Sybil finally says.

There was nothing attached to the request. There was no monologue about the nature of man. No talk of golden lockets. Sybil's eyes turn up to the magnificent beast. Time was beginning to erupt into something that was a means to an end, for Sybil's fragmented existence. At the very corners of the dreamscape here, ice began to slowly slide upon the very edges of the pond. Wakefulness was approaching. Sybil would not remember this dream, but this fragment, here, in this very point in time, wishes to know. Wishes to understand. Desperately clawing against its face by sheer willpower. Even if that willpower was something that was working against its survival, it was the only thing that Sybil could cling to. Its luminescent existence beginning to dwindle into the last embers of a flame. The shattering aura that surrounded Sybil all but hinting to the morning light's arrival.

Sybil reaches up, with both hands. Softly sobbing into cupped hands over the face, the dreamer slowly shakes at the head. It was starting to hurt, being pulled like this between two planes. It was starting to feel as though fingernails were being pried off, "Will I dream?" It asks of the lion, voice quivering between the tears, "I don't want it to go dark forever." The flickering at the corners of Sybil's very existence pulsed harder, eyes reddening from the loud, ugly sobbing, "I'm scared... I'm so scared..."

The ice had finally wormed its way up to Sybil's torso. Clutching the dreamer's vitals in a harsh grasp. Death here would force Sybil to wake up. But at what cost? ... The arrow of time marches forth.

[Patrick]

The lion's eyes narrowed on Sybil as he watched her falter and fight to remain focus, the ice which consumed her metaphysical form now spreaded at an alarming rate. It was only a matter of time before he'd find his will to fight worn away, and the desire to remain beaten by the call of the waking world. But his wish? To know what all this meant, what everything he'd seen revolved around. To understand what she'd witnessed on this Trial, and hopefully carry it with her back to the physical world. To his minor regret the Lion looked at him a little somberly, the tears which fell from Sybil's cheeks clearly moved the magnificent beast.

"Unfortunately dear child of the snow, I cannot promise that you'll remember this right away. However your visit here has been etched... and maybe one day when you too possess the power; you'll find yourself able to recall the memory then."

The Lion stepped forward closer to Sybil as the ice slowly enclosed the surface of the pond, while a form slowly drifted up from the depths within. Something relatively human floated beneath the ice, and upon closer inspection it became clear who it was. Patrick remained unconscious beneath the ice but around him the water glimmered, as though his presence here were affected by the nature of the Lion.

"Understand child of snow that your visit was no mere accident, just an incomplete trial one must one day face to save him." The lion looked down at the ice he walked over, and then back to Sybil as he stood high and proud before his visitor. "The answers you've given to the other two are now echoes within his heart, and come the Trial he's ready to finally face his own darkness; they'll serve as a reminder to the path he should follow."

Sybil's time drew nearer and near as the breath of the lion could be seen as a fog from his nostrils now, his bi-colored eyes locked with the dreamer as he leaned down to eye level.

"There may come a time where you'll return eventually, until then let the memory of your visit rest within your heart. And remember that the answers you provided came from there as well, so don't let the shell of ice you wear around it keep you from being true to yourself." Something about that statement made the lion grin, as though he read more into Sybil than he initially led on. "Until we meet again."

At his final remark the Lion inhaled a growl and then released a roar before Sybil, a roar so mighty that the very air around him shook with force. The result ended with the reality around Sybil fading, and a sudden jolt as though the dreamer had experienced a sudden fall. It was the same for Patrick in a sense though for him, he could remember hearing a conversation between the dreamer who visited and another. While he stirred to awaken he slowly stretched and rolled over in bed, his eyes still halfway shut as he laid there half awake by now. He had no absolute idea what he had experienced within the dream, just that deep within his broken spirit remained something.

Hidden wisdom for the future obstacles to come.

"Pat", "Ri", "Dom", "NPC"

[Sybil Malach]

"There may come a time where you'll return eventually, until then let the memory of your visit rest within your heart. And remember that the answers you provided came from there as well, so don't let the shell of ice you wear around it keep you from being true to yourself."

Something leaped within the dreamer's chest. Something utterly terrifying. A dream? No, it couldn't be a dream. It felt too real for that. This fragment of Sybil simply roiled in absolute denial of such a reality. Rejecting it. This was reality, not some dream. Without this, then the fragment would be dead. There isn't some 'waking world' out there. Glancing down at the encroaching ice upon the frame, however... Most of Sybil's limbs were translucent now. Both legs, half of the torso, and most of the arms. It was impossible to move the calves and forearms. Only the shoulders and thighs could possibly be used for movement. Even as Sybil struggled, however, sweat dripping from the brow, it only resulted in the dreamer simply reaching more and more into the inner machinations of the very thoughts that would force an awakening.

"No, this... This isn't a dream. No, please... No..." Sybil tries to bargain with the lion, fearful of what is to come, "Why should I be ended here? Unknowing of what cruel plane I had been birthed upon?" The question was pointed, and pleading. This fragment of Sybil didn't want to die. Not because of some primal instinct, but because of the sheer fact that there were things yet experienced here. That there was something of an absolute fear of being ejected from life, without knowing what there is to know. The dreamer's body shook with absolute fear, of this. Fear of awakening without having the answers-- Awakening? No, dying, that's what...

"Until we meet again."

The roar shattered Sybil into pieces. In one, stark moment, the rumbling roar that was rending reality itself, simply broke Sybil.

Then it went dark.


Sybil jolts into wakefulness. The sensation of falling was strong upon the mind. It was the middle of the night, and forced the student to break out into a sweat. Grasping at the sheets surrounding, Sybil's eyes searched about the room. Looking for something, anything that was familiar. It took a little while for the eyes to adjust, and the heart to calm down. The sudden wake was enough to make the student groan, in seeming annoyance. Pinching at the bridge of the nose, Sybil simply rolls over.

Laying on the bed, and just resting, it was clear that the student wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep. Damn it.

[Octopie]

Unlocking Your Rewards!

Patrick

Points

15
Can be use for magic? Yes or No

Knowledge

Skill
Dreamwalking: Gives Power Over Dreams
Dreamwalking: Reality Is Affected By Dreamwalkers in Dreams
Dreamwalking: The Power to Traverse Dreamscapes
Dreamwalking: Exploring the Mindscape
Dreamwalking: Imagination Plays a Role With Dreams

Non
NA

Loot

NA

Wealth

NA

Renown

NA

Injuries

NA

Sybil

Points

15
Can be use for magic? Yes or No

Knowledge

Skill
NA

Non
Patrick: Impressions of magic
Patrick: Impressions of gods
Patrick: Impressions of a heart of a lion

Loot

NA

Wealth

NA

Renown

NA

Injuries

NA

Comments: That was a beautiful thread you two! I wasn't sure what was going to happen with Sybil, the shifting POVs from Pat certainly kept me on my toes. The question is when will this information come in handy and will they actually be able to access it? Really nice job guys!