Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

"Regardless, recent events have... really not helped."

 

Artemis sighs.

"If you wanted to clear your mind, you could come and meditate in my forest. It sounds like you really need a break," Artemis says empathetically, "You can't bear the weight of the world on your shoulders alone."

 

Ihra hesitates.
“Gaia still dealt the blow that sealed Xlentia. Even accidentally... between her, Praecantatia, and Tenebrae, where could I possibly rest away from their gaze?” She asks, sounding exhausted. “Your gods have sort of knocked around those that were standing with me, I don’t have much of a choice but to spearhead things myself at this point.”

 

"I don't think they're going to try and hunt you down like some animal who's population is too large," Artemis says, trying to be comforting, "You'll be safe with me, I'll make sure of it."

 

I shrug.
"Up to you."

 

Ihra seems unsure.
"I appreciate it, but I can't risk you too. Maybe I should just go in one of Idhaenna's simulations..."

"I mean, I'm still more of a thief I think, so I'll try to call the others scavengers."

 

"Gaia wouldn't hurt us, we're not at risk," Artemis says, "I understand how you may feel - and how things might look - after recent events, but as your friend, I ask you to trust me."

 

Ihra keeps quiet for about a minute.
"...Alright, fine. But, I promise to protect you, not her."

 

Artemis smiles, heading back to the portal and gesturing for Ihra to follow.

 

Ihra taps Iris as she follows Artemis.
“Get up, we’re going.”
“Where...?”
“Probably better you don’t come anyways.”
“Good...” Iris mutters, dozing back off.

 

Artemis leads Ihra back through the rift, and then back to her forest on Earth.

Artemis leads Ihra to a quiet area in her living space of the forest, a clearing filled with flowers and mossy ground. Lichen and mushrooms grow along the trees, droplets of water on the caps of the mushrooms reflecting the sun that peers through the leaves above. The only sounds audible are those of birds and the rustling of leaves as they jump between them, though wooden windchimes can be heard nearby whenever a breeze blows through. Artemis sits down in the middle of the clearing with her legs crossed, patting the ground near to her.

 

Sgavrinn beats Ihra to the spot, nuzzling Artemis despite kicking up a bit of dirt at her as he claws the ground to stop.
The scene does at least get Ihra to smile, albeit only slightly.

 

A few small vines emerge to bat away at the dirt, protecting Artemis as she gives Sgavrinn a hug.

"I promise, nothing bad will happen. Come, meditate." Artemis offers, looking at Ihra and smiling.

 

"Alright. I'll probably just be telling the truth."

 

Scurn doesn't reply, seeming to sort things out in his own head.

Ihra sighs, sitting and closing her eyes.
Sgavrinn lays down next to Artemis, seeming a bit confused.
"Is something wrong with her?" He asks.

 

"She's overworked herself, and she feels the stress of an entire world on her." Artemis says, closing her eyes too as she enters a meditative pose.

The sounds around Ihra seem to become a little quieter, Ihra's mind becoming more focused as she feels a sense of calm wash over her. She finds a feeling of weightlessness begin to form, as if drifting from her place in the forest and floating along a gentle current.

 

Sgavrinn doesn’t respond, shifting his gaze towards Ihra.

After about a minute, an immense life force starts radiating from Ihra - rivaling that of Gaia’s presence as the forest starts to overgrow.
It continues getting stronger as Ihra meditates.

 

Artemis seems to unknowingly change form in response, a less potent force of death attempting to wither the overgrowth around her. Artemis appears to be completely oblivious, however, as she sits meditating.

Ihra feels herself almost floating out of her own body, as a vision begins to materialise in front of her.

 

Artemis would need to surpass Myria to curb the overgrowth.

Ihra looks towards the vision, seeming untrusting but not unwilling as the overgrowth continues to spread.

 

Ihra finds herself sinking into the mind of someone else as the vision develops.

Warm summer sunlight bursts through the open window of Ihra's apartment, her body that of a young human woman. She seems to be in a concrete jungle, up high in a block of flats. She sits by her window, looking out at the city and it's various tall buildings. The blue sky and bright sunlight put a rather positive spin on what's a normally grey and dull city, and the flowers hooked onto her window seem to enjoy it as much as she. The soil the colourful yellow, red and purple flowers rest in is dark - wet. After all, she watered them not long ago.

Ihra sits with a sketchbook in hand on a chest of drawers, a sunflower wearing sunglasses dancing cheerily next to her in time with the music the radio it's built into plays; the song sounds nostalgic in some way, though will surely define the summer. She looks out at the pidgeon she's drawing, who jumps about happily on the power line between her apartment and the building across the street. Drawing the pidgeons has been difficult, not only for the fact their forms are hard to capture with all their movement, but also with the fact this is the fourth or fifth pidgeon since the original one she started with; the birds prone to flying off.

Ihra's blue-walled apartment is obscured by hanging photos of her and her friends, posters from her favourite bands, and her roller skates - kept on their own shelf. An unfinished university application lays open on her laptop, resting on the desk just across from her. A grim reminder of what autumn will bring, but the summer just started; she needn't worry about it. A message appears, one of her best friends faces appearing as the window opens itself with a chime. They seem to be at the local cafe with some of her other friends, and is wondering if Ihra wants to come and hang out with them. She takes a glance down at her sketchbook - a feathery bird-like blob staring back at her - and makes a snap decision. A sunny day like this is meant to be cherished, and she'd be damned if she let her friends have fun without her around to join in on it. "Carpe diem", she thinks to herself.

Ihra gets up, types a hasty reply to her best friend and grabs her roller skates, leaving the radio on as she slips on her skates and glides out of her apartment. Her landlord didn't want her skating inside, but she figured if she was just using the elevator, it wasn't that far a distance anyway.


Ihra finds herself floating back into her body again. She's unsure as to how much time has passed. It feels like half a day, but it could've been five minutes. Everything around her is black, but she can hear the sounds of the forest about; she need only open her eyes to break the trance, or sit in it for a while and perhaps see another vision.