Meditative Hours

Participating characters:
Xian
Adreanne

Status: Incomplete/History

Last Post: Unknown




Xian

i walked into the Church sanctuary, tired from the long night... how long has it been since i had spent time here in meditation? in other nights i would have walked through the gardens to help my regain my peace, but i did not want to be there, the memories of a friend, ironically, would not allow me any restful contemplation.

and yet, i needed time to do so, and the next best place would be in the area where public worship was conducted in the days... this was another holy place, and i needed a holy place.

the city was getting me down again.

resting my spear by a wall, i take a pew nearby, but i do not kneel. i did not really kneel for worship anymore. not that i did not feel worthy... it just occured to me that i was different.

ah, i was not here for this kind of meditation.

i leaned back on the pew and closed my eyes, leaving my hands relaxed at my sides. i took a breath and let my mind wander... how many hours until daylight? hmn...

Adreanne

Adreanne drifted through the hallways like a wraith three hours before daybreak. Her white cotton gown only made her random presence more eerie, especially with the howls of the distant timberwolf defusing through the night air. The only difference between her and an eidolon was the lack of translucency that harolded her as a physical being and a light tan that deemed her human and not of the Blood.

The hem of her gown skimmed across the cobblestones as she wafted through room after room, shutting open windows in unused rooms to keep out the cold draft. Her night pilgrimage brought her, at the end into the main sanctuary.

Soft light from the few lighted candles danced across empty wooden pews, tepestries and draperies. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, a lone form seated on one of the pews grew clearer.

He was relatively handsome with features set in a way it told her that he had seen much and perhaps suffered more than she could imagine in his fight for the survival of the human race. Rough, callosed skin told the young woman than he was a warrior, or at least had been at one point in time. His eyes appeared closed, his face tilted heavenward.

A longer pause brought an image of him that her mind had registered sometime earlier in the year when she had had but a glance of him in day light. Standing at the entrance of a passageway, she contemplated if she should disrupt the picture of a medidating saint.

A hesitant shuffle of her feet echoed amplified from where she was into the chapel...

Xian

i caught the sound of feet on the stone floor and i raised my weary head to see who it was. i blinked a few times, staring at the white figure. for the barest of moments i thought it was one of the spirits i had met before, but when i shook sleep off and really looked...

it was a young woman; perhaps one of those i had seen enter the Church. i felt slightly guilty then, not knowing many of those i lived with in the Church, but i broke into a tired smile and called out to her.

"hello there," i said, my voice cracking slightly. i coughed and continued: "are you okay?" i stood slowly, and gestured for her to come closer.

"i'm Xian," i said to her. "maybe you've seen me around... i'm sorry if i can't remember your name... my bad, i admit..."

Adreanne

The slow turning of his tired head indicated to the woman that her presence had been heard if not sensed. A slow, standing movement and another gesture accompanied by te sound of voice told her to emerge from her place into the sanctuary.

"hello there, are you okay?"

"Yes, yes I am." She had wanted to say, but the reply seemed to have stuck in her dry throat. The candles closer to her relighted as she quietly walked pass, courtesy of some basic training in the use of her element and skill, adding a little more light into the dull and gloomy atmosphere.

Almost soundless steps, one foot at a time, the soft sound of feet on stone slowly approaching continued to sound at the almost rhythmic pattern of the swinging pendulum.

Left... Right... Left... Right...

"i'm Xian, maybe you've seen me around... i'm sorry if i can't remember your name... my bad, i admit..."

His slightly more light headed apology broke the alienating feel between both humans. Adreanne stopped shyly just an arm's length away from him as she coyly replied, her eyes hardly daring to look into his.

"I'm Adreanne... I do almost the bulk the basic serving duties here so yeah, we may have bumped into each other before.." She didn't know how to continue.

She had lost her spunk and confidence years ago as she scurried the streets of Stitch wondering if she would live to see another sunrise every night. Before she had heard of the Church or St Michael, before she had even thought of fighting back. Now, she was painstakingly gathering her courage back one tiny step at a time. First through mustering enough courage to converse with others at any length aside from her service calls of "How can I help you? Would you like anything to eat? Is the room alright?" But even so, at this point in time, her bashfulness was still evident.

Xian

i smiled to her but frowned to myself, feeling real out of place for not realizing who she was... i really had to spend more time in the Church during the days. blinking a few times, i motioned to a pew.

"care to join me? i know i looked like i was sleeping," hmn. a white lie, perhaps? how decidedly un-heroic. "but i really was just resting myself. it's been a long night, and i usually spend some time in quiet meditation after one such as this..."

"but i really don't mind some company tonight, though i should turn in after a while..." i could almost feel myself appear like a beggar for the company. after realizing just how little i was connected to the Church these days, i knew i had to make an extra effort...

Adreanne

"care to join me?"

Adreanne was momenterarily stunned. Not because it was entirely unexpected, but simply because she had no idea how to reply. Call it a warped impression but even at the age of twenty four, Adreanne had this strange sense of respect for those senior in status and experience to her, almost a kind of idolisation taht made her feel like an unworthy pilgrim before a saint. In this case, the weary saint that had been through much battle.

"i know i looked like i was sleeping, but i really was just resting myself. it's been a long night, and i usually spend some time in quiet meditation after one such as this..."

Perhaps she should make herself scarce, she thought, and yet something in his voice drew her to him, a kind of.. attraction. At the edge of her mind lingered thousands of questions she wanted to ask of which most would more likely than not, lead to a painful pass. And yet, she could not clearly construct her words to form these questions; they seemed to continuously drift just out of her grasp each time she tried. The clearest thought so far was a question involving the length of time in which he had been wandering the streets of stitch after dark.

"but i really don't mind some company tonight, though i should turn in after a while..."

"You make me sound more like a hinderance in your regular schedule." Adreanne laughed softly, not meaning anything offensive in particular. Laughter seemed always to be the best medium through which she could dissipate her unease and uncertainty.

"But if you insist I certainly won't mind. I do have some chores to complete around the sanctuary after all in preperation for tomorrow."

Tomorrow. There was nothing special about tomorrow or any of the other days for a matter of fact, but Adreanne always tried to make the church as cheery as she could before anyone else rose from their slumber. She took it on herself to place flowers around the main hall and at the alter as well as around fresh candles at the feet of saints and other murals capturing various moments of the times reflected in the bible. Bright velvet and silk table clothes covered the side tables and the main alter itself with an embroidered depiction of the saint this church honoured, the virgin mother and the crucified Christ. She believed that the constant nightly threat to their survival was grim enough on it's own and that the residents did not need to feel that additional gloom in daylight as well. After which she would join her kitchen crew an hour and a half before the rooster crowed to prepare the morning's breakfast.

Xian

"if i did sound like you were a hindrance, please, forgive me, and allow yourself to hinder me." i said to her. "i really believe i should spend more time with the people in here, you know..."

i allowed myself to drift... i would have to look to the other warriors within the Church as well. i had that responsibility, and i admitted to myself that i was keeping away from it. if not out of being irresponsible, then to not being willing to know people who may die at any time in our fight with these vampires.

"tell me about yourself," i said to her. "perhaps we can share a few tales before your day begins and mine ends?"

Adreanne

"if i did sound like you were a hindrance, please, forgive me, and allow yourself to hinder me. i really believe i should spend more time with the people in here, you know..."

"You don't stay around the church often then I assume?" Adreanne's question seemed more of a retorical one than anything else, but it left her lips all the same.

Of course he doesn't... who wants to be reminded that you may be breathing in your last breath and that you've seen your last sun rise? Adreanne's 'second conscious', as she had taken to calling the disembodied voice, was back to haunt her again.

Or maybe it's not you who's going to leave the living, but those around you. Spend too much time with them and you'll fall into a kind of love for them and what hurts more than to see those you love... die...

It was back alright, and back with a vengence.

"tell me about yourself, perhaps we can share a few tales before your day begins and mine ends?"

Adreanne welcomed the interuption from Xian, some day she would have to find a way to curtail that voice she kept hearing. It seemed so loud and audible she was sure others could hear it, and yet, no one else ever did. In her youth, it had been one of the many reasons she had been cast aside from the other children, because she was "weird".

"Anne is nuts."

"Yeah, she keeps going on and on about hearing a voice."

"The only voice she's going to be hearing is the headmaster's when we tell him who let the air out of his tires."

"But we did that."

"Yeah but the headmaster doesn't know does he."

"Well I still don't think it's ri.... Adreanne!"

A tiny scrap from a moment in time replayed before her eyes. She had overheard the discussion quite by accident at the age of five. She had simply silently appeared out of the shadows that had hid her and casted a cold glance at all of them. Deep inside she was hurting greatly, but she never showed it in real life. The anger burned so hard within her that the mastermind of the small gathering suffered a minor burn at the back of his hand quite by accident, for she had lost her temper - unwise of an underaged user of magic.

Adreanne blinked, wiping out the scene that had played in front of her mind's eye. Xian didn't need to know about that time in her life. The school had not held it against her - they claimed they did not believe the story the others had "Fabricated!" as their form teacher had said "These children have a vivid imagination." But Adreanne knew better than that, for she had been withdrawn from the school the next day and recommanded to some other far off school that dealt with basic education and the use of the elements. She had been told that few were like her with the giftings of a mage, but the others would not understand for they were mortal. She had known she had the power, Natifa and her always played with them in the backyard, throwing conjured sparks at each other.

Anyway, that had happened a long time ago. She never went to that recommanded school, and the building in which that had occurred now stood in ruins where segments appeared to have been consumed by flames and others simply from abandoment. That had been the day that marked the 1st anniversary of Natifa, her twin's death, and the day she had moved to Stitch. Those children who had taunted her had either died in the fight between humanity and the vampires, or have somehow, joined the dark ranks for none of them - to her knowledge - were found within the walls of the church or within any ally they had.

"About me?" Adreanne thought for a moment. "Well I wasn't born in Stitch, but some other town. It's not important where anymore cuz that place no longer stands. I had a twin sister, but she died when we were four. I moved to Stitch when I was five. The rest of my life in the middle's kind of a fog.. I must have gotten into some sort of accident or somethign because I don't remember. I roamed the streets for a long while after the vampires destroyed my home - though I don't know if that was intentional - then I found the church. Maybe I was hoping to find some answers here." Adreanne gathered her reddish-copper hair and placed it over her right shoulder, absent-mindedly running her fingers through it to free it of loose tangles.

Her mind drifted off for a moment as a few thoughts crossed and mingled together in her mind, something about her chores later, something about talking to Xian and then something about cutting her hair... it was getting long, it was almost to her waist now. Her eyes appeared glazed as if in a dream..


Xian

i watched her as she thought and spoke, and i could sense another kindred spirit in her: really just another of the seeking and confused. she seemed to hesitate in her words as she spoke her brief tale.

her eyes seemed to glaze, as she twirled her long coppery hair. caught in the candle- and torch-light, it seemed almost ablaze, which clashed with the emptiness in her eyes.

i thought it best to tell a little about myself as well.

"i don't think too many people are born in this city. some maybe not even in this world..."

"i myself, don't even remember anything about my life until i awoke one day in a street corner somewhere not far from this Church. i recognized a face, and made a friend of her, though neither of us could remember why we were here, and why we looked so familiar to each other."

"we found ourselves in the Church, met Neant, and i made it my purpose to make sense of this place, and defend the people from the curse of these vampires the best i could..."

could i tell her more? i watched her and wondered what she was thinking...

Adreanne

Ear splitting screams shattered the still night air as torents of shouts tore through the streets. One house after another fell at the hands of vampires. Dead carcasses of the newly deceased strewn the sidewalks, heads tossed back at impossible angles, evidence of broken necks. Their faces lay pale as they stood, evidences of the unfortunate humans who had fallen in the path of vengeful undead. Those who had chosen not to make fledglings but to feast on the fluid that pumped life through the now empty shells of what once lived, what the vampires themselves had once been, a long time ago.

Fire continued to consume the wreckage the vampires left in their wake well into the morning. Debris littered the roads. Adreanne awoke to the cries of others trapped in the rubble and those that had drained and tossed aside like old rag dolls but had yet to truely parish. Her head spun. She had no recollection whatsoever of what happened before. All she knew now was that she had survived. Pushing away the broken table top that had protected her from falling rafters, Adreanne emerged wrenched but alive from the dust. Two other forms lay not far from where she was. Stepping over broken photo frames, vases and other furniture Adreanne soon arrived by her mother's side.

The empty eyes of her parents stared up at her from the ground as the rising sun cast her shadow over their dead bodies. Their faces were pale and their limbs stiff and cold; they had been dead for over five hours. Their expressions remained frozen in silent screams of terror as two deep wounds at the sides of their necks told of what had caused their passing...

"i don't think too many people are born in this city. some maybe not even in this world..."

Xian's voice stole into her mind, jerking her out of the recollection of the day the vampires came. Her far of gaze that had been filled with visions of the fire and the dead cleared, giving way to an attentive, bright emerald stare. Her head lowered and rose again in a slow but brief nod to indicate that she had heard him.

"i myself, don't even remember anything about my life until i awoke one day in a street corner somewhere not far from this Church. i recognized a face, and made a friend of her, though neither of us could remember why we were here, and why we looked so familiar to each other."

"we found ourselves in the Church, met Neant, and i made it my purpose to make sense of this place, and defend the people from the curse of these vampires the best i could..."

"So you met someone you knew but didn't know how." said Adreanne "Can I ask who is she?"


Xian

"well," i said, after i had thought awhile about it. it would matter little that she knew. "i think you may have heard of her, though i doubt that you've met her." i said, trying to measure my words carefully.

"her name is Nikko, and she was among us in this Church. she wanted to know more about this world, about the vampires arund us, so she left us, with little goodbye."

"i miss her dearly, as i now miss many friends. i sometimes wonder what became of her... i sometimes fear the next i meet her, she will be a vampire like the others in this city..."

i smiled at Adreanne, hoping to reduce the sudden helplessness in me. i choked it back, pushing with my will, and the collection of good memories. rabbits, chilren at play...

the sun...

"we never really found out why we recognized each other, by the way. neither of us could remember what and who we were before we met on that street corner."

"i used to seek answers... but these days i allow them to come to me when i have the time to reflect on them."

"there are just too many better things to do than wonder where i was, when it is more important to act where i am now..."

Adreanne

Adreanne listened to his tale of a friend who came and went. She remained silent until Xian stopped for a long pause as if to maintain composure. His outward expression however, bore a smile. A charming smile for a weary warrior. Again the image of a saint flashed past in Adreanne's mind. Perhaps Xian was a kind of saint in his own right. Like those from the bible, the led troubled lives and fought hard for their cause. They were weary and bound to many duties and still they managed to pass each day with a smile.

"It must be sad then. To know someone and hold her dear in your heart and the next thing you know, she leaves you." Adreanne said softly, staring down at her feet "Especially if she's the only link to a forgotten past.

"I don't know which is worse. Having everyone you ever knew or close to you to have died, or having those same people walking out of your life into the dark unknown. Is it worse to know they are dead or not know whether they will return as the same people who left?

"What if those very people you love come back as one of the undead. What then? It makes me think of Hawk sometimes. I mean, he has most of his family on the other side. It must really hurt to know..."

Her voice has grown softer and softer. Perhaps it wasn't wise to have said anything about her senior boarded. His life was made by his decisions alone. He commanded the ship and she had nothing to do with him. But she couldn't deny that in her silent moments of service she had seen his countenance grow more and more weary as each day passed. Darker and darker, more troubled than the last day every passing night. His frequent glances out of the castle seemed to glow with longing and want. Just what was it like to lose a church member to the Vampires? Perhaps one day she would know.

"we never really found out why we recognized each other, by the way. neither of us could remember what and who we were before we met on that street corner."

"Doesn't it make you wonder then? Even for a moment?"

"i used to seek answers... but these days i allow them to come to me when i have the time to reflect on them." Xian replied "there are just too many better things to do than wonder where i was, when it is more important to act where i am now..."

Wise words...

"True. But still I wonder. Just where are we now? What is our place in this war between the living and the dead." Her eyes had lost their glimmer for a moment and become downcast. Inside however, Adreanne was contented to have found someone to talk to in the church aside from Nevaeh. Afterall, she couldn't bother the second in command all the time. At least now, her list of conversational companions had risen from one, to two. Perhaps it wouldn't be that lonely anymore. Adreanne made a mental note to get to know the others whenever she had the chance. Maybe talk to Ryck when she saw him too.

"I don't deny that I don't wish to understand the ways of the vampires as well. I just fear that I may fall for their charm an be lured to become one of them, only to regret it when it's too late. I envy your friend Nikko. She has the courage and spunk that I fail to possess."

Xian

"It must be sad then. To know someone and hold her dear in your heart and the next thing you know, she leaves you." Adreanne said softly, staring down at her feet "Especially if she's the only link to a forgotten past."

i thought about this for a bit, allowing the air to pass. Nikko was dear -was still very dear - to myself, though i had not seen her since the last time she walked into the Church and sped off towards i knew not where. Adreanne spoke again while i mused.

"I don't know which is worse. Having everyone you ever knew or close to you to have died, or having those same people walking out of your life into the dark unknown. Is it worse to know they are dead or not know whether they will return as the same people who left?"

"What if those very people you love come back as one of the undead. What then? It makes me think of Hawk sometimes. I mean, he has most of his family on the other side. It must really hurt to know..."

Hawk. Nikko. one who walked from the other side, the other wishing to walk towards it. i shook my head a bit, and looked at Adreanne.

"it really is painful, i imagine, to see your loved ones return as the vampires that haunt this city. i imagine Hawk has is days and nights of tortured thoughts and vague worries about it all..."

"i wonder if Nikko does, though," i whispered, shaking my head again.

"as for envying Nikko," i said to her at last, "i don't think you should envy her. first off, while she walks a path that she chooses, though it is not the choice many of us here would make... i believe that each must walk their own path."

vampires and humans? i thought to myself. do vampires choose a path i could really respect? i thought of Majica and Hawk and Nikko. perhaps, though i would not understand the choice.

"be who you will be, Adreanne. each is beautiful in their own choices, each must tread their own fate."