RuneScape Forum Archive | Clash of the Incarnations

Oreki-kun

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13-Aug-2010 04:18:48

[#5AGSIZET9]

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Yeah Merak, that's one of the things I was most excited about with this story!

Sorry about the lack of adds recently, guys. I've been out of town, and so writing has been slow. I do, however, have some adds ready, and I'll put them up in just a little while!

Thanks for the patience, as always!

14-Aug-2010 17:56:31

[#5AGSIZET9]

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Serena sat alone in the sitting room of her home, looking up at the ceiling. Karzit* was in the bedroom in the back, sleeping through the pain of his injuries, and he had been out for five hours, ever since he and Serena made it back to the village. Serena glanced back at the door to the bedroom, and, hearing nothing, turned her attention back to the ceiling.

And while her body lay still in her home, her mind was wandering free in the depths of the future. She continued to see this new man, Karzith, as the figure in her vision, the one that would protect her. "He is strong," she said to herself. "He could easily keep me safe." Even so, the burning city kept plaguing her thoughts. "What does that mean?"

The door on the other side of the room opened, and her father entered the house. His face was strained, and the normally calm man looked on edge and stressed. Serena looked away; she could not look at him. He had been home earlier, when Serena brought Karzit* back, and he grudgingly allowed the wounded traveler to stay. Not that he was inhospitable, but he was wary of this newcomer for some reason. He was so shaken by Karzit* that he had left hours before, and he only now returned from his walk.

"My vision is clouded," he said with a grimace. "I can feel a strong aura of darkness around him, but I cannot see anything about this."

"Father," Serena replied, quietly. "I think I have seen something about him."

Her father's ears perked up, and he turned his attention to her. "What have you seen?"

"Earlier, when I collapsed outside, I saw that he would protect me."

Her father scowled. "Are you sure it was him? Did you see his face directly."

Serena paused, and her father sensed her hesitation. "Be careful of this, Serena," he said. "You seek to fulfill your vision, and you may end up interpreting it wrongly."

"I know I'm right," she replied, looking down to the floor.

14-Aug-2010 19:42:56

[#5AGSIZET9]

Posts: 3,564 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Her father frowned, clearly not satisfied with her assessment. "If you say so," he replied. "I trust your judgment. However, forgive me, I must meditate on it."

He walked by Serena, crossing the room to the small staircase that led down to the basement. He descended the stairs, disappearing into the depths of the basement. He often meditated down there, far away from others. Serena wished her gift was as tamed as his; he could meditate and have visions on command. Hers still appeared as unpredictably as the weather in spring, knocking her to the ground each time by their power.

"I know I'm right," she said, her voice still soft and weak. "I have to be."

----------------

Serena's father appeared in the underground cavern in a flash of green light in a small alcove along the wall. He landed on the cold stone ground, which was covered in moss. In fact, the whole ground in the cave was flourishing with life, even in the depths of the earth. He stepped out into the cavern itself, moving steadily toward the center. He tread carefully, however, as he was on special ground.

This cave, located deep underground, beneath the caves of Lumbridge, was a Guthixian's most sacred place. The cavern was perfectly circular, with twelve alcoves in the wall, one every thirty degrees in the circle. In the center of the circle was a round altar, made of stone and standing about four feet in height, that was draped in greenery. The plants increased in number as one approached the central altar. That was because this altar was the sacred Altar of Life, the holy site of Guthix. It contained a miniscule fragment of the Stone of Jas hidden away inside, and it was this magical artifact that caused the life to grow in the cave.

14-Aug-2010 19:43:29

[#5AGSIZET9]

Posts: 3,564 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

To his surprise, there was already a man inside the cave. He was sitting on a small rock, one of the several that formed a circle around the Altar of Life. The man wore a green tunic and shorts, with a brown cavalier hat. Upon seeing Serena's father arrive, the man got to his feet. "Micah," he greeted him, "fancy seeing you here!"

"Hello, Ambrose," Serena's father replied. Ambrose was one of his oldest friends, and a trusted confidante. He lived in the Tree Gnome Village, one of the few humans allowed sanctuary there, and the two liked to keep in contact. "What were you doing here?"

Ambrose shook his head. "I don't know. I just felt like I needed to be here."

Micah walked over, taking his place on the stone bench beside Ambrose. "Have you felt it as well?"

"Who hasn't?" Ambrose replied with a sigh. "All the gnomes are going crazy. They keep asking me why, and I don't have an answer. Even the ones that don't understand what they are feeling, all of them sense it."

"A wave of darkness," Micah responded, equally somber. "One that has not been felt since the Third Age. I fear for the world, Ambrose."

Ambrose looked at his old friend with eyes that understood completely his feeling. "As do I. How is your Vision?"

Micah shook his head. "I can no longer see anything. That's why I came here, in the hopes that the Altar of Life would give me inspiration. Right now, it feels like my nose is up against a wall, and I cannot see through it."

"Have you been able to contact Kaisen?" Ambrose asked. "He always used to have good ideas when it came to stuff like this."

"Kaisen has not been heard from by anybody for decades, as far as I know. Ever since Kalda died, he has never really wanted to reach out."

"It's a shame. He never accepted our offer to join, but he always kept a close watch anyway. I thought this new tide of darkness might draw him out of his seclusion."

14-Aug-2010 19:43:52

[#5AGSIZET9]

Posts: 3,564 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Micah lowered his gaze. "We might actually have to call Guthix this time," he said softly, as though it might happen through his simply stating it.

"I know," Ambrose replied. "We're all afraid to do it, but we can't wait too long. If the time comes, we must awaken him."

Micah nodded. "I understand that."

"Besides, we don't know what Guthix will make of this world once it happens! We can't know."

Micah chuckled. "And therein lies the gamble."

"If our world is in bad enough shape to require summoning Guthix, I really don't think there's much of a gamble involved."

Micah laughed. "I see your point."

Ambrose cracked a smile, forgetting for only a moment the magnitude of the era. "How's Serena doing?"

"Fine, she's just fine," Micah replied. "She can See, but she cannot interpret them very well yet."

"I never liked the thought of that part!" Ambrose replied with a laugh. "Give it time, she's got your blood, doesn't she? She has no choice but to be great."

"If you say so, Ambrose." Micah looked up at the Altar before him. "She brought home a strange young man today," he said.

"Oho, so your little girl is growing up I see!"

"He feels odd; his aura is strange and nearly impossible to read. That is the true reason I am here... I want to See something about this boy."

Ambrose shook his head. "You feel a little uncomfortable around him, and that's natural. There comes a point when you can do nothing but accept your daughter's judgment. Serena is a bright girl!"

"I hope you speak the truth," Micah replied.

Ambrose sighed and got to his feet. "I know that means that you're still going to look for something about him. I wish you luck, my friend. I've got to get back to the village before they grow even more restless."

"I wish luck to you as well, then," Micah replied.

"Until next time!" Ambrose called out as he walked away toward the wall of the cavern. He entered a different niche on the wall, and in a flash of green light, he was gone.

14-Aug-2010 19:45:25