Deadly Creed (Closed for amorous_dilemma)

[DarkEmpress]

Claire stood flat against a tree, trying desperately to control her breathing burning in her lungs. She had been running through the wood, the moonless night sky concealing her from the hunting party hot on her trail.
Her dark hair was matted to her temples, her skin unnaturally pale from exertion and raw fear. Violet blue eyes were unnaturally wide in her face, looking around wildly as she analysed every move ... every sound. She could hear them…

They must not catch me.

Hunching, she moved into the thick underbrush of ferns moving as quickly and as quietly as she could. If she remembered correctly, there was a residence somewhere ahead … but her projection point could be all wrong. For all she knew, she could have passed the house already, in which case: It was too late.

It is not too late … it has to be there. It just has to!

Fifteen minutes later, she tripped over a branch and went hurtling down a ravine. The raucous sent birds flying up into the air, squawking indignantly … painting a bull’s eye on her back. She tumbled to a stop at the bottom of a babbling brook and immediately tried to scurry to her feet. Groaning, she favoured her ankle: twisted and aching. She had no choice. She had to run.

Keep moving … Keep moving.

When she lifted her eyes to the horizon, a light flickered in the darkness and tears sprang to her eyes. She had found it! With renewed hope, she ran as fast as she could, every step bringing her closer to an imposing building looming ahead of her. A wall came into view and her heart constricted with fear as she desperately searched for a way in. Finally reaching a gate, she paused for a split second to cast a furtive glance across her shoulder … turning her blood to ice in her veins, suffocating fear constricting around her chest. Half a dozen figures materialised from the fern littered forest floor and remained standing at the edge of the wood … watching her.

Run Claire … RUN!!

She ran until it felt as if her legs would give out. The size of the building did not even register … just the fact that it was there was her saving grace. Running up the stairs, her twisted ankle gave way under her, sending her sprawling across the concrete floor, hitting her head hard against a flowerpot. Half dazed, she crawled the last two steps and banged her fist against the door as hard as she could. The door swung open sending a blinding beam of light from inside to flood across the terrace. With pleading eyes, Claire looked up at the darkened silhouette against the light.

“Please … help,” she gasped, stretching her hand out as if the person in the doorway was her only lifeline.

 

[amorous_dilemma]

The world disappeared into unending folding light, cast among the vast abyss of the universe and anchored by a great unknown tree that wound its roots around the surrounding stars. No tangible orientation could be grasped and perception itself threatened to collapse. If it weren’t for the anchor of the tree Duncan felt that it may. The chorus of his mind was everywhere and nowhere at the same time and he felt the pressure this created against his consciousness constantly attempting to reconcile the sensation.

Light enveloped his being like a warm embrace flowing through and into him, seeming to emanate from the very origin of his thoughts and react to each iteration in rippling interruptions of darkness against the light. One could lose themselves entirely in the unknown if only they gave into it. There was a time when Duncan did just that however he had grown too familiar with the absurdity to let his mind collapse beyond the point of recovery. It was in this process of recovery he became aware of a growing dread somewhere over the many horizons and this bothered him slightly.

Somewhere from the deep etches of his instinct Duncan was able to pull his minds sight into focus. Using the great tree as a guiding star he began rebuilding his awareness. Constructing a refuge of his own darkness around him in an effort to separate his mind from any influence he didn’t allow. This gradual narrowing of his focus allowed his mind to search the vast abyss, to share ideas and feelings and love with the entity found here. Everything Duncan knew about this entity couldn’t be explained beyond the feeling he had, rather than any empirical information. His intuition calmed the distrustful nature of his being concerning this, this everything. In all the years that Duncan had been involved in the mystery he hadn’t found reason to doubt.

Duncan had no way of referencing time and simply let his awareness wander the vast abyss of folding light. Absorbing thoughts and ideas that seemed to come from outside of himself though not entirely from somewhere else. Fractal geometrics faded through the folds of light in eternal spirals of breaking lines. It was fascinating to behold and if it weren’t for the awareness refuge he had created this is one of those things he could lose himself in. It was in this moment that Duncan realised there was a figure suspended before him, it could have been there forever or having just appeared he wouldn’t know. It was a girl, younger than him, dark hair fell about her face which Duncan couldn’t really discern. He experienced that same growing dread begin to whisper once more. Then in that same instant the girls eyes flickered open with a bright illumination of light, obscuring her features even more though now letting tears of light roll down her cheeks.
“Please…” The young girl gasped.

Duncans breath was heavy and his eyes struggled to adjust back to reality. The girl was no more, the scape of unending light a distant memory. His heart felt heavy with mortality as it thudded lifeblood through his body. The sensations of the world slowly came back to him, the soft fabric beneath him, the clothes fitted to his form, the glinting of lights if they could be worthy of such a description. Even the strange feeling of being embodied again, to have a body. The room around him an eclectic amalgamation of a science laboratory and a botanists garden, smooth stainless steel met organic shapes. Instruments of specific purpose blended with plants of infinite possibility. Everything the hue of greens, blues, purples and yellows.

Taking a glance at his watch Duncan noted it had gone seven, it would be evening outside. Bringing himself to a seated position on the luxurious chaise lounge he closed his eyes and breathed gently for a couple of minutes. The head of the lounge sat incorporated into a slight niche in the wall with the curve of an elegantly crafted device arching over the lounge a couple of feet or so. The sensors and instruments built into the lounge measured and tracked every detail worth doing so, a cluster of digital readouts deciphering and displaying those details. His vitals quickly returned to baseline and Duncan moved from the lounge to spend the next couple of hours writing referencing and researching what information and ideas he had found during this evenings journey. This room was the unusual mans office as well, a large timber desk lay on the opposite wall across from the lounge and was covered in paper and stationary and a few strange relics or devices. The wall accompanying the desk was much the same, lists and photos, diagrams and readouts.

Without notice Duncan suddenly felt a very strange and very familiar sense of dread, it was well into the night and he realised this was the same dread that had found him earlier while he wandered the abyss of light. Then he heard it, a desperate heavy thudding on the external door. Duncan didn’t ignore coincidence entirely though this was certainly something more. A heightened sense of awareness flooded the mans veins as he rose quickly, collecting his firearm and moving swiftly towards the door. Before he could reach for the handle the thud echoed again, heavier and more desperate.

As Duncan pulled the door open and the internal light flooded into the night there she was, it was her, the girl with tears of light. This time her face wasn’t hidden from him and her tears were just water and her eyes were the beauty of a sapphire amethyst. They pleaded with any hope that remained behind the desperation. Broken and exhausted the girl had seemingly crawled to the door and the dark shade of her hair disheveled as it clung to her face in places. Her voice echoed the exact gasp he had heard earlier that evening. A tangle of emotion twisting in his stomach as he looked down at her.

Duncan stepped over the threshold of the doorway his eyes glancing up from the girl into the darkness. There was something unplaced about the desperation in the girls wavering voice. She was in peril. Not expecting to notice anything given he’d just come from the brightness of the internal light and his eyes would need a few minutes of complete darkness to adjust Duncan endeavored to listen as carefully as he could for a few moments. With nothing out of the ordinary he returned his focus to the girl at his feet. Kneeling down beside her and wordlessly taking her hand to place it over his shoulders and pulling her with him as he rose to his feet.

Once back inside and the door closed softly behind them Duncan gently lowered the girl to the floor, leaving her for a moment as he ensured the lock position of the door and retrieving his phone from his pocket. The man wasn’t necessarily remarkable in any way, slightly taller than average, slightly more muscular than average, his age betrayed subtly by the light greying of the short black hair and stubble. There were a few scars that adorned his hands and arms as well as a couple across his face which wasn’t unusual though notable.
“Important details, please.” Duncan asked firmly. His voice deep and slightly gravely but gentle enough given the situation. As he spoke his bright emerald eyes shifted to look into the girls eyes, they seemed to flicker with threads of silver in the light, an intensity about them.

 

[DarkEmpress]

The silhouette morphed into a man who stared down at her with an almost incredulous look on his features that she could not quite make out yet. Suspicion abounded though, and to be honest, she would have probably been suspicious too if a complete stranger came knocking at her door in the middle of the night.

She watched as he first stepped through the door, giving the area outside a quick scan for any immediate danger. Claire also turned to look, but the figures that were standing at the wood’s end a moment ago, were gone. Though she was certain they were just out of sight, she could feel their eyes burning on her. The stranger’s attention was back on Claire and he wordlessly knelt down next to her, lifting her arm across his shoulder before he effortlessly lifted her off the ground. Claire took a deep breath as she was wrapped in his arms, an inexplicable sense of ‘feeling safe’ washing over her being. He stepped back into the house, closing the door behind them before gently setting her back down on the floor in the hallway.

His movements, to her, seemed on edge as he stepped back and locked the door, at which point Claire noticed his weapon tucked into the back of his trousers. He took his phone from his pocket and she assumed he was setting an alarm or alerting someone to what was going on. For all he knew, she could be an axe-wielding serial killer. She was still battling to catch her breath, as she pushed herself up against the wall, bringing her knees up and hugging them in a protective manner, her chin on her knees, watching him intently while her eyes kept flitting nervously to the door.

His attention returned to her and he knelt down in front of her. It was the first time she really got a good look at him. His hair was a beautiful subtle salt and pepper set against very distinctive and handsome features. His eyes, were the most intense emerald colour that seemed to be staring deep into her soul, trying to find answers somewhere in there.

“Important details, please.” He requested, very intensely, very assertively.

“Hunters,” she whispered… “I think… five or six,” she said a little louder, with her hand sequencing in the air as if she was counting them out in her mind, “Hunting me,” she added as her eyes went wide, fear washing over her, glancing wildly at the door once more…

But then something dawned on her, and her eyes snapped back to him, staring at him intently.

She has seen him before…

Claire lifted a trembling hand and placed it on his face, a very gentle and fleeting touch, as she traced one of the scars just above his eyebrow. “A desert,” she said, under her breath, more to herself than to him really… staring perplexed at the scar. Somehow, she knew where he got that scar from.

“Who are you?” she asked, dumbstruck, as she pulled her hand away from him, staring intently into his eyes, as if she could find an answer there. “Why have you been haunting my dreams?” she said breathlessly.

What has she gotten herself in to?

 

[amorous_dilemma]

A feeling of regret briefed his mind as the girl before him pulled herself into the wall and hugged her knees tightly. Perhaps he could have been softer in his approach, though the events of the evening and the girls appearance hours after seeing her in his vision had heightened his awareness and set his edge sharply. She seemed entirely small and insignificant, watching him intently though constantly desperately checking the door with a quick glance.

Duncan knelt in a hope to soften the situation if only a little, perhaps instinctually not wanting to impose over the broken girl. Her gaze held steady then as she looked at him and despite the chaos of the moment Duncan couldn’t forget the vision of seeing this gorgeous face with tears of light rolling down it’s cheeks. He fought against an intuition to reach out and hold her cheek in comfort. She whispered the information he needed to know and felt dismayed at the reality it revealed to him.
“Hunters, five, six, me.” Her visible fear rising again as the words seemed to reinforce her desperate situation.
Breathing gently he took a moment to attempt as quick an assessment as he felt comfortable doing so. If the girl had managed to account for five or six individuals there would no doubt be more, if a group had found themselves hunting a person it was very possible a whole operation supported such a group. To his knowledge there had been no attempts made on his property, the automated defenses were still reporting and there were no error returns. This was hopeful, unless the group was unreasonably sophisticated which Duncan doubted very much. For now at least he had some breathing room to attempt to unravel this chaos.

In a curious thought Duncan began to ask the girl a follow up but found himself trailing off as she reached up her hand to place it gently on the side of his face.
“Do you know why they hunt yo…”
Her hand trembled which told of an almost conflicting movement. Or her body was beginning to give in to the shock arcing through her nervous system. She traced a scar above his eyebrow with a thoughtful finger that just as quickly disappeared. Her whispering thoughts seemed to hold some intrigue and calmness compared to the moments before.
“A desert.”

Again Duncan fought his intuition, wanting to back away from the girl at her seemingly impossible statement. He had grown comfortable with the impossible however and so let the feeling fade in the echo of her perplexed expression. Memories returned in dull aches of the deployment in which he obtained the scar above his brow. Duncan was at one point an adept military operative, such a thing seemed like an eternity in the past. His thoughts pulled back to the moment in hand, unsure of anything really. Each passing second between the two strangers revealed more and more mystery.
The girls voice broke his contemplation and he wasn’t sure how to respond.
“Who are you?” The sapphire violet of her searching eyes pleaded for an explanation. There was something about the tone of the question that didn’t necessarily want his name, she wanted to know why he was more than who he was.
“Why have you been haunting my dreams?” This set any path to a response Duncan had forming back even further.

Dreams, haunting and the knowledge of the desert. Duncan felt himself collapse backward a little as he let himself unbalance from his kneeling position and move into a seat on the floor, leaning back on his hands. There had been moments in the past where the great mystery had caused individuals to cross his path with some peculiarity however this was something entirely more profound. Somehow the chaos of their situation didn’t appear as significant in the light of this new mystery. Feeling a well of emotion spread throughout his body it overwhelmed him slightly and his eyes became teary.
“I, I don’t know. If I haunt your dreams, it is not this form of me that does so.” Duncan responded softly and sincerely.
“Who am I.” Was a whisper to himself more than anything. “Even when our eyes are closed there’s a whole world out there that lives outside ourselves and our dreams.”

Duncan adjusted his hands forward to allow himself to lay back on the floor. Ignoring the uncomfortable sensation of the firearm he forgot about at his back Duncan gazed up at the ceiling.
“I can tell you my name, as for who I am though. That’s something you’ll have to figure out for yourself.” The unusual man felt a measure of calmness returning to his mind and he knew he should get back to matters of a more practical nature.
“What kind of peril are you in?” Duncan asked genuinely.

 

[DarkEmpress]

To Claire, it looked as if her words literally blew him over as he sat back on the floor, even leaning back. The intensity of it was hanging in the air as she watched raw emotion flicker across his face, the kaleidoscope of hues within his green eyes intensifying as tears glistened in them.

Claire’s heart inexplicably constricted at his reaction, her own raw emotions reflected in his emerald depths.

“I, I don’t know. If I haunt your dreams, it is not this form of me that does so.” He said, and Claire had to do a double-take of what he just said… but it didn’t make sense at all.

What other forms does he have?

“Even when our eyes are closed there’s a whole world out there that lives outside ourselves and our dreams.” And as he said it, this enigma of a man laid himself down on the floor, effortlessly stretching his tall frame across its surface, looking as comfortable as if he was lying on a puffy cloud. It was exceedingly disarming, and Claire found her own body echoing the sense of serenity that was rolling off him like a gentle tide, relaxing the death grip she had around her knees, as she leaned her head back against the wall she was sitting against, taking a deep breath.

“I can tell you my name, as for who I am though. That’s something you’ll have to figure out for yourself.” Claire stared at him thoughtfully. She felt like she was having a very one-sided conversation with a being that was in on some cosmic truth, his words – riddles - that answered her questions… but also didn’t. He was right though; a name never explained the complex building blocks of the being behind the name. It takes time to unravel.

From his position on the floor, he simply asked her “What kind of peril are you in?”

Claire closed her eyes, as another fresh wave of fear rolled over her. She smoothed a hand across her forehead and raked her fingers through her hair, to lift the matted hair off her face, giving it a shake that more resembled a frustrated move.

“I honestly, don’t know what is going on,” she said as she placed her head back against the wall and peered at him. “I… I was asleep in my apartment and I woke up to someone being in my room… they must have drugged me – or something – because the next thing I remember I was somewhere – I don’t know where,” she said, indicating everything outside the door, “and told to run for my life.” She gave the door another furtive glance.

“I know it sounds insane…” she added, before she shut her eyes tightly. She rolled her head back and when she finally opened her eyes, tears were running down her cheeks as she let herself feel the visceral fear, the debilitating anxiety that has upended her whole world into chaos.

 

[amorous_dilemma]

After waiting a few moments for the girl to react to his question Duncan let his eyes close as he lay there on the floor. Closing his mind off to the artificial light of the entry hall. Although it was only a portion of sensory input limiting it’s influence contributed greatly to him being able to concentrate. His breath began to slow even more now as his heartbeat steadied with some willful effort. The slight noises coming from the girl told of frustration and the continued uneasy nature of the night, it anchored his aspiration though in trying to decide their resolution through this. Although he could have abandoned the sapphire eyed lady to her fate Duncan didn’t consider himself such a person not withstanding the profound attachment the two seemed to have.

What were these dreams she spoke of, Duncan found himself thinking. This seemed rather unusual and until a few hours ago he had no knowledge of this girls existence, as of right now though she may as well be the most important person in all of existence to him. Her voice once again returned his focus sharply and he listened intently, remaining deathly silent until he felt she wouldn’t offer any more information.
“And told to run for my life.”
This stood out to Duncan and confirmed an unfortunate complication about the situation he feared but could have guessed at. This wasn’t an accident or an attack of opportunity. There was purpose and intent here and so it seemed unlikely this group would let the girl slip their grasp so easily. He wasn’t sure why any attempts hadn’t been made on the property in truth, there was no reasonable way they could gauge the difficulty of such a task. Perhaps involving the general populace was a hard line.

Duncan disappeared into his mind as he visualised his property and surrounding geography. Knowing where his emplacements were and the landscape of each elevation of the house he imagined possible access points and areas more blind than others. The property would more than likely be surrounded and under severe scrutiny. All of these considerations occurred out of instinct and an ingrained method of process. Very little else could be done now as far as being diligent with the defenses and so he supposed until it was time to worry, he wouldn’t.

Only the slightest amount of shock seemed to have taken hold of the girl so Duncan figured getting her into as stable state as possible was important. Although there were lingering whispers of doubt that wisped around the form of the girl the man didn’t really have a say now, or did he. Could he bring himself to disregard that tangle of emotion and leave her to her fate. Surely there were other great tasks that would carry his purpose until he was no more. His everything wouldn’t be pivoted on this one beautiful girl would it…

Conflict smothered his thoughts in a strange fog and he wasn’t sure how to reconcile the uncertainty. He wouldn’t sleep tonight and settled on the idea that he might have the chance to work this out in his heart before morning. Perhaps he should go back to the abyss of light, where this evening began. Duncans eyes opened and he effortlessly rose to his feet. Eyes of an emerald blaze assessed and admired the girl who he now found openly weeping in her fear and chaos.
“I know it sounds insane…” Her voice almost didn’t make it and Duncan could tell she was becoming overwhelmed.
“Insane. You tell me of dreams where I haunt you and knowledge about my past you have no reasonable way of knowing and yet this you call insane.” Duncan felt himself become firm again, a preciseness to the slight gravel in his voice.
“I saw you this evening, hours before you appeared at my door…” He added with a thought. “Perhaps I’m the one who should know who you are?”
Each passing moment the man looked at her the calmer he felt himself become, conflict from just a second ago seemed to fade and again he felt slightly guilty at taking a defensive position against her. It was with that sense of vulnerability that he asked.
“How injured are you?”

 

[DarkEmpress]

Just as smoothly as he had rolled himself out on the floor, did he roll himself back up onto his feet. He was certainly very lithe and agile in his movements, almost graceful.

“Insane. You tell me of dreams where I haunt you and knowledge about my past you have no reasonable way of knowing and yet this you call insane.”

She couldn’t quite help the nervous little laugh that escaped her lips. “When you put it like that… I suppose,” she said, giving him a wan smile, as she wiped the wayward tears from her cheeks, trying desperately to regain her composure.

“I saw you this evening, hours before you appeared at my door…” he said, and Claire frowned at his words.

“That… sounds insane,” she said, wondering if he was serious. She was trying to decipher him, but something told her that there was much more to him than meets the eye.

“Perhaps I’m the one who should know who you are?”
Claire closed her eyes, her head leaning against the wall behind her. She felt inexplicably tired. Perhaps it was the adrenaline rush that was wearing off, or the strange and soothing aura that seemed to be radiating from him. "My name is Claire," she said softly from her position on the floor.

“How injured are you?” he asked, and Claire’s eyes fluttered open with a great deal of effort.

“I… I’m fine, I think,” she said. She moved her hand down to her ankle and gave it a gentle rub to gauge what it felt like. Now that she had been sitting for a while, it might not be. “I hurt my ankle falling down the ravine,” she said more to herself really. She hadn’t actually thought about anything other than surviving. Claire tried to push herself off the ground, at which point she realised that her ankle was a little tender. Deciding it was wiser to rather stay where she was, Claire sank back down to the floor and pulled her legs back up, placing her head on her knees, her hair falling to the side.

“I am just really tired…” she admitted, as she blinked, the lights seeming overly bright. She could sleep right where she was sitting.

 

[amorous_dilemma]

Claire. Once she spoke her name he felt like he’d known her for a lifetime.
The girl who sat on the floor holding her knees seemed to be fading quickly. Duncan understood the chemical surge her body had been experiencing the last few hours was more than likely burning through her adrenal receptors. Fatigue was taking her quickly.
“Thank you Claire. I’m Duncan.” Duncan knelt again, close to the girl and he tentatively reached out to take her hand in his. “You’re fading fast.”

“I… I’m fine, I think, I hurt my ankle falling down the ravine,”
“That seems promising.” Duncan considered almost to himself at her mention of what bothered her or seemed to be causing pain. She certainly didn’t seem that rough and if anything was screaming out to her she was doing extraordinarily well disguising it. For the moment he felt content enough to take her word. Duncan gripped Claires’ hand a little more tightly and he softly pulled her to her feet with him. Having noticed her struggle to bare weight a few moments ago and with her confirmation of injuring her ankle Duncan moved in a little closer to the girl and pulled her arm around his shoulder to support her again.
“I’m not asking you to trust me Claire. You just need to rest.” His voice was genuine and carried its own sense of fatigue as he began to pull her gently in a guiding manner. Letting her rely on him to accommodate her weight as he walked the both of them out of the entry down the attached hallway.

The buildings aesthetic largely mimicked the design of Duncans office. Stainless steel and concrete met unusual organic timber and a sense that the building was beginning, or indeed in the process of being consumed by plant life. As he walked the two of them down the hall Duncan explained simply to Claire, not wanting to introduce unnecessary information given the girls disposition.
“You’ll find everything you need, nothing is closed to you.”
Duncan reached out to unlatch the handle of a door at the end of the hall, nudging it open softly allowed him to guide Claire inside the room and assist her in finding a seated position on the bed along the far wall.
His hands left her slowly as he gauged her stability. Their eyes met in a measure of both understanding and perplexity, her eyes were heavy with fatigue and didn’t give him much more.
“While I’m alive you’re protected here.” Duncan spoke softly. Attempting to comfort her a little against the chaos of what her evening had become.

There wasn’t much more to be said and so Duncan gave the girl a small smile as he turned to take his leave for the night. Once the door had closed Duncans heart thudded anxiously in his chest once more, biting the inside of his bottom lip gently in contemplation. His thoughts resolved again that there wasn’t anything significant that could be done and so the idea of going back into the abyss seemed more than likely the better course of action. With that in mind it didn’t take long for Duncan to return to his office, find himself laying on the unusual lounge with a small ornate glass vial in hand. If he cared to recall Duncan would be able to describe a close approximation of the chemical composition of the liquid the vial contained, it had been a while since he needed to pay attention to those details though. It could be considered similar to psilocybin or dimethyltryptamine, a combination of the two or something entirely unique. The compound had been synthesised by someone he once knew and who was on a similar path to him, someone who had also experienced the abyss of light and met the being there who guided them. Guide, was perhaps the wrong term though Duncan couldn’t describe the exact function he felt when he thought of them, Gaia, was what he called them.

Duncan unscrewed the cap on the vial and revealed a dropper mechanism, without much thought he bought it over his face and carefully dropped two drips of the liquid into his left eye. With a tidy motion Duncan returned the vial to it’s place in a compartment set into the lounge and glanced up at the digital instruments to ensure function. Noting everything seemed to be in order he let his eyes close and waited the few minutes it usually took to take effect. The mans thoughts drifted to Claire as he felt the familiar feeling of losing himself to another world, his mind struggled to focus and seemed to separate from his bodies anchor and a slight sense of nausea knotted his stomach briefly before all consciousness was torn from him…

As it always was Duncan only had a slight idea that a transition was made, he had to dig quite hard into his thoughts to realise he existed somewhere outside of this place and wasn’t simply here in perpetuity. He had being, memory, feelings about this place, a history. The mortal logic engine of his mind constantly reminded him of his life on Earth though, if indeed this place wasn’t associated with Earth. This feeling and it’s sense of heaviness was different every time and he supposed that was the only evidence he needed to suggest the whole experience could be tied directly to his heart and how it sat when he came here, reacting and interacting with who ever he was in that moment.

The unending folding light engulfed him and was him, pulling focus inward to a singularity of unexplainable sparking white light. There before Duncan was something, a being that emanated golden warmth, emerald wonder and sapphire clarity. He knew it to be Gaia although he’d never seen them take on a visage such as this. As his heart and mind adjusted and he slowly built his awareness around him the overwhelming light softened and faded. Gaia looked down at Duncan with a loving smile. It took on a largely human visage though Duncan guessed stood around seven foot tall, eyes of swirling silver emerald and sapphire that disappeared into the abyss beyond. He wasn’t quite sure he could ever recall Gaia taking on such a distinct form, usually they were abstract thought, a tender smile, whispers of encouragement. Struggling against his desire to rationalise the unknowable Duncan reminded himself again and again to simply, be. Gaias form was entirely unclothed and he found himself somewhat captivated by the sight, ethereal facial features slightly androgynous though with incredibly long flowing black hair that sparkled grey in the golden light of the abyss, a purposeful vine of violet flowers tied amidst their hair in braids down one side of their face. Porcelain skin glittered with silver and as they took a step toward Duncan the slight tension betrayed the incredibly muscular structure beneath. Gaia was magnificent Duncan realised, their body took on a more feminine silhouette with slight shoulders and long lean but powerful arms. Breasts that seemed to proportion perfectly to their form leading down to a lean waist that flared out into wide hips and powerful thighs where a perfectly proportioned penis hung between their legs. It was a magnificent visage and Duncan felt no guilt in the admiration he showed.

“You found her.” Gaia spoke elated, and as they did Duncan felt the words more than heard them. It echoed with what seemed like a dozen voices, all beautiful, all together. He was pulled from his reverie as Gaia referenced the girl, the emerald eyes of the man forming their own intensity as he looked up at the being.
“Claire.” Duncan paused. “It seems she found me.” He responded softly before adding. “So this is your doing somehow?” He queried.
If it were possible Gaias smile grew more fond and they almost giggled lightly. “Oh Duncan as I’ve told you many times, I am at the mercy of fate just as much as you are.” The being spoke slow and comfortably. “Though, I may know a thing or so.” They added with a wry smile.
Gaia bought their hand up to smooth away a stray lock of dark hair from their face, fingers laced through the luscious mane in a very human expression. Duncan noticed their hand as they did, intricate tattoos of varying shades of earthy brown etched in organic patterns over the fingers and hand just beyond the wrist. “She’s here you know.” Gaia noted absently.
“Here?” Duncan seemed perplexed by the idea. “Here, here with us?” An overwhelming curiosity took over the mans focus as he found something further to try and rationalise.
“In a sense. Her spirit at least, I can feel her.” Gaia offered Duncan the only explanation they had. Duncan let himself go in an attempt to fall backward though gravity wasn’t a governing force here as such and so he found himself floating, the abyss seemed more anchored than it ever had, almost as if the energy of the place mimicked the more corporeal state of Gaia themselves.
“That shouldn’t be possible, should it?” He asked. “I’ve also never seen you like this, I’m curious why now?” Duncan added...

 

[amorous_dilemma]

...Gaia enjoyed their time with Duncan very much and felt thankful they had been able to form this bond. The man was incredibly strong willed and learned quickly to find himself in this existence outside of his, though he often displayed a softness and capacity for understanding that Gaia required. They stepped closer again to the man and let their large hand rest on his chest.
“An impossibility is only impossible until it isn’t. You should know this.” Gaia couldn’t be more right and yet Duncan was the kind of person who craved the knowledge behind something, why then, why could Claire be here given the seeming impossibility of it.
“Duncan, you are exceedingly adept at navigating this existence, this abyss as you call it. Your mind is still only human though. My form never changes, if I seem different to you that is at the discretion of your perception…perhaps something has made you see me more truly.”
From where he lay afloat Duncan looked up into Gaias shimmering swirling eyes and nodded understandingly. “Perhaps.” His voice was soft in thought.
“Gaia could it be dangerous for her if Claire somehow makes the transition alone.” Duncan wondered.
“This is my realm, there are no dangers here. Though, I can’t say what her mind may experience internally. I don’t know if any human would be strong enough to make that transition unguided. If some part of her exists here already and you’re wondering what to do…go and find her.” Gaia explained thoughtfully.

Having nodded a fond thank you to Gaia Duncan didn’t hesitate to slip from their touch and begin his search for the possibility that Claire may be in some kind of process in transitioning into this existence. The why or the how could come later.