Far From Home

[Yolanda Riona]

Talancir (Sep. 27 2008,11:12)

Radical City - Outskirts



The sun was due to rise within the hour. The ambient light from the nearby city illuminated the southwestern horizon, defined by hills and sparse trees, and the patchy clouds overhead. To the east, the sky had begun to brighten from almost midnight blue to a lighter shade. The last few stars still twinkled overhead, defiantly looking down upon the world before their much larger cousin crested the hills to the east, drowning out their meager light for yet another day. A light breeze blew intermittently, caressing the tall grass and smaller bushes here on the undeveloped prairie. A low drone of incectoid chirps and buzzing added their presence to the background noise, and off in the distance a bird of prey could be seen flying high over the land in search of his next meal.

Nestled between the hills, the trees were more numerous and clumped together, though ever so slightly, and beneath their boughs the temperature was cool enough for morning dew to collect on the leaves of plants taking shelter under them. The breeze rustled here as well, though much reduced after winding its way through the trees, and the leaves swayed gently in its passing. Though forces like Robotnik or The Crescent Imperium terrorized the population centers, nature continued her course, undisturbed by the wiles and actions of more intelligent and hazardous forces.

Today however, the breeze began to change ever so subtly. As the sun was due to rise, the change could have been attributed to the solar wind, but as the seconds ticked by the breeze began to increase in strength. In the skies overhead, the few existing clouds had begun to move in a lazy spiral. A strange energy was in the air, palpable and tickling on the edge of sensation. The cool temperature under the trees bottomed out abruptly, the dew crystallizing and turning into frost. It grew coldest near a particular copse of trees, and the few animals in the area, alerted to the unnatural change, scattered in all directions.

Soon enough the energy became manifest as a shimmering mirage of sight normally occurring on a hot day, localized in an area three meters in diameter and suspended a meter above the ground. The mirage writhed as though alive, and as the seconds ticked by it became more cloudy and opaque, sprouting arcs of electrified Chaos Energy like a solar prominence on the surface of the sun. Intermittent beams of narrow pale light shone out here and there from the mirage, akin to the sun shining through dark clouds on a rainy day, and the air was filled with the sound of resonant humming.

The intervals of pale light decreased and the humming built gradually towards a crescendo of deafening sound and unbroken, all-consuming light. At its zenith, all disappeared into light and silence, which seemed to stretch on for eternity until a ragged maw opened its portal and roared with all the thunder of a raging god.

The light shattered like glass before the advance of the widening portal, which overtook the former dimensions of the mirage that spawned it and expanded to twice its original diameter. Chewing into the earth, the yawning portal carved a perfect concave crater into the ground, two meters deep. Ethereal winds flew out from it, howling like maddened daemons.

Almost as abruptly as it was spawned, the portal began to shrink, the violence it spawned subsiding as it did so. As it collapsed, it began to throw out pieces of flotsam, many of which ruined beyond recognition and coated with a thin patina of hoarfrost. Before the portal had closed fully, it spat out three more objects; a sword, a high-browed helmet, and a humanoid figure. The figure landed on its face and skidded for a second or two before finally coming to a stop.

Like the other objects that had come before him, he was covered in a layer of ice so cold, the air around him had begun condensing into mist. Except for his head, he was clad in a combination chainmail and platemail armor of archaic design. Across his back, a shield was strapped, and he sported echidnan dreadlocks which were tied behind his head in a ponytail. Aside from this, no other detail on the figure could be discerned past the obscuring coating of ice.

The portal behind him slowly collapsed in on itself until it finally disappeared from view. The clouds overhead ceased their rapid movement across the sky, and the early morning breeze resumed its lazy sojourn across the landscape. Aside from the frost edging trees and plants, and the odd crater carved into the ground, almost nothing remained to hint at what happened barely a minute earlier.

The figure sprawled where he lay, barely breathing from the shock of the landing. Under the melting layer of ice and cloud of mist, his eyes slowly cracked open, attempting to focus on his surroundings. His jaw twitched, and a puff of mist escaped his teeth as he forced out a few words.


".....never do that again....."

Alarielle (Sep. 28 2008,19:01)

In the surrounding habitat, someone was actually present. Someone who had no past; no future; nothing save the skin on his back and the cloud fogging his mind.

It had been a while since the human had left the services of the Robotnik Empire and defected to that of the Dark Legion. And now, once more, he found himself on the run from those that would have him dead. He knew so much, yet so little all at once.
If GUN or the hedgehog were to contain him, it would be all over. He'd rather starve than be taken in once more just to be used.

The human was lying back in a large oak tree, having climbed up earlier in the night. He'd made good progress, and would definitely hit Radical tomorrow night. He'd made the decision to travel at night long ago, and over the weeks had become quite nocturnal. His coat was scuffed to buggery and his hair in need of a good cutting... of course, his former self would have said that, but not Alarielle.

Alarielle The Obscure. A title he'd pinned upon himself upon learning of his true nature; that he wasn't in fact Alarielle at all, but instead a former soldier, capable of doing much harm and not really caring about much.
He was all too aware of this aspect of his personality - it wasn't like he was schizophrenic anyways, it was something he was aware of. An ancient memory, unravelled slightly within his mind and giving a glimmer of hope: that he could eventually become somebody and not this frail, frightened excuse for a creature that had nothing but intelligence on two organisations. Not any two, but the Empire and the Dark Legion no less.

As Alarielle sat on his tree, he cast an eye over to Radical. He wasn't far off returning to Capital, and remembering exactly what happened in the accident. That was what he wanted - to remember the past.

No... to have a past. Having amnesia wasn't exactly fun and games.

The glow of the street lights dimly lit the sky, but slightly off to one side something strange was occuring. A whirlwind? Tornado?

Alarielle sat up now, prepared to move at a moment's notice. The winds picked up and buffeted the human, but his coat saved him from feeling the temperature too much. But it bit at his ears, so he pulled his hood up.

Now there appeared a great ball of light so intense, he had to shield his eyes from the burst as it dissipated. He blinked a couple of times: there was no way in hell that any faction on the planet had tech like that... it was straight out of a movie he saw once, that Dakoter showed him("It's training," the wolf had winked as he sat him down) when he was a part of the Empire.

Dakoter... that was another face he recalled with perfect clarity, that he wished to wipe from the planet.

Then the silence kicked in. Absolute silence; even the natural inhabitants of the landscape had refrained from calling out in their panic to escape the phenomenon. It could be considered too quiet.

Climbing down from his tree as quickly yet quietly as he could, Alarielle tried to pick his way through the undergrowth as best he could before hiding at the outskirts of the forest - a five minute walk, and he'd most likely step on the odd dry branch or two on the way for certain, what with his massive boots. But he was wearing his full length black coat and the hood on it was up, not to mention his gloves. He'd be heard, but seen? Hopefully not.

Curiosity killed the cat, Alarielle had heard once. He surely hoped he wasn't the cat.

Chadin (Sep. 30 2008,19:44)
[For now I'll wait till you guys enter the city. I can't think of any good reason why Chadin would wander so far out of the city at this point and (FYI) its supposed to be morning here. Besides I have a better idea of how to incorporate myself into your midst, assuming you do in fact enter the city.]

Alarielle (Oct. 01 2008,08:32)

[I dunno about you Chadin, but I'd say Tal did a good job of describing the very beginnings of a sunrise ^^ I've seen a few of them and he's got it bang on. Maybe earlier than what you desire but technically it's still morning I'm just here for the ride - here's hoping we do go near the city.]

Chadin (Oct. 01 2008,20:51)
[Wise ass XD. Alright alright, I got the impression YOU were the one creeping around at night, anyways, doesn't matter a whole lot.]

[Talancir]

[ It's supposed to be morning, huh? ok then, it's not too much of a time difference between what I think what part of the morning you're thinking of, and where I started my intro. at any rate, once I get done with it and move into the city proper, enough time should have passed for me to have 'caught up' with the rest of you guys. ]



Etherial in nature, the hoarfrost on the figure evaporated quickly as the seconds ticked past, and the condensation of the air around him began to lessen. Feeling warmth creep back into his extremities, the echidna pulled himself up to rest on his elbows, and glanced at his surroundings through squinted eyes. Spying the sword some distance away, he half crawled, half dragged himself towards it.

In the hands of a human of average height, the length of the blade would have measured from the bottom of his feet to his mid-thigh, but in the echidna's grasp the blade extended to his mid-torso. Finely made, the blade had a pale blue, milky sheen even in the poor light, illuminating faint wavy white lines streaking up its length. The pommel and handguard were plated in gold, and one part of the handguard extended down to protect the rest of the hand that wielded it. On the flat of the blade, a metal disc protruded near the handguard, from which a single chain loop was attached.

Grasping the blade in his right hand, the echidna pushed himself unsteadily to his feet, bringing himself to his full 112cm height. Resting his gauntleted hands on his knees, he shook himself like a dog shaking off water, the majority of the remaining ice falling away in fragments. Taking a deep breath, he leaned back, stretched his back and arms, then took stock of his surroundings.

By now the sun had begun to break over the horizon, banishing the last remaining stars to slumber for yet another day, and reducing the radiant glow of the nearby city to non-existance. Here inbetween the small hillocks the sun had yet to illuminate the shadows, however in the distance the sun's radiance had already caressed the larger hills.

Locating the helmet nearby, he guided his sword onto his back, matching the chain link on the sword to a notch on the back of his armor. Taking up the helmet in one hand, he paused, stroking his braided beard in thought, then headed for the summit of the small hillock to the west. Cresting the hill, he glimpsed the sundered city off in the distance, wreathed in haze and smog.

The echidna grimaced. It was an Overlander city from the look of it, the construction of the skyscrapers reminding him of the capital and central hub of of the United Federation, Station Square. He had only been there once before during the war years ago, and from the look of things, this wasn't Station Square at all, but rather one of the Federation's smaller cities.

At least, he hoped so. He had barely survived the vaccumn that had spawned from the opening in the Gauntlet, and by some miracle, he had somehow been able to force himself towards familiar surroundings. He hoped that was the extent of his Backlash, however probing any residual effects that remained would have to wait.

Dropping his helmet to the ground, the echidna dropped to one knee. Turning to face the rising sun, he lifted up his head and raised his hands in supplication, and began to pray.


Blessed Aurora, Mistress of the Dawn,

I your servant Auriel come before you to give thanks for delivering me.

Imperiled by the Dark, You came for me; You guided my heart and my mind,

And here I remain as a testament to your mercy.

Aurora, revered among the Walkers,

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart ever be true,

And may I prove myself worthy of joining my ancestors in the Afterlife.

Blessed are You Aurora, who delivers us from Darkness.

[Alarielle]

[Apologies for the delay - as such, this post may be a bit on the brief side in the interests of getting things rolling.]

As Alarielle edged closer to the outskirts of the forest, he saw a silhouette against the rising sun. There being fewer trees here, there were as a consequence less branches to step on. Plenty of fallen leaves to rustle about in, so the human elected to take his time, placing his steps as carefully as he could.

Once he was close enough the human chose to stand in the shade of a particularly large oak tree, still keeping his hood up to further obscure his only visible fleshy features from sight. He had gotten close enough to hear some sort of chanting...
"Blessed are you Aurora, who delivers us from Darkness."

Aurora... this person is praying to Aurora - is it a being from Albion? Which would make this one an echidna... Alarielle's head went spinning momentarily - first Finitevus, now this stranger? So Knuckles wasn't the last of his kind, not by a long shot.
And if this one is from Albion, the human pondered with some consideration, then that is yet more knowledge that can save my scrawny little behind from the likes of GUN or Robotnik...

So what now?
Hide in shadow, and remain where he was in the hopes that the newcomer hadn't heard him and thus do more of that chanting, or talking to himself?
Reveal himself as one from the Legion? He might as well claim leadership of the group; word had reached his ear on his long travels that the group was no more. It couldn't hurt to declare he was the Grandmaster, even if he was human and lacking in cybernetics.

For now, Alarielle remained where he was - but should he be discovered, he would do what he did best.
Talk.