08-13-2013, 08:15 PM
Seeing Nimeda's eyes brighten at Jon's proposal to meet another who walked the Spirit World helped wash away the lingering emotional shards that had pierced his consciousness earlier. His mind felt more at ease, there was no lasting harm done by his carelessness of instruction. He had to seek someone more knowledgeable, though -- one who might know what to make of this clearly talented woman, and perhaps help Jon keep her alive in this place. She showed such energy and curiosity he couldn't help but smile back at her.
"It is actually an easy thing to move from one place to another in the Spirit World," he told her. "As this place is but a reflection, our bodies are also mere reflections as well. With a thought you can --"
He imagined himself away from Nimeda and in the corner of the art studio. Shift.
"--move without passing through the space in between," he finished, now ten feet away from her.
Perhaps a bit of surprise registered on Nimeda's face, but it was hardly startlement and certainly not fright. Just curiosity. Was there nothing that unsettled her? This worried Jon. Would she wander head-first into someone's nightmare and become fully immersed in it, unable to break free and unknowing the true danger she could be in, not knowing that she could perish in this place and never wake again?
He walked back across the room to her. Theatrics were best not overdone. Who should he go find who was walking the Spirit World? It was difficult to gauge the passage of time, but there were likely at least someone he knew. In the years since he'd begun walking he had learned that several of the tribes had at someone with the gift to walk the Spirit World. This was always a carefully kept secret, the uses of what was gleaned from the walks covered by explanations of rituals and dances and so on. The attack Jon had suffered all that time ago, before he'd begun to harness the force of the Great Spirit, convinced him it was a wise decision.
Who should he seek out? Jon had mostly tried to avoid Noah Crow's Eye in this place and for the most part he had. The Cherokee elder was not to be trusted. The things he had done to Jon just because he had thought it was in Jon's best interest -- Jon didn't think the man was evil, or at least had good intentions behind his actions -- but good intentions could have dire results. If there was any trickery to be done, Jon would be doing it.
No, Noah had never mentioned the possibility of others who walked awoke in the Spirit World who weren't from the Native tribes. To seek an answer to that question, he would have to delve into someone with an understanding of things so ancient they might have come before the gods made the people into their present form. Bear, then, if he could be found at this hour -- he believed it was still quite early halfway across the world.
Now he just had to get them there. Jon considered, and decided it was a safe enough thing for him to show Nimeda.
"We are going to halfway across the world, to where the Alaskan tundra meets the frozen ice floes of the Arctic Ocean." Now that statement brought widened eyes of surprise forward. "I will imagine myself there, and at the same time imagine you coming with me. This will take some part from you. You must imagine yourself with me. Focus on my presence, and focus on being next to me."
He held his hands out to her with palms facing up. I believe it will make this easier if you take my hands and imagine yourself holding them. Feel my presence and feel my awareness." She eagerly brought her hands on top of his, her fingers gripping his own, and he could feel...yes...he could feel her presence there, so strong! Placid and calm though it was, still it threatened to dwarf his own mind. If this didn't work, he should be able to find her.
"If we become separated, please stay where you are. This is important, Nimeda. I will come to find you," he continued. "It would sadden me greatly were something to happen to you." Why had he said that? In any event, Nimeda nodded, her fingers squeezing his with eagerness and perhaps a bit of impatience. "Very well. We will go."
Jon closed his eyes and flexed his mind, imagining his destination. Snow. Cold. Whiteness. He imagined Nimeda's presence, her hands clasped in his.
Shift.
Even before he opened his eyes, the frigid cold hit him and he could still feel Nimeda's hands in his. It had worked, thankfully. He opened his eyes, released her hands and smiled at her. "Welcome to Alaska."
The cold seeped into his very bones. He should have changed their clothing before shifting. Jon imagined himself covered in a coat of thick brown leather stuffed with down with deep hood lined with fur. He quickly did the same for Nimeda, though when she put it on it changed shape, color and style at whim. It might have been better to simply imagine himself not cold, but he thought this method would be easier for Nimeda to control.
Jon looked around him, surveying the landscape. Frozen ground, blanketed with white, without a thing growing. About half a mile to the north the land gave way to broken shelves of ice and choppy water. And there --
A streaking blur on the horizon. Would it be? Yes, yes it was. Very little else was ever out here. "Bear!" Jon called out.
The blur, of white on white, was almost nauseating to focus upon. It suddenly disappeared and the sense of motion came closer. Soon, it resolved itself into a burly white wolf moving with impossible speed, churning up fresh snow with each stride.
The wolf slowed, and came to an almost playful trot, stopping a few feet from Jon and Nimeda. It was a huge one of its size. Jon noted the twinkling golden eyes and knew it was him. The wolf panted and cocked his head toward Nimeda almost in question.
"I see you, Bear," Jon said. "I hope I have not disturbed your hunting. I have brought someone to meet you."
The wolf fixed its eyes upon Nimeda, staring at her as though trying to see through her. Finally it ... shrugged, and suddenly the wolf transformed. Before them stood a huge man, at least six and a half feet tall, with burly arms and a thick chest. His skin was colored similar to Jon's and he was wrapped in a heavy seal skin and fur coat and trousers. He had slightly angled eyes and facial features. Those eyes shone the same gold as the wolf's had.
Bear laughed, a deep roar from such large chest. "You always disturb my hunts, making so much noise as you do, my friend,"
he said. But I was not hunting today, merely enjoying a run in the snow. I am at your service."
Jon turned to Nimeda. "Nimeda, this is Bear-Who-Runs-On-Ice. He is a member of the Inuit tribes, and walks the Spirit World in harmony with the animals, particularly wolves, who manifest themselves here."
He turned to Bear. "I have found Nimeda walking the Spirit World awake with little memory of why she is here or how the world works. She is the first one I have found not of our peoples, and I was hoping you would know more than I about how this is possible, and how she can exist here safely."
"It is actually an easy thing to move from one place to another in the Spirit World," he told her. "As this place is but a reflection, our bodies are also mere reflections as well. With a thought you can --"
He imagined himself away from Nimeda and in the corner of the art studio. Shift.
"--move without passing through the space in between," he finished, now ten feet away from her.
Perhaps a bit of surprise registered on Nimeda's face, but it was hardly startlement and certainly not fright. Just curiosity. Was there nothing that unsettled her? This worried Jon. Would she wander head-first into someone's nightmare and become fully immersed in it, unable to break free and unknowing the true danger she could be in, not knowing that she could perish in this place and never wake again?
He walked back across the room to her. Theatrics were best not overdone. Who should he go find who was walking the Spirit World? It was difficult to gauge the passage of time, but there were likely at least someone he knew. In the years since he'd begun walking he had learned that several of the tribes had at someone with the gift to walk the Spirit World. This was always a carefully kept secret, the uses of what was gleaned from the walks covered by explanations of rituals and dances and so on. The attack Jon had suffered all that time ago, before he'd begun to harness the force of the Great Spirit, convinced him it was a wise decision.
Who should he seek out? Jon had mostly tried to avoid Noah Crow's Eye in this place and for the most part he had. The Cherokee elder was not to be trusted. The things he had done to Jon just because he had thought it was in Jon's best interest -- Jon didn't think the man was evil, or at least had good intentions behind his actions -- but good intentions could have dire results. If there was any trickery to be done, Jon would be doing it.
No, Noah had never mentioned the possibility of others who walked awoke in the Spirit World who weren't from the Native tribes. To seek an answer to that question, he would have to delve into someone with an understanding of things so ancient they might have come before the gods made the people into their present form. Bear, then, if he could be found at this hour -- he believed it was still quite early halfway across the world.
Now he just had to get them there. Jon considered, and decided it was a safe enough thing for him to show Nimeda.
"We are going to halfway across the world, to where the Alaskan tundra meets the frozen ice floes of the Arctic Ocean." Now that statement brought widened eyes of surprise forward. "I will imagine myself there, and at the same time imagine you coming with me. This will take some part from you. You must imagine yourself with me. Focus on my presence, and focus on being next to me."
He held his hands out to her with palms facing up. I believe it will make this easier if you take my hands and imagine yourself holding them. Feel my presence and feel my awareness." She eagerly brought her hands on top of his, her fingers gripping his own, and he could feel...yes...he could feel her presence there, so strong! Placid and calm though it was, still it threatened to dwarf his own mind. If this didn't work, he should be able to find her.
"If we become separated, please stay where you are. This is important, Nimeda. I will come to find you," he continued. "It would sadden me greatly were something to happen to you." Why had he said that? In any event, Nimeda nodded, her fingers squeezing his with eagerness and perhaps a bit of impatience. "Very well. We will go."
Jon closed his eyes and flexed his mind, imagining his destination. Snow. Cold. Whiteness. He imagined Nimeda's presence, her hands clasped in his.
Shift.
Even before he opened his eyes, the frigid cold hit him and he could still feel Nimeda's hands in his. It had worked, thankfully. He opened his eyes, released her hands and smiled at her. "Welcome to Alaska."
The cold seeped into his very bones. He should have changed their clothing before shifting. Jon imagined himself covered in a coat of thick brown leather stuffed with down with deep hood lined with fur. He quickly did the same for Nimeda, though when she put it on it changed shape, color and style at whim. It might have been better to simply imagine himself not cold, but he thought this method would be easier for Nimeda to control.
Jon looked around him, surveying the landscape. Frozen ground, blanketed with white, without a thing growing. About half a mile to the north the land gave way to broken shelves of ice and choppy water. And there --
A streaking blur on the horizon. Would it be? Yes, yes it was. Very little else was ever out here. "Bear!" Jon called out.
The blur, of white on white, was almost nauseating to focus upon. It suddenly disappeared and the sense of motion came closer. Soon, it resolved itself into a burly white wolf moving with impossible speed, churning up fresh snow with each stride.
The wolf slowed, and came to an almost playful trot, stopping a few feet from Jon and Nimeda. It was a huge one of its size. Jon noted the twinkling golden eyes and knew it was him. The wolf panted and cocked his head toward Nimeda almost in question.
"I see you, Bear," Jon said. "I hope I have not disturbed your hunting. I have brought someone to meet you."
The wolf fixed its eyes upon Nimeda, staring at her as though trying to see through her. Finally it ... shrugged, and suddenly the wolf transformed. Before them stood a huge man, at least six and a half feet tall, with burly arms and a thick chest. His skin was colored similar to Jon's and he was wrapped in a heavy seal skin and fur coat and trousers. He had slightly angled eyes and facial features. Those eyes shone the same gold as the wolf's had.
Bear laughed, a deep roar from such large chest. "You always disturb my hunts, making so much noise as you do, my friend,"
he said. But I was not hunting today, merely enjoying a run in the snow. I am at your service."
Jon turned to Nimeda. "Nimeda, this is Bear-Who-Runs-On-Ice. He is a member of the Inuit tribes, and walks the Spirit World in harmony with the animals, particularly wolves, who manifest themselves here."
He turned to Bear. "I have found Nimeda walking the Spirit World awake with little memory of why she is here or how the world works. She is the first one I have found not of our peoples, and I was hoping you would know more than I about how this is possible, and how she can exist here safely."