Takes place at the same time as the game on 02JAN21
22
JAN/21
Three Days in the sand with Oni:
Day 1:
Mar’iya led them into the sand. Silence was the order of the day. Oni could feel each of them in their own self contemplation. He could not read their minds, so he looked inward. Where was his head. Where was Herman? He had not seen him all day. Oni thought, “it must be nice, I just crawl up your sleeve and ride the day away. Wow, great to be a little buddy.” He knew he must be getting tired. His brain started to abuse Herman when he was tired. Herman was his best and most loyal friend. Oni chuckled to himself remembering when Herman told him that if he died Herman would live in the shell of his dead body for as long as he could.
Oni mopped up some of the tracks behind him. He looked south. The sun was a few hours before dusk. He wanted to make sure they started to make camp. He had no idea how long he had stared south but as he turned to yell up to David, he saw the two of them already digging out a camp for the night. He continued to mop all the way up to them.
David was mostly quiet as the three of them made camp. Oni nodded for Mar’iya to look over to David. Mar’iya looked over to him, shrugged and went back to work. The White rider had broken all three of them. Even if she could not finish them off, maybe the apathy she caused will kill them in the sand. It takes sharp wits to stay alive out here. Oni worried they no longer had that wit but hoped that their skill will hold them until they have it again.
That night Oni took two watches just before dawn. His connection to the dawn drove him to taking those watches. He had the benefit of Herman during his watche. David and Mar’iya only had their own selves to keep them busy and awake during watch. Oni woke as Mar’iya gently shuck his arm, “it’s your watch.” Oni rolled over and groaned a little, “great. Give me a minute.” Mar’iya nugged him, “keep an eye on David. He has been restless.” Oni looked over to David and smiled, “you bet, I will watch over him until dawn.”
Mar’iya went off to sleep. Oni had an order of things. First, he went over to the “pit” and relieved himself. That was always the first task. Oni knew as a survivor of the desert that as long as he still could pee, he was getting some water each day. When that stops, you know that you are not getting enough water. He then looked out on the horizon. He scanned it. This was even more important at night as most creatures moved around after dark out here. Next, he grabbed a little food and water. It was good to throw a snack into your stomach. While he pulled out the food, he mentally took a note of the supplies. Looks like about five days. Mar’iya now gave him a new task, watch over David. Thanks for the new task.
He switched his vision from David to the horizon. Wanting to make sure he did both. The watch was the most important of these tasks. As he looked out, the thought of five days kept coming to his mind. Five days of life. If apathy from the loss of our friends does not kill us, we die in six or seven days without finding food and water. Oni nibbled on the tiniest piece of food he could find. He was hungry but did not want to eat too much.
David moved from side to side. His stirring bothered Mar’iya a little as he heard it in his sleep and moved too. Oni looked over and could see the pain within David. Then he heard it. David was speaking in his sleep. Oni could not make out much of it. Whatever he was dreaming about, he was trapped by the concerned with some arch. He heard over and over “Arch Open.” Oni looked out to the horizon again. He felt like he knew this arch but could not place its image in his own mind.
Oni tried to ignore David’s trauma, but he could not. Each time David moved or said some word he understood, he felt sick. David moved and said some name. Initially Oni presumed he was saying Sora, or some longer version of her name. As he listened, when the name came up again, “Dianna.” Oni had no idea who that was. He thought David loved Sora, but maybe he has some other love in Raam. Who is Dianna? Oni still trying to forget about David, stared out to the horizon. David moved again and said some words. Lights flashed out on the horizon. Oni knew they were being watched by Nuatuhl. Now she was changing the stars to do it. Some red and blue stars popped into existence. Oni ducked down by instinct. As he looked up again, they were gone.
Day 2:
The sun started to rise. Once the light filled the land, Oni stepped out. It was good to stretch. He did another scan of the area, before starting his morning meditations. Everything looked normal out in the sand. He moved into his morning forms. He was trying to connect to Lathander with his forms. It was not working the way he wanted. He continued through them with the staff in his hand. Feeling a little frustrated he pulled out his prayer book. He sat in a lotus position and started to read. He made sure to breath and move Ki through his body. For the briefest of moments he felt connected. Mar’iya yelled from the camp, “You going to wake us anytime soon?” Oni tried to read more but his concentration was broken and would not come back, “nope, just letting you sleep.”
Oni kept looking at David as they moved through the dunes. He wanted to talk to Mar’iya but did not want David to know. They both knew his stumble trick, so he had to be careful. David kept looking back to Oni. Oni made sure to look like he could barely move or even lift his feet. This was not too far from the truth, but Oni had strength for days. Still being the last man of the three he took forever to make it into the lunch camp. He staggered in. Oni made sure to plop down on the ground before taking a drink.
Oni: “more dry food.”
Mar’iya: “if we want something else, we will need to stop to hunt. I think another day or two.”
David: “yeah, I think another couple of days is good. After that we need to stop for a couple.”
Oni pulling off a hunk of meat: “I have a question for you two.”
Mar’iya perked up a little: “really”
David: “greattttt”
Oni: “how long do you think Selise had been working against us?”
David: “who cares?”
Mar’iya: “hmmm, not sure why?”
Oni: “depending on how long, I think it matters.”
David now standing and yelling: “who cares? Do you want to try and save her? Fuck that, Sora is dead. Naga is Dead, and it is all her fault. She killed them.”
Oni, in a calming voice: “no, I do plan to avenge them, but not save her. That star has already fallen. This is a separate concern to that, I assure you.”
David still angry: “well, she dropped from the vampire attack.”
Mar’iya: “that’s right, I think it happened at that moment.”
Oni: “that would be good.”
Mar’iya: “she started to act strange after that.”
Oni: “really, I did not notice.”
Mar’iya: “What is your concern?”
Oni: “White, Black, Blue, Green, and be ready for red.”
David: “What about it?”
Oni: “if she turned from the vampire attack great, but what if she was against us the entire time. She said the puzzle cat gave her the order for the gems. What if that is wrong?”
David sat back down. The three of them ate the rest of their lunch in silence. All three started to search through their memories. Had she acted strange before that. David did not know her from her tribe days, so he could not see anything odd. Oni and Mar’iya looked at each other as they both went through all the events from when she arrived to her betrayal. She was strange and the way she just appeared was off but, her behavior was normal until the day of betrayal.
The ground started to rumble. They had been through this many times. It was either Thunderherders or great purple worms. The safest thing was to stay still. They all drew their weapons but stayed still. Their silence continued. Oni was holding his breath. The sound came in from the east. It seemed to be just over a dune. None of them moved. The sound came to crescendo but moved off to the west. They made sure to stay still even as the sound went off to the red of the shift. Mar’iya opened up mental communication with both Oni and David in turn, “stay still, I will check it out.” Oni seeing his moment, “I want to talk when we can.” Mar’iya stood. He cautiously moved to the top of a dune. It was funny to Oni how he moved. These creatures only moved based on the sounds in the sand but everyone trying to be quiet crouch and just peek over the dune. He laughed on the inside. Mar’iya looked around and finally gave the all clear.
Oni and David ran up to the top of the dune. Looking out to the west you could see the dust devils left in the wake of the Thunderherders. David now looked stoic, “that was close.” They all quickly gathered up their supplies to head back out into the sand. Just as they were about to head north once again, they all looked west. The dust was coming their way. They stood perfectly still on the dune ridge. That same group of Thunderherders had turned some mile away and was heading back towards them. They watched as the group came back east and went by them just a couple of dunes to the south of them. Mar’iya opened up mental conversation again.
Mar’iya: “that is strange.”
Oni: “it is. I wanted to ask you something anyway.”
Mar’iya: “David.”
Oni: “no, it is about David.”
Mar’iya: “do you no longer trust him?”
Oni a little shocked at the question: “Of course I do. I am worried about him. … You should scan him from time to time anyway… just to be safe. You should scan me from time to time too… just to be safe.”
Mar’iya: “what can I do about him.”
Oni: “not sure. We need to find a way to help him if we can. Can you scan someone who is sleeping? He is saying stuff in his dreams.”
Mar’iya: “not really. I look into the conscious mind.”
Oni: “and”
Mar’iya: “dreams are in the sub-conscious mind. I could try and go deeper, but that usually wakes the person. If he wakes, he is no longer dreaming and again not helpful.”
Oni: “hmmmmm”
Mar’iya: “what is he saying?”
Oni: “something about some arch, and a name of a woman, I think.”
Mar’iya: “what’s the name.”
Oni: “Dianna…. Any idea who that is?”
Mar’iya: “what a strange name. I think if I had heard that I would remember. …except for having my memory wiped.”
Oni: “keep an eye out, would you?”
Mar’iya: “you bet.”
Mar’iya now speaking out loud: “that was strange.”
David: “yeah, almost as if they are being driven or they are looking for something.”
Oni: “anyone ever hear about this kind of behavior?”
David: “nope.”
Mar’iya: “me either.”
Oni: “well let’s keep an eye out for it again.”
With that the three headed north again.
Day 3:
Herman watched the human show as he took money from the gods. He was good card player and from his perspective Torm and the others were not. Torm had a tell; if he had good cards, he tipped his left horn. Torm was losing his lunch at the table. Herman gathered all of his new coins, “I think it is time for me to go.” He picked up his pipe and had the last few puffs. As he passed it around to his group of friends, “I think Oni will be up soon and needs me to help him stay up.” Torm frustrated with his loss, took the pipe forcibly, “you should go, but you must come back to give me a chance to win back my coin.” His pipe made its rounds. Herman grabbed it again and headed into the tower.
Herman came walking out on to Oni’s arm. He mentally spoke really quietly and with his most calm inner voice, “wake up Oni.” Oni stirred, opened his eyes, and stared at Herman. Mar’iya reached over and gently nudged Oni, “pissst, it your watch.” Oni rolled over to look at Mar’iya, “thanks, I am up.” Both of them looked out into the night. Both knew that she could see them, if they went out into the light of the moon but wondered if she could hear them as well. The night was their enemy in every way. Mar’iya wanted to both not be heard by her, but also not wanting to disturb David, opened up mental communication.
Mar’iya: “I watched and listened to David last night.”
Oni: “did you notice anything?”
Mar’iya: “I think he is getting a little better. He seems more interactive. And I heard the same stuff you heard last night.”
Oni: “anything new.”
Mar’iya: “yes. He says Dianna a lot. I could of swore he said, “Dianna, I will find the new you.” No idea what that means. Maybe it has something to do with the court or something.”
Oni: “think we should ask him about it.”
Mar’iya: “not yet. I think when he has something to share, he will do it.”
Oni: “anything else?”
Mar’iya: “yes. The arch thing is often followed by the word open. I think he wants to open some arch. Maybe it relates to the arch you opened back at the pyramid.”
Oni: “maybe he knows something about other magical archways.”
Mar’iya: “strange thing… I noticed every time he said it, strange stars sparked in the night. I worry, she, or the other gods can hear it and are responding to it.”
Oni: “I saw that too.”
Mar’iya: “we really need some magical way to hide from her and the other gods.”
Oni: “yep. … get some rest my friend.”
Mar’iya quietly moved to lay down. Herman started to hum in a nice, pleasant manner. Oni looked over to his little buddy and gave him a little dung. Herman took it and started to munch down. David struggled throughout the night as normal. Oni listened for other clues. Nothing new was revealed. He and Herman started to play little spotting games as the night continued. The rising sun hours later brought fresh breath to Oni that morning.