[centre][h3]TOBIA[/h3]
[colour=orangered][i][b]The One By Immortals Altered, The First Formica, The Primordial Ant, The Ancient Xeno, The First Among Creation, Bane of Jvankind, The First Exile[/b][/i]
Level 2 Hero of Vowzra
5 Khookies

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[hider=Summary]In Glory and Fire did The Ancient Xeno arrive upon the splendor that was Arcon. And when the God of Kings and King of Gods greeted her did she kneel; and this was good. But Time himself drew his cloak about her, and pleaded for the aid of Order against the Cancer of Fate. And verily, an accord was struck, and the Waters of Nyneve created.[/hider]

And so it was that TOBIA’s tremendous, and only, trek came to its horrific conclusion: the resolute hero of Time, the relentless Bane of Jvankind, was sent hurtling through the Universe by that self-same cancer she had declared total war upon. Perhaps the Deformed Flesh thought that, in doing what it did, it had rid itself of this pestilent killer of its profane creations. But TOBIA had merely done as her mighty master willed. 

[centre][i]And her mighty master had declared complete, unceasing, relentless and perpetual war against the Deformed Flesh.[/i][/centre]

The grave implications of this war had yet to surface, but grave [i]indeed[/i] were they. As it were, TOBIA now found herself hurtling through the atmosphere of a planet very different from Galbar. It eased her pain very little to know that she was the first interstellar traveller – indeed, being first had slowly begun to lose its glisten after becoming the first to do so many things. The first to be created was she, the first to enter The Gap and the first to return, the first to traverse the girth of Galbar, and now the first to travel across the Universe toward a planet not hers. Had she not been torn from her home for rolling millennia before? Was she to undergo that same pain yet again? She, the First Exile, and now the Second Exile also.

[color=orangered][i][b]‘Woe am I,’[/b][/i][/color] she lamented, as she pierced the atmosphere of Arcon and hurtled on towards its surface. Yet it seemed that this planet had guardians grim and brave who even now launched themselves towards TOBIA, having already destroyed the Jvanic eye that had followed her across the Universe.

[color=orangered][i][b]‘It is most unseemly for a being who has suffered so to meet only with an unsightly death at long journey’s end,’[/b][/i][/color] she stridulated angrily, [color=orangered][i][b]‘and more so when long journey has only just begun! So forgive me Grim Guardians, for I have many promises to keep and miles to trek before I sleep – long, long miles to trek before I sleep,’[/b][/i][/color] and with that, she released a mighty wave of energy, creating an escape from the Jvanic prison which had protected her from the vast void of the endless spaces, but which now only served as a moving target for beings whom mere flesh could not repel. They would not notice a creature so small as her – in comparison to this great Jvanic thing that she had been imprisoned in – leap away. Nor would they notice that this creature, as it fell, sprouted glorious wings and stridulated her determination and fury to the Arconian skies.

[color=orangered][i][b]‘You may be leagues and galaxies away from me, but know this, great defiler, Jvanic entity, nothing shall spare you from my red fury, when my mandibles next strike, there will no mercy be. And oh Great Tormenter! Think not that you have rid the world of me! ‘tis but Time and Space that separates you and my just severity,’[/b][/i][/color] her wings whirred and she flew swiftly, her perceptive eyes searching for a place of safety where she could hide from the grim guardians. They settled upon a cave. And there she flew, and she went as deep as she could, and she dug herself into the ground, and there she thought and planned, even as the Realta ahead twinkled in the black sky above.

The fall of TOBIA had not gone unnoticed by the ever watching heavens, for as the great Hero of Time submerged herself in the loamy soil of Arcon, a trio of lights plucked themselves. Across the celestial firmament they fell, in arcing lights and the many tribes of Man looked up in wonder.

In fire and light landed the first, a figure of terrible beauty and power. It struck the earth with a shattering crack, throwing up great tummults of soil and stone. In a moment came its siblings, likewise tarnishing the one pristine landscape with their blinding beauty. The One By Immortals Altered felt their coming as the earth she hid within trembled with their landing. 

The Realta dutiously approached the mouth of the cavern, piercing through the darkness and into the dark beady eyes of The One By Immortals Altered. Flames licked from their metals shells and hands, kissing the cold air around them, even as The One By Immortals began clicking her mandibles and preparing for a battle she had done all to avoid.

"[b]Enough.[/b]" 

The air trembled with the command, shaking the foundation of the mountain itself, and the Realta lowered their hands with machine-like obedience. The air in the mouth of the hole shimmered as Logos, Lord of Order appeared. The fallen stars bent a knee in acknowledgement, a fist planted on the soil as they bowed their heads. If their Light bothered their Lord, he did not acknowledge it.

Logos folded his wings against his back and stared down into the dark hole, eyes unblinking as the god stood long in thought. The Realta, unspeaking and ever patient guardians, waited for their Lord's judgement.

At last, Logos tore away the surface of the cave with a dismissive gesture. Another fissured the soil and drew the squirming appendaged creature from its hiding, into the Realta's light. He held The One By Immortals Altered before him, pinned to the ether with but the infintisimal fraction of his will, examining her as one would a particularly interesting specimen.

[b]"Vowzra."[/b]

The Universe rumbled with the summons. And Logos did not need to look behind him to know that he had been answered. Indeed, behind Logos the Fabric of Existence had begun to shimmer and a strange black mist emerged from it, whipping around the Realta and forcing them to retreat from the forming essence of the god. The mist coagulated upon itself and [url=bear_warrior__1p_clr__by_uchider.jpg]a powerful being[/url] appeared before Logos and the First Exile.

[color=black][i]'It appears that my Chosen has been stolen, Eternal One. Why have you chased her here and frightened her so? And why do you threaten her thus with Guardians Grim and divine powers?'[/i][/color] he slowly circled around Logos and pulled the ant towards him, freeing her of the grip of Logos. Upon landing on her feet before her master, she swiftly made her way behind him and hid from the gaze of Logos. Vowzra turned his head towards the god of Order.

[color=black][/i]'You target an innocent, Adjudicator,'[/i][/color] the words left the bear-like mouth in the form of a growl, [color=black][/i]'while the Deformed Criminal fills the Universe with its ugliness. Even now it spurns the Will of Fate and does as it so desires. Has the Time not come, Eternal One, for you to step forth with me and rid the Universe of that most malignant cancer?'[/i][/color]

[b]"Twas she who came and she who awoke my servants,"[/b] Logos stated without emotion. He spared not the faintest glance further towards the insect, having seen all that he had desired too. [b]"She trespasses, intent or none, upon the soils of my world."[/b]

Here Logos gestured with a hand to the cool summer night about them. Wind swayed through trees flush with leaves, insects that chirped and buzz in the Realta-lit shadows, the rushing of the mountain streams. It was a world [b]full[/b] of sight and sound: something that Galbar itself had not yet become.

[b]"When you did not join with me in the Beginning, when All was maleable, you consigned yourself to the inevitable," [/b]the God of Order judged his brethren. [b]"A universe full of Change, Chaos, and Perversion."[/b]

Each word was like a drop of acid upon Logos's tongue, though he did not spit them out. The pain of its realization reminded him of their poison: he would never allow himself to forget their taste.

[b]"But there is but one corner of this accursed plane that the Natural Order... my Order stands. Fate and you gave the universe to the Engineer: let her claim it. But this world is mine, and it will remain free,"[/b] here Logos gave a piercing glare at TOBIA, [b]"...of anomalies incapable of obedience."
[/b]

Vowzra was silent for a long while, looking deep into Logos' eyes.

[color=black][i]'Anomalies incapable of obedience...you say,'[/i][/color] with his heavy words, full of meaning, hanging between them, Vowzra turned to his Chosen and gathered her up in his arms. Fate had sent her here for a reason, but he knew not what this reason was for his Sight was yet tainted by his recent experiences. 

[color=black][i]'Far be it for me to bend the knee and acquiesce to your authority, Eternal One, but I do get the impression that I must bend the knee to a being much greater than you. It only do I obey. And so do you, I must say, and all others. But you all realise very little,'[/i][/color] he put the ant down between the god of Order and himself, [color=black][i]'what is it that you wish of me that this being, whom Fate Most-Glorious has placed at your door-step, may remain?'[/i][/color]

It took Logos a moment to consider. 

[b]"All the yesterdays that never were,  and the tomorrow's that could have been. These will be my daughter's, for this world is for her."[/b]

Logos gave the faintest of nods, and the three Realta took position around TOBIA. The white flame of their essence stretched out to lick her carapace. Where before had been the heat to turn stone to slag, was but now a gentle warmth.

[b]"Her design is... acceptable. She is free in her wildness, she is a wanderess, a drop of free water. She knows nothing of borders and cares nothing for Time or customs. 'Fate' for her isn’t something to bend to. Her life flows clean, with passion, like fresh water."[/b]

[b]"Child of Time,"[/b] Logos adressed TOBIA directly now. [b]"Here there is but law: mine. Drink from clear springs if you thirst, kill if you must if you hunger, and rest within the deep woods. But disrupt not the balance of my Natural Order. The Engineer will not harm you here."[/b]

The ant looked towards her Master, and a small smile spread across the huge bear's face. He waved her forward, telling her to go forth and explore this brave new world. She clicked her mandibles, almost sadly, before turning to Logos and lowering her head in respect. With that, she rushed away from the gathered gods. With her gone, the smile faded from the Lord of Time's face and he turned back to Logos.

'All the yestardays that could have been, and the tomorrows that could be,' he said coldly, his Eye Seeing quite clearly what it was that Logos wanted. Even as he spoke, his form faded and coalesced upon itself, and his familiar form of bark stood before the other divine. Behind him, the cave that had been destroyed in Logos' pursuit of the ant re-formed upon itself and Vowzra turned and disappeared within it. A single command rang out within Logos' mind.

[color=black][i]'Come,'[/i][/color] the Lord of Time made his way through the cave until he reached its end, and there he carved a small hole in the ground which gret until it was a perfect circle with a fifty centimetre radius. He extended an arm forward and waited a while.

Dew had slowly begun to form on his arm of bark, and water began to drip from it. Soon enough there was a rather forceful flow coming down his arm and resting in the waiting hole. As the water rose, its strange properties caused it to erode away at the perfect circle Vowzra had carved until it became twice as big. The waters bubbled and foamed, and Vowzra bent down and placed one wooden finger into the pool. It was immediately still. Rather than his reflection in it, one could see the sky in the pool, and closer still, one seemed to be looking up at a fruitful cherry tree. 

Even as the Timeless One looked into it, the pond overflowed and began slowly gushing up the cave, filling its width and length until it reached the entrance half a mile back. TOBIA had chosen a deep cave indeed, but it had not saved her from the Realta or Logos' piercing sight. It only stopped its relentless flooding when it reached the mouth of the cave. Below them the image disappeared and the waters were still.

Logos stood on the shores of the still, his gaze lingering upon the still waters of the pool. 

[b]"It will suffice."[/b] He intoned at last, as he bent a knee down into the mud of the pool. He placed a hand within the mire and closed his eyes, bending the soil and the elements to his will. The subtlest of nudges, the gentlest of movements: the beginning of a long and tenuous process for it to be perfect upon its presentation.

His power infused into the work, the Lord of Order rose and stole a glance at the silent face of bark. "You will lose." Logos surmised with all the chalance of one remarking about the weather. [b]"The foe you fight is many, varied, ever-changing, and eternal. Fighting Her will be like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible."[/b]

He turned and left for the cool night of Arcon, feet traversing over the stone and sand of the cavern rather than flight. [b]"Something of mine was stolen recently. Soon, I will seek recompense,"[/b] he informed the Lord of Time, casting a backward stare at his brother deity. His eyes shone bright with eternity. "[b]I will strike what blow I can while I am there."[/b]

Though Vowzra's face remained deadpan, a smile wormed its way into his eyes. Even as Logos spoke and proclaimed that he would not aid him in his war, he nonchalantly declared that he would aid him simply because circumstance would allow him to. [i]Circumstance[/i] would allow him to. He did not comment on the matter however. Gods were proud beings, they enjoyed feeling free and independent - feeling that all things depended and rotated around them. It was not his place to proclaim, [color=black][i]be ye ever so high, still you bend the knee[/i][/color]. 

Which wise being was it who once, seeing the darkness and falsehood which prevailed, declared that the truth may indeed be puzzling, that it may take great effort to grapple with? That it may be counterintuitive or contradict deeply held prejudices. Indeed, it may not be in line with what one desperately wants to be true. But in the end, one's preferences do not determine what is true. The Truth is the Truth, though Worlds cry out and shun it. A wise man was he, who pierced the falsehoods, the lies.

[color=black][i]'I may well lose,'[/i][/color] Vowzra stated simply, [color=black][i]'and I may not. It is for the safety of all, the True Timeline, that I struggle and fight, it shall suffice that I did struggle, breathe and die that all may flourish and delight,'[/i][/color] he took a few steps from the cave before he melted away into the Fabric of Existence, and his voice rang out once more in Logos' mind, [color=black][i]'but strike bravely strike, it shall suffice.'[/i][/color]