[center][h1]Reprise[/h1][/center] [i]Twang.[/i] Hujaya plucked the strings of the new lyre. She had spent the last couple of days carving the wood and she had just strung it. Now she was adjusting the knots and tightening the strings to get it in tune. [i]Twang. Twing. Twing.[/i] Kaleo walked over and touched Hujaya’s shoulder. “I’ve just put Delfon to sleep. Leave that to tomorrow.” Hujaya put the lyre down on the ground. “Okay.” She tilted her head up and kissed Kaleo. They walked over to the bundles of blankets which were their beds for the night. Hujaya and Kaleo lay down together, snuggled close. The stars sparkled above. Soon the darkness of sleep overtook them. [I]Twang.[/i] Hujaya plucked the strings of the new morin khuur. She had spent the last couple of days carving the wood and she had just strung it. Now she was adjusting the knots and tightening the strings to get it in tune. [i]Twang. Twing. Twing.[/i] Kaleo walked over and laid his hand on Hujaya's shoulder. "Sleep is here. Leave that for tomorrow." Hujaya put the instrument on the ground. “Okay.” She tilted her head up and went to kiss Kaleo but as her face went to his, instead of the expected resistance her face passed through a cold breeze. Forcing a blink, she found herself staring at an endless grey fog -- all else but herself, her instrument and her seat swallowed by the opaque blight. She picked up her instrument, stood up and turned on the spot, trying to find anything in the fog. “Kaleo?” she called out. The only response she recieved was a hallowed silence -- something sweet slowly scrambling it. It was a low trumpet horn laughing through the fog, following an alien melody. The invisible notes of the instrument seemed to cut through the oppressive fog, urging her onward and inward to the mercy of the blinding mist. Through the mist she went, following the strange sounds. She started to hum along to the music, her sweet voice mingling with the trumpet’s sound. Just as she found harmony with the trumpet, an abrupt stop and violent strike of a foreign instrument replaced the trumpet -- the sound of a bow striking a violin accompanied by a grainy laugh. The fog itself seemed startled by the sudden change and with a great vibration it retreated in all directions, leaving Hujaya alone in an orchard of mossy headstones under a grey sky. A lone figure in a gentleman’s suit sat upon the tallest gravemarker, a stringed instrument tucked under the silhouette of his chin, a wild bow striking out violent notes. Hujaya looked around in confusion at the alien scenery, the strange clothing and the odd instrument. Yet there was something alluring about the music and she walked closer. She lifted the morin khuur she held and drew the bow across the strings to form a long chord. This was also an instrument she had never played or seen, but Hujaya didn’t seem perturbed by that detail. “Do you know what you’re doing?” The grainy voice swirled behind her ear. “I’m…” Hujaya started then trailed off as reality caught up to her. The chord squeaked and faltered. [i]What is this instrument? How did I get it? Where is this place? Who is he? This feels like a dream.[/i] She turned her head to look for the source of the voice but found nothing there. “Is this a dream?” The violin stopped. “Why yes it is.” Hujaya seemed to grow only more confused. “I’ve never had a dream like this before.” “I assure you that you have,” The disembodied voice swirled, “We all have, sometimes it’s just hard for them to stick -- if you could excuse the colloquialism.” A cheshire grin grew on the gentleman's face, nearly splitting it. "It's in these dreams you discover the answers you've always wanted -- though sometimes the head doesn't like what it hears and as you awaken." A popping sound bounced on the air, "It's as if you never heard the truth." Hujaya looked around herself again. Then she looked the gentleman up and down. “Who are you?” "Who but the Lord of your dreams?" K'nell answered, "Of all dreams." Hujaya blinked. “Okay.” Her eyes settled on the violin in K’nell’s hands. “What is that instrument? I’ve never seen one quite like it.” "It is the violin, it's cry is unique to each individual copy of itself -- much like the mind," K'nell answered simply. He paused the voice now originating from his wide grin, "Do you want to know how to craft such an instrument?" “Yes please,” Hujaya answered. “I could show you, but I could show you much more than that,” K’nell flashed a cheshire grin that broke through the fog, “Tell me Hujaya, what questions itch in the back of your mind?” He looked her over as if examining something unseen, “What greater purpose is there to your life, to your beloved’s life -- to all your lives... to Galbar. What is the why and why is the what. Sure, I could show you how to build a violin, in the same way that I can show you the mechanisms of existence itself.” “I show everyone Delphina’s strength and beauty,” Hujaya recited. Then she slowed down and thought more carefully. “I, we, help others. We have this gift and we are to share it and use it.” Hujaya looked at the cheshire grin, that unnerving smile, and the significance of what K’nell was suggesting dawned on her. She looked around at the scene around them; thought it was foreign she could sense the melancholy nature of the place. “And yet we all die. We do the best we can with what time we have, but in the end we go to the pyres or are carried away by the soul-birds to wait, a fate with no certainty. Except Ippino, who’s now with Delphina.” A soft smile came onto Hujaya’s face as she added, “Perhaps I’ll ask Delphina to take me too when my time comes.” "Perhaps you may," K'nell offered, "But what of the others? Shall they be condemned to their fear of the unknown?" Hujaya grew sombre. “It seems like they will,” she said glumly. “And I suppose you won’t do much about that, will you?” K’nell sat back and began to pluck at the strings of his violin. “Is there anything I can do?” “Is this the first time this question has come to bear?” K’nell looked past the frame of his instrument, almost idly. He waved a hand suddenly, as if banishing an old habit, “Nevermind, but hear me as I answer: There is plenty that you can do -- there always is.” He placed his violin at the foot of the grave he sat on, “You are mortal; a surprising and ingenious group of creatures. A mortal once taught me a great many things about existence, you know, so now let this immortal teach you a great many things about your own.” He waved his hand and the fog that wreathed the scene rolled away to reveal the twinkling . blanket of the night sky -- black and infinite. Across the center a green nebula scarred it wide. Pointing his violin bow at it, K’nell spoke matter of factly, “An exit. An end to your time in the pyres, an end to death, an end to the unknown. Any and all are accepted by its gates and on the other side is paradise -- it is as simple as I say and I ask for nothing in return. Know my name as K’nell, the God of Sleep -- know that I feel love for mortalkind and that is your ticket in. Simply meditate upon the nebula in the sky, and let your worry fall to my feet. Upon the day you die, you will find yourself on the other side.” Hujaya stared at the green nebula for a few moments as a look of wonder grew on her face. “You’re offering a life after death, one with hope?” “To any who choose it,” K’nell answered, “It is a choice that cannot be forced, but one that should be made aware.” “Oh thank you!” Hujaya ran forwards and hugged K’nell. The embrace lasted only a second before she remembered that K’nell was a god and she backed away with an expression of embarrassed shock. Awkwardly she bowed down. “Thank you K’nell God of Sleep. You are so kind.” K’nell dipped his head slightly, “Now the question remains to how kind you will be.” Straightening the front of his clothes he stood up, “Know that I hear all prayers, but my own voice may be too soft for the unfaithful to hear. My answers will come, and I shall now go. I must make my leave of Galbar once more, as you surely will when the time has come -- as all who have felt Moksha will.” He looked back up at the nebula and mouthed the word ‘Moksha’ once more, inciting a strange pulse of light. Another pulse and a blinding dawn was cast across the gravestones. K’nell looked back down at Hujaya through the light and cast a cheshire grin, “How kind will you be?” Hujaya opened her eyes to the blue-grey sky above, with the light of the morning sun cast across her face. As memories of the dream lingered in her head, she knew in her heart that the dream was real. Hujaya rolled over to Kaleo next to her and prodded him awake excitedly. “Kaleo, Kaleo, wake up!” Kaleo grunted. “What is it?” he asked wearily. “A god visited me in my dreams!” Kaleo stopped, then rolled around to face Hujaya and propped himself up on his elbows. “He was called K’nell the God of Sleep,” Hujaya continued. By now Sulingu had been woken by the commotion and was also listening. “He told me there was a way for us to not go to the pyres when we die, or to be taken away as a crystal to some unknown place. The green nebula in the sky, it’s a pathway to paradise, a life after death.” Kaleo’s eyes widened. “That is incredible. But how would we get there? We can’t fly.” Hujaya smiled and shook her head, her eyes growing misty. “That’s the beautiful thing. K’nell said all we have to do is meditate upon the nebula, Moksha, and let our worries fall at his feet. It’s a free gift, given because he loves us.” Kaleo looked at Hujaya for a few moments, then embraced Hujaya tightly. “This is wonderful. It’s so simple I can hardly believe it.” “But it’s true. I know it in my heart.” Kaleo kissed Hujaya’s forehead. “I know, my love, I know.” They held the embrace for a few moments longer, until Sulingu rushed over and hugged them too. “This is great news! We have to tell others,” she said. “Yes, yes we do. And we must be kind as K’nell was kind to us,” Hujaya said. She stood up. “We need a song to mark this occasion. And we need to tell Delfon.” Hujaya picked up her lyre. She inspected the instrument for a few moments, running a finger along one of the strings. “There’s another thing. K’nell had a strange yet beautiful instrument. He called it a…” Hujaya rolled the new word around her mouth. “...violin.” [hr] The shadows of dusk rippled off the waves of the sea as the Lustrous Garden peeked up from below the horizon. In the water knelt Hujaya. She was praying. “Delphina, I have something to tell you. I was visited by K’nell the God of Sleep in a dream. You probably know him. And he offered us something too incredible to refuse. Life after death. An alternative to the pyres and the alma. All I have to do is meditate on Moksha and lay my worries at K’nell’s feet. And I’m going to tell everyone I can. But I don’t want you to be mad, Delphina, that I will be talking of another god. I will still continue to uphold my vow to you.” In the water swirling around Hujaya she could just hear a voice. [colour=lightseagreen][i]Peace, Hujaya. K’nell is a friend of mine. If he wishes you to tell others of his paradise, you may.[/i][/colour] “Delphina!” Hujaya exclaimed with a gasp. She looked around at the water around her, although there appeared nothing out of the ordinary. Hujaya then frowned slightly. “If you know K’nell, did you also know of his paradise?” [colour=lightseagreen][i]Yes,[/i][/colour] answered the voice of swirling water. Anticipating the follow-up question, she continued, [colour=lightseagreen][i]K’nell wished to keep it a secret until he was ready. It was his prerogative to give you the news, not mine.[/i][/colour] Hujaya bowed down, her face just above the water. “Of course, Delphina. Thank you.” Hujaya straightened up and sat in the water for a little longer, silently listening to the gentle sounds of the tide lapping about her. As sunlight faded from the sky a distant green cloud appeared among the stars. Hujaya looked upon it and smiled. [hider=Summary] Hujaya is visited by K’nell in a dream. K’nell tells Hujaya of Moksha and his heaven. Hujaya is excited and wants to tell everyone. Hujaya also sees a violin and is intrigued. Hujaya tells Ashalla, who gives Hujaya her approval to tell people of K’nell’s stuff. No Might spent. No Prestige earned either, as this is a Hujaya post rather than a Stormbards post. Collaboratively written by Goldeagle and BBeast. [/hider]