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[h2]Gibbou and Neiya[/h2]
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[hr]

Gibbou had traveled due south from the temple, but a temptation to check on the trolls she left around northern Toraan had veered her off eastwards. She was now in the Boreal Highlands, taking a small stroll across the endless grass plains. She really had to get back to Adrian soon - she still had no idea of how long she had been gone - and the thought of that calamity Firinn had mentioned began to itch terribly at the back of her skull now that the high of joy and love from earlier had begun to fade.

While passing through the land, she came upon an uncannily frozen lake at the foot of a mountain - uncanny in that nothing else than this very lake was frozen. She moved closer and focused on her reflection in the ice. It stared back at her, and she had the slightest feeling that something else also was staring at her through her mirror image. She pulled away and shivered uncomfortably. Something about this water, this whole area, woke to life those emotions poor Meghzaal and Lucia had spent so much time quelling. She couldn’t let herself be consumed by her anxieties and insecurities again. She had to remember her strengths, too, for their sakes. She turned away from the lake and kept moving. However, an approaching shape made her slow down and observe.

At first, the shape was but a blur, rocketing above the tree-line at a pace that was sure to shock mortals and birds alike, barrelling towards the lake from the east. For a moment, it seemed to slow down, and vanished down under the cover of trees in the distance. The sudden departure of a whole slew of colorful birds from the nearby trees tracked its position through the dense forest until finally; the mysterious shape broke through the foliage and revealed itself to the blue goddess. 

It was a pale woman with blond-blue hair and horns sprouting from head and shoulders alike. Deep in thought and bearing an expression that expressed guilt and pain alike, she - despite moving quite a bit slower now - drifted through the air in a straight line towards the iced-over lake, listless feet barely brushing the longer grass and bushes as she moved at pace. If she had noticed the Moon Goddess, she had not yet made an effort to show it.

Gibbou made a frown and pondered momentarily whether to say hello - she really, really should get on with her quest. She then raised an eyebrow at that train of thought. What kind of philosophy was that? Of course she should say hello! Nothing like meeting new people, anyway, and she looked so sad! Maybe she could share a few of those kind words Megh and Lucia had shared with her? And so, Gibbou waved her hand and yelled a gleeful, [colour=lightblue]“Hello there!”[/colour]

The floating goddess came to an abrupt stop, shocked out of her internal distraction, and her attention turned entirely to the enthusiastic Gibbou. She seemed hesitant at first, a visible internal turmoil as she went through the exact same dilemma the Moon Goddess had - or at least that was to be assumed. It was a conflicted shyness - or perhaps apathy. Still, she watched Gibbou quietly from afar, and then peered back at the lake by which the two found themselves.

Some awkward few moments later, the goddess drifted over towards Gibbou with renewed determination, icy blue eyes settling on the equally blue goddess. Her first words were not a greeting; on approach she questioned with inquisitive distress in her tone. [color=8493ca]“Did you do this to my sanctuary?”[/color] as her arm lifted to point at the lake in a manner most befitting her accusation.

[colour=lightblue]“So it’s -not- supposed to be like that? I [i]knew[/i] the ice was fake!”[/colour] She gave the frozen lake a disappointed frown before looking back at the woman with an apologetic shrug. [colour=lightblue]“No, it was like this when I came, and I’m really sorry to say I don’t know who did this to it.”[/colour] She shifted between the woman and the lake again. [colour=lightblue]“Would you like some help breaking it apart?”[/colour]

Another pause, as the horned goddess looked upon the lake and back to Gibbou once more. [color=8493ca]“...I-...”[/color] she offered with pursed lips, hesitation clear. Eventually, she simply nodded, finding words more troublesome than they were worth. With new direction she drifted closer towards the lake, eager to restore it to what it had once been. Her feet touched down by the lakeside, kneeling with uncertainty.

Gibbou nodded back and approached the lakebank with the woman beside her. She knelt down next to the ice and looked over at her with a supportive smile on her face as she raised her fist in the air. [colour=lightblue]“On the count of three, okay? One…”[/colour]

The pale woman looked back to Gibbou as she spoke, following her features and tracing each creasing line on her face with her eyes. It was as she hung on every word. [colour=lightblue]“Two…”[/colour] With the countdown imminent, she seemed to decide once more, and looked back to the lake with fresh intent. Tense and uncertain yet still determined, she seemed to hold her breath awaiting the final word.

On ‘three!’ their fists hammered the ice as one, sending a quake throughout the whole surface. The ice didn’t stand a chance - it was pulverised to slush, which melted away in the water below. While ripples trembled through the water itself, true to the lake’s qualities, the ripples faded in due time, leaving the serene pool as it had always been - tranquil and still. Gibbou blinked her wide, bright eyes at the water, whispering a quiet [colour=lightblue]‘woah’[/colour] before saying, [colour=lightblue]“This is the most beautiful lake I’ve ever seen.”[/colour] Her eyes stared skywards, then back to the lake. [colour=lightblue]“It reflects the moon so perfectly!”[/colour] She couldn’t help but squeeze out a gleeful squeal. [colour=lightblue]“How’d you even find this place, miss--... Uh… Sorry, I forgot to ask your name.”[/colour]

The woman righted herself slowly, lifting from the ground to resume her dubious hovering just barely above the grass. She too took in the beauty of the lake, lips parting to release an exultant breath - it wasn’t a smile, but somehow they had managed to bring some measure of peace to her previously conflicted features. When she finally turned to look at Gibbou, it was with a softer side than that insidious suspicion of before. [color=8493ca]“I-.. I followed the river. I liked it, so I made it this way.”[/color] she explained with a murmur. [color=8493ca]“I am Neiya, Goddess of Love,”[/color] there was a distinct pause, and the goddess once more managed to look conflicted. [color=8493ca]“...and loss. Thank you… for the help. You are only the third of our kind I have met.”[/color]

[colour=lightblue]“Only the third? Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, Neiya - most are a nice, open bunch who’d be happy to meet you. I’m Gibbou, Goddess of the Moon and guardian of life in the night. You are most welcome for the help, by the way. Always happy to be of service.”[/colour] She reached out to shake Neiya’s hand with a gleeful smile.

[color=8493ca]“Oh,”[/color] Neiya began with soft surprise. She glanced down at the offered hand, a little dumbstruck by the gesture. Still she lifted her own hand hesitantly, doubting herself each step along the way in completing the handshake. [color=8493ca]“Firinn told me of you, and something about birthing dr-.. hm.. drewdism?”[/color] Her slender hand finally accepted the handshake, cold to the touch and uncertain of the ritual involved. Drawing on previous experiences, instead of shaking Gibbou’s hand, she squeezed it gently. The ripple effect of emotions roiling within the goddess offered but a warning sensation, but other than that, it was mostly awkward.

The moon goddess felt the dissonant emotions and shrunk together somewhat. She sheepishly squeezed back, either too weakly or too roughly, before letting go. She immediately gripped her right arm with her left hand and let her eyes drop to their feet. [colour=lightblue]“O-oh, he did, huh? Yeah, uh, he’s, good at… Talking. He told me some stuff too, lots of stuff that didn’t feel all that great to hear honestly. Came out of nowhere, too - like, who says that kind of stuff to someone you’ve just met, and--?”[/colour] She awkwardly back at Neiya. [colour=lightblue]“... Sorry, ramblings and, and that--uhm! Yeah, I’m making droodism--... Druitism--.. Bleh! Druidism a thing, yes. Did he tell you what it does?”[/colour]

That seemed to throw Neiya for a loop. [color=8493ca]“...No. Like, ah, like you said. It said a great many things. I am not sure even the God of Truth understands all what it says. Only enough to push us where it,”[/color] she paused to consider, features darkening as she did. [color=8493ca]“...wants us to be? But it has a burden, just like all of us, I think. For all the beauty of the moon, I imagine not all is as you imagined it would be.”[/color] She didn’t smile, but she seemed to find a little confidence, at least. [color=8493ca]“And the moon is beautiful.”[/color]

[colour=lightblue]“Heh, thanks,”[/colour] came a timid reply, much of the earlier confidence lost like a needle in a haystack. [colour=lightblue]“Y-you, too.”[/colour] The words lingered in the air for a moment while Gibbou’s cheeks turned from plum to peach. [colour=lightblue]“I-I mean… YEAH! Ahem, yeah, the God of Truth sure says a lot of stuff about the things and, and, woah! Would you look at the, uh, Moon! It’s almost… Midnight, damn it… Uh, uhm! Say, how’s the creation of Galbar going?”[/colour] At the end of her sentence, she looked as though she had sprinted a mile.

The pale goddess tilted her head slowly, watching Gibbou suffer with a returning tranquility, almost as if she had rebuilt her confidence by sapping the poor moon goddess of hers. [color=8493ca]“Oh? I wouldn’t know. I spent most of my life watching the ocean, and listening to the emotions of mortals.”[/color] Her eyes once more followed the goddess with growing intensity, and her hand slowly raised once more, that unstoppable desire to touch returning. Fingers trailed towards Gibbou’s face slowly, hesitant and sedate. The moon goddess trembled slightly and seemed to look everywhere except for Neiya’s icy eyes. [color=8493ca]“Let me show you,”[/color] Neiya murmured with an enraptured tone, as her hand slid up to rest against Gibbou’s cheek, a gentle and guiding push to make her face the love goddess. 

A whirlwind of emotion rushed from the simple connection, Neiya’s eyes seeming to roil with a strange storm as she shared a sliver of her experiences and feelings. The intense grief of the villagers at the riverbank, the joy of creation and the peace of the ocean - all whirling past in an instant. Finally, there was Sanya, Yaian, their loss. Their once still and happy life, torn to shreds. Their memories, and the pain that had transformed them forever. It was a maelstrom of shared emotion, memory, and context.

The moon goddess’ knees buckled under the weight of the emotions and didn’t seem to regain their strength right away. While one leg was submerged in the icy water of the lake and the other was kicking weakly against the shore soil in an effort to stand, Gibbou looked up at Neiya with squinting, leaking eyes, rivers of quartz pouring across her plum skin like a flood. She placed a trembling palm over the icy hand on her cheek and spoke in a squeaking voice choked up by tears: [colour=lightblue]“Why? Why are you showing me all this?”[/colour] She covered her mouth with her hand and looked back down. [colour=lightblue]“Sanya, Yalan… A troll… It ate their families, their friends. It, it ate them, it--”[/colour] Gibbou gagged multiple times until she keeled over completely, propping herself up on her elbows, one of which dipped into the lake. Hopeless eyes glared at the mixture of soil and water right underneath her face, half a reflection hatefully scowling back at her. [colour=lightblue]“... My own creations - the ones I created to protect life on this continent… Are murderers… Mortal-eaters… And I saw none of it. Not even the raid on their village perpetrated by humans, did I see.”[/colour] Finally, her elbows gave out, and Gibbou laid flat on her belly, halfway washed ashore the lakebank, her weeping painting the empty soundscape a deep blue.

Neiya followed her down at first, a paradoxically sorrow-filled fascination watching the moon goddess experience despair. The connection broken as Gibbou fell to the ground, the love goddess touched down on the wet ground beside Gibbou, flexing her hand slowly. A soft breath escaped her, and for a time she appeared lost in thought - she hadn’t expected such a reaction - but then she hadn’t known about the connection, either. With graceful motion, she leaned forward to grasp the crying goddess, and gently lift her head up against her own legs and lap, away from wet sand and icy water. She offered no words at first, allowing the air to fill with the goddess’ pain, but ran a gentle set of fingers over her hair in a serene show of comfort. Eventually, she simply murmured. [color=8493ca]“I’m sorry,”[/color] She sighed as she looked out over her lake, alternating between her vigil over Gibbou and her creation.

In her despair, it didn’t matter to Gibbou whose body she was in contact with - all that mattered was that she found solace in something - anything. The cold, shallow comfort she received from Neiya felt momentarily like that of her sister, but deeper, darker emotions stirred forth within her. She asked again, [colour=lightblue]“why did you show me this?”[/colour], but her tone had lost its somberness, replaced instead by spiteful venom. [colour=lightblue]“You knew it would hurt for me to see - why did you show me this?”[/colour]

Neiya sat quiet for longer than what was acceptable for such a reasonable demand, hand stopping in its gentle comfort. Another sigh, bothered by their shared moment ending. [colour=8493ca]“Because,”[/colour] she began in answer, a confidence to her voice that made her words unfriendly. [colour=8493ca]“Now you will appreciate happiness where you find it.”[/colour] Another pause, as she ruminated on their shared words at the beginning of their meet. [colour=8493ca]“How can you protect life, if you do not understand it? This pain is crushing, but it is also purposeful. Now you know.”[/colour]

[colour=lightblue]“You’re lying, aren’t you,”[/colour] came a knife-like reply with a hopeless voice. [colour=lightblue]“No one would extract purpose from this suffering - it’s just suffering. What motivation is there in seeing your greatest achievements bring death and ruin to mortal lives. How can I appreciate happiness knowing my creations one day will end it? No, you did this to hurt me, didn’t you?”[/colour]

The pale goddess seemed to crease her lips into a thin, sad smile, though no one would ever see it. [colour=8493ca]“Oh, my sweet. No,”[/colour] she offered with a soft tone, [colour=8493ca]“I know it hurts. It feels like it will twist your stomach out of your body. Like an itch in your bones that makes you want to scream and give up at the same time.”[/colour] Her fingers began to run over and through Gibbou’s hair gently once more. [colour=8493ca]“It feels like it will feel that way forever.”[/colour]

She gazed down at the goddess listless in her lap, offering another gentle sigh. [colour=8493ca]“But this pain is normal. It will fade - never entirely, perhaps, but you will always remember. And that will make you stronger than you were before.”[/colour]

[colour=lightblue]“How will it make me stronger? All I feel is weakness, uselessness… Meghzaal and Lucia, my draugs… Next you’ll probably tell me my night elves have slaughtered every living thing in Mydia and that the owlixes feast on human babies in the night, won’t you? Go on. I’m done as a goddess anyway. What good am I?”[/colour] She dug her nails seethingly into Neiya’s lap.[colour=lightblue] “... I’ve never been good for anything - why should that change just because you’ve proven this to me?”[/colour]

The alleged love goddess lifted her other hand and gently laid it on Gibbou’s head as well, resting it gently as the other continued its gentle comfort. [colour=8493ca]“You have opened your eyes, my love, and the pain has given you doubt. It hurts, and what you saw was awful. It does not need to stay that way.”[/colour] Neiya bowed forward in a gentle lean, leaning over the sobbing goddess in her lap protectively. [colour=8493ca]“If this pain makes you give up, how can you ever say you loved the world? Is this sorrow, this new knowledge, enough to stop fighting for what you want?”[/colour]

[colour=lightblue]“It’s enough to make me question what I want, that’s for sure.”[/colour] There was an odd, twisted, uncanny comfort in the Love Goddess’ embrace - cruel, cold, unfeeling; and yet, it was so safe, so warm. Hatred and grief bubbled like hot grease atop a thick layer of loneliness and need for praise, love, anything to prove to Gibbou that she had some manner of worth. [colour=lightblue]“You’re just like Firinn. You break me down for no reason and tell me that these feelings are supposed to make me better - stronger. Look, I’m trying, okay, but how can I achieve my highs when I’m always being pulled low by people who constantly remind me of all my mistakes?”[/colour]

[colour=8493ca]“I’m sorry it did that to you, Gibbou,”[/colour] Neiya intoned with all the sedate comfort her sorrowful tone could muster. [colour=8493ca]“Fìrinn does not-... did not experience emotion. It does not understand the impact its words will have until it has said them.”[/colour] she explained, casually side-stepping her own part in the matter. [colour=8493ca]“It can be tough. It can feel like the world is crashing down around you. But that does not mean you cannot find things to cherish. Moments of peace. Happiness cannot be killed, only tempered. If these things worry you so, you can find the drive to make them better. And until then, you can stay here with me. For as long as you want.”[/colour]

[colour=lightblue]“Give me one good reason not to get as far away from you and your, your words as I possibly can,”[/colour] replied the moon goddess as a fresh flood of white tears dripped down onto Neiya’s lap.

[colour=8493ca]“Because I feel what you feel. I feel it every turn of the sun. Every moment, a mortal weeps, a chorus sings inside me, of happiness, of guilt, of pain. I cannot take away your pain, my dearest, but I can help you fight through it,”[/colour] Neiya righted herself slowly, lifting her gaze out over her reflective lakefront. Her hand abated it’s slow stroke of her hair, and moved to rest gently on Gibbou’s shoulder. [colour=8493ca]“You don’t have to be alone in this. I am here for you always.”[/colour]

Gibbou scowled up at Neiya’s face and pushed herself up slowly. She dusted as much soil and dirt off her clothes as she could, saying nothing.

Neiya parted her lips as if to speak, but seemed conflicted as Gibbou drew away. She extended her hand towards the goddess once more, hesitant. Pausing halfway, she lifted out of the dirt, slowly raising herself to hover over the ground once more. [colour=8493ca]“...I want you to stay, Gibbou.”[/colour] She pleaded after a time of silence, uncertainty returning to her voice.

[colour=lightblue]“I can’t… I’ve been going about this all wrong. I think I understand now.”[/colour] She looked down at [i]Hir[/i] and pulled it from her belt. [colour=lightblue]“No matter what I do, I always make things worse than they already were. But if I can’t safeguard life here on Galbar, I should just bring it closer to home!”[/colour] She turned to Neiya with a smile - it was not a hopeful smile, but one of desperation. [colour=lightblue]“I’ll bring as much of the world life with me as possible and set up a safe and tranquil home for them all…”[/colour] She looked to the sky. [colour=lightblue]“On the moon!”[/colour]

Neiya lifted her gaze to the sky as well, narrowing her eyes as she peered at the large orb hanging there mockingly. When she looked back down to Gibbou, her serenity had begun to wash away from her features. Back came that bitter frown. That loneliness. [colour=8493ca]“I’m certain you will care for them. Wherever you go. What you feel now will make sure of that, as it does me,”[/colour] she breathed out sharply before snapping a last comment. [colour=8493ca]“If that is what you want - then you should go. Go about your life with your new purpose.”[/colour]

[colour=lightblue]“I will,”[/colour] came a reply. Gibbou looked down at [i]Hir[/i]. [colour=lightblue]“Everything else I’ve tried is useless, anyway.”[/colour] She then tossed the horn into the lake, where it sank out of sight. She then turned her head sideways and regarded Neiya over her shoulder. [colour=lightblue]“Oh, and Neiya…”[/colour]

[colour=8493ca]“...Yes, Gibbou?”[/colour] The discarded horn was nothing but a novelty to the love goddess, who snapped her attention back to Gibbou the moment her name rang out.

[colour=lightblue]“Never talk to me again.”[/colour] With that, the moon goddess soared off, ready to enact her plan.

The horned goddess stared up towards the sky, trailing the moon goddess with her eyes as she rocketed away. A shaky breath left her lips, before the tears began to well up.

[hr]

[i]Later that day, on Whakarongo, Mydia…[/i]

“Oh, please, great World Tree, make the forest grow back,” came the nasal, squeaky prayer of Robgob the woodsgoblin. His grove had been taken by a flood, and now he was kneeling by the clear, still water where his precious trees once had grown. He opened his eyes and found, to a somber lack of surprise, that the trees hadn’t grown back. He let out a groan and pummeled the ground with a small fist. 

Then something bumped into that fist. The goblin looked up and saw the oddest of things - a hollow horn, marked with tattoos and vines as if an artist had made it and left it outside to be reclaimed by nature. “What’s this,” he mumbled, “a horn of sorts?”

He shrugged. Maybe the village chieftain would like a closer look. He stood up and brought it back to the village. 

[hr]

[hider=SummaREEEE!]
Gibs is happy schnappy. On her way back to her duties, though, she of course gets distracted thinking about how her trolls are doing. Strolling through Boreal Highlands, she comes across the Tearfall Lake, which she finds weirdly frozen. Enter Neiya, wondering if Gibbou froze her precious lake. Gibbou says she didn’t and offers to help her unfreeze it. The two do it together and the lake is unfrozen! They do a handshake to greet each other, and Neiya uses her emotion powers to make the situation hella awkward, which affects Gibbou, too. Gibbou then asks the worst of all questions to ask Neiya, which is ‘how are you’. Neiya responds by saying, “Lemme show you,” and then proceeds to show Gibbou all the terrible shit she’s been through, including meeting the two humans whose whole village was first eaten by trolls and then attacked by humans. Gibbou collapses knowing she made the trolls and was oblivious to the human assault, and Neiya nurses her sweetly like a psychotic…  psycho. Gibbou asks what there is to be hopeful about now, to which Neiya says ‘oh, you know, now that you know the world’s shit, maybe those little happy moments will be better?’ Gibbou is not convinced and instead offers up that she’s done this whole protection business wrong. She needs to take as much life as she can to the moon to keep it under closer watch. The two of them then break up.

Oh, and [i]Hir[/i] is tossed into the Tearfall Lake and pops up in Mydia in the hands of a goblin who was praying for its grove to grow back. [i]Hir[/i] will now remain there for the timeskip.
[/hider]

[hider=MP SummaREEEEEEEE!]
Wow so much no MP spent.
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[hider=Prestigio]
Tearfall Lake: 4 prestigios + 5 = 9 prestigios!
[i]Hir[/i]: 5 prestige + 5 (over 10k) = 10 prestigios.
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