I Walk the Land Once Again, Flesh and Blood Once More (runawayninja x SolarPristess)

[runawayninja]

The first thing that hit Rafe as he awakened once more was the pain. Not true pain, but stiffness and soreness, all over his body. It overcame the feeling of sleepiness and drowsiness that played about his mind, shrouding it like a fog. But the second thing that hit him was the more startling. It was darkness. Darkness all around him. No source of light at all. Rafe moved to stand, but he found himself covered all around by some barrier.

Determined to escape this madness, Rafe began to push in every direction. Finally, with much effort and most of his strength, the top of the barrier started to shift. He put all of his might into moving it and it slowly shifted to the side revealing a dim flickering torchlight cast over the room. He pushed and pushed until finally the top came off and clanked onto the dusty ground with a loud metallic clang. Rafe slowly climbed out of his prison, only to reveal, it was a metal sarcophagus with a golden image of his likeness on the front and several runes along it that he could not decipher. Rafe looked about the room and found the walls covered in murals, but they were impossible to read because a vast wall of thorny vines and roses of various colors had overgrown over the walls and ceiling. There were other sarcophagi in the room, but whether they were occupied or not, he could not tell.

"Where am I...?" He mused quietly to himself as he walked into the center of the room. "Who...am I?" He found that the fog over his mind had not lifted. He knew nothing of himself or his surroundings. Rafe looked down and found he was covered in a white burial robe and a cloak to match. He took the torch off the wall and began to slowly and curiously move along the only exit in the room, a long hallway with more vines and roses.

 

[SolarPristess]

My choppy dark mocha locks bounced upon my shoulders as I ran down the dim light hallways, I was constantly pushing hair out of my face. When was the last time I had seen myself in a mirror? I couldn't recall. I was not lucky enough to have such luxuries as mirrors and vanities. Only those truly privileged were blessed with such objects of leisure. I was lucky if I could find a body of water big enough to see my face in. It'd been so long since I had seen my reflection, I'd almost forgotten what I look like.
A new power surged through the inner sanctum of the castle. A...magical aura, if you will. He would awaken soon. The man who's name I didn't know, but the face I studied everyday. Life was routine. Wake up, light the torches, clean the coffins, scrub the floors, eat rations, receive punishment, wait for further instruction.
To clean the sarcophagus's was my favorite part of the day. I was alone with my own thoughts, just me and a polishing rag.
But soon curiosity overtook the task.
"Never open the coffins. Never ask for more rations. Never set the prisoners free. Never ask why." The rules that bound my life were simple. But I couldn't resist.
I would only open one. It would be enough to satisfy the rebellion in my mind.
The tops were cold and heavy, and I was sore and fragile, but that doesn't stop someone with a motive.
The man inside was almost a novelty. His face unblemished and his features soft with deep sleep, his chest hardly moved with breath. His state was almost trance-like, I'd never seen such a peaceful demeanor in such a tragic place.
Everyday forward his sarcophagus was polished most, and every day I would clean the gentle skin on his face and unruffled the wrinkles in his robe. Brush through his hair even though there were no tangles or knots. His peace was enough to put me at peace, if only for moments.
But today was different, today he would come to be with the rest of the conscious world. Master told me so, and applied a new set of rules. Rules I would swiftly ignore.
Water sloshed from the buckets in my hands onto the dusty wooden panels of the hallways, I would come back later to clean them. My mouth gripped tight on a bag of rations so hard I fear my jaw would most certainly lock in place.
Finally I reached the tall ebony door, the sound of scuffling footsteps echoed behind it. A new excitement, as well as a new nervousness, overtook me, and I opened the door with a new haste.
With the few steps I took inside, my voice echoed around the room:
"You're finally awake..."

 

[runawayninja]

Rafe was a bit surprised when one of the large double doors opened of its own accord, holding the torch in his hand tightly in case it would become necessary to use it as a flaming club. He swallowed and in the light a lone figure appeared. A figure that slowly became feminine and almost statuesque as his eyes adjusted to the new light from the other side of the door. He looked at her as he slowly approached, her demeanor and look disarming his fear and guarded position. Slowly he crossed the threshold of the door as she spoke to him. The words caught his ear and suddenly became a cause for concern.

He was quite handsome, as those of his kind often were. Being so infused with magic gave one unusual features and a natural, alluring aura to them. Rafe had long silvery hair that shined in the light, like streams of moonlight. His eyes glowed softly in the darkness with a bright green light and a seemingly hypnotic beauty. His flesh was pale, lending him a haunting, ghostly beauty as he walked and moved with unearthly grace. He looked her over as he processed what she said to him and wondered about his situation.

"Finally?" He looked puzzled. "I had not realized I had ever been awake at some point...you've been expecting me? Who are you and where am I?"

 

[SolarPristess]

I lowered the pails of water beside me and set the bag of rations aside, it was a poor spectacle to see this man so dazed and confused. I looked into the pail of water to my left, to see my own stormy blue eyes staring right back at me, I fixed the part in my hair and pulled it back into an ivory silk ribbon.
"My name is Valentine, and this is the inner sanctum." I pulled at the bottom ruffles of my navy uniform, and fixed a copper button back into place, then looked back up to meet his gaze.
"You must be ravished... you've been in stasis for a while. I have some rations here for you, they aren't much, but I threw in my own portion of rye bread for the day. I don't it much anyways...please help yourself. There's some dried meat and fruit in there also. And this is the drinking water..." I pushed the left pail in his direction in offering, " I can tell this is going to take some time to sink in... new places new faces and all..."

 

[runawayninja]

Rafe looked at her, then the food and water and realized just how hungry and thirsty he was. It was beyond knowing. If he could remember any other part of his life, he might have guessed that he had never felt so famished before, but he honestly didn't know. He nodded slowly and thanked her with a softly inflection in his voice. He took the rations and water and looked around for a moment before looking at her again.

"I can share this, I wouldn't want you to go without food and water...and you should eat more than just bread. But...is there somewhere I can sit and eat? I'd prefer not to just sit on the floor...also...the inner sanctum of what?" He looked lost and confused, an unusual look for one of a class that had a claim to power through knowledge.