RP:The Moon Goddess and The Avatar of Vakmatharas
Summary: In a realm where dreams inexplicably overlap with one another, a cannibal that serves Vakmatharas crosses paths with a former cannibal that served Vakmatharas' bastard creation.
It is Kanna’s last night in Castle Blackwell. After confessing her sin to Quintessa, Kanna had agreed to Karasu’s request to leave Vailkrin, with the caveat that Kanna would be allowed to return to collect her beloved wolf when she found permanent lodgings. And so she lays in a plush bed she never deserved with a wondrous instrument she could not protect, reading over a story from the Cenril library about a fictional phenomenon where dreams overlap, sometimes being from sentient beings, sometimes being the dreams of creatures as ordinary as field mice. At some point, her eyelids shut, and open to reveal a forest. Pale green moonlight seeps through the foliage, illuminating everything on the forest floor with an ethereal glow. As Kanna moves around, she feels strangely at ease, and light as a feather. Holding her hands up to the light, she sees the grey tones of her undead skin. That’s right, she isn’t quite allowed to consider herself a human, is she… Wait, what was she doing again? The bard floats through the woods, lightly jumping off of exposed roots and fallen logs to propel herself. A long chiffon dress trails behind Kanna like wings of a fey, glowing white in contrast to the shadows of the forest where moonlight does not reach. She watches the stars above swirl as constellations are formed and unformed like a living puzzle as she moves through the forest. “Ahaha…” Kanna’s soubrette rings out as she gets the feeling that she is not alone in the woods. “Come on, this way, you’re going to miss it!” Like in most dreams, she did not know how it was that she knew where she was going, or what they would miss, but Kanna is driven by the desire to move forward and find the clearing in the forest.
The nearly silent footsteps of a certain forsaken elf vampire made themselves known to the woods around them as they chased a skinny, black-haired man with really nice hair through the trees. The man was clearly shrieking and calling for help, yet nothing came because no sound actually came from his mouth. Lhyrin would be denied the satisfaction of hearing their prey’s screams and it made them all the more eager to get the kill over with. Yew arrows were loosed, pinning the man to the ground, the vampire not caring to use their enhanced speed to help. Booted feet bring the vampire to man, who is promptly drained of his blood, and lifted up onto Lhyrin’s shoulder for transportation to wherever Lhyrin decided to go fully feast upon their victim. They trailed deeper and deeper into the forest until they heard Kanna’s voice, watching as the glowing woman walked through the trees like a specter. They set the body aside and followed after her, eventually coming to match her pace, and walk by her side, ever entranced by her etherealness.
Kanna looks down as an unfamiliar figure joins her side, matching her stride as they make their way to the furthest reaches of the unknown. They were gliding so easily, Kanna was not sure if they were moving forward, or if the forest was moving to bring the future to them. “You’re someone new!” She says, delightfully surprised, as though it were natural. The treeline opens to a wide meadow that allows for a clear view of the sky. Standing under the moonlight, Kanna looks as though she might be the goddess of Valaane in the flesh. Examining the forsaken vampire now that they have stopped, the woman tilts her head to one side. “Would you look at that… your hands carry blood too. You’re just like me.” The sound of twinkling echoes from above, and Kanna looks up at the sound, her face breaking out into a smile. “There it is!” Sure enough, in the skies above, Valaane is at its fullest with Ahr’Nuk nowhere to be seen. Surrounding the blinding light of the moon are constellations, drifting down in mesmerizing circles like jewels sent from Praemia. The known major arcana of constellations are visible, but formations Lhyrin will have never seen before come to them. They drift within arm’s reach, and Kanna extends an arm up to try to catch a moth made of stars. “Oh…” The stars are just out of reach for the bard, and the moth constellation flits upward back towards the moon, uncaught. “Hurry, you have to catch yours!”
Lhyrin looked down at their hands. It wasn’t just those that were stained red with the blood of the people they’d murdered--they were nearly soaked with it. Despite that, the elf felt comfortably dry and just sort of shrugged it away, looking at Kanna again as she reached for the moth and failed. “I’m afraid that the stars don’t shine for me anymore, little one,” they said as they reached out for the moth. Being a full foot or so taller than the bard made it easier for them and they just managed to grab the starry insect by standing on their tiptoes before it got away entirely. They pinched the very end star that made up one of the wings and pulled it down gently, then released it and guided it to Kanna. “But, they still do for you, it would seem. Even if sometimes, they seem just out of reach.”
Kanna extends her hands, taking the constellation from Lhyrin’s grasp. Once in the palm of her small hands, the starry moth settles, its individual stars waxing and waning in intensity as though it were a heartbeat. The bard pulls the constellation close and gently gives it a kiss before covering it with her other hand. “I don’t believe that for a minute. The stars would never discriminate. That’s why they’re so beautiful.” When she opens her hands again, the moth has transformed shape, now taking the coiled form of a perfectly ebon serpent. When its eyes open, the stars making up its scleras shine more brilliantly than before, as if its gaze were made of light itself. The python’s looks to Lhyrin and slithers towards them, as if it was always meant to accompany the forsaken vampire. When its head tilts upwards, they will see silver scarring on the underbelly of its scales. “How curious.” Kanna coos, tilting her head so she can see the interaction better. “I once read that Vakmatharas kept a snake made of stars as his companion when he walked the mortal plane.” Kanna’s bright blue eyes flicker up to the forsaken elf in curiosity. “Are you Vakmatharas?”
The elf held out a hand, letting the serpent slither its way up their arm and around their neck. It gave Lhyrin a slight squeeze around the neck and then dissipated, its stars lifting off towards the heavens. Raven-colored brows knit together briefly in consideration before they’re taken off-guard by Kanna’s question, stormy eyes peering down at her for some time before they respond. “Only if you are the moon goddess herself,” they said, chuckling somewhat. “I am more… his avatar, if anything. I hunt people, kill them, and eat them as tribute to him.” Lhyrin said this completely nonchalantly. “I expect I offended him with my turning into a vampire, but he has not taken me yet, so perhaps he likes the tribute of souls I give him.” The vampire lifted their attention to the skies again, frowning somewhat. “I do oftentimes wish I was my dark lord, or even someone on his plane of existence to serve him. I wish to be as burdenless as they. But that was not to be.” Their monotone voice held a hint of sadness. Just like their interaction months ago with Loravelle, they could not conceive of why they felt compelled to preserve Kanna, rather than destroy, and it twisted at some place deep inside that had been walled up ages ago. “What will you do now, Moon Goddess, now that you have caught the stars?”
Whereas most would be horrified or repulsed by Lhyrin’s open expression of his method of devotion, Kanna only seems even more intrigued. “You ate the flesh of mortals in tribute to him…” The moon goddess puts a finger to her smiling lips, and her pale sandy skin turns grey and mottled, though her eyes maintain their liveliness. “That would make me an affront to Vakmatharas as well. I wonder if he will take me soon because I cannot make up for my undeath anymore.” Kanna reaches out, beckoning black butterflies forth from the trees. Their iridescent black wings reflect the moonlight to give their fluttering a flickering effect like the ghostly pale white of a colorless candle flame. When they pass in front of the strange woman, her skin has returned to its lively color. A black butterfly lays on her fingers to take a rest, and Kanna allows it to stay there, holding it up towards Vaalane so that its moonlight might rejuvenate it. “Now that I have caught the stars, I think I will ask them to light your way again , at least until the day that Vakmatharas comes for us both.” The butterfly turns back into a cluster of stars and drifts back towards the endless expanse above them both. Her eyes remain transfixed on the skies as she wonders aloud, “Do you suppose Vakmatharas is the type to forgive transgressions?”
“I did… and still do,” Lhyrin said, nodding. They watched as the ethereal being before them changed her appearance, bewitching the elf briefly. Stormy grey eyes just stared at her as she spoke, their appearance almost child-like for a moment, the murderer fading away just briefly. She brought down the butterflies and they too entranced the dark ranger, who held up a hand up into the fluttering wings, their touch sending a chill down Lhyrin’s spine. Eventually, they looked back down at the woman, brows knitted together, a frown creasing their lips. “I will kill enough for the two of us then.” They followed her line of sight to the heavens, grey eyes fixing on each one individually as she spoke. “If it was truly something out of your control, I think he’ll understand. I’ve heard whispers throughout Cenril of his aid in a ritual to rid someone of their vampirism. That his power worked in tandem with other gods. So, I expect he will forgive. Especially if there is someone like me working overtime to make up for it.”
Kanna smiles brightly at Lhyrin’s assurance. “I’m glad to hear that. Then, please continue to do your best. Ah?” The ground rumbles beneath their feet, and the sky dims. One by one, the stars in the sky disappear. She was unsure how she knew, but she knew that this would be the end. She would likely never again see the strange undead elf with the myriad of metals in their face. “I wonder if someone like you was real, if we could have been friends…” Kanna says sadly. She can feel her body being pulled away from the meadow in the forest, into the darkness of the treelines. The fear of the unknown that awaits her in the reaches of the forests that light cannot reach instills a sense of dread in her. Before she can see where she is being pulled away to, the dream ends.
Friends? Lhyrin would have… a friend? A strange feeling bubbled up within their chest and manifested itself within the dream as a tiny glowing purple flower at the elf’s feet. “Wait… Moon Goddess!” As they reached out for her, more flowers sprouted, but all were trampled beneath the vampire’s boots as they tried to close the small gap between them, to grab her and keep her within the dream realm. They caught naught but the edges of her ethereal dress as she disappeared, the fabric slipping through their fingers like moonlight. The stepped-on flowers wilted entirely as Lhyrin stared at their eternally blood covered hands, their light fading before the elf could even notice. “Tch.” Their hand closed into a fist and Lhyrin grit their teeth. The dream shifted, keeping Lhyrin for just a little while longer, but everything after that interaction with the moon goddess would not be as pleasant.