OOM All Skate Skellig Dream Magic Weirdness -Part Nine

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu has gathered plenty of henna and even woad, a blue dye, for some experiments with designs on Skellig's skin.

"The blue would look lovely on you, I think," she remarks. "Your fairer skin would show it off quite well. Though I am far more experienced in applying henna."

She's gathered bits and pieces of designs to look at for inspiration. Celtic style knots, viking style abstract patterns and stylized beasts, the mandala and floral type designs he's admired on her, and more.

Comments

[brave_kreyu]

"No," Kreyu replies, voice soft, and slightly sorrowful. She can't help but picture the boy as Skellig, in her mind.

"The tribe raised him as one of their own, took care of him communally. As he grew, it became clear that he was aware of things others were not, attuned to the mystical and the uncanny. They did not quite know what to make of him, how he should fit within the tribe."

She paints the woad on his skin, her touch gentle. "It was an edge life he lived, among them. Part of them, yet not fitting in. He was more at home in the wild than among the dwellings of the village. The great celebrations were the hardest for him to endure, for though he was welcome at them, the places where he did not fit with them hurt more at such times."

There is more sadness in her voice as she pictures Skellig in his place. "As he grew into a man, he learned that though they would drink and feast with him, neither man nor woman would invite him to lay with them or accept such an invitation from him should he offer it."

[27_53]

As he listens, the image of himself in the place of the boy grows more solid and stronger, as he knows all too well the feelings she is describing - the feeling of being the outcast, the strange one, the 'freak' among those who would call themselves 'normal'.

"Community helps," he says quietly. "If one is lucky enough to have one to surround them. But it cannot replace the bonds formed by family."

[brave_kreyu]

"No," she agrees. "I understand that now, more than I ever did before."

"The tribe worshiped many gods, but the greatest among them was the goddess of the forest. The stories paint her in different ways. In some tales she is more of an entity to be feared, appeased. The tribe lets their own blood for her as an offering from time to time, and when she is very hungry a person of the tribe might be devoured outright, vanish in the forest. In others, she is gentler most of the time, but can be angered greatly by disrespect, by not receiving her due from humankind."

[27_53]

"She sounds as if she is not one to be trifled with," he comments, voice wry. "Though some of that legend could have been aided by those who simply wandered into the forest not to return, lost their way, and their disappearing needed a better explanation other than a poor sense of direction."

He is careful not to laugh, even as he might like to.

[brave_kreyu]

"Indeed. Or someone who chose to leave the tribe without telling anyone," her tone is wry.

She is careful as she paints on his skin. "Some tales say she grew angry, withheld her bounty. Others that the tribe gave a greater offering than normal at long intervals and when the time came they could not offer Her the greater bounty. The tribe agreed that someone must go into the forest, seek the Goddess, plead for their sake, but they were afraid. They knew that whoever went might never return."

"He who was born winged volunteered to go, to enter the forest in search of the goddess."

[27_53]

Listening carefully, she has his full attention now - and it is not only due to her 'prowess' as a storyteller, or due to the subject matter (and the 'main character' of the one who was born winged) - and his gaze is focused on her hands as she works on him.

"Interesting that he would offer himself as a potential sacrifice," he says. "Perhaps not out of a desire to gain the appreciation of his tribe...could have been due to the fact that he felt as if nothing could be worse than the feeling of being outcast."

Not even death. Death might have been a relief...

[brave_kreyu]

Her hands are moving slowly but deftly as she applies the woad. There is sorrow in her voice and her face as he mentions his reason as to why the winged man might have offered himself. "The stories do not speak of WHY he made that choice, but that reason had occurred to me also."

"I do not know that I could stop myself from trying to ease the pain of one so burdened. Especially now, when my mind would cast you in such a role."

"He knew the Forest well, its ways and paths, and he was strong and clever. He traveled to the forest's heart, to a spring where She was rumored to sometimes come to bathe."

[27_53]

"Speaking honestly..." Skellig sighs, bringing a hand to rest on his stomach - he is not interrupting her motions, but part of his subconscious simply wishes to feel a bit 'closer' to her, nearer her touch as he does so. "I have wished before to have Death call upon me, have asked Them in my darkest moments for the pain to be taken from me. Obviously...there were many reasons that did not occur, that I could not have understood at the time."

The largest one being the surprise of his arrival in an arid desert and being rescued by a winged goddess...and falling madly head over heels in love with her.

(There is more he wishes to say, but he does not want to interrupt her telling of the legend, so he holds his thoughts for now.)

"If I was the one born winged, I would have studied the forest in great detail. Found places to hide, seek sanctuary..."

[brave_kreyu]

"Oh, love," she says, voice full of sorrow, empathy. "It had occurred to me that Before might have so deeply wounded your being as to prompt such desire, but I had hoped otherwise."

She sets the last line of the design into place, now the dye will have to sit for a time. "I am sure that he must have done precisely that, for he felt enough at ease near the spring that he dozed off."

Her smile warms, turns a touch amused. "From his sleep, he heard someone bathing in the spring, heard a woman's voice singing softly. He knew it must be the goddess, for no one else would have dared to bathe in the spring. He did not wish Her to think he had lain in wait to spy on what was not meant for him to see, but he wanted to see her, to know the being responsible for so many wonders, for this place that felt more like home to him than any other."

She chuckles. "And I suspect that the stories saying she was supposed to be quite lovely didn't hurt his desire to see her either."

[27_53]

With the design being finished (at least this one) he waits for her to set her tools aside and then takes his hand and grasps gently for one of hers, bringing them to rest on his stomach.

"The sight of a lovely goddess bathing in a secluded forest spring WOULD be quite desirable," he says. "I can speak from personal experience."

[brave_kreyu]

She's pleased when he takes her hand, places them to rest on his stomach. The contact, the closeness, feel nice.

She laughs at his response about personal experience. "Hm, I suppose you can," she teases.

"He decides it is wisest to speak up, and so he does. He explains to Her that he did not intend mischief, but that he was so weary he fell asleep."

Kreyu grins. "She laughs, the sound like birdsong. She tells him that she knew he was there from the beginning, that she has always known where he is when he is within the forest. She tells him she has watched him many times, for he alone is unafraid of her, seeks to KNOW rather than simply TAKE from the forest."

[27_53]

"Knowledge is one of the most important things that can be gained. Watching, learning, experiences...I cannot tell you how many things that I have learned by simply sitting on the earth, watching as the world passes by."

He settles into the nest, relaxing slightly with the contact and the closeness.

"But you have to be willing to offer something in exchange, no matter how slight. Balance also matters."

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu nods in agreement.

"Balance is the issue in many of the tales. The forest is a part of her, and she gives so much to humans that she needs more energy to sustain the forest and herself. He begins to wonder if his life will be taken to feed her, feed the forest, one life for many."

"And then the goddess emerges from the spring, without any shame at her nakedness. The sight of her rather brought him to his knees."

Kreyu's smile turns a little wicked. "I have my suspicions as to why. And if his ache to be touched, to be wanted, was as keen as mine was before you, I would imagine that only made things worse." None would lay with him, after all, in the stories.

[27_53]

"I would dare a guess that his ache may have caused...complications," he agrees, his smirk shifting to match her her wicked smile when she mentions the things that she was feeling when she first saw him, as he shed his clothing in front of her to change into something more...appropriate. "Though there should be no shame in nakedness, especially not when the divine are involved."

After all - aside from that first meeting of theirs when he was so truly lost, and not wanting to cause HER any embarrassment with his nudity - he has felt no true shame or fear with her, showing himself as he is.

[brave_kreyu]

"Blood rushing away from his head," Kreyu quips, eyes sparkling with mischief.

"I have always thought so, but there are cultures who would disagree about nudity," she replies.

"She thought him so very lovely, when she saw him standing there with his wings." She's not just talking about the goddess. "A mind that wanted to KNOW, a heart that was unafraid, a form so lovely, she wanted him so very much in that moment."

[27_53]

Allowing his wings to stretch slightly from where he has them tucked, her brings one leading edge to graze her shoulder, his feathers brushing against her skin - softly, as he doesn't want to stir up too much arousal in her, when they have to behave to allow the dye to set and dry on his skin.

"Did she suggest to him that they lie together, there by the spring? Would that be enough of an offering to sate her appetite, for what had been taken from the forest by the rest of the tribe?"

[brave_kreyu]

She shivers at the feel of his feathers on her skin, her heart beat picking up.

"She did ask if he would wish to lay with her there," Kreyu replies. "She told him of the ways she found him so desirable, and that a coupling would give her strength." Kreyu grins. "He accepted her invitation."

She checks the progress of the dye. "I do not know if a man would face additional difficulties, laying with someone for the first time. Would they?"

[27_53]

"A youth who has not had much...experience...is often over-excitable," he admits. "And quick to finish, often before their partner has been fully satisfied."

Skellig exhales a laugh.

"You have caused a similar reaction in this winged-born man, even if I am no youth."

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu flushes, laughs. "Hopefully, the goddess knew how to please herself, showed him what to do when he finished quickly. Or perhaps her power allowed him to recover quickly, as the spell did for you."

"I will admit it pleases me, that I can affect you so strongly," she tells him.

[27_53]

"Watching the goddess pleasure herself would likely have been quite enjoyable for him," he admits. He's not just talking about the young man. "A way to recover from his first experience with a partner...and what a partner to be able to 'claim' as his first."

"What happened, after they had finished their encounter?"

[brave_kreyu]

"Mhm. I can see that. Or perhaps she took his hands in hers, showed him how to touch her to bring her pleasure."

"She asked him if he would be hers, would be her mate and her intermediary with the humans. He became the first shaman, the first to learn the mysteries of the forest, spirits, and magic."

[27_53]

"This story has many similarities to another story that I have 'heard' before," he muses playfully, teasing her just a little bit. "Though I do not know if I have ever been considered a 'shaman' before, in my history."

He entangles their fingers.

"I'm sure he had much to learn," he says. "Both in bringing the goddess pleasure, and the ways of the forest. He must have been grateful to have such a strong and knowledgeable teacher."

[brave_kreyu]

"The similarities caught my attention," she admits. "Prompted me to wonder if we might make use of the tale to make a forest more fertile," her tone is playful, but it is an experiment she would be quite willing to try.

She squeezes his fingers gently. "The stories don't speak of that," she tells him, voice soft. "Most say he became a god once he had trained others in the knowledge to perform his duties as an intermediary."

[27_53]

"I do quite enjoy spending time in forests," Skellig admits. "I would not mind if our travels took us to visit some, and if we could find ways to help improve it...through ritual or other activities...I would like that."

He smirks.

"Perhaps as part of our celebrations, to prepare for our public announcement? Or afterwards. Either...I would not mind." His smirk softens into a smile. "I would go anywhere you asked me to, so long as you are with me."

[brave_kreyu]

"I was thinking of a trial run tomorrow," she admits. "There's a suitable section of forest in our territory, easily reachable by air by quite difficult to access by water."

"And I would go anywhere you asked me to, Skellig, so long as you were with me."