Angela was watering some of the flowers at the grave when he arrived. He nearly took the goddess by surprise in her own home! She stared with wide eyes for  a moment or two. “Well, don’t explain it to me! GO!” She opened a gateway for him straight to Apoy Island. This wasn’t good, Bryony was a stepping stone in their community. Their way of life was with her towards the top. The goddess was worried as she cradled the watering can for a moment. “And good luck..” Her words were low with worry as she thought it would be best if she stayed behind for the moment. 

–
Bryony was not in her right mind as she left the mighty temple. She had ended up taking a wrong turn into some stupid portal some naive clergy member had left open. She ended up tripping over a rock and landing on her knees only to be held up by the glaive she held in her hands. “God damnit, what has me so…” She let out a frustrated noise as she pulled herself up. It wasn’t that she had seen something more so the lack of something.

She had gotten too close. She also had found it rude to cut out and just leave the man there. Even she couldn’t follow her own words to heart. There were war drums in the distance as a traveling group of orc warriors hiding from the last of the bounties showed up. There had to be a good twenty. The oracle turned her blue eyes to each and every one of them.

Prey. That’s what the orcs saw in her was prey. A defenseless, or so it seemed, woman of the cloth. Not that she was holy by any means. Her head was in the damn clouds still as she took a defensive position with the glaive. The adornments on the glaive clacked together and it seemed to unnerve the Rosenite even more.

They were talking about what to do with her now. She tried to summon magic but the psionic magic fizzled as she tried to weave the water. They were on alert now as one lunged towards her and managed to graze her leg. She tried not to wince as she swung the blade of the glaive into the orc’s arm almost cleanly slicing it off.

“Not fucking good.” She wanted to bash her own head in as she tried to get a clear image of how the fight would happen. The spirits were yelling in pain now as they wanted her to run. She defended herself again but it was just cats playing with a single mouse. She was backing up into a corner. “Not good at all.” Her magic was even fizzling over her inability to focus.

Sebastian had not hesitated for a moment to rush through the portal the Goddess had opened. He was aware of the island that he was being sent to. He saw it every time he passed through Adeluna, but never really had a reason to visit it until now. Though it had always looked so small off in the distance, it seemed vast now that he was attempting to locate an Oracle battling a war party of orcs…in a place teeming with life. Trying to project from where he stood to find her aura was fruitless. The entire damn island had an aura of its own that tended to muddle everything together into one big ball of light in his mind's eye. He would have to physically search.

Blinking to and fro, Sebastian gained enough height to use the tree tops to kick off from. He kept his eyes below, and rested on a branch only momentarily when he needed it. He focused mainly on keeping Bryony in his thoughts, reaching his consciousness out to try and pinpoint where she was. With his mind being so open while using his powers to this extent, he began to hear gibbering voices, urging him to head further out along the coast line of the island. Seeing as that Bryony was so closely connected with spirits herself, he thought it best to heed their advice.

Sure enough, he saw them all off in the distance. The grouping of orcs had tightened in on all sides around her, but he saw the occasional flash of Bryony's glaive in the dusk sunlight. Taking a deep breath, Sebastian gave everything he got into traversing the distance between them.

He moved like a blur, yet time seem slowed in the moments that he arrived. Blinking above the conflict, Sebastian then blinked downward, using the momentum to kick both feet into the side of the creature's skull that currently engaged Bryony. He rode the orc's body all the way to the ground, stomping its head into the sand. Another of its more quick-witted brethren that had spotted him some distance away lunged, swinging a greatsword in a downward slash towards him. With matched aggression, Sebastian focused kinetic energy to his gauntlet-clad hand. Throwing his arm out as he side-stepped, his fist caught the flat of the blade, making the steel sing, and the sword violently fly into the sand. The wielder predictably did not let the hilt go as he lost control of his weapon, and was staggered to the point of nearly toppling over himself. Letting out a loud, growl-like cry, Sebastian thrust forward with clawed fingers, stabbing into the loathsome thing's viscera, then tore his hand away as he clasped his hand into a fist.

The sudden assault was so brutal and vicious, the orcs spaced themselves out from the pair, thinking that perhaps the Oracle had herself some sort of pet lycan they were previously unaware of.

Now covered in blood, panting, voice raspy, and two bodies to his name, Sebastian backed towards Bryony protectively. Several of the orcs let out blood-curdling war cries, and the ones at the back beat on their drums ever the harder. He returned their shouts, and focused energy downward around both he and Bryony intimidatingly. The sound it made, a hollow sort of thoom, sent sand scattering about in the orc's faces. The war party circled them hesitantly, looking for an opening.

Sebastian glanced over his shoulder at Bryony as they took defensive stances, back to back. "You could have told me you'd planned on putting yourself in harm's way a little sooner, lass," he quipped. "I need to earn myself another miracle. Never know when I may need it."

She was more like a trapped rat as she formulated just what the hell she was going to do. That was when the crashing happened and she was completely taken a back by everything for that single moment. She wasn’t planning on seeing him again, she had run away, so how in the world had he known how to find her?


There for many moment she watched him and as distracted as she was it was on instinct that she put her glaive up in time to catch an orc in its face. The metal as old as it appeared was as sharp as ever. She swung with all of her might and the body got cast aside. Soon they were back to back and she looked over her shoulder at him. “Didn’t plan on it. I fell through a portal one of Angela’s clergy members opened.” She took a big breath before her next words came out.


“Who told you where I was?” It took her only a few moment to groan. “I’ll kill the little bitch.” Rose would never dream of invading her privacy. Vadimas would have come himself and that left only one little bitch left. “Eldora.” The dust covered shrew who loved getting in the middle of every single aspect of Bryony’s life.


“Thank you for showing up but I know not the miracle you speak of.” She found him being near by was calming her down, well enough to be able to keep in contact with some of her magic. The plants near by let out groans as if something was forcing them to grow, and grow they did. They lashed out at the drummers and while it wouldn’t kill them it would stop the noises for now. “Giving me a damn headache. I already can’t bloody think.” The clacking of the adornments around her glaive was distracting as well.


“Why did you come?” She was frustrated. “Did they bribe you? Did Eldora scare you here? I can very damn well take care of myself.” She was being stubborn as she tried to once again conjure more of the weave but again it fizzled. Why? She groaned once more. Was this the spirits doing?



“I’m normally a lot more careful than this. I just… I needed a moment and that damn portal was right there. I didn’t even see it.” Thinking more on his words she tilted her head. "What kind of miracle are you talking about anyways. I'm just a woman who sees things."

Sebastian chuckled darkly at Bryony's words as he reached his mind out to the greatsword of the orc he had just slain. It came up from the sand and drug across it to his feet, ready to be used again for a much different purpose. "You should really thank Eldora before you kill her. That dust-covered shrew saw that this confrontation would not end well for you."
There was a lot more to the vision than that, of course; but Sebastian kept the rest to himself.

When Bryony ensnared the drummers at the rear, this sparked a few of the more bold in the horde at the front to attack. Sebastian's immediate response to the bum rush was to grasp the greatsword telekinetically once more, hurling it like a javelin. It found its mark, impaling the nearest orc, and sending it airborne amidst the others who had a mind to push their luck. Their morale was beginning to crumble.

He tried not to laugh at her, but he couldn't help it. Her stubbornness was utterly ridiculous. "Aye…it sure looks like you've got a handle on things. I'll just be on my way."
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted one of the orcs winding up to chuck a throwing axe towards Bryony. He gestured towards it as soon as it left the thing's green hand, and sent it back the other way between the eyes of a comrade over his shoulder.
"Can you not just accept that I came because I knew that it had to be done after what I saw? I helped your daughter too, did I not?"

It became clear to him that her focus seemed to diminish even further after he had arrived. Perhaps the vision was wrong. From what he was seeing, she stood a better chance alone.
"Bloody…ugh…Damnit!"
With her head in the clouds, Bryony did not seem to be aware of the gangly orc that had creeped up from her side. Pushing the one in front of him back with a front snap kick to the belly, he whipped around, embracing her to blink a good hundred meters or so away from the group as soon as the orc swung its scimitar.

He took her by the shoulders, gently, because of his gauntlets, and shook her a bit. "I need you to focus! We can talk later!"

Bryony sighed a bit and tried to put it out of her mind. “I suppose I should. Though she wouldn’t have told you without having a bit of fun doing it.” She was losing her own thoughts way too easily. She began to become comfortable with having him near by but his words made her frown. “My apologies, I am glad you are helping me.”

Though she still wasn’t out of the clouds. He came to help her and she was frustrated. He blinked them away and she took a huge heavy sigh as she nodded. “I’m sorry…” She put her hand on her head for a moment. “Just foggy so I’ll try to get it together.” She looked towards the orcs incoming. “I just don’t go through this often enough to really be use to it.” She tried to reinforce that she would be alright.

Lifting her hand, she used the water around them to whip at some of the orcs. She seemed to be clearer now that he snapped her out of it. Bryony gave him a smile before launching her glaive like a spear. It was fast and like a whip as it went through the chest of an orc. She was nimble as she sprinted and pulled it up whipping it around to catch the leg of another war orc.

Now they could work together and really put an end to the orcs around them. The promise of a talk later really helped her. She jumped away like an acrobat and landed near Sebastian. “I’m trying to hold it together.” She reassured him now as she let out another blast of her water weave.

"That's a girl," Sebastian commented to himself as he watched Bryony spring into the thick of the action.
He himself returned to engage in much a different fashion. While he was frantic while trying to find her, now that they had a handle on the situation, he was far more methodical in his movements. He did not have the acrobatic and constantly flowing style that Bryony had. Bash preferred to deceptively and calmly saunter about when engaged in combat, absorbing every detail before making quick and decisive attacks. Their contrasting styles worked seamlessly together, like Yin and Yang.

An orc charged towards Sebastian, and he concentrated on weaving the sand where he knew they would meet. When he got to where he wanted him, he took a deep breath, and made an effort to blink several times rapidly to meet his enemy, so as to gain momentum for a strike. Sebastian's gauntlet hit home hard, the velocity of the attack and the orc's sprinting in the opposite direction causing it to flip backwards from the impact. The moment the creature was airborne and his feet touched the ground, all concentration was diverted to the spot of earth, and the gesture of an uppercut was made. The sand hardened and rose in a column to meet the back of the orc's head and neck, shattering the entirety of its cervical vertebra.

Each assault was not always so precise and psionically-driven, however. Sometimes all the was needed was an opening, and a flurry of punches.

Ultimately, violence was never a first resort for Sebastian. Though excelling at it to a degree, he did not revel in it. All of this, despite his current blood-stained dishevelment akin to some sort of highland berserker. He had always heard rumors that orcs were cowardly in small numbers. This proved to to be fact. No sooner had he and Bryony cut their numbers to but a few, these turned tail and ran. He had no desire to run after them and hunt them down like animals. Much more though, he did not have any desire for the inevitable conversation to follow the calm after the storm. He sat down on a rock, watching the orcs flee for a time. His eyes turned out to the sea, across to distant Adeluna.

Removing his gauntlets and carelessly tossing them in the sand next to him, Sebastian rummaged through his pockets until he located his case of herbs with his pipe. He lit up, taking a long drag, before exhaling the fragrant fumes in a long sigh.
"So," he spoke at last, fiery autumn eyes never leaving the city and the sunset across the water. "You needed a moment too. What for?"

Bryony gave him a smile when he gave some what of a praise. It was more so a victory for her. This wasn’t something that happened to her all of the time and nor would she have liked it too. Deep down the oracle had been scared of change, something that all old creatures deal with at one time or another. Old ones tended to be stuck in their ways no matter what they may have wanted for themselves.

The fighting continued and she too thought they each other’s opposites, but it was fitting. Her nimble body was built to be more fluid and acrobatic like compared to his. Just like Sebastian she lowered her weapon as soon as the orcs took off. Her blue eyes looked at him as he stared out at the city. “The moment when you said you needed a moment and we were to meet at the library… My visions of your future got very blurry. I couldn’t see them anymore. For me it was too close too fast. The spirits know this but they must have sent Eldora to you for a reason. I didn’t plan on ending up in trouble but for whatever reason it happened… and here we are. I still can’t see you. It is unnerving but also… for once it is relaxing not being a pest in someone’s fate strings.”

The Rosenite stretched and bit and looked up to the revealing two moons up in the sky. “I just wanted a moment and a moment turned into a dangerous situation, that if you hadn’t snapped me out of it I would have been dead. You have my gratitude for that.”

Taking off the robe she looked at the blood on it. Her leg had a wound as well though it appeared to be on the mend already. “A perfectly good robe… Willow is going to love me.” She chuckled softly and shook her head. “I would never have put myself in danger on purpose, I just want you to know that.”

Sebastian laughed quietly to himself, and dumped the ash from his pipe in the sand. "Every one of my futures have always been a riddle, as far as I've been able to tell."
He watched Bryony curiously as her robe fell to the sand, and she assessed her wound. His gaze traveled the expanse of her body and up again to her oceanic eyes, but his features would prove hard to read. "It was no trouble," he dismissed, with a voice that was soft. "Eldora showed me that you were in danger, likely knowing I could help."
Turning away casually, he hid a smile from her. He bit his lip. "When things began to get murky…what would you have liked to see…?"

Not waiting for an answer, Sebastian got up from the rock, and removed his boots, then jacket, and then his tunic. The clothing style he wore made him appear quite slim, but looking beneath, there could never be a doubt for the power behind his movements. He possessed a very uniquely dense musculature, a hallmark of an unusual style of training. He stretched, and cracked his neck as he paced down towards the water. When he had waded in a ways, he tossed his trousers ashore, and dove under momentarily, to cleanse himself of the blood.

Sebastian beckoned for Bryony to join him as he leisurely treaded water. "It might sting your leg a bit at first, but it feels fantastic!"

“Everyone has multiple fate strings but it’s up to you which one you take.” She smiled a bit, “Must be interesting with all of your futures.”


She froze up a bit when he asked her that question. Her fingertips were tracing the wound as if she were thinking what to say as not to scare him off. He had no time for her to answer though and it made her chuckle. “It won’t hurt anymore than it does now.” She shed the bindings of her breast and the rest of her coverings before getting into the water.



The ocean was cool and it felt at home to her. She swam a little ways and began to float on top of the water. Night time swimming was always the best. “Happiness. I wanted to see happiness. As far as specifics… I’m not sure what I would have liked to see entirely.” Pausing for a moment she flipped back over and swam over to him. “What else did Eldora show you?” It had been eating at her. “There had to be more knowing her.”

The art that was Bryony's combative acrobatics had nothing on the way she took to the water. Sebastian watched her glide through it, and looked at the water glisten on her skin in the light of the moons and soon-to-be slumbering sun as she turned over to drift upon the gently rolling waves. She was really a sight; but he was more interested in studying her eyes as she spoke, wondering what could lay behind them, in her mind's eye, when she spoke of happiness. Though treading was easy at low tide, he realized his breath had become a little unnecessarily heavy. His heart thundered in his chest, louder in his ears than the beat of the orcish war drums.

Sebastian took several slow deep breaths when Bryony swam over to him. He hesitated at her question. He could very well simply lie to her, or play it off, like there was not much more to the stirring visions he was shown. Things that were wholly unimportant. As meddling as Eldora seemed to be, he did not think she would ever speak of it to Bryony, were he out of the picture. Still, he found himself forming the words.
"…When I first came to the temple, I…" he cleared his throat. "There was a girl that I saw in the first trial. Quiet, like I once was. With eyes like quicksilver. She took my hand. I was unsure of how to respond at that point. The hag's venom in my veins had me pretty far gone."

His eyes diverted from hers a bit as he continued.

"You handed me a small bundle you were cradling in the vision that Eldora showed me. …There was no mistaking eyes like that."