#int:erenjaeger;

[ragingsands]

“Tell me: Where is my home? I don’t recognize the faces anymore.” - @usurpingtitan

In the sweltering heat of the WhiteSands, she had found herself yet another one of her "kind". It was unclear at first, but as soon as his eyes - so verdant, yet lost in evident rage - and her clear blue eyes, she could see with clarity that the fates have been divined.

Why would they fight it all, why would they break free from the shackles of the future that is definite?

But he - at this moment in time - was the special one.

Broken free from the chains of his realm, pulled away by some crane into a place of short respite from his wars; the boy stood before her, noticing very well that she was ostracised by the people around them in the village. But of course they did not do so outwardly, yet she had seen the way they approached him when she had gone to run errands.

"You are free, for now. When She awakens again, I will be able to return you home."

She here, in her words, was Stargazer referring to the Dreamflower. After all, it was the pathway into the Void, where all paths could meet, and in turn, neutralise. Question is...

"Remind me, boy: how did you find yourself in the WhiteSands?"

[ragingsands]

It was natural for anyone to disagree - especially with her. There was a saying native to her tongue, setting the one path for men - that they will not attain all of their heart's desires.

Coming close would always remain possible, yet a sacrifice somehow would have to be made for the balance of the world. Yet with the way the world had become, such balance was no longer as perfect as it should have been.

"What you deserve? I dare say it might be what you need."

But neither of them, knowing just what their future held felt lonely, nor sadness, nor sympathy for the other. Not because they were strangers, but because they were more akin than perhaps the boy would admit.

When he finally seated himself, she immediately set the vehicle to motion, forecasting the movement of the sand and avoiding the slits like she were gliding.

"You were lucky you encountered the best tour agent. Or you'd be lost in the upcoming sandstorm," she spoke casually, her eyes set on the road ahead, without any hint nor path to follow - yet she knew her directions, even if most would be blinded by the sun of the desert.

"But I must applaud you - you do not fear the sands. They do not fear you either."

"You call it a gift...?" A brow was raised at her and the card she had drawn. It could not be more clear that they were not on the same page now. Was she insane or stupid? Quickly, he bit the thought down, hot tempered as it was. No, it was likely that this power meant something different to her in her life, with a future less damning than his own. That's easy enough for him to accept, having had a similar belief in regards to it before. But now, he knew better. "It's a long story, and there are parts I don't get either, even with all that I see. I don't know where I am, or really where I was. Just that I can't go back home anymore, and it's what I deserve." His tone held no tone of self pity or a ploy for sympathy, but rather a finality, that it was as far as he was willing to go on the subject for now. Just because he had made contact with someone, even a pretty someone else, that didn't mean he was ready to bare all his secrets to them, reserved and guarded as he was. He eyed the vehicle she rode with suspicion (it looked even more advanced than the technology from Marley), but slowly moved onto it, moving hands to hold onto her sides, as though riding passenger on a horse. All the while, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being toyed with, that she was in full control of the situation and all he could do was play along. There was no reading this strange woman, but if nothing else, he wasn't powerless, despite appearing unarmed to the naked eye. If she thought so, she was in for a rude awakening. "I don't see that happening." There were no friends left for him to find. He made sure of that. "Might as well go anyway, try to figure out what's going on with this place and maybe figure out why I'm even here."

[ragingsands]

“ i’m listening. ”

"Is that so?

"But you are young, are you not? Perhaps your interest would be more suited in hearing your fortune...? But that would be redundant, considering your sight is just as sharp as mine.

"... how cheeky."

[ragingsands]

He was a ripple, lost into the unmade boundaries of his world. He has fallen between the crevice, made by the collision of two realms.

It was not a coincidence that she had found him, nor was it a coincidence that it happened at all. Perhaps it was the Dreamflower's will that for such sharp-sighted individuals like them to meet - that these two individuals with their foresight into the future could be acquainted.

Her golden claw pressed against her chin, and she tilted her chin upwards at his question.

"Why, that is because you're rather..."

A chuckle fell from her unwavering smile. Her azure eyes met his clear verdant pair. Much like her, he could also perceive the inevitable future. Yet all the same, she did not perceive that they would meet in the future, therefore her sight had been limited. The only reason why she knew a tear had formed was because her heart was the Dreamflower's will.

"... Special."

She lowered herself then, deliberately looking at him ever so closely, eye to eye, chin to chin, just inches apart with the way she lowered her hips, leveraging all weight support onto one leg, and her hands on her waist.

"Your eyes are rather sharp. I wonder, what have those beautiful eyes witnessed..."

Lost. It was all he was now. Lost to the endless dunes of sands to the realm known as the Paths, a price he had to pay, unquestioned. Time, reason, sense, after a while it just faded away. Here, possibility, chance, the future, it was endless, much like the grains of sand in the desert before him. He didn't see when it stopped. Didn't even notice when the world changed around him. Not until that woman appeared. This stranger, this outsider even in her own world. Trust wasn't something he was willing to offer easily, but he recognized that she knew this land, thus could help him. "You're so sure of that? That's a lot of help to offer someone you just met." But did he even need that help? It wasn't like he was trying to go somewhere in particular. Wherever he was now didn't really matter. Perhaps, he was just looking to hear another voice. But that didn't mean he would ignore caution for it. "I couldn't tell you. I walked the sands I knew and didn't even know when it merged with your WhiteSands. Barely felt the difference until you showed up."