Thread: Souls Bound in the Sand (Closed to Armphid/Misanthropiclove)

The caravan had gone. It had taken some convincing for them to leave him behind, but the passage of time had worked in his favor. They would not risk the whole caravan to the Dune People for the sake of one man's life. The sun should be scorching him, searing his skin until it peeled from his body. The harsh wind should scrape and scour him. But the spirit of the hardship surviving mendicant was with him, and they touched him not. He sat down on a dune, a blanket spread out under him, a bag full of provisions at his side. Feeling his patron's rays beating down on him, he focused his mind and waited. It was many hours later when he felt the tug. Something was coming. A shadow flickered over him, his eyes snapping up to see a great bird, spinning down towards the ground through the twilight sky. Yet something was not right about it. Or something was very right. Radiant Kissing Son leaped to his feet as the bird landed, and his head swam. There was a heavy sense of knowing, of familiarity, of deep and desperate want, of heartfelt love, swarming around and through him. He remembered... The westerner's darker skin rubbed over his, their bodies entwined, heat and pleasure soaking through him. There was a rush of Essence, and he was joined now with a great bird, groaning as it filled him. Another time, and he held a dying man in his arms, weeping, his love lost, slain. I will find you, he promised, swearing it to himself as his power flared, But first they will pay. He stood, feeling different, a robe falling from his body, striding into the water towards a startled youth. He reached out to pull the youth close, cradling him to her breasts, I found you, again, my true one, she cooed. She cried out, pushing hard one last time, and a cry split the night as their son drew his first breath. Her body burned, blackened and seared by treacherous magic. Blind in one eye, she spilled out into the streets of the Imperial City, into the waiting legions of the Dragon-Blooded. She snarled, determined to reap her due before she fell. Endless walls of jade. Nothing. No feeling or time. Just floating. His thoughts turning to many faces, flickering through his memory, all the same, all him, all his love... He staggered back, one hand covering his right eye as if he expected it to be gone. His gaze was a bit wild as the bird's form blurred and twisted, rearing up into that of an exquisite Southern woman, her eyes confused, suspicious, wanting. You, child of the Nightmare Lord, are you searching for the Dune People? Do you come from a land of cold? Radiant Kissing Son looked at the woman, placing a fist against one open hand and bowing, though his eyes stayed on her. I am no child of nightmares, but one of Creation. As are all under the eyes of the sun and moon. He straightened up. His pale skin seemed to gleam in the darkness of night. I come far from here, across the seas and the Blessed Isle, to the North, where the winds are enough to freeze the very air in a man's lungs. Yes, I come from a land of cold. My name is Radiant Kissing Sun, and by your appearance, I would guess you are from this land of fire. But I know well that in the case of many, to judge by such things is unwise. He took a step back, smiling courteously. Will you tell me as much of yourself as I have to you?