Shattered Seed Part 1

Okay, it's time I got out of just writing my perspective of Joneus' story. I may still do it from time to time, but for now I'm just going to write whatever I please and therefore not feel limited in what I write or fear creating inconsistencies between my side and Joneus'.

I hope this works. This is a story that I wanted told months ago in a really good role-playing event that Kalinka, Joneus and I all tried to coordinate. Unfortunately, the event turned sour and nothing ended up happening. I kept hoping that the event would pick up where it was left off, but that didn't work out.

So now, I'm just going to write the story that I imagined happening. Which is actually better because it eliminates the human factor and I have complete control over everything that goes on.

Which is good, because I'm, admittedly, a control freak.

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You could taste it in the air, the growing fear that everyone in the room saw towards Kalinka. Kalinka our leader, and our friend looked around the room and saw nothing but the cold stares of the people see loved more than her own life.

Some might say that the distrust was justified, afterall, she had just murdered one of our own. Though truthfully, none of us ever truly accepted him, murder is still murder.

She had put forward an idea to aid the less fortunate in a way that did not involve a bloody battle, something peaceful without unnecessary bloodshed. Our companion disagreed with her approach and voted instead to fight for personal glory and threatened to leave us behind and bring others with him.

This angered Kalinka, justifiably so, and she lashed out at him. First with words. Then when those couldn't penetrate his skull, her vines did.

That caught us all off-guard. Before any of us could react, the man we called friend lay dead on the floor. The whole time Kalinka just stood over the lifeless body, smirking as though she had done the world a favour and was proud of herself.

I can't speak for the others, I'm not a mind-reader. But this turn of events had not gone unforeseen by myself. Kalinka had confided in me long ago about the existence of another presence in her mind that fought for control. She came to me for advice, which I volunteered without pause, I myself knew what it's like to fight for control of one's own mind. She asked that I would kill her should she ever lose control completely. I refused then, without even considering what she was capable of. Now I saw it for myself, and still I can't bring myself to lay a finger on her in aggression.

Then Llyd stepped forward, our former leader; the man who trusted Kalinka enough to step down and follow her, and spoke. "What have you done?! You just murdered one of our own! You abyssal demon!" Always with the theatrics. Even after stepping down, there were many of us who still regarded Llyd as the rightful leader, and I could see many of those members rallying behind him.

"Killing him was never my intent. I merely planned to 'fix' his mind. I just got a little over-zealous. He did make me very angry, afterall. And I suppose I do need a little practice with that little trick." She strode over to Llyd. "Now perhaps we can discuss my actions in private." With that she spread seeds across the floor. The seeds sprouted almost instantly, creating a wall of vines, closing the rest of off from their conversation.

Fortunately for me, my sense of hearing had been heightened enough to hear the conversation through the vines. Tuning out the cries of my companions as they desperately tried to cut the vines, which quickly re-grew preventing any progress one their part, they feared for the life of their friend, Llyd.

I knew better, Llyd wasn't in any danger. Despite her actions, this other presence is still Kalinka, and she said that all she wanted was to talk, and that was what she was doing. Within that cage of vines the only one who's life was in danger was Kalinka herself.

Par for the course, Llyd was being bullheaded, and saw no other course of action then to avenge his fallen comrade. And though I saw his logic, I knew that what Kalinka did was wrong, I not only couldn't bring myself to harm Kalinka myself, I couldn't allow harm to come to her at all.

At that moment I heard the familiar sound of a sword being drawn from it's scabbard. I knew I had to make a choice, and I did not hesitate. I quickly drew all the moisture out of the vines to kill them and cut through with one powerful swing. Llyd turned to me, expecting my aid to combat a mutual foe. I begrudgingly had to disappoint. I darted swiftly towards him and held him by his throat.

"Harm a hair on her head and I will kill you where you stand." Knocking his sword aside in his weaken state. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a few of the others advancing toward me, weapons ready. I had expected this, I was like a teacher to them all, it hurt to see them hate me like that, but I made my decision and I was not about to change it.

It seemed that a battle was inevitable. I had trained them all how to fight, but only a few of them were willing to learn how not to fight. But then a few of the others stood at my side.

"We will stand behind Lady Kalinka on whatever path she follows." Or at least that's the message they tried to deliver. I wasn't listening to the words they used, just their meaning.

I was lost in my thoughts when the the others began to fight amongst themselves. What's going on? This is not what I intended to happen. I only wanted to protect Kalinka, not spark an internal war. Tossing Llyd aside I jumped between the fights that had broken out and disarmed every single one of my friends.

"Stop this right now!" I ordered, something I never thought that I was capable of. "We're all friends here, what will this fighting get us?" I could tell from their expressions that their minds, like mine, were made up. They were intent on killing each other to decide which side was right. As though that was a good way to decide anything.

Then Llyd stood up and faced me. "You were really ready to kill me just now, weren't you?"

I looked him straight in the eyes, they held the same adamant desire to fight this out as the rest of them. "Yes, I was. I will not let any harm come to Kalinka. I made that promise long ago, and I intend to keep it." I saw the hypocrisy of my words as I said them, but I didn't care.

The rest of my friends stood with the sides they choose to follow, with me in the middle. I looked towards Kalinka, whose eyes held a tragic hatred for all those around her, and I looked to Joneus whose eyes still only held a resolute anger at my betrayal.

"Then go, follow your mistress to hell. Because that is the only destination that her paths can lead to." Said Llyd, as he pointed his sword, Bastian, in Kalinka's direction.

"Yes," said Kalinka, almost emotionlessly, "choose your side."

Kalinka, at least, understood my actions it seemed. "If your 'sides' can think of nothing but fighting one another, then I choose neither."

"Then you are alone," said Llyd, "for you are not welcome among my Grey Knights." That name had not been used since Kalinka took the title of leader all those years ago.

Then both side walked in opposite directions, an unsteady peace between them for now. But when Kalinka's Lucid Seed and Llyd's Grey Knights crossed paths again, a battle would be sure to follow, and with battle there inevitably comes pain and death.

I could not let that happen.

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There you have it. Part one of the epic "Shattered Seed." I hope you liked it. And before anyone asks, I didn't use anyone else's name because I want you to choose your sides for yourselves. I encourage you all to tell your sides of the story, but I already have the skeleton of this story set up in my mind, try and not break it.

Oh, and the one who was killed? That was either a faceless person who never truly existed, or Trevirn. That I leave up to you guys.

Marr Vell

Confessions

I finally got around to picking up where I left off with that cliffhanger, I apologize to anyone who died of suspence poisoning.

You will be missed.

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"I..." I swallowed, "I'm fine." I got up to try and prove Kalinka that I wasn't lying, but I was still too weak and my movements were far too shaky to be convincing.

"You most certainly are not fine!" Kalinka scolded. "You're clutching at your chest through your armour. C'mon let's get that off of you, I'll see what I can do to help."

"N-no! Don't touch!" I tried to stop Kalinka, but I was too late, she reached out to take off my chest plate and burned her hand on it's hot surface.

"Ah!" She yelped, "it's hot to the touch! How can you possibly wear that?"

I tried to laugh it off, "it's not normally so hot. And it's not the armour that's causing it." But she was right the armour was burning my chest, I had to take it off, or risk permanent damage.

"Fine," I submitted as I carefully removed my chest plate, revealing horribly burned bandages that were falling of my chest, and underneath were the scars of the one moment of my life that I don't care to relive.

"What are those scars on your chest?" Kalinka asked me, naturally. "They're purple, like your eyes, and they look like symbols but I don't recognize them from any of my books."

"They won't be in any book," I responded, "I don't know myself what they really mean, I gave up long ago trying to decipher them. It's not as though it matters what they mean anyway, what matters is what they do."

"Which is?"

"They are the source of my power, my curse."

"Curse? You're cursed?"

"Yes."

"Well that's putting it bluntly, you're feeling better I assume."

"A little, fortunately those moments of pain pass quickly." I got up slowly, "You should get some rest."

"You're very bad at forcing a change of subject, you know that?" She put her hands on her hips in an effort to look imposing.

"I'm not getting rid of you that easily, am I?" I chuckled to myself. Why am I so quick to submit to Kalinka? "Fine, what do you want to know?"

"Everything."

"Seems that you can be just as blunt as I can, okay I'll tell you the whole story."

It took what remained of the night to tell my story, by the end of it Llyd and the others were packing up to leave.

"Looks like we're on the move again, we should make sure not to be left behind" I said, nudging Kalinka to keep her awake. She stayed attentive for my entire tale, yet now she dozes off. I thought. "Oh, and Kalinka."

"Yes?" She responded, half awake.

"Not a word of this to anyone. Promise?"

Kalinka nodded a barely conscious agreement. Taking it as enough, I replaced the bandages around my chest and changed into my street clothes. Then I carried Kalinka to the horses to get back to our travels.

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Okay, so I kinda gipped the lot of you on what exactly the curse is, but I'm saving those relevations for my upcoming origin story.

Oh shit!

That's supposed to be a secret. Please disregard.

Mysterious. Ooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhoooooooo! *Waves hands around*

Marr Vell

The Cliff

Okay, first chance I get, I'm getting the hell out of my terrible ass job. I actually wrote this story twice because of my terrible working conditions. GRAR! But anyway, I'm not here to bitch about my job, I'm here to write my story.

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"Won't you please grow up!?" Elsie yelled down at Sam, who had been complaining since they got to the cliff. "It's just a little rock-climbing."

Sam just looked up at her. "You're telling ME to grow up?! I'm not the one who has to put their lives at risk just to get some cheap thrills."

"Cheap? Who said anything about this trip being cheap? I spent thousands of dollars on this equipment, it's all top-of-the-line."

Sam rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

Elsie tossed a pebble at Sam, hitting his helmet. "Well duh, It's not my fault that your sarcasm sense is diluted at best. My point is that this equipment is the best that money can buy. You've probably haven't been this safe since your days in your mother's womb."

"Yeah, thanks for that mental image."

"Happy to oblige."

"Now who's sarcasm radar is shot?"

"Still your's, love."

Two hours later the two of them reached the top of the cliff. Sam had to admit, the view was worth the climb. As he thought about it, he began to remove his backpack to set up camp so the two of them could rest up for the hike back down to Elsie's truck.

Elsie stopped him. "Don't take that pack off! Are you crazy?!"

"I was just going to help set up camp for dinner, I'm exhausted and hungry."

"Silly boy, don't you think that your pack is a little light to contain any food at all?"

"I just thought that I was carrying a tent or something, while you had all the food."

Putting on a face of mock shock, Elsie waltzed up to Sam and playfully pushed her index finger into his chest. "What? You thought lil' ol' me had the food? Not a chance, not when I have a big strong man like you to carry it for me."

"C'mon Elsie, quit playing around. You know as well as I do that you're just as, if not more, capable as I am when it comes to carrying stuff around. Now did you bring food with you or not?"

"Well, if you didn't bring any, and I didn't bring any then there's only one place the food could be." Elsie said as she stroled over to the edge of the cliff, and, to Sam's horror, pointed down to her truck at the base of the cliff.

"You're kidding right? We'll never make the climb back down without food. What were you thinking?!"

"I was thinking it was time for that surprise that I used to get you here in the first place. You know, you were close when you guessed that your bag contained a tent. They're both made of cloth."

Before Sam could respond, Elsie gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and then leapt of the edge of the cliff. Sam panicked and ran to the edge just in time to see her unfurl her parachute.

"Base-jumping, huh? I guess it would be a surprise were it anyone else. And she tells me to grow up." Sam paused for a second. "Well, I've got to get down somehow, and there's no chance I'm going to let her hog all the food."

With that he jumped off the edge after her.

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And before anyone says anything; I don't know anything about rock-climbing or base-jumping. So if I got anything wrong, it's not my fault.

Marr Vell

MADNESS!

Not much to say about this that you can't be gleened. Basically, Kalinka and I went insane.

Marr Vell

The Trouble with Life is....

Surrounded by family,
Surrounded by friends.
I've made my mistakes,
I've accomplished just as much.
I've fought fights,
When I couldn't run.
Avoided more,
Just because.
Many mistakes corrected,
Some just left behind.
I look forward to the next batch,
Maybe I could learn something.
I have my regrets,
Though they are but few.
And I'll not speak of them here,
They're not really for you.
But I digress,
I've but one thing to say.

The trouble with life is...
It ends.

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Just so you're not worried, this isn't really personal. This is just what came to mind when Jesse proposed this Lightning Blog phrase.

Marr Vell

Nouvelle Marr Vell

Okay, I know "nouvelle" is the feminine version, but "nouveau" doesn't rhyme with "Marr Vell," so there.

Anyway, for those of you who haven't seen yet. I have a new look! Kylaia says it's not very Marr Vell-ish, so for that reason I'm posting a couple of pictures of the character who inspired it. As well as a picture of the new me.

If this guy doesn't seem Marr Vell-ish, I don't know who does.

Marr Vell

It's been awhile, huh?

I have finally, with some "persuasion" from Kalinka, gotten back into a write-y mood. So, in that case, Marr Vell presents the continuation of my point of view in the story.

Enjoy.

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Catching up to Llyd proved harder than expected. The spirits of the mountain seemed to really want Llyd's soul for their own. I wasn't sure why, but then again I wasn't about to waste time thinking about it. Kalinka and I climbed as fast as we could, having only Llyd's war cries to guide us.

Upon reaching the crest of the cliff we were set upon by a Will o' the Wisp*. Normally it would recede the moment we began to approach it, but this one was different, it blocked our path almost intent to keep us from reaching Llyd.

"We don't have time for this," I turned to Kalinka, "No one else is here, feel free to use your powers to take care of this one."

With that Kalinka raised here hand to the flames and parted them instantly. But just as we were about to run through the flames were replenished hotter than ever.

At first I thought that Kalinka's concentration was merely broken, but as I turned to look at her I noticed that another Will o' the Wisp had appeared and began attacking Kalinka directly.

I quickly rushed to Kalinka's aid, but the first Will o' the Wisp began attacking me. I shielded my face from the flames and drew out Schicksalflügel. Swinging it's enchanted blade at the Will o' the Wisps I was able to cause them to vanish for a time at least.

Helping Kalinka up, I said, "Let's go, we've still got a hero to save."

Kalinka then parted what remained of the flames just in time for Jesse to appear behind us. "What in the name of the gods?" She stammered, obviously taken aback by Kalinka's powers.

Kalinka panicked for a moment, "H-how much did you see?" She asked Jesse hesitantly.

"I saw enough, when were you two going to let me in on the fact that you had that kind of power?"

"Please, Jesse." I interjected, "we don't mean to keep secrets, it's just that Kalinka is unsure of her powers and she doesn't want to worry anyone. Besides we should hurry, I'd hate to have an argument like this keep us from helping Llyd."

"You're right, let's go." Jesse responded.

"Um..." Kalinka started, "don't tell Llyd, okay?"

"Alright, I won't." Jesse agreed, "I don't like being secretive, but I promise not to tell."

"Thank you."

Just as we began running again we heard an inhuman shriek from a short distance ahead. It definitely wasn't Llyd, what ever it was.

Clearing the fog we saw Llyd standing in a clearing gasping for breath as soldiers stood around him.

Jesse and Kalinka ran up and nearly tackled him out of concern for his safety. I took the opportunity to get his attention.

"What you did was foolish and irresponsible, you're lucky to be in one piece." I scolded him. I thought that maybe I was a little hard on him, afterall, I did the same thing once.

But before I had a chance to apologize, a young woman stepped out in front of him. "How dare you preach to him about being irresponsible," she said, "he just saved me and the others from a Shadow Mouth."

"He did, did he?" I must admit, I was surprised to learn that Llyd's sword was also capable of harming spirits. "Well then, that must be a sword of great proportion if it can harm a Shadow Mouth, we'll have to get it checked out when we get to Valvega."

The woman's eyes seem to light up when I mentioned Valvega. "Valvega is it? What a coincidence we were heading there as well, maybe we can come with you."

Not wanting to endanger anyone else on our journey, I merely shook my head and turned away, wanting to return to our horses before more spectres tried to take us. But then Llyd spoke up. "Um Marr, I promised to teach her how to wield a blade, and as you know one of my honor cannot go back on his word."

Giving up on getting rid of the women or the soldiers for now, I just shrugged and mounted my horse to continue on our trip.

"By the way, Llyd." I said to him as we began again. "Thank you for wasting all the time I had planned to save us by taking this pass. As soon as we exit the mountains we're setting up camp so we can rest and plan the rest of our travels." Then I lightly nudged him in the arm to show him that there were no hard feelings, and told him the story of my first time traveling this path with my old master.

Upon setting up camp in the field Llyd and I quickly took charge of the soldiers, some were sent to collect fire wood, while the others went to catch food. The women, who introduced herself as Rebecca, came to me to ask if she could be of any help.

"You're here so that Llyd can teach you how to use a sword," I told her, "why don't you two get started on that? If you need me, I'll be on the first watch."

A few hours later, while tending to Schicksalflügel, I heard music rising from the camp. I instantly recognized Llyd's flute. But later I heard Kalinka, Jesse and Becca all singing along together. Their voices seemed to surround me as I listened, the song calming my normally tense nerves.

That moment of weakness was all it took. I felt a sharp pain in my chest and arms, and nearly doubled over. It was all I could do to keep from screaming out as the torturous feeling took hold of me again. The pain was great enough to make me black out, but I held it back knowing full well that should I slip into unconsciousness what awaited me was worse than any physical pain I could ever endure.

After a few moments of burning pain, which felt like hours, I was able to regain control again and the pain vanished a quickly as it began. Clutching my chest, I began to breathe heavily, and I tried desperately to regain my composure before anyone noticed.

"Marr...are you okay?" I heard Kalinka's voice behind me.

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Cliffhanger! Ha! Take that!

=P

Marr Vell

*Will o' the Wisp - A fire spirit, normally considered a guide, sometimes a guide to treasure, sometimes a guide to getting lost. It varies, but they are usually not directly harmful. But this is MY story, they'll do what I want.

Holy Carp!

While being really bored at work today I decided to look up our names on Wikipedia. And here is what I found:

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My first name Marr is one of six committee areas in Aberdeenshire, Scotland bordering Atholl, Badenoch, Gowris, The Mearns Banff and Buchan. It has a population of 34,038 (2001 Census).

Marr is named after Mar, one of the historic districts of Scotland, which comprised the larger portion of Aberdeenshire, extending from north of the Don southward to the Mounth. Like other such districts, it was under the rule of a mormaer during Scotland in the Middle Ages. In the 12th century an earl (the Earl of Mar) took his place, but no definite succession of earls appears till the 12th century, nor is any connection established between them and the mormaers.

The district was eventually combined into the traditional county of Aberdeenshire during reorganisation due to Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, this Act established a uniform system of county councils and town councils in Scotland and restructured many of Scotland’s counties. (See: History of the local government of Scotland).

To the west, the mountain environment of the Cairngorms National Park sustains a well developed tourist industry based on heritage and outdoor pursuits. Forestry and livestock farming are key industries, particularly in remoter areas. Part of the area has qualified for EU financial assistance. To the east, Marr has experienced population growth due to its strong commuter links with the city of Aberdeen.

Also there was the English guitarist, keyboardist, harmonica player and singer from The Smiths, and more recently Modest Mouse, Johnny Marr.

My last name came up with Vells, an indie rock group formed by drummer Jeremiah Green of, once again, Modest Mouse. (Coincidence, really.)

Joneus came up with A little known artist under Hollywood Records, sorry there wasn't anything else.

And finally Kalinka came up with this little gem:

"Kalinka" ("Калинка" in Cyrillic) might be the best-known Russian song of all time. It has been mistaken as being a genuine folksong, but was actually written in 1860 by the composer and folklorist Ivan Petrovich Larionov 1830-1889 and first performed in Saratov as part of a theatrical entertainment that he had composed. Soon it was added to the repertory of a folk choral group, and the rest is history.

The song celebrates a snowball tree, with a speedy tempo and light-hearted lyrics. Singers and dancers many a time get into a frenzied celebration of song and dance while performing this song.

A Version of the "Kalinka" lyrics
Russian:
Калинка, калинка, калинка моя,
В саду ягода малинка, малинка моя,
Под сосною под зеленою
Спать положите вы меня.

Ах! Сосенушка ты зеленая,
Не шуми же надо мной!
Ах! Красавица, душа девица,
Полюби же ты меня!

And because I'm sure at least most of us couldn't read that.

English translation:
Snowball bush, snowball bush, my snowball bush,
In the garden there's the berry, my raspberry..
Under the pine, under the green pine,
Lay me down to sleep.

Ah, you dear pine, you green pine,
Don't you rustle so loud over me
Ah, beautiful maid, dear maid,
please fall in love with me!

Also, Several clubs and companies have been named Kalinka as well as a breed of show dog, the Kalinka terrier, and a minor character in Mega Man 4.

I also searched for Zhilo, Trevirn and Kylaia and came up with nothing. Sorry guys.

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And there you have it, undeniable proof that I have *way* too much time on my hands at work.

I hope you found it informative, or at least entertaining.

Marr Vell