Sage Advice

Between a shaman and her totem there are no secrets.

Created By: Tailchaser
>>>>>[ Tailchaser blinked and found herself far from where she'd fallen asleep. The trees here were thick leafed with rubbery bark, the grass wiry yet verdant under her hands as she rubbed at them. This was a place where she'd played as a child. Not far from here was the small village where her uncle lived, a place far from the smog clogged city of Tenochtitlan. Serpent? I am dreaming, yes? ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (23:26:04/03-15-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Appearing at her side in a form much smaller than normal. He coils himself in the grass and get comfortable, feeling the sun on his scales. Your sleep is fitful. I brought you here to ease your troubled mind, child. You will need your rest. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (23:29:35/03-15-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ I know. There will be much to do on the morrow. This was a good choice. She eased back on the grass, comfortably cushioned by the damp spines against her skin. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (23:32:35/03-15-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ It is frightfully easy for a totem spirit to make good choices. Somewhat harder for humans and metas. Moves slightly, then spreads his wings in a gigantic stretch. You dream of the most...unpleasant things sometimes. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (23:36:24/03-15-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Turns her head to squint at his eerily perceptive eye so near her own. I dream of... things I don't often understand. Murder, torture, getting trapped in someone else's mind forever... burning. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (23:44:32/03-15-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Shivers...it is uncertain whether the shiver comes from what Tailchaser describes or if it is a common thing for him. The past chases you, child. A past you cannot run from. You can only put it off. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (23:48:29/03-15-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ I'm keeping secrets from myself? I thought the memories I already had were.... bad enough. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (23:52:59/03-15-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Mmm...they are. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (23:55:13/03-15-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ I glitched tonight, Serpent. I glitched badly. Simon got hurt because I went... however I went. Her fingers dig into the warm loam beneath the grass. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (23:57:58/03-15-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ His eyes are slits as he looks in Tailchaser's direction. And so what does this say to you? How do you feel about what happened? ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (00:00:10/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Guilty. My weakness made my team vulnerable where they should not have been. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (00:04:05/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ And they do not have their own shortcomings and needs? Cazador teetering on the brink of insanity. Jake has barely a clue who he once was. Pariah is a ball of insecurity. Do you not deserve to be vulnerable sometimes? ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (00:10:28/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ I-- She takes a moment to think it out. Yes, rationally and logically I do. I am vulnerable after the run. Then Cazador takes care of me. In this instance he needs me. She breaks off. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (00:14:04/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Your investment in him is dangerous. You are not ready for what he represents. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (00:15:02/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ I know! Unable to look him in the eye she peers up at the sun scorched sky. It seems I cannot help it. I tried not to care, Serpent. I've tried so hard. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (00:16:58/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Do not think that you are not as fragile as he. And do not depend on his feelings for you. These things you know. But perhaps you care for him because you need someone. To feelings such as these...you are a babe in the woods. Their weight could crush you. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (00:20:02/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ I don't understand. I've loved. Why would this time destroy me? She shakes her head. I know. I have to learn these things on my own. You yourself have counselled me to not be so remote. To let myself be touched and held by emotions more as they are the key to true understanding.... ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (00:28:08/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Yes. His eyes close. That, I have. It is...a thin line. And while you may have felt strongly for another in the past, you are investing hopes that you did not have before. Each day in your work you deal with things that are grisly and unpleasant. You must watch not to become numb to these. But you musn't bury yourself in them either. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (00:32:06/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Tailchaser is silent, mulling over the truth in his words. He was correct yet she didn't see how she could keep from looking at Cazador as... something more than a killer and a tool. He was her lover. And she was beginning to love him despite his callousness, and egotism. Perhaps some distance should be put between them. Yet that didn't feel right either. 'A thin line', how true. She did need Cazador, and when she'd awakened tonight he'd been holding her hand tightly and singing to her. Singing. Cazador. His voice husky and a little shaky as the old ballad purred against her hair. His fingers had trembled as he touched her...

She shook her head. She was harboring the hope that he could be more than a hired killer. She had to keep that under tight wraps. Serpent knew what he was talking about. She wasn't ready. The things tearing her apart from the inside had to be dealt with first.

I want to keep the hope, Serpent. It feels good to have it for once. I'd like to have something to hold close in my breast when the nightmares come. Her voice is almsot pleading. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (00:45:42/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ His eyes snap open for an instant...then close again as he seems to smile. Sometimes, child...you remind me why I sought you out in the first place. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (04:06:47/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Once more, I don't know what you mean... It's enough that you understand me. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (04:21:35/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ I am impressed that you are as affected as you are by the lad. Time was when I thought you were above it. I worried then. Now I worry for a different reason. But what will come, will come. And you will manage...somehow. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (04:27:34/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ I've learned some difficult things. The most difficult being that if I am alone, I will never know joy or true healing. You've guided me to those revelations. I want to be a part of something good. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (04:37:11/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ "Good." Sighs and as he does he emits an incidental growl. Beware that term as you would the term "evil". The two are as extreme as "always" and "never". Shades of gray are rampant. Even in what you speak of. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (04:43:15/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Tailchaser nods, rubbing her head on the grass. I know. I am trying to temper my need to counteract the bad that I have commited with some good. It gets the best of me at times. I feel that I can't advance with my life until I fully understand my past and accept what I've done. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (04:52:32/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Wise words. But, you should recognize that it is a process. Your wounds are deep. And even your healers touch cannot speed your recovery. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (04:57:24/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Si, I'm not ready. I only hope that I am ready before it is too late. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (13:02:46/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Curls up into a tighter coil...his voice becomes more sagely. Everything happens with a purpose. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (15:51:16/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Her reluctant laugh is quiet. You love using that line. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (15:59:09/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Only because it is patently true. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (16:05:46/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ You're a smug Serpent. She cushions her head on one hand and rolls up on her side. I need a magical group. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (16:22:13/03-16-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Almost grins. To be part of a group, one must be social. Not to mention, willing to impart secrets. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (02:35:19/03-17-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ I'm social! I'm just... careful. She smiles wryly. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (02:40:09/03-17-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Then I suppose you'll have to get off your gludius and find one. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (02:47:02/03-17-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ I'm hoping that library will be enough to get me in the door with someone... somewhere. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (02:48:35/03-17-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Snorts. Worry more about your personality. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (03:00:45/03-17-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ I'm getting better. It's just taking practice. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (12:08:46/03-17-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ I'm not silly enough to expect you to be outgoing. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (14:43:15/03-17-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ I want to know what you've hidden from me. I really want to know... but I know I can't ask that of you yet. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (14:52:43/03-17-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ I have hidden nothing from you child. It is all accessible to you. You simply have to find it. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (15:16:21/03-17-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ You are, of course, right as always. She ruminates for a moment. I think I'll ferret it out in bits and pieces. There are reasons that I don't know these things, I should respect those reasons. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (15:48:06/03-17-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Halellujah. Wisdom prevails. His tone is obviously jovial. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (17:20:22/03-17-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ She laughs softly. Knew you liked me for a reason. I'll continue as I have, only trying a little more to reach out. I think that alone should push me closer to what I want of myself. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (17:23:09/03-17-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Am I a good teacher or what. I've got you just about brainwashed, I think. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (22:21:16/03-17-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ I really don't know what would have happened to me without you, Serpent. When I was cut off from you... it was the most terrible thing... ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (22:24:15/03-17-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Yes, well. While it is hard to get rid of me...you reallly should be wary of depending on me too much. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (03:28:02/03-18-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ You weren't too happy either, if I remember correctly. She pointed out dryly. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (03:32:33/03-18-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Mage masks are a vile invention. I see their purpose. Still....they are vile. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (04:01:37/03-18-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Which is your way of saying, "Yes, I was. nNow shut up about it, impudent child." She grins and laughs. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (14:25:11/03-18-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Not...quite. My feelings are not relavent. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (16:20:03/03-18-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ I know, I know. Her laughing dies away and she sighs again. It's hard to reach out again. I try. ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (17:07:43/03-18-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ All one can do is proceed with care. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (00:40:28/03-19-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ I will. She falls silent for several moments. Anymore words of wisdom that you want to offer? ]<<<<<
- Tailchaser (00:52:22/03-19-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]

>>>>>[ Yes...go to sleep. ]<<<<<
- Feathered Serpent (00:57:34/03-19-59) [Home] [Mail] [Comment]