OoC: Water? o_O Eeek... scary. *shivers* Okay, Z. You got it, but it may be a few days, we just lost our home computer.

BiC:

Tierra squinted against the harsh light from outside, and shielded her eyes with one hand until her sight adjusted. Glancing at Weiss, she could see he felt much the same way about the sudden change of illumination. After a half minute or so, Tierra’s eyes had adjusted to the lighting, and she pushed the heavy metal gate open further, until she and Weiss could walk through it side by side.

Slowly, Tierra and her companion ventured out of the darkness, up a short hill that had been dug into the ground. The earth beneath her feet was covered in lush green grass; it was a welcome change from the murky waters she had traversed just moments before. Low hedges and flower gardens spanned for hundreds of feet in all directions, and sunlight poured down over the gardens from cloud-strewn skies far above.

Tierra looked around suspiciously – cautious of her surroundings. This place was nothing like that forest she had come in through, and she doubted a wizard’s tower, abandoned for nearly a decade, would have a garden so well tended. Clearly, she was not where she meant to be. A look exchanged with Weiss told her the horse found nothing to fear in their surroundings, but she wanted to be careful nonetheless. Closing the massive gate behind her, Tierra ventured further up into the garden.

When she crested the small hill that served as a ramp down into the sewers beneath the garden, Tierra spotted a large fountain some fifty feet away from her, surrounded by a circle of stone benches and a few small trees. Sitting on one of the benches, facing her, was a boy. He was a fair skinned youth with short, glossy brown hair who dressed in simple white clothing and carried a leather messenger bag, slung across his left shoulder. He was watching the waters rise from the spout atop the fountain, just before his attention was caught by a large bird that soared overhead, bound for one of the garden’s edges. As the bird faded into the distance, he looked down, and caught sight of the adventuress and her companion. He raised one hand into the air and waved to her, then hopped down from the bench and jogged across the garden toward her. Tierra rested her hand at her side, near her warhammer.

The boy reached her, stopping nearly eight feet in front of her and set his hands on his knees, taking a breath after his jog. He looked up at her with bright eyes, and asked suddenly, “Are you miss… or, mister Tierra?” Tierra glanced to the side slightly, but kept her eyes on the boy. She said nothing. Catching the cue, the boy went on, “If you are, I was sent to deliver a message to you.”

Tierra pursed her lips. Her bandana hid her features; she could quite easily pass for a young man. It might be safer. The boy faltered, his nerve clearly shaken from the sharp stare Tierra gave him. After a moment, Tierra spoke, her voice changed with the practice of passing for male, “Who are you, and am I in Hell?” She sounded as direct and untrusting as she wished to.

Neither question phased the youth. He responded brightly, his manner practiced, “I am Prince Argen Telaura the Third of the Shining Seas, presently serving as a messenger here in the Dome, where you are, which is most certainly not Hell.”

“You’re a prince?” Tierra asked, clearly unbelieving. Most princes she had ever heard of did not dress like this boy did. Even those serving as pages wore some manner to prove their claim. This Argen Telaura did not.

The explained himself quickly, but not hastily, “Only on technicality, sir. As long as I’m training at the Dome, I’m just like anyone else. My father believes that spending time here will help me learn how to be humble, how to defend myself, and how to defend our nation from assault after my coronation. You see, we have a neighbor who wants to own our lands, -“ Tierra’s ear twitched, and she narrowed her eyes slightly, “- and they try taking us by storm every time a new king comes to power, hoping to pray on his inexperience in war.”

“I thought you said you were a prince of seas, not lands. Which is it?” It was not so much a question as it was an accusation. Argen shifted a little.

“It’s both. It’s a coastal kingdom with large deciduous forests and many stone buttes around it. In the mornings, shortly before the sun rises, a mist covers the forest trees, making them shine in the dawn. That’s where the name comes from.” Argen paused for a moment, “I’m sorry, but if you’re not Tierra, I have to be going. I have many letters that need to be delivered.”

The boy turned to leave, retrieved a thick note from his bag and read something from it. Taking a deep breath, Tierra removed the bandana from around her face and let it fall behind her, addressing the young prince just as he was taking his bearings to leave, “I’ll take that message. I’m Tierra.” The boy stopped, confused at the more feminine sound of Tierra’s voice.

Argen turned around, showing Tierra the puzzled look on his face, “You’re… a girl?”

“Got a problem with that?” Tierra shot back.

Argen’s eyes widened as he drew a short breath. “Er, n-no…” he stammered, “I-I just thought that from a moment ago, you were a… well, that you weren’t a girl, that’s all. Sorry.” Tierra inclined her eyebrows at the boy, waiting for something. Catching her cue again, he quickly reached into his bag and drew out a rolled piece of parchment, tied with a pale blue ribbon. Argen handed the letter to her, and she handed him one of the small, uncut rubies kept in her leg pack.

“I don’t know what kind of coin this Dome uses, but I hope that will be worth your trouble,” Tierra said as she began to unroll the letter. Skimming over it, she found it was written in the hand of someone unfamiliar to her.

‘Welcome to the Dome,’ the letter read. ‘Here at the Dome, you will be trained in the art of battle by one of our illustrious instructors. Each instructor has their own special style for teaching students, but your teacher has been assigned to you because of who you are and who you can become.’

Tierra scratched her neck, unsure of what to make of the strange note. Taking a breath, she went on.

‘During your stay, we encourage you to have a look around the Dome and experience all it has to offer. Presently, you are in the Gardens. From here, there is a connection to the sewers, from which you came, and too many other places, where you have not yet been. Further into the Dome, you will find many people and creatures from all across time and space, who have come here or been brought here for exactly the same reason you have.

‘Be wary of the Doors here. Each new door leads to someplace just as new. Some of those places are inside the Dome; others lead to worlds like your own, or perhaps not like your own. The door you will be looking for leads to the Island, where you will meet with your instructor for the first time.

‘Good luck, and may you find everything you are looking for!

‘Signed, the Dome’

“Signed, the Dome?” Tierra repeated aloud. “Someone must have named a guild after this place. Speaking of which…” Tierra looked around the gardens and reached into the pouch on her leg again. This time, she withdrew a lump of sugar and gave it to Weiss, who had begun to nudge her shoulder. The horse took the sugar lump and savored it happily.

Thinking quietly, Tierra walked over to the benches by the fountain, letting Weiss take a drink from the waters there. She sat on a bench, then looked up and asked aloud, “Gilda, is everything in the note that was given to me by Argen Telaura the Third true?”

A brush of wind swept past her ear, accompanied by the sound of singing wind chimes, “A well-posed question, Tierra. No, not everything in that note is true.” This was Gilda, the knowledge spirit who inhabited her earcuff. Over the years, Tierra had learned to ask only very specific question of Gilda, or else she might receive the wrong information back, or none at all. Gilda was a spirit of knowledge, but also of secrets. She kept her knowledge carefully guarded, despite having sworn years ago to aid Tierra on her journeys.

“Which parts of that note are true, and which are not, Gilda? Also, on the parts that are not true, what makes them untrue?” Tierra spoke as if addressing a lawmaker, which she was nearly certain Gilda would have been, if she were mortal.

The jingle of wind chimes continued to sound in Tierra’s ear, “Most of the note’s contents are true. However, not all of the Dome’s instructors are illustrious. Also, not everyone in the Dome is here because they are supposed to be training. There are also the Domerii, who live in the Dome and serve the Dome.”

“Thank you, Gilda. Now… the note mentioned an island. What kind of island is that?” Tierra asked, a slight tremble in her voice.

“A body of land, surrounded on all sides by something which is not land.” Gilda responded, a touch of triumph in her voice. She knew this was not what Tierra wanted, but reveled whenever she could get away with answering the mage’s questions like this.

Tierra gave an exasperated sigh, then tried her question again, “Is the island referenced by the note that was given to me by Argen Telaura the Third surrounded by a body of water, Gilda?”

“Yes, it is,” came her answer.

Tierra frowned, and her stomach turned. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

* * *

Three hours later found Tierra wandering through the Dome. She had long ago left the gardens, and now found herself walking through a place that resembled a wide street of a city whose place in time was indescribable. There were street lamps, but they were not lit by flame, only pure light that made a slight buzzing sound not unlike the inside of an alchemist’s lab, where lightning was kept trapped on V-shaped spindles. People of all sorts milled about here, going to and fro on errands and chores too numerous to think of. Some of the folks in the Dome were beyond the scope of what Tierra would have called people just a day before. A creature who appeared to be a cross between a man and a black lion mistook her for a horse merchant earlier, and presently she spoke to a man-sized golem of segmented black metal, whose face appeared to be nothing more than a curved pane of opaque, cyan crystal.

“Golem,” she began, “are you of the directing variety, the guarding, or some other?” The creature did not respond. Frustrated, she stood more directly in front of the construct and addressed it again, “Black golem, can you speak or can you not? Merely shake your head from side to side if you cannot.” The construct cocked its head and seemed to look at her.

A masculine and metallic voice resounded from the creature, “What did you call me?” From its tone, Tierra garnered the distinct impressions of confusion and disbelief.

‘Great, someone’s gone and given it a personality,’ Tierra thought to herself. Narrowing her eyes just slightly, Tierra answered, “I called you golem. Are you not a construct of magical nature?”

The thing hesitated, and Tierra considered walking away in her frustration. Suddenly, an explosive hiss erupted from the golem’s neck, and small plumes of white vapor escaped the segment which held its head on. Tierra reached for her warhammer as the golem lifted its hands toward its head and – took it off. What a strange thing to do!

When the creature’s head was off its shoulders, Tierra was astonished to see a man’s head beneath. His eyes were a piercing green color, and his hair was white, though he didn’t appear to any older than thirty. Inside, she balked for a moment, while her eyes bore into the man in apparent anger. With a deep, gruff voice, the man said, “Whatever it is you mean, I ain’t it.”

The woman’s face flushed red with embarrassment, which made her glare look, if anything, even more intense. She drew a breath to steady herself. “Are you wearing a golem?” she asked incredulously. She had meant to apologize, but her curiosity caught the better of her at the last moment.

The black-clad man looked down at himself, and then held a metallic hand in front of his face. Putting it down, he answered, “This? Naw, it’s just my armor.” Quickly, he gave her the once over, and narrowed his eyes as her embarrassment seemed to wash away. “You’re new at the Dome, aren’t you? Trying to get somewhere?” To Tierra, the man asked these questions easily.

Setting her jaw and glancing away slightly, the young adventuress responded, “I am new here, yes. And, I am trying to find my way.” Despite being dressed in an armor that was far beyond her time, this black dressed man didn’t feel like a threat to her. She decided it would be alright to fill him in. “I was given a letter that told me I need to find an island, but I haven’t the first clue where I’m supposed to find an island in a place like this.”

The armored man nodded, more to himself than anyone else, and then looked directly at Tierra with a friendly, almost fatherly smile, “Then you’re at the right place, in any event. The doors will take you where you need to go, and this place –“ he jerked his thumb at the large building behind him, “has more doors than any other I know.”

Tierra smiled at him in return, gave him a nod and said, “Thank you, sir, and I’m sorry for confusing you for a guide, earlier.”

The man shrugged in reply, “I am a guide. I just don’t know what the heck a golem is. Would you like me to stable your horse for you?”

Tierra looked at Weiss, who seemed to be staring off into space. With a glance back at the armored man by the door she said, “Yes, please. He’s getting tired. And here’s for your trouble…” she reached inside the pouch on her leg, withdrew a dazzling crystal, blue in color, and handed it to the guide along with Weiss’s rein.

“Thank you very much, miss. And this is for you.” The man produced a white metal token from his armor and handed it to Tierra, who took it with a nod, and headed indoors. The man waved to her as she walked through the front door of the building.

Inside, Tierra found the atmosphere to be especially comfortable. It appeared to be a waiting room of some kind. Large, white globes that hung from the ceiling lit the room and simple, yet comfortable looking cushioned couches lined the walls. Sitting, there were persons of various heritages and lifestyles, and at the center of then room was a desk of grey wood where a pretty young lady dressed all in white sat and spoke with people as they approached the counter.

Tierra waited for a few moments, until there was no longer anyone at the counter, and then walked over to it, herself. The lady sitting at the desk looked up at her and smiled. Her voice was musical, and it reminded Tierra of smooth crystals. “Hello, welcome to the reception desk,” she said.

“Hello,” the young adventuress replied, “I’m looking for a door that will take me to an island, where I’m supposed to meet an instructor, I believe.”

The receptionist responded immediately, as if she had heard the request hundreds of times before, “Can you be more specific? There are many islands available through our doors.”

The mage woman hummed to herself quietly, thinking, and then offered her letter to the woman at the desk, “I received this from a messenger, perhaps it will help?”

The young lady sitting at the desk reached out and accepted the letter graciously. As her hand touched the page, her pale blue eyes flushed into a static grey color, and she halted. For the better part of a second, the receptionist did not as much as twitch. Then, her eyes turned blue again and she said, “You are Miss Tierra Nena, the young mage of Acadnia and Shadowtop who has arrived recently. We’ve been expecting you, miss. You will find the door you seek down the hallway to your right. Thank you, and have a good day.”

Tierra nodded to the young woman at the desk appreciatively, and went to her right, where she found a hallway filled with many, many doorways, each just inches from the frame of the next. She considered going back to the receptionist for some additional direction, but on glancing, she saw that a line several people long had formed in her wake. With a shrug, she walked down the hallway, looking around for signs that one of these doors may lead to the island.

After nearly twenty minutes of searching, she found exactly what she was looking for. Above one of the doors in the hallway, there was a sign which read ‘Island’ in the hand of her native Shadowtop. Gazing at the sign, Tierra mused, “This must be the place.” She looked down at the door itself; it was made of a single pane of ash wood, inlaid with silver in many places. Its frame glittered from veins of either crystal or ore (Tierra couldn’t tell which) and its handle was nonexistent. Instead, it had a smooth, black surface where the handle should be. Curious, she reached out and touched the spot with her hand. It glowed blue from within, then suddenly slid open, to the right, through its frame and the wall.

Inside the door, or perhaps outside the door, now that Tierra could see it, there was a vast grassy beach, which led down to a sparkling lake on one side and toward a lightly wooded area on the other. Tierra stepped through, looking around. The sun hung high, and fluffy white clouds dotted the sky. The young woman turned around the see the building she had come from, but there was only the door in its frame, and nothing around it. Promptly, it faded from sight.

Tierra dashed forward, trying to catch it by the handle as the door slipped away into oblivion, but realized just a moment too late that not only did the door lack a handle, but her hand slipped right through the place that it was supposed to be. With an audible sigh, she turned toward the lake and shivered at the sight.

It was a lake, indeed. It spanned miles into the distance, and there was a large island at its center, dotted with many large trees and complete with what Tierra thought to be ruins of some old castle. A wide river fed the lake from its northern side, and the river continued again, though is thinner form, on the lake’s southeastern side.

The young woman sighed, looking at her destination. After a minute, she said, “Gilda, how am I going to get to that island?” It wasn’t a real question, but Gilda would answer nonetheless.

The sound of wind chimes jingled in her ear, “There are many things of the future which are uncertain. How you will reach your goals are among them.” Gilda sounded pleased to have been given another chance to sass the mage.

Tierra smirked; she knew that answer was coming. Gilda had told it to her every other time she asked about such a thing. Tierra blinked, though, catching inspiration. Without pause, she asked the spirit another question, “Then, what would be your first suggestion, Gilda?”

Smugly, the jingling of wind chimes formed the words, “I would suggest that you wait for the train and take that over.”

Tierra stopped smiling quite suddenly. Train? Like the kind on a wedding dress, or what? Rather than ask, Tierra decided to take the knowledge spirit’s suggestion, and wait.

More than an hour passed by. Looking around cautiously for signs of whatever a train might be, Tierra abruptly stood up and looked at Gilda indignantly, who she had visualized in front of herself. “I thought you said—” With no warning at all, the ground shook as though something heavy were passing by. Like a herd of stampeding aurochs.

From the water’s edge, thirty feet in front of her and forty to her right, a massive engine of shining metal and glass burst out of the lake. It was enormous and imposing. It had a long, straight body of gleaming black and silver iron and steel, accented with brass and which steamed jettisoned from various ports along its length. The behemoth stood over fifteen feet high and easily more than thirty feet long on six glimmering steel wheels on each side, all linked by a wide bar of metal. Its back end was attached to a similar construct by means of a thick black sheath of some shiny material that Tierra had never seen before coming to the Dome. That segment was still partially submerged, and something gave the young traveler the impression that there were more such segments beneath the water. In a fashion, this construct reminded Tierra of a gigantic metal snake. She was stunned; she had never seen anything like it in her life. In her shock, she had even forgotten that it was drenched in water. An awed word escaped from her lips, “What…?”

The sound of wind chimes danced happily and smugly in her ear, audible over the sound of rushing water and settling mechanisms of the great beast, “A train.”

A wide hatch on the side of the engine pressed outward, then opened. From it, a ramp slid down to the beach and a tall creature, dressed in white and red robes walked out. The creature appeared to be mostly human, but for his elongated arms and the cream-colored, feathered wings upon his back. He glanced at Tierra, and a voice spoke inside her mind, “It is a submarine train, young one. A machine capable of traveling safely beneath the waves, and which will take you to wherever you wish to go along the river.” She felt a presence, like a gentle hand, press into her psyche. Before she could speak, the voice sounded in her mind again, “Yes, it will take you to the island in the lake.” With that, the angelic being looked toward the train engine, paused, and then walked away from everything, toward the woods behind Tierra. The creature spoke in her mind again, “Bless you, young one, and fair travels.”

Tierra turned to follow the angelic wayfarer with her eyes, finding herself murmuring a blessing back to him. Quickly, her attention was called back to the train by the sound of one of its steam vents blasting. She looked the train over, still in awe. A portly looking man, who could not have possibly been more than five and a half feet tall appeared in the hatchway, “Coming aboard, miss?” he called out to her, “I hear from the Orgean yonder that you’re headed for the island in the lake. The Lady Luck’s with you, lass, that’s our next stop!”

A rivulet of water bumped into her foot, and she withdrew that foot from the water with incredible haste, her fear returning. She stared at the train, hesitating, before the portly man’s expression spurred her into motion. For now, she would have to stow her reservations about this mode of transportation.

Dashing, she made her way up to the ramp and climbed into the incredible machine. Once she was there, the portly fellow smiled at her and said, “Welcome aboard the Golden Yggdrasil, please have a seat at the bench, there,” said, pointing toward a bench on the opposite side that had been cushioned with a long, red velvet pillow, “and I’ll let the helmsman know where you want to go.” His uniform was red with golden accents, and he wore an ostentatious badge that contrasted somehow with his friendly demeanor. He paused for a moment, and then asked Tierra, “Oh, the Orgean was right, wasn’t he? It was the island you were headed to?”

Tierra nodded at the man as she took her seat, “Yes, it was. May I ask the fare for riding, sir?”

The man just shook his head at her and smiled, “There will be no fare necessary, miss. We’re just so overjoyed to have real, living passengers.”

Tierra’s eyes widened in fright and she turned pale. Her breaths became quick and shallow. Seeing this, the portly man burst into a chuckle, doing his best to console her, “Oh, no! You misunderstand! Please, m’lady, relax. The Golden Yggdrasil normally carries the souls of great heroes who died in battle to their heavenly resting places, but we cater to anyone along the shore of the river! It’s just a nice change of pace to see someone who rides with us and isn’t bound for Ysgard, Elysium, or some other such place. That’s all, I swear!”

His voice was cheery and honest, but Tierra could tell that her own fear of the situation struck him as genuinely laughable. It was that, more than anything, which made her calm down. As the doors closed, white lights awoke along the ceiling, bathing the room in soft radiance. The red dressed man walked away from her, after seeing that she was suitably calm, and as he disappeared through a doorway halfway down the engine, the train slid smoothly into motion.


Before she knew it, the train was headed up a hill and slowing to a halt. It had only been about twenty minutes since the hatch across from her had closed that it opened again, revealing a very different landscape than had before. Beyond, it was no longer the shore around the lake, but the shore of the island. In the distance, of to her left, she could see the river starting from the river again. The red dressed man with the badge on his uniform walked into the room again, and smiled at Tierra. “Did you enjoy the journey, young lady? I know it was short, so we hope you’ll ride with us again, soon. After the train gets moving, you can hear music echoing in from the water outside.”

“That, uh… that sounds nice,” she managed. “If you’ll excuse me, though, I think I have some business that I’m supposed to attend while I’m here. Thank you.” With that and a friendly wave to the conductor, she stepped down the ramp and onto the blessed and wonderful dry ground. The hatch on the train closed again and the train departed into the lake, much more quietly than when it arrived. She stared at it as it was leaving, until the last of its ripples brushed the beach, and turned to face the island.

Tierra began to walk up toward the stone ruins in the distance, and then froze in her tracks. Her magenta eyes flashed as she reached into the satchel of alchemical powder on her belt – there was a splash behind her, and it sounded far different and smaller than the train.

__________________
Tierra Nena, Miss Kylie Wild