Yggdrasil Minor is the universe fated to surround Hjadrasil, the Otherworld Tree. It is emptiness, save for a small planet of growing-earth.
Hjadrasil - the otherworld tree
Svastheim - upper layer of the 'gods'
Dame Astra - city-palace of the gods.
Falumine - woodland plane of spirits
Ehrgard - central layer of mortals
Sessenheim - mountain home of giants and lamia
Mitregard - lowest layer of demons and monsters
Julengard - where the unchosen dead go to await reincarnation
Sengurd - a den of dragons
Umliad - home to a the undead.
Ai and Dewei step out onto a lush chunk the size of Dorian's moon, overflowing with rain forest and oceans, rivers and moutains... a self-contained ecosphere crunched into a small space.
"This is perfect," the goddess notes, holding up the tree.
"Absolutely. You know, there are perks to having some very helpful, very powerful allies," Dewei notes, smiling. He admires the view.
"Yes, absolutely. We need to plant the tree quickly, though... there is no telling how much time is passing as we speak, or if time is even altered yet." It hasn't been.
Dewei nods. "Right." Looks at the earth. "So...you're the horticulturali
st. How deep does this thing need to go and such?
"Well... Yggdrasil trees are known mostly for their adaptive nature. Meaning, we could almost toss this thing in a well and find it growing. So wherever looks... ah." Ai points to a depression near a spring. "Right there is fine."
Dewei smiles, and nods. He really has no idea what he's supposed to be doing, since one person can plant a tree just fine...so, when all else fails, he does as told, and heads over to the stream. Not leaving Ai behind, of course. "I'm sure the tree will love it."
"Not as much as we will." Ai gazes at the depression, watching its shape change under her power. "There." She bends down a bit, stopping to lower the sizable sapling into the depression. Her sorcery heaps new, exceptionally vital earth into the hole. "There. Now we leave, right?" She looks around. "I cannot think of any reason not to." Looks back at him.
Dewei had stooped to help a bit, although he's currently kicking himself for not offering to carry the tree before..he's not sure why he hadn't thought of it, and is really beating himself up now. He smiles a bit, though, and nods. Touches one of the tree's branches for a moment, thoughtful, and then looks back to Ai. "Yeah. It's kind of special, though...we'll never see the entire thing at a glances again." Smiles, stands up, and offers her a hand up, too.
"Special... indeed." She takes his hand, but doesn't pull herself up. "I see a lovely patch of forest over there. I wonder if the ground is as soft as it looks." Ai is really not very good at being suggestive. She is trying for Dewei's sake, but really, her bluntness is itching to club him and carry him off to her cave.
"Well...I think there's only one way to find out," Dewei observes, smiling. He kind of has a suspicion that she means more than sitting and talking, but isn't at all sure of it, and...well, any missed opportunity to share some special time with Ai deserves bitch-slapping. Besides, it's awfully anticlimatic to basically drop the tree and leave.
The goddess rises, and leads him that way. It is a scenic walk, as flowers rise in bloom with every step Ai takes. She's beaming, thrilled that Dewei might just be understanding at last.
Once they reach the clearing, a twenty second walk at best, Ai whirls on Dewei and shoves him against a thick tree, eyes burning.
Dewei oofs. He looks up to her after a moment. "Ai...?"
She holds out one hand, dangling a five point leaf from between her fingers. "Do you remember this leaf, in this situation at all, Dewei?"
"Sure. Well, I was going to say..." he smiles a little. "I'm really glad we didn't bring my family."
"Then you know what I want you to do with the leaf." She smiles right back. "This time I am not kidding."
She knows he's a virgin. Thus, his cheeks are flaming red. "You...ah...know that I would do 'seductive' like a drunk cow, right?"
Ai's fire dims a little bit. "Well. Just leave that part to me then. If you just want to talk, we can do that too." The leaf flutters from her grip, floating slowly down to the ground.
Okay. So maybe it was the wrong place to try to lighten the mood. He'd really been joking, not trying to beg out. But, it isn't the time for mixed signals. "Ai..." he hesitates just a moment. Then quite suddenly kisses her, and not in the gentlemanly manner he has in the past.
"MMf!" Ai rises above her shock in half a blink. So there is fire in the boy, after all! She lets herself relax until she leans almost entirely upon him, losing herself in the moment just as she'd envisioned so many times.
Dewe kisses her jawbone, far to the back near where it arches up, but...then raises his face a little, head leaned against her, that his mouth is nearer to her ear. "Ai...are you sure that you want to do this...?" he murmurs quietly. He has to reassure himself this way. He loves her far too much to think that he might ever hurt her in any way.
"As sure as I am that there are stars in the sky, Dewei. Yes, by all the heavens yes." She leans her head forward and returns his kisses, lingering at his ear before catching it between her generous lips. "But, you...?"
Dewei shivers when her lips find his ear... "God yes, Ai. Godess," he corrects, smiling softly. "Goddess...yes."
She smiles at the Goddess bit. He is so sweet, and handsome... wonderful on a hundred levels. Her hands slide around his waist to his back, planting there to hold him tightly to her. "You have buttons to collect, then." Her lips find his again as she pins him against the tree, searching him, testing him as only a woman can.
Dewei's cheeks, as they've been so often, are red, but...not in the same way as usual. It's tentatively that his clawed fingers find her buttons, and, one by one, begin to unfasten them. It's very much like he can hardly believe that he has the right to touch her...which is actually very much what's really going on. Ai is...amazing. An utter dream. He shivers a little at a kiss, and smiles softly at her.
He would not believe it if she told him, but Ai feels exactly the same way. That the man she adores so dearly is undressing her is a stroke of blissful fortune for her. At times she'd feared it would never happen, that their love would only ever exist in secret, fearful moments.
And here they are.
"You have a pretty smile," Ai coos just as her cloak begins to open, revealing her dozens of tattooes and her simplistic undergarments to his eyes. "I love it." She is shaking just as well, nervous beyond expression.
"It has pretty inspiration," Dwei observes. Smiles, and leans forward to kiss her lips again. god, he loves her.
She accepts him, letting him feel his own way. She has a bit of experience that he lacks, but... she does not mind allowing him to learn from her this way. At least for a while. As the two beloved share their heartfelt kiss, Ai reaches for Dewei's hand and guides it inside her cloak, heart singing songs written ages before her time.
"Dewei... are you awake...?" Ai's soft inquisition only barely travels far enough to be heard. Above, the night has long since fallen over them, blanketing them in darkness set off only by a light Dewei had been thoughtful enough to manifest. She gazes at him for a while, as she has throughout the evening, roaming his handsome nakedness with the devoted eyes of an art student admiring a beloved painting. The way his smooth build is framed in deep shadow sets a striking contrast over him as he lies so beautifully nude upon the grass, almost rekindling the fire she had felt so fiercely earlier. It puts him apart from the surroundings, setting his innocent, soft-featured face against the pure maleness of his body. Even if the experience itself was imperfect, this moment, this extraordinary instant of experiencing his gorgeous masculinity, has made it otherwise.
"Dewei. Love, we need to get back." She kneels beside him, unable to stop herself from running her nails and fingertips down his delicious chest and beyond. She keeps her touch away from less innocent regions, though, for his sake.
"Mm?" Dewei opens his eyes after a moment, and smiles softly at her. "Yeah..." He plucks her hand gently from his chest, and kisses her fingers softly. "It's a shame today has to end sometime, huh?" He smiles, though, and sits up.
She blushes at his attentions, as ever. "It is. But... we have time, you and I. We can have more days like this." He's so beautiful, like this, that she actually has to avert her eyes to keep from dropping next to him and begging for kisses. "Come on, now," she laughs, barely concealing a desperate plea. "Get dressed before I lose control of myself and we end up here until the tree blooms."
"Mm..." Dewei seems to ponder his options at this as he stands up. Grins at her a little, teasingly, but...in his usual way. It couldn't be interpreted as suggestive if he weren't naked. He reaches over to grab his pants and stands up, offering Ai a hand up as well. "I think that goes two ways," he observes with a little laugh. He's all smiles, though. There was nothing lacking in the experience itself, for him.
Ai takes his hand, smiling at him for his... Dewei-ness. "Wait," she demands in a gentle tone, "before you dress, I want to look at you a little longer." And she does, apparaising him from top to bottom. "You're gorgeous, Dewei. You... mm." Her cheeks are a little more than pink. "You should dress now."
Dewei's cheeks, predictably, are quite red as well, partly as it sinks in what's happened. But...that's a good feeling. "You could only think so, not being able to compare it with what I'm seeing," he observes. Smiles, though, and looks down to dress. "Mm...Ting and Mara will both be all over this, you realize that?" He has to grin.
"Oh yes. But it will be worth it." Ai finishes buttoning her cloak, completely unnecessarily as she could manifest something else to wear if she wanted. It just... completes the feeling. "Oh. Dewei, here." She reaches out, intent on helping him dress, because... she needs something to do with her hands, and feels like babying him a little. A small, content smile replaces her characteristically broad one. "You know, we cannot allow what we've done here to change things between us. Things are different, I know, but we... well. Forgive me, I am babbling."
Dewei is absolutely flattered by her attentions, and doesn't resist in the least. He's almost purring. He actually can. But pretty much only Ai has ever heard it in recent years, and then maybe once or twice, just because, all told, it embarasses him a bit. "There aren't very many things I'd rather listen to, Ai," he notes, smiling at her as he slips his jacket on, fastening the clasps. "And, I certainly agree. Things have been entirely too good...there's nothing to perfect."
"You flatterer." Once he's dressed Ai pats his sides, slides her hands down his chest. "There. All nice and neat. Let's go ahead and get back, though, so we can tell everyone about the tree." Her hands return reluctantly to her sides, though her eyes are still making love to him, boiling over with affection.
Dewei's smile is...quieter, maybe, but certainly just as warm. He takes her arm gently. "Good plan. Are you ready?"
On a whim, she steps closer and leans her forehead against his arm. "Yes. For anything."
The Ono smiles brightly, showing fangs a bit and cheeks coloring. In a good way. He hugs her gently, then tilts his head to kiss her cheek. "Me too, Ai." And then they're both bound back for Helantri Deru.
Dewei looks around for Yue once they're here. It occurs to him that he still hasn't asked who's killing the angel...damnit. Not so good.
Mara-kuru is there to meet them, gazing over the gargantuan expanse of the world tree. "There are towns," she mutters, awestruck, "and people. Whole countries, just... there. Like they were always meant to be there."
Dewei's...well, in awe. This was a sapling...fifteen minutes ago, to him. He just looks around a few moments, dumbstruck. "Um...do you know how long has passed here?"
"One thousand, eight hundred and four years," Mara answers quietly, still gazing out. The timbre of her voice is unusually sad, for some reason that actually has only something to do with Yue. "Ansendul can do some amazing things when he's motivated."
"Mara. The path is this way." Radivishe Moorn, attended by a fully armored woman with an exotic sort of craft to her emerald garb, steps onto the soil with the others. "This young lady has offered to lead us."
The woman looks to Dewei and Ai. Though her face is mostly hidden, her reverance is as clear as the day rising from the other side of the world. Her fist clashes against her breastplate in salute to them.
Dewei, of course, hadn't expected that at all, and just bows his head in return. "Thank you for offering to lead us, Miss." He glances to Ai. He's weirded out, although you'd have to know him well to tell.
Ai sort of understands, though. "We are gods in this place, Dewei," she reminds him. "We built this world. But... father? Why are you here?"
Moorn looks to his daughter as if her head is on backwards. "I am here to kill the angel. Why, were you expecting a better reason dear?"
She cannot stop her eyes from going a little wide.
Dewei bites his lip, but steps forward and sets a hand on Ai's shoulder. "Can you think of a better way?" he inquires softly, voice even though he's still unhappy about all this. "It would have been his own family otherwise, probably my mother...and there's some sort of score to be settled here. Maybe it can be tabled with this whole mess."
The goddess remains quiet. This is working on being a dangerously bad end to a good day.
"Yue is already waiting, and there is some sort of ceremony planned for you two," Mara notes, still quietly. "Best to get on up the road."
The armored lady spins crisply on her heel and begins to tramp that way, across a bridge that appears from nowhere and spans the nothing between 'here' and 'there'. Shrouded in shifting rainbows, with the texture of liquid metal, it may well be the single most beautiful construction Ai has ever seen.
Dewei is taken aback too. Again, he makes sure to get one step ahead of Ai...but, of course it's perfectly solid. It's truly amazing, stunning in every sense of the word.
All are quiet, save for the metallic clink of the guide's boots on the bridge, as they head for Svastheim.
Felina closes her eyes a few moments when she appears. Can't sense anyone. Crap. That can't be a good sign. At all. She straightens her sword and, following the loudest echo of her son's recent presence, vanished again, this time bound for Dame Astra.
| Show these comments on your site |
Stumble!