Interlude ~ Ruby

Welcome to the Scarlet Void.

There is nothing, only the dreamless sleep that people find when they first enter the dreamtide. A blank void, empty of color, no defined spatial relations or materials of any sort. But this void, it changes, whirling into fire- not the orange and yellow flames beyond a hearth, but deep crimson blazing of the unnatural. In the fire a vague silhouette grows into existence and finally she manages to open her eyes to the expanses of scarlet and vermillion...burning the color of rubies. ~Jing~ The silhouette, a shadowed form with eyes of glowing, luminescent gold and green, bends over her, puzzled at the sight of her. Beads clink about in it's- his- hair, casting off an occasional soft chiming.

Parting her lips she forces out, “Where?” but the only sound emitted, however, is a muffled whisper under the roar of ethereal fire. The shadowed male figure watches her with subtle interest as she searches the flames around her, and then the hazy features of his face. Vying to sit up now, she quickly discovers she is locked in place- neatly smothered by the sheer pressure of volcanic, burning radiation coming off the being's amber-bathed skin. Scarlet lights spiral about within his eyes, familiar and yet completely dissimilar to anything she's ever seen before- like staring down through the refractions in a gemstone.

The shadows slowly fade into his glowing eyes and he leans in to her, face barely a hand's length away from her own. The beads adorning the braided pieces of his embers of hair are gold. Pure, shimmering gold, perfectly reflecting the image of her. A tiny, heated, exhalation of breath and a frown draws itself up across his molten lips. Moving closer his breath burns in little, skittery spirals across her cheeks and eyelids. The beads ~jing~ at the tilt of his head. Heat warps his features out of focus and the air expands; he begins withering away into ashes, easily consumed by the deep-red inferno.

Again the void of the dreamtide unleashes itself and encases her. Floating in the emptiness. Alone. Gentle waves, ~jing~ of chimes, time itself seems entwined with the melody. It is impossible to tell how long her eyelids flutter in this empty dream-state, but it is calming to a point she cannot comprehend.