[SpringsSong]

[center]
Marrim, Dingo/Ancient Lucain[center]

Why was she still out here in the Swamp?  She wasn't all that far from her mother and father, yet she felt as though she were miles apart from either one, because she kept hearing things.  Not random noises from the swamplife, mind you; voices in her head.  The female Lucain sat on a rock and heaved a sigh.

Marrim... Marrim! A voice, clearly feminine, whispered quietly into her head.  The female Lucain shook her head and growled in a low voice, "Leave me..." Whose voice was pestering her?

{4}

[[For Terri and I]]

[Terri]

It was the bog.  It was the serenity.  It was the loneliness.

That's why he had come out here.  In a land such as this, a land with no little life other than bugs and hermits, he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone.  He'd promised himself he'd just stay here, become a hermit himself.  It was better than being whoever he was when he wasn't himself.

He didn't want that life.  He wanted to be him, and only him.  It seemed, though, that he wasn't allowed to be.  His reputation was up and down; on the wanted list one day, on the honour list for pulling pups out of a fire the next.  Nobody seemed able to figure him out.  He himself couldn't even manage such a feat.

And so, to make a long, excruciatingly pain-filled story short and to the point, Rizen was out wandering alone today, with no intention of meeting anyone, of interacting with anything.  If he never met anyone, he couldn't hurt them.  So he'd merely live out here in this no-man's-land, where no harm could come to anyone else.

That had been his plan, at least, until he'd heard a quiet, tortured whimper from not far off.  Veering off course to investigate, Rizen's eyes widened in surprise as he caught sight of a femme Lucain.  She was rather beautiful, he had to admit, but she seemed...confused.  Debating with himself, he tried not to interfere, but his conscience wouldn't let him walk away.  Instead, he took a few steps towards her.

"Are you okay?" he asked gently, standing awkwardly a few feet away from her.  He shifted from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable in the presence of the girl.  He didn't want to get involved, remember?  He never helped anybody.

[SpringsSong]

Marrim's ears perked at the new voice.  Was she okay?  No, she wasn't; nor would she ever be.  She looked up to see the male Lucain, his green eyes certainly enchanting.  After a few moments, she finally spoke.

"I'm not sure if I'm all right, and I'm not sure if I can be helped, to be completely honest.  I am an odd mixture of nobody, demon, and something called the D'ni.  Not to sound harsh, but unless you can figure out how to make the effects of one's blood go away..."

After she said this, another voice spoke.  Marrim!  Harken to Us, the Unseen; the Least!  Have you forgotten your duty to us?  Have you forgotten what Tasera and the King trained you for?  Have you forgotten what Aitrus honored you for? She groaned at this voice, and sighed.

"There are many who try to help me, but the instant I... The instant I tell them about... About my duty as it was before... They always leave me... All except the Mage, the Guard, the Scribe, and my mother, the Seer."

She sighed again, turning to look this strange male face-to-face.

"But you might as well tell me your name..." She said at last.

{5}

[Terri]

The male leaned closer as Marrim spoke, listening intently to her explanation.  He found it quite odd that she'd be so open, so honest with him after he'd spoken only three words to her.  Perhaps, though, that was merely a symptom of the plight she had spoken of.  Though he hadn't the slightest clue what D'ni or nobody blood was, he could relate to her feeling of helplessness.

He hesitated as she asked for his name.  Hadn't he come out here for the solitude?  He wouldn't help any if he befriended this femme.  His conscience told him to just walk away, to leave her standing there.  It would be for her own good, after all.  He had no wish to drag her down with him.

Maybe it was those sparkling emerald eyes.  Maybe it was the tortured way in which she had murmured those first few words.  Maybe it was the simple fact that they were both in the same place at the same time.  Whatever the reason, he didn't turn tail and flee.

"My name's Rizen," he said, his twin tails twitching behind him anxiously.  He knew he should be running, but... "And yours?"

[SpringsSong]

Marrim also hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to answer.  As of late, the voices in her head had been increasingly persistent; always pleading, always begging for her assistance.  After a good couple minutes, she spoke again.

"Rizen... that sounds like a good name... a good name indeed.  My name is Marrim, Voice of the Lost.  My parents are Tasera, the Seer; daughter of Tali?±a and Sethor, and Xryen; son of Nazuna and Raksis."

She said this as though it was from her parents and grandparents that her problems originated.  This was true; it was her parents that passed on her rather mixed up blood, but she didn't realize that, no matter, what, she was still the Voice from long ago...

{6}

[Terri]

Rizen couldn't keep a small grin from coming to his face as he listened to the female speak.  She seemed polite enough, with her proper introduction and detached tone of voice.  Perhaps...he could stay here for a little while longer...just a small, harmless chat...

"Most of those names mean nothing to me, sorry."  He shifted uncomfortably, hoping that one line hadn't offended her any.  Some were rather proud of their heritage.  Judging by her rant about the blood she possessed, though, Rizen wouldn't categorize her as one of those.  "I've heard of them, but never met any.  I keep to myself most of the time."  Oh, how smooth.  Now she'd think he was a psycho hermit of some sort.

...Well, he kind of was.  Or, at least, wanted to be.  If you're gonna be crazy, you may as well be crazy out in no-man's-land where you can't hurt anyone.  "As for my parents..." he paused, reluctant to share his family history.  After an indecisive moment, he spoke again.  Heck, it couldn't be worse than hers.  "My father's name is Nezan; he's a thief."  He spoke this simply, though he couldn't hold back an inner cringe.  "My mother is Renae, and she seems rather...lovesick.  I think she had a thing for that failure of a thief."  He resisted the urge to sigh.  Negativity wouldn't get him anywhere.  His parents were who they were.

[SpringsSong]

Marrim offered a shrug.  It did not surprise her that those names meant nothing to the male.  Whenever there was a matter of blood in Lucain, it was always Tali?±a and Kyuukai that were referred to right off of the bat, never the little ones that were bred from them.  Hopefully that would change.

And if it didn't...

"Those names mean nothing to me right off the bat.  But maybe... maybe if you told me your mother's parents, I would be able to discern whether or not I should know of her.  There are many a Lucain that I could identify by merely knowing their own parents or even grandparents.  It is... part of a gift I have."

Gift, more like a curse.  She couldn't blame her parents for their blood, but she could blame her mother and the other crazies that she resided with for making her observe her duty so... dutifully.

{7}

[Terri]

Though he did his very best--and succeeded--to not show his confusion, he was indeed intrigued as the femme spoke of this 'gift.'  What use would that have?  Lineage is lineage, no matter how you spin it.  Fate had been feeling cruel that day, perhaps, to bestow a power as seemingly useless as that?

Nonetheless, and despite his logic continuously urging him to run, he answered her truthfully.  "Renae's mom has no name, as far as I can tell, but her dad is named Setter, a Lucain who lives--lived with me."  It wasn't that Setter had deceased or anything.  No, the reason he spoke in past tense was because Rizen himself didn't live in the pen anymore.  He'd left it, not wanting to cause any more harm.  Hermit, remember.  He wanted to become a hermit.

Suddenly his mind jolted.  He cringed, squinching his eyes shut as what felt like a bolt of electricity shot through his brain.  When he finally opened his eyes again, he was a bit shaky on his legs but otherwise fine.  He'd been lucky.

"I...I should really go," he said, but made no move to leave.  He continued standing there awkwardly, wondering when the feeling would return to his extremities.

[SpringsSong]

Marrim tilted her head.  "Ah, yes... Setter, of the Kyuukai and Traeyun lines... I have heard of him, but only in passing." She said.  When Rizen's eyes squinted shut, she leapt up.  "My goodness; what's wrong?" She asked, moving a couple steps clsoer to him.

Beware, Marrim!  You might be in danger!  Do not let yourself be harmed, oh Voice! A new voice said in her head.  Why wouldn't they stop?!

{8}

[Terri]

"Nothing, nothing..." he assured the femme, marveling at how quick she'd leapt up to offer assistance.  "I'm fine, really.  But I really...should go..."  But did he really have to?  This female in front of him, Marrim, didn't seem...well, she didn't seem entirely sane herself.  What would be so horrible about staying for a while...?

In the end, his heart won out over logic.  Disregarding his last statement whole-heartedly, he took a step in Marrim's direction, attempting a smile.  He wasn't sure how well it turned out; he hadn't smiled in a fair while.  "I'm fine," he repeated, and then, unsure of what to say next, he abruptly returned her own question.  "What's wrong with you?"

...Err.  He blinked a few times after saying those four words, wondering how they'd manage to leave his mouth so differently than how they'd entered his brain.  "I mean..." he trailed off. Oh well, she'd get the point.

[SpringsSong]

Marrim blinked.  "I-well, ever since I was born, I've had issues with seeing things.  I thought that I was some wierd delusional person until my mother told me that it was natural for me to see what I was seeing: I was seeing people bent over with the weight of their master's work begging me for help.  She said they were called the Bahro." She said, shrugging.  "She said I used to be their one link to the Outside world; the world that saw them as little more than animals..." She added, shaking her head.  "And I am the one that is supposed to speak for them, but their home was destroyed..."

{9}

[Terri]

He frowned deeply at her words.  "That sounds...intriguing," he admitted, more for his own benefit than her own.  "Is it very difficult?  Do they ever leave you in peace?"  He sincerely hoped this was the case.  It sounded like an odd form of torture; being told that it's your job to fix something that's happened far beyond your control.  To be held responsible for something as erratic as that...

Then again, he was a pro at many types of odd.  After all, he was never left in peace -- every moment, every breath was a constant struggle to keep his head afloat.  Or, rather, his conscience.

[SpringsSong]

Marrim shook her head.  "Only when I was a human back in the first Age of the kingdom did they ever leave me alone.  That was well over a century ago." She said, sighing.  The cursed spirits were all around her now, hissing in their native D'ni tongue.

"It is difficult as ever to try and get along with them when they demand the impossible..." She said.  ...or so you think. A voice hissed.

{10}

[Terri]

Rizen shifted his weight uncomfortably.  He wished there were something he could do to help her, but there was really nothing.  Her problem was in her mind, it seemed -- nobody could touch her there.

His voice was carefully detached when he spoke, though a trace of anxiety somehow managed to leak through his careful facade.  "I know about impossible..." he murmured.  "My problem's of a slightly different sort...and I tihnk it's about to make itself known," he admitted, inhaling sharply.  He fought the hot taste in his mouth, his eyes closing for a moment.  When they opened again, he was still himself.

See, this wasn't so hard.

He could control it.  At least, he had to think so.

[SpringsSong]

Marrim's eyes were shut tightly now, after hearing Rizen's words.  Her purple eyes soon snapped open to reveal not soft purple eyes, but malicious red ones.  "Be wary... if you value your life... you will step away from me now." She said, foam starting to form around her maw.  This was usually when her mother would do as she had done with her father and attacked her, full force.  However, she could no longer feel the Seer's presence around her.  Something had happened to her and her father... and this was what was affecting Marrim so severely now.

{11}