Self Realization

[brandon]

He was in the forrest today working at discovering his new powers. He had fully researched his ability to use the flame to change. There really was no limitation, He had used the fire to manifest liquid, Injestible liquid at that. Fire and water did not mix yet he had summoned a glass of water for her Majesty Isabeau in the hall in front of her bedroom just the other night. Wow he was starting to understand. His new found power gave him the ability to defy the very laws of reality. He closed his eyes and just as he always did he concentrated and located anyone he could think of, no matter where they were no matter how far. He opened his eyes again and looked around. There was a definite energy flow around him he not only could sence it but he could physically see it flowing like a river around and through everything that lived. His eyes fell upon a pine cone on the ground, and with curiousity he siezed it with his mind, it lifted from the ground and slowly floated to him where it hovered before him, He squinted his eyes slightly as he concentrated and shortly the pine cone began to glow. Just slightly at first but then more and more until the light was so bright that it should have hurt his eyes yet it didn't. He blinked and a shock wave shot out from the pine cone which was now more a ball of light than anything solid. The shock wave reached out into the forrest around him and as it passed over trees and shrubs they twisted and became distorted until the shock wave passed than they returned to normal. He was shocked by this and it made him think. He returned his attention to the ball of light and than concentrated on it againused his mind to guide it down to the ground where it slipped through the soil and disappeared beneath the forrest floor. He could still see it though not with his eyes more with another kind of sight, sight he did not have before. He concentrated on the object more until the light faded and left a small seed. He fused his power into it and it began to grow, Infact it grew so fast that in a matter of only a few minutes there was a tall fully grown and towering pine tree standing before him.
He turned his attention finally to himself and thought as he stared at his own hands. They looked different strange to him and soon they began to fade than his arms disappeared and the rest of himself. In an instant he was pure energy no solid mass to himself whatso ever his perception suddenly shot out and he was able to perceive everything not just living beings but everything that had life it seemed he was a part of. He could see the river of energy that was flowing through the world and he suddenly became apart of it flowing traveling along with it. In an instant he was no longer in the forrest but out flowing over the ocean than over the mountains and then over a desert somewhere, it was amazing, breath taking. He concentrated as he noticed he was traveling over the ocean again and to anyone looking into the heavens here at this moment would see a large dragon made of fire suddenly explode from nothing and spiral over the water before becoming solid turning into a massive black dragon with silver tiger stripes that dove down and skimmed over the top of the water letting his belly drag the surface. He than realized he no longer was a dragon. or a physical being at all. He was something else, When he bonded with the phoenix they formed into an anomoly and now they were a one of a kind being. The notion intreagued him and he considered the posibilities as he made his way back to GM. No matter what he senced Gelina was not going to like this.

[Gelina Grey]

He was right. She didn't like it. When she saw him for the first time since Riley brought him back, she knew that something was different about him. She sensed something missing. Being the Goddess of Dragons, and being able to sense every dragon in the realm, when he was close to her, that sense wasn't there. It was null and void. No dragon within.

She had yet to say anything to him about it or that she even knew. She wasn't sure how to confront him. All she knew was that he was no longer the same person he once was. And when she found out that he was no longer a person at all, things were going to change.

It was always the same story for her. No matter what man. No matter what his past was. No matter what his name is. Something about them always changed on her. Leaving her in a position of not trusting them. And sometimes, it would even blindside her and happen twice with the same man. Like now. There was a time when she and Brandon had something special. Then he changed and he left her. Now, he had come back, leading her to believe that things could be different. It was the wrong thing to believe.

Being able to sense that the dragon was no longer within him, but sensing something very different, she knew that her decision had been made. When something changes that drastically in a man, there is no going back. Not again.

[brandon]

It was not clear if he knew what she thought but seeming that this was so there was an explosion of colorful fire a swirling of smoke and he was standing before her. He had a smile like a kid who had just discovered something miraculious for the first time. He looked to her and began to giggle. "Morning Lina how goes it, things are well I hope?" His entire body showed little signs of his new status in the higherarchy of existance. They were suddle and insignificant in the grand scheme but they were there. He looked around to take in his surrondings, seemingly in a way as if he saw things differently than the normal eye would see things. Actually he did see them differently he saw them on a level far deeper than anyone else did and he was fascinated by this. Then he turned back to Lina and moved to her hugging her.

[Gelina Grey]

When he hugged her, she pushed on him slightly.

"Brandon stop..."

Then she backs away and turns.

"I do not know what happened to you, and I am not sure I want to know, but what I do know is that things are different now."

Turning back to face him, she wrinkles her nose. She could smell the scent of another on him. A low growl in the back of her throat began and she quelled it quickly. No reason to be jealous. None at all. He could do what he wanted.

She cants her head looking at him, taking in the changes she could see on the outside, lifting her hand, taking some of his long dark hair between her fingers for a moment, then dropping her hand back to her side again with a heavy sigh.

"I so loved you, Brandon. But that was in the past. You are something now that I could never compete with, nor live with. Not even as a Goddess. So now, I do not know where to go from here."

Ah yes, leave it to another male to confused her again. No wonder she was with Riley. The woman never once confused her, nor changed on her. And most of all, Riley wasn't selfish in the least. Maybe it was for the best that she met Riley and went through what she went through and ending up with her. Hell, Riley was the only thing that kept her sane. Thank the Gods.

[brandon]

He pondered her statements his head canted to one side as he watched her reading her expressions..."Just how praytell have I been selfish?... I killed myself to protect others from something terrible. Than I was reborn into something else, Do we all not go through changes? Just because I have changed does not mean I am not still Brandon LeBeau. Being a dragon or a phoenix does not dictate who I am in personality just my species. And species does not dictate who a person is... Not all Vampires are mindless blood suckers. Not all dragons are herd raiding maiden eating mindless lizards are they? Just because I am no longer dragon. And my conscience has bonded with an entity and we have evolved into something different.. Just means I can do more things. more neat tricks. Your over reacting to this.. Gelina it is a good thing don't over analize it just go with it I am not so different my new power or new status in grand collection of creation does not dictate who I am... Does being Goddess of Dragons dictate who Gelina is?

[Sanguine Claws]

Riley was and always had been a wolf, mentally and neither had it been the fae blood or marriage or anyone changed that; ever a constant flow. Perhaps it was how she was raised, not as a human always adapting to the silly emotions of those around her.

That was how she was silent, calm, in her black wolf form watching Gelina and Brandon, an ear flickered slightly to gaze at the expressions as she smelled the confusion from both. An ear twitched listening though it seemed wrong to listen in she felt the breeze drift through her black pelt causing a ripple of golden threads to shimmer.

Standing up from her place a good ways from them but since she stayed so calm nothing gave her away really not even Brandon with his new powers and she was probably so used to Lina that not even the Goddess caught the presence. That is until she thought of Riley, perhaps that is why she was still sane standing there speaking to Brandon. She might have felt pity for Brandon if wolves did feel such things, gone through such to prove himself and even Riley had agreed to allow him a chance with Lina to see where her feelings laid.

Massive paws touched the earth, caressing it as a calm walk carried her towards the duo since she was heading off to the Frozen Mountain for a purification ritual. She figured now it was time anyhow as she strode to Gelina brushing along her right side then a glance over to Brandon for a moment.

~The connection made ye two feel like one, because she understood that, she understands dragons and there are very little good memories now that link ye two together. Nothin' binds ye te resume where ye left off, tis.... a clean slate. Both a good and a bad thing, means ye must start all over again but it must be up te ye te decide if he want te start ova. But it will be longer, harder road, her heart is bruised, sealed to men from the constant torture that she endured. Confusion. Change. Sex. It does nothing but remind her of the pain she endured and perhaps... it will be like a desert to many who come in fresh until the tears of joy make flowers bloom once more.~

She let Brandon read this all from her mind, perhaps it would clarify things to him but then she turned to look at Gelina a nudge to her hand. Her spirit went out to wrap around the woman brushing through the fiery tendrils, played across the warm skin like her soft breath to make the tiny hairs raise then settling like a blanket that would never leave.

~Oi ga te the Frozen Mountain, tis time Oi took me Purification Ritual once more, love. Ye both are welcomed te come with but there are certain rules there that apply, it is the one place all are made equal... all are made mortal with no powers. Oi will simply be a Garou there, shape shifting abilities stay but any magic is nulled.~

She turned to leave and head down the path.

[Gelina Grey]

She wasn't sure how to answer him. She wasn't even sure what to think. So much had changed between them, let alone they themselves changing. The moment she felt Riley brush up against her side, she looks down, not saying a word. Most of the time words weren't needed between her and Riley.

With all links open between them, nothing hidden at the moment, she heard what Riley said to Brandon. Maybe that was what she wanted to explain to him. Maybe that was what she was trying to say but couldn't. A part of her loves Brandon very much, but she's just not sure she's willing to take that chance with her heart again. She knows her heart is safe with Riley. There are no hidden agendas with Riley. No alternative motives. Just Riley.

Would she ever find a man like that? Probably not. She thought she had that with Caelum. Since she made that horendous mistake, then really, there wasn't anything left to trust when it came to men. Caelum was the one man that she thought she could trust with everything. Including her heart. When she found out she was wrong, it was more than she could bare.

She looks back up at Brandon again. Sure, he may be something different now, but that didn't quell her confusion nor her fear. Taking a step back, she locks her heart away, lowering her head and looking at the ground as Riley walks off toward the mountains.

"I'm sorry, Brandon. Maybe now you understand." With her hands clasped in front of her, she simply stands there with her head hung down.

[brandon]

He looked to her for a moment, "So because I have changed you do not trust me, Is it my fault that I have changed? Life is change Gelina. I am sorry you can not trust me, You aren't the same woman that I left ten years ago I accept that. I also have not pressured you for anything. I am taking my time trying to understand what I am so I am not sure what it is that you want from me. But if you don't trust me than how can I be an advisor to you without trust. I have never tried to steer you wrong ever Lina."

[Gelina Grey]

"That's not what I meant, Brandon. I meant that I couldn't trust you with my heart. I trust you with my life and with the kingdom. It's my heart that remains guarded."

She just stands there, looking up at him. She wanted to give him her heart, but she couldn't. Not only did she not trust anyone with it, it was divided between many. Which was also what caused her more confusion than anything in her life. How did she get to this point? How did she come to love so many at once? How is it that her heart is torn in so many directions?

She sighs again and shakes her head, lowering it to look at the floor. Once again, she didn't know what to say.

[brandon]

"Lina I am not asking you for anything only that you trust that I am still me. Everything will work out believe me. You are happy with Riley and distrusting of men.. I am not planning on interfering with that at all"