The Heart of the Forest - Sperrit and Aiman's Journey

[Sperrit]

The ruins of the Forest Temple looked especially depressing in the rain. There was a time, not too long ago, when the rain had been welcomed by all the denziens of the forest. The Earth Elementals, who had lived in that forest for almost countless generations, would come out and dance in the mud, smiling and laughing and singing in the rejuvinating rain. But that was when the Black Forest had been called The Sea of Trees, before The Rune Mage had corrupted the defensless forest with his evil powers, before Valose, The Chosen of Void, had killed all the Earth Elementals to further the UnBeing of the Universe.
But Valose had not killed all the Earth Elementals. One had been sent away on that fateful day. He was sent away to complete his training, to find a very special flower that bloomed but once in a decade and to tend to it, the day that it would bloom and then die, and plant another from the prescious seeds. Watching the flower bloom in the light of a full moon with his beloved, the one who had been sent away could not have recalled a greater time in his life.
But then he came back home.
He wandered for a long time, looking for The Chosen of Void, knowing nothing but his desire to find and kill him, his vow as a Healer forgotten in the blood of his brothers and sisters. And always he avoided The Sea of Trees, not wanting to see the temple, relive his pain. It was cowardace, pure and simple. But fate had brought him back to protect his home, the home of all his ancestors, had made him relive the pain and made him violate his oath, but not in the way he had hoped, or was prepared for.
Broken again he renewed his quest to find Valose, faced him, and lost. But he realized many things on the way and came back.
He came back home.
Now he watched the rain washing down the sides of the Forest Temple, lonely and forgotten and felt the emptiness in his heart grow. Gira, also known as Alerea, had left him, knowing that he needed to be alone here. And he did.
Sperrit entered the Forest Temple, his feet sounding loud in the empty stone corridors. He passed many doors, pausing at each one and remembering who had lived here, what had been kept there, what had been done there. Memories flooded into him and his heart became heavier with every step.
At last he came to his own room, the place that he had grown up, a room connected to a much larger room where the Elder had lived. Sperrit, seeing his room, his things, his bed, felt as if he could take no more. He cried, wailing into the night, clutching old momentos to him until he passed into the deepest, darkest sleep.
But it was far from dreamless.

"Sperrit."
Sperrit opened his eyes and saw a familiar sight before him. The light of a hundred stars poured down on him from all sides, but his eyes were fixed ahead of him, unblinking. He got to his feet and bowed.
"Master Eidon."
Eidon, The Earth Dragon, stood before him in his true dragon form, emerald scales, ebony claws, diamond teeth, his brown eyes bright and unblinking. He roared to Sperrit in a huge voice.
"Sperrit. The time has come, my son. You must make your journey."
Sperrit came up from his bow to stare, open mouthed, at Eidon. He blinked. "Truly?"
"Eidon laughed and Sperrit's ears rang. "Truly, Chosen of Earth. Your time has come. You, like all your brothers and sisters and your ancestors before you must go to the Heart and find what is there."
Sperrit bowed again. "Yes, my master. I shall set off with Alerea at once."
"No, my son," The Dragon roared. "You may only take one other, and that other has already been chosen."
Sperrit blinked. "Who?"
"Aiman Amir, the Dark Knight shall go with you, Sperrit, Chosen of Earth."
Sperrit stared at Eidon and then bowed. "Yes, Master."
The visson faded.

Sperrit awoke the next morning. He lay still a few moments, not sure that it had really happened. But it had. He knew it. He felt a kind of joy that he was going, but he couldn't help but feel confused, and afraid. He didn't understand why Eidon had chosen Aiman to go with him, nor did he understand what it meant, or what he would be facing.
Sperrit took what things that he wanted from his room and left the Forest Temple and headed towards the Ancient Forest, his confussion becoming greater.
Why would Eidon have chosen Aiman?
Aiman was dead.

[Aiman]

A dreamless eternal sleep...

A never ending darkness...

That's all he has now. Absolutely nothing...

His soul faded away into a netherrealm, where the souls of demons are vanished to wander in an eternal dreamless sleep...

He was one with It. It took control of his body, his mind and finally his soul... And It got stronger when It got ahold of one of the strongest sources of power... A Dragon...

Sekundes, The Shadow Dragon, was absorbed by It when she was first released of her light prison. In her weak state, she was absorbed and surrendered a little of her power to It, making it more powerful and uncontrollable for him...

"His shadow powers are more powerful than he would ever know. And I think it is time for his awakening..."

"Open your eyes Aiman..."

"Huh..." Aiman opened his eyes and instead of darkness, he saw light. "Where am I ? Who are you ?" Aiman saw an old man in front of him. All the light was radiating from him.

"You are in my presence, young one. Me ? I am Eidon, The Earth Dragon."

"No offense, but... What do you want from me Eidon ? I have nothing to do with you Dragons. I am not an Elemental..." Aiman said.

"You dont know it, but indirectly, you are one. Remember the Trials of the Pure you took with Musashi and party ? When Dr. Ascarion released Sekundes, a demon inside your very being absorbed her, transforming you in an Evil Dragoon, the demon called Xen stole a little of Sekundes power it gave it to you, making you a Shadow Elemental. That power is completely unknown to you, but you do have it. And I know you've seen some of it everytime you get angry. And to you that is completely uncontrollable to you, but the time has come for you to face your fears, face the truth and learn how to control this power of yours. But to learn how to do it you have to remember that you have to search deep inside of you and be at peace with yourself. You have too much questions that need answering, for example, why you appeared in this netherrealm ? I know you will remember it all. Maybe not right now, but all will come back to you. Search deep within yourself, look for those events that led you to this present state." Eidon said to Aiman.

Aiman listened carefully, and confused he asked, "But Eidon, what is my present state ?"

Eidon looked at Aiman gracefully. "Aiman, you are dead..."

Aiman gasped. Shocked with what Eidon had said, he started trembling in fear. Eidon looked at him and said, "No need to panic, young one... As I said before, search within yourself, looked for the answer of this question and let the answer help you in your quest. And no need to worry, you will not be alone. There will be someone very familiar to you that will help you along while you help him. So before I depart, Aiman... take care of your partner as he will take care of you. And Aiman... Remember that love is a powerful thing..."

"Huh...!? What do you mean by that Eidon ?? Eidon... dont leave me now !!! Please !!!" Aiman started to yell while Eidon started to disappear in front of his eyes.

Before Eidon completely disappeared, he said, "Aiman... open your eyes, it is time..."

All light faded, complete darkness reign once more. Aiman felt like his eyes were never open and slowly opened them. He was standing in a forest all alone. It was dawn. The first rays of sunlight blinded Aiman as he looked into the horizon. He gazed at himsef, amazed, wondering if he was alive or dead. Maybe it was another question he needed to answer for himself, like so many others. He looked at himself again, he had no armor nor weapons. He looked at his surroundings and saw all this tall trees with no end or sign of civilization. He kept looking around without moving from the same spot where he woke up. He finally saw a big Temple when he turned around.

"Well, I guess that's better than nothing. Ill start looking for questions over there." Aiman said to himself. He started walking for the Temple. He walked for a couple of long minutes and finally he arrived to the Temple's door. He stared at the Temple for the longest time, looking at all this 'drawings' of people and letters he couldnt understand, but he felt as he has seen those kind of letters somewhere before. He just stood there thinking, wondering... "Should I go inside...?"

Aiman just stood there, looking inside the temple... Thinking, wondering...

[Sperrit]

Sperrit, seeing a figure at the entrance to the Temple, puts down his things and goes into a fighting stance.
"You! Who are you and what business do you have here?"
Sperrit sends out his Earth senses and nearly falls over.
"What the... No way... is that... you? Aiman?"

[Aiman]

"Sperrit ?" Aiman asked to the figure as it walked out of the darkness. "It is you Sperrit !!!! Oh Im so glad I found you !!! Im so tired. I feel like I havent eaten in weeks and I feel strange. Im so glad I found you, 'cuz I had a vision of a Dragon and I know that you and Musashi know them better than anyone else. He's name was Eidon... He told me to answer my own question and learn how to control my power, but I dont know what to do... Im so confused..." Aiman said to Sperrit talking very fast. In that very moment Aiman had a flashback...

A voice out of nowhere said... "AIMAN NOOOO !!!!"

Aiman felt the voice in his head like thunder making him kneel on the floor. "Agh...my head hurts !! What is this !?" Aiman grabbed his head and sat on the floor. "What is wrong with me ?" Aiman asked Sperrit.

[Sperrit]

"Aiman!"
Sperrit, seeing Aiman fall, rushes over. Sperrit places his hand on Aiman's shoulder and is overwhelmed at the amount of chaotic power running through him. He reaches deep into the Earth and starts channeling Earth power through Aiman's form. At once Sperrit feels the power begin to calm and flow normally. Sperrit sighes in relief and get's Aiman to a sitting position.
"Take it easy, man. Take it easy. You're very weak for some reason. It's strange... your physical energy... it feels really... new... I've never seen anything like it. Just take it easy, I'll go get you some food."
Sperrit runs outside and sends a message through the Earth. Within moments all kinds of animals rush over to him, carrying nuts and berries and herbs. Sperrit sends his thanks to them all, giving them a small bit of Earth energy and goes back to Aiman, laying out the food for him.
"Here, eat this. It may not be meat and potatoes, but it'll energize you. Now... what happened?"

[Aiman]

Aiman eats some berries and nuts. He looks at Sperrit and says, "I really cant remember. All I remember is darkness and all of the sudden I was in Eidon's presence. He said I was... dead."

Aiman eats more berries and some herbs. "Eidon said I have some kind of demon inside called Xen. I dont really remember anything before the darkness but Eidon said I was in some trials with Musashi. It is so odd... I remember you and Musashi. I remember everyone, but I dont remember what really happened. I have so many faces inside, I dont even know who some of them are. Eidon said that I need to find out what happened and find answers, though I still dont know the questions, except, why am I here if I was already dead...?" Aiman said to Sperrit. Then he ate some more berries and nuts. "Sperrit," Aiman said, "Do you have some water ?"

[Sperrit]

Sperrit nods and walks deeper into the Temple towards the spring in the center of the ancient building. Sperrit picks up a pitcher and fills it from the cascading water. This, like so many other artifacts found in the Elemental Temples, was not created by the current owners of the temple. It was a gift from the Water Elementals from before the Great War.
"So... Eidon brought him back," thought Sperrit. "He obviously must have had a good reason to bend the laws of Life, but what...? He said that I must take him on my journey... so that is what I must do."
Sperrit walks back to Aiman and places the water jug in front of him.
"Aiman... As soon as you're feeling better we must leave. In order to find your answers, and mine, we must undertake a great task, one of the ancient rituals of the Earth Elementals. We must go to the Heart of the Ancient Forest."

[Aiman]

Aiman takes the jug and drinks some water.

"I feel a bit better Sperrit. Thanks a lot." Aiman says and then sighs. He stands up and looks around. "So, this is the Earth Temple. Never been here before." Aiman looks around again. "Sperrit... I think we should go. I dont feel 100% better, but I wont find any answers standing around here."

[Sperrit]

Sperrit chuckles. "Stoic type, eh? Alright. If you're sure, then let's go."
Sperrit stands up and walks out of the Temple. He points. "We'll need to go East, deeper into the Miniopian continent. I'm not sure exactly how long it will take to get there, but it shouldn't be more than a few days. And then there's always the forest itself, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

[Aiman]

"You know Sperrit..." Aiman said, "I have no recollection about anything. And it bothers me to a certain point were I dont know if I am 'me', you know ?! I remember everyone, but I dont remember what happened. I dont even know how I died... I guess is something I have to figure out."

They both walk down the path. Suddenly Aiman gets a flashback...

Aiman fall in his knees and starts moaning in pain. "Sperrit... argh... help !! AAARGH... I see... I see a lady in white with the most beautiful face ever. I see an angel... and fire... lots of fire... AAAARGH..." Aiman falls on the floor and bang his head on the ground. "What all of this means !!!" Aiman yelled to himself. He slowly stood up and kept walking foward leaving Sperrit behind. He stops and looks back. "Are you going to stay there ? We have to reach some place and I have my story to find. So come on... !!"