Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-27783182-20131222234409/@comment-5583506-20140118162356

(Brace yourselves, long text is coming!)

Where am I? Rashka thought. ''Is this one dead? No, that's not right. Rashka is not dead, although it feels like it.''

He looked around in the darkness. He was standing on a sand dune in the middle of an endless desert and above him was a clear, starry night sky with two full Moons. He couldn't tell if this was a dream, the reality, the afterlife or just a fabric of his imagination caused by the poison.

He was surrounded by the shapes of familiar characters. There was Ertius. He was standing with his sword sheathed, looking as respectful as usual. There was Heso riding a giant chicken and Cyrelas be his side arguing with him. There was Darzarr playing with his dogs. And then there was Luna... She smiled at him.

Rashka had the sudden urge to smile back if not for the voice behind him. He recognized it as his father's.

"Rashka", he said. "You disgraced our family bloodline."

"Rashka knows", said Rashka, "and he is sorry... He wishes that you could have had another son who could have brought more honor to your name."

His father's bitter gaze pierced straight through his heart. "And now you are here..."

"Where is here?"

"Wouldn't you know?" the old cat said. "It was you who came here."

"This one is not dead", Rashka answered. "If he was, you wouldn't be here and neither would Rashka's friends."

His father looked confused. "Friends? This one thought that only those that had honor had friends. And if you indeed have friends, it brings honor to you... and to me..."

Rashka gave a shy smile. He wasn't used to talk to his father. And even though he knew now that this was all just a hallucination, he didn't want it to end. "This one wants to stray from the path that leads to the black sands", he said. "This one intends to become a hero. Rashka will be remembered as a hero and not as an assassin."

His father smiled. It scared him a little because his father seldom smiled. "This one is proud of Rashka. Proud that he has finally learned that the right way to become an honest Khajiit is to trust your friends and prove them to be someone they can rely upon."

Rashka nodded. "This one believes that he can rely upon them as well. He can't explain why, but it feels like they are doing everything they can to take Rashka away from this place."

His father looked proudly upon him. "Then you are loved and people care about you. That is good. More than any Khajiit can say."

Rashka looked a bit nervous. "This one also believes that he is in love with one of them." He looked at the shape of Luna. "He just doesn't know if the feelings are mutual. But if she wants him as well, S'rendarr be willing, this one swears that he will never as much as look at another female again."

His father put his hand on Rashka's shoulder. "Go back to them, Rashka", he said. "You don't belong here."

"B-but... the poison...? This one needs to be cured or perhaps he will remain here forever."

"Has poison stopped the cunning Rashka before?" his father said and raised an eyebrow. "This poison has slowed down your blood flow, my son. The only thing you need is something to speed it up with, something that will make your body flush the poison from your veins."

"Like what?"

His father smiled a sly, feline smile, which reminded Rashka of where he got it from. "You know what I am talking about. Few are the Khajiits who would say no to that sweet taste of the pure sugar in liquid form." Then he turned his back and went out in the dark. "You need to return, Rashka, one way or another. You may not be the hero of the story ahead of you, but you certainly are among the heroes."

As his father left him in the darkness, Rashka began to cry and prayed to the Moons above him to wake up from this state of being...

(Phew! The DRAMA! ;))