Sight Beyond Sight

The courier who knelt before the Shrine this time was not the same as the one who had prayed here at the start of Longheat. This courier was bruised and battered, though he had tried to put himself back into order before praying. The bouquet of roses that he had picked while walking through the Queen's Gambit had been protected by his Bag of Holding far better than the man himself had come out of that maze, and he set them gently on the altar while a subdued Boreal sat beside her companion and leaned hard against him in silent support.

The See-Right Goggles came next, placed with fingers that still trembled from pain and exhaustion as Tal swallowed hard. He spent several long minutes fussing with them, making sure they were perfectly centered on the altar before he cleared his throat and prayed.

"Um. Safrin? I... I brought the Goggles back, an' I did everything that you asked. I..." He trailed off, thinking back to smoke and fire and the nightmare scrabble across the platform, unable to find that which he had searched for. "Please, Safrin. Make them stronger. I'm beggin' you."

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Quest from The better to see You with
1. Use his goggles in Hak Etme to study mirages {Training} {SE} Snow on the Sahara
2. Use his goggles while studying a creature with night vision (can be an attuned) {se} leaves slow, comes back fast
3. Use his goggles when going very fast {RQ} Driver's Education

Safrin whisper my name into the sky No sooner had the words left the courier’s lips, then Safrin appeared. Light fell upon Tal’s shoulders so that the goddess’s healing essence might permeate deep down into his bones to chase away the weariness and the darkness that near-death had stamped there. “My goodness.” She trilled, giving Boreal a speculative glance before turning her attention fully back to Tal. “I had not thought the tasks I’d given you would prove so difficult.” Not said as a reprimand at all, indeed Safrin seemed to be inviting Tal to tell her, if he wanted, just how he’d found himself in such a state. & the heavens will bow

She didn't leave him waiting, for which he was grateful; even moreso as the bruises and fractures that laced his lanky frame knitted themselves back together in the sweetness of her light. The trembling eased from the courier as he looked up and blinked the sudden wetness from his eyes, relief overcoming him for a moment as he managed a silent shake of his head.

Boreal rumbled encouragingly and Tal hurriedly wiped the betraying dampness away before he tried to speak again. "N-no, not your tasks. Those were-" They had been fun, each in their own way. Tussling with Sah before chasing down a mirage (or trying to); flying on an airship from Torchline to the Greatwood; bonding with Hotaru and meeting a cougar in the Oerwoud. Bright spots of joy amidst the seriousness of War preparations. "They were good. I learned... learned a lot. It was comin' back here that was..." Hard.

He looked down at the roses in their careful bouquet and swallowed again. "There's a hedge maze, full o'roses, not far from here, so I went in t'get some. Hadn't even really been payin' attention, but some weird shi--stuff happened, an' I ended up in th'center. There was a fire there, an' I remembered a story... anyways, I jumped over it, thinkin' it might make the magic in my stuff stronger, but-" Boreal rumbled again, curling her tail around his feet and spreading a wing to drape over his shoulders, and he gave her a grateful glance before looking up to meet Safrin's eyes squarely.

"It was like a portal or somethin', to a place all fire an' smoke. An' there was this big, fiery monster there with one red eye. I, uh..." Mentioning another god didn't seem wise, and Tal reached up to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. "Anyways, its eye got knocked out an' made a 'clinky' noise when it hit th'ground. I thought it might be important so I tried t'find it but..." He shrugged helplessly and nodded to the Goggles. "Couldn't see far enough, in all that smoke. The big... whatever-it-was, it smacked me around a couple of times an'... an' I ended up runnin' away," he admitted, ducking his head again. It might have been the smart thing to do, but that didn't make it the easiest thing to admit to a goddess he was trying to impress.

Safrin whisper my name into the sky Though it was well within Safrin’s power to simply reach into Tal’s mind and pluck out the information that she wanted from him, there was something special to the way the courier coloured his words; a canvas of colours that told a particular story that merely viewing the memories alone could not accurately depict. Nodding at the mention of the Queens’ Gambit and the Eye of Fire, Safrin’s brows furrowed softly together to hear that not only had Tal jumped through, but that he’d been transported somewhere. “One red eye..” She murmured softly, frowning. “Always better to live to fight another day. Heroes are all very well in fairytales, but rarely do they come home to the ones they love when the battles are done.” Not that Tal wasn’t a hero, but nor were the stakes high enough just now that he ought to lay down his life for just any cause. Turning to the goggles, Safrin extends her fingers towards them as starlight begins to affix itself to the lenses. Tal’s goggles have been upgraded! See-Right Goggles: Reinforced goggles capable of seeing with perfect clarity regardless of conditions, up to 20ft. This includes magical darkness. Can begin to see through illusions at 5ft. & the heavens will bow

Safrin's assurance that he'd done the right thing in ruunning eased some of the knot of embarrassment from Tal's chest and he managed a rueful nod. There weren't nearly as many fairytales about failed heroes... although there were quite a few about tragic ones.

But the courier had no desire to be the protagonist in a tale of pyrrhic victory. His story was just beginning, and he had so many hopes and dreams yet to chase.

Starlight graced his Goggles and Tal breathed a sigh of gratitude, finally settling enough thanks to Boreal and Safrin to find a shy smile for the Goddess. "Thanks, Safrin. I... I dunno if I'll get a chance to see you again before the War starts but... but I'll come see you again after. I promise. An' what you said about livin' t'fight another day? That goes for gods, too, right?"

Safrin whisper my name into the sky Sweetly, Safrin reaches out to brush her thumb against Tal’s cheek. Had he been younger she might have pinched his cheek, but instead she merely offered him a lingering smile. “I will try if you do, and we shall speak on the other side, mmm?” Whether or not Safrin could be killed was not a question that many knew the answer to. Could she be banished though? Caged? Oh yes; that was a very real possibility. With a nod to Boreal and a mental word that the dragon ought to keep a good eye on Tal, Safrin let herself be consumed by starlight until all that was left was a whisper of lilac smoke. ~FIN & the heavens will bow