Words like that were a double-edged sword -- they could mean something new, insightful, fascinating or they could mean something to dread. Hearing the odd new voice in his room, Renne wondered at it. He turned to face toward it and listened to what had to be said.
"A world without you."
The storm that had carried him across many seas and worlds still blew. He was not there but he knew the year -- 1999, according to the calendar he had learned. Were he not there, he would not have learned such a calendar. The eradication of his kind would have been complete. Without exception. He tasted 1999 and heard it without him. The world was not yet too wildly different. Whether he had sailed through those storms or not would have had no change upon that.
He tasted 1999 again, never meeting Silver, never knowing the Isle of Shadows. The NightRunners still dissolved, falling apart like snow disintegrating in the spring. He was not there to infuriate the demon called Silver. He was not there to lose a heart-complex he didn't exist to have. Renne's face remained stony. His skin turned gray as he kept listening.
2000 came to his ears and he shuddered involuntarily. Pendrell Vodalia still lived, still met Kyra Blackstone, Artyr and Odin. He still was the strong hero Renne had so loved and near-worshipped. But Renne was not there to meet him.
When Pendrell died, he was not there to fall apart. He was not there to lose his mind locked in a self-built tower shut away from the world below. He wasn't there to get his mind back together, to overcome the grief and come out of the tower either. Kyra, Odin and Artyr still drifted away on the wind.
2001 whispered by. He wasn't there to meet Archie or Harold. The McGraths still came that night, still set fire to the tavern. The shots still rang through the building and, as Jarlath set the tear gas, Brynna and Ainnle set the building aflame. He was not there to be shot or left behind. He was not there to help rebuild. They still drifted away. Sirin, Ranyor and Pacey left. They walked away, two to never return. Harold and Archie soon drifted off on their ship. Renne had not been there to be scolded. At least he hadn't been there to wonder if he was on his own.
2002 and 2003 came by in a blur. The nations still rose and fell without him there. He wasn't there to explore, to learn and fail at changing his appearance. He wasn't there to force his appearance into a humanoid shape and thus, acquire the notch in his ears. The Rhydin slave markets ran as they did. His only regret here was that the few slaves he had managed to rescue to freedom did not get that chance this time.
Yule came. Harold spent the night alone in a quiet, reopened tavern. Lilith and Stacey still emerged. He and Lilith still fell in love, leaving Stacey to drift with barely a goodbye. Ranyor still dropped by on occasion. Harold didn't need to write that note to Renne this time, telling him to stay put. Renne wasn't there to disobey the message. He wasn't there to meet Vicfryn as they got him out of the Underdark. Vicfryn took his place as cook and for a while, things passed by without a change. Until they too, drifted off again.
2004. 2005. They blazed by with little consequence. The Less Crowded Inn survived Nyarlathotep's attacks. They saw through Rena's freedom and second child. They saw through Zonker and Melkor's reunion from Asgaard. Xyvoria rose and fell. Sendaria was but a spot on the map before it too, faded away. He wasn't there for Kavanagh to betray him. He wasn't there and nearly nothing changed.
2006 whispered in. The Maritime reopened for a while. Archie's return was celebrated by only Harold and a new woman named Maia. Lilith appeared. Kaori Hotaru still drove a wedge between the once-solid friends, Harold and Archie. Renne simply wasn't there for Archie to save him from another bullet. He wasn't there to encounter Nancy and her troubling storms.
As 2007 rolled in on the cold, thawing spring, Harold still left. He didn't need to write a message to one who never existed. Renne wasn't there to find out and in the following months, he wasn't there to be ridiculed. He wasn't there to lose his mind again and become a killer, unconscious still of the acts he had committed. Harold still came back. He still fell in love again, withdrawing from all but a few 'new' he had deemed worthy. Archie still vanished. The only differences had been Renne's absence. He wasn't there to need Kitty Helston. He wasn't there to go to Port South.
Rhydin easily lived on without him.
2008 brought the Enterprise. Or it would have, if Renne had been there. But he was not, so the ship never came. It never met him, so the silver ship sailed on. The men still fell in love. The crew still drifted apart as the sun rose on 2009.
2009 went by in the blink of an eye. He wasn't there to learn about an Eltarian wizard, to later be regarded as a god. He wasn't there to learn the art of human betrayal again. The ship he had been on didn't need to drop him on that wasted rock of a world. He wasn't there, so he had no bonds to try to save. He wasn't there, so he didn't need to search the Multiverse to find a golden needle in a yellow haystack.
2010 and 2011 weren't enough to recognise.
Life blazed to the present and through the entire hearing of all that had been, a realisation came down in a heartbeat: The Multiverse could easily do without him.
He heard this and turned his back on the jolly man. He didn't want that one to read him. The truth was the truth, regardless of how it might hurt.
no subject
Words like that were a double-edged sword -- they could mean something new, insightful, fascinating or they could mean something to dread. Hearing the odd new voice in his room, Renne wondered at it. He turned to face toward it and listened to what had to be said.
"A world without you."
The storm that had carried him across many seas and worlds still blew. He was not there but he knew the year -- 1999, according to the calendar he had learned. Were he not there, he would not have learned such a calendar. The eradication of his kind would have been complete. Without exception. He tasted 1999 and heard it without him. The world was not yet too wildly different. Whether he had sailed through those storms or not would have had no change upon that.
He tasted 1999 again, never meeting Silver, never knowing the Isle of Shadows. The NightRunners still dissolved, falling apart like snow disintegrating in the spring. He was not there to infuriate the demon called Silver. He was not there to lose a heart-complex he didn't exist to have.
Renne's face remained stony. His skin turned gray as he kept listening.
2000 came to his ears and he shuddered involuntarily. Pendrell Vodalia still lived, still met Kyra Blackstone, Artyr and Odin. He still was the strong hero Renne had so loved and near-worshipped. But Renne was not there to meet him.
When Pendrell died, he was not there to fall apart. He was not there to lose his mind locked in a self-built tower shut away from the world below. He wasn't there to get his mind back together, to overcome the grief and come out of the tower either.
Kyra, Odin and Artyr still drifted away on the wind.
2001 whispered by. He wasn't there to meet Archie or Harold. The McGraths still came that night, still set fire to the tavern. The shots still rang through the building and, as Jarlath set the tear gas, Brynna and Ainnle set the building aflame. He was not there to be shot or left behind. He was not there to help rebuild.
They still drifted away. Sirin, Ranyor and Pacey left. They walked away, two to never return. Harold and Archie soon drifted off on their ship. Renne had not been there to be scolded.
At least he hadn't been there to wonder if he was on his own.
2002 and 2003 came by in a blur. The nations still rose and fell without him there. He wasn't there to explore, to learn and fail at changing his appearance. He wasn't there to force his appearance into a humanoid shape and thus, acquire the notch in his ears. The Rhydin slave markets ran as they did. His only regret here was that the few slaves he had managed to rescue to freedom did not get that chance this time.
Yule came. Harold spent the night alone in a quiet, reopened tavern. Lilith and Stacey still emerged. He and Lilith still fell in love, leaving Stacey to drift with barely a goodbye. Ranyor still dropped by on occasion. Harold didn't need to write that note to Renne this time, telling him to stay put. Renne wasn't there to disobey the message. He wasn't there to meet Vicfryn as they got him out of the Underdark.
Vicfryn took his place as cook and for a while, things passed by without a change. Until they too, drifted off again.
2004. 2005. They blazed by with little consequence. The Less Crowded Inn survived Nyarlathotep's attacks. They saw through Rena's freedom and second child. They saw through Zonker and Melkor's reunion from Asgaard. Xyvoria rose and fell. Sendaria was but a spot on the map before it too, faded away. He wasn't there for Kavanagh to betray him. He wasn't there and nearly nothing changed.
2006 whispered in. The Maritime reopened for a while. Archie's return was celebrated by only Harold and a new woman named Maia. Lilith appeared. Kaori Hotaru still drove a wedge between the once-solid friends, Harold and Archie. Renne simply wasn't there for Archie to save him from another bullet. He wasn't there to encounter Nancy and her troubling storms.
As 2007 rolled in on the cold, thawing spring, Harold still left. He didn't need to write a message to one who never existed. Renne wasn't there to find out and in the following months, he wasn't there to be ridiculed. He wasn't there to lose his mind again and become a killer, unconscious still of the acts he had committed. Harold still came back.
He still fell in love again, withdrawing from all but a few 'new' he had deemed worthy. Archie still vanished. The only differences had been Renne's absence. He wasn't there to need Kitty Helston. He wasn't there to go to Port South.
Rhydin easily lived on without him.
2008 brought the Enterprise. Or it would have, if Renne had been there. But he was not, so the ship never came. It never met him, so the silver ship sailed on. The men still fell in love. The crew still drifted apart as the sun rose on 2009.
2009 went by in the blink of an eye. He wasn't there to learn about an Eltarian wizard, to later be regarded as a god. He wasn't there to learn the art of human betrayal again. The ship he had been on didn't need to drop him on that wasted rock of a world. He wasn't there, so he had no bonds to try to save. He wasn't there, so he didn't need to search the Multiverse to find a golden needle in a yellow haystack.
2010 and 2011 weren't enough to recognise.
Life blazed to the present and through the entire hearing of all that had been, a realisation came down in a heartbeat: The Multiverse could easily do without him.
He heard this and turned his back on the jolly man. He didn't want that one to read him. The truth was the truth, regardless of how it might hurt.