Svarik and the company I :)

[VisAnastasis]

It seemed that as if through his hands, he was able to interact more with environment than through just walking around - as if the land was responding to his fingertips the similar way people for whom king played would respond to his fingers gliding across the flute. Here, it was a simpler world, without sound flute would produce - but the sound was replaced with the touch, most direct and baring contact. When he caressed the grass, he could feel its course oily texture under his fingertips and perceive it better - but on the inside, he felt as if a hand has passed across some vulnerable dry place in his soul and caressed it. It felt uncomfortable to pass across something so frail, but it felt good to have opportunity to be gentle with himself.

The little world seemed to be reflection of his soul indeed - how weary and heavy it felt after it had been influenced by the terrible and utter darkness of the Crypt and humiliation he had been through. There were some signs of slow healing, and the pale light replaced utter darkness, but it left a place damaged and in need of lot of care to get better. Filth of crypt was washed out from him after Long Night, but it was there for so long it left a deep mark of decay and roughness upon his essence that needed more time to grow and become healthy again, just as he needed time to find himself again after the painful experience. What playing music to his soul would be in the outside world, In the Heart of The Sea, that perfectly reflected one's soul, it seemed to be interacting with environment here.  

[Mirach]

Svarik looked around, feeling a bit at a loss with how big the place was, and how little time he had compared with that. He almost resigned, but slowly he accepted the idea that he can't possibly tend to the place in a day, but he can do something at least. He picked a spot that seemed as good to begin with as any other, and started gathering the bits of fertile soil.

[VisAnastasis]

It was indeed, too big effort to expect it all to be taken care of in one day. It was too immense job for just one pair of hands - but maybe it was better like that, since like this, there was no pretense, no one to be shameful before, only himself. He could feel each move he made on the inside, within his essence. The process took its time, just like weaving song for a wounded soul would take time, and pricking upon sickly vulnerable soil hurt and would bring forth unpleasant feelings and thoughts.
However, once he started working, it was hard to stop, and each moment gave him new energy and urgency to continue doing more and more - it was very intuitive process, and while painful, there was great relief in doing it, as no hands better than his understood the cracks and hurts of his own essence, and no one else could understand as clearly as himself what needed to be done and what felt best.

[Mirach]

Svarik lost track of rime while working, but he did not hurry. He worked in phases - first with urgency until it felt too much at once, then he slowed down and just sat quietly for a while before getting to work again.

[VisAnastasis]

It was hard to judge how much time passed here, as if it has lost meaning in the core of the Heart of The Sea. Gardening here was a rewarding work, as, after a while, as cleared out healthier soil started to form in spot he was working on, Svarik could feel a little spot of clarity within himself - a little place of ease that was slowly growing inside of him, tiny, but hopeful and eased.
However, it was hard to work with which lot of pain came, since the long ordeal he had been through has left the surface of the land dry. If only there was some water here, king felt it would be much less painful... More time he spent working, more acutely aware was he how malnourished this land felt, as if it hasn't had a a good rain in a long time. There were no rivers or lakes, nothing he could use to wash out the greezy ground properly or water thirsty plants.
To make a matter worse, he could sense something distantly - very deeply beneath his feet, coming from some important place within him, there was clear water, but it seemed as if there was some barrier that was preventing it to flow up to surface. He felt a nagging desire to reach it, but it was so deep down... It felt wrong for him to be deprived of it, like an itch he couldn't reach. To Svarik, that deep water he felt this land needed, felt like a song his soul needed, but that was so hard to grasp he could not name it or play it yet.

[Mirach]

When the need for water that he felt started to be overwhelming and he couldn't focus on other work for it, as it seemed futile without water, he started digging wiyh his bare hands in hope to reach it deep under the surface of the dry soil.

[VisAnastasis]

He was digging for long, and his hands were growing filthy and getting cuts from running into stone and sharp grass roots. He was progressing, but the progress had its cost, as it had him be rough to the ground in order to dig in it, and in turn, he felt that roughness and lack of patience upon his essence, and needed to take brakes so it wouldn't feel so abusive and harsh to his soul.
It dawned on him that it didn't seem like something he could do alone... But this land needed water - as much as, before Solstice helped him feel better through her gentleness, it needed sun. However, sun without water was bound to make any land into a barren dessert, and this seemed like distant, but possible future, if things remain the same within him. He needed to get that water out somehow... But he could not do it alone.


As he worked, leaned into hole he was making, from his pocket, suddenly, a hair he was given by the Sage before he entered the Heart, fell down in the hall before him, as if a sign... He realized with some dread that he could not reach the water himself, but the person that brought him here to this place - it could not be denied that it was a person that was able to tell water to do its bidding, and probably knew more of this place than the most.

[Mirach]

Svarik refused to ask for help someone he just met yesterday and let him into his soul. Instead, he continued digging until his fingers bled. After a while longer though, he saw it's futile and curled on the bottom of the hole. He lay there for a while, but instead of self-pity, a harsh thought came about how stubborn he is being, about how Cernunnos and tje Sea Deity let his play for them even though they just met him too, and touch their much more badly hurt soul. He felf ashamed then, and swallowed both his pride and the hair.

[VisAnastasis]

It took around five to ten minutes - as man must had entered immediately after he felt the call, but those few seconds transferred to couple of minutes of time within the Core.

It seemed that part of him, namely his heart, that was demonic, and his specific aura, had made him look a little different here, somehow more simplified and soulful. He looked one with the sea indeed - ambiguous of form, with skin blue like the clear water, his clothes turned to flowy black, and his head garnment turned into a crown - here he seemed to look the way he perceived himself, with calm confidence in himself and dignity reflecting in his posture. He did not walk, only hovered above the earth, and Svarik could mostly perceive him as a little bright spot of warmth nearing him.
( looks like a male version of this:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/29/e9/c6/29e9c6fd8fc52a2e9b1f6594bd30038f.jpg )

" Can I take your hand? " figure asked him with worry, as it must had concluded he ate the hair to ask it to help him go out. " We'll be back before you know it.. "

[Mirach]

Svarik shook his head slowly. "I don't want to go back yet, if there is still time. But I need your help..."

[VisAnastasis]

" There is still time. " creature slowly retreated its hand, and observed him quietly. " In that case... Could I perhaps sit down, so we can talk? " it asked in the end, not wanting to do it without permission, but feeling it might look intimidating if it remained leaning above him in time he was asking for its help.

[Mirach]

Svarik nodded. "You see the same as I do, right?" he wanted to assure first. "The land is so dry here... I feel I need to bring water, and it is somewhere there, deep below, but I can't reach it..."

[VisAnastasis]

" I see the same as you do. I could see it, from the moment I gazed upon you, to be truthful. That's why I brought you here. " The Sage said, and slowly, he sat down, further from the place meadow king dug into. Svarik could feel lord of the sea still more hovered than actually sat, as he could feel his warm presence leaning against king's soul, but not making pressure upon it. " I also see you have made quite a bit of a mess trying to reach it... " he looked down sadly. " Had you been rough to yourself? "

[Mirach]

"I guess..." Svarik admitted vulnerably, looking down. "I thought I could reach it alone..."

[VisAnastasis]

" So you figured out you can affect your soul by interacting with environment here? Even if you have been a little rough, it's good you noticed it. " The Sage replied gently, not lingering on Svarik's embarrassment not to make him uncomfortable, going straight to his point.  " I need to ask you another thing, though. Did you perhaps notice that... the influence can go another direction as well? " he inquired compassionately. " If you recall right, I did not tell you that I reached enlightenment by doing something physical - I told you how it was, for me... I was meditating. "

[Mirach]

"I didn't..." Svarik murmured. "Nothing I thought influenced this land visibly..."

[VisAnastasis]

" It won't be easily visible. It's more subtle approach, but it goes in bigger scale. " Sage replied, and he looked down for a moment, observing the torn ground thoughtfully and attentively. " You should not feel bad for it. I don't know how long it would have taken me to figure it all out on my own either. You are right, when you say, it is something hard to do alone. I had some help, too. " he said. " My demon friend helped me and taught me what to do. I was rough at start, just like you, you see.. " he smiled compassionately. " And he couldnt' stand watching me hurt myself further. If you want to make a really big change, doing something physical is not enough. I think I can explain it better through terms you are bound to understand. Think about it like this - if a soul is very hurt, if you tried to heal all its hurts at once and reach deepest most vital parts of it, you can damage soul permanently instead of help. If you reach too deeply and too suddenly where it hurts the most and linger long upon it, you do not heal, but ravish and injure soul strings more severely. " he explained. " You started out well, with patience... But then, you was rough and abusive to yourself, you see... And instead of helping, you have only hurt yourself further. "

[Mirach]

"But how else would I get to the water?" Svarik asked. "Not with patience..."

[VisAnastasis]

" Actually, it is exactly that - with patience. " Sage corrected him gently. " Remember, just because you are patient, doesn't mean work you do will be slow. Slower than right away, perhaps, but it doesn't have to take eternity. We need to think of better way. But if you're impatient with yourself and rush without stopping to think, it will be like trying to dig out a river with a spoon. " he compared it, just a little reproachfully. " I can feel you are hurting and do not feel like talking, but acting now, but please, I bid you to indulge me - you can not dig so deep for what you need without hurting yourself, if all you use is a spoon. If you really want to do this - I can help. But with actual help, not by just using a bigger spoon than you... I am going to teach you to use a better tool. "

[Mirach]

"But with a spoon or with something else, you still need to dig, don't you?" Svarik asked tiredly.

[VisAnastasis]

" I am not saying it's going to be painless. " man acknowledged with sympathy. " But there's a way that can lead it to being easier. I need to ask you one question - which way do you think water flows is more natural? Is it not artificial way, to just dig in a well? Or don't you think it would feel better to have water rise up through cracks in the land, and create a river? Wouldn't that feel much nicer? " he suggested soberly, and smiled a little. " If I'd try to reach for it and do it alone, I think it would be too much, more harm than good to you. But I can see your need is great, and if you let me lead and heed my guidance, I think we have a chance. "

[Mirach]

"If you can show me how to do it, I think it would feel better, although a well would suffice as well... whatever brings tge water here..."

[VisAnastasis]

" As you noticed, everything here is build of metaphors stored in your conscious and subconscious mind. Water isn't just a physical water. It's a manifestation of something important within you. If you force it out, instead of let it flow on its own, it won't be a lasting change. " Sage explained, and he was looking at Svarik with his crystal blue eyes intently, and king could feel the piercing clarity of his gaze. " Look around you - do you really think this place has never seen water before? It had thrived and bathed in it, once. There are still remnants of the paths where once streams and rivers were, hidden among grass as pale shadows. Once, your soul was a bright green meadow, filled with flowers and overflowing with clear water. " he paused for a moment, before adding. " You are The Meadow, but the water was important ingredient in keeping you healthy. It is coming from deep below, which means it represents something intimate and precious to who you are. It is something you are not in tune with now. I can only assume that something or someone had hurt you so badly and deeply, that water retrieved deep below, in meager attempt to protect itself... It is in its nature to nurture and flow, but it can't, because some fear or pain in you holds it back from showing itself. It is hard to dig from the outside.. " he pointed at the layers and layers of soil between them. " Because all this ground, is a protection to that deep source of water. Many barriers your mind has set to protect its contents from outside influence separate us from this surface, to the deepest most central core of your soul, that is down below. "

[Mirach]

"So I just have to figure out what represents water here, and the  let go of all the barrieres. Easy..." Svarik murmured a bit sarcastically, finding digging with his bare hands probably easier.

[VisAnastasis]

" Well, on your own, it would take you long time of meditation to just let go of all your baggage. This is not something you are used to or trained for. This is not healing with music - this is healing with silence. Sometimes, best way to heal is to allow yourself to feel how you feel and not be distracted by sounds. And sounds always distract you because you are so Gifted - here, you are bound to only be able to focus on yourself and what feels good to you, and I think that's valuable asset. " man replied, and paused hesitantly, before he suggested carefully and gently, as if trying to inquire how open and safe Svarik would feel with his following idea. " You don't have to do this alone this once, though. If we work together, there is better chance for you. I don't want to force its way up... But I can, indeed, as you must had suspected, waterbend it from here. If I make the water swirl and move down below, if I set it in motion, you'll be acutely aware of that sensation, and your mind will be firmly focused on it and on how it feels. When you are ready, I could sense the cracks and weaknesses in soil, and slowly lead water and touch my way upwards, through the path where your barriers are thinnest and liquid can flow out naturally, until it forms a stream on surface. Each step upwards will touch upon another barrier, fear, or pain your mind has set up, and make you focus on it - and as you let go of it, we will make progress. Once you open up to it and let your barriers dissolve, ground will separate to water's flow on its own, and it will be less painful to bring it to us, as change will come from within you, not be forced on your soul. With me guiding the water, and you freeing the way, we can do this. "