A white dart streaked out of the cloud layer like an arrow, leaving a thin trail of vapor behind. The dart expanded as it fell and the wings once again unfurled, slowing the bird"s descent. On its chest was a gray human figure who immediately began to relish in the breaths of warm air."I must have gotten lucky that nothing else came for me…" Noone had been bracing the whole time to for an ambush attack, not letting his mind or body relax for even a moment. Even after breaching through the clouds, he wasn"t sure he was ready to believe nothing else was going to happen.
If Noone had known the birds had deemed him too troublesome to eat, he would likely have been unable to hold back a very wry smile.
Noone let go of the feathers he had been clinging to and resumed dangling from the rope he had tied to the bird"s legs. At the speed he was descending it would take him a full day to reach the ocean below.
I should be in the clear from here I suppose. Noone gave one last glace at the clouds above him as if waiting for their response. He was only greeted with silence and the sound of wind brushing past him.
Once through the clouds, the weather had warmed up considerably and skin-gripping humidity had taken its place. The clouds blanketed the ocean, and the ocean provided water for the clouds. All of the heat that was built up became trapped within a few miles of the cliff walls. The climate here was much warmer than what Noone had been expecting.
He took in a deep breath; the humid air coated his throat and lungs. Immediately the stinging that had been present since he entered the clouds was washed away, only to return as a salt-in-wounds pain. Nevertheless, a smile stretched onto his face as he continued to immerse himself in the feeling.
Noone, who had always resided in the caves high above the clouds had never experienced anything but the dry temperate air that was always lingering throughout Tapestry.
The air here felt completely different. It felt thicker. Heavier. Saltier. Almost like breathing water. To Noone this was a mesmerizing experience.
Different people had different reactions to this shift in climate. Many from Tapestry disdained it as too hot and too sticky, feeling bad to breathe. Some though appreciated it for what it was. Enjoying the small moment they had to enjoy the differences.
Noone waved his arm back and forth, feeling the dense humidity around him push back slightly against his skin. He grabbed his pike and thrust it out. Although minute, he could feel a little more resistance in his swing that he would have when above the clouds.
This would have been even more noticeable within the clouds. However, Noone had been far too preoccupied with looming death and life-threatening cold to notice. Now though, he had nothing but time.
Noone leveled his gaze towards the edge of the world. The view between the clouds above and the sea below was captivating. In the horizon the sight of both seemed to collapse together in a line that stretched out an infinite distance.
The cliffs of Tapestry were considered to be the end of the world - but only in regard to inhabitable land. The ocean stretched out infinitely further. Eventually - if someone went far enough - it was said that everything simply stopped. The ocean. The air. Existence itself.
Noone could see waves hundreds of meters high out in the distance. While floating in the air above, they looked only slightly larger than the waves that were underneath him. In truth though, the waves near the cliffs were mostly formed in shallow water. If one travelled a few miles offsh.o.r.e, they would experience another underwater cliff - and the depth of the endless ocean there would become unfathomable.
This is what made it safe enough to enter the water by the cliff face. Even before The Ancestor had built Tapestry at the end of the world, the dangers of the deep ocean were well ingrained in the hearts of every living thing.
The land had been their domain, to pursue existence in the sea or in the air was to blaspheme against the universe. Or at least, that was the common belief held an eternity ago.
Now, in Tapestry the prevailing desire was to merely be able to re-inhabit their world.
As Noone continued to fall, mesmerized by the sea which he had never seen before, and the clouds which he had seen his whole life, the sky itself and the world around him began to darken. Slowly the clouds above churned and the waves beneath Noone became more voracious.
Noone"s ears both popped slightly, the pressure which had been building up under the blanket of clouds finally peaked. He only now noticed the world around him had gradually transformed.
"The sun!" Noone gasped, looking off into the horizon.
Because the fall alone took multiple days, being able to see the sun set was expected. It was written to be a miraculous experience.
Being within the caves, the days and the nights were mainly run on a pre-decided cycle, roughly based on the rise and fall of the sun. If you went out to the balcony during the evening, you would be able to see the sun set on a horizon of clouds. This would be Noone"s first time seeing the sun from beneath the clouds.
Suddenly the area between the clouds and the ocean became blindingly bright!
Noone held a hand up to block a portion of the light, but he refused to avert his gaze. Noone"s eyes widened in shock and his breath caught in his throat as he observed a cacophony of colors he had never seen before.
The sea below him had turned every shade of green and blue, the sun"s rays piercing into its depths. The clouds above were a cascade of reds and oranges, scattering the sun"s light at odd angles. The sun lit up the cliffs behind Noone, showing off every crack and crevice. There were various shades of grays and blacks, lined with beautifully colored mineral deposits on the face. From the angle Noone was at, he could even see a beautiful and enormous ruby deposit between one of the cracks.
In Noone"s eyes, this moment was frozen in time. In all of his life so far, he was not sure if he had ever seen as many colors as he was bearing witness to at that moment.
No. He was sure he had not.
This scene only lasted for a few minutes, eventually the last drop of sunlight crept below the ocean"s surface and the once vibrant landscape was plunged into darkness.
Noone was a loss for words to describe the feelings which resonated inside of him. A faint voice echoed in his mind. Soft like a stream, strong like a stone. Noone closed his eyes and drifted there, enjoying the sound of air rushing past him.
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"There really is a balance." Noone mumbled silently in the darkness.
Noone had often pondered what the words his mother left behind for him meant - truly meant. Not just what they seemed to mean on the surface.
Lately ideas of balance had been percolating inside him.
He had been born without any attunement, he had been blessed with a strong body.
Liter had been born with a grand attunement in knowledge but had a weak disposition.
Weak creatures could breed at a freakish rate, and the strong people of Tapestry, with their long life-spans would rarely have children.
The world around him would explode in a cacophony of cascading colors, if only for a few moments. And then be plunged into eternal night.
"Could this be the thoughts you wished for me to inherit?" Noone continued to fall, opening and closing his eyes leisurely, enjoying the weird sensation of not being able to see even his own body.