The Sound of Silence

Sumarlithi

The world was covered in oceanic waters teaming with vibrant aquatic life. The shifting tectonics of the planet formed massive rings of clustered island, their rocky cliffs towering on the flat horizons. Each island virtually became its own ecosystem due to the significant distances that challenged any daring terrestrial creature. Avian creatures found a way to thrive while mammalian and reptilian creatures maintained a fluctuating existence of evolution. The story this world truly began when the first terrestrial creatures, the Valkir, discovered how to break the bonds of the sea.

The Valkir were a short, stumpy reptilian people that had the capacity for tool usage. It gave them the advantage to hang on long enough on their cliff to discover their way to constructing rafts. Over time the raft would be trialed by the turbulent waters as a curiosity drove the Valkir to seek that distant spire in their horizon. Eventually the knowledge passed down through the generations of the Valkir lead to them completing the milestone for any island dwelling creature.

No longer bound by their single island, the Valkir could grow with the new resources discovered on other islands. As one island would fill up, a group would depart for another island. On this went as the ages passed and the Valkir became the Mariner race and the world became known as the Mariner world, Sumarlithi.

~~~~~~~

Lazily drifting above the watery plain of a concealed cove, a piece of a goddess floated. While the name Shard was given to this piece, it wasn't a hunk of stone or crystal. This Shard maintained a form of having pristine flesh, golden blonde hair, with scarce coverings of fine cloth with set gems inlaid and a tiara adorning her head. The visage of someone who wanted to be above and untouchable.

Aella:

Floating overhead the Shard sat side-saddled on a strange staff. The casual manner of her sitting seemed to imply there was no danger despite being nearly ten stories high off the ground with a roaring seaward breeze rifling through the canyon-like form this part of the island made. The wind seemed to have made no effect on her where it should have blown her forward and off of her narrow staff. In fact, her hair seemed to be gently blowing the opposite way, her hair fanning out as if she were in the middle of a modeling shoot. However, to the Shard of Wind, this was the ordinary.

Aella enjoyed worlds that offered significant winds. They were nothing like her birth world but being in a a strong headwind and casually waving aside that to look perfect made her feel good about herself. It is why she often sought worlds like Sumarlithi to rest in. A parting glance to the curved and carved stones of the mariners that had come and gone showed just how little she cared for the history of the world. The only thing that mattered was the wind. Of course there was one other thing that was important even though she'd never confess to the implanted urge...

It was a peaceful day on Sumarlithi. Blue skies. Strong winds. The waves lapping along the shores, crashing along the rocks as scores of birds flew overhead and a gentle sun peeked through the clouds. It was, to Beracal’s recollection, one of the best days that he’d seen in a while. Usually, the waters were not so forgiving . The surf would be strong and wild, too tempestuous for all but the most skilled sailors, or the winds would be too calm and meek, making for poor travel. But these were a perfect balance, the right kind of strong.

It was a good day to sail. A good day to master the waves.

And so, as chief of his tribe, he gathered his best windriders and brought them to the shore, preparing them for travel. Today, they would be mapping out the island, getting a better grasp of this area, and doing a little fishhunting - something to bring back to their women for a great feast, if the gods were good. Everything was in the proper place for it. It was just a matter of stringing all the boats together, making sure they had the proper tools, that everyone understood the plan, there was no dissent. Little problems, easily fixed.

They were all set, they were all of one heart and mind, and then it appeared.

~~~

A chord struck out, an unholy noise filled the air, the likes of which this world had never heard before. So many things changed all at once - the sky flashed a blood red, the waves whipped into a frenzy, the winds changed course. The most striking thing of all, however, was a hole in the world that appeared in the midst of the gather Vakir. A portal, black and swirling, and through it stepped none other than Lita Strauss.


”Hello hello hello.” She stepped forward as the portal dissipated behind her, fading into nothing. With the rift in space mended, the skies returned to their natural color, but that hardly meant order was restored. There was a still a chaos in the air, a queer sensation that would’ve made the Vakir’s hair stand up, if they had any to start with. Lita looked around them, peering at the through her shades as they all backed away, not knowing what to make of her. She couldn’t say for sure, but she was willing to bet that the beings in this world weren’t at all familiar with humans. Could they even speak her language?

One way to find out. ”Let’s give it a try, then.” She took another step forward and brought her guitar over to her front. ”Hey. Reptilians. One question: Where’s the shard?”

They all looked around, exchanged glances, as if her words made them even more confused than before, something they hadn’t thought possible. One of them did speak up - the biggest one, the leader, if the fancy headdress he had on was any indication. ”ᜈ????????🝛 ⲉ⿴ ᨈ⿴🝘 ᜈ????????🝛?”

...yeah, this wasn’t going to work. ”Oh, well.” Lita sighed and brought her fingers down to her strings. ”So much for the easy way.”

And so, Lita began to play. He chords came out and filled the air with a deafening sound, one that could be heard for miles and miles, a shrill cacophony. The Vakir were sent flying all at once, hurled away in a torrent of sand, knocked about by the very air around them. Some of them tried to fight instead of flee, hurling spears Lita’s way, but she merely shattered them in mid-throw, her guitar blasting them apart with crushing sonic force.

It was a wild display of force, pushing them back as she advanced towards the jungle, heading towards where she assumed their village was. She knew that the Shard was here, could sense it in the area, and she was willing to bet these lizard people or whatever they were would have it. If that meant she had to tear this island to pieces and get what she came for out of the rubble then, well, she was okay with that. Would make for a fun little afternoon.

Serenity one moment, chaos the next.

It first started with the sky appearing to bleed. The winds shifted drastically and the roar of waves became emboldened by the change happening in this world. Yet in spite of this the floating Shard hadn't changed in her presentation.

Aella continued her slow drift in the sky despite the dire wind. Her gaze lethargically scanned the horizon as if she barely registered everything going on. Yet internally, her being rapidly made checks to identify the cause of this change. The wind was like a vast intelligence network operating with changes of pressure. A man swatting an insect could be felt a mile away if she paid attention and an explosion could be felt from the other side of the world if the shockwave was strong enough to shift the air.

From what she could already determined, this was a localized phenomena. The air somewhere nearby was being forced to reestablish equilibrium after a force expanded but where an explosion would cause the air to quickly fill the void, this void never seemed filled. If Aella had been the more diligent type, she would have called the phenomena already. It was a portal and someone was deciding to visit here.

Of course, Aella's mind was already drifting away to other thoughts, not caring for the answer. Up until that sound...

She hadn't noticed it when the phenomena first appeared but now it was constant and changing. Powerful sounds bellowed out of a single source, disturbing the air and pressure around a singular entity. The aggressive nature of the air being forced about reeked of an entity that might have only wanted one thing. A fight. Lucky for that entity, a Shard is always compelled to conflict.

~~

The entity must have arrived on the other side of the island as Aella's brief flight in the direction soon provided a visual of the destruction. Debris was sent scattered about as sound waves crashed into them. A flailing body of one of the natives was one of the more distinct objects in this flurry but the Shard had little empathy for other beings. They all failed at being significant in her eyes.

If she had to decide off of that, she wouldn't have bothered to intervene but with the strong appeal of conflict, she felt urged to go one. There was one other thing driving her as well. This was one of the more... tranquil planets for Aella to enjoy. One of the few she'd actually come back to and now this brazen entity decided to perverted the air with all this horrid sound.

As Aella approached, the sound could start being felt in her being. She had never encountered sound utilized as a weapon but her inheritance of partial divinity enlightened her to an idea. She pulled the air molecules in a cone in front of her, diffusing them to a lesser concentration so the sound had less molecules to excite thus weakening the sound. It made her approach far more tolerable.

Arriving to the scene of a shattered village, Aella slowed her float to a gentle drift over head. Among the wreckage, she, no doubt, found the entity that had caused such a disturbance.

"What, pray tell, is the disturbance for? I don't relish in the idea of a flea making so much noise." Aella hollered airily, leaning up in her posture to better glare down at the pest that arrived.

She never really wanted an answer but gave the flea a moment before waving her hand with a swipe. The air beneath her rushed in a sudden blitz that tore across the remains of the village like an invisible tidal wave towards the intruder.

To the lizardmen’s credit, they did the best they could against an unknown and insurmountable force. This woman, this beast, this living catastrophe came out of nowhere and assaulted them with powers and a weapon they couldn’t have fathomed a moment before. While they were trained in the hunt, this was a sort of battle that they could never have prepared for, a phenomena beyond their imaginings. Lesser beings would have fled, and wouldn’t have been wrong to do.

And they did flee, but only to a point. They retreated to their village, but when it was made clear that the invader wouldn’t stop her assault and would only continue to advance, they held their ground, fortified their defenses and made a last, desperate stand to protect all they held sacred. The Vakir stood ready to sacrifice, to stand, to fight to the last.

Many would’ve called it bold. Lita, on the other hand, had a much harsher word for it. ”Absolutely fucking stupid.”

It didn’t even take much of her power to send the hastily made barrier they’d erected around their village - a single strum from her guitar was enough to do the trick, and not even one of her best riffs. It sent the pathetic barrier flying in a scattered mess of wood and straw, and the Vakir directly behind it fared little better, knocked about as if they found themselves in the midst of a hurricane.

Screams. Shrieks. Cries. Moan. Lita could hear it all she walked through the wrecked gate, looking around, trying to figure out the best place to find the shard. She could still sense the energy in the area, she knew it was around here somewhere, but the signature wasn’t as localized - it was hard to tell where it was all concentrated, where best to focus, where to look…

”Oh.”

She looked up and saw it - or her, rather. A being flying above her, suspended on the wind, looking annoyed by her mere presence. Definitely not the same race as these beings, that went without saying. Maybe not even from this world, a visiter like herself. Questions were starting to pop into her head, along with the possible, plausible answers.

Answers she had little time to contemplate, as her newfound friend summoned a powerful burst of air, coming down on Lita like a hurricane and sweeping her - and everything and everyone in her general vicinity - off their feet. It would’ve been a truly perilous position, save for one, small thing: She could fly.

With a strum of her guitar, she righted herself in mid-air and took flight, whipping along the current and soaring higher, higher, higher. She came around the new being’s side, still moving fast, but keeping close enough to speak. ”What’s this, what’s this? You’re looking to play?”

If the whirlwind of destruction that carried on below was supposed to completely flatten the intruder along with everything else in the wake of that calamity. Aella was surprised but she didn't show it, expressing mere boredom as she lazily stretched out and lounged on her staff.

Her natural emotional tendency of being flatline was fairly overwhelming but she was beginning to feel increasingly irritated for what should have been a flea. Flight, of all means to escape her attack, was certainly an affront to her being. It was a clumsy action either judging from the amount of grace it took to evade debris and projectiles darted right for the rocking figure as she soared on her guitar.

Aella continued to lounge as she spun to always keeping her circling intruder in front of watching on with a mostly hidden contempt in that lazed expression. There was some gall in this insect that bothered her as there was no plea for forgiveness in it. That was, perhaps, the only credit to the thing as the stirring whim of the goddess began to rise. A contest was forming and this flea appeared to be enough to try and be competitive.


"A storm does not play with a bird caught in her wind and if that bird were wise, it wouldn't attempt it either." Aella casually reached out and spun her gloved hand by the wrist, stirring the wind around the flea with the idea of toying with her flight, attempting to jerk her around a little. If the instrument the flea used relied on the air in anyway, the Shard of Wind would feel it now, but if not then a bit of mild playing with the creature wasn't too bad either. "What could you possibly desire out of this... encounter?"