The Heart of Night Raven yan!twst x oc

Prelude: The Calm before the School

-x-x-x- Twisted Wonderland -x-x-x-

Motunui

For Tokoni Kāne, it was home. And one of the most peaceful places a person could be.

For a island mostly cut off from the world it was developing nicely, becoming closer to a city then just a village. 

Tokoni oversaw most of the happenings there, while the locals worshipped him as a god. He didn't know why they would chose to worship him, other than the fact he had god-like powers and taught the residents magic, because in all honesty, he was mostly a temperamental guy who  doubled as both a nature and creation deity and a lava and destruction deity.

Most of the time he was a calm, and humble person, doing his best for the island and to support those who now lived there, and to showcase this, his hair was a deep forest green while his eyes glittered like emeralds.

But when he lost his temper, his hair would become molten lava, and instead of a green his eyes would be glowing pools of fire. In this state he would chuck lava and shoot fire while being generally destructive and angry, but luckily he had a solution to this problem.

Said solution being a small round, pounamu* stone which he'd engraved with shark teeth patterns, to strengthen the enchantment he'd placed on the stone he affectionately named his 'heart'. Most of the time he wore it as a necklace, but could attach it to his body like he'd heard people doing to rhinestones, just minus the glue.

The stone acted as a way of preventing him from going full outburst, although it had many drawbacks.

But right now, he wasn't very worried about that. It was his day off from teaching the villagers magic, and he was planning to utilise it to his advantage.

By sitting in a hammock and watching the waves. His favourite thing to do, considering how he found it so relaxing. 

No stress means no anger, no anger means that he won't throw islands at people.

And that is a good thing, despite what a few of Tokoni's friends had to say.

This peace lasted roughly...

two minutes? It's hard to say when you don't have a watch on.

But all the same, something unusual caught Tokoni's eye, which snapped him from his relaxed state as he inspected the new arrival.

A black horse-drawn carriage. Odd. Nobody on the island had a carriage, or at least not anyone he knew of.

He sits up, deciding against ignoring the carriage, which was his first mistake.

Of many.

what is this eyesore of a vehicle doing here? Tokoni wonders, his last conscious thought appearing in his head before opening the carriage door, only to see it filled with a coffin...

"My dear beloved. A lovely and noble flower of evil."

"Truly, you are the most beautiful of all"

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the..."

a low resonating voice, not unlike the sound of the ocean inside a seashell was heard. Speaking some kind of poem or song.

"Those who are guided by the dark mirror..."

"As long as your heart desires,"

"Take the hand that appears in the mirror."

Tokoni turns around, to see a mirror, like the strange disembodied voice mentioned, floating behind him.

It was antique and please not to look at, gilded with silver and a dark sheen over the mirrored surface, but no reflection was cast. Not from Tokoni, or from anything else in the carriage.

Until, he noticed the image of a outstretched hand, gesturing to him as if he was to take it.

So he did, reaching out to grasp the hand.

And then, his vision went dark.

But his ears still rang out with noise,

"For me. For them. For you. We are all running out of time."

"No matter what... Never let go of my hand."

Then, he regained sight of something.

A strange sort of of ruins. Ash, dust and debris scattered around the area.

Then, his ears met a immense roar, which belonged to what appeared to be some sort of blue flaming monster, that looked down upon him.

It bared its malicious fangs at Tokoni, but he didn't yell, or cry out. He was rooted to the spot, unable to dive out of the beasts path. As much as he wanted to run, he could not.

So when the creature charged, he expected a collision but, yet again his vision faded out.

...

so much for a day off. Eh? he thought, before loosing consciousness for the second time that day.

-x-x-x- Twisted Wonderland -x-x-x-

*Pounamu stone is a hard valuable stone, found mainly in boulders, and is otherwise known as  greenstone or New Zealand jade, considering the country is where is most commonly found.

The stone is treasured by Polynesian cultures like the Māori because of its strength and beauty.

In these cultures it is associated with status and power.

fun fact: as a gift Pounamu helps to form lifelong bonds between people, typically family or friends, and in Polynesian customs is not bought for oneself but as a gift to someone who could benefit from its properties.

- x - x - x -  Twisted Wonderland  - x - x - x -

edited: 02/06/2024

wc: 836