The Shadows of Nature

5.1. Voice

Audrey emerged in a place devoid of everything but light, her existence pale in perception but powerful in presence. The amalgamation of feeling nothing and still that she had come to associate with the void that aided her travels was somewhat retained in Oblivion. The only exception was a subdued stimuli that pervaded the land, like an angelic voice of a low decibel comforting the place and everything in it.

That, and an odd familiarity that was lost to Audrey.

The shadows senses were quelled, and it was her energy that reacted with the land's to experience it. She mostly remained in a pocket area of her own, afraid to disturb the land, but she wished to communicate with it so very much.

With the exception of Vlad, its power was beyond anything she had ever witnessed.

She found herself drifting amongst the different auras that vibrated around her, resonating to distances far and wide. She attempted to look at herself but all that met her eyes was a subtle orange glow, radiating something that was unfamiliar to her. At the same time, it felt as if that was her pure form when represented by energy. Nothing concrete existed in that space, but perhaps the abstract setting was true reality.

Beings of light.

Suddenly her presence was pulled by a force that originated from ahead of her. The scene around began to change as the light dimmed to paint contrasting colours around her, bringing a thin blue by her side that appeared to continue beyond the horizon and a lighter blue that covered the space above. Her feet had now appeared, their barely visible silhouette treading upon soft green sod. She moved ahead automatically, but the motion did not feel forced in the slightest. Soon her entire being was present in the land and as her head turned to see what lay behind her, she was met with a reflection of what lay in the front.

Illusion.

Her feet sank into the thick grass, moving forward slowly. She could sense the softness of the ground, the cool breeze soughing resonating around her, and the gentle warmth of the sun above her. As seconds progressed, different structures appeared before her, filling the land with a familiar scene. Memories played through her mind like a string vibrating to produce a comfortable frequency, but with a very small amplitude. She realised that somehow, she witnessed her home's passage in time. Or at least, Audrey's home's passage in time.

The sound's amplitude increased subtly, playing in her unconscious mind that shouldn't be. Her senses grew stronger; so strong, that it seemed she experienced the sensations - she felt it. The energies intertwined, and the auras became a part of each other.

Audrey resumed her walk as darkness settled in, the volume still increasing. Her home was present no more, only scattered pictures from the corner of that planet. Derelict structures, ruined air, pungent water, places that undermined senses. Where sins were the rules and where nature was unpleasant, and an aura of gloom pervaded the place.

Audrey's eyes were heavy with exhaustion, but they chose to see the trail behind her. Within a flash, as time seemed to stop, her senses broke.

The sound of chaos had always followed her. For a long time had the dark trail of disturbing noises remained. It fuelled her negative emotions, but Audrey always was patient. Perhaps that is why she chose to befriend its essence's beauty, the empathy of sound.

Shadows weren't those who showed cruelty, sympathy or benevolence. They never felt, never perceived; they only sensed. Somewhere along the way each 'type' adopted certain feelings, and they could no longer distinguish between perception and sensing. Thus did the new beings come. With perception but without sensing. With sentience but without reasoning. With life, but without existence.

The Shadow was returned to the void of light, the trail lying directly beneath her senses. An abstruse emotion lay around the atmosphere, disintegrated. It remained motionless even as the wings of a raven brought a gentle breeze, disappearing out of sight but leaving behind remnants of a mellow, dark aura. Audrey didn't feel the emotion, but she wished to understand it. The aura prevented her from doing so. The wish was wrong.

"Someday, the two of you must part."

The thought was soft and fragile, subject to the smallest quanta of emotion. But Audrey was aware of truths and in that moment, she was aware powerfully so.

The memory of her rage, of the chaos in her mind surrounded her thoughts, needing nothing visual; only vibrations. She recalled those events and an emotion almost came to her. A silhouette of what looked like wings emerged in front of her: a faint outline that appeared to be born out of thought, existing for a purpose but not really existing at all. It was a mere possibility that was dictated by the vibrations of her energy, fulfilling its purpose without happening.

Such was the dimension of thought. Born out of these little signals, perceived by them, but never becoming concrete. Audrey wonder what reality was.

In that moment, realisation dawned on her.

Audrey's body was back, but she remained in the void. She wondered how she could get to the land.

The sound of chaos was now manifested as a trail of waves randomly existing within a sense of spacetime; within a larger wave. She noticed that at any instant of time, only seven waves existed.

Audrey took a deep breath, exhaling as all perceptions feelings left her mind. She was an existence within a singularity, simply waiting for her end.

The trail was pulled in by the abyss of the land and the sound disappeared. Audrey couldn't help but ponder on the nature of the abyss, yielding to an elusive realisation that was yet to be understood.

The being that spoke to her took its leave, but not without letting Audrey ask the question.

"Will you be present?"

Audrey perceived warmth.

"I always am. But perhaps this time, all the Shadows will be aware."

Everything faded into nothingness and her existence was pulled away from the void. As the journey out of time to her planet began, Audrey borrowed time for her thoughts.

For ten years, the spirit was present in a way it had never been before, and never will again. For ten years, Audrey got to experience something wonderful, be a part of something wonderful.

Who am I? Who are we all? It seems to me that I know what I have to do, which is perhaps lucky. Who chose me? How did I become me? 

Sometimes it was difficult to believe in one's actions because of all the uncertainty that came in the world. Audrey wondered how it was for beings engulfed in confusion, a large part of which would be humans. That she was sure of.

Oblivion. Perhaps it was the state towards which every being was headed, perhaps it was where every being came from. Perhaps it was both. Everything ends at some point of time. If it didn't then time would end, surely. If time didn't and if everything was infinite, then everything was a muddled mess of infinite insignificant actions.

Who knows? Time that goes never comes back, however. All of it cannot be spent in contemplation. Can it?

Audrey wondered what her next step was. But before that, she found peace in unconsciousness.