Minds Overwhelmed [Auri - Misto]

[falconkai]

It was late at night and the inn was closed as Auri sat by the hearth of the Main Street Tavern, waiting. Auri sighed, her near blind eyes glittering in the firelight as she waited. Avery had told her a friend was coming to help her with her mind reading. It had been troubling her more and more, she couldn't block out the voices that rung in her head and couldn't control who she heard, even losing sleep as they woke her in the night. But still she waited as Avery sat face-down on at the bar in a deep sleep.

[icyreflections]

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[atrb=background,http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/libbyoc/forumblack.png] Misto had been informed that he would be meeting someone at the tavern. Although he wasn’t well acquainted with the cat that summoned him, he decided to take up the offer- he could always use a cool drink and he enjoyed helping others. The streets were rather vacant and this observation made the black and white tom acutely aware of the time. The Moon shone brightly in the midnight sky, illuminating the darkness with a white glow stolen from her brother Sun. Hundreds upon thousands of glittering stars blinked over head and the cool night air slipped around the young tomcat like a billowing cloak. Misto began to wonder if he was wasting his time traveling to the tavern this late. Would it still be open? Would the cat he was supposed to be meeting even still be there? There was only one way to find out- he continued onward and approached the tavern. To his surprise, the door was still open despite the fact that the room looked pretty deserted. ‘Well, I suppose that means that the bar is closed,’ Misto thought to himself with a pang of subtle disappointment. Misto didn’t make many schillings reading fortunes and playing his violin for a living- he certainly didn’t make enough to feed all the cats he lived with in the caravan on the beach. But every now and again, he found himself in the tavern drinking ale and rum and having a grand old time just getting plastered and playing his violin for the merriment of others. He supposed it was a good thing he wasn’t faced with the opportunity to blow the schillings he managed to make and he quietly looked around the tavern for his client. His brown orbs fell upon the cat sitting faced-down at the bar. He assumed that this cat must be the one he was supposed to be educating on mind-reading and with a small smile parting his lips, he closed his eyes and put a paw to his temple. ‘Waiting for me?’ he asked her, telepathically sending an image of himself to her with his illusion abilities. ‘I am Misto, thank you for waiting.’ The image of himself bowed respectfully and vanished and the real Misto took its place as he settled himself in the seat beside Avery. “Hello there, darling.” He purred, “so, you’d like to learn about the ways of mind reading, eh?” He smiled a friendly grin at her with his familiar twinkle in his eyes. Maybe tonight wasn’t going to be so uninteresting after all.

[falconkai]

"Yes." Auri whispered, eyeing the black and white tom from under the hood of fur that covered her face. "I'm sorry you had to come to Brittle-Bone house late. I can't go out in light or near lots of other cats." She explained quietly, rubbing at the bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep her 'mind reading' was causing her.

"I'm not good at mind reading as Britt- Avery calls it." She explained quietly. "I can hear everything clearly and that, but......um...." She stopped, nervously ringing her paws over the case handle of her lute under the table. "I can hear them all the time... Always loud, many, many cats talking in here..." She whispered, tapping at her head lightly to explain. "Can't sleep, leave the Bellows, play music or chase moon..." She whispered, tearing up slightly as she tried not to cry.

[icyreflections]

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[atrb=background,http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/libbyoc/forumblack.png] Misto frowned slightly. She could hear the thoughts of other cats- all the time? What a horrible situation to be in! He felt a surge of sympathy for the other cat and as she explained her dilemma and began to tear, Misto smiled gently and though he wished to give her an encouraging pat on the paw, he resisted for he knew some cats disliked being touched. A gentle light lidded his brown eyes as he looked to the she-cat before him. He never experienced the problem that she did, he learned how to mind read quite by accident and was only just beginning to get a handle over his abilities. He was a fortune teller, an interpreter of the cards that were stored in the folds of the scarf tied around his waist. He could look into the minds of his clients and search through their memories for small fragments of their past that could better explain their spread. He didn’t mean to intrude on their thoughts, but once he found that he could see things he wasn’t supposed to and get some money for it- he was in no position to turn the gift away. He needed to embrace it and harness it to feed his family. Now, as he looked to the poor, tortured Auri he began to wonder- how could he help her? He wanted to- Misto could never in his right mind turn away from a cat in need. With his thoughts on high alert, he frantically experimented with various solutions to the problem. Suddenly, a light turned on in his head and he figured that the solution he came up with was worth a shot. In a soft tone, Misto mewed, “Auri, if you have the ability to listen, you also have the ability to ‘not listen’- to ignore others. I will try my best to help you discover a technique that will make this task easier.” He looked at her and said, “face me and try to relax.” He placed the tips of his paws on each temple of the she-cats head and closed his eyes. Harnessing his ability to create illusions, Misto asked calmly, “okay, Auri. I want you to think of a place that you feel comfortable in. It could be anyplace that you like. I will be able to see it and hold it for you once you manage to think of it on your own. The mind is a truly amazing thing- it can process hundreds of things at once subconsciously but you can only focus on one task at a time.” He paused before he continued, “I want you to think of this place when the voices begin to become too overwhelming. I want you to relax your mind and go here- shut a door and drown out the noise. Do you think you can do it? I will help you if you think you cannot~” He smiled softly, as he shared her thoughts and created a place of rest and solitude in her mind.

[falconkai]

Auri took a deep breath of air into her small lungs as she closed her eyes, two bi-colour paws on either side of her head. 'A good place...' she thought quietly as the flurrying rush of of music notes, lyrics and memories flitted inside her head as she tried to think. Her maw wrinkling into a frowning shape of deep thought. Until suddenly an idea bright as a thunderclap entered her mind.

Her dark blue-grey ears rose up as the memory of the 'good place' began to build in her mind. Everything in her mind's eye began to turn white and became an expanse of void. Looking up she felt rain hit her face as the void started to take shape. Plants grew from the white flat mind-ground, bringing dirt with it and tall lumbering trees. The void growing dark as white stars appeared above with a blue moon. Bringing with it a small stream of crystal clear, glowing blue water. And all around there where the hanging purple flowers that she gave to Althaia blooming. The chattering calls of Holocos and Nighting Gales in the trees began to fill her ears with beautiful sound.

But last of all under a huge lumbering willow was a pillow, a lute, a harp and a large, pure-white Holocos with stag's horns and pale, glowing, yellow eyes. Walking forward towards the tree, Auri sat down next to the white holocos on the small pillow and waited.

[icyreflections]

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[atrb=background,http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/libbyoc/forumblack.png] Mind entered the dream world that Avery imagined in her head and did he best to hold it as long as he could. He looked around the beautiful landscape she created and smiled softly to himself. This certainly was a peaceful place- it must have been such a relief after so many countless nights of constant voices and infantile attempts at sleep. The songs that were carried on the wind sent Misto in his own state of blissful comfort and he had half a mind to pull out his violin and begin to play his own song along with the realm’s melody but he stopped himself. This wasn’t his dream; he didn’t have the privilege or luxury to simply do as he pleased. Unfazed, he focused his brown eyes upon the weeping willow that bent over Avery and shielded her with a curtain of delicate branches and flowers. Misto headed over to the tree, gently pushed the frond aside and sat beside her. He smelled the flowers’ fragrance and admired the scenery once more, allowing a sense of peace and love for nature and life to overcome him, before he calmly purred, “this is a lovely place you have here.” He looked at her and continued, “I imagine it is a godsend after all the bullshit you’ve been through.” He felt the familiar surge of sympathy for the she-cat that wracked his being before he attempted to help her. He couldn’t imagine the hell she went through and could only hope that his technique would help her eventually tune out all the distracting sounds. He wanted to apologize to her- to let her know somehow how sorry he was that she had to suffer so much and try to let her know somehow that the gift she acquired could be harnessed and tamed and prove to be useful. As much as he wished he could express his sorrow, no words seemed to sound right in his head and he figured his efforts at the moment could be explanation enough. “I remember learning about the gift, myself.” Misto commented, looking through the branches of the weeping willow. “I could hear things that weren’t said… It came and went. Sometimes I could hear things and other times I couldn’t. It wasn’t until I realized that it was others’ THOUGHTS that I was able to make real sense of the ability. I began to use it more often- I focused on it- soon, I could SEE the thoughts of others. Their memories, dreams, the sights they saw… It made fortune telling much easier.” He chuckled and looked back to Avery. “I think that the best way to tune out the voices of others is to somehow distract your own thoughts. My mind reading ability only worked at first when I was stressed out or really focused on listening. I think maybe if you imagined this place- this beautiful, peaceful place- you may feel more relaxed and your thoughts will be occupied. Eventually, I believe you will be able to turn them on and off without having to imagine this place at all. Of course, it is beautiful and I would like to visit it often if I were you.” He smiled cheerfully at her. It was at that moment he wondered if the problem could be stressed related. He assumed imagining a place of her own creation would help her calm down but what if that wasn’t enough? Did she lead a stressful lifestyle- excluding the fact that she couldn’t control her mind reading ability? Maybe what she really needed was a friend to talk to. Maybe if she had someone who understood her, she would be able to breathe easier and wouldn’t have to focus on all the cats she came into contact with. Misto considered this for a moment but wasn’t sure if this was truly the problem. Of course, if all else failed- he would be more than willing to lend an ear and even share the thoughts that wracked her brain. He couldn’t stand seeing other cats suffer and would willingly take all the thoughts that tortured her into his own head. Better him than her, right? ‘Let’s just hope that she feels a little better after this and that she is able to come back here when the going gets too difficult.’ Mist thought to himself hopefully. and created a place of rest and solitude in her mind.

[falconkai]

((OOC: It's Auri....Not Ave XD))

Auri giggled lightly at the bi-colour tom's comments. "Yes...Bullshit..." She giggled, putting a dainty paw to her face as she remembered while eyeing the forest's beauty. Happy that in her mind, she wasn't blind and could see everything and not just blurred shapes.

Auri rolled to face the bi-colour tom, "I like it here, I can see the world and not blur-shapes." She mewed, rolling over to scratch the white holocos under it's chin white furred chin. "Have you ever met a Trouper Hound, Mist-Cat?" Auri questioned, tilting her head owlishly to the side.