Star Mountains - Andries Peak
Andries Peak is the highest point on the Imperial continent, 
and very few have climbed to the point that you have, now.  
Towards the south, you can see beyond the mountains, towards 
the main continent, and even the outline of the Danke 
Mountains.  The small path towardsthe main mountain road is 
to the northeast.	

Exits:  northeast

Justin never sleeps, of course, but it strikes him that this 
would be a poor night for it.  He's been having enough trouble 
maintaining the rain shield with his full concentration.  
Razz has attached herself to his right side as though glued, 
and has been silent and still for a while, now.  Not quite 
asleep, though, he rather suspects.

The clouds begin to break apart and the sky shows through.

Razz isn't quite asleep, as Justin had correctly assumed. 
Perhaps her mind has had too much time to wonder, perhaps one 
naturally becomes this way when they're in love, but she finds
herself wondering about Justin's past relationships. Mainly, 
his marriage, and family. It's hard now to imagine how Justin 
love a woman and adore his little girls, but he must've. 
Whatever the reason, she really wants to know. Hmm. "Justin?"

Justin lets the raincover he's been struggling with dissipate 
into its component winds.  The rain has stopped, anyways, so 
it's no londer needed.  "Mmm?  Something bothering you?"
 
Razz shook her head, and gave a negative response. "Not really. 
I was just wondering somethings."

Justin leans back, a bit, propping himself up with one arm and 
staring towards where the clouds are parting on a deep and 
starlessly black sky.  "Wondering...  Mm.  What've you got to 
wonder about?"

Thick clouds cover the sky.

Justin mutters to himself as the clouds close in to rob him of 
his view.  He turns his full attention to Razz, and carefully 
dispels his scowl.

Razz shifted to face Justin better, and propped herself up on 
her elbow. "How did you meet your wife?"

Justin's face remains blank, expressionless.  "It was... fairly 
ordinary, really.  We started out working together, during 
Dreylan's first invasion.  As medics.  And, when it was over...
I suppose...we just stayed together."

Razz listened quietly, her eyes open out of habit. "What did 
you love about her?"

Justin starts on a hushed, /very/ pained '...everything', and 
catches on the second syllable.  He begins again, closer to 
his usual tone.  "...I don't really know.  She was beautiful, 
yes, but really, she was so much more to me than just someone 
to... to... hold on to.  More than simply someone else to 
worry about.  I don't..."  His voice has been drifting towards 
an almost tearful tone throughout this, and he stops /again/ 
to force it level.  "I don't think I can really put it into 
words."

Razz saw, rather than heard, what Justin was trying to say. 
Something had cracked in Justin, when he had been so closed up
when they started this conversation... he can't keep this in. 
Razz felt close to tears herself, being able to feel the sorrow 
that Justin's trying so hard to contain. Suddenly, this didn't 
seem like such a good idea anymore. Tentatively, she reached 
out and touched Justin's face, her finger tips barely making 
contact. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "You still love her, don't 
you? ... I can tell that you miss her a lot..."

Justin flinches at her touch, in spite of himself.  Tears 
almost build in his chill silver eyes.  Can it even be questioned 
that he still loves her?  But...  "...she's gone, gone beyond.  
Gone altogether beyond.  There's nothing to be gained by... 
/wasting/ tears over it.  Nothing that's going to reach her.  I 
have to, to..."  He shakes his head, as if to clear it, and the 
tears build further.  "I have to get /past/ it.  There are more 
people who depend on me, who I can't just leave stranded.  I 
have to be /stable/, solid, I have to functionm, I have to..."  
His voice trails away again, and he takes Razz by the shoulders, 
leans down, stares into her blank blue eyes as the tears finally 
overflow his.  When he speaks, he speaks in a voiceless whisper. 
The voice of a child, torn from his home and cast out into the 
dark, cold world, and left.  "...do...you...know..how..hard it has 
been..?"  His hands shake, almost as much as his voice does.

Larger and thicker clouds begin to form.

Razz jerked her hand back like she'd touched hot iron, as if she 
did it fast enough, she be able to undo whatever wrong that she 
had done by that gesture. Her finger retreated back into the 
confines of her fist, almost as if she could have denied them 
having ever reached out. Her nails bit into her palm, but she 
knew that this moment isn't about her or what mistakes she had 
made. Seeing Justin like this wasn't something that she had 
prepared herself for when she first voiced her question. So laid 
open, so hurt. It's as if he had been whipped and beaten, and, 
to protect himself, clothed himself with armors of steel, and now 
he's finally taking them off, however briefly, and once again 
exposing himself, with his flesh still raw from past abuses. 
Overwhelmed, Razz was not a little frightened when Justin took 
her by the shoulders. But as he dragged out his last sentence 
with that painful, silent, wail... Her fear was great, but the 
echo that Justin's grief created was far greater. Razz's control 
is far less than Justins, and she choked out a great sob, and 
tears spilled over her unseeing eyes. It's so painful, her heart 
is in so much pain, seeing Justin like this... She longs to 
comfort him, yet she dares not touch him again... "Yes," she 
choked out, great tears rolling down her cheeks. "I know, I'm so 
sorry...." her sentence ended into a whine, and she held her 
clenched fists up to her face, and sobbed. Back to that first time 
when they touched, when she longs to do so, but daren't. "I never 
knew... I never knew... I'm so sorry...."

Justin's head droops forward, he turns his face away.  He of all 
people ought to understand that sadness of this depth isn't nice 
to watch.  He didn't want to have dragged Razz down with him... 
this is exactly what he'd been building his walls against...  
crying silently, still, he lays his head on Razz's shoulder, and 
wraps his arms around her.  Just for a moment.  He frees one arm 
to prop himself up;  Razz oughtn't need to support him physically 
as well as emotionally, now.

Razz buried her eyes over her fists and attempted to force 
herself to be calm. Her bursting into tears would merely make 
things worse, Justin can hardly support himself right now, she 
can't distract him with her tears. Having stifled her sobs, she 
hesitated for a moment, not knowing what to do. What can she do? 
There must be something that she can do to make Justin feel 
better. There has to be. If she doesn't... who knows when Justin 
would get another chance to heal? But what can she do? Luckily, 
Justin choose to wrap his arms around Razz at this moment, and 
Razz took it as a signal that it's okay to touch Justin again. 
Carefully, she sat up, and placed her hands over Justin's back. 
She felt almost as if she should say something, before Justin 
closes up again... but what? "I... Thank you, for telling me."

Justin's words are not the clearest he's ever spoken, choked as 
they are with emotion and muffled by her shoulder.  Some manner 
of acknowledgement, we can only suppose.  He doesn't feel... 
/better/, for having let go, but...  the faintest suggestion of 
a shrug shifts his shoulders, and he holds tighter to Razz.

Razz held Justin, at loss as to what she should do. /No one/ 
has ever looked to /her/ for comfort, really. And here, Justin, 
of all people, is sobbing into her shoulder. She really wishs 
that there's something that she could do, or say, that would 
make him feel better, but she doesn't know what. So she merely 
tightened her arms around Justin, her hands holding his back. 
Tears escaped her again, and she wondered what Lexi must've been 
like, to have Justin love her so.

Just quiets, at length. It'd be pointless, at this point, to 
pretend to have been fine the whole time, but he can at least 
regain control of himself. He sighs, heavily, and releases his 
death-grip on Razz a bit. "...I'm okay. I am."

Razz loosed her hold on Justin as well, but kept her arms around 
Justin all the same. "You're okay," she said. "But it hurts."


Justin nods, mutely.  "...I'm sorry.  I don't want to 
put this kind of burden on you...  on anyone, even."  
That is, really, why he's worked so hard to pack away 
his emotions.  ".../you/ of all people have enough to 
worry about."

Razz shook her head, her blank eyes still trained on 
the space in front of her. "It's not a burden," she 
said earnestly. "I'm feel... I'm glad that you let me 
see this side of you, really." Reaching up, she 
brushed her fingers against Justin's face again, and 
felt the wet train his tears have left on his face. 
"It hurts to hold it in."

Justin sighs again.  "It's just...  I don't want 
anyone else to go through it.  I /know/ somewhere out 
there is a blade with my name on it.  I don't..."  He 
takes a breath.  "...I don't want to bring anyone else 
down with me."

Razz lowered her head. "I'm here now," she said, and 
lifted her face, smiling a bit. "Not that I'd want to, 
but I can't really go anywhere away from you."

Justin is hardly cheered by this.  "...you see?  
What's going to happen when I don't come back?"  He 
holds tighter to her, again, almost as though he 
feared being torn away this very moment.

Razz never quite thought of it in that light, really. 
Don't come back? "Why... oh," she paused. She really 
doesn't know how to respond to that. What if Justin 
doesn't come back? She buried her face in the nape of 
Justin's neck, and knew that she wouldn't want to 
think about days without Justin. "... so don't 
leave," she murmured.

Justin smiles, very faintly, although inwardly he's 
still barely feeling any better.  Razz has all the 
potential right now to be as much to him as Lexi was, 
and even more potential to get hurt or killed; not 
good for him.  And he can only imagine that her 
situation is similar.  "...leave?  Where would I go?"

Razz's voie was muffled. "You said something about 
not coming back."

Justin loses his smile.  "Mmm.  It's nothing we need 
to worry ourselves over now."  Crulath really seems 
to have eased up, recently, it may /not/ be worth 
worrying over his imminent demise any more than 
usual, anymore.

Razz lifted her face to speak more clearly. 
"Justin... what happens to a person when they die?"

Justin sighs, quietly.  "Nothing that we'll ever 
know, until our turn comes around, I rather fear.  
It's the end of the line, like."

Razz looks thoughtful. "Hmm, everyone dies." Another 
question occurred to her, and she lifted her face up 
towards the sky. "Do ancients die?"

Justin shakes his head, slowly.  "Ancients don't die.  
On occaision, they are killed, but the only ones who 
can take the life of an ancient are the ones who can 
grant it."

Razz responded with yet another 'hmm'. "Who grants 
them their life?"

Justin shrugs, slowly.  "Other Ancients, or the Realms 
themselves.  It's not a process I fully understand, 
really."

Razz asks: What are the Realms?

Justin nudges Razz, takes one of her arms from around 
him, and lays her palm flat on the ground.  "You're 
sitting on one of them."

Razz cocked her head, not understanding.

Justin shakes his head.  "The world.  Each world is 
in one of the Realms.  This one is Aradian.  The Tower 
is in Mallora."

Razz wondered. "The world... makes a person an 
ancient?"

Justin nods, once.  "Yeah.  The world has to let you 
have power over it on that scale, there's no way to 
do it without the permission of the land, like."

Razz laid her hands on the ground, murmuring, "The 
land has a conscience..." She blinked. "It does. I 
remember something about that... I think."