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 Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 7:52 pm
Journal 15 October, 2009
When we returned to the camp, Arandur, Beriadan, and Cuiledhwen were waiting outside of our tent.
Cuiledhwen was the first to hurry over. "Laerwen, you're bleeding!" she gasped. Quickly, she took the baby from Laerwen and Beriadan stepped forward to hold Laerwen's arm as she swayed on her feet. The Ar'Tel'Quessir looked weary.
'Finally,' I thought, but I felt completely numb. I looked down at the infant in my arms, but my eyes did not stay on my sister for long. Instead, they wandered toward the ring my mother had slipped on my finger. Unbeckoned, a memory came roaring to the surface.
"Does that have sentimental value?" I asked.
"Hmm?" was my mother's distracted reply. She folded the morning paper and looked at me over the rims of her sunglasses. When she realized where I was pointing she looked down at her finger. Absently, she twisted the beautiful ring and said, "Yes and no, little prince. Your mum Eirnae gave it to me, so it is special to me. But there is more to it than that."
"Such as?" I prompted, my gaze still on the ring.
"Well, it protects me, allows me to do things that my ... condition would not let me do otherwise," my mother explained. "Such as going into the sun or eating and drinking proper food. This ring was forged with a very powerful magic."
Here, she paused to take a long drink from her cup. I knew that, while she could enjoy breakfast with me, her body would later reject it and she would spend the better part of an hour locked inside of her master bathroom.
"The ring," she continued, "is charged with keeping its bearer alive, no matter what. I do not know the stories of those that wore the ring before me, but your mum Eirnae told me that I could never take it off. Not unless a successor to the ring was present and I could slip it onto their finger right away."
"Why?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me - as it usually did.
"Well," mother thought about how to explain it. I could tell she was also wrestling with whether or not she should tell me. Finally, "There are those who seek the ring for themselves. These people have looked for so long and so hard that they can feel its presence when it is not being worn."....
"What happened? Cuiledhwen asked, gently rocking one of my unnamed sisters in her arms. "And, where did these babies come from?" I could tell that she was worried, and I could even understand why, but I didn't have it in me to speak.
Thankfully, Arandur understood. "Why don't we get the kits settled, and I can start a pot of tea. We'll let everyone calm down a moment, and then if Laerwen Gwirithiel or Damien Casnes is able to recount the details of the evening, they will."
I had the presence of mind to shoot Arandur a thankful look as I went to relieve Cuiledhwen of my sister. The infants were surprisingly well-behaved - for now - and had slept through all of this.
Laerwen found strength enough to help me find a basket large enough to hold the twins and a cushion to put in it. After we cleaned them, we wrapped them up in blankets (as we, obviously, had no baby clothes).
I was a mess - afterbirth and blood soaked my tunic from where I had been cradling the babies. Laerwen found a simple white lined, rather baggy tunic to replace the one that was ruined, and proceeded to slip out of her own ruined robe.
We waited in the tent for the tea to finish, her soothing hands braiding my hair all the while. It had the affect I knew she hoped it would - she had calmed my raging mind.
We checked on the girls before emerging from the tent. Arandur hand us our cups as we took our places with them around the camp fire.
The three of them looked at us patiently, and Laerwen and I exchanged glances. On one hand, Beriadan, Arandur, and Cuiledhwen were among the few I counted as friends. I knew they were not being nosy, that they were genuinely concerned about Laerwen and I. But, on the other hand ... well, I just wanted to put the memory of this version of my mother out of my mind. I just wanted to think about anything other than what happened that evening, even if it was only for a few days.
But, it seemed that it was going to be something that I had to deal with, and right then. I took a long drink from my cup before I took a deep breath. I didn't look at any of them as I relayed the details of the evening; instead, I stared at the green scales on the back of my hands and fiddled with the ring that I knew I would only be wearing temporarily. Every last detail that I could recall was laid out for them....
- D
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 4:36 pm
Journal 19 October, 2009
Thinking back on my friends' reaction to the story still makes me uncomfortable, so I shall not relay them here. I shall only summarize by saying that they were shocked, and the outpouring of their pity was so tangible you could almost feel it. But, they were also supportive, offering their help without prompting. It was heartening, and I found myself wondering if I really could do this.
I don't know how long we were out there talking, but when Laerwen slumped against my shoulder, I knew it was time that we took our leave. We said goodbye to our friends, and slipped into our tent. I made Laerwen go straight to bed, but I hung back in order to check the infants - my sisters. I watched them sleeping, wondering if they would always be this quiet. And, then, I was worrying about tomorrow. I was going to have to figure out what they were going to eat ... or, even if they could eat regular food. They weren't pure vampires, so there was going to be a lot of guesswork involved. At least until I could find an adequate library ... which didn't seem likely.
Sleep did not come that night. My mind was racing with thoughts, and it would not quiet long enough for me to doze off. As a result, when we were packing up, I was sluggish at best. Laerwen finally handed me a cup of strong tea and told me to sit outside with my sisters.
I grabbed the handle of the basket that held the twins, and went for the opening flap of the tent. As soon as I opened it, there was an ear shattering cry. I closed the flap hastily and set the basket down, kneeling beside it. Both of the twins had full heads of hair, and the one with emerald green hair and black highlights seemed just as shocked as me. Indeed, I had all but forgotten about the ring, and my mother's warning. But, I thought it would have been her with her pale skin and the sparce smattering of scales on the backs of her hands. Her huge eyes were bluish-gray, but I knew they would change. All of this observation was done in the space of a second, for my eyes turned to my other sister, who's cries had gone down in volume, but would not stop. I couldn't blame her, she looked as though she had been sun burned. My heart twisted in my chest, and I gingerly picked her up. She had tan skin, almost the color of Laerwen's, and black hair with a shock of bright green - my mothers' hair color - in her bangs. She had one line of scales under her left eye, but what really made me frown was the birthmark over her right. Aunt Krista, mum Mel, and Tinania all had that mark. But, I pushed that out of my mind, doing my best to comfort the child. I rubbed her back as I rocked with her, murmuring an elven lullaby that I remembered from my childhood.
Once she calmed, I moved her back to the basket. She looked up at me with calm blue eyes. She would have the serpentine slit for her pupils, I noticed. With a sigh, I gently took her right hand in my own. Carefully, I grasped the pointer finger on that hand, and slipped the ring off of my own. To my amazement, when the ring circled the child's finger, it began to shrink so that it would fit. I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing, almost. It wasn't a leap, I had felt it adjusting to my finger, why wouldn't it do the same thing to the child's?
I immediately began to bundle her up, and I found a thick sheet to put over the basket. I remember mother telling me that it still stun for her to be out in the sunlight, but it was something that you got used to. I was going to try and shield the little one from the sun as much as I could.
By the time I was done with all of this, I was not groggy anymore. I downed the tea that Laerwen had given me and then began to help her.
~*~*~***~*~*~
Over the course of the next few days, we found that the as yet unnamed twins could eat food. They weren't terribly fond of it, but they didn't complain too much. In fact, the child with the emerald green and black hair seemed more accepting of the food. And, as the weeks moved on, it became apparent that they were going to be growing quite rapidly. It wasn't too long before they could hold their heads up on their own, and then it was them trying to crawl. By the time we settled in another area, they were walking.
One month, it was one month that we had spent traveling, and now the twins were running around in their awkward way. And, yet, I had still not named them.
Finally, Laerwen sat me down at the table in the little home we shared. She told me that if I didn't name them soon, she was going to. Then, for good measure, she said that if she was the one to name them, I was not following my mother's wishes. I sighed, and nodded, knowing that she was right. I had waited far too long to already, and there was no more delaying the inevitable. They were beginning to talk....
So, I sat in the soft grass in front of the tree that the four of us were now living in. I watched as my sisters played.The one with scales on her arms - much like my mother and I - she wore a light, white dress that Cuiledhwen had gifted her. The other one ... she was dressed in a dark dress with a cowl attached to it. The sleeves and skirt covered all of her skin, and the cowl remained pulled over her face. She was getting better used to the sting of the sun, but she still didn't like it.
I had been thinking about elven names for them, researching meanings and everything. But, in the end, meanings didn't really mean anything. I went with what sounded pleasing, what seemed to fit them. The pale sister, the one with the scales on her arms, I named Tawariell (tah-wahr-ee-ell, meaning 'girl of the forest' for where she was born and for my step mother, Mel) Calenmiriel (kah-lehn-meer-ee-ell, meaning 'orange jewel' for my mother's amber eyes, though she did not inherit them - her sister did). I then looked to my other sister. Her name came quickly, for she was the one that had me growing up quicker than I would have had she not come along. I had to always make sure that she was covered or watch what she was doing. So, her name became Minuialwen (min-wee-ahl-wehn, meaning 'dawn', for she signified the dawn of my new-found maturity) Caladhiel (kah-lah-thee-ell, the elven form of Lenore, which means 'light', and so given to her for my mother).
I called them over to me, and waited for them to settle in front of me. As soon as they did, I said, "You've names now. Would you like to hear them?" They both looked at me - one with amber serpentine eyes, and the other witch beautiful gray eyes that faded into green along the rims of their irises - and their eyes seemed to tell me, 'It's about time....' I smiled, and looked to Tawariell first. When I said her name, she seemed pleased. Then, I told Minuialwen her name. She seemed ... content, as though she could care less, she was just happy she knew what to call herself now. And then they were off running once more.
- D
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Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 9:50 pm
Journal 31 October, 2009
I can see the Haven, I am but a few minutes from being home. This entry shall be short, and lack many of the details that I have included in my previous entries, for I am actually ... excited to be going home. All I can think about is running through the familiar doors to the manor, going to my room to shower, and then go in search of my dearest friend, Tinania.
Where did I leave off? Ah, yes, I had named my sisters finally. Well, over the next year and a half, they proved that their growth would not follow the norm. Indeed, by the time I left them, they looked as though they were five years old instead of two. And, as they grew, I made sure to tell them who their parents were, that I was their brother and not their father. Food had become a problem, though. While Tawariell could be satisfied by food alone, Minuialwen had to have blood. We had to find willing donors for her, and Tawariell when she had the need for it.
Laerwen and I have split, amicably, and we continued to live together. She helped me raise my sisters, along with Beriadan, Arandur, and Cuiledhwen. She's with my sisters now, and should be leaving for Emerald Haven as I write this. We decided that it would be best for me to go ahead, get rooms ready for the girls, and prepare the guest rooms for Laerwen and Arandur, who offered to travel with them as added protection.
I got the chance to meet with the elf that Beriadan told me about. His name is Glandur, and he has been a great help to me. He had started me on my path to the swordmage. I spent as much time training with him as I could, and I have to say that I have greatly improved - with both my swords and my magic.
And, this is where I leave it. I know it is a short entry, but as I have mentioned ... I just really want to get home....
- D
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Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 9:52 pm
Fae HQ Something was tense in the air that night. It wasn't just because of the approaching holiday and the threat of razor blades in caramels. For entirely other reasons. Peacefully sleeping Fa'e and their gaurdians, getting a good night's rest before the big day. Before they'd go out in their costumes and stuff their faces with candy. They wouldn't even know what hit them. Well. Some of them might. If they remembered what it felt like. Looked like. The taste he left in their mouths.
Tendrils, extensions of Chaos crept along the fibres of the world and lashed out. The jaws of a bear trap closing. A whip cracking. It was the dead of the night and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it or prepare for it. After all, who would expect something like this? Things had been quiet for so long. A year or more. Just peace. People had gotten on with their lives. They'd grown up, had children. Grown out of being afraid of him. Forgotten. And with that, with those walls down, not expecting an attack, it was easy.
After a year and more of resting, gathering up his energy, Chaos thrashed out. It was a great beast smashing its shoulders against the wall of its cage, grabbing the bars between its teeth and shaking its head. Those arms reached out, snaking through cracks and crevices in the air to sneak into the Fa'es' houses. Not everyone's. The black wave rippled out, reached into their rooms and -
It wasn't breaking bones. It wasn't even touching the Fa'e. It was worse. So much worse. It was wrapping its long, dark fingers around Guardian's throats and pulling on the bonds that connected them to their charges. Intangible, invisible, unstoppable. Jerking on a clothesline to snap it, letting everything fall. There was a reason the Fa'e needed their Guardians.
Wouldn't affect everyone. That was the nature of Chaos. Unpredictable. Bond could be severed cleanly, leaving the Fa'e to find a new keeper. Others wouldn't have such luck, because there was a reason they needed each other. And with that violently, forced seperation, it would backlash. The break of the cord would snap back, hit them, steal the breath from their lungs and crush their neck. Better than the alternative. Death. Something as sudden and violent, as fast as those tendrils cut through them, it was inevitable for a few. More than a few.
(( Trust me, this is relevant to Damien ... all will be revealed very, very soon.... ))
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Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 9:53 pm
She'd been reaching out, and she felt that she had been making progress. She'd seen Sati, and met a couple of new Fa'e, she'd even gotten herself a roommate. Now, she had all this free time on her hands and had no idea what to do with it. So, she'd settled on revising her and Aylana's business plan. But, once she had started on that, Nyoka decided that it would be stupid to do that without checking out the competition first.... So, with that firmly in mind, she had been going to a different bar every night for the past three nights. And, it had helped, she convinced herself. Being hungover or too tired to really be of much use the next morning was only a side effect. This was for the good of the bar.
Or, so Nyoka kept repeating. On this night, she was slithering out of one such bar. Costume contests were big, and she liked to go and watch ... if not participate. She'd won one the night before with her costume ... or so, the drunken revelers had thought. Tonight, she had dressed up - after all, it was the night before Halloween ... well, now it was Halloween. She'd gone as an escaped mental patient, dressed in a straight-jacket and with her hair all over the place. She hadn't won, then again she hadn't even entered herself into the contest.
She leaned against the cold, brick wall of the building that housed the bar-slash-club that she had just left. She was in the warehouse district, which seemed to be the up-and-coming place for establishments such as these - something she made a note of. She wasn't drunk, but she was a little hazy. She just kept telling herself to get into one of those dark alleys and get the hell out of there. All it would take would be a few seconds, no one would even notice the pop that accompanied such travel. Nyoka needed a minute, though. She needed a moment to collect herself and to clear her mind. The fresh, crisp, biting breeze seemed to be doing the trick, and she was soon pushing herself away from the wall and starting toward the alley around the side of the large building.
But, then, something had happened. At first, she thought that she had drunk too much. No, this was altogether something very different, and vaguely familiar. Then, it hit her. Stoic would not be the word to describe her just then, for she let out a piercing scream, talons tearing at her wild hair as she fell to the cold concrete sidewalk. She curled into a fetal position, still clawing at her scalp, her body twitching from the pain. It felt as though someone were driving a hot poker through her ears ... as if she had swallowed a handful of burning coals. Her whole body felt as though it would burst into flames at any moment. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she whimpered, the energy needed to scream having long been sucked from her body. Not only that but ... she couldn't breathe! Now she was tearing at her throat as though she was trying to loosen a noose. Only there wasn't one there, there was nothing for her to fight. Panic, panic now mixed with the pain, sensory overload.... The pain and panic were so all-consuming that she didn't hear one of the people milling about their way say, "She's really in character...."
It was over ... Nyoka lay, utterly spent, on the concrete, shivering and sweating. She felt ... numb, hollow. "Something's wrong," she murmured, her voice hoarse, scratchy, barely above a whisper. She'd never felt this way before. An overwhelming sense of loss washed over her, and all she wanted to do was just lie there, curled up, and cry until she fell asleep. Rules be damed, she was not about to lie there and make an even bigger fool of herself.
In a matter of moments, she was transported to her apartment. She couldn't tell if Naolin was there, and she frankly didn't care. She was lost in the numbness, the hollowness, the loss; they didn't allow her to feel anything else. All she could manage was to get herself to her bed, and to curl up again. "Something's wrong," she whispered once more as she hugged her tail to her chest. She kept repeating those words as she hugged her tail, repeated them right until her body demanded that she sleep.~*~*~***~*~*~ Long, bright green hair was wild about an equally wild face. Serpentine eyes bounced from one spot to another, unable to settle on one thing as her paranoid mind kept whispering to her - telling her that someone was out to get her, people were trying to kill her. She chewed on her talons, and then the skin on her fingers, cutting skin, bleeding. Her uninjured hand could be found in her lap, equally as fidgety as her eyes as her thumb worried the finger that once held the ring that protected her. It was now on the finger of one of her daughters ... those beautiful twins that she had to give to Damien to look after.
Her poor little prince ... how could she have foisted such a responsibility onto him? But, she did what she had to do, she knew that they had no place with her, and it wouldn't have been responsible of her to have taken them with her. Dark thoughts on that account swirled in her already crazed mind .... Would she see them again? Her beautiful, nameless twins? She wondered what Damien had named them ... and him, would she ever see her little prince again? Or Nyoka? Or her wife, Melantha?
Her senses screamed 'DANGER!' but she was too late. Pain enveloped her in its fiery embrace, and she screamed. The sound was so chilling that the animals that were in the immediate vicinity scampered off and she could sense the humans' fear. But, she could not contain the sound, no matter how she tried. She clawed at the ground, tore out chunks of her hair, and screamed and screamed.
Something in her told her she needed to be quiet, she was giving that damned hunter her exact position, but this could not be helped. Something was tearing at her insides, and she couldn't reach the culprit. Were they in her? Who could she fight when the pain was coming from her very own heart? She convulsed, flopped onto her back as her back arched, her chest lifting high into the air as though someone was lifting her up by her shirt. Her talons dug into the soil beneath her as she tried to get out of the prone position. There was nothing for it, and fear and panic began to mingle with the pain, blood tears springing to her eyes as she felt an all-encompassing doom spread through her. This was it, wasn't it? She was going to die in one of the worst possible ways ... in pain, screaming and crying, and powerless to fight back.
Her eyes snapped open, serpentine orbs bugging out of her sockets ... and she could only watch as the very hunter she had been running from for these past three years had stepped into her field of vision. But, she would not get to taste her victory. With one last scream, louder than any of the others, a cord was yanked, ripped violently from her, and Lenore fell limp against the ground ... just as the hunter's weapon plunged straight into her heart. The hunter didn't know it, but her kill was not a kill at all. The very vampire that she had just 'conquered' had died seconds before her weapon entered her chest....
The hunter looked down at Lenore smugly before she leaned over and yanked her weapon from the vampire's chest. She then went about the grisly task of making sure this vampire never, ever returned....
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Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 10:37 pm
In progress....(( OOC reminder: Damien does not know that his mother is dead yet. Metaplot in the Fa'e thread has just started, and Nyoka doesn't even know what is going on yet. Trust me, you will know when Damien finally knows .... ))
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Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 10:40 pm
In progress....(( OOC reminder: Damien does not know that his mother is dead yet. Metaplot in the Fa'e thread has just started, and Nyoka doesn't even know what is going on yet. Trust me, you will know when Damien finally knows .... ))
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Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 10:42 pm
In progress....(( OOC reminder: Damien does not know that his mother is dead yet. Metaplot in the Fa'e thread has just started, and Nyoka doesn't even know what is going on yet. Trust me, you will know when Damien finally knows .... ))
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Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 12:26 am
She woke slowly, as she usually did. As her eyelids slit open and she gazed through her lashes through the narrow opening, the dream played through Nyoka's head once more. How long had she slept? She didn't care to think about that, she just wanted to go back to sleep ... all she wanted to do was curl up under the sheets on her bed and sleep for the foreseeable future. But, she knew she couldn't do that, she knew that she had to get up.
As her sluggish mind tried to process everything that had happened, her hands fisted as she lifted them to rub her eyes. The tell-tale crinkle of paper in her right hand alerted her to something new, something she was quite sure had not been there when she finally had drifted off to sleep. Slowly, and with muscle-sore, shaky arms, she pushed herself up into a sitting position before she finally uncurled her fingers. She looked down at the small slip of paper, and frowned. It was probably some joke of Naolin's, she thought, brushing away any importance to the thing. She tossed it onto the nightstand next to her bed and slithered toward the bathroom so that she could shower.
The warm spray of water over her sore muscles did wonders. She stood there, just letting the water rush over her as she tried to clear her mind of any thoughts. She didn't want to think, didn't want to feel, she just wanted to stand under the water, numb. Numb ... yes ... she could feel it now, the tips of her fingers started to tingle, flashing between total numbness and then feeling. She frowned and looked down at her hands. She blinked once, twice, three times before it started to register. Slowly, her eyes widened. Immediately, her thoughts went back to a shared memory....
Without your guardian....you will fade from this world....
Who had said that? Think, Nyoka! She knew it was not her memory, it was Aylana's, one that she had caught a flash of when she had so callously clawed through her mind when she was trying to get answers about their past lives.
Her fingers ... gods, her fingers.... She could almost see the tile on the wall of the shower through them. Nyoka started to panic, and almost fell over the edge of the tub in her haste to get the hell out of there. Without a thought to drying herself off, she raced toward her room. Luckily, her hands were still solid enough for her to slip some gloves on, even if the fingers didn't look quite right, and for her to slip into her long, black leather coat. She had to get back to the Haven, she had to see if her mother - her guardian - had finally decided to come home. She needed to know that she was ok.
She closed her eyes and thought of the Haven ... but nothing happened. Frowning, she tried again, but to the same result. She was still standing in her room. Now, she was really starting to worry. With a sigh, she slithered toward her bed and sat down on it. She stared absently at the nightstand, more importantly at the curled, crumpled slip of paper she had woken up with in her hand. Hastily, she reached for it, and shoved it in her pocket without a second thought. She didn't know what possessed her to even think to grab it in the first place, and she really wasn't going to think about that now.
Instead, she hurried out of her apartment.
~*~*~***~*~*~
It took her over a half an hour to make it to the Haven, and even then all she could do was stare at the front door to the manor proper. She was just about to open the door when it swung open all on its own. And, she came face to face with sea-green, serpentine eyes. Nyoka's own eyes widened as she took in the sight of her brother. "Casnes?" she asked, scarcely able to believe it herself.
A slow, crooked grin curled her brother's lips as Damien reached out to pull his sister into a hug. He was stronger than she had remembered ... either that, or he had gotten over his shy nature. "I was hoping that you still came home," he said when he pulled away from her. As his perceptive eyes took her in, his smile slowly began to fade. "Nyoka, is everything alright?"
She slithered past him into the house, beckoning for him to follow her. She made her way up the stairs and to her mother's room, the room she shared with Mel, her wife. "I honestly don't know, Damien," Nyoka replied, pulling off her jacket as she moved toward Lenore's closet. "I only just came by to borrow some of mum's dresses...." She couldn't tell him her suspicions ... mostly because she didn't even know if they were true. Lenore was the only mother that Damien had, having never had Eirnae around. She couldn't shatter his world until she was damned sure that it wasn't just some trick, or that her bond to Lenore hadn't just been severed and she wasn't off somewhere wandering around. She needed to know, for sure, that her mother was dead before she broke that sort of news to her dear baby brother.
"Nyoka," Damien said, his words holding a tone that clearly said he didn't believe her.
"Casnes, trust me, please," Nyoka said as she pulled dresses off of hangers and threw them onto the bed. "I came to borrow clothes."
"You're really not making me feel any better, Nyoka," Damien whispered, his keen eyes watching his sister as she moved with frantic, almost jerky movements. He watched her as she picked up a dress with hardly any back - for her wings, he assumed - and shimmied into it. Then, he watched as her gloved hands grabbed up her jacket and she slipped into that, minding her wings as she carefully maneuvered them through the slits in the back. He watched those same gloved hands as she fiddle with the skirt, allowing it to cover her tail, the hem brushing the floor.
His scaled hand reached out to grab hers, and froze when he felt what was under the cloth of the gloves ... or rather, what was not. He could feel fingers, but they didn't seem as solid as they should. "What's going on?" he asked, alarmed now as his wide eyes moved up toward his sister's pained face.
"You'll know as soon as I know," Nyoka said, a silent plea in her eyes. This gave Damien pause, as he had never seen anything even remotely resembling that in his sister's eyes before. "But, you have to let me go. No more questions, Casnes, I have to leave." and, with that, she shoved the dresses into her mother's traveling bag and quickly left the room.
Her first stop was going to be her apartment. She had to drop off the bad and, hopefully, she would see Nao. She wanted to see if he had experienced the same thing that she had ... but, if he wasn't there, she'd have to reach out to the few friends; she had to check on them....
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Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:57 pm
Jez had been waiting for Nyoka, just as she had thought. The Fa'e was a little late, and she knew it, and she made her apologies as soon as she got close enough.
"One of those quick stops I had to make took longer than I had expected," Nyoka explained.
Jez waved it off, and offered Nyoka a small smile. "Hey, you're going through some stuff, I figured that you might run a little late. It's understandable."
Grateful, Nyoka nodded her thanks. Then, she thought carefully about how to word her next question, as Jez could very well take offense. Finally, realizing that tact had not always been her strong suit anyway, she asked, "You're a Garou, right? How good's your sense of smell?"
Jez quirked her brow, and then motioned with her hand toward the sack that Nyoka had slung over her shoulder. "How big's your pack?" she shot back, her usually faint southern accent a little more pronounced.
"Pretty big, why?" Nyoka replied, wary now.
Jez motioned for Nyoka to follow her around the side of the building. Cautiously, the Fa'e did so, keeping an eye on the woman before her. Once the Garou was sure that no one was about, she started to strip, folding her clothes neatly on top of her boots. "Please, have what you want me to use as a scent reference ready, and stash my clothing," she requested.
Nyoka nodded, not in the least bothered by the state of Jez's undress. Instead, she opened up her pack and pulled out Lenore's favorite sash, one that she had worn almost all of the time. When she looked back toward Jez, the woman was crouched down on all fours. Curious, Nyoka watched her begin to shift, listened as the bones began to shift with only a slightly pained wince from Jez, watched as fur started to sprout from the pores in her skin, watched as her nose and mouth began to lengthen into a snout. All through this, Jez didn't even whimper - Nyoka could only assume that she was used to the pain that she knew transformations such as this caused. In a matter of moments, Nyoka was staring down at a very large black wolf. The eyes were still Jez's as she padded over to her. She nudged Nyoka's hip with her snout and let out an impatient snort.
Managing to be amused by Jez, Nyoka held out the sash for Jez to sniff at. "I'll take you back to the manor, and have my brother take us to the last place he saw my mother...." It was a long shot, but it might pay off. Jez simply whined, and nudged Nyoka's hip once more.
She sighed, figuring that meant she'd better get a move on. And, so, Nyoka started them on their way.
~*~*~***~*~*~
Nyoka and Jez, it seemed, didn't even have to get to the Haven - just close, for a few miles into the path that led through the woods Jez began barking and took off like a shot through into the trees. It took a moment for Nyoka to follow, and even then she was pretty far behind Jez. She was feeling ... weaker than usual, even her usually keen sense of hearing seemed to be a little duller. Still, she managed to follow Jez's barking.
And, follow she did, for close to two hours. About half an hour into her chase, she caught up to Jez, who seemed to be sniffing at the ground. And, then, Jez suddenly stopped. She whined, turning back to look at Nyoka with ... were her eyes sad?
That could only mean ... "No...." she whispered.
Jez ran toward her, and immediately started to pull at Nyoka's pack, her teeth sinking into the fabric of the pack as she yanked. Automatically, Nyoka slipped the strap over her head and dropped the pack to the ground. Her wings drooped, and she could feel her snakes doing the same. Vaguely, she could hear a small commotion next to her, but she didn't turn to look. She simply stared ahead to the empty space between the trees.
She jumped when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She turned her wide eyes to look up at a fully-clothed Jez. "Someone else is in the trees beyond," she whispered as she reached under her long sleeves for a small knife. Nyoka recognized it as a throwing knife. "Nyoka," she added, her eyes at once growing sad once more. "It ain't pretty...."
"What do you mean?" Nyoka whispered, numb. Of course it wasn't pretty! If Jez was looking at her like that, her mother was dead! How could it be anything other than not pretty?
Jez frowned, seemed to think her response over. She studied Nyoka as she did so, as though sizing her up. "There's blood, lots of it ... and...." her voice faltered and trailed off, as though she really didn't want to tell Nyoka what she had seen. "The other one I was telling you about? I could smell her all over the ... body."
Anger, that was something she could work with, burned through the numb, a gently flicker of a flame at first, the familiar caress of her old friend. Jez took a step back when she noticed that Nyoka's eyes started glowing more intensely, when she noticed the set of her jaw. "Where is this ... person?"
Without even thinking, Jez whispered exactly where she had noticed the scent. Nyoka nodded, and started stripping her own clothing off. She didn't need to make more noise than necessary.... The biting breeze did nothing to quench the burning heat of her anger as she slithered forward. She carefully skirted the spot where she knew that her mother's body lay, on the hunt now. She wasn't soundless, and perhaps that was by design. Perhaps she wanted nothing more than a fight. But, she knew that whoever Jez had smelled on her mother's body did not kill her, but she did whatever she had done to Lenore's body. And, for that, she would pay.
As expected, the other had been waiting for her ...
~*~*~***~*~*~
Nyoka was drained, she shouldn't have done what she had - she knew that now. And, she shouldn't have allowed Jez to help her, either. As her anger began to fade, she could think clearer now. She allowed that pleasant numb to enter her as she slithered, hesitantly, toward the space between the trees that Jez was now standing at. She was muttering under her breath in a language that Nyoka didn't understand. But, that wasn't important ... nothing was important now.
She reached inside, trying to find the courage to move forward, to confront her mother's dead body. It took longer than she would have hoped.
When she finally made her way toward that spot, she stopped dead in her tracks at the scene that confronted her. Her beautiful, caring, honest, prude of a mother was laying on her back, limbs flung out around her as though she had been thrown there. Her long, bright green hair was wild about her face, her skin was paler than it had been - if that was possible - and her once vivid amber, serpentine eyes stared straight up into the sky - dull and vacant now. But, the thing that really made Nyoka pause was the gaping hole in her mother's chest.
I'll ... I'll have to cover that up before ... before I take her home, she thought, silent tears springing to her eyes. She refused to cry, though, rubbing her hands across her stinging eyes in an attempt stop them from rebelling. She moved forward, and kept pushing herself to keep going, stopping only when she was next to Lenore's body. She reached a taloned hand out, brushed stray strands out of her mother's pained face, looked into those lifeless eyes of hers.
When her fingers touched her mother's cold, cold skin, the tears came. Her vision blurred and she choked back a sob. She would not fall to pieces, she would not fall to pieces.... She didn't jump when she felt arms wind around her, she didn't even fight them pulling her close. The kindness of a near stranger was better than none at all....
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Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 2:16 am
"Here comes goodbye,
Here comes the last time,
Here comes the start of every sleepless night,
The first of every tear I'm gonna cry.
Here comes the pain,
Here comes me wishin' things had never changed,
That she was right here in my arms tonight.
But, here comes goodbye.
Why's it have to go from good to gone
Before the lights turn off, yeah, and you're left alone?
All alone...."
"Here Comes Goodbye" - Rascal Flatts. Nyoka got it all out, she'd even sobbed a little try as she might have to fight it. Through it all, Jez just held her, stroked her hair, and didn't say anything. There was nothing to say, and Nyoka thanked all the gods that she could that Jez understood that. But, even after she thought she had cried all of the tears that she could, Nyoka stayed in Jez's arms, shuddering a little. She felt ragged, empty, and somehow she felt used. She felt guilt more than anything else, though. It was because her mother had such a huge, accepting heart that she was dead, it was because of Nyoka that she now had a brother who had the only parent he had ever known torn from him. She didn't know how she was going to tell Damien, and she didn't know how to comfort him. Just the thought of his reaction brought fresh tears to her eyes.
This time she was victorious in her fight against them. She had to be strong, she had to be Damien's rock, and she damn well knew it. She was about to shatter her dear brother's world, and she needed to be around to help pick up the pieces ... even as she tried like hell to get to the bottom of all of this.
"I - I need your help again, Jez," she finally managed to choke past her raw, tight throat.
Jez nodded, and pulled away from Nyoka, "You mentioned a brother ... I'll go and collect your pack, and that dress you tossed off," she said, guessing correctly about what Nyoka needed, and turned to go and do what she said she was going to.
Nyoka couldn't help it, she looked back over at her dead mother once more. Again, she fought the tears, found it easier this time. Her face was completely blank by the time that Jez returned with her things. She slipped her bloody dagger back into her pack without even thinking about it, and took the dress she had been wearing from Jez's outstretched hands.
"I might need the sash, too," Nyoka said, reaching for the pack again. Jez shook her head, gently.
"I'll do it," Jez said, and handed Nyoka a comb that she pulled out of her back pocket. "Brush her hair out ... I know it doesn't mean much, but...." her voice trailed off.
Nyoka nodded, it might help with the shock. She did pause, however, wondering over why Jez would even be sticking around. She would have asked if it mattered at all, she was grateful that the Garou hadn't run off at the first sign of trouble. Her respect for Jez seemed to bloom within her as she took a deep breath and moved toward her mother's head.
~*~*~***~*~*~
They had done what they could do for Lenore. They'd washed the blood off with one of the dresses Nyoka had in her pack and a bottle of water, then filled the gaping hole in her chest with the sash in a desperate attempt to hide the fact from Damien should he demand to see the body, and they had dressed her in the dress Nyoka had been wearing earlier in the day. Jez had closed Lenore's eyes, and her jaw.
And, then, Nyoka requested that Jez stay with Lenore. As she slipped out her cell phone to text Aylana - the only person she could think to tell right now - she thought of who in the manor she could ask to help bring Lenore's body back. Hopefully Tlotholg, Ximena's husband, was home. He hadn't really been around Lenore enough to be affected as much as the rest of the Silme clan....
She was done with the text when she reached the manor.Lenore Silme-Natenhar Sender: Nyoka Recipients: Aylana IC Timestamp: After the dream Type of text: Text Text contents: Told you I would let you know when I knew. Mum's dead, found her. Gotta tell Casnes, don't know how. Waiting to tell Rinion, he's got enough to deal with.
"Nyoka!" Damien cried, grinning over at her before he turned to look down at the little girl he was playing with on the floor. "Come and meet one of your half sisters," he continued. When he looked up at Nyoka again, his grin faltered.
Nyoka could do nothing but stare at the girl, her eyes wide. This night just keeps getting better and better.... she thought. Half sisters? She studied the child ... tan skin, like her father, green-rimmed amber irises, serpentine slits for pupils, the rune over her left eye, inherited from Mel, black hair, also inherited from Mel, with a shock of bright green in the front, inherited from Lenore. Her mother had successfully given birth to the twins.
Speaking of ... "I'm going to take Minuialwen upstairs, Damien," Laermeluion, the child's father, said as he scooped Minuialwen up into his arms.
"But ... I wanna meet 'Oka!" Minuialwen said, the pout on her lips quite clear in her voice as well, and she looked at Nyoka with painfully familiar eyes. Her gaze shot a fresh wave of grief through her, and Nyoka had to look away.
"Another time, cugu," Laer said as he hurried up the stairs.
Damien was quiet for a moment, standing and brushing off his tunic - even though the both of them knew that it wasn't needed. He eyed his sister, noting the blood, the stricken look, the ghost of the pain she was trying her best to shield from him in her eyes. Finally, panic grabbed his throat, refusing to let go. "Nyoka, say something," he demanded, tightly.
Slowly, she turned to look at Damien. How could she tell him? There wasn't a pretty way to do it, and she was never good at those pretty words, anyway. She just didn't want to be the one to rip his world apart.... Stop being a coward, she thought, looking Damien straight in the eyes. She said the two words that she knew would forever change her dear brother, "Mum's dead."
Damien simply stared at her, his jaw slacked, his eyes so wide they looked about ready to fall out of their sockets. And, then, he bolted for the door.
"Damien, no!" Nyoka yelled after him. She hurried to follow him, but he had a head start ... and boy he was moving fast! "Laer!" she yelled behind her, knowing the wood elf would hear her.
But, it wasn't her, nor Laermeluion that stopped Damien. A dark shape shot out of the woods, tackling Damien around the waist and immediately had Nyoka on the defensive. Precious energy was used in a great burst of speed as she quickly closed the space between her and her brother.
Relief washed through her when she saw who Damien was fighting against. The drow looked up at her with crimson eyes, and a quirk of a white brow. "Why am I holding him?"
"Tlotholg," Nyoka breathed, motioning for him to get up so that she could take his place. She gripped Damien around his waist, wheezed out a breath when his elbow connected with her stomach.
"Let me go!" he hissed, tears already spilling from his eyes. "I need to see her ... it can't be true," his voice caught in his throat, because he knew it was true. There was no way that Nyoka would even think to joke like that.
"Casnes," Nyoka whispered, gripping him close to her. She glanced up in time to see the look exchanged between wood elf and surface drow. With a tilt of her head to indicate the direction to go, they hurried into the woods, leaving her alone with her brother. "Tlotholg, Laermeluion, and Jez will bring her here," it was better that way, so he didn't see her and Jez's handy work on the woman who had been camping out by Lenore's body. "Let's go inside...."
"But, it can't be true, Nyoka...." Damien said, turning to look up into his sister's eyes. What he saw there must have struck home, for his pale skin grew paler and the tears only came stronger. "No, no, no, no, no...." he kept repeating as he slumped against Nyoka, burying his face in her hair like he used to do when he was young.
Silently, Nyoka picked him up and made her slow trek back to the manor, finding that she was having more difficulty with carrying her brother than she should have. Without your guardian....you will fade from this world.... Well, now she knew, for a fact, that she was starting to. It was only a matter of time before her body started really showing the effects of the bond being broken.... She couldn't think about that now, though, she had to think of Damien. She left the front door open for the others.
She had settled with Damien on the love seat when she heard the sound of the front door closing. "My room," she murmured, thankful she didn't have to raise her voice in order for them to hear her. "We'll be down there in a minute."
"Is that wise? I mean, right now....?" Tlotholg asked, his deep voice carrying into the living room.
"He won't rest otherwise," she managed to hear Laermeluion say.
She looked up to see the two men carrying Lenore past the living room. Laer was in front, looking down at the face of his dear friend with grief-stricken eyes. Tlotholg was holding Lenore's legs in his arms, his face stoic as ever. Then, there was Jez, bringing up the rear. She hovered in the doorway leading to the sitting room, seeming to be at an utter loss. Nyoka met her eyes as she rocked her weeping brother, trying to comfort him as Jez had comforted her earlier in the evening. She mouthed, Thank you, to the woman who had shown her such kindness.
Jez simply nodded, and then left. It wasn't that she was uncomfortable - though she knew that she should be. She was looking in on a family's private grief, and she was but a stranger; but she had to leave. She felt for her new friend ... Friend? she asked herself. Yes, she and Nyoka had gone beyond the threshold of mere acquaintances this night, and she knew it. So, for her friend's loss, as soon as she was outside of the manor, she threw her head back and howled - one long and mournful howl for the loss of her friend's mother.
Nyoka had to fight back her tears, again, when she heard the sound. "C'mon, Casnes. It's time to say goodbye...."Cugu = Dove
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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:18 am
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Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2010 10:15 pm
(( It's late, I know, but I needed to get this in here. XD; A Christmas gift! :O )) karma_k Returning to the room he currently occupies at Nani and Zhane's home, Damien would discover a simple white envelope on his bedside table. One he has surely not put there himself. Upon picking it up he would feel a weight inside of it. Its contents would reveal to be a strange sort of pendant... A river-worn green stone, perhaps not precious but nonetheless lovely, is nestled in an interwoven web of small twigs. It is clear, however, with the way they intersect and bind seamlessly in places, that this was not done entirely by hand. Someone, it seems, has been putting what she's been taught about singing to use and honing it. At the top, the wood extends a bit and loops once, through which a length of rawhide string has been placed and left unknotted so that Damien may fit it to his liking. Included with the gift is a small, neatly-folded piece of paper, on which the words that have been printed are small, looking almost as shy as their writer. The note It will all be all right in the end. If it is not all right, it is not the end. Thank you for all you've taught me, Phaerna
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Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2010 10:16 pm
It had been close to a year since Damien's mother died, and while he had gotten over the all-encompassing despair and sorrow of her passing, he had yet to fill the hollowness inside of him. He had thrown himself into his studies with Glandur, and had been helping Laermeluion with raising Tawariell and Minuialwen.
In regards to his baby sisters, they were growing rather quickly, but he remembered he and Nyoka had grown just as quickly. Tawariell and Minuialwen didn't look as though they were a year old, instead they looked closer to ten. Unfortunately, Damien hadn't had much occasion to be around Tawariell, as she chose to follow Laer around more than anything, but he was pretty close to Minuialwen. Indeed, she had taken to following he and Glandur out into Emerald Forest to watch Damien practice. She'd become such a fixture that they'd tried to accommodate her as best they could, finding the shadiest areas that they could, but she still had to cover up to help protect her from the sting of the sun's rays.
Today, however, they were wandering the forest to try and find a spot for Damien to try and teach Minuialwen archery. He had put it off as long as he could, mostly because he knew very little about it, but he would be lying to himself if he said that it had nothing to do with the absence of his older sister, Nyoka. He hadn‘t seen her much since their mother died, he hadn‘t even heard from her, which wasn‘t like her.
So, he suffered through the lessons, managed to smile when Minuialwen laughed over how abysmally low his skill was, and they ended the lesson two hours later with the promise that Minuialwen would ask Laermeluion for her next lesson. Damien had waited until he was sure that his sister had made it to the home she shared with her father before he retreated into the manor. Immediately, he picked up his mobile and tried to get Nyoka on the phone once more. Again, it went straight to voice mail. Frustrated, he threw his mobile onto the nightstand and flopped back onto his bed. He would have asked himself why he didn‘t just go over and see her, but the last time he had tried she never answered the door. He wondered if she was with Ernia, just trying to get away from it all and copping the best that she could.
Then, he turned his mind away from such thoughts, tuned out Naerdiel and Bregolien as he wondered what he could do to pass the rest of the day away again. He could go see Nani, but he reminded himself that he was terrified of Calvin and Danica; then chastised himself for using such a strong word as ‘terrified.’ There wasn‘t much that he could do, when he thought about it, besides haunt the manor halls.
Finally, he decided on pulling out his journal and trying his hand at an entry. He wasn‘t sure what would come of it, but it was better than lying on his bed and staring at the emerald green of his canopy, and it beat Laerwen telling him that he needed to get out. So, he puffed out a breath and started a new entry.Quote: 16 September, 2010
Has it really been that long? It would seem so, and yet there isn‘t really anything new to report, or even anything of interest to report. Mum Lenore is gone, I‘ve been coping as best I can this past year, but it would be a lie to say that I am fully recovered. My case in point? Laerwen.
Laerwen, my complicated ex girlfriend, is staying in the manor, she has been since she and Arandur brought Minuialwen and Tawariell to Emerald Haven, even though Arandur has long since left. On one hand, I am happy for the companionship, as my uncle Rinion and aunt Krista have their own lives to lead and don‘t really have a lot of time to be around, but on the other ... she‘s just so frustrating sometimes! Of course, that could just be because of our strange bond ... and that is all that I will say on the subject.
I‘m worried about Nyoka. She isn‘t answering my calls, and the times I‘ve swung by her apartment she has not answered the door. I keep hoping that she‘ll let me know that everything is alright, that I shouldn‘t be worried about her, but the days drag on and there is still no word from her. She usually makes a point of telling me if she is leaving and she usually tells me when she gets back, so her sudden silence has me on edge. All I can do is pray that she‘s ok and that she comes to her senses and finds a way to let me know what‘s going on.
As for my baby sisters, they‘re doing well. I am glad that Laermeluion has them, otherwise he might have been in the same state that I was in after I found out that Mum Lenore had been killed. They‘ve been a blessing for me, as well, but the times that I am alone are always the darkest. Nani was a big help, too, but I did not wish to impose on her and her family any longer than those few nights.
Speaking of Nani, I‘ve missed so much while I was away from her! She got married (it pains me to know that I missed out on seeing that day!), and she has twins, Calvin and Danica. The little dragonflies are charming infants, but I think I will be more comfortable around them when they get older. As it stands now, I can‘t help but think that I‘ll do some horrible damage to them that can‘t be repaired, so the best course of action is to wait a little while longer before I spend a greater amount of time around them.
What else? I met Zhane‘s (he‘s Nani‘s husband) sister, Phaerna. I‘m not sure that I‘ve mentioned her before. She gave me a very beautiful necklace for Christmas last year, one that she‘d made herself, and it is one of my most treasured possessions, it rarely leaves my neck. She‘s a little shy, but she seemed to be opening up, at least with me, and she shows an aptitude for singing things from nature. I‘d started teaching her, I can only hope that she has continued her studies. Maybe I will see her again sometime soon and get to catch up with her....
I guess that‘s all ... at least for now. Hopefully I‘ll get everything back on track in the next few weeks, and then I‘ll have more to write about....
- D
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Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 4:52 pm
Journal 13 February, 2011
Four months since my last entry, is this going to become a habit?
Anyway, I have some news to report. My younger sisters are growing up so fast! Sometimes it seems as though it has been but a blink of an eye. But, I suppose time around here has a very different way of working than it does in other places, most of my family can attest to that. It only seems to slow down later in life.
But, I am off topic. Back to my sisters.... I don't get to see as much of Tawariell as I would like, as she seems to be out with her father quite a bit, but Minuialwen is around quite a lot. Being around her can be a little painful at times, because she looks so much like my Mum Lenore, save she has the sun-bronzed skin of her father, not to mention, she has the same birthmark over her eye that Aunt Krista, Mel, and 'Nani have, which is a little troubling. I don't remember exactly what it's all about - I'll have to ask 'Nani at some point. Or ... have her talk to 'Alwen about it, as I have not seen Mel in a while.
I've been spending quite a lot of time with 'Alwen. Since our last training, when I proved to her that I knew absolutely nothing about using a bow, she has begun training with Uleme some days, while she's training with me the others. She seems ... determined to be bale to protect herself at the very least, and I haven't been able to pry out the reasoning behind that. I indulge her, though, because if I'm not helping her, there are a number of people on the grounds of Emerald Haven that will. At least this way I can keep an eye on her. For now, at least, she seems interested in learning to use a staff, and I am in the process of getting her one that I think she'll like.
My own studies have been advancing well. My helping 'Alwen also helps me because my instructor is teaching both of us combat. On the days that 'Alwen is training with Uleme, I'm getting the more specialized training that my instructor actually came to Emerald Haven for. So, I never get a break, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Keep moving, keep learning, anything that keeps me from focusing on the still-sharp grief I've been carrying around.
I'm better at dealing with it now, but there still is not a day that goes by that I don't think of my mother. It's bearable now, I can think of her fondly and without tears, but there are still days when it creeps up on me. Unfortunately, it also makes me wonder about Mum Eirnae. Is she still alive? Does she know about Mum Lenore, does she care? Is there something or someone preventing her from being around? Does she even want to be around? Do I want her to come back, come to that? Now that I am older, now that Mum Lenore is dead, I have mixed feelings about Mum Eirnae. She just ... she was never around. The first time she was gone, I understood, but after she disappeared again I just figured that she was not meant to be in my life. But, now, well I needed her, and while she'd been gone for a long time, I guess all the stuff I'd kept locked up finally came to the surface. I don't like where my mind goes sometimes, I've never been that person, but sometimes I think that maybe I need to be that person, or at least allow a little of that person to come in from time to time. Nyoka would tell me that it's healthy to let yourself be angry every once in a while, but I refuse to allow myself to get so angry that I become bitter.
Moving on, I have still not heard anything from Nyoka. Maybe that is another reason I have been keeping myself busy, so that I don't focus on my worry for her. I keep telling myself that she is fine, that she will get in touch with me when she can, but I just can't remember a time where she has gone this long without contacting me in some way.
Good, I hear 'Alwen coming toward the manor, so I will stop this entry before I can get too wrapped up in it, and the feelings it has brought to the surface again. Time now to focus on my training, and helping my baby sister....
- D
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