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 Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:40 pm
The mall had been crowded and packed, Shyer's arms were full of straining platics bags with this weeks groceries. The coffe shop had seemed like a perfect place to stop, have a cooling drink and relax her tired arms...and of course her new charge's little feet. The back of the place was more quiet and secluded, booths set up with chairs on both sides provided its occupants with a small barrier from all the other customers and it was this privacy which Shyer had sought out.
In front of her was a large slim glass of water, dripping with condensation and weakened lemon juice which had slipped down the side from the wedge balanced precariously along the rim of the glass next to the plastic blue straw. Cheesy, but effective looking. However her appetite had been slightly put off when those two entered. Both looked normal, perfect humans in a normal perfect human world. Well as perfect as humans were and could be. She'd been decieved by these appearances though and while at first her interest strayed off of them it had done a full circle and rested solely on them for the last two minutes since Aelia had pointed the two bundles each held.
"They haven't noticed us yet, you know?"
Aelia looked up at Shyer, placing a reassuring blue skinned hand on top of hers. She'd looked rather unperturbed by them until she'd pointed out the eggs and oddities about them. They sure as all weren't just chicken eggs.
Although Aelia was more than aware of how...upset Shyer always was when she found out that something other than humans existed, she still felt it right to point out those who were not all they appeeared. It had taken two hours for Shyer to stop asking questions that couldn't be answered and accept that not only did vampires, god reincarnates, kitsunes, scent children existed in the world but so did the legendary fae. Poor thing, so stuck in her fantasy books she couldn't even see the real thing in front of her. A shy smile slipped over her lips before she nestled closer into Shyer and hid a quick peek at the two eggs anyway.
So another sentance from the otherwise mysterious silent fae..er Ashe child? Squeezing back on the blue hand she shakily took a sip from her straw and tried harder not to stare at anything but the chair in front. She hadn't said anything but Aelia was the reason she'd hogged the booth, no one stared awkwardly at the blue winged child if they couldn't see her.
Darn it, why on top of everything else did faeries have to exist as well?
Light blue is Shyer
Dark blue is Aelia
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Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 6:48 pm
Zanen got the vague feeling that she was playing with fire way too dangerous for her to control and furthermore, she realized that she was inexperienced at playing with it. She resisted the urge to scowl and show her inner frustration, instead choosing to coax as much calmness as she could muster into her expression. “Perhaps you unsettle me by the way you have of omitting the bigger picture of truth. I was always told that my elders were supposed to be helpful and aid in the enlightenment of younger minds,” the teenager voiced in a muted tone, her wide eyes still and unblinking, “so please forgive me if I seem rather uneasy at the breach of tradition which I am accustomed to.”
She still did not know what to make of this woman, who seemed so different from anyone who she had met before. However, she found that this new experience was quite refreshing, but if there was only some way she could obtain some more information regarding the eggs and the Ashe! Zanen did not want to be unprepared if hers ever ventured to leave its smooth sanctuary…
“I am willing to accept magic as the bringer of my egg, but magic does not explain everything,” she stated simply, choosing to tuck the memories of the silver-streaked eyes into her mind instead of disputing it further. The teenager knew there was no way she could prove that the hue had ever resided within Xare’s eyes, but it was just another piece of evidence which, in her mind, helped to further her suspicions that her companion was not entirely human. “That is not the kind of magic of which I speak. Anyone can learn those tricks by reading an informative book. No, magicians perform tricks that others can learn if they simply had the motivation to do so.”
Sipping her drink one again, Zanen’s distracted eyes wandered around the coffee shop, taking in her surroundings for the very first time. A quiet gasp escaped from her mouth, as they landed upon a woman with an impossible mane of red and golden hair. Well, she was normal enough, but next to her…there was a child with the palest skin the color of muted cornflowers. And from her back sprouted a set of wings…wings. “I—,” squeaked the teenager in a surprised voice, “magic…?”
Subconsciously, she stood up and found her slender legs moving her closer to the pair, until she had shyly reached their booth, leaving poor Xare all alone with her egg back at the other table. Incoherent thoughts swirled around in her mind and all she managed to stammered out was, “Hi…the wings, um, ahh…y-your skin!”
Ohkaaay…that was slightly embarrassing. Getting a grip on herself, she forced the common courtesies out of her mouth first, “I mean, it’s very nice to meet you both and my name is Zanen and um…that’s uhh…what I’m trying to say is…ugh.”
Snapping her mouth shut, Zanen resolved to clear out her mind before she allowed her mouth to open again. Her startled eyes still gazed upon the winged child with awe, until she blushingly averted her gaze. Her fingers nervously fiddled with a strand of loose hair as she anxiously waited for her greetings to be accepted.
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Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:03 pm
At Zanen's first words, Xare tilted her head back and laughed. "Elders, hm? You make me feel old. Do I look old enough to be an elder to you?" She waved a dismissive hand, the bangles on her wrist jingling softly. "As for teaching, well, I leave that up to those who claim that as a profession."
Noticing that the girl's unwavering gaze had finally shifted away from her, Xare followed it, eyes coming to rest at last on the blue-skinned child sitting a few feet away. Surprise caused her eyes to widen a little before recognition came into play. An Ashe. Her eyes moved to take in the guardian that was quietly sipping a glass of water, and Xare's forehead creased in a frown as she realized that the guardian was also human like the one sitting across from her.
Amusement flickered across her face as she watched Zanen approach the pair. She too was curious about the Ashe, but she hadn't been as awkward as the girl was currently being in a very long time. Standing up in a fluid movement, she headed towards the group.
Instead of addressing the human, however, she bent down to talk to the child. "You saw us first, didn't you? Can you sense my Ashe, or did something else give us away?" For her egg, now that it was in such close proximity to another of its kind, was now wobbling quite fiercely in her arms as if wanting to get out.
"By the way, my name is Xare. What's yours?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:04 pm
Unused to much attention at all Shyer became obviously rather fidgety when the two people approached her table, especially the pale young teen who at first only seemed to speak in garbled words of not so well thought out sentances.
Has a way with words doesn't she? Shyer thought secretly to herself, edging a little further away from the edge of her seat and trying to push Aelia further back so as not to be made so much of a spectacle.
For a minute she too was stuck for words, trying to think of an excuse before remembering the rehearsed one she'd practised and recited in her head about ten times before leaving the house.
"Kids, they just love their costumes don't they? Birthday party's in two hours. Silly me left gift shopping to the last minute.Shyer forced on a plastic smile followed by a nervous laugh and turned that into a cough before falling silent. Playing up the part of a 'nervous parent afraid of the crazed teenager' she shuffled a little further away and muttered phrases about stranger danger to Aelia who was as ignorant as always of the situation.
Silly Shyer, thinking that all other creature of the earth also wished to remain in the 'blissfull ignorance' that they were the only species on earth. It was most likely that this girl wouldn't be as surprised as her gaurdian had been to find out about faeries. Still, she'd gone along with the fake 'just a normal child' routine anyway and said nothing. She most often had fun observing rather than participating anyways. It was, however, a little harder to do so when the fae had made herself quite the inconvieniance by seeking her out personally.
Inclining her head gently in the form of a nod she gave a polite smile before answering the question, leaning in and keeping her voice low as if about to divulge some awe inspiring secret of the world in which they both lived.
"A faerie will always stand out to another faerie, no matter how many humans are there as well. It's easy to pick you out when.." She paused, thinking her words over.
"...When you already know what you're looking for."
She leaned back in, hoping it would be the end of the conversation. Nothing to be against the newly found dae, in fact her curiosity was rather overpowering, but she still felt the need to be cautious.
Meanwhile Shyer was much happier talking to Zanen, making her own introductions.
"Shyer Graven and this is er..." She paused for a breif second, running possibilities through her head. daughter? Gee that sounded weird, wasn't she a bit young for that? The daughter of a friend? No that wasn't right...
"Er, this is my niece Aelia!" That sounded convincing...not!
Either way, she held out her hand in a friendly gesture, though she hoped the two would get the hint that she hadn't moved over to make room for them for a reason.
"Nice to meet you as well."
Sadly she did not depart right away, though seemes more inclined to introduce herself. Well Aelia hoped that Xare had been listening to Shyer somewhat because she'd just been introduced and she would be happier to just make her own judgements without things like 'civility' getting in the way and distracting her so as to make her ideas more biased towards the two new parties. Although...Her eyes widened at the little egg which wriggled in the woma-, fae's hands and she couldn't help but let a childish giggle escape in enthousiasm. More Ashe on the way! Without hesitation she reached over Shyer ( causing a momentary disturbance ) to put one of her tiny hands on the egg shell and feeling it move.
"A little cramped are we?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:11 am
Zanen blinked slowly, confusing dawning on her face at she stared at Shyer, who had just contradicted herself in her opinion. First she had edged away, taking the little girl with her as if she thought the teenager was some crazy child kidnapper or something, and now she was introducing herself and claiming that it was nice to meet her…?
“Um, well…it’s a very…well-thought out costume,” she replied in a tone that indicated that she wasn’t buying Shyer’s excuse as she accepted the offered hand, “especially the skin tone…where did you draw inspiration for it?”
The teenager turned to Xare, intending to reply to the woman regarding the elder statement, but stopped as she realized that her companion was locked in a serious-looking conversation with the little girl. Due to the dull roar of the people in the coffee shop, she could only catch little snippets of the discussion, before Aelia sat back in a cautious manner. Zanen frowned as she mused over what faeries had to do with anything that was happening at the moment. Could they somehow be connected to the mysterious Ashe?
And then the little girl leaned forward again, putting one of her pale blue hands upon the smooth surface of Xare’s egg in an empathetic manner, almost as if…she knew about the being that lurked within. Why did it seem like everyone knew the missing piece of the whole puzzle that she still had to find?
Her pink lips curving in a slight pout, Zanen addressed the whole group in a voice so quiet that it was nearly lost in the bustling noise of the shop, “There’s something that you all know, isn’t there? Something to do with the Ashe that you’re all keeping from me?”
The teenager blushed at her audacity to make an accusation like that, and couldn’t help but think that she sounded like a spoiled brat. How much this new experience changed her…
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Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 5:23 pm
Xareya blinked in surprise at the Ashe standing so calm and confident before her. While she knew that her slight use of glamor to disguise her features would never fool another Fae, she was definitely not expecting this little slip of a girl to make such an issue of it. "I suppose you're right" Xare agreed quietly, "but I didn't sense your presence."
She kept half an ear on the conversation between Zanen and the new girl, and her eyes glistened with mild amusement as the human identified the Ashe as her niece. Privately she mused that this new human was probably one of those who would attribute any thing out of the ordinary as simply a trick on her senses, unlike Zanen, who had an eerie perceptiveness. Glancing over, Xare took in the girl's appearance, noting the defensive posture and uncomfortable expression. Her Unseelie instincts jumped straight to the fore, and her eyes glittered with some thing more than amusement for a moment as the centuries-old habit of toying with humans almost slipped from her control before being ruthlessly surpressed. If this was Aelia's - she'd caught the name as the girl mentioned it - guardian, it was probably better not to antagonize her... for the moment.
Lost in her thoughts, she was unaware of the Ashe's movements until her hand touched the egg in her arms. The softly murmured words made the egg wobble frantically, almost as if the Ashe inside was attempting to get out. Startled at the action - although the egg had been increasingly active in the past couple of days, it had never been like this - she drew her gaze away from the girl with the flaming red hair and found her eyes locked with Aelia's knowing ones.
For a moment she thought the egg was going to hatch right there, in the middle of the mall, but the activity eventually stopped, and the egg lay passively once again. This time however, it felt slightly different, and there was an aura of anticipation mingled with a sense of waiting hovering around the egg.
Struggling for composure, she forced her face into it's usual cold and passive expression and raised an elegant eyebrow. Her voice had resumed it's usual cultured, musical quality as she addressed the little girl in front of her. "You can speak to it? If it's cramped for the Ashe, will it be hatching soon?"
Zanen's voice, pitched quietly but nonetheless easy to pick out from the background noise, caught her attention. Something in the tone made her pay more attention to the words, and she tilted her head. Zanen was definitely far too perceptive for her own good.
Affecting a mildly confused expression, she turned to Zanen with a mischievous smile. "I already told you the Ashes were made from the ashes of people who have passed away. Haven't you figured it out yet? They aren't human like you are."
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Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 4:26 pm
A sudden movement drew Zanen’s eyes toward the egg which Xareya held in her arms. It was quivering—no, it was shaking with defined tremors, almost as if the Ashe which it held within was desperately attempting to break out of its sanctuary. It reminded her sharply of the way her own egg had acted when she had placed it in her bedroom, but…a little more…vibrant somehow. She was half expecting the egg to give way to the Ashe’s willpower and crack in the middle of the coffee shop when the wobbling stopped as suddenly as it began.
The teenager exhaled the breath that she had subconsciously been keeping, almost disappointed and relieved at the same time. For one thing it would have been exciting, fascinating to actually see what an Ashe would have looked liked. Xareya had said that they were just like normal people, but Zanen felt as if there was more—so much more to the story than the other was letting on. Another obvious benefit was possibly being able to glean further information about this world that she had so innocently stumbled upon, but on the other hand, the coffee shop was still as crowded as ever, and it probably wasn’t the best of times to have something humanoid bursting forth from an egg in the middle of it. Who knew what the consequences would be this new world was exposed on the media to billions of people around the globe?
“Mine too,” the girl quietly murmured, her voice somehow cutting easily through the noise of the shop, “except…not quite so strongly.” Maybe the shaking hadn’t been as sudden as she had thought. Hadn’t Aelia just touched the egg when it started? Or was her mind just leading her to believe what it wanted to believe?
Xareya was finally saying something to her, and what she was saying made Zanen want to stare in amazement, even though she was half expecting it to be coming.
“Ashes…of people who have passed on,” the girl echoed, her face quickly becoming calm once again, even though her heart beat as quickly as a hummingbird’s wings. Everything seemed to make more sense now, since that suspected fact had been confirmed. So that was what Xareya and Aelia had been engaged in a serious conversation about. Aelia…was an Ashe, wasn’t she? And Xareya then, what was she?
“And you, you’re not human either, right?” Zanen whispered, allowing the mindless chatter to wash over her words.
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