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 Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 5:25 pm
"Milk, please, thanks," Iarla said, as a cup was poured for him. He had listened very intently to Arrien's talk, wondering thoughtfully what else the house was shared with. At home, most people didn't even have pets, so he found it interesting.
He cheerfully began to eat, cutting the pancake and raising the first square to his mouth. As he did, he was jolted inwardly with a sort of flash: an obscured mental image, of being at a table like this - and there was laughter, and many voices. All happy ones. But it was obscured as if by a white light or a fog, so he could just barely make out a blurred image of people and a smile aimed at him.
He still had the fork suspended in the air; he stared ahead, as if momentarily numb. The image lingered in his mind, though almost completely opaque: he could still hear the faint group of voices, and the form of a person turning and looking over in his direction, smiling. He could only make out that they were sitting; everything above their face was lost in the mist.
It faded. It was gone.
He sat staring ahead, frozen. He was trying to breathe deeply after feeling like he had stopped altogether. What...was that.
He put the fork down in his plate, then raised it again: nothing happened. He placed the pancake piece in his mouth, chewing very slowly. Nothing happened.
What the hell had just happened...? It had been so short, yet so riveting...so real. What.
He shook his head very hard, shoving another piece of pancake in his mouth. Probably some dream that I had last night that I just remembered, or something... Although he rarely dreamed when he was recovering from exhaustion, like last night...
He picked up the cup of milk, taking a big gulp. Unfortunately it tried to go into his lungs instead of properly into his stomach; he coughed loudly. It took him a minute or so to get it right again.
"Ah," he said, desperate now for some conversation to get his mind off the absurdly weird thing his brain had just done. "...So, um." He reached out to his hair clip on the table, pushing it over to Dusty.
"Dusty," he said, "I want you to hold onto my hairpin for a while...so that you can know how grateful I am that you've helped me..." He forced a smile, still a bit shaken after the mental image a few minutes ago. "I think I have something more proper for you at home, but until I can get there and get my things...you can hold onto my pin, if you wish." He made a note to ask Dusty about this world after this, hoping to figure out where he was and what he should do.
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Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:20 pm
Dusty, who had loaded up his plate with one pancake and probably four sausages and pieces of bacon each, had taken to the business of eating with all the gusto of a connoisseur at a buffet of delicacies. Just without the indiscriminate taste. Or the careful appreciation of the food's delicacy. Or even passable table manners.
"Whuzzat?" The boy asked through a large mouthful, failing to spare Iarla any look at his chewed-up breakfast as he turned to look at the hairpin on the table.
"Dusty," Arrien warned him from the stove, "Mouth closed." She at least tried to impart some sense of decency into the child. She didn't always succeed, but damn it, she tried.
Glowering at his Guardian, Dusty closed his mouth nonetheless, quickly chewed up his food, and swallowed it. Wiping his hands off on the hem of the over-large shirt (wait, that thing was borrowed!... eh, Arri would get in cleaned up before he gave it back, anyway), the deerkitten reached out to examine the pin.
"... 'S pretty," he murmured. Obviously, he wouldn't be wearing it- but Dusty, of all people, could be trusted to nurture an appreciation for well-crafted jewelery. Even if he didn't relate gems to his own being the way he had as a child anymore, that didn't mean that the jeweled Fa'e had lost his love for them.
He was aware that his Guardian was watching him. And he knew exactly what she wanted- oh, no, Iarla!, she was expecting him to say, I can't accept this!
"All right, sure," the deerkitten beamed instead, setting the pin carefully on the tabletop once more. "I'll take good care of it, okay?" The fact that Arrien was shooing him a nasty glare out of the corner of her eye was only making him grin harder.
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:14 am
Iarla smiled appreciatively (but also a bit nervously - Dusty wouldn't like it too much, would he?) and nodded. "I thought of something that you might like..." He glanced at Arrien, noticing her prominent scowl. "Ah...I'll...uh...tell you about it later..."
Beginning to work on his pancake again (he was strange: he ate them dry, without syrup) he sampled a few strawberries from the plate of fresh fruit. They were good, and he closed his eyes to enjoy the sweet taste. Fruit - and other typical Earth commodities - were expensive to come by at home.
"It's very good, thank you," he said to Arrien, trying to impart as much gratitude into his words as he could. Taking another bite of his pancakes, he tried to look casual as he said, "So, I...I was wondering about this world...this place." He took a steadying breath. The image from just a few minutes ago was still flitting through his head. "I was wondering about the things you said, Dusty..." He couldn't remember the exact word Dusty had used, but it had led Iarla to believe that was, perhaps, the dominate race of this world? He had never had an experience with non-human beings before. He considered himself one-hundred percent human, after all.
Dusty is clearly different from anyone else I've ever met. He probably isn't human, right? I'm not sure, but it would probably make sense. Like the man on fire at the club (!), or the little blue girl with the small wings and pointed ears.
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 2:28 pm
"Oh, you're a real newbie then, eh?" Arrien inquired, seeming almost delighted. The last of the pancake batter was sizzling in the pan now, and she seemed to feel that it didn't require much of her attention to cook. Leaning on the counter nearest to the table, the Infamous Jack-of-all-Trades thought about where to begin.
"Well, the first thing you oughta know; this place is called Gaia. It's sort of a crossroads world, I guess you'd call it. A lot of the inhabitants here sort of migrated from other worlds- that's myself included, a'course- and settled down. It can be a little exciting here at times," and oh, how it could ever, "but all and all, it's mostly peaceful. Chaotic, but peaceful."
"I was born here, though," Dusty informed Iarlaith, as though it were a very important point.
"Yep, you were. Right smack dab in the middle of a skating rink," Arrien agreed with an evil grin. "Everyone watching." The deerkitten glared at this instance of "too much information", but his guardian just cackled and brushed the lingering malignancy off her shoulder.
"Anyway. The city we're in right now is Barton," the woman continued, carefully flipping over the pancakes with her spatula. "The Fa'e HQ isn't exactly a short walk from here, but it isn't too far, either. That's probably the best place for you to be headed, once you're ready to get out and about."
"We're Fa'e," Dusty put in for Iarla's benefit, gesturing between himself and the teenager. "Which is, uhm...." Had he told Iarla last night? He thought he did. Ah, well, it never hurt to restate the important stuff. "Fa'e are special."
Arrien rolled her eyes. "Don't be so full of yourself, Dusty...."
"What? It's true!" The deerkitten defended himself. "'S what everyone says, and it's true!"
"Yeah, yeah, you're a unique and special snowflake." Scraping the last pancakes out of the frying pan, the lavender-haired woman just shook her head in disbelief as she went to add them to the plate on the table, and sat down at last to join with the two Fa'e.
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:39 pm
Iarla looked a bit embarrassed hearing the details of Dusty's birth. However, the explanation of Gaia made sense to him. Somehow the word 'Gaia' even had a pretty sound to it, like a bell. He nodded as Arrien spoke of it.
It was to his surprise that Dusty also included him in the definition of 'Fa'e'. "Oh, no," Iarla said, trying to explain, "I'm not from this world...I'm from a different one." He was confused. He had a vague memory of the word 'Fa'e' being thrown around last night too, but he hadn't exactly been paying attention: with the onset of his transformation, everything had kind of become a blur.
He furrowed his brow, looking at Dusty. All he could remember Dusty saying about it last night was something about 'Lethe was a river.' This didn't make very much sense, but he said: "I'm sorry, I don't remember much about last night, I was a little frightened... Dusty, you said something about Lethe being a river, didn't you?" He had no idea what this had to do with Fa'e, or why exactly he was talking about, but it sort of nagged at his brain hearing Dusty talk. "Is 'Lethe' the name of a river near this town?" Fa'e HQ? "Is that...where the HQ place you mean is...?" He was terribly confused now.
He frowned. "Sorry I...I don't understand very well..." Though the circumstances of his birth were...a bit shady, Iarla definitely considered himself a human as well as a native of his home.
Feeling uncomfortable, he shifted in his seat. "Ah, um...I think you must be mistaken. There are some things...strange about me, but I'm not from this place, like you are..." A-At least, I don't THINK I am... With everything that had been going on recently, maybe this wouldn't be surprising.
Trying to look like he was still invested in his pancakes, he took several more large bites - but chewed slowly. He was still frowning.
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:54 pm
The question regarding the word Lethe brought the mythology buff out of Arrien in an instant. "Ha! No, kiddo, not around here," she chuckled. "The River Lethe is a slice out of Greek mythology, where the souls of the dead would pass to have their memories of mortal life erased."
"Yeah, an' that's Lethe," Dusty nodded. At least, he was pretty sure it was. She was always saying she was a River, and her name was Lethe- ergo! "Or who she was, anyway. But now she's a Fa'e, which is like you and me, Iarla." The deerkitten was certainly insistent on this point.
Arrien was a little more forgiving, however. "You think, anyway," she corrected the child. "Not everyone that looks different is a Fa'e, you know. Remember Blackfell?"
"....... Not really," Dusty shrugged. He'd only been a baby when he'd played with the winged boy, after all. These days, all his friends were either found among his human neighbors or his Fa'e peers, and very occasionally did he make an acquaintance outside those groups.
"... Remind me to get you out more, bud," Arrien sighed. "I guess I'm just saying, don't make assumptions, or you'll look like an a**."
This description didn't seem to please the fuzzy child. "C'mon, everyone said Iarla was a Fa'e!" Dusty insisted, turning his attention back on the swan teenager. "Think 'bout it. You don't know your parents, right? 'Cause you're probably like, uhm, like Lethe and my folks and a lot of the other Fa'e, that got brought back without being born. Just reborn. And you got magic stuff, and don't you get, like... dreams or whatever, that remind you of someplace else? Like maybe you have somethin' you've forgotten?"
That last part gave Arrien pause. "... Do you get dreams like that, Dusty?" She asked cautiously. It alarmed her to think that the Fa'e might have been having any sort of prophetic visions like that of his past life, but more to the point, that she wouldn't have known about it. Probably, he was just echoing something he learned from the other Fa'e--
"Eh? Well, uhm. Sometimes I have, yeah." Dustin didn't seem interested in discussing the matter with his Guardian, which only added to her look of aghast injury (which was, of course, totally unnoticed by the child, who was busy taking a long swig of milk).
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:10 pm
Iarla blinked. Hard. "Greek...?" he repeated. He knew of the term only vaguely. Such history was very, very far back in his world's past, but he had heard one of Kuraino's friends in particular reference before. It was another civilization of old. A bit shocked, he stared at Arrien. "You mean to say that Lethe, who is a person you know, is a...reincarnation of...an old civilization's mythological concept?" He didn't say this in an incredulous way, only in one of shock. The thought was so - in a way, impossible, but also so profound that he felt very small suddenly.
He turned his gaze to Dusty. He felt as if he was bring jarred out of a dream: in faint panic he thought of the image that had been in his mind just a few minutes ago. "I have never had dreams like that," he said, which he hadn't; "...but just a moment ago I saw something in my head." He raised his two fingers to his temple, then snapped his eyes back up to look at Dusty. "You have...dreams of a past life?" This was almost overwhelming. Arrien, for her part, was looking like she agreed - Iarla was actually worried for a moment at how unbelieving the look was on her face after Dusty admitted to having such dreams.
The strangest thing was that Dusty didn't look in the least bit like any of these things were strange.
Very slowly, Iarla said: "...In my world...I was found, alone." He looked up now. His eyes had become all watery, as if the fact he had just spoken confirmed everything Dusty had said. "Dusty," he said, fairly terrified at his own self at the moment, "You have a past life like Lethe, too?" How can...a CONCEPT...? But perhaps it was belief. Belief, from those ancient peoples - that which they believed so strongly - had given such a thing life? I-I'm a concept, not a person? Some of the tears started to dribble down his face. "I'm not sure about this," he breathed, turning his head to Dusty again. "What are you, Dusty?" he whispered. But he had started to cry.
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:22 pm
... Oh. Oh God. He was... he was crying?
Dustin instantly repented for everything he'd said. He shouldn't have pushed so much on the Fa'e thing. Iarlaith wasn't ready to hear this stuff; heck, he'd just gotten to Gaia, and here Dusty was, dumping everything on him and stuffing it down his throat! Oddly, the Arthurian Fa'e didn't feel any particular disgust at this display of emotion, more bewildered by the fact that he had caused it. Somehow, Iarla had already worked his way past Dusty's initial defenses that bore weakness no love or tolerance. It was impossible to do anything but sympathize with the poor, overwhelmed newcomer.
"Uhm, well," Dusty began, hesitantly. "I sometimes have dreams. When I grew, anyway, I did." Did Iarla grow in the same way that he had? Surely if he did, he would have realized that there was something different about the way he was from humans? Dusty wanted to ask and use that point to support his argument, but he shied away from anything that might upset the teen further.
"Uhm, as to what I am...." He paused. Thus far, he hadn't said a word of it to anyone- not even his own father! In part because it just didn't seem like a good thing to brag about, but also because... well....
Arrien was listening intently now, still stunned to silence by the realization of her own ignorance. What had Dusty been in his past life? Did the deerkitten already know- and had Arrien missed it altogether?
Licking his lips and flicking his gaze between his fellow Fa'e and his Guardian, he leaned inward. "You, uhm. D'you know Excalibur?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 5:41 pm
Iarla embarrassingly wiped his eyes on the cuffs of his shirt, momentarily mortified for becoming so upset in front of them. He hadn't meant it, but how could he not panic hearing this? Someone was suggesting he was...the reincarnation of some kind of ancient idea? He knew very well that he wasn't normal in many respects, but that hurt to think about. After all, he had feelings, and emotions, just like anybody else - didn't he? Here he was, crying! Could an idea do that?
As Dusty spoke of Excalibur, Iarla quieted. His eyes widened. He actually knew what that was, more because of his own interests in religious texts from that span of time. Scholarly pursuits were a favorite of his. "...The legend of King Arthur and the sword?" he questioned, now more awestruck than terrified. In fact he stood up right out of his chair onto his feet, placing his hands on the table. "You're...Excalibur?" Wait. What? Dusty was an ancient magical sword?
Iarla shook his head to clear it. There were so many conflicting thoughts in his head that he could barely keep them straight. He was just going to believe all of this? But why wouldn't I believe them? And Dusty is my friend. Panicked again, he tried to decide between asking to shake Dusty's hand in reverence or not. "You...have had dreams of being that great sword?"
Iarla sat down again, hard. He stared. "You really are...something from myth, come back?" This was, in a word, insane, but at the same time Iarla almost felt he could believe it. Was this some kind of fate?
Suddenly humbled, he tried not to act in a way that might make Dusty uncomfortable. But he is that sword! Reborn as a person? But how? "I've read about you," he said to Dusty quietly. "In my own world, in the grand library. About...Excalibur."
Pleadingly he looked at Arrien, hoping she could provide an answer. "But how...?" His eyes glanced back at Dusty. "Dusty, if you are Excalibur, and Lethe is that River, why and how did you become people? And I..." He placed his hand at his chest, looking alarmed. "I'm not sure about me."
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:49 pm
"Yea-huh." For the reincarnation of so great and noble a legend as Excalibur, Dusty certainly seemed understated in revealing it. Nervous as he'd been to tell Iarla (and, since she was right there, his Guardian) the truth of what he'd learned of himself, he couldn't help but feel pleased by the incredulous and awe-struck reaction he'd received for his daring. In fact, he was feeling quite smug about the entire thing- it was pretty awesome, wasn't it?
Egged on by Iarla's enthusiasm, the sword reborn went on to explain to Iarla- "I figured it out 'bout a year ago, right? When I uhm, grew and stuff." He still didn't know if Iarla had similar growing experiences, so he didn't accentuate the point too much. "It was pretty wild. Mebbe I'll tell you about it, sometime." He would have gladly told the teenager right then and there the full story of that false sleep and the visions he'd been granted with them- the woman at the lake with the scabbard, the battling armies and, at long last, the fall of King Arthur and the surrender of Excalibur- but there was something a little uncomfortable about saying anything right now.
Mostly because Arrien was staring in that "might cry" sort of way that was normally reserved either for when someone mentioned her gone-from-home son, or when she was really, really drunk.
The Guardian snapped her eyes shut and open when Iarla beseeched her, as though awakening from a daydream. "Ah, y-yes, well," she stammered to recollect herself. Excalibur... Dusty, really? Is that... I mean, he acts so.... She needed to reassert herself, get back in the conversation. It just wasn't like her to run out of words. "Uhm- the Fa'e! Right, well." Her voice found strength again, and she slipped into a familiar, easy-going grin. "I can help you out there, at least a little. See, from what I've picked up over the years, the Fa'e were created by a girl named Airi. I don't know if she's a Fa'e herself or whatnot, but for some reason and by some process, she picks up on legends that have faded and gives them a second shot at life."
"I saw her once," Dusty volunteered. Never mind that they hadn't said a word to each other, and that the deerkitten not-so-secretly disliked the strange girl that had stolen the spotlight from him on his own birthday. It was an opportunity now for him to get a bit of attention, so why shouldn't he name-drop?
"She lives at the Fa'e HQ," Arrien went on. "I've never seen her there, but I guess she's got some place in the building. Which is why I say, if you want to know if you're Fa'e or not, that's the place to go."
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Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 12:30 pm
Iarla tried not to press Dusty any further about what things he might have seen. Yet he wanted to, and badly - though Iarla didn't really know how a sword might have memories and senses as well as a person. Then again, belief: was that what gave things power? Iarla had always been a bit superstitious, and he did indeed believe that spirits were probably in everything - even objects and things. Maybe, after all, Dusty's story wasn't as strange as it appeared to be on the surface.
So Dusty is...a legend, the sword, come back as a Fa'e.
This put Iarla into an instantly intense thinking mode. "I wonder," he mused, "are all of the things brought back magical objects?" He still wasn't sure if these objects really were, or if they were simply stories that the old civilizations had worshiped or believed in. Were they real things, that had existed - was, somewhere, the legend of King Arthur real? Well, King Arthur has some basis in actual events, he thought, looking very pensive. But the River Lethe, what of that?
"These myths seemed to be based on Earth," Iarla said, looking from Dusty to Arrien. "Like Greek mythology for the River, and the legend of King Arthur and his knights." Otherwise, couldn't there be any infinite number of myths? If Gaia, as another world, exists, so too could any number of other worlds with their own mythologies. He wasn't yet clear on the scope of the Fa'e. Glancing as Dusty, he asked, "Are all Fa'e from Earth's mythological objects? In my world, I don't even live on Earth..." He looked deep in thought again. "And in many other worlds, Earth might not even exist."
He began to feel nervous again, though, thinking how all of it applied to him. He held his hands out in front of himself; they were a bit shaky. "B-But I'm not sure how I fit into all of this," he whispered. As Arrien mentioned Airi, he repeated the name. "'Airi'?" She lives in the place Arrien mentioned before? A part of him wanted to immediately stride out there and get some answers - but the other half of him was afraid of what he might discover. Was he really an object? A...story, come back to life?
But not all stories are true. ...Are they? And Dusty isn't the entire 'legend of King Arthur' reborn, but a piece of it. The sword, returned. The 'why' seems to be 'because Lady Airi willed it.' Did Excalibur will it, too? It must have wanted to return.
A thought hit him, and his eyes widened. "All of these stories...these myths, and legends..." He stared. "All of them, even in my world - they are just a part of history, now." He raised his thumbs to his lips. "So, is that it? These myths, or objects, wish to return to their former glory?" It sounded a bit heady and almost too poetic to be the truth. Like...something out of a story.
...
Dusty was sitting right next to him, yet Dusty didn't feel like he was only Excalibur. "Even if you are Excalibur, you are also Dusty," Iarla said to him. "In that way you are different from your old self...right?" Iarla frowned, unsure if that was the case. "Do you think like Excalibur, like your old self?" Iarla thought that Dusty probably didn't. But, maybe he was wrong?
Iarla's face fell. His mental track had already shifted back to himself - back to the confusion of his own 'story.' "...I..." He swallowed. "I grew a lot faster than..." He paused. "Normal people..." He looked up at the ceiling, as if lost. "Kuraino found me in a hallway. I was a swan. She thought I was a dead bird." His eyes slid back to Dusty, away from the light hanging from the ceiling. "I was so weak that I could not hold a human form. But when I transformed back, I was an infant - just a baby." He pursed his lips. "Though my swan form was an adult... And then..." It came to him: what Dusty had said in the club.
"That's why you...you said you were two," he said breathlessly, sitting on the edge of his seat. His expression crumpled. "I thought you meant...two, as in..." He didn't want to say 'human years.' It made them both sound like some kind of alien. "...Regular years. But you said you were older than your father when he had you." I can't believe it. "I don't even know how old I am. Kuraino doesn't like to talk about that. She just insists on my age in...regular...years..." He was trying not to cry again. Some of the golden tips of his hair had fallen in his eyes. "So you are...just like me."
It was true, then, wasn't it? All of the same characteristics that he shared with Dusty? Maybe even what drew me to this world, to that fire where all the other...Fa'e...stood. That's what they were called? Fa'e?
"But what is my story...?" he wondered softly.
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Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 2:25 pm
Whoops- Dustin hadn't meant to mislead Iarla, but it seemed that he had. "I don't think everyone's objects, no," he corrected the older Fa'e. "Like, uhm... someone, someone was...." He was trying to remember who it was that would naturally spring to mind, but the memory was gone. Must be thinking of my Subject. Better to find another example. "... Well, my da, he's a deer or somethin', right? Which isn't an object." Come to think of it, Dusty didn't know specifically what his father's past life was. That would be good to ask, the next time they spoke.
"Do you remember Raeith, Dusty?" Arrien questioned. "I think she was probably a kirin. And the first Fa'e I ever met was a kitsune."
"... What're those?" The deerkitten frowned.
His guardian blanched at this display of ignorance. "... Well, I guess we're studying Eastern Mythology on Monday," she decided aloud, determined not to be too bothered.
The pair's attention returned to Iarla as he questioned about Dusty's old self.
"Uhmm... dunno," he acknowledged after a moment. "I mean, I'm still pretty young, y'know? Usually, I guess you figure out more about yourself and your past life as you get older, or something. Most Fa'e my age don't even know what they were." It was a brag, and there was no base in fact for it. Lethe knew what she was, after all, and she was the only Fa'e of Dusty's own age that he was aware of. "A lotta the new Fa'e, though...."
Then Iarlaith came to realize his age, and an awkward silence settled around the table. What is his story...?
Arrien was the one to speak up next, being the comforting, guiding hand- at least, in her own way. "Snap out of it," she ordered. "What's your story? What's anyone's story? Most people don't have any guidance for this life or any other, but you've got something behind you. You just don't know what it is yet. You're not the only one though, right? There're dozens of Fa'e out there. You just got adopted into a big family- congratulations." Rather than be reproachful or scolding, the Guardian seemed more matter-of-fact- this is how things are, and here's the better way to approach it. "You lost some time with them growing up off-Gaia, but I'm willing to bet it was worth it. But there're other Fa'e that have come into the world later in life, like you have."
"Like Guelmy," Dusty put in, eager to contribute. "And Mik, and Kee, and Skule...." Were there others? He thought there were, but they didn't leap to mind.
"There ya go," Arrien nodded. "And all of them have adapted, right? So it's a shock to the system, but you've got people to help you through it. So no more of this sullen act, right?" Grinning, she looked to Iarla for confirmation, or at least acknowledgment.
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Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 5:51 pm
A deer! Iarla was surprised. "Do you mean...an actual deer, on four legs?" Iarla asked Dusty, as Iarla moved one of his hands like a four-legged animal.
Kirin...I'm not sure what that is...but... "A kitsune!" he exclaimed. "That's...a fox." All right, so he didn't really know the mythological aspects of a kitsune, but he knew that word was Japanese, which he had some familiarity with...vaguely.
Strangely, as Arrien mentioned Eastern Mythology, he sat up interestingly, as if he were going to be included in the lesson. He didn't even realize his mistake, as he continued with, "Oh...I guess that makes sense," to Dusty's comment about young Fa'e not yet knowing their past. After all, Iarla had never had dreams or anything at all that might hint at some other life...and he was older than Dusty, as far as he could tell.
At Arrien's words, Iarla became flustered. He guessed she didn't mean it reproachfully, although he felt a little embarrassed at having given a sullen impression. "I'm sorry, Miss Arrien," he said nervously, his hand on the back of his head as he glanced around the room. "It's just I...didn't expect..." And I don't know where Kuraino is...what if she never comes? This was terrifying, so he tried not to think about that. Even if she did come, how would she react to all of this? She'd probably think it was crazy! He hung his head, still worried, but then raised it to look at both Dusty and Arrien very intently. "Do you know a story that has people turning into swans??"
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Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 6:04 pm
"Ah... the Princess Odette, from Swan Lake," Arrien mused. Perhaps realizing that this was not a very flattering possibility, she quickly exclaimed, "but there're others too, I'm sure! I've got a ton of books around the house on mythology, if you wanted--"
Oh, dear. The correction came too late.
"... Princess Odette," Dusty sniggered under his sleeve, eyes glinting in a maliciously entertained manner. It would kind of explain some of Iarla's more feminine attributes....
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Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 6:23 pm
"P-P-Princess?" Iarla stammered. He stared, mildly horrified. As Dusty began to snigger, he narrowed his eyes in an exaggerated manner. "But I'm not a girl, I'm a boy," he said, as if this made perfect sense as to why he couldn't be...a princess named Odette!
...I think I remember that story, he thought, trying to ignore Dusty's 'heheh' right next to him. Surprisingly, he assumed a bored look as he said, "That story - Kuraino is a fan of it. She's likes a ballet story that has to do with Swan Lake. That is where the princess is turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer. However..." He cleared his throat importantly. "...She turns back into a woman at night!" This was certainly not the case with Iarla, as everyone had seen quite plainly!
He leaned his head on his head, looking utterly unconvinced - while Dusty continued to snigger. Oooh... "I'm not a princess!" he suddenly declared, not being able to take it anymore. He held up his finger as if saying something important. "...A-And I don't turn into a woman at night!" This made him horribly flustered to even suggest.
A bit weary of the thought, he muttered, "It's one of those straightforward stories where true love conquers all evil! That's silly." He happened to have a more realistic view of life, at any rate.
Yet, secretly, he was mortified. He couldn't really be Princess Odette, could he?!
He crossed his arms and dropped his head onto them on the table. "I can't be Princess Odette!" he said mournfully.
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