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 Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 8:24 pm
.M e e t i n g.
Vianya hummed merrily and rubbed her stomach contentedly as she lounged lazily by the roots of large tree on the forest floor. About five or six feet away, the dirt looked to be recently disturbed and was stained with crimson. She had been feeling...peckish for about a week or two and it was today that she finally decided to silence the incessant gnawing in her stomach. Her sword work was getting a little sloppy.
Earlier in the day, around noon, she had been laying in the tall grass by the main road towards some Common village she didn't really know the name of, nor did she care. She was looking for an outcast, an old person, someone the villagers wouldn't really miss or notice. Vianya had waited for three hours for someone to snatch and was just about to give up for the day when an old man hobbled away from the village. He was crippled and making very slow progress out of the village. She had immediately gone into a crouch and begun sneaking towards him, a small dagger in hand. When he was a good hundred or so feet from the village gate, she struck.
He wasn't very tasty, but food was food and the gnawing had finally abated. Finally deciding it was time to find her way home, Vianya stood and stretched before taking in her surroundings. She had ventured pretty deep into the forest to make sure no one found the corpse and then she had buried it once she was through. Glancing at the stain where she had buried him, she kicked more dirt and fallen leaves onto the area to hide it better. Then she chose a random direction and began walking.
x x x
Before long, Vianya found a lagoon and knew she had walked too far in...whatever direction she had been going in. North? South? West? East? The surroundings weren't familiar and the sun was setting. It would be too dark and dangerous to backtrack and find where she should have changed direction. Sighing, she squinted her eyes looking for a dry spot on beach near the lagoon to make camp and rest for the night. It was then that she heard a small splashing noise from up the beach.
Vianya followed the noise partly because of mild curiosity and partly to make sure it wasn't anything dangerous. As the noise got louder, she began to notice small rocks and marine animals flailing about on the sand. The closer she got, the more she saw. Furrowing her brow in confusion, Vianya sped into a jog towards the splashing noises.
Once there, she saw a figure diving in and out of the water. Occasionally, it would pause above the water and stare at something its hands before throwing it onto the beach and diving again. She observed the figure for a couple minutes. It wasn't too big, perhaps two or three feet in height and there was something odd about the lower half. She couldn't really make out any outlines past the torso but...could it be? She took off her jewelry and weapons before running into the water and splashing towards the figure until the water was up to her thighs just as it dived once more.
“Hey!” she called with hands cupped around her mouth. “Heeeeeeeey!”
A head popped up of the water. Vianya stared. The sun had gone by this time and all she could see was the outline made by the moon and glowing eyes. She waved for lack of any ideas about how to proceed. Perhaps she should have thought this through?
The head disappeared. Vianya stood there with the water flowing around her in silence. Had the person or...thing run away? Did she frighten it? Or was it looking for something to attack her with? Was it gathering friends to attack her? She suddenly regretted leaving her sword on the beach. She really should have thought this through. However...if it really was what she believed it to be...
The head shot up directly in front of her, causing Vianya to almost lose her balance and be soaked completely in alarm. Her hand immediately went to her waist to grab her dagger before she realized that what she believed she saw truly was. It was a Celph. A Celph child not more than two years old, she guessed. How on earth had it gotten in here?
The Celph child had mish mash of objects in her arms, including rocks, plants and marine animals. She took a slug from her hoard and held it up to Vianya. Surely she didn't expect her to eat this...?
“Wha' ith thith?” she demanded in voice of one who expected an answer and always got it. Vianya stared stupidly at the wriggling slug. The Celph child made an impatient noise and waved the slug in Vianya's face. “Wha' ith thith thingy, lady?”
Snapped out of her daze, Vianya stuttered, “A...uh...slug. A sea slug.” The Celph child stared at the slug in her palm before tossing it back into the water. She grabbed another item.
“Thith?” she inquired once more.
Vianya had to squint her eyes in order to see the object. It was too dark. She reached for it intending to hold it up and use the light of the moon to see but the little hand snatched it away. Vianya stared at where the hand use to be. The Celph waited until her hand was once again at her side before presenting the item and asking again. Vianya couldn't really tell what it was, but the general shape seemed to provide enough of a clue. She answered mussel. The process continued until the little Celph had exhausted her store of items.
Vianya quickly asked questions of her own before the Celph could think of more things to interrogate her with. How did she come here? The Celph had followed a very shiny fish into a reef and then had seen the lagoon and gone in. Was she lost? The Celph looked offended. Shouldn't she be at home? The Celph replied that she went wherever she wanted to go. It became clear that the little Celph was much more interested in the lagoon than she was of home.
“Well, I'll escort you home then. Or as far as I can go. In a row boat.” It was then that the little Celph looked nervous. “As soon as I find a row boat, I'll make sure you get home safe and sound.”
The Celph began to splutter and insist that it was just fine and could go home on its own. She gave Vianya conflicting stories about where her parents or minders or friends were. Her parents were resting in a cave a little ways off. Actually, her minders were watching some other little Celphs right now. Wait, wait, her friends were playing a game and she was just doing her part of the game. Vianya cut her off.
“What's the real story, dear? No lying now. The truth, please,” she said sternly, hands on hips.
The Celph stopped mid-babble and seemed to be fighting with herself. Vianya waited.
“...Mama 'n papa taked me out to wash shum pretty fishies, 'n then...'n then...dish big sharky thingy grabbed Mama from down dere 'n den papa wash going after mama and telling me to shwim away and den da shark wash pulling daddy too! 'N mama wash going down down down n' papa wash telling me ta shwim shwim shwim! Sho I shwimed 'n shwimed 'n shwimed and den I saws a pretty fishy 'n I followed it here and I stays here ever shince.” The little Celph broke out in sobs. Vianya immediately pulled the child into her arms and stroked her hair while saying soothing words as the girl cried and cried and cried.
“There, there. It's okay. It's okay,” Vianya whispered. She made a decision right then and there to care for this child and care for it well. She would protect this small Celph in place of her lost parents. “I'll be here for you. I'll take care of you. It'll be alright, darling, you'll see.”
The Celph's sobs subsided and removed herself from Vianya's arms. “Weally? You'll be just wike mama 'n papa?” Nod. “You'll make me all my fawowite foods?” Nod. “You'll ansher alla my queshuns?” A nod. “You'll never tell me to shwim away?” Never, Vianya replied. “Neber eber?” Of course.
Vianya leaned down towards the little Celph until their faces were mere inches apart from each other. “Hello, my name is Vianya Belinda Alcyone. What is yours, little one?”
The Celph straightened, squared her shoulders and put her nose in the air. “My name ish Meri Phaedra Ece. Ish not Ri or Phae or Ecey or anyshing elsh. You may calls me Meri, Vianya Bewinda Alshyonay.”
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 11:58 pm
. T h e L a k e.
After the meeting in the lagoon, Vianya moved to a seaside inn for an indefinite stay and Meri stayed in a cove while Vianya looked for a suitable place to for the both of them to live. It was unfair and cruel to force Meri to spend her days in a pond or lake or river just so Vianya could stay near the city and close to other Garrions. Meri wouldn't have agreed to it, anyway. Her adventuring would be severely limited. It was unacceptable. Vianya didn't really mind being away from the capital, she never spent much time there. She was always wandering and looking for work and traveling just for the heck of it. Her small home at the capital was just a place to store her things. Things she didn't really need. A sword strapped to her side and small pack for necessities was all she would ever use.
Six months after taking Meri in, the little Celph woke Vianya early in the morning by throwing rocks through her window. One of the rocks was thrown so hard, it broke a vase the owner had put there to brighten the room. It was the smashing sound made by the clay pot that woke Vianya and the owner up. It was just another item among many that Vianya had had to pay compensation for, she no longer silently wept at the lost of coins she would have used for food or some type of entertainment.
After listening to the innkeeper's tirade, Vianya made her way towards Meri's cove. She was just climbing over algae covered rocks when Meri popped out of the water with seaweed threaded throughout her hair and draped around her shoulders. A small crab had caught its pincers in her hair, as well.
Vianya chuckled, “Why, aren't you beautiful this morning? Is that a new hairstyle? Oh, and that crab looks wonderful on you. It brings out your eyes. You think it would look good on me?” Meri scowled before dipping into the water again for a few seconds and emerged crab and seaweed free.
“Dere, my hair ish fine! Shtop being sho shilly, you...you...ninny!” Vianya blinked. Where had she learned that? Just as she opened her mouth to ask, Meri continued. “I heard shum peoples shay it. Anyways! Dere was a weally, weally big shumthing shwimming tru da water whiles you were shweeping! But I didn't wanna follow it cuz it was weally big so I was gonna wait for you but you shweep sooooo much! Sho I woke you up and now dat your here, we can follow da big thingy and den I can invuh...invush..." Pause. "Investigate! Now go get a boat!” Vianya just stared. “Boat! Now! Dun diwy dawy!”
x x x
They had been out in water for hours and there was still no sign of Meri's 'mystery creature.' Vianya's arms were getting sore and her eyes were drooping. Every now and then, Meri would berate her for going so slow and that if they didn't hurry up they'd lose it. She wouldn't listen to the Garrion's complaints that the creature would have been long gone by now. It was when Vianya was just about ready to drop when she heard her now most dreaded phrase.
“Ooohhhh! Wha' daat?!” Meri shrieked excitedly before speedily swimming towards the mouth of a river. Vianya had given up telling her to stop impulsively pursuing objects of interests and just told her to pop out of the water every now and then so that she could at least follow the hyper little Celph. It took her at least ten minutes to finally row to the mouth of the river where Meri was impatiently splashing the water with her tentacles, arms crossed. She had a 'what have you been doing?' look on her face. Then Meri shot up the river mouth and into the island. Vianya groaned.
It was another hour or so before they found themselves in a lake. Vianya's boat by then was filled with random objects and it was getting harder to row even with her warrior physique. She hurriedly steer the boat towards shore and flopped onto the ground in exhaustion. Meri was still happily throwing random things haphazardly into the boat for further investigation. Vianya's eye had just closed when the Celph's voice carried to her ears a most surprising message.
“We shall wive here!”
Vianya shot straight up. “What did you just say?!”
“Ish decided den. We are gonna build a house wight here!” Meri pointed towards a spot where the trees were closer to the water. “I shaw da houses back at da wharf and dey can be above da water. Sho we shall have a house wight dere and it will be above da water!” Meri's voice was filled with confidence, and worst, one that would not accept complaint or refusal.
Vianya rubbed her chin. It could work. The lake had several rivers and streams flowing into it, so that Meri could do her explorations close to home and Vianya could spend her time on nice dry ground and lounge about in trees. There was fresh water available and it didn't look like there was anyone else living here. She got up and brushed off her clothes before walking towards Meri's chosen spot for a closer look. Meri blew exasperated noises and began demanding her guardian to stop waffling (where did she learn that?) around and start building.
It looked to be shallow enough that Meri could easily be submerged beneath the water and for the house itself to stand comfortably on stilts. She would have to enlist the help of some her colleagues or hire someone because building a home by herself was just too much to ask. It would take her forever and a day and it would be poorly built to boot. She turned to Meri, struck a pose and announced that this would the site of their new home.
“But I alweady said dat. What are you doing by shaying shumthing I alweady said? You're such a ninny!” Meri's eyes then strayed towards one of the rivers that lead deeper into the island and sped off without a word.
Vianya sighed. She looked to where the boat was a little ways off. Her arms were sore and now her legs would be too. She quickly turned and ran to catch up with Meri.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:02 pm
. P a n i c.
It was blue! It was clear! It was beautiful! It was the perfect day to go out and do something! Five year old Meri honestly could not understand her guardian's sloppy habit of sleeping whenever she was sleepy, eating whenever she was hungry and generally doing whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. She wasn't bored per say, but ripping leaves and other plants apart wasn't really as interesting as it was half an hour ago. It was thus imperative that her guardian wake up so they could go out.
“Meri?” a voice called from their small hut over the lake. “You aren't ripping apart some crab, are you?”
Of course not, Meri snorted. She had left crabs behind days ago. Snails were more interesting to observe at the moment. However, they were starting to look the same and there was nothing new about the ones she found. Perhaps it was time to moved on to fish. She swam under the carved hole in the floor of the hut and pulled her upper half through.
“Just how long were you planning to sleep?” Meri scolded. “You really need to fix that habit of yours. You've wasted practically the whole day doing nothing but dreaming!” She shook her finger up at the Garrion.
“Ah, so you missed me,” Vianya replied amusedly as laid her stomach on the floor in front of Meri. Missed? Oh, absolutely not! I have your 'lovely' company everyday! What is there to miss when all you do when you're awake is practice your sword or stare at the sky?
Meri scoffed. “Yes, Vianya. I missed the sound of your sword ringing through the air and your sighs when you stare at absolutely nothing.” When her guardian should have been out with her exploring!
“I've done much more than that, you know. You drag me everywhere and I get interrogated every five minutes when you ask those questions of yours left and right. I expect that I spend less time swinging my sword and more time answering your inquiries,” Vianya commented with a smile.
“It's much more interesting than a sword,” Meri pointed out derisively. Then she straightened. “But enough of that! Hurry and change so we can go out to the sea.” The Celph waited for her guardian to actually get up and do what she ordered. A couple seconds ticked by. “Why are you still here?”
Vianya sucked her teeth. “I'm afraid I won't be able to take you out today. There's some...business I need to take care of. Today, actually.” Meri stared. It wasn't one of 'those' days, was it? “Of course, you won't be alone. One of the elder Garrion will watch you today and she should be coming here very soon.” She ruffled Meri's hair (Oh, how the Celph detested it). “I'll bring you back something interesting, okay?”
Just as Meri was about to open her mouth to protest, a holler went up outside the house. The Celph was too young and easily tired before to follow her guardian on one of her solitary trips to the mainland so Meri often languished in agony as her curiosity ate away at her. If Vianya thought Meri was going to stay put like a good Celph this time, she thought with a nasty smile when the Garrion's back was turned, she was sorely mistaken. I will find out where she goes today. And I will make her tell me everything.
x x x
Meri was bored. It didn't happen often, but here she was, staring at Vianya's back submerged in a small pond, doing nothing. She couldn't risk exploring her surroundings in case she lost her guardian and she most certainly wasn't going to let that happen. After Vianya engaged the visiting Garrion with an adult conversation and left in her row boat, Meri had immediately cried that she was feeling under the weather and demanded that she absolutely must not be bothered before quickly diving into the water. Those minders always listened to what she said. They wouldn't bother her.
Once Vianya was on land, she had paid a little Garrion boy to watch her boat before setting off. Meri had followed immediately after. She had even dragged herself on land and crawled the rest of the way. Thank goodness for the pond conveniently located nearby. She didn't think she wanted to do that again so Meri had to discover the reason for Vianya's solitary trips today.
Vianya herself was watching a Common man collect herbs. She had a bone dagger in hand (made of Common bone from some fat man she and her fellow warriors had hunted one day) and was crouching behind a large bush waiting for the right moment. Contrary to what Meri thought, Vianya was not on the mainland. It would take several days to get there and back, not to mention the dangers of going out into open sea in a rowboat of all things. No, she had just gone around to a part of the island where the rivers did not flow and thus Meri could not reach. Fortunately, the island was large and it was inhabited by both Garrion and Common. Vianya was spared the grueling task of figuring out a way to get her fill of Common meat without arousing Meri's suspicion.
The man straightened himself and began walking with his back to the her. Determined not to lose her prey, she carefully tiptoed out of the bushes and towards her unsuspecting victim. Licking her lips, she shot forward and slashed his jugular. Her face was instantly sprayed with blood. The man fell to the ground in spasms, choking on his blood. With an indifferent expression, she pierced his heart and the man died. She had planned on bringing it to one of the villages nearby to share with some other Garrion since it was too much for her, but Vianya's stomach was practically screaming to be filled. Oh, well. They wouldn't miss a liver or a leg.
A whimper came from behind. She whipped around and cast her eyes about. Tightening her grip on the dagger, she walked to where the sound had come. She found a pond and above its surface was a head of black hair. Narrowing her eyes, she stopped at the edge of the pond, shot her free hand underneath the pond and grabbed onto something. Cloth? She yanked it up with her dagger above her head.
Her eyes widened and she dropped the dagger. It fell with a thud to the forest floor. “Meri?!” she cried in alarm.
Meri's eyes were wide and her whole body was frozen in shock. Panic. This was different from ripping apart small creatures. Memories of three years before rushed through her head. Limbs flailing. Blood. So much blood. Her mama being dragged away. Her small hands grabbed onto her shirt and she tried to pry it from Vianya's grasp. It had slackened so it didn't take much effort.
“G-get away. Get away. GET AWAY!” Meri screamed before she backed away from Vianya and scrambled out of the pond. This caught Vianya's attention.
“Wait! Wait, Meri!” Vianya lept into the water before Meri could get too far into the pond. If she had to start swimming, she'd never catch up. She grabbed onto the child's arm. “Stop! Stop struggling!”
Meri merely tried to swim harder, but with Vianya's vice-like grip against the struggling of a five-year old, it was impossible. She stopped. Her chest heaving, she allowed Vianya to drag her closer to shore.
“Meri, I want you to calm down. And I want you to turn around and look at me. Look at me! Good. Now I'm going to explain to you what just happened. And you can ask any questions you want and I'll answer them all. But not until you've calmed down. Calm your breath, darling. Shhh,” Vianya said in a steady voice. She explained the necessity of eating other humanoid flesh in order to fully function. It was normal. It was part of life. Meri listened with her ears, but all she saw was the day that should have been a fun outing with her family.
“...Meri?”
A warm hand touched her cheek. She flinched. The hand didn't move. Meri's eyes focused into the present. “That's where you go when you leave me with a minder. Every few months....You're going to eat him.” Vianya nodded. “...Are you going to eat me?” she asked softly.
Vianya let out an incredulous laugh. “Of course not! I would never eat you. Don't you remember? I promised that I'd take care of you. I don't think eating you falls into that category. You're precious to me, Meri. I will never, ever eat you and that's a promise.” There was a long silence and the Garrion watched the gears rapidly turning in the little Celph's head. Her expression changed and she seemed to reach a decision.
Meri removed Vianya's hands from her person. She straightened her shirt and fixed her disheveled her. Her shoulders sqaured, she pointed in nose in the air. Meri said in her haughtiest voice, “Of course I know that! Don't be silly. I'm fine now. It was merely the excitement of the moment.” Her eyes turned towards the direction in which the body lay. “Your lunch is getting cold, but before you can eat it. You have to bring it here and let me see.”
Actually, Meri concluded, this didn't seem to be all that different to preying upon fish for a meal. That man was a meal. It was a part of life. She would look at this man and see if the inside was like a fish too. Her mind was already buzzing with questions.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 12:56 am
.An Unwanted Memory Resurfaces.
Fifteen year old Meri poked her fingers into a small crevice. The fish inside immediately rushed out and fled. One got caught in her hair and struggled to escape. The Celph observed it in her peripheral vision. She pinched it's tail fin and dragged it in front of her face. The fish flailed, its eyes wide with fear. Meri blew small bubbles at it. The little fish struggled more forcefully. She giggled silently.
Vianya had left earlier in the day to go hunting. This left Meri all on her lonesome. And unsupervised. Oh, the freedom! It was a wonderful thing. And one she rarely enjoyed. Oh, she could wander around the rivers and the lake, but she was absolutely forbidden to go into open sea on her own. Vianya had been lenient with everything else but this one thing. It chafed Meri's nerves to be forbidden to do such a thing! She was a Celph! A creature of the sea! She should be able to wander around the oceans as she pleased. It was her birthright. But, the one thing that puzzled Meri most of all, was that she did not pursue the decision. She had protests ready on the tip of her tongue and was on the verge of voicing them in a most outraged and indignant manner when...the fight went out of her. Something held her back.
She hesitated. And that was an odd thing. Meri never hesitated. She spoke whatever though entered her mind the second it entered and had never once left an opinion go unspoken. A question go unasked. A protest left unvoiced. This momentary loss of voice lasted only a few seconds. Meri was jolted out of her internal puzzlement by the sound of a door shutting. Vianya had escaped before Meri could voice any protests! All of her questions disappeared when the Celph had gone into an indignant rage.
So, when Vianya went out, most likely for a few hours, Meri naturally took the opportunity to break Vianya's only rule: Never go out to sea without me. Meri had paused but a moment to think of the consequences and scoffed. Nothing would get in between the Celph's adventuring. And she swam off, full speed, towards the river mouth.
Meri was currently three or so kilometers from the river mouth. She had found a large rock with holes in it that housed tiny little fish she found familiar though she had never seen them before. They were small, a bit gray and dull. She was already tired of them. She freed the struggling fish and it fled from her presence faster than she could blink.
Meri floated deeper into the sea until all that was around her was sand, rocks, and more sand. The sea is not as interesting as I though, Meri sighed. She turned her head from side to side looking for something interesting to do. The sea was so. Empty. Just as Meri decided to turn around and go home to do something better with her time, a large black shadow appeared. The water was murky, so it had taken a while for her to notice. She squinted. It looked to be nearly as big as she was.
Then the shadow split into two. Meri blinked. She rubbed her eyes. She looked around and then back again. There were now two dark shadows. One of the shadows was at least three times larger than the other. The smaller shadow was moving erratically through the water while the large one steadily moved in one direction. Towards her.
A foreboding fell upon her then. Acting upon this feeling, Meri quickly hid behind a large rock and peek over its edge. The shadows moved closer. Eventually, the appearance of the two shadows was made clear.
The smaller shadow turned out to be a medium size fish the size of half her torso. She didn't know the name. But the larger one. She knew what it was. It was a shark. And the name caused all rational thinking to stop. She watched, wide-eyed, as the shark easily over took the smaller fish and clamped down upon it with its powerful jaws. The fish struggled for a few seconds before dying. The shark began to feed.
“Meri! Meri! Swim! Swim away! Get away! I can't protect you from this!”
A male voice.
“Damn it, Meri! Can't you listen just this once and SWIM AWAY!?”
Meri was frozen behind the rock. Trapped in a past she had buried years and years and years ago. She did not want to remember. She did not want to see it again.
Blood rose steadily towards the surface. A dark shape beneath her thrashing about with a body in its giant maw.
No no no no no no.
Another figure near the thrashing shape tried vainly to stab at it with a small dagger.
I don't want to see this. I don't want to see this. Whatever this is, I don't want to see it.
MERI PHAEDRA ECE! SWIM AWAY!
The voice had roared and then the scene of a limp body, a thrashing shark and a male Celph trying vainly to retrieve the dead one receded. They disappeared. And Meri returned to herself.
She stared at the shark tearing the fish to pieces. She swam away as fast as she could.
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Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2010 6:32 pm
.The Emptiness of the Ocean.
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