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 Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 3:04 pm
((Okay, feel free to post after this.))
The caves bustled with activity, men and women abounded, running this way and that with arms full of material to trade, tools to be sharpened, and baskets to be filled.
Tonight was the Seventh full moon of the year 7453 by Mortag calander, the eighth month of the year, a frightful night for some and celebritory for others. Young men waited around the booming anti-chamber, some nervous, most excited, and some plain passed out from celebration. Well, then again, what wasn't to be celebrated? Tonight, by the morning dawn, all the boys in their twentieth year would have brought back a bride and fufilled their duty to themselves. The doors were still sealed as a booming voice echoed throughout the caves.
"Quiet! I need Quiet! By Mortag this colony never ceases its talking! Boys! Gentleman! Ladies! Lend me your ears for but a moment!"
The people, rushing about in excitement, stopped to look upward at the staircase to the door, covered on both sides by a ramp, very intricate in its carvings. For above them stood the majestic Elders, led by Micheal and Anabell Dementia, who stared down happily. They were the kindest people you could ever lay eyes to. It was said that Micheal had been all a fright that he'd be banished by his own kidnappee his first night out, but that hadn't been the case. Theyd fallen in love.
Micheal smiled.
"Now then, down to buisness! Gentlemen who will accompany themselves into the night tonight please step foreward toward the base of the stairway! Outside, your horses of choosing await you, sadled and ready, and you will venture away to find your future wives. Let me say to you, God willing in full speed! Be back by dawns light!" The boys, a crowd of maybe nine to ten, laughed and cheered, but didn't move just yet, they waited.
~*~
Anabell stepped foreward.
"I have watched, and watched, as each and every of the gentlemen below me grew into the young men they are today, facing hardships, relationships, and friendships... But tonight, you set sail on your lifes ship. Tonight you find the girl who will forever be by your side... Tonight, you leave Mortag.." She seemed a bit weepy, and imediatly started walking down the steps.
"My own son is amoung you, his brothers in arms, my friends sons, my nephews, my family, all of you are my children in a way, never forget that..." She stepped to the side and watched the boys, most taller than her, who looked at her with eyes full of excitement. She smilled.
"Bring them home with pride, with delegation, and with honor. For above all in this colony women are the center, we lead you, and follow you, till our very end. We can destroy you, become your downfall if we wanted, and so be kind. Remember your place. One women, one chance at love. Good luck..."
She sat on the edge of the staircase as the boys bustled around, finishing their getting ready, but one stepped foreward to aproach her, and she smiled. "Are you ready my son?"
~*~
Richard moved toward his mother carefully, wearing his riding gear and glasses, gloves off of his hands for now. He was one of the nervous ones. With the likeness of those before him who had done so he came to a stop infront of his mother and sighed, rubbing his temple. "It's a bit more than I expeted, being this close to it all..." He dropped the facade and immediatly went right to the point, staring at his mother in confusion. "What if I can't find her, the right one, what if I can't get her back here? What if I hurt her? What if she gets herself hurt? ... What if she hates me?" He pulled off his glasses and looked around, the room was blurry without them, but his mothers laugh was crystal clear. He looked at her carefully and put them back on. "Well?"
~*~
Anabell smiled once again. "What if you never found out? What if you stayed here and let everyone one else run off and find a wife and you stayed here all alone forever? It's not a pleasent thought..." She put a hand to his cheek, mindful of him. "You'll go... You'll find her, and you'll fall in love." She looked to the other boys around the room, saying goodbye to their parents, friends, and getting ready to leave. "You all will."
((Man, that took a while to write...))
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 6:00 pm
((I must say that, obviously, I had nothing to do with the creation of the below song. Duh. It's Anyone Else But You by the Moldy Peaches. Love that song.
Am I safe to assume it's dusk/nighttime...?))
Jubilation really was too old for the treehouse. Granted, it had been built for a thirteen year old girl instead of a child, but she had grown a lot since first moving here. It was more of a cubbyhole than a room to her now. Jube twisted inside so she was crouching on her stomach, the lower half of her body hanging out over the planks of wood nailed to the tree that served as a ladder. She retrieved her box of lyrics and grinned to herself. Not tampered with. Good.
Jube rifled through the papers within for a moment before retrieving her favorite project, then grabbed her guitar case. With a practiced yet awkward bit of fumbling, she maneuvered herself so she was sitting on the floor of the cabin with her feet propped up on the trunk or the tree, sitting up straight. The sticker covered, battered acoustic guitar that had served her so long rested on her knees. Jube glanced at the chords and lyrics for a moment, then nodded and turned back to face out into the waning sunlight.
Her smooth, rich contralto rose into the air.
"You're a part time lover and a full time friend,
The monkey on your back is the latest trend,
I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else...
But you..."
Jubilation kept playing the chords on her sticker-covered acoustic guitar while she leaned forward to check the sheet music. She winced; the male part of the duet's part was up next.
"I kiss..."
No. That's not the right note.
Damn.
I can't sing that low... A tenor, I could manage, but not a bass...
Jubilation cleared her throat and started again.
Nathaniel was one of the first to be away from that place. He had no parents to part with, after all -- None that cared. He tugged the gloves of his riding suit tighter on his hands, straightened his alreaady immaculate collar, rubbed an imaginary itch on the back of his neck... Anticipation was making his heart flutter uncharacteristically. Was it for the escape he would have afterward, or the promise of something greater? Something he could finally center himself on, something...
No. Someone.
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 6:16 pm
(It is safe to asume that, yes. xd )
Anabell watched all the boys ferrating around, fidgiting and such, and pulled her own riding gloves on properly. Her job was to watch the boys, make sure they stayed out of harms way, and bring them back home. In the back of her mind, something bothered her. As Richard said goodbye to his father she wandered about, graceful under the light of the atriums roof, glowing by the force of the magicaly powered crystals there, all the way to the other side of the staircase, she smiled as she neared Nathaniel. "Nervous, my boy?" Her voice had that wisdom, the honor she carried with her, ringing in it. She noticed his eyes, how they shined with anticipation. She knew all the boys, all those who lived in the caverns, and most of their lifes stories. "There's nothing to be frightened of, change can be a good thing..." If she only understood the change he planned on, it would be a worried voice she spoke with, not the calm tone she used now.
~*~
Richard pulled his riding collar to a near choking level and repeated it, pulling then on his glases. It wasn't good for them, they already streatched much to much. He saw his mother walk away and wondered for a moment why, but was then distracted by a shout from aboove.
"Two minutes untill the moon rises! Two minutes!"
He took another deep breath; Two minutes untill the doors opened.
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 5:31 am
((...They're riding horses, right? ._.; ))
Nathaniel started a little at the sound of the Elder's voice, then gave a bit of a forced smile. Most of his smiles were forced these days, but that was hopefully was doing to change after tonight... if all went well. "It's not that I'm afraid, I'm just... not really sure of what I'll do when I find her..."
Jubilation paused singing for as the light faded to turn on the little solar powered lamp inside the treehouse that had collected power all day. Even though she sat in the door, its illumination was more than enough to read by. Then Jube caught sight of the moon just barely, barely beginning to show over the horizon. It was her tradition to watch it rise whenever she was outside, so she did -- With one arm resting in the crook of the guitar and the other steadying her on the side of the door, she looked into the night sky with the smallest hint of a smile on her face.
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:35 am
((That's what I said, but the towns around the caves would be used to it I suppose, they'll have their own legends about the horse-riders who steal women...))
Anabell's eyes tightened just a bit, Nathaniel was one of the few boys who had become a bit distant... She'd do well to watch over him tonight. And her own son. "You'll do just fine, with any luck she'll be as suprised as I was to encounter a handsome youth on horse-back asking me to come away with him. We had our ledgends..." She smiled and turned toward the door.
Richard turned toward the door as well, watching, as everyone else was, as the magic that kept them safe year after year corroded, unsealing the door for this one night, and then smiled. Now was the time, he heard his fathers voice again, over the noise.
"Go now! Remember you have untill sunrise to return! If by that time you are not home, there is not much we can do... You will be sealed away from Mortag, and face the sun..."
On the less than happy note, the throng surged foreward. Richard with them, moving up the staircase quickly and nimbley. Tonight, he wished himself luck.
Anabell motioned in front of her with a hand, allowing Nathaniel to go first. As far as she was concerned, tonight was a night of honor, for all young men. She smiled at her husband once, and then followed all the others out of the way, onto the stairs. She needed to catch up.
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 11:13 am
(( After this, I won't post as Nate until his match comes back. I'm also switching to first person, for Jube at least, because it's way more natural to me. gonk
The below song is Existentialism on Prom Night by Straylight Run. I might be doing this a lot.))
Nathaniel smiled his thanks to the older woman and urged his horse forward, riding into the night.
~*~
The moon was huge and full as it crept over the horizon, showing itself slowly like a self-conscious girl at a pool party. For some reason, I suddenly remembered the urban legend about the horsemen from below, who would snatch young maidens and spirit them away, never to return. I laughed quietly at myself, shaking my head and returning to my papers. Rubbish. Mole people kidnappers? What next? Dinosaur suicide bombers?
I took a swig of water from my reused plastic water bottle and unearthed my mp3 player. I put on my bulky headset so that only one speaker was over my ear and switched it to a song I was learning by ear, now frustrated with my own composition. I cleared my throat as the opening music played, then rose my voice to sing along, cupping a hand over my free ear so I could hear the notes I made compared to the original ones. A Capella, this time -- I was focusing on the words -- so my arm rested idly on the guitar.
"When the sun came up
We were sleeping in
Sunk inside our blankets
Sprawled across the bed
And we were dreaming
There are moments when, when I know it
And the world revolves around us
And we're keeping it, keeping it all going
This delicate balance
Vulnerable
All knowing..."
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 7:33 pm
Anabell followed the throng of boys outside by her own horse, after her a few people emerged, mostly dressed in dark clothing, and they set off at once toward the nearest town to trade. She watched happily, glad that the materials they'd needed for the past months would be supplied for the mining materials they had. With a smile, and a longing for the things she used to know, she sped off to follow.
~*~
Richard began his ride down one of the closer streets. But when he found nothing but strict looking houses he knew it wouldn't be the right sort of girl. His horse sped up, hooves beating against the concrete with a metalic ring from the harseshoes. He glanced out into the night, slowing when he came to a more urban area. What he really didn't need right now was to be spotted.
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Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 8:38 am
I paused my music as a foreign sound came into hearing -- Hoofbeats. And it wasn't hooves on dirt or grass, but pavement... Who would be riding a horse at this time of night? And through a town, no less? My heart beat a little faster, I felt myself shiver a little despite the warmth of the air. I shook my head again. If I were in the house, I'd be laughing... I cleared my throat and continued singing.
"Sing like you think no one's listening
You would kill for this
Just a little bit
Just a little bit
You would
You would..."
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 7:41 pm
(I will probably do it in first person as well if that's okay)
Alena was in her room sitting at her medium-large brown desk, she was sitting in a rather large black chair. She was writing a new poem and it was going just right for her at least,
Guide Me
Sun, guide me towards the heavens.
Moon, look for me in the night sky.
Stars, teach me how to dream.
Sky, remind me of day and night.
Sea, protect me.
Stone, remeber me as a pretty flower.
Night, bring me day.
Mountain, Show me the way.
Dawn, dance with me.
Morning, tell me how to be beautiful.
"Ah. There we go. This is a keeper." She said smiling to herself, as she carefully ripped the page out of her notebook and placed it into a purple folder. "Hmm. What should I write next? Oh, I wonder why that story came to my mind just now?" She asked herself as she placed her purple pencil on top of her forehead, It was an old legend of people namely men coming up out of the ground and kidnapping girls. "I wonder who first started that stupid old legend?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 7:20 am
((This post is set before or during yours, Pey.))
Nathaniel was terribly self-conscious as he went house to house on his horse, peering through windows whenever the urge struck him. He felt like a criminal -- And that's what this was, wasn't it? Sure, it was necessary, but surely there was some other way... He couldn't help but think of their families. Nathaniel felt terrible to take that away from anyone, never having experienced a happy home himself. the unfamiliar feeling of doubt suddenly assailed him, pricking at him mercilessly...
Then he saw her.
Through the open window, he saw her sitting at her desk, facing the wall to the right of the window. Long, almost iridescent blue hair cascaded down her shoulders, fell in front of deep ocean eyes, eyes that focused on the pencil and the paper in front of her. With as little thrill, he realized she was writing, and by the pensive look in her eyes, it came from the heart.
Nathaniel squinted to make out the words, desperate for an insight into this girl's mind. He wanted to understand her -- No, needed to understand her. As much as he needed air to breathe, or food, or...
Or her to be his.
Nathaniel waited another few painful moments as he struggled to compose something charming to say in relation to her poem. Words of his own was never his strong suit, and his buzzing mind did not help matters at all. When he could wait no longer, Nathaniel took a deep, shuddering breath and swung one leg over the window, rapping on the glass to get her attention.
"But you don't need so many of those things, my darling," said Nathaniel, in a smooth, calm voice that surprised him. "You don't need the sun; you are already heavenly. You don't need the morning; no one could make you more beautiful..."
Nathaniel swung his other leg into the room, feeling a little more sure of himself. He continued, taking a step forward with every sentence, "You don't need the stars; any dream you dream is already lovely. You don't need the sky; you have it captured already in your eyes..."
he took the last step forward, feeling his cheeks start to burn. "and you don't need the dawn; I will dance with you."
((<3))
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 5:21 pm
(Alright)
For a second, Alena thought she was day-dreaming again as she heard someone bang their leg against her window. She turned hesitating to see a young man who seemed somewhat close to her age crawling into her room, she jumped up so fast that her folder fell to the ground which made her poems fly out and drop onto the ground. "W-wh-who are you!" She screamed, even though his voice seemed soothing and rather calm this very man could be a murderer. "Answer me!" Great! My parents had to choose this weekend or week--who cares to go on another honeymoon. Alena yelled in her head not knowing what else to do.
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 5:33 pm
Nathaniel didn't speak at first, instead crouching to pick up her fallen poems. He carefully replaced them in their folder, slowly making sure no corners poked out.
"I am Nathaniel Branam. I'm not going to hurt you..." he made an effort to sound reassuring. "Come with me."
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:01 pm
Richard seemed oddly nervous, the dark had never truely bothered him, it couldn't, not when he lived in caves... But still, the nights darkness, burdened only by the moon, made even the darkest of his cave home seem sinister.
Untill he saw, and heard, his beacon of hope.
The solar-powered lamp-lit tree house rose above the house it lay behind only ever so much, but her voice... That voice... It reached him even past the next three houses. He never looked in the windows of the houses he passed as his horse began making its way on the street toward that one house.
It seemed perfect really, how she was sitting in a treehouse, even at her age, and how beautifuly she sang!
He lept off the back of his horse very suddenly, not having the ability to wait on the creatures slow pace any more, but contradited that odd message by bringing it along with him by its lead rope. His eyes stayed focused as he passed the front of the house, ever so quietly, and came to stand in its shadowed corner, near enough by the tree to see, but not be seen particularly well.
Keep singing, please, keep singing...
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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 5:43 am
Ah, my favorite part of the song. To this day, I don't know if the lines are part of the "story" of the song, or self reference, but to hear or sing these words never failed to make my hair stand on end. On a whim, I kicked my fingers into action again and began strumming the first chord that came to mind on my guitar, a smile on my face.
"Sing me something soft,
Sad and delicate,
Or loud and out of key,
Sing me anything,
we're glad for what we've got,
Done with what we've lost
Our whole lives laid out right in front of us..."
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