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 Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 12:19 pm
Herald 
When you come upon the scene, it is a weak and dying Herald that you find, unable even to stand. A few scattered feathers on the ground are the only remnants of the wings it once possessed. It has come to this place to die...or be saved? That, of course, is up to you.
You are alone when you find the angel. The Heralds have long gone unsaved, and though it appears to you, it does not hold much hope of living on. Near to where the two of you meet rests a grey stone slab that the angel seems desperate to reach. With your help, the Herald climbs upon it, needing something from you to save its life. What will you choose to give it? And what significance does that item hold for you? Is it a family heirloom? Something you happened to have on hand? Something you'd purchased earlier that day? A lucky charm?
You may have noticed that many details have been left off. This is because we want you to have plenty of freedom to develop the scene yourself. Consider time of day, weather, season, etc. when you post. Tish gave a sigh of frustration as she slogged her way through the snow. How had she ever gotten it in her mind to try to do Valentine’s Day shopping on the first day of the month, when it was snowy and cold and just plain unpleasant? Still, she had wanted to find the perfect gift for Niko. It would be their first valentine’s day as a couple, and it needed to be special. She had gone through three stores before giving up. How was she supposed to find something suitable for an elf? His tastes were probably way beyond what the bottle-brunette could afford. Tish sighed and clutched to the little bag she carried with her, its contents wrapped securely within acres of protective bubble-wrap. She didn’t really know why she had bought it – well, scratch that, she did. It was an exact replica of the trinket box she’d had as a small child, the one her older cousin had broken on her eighth birthday. Finding such an exact replica had made her day – up until she realized she had to walk home with it through seemingly endless acres of snow. Ugh, she hated snow, it was insane for anyone to enjoy the stuff, or want to be out in it for any length of time and – and what was that? Tish’s eyes widened and she nearly dropped the bag she carried as she hurried over to the . . . person . . . .lying in the snow. “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh, are you okay?” There was no answer from the beautiful fallen creature, aside from a desperate, pleading look, and a glance towards a nearby flat stone, and an almost compelling feeling of need. This person, being, whatever-it-was wanted…. On the rock? But it was clearly dying shouldn’t she call an ambulance instead and try to get it out of the snow? A weak glance from the being told her ‘no’ without a word being said. Instead, Tish helped it onto the rock, feeling a horrible wrenching guilt as its life seemed to fade before her very eyes. It was only after she had helped it onto the rock that she saw the feathers in the snow. “An – an angel?” Tish asked quietly, awe dripping from her voice even as she tried to steady the poor thing. “I – what do you need from me? Anything, anything I can do to help you, I’ll give it!” The only answer she received was a weak, pleading look from eyes that were growing progressively dimmer. Biting her lip, Tish looked around for something, anything – she didn’t even really know what! All there was in sight though was herself, the angel, the rock, and a lot of snow swirling around them. There were the lights of houses in the distance, but none close enough to be of any help, not with as quickly as this being was dying. “I’m – I’m so sorry I don’t think I have anything that can help you,” she said, and was nearly crushed by the weight of that desperate gaze, looking to her for hope and help. At last, Tish looked to the little bag she carried with her, and, slowly at first, then more quickly, she took out the little decorated trinket box and unwrapped it from the bubblewrap. Her heart ached at sacrificing something she felt like she’d only just gotten back, but if it would help this creature somehow. . . she pressed the trinket box into the being’s hands. “Here, take this, I hope it helps you.” She nearly fell over in surprise when the trinket box seemed to vanish – wait, so had the angel, being, whatever it was. Where had it gone? Oh, well. More weirdness; living in Gaia tended to make one immune to that sort of thing after a while. “I hope you’re okay now, wherever you are.”
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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 12:28 pm
Herald 02.01.10
You sit inside, protected and comfortable as the weather rages outside. The evening meal is on the table, and you're filled with an intense feeling of well-being.
Your mind veers, against your will, to the dying creature that you had come across. It certainly wouldn't be comfortable tonight. What are you thinking? It's probably already long gone. But...what if it isn't?
What's it actually like outside? Do you go in search of the Herald? What do you bring to make it more comfortable, if so? Do you even find it?
Tish sat the T.V. try down in front of her favorite sofa, enjoying the mouth-watering scents of grilled chicken and fresh veggies. She wasn't the best of cooks but she could grill chicken like no tomorrow, and she couldn't wait to eat while reading her favorite book, 'The Masterharper of Pern'. Unfortunately, however, she wasn't going to be given much chance to enjoy this peaceful evening. Though she felt relaxed and content, almost as soon as she picked up the book to read, thoughts of the mysterious vanished being popped into her mind. She shook her head and tried to focus on the book while her dinner cooled, but couldn't shake the thought that even though it had vanished, the being was still out there somewhere. Out there, in the snow, and the cold, and it had been so horribly broken... With a little sigh of frustration that the thoughts wouldn't leave her alone, Tish got up, took the meal to the kitchen and placed the plate in the fridge. She'd have to reheat it later, when she got back. She wasn't going to be able to put her thoughts to rest until she'd found that poor thing and done something more to help it. Almost slamming the refrigerator door closed, she stomped upstairs, grabbed some blankets and a flashlight before tugging on her heaviest of heavy green coats and headed back downstairs, through the cozy, fireplace-warmed living room, and out the door into a world of swirling white cold. It took her a little while to reach to place where the being had vanished, mostly because it was hard to see with the snow blowing all around, but once she got there, her heart nearly stopped. The poor, pathetic-looking being was there again, sitting on the rock and looking in her direction as if it had been expecting her. Had it been, she wondered for a moment, but then shook the thoughts from her mind and went over, wrapping both blankets around the waif's thin, still somehow-broken seeming shoulders. "You poor thing, have you been out here all this time?" She asked, helping it to undsteady feet and starting to half-drag it back towards her home. "Were you waiting for me? I'm sorry I didn't come sooner, but you vanished... let's get you back to m house and warmed up. Maybe you'll start getting better, then." Ethereally blue eyes watched her, seeming to have no comprehension whatsoever of what Tish was saying. Realizing this, Tish quirked a sad smile. "You really are messed up, aren't you, you poor thing? Well don't worry, you're going to come home with me and you'll be able to heal and get better." She would personally make sure of it.
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Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 8:22 pm
Herald 03.07.10
Time has passed, and your Herald is becoming fond of you and beginning to show affection. You two have grown closer, but that's not the only aspect of growing.
The Herald is maturing into a young child before your eyes. No longer dying and weak and no longer sexless, it now has beautiful angel white hair and dark blue eyes of unusual depth. You may have noticed that the Herald has been scratching and touching its back for a while, and now it's finally explained. The herald's wings have started to grow in.
How do you deal with the child's discomfort? Do you have any remedies to ease it? How does he/she react? How do the wings reflect the item given?
"Lisette? Lissy, sweet, it's time to get up from your nap," Tish called out to the angel, trying to figure out where she'd gone. Ever since she'd brought the injured angel home, the poor darling had done almost nothing but sleep. And considering that there were two toddler girls in this house, sleeping constantly was nearly impossible for anyone who wasn't practically dead. Fortunately, it didn't seem like Lisette - as Tish had decided to call the angel, after some talking with Luvenia and Miriam - was going to die, not any more. However, she never had spoken, and that worried Tish. Was the poor thing mute? And that scratching at her back. . . what was that about? It had been going on for nearly three days now, and only seemed to be getting worse. Every time the brunette looked in on the angel, the being's hands were on her back, scratching and looking pained. And now, as she looked in on the guest room where she had last seen the being, Tish realized why. Sitting in the bed, soft golden blonde hair framing blue-violet eyes, was a baby with delicate, almost glass-like wings. "Aaaaah?" The fragile-looking little one said, reaching out tiny hands to Tish, then wimpering as a shard fell from a wing to land on the bed, sparkling in the sunlight that streamed through the window. "Aaaaaah!" She said again, this time in a distressed tone as her eyes watered. Somehow Tish knew this was still Lisette... had someone pushed a reset button on the darling? Oh well, how it had happened didn't matter for the moment, as the brunette went over to the now-official (she supposed, it wasn't like she could expect the angel to go back home like this, anyway) member of her household, and picked her up to rock her, being careful of the delicate, nearly transparent wings. "Shh, shh, little one," she cooed, rubbing the tiny child's back cautiously, scratching gently at the itchy places where the wings were emerging. Hm..... some salve might be able to help that. . . what were these wings made of, anyway? Adjusting the toddler in her arms, Tish reached over to the bed and picked up the wing shard. Porcelain?!? Looking closer, she realized that it really was made of porcelain. "So that's what you did with my trinket box, hm? Well, that's okay. I'm glad it helped you," she said quietly, rocking the still-upset little one in her arms. "Well then. . . . welcome home, Little Lissy."
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Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 9:18 pm
Quote: - It's now time for your Herald to learn about the birds and the bees- and how hard they sting! What a neglecting guardian... How does your Herald react to a bee-sting, and how did it happen? (Submitted by Ran-Ran-Chan) Ouch, it stung me! "Lisette! Lissy, where are you?" Tish called, looking frantically around the backyard for her little blonde angel. It was close to snack time in the Jenkins household, and the other children were all waiting patiently at the child's table in the kitchen, hopeful for the juice and small cookies they were expecting to get. The only one who was missing was Lissy, which was in and of itself completely abnormal. The tiny blonde was almost always following one of her sisters around, and sometimes even her brother. Rarely, if ever, was she by herself; and she certainly never missed snack time. Because of this, Tish was more worried than she might have been for one of the older children. Still looking around, the brunette worked her way through the backyard, peeking into the windows of the child's playhouse to see if the littlest Jenkins was in there, to no effect. At last, however, she heard a soft crying, and her mother's instincts led her to the shrubs in the corner of the yard, where she found Lisette curled up on her knees, little porcelain wings fluttering off and on. "Lissy, what is it, baby?" Tish asked, scooping the tiny one up, and almost immediately seeing the large, painful welt caused by a bee sting on the side of Lisette's neck. The little blonde clung to her mother with one arm, the other hand moving to rest over the painful welt, sniffling as her eyes welled over with tears. "Striped bird bit me," she said around her sniffles as Tish carried her inside. The brunette bobbed her head a little and rocked the angel. "Wasn't mean to bird..." Tish carried Lissy to the kitchen and set her on the counter, while she looked around for some ice to soothe the sting. "It wasn't a bird, Lissy," she said quietly as she gathered an ice pack from the freezer and placed it over the place where the stinger had once been - Lisette must have already pulled it out in her initial panic. "Not a bird?" Lissy echoed, squirming away from the ice pack. "Cold!" she declared, refusing to move her hand until Tish gave her the look of do-not-argue. "No, not a bird. That was a bee, Lissy - and you didn't do anything bad. Bees just sting people sometimes," Tish said. Lissy seemed to contemplate this for a moment, then nodded to herself - before crying out as the movement hurt her sting. "Bees're mean," she said, wings fluttering. "Mean an' scary. Keep 'em away from me!" Little did small Herald or parent know, this was to be the root incident of a phobia that would last well on into Lisette's life.
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Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 12:41 pm
Prompt Messenger Reborn-Child- Your child wants you to read him/her a story, and will not stop pestering you until you do so. What book is it? Why does your child want you to read it to them, why this certain book? Is it an old favorite, or new? Is it a bedtime story, or a seemingly random request? Do you read it to them? Bats and Birds "Mama? Mama, read?" Lissy asked, sitting at her mother's feet and tapping her legs with a cardboard picture book. "Mama? Read, please?" Tish looked down to see what her little angel was tapping against her. A smile spread across her face as she recognized the title - "Stellaluna". Tish scooped up the angel and book in one smooth motion, and rubbed noses with the tiny blonde. "You want me to read this story, Missy Lissy?" She asked, smiling as the little angels crunched up her nose at the nickname. Tiny fingers traced the outline of the clumsy bat on the cover, and Lisette nodded. "Yes, Mama. Read please?" Blue violet eyes watched her mother anxiously, hoping that the answer would be yes,and not a no. She really wanted to hear this story read to her. She loved hearing Mama read, but she loved it when Mama read this story most of all. Tish smiled again. "Do you know what this story's about, Lissy?" She asked, though of course Lisette knew - she'd only begged Tish to read this story to her more than a dozen times over. Lisette nodded, blonde hair bobbing as her deep blue eyes sparkled. The little angel's translucent wings fluttered behind her, sometimes dropping a shed piece of porcelain onto her mother's lap. She tapped the bat on the cover and smiled. "Stell-luna bat gets a bird mommy af'er she falls." Tish nodded and cuddledtheangel up to her, beginning to read. Occasionally, her voice was echoed by that of Lisette's, as the tiny one recited her favorite lines from the book. When it was finished, Lisette looked up at Tish, a thoughtful expression in her deep, blue-violet eyes. "Mama? Am I like Stell-luna?" She asked, tracing the outline of the baby bat's wings. Tish blinked and tilted her head. "What do you mean, Lissy?" "Well.... Stell-luna fell f'om the sky and got a new mama tha' taught her to be wha' she wasn'... an' I fell f'om th' sky too, an' you're not like me, Mama..." It was the most the angel had ever spoken t one time, and it cleared things up for Tish in a heartbeat. No wonder her little one loved this story so much! Hugging Lisette close, she kissed the top of the tiny blonde head and murmured, "Maybe a little, Lissy, because you did fall from the sky and I'm keeping you as mine - but I'm never going to keep you from being who you are. Never." "So... I can be a bat? Not bird when I'm not?" "Never, Lissy." Llisette gigged, then and grabbing the book in her hands she forced it up in front of her Mama's face. "Mama, read again, please!"
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Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 6:36 pm
Prompt For all ages- Your herald seems to have had a nightmare. What was it about? Is this a first time occurrence, or has it been happening often as of late? Can you, their parent, comfort them? What do you do to reassure them that it was only a dream? Was it only a dream? Do they respond to your reassurances? Do they tell you what the dream was, or is the fear still too near? A scary, scary dream. “Mama, Mama, wake up! I’m scared!” Tish was woken up from a dead sleep by the feeling of a tiny body crawling into the bed beside her, and the sound of soft whimpering. Knowing who it was without even having to open her eyes, the brunette rolled over and tugged her little angel child to her, stroking her hair and cuddling her. The little one snuggled close to her, wrapping her arms around her mother’s neck asshe shook with fright. "Nightmares again, Lissy?" Tish asked softly; her voice and Lisette's whimpering were the only sounds disturbing the silence of the night, other than the soft snores of baby Xelly down the hall. Tish didn't need to look at her angel-child to know the tiny one was nodding and Lisette cowered closer, her wings trembling. "Yes," she said, eyes filling with tears that spilled over into wet splotches on the fabric of her Mama's pajama top. "Was falling again. . . down and down and down." Lisette shuddered, her wings fluttering with the motion. The little angel had never seemed more frightened in the entire time that Tish had known her. Worried for her child, the brunette held her closer and rocked her. "It was just a dream, Lissy, you're okay now," the adult murmured, feeling the child relax against her and snuggle close, clearly desiring the security and warmth that only her mother could provide her with. Within moments, the tiny angel relaxed, her eyes closing as soft lashes rested against her cheeks, and Tish smiled. She was worried though - she knew all children had nightmares of falling at times, but to have them regularly for over a week? Well, she'd keep her eye on Lissy for now, but if this didn't get any better, she would find someone to talk to about it. And maybe see if she knew anyone who had good remedies for night terrors. . . anything to let Lissy sleep peacefully again. Maybe it had something to do with what had happened to her before Tish had found her on that cold evening. Maybe it was just the thoughts of a frightened child, resurfacing in the form of nightmares since they couldn’t be worked out during the day. Tish honestly didn’t know. All that mattered was that for now, Lissy was sleeping soundly once again. The sleeping angel let out a soft sigh as she cuddled close to her Mama in her sleep, relaxed and peaceful at last..
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Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 1:47 pm
Herald 06.21.10
Your Herald has been acting strangely all morning, sneaking around the house, and jumping at every small noise. The cause of this behavior is discovered shortly; you find that a priceless object has been broken and it would appear that it was your Herald that broke it.
What is the object and what is its importance? How do you react to this? Do you punish them or let them off with a warning? How does your Herald react? Was it your Herald that broke the object or maybe s/he was an observer to the act?
Angel in Hiding Lissy squeaked and pulled the tablecloth down a little further, trying to hide herself from the sight of her mother walking past. The tiny herald held her breath and prayed her mother didn't see her - or the broken remnants of the pretty bowl that had been on top of this very table earlier in the day. Mentally, the blonde started counting in her head. 'One... two... four... seven... eleventy...' Those were the only numbers that she knew, even vaguely, and so she repeated those for a while until the fact that breathing was required to stay alive made itself known and Lisette took in a huge gulp of air - alerting her mother to her presence. Tish started for a second, and flipped up the tablecloth, a smile spreading across her face at the sight of her angel in peach clothing. "There you are, Lissy! I've been looking for you for almost an... hour..." She trailed off as she saw the broken shards of the bowl sitting next to the guilty-looking blonde. She tilted her head and frowned, before grabbing the child and scooping her out from under there, away from the dangerous - and proof of guilt - glass shards. "Lisette, did you break that bowl?" Tish asked firmly, knowing that her youngest blonde was just as likely to try and cover up the broken bowl for her siblings' sake as to have actually broken it herself. Lissy ducked her head, her blue-violet eyes filling with tears as she bit her lip and squinched her tiny fists up in her mother's shirt. For a moment she shook her head wildly, trying to deny it, before she burst into tears and squealed, "I didn' mean to, Mama! Luvvie an' Xelly were playin' tag and I was watching them wi' Miri but they started chasing me too an' I didn' want to play, so I climbed up onna table to get away from them and I - I didn't mean to but the bowl fell off and it - I broke it Mama, I didn't mean tooooo!" The normally quiet little one sobbed and wailed her apologies as her mother tried to reassure her - the bowl wasn't worth all that much, and Tish was honestly more worried that Lisette had cut herself on the sharp glass shards than she was about a simple broken bowl. At least now, though, she knew why Lissy had made herself scarce all morning. The little one, who was always following one or the other of her siblings around, watching them get into and out of mischief, and yet rarely participating. The littlest blonde child was almost always easy to find - and the fact that she had been attempting to hide all day, and had actually hurried from a room once as Tish walked in had set off alarm bells in the brunette's mind. Now that she knew what was going on though, she understood. Lissy had never done anything that permanently damaged an object before, and the little angel had no idea what to expect. She had seen what had happened to her siblings, which ranged from no discipline to mild or moderate discipline depending on the deliberateness of the action and value of the object, b ut still had no idea what that would mean for her, so she was absolutely terrified. Eventually, Tish got Lissy calmed down and sat her on her lap in their favorite rocking chair, letting the blonde calm down at the pace she chose. Finally, with a half-sob and a hiccup, Lissy looked up at her Mama through reddened eyes and lisped a tiny, "What will Mama do?" Tish smiled reassuringly and hugged Lissy. "Well, Missy Lissy, Mama's going to check you over for any hurts you got from that glass, then I'm going to clean up the broken bowl - and replace it with one that won't break. And you, Missy - you'll go get your finger paints and play with your sisters and brother, okay?" Later that evening, a picture drawn in blue and green finger paints that scrawled out "I heart Mama" in childish handwriting was hung on the fridge, Lissy's wings fluttering in pride as it was displayed with her siblings' works.
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 12:58 pm
Herald 08.03.10
Your Herald is now a child with a personality all her own. Except for the wings, it's almost easy to forget that she was once an angel, isn't it? Even she seems to have forgotten. But the past hasn't forgotten her...
Your Herald has been dredging up odd bits and phrases from some hidden corner of the mind.
What are the words? What do they mean, and how does this fragment of memory return?
What were those words again? Lisette sighed quietly and bit her lip, lifting her pencil from the sketchpad, tapping one end against her chin. The familiar tickling was at the back of her mind again, causing her to lose her focus on her drawing. Why wouldn't that feeling go away? It was getting to be rather bothersome... it seemed as if every time she sat down to draw, the feeling would come back, occasionally accompanied by words that didn't make much sense... 'Peace be... will come in time...'Giving up on drawing for the moment, Lisette put her things away and walked over to the window, rubbing at her temples to still the headache that was slowly starting to form. Every time those words popped into her head, they were followed by an ache that just wouldn't go away, no matter what the young Herald did. Sighing again, the blonde climbed onto a nearby window seat and pulled her knees to her chest, her small wings fluttering behind her. It was there that Tish found her a few hours later, when she came into her oldest daughter's bedroom to check on her. "Lissy? Lisette, honey, are you all right?" Her mother's voice snapped Lisette out of her headache-induced doze, and the herald turned her wide, violet-blue gaze on her mother. “Hm...? Oh, hello Mama, did you need something?” She asked rubbing at her forehead with both hands, even as the words danced in her mind again. ’Peace... inspiration...’ Lisette wasn’t quite aware of what happened for the next few minutes, other than how bad her headache became after the words reasserted themselves in her mind. The next thing Lisette was aware of, she had been wrapped in her mother’s arms and was being rocked back and forth. “Lissy, Lissy baby, it’s okay,” Tish said soothingly, and it was only then that Lissy realized that she was crying. She didn’t quite know why, but it was something to do with the words... whoever they were meant for... somehow, that person... it was there, in the back of her mind, but the blonde just couldn’t put her finger on it. “Mama, have you ever... forgotten something really important, and you start to remember it, but it’s hard and it hurts?” The herald asked at last, her delicate wings fluttering with her distress. She stared up at her mother, blue eyes on blue, and hoped that the ever-flowing fount of wisdom that was her parent – at least in her eyes, anyway – would have some kind of advice for her, something to help explain what was going on and to fix it, maybe even to stop it entirely. Unfortunately, Tish had no words of wisdom to give her daughter in this situation, and it showed as her eyes darkened with sadness. The brunette reached down and stroked Lisette’s hair, shaking her head slowly. “No, Lissy, I can’t say that I have... but then, I’m not an angel. Maybe this has something to do with that?” Tish suggested quietly, and Lisette blinked while she mulled that idea over. Finally, the blonde nodded and pulled away from her mother’s embrace, smiling a little. “Perhaps... maybe I should try and remember it all. I think it would stop hurting then.” With that thought in mind, Lisette got up and walked back over to her sketchbook, picking it up and resuming from where she had left off.
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