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 Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 12:03 am
Blue arrivesHuni Pi Huni groaned out in misery from the kitchen, she was nursing her first (and so far only) cup of tea. Despite the medicines she had downed to calm her upset stomach, the red head still felt ill. She wasn't as nauseus as she had been a few days after the feast, but she still wasn't feeling her best. It was good that Ning and Icing were the only ones in the shop, she wasn't sure if she could handle anything stressful at the moment. Prolixity Hopefully it would be a short errand, Prolixity mused to himself as he hurried down the street. He'd gotten the recommendation from a friend, looked up the stationery shop's address in the phone book, and fully intended to pick out a new journal, pay for it, and get home before Merlyn woke up. Kher was home to keep an eye on the baby, but he was in the first stages of a ferocious cold, and the less exposure the better. There was the shop. He pushed open the door and stepped in, looking around to see what they had. Huni Pi Huni froze. Did she just hear the door chime ring? She pushed herself up from the table, muttering prayers fervently under breath that it was just Linneas and Paestri coming back from the Legend HQ.
Egads, what if it was a customer? She had actually begun to hope it was a potential Author as it entailed less work on her part. Pushing the door open, Huni gave a weak smile when she saw Prolixity inside the shop front.
"Hello, can I help you?" Prolixity "I'm just looking for a journal," the feline said, glancing up to the woman who'd emerged from the back of the shop. She looked tired and pale; perhaps she'd got whatever it was that was going around too. "I won't be too long." The paper here seemed to be of excellent quality, thick and creamy. Definitely a good place, if he could find something. Huni Pi "Oh, we have a wide selection of those." Huni nodded as she gestured to the shelves where most of the notebooks were displayed. An odd rumbling in her stomach prompted her to excuse herself, lest she lost control and created an unpleasant mess.
"Feel free to look around," she bade before rushing into the kitchen.
The Study waited until Huni had left before its door creaked open. There was something sluggish in the way it swung, almost lethargic. As if it had taken so much effort to accomplish such a simple task. Prolixity "Thank you - " Prox winced faintly in sympathy as the woman vanished back into the kitchen, looking quite distinctly green now. He felt a little bad for disturbing her when she was so obviously uncomfortable. Well, he'd browse a little more and give her time to regain her composure and settle her stomach. A faint creaking made him turn towards its source. A door stood open - had that been there before? Well, he'd been known to be oblivious, perhaps it had. None of the notebooks on the shelf in front of him had really caught his eye as just right. Maybe something in this newly revealed room ... He stepped forward to cross the threshold. Huni Pi Silently, the door closed behind Prolixity, the only sound was the audible click of the lock. It had effectively trapped another Author in the Study.
The room was something that one normally saw in an old abandoned mansion: A thick layer of dust, shelves upon shelves of leather bound books, old bear skin rug, an even older writing table and to cap it off was the oldest, most worn and largest Tome in the room.
The Study looked like it hadn't been cleaned up in decades, much to Ning and Linneas' dismay. Even the light from the bulb that flickered every now and again seemed dirty. Prolixity Click. Prox glanced back to see that the door had shut behind him. The fur on his neck and tail rose slightly - trapped? Maybe, maybe not. There was no use panicking until he'd determined that for sure. He looked around the room. Perhaps he wasn't actually supposed to be in here. It looked neglected, ancient, certainly not like part of the clean, newer shop outside. Rather like some older parts of the House and Palace, actually. He hesitated. By all rights,. he should turn and go back out. He was trying to hurry, and he probably shouldn't be here. There was a momentary internal struggle, and then his natural curiosity won out, and he padded silently towards the writing table. He'd just have a quick look at the massive book before he went back out. Huni Pi The Tome waited until the feline was close enough, no sense in theatrics if the intended audience wouldn't be able to see it after all. There came a slight breeze, faint but definately present it managed to flip open the Tome's cover.
Whether anyone would notice that the room was devoid of windows was not the Tome's concern. It was far too engrossed in the question it wanted answered:
What do you see? Prolixity ... definitely like the House, Prox noted, suddenly wary. There was something at work here, something aware and awake. He looked down at the page that the book had opened to. A question, directed to him, without a doubt. It might be a dangerous thing to answer the question. Curiosity spurred him on again, and he cautiously picked up the quill that lay ready beside the book (had that been there a moment ago? Did it matter?) and set the tip to the paper, the answer forming in his mind as though set there by some outside force. Shadows and shades. _Tall_Tales_ The moment the feline pulled the pen away, the light burned out. A cold gust suddenly forced its way into the room, and the rattling of bones sounded. A beam of light pierced through the darkness, illuminating a small spot where dark sillhoutes scuttled away. One lone shadow made its way towards the light. It was larger than the others, but it posed no threat. Hesitantly it stopped before the shaft of light, and if shadows were capable of taking a deep breath, it would have done so before it stepped into the light. A gentle melodic howl soon replaced the rattling, the howls belonged to a silvery little boy with canine features. Clutched in one hand was a small, silver tome and in the other was... a dream plushie? Prolixity Prox's fur stood on end as the dark descended and cold fingers of wind raked through his hair. His eyes began to adjust; then he squinted as a beam of light pierced the blackness. ... A child? He stopped breathing for a moment as the sound of a high, harmonic howl quieted the writhing shadows. The canine child brought his muzzle down and looked shyly out to where Prox stood. He pulled the plushie closer against him and held very still, as if waiting for some kind of judgment. "What's your name?" Prox asked softly, aware he was goggling at the child who had so suddenly emerged from - somewhere. From the book. "Blue," the boy replied, and hugged his book and toy close to his chest. "Can we go home? I'm cold." "I - ah - of course," the feline heard himself reply, and held out a hand for the child to take. Blue padded to his side and curled furred fingers into his, still clutching tightly to his things. _Tall_Tales_ The door seemed to have never locked itself and innocently swung open. A small note was left on a table near the Study door. It was in Huni's handwriting.
I'm guessing you were sucked in the Study, long story short that room is magic and if you answer the Tome you end up a child's guardian or Author, whichever title you find better. You're now responsible for the new arrival, and no, I have no clue what they really are. You're welcome here anytime if you have questions. I don't know if I'll have the answers though... but stop by anytime. I'll be feeling better then. Prolixity "This says I'm your Author," Prox said to Blue, perusing the note and trying the new title on for size. A strange thought, but not too far out of the ordinary, the way this world worked. He looked down to the solemn canine boy who still clung to his hand like a lifeline. Blue nodded and neither spoke nor let go. Either he had nothing further to add to the thought, or didn't feel like revealing it, if he did. "We'll come back when the shopkeeper is feeling better," Prox decided, and shot a glance at the closed door at the back of the shop. He had questions, but now was not the time to ask them, apparently. The bell jangled as he left the shop, leading Blue by the hand like a pale shadow.
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Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 12:16 am
Prox's journal Blue is settled in the spare room as I write - well, I suppose I can no longer call it the spare room. It will have to be his room, unless I can convince the House to produce another room for this new charge. I suppose I should be accustomed to this sort of thing by now; Gaia is a world-locus, and a powerful one, and all sorts of magics and lost souls congregate here.
Blue hasn't spoken a word since I brought him back, except an almost-inaudible "Thank you," when I showed him where he could sleep. Kher was startled, but seems as smitten by this shy child as I am. Itae emerged from his rooms, took a look at Blue, and vanished again. He is as antisocial as ever. Merlyn was wailing full force as soon as he woke up, and seemed to take no notice of his new brother. Blue seemed glad enough to retreat into a quiet room where he could curl up and close his eyes.
Teratus thinks I'm crazy, but that's nothing new. I suppose I'm inclined to take in lost souls, remembering how lost I was in my first days. Blue needs a place where he can be safe. I can see that without knowing him at all. I don't even know what he is; he may be a creation of my mind, or a soul lost and looking for a guardian, or a child of some other race, lost and needing a home. I need to find out what he is so I can care for him.
... I need a new journal, too; in the shock of finding myself with a new responsibility, I completely forgot what I'd come for in the first place.
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 9:43 pm
When Blue woke, he stayed under the covers, eyes closed, not yet ready to get out of the comfortable warmth and walk into the day. There were ghosts waiting, and a whole family. He'd had no real idea what was waiting for him when he emerged from the unformed darkness to his Author. Somehow, the concept of brothers was more terrifying than ghosts and things that slithered in the shadows.
He was here now, though, a whole room to himself, and his Author had said he could go out into the garden whenever he wanted, as long as he told someone older where he was going. It was a good garden, full of growth and life. And his room was spare but comfortable. The bed was huge. All for him, too.
He slid out from under the covers finally, having reconciled himself to the fact that there was a world out there and that he needed to go and get up into it again. He had laid his pants and shirt neatly over the chair in the corner the night before. They were still clean, and he slid into them. Then he picked up his plush and swung the door open. There were no ghosts in this bit of the house. It seemed like it was very new.
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 9:44 pm
Blue sat on the floor, arms wrapped around his legs and chin on his drawn-up knees, and watched Merlyn in the playpen. The kitten was busy wrestling a plush toy, hugging it with his forelegs and rabbit-kicking it. He probably ripped up a lot of toys, Blue thought. What was it like to be so comfortable in two different sorts of bodies?
As if he had heard the thought, Merlyn looked over to where the quiet canine child sat, rolled to all four paws, and padded over to the mesh side of the playpen, tail stuck straight up in the air. "Bird," he informed Blue, in a fuzzy sort of voice.
"I'm not a bird," Blue said. "I'm a Tale."
"Bird," Merlyn insisted. He sat down and transformed, grabbing at the mesh to keep himself upright as soon as he had hands to do so with.
"Blue," Blue corrected. "I'm Blue. Not bird."
"Bird!"
"No, Blue."
"Bird." Merlyn giggled; now he was being stubborn on purpose.
"Bird," Blue offered, curious as to what would happen if he gave in.
"Bl ... blbl. Bl-oo," Merlyn essayed thoughtfully.
"Uh huh. Okay, I get it," Blue answered, and poked a finger at the toddler's tummy through the side of the playpen. Merlyn shrieked gleefully and fell over onto his back, peeking to see if Blue was going to come and tickle him now.
Prox leaned out of his study door a moment later to see what the noise was about, and smiled quietly to himself when he saw that the children seemed to be getting along well. It was good to see Blue relaxing, rather than creeping around as though he was afraid of breaking something; it was equally good to see Merlyn playing willingly with the new addition to the family. Perhaps they'd be close.
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 9:39 pm
There was a flicker of motion in the hallway. Blue looked up from the book he was reading to see a tall, pale, four-armed man standing in the hallway, staring at him. He shrank back, eyes going wide. There was a swirl of ghosts around the winged man, so many he couldn't tell who or what they were. That was a first, and a very unsettling one.
"I'm Anen," the stranger said suddenly. "I haven't met you yet ... ?"
He couldn't not respond without being rude. Blue said in his smallest voice, "I'm Blue. I'm a Tall Tale," he added defensively. He had a right to be here!
"Bonded to Dad? Prolixity?" Anen came into the room; Blue could see now that he had wings, too. How weird. He sat down on the couch, looking at Blue as if he thought Blue was the odd one. But he didn't seem to be angry.
"Uh huh," Blue answered, and tried not to stare. His Author had told him about Anen, but Blue hadn't thought Anen would be quite so tall, or have such a deep voice, or well. Anything.
"Me too," the man answered, and smiled a little. "I was just going to work on jewelry. You want to watch?" His eyes flickered upwards and then back down to Blue.
Blue looked back to where Prox stood in his bedroom doorway, watching quietly. There was something between the two adults in the room that Blue didn't understand. But Prox nodded and gave Blue a reassuring smile. "Kay," Blue said, and put his book down.
He followed his tall, strange brother down the hall, being as quiet as he could. He certainly didn't want to be an annoyance, not when they'd just met.
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:18 pm
A space that is everywhere and nowhere, endless darkness and sourceless light; silence and ceaseless singing, and the soft flutter of multiple wings. Everywhere there are feathers, downy and delicate and enfolding and embracing; a welcome and a love unmatched by any.
Blue woke sobbing, unable to remember when and why he had begun to cry. There was only a sense of loss, so profound and unbearable that it tore his small heart into little pieces. After a time, the side of the bed dipped under Prox's weight, and the catboy gathered the Tale into his arms. "Bad dream?" he asked quietly.
Blue shook his head and clung to his parent, fisting his hands into the loose shirt Prox wore to sleep. He kept his eyes tight shut, trying to remember why he hurt, but it eluded him, leaving only the awful emptiness. He turned his cheek against Prox's shirt, tears soaking into the fabric and dampening his own facefur.
Prox didn't ask further, only holding Blue against him until the child's sobs slowed into sleep again. When Blue finally slept again, he gently loosened the hands clinging to his shirt and tucked Blue beneath the covers again, then settled himself to keep watch as the moon described its slow arc across the sky.
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:23 pm
Prox's journal Blue has woken in tears for the past three nights in a row. He doesn't seem able to talk about whatever it is that's causing it, though he denies that he is having nightmares. Teratus and Etoile flew the perimeter and checked for wilders; they found none, and no trace that any had been nearby. Whatever is disturbing Blue's sleep, it comes from within. I can't see what it is without going deep into Dream-aspect and using harsh spells; and that I won't do. All I can do is comfort him when he cries. I'll lose sleep, but that's not so important. Poor fragile kiddo.
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Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 11:47 pm
Blue wandered around the corner of the play structure, playing hide and seek with shadows, watching the way the shadows fell across the playground in the park, watching how quick flits and flickers of ghostly childish shapes chased across his peripheral vision. He wasn't seeing them too clearly in the light of day; but then again, he wasn't really looking. He glanced back to where his parent lay on a blanket on the grass, keeping Merlyn carefully corralled beside him; Blue had gotten bored with sitting and playing there and come over towards the play structure beside the trees. Now here, though, he did not know quite what to do with himself.
Lovely day for a picnic, or something. The fox walked to the pre-determined meeting place - he wanted to see the kitten, and his friend...as well as check up on how Blue was doing. For some strange reason the kitsune had a tie to the Tome that allowed him to sense when a Tale was born; Imagine his pleasant suprise when he learned that Prox had gotten one of the newer arrivals. "Move it, Fuzzbutt...and remember what I told you - don't scare either of them!" Syrie could see Prox lounging with his son, and he smiled, moving a little more quickly.
"Oi~"
Khiarhu slunk along, slightly behind his parent, silky black fur rippling in the sunlight - it seemed to be deflecting the light, if that were possible. He wasn't listening to Syrie, rather he was swatting at Uisce, the wicked Nightmare companion that had been with his parent for longer than he could remember. The creature was shrieking "Stupidface, Stupidface!" at the shapeshifter because he'd earlier frightened a small child on accident. Oops.
"Hey~" Prox sat up, leaning on his elbows and grinning up at Syrie as his friend approached. "Hi, Khia," he added to the shifter child, nodding to him. "Nice day."
Merlyn shoved himself up onto his feet, wobbling determinedly and attempting a step. He fell squarely on his rump, and scowled at the new arrivals. This bipedalism business was more difficult than it shoul be.
Blue peered around the corner of the slide, watching Sy and Khiarhu. He'd been told that there were friends going to meet them here, but he was a little dubiuos. New people made him nervous, and the dark-furred Tale padding behind the fox gave him a frisson of shivers. A flicker of barely-seen ghosts accompanied both. He didn't try to look closer.
Syrie's ears wiggled with amusement as he watched the kitten wobbling about. "Still hasn't quite got it, has he?" The russet kitsune flicked his tail and knelt on the edge of the blanket after greeting his friend; he looked about for Blue - though the child was pale as moonlight and Sy's eyes quite sharp, he almost missed the little ghost. "Hi Blue~" And then, to Prox, "How is he adjusting?"
The bulky, dark Tale's tail thumped against the back of his legs, he didn't sit, he was watching Blue curiously - and trying to not scare Merlyn with his size and look. "Hullo there." He was polite, sort of, to his parent's friends. It wasn't that he wanted to be rude, it was that his attention was elsewhere. There were indeed ghosts about this Tale...and about Syrie too...though the ones surrounding Khia were decidedly darker...."The kit is hiding..."
"He'll figure it out. Determined little runt." Prox ruffled his son's hair and watched him try the standing thing again. "Blue is getting more comfortable at home," he answered, and frowned slightly, worriedly. "He's been having terrible dreams the past week or so, but I can't determine what's in them; they're out of his mind, not from Dream, so there's little I can do but comfort him." He kept this explanation quiet, for Sy's ears.
Blue paused, then waved to his parent's friend shyly. He edged around the slide, trying to get a good look without being too visible himself.
"Ah...." He frowned a little bit, his tail thumping. Uisce, the nightmare, finally decided to float down and join the lesser mortals by perching on Prox's shoulder and hissing into his ear in an almost friendly manner. Almost. "Hmm...perhaps it has something to do with the Tome? There is much that Huni and I don't know about it..." The kitsune trailed off - what he and Huni didn't know about that book could fill a football stadium. And it seemed suspect to him that not only Khia was getting edgy, but other Tales as well - especially since he'd been getting very odd auratic eminations from the Tome and Study recently.
"Please keep me informed...Khia has been restless and edgy as of late...It may be unrelated, but, one never knows with magical artifacts." But he didn't want to worry his friend, so he focused on the kitten instead, offering the small creature a small squishy octopus plushie in pale yellow from a bag he'd had slung off his shoulder.
Slowly shifting into something more animal than his previous form, Khia flopped next to his parent and the Dream-shifter with a chuff. Blue would come, curiousity would see to that! He would wait and be patient, for a bit.
Teratus, perched in a tree nearby, whistled at Uisce idly and shut his eyes again. "I'll keep you posted," Prox nodded. "If it gets worse we'll come into the shop and ask, too." He gave Blue a reassuring smile. "It's okay, nobody bites," he raised his voice so the pale, shy Tale could hear.
PLUSHIE. "Ok-tee," Merl declared, and grabbed.
Blue edged around a little further, then came out of the shade under the play equipment and returned to the blanket, circling around so that when he sat down he was halfway behind Prox. He peered at Khia from this shelter, ears half laid back.
Uisce hadn't noticed the elder's presence, likely because he was so focused on torturing Khiarhu, but the moment he did he carelessly launched his sleek body off Prox's shoulder and flew himself up to perch next to Ter, clacking at him before settling to watch. No apathy today, no food. Ah well. "Thank you...ah, if you ever need me, I'm usually hiding on the second floor...can't miss it, it's the last room on the left, and warded besides." No, they didn't bite..not really. Khia might, though not without provocation.
"Yes, yes, Octi." Syrie laughed at Merlyn's antics - he loved the kitten, so cute! "You are so cute...darn it, if I didn't like your dad so much I'd steal you for my own~"
Khia lifted his lupine head and chuffed at the small, pale kit before shifting back to his bipedal form. "You smell of old rooms and nothing." It made sense - Blue smelled like...ghosts. Ghosts scented of nothing...and old dusty rooms that hadn't been lived in.
"Second floor. Okay. I haven't looked around, yet," Prox admitted. "There's been the thing with the dissolution in the Halls, and then Blue is so shy - I keep meaning to go, and then something comes up. But Blue needs to meet other Tales." He looked sheepish.
Merlyn tugged at the plushie, smiling an ear to ear toddler grin, full of rather more teeth than the average, but still gleeful. "Dar-n."
"You smell like shadows," Blue observed, almost inaudibly. He did not deny that he smelled of nothing. He knew that. Dad smelled like cat and pine and cinnamon and wood, Merl smelled like kitten, Kher smelled like seaweed and fur, and he did not smell like anything; and Khia smelled like shadowy corners with rustly ancient things in them.
"Ah, don't feel bad..most don't go up that far..it's administrative up there...mostly for myself...and it's still under construction, even this far along..." Syrie's ears flicked back and forth and he nodded - it seemed something was always keeping HIM from going out, doing much of anything. "Yes...well..I'm afraid that work kept me from bringing Khia out to meet many Tales...and for that I feel awful. He's been alone alot."
Uh oh...he hoped Merl wouldn't keep that word, it'd be bad if the Kitsune taught the child his first swear words - best way to assure he didn't remember it later was probably to leave it alone. "You like the Octi?"
The shapeshifter snorted and tossed his horned head a little. "Dad, I'm right here, I can HEAR you." He watched Blue quietly for a moment and then grinned; a move that assured he looked like the devil himself - muzzle skinned back in a grimace-growl. "And worse, sometimes." Khia wasn't going to deny it either. "I won't bite you, little ghost." The appellation came easily, with no thought on his part.
"I went out a lot when Anen and Kher were small, but I've been such a hermit lately," Prox sighed. "Don't hurt the plushie," he admonished Merlyn.
"NO!" Merlyn yelled gleefully, and waved the plushie in the air, grinning fit to burst.
"He does," Prox assured Sy dryly. "He just likes the word no."
Blue giggled a little at the kitten, then shrank back slightly at the grimace Khia made. "Okay," he whispered, and watched the older Tale warily, seeing the flick and flit of the ghosts that attended him, trying to make them out. He tried a smile in return; his own muzzle was a bit shorter, his lips more flexible, and while his smile was doggish, it was recognizable as one, if a nervous smile.
The kitsune's lips quirked into a grin; empathy was a wonderful thing. "So I gathered." He mused over something for a bit, and then sighed. "I've never gotten out much...too busy...I suppose I shouldn't have gotten kids...but they sort of find me, not the other way around."
Khiarhu stopped smiling but his fur rippled and there was a strange sort of undertone to the black - perhaps a ...happy color? It's something that's felt more than seen; at an instinctual level. "Dad said your name was Blue...?" He was trying to be nice, to behave, the way his parent had admonished him to.
"Kitten here was the only one I really expected, but I wouldn't give any of them up," Prox mused, and reached over to pat Sy's shoulder. "It just seems to happen here." A flicker of melancholy passed over his face, but was gone quickly.
Merlyn looked up at his father, frowned, and flailed the plushie at him. "No," he declared.
"Uh huh. You're ... Khiarhu," Blue answered. "Dad said." He ducked his head to peer at Khia from under the fringe of his hair, edging a little closer in response to the sense of friendliness. Not scented, not seen, not really anything; but he felt the gesture, in a way he couldn't have explained had he noticed it.
"Mm. it does." He idly touched his breastbone while watching the little grey kitten, and then smiled again, scooping the child up to toss him a little. "Yes~"
Khia's ears flicked a little, they couldn't move much because of the horns coiled against his skull, but they moved some. "Mmhmm..call me Khia. Everyone else does." He chuckled, a deep rumbling sound that came from low in his chest. "Little ghost suits you better than Blue..."
Merlyn shrieked delightedly and puffed up all his fur until he looked absolutely ridiculous, tail flailing in circles as he flew through the air. Prox laughed and sat back, tipping his face up to the sunlight to chase away the last of the melancholy moment.
"S'okay," Blue answered, dropping his eyes to his feet. "I'm not, not much here." He hunched up slightly and poked at his toes. "You're big," he observed.
incomplete
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 12:12 pm
((events occurring IC on Easter day)) Prolixity's journal Blue has brought home a new Zurui kit from the egg hunt, as well as some kind of odd marble. I half-expected the kit, since the hunt was at the center, after all. Blue is delighted, and has named her Ambyr. Syrie called shortly after Kher and Blue arrived home. He absolutely insists that I bring Merl over so that he can see to kiddo's cold. - I'm not going to argue too hard about that. Merl is miserable, and if foxi can help with that, it'll be a relief on a large order of magnitude. Prolixity's journal The cold is gone, thankfully. We spent the night over at the mansion after Sy healed the kitten, partly because I was tried enough not to want to trek home, partly because I wanted to be sure he wasn't going to collapse after the healing, and partly because Blue is very fond of Khia and sticks like velcro to his leg whenever we go over there. Khia doesn't seem to mind. He seems to think of Blue like a younger brother. Merlyn is much better for the removal of the virus and a good night's sleep, as am I.
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 12:14 pm
Blue's journal Khia let me get some books to read out of his dad's library. I will read them all. He let me sleep in his room, too. I like him. Merlyn isn't sick anymore, so he can sleep now. I got a new pet! Her name is Ambyr. She's a Zurui, and she's very pretty. She came out of an egg from the egg hunt. There's a marble thing too. I don't know what that is.
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 12:17 pm
(( events occurring IC mid-April)) Prolixity's journal Gaia has seen fit to gift Abishai with a child of his own, a tiny kitsune baby with white wings. The cathedral is really no place for a baby, and so they will be staying here for a while. Blue is delighted. Merlyn has taken the change in routine as he takes all changes in routine: with a squalling fit about it the first time a change occurs, then calm acceptance. Strange child. Probably it's genetic. Not that it's much of a change in routine. Shai spends more time here than he does at home, these days, and has gotten far more comfortable with the children. A good thing. It's kind of a package deal. Blue's journal Abishai has a baby! His name is Reverie, and he has wings too. They're going to stay with us. Reverie is very small. He can't fly yet and he cries sometimes. Merlyn is louder than Reverie. I'm happy that Abishai is staying here. I can ask him for hugs so I don't have dreams that make me cry. I don't have to look at his ghosts.
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 12:24 pm
Blue's journal Khia has a secret! But I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. So I won't even write it. Khia says that not everyone prays. Dad said that too. But praying is good. We talked about it a lot. I think that everyone prays, even if they don't know it. There's other ways of praying than folding your hands and talking to God. That's just how you do it when you want to make it have a capital letter. Right? Abishai gave me a hug and read me the story about the bird and let me give Reverie his bottle when I had a bad dream. Dad practices with his glaveglaive in the garden every morning. He says I'm not big enough to hold it yet and maybe when I get big I'll find something better, but if not he'll teach me how to do it too. Anen knows how to practice with the glaive too, but he used a stick instead of anything sharp. He said to exercise every day so when I get big I can be strong and stay strong. Anen isn't so mad at Dad anymore. I asked him why he was mad, and he wouldn't say. He said it was for Dad to say, and then he said that sometimes things change and we don't know why, but every person makes their own life, because Fate isn't Fate anymore. I don't understand that.
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Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:54 pm
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Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:55 pm
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Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:56 pm
Meeting with Trio's Makana
Blue meandered down the beach, poking at rocks with his toes. He'd realized about halfway here that he didn't actually know where Kher lived, and anyway, his brother and the big mer lived underwater, and Blue couldn't just visit there, because Kher might have gills, but he didn't. He'd kept going, though, because Merlyn was loud and Reverie had pulled his tail (by accident, but it had hurt) and Dad had this faint veneer of worry on his face when he looked at Blue, like he thought Blue was still sick. Ambyr hadn't said anything when Blue announced he was going to visit Kher, just dutifully, quietly followed him. He imagined that she had a smug expression on her narrow, foxy muzzle, and did not look, because she did not want to see it.
Looking ahead, instead of behind, he could catch sight of a small figure on the sand where the water didn't reach, sitting and lifting a handful before letting it spill out. The wind blew it away from the kid as she did so, giving the faint impression of a cloud.
Blue paused uncertainly as he saw the figure. Did he really want to see anyone at all? But if she'd seen him, it would be rude ... Slowly, he padded towards the girl, ears half down, leaving a trail of pawpads across the sand. The Zurui behind him sat down in the sand at a discreet distance, watching her young charge but giving him a measure of privacy to talk in, if he so desired. He had been so touchy lately, she reflected.
The feline's ears perked at the sound of shifting sand, and she looked up, the rest of the sand falling from her paw in an abrupt mass. Two gold eyes locked on him as he approached.
Blue sat down about five feet away - if she wanted to ignore him, she could. He picked up a shell and began scooping out a little hollow in front of him, but his eyes flicked to his left constantly to study the feline girl. She looked sort of like Merlyn, with her cat-features, but she had feet like he did. He caught her gaze by accident, and offered her a quiet, diluted kind of smile.
Slowly, very hesitantly, she smiled back, obviously watching him still. It was several silent moments before she finally chose to break the silence, though, her hand absently playing with the sand. "I'm Makana."
"I'm Blue," Blue replied. Another few moments of silence trickled past, and then he said, feeling some kind of vague urge to explain himself, "I was going to go visit my brother, but I don't know where he is." He poked a rock into the hollw he'd dug and started to scrape sand in on top of it.
"My family came to the beach for the day," Makana offered in return, curious. "They're that way." A vague wave toward the right, and then she tilted her head. "Isn't he waiting for you?"
Blue shook his head. "I didn't tell him I was gonna come," he explained sheepishly.
"Why not?" Makana asked softly, sand forgotten as she watched Blue curiously now.
"Cause he doesn't have a phone." Blue finished burying the rock and poked the shell into the sand over it. "I just wanted to come down and not be in the house," he confessed.
So far, Makana had found only one reason she could see not to be in a house. "It's too noisy?" she asked, creeping closer to peer at what he was doing.
"Uh huh. And Rev pulled my tail." Blue positioned another shell beside the first, then surrounded it with a little piece of seaweed.
"Pulled your tail?" Makana asked, reaching back to gather her own tail closer to her in horror. "Why?!"
"I don't think he meant to." Blue tucked his tail a little closer to his legs automatically, remembering the sharp pain bringing sudden tears to his eyes. "But it hurt." He poked sulkily at the seaweed.
She settled next to him, having apparently decided he was safe enough to sit by. "Did he say he was sorry?"
"He's not big enough." Blue glanced at Makana. "He's still little. ... I could talk when I was born, though," he added.
"I didn't," Makana said quietly. "Mama says I mewed a lot." She frowned. "Are you okay now?"
Blue nodded. "It doesn't hurt anymore." He slid a look at Makana curiously. "Who's your mama?"
"Her name's Trio. She doesn't look like me," she added, reaching out with one claw to draw an awkward, hesitant design under the seaweed he'd placed. "But she loves me."
"My dad doesn't look like me either," Blue said, surprised out of his sulk by the last sentence - did that need to be said?
"Who's your dad?" she asked curiously, moving to draw a happy face in front of herself. She added two triangular ears to the top, and long whiskers from each cheek.
"His name is Prolixity. He's my Author." Blue watched her draw, curiously, then started his own happy face, with pointed ears, and small wings below it.
"Author? Authors write books," Makana said, confused.
"Uh huh. I'm a Tall Tale," Blue said, as if that explained everything. "What are you?" He tilted his head curiously at her.
Makana frowned, considering the question before saying hesitantly, "I'm an Abyssinian." A Tall Tale... "Does your dad write about you, then?"
"Uh uh, I have my own tome, and nobody else can write in it." Blue glanced shyly at Makana, then added a tail to her drawing.
She blinked at the addition, then giggled softly. "What happens if someone else does write in it?" It probably wasn't any stranger than having a siren and sylph for sisters, but the feline was fascinated.
Blue blinked. "I don't know." He shuddered, a visceral horror filtering through to clutch at his gut at the idea. "But I think it would be bad."
Eyes going wide at the reaction, Makana reached out to lay one paw on his arm. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you scared!"
Blue made himself smile a little. "It's okay. Nobody ever asked me that." He poked at the sand. "I should ask Khia, he's older. Maybe he'll know. He's a Tale too, his dad is my dad's friend," he added, by way of exlanation.
Makana frowned at him worriedly for a moment, then twisted, searching out a pretty shell. When she found one that she felt suited, she turned to hand it to him, as a silent apology.
Blue took the shell gravely, accepting the gesture as intended. "It's pretty," he said, and tucked it carefully into his pocket.
Determined to make things better, Makana thought before asking, "Since your dad's an author, do you like to read?"
Blue's ears perked up. "I love reading," he nodded. "I'll go to the Library some day. Do you like to read?"
Makana nodded, grinning. "We have a library in our house. I spend lots of time there. You can come to it, if you like?"
"Yeah! Um, if it's okay with your mama and my dad," Blue nodded. "I don't want to get in trouble, or you either."
"Mama likes people coming over," Makana assured him, relaxing. At least now he didn't seem so afraid anymore. And it didn't sound like he was angry at her. "I'm sure she'd say yes."
"We can ask," Blue nodded. "Want to build a sandcastle?"
Makana hesitated, then nodded. "Will you show me how?" she asked, not really wanting to admit she'd never gone NEAR the wet sand before.
"Uh huh." Blue paused a moment. " ... Do you have a bucket? We don't have to use one, but we can make bigger turrets if you do."
"I think Annora and Etain are using it," Makana said, tilting her head. "What are turrets?"
"Like towers," Blue explained. "Who are Annora and Etain?" He stood and started padding down towards the damper sand, glancing back to be sure she was coming with him.
She followed tentatively, toes stepping delicately on the wet sand as her nose wrinkled. "My sisters. They're with my mama. But they get loud, so I like to go off by myself."
Blue found a spot out of the reach of the waves, but with damp enough sand to pack nicely, and crouched down to start scraping sand into a pile. "My brothers are loud," he offered. "The little ones, anyway."
Makana nodded, kneeling down to follow his moves. "My sisters are my age. My littlest brothers and sisters are the loudest, though."
Blue shaped the pile into a rough shape, and started packing sand onto the sides to start making it look more like a castle. "I have two big brothers and two little brothers," he offered.
"I have... lots," Makana muttered, gathering up a handful and pushing it into one side. She blinked when half of it crumbled back to the ground. "And mama's gonna have another. Her belly's big."
"You need to get the wetter sand from down deeper," Blue pointed out. "Are you gonna have a little sister or a little brother?"
"I don't know. Mama hasn't told me yet." She considered the idea, eyeing the deeper sand and her paws before sighing and digging deeper to get it. So much sand in her fur... It felt awful! "I think I'd rather another boy," she added after a moment.
Blue tilted an ear at her. "How come?" He poked holes in the side of the structure for doors.
"Brothers are nicer. And quieter," she added, with a sheepish grin.
"Merlyn's loud," Blue said thoughtfully. "Here, put some sand here, that way the towers will be even."
Makana nodded, shifting to do as he directed, and considering his words. "Well, I guess Nico can be loud," she allowed. "But Annora was REALLY loud. I like boys more."
Blue nodded thoughtfully. "I have a sister, but she's all grown up and lives far away and she doesn't come home much," he said thoughtfully. "So I don't really know her. So I only know what brothers are like."
She was getting used to the sand in her fur, and now that the feeling was more familiar, she didn't mind it QUITE so much, though she was careful not to think of the bath she'd have to take afterward. It never occurred to her how similar it was to digging around in Mouse's pot. "What's her name?"
"Ieta. She's really small. Kind of like a fairy. She teaches at a school for little tiny people." Blue formed a ramp up to one of the turrets out of sand.
"A fairy? Some of those live at mama's old house," Makana noted, sitting back to watch him. "You're good at this," she added after a moment, more than a little impressed.
"She has fur and little feathery wings," Blue said. "What kind of fairies are at your mama's house?" He smiled shyly at her. "Thank you. ... It needs a moat," he added.
"What's a moat?" Makana asked, wondering if that was maybe something she could do. "Mama says they're pixies. They're small, and all fluttery and stuff. But they don't come close to me."
"Are they intelligent?" Blue asked curiously. "Some of the pets in our house are, and some of them aren't." He started to dig out a moat around the castle. "For the water to go in," he explained. "It's to protect the castle from invaders."
She watched for a moment, then tilted her head and moved to do the other side. "I think they are. Mama says they're afraid I'll eat them. But I don't eat small people. Just meat and fish." As though there was some difference.
"It's not polite to eat things that think," Blue nodded.
Makana nodded, agreeing with that thought. "It's not. Besides... they're usually nice."
"Uh huh. Some of our pets are as smart as I am." Blue sat back and studied the castle, putting one ear back in thought. "I'm not sure why they're pets, but they say so too, so I guess it's okay."
Makana crawled around to sit beside him, examining it curiously. A thought occurred to her, and she grinned suddenly, rising to her feet. "It needs decoration!"
"Uh huh. What kind?" Blue pushed himself up to his feet and shook vigorously, sending a cloud of half-dried sand everywhere.
Thankfully, Makana was far enough away to be spared getting the cloud into her own fur. "Mama has a picture of a castle with banners down the sides. Can we use these?" she asked, picking up a strand of seaweed.
"Oh, that's cool!" Blue spotted a tangle of seaweed at the edge of the waves. "I'll go get more."
Makana nodded, following his gaze and shivering slightly before taking the strand she'd found over to hang on one side of the front.
Blue trotted back with an armful of gleamingly wet seaweed and dropped it to one side of the castle, then crouched down to pick out decorative pieces to use for banners. "Is that enough?"
"I think so," Makana nodded, watching him with a smile before moving to take the pieces and hang them oh-so-carefully along the sides. "What sorts of pets are at your home?"
"Lots and lots. Dragons and cats and dogs and lots of sorts that I can't always remember their names. Ambyr is mine, though," Blue said proudly.
"Who's Ambyr?" Makana asked curiously, grinning a little.
"She's a Zurui. I got her at the easter egg hunt," Blue said proudly. "Dad couldn't come because Merlyn was sick, but Kher brought me and I found an egg."
Makana perked at that. She knew Zurui! She LIKED them. "Mama has lots of zurui all around. One of them is always with her, and another one watches over the little babies when they're playing," she told him. "Mouse is my pet."
"Ambyr came with me," Blue informed Makana. "Dad said I could go by myself only if she came with." He twisted around to look down the beach for the gold and blue Zurui.
Makana looked up, twisting around to search as well. "Mouse stayed at home in his pot. Sand doesn't agree with him."
"In his pot?" Blue blinked in confusion. Ambyr had sat up when she saw that her charge was looking for her; she angled her ears towards the two children inquiringly. Blue waved to her to let her know that all was still well, and she flopped her tail in the sand and lay back down.
"She's pretty," Makana murmured, beaming at the lovely gold on the zurui. "Mouse is a mushroom... thing. A kinoko. He eats sweets and lives in a pot in my room. It's a big square pot so he'll have lots of space to play," she added, holding her arms apart to show him just HOW big.
"I'll tell her you said, she'll like it," Blue smiled. "Is Mouse a plant?" he asked, blinking, one hand holding a forgotten piece of seaweed in midair as he tried to imagine a living mushroom.
She considered for a moment. "I... don't know," she finally admitted. "He looks JUST like a mushroom. A big one. But... he's alive."
"That's neat," Blue said. "Can I see sometime?"
Makana grinned, nodding. "Maybe you can come over, and Ambyr can come play with Ailis."
"Can Rena come too?" Blue draped the seaweed over the wall of the sandcastle. "She's littler than Ambyr."
"Of course," Makana nodded. "What's she?" She smiled happily at this, not quite sure when she'd finally relaxed in full, but knowing she was no longer worried that he might be loud or anything.
"She's a Zurui too. Khia got her for me." Blue nodded. "She's got blue fur, kind of like me, but brighter."
Makana grinned. "She can definitely come. Ailis' favorite thing in the world are zurui kits."
"Oh, Rena's not a kit," Blue corrected solemnly. "Just littler. Ambyr is fatter and taller." - It was probably a good thing that the gold Zurui hadn't quite heard that.
"Oh. Well, Ailis will still like her," Makana offered. "There's only one zurui in the world he doesn't like."
"How come?" Blue flicked his ears forward, interested.
"Mama says it's because they're opposites. I think it's cause she's always biting him, though," Makana said sagely. "If someone was always biting you, you wouldn't like her, right?"
"I wouldn't," Blue said, making a face at the thought. "I don't like getting bitten. Mocha bit me once, but that was because I accidentally put a book down on her tail ... "
"Who's Mocha?" Makana asked. So many names...
"Dad's Dragonfly. She's pretty, but she's not very smart." Blue nodded.
"Oh," Makana nodded, envisioning a tiny insect. "Ailis and Jaelle - that's the one who always bites him - are always fighting, but she lives in mama's old house, so they aren't around each other so much anymore."
"Did you move?" Blue poked at his shirt, which was sandy and wet and slightly slimy from the seaweed. He made a face and flopped down on his belly in the sand, figuring that he couldn't really get much dirtier now.
Makana stared at him for a long moment, then settled rather delicately into the drier sand not far away. "When mama got married to dad, we moved to a house just for all of us. He brought his kids, and mama brought us, and now we're all one family."
"That's neat," Blue opined. "Dad just made our house bigger when Reverie's daddy moved in."
"Reverie's daddy?" Makana asked, tilting her head. "Can I see your house sometime?"
"Uh huh. His name is Abishai, and he has wings," Blue said, looking briefly starry-eyed about that fact. "You should come over," he agreed. "You can see my room and Rena and maybe we can go out to the dragon stable."
Whoa... "Dragons?" she asked, eyes wide. "You have dragons?"
"Uh huh. There are lots!" Blue made a wild gesture to indicate large size. "They're big, and they live in their own stable at the bottom of the garden by the forest, because there are too many of them to be in the house, and they're really too big anyway. Some of them are nice and let me sit on their shoulders. But they can't take me flying, because their shoulder scales are too delicate, a saddle would hurt them," he informed Makana.
"Ohhhh," Makana said softly, watching him with wide, fascinated eyes. Dragons sounded so cool. "What color are they?"
"Lots and lots of different colors," Blue said, warming to his subject. "There are new kinds all the time, and there are two that aren't any named kind, because they came from eggs that were a mix of different kinds."
"What do you mean?" Makana asked, closing her eyes as she tried to envision it. "What sorts of kinds mix to make nothing particular?"
"Like - Dad's Marble dragon had eggs with a Cobweb dragon, and the babies aren't Marble or Cobweb, they're both." Blue explained.
Makana blinked and grinned. "What do they look like? Speckled with lines?"
"One of them is all grey with webby bits, and the other one is bluey marbley white with blue webby bits," Blue nodded.
"They sound neat. Are they nice?"
"The bluey grey one is nice but the grey one will try and bite you if you get too close," Blue said.
She nodded at that, looking up at the sky thoughtfully. "Do they ever fly?"
"Uh huh. The Symbiote doesn't, but a lot of them do. I think the Symbiote is just sort of lazy. But he's nice too." Blue's small wings moved slightly, unconsciously, as he thought of flight.
She noticed that, peering at him for a moment before leaning a little closer. "Do you fly?"
Blue shook his head. "My wings are too little. My brother says that that shouldn't matter, because physics says that people with wings shouldn't be able to fly, so people with wings usually have flying magic, but I tried and I couldn't."
"Maybe you'll be able to learn how to later?" Makana asked softly, tilting her head.
Blue stretched his wings out and flapped them twice to feel the air in his feathers, then refolded them. "I want to," he said softly.
Makana's tail tapped at the sand as she watched him for a moment, then crawled closer. "Can I see them?"
Blue obligingly lifted one wing for Makana to examine.
Makana reached out with a delicate paw to touch the eathers curiously. "Daddy has wings, but they're different from this."
Blue's wings were small, well-formed, birdlike, and clearly vestigial. His feathers were silky soft and clean, if a touch sandy right now. "What are your daddy's wings like?" he inquired.
"They're demon wings, because he's a demon," Makana explained. "Kinda like batwings, I guess."
Blue tilted an ear, puzzled. "Abishai has feathery wings, and he's a demon too," he said.
She blinked a little, tilting her head. "I thought demons all had kinda bat-looking wings, like daddy."
"Maybe there are different kinds," Blue mused, fascinated.
"Maybe," Makana nodded, grinning at him. "We could ask?"
"Okay. I will if you will," Blue answered.
"Okay! And then we can tell each other what they said. Do you suppose demons know each other?" Makana asked.
"Maybe. I bet it's like other kinds of people, some of them know each other and some don't," Blue speculated.
"That'd make sense. I don't know all the kids that came through the rift at Karma's place," Makana said thoughtfully. "I keep meeting new ones."
"I don't know all the Tales, either," Blue said. "What's the rift?"
"I'm not sure. But I was told that my parents pushed me through it and that's how I got here so that I could live with Mama and dad."
"Oh! Are you part of a story too?" Blue sat up curiously.
"A story? What do you mean?" Makana asked, confused.
"That sounds like a story," Blue said. "I'm part of a story, only I don't know what it is really yet, because I'm only just started."
"How do you be part of a story?" Makana asked softly, tilting her head. Whatever it was, it SOUNDED neat!
"Everybody has one, I think," Blue speculated. "Except most people don't have tomes to write them in, but they have them anyway. They have them by living."
"I have a journal?" Makana asked. "Mama got it for me, and she says the cover design is from Abyssinia. It was made by a friend of hers."
"Maybe that's yours, then." Blue blinked at Makana. "That's neat."
Makana grinned. "I'll show it to you when you come over? It's really pretty!"
"Okay!" Blue nodded. "I'm glad I came down to the beach, I like you," he added.
Makana nodded. "I'm glad, too! I like you, too," she assured him, then looked over at their castle. "Playing with you's fun."
"I should go home before dinner. ... I'll ask my dads if you can come over and see my room and meet the dragons," Blue promised solemnly.
"Okay," she nodded, then blinked, pausing. "Um... my Mama's Trio, and my daddy's Shiro. In case they need to know."
"Okay." Blue repeated the names silently to himself. "My dads are Prolixity and Abishai," he told her in return.
"Okay," Makana nodded. "I'll ask Mama if you can come over, too."
Blue stood up and brushed the sand from his pants and tail. "Thank you," he said cheerfully, and bowed low. "It was really nice to meet you, Makana! I hope we can play again." With that, he turned and started back towards where Ambyr patiently waited for him.
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