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 Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2014 1:38 pm
Big Bad Bird Reprise
Response to the Taming Adventures of the same name; 1, 2, 3
273 Words
Keke didn't get the chance to give Vazarri his 'gift', however. The grown ups took it away from him and reprimanded him for taking on such large, dangerous prey alone. He tried to explain that he hadn't been hunting it, he'd been trying to tame it, but he was told that it was the 'same difference'. It still involved the Alkara, and it involved being in danger, something that the clan was unwilling to allow their Khehorian's orakoir to be in.
Keke understood that part. He understood that it was bad to put himself in danger like that, and that it made others worry. He really didn't want them to worry about him so much, and he knew they already did.
What he didn't understand was why they were making him stay on Clan grounds, attended, for a full sevenday. Keke knew there was plenty to explore in the clan grounds, and that he wouldn't be bored necessarily, but he hated being limited. He wanted to explore everywhere, and he wanted to do it alone or with a good companion, like Vazarri.
Grown ups – and probably the one that would be watching him – would likely be stiff and formal and annoying. Daddy wasn't, but daddy was busy.
Keke waited, unhappily, by his sister and waited for her to wake up so he could tell her what had happened. Maybe they could sneak off and explore outside the clan lands while the grown up wasn't looking?
Or, maybe, he could try and show her the thing he had done to the Alkara – he bet she'd be impressed.
He was ever hopeful.
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:44 am
Stonesure
Kekeovonnai Learning solo (Enhanced movement among rocks)
628 words
Kekeovonnai bounded home from one of his frequent expeditions. He was frustrated at his inability to cast the most simple of spells. While Samael cast forth spires of stone and Oblivion could summon shadow spirits to his will, Kekeovonnai could do nothing: No matter what he tried to do, the okakoir couldn't even manage more than shifting dust.
Kekevonnai was at that age where he was starting to learn about magic, the birthright of all dragonkin. Sometimes he could feel it sloshing around inside of him, stirring in fits and starts, but he couldn't figure out how to control it yet.
Of course, being Keke, he kept trying and he would keep on doing so until he could figure out just what was going on in there, and what he could do with it.
There was, however, one aspect of his magic that he didn't need to control or learn. It was an ability he had never realized he had.
As a Gaili, Keke's affinity was the earth, and yet he was clearly not stable, slow, or ground-bound like others that shared his clan. He was energetic and agile, leaping from rock to rock and maneuvering along the cracked crags and sheer cliffs. Though his wings were still growing and could only support a glide as yet, he found it easy to get around. He was, at the deepest level possible, at home in his homeland of the Terra Expanse.
His youth played a large part of it, of course; his body was supple and dextrous and all his senses were nearing their peak.
He was guided along the hard, barren stone, though, by something more powerful than his youth and deeper than mere instinct. He was sure of foot, knowing exactly where to stand and how to stand on a rock to keep his stability. He even knew – just knew - where a path twisted ahead of him and he could tell, with his feet, when a caravan was passing nearby, or when a dragon paced ahead.
Just by the stone beneath him, he could tell where the magma of Kaiataisel was closest to the surface, and could avoid the toxic fumaroles before they spouted. Even miles away, he could feel it rumble, its destructive force restrained as it paced and growled deep below the surface.
This was a sense, but not sight, smell, or sound, or even touch. It was an intuitive knowledge of the earth and stone around and beneath his claws. It was born of his magic, just as the summoning of stone pillars and deadly shadow-tendrils were the magic of his fathers.
It was so subtle that Keke thought nothing of it. Why should he? He'd been playing here among the mountains all his life and so knew it well. That he could climb better than his sister was attributed to just being better at climbing. His acute sense of direction was attributed to a good memory. That was all it was to him – something mundane he could do that, surely, everybody else could do as well.
There was truth to that. Aspects of his knowledge and abilities came from the environment itself. He had grown up here, and he did understand its tricks. But it was far more than the mundane knowledge that comes with experience.
It was magic.
If only Keke knew, as he leapt nimbly amidst the stones, that his understanding of the safe stones to jump to was based in his magic. Then, he could be proud of what he could do and brag to his sister about it.
Instead, he would complain and gripe his efforts, and be a few ticks short of insufferable until, in a few hours, he would feel better and calm down.
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:48 am
A Puff of Fine Dust
Kekeovonnai Learning solo (Silica Spit)
541 words
After the Alkara fiasco, Kekeovonnai knew he was capable of some kind of magic. He had used it, after all: he had spat something sandy at the mother bird, and it had been really neat. Sparkly too – definitely something he wanted to share with his sister.
Kekeovonnai had always been fascinated by magic and he wanted, very badly, to cast his first spell. Other khehora his age were already using their magic, and he wanted to do so too. But the spells just weren't happening, no matter what he tried to bring it out.
Being a creative and persistent khehora, Keke had tried a lot of things: He'd tried shouting awesome catchphrases; He'd had his sister sneak up on him and try to scare it out of him; He'd tried ritual chanting – which he made up himself; He had even tried to mentally drag the magic from the ground like his Papa, Samael.
Nothing spectacular happened... Though sometimes sand did answer his attempts, moving in a way that had made him hopeful... until it crumbled into a limp pile on the ground.
He had become anxious enough to ask for advice from his clanmates, and he had gotten many different pieces of information. Often, they conflicted: Magic comes from outside you; Magic comes from within you; Magic is you. He couldn't figure out which his was.
Keke sat, frustrated, on his 'practice rock' – a flat rock that looked a bit like a giant's fallen fang that some dragon had sat on and flattened – not too far from his clan lands and cast his mind back – again - to when he had done his sand spit spell. He'd been cornered and scared, trapped between a rock and an angry bird. He tried to remember what had happened just before he had spat sand into its face, but it was difficult – everything about that event was blurred and fogged into one frightening scene in his mind.
That was why he'd had to guess and use trial and error.
Unable to summon the imagination to fool himself into reliving the encounter with the Alkara – he'd tried - Keke closed his eyes and tried something new: imagined his life force, or at least some kind of energy inside him, coming together. He'd imagined gathering up energy before, and concentrating it at a point, but it had been mainly his claws. His sandy spit had come from his throat. For the first time, he tried to form a core of energy in his throat.
It was at least worth a try.
Hopeful, he inhaled, imagining the energy moving from his throat to his mouth. Then, rearing back, exhaled forcefully with a whoosh of air. For a moment – a slpit hair of a second, he thought he had just pretended again, that everything he felt was make-believe. Suddenly, though, the imagined energy change in type and feeling, becoming something he could only describe as real.
Kekeovonnai opened his eyes to see the last of a cloud of fine, shimmery dust spew from his mouth and settle to the ground like glassy snow.
“Oh wow!” he said, watching it fall “Wow!”
He had just cast his first proper spell.
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2014 11:06 am
A most exciting Day
Dragon Camp and
Hidden Treasure
(Kekeovonnai, Muriel, Esmeralda, Minerva)
278 Words
Kekeovonnai was immensely excited when he made his way home over the uneven stones of the Expanse, his new pouch – and treasures - hanging haphazardly about his neck. The dragon orbs jingled together merrily within, but it was only partly because of the treasures that he was so excited: Today, he had not only met his first Dovaa, but his first Hybrid and his first bonded. And, if the hybrid could could for two exciting things in one, his first Oblivionite.
And the best part? The Dovaa was the Hybrid's mother, had the bonded, and was a scholar! How all of those amazing things could come to be in one person, Keke didn't know, but he could only wiggle with excitement at the prospect of speaking to her again.
Oh the things he could learn from someone clearly so smart and wise and knowledgable... About dragons! Dragons, of all things!
He wanted to tell Zarri and – if he was there – Papa all about his day, and all the things he learned, and then when Zarri got annoyed with his jabbering (as she often did) maybe they could go out on an adventure of their own and then they could both learn something together!
That would he knew, Be so fun!
He paused, briefly, on a peak along the way with an amazing view of the crinkled mountains of the expanse.
This was such a beautiful world, and so endlessly full of knowledge... Keke knew he could never learn it all.
But he also knew that he never wanted to.
Too excited to take in the view for long, he continued his enthusiastic bounding way home.
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Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:30 am
Vanity and the Looking Glass
Kekeovonnai and Vazarri
Words
Not much was clear to Keke – not that he always liked clarity. The unclear was fun, because it meant that there was a veil covering something new, something he could un-cover and dis-cover and reveal.
Vazarri was not being very clear about what she wanted, which was fine. Discovering his sister's motives, as they prowled through the winding paths of the mountains, would be all the more fun. Her motives were often shadowy, shrouded by ego and vanity, and he would have her no other way.
He would discover what she wanted, and they would both be the happier for it.
He, however, was sure that he was as clear as crystal. His motives were worn on his scales, as obvious as his brilliant wings. There was no need for deceit, not for Keke, only discovery, magnified by his enthusiasm.
He was, as he always was, eager to reveal and investigate his sister's motives for heading towards the forests and the shore, and he would support her no matter how bizzare her ideas were.
It was, after all, the craziest, most ridiculous ideas that led to the most interesting discoveries and adventures...
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Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 9:15 am
Darkness - For a price
Kekeovonnai and Vazarri
234 Words
Keke had never really been afraid for his sister before that day, but when the magesians had spoken of selling her hide and feathers and blood and horns, he had been very concerned. She wanted to go to Soldul, and it was too far for either of them to fly, let alone her with her still-developing wings.
As they stalked away and he finally was able to relax and not worry about them being attacked, he began to wonder what this adventure meant. Why did his sister want to go to Soldul? Was it her Diabi magic, calling her? Or was it something deeper, something worse?
Were they running away?
The realization hit Keke like a stone. She'd been mad at Samael for a long time, ever since Pappa had left them, and she did not like Suluksati. Was her wrath so much that she wanted to leave? His wasn't. Their business was not his, and he found it hard to really, completely, truly care about what happened with his father.
But Vazarri... It concerned him.
Of course, he did not want to run away. He was fine at home, despite the need for adventure. But now he had to, to keep her safe.
He'd find a way onto that boat, and he'd find a way onto Soldul for her and they would go. But maybe they would come back, too... he hoped so.
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Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2014 2:46 pm
Silent Song
Kekeovonnai and Esmeralda
218 Words
Keke thought about his adventure with the Olrawk and the scholar when he went home that evening, wondering just what lesson he had learned. He knew it didn't feel like much at all, but he had a sense that there was more to it than just not pressing too hard on a bird.
No, there was something else there. He thought about it, and thought about it, but it did not become clear. At least he knew it was there, and important, and that was something.
And suddenly it did. Esmeralda, the Peisio Dovaa, had just taught him a valuable lesson about caution and consideration. He was growing stronger and smarter, with blossoming powers he could hardly yet comprehend. He didn't know his own strength, and he had to be careful to prevent others from being hurt.
Yes. That was what the lesson must have been. Satisfied, he snuggled up next to his sister and fell into a happy slumber.
When he returned for his next lesson, he found – to his sorrow – that, in the wake of hybrid hunters, Esme and her daughter had moved on to a new study site. He knew, though, that there was a possibility of meeting her again and, when he did, he hoped to be a better student for the wait.
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Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 9:28 pm
Kekeovonnai, Malta, Suluksati
179 Words
To Kekeovonnai's dismay, though he waited for the green khehora, she never came. She never flew near, never visited, never even sent word that her stories would be forthcoming, nothing. He didn't know if she lived or died, or if she even remembered him. Surely she did – he had saved her from a dragon, after all!
But when she very clearly did not come, Keke began to wonder. At first, if she was all right. Then, if she remembered. And, finally, whether a promise – in any form – was as good a currency as he had thought. He certainly hoped she was alive, and he hoped she remembered, but the promise... Well, he couldn't know if she wasn't alive, and nobody would accompany him all the way to the Settlement to check.
His attachment to his tribe – and to the protections imposed on him by his father – began to falter. Surely, he could check himself. Surely he could leave and see for himself if the promise was kept.
He just needed a reason to leave.
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:07 pm
Broken Promises
Kekeovonnai and Malta
333 words
Keke rested on an island in the churning seas between Ayr and Soldul. It was a stormy night, and he could swear he saw dragons dipping and racing through the clouds as they roiled above him and whipped the sea into a flurry.
He was not flying in that. Not even he was that fearless.
No, he wanted firm earth under his feet during a storm, and besides, he was tired from flying. He wasn't bad at it, not by any means, but his stamina was not infinite and there was only so far over the ocean that one could glide.
Plus, he wanted to make sure his charge and passenger had a place to relieve itself that wasn't on his back. The Ikri slept, a fluffy ball of cuteness, and he smiled. Vazarri would love her pet.
He lay down nearby, listening to the stones and the waves on the schoals around him. The potion the Ysali had given him was safe in his pack, but in his mind he turned it over and over. It made a person braver, she had said. Brave enough to attempt the storm? He knew Vazarri waited for him, and he didn't want to leave her alone more than necessary. She was a sensitive soul, beneath the feathers and the attitude, and he didn't want her to be upset.
But no. Bravery was overrated. If he flew into that storm, he might never see her again. Better that he and she wait a few hours longer.
So, he rested, stretching out on the black rock even as rain pelted him. But the option to go, that remained until he fell asleep.
The next dawn, he woke to the calls of seabirds and the nudge of the ikri, who had snuggled beneath his wing for protection from the rain. He ate a small meal of fish, bound the ikri back into its papoose, and set off again for the dark land that loomed just at the horizon...
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2015 2:40 pm
Fancy Meeting you Here
Adventure: Cave of Dragons
Kekeovonnai and Xenosa
292 words
Keke didn't know what to do other than move forward, his burden secure on his back as he trotted down the pass. The sky, at least, was clear, and he could sense only the tremors of animal feet around him. No dragons, no predators – he was fortunate. It was quiet, too, the winds and quakes that sometimes ripped through the expanse silenced for the time being. He had time and space to think.
What did one do with an injured person? They took them to a healer or shaman of some sort. His tribe did not have one that could handle a magescian – they were a Gaili. They could set bones and find poultices and little else. He'd heard the cracks, and he could tell there were many, not one, bone to be set, and probably other things that he couldn't see injured beneath her skin. Magescian anatomy was fascinating, especially in its delicacy, and he wondered briefly about her wings. Had they been injured?
He couldn't ask her if she died, obviously. That was not his only motivation for keeping her alive, of course – it was the right thing to do. Keke was a good khehora.
But what did he do, then?
And then he had an idea. He did, after all, know a healer. And he knew exactly where she was. He turned left at a fork in the road and began to carefully scale the cliff with the confidence that came of knowing the mountains of the area, both from exploration and his own native magic, like his own skin. He would go to the Settlement, and that, he felt, would save Xenosa.
It was time to see how far he could stretch Malta's old promises.
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2015 11:28 am
Breath of Winter
X X X
ORP
184 Words
Keke cuddled his sister's ikri pup, fighting the cold with its warmth and generally happy about the course the trip had taken. He had done some exploration, made some friends, sighted some enemies, and was going to return to his sister with the spoils of his expedition – a warm, wriggly, fluffy spoil (who was, itself, soon to be utterly spoiled.) He hoped it would be enough to placate her despair – he was very sorry to have left her all alone before they had even set off for Soldul. He wished she had come with him, but she hadn't, he had, that was done and over with, and it had been worth it, and he was excited to see her again.
“And she will be so happy to see you!” he crooned at the warm little beast, “You are a perfect gift! There is no way she will be angry when she sees you!” he snuggled it again, “No! No there isn't!” he gathered the fluffy beast to himself adoringly with his wings and purred.
Yes, it had been a productive trip.
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Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 11:55 am
Step on a Crack
Kekeovonnai, Xenosa, Malta
342 Words
Keke followed Xenosa out of the khehoran settlement, watching her in concern as they flew. He was sure she was going to fall out of the sky at any moment – her injuries had been so grave, he was pleasantly surprised he was alive. But it spoke to the resilience of Magescians and, also, to the skill of Malta the Alchemist that she was alive, and to her powerful Goddess-given wings that she remained airborne despite the slight wobble and awkwardness of her wingbeats.
He spared a glance at the settlement below, a fragment of civilization hidden in the mountains like a rare and strange gem. He could see the Khehora below him, milling about or watching them fly away, Magescians being an oddity here, as Khehora were elsewhere, and he couldn't help feeling a pang of sadness.
He had pushed too far. Though he was sure they would let him in on later dates, him being a harmless khehora and having a prestigious father and all, but he did not think he would be welcome. Or, find any of the favors he had called in to be available.
He wondered, briefly, if he was somehow going against his own kind, but that thought was short-lived. After all, the whole point of the khehora was that they had been slaves, and now they were free. That meant they were free to hold what opinions they wished, to do whatever they wished to do with their lives, to hunt where and what they would, to learn whatever they wished, and to aid wherever they wished. He was free to live his life, and that meant saving Xenosa's life. He felt secure in his argument and, as a teacher and natural philosopher, he knew he could argue it well.
He looked up from the settlement to arrange himself below Xenosa, to catch her in case she faltered or fell.
Where they were flying, where their friendship would lead, Keke did not know... but he knew it would be interesting, and thus, he regretted nothing.
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2015 10:22 am
Schooled by Sandstorms
Kekeovonnai and Xenosa
212 Words
Back in the Terra Expanse, Keke had finished his field trip. His students were back with their families, likely telling them all about their trip through the mountains, the desert, and their fascinating encounter with a real, live, magescian. And the boat. And the city.
He relaxed in his own lair, wishing he could tell his sister about the adventure himself. It had been a good field trip, indeed, spectacular, full of good learning moments. He was pleased.
It had been such a pleasant surprise to meet the Magescian during the sandstorm, moreso, one he apparently knew. He had to have been very young when he had met her, but that didn't change the fact that he had met her. The world truly was an amazing place, wasn't it? Enormous, but just small enough for something like that to happen.
He hoped to hear from her again someday and learn more about the magescian life and their intricate culture and habits, but he knew it was unlikely. He had forgotten her once, who was to say she wouldn't forget him?
Ah well, he was glad he had met her on his trip. In the meantime, he flopped on his side, exhausted – the teacher needed a break from his class, after all.
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 12:19 pm
Camping Trip or Deadly Misadventure
Kekeovonnai, Xenosa
153 Words
Keke did not stay at the campsite: instead, he walked back to his clan lands, even though he ached and desperately needed a nap. He wanted to be home by a fire with something nice to eat, but most of all he wanted to talk to someone about the hunt. That was what one did with hunts, wasn't it? Talk, and boast, and laugh?
Well, since Xenosa had to go home to her... husband-not-mate... he had to find some other way to do that. However, by the time he got home, everybody was asleep. He soon joined them, entering his lair and lying down, exhausted, on his side without even bothering to tidy up his small cavernous pocket.
He hoped he would hear from Xenosa again, but he knew he couldn't guarantee it – he could only hope that this hunt, brief as it was, would not be their last.
Fortunately, it wasn't....
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 12:26 pm
A Lesson in Espionage
Kekeovonnai, Xenosa
121 Words
Kekeovonnai couldn't believe how amazingly fun his day had been. He'd snuck, pretended, beat up bad guys and run like the wind through dusty streets. He was a schoolteacher, unassuming and not particularly built for combat, but he was also hot blooded enough to enjoy the action. It was such a rush, such a wonderful rush, that he could not help but think fondly of whatever came next with Xenosa.
She was so interesting! Who knew what would happen with her next? Keke hoped to have many more adventures with her, and maybe – just maybe – to get a glimpse into the natural habitat of the Orderite race. Maybe even their city! Wouldn't that be exciting?
Anything was with Xenosa.
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