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 Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 1:16 am
She stretched herself out under the weak sun, tipping her face back and closing her eyes. The day was shaping up to be cool and washed out yellows, a just-unfulfilled promise of the summer. Onora curled her toes and leaned back on the support of her locked elbows, her palms flat on the grass. "I haven't ever really thought about it," she confessed, opening one eye and peering at him. She shrugged lamely with one shoulder and then dropped her gaze and looked away down river where the cat tails whispered and small frogs hopped from one flat wet stone to the next.
Onora looked back at him as Shai climbed out of the river, his ankles shining with water. She held out her hand and took the stone, turned it between her fingers and smiled - the expression strangely tight, shy almost. "Thank you," she muttered and her hand closed around it.
She shook her head, shrugged. "I guess maybe it is. I mean, it would be nice wouldn't it? But," she made a vaguely dismissive motion with her hand, uncertain; lost. "I'm not sure if I believe in all that though," she confessed, suddenly quiet and whispering, a child afraid her parents might overhear her swearing, using the gods' names to vent her frustration. Onora pursed her lips. "I've never known a god to give me anything. I've never seen one come out of the sky. Maybe they're there, but maybe they're not."
She paused then and tipped her head, the red of her hair gone copper in th dull sunlight. "But maybe the gods or heavens aren't what's important," she muttered, flexing her fingers around the stone. "I'd like to think it's my own two hands are what matters." And she held them up in front of her face, one fisted into a palm around the river stone and the other open, fingers stretched straight with wide v's dipping between them.
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Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:23 am
Shai listened with a small smile, and settled down near her on the grass. He nodded once at her thanks, and watched as she fisted her hand around the river stone. "Not given anything? Ah." Nodding again, he leaned back as well, resting against a young tree. "For me, it is not anything, it is a gift of everything." With a casual sweep of one hand, Shai encompassed the forest...the sky and the ground, the little stream and Onora herself. His voice was introspective, as he seemed to understand her view as well. This was his belief, not a universal truth, and the young Fa'e saw no reason to try to disguise it as such. His luminous eyes followed her hands as she lifted them, and he smiled to hear her revelation. "Yes. Very important. What will Onora do, then? If she does not seek heaven?" There was genuine curiosity in his voice as he tilted his head back, staring up into the dappled canopy overhead. He'd never given much thought to what was second most important to him...perhaps Onora had many wonderful ambitions! ((Sorry, couldn't resist the link. XD))
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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 10:03 am
((O DISCOVERY CHANNEL. <3))
Onora dropped her hands with a soft 'fhwump', skin over the slack fabric over her lap. "Oh, hells if I know," she confessed, shrugging. Head bowed, she turned the rover stone over between his fingers. Everything, huh? She looked at him sideways. "Long term, anyway. Short term - I apparently need some kind of employment." She smiled crookedly, only partly joking.
Staying in the Headquarters was well and good, but when days turned to weeks, weeks to months, she'd started to feel more in the way than not - assumptive. It wasn't good manners to make yourself a house guest for months on end. She'd broached the subject a few times to Morris, though he hadn't exactly been receptive.
Onora pursed her lips thoughtfully. Tossed the stone up once and caught it.
"Do you think your god is here?" she asked suddenly, looking at Shai frankly. Even if she did believe in the Lady, Father Death or the ten thousand others... Onora wasn't sure how they could ever reach this place.
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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 12:16 pm
"Erm...poyment?" Shai spoke the word carefully, and shook his pale hair back from his face. He didn't know what it meant, but it was good Onora had a goal! "Is ermpoyment a date?" There was no innuendo in his tone...it seemed to be an honest question.
Bright eyes lifting as she tossed the rock into the air, Shai watched it smack back down into her palm. He considered her next question with a smile, though his answer was easy.
"Yes, here, Onora." With a quiet rustle, the tethers of the Tzohar rose, and one of the bright stones edged gracefully over his shoulder. Shai took it with both hands, cupping its glow for a moment. "I cannot be where the Almighty is not. I would be....nothing." It was hard to explain. Instead, Shai guided the shard carefully her way, offering it to Onora to hold.
No one aside from him had ever touched one of the shards before, but the thought didn't concern him. Perhaps, if she held it, she would feel the same radiance that so assured him of his beliefs. Some things were more powerful than words.
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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:10 am
The look she gave him in return was blank-faced, momentarily bewildered. And then she laughed: a full throated sound, her face tipped up to the watery sunshine and her fingers tangled in the red hair at her temple. "Oh Kyrus, you are something," she chuckled, squinting at him sideways. "A job," she tried to clarify. "An apprenticeship? Lords, do they even do that here? I haven't any idea." More importantly, she wasn't sure what kind of skills she had in the way of an apprenticeship. Most boys she knew who had jobs had started them when they were eight or nine, sold off to their masters for a sum to their families. Obligation, a contractual agreement that shaped a boy in the way of smithing or shoe making or any other number of things.
Onora knew embroidery, swordsmanship, had perhaps the vaguest outlines on how to train a dog to stay and go and tear at game, but in the way of sellable skills... - She shook her head and sighed, smoothing back her hair.
There was something innately unsettling about the hovering stones, a faint prickling at the back of her neck that Onora couldn't pinpoint particularly as discomfort but no way in the nine hells would she call them relaxing either. When one of the glowing pieces edged in her direction her smile faded and she shifted her weight just slightly to her far side, chin up: sharp and aloof. She looked at Shai in glances, clearly uncertain, fingers tentatively rising after a few seconds of consideration. With the river rock fisted firmly in one hand, Onora carefully brushed her fingertips across the face of the glowing stone.
She could feel the warm tingle all the way up her arm, a strange sensation of heat and power that edged from her fingertips down into her chest cavity where it curled like a living thing. She snatched her fingers back and flexed them, shaking her hand to dismiss the pins and needles feeling. It didn't go away completely - not quite.
"What are those?" she asked, perhaps sharper than she meant.
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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:50 am
Job and apprenticeship were still foreign words, but Shai nodded slowly. It seemed to be something you do, and everyone had something to do! "Purpose." There was a word he knew.
His gaze was bright and calm, trusting as he watched Onora tentatively brush one of the shards. Even as she recoiled, he was suddenly aware of her, and his pale brows furrowed at the tangled reverberation. The energy was a poor fit, struggling instead of comforting. Shai reclaimed the shard gently, closing his hands over it.
"Those? Me. Before were many. Now, five." Shai released the shard, and it automatically drifted back to fan with the others, gold tether chiming. "Some day...with hope...none. Then just...ah, human?" The longing in his voice was startling, from a young man that seemed to desire nothing. Drawing his knees up to his chest, Shai wrapped his arms around them loosely...the cuffs of his jacket sticking out at odd angles from his wrist bindings.
"Or, one...and no Shai." He didn't know quite how to express it, but a distant part of him worried that once the Tzohar merged, he would be reclaimed...his selfish little spark of will and flesh snuffed. If it was the will of the Almighty, he would not fret...but there would be no third chance. This he knew.
Resting his chin on his folded arms, he tilted his head to the side to gaze at Onora. He dropped the subject of his own fate easily, mind wandering back to her purpose. "Onora likes birds, yes? Good ermpoyment? Find, ah..." He mentally searched for the word before glancing down to the bank, selecting a roughly egg shaped stone and holding it up in explanation.
"Babies, for all! Onora's Birds."
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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:42 pm
She rubbed the tips of her fingers together, over and over, the tingle of something trapped in her joints. Strange and different in a way she couldn't explain - not quite alien but no where near the realm of familiar either.
She looked at him as Shai explained, eying the glimmering shards uncertainly. Despite the sparse level of explanation, it wasn't exactly impossible for Onora to piece the situation together. Like kingdoms collapsing on themselves, lords and ladies scraping after pieces of land until it all broke down into one solid piece.
Something like that anyway.
"Oh Lords, I don't know anything about birds except that they fly and eat things." Watched borders with eyes like glass beads and shrieked under enchantments. She shook her head. "No, I just need something to earn a little money - something to get Morris and I out of here." With a wave of her hand she encompassed the headquarters the lush grounds surrounding it.
The handwave faltered halfway through, tacking its course in order for Onora's fingers to brush the back of Shai's hand experimentally. "If those" - she glanced at the glowing crystals hovering in place - "If this things are part of you, why don't you feel the same?" Pulling her hand back, Onora wiggled her fingers, palms up.
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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:03 pm
Shai smiled at her question, and his smile broadened as the entire meaning trickled through. Pinching at the skin of his own arm with two fingers, he shrugged, and let the pinch go. "Padding!" For some reason, the question and answer amused him, and Shai laughed...a surprisingly resonant laugh for his age. Leaning closer to Onora, he peered into her eyes, and let her in turn gaze into his. It was almost impossible to distinguish his irises or pupils, but they were there, shining vaguely gold. If the light that filled him ever faded, he was sure they would be a rich brown.
"Inside, safe." Patting his tummy, Shai laughed again. He'd never had anyone ask that! In a slightly childish gesture, he opened his mouth wide. There had always been light in his smile, and it became obvious why. The back of his throat was bright, as though he'd swallowed glow bugs and they rested, content, in his tummy.
Shrugging again, Shai closed his mouth. He wasn't sure he'd answered Onora's question, but he'd certainly tried. The distant call of some sort of bird reminded him what they had been talking about, and Shai twisted to see if he could spot it.
"No birds, then...babies?" Shai made a motion as though patting many little heads, in every direction. "Keep safe? Onora can protect." He had no idea what child care was called, but he certainly knew it was needed. It was one of the main issues Aki was always on about!
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Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 10:26 pm
Just as childishly, Onora leaned closer to peer down his throat, her chin tipped up and her gaze sliding along the length of her nose as if the combination would help her see further down - to the golden burning center somewhere in the other Fa'e. She leaned back as he closed his mouth, settling firmly back on her seat bones. She pressed her hands to her own stomach, patting there experimentally.
"Mine's empty," she remarked, half jokingly. "I need breakfast." She smiled a little crookedly then, a little slyly.
Babies. Onora bit the side of her thumb thoughtfully, rolling the idea around in her head like fish eye marbles . She tapped her nose with her index finger and the nodded sharply, once. "I think you may be on to something there, Shai," she announced. "Though perhaps not babies. I'm no wet-nurse, to be sure." And in a display of pure vulgarity, Onora pat the top of one of her breasts and snorted at the thought.
And just as suddenly as she'd dragged them out, she jammed the heels of her hands into the grass and levered herself to her feet. For a moment her head swam with the sharp movement and she was very quickly reminded of the bone-deep weakness, sickness or otherwise, that ran from forehead to fingertip.
And then, as soon as she'd had the tie to recognize it, it lapsed slightly under the warm tingle that had come from touching the glowing stone. Onora blinked, flexing her fingers absently. She shot a sideways glance in Shai's direction and to the stones huddling around him.
Said nothing. Instead, "Are you hungry? Lords and Ladies, I could eat a horse."
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Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:03 am
Shai closed his mouth and watched, startled but still smiling, as Onora seemed to gain a bit of energy. Though he didn't understand some of her words, he was familiar with the concept of a wet nurse...but as soon as he'd conversationally caught up, she was off again and onto her feet.
"Horse?" There was no disgust in his tone, only a mild curiosity. He knew what a horse was, but he'd never thought to try one! "My like is eggs. Hungry, yes!"
Shai watched her flex her fingers absently as he pushed to his feet...stepping back into his sandals tapping his toes downward to hurry the rocks from the sole. He rather liked Onora....though Shai didn't truly dislike anyone...but there was something about her that was enjoyably complicated. Her strange words? Her sudden resolutions? Shai didn't ponder long, he simply adapted, and followed suit.
"I cook for Onora, as well?" It was a cheery offer. The shards relaxed slowly upon their tethers until they were dangling loose against the small of his back, no longer competing against the lightening sky. "If Onora watches babies, I cook for all, someday!"
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 10:17 pm
"No, I didn't mean--" Onora began to protest. Oh bother, it didn't matter anyway. She plucked her shoes out of the grass, not bothering to stuff her feet back into them. "Eggs," she affirmed instead. "Eggs sound wonderful."
She waited patiently enough for his to tap his feet back into his sandals - or as quietly as she seemed capable of being in any case. The teen girl seemed to jump from one thing to another with the haste of a bird, striking out like a hawk: keen eyes, sharp and sudden in everything. She slipped the river stone Shai had given her into the pocket of her overcoat, and she smiled at him sideways.
"What exactly are you proposing, sir?" she inquired cheekily. "Morris will want to know if you're offering to take care of my prospective babies." She laughed, mouth open and head tipped back, full and thick like syrup. Onora shook her head, caught Shai's shoulder in a brief clap of her palm and then ducked beyond him to pick her way back the way they'd come, barefoot.
"Though you're welcome to cook if you like," she called lightly over her shoulder. Gods knew she'd likely burn down the whole place otherwise...
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:12 pm
In a rare display of contrary humor, Shai paused, feigning slight offense. "Just care? No. Best care!" He returned her smile, and fell into step behind Onora. "That Morris can know." The sound of her laugh echoed within him in a most warming way, and Shai absently stored the memory deep within his shattered mirror of light. For just a split second, Onora was reflected in every facet of his shards, turning as she laughed that rich, compelling laugh.
Shai drew a breath, and exhaled with a quiet laugh of his own.
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Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 4:39 pm
She snorted, pushing her hair back from her freckled forehead. "I'll let him know," she chuckled, untangling her fingers. Lords and Ladies, amazing how beneficial a little fresh air could be. She glanced back at Shai over the curve of her shoulder, the remnant of laughter still in the corners of her mouth. Good to talk to someone again. Strange how Morris, who Onora had always thought would be more than enough back home, suddenly only seemed to make her more lonely here away from everything they'd known. But here, with Shai at least, she could feel human again (or Fa'e - whatever she was supposed to be), less like a foreigner and more like someone who belonged.
"We'll have to come out here again sometime," Onora said, not really as question, as she led the way back up up the narrow dirt path toward the headquarters. Breakfast. Lords, her appetite had returned with a vengeance. Good tea, good conversation - the day had certainly come out far on top of her expectations.
(PUT A FORK IN IT, IT'S DONE!)
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