Stage: Messanger reborn
<Taka is in steelblue>
Sarielle had come with Taka to the place she'd first found her. It was like any other day: the falcon still guarded the entrance... he still refused to come to her call...
Except now Taka had learned the meaning of the word "secret;" and now she had one of her own.
She ran ahead of Sarielle, and climbed onto the long, flat stone. She didn't understand what exactly she was doing; only that she could. She turned and waved to Sarielle and then...passed through. Sarielle had looked up just in time to see her disappear.
On the other side, the weather was little different; the occasional sporadic flake of snow still flickered in the wind. But oh! The air here was so much freer.
Taka began to skip, oblivious of the bitter wind that tore at her white hair. This also was home, in a way she could not yet put into words. But then, there was very little she could put into words at the time.
A blue lake that rivaled even the depths of her eyes lapped at her feet. She could see ruins up ahead; she had to see them more closely. Carefree footstep followed carefree footstep, and soon she found herself among the tumble of stones.
Is there no one else here? she wondered to the wind. Her voice, though, remained silent; and she searched for knowledge among the stones.
A small head had poked out from behind the ruins. Her clear blue eys looked to the little angel ahead of her. Shayna smiled and stood up, a flower that she had brought back with her was in her hand. Flakes of snow drifted down onto the red spring flowers petals.
Shayna stepped out from behind the ruins and skipped over to Taka. She smiled as a red feather came loose from her wings and drifted past them. She took the tiny flower and placed it bhind her ear and stood still, looking deeply at Taka.
Her silk dress flowed in the breeze as a gust of snow and wind blew past. She peered to the side slightly, seeing that Taka too had a pair of new wings growing from behind. Her hair blew into her face as she stood, faceing the girl ahead of her.
Taka's eye caught the flutter of red; and for a moment, it captured all of her attention, and she darted to the side to retrieve the feather. It was warm in her hands.
She then turned to the little girl that looked so much like herself, and smiled. She wasn't alone here! That made things so much nicer. She offered the feather back to her, holding it out at arms length.
"You dropped this," Taka said in her sweet tones, having learned, at last, to speak.
Shayna smiled and let out a little giggle. She took back the warm feather and placed it with the flower that was behind her ear. "Thank you." Talking seemed so much easier here. She didn't stutter, and her sentences usually came out fine.
This kind of surprised her. Behind that she had never found someone else here, she had never tried talking in this place. She let out a tiny shiver as her body felt cold for only a second, before feeling once again warm and cozy.
She watched as the flakes of snow blew by and watched one silently fall onto Taka's face before melting. She smiled again and her wings slightly fluttered for a second. "My name is Shayna." She young girl smiled, letting a few pieces of hair fall into her face before sweeping tem away.
The girl she was talking with surprisingly looked like herself... except for her wings of course. Shayna's wings were warm to the touch, but not enough to hurt or cause discomfort.
She blinked her clear blue eyes and waited calmly for a response. She wanted to know the name of the little girl she had just come to meet. Her silk dress once again blew slightly in the wind, that wasn?t cold like it was when she was with Blood.
"I'm Taka," the Herald responded. Then, "Do you live here? Why are your feathers warm? Mine aren't. And where did you get that flower?"
The questions spilled forth in a rush, as usual. This place was so big, there was so much to learn!
The other girl looked so much like her, that she knew, and she was suddenly struck by an idea. Without giving Shayna time to answer, Taka grabbed her hand impulsively.
"Come on, I want to see something," Taka exclaimed, tugging her toward the water.
Shayna opened her mouth to speak but was stopped by the tugging of Taka. "Umm. okay!" Shayna ran behind the Herald, noticing that they were headed for the water. She looked at Taka as she dragged her along. "What is it?"
She looked a little confused at first but decided it wasnt bad and evetually had fun wuth it. She ran at the same speed as Taka and giggled a little. It was nice to have someone just like her around. It was fun with Blood, but having someone her own size, age and well... species was even better!
A smile crept onto her face as they stopped at the water. "Well?" She turned her head to Taka, waiting for her to show her something.
Taka fell to her knees at the edge of the water and pointed. "There, look!"
I was so still, a lake of blue glass. Everything frowing to the short was reflected dimly back at the sky. Two faces, each mirroring the other, stared back.
"See? You look just like me, if you can't see our wings!"
She sat back on her knees and laughed, feeling highly entertained by having a lookalike.
Shayna smile wide and fell back, giggling. "Just like twins!" She looked at her lookalike and examined her, noticing not one difference besides their wings. "I wonder If we will always look like this." Shayna adjusted her legs underneith her, finding a comfy spot in the snow below her.
She looked around the Sanctum quickly before turning back to Taka. "So. Do you live here? I usually don't... I usually live with Blood. Sometimes I like to call her mum though."
"We are!" Taka tipped her head throughtfully to the side. Were they sisters, perhaps? She thought that's what twins meant; but she was still learning to talk, and couldn't say for sure. Unwilling to look ignorant, she just didn't say anything at all.
"And I don't live here either. I live with Sarielle. Have you ever been here before? I haven't. I don't think..." Her voice trailed off as she gazed unblinkingly at her "twin" once more. Even here, where words came so much more easily, she groped for a way to express the feeling the Sanctum gave her. It was familiar somehow, in a way she couldn't explain.
Shayna smiled at Taka. "I have been here a few times. On my own though. And I never left my ruins. But... Before I found Blood, I don't ever remember being here..." She looked around, examining her surroundings carefully. "Hmm" She looked to the sky and watched cloud float past the blue sky, in the distance dark grey clouds were stirring. A storm was coming. A breeze flew past the two girls and the slight moment of silence seemed to go on forever in this place... It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, but a beautiful silence. It was enjoyable and quite peaceful. The shimmering almost untouched snow added to the beauty of the moment as soft ripples moved across the water.
Taka, too, peered up at the clouds that forebode rain. "I came in over there." She pointed to an area on the lake's shore a little further on, as in the time it took her to speak the ripple-filled lake became frosted with whitecaps, and leaves and small twigs pelted down from the forest.
"I think maybe I should go!" she shouted out above the wind. The snow and cold didn't bother her in the least; but she'd never seen a storm, much less one so violent. And she was afraid. "How do I get back?"
Her eyes, often devoid of any emotion beyond curiosity, nevertheless now displayed a growing horror. What if she couldn't get back out?
Shayna shivered and watch the clouds quickly move overhead. Her blue eyes scanned the sky with a bit of fear as the violent winds blew across the water. Shayna stood up, struggling against the wind to stay standing when a leaf had blow past her with such force, a fresh, bleeding cut had formed on her cheek. Shayna cringed and yelped from this new sensation of pain. She had never known what pain was like untill now.
Shayna held her had to the bleeding cut and striggled to look at Taka, who she noticed was just as nervous and scared as she was. "Taka? TAKA?" Shayna yelled above the howling wind. She started to shiver violently, and screamed as a loud crash filled the air. Shayna began to cry just a little. "I'm scared" Shayna whimpered under her breath.
Her blue eyes shot around, not knowing if she could get back to Blood or not. Usually it took lot of concentration, and this was no weather for that. Shayna moved herself deep inside her mind, hoping to get away from her fear for at least a moment. A moment was all she needed... But she never got it. She was snapped back by the sudden rip or one of her feathers from her tiny wings. She cringed a bit from it, but it was nothing compaired to how her cheek was feeling.
She tried to prie her eyes open long enough to see if Taka was still with her. She badly didn't want to be alone. But the wind was far to strong and she couldn't manage to keep her eyes open. Shayna finally knew of fears worse then spiders, and pain larger then what an itch felt like. She was afraid.
Taka vaguely heard Shayna scream her name over the wind, as a rush of leaves and small twigs ripped through her soft white hair. She smelled...blood.
She wasn't sure how she knew what it was; or how, with the scent of impending rain so strong, she'd even been able to detect it. Shayna! Was she hurt?
Taka stumbled toward her "twin," squinting against the volley of small objects the wind threw her way. It shouldn't be this hard! Shayna was only a few feet away.
She cringed as another huge thundercrack rolled overhead, a powerful tomtom in the heavens.
"I'm here!" she cried out, lunging forward again and just managing to clutch at Shayna's free hand, and yelping as a stray branch made off with one or two of her own feathers. She huddled close to her "twin." "How do we get out?" she asked, her own deep eyes becoming liquid with unshed tears.
She saw that Shayna still had one hand pressed to her cheek; and the scent of blood filled her nostrils, strong and metallic. It definitely belonged to Shayna...
Now she did cry, the tears driven swifly across her face by the gale.
Shayna could hear faint footsteps coming towards her. She opened her eyes just enough to see the figure of Taka. Shayna felt a small droplet of blood fall from her cheek, and felt the cold liquid splash against her leg. She felt a soft hand clasp onto her own and for a moment felt safe. Untill she heard the crash of the thunder above and the yelp of Taka as a few of her feathers had been torn away. "Taka..." Shayna whispered and noticed as the girl started to cry. "I... I don't know." Shayna said just loud enough for Taka to hear over the powerful crashing of thunder and the loud beat of rain hitting the ground with great force. Shayna's eyes started to water, but she knew she had to stay strong for Taka.
Shayna held Taka close, and shivered as she was starting to feel the cold of bear wet skin against cold wind. She moved her hand awasy from her cut for a moment, examining her hand. She had never seen such a shade of red. It wasnt like the waxy kind on her drawing at home. It was wet, and it came with alot of pain. She placed her hand back over the cut. The cold air was starting to make it sting a little.
Shayna's eyes darted around as she looked for a way out. She couldn't think of anything but their best move would be to go to the ruins and seek out some shelter from the rain. "Taka. We have to move over there." Shayna pointed tot he ruins. "Maybe we can find someplace out of the rain." Shayna started stepping carefully, making sure nothing would hit her again, causing the pain to come back full force.
Taka felt Shayna shiver as the first hard drops fell, but didn't really understand. She felt wet, of course; but the cold was not something that bothered her particularly. Dimly, memories of an icy downpour filtered through her mind; but they were soon wiped away by the fear at hand.
"Alright!" She shouted back to Shayna, as the wind strove to tear her words away, and they began to struggle back, away from the lack and to the stones that lay in ruin.
Shayna still glanced now and then at the blood on her hand, smeared a little by the raindrops; it was also on her face. Taka realized that her twin seemed almost dumbfounded by it...
Taka pulled her eyes away. She did not mind the sight nor smell of blood, as most children might; but she did not like to see it on her twin.
She tried to hold tight still to Shayna's hand; but the rain fell harder, and her grip loosened. Holding on didn't really make movement any easier; but it made her feel better, so desperately she hung on. Just a few more steps, and they'd be around one of the low-standing walls.
Shayna soon learned to ignore the blood that was now covering the palm of her hand, and most likely covering the side of her face. Taking her hand away and putting it back countless times had smeard around the blood that had crept from the cut, all around her cheek.
She tried just as hard as Taka to keep ahold of her hand. It slowed them down a bit, but it was worth it. As they turned the corner to hide hedind the low rock wall, Shayna remembered the blankets and sweaters Blood had given to her a long time ago. Shayna kept leading Taka further into the ruins, and soon they came to an area of a taller standing wall with a peice of roof that still stood strong overtop. Shayna smiled and lead Taka to the area, and sat her down on the still dry blankets.
Shayna had to wipe away the blood on her somehow, so she ripped apart one of the sweaters and wiped off her hand as best as she could, holding up the bloody rag to her face. "What now? Should we wait?" Shayna sat beside Taka, looking up to the sky as it lit up once again and was closly followed by the crashing sound once more.
Taka sat down in the dry nook with a great sense of relief. Somehow even that tiny bit of shelter made her so much less afraid. She did duck a little at the next roll of thunder; but her face was no longer wet with tears, but with rain.
She still would not look directly at Shayna. Instead, she picked up the already-soiled sweater and handed it back. "You missed some on your face." Only then did she begin to consider her twin's question.
"I suppose we have to stay here," she said dolefully in her high sweet voice. She had planted herself right beside the other child, and had NO desire to face the storm - and most frighteningly, the thunder - again. "You said you'd been here before though; how did you get out again then? I...I wanna go home." She didn't cry again, but she did look pretty miserable, with her huge sad eyes and her hair and clothes plastered to her body.
Shayna took the rag and had finished wiping away the blood on her face. She looked to she dark sky and listened to the houling wind run through the trees. She though for a moment, and turned to Taka. "Well... I usually have to concentrate real hard. Block everything out, and think of Blood, or good thinkgs. sometimes it works. Othertimes... it just sorta... happens." Shayna spotted the circular spot of pavement out in the open where it usually happened. The ancient markings and swirls along the cement had filled up with rain water, and in the center lay a small stone slab. "Maybe if i..." Shayna trailed off in her own thoughs. Wrapping a blanket around herself she ran over to the slab. She pulled part of the blanket over her head to help herself concentrate a bit more.
She held her hand over the slab and tried her best to block everything out. The crashing thunder, the drumming of rain and the screeching of the wind, ripping through the trees. As she thought deeply of being back home with Blood, a hot bowl of soup infront of her, she felt a familiar warmth beneith her hands. She opened an eye just in time, to see a red light coming from the stone, and to see part of her start to fade off. A crash of thunder broke her thoughts and she fell backwards slightly.
"Uh.." Shayna stood up against the harsh wind and turned to Taka with a smile. She motioned the girl to hurry over. "Maybe I can get us both through!" Shayna exclaimed exitedly as Taka had made her way over. She wrapped the blanket around Taka, making sure the girl was touching her in some sort of way, incase it wouldnt work if they weren't touching.
Shayna once again held her hands over the slab, concentrating hard on being with Blood, and a hot bowl of soup. The refreshing warmth came once again to her hands, as the two girls slowly faded away into the bright red light. It had worked!
Shayna opened her eyes so see the two of them huddling over the same stone slab... but it was different. a warm spring breeze flew through Shayna's hair and the green grass was everywhere. the blue sky above them held not a single cloud! They made it. Shayna turned to Taka with a big smile and hugged her twin. "We made it!" Shayna stopped for a second, feeling her own cut once again bleed. She held her hand up to the wound, covering it the best she could with her tiny hands.
Taka had huddled beneath the blanked and watched as Shayna held her hands over the stone slab, and concentrated. Her twin's words echoed in her ears, and she, too, tried to think of her guardian.
The Herald could just call up the image of Sarielle as she stood in the snow, looking miserable but waiting while Taka called to the falcon anyway. Her own snug room with her blue bunny and her music box, swam next before her eyes.
Beside her, Shayna began to feel warm - almost uncomfortably so. But she couldn't think about that, or the storm that raged around them. She had to concentrate on home, just like Shayna did.
The heat intensified, and Taka felt like she was smothering as the scenery shifted with a dizzying whirl. And suddenly...the rain was gone, and the thunder only a distant rumble of memory. It really was as Shayna said; they had gotten out of the Sanctum safely!
Or at least, mostly. The deep cut on Shayna's cheek had broken open again, and they were still soaked from before. She had no time to speak before Sarielle swooped down on them both and cradled them in her arms.
"Where were you? Don't ever do that to me again!"
Taka blinked; the words should have been angry, but Sarielle's voice shook as though she was holding back tears.
"And who is this?" One glance and Sarielle took in the warm, fiery feathers. "Ah, you must be Shayna," she rambled on, not giving the little girl time to answer. Blood had spoken of her frequently. "Does Blood know where you are?"
Shayna suddenly felt someone come into the picture. Blood had told her not to talk to strangers. But Taka looked happy as the woman hugged the two of them. Perhaps this was the woman names Sarielle that Taka talked about. The name was familliar. Yes... she remembers it. She had heard Blood say the name a few times when she talked on the phone. Shayna smiled, feeling the warmth of Sari's hug.
Shayna looked to Taka then to Sari. She nodded to Sari. "Yes, I'm Shayna" She shiverd a little bit as she was starting to feel weak. She wasn't used to loosing blood, especially so much for her first cut. "I... No... Blood doesn't know where I am." Shayna shifted her had a little bit and could feel some blood drip down her cheek again.
Shayna moned a little and was starting to feel sick. She had put alot of pressure on her body today. It was hard to bring them both back from the sanctum like that. not to mention the strong sent of blood was starting to make her dizzy.
"Sarielle?" Taka spoke up softly, her expression strange. "I don't like the way Shayna's blood smells," she almost whimpered. "Fix it."
"Fix it." It's what she'd always said to Sarielle when her wings had first begun to grow in.
"Alright Taka, alright. Shayna, our house isn't far; you and Taka stay right here while I run and get you a band-aid, and I'll call Blood to let her know where you are. Taka, the cold doesn't bother you but it might bother her. Stay close and make sure she stays warm."
Sarielle turned on her heel and made her way back home at a brisk jog; if Blood was anything like her, she'd be frantic not knowing where Shayna was.
Taka, like most children was excited by the idea of responsibility; and promptly plopped down close beside Shayna, and handed her the thin coat Sarielle had originally brought for her.
