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 Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:25 pm
[Out of the Forest, Part 5]
A tiny owl crouched on a low branch shivering in fear while large wild hounds howled and jumped at the base of the tree, ripping the bark away in shreds with their claws. It didn''t look like they could climb trees, but given the urgency of their cries, the owl was clearly their prey and someone else was following behind.
Words began drifting into the owl''s mind like leaves falling off a tree in the fall. They swirled, fluttered, and took their own sweet time being absorbed. The knowledge however was clear and when it was finally complete Chandra opened her eyes and the dogs stopped barking. Their master was in sight.
Chandra opened her beak and whistled, her panic making the sound come out wirng and distorted. Instead of out, she was merely thrown higher up the tree. From her new perch, she could see a large set of elk horns making their way through the wood in her direction. At the current rate of speed they would be upon her in moments. Chandra whistled again in desperation and this time she got it right.
Music notes swirled, echoing around her like a whirlwind until it was so loud she had to close her eyes. That was the peak and it slowly faded out into nothingness again, spinning itself out.
When Chandra opened her eyes again, she was back in her room, Kam''s tears raining down on her face. Chandra blinked twice and then began to wail quiet loudly. Kam looked shocked and almost dropped the baby, but then started laughing. Her baby was home!
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:26 pm
[Fireflies]
Kam hefted Chandra onto her hip and pointed to the jar on the windowsill of the bedroom.
"Look sweetie, its a firefly. Isn't it pretty how it flashes?"
Chandra didn't say anything, but stretched out a hand to poke the side of the glass jar.
"Fi?"
"Yeah, firefly. There are a whole bunch outside, look."
Kam pushed the jar to the side, and pointed out the window to the backyard. It was getting pretty dark out, and a whole bunch of fireflies were in the yard, blinking in series.
Chandra cooed and leaned towards the window reaching out a hand. She opened and closed it rapidly, going what Kam liked to call "grabby hands".
"Aren't they pretty?"
"Fifis!"
Kam chuckled and turned away from the window.
"Let's go read a bedtime story downstairs, ok sweetheart?"
"Fifis."
Chandra was turned so she could still see the jar and was trying to push it out the window. She seemed a vaguely upset that the firefly in the jar wasn't with the others. Luckily, the screen kept the jar inside. Kam reached out and took Chandra's hand.
"Its ok sweetheart. He'll go back outside soon."
__________________
For the bedtime story Kam had chosen Green Eggs and Ham. It wasn't a brilliant piece of literature, but it had been one of her own favorites as a kid.
Kam sat down in her ugly yellow armchair with a sigh, settling Chandra in her lap. She leaned down and kissed the top of Chandra's head with a happy sigh. Having her in her life was so wonderful.
Chandra squirmed at the delay and reached out for the book on the table beside them. She wanted to hear a story.
Kam laughed and picked up the book, opening it in front of herself and Chandra. As Kam read, Chandra liked to echo her as best she could. She also thought it was a fun game to either stop Kam from turning to the next page, or turn an extra page. If Kam didn't correct it and tried reading the page again, or skipping one Chandra would giggle happily like she had tricked Kam.
When they were all done with the book, Chandra could barely keep her eyes open and Kam took her up to bed. Ever since the odd incident with Chandra not waking up for quite a while, Kam had moved the crib into her bedroom so she could wake up and check on Chandra easily as the night went on.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:27 pm
[Chandra's Child Quest Posts]
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:29 pm
[Growing] "I'm hungry. Can I have something to eat?"
Kam looked up from her desk at the oddly familiar voice and her jaw dropped with surprise.
"Chandra?"
She stood up and walked over to ruffle Chandra's short hair, confirming to herself that the child was real.
"You've grown," Kam was surprised and a little confused.
Chandra just shrugged, unconcerned.
"It appears that way."
Kam frowned, and reached for the book tucked under one arm.
"Is that -?"
Chandra moved the book out of reach, and stared unblinkly at Kam.
"It is mine. It has always been mine."
She blinked once, and reached up over her shoulder to scratch at the base of one of her new wings. Kam just stared, having not noticed them before.
"That is why you couldn't read it," Chandra added with a sigh, as if all the talking had exhausted her.
"Because you have wings?"
Kam shook her head and realized that the two couldn't be related.
"Ah, because the book is yours, so you alone can read it."
Chandra nodded and then after a moment of silence, she cocked her head to the side.
"I am still hungry mother."
Kam blinked again and pulled an unprotesting Chandra into a tight hug. Her baby had grown up so fast into a self-possessed little child.
"Sure, sure. We can go make something."
Chandra didn't move, but she sighed.
"We can't make anything while you are holding me. I cannot even hug you in return."
She tried to move her arms, demonstrating how they were caught fast in Kam's tight bear hug. Kam laughed and backed up, letting Chandra go, but was pulled back in when Chandra, with a very serious expression, put her arms around Kam's neck and pulled her close for a quick hug.
---------------------------------
Kam stood by the stove, flipping pancakes with a worried expression.
"I haven't done this in so long. I always worry I'll burn the outside but the middle won't cook."
Chandra didn't look up from where she was carefully placing bacon on a plate to put in the microwave.
"I'm sure it will be fine mother."
Kam turned back and smiled, almost flipping the pancake she had onto the floor.
"Ooops~"
Chandra looked up, pausing in her task, actually looking slightly amused.
"Did you drop one?"
Kam shoved the pancake behind her back and smiled.
"Nope. And it looks like you're done, so why don't you go wash your hands and I'll take care of the rest."
Chandra nodded, her expression neutral again, and left the kitchen.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:30 pm
[Darkness Becomes Her]
"Wouldn't you like to go see the other children?" Kam said in an exasperated voice.
Chandra looked up from where she sat on the floor of her bedroom and blinked, frowning at the interruption.
"No. Busy with book."
Kam shivered as she looked down at the only book which could simply be referred to as book. The pages still looked blank to her and she wondered what Chandra saw there.
Chandra continued after a moment, her voice even. Her sentences were not quite as clear as they had been that first day after growing up except when she had been inside the book. For the first moment after returning from within herself, Chandra often seemed to possess a wisdom beyond her short years. Almost as if she briefly had a hold on her past while in death.
"When I finish part about desert."
Chandra looked back down at her book and waved a hand imperially at Kam. She made it clear she did not appreciate the interruption of her work.
"But how can you even read in here? You don't have any light!"
Kam crossed the room to open the heavy drapes and let in some of the sunlight. She only got them open a centimeter before Chandra hissed her eyes reflecting the scant light, looking eerily like a cat. She startled Kam into dropping them closed again.
"I not want sun."
The predatory look on her face was gone and Chandra went back to the book, but Kam was offically spooked. Most of the time it was so easy to think of Chandra as just another kid, with perhaps odd coloring. But at times like this it was clear she was no such thing.
"Ok, but when you finish that chapter I think you need to take a break. It isn't good for you to be so out of touch with other children."
Kam muttered the last part, almost as an admonition to herself.
"Yes. Others..."
Chandra trailed off, almost hissing the last 'ess' sound. Kam frowned, unsure exactly what it was about others Chandra was thinking, but she turned and left, leaving the door open just a crack behind her.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:31 pm
[Trust No One, Part 1]
In life Chandra''s body shivered, icicles starting to form on her fingertips. She had entered death through the book more than an hour earlier and was making her way through the first stage, the forest, in owl form.
Somwhere near the edge, Chandra set down in a clearing to rest. The trees, always menacing, seemed almost to be leaning away from a small pond in the center of the clearing. There was nothing odd about the pond itself at least to Chandra''s quick glance, so she shifted, feathers falling in a storm as her human body emerged.
She faced the pond, her back to the unnatural darkness of the forest. She walked forward curiously, interested in the nature of the small body of water. She knelt and gazed down at the water. Oddly, no image of her was reflected on the obsidian surface. In fact, the image reflected appeared to have nothing to do with the night sky or landscape behind Chandra. The only congruent element was the full silver moon directly overhead.
As Chandra leaned further towards the surface of the pond, a voice broke the eerie silence of the clearing.
"Just don''t break the surface."
The voice was cold, leached of the warmth added by emotion. Chandra whirled, startled to find a calm young woman with light blue hair staring at her from the edge of the clearing. Spooked by the stranger''s silent arrival, Chandra almost lost the chain of herself and shifted back into owl form. Feather sprouted from her skin and then fell off, molting as she regained her concentration.
Chandra studied the stranger, taking in her appearance and trying to determine what danger she might pose. The woman was dressed as if for winter and her beautiful face was marred by a puckered scar down her right cheek. The odd woman made no threatening guestures and in fact stood completely still as Chandra studied her, her expression totally neutral. After several moments, Chandra ventured a question.
"Who are you?" She paused and then continued, "Or more important, what are you?"
It never ceased to amaze her how easy it was to express herself in death. She didn''t have to deal with the limitations of age and experience which bound her in life. However, she struggled to keep that surprise off her face, unwilling to give the unnamed person in the clearing with her any information about herself.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:32 pm
[Trust No One, Part 2]
"At one point your master had my name. I expected better of you Sha."
The words were cutting but the tone was not. The blue haired woman spoke matter of factly, as if she were a vessel unconcerned with their meaning.
Chandra took a step back, almost toppling into the pond behind her. She attempted to school her expression, to disguise the wave of fear and panic washing over her, but she did not entirely succeed.
"Amusing," the stranger's tone and facial expression didn't change to reflect her words at all. "You don't recognize me. How useful. In that case, my name is Angerona."
As she heard the name, something rang deep down and Chandra whistled a note without thinking about it. Angerona started, finally showing emotion, and clapped her hands over her ears. As Chandra continued, Angerona fell to her knees and screamed a note in harmony to Chandra's own.
Eventually Chandra ran out of breath and as she sucked in more air to continue, Angerona stopped screaming and stood. She advanced on Chandra, who suddenly found herself unable to move.
"Nice try. Too bad you don't understand what you're playing with."
Her expression again frozen in neutrality and her tone calm, Angerona reached out and shoved Chandra backwards into the pond. From Chandra's perspective time seemed to slow down and she grabbed Angerona's outstretched arm, pulling the woman into the pond with her. As her head broke the surface, Chandra was surrounded by darkness.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:34 pm
[Turst No One, Part 3]
At some point Chandra must have fallen asleep in the darkness. As she blinked awake her eyes met Angerona's pale icy blue ones. It took Chandra a minute to figure out what was odd about those eyes, but she quickly realized that they were lifeless, staring unseeingly into space.
Through the pond they had fallen into what appeared to be the ruins of a major battle. Angerona's body was impaled on what at some point must have been the tusk of a very large and unfriendly animal. As Chandra shifted away from the body, Angerona gasped and words seemed to drift out of her corpse.
"Once dead a body means very little. Especially inside the land of the dead."
Her arms reached up and pulled the tusk the rest of the way through her chest, making a sickening popping noise and it cleared. She tossed it to the side as if it were nothing and began to stand.
Chandra watched wide-eyed before scrambling to her own feet and backing away from Angerona, who had a rapidly closing whole in the middle of her body. She was beginning to regret pulling the other into the pond with her.
Angerona pursued Chandra, advancing on her steadily and then suddenly tripping over what appeared to be an arm bone. Chandra took that opportunity to spring forward, acting totally on instinct and shove her hand into Angerona's mouth, preventing her from making any noise. Chandra then began to whistle again, the same tune she had tried before.
This time Angerona looked panicked, but could do nothing to defend herself. She bit down frantically on Chandra's hand, but Chandra didn't budge, ignoring the blood pooling and running down to drip off Angerona's chin.
Angerona's eyes slowly turned white, the small amount of color they contained leaching out as she slowly stopped struggling. As her body went limp, Chandra stopped whistling and drew a breath.
"Angerona, I have your name."
Chandra gingerly touched the finger of her free hand to Angerona's forehead, leaving a black fingerprint there. Angerona's eyes regained their color in that instant and the other woman spat out Chandra's now ruined hand.
"I underestimated you, but others will not make the same mistake."
Chandra cried out in pain as her hand came free and she cradelled it to herself. She steeled herself against the sight and swallowed to stop herself from crying.
"You didn't bleed."
She hated to admit her ignorance, but she had no idea why Angerona's wound had healed so easily and her's did not. Angerona wiped the blood off her chin and the outside of her mouth with the back of one hand, before replying.
"I'm not alive. I have no life's blood to lose. You play a dangerous game, so new to your powers, trying to walk among the greater dead."
"The greater dead?"
Chandra shifted, using her free hand to push herself to her feet. She hadn't heard of any such thing in her readings.
"Those of us who have avoided passing beyond the final gate and spent our time preying on other souls, gathering strength and knowledge. Those of us who hope to find a way back into life."
Angerona did not appear to begrudge Chandra the answer to her question and in fact appeared not to find anything amiss about the situation. Perhaps because as she had alluded to earlier, she had been bound before.
"I'll ask again, who and what are you?"
As soon as she asked Chandra realized she knew the answer to her questions and she sighed, closing her eyes. Angerona answered anyway, although it had to be clear to her Chandra had remembered. Maybe she didn't have a choice of whether or not to answer a question once asked by someone holding her name.
"I am Angerona, one of the greater dead. I have been bound many times by many masters, but none of them have been able to hold me. In life I was a necromancer, but I made the mistake of summoning before I was ready and I died for my mistake. Now I serve you for as long as you can hold my name."
Chandra opened her eyes again and offered Angerona a hand to stand. The other woman ignored it and stood on her own.
"And you forgot to mention you're the equivalent of a siren, leading foolish necromancers into trouble spots. Where are we now?"
"A pocket in the land of the dead, carved here long before I came to reside in the forest. It appears to be the site of some major battle, but I know nothing of import about it."
"What do you know?"
Angerona's features took on a grim cast in the dim light.
"Once entered, you must defeat the current owner in order to exit. You may not flee this situation by escaping into life as there are no doors but the one we came in through. If you die here, I am free."
"So you hope I die here?"
Chandra turned around, surveying her environment. Most of the area was simply red clay and skeletons as far as she could see, but off to one side there was a single stone tower. It was probably the abode of whomever called this "pocket" home. Angerona stared at the tower as Chandra did, but gave nothing away by her expression.
"Yes. I hope you die. Not only so I may be free, but also because in the instant you die, I can steal your body and return to life."
What a comforting thought. The only person who knew what was going on wanted her dead so she could steal her life. A life she had left unprotected, since she did not plan to be gone so long.
"You're going to be disappointed."
Chandra tried to muster up her courage with those words, but the glaring truth was that she had no idea what she was doing. Everything she had done right so far had been instinct and not anything she was sure she could duplicate if she tried.
"Let's go," Chandra said firmly, pointing to the tower. "I've got to get out of here and back to my life."
It actually came out pretty strong in Chandra's opinion, but she ruined the whole thing by stubbing her toe on something pointy. She stumbled and put out both hands to catch herself, which caused major paint when her injured one hit the clay. Her elbow gave out and she pitched forward, landing face forward on the ground.
"What?"
She pushed herself up on both elbows and peered back to see what had tripped her up. Out of the clay some silver glinted in the low moonlight and Chandra twisted around to reach for it, digging the whole piece out of the ground to examine it. When it was uncovered and Chandra had the whole thing in her hand, Angerona gasped.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:36 pm
[Trust No One, Part 4]
Chandra glanced up at Angerona to try and catch the fleeting facial expression which must have accompanied the gasp, but she was disappointed to find the expressionless mask that most often adorned Angerona''s face. She had been hoping to glean some sort of information from the dead woman''s ungaurded expression about the flute and attached key she held in her hand.
"What is it?" She mused, turning it over in her hands to admire the smooth surface of the simple silver flute. She shifted her attention to the attached key, intrigued by the amber eyes in the handle. As she turned it, the stones glinted and the eyes seemed to blink at her. Chandra couldn''t help but feel like her own eyes had been trapped in the stone and were staring back at her.
A little delayed, Angerona replied to the non-question in a hushed voice.
"A flute is the standard necromancer tool or choice. It amplifies your ability to use sound to control the dead." She continued grudgingly, as if the next sentence was being pulled out of her against her will. "Most choose to forge their own, since part of one''s soul is passed on in the making. It is dangerous to hold a piece of another person."
Angerona fell silent, staring at the key and was clearly not going to elaborate.
"What about the key?" Chandra queried. She hated to expose her ignorance to the bound spirit, but it couldn''t be helped. To get out of here she would need a greater understanding of what she could and could not use to her advantage.
Angerona swallowed and reached up to run one pale finger down the scar on her face.
"It opens a cage I think you would be better off never opening."
Chandra questioned her further, but Angerona would simply shake her head with her lips pressed tightly closed.
_____________________________________
"This is it, right?" Chandra huffed, her breath coming out in little clouds. The desert like place had gotten extremely cold as whatever artificial source of light there was here faded.
Angerona nodded grimly, staring up at the stone tower that seemed to lightly glow with its own light in the darkness. It was a good thing too, without any stars in the sky Chandra would have gotten lost many times on the surprisingly long trek here.
As she stared up at the only obvious entrance to the tower, a black maw about 7 feet up the side, Chandra shivered in anticipation. This would be an interesting experience, a fight to the death - or rather to the life she reminded herself.
Angerona spoke up momentarily, her words not sending out any sort of puffs, another reminder that she was not alive.
"I wonder if you blow it this time whether you''ll be given another chance?"
Chandra stared at the spirit and blinked a couple time, evaluating the obviously rhetorical question.
"This time? I''ve done this before?"
Angerona simply smiled as a line of fire dripped out of the door to the tower and started to pool on the ground by Chandra''s feet.
"You''ve come at a good time. Libitina is strongest in the dark."
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:37 pm
[Trust No One, Part 5]
As the amount of fire on the ground in front of the tower increased, Chandra started to get nervous. She steeled herself though, showing none of that on the outside. The stakes were high, she couldn't afford to give away any sign of weakness.
Chandra watched the fire rage and take shape, becoming the form of a woman with red hair and a scar to match Angerona's.
"Chandra. How good to see you again."
Where Angerona's voice had been cold and emotionless, Libitina's was layered with emotion. Hatred, excitement, and another Chandra couldn't quite name. Libitina smiled, one hand on her hip, and looked Chandra up and down.
"What can I do for you, pet?"
Chandra couldn't help herself, she blinked a couple times rapidly in confusion.
"I want to leave this place."
Libitina narrowed her eyes at the flute Chandra was still clutching and then looked questioningly at Angerona.
"I see you brought a hostage," she said slowly and moved over to run a finger down Angerona's scarred cheek. Angerona winced, but didn't make any noise.
Chandra looked away, uncomfortable with what she saw between the two. It looked like she might be able to trade Angerona for her own freedom. Did she want to do that?
Why not? said a little voice. Whether Angerona wanted to be there or not had nothing to with Chandra. She shouldn't have pushed her into the pond.
Her mind made up, Chandra looked back to the two women. Libitina had one hand on Angerona's shoulder, laid casually like a friend. If it weren't for the look on the normally stoic Angerona's face, Chandra would have reevaluated her decision. Angerona was in pain from the inflamed looking stretches of skin where the red haired spirit had touched her.
"You have something I want and I have something you want. Perhaps we should make a deal."
Libitina nodded, not moving from Angerona's side.
"Perfect. I'll get a new toy and you can go back where you belong."
She lifted her hand from Libitina's shoulder and revealed a bad burn in the shape of a hand. She looked at it in satisfaction and then waved to Chandra, childishly wiggling her fingers in farewell.
Chandra very suddenly found herself back in life, sitting with the book spread out in her lap. She had a million questions, so she started to flip through the book even though she knew it wouldn't have anything about her past in it.
When she reached the end she sighed and stood, feeling her muscles complain from being in one position for so long. Her head reeled and her vision narrowed right before she passed out. Upon waking, she found that everything from entering the pool of water until coming back out was missing. She looked at the flute in her hand questioningly, but tucked it away.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:42 pm
Chandra clicked on the tape recorder in her room. She had been learning to write, but her ruined hand made that impossible. Instead Kam had shown her how to record herself on the tape by pressing the right buttons.
"I saw Bi at HQ and spoke to him. He seemed scared by his dreams. He said they screamed until they went in and he thought they were dead. I told him I would help him talk to them. He asked me not to hurt myself. That was funny. My feelings are not as bright as they once were. I think I am becoming like the dead and will not feel pain or sorrow."
There is a long silence and the sound of pages being turned before eventually Chandra continues, her voice sounding older and weary.
"I am not sure there is an efficient way to search death. Perhaps if I had their name I could call them and force them to come to me. I will have to ask if I can remember long enough to do so."
Chandra clicked the tape off and wandered back out of her room. Dinner would be soon.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:43 pm
"I went to the HQ again today and met a new Legend. A little girl who asked for one of my feathers. I gave it to her and maybe someday she will understand what that means.
I saw Loki again too and asked him about his lantern. He said he did not know it's purpose but added something about his sister who is dead, a spirit.
I saw Bii as well and I found out he plays the guitar very well. I envy his skill. He does not know if the girl is dead, but promised to find her name so I could try to call her."
A loud thud is heard and a sound of confusion. Several seconds of silence follow before a new voice begins to speak.
"You should guard your body better from intrusion Chandra." The voice is cold and sharp like steel, but it holds the barest hint of caress used between lovers. "I admit that I am curious what you promised to get this new life and body. There are many who would pay dearly for such knowledge."
A pause and a garbled word in Chandra's voice, the end of it strangled off by the interruption of the other voice again.
"Come back to me, my dear owl. I have much I could now teach you."
Another loud thud on the tape, this time clearly the sound of a body falling to the floor and then hours of silence.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:44 pm
"I am worried. The last time I spoke into the tape, something odd happened. I fainted. Or so my mom calls it. I just fell asleep in the middle of my entry. But when I listened to the tape again it sounded like someone else was talking. I think someone took over my body and put me to sleep.
I do not understand. How could someone do that? I have not read anything about it in the book. I worry it will happen again. What if they make me do something other than just talk? They could hurt someone.
Until I can stop them from taking my body, I need to avoid people. Kam can protect herself, but I need to avoid others. Especially other Legends. I don't want to hurt Prana or Dare or Loki or anyone else. So I am not going to the HQ.
The voice acted like they knew me, but I do not see how they could. Is it a trick? What is a master anyway? I tried to ask Kam, but she wanted to know why and I could not tell her.
The easy answer is that the information I need probably waits in death. I cannot go there yet in case it is a trick. Also the last time I went to death I forgot part of what happened. I believe I may be in danger because I do not understand what is going on."
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:45 pm
[New Member of the House]
Kam peeked into Chandra's room and found the girl pouring over the Book of the Dead in the dark. She sighed and switched on the light.
"You're going to need glasses if you keep reading in the dark, sweets."
Chandra looked up and shut the book abruptly, sliding it back behind her as she stood. As she made her way over to the door, Kam's forhead creased a little in worry. Chandra had been unusually reclusive lately and she was starting to look a little pale. Well, paler than usual.
"You ok Sha?"
Kam reached out and gently laid the back of her hand on Chandra's forehead. It was cool to the touch, but that wasn't unusual for the Legend. Chandra bore the hand calmly, standing completely still and staring at the baby propped on Kam's hip neutrally.
"I am well. I have been busy."
Kam frowned, Chandra was much too serious for her age. She needed to be out with other kids, enjoy life.
"You need to make time for other people. You spend too much time indoors."
Chandra blinked and dodged the question, reaching up one pale hand to touch Iqbal's hanging foot.
"Who is he? He smells of blood and feels of the nearness of death."
Kam looked at Iqbal in alarm, forgetting her earlier assertion to Chandra. He what? She shook her head. Kids. Such imagination. Although it was odd Chandra mentioned the blood. Kam had tried her best to wash it off both Fortune and Iqbal's clothing when they got home, but it refused to even fade.
"His name is Iqbal and his ... friend," Kam motioned to the tiny owl like creature at her feet, " is Fortune. They came from a book."
Chandra tilted her head to the side and gave Iqbal a small smile and wave. Iqbal took the hand he had been drooling all over out of his mouth and imitated her happily.
"Not my book." Chandra said, rather unnecessarily.
"No." Kam nodded in agreement. "They did not." She thought for a second, not sure how to bring up the next order of business. She wasn't sure how Chandra would react to finding out she was going to have a new sibling.
"Where does he live?" The pale girl asked innocently, still playing with his toes much to Iqbal's delight. Kam had to shift her grip on him as he giggled and tried to snatch his foot away.
"He lives here now." Kam looked at Chandra closely, hoping to note any external reaction the girl might have. She had none to the outward eye, simpy nodding as if that was the answer she expected.
"With me?"
"For a little while perhaps. Right now he is going to stay with me, like you did when you were very young. Then he will move in with you until you need your own room."
She hadn't meant to spell out the kid's whole future in the house, but Chandra's natural silence made Kam want to speak to fill the silence.
"Okay. Hello Iqbal." Chandra gave him another wave, but without the accompanying smile and then she glanced at the creature by Kam's feet. "Hello Fortune." There was an odd tone to her greeting, but Kam had a feeling that was related to the greater quantity of blood on the daemon.
"Okay, I think Iqbal may be a little hungry so we will leave you alone for now."
Kam hefted Iqbal on her hip and turned to leave causing the boy to shriek in her ear. He squirmed, trying to turn and look at Chandra again. She'd obviously made an impression. Kam just sighed, not sure Chandra was really a great role model and continued out of the room. Iqbal would calm down once she was out of sight. He seemed to share the short memory of most babies, which thankfully limited his temper tantrums.
Unnoticed by Kam, Fortune remained behind them and stared at Chandra for several minutes before scrambling downstairs to join Kam and Iqbal and steal some food.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:47 pm
[Demons from the Past, Part 1]
Chandra looked up from the TV as Kam brought in a plate of cut up carrots and celery. The girl grimaced at the contents of the plate, but reached for a carrot anyway. Kam placed the plate on the coffee table and sat on the couch beside her daughter.
"What are you watching sweets?"
Chandra finished off the carrot stick and replied quietly.
"CSI."
Kam glanced at the Tv and then at her daughter. Should she really be watching that? God, being a mom was tough.
"Ah, I'm not sure that show is for children. From now on if you want to watch it, why don't we watch it together?"
That way she could try and gauge just how bad of a show it was. She'd only ever watched it from the point of view of an adult.
As the show returned from commercial, Chandra just nodded. Kam shifted uncomfortably as they showed the dead body of a woman who had been raped and strangled. Did Chandra even know what that meant? Should she say something? Or would pointing it out only make it worse? Kam picked up the clicker and changed the channel to Disney, where some happy family oriented sitcom was showing.
"I don't think you should be watching such adult shows, sweets."
Chandra just blinked at Kam and then turned to watch the TV as something made the audience erupt in laughter. Kam stood and smoothed her skirt, feeling a little guilty for not monitoring Chandra's activities closer.
"I got you a present. A shop was having an auction and I thought of you when I saw this."
Kam held out a gembird egg with both hands. It was blue, and small. Chandra tilted her head to the side and studied it with a neutral expression before standing and holding out her own hands. Kam gently placed the egg in her daughter's outspread hands.
"You'll have to name it. I think it is going to be a boy."
"Thank you. His name will be Anil."
Chandra's voice was quiet, but sure. She stared at the egg as she moved past Kam and started up the stairs to her room. Kam called up the stairs to her.
"They said it was a sky egg. Maybe it would like to be by a window or outside."
"Just don't drop it," she added.
Chandra didn't reply and shortly Kam heard the door to her room close.
______________________________________________________________________
As she entered her room, Chandra gently set the egg down on a sweatshirt laying balled up on her floor. She then carried that bundle over to the window and placed it on the floor below it. She sat by it, studying it. Something about having an egg felt familiar.
"Hello Anil."
It was doubtful the egg would remember anything she said, but it couldn't hurt.
"I am Chandra and I will be your master."
It came out without Chandra's conscious decision to say it and she put one tiny ivory hand to her mouth after she said it.
"You will be my familiar."
She understood the words, but not where they had come from. How was she someone's familiar? Had Kam stolen her? It didn't make sense, but then again nothing did. Chandra stood and went to her closet, fishing out anavy blue backpack Kam had bought for her. She began filling it with clothes, eventually wrapping Anil and laying the bundle on top.
"We are going on a trip Anil. We will go to find my former master and learn who I am."
The egg didn't reply, but Chandra zipped up the bag and swung it onto her back. She peeked out of her room and noted that Kam appeared to be up in her room with Iqbal. Silently she exited her room, pulling the door shut behind her. She tiptoed down the stairs and then out the front door. With a sigh of relief, Chandra looked both ways along the street and decided to go the left. It just felt better.
"I hope we get there before night falls. I do not want to meet any bad people." Chandra was whispering to herself, but she told herself it was to Anil.
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