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 Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 9:22 pm
Sarielle didn't respond, but the idea of being "tracked" didn't sit well with her. She wasn't actually at her house; but she failed to mention this to Owle. She was close enough, after all; not more than a 5 minute walk, if she kept the pace brisk.
Sarielle could barely feel the connection anymore, as she never-the-less turned her purposeful strides toward home. The gate stood open, as usual; although she and Taka lived alone, Sarielle had never felt particularly concerned about security.
She kicked off her shoes at the sliding, papered door, flipping on the light. "Taka?" No one answered, so she assumed her charge was out enjoying the weather, just as she had.
Gathering up her book of notes, Sarielle's hand fell to the correct page with assurity. There were a couple of preparation variations, she remembered, but wasn't sure which one she'd used for Taka...
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Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:55 pm
Owle knew that it probably didn't make too many people comfortable to know that someone could find them, no matter where they were. This was why she usually kept her telepathic powers to herself, if she could help it...she used to use them pretty frivolously, unaware that it would bother anyone if she sifted through their minds for a bit of information she needed, or for something interesting to look at. The power was a natural thing to her, and it wasn't like she was doing anything bad...they had left stuff strewn about their minds where any telepath could look at it, so why should they be mad if she did?
The telepath had learned the hard way. In this case, the hard way had been being kidnapped and forced to work in a one man death camp, with that one man constantly yelling at her, degrading her, showing her how evil her power was...
"Almost there?" Rand asked, wiggling in her grasp.
"Almost," Owle reassured him. "Stay still, please. I can't hold you very well...I don't want to drop you."
He was currently in as stable a position as Owle could manage with only one arm; his arms were wrapped around her neck, while her arm was beneath his backside, clutching him to her as best she could.
"Hurry," Rand demanded, but he stopped trying to wiggle around. They were pretty high up now, and he didn't want to get dropped.
Even going as quickly as she could, it took Owle some time before she arrived at what she assumed was Sarielle's house. It was beautiful; Owle had seen buildings done in a Japanese style before, but often it was done to excess, making them look more like they belonged in an amusement park than anywhere else. Though this place was clearly oriental, it was even more clearly a home: a place someone lived in everyday, and loved. At least, that's what it seemed like to Owle.
The shifter alighted just outside the gate. After setting Rand down beside her and taking his hand, she started walking toward what looked like the front door.
"Make it stop now!" the child demanded, grabbing at the back of his shirt; he'd put it back on before Owle took off.
"Soon," Owle promised him. "There's a very nice person in here named Miss Sarielle who's going to make it stop for you. Be very polite to her, alright?"
Rand fell silent. It was a sign of just how much discomfort he must be in that he was behaving himself and staying by Owle's side....normally when they were in an unfamiliar place he'd do anything to get away from her and go exploring on his own.
By now they had reached the door...or at least Owle hoped it was a door. It looked like it was made out of paper...and didn't have any locks on it. How were you supposed to knock on a paper door?
"Um, Sarielle?" Owle called out, uncertainly. Was this even the right place? She knew it couldn't be wrong, all her senses told her Sarielle was here, but that knowledge didn't stop anxiety from twisting in Owle's stomach.
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 10:09 am
It was only a moment before door slid open and Sarielle was there, unsmiling but at least not hostile. There were dirty patches on the knees of her jeans where she'd been digging roots earlier.
Her solemn grey eyes fell on the child who clutched Owle's hand, and she straightened in surprise. "Alexei?"
Sarielle hesitated in the doorway, not asking them inside, her gaze full of suspicion. Why hadn't Owle told her right away the salve was for Azruael's child?
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 10:34 am
"Rand!" the child corrected her, looking indignant. First mommy had made that mistake, now this Miss Sarielle person was calling him that, too...
The look faded soon, though, as Rand noticed his back was itching again. He reached backwards again, trying to reach that itchy spot...
"That's what I thought at first, too," Owle said. "I actually had him all the way to Azruael's front door before I realized...Alexei was inside the house. But this kid...well, he was still outside, with me, saying his name was Rand."
The look on Sari's face chilled Owle's blood, even unhostile as it was. The woman wanted to run away, and probably would have at least taken a few steps back if it wasn't so important to get help for Rand. As it was, Owle severed the small connection she had made between them; there was no need for it now that they were face to face.
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 12:43 pm
Sarielle blinked at the child's indignant little face, as he scrabbled at his own shoulders in an attempt to scratch. The woman's face softened. She had clearly relented.
"Well, Rand, let's get you inside then," she said, stepping aside so the two could come in. "Straight on through the living room is my workroom," she said, following them in.
"Now, let's see the damage." She lifted the back of Rand's shirt, and paused. "He's been scratched pretty hard. What happened?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 1:08 pm
Noticing the pile of shoes by the door, Owle slipped off her own wooden sandals and instructed Rand to do the same. The child was happily trotting after Sarielle; she was going to make the hurt go away, right?
"I don't know," Owle answered, hating herself for it. "I...something's been happening to me, I'll pass out at times...usually there's someone else around to watch him, but when I woke up, we were alone..." She sounded like a horrible parent, and she knew it. Worse, still, there was nothing she could do about it; she didn't trust doctors, and medicines, as much as she should, relying mostly on magic and the simple remedies her friends knew. And none of them knew a remedy for what happened to her.
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 1:46 pm
Sarielle didn't answer at first, nor could Owle see her face to read it; she had turned away to dampen a cloth with warm water to remove the streaks of dried blood on Rand's back.
"I see."
The words probably sounded judgmental, but Sarielle did not mean them that way. She herself had no memories beyond a certain point; she could not remember a time when she had no memories at all, but large portions of her life were blank. She understood strange phenomena like that.
"Alright, Rand, this is going to feel warm and it might sting a little bit, but we have to get your back cleaned off. After that, we'll put something on it that'll make it feel better," she told the child, who had happily followed her to her workroom.
With a featherlight touch, Sarielle began dabbing at the scratches.
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 2:01 pm
"It hurts," Rand protested, pulling away a little at the first sting. "You have to?"
He stayed still after that, quietly accepting the treatment. If it had to hurt now for it to stop later, then it had to hurt now.
Owle remained silent, watching Sarielle minister to Rand, noting how gentle she was with him. Sarielle must be an excellent parent; Owle hadn't the faintest idea where to begin with Rand. It made the shifter feel worthless by comparison...maybe Owle really was beyond redemption, after all.
Nah, it was silly to think so dramatically. But still, Owle could do better. She'd have to strive to become a mother to Rand...to work hard at it, not just hope some kind of instinct would kick in.
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 3:58 pm
"Alllllright," Sarielle said as she cleansed the last scratch. "The bad part's over with, Rand."
She pulled a fat round jar with a chunky cork off one of the many dusty shelves that lined the small room. It was a serene blue, her favorite colour. She dipped a long, thin finger inside the jar, scooping out a generous portion of goop.
"This is a salve made from Red Clover," she told Owle, before beginning to spread the mixture over the red, irritated skin on Rand's shoulders, avoiding the brownish feathers themselves as best she could. "It'll not only help the skin heal, but it'll stop the itching, too."
She handed Owle the jar once she was done. "There's not tons of the salve left, but it should last a few days. I'll start making more this afternoon, but it needs to steep at least overnight. But if you run out before he's healed up, let me know."
Her demeanor had softened visibly; she could easily see how genuinely anxious Owle was about the small Herald who'd come to her for aid.
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 4:16 pm
"Thank you," Owle said, genuinely grateful. She accepted the jar from Sarielle, taking it in her one hand. "Thank you so much. If there's anyway I can repay you..."
Rand seemed to be feeling better already. Now that Sarielle had finished applying the goop, he started wandering around the workroom, examining the lower shelves and any other objects within his reach. Occasionally, his fingers would get involved in the examination as well as his eyes.
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 5:19 pm
Sarielle accepted the profuse thanks with a smile, but said nothing, turning instead to watch Rand as he poked amongst the shelves.
"Don't worry," she said softly to Owle. "There's nothing there that can hurt him. The more potent herbs I keep locked in that cabinet." She indicated it with a nod of her head. "That's the good part about the Red Clover salve; if he eats it or something, it won't taste good but it'll do him no harm. If it doesn't do well for him, there's other things we can try; but as long as he's content with it, I suggest that's what you stick with."
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 5:34 pm
"I'm more worried about him hurting what's there..." Owle said, moving to the child's side and gently instructing him to put that jar down, you shouldn't touch other people's things without their permission. "Thank you again," she said, returning to Sarielle. "I'll do that."
She didn't seem to know what to say, or do, now that the task that brought her here was done. "Um...I guess Rand and I should go, before he breaks anything on you..."
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 7:45 pm
"Would you like something to eat or drink before you go? I'm not the best cook, but I'll see what I can come up with."
"That's for sure," came a sleepy voice from across the living room. It was Taka, rumpled and rubbing her eyes. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out she'd been napping.
She became instantly alert when her eyes fell on Rand, however. "Alexei?" she said, just like Sarielle had.
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 9:34 pm
"I..." Owle meant to say she couldn't impose, Sarielle had already done so much, but a growling stomach betrayed her. She'd been eating nothing but sailor's rations for a while...anything would be a good change. "That would be wonderful."
"Rand!" the little angel corrected Taka. With a big grin on his face, he gallomped over to her. "Who?" he asked, pointing to her forehead.
"Rand, it's rude to point at people," Owle admonished him. "Really..."
Not that she was having the perfect manners herself; she couldn't keep from staring. Was this Sarielle's daughter? Her telepathic senses said it was the same little girl she'd met not so long ago...but her eyes refused to agree. This was a beautiful teenage girl, with large wings made of fans....could she fly with those?
"Hello," Owle said, trying to get over all the changes that had happened since she met this little girl. Man they grow up fast.
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Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 2:52 pm
"I hope you don't mind sandwiches," Sarielle responded. "I haven't been to the store in awhile. It's such a long walk, and we don't have a car..." She shrugged. "I go as rarely as I possibly can."
Taka, meanwhile was eying Rand rather like a museum specimen. "Taka," she managed, pointing to herself. The young Herald did a doubletake as her eyes fell on Owle, to whom Sarielle had offered lunch. Her mouth dropped open a tiny bit.
She distinctly remembered the less-than-friendly terms Sarielle had been on with Owle and the demon called Azruael. She'd still been unable to find out why. Sarielle would not speak of it.
A fleeting expression of cunning flitted across Taka's face; perhaps this was her chance to find out.
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