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 Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 7:22 pm
Arrakis followed carefully, the only noise she made the ever present swish of the dress and jangles of the gold-beads. When she got into the library, she immediately went to work. Arrakis found a food, which looked fairly old, and took it off the shelf, careful to make sure the other books didn't come tumbling down.
The dragon brought the book over to Hateya and thumbed through it, semi-slowly. Arrakis's experience told her that when a Mysterian saw a picture of a creature of a species, they immediately recognized it. She was going off of this assumption now.
The book was of creatures of the world, those found in myths and legends. Soon, only the sound of the pages being turned could be heard. That was until Arrakis hummed quietly the song she felt that accompanied Hateya.
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 7:27 pm
Hateya bent her head over the book, staring intently at the pages. Page after page turned, untill a picture caught her eye. "Wait.." she said, pointing at the picture.
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 7:30 pm
The dragon had already half-turned the page. When Hateya spoke up, she flipped back. Arrakis stopped singing and just spoke the name of the creature on the page, "Harpy."
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 7:31 pm
"Harpy..." she murmered, bending over the page more to read the text beneath the picture.
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 7:38 pm
Arrakis moved to get out of the way. It was usually a powerful and profound thing... to learn who and what you are.
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 7:50 pm
Hateya shifted the book around so she could read better. Her eyes widened in shock at what she read.
A Greco-Roman mythological creature with the lower body, wings, and claws of a bird and the chest and head of a woman, often portrayed as very ugly and loathsome.
Harpies were fierce, extremely ill tempered, and lived in an atmostphere of filth and stench, contamination everything they came near. They are associated with the wind, ghosts, and the underworld. Their cheif employer was Hades who sent them to bear away by force and bring to Tartarus those who were unwilling to die. But they also did venegul errands- for the other gods.
In a famous Argonaut story they tormented a king named Phineus who had incurred the wrath of a god. They swooped down at his table and snatched his food before he could eat it; they deficated in his plate. Phineus would have starved to death or killed himself but he was rescued by the Argonauts Zetes and Calais, who drove away the Harpies, and some say, killed them.
There were three Harpy sisters. Various names are given to them (Aello, Celaeno, Ocypete), but the mose noted one is Podarge, who, despite her appearance, attracted the notice of Zephyr (in some accounts his brother Boreas, the North Wind), then West Wind. She bore him a pair of beautiful colts, Xanthus and Balius, who became the fabulous stallions of Achilles.
Harpy: A woman with the bottom portion and wings of a vulture. These creatures were originally sent by the Greek Gods to torment the evil doer. To the Greek the Harpy repersented justice. Later on in the middle ages they came to symbolize greed and the devil.
Closing the book with a snap, she stared blankly at a spot on the floor, absorbing the information she just read.
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 7:58 pm
Arrakis stayed where she was, not making a sound. She hadn't excepted that kind of a reaction. The dragon had heard of Harpies and she had read a little bit about them. Now, all that she waited for was to see what Hateya made out of the information. Arrakis would be there if she needed someone else.
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 8:06 pm
Hateya shoved the book away from her and buried her face in her knees, ignoring the tears trailing down her face.
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 8:12 pm
Arrakis knelt beside Hateya, her silky dress draped over the Harpy, "Hateya..... Hateya, please listen to me...." Her voice was soft, but enchanting nonetheless. It was the sound of someone who cared, who wanted to help a friend. "It does not define who you are.... and the humans warp all that they see. They say beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.... I say everything is perception."
The dragon laid her head on Hateya, "You can change that perception, Hateya, it does not have to control you."
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 8:16 pm
Hateya wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before tilting her head towards Arrakis. "R-really?" she sniffed, wiping the tears from her face again.
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 8:22 pm
Arrakis shifted so that she was right in front of Hateya. The dragon wiped away a stray tear. With a slightly malicious grin, she nodded, "Oh course! Lookit dragons! The stories of them are just aweful.... large ugly, brutes who killed people and devoured virgins by the dozen. Said the be very tempermental and impossible to talk to."
She smiled sweetly this time, "And now look at you.... you are a Harpy. You are not ugly nor grotesque. You are beautiful, and some human idea is not going to change that!"
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 8:27 pm
Hateya's mouth twitched upwards slightly at Arrakis' jovial comment. "Thank you..." she whispered, voice barely audible.
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 8:30 pm
Arrakis smiled broadly. She head-butted Hateya, careful of her thick horns, "Oh, come now, you can smille biggers than that....!"
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 8:32 pm
Grinning widely, Hateya buffed Arrakis' head with her wing. "Heeeeyy.." she said, giggling slightly.
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 8:38 pm
With a slight chirp of surprise, Arrakis giggled and swatted playfully at the feathered wing, "Hey now... I didn't say I deserved such abuse!"
The dragon smiled again, her sharp teeth gleamed in the light. All of a sudden, she jerked her head towards the window and stood up. Only the swishing of her dress and the slight movement in her hair attested that she had not originally been a statue, standing in the room for all eternity.
"I...." her words trailed. With a look of sadness, Arrakis looked down at Hateya, "It's time for me to go...."
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