|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 1:46 am
The sound of Ariston flopping down upon the grass had her shifting her head so she could watch what he was doing before turning her attention to the starlit heavens once again. She remained quiet, simply absorbing what he had to say...until he came to the end.
He made her blink, and her mind started turning.
"So...if this Legend were to be true... You'd witness a death. A very bright, but shattering death. Do you think you could deal with that, Ariston?" Teles was truly curious about this. Could he follow his dream, and see the death it would bring if it was true?
She stretched lightly, and then shifted back to her former position, curling her tail around herself. It was a reassuring gesture for herself...rather comforting if the truth were to be told. Still, she would await his response with patience, her eyes upon the skies as the meteors flew through the sky above.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:24 am
Ariston smiled faintly. Sometimes he forgot that he was usually the only one whom knew the legends in their entirety. It was, in fact, his fault that Teles was now confused, and not because she was ignorant. On the contrary, she was very bright. But these were the kind of ancient legends mostly lost to mankind, or foxkind as it were, that Mystics spent years in dusty old rooms with dusty old books learning about.
"I don't mean to watch it die," he said, wanting to explain himself. "I mean to catch it. Traditionally, stars have a great power of their own, and more wisdom than any of us here on earth can ever hope to obtain. Can you imagine learning from a being as old as time?"
He frowned for a moment before continuing.
"Of course, as the legend goes, stars are not without their wiles as well. Mystics of the past have cautioned against trying to match wits with a star," he smiled. "But my Grandfather always said that I had a better chance than most, as they are my kindred and would welcome me as a brother."
He noticed Teles's puzzlement. He shifted so that the light of the meteor shower caught his dimly shimmering coat and lit it up in the twilight. He sparkled, beams of light illuminating everything around him. He shifted again and the light died.
"He used to say that I fell from the Heavens, born from the sky. A star amongst mortals. I don't know if he was telling the truth, but the evidence seems to have marked itself upon my body,"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 10:40 pm
Teles quietly hummed to herself as she mulled over the Mystic's words...before she turned to him, an ear flicked back yet a sort of wry smile upon her face.
"Do you mean to 'capture' such a free and obviously powerful being? Tsk tsk, Ariston, either you're extremely evil under all that fur, or you need to watch how you word things..."
Of course, she was taking what he said literally, and even though her expression said she was teasing, her tone was only half-joking. As he explained his possible ties to the sky above, the charcoal kit looked at him uncertainly and with a good deal of confusion...
That was, at least, until his coat started to shine as though a meteor had just fallen on top of him.
Teles sucked in a very quiet breath as his pelt dimmed once again.
"That's...intriguing..." She murmured, shifting herself to her feet and pacing around the larger fox, eyes keenly inspecting his fur with no mind to what he would think of it. "...and you can control the brightness on a whim, or does it have to do with the stars and the sky above?"
She paced around him for two more laps, peering closely but never touching the star-splattered fox. When she finally stopped and her curiosity was sated, her ears flicked backwards as she realized just what she'd been doing.
She'd been checking him out!
...well, his fur, at least, but it was still the same at the root of it all! She could have died of embarrassment and shame right then and there...but managed to keep it from showing. Teles' ears slowly flicked forwards again as she curled her tail around her forelegs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 11:07 pm
Is she...making jokes?? he thought, incredulously. It was really the first time he'd truly seen her at ease. But she was all the more beautiful when she was having a good time. Her defenses were down; she probably never realized how much more approachable it made her.
He nodded sagely.
"Being as I'm stuck inside with old crumbling Mystics all the time, I'm sure my wording could use a re-work," he made a big show of mock sighing, teasing Teles back. "Such is the life of a Mystic, I'm afraid. To be for ever bored and forced to listen to old foolish men spout ideals, instead of finding the answers ourselves!" He chuckled good naturedly.
He watched her in amusement as she circled him once, and then again. He shifted towards her, his pelt starting to sparkle again, so that she could get a better look and even touch if she wished.
"It's more like catching the light at the right angle," he explained. "You may touch my coat if you wish. It's interesting, each strand of hair has sparkling parts to it, but it only makes the star pattern when you bunch them together."
He eyed her for a moment before hesitantly saying:
"It's ok to admire it you know," he said, referring to his pelt. "If the Goddess hadn't wanted beauty to be admired...she wouldn't have made you so lovely."
He said this frankly, truthfully, but with a bit of embarrassment. Even Mystics didn't wear their hearts on their sleeves so openly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 11:36 pm
She was more at ease because the conversation wasn't strictly upon her and her problems...but on a moreso easy to handle topic of nothing in particular. Still, when he tossed back the joke with a quip of his own, she held a soft smile for just one moment.
"But at least you seem to be on the right track now. Out of the old stuffy tower and into the wide world, to search for your own way. It's a start, at least."
Teles curled her tail tighter around herself, though, as Ariston noticed what she'd been unintentionally doing. She could feel her body heat with her embarrassment, and her ears pinned back fully for several moments, eyes turning away from the fox before her.
"I...uh... It's enough to look...but thank you for the offer...Ariston..."
She mentioned nothing of his compliment, either too embarrassed by it or too frightened of the possibilities...
Teles sighed and turned her gaze to the sky in hopes of the meteor shower being a good distraction again. She was lucky, it seemed, for mere seconds after she looked up, a star actually exploded. At first she couldn't believe what she was seeing, as it all happened within the space of two or three seconds...but there was a flash of light and it seemed like there was a wave of light from that point in the sky. The light was purple and white, and it moved quickly in the form of a semi-circle with a hollow center. From where they were, it was no bigger than Teles' paw if she were to curl it up and bring it to the sky...but it was, in a word, magnificent~
"Oh my... Did you...see that?" Her heart fluttered; Teles knew she had just seen something rare and amazing...and she hoped it wasn't her mind playing some bizzare trick on her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:08 am
Ariston's smile became serious all of the sudden. Teles had brought forth a memory that he hadn't particularly been thinking about. He knew that his face must have showed some of his deeper thoughts, because he could see that Teles was wondering what he was thinking.
He sat there, wondering how much to reveal.
"I left, more from necessity, than wanting to go. Though if I were to tell the truth, I didn't particularly want to stay cooped up for the rest of my life," he smiled, still teasing in his seriousness. "For years, I've had this....dream. About someone I'm supposed to help. I couldn't do that if I stayed locked up in my tower, now could I?"
He smiled, but it was a troubled smile. He'd never told anyone about his dream. It was private to him, something that others didn't need to know about. Why he'd told Teles, well that was beyond him.
He turned as a huge flash of light lit the sky. His coat exploded with light, reflecting the star's fiery death. He sighed, half in pleasure, half in pain.
"Beautiful isn't it?" he asked. "But if my legend is true, I'm sure that must have hurt very much." It was half a joke and half not. But either way it was a little funny.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:57 pm
Ariston seemed uncertain as he spoke of his dream, and Teles decided she would not ask him anything about it. If at some point he grew more comfortable with talking about it...she had no doubt he would. So instead, she merely nodded lightly before she turned her gaze to the sky...
And as the male kit spoke in response to her awed question, she turned her eyes back to him, catching sight of the fading glimmer of his fur.
"Yes...I suppose it would have been. Or perhaps you'd care to make your own mini-legend..? Unless you know how the stars are born, if said legend were to be true, theoretically. Who's to say that wasn't just the birth of another star..?"
Whether he laughed or brushed it off, or told her there was indeed such a legend for a birth of a star...well, it didn't matter. Teles was contented with her own little idea.
Realizing she was staring off into space - though her gaze was pointed towards Ariston - she shook her head lightly and returned her gaze to the sky.
"What other legends do you know of..? I'm sure there are plenty more."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:08 pm
The starry male chuckled at Teles's conclusion. He nodded his head and had to agree with her.
"So if that was the birth of a new star, where is it?" he asked, truly interested in what she would say.
In response to her question about what other myths he knew, Ariston had to pause for a moment.
It was true that he knew a great many myths. What he had to be careful of was which myths he talked about. There were some that were carefully guarded by Mystics and seen as not ready for other's ears.
"I know probably more myths than you would believe," he said after a moment. "I know ones known to others and ones forgotten, and then ones that haven't ever touched another's ears whom didn't belong with the Mystics."
He eyed her curiously before continuing on.
"And then of course there are the myths that interest me, and only me, so I learned those as well. Is there anything particular you'd like to hear?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 8:49 pm
"Farther away than we could ever get." Teles responded candidly, before blinking in thought. "Of course, I don't know the positioning of the stars in that particular piece of sky, so I couldn't say if there's any new ones there... But then again, if we can't see it, perhaps it just means it's not bright enough yet?"
Shrugging her slim shoulders, Teles glanced upwards again, flicking her tail slowly from side to side instead of having it wrapped around herself. She listened to what he said in response to her inquiry, ears trained upon him even though her eyes were still heavenwards. She was very, very curious as to what other myths and legends there were...in general. And so she didn't know where to begin.
"I can't say I know of anything in particular to ask about, since I wouldn't know where to begin, much less if there was a myth or legend of it... So, I suppose, it can be anything you fancy--even myths you love and learned on your own."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 2:48 pm
"Perhaps," Ariston said with a smile in his voice. "Or perhaps we're just not meant to see a new born star. Maybe they're very shy?"
The idea that stars were shy was silly one, for anything so shy wouldn't shine so brightly for all to see, but Ariston didn't pay attention to it. It was nice to sit and talk to another fox without worrying about fixing problems.
And there was one myth that Ariston held onto and researched like a maniac. But he wasn't so sure how Teles would react to it.
"There is one legend," he started, slowly. "That I'm constantly researching. Mostly because no one can ever agree on a correct version."
He sighed, sat up, and settled himself in a more comfortable position. His expression was that of someone remembering a very large tale from the depths of his mind, which he was.
"You've heard of the Tales of Odysseus, I gather. King of Ithaca, fought in the Trojan War, took ten years to return home?"
He twitched his tail as he continued.
"As the legend goes Odysseus was warned by his Sea Goddess/Witch lover, Circe, to 'Beware of the Bird-like Sirens' and their island, Sirenum Scopuli. She instructed him to soften beeswax and to pug his and his crew's ears with it so as to escape the Siren's Song. But out of curiosity, Odysseus refused the beeswax and instead had his men bind him to the mast of the ship, with orders to not release him until they were past the danger. It was said that the Sirens would die when a man escaped their grasp and when Odysseus's ship sailed past, they threw themselves into the ocean and drown. Aside from small mention in the tale of Jason and the Golden Fleece, the Sirens are never mentioned in greek mythology again," here he eyed Teles curiously, but continued.
"Why? Such obviously dangerous creatures would have been noted as a primary source of at-sea deaths," he paused for dramatic affect. "Unless they were not the cold blooded murderesses that historians claimed them to be."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:21 pm
"I suppose that could be true. After all, if you were born in such a huge place, with so many other bright stars...I suppose you'd be intimidated as well..." Teles murmured, not entirely sure that Ariston would be the shy type. As for herself...well, she'd been used to blending in or fading into the background, so all-in-all, what he said made sense for herself.
Now, Teles was not stupid by any manner of means...but she hadn't exactly been able to read up on what it was Ariston was speaking of. Her life had mostly been spent out in the wilderness, even in her few short years as a small kit with her family. Instead of replying, she soaked up the information he told her - mentally making a note to use the resources available to her to become more knowledgeable of such occurrences. ...her only other option would be to learn from him, whether it was by revealing her cluelessness or encouraging him to tell her more stories.
As he finished up, Teles nodded thoughtfully. She could understand what he said, and to an extent, why he thought that... But she didn't know anything about what the Sirens were, other than the facts that they were bird-like and apparently sang men at sea to their death...
"Looking for the perfect mate, perhaps? But, if they were to commit suicide of anyone escaped their grasp...what could that mean? That they were so devastated by the loss of what could have been the embodiment of a perfect mate, they felt it was easy to do away with their lives instead of waiting for the next? ...I have to admit, it doesn't make much sense. If they were so torn by that loss, then shouldn't each of the previous men's deaths have driven them to their own death?" Teles twitched her ears, almost uncertain of where she was leading this until her eyes brightened somewhat.
"Or could it have been possible that those men were not perfect in the fact they could not make it onto the isle alive? Though that doesn't explain why they would throw themselves to their own demise if someone managed to escape their song..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 1:03 am
Ariston nodded.
"Perhaps, but no one ever concentrates on why the Siren's threw themselves into the sea. Those of us, whom research the Sirens, tend to even ignore Odysseus's encounter with them. Because our myth can't exist if the Sirens drowned themselves," he paused, trying to find the best place to start. "There's never been a recorded amount of just exactly how many Sirens there were. But there is a record of one particular Siren. One that all of the other Sirens seemed to obey. The Siren Queen."
He stretched his paws above his head, cracking a few bones in his spine, before continuing.
"No one knows what her name was. It's been lost for centuries, probably erased in anger by her enemies."
"The Queen of the Sirens was a beautiful thing, regal, enchanting. She had wealth and power; influence. And to top it off, she sat on the biggest secret, the origin of the Siren's voice. More than one king would have killed for it, to lure enemies army's to their death."
"For one reason or another, the Queen felt that the Secret wasn't safe in Greece so she planned to leave and take it with her. She made it to the Aegean Sea before our record lost track of her whereabouts. We know she survived, however, because her descendants popped up through out history, using their incredible voice."
He sighed. To tell why he was so fascinated with this legend, Teles needed to know about his dream.
"For years, ever since I was a young kit, I've had a dream. About one of the Queen's descendants. We're in the city of old time Bangladesh. It's moonrise. No one is out, the city is deserted. I chase her through the winding city streets. I can never catch her, it's like we're playing a game. And it always ends the same way. She sits in a pavilion in the middle of the town square. She's scared. And she always says the same thing. 'Find me Ariston. Before I am lost. Forever.'"
He sighed a greater sigh.
"I have this dream almost every night. I've been searching for the Siren Queen for years. I'd almost given up hope except..." he paused. He wasn't sure that he was right, but if he was...
"The Siren from my dream, Teles, looks exactly like you."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 11:15 pm
Teles remained interested as Ariston spoke of what he knew...and the charcoal vixen found herself thinking maybe this "Mystic" business had its advantages. After all, knowledge that was apparently "lost", they had...among other things, she was sure. Ariston wouldn't reveal everything about his life back in the Mystic's...place...to the first fox he met. If he did, well, then he wasn't such a good Mystic.
"When do they come up again?" Teles wondered aloud, intently looking at Ariston. It wasn't that she needed to know, but she was curious. Still, if Ariston did not wish to share - whether it was that he didn't want to or he couldn't - then Teles would have to content herself with his answer.
The topic seemed to shift as Ariston spoke of a dream he'd been having on a constant basis. Her ears pricked, captivated. She could see what he was describing, more or less, and she was sure his dream would have been beautiful if she could see it like he did.
And then she blinked.
Once. Twice.
And then she snorted slightly. She couldn't believe he'd allude to her being related to Sirens. "Ariston... I doubt it's me you're looking for. I'm sure there are many other foxes that could look just like the Siren in your dream..!"
She didn't want to shoot him down, so her voice wasn't amused or anything...but it was semi-flat, with undertones of remorse. How could she be a descendant from a Siren? The Queen of the Siren, no less! It was insane to consider it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 4:04 pm
Ariston paused for a moment, remembering. Sometimes he wondered how he crammed all the knowledge he held into his overfull head.
"They mostly turn up as wives to Kings and Princes," he shrugged. "Beauty makes the all the difference I suppose."
He stared at her, a faint smile on his face. He placed a paw on hers, companionably.
"Teles, is it really so hard to imagine that you might be descended from greatness?" he shook his head. "It's written into your very name. Teles is the name of one of the original Sirens."
He shrugged and stared back up at the sky. The more he was around Teles, the surer he was. She was different, she didn't fit in with the other foxes. It was as if she was a complete entity onto herself. To him that reaffirmed that she was not just a fox.
"Being a descendant of the Siren Queen doesn't really mean anything. It's not like they're going to call on you to rule the rest of the Sirens or anything," he said, laughter in his voice. "They're too spread out and there aren't many left besides. Just means you have a history, a family. Nothing wrong with that."
"And it doesn't change who you are. Not to Taelence. And most certainly not to me. But," he paused. "It does mean that you are entitled to Mystic protection. That's part of what we do: protect 'special' foxes. Why do you think Merlin stayed with King Arthur for so long?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 4:43 pm
Teles stared down at Ariston's paw as it covered hers, feeling her skin beneath her fur heat rapidly. She wasn't sure if it was anger at being touched...or something else. Regardless, she carefully moved her paw from beneath his, bristling.
"It wouldn't matter if they did. How could they know of me, anyway? I'm just a fox. I don't descend from greatness. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm not that great at all."
Her tail flicked back and forth, emotions simmering once more. She was frustrated again, now. Ariston seemed to believe his silly notion that she could be a descendant of a Siren, a mythical being. In her eyes, he was molding her into something she knew she wasn't.
She didn't know who these two characters were, either. Merlin and King Arthur? Teles shook her head rapidly, the shake eventually moving through her entire body...as though she was shaking herself clean of her lack of knowledge in that aspect.
"Besides, how am I to be sure you're not pulling a fast one on me with this name business? And aside from that, I'm sure there are other normal foxes with Siren names. Surely there have been other foxes as well that knew of the old Legends and loved the names enough to name their own kits after them."
She stood and paced lightly before stopping abruptly and sitting, now facing Ariston. Her tail twitched behind her, the end visible for a few seconds on either side of her body. She observed him through narrowed eyes, her gaze seeming to be one of cool aloofness...even holding a sort of proud and regal air.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
