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 Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 1:54 pm
 A name is but a symbol of...
In the mean time not much had changed with the bottle itself, and Rynn was starting to doubt more and more that it would. She had put her foot down when Lori started talking about buying a bed and things for the child- She didn’t have so much money to spare that she could afford to lose it if the bottle never changed.
The work had been put on hold for a week as the theatre prepared for a play, and still nothing had changed with the bottle. Rynn was now curled up on the living room couch reading a book about a quest to destroy a ring of magic power that would lead their world to its doom. The bottle, sitting on top of an encyclopedia stacked on the couch, glowed only dimly as it was in the middle of the night. She had long since lost track of time, and had not paid any attention since she had to turn on lights as it got too dark for her to read. It was finally getting to the point where her eyes were starting to blur. She rubbed her eyes and shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position.
Then, Cael pounced. He landed atop the books where the bottle was flickering dimly, “Cael!” Rynn jumped up with a jolt as books tumbled from their stacks. The glass bottle went tumbling along with them. She felt her heart stop as the glass bottle slid across the top of the encyclopedia towards the floor, and dived down to catch it. The little bottle bounced from the tips of her fingers onto another book, which had fallen open. It spun in the middle of the book before rolling gently onto the floor.
Rynn let out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. The glass bottle flickered feebly, as if protesting the rough treatment. She lifted it up and turned it around in her hands, reassuring herself that it wasn’t chipped. Cael mewed and attempted to bat at her hands from his newly acquired position on the couch. “This isn’t a toy.” Rynn said in a strangled tone. She lifted it away from him and he pounced again, landing on the book that had saved the bottle. “Cael!” She groaned. “stop it!” Cael ignored her protests and gazed intently at the bottle. Rynn decided she better put it somewhere safer.
She stepped over Cael and went to her own room, where she shut the door and placed the Bottle on her nightstand. She stared at it for a moment in annoyance, as it flickered about in the darker room. “You’re probably not even anything but a fancy light, anyways.” She muttered. “You haven’t changed at all since I found you.” The bottle didn’t respond. Even if the bottle was magic, that didn’t mean it would change into a child. Maybe that person she met had lied to her or something… Or had been fooled himself. Who knew? With a last glance back at the flickering light she left the room and returned to the living room, where the jumble of books remained, and Cael was now pawing at a bookmark that had fallen out of one of them. She patted him on the head and began picking up the books off the floor.
The book that had ‘caught’ the bottle still lay open, and thankfully undamaged. She lifted it up, to see that it was a book of old legends and stories that she had brought with her when she moved to Amies. It had been opened to a page about a Wanderer named Aodhán, who protected a village against a mythical beast.
He protected it from being destroyed. An idea then struck her, and her thoughts strayed back, to the bottle, and to what she had learned of their purpose here.
Phoenix were a symbol of hope, and of eternity. Of life and death…and of Power. And these magical bottles, with powers connected to various essences, were meant to protect them.
Aodhán was a very old fashioned name though. Rynn knew that the form of names changed over the years, and she was pretty sure Aidan was a more modern equivalent.
Aodhán had protected the people around him from a power that was too much for them as well as now stopping the bottle from cracking against the ground, and in turn Aidan would also be a protector. Hopefully. If that bottle really was going to turn into a child in the first place.
In the back of her mind, she hoped it wouldn’t.
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 1:56 pm
A Flicker of Life A day off was a wonderful thing, Rynn felt strongly. She was reclining on her couch with a book open a few inches in front of her eyes, her mid lost in other non-existent worlds. Unfortunately for Rynn, the actual world continued to exist in spite of that fact, and morning had quickly become afternoon. Cael had curled up beside her and fallen asleep, and every now and then Rynn reached down to pet him absentmindedly. The world was peaceful, and calm, and nice, with sunlight streaming through the window. However such peace can never last very long, and alas, that fate had other plans for her evening.
The door banged loudly. “Heeey Rynn! Don’t waste your life away in there!” With a jolt, Rynn was brought back to reality. ‘Damn, Lori.’ Maybe she could pretend she wasn’t home, or…
“I know you’re in there! If you don’t come out I’ll get you cast as a Dancer for the next play!”
With a shudder at the thought of actually acting, let alone dancing, Rynn shuffled over to the door and yanked it open, her book still in hand, as if she could get this interruption over with quickly and go back to the story. “I was reading.” She grumbled. Of course, this being a quick interruption would be far too convenient to be true. Rynn began the slow internal process of dispersing her irritation, mentally reminding herself that the story could wait, and that real life was more important.
“I figured that!” Lori said cheerily. Rynn wondered why she couldn’t figure out to let her be. “I also thought that you probably had skipped lunch, and that I should drag you out to eat. You haven’t been anywhere but that one cafe!” She ducked around Rynn and into the room, only to plop down on the couch and lift Cael onto her lap, who meowed sleepily in protest.
‘Not even Cael can rest uninterrupted. ’ Rynn thought. Defeated she grabbed a bookmark off the table and set the book down. “Where do you want to go?” She sighed, walking through the room to grab her bag out of the kitchen.
“There’s a restaurant on the other side of town.” Lori said, oblivious to Rynn’s twitch at the words ‘other side of town.’ after all, 'other side of town' also meant that this little excursion would take that much longer. “It just opened, and it’s supposed to have good food. You’ll like it!”
‘I’d like it to be nearer to home.’ Rynn thought. She spotted the bottle sitting on the windowsill above the couch. When did that get there? She was sure she had left it in her room. Maybe it liked the sunlight? She shook of that notion uneasily. Even if it was magic, it couldn’t get up and walk around without legs. She must have set it there without realizing it when she settled down to read. Rynn grabbed the bottle and slipped it into her bag. No reason to leave it at home, Lori already knew about it. Well, not all of it, but enough that she wouldn’t ask questions if she saw it. Rynn had left the bottle at home when spending time with anyone she hadn’t already told about it... which was most people. She didn’t want to explain it, and didn’t think anyone but Lori would believe her so easily anyways. Lucky for the bottle she stayed home whenever she could. ‘Besides, what if it changed while I wasn’t at home?’ she thought, ‘That could be bad. Though I guess it’s more likely that Cael would knock it over.’
Lori dragged her out of the house and down the various roads and alleys. To say nothing of the 5 other restaurants they passed on the way. Rynn felt a bit more irritable with each one. She didn’t want to socialize today, she was happy, sitting at home and reading. But no one ever believed her when she said that was enough to keep her happy. None of them had the patience to read as much as she did, and dragged Rynn off to various activities thinking that she was just being shy. Though she enjoyed spending time with them, getting cut off from whatever story she was reading was annoying, especially if it was a book she hadn't read before, and had no idea what was going to happen next. Her mind would keep wandering back to it all evening. She sighed with relief when they finally reached the restaurant. She knew her way here. At least it wouldn’t be difficult to find her way home if she found a way to ditch out early.
Lori skipped up to the host unaware of her friend’s annoyance at the situation. “Reservation for two, under the name of Lori.” She said.
“Alright, right this way.”
“You got a reservation?!” Rynn hissed at her. “What if I didn’t come?”
“But this place takes forever to get a seat without a reservation.” Lori whined playfully. She didn’t quite meet Rynn’s eyes when she said it though. ‘ah.’ Rynn thought. ‘A relationship issue?’ she wondered, trying to think of other reasons she would have had a reservation here. Her irritation dissipated slightly. Lori tended to use reservations even if the original plan went haywire. Usually she would tell Rynn what it was, and say that was the reason outright, instead of just dragging her along. Rynn wondered what had happened. She studied her friend more carefully, but couldn’t dredge anymore information from her appearance.
“Are you ok?” Rynn asked, deciding on the direct approach. They sat down and a waitress handed them menus and walked off.
“Yeah.” Lori said. “Just didn’t want to let this go to waste. I knew you hadn’t been here yet.” She said, and the tone managed to confirm Rynn’s suspicions without giving her any more information. “Besides!” Lori’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I wanted to find out if anything happened to that bottle.”
“Not much.” Rynn replied, equally quiet. After a second thought she pulled the bottle out of her bag, and held it out for Lori to see the unchanged-state of soft glowing the bottle had maintained since she found it. "See? the same as always."
"Aww. I wonder how long it'll take." Lori said with a pout, resting her chin on one hand thoughtfully. "You forgot some important questions."
"Right. because I was completely prepared for that information." She paused. Was the light inside spinning? She shook her head slightly. “I’m starting to think that I was having my leg pull-“
Flames sprang up around the bottle in a sudden frenzy of activity, and Lori shrieked. Rynn froze, her mind blank with shock, and then panic, as the flames curled around her hand. Burning was a painful way to die, supposedly the most painful... where was water? water would stop it before....
It didn’t hurt. She realized belatedly.
In fact, it was only pleasantly warm. There was even a breeze swirling around her fingers that sharply contrasted the image she was seeing. As the thought penetrated her that she wasn’t in any pain she finally remembered to breath. It was unnerving. The flames danced cheerfully about her hands as if they had been caked in oil, yet her hands didn’t burn.
This entry is still a W.I.P
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