|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:38 am
Realmadraig
On the wings of Logan they flew through the air. Li'Han probably would have made a better transport as far as the flight was concerned, but his overprotective happiness in combination with that of Aaralyn was something that the dragoness could not handle. She needed this time to herself... With only one guardian, the nature, and those who had helped raise her through the younger years.
They arrived at the castle compound just as the sun was setting; a brilliant blaze of red and gold feathers fluttering down to grace the ground as Logan made his awkward landing. Aaralyn jumped down from Skye's arms, lowering his pretty blue head to 'kiss' the ground with the tip of his snout. "Safe... No more flying... Ground. Good ground... That was not fun, Skye. You lied."
The dragoness chuckled as she hopped down, shouldering her pack before giving Logan's hind haunch a good pat. "It was fun, Aara... Flying is exhilerating. It lifts many cares when you can take the time to give yourself in to it fully." She had wanted to give herself to the flight more than she had but the shivvering Jivvin in her arms had kept her from doing so. For once she had felt sorry for the blue creature.
"Here I thought I'd never hear you say that..." A chilled voice drifted from the shadows, giving way to a youthful looking man with stark white hair. His eyes were the same icey blue as the woman he watched with a piercing hawk-like aura to their stare. "The prodigal daughter returns, finally taking into consideration all that she is."
"Sylfaenol." She nodded as politely as she could, reaching down to place a steady hand upon Aaralyn's head. The Jivvin didn't like the man or his coldness. "I did not return for your judgement, although I knew it would be inevitable. I returned for guidance. If one cannot be given without the other than so be it." That said, she brushed past her uncle, making for the chambers that had been hers durring childhood... Chambers that she had been told would always be there for her to rest her head upon when the need arose.
The man snorted softly as he watched his neice storm past him. She was still the same fiery brat that she had been back in the day... Even if some distinct changes had happened both around and within her. He could feel the air sparking around her...
With a shake of his head he made his way towards the hippogryph, running his hand along its neck. The beast clucked at him almost chastisingly before giving in to the touches, finally allowing itself to be lead away to the stables. At least someone was going to take care of him kindly.
... ... ...
"This is where I grew up, Aaralyn... This castle and the keep around it was my playground. The woods were my school... It truly hasn't changed much, but there are some things that I remember being much larger." She nodded slowly as they padded down the halls. "This door, for instance..." She pointed to the one that would lead to her chambers; a large wooden door with decorative carvings around it. "... I used to think it was large enough that a dragon could fit through. I guess I was right, eh?"
The Jivvin, still slightly disgruntled about his lack of 'fun' in the flight, said nothing. His countenance only brightened when he was lead inside the bedroom. It was beautiful and bright... Not at all like his mistress's room back home. There were pale blues everywhere... Had Skye once been that bright? "This was your room?"
She nodded slowly as she set her pack on the bed. "Yes, it was. Rest now. There's much more to see later... And it's best that we're both well rested, especially if it means meeting the rest of the family." She patted the bed beside her pack, waiting for Aara to jump up onto it before making herself comfortable on the other side. It had been a long day...
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:58 am
She awoke with a start just before dawn, pulling a pillow tightly to her in order to muffle a gasping sob. Dreaming had been cruel... But dreams often had a way of letting one see a truth that they had no way of knowing until it was too late. Had this one been true?
In her dreams she had seen the demon and the angel together with her wee ones, laughing as they held them, cooing as if they were their own. Their was happiness and, between the two of them, neither Calista nor Rian seemed to mind the absence of their mother. It was almost as if the babies were with their natural parents and with one so 'angelic' and the other so 'demonic' in appearances, whoever would have known the difference?
"They're better off without me..." She said shakily as her grip on the pillow tightened, eyes squeezing tightly shut against the thoughts and images running through her mind. She had been a vessle for happiness that was not hers to keep. At least in her disappearance she could bring happiness to those she cared about. They could watch the wee ones and she'd simply stay here... Alone... For as long as she needed to. There would be no more troubles. They could go on with their lives as if she'd never interfered with them.
"But what about your children, my little Skye? Won't they miss you?" A soft voice came from the side of the bed, a hand reaching over to run slender fingers back through tangled locks of rusty hair. "You spoke names as you slept... I couldn't make them out exactly... But they sounded as if they meant something to you."
She looked up, eyes wide and rimmed with red as she took in the sight of the golden haired woman that sat on the edge of her bed. Streaks of silver mingled with the gold, giving her an almost majestic appearance in the early morning's light. "They can't mean anything to me anymore, mother... Not when I don't know if it's even the truth... Or if I've only latched onto them out of my own weakness. What if it's all an illusion? What if it isn't real?"
The woman shook her head slowly as she listened to her daughter speak. "Sweet Skye, what in this world is real? There's nothing that you have that can't be taken away easily. You're not supposed to question gifts from the gods. You know that, my little song bird. Illusions cannot bring happiness. If these things make you happy they aren't imaginary..." She stood, giving the blue canine a pat on the head before slipping towards the door. "Come seek me once you've thought on what I've said for a bit, child."
Skye lay in her bed and thought for a long time, ignorning the nudges from the Jivvin who tried to prod her downstairs. Eventually, he left her to have an adventure of his own... To explore this fine new place and rustle up something that might have been tasty.
He was suprised when he found children out in the courtyard that seemed to like him a great deal. They knew many games and they seemed only too willing to play a few of them; tag specifically. He was nice with them... Even letting a few of the younger ones catch him when they probably never would have caught him otherwise.
Only when lunch was announced did they cease their play in order to scurry off to their homes. Aaralyn was left alone with a little boy who reminded him very much of Skye's son, Keith, save for the fact that his hair was as black as a raven's wing. The little boy padded over to him, giving his tail a gentle tug. "C'mon, pup... It's time for lunch."
... ... ...
By this time the dragoness had done more thinking than she cared to admit. She despised the safety of her room... The memories that assailed her as she looked over little trinkets from her youth. It would do her no good to remain in this room, even if she found herself sorely tempted to remain there for an eternity.
She made her way down to the hall where the aromas of lunch were floating through the air. She was greeted with a soft smile from her mother and a slightly disapproving scowl from her uncle. The latter was ignored... Sylfaenol was always a disagreeable old mage. "I'm glad you could join us, my dear. I trust you've put some thought into what I've said?"
"Aye, mere... I have." She nodded slowly as she eased into a chair across the table from her elders, keeping her hands in her lap as a bowl of soup was set before her. "Can we talk more? After lunch?"
"Of course, my dear... Of course."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:00 am
The light blue Jivvin was treated to a wonderful lunch after which he was lead to a great library. The little boy flipped a book open after flopping into a chair. "It's time for studies now... But then we can play again." He nodded, patting the chair beside him.
Aaralyn carefully pulled himself up onto the chair, eyeing the book that the boy had opened. The words weren't as strange as he would have thought them to be... Many of them looked the same no matter what language they were in... Or was it simply that his mind could process these new things through the understanding of his mistress. "This book... What is it?" He questioned, head cocking to the side.
"This thing?" The boy smiled as he flipped to the next page. "It's papa's book of herbs and remedies. He said that..." The boy straightened out, sitting proudly upon his chair before continuing. "That one day I'll be a great healer just like him."
A healer... Why did that sound like something right? Something that fit?
... ... ...
Tea had been served in the garden after lunch leaving Skye to sit on the ground as she had when she was a child, starring up at her mother. The elder Starrfyre had always been magnificent in her mind; more elf than dragon... The true matriarch of the keep. She couldn't remember ever feeling like an adult around her, even when she had come of age in the eyes of the community.
It was seated there now that she felt like a nervous child once more. How could she sit and explain everything that had happened? And why she hadn't written home?
With a sip of tea she found herself spilling her very soul onto the hem of her mother's skirts... Telling the tale of how she'd met the angel... How they'd formed their relationship and married no more than half a year later... How she'd just recently given birth to her children in the home of a demon... How she'd wanted to just stay there forever in peace... How everything had gone by so quickly.
The elder Starrfyre dropped to the ground beside her daughter, wrapping her arms around the dragoness who was still so young to the world despite her age. "There there, child... Now that you've told your tale... Are you ready to hear what I have to say?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:06 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
