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 Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 7:21 pm
-Betwixt and between. :: Part XXIII-
It’s the things that we can’t do that we long for so m u c h . . . .
The southern bound shadow raced along, losing its disfiguring stretchy quality as the sun rose and the shadows became more concentrated, better mimicking the things which cast them.
Gradually the shadow rose up, tones and hues rising to the surface every few moments until the surface was crowded with them.
A mass of white hair hit the wind as the woman named Pandora shook her head in a smooth arc, shedding the last clinging layer of shadows as her eyes opened and she pressed her face into the wind.
Beneath her the her dog-like steed continued bounding across the terrain at the same quick pace, he was paler now. His coat was made up of muted greys and every so often the shadows would shift and he'd become translucent.
Pandora eyed his fading with a slight frown, suggesting that perhaps she was less than ecstatic about the way her current mode of transport was losing solidity. Other than the downwards tilt of her lips the teen showed no sign of distress over her steed's state.
She looked ahead. The path she was on was about to reach another crossroads. Just past the cross section's border, on the southern path, splashes of water were leaping into the air, spraying the river banks and the path which led there.
The hit the crossroads and, only after she'd sighed in exasperation, Pandora bore right sharply.
Her steed nearly lost his footing in the sharp turn, but he righted himself quickly and raced westwards, picking up what speed he'd lost within moments.
"It wouldn't have taken anyway," Pandora murmured to herself as she watched the river curve away.
--
Kibeth wasted no time in emerging, throwing her dark head of hair out into the wind and sun to fully detach solidity herself. Grinning the woman bent forward, urging her mount to go faster, as fast as he could.
They raced along the northbound path for hours before changing direction, cutting northwest across the grass.
Her steed had been steadily losing its solidity as they'd raced along and when they cut over the grass its condition only declined faster. Every moment or so another fragment of shadow would whip backwards, carried by the wind over the field until it dropped back to the earth and joined its fellows.
Kibeth abandoned ship at the last moment she could. With an dismount that spoke volumes about the woman's level of practice with such things she hit the ground running, refusing to pause even as she cast a hand back, palm up, releasing the shadow from its bound form with a breath of thanks.
The hill she was climbing was lit by muted sunlight and riddled with figures which faded in and out of sight. Every so often one would appear in her way and she would have to zig-zag around it. The figures would pause and watch her for a moment, their forms solidifying for just a second, before fading away again. She wasn't the one they were waiting for after all.
At the summit of the hill Kibeth abruptly paused, her previous haste lost at the sight of a head of red hair barely ten feet away from her. The form it was attached to strangely solid amongst the flickering figures around him.
She choked silently, hands balling into fists as emotion suddenly sprang up in her throat. She forced herself to swallow thickly and speak through it.
"Greetings, my Prince."
The man started, reflexively looking over his shoulder at the formal title.
Their eyes met briefly and, as bright recognition flared in his eyes, tears prickled at Kibeth's, blurring her gaze and trickling over her cheeks as she swept into a deep bow.
--
Aido stood, dismounted, besides Rael, one hand resting on her Companion's back.
In the middle of the crossroads was a tree, and while normally such a roadblock could be easily negotiated, the hundreds of glowing eyes from within the tangled branches of the canopy had stopped the duo in their tracks.
Darkness was falling as the sun dipped beneath the horizon ahead. Aido wanted to leave, wanted to flee, actually. The glowing eyes which dotted the tree branches really weren't helping her find more reasons to stay.
-Calm down- Rael whispered.
"SHHHH!"
"NO!"
"No council!"
"No chitchat!"
"SILENCE."
The orders were laid over a chorus of rowdy caws as four magpies hopped from the shadowing canopy onto the barren branches.
They looked down at the duo, their bead gaze scrutinizing.
Aido gripped Rael's fur a little tighter and tried not to flinch beneath the strangely intelligent gazes of the birds.
"ODD," cawed the first loudly.
"Shadow child."
"Young'un."
"BIZARRE."
They hopped about on their respective branches, occasionally flapping their wings.
Within the canopy the glowing eyes all blinked.
The four magpies stilled once again.
"LOST?"
"What is your destination?"
"Where're you going?"
"WANDERER'S DESTINATION?"
"Home," Aido murmured quietly, reflexively glancing away from the beady eyes of the magpies to stare at her feet before forcing her gaze back upwards, straightening her back in hopes of gaining confidence from the slight increase in height.
"I'm going home."
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Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 7:25 am
-Betwixt and between. :: Part XXIV-
We're weaklings that laugh in b l u f f . . . .
"WHERE?"
"Where is your home?"
"Home is where the heart is?"
"WHAT DOES HOME MEAN TO YOU?"
"Home is Gaia," Aido replied.
The birds paused, blinking their eyes at one another and ruffling their feathers.
"LIAR." Cawed the first, snapping its beak at her.
"That is not your home."
"You don't have a home."
"VAGABOND, YOUR HOME IS-"
"My home is Gaia!" Aido cried, shaking her head sharply as she interterupted the last magpie. "Gaia! My family is there, my house is there, it's home!"
One magpie hopped from its perch to soar down, hovering in front of her. Aido barely restrained herself from stepping away from it. Gripping the tail ends of her scarf she held the bird's gaze.
"You cannot lie to us."
"I'm not," the Tale stated firmly.
One of the magpies in the tree trilled the word "VAGABOND" mockingly.
"I'm not a vagabond! I may stray from home someti- well, no, often, but I am not homeless."
"That's not what you're heart says."
That was, perhaps, the last straw of Aido's already precarious hold on her frayed temper, made short by the lack of sleep and the far too many changes that the Tale had gone through within the past few weeks.
Taking a compulsive breath Aido's eyes narrowed at the bird hovering in front of her. "My heart? What right do any of you have to speak on behalf of my heart?" she bit out in sharp, precise, quiet tones, pressing one hand to her chest, "my heart is my own, what it does or does not believe to be true is something only I am privvy to, so don't you dare tell me what it believes!"
The bird seemed to blink at the Tale but didn't retailiate. Aido took a few deep breaths to try and calm herself again.
Clacking its beak another of the magpies hopped from its perch and flew down. Instead of hovering in front of her like its fellow this magpie landed on her shoulder, watching her with one beady eye.
"If you're so bloody sure of your heart's true feelings, than show us, so we can look and see for ourselves."
Aido paused, blinking uncomprehendingly at the bird on her shoulder. She almost demanded that the magpie clarify its demand but comprehension, of a sort, dawned before she could give her demand voice.
At her side, Rael, who'd been silent since he'd been commanded to hold his tongue started as he caught a whiff of the thought. The Shadow looked up sharply at Aido, about to object.
One of the remainign magpies in the tree snapped its beady gaze towards the shadow.
"WAIT."
Companion and Tale looked up to the magpies, the one next to the one who had called out inclined its head at Rael. "Leave now Companion."
Rael bristled at the demand, -No. I will not leave.-
"You are not to be privy to this, only the prospective traveler in question may be present. Leave now or you both will will suffer the consequences."
Rael physically snarled at the thinly veiled threat and was about to retaliate when Aido put her hand on his head. When her Companion's gaze darted up to her she smiled as soothingly as she could.
"It's okay, I'll be fine Rael," she murmured, running her hand over his skull and winding her fingers in his short mane. The action was done as much for her comfort as her Companion's. Go on ahead, I'll catch soon."
Rael stared at the Tale and continued to linger until Aido physically pushed him gently forward, detaching her fingers from his shadows.
With a last, fierce glare at the magpies Rael finally began to pad away.
"Don't look back, Shadow. And don't move beyond the next Crossroads."
With a irked flick of his tail to show he'd heard Rael said nothing in reply as he moved on.
Waiting just until her Companion had moved beyond the tree Aido flicked a shadow into her hand. She tightened her grip and the shadow hardened, bearing an edge on one of its side that idenified it as a blade. It wasn't pretty by any rights, but Aido was fairly certain she only needed it for a moment.
Posistioning the blade she reflexively glanced away as she brought her arm down and sliced the blade over the side of her wrist. She'd posistioned it so that the cut was made down the side, near where the bone of her wrist poked out, to avoid the major arteries and veins which lay on the inside.
Pain flared as the nerves were damaged by the cut and blood immediately followed the sensation. She waited a moment for the blood to well up before presenting her wrist to the magpie on her shoulder.
--
The man ahead of her wavered for a moment at the sight of her bowing, before gently moving his hand in a 'rise' motion.
"A-at ease," he cracked a wry smile as he took a few steps closer, "and speak freely, soldier."
In a flash Kibeth was back on her feet and crossing the distance between them. Flinging her arms around his neck her momentum ended up turning the embrace into a tackle of sorts and they were both pitched to the ground, sending up a small burst of dust and bits of dead grass in their wake.
The man laughed slightly, emerald eyes bright as he looked up at the woman on his chest, "watch your step, pretty lady."
Kibeth, recognizing the words for what they were, smiled tearily, and attempted to chuckle, "of all the greetings, Raelhem..." she murmured, fingers in his hair and on his face, feeling the familar red strands and the planes of her husband's face.
"Hey, Kibble..." Raelhem murmured, cupping her cheek, "I thought it was fitting. But if you'd prefer..." he rose and she ducked and their lips met in an hesitant kiss.
--
At the crossroads Pandora looked up when she was joined by the Shadow. After a moment she wordlessly gathered up the playing cards she'd been using to play solitare with and looked at him, "want to play War?"
Rael looked at her as if she'd grown a second head for a moment, before seeming to shrug and bobbing his head in a nod.
Shuffling the cards, Pandora dealt them both in and they started to play.
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Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 7:27 pm
-Betwixt and between. :: Part XXV-
So tired of all this t r a v e l l i n g . . . .
The magpie trilled in a flippantly impressed sort of way and gently prodded at the wound, smearing Aido's blood onto its beak.
Another of the magpies from the tree hopped from its perch to land on Aido's free shoulder.
"You have good insticts," it clacked, ducking its head to stab its beak into the new wound, forcing more blood to well up, when Aido presented her wrist to it. Aido grimaced at the extra stab of pain.
Soon Aido had four magpies perched on her and her wrist was throbbing from all the abuse it had just suffered.
The birds trilled and chattered to one another and Aido could no longer understand their words. Crading her wrist to her chest Aido used the weight on her head as an excuse to duck it forward and rub away the slight pinpricks of tears which had sprung to her eyes amongst the pain.
The chatter overhead dulled down after a while. Two of the birds (the ones which had been perched atop her head) took flight and Aido raised her head again.
The unsettling feeling of being tried and judged for something washed over her when the two birds turned to face her, looking down at her from their perch.
The remaining two birds on her shoulders took flight from their perches as well, but instead of returning to the tree they moved behind Aido, flanking her and she had to resist looking back at them when she felt their claws dig into the backside of her jacket.
"You are as you say you are." The first magpie boomed, its voice seemingly too loud for its tiny bird body. "You are heading to the place you call home, though...."
"You're heart's a wanderer's heart, kid. There's no denying that. You'll be back, sometime or another," the second magpie's voice was much calmer, gentle even. There was on a melodious, calming lit to its call and, in the face of it, Aido's desire to argue with the magpies words fell away. Instead found herself nodding occassionally.
"For that, you are a Traveler."
"To attempt pass through here without being marked is pretty much a fool's suicide."
The word 'marked' caught the Tale's attention for half a second, causing her to blink and frown slightly.
Before she could rouse herself fully the magpie had started to speak again, prompting her to nod in idle, contented agreement.
Her contentment lasted through the sound of clothing being ripped but was destroyed as a harsh crack of pain ripped through her back.
Instinctively the Shadow Mancer started forward, ducking her head and almost falling into a roll. She barely curbed the defensive instict, instead she dug her fingers into the shadows of her jacket as she looked back over her shoulder to try and see what had caused the pain.
The sight of the two magpies which had been perched on her back, both clutching bloodied fabric, confirmed her suspicions, but didn't offer any answers over what had just happened and why.
She bit her lip breifly as a minor wave of pain rolled over her as she rotated her shoulders and warm fluid dribbled down her back. Before she could ask for answers the voice of the first magpie spoke up again. No longer booming, it had reverted to its usually chattering form of speech.
"There are bandages on the other side of the tree."
Aido turned her head to look, but the tree was empty.
"You'd do well to get yourself patched up before you leave."
The Tale looked behind her for the source of the voice, but there was none to be found.
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 6:30 pm
-Betwixt and between. :: Part XXVI-
And isn't it strange to see all your selves laid out in front of y o u ?
Kibeth returned first, rumpled and refusing to look back the way she'd come. The woman was uncharacteristically silent as she sat down next to Rael.
Pandora wordlessly swept up the nearly finished game of war she and Rael had moved into and shuffled the cards. Rael, who had been losing due to a spell of Jack induced massive loses, didn't complain.
Kibeth blinked as a card rapped hard into the knuckles of the hand she'd clenched into the fabric of her slacks. She'd swept the cards up before they could be revealed and gave the younger woman a curious look.
"Care for an Egyptian Rat ********> Pandora inquired idly, blue eyes on her cards. When Kibeth snorted a laugh and shook her head a bit the Other looked up, raised an eyebrow and offered a hand. "If you don't want your cards give them here."
Beside them Rael grunted something about cheating. Pandora ignored him and flexed her hand, demanding that Kibeth either join or give her an edge.
Kibeth shook her head again, this time in clear answer to Pandora's inquiry. "Nono, I think I'll be keeping them," she replied with a wry smile, eyes a little more clear now that she was beginning to focus on the present of the card game, rather than her past which still lingered on the hillside.
Pandora shrugged indifferently and, after retracting her hand, continued to deal out the cards.
--
Coming up the path, carrying her coat over one arm and delicately balancing her satchel on one shoulder, as to avoid any unnecessary contact with her pained back, Aido had to admit that the sounds of mayhem from up ahead didn't sound very inviting.
Pausing, the young Tale listened for a moment, trying to figure out just what the strange garble of noise meant and whether proceeding along the path was the wisest of actions.
The process was hard, as, in addition to her too-warm, blood slicked back (which had quickly progressed to the point that it hurt, no matter what she did) her head was pounding and she was beginning to feel a tiny inner quake shake her fingertips. She pivoted her feet and stepped a bit so that she was perched at the edge of the path, toes brushing the edge of the upright grass line, feeling more than a little tempted by the suddenly soft, inviting looking waves of grass.
It would be simple, and easy enough, to step off the path, clear an area and lie down. Dazed Aido smiled at the notion, for once not thinking of the possibility of not finding, or being found by, Rael. Or how her family was waiting somewhere out there.
She took a step, mind savoring the possibilities. She could slip away for a short nap at least, or, perhaps, if she was lucky-
A very familiar squeal snapped her wandering attention back. Aido looked up the path just as she planted one foot in the tall grass. She paused, torn between the call of rest and the tug of returning responsibilities. She waited until another familiar sound (though this time it was much more of a 'squawk') before shifting her weight backwards, removing her foot from the grass.
Pivoting again Aido shifted and moved so that she was back near the center of the path. She shook herself once, briefly, and kept walking.
--
Soft footsteps made two members of the trio look up from their card game look up. Pandora took the opportunity to sweep the stack of cards and Rael's entire hand into her own large pile.
Without ceremony Aido flopped down, Kibeth grimaced as she leaned sideways and looked at the patchy job Aido had done of bandaging herself up.
Running her hands over Rael's head to try and ground herself again Aido looked at her past self balefully, "help?"
"Are there any bandages left?"
Aido nodded and fished into her satchel, handing Kibeth the rest of the bandages. Once she'd figured out that she had no idea how to properly clean herself up when she couldn't even look at the wounds the Shadow Mancer had given up and tried to save as many of the bandages as possible.
Kibeth took them silently and handed Aido her cards in return, "keep those safe."
Aido nodded her agreement and held the cards tightly. Looking up she caught her younger Other's gaze on her. Aido returned the look with a curious one of her own.
"Hrm, you two have never formally been introduced, have you?" Kibeth noted with an idly tilt of her head as she finished straightening out the bandages.
Aido shook her head, Pandora offered no comment.
"Aido, this is Pandora; Pandora, Aido," Kibeth straightened a bit and poked Aido in the side, "up with your arms," Aido placed the cards Kibeth had given her in her lap before oblidging.
Kibeth carefully peeled away Aido's bloody shirt from her back and clipped it with a shadow before she went to work on her youngest self's marred back.
Aido cracked a small smile, "it's good to finally know your name, Pandora."
Pandora offered an indifferent shrug in reply.
With no obviously reply to such a reaction Aido allowed her mouth to slide shut. Too tired to try and dig around for a conversation with her other self Aido simply focused on the comfort of Rael's head on her knee and kept her arms held above her head as Kibeth worked.
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 6:32 pm
-The Crossroads. :: Part XXVII
A nostalgic wind blows, turns into tailwind,and pushes my b a c k . . . .
The night passed without much event. Kibeth bandaged Aido's back with a fair amount of ease then proceeded to lecture the girl on the proper way to bandage wounds to prevent yourself from bleeding to death.
Pandora was quiet, choosing to ignore the other members of their small group unless she was engaged in a card game with them. Even then her comments were short, rarely coupled with emotion other than triumph and annoyance (and even those emotion were dulled by a seemingly ever present indifference).
Aido chose to stay out of the card games, valuing her hands a little too much to join in the almost violent game of Egyptian Rat ******** which had been kicked off after Kibeth had rejoined the fray. At some point Aido drifted off, tucked against Rael and watching as Kibeth schooled Pandora at some card game or another.
When she woke up the next morning Aido and Rael were physically alone in the middle of the path, though Aido could have sworn that her head felt a little heavier.
Standing up the Tale yawned widely, stretching out only to cringe mid-motion as her back cheerfully reminded her of its current state.
She winced and shut her eyes firmly when a dizzy spell, coupled with a loud gurgle from her stomach, hopped in to join the array of ills that were apparently plaguing her. Pressing a hand to her stomach she couldn't help but frown. When was the last time she'd eaten, anyway?
Grabbing her pack Aido began to paw through it, looking for something appetizing and allowing her frown to become a little more severe as she was the state of some of the food.
"Rael?" she asked, pulling out a small bag of dried meat, "have we done anything for the last few days except..." she fished in her memory, "er, run and sleep?"
The Shadow looked over at his Companion, about to answer that, of course they had, but he paused....
Aido caught his hesitation, "we haven't, have we?" she shoved a piece of the meat in her mouth and began to chew it. Shaking her head the young Shadow Mancer pressed a hand against her eyes and spoke around the food in her mouth, "what were we thinking? What have we been doing, running around like chickens with our heads cut off?" the remark wasn't pointed, at either of them, she was merely venting.
Rael sat on his haunches, the ends of his mouth turned down in a frown, -I don't know. At the time it seemed like the right thing to do, though, in hindsight...-
Aido swallowed the piece of meat and nodded pensively. At the time it had seemed like the best thing to do, but what had they been doing? Running in a direction that probably wasn't right; she didn't remember eating very much though her water flask felt considerably lighter, which was a good sign that she'd been doing something to keep herself alive....
Speaking of which; Aido felt a twinge in his lower abdomen. Twitching the Shadow Mancer dropped her satchel, waved off Rael's concerned look and found a nice patch of tall grass where she could drop her pants.
--
Bouncing along on Rael's back Aido scanned the area around her, looking for any patch of land that would cast a decent shadow. It was easier to Shadow Walk if she had one large shadow to step through, rather than a collective shadow made up of dozens of smaller ones.
Aido tensed her legs as she felt Rael pause, a moment later he was shaking himself down from head to tail. The action was contagious and Aido followed suit a moment later.
They'd been doing this on and off all day. There was a feeling lingering over both of them, sticking to Aido's skin and Rael's shadows like a slowly evaporating dew that they just wanted to be rid off.
It was distracting and more than a little disconcerting, to say the least.
An awkward curve of the landscape caught Aido's eye and the Shadow Mancer nudged Rael, pointing over towards a slightly deformed looking grassy knoll when he looked up.
Nodding her Companion trotted over, pausing to allow Aido to dismount and trot the last few feet herself.
The small knoll, only a few feet taller than Aido, looked as if it had once been whole, but now a giant chunk of the side had been cut out; as if some monstrous beast had taken a bite out of the hillside, leaving it disfigured and baring much of the soil which normally lay beneath a layer of foliage.
"Strange..." Aido murmured, leaning closer and taking a small pinch of soil in her fingers. The dark brown substance smelled damp and fresh, with a tang of something else Aido didn't have a name for; it was all a testimony to the fact that the soil had spent most of the day in shadow, shielded from most of the sun by its crest.
-But fortunate,- Rael replied, golden eyes taking in the oddity as well.
Aido nodded, though the curiosity in her eyes didn't abate in the least and she continued to wordlessly rake her eyes over the geological oddity.
Rael rolled his eyes and nudged Aido's calf, -are we going to see if this goes somewhere or aren't we?- he looked around, -because, honestly, I doubt our pitiful luck will grant us a second chance like this.-
Aido grimaced and nodded, "you're right. Let's go." Crossing her fingers Tale and Companion stepped into the deep shadow of the knoll.
A wind stirred the grassy sands of the lands. Somewhere off in the distance a bird called out into the air and was met with another cry of one of its kind. Bugs buzzed, the wind stirred again and the shadows danced as a result. Way out in the distance a small group of beings made their way across the plains. The world of the Crossroads went about its business as usual, undisturbed by the actions of a girl and her Shadow deep in the Between.
Aido stepped out of the shadows only a few short minutes later. Sighing heavily she sat down in the grass and raked both hands through her hair as she brought up her knees to her chest. Her hands got stuck, and by the time she'd untangled them from her filthy, tangled hair- which hadn't seen hide nor hair of a brush in days- she was able to neatly allow her head to flop to her knees. She stayed like that, half curled up, lonely and disappointed despite herself (even though, deep in her bones, she'd known that getting home wouldn't be as easy as hopping across the shadows, even from someplace which was so connected to her own world) for a few self-indulgent moments before flopping sideways, rolling so that she was laying out on her stomach.
She lay there, stretched out with her head half in the shadows and her fingers mindlessly playing with sun-stroked blades of grass there for a while, until restlessness got the better of her and she shifted so that she was sitting up again.
After fishing out a small portion of food and taking a drink of the water from the flask Aido took off her jacket and shirt and began to undo the bandages that were wound about her torso. Only the portion that had been directly over her wounds had been soiled, so she quickly used a sharp shadow to cut away that portion, saving as much of the still clean bandages as she could. The clean bandages went into her satchel and left the soiled bandages next to her. When Rael got back they'd bury them.
Her back itself had stopped bleeding, so there was no need to bandage it once again. It was sticky with sweat and caked blood and it ached and itched madly as a result. Had they any water to spare Aido would've cleaned it, but they didn't, so she threw on her shirt and sat on her hands to keep herself from picking at the new scabs.
That was where Rael found her when he finally emerged from the shadows. Idly her Shadow padded up and sat next to her, leaning his head on her knee.
She extracted one hand and pat his head, kneading the cool shadows between her fingers. Neither of them spoke for a moment as they looked out across the still foreign landscape.
Aido shifted her attention back to her Shadow and scratched at his ears. "What'd they say?" she asked softly.
Rael lent into her touch, tail flicking to and fro in sustained annoyance. -We were going the right way. The only ones the shadows will bow to, transporters who control the gates between this world and the ones its connected to, of which there's a lot, are centered in the west, though the shadows mention a few speckled about the edges of this land.-
"So we could head any direction, really..." Aido murmured, digesting this. People who could control gates between worlds? She felt a flicker of heavy envy settle in her stomach as she sighed longingly.
-Yes, but most large groups seem to head that way while the stragglers head in different directions. Most of the still shadows are from them,- Rael noted.
Aido grimaced and nodded slowly, feeling a pang of empathy for the stragglers, "West it is then," she stood, stretching fully and shrugging on her jacket. The light was fading and it'd be fully night- and as such, chilly- soon. "Rael..." she asked, uncertainty lacing her voice. "did they... let you through to Gaia?"
Rael stepped up to stand beside her, bobbing his head in a nod, though Aido didn't see it, as her gaze was firmly fixed on the ground a ways away. -Yes, they didn't seem happy about it, but they did.-
Aido's gaze swung back around to him, feeling her spirits lift hesitantly. She waved her hand in a 'go on' sort of way.
-I went and found your mother, she seems to be in much better health than when we left. She drilled me for information on you, threw a rolling pin in my general direction and proceeded to say that when you got back she was going to chain you to your bed.-
Aido blinked then broke out into a slightly nervous laugh, covering her face with her hand. The sad thing was that she honestly could see her Aemu going through with that threat.
Still, she could feel the weight lift from her shoulders. Her Aemu was okay and Aemu knew that she was displaced, not dead or kidnapped, so hopefully she wouldn't worry. Even if everything else was up in the air (her location, how she'd get home, where she was going to get more food and water...) her family was alright and, in the end, that was more important in Aido's mind than her own welfare.
"Wonderful..." she murmured happily, stretching both arms back up again and allowing her face to turn towards the setting sun. Grinning she pushed all her uncertainties to the back of her mind and hopped onto Rael's back. "Let's go, maybe we can get wherever we're going if we run hard enough tonight," they had no way of knowing how near or far away they were from their unknown destination, but, with the news of her mother's returned health, Aido's optimism had been renewed for the moment.
-I only hope we recognize it when we get there,- Rael replied with a flick of his tail as he began to walk and then shift into an easy run, heading towards the setting sun.
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 6:34 pm
-The Crossroads. :: Part XXVIII
Lines ever more u n c l e a r. . . .
Aido's optimism lasted approximately three days.
The duo walked and slept and ate and repeated the process day by day, trying to cover as much distance as they could. At first they were just looking for something obvious, like another enormous tree or something equally telling that would indicate that they were getting closer to their still unknown destination.
On the third day Aido sat, leaning up against Rael with the last of their food supplies at her feet. Their supplies had dwindled dangerously, despite Aido's best attempts to ration them out and make them last for as long as possible.
Water worried her more than food. You could survive weeks without food, but water was another matter entirely. Biting her lip she set aside her water flask and began to organize the food into two piles; one for now, which contained everything that was going (or had gone), and one which consisted of the last of the dried strips of meat and fruit they had with them.
Rael eyed her actions over her shoulder, -all of it?-
"Not quite, but I figure we might as well have a decent meal in our stomach and as hard as we can today." She looked over her shoulder. "We need to find some sort of water source."
Rael nodded, catching the slight edge of worry in Aido's voice. He rested his maw on her shoulder and she gave it a pat. -Fortunate that I don't have to eat, isn't it?-
Aido nodded, though her lips turned downwards in a frown.
Rael rolled his eyes, -stop it. I didn't mean it like that. It's the truth, it's an advantage. Stop looking like you're feeling guilty for not leaving me food.-
"Can't help it," Aido muttered with a halfhearted shrug, pulling off the skin to a fruit which sharply resembled a small orange. Flecks of pale red dotted its surface and flaked off in a cloud. She barely heard Rael's annoyed -you're hopeless- as she sneezed, having breathed a bit of the stuff in, and held her breath thereafter as she finished extracting the fruit.
After eating as quickly as she could and getting over-ripe fruit juice on her chin and the sleeve of her jacket for her trouble the duo took off again, heading due west as quickly as they could with Aido sitting upright on her shadows mount, constantly scanning their surroundings for a potential food or water source.
They found it. Aido wasn't sure whether she wanted to whoop for joy or turn around and walk away, pretending they'd never seen it at all.
She settled for hopping off Rael and sitting aways off a ways with her back to the fast flowing river, allowing her Shadow to take and fill their water flask in the rushing waters.
Rael, who shared none of her fear of the water, did as she asked, but romped about in the water in the process, getting himself delightfully wet and returned to drip on Aido after a few minutes.
-That's refreshing- he enthused happily, wagging his tail and handing over the flask. Aido eyed him with a bemused eye as she drank deeply, draining the flask of its entire contents in a few minutes. -There's even fish! We could eat something decent tonight. I'm sure I could catch them,- he flashed a toothy grin.
"I never knew you were so fond of rivers, Rael," Aido replied, wiping her mouth, still bemused, though there was more than a touch of curiosity in her voice. She ruffled her Companion's wet fur.
-It's a fresh, free flowing ribbon of water and food. You're not going to die from hunger or thirst so long as we stick near it. I may not be fond of all rivers,- he flicked his tail, -but I like this one.-
"That's reassuring," she replied with a soft smile, setting aside the flask and looking over her shoulder. She shivered, once. The motion shook her entire body and she looked away.
Rael's happily wagging tail slowed and he placed his head on her knee. -Aido, you need to--
"I know, I know," she replied quickly, cutting him off as her hands flit to her scarf and began to wring it nervously, "my back's a bloody mess and there are bugs making colonies in my hair. I know, really," abruptly she released her scarf, almost pushing it away from her and burying her head in Rael's wet fur.
Rael bore her clinging silently rather than answering with any sort of cutting remark. Needling his Companion wouldn't do any good right now.
"I'm scared," Aido murmured, her voice so quiet that, if Rael hadn't been what he was, he probably wouldn't have heard her.
-I know. I'll be with you though.-
"I know..." she buried her face deeper and Rael's shadows reached out in tiny tendrils to pet her cheeks and hair, offering comfort through their cool touch.
Taking a deep breath Aido pushed away slowly and stood. Still facing away from the mirror she dropped all her belongings in a pile, grimacing as she peeled away her shirt, which had, in a few places, stuck to her scabbed wounds.
Rael stood as she kicked away the last of her clothing and draped a few of the more soiled garments over her arm and turned towards the river. The tips of her fingers quaked and she gripped onto her scarf to make them stop. Rael wrapped his tail around her ankle as she strode forward.
A few feet from the river Aido was shaking all over, her entire body coiled and strained.
It really shouldn't be this difficult to walk up to a river, Aido reflected ruefully and quickened her pace before she could give in to the maddening desire to turn around and bolt.
The water was cold and the first shock of it on her toes had her whimpering. Pursing her lips she squeezed her eyes shut, took a few more quick steps, clutched at her dirty clothing and ducked beneath the knee deep water.
She emerged half a second later, shaking out her wet locks, shuddering uncontrollably and looking mildly sick.
She groaned, looking at her trembling limps and shaking laundry with disgust before shifting her gaze to Rael, who was, as promised, right at her side. "Rael... I don't think I-"
-Give it here.-
Aido smiled shakily, feeling a surge of gratitude towards her Shadow, and handed most of the articles of clothing to Rael, who hung onto them gently in his mouth. She kept hold of a small towel, which was wrapped around their lone bar of soap, and quickly went to work washing herself as throughly, and as quickly, as she could.
The entire affair- from entry in the water to exit- lasted about eight minutes but when Aido sat down on dry land she once again she was dangerously close to kissing it.
She stayed close to the river for a few minutes, taking her clothing back from Rael and washing it in the shallows, before firmly retreating and sitting in the grass, setting out her wet clothing in front of it so it could dry. Stretching out herself she began to relax again as she basked in the warm mid-afternoon sunshine, allowing her own skin to air dry since she didn't have the any clothing she could spare to act as a towel.
Rael circled Aido once, and was pat on his head for his concern, and, after allowing his golden eyes to flick over the landscape once more in search of potential predators, Rael pranced back to the river to fish.
The duo spent some time like that. Once she'd dried and pulled on the fresh set of clothing she'd been saving for the day she was clean again, Aido lapsed into a doze, waking just enough to look up blearily and smile when Rael would bring back a fish from the river.
Once fully woken and aware again Aido could only stare at the small pile of fish and wonder what they were going to do with them. She asked Rael that very question when he returned (with yet another dead fish).
-Eat them,- he quirked his maw in a way that said what else you idiot?
"How're we supposed to cook them?" she asked, frowning didn't think of that, did you?
-We don't have to. We'll eat them raw.- Of course I did.
"Is that wise? We've no idea what kind of fish they are, or if they've some sort of defense against innocent predators who lack a fire." She quirked an eyebrow. And that?
-...- Rael huffed and sighed irritably, flicking his tail. No.
Aido sighed and stood, giving her Shadow's head a fond pat, "if we get walking maybe we can find some firewood?"
Rael nodded and stood, shaking himself down and lengthening himself, growing once again to the size of a horse in preparation of the ride ahead.
Aido quickly worked to get all their belongings packed away and, after eying the pile of fish consideringly, worked to lash together a rope from the shadows and tie the fish up. After tethering the fishrope to Rael (much to his annoyance and grumbling about smelling of dead fish) and throwing her pack over her Shadow's back she hopped aboard and they were off.
They found firewood in the form of the tree. After working out a strange and haphazard way of getting into the tree (which involved Rael running and jumping and Aido jumping off him and, really, it was all just proof that they'd been on their own for a bit too long) and getting the wood down Aido ended up sitting out the fire making process, trusting her Shadow to take care of it while she hung out in the uppermost branches of the gnarled old tree they'd found.
A tree within a tree, Aido reflected. Honestly, it made absolutely no sense.
It was strange, but here it was. It wasn't like her contemplation would change it somehow, but still, it was curious. Aido hummed to herself a tune she couldn't quite remember and looked up at the darkening sky, wondering what it was made of- if you went up far enough (in a balloon or a rocket ship or on the back of a giant dragon) would you hit the roof? Were there even stars, up there, or was it just huge heaps of luminescent plant matter?
The food finished cooking and she left her post when Rael noted that he was not (and never would be) her maid and she could damn well come and get food herself if she was hungry.
They ate, packed up -taking an extra stash of firewood-, put out their fire and promptly moved on, following the river because it seemed to be curving west anyway.
It was frustrating to fall back into a routine of walking, eating and sleeping. Aido couldn't even find peace in the simply joy of being someplace new, because the plains they were in so rarely changed. She'd grown sick of worrying about her family, of endless miles and never knowing where she was going or even if they'd be able to get home from there. Her usually long lasting temper had been frayed even before they'd truly been pulled into this mess and it was not holding up all that well at all in this spin cycle.
She occupied herself by practicing Shadow Mancing and talking with her Shadow. Occasionally, when Rael had lapsed into silence and she was tired she would talk to Kibeth. Sometimes she simply lapsed into thought.
Still, when, one mid-morning, a few nights after they'd found the river, after they'd navigated up-down-and-around (the cause of such odd navigation had been Aido's passing comment of 'I wonder if you could jump over it') the small outcropping of trees that'd been in their way and emerged just as a creature (that made Aido's brain say 'boar' even though it wasn't quite piggish enough to be a boar, its body was too long, though the stubby legs, piggish snout and tusks certainly fit the image of a boar) had surfaced from the river Aido couldn't say she was grateful for the distraction.
-Well... he looks tasty...- Rael murmured after a moment of shameless gawking at the enormous creature.
"He looks hungry," Aido whispered back, crouched low on Rael's back as she tugged at his ear.
-Hungry things can be tasty!- Rael protested, but stepped back all the same.
The movement was enough. The creature sniffed, snout visible contracting, and slid it's head towards them.
They froze.
A wind stirred over the plains, rolling over them.
The beast let out a very piggish squeal and charged.
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 6:36 pm
-The Crossroads. :: Part XXVIX-
Wanderlust. Noun: strong long for, or impulse toward, wandering.
They lost it. It wasn't terribly hard, all things considering.
Though, Aido had to hand it to the creature- for a beast of its size, it had moved surprisingly fast.
Unfortunately, in the whole process of escaping from becoming the monster's next meal, they'd lost not only the river, but a rather sizable chunk of their supplies.
-I'm surprised you threw your coat at it.-
Aido shrugged, pointedly ignoring the way the cool night air forced her bare arms to break out in goosebumps, "well, it worked, didn't it?"
-That's true enough,- the coat had flown, billowing up as it had caught an updraft. In that moment, it spread out and cast an excellent shadow which Aido had used to entangle the beast. She'd tripped it, and then held it down with dark, writhing ropes.
She might have been able to get her coat back, if the beast had put up just a little less of a fight.
"I think I injured its pride," Aido murmured, recalling the way the creature had flailed and writhed, squealing the entire time as it pinned her with a murderous glare. She'd done her best, but, in the end, she had decided that they shouldn't risk enraging the beast further by drawing close enough to it to reclaim her coat. She and Rael had left it, bidding her coat a fond farewell, and Aido had maintained the tethers until she couldn't any longer.
They'd run for a bit after that, before Aido's lack of decent protection against the formidable wind chill the ride was generating forced them to slow down.
-It's unfortunate that throwing the firewood at it did little more than make it look at us cross eyed. I'd rather we hadn't had to get rid of that coat, it's the warmest thing you packed, isn't it?-
She sighed, "yes. Unfortunately." A pause. "I think we should just call this entire thing unfortunate and be done with it," she added.
It was times like this Aido wished her Companion generated a bit more heat, rather than maintaining his, at best, luke-warm temperature. It would, after all, be highly useful on cold nights like these. She wouldn't freeze if she curled up in Rael's fluff, but she would be undeniably uncomfortable for the length of the night.
She wrapped her scarf a little more firmly around her neck and shoulders. Aside from the clothes on her back, the food and water canteen they had nothing else now.
Aido wasn't sure whether or not she would classify herself as worried, at this point. After all, she had water and before everything had gone to hell she'd eaten a nice, large meal. The food they had on them would be a little slimy when they ate it cold, but it was bearable and couldn't be worse than what she'd eaten on Reit. In any case, she was certain they'd find their way back to the river soon. After all, if it held its course steady, then they only needed to make a giant loop and then head west again to find it.
And, in all honestly, she was grateful to be away from the river for now, though she wasn't about to say as much aloud.
Midday shifted seamlessly to afternoon, and afternoon to evening without incident. They rode on, chatting quietly and watching as the clouds gathered above their heads. By the time they'd stopped to make camp for the night the sky was completely overcast.
Aido didn't protest when her Companion said he'd watch for the night. There was no point to it and she was too tired to try and think of an argument that wouldn't get shot down by her Companion's logic of I don't need to sleep, I never have and I sincerely doubt I ever will.
Thus, Aido tucked in, surprising both of them when she scrounged up a blanket someone had packed beneath their stash of food. It was slightly sticky, and smelled a bit of old fruit and salt, but it was big enough that she could curl up in it, and, using her arm as a pillow, she settled down beside Rael after eating a very small dinner, and fell asleep within moments of laying down.
She awoke to the feeling of Rael's urgency and a chorus of stage-whispers.
"Look there, tha' beastie's go' a gud grip on 'er."
"Aye. Wha' do ya think? One o' Pride's, or Lust's?"
"S'wee bit south fer Pride. Lust though... aye, I wouldn' put eet past 'er to 'ave le' loose some buggahs. 'n they lure youngins in with their willies, ye know?"
'It's too early for this,' Aido thought, despairingly, but began to wiggle out of her blanket all the same, hoping to clear up the obvious confusion that was in the air.
"Ach! The lass is movin'!"
"The beastie likely has 'er in it's thrall! Quick!"
"No!" Aido said and continued on in a rush, "no thrall! I'm perfectly all right!"
It was too late.
Two men, both burly and lacking in shirts, exploded out of the tall grass and charged forward. One dove towards her, while the other went for Rael.
Aido tried to back away, hands in front of her chest with their palms up in a pacifying gesture. It was of no use, her feet got tangled and she tripped, accidentally tripping her would be savior as well. They both went down, and Aido gasp as all the breath was forced out of her as the burly man fell on her.
Her protests, which weren't about to be stopped by a titchy little thing like the fact that there was very little air in her lungs, ended up being barely audible, and were strewn with coughs.
The man atop her seemed to think that she just needed a little reassurance, and kept telling her things like "Don' yee worrie yer wee head, lass, that beastie's got nothin' on Ryan." and "We'll have yee free of it soon, n' then ours men back a' the ships will get yee sorted out." and ignoring everything she had to say as he cheered his friend on.
Rael, on his part, was not so much fighting as avoiding the man who kept running at him, trying to kick and jab at him with his sword. All the while he kept trying to get back to where Aido was being sat upon.
Finally, he managed to sprint past the annoyingly persist ant man, back towards Aido, who managed to thrust out an arm and cast her shadow onto the grass beneath.
The man atop her snarled and made to jab at Rael-
only to pause, mid-motion as her Companion shrunk, dove into her shadow, and disappeared.
He frowned, obviously confused, and looked down at her.
"Yer a hag then?"
Aido blinked. "A what?"
"Ah hag, a hag!" her blank expression must have given away the fact that yelling the same word again and again wasn't helping, he frowned and tugged at his thick beard, "a... a weech, ye know," he gestured with his arms and yelled "kazam!"
"Um, well, no?" Aido replied, "I'm a shadow mancer. Which may be sort of like your hag? Anyway, that was my friend you were yelling at, and he's been my friend since long before we came to this world," she noted, with a firm nod.
"Yer sure?"
She nodded again, more emphatically this time.
The man sitting on her looked over towards his approaching friend, "wha' do ye think, Ryan?"
"I think lust's beasties wouldn' be trying to use fancy words to trick us, or a lightshow like dat one. I think she's just a hag that don' know she's a hag, Rob."
"Aye, I agree," Rob replied and stood up, offering Aido a hand, which she took, "well, we welcome hags o' allllll shapes and motions. Dang useful yer lot is."
Aido wisely decided not to press the whole hag issue and accepted his hand, taking a moment to pick up the saddle bags that Rael had left behind and slinging them over her shoulders-
where they were immediately plucked off by the burly man called Ryan. "Nay, we'll take those, lass," he said when she opened her mouth to protest. Without waiting he began to head forward, followed by Rob, who had grabbed the other saddle bag, as well as her blanket, and beckoned for her to follow. "C'mon, back to thee caravan! The other hags'll be glad to meet cha', they will. Always glad to 'ave another lass to lookit their books and speak their fancy-pancy words, they are."
Seeing no better option, and curious despite the nature of this whole early morning escapade, Aido followed.Author's note, June 21st, 2oo8: so, hay, a year and a half later I'm back. Aido's tale has never quite left me and, alright, I'm rather in love with this universe, so here I am, writing for it again. I have a clear idea where this is all going now, so there will be updates soon. This is the fourth version of this post, all the other ones were out of character, or simply crap.
The men here are heavily inspired by Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men, which I adore. The Wee Free Men aren't mine, but Ryan and Rob are. If you haven't read The Wee Free Men, you are missing out on something fantastic.
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 6:37 pm
V/X
...ON THE ROAD AGAIN, DUNDUNDUNdundundun~ KEEP ON SINGING ON THE ROAD AGAIN -bricked-
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 6:40 pm
VI/X
Being seperated from the group is terrifying. Suddenly they're sleeping in shifts, trying their damnest to get done everything they can during their waking hours and still get as much distance as they can behind them.
The worst thing is that neither of them are ever quite sure that their going in the right direction.
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 6:52 pm
VII/X
Edge Happens.
Aido was never, EVER leaving the shower again; she didn't care how pruny her skin got, she was staying for good, thankyouverymuch.
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 3:39 pm
VIII/X
They smiled, wet and teary expressions near images of one another.
[...did I move things back a post? hrm...]
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 3:57 pm
IX/X
It was so strange, to look backwards at the giant tree and know that, somehow, she'd spent the last few weeks (or perhaps even months) of her life somehow wandering through its many roots and the world which connected all the trees itself.
It was so strange that it, honestly, made her head hurt.
Shaking it out the Tale turned and, feeling a strange mixture or excitement and minor panic, began to walk across the northwestern root, heading towards home.
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