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 Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 1:20 am
Location: City of Helena
Covered from head to toe, the young man moved at a rather fast pace since he wanted to get to the nearest safe shelter as soon as possible, for it was almost sunset. His footsteps echoed as his feet hit the hard rocks below, his path only illuminated by the soft light coming from the lowering sun.
Aevah had commanded him two days ago to travel to the holy city of Helena, since she had suspected one of her creations had gotten loose there. The goddess was no doubt, a powerful person. But like humans, she still had traits of imperfection, like being reckless and disorganized. And that is why Aren had to help her and investigate the City of Helena.
Aren sighed, his dark grey scarf falling off a bit as he made his way through the rocky pathway. He was obviously fatigued and needed nourishment, since the previous town he stayed in was not at all hospitable, and to a certain extent was rude to him. He hated the town of Ardya with a passion after that horrible experience. He stopped to lean by a tree to gain back some energy, he could have hitch-hiked a ride with one of the merchant carts like all the other people did but because of his obviously unique skin tone, he could not risk it.
He looked up at the sky, which now had a violet and orange tint to it, bathing the land in a vivid orange color. This somehow reminded him of the stories Aevah had told him, about the demons who lurk in the shadows, ready to attack humans and dusts alike. The young man then started to walk again, now at a faster pace than before.
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Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 2:19 am
The little girl bowed lightly to her mentor at the door, her childish postures speaking sincerity. The sky was darkening, and she wanted to tell the gentle, beautiful woman goodbye. The teacher was uncertain, however.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay for supper?" She had a slightly worried look on her face. "I can walk you home after."
The girl shook her head. She wanted to go home and see if her father returned. The women in the house had told the girl that the man won't be coming back, but she had her doubts. Afterall, she has yet to show him her new treasure. He couldn't have just gone away, could he?
"Well alright..." The mentor named Herissa smiled despite her uncertainty. She had been told about the little girl's father, and that his murderer was still not found. In fact, no one could guess who it was that killed the man. His six wives and girlfriends could only assume that he'd had another woman out there who was a lot more violent than they were.
Such were the thoughts of women. Wishes, too, perhaps; but no one knows the truth. Until they could pin someone down for the man's death, the girl-child may be vulnerable. But it's already been a few weeks, and they couldn't lock the girl up forever.
"Have a safe trip home," Herissa waved goodbye to her pupil, who nodded lightly in response. With another gentle smile, she watched the girl melt into the sunset.
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Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 3:35 am
From the rocky terrain came some lush green color, so Aren knew that he was nearing the city. And it was just in time as well, Aren was feeling exhausted, he just wanted to complete his mission in that foreign town and head home immediately.
After a few minutes, he came upon a large hill and slowly climbed it as the darkness started to ensue. Placing his feet in the rocky edges, he dug his dark boots into them to make some pathways for his feet and making it more safe. As he made his way to the top of the hill he could now see faint lights that danced in the distance. Aren smiled when he saw this and his wings fidgeted a little beneath the thick cloth that it was wrapped in.
Now he hoped that the people in this whole new town were hospitable, he had heard rumors about the women in the city either despise men who visit or treat them like kings. He just hoped they would not pay attention to him in his stay there.
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Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 12:48 pm
Helena. Helena, Helena, Helena. Krinn repeated the name in his mind, making sure to remember it. He had been gone from home for two days, on a small "excursion" as his guardian had called it to a city by the name of Helena. They had gotten lifts across the terrain from kind folk, and hiked to get there. Two days ago, a tawny eyed falcon had perched itself lazily along the windowsill and coughed - if birds could cough - efficiently catching Lans attention. After unravelling a parcel, the bird had landed on their couch and sat there sleeping for the next day and a half. Apparently the letter had been something about his old friend moving into a city called Helena.
Thats when he had told Krinn to pack a bag since the girl had said she wanted him to come down and help her move. And that when the girl said "wanted to come down" she usually meant "come down or I'll come up there and haul you down there." Thus the reason why they were now entering the city of Helena - Lan looking rather uncomfortable.
Digging one of his hands into his pocket, Krinn bit into a bun filled with chocolate - something that was a first for him in the new town. He was standing outside a warm looking cafe, a scarf loosely tucked around his neck. There was laughter as evening passed into early nightfall, and women walked all around whispering random things to their friends. Some glanced his way and cooed. It was like back in Amies except with all girls. Girls who didnt see many boys very often. Krinn watched as they walked by, absently savouring the taste of chocolate.
Lan had met up with a girl in her mid twenties, with the frame of a model and the attitude of a very shameless gal. She had instantly taken a liking to the dustchild, ruffling his hair and buying him a sweet. Then she and Lan had sat down for a long chat - in which Krinn got bored with within the time span of about three minutes. Lan had let him go outside so long as he didnt wander - and now the two could be seen on the patio outside in the warm night air, while Krinn eyed the sidewalk, wondering if there was anything interesting to see in this new odd place.
Krinn had to admit, the people - women - here were very nice. Chewing on the bun bit by bit to save it, he yawned and flexed his arms above his head for a second, blinking in thought. They were on the outer rim of the city of Helena, where a street lined with shops and cafes sparkled in the streetlight. Apparently shopping was something girls enjoyed as well. Krinn had been stuck outside for a slow ten minutes, watching as the sun inched downwards slowly and surely. Maybe something or someone interesting would come along and cure his boredom. Flickering his eyes upwards, Krinn watched as the last of the sunsets rays basked on the hills that they had trecked through on their way to the city. Then he blinked and rubbed his eyes - was there someone on one of the hills? He looked up again, but it was still far away, and he could only make out a few outlines. But still....
Then Krinn shrugged it off and went back to the sweet he had been given. It didnt really matter to him what was up on the hill...did it?
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Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 2:10 pm
Black, orange, blue, and white; the small girl played with a coin in her hands. It flipped from her fingers, danced a waltz in the air, then came back to her hands again. The evening made everything beautiful: a deep, lurid gold touched upon the two faces of the coin, and the breeze had transformed the girl's silvery hair into flowing strands of fine golden silk. Her pale skin reflected the sunset kisses to honesty, casting a glow of clear, tender orange in the indigo air.
And the coin kept dancing.
It twirled lightly away from her hands, then spun back to kiss her palm. It slid up her sleeves discreetly like the climbing moon, then appeared abruptly in between her fingers like a night turned white. The coin danced with her fingers, her hands, her arms; and she watched the dance with her stone gray eyes, somewhat expecting magical birds to burst out of the coin's flickering golden light.
Somewhere not too far away from the street that she walked upon, songbirds sang an evening song. The child enjoyed the symphony, that light and complicated chorus of chatters belonging to songbirds called women. It was a song she would hear on her every walk home, and she had decided that it was a pleasant element in addition to the vanilla skies.
And oh, everything was gold. It was gold, even in the moment when the two-faced coin escaped her fingers to kiss the stone path, and her small feet started dancing to the coin's light, piercing steps down the slope away from her path home. The folds of her light skirt fluttered behind her running legs, and even then the coin wouldn't stop prancing away.
It was a golden chase under the orange skies, a chase that brought her to the streets where the evening songbirds dwell.
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Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:28 pm
Finally his feet caressed the soft blanket of green, as if he came from another land. now he arrived at Helena. Helena was a humble city of women, and that was the first thing he thought as he entered the ivory gates of the city. In his arrival, there was a beautiful flood of white angels dancing in the stone paved streets. The yellow lights illuminated the path as these fair angels started to smile as Aren walked by, leaving the dust in a completely speechless state. Their gazes were alluring and hypnotizing, and their charm mesmerized the young man.
He snapped back to reality as he heard low whispers from behind him, he looked back and saw two older and more mature women, probably in their mid-30's obviously talking about this new stranger in their city. Okay---so maybe laying down low wasn't the easiest thing to do here in this town.
He moved gracefully, and pulled his long gray jacket as it slid down a bit from his back. His footsteps tapped the stone when he walked, his eyes observing his surroundings, the earlier he could see who had gotten the new bottle, the sooner he could leave. Though for a few minutes, he was not having any luck at all. Since the sun was hidden, less people were actually out of their houses, the streets almost deserted and this made Aren sigh for the thousandth time that day.
The young man decided he would search more in the daytime. Now he tried to search for a place to sleep, outside, maybe because he had to be careful. The sky started to cover him in darkness, he navigated his way through the town but--- something caught his eye amid all this. Men? And TWO men at that. For some reason, this made Aren a bit more relieved.
The dust was about to leave but then one young lady, appeared before him, giving him a sweet smile. She was a young woman, a teenager, who had long straight yellow hair that reached the small of her back. She wore a white frilly modest dress that went up to her knees, and a golden necklace that was wrapped around her neck. The woman then touched Aren's sleeve suddenly and this made the boy recoil. He instinctively put his hand on the scarf on his face and protected it as if his life was on the line.
"Wh--what do you want, miss?"
Ohhh dear.
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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 9:20 pm
Krinn watched boredly as nightfall approached the streets of Helena. He had been boring himself with going over anything he had learned in the past few days about traveling, and had nibbled on the oversized bun until he had finished it off and licked the remaining chocolate from his fingers, seizing the moment to turn and question what Lan and his friend were doing. Currently, the young adult looked sheepish and put a hand behind his head to laugh as the lady brought out a deck of cards and smiled like a feline.
"Oooh, tarot cards." A girl said from behind him, and Krinn jumped, turning his shocked eyes to her. She sat back on her heels and smiled at him. A thirty year old with glasses and a skirt that made any boy drool. She looked like she had just come out of the cafe, a book tucked under her arm while she carried a small bag of treats with her other. "Looks like they're having fun. I've always wondered what the trick is with those fortune tellers." Krinn blinked and glanced back into the window. "Fortune tellers?" He asked, looking back at the woman. She just laughed heartely and ruffled his hair. "They tell your future, and things like that." She said. "Why dont you ask her when she comes out?" Krinn huffed and knitted his eyebrows in a small frown. "Dont worry, you'll get an answer sometime soon." The lady reassured before patting his shoulder and turning on her heel. "Dont stay out too late. Children arent safe in the dark alone anymore."
With that, she started to skip down the street humming. Krinn watched her go, thinking about the strange words she had told him. The world was growing more vast and mysterious with everything people had been telling him and teaching him. "Oh!" Krinn glanced up as the girl turned back and put a finger to her lips smiling. "And you might want to check around the corner of the cafe. I'm sure you'll find something interesting while your friends are chatting." Huh? Krinn blinked. How did she know Lan was his friend? What was she saying?
"Hey wait a sec - ah...." The girl had already left and Krinn sighed defeatedly, putting his hands on his hips. He puffed out his cheeks, wondering what she meant. She acted so confusing, with talking like that. Groaning moodily, Krinn turned on his heel and eyed the corner the lady had been talking about. Taking a step forward, he glanced back, making sure Lan wasnt watching before eyeing around the corner. Puffing his cheeks once more, the dust child put his hands on his hips then looked around, listening to the musical whistling tones of birds and such. Hearing a slight rustling nose and something press against his shoe for a moment, the boy looked down, then bent over to pick up a small coin that had run its course into his foot.
Picking it up, he watched it and let it reflect in his stormy two toned eyes before another sound caught up with him. Glancing up at the girl who had apparently chased the coin, he blinked and let his head fall to the side. Stretching out his arm with the coin in it, Krinn smiled a little, trying for a warm look though he was still severely bored and mad that Lan hadnt taken as short a time as he would have liked. "Is this yours?" he asked softly, his voice echoing throughout the rather empty corridors. Something had started to pulse in him again, the familiar urge to think that someone he somehow knew, or felt a relation to somehow was in the town. But he ignored it for the moment, wanting to know if the girl was going to take back her coin.
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Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:00 pm
Dashing down the slope, the girl can feel the wind roaring past her ears. The chorus of light, feminine chatters started burning throughout the air around her, and before she knew it the child had bursted into the liveliest streets of Helena.
In the midst of the crowd of the ivory nymphs, the small girl threaded through flowing tails of their dresses, her eyes never once left the golden coin that pranced through the sea of white. Her pale cheeks started flowing pink, rendering them a shade redder than the orange twilight. Her breath shallower by each step, the girl did not realize how strange it was to chase a single coin down this far a distance, even if the slope was indeed steep.
Though it wouldn't have mattered.
The girl never once thought of the coin as a still object. The coin was alive, like birds and like dragonflies --- only this time it decided to run away. And the girl's big stone gray eyes tagged after it intently, despite the growing numbness in her legs and the suffocating squeeze in her lungs...
The coin's run stopped short, and so did hers.
Legs weak and breaths heavy, she stared at the boy that had just picked up her coin. She blinked twice, tugging at the straps of her backpack. Naturally, she assumed that Krinn was a girl. Or, at least the notion of him being a boy never did meet her mind. It only occurred to her that something was strange... Very strange. The other child had smiled and offered her coin back, but she stood there, fingers tight around the straps that carried the weight of her textbooks, her dear rabbit doll that she decided to bring with her, and the unicorn's bottle that now sits inside the stuffed toy's abdomin. Her eyes were absorbant of the boy's features. Her still gaze pierced into Krinn's duo-coloured eyes, unsure of what her instincts were saying to her. But she knew that the other child was something else --- something along the lines of her unicorns, but not quite. She paused for a moment, as if waiting for the boy to turn into a young, slithering dragon; but nothing did happen, so she finally nodded her head and reached out her hand to receive the coin.
"Thank you," the quiet girl said in a quiet tone. Her breathing was calming down, and her eyes are now fixated onto the coin. Not wanting it to run away again, she caged it in between her palms and made it vanish... like birds, like dragonflies.
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Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 8:20 am
Aren was quite speechless at this time and his nervousness increasing at a rapid pace, he was not comfortable with this situation at all. In this foreign place, and with this odd woman.
"My...husband?" she said with a somewhat happy but unsure tone in her voice. "Is it really you?" she took a step forward to try and see the man closer in the dark.
"M--miss? I am sorry you must be mistaken, i'm not you're--" he stared at her large brown eyes. Why did it seem like the women here had some sort of power over him? And as fast as she appeared to him, she disappeared into the white flood in the darkness, she ran gracefully, not looking back.
After this out of the ordinary experience, the dust right now, was quite light headed. For a few minutes, he had forgotten what he was doing in that town. Helena was quite a new experience for him and was a place that made him feel like an alien--a feeling he hated. Trying to push these thoughts away he rubbed his hands together and started to walk again.
From the corner of his eye he could see two small silhouettes. Children? Though at this time of the day it was not safe for children to be out on the streets, he debated within himself if he should mind his own business or actually follow his instinct. because his instinct was telling him--no screaming at him to approach these two dark shadows along the corner. He heard soft whispers from that direction as the street lights illuminated the dark pavement.
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Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 8:59 pm
Krinn dipped his head politely, sensing that the girl wasnt as upbeat and outgoing as the people he was so used to being around back home. His gaze landed on her face for a moment. She didnt look much older then him, though he wasnt very old at all. "You're welcome." he said in return, his breath colliding with the cold air that was draped over them by invisible strings. It turned to fog and Krinn was suddenly reminded of the chill in the air. He watched her make the coin disappear, both amazed and odded out at the same time. He had seen people do many interesting things, and heard of even more, though a simple act like that had caught him off guard, if only for a moment.
He was about to say something more when a familiar tug bubbled in his pit, letting his eyes flitter away from the girl as he turned on his heel to look over towards where he was drawn towards. A stranger stood near the corner towards the main street of Helena, and suddenly the silence grew loud as though it were the only sound in the area. The spell was broken though when bells jingled and a couple walked out of the cafe, suddenly reminding him of Lan for a moment, and what he must have been doing. But his curiousity had peaked for a moment, and Krinn was too unnerved by the overwhelming curiousity - and something else - to talk to the stranger in the dark. Even after all of Lans preachings about how dangerous that was. "I'll be right back." he muttered to the strange girl, his breath forming in the air and disappearing just as quick.
Crossing the short distance that seperated them, Krinn put his hands on his hips and leaned forward, studying the covered figure. From his posture and what he could see, Krinn debated that he wasnt feeling that good. "Ne, are you alright?" He asked. There was no hesitation to talk in his voice. Just a soft hint of curiousity and interest. He hadnt forgotten the girl, but he wanted to know if the man was alright or not. He didnt look it. To say the least. He was covered from head to toe in cloth to say the least.
[[ wrote this really fast. D; hope its alright. ]]
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Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 11:07 pm
His pulse quickened in a short amount of time as he noticed the young boy coming closer. He sunk deeper into the darkness though it would not change anything because the child was already standing close to the dust. As nervous as he was, something inside made him feel excited, as if something was telling him something maybe------ no, it was too easy. This boy was just a normal child.
The boy asked him a question, a question that was so simple yet he could not answer it at the moment. He looked at the girl who was not far away from him and the boy, she stood there motionless, Aren wasn't sure if she was looking in their direction but he wanted to approach her.
Looking back at the new stranger he smiled underneath the dark scarf, ''You shouldn't be talking to strangers, little one.'' he said smoothly, as if he wasn't nervous, even if it was just the opposite.
The young boy's eyes shined in the dark, making it obvious that they were unique and different from any other person Aren had seen. Very peculiar.
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Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 12:23 am
The man was confusing.
It was the first consious thought that Krinn administered in his mind, and the dustchild didnt know whether or not that was a good thing. Puffing his cheeks out for a moment in the dark at the lack of answer from the other, the boy raised his arms infront of him as if defending himself from what the stranger had said. "I get that a lot." he said with a sheepish grin, having adopted some of his guardians attributes. The feeling he had gotten around certain others had become a normal thing for the dustchild, but for an odd reason, the boiling pit in his stomach was raging harder then ever and he had no idea why.
Glancing over at the girl, he wondered if she was going to speak at all. Then he glanced back over at the stranger, and for one moment, thought carefully about what to say next. He wasnt supposed to talk to strangers yet here he was making perfectly subtle talk with this odd man. Some part of Krinn wanted to blow off the hood and see what was under it, though he always restrained himself from wild thoughts like that.
"You didnt answer my question." He said suddenly, putting his hands on his hips. He assumed that the man was fine, but some part of him almost said that something was wrong. Krinn didnt usually care to listen to that small part though. Perhaps that was a wrong choice. "And anyways, you dont seem to act like the creepy men that Lan always talks about." He shrugged, inclining his head to inspect the other momentarily. "Though the cloak might give off an odd impression."
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Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 5:01 am
Elyse stood there, peeking from behind the child that she's just met. That boy --- though she did not notice the difference in gender --- was helping someone stand up from the stone floor. She blinked and stretched her neck to see past the boy, curious to see the face underneath the blob of fabric.
The girl wondered if she should walk up to them... There was something about these two that wasn't very lady-like.
Lips tightened, she decided to use her wit. Instead of walking over, she tiptoed over ---- very, very lightly. Yes, it did make a difference inside her little head. Tugging tight on the straps of her backpack, she balanced herself on the balls of her feet. And then she thought that she felt a pulse of --- she couldn't say. It was something warm, something exciting... Something like a clear summer sky. Sunlit butterflies fluttered in her silver hair as she ran as fast as she can without betraying the definition of tiptoeing.
She thought that something would have happened, but all she saw was Krinn and a blob of fabric.
The person was wrapped up in clothing, and the scarf shielded half a face from the eyes of others. Elyse decided that with all the secretive intents it must be a priestess, but priestesses don't really come out of the temples at dusk. It made things very strange. That said, she locked her gaze on Aren's dark eyes. And then the colour of his skin.
She found a unicorn.
Hurriedly Elyse came beside Krinn and in front of Aren, unloaded the black bunny doll from her schoolbag and undid the zipper on the stuff toy's back. Her small hands pulled out the bottle, now emitting a small sunset by itself, and held it up for the man to see. She was sure that the unicorn would recognize the bottle.
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Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 7:00 am
Aren was taken aback by the attitude of the boy, not in a bad way but it was actually made him smile from some reason. "I'm fine." he said kindly though what he said wasn't entirely true. He did not exactly feel like he was on top of the world right now, he felt tired and fatigued (though he learned to ignore those feelings) and his dust powers seemed to be drained when he was like this, hence his senses as a dust was weaker. He couldn't sense the dusts nearby. He wondered where in the world they could be.
"I'm not a creepy man, I can assure you that. And Lan? Your father?" he chuckled at the comment on his cloak. The young man agreed that he looked quite foreboding when he was dressed like this, but it was for the best.
The feathered dust looked at the approaching girl, he instinctively went deeper into the darkness, merging with the shadows as she came close. He knew he looked even more suspicious but even if the two were children, he could not blow his disguise. But... something about this girl made his tenseness disappear. She looked fragile, and had a quiet and beautiful aura around her. His expression turned soft as she rummaged through her small bag apparently trying to show him something important.
It was like his gray eyes suddenly glowed in the dark as his gaze rested on the glowing bottle. The light inside swirled and danced, the colors joining together to form a spectacular show of light. That was when he finally snapped out of his slump. The item the young girl was presenting was a dust bottle and... he turned his attention to the boy he had spoken to earlier... and this boy was a dust child. He first moved a little closer to the girl slowly, not wanting to startle her. "What's your name? And you as well?" he also turned to the boy as he spoke. "I have something important to tell you both."
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:38 am
Ah, the unicorn recognizes the bottle!
A tint of heat rushed up her face and poured into her ears. Her heart beat faster now, and she could hear it in her like the pulse of the world. Her eyes grew wide for a moment, then a smile spread across her tender face like a ripple over the glass surface of a lotus pond. The little girl could feel the tightness up her throat, and she wanted to speak and answer the question of the marble-skinned man. At once she crouched closer to the man, her knees settling soft on the hard floor, and sat herself upon her pair of neatly bent legs like a good little girl should.
"My name is Elyse," with a quiet voice she said. She rested the bottle on her lap, fingers wrapping around the curves of the glass and the glowing light. She met Aren's eyes, more appreciating than seeking what's behind them. Her expression is serious now --- well, as serious as a little girl could make it, as she prepared herself for her unicorn's next words.
What would it be?
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