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 Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 2:05 pm
Guinevere emerged from the pool and flapped her wings dry, something that was somewhat dangerous considering the sharp blades poking out from the white feathers. It was summer, and, worse still, it was a heat wave. Guinevere's house had no basement or air conditioning, which left her two options: sweat in front of a fan while consuming large amounts of ice cream, or go to the local pool. Preferring to stretch her legs over suffering in silence, Guinevere had biked to Durem to check out their Recreation Center. It was early in the morning, so the pool wasn't too crowded yet and Guinevere felt safe, but when the afternoon rolled around, she supposed she'd have to go home. She didn't feel safe in crowds, even smaller ones. Scissor wings would do that to a person, she supposed, and she grabbed for her goggles before sinking back into the water. She'd worry about crowds later, for now she just wanted to cool herself off.
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 8:57 am
It was hot and with warm weather came sweat, tears and incredibly foul tempers. Or at least, this was the general concensus in Adelle's household. The only individual who had seemed remotely capable of handling the heat had been Ayr and he had struggled to find a method of cooling both mother and son down. In the end, he had dismissed himself to go and buy what he considered to be 'industrial fans' and after a number of hours he had failed to return. Obviously, these particular fans were rather rare or difficult to find - or as Adelle thought sourly, he didn't want to come within one hundred feet of herself and Ayegali due to their horrendous tempers.
Up until this point the household had been running swimmingly. Adelle's theory that freezing Ayegali's wings would prevent them from "leaking" appeared to work reasonably well. Ever since they had started to freeze the liquid wings they had solidified in a manner which was much more comfortable for the Herald. That being said, Adelle was rather puzzled by how long it took the ice to melt, it was as if his wings possessed some way of absorbing and preserving the subzero nitrogen gases for an unusually long time.
...She was getting used to the oddities that seemed to follow her son more closely than a shadow.
Alas, the extreme heat was causing problems even for his wings this afternoon and, having dodged countless pools of seawater on the floors of her home, she had opted to take matters into her own hands. Tossing her swimwear and her son's into a bag, she had marched towards her car and had unceremoniously transported both herself and her child to the only place that would provide some form of salvation.
The pool.
Unfortunately, she discovered it was just as warm here as it was at home and both Ayegali and herself had exchanged rather sour looks. Perhaps she should just invest in a walk-in freezer, it may prove to be of greater use to her. Nevertheless, as she had finally taken a seat at the edge of the pool, fully prepared to accept that she was just going to have to deal with a disgruntled household, she watched in interest as the Herald peered thoughtfully at the water and then unceremoniously belly flopped in.
s**t - could he swim?
With a small squeak of horror the woman leapt to her feet and just as she was about to move towards the pool she saw the familiar mess of floppy black hair atop her son's head. Unsurprisingly she heaved a sigh of relief at this and sat back down again, but not before she had caught sight of the familiar sheen of oil still outlining his wings, though they seemed to be camoflauged considerably by the pool water. Had it not been for the feathers along the top, no one would ever have known they existed.
"Don't tell me they give him bouyancy," she murmured incrediously, though rather than investigate this further she merely growned and sat back. Well, at least if his wings started leaking in the pool it wouldn't seem unusual at all. Now if the temperature could just plummet, she'd bet good money that her son would have been in a delightful mood.
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Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 12:24 am
What a pale, awkward teenager with no lifeguarding experience could do to save a swimmer's life was questionable. Nevertheless, when Guinevere saw the woman leap up so suddenly, she couldn't help but respond with a similar squeak and whip her head around in search of the trouble, asking "What's wrong, what's wrong?"
Apparently, nothing. She, the woman, and her little boy were the only ones at the pool, and he seemed to be getting along just fine in the water. For a moment, something about him caught her eye, and she squinted at him owlishly, but through her wet goggles, she couldn't see his wings in the water at all. Shrugging, Guinevere looked back at the woman and frowned worriedly.
"Is everything okay? Did you get hurt or something?"
Guinevere was about as good at first aid as you could expect a girl with wings made of scissor blades to be: rubbish when it came to scrapes, bruises, and broken bones, but expert at speed-of-light band-aid applications and cut disinfecting.
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Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 11:43 am
"Is everything okay? Did you get hurt or something...?"
Adelle whipped her head around to meet the gaze of the young girl, initially failing to recognise that she was yet another Herald. Initial shock over, she was rapidly regathering her composure over the potential 'drowning' of her son. Truth be told, she was going to have to seriously work on this motherhood thing as she hadn't even considered that he might not know how to swim at all. She made a mental note and filed this away for use at a later date - for all she knew, she could be foolish and accidentally assume he could cook when he hadn't been near a cooker in his life. Then what would people say about her parenting skills?
She knew she sucked, but that was beside the point.
"What?" she responded initially, her voice a mere croak. It was a couple of seconds later that the words made more sense to her and she quickly shook her head, a small smile flickering on to her lips. Suffice to say, it was a bit of a sheepish one but at least she was able to reply in a much more suitable manner than before. "Oh! I wouldn't worry about anything," she lifted a hand to rake it through her hair and quickly shot a glance towards her son, taking careful note of what he was up to - luckily, he was still distracted by the water itself and how it appeared to compliment his unusual wings.
"Everything is fine, no one's hurt though I'm sure I gave you a bit of a... well, I'm sure I gave you a bit of a start," she confessed and shook her head. It was only then that her eyes fixed on the wings and her lips parted just a touch. A silent 'o' formed upon them, growing just a touch more as she took note of the blades.
"Don't those rust?" she asked curiously. There was probably a more appropriate way to approach revelation that she'd met another herald. However, when it came to social encounters Adelle had long since recognised that they were not, and never would be, her forte.
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Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:42 pm
Guinevere looked relieved. "Oh, don't worry about it! I have bandaids nearby if you needed any, but you know, it's always good when people don't." She laughed a little awkwardly and glanced in the direction that Adelle was looking. "Is he yours?" she asked brightly. Something was nagging at the back of her mind, something familiar, but she couldn't place it. She was sure it didn't matter, anyway, so she shook her head.
At Adelle's question, she blinked, and then said "Oh!" when she realized what the older woman was talking about. "I don't think so, they never have before." She sort of suspected that it was because they were a part of her wings- they might as well be living tissue that happened to be made of metal. "The ribbons don't fall off either, and that sort of defeats the law of gravity." Shrugging, she said, "Maybe I should try to rust them to see if they do. I study this kind of thing, actually, but I've never really examined my own wings thoroughly."
She gasped, and then added, "But I'm forgetting my manners! My name is Guinevere, it's nice to meet you!"
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 6:54 am
The scientist in Adelle couldn't help but muse of Guinevere's responses. Her hand lifted and she cupped her chin in her fingertips, pursing her lips as she observed the wings. She could deduce from this that Guinevere was very much like Ayegali then. If her wings carried unique properties and seemed to defy what science should dictate then she was extraordinary - at one point Adelle would have been surprised by this, but she seemed to be adapting very quickly. If Ayegali could maintain 'wings' from water then who was she to judge if the metal in the girl's wings didn't rust or tarnish?
"Perhaps you shouldn't, there would be a risk they'd affect your flight," she murmured softly before shaking her head. Forget Guin's manners, where were her manners, she was meant to be the adult here! "Name's Adelle and the kid over there is Ayegali," she hesitated briefly before smiling sheepishly. Deep down she still wasn't fully accustomed to being any sort of mother...
"You could say he's mine," she offered at last, flicking her gaze to the right to regard the boy. Unsurprisingly, he seemed to have more than just an affinity. Now that he didn't appear to be capable of 'sinking' he was literally gaining his water wings by attempting to swim. It was in these moments that the translucent wings would most likely flicker and shimmer depending on how the light hit the oils on the surface.
"He's a little like you," she explained. Her nose wrinkled briefly as she recalled her first encounter with a Herald, Ayegali was very different to the pristine 'white' herald she had met. She was still unsure as to why this was, but according to Ayr's explanation of what a Herald was, she would have made a guess in assuming that he had been a spirit with forboding or unpleasant news - not the most pleasant of duties to have been granted.
"He's a Herald, or so I've gathered anyway. He just seems to...defy convention," she mused softly. It was a veiled reference to how different he looked but that wasn't his fault, he couldn't hardly be blamed for that.
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Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 12:16 pm
Guinevere shrugged, as if learning how things worked was more important to her than having two fully functioning wings. THe alarming thing was that it probably was. Guinevere was naturally inquisitive, and to her, being inconvenienced but discovering something new was more pleasant than sitting around and wondering for the rest of the month. "There are ways to get rid of rust," she said offhandedly. "It wouldn't be the end of the world."
"Nice to meet you," she said earnestly, addressing both Ayegali (who didn't seem to be listening anyway) and Adelle. However, at Adelle's confession, Guinevere's eyes widened, and she looked sharply back at Ayegali. After a moment of scrutinizing him, she said, "Oh, yes, I see the wings now. What's his sacrifice?"
As for Adelle's comments, she seemed to misconstrue them. "Oh, don't worry about it," she reassured Adelle. "When I became a child, my hair turned black too, and I have a few friends whose eyes turned red. It's just a part of growing up for a Herald, but yes, I suppose we are a little strange." Apparently she hadn't seen the exact shape his water wings took against the background of the pool water. She was under the impression that he was already a child instead of a messenger reborn.
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Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 7:25 am
She made a fair point and Adelle could appreciate her position. As an individual who had no qualms at getting her hands dirty when it came to research, she would have been similar in her approach. Guin also had a valid point in the sense that rust could be removed, it might take time but it could still be done. Despite herself, Adelle found a smile creeping onto her lips and she placed her hands on her hips as she regarded the Herald. Honest, inquisitive and intelligent - the Herald possessed quite a few admirable qualities.
Adelle would bet money on that girl going far!
Nevertheless she did hesitate as she was asked about 'sacrifices', this was another point that Ayr had discussed with her extensively. He'd had to explain the entire concept and after that both had been forced to consider what exactly she had provided (willing or not). There were no ideal words to describe how horrified Adelle had been to discover that the child had been subject to tainted sea water, she'd been overwhelmed by more than just guilt. It had never been her intention to cause harm but Ayr had advised her to wait and see how things turned out - after all, apparently Heralds had a way of working with whatever sacrifice they were subject to.
...Ayegali seemed to use the oil in his wings as some type of sealant.
"Sea water," she said finally and cleared her throat. "At least that's what his tutor and I have taken to be accurate. When he appeared I left him unintended for a brief time and returned to find both him and my samples missing," she explained and rolled her shoulders loosely. She sighed briefly before continuing, "Given that his wings seem to be water based I can only surmise that this was his sacrifice."
"But..." she hesitated again and shook her head. "He's not a child," she explained softly and furrowed her brow, "Least, he seems too small to be a child to me but this Herald stuff is all new to me. I'm learning it as I go along and most of it is a guessing game," she had the decency to look sheepish and blushed a little. "There's a reason I never intended to me a parent," she joked softly.
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Posted: Wed Sep 15, 2010 7:55 am
Guinevere looked excited. "I've never met a Herald whose sacrifice was sea water, that's fascinating! Does he have trouble in the winter? Do they freeze? What about clothing, how's that going for him? I have to make my own," she explained offhandedly, flapping her bladed wings. It was hard to find cute clothes that could hold up to scissor wings, even on Gaia, where having wings just meant you went to specialty shirt stores.
he next piece of news made Guinevere's eyes widen like saucers. "Do you know why? Can you call him over here so I can take a look?"
As for her next confession, Guinevere was half-lost in speculation about Ayegali's age, but nodded slightly. "Not many guardians are used to taking care of Heralds. You're good at answering questions about him though, so I think you can't be totally unprepared."
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Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 3:18 am
"He prefers it when they freeze," she replied gently and shook her head. "He frequently gets upset when they damage his clothes, the solution was to flash freeze them to hold their shape before they could do lasting damage," she explained. She had already exhausted her supply of nitrogen in the process and was in the process of persuading work that she required more, while attempting to persuade Ayr that she may need his help too. At present her son's tutor was too preoccupied with designing some clothing for her son so that he didn't ruin the material. Afterall, he couldn't wear plastic all his life and be content with it, nor was Adelle completely comfortable with her new son undergoing flash freezing on a regular basis.
Why?
Well it had to hurt!
"At the moment his tutor is in the process of developing a line of clothing he can wear. Synthesizing various materials to see which best reflects the water and still looks luxurious," she explained politely. Ayr had already corrupted Ayegali, he already had very expensive tastes and very high expectations. However, whenever Guin requested that she meet Ayegali directly Adelle couldn't really refuse and gave a small nod. Clearing her throat, she gave a whistle until she got the Herald's attention (he didn't like to be startled) and beckoned him over.
"Li, this girl would like to meet you," she explained just to further support that she didn't believe he was a dog. Unsurprisingly he regarded her for a few moments before clambering out of the pool and towards the pair. His wings became more apparent at this point, no longer surrounded my water the liquid was much more obvious suspended above the ground. Unfortunately no amount of flash freezing would protect them in this heat and rather than holding an 'ideal' shape, occasional droplets of water did escape from the oily sealant and cascade onto the floor. Such was the weight of the water within that these particular wings did seem a touch jagged and warped at present, but the oily sealant was doing it's job as admirably as one could in the given circumstances.
He came to a halt soon enough and turned his head up towards the older herald curiously. Scarlet eyes fixed on her and he pursed his lips for a brief while, it was here that he took note of her jagged wings and did wonder why she was near water - wouldn't they rust?
"Hello," he replied simply. Sometimes it was politer not to ask these things, Ayr had told him that.
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Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 11:51 am
Guinevere nodded. "I have a few wardrobe problems, myself," she admitted, flexing her bladed wings. "What about raincoat material? Some of those look like normal fabric but are still quite waterproof. I'm afraid I'm not much of a textiles expert, though. The freezing is a clever idea, but it looks like it doesn't hold up well in this heat. How does it feel for him?" Guinevere had often thought about trying to dull her wing blades, but she couldn't do it on her own, and she was desperately afraid that it would be painful.
She waved to Ayegali as she came over and held out a hand. "My name is Guinevere, Ayegali, it's nice to meet you." Looking him over, she saw that Adelle was right- He looked too young to be anything but a messenger reborn. "Ayegali, can you tell me the earliest thing you remember?" she asked eagerly.
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Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 2:50 pm
He knew when someone was talking about him, they looked at him in a certain way and any child would be capable of spotting this. He managed to catch the butt end of the conversation as well and pursed his lips briefly. While a part of the little Herald would be comfortable for his adoptive mother to respond, he didn't like to feel as though he was invisible... there was something not right about it, it upset him and made him rather glum.
"Too stiff," he explained patiently in reference to the waterproof fabric. His tutor had toyed with this idea to begin with, but the limitations of the treatment on the fabric made it rather uncomfortable and stiff. It had been immediately rejected, no thorough testing required in that respect! "Feels strange as well," he added as an after thought. If the material was too stiff, it had been thoroughly amusing for Ayr to watch as the little boy wrinkled his nose in distaste at the 'waxy' nature of the fabric.
...He was a rather fussy soul indeed.
Nevertheless when she asked about how it 'felt', Adelle honestly couldn't answer and she could only glance at Ayegali in the hope he could express himself. Due to his stutter the young herald preferred to speak in very short, curt sentences. While he could place his thoughts to paper exceptionally well, he occasionally found it difficult to express himself verbally. If he couldn't pronounce particular words there were moments when he couldn't get the point across.
"Sometimes it hurts," he confirmed and then held up his hand, indicating with his thumb and forefinger as to just how much. "Tiny bit, but very quick and it goes away," he explained. He was matter-of-fact in this, sensing the practicality of flash freezing and how beneficial it was... when it wasn't a searing heat outdoors. Perhaps in adulthood he would live in a freezer!
However, he was given considerable pause for thought at her final question.
...His earliest memory?
His nose wrinkled, his brows creased in thought and he wracked his mind for the answer. Unfortunately his memories were decidedly skewed and he could only think of one thing. He suspected this was the 'honest' answer, even if it wasn't the most detailed of replies.
"A storm," he replied softly and then pointed at Adelle, his brow lifting almost comically. "Her face," he added. It certainly wasn't designed to be an insult but Adelle's expression was decidedly bemused as he expressed his memory in a less than eloquent manner. If anyone else had said that to her, she would have thought they were kicking her below the belt!
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 10:35 pm
"A storm?" Guinevere asked, and realization dawned on her features. "Oh, I see. From the breaking of the Sanctum, it must be. Nothing else could produce such an irregular Herald." Turning to Adelle, she pursed her lips and said, "He's really quite something. He remembers a storm, I think that must be from that one time the Sanctum was in danger, I wasn't around for it but of course I felt it and I've heard of it. You see, it's like the Sanctum created him when it was broken so he's... different. Not half formed, exactly, or even mutated, but just fundamentally altered. A very special young man."
Looking back to Ayegali, she noted, "You seem practical. I had never thought about fixing my wings or my clothing at your age, you're really very clever. Have you noticed your powers starting to develop at all? Your sacrifice is sea water, but of course, you're different from a normal Herald so who knows how it'll affect your powers, if you have them at all, I mean..."
She paused. "I'm rambling. I'm sorry, I lose myself when I talk about Heralds." She flashed them both an apologetic smile.
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 4:50 am
Adelle was both confused and intrigued by the explanation the Herald provided her with. Evidently she had selected a rather unusual time to move to this particular reason. She hadn't gotten what she bargained for either, resulting in her adopting a child and having to become a more permanent fixture - not something she was accustomed to for sure. However, now that the Herald had piqued her interest she couldn't help but puzzle over it a little more and there was no doubt that she was going to require further information.
"No no, it's quite all right to ramble," Adelle murmured as she sat down by the pool and dipped her feet into the water. "But you said this sanctum was in trouble, right?" she paused briefly and bit her lower lip gently. "From what? You'll have to excuse my naivity but it must have been something rather large if it produced a Herald that didn't necessarily confirm to the usual standards," she continued.
That being said, she hoped Li wouldn't be the only 'oddity' about.
Still as she dwelled on these facts Li turned his attention to Guin again and seemed to slowly shake his head. He hadn't noticed any powers, at least he didn't think he had. He couldn't do anything like the super heroes in the movies or the fantasy books so he was fairly certain the most he possessed were very wet and droopy wings.
"What powers?" he asked in confusion.
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