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 Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:17 am
She was alone. And from the expression on her fair face and the way she blew the dark strands out of her eyes, she was also very, very bored.
Drifting to the window, she peered outside. A few trees had already begun to blossom, and the streaks of sunlight that whispered through the branches were unusually warm for early spring.
Seized by a sudden desire to be outside, Taka threw on her sandals and slipped out the door. Sarielle had told her not to leave...unfinished chores beckoned her back inside. Lips pouty, Taka threw up her head and stepped off the wide porch.
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Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:23 am
...only to see Rand and Owle, hand in hand, walking up the path toward it. Taka might not recognize Owle at first; the woman's appearance had changed drastically. Her once auburn hair was now a bright blue, and shoulders that had once been human now held rough, overlapping brown scales. As did Owle's feet, the toes of which now had blunt claws protruding from them. The shifter wasn't wearing shoes; it was difficult to fit into any now that this change had taken place, and the scales on the soles of her feet protected her well enough.
For the most part, though, her arms (she had two of them now, as though there had never been one missing), her hands, her face remained normal. If her eyes were lighter than Taka had seen them last, no other change had taken place there.
Owle hadn't remembered the place; Flare had needed to tell her where it was, and what to expect to find there. But seeing Taka, Owle remembered...a feeling of shame. Where had that come from?
She lifted her hand in a wave, as Rand broke away from her and darted towards Taka, smiling and laughing.
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Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:31 am
Taka blinked. People? Nobody came out here accidentally - it was way to far out in podunk for that.
A flash of white that was a child streaked toward her. Turning steelblue eyes to him, she recognized her fellow Herald: this was Rand, Owle's child.
Turning that same implacable gaze to the adult, the slightest of frowns creased her creamy brow. Yes, it was Rand allright; but that wasn't Owle.
Rand drew an absent smile from her as he drew even closer, but her attention still remained on this older woman. Sarielle had accepted Owle...but Taka doubted she'd like this other intrusion. After all, she hadn't been too fond of Owle's other acquaintence, Azruael, had she?
"Can I help you?" Taka called from a distance, feeling a bit at a loss for how to handle this. For the first time in a long time, she actually wished Sarielle was there.
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Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:41 am
"Hello!" Rand exclaimed, bouncing up to Taka and waving both hands enthusiastically. It had been a while since he'd gotten to see a new place; Mom had left in the Firebrand for a long time, saying it was dangerous to go outside. He went outside, anyway, but Verde and those dwarves kept stopping him.
"Yes," Owle said. She didn't approach much further. "Is Sarielle here? I...I need a safe place, for Rand to stay for a while."
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Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:51 am
Taka shook her head, drawing a few paces closer in spite of herself. Then inwardly she winced; maybe she shouldn't have admitted to being alone? She had to admit, while she hadn't had quite the violent reaction to Azruael that her guardian had, there was definitely something a bit...dark about him.
Ah well, the damage was already done. "No, she's not." Pausing only briefly, she tacked a blatant lie on the end. "She could be back any minute, though." Sarielle would be gone all day, but this strange woman didn't need to know that.
Then Taka looked at her face - really looked at her - and there was definitely something familiar there. Owle's sister, perhaps? The resemblance was uncanny.
"I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you left him here with me, though," the Herald continued, feeling slightly more at ease. This woman had to at least be a relative. Why Owle couldn't have had a serial killer sister the teen never paused to consider.
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Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:56 am
Rand was perfectly happy to go wander about examining the garden when Taka and Owle proved too boring for his liking.
"Oh..." Owle said. "Are...you sure? I wanted to make sure she was okay with it...see...I'm not sure how long I'll need to leave him." She glanced at Rand, making sure he was out of earshot. "Something really bad is happening, and I might not come back from it. In about seven days, something is going to get set loose upon the world, and whether it ends up being demons or angels, nothing good can come of it."
Did it occur to her that she sounded crazy? No. She knew the truth of what she was saying, and she had known stranger things than this.
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Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:06 am
White-haired Rand wandered out of sight, happily poking amongst Sarielle's many flowers and herb bushes. Taka didn't even notice at this point.
"Something really bad..." she repeated the words mechanically, her expression unreadable, as usual. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?"
Taka endeavored to remain normal in the face of this woman's obviously disturbed rantings. She'd heard somewhere that if you remained calm you were less likely to be attacked.
It wasn't that she, of all people, didn't believe in demons and angels - hardly. But comeon. Doomsday prophesies?
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Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:08 am
Owle blinked, puzzled. "You don't remember? My name's Owle."
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Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:26 am
For a long, awkward moment, Taka only blinked again. She really didn't have a response to that. She knew she wasn't losing her mind. Clearly Owle's sister had to be. She hadn't mentioned a sibling, true; but in this case, the blue-eyed teen honestly couldn't blame her.
"Oh, um...yes, of course, I...think I need glasses. Sarielle keeps trying to get me to make an appointment."
It was a lame lie, not up to her usual standards. But while she'd anticipated many responses, THAT was certainly not one of them. She never did well totally unprepared, Taka thought a bit crossly.
Recovering her usual icy poise, her mind raced ahead at a mile a minute. Chances were good Owle had no idea her sister had Rand. Owle seemed quite fond of him, after all; and she'd been very concerned for his wellbeing when she'd brought the boy to Sari for treatment.
Okay. That means I need to get this loon to leave him with me. And leave herself.
Taka shot the woman another lightning, deer-in-the-headlights glance.
Yeah, definitely also to leave herself. Besides, Rand's a sweet kid...
"I'm positive she won't mind," Taka said, speaking slowly and clearly and with exaggerated care. "She loves kids."
That's the biggest one I've told in awhile, she thought cynically; but again she did it without remorse.
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Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:23 pm
Owle wondered what the hell was wrong with Taka. What had happened between them? That feeling of shame...gods, what had she done to deserve it?
"I'm...glad to hear that," Owle said slowly. "But I'd really like to talk to her, first. I can't...I have to be sure she'll take care of him for me."
"You said she'd be back any minute, right? I can wait here a while."
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Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 2:13 pm
Damn damn damn damn DAMN! What now?
Owle's sister had clearly noticed something was wrong with her.
"Uhh..." Taka groped. "Yeah, she might be back soon," Taka conceded, seizing on an escape, "but it could also be awhile. I'd hate for you to maybe wait hours."
Her erratic behavior was not likely to inspire confidence in "Owle's sister," nor to inspire her to leave Rand with just Taka.
Invite her inside, or not? What if she came in and then wouldn't leave??!
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Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 2:31 pm
Owle glanced around. She was clearly making Taka uncomfortable, whatever had happened between them. The girl seemed to be going crazier the longer Owle was around.
"Well...I'll wait a few minutes, then leave Rand here with you, if that's alright," Owle said slowly. "Then I'll come back again in the evening to see if Sarielle's here, and make sure she's alright with watching Rand. Does that sound alright to you?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 4:27 pm
"Alright. Um...do you want to wait inside?" She had to ask. Owle's sister had really left her no other choice; there was that spark of pride that refused to let this other woman think she had bad manners.
She looked around for the child, and found him amongst some of the more potent of Sarielle's plants.
"Hey, don't eat those Rand," she called to him. Taka herself didn't know what they were for, but she knew it probably wasn't a good idea for him to ingest them, anyway.
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Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 4:39 pm
"It's alright," Owle said, feeling guilty over whatever it was she wasn't recalling. "I've troubled you enough."
Rand wasn't eating them. He was busy digging them up, wanting to see what they looked like underneath all that dirt. His hands and shirt were already delightfully muddy.
"I won't!" he called back. "Promise!"
The shout made her look over at what Rand was doing. "Rand!" Owle shouted. "Don't do that, you'll kill Miss Sarielle's plants!"
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Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 4:55 pm
Taka rushed over, but too late; the plants were already well on their way to being unearthed. She had a flash of herself as a child, doing much the same thing.
No, Sarielle hadn't been happy.
"It's okay, don't worry about it." Gingerly squatting beside him - she'd lost her penchant for grime as she got older - she smoothed the dirt back over the roots with slim ivory fingers. "I got pretty good at this after digging up a few myself when I was little." She winked at the small child beside her.
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