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 Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 11:13 am
“I’m Queen of the Sea!” Arms open and one boot propped up to the lower rail on the bow of the boat she rode, Tanarah’s whooping declaration caught in the ocean winds and was swept out with them. Her hair, newly cut, blew wild with the tossing, salty gusts, and her grin was broad.
Having both chosen their classes and clans, Tanarah and her sister were finally on their way to meet with the dovaa leader, Lord Ysaride, in the sanctuary of the dovaa people. It was the first occasion that either of them had left the sandy desert shores of Eowyn, and certainly the first that they’d ever experienced travel by ship. Their father, Lithian, and their adoptive aunt, Araceli, supervised the trip, and had decided that — though both could have taken on their true forms and had her and her sister ride dragon-back — it was worth it to give them the chance to experience a trip over the open seas the more traditional way.
Tanarah, for her part, was thrilled. It would take longer, certainly — a point which didn’t please their other father, Casseth, who remained behind due to his obvious hybrid blood — but to ride a ship, to watch it cut through the great depths and see the sails billow and fill and the crew bustle about: that was adventure and worth the time spent.
“Talllaaa!” She leaned forward, craning her neck over the railing to peer into the deep below. “Auntie Ara, when was the first time you saw the sea like this?”
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 11:23 am
Talanah, though reluctant at first about traveling by boat, was thrilled as she joined her sister at the railing and leaned over to glance down into the water. Her nerves had gotten the best of her the night before and she had barely slept — what with all the thoughts of what could go wrong running through her head. The moment they had set sail, though, her fears washed away with the wind that blew through her hair. She laughed now, smile wide on her face as she turned towards their aunt and awaited an answer to the question Tana had asked.
“Hmm. It’s been so long ago. I traveled lots with my parents. They were healers and made frequent trips to Serenia. I went with them a few times. I was younger than the two of you.” Ara glanced out over the ocean, many memories flooding her thoughts. Travel seemed to be a big part of her life — from one continent to the next — and though their true forms would have gotten them there quicker, nothing beat the experience of a boat ride. Everyone should experience it at least once in their lifetime. Though there were those that did not find it as enjoyable as she did. “Are you girls having fun?”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 12:40 pm
“Absolutely,” Tana said, grinning. “I want a ship of my own one day…that way, even before I have my dragon form, I could go anywhere I wanted…”
“Mm.” Lithian looked a touch less enthused about the concept than she was. “Ships are lovely, but…they’re certainly not for little girls—”
“I’m not little.”
“It would have to be when you were a good bit older yet.”
“Well, sure,” Tana huffed. “Obviously when I’m older. I don’t have the coin to buy one yet…or the knowledge to build one…” Tanarah trailed off, lost in thought for a moment and wondering what it would take to learn to build one. Perhaps their papa even could, if learned the methods. That, though, was a thought for another time.
Instead, Lithian turned the conversation to his first sea travel — which had been on this very route, but in that case, from the Celestial Plane out to Eowyn — and with Aunt Araceli, besides. It was a calm, peaceful trip, free of storms, and they made good time across the ocean. When the arrived, the guards that met with them gave them no trouble, and they were through.
The Celestial Plane was beautiful.
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 12:46 pm
Talanah’s eyes widened as they made their way into the Celestial Plane. The images inside the books she’d read didn’t do the place justice. Not by a long shot. She imagined there was no possible way to appropriately convey the beauty of such a place. It was so different from their desert home — and even from high up in the Terra Expanse. It was almost as if it was…perfect. Tala glanced back to her father and adoptive aunt. “You guys used to live here? Why did you even leave?”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 1:02 pm
Lithian chuckled, smiling down at his daughter and running a hand over her hair before kissing the top of her forehead. “Well, when it’s all you know for eleven years or more…sometimes you wonder what’s out there beyond it. I did, and I am very glad that I did…” He looked up and about, blue eyes sweeping over the scene that was his homeland. “It is beautiful…” he said. “But it is here still, and I can come to see it. Sometimes, some things are more important than just a beautiful place to be. If I had never left, you know I never would have met your father…or your uncle, for that matter. There are so many things to see, once you step outside of the lands you knew as a child…”
Newly arrived, their first step was to pay a visit to Araceli’s parents, who were anticipating them and their grand-nieces. Lithian’s father, having received word of their planned trip, came over also to spend some time with his granddaughters. The four of them, after dinner and a tour of the Plane, eventually spent the night there in anticipation of their meeting with Lord Ysaride the next morning. Tanarah could barely breathe, let alone sleep for all her excitement. The bed, though, called, and at long last, she must have fallen to slumber, because a moment later, she was awake again, rolling out of bed almost before she was fully conscious and scurrying into her clothes.
They could not have made it to the great fortress fast enough, and all the way, Tanarah felt as though she were bouncing on her feet. Then, it came into view, and for a moment, she could only hold her breath, pulse wild against her chest as her eyes climbed up, up, up the great walls and archways of it.
“Abronaxus,” she murmured. “Can you imagine climbing that wall?”
“Tana,” Lithian scolded, looking halfway as worried as he might if she actually did it. “Don’t even tease.”
Tanarah held her tongue, but still, her eyes sparked at the thought, and gods, could she only imagine.
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 1:24 pm
Araceli laughed and nodded. “There is so much to see out there in the world. I wanted to explore. Though, for a long time, my real home remained on the Celestial Plane. It wasn’t until after I met your uncle Detra that I decided to move permanently. The Celestial Plane is lovely I am very glad I did not remain here, like your father.”
Tala blinked, a small frown forming on her lips. Had her daddy not left the Celestial Plane, she wouldn’t have had the family she does. Sure, she would have still been born but who knew what would have happened after that had her papa and daddy not been there. She shoved those thoughts away as they headed to Araceli’s parent’s house. Time flew by as they visited with everyone and before she knew it, Tala was crawling into bed and out just as soon as her head hit the pillow.
The next morning she awoke, much slower than Tana. She was excited but also nervous. This caused her to move with some hesitation as she followed after her sister. She stuck closer to her father as they traveled through the city, eyes taking in every little detail they could. It wasn’t long before they arrived at the fortress — Lord Ysaride’s home — and she found her eyes trailing up the large wall that surrounded it. Her sister’s idea intrigued her but at her father’s words, she didn’t say anything about it.
They made their way into the fortress, relinquishing any weapons they carried. Tala had known this would happen and, though sad to let it go, she readily handed over her staff, knowing that it would be returned to her once they left Ysaride’s place. Their aunt and father guided them through the fortress and, had she been left to her own devices, Tala was sure that she would have gotten lost inside the large structure. After some walking, they finally arrived at a set of large, wooden doors. Tala turned to face her father, her nerves bunching at what laid behind the doors. “What’s Lord Ysaride like?”
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 1:40 pm
“He’s very attractive,” Lithian said. Then, realizing his company, he cleared his throat. “He’s a very powerful man, but kind for all his status. You’ve nothing to be concerned about, I promise you that.”
Tana squinted. Attractive was the word their father chose? She was still partly disgruntled after being separated from her weapons. They were hers and she didn’t want them just hanging about in someone else’s hands. But then, that was in the past and here they were, and before she could voice anything, they were being asked their names and identification. Then, their father stepped back and away, and she and her sister were ushered in.
Tanarah’s eyes darted about the room as though playing a hop-skip game — one thing to the next and the next — it was so large she felt she couldn’t possibly see it all at once. A voice pulled her from her thoughts, deep and powerful, but with a gentler undertone that reminded her, in a very subtle sliver of a way, of her father.
“More Bhardvaris children…” the man, surely Lord Ysaride himself, said. “Or, ‘Fedele’ now, isn’t it?” His eyes, a deep ocean blue, moved over them, and Tanarah felt — no matter how ridiculous the thought — that he could see through to her soul in that look. She stood a fraction straighter and felt the air around her prickle and warm with her magic. “I admit…I did not expect to see children come from your father.”
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 1:52 pm
The moment Tala felt her sister’s magic spark to life, her own began building. She did her best to tamp it down, not wanting to accidently shock Lord Ysaride. When he spoke, Tala felt her shoulders straighten a bit and her chin tilted up. “We’re Fedeles,” Tala said as she side glanced towards her sister. And despite her initial nerves, she found herself continuing to talk. “We’re honored to be able to come to you to turn our orbs in, sir.”
With that said, she turned back to her sister and nodded towards where Ysaride was standing. “Together?” The thought of approaching him on her own was enough to make her falter again. At least here, she was with her sister and there was nothing stopping them from turning their orbs in at the same time. So long as her sister was fine with it and Ysaride didn’t stop them from doing so.
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 2:24 pm
Tanarah flashed a grin. “Together.”
And so they went.
Tanarah presented two of her kiandri orbs, since she had the most of those and enjoyed a balance, overall. “I did earn them myself,” she added as she set them on the great desk before the dovaa leader. It only came as a passing thought, but one that had bothered her before: some, she had heard, purchased their orbs or borrowed them from their parents on their first presentation before a race leader. “And so did Talanah.”
Lord Ysaride said nothing as to that, but his eyes still seemed to see, and know as he watched her. At length, he sat back a portion. “You are…born dovaa?”
“Hybrid,” Tanarah said before her sister could object — whether or not she would have would ever be a mystery. “Our mother’s hybrid, and her lover’s oblivionite. But Daddy and Papa are our family.”
Ysaride strummed his fingers once over his desk, and then moved his hands out, palms up. “One day…be it our god’s will or not, the world may be full of you. And you?” He turned his attention to Tala. “You’ve something to present?”
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 2:37 pm
Tala felt her heart lodge in her throat as her sister confessed of their combined races. She waited, prepared for Lord Ysaride to turn them away. When he didn’t even comment, Tala’s heartbeat calmed. When he turned his attention to her, specifically, she blinked, confused for a moment. When her thoughts clicked into place, however, Tala blushed and nodded as she fished out the two ysali orbs she’d brought along. “Ysali, sir.” The small dragons weren’t nearly as powerful as the kiandri her sister had gone up against but they were hers and she had earned them.
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Tangled Puppet Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 3:00 pm
After glancing to them, Lord Ysaride nodded, and Tana and Tala were free to go. It was a great to do about a very brief encounter, in Tanarah’s opinion, and she wasn’t entirely sure what the point of the custom was. But at least she had gotten to see the Celestial Plan, the birthland of her father, and all its beauty.
And her grand-aunt and uncle, to boot. That made it worth it enough. They spent the rest of the day and that night in Aunt Araceli’s parents’ house again, and come morning, all but before the sky was light, they caught the first boat out, back to their homeland. With the seabreeze in her hair, the great ocean all about her, and a ship beneath her feet, Tanarah felt elated — free — ready for whatever came next. The thought of returning to school life, without travel, was almost disappointing. But, she looked forward to seeing her father, trapped back on the desert continent.
And in the end, one day soon even, she would be out on her own, travelling the world as she saw fit. That much, she would bet on.
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