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 Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:18 am
Lore wasn't quite sure why he was at this carnival. Well, that's not quite true. He knew why. He was there because Malecoda had told him that he was becoming a bore and to go do something interesting...away from her castle. Apparently the sight of him studying and doing little else did not sit well with the sorceress. So, without consulting him, Malecoda had sent him to a carnival. Oh, fun.
He hadn't been to a carnival since he was a young child, and it had been quite unlike the one which he was currently at. The atmosphere was the same: ill-concealed shoddiness and people trying desperately to feel something, or convince themselves that they felt something. The majority of the scents were the same: too many people, animals, whatever machinery the carnival kept. The sounds were the same: yelling, heckling, cheering, and animal sounds.
To be quite honest, it was a little intimidating after the relative silence of Malecoda's castle.
And he probably looked like one of the freaks on display, being dressed in his customary clothing, which was a comfortable, informal outfit akin to what an Elizabethan craftsman would wear when practicing his craft. No one around him was dressed thus, however, so while he would have blended in on another world, in this one (whichever one it was), he was the odd man out. He wondered if it was worth it to magick his outfit to the semblence of something more normal and decided that it wasn't.
There was also the matter of Lysander, hovering at his shoulder. Maybe he would do well just to pretend to be one of the carnival employees and try not to run into any legitimate ones.
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:13 am
Jaster and Saljin headed out of the park once the boy figured out the proper direction. But at the sound of the carnival, he hesitated. It was still going on and after what he'd done, he wondered if everyone would be looking for him. No matter if they were. He wasn't going back home and he certainly was not going to get trapped by that man again. If he was still around.
"Come on, Saljin. Maybe we can find something here. People drop all sorts of things or forget them. And we can find something to eat here. You do eat don't you?" he asked suddenly.
Saljin stared at the boy for a moment, then simply moved closer. He still didn't fully understand what Jaster was saying but he'd figure it out.
"Nevermind." he sighed, indicating that they work their way around to the food stands. "Just follow me."
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 7:33 am
Lore was looking around, partially amazed by the technological advances made on worlds which had not developed their magic and partially concerned that someone would notice him and that trouble would ensue.
Lysander also gazed around, his mis-matched eyes wide as he took everything in. He had never seen anything like this. It was so loud and dirty and smelly, and there were monsterous contraptions and the people dressed incredibly oddly. He would have been afraid had Lore not looked so at ease. Lore was not foolish. If they were in any danger, Lore would have told him and they would have discussed how they would get out of it.
Then something struck Lysander. He had experienced the feeling only once before. It had been just before he had met Dragul. It was the feeling of another of the orb-born being in near proximity.
"Lore," he said softly, "there's another of the orb-born here somewhere."
Lore was briefly startled by Lysander's announcement, but he hid it quickly. Genevieve had not been from the Underground, and she had still had an Undera. Why shouldn't others from other worlds have similar creatures?
"'Orb-born'?" he repeated. "Where did you come up with that name?"
Lysande shrugged in the same manner he had always used, turning one palm up and bending that arm very slightly. "I heard Malecoda use it, and it sounded like an apt description, since we tend to take all different forms."
"Ah. Should we look for this other orb-born?"
"I would like to. I believe I can lead you to it."
Lysander did not mention the huge distraction his surroundings were proving to him. He could barely hear himself think. Lore felt the same way, though neither gave voice to it.
"Then let's go."
They set off over the dusty gravel in search of the other orb-born.
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 8:12 am
As they walked around the food area, the boy noticed a few things here and there. A bag of chips left behind and unopened found their way into his pocket. A bag of candy opened but forgotten soon joined it.
He figured that if it were forgotten then it didn't matter if he took it. The person doing the cleanup would have tossed the items into the trash. Keeping one eye on the ground as he walked, Jaster was surprised to note the baseball cap on the ground. Picking it up, he studied it silently.
"I guess if it's here then someone has lost it or doesn't want it. Right, Saljin?" he said, placing it on his head. "Maybe we will find something for you next."
No direction was really in mind. He simply wandered and Saljin followed him, sticking close by. Jaster did not move into the main crowd of people but remained on the sides, detouring around people as he looked about for what he could find. It would not do to get caught by that man. Or his father if he returned.
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 11:21 am
Lore, twenty one years old, had mostly outgrown carnivals. He enjoyed fairs and festivals well enough, but carnivals were not the same thing. They were merely diversions with no purpose but to make money for the people there. Understandably, markets were similar, but he had never really had cause to go to a market. Where he had grown up he had had servants to do that for his servants.
Such was not the case for Lysander, who gazed around in wide-eyed wonder at everything. Lysander saw a stall which sold what it called witches' balls and stood transfixed for several moments. Lore knew them to be nothing but blown glass, hollow on the inside and usually flawed, but he could understand Lysander's fascination. It was fine that he looked, Lore thought, as long as he didn't...
...touch.
The stall owner, who had been eying Lysander suspicously since he had begun to stare, snarled a warning to Lysander not to touch the merchandise unless he planned to buy it. Lore stepped up at once, understanding the trouble and hoping to prevent it. He didn't have any of this world's currency.
Lysander, couldn't help it. The things looked so like the orb he had come from, he had to see if they contained things like himself. So he touched one tentatively with his finger. There was no life inside it, he realized. It was hollow. Was it that its occupant had already emerged, or had it died unborn, or had it never held anything?
Holding it in his hand, he turned to ask Lore when the man behind the counter began to yell at him. Startled, he jumped in the strange way one with no legs jumps and the glasine orb slipped from his long, slender fingers, falling toward the filthy ground.
And it stopped and hovered three inches from the ground. He looked behind him and saw Lore looking fixedly at the orb. He was keeping it aloft by magic. That was a relief.
Lore held the orb aloft and then knelt swiftly to pluck it from the air, hoping no one but Lysander had seen him use that magic. If technology had advanced on this world as it had, it was not a world which was accustomed to magic. There were terrible stories about what happened to magic users on such words.
He handed the orb back to the vendor, took Lysander by the elbow, and led him away, ignoring the vendor's insulting cries which called into question his parentage, sexuality, and species. The closest he got was calling Lore and Lysander a pair of fairies.
"But I'm a fae," Lysander protested to Lore, also having heard the vendor's cries.
"He's an ignoramus. Ignore him. Try hard."
Lore knew better. He knew what the vendor had meant when he said that, and he knew better than to be offended. It wasn't the truth, and it didn't concern him. What concerned him was the tail he and Lysander had picked up somewhere near the corndog vendor.
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:58 am
Saljin watched the people as they passed by he and Jaster. Some glanced at him strangely and others merely smiled as they moved by. His eyes searched the crowd and the booths. He'd never seen such things before.
Jaster picked up a few things as he went by the tables. Sealed bags of chips or unopened candy bars were quickly shoved into his pockets. It wasn't what he should be eating all the time but for now it would do.
He vaguely remembered his mom planting a garden, but he wasn't sure he could do that. He'd have to figure something out though. Even if he did plant one, what would he plant? And how did he get seeds?
Stopping, he scratched his head, scowling. He'd worry about that later and it made his head hurt right now. His eyes scanned the crowd around them and he suddenly stopped, staring in surprise. There was someone who looked like Saljin but not quite. The coloring was different but the shape was pretty much the same. He had tentacles just like his undera had.
"He's like you, Saljin." Jaster said slowly, moving back to the side of the booth partially hidden. "I wonder if they know what you are." Frowning, he wondered if he should say anything. The last thing he wanted to do was get caught. He had taken Saljin's orb from the carnival afterall.
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:18 am
"Don't worry, Lore," Lysander said softly, sensing by the tense way Lore held himself that he was worried about something. A quick glance over his shoulder told him that the other orb-born was the person who was following them. He didn't see Jaster, who was not of a height to be seen through crowds. "Our tail is the other orb-born. I'll talk to him if you like."
Lore wondered if the feeling of being watched was the result of the other orb-born's proximity. Perhaps he was learning to sense their presence. Or, more likely, he was not and he was just as aware of being watched as he had always been. He nodded, though, when Lysander spoke.
"Please," he said softly.
Lysander floated away from Lore and over to Saljin and Jaster.
"Hello," he said, turning so that he greeting included Jaster, whom he hadn't seen until he drew closer. His attention was really on Saljin however.
Urg. Short. Sorry.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:22 am
"Hello." Saljin repeated, drifting around Lysander in a slight circle. Then he moved back over to Jaster.
"Hi. What are you?" Jaster asked. "I mean... You are like Saljin but I have no idea what you are. Saljin... he just appeared a couple days ago from a globe."
Then he stopped, brushing the hair from his eyes. "I'm Jaster. That's Saljin." He suddenly got a bit nervous, looking down at the ground, scuffing his toe in the dirt. Afterall he'd taken the sphere from this carnival. Were they looking for it? Was he in trouble again?
Glancing quickly behind him, the boy made certain he had a way out. Just in case.
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Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 5:44 am
Lysander cocked his head to one side, and then decided that he didn't like that pose, though it did convey an attitude of query very well. Instead, he held still, deciding, based on the boy's attitude of discomfort that approaching further would only startle him.
"My name's Lysander. I'm a seelie fae. After a fashion. Like Saljin, I'm one of the orb-born, but I'm older I think. My stage of life is called a Corsea."
At least, that's what Malecoda called him, and she seemed to be in a position to know. And there was no way to prove whether she was right or wrong anyway. As far as he knew she could be feeding him utter bunk, but it hardly mattered, as he rarely saw anyone who would be in a position to de-bunk him.
He looked over Jaster's shoulder to where Lore leaned casually against the side of one of the few permanent structures this place boasted and watched. Perhaps it was Lore's staring which was making Jaster uncomfortable?
"That's Lore. He is to me what you are to Saljin, Jaster."
It might not have been a totally accurate statement, as he wasn't sure what Jaster was to Saljin, but he hoped the analogy would carry and show that Lore had been the one to keep him as an orb and care for him as an Undera. If it didn't, it would likely only confuse the pair of young ones.
Lore watched Lysander, unable to read lips at any distance but practiced in recognizing his own name when it was being spoken and deciding that it was as good a time as any to make his entrance. The longer he waited, the more anxious the boy was likely to become.
Taking a somewhat circular route so that he didn't come upon the boy and his Undera from behind, which was a creepy thing to do at best and outright frightening at worst, he came to stand a little behind Lysander, whose one wing quivered very slightly, indicating that he was aware of Lore's presence.
"Hello," Lore said softly. "I believe Lysander has already made my introduction?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 3:11 pm
Jaster watched them both silently for a moment. "So Lore, you are his protector? Are you Saljin's too? Am I in trouble for taking him?"
He glanced at the crowd of people passing by. Saljin drifted at his side reaching out a tentacle slowly to touch Jaster's shoulder. Shoving the hair from his eyes, he gazed around the area for a moment.
More and more people were coming and it was starting to get crowded in some places. The increase in people meant that more workers would be coming. And most likely that man would be moving around too.
"We should probably move more to the side. I don't want to get caught here and I'm sure there are some people looking for me." he finally admitted. The last thing he wanted to do was get caught by that man his father had tried to sell him to.
"I took some things the night I ran away. Including Saljin." he professed. It was probably not the brightest thing to admit but he decided that since they seemed to know already it might just be the best thing for him to be entirely honest about it. "I won't say I'm sorry for taking him either. I like him even if I don't know what he is."
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 6:31 am
Lore was taken aback by Jaster's question. He had not exactly considered himself Lysander's protector since Lysander became a Corsea. Lysander was well-qualified at this point in his life to look after himself. With some notable exceptions. Such as carnivals.
"I know nothing about...Saljin?" He took care with the pronunciation of the Undera's name. He knew too many people who were picky about pronunciation. "I'm certainly not his protector. I hope."
He accompanied his statement with a wry grin. He was good at those, and they came so much more easily than candid smiles. But mostly it was just the expression which came to his face naturally. He decided it might be best to let the bit about someone looking for the boy pass for now, and did as the boy suggested.
"Don't think you shock me. I've known a few lightfingers in the past. Few of them regret their thefts." Lore realized he sounded much more disapproving than he was. "Sorry. I don't think you could give Saljin back if you wanted to. He's...Lysander, do you want to explain this?"
The Corsea, who had been hovering silently beside Lore nodded and took over. He had done more research on the subject than Lore had, and actually knew more about the orb-born than Lore. As he spoke, though, he addressed himself, naturally, to Saljin, who was like himself.
"You, Saljin, are one of the orb-born, which is to say, you originated in an orb, and then you emerged as you are now. The orbs are created by the Goblin King, who lives in another world, called the Underground, where magic is...more common than it seems to be here. They end up with the people who are meant to have them. You belong with Jaster, in other words. In the lifestage you currently are in, you're called an Undera. I'm the next stage, a Corsea. According to my research, there are other, further forms, at which we, the orb-born, acquire legs. I'm looking forward to that point."
He paused, checking to gauge whether Saljin was absorbing any of this. Thinking back to the other Undera he had met in his life, Dragul, he wondered if he was working at a level beyond that of an ordinary Undera. He, as an Undera, would have understood, but he was raised in a different environment, a scholarly environment.
"Are you understanding any of this?" he asked.
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:26 am
Saljin listened to Lysander closely. He pursed his lips a moment in thought, then nodded his head slightly.
"Orb-born. Yes. It fits." he replied, glancing over at Jaster. "Jaster is protector for now. I protect him I think when like you." He was still trying to understand all the words and such used. He'd not been awake very long and though he understood the basics, some things were a bit harder to get clearly.
Glancing down at the marking on his hand, Saljin held it out, backside upwards so the dark almost birdlike shape was easily seen.
"Do you know what this means?" he asked softly, staring at it in confusion for along moment. Then he glanced over at Lysander. "It does not hurt but I think it did once. I.. It came from before the orb. I think."
Jaster nodded, relaxing a great deal more than he had been. He still watched the crowds but with a bit looser attitude and not so ready to flee the area. "Alright. I just wasn't sure, Lore. I think Saljin belongs with me. Saljin has not been awake long. Maybe two days or so. He seems to learn fast though."
The boy noted that Saljin was speaking much clearly than he had been. He was quite sure that the undera had been listening to conversations as they moved around the area or even to his own words as he spoke to him.
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Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 6:22 am
Lysander studied the mark. He, personally, was covered with bright yellow markings, like tribal tattoos. His research said it was evidence of what tribe of fae he belonged to, but he had not yet gotten around to researching which tribe that was.
He thought about it: he had seen another Undera similarly marked, he realized. Dragul, the goblin-type, had borne a mark on the back of her right hand. He shook his head apologetically, having seen a similar mark did not mean he knew what it signified.
"I'm sorry, Saljin. I don't know what it means. It is possible that it came from before the orb. I don't know much about what happens...before," he said.
"It is good that you mean to protect Jaster. Humans need our help you know," he confided softly with a smirk, "they're not as smart as they like to think."
Lore nodded his agreement. He didn't know how quickly Undera developed, speech-wise. Lysander had been virtually silent as an Undera, rarely forming full sentences when a single word would do, but he wasn't sure it was from a lack of ability. Rather, a lack of interest in saying more than was necessary.
"They do learn quickly." That, at least, he could verify. "And he seems to be quite well-developed and intelligent."
Lore had no way of knowing that, of course, but it seemed a fair thing to say. One always says a baby is precious even when it looks like a dessicated piglet, and it was usually best to say a pet was intelligent even if it was dumber than a box of rocks.
Saljin was neither of those things, and so the words, while mostly meaningless, cost Lore nothing to say. But then, words had never cost Lore anything to say. He had, after all, been raised at court. In this case, Saljin did seem to be developing well and to be at least capable of reason, which was more than could be said for many human beings.
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 9:00 am
Saljin rubbed the marking on his hand a moment. No pictures came readily to him and he pushed the thought of it from his mind.
"Jaster is smart." he nodded to Lysander, "but... sad?" Uncertain whether he had the right word or not, he glanced over at the boy as he spoke to Lore. Yes, that was one of the feelings he saw in him. There were others, but he'd not defined those yet.
The loud voices of a man and woman arguing caught the undera's attention. He listened to their words but also tried to catch the meanings of them as he watched.
An image of loud voices and golden eyes dropped down on him, causing a sudden frown. He blinked several times trying to hold it, but the memory slipped away from him before he could catch it.
Jaster nodded. "He listens alot and says little. This is the most I've heard him speak other than a word or two at a time. I think it's because Lysander is sort of like him."
A thought occurred to the boy and his teeth tugged on his lip a moment. "Is there anything I should know about Saljin? I mean, is there any way to tell what he will be able to do? And he's going to get more solid like Lysander? Where's he from?"
The boy suddenly grinned nervously, running a hand through his hair. "Sorry if I'm asking too many questions. It's just I don't know much about him or people like him."
The loud voices bothered him too and he glanced at the tables behind him. "We should probably find a quieter spot."
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 6:36 am
"That sounds like a plan," Lore agreed with Jaster's suggestion to relocate. He jerked his head in a direction that seemed less busy, more quiet. "Shall we go this way?"
"And you're probably correct about Saljin. He's likely trying to learn everything he can now by listening and watching," Lore continued. He paused before adding, "You're not asking too many questions. It makes good sense to want to know more about one such as Saljin. He's quiet beyond the normal range of experience. I'll tell you what I can about what to expect."
"He'll definitely get more solid like Lysander's done. And he'll do it all at once, which may come as a surprise to both. When Lysander grew to the Corsea stage of his life, the one that comes after Saljin's stage, which is called Undera, he had no warning. He just grew. It made him really tired, but that might not be a universal reaction. I don't think there's a way to tell what he'll be able to do, if he's able to do anything."
Lore thought about Jaster's last question. Where's he from? That question could take a lifetime to answer. There was much to explain about the Underground and the Goblin King. And for all that, there was still much more he didn't know about both subjects. But he ought to try. Leaving a person in ignorance when it's within one's power to educate them even a little was an ignoble act to Lore's way of thinking.
"The orbs like the ones Lysander and Saljin emerged from come from another world, called the Underground. The king in the Underground is called the Goblin King, his name's Jareth. He creates the orbs and sends them out to people who need them, people who have made very powerful wishes, usually. The creatures which emerge are supposed to help these wishes come true somehow."
He wasn't entirely certain of everything he told Jaster about why the orbs were sent out, but he was fairly certain, and it was what he had been told. Not that Malecoda hadn't lied to him in the past, but he didn't think she would lie to him about Lysander.
Lysander, meanwhile, watched the Undera in his instant of distraction. It was as though he was looking at things which weren't there for a moment, or remembering something. Lysander waited for the moment to pass. He was rarely taken over my remembrance in the midst of other activities, but when he was he didn't appreciate being interrupted.
"It seems to be common among our humans. Sadness, that is. I think it's their sadness and the need for relief that causes us to come into their lives." Pure speculation, that, but it wasn't an invalid conclusion to draw, based on his own experiences.
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