I woke up in the temple.
Naked and cold, on a stone floor in a garden, I awoke to the sound of a fountain and the sight of Ylessa and Morhiag in the sky. Walls all around me and a pathway leading off to the side, but I was lying down on the floor as if I had been laid out...and I was sore.
And I'm not talking about "Ohhh, I've done a lot and now I hurt a bit." I mean the kind of sore that makes you wonder what you did the day before, the frightening sort when...you can't remember. I searched my mind and was rewarded with a headache the size of the Dragon himself.
Dragon...
I looked up at the fountain and that was what it was. A dragon, spewing water like it should fire. Just like the one that used to be in the Centre Square so far back, only much smaller. It took me a while to come out of my daze and be able to climb to my feet. I was fairly surprised that I didn't tumble as soon as I was vertical. I'm typically unbalanced, and right then, with my stomach turning and my whole body not wanting to do anything, I really wouldn't have blamed my feet for not wanting to hold me.
But they did and I stumbled to the fountain and simply sat there for a while. I waited.
And waited.
And thought. I thought about how I came to this place, and came up with many wild concotions. Mostly, I tried very hard to remember the day before, but failed. I could...remember snippets of days, but nothing like a full day. It's difficult to explain, and worse to feel. Like parts of my mind were gone. The last thing I really remembered was...was...my bath, with Junaal and Cylan. I remember Junaal being far too lovey and Cylan being uncomfortable; Junaal wanted me to leave with him, but I had a bad feeling and opted to stay with Cylan, because I hadn't seen him in a while and I missed the darling. Junaal had gotten all irked and left and I stayed the night with Cylan, and we cuddled and...
Now I was here.
Footsteps scuffed on the stone from the pathway and I looked up sharply, which admittedly shook my headache, but I was okay with it. A man with long blonde hair shuffled into the area, looking sleepy and stopped short.
"Did I miss something fun?" Admittedly, not the smartest thing to say whilst naked and bloody.
Blink blink. "Ummm...I...what are you doing here?" asked the priest, who was busy staring at my breasts, which I promptly covered.
"Where -am- I?"
"The Temple of Cymur."
HEAHSTAN!
Instantly, my mind shouted it. Heahstan had brought me here! Certainly he must have something to do with this mess! I asked the priest, but he was too busy staring at my nakedness to recall anything but the way back to the Gardens.
Once out, it was damn dark and I was still naked and damn cold and stumbling through landscaping is not fun when you hurt all over.
Luckily, Cylan found me. He was staring listlessly at the pond when I fumbled my way over. I demanded to know what happened; this was ridiculous at this point.
And he informed me that I had died.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
Going East & Slightly Crazy
I met a boy and I met a man.
I met the man first.
I was sitting beneath the Tree in the Square on a root, upside down with my nose in Raul’s notes when an older Tyen gentleman came across me and decided to encourage a conversation by simply standing there until I said hello. We chattered a bit as I sat on the ground and when he mentioned he knew some magic, I sat up.
I really need to stop being impressed by that.
I met the boy next.
I was eating in the Wraith and picking on Heahstan about his hair (which is very similar to mine) and his arrogance when another redhead appeared with bright blue eyes and a charming smile. Later on, he fell on top of me and accidentally grabbed my chest, which made us both blush, so I stood really close to him for the rest of the night.
Junaal and Cylan; and now I’m not a virgin and I feel fairly dirty, despite having just taken a bath. Cylan wanted me to be his girlfriend…but I don’t know how to be a girlfriend. I think I was only upset because Cylan reminds me of Pa when he's happy. He curls up with me on a couch and holds me close and smiles really nicely and gives sweet kisses like Raul described Pa and Ma used to, like Pa used to tell stories about and even did a few times before Ma got really bad.
I got upset...and I ran away.
I fell down and talked to Causa until Junaal showed up...
And Junaal is a problem. For me, anyhow. I can't say no, or be mean or shout at him like I do other people. I can't pull away and be grumpy, I just sort of...freeze...He scares me and makes my stomach feel sick and my cheeks feel hot, and he finds it amusing!
...
We spent last night together. I really hope Captain Dryas lets me go East with him. I need to get out of Telantha for a while.
I met the man first.
I was sitting beneath the Tree in the Square on a root, upside down with my nose in Raul’s notes when an older Tyen gentleman came across me and decided to encourage a conversation by simply standing there until I said hello. We chattered a bit as I sat on the ground and when he mentioned he knew some magic, I sat up.
I really need to stop being impressed by that.
I met the boy next.
I was eating in the Wraith and picking on Heahstan about his hair (which is very similar to mine) and his arrogance when another redhead appeared with bright blue eyes and a charming smile. Later on, he fell on top of me and accidentally grabbed my chest, which made us both blush, so I stood really close to him for the rest of the night.
Junaal and Cylan; and now I’m not a virgin and I feel fairly dirty, despite having just taken a bath. Cylan wanted me to be his girlfriend…but I don’t know how to be a girlfriend. I think I was only upset because Cylan reminds me of Pa when he's happy. He curls up with me on a couch and holds me close and smiles really nicely and gives sweet kisses like Raul described Pa and Ma used to, like Pa used to tell stories about and even did a few times before Ma got really bad.
I got upset...and I ran away.
I fell down and talked to Causa until Junaal showed up...
And Junaal is a problem. For me, anyhow. I can't say no, or be mean or shout at him like I do other people. I can't pull away and be grumpy, I just sort of...freeze...He scares me and makes my stomach feel sick and my cheeks feel hot, and he finds it amusing!
...
We spent last night together. I really hope Captain Dryas lets me go East with him. I need to get out of Telantha for a while.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Old Lady Tattletale
Mama told on me.
When Pa got home from gathering for Raul, Ma told him that I had pushed her down and yelled at her. Said she nearly died and called me all sorts of bad names.
I sat, guilty, on my bed. Pa had threatened last time to make me leave and this time, he was going to. If only to save himself the headache that the woman he loved had become.
Twisting his straw hat in his hands, he got all red in the face as he tried to hold back anger. He's better at that than I am, but it didn't work and he yelled at me. Pa doesn't call me names, but it's worse when he shouts at me. He's so disappointed that Ma can't love me that sometimes I think he's stopped loving me too.
"Young lady, this is the last straw!"
"I'm sorry Pa..."
"Get your things and get out of my house."
"Yes Pa..."
All of us were crying. I think Ma was just crying to cry, like she does sometimes, but Pa was angry and I was sad. I didn't even grab all my things, but I lifted Raul's old journal that he had given me and now it's mine to tell people things.
So I'll stop telling about Ma and Pa for now.
When Pa got home from gathering for Raul, Ma told him that I had pushed her down and yelled at her. Said she nearly died and called me all sorts of bad names.
I sat, guilty, on my bed. Pa had threatened last time to make me leave and this time, he was going to. If only to save himself the headache that the woman he loved had become.
Twisting his straw hat in his hands, he got all red in the face as he tried to hold back anger. He's better at that than I am, but it didn't work and he yelled at me. Pa doesn't call me names, but it's worse when he shouts at me. He's so disappointed that Ma can't love me that sometimes I think he's stopped loving me too.
"Young lady, this is the last straw!"
"I'm sorry Pa..."
"Get your things and get out of my house."
"Yes Pa..."
All of us were crying. I think Ma was just crying to cry, like she does sometimes, but Pa was angry and I was sad. I didn't even grab all my things, but I lifted Raul's old journal that he had given me and now it's mine to tell people things.
So I'll stop telling about Ma and Pa for now.
And mama was a baker and papa was a fool and when they first kissed each other he was sitting on a stool...
"Mama" was my first word.
"Mean" was my second and Pa said that I used to screech it whenever I was upset. To hear him imitate it is a hoot because his voice always cracks and he sounds really weird.
When Ma met Pa, she worked at a little baker's shop making cookies and bread. She was really happy all the time and loved everyone. Pa said she was just like me, except Ma's taller than me. Pa went to the baker's shop every day to buy a cookie or a loaf of bread and made up excuses to go there. He and Ma went on long walks in the gardens and danced all night in the taverns. They climbed trees and swam by a waterfall and ate sandwhiches every day and they were really happy.
Ma & Pa got married in the woods by the waterfall and Pa told Ma he wanted a baby girl. She didn't want kids, but she was sooo in love with him that she said she wouldn't mind.
Well, she did.
Pa wouldn't talk about it, but Raul told me that when Ma got pregnant, all she did was mope. He said her sunshine was gone and she spent a lot of time looking out the window. For the first year of my life, I stayed with Pa's Ma until Pa finally convinced Ma to take care of me. But she cried a lot. In fact, one of my first memories is of her crying by the window. When I asked her what was wrong, she stared at me for a good long while before looking away and crying some more.
When I was five, the Darkness came. It loomed, terrifying and I remember not wanting to go outside. So I didn't. We stayed in our flat with Raul and he told me stories and made tea to make me feel better. Pa just twisted his hat in his hands while he stared out the window, and most of the time Ma was lying in the corner with a green glass bottle that Pa said was her medicine.
Well, she's never stopped taking her medicine since.
"Mean" was my second and Pa said that I used to screech it whenever I was upset. To hear him imitate it is a hoot because his voice always cracks and he sounds really weird.
When Ma met Pa, she worked at a little baker's shop making cookies and bread. She was really happy all the time and loved everyone. Pa said she was just like me, except Ma's taller than me. Pa went to the baker's shop every day to buy a cookie or a loaf of bread and made up excuses to go there. He and Ma went on long walks in the gardens and danced all night in the taverns. They climbed trees and swam by a waterfall and ate sandwhiches every day and they were really happy.
Ma & Pa got married in the woods by the waterfall and Pa told Ma he wanted a baby girl. She didn't want kids, but she was sooo in love with him that she said she wouldn't mind.
Well, she did.
Pa wouldn't talk about it, but Raul told me that when Ma got pregnant, all she did was mope. He said her sunshine was gone and she spent a lot of time looking out the window. For the first year of my life, I stayed with Pa's Ma until Pa finally convinced Ma to take care of me. But she cried a lot. In fact, one of my first memories is of her crying by the window. When I asked her what was wrong, she stared at me for a good long while before looking away and crying some more.
When I was five, the Darkness came. It loomed, terrifying and I remember not wanting to go outside. So I didn't. We stayed in our flat with Raul and he told me stories and made tea to make me feel better. Pa just twisted his hat in his hands while he stared out the window, and most of the time Ma was lying in the corner with a green glass bottle that Pa said was her medicine.
Well, she's never stopped taking her medicine since.
"Mother, what ARE you doing?"
A pile of dirty dishes sat by a grungy lady with stringy, dirty red hair hanging down on her little shoulders and falling into her face. She sat there with a thin-lipped grimace and a few hiccups now and then.
She was breaking plates.
A small, calloused hand was bleeding a little as it picked up another plate from the pile, raised it above the woman's head and brought it down hard onto the dirt floor with a crash between her spindly legs. Little pieces of clay flew everywhere and one of the larger pieces knocked over the green glass bottle that sat beside her, but no liquid spilled onto the floor.
She was drunk too.
"Mama stop it..." I said tiredly from my seat on the pile of hay covered with a sheet that served as my bed. I admit, I was not even looking at her. She'd been doing this for about an hour and between the rats scratching at the door and Ma breaking plates, I had had quite enough of the whole thing.
"You stop it," came the whine from the woman who'd given me life. Or at least, that's what I think she said. Her speech kind of runs together in a dumb sort of way after an entire bottle of wine. With an exasperated sigh, I looked back to her as she awkwardly lifted herself up to her knees. Putting weight on her hands, she hopped to her feet and put her bum in the air with a groan. I laughed. She looked really stupid.
With a start, she looked up and consequently, fell down with a little yelp. Giggling, I hopped up and walked over to offer her a hand up, but she hissed from her prone position on the floor and spat at my hand. "Little bitch, made me fall!"
Indignantly, I put my hands on my hips and frowned at the floundering, pathetic woman at my feet. "I did not. You did it to yourself."
"Get away!" Whining. Not attractive at all as she swatted at where she thought I was, which was a good ways left of where I truly stood.
With a growl, I leaned over and picked her up, despite her complaints, and looked over the sloppy drunk before me.
Ma's a little taller than me.
"Get AWAY!" she spat, pushing me hard in the chest. I tumbled back and fell flat on my bum, but recovered quick enough. I'm used to falling.
Hopping to my feet almost instantly, I clenched my hands and jaw, closing my eyes and feeling my anger flare up. I pushed her back and knocked her over. I was sick of it! Done! I was tired of her pushing me over and complaining and whining and being ill and groaning through her own doing. "CLEAN UP!" I screeched. "You're TERRIBLE!"
Or....something akin to that. I don't even remember much of what I said. I said a lot of bad things to her though and it took me a little while to realize she wasn't moving. When it struck me, I felt my stomach sink and dropped to my knees beside her. "Oh Gods..." I said, over and over before collecting myself and trying to remember the runes for the remedy spell Raul had taught me. I cast it on her and gave a great sigh of relief when I heard her grumble, "Little bitch."
She was breaking plates.
A small, calloused hand was bleeding a little as it picked up another plate from the pile, raised it above the woman's head and brought it down hard onto the dirt floor with a crash between her spindly legs. Little pieces of clay flew everywhere and one of the larger pieces knocked over the green glass bottle that sat beside her, but no liquid spilled onto the floor.
She was drunk too.
"Mama stop it..." I said tiredly from my seat on the pile of hay covered with a sheet that served as my bed. I admit, I was not even looking at her. She'd been doing this for about an hour and between the rats scratching at the door and Ma breaking plates, I had had quite enough of the whole thing.
"You stop it," came the whine from the woman who'd given me life. Or at least, that's what I think she said. Her speech kind of runs together in a dumb sort of way after an entire bottle of wine. With an exasperated sigh, I looked back to her as she awkwardly lifted herself up to her knees. Putting weight on her hands, she hopped to her feet and put her bum in the air with a groan. I laughed. She looked really stupid.
With a start, she looked up and consequently, fell down with a little yelp. Giggling, I hopped up and walked over to offer her a hand up, but she hissed from her prone position on the floor and spat at my hand. "Little bitch, made me fall!"
Indignantly, I put my hands on my hips and frowned at the floundering, pathetic woman at my feet. "I did not. You did it to yourself."
"Get away!" Whining. Not attractive at all as she swatted at where she thought I was, which was a good ways left of where I truly stood.
With a growl, I leaned over and picked her up, despite her complaints, and looked over the sloppy drunk before me.
Ma's a little taller than me.
"Get AWAY!" she spat, pushing me hard in the chest. I tumbled back and fell flat on my bum, but recovered quick enough. I'm used to falling.
Hopping to my feet almost instantly, I clenched my hands and jaw, closing my eyes and feeling my anger flare up. I pushed her back and knocked her over. I was sick of it! Done! I was tired of her pushing me over and complaining and whining and being ill and groaning through her own doing. "CLEAN UP!" I screeched. "You're TERRIBLE!"
Or....something akin to that. I don't even remember much of what I said. I said a lot of bad things to her though and it took me a little while to realize she wasn't moving. When it struck me, I felt my stomach sink and dropped to my knees beside her. "Oh Gods..." I said, over and over before collecting myself and trying to remember the runes for the remedy spell Raul had taught me. I cast it on her and gave a great sigh of relief when I heard her grumble, "Little bitch."
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