i Love All of Your Colors | SPIRIT-QUEST ZOMG [ Dee, Kallisto, Rilowe]

8/9/2019 i Love All of Your Colors | SPIRIT-QUEST ZOMG [ Dee, Kallisto, Rilowe]

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i love all of your colors |

SPIRIT-QUEST ZOMG [ Dee,

Kallisto, Rilowe]

SeelieOpaque V i l l ager

11 Apr 2010, 2:09am

SECOND NOTE: 'kay. This has officially turned into a SpiritQuest, Y'psi-style! =D Mucho fun to be had, I hope. xD Anyway,those who join at this point can skip past everything up to mylast post, which is currently the one with the first excerpt initalics from Y'psi legend. I'd love for Kallisto and Dee to join inparticular, and Cheeky requests that Rilowe join in the fun.

You all should know that pretty much anything can happen, atthis point. And it's not all going to be fun and games - there willbe magic, and danger, and possibly violence. 8D I figured thiswas a great way for me to completely figure Seelie's characterout, and I'd love you guys to come along for the ride.

SIDE-NOTE: I just realized I may have sounded kind of demanding. No one has

to join, of course. XD My feelings won't be hurt. butitwil lbefunD:

NOTE: Seelie will bond to her new Chavo, Valerio, in thisthread. However, I'm also using it as an opportunity for furthercharacter development, which also means my posts might be atad on the long side. You have been forewarned. x] Also, don'tmind the lyrics. I was inspired (though I'm not sure exactlywhat they have to do with anything xD).

i can see the red, white, and free in you

you light the night up like the moon& underneath your clouds, i see the blue

There was a soft wind whispering over the plains,combing gentle fingers through the long grasses. Tothe gir l, i t seemed the earth was s ighing in i tscontentment, as though it was looking back on itsmany accompl ishments during the day and fel tsatisfied, and proud. The child stood quietly at thesummit of a small but steep hill, her gaze sweepingover the vast, rolling plain that sprawled before her.Her arms were l i fted on either side of her, handsbrushing back and forth over the very top of thegrass that came up to just above her waist. She was

a single silhouette cast against a deep, blue-blackbackdrop spangled with winking silver stars. Thewind breathed around her face, tousling her braids so
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that the l it tle beads woven into her hair c linkedtogether a living wind chime. The girl breathed in,

closing her eyes briefly as she reveled in the feelingo f the cool nigh t a ir f il li ng up her lungs and

circulating through her body.

just give me a chance to seefrom way up where you areabove the silent starsjust dancing in the sky

It was a thoughtful mood that stole upon the girl inthe hour just after sunset, and so any desire to bearound other people had faded into a faint glimmer.She was content to stand upon her little hill and lookout over the face of the world and simply think andfeel. It was unnatural, the state of mind she was in no child should ever be capable of experiencing the

emotions that rolled around in her head. And at thismoment, she seemed less like a child than she everhad, for in her eyes was the expression of somegreat, ancient creature something that had seenboth great pain and pure exaltation, and experiencedthem as well. The clear-amber of her irises turnedliquid in the dark of night, so that her pupils seemedendless, shimmering wells of thought and emotion.The air about her seemed to be alive, crackling andpopping with the intensity that seemed to leak fromthe very pores of the girl that was, in this instant,not-quite-a-child. She was not Seelie Charm-Weaver,or Seelie Snake-Dancer no, those parts of her had

retreated to hover just beneath the surface for at ime, resting. She was Seelie, Daughter of theSouthwind, made of air and breath and life.

i think the shade of you is on the brinkof changing all the ways i see the world

i could drown inside a single dropof all the kinds of things youve got

After a few minutes of this, there came the faintestrustling from within the grass. Seelie did not pay it

any attention, so absorbed was she in this unnaturalstate of mind. She was so attuned to the world, andto herself, that she could feel the fine hairs on herarms being moved by the wind. Her mind registeredthe soft paw-steps, and the slight quiver of shiftinggrass in the corner o f one eye. Even when thecreature stepped forward to reveal itself, Seelie didnot move. There was no threat here, and for somereason the girl felt that she shouldnt move. She wasunder a spell, but the magic wasnt hers, she had noright to break it. The Tzingane moved to stand at thegirls side, large ears pointed forward as he peekedthrough a gap in the grass, taking in the scenery that

Seelies eyes continued to focus on.

He thinks the girl is much too thoughtful, for one soyoung. He wonders if there is more to her than what


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he sees.

Seelies l ips quirked up at this, and a famil iar,glinting light leaped into her eyes, though she had

not yet fully emerged from her reverie. This was heronly react ion, but the Chavo d id not take any

offense. He simply remained where he was, returning

his attention to the plains, content with this quietcompanionship. It was a perfect night forcompanionship, after al l - clear, cool, beautiful.

Seelie blinked, starting to feel more like herself. Shereally wouldn't mind if someone else came along.

the stars are jealous of your shineif you were mine

there's nothing i wouldn't do

Updated by Seelie on 25 Apr 2010, 5:36am

Yanoro NicolaeOpaque V i l l ager

11 Apr 2010, 5:27am

There was much that the desert child and the hedge witch couldagree on. The two of them had the same reverence toward

natural miracles, such as a cool starry night with the breeze asgentle as flower petals. They both had a habit of sneaking out inthe dead of the darkness, when all was asleep and to be withmother Planet, silent and sure. This all was quite the relief ofhaving to deal with those normal folk, with their nagging andtheir words. Yanoro was so tired of words...perhaps because healways had to be translating, but that was besides the point.The man thrived in a veil of silence. He prayed for silence whensitting in his living room, listening to the noise of society.However, silence was illusive and mysterious. It must be stalkedand tracked down and once gained defended. That was what hewas up to this lovely, rare evening.

As per usual, on nights such as these he rode out on his

powerful...mehdayri. It was a bit of fast acting nostalgia,something that lead him from being peeved at everything tobeing his sentimental self. Due to this change in mood, theyrode slow. Widad maintained a steady walk. It gave Yanoro thechance to see all the sights and take in all the smells of such agorgeous night. The man just followed the swaying of his bond'sheavy foot fall and enjoyed the ride.

Oh, he was so elated that it was spring now. The winter wassomething so unnatural for him. He had to put on double theclothes that everyone else did, as he was much moresusceptible and so much less used to the cold. His mood wasgreatly touched by the weather as well. When everything was

covered in frost, the desert creature was a bit more stiff. Therewas much less piece for him to escape to, as all the plants weredead. As soon as Yanoro felt cold, he became cold. Now that theseasons were changing that frozen heart of his was melting
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once again. That was not the best thing in Yanoro's opinion,sadly. He would have to work harder to shield his life from

hopeful invaders.

The man journeyed on for a long time. He only halted when hesaw a small form sitting on a hill in the distance. The rider was

about to lead his mount away, but there was something familiar

about the far off shadow. The man kept on, fed by his curiosity.It wasn't long before he realized it was that girl that he metthat one evening on the beach. It seemed it wasn't just her to

which he was familiar. In this little girl he saw a bit of himself.She was moody like him and apparently they often had the

same ideas about what to do with their time. He wondered whyshe hadn't noticed him and his creature upon the approach. The

man squinted. Oh...she was interacting with a Tzingane itseemed. He shrugged and just watched momentarily. He did not

want to coax his creature and end up ruining her silence. Heknew he would be thoroughly peeved if someone ruined his.

Widad on the other hand did not seem to get the memo. She

also recognized the girl in the distance and remembered how

tense her bond became upon interacting with her. Much to Yan'ssurprise, the girl began to bay quite loudly, destroying thepeace of the cool darkness. She snorted and stamped her feet in

a bit of a warning, though there was no need for challenge ordefense. The hedge witch put a finger to his lips and let out a

sharp, shhhh. His cheeks began to glow a very warm red. Oh,this was the last thing he wanted.

SeelieOpaque V i l lager

12 Apr 2010, 12:30am

[[ For an extremely rough illustration of Valerio's coloring,

click here. =D ]]

The girl slowly lowered her hands, tilting her head to listen to

the crickets that began to sing and chirp in the long grass allaround her. In the distance the hooting of owls could be faintly

heard, along with the cal ls of exotic nocturnal b irds thatcouldn't be found anywhere but Planet. The sky overhead was

completely clear, not a cloud in sight, and the air was just thisside of cool, so that little goosebumps rose up on the flesh ofher arms and legs. But i t was a good feeling, refreshing,exhilarating. These nights were nowhere near as cold as thedesert, after all. If one listened close enough, one could discerna certain rhythm and beat to the sounds of the night - a naturaltempo, the tempo of life, l ike the steady beating of a heartinside of the body. The girl picked up on it, though it was asubconscious perception. She began to nod her head in time,and tap her fingers against her legs, and her foot against theground. The Chavo looked up at her, eyes l ike miniaturegalaxies appraising her, their expression unfathomable. He didnot speak, however. A single ear twitched on his head at thesound of Yanoro's approach, but he did not acknowledge that,

either. It seemed that he was trying to peer into the very soulof this strange child standing before him, and so intent on histask was he that he took little notice of anything else. Seelieremained equally still and silent, acutely aware of the Chavo's
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scrutiny but strangely comfortable beneath that unwaveringstare.

Of course, as Yanoro had thought earlier, silence was an elusive

thing, and it never lasted. The world was too big, and there wastoo much in it. Silence was unnatural.

Widad's braying shattered the peacefulness of the night like asledgehammer against bri tt le glass, and her challenging,defensive vocals seemed to stab into Seelie's very brain with

their abruptness. The girl let out a cry of protest and alarm,clapping her hands over her ears and whirl ing to face the

source, eyes wild. The Chavo reacted similarly, though he madeno sound other than to snort in severe irritation, leaping and

twist ing in the a ir so that he faced the mehdayr i in onemovement. Ears thrust forward aggressively, the little romani

stalked down the hi l l to the place where Widad and Yanorostood. He circled the pair, stiff-legged, tail high and erect in the

air.

This i s most displeasing, he announced, his voice cutting

through the air sharp and authoritative. He said nothing else,simply continued to circle Yanoro and Widad, keeping just out ofreach of those sharp hooves. He was little more than a dark

shadow in the night, his ears and tail-tip like little beacons oflight, his eyes fla shing with little winking star s.

Seelie recovered quickly upon recognizing the man and his

mehdayri - after all, there was only one man that would be thatdark at night, though she would never say so to him. A little

smile quirked her lips, and she skipped down the hill to standbefore h im, head t il ted to one s ide, hands on her h ips.

"Does Widad think that this is her hill?" The child asked,

eyes glittering amusement. "Or is it me she doesn't like?"The girl didn't seem overly distressed at the prospect - mostly

because she was teasing, and the lightness in her voice wasevidence of the fact. The Chavo seemed far less amused, though

he eventually halted his circling to settle to his haunches atSeelie's side, tail wrapping about his body, its tip tapping an

impatient cadence upon the ground. Yet again Seelie did nothingto acknowledge him, and yet again this failed to offend. It

seemed there was some sort of communication going onbetween the two, though apparently only they could understand

it .



12 Apr 2010, 5:19pm

Yan was a little embarrassed. It was a lot to see, the little girlcovering her ears and the little dog freaking out. The man

pulled back on his reigns, loudly repeat that hushing noise untilshe fell silent once again. Widad was apathetic about ruining thesilence of the evening. To her, it was just something that had to


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be done and she would think no more of it. Serves her right forsurprising Yanoro in the dead of night. Now she had a taste of

her own medicine and the two of them could be on equal groundonce again. Oh, these strong women could be so eccentric

sometimes.

At the Chavo's retort, Yanoro snorted. Yes, he knew that his

mount was not on her best behavior, but why did this little runtneed to be such a snob about it. After all, they didn't own thearea. Widad could make all the noise in the world here in this

quiet place and there would be no repercussions, save for thislittle creep making it very clear that he was unhappy. Yanoro

became strong in his resolve, and eager to defend once again.After all, both rider and mount were not ones to care about the

whims of others. They were wild spirits and it surprised Yanorothat this little chavo as a rom didn't know what that meant.

When the girl came down to address him, he peered down at

her, blankly. I wish I spoke Mehdayri so I could tell hyou.The witch said definitively, shrugging his broad shoulders.

Widad saw the little creature, circling. She bowed her head low

to the ground and as the little guy came whirling around, Widadgave him the stink eye and stamped his foot. She didn't like thislittle bugger very much. He was nosy and she postulated that he

was trying to intimidate her. Did he think that just because hecould mind-speak that he could run the place? No way, Jose.

Yanoro sat upright and proudly. He coughed into his hand, as if

to say, 'alright, we're moving on'. The man leaned over a bit totry to get a good glimpse of the chavo but it was so hard to get

any detail with his dark coloring. Who iss diss liddle one?He inquired, whirling his head around, as he lost the creature in

the darkness. If this was her new bond, than it fit her very well.He would be just as mysterious as the little desert girl and just

as nosy, it seemed. The man rolled back up into sitting andclicked his tongue. Widad resigned to sit for him again, a bit

angry because it left her for the moment feeling rather prone.The rider swung over her shoulder and came to stand down by

her side. Iss che hyours? He muttered, trying to probe theevening for his little form. Yanoro found him sitting up beside

Seelie, and it made him feel rather silly to be looking elsewhere. cHe iss quick.

SeelieOpaque V i l lager

12 Apr 2010, 10:34pm

For all that Yanoro seemed to focus on how nosy Seelie and the

little Chavo were, he seemed to be the one asking the mostquestions. The Chavo regarded the man with an appraising eye,

pointed ly ignor ing the mehdayr i. He had l it tle t ime forstraddling egos, after all. He was not here to play the "mine is

bigger than yours" game. Of course, they had completelymisunderstood what, exact ly, had displeased him, but he

wouldn't hold it against them. After all, they couldn't read hismind. They did not know his plans for the night. They did not

know what he had in store for the little girl that stood besidehim.


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If only she knew. Perhaps she would have run screaming intothe night.

He is sitt ing right here, gadjo. And he belongs to no one.

Despite the slightly chastising tone to his words, they were notmeant offensively, or even arrogantly. He simply stated fact,

making it clear that he was not bonded (though, even if he

were, his response probably would have been much the same).He was a proud little creature, that much was evident. Proud,but not condescending. He did not hold himself above these two

before him - he simply was. He would never be anything buthimself.

For the f irst t ime See lie looked down at the Chavo, the

expression in her eyes hard to read in the dark of the night.There was the slightest shadow in her forehead, where her brow

was creased in a light frown. She said nothing, however, simplyreturned her attention to Yanoro.

"Widad should know that nothing could ever be as colorful

as she. Not even sharp-tongued, starry-eyed Chavos." The

girl cast a glance at the mehdayri, winking. Though there wasmild amusement in her tone, her words were sincere: Widad'scolors were the most luminous that Seelie had witnessed to date

- there was something about that bright red on white that washard to beat. She looked again at Yanoro, leaving his questions

about the Chavo unanswered, since the Tzingane had alreadyresponded.

"I made something for the Desert-Man." Seelie lowered her

eyelashes as she slipped something off of her left wrist and heldit out, seeming suddenly humble, and slightly shy. The thing she

offered was a braided bracelet, much like the ones she wore. Itwas woven out of the tough, hardy grasses found along the

edge of the beach, and knotted in here and there were tiny littlebead-like shells. It might have been feminine, except Seelie had

braided it in such a way that it spoke of strength rather thanprettiness.

"I have...Talent, and it is a tradition among Y'psi that

Talent is not left to waste. I...have no place here, but Istill use Talent." She shifted her weight a bit, then looked up

so that her eyes met Yanoro's, the expression in them fierce anddetermined, as it so often was. She fingered the other woven

band on her upper right arm - that one was for someone else,someone that she wanted more than anything to please. Giving

this to Yanoro was a sort of test, to see how the "gift" would bereceived. Of course, this did not make the gesture any less

sincere.

When Seelie first began to speak, the Chavo turned his head tolook up at her with his big, midnight-eyes. It was impossible to

read him, to guess what was going on inside of his head. Therewas, however, the faintest air of satisfaction about him, as

though he had reached some goal that he had been workingtowards for a long time.

Updated by Seelie on 12 Apr 2010, 10:46pm

Yanoro Nicolae


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Opaque V i l l ager

15 Apr 2010, 1:37am

Widad upon being ignored found herself quite peeved at the

little Chavo. She was not someone to be ignored. She raised her

neck up to the sky and turned her head away in disgust. ThisChavo was a peon to a creature of such might and valor. Hewould not be heeded. In her heart of hearts she new she was

the greater creature. Yanoro raised an eyebrow to this behavior,lightening a little bit. He chuckled for a moment at her reaction,

unaware that she could be so much of a diva. He knew that sheliked to play the boss, but this was a bit much. Well, you learn

something new every day, it seemed.

Yanoro, as a negative creature took the Chavo's retort ascondescension. He leered at the creature, scoffing. Well, id

seems 'che' chas a bid of a mouth. Yanoro was not pleased.He was not going to have a fox talk down to him. An de local

Shuv'ani off dis area chas dubbed me Kestra. Do call megadjo iss a grave insuld do cher. He muttered. Being Kestra

was the only bit of status he had in this society. He did not careif he only had rank amongst Tzingani. He was not going to let go

of that nickname for anything.

Widad, now recognizing her name lifter her head to peer inSeelie's direction. As she could not quite understand what she

was saying, she turned to Yanoro for an answer. He patted herlightly, denoting that it was a good thing, whereupon she leaned

forward to lick at Seelie's face with a long slobbery tongue. InWidad's eyes, Seelie had heeded Widad and had said something

to her bonded as a sign of submission. The Mehdayri decided toreward her very wise behavior as...you know...a greater

creature. Yes, the red and white maiden was a bit the Narcissisttoday.

The girl approached him with a gift. This caught the elder one

off guard. ...For me? He inquired, his visage revealing hiscurrent befuddlement. hWhy? This was odd. No one gave him

anything. No one really had a reason. It was pretty obvious thathe was not the town favorite by any stretch and it was not as if

he gave her any reason to make anything for him. The man hadnot exactly been on his best behavior upon their first meeting.

His long fingers reached down to grasp for the bracelet. He liked

it. It was made from objects acquired from the earth in anondestructive manner and it was not too feminine. He thought

of his littlest sister, painting leather for him or embroidering hislinen shirts. She would smile up at him, showing all her love in

her teeth. hYes...hyou do chave dalent, dear girl. Hisslipped it onto his wrist, careful not to rip it. Yanoro extended

an arm out and away from him so he could regard the aestheticappeal it took on when it adorned him. It suited him perfectly.

Dank hyou, Seelie. He said in a very soft voice. Whateverreason that Seelie had for making him that gift, it left the witch

infinitely touched. Someone was thinking about him without anyreason of suspicion. It was nice to know, as most of the time he

wondered about if anyone cared about him at all.



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19 Apr 2010, 9:48pm

The Chavo did not argue with Yanoro, nor did he retort in anyway. In fact, he did just the opposite.

He apologizes. The man would not l ie about such a thing.Indeed, to do so would be to risk alienating Yanoro from everyTzingane to ever cross his path again. They did not take kindlyto their Shuv'ani's name being taken in vain, so to speak.Acquaintance, yes. The man knows the desert, just like the not-quite-child. I t was a s tatement, not a quest ion. I t wou ldprobably be hard to know what to say in response, because theChavo was so matter-of-fact that it left little room for dispute.But, perhaps, neither one of them were supposed to respond.

See lie s lanted a g lance at the Chavo, then returned herattention to Yanoro. She watched as he slid the bracelet ontohis wrist. She beamed at him, pleased that he had accepted her

gift, and that he seemed to genuinely like it. She ignored hisquestion as to why she'd given him the gift, because she reallydidn't understand the reasons, herself. All she knew was thatshe'd had the impulse to make something for Yanoro, so shehad, and it was important to her that he liked it.

She shook her head when Yanoro thanked her, reaching out ahand to lightly touch the bracelet on his rest. "Yanoro shouldnot thank me. It is a gift..." she trailed off, unsure of how toexplain herself. The Y'psi did not thank each other - it wasconsidered something akin to an insult to do so. Just like theynever apologized, because such words were empty. It was theaction that held meaning. To thank a person for a gift waslike...belittling their hard work and honest effort. Seelie was not

offended, though. How could Yanoro know a thing about herculture, when she hardly understood it herself ?

And, yes. She had used his name. Yanoro, not Desert-Man. Itseemed that upon accepting her gift, he had al lowed theirrelationship to shift into something other than what it had been.Not necessarily more personal, but perhaps more comfortable.

The little Chavo abruptly stood up, ears perked forward, tailheld high. He has something to show her. Kestra may follow.

With that, he turned and trotted off into the long grass, his tailthe only part of h im vis ib le in the night. Seelie looked at

Yanoro, her expression shadowed.

"Come, Yanoro! Let us see what the Starry-Eyed Tzinganehas to show us!" With that she followed the romani into thegrass, skipping along as though she hadn't a care in the world.She didn't question the creature's motives, or try to find outwhere he was taking her. She just followed him, feel ing forsome reason that he was part of the magic of the night, and sheshould simply do , even if she didn't understand.

Updated by Seelie on 19 Apr 2010, 9:50pm



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Dank hyou.Yanoro knocked on his arm with his fingers, upon

crossing his arms. 'Damn right, I'm not lying'He thought tohimself. That place of status was like one of the treasures that

the Tzingani wore. It was a token that had a history. It was asign of respect and it was the only means of rank that he would

get in this little town. Oh, he knew that those around himthought him to be a grumpy, overly aggressive jerk. He knew

that because he calculated such behavior. The Tzingani were atrustworthy people despite their reputation for trickery and

thievery. They did not see him as the venomous outsider thateveryone else did and they would never intentionally as a

people hurt him for they were good people. In a way, they werea like kind, hapless travelers with no home. Such creatures

understood each other. This Tzingane he was unsure about. Hewas a little sneaky.

The man watched the girl as she reached out to touch her

handiwork. He withdrew his arm, an instinct but bowedapologetically. Mr. Nicolae was not quite used to being touched.

At the comment about needing no thanks Yanoro smiled andshook his head. My people arr a dankful people. We like do

gif danks. In a way id iss selfish. There was something oddabout hearing his name from her. He hardly heard anyone

address him as anything informal. It was sad though. Seelie wastrying to be more familiar with Yanoro but she could not see the

glass wall that would always stand between them. Yanoro wouldforever be a barrier between him and his relations. It was a

pitious one but a necessary one. However, he would try to playup the illusion for Seelie. She was such a nice girl and deserved

kindness. Maybe someone else was better suited to be hercompanion but the witch would give it his best shot.

His attention suddenly came back to the night hued creature. Hewas urging him to followe him. It lightened him when the soundof 'Kestra'hit his ear. It was such a sweet sound, so bright and

crisp. His eyes followed the creature as he darted into the tallgrass.

Without thinking he came to clutch for his Mount's reigns. Both

bond and bonded began striding in the little one's direction. Alook of puzzlement came across the gentleman's face. He was so

seduced by his title, he had forgotten to question what he wasdoing. Yanoro pouted, feeling like a sheep. Where arr we

going? He called to the two of them. They had already sprungoff. Shaking his head, he clicked for Widad to bow and mounted.

He then kicked quickly, bounding across the Plain towards what

ever trouble this sneak could get them into.


22 Apr 2010, 1:41am

There is a Hidden Place in the Desert, where only the Strongest Spirits may go.

It is said to be the home of the mighty South Wind, the fiercest of the FourWinds. The South Wind is ruler of the Deserts, and of al l the Creatures that

Live there. But of the Creatures, t he South Winds favorite is the Jugamba, thepowerful Sandcat, and often the South Wind wil l take its form and roam the

Desert, unseen by Mortal Eyes.-- from the ancient Y'psi legend of the South Wind


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The only response to Yanoros question was a faint laugh, andthe sound of rustling grass as the child chased after the fleeingChavo. Though Yanoro was on Widads back, the Chavo woundhis way across the plains in such a manner that it would be hard

to run full-out for long, because just as they reached their fullstride, they would be forced to take a sharp and sudden turn ifthey wished to keep on the Tzinganes trai l. To Seelie, thisbecame something of a game, and her laughter was oftencarried back to Yanoro as she raced along, running much fasterthan her height should ever have allowed.

The landscape changed from hilly to flat, and soon Seelie foundthat she could easily see the little Tzingane, for the grass wasmuch shorter here. Shed been running longer and harder thanshed thought, and now that the initial fun had worn off hercalves and lungs began to burn. Still she ran, unwilling to fallbehind. When she thought she might collapse of exhaustion,

there suddenly loomed before her a great hill covered in grassso tal l that i t grew several feet over her head, and wouldprobably reach somewhere close to Yanoros chest. The girlskidded to a stop, realizing that the Chavo had finally ceasedhis flight. The little fox-thing had turned and was facing her,watching Seelie with eyes full of mystery. A strange silver flashcaught the childs eyes, and she looked up to see a strange lightemanating from somewhere at the top of the big hi l l . It wasimpossible to see where it was coming from because the grasswas so thick and tal l, but the l ight was so bright she wassurprised she hadnt seen it before. It was likely that it could beseen from miles around, especially since the area surroundingthe hill was so flat.

The not-quite-child should prepare herself. He found it. Heknows what she is. With those cryptic statements, the Chavoturned tail and disappeared only the grass shifting back andforth marked the path he took up the hil l . Seelie hesitated,suddenly uncertain, and a little bit anxious. She turned to lookfor Yanoro, suddenly wanting to be close to the tall, dark man.He might not be a friend, exactly, but she felt that she was safeenough around him. She jerked her head back towards the hillwhen the Chavos voice came floating to her upon the night air,though his words were directed at Yanoro.

Kestra must follow. The not-quite-child should not face thisalone.

Again Seelie looked at Yanoro, this time questioning. Curiositytugged at her, and there wassomething else. Something shecould not explain, or even understand. She rubbed the amanison her upper arm, for the charm had grown suddenly warm andalive. It was as if something was calling to her Spirit, and shefelt helpless to ignore it. But she didnt want to go into that tallgrass by herself, didnt want to approach that softly shimmeringlight without a familiar presence by her side. It was likely thatYanoro and his mehdayri would sense something as well, forthere seemed to be an almost tangible feel ing in the air, afeeling of...what? Anticipation? Beckoning? Foreboding? It washard to tel l, but whatever i t was i t had the hair all alongSeelie's arms and the back of her neck standing on end.

"Yanoro? You will come?" the girl leaned towards the hill, asthough holding herself back, but she kept her attention on


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Yanoro. Her expression was almost pleading, and if one listenedclosely they could detect the sl ight waver in her voice. She

would go either way, she couldn't notgo.

- - - - - - -

DEEThe l itt le faedragon Queen had been sleeping contentedly,curled up on the little pillow set aside for Seelie (though thechild never used it - she was so used to sleeping on hard groundthat she slept on the floor, and left the bed to her Bonded). Itwasn't often that Seelie left Asha alone, so strong was theirBond, but when she did the Atara was content to wait for herBonded as long as it took for her to return. It didn't seem likethis night would be any different for Asha, for her breaths cameslow and even, and the occasional emotional projections thatsl ipped out of her dreams were content and happy.

But tonight, this would not last.

There came a sudden tri l l of alarm, and the l itt le fae leapedstraight up from her sleeping place and into the air, trumpetingher alarm again. With eyes gone wide, she rocketed through theair as fast as her wings would take her and straight to whereverDee or Dee's nearest Bonded was at the moment. When shereached whomever it was that she would happen across first,she would flutter about its head, projecting wave after wave ofapprehension and anxiety. She would flutter a short way in thedirection of the plains, and then back, again and again, all thewhile beckoning with mind and emotion that she should befollowed. After a few frenzied moments of this she would takeoff towards the Northern Plains without looking back. Whetheror not she was fol lowed was completely up to Dee/Dee'sBonded, but the intensity of the Atara's urgency could not bedenied.

- - - - -

KALLISTOKallisto, wherever she was, would find herself suddenly face toface with an apparently terrified Shafa that trembled from headto foot. The Jel ly had never met Kall is to before, but he

recognized her from the many times that Seelie had spoken ofthe Tigress, with mind-pictures and with words. Despite the factthat Seelie had again and again impressed upon him that theTigress was friend, not predator, Orkin could not get over thefact that she was so tal l and furry and.. ..tiger-like. Theinstinctive fear of prey encountering predator had him frozen inplace, staring at Kall isto with wide, round, terrified eyes.

And then the inevitable would happen.

The Jelly would explode, green slime flying all over the placeand l ikely all over Kall isto and whichever of her Shinieshappened to be standing near. He would reappear in recordtime, peeking fearfully out from behind some nearby bulky or

leafy object, his little nose quivering. Probably the only thingthat would save him from being eaten by a dragon or pantherawas the single word he spoke next.


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Seelie! With that, the little Shafa turned tail and fled - bounding

towards his Bonded in the Northern Plains just as frantically ashe ran awayfrom Kallisto.


KallistoPo l i shed V i l lager

22 Apr 2010, 4:12am

'Oh dear.' Kael managed to shield Kallisto from the inevitableexplosion with a section of his long body. The little Shafa had

come out of nowhere. And then he blew up. Not exactlysomething Kallisto understood, but not something she couldn'tdeal with. Although the one who considered eating the Shafathe most was probably the Tigress herself. It had been a day ortwo since she had properly fed, and her thouoghts had taken ona more animal edge. The word the little thing said, though, wasmost unexpected.

Seelie?

Kallisto watched as the little creature dashed away, fleeing fromher. "Stay here with Adonis." Kael nodded his great head, and

she took off like a greyhound from the gate, tugging on a Bondas she did. Despite the Shafa's fast pace, Kallisto kept up withlittle trouble. She was joined half-way by another decidedlyfeline streak. The moonlight had turned Erebus' bronze pelt adull gold, his chaotic frill a darker, royal purple, silver colouringgleaming. He asked no questions, but followed, labouredbreathing and the sound of his paws the only trace of hisexistence.

Finally, they came upon the gathering of Shinies and people.Seelie included. Kallisto had been running on all fours, but nowstood as she approached them. The male's face was fimiliar. Her

orange pelt resisted the moon beams, stll burning fiery in thedarkness, while the black stripes that wrapped her bodysuccumbed to the light, turning the darkest silver. If herpredator status wasn't asserted enough, when the limited lighthis her eyes just so, they gleamed like a hunter's, just asErebus' did.

"Seelie?" She asked, a greeting just as much as it was aquestion as to what was going on. Her sweet voice as smoothand cool as ever, nevermind that she was worried just momentsago. But seeing Seelie safe and whole had swiftly eased hernerves. Erebus coolly examined the man and his Mehdayri, navyeyes near black in the night. Then he daintily lay down by

Kallisto's side, his lithe form looking especially feminine in themoonlight.


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Updated by Kallistoon 22 Apr 2010, 4:13am

Rilowe Anavari

Opaque V i l l ager

22 Apr 2010, 6:13am

I hate you too, Planet!

Rilowe had actually taken the time (and hard earned monies) toinvest in a pair of shoes suitable for outdoor activity, something

with half a brain in its head be praised! However, he wasbeginning to reconsider the wisdom of that decision.

You see, Happy-Rilowe-Cause-and-Effect-Mathematics had a

formula for this sort of thing. Since Rilowe had bought a pair ofshoes that wouldnt set his feet to bleeding blisters, he had

actually begun to feel adventurous (again), and had set off onhis adventures to find a good er, rental property(read:

abandoned shack he could break into) with a renewed vigor,more spring in his step than limp this time around. However,

since Rilowe had gained the cojones (which Rilowe was fairlycertain meant rabbits, oddly enough) to go hiking again, it led

to well. His current predicament.

He was being followedby a great beast with a fearsomedemeanor, and an unnatural, eerie call that split the air with a

warbling ferocity. Rilowe did not like being followed by creatureshe didnt recognize, especially on this world; it was usually sign

one that the universe was up to no good and somethingridiculously unpleasant was going to happen to him. Again.

Rilowe wasnt sure what in the world he had done to acquire somuch bad what did the Illori call it? Karma? Either way, he

must have done something, and now the world was out to gethim one lowing doom beast at a time.

It was a hell of an existence, truth be told.

Rilowe was running as fast as he could push himself to go,

weaving out of the forest he had first been accosted in, hopingto lose the creature among the cover of trees. If nothing else, it

wasnt right on his heels, far bulkier than he was, and thushindered by the closer clusters of trees that Rilowe could (pretty

much) slip through. The plains werent ideallosing thingscountry, but if nothing else, it meant that it was easy terrain to

advance his lead on the deathbeast. He was breathing hard,heart pounding at a maddening tattoo in his chest, seeming to

threaten to burst. Rilowe knew he had limitations, and itseemed that he had lost the whatever it was, so he took to

slowing down, gasping for breath as he went from his sprint to abrisk walk, looking over his shoulder quite frequently.

He kept this up for longer than he imagined he did; wasnt it a

surprise to look forward again and find that he had trekked hisway to a huge hill and a trio of familiar faces! Well, a familiar

pelt, a familiar height, and That One Jackass, really, but he

thought he recognized them! He tried not to contemplate on thenature of coincedences, and figured this was the evil Planetsway of keeping him from finding his way off a cliff. After all,

what fun could it have with a squished pile of Rilowe-goo?
http://isnit.acornrack.com/user/user-75373http://isnit.acornrack.com/user/user-75373http://isnit.acornrack.com/user/user-80156http://isnit.acornrack.com/user/user-75373http://isnit.acornrack.com/user/user-80156


15/39

on second thought, nothing needed to answer that. Ever.

He put a little more oomph into his step, jogging a little to get

over to the three of them--and while he didnt trust JerkfaceMcTrippypants as far as he could lob the man, Kallisto and

Seelie would keep things from getting too serious (he hoped).

W-well f-fancy seeing the lot of you out here Evenseverely winded and doubled over trying to catch his breath,Rilowe couldnt help but run his mouth a little.

nor could he help being completely oblivious to the gleaming

white skeletal Vargul sauntering up behind him with mutedclicks of its bones, glowing, gaseous yellow-green eyes fixated

on the short-of-breath human.

Updated by Rilowe Anavari on 22 Apr 2010, 6:31am

DeePo l i shed Bard

22 Apr 2010, 9:18am

((xD Written on the steps outside the cultural historymuseum~))

It was one of those rare times in the week when Dee wassleeping.

I did not happen often - for one, she had not needed to sleepmuch since she had become a fairy, and in addition she didn'tlike to. Sleep was too revealing.

But she did need to sleep, sometimes, and so now she wascurled up underneath the covers in her canopy bed, curtainsdrawn and with almost all of her body hidden entirely beneaththe blanket. One hand was sticking out, though, and it lookedstrange in the bedroom's dim light - too-thin and with a sickly,greenish coloration.

The fanfare from the Atara woke her up with a start, and therewas a flurry of movement as Dee leapt out of her bed. She

rushed over to her bedroom door, hesitating right in front of it -then, running back to her nightstand, she grasped her wandquickly, and moments later a pulse of blue light filled the room.There was the click of a lock turning and the door was flungopen, and the fairy that stared out did not look like your usualbleary-eyed sleeper - she was already fully dressed, with herusual impeccable hair and makeup.

"What is it, Asha?" she asked the panicking Atara, feeling theemotions of urgency that pulsated off the young queen. "IsSeelie in trouble?"

But there was no answer from the faedragon - instead, thestartled critter trilled at her and began fluttering back and forth

as in panic. Dee stepped forward as to comfort her, but thecreature leapt forward as she did - and this continued until thefairy understood that the little creature must want her to follow


16/39

her. As she followed the faedragon down the stairs and out ofthe house, Hans, who liked to sleep in a chair in the hallway,

woke up and followed them silently. He didn't know what hisbond was doing, but he was sure it would merit chronicling.

Imagining all manner of horrible things, the fairy flew as quickly

as she could after the fleeing Atara, recognizing the way to the

plains quickly - what was going on? Had Seelie been hurt? Whathad the child been doing out at this hour, anyway? She reallyshould teach her to stick to curfew.

The buzzing questions stilled some when Dee arrived at the

scene, seeing at once that Seelie did not appear to be hurt.Landing at the child's side, she looked out over the odd

gathering. Were they the reason the young queen had been insuch a panic? "What's going on, jitterbug?" she asked with

her hand on the girl's shoulder, using the nickname the childhad earned within moments of moving into Dee's home.

The Svata, not having managed to run as quickly as Dee and

Asha could fly, came wheezing in some time later. Breathing

heavily, he stopped, took a look at the scene - and then tookout a notebook from his bookbag and began scribbling furiously.

Updated by Dee on 22 Apr 2010, 12:34pm


23 Apr 2010, 12:17am

Yanoro followed as swiftly as he could, though it was quite hardto keep his speed up with the random darting and dashing thislittle Chavo made. He grumbled, slowing to something a touchabove a skip. Will dis guy ever learn do run in a line?This wasno fun. What was incredible about the wild is that you couldpretty much make your own pace. Yanoro had come out there insearch of freedom and somehow he got trapped into followingthe direction of this curious little creature. There was somethingup with him. The witch could smell it. Breathing deeply, heregained his cool as he followed the others into the night.

Yanoro watched the scenery change. Nature was rather curious.You could think you predict how everything would look aroundthe corner but mother Planet would always win out. Still, he didnot think too much of the shifting in terrain. Yanoro was a manof nature. He expected the unexpected from nature andwelcomed it. He was surprised that Seelie halted suddenly andpulled hard on his reigns to do the same. Seelie? Hemumbed, watching her. There seemed to be some nonverbalcommunication gong on between the Chavo and the child. Thedesert girl turned towards a bright light at the top of the grassyhill, rapt. Yanoro waited, his skin crawling with the feeling ofexpectation. Something was going to happen and Mr. Nicolaewas not sure that he was alright with distant lights inmysterious grassy landscapes.

The Chavo began to speak. The witch found his words cryptic.For a moment he wondered why the critter was being so


17/39

dramatic, but was interrupted in this contemplation as the blackform made his way up the hill. Yanoro's green gaze once again

came upon the girl. She seemed so frightened and moved closerto him and his bond to remedy it. ...Seelie?He murmured,

asking nothing but also asking everything. The creature thenspoke to him through the talk grass, imploring him to join her

towards the bright light. The man was not thrilled about the

idea of going and messing with the unknown but what was hegoing to do? Yanoro wasn't going to cross into somethingpotentially dangerous alone. He was no coward. Of course.

He answered the small girl extending his arm down to her.cHere. I will giff hyou a ride!

He saw Kallisto then, running on all fours towards the three of

them. Yanoro, conversely did not recognize her and thought hera wild creature bent on attacking them or ushering them toward

the light. Thinking quickly, he tilted over to the side and tuggedher up onto the the Mehdayri with him. The creature then

addressed the child in a kind manner. Oh, they were familiar.OH! IT'S THAT TIGER WOMAN! The man felt stupid, letting his

eyelids droop half closed. He would contemplate his own foibles

for the next good while. cHullo? He mumbled to her. A flushof red came to his cheeks as he remembered the circumstancesin which they met. They were not what you would call favorable.

The largest sigh of exasperation could be heard as the final

newcomer crossed into view. 'Dat idiod!'He thought bitterly assoon as he could make out his figure in the glow of the distant

light. Rilowe seemed to be running from something. 'Good, hedeserves it.'That man was nothing but trouble and hopefully it

was something big and scary to claw the tar out of him. He sawthe thief tire and start his ambling. That was not a good sign.

Maybe Yanoro would get his wish for once. Still, nothing seemedto be coming for him. It wasn't too long before Rilowe got wind

that Yanoro was there and began chugging to this wholeensemble. Mr. Nicolae had no idea that Kallisto or Seelie knew

him. He didn't want to poke his head into the business of theinsane. He had his own things to do. ...Don dink hyou're

going do do any pocked searching doday, Sir. He growled,his expression forming into a sneer.

There was no time to think, however, as a winged woman joined

the lot of them also. Was this some big ambush that Seelie setup for him? He was unsure, but looked sideways at the girl that

he had set in front of him. She also seemed concerned aboutthe safety of his small companion. WHAT WAS GOING ON? This

all was so very odd. I don kno hyou... He muttered to thefairy woman, raising an eyebrow in her direction. His scanning

eyes picked up the little Svata that had joined them. The Kestrawas happy another Tzingane had joined them, a little tired of

the original in this encounter.

Oh, this was going to get weird.


25 Apr 2010, 5:33am

[ Okay. So. From here on out, the Spirit-Quest will be done in

"rounds" of sorts. Each round will be marked by an excerpt in


18/39

italics -- some rounds may consist of more than one or twoposts per person. Some of the rounds might also start in the

middle of my post (like this one), or even at the end of it. It alldepends on how things occur ICly.

Sometimes I will describe a scenario with very little detail, and

only the facts. This means that I'm leaving the details up to you

(as with the beginning of this particular round). If I don'tdescribe Seelie's experience/reaction, it's either because I'mgoing to do it in my next post, or because it's something that's

supposed to be revealed later.

I apologize for any rambling ahead of time. This is my first timedoing something like this, so if I fail miserably, don't hold it

against me. x___o; XD I'm going to cut out a lot of "detail"that'd I normally put in, for the sake of sparing everyone's

eyes. So if my posts seem rushed, that might be why. =/]

- - - - -

Orkin was the first to arrive, little more than a dark blur thatstreaked across the ground and, without stopping, collided with

Seelie's leg. The gir l let out a grunt of pain, wincing. Shereached down and instinctively picked up the terrified Jelly, who

seemed to calm down considerably. At the famil iar sight ofKallisto (she'd recognize that walk anywhere), the girl stepped

forward, eyes lighting up with warmth and welcome. She movedjust as Yanoro reached down to pick her up and put her on the

camel with him, so that he just barely missed her. She brokeinto a wide grin, her expression welcome and relief mingled.

Yanoro made her feel safe, but with Kallisto here she now felteven more protected and secure. When Yanoro spoke she

glanced back at him, then at Kallisto.

"The Tigress is Kallisto. The Desert-Man is Yanoro." Herway of introducing them, though it was worded somewhat oddly.

She might have said more, but then Rilowe came panting up tothem, and she couldn' t help but smi le again. She saw the

skeletal vargul that followed, but assumed the creature was justanother Shiny -- both Ari and Gelasia had the skeleton-things,

so the sight of it did not alarm her.

"The Glittering-Man looks like he's just escaped a starvedsandcat!" There was that silent laughter worming its way into

her eyes, and she even giggled a little bit, but the sound wasmore nervous than amused. She was stalling, trying to pretend

that she didn't feel whatever it was that she was feel ing.

Abruptly, Seelie's head turned and she held out a hand, palm-up, eyes glowing with warmth and affection. Seconds later a

s ilent, sof tly g lowing form f lew through the a ir to landgracefully on the girl's palm. The faedragon was crooning deep

in her throat as she landed, and she lowered her head to rub itagainst Seelie's wrist, projecting both relief and scolding into

her Bonded's mind. How dare Seelie scare her like that! Ashahad been frantic with worry, sensing Seelie's fear and insecurity.

She'd gone and woken up Dee and everything!

Speaking of fairy-godmothers.

At the fairy's touch, Seelie instinctively leaned into Dee, takingboth warmth and security from Dee's presence. There was a

little tug in her mind, and she glanced down to see Halis emerge


19/39

from the tall grass to stand by her side, his head held as highand proud as ever. The kit had grown significantly - already

taller than most his age, even other Kralis. He looked regal asalways, his sun-kissed coat gleaming burnished gold in the

moonlight, amber eyes turned to liquid-jewels. He said nothing,as was his wont - he rarely spoke, except for when he had

something meaningful to say.

They cannot wait.

The Chavo reappeared at the edge of the thick, tall grass thatgrew upon the hil l . He turned back towards the shimmering

light, one paw dangling in the air as he paused.

The girl looked at him, frowning. Her expression was caughtsomewhere between confusion and resentment. The former

because she thought that she might know what was about tohappen, but she didn't understand how it could happen here.

The latter towards the little tzingane, because she associatedhis presence with the bewildering events.

Then, because she could not resist the strange pull that seemedto be coming from that light at the top of the hill, she steppedforward to follow the Chavo. Asha fluttered to her Bonded's

shoulder, doing her best to project soothing and comfortingemotions at Seelie, oblivious to everyone else until she was sure

that Seelie was okay. The girl cradled the Jelly close to herchest, taking comfort in the warmth of his f luffy coat. She

paused just long enough to look at the l it tle gathering.

"You will come?" This she said to all of them, but didn't waitfor an answer. Instead she turned and abruptly broke into a run,

disappearing into the tall grasses, her feet f lying over theground, taking her to the top of the hil l and the l ight that

waited as fast as she could go. Now that she'd realized therewas no turning back, she wanted to get it over with as quickly

as possible.

When she reached the top of the hill, she was astonished to findthat she'd emerged from the tall grass and into a rather wide,

circular clearing. And, sitting in front of her, was the mouth of amassive-looking cave that seemed to burrow down into the hill.

A veil of si lvery l ight hovered at the cave's entrance - thesource of the bright glowing that had first attracted her eye.

She hesitated only a moment - not long enough for anyone toreach her. In that moment, the Chavo paused to look at her,

blinking his starry eyes, and then turned and leaped into theveil. The girl took a deep breath and ran after him, squinting

against the harshness of the light.

To anyone watch ing, i t wou ld look l ike See lie had beenswallowed whole by the light. Though it seemed like they could

see the cave behind it, there was no trace of the child movingabout on the other side of the veil. A few silent moments would

pass, and then a terrible sound would rent the night in two.

Seelie's scream was fi l led with both pain and terror - raw,bloodcurdling, desperate. It sounded like a thousand souls being

torn apart, like some helpless creature thrashing about in the jaws of a mighty predator.

With a very un-Tzingani-like snarl, Halis charged into the veil of

light, his eyes blazing with fear for his Bonded. Whether theothers followed would be up to them, but if Seelie could think in

her moment of terror and panic, she would swear that her


20/39

friends would not hesitate. She trusted them, even loved someof them. Perhaps that was why theyhad been chosen to follow

her on this journey.

- - - - -

To reach the Hidden Place, t he man must first pass through the White Veil,where he wil l gl impse his greatest Fears.

-- first step in the Y'psi Spirit Quest

THE VEIL -- passing through the vei l wil l be l ike passingthrough a very tight, confining space. All of the breath will bemomentarily squeezed from the lungs. Then, abruptly, terriblevisions will assault the mind -- each person's greatest fears willsuddenly seem to loom before them. These fears are individual-based, and will be completely "in their heads," so to speak and yesss, you should describe these fears (I l l be describingSeelies in the next post). This will only last for several seconds,but will probably seem like much longer. They will finally pass

through the veil of light and into the cave's immediate entrance,where they wil l f ind Seelie standing with her back to theentrance, very stil l but breathing very hard, covered in greengoo (Orkin exploded, naturally), her hands pressed over hereyes like she's playing hide-and-seek. The faedragon is crooningand singing to her, working desperately to soothe her, and theJel ly wrapped around one of her legs, trembling. Hal is ispressed against her other leg, facing the entrance, all of his furstanding on end, his eyes wide and his pupils di lated withshock.

NOTE: Shinies will experience the same visions as their Bonded,rather than their own worst fears.


KallistoPo l i shed V i l lager

25 Apr 2010, 8:11am

Ah, yes. Kallisto remembered Yanaro, eyes watching as heshifted on his Mehdayri. It had been some time since they hadlast met. It seemed like moments later, Rilowe came stumblingin, out-of-breath, but still managing to amuse the Tigress withhis incessent words. While Seelie reacted with apperantenjoyment at the man's appearence, the same could not be saidabout her other male companion. Clearly their last meetinghadn't been a pleasent one. The creature that followed him wasrecognized as a Vargul. And since it so faithfully followedRilowe, she assumed he was Bonded to it. "Hmmmm. Peoplegenerally like the company of their Shiny. And you fleefrom it." Strange humans. She might never understand them.

Yet another figured appeared, led by a Fae Queen. Kallisto hadspotted the fairy around a couple of times but had never spoken


21/39

to her before. The Tigress generally didn't like crowds of people,but since these faces were fimiliar to some degree, she didn't

feel the immediate need to escape, to disappear into thedarkness. What bothered Kallisto most was that nobody seemed

to know what was going on. Which meant she couldn't askquestions and she couldn't understand. Which irritated her.

However, it seemed her luck was changing as the Chavobeckoned to them, inviting them over. Perhaps the feline could

gather information there. Her choice was sealed as Seeliemoved forward. She could not allow the child to go unguarded,

and that was that. As soon as Seelie took off, Kallisto andErebus were behind her, easily keeping pace behind the girl,

eight limbs working in unison. Soon enough, they burst into theclearing, both Kallisto and Panthera immediatel closing their

eyes (6 in total) and jerking their heads away, the light burningtheir sensitive eyes, the feline standing to cover her then with

her fingers.

Kallisto would've been content to wait for the others to eithercatch up or say something, but Seelie seemed to grit her teethand run forward without thinking. Of course, being temporarily

blinded, the warrior didn't see all that. Her pupils were paper-thin slits, desperately trying to limit the amount of light that

was taken in. "What is this?" She murmered, mostly toherself, but if anyone wanted to offer an answer she sure

wouldn't have minded. And then Seelie screamed.

Kallisto's heart, which beat twice as fast as a human's by

default, stopped dead an sputtered for a moment before pickingup again double tempo. Without so much as a second thought

(or first thought, really) she threw herself forward, and Erebusfollowed after an instance of hesitation. The weight of the air

pressing in on her, pressing out her lungs, forced her on allfours. And then the vision, which really didn't seem like a vision

at all. Riddle me this. Riddle me that. What's the fear of thisbig, feirce cat?

Kallisto was blind. Darkness had descended on her, falling overher eyes likea veil. There were no scents, everything bland and

tasteless. No sounds made her way to her ears, not even herown clawed feet and hands as they clicked against the ground.

At least she assumed it was the ground. She couldn't feelanything. Kallisto was under the influence of totaly sensory

deprivement. And despite all this, she did feel something. Shedidn't know how, but somehow she knewshe was being

watched. Many, many eyes preyed upon her form, slinking justout of reach, stretching toward her with their claws, taunting

her with their eyes. She threw her claws out at random, nevertouching anything but air. Erebus liked it about as much as she

did, snarling and whipping around, trying to see the invisibleenemies. It was hell. In her desperation, Kallisto loosed a sound

that would greet the others outside, welcoming them to thecave.

The Tigress roared. There was nothing humaniod about thesound. It was raw and wild, literally vibrating the air around

her. A tiger's roar can be heard from nearly two miles away, andthe compressed space seemed to make it louder. And man, did

Kallisto sound pissed. Whether it was in response to the


22/39

warrior's fury, or it simply thought she had been throughenough, the vision pulled away, returning the senses to the

felines. Kallisto remained still on all fours for a moment, chestheaving, struggling to acheive a normal quantity of air, Erebus

doing nearly the same, he laying on his side.

Kallisto then saw Seelie and the shocked state of her Shinies,and she slunk forward, still on all fours. She was unsure if onlytwo legs would support her at this time. "Seelie." She called,

reaching for her, but stopping halfway, unsure. Kallisto wasn'tthe best at these types of things. Instead of grabbing Seelie,

Kallisto brushed her knuckled over the top of Seelie's arm,velveteen fur sliding smoothly over the child's skin. "Seelie.

Are you unharmed? Open your eyes, Seelie. You're safe.It's...alright." Kallisto crouched near the girl's slender figure,

the stance protective, but her voice was low, the normallysmooth voice slightly raspy, like listening to the tongue of a cat

rubbing over your skin like sandpaper.

Updated by Kallistoon 25 Apr 2010, 8:18am

Rilowe AnavariOpaque V i l l ager

25 Apr 2010, 8:55pm

Rilowe frowned at Jerkass from That One Alleyway--apparentlynamed Yanoro, according to Seelies cheerful introductions--

eyes narrowing as he returned a sneer of his own. I wouldntgo digging in your pocks even if you paid me. Youprobably have scorpions in them. Or tiny cactuses. Cacti?He paused, frowning a little as he tried to remember what theproper plural form of cactus was, reaching up to pat Festes jawas the Maubaine slid its head over Rilowes shoulder, leering atYanoro with i ts perpetually skeletal grin. Ah, id iss hyou, theskeleton cheerfully rumbled, the line of its gaze fixated on thewitch-human.

Rilowe frowned a little, squinting as he turned to look at hisnew companion, clicking his tongue. A little nasal for him, Ithink. How that works since you lack air passages and

nasal cavities, Im unsure, but The vargul gave a shrug,still staring Yanoro down like a living predator might stare downa bleeding and crippled piece of prey. Either way, we wontsearch pockets if you dont gang up on people in alleyways, ityawned, more a show of teeth than a lack of energy, letting itsgreat jaws clack together. Rilowe snickered, rolling his eyes andcurling his fingers around the spiral of one of Festes horns.Behave, bonehead.

He then gave an indignant frown (it was not a pout, thank youvery much) at both Seelie and Kallisto. Im not running fromthe pile of bones, he said with a sniff, looking over hisshoulder warily. Im being followed by something muchmuch worse, thank you kindly. Was Feste snickering at this

declaration? Rilowe scowled at i t, crossing his arms over hischest. Oh shut up. You have no nerve endings, youve gotnothing to be afraid of when it comes to pain. The banter
http://isnit.acornrack.com/user/user-75373http://isnit.acornrack.com/user/user-75373http://isnit.acornrack.com/user/user-80156http://isnit.acornrack.com/user/user-75373http://isnit.acornrack.com/user/user-80156


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might have continued if well. Seelie took off like a shot,leaving Rilowe dumbfounded as he stared after her, squinting in

an attempt to see what she was running towards. Whatsgotten into her?

Being a frequent runner (and increasing his frequency of

running with every passing day), Rilowe was more than a little

aware of the reasons people took to flight. Games, desperation,anger, lateness, fear You will come? Come to what? Rilowehad opened his mouth to ask another question--come to what,

why are we running? What sort of game is this?--but thenSeelie answered his initial curiosity with a single, horrific wail

that sent a chill to Rilowes bones and made his heart stutterover its next beat. Kallisto shot off like a rocket, and Rilowe

followed her. He had a snowballs chance in hell of catching upto her, but he would still follow, he would still come, and--

What the hell was that light? He faltered for a moment, staring

at the unknown (and therefore the dangerous) with wide eyesand a mute tongue. Where had the girl child gone? He thought

he saw the tip of the tigress tail disappearing into that silvery

nothingness, but there was absolutely no telling shadows on theother side of the light. He started to stop, started to back up,started to try and interject logic and reason (and make excuses

as to why not to go through a light that devouredpeople andmade them wail like the dying)- -

And then Kallisto bellowed in such a terrifyingly bestial way that

Rilowe discarded his logic and went on his guts, following them,starting to call, Seelie?! Kallisto! He brought an arm up to

shield himself from the light--

But what good was that going to do? Its not like he could seeanything in the scratchy sack that covered his face, catching his

breath and making the space around his face unbearably humid,even though the rest of him was freezing cold. He was counting

to keep himself sane, to keep himself composed in thesemoments; nine feet thumped up five stairs and walked flat for

an additional four feet, at which point theyd be reduced toscraping and cacophony, dull little noises that his ears failed to

catch over the murmurings of the crowd. A man spoke, solemnand booming and he read off some declaration or another, the

words foreign to Rilowes ears. He couldnt think well enough totranslate language anymore, the words scrambling together and

then meaningless anyway as the crowd fell silent under thesound of hinges creaking, a sharply muted crack, and a final

sputtering of breath. Rilowe breathed in sympathy for thefallen, but then found himself choking as two pairs of hands

grabbed his bound arms, dragging him stumbling up steps,hauling him those hateful four feet and holding him in place as

another pair of unseen hands slid a noose of coarse rope aroundhis neck--

Running into alleyways had never served him well, had they?

Well, its not like he would be doing much running anymoreanyway; the bullets from their rifles had chewed his legs into

fine lumps of meat and cracked bone, leaving him helplessagainst the dank, slimy wall of the seedy local bar. He tried to

remember what it was like to breathe, but every gasp ended upchoked off from the clashing pains that raged inside his head.

The Missus was still across the way, sprawled out on hisstomach with his face turned away from Rilowe, and for a

moment, Rilowe was glad that it was dark. That way, hecouldnt tell if the brackish muddle that was blooming beneath

the other man was leftover water siphoned off from the rooftops


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during the last storm, or if it was the Missus own blood. Heswallowed, testing his legs one more time and finding them

unresponsive, leading him to gritting his teeth as he dug hisnails into his palms, keeping his head down as the soldiers

advanced up the alleyway, half of the group breaking off to gopoke and prod at the Missus prone form, while the other half

circled him, chattering to one another in a language he didnt

quite understand. He hadnt even taken anything this time,hadnt been anywhere but the wrong place at the wrong time,but that didnt matter, did it? The muzzle of the rifle was cold

as it nosed up to his temple, one of the men laughing as he--

Ended up on the floor. Again. He seemed awful fond of being onthe ground, didnt he? Well, it was far too much of a pain in the

neck (or should it be said gut) to stand at this moment, so hechose to curl up and press his hands flat against his stomach,

trying to hold everything in . Maybe he should have done abetter background check into the men he was dealing his hard-

earned artifacts to. Maybe he should have brought a knife of hisown. Maybe he should have gotten out of the thieving business,

and gone somewhere with the Missus to open a bakery or

something ridiculously quaint like that, something that involvedan honest days work and nobody with knives and ill-tempersand the Missus shook his shoulder, calling Rilowe! Rilowe,

dont you dare-- as he pushed a coat tight against his friendsstomach, hollering over his shoulder for help, help, somebody,

anybody, and Rilowe gives a weak laugh. Thats the first timehes ever heard the Missus screaming, and he curls up as the

weak chuckle turns into a hack and he can taste metal on histongue, so he--

Cant help but wonder where it all went wrong. Its bitter cold

out today, but he hasnt felt warm in a good long time. Hespropped up against a tree, the bark biting into his back, and

maybe that would have caused a younger man to move, to seeka better place to sit, but Rilowe just doesnt care anymore. He

doesnt remember how it came to this, sitting silent with wispy-thin grey bangs growing into his face, and he has a feeling that

he wouldnt care to remember, even if he could. He has astaring match with their simple markers, flat stones left for

people that society couldnt care enough to remember thenames of, couldnt care enough to properly enshrine with

something more than a plain gray stone and a date, and yetthese nondescript stones stand sentinel for everything that ever

meant anything in his life. He can almost hearhim laughing,would give the world to hearhermock him and call him an idiot

again, but his prayers go unanswered and he sits alone in apoor mans graveyard with nothing but his memories and his

hindsight and--

Suddenly Rilowe went sprawling onto the cave floor, heaving forbreath on his hands and knees as a result of Feste ramming his

back with the bulk of its head. Enough. The Vargul hadalready faced the terror of death and come out the other side,

so there was nothing to chill him in the frenzied swirls of theorythat made up Rilowes deepest terrors. Rilowe gasped as he

shakily pushed himself to sit up on his knees, swallowing(tasting no blood), feeling his stomach (feeling no wounds), and

if he couldve stopped his hands from shaking, he would haveunclasped all the chains around his neck and stuffed them into a

pocket for a time where he felt like a braver man. He hadntscreamed (as far as he could tell), but he had never felt quite

as torn apart as he did in this moment, despite the way thatFeste pressed the flat of its great head to his back, trying to

keep the man here in the now, in the youre alive, you fool.


25/39

He looked over towards the tigress and the child, pressing his

hands flat to the tops of his thighs, still not quite able to banishthe tremors running through his body. All right? He forced

out, unable to string together enough words for a sentence ashe pressed his fingers against his eyes, working frantically to

dispel the demons settling at the edge of his conscious, their

terrible futures gleaming brighter than they ever had in the idle,frustrated moments of his mind. Not real. It wasnt real. Itnever would be real.

Breathe, Rilowe, breathe.

Updated by Rilowe Anavari on 2 May 2010, 3:31am

DeePo l i shed Bard

1 May 2010, 2:08pm

Something was clearly off, Dee decided. Seelie seemed toopreoccupied to answer her question, and there was a strange...tension in the air, almost like anticipation. As the girl leanttoward her, Dee squeezed her shoulder in comfort, eyesscanning the odd gathering of humanoids. She couldn't recallhaving seen any of them before - but there were so manypeople in the Weyrd that she had never met. Offering them allan uncertain smile, she turned back to the silent child, watchingin confusion as Seelie broke from her grasp and went toward the

tall grass.

What on Planet was going on? Follow where?But before shecould ask any questions, the child had disappeared into thegrass, the cat-lady and one of the men soon following suit."Seelie, wait!" the fairy yelled, taking to her wings at onceand following the rest. As she flew through the grasses, thelong straws bent away at her approach, saving her the troubleof beating them off - and in her wake, Hans struggled to keepup, his tired wheezes muffled by the pen and book he carried inhis mouth.

She entered the clearing just in time to miss the others'

entrance into the little cave and stopped, bewildered, ruffledcurls resettling themselves to their usual smoothness theinstant she stopped moving. Forehead wrinkling, the fairylooked around the circular space - and just as her eyes settledon the glowing cavern opening, a blood-curdling scream filledthe air, and Dee cried out in surprise. "Seelie!" she yelled,diving into the light.

There was a sensation of being squashed, and then-

A hundred faces were staring at her in shock and horror, andthe surprised murmurs from the crowd tugged at her ears,sending chills through her body. She could see disdain on a fewof the closest faces - no, not even that; revulsion. A moment's

confusion filled her mind - then terrible certainty.

No.


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She looked down at herself, then back up at the whispering

crowd. No. That couldn't happen. It wouldn't happen. She wasso careful, so- but the faces in the crowd confirmed it. It had,

and now... now. Now they could see her. After hundreds ofyears, after so many precautions and so much pretense - they

could see her.

For a moment, she was paralyzed by the realization, lockedmotionless by the stares from the crowd. Then, she shook

herself - her wand. She needed, she could turn it back, shejust- the pure white stick lying on the ground pushed away her

desperate thoughts, and she dove for it at once, in the sameinstant seeing her hands, and-

Her hands were sparking, vibrating as her wand did after a

large magic blast. Eyes fixed on them, she straightened up,looking around and for the first time seeing where she was

standing.

A crater, pulsating with magic - and now she saw the bleeding

wounds that marred the gathered crowd, and the fragment ofmirror that lay before her feet.

She met her own gaze in the reflection, and a whimper camefrom her throat. She recognized that face. It was one she had

seen so many times, one she had laughed at when they failedand when she- when good-

The face of a villain.

When she came to, she was still walking through the veil of

light, whimpering and with her eyes closed. She opened hereyes and saw two things at once - first her hand, hanging pale

and pretty as always beside her hip and clasping her wand sohard her knuckles were white, and then Hans, walking beside

her and staring at her with an expression thathe had seen too,hadn't he? When the light faded, she saw the shaken forms of

the other humanoids and creatures - but none of them werelooking at her, and in that moment certainty struck. It hadn't

happened. Only Hans had seen.

The fairy stopped inside the cave, waving her wand in the air atthe same time so a glittering full-size mirror appeared hovering

some distance away. A quick glance into it elicited a sigh ofrelief, and in the same instant the mirror was gone, the wand

tucked into her skirt pocket - and Dee saw Seelie, standingfrightened by the cave opening. She fairy looked uncertain for a

moment.

It didn't happen. She reminded herself, and, seeming to breakfree of a paralysis she flew quickly to Seelie, pulling the

frightened child close in one fluid movement and hugging hertight. "Shhh, it's okay." she murmured, pale hand stroking the

child's hair. "It's okay, it's okay, it didn't happen." Thewords were as much to reassure herself as to soothe Seelie, and

as she held the girl her eyes met Hans' icy blue stare. Please.she mouthed, frightened eyes going to the room at large. The

Svata seemed to understand her plea and nodded once, theshock in his expression replaced with fascination.

((It's a bit wonkily worded in places and I hope I didn't miss

anything, but. Hope that was enigmatic enough for you ;D))


27/39

Updated by Dee on 1 May 2010, 2:17pm

Yanoro Nicolae

Opaque V i l l ager

1 May 2010, 6:11pm

The man was content that the tigress was not going to revealthe extent of their discourse. Dissolving into lucid fantasy and

looking like a fool were not things that the entire world neededto know about. He nodded to her, turning to those lamentable

creatures following down the lane that would do anything tomake everyone know his faults, or maybe even fabricated ones.

The witch scowled at Rilowe's approach with his shiny. How onearth did someone like Seelie get mixed up with a person so

crafty and eccentric. All that was beyond him. He wasn't evensure that he wanted to know and barely waved all the ideas of

how the two of them could have met from his mind. Of coursethe thief, after coming upon them would deal with him first.

Iss dat supposed do be someding do make fun off my

heritage, begause dat was jus really weak. He scoffed inreturn. And then the Maubaine began to make fun of his accent.

A sharp dark hand drew up to his face. So much for his peace!He shook his dark head, his curls bouncing two and fro. An dat

iss jus obnoxious. Jus stob. Yanoro growled. It seemed likeeveryone was always picking on him, that he was just a big

joke. He let this all sink into him, recognizing this all was fiftypercent his fault, but tried not to let all this bother him. After

all, he had to be responsible for his own actions. This was alljust consequences, a invaluable step to bring his Karma back

into balance. Still, being made fun of to his face was not themost enjoyable thing. Feste made the comment about Rilowe

cornering him in an alley. He would never live that down.Shaking his head, he decided to not even defend himself against

the comment, as it would just start a great deal of arguing in acircle and he would not expose Seelie to something like that.

It was then that said Seelie darted off into the grasses. The

rider urged his mount on, following her into the high grasses.He made it to the top of the hill to see Dee force herself into

the white light and hear a great deal of yelps and exclamationsfor Seelie. The desert man shook all of his hesitation behind

him. He had already come so far on this journey with the younggirl. He was not going to leave her or let these others take over

his role in this entire journey. Yanoro was to be the accompliceant the protector. Though Widad looked apprehensive to cross

into the light, Mr. Nicolae played commander and chief andkicked once again, launching the two of them into the glare.

Both Bond and Bonded felt the feeling of being pressed onentry. Then came the feeling of being pulled apart from his dear

Mehdayri. Somehow, he remained on his feet and began walkinginto the nothingness.

Yanoro found himself ambling down a cobblestone road. He wason his way home from a lunch meeting, his hands in his pocket,

a smile painting his full lips. The witch had made a sale, which


28/39

meant a good dinner for him and a collection of bills in anenvelope for someone very special to him. He turned a corner

from the town square into the alley that lead onto needle. Onthe other end, he saw the shape of a man smoking a cigarette.

His skin was dark, but for whatever reason Yanoro thoughtnothing of it and continued on. The man was joined by another,

this one brandishing a rifle. Yes...that was a bit of a red flag.

The witched stopped in his tracks and squinted. Their starchyuniforms were in a stark silver. Shit...He thought, his heartpounding in his ears. All that money he put into home security

and it meant nothing. Everything slowed for the moment as hefelt the coolness of a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead.

Yanoro turned tail to run but the first thing he saw upon makinghis one-hundred and eighty degree turn was five heavily

bearded men. The pacing of his heart quickened further as asharp shrill yelp escaped his lips. He needed to get out of there.

He needed to. A pair of darting green eyes scanned the ally wayfor any means of an alternate exit, coming up with none.

Again he whirled towards the familiar direction of Needle street.

There was now ten dark, bearded mean in crimson turbans and

they were all about a hundred feet off. They formed to lines,five in the first row and five in the second row. In perfectsynchronization they marched toward him, the collective boom

of their feet coming down ricocheting against the stone walls.Yanoro wanted to check behind him again, but for some reason,

his limbs had become heavy as lead. He craned his neck though,coming upon a very similar sight approaching from behind. BAM

BAM BAM BAM A feeling of sudden warmth then immense coldcame upon him. Wetness. His head dipped down to look.

Yes...he had soiled himself. He would die without dignity today.

The men reached fifty feet, the echo of their heavy bootsbarraging his sense. The lot of them lowered onto a knee and

propped up their guns. Every muscle in Yanoro's face tightened.I guess it will be by firing squad.He thought, his legs quaking

beneath him. Click. Click. Clickclickclickclickclickclick. They allcocked their respective weapons. The foreigners arms rose up to

cover up his more vulnerable places, not that it would help withso many shooters. He thought of his mother, sitting at the

kitchen table reading poetry. He thought of the sudden splash ofHyunji's entrails upon him. Imani, tucking her long black braid

under a cloth cap, grabbing their father's bag off the kitchentable and speeding out the door. He thought of riding on the

front of the caravan with Madhu and drinking with Madhu andgetting the tar beaten out of him by Madhu after he had refused

going into the brothel with the

i Love All of Your Colors | SPIRIT-QUEST ZOMG [ Dee, Kallisto, Rilowe]

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