Crossing fabricated stars

Crossing fabricated stars

Postby Guppy » Sat Dec 28, 2013 5:28 am

The night was black and there was no moon.

Thick clouds, heavy with the threat of snow, blanketed the sky. They helped to conceal the ethereal form skirting the pools of light the torches beside the doorway threw upon the grounds. The darkness of the over-sized, fur-lined cloak allowed her to blend into the shadowed night. Occasional gaps in the fabric sent a flash of a familiar white dress that interrupted the solid wall of obscurity as she circled around the back towards where Son's window had been. There she paused, mind whirling as she recalled the guilt, the crushing despair that had assailed her ever since that moment. She had abandoned Elliot. She had broken Son's heart. The wildling ducked her head and averted her gaze from the source of regret.

She moved on.

She could not be certain exactly where Elliot's room was located, so she approached a window she knew belonged to the long hallway running alongside the rooms reserved for the wealthier patients. Despite Rhaena's transgressions, Elliot was loved enough to warrant the special attention. A nearby barrel was located and tugged stubbornly into position. The window was gradually wrestled open, ignoring the splinters she earned for her troubles. There was a heart-stopping moment when her toil earned a high-pitched squeal of protest from the stiff window. There was a pause and several silent seconds before she continued, pace harried. Her landing was muffled by the thick cloak as she slipped within and crouched there for another wary moment. Her feet took care where they settled after that. An abandoned candle was plucked from a table and she moved through the halls in search of the wayward boy-Knight.

The veiled visitor paused in each doorway until the fair boy's room was found. Her heart rate sped at the vision he presented, skipping a beat as the warm glow of candlelight fell upon his features. Gently, she settled her meager source of light upon the table and shrugged off her heavy cloak. It was draped over the back of the chair, Cherny's chair, at his bedside. Her backside eased onto the wooden seat and she cleared her throat.

"Elliot?," she called, softly, almost loathe to awaken him. She had to admit, she was dreading the confused lack of recognition that Cherny insisted would not be there. Fingers sought his own, flickering candlelight mirrored in swollen pupils that refused to depart his face. She held her breath captive in her lungs.
User avatar
Guppy
Member
 
Posts: 327
Joined: Sun Mar 24, 2013 7:41 am

Re: Crossing fabricated stars

Postby Glenn » Sat Dec 28, 2013 10:23 am

He slept, a lot. The dreams only attacked him when he was awake. That's not why he slept a lot though. He slept a lot because his body needed the rest. His body needed the rest, in part, because he kept trying to move too early. He was disciplined, but it was a balance. Myrken needed help. People needed help and while he knew he wasn't the solution, he was something more than what they had now. The only thing that kept him from really overdoing it was Cherny and the logical idea, that even he could grasp, that if he overdid it too much, too early, then he would be able to help no one at all. He kept lying to himself about how ready he was, though. It's not to say he could be out and about already if he didn't do so; he couldn't. It still didn't help matters.

He stirred, and it was the strangest thing, really. To see Cherny or others was always oddly tinted. It was like looking through imperfect glass or murky water. There were ghosts of other memories nipping at him. He saw himself being terrible to Cherny, or terrible enough and only hiding it a little. With Noura, though, there wasn't much of anything at all. Clarity, and that brought a smile to his face. "Noura? You're well. Cherny said as much." The words were a bit muffled as sleep still pulled at his cheeks. He had to chew nothing a few times before continuing. He was pale and had lost some muscle tone, certainly. He was on the mend but it was obvious how close he had come to death during that hour and the weeks that followed. "I was worried." There was clarity, and then there was the sort of clarity in which Elliot Gahald could look at you with. It wasn't like he just looked at your soul, but was instead as if he looked at the very best your soul could ever be. He didn't lie to himself, but he instead saw the very best of you because he chose to, and with her that was even truer still.
Glenn
Co-Founder
 
Posts: 3218
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 4:00 am

Re: Crossing fabricated stars

Postby Guppy » Sat Dec 28, 2013 11:57 am

Her pale gaze swept across the lean figure stretched upon the bed, covers pulled to his chest. The truth of how close he had ventured towards death was abundantly clear. Death, whom she had always considered a friend. It was written on the lines on his face, the furrow of his brow, the weariness held upon his features even in sleep. She was sorely tempted to reach out to attempt to smooth the concentration away, but his eyelashes fluttered and opened. Her hand froze in midair, suspended in mid-reach. She felt as if there were an iron fist squeezing her heart.

The recognition upon his face was reward enough, her name uttered from his lips doubly so. It made her eyes burn, stung by relieved tears. They pooled and collected in her own eyelashes, making her eyes gleam. Eyes that did not hold any trace of the creature's unequivocal darkness. She attempted to reach towards him now, wholly unable to stop herself. Her gentle palm would come to cradle his jawline if he allowed her, a thumb to gingerly stroke the skin of his cheek. She shifted, scooting forward on the chair, wanting to be as close as she dared. She hovered upon the edge. "I am well," she assured. There were healing bruises upon her face, the vibrant colors fading to paler shades of yellow and green. Her lower lip was scabbed in two places where the delicate skin had been torn asunder by the back of an unforgiving hand. They both wore evidence of their trials, but she was whole and far better off than he was.

The ardent way he looked at her was nearly too much. His expression of worry for her made an abrupt, vivid smile dawn. He had been concerned for her, when he had been in more danger than she cared to think on? Of course he had. He was the golden Elliot Gahald. Her hand, if it had been allowed, would leave his cheek cold to join her other upon his hand. Her own would clutch at his as if he were in danger of being stolen away, if she were not careful. She would drop her head in humbled fashion, seeking to press cheek against the back of his hand. "I was worried as well. You were in far greater danger than I. It is so nice to see you again."

Her head would lift, stern gaze sweeping over him again. "Do you need anything more? Food? Water? Another pillow?" The girl attempted to mother him, for lack of else she could do. "I am sorry that I had not come before now. I was-.." She took a moment to swallow the lump collecting in her throat. "I was afraid that you would not know me anymore. She told me that you had forgotten me." She was loathe to bring up the subject of his fallen Lady, but could not catch the words tight behind clenched teeth in time. Instead, they tumbled out of their own accord and she frozen, paralyzed that she had said exactly the wrong thing.
User avatar
Guppy
Member
 
Posts: 327
Joined: Sun Mar 24, 2013 7:41 am

Re: Crossing fabricated stars

Postby Glenn » Mon Dec 30, 2013 1:39 am

When Rhaena died, her base manipulations mostly died as well. There were some people who had been affected deeply and were forever changed. There were a very select few who were remade completely and those people did not change. The shift in affections between Noura and Petronela though? That was Rhaena Olwak manipulating a fully created being in Gahald. When she died, it died with her, even though he remained.

She touched him and though it was somewhat improper, he accepted it nonetheless. It was welcome, a balm on his soul and his spirit and even his body that he had missed. The days of courting the Kaczmarek girl were a blur. Others had lost an hour. He had lost more than that. "Cherny has seen after me. I've been lucky to have his loyalty, but I am so glad that you've come, Noura." They'd spoken about he lost hour, he and the squire, but for Elliot everything was a blur. "If i had been able to, I would have come to you. In truth, though, I wasn't sure that you'd wish to speak with me."

There were certain truths that he was unable to deny, even though with Cherny, with others, perhaps he'd try. In the face of what had happened with Noura though? In the face of that, it would be an injustice to her. "It was madness in the end. I should have been able to stop it."
Glenn
Co-Founder
 
Posts: 3218
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 4:00 am

Re: Crossing fabricated stars

Postby Guppy » Fri Jan 03, 2014 3:23 pm

Her touch was more to verify that he would accept it, a reassurance that he lived after being separated for quite some time. She looked over his injuries and winced with sympathy. "I am glad that you have him at your side, though I wish I could have been here as well," she assured, her gaze seeking his own so that he might see the truth shining in her pale eyes. His always-present honesty answered with a heaped portion of her own. The fact that he was pleased that she came was reward itself and a startled smile dawned across her face. "I see that you do not remember your life before. I must admit to being selfishly relieved," she admitted, her expression almost sheepish. "I dreaded being the only one of us to remember our lessons. I'd have to teach you all over again." It was playful, teasing - it did not touch upon her very real fears.

When he mentioned his own doubts that she would wish to speak with him, the girl appeared quite astonished. Obviously not something that had occurred to her. "What? Why would I not wish to speak with you?," she asked, nearly demanded - her hand seeking his own again to offer what warmth, what comfort, she could.

He spoke of that night, that fateful night when they had all lost an hour. It was a blur, a mystery that no one could solve without even hints of memories. "It was chaos and far too large for any one person to solve, Elliot. Do not think of such things."

"We survived." And that was the thick of it.
User avatar
Guppy
Member
 
Posts: 327
Joined: Sun Mar 24, 2013 7:41 am

Re: Crossing fabricated stars

Postby Glenn » Mon Jan 06, 2014 5:42 am

He smiled at her kindness, at her presence, at the fact she missed him. It was a smile that lasted right up until her little joke, though it was not the joke itself that caused the change. His old life. She believed it as well. She and Cherny and everyone else. Even the images in his mind were not as being the other Elliot, but still of seeing him. That much he had figured out by now. "I remember you lessons, Noura, in kindness and in bravery, and in," a pause, for it was not always easy to find words, "moving outside just who you are and becoming something more, someone who you choose to be," and not just who anyone would want you to be, whether it be It or even his Lady.

"I abandoned you. It was not my choice and it was for reasons I still do not fully understand." And yet, despite that, he still did not believe what others said. He knew himself. His identity was such a sure thing. "In times that are dark, we need each other more than ever."
Glenn
Co-Founder
 
Posts: 3218
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 4:00 am

Re: Crossing fabricated stars

Postby Guppy » Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:52 am

His slip of smile was noted and it caused her to frown in consideration. Still, his words were kind and brought a flush of color to pale cheeks. "You flatter me," she mentioned, her head ducked in bashful manner. He relented, revealing why he thought that she would not care to speak to him. Another frown, this one more directed at herself than the boy within the bed. "Your mind was altered, I understand that."

Her gaze slipped from his like sand through fingers, focused instead upon her own lap. "I was charged by the Marshall to hang signs against your Lady. I was captured and taken to her. Rhaena told me that I had disappointed her. That I was not worthy of your affection and was causing more harm than good to her." She began her explanation, uncertain if he knew the truth of it. How could he? She had been the only one there with the now-deceased woman. "She revealed that she had shifted your affection to another, someone more suitable. I thought that I would break." There was a lump in her throat, but she swallowed. There were things that needed saying. "She had her constables take me to the stocks to punish me for my defiance."

A wistful smile dawned. "I had hoped that, against all odds, you would still come for me. Son and Solena came instead." There was a note of pride in her voice for them. "But, I do not blame you. Your mind was not your own." It was against his control. She repeated that like a mantra to soothe the disappointment that still jabbed at her heart.

Her eyes lifted to his again as he spoke of their need for the other and she gave a short, firm nod in answer. "That is true." Her smile was slightly brittle.
User avatar
Guppy
Member
 
Posts: 327
Joined: Sun Mar 24, 2013 7:41 am

Re: Crossing fabricated stars

Postby Glenn » Sat Jan 11, 2014 1:48 am

"Madness overtook us in the end," and this was, truly, something that Cherny did not afflict him with. Oh, he explained the facts of it all, but there was more subtlety in the boy, even if he knew not what that truly was. It was an avoidance of conflict, a path through all hard things without getting scraped or jibed, balanced by the needs of his heart and of his spirit. "It overtook my lady. A dark plague. She knew I would oppose her and..." Here weakness overtakes him. It had been a nightmare, all of it, those last few weeks. He kept doing good. He kept helping people. He found ways to save many of them from the worst depredations of the cultural mob where it was by handing out clothes or food or making quick and well-meant negotiations. It wasn't enough.

He did not know her then. He barely knew himself, but still he did what he could, just not for her.

"I feel that failure every moment, Noura. To you, to her, to Myrken. I allowed this to happen, all of it." Yet strangely, even with that, with the strange memories assaulting him, with the injuries and the helplessness, there was no depression in him, just resolve. "I will make what I can right, with you and with this land." Just as soon as he could stand for more than a minute or two at a time. "I promise this, Noura."
Glenn
Co-Founder
 
Posts: 3218
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 4:00 am

Re: Crossing fabricated stars

Postby Guppy » Sun Jan 12, 2014 2:35 am

Her head bobbed in agreement. Everything had been thrown into chaos, in the end. Rhaena's ruffles and socials had turned into oppression and tyranny. There had been laws enacted, laws that had been met with protest and subsequent violence. Madness was a good a term as any, though it hardly seemed adequate enough. He spoke of a plague that assailed his lady and a frown slipped to her features. "It was madness. She went insane in her desperate attempt to make things different. I think that she was trying to make things better, but got very lost along the way," she admitted, granting him that small consolation. His weakness, his pause, made her eyes widen with alarm. "Elliot?," she questioned, her hands grasping for his again.

He needed just a moment, it appeared, to gather himself. "This had nothing to do with you. You were being controlled, how could you do anything against her? You carry the entire world upon your shoulders. It is not your responsibility," she murmured, searching his gaze. Trying to make him understand.

His vow to reconcile with both the town and her made a light smile touch upon her lips. Affection, warm and honest, slipped onto her features. "I am certain that you will. Rest now."

She rose, apparently going to leave him to do just that. "And stay safe. Not all of the people of this town will see you as you are. Some of them will only see Rhaena's puppet. Keep Cherny close." She would attempt to lean over, to place a warm kiss upon his forehead.
User avatar
Guppy
Member
 
Posts: 327
Joined: Sun Mar 24, 2013 7:41 am

Re: Crossing fabricated stars

Postby Glenn » Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:08 am

Her hand was a balm, a salve. It made the pain go away for a time, because of its honesty and affection. It was obvious that she was like others, that she thought he was unreal and even surprised that he was still himself. She did not think less of him though. She saw him as worthwhile despite what happened and despite, even what she could not deny. It was heartening and even, now and again, one with a heart such as his needed that.

"Thank you, Noura. You'll come and visit me, please." This was said not desperately but hopefully, not as something that he thought was a given, was going to happen no matter what, but something that he both valued and appreciated, much like her. "I know that people may dismiss me, but they have before as well. I will simply have to prove that it's worth it to fight for something more, to hope for goodness in this world and in each and every one of us. I will have to prove it with my actions."

Right now, though he didn't seem capable of proving much, or at least of acting much. Her kiss fell upon his forehead and if he had meant to say much else, the gesture was lost as that frequent healing enemy, sleep, overtook him once more.
Glenn
Co-Founder
 
Posts: 3218
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 4:00 am


Return to The Rememdium Edificium



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests

cron