Author's notes:
===============
-Heroine is used. Her name is Leora.
-I take liberties. Sorry if any bug you ^_^;;
-Truffle is the name of the Chocobo.
-Please R/R and all that nice stuff. And if you have any suggestions I'm actually open to 'em.
1/1/02:
I got off my lazy butt and started writing this again. And since I'm having trouble getting the actual formatting I want, I've reformatted the chapters.
=========
The wind blew past my face and stung my cheeks red as I leaped up towards Trent's branches, trying to harvest the last of the Bumpkins and Cornflowers. Lisa, wearing a giant red scarf of mine that nearly covered her eyes, laboriously pushed the harvesting basket towards me.
Pulling the scarf off of her mouth, she looked up at me with twinkling eyes. "How much longer out here?" she puffed. "It's really cold, and I'm really tired."
"Not too much longer," I assured her, though I didn't really know the answer. All I knew was that I was not about to lose the last of my autumn crops to winter's first blizzard. In these parts, winter begins when it's good and ready; it doesn't feel as if it should warn me or the citizens of Domina so that we can finish up our autumn chores. Sometimes winter is so thick that when spring rolls around, I have to sweep leftover leaves from my doorstep.
Since we could be stuck inside for an indefinite amount of time, I needed to make sure we'd have as much food as humanly possible. Bud and Lisa hadn't been with me last winter; they'd come in early spring. Therefore, I had two more mouths to feed, and was slightly worried.
"Bombs away!" Bud shouted, shaking me out of my thoughts. I looked up, and saw him standing upon the branches. He took hold of a smaller branch for support and began to jump up and down violently. I grimaced and ran to catch hold of the vegetables that fell. I caught two Cornflowers in my right arm, but being right-handed and off-guard, I missed the Bumpkin that fell directly after.
"Bud," I called, over the wind's chilling whistle. "Stop it, they'll bruise!"
Bud rolled his eyes. "It's a lot faster that way, Leora," he complained.
"I know, but we've got to preserve what we can. Lisa!"
I turned about and saw Lisa cough into her scarf. "Comin'," she muttered, and began to shove the basket our way. As she grew closer, I noticed that her cheeks were flushed.
"Lisa, do you feel all right?" I asked, furrowing my brow in concern.
She shook her head, then began to cough violently.
I felt her forehead and found quickly that she had a fever. "Duelle did mention a bug going around," I murmured, recalling the last trip to market I had made. "Let's get you into bed. Bud," I said, turning around, "you go get Truffle and finish getting everything here. I'm going to go take care of your sister."
As we walked back around the house, I looked upward. The branches of my tree were nearly bare; they were adorned with only a few more leaves in warm colors. You could tell that winter was coming; autumn's firecracker shades of blue and orange were waning into gray and brown. I opened the door, and a gust of wind blew a pile of leaves across the doorstop.
The seasons are truly one of the Mana Goddess' most marvelous creations, don't you think?
When Lisa and I were inside the house, I helped her remove the oversized scarf and coat. Immediately, she began to shiver violently. "Cold," she muttered.
I took her hand and led her to the fire. "Sit in the rocking chair," I instructed her. Helping her up, I noted that she'd be very comfortable; the rocking chair was human-sized and Lisa was a young elf. Taking the blanket that was draped over the back, I wrapped it around her.
"Comfy?" I asked.
She nodded.
"I'll have to go look and see if I've got any medicine for you," I said. "I'm not exactly sure I have any, so if I don't, I'll be going into town."
"But it's so late," Lisa said. "What if a storm hits?"
I shrugged, and smiled. "I can't leave you hanging, Lisa. We've got to get you over whatever you've got."
I walked into my kitchen and opened the cupboard. Rooting through it, I discovered jars of preserves, dried tea leaves, sealed crocks of fruit juice, and spices, but no medicine. I swore, momentarily. It was true that a blizzard could be coming; I'd lived under this tree for nearly a decade and I could smell it in the air when something was coming. The trouble was, I didn't know how far off the storm was. I'd have to get to Domina fast.
Resolving myself, I wet a dishcloth in the cold running water, wrung it out, and took it to Lisa. Placing it over her forehead, I asked, "Can I get you anything?"
To my surprise, she requested a book. I agreed to bring her one, as soon as I got Bud inside.
I walked briskly back through the door (now that Lisa was ill I had to keep my health up) and to the orchard. Luckily, Bud was just finishing up. "Bud," I said. "Go into the kitchen and brew some Heart Mint Tea for your sister; make a lot of it. Give her a cup of that, and then give her some water to drink until she gets too cold, then give her more tea. Make sure the compress on her forehead is always cold. I'm going to Domina to get more medicine."
Bud blinked at me, but nodded and ran towards the house. He knew better than to disagree when I took that tone. I lifted up the basket of produce and brought it inside with me. I dropped that inside the door, then ducked into the library. For Lisa to read, I selected a volume of stories that had been passed down through the priests of Wendel while the city still existed. It was a thick tome, and I was sure it would keep Lisa occupied.
After the book's delivery, I stepped upstairs to change my clothes. Night would fall soon and it would be even colder. I put on a flannel tunic and slacks, then topped it off with a large ice-blue overcoat. I didn't often wear this; it was inconvenient for battle, but it was warm and would do tonight's job. I left my trusted Lorimar Iron two-handed sword lying at the foot of my bed. I simply picked up my moneybag and left the house.
I ran most of the way to Domina, seeing as the sun was fast receding and I wanted to finish my business there as quickly as I could. By the time I reached the entrance to the town, though, I could see my breath in front of my face.
Things seemed oddly quiet. There was not a single sound coming from the pub to my right, which was usually a busy place at this time of night. Instead, I heard a faint buzzing coming from the marketplace.
Since the apothecary was that way, I headed towards the source of the noise. On the way there, I saw a figure coming down the darkened roads. Immediately, I recognized him as Duelle, Domina's own Onion Warrior.
"Good evening, Leora," he said, obviously trying to disguise the sour tones in his voice (they got through anyway).
"What's going on?" I asked, jerking my head towards the large crowd so that he'd know what I was talking about.
Duelle huffed. "A group of women stormed into Domina today, claiming they could tell fortunes and that they had miracle medicines and whatnot. A crock of bull! Shoved Meimei right off of her turf and some are already starting to doubt the apothecary."
"Is that still open?" I asked.
"Yes," Duelle told me, still fuming, "but good luck getting through to it."
I sighed. "Lisa's gone ill and I need to get some things for her. Is there any way I could sneak through there?"
"You can try," Duelle said pessimistically, "but don't say you weren't warned. I wouldn't trust that lot. Their leader is suspicious looking; so are those harpy-women she's got with her."
Harpies? I knew for a fact that harpies were not native to our area. We lived too far south; this land was home to their cousins the sirens. Perhaps our winters would not be so hostile to them, but even so… I felt a bit of foreboding. I read quite a lot, you see, and there are old tales that describe the creatures as purely wicked, constantly flocking and looking for a leader to help them carry out one deed or another.
I crept towards the crowds, trying to be able to see but still stand in the back. I didn't want to be noticed. When I was finally able to see, I saw that a huge bonfire had been erected in the center of the marketplace. Four women-they did look to be harpies-were dancing about it in an erratic fashion; in the center, just before the fire, stood a fifth woman.
To say the least, she looked very unworldly. She looked older than I was, but stood about the same height. Her skin was no shade I'd ever seen; it was indigo, and her flesh (of which much was exposed) was covered in intricate tattoos of pentacles and vines and other things that I couldn't recognize. A cap of short, sleek black hair covered her scalp, and this was adorned with a tiara of hanging beads. In each elfin ear she wore three earrings; two pearls and one large pentacle. Her fingers did not end in nails, rather, they thinned out into nasty-looking claws.
As I gazed upon this spectacle in a combination of awe and fright, I noticed yet another woman. She began to play music for the dancers on an ocarina; I couldn't see her face, only her forest-green cloak. Notably, her cloak seemed to have a purple fastener about the collarbone. I couldn't tell from so far away, though.
Once the music began, the dancing changed. The indigo-skinned woman produced a thin book and, to my surprise, began to sing in a strong soprano voice:
"Singing of the coming dawn
A bejeweled carriage drawn
By three angels, all abreast
Singing that you cannot rest,
It comes to us all, glowing bright
Casting off all earthly delight
And when the moon's shadow's cast,
The future shan't know now from past,
And the Mandala shall revolve.
===============
-Heroine is used. Her name is Leora.
-I take liberties. Sorry if any bug you ^_^;;
-Truffle is the name of the Chocobo.
-Please R/R and all that nice stuff. And if you have any suggestions I'm actually open to 'em.
1/1/02:
I got off my lazy butt and started writing this again. And since I'm having trouble getting the actual formatting I want, I've reformatted the chapters.
=========
The wind blew past my face and stung my cheeks red as I leaped up towards Trent's branches, trying to harvest the last of the Bumpkins and Cornflowers. Lisa, wearing a giant red scarf of mine that nearly covered her eyes, laboriously pushed the harvesting basket towards me.
Pulling the scarf off of her mouth, she looked up at me with twinkling eyes. "How much longer out here?" she puffed. "It's really cold, and I'm really tired."
"Not too much longer," I assured her, though I didn't really know the answer. All I knew was that I was not about to lose the last of my autumn crops to winter's first blizzard. In these parts, winter begins when it's good and ready; it doesn't feel as if it should warn me or the citizens of Domina so that we can finish up our autumn chores. Sometimes winter is so thick that when spring rolls around, I have to sweep leftover leaves from my doorstep.
Since we could be stuck inside for an indefinite amount of time, I needed to make sure we'd have as much food as humanly possible. Bud and Lisa hadn't been with me last winter; they'd come in early spring. Therefore, I had two more mouths to feed, and was slightly worried.
"Bombs away!" Bud shouted, shaking me out of my thoughts. I looked up, and saw him standing upon the branches. He took hold of a smaller branch for support and began to jump up and down violently. I grimaced and ran to catch hold of the vegetables that fell. I caught two Cornflowers in my right arm, but being right-handed and off-guard, I missed the Bumpkin that fell directly after.
"Bud," I called, over the wind's chilling whistle. "Stop it, they'll bruise!"
Bud rolled his eyes. "It's a lot faster that way, Leora," he complained.
"I know, but we've got to preserve what we can. Lisa!"
I turned about and saw Lisa cough into her scarf. "Comin'," she muttered, and began to shove the basket our way. As she grew closer, I noticed that her cheeks were flushed.
"Lisa, do you feel all right?" I asked, furrowing my brow in concern.
She shook her head, then began to cough violently.
I felt her forehead and found quickly that she had a fever. "Duelle did mention a bug going around," I murmured, recalling the last trip to market I had made. "Let's get you into bed. Bud," I said, turning around, "you go get Truffle and finish getting everything here. I'm going to go take care of your sister."
As we walked back around the house, I looked upward. The branches of my tree were nearly bare; they were adorned with only a few more leaves in warm colors. You could tell that winter was coming; autumn's firecracker shades of blue and orange were waning into gray and brown. I opened the door, and a gust of wind blew a pile of leaves across the doorstop.
The seasons are truly one of the Mana Goddess' most marvelous creations, don't you think?
When Lisa and I were inside the house, I helped her remove the oversized scarf and coat. Immediately, she began to shiver violently. "Cold," she muttered.
I took her hand and led her to the fire. "Sit in the rocking chair," I instructed her. Helping her up, I noted that she'd be very comfortable; the rocking chair was human-sized and Lisa was a young elf. Taking the blanket that was draped over the back, I wrapped it around her.
"Comfy?" I asked.
She nodded.
"I'll have to go look and see if I've got any medicine for you," I said. "I'm not exactly sure I have any, so if I don't, I'll be going into town."
"But it's so late," Lisa said. "What if a storm hits?"
I shrugged, and smiled. "I can't leave you hanging, Lisa. We've got to get you over whatever you've got."
I walked into my kitchen and opened the cupboard. Rooting through it, I discovered jars of preserves, dried tea leaves, sealed crocks of fruit juice, and spices, but no medicine. I swore, momentarily. It was true that a blizzard could be coming; I'd lived under this tree for nearly a decade and I could smell it in the air when something was coming. The trouble was, I didn't know how far off the storm was. I'd have to get to Domina fast.
Resolving myself, I wet a dishcloth in the cold running water, wrung it out, and took it to Lisa. Placing it over her forehead, I asked, "Can I get you anything?"
To my surprise, she requested a book. I agreed to bring her one, as soon as I got Bud inside.
I walked briskly back through the door (now that Lisa was ill I had to keep my health up) and to the orchard. Luckily, Bud was just finishing up. "Bud," I said. "Go into the kitchen and brew some Heart Mint Tea for your sister; make a lot of it. Give her a cup of that, and then give her some water to drink until she gets too cold, then give her more tea. Make sure the compress on her forehead is always cold. I'm going to Domina to get more medicine."
Bud blinked at me, but nodded and ran towards the house. He knew better than to disagree when I took that tone. I lifted up the basket of produce and brought it inside with me. I dropped that inside the door, then ducked into the library. For Lisa to read, I selected a volume of stories that had been passed down through the priests of Wendel while the city still existed. It was a thick tome, and I was sure it would keep Lisa occupied.
After the book's delivery, I stepped upstairs to change my clothes. Night would fall soon and it would be even colder. I put on a flannel tunic and slacks, then topped it off with a large ice-blue overcoat. I didn't often wear this; it was inconvenient for battle, but it was warm and would do tonight's job. I left my trusted Lorimar Iron two-handed sword lying at the foot of my bed. I simply picked up my moneybag and left the house.
I ran most of the way to Domina, seeing as the sun was fast receding and I wanted to finish my business there as quickly as I could. By the time I reached the entrance to the town, though, I could see my breath in front of my face.
Things seemed oddly quiet. There was not a single sound coming from the pub to my right, which was usually a busy place at this time of night. Instead, I heard a faint buzzing coming from the marketplace.
Since the apothecary was that way, I headed towards the source of the noise. On the way there, I saw a figure coming down the darkened roads. Immediately, I recognized him as Duelle, Domina's own Onion Warrior.
"Good evening, Leora," he said, obviously trying to disguise the sour tones in his voice (they got through anyway).
"What's going on?" I asked, jerking my head towards the large crowd so that he'd know what I was talking about.
Duelle huffed. "A group of women stormed into Domina today, claiming they could tell fortunes and that they had miracle medicines and whatnot. A crock of bull! Shoved Meimei right off of her turf and some are already starting to doubt the apothecary."
"Is that still open?" I asked.
"Yes," Duelle told me, still fuming, "but good luck getting through to it."
I sighed. "Lisa's gone ill and I need to get some things for her. Is there any way I could sneak through there?"
"You can try," Duelle said pessimistically, "but don't say you weren't warned. I wouldn't trust that lot. Their leader is suspicious looking; so are those harpy-women she's got with her."
Harpies? I knew for a fact that harpies were not native to our area. We lived too far south; this land was home to their cousins the sirens. Perhaps our winters would not be so hostile to them, but even so… I felt a bit of foreboding. I read quite a lot, you see, and there are old tales that describe the creatures as purely wicked, constantly flocking and looking for a leader to help them carry out one deed or another.
I crept towards the crowds, trying to be able to see but still stand in the back. I didn't want to be noticed. When I was finally able to see, I saw that a huge bonfire had been erected in the center of the marketplace. Four women-they did look to be harpies-were dancing about it in an erratic fashion; in the center, just before the fire, stood a fifth woman.
To say the least, she looked very unworldly. She looked older than I was, but stood about the same height. Her skin was no shade I'd ever seen; it was indigo, and her flesh (of which much was exposed) was covered in intricate tattoos of pentacles and vines and other things that I couldn't recognize. A cap of short, sleek black hair covered her scalp, and this was adorned with a tiara of hanging beads. In each elfin ear she wore three earrings; two pearls and one large pentacle. Her fingers did not end in nails, rather, they thinned out into nasty-looking claws.
As I gazed upon this spectacle in a combination of awe and fright, I noticed yet another woman. She began to play music for the dancers on an ocarina; I couldn't see her face, only her forest-green cloak. Notably, her cloak seemed to have a purple fastener about the collarbone. I couldn't tell from so far away, though.
Once the music began, the dancing changed. The indigo-skinned woman produced a thin book and, to my surprise, began to sing in a strong soprano voice:
"Singing of the coming dawn
A bejeweled carriage drawn
By three angels, all abreast
Singing that you cannot rest,
It comes to us all, glowing bright
Casting off all earthly delight
And when the moon's shadow's cast,
The future shan't know now from past,
And the Mandala shall revolve.