To my reviewers: Ohhh, danke! Such wonderful reviews :P
I have plans for this thing. Like I said, this is back burner. Prolly
get a chapter out every two/three weeks (Unlike False Identity, my
current project, which I post a new chapter every Friday).
Although, you might get a few chapters of Shiva right now-- I'm on
Spring Break. And I can't use my left pinky without it hurting a hell
of a lot, so I can't play my guitar (damn. I love playing guitar). I do
have three fingers and a thumb left, however, so I can write without
using my pinky.
I ripped my hand open across my palm, and the joint for my pinky. Yes
it hurts. No, it's not serious, although it will leave a scar. Hell, I
got a scar from landing a chair on my foot. It's shaped like a star,
and looks really cool, and I think I'll shut up now.
Shiva
Chapter One : Reality
Li Xiang
Raine Leonhart.
Shiva had her hands in the pockets of the pale blue jacket Odin had
created for her. To wear clothing... it felt strange. She'd never worn
clothes in her entire existence. Add to that the name her human form
had been christened.
"A new life," Raine mused, "to learn... learn what?" She knew she was
going to try to make Laguna's life better. She wouldn't let him end in
such a way! She just had to figure out how... and Odin had told her,
before agreeing to the changeling spell, that she had to learn
something. Her mind fuzzed over the words, she hadn't truly been
listening to the man she knew was her father. She'd never really
listened to him either-- or to Diablos, who was her other "father".
The demon-dragon had taken care of her as a child, when both Odin, her
father, and Leviathian, her mother, had been taking care of business in
the mortal world. Until his disappearance centuries ago, Diablos had
been more of a parent to her than her biological ones.
Shiva rarely listened to her father's words. She was a grown woman,
she knew what she had to do. She was a full fledged goddess... or she
had been. Now she was a mortal girl, with no idea what life had in
store for her. She'd never been in the tapestry before. She'd never
been part of the time stream, to effect it, and have it effect her.
Nothing, Raine knew, would stop it from changing her. Odin had
probably been telling her how to relate to events, in order to come
out with what he wanted her to learn. Oh well.
Aside from the lesson she was to learn, and aside from helping Laguna
Loire have a better life, she knew not what to do. Anger, an emotion
she did not truly understand, washed over her, submerging her into
it's fiery depths.
She was angry with herself. Angry at not knowing what to do, where to
go. Angry at being angry. She had better control than this! She was
the many times proclaimed Queen of the Icebitches-- she did not get
angry!
Despite her mortal form, the energy in the air recognized her for what
she was. It misted up around her, glistening ice crystals decorating
the air as she walked. Each footstep on the soft dirty of the old
country road shimmered with a thin layer of ice, that, in the summer
heat, soon melted. It was the chilling feel of ice against her mortal
skin-- a feeling she'd never felt before-- that snapped her out of the
anger.
Shock grasped her then, and Raine's eyes went wide. The mere idea of
being capable of anger had been laughable, mere hours prior. As had the
idea of feeling cold-- she was cold, cold was her, they were not
different. It was then that she realized, truly realized what she had
done.
This was no silly illusion for her to play at being human. This wasn't
just about helping someone who she'd been watching for years have a
better life. She was human. Human.
Sobs racked her body as she knew, truly knew, that she would not be
Shiva, Queen of the North, Goddess of Ice, for twelve years. She would
be mortal for a dozen years, incapable of consciously controlling her
powers. She would feel everything they could, live as one, work as one,
be human. It was terrifying.
Tears obscured her vision, and Raine stumbled to the side of the road,
unable to walk any further, without risk of tripping and hurting
herself-- yet another thing that would never have happened while being
Shiva. But she wasn't Shiva, and wouldn't be for many years to come.
She was Raine Leonhart. A girl who knew who her parents were, but was
unable to call on them for help.
Get control of yourself, the part of her that was Shiva screamed, get a
hold of yourself! Stop crying!
While the part that was becoming Raine, and would be Raine for the rest
of the goddess' existence, merely whispered for her to lay down and
cry. To get it out of her system, and move on. To be human, and do what
she came here to do.
Raine fell asleep like that, leaning against a tree, arms wrapped about
herself, tears still dripping down her cheeks.
---
"Oh dear... are you awake, little one?"
The female voice broke through Raine's nightmare, pulling her back into
reality. Her clothing was wet, a distant part of her noted, and there
was ice gathering at her back. She would really have to stop thinking
she was still Shiva-- normally, she wouldn't have felt cold at the
cocoon of ice that was forming around her, but she was human now. This
distant part was quite distant, however, seeing as the rest of her was
busily chattering her teeth, and trying to rub sensation back into her
arms.
Looking up, the eleven year old found herself staring into the shining
deep brown eyes of a woman encroaching on her fifties. Slightly behind
her, still on the road, was a twenty year old woman-- their familial
resemblance was obvious. The old woman had crouched over her.
"Are you alright, little one?" the woman repeated, "It's not safe to be
asleep out in these woods. There many not be as many monsters as there
was when I was a child, but there are still a lot about."
"Ignore her," the young woman on the road called with a smile, "Mother
tends to ramble on about nothing."
"It's not nothing!" the elder woman barked, "Eve, these woods can be
dangerous to children!" Now, she turned back to Raine, "What's your
name, little one?"
"Raine Leonhart."
"Well then Little Raine," Raine's eye twitched. She was _not_ little,
"Let's get you up, and into town. It's only another two hours walk,
until we get there."
Walk? Raine tried not to wince at the thought. Human's walked
everywhere, she'd found-- well, if they didn't have any money. Or
didn't want to spend money on renting or buying vehicles. It was
something she'd noticed when watching Laguna.
She found herself on her feet without acknowledging that it had
happened, and pacing the two women. Eve and her mother, Darla, had set
Raine between them to "protect" her. It upset the former goddess for a
moment, until she realized with a sick chill that the monsters wouldn't
stop at making her a meal. She wasn't Shiva anymore-- she wasn't
something that the monsters feared; she was a meal to them.
No wonder Darla had wanted her to come with them. Without weapons--
without the knowledge of how to use weapons, or how to fight as a
human, she would have been easily taken out. Permanately. She shivered.
"Are you cold, Raine?" Eve's voice was tinted with amusement, but then,
it had been every time the woman spoke. She seemed to be a joyful sort,
not unlike Laguna. Raine liked her. There was, however, a small amount
of concern in the "older" woman's voice. Raine was just a child, no
older than her younger brother had been when he died-- Eve was
terrified every time a child got sick, worrying that they, too, would
die.
"Just a little," the girl admitted after a few moments. It was probably
smarter to tell the woman that, then to tell her the real reason.
Besides, Eve most likely wouldn't believe it if she was told that Raine
Leonhart was really Shiva, The Ice Queen.
A blanket wound itself around her shoulders, and she looked over at
Darla in surprise. The old woman's shoulder bag was open, and empty of
all but a couple of apples, while she fussed with tying the cloth in a
strong knot around her neck, "There you are, Little Raine. This should
keep you warm until we get back to Winhill."
"T... thank you, Darla," Raine managed to stutter out before ducking
her head. She could feel an uncomfortable feeling welling up inside
her-- her cheeks felt funny, almost as if they were on fire. Although,
it wasn't all that serious, seeing as she'd felt was truly being burned
felt like when she had rough housed with her half brother, Ifrit, as
children. It was just... strange.
And her fingers tingled. Warmth was seeping into her stomach, and
curling around her, as she realised for the first time that she had
been cold in the early evening air. She was drawn out of her thoughts
at Darla's joyful laugh.
"There's nothing to blush about, Little Raine," Eve giggled a bit
behind her hand at Raine's expression to being called "Little", "and
You're Welcome."
Raine's blush deepened, and she felt her cheeks burn hotter. Human's
lived with this burning feeling on their face whenever they were
embarrassed? No wonder they were always fighting wars-- if they were
fighting, they couldn't be embarrassed, and wouldn't have to feel the
burning! Raine didn't exactly realize that she had some rather skewed
observations. When you calculate your age in centuries and millenniums,
you don't really understand that there could be a good fifty years
between battles.
"Oh mother, stop it. You're embarrassing her further!"
"Well, someone has to do it!" Darla huffed with mock indignance, "I
don't see her parents about to do it!" The old woman's eyes widened as
she realised what she'd inadvertently said. Both Eve and Darla's eyes
darted over the young girl's face, but she seemed to be ignoring them.
"What?" Seemed, being the operative word. Raine was giving them
confused looks, "Is something wrong?"
Eve paused for a moment, then, "Raine... where are your parents? Kids
don't travel this far out by themselves."
Raine bit her lip. What was she supposed to tell them? That her father
had changed her from a goddess to a mortal because she asked for it,
and she hadn't seen her mother since the last time she'd gone to the
yearly Deitian Gatherings in Eden's throne room, was six years ago? No,
they wouldn't believe her. So she cast her eyes to the ground,
wondering what sort of explanation they would come up with. She'd just
go along with whatever it was.
Of course, she hadn't expected to be wrapped in hugs by both women, and
to hear Eve's soft, "I'm sorry... so sorry for bring it up," or Darla's
"I didn't realize. You poor dear..."
Well, since they apparently weren't going to tell her what had
"happened" to her parents, she'd just have to go along with what they
thought of her. Of course, they expected her to drop into their arms
crying about the loss of her parents. She merely pushed out of their
arms, "It's... alright. Don't worry about me."
"Oh what a strong girl you are!" Darla was wiping her own eyes. For a
girl to have lost her parents at such a young age... shaking her head,
she decided that they needed to steer clear of this conversation.
Obviously, either Raine had not yet realised that her parents were
dead, or she was locking the feelings away. Which was a bad thing, as
feelings locked away inevitable build up, build pressure. And like when
a damn breaks, and the water explodes outwards, so would Raine.
She would either land herself into a deep depression, or have the worst
temper ever gifted to Hyne's good world.
Raine just watched in silence as the two women pulled themselves back
together. After a few minutes, while she was still wiping tears away
for inadvertently bringing up the painful past-- at least, in her
mind-- Eve padded over to Raine, and took her hand.
"Come on, Raine. You can stay with me and mother in Winhill. It's a
nice little town. Quiet-- no one bothers us, aside from the occational
monster-- but they're usually taken care of by the men."
"Yes, yes," Darla agreed, taking Raine's other hand, "You will come,
and stay with us. We'll take care of you, be your family."
She may have been the goddess of ice, and used to holding her emotions
at bay, but a human's emotions were closer to the surface than a
deity's. It was a safeguard, to prevent the deities from becoming
biased towards one person or another. Despite this, despite what she'd
grown up learning, and knowing, Raine's emotions were the same as any
other human's-- hard to control, despite their best efforts.
Raine's surprise showed clearly on her face as she was lead away from
her life as Shiva, daughter of Odin and Leviathan, and towards a life
in a little town called Winhill. Towards her life as a human, something
she'd never done before.
End
I have plans for this thing. Like I said, this is back burner. Prolly
get a chapter out every two/three weeks (Unlike False Identity, my
current project, which I post a new chapter every Friday).
Although, you might get a few chapters of Shiva right now-- I'm on
Spring Break. And I can't use my left pinky without it hurting a hell
of a lot, so I can't play my guitar (damn. I love playing guitar). I do
have three fingers and a thumb left, however, so I can write without
using my pinky.
I ripped my hand open across my palm, and the joint for my pinky. Yes
it hurts. No, it's not serious, although it will leave a scar. Hell, I
got a scar from landing a chair on my foot. It's shaped like a star,
and looks really cool, and I think I'll shut up now.
Shiva
Chapter One : Reality
Li Xiang
Raine Leonhart.
Shiva had her hands in the pockets of the pale blue jacket Odin had
created for her. To wear clothing... it felt strange. She'd never worn
clothes in her entire existence. Add to that the name her human form
had been christened.
"A new life," Raine mused, "to learn... learn what?" She knew she was
going to try to make Laguna's life better. She wouldn't let him end in
such a way! She just had to figure out how... and Odin had told her,
before agreeing to the changeling spell, that she had to learn
something. Her mind fuzzed over the words, she hadn't truly been
listening to the man she knew was her father. She'd never really
listened to him either-- or to Diablos, who was her other "father".
The demon-dragon had taken care of her as a child, when both Odin, her
father, and Leviathian, her mother, had been taking care of business in
the mortal world. Until his disappearance centuries ago, Diablos had
been more of a parent to her than her biological ones.
Shiva rarely listened to her father's words. She was a grown woman,
she knew what she had to do. She was a full fledged goddess... or she
had been. Now she was a mortal girl, with no idea what life had in
store for her. She'd never been in the tapestry before. She'd never
been part of the time stream, to effect it, and have it effect her.
Nothing, Raine knew, would stop it from changing her. Odin had
probably been telling her how to relate to events, in order to come
out with what he wanted her to learn. Oh well.
Aside from the lesson she was to learn, and aside from helping Laguna
Loire have a better life, she knew not what to do. Anger, an emotion
she did not truly understand, washed over her, submerging her into
it's fiery depths.
She was angry with herself. Angry at not knowing what to do, where to
go. Angry at being angry. She had better control than this! She was
the many times proclaimed Queen of the Icebitches-- she did not get
angry!
Despite her mortal form, the energy in the air recognized her for what
she was. It misted up around her, glistening ice crystals decorating
the air as she walked. Each footstep on the soft dirty of the old
country road shimmered with a thin layer of ice, that, in the summer
heat, soon melted. It was the chilling feel of ice against her mortal
skin-- a feeling she'd never felt before-- that snapped her out of the
anger.
Shock grasped her then, and Raine's eyes went wide. The mere idea of
being capable of anger had been laughable, mere hours prior. As had the
idea of feeling cold-- she was cold, cold was her, they were not
different. It was then that she realized, truly realized what she had
done.
This was no silly illusion for her to play at being human. This wasn't
just about helping someone who she'd been watching for years have a
better life. She was human. Human.
Sobs racked her body as she knew, truly knew, that she would not be
Shiva, Queen of the North, Goddess of Ice, for twelve years. She would
be mortal for a dozen years, incapable of consciously controlling her
powers. She would feel everything they could, live as one, work as one,
be human. It was terrifying.
Tears obscured her vision, and Raine stumbled to the side of the road,
unable to walk any further, without risk of tripping and hurting
herself-- yet another thing that would never have happened while being
Shiva. But she wasn't Shiva, and wouldn't be for many years to come.
She was Raine Leonhart. A girl who knew who her parents were, but was
unable to call on them for help.
Get control of yourself, the part of her that was Shiva screamed, get a
hold of yourself! Stop crying!
While the part that was becoming Raine, and would be Raine for the rest
of the goddess' existence, merely whispered for her to lay down and
cry. To get it out of her system, and move on. To be human, and do what
she came here to do.
Raine fell asleep like that, leaning against a tree, arms wrapped about
herself, tears still dripping down her cheeks.
---
"Oh dear... are you awake, little one?"
The female voice broke through Raine's nightmare, pulling her back into
reality. Her clothing was wet, a distant part of her noted, and there
was ice gathering at her back. She would really have to stop thinking
she was still Shiva-- normally, she wouldn't have felt cold at the
cocoon of ice that was forming around her, but she was human now. This
distant part was quite distant, however, seeing as the rest of her was
busily chattering her teeth, and trying to rub sensation back into her
arms.
Looking up, the eleven year old found herself staring into the shining
deep brown eyes of a woman encroaching on her fifties. Slightly behind
her, still on the road, was a twenty year old woman-- their familial
resemblance was obvious. The old woman had crouched over her.
"Are you alright, little one?" the woman repeated, "It's not safe to be
asleep out in these woods. There many not be as many monsters as there
was when I was a child, but there are still a lot about."
"Ignore her," the young woman on the road called with a smile, "Mother
tends to ramble on about nothing."
"It's not nothing!" the elder woman barked, "Eve, these woods can be
dangerous to children!" Now, she turned back to Raine, "What's your
name, little one?"
"Raine Leonhart."
"Well then Little Raine," Raine's eye twitched. She was _not_ little,
"Let's get you up, and into town. It's only another two hours walk,
until we get there."
Walk? Raine tried not to wince at the thought. Human's walked
everywhere, she'd found-- well, if they didn't have any money. Or
didn't want to spend money on renting or buying vehicles. It was
something she'd noticed when watching Laguna.
She found herself on her feet without acknowledging that it had
happened, and pacing the two women. Eve and her mother, Darla, had set
Raine between them to "protect" her. It upset the former goddess for a
moment, until she realized with a sick chill that the monsters wouldn't
stop at making her a meal. She wasn't Shiva anymore-- she wasn't
something that the monsters feared; she was a meal to them.
No wonder Darla had wanted her to come with them. Without weapons--
without the knowledge of how to use weapons, or how to fight as a
human, she would have been easily taken out. Permanately. She shivered.
"Are you cold, Raine?" Eve's voice was tinted with amusement, but then,
it had been every time the woman spoke. She seemed to be a joyful sort,
not unlike Laguna. Raine liked her. There was, however, a small amount
of concern in the "older" woman's voice. Raine was just a child, no
older than her younger brother had been when he died-- Eve was
terrified every time a child got sick, worrying that they, too, would
die.
"Just a little," the girl admitted after a few moments. It was probably
smarter to tell the woman that, then to tell her the real reason.
Besides, Eve most likely wouldn't believe it if she was told that Raine
Leonhart was really Shiva, The Ice Queen.
A blanket wound itself around her shoulders, and she looked over at
Darla in surprise. The old woman's shoulder bag was open, and empty of
all but a couple of apples, while she fussed with tying the cloth in a
strong knot around her neck, "There you are, Little Raine. This should
keep you warm until we get back to Winhill."
"T... thank you, Darla," Raine managed to stutter out before ducking
her head. She could feel an uncomfortable feeling welling up inside
her-- her cheeks felt funny, almost as if they were on fire. Although,
it wasn't all that serious, seeing as she'd felt was truly being burned
felt like when she had rough housed with her half brother, Ifrit, as
children. It was just... strange.
And her fingers tingled. Warmth was seeping into her stomach, and
curling around her, as she realised for the first time that she had
been cold in the early evening air. She was drawn out of her thoughts
at Darla's joyful laugh.
"There's nothing to blush about, Little Raine," Eve giggled a bit
behind her hand at Raine's expression to being called "Little", "and
You're Welcome."
Raine's blush deepened, and she felt her cheeks burn hotter. Human's
lived with this burning feeling on their face whenever they were
embarrassed? No wonder they were always fighting wars-- if they were
fighting, they couldn't be embarrassed, and wouldn't have to feel the
burning! Raine didn't exactly realize that she had some rather skewed
observations. When you calculate your age in centuries and millenniums,
you don't really understand that there could be a good fifty years
between battles.
"Oh mother, stop it. You're embarrassing her further!"
"Well, someone has to do it!" Darla huffed with mock indignance, "I
don't see her parents about to do it!" The old woman's eyes widened as
she realised what she'd inadvertently said. Both Eve and Darla's eyes
darted over the young girl's face, but she seemed to be ignoring them.
"What?" Seemed, being the operative word. Raine was giving them
confused looks, "Is something wrong?"
Eve paused for a moment, then, "Raine... where are your parents? Kids
don't travel this far out by themselves."
Raine bit her lip. What was she supposed to tell them? That her father
had changed her from a goddess to a mortal because she asked for it,
and she hadn't seen her mother since the last time she'd gone to the
yearly Deitian Gatherings in Eden's throne room, was six years ago? No,
they wouldn't believe her. So she cast her eyes to the ground,
wondering what sort of explanation they would come up with. She'd just
go along with whatever it was.
Of course, she hadn't expected to be wrapped in hugs by both women, and
to hear Eve's soft, "I'm sorry... so sorry for bring it up," or Darla's
"I didn't realize. You poor dear..."
Well, since they apparently weren't going to tell her what had
"happened" to her parents, she'd just have to go along with what they
thought of her. Of course, they expected her to drop into their arms
crying about the loss of her parents. She merely pushed out of their
arms, "It's... alright. Don't worry about me."
"Oh what a strong girl you are!" Darla was wiping her own eyes. For a
girl to have lost her parents at such a young age... shaking her head,
she decided that they needed to steer clear of this conversation.
Obviously, either Raine had not yet realised that her parents were
dead, or she was locking the feelings away. Which was a bad thing, as
feelings locked away inevitable build up, build pressure. And like when
a damn breaks, and the water explodes outwards, so would Raine.
She would either land herself into a deep depression, or have the worst
temper ever gifted to Hyne's good world.
Raine just watched in silence as the two women pulled themselves back
together. After a few minutes, while she was still wiping tears away
for inadvertently bringing up the painful past-- at least, in her
mind-- Eve padded over to Raine, and took her hand.
"Come on, Raine. You can stay with me and mother in Winhill. It's a
nice little town. Quiet-- no one bothers us, aside from the occational
monster-- but they're usually taken care of by the men."
"Yes, yes," Darla agreed, taking Raine's other hand, "You will come,
and stay with us. We'll take care of you, be your family."
She may have been the goddess of ice, and used to holding her emotions
at bay, but a human's emotions were closer to the surface than a
deity's. It was a safeguard, to prevent the deities from becoming
biased towards one person or another. Despite this, despite what she'd
grown up learning, and knowing, Raine's emotions were the same as any
other human's-- hard to control, despite their best efforts.
Raine's surprise showed clearly on her face as she was lead away from
her life as Shiva, daughter of Odin and Leviathan, and towards a life
in a little town called Winhill. Towards her life as a human, something
she'd never done before.
End