We receive the occasional miracle that professors bestow upon us well
indeed. My 'Gender and Social Ethics in Islam' professor has granted us a
grace period for our term paper. 'Why is this of any importance to ME?'
you ask. SIMPLE! It means I get to write my next chapter-which you all are
bouncing up and down on your seats to read, right? *nods head* Right.
Anyway, in the last chapter, we learned that 'Justice', the famous little
thief was not only an immortal, but also a firebird. 'But Karigan, what IS
a firebird?' ask all my wonderful and brilliant fans. *hehe* Well, I got
the idea from my favorite myth/legend. However, in order to suet my story
better, I have altered the facts a smidgen. All of you who have seen
'Fantasia 2000', completely and utterly erase that horrible telling of the
story from your minds! The tail of the firebird IS about life, death and
renewal, BUT.the firebird is NOT, and I repeat, is NOT a bad character.
The firebird is a very kind and generous character. Glad we got that
straitened out. Now, (in loud and booming voice) ON WITH THE SHOW!
Karigan ; ^ )
Complications
By: Karigan
Chapter 11
'Legend of the Firebirds'
///////////////////////////////
"She's a what?" asked Alanna with furrowed brows.
"A Firebird," stated Numair again.
Onua scrunched her nose. "What's a firebird? I've certainly never heard of them.
Numair leaned back in his chair, took a deep breath and gazed around the room. Jonathan, Alanna, Onua, Daine, George and Kitten sat around the table in one of the meeting rooms. "I'm sure you haven't, Onua. In fact, I am certain that only a handful of people even recognize the word. In all the readings I ever encountered during my years as a student and mage, I have only come across the name two or three times. They are hardly mentioned along side other immortals, and never mentioned anywhere near any human activity. In fact, it is only coincidence that I, in my drive to read every book in Carthak, ran across some facts about them years ago."
"So enlighten us," sighed George.
"Well, like Justice said, they live far to the south; past the Carthiki desert, which would explain why nobody ever sees them. They live in families of ten or fifteen, and live within the dense canopy of the great forests. They have their own kind of magic, some kind of earth magic, I suspect. From what Justice said, their magic keeps the forest down there healthy. They bring life to it. Divert disasters. Everyone assumed them locked up in the Realm of the Gods along with the rest of the immortals, but according to Justice, that is incorrect. Centuries ago, they were thought to be so agile and tricky, that to catch one was considered an ultimate show of brilliance."
"So what you are saying," interrupted the king, "is that this man, the mage who captured Justice, is extremely powerful and intelligent."
Numair pursed is lips in consideration. "No," he finally answered. "I would say it shows him to be someone who tries to build great castles out of pebbles. He captured a child Firebird. I assume they are easier to capture. We caught her. True, it took six of us and in our own territory, but still, instead of going after an adult with true power to escape him, he went after Justice, whose powers are only beginning to grow."
"So what kinds of powers can a child Firebird have that someone would want to use here, in Tortall?" said Daine after a few moments of silence.
"I haven't been able to come up with an answer to that one, Magelet. When I asked her, she seemed to hesitate. Maybe their powers are secret. That would explain her reluctance to talk about it. There is some brief reference to the Firebirds favor of humans, something about bestowing a gift upon those clever enough to catch them. What kind of gift, I do not know. I cannot imagine what kind of gift would lead someone to drag the Firebird across such a vast distance. What really gets to me is how he got a hold of those bands. They still carry the power of the old ones. Those would fetch the price of the Tortallan treasury anywhere. He uses them to control her."
Alanna jumped in. "Why did we leave her alone then? What if he gets to her, makes her leave the castle?"
"Relax Lioness." Jon placed his hand on her arm calmingly. "He can only force her to do things with his magic through the bands. Numair placed a barrier around her room. He cannot get his magic into the room. This means, for the moment, she is safe. Nevertheless, we cannot keep her in there forever. Eventually we will have to bring her out. I am sure by now this man knows he cannot send for her. He is probably looking for her at this very moment."
"So what now? Do we just keep her locked up until this man jumps out of the bushes?" Georges face was stern and upset.
Jonathan sighed and leaned forward slightly. "Unfortunately, yes. We wait for a few days, maybe even a week or two, and hope he comes out into view looking for her. If he doesn't///" He grimaced slightly. "Well, we'll have to figure that out when the time comes."
Silence filled the room for what seemed like endless minutes, all of them deep in thought. Suddenly Onua piped in, "So what does a Firebird look like anyway?"
They all turned to look at Numair, mirroring the same question. Numair looked completely lost, staring back at them with equal curiosity. As if realizing they were waiting for an answer from him, he raised his arms in a shrug and said, "I don't know."
Justice looked around the small room with sadness. 'Another prison' she thought with a sigh. Oh, it was nice, much nicer then the room 'he' had given her. But it was a prison none the less. Confined and under lock and key. She knew it was for her own protection, that this King and his subjects were only trying to help her. But it still felt like a cage, gilded, but still a cage. At least they seemed nice enough. She sighed again. She walked towards the bed and ran her perfect flawless fingers over the fluffy spread. 'It isn't like the silk leaves at home; but at least its not rough cotton.'
Her eyes scanned along the dressers and vanity, and then up towards the mirror. She caught sight of herself and grimaced, looking away quickly. 'Gods, but am I ugly!' she thought with disgust. 'No feathers, no claws, no beak///just this hideous form. She looked up again and examined herself. 'Disgusting pale blue eyes, pale ivory skin that's completely smooth, no texture what so ever, and this pert little nose!' She fingered the smooth little nose that had a dusting of freckles. She would never get over not having a beak with a beautiful strong sharp hook, being a flat faced human. And the body, goodness but was it little. Her slender form dwarfed by the human clothing. No plumage or fluff. She looked like a wet bird. She had always thought humans were odd looking, but never ugly. Now, it was all she could do not to cringe at the sight of her own self. 'I used to be so pretty,' her eyes rimmed with tears.
She wiped at them furiously. This! This most of all was frustrating. The logistics of being human was overwhelming. The water that came out of her eyes when she was angry or sad, the teeth, she's forgotten how many times she'd nearly bitten her tongue off the first few months of being human. The fact that you had to pee and take a dump from TWO different wholes! She lifted her arms up and out, so that she formed a 'T' with her body and arms. She then slowly but steadily pumped them in and out, keeping them strait, like she did when she used to fly. (A/N: Not up and down over your head. That is not how birds fly! They use there breast muscles.) These.what are they called again? ARMS! She STILL had trouble remembering they are not for flying. That embarrassing display in the kitchen today was a good example of how often she forgot she could fly no longer. She still had a bruise on her chin from where she had slammed up against the shelf. Well, at least she had red hair.
She looked around the room at the walls. 'Pretty tapestries; but no windows.' She walked up to one of the tapestry-covered walls that had a thin sheer black layer of magic over it and casually placed her hand on it. She rubbed small circles, her eyes occasionally looking back at the door. Slowly, the wall seemed to warp out and back, until an opening, no more then three feet high and across formed and lead to the outside world.
She climbed into the little window she had created for herself and curled up against the side. She may not be capable of all the splendorous magic her mama and papa could do, but she could certainly get through some simple 'gift' magic. She knew she was risking being caught again, but she didn't care. 'Being reckless got you caught in the first place, Justice,' a little voice in the back of her mind warned. She set her jaw stubbornly; she needed to be able to breath. If she stayed in that room, she would very well suffocate. Besides, she could tell when 'he' was using the bands around her ankles to use magic on her. The bands, horrible as they were, at least vibrated when he was using his magic on them. If need be, she could hop back inside and close her little window.
She felt a pang of sadness that it was dark. She missed the sun terribly. He permitted her only two or three times since her capture to go out into the light, and she was feeling the stress of no brilliant fiery sun on her pale skin. Her mind wandered to other thoughts. She wanted to go HOME. She hated it here. She wanted her mama's warm hugs and beautiful love, and she wanted her papa's smiles and wonderful praises at her progress in magic during lessons. All she had had here were cold rooms, mean captors and no sun. She had felt the slightest tinge of hope fill her this afternoon when Daine had promised to do all she could to get her back to her ma. It soon deflated when her mind had wandered to the things she had done to Daine and other people.
Tears burned her eyes once again and she buried her head in her knees, ordering her mind to think of something else; no luck. She hated hurting people. She hated stealing, hurting, lying, but most of all she hated killing. The first time she had killed someone on orders from 'him', she nearly vomited from disgust. 'He was SO paranoid!' Anytime he suspected anyone of knowing his stupid plan, WHAM, he threw her in the picture; and he made her do it differently every time, so no one would suspect a trend. He never listened to reason. She tried to tell him it wouldn't do any good; that he couldn't change anything; but would he listen? Nooo. He was determined, if nothing else. "Stupid, senseless man." She muttered.
She felt the bands tingle her scarred flesh and she jerked her head up. He'd found her. Well, at least she had a few minutes before he could connect his magic to the bands. "What do you want?" she ground out.
His voice filled her mind, "I've been looking for you, my dear. Why are you hiding from me?"
Sarcasm dripped from her words. "I can't imagine."
"Now, now, my dear. I know I won't be able to get you to come to me now. That cocky mage is much too powerful for me to get through his walls. Nevertheless, eventually they will have to let you out. And then, my dear,///we finish our business."
"YOUR business!" she ground out. "It's always been your business, not mine."
"I told you if you fixed the problem, I'd let you go. You haven't fixed the problem, my dear."
"I CAN'T!" she stated angrily. She calmed, knowing it was useless to yell at him. "I told you long ago, and I'll tell you again. There is no changing destiny. Neither you, nor I, nor anyone else can change it. I gave you a gift, human. You should use it to help yourself, not to make your situation worse."
"YOU GAVE ME NO GIFT!" He yelled into her mind. "You showed me my DOWNFALL! I refuse to accept that is my gift, my destiny."
Justice's eyes flared an angry red. "I showed you NO such thing, human. I showed you only what is true. If you try to rise to power, you will be stopped. I gave you a warning hum///"
He interrupted her lecture with a crazy laugh. "Warning? I think it was more of an instruction. You showed me how to prevent my downfall. So far, it seems to have worked."
She felt the magic in her bands grow. "Have me steel as many things as you want, have me hurt all the people you want, have me destroy all you want, have me KILL all the innocent children you want! I tell you for the last time human. That child will come, and it WILL prevent you from rising to power. I do not choose your Destiny, I simply show it to you. I give you the final warning. Give up now, forget this pathetic quest and live out your life in peace."
She felt the power in the bands grow to unbearable pressure. She fell into the room quickly and let the wall warp back into place along with the black magic. The pressure on her feet, now dripping blood again from his magic, faded. She sighed in relief. She had pushed her time a bit far this time. She sat against the wall, trembling from the effort it took to keep him away. She had the sinking feeling she had pushed the wrong buttons this time, pushing him over the edge. She wouldn't be surprised if the horse dung hit the windmill.
She pulled the fluffy spread off the bed and tugged it the corner of the room. She took off her boots, gloves and belt and climbed into the pile. She wiggled around trying to get comfortable, forming the spread into some semblance of a nest. Finally satisfied, she curled into a little ball and drifted to sleep.
A/N: Wow! That turned out better than I planned. COOL! Hope you like it.LET ME KNOW..I LUVVVVVVVV to get reviews..REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!
THANKS, KARIGAN
Karigan ; ^ )
Complications
By: Karigan
Chapter 11
'Legend of the Firebirds'
///////////////////////////////
"She's a what?" asked Alanna with furrowed brows.
"A Firebird," stated Numair again.
Onua scrunched her nose. "What's a firebird? I've certainly never heard of them.
Numair leaned back in his chair, took a deep breath and gazed around the room. Jonathan, Alanna, Onua, Daine, George and Kitten sat around the table in one of the meeting rooms. "I'm sure you haven't, Onua. In fact, I am certain that only a handful of people even recognize the word. In all the readings I ever encountered during my years as a student and mage, I have only come across the name two or three times. They are hardly mentioned along side other immortals, and never mentioned anywhere near any human activity. In fact, it is only coincidence that I, in my drive to read every book in Carthak, ran across some facts about them years ago."
"So enlighten us," sighed George.
"Well, like Justice said, they live far to the south; past the Carthiki desert, which would explain why nobody ever sees them. They live in families of ten or fifteen, and live within the dense canopy of the great forests. They have their own kind of magic, some kind of earth magic, I suspect. From what Justice said, their magic keeps the forest down there healthy. They bring life to it. Divert disasters. Everyone assumed them locked up in the Realm of the Gods along with the rest of the immortals, but according to Justice, that is incorrect. Centuries ago, they were thought to be so agile and tricky, that to catch one was considered an ultimate show of brilliance."
"So what you are saying," interrupted the king, "is that this man, the mage who captured Justice, is extremely powerful and intelligent."
Numair pursed is lips in consideration. "No," he finally answered. "I would say it shows him to be someone who tries to build great castles out of pebbles. He captured a child Firebird. I assume they are easier to capture. We caught her. True, it took six of us and in our own territory, but still, instead of going after an adult with true power to escape him, he went after Justice, whose powers are only beginning to grow."
"So what kinds of powers can a child Firebird have that someone would want to use here, in Tortall?" said Daine after a few moments of silence.
"I haven't been able to come up with an answer to that one, Magelet. When I asked her, she seemed to hesitate. Maybe their powers are secret. That would explain her reluctance to talk about it. There is some brief reference to the Firebirds favor of humans, something about bestowing a gift upon those clever enough to catch them. What kind of gift, I do not know. I cannot imagine what kind of gift would lead someone to drag the Firebird across such a vast distance. What really gets to me is how he got a hold of those bands. They still carry the power of the old ones. Those would fetch the price of the Tortallan treasury anywhere. He uses them to control her."
Alanna jumped in. "Why did we leave her alone then? What if he gets to her, makes her leave the castle?"
"Relax Lioness." Jon placed his hand on her arm calmingly. "He can only force her to do things with his magic through the bands. Numair placed a barrier around her room. He cannot get his magic into the room. This means, for the moment, she is safe. Nevertheless, we cannot keep her in there forever. Eventually we will have to bring her out. I am sure by now this man knows he cannot send for her. He is probably looking for her at this very moment."
"So what now? Do we just keep her locked up until this man jumps out of the bushes?" Georges face was stern and upset.
Jonathan sighed and leaned forward slightly. "Unfortunately, yes. We wait for a few days, maybe even a week or two, and hope he comes out into view looking for her. If he doesn't///" He grimaced slightly. "Well, we'll have to figure that out when the time comes."
Silence filled the room for what seemed like endless minutes, all of them deep in thought. Suddenly Onua piped in, "So what does a Firebird look like anyway?"
They all turned to look at Numair, mirroring the same question. Numair looked completely lost, staring back at them with equal curiosity. As if realizing they were waiting for an answer from him, he raised his arms in a shrug and said, "I don't know."
Justice looked around the small room with sadness. 'Another prison' she thought with a sigh. Oh, it was nice, much nicer then the room 'he' had given her. But it was a prison none the less. Confined and under lock and key. She knew it was for her own protection, that this King and his subjects were only trying to help her. But it still felt like a cage, gilded, but still a cage. At least they seemed nice enough. She sighed again. She walked towards the bed and ran her perfect flawless fingers over the fluffy spread. 'It isn't like the silk leaves at home; but at least its not rough cotton.'
Her eyes scanned along the dressers and vanity, and then up towards the mirror. She caught sight of herself and grimaced, looking away quickly. 'Gods, but am I ugly!' she thought with disgust. 'No feathers, no claws, no beak///just this hideous form. She looked up again and examined herself. 'Disgusting pale blue eyes, pale ivory skin that's completely smooth, no texture what so ever, and this pert little nose!' She fingered the smooth little nose that had a dusting of freckles. She would never get over not having a beak with a beautiful strong sharp hook, being a flat faced human. And the body, goodness but was it little. Her slender form dwarfed by the human clothing. No plumage or fluff. She looked like a wet bird. She had always thought humans were odd looking, but never ugly. Now, it was all she could do not to cringe at the sight of her own self. 'I used to be so pretty,' her eyes rimmed with tears.
She wiped at them furiously. This! This most of all was frustrating. The logistics of being human was overwhelming. The water that came out of her eyes when she was angry or sad, the teeth, she's forgotten how many times she'd nearly bitten her tongue off the first few months of being human. The fact that you had to pee and take a dump from TWO different wholes! She lifted her arms up and out, so that she formed a 'T' with her body and arms. She then slowly but steadily pumped them in and out, keeping them strait, like she did when she used to fly. (A/N: Not up and down over your head. That is not how birds fly! They use there breast muscles.) These.what are they called again? ARMS! She STILL had trouble remembering they are not for flying. That embarrassing display in the kitchen today was a good example of how often she forgot she could fly no longer. She still had a bruise on her chin from where she had slammed up against the shelf. Well, at least she had red hair.
She looked around the room at the walls. 'Pretty tapestries; but no windows.' She walked up to one of the tapestry-covered walls that had a thin sheer black layer of magic over it and casually placed her hand on it. She rubbed small circles, her eyes occasionally looking back at the door. Slowly, the wall seemed to warp out and back, until an opening, no more then three feet high and across formed and lead to the outside world.
She climbed into the little window she had created for herself and curled up against the side. She may not be capable of all the splendorous magic her mama and papa could do, but she could certainly get through some simple 'gift' magic. She knew she was risking being caught again, but she didn't care. 'Being reckless got you caught in the first place, Justice,' a little voice in the back of her mind warned. She set her jaw stubbornly; she needed to be able to breath. If she stayed in that room, she would very well suffocate. Besides, she could tell when 'he' was using the bands around her ankles to use magic on her. The bands, horrible as they were, at least vibrated when he was using his magic on them. If need be, she could hop back inside and close her little window.
She felt a pang of sadness that it was dark. She missed the sun terribly. He permitted her only two or three times since her capture to go out into the light, and she was feeling the stress of no brilliant fiery sun on her pale skin. Her mind wandered to other thoughts. She wanted to go HOME. She hated it here. She wanted her mama's warm hugs and beautiful love, and she wanted her papa's smiles and wonderful praises at her progress in magic during lessons. All she had had here were cold rooms, mean captors and no sun. She had felt the slightest tinge of hope fill her this afternoon when Daine had promised to do all she could to get her back to her ma. It soon deflated when her mind had wandered to the things she had done to Daine and other people.
Tears burned her eyes once again and she buried her head in her knees, ordering her mind to think of something else; no luck. She hated hurting people. She hated stealing, hurting, lying, but most of all she hated killing. The first time she had killed someone on orders from 'him', she nearly vomited from disgust. 'He was SO paranoid!' Anytime he suspected anyone of knowing his stupid plan, WHAM, he threw her in the picture; and he made her do it differently every time, so no one would suspect a trend. He never listened to reason. She tried to tell him it wouldn't do any good; that he couldn't change anything; but would he listen? Nooo. He was determined, if nothing else. "Stupid, senseless man." She muttered.
She felt the bands tingle her scarred flesh and she jerked her head up. He'd found her. Well, at least she had a few minutes before he could connect his magic to the bands. "What do you want?" she ground out.
His voice filled her mind, "I've been looking for you, my dear. Why are you hiding from me?"
Sarcasm dripped from her words. "I can't imagine."
"Now, now, my dear. I know I won't be able to get you to come to me now. That cocky mage is much too powerful for me to get through his walls. Nevertheless, eventually they will have to let you out. And then, my dear,///we finish our business."
"YOUR business!" she ground out. "It's always been your business, not mine."
"I told you if you fixed the problem, I'd let you go. You haven't fixed the problem, my dear."
"I CAN'T!" she stated angrily. She calmed, knowing it was useless to yell at him. "I told you long ago, and I'll tell you again. There is no changing destiny. Neither you, nor I, nor anyone else can change it. I gave you a gift, human. You should use it to help yourself, not to make your situation worse."
"YOU GAVE ME NO GIFT!" He yelled into her mind. "You showed me my DOWNFALL! I refuse to accept that is my gift, my destiny."
Justice's eyes flared an angry red. "I showed you NO such thing, human. I showed you only what is true. If you try to rise to power, you will be stopped. I gave you a warning hum///"
He interrupted her lecture with a crazy laugh. "Warning? I think it was more of an instruction. You showed me how to prevent my downfall. So far, it seems to have worked."
She felt the magic in her bands grow. "Have me steel as many things as you want, have me hurt all the people you want, have me destroy all you want, have me KILL all the innocent children you want! I tell you for the last time human. That child will come, and it WILL prevent you from rising to power. I do not choose your Destiny, I simply show it to you. I give you the final warning. Give up now, forget this pathetic quest and live out your life in peace."
She felt the power in the bands grow to unbearable pressure. She fell into the room quickly and let the wall warp back into place along with the black magic. The pressure on her feet, now dripping blood again from his magic, faded. She sighed in relief. She had pushed her time a bit far this time. She sat against the wall, trembling from the effort it took to keep him away. She had the sinking feeling she had pushed the wrong buttons this time, pushing him over the edge. She wouldn't be surprised if the horse dung hit the windmill.
She pulled the fluffy spread off the bed and tugged it the corner of the room. She took off her boots, gloves and belt and climbed into the pile. She wiggled around trying to get comfortable, forming the spread into some semblance of a nest. Finally satisfied, she curled into a little ball and drifted to sleep.
A/N: Wow! That turned out better than I planned. COOL! Hope you like it.LET ME KNOW..I LUVVVVVVVV to get reviews..REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!
THANKS, KARIGAN