Kylaia al Jmaa
A.k.a. the Unicorn
NOTE: I don't own the usual suspects, Kylaia, Liam, etc.
PART 8–The Preparation
Kylaia al Jmaa dug around in Aliya's old sewing kit. At the bottom of the box were two tiny spools, one of silver and the other gold. She then stared at the blank kid glove in her hand. She prepared a needle for black thread, to make a ferret, but she dropped it. She then put some the precious silver thread on her needle, started to outline a hoof, and continued up the leg of the beast. Men usually were the only warriors to become mythic beasts, Kylaia knew that, but knew no one would stop her if she became one too. A month ago Gareth Weldon left, leaving Liam to be the only other person, other than teachers, she knew. As she stitched, she poked her thin fingers, making the silver thread red with blood. Her hands weren't accustomed to the tiny detail of embroidery; they knew the thin wood shafts of glaives, and the thick metal hilt of a sword. Kylaia let her red embroidery fall to the floor, as she walked out of the room to practice. Lately, she had been given extra time, and she missed the strict schedule of training. When the mid-day meal bell sounded through the stone building and Kylaia ate, more than her usual two bites of food. She quickly returned to her stitchery, and took out a piece of parchment and started to draw what she wanted her creature to look like. She turned her malformed stitches into a leg and a unicorn with its head thrown back into the wind, and a long mane flowed behind it. Kylaia knew her stitchery wouldn't look as good as the picture, but it would have to do.
"Hello," Liam said as he walked past her door.
"What do you want?" replied Kylaia sadly. She knew she couldn't leave if she couldn't sew. She hadn't left the Shang grounds for twelve years, and there must be some part of the world that respected her, other than Shang. Kylaia wondered if she maybe she didn't want to leave, in the Order of Shang, she was respected, she didn't know if she would in other places. "Are you some sewing expert, like you are superb in everything else?"
"No, I can't sew," confessed Liam.
"I hate you because I will always be second best. I was always second best, in the Yamani Islands my parents paid all their attention to my brother here you will always shadow over me. I'm sick of never getting any credit, in a play the main character gets all the credit, and the littler characters are overlooked. I'm always overlooked," Kylaia said suddenly and then cried, covering her half-done unicorn with tears. "You would never understand, you'll always be the Dragon, and get all the recognition that comes with it. Who will ever hear of me? Now will you leave me to wallow in my second-best thoughts, for they will never be as great as yours, or as original as my brother's."
"My thoughts are no different than yo-," began Liam.
"Will anyone notice that other than you? This is like the thought that nobles are better than commoners," lamented Kylaia.
"Well, Kylaia-," began Liam, only to be interrupted be Kylaia again.
"Now that you have heard my deepest secrets, can you excuse yourself?" intermittent Kylaia.
"Kylaia, mythic beasts are flashy, you'll attract attention by being a unicorn, surely," finished Liam. He walked out of the room, and Kylaia continued to sew. The wet hide wasn't cooperating though, so Kylaia went to try to pack some of her clothes. Why couldn't I keep her Yamani mask? Why did I tell Liam all that? She kept turning those thoughts in her head, and soon most of her clothes were in a pack of some sort. She picked up the tiny book Aliya gave her, and stared at the notes, all about what he had just spewed at Liam. Why? After many days of embroidering, she finally finished a mostly red unicorn.
"Kylaia, are you sure you don't want to sew another glove? A red unicorn isn't normal," the Wildcat stated.
"The red is my blood," retorted Kylaia. She put her packs on the back of an all black horse, which she named Nightstar. She mounted Nightstar, and started the ride towards the Yamani Islands.