Disclaimer: Same as before, I only own Kirsti, aka Ciorstaidh, and
her family.
Author's note: In reply to Nogard's comments, the only reason Kirst knows here they are is because she's been there before. I'm going to explain how she came to Draco's dimension the first time. The reason why Harry went and told his story to Draco was because, (put it this way,) Draco has a way of talking people into trusting him. You saw that in the movie, how he made friends with Bowen, a man out to kill him.
The reason why Kirsti managed to curse Malfoy into the wall was... ...well, you'll see.
Halfheart by Chris Atola
Chapter 2
Kirsti was dreaming. As a result of her heritage and the abilities that came with it, the only things she ever dreamed of were events of the past, be they hers or from before her time. She watched as her mother's village was attacked, burned to the ground, and most of the villagers killed. Her mother, Annag, only ten years old, hid among the trees surrounding the village and waited. Unlike her neighbours, Annag was of mixed blood: part fairy, part elf, when all the others were fairies. Unlike those in other dimensions, her people were the size of humans, without wings, but had pointed ears, even more so than elves, and hair of many colours, different blends for individuals. Like her mother's Annag's hair was a mixture of red and yellow, but it also had black and white streaks as a result of her elven heritage on her father's side.
Listening to the sounds of death and destruction, Annag wished she were anywhere else. She knew the attackers were here for one reason: they were afraid her people would harm them, and had come to stop the 'threat' before it began.
When the invaders finally left, Annag emerged to see that there were no survivors. She saw her parents and little brother among the ruins of her house, and cried. She picked up a small pendant which her mother had always worn, and knelt there for hours, with the tears from her pale grey eyes flowing freely, until the sound of something swooping overhead brought her back to reality. Annag looked up to see the form of a gold-scaled dragon land among the wreckage. He surveyed the landscape, the ruins and the dead, and shook his head sadly.
Momentarily, the dragon noticed Annag, still kneeling by her family, and said, "Little one, how is it you survived?"
"I don't know, my mother sent me into the trees to hide, but my hair should have given me away. Now that they're dead, I've got no-one to go to. This was my only family." Annag wiped her eyes and stood up.
The dragon thought for a moment, then suggested, "You can stay with me, child. We're both outcasts in this day and age. The Old Ways grow dim, and soon my kind will be as hunted as yours. Come, climb on my back."
Annag put her mother's pendant around her neck and hesitantly climbed on, and as soon as she was comfortably seated, the dragon took flight. After a few minutes of flight, the dragon introduced himself. "Call me Draco, you'd have trouble pronouncing my true name."
"My name's Annag." Draco nodded and started turning left, obviously heading for a waterfall. He soon landed, and Annag slid off his back.
"This is my home," Draco stated.
"It's beautiful," Annag exclaimed, and indeed it was. The waterfall, which effectively hid a cave, reflected sunlight onto the rocks around it in rainbow patterns, reminding Annag of a cut crystal she'd once seen when a peaceful traveller had entered her village a year before, willing to show it to any child who asked.
"When you hold it up to the sun's light," the traveller had said, "it reflects the light back and turns it into different colours. Does anyone have a white cloth? It would make the colours easier to see." Someone had handed the traveller an old tablecloth, for which she had thanked the person, and asked some of the people nearby to hold the cloth tight, while she'd slipped a bit of string throught a loop on the end of the crystal.
The traveller held onto the end of the string and let the crystal dangle freely, reflecting the sunlight and breaking it into the colours of the rainbow. The children, Annag included, had watched the colours fly around the cloth in wonder. The traveller explained how the crystal was a gift from her grandmother, who had instructed her to show it to children. The children would benefit from seeing something beautiful...
The children had all been disappointed when the traveller had left a week after she arrived, saying there were other children who should see the crystal's beauty, as well.
Annag enjoyed Draco's hospitality and company for half a year, but it wasn't to last. One day a human sorcerer saw Annag and cursed her. As a result, she found herself in an entirely different world, and was soon found by a kind couple who took her in. Annag, from then on known as Anna, discovered she was in alternate dimension where magic-users were common, dragons couldn't talk, and her kind were rare.
On her eleventh birthday, Anna received a letter from Hogwarts, inviting her to come learn there, regardless of her heritage. For seven years, Anna learned magic at Hogwarts, after which she moved to Finland, met a man named Tuomas (Tomas by Draco) and married him.
When her first child, Ciorstaidh or Kirsti was born, Anna cast a portal spell, intending to return to her home dimension to visit Draco. Her husband entered the room at the moment the spell was cast, resulting in him being transported as well.
Draco was extremely surprised to see Annag all grown up and married - with a child, no less! He had Annag tell her full story, and marveled at the wonders of the other dimension.
Over the years, Annag and her family visited Draco often, which meant by the age of fifteen Kirsti knew Draco's home and its surroundings rather well. Ciorstaidh came to love Draco as an uncle, and looked forward to each visit.
When Malfoy insulted Kirsti in the halls of Hogwarts, she unwittingly released one of the abilities fairies had, but seldom used. She had originally intended to hex Malfoy with something simple, but her subconscious had other ideas. Kirsti herself had been rather surprised at her abilities. The only other time she'd unleashed her inherited power had been when she's ended up in that fight with the boy at her old school in Finland. Because of her uncontrolled power, she'd been expelled.
Kirsti awoke to the feeling of someone standing over her. She opened her eyes to find everyone else awake, and, with the exception of Draco, staring at her like she'd grown a second head. "What are you looking at me for?"
"You must've been having quite some dream; you were making a lot of noise," commented Harry.
"...Yeah, but it wasn't a normal dream - it was one of my mother's memories."
"Huh?!" was the general comment.
"I'm not entirely human - more like only a quarter. My mum's half elven, half fairy - and not the type we get back home, mind you: my mum's people were the size of humans, without wings. Anyway, fairies have a kind of racial memory - you see the other peoples' memories in you dreams. I just so happen to be stuck with that ability. It's not pleasant, mind you, especially since mum's memories aren't exactly all fluffy and sweet."
Draco chose that moment to speak up. "I suggest we move to the waterfall. It's a little less obvious, we're likely to be seen here. A group of black-robed youngsters in the company of a dragon are going to attract attention."
"How far away is it, Draco?" asked Hermione.
"Not very, only an hour's walk for a human, a few minutes' flight for me. You know the way, Ciorstaidh." With that, Draco took to the air, and flew to the west.
"Come on, let's go," Kirsti said. She set off at a brisk pace, and the others followed her.
"Why does he call you Ciorstaidh?" asked Harry, after a while.
"That's the name that's on all my papers, but Kirsti's a bit easier to pronounce - and spell. They both mean the same thing: follower of Christ."
When they reached the waterfall, Draco was already there, sunning himself on the smooth, white rocks surrounding the cave. They'd barely had time to settle down when they heard the sound of a horses hooves clopping against the river shore a short distance away. Kirsti cast a bleaching charm on draco, then led the others into the cave, where they waited. Draco stayed on the rocks, perfectly still.
Momentarily, they heard the horse slow to a stop, and the rider dismount, drawing his sword. As he was about to approach the cave, a voice called, "Yo-hoo! Yo-hoo! I've decided to compose, the Ballad of Bowen! How do you prefer I should write this?"
"Far away!" came the Knight's reply.
"Oh, don't concern yourself with my safety! I mean mode, metre! Shall I spice it up with a poetical flourish, or just the cold, hard facts?"
"If you do not be quiet, you and I shall be the only things that are cold and hard around here!"
"I mean, it's alright to go hacking and wacking at dragons, but if a dragon falls in the forest and nobody gets to hear about it, does it make a thud?"
"Brother Gilbert?"
"What?"
"Shh!" Bowen indicated the cave.
Gilbert pointed his quill at the cave and gave a look toward Bowen. He then turned to his parchment, and muttered, "The quill is mightier, than the sword..." As he poked the quill at the rock he was sitting on, repeated the phrase and poked again, only to feel the 'rock' move under him. He was then thrown off, giving a cry of surprise and fright, as Draco quickly moved into the cave. Draco then proceeded to throw a long-dead corpse at Bowen, who raised his shield in the nick of time.
"That's all that's left of the last dragonslayer who tangled with me. If I were you, I'd quit while I was ahead." At 'ahead', Gilbert picked up the corpse's head, gave a cry of fright and threw it away from himself.
Bowen threw his spear into the cave, only to hear, "Is that the best you can do?" followed by the sounds of the spear being moved, after which it was thrown right back at him.
"I've got quite a collection of victims in here!"
"I won't be added to it!" Bowen slapped his horse's rear to get it to move away, then stepped forward. Gilbert watched, muttering, "Into the pit of death he strolled, into the pit of fear unknown. Perhaps to court his doom!" He blinked, then, "That was good. What did I say? What did I say?!" followed by a blast of fire from inside the cave.
Bowen, now inside the cave, dodged the blast and called, "A little damp for fire, isn't it?"
"Why mut you Knight errants up to make a name for yourselves always pick on us dragons?"
"I don't need a name, and I have a collection of my own."
"Yeah, you're one who kills dragons for money!"
"It's honest enough work. One must earn a living."
"Oh, yes, one must live. Well, since you seek a profit, might as well begin!"
"Oh, don't flatter yourself; it's not the profit, it's the pleasure."
"Perhaps more pleasure will end more costly than you think!" At that, Draco rushed out of the cave and into the air. The bleaching charm had now finished. Bowen rushed out after him.
"He went that way! Take care, Bowen!" called Gilbert. Then, he, too, set off after Draco.
When they were gone, Kirsti turned to the others in the cave. "Now what?"
Reviews: So far, my thanks go to: Wild-Roze, (yes, I have seen Dragonheart 2, but I didn't like it quite as much as the original,) Nogard, anonymous and MIstressOfTime.
Please review!
Author's note: In reply to Nogard's comments, the only reason Kirst knows here they are is because she's been there before. I'm going to explain how she came to Draco's dimension the first time. The reason why Harry went and told his story to Draco was because, (put it this way,) Draco has a way of talking people into trusting him. You saw that in the movie, how he made friends with Bowen, a man out to kill him.
The reason why Kirsti managed to curse Malfoy into the wall was... ...well, you'll see.
Halfheart by Chris Atola
Chapter 2
Kirsti was dreaming. As a result of her heritage and the abilities that came with it, the only things she ever dreamed of were events of the past, be they hers or from before her time. She watched as her mother's village was attacked, burned to the ground, and most of the villagers killed. Her mother, Annag, only ten years old, hid among the trees surrounding the village and waited. Unlike her neighbours, Annag was of mixed blood: part fairy, part elf, when all the others were fairies. Unlike those in other dimensions, her people were the size of humans, without wings, but had pointed ears, even more so than elves, and hair of many colours, different blends for individuals. Like her mother's Annag's hair was a mixture of red and yellow, but it also had black and white streaks as a result of her elven heritage on her father's side.
Listening to the sounds of death and destruction, Annag wished she were anywhere else. She knew the attackers were here for one reason: they were afraid her people would harm them, and had come to stop the 'threat' before it began.
When the invaders finally left, Annag emerged to see that there were no survivors. She saw her parents and little brother among the ruins of her house, and cried. She picked up a small pendant which her mother had always worn, and knelt there for hours, with the tears from her pale grey eyes flowing freely, until the sound of something swooping overhead brought her back to reality. Annag looked up to see the form of a gold-scaled dragon land among the wreckage. He surveyed the landscape, the ruins and the dead, and shook his head sadly.
Momentarily, the dragon noticed Annag, still kneeling by her family, and said, "Little one, how is it you survived?"
"I don't know, my mother sent me into the trees to hide, but my hair should have given me away. Now that they're dead, I've got no-one to go to. This was my only family." Annag wiped her eyes and stood up.
The dragon thought for a moment, then suggested, "You can stay with me, child. We're both outcasts in this day and age. The Old Ways grow dim, and soon my kind will be as hunted as yours. Come, climb on my back."
Annag put her mother's pendant around her neck and hesitantly climbed on, and as soon as she was comfortably seated, the dragon took flight. After a few minutes of flight, the dragon introduced himself. "Call me Draco, you'd have trouble pronouncing my true name."
"My name's Annag." Draco nodded and started turning left, obviously heading for a waterfall. He soon landed, and Annag slid off his back.
"This is my home," Draco stated.
"It's beautiful," Annag exclaimed, and indeed it was. The waterfall, which effectively hid a cave, reflected sunlight onto the rocks around it in rainbow patterns, reminding Annag of a cut crystal she'd once seen when a peaceful traveller had entered her village a year before, willing to show it to any child who asked.
"When you hold it up to the sun's light," the traveller had said, "it reflects the light back and turns it into different colours. Does anyone have a white cloth? It would make the colours easier to see." Someone had handed the traveller an old tablecloth, for which she had thanked the person, and asked some of the people nearby to hold the cloth tight, while she'd slipped a bit of string throught a loop on the end of the crystal.
The traveller held onto the end of the string and let the crystal dangle freely, reflecting the sunlight and breaking it into the colours of the rainbow. The children, Annag included, had watched the colours fly around the cloth in wonder. The traveller explained how the crystal was a gift from her grandmother, who had instructed her to show it to children. The children would benefit from seeing something beautiful...
The children had all been disappointed when the traveller had left a week after she arrived, saying there were other children who should see the crystal's beauty, as well.
Annag enjoyed Draco's hospitality and company for half a year, but it wasn't to last. One day a human sorcerer saw Annag and cursed her. As a result, she found herself in an entirely different world, and was soon found by a kind couple who took her in. Annag, from then on known as Anna, discovered she was in alternate dimension where magic-users were common, dragons couldn't talk, and her kind were rare.
On her eleventh birthday, Anna received a letter from Hogwarts, inviting her to come learn there, regardless of her heritage. For seven years, Anna learned magic at Hogwarts, after which she moved to Finland, met a man named Tuomas (Tomas by Draco) and married him.
When her first child, Ciorstaidh or Kirsti was born, Anna cast a portal spell, intending to return to her home dimension to visit Draco. Her husband entered the room at the moment the spell was cast, resulting in him being transported as well.
Draco was extremely surprised to see Annag all grown up and married - with a child, no less! He had Annag tell her full story, and marveled at the wonders of the other dimension.
Over the years, Annag and her family visited Draco often, which meant by the age of fifteen Kirsti knew Draco's home and its surroundings rather well. Ciorstaidh came to love Draco as an uncle, and looked forward to each visit.
When Malfoy insulted Kirsti in the halls of Hogwarts, she unwittingly released one of the abilities fairies had, but seldom used. She had originally intended to hex Malfoy with something simple, but her subconscious had other ideas. Kirsti herself had been rather surprised at her abilities. The only other time she'd unleashed her inherited power had been when she's ended up in that fight with the boy at her old school in Finland. Because of her uncontrolled power, she'd been expelled.
Kirsti awoke to the feeling of someone standing over her. She opened her eyes to find everyone else awake, and, with the exception of Draco, staring at her like she'd grown a second head. "What are you looking at me for?"
"You must've been having quite some dream; you were making a lot of noise," commented Harry.
"...Yeah, but it wasn't a normal dream - it was one of my mother's memories."
"Huh?!" was the general comment.
"I'm not entirely human - more like only a quarter. My mum's half elven, half fairy - and not the type we get back home, mind you: my mum's people were the size of humans, without wings. Anyway, fairies have a kind of racial memory - you see the other peoples' memories in you dreams. I just so happen to be stuck with that ability. It's not pleasant, mind you, especially since mum's memories aren't exactly all fluffy and sweet."
Draco chose that moment to speak up. "I suggest we move to the waterfall. It's a little less obvious, we're likely to be seen here. A group of black-robed youngsters in the company of a dragon are going to attract attention."
"How far away is it, Draco?" asked Hermione.
"Not very, only an hour's walk for a human, a few minutes' flight for me. You know the way, Ciorstaidh." With that, Draco took to the air, and flew to the west.
"Come on, let's go," Kirsti said. She set off at a brisk pace, and the others followed her.
"Why does he call you Ciorstaidh?" asked Harry, after a while.
"That's the name that's on all my papers, but Kirsti's a bit easier to pronounce - and spell. They both mean the same thing: follower of Christ."
When they reached the waterfall, Draco was already there, sunning himself on the smooth, white rocks surrounding the cave. They'd barely had time to settle down when they heard the sound of a horses hooves clopping against the river shore a short distance away. Kirsti cast a bleaching charm on draco, then led the others into the cave, where they waited. Draco stayed on the rocks, perfectly still.
Momentarily, they heard the horse slow to a stop, and the rider dismount, drawing his sword. As he was about to approach the cave, a voice called, "Yo-hoo! Yo-hoo! I've decided to compose, the Ballad of Bowen! How do you prefer I should write this?"
"Far away!" came the Knight's reply.
"Oh, don't concern yourself with my safety! I mean mode, metre! Shall I spice it up with a poetical flourish, or just the cold, hard facts?"
"If you do not be quiet, you and I shall be the only things that are cold and hard around here!"
"I mean, it's alright to go hacking and wacking at dragons, but if a dragon falls in the forest and nobody gets to hear about it, does it make a thud?"
"Brother Gilbert?"
"What?"
"Shh!" Bowen indicated the cave.
Gilbert pointed his quill at the cave and gave a look toward Bowen. He then turned to his parchment, and muttered, "The quill is mightier, than the sword..." As he poked the quill at the rock he was sitting on, repeated the phrase and poked again, only to feel the 'rock' move under him. He was then thrown off, giving a cry of surprise and fright, as Draco quickly moved into the cave. Draco then proceeded to throw a long-dead corpse at Bowen, who raised his shield in the nick of time.
"That's all that's left of the last dragonslayer who tangled with me. If I were you, I'd quit while I was ahead." At 'ahead', Gilbert picked up the corpse's head, gave a cry of fright and threw it away from himself.
Bowen threw his spear into the cave, only to hear, "Is that the best you can do?" followed by the sounds of the spear being moved, after which it was thrown right back at him.
"I've got quite a collection of victims in here!"
"I won't be added to it!" Bowen slapped his horse's rear to get it to move away, then stepped forward. Gilbert watched, muttering, "Into the pit of death he strolled, into the pit of fear unknown. Perhaps to court his doom!" He blinked, then, "That was good. What did I say? What did I say?!" followed by a blast of fire from inside the cave.
Bowen, now inside the cave, dodged the blast and called, "A little damp for fire, isn't it?"
"Why mut you Knight errants up to make a name for yourselves always pick on us dragons?"
"I don't need a name, and I have a collection of my own."
"Yeah, you're one who kills dragons for money!"
"It's honest enough work. One must earn a living."
"Oh, yes, one must live. Well, since you seek a profit, might as well begin!"
"Oh, don't flatter yourself; it's not the profit, it's the pleasure."
"Perhaps more pleasure will end more costly than you think!" At that, Draco rushed out of the cave and into the air. The bleaching charm had now finished. Bowen rushed out after him.
"He went that way! Take care, Bowen!" called Gilbert. Then, he, too, set off after Draco.
When they were gone, Kirsti turned to the others in the cave. "Now what?"
Reviews: So far, my thanks go to: Wild-Roze, (yes, I have seen Dragonheart 2, but I didn't like it quite as much as the original,) Nogard, anonymous and MIstressOfTime.
Please review!