A/N
I know, I didn't update for awhile, I'm sorry. But I'm trying all the time!
Airsickness: Sickness due to flying
*^**^^*^**^*^*^*^*^**^^**^*^*^*^
"Can we land? I'm gonna hurl!"
"Rahne!"
"I'm a wolf, not a bird! Let me down!"
Crepuscule snorted in concern and spiraled downwards. I had my arms around Rahne, hoping that if she did toss her cookies, it would be over the side of the moving animal, and not all over me. Jean was trying to give words of comfort, but she wasn't looking too good herself.
We had been flying for almost a full day. The most they had ever flown was about half a day, and I guess whatever airsickness they had was slow acting.
Speaking of which, aside from soreness of sitting on a flying dragon monster the entire day, I didn't have any sickness. I wonder if it will strike later?
He touched down on the soft grass of a slightly raised bit of land, not quite a hill but certainly not flat. He almost fell to his knees and we all tumbled off. Rahne and Jean both took off to go be sick, and I stayed slumped against Crepuscule. I had no real will to be next to sick people.
He stayed half crouched and looked worriedly towards Rahne and Jean. "I feel worried for them. Is sickness common amongst humans in this way?"
"Well, it all depends. I don't really feel sick, but humans aren't really used to flying like you, so it's easy for us to get sick."
"I apologize. It would be prudent for us to take more landing times, wouldn't it?"
"Probably." I said a little absentmindedly. Rahne was staggering over to Jean to see if she was okay, but from here I could see that was nowhere I wanted to be.
"Do you request I stop more often? Or do you wish for me to keep going at our pace?"
"Why are you asking me?" I said curiously.
"Because I will do as you say." He said simply.
"Why?"
He seemed to consider this question for awhile. While he was thinking, I shifted my weight so he could sit down the rest of the way. He did, and turned his head to me.
"Because you are my Mistress."
I rose an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
He leaned his large head down on the ground. "You are my Mistress. I will do as you ask me."
"Uh…thanks." I said, totally confused. Why did he want me to be his Mistress? Wasn't Esperanza his Mistress? Or Master? "Um…We better take more breaks, I don't think we could handle Jean if we didn't."
"As you wish."
I stared at him for a minute, pondering if I should ask him what he meant by this 'mistress' thing, but then I decided that it would only complicate an overly-complicated situation.
"Alright, we're better." Rahne announced as she and Jean came over. I bit my tongue. They didn't look better. Jean was green. And that contrasted quite a bit with her red hair.
"Can we walk for a bit?" She moaned. I looked over at Crepuscule. He seemed a little worn out himself.
"Let's walk. It's going to be night soon, so we might as well make shelter. 'Sides, with the way Crepuscule flies, we should be at those port towns tomorrow!"
"How do you know that?" Jean asked skeptically. Never seen a green skeptic before.
"Call it a hunch? Besides, Crepuscule here said it would take a couple of days, but we've been flyin' almost nonstop, so we probably covered loads more ground, but I might just be wishful thinking, anyway, we'd better get moving. It's almost dusk." I pointed up to the sky, which was already beginning to gray as the light faded.
They agreed with me, and we started walking North, to cover more ground while still finding shelter.
It was just a plain we were walking in, ankle-high grass and no flowers, and it seemed to stretch away into a sparse woods. If it could be called a woods.
Crepuscule fell into step behind me, his ears twitching lightly to the sounds of the wild birds singing in the woods ahead of us. I sensed nothing dangerous. It was just like the woods outside the Institute, birds, insects, small animals. Nothing that would be dangerous unless they felt threatened.
We reached the woods, and I allowed my fingers to brush across a tree trunk. The wood was smooth and it smelled good.
Jean and Rahne were doing much better, though they started walking a little weird. They were sore from sitting on Crepuscule's back.
We found a clearing, ringed by bushes and several trees that drooped like willows. It was a very nice spot.
Rahne and Jean immediately flung themselves down onto the soft dirt and didn't get up. Obviously not flyers, which surprised me about Jean. She could fly. Maybe it was just the way Crepuscule flew. I heard that people can't sail on small ships but can sail on large ships, and the same for planes.
The light was fading fast, and Crepuscule stood like a sentinel just outside the clearing. I hadn't entered either. I was too busy admiring the oddly patterned bark of one of the willow-like trees. It was diamond shaped bark, almost like a snake. I briefly wondered if it was a snake, but was relieved to find that the tree had no teeth or eyes.
I walked inside the circle. Jean and Rahne were taking stock of our pack. Well, it had been mine, but it was ours now.
"We need to get into one of those towns, and get more provisions."
"How do we get them? We don't have any money."
I sat down across from them. We had a grand total of six jerky strips left, and three slightly squashed fruit.
I knew this wouldn't last. Teenagers are voracious.
Crepuscule sat down lengthwise across the outer part of the circle. He kept his ears up and one eye open incase there was anything threatening he needed to deal with.
"Who wants to go without dinner?" Rahne asked. There was a pause, and then both Jean and she raised their hands. They were still looking a little on the green side.
"Okay, so what about you?" Jean asked, looking at me. I shrugged.
"I can find food. Besides, Mr. Logan told me the most nutritious thing to eat in a pinch was bugs, and there seem to be quite a few here." I said mischievously. The both had looks of disgust on their faces. "What about you Crepuscule?"
"I do not require food."
"You sure?" I pressed.
"Yes, Lady Danny."
I shrugged. "Okay. We might as well save the food then."
"For emergencies. We should all get some sleep." Jean stretched and packed the food back in the pack. She, Rahne and I all lay down on the soft ground. I hadn't realized I was tired.
Before I started to drift off, I found myself thinking about Julian and wondering what he was doing. I hope he's having lots of fun. What am I saying? He's with Jamie and Kurt. I should be more worried about their baby-sitter.
But he probably knows. The animals always let me know when something big is happening, or, at least they did when Jared got taken away. They would do the same for Julian about me.
I hope he's not worried.
*^*^*^*^*^**^*^*^*^*^*^*^**^*^*^*^*^*^*
Silence. Deafening silence.
It has to be him. That man in the cloak. He's the only one who has that kind of effect on animals that I know of.
I didn't bother trying to wake up Jean or Rahne. Crepuscule was a no go. I had to climb over him to get out of our little clearing.
My bare feet lightly crunched the underbrush as I walked without direction. I let my feet do the walking, though I vaguely realized I was walking back towards the plain.
What did he want now? I was going off to the North. I was grateful for the tip, really I was. But if it didn't pan out and he was ordering me off somewhere else, I was going to be very displeased.
I stopped at the edge of the woods. The plain stretched out beneath the star studded sky. I looked up and saw in it constellations I saw back home.
"Very interesting." I murmured softly. We all have the same sky.
"Star gazing isn't why I brought you out here." Black fog swirled from nowhere, expanding then dissipating, leaving the robed man.
"Like to make an entrance, don't you?" I asked dryly. This wasn't amazing anymore. It was just annoying. He made me nervous, and I don't like that.
"When you get to be as old as I am, you must have something to pass the time." He said humorlessly.
"I see. And why did you bring me out here? I'm doing what you told me to do, I'm going North."
"Yes. That is all well and good."
"There's a 'but' in here, I know there is." I said accusingly. He seemed to smile briefly in his body language before he continued.
"But what shall you do after you find the ones you seek in the port towns?"
"I'm going to look for my other friends." I said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Why wouldn't it be?
"That won't be as easy as you think. There's more to this game than you believe."
"This is not a game."
"You are absolutely right. It isn't. And what could happen as a result could affect both of our worlds for the worst, so you'd better listen up, I'm only saying this once."
"Wait! Wait a minute! What is this world stuff?!"
"Listen, human. If you'd shut-up I'd get to it!" He snapped at me.
I sulked. He didn't have to get nasty.
"There is a very special reason humans were snatched from your world. There is a very powerful being looking for a virgin sacrifice—"
"Virgin sacrifice? Then why'd they take the teachers? Why'd they take Jean and Scott, I thought they were, uh…Okay, I'll shut up."
"Thank the stars. In any case, you must collect the humans brought into this world as soon as possible. There are others looking for them, and the stakes will get higher."
"I'm still trying to twist my mind around the Teachers."
"They were probably going to be someone's next meal. Can we move on?!"
"They were going to EAT my TEACHERS?!" I yelped in disbelief.
"Will you be quiet, child?!"
"I'm sixteen! I'm not a child…"
"You are compared to me. Now be quiet. I'm trying to give you an idea of what's going on outside of your mindset, and you are being difficult."
"Well, if you're so worried about what will happen, why don't you give me a little help then? I'm over here trying to find my friends and the only thing you happen to be doing is giving me cryptic clues! I don't even know your name!"
"Why did they ask me to seek you out? I know this wouldn't have happened with some other human!"
"And who the HELL is THEY?!" I was really yelling now.
"'They' is more obvious than leave upon trees. You have been speaking with 'they' all your life."
"Animals." I realized. "What are they doing? And how do you know?"
"You think animal speech is that rare of a gift? It might be amongst humans, but amongst those of an older breed it is commonplace."
His smugness was getting really annoying.
"And besides that point, they have chosen you as their own champion. I can't see why. As for why I can't help, if I did, then the whole situation, which could have been solved by a few simple strokes, will get blown totally out of proportion. As for my name, well, that will remain a mystery. But I did come to say something to you, did I not?"
"Yeah, but—"
"Hold your tongue." He snarled. "I don't have any more time to speak with you. You will learn slowly, as humans usually do, about what is happening. If I told you all now, then you would undoubtedly do something stupid."
I stared at him. "Obviously they didn't tell you a whole lot about me."
"No, more's the pity. If I knew you were going to be a pain in my….I would not have bothered to speak with you. I've only met you twice and you are already a thorn in my side. In any case, after you reach the port towns, you must go farther North, across the perilous sea. How you do so is not my concern, but I will comment to you that your little servant dragon would never be able to cross that distance. From there, you will not see me for awhile—"
"Gee."
"Yes, I can see your distress." He commented sarcastically. I raised an eyebrow at him but didn't comment.
"As I was saying, you will be on your own. I won't be there to give you 'cryptic clues', so you must live by your wits, may any and all deities help us all…"
"You know, for someone who wants me to go risking my life against a powerful being so he won't start doing some crazy human sacrifices, you are not instilling much self-confidence in me!" I protested.
"I'm not here to help you gain confidence, you should already have that. Stop whining. You humans always do that. However, you should know that as soon as you reach the Northern continents, you will be in danger; they are roaming there."
"And who are they this time?" I said, rolling my eyes. The situation was supposed to be serious, but that wasn't going to stop my prejudiced view that this guy was full of it.
"They are the Soul King's soldiers. The Demights you have seen are nothing but peasants under his finger. The soldiers are formidable, so I would be more careful of them."
"This is like some really bad fantasy short story that I read in second grade. What's with the name Soul King anyway?"
"He's on an ego trip." He said offhandedly.
"Well, that makes perfect sense. Hey, if you're all knowing or at least going to act like you are, can you tell me why Crepuscule is calling me Mistress now?"
"Crepuscule is a lifetime servant. He has never learned to live any other way and it's highly unlikely that he ever will. After Esperanza threw him out to follow you, he was lost. Without a master, he doesn't know what to do. Esperanza told him to follow and join you. It's only natural that after awhile he should attach his need of a Master to a person, and most likely he would become attached to the person he had been around the longest."
I hadn't actually expected him to answer that so completely. "So, what you're saying is that Esperanza actually kicked him out, and he's been living his life as a servant, so he needs a Master to feel comfortable, and he choose me because he's known me longer."
"Exactly. But don't feel too inconvenienced. Creatures like him turn out to be ferociously loyal and obedient. You have a remarkable tool at your disposal. Which you should be getting back too. I must go."
"Wait! I have questions."
"Save them, I cannot answer them now." Once again, he disappeared with his showy exit.
I glared at the space he had been. Next time I'm going to find some superglue and glue his robe to the ground so he can't run off when I want to quiz him. Why did he need to run off anyway? What, was he going to miss his favorite show?
"Pain in the…." I grumbled as I started making my way back towards the others. The comforting buzz of the background noise had returned, and I used voices of animals to find my way back.
Something blue flitted out of the corner of my eye. I turned around fast and saw a gaudy blue butterfly floating away on a light breeze. Then, right in front of my eyes, it disappeared. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, but it didn't come back.
I wondered briefly if I actually saw it. But here, everything was different, there might be some sort of biological thing going on.
But wasn't that a Morpho?
*^^**^*^*^*^*^*^^*^*^*^**^*^*^*^*^^**^
A/N
You know, it strikes me that Danny might be more in awe of that guy, but I can't seem to write it that way. Oh well. I think it's much more interesting this way.
Asteria: Ah, yes. I hope to keep The Morphs Effect on a firm track; I had trouble with Shadow Wars because I lost direction, but I usually keep two different mindsets when writing the two different stories, so I hope to keep them well apart. Glad you like it!
Anon(girl): Heh, Arcane seeing Danny? That may take awhile, but I bet it will be a funny confrontation. I'm sorry you had to wait so long for me to update! But thank you very much!
PrincessOfWildfire: Well, a little bit more about Crepuscule, I hope that helps your craving! I'm glad you like his so much. Desperation? I haven't read that one yet…
Chrissy: Well, I always hear about how different cultures had different views on magic, so I figured it would be a great story device. I don't know if I've read stories like it before…I might have. Well, anyway, I'm glad you like the concept!
Herman shall take the reviews again! And still in his robes…hmm…might have to get those washed, he'll be a stinky bat.
