Revelation
VI: The Gypsy Band of Madame Iris
Seamus, Serena, Madeline and Storm were walking along on the path to Sunroost enjoying the warm afternoon as they chatted back and forth amongst each other. "How long do you suppose it will take to find the other elementalists that are for the new generation Storm?" Serena asked. "I'm not sure exactly. I'm hoping it won't take to incredibly long, but I have a feeling that it will." He responded. "So kind of like the feeling when you forget an important thing and can't find it when you need it." Added Seamus. "Exactly." They continued chatting when Madeline stopped and her ears shot up. "Does anyone hear… music?" They stopped talking and searched to hear the music. "Yeah. It sounds like a song from the highlands. I can't place it, but it's familiar." Seamus said. He abandoned the path and went into the tree line next to it in search of the source. "Wait up Seamus!" Madeline called. The three ran after him to catch up. "The music is somewhere in here. Now where is it?" The tiger muttered to himself. He kept walking through some think shrubs and stopped when he broke through. His three companions came running up from behind him. "You can sure run Seamus. Could hardly keep up with you." Madeline said. Storm tapped her shoulder. "What is it Storm?" She asked. He pointed in front of him. They were being watched by a group of people dressed in fancy tunics wearing bandanas or floppy hats. A monkey the size of a matured oak walked up to them. "This is the gypsy band of Madame Iris. What's your business here?" He asked. Storm walked forward. "My name is Storm. My friends are Madeline Aquios, Serena Cyndre, and Seamus Urthenmöor. We're travelers on our way to Sunroost. We heard the music you were playing. May I ask your name?" He said aware that the ape could bat him aside like a pebble. "I go by JoJo." Before he could continue an auburn fox dressed in a gold-trimmed, violet dress with a black tricorn and purple bandana underneath. "Did you say Seamus?" She asked Storm. "I did. Why do you ask?" "Break out the food pantries and the ale! Seamus O'Gutthrey has been returned to us!" Storm raised an eyebrow towards Seamus. "O'Gutthrey?" The crowd of gypsies cheered and the small instrumentalist group struck up a new jig. The fox lead the four of them to a small cart with orange trim and hazelnut wood. The fox knocked on the door before calling out, "Faron! Ruth! You have a visitor!" "Give us a second Iris." There was a scuffle of footsteps and a lock shifting to the side. Two tigers stepped out and walked down the wooden steps. "Who'd be visiting us? Josh isn't coming down from the north for another week." Ruth asked. Ruth looked past Iris and saw that Seamus was standing behind her with a group of others. She drew in a sharp breath and walked slowly up to him. "Seamus?" She whispered. He looked at her with curiosity before his face turned to a mix of almost childish joy of chasing a butterfly. "Mom?" They both jumped into a hug as tears of joy were wept by both of them. Ruth turned back to her husband, "Faron! It's our son Seamus!" The graying tiger quickly walked to them both before joining in. Madeline leaned over to Serena, "This is great to see him back with his family." She whispered back, "I know. All of them must be so relieved to see each other safe." Madeline looked over to see Storm's eyes blank. Not the kind of emotional blank, but just plain blank. "Storm?" She asked. He fell to his knees with tears beginning to run down his face.
'Where am I?' Storm said to himself. The surrounding area was a small church on an outcrop and a cemetery on a cliff further to the side. A group of people, dressed in black, was gathered around two marble monoliths. Storm walked through them to see the headstones of who had died. When he got through the crowd he saw two children standing in front of them. One was carrying a wreath of white roses and another had one with red roses. Storm stood to the side of them and looked at their faces. He gasped when he saw they were both mongooses. They walked up to the headstones and placed their wreaths on the freshly moved dirt. The funeral precession left the burial site, leaving the two mongooses alone. Storm went up to read the names on the headstones. 'Here lies William J. Caeruleo. A great husband and even better father.' Storm turned to look at the other one. 'Here lies Jess L. Caeruleo. A wife like none other and a mother to all.' He stopped reading when he heard one of the twins speak. "Don't worry. We'll be able to make it through this. Uncle Carlisle said we could stay with him." Storm quickly turned around to see the boy holding the girl. "It won't be the same without mom or dad though Storm!" Storm realized that the people who died were the parents of these two. Not only were they parents, they were his parents. A wave of sorrow washed over him as he went back to this day and felt what the younger Storm felt. He fell to his knees not listening to the rest of what was being said because he remembered what was passed between him and the girl. The marble monoliths shone brightly in the sun that was above the mountains in the distance. He felt the familiar feeling of waking up. He stood up and saw him and the girl still standing there. She turned around, but instead of blue or green eyes he was used to seeing in mongoose families, that he remembered, hers were a vivid amethyst. He began walking back to where he was when he began remembering. He looked back, but this time tensed. Behind the church there were two cloaked figures in the shadows. He went to run to see who they were, but before he could everything faded to black with someone calling his name in the background.
"Storm! Wake up!" The group of people, that was there when they met Seamus's parents, was now gathered around Storm who was on his side. "Someone fetch a bucket of water or something." Faron stood up to grab one, but Storm began to stir. He sat up with a dazed look on his face. Madeline touched his shoulder, but he didn't look to notice her presence. "Storm is something wrong? Your eyes went blank and then you fell over." He stood up quickly and began walking away, "I-I need some time alone. I'm glad you found your family Seamus. It was nice meeting you two." He shook hands with both of them before walking into the trees. Madeline was about to go after Storm, but Iris put a hand in front of her. "Let him be off on his own. I've seen that look happen to others before. The event of seeing a family reunited triggered something in his memories I think." Madame Iris said, "Come with me though. He'll be fine in a while. We have a celebration to plan." Everyone followed Madame Iris to the main caravan, but Madeline looked back to where Storm disappeared. She turned back and ran to catch up with the others.
Mora sat on a rock surrounded by a large group of black creatures. "I am guessing you know why I have called your services forth." Mora was answered with a multitude of clicking. "Yes I know. I have a job for you to do." Small clicks came up here and there. "I need you to track down a mongoose that's travelling with a cat. I need you to kill them." The clicks became loud and frenzied before the black creatures scurried away into the forest following the thin scent of the mongoose left behind on the path. Mora leaned back against a tree scratching marks into the rock. "Let's see how well this mongoose can survive."
Storm sat on a flat rock next to a small stream that was illuminated by the sunset. He had his legs crossed and arms wrapped around them. He stared into the moving liquid letting tears run down his face. He did have a mother and father, but they were dead before he arrived at the monastery. Not only that, but he didn't even remember that they were dead, let alone that he even had parents. He threw a pebble into the river creating ripples against the golden surface. He heard far off clicks around him and assumed they were a form of insect that came out in the evening near rivers. He went back to holding his legs close to him, and tried to get a grasp on the new memory.
After about an hour of sitting on the rock Storm got up and stretched. The sun was gone and the only light was of the slowly rising moon. "Guess I better head back to the camp." Storm walked back the way he came and thought about how he'd explain things. He was to busy thinking that he didn't notice a small black creature with red-eyes looking at him from behind a tree. The junine scurried a few feet away before it made a single rolling shrill to signal that it found their prey.
The camp was lit up with lanterns hanging from ropes and filled with music as Storm arrived back at the O'Gutthrey's wagon. He could hear people laughing and talking as they enjoyed the entertainment of the musicians. Storm headed towards the sound in search of his friends. He saw them sitting around a round table conversing with Madame Iris and the O'Gutthreys. Madeline saw Storm and waved at him to come over. He waved back and walked over to them. Other members of the gypsy band carried wooden platters of food around the tables and performers did their routines in the center of the clearing. People cheered and clapped when the acts finished and when the next one began. Each table was illuminated with a small candle that was encircled with small flowers. Serena looked back to see who it was that Madeline had waved at and saw Storm. "Well look who it is." Storm playfully punched her arm. "I have my reasons why I left Serena. What have a I missed?" Iris passed a mug of water to him. "Not very much mongoose. The feast hasn't started yet. The chefs are just passing out appetizers to keep people occupied. I was just asking your friends about your travels. It seems like you've got quite a lot of land to travel ahead of you." She said. Storm picked up the mug, "We do have a lot of land to cover I agree. I don't know where we'll go, and what we'll see, but I am positive the journey will be worth more than we expect it to be." He took a swig and set it back down on the table. A waiter stopped by and dropped a couple platters off with some food. The table group continued chatting and enjoying the food the chefs made for the special occasion and sung along with familiar and new tunes.
The junine had gathered further out in the forest creating a mass of clicking and scratching. The junine that found the mongoose, that they were hunting, called attention to itself and quieted the crowd. The junine then showed the others the way that the mongoose headed and they followed it towards the sound of music and laughter.
The celebration was at its last wind as the band of people started to calm down from the dancing and eating. A couple of the musicians softly played still, while others broke off to their personal fire pits to continue conversations. The travelers were still sitting at the table with Madame Iris and the O'Gutthrey's conversing about each other's travels. "What's it like in the Highlands Mr. O'Gutthrey?" Serena asked. Faron took a swig from his mug before he replied, "In the summer the fields are beautiful with all the flowers in bloom- all of the blues, yellows, and reds. In the winter though, the Highlands are harsh. Being a family of tigers and leopards with thick fur helped with the cold nights, but food is hard to come by. That's why we decided to join Madame Iris. This way our sons could have a chance at life outside of the Highlands. Although, Josh returned to the Highlands because of a girl back home, so he's there now. If you get the chance Seamus, you should visit him and Victoria. I think that's her name. I haven't received a letter from him since spring ended. May want to make sure you have warm clothes though. The first snow is supposed to be next week." "I'm sure we could visit while we travel. I'd like to meet Seamus's brother." Madeline said. As they continued asking each other questions and conversing about things Storm's neck fur started to flare up. He turned around and saw JoJo moving a barrel, but that wasn't what made his fur stand on edge. Behind the monkey was a small black creature with red eyes. Before anyone knew what was going on, Storm drew a dagger and threw it at the black creature and pinning it to the ground. Madame Iris stood up causing the table to wobble, "What do you think your doing?! Throwing daggers at my caravan members!" Storm ignored her question to retrieve his dagger from the dead junine. "Madeline. Get them into their carts. Things are about to get busy." He said while examining what he impaled. Madeline didn't know what he meant, but just nodded and told the others. Her and Serena had a tough time getting Iris into her cart when she insisted that she gave Storm an unholy beat down for what he did. Before some members could get into their carts the rest of the junine began to swarm around the camp with the mass of clicking and chirps.
Mora watched from a distance to see the outcome of the junine's work. "I can't wait to report this to Böromer. He's been growing impatient with Ragha's several attempts and failures. He'll see that Ragha isn't fit for the position of War Master and have me appointed to the position in his stead." The sil'lis watched on while imagining what it'd be like to be the War Master over all the sil'lis ranks.
Storm pulled out his other dagger and struck down a junine that jumped at him. He looked back to see Seamus taking several out at a time by sucking them into the ground and crushing them with rock pillars. Serena used a mallet she found on a barrel to smack her fair share. Madeline was busy spinning her staff around and smacking any junines that came to close. Each hit was answered with a loud crack as the metal tips came into contact with the small black bodies. The four of them continued to fight on, but they were starting to wear out from the continuous mob of the black creatures. "We can't keep this up forever Storm. No matter how many are killed, there are more in their place." Seamus called out over the clicking of the junine. Storm knew the tiger was right, but he couldn't just lie down to die. Madeline turned around to see a junine starting to leap at Storm's back, but before she could call out the junine was struck in the side of its head by what looked like a skillet. Madame jumped over the creatures and retrieved her pan. "If I knew what you four were doing out here I would've had a change of mind for the mongoose. Seeing that he had reason I might as well change my attitude towards these little buggers instead. PREPARE FOR AN UNHOLY BEATDOWN VERMIN!" Madame Iris swung her pan at each junine that jumped towards her. Some members of the caravan heard her yell out, but still stayed in their carts. They wanted to help her, but they weren't exactly the best fighters. The waves of junine kept coming with seemingly no end to them. Storm felt his arms weakening with each swing of his arms. Behind him, his friends were beginning to go under the mass of creatures. He called out to Seamus, "Create and dome of earth around you and the others to create a shelter!" Seamus didn't respond, but he did create a dome around them. Storm continued to slash at the junine as Seamus created a small opening. "Come on Storm! We don't have much time!" Storm turned to jump to the dome, but what caught by several junine waiting. Before Seamus could do anything Storm went under in the black sea.
Seamus sealed the opening and slumped down against the wall. Madeline looked over to him. "Where's Storm?" The tiger looked up from the ground. "He went to make for the dome, but…he was intercepted by the creatures and pulled under." Seamus hated to tell her what happened, but he knew that he couldn't lie to the cat. "The creatures you were fighting are called junine. They're insect like sil'lis, but usually stay out of people's camps. We've seen a couple on our travels, but never this many." Madame Iris said. Madeline stood up and began trying to break the dome open with her staff. "We have to get back out there to get Storm!" Serena grabbed her and pulled her away from the wall. "We can't do anything Madeline. There are to many of them to be able to fight them off." The cat knew it was true, but she didn't want to feel like she didn't do the best she could to try and help.
Storm batted the junine off of him and suddenly they backed away from him making hissing noises. Storm was alone and encircled by the creatures. He turned around with both daggers in his hands watching the black creatures stare at him. Storm relaxed a little when he saw that his attackers had stopped advancing. The junine continued to hiss keeping their distance from the mongoose and watching intently as he looked back at them. Storm suddenly began to notice a presence around him. Almost as if a person was right behind him, but when he turned around to look no one was there. Then a voice whispered in his head, "You have the power you need Stormsurge. Use it. You don't need to remember more than you already know because you know the unknown now." The presence faded away leaving Storm thinking about what he heard. Storm staggered a little when he felt something inside well up and move forward through him. He looked down and noticed blue lines spreading out around him and creating an ensign on the ground. Storm stood back up and saw the junine screeching and trying to get away from the circle that was now glowing brightly in the ground. At that moment Storm realized what the voice had said to him. "I don't need to know what I can't remember because I have it with me." Storm raised his right hand in front of his face. A trinity appeared and matched the glowing ensign on the ground with its color. The junine began to scramble over their nest mates to run from the power brewing in the circle. Storm focused the newfound power into his right rand and watched as it began to become enveloped with a blue light, which appeared to be static electricity. The mongoose then slammed his hand onto the ground in the center of the glowing ensign sending a wave of lightning out and into the junine. The creatures screeched as they turned into ash from the lightning strike. Storm stopped the surge of lightning and looked up to see the smoking ash begin to dissipate and blow away in the wind. The rock dome behind him began to crumble away and his friends emerged covered with dust. Madame Iris looked around at the ash that was clearing away. "I think I underestimated you mongoose. What exactly happened out here?" Storm brushed away the circle, "It's hard to explain." Madeline pointed to his side, "Storm, what's that glow in your pocket?" Storm looked down to see a blue glow coming from his pocket. He reached in and pulled out the black box with the same circle, which was on the ground, now around the trinity that was imprinted in the leather. Storm touched the trinity causing the box to split apart at the top and reveal the small compartment in the bottom of the box.
Mora threw the rock it was sitting on into the tree behind it. It screeched in fury to see the swarm of junine reduced to ash in the wind. "How could that mongoose possibly hold that much power?!" The sil'lis continued to crush things while continuing to rant on about what the mongoose has to make him so strong. Ragha walked up and had to duck a boulder that was thrown. "I see your plan has also failed Mora. You're welcome to join my club of failures." Ragha ducked another boulder and some dirt still attached to it. Mora glared at Ragha with rage burning from his eyes. "I have not failed Ragha. I have merely misjudged the mongoose's capabilities!" With that Mora stormed off elsewhere away from Ragha.
Storm pulled out a small piece of paper from the box that hid a ring underneath it. He held the paper carefully and put it back in the box when he took the ring out. The ring was made of steel and crowned by a piece of sapphire. Storm slipped it onto his right ring finger and found that it fit perfectly. After he slipped it on, Storm opened up the slip of paper and looked at the writing. After reading through the note he had to close paper and place it back in the box before letting new tears flow down his face retracing the paths of the tears from earlier. Madeline walked over to him and asked, "What's wrong Storm?" He closed the box sealing the note inside. "The n-note," Storm began, "The note is from my parents." He dropped down to the ground and grasped the box tightly trying to regain control of the new emotions and the ones from earlier. Iris walked over to him and helped him back up. "Don't worry yourself mongoose. You come with me and we'll have a nice chat. Ruth would you mind showing our friends where they can stay the night?" The tiger nodded, "Come along. If Madame Iris is who she is then she'll help your friend out." The three of them were lead off while Iris took Storm to her cart. She shut the door behind them and set a kettle on a small furnace. "So tell me Storm, what's on your mind?" She asked. He didn't respond and just sat in a chair. Madame Iris left the kettle to heat up and sat across from the mongoose. "It must be something terrible to keep you this quiet. Come on now, you can tell me." Storm looked up and swallowed to clear the knot in his throat. "As far as I know, my parents are dead and they've been dead since I was little. When I collapsed meeting Seamus's parents, that event triggered a memory of my parent's funeral. I was there with a girl and talking with her, but other than that, there wasn't anything more to it. My family is gone." He went back to staring at the ground. Iris sat looking at the mongoose, knowing that he was going through hard times. "If you had a memory come back like that," Iris began, "why did it come back, since it's a memory?" "Recently I learned that I had my memories blocked off from myself. When the seal was broken I've been able to remember the memories that were blocked." He replied. "So you're telling me that the memories you had were blocked from you remembering them?" Storm nodded in response. The kettle chimed in by starting to whistle loudly. Madame Iris stood up and moved the kettle to an insulated pad while she pulled out two mugs from a cabinet. "I've had some people come through my band with the same issue you have. The same you're going through is the same as others went through. The only difference is that they were hit over the head or something dropped on their head. You, on the other hand- your memories were blocked on purpose. That means that they were for a reason." Iris set a mug down in front of Storm and sat back down with some of the freshly brewed tea in hand. "If you can figure out why your memories were blocked from you, then I am pretty sure your problem will be solved." Storm took a drink from the mug letting the berry flavored drink warm his mouth. He set it down on the table before he said, "I think you're right. When I met with the High Council, I was told about being an elementalist and then I was given a mission to find the next generation of elementalists. Other than Seamus, I haven't found any of the other elementalists. I don't even know how many I'm looking for or how many I may have passed by unknowingly." "I'm sure that if the council put you up to this then they'd make sure that you'd be able to locate these people by knowing in someway. Otherwise, the entire journey would be pointless would it not?" Storm nodded in response. "I believe you're right Iris. I guess now, the only question is where I go from here. We have an entire planet to cover if need be. If one thinks about that, that is a lot of area to cover." Iris replied, "I guess you're right about that. It's up to you; though, to choose where you go next. Look on the bright side. You get to journey the lands of Verona. Sure I get to do that within the bounds of our carts, but if the council asked you to do this, then I'm sure you'll get to go across waters to places you have never heard of. Take that chance and bring me back something if you get the chance." "I will Iris, and count on that. Thanks for the help too." Storm finished the tea and took his leave to find where his friends were. Iris relaxed a bit. "How long have you been standing there?" She asked. A cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows. "Long enough to hear what went on with the mongoose, Iris. I was told about him through a prophecy. You can think of me as a guide when things get rough for him." The figure turned around and was about to leave, but Iris spoke up before he could leave. "Araforn. Make sure that you keep him safe. Storm has much of his life ahead of him and deserves to see that life." "I'll see what I can do Iris." With a gust of wind Araforn left the cart.
Storm walked around a bit before he saw his friends outside the O'Gutthrey's cart. He stopped before he was noticed and thought about what he told Iris. He wasn't sure how long it'd take for him to find all of these elementalists. "Should I just continue this on my own and not drag them along? We've already been attacked three times. I'm not sure whether I want to risk them being hurt. I know that those insect things nearly had us and that Seamus was able to create a shield, but whether we'll be able to make it further I don't know." He continued walking until he was with his friends, which were enjoying a small fire. "You alright Stormsurge?" Mrs. O'Gutthrey asked. Storm nodded and sat down. "You don't seem to be. You aren't as happy as I remember you being earlier." She continued to ask. "I guess you're right. I was just thinking about something, that I learned from my discussion with Iris. It's not easy to explain though. I'll make sure to explain once I figure out how to do so." The group of them continued to chat about other things as the moon rose into dark sky.