Chain

Title: Chain

Author: Silverpaw

Writing: super short...story?

Word Count: 739

“Caesarea,” he gasped, not daring to look down at the dagger pressed against his neck. Her double-ended blade was held threateningly at his stomach. 

Alina dropped her weapon immediately and slid her long dagger back into her boot. “I guessed so,” she laughed, swinging her blade back into its sheath on her back. 

JIng stood, rubbing the side of his neck. “You got off easily,” he joked. “I wasn’t fighting my hardest.”

Alina didn’t reply but shot him a small grin and threw his glaive back to him. 

“You’re not going to give me a clue even?”

She shook her head. 

“Is it Rais?”

“Rais Amjier?” She asked incredulously, holding the door open for her leader. She imagined the dark-skinned boy with a flicker of amusement. “No. I would consider us rivals.”

“Me!” he said, lingering outside the training room door.

Alina laughed. “No.”

“Alina!” A round-faced warrior with faint orange hair hurried over. “Hello Jing,” she greeted. “Training?”

Alina nodded, the smile gone.

“You must be tired. Let’s get something to eat.”

“Actually, I was going to go to my room; I need a shower,” Alina said quickly. She bowed to her leader and deputy and hurried off in the opposite direction. 

“It’s because of me, isn’t it?” Caesarea sighed quietly. 

“She just doesn’t know how to respond yet,” Jing consoled, putting a hand on her shoulder. 

“She’s pretty friendly to you though.”

“I-I-well, I’m plenty hungry. Let’s go get some food, ok?”

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

“Alina, where’re you running of to so quickly?” 

Alina turned sharply to see Rais running up to her, one hand on his battle axe. “My room,” she replied cooly.

“Just got back from patrol,” he replied cheerfully. “I killed off 91 of those Pains today. What about you?”

“19.”

“Dang.”

“Southern Marshes.”

“Northern Beaches.”

She gave him a funny expression and he turned away.

“Yea. Well, at least 91 less papercuts, right?”

“19 less diseases.”

“Shut up.”

She did and continued heading for her room. 

“You’ve been training?”

“With Jing.”

Rais laughed, still following her. “How’re things with Caesarea?”

Alina shot him a glare that made his Mark twitch with unease. “Good night,” she snapped, and closed the door in his face. 

“‘Night!” he called after a few moment’s delay. “Proud idiot,” he mumbled under his breath and headed to the dining hall.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

“Hey Jing, Hey Caesaera.”

“Hi Rais,” the deputy murmured back. She had a cup of cider in her hand and was looking dejected. Jing sat next to her, his plate of food untouched. 

“Down about…Alina?” Rais asked, tactless as ever. He sat across from them, and ordered dinner from the ball of light that had floated over to him. “Don’t worry. She just slammed the door in my face too.”

“You’re always asking for it though,” Caesarea mumbled. Before the cocky boy would retort though, a short boy with olive skin wandered over to the table.”

“Hello? Can I sit here?”

“Hey Ren,” Rais said, scooting over on the bench.

“Sure,” Jing said, indicating the seat.

“I already ate,” Ren said to the ball of light that zoomed up to him.

“Don’t worry,” Rais said to Caesaera with a little more compassion than earlier. “I’m sure she’ll come around. Like before, right? Friends.”

“Alina?” Ren asked. A frown took his place as he looked at the people before him. “You’re not talking about…” he trailed off.

“Enlighten us,” Jing said with a smile.

“Vesper Jinan Wisteria.”

“Him?” Rais asked, pushing away and staring at the little boy. “Vesper? From Bryka Fields? Impossible.”

“So you know him?” Caesaera asked, looking up from her drink. “This Vesper?”

“Wait,” Jing intersected, “Bryka Fields is—”

“Alina’s hometown,” Caesaera put in hurriedly. “What about him, Rais?”

“He’s dead,” Rais answered with a scowl. “Killed in the Ferrezin trying to save…uh, Alina’s best friend.”

“Andromeda Corren,” Ren supplied, pushing up his glasses. The ball of light returned, balancing a tray that it set in front of Rais before rushing away again. 

“Yea, her.” He paused, and then frowned again. “I though Vesper…the temple girl… Andromeda’s other friend?”

“Elysia Kieran.”

“Elysia?” Caesarea echoed.

“Also dead. Temple apprentice. Kinda stuck up.”

Jing, who had been quiet, now murmured, “We're in a chain of unrequited love.” Love that lived through death. Death that healed some hearts and broke others. Others that had no idea of this complicated chain. Chain of unrequited love.

Artist's Note: Sorry it's a bit late this week! But this is the Week 2 of the Anniversary writing :) 

I have this need to mention every character's full name in every story they're in, no matter how insignificant. >.< As you can see, I managed to overcome that scruple in this! :D...Not. The unmentioned surnames: Jing Long, Caesarea Emer, Alina Zephyr (as you probably guessed), Ren Serg. >_<

I also managed not to explain every little detail! :D Well, almost. Hopefully nothing's confusing though, right? I mean, Objects have been mentioned before in entries posted on DIW...

Why is it so short? Because I wanted to see if I could indeed write something relatively complete in less than 750 words. hehe! 

Any guesses at the theme?

Next week's post is already completed (that's why this is so late; because I was editing the other one first. OMG yes. I edited something -.-) But you'll have to wait until Friday! :D It's long too...Ridiculously long. It's still like 6K after I cut it. -_- And technically it doesn't even finish. I think I gave too much away already. But ok! If you guess what it's about, congrats :D And it makes no difference to me whether you correctly guess the theme of the month this week or next week or the week after that (lol, but the fourth post won't be any help in determining the theme...unless I reveal then? >:) )

In any case, until next week!

~Silverpaw.

P.S. If you look at the title and think of the chain rule of derivatives/ integrals......I would hat you as a math nerd. But I do, then I too would be hatted as a math nerd. So...we'll just say it's just an idiosyncrasy. ;)

Anniversary

Title: Anniversary
Author: Silverpaw (aka SilverInk ^_^)
Writing: short short story
Word Count: 1356

“Mistress Alina, dinner is ready. Master Entraitor is already downstairs.”

Alina Zephyr looked up and stared at the boy at the door for a long moment. Finally, she set the doll she had been playing with on the bed and stood. “You do not need to be so formal,” she finally said and crossed to the closet, where she picked out a nice dress; she supposed it was necessary that night. “Please tell Solo I will be down soon,” she said, entering the adjoining master bathroom. She dressed quickly and stared into the mirror for a long time. 

She didn’t look different after a year of living at Entraitor Castle, though she felt considerably fatter. The tattoo-like Mark of Holena on the left side of her face was a healthy dark black and her hair was a pale blonde, with no hint of black through them. Alina was undoubtedly healthy and stress-free. 

She combed her hair throughly and pinned it up with a bright blue pin that seemed to reflect her eyes. She checked her appearance. Presentable. Enough.

The manservant—he was an Object of Holena as well, though his Mark was over his right eye—had left, and Alina made her way downstairs by herself. She was by now familiar with the layout of her new home, and though she would never feel completely at home in those lonely dark halls, she was content.

“Alina, my darling, you look beautiful,” her husband greeted. She forced a smile and sat at the other end of the table. He raised his glass of cider. “Happy Anniversary,” he said sweetly, and she returned the toast quietly. 

They ate dinner in near-silence, as usual, though Alina spoke a little more than usual, determined to be good.

“Are you happy here, Alina?” Solo asked out of the blue. She watched his pensive expression and answered truthfully:

“I am content.”

“I know you never wanted to marry me in the first place…I’m sorry…for making you.”

She raised an eyebrow in amusement but did not comment.

“I’ve often wondered if you would prefer another…spouse. Mr. Amjier and you got along quite well before, did you not?”

“Quite the contrary. Rais and I were friends, but the majority of our discussions were short arguments,” Alina replied. “I admired his boldness and believed that I would one day take orders from him. With bickering, of course, but obediently all the same.”

“What a twist of events, for him to now serve you,” he replied lightly before saying quickly, “I could dismiss him to Holena’s Haven if it’d please you?”

“That is between you and him.”

The table was quiet for a while longer before Solo asked, “You’re bored here though.”

“Some.” She left it at that for a while, but could tell that he wanted elaboration. She paused for a few more spoonfuls of soup and continued, “The library is an enjoyable pastime, and I enjoy learning to plant with you.”

“Yet you still spend much time by yourself, with…the dolls.”

She did not answer. 

“Would you prefer to battle the Pains?”

Alina was thoughtful—this was a question she had often asked herself. In a sense, she preferred security and comfort, but after a year away from the natural duty of an Object of Holena—fighting Pains—she was almost restless. Training—by herself or with Rais or Solo—was interesting, but she felt a need to do the duty she had been assigned almost nine years ago, when she became an Object. 

“No, that’s a bad question,” Solo was saying. “Who’d want to battle those beasts? But what I mean is, do you want to leave?”

“Sometimes,” she finally decided, setting the soup bowl aside and taking a beef-pancake. She nibbled on it as she thought. “Solo, have you ever been to Idyllen South?”

“I’ve traveled to the planet a few times, briefly, but no. Not much. Why, dearest?”

“I used to live in Bryka Fields, in Idyllen South. The council there held a contest a three years ago to see if I would be able to retain my parent’s house when they passed. I won, and the other competitor—that would be Rais— failed his Assignment because of that.”

“He is an Object because of you,” Solo noted. “What is the purpose of this?”

“I still own the house, but I lease it now. I was wondering if I could go to Idyllen and tour the place. Honestly I have nothing to do here, particularly if you insist that I do not fight, and exploring the land would be entertaining as well as educational.”

“Is this your wish?”

“Only a fancy,” she replied and finished her pancake. After a moments deliberation she picked up chopsticks and a filled a bowl with rice and tofu and vegetables telekinetically. Even though she could have finished the task quickly, she did so slowly, as if dragging out the act until Solor answered, which he presently did. 

“If it pleases you, we may tour the southern hemisphere of the planet. Are you going to request to visit the other moons after?”

“Perhaps,” she answered levelly and delayed her next phrase until she had finished almost half the bowl. “Probably not soon.”

“It’s settled then,” Solo said. “I will conclude some business on Edihn and we will set off for Idyllen. Mr. Amjier!” he said and the voice seemed to flow out of the room seeking the person called.

Rais stepped into the room as if he had been standing just behind the door, waiting for the call, though he had been on the other side of the house when Solo had called him. “Yes, Master?”

“If my sweetheart and I were to leave for a vacation of sorts, would you prefer to return to Holena’s Haven until we return or reside here?”

“In all honesty sir, I would like to visit my hometown during that time.”

“It is granted then,” Solo declared, magnanimity and power radiating out of him. “When my dearheart and I leave in a few months time, you’ll be granted leave to your own business. Only see to it that the castle is in decent condition before you leave, and visit it every other month or so to ensure its well-being.”

Rais put his left palm over his right fist and bent slightly at the waist in a respectful bow. “When do you plan to return sir?”

“Alina, love?”

“Depends how long we plan to stay there,” she replied nonchalantly. Nearly full, she summoned the dessert dishes with a light instruction to the table. 

Solo thought for a moment before replying, “It doesn’t matter. Continue with your check-ups and when we return you will see. Until we do return though, you are free to do as you would.”

Rais bowed again and at Solo’s wave, left the room. “Thank you sir,” he said quietly before quitting the room.

A long period passed in relative silence until Alina finally commented, “That was generous of you.”

“I’m glad you’re pleased,” he said, beaming as he dug into his own dessert. Alina pasted a small smile on her face in return. After another quiet session, she finished, utterly full, and sat back in her chair, waiting for him to speak or dismiss her or otherwise.

At length he finished as well and stood to lead her out of the room. The table swallowed up the empty dishes and sent them elsewhere in the massive castle to be washed and dried.

“Miss Alina Zephyr,” the master of the castle said, leading her up the stairs to their bedroom, “I have one final question for you tonight.”

She nodded to indicate she was listening. He opened the double doors smoothly but did not proceed though them. 

“Do you love me?”

Tension suddenly leapt up, filling the space as if it were a gaseous creature bent on sucking all the air out of the area. Everything was still, and Entraitor Castle seemed bigger and more forlorn than it had ever been.  

Finally Alina sighed quietly and replied, “No.” 

Artist's Note: First post of the DIW Year 1 Anniversary event! ^_^ Im' sure you recognized Alina in this, though she's considerably older than she was in Returning Home. ;) 

Any guesses at the theme? 

~Silverpaw (don't worry, I'm still SilverInk/ Silver of Ink. I'm just using Silverpaw for the time being as a tribute to the Warriors series. :)

EtHR: Decision to return

Title: Decision to return
Author: SilverInk
Writing: story excerpt/ random writing.
Word Count: 1118


"Elysia, this is your decision," Alina Zephyr said, standing with one arm over the other and head slightly bent in questioning. The dark mark on the left side of her face gave a little twist before staying still again. 


Elysia Kieran looked away. Even after traveling with Alina and learning to accept the Object of Holena, the Mark of Holena still bothered her. "We have to go back," she repeated, more to herself than anyone else. She set the newspaper down again and sat on the temple bench to keep herself from falling. 


"Is there anything I can get you?" It was a temple apprentice, Elysia guessed. 


"Tea please," She ordered. "Thyme and rosemary."


He nodded and turned to Alina. The Object hesitated and nodded to indicate she would have the same. The apprentice hurried off and Elysia fingered her Angelsign pendant feverishly. "We have to go back," she said. "Andromeda was my best friend."


"We are going back to Bryka Fields?"


"Yes--no," Elysia quickly amended. "Oh--" she hesitated, not sure if she trusted the Object so much yet. "What would you do?" She asked in a soft voice. 


"If I were you?" Alina asked. Elysia nodded. Alina stretched her hands and folded them behind her as she stared at the temple's intricately carved ceiling. She squinted as if trying to read something carved on the ceiling. "Well," she said with a sigh, her arms swinging loose and her gaze returning to Elysia's face. "Andromeda is not dead."


"But it says here she was killed in a skirmish among the tournament participants!"


"Ferrezin casualties are turned into vaerlaxies. Their vaernima will be given as prizes to the winners," Alina countered expertly. "Andromeda is not dead. Now, if I were you, I would set that aside for now. The real choice is to either continue this journey, or turn back. If you turn back, you can either return to Bryka Fields or head directly for the Capital."


"Why would I go to the Capital?"


"The first round of the Ferrezin has not been held. You can still claim Andromeda's vaernima--assuming her parents have not yet."


"And what'd I do with it?"


"Sonora's power was vaerlaxies spellcasting, was it not?"


Elysia gapped at Alina for a moment before sputtering, "That-that's stupid! Why would I go to her for help? She's trying to kill me! She's the reason we're on this journey!"


Alina silenced her quickly as the temple apprentice returned with their tea. He left a hovering tray between them and scampered away quickly, obviously afraid of Alina's Mark, which had happened to swirl while he was there. Elysia poured for both of them with trembling hands and downed hers quickly. She refilled and drank another two. By then it seemed her nerves had calmed enough for her to speak again. 


"Anyways, just because Sonora's power had something to do with vaerlaxies doesn't mean she can bring back the dead."


"Andromeda is not dead," Alina replied smoothly, sipping her drink. Her Mark stopped swirling around her eye and settled into a wavy circle design. 


"I don't like it," Elysia retorted, taking another drink. The herbs in the tea seemed to do her no good, though Alina could feel them keep her from bursting out in agitated tears. 


"As I said, this decision is up to you alone."


The two sat there for a long time, each occasionally pouring a cup of the quickly-disappearing tea. Alina closed her eyes and meditated and once Elysia had enough control of herself, she did too.


When the Object opened her eyes again, Elysia was still floating next to her, meditating and thinking. The tray of tea was gone, but she had sensed that mid-way through her meditation. Alina let her boots touch the floor gently and wandered away. 


She made her way quickly through the halls, through the back gardens of the temple and to the temple Sanctum, stopping only to pick a blue and a white rose from a garden. In the Sanctum, she hurried to the back of the long hall and stood before the wall with a neutral expression. This wall was free of pedestals and offerings, and the only thing on it was a beautiful mural of the Angelsign. 


"Ghosts," Alina said, holding the blue flower up to the sign. "Ghosts of the land, speak to me."


The stem of the flower vanished as a heavy breeze swept through the hall, leaving a handful of petals in her hand. 


"What do you seek, Alina of Zephyr?"


"To speak to Andromeda of Corren. Species phantom-elf."


There was a collective hiss from the ghosts and the majority of them vanished in a gust of mist and air, some out of disgust and some to search for the mentioned person. 


"Why do you seek a phantom?," one asked. "You are a half-ghost. What use have you of a phantom?"


"She was my friend and was recently killed," Alina replied, immediately identifying the speaker, though the echoing voice could have come from any one of the wispy figures. 


"Then she is dead."


"No. I believe she was preserved in vaerlaxies."


Another hiss escaped the gathered ghosts and the small crowd thinned again.


"She was my friend," Alina repeated firmly.


A few ghosts nodded reluctantly. Alina glanced down and saw that only two petals remained. As she watched, one of them withered and vanished, as if it were never there. 


The ghosts that had gone to search began returning now; most just offered her a sorry shake of their head but finally one told her, "Andromeda of Corren is well. Her spirit cannot come with us, but it is in good health. She bids you and Elysia of Kieran to hurry in your decision." The ghost vanished then, as swiftly as it had appeared, and the last petal faded. Alina turned, bowed to the Angelsign, and returned back out the Sanctum. Before she exited, she stopped at one pedestal and left the white rose on it. "Thank you for your help, brother ghost," she murmured. The rose remained where it was for a minute before fading away, as if it had melted into the air. Alina bowed to the pedestal then, to thank its resident for accepting her offer, and left the temple Sanctum. 


She returned promptly to Elysia, who had come out of her meditative trance and was packing fresh supplies into her pack. "I have decided," she said when Alina stopped before her. "We're going to the Capital, but not to lay claim to Andromeda's vaernima."


Alina nodded as Elysia stood, sweeping her white hair into a low ponytail. "I-I'm...going to speak to Sonora."


Artist's Note: HI! Sorry for super-late post (for last week) and for the suckiness of it. Erm... EtHR returns? (EtHR= Destiny's Edge: the Heart Reincarnation, my former NaNoWriMo 2010 idea before I randomly changed it.) Really I just felt like writing with Alina a bit and this is what popped out. I should be working on other writing >.<


Hopefully I get something decent posted on-time this week! 
~SilverInk

Halls of Valhalla Battle Excerpt

Title: --
Author: SilverInk
Writing: Excerpt from Roleplay
Word Count: 316

Standing in a small "clearing" of twigs and fallen debris, Alina Zephyr gazed at the forest before her and felt a light wind tease her braids. She turned to her right and then left, oddly devoid of emotions. There was simply nothing here. An abandoned twig or branch, and a bare, thin tree or two. There was nothing. 

More importantly, there's no where to hide. She thought, stepping quietly over a log and listening to the wind again. It's quiet. I could like it here.

She continued along an improvised path, boots crunching faintly on twigs and other debris, wary for other people but still emotionless. At least, she reasoned, if she had no emotion, there would be no spark for her magic to run off with. She would need every drop of energy she could salvage if she wanted to live this battle. Every grain of it would have to go towards plain sword-fighting, which she predicted would be her main defense in combat. 

No. Aside from invisibility--and the mist there was perhaps heavy enough that it wouldn't make a difference for either of them-- and a little bit of telekinesis--which she wasn't so sure would be effective unless her opponent was a slow moving giant with not enough brain matter to move when it saw a log flying at it--her powers would do very little. 

Alina pressed a hand against the cool bark of a tree. What was this place? The scenery had not changed and she doubted it never would: it was the same old sticks in the ground, the same old twigs on the dirt, the same old mist that slunk phlegmatically around, blown by the same old wind that sent shivers though her long-sleeved uniform. 

And time seemed to shrink into oblivion, leaving the dead forest in it's own realm of nothingness. 

Artist's note: No, this is not supposed to be this week's post. :P  This was just my most recent post from the Gaia Guild Halls of Valhalla. It's also the first post in my first roleplay battle o.O Link to Battle. As of the time of this posting though, the above is the only post. All I added was the surname in the first line for this DiW entry XP

It's basically a drawn-out version of the 18-word caption of the scene of the battle: "In this place, time stands still and the scenery never changes. The only occurance here is the wind."

And...I"m working on something that's probably going to be very very very long that might be posted this week or next week, depending on how soon I get it done. This post should bee looked upon as a biscuit-appetizer, even though the song-fiction and this post have nothing in common ;) That's right, songfiction. If you'd like, please check out "My Immortal" by Evanescence!

Thanks for visiting! Please comment!

~SilverInk