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RR and...It&
Chatterbox: Inkwell
RR and...It&
RR and...
It's been a long time, but I'm (kind of) back. I deserted a while ago because I felt I was getting too old and I had too many things going on, but I see that there's a wide age range and it's still awesome!
Since this is Inkwell, a new RR!
A little black-haired girl covered in gray ash leaned against the towering pine tree and slept. Her head was tilted against the tree at an odd angle and her hands were wrapped around her knees.
A pinecone dropped out of the canopy of the strangely silent woods and landed with a soft thunk on her knees. The girl’s eyes opened.
“Huh…Johnny…wha…?” she murmured sleepily.
The girl rubbed her grime covered face and slowly pushed her legs out in front of her. The pinecone thumped to the ground. She picked it up and ran her fingers over the scaly, rough surface.
The girl pushed herself up and looked around her. Tall towers of rough brown bark surrounded a carpeted clearing of soft pine needles. A small patch of ice blue sky could be seen through the gaps of spiky limbs.
Then a slight breeze rustled the needles. The girl lifted up her head and sniffed, inhaling deeply. Suddenly the mist in her confused mind lifted, and she flung herself onto the pine needles with a horrible wail of grief.
As the pine cone landed a few feet away from her, the girl remembered why the wind smelled of smoke and the forest was silent.
submitted by Amy G.
(March 23, 2012 - 3:27 pm)
(March 23, 2012 - 3:27 pm)
Welcome back, Amy G.! :D The italics is what happened, by the way.
It was evening and the sun was just sinking behind the rolling green hills that encircled her village like a wall of protection. The girl was sitting in front of a shack, drawing circles in the ground with her toe. It seemed as if she was waiting for someone. And this someone appeared at that moment.
"Johnny," she cried, standing up and running at the boy, her arms wide open. His face was grim and he didn't return the girl's look of delight.
"I can't stay for long... I just- I need to tell you something."
"Is it about Zil-"
"No! Do not say the name! I am here to offer you something." His tone was so angry, so harsh that she took a step back.
"What's wrong, Johnny? What do you want from me?"
"You promise not to tell a creature on this earth?"
"Y-yes."
"Not even Shile?"
"Shile is only a dog. He wouldn't-"
"You promise?"
She nodded and gulped, her happiness replaced by fear.
"I must destroy the village. I must burn it down."
"Did Zil-"
"I told you not to say the name."
"Did he tell you to do this?"
Johnny didn't respond.
The girl kicked the wall of the wooden shack. "He's brain-washing you, and you- you're not even fighting against him!"
"Because he's right."
"You think burning down peoples' homes is right?"
"There's a good reason."
"Tell me it."
He looked at the ground; then up at the pink-orange sky. "I cannot."
"Why?"
"I swore to not tell anyone. Anyway, you wouldn't understand."
"No, I don't think I would." Then she turned her back to him.
Images of orange flames bathing the valley in an evil light, people screaming and running raced through her mind. And she remembered him; she remembered seeing Johnny for one last time.
"Help me! Please help me!" A burning log had fallen on top of his body. His clothes were burning and his skin was being scorched.
"How do I know this is not a trick? How do I know that you aren't just following that man's orders anymore?"
"Please. I made a mistake! This was all a big mistake."
"It's too late, Johnny." She began to walk off.
"Makenna!" He yelled for the last time before the hungry flames swallowed him.
(March 24, 2012 - 3:51 am)
Hi Elizabeth M.!
Kenna shook her head, hot tears burning her cheeks, trying to shake off the image of Johnny's pleading eyes. The image of her house, flaring up, her sister's screams, the priest running through the charred village square and a flaming tree falling on him...
Crack. The sharp sound of a branch breaking made her look up. Nothing there. CREAK. Was that the sound of the blue sky caving in? Kenna didn't move. She felt like she was waiting for the world to tumble to pieces around her. Cre-ak.
The air shimmered in front of her, rippling like the surface of water. She put a hand out carefully and touched the air. Her hand disappeared up to the wrist.
Kenna screamed and pulled her hand out as she jumped up. She rubbed her hand furiously and though it tingled a little, it looked pretty normal. She walked around the shimmering patch of air. It was roughly the size and shape of a doorway. Leaning closer, Kenna could hear the creaking, groaning sounds coming from within...whatever that was.
Everything was dark and smelled of smoke and musty onions. A fire crackled and a veiled woman mumbled words in a cracked voice, as Kenna, four or five years old, sat in a corner watching curiously. The smoke from the fire seemed to condense in the air, twisting and weaving until it expanded into a shimmering doorway.
The woman turned to Kenna and beckoned as she stepped into the doorway. Kenna shrank back into the corner, trembling, as the woman disappeared. When the woman came out again a moment later she had a white cat in her arms.
"Come, girl," said the veiled woman. Kenna found her legs obeying the ancient voice and she walked closer and closer to the shimmering smoke.
The memory came suddenly, and when it faded away like an old dream she found herself right in front of the doorway. Kenna took a deep breath and looked around at the circle of pines and the squirrel on the branch watching her with dark eyes. Then she stepped forward and disappeared.
(March 25, 2012 - 1:56 pm)
Walking through the door was like walking through the rain. Kenna didn't dare open her eyes until the cool, wet feeling left her. Then very slowly she began raise her pale eyelids.
She was in a field; a vast green lettuce field. The sun was just rising and mist still hovered over the ground. It looked similar to where she had lived. Except for the fact that shacks weren't anywhere to be seen. Only the field and the sky.
Kenna began to walk through the rows of lettuce, her feet unsteady on the uneven ground. Suddenly the world went completely dark, and she found herself shivering at the cold.
"Hello," she whispered, though no one was there to hear her. "Is someone there?"
The world was quiet and dark. As dark as a shack without a fire. As quiet as a cat hunting a mouse.
Kenna gulped and sank down onto the earth, overwhelmed by how alone she was. Everyone she knew was dead, and she was caught somewhere in a world between the earth and sky.
"Kenna!"
She jumped to her feet. "Who- who's there?"
"Can't you see me, dear one?" Kenna squinted into the darkness and took notice of a hunched shape. As it moved closer, she recognized the old woman from so many years ago. She was wearing the same veil and smelled the same - like freshly planted flowers and spring rain.
"I've been waiting for you," the woman held onto Kenna's shoulder and breathed in deeply. "This darkness is bothersome. Yet Tathos has been in a bad mood lately."
"Tathos?"
"Yes, Tathos... Don't you remember?"
"Remember what?"
The old woman sighed. "You recall nothing?"
Kenna shook her head in confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about. Really, I have no idea."
"Then you'd better come with me."
With that Kenna and the woman walked across the field.
(March 26, 2012 - 8:41 am)
"Tathos is my brother, in a sense," said the old woman, as they walked over the field of lettuce that seemed to go on and on into the horizon. "At least in the beginning. Dear me, I'm not making much sense, am I?"
She sighed. "Let me tell you a story."
It was a long time ago. There was only darkness, darkness and a seed. Inside the seed, there was a single beam of light. After an eternity, the seed cracked open and the light was released. The light spilled into the space and from it eight guardians were born. They formed eight worlds from the light and each reigned in their own sphere.
The space in between the worlds was a leftover, a piece from the beginning of darkness. A single strand of light existed in each of the spaces, creating a possibility. It was no more than a stepping stone between the worlds. We are in one now.
The oldest guardian, the most powerful, grew boastful of his power. He started gathering energy, reaping power, sowing the germs of discord between his brothers and sisters. Within a millenium, there was a war. All took sides in the uprising. The eldest brother-I will not use his name-was defeated, but at a tremendous cost. He was bound and shoved back into the shell of the original seed.
Since then, his world has disappeared. No one knows where it has gone. Among the other worlds, things have started falling apart. Space is crowding the edges. The darkness is slowly growing. We suspect that he is involved, through human agents. That is why we, the Seven Guardians of Ter'Orrn, have brought you here."
You...you what?" whispered Kenna, stopping. The light was fading. "I didn't..."
"I know, dear," she said, her ancient eyes peering out through mountainous wrinkles. "We know you are no agent of the Great One, The One Who is Banished."
She sighed. "Tathos and I are Guardians. The youngest, our power is limited, and alone it took all my strength to open that doorway for you. Tathos does not agree with me. I don't know if I am right. But I'm asking for your help."
"It seems like everybody is asking me to do impossible things!" Kenna cried. "I couldn't save Johnny, and I don't know what I can do to help you! Why should I?"
Suddenly she had a horrible suspicion. "This has to do with J-Johnny's master, doesn't it? Zil-"
The old woman clapped her hand around Kenna's mouth with surprising speed.
"Do not say that name," she whispered. "Even here, names have great power."
Kenna shook her head. "I don't understand. That's a cliche. It can't possibly hurt to say Zil-"
"Shush!"
They surveyed each other. Kenna felt tears welling in the corners of her eyes.
"Oh, dear, dear, dear," said the old woman softly. "I think if you took a step through another door way you might understand. A doorway through time."
Suddenly Kenna saw the end of the field of lettuce approaching. At the end of the field there was nothing but empty space, a huge gaping hole of nothingness. She drew back, afraid, as glittering silver door way formed in the space.
"Why?"
"To understand, Mackenna." The Guardian paused. "To understand your grandmother's decision."
Kenna gasped. A familiar wrinkled face had appeared faintly in the doorway.
"Nana!" she cried, and took a step toward the doorway.
(March 29, 2012 - 1:33 pm)
As McKenna stepped through the doorway, she felt the same cool, wet feeling of before when she'd stepped through the first one. She kept her eyes tightly shut until the feeling left her. Then she slowly peeked out into the world in front of her.
A girl of twelve or thirteen years with almost the exact features as Kenna was standing in an apple grove. Mckenna knew the place all too well. It was the place where her grandmother had fallen and whispered her final words: "Protect the girl." Her mother had never mentioned Nana's death after that. But for what reason? Mckenna was about to find out.
Raindrops on the flowers,
sitting on my nose.
Dew on the grass,
resting on my toes.
Nana sang and reached up to grab an apple, but instead of plucking it off the arced branch of the tree, her hand sank into the air.
The girl jumped and let out a small squeak.
Suddenly a door appeared. Nana turned her head to one side, studying the shimmering handle.
"Is someone here? Are you waiting for me to enter the door?" She called to no one in particular. "Shall I enter?"
A gust of wind blew her black hair so that it framed her pale face.
"Is that a yes?" Then ever so slowly, she pushed open the door and disappeared.
She was in the same lettuce field, which Mckenna had been in, but this time she was not alone. The old woman and a man were beckoning to Nana.
Nana didn't move.
"Come, dear! Do not fear," the old woman began to slowly pick her way through the green lettuce. At the same time, Nana started to move towards her.
The old woman stopped and waited until the girl had reached them. "This is her, Tathos," she said to the man.
He nodded and stroked his brown beard. "You are Dana?"
"Yes."
The old woman patted Dana's shoulder in a comforting way. "I know you must be nervous."
"What do you mean, Miss?" She asked the guardian.
"Don't call me Miss. I have no name."
Dana raised her eyebrows. "And if someone needs to shout for you?"
"They never do. I am of no importance to most people."
"Who are you?" The curiosity on Dana's face was unmistakable.
"I am a guardian." The old woman told the girl the same story she'd told Kenna.
"How am I to help?" Dana asked after the woman had finished. "I am nothing but a poor farm girl."
"You are of great importance to us. You will have a daughter."
"I will?"
Tathos cleared his throat. "Do not interrupt."
"You will have a daughter," the guardian began again. "And you must raise her to be pure, wise and clever for these traits she will give to her daughter. And this girl shall be named Mckenna, born of fire."
"Is that all I must do?"
"You may also say no and we'll send you back to your apple grove. But darkness will follow you forever."
"I will do as you told me. I will not fail."
The woman smiled. "Then you may go." A shimmering doorway appeared in front of Dana and she started to turn the knob.
"Wait!" Tathos yelled. "There is one more thing." He tossed something, which Dana caught. She looked at him questioningly.
"You will know what to do when the time comes," he said before she passed through the doorway and back to the grove.
(March 30, 2012 - 10:41 am)
There was a sound of rushing wind, and the air blurred. Objects moved around Kenna too quickly for her to process and she felt like she was in the middle of a wind tunnel. Then everything slowed down and came into focus again.
First she saw Nana; Dana, rather, because she was not yet a Nana. Dana, looking several years older, sat bent over a spindle, her long black hair braided down her back. Tears rolled down her face as she sat spinning, her long fingers pinching the grey puffs of wool out over and over and the yarn spiraling into a ball.
Kenna looked around and saw she was in a small, cozy cottage. There was a huge old hearth, ceiling beams hanging with braids of garlic and dried herbs, a chipped wooden table pushed against the corner. She jumped as the door was pushed open and a woman stepped into the wide, low room.
"Dana!" said the woman sharply, her light, piercing eyes moving over Kenna as though she didn't see her.
Dana set her spindle down, wiping her eyes with her sleeves, but didn't turn around.
"Look at me," said the older woman.
"Yes, Mother," she said softly, turning. Kenna ran up to Dana and touched her hand, but to her horror her hand went right through her grandmother's skin. Apparently Kenna could only exist as an onlooker.
"I need to talk to you about your work. All day long, dreaming, dreaming, dreaming, won't answer when I talk to you, crying in the corner, not sleeping at night..." Her mother shook her head in exasperation. "How do you expect to finish your dowry in this fashion?"
“Mother,” she whispered. “I don’t wish to marry Ian.”
Her mother froze in shock.“I don’t understand. I wear myself to the bone, worrying about you, finally I find the only suitable man who will take you with all your dreaminess and lazing, and this is the gratitude I get!” She mocked her daughter. “”I don’t wish to marry, mother!”
”Dana looked close to tears again. “I know it’s expected, but I simply can’t. Ian and I don’t love each other. I love another.”
Her mother said a little more gently, “It’s not about love, daughter.”
“Then I can’t stay here, not when the Guardian and my mother conspire against my love,” her daughter said, and she rose up with her spindle and walked out the door.
Again the scene blurred and came back into focus. Now all around her Kenna saw great pines, spiky towers that were covered with a thin blanket of grey snow. As the wind whipped her hair and she shivered, she saw Dana a few paces away, huddled in a ragged cloak. Her stomach was large and swollen and a man stood with his arms around her.
Kenna realized that this was her own forest, and suddenly she recognized the clearing as the place where she had been just this morning. It seemed like it had been centuries since she had sat under the pine tree as her world splintered into fragments around her.
She saw Dana reach into a pocket of her cloak and withdraw an object. Kenna blinked the snow away from her eyes furiously and struggling closer to the couple made out a large, ornate key.
“Are you sure?” the man was saying. Kenna moved closer and saw that he had her mother’s large grey eyes. This must be the grandfather that she never met, the one who eloped with her grandmother in that old village legend that she never believed to be true.
“Yes, she said to leave it here,” said Dana, “And my granddaughter will know how to find it when the time is right.”
Suddenly the entire scene shivered and a dark shadow fell on her.
(April 1, 2012 - 6:06 pm)
Sorry, that was supposed to be italics, because it's still part of the "memory" (aka time traveling).
(April 2, 2012 - 10:56 am)
"Mckenna, dear. Wake up, sweet!" A very peculiar scent was drifting into Kenna's nose. It made her sneeze and open her eyes.
"What is that?" She demanded after itching her nose quite a bit.
The old woman patted Kenna's shoulder. "Just one of my remedies from my box of herbs." That's when Mckenna noticed the smell - a smell of billions of dried herbs and flowers mixed together to make one overpowering scent. She also observed that she was in a cottage, perhaps the cottage at the end of the lettuce field. It was dark and only a dim fire lit the square room.
"What happened? Something dark..." She wondered, trying to remember what had happened after her last time travel.
The old woman stiffened slightly. "Oh... Nothing much... You just - you were just a little tired and fainted."
Mckenna raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "No. I was crushed by something."
"You must have hurt your head. Fainting can cause odd symtoms." The lady rose and walked to the far wall and began to fumble around as if looking for something.
"Tell me what happened."
"Nothing, dear, nothing at all." Her voice was becoming so high that it was almost shrill.
"Do not lie to me!" Mckenna yelled angrily.
"I'm not-"
"Tell me now!"
"Mckenna-"
"Tell the girl." A familiar voice said behind her. It was Tathos.
"Why don't you?" The old woman's hands were shaking terribly as she pointed at him.
"If I must." Tathos sat down in front of the fire. Cold air surrounded him. "The human agents. There are some that are more powerful than normal. They're so powerful that they can attack during a time traveller. There are but few that can do this, but those who can..." He stopped for a moment, watching the flames of the fire crackle. "An agent found you. They followed you, and we didn't know before he almost caught you. We were able to pull you out of the travel before he could fully capture you."
"But why did they want me?" Mckenna asked.
"You have the key."
"The key from the past?"
Tathos and the woman nodded.
"But I don't have it."
(April 4, 2012 - 2:15 am)
Sorry it took me a while! :(
Tathos sighed deeply. In the flickering light she saw a short, muscular man with a pointy graying beard and weary black eyes, younger than his sister but eternally tired. Not at all what Kenna would have imagined a Guardian to look like.
She sat up, rubbing her sore head, and asked him curiously, "Why do you have a name?"
To her surprise, he flushed a little and winced in embarrasment. "We're not supposed to talk about it to...ordinary mortals, but I suppose it will do know harm."
He mumbled, "The truth of it is I am partly human. That is why my name can be spoken."
"That's enough now," said his sister. She had put on a pair of slightly bent out of shape spectacles and her rust-and-gray streaked bun was disheveled."It's time for you to go back."
"No!" The cry burst out before Kenna could stop it. She shook her head. "I can't go back. I have no family, no friends left...no way I can save a people that has been burnt and a world that's dying."
"But there is a way. You have the key that will unlock the door of the eighth world and free the terror that lies within." On the old woman's face shadows from the fire leapt and fell.
"And what then?" whispered Kenna.
Tathos looked at his sister. "Our job is to connect with the resistence. The ones who are fighting now, as we speak, against the darkness."
"There are people that know? That are fighting now?"
"Yes. You are one of them, though you may not have known what you were fighting for." Tathos smiled then, fiercely, and Kenna felt a small bubble of hope expand.
She saw Johnny's ash streaked face in her mind, pleading with her as the flames devoured him. She thought of the days when he came back from his master, walking with a swagger even as he rubbed the bruised circles under his pale eyes.
The days when he raged at her, harshly accusing her of things she never did. Those were the days when the madness was strong in him, when his master, the master whose name he would not say, controlled him. Almost broke him, utterly changed the bright, strong boy that she had known for years into someone she couldn't fathom.
"I have the key," she said, "and I will fight."
The world wavered and turned upside down. She was falling and her head was going to burst; little patterns of lights and shadows played inside her eyelids and then everything exploded in a burst of green and ice blue.
(April 13, 2012 - 8:40 pm)
Elizabeth M.? Are you still there? I'm fine with ending this but just checking...
(April 24, 2012 - 5:42 pm)