Theme 86: Somewhere only we know
Today's theme:
Somewhere Only We Know1. Submit your drabble that fits this theme as a comment to this post. It should be between 100-300 words, if you go over/under a bit that's fine! If it's longer than say 400 words, I ask that you post on your journal or fanfiction.net and then submit the link to this post. If you find that your story is going ( Read more... )
Somewhere Only We Know1. Submit your drabble that fits this theme as a comment to this post. It should be between 100-300 words, if you go over/under a bit that's fine! If it's longer than say 400 words, I ask that you post on your journal or fanfiction.net and then submit the link to this post. If you find that your story is going ( Read more... )
Claim: Elfangor & family
Rating: PG
Drabbles completed so far: 31/100
The earliest memory I have of my brother is a few days after he returned from his strange disappearance. I was very young, and still wary of the large, grown stranger with the sad eyes who claimed to be my kin.
He took me out to perform our morning rituals together, but his movements were stiff and hesitant, without the fluid elegance that I had grown accustomed to seeing in grown Andalites.
< Have you forgotten how to do the morning ritual? > I wondered with the uncensored curiosity that children of any species possess.
He seemed surprised for a moment, then shook his head -- an odd gesture which I'd never seen before his return. He always looked almost guilty afterwards, as if it was a motion that should have been checked.
< Of course not, > he replied, and almost looked as if there was something else he wanted to say, but he didn't. Instead, perhaps a little too quickly, he added, < Come, Aximili. There's something I wish to show you. >
He led me nearly to the edge of our family's land, where the ground sloped gently into a long, low hill. Brushing aside a screen of leaves and dirt, he revealed a small rocky cave, bored into the side of the mound.
I peered inside with a single stalk eye, straining to make anything out in the darkness. < Did you make it? > I asked, the other stalk eye twisting to look at him excitedly.
He laughed. < No, little brother, I found it. When I wasn't much older than you are now. Would you like to see inside? >
< Yes, > I exclaimed, unashamedly eager. Trotting forward, I hesitated only briefly at the entrance before taking the plunge into the darkness.
My eyes grew accustomed to the dim light as I made my way through the slightly sloped tunnel, hooves echoing on the stone. I could hear Elfangor's steady gait just behind me. Finally I emerged into a larger chamber, with a hole in the ceiling -- not more than two heights above -- filtering in just enough light to see by and keep claustrophobia at bay. A tiny stream trickled gently on one side of the cavern, and a large chunk of dead wood lay by it, the large gouges carved into it revealing its history of tail blade practice.
Elfangor's hand nudged my flank gently, and, startled, I moved out of his way. He emerged from the tunnel with a grateful stretch of his legs -- though not a tight fit for me, his larger form had had to move through it in a crouch -- and glanced at me apologetically. < I'm sorry, little brother. Sometimes I forget-- > And then he stopped. I wondered where he must have spent these last years to forget the intimacy of physical contact.
< It's okay, > I said with a nervous dip of my stalk eyes. My excitement flared again as I looked around the cavern. < You found this? >
< Yes. > He chuckled. < I nearly tripped over the entrance while I was grazing. >
My stalk eyes swung around, trying to memorize every detail of the cave. I lunged experimentally at the wood on the floor, but my tail blade was still too small and I nearly overbalanced. < And you've never showed it to anyone else? >
He smiled at me. < Not a soul. >
Reply
Leave a comment