Fic...
I have laid around today, caught up on emails, cooked ...it was glorious.
I am starting a fic. Tonight's part can be found below.
She found the bag easily within her pack and handed it to the taller man, instinctively. Somehow, even in the dimness she recognized him. His posture and bulk were comforting in the dark of the cave.
“Open it, just about like this, but don’t touch what’s inside,” she said.
“Where..?” he started to ask.
“First, just open the bag,” she said.
As he tugged the drawstrings that held the light orb, a ray of light pierced the darkness. A pleasant glow engulfed the group, and Llwyn bent to rummage in her pack for her gloves. She stretched the long gloves over her hands and up over her elbows, looking altogether like a fox. She wore a lightweight brown traveling cloak and long tunic.
“Where are we?” the tall man asked.
“Deep in the North Crevice. Can’t you tell?” She was looking for her dagger.
“The North Crevice? Is this Japan?”
Her face jerked up, and for the first time, he could see her eyes. It was certainly the face of a woman he knew, but the color of her green eyes was diluted. The irises were only just distinguishable from the rest of her eyes, colored by only the lightest tinge of green, and her pupils were a light silvery color. As if she had never seen the sun. He flinched - it was as if her eyes were completely white.
She regarded him. Here stood Heron, the one she had been told she would meet. But his eyes were an unnatural dark color. She stood, the dagger momentarily forgotten, and peered into his eyes. She had never seen such a thing. She leaned closer. Were they entirely black? Finally, she could see the distinction between his dark brown irises and the frightening black of his irises.
“Are you not Heron?” she finally asked.
“No, I am Hiroshi.”
“Heron, you are Heron. I saw your face once; I would not forget.”
“No, No, I am Hiroshi from Saitama. Don’t you know me Linda?”
“No, no. I am Llwyn. Llwyn of the Deep Hollow.”
“The Deep Hollow?”
An echo rattled through the cave, and Llwyn remembered the danger of the North Crevice.
“Something is wrong,” she said. “I was told I would meet you, but it is not as I was told. I do not know of Japan.” She tore her gaze from those dark eyes, and went back to rummaging in her pack. “I was told you were Heron, and your magic was great. It is great, isn’t it?”
“Magic? What do you mean, magic?”
She stared up at him, panic pulling at the corners of those milk white eyes.
“You do not know?”
He shook his head.
She made a sign in the air and touched her collarbone.
Finally her left hand found the hilt of her dagger, and she drew it from the pack. “This is not as I was told it would be.” She looked up at the face she recognized, but her unease looking at those dark eyes was great. “My magic is weak, and the North Crevice is not a safe place. I will do my best to protect you and guide you to Harbor Glade.”
“What about your place?”
“That is far from here. Harbor Glade is a strange city, but it is near here. Perhaps only a day and a half’s walk. My magic is week, but I will try to guide you safely.”
“I want to know where we are, what is this country?”
“Country?”
“This nation?”
“I do not know those words. What do they mean?”
She tied shut her bag. Llwyn could tell that her question had shocked him. The Seer had only told her that she would one day meet a wise man from the past in the caves of the North Crevice. She had left the city some time ago, in search of him. Since she had started out, though, the vagueness of mind that the Seer had predicted had indeed come over her. On her boots was the blood of a spider she had killed not long after she had started her journey. She remembered cooking it over a heat stone and eating it. After that? Haze. Haze and a sense of movement.
Hadn’t she ridden a great smooth beast across a distant land? She had a vague sense of flashing images.
After the spider and before she had looked over to recognize Heron beside her, she could not focus on any one memory. He had been talking, but she was too shocked to listen carefully.
“We had better go on to Harbor Glade. I do not know about the place you speak of, and I do not know how to go there.”
“But..” he began.
“We must talk to the Seer who sent me here. He will know.”
“I have a job in Tokyo; I can’t just go missing.”
“You are poorly dressed friend. Those shoes…what land could they made for?”
“They are just business shoes.” He wore shiny black shoes with hard soles.
“All manner of things will here us coming if you wear those things.”
She took the pack from her shoulders again and rummaged. The Seer had warned her to prepare with basic things, not the things that she would expect a normal traveler to need. “Prepare what the unexpected traveler would need,” the Seer had said. She didn’t know what that had meant, but she thought it over and had some leather and strings.
“We will make you boots like mine,” Llwyn said. “Sit!”
Her boots were only strips of leather bound around her feet. When they came to the city, she would buy him some proper ones. Pointed to a rock for him to sit on.
He sat and undid the laces. Under the shoes, he wore fine socks. She knelt before him and sat in awe.
“Are you a king, friend? I have rarely seen such socks.” She traced a finger over the top of his foot, marveling at the quality of the socks. In fact the quality of his strange striped pants was also remarkable.
“You should know me well enough, Linda, to know what I am.” Llwyn’s hand jerked back.
“Why do you call me a strange name, as if I know you?”
“You call me a strange name, too. You came to Tokyo, and we met. You are a journalist, and you interviewed me several times about my work. Your eyes are different, but it is you, Linda, for sure.”
“I am Llwyn, of the Deep Hollow. I am apprenticed to the Third Seer, of Harbor Glade. She sent me here. To meet you, Heron. Let me wrap your feet.”
“Call me Hiroshi.”
“Fine. As long as you will let me guide you from this place.”
She wrapped his left foot swiftly and cut the leather.
“Perhaps we will not need to buy you new boots. I do wrap them well, I think.”
“You don’t know what we are to each other, do you?” Hiroshi asked.
She prepared the sole for his right foot and peered up at him; those strange silver eyes still unsettled him. “Of course, you are Heron, and the Seer has sent me to be your guide. You were spoken of in both histories and prophecies. I am the humble one who must guide you.”
“We are lovers.”
Llwyn sat back on her haunches and squinted at him. “I have never been with a man.”
“Like hell you haven't. We met two years ago, in Roppongi, I left my wife for you, caused a scandal for you, and you’re saying you don’t remember? A lawyer like me and an foreign journalist, and you don’t remember the stir that caused?”
He was certainly handsome. She could imagine breaking her vows for him. What would that be like? The act had been described to her. She looked at his tall, broad body, and then pointedly at his crotch.
She chuckled and then laughed.
“What?” he asked, indignant.
“Friend, I am a celibate priestess. I have not so much as seen another woman, much less a man naked.” She let a moment’s curiosity guide her gaze over his strong legs and ample hips. Something between her legs stirred and she shook her head. “Surely friend, your world and mine are different places.”
His face fell, and he said, “so it seems.”
She finished tying his right boot and put his strange shoes into her pack.
“Let’s be off,” she said. “I fear that predators will draw upon us.”
I am starting a fic. Tonight's part can be found below.
She found the bag easily within her pack and handed it to the taller man, instinctively. Somehow, even in the dimness she recognized him. His posture and bulk were comforting in the dark of the cave.
“Open it, just about like this, but don’t touch what’s inside,” she said.
“Where..?” he started to ask.
“First, just open the bag,” she said.
As he tugged the drawstrings that held the light orb, a ray of light pierced the darkness. A pleasant glow engulfed the group, and Llwyn bent to rummage in her pack for her gloves. She stretched the long gloves over her hands and up over her elbows, looking altogether like a fox. She wore a lightweight brown traveling cloak and long tunic.
“Where are we?” the tall man asked.
“Deep in the North Crevice. Can’t you tell?” She was looking for her dagger.
“The North Crevice? Is this Japan?”
Her face jerked up, and for the first time, he could see her eyes. It was certainly the face of a woman he knew, but the color of her green eyes was diluted. The irises were only just distinguishable from the rest of her eyes, colored by only the lightest tinge of green, and her pupils were a light silvery color. As if she had never seen the sun. He flinched - it was as if her eyes were completely white.
She regarded him. Here stood Heron, the one she had been told she would meet. But his eyes were an unnatural dark color. She stood, the dagger momentarily forgotten, and peered into his eyes. She had never seen such a thing. She leaned closer. Were they entirely black? Finally, she could see the distinction between his dark brown irises and the frightening black of his irises.
“Are you not Heron?” she finally asked.
“No, I am Hiroshi.”
“Heron, you are Heron. I saw your face once; I would not forget.”
“No, No, I am Hiroshi from Saitama. Don’t you know me Linda?”
“No, no. I am Llwyn. Llwyn of the Deep Hollow.”
“The Deep Hollow?”
An echo rattled through the cave, and Llwyn remembered the danger of the North Crevice.
“Something is wrong,” she said. “I was told I would meet you, but it is not as I was told. I do not know of Japan.” She tore her gaze from those dark eyes, and went back to rummaging in her pack. “I was told you were Heron, and your magic was great. It is great, isn’t it?”
“Magic? What do you mean, magic?”
She stared up at him, panic pulling at the corners of those milk white eyes.
“You do not know?”
He shook his head.
She made a sign in the air and touched her collarbone.
Finally her left hand found the hilt of her dagger, and she drew it from the pack. “This is not as I was told it would be.” She looked up at the face she recognized, but her unease looking at those dark eyes was great. “My magic is weak, and the North Crevice is not a safe place. I will do my best to protect you and guide you to Harbor Glade.”
“What about your place?”
“That is far from here. Harbor Glade is a strange city, but it is near here. Perhaps only a day and a half’s walk. My magic is week, but I will try to guide you safely.”
“I want to know where we are, what is this country?”
“Country?”
“This nation?”
“I do not know those words. What do they mean?”
She tied shut her bag. Llwyn could tell that her question had shocked him. The Seer had only told her that she would one day meet a wise man from the past in the caves of the North Crevice. She had left the city some time ago, in search of him. Since she had started out, though, the vagueness of mind that the Seer had predicted had indeed come over her. On her boots was the blood of a spider she had killed not long after she had started her journey. She remembered cooking it over a heat stone and eating it. After that? Haze. Haze and a sense of movement.
Hadn’t she ridden a great smooth beast across a distant land? She had a vague sense of flashing images.
After the spider and before she had looked over to recognize Heron beside her, she could not focus on any one memory. He had been talking, but she was too shocked to listen carefully.
“We had better go on to Harbor Glade. I do not know about the place you speak of, and I do not know how to go there.”
“But..” he began.
“We must talk to the Seer who sent me here. He will know.”
“I have a job in Tokyo; I can’t just go missing.”
“You are poorly dressed friend. Those shoes…what land could they made for?”
“They are just business shoes.” He wore shiny black shoes with hard soles.
“All manner of things will here us coming if you wear those things.”
She took the pack from her shoulders again and rummaged. The Seer had warned her to prepare with basic things, not the things that she would expect a normal traveler to need. “Prepare what the unexpected traveler would need,” the Seer had said. She didn’t know what that had meant, but she thought it over and had some leather and strings.
“We will make you boots like mine,” Llwyn said. “Sit!”
Her boots were only strips of leather bound around her feet. When they came to the city, she would buy him some proper ones. Pointed to a rock for him to sit on.
He sat and undid the laces. Under the shoes, he wore fine socks. She knelt before him and sat in awe.
“Are you a king, friend? I have rarely seen such socks.” She traced a finger over the top of his foot, marveling at the quality of the socks. In fact the quality of his strange striped pants was also remarkable.
“You should know me well enough, Linda, to know what I am.” Llwyn’s hand jerked back.
“Why do you call me a strange name, as if I know you?”
“You call me a strange name, too. You came to Tokyo, and we met. You are a journalist, and you interviewed me several times about my work. Your eyes are different, but it is you, Linda, for sure.”
“I am Llwyn, of the Deep Hollow. I am apprenticed to the Third Seer, of Harbor Glade. She sent me here. To meet you, Heron. Let me wrap your feet.”
“Call me Hiroshi.”
“Fine. As long as you will let me guide you from this place.”
She wrapped his left foot swiftly and cut the leather.
“Perhaps we will not need to buy you new boots. I do wrap them well, I think.”
“You don’t know what we are to each other, do you?” Hiroshi asked.
She prepared the sole for his right foot and peered up at him; those strange silver eyes still unsettled him. “Of course, you are Heron, and the Seer has sent me to be your guide. You were spoken of in both histories and prophecies. I am the humble one who must guide you.”
“We are lovers.”
Llwyn sat back on her haunches and squinted at him. “I have never been with a man.”
“Like hell you haven't. We met two years ago, in Roppongi, I left my wife for you, caused a scandal for you, and you’re saying you don’t remember? A lawyer like me and an foreign journalist, and you don’t remember the stir that caused?”
He was certainly handsome. She could imagine breaking her vows for him. What would that be like? The act had been described to her. She looked at his tall, broad body, and then pointedly at his crotch.
She chuckled and then laughed.
“What?” he asked, indignant.
“Friend, I am a celibate priestess. I have not so much as seen another woman, much less a man naked.” She let a moment’s curiosity guide her gaze over his strong legs and ample hips. Something between her legs stirred and she shook her head. “Surely friend, your world and mine are different places.”
His face fell, and he said, “so it seems.”
She finished tying his right boot and put his strange shoes into her pack.
“Let’s be off,” she said. “I fear that predators will draw upon us.”