Coffee # 26-Hook; Chocolate # 11-Confusion
Author: Dragons_Kin
Title: Trial
Flavor: Coffee # 26-Hook; Chocolate # 11-Confusion
Story:Guardians
Word Count:1,519
Rating: PG
Summary:The trial was ceremony that claimed innocence, claimed guilt
The trial was ceremony that claimed innocence, claimed guilt, and Shizu shook from the overwhelming fear of what might happen instead of what was promised to happen.
Her chest felt unbearably tight. It was hard to breathe, hard to think. She wasn’t getting help going in today. Today she had to stand up long enough to get in and sit down. Everything shouldn’t take longer than a couple of hours. No help from Scott, Darren, or Blue would settle today. But the three were still there, guarding her like she was worth guarding, making a triangle just in case something was to happen.
She couldn’t look at Darren. The thought of what they should have been together stabbing her inside over and over again. She couldn’t look at Scott, the man who captured her, vowed revenge for a friend who was like a brother to him. In an effort to keep from shaking at the mere presence of him, she looked down at his boots and pretended the shoes belonged to someone else.
And Blue was restless, tense. Anger and disapproval drifted off him in waves that left Shizu feeling terribly raw and exposed to his actions. She didn’t want to stand too close to him.
People piled into the court room. Leaders of each province, and families and friends of the victims were gathering, sitting down in their groups. Shizu and the three men walked in formation, with Shizu in the center. There wasn’t a chair for her or her guard. So they stood, with Shizu’s back to the wall, Blue standing in front of her and Darren and Scott on either side.
Shizu didn’t dare look up. Didn’t dare look because Charlie was there to watch her very movements, as if waiting to see if she would do such a stupid thing as act defiant. So she kept her head down, looked to the floor where her dirty shoes greeted her with gray simplicity. She did her best to remain small and insignificant. She didn’t want to see what Charlie could do to her if he felt she’d defied him.
The last ones to enter were Sage and Ivy, just like last time. They walked as a pair. He sat down behind the podium, and Sage sat next to Ivy who’s green eyes the same color of his namesake reached out and wrapped around every single person in the room, biding them with invisible threads until he said what he needed to. One by one the murmurings and the whispers stopped until he knew he had everybody’s attention. She felt it the moment Ivy’s eyes landed on her, and her skin broke out in a cold, cold sweat. It was hard to look or feel indifferent when it felt like she wasn’t going to live the next ten minutes.
“I’ll make it short for everyone here today,” Ivy began. “Four years ago a Guardian who held news of an attack that destroyed an entire city and believed dead woke from a slumber of thirty years. That man said he had been helping the defendant with finding a culprit who had the power to destroy said city and steal the Lady Sage’s Key. Is this true?”
“Yes, Lord.” Blue’s voice was rough.
“Would you be willing to repeat for the Lords and the Lady’s present what happened when up until the point of your slumber?”
“When I heard of the attack I went straight to the city where I found Shelce engaged in combat with a figure I could not see, yet seemed familiar. My first priority was to help the citizens. When I reached the place where Shelce had been fighting, I found her bleeding from a wound on her stomach. It looked like she was trying to tell me something. However, I took it as a means of saying she was alright, as she usually does and ignored her warning. It was there that the real person behind this struck me with a spell, and as I found out later, stabbed me with my own knife.”
Murmurs from all around as the last of Blue’s words were spoken and then absorbed.
Shizu felt something drop suddenly in her stomach. The cold seeped in more, her throat constricted around her. There was a little pause after the whispers died down.
“I understand that speaking is difficult for you, Shelce, but I must ask you to deny or confirm this chain of events. Is it true that you had been hurt by the time Blue reached you? Is it true that you tried to warn him of danger just as the culprit struck and effectively framed you for killing a Guardian and a great sum of innocents?”
It took a few long moments before she could get her voice to work. It sounded raspy and small. It felt like her voice had echoed. In reality it probably sounded loud to her alone.
Ivy’s voice sounded both frustrated and understanding. “Blue, please step aside so that the defendant can be seen as well as heard.” No questions asked. Shizu saw Blue’s foot take one large step to the right of her in automatic response. “You’re answer Shelce. We’d like to know if what Blue has claimed is true or false.”
“It’s-” Her voice broke. She cleared her throat and tried again, trying to sound louder. “It’s true.”
Louder murmurs. Ivy’s eyes passed over every person in the stand again, silently demanding silence. “Due to the circumstances of a witness to support the defendant’s previous statement present in the court. I, Ivy Lee, Judge of this hearing, declare that Death as an improbable punishment. She will instead, for safety’s sake, stay with me until the real culprit has been unmasked and it is safe for her to return to Light. This is my will.”
People stood up, talking as they began to exit. It seemed that they already knew the verdict of this trial. Even Shizu, albeit indirectly, knew about the trial as a public announcement of her innocence. No murmurs of approval or disapproval, and she was not brave enough to chance a look at their faces. She just heard talk of recent gossip. Who did this, what happened there. Most of the witnesses here weren’t directly influenced by a series of events, and they weren’t inclined to care. The exiting of the people was steady. The guest list was there to sign in those present, declaring witness to her innocence. The book would be kept safe in Ivy Lee’s hands.
Shizu’s stomach dropped as she took in the news. She wasn’t cold anymore, but she felt too stunned to move.
People wanted to greet her, welcome her back to Light as if she’d been away on a mission, and not running for her life. She didn’t want to talk to them, didn’t want to look up and acknowledge them.
Shizu watched as Blue’s moved back to the left. Back in front of her.
She jumped when she heard Charlie’s voice above all the others. He reached out to her just as a strong arm hooked itself around her back and lead her along. She followed numbly, not daring to look at Darren or Scott or Blue.
There was a few moments when Shizu’s memory blanked out. It wasn’t enough to forget she had walked, but it was enough to forget how long the walk was. Time had no difference where her mind was concerned. By the time she came to, she was already sitting down with a glass of hot tea settled in front of her.
She had enough time to register confusion, but not enough to question it when footsteps that didn’t belong to Blue or Darren or Scott sounded. Panic settled in. What if it’s Charlie, swam through her mind, and her heart sank again. And then…What if Blue doesn’t know that Charlie’s a bad man?
“Shizu?” Shizu looked up, startled out of her numbness to look into green eyes and the man who owned them. Ivy’s face was uncomfortably close to her.
“How do you know my name?”
“I know a lot of things.” Ivy’s smile was mischievous, but not menacing. Not like Charlie… “I’d been watching you for many years. A few of my close friends died in that massacre. It was a good thing I didn’t know how I wanted to kill you. Believe me when I say I wanted to tear you to pieces.”
I just didn’t know how I was going to tear you up….
Shizu gulped. How was she supposed to answer that? A new wave of dread she never felt before took a hold of her.
Ivy backed away from her, never breaking eye contact. His eyes narrowed as the fear in her eyes changed. It scared him how someone alive could look so dead. A dead look replaced the shine of terror.
“Shizu?” He wanted that look to go away. Maybe saying a name she’d been associated with for years would snap her out of it.
Except it didn’t, and those suddenly dead looking eyes found his again.Coffee # 26-Hook; Chocolate # 11-Confusion
Title: Trial
Flavor: Coffee # 26-Hook; Chocolate # 11-Confusion
Story:Guardians
Word Count:1,519
Rating: PG
Summary:The trial was ceremony that claimed innocence, claimed guilt
The trial was ceremony that claimed innocence, claimed guilt, and Shizu shook from the overwhelming fear of what might happen instead of what was promised to happen.
Her chest felt unbearably tight. It was hard to breathe, hard to think. She wasn’t getting help going in today. Today she had to stand up long enough to get in and sit down. Everything shouldn’t take longer than a couple of hours. No help from Scott, Darren, or Blue would settle today. But the three were still there, guarding her like she was worth guarding, making a triangle just in case something was to happen.
She couldn’t look at Darren. The thought of what they should have been together stabbing her inside over and over again. She couldn’t look at Scott, the man who captured her, vowed revenge for a friend who was like a brother to him. In an effort to keep from shaking at the mere presence of him, she looked down at his boots and pretended the shoes belonged to someone else.
And Blue was restless, tense. Anger and disapproval drifted off him in waves that left Shizu feeling terribly raw and exposed to his actions. She didn’t want to stand too close to him.
People piled into the court room. Leaders of each province, and families and friends of the victims were gathering, sitting down in their groups. Shizu and the three men walked in formation, with Shizu in the center. There wasn’t a chair for her or her guard. So they stood, with Shizu’s back to the wall, Blue standing in front of her and Darren and Scott on either side.
Shizu didn’t dare look up. Didn’t dare look because Charlie was there to watch her very movements, as if waiting to see if she would do such a stupid thing as act defiant. So she kept her head down, looked to the floor where her dirty shoes greeted her with gray simplicity. She did her best to remain small and insignificant. She didn’t want to see what Charlie could do to her if he felt she’d defied him.
The last ones to enter were Sage and Ivy, just like last time. They walked as a pair. He sat down behind the podium, and Sage sat next to Ivy who’s green eyes the same color of his namesake reached out and wrapped around every single person in the room, biding them with invisible threads until he said what he needed to. One by one the murmurings and the whispers stopped until he knew he had everybody’s attention. She felt it the moment Ivy’s eyes landed on her, and her skin broke out in a cold, cold sweat. It was hard to look or feel indifferent when it felt like she wasn’t going to live the next ten minutes.
“I’ll make it short for everyone here today,” Ivy began. “Four years ago a Guardian who held news of an attack that destroyed an entire city and believed dead woke from a slumber of thirty years. That man said he had been helping the defendant with finding a culprit who had the power to destroy said city and steal the Lady Sage’s Key. Is this true?”
“Yes, Lord.” Blue’s voice was rough.
“Would you be willing to repeat for the Lords and the Lady’s present what happened when up until the point of your slumber?”
“When I heard of the attack I went straight to the city where I found Shelce engaged in combat with a figure I could not see, yet seemed familiar. My first priority was to help the citizens. When I reached the place where Shelce had been fighting, I found her bleeding from a wound on her stomach. It looked like she was trying to tell me something. However, I took it as a means of saying she was alright, as she usually does and ignored her warning. It was there that the real person behind this struck me with a spell, and as I found out later, stabbed me with my own knife.”
Murmurs from all around as the last of Blue’s words were spoken and then absorbed.
Shizu felt something drop suddenly in her stomach. The cold seeped in more, her throat constricted around her. There was a little pause after the whispers died down.
“I understand that speaking is difficult for you, Shelce, but I must ask you to deny or confirm this chain of events. Is it true that you had been hurt by the time Blue reached you? Is it true that you tried to warn him of danger just as the culprit struck and effectively framed you for killing a Guardian and a great sum of innocents?”
It took a few long moments before she could get her voice to work. It sounded raspy and small. It felt like her voice had echoed. In reality it probably sounded loud to her alone.
Ivy’s voice sounded both frustrated and understanding. “Blue, please step aside so that the defendant can be seen as well as heard.” No questions asked. Shizu saw Blue’s foot take one large step to the right of her in automatic response. “You’re answer Shelce. We’d like to know if what Blue has claimed is true or false.”
“It’s-” Her voice broke. She cleared her throat and tried again, trying to sound louder. “It’s true.”
Louder murmurs. Ivy’s eyes passed over every person in the stand again, silently demanding silence. “Due to the circumstances of a witness to support the defendant’s previous statement present in the court. I, Ivy Lee, Judge of this hearing, declare that Death as an improbable punishment. She will instead, for safety’s sake, stay with me until the real culprit has been unmasked and it is safe for her to return to Light. This is my will.”
People stood up, talking as they began to exit. It seemed that they already knew the verdict of this trial. Even Shizu, albeit indirectly, knew about the trial as a public announcement of her innocence. No murmurs of approval or disapproval, and she was not brave enough to chance a look at their faces. She just heard talk of recent gossip. Who did this, what happened there. Most of the witnesses here weren’t directly influenced by a series of events, and they weren’t inclined to care. The exiting of the people was steady. The guest list was there to sign in those present, declaring witness to her innocence. The book would be kept safe in Ivy Lee’s hands.
Shizu’s stomach dropped as she took in the news. She wasn’t cold anymore, but she felt too stunned to move.
People wanted to greet her, welcome her back to Light as if she’d been away on a mission, and not running for her life. She didn’t want to talk to them, didn’t want to look up and acknowledge them.
Shizu watched as Blue’s moved back to the left. Back in front of her.
She jumped when she heard Charlie’s voice above all the others. He reached out to her just as a strong arm hooked itself around her back and lead her along. She followed numbly, not daring to look at Darren or Scott or Blue.
There was a few moments when Shizu’s memory blanked out. It wasn’t enough to forget she had walked, but it was enough to forget how long the walk was. Time had no difference where her mind was concerned. By the time she came to, she was already sitting down with a glass of hot tea settled in front of her.
She had enough time to register confusion, but not enough to question it when footsteps that didn’t belong to Blue or Darren or Scott sounded. Panic settled in. What if it’s Charlie, swam through her mind, and her heart sank again. And then…What if Blue doesn’t know that Charlie’s a bad man?
“Shizu?” Shizu looked up, startled out of her numbness to look into green eyes and the man who owned them. Ivy’s face was uncomfortably close to her.
“How do you know my name?”
“I know a lot of things.” Ivy’s smile was mischievous, but not menacing. Not like Charlie… “I’d been watching you for many years. A few of my close friends died in that massacre. It was a good thing I didn’t know how I wanted to kill you. Believe me when I say I wanted to tear you to pieces.”
I just didn’t know how I was going to tear you up….
Shizu gulped. How was she supposed to answer that? A new wave of dread she never felt before took a hold of her.
Ivy backed away from her, never breaking eye contact. His eyes narrowed as the fear in her eyes changed. It scared him how someone alive could look so dead. A dead look replaced the shine of terror.
“Shizu?” He wanted that look to go away. Maybe saying a name she’d been associated with for years would snap her out of it.
Except it didn’t, and those suddenly dead looking eyes found his again.Coffee # 26-Hook; Chocolate # 11-Confusion