Clayr: 009 Months
Title: Loneliness
Fandom: Abhorsen Trilogy
Characters: Sohrae, Ryelle, Sanar, Lirael
Prompt: 009 Months
Word Count: 1138
Rating: G
Summary: Sohrae wonders if there's something wrong. Well, there's certainly something wrong. But who with?
Table: http://airelement.livejournal.com/4194.html
Sohrae watched Ryelle fill her plate slowly, lost in her own little world. Sohrae hadn’t mentioned anything, and probably wouldn’t, but such behaviour was unusual for either of the twins. Although their gift of Sight was exceptionally strong and like all such Clayr they had frequent visions, neither of them were vague or dreamy. But Sohrae had noticed Ryelle change slowly, over the last little while. She couldn’t pinpoint the first time she’d noticed in a difference in the blonde woman’s behaviour - it was probably a month or so, but could have been a week or a season - but that was probably because Sanar hadn’t mentioned it.
Sohrae shrugged and brushed the matter from her mind. If Sanar didn’t think there was a problem, there wasn’t one. The twins had always been able to talk telepathically - Sohrae was one of the privileged few they’d told about that, although only one of many who thought it obvious - so there was no way a problem could grow in one of them without the other nipping it in the bud.
-----------
Ryelle mechanically ran a brush through her long hair.
Sanar? she thought, but there was no reply. There hadn’t been one for a while. Ryelle could remember clearly the day she woke up and Sanar wasn’t rubbing her eyes sleepily in the adjacent bed. She’d been confused for a moment and lay back down, assuming she was dreaming. But she didn’t fall back into the black abyss of sleep when she closed her eyes, and after a while of confused, whirlwind thinking she concluded that she must be awake.
From birth and even before, Sanar and Ryelle had done everything together. They spoke their first word in unison, they walked in step from the first time they each took a wobbly, tentative step towards each other, they woke up and fell asleep at the exact same time and their mother had always sworn that when they were still unborn fetuses curled together in the womb, they had kicked at the same time.
Ryelle had never woken up at a different time to Sanar before. It was an alien concept, as strange and unimaginable as the sun not having risen at midday. She could tell that Sanar wasn’t dead or ill - although they always caught the same sicknesses at the same time - but when she mentally called out, Sanar didn’t reply.
Ryelle was jerked back to the present when her brush caught on a tangle in her previously always-smooth hair.
Sanar? she thought again, pleading this time. She waited for her twin to say something back, but Sanar either couldn’t or didn’t.
----------
Sohrae watched Ryelle and Sanar stand together before the Nine Day Watch gathered together in the Observatory. Ryelle wasn’t dreamy right now - to anyone but Sohrae she seemed to be her usual self - but Sohrae wondered if there was something wrong. Although she and Sanar spoke and moved as one, they didn’t seem to think as one anymore. The little movements that showed they were talking mind-to-mind were gone: no longer did Ryelle tilt her head slightly left or Sanar tilt hers to the right, their eyes didn’t seem to communicate via blinks that made no sense to anyone else, and their expressions, though still calm, seemed out of sync. It wasn’t noticeable to anyone other than Sohrae, because no one other than Sohrae knew them well enough to be able to even tell the difference between them, but Sohrae had seen enough to be convinced that something was very wrong and had been so for months.
The question was, with who?
-----------
Sanar? Ryelle automatically called, and couldn’t help sobbing from the added pain of her twin’s distance now of all times. It had been horrible and unthinkable enough when Sanar began to ignore Ryelle’s mental conversation, but now she needed Sanar more than ever and she still didn’t care.
“Ryelle, what happened?” a voice said, and Ryelle’s head shot up from where it had begun to hang miserably. She found herself staring into the face of Arielle’s daughter who was crouching beside her, a worried crease between her dark brows.
“I must have fallen down the stairs,” Ryelle said around the painful lump in her throat. “I - I’m not sure.”
“Where does it hurt?” Lirael asked. Ryelle blinked slowly at the girl’s practical tone. Lirael spent more time in a dream world than the oldest Clayr who had Dreaming Rooms. Ryelle supposed that venturing into the Old Levels and seeing the other librarians do so in groups must have informed Lirael of what to say to an injured person. On the other hand, it was common sense… not that most Clayr had a lot of it, Ryelle included, but Lirael wasn’t a typical Clayr.
Ryelle thought about the question. The searing pain of continual rejection burned and throbbed in her heart, but that wasn’t a physical ache. Trying to ignore that for now, she wriggled all her limbs and bit back a screech when she moved her ankle. Lirael obviously saw the suppressed noise of pain because she awkwardly patted Ryelle on the shoulder.
“If I help you do you think you could walk? Otherwise I’d have to go and fetch someone because I lost my whistle in the Library the other day -“ Lirael babbled nervously. Ryelle held up a hand, stopping her in mid-sentence.
“I’ll be alright if you can help me to the Infirmary,” she said in a voice that was more confident than she felt. Lirael nodded and helped her to her feet, and let Ryelle lean on her without complaint as they slowly made their way down the three corridors to the Infirmary.
Lirael didn’t chatter or ask questions or even ask which twin she was half-carrying. Ryelle couldn’t have felt more grateful to the Sightless teenager than she already was. Most of the younger Clayr would have bombarded her with questions and comments meant to raise them in the eyes of the ‘amazing Sanar and Ryelle’, but Lirael’s shy silence was somehow comfortable. Ryelle had always been talkative herself, but for some reason this quiet was warm, and maybe a bit comradely. It wasn’t that she and Lirael were friends - they’d hardly ever spoken, although Ryelle and Sanar had been keeping an eye on the dark-haired, pale-skinned girl ever since they found her up on top of Starmount - but Ryelle felt as if this mutual preference for silence was a link between them.
Ryelle didn’t realise Lirael had seen her one sob, or the tear that had been discreetly wiped away as she stood up, but Lirael had seen and wondered. Lirael had considered Ryelle’s expression for a few minutes, and had realised that it was the same one she saw in the mirror every day. It was loneliness.
On to the sequel
Fandom: Abhorsen Trilogy
Characters: Sohrae, Ryelle, Sanar, Lirael
Prompt: 009 Months
Word Count: 1138
Rating: G
Summary: Sohrae wonders if there's something wrong. Well, there's certainly something wrong. But who with?
Table: http://airelement.livejournal.com/4194.html
Sohrae watched Ryelle fill her plate slowly, lost in her own little world. Sohrae hadn’t mentioned anything, and probably wouldn’t, but such behaviour was unusual for either of the twins. Although their gift of Sight was exceptionally strong and like all such Clayr they had frequent visions, neither of them were vague or dreamy. But Sohrae had noticed Ryelle change slowly, over the last little while. She couldn’t pinpoint the first time she’d noticed in a difference in the blonde woman’s behaviour - it was probably a month or so, but could have been a week or a season - but that was probably because Sanar hadn’t mentioned it.
Sohrae shrugged and brushed the matter from her mind. If Sanar didn’t think there was a problem, there wasn’t one. The twins had always been able to talk telepathically - Sohrae was one of the privileged few they’d told about that, although only one of many who thought it obvious - so there was no way a problem could grow in one of them without the other nipping it in the bud.
-----------
Ryelle mechanically ran a brush through her long hair.
Sanar? she thought, but there was no reply. There hadn’t been one for a while. Ryelle could remember clearly the day she woke up and Sanar wasn’t rubbing her eyes sleepily in the adjacent bed. She’d been confused for a moment and lay back down, assuming she was dreaming. But she didn’t fall back into the black abyss of sleep when she closed her eyes, and after a while of confused, whirlwind thinking she concluded that she must be awake.
From birth and even before, Sanar and Ryelle had done everything together. They spoke their first word in unison, they walked in step from the first time they each took a wobbly, tentative step towards each other, they woke up and fell asleep at the exact same time and their mother had always sworn that when they were still unborn fetuses curled together in the womb, they had kicked at the same time.
Ryelle had never woken up at a different time to Sanar before. It was an alien concept, as strange and unimaginable as the sun not having risen at midday. She could tell that Sanar wasn’t dead or ill - although they always caught the same sicknesses at the same time - but when she mentally called out, Sanar didn’t reply.
Ryelle was jerked back to the present when her brush caught on a tangle in her previously always-smooth hair.
Sanar? she thought again, pleading this time. She waited for her twin to say something back, but Sanar either couldn’t or didn’t.
----------
Sohrae watched Ryelle and Sanar stand together before the Nine Day Watch gathered together in the Observatory. Ryelle wasn’t dreamy right now - to anyone but Sohrae she seemed to be her usual self - but Sohrae wondered if there was something wrong. Although she and Sanar spoke and moved as one, they didn’t seem to think as one anymore. The little movements that showed they were talking mind-to-mind were gone: no longer did Ryelle tilt her head slightly left or Sanar tilt hers to the right, their eyes didn’t seem to communicate via blinks that made no sense to anyone else, and their expressions, though still calm, seemed out of sync. It wasn’t noticeable to anyone other than Sohrae, because no one other than Sohrae knew them well enough to be able to even tell the difference between them, but Sohrae had seen enough to be convinced that something was very wrong and had been so for months.
The question was, with who?
-----------
Sanar? Ryelle automatically called, and couldn’t help sobbing from the added pain of her twin’s distance now of all times. It had been horrible and unthinkable enough when Sanar began to ignore Ryelle’s mental conversation, but now she needed Sanar more than ever and she still didn’t care.
“Ryelle, what happened?” a voice said, and Ryelle’s head shot up from where it had begun to hang miserably. She found herself staring into the face of Arielle’s daughter who was crouching beside her, a worried crease between her dark brows.
“I must have fallen down the stairs,” Ryelle said around the painful lump in her throat. “I - I’m not sure.”
“Where does it hurt?” Lirael asked. Ryelle blinked slowly at the girl’s practical tone. Lirael spent more time in a dream world than the oldest Clayr who had Dreaming Rooms. Ryelle supposed that venturing into the Old Levels and seeing the other librarians do so in groups must have informed Lirael of what to say to an injured person. On the other hand, it was common sense… not that most Clayr had a lot of it, Ryelle included, but Lirael wasn’t a typical Clayr.
Ryelle thought about the question. The searing pain of continual rejection burned and throbbed in her heart, but that wasn’t a physical ache. Trying to ignore that for now, she wriggled all her limbs and bit back a screech when she moved her ankle. Lirael obviously saw the suppressed noise of pain because she awkwardly patted Ryelle on the shoulder.
“If I help you do you think you could walk? Otherwise I’d have to go and fetch someone because I lost my whistle in the Library the other day -“ Lirael babbled nervously. Ryelle held up a hand, stopping her in mid-sentence.
“I’ll be alright if you can help me to the Infirmary,” she said in a voice that was more confident than she felt. Lirael nodded and helped her to her feet, and let Ryelle lean on her without complaint as they slowly made their way down the three corridors to the Infirmary.
Lirael didn’t chatter or ask questions or even ask which twin she was half-carrying. Ryelle couldn’t have felt more grateful to the Sightless teenager than she already was. Most of the younger Clayr would have bombarded her with questions and comments meant to raise them in the eyes of the ‘amazing Sanar and Ryelle’, but Lirael’s shy silence was somehow comfortable. Ryelle had always been talkative herself, but for some reason this quiet was warm, and maybe a bit comradely. It wasn’t that she and Lirael were friends - they’d hardly ever spoken, although Ryelle and Sanar had been keeping an eye on the dark-haired, pale-skinned girl ever since they found her up on top of Starmount - but Ryelle felt as if this mutual preference for silence was a link between them.
Ryelle didn’t realise Lirael had seen her one sob, or the tear that had been discreetly wiped away as she stood up, but Lirael had seen and wondered. Lirael had considered Ryelle’s expression for a few minutes, and had realised that it was the same one she saw in the mirror every day. It was loneliness.
On to the sequel