(no subject)
Pineapple #29. Any Last Words?
and FotD 4/25/2011 - Yin with Hot Fudge, Gummies, and Malt
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1277 - sometime after Kairn's little mishap in the temple
Word Count : 826
Malt Prompt : PfaH : Any Last Words? + Sethan + This is how I am repaid?
Malt Prompt : ancient dare from Olram : the gods incarnate and interacting
Gummy Prompt : origfic_bingo mutation/physical transformation
Word of the Day : Yin : A principle in Chinese philosophy associated with negative, dark, and feminine attributes.
I started this for an fotd a few weeks ago and realized at 9 tonight I ought to finish it for today's. It got cut a little shorter than I'd have liked, but I think it's a good breaking point to come back to.
Slouched against the base of the willow with his line in the water, Sethan barely opened an eye at the approach of Kairn’s footsteps. With a yawn, he adjusted his position in the grass and considered and quickly rejected the notion of casting again.
“Where is she?” were Kairn’s first words as he came to stand over him. There was a cold anger in his voice.
“If you’re looking for Reida, I haven’t seen her.”
“I’ve already found Reida,” said Kairn. “It is your puppet I seek.” The voice was Kairn’s, even if the tone wasn’t, but the words were a different matter entirely. Sethan lifted his chin from his chest to look the newcomer over. Hands on his hips, Kairn glowered down at him. “Where have you hidden her?”
“Kairn?” He dropped his pole in the grass. “What has gotten into you?”
“The puppet,” Kairn repeated. “Where are you hiding Cheva?”
Sethan was on his feet in an instant. Kairn didn’t move a muscle as he studied him. His jaw was firmly set, his eyes distant and glassy. “Reida did this.” Sethan caught Kairn by the chin and forced him to meet his eye. “You’re in there somewhere, aren’t you?” Kairn didn’t even blink. Sethan tightened his grip. “Kairn, can you hear me?”
Kairn tensed, and in that same slow, deliberate tone said, “Unhand me.”
“Brother?” came the singsong call from overhead.
Sethan let go of Kairn as they both whipped around to glare up into the treetops. Perched high among the branches, the construct swung her feet playfully in the air. She cocked her head and fixed Kairn with a smirk. “Or should I say sister?” she said with a laugh. “No matter.” She turned to Sethan and her face and her tone hardened. “Destroy him.”
Sethan sniffed. “I’ll do no such thing.”
Cheva unfolded her legs and hopped down from branch to branch, lithe as a bird, until she came to stand on a limb just over their heads. “I made you, boy,” she told Sethan sternly, “and you will do as I say.”
Sethan folded his arms, cocked his head back, and grinned at the goddess. “Funny, I could say the same to you.”
“I grow tired of being your plaything.”
“Again,” said Sethan, with a dismissive wave. He turned to Kairn, who was showing no signs of feeling anything but annoyance. “Poetic justice, isn’t it?”
“Enough,” Kairn snapped, and he shook a fist at the woman in the tree. “Are you truly so weak in this vessel of yours that you would send a mortal to fight in your stead?”
Cheva tossed her head back with a laugh and the bough beneath her feet trembled. “Having not spent the last three centuries inside a cat, I should be a more than adequate adversary for the likes of you,” she said. “I simply wish not to dirty my own hands. Sethan.”
“I’ve come to regret putting a mouth on you.”
“And I have come to regret not disposing of you and chancing my luck with your successor,” said Cheva.
Kairn took a step forward, his hands back at his hips. “Quit this bickering and come face me yourself,” he called to Cheva.
A look settled on the goddess’s face that sent a shiver up Sethan’s spine. He hadn’t quite worked out yet what would become of a god if its vessel were compromised, but just the thought of it was enough to put the memory of her screaming into his head. He quickly slipped back between them.
“Kairn?” There had to be something there. He wasn’t an empty shell to be filled with a god. The cat was still a cat after all, surely Kairn was still there. “Kairn, you don’t want to do this. Think of all we worked for.” Nothing. “Kairn, it’s me.” He put a hand to his shoulder and Kairn slowly turned his head. He thought he saw of flicker of something familiar in his eyes as they settled on him. “Kairn?”
Whatever it was was gone just as quickly as it had surfaced, the hollow gaze of the goddess trapped inside him replacing it once more as Kairn shrugged him off. He regarded him quietly for a moment before he swung at him. He caught Sethan across the chest with the back of his arm and knocked him off his feet.
Sethan rolled down the hill, grasping at patches of grass as he tumbled towards the bank. He caught hold of one of the willow’s roots and held fast just as his foot met the water. “He’s not yours,” he called as Kairn swept past him.
“I will do with this body as I please,” was Kairn’s answer.
Laughter fell from the trees again.
Sethan started to pull himself up, but quickly settled for taking his foot from the water and staying on his belly in the grass. If anyone was dying today, it wouldn’t be him.
and FotD 4/25/2011 - Yin with Hot Fudge, Gummies, and Malt
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1277 - sometime after Kairn's little mishap in the temple
Word Count : 826
Malt Prompt : PfaH : Any Last Words? + Sethan + This is how I am repaid?
Malt Prompt : ancient dare from Olram : the gods incarnate and interacting
Gummy Prompt : origfic_bingo mutation/physical transformation
Word of the Day : Yin : A principle in Chinese philosophy associated with negative, dark, and feminine attributes.
I started this for an fotd a few weeks ago and realized at 9 tonight I ought to finish it for today's. It got cut a little shorter than I'd have liked, but I think it's a good breaking point to come back to.
Slouched against the base of the willow with his line in the water, Sethan barely opened an eye at the approach of Kairn’s footsteps. With a yawn, he adjusted his position in the grass and considered and quickly rejected the notion of casting again.
“Where is she?” were Kairn’s first words as he came to stand over him. There was a cold anger in his voice.
“If you’re looking for Reida, I haven’t seen her.”
“I’ve already found Reida,” said Kairn. “It is your puppet I seek.” The voice was Kairn’s, even if the tone wasn’t, but the words were a different matter entirely. Sethan lifted his chin from his chest to look the newcomer over. Hands on his hips, Kairn glowered down at him. “Where have you hidden her?”
“Kairn?” He dropped his pole in the grass. “What has gotten into you?”
“The puppet,” Kairn repeated. “Where are you hiding Cheva?”
Sethan was on his feet in an instant. Kairn didn’t move a muscle as he studied him. His jaw was firmly set, his eyes distant and glassy. “Reida did this.” Sethan caught Kairn by the chin and forced him to meet his eye. “You’re in there somewhere, aren’t you?” Kairn didn’t even blink. Sethan tightened his grip. “Kairn, can you hear me?”
Kairn tensed, and in that same slow, deliberate tone said, “Unhand me.”
“Brother?” came the singsong call from overhead.
Sethan let go of Kairn as they both whipped around to glare up into the treetops. Perched high among the branches, the construct swung her feet playfully in the air. She cocked her head and fixed Kairn with a smirk. “Or should I say sister?” she said with a laugh. “No matter.” She turned to Sethan and her face and her tone hardened. “Destroy him.”
Sethan sniffed. “I’ll do no such thing.”
Cheva unfolded her legs and hopped down from branch to branch, lithe as a bird, until she came to stand on a limb just over their heads. “I made you, boy,” she told Sethan sternly, “and you will do as I say.”
Sethan folded his arms, cocked his head back, and grinned at the goddess. “Funny, I could say the same to you.”
“I grow tired of being your plaything.”
“Again,” said Sethan, with a dismissive wave. He turned to Kairn, who was showing no signs of feeling anything but annoyance. “Poetic justice, isn’t it?”
“Enough,” Kairn snapped, and he shook a fist at the woman in the tree. “Are you truly so weak in this vessel of yours that you would send a mortal to fight in your stead?”
Cheva tossed her head back with a laugh and the bough beneath her feet trembled. “Having not spent the last three centuries inside a cat, I should be a more than adequate adversary for the likes of you,” she said. “I simply wish not to dirty my own hands. Sethan.”
“I’ve come to regret putting a mouth on you.”
“And I have come to regret not disposing of you and chancing my luck with your successor,” said Cheva.
Kairn took a step forward, his hands back at his hips. “Quit this bickering and come face me yourself,” he called to Cheva.
A look settled on the goddess’s face that sent a shiver up Sethan’s spine. He hadn’t quite worked out yet what would become of a god if its vessel were compromised, but just the thought of it was enough to put the memory of her screaming into his head. He quickly slipped back between them.
“Kairn?” There had to be something there. He wasn’t an empty shell to be filled with a god. The cat was still a cat after all, surely Kairn was still there. “Kairn, you don’t want to do this. Think of all we worked for.” Nothing. “Kairn, it’s me.” He put a hand to his shoulder and Kairn slowly turned his head. He thought he saw of flicker of something familiar in his eyes as they settled on him. “Kairn?”
Whatever it was was gone just as quickly as it had surfaced, the hollow gaze of the goddess trapped inside him replacing it once more as Kairn shrugged him off. He regarded him quietly for a moment before he swung at him. He caught Sethan across the chest with the back of his arm and knocked him off his feet.
Sethan rolled down the hill, grasping at patches of grass as he tumbled towards the bank. He caught hold of one of the willow’s roots and held fast just as his foot met the water. “He’s not yours,” he called as Kairn swept past him.
“I will do with this body as I please,” was Kairn’s answer.
Laughter fell from the trees again.
Sethan started to pull himself up, but quickly settled for taking his foot from the water and staying on his belly in the grass. If anyone was dying today, it wouldn’t be him.