The blissful moments
Jan. 18th, 2009 12:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dagas_isaPrompt: 002 the blissful moments
Universe: Original: Axis
Genre(s): Fantasy, Romance
Rating: PG
Warnings: Fluffy stuff. Also, no trying at home, plzkthx.
Word Count: 1112
Author's Notes: For some reason, I'm known for being absolutely mean and depressing to my characters. I'd like to contend that this is not the case. This takes place approximately three years before the start of Axis.
Dusk in Chentin lasted from the bottom of the spruce to the high flexible branches that barely supported the separate weights of Natalia and Mier, and from their perch, they could watch the final act of the burning sun on the horizon. Down in Cassara, Natalia's hometown, one could start a blink in daylight and end it in the darkness. Sensible. Clear. No blur at the boundary.
Summer nights started later up north as well, though it brought a chill that required a cloak around her shoulders. The western wind brought the smell of sea salt and pine resin to her nose, scents that, even today, she associated with Mier and their year up north, searching Chentin for another elusive vent.
When the map became hard to read, Natalia would wave her hand, and end their day. Even in daylight, they had difficulty navigating the boreal forests. At night time, with no one around to chide them, they set up camp at the base of a conifer, and Mier would climb, and Natalia, with nothing else to do, and no one else to talk to, would follow him up.
For someone who hadn't trained at all as a warrior or runner, Mier still climbed trees faster than anyone else Natalia had ever met, as though he'd been born on a bough of one. He walked those branches like rungs on a ladder, and at the top, he leaned down and held out one sap covered hand, and Natalia, scowling at the tack on her hand, still took it, despite it gluing them both together for a little bit.
Above the world, with only the treetips, the distant ocean, and the sinking sun visible, the branches swayed their bodies. Natalia clung for her life. Mier just sat back, born in a world just like this, and let his mind soar as if Natalia and Chentin were a thousand miles away.
"What do you think about?" She asked, once her body settled into the motion of her waving branch, and only one hand clung dearly to the gluey wood. In the disappearing light, his reassuring presence made him almost handsome, even with the scraps of dirt that covered his hands and face from their wanderings.
Mier didn't answer. Sometimes, Natalia swore he could fall asleep to the lullaby of the night wind, and right now, she even believed he might have done just that. She took a lock of her chestnut hair from her ponytail, divided it into three, and began to braid it.
"Did you know, that in Chentin, we tell our time by the stars?" He spoke so softly, that even with little more than a few inches between them, Natalia still had to bend her ear to listen. "Our village oracle, you met him, the old man with the huge ears and no nose, he used to tell me: That it's only by looking at the sky that you can understand the passage of every moment. He said that if you lived underground, you wouldn't know days, months, or seasons, only years. You wouldn't know dusk or dawn."
Natalia considered that. Cassarans never looked towards the sky, except to hunt, or perhaps gaze at clouds when taking a lazy day. "You would. We know light and dark. We know the wet season, the dry season, and the hot season. And even without those, we have calendars."
"If you lived underground, how would you know when to mark the days? I asked that to the Oracle, and he just laughed at me. Said if people lived underground, we would find a way. But since the One put us under the patterns of the sky, we should just make things simple and use those."
Above them, both moons crossed the sky. To the east, large Ali rose, heavy and full. At the apex, a gibbous Jeo, just started it's descent to the western horizon. Night fell darker here. Even in the towns, fewer lights and fires polluted the sky compared to Sadir or Cassara. In the wilderness, their lanterns were the only light to drown the darkness.
"Makes sense." Natalia said at last, then she furrowed her brows. "But then, how do you remember your stories?"
Mier's quiet laugh filled the sky. "We just tell them."
"Yeah...but festivals? When do you know to celebrate?"
"Good news is good news. If a catch comes in, or your brother marries, you don't need an Oracle to tell you to celebrate. You make things complicated."
"I do no--" A strong breeze caught the top of the tree. Natalia faltered on her perch. How far up were they? A hundred feet, more? She slipped.
Mier's strong hand gripped her wrist. Against the double moonlight, he made a heroic figure perfectly balanced on a tree that should have thrown them to the ground before they could reach its top. She forgot all about weakness when he crouched down and pulled her back to their branch.
"I won't let you fall."
He held her steady as her feet sought a something solid to stand on. Too late, in her way of thinking, to stop herself from falling. Just the nearness of him made her dizzier that the fluttering of the breeze around her. Life and truth this high up rang so simple and so clear and made everything hard to deny. Something, she had to say something--anything--to break the spell this place seemed to have cast on her.
Out loud, she said, "We climb down." Once those words passed through, she remembered who she was, and who he was. Natalia shifted her weight, and started searching for a lower branch. Nice, easy, and slow, get down, get away and stay alive.
Mier nodded. "Good call." In one smooth motion, he was just below Natalia, watching over her as she made a less graceful journey down.
Their packs waited, propped against the base of the tree. The music of nightbirds and crickets echoed above them. "I do not make things complicated. " Natalia said, lighting their lantern, as Mier spread out their sleepsacks on the needle-carpeted ground. "Sometimes, that's just how things are."
Mier shrugged. "And sometimes, things are very simple." He climbed inside one of the sleepsacks and curled up. "I won't let you fall." The vow from earlier, he repeated again, only this time, Natalia thought he talked of a different kind of falling.
Natalia crawled into her sack, and pulled the warm cloth all the way up to her ears. "No, not now," she agreed, "but later, after we've secured our place. I look forward to it."
"So do I." Mier whispered.
The lantern's reassuring glow watched over her sleep.
Universe: Original: Axis
Genre(s): Fantasy, Romance
Rating: PG
Warnings: Fluffy stuff. Also, no trying at home, plzkthx.
Word Count: 1112
Author's Notes: For some reason, I'm known for being absolutely mean and depressing to my characters. I'd like to contend that this is not the case. This takes place approximately three years before the start of Axis.
Dusk in Chentin lasted from the bottom of the spruce to the high flexible branches that barely supported the separate weights of Natalia and Mier, and from their perch, they could watch the final act of the burning sun on the horizon. Down in Cassara, Natalia's hometown, one could start a blink in daylight and end it in the darkness. Sensible. Clear. No blur at the boundary.
Summer nights started later up north as well, though it brought a chill that required a cloak around her shoulders. The western wind brought the smell of sea salt and pine resin to her nose, scents that, even today, she associated with Mier and their year up north, searching Chentin for another elusive vent.
When the map became hard to read, Natalia would wave her hand, and end their day. Even in daylight, they had difficulty navigating the boreal forests. At night time, with no one around to chide them, they set up camp at the base of a conifer, and Mier would climb, and Natalia, with nothing else to do, and no one else to talk to, would follow him up.
For someone who hadn't trained at all as a warrior or runner, Mier still climbed trees faster than anyone else Natalia had ever met, as though he'd been born on a bough of one. He walked those branches like rungs on a ladder, and at the top, he leaned down and held out one sap covered hand, and Natalia, scowling at the tack on her hand, still took it, despite it gluing them both together for a little bit.
Above the world, with only the treetips, the distant ocean, and the sinking sun visible, the branches swayed their bodies. Natalia clung for her life. Mier just sat back, born in a world just like this, and let his mind soar as if Natalia and Chentin were a thousand miles away.
"What do you think about?" She asked, once her body settled into the motion of her waving branch, and only one hand clung dearly to the gluey wood. In the disappearing light, his reassuring presence made him almost handsome, even with the scraps of dirt that covered his hands and face from their wanderings.
Mier didn't answer. Sometimes, Natalia swore he could fall asleep to the lullaby of the night wind, and right now, she even believed he might have done just that. She took a lock of her chestnut hair from her ponytail, divided it into three, and began to braid it.
"Did you know, that in Chentin, we tell our time by the stars?" He spoke so softly, that even with little more than a few inches between them, Natalia still had to bend her ear to listen. "Our village oracle, you met him, the old man with the huge ears and no nose, he used to tell me: That it's only by looking at the sky that you can understand the passage of every moment. He said that if you lived underground, you wouldn't know days, months, or seasons, only years. You wouldn't know dusk or dawn."
Natalia considered that. Cassarans never looked towards the sky, except to hunt, or perhaps gaze at clouds when taking a lazy day. "You would. We know light and dark. We know the wet season, the dry season, and the hot season. And even without those, we have calendars."
"If you lived underground, how would you know when to mark the days? I asked that to the Oracle, and he just laughed at me. Said if people lived underground, we would find a way. But since the One put us under the patterns of the sky, we should just make things simple and use those."
Above them, both moons crossed the sky. To the east, large Ali rose, heavy and full. At the apex, a gibbous Jeo, just started it's descent to the western horizon. Night fell darker here. Even in the towns, fewer lights and fires polluted the sky compared to Sadir or Cassara. In the wilderness, their lanterns were the only light to drown the darkness.
"Makes sense." Natalia said at last, then she furrowed her brows. "But then, how do you remember your stories?"
Mier's quiet laugh filled the sky. "We just tell them."
"Yeah...but festivals? When do you know to celebrate?"
"Good news is good news. If a catch comes in, or your brother marries, you don't need an Oracle to tell you to celebrate. You make things complicated."
"I do no--" A strong breeze caught the top of the tree. Natalia faltered on her perch. How far up were they? A hundred feet, more? She slipped.
Mier's strong hand gripped her wrist. Against the double moonlight, he made a heroic figure perfectly balanced on a tree that should have thrown them to the ground before they could reach its top. She forgot all about weakness when he crouched down and pulled her back to their branch.
"I won't let you fall."
He held her steady as her feet sought a something solid to stand on. Too late, in her way of thinking, to stop herself from falling. Just the nearness of him made her dizzier that the fluttering of the breeze around her. Life and truth this high up rang so simple and so clear and made everything hard to deny. Something, she had to say something--anything--to break the spell this place seemed to have cast on her.
Out loud, she said, "We climb down." Once those words passed through, she remembered who she was, and who he was. Natalia shifted her weight, and started searching for a lower branch. Nice, easy, and slow, get down, get away and stay alive.
Mier nodded. "Good call." In one smooth motion, he was just below Natalia, watching over her as she made a less graceful journey down.
Their packs waited, propped against the base of the tree. The music of nightbirds and crickets echoed above them. "I do not make things complicated. " Natalia said, lighting their lantern, as Mier spread out their sleepsacks on the needle-carpeted ground. "Sometimes, that's just how things are."
Mier shrugged. "And sometimes, things are very simple." He climbed inside one of the sleepsacks and curled up. "I won't let you fall." The vow from earlier, he repeated again, only this time, Natalia thought he talked of a different kind of falling.
Natalia crawled into her sack, and pulled the warm cloth all the way up to her ears. "No, not now," she agreed, "but later, after we've secured our place. I look forward to it."
"So do I." Mier whispered.
The lantern's reassuring glow watched over her sleep.
