Post by Vyn on Dec 5, 2008 23:14:39 GMT -5
Author: Vyn
Characters: Parvana, brief appearances from Wulfram and Anatolius
Setting: Current, Court of Spades
Word Count: 1060
Note: The song: Jigsaw by Tsunami Bomb, the instrumentals totally fit Vana's feelings right now... So give the long a listen if you get the chance. ^^ Linketh
(...And The Silence Deafens)
Vana laid in bed.
Ususually she was a morning bird, crawling out of bed with the sun. Today, however, she didn't move. The sun twinkled through the curtains and the half-open window cast a lovely breeze over her face.
The new Queen in the court had been causing a stir all morning -- Vana could hear tidbits every now and then from the window or from the servants as they hurried down the hall -- but the butterfly thought little of it. The heavy-handed Queen had been causing a stir ever since she'd arrived.
Vana couldn't help but feel sorry for Lysaras, having to deal with that woman when she was so accustomed to a much more lax rule of the Courts.
And then it started. As morning waned into afternoon, an infectious bout of whispers had started somewhere outside of her door. Vana's attention was dragged away from her paperwork so that she could listen but most of the words were lost on her... even if the tones weren't.
There was something hint on dread, or perhaps anticipation, on those voices. Brow furrowed lightly, she slowly laid down her paperwork and tilted her head, straining to hear just a bit better.
What she heard filled her heart with dread: "Queen Challenge". Vana's body moved before her mind could even put the words together.
When she threw open the door to her suite, the servants standing outside the door scattered with a dozen apologies before Vana could get anything straight out of them. Oh Suits! Why was no one here when she needed them!?
She had to get to her Queen. Had to. There was no way she could let Lysaras fight this battle alone. Even if she couldn't physically help, she could at least be there for moral support.
Why was the Court so bloody big?
She'd just barely reached the ground floor when she heard a bellowing from outside. Fighting? No, it was too quiet for that. In fact, she just barely made out the word 'doctor'. But that wasn't Ly's voice...
And then she collided quite forcibly with someone's strong legs.
When she looked up, she was staring into the dizzying eyes of the Court's resident Tulgey. He wore the strangest of expressions as he stared down at her, something between a grimace and a smile, and he exuded a rather sickening sense of pleasure that did nothing to ease that feeling of wrongness about him.
"I vould not go out vhere if I vere you." He stated calmly as she went to go around him. "Ze Lady Lysaras has lost."
Vana felt her heart clench and her chest burn suddenly, but failed to notice the J that had swelled up to replace the 10 that usually laid there. She puffed up, wings fluttering in agitation. "All the better reason for me to go to her!" He laughed and the sound was so hauntingly cruel that Vana couldn't seem to move. She could barely speak, but she did manage to squeak out a small "what?" in response.
"I heff not made myself clear: The Lady Lysaras has lost more zhen her title, she's dead."
There was nothing to brace Vana for those words, nothing at all. The world spun like a tilt-a-wheel and the butterfly's sight swam with darkness, but she didn't fall. "She can't be..." Vana took a tentative step toward the door. There was a pounding of footsteps outside, dozens of voices... None of them were Lysaras.
"You don't vant to go out there." He repeated again, his voice was heavier now but no louder.
Vana couldn't see through the veil of her tears. "You're lying." But she knew he wasn't. Lysaras couldn't have won that fight, Vana knew it deep in her heart, but she'd never thought she would fight for the death for such a title.
The butterfly stood frozen in her place, trembling like a leaf in a storm clinging to the most perilous of twigs. She couldn't lose someone else. Not like this. She stumbled forward, aware that he was watching her every step.
A small claw reached up to push the door open, but she only managed to crack it before the intense wave of blood and bile hit her like a ton of bricks. She recoiled in an instant, the movement finally throwing her off balance and breaking the last tentative holds she had.
Darkness swallowed her like an abyss.
Instead of peace, Parvana found torment.
Her mind was in turmoil, her heart felt it had just been ripped in two. Sleep wasn't refreshing, it was full of nightmares broken only by lovely memories that would make waking, and the reality it held, all the worse.
Vana never wanted to wake up.
But she did.
She awoke in her own bed, with the sound of thunder in the distance and her heart sinking desperately in her chest.
Everything was the same as before, only colder.
She would have done anything to have been there at the end, to have done anything to protect her Queen. Tears poured down the butterfly's cheeks. Anything.
There was a soft hint of music playing somewhere. It came from outside and drifted through the still open window. It was soft and sad, not a funeral dirge but still mournful. Vana couldn't move. The curtains remained drawn and the rain never fell outside, but Vana must have cried more than all the clouds in the sky could have ever wrung out.
***
It was Anatolius that finally roused Parvana from her darkness.
The fire-hued canine came in like a timid little candle, soft-spoken and soothing, murmuring reassurances that meant nothing until he finally came out with what he'd been trying to say all along: "the funeral is tomorrow... I thought you might have wanted to say your last goodbyes."
Vana couldn't have imagined that she had any more tears to spend, but she cried anyway. He was right, though. Vana did have to say goodbye. She'd never forgive herself if she simply laid in bed and cried away that final opportunity.
"Alright."
Characters: Parvana, brief appearances from Wulfram and Anatolius
Setting: Current, Court of Spades
Word Count: 1060
Note: The song: Jigsaw by Tsunami Bomb, the instrumentals totally fit Vana's feelings right now... So give the long a listen if you get the chance. ^^ Linketh
(...And The Silence Deafens)
Woke up this morning,
the light came in just right with the rain.
Thunder in the distance,
we counted how far away.
the light came in just right with the rain.
Thunder in the distance,
we counted how far away.
Vana laid in bed.
Ususually she was a morning bird, crawling out of bed with the sun. Today, however, she didn't move. The sun twinkled through the curtains and the half-open window cast a lovely breeze over her face.
The new Queen in the court had been causing a stir all morning -- Vana could hear tidbits every now and then from the window or from the servants as they hurried down the hall -- but the butterfly thought little of it. The heavy-handed Queen had been causing a stir ever since she'd arrived.
Vana couldn't help but feel sorry for Lysaras, having to deal with that woman when she was so accustomed to a much more lax rule of the Courts.
Watched the people,
acted like we knew what they were up to.
They could never have as much fun as we do together.
acted like we knew what they were up to.
They could never have as much fun as we do together.
And then it started. As morning waned into afternoon, an infectious bout of whispers had started somewhere outside of her door. Vana's attention was dragged away from her paperwork so that she could listen but most of the words were lost on her... even if the tones weren't.
There was something hint on dread, or perhaps anticipation, on those voices. Brow furrowed lightly, she slowly laid down her paperwork and tilted her head, straining to hear just a bit better.
What she heard filled her heart with dread: "Queen Challenge". Vana's body moved before her mind could even put the words together.
When she threw open the door to her suite, the servants standing outside the door scattered with a dozen apologies before Vana could get anything straight out of them. Oh Suits! Why was no one here when she needed them!?
Today was the best day.
I realized what I wanted to say:
Come what may,
I'll be there for you.
I realized what I wanted to say:
Come what may,
I'll be there for you.
She had to get to her Queen. Had to. There was no way she could let Lysaras fight this battle alone. Even if she couldn't physically help, she could at least be there for moral support.
Why was the Court so bloody big?
Stayed up to sunrise -
it's no big suprise,
it's a marathon.
it's no big suprise,
it's a marathon.
She'd just barely reached the ground floor when she heard a bellowing from outside. Fighting? No, it was too quiet for that. In fact, she just barely made out the word 'doctor'. But that wasn't Ly's voice...
And then she collided quite forcibly with someone's strong legs.
When she looked up, she was staring into the dizzying eyes of the Court's resident Tulgey. He wore the strangest of expressions as he stared down at her, something between a grimace and a smile, and he exuded a rather sickening sense of pleasure that did nothing to ease that feeling of wrongness about him.
"I vould not go out vhere if I vere you." He stated calmly as she went to go around him. "Ze Lady Lysaras has lost."
Vana felt her heart clench and her chest burn suddenly, but failed to notice the J that had swelled up to replace the 10 that usually laid there. She puffed up, wings fluttering in agitation. "All the better reason for me to go to her!" He laughed and the sound was so hauntingly cruel that Vana couldn't seem to move. She could barely speak, but she did manage to squeak out a small "what?" in response.
"I heff not made myself clear: The Lady Lysaras has lost more zhen her title, she's dead."
There was nothing to brace Vana for those words, nothing at all. The world spun like a tilt-a-wheel and the butterfly's sight swam with darkness, but she didn't fall. "She can't be..." Vana took a tentative step toward the door. There was a pounding of footsteps outside, dozens of voices... None of them were Lysaras.
"You don't vant to go out there." He repeated again, his voice was heavier now but no louder.
Vana couldn't see through the veil of her tears. "You're lying." But she knew he wasn't. Lysaras couldn't have won that fight, Vana knew it deep in her heart, but she'd never thought she would fight for the death for such a title.
The butterfly stood frozen in her place, trembling like a leaf in a storm clinging to the most perilous of twigs. She couldn't lose someone else. Not like this. She stumbled forward, aware that he was watching her every step.
A small claw reached up to push the door open, but she only managed to crack it before the intense wave of blood and bile hit her like a ton of bricks. She recoiled in an instant, the movement finally throwing her off balance and breaking the last tentative holds she had.
Darkness swallowed her like an abyss.
I might be gone soon,
but please believe I hold you up to the highest degree.
but please believe I hold you up to the highest degree.
Instead of peace, Parvana found torment.
Her mind was in turmoil, her heart felt it had just been ripped in two. Sleep wasn't refreshing, it was full of nightmares broken only by lovely memories that would make waking, and the reality it held, all the worse.
Vana never wanted to wake up.
But she did.
She awoke in her own bed, with the sound of thunder in the distance and her heart sinking desperately in her chest.
Everything was the same as before, only colder.
She would have done anything to have been there at the end, to have done anything to protect her Queen. Tears poured down the butterfly's cheeks. Anything.
There was a soft hint of music playing somewhere. It came from outside and drifted through the still open window. It was soft and sad, not a funeral dirge but still mournful. Vana couldn't move. The curtains remained drawn and the rain never fell outside, but Vana must have cried more than all the clouds in the sky could have ever wrung out.
***
It was Anatolius that finally roused Parvana from her darkness.
The fire-hued canine came in like a timid little candle, soft-spoken and soothing, murmuring reassurances that meant nothing until he finally came out with what he'd been trying to say all along: "the funeral is tomorrow... I thought you might have wanted to say your last goodbyes."
Vana couldn't have imagined that she had any more tears to spend, but she cried anyway. He was right, though. Vana did have to say goodbye. She'd never forgive herself if she simply laid in bed and cried away that final opportunity.
"Alright."
Like... very, very awesome to read. You carried Vana's voice /so clearly/ in this piece. I feel for her hugely. So much love.
