Contrast
Soilder
I luff you all!
Posts: 146
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Post by Contrast on Dec 23, 2009 17:50:09 GMT -5
Terkan sat on sand, hugging his knees to his chest. The sand throbbed a dull red- indicating that he had been there for at least and hour. He was watching smoke rise from a ship that had been engaged in a sea battle not to long ago.
He heard footfalls approaching.
Unconsciously, he picked up a handful of sand and squeezed it, making it a vibrant red before dropping it again.
"It's happening," he sighed, "A war."
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Post by Alissa on Dec 23, 2009 23:15:31 GMT -5
Alissa had been collecting herbs and berries in a forest near the beaches when she had heard fighting going on. It was a faint sound, but she knew something was going on. She had stood in place for about twenty minutes. Fighting? It sounded rather scary. Besides, who needed to fight here on these islands? Here, it was all +anima, or old people that were +anima, but lost their +anima a while ago. She had heard you eventually lose your +anima if it's not needed anymore. Around adulthood, right?
Finally gathering up enough courage, she began her way towards the northern beach. She looked up at the sky. It was dark. Night time. Oh! That ment the sand would be red! Oh she loved to see it when it was like that! It somehow looked entirely mystical. Her pace fastened, quickly forgetting about the idea of a fight going on.
Making it to a beach, she noticed a boy and past him, in the waters, a boat. The boat looked pretty bad and it had smoke rising from it. Her attention went back to the boy and she walked towards him, her bare feet making a crunching noise under her as she walked towards the boy.
"It's happening," he said, "A war."
The word war hit her like she had just been smacked in the face. A war? War? Where? Was the war coming here to the Islands? Or was it a cival war back in Sailand or Asteria? Or a war between Sailand and Asteria. She wanted to walk towards the boy and ask him what he ment, but she couldn't bring herself to even take another step towards him. She swallowed and inwardly motivated herself to say something.
She took a few more steps towards the boy, leaning just slightly forward, the medium sized basket being held with her hip and her left hand. "What war?" she asked, trying to sound confident without any 'um's or stuttering.
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Contrast
Soilder
I luff you all!
Posts: 146
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Post by Contrast on Dec 24, 2009 1:33:27 GMT -5
At her voice, Ter turned around to see who the person was. She was small and appeared to be carrying something, slightly bathed in the red light emitted from the sand.
He chuckled and stood, smacking off the little sand particles that sparkled red when they hit the sand before immediately going out. It was now dark where he had previously been. he began to walk towards the girl, noticing the bioluminescent sand blink colors as she shifted from foot to foot, probably deciding wether or not to run. He stopped some distance away so as not to scare her away.
Her image was more defined now, a very slight figure with soft brunette tresses falling about her face on which was painted a look of distress. Terkan knew that look all to well. He self-conciously touched the spiked ends of his own shock-white hair.
"They started it yesterday... I've been seeing alot more +anima recently.. but we haven't gotten any new ones on the island. All the guards are talking about it, but nobody knows what's happening. But most on them can't tell a syringe from a shrew." He stopped allowed himself a solitary chuckle, then raised a hand to flick it in a sort of dismissive manner. "Not that I can guess well either.. but I think.." what were their names again? "um.. Pailtand and Ashtray, yeah, that's it, they are at it and the +anima are thrown in somewhere," He folded his arms and gave the girl a long look. "What do you think? Have you ever been to the mainland?"
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Post by Alissa on Dec 24, 2009 10:34:32 GMT -5
Ali listened intently to the boy's words, but she was also taking in the stranger's apperence. White spiky hair, way taller than her (but she was small to begin with) and he looked about a year or two older than her and his eyes...No, it was just a bit too dark to tell his eye color, but that really didn't matter at the moment.
Still, she kept listening to him as if this was the first news she had heard to the mainland in forever, and, well, it was. But, she was disapointed. Her first news about the mainland and it had to be about war, but she kept listining. She giggled to herself when he got the country's names wrong. Sure, she'd been here for a few years, but she still knew the names to the countries.
"Sailand and Asteria," she said, correcting him, but trying to sound poliet while doing so. "And I have," she said, using her free hand to play with the bottom of her sweater. "But I can't believe-" Wait, no. She could believe that there was a war going on between the two countries. Personally, she hoped it was started because of slavery. "No...I can believe there's a war going on."
She looked at the red said below her and then back up at the boy. "I'm Ali," she said, extending her free hand to the boy. "And you would be?" she asked, thinking to herself he neither did or didn't look like a gaurd.
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Contrast
Soilder
I luff you all!
Posts: 146
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Post by Contrast on Dec 24, 2009 11:46:35 GMT -5
Ter was relieved that she had warmed up so quickly. He stepped closer and shook it. "The name's Terkan, but everyone here just calls me Ter." He stepped back and tilted his head back to look at the now visible stars scatted across the sky, thinking. He looked at her again, "Hey, tonight the Sea turtles will be coming out, I think, do you want to walk down the beach? I wanted to talk to you a little more." He already could see a little bit of red near the water's edge
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Post by Alissa on Dec 24, 2009 12:00:50 GMT -5
Ali nodded. She, too, wanted to talk a little more with him. He seemed to know more than she did, as expected from one of the guards of this island. She smiled. The word 'guard' seemed to have a different affect on her in different places. In Sailand, the term guard scared the crap out of her and she just felt like running. Running far, far away. But here, the term guard made her feel safe and secure. Not like any humans were going to get onto this island, but it just made it feel...more, what the word, not loose and out of order?
Oh! The sea turtles! She loved them. They were so friendly here, too. She recalled swimming in the sea once and the turtles coming. They were gental, too. She began to walk with Terkan, er, Ter.
She sighed. "Um, just wondering, but what +anima are you? I'm a red panda, but suprisingly, they're not really pandas. They're more like raccons, but they eat sort of like a panda. I mean, with all the bamboo they eat," she said. Then she realized she was rambing and stoped talking. "Sorry, I tend to ramble when I'm..." scared. She wanted to say scared but she just couldn't get the word out. But what was she scared of, anyways. She didn't know. Well, not yet. She tended to be scared before she even should be scared. An odd way she worded, but it kept her alive and out of trouble.
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Contrast
Soilder
I luff you all!
Posts: 146
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Post by Contrast on Dec 24, 2009 13:56:50 GMT -5
Ter smiled, "S'all right. I'm a.. hm.. what did they call it? Taffymania... taxitania.. ta.." He fell silent, trying to remember the name of his anima. "um.. Tathmanian Devil. Yeah, that sounds right!"
They walked about two thirds down the beach before they sat down. "so.." he began, "What do you know about the mainland? How'd you get that +anima? It looks like you have a good story."
There were definitely a few patches of red now, Ter could see the silhouetted shapes of the turtles making their way inland. One was about a yard away, and was still making it's way towards them, no.. towards Ali.
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Post by Alissa on Dec 24, 2009 17:49:37 GMT -5
"Hm, I guess you could say it's a good story. Well, at least it makes a good story. In truth, it's actually horrible, but that's the same with us all, right?" Ali began, looking out at waters. Here came the turtles. They looked so cute tonight!
"Hm..." she said, with a sigh, taking in the night air. Dispite it being winter, it was still warm, but that was just the Islands. "My father hid +anima at our house. I hadn't minded it. Unlike other people in Sailand, I thought they were just people. I became good friends with many of them too," she said with a soft smile, looking down at the red sand. "And then I guess a neighbor guessed what my father was doing and called down some guards..."
"Then the guards came, killed everyone except me and my father- my father's disappered, though. I ran into a forest, almost starved to death, but that's when I got my +anima," she said, finishing up her story. It didn't hurt to talk about it anymore. Everyone shared their +anima, here, so she got used to it. Her story, now, was just a story. It wasn't a tragedy or anything else.
"What about you? I mean, how'd you get your +anima?" she asked the boy, kneeling down and looking at a turtle.
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Contrast
Soilder
I luff you all!
Posts: 146
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Post by Contrast on Dec 25, 2009 2:48:14 GMT -5
Ter shrugged, "ah, y'know, the usual... My drunk uncle got pissed for who knows what, dragged me out into the brush, grabs a nice big piece of wood, smacks me till i'm nearly down and out, and then? Bam! something happens and suddenly I'm on my feet, he's on the ground rolling around and screaming, and my hands are now huge claws that are covered in blood. I guess that's about it.. I don't remember much though, that was back before.." his voice trailed off, as if trying to struggle with a thought. He slowly shook his head, "ah.. before my hair was white." That was, to him,an accurate measurement of the years in the past, It was always before or after his hair had changed.
The sea turtle was nearly within arm-reach now.
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Post by Alissa on Dec 25, 2009 15:29:32 GMT -5
"Ah," Ali replied simply, not knowing what else to say. She noticed a lot of people here had gained their +anima by a drunken adult. She hugged herself with her arms, her fingers clutched to the fabric of her sweater as she noticed something. This island was made of +anima, entirely, of couse, but most of them are...children. Some even younger than her, that gained their +anima even before she did! Besides the wonderment of why there are more +anima than before, she worried about how this would affect their lives. Hopefully, here, on this island, they wouldn't grow harsh and alone.
She reached out towards a turtle, stroaking the back of it's shell. It didn't seem to notice her that much, but she didn't expect it too. She had always been little-miss-no-one-knows-her. She was the nice girl in the crowd that peole only talked to when they needed her, like the elderly or a few children. But besides that, no one would willingly come up to her and start a convesation. But, heck, it was better than being a slave in Sailand, or always hiding in Asteria (which she was sure she could do a very good job at).
She smiled and stood back up, moving the basket so that it was infront of her and being supported by her belly and her two hands on the outer rim. She looked at Ter and asked, "Do you like being a guard, here? I heard it gets rather lonley."
Personally, the idea of being a guard appeled to her. You really didn't work and you wouldn't feel left out, because you were supposed to be alone...unnoticed. She smiled.
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Contrast
Soilder
I luff you all!
Posts: 146
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Post by Contrast on Dec 26, 2009 1:14:20 GMT -5
Ter shrugged and hugged his knees, "eh.. it's not THAT bad.. I mean sure, not much happens, but there are alot of..well.." his voice trailed off as he tried to figure out how to word it. "um, +anima that need some extra care... because sometimes they just crack."
Ter released his knees and stretched his legs out in front of him, " I've heard of terrible things happening to these poor kids, they just kinda go insane.. You can usually tell who they are by how they walk and how empty they seem. Others, however, are better at keeping it together. People like, well, um.. me!" he turned and grinned at her, putting on his favorite act, "I mean, look at me! I'm awesome!" He laughed then looked at her, "Maybe even you.. yet you are awesome."
He gazed at her a long time, before clearing his throat. The distant wreckage was nearly invisible now under the cloak of night. "So! Back to business, what do you know about the mainland? Something is wrong and I want to know what. Tell me what was it like last time you were there."
The girl stroked the turtle, which had now stopped moving. Ter just watched.
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Post by Alissa on Dec 26, 2009 10:12:59 GMT -5
Ali smiled, not knowing what else to do since she was lost in her own thoughts. Those kids where rather...how'd Ter put it? Empty? They acted as if what happened was their fault and that the world didn't need them anymore. She had actually encountered a few people that had...well, killed themselves over it. It scared her, but she knew she wouldn't do such a thing. She hoped no one else would, either.
"Oh The mainland. Um...well, I've been on this island for..." -she began to count her fingers, pausing inbetween each one to remember how long she had been here- "...about four years, but I still remember the mainland pretty well. Or at least, Sailand. I've never been to Asteria," -she frowned- "but it sure does sound a lot better than Sailand, that's for sure," she said with a strong voice. She would have crossed her arms, but she was still holding the basket. She looked down into the basket and pulled out a mint leaf and began to chew on it. Mint leaves always tasted nice, but the leaf itself (once you've chewed out all the mint) was horrible.
She looked out at the sea, the wreckage almost gone now. She wondered if any +anima were trying to swim this way, or if it had only been a boat of war. Either that, or maybe it was a boat from one of the mainland countries trying to get past the wirlpools. She felt her eyes tear up. Didn't they know only +anima could get past them (but of couse, not even +anima could get past them on boat)?
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Contrast
Soilder
I luff you all!
Posts: 146
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Post by Contrast on Dec 26, 2009 22:44:06 GMT -5
Ter's eyebrows furrowed, wishing Ali would tell him some more. "I hardly know anything about it.. let's see.." he absently began to scratch little doodles into the sand, leaving red streaks that began to form morbidly detailed pictures of screaming children in twisted bodies. "I've lived here for almost three years.. so I was at "The Institute" seven years." he chuckled and nervously touched the gravity defying ends of his hair. "And remember and I don't remember a d*mn thing about...er...Sealand."
He glanced down at the pictures and quickly scattered the sand making them disappear.
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Post by Alissa on Dec 28, 2009 22:02:51 GMT -5
"Sailand," Alissa corrected, one more. She didn't know about an "Institute" that Ter might be talking about, but it sounded bad. Seven years in an institute? She didn't know what that was but it sounded horrible! What ever it was...
"And you're lucky. Sailand's horrible..." she mumbled. She would have rather liked to live in Asteria. She was sure many people did, but she guessed people lived in Sailand because the whole slave thing make the "humans" feel safe. That +anima wern't running loose. But +anima were humans too! Right...?
"So I'm guessing you lived in Asteria?" she asked, raising a brow slightly.
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Contrast
Soilder
I luff you all!
Posts: 146
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Post by Contrast on Dec 29, 2009 5:25:58 GMT -5
"Lucky?" Ter gave her a look, then guffawed heartily, "Hardly!" He simmered down and wiped away a stray tear. "But, yeah, Asteria.. kinda.. that was only before my hair turned white. After that-oh god.. who knows?" he shrugged, "I mean, sure it was kinda tough when I was a kid +anima but they never bothered me." He began to create pictures in the sand again, "Why? What's wrong with Sailand?" There- that was right.
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