Untitled 1*
The sun was setting over the village know as Fisher, the colors in the sky a mix of oranges and reds instead of the calm blue. It was almost as if the sky itself was ablaze, desperate to keep the world below it bathed in warmth and light, trying with all its might as the sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon. Dark rain clouds started to gather over the village, the fire like sky unable halt its advance as it slowly choked and drowned out the light, the darkness eventually won as the sun had disappeared and with it the last of the light.
Below what could have seemed like an epic struggle in sky to all the villagers was ignored, going about their usual business before they cleared the streets. When the night had come most of the village had retired to there home for the night, knowing that with the dark clouds now in place that the village would soon been drenched in water. Only a few walked the streets as the first signs of rain came out, going about their jobs and lighting the way for those unfortunate to be caught up in the coming torrent. They went to each of the lantern posts, putting some food into the each of the tear drop lanterns for the Snap Glows that swam about in them, the fish inside devouring the food and glowing bright enough for anyone to follow.
The rain that came down as a drizzle had quickly taken a turn for the worst, it had started to come down hard, as if it had desperation to drown the world. The water pathways in the streets that everyone would walk on were now flooded, the waters now reaching above a person ankles. Not a soul was out, the rain forcing them indoors.
All except a cloaked figure that way hurrying through the streets, clutching at a bundle under its arm.
"I can't believe he did this to me." She spoke, her voice full of anger as she held down her head against the rain, a furred paw holding down the hood as the other held on tightly the book. "It's bad enough that he took all I had for the next three months, but keeping me there till the rain came before casting me out of his house, it's simply just inexcusable." She occasionally looked up at the lantern posts, checking the signs to make sure she was on the right track, the cream colored fur on her face getting soaked. "But at least I have it now. Maybe, just maybe I have all I need to finish it." The thought of finishing her project soon was enough to dampen her anger of today's events, her speed doubled, eager to get home quickly as she splashed through the streets.
She reached her home faster than she thought she would, opening the door with ease she sighed at the fact that it wasn't locked.
"I don't believe it; she forgot to lock the house again. It's a wonder that we haven't been robbed yet." She sighed, taking her soaking cloak off and dropping to the ground as she made her way to her room, the bundle still under arm, her wet feet squelching noisily through the corridor.
As she rounded the corner she saw a small red blinking light on the table next to her door. Scooping it up she looked at it curiously, it was in the shape and color of her family crest, it was sapphire blue and in the shape of a spiral shell, not the same as the real one, this one was a fake used to record messages that were intend for only family members to hear.
"Looks like sister left me a message." She pushed the blinking red light, the crest glowing softly as the form of an otter appeared, dressed in a green tabard, smiling as it waved to her.
"Hello Siya, if you are listening to this message it means I am still away of Protector Business, but I should be back by tomorrow evening."
"If I am so lucky." Siya replied. She knew her sister's record on keeping promises wasn't that good, but she kept hope that maybe one day she would become a little more reliable.
"After all, I wouldn't want to miss your birthday." The small otter hologram smiled.
"My birthday is tomorrow? I had forgotten all about that."
The hologram flickered a little, the otter fading in and out of existence. "I'm running out of time here so I will say goodbye for now" The otter bowed towards Siya. "Oh and one more thing. I have left Aisirc behind; she will give you your present in the morning. Goodbye again Siya, may the gods watch over you." The hologram flickered and blinked one last time before fading away completely, the corridor descending back into darkness.
"May the gods watch over you to Crisia." Siya placed the fake crest back where she found it and entered her room. She closed the door behind her and looked over at the corner of the room, three yellow glowing shapes seemed to just float there in the darkness. Looks like the Snap Glows were awake and hungry. She walked over to where they were, the orbs fading and reappearing in the darkness, the orbs as she got closer were eyes, single yellow eyes watching her and blinking.
"I know your hungry, just give me one moment." She set the book down on the desk before reaching down next to the eyes and grabbing the feed packet. She poured some of its contents into the bowl, soft crunching sounds could be heard coming from them.
Slowly the room started to lighten up with and eerie, the scales on the Snap Glows glowing softly at first, but with each bite they took they got brighter revealing themselves. Siya crouched next to the bowl they were in, watching them feed. They weren't the prettiest of fish she was forced to admit, in fact they were one of the creepiest fish around despite their usefulness. The fins on the back of were more like a snake's body which it used to ensnare prey as well as using them to power through the water. They were connected to a normal body, the scales shined on them each time they ate food, but as she looked further up the body all the normality ended. Where the fins should have been on the side of the body there was bone like arms, with thin and small skeletal hands attached to them which were used similarly to the snake appendages on the back. The main feature that most took note of was below their single yellow glowing eye, their big sharp teeth. The mouth was by far the creepiest part of the Snap Glows, the lack of lips on the fish made them look as if they were grinning menacingly, Siya shuddered at the thought of being the prey that got caught by them, the last thing they ever saw was that grin.
"It's a shame you aren't just a little cuter." Siya tapped on the glass, one of them taking notice of her and scrabbling at the glass, desperate to sink its teeth into her finger. "And that would be why most people are afraid of you guys."
After feeding the Snap glows she wandered over to her mirror to check her fur to make sure the rain hadn't messed it up to much. She picked up a towel at the base of the mirror and started drying her fur off while staring at her reflection. She wasn't really anything special, she was an otter with a brown thick coat. But her face fur was different than her body, it was a dull creamy white that stood out from the rest of her body, it was something her sister Crisia had referred to on more than one occasion as her mask and always asking her if she was hiding something under it. Her eyes were a deep dark brown that she could see herself in, it was as if she could see a smaller version of herself trapped with in.
As Siya towel dried her fur she felt an all too familiar lump near her left shoulder under the fur. Parting it she saw the blue spiralled stone, the same as the one that Crisia had used to record that message, only difference being, that this one was real and embedded into her body.
"I'm still hoping that one day I wake up and this awful thing has disappeared." She sighed, the stone was a sign of her nobility, something that was forced in place to show her importance among others. Being a noble was supposed to be an honour, family members from each of the many houses being far better off than others, to be called upon to serve as a Protector to give order and peace to this world. But instead what she had received was a mother lost to the light, a life with no friends, fearful that she would take from them what they valued precious like most of the noble houses had done with their higher status. Her house, the house of Calma had only two family members left after her mother had gone, herself and her sister Crisia. She shook her head, ridding the memories that the stone had brought back to her, she released the fur from her grasp as it settled back over the stone.
"This time it's going to be different." Siya spoke softly to herself as she wandered over to her desk which was a mess with open books and little metal spheres. "This is a new world, a fresh start from those that know... knew me." She picked up one of the spheres and smiled as she looked at it closely. "By becoming a Weaver, I could make people happy, to help reminded them of their old homes. They wouldn't care if I was a noble or a normal person... I might even make some friends." She smiled happily at the thought of finally making some friends. With her sister gone she could take her Scene Spheres to the market and sell them cheaply, she didn't really need the money since she could afford to make them from the best quality thanks to the money they had.
She opened a draw on the desk and pulled out a small wooden box, opening it revealed little compartments where she could store and display each of the Scene Spheres. Siya picked up each of them placing them into the box and spoke out the names of the planets they were from. "Fira, the planet of fire and magma. Soaring, the planet of the sky worlds. Aqualis the world of water and ice. Shade, the world of darkness and mystery." Each of them went in one by one, each of them a combination of colors to represent their worlds, Orange and red to show the fires of Fira, Blue and White to remember the sky which hung high over Soaring, different hues of blue which held the different seas of Aqualis, and finally the purple and black colors which held the mysteries of Shade. Each of them nestled within the wooden case.
All apart from one.
Siya closed the lid and picked up the one she had left out, a Sphere made up of the colors of Aqualis but made from the highest quality she could get her hands on, so that it would never break.
With the night already upon her she decided to get some sleep and go to work on her Scene. She moved over to the bed as the glowing from the Snap Glows started to fade and dim. She placed the Sphere under her pillow and lay down upon it, her eyes feeling heavy as she rested her head upon it. The glow left the room, everything returning back to the shadows as it was before she entered the room. Her eyes closed and the darkness reigned once more.
Moments passed before Siya opened her eyes again. She found herself laying on a black floor, all around her an empty void of nothingness not a single life or light. Nothing except a door, a door of many blues standing defiantly within the darkness. Siya stood up slowly and walked to the door, placing a hand upon its handle and opened it. A bright light flooded the room, banishing the darkness around her, the light too bright as she closed her eyes and moved forward into the light.
When she opened them again she found herself standing on a stone path, the water flowing over her feet and out of sight behind the door. To both sides of her was grass, fresh green blades of grass as she had remembered from back on Aqualis, and flowers, lots and lots of them from the small silvery Moon Shine's up to the tall and beautiful Scent Lures. She walked down the path towards the center of the island, smiling happily at how well the garden looked. It had taken her many long years to research lost plants and to find photo's of the gardens of Aqualis.
As she reached the center of the island she stopped and sank to her knees, making soft splashing sounds as she knelt and looked at the statue before her. A blue marble statue of an otter in protector armor, smiling happily upon the garden, and where Siya sat also.
"... Hello mother. It's been a long time." She spoke to it, smiling back towards its gaze. "I managed to get the garden to look as it did back home, I am sorry it took a long time to get it this way but I had trouble finding the pictures." She laughed and joked to it. It had taken her a long time to find the books, most memories of the lost worlds being hard to come by or being owned by the nobles that kept them for the sake of owning them. She remembered getting scolded by her sister for spending a years worth of her money on the Aqualis book that one such noble owned. But in her mind she knew it was worth it. She walked up to the statue across the pool, each step barely going beneath its surface as she crossed it. She reached the statues base and sat down next to it. "Crisia misses you too. She won't come here because she says its bad to stay in here for too long... but I don't mind, after all, it's the only place I get to see you"
Siya rested her head on the base of the statue, her eyes watering up as she longed to meet her again. She rubbed at her eyes, drying them along her fur.
"I am ok mother; I just miss you that's all." She talked to the statue, hoping that it would talk back. But when it didn't she started to think of the things that she would talk to her mother about, hoping that the words would reach her wherever she was. "Oh, it's my birthday tomorrow. I am going to be sixteen, and... well..." She fidgeted with her tail, unsure as to tell it her plans.
"Well... I want to be a Weaver. I know I know, we are meant to become protectors, but I don't like to fight. I know I can do more for people without the need to fight." She stood up with her arms stretched, gesturing towards all that was around her. "I can do it. Look around me mother, all that you see here, I created it. I brought back all that we had lost from our world. I have practiced and made several Scene Spheres already of different worlds."
The statue just stared at her, smiling as it always did, quiet and still.
"I can also do this" She placed a hand high up and covered the sun, her other placed low underneath it. She started to move both of her hands in a circle, the sun following her hand as the day started to fade away. The plants all glowing, slowly there colors started to show as the night started to settle in. The sun disappeared behind the landscape as the moon started to rise up and take its place, the garden glowing brighter and brighter, each of the plants showing its true colors as the moon reached its peak.
With the moon hanging high up in the sky over the garden the plants seemed to come to life, vivid colors of blues, purples, greens and yellows brightening up the garden, making it more beautiful than it had been in the daytime. A pleased Siya looked back up to the statue, hoping that it would say something, to praise her for her efforts. It still stood there, quiet as always.
"Its ok, you don't need to say anything. I know you would like this, and if you come back... maybes we could make a garden like this, like the one back home. Then you me and Crisia could be a family again." Her voice grew lighter and a little sadder, her tears forming in her eyes and falling down her face. "Please... just come back to us. We need you mother... we need you." She lay down her head at the statue and whimpered, letting all her sadness out. She cried for what seemed like forever, till she fell asleep, her mask still wet from her tears.
She heard a voice; it made her jump, looking up to the statue, thinking that she had finally got her wish. It stood there, as it always did.
"Siya... Siya, come on wake up..." The voice spoke, echoing throughout the Scene.
"I am sorry mother... I have to go now. But I will come back again tomorrow ok... I love you..." Siya offered a prayer to the gods that wherever her mother might be, that they would keep her safe.
She ran back to the door, the voice still calling out her name as she opened it and stepped back into the darkness. Closing the door behind her and sealing her back within the shadows. She closed her eyes and lay back down, letting the shadows and darkness take her away again.
When Siya opened her eyes she closed them again straight away, her windows were open and the light of a new day was shining brightly through them, the sounds and smells of the market outside drifting through the open window. At the edge of the bed sat someone who looked like her sister.
"Good morning Siya, I trust you slept well" She smiled at her.
Siya on the other hand was currently blinded. She rubbed her eyes trying to focus on the figure. "Hello Sister. I didn't think you would be back until late.
"Are you ok Siya ? You seemed to me confused with Crisia, I am Aisirc remember."
The blurriness faded from her eyes as she focused on Aisirc. "Sorry about that Aisirc, you sound and look exactly my sister. It's an easy mistake to make."
"It's ok Siya, I understand. I will get you clothes ready for the day."
Aisirc walked over to her desk and started to pull out clothes and lay them out on the table. No matter how often she looked at her it was always difficult to tell the difference between Aisirc and Crisia. They both had the same brown fur which covered their body, with the dirty cream colour patches on her back, and the same dark eyes. The only difference between the two was that Aisirc wasn't real, it was hard to believe just looking at her, especially when she looked and sounded like the real thing. What she was though was what they called a Self Helper, something that was made to look like it's creator in every aspect. The one thing Siya could never quite figure out was why Aisirc never mimicked her sister's emotions. She knew she would find out one day, whenever that day came.
"There you go Siya, I have prepared you clothes and you restraints." Aisirc held up the bands, both of them the same colour as Siya's fur and each of them with encrusted with small gems of different colours.
"I told you before Aisirc, I don't need them. I can keep my powers in check and I won't use them against anyone." Siya said a little angry. The restrainers were her sister's idea, whoever she went she was told to wear them just in case she had the urge to use them against any of the villagers.
"I know Siya and I am very sorry. But I have to do as your sister asks, please don't be mad at me for doing what I must." Aisirc held her head down, clearly unhappy that Siya didn't wish for her help.
"You know I don't hate you, I just don't want..." She looked at the unhappy Aisirc, unable to finish her sentence she held out her wrists. "It's ok, go ahead and put them on."
With a nod she walked over to Siya placing the bands on her wrists and tied them tight. The bands were used to stop the energy flowing through to her fingertips, an unnecessary bit of equipment Siya thought, but something she would have to put up with for the time being. "Also Siya." She started as she finished tying both bands on. "Crisia has left you a present. I have put it with your clothes." She walked to the door ready to leave.
"Present ?... That's right, it's my birthday today."
"That is correct Siya, may your birthday be pleasant and bring you joy." She bowed at the entrance of the door. "I must leave and return back to Crisia. May the gods watch over you Siya."
"Thank you, and may the gods watch of you to Aisirc."
With a nod and a smile she left as silently as she had come and the house was quiet once more.
Siya went over to the table and picked up the present her sister had left her. She rattled it and couldn't hear anything inside, also it was light as a feather, whatever was in there was a mystery to her. She took off the paper slowly and calmly, then opened the box to reveal, a piece of paper.
"Well... it's not the strangest gift she has ever gotten me." On the top of the page it read happy birthday Siya, here is the instructions on how to create a Self Helper. It was a shock to say the least, her sister finally revealing the secret she had wanted to know since she first saw Aisirc. She read out the instructions. "First find yourself a mirror. Lucky enough I have one right here." She stood in front of the mirror looking at her naked self, well as naked as one could get with a full body coat. "Secondly, you need to offer your reflection two things, a piece of mind and a piece of body. For the piece of body blood would be the best material." Siya was cautious at first, but soon threw it to the wind and bit down on her finger hard, her sharp teeth cutting through fur and flesh until she was rewarded. "Then smear some onto your crest and then it's reflection." Parting her fur she smeared some onto the crest, as the blood touched its surface it started to give off a blue glow, then as the blood touched the reflection of the crest the mirror started to glow the same colour. "Lets see, what was the last part. A piece of mind ? To give it a piece of mind place both paws on the mirror and pour a part of myself into the mirror."
She put the paper down and placed both paws onto the mirror as instructed and closed her eyes. Siya didn't know which part of herself to use, she thought about it a little. Her dreams and her hopes, that's what she decided on. She though hard about all the things she wanted to do, to say and what would make her happy. As she opened her eyes and removed her paws the mirror and crest stopped glowing, and then. Nothing. Nothing happened, she stared at herself in the mirror, a small trail of blood slowly making its way down the mirror.
"Well that was, eventful. Crisia probably made a mistake. Well I can cheer myself up on my own birthday." She started to get dressed, wearing similar clothing to what Crisia wore in the hologram, a blue tabard, but she wore a green top to cover up the crest. Last thing she needed was to have everyone know she was a noble, that would really ruin her day. Grabbing a satchel off the floor she placed the box of Scene Spheres into it and licked at her wound. The bite would heal but the day would not wait. With this thought she ran through the corridor with the satchel slung over her shoulder and straight out the front door, locking it behind her and now looking into the clear blue skies. "Today is going to be a good day." She spoke softly with a smile on her face as she quickly hurried further into town, the water splashing from the water streets as she hurried hoping to get a good place to set up shop.
Meanwhile however in her room. Siya's reflection remained, its arm stretched out of the mirror, bringing its finger up the trail of blood before licking it clean.
"Tangy, but it will have to do." She stepped out of the mirror completely looking around the room for Siya. "I can't believe she left me behind, I thought she was raised to not be rude. Oh well I'm sure we can catch up soon enough." She looked towards the bowl of Snap Glows, licking her lips when she realised how hungry she was. Pointing her finger at the bowl she slowly raised it, a column of water carrying one snapping fish with it. With a flick of the finger it flew towards her, she snatched it in the air and before it could even understand what had happened, it lost its head to her mouth. Then the rest of the body disappeared with its head. "Now I know why they are used as lights rather than food. That was disgusting." She shook her head at the horrible taste. "Well, I guess food is food. Now its time to catch up with "master" I'm sure she will love to meet me." With a laugh she walked back into the mirror and faded away.