[the Stone Garden] Suprise it is My Birthday (Altaira)

[Millicent]

37th of Winter 513

Silence and stillness. A silence so complete than rang in her ears. A silence broken only by the pounding of her heart. A stillness only disturbed by rise and fall of her chest. All there is the beat of her own heart and the rise of her lung. Huddling under her cloak, she felt the crunching of frozen grass, crashing like trees, in the silence. She wished to be stone.

A fog drifted over the white walls, like a thief stealing in from the night. It carried a faint smell of salt and cold. Slowly it filled the courtyard, drifting along the walls and surrounding her with a curtain of gray. Only the light of a setting moon pierced through the wall of fog.

In the steams of light, half frozen droplets drifted lazily to the ground. Figures draped in the fog began to danced around the gray light. Countless specters rose and fell among mist. Their bodies twisting and contorting driven by an unheard music. In the silence, she could almost hear their song. Lightly sweeping over the round cobbles, they danced like the ghosts of the fallen. A frozen tear fell from a face of stone.

Drawing in her breath, she refused to let it go. Her heart raced. The cold seeped through her cloths and into her flesh, but her lungs burned. She held still, fighting against the trembling that threatened to spread through her body. She must not disturb the dance. She must not draw the figures attention lest she be whisk off to a strange world. Of this she was certain.

Her breath slipped from her lips, sending a silver cloud to join the fog. It past unnoticed. With small timid breaths, she watched the ceaseless dance as the bells past. Still she dared not move, even as the cold reached her bones. The dance rose in speed, and the song whispered louder in her ear. Half remembered words slipped silently from her lips. She almost rose as the dance reached its wildest. Her spirit longed to join the figures.

Then first rays of the suns light pierced through the wall of fog. The sounds of a waking city broke through the silence. Their stage shattered, and their song broken, the figures dissipated with the mist. The warm light fall on the girl. Turning her head toward the warmth, a sad smile crossed her face. Her skin was pale as the figures that danced through the night, her cloths stiff with ice. Perhaps she had seen something no mortal eye was meant to see, or perhaps it was all a dream.

OOCI can change this to a solo thread if you would rather

[Altaira Readva]

Bird Speak | Common | Vani | Others

The morning was cold and harsh, the winter fog stealing the larger part of Altaira's sight as she ambled along on her way, her movements slow and mouth constantly taking the form of a yawn, her coat and cloak tucked in close like a blanket.

Her breathing hitched as she took a stumble, her limbs stiff and unyielding, pushing her way over the paved roads as she sought purpose for her morning venture. She always awoke before dawn, the rolling mist and morning fog not quite dimming the inklings of Syna's rising well enough for the feathered beast of her to be fooled. Most days she'd already be in her animal form, gliding about the streets at one of the few times of day when she had little worries of encountering others, at times venturing beyond the city gates, though never quite willing to go beyond the path.

She rolled and stretched her shoulders as she came to a bend, the movement bringing a rush of biting cold air to her shortly exposed skin, her hot breath creating a little mist of her own as she picked up her pace, and exhaled predominantly from her mouth. Winter was quite nearing it's fullest. The snow had come in hard, taking many by such surprise that work within Stormhold Salves picked up beyond measure, her days drawing on till dusk, and morning as busied and hurried as when Syna reached her Zenith.

A rolling breath left Altaira, then, her hands rubbing her eyes and determined walk halting, this time killing her yawn and bringing water to her eyes. It was her first winter out of Avanthal. The first time she didn't look towards the season with a smile as thoughts of thawing and warmth were brought fresh to mind, the first winter when she did not waste away in training with Neda, with the Goddess-Queen walking the lands and the need of castle guards largely lessened, with Neda at least gaining a sudden abundance of free time.

She lent herself a quiet reverie, the sound of movement from the stores that lined the hallway bringing her back to the world, and she was quick to seek a place of quiet solitude. She took a quick pace again, driving down an alleyway that at least seemed somewhat familiar, before finally realising where her walking-by-memory was leading her. The Stone Gardens.

She gave a soft, short smile to herself, before pulling her clothing closer as her pace bordered on jogging, icy air beating her skin. If she walked quick enough, she'd be able to see it at first light, suddenly bent on seeing Syna dissolve the mist and fog away, breaking the solemnity of the place in a bath of light.

When she finally broke through the paved roads, and she took several light steps into The Stone Garden, she was bitterly dismayed to see Syna's realm in full swing, with not too much fog left to cloak the gardens. She let a light sigh escape her, a short glance to a figure quite the distance away, a distance perfect for her eyesight to focus on, and took it upon herself to keep herself relatively far. From her own experiences, none, save herself, apparently, came to the garden at such an hour without a heavy heart.

Even still, she was a curious little creature, and continued her stroll with constant glances towards the tiny form, from the clothes she wore to what she could see of her hair, making a game of wondering which loved one she she was respecting in her visitation. She weighed up whether or not she wished to draw near, half torn between seeking the truth and accepting her little fantasy, the path's upcoming split causing he decision to loom over her.

Her curiosity won her over, and she took the path that would put her in a position to eventually catch site of the woman - she supposed it was a woman, relying on the person's delicate form over short hair cut. When she ws finally in position, her expression dropped and softwalk halted. "Millicent?" She said, an inkling of alarm sprouting as she walked briskly to the younger woman's side. "Are you alright? You shouldn't be outside at this bell, Gods, you'll catch a cold!"

[Millicent]

Speech

The last traces of the fog faded under morning sun. The silent was replaced by the sounds of thousands of people waking. The city, a beached whale on the Suvan Sea, was awake. Thus the wonders of the night, with all their beauty and all their terror passed. Now it was time to return to the world of gray stone and empty rooms. "I am leaving" A voice tinkled like falling ice.

Her name pierced the veil. The dreamer began to awake. Ice crackled as it broke. The girl slowly faced the sound of her name. Her eyes where drawn into the pools of amber. For a moment she thought perhaps she was still in a dream. The soft glow of the summer seemed to radiate from the gentle face of the woman. "Altaira?" the city threatened to drowned out her voice.

The wind blew and Millicent's whole body trembled like a leaf.Silent words formed on the lips of her mouth, but would flow out. She stopped trying, as her lips gave a final quiver. Save for the shaking, her body stopped as if frozen. Millicent was not there. The body was vacant, the empty look in her eyes showed that. The fire has been snuffed out, only cold hopelessness remained. For a whole chime her body was stone. Then a light liked weak winter sun, sparkled back into her eyes.

Millicent looked up at Altaira. A slight blue tinge had spread to her lips, but they quivered with more than just the cold. "Is this what dieing is like?" The question fell like a rock in a still pool. The brown pools that stared into Altaira's amber eyes begged for an answer. With a crackle and pop a icy hand reached for the salvation of another.

"Did she lay trembling and freezing with her back to some silent tree? Did her blood stain some snow covered field, till she was as white as it?!" Like trees spitting in the cold her voice thundered over the sounds of the waking whale. The words carried her to her feet. The shivers of cold where replaced by rage. Her icy gaze fixed on Stormhold. "That Is Not How The Story Is Suppose To Go!" A screech of defiance and challenge flew towards the castle.

Stumbling backward, she just fell. All the muscles in her body gave up. The still frozen grass crunched underneath her. Ragged pants escaped her lungs. Millicent gaze returned Altaira. Like snow in the spring, her gaze turned to cold streams that ran down her face. Hands, cold like the grave reached to embrace Altaira.

"That is not how a story is suppose to end. The hero is suppose to live happy ever after with their family. " The city almost consumed the soft broken wisp of sound. Millicent's head turned away in shame. "I waited, I was good, what did I do wrong?" She slumped like tree about to break under the weight of snow.

[Altaira Readva]

Bird Speak | Common | Vani | Others | oocgah, sorry for both my lateness and the amount I've written! D: I'm afriad this is all I could quite come up with the time I had spare

"Millcent," Altaira pressed, her tone a soft lull as she approached the younger woman with caution dire. "Are you..." Her voice almost broke. She'd seen Millicent sick, in pain, wrought with emotion - but like this? No, no. Never quite like this.

It sickened her to hear the tone, the sorrow and bitterness that laced the younger woman's words. Altaira's own breathing hitched, her mouth pressed into a fine, down turned line, gaze heavy as she kept her pace slow, as though Millicent was some precious, delicate glasswork. A single breath or breeze all that was required to topple her over.

There was some strange nonsense that she babbled, each work with some deep meaning or symbol to an event the kelvic knew not of. Was it real death? Or was it life, a loved one killed or taken, perhaps a book read or story told and felt too greatly. The scene that was detailed was forefront in her mind, and it was a feat to stamp it out and press for conversation. An enemy returned or a lasting bitterness from their presence. Too many possibilities, too many feelings, too much she was out of depth with.

Several short steps as she was close to her cold side, the kelvic wasting little time in untying her cloak, and setting it firmly upon the younger woman's shoulders, stomach dropping as she felt like ice. Maternal instincts hit her in a solid surge, gently brushing the first flood of tears from her face before hugging her tightly, hoping dearly that her own warmth was soon taken.

"Hush now, sweet one," She began, wording awkward and not thoroughly thought out. "You're alright, you did nothing wrong." Her stomach wrung and twisted, breathing slowing as she stroked Millicent's hair slowly, far too comfortable in the maternal position. "You're still breathing, arn't you? The story is far from finished. You may have your happy ending yet."

The blame that she took upon herself was monumental. She should have asked that day.

[Millicent]

Speech

Altaira body felt like a furnace compared to Millicent's icy grip. Between the warm cloak and the extra body heat, the blue tinge to the her lips began to fade. However the ice on her cloths began to melt, soaking them. Like the crackling of ice in the warming sun, Millicent's teeth began to chatter.

It was not warmth that she sought. The softly spoke words of encouragement caused her shoulders to rise every softly. They where like birds landing on the overburden tree. They added weight of guilt of their own but dislodged the snow.

A reservoir of salty tears pressed against her eyelids. Her face contorted to seal in the flow. Her cheeks squished upward reinforce the barrier. The pale skin on her forehead was pulled tight and her eyebrows where furrowed. A single sob would surely break the dam and let the tears flow forth, so her mouth was drawn tight.

All control was lost. Altaira's small pat on the head broke down both barriers at once. Tears raged from her eyes and half choked sobs left her mouth. Without thinking she buried her head in Altaira's lap and just bawled. This carried own for almost a quarter of a bell.

"They found my mother's body." the sound of her voice barely carried to Altaira. The air had sucked all the warmth out of the statement. It fell like a aged word form a dusty book. Slowly she rose her head out of Altaira's lap. "That was a good birthday present." She could not even mange to sound sarcastic. It was all drowned out by a cold bitterness.

Her hand reached up seeking Altaira's. A crackling sob echoed out of her lungs. It was the sound of a tree snapping. The snow and ice where layered so thick that not even the soothing efforts of the birds could save it. Her eyes ran dry. Her sobs where the mixture fits of coughing and dry moaning. Millicent cried like this for a chime more, and was silent for half a chime.

With all the grace and ease of a stone statue, Millicent stood and looked down at Altaira "I am cold" If she where as cold as her words, then she would have been made of ice. It was like all the emotion contained in her has been poured out. Her lips where drawn into a tight straight line. The well of tears may have ran dry, but her eyes betrayed the emotions being hidden away.

Despite her previous statement, she shrugged off Altaira's cloak. She held it in an outstretched hand. As if it where made of stone, she slowly turned her head down to look at it. Her eyes drifted from the cloak to Altaira. Her face might as well have been carved on. Then in a slow deliberate motion, she turned the cloak over and dropped it in Altaira's lap.

The stone statue then turned and walked away.

oocMillicent is running away from me a bit. This is not the line of reactions I expected.

[Altaira Readva]

Bird Speak | Common | Vani | Others

Altaira's stomach churned, ticks turning to chimes of steady comfort. Half a bell of silence, with only the fewest words of quiet assurance.

She knew that she'd intruded upon a private moment, and had Millicent not been in a condition that the kelvic deemed poor, she'd have regretted her curiosity and intervention. It wasn't a time for explanations, for quips or remarks or mentions. It was Millicent's moment, and although Altaira took little problem in the act of support, she didn't dare intrude.

She herself knew what it was to grieve, and at that time there was little that infuriated her more than those that tried to encroach on the time she took for herself.

When the younger girl spoke, her words were wretched and filled with spite, a shudder hitting her as both the blistering cold and what was said seeped through her. Was it an event that had come and past in the years prior? Or was the younger woman's trauma something horridly recent?

There was nothing that could be said, at least in the kelvic's mind, and she bit down hard on her lip as the human's words broke into sobs and silence.

It was the later that was the worst. At least with tears came a release, but crying that bore no tears or sounds were the kind to tear you from the inside out.

What happened next left her gobsmacked, the sudden movements, the harsh, frozen words, and the rigid movement. It wasn't right. "Millicent," Altaira called, keeping her tone as soft as she could muster, finding it to come across more tired despite her efforts.

Millicent didn't seem to react, and the kelvic wasted no time in straitening out her cloak and standing tall, her stride longer than Millicent's by such a number that there was no effort expended in catching up and eventually overtaking her. "You're not leaving without my cloak," she lulled, setting the thick article upon the younger woman's shoulders once more, careful not to let all the weight hit her at once, not when she was so frail.

"You don't need to tell me anything, alright?" she said, after a long and hard stare at the girl, lip bitten once more as she dwelt too long upon the red of her cheeks and eyes for her stomach to bear, giving in to her impulsive instinct to smother her in a hug. "Just know that I am here, understand?"

[Millicent]

Even gently placed, the weight of the cloak weighed heavily on the young girl's shoulders. Like an anchor, it dragged her to a stop. Turning to face Altaira, her weakness was temporarily exposed. In her eyes tears threatened to spill forth again. The brown pools seemed to grow larger, glistening in the morning light. Her lips pouted and trembled.

Without thinking, her arms pulled the cloak tight around her. It was more than warmth she sought from the cloth. Like a tightened vice, she gripped both edges of the cloak around her body.

No, don't be like this The thought burned like fire through her mind. She visualized as one of the cold misty figures she has seen dancing this morning. Around it, she built grey stone walls. Walls that reached upward till they blotted out the sky. Hide it away just like the rest Millicent took the room carried deep into the maze where her anger was hidden.

Millicent no longer carried her mask, but she might as well have slipped it on. All the tears and light left her eyes as it it had never been. Her lips draw tight into painted half smile. The cloak followed suit with her hands as they feel back to her side.

"I am sorry for worrying you. Everything is fine now" The words echoed hollow. Millicent frown briefly at them. They felt like a lie. "There is no point mourning someone I never knew, especially someone that died more than 10 years ago" These words fell like that of a merchant who was not convinced of the quality of his wares.

oocSorry for the lateness. Yes Millicent is being difficult. If Altaira wants to know something she is going to have to drag it out of her

[Altaira Readva]

Bird Speak | Common | Vani | Others | oocOhh, yay! This is going to be fun! If not a little macabre with Altaira's whole worship of Dira thing... >.>

Altaira didn't like Millicent's words, nor her tones or movements. She knew the younger woman enough to know when she was alright, though the knowledge that at least the trauma was not fresh in mind gave her some room to work and coax. She wouldn't dare speak to someone in the thick of grief and sorrow.

"Mourning the loss of the woman," Altaira lulled, choosing and speaking her words with utmost care. Even she wasn't quite sure what she was saying, life and and emotion were the three things she understood the least in the world, and her way of learning was to touch a flame to learn of it's heat. Unfortunately for those around her, hurt feelings was something that the kelvic herself inflicted upon others in her learning experience. "Or the relationship you could have had?"

There was a careful softness to her words, each word weighed before it was spoken, and there was not a single breath that Altaira did not spend staring at Millicent, slacking her shoulders and relaxing her expression, worried that she'd been too upfront with her words. She'd dealt with the own loss of her mother, as well her brother, but those who knew her said that she was strange. That her acceptance wasn't quite 'right.' They said it must have been because she was young and kelvic, and simply didn't understand.

In Altaira's own mind, on the contrary, it was they that didn't understand. They who wept at their own loss. Wept for the child who would not have a parent at their wedding or the birth of their first child. Not the mother who'd never live to see her child marry, nor how sweet the relief of death. No one seemed to think about the pain and suffering evaded by an early death. A mother will never have to see her child die, nor her husband or wife's mind dull and body break. She hated how people spoke of the unfairness of death, as though life was any different.

The kelvic pressed her lips, and kept her hands gentle on Millicent's upper arms, half keeping her steady, and half readying to catch her should she fall. She was such a sweet girl.

[Millicent]

Speech

The salty taste of the wind pulled on the girls attention. It's gentle tugging, pulled her head toward the sea. Both cloaks billowed in the wind as she stare obvious to the world Trees may have blocked her view, but not her vision. Sounds of the city became the lapping of waves. The smallest smile crept across her face. "Waves, endless waves to wash it all clean" the bare mumble echoed visions of far away worlds.

"Mourning the loss of the woman....Or the relationship you could have had?"

"Hmm?" Big brown eyes turned from an imagined sea back to older woman. "Am I mourning the loss of the woman or the loss of a relationship?" She seemed to almost hum the question. Tilting her head sideways, her mouth opened up into a broad lopsided smile. "I am not sure I understand, let me think" For a click, she allowed herself to feel a bit of pride. Finally she had learned how to present the world a flower by holding on to it thorns.

Her gaze met Altaira's and held as she thought about the answer. In her eyes was the winter sun. Cold. Distant. Instead of falling the tears froze like crystals. "Well I guess the relationship...." The words roses and faltered like a wave. Her smile pursed as she continued to think. The ice in her eyes seemed to melt a bit as she continued to stare at her friend. “Well as of today I am an adult, so I guess I don't need a mother.” Biting her inter lip she looked away. “Besides I have you.”

Her head shook slowly as she though dismissing the previous idea. "Well maybe for the woman?" She offered hesitantly. Her hand rubbed her cheek and she shrugged. Millicent's looked away from Altaira. As if trying to avoid some stare, she wiggled back and forth. “There are many things that my....” Her voice waiver as the word got caught in her throat. “That we could have experienced together. I do feel a little sad that she did not get to.”

The answer really did not satisfy her. Millicent looked back into the breeze. Again the breeze pulled at the cloaks, and she gazed off into the trees.“I guess it is mainly for me.” Her answer came after another chime of taught. “There are many things I would have liked to ask her. Like why she joined the knights, why they where more important than me.” No tears fell from her eyes. The ice crystals seemed to grow stronger. “It would have also made certain experiences a little easier....” The last bit drew blood to her face.

[Altaira Readva]

Bird Speak | Common | Vani | Others | oocBy the way is there an actress that fits how you think Millicent should look?

Was Millicent strange by human standards, Altaira wondered, soft gaze edged with confusion. She herself was not the farthermost from understanding, living longer and aging rather slowly for a kelvic meaning she had more of a 'human' upbringing, sharing room with a Vantha hellbent against allowing her to bond and using her as an experiment helping her more than she would like to admit in such a regard.

She tensed as Millicent parroted the question, a chill riveting her spine as she once more wondered if her words should have ever been spoken, unable to help herself in falling to thoughts of the Goddess she worshiped most fiercely.

Altaira wasn't sure if she should take Millicent's crooked smile as a good or bad sign, rolling her own shoulders as she lent herself to her own thoughts, as though granting the younger woman a moment of privacy, not quite noticing how her sights were still set firmly on her dear friend.

When words broke the silence, they rung loud in her ears.

Millicent's gaze was lost and as was Altaira's breath, a small smile taking form on her lips, the harshness of her eyes melting to a warm look. After shifting cities and finding yourself all alone in the, as the kelvic found it, wild world, it was a feeling of no measure to know that you were wanted.

She chose not to give further comment or remark, the look and gesture made seeming to be one of indecision, and further words spilled from her lips.

She was learning more about Millicent within a single bell than she had over all those she'd thus known her her for. Knights. Duty. Priorities. A child who felt that she wasn't treated as she should have been. A warm sigh left Altaira, blowing a white cloud into the air above Millicent's head, and the kelvic felt as though her heart bleed in taking not of the girl.

She was such a small, young, little thing.

"Duty" she said slowly, letting her hand rest softly on the younger woman's head, "Is very complicated." She was back into the rhythm of weighing her words before she spoke it. "As is love and life and death."

"I don't think you'll ever quite understand as you are now," she said softly, mind filled with birdspeak and trilling chatter as she rung with inner turmoil. What should she say, what would be best and what worst? How can she hope to console a human when death had been an accepted part of her own life since she could barely speak the common tongue. You live, and you die. And in between, you try and survive. There was little use in morning one's loss, they are their Gods or Goddesses, or they have returned to the world as another. They might be happier, they might be sadder. There is little use in mourning death. Everyone returns at one point or another.

"She may not have been able to live with herself if she had acted in any other way."