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Post by ||Megs|| on Apr 16, 2007 8:22:50 GMT -5
¤ A Precious Pearl ¤ It was just one of those days--Ilu was in a rampage, stomping about the throne room and yelling at no one in particular. His daughter, Ila, was elsewhere, of course. Unlike Kenda, Ila had a better chance of coming back to the sea safely. She was under protection of many here, and under protection of the trustworthy human queen. So if Ilu even touched her...well, it wouldn't lead to pretty results. The young princess paced, her currently bare feet tapping softly on the cool, marble-like floor. The palace was big enough to avoid any one she didn't wanted to see, which was a bliss. Gracing their presence today was Rose, who had needed a recharge in her home. She sat on a colorfully draped white, cushioned bench, watching Ila's aimless pacing. "Seems like nothing has changed down here," Rose said, engaging conversation. "Hmm? Oh, yes. Except he's angrier than usual because mom's no longer here." Ila said a bit distractedly. Rose smiled softly. "What's on your mind, ila Ila?" Ila stopped pacing, and looked to the large window at the other side of the room. Ila knew she shouldn't be too worried, but...things were hectic up above on the shore lands... "Austiru went to bring Angie Yoru down here. He said something had happened to her, and that bringing her may help her 'see the truth'. I have no idea what he means, but maybe, just maybe--" The door opened, and a head peeked around the corner. Ila smiled at Tlel, and nodded her permission to deliver whatever message she had. "Ila, is Austiru back yet? He's the only one that can calm the king..." Tlel's soft voice said a bit worryingly. "I perfectly understand, Tlel. When he gets back, I'll notify him. Want to contemplate your life with us?" Rose laughed as Tlel blinked, a bit dumbfounded. But she regained herself and grinned. "I would love to, but I must finish my chores. Good day to you, ila Ila, Miss Rose." Tlel bowed to them, then withdrew herself and shut the door. Ila sighed. Too bad Tlel was a servant...she couldn't get Ilu to assign Tlel as her personal helper, which was a freedom class compared to servant. Come on, Austiru...please come back safe. You and that Angie Yoru...
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Post by Teetaw89 on Apr 16, 2007 19:44:57 GMT -5
(I'm guessing I'm doing this based on what happened in PDG, correct? If not, let me know if I need to fix this post)
Austiru paused as he saw Angie sitting in some grass a few feet from him. He gulped slightly, knowing that something had happened to her, though what it was, he wasn't sure. Someone or something had gotten to her head and left only ill feelings and thoughts there.
He sighed, breathing slowly, and then stepped into the soft grass, his bare feet making no noise as he approached her.
When he was only a few feet away, he stopped and softly cleared his throat.
"Angie?" His green eyes showed concern and he sat next to her and looked at her face. He could tell something was different. Her beautiful golden eyes were dim and there was no joy in them. "I was wondering...if maybe you'd like to come with me to the Aquatris Kingdom...you could stay as long as you liked, and no one would bother you. It's peaceful there, and I thought I'd show my world. It's just what anyone needs to relax and think."
He looked away and out toward the rolling hills in the distance. The breeze was perfect and the day was warm. It was an almost perfect day for a swim.
"Would you at least come for an hour or so?" He smiled gently at her and extended his hand to her. "Please?"
(I hope the setting worked with what you had planned. Just let me know if any changes need to be made^^)
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Post by ||Megs|| on Apr 16, 2007 22:51:44 GMT -5
At Austiru's voice, one ear flicked back to better catch the soft tone. But her expression remained, for the most part, black and sorrowful. She didn't dare look at him--she felt so ashamed. What was with her? Was that creep of a man actually telling the truth? He must have...Ruja hadn't even spoke up...what about Rage? Did anyone care for her, for who she really was? And not her rank as First Sunrise Angel?
"Would you at least come for an hour or so? Please?"
Austiru's voice brought her back, back to the soft breeze that tenderly caressed the perfect grass. Finally, she looked to him...and saw his hand extended toward her. Suddenly, tears sprang to her eyes, rolling quietly down her cheeks. Instead of taking his hand, she reached out and embraced Austiru. Angie set her head on his shoulder, suddenly knowing that he, of all people, cared for Angie Yoru, not just Angie the Sunrise Angel.
"Austiru, I...I would love to." Angie said softly.
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Post by Teetaw89 on Apr 19, 2007 13:05:28 GMT -5
At first Austiru thought that he had offended or hurt her when he saw the tears roll down her cheeks, but as she embraced him, he smiled and felt his heart skip about inside his chest. She was hugging him. He always had a natural blush to his face, but now it was a bright cherry red.
He returned the hug and then pulled her from around him and smile lightly at her.
"We'd better hurry then." He stood, took her hands in his and lifted her to her own feet. "I promised Ila I'd be back quickly with you!"
***
He lead her for about two hours, rejoicing the whole way, to the Jehm Sea, while telling her how much she would love his world.
As they reached the shore, Austiru glanced down at the surface of the water and grinned. There, waiting halfway in the water was a huge Sea Turtle that could fit both of them on it's back with ease. It's sea green, light blue and black spotting shell sparkled in the sun as it moved onto the shore to greet them. It's neck stretched out of it's shell and it stunning silver eyes met them joyfully.
"Angie, this is Plankton Marine. He's my Star Creature, and he's very happy to meet you!"
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Post by ||Megs|| on Apr 19, 2007 13:43:11 GMT -5
Angie slowly stepped into the water, stunned in awe at the creature that rest in the sea's wake. One cautious hand reached out to it's head...
"Wow...I've never seen a sea turtle before...and he's even a Star Creature! I haven't even been able to see mine yet." Angie knew very well that there were only two ways to be with your Star Companion--one, to stumble accidentally upon them yourself. For example, Cloe had done so by accidentally discovering the portal that lead to Lor's hatching lair, and had witnessed the hatching of her Star Creature, the gold-and-white dragon Lor. The other way was that your Star Creature came to you in your greatest time of need. Like Silv's Chiyo had come to him during an unexpected ambush that would have cost him his life. And Ruja's Phoenix, Nix, who had come to her aid during the war with Aka, when Rage wasn't able to get to her and her life had been about to snap its last string.
But she had never expected a turtle to be one! How precious!
"One problem, Austiru...how am I to enter the great depth of the sea without the pressure crushing me?"
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Post by Teetaw89 on Apr 19, 2007 14:04:13 GMT -5
Plankton placed his head in Angie's hand and made an almost cooing sound (much like a whale), and attempted to rub against her.
"I witnessed his birth by accident, but it was neat! He's been my loyal companion since. He can change his size whenever he wants. Though he can only get big enough to fit four people on his back, he can get as small as my hand, and usually likes to come with me when I come to the surface. He's the only male Turtle I know that comes to dry land. Most females only do it to lay eggs and the males hardly ever surface, so he's a strange one."
He stepped into the cool water and patted the sea creature's shell and then sat down on the marble-like back. "Come on. I'll take care of the preasure."
He waited until Angie sat next to him, and then made a wave of his arm, and around them formed a large air bubble. "We can't go too deep underwater, but this should hold until we reach the Coral Palace."
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Post by ||Megs|| on Apr 19, 2007 14:19:42 GMT -5
Angie gently stroke the magnificent head, and then settled next to Austiru. Now, she couldn't help but feel exited!
"Alright. I trust you." Indeed, she did. She reached out and gently held on to his arm, though. She had never really been under the sea before...it was a bit nerve-wrecking, but she really did trust him. And Plankton Marine, of course!
-----
Ilu growled and stomped around, cursing in a tongue he didn't even understand. He was so steaming mad, he could barely stand himself.
"Austiru...AUSTIRU! Where is he?" Ilu yelled, marching over to the double doors of the throne room and throwing them open with such a force that they banged on the opposite walls and came back to him. Catching the doors, he pushed them open a bit gently this time. Tlel, being the unlucky one, had happened to be passing at that time and jumped in a startled fashion. She gulped gently, but stood up straight and faced her king.
"You, woman!" Ilu barked, crossing over to Tlel so fast that she barely had time to blink. "Where is Austiru? Messing around on the surface again, is he? I thought so!"
"I-I didn't say that, 'Majesty! I don't know where he is." Tlel managed to say, trying to stand her ground, though frustration and anger oozed off the Aquatris man in choking waves. Ilu impatiently pushed her roughly aside and strode off down the corridor. Tlel winced, having landed on her side. How many times must he do that to her? Tlel tried to stand, but couldn't manage it. Her back hurt too many times from hitting the floor too often. The woman sighed, and looked off to the far window.
She did hope Austiru would come soon...the young boy was the one hope that the Aquatris Kingdom had.
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Post by Teetaw89 on Apr 19, 2007 14:49:09 GMT -5
Austiru smiled and nodded. "Good. Let's go Plank. Dive!"
Plankton snorted in response and turned around in the water and immediately dived under the waves. Water washed over the air bubble, making it look like it would crush them, though it hardly shook the bubble at all.
Soon they were swimming through beautiful green and blue water, which shimmered with the sun above it.
As they dived deeper and deeper under, different colors would peek out. From purple seaweed to red, each bobbing back and forth, as though waving to them. Fish darted to and fro, each one with it's own scaly beauty. There were fish of every color, big and little.
The sand below them was white and gold, and it sparkled with jewels and gems. Crabs snap annoyingly at the seahorses as they pranced about, showing great pleasure in dodging the snapping weapons.
Flowers of pale pinks and light yellows danced with the current, and smaller sea turtles swam above their heads, moaning in greeting.
At last they passed a moss covered reef, and the Coral Palace came into view, in all it's splendor, along with the city of the Aquatris, each home stood behind the palace grounds, some larger then others, but all beautiful.
The palace walls were indeed white coral (which was a rare gem to find), while the roof was made of great scallop shells of purest white. In each shell a pearl was placed, anyone of which would be worthy to be placed in a queen's crown. The windows of the castle appeared large and the glass was that of Sea Glass, which was tinted pale blue, green or orange, depending on which part of the castle you were at.
Around the palace was a pearl troca shell wall, with two tall pillars of mother-of-pearl at the front, holding a large golden gate with strings of pearl strung about it. The kingdom had a protective magic around it, which took the appearance of small white specks about the kingdom, so it was perfectly dry inside.
Austiru halted Plank as the gates slowly swung open, making a musical sound as they did so. The Turtle then slid on by, and passed into the magic field and landed in the courtyard that lead to the double doors before them.
"Here we are." Austiru waved his hand and the air bubble disappeared. He slid from his creature and helped Angie slide off as well.
"We'd better go inside, when you've recovered from the trip."
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Post by ||Megs|| on Apr 19, 2007 15:48:06 GMT -5
Angie was shaken, but obviously amazed. And quite speechless. After she slid down, all she could do was pat Plankton Marine's head in thanks. Then she stood there for a moment, and nodded, her dull eyes seeming to sparkle for a moment.
"I'm better now." Angie's ears twitched as she caught the faintest sound of yelling. "...but whoever is yelling inside sure isn't."
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Post by Teetaw89 on Apr 19, 2007 16:03:36 GMT -5
Plankton nodded with pleasure at the touch to it's head. But he perked at the sound of yelling and backed behind Austiru.
Austiru smiled at her expression, but became serious as he listened. "Oh no..." He glanced at Angie and smiled apologetically. "Sorry Angie. I need to go take care of something. You can come with me, but you can't be seen by King Ilu, or it could be bad. Plankton, go home."
The Sea Turtle did as was told and left.
Austiru then sighed and began to make his way toward the double doors.
He pushed through them, and glanced about. The King was taking his bad mood on everyone else and that meant no good thing for his daughter. "Sorry Angie, I've got to take off. I'll find you later!" The last thing he wanted was Angie to get hurt.
He took off down the hall and pushed through more double doors, there he paused. Tlel was sitting on the floor and she looked hurt.
He knelt down and looked at her. "Are you alright miss Tlel? Where is the king now? I need to found him before he hurts someone else."
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Post by ||Megs|| on Apr 19, 2007 21:15:45 GMT -5
(EDIT: Holy cow, I didn't notice how long this was! My apologies!)
Tlel smiled a bit helplessly to Austiru, but the relief was strong in her eyes. He was back!
"My back has been bothering me again. You know that I wasn't born very strong in that area...so this kind of pushing around doesn't help any. But thank you for the concern. 'Is Majesty went down the corridor, toward the kitchens none the less. I'll be fine, you'd better go." Tlel tried to righten herself, but a small cry escaped her lips when she did so. Oh, bother, she thought. Tlel sighed and sat back down the way she had been before.
"Austiru!" Ila poked her head around the corner, then quickly ran over at the sight. "What's happened, Tlel? Did he push you down again?" Rose was quick to follow, and knelt on Tlel's other side. She smiled at Austiru and nodded her head.
"Go on ahead, dear. You seem to be the only one that can calm that tyrant down these days. Where is Angie?" ----
Angie wasn't able to say anything, left in the doorway to a place she had no idea about. But the beauty of it...it almost made the upper world dark, and rather shabby. Wonder where Austiru dashed to so quickly? The Bastet Kit slowly made her way in further, turning down a random corridor. This one was darkened, as if there wasn't use for it for the time being. Curiosity overcoming the slight sense of danger she felt, she wandered further along it. It took her a second to realize she was being followed. Gulping queitly, she turned.
There Ilu stood, looking rather furious. He had her backed up again the wall so quickly that she couldn't find the sense to call for help.
"So you are the one Austiru keeps on seeing...and you are nothing but a Bastet. Though, currently...the race has done me no harm." He leaned in closer, observing her eyes closely. A grin stretched across his face then. "Your mind is clouded in confusion, kitten. But don't be confused when I say I am uneasy about this courtship."
"Courtship? We just--"
"Ha! Listen here girl...you are welcome here. For now. But be weary...fish are uneasy in the presence of a cat." Ilu laughed. "If I were you, kitten...I'd keep this meeting a secret. Well, time to go see how the kitchen is keeping up." He stepped away and was gone as soon as he had appeared, leaving Angie quite breathless.
Angie quickly exited that hallway, and her ears picked up on voices. Familiar voices. She quickly rounded the corner and found Ila, Austiru, Tlel, and Rose. And, walking away from the direction of the kitchen was Ilu, licking a bit of sauce off his lip.
"Aah, Austiru my boy! About time you come back down! And who is this?" Ilu asked in curiosity and quite skeptically. Remembering the threat, Angie did a small bow, and kept her gaze down.
"Angie Yoru, your Majesty."
"Welcome to the Coral Palace! Any friend of Austiru's is obviously welcome here." Angie flicked her gaze up. What the heck was with this guy? Did he have two personalities or something? He sounded like he actually meant it! Ilu sighed and looked to Tlel, who averted her gaze. Ila was standing a bit stiffly, but Rose was relaxed as she steadied Tlel. "My apology, Tlel. I forget often about your...back problems. You are released from your duties until Miss Rose here sees fit. Welcome back as well, Miss Rose. Austiru, please come see me tonight before dinner." The king said rather cheerfully, and he went on around them, ignoring Ila completely.
Tlel was the first one to let her breath out.
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Post by Teetaw89 on Apr 19, 2007 21:38:54 GMT -5
Austiru nodded toward Rose and Ila. He felt bad, When the king was in a fowl mood everyone suffered from it, and he did seem like the only one who could calm him down, and he hated it. The king had added his own torture to Austiru and his family, and it made Austiru bitter toward the royal. But if it meant keeping his friends safe, he would do as he was asked, until it came to where he couldn't any more.
Just then Ilu came from the kitchen, licking his fingers. He greeted Austiru and the others, but ignored his own daughter. It was then that he realized that Angie was with them. He moaned inwardly. He never wanted them to cross paths. The king seemed friendly enough, but he knew otherwise. He was sinister and dark and Austiru would never think anything else of him.
He smiled and nodded as the king passed them, bowing slightly. "Sire."
When Tlel let her breath out, Austiru knelt back down and placed her arm over his shoulder. "Come, I'll help you to a soft place." He lifted her easily to her feet, careful not to hurt her. "Let's go."
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Post by ||Megs|| on Apr 19, 2007 22:56:07 GMT -5
"Thank you, Austiru." Tlel said softly, very glad for the support. Rose got up as well, following, and talking softly to herself for the most part, but to Tlel and Austiru as well.
"I should be able to figure out what the main problem is...a nice rub, relaxing music...I wonder if the musicians are here today...stars, they aren't!"
"I...I could sing her something." Angie said softly, feeling very concerned for this person she didn't even know. Ila smiled and went to Angie's side, taking her hand in comfort and greeting.
"We would appreciate that, Miss Angie! And perhaps Austiru could play in harmony to it. And," Ila added in a soft tone that was not meant to travel far, "don't let my father get to you. I can tell you have already met him. Probably threatened you? Yes, I thought so." Ila confirmed at Angie's small nod. "Both you and Tlel could use some healing..long period healing. Do your parents know that you are here?"
Rose stopped her murmuring and glanced over her shoulder. Ila gently bit her bottom lip, knowing she must have said something wrong...but Angie answered, and not depressingly. But knowingly.
"No. They don't even know I exist. But there no need to talk about that right now." Angie forced herself to smile. "I'm here to have a good time, right?"
"Correct!" Ila said brightly, offering her arm to Angie, who took it with a brighter smile still. Despite Ilu...this seemed to be a promising 'vacation'!
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Post by Teetaw89 on Apr 25, 2007 17:47:25 GMT -5
Austiru merely smiled in response to Tlel, and nodded.
He fell silent, and heard Ila mention that he could play in harmony with Angie, and then they went to whispering in quieter tones. When he was sure that it was polite to speak, he looked back and smiled at the other girls. "I'd be happy to play for you Angie. I have yet to hear your voice, so nothing could keep me from it. Perhaps after dinner? I have to speak with the King before. We can eat and then entertain ourselves with our own music."
It made his heart leap. Angie was beautiful as it was. It only made him more excited to know that he might hear her singing voice as well, and that he would be able to play for her. Angie was not royal, and neither was he, but it made him feel honored to have someone from the upper lands sing in his home of the Sea.
He smiled despite himself, thinking of how he had brought Angie here so he could help her with her problems, but in a way they were helping each other. He needed soft music from a pretty lady to ease his stress over King Ilu. Maybe they would make a good team!
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Post by ||Megs|| on Apr 26, 2007 15:52:45 GMT -5
"That sounds fine," Angie said softly, suddenly feeling shy. Ila just smiled and gently yanked on Angie's arm, so that they could walk in front of Austiru. "We'll go to my room, Austiru. Stars knows its big enough!" she exclaimed, and led the way up a short staircase and down two other hallways. She unslung her arm from Angie's and opened up the door, and gestured them inside. It was certaintly big enough! And nice and clean. Ila wasn't one to keep 'junk' in her room, or anything she wouldn't use. Ila gestured over to her nice bed.
Angie stepped in, and smiled. So nice and clean, nice and big, pretty...but not overly so. there was a slight feeling of lonliness, though.
"Don't you get...lonely, in here?"
"I sure do! But it suits music so well. If you play true notes, it echoes back to you, as if the very walls were singing and playing music! They don't do that for me--I don't play instruments and I'm not a very good singer. I'm one of those people that could add a brief harmony and have it sound decent."
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