Welcome to Gaia! ::

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Welcome to my journal! This is where I chronicle the developments of my Malepharin Knight. Click on the banner to go to the shop.

Who Is Welcome:
+ Once I get set up and my intro posts done, any owner of a Malepharin Knight is welcome to post here in character. RPs here will be assumed to start out at Sari's home, so please "enter" accordingly wink
+ Please, if you DO start RPing here, be prepared to finish it out to a logical conclusion.

Post Colour:
+ Normal narration will take place in black.
+ When RPing with someone else or if it gets complicated (more than 1 or two knights) each character will post in the colour of their personal posts below.
+ This will also happen with "stream of consciousness" entries.

Headings:
+ All entries will have a title in bold and list who is present in the entry, along with what stage they were at when the entry was made.
+ Who is present in the entry is represented by the colour the stage information was posted in. The colour matches the colour of his or her personal post.
+ Separate "Quest" entries will have an additional header; these are part of quests all knights participate in.

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<Art by Taiyou_Toriko>


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Name: Sarielle
Generally Known As: Sari
Age: around 20
Caste: Neutral
Residence: Heavenside Port
Occupation: Healer, dabbling in herbs; though lately it's more of a hobby than an occupation.
Personality: Contemplative and perhaps a bit brooding, she finds solace in easing the bodily pain of others. Sari is not trained as a fighter; she does, however, struggle to keep a touchy temper in check. Her gunmetal-grey eyes are generally melancholy.
Background: Sari isn't certain that she is even originally from Mal'phar. She has no memories beyond the day when a good samaritan found her aimlessly wandering the streets 4 years ago. She owes her home and much else to him.

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Click on the + to go to that entry.

Raphael:

||+|| Shield on the Doorstep
||+|| Halloween Surprise
||+|| Welcoming the Morning
||+|| Hostility
||+|| Uncertainties
||+|| Christmas Cookies and Travel Plans
||+|| Friends
||+|| No Awakening
||+|| Unsettling Tension
||+|| Echoes of Memory
||+|| QUEST: A Gathering in the Street
||+|| QUEST: Accidental Discovery
||+|| QUEST: Spoken Command
||+|| QUEST: Conspirators Revealed
||+|| QUEST: Decisions, Decisions...
||+|| QUEST: The Shop's Wares
||+|| Look What Followed Me Home
||+|| Reacquainted...and Strange Forebodings
||+|| Unsigned Letter





Felix:

||+|| Deep Sleep
||+|| Stirring Slumber
||+|| Wide Awake
||+|| Temple Deceit

Reserved - super secret project ninja Or not.

Halloween Surprise
Stage: Child
Stage: Adult




Sari hummed a Halloween tune to herself as she lit the pumpkin in front of her house. She had purchased some candy in town that day, but didn't really expect anyone to stop by; almost no one ever did.

Sari's home was a fashionable townhouse in one of the best sections of the city; but it had long belonged to Baird's family, and without him there she was nothing more than an interloper.

It didn't matter that Baird was the last of his house; or that he had only stayed there twice in his adult life. Sari didn't "belong" there. It got kind of lonely sometimes.

Sari peered out the curtains and up at the sprinkling of stars. It was a cool night, but not bitter, as she'd expected. She really shouldn't waste it. There was no joy to be had sitting at home alone. She passed the shield in the hallway; she'd propped it up against the wall there so she'd be able to see it often.

One thing she was grateful for, she realized; if no one from the neighborhood came around, at least their accusations and hateful words had died down. There had been wild rumors that she was some sort of sorceress, ensnaring Baird - and his money - with her potions and herbs. A more believable version had Sari and Baird as lovers, despite the differences in age and caste.

Neither were true. Yet both were so hard to disprove.

Sari picked the shield up, and contemplatively regarded her own warped reflection in its glossy surface for several long moments. Returning to the present at last, she lightly drummed her fingers on the metal. The shield grew suddenly lighter, and a loud bump! sounded simultaneously.

In shock, Sari realized that a small boy was sitting in the floor, peering around the shield and peeping up at her

"Oh my...you..." Sari didn't get an actual sentence out. The child clutched a lyre to him, and solemnly sported a halo made of bits of wire on his head. How cute! He was all dressed for Halloween!

At her amused smile, the boy laughed aloud happily. It was an intensely sparkling sound, so joyous and tangible as to take her aback a little.

"Welcome into my home, angel," Sari told him then, ruffling the frowzy white head into even more untidiness. It's your home now too you know."

He clambered amiably to his feet, seeming to accept the fact that he'd appeared on her floor with utmost aplomb.

"I'll have to come up with a name for you, won't I?" Sari said thoughtfully, more to herself than to him. She hadn't realized it would feel this good to have someone there with her, even if it was only a child. And besides, Baird had felt that this child would be special somehow. Remembering the boy's laugh, Sari believed it.

"Are you my mother?" the small Malepharin asked her candidly.

"No," she told him. "But I'm going to look after you, angel," she continued, slipping into the pet name without even realizing she was doing so. She squatted down to be more on his level. "That gives me an idea! I think I'll call you Raphael," she said, thinking of angel lore in her religion. "Do you like the name?"

"Oh I do, very much!" The boy studied her for few moments, that solemn expression back. He seemed to come to some internal decision. "I think I'm glad you're taking care of me," he stated.

Sari smiled warmly at him once again. "So am I," she said, meaning it. "Why don't you look around? Get adjusted to the house?"

Raphael made his way from room to room, eventually stopping to peer out the window. He was full of wide-eyed questions about the pumpkins that winked and smiled from every house, and this strange holiday that he'd arrived on. Of course, Sari just had to take him trick-or-treating.

Hostility
Stage: Child
Stage: Adult




Dust wafted up in little puffs beneath Raphael's sandaled feet, as his footsteps carried him swiftly up the street. Dark clouds were rolling in with a hint of thunder, and the air was full of the sharp scent of pending rain.

Light blue eyes were over-bright in his small face, with a dewy look that promised tears. He reached the door as the first few drops pattered on dirt and stone. Changing his mind at the last second, Raphael plopped down on the steps, hugging himself and looking rather miserable huddling in the rain as it began to fall harder. The lyre was in his hands almost as a reflex. It was one of the few things he almost never let go of - his shield would be abandoned long before his instrument.

Why had they said those terrible things? Why had they been so cruel?

Music, tumultuous and sad, echoed up the byway, rising to a crescendo with each rumble of thunder, almost as if Raphael anticipated it.

Or, thought Sari uncomfortably as she stopped dead in the downpour, as though the thunder anticipated Raphael's music.

She propelled herself forward again, trying to keep the dried herbs she'd recently purchased tucked safely under her cloak. Raphael avoided her gaze as she drew near, the music flowing on unceasing. Tossing the herbs carelessly inside, she returned to stand directly in front of him. Finally he looked up, albeit reluctantly.

Sari's eyes were unusually soft as she looked down on him. "Don't you think it's time to come inside, Angel?" she asked, as cold rills of water trickled down into her collar.

Wordlessly, Raphael shook his head, small hands stilling the strings. The silence that followed was a little eerie, broken only by the patter of the rain.

"Come on, you're soaking!" Sari coaxed, crouching in front of him. She'd only been gone a few minutes, and when she'd left Raphael had looked as though he was making some friends. "What happened?"

Raphael's lip trembled dangerously for one long moment before he flung himself headlong into Sari's arms. Words tumbled helter-skelter from his mouth; his music was so much more coherent than he was.

"They said such terrible, mean things..." Something completely muffled came next, followed by, "...and when I told them you weren't my mother, they said...they said then they guessed I didn't have anybody to love me, if 'the harlot' wouldn't even claim me." Raphael gave a huge sniff. "What did they mean, Sari?"

Sari's face was set. "They're just repeating things their parents have said. The people here don't like me, Angel," she responded, evenly enough. "And the children take their parents' dislike of me out on you. I'm sorry this has happened; it's not your fault at all."

"Keep your little b*****d away from our children!" a voice called from the other side of the street. Temper flaring, Sari leaped to her feet and whirled to find three beautifully appointed angelics staring balefully at her from across the street - parents of the children Raphael had been playing with earlier, no doubt. Nearly shaking with rage, Sari stormed up to them.

"Leave Raphael out of our little squabble," she snarled, forgetting, for the moment, how powerless she truly was.

"It's bad enough how you parade around in your ill-gotten inheritance; now you bring that-"

"He's shield-born," Sari cut in.

"Convenient." The sneer was in his voice.

"True," she countered with equal rancor. "Now get out of here, and leave us in peace," she spat, turning her back on him. Not waiting to watch them go, she swooped Raphael up in her arms and took him inside, and more unkind things were shouted after them by the other boys. She set the small musician down, and looked at him solemnly.

"As long as they know it bothers you, the other children will keep being mean to you," she murmured. "So don't ever let them see you cry."

Sari could have had no concept how deeply he would take that advice to heart.

Christmas Cookies and Travel Plans
Stage: Child
Stage: Adult




Raphael was kicking around in the dust when Sari turned the corner, packages in hand. She met him every afternoon outside the Minstrel's Guild; it got dark so early now, and she didn't like the idea of him walking all the way home alone.

"What's wrong Angel?" Sari queried. He shuffled along silently beside her, the darkening sky threatening snow. He hadn't seemed really happy after being at the guild in weeks.

"Nothing really," Raphael lied. He shifted his lyre to the other arm and avoided her gaze. "What's in the bag?"

Sari cut her eyes at him, the sharp tang of the cinnamon she carried strong even in the cold air. She was a lousy cook, but had decided that in honor of the season she would attempt some cookies, for Raphael's sake. She wanted Christmas to be all that it could be, so that he didn't feel the lack of a mother. But it was odd; surely cooking was no different than mixing salves and medicines, and while she excelled at potions, in the kitchen she was a flop.

"Well, I thought I'd make some Christmas cookies for us this evening," Sari answered.

"Oh." He paused, gulping slightly at the thought of her cooking. "That...that'll be nice."

"Your tendency to lie this evening has me worried, Angel," Sari responded with an ironic smile.

Raphael finally looked at her, and sighed. "Sorry," he said. His light blue eyes looked darker than usual, and a sporadic flake of snow landed in his eyelashes. "I suppose I just...I don't know, I feel like I'm wasting my time there," he blurted out at last. "I just don't like it! But I know you wanted me to go. I didn't want to disappoint you." He looked up earnestly.

Sari dropped an arm comfortably around his shoulders and drew him to her side as they walked along, the flakes falling harder and faster now. "Angel, I don't want you to do something you hate," she told him. "I thought you'd like it, that's all. But if you don't, you don't have to go back."

Raphael stared up at her, an ice angel in a snowstorm. "Really? You don't mind?" He looked so utterly relieved. "I spend all day learning songs about people that have been dead hundreds of years. Who could possibly care about them after all this time? And he won't let me play what I want to play. It's boring."

Sari hid a smile. He was awfully young to expect him to understand the importance of recording history. "Well, I was thinking, Angel," she said. "Maybe we could go to the Crystal City soon." She tried to gauge his reaction, but he seemed genuinely interested. "It's where Baird lives, and where you're from. I'd like to see him again, and I thought it'd be good for you to see your roots."

"Hmmm. I think I'd like that," Raphael answered. "But not before Christmas, okay? Cause we couldn't take the decorations."

"Oh no! I didn't intend to do it before then. No, we'll be home for the holidays." He grey eyes reflected her smile. "The Crystal City attracts some of the greatest musicians on Mal'phar, too," she continued. "It's such a gorgeous place...I do think you'll like it there."

Raphael only nodded skipped ahead, and pushed open the door. His laughter sparkled on the wind. And the warm glow from the fireplace extended far into the street, beckoning Sari home. She stuck the staff that marked her as a healer in the ground outside her door, to announce to all passers-by her calling.

Well, he seemed alright with the idea, if not as thrilled as she'd hoped. Ah well. There was still time to decide. She had to admit, thought, that she missed Baird's presence this time of year terribly. She wondered a little unhappily if there was anything that Raphael felt he lacked during Christmastime.

If there was, Raphael wasn't telling.