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 Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:05 pm
Who: Endless & Liliana
What: a day at the beach
Where: Fierra home & a secluded beach
When: afternoon, the day after Kismet & Words of Wisdom
Why: to have some truly alone timeButterflies fought inside her as the crimson furred femme apparated before the door of the Fierra home. She would not have thought things of such delicate grace and beauty could be so terrible inside her. And that was just a figure of speech anyway. Of course no real butterflies bothered the winged kitsu. Just your average, garden-variety, run-of-the-mill nerves.
She shook as she stepped to the door and knocked. Exactly on time for what should have been a potions lesson. Liliana was beside herself, at once eager and terrified. She had never done something like this. Never planned time alone like this with anyone... not even Edward and Endless. But now she had. And it frightened her.
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:28 pm
Though Atae opened the door and waved, she was there only briefly before Endless trotted out. He had the bag Lily had given him around his shoulder where he'd put the handful of things he'd decided to bring, including some sandwiches and tea. He still had out one of the little plastic shovels he'd mentioned the day before, though, held in his mouth. He scrunched his eyes up upon reaching Lily and wagged his tails while he held the shovel up like a prize, intentionally trying to look silly.
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:36 pm
Liliana managed to give Atae a shaky wave in return before she disappeared from sight. She backed up a little at the suddenness of Endless coming, still not quite ready for it. Then she got a good look at him and snickered. Then giggled. Some of her tension seemed to melt away, the tightness in her petite body relaxing. "Silly Endless..."
Tails swaying behind her in an easy wag Lily closed the distance between them and tucked her head beneath his chin letting her ear press into his purple ruff. "So where is this beach?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:50 pm
Endless allowed himself to enjoy having Lily's head tucked under his chin for a moment and then tucked the shovel away in his bag so he could answer. "Well, know where to go from Aear's ship, too, and it would be a lot shorter walk, so... can you get us there? Be a shame to spend most of the afternoon walking there."
He paused to nose open his bag and tugged out one of the sandwiches before putting it away again. "And I brought something to eat..." Why he felt the need to state that now?... He just wanted to say something to her that wasn't akward or a stutter, probably.
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:59 pm
Liliana nodded, letting the motion rub her head against his chest. He smelled good. "Sure. Not a problem. As long as you don't want to land on the ship." She gave a small giggle then blinked at the sandwiches. A fraction later she was smiling, pulling her wings close to her body and wrapping her tails tightly around Endless' so that she did not have to tell him to hold them close. "That's thinking ahead. You can tell me what kind later."
Waving her wand, they disapparated.
Apparating in the shadow of the Hiril Anorfalf The cool breeze of the sea hit her nostrils with its salty taste & feel. At least it was cool. Lily snuggled into Endless. Okay... now what?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:05 pm
He took a few moments to enjoy Lily's snuggling, unconsciously curling his tails around their mingled paws while he got his bearings. Once he was sure he knew which way they should go he stood up slowly, motioning with his head to follow. "It's over that way. Still take a little while, but I kinda like walking on the beach if it's quiet. ...You ever been to the beach much?" He'd started moving while speaking after making sure she was with him, figuring they might as well talk on the way there.
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:11 pm
She shook her head, letting her tails unwind from his as she fell into step beside him. "Not in a long time. Uncle Aear would sometimes take Talagand & I this way when I was still learning to use my wings... but that seems like another lifetime ago. Even then, it wasn't often." Truthfully, Liliana did not do much of anything outside. Or at least she did not most of her life. Things were changing recently for the studious female -more time out of doors was one of them.
She turned to watch the side of his face, a thoughtful look in her green eyes. "How about you? I don't think I even knew you liked beaches."
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:20 pm
Endless looked thoughtful at her comment. "I guess I never thought to mention it. I haven't been out here much recently... I usually come out here at night, anyway. Seeing all the stars reflected on the water... seeing so much night sky was always... calming, I guess? Plus I met a crazy old hobo on the beach... the one I got my name from." He frowned for a moment and glanced over. "I don't guess I've told you all that much about my life, have I? Well... aside from the important stuff..." His frown turned into a sheepish grin.
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:29 pm
She nodded softly, imagining such a sight would be pretty calming. Like being surrounded by Endless... Lily shook the thought from her head, blinking softly. "Hobo?"
Then she grinned, playfully nudging his shoulder. "I dunno... I'd think changing your name would be pretty important. Why did you? Your mother said she picked it out for you, though your father didn't like it. Why go from Nebulous to Endless?"
The idea was foreign to her. She was Liliana. Sometimes Lily to her friends. It was part of her; it was who she was. Having another name... Liliana could not think of a reason why she would ever want another.
Besides... Daddy chose it for her. That made it special in a way that could never be altered.
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Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:52 pm
"Because without mom around, I wasn't Nebulous... Neb... I wasn't anybody. And for a while after she died I didn't even know who I was. I was a little kit fighting for food and sneaking snacks from picnic lunches. That was... all my life was. I didn't have anyone, nobody had me. I don't even remember why I went to the beach that night, but I ran into that crazy old hobo. And I call him that because he told me to call him that... if he had a name he never told it to anyone that I knew of."
He hopped over a rock and took a quick breath before continuing. "He's the one that convinced me to look up instead of staring down at all the mess and misery I was in. And truth be told I really hadn't looked at the sky much before that. So I looked up, and there it was; night sky. Endless. He actually called it that. The Endless. He had funny names for a lot of things. He ended up calling me that a few times... and, well, it meant something. The night sky was like mom, was like me, and he was the first person since my dad forced me and my brother and sister to leave mom and we all ran away I lost them that actually cared about how I was doing, or that I was even alive. So... it wasn't completely giving up my old name, to me. Not really. It was sort of like a second chance."
He flipped around and started walking backwards so he could face her. "He wandered a lot, and I went with him for a little while at least each time I saw him. He never went too far from this one town, and I finally asked him about it one night. He said that was where his daughter lived... but that he was afraid to go see her. Her mom got killed indirectly because of him and the family took her and drove him off. We talked about it for a while... and I told him to go see her. I told him he was a dad worth having, and whether he realized it or not he was still important to her, and that staying away only proved the family right about him. ...He was gone by the time I woke up the next morning. I like to think he went to see her and she welcomed him back. And... I guess that's when I started wandering this way. Hoping I'd find my family again, too I guess."
He stopped and nuzzled her cheek. "And I did... thanks to you. Partly, at least. You and the others convinced me to stay, and gave me a place to belong."
He turned around to check on where they were. They'd reached a spot where a large rocky outcropping cut the beach short and he headed toward it, following it back and forth until he spotted the little hidden trail and started climbing. "I still wonder... if they made it. My brother and sister. I'm pretty sure they stayed together."
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Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 12:07 am
All Liliana could do was listen to him. Listen and watch and ache softly because she wanted to lay him down and press against him, holding him tight and possibly licking his face all over. She purred softly deep in her throat when he stopped to nuzzle her -not a true purr so much as a happy & comforting little sound. "I don't remember convincing you to stay... but I'm glad you did."
Liliana waited until she was picking her way behind him on the hidden trail, casually thinking that she would never have thought to look for a path there. "How did you get separated from your siblings, Endless? Did they go with your father?"
Her voice dripped with sorrow for him, but also something else as Liliana took the notion of losing siblings to heart. She ached at the idea of being rent asunder from her family. Even MauCho. Certainly she did not see all of her siblings all of the time, but she saw them often enough & knew she could see them whenever she needed. To not be able to... her small body shuddered.
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Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 12:21 am
Endless crested the ridge and paused to sit for a moment. "Well... I couldn't keep up. I didn't want to. Blood or not... I think I hated him. I still might. When I say "father" in reference to him it's only because of blood. A father wouldn't attack his own mate and drag her children away from her and neglect them. I guess I was a being a thorn in his side and he told me to either start keeping up or he was going to leave me behind... and I just sat down. He walked off. He picked up my sister when he went. My brother told me he had to stay until he could get her away, but when he did he'd head for our aunt's place. Only I wound up getting sick because I couldn't take care of myself. A traveling couple and their little red dog found me... and took me with them. A long way from where I was, and I was too little to know the name of the place my aunt lived. So... I never found my way back."
He stood up and started walking again, heading for what looked like a big crack along the edge of the other slope of the ridge. When he started walking down past it, it became obvious it was another path. "I left the couple and their little dog to go try to find my way back. Got even more lost. And things progressed from there. I worry now even more because Iris told me that her family's moved twice since back then and they never saw hide nor hair of my brother or sister... or my father, for that matter."
It eventually became clear that the ridge was two pronged and there was a small beach in between the outcroppings, and from the look of it the place was rarely visited by anything other than a stout breeze and the wash of waves. "Tada?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 12:42 am
The urge to touch Endless & console him was so strong... but she let him speak without acting upon it. So she simply continued to listen, sparing a glance around to note the way they traveled. It was quite lovely. She wished she knew something to say... anything... but Liliana for all her book knowledge had no words.
She was following him down the trail through the ridge when words finally came. "Maybe... maybe Isis could take you back to the place she first lived and ask around to see if anyone looking like them ever came through?" It was a long shot, but it was all she had to offer.
Lifting her gaze from the path at the questioning exclamation Liliana gasped at the sight before her. Green eyes swirled lightly and she smiled. "oh...! It's lovely, Endless!"
With that she half-pounced at the night-sky male, tucking her muzzle beneath his chin, her check pressed to his neck as she snuggled against him.
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Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 12:54 am
He was startled when she suddenly snuggled into him again but made a happy chirring sound. "I'm glad you like it..." Oh, but he'd do anything to be able to stay with her like this. But could it last? He wanted it to...
"And... maybe I can ask Iris about it... I don't know if she remembers where it was or not, but my aunt must, right?" He'd never really thought about that. He'd enjoyed talking with Iris but it was still a bit weird... and she'd been so ecstatic to see his mom last night. It gave him an excuse to let them catch up while he was with Lily today... Was it odd that he'd chosen Lily today even over his mom who he'd thought was dead for so long? He wasn't sure. Also wasn't sure if he cared if it was...
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Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:54 am
She let her eyes close. "We can hope so..." And she wanted him to be able to find his siblings. Only natural, with how she was with her own family and the way she cared. Like finding Edward's brother. She was glad Endless had been found by his cousin & mother. More than glad, though she did not know how to express it. Even to herself.
"How did it go with your mother after I left? Did you get a chance to catch up on things? I'm sure you had plenty to talk about." There was a gentleness, a tenderness that could not be named to Liliana's tone.
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