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 Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 7:26 pm
Raina had heard that, somewhere, though she could not recall from where or who it was. It wasn’t a lover, that much she knew- her lovers were as few and far in between as the empty spaces in the sea. Though she could not figure it out, it was still terribly romantic and tugged at her heart madly as she took the usual evening stroll with her persocom brother, Cephiel.
Cephiel was intuitive as always, though he stayed silent to the rhythm of their quiet steps, and though he worried for what was on his sister’s mind he only brushed the silvery blond hair from his eyes and focused his gaze on the glittering mass of blue they called The Courier. The day was nearly over, and the last touch of sun-kiss had left the trees yearning, the weeping willows by the busy waters drifting with a hard edge of cobalt.
Raina let her eyes travel, first, to the breathtaking light show of the edge of Cyrus City, then to the narcotic haze that settled itself like an azure fairy dust over the sleeping land. Her hand disappeared in the larger palm of her brother’s as they walked, his warmth close to her body, his stance protective and safe. To the untrained eye, they would appear to be a couple walking along the waterfront, but any mechanics-enthusiast would recognize the metallic ears that protruded under the falling hair, proof that the sentient being was still, in the end, nothing more than a robot.
The words still repeated like a mantra in her head: Your eyes, your eyes, your eyes, your eyes-
“Raina, it’s high time I head back and get some sleep,” interrupted Cephiel, who promptly squeezed her hand gently, drawing her attention to his face.
The female university student looked out to the bay, pretending not to hear him, out to The Avendine not so far away, a distant shot of fear piercing her heart at the notion of another gang fight breaking out. She stood her ground, finally peering back into the chocolate eyes of her companion, her tone soft and wondering,
“Is it… are you… will you be alright, Ceph?”
The sad smile that followed held all the answers she needed. On any other day, he would have stayed with her until midnight if that was what she wanted to do, but recently he had less and less energy, and she was worried enough for him to let him go wordlessly, watching with tight lips and a still-throbbing heart over the words that she longed to hear from someone- Dami, perhaps, the sweetheart that held her feelings? Though she wanted, more than anything, to see him at that very moment, there was no one else that walked along the route.
In the end, she stayed awkwardly in the middle of the path along the bay, afraid of approaching The Avendine, afraid of heading back to another day of mundane workings. If she could have, she would have stopped time right there, mulling over life alone with a twilight-soaked sky. Instead, she clutched her summer sweater at the shoulders and bit her lip thoughtfully, her sandals tracing circles in the dirt.
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 3:13 am
In these lonely summer days, Han-hui had little to do to keep her mind from wandering toward troubling thoughts. She spun in her chair and stood up abruptly, casting her glance away from her laptop with a heavy sigh. The silence in the house was stifling, and the emotions roiling in her chest felt as if they would suffocate her if she didn't get up and do something.
She had tried to write or draw, but she hadn't been able to produce anything worth keeping. She had listened to music for a little while, but she wasn't in the mood to sing along, and many of the songs just made her nostalgia even worse. Every now and then, in between these fruitless endeavors, she would check her e-mail and find nothing. She knew why... and she also knew better than to keep waiting at this hour. It was both too early and too late.
She stood in the middle of the room for a while, fists clenched at her sides, looking straight at the floor, trying to repress the energy that was bottled up inside her. It wouldn't do to scream, however much she felt like she was going to, but she had to do something soon or she'd burst.
Looking out the window breathlessly from the strain, she watched the sky slowly change shades. There was still a little light out. Acting on impulse, she snatched up her cell phone and her keys and stuffed both into the pockets of her jeans, hurrying out the door of her apartment and down the stairs, starting off at a light jog at first and then breaking into a run.
However hard or however far she ran wouldn't make a difference... what she was running away from would only find her again... and what she wished to run to was out of her reach. Nevertheless, she kept running, if only so she wouldn't fly apart.
Han-hui came upon one end of the land soon enough after crossing a bridge or two, slowing breathlessly to pause by the fence separating her and the darkening waters. If she followed it for another day, she knew she'd find the ocean undulating in its unceasing rhythm and hissing its monotonous song. The part of her that seemed locked in her wildly beating heart jumped at the thought of reaching the sea, but the rest of her already longed to be back in the apartment, soaking in the safety and warmth of a bathtub and incandescent light.
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 8:39 am
A flash of black startled him as he crossed the bridge to head home- it was a young girl, looking barely into her twenties. He would have stayed and talked to her, but he had things to do, though she seemed to be on the edge of a decision. She looked distinctly Asian, her eyes ablaze with hesitancy, as if she couldn’t decide whether to take a step forward or backwards. He couldn’t stop for her, but as he brushed past, he edged her forward with his words, his voice soft and suggesting,
“The water is beautiful at this time of night,” he said, almost whispered as he walked past, and from then on he didn’t even have the time to look back for her reaction. He might have played dirty to get Raina a companion, but in all honesty, the water was beautiful- it’d surely do wonders to heal the heart of this bereaved young adult.
Raina, on the other hand, hadn’t realized a thing. The air was stifling in its silence- even a stray gunshot would have made her jump, at this second. The waves that swept over the docks were all that she could hear, the powerful whoosh of the undine breakers she could never seem to face. She flinched as a bird landed near her, its dull, coppery feathers lined with hints of twilight. She watched with hints of a smile on her face as it preened itself, eyes glimmering with clandestine secrets, almost as if she didn’t exist beside it. She watched it fondly in the spot, too afraid to move for fear of scaring it away.
Birds, human life- everything was so fragile. She let her eyes trail over the creature, but it didn't seem to notice. When was the last time she had been in a moment like this? When was the last time she didn't regret staying out in the cold to watch for something magical. She sighed softly, and the creature cocked its head, almost as if to ask, 'What's wrong?'
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Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 6:37 pm
The voice startled her so that her breath hitched, and she glanced in the direction of the voice, but the source was already walking away. Although she was confused, she let him go on without calling back.
The water would be beautiful, she supposed, even if no one else was there to enjoy it with her. Biting her lip, she decided to run on. Just to be contrary, it seemed, the weariness in her legs had caught up to her while she had rested, and she soon slowed from a jog to a more comfortable lope. She followed the street lamps down until they disappeared, leading to a final stretch of land before it dissolved into the dark water, the murmuring waves glinting in the dull light of the setting sun and rising moon.
The sound of gravel under her feet changed to the hollow thump of wooden boards and then stopped. There was a shadow just in the distance. Was there someone else by the water, after all? She watched in nervous silence.
A smaller shadow swooped near the figure, lighting on a branch. It shook its head in the funny way birds do and fluffed its feathers, indifferent to any other presence. Oh? The other person looked like a young woman. Han-hui smiled and took a hesitant step closer, the sand between the boards whispering under her sneakers.
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Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 10:02 am
What’s wrong? It cocked its head again, poised elegantly, perfectly, as if balanced on the edge of the world. Raina sighed into the air. Many things were wrong, she realized. Her life, her parents, why did she overwork herself in university to get into a medical school when she knew it would not make her any happier? How could she possibly tell her parents that she did not share their dream?
The antiseptic smells, the bereaved cries and hollowed eyes, she wouldn’t be able to stand it. The hospital was nothing more than an incarceration to her, even if her intelligence would add to its value. She would much rather escape from that cage and take flight, go wherever she wanted to go, live the life of a vagrant or at least something uncaged. If it was for protection, well, she didn’t want protection, anymore. Life was meant to be lived wild.
She felt her breath catch as the bird took flight suddenly, the gold glint off its feathers more vibrant when spread out against the wind- vivid, lurid. She felt her lips tighten into a smile. So the bird had finished listening to her troubles. A flash of something in her peripheral vision made her look up.
It was a female, an asian girl who looked about her age. Her steps resounded loudly in the silence and she looked a little hesitant. Raina lifted a hand in tentative greeting.
“Hello,” she called out softly, careful not to startle.
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Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 1:11 pm
A small twinge of sadness came along with renewed nervousness as the little bird darted off, leaving the two girls alone. Han-hui watched the bird as its shadowy form diminished against the horizon, then looked back at the other girl, who seemed to have noticed her this time. She smiled again and gave a little wave of her own hand.
"Hello," she called back, and took another few small steps forward, her other arm involuntarily crossing over her T-shirt to rub her other arm, seemingly against the coolness of the waterside evening. Was this other girl here to watch the waves as well? It stood to reason the man from before had just come from the water. Maybe Han-hui had just come up on the end of a viewing party.
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 8:31 am
Raina offered the usual sweet smile as the girl approached. She looked nervous, a little jumpy. She would do well not to surprise her. Raina turned her green eyes towards the waves, listening intently for the sound of her sandals scratching on the sound, indicating she was close enough for a good conversation. Though she had come out to spend the time with Cephiel and Cephiel alone, once she was alone she had felt the melancholy pressure of the world around her seeping in.
She turned to the girl again- she was glad she was here. Her voice was soft, breathy, indicative of the beauty of the moment spent not too long ago- the bird, the sky, the thoughts,
"And what brings you here?"
She tightened her lips into a smile.
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 3:17 pm
Stepping just close enough to be heard clearly without having to raise her voice, Han-hui stood just far away enough that there wasn't likely to be any breach of personal space. She scuffed her shoe in the sand and looked down at it as an afterthought, wiping off the grains that tried to nestle in the seams.
She returned the smile as she looked up again, though her voice sounded cheerful enough to mask her inner thoughts.
"I'm not sure, really. I figured I'd come out for some air, and I ran into someone who said the water was nice tonight, so I came here." She paused, looking away from the other girl and towards the waves she had supposedly come to see. "It really is beautiful," she offered in a feeble attempt at conversation.
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 3:27 pm
There was a pause as the steps hesitated, and Raina could see that the girl had stopped in a no-man's-land of sorts, a wayward gesture of politeness that she understood, if not embraced. In the lack of eye contact, she shuffled softly and almost wished that she had something warmer on, something that spoke less of summer and more of preparation, less of day and more of night.
Finally catching the other girl's eye, she felt her features relax as she listened. Behind her, the last of the falling day set fire to the sky like avenging demons on parole, their reds and copper flame tongues haloed around the waves.
Cephiel. Always the guardian angel.
Letting out a knowing laugh into the air, she shook her head ruefully and peered up at the other girl curiously.
"The best part of beauty is that which no picture can express," she recited calmly, more to herself than her companion, though she was intended on having it audible. Then, laughing, "I've been trying, though."
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Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:24 pm
She smiled at the vaguely familiar remark, because it seemed the polite thing to do, and partly because the other girl seemed friendly, more open than Han-hui had expected. Without consciously recognizing it, she responded to the silent invitation and took a step closer, and paused a moment before speaking.
"I'm sorry? Trying to... put the beauty in pictures, you mean?" she asked curiously. "Or maybe I misunderstood..."
Sighing quietly, Han-hui turned back to the smoldering sunset, feeling a strange mixture of invigorating energy and relaxing calm. It had been a while since she'd last been able to enjoy beauty like this for itself, hadn't it?
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 1:57 pm
Small hands felt instinctively for a pocket as a source of respite, but nothing utile came to her fingers. Instead, she paused and glanced over in time to catch the almost nostalgic smile, one that pleased her to no end.
Raina was a relatively simple girl in that respect- one small smile that she may-or-may-not have caused was enough to elate her for the day. And though she had suffered immense fatigue from the plague of mundane life earlier, she suddenly felt revitalized and ready for whatever was to come.
Fullying turning to face the other girl, she grinned widely and nodded,
"I'm a writer, and I've been trying to express this," she paused to gesture at the waves, "for as long as I have been living on Midori. Art isn't like preservation at all, so it's hard when something this amazing comes your way. You have to recreate it completely."
She tilted her head at the sigh and shuffled close enough to hold out her hand.
"I'm Raina. Raina Tremblaine. It's very nice to meet you."
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Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:19 pm
Breaking into a smile of interest, Han-hui opened her mouth to remark "Oh, really?" when her companion mentioned being a writer, but held back her own words as the the other girl's continued. Her eyes followed the words and the gesture to the sea briefly, and she nodded at the insightful words which readily raised her mutual sentiments.
When the other girl offered her hand, she turned and took it, clasping it firmly with a smile. "Raina Tremblaine," she echoed to seal the syllables in her memory. "What a lovely name. It's very nice to meet you, too. My name's Han-hui Xu-" she paused for a second, hiding her teeth a little sheepishly "-but you can call me Hanna if you prefer. My name tends to be hard to get the tongue around, and it's even harder to spell."
As she loosed her fingers from around Raina's, Han-hui brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and glanced out at the sea, then the sand, and then looked back at Raina again. "So you write? About the sea?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 11:13 am
At the sudden expression of warmth, Raina felt her heart jump. The girl was warming up to her, it seemed. They would have a real conversation, would they? The very thought made her want to smile even wider. It felt to her that a small flame had sprang to life in her chest, one that warmed her entire body from the center outwards.
Her hand was warmer than her own, and she accepted it serenely. With the echo of her own name, she nodded instinctively, eyes flickering up to the sky. At the introduction, she laughed gently, the sound carrying across the natural heaviness of the Avendine.
"You have a lovely name yourself, Hanna," she bubbled truthfully, beaming at the other lady. "It's wonderful to meet you."
At the question, she paused for a second, following the girl's gaze. It fell on the waves, the continuity, a symbol of all that ever was. The death of waves would come one day, too, but she would not be alive to see it. That was something she was glad for.
"The sea captured me," she breathed, tasting salt on her tongue. "I suppose it's what I've been focusing on these past months. But I write other things, too. Recently I've been doing journalism for newspapers."
She laughed and copied the other's movements, tucking a lock of unruly hair behind her ear.
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Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:51 pm
Her white teeth reappeared in the dimming light as Raina returned the pleasantries, along with a sparkle in her eyes. There was something just so refreshingly sincere about Raina.
"Is that so?" Han-hui responded, tugging at her sleeve. "I haven't been keeping up with newspapers much... I mostly watch for coupons to the grocery store and things like that." Taking on a bit of an embarrassed glow for her ignorance of daily happenings, she added, "I'll try to look out for any articles with your name on them from now on, though. What papers do you write for?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 2:49 pm
Raina turned in time to catch a brilliant smile from the stranger that had been so reserved just before. Now, she seemed happy, and it only added to the bonfire that erupted in her heart. If she had her way, everyone in the world would be happy. She turned back to the waves.
"The Daily Haven, mostly," she announced a little proudly, beaming over her shoulder, sending curly hair flying behind her due to the seabreeze. "But I've written for others, too. It's all freelance, really."
Sensing a sheepish tone in Hanna's voice, Raina laughed lightly, throwing in her own opinion:
"To be honest, I think there are many things more important than newspapers. I know I'd rather read a good novel or learn to love someone I can reach than worry about someone on the other side of the globe. Someday, we'll reach them, but... for now, we've got people here, too, right?"
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