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 Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:01 pm
 Mahsa wound her way slowly through the streets of Rekkadar, the great ruin of a city. Stepping methodically over pieces of rubble and sometimes turning them over to get a closer look, Mahsa wandered. Some part of her wondered if she would every find her way out again, but she had instincts. And, if need be, she could follow the landmarks back the way she had come - there were some ruins that were still tall enough to see, no matter where one was in the city. Her search for her sister had led her here, to the place that she had always dreaded. The city of the poison mists, only recently lifted. While it might not have been the best of places for the healer, it required her time; Rekkadar had long been on her to-search list.
Sighing, she looked up from the block of stone she had just leapt over. It seemed that she was at a crossroads, a four-way intersection of streets. She stared for a while, wondering if anyone would come across her in this silent city that still seemed to emanate (at least to Mahsa) the chill of death.
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Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 12:11 am
Li'amiyo and Sonal wandered through the ruins on their daily stroll. The two went everywhere together - they were practically attached at the hip - from afar they seemed mutually inseparable. In reality, however, it was simply Lia's insistence that Sonal be in her constant company and the feeling was not mutual at all. She refused to go anywhere without him, citing her reason as Sonal was her protection. They both knew this was very far from the truth.
Since the Harbinger, Rekkadar had become one of the safest havens in Sildat. Lia’s real motive lay in her not so secret love of Sonal. But it wasn’t a real love she felt; Lia was probably not capable of such a complex and selfless emotion. Lia loved Sonal because he was with her, and not her sister. She had won him. Or so she believed.
"Keep up Sonal, please." Lia called back to her loyal follower. Sonal saw the situation quite differently. He liked Lia very much, she was like his sister, but he did not love her in the way she seemed to think he did. He held on to her for his own reasons. She was, after all, an almost exact image of her sister. And that was all he had left. So he played along in Lia’s little fantasy. He knew Lia well; they had grown up together, so he knew it was never going to amount to anything too serious. Lia led the way. Each day she liked to explore a little more of Rekkdar, but she never ventured too far from her usual path. They were almost at the all too familiar four-way intersection, always four paths, always the same, but today there was something very unexpected but familiar all the same waiting for them.
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Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 12:14 am
A voice jolted Mahsa from her study of her surroundings. She had been looking up, toward the sky, craning her neck to see if she could spot a tall building that was not the one that the townsfolk - wherever they were - used to make signal fires. It was hard going: the walls of the ruined house-like structures around her made it difficult to see anything beyond themselves.
But the voice - oh, that voice. She had run it through her head thousands of times, like a smooth ribbon through her fingers. She had run it through her head so many times that, like a cutting board, she had nearly worn it away, but then it had come back in a dream, clear as the pools of the Avre pride. High and beautiful and cutting like some of the strange metals she had come across in this city. There was no mistaking it, despite the muffling caused by the distance between them
Lia was in Rekkadar, and she was not alone. She had Sonal with her.
And they were heading this way.
Scanning each of the four roads from where she stood in the middle of the crossroads, Mahsa turned on the spot. Wherever they came from - whatever their reaction - she would be ready for them.
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Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 12:19 am
Saying the Lia was caught up in her own little world was an understatement, to Lia, she was the whole world. She was completely oblivious to mostly everything. If it had been anyone else standing in her path she probably would have ignored them. But this shimmering blue coat, almost a replica of her own golden one, could not be ignored and was immediately recognised.
She was stunned. She stopped dead. She forgot how to make words come out of her mouth. What she was seeing couldn’t possibly be real. This was the stuff of dreams, or in Lia’s case, nightmares. This couldn’t be happening. Her long lost sister was not standing in front of her. Denial, denial, denial. The first stage of making something Lia didn’t like go away, deny it.
But even she couldn’t deny what she was seeing with her own two eyes. There was a unfamiliar feeling in her chest, it was a pang of longing, a space inside of her that had been empty for so long was filling as her sister returned to her. The pair had been so close as youngsters, this feeling of completeness was inevitable. Lia quickly quieted her emotions. Her mind turned to Sonal. She could not forget how she truly felt about her sister.
Sonal stopped as Lia did, so used to following her around and copying her every movement. His body just moved as hers did to such an automatic rhythm these days. It allowed his mind to shut off, he didn’t have to think and if he didn’t have to think he didn’t have to remember. At first he thought nothing of the unusual departure from their routine, until he looked up and he suddenly came back to life. It was like the darkness was being lifted from his lonely mind just as the fog had been lifted from Rekkadar. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His eyes widened ever so slightly before he remembered himself. As excited and overwhelmed as he was to see Mahsa, he couldn’t hurt Lia. He knew that if he acted on his impulse to rush over to her and embrace her, Lia would be forever crushed. He needed to let this play out on Lia’s terms.
She finally ended her comatose stance and stepped forward.
“Mahsa? What? Is it really you nemi?”
The Fiyuri word for ‘sister’ slipped out of her mouth accidentally, she couldn’t stop it once the sound escaped her lips. She would have to be more careful to ensure Mahsa understood the terms they stood on after all this time – not that she truly understood what those terms now were. One thing was for sure, Sonal was hers and if Mahsa thought she could just come back anytime and have him like that, she was so very, very wrong.
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Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 12:22 am
"It is me, Lia," Mahsa replied automatically, registering Sonal's silence with some kind of sharp, simmering pain before it was gone again. She had watched them draw nearer to her over the seconds before they saw her, and then seen the shock distort her sister's lovely features. Nemi. A word that she had not spoken in a long time, not to anyone. The word rolled over and over in her mind, bubbling and searing her with the memories of the sibling who had stolen away her best friend. Well, perhaps not forcibly - Sonal had gone willingly, after all.
Mahsa silently, grudgingly wondered if Lia thought she was a mirage. It would certainly be a first thought, she was sure. And the way Sonal mirrored Lia's every move nearly made her sick. She had seen it - something about the way he moved gave her shivers as she watched them, the tufts of mane along her spine feeling as though static was coursing through them. It was not, of course, but such was the force of her goosebumps.
"I have been searching for you for quite some time, Lia," she said, her tone coming out a bit more forbidding than she had wanted. Perhaps it would do the golden lioness some good, to be talked down to for once. Mahsa knew, though, that such was a dream of smoke and mirrors; she had learned that while Lia could fake being humbled, she would never feel what being humble truly meant.
Perhaps she has changed, whispered a part of her mind, a very, very small part. Perhaps she is good. Unconvinced, Mahsa stood her ground. Better to be prepared than weak against the onslaught of her sister's vanity.
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Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 12:30 am
Lia wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. Letting Mahsa hear her speak affectionately of her would be taken a sign of weakness. Lia needed to remain strong, she needed to stay in control of this situation. At least she still had the upperhand. In a way this was her territory and Mahsa was entering the unknown. Lia just needed a way to utilize this advantage.
Sonal stayed stoic and silent by her side.
Good, she thought. He truly is mine now. She smirked.
The way Mahsa spoke, it was as if she was chastising her. How dare she? What right did she have to insult her in such a way, in her own land? This sister needs to come down from her moral high ground.
“Well you can’t have been trying that hard, can you?” The words were layered with a little more contempt than she would have liked. She reasoned it was that nagging, empty space again. She needed to get this lonely feeling under control. She didn’t miss her sister, she didn’t want her here. Mahsa was a threat.
“Besides, don’t look too happy to see me ne-?” Again! At least she caught her tongue this time. She prayed Mahsa didn’t notice and quickly moved on to hide her mishap. “Sonal and I have been together here for a long time and we’ve been just fine without you.”
There that would do it. That would stick the knife in and twist it just a little.
Sonal flinched ever so slightly, but if Lia detected it she didn’t react. He didn’t understand how Lia could be so cruel. Maybe she didn’t even realize what she was saying and what it would mean to Mahsa? No, he thought. How could she not know? But then again Mahsa had never reciprocated his feelings for her, so maybe neither of them knew? He stayed still and silent. This was already too complicated and there was no need for his own emotions to further muddle the situation.
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Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 12:40 am
"I have been crisscrossing the land from north to south in my search for you, Lia," Mahsa said. Her tone was matter-of-fact - not appealing her sister's contempt, not even acknowledging it. Mahsa would not give her the satisfaction of begging between the lines for her attention; those days were in the past. She didn't need it to survive anymore. She was good enough for herself, now. "And I am quite glad to see you," she added, though her tone implied otherwise. "It means that I can stop this exhausting search. We are needed at home."
Though she caught the fractured piece of her sister's word - nemi, again reminding her of the bond they'd once shared - Mahsa was busy watching Sonal as Lia talked about him. Where had the warm friend gone, the one that she had once known? They had been cubs together. Should that not warrant at least a word?
She watched him flinch and was baffled. Perhaps not a spoken protest, but that was something. Did it mean that he didn't want Mahsa to know what Lia was implying? That they were together? Had he wanted to tell her himself? Did he want her to know at all? The knife did indeed twist a little, and a grimace appeared on her face for a fraction of a second before it was gone. Did she truly deserve this? No explanation, no kind words of greeting, even if they were false?
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Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 12:45 am
Lia smiled as she saw her comment have the intended effect. She smirked. Lia knew her sister; this would only affect her slightly. She had put up with Lia all her life and knew how to deal with her. Lia would simply have to keep chipping away at her. Oh sisters could be cruel.
Glad to see her? Rubbish. Absolute rubbish. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“At home?”
How dare she speak of home as if it were still real, as if it still meant the same thing it did all those years ago? That time in the past, and there it would stay if Lia had anything to do about it. Rekkadar was her home now, the Harbinger had blessed them with this place and she was grateful. She was not about to leave again.
“This is our home, Mahsa.” She stressed the our. “We will not be leaving."
Sonal could not keep quiet any longer. Home was certainly a more neutral topic.
“What has happened?” His tone was neutral. He wanted to show concern, but he knew this would upset Lia. He needed to respond as he did not want to upset Masha either.
Lia snapped her head to her companion. What was he doing? How dare he entertain Mahsa’s little whimsical notion of the past. Sonal needed to remember his place and remember what time they were living in. This was the time of the Harbinger, a new beginning, her new beginning with him. Maybe he was just patronizing her? Yes that had to be it. Lia let it slide and turned her head back to Mahsa.
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