|
Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2005 20:49:30 GMT -5
Is there only one part left to this? And you seem to have a very interesting life, Kiddo
|
|
|
Post by Kiddo on Feb 15, 2005 23:59:19 GMT -5
Angelis Luci - part 11
The tea had finally cooled enough to be drunk, albeit carefully and with a gentle stream of breath first wafted over the surface. Kiddo lifted the cup with both hands, keeping her eyes just on the rim and the low table beyond, topped with a lotus blossom and the tea kettle. Her kimono fell in gentle folds about her, mostly white save for a few scattered fall leaves at the hem. Opposite her sat another woman, also drinking tea. The two did not speak for a short while, not until the cups were half empty. Then, in unison, they sat their drinks down on the table and stared at their hands. “I still find all this very hard to believe,” the fox-phoenix finally said. Her lips trembled on the edge of saying more but she swallowed the words and washed them down with another sip of tea. “It happened,” Tdyans replied, watching the ninja, “You’ll get used to it in time, I’m sure.” “I feel like I just woke from a nightmare,” she whispered, “and the light is burning away the last of the memories… like dew on a spiderweb. Sophie could make a poem out of that. But she was one of the missing ones, wasn’t she? One of the first ones killed. And.” She pushed some hair back behind her fox ear. Earrings glinted for a moment before she ducked her head again. “How am I supposed to return to normal?” “You can’t,” Tdyans replied, “Like it or not, the NTWF is going to be different now. Some of us had a taste of heroism and saw first-hand the noble sacrifices that took place. Blood that’s spilt like that can’t be washed away by sunlight. I think it will be for the better though. Great deeds only come once in a lifetime.” She stood and bowed to Kiddo who stood and bowed in return. “Thank you for the tea. I must be going now.” “I’ll be seeing you Tdyans.” The admin walked away, across the wooden paneled floor and the squares of sunlight streaming in through the rice paper walls. Kiddo watched her until she was out of sight, then turned and knelt to clear off the table. Crystal had told her everything that had happened after she fell unconscious and was killed by the demon. How Lady Jade Phoenix had stood up against the demon lord and had her sword shattered in the defense of Rider. The incredible arrival of JH and Un-eairkagh. She’d laughed at that part, disbelieving. “JH!?” she had exclaimed, “You’ve GOT to be kidding me.” But there was no denying it. The two people she would have listed as last to be the salvation of the NTWF had come bearing a weapon no one had heard of. Angelis Luci. Rumors were rife among the NTWF over this weapon, how it was created, how JH had found it. Some said that it was the hopes of the NTWF embodied in their time of need. Others said it was the result of JH’s imagination. Kiddo personally believed it was a weapon sent to them from somewhere unknown, perhaps another world that had fallen to the demons. Whatever it was, it had destroyed the demons and then served one final purpose before vanishing. Crystal had tried to describe that moment of renewal and fallen short at the first sentence. “Like breathing,” she’d finally said, “Like breathing for the first time after drowning.” And Kiddo, who had tasted phoenix fire before, said she understood, although she really didn’t. There was death, like sleep, and then pure living. The transition was never something that stayed in her mind. Whatever it was like, the wishes and desires of the surviving NTWFers had poured out across the land and filled it with light, rebuilding that which was destroyed, picking up the shattered pieces and putting them back in place. The main NTWF was rebuilt, the ninja HQ covered in frail wooden frame and trees again, and even the pirate ship found itself back at the harbor, tied up to the dock. One by one, the NTWFers got up from where they had fallen, putting fingers at the holes in their clothing and marveling at the smooth skin they found underneath. Kiddo had only made it to a sitting position when she was tackled to the ground by a sobbing striped eyrie. “Don’t leave me,” he said, half-smothering her in feathers, “Don’t ever leave me again.” There was much crying in that new dawn over their world. Spot had silently handed a wakazashi and scarf back to Mindela, who stopped and pressed it back into the leopard’s paws. Crystal and Ken had knocked each other into a heap upon finding the other and lay there until JH started digging for his camera. And Kiddo only marveled at how quickly things were returning to normal. There was something in her that wasn’t quite ready for that yet. Around noon of the next day Patjade had made a speech about the heroism of the NTWF and how everyone that called this world their home had made incredible sacrifices to defend it. She said that the true power did not lie in the Angelis Luci, but in the hearts of those that died to protect that which they loved. Three days later Kiddo finally regained enough sense to ask what had happened to the spear. JH told her that it had vanished, just fading out of his hand as if it were becoming the sunlight itself. “A weapon of circumstance,” he’d said with a shrug, “Maybe we’ll see it again if it’s ever needed.” And everyone’s eyes turned to him, like he’d just said an incredibly inappropriate joke. For all the power behind it no one wanted to see the Angelis Luci just yet. Lost in her thoughts, Kiddo didn’t even hear the other ninja enter. That was not entirely surprising as ninjas can be very stealthy. But the fox-phoenix gave a visible start when she heard someone speak her name. “Ah, I’m sorry,” she said and turned to see Sammy on one knee before her. “Kiddo-sama, I have news to report. Rider’s ship has been sighted just moments ago, not far from the HQ. Wanderer suspects they are planning an attack on the HQ itself.” The head ninja looked away for a moment, over to the door and the blue sky beyond. So much death and so many sacrifices. After the battle she’d found one of the arrows that had crippled her wing. It hung on the wall in her room. “Kiddo-sama?” Perhaps this was the time to let the nightmare go. She took a deep breath and stilled her heart. Yes. The Angelis Luci’s last task would be accomplished here – everything would be restored. “Bring me my spear,” she ordered, “I want a team of at least ten ninjas assembled in the courtyard in five minutes, armed and ready to go.” “Hai, Kiddo-sama.” And Sammy ran to carry the head ninja’s orders. The fox-phoenix grinned, her ears going back and her lips twisting in a feral smile. This would be exciting. Not far from the HQ, with salt wind stirring her hair, Rider slouched before the wheel of the ship and stared at the small strip of island on the horizon. Cautiously, a fellow pirate approached the captain. “You think they’ll come?” Rider didn’t answer for a moment, just reached one hand down to her belt. A knife rested in her sash, only the circle pommel showing from beneath the folds of cloth. She drew it by this and twirled it around her finger, forming a silver blur that caught and sent the sunlight dancing across the deck. “Aye,” she replied, “They’ll come. But while we’re waiting FETCH ME SOME GROG!”
THE END
|
|
|
Post by The Wanderer on Feb 16, 2005 12:44:55 GMT -5
*applauds*
Bravo! Bravo!
Cool story. Now it's my turn to shout all the funny words.
*goes to writing board*
|
|
|
Post by Stal on Feb 16, 2005 13:22:03 GMT -5
Yes, it seems the new trend is NTWF stories. >.>
I wish I could come up with plots from my dreams. There was that 24-ish dream I had the other night (which was pure awesomeness, by the way...I described a bit of it in my LJ) but that's not story-worthy.
Anyway, awesome story Kiddo. I loved the ending...open and yet nice closure. It kind of reminds me of the ending of PotC in a way "Drink up me matey's, yo ho ho." (cue excellent music and credit roll)
|
|
|
Post by Rider on Feb 16, 2005 15:41:39 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]*insert random, late, panicked gibberish here* I missed it all? I procrastinate for a bit and I miss it all?
*goes back to page one to start reading*
*trips and falls over cape on the way out*[/glow]
|
|
|
Post by Rider on Feb 16, 2005 16:00:16 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Man, two stories going on at once.
*is also a Kiddo/Dylan shipper*
*will try not to be so danged late int eh future*
*will try not to typo*
*LOVES THE STORY LIKE HECK!* <3 <3 <3[/glow]
|
|
|
Post by Zylaa on Feb 16, 2005 19:03:51 GMT -5
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D YAAAAY for the story.
And everyone came back to life! Happiness and joy. Speaking of dreams, I had a dream last night that Kiddo was in my living room rolling a ping-pong ball around the floor looking for Angelis Luci. Honest.
|
|
|
Post by Elcie on Feb 18, 2005 9:51:51 GMT -5
Wow! Spiffy story, Kiddo. ;D There are very few of my dreams that could be written into stories... and even those are stretching it... o-o;
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2005 19:46:12 GMT -5
Huzzah! *Claps* Awesome story. Loved the ending^^
|
|
|
Post by Kat on Feb 24, 2005 22:41:52 GMT -5
...Wow. I read the whole thing without stopping. I just stumbled upon this thread and began to read.
The plot. The descriptions. The twists. My stories are nothing compared to your great manuscripts, Kiddo.
It would have been a bigger twist if JH still had his old rival TO SAVE. XP
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2005 20:59:17 GMT -5
Amazing story, Kiddo! ;D I wish I could write as good as that... But still, amazing!
|
|