Lucci bent down to allow her to throw her arms around his neck.
The Migration had begun. Winged people were milling around everywhere, making it impossible to approach the Dragons out in the fields. But Lucci kept trying to move forward, for once glad of his unusual height that allowed him to see above all the white feathers and hair.
Suzume would be out there somewhere. With the rest of those who were leaving the Island. He had spent the better part of the day shying away from the packing and the sad goodbyes… knowing that he, too, would have to part with one dear to him. His best friend.
Deep down, there was fear. Fear of being alone. And there was sorrow. For the Islands would not be the same without Suzume… without the one friendly face and cheerful encouragement. But he knew that he couldn’t let the girl see these things… she would be upset enough without knowing his own hurt.
But now that the time to say goodbye was here, Lucci found that it was nearly impossible for him to find the girl in the swelling crowd.
“Luuuuuci!!” a small, shrill voice cried, catching his attention. The boy paused, just on the edge of the motion, part of him wishing his name wasn’t called because now a number of people had stopped to peer at him and grimace. The other part of him was instantly cheerful as he finally caught the sight of Suzume running toward him. One look at the tear-streaked expression on her face was all it took to dash away his smile.
The girl pushed through the crowd, sprinting straight for him, arms and wings wide spread. She had been crying. And her face still reflected a sense of loss and sadness.
Upon reaching him she lifted both arms up, jumping in place in attempt to reach up and choke-hug him, like she always did… only, just as of late, he had become a bit too tall for her to reach. So Lucci bent down to allow her to throw her arms around his neck.
Silver and black hair spun together as they came together – his kneel and her hug of grief. Then the girl began to sob into his shoulder as he patted at her head in confusion.
“Suzume…” Her name was the only thing he could think to say. Afterall, Suzume rarely cried over anything. She was really a very tough girl.
She didn’t answer for a while, continuing to cry, leaving a bit wet spot on the front of his shoulder. People watched from a scowling distance, as if almost accusing Lucci of doing something to make the poor little girl cry so much.
Finally, Suzume pulled away from him, her dark eyes rung around in red. After a number of hiccups and snivels, she managed to make a few words come out. “You know that they’re… making me leave?”
He thought about it for a moment, then nodded slowly. “It’s the Migration…”
“I don’t want to leave!” she gave a little half-wail.
Lucci puzzled about it a bit more, fluttering of thoughts drifting through his mind. “But, you’re go the Dragon realms? It’s supposed to be a really nice place? I’ve heard a lot about it!”
“Don’t you understand!” Suzume gave his shoulder a little pound with one fist.
“Understand what?” he blinked at her, dumbfounded.
“They’re making me leave! And you’re going to stay! That means I won’t get to see you anymore, Lucci!” And just like that, she burst back into tears.
“What do you mean, not see me anymore?” he tilted his head and tried to wipe her tears on his sleeve. It made him feel awful to see her cry so much, but he knew if he let her see his sadness, that he would probably cry, too. And he didn’t want that to happen. “Of course you will. I’ll be coming to Wyndor once the battle here is done.”
“What if something happens to you during the battle! What if you die?” her two little hands clung at the front of his robe.
“I’m pretty sure I won’t die?”
“How do you know?” she sniveled.
“Because Lord Zemi is going to be with me. He’s going to show me how to fight…?”
“But I don’t want you to go and fight, Lucci! Bad things happen when people fight! And you have to face the big flying monsters, don’t you?” her voice rose an octave for each thing she listed.
“Yeah. But I’m not scared,” Lucci told her with a little smile. “I want to fight because if I do, that means I can help make the Islands a safe place for when you are going to come back?”
“But I thought you just said that you were coming to Wyndor?” He scratched at the lobe of his ear and frowned. “Well, I think it depends on who wins the fight.”
“What do you mean?” Suzume blinked at him, trying to figure out what he was telling her through the cloud of emotion that stung her mind.
“Well, if we win the fight, then that will make it safe for you to come back here. And that’s what I really want to happen,” Lucci informed her with a nod. “But if we lose the fight, I think we’ll have to come to stay in Wyndor, too.”
“Oh…?”
“So either way, that means I’ll still get to see you again, Suzume?”
The girl peered down at her feet, blinking back the tears. It was obvious that she was still upset about something. After a moment, she finally said, “Who will be my friend when you’re not there with me, Lucci?”
“What do you mean?” he puzzled aloud.
“Lucci! I’m going to leave! And then I won’t be with you anymore!” she spread her hands to him, looking frustrated.
Lucci shook his head again. Gently, he reached down and plucked a small lilac flower from the grass. A flow of silent silver mist rose around him, tracing the lines of the flower, leaving a pale sparkle upon the pedals. Then he reached up and folded the stem of the flower into her hair.
Suzume’s frustration faltered as she gave him a questioning look.
“Keep this flower with you,” Lucci told her, tilting her chin back to peer into his face. “It is bound to my magic. As long as you have it, I will be with you. And as long as it is alive, you will know I am still alive. As long as I am alive, I promise I will see you again.”
She sucked in a deep, ragged breath. Then she threw her arms around his neck once again. “Okay..?” Lucci stood up and peered down at her.
“Okay…” the reply was choked with tears. But it came.
The tiny lilac flower seemed to pulse with a silver-tinged life of its own, woven there among the strands of dark flowing hair. Though Suzume’s face was sad, her normal determination seemed to be fighting to find its place there upon her expression.
A call rang across the hillsides. Some of the Dragons began to rise from their spots, carrying the large containers of belongings upon their backs. They shook out their massive wings, slung about their tails and gave deep bellowing sounds to each other.
The winged people were beginning to say their tearful goodbyes. Hugs and words exchanged as far as the eye could see over the hillsides. The morning sun had begun to break free from the clouds that hovered over the mainland below, bathing the Island in a new-day’s sunlight.
It was time for the Migration to begin.
Suzume reached out, taking Lucci’s hand in her own, giving it a tiny squeeze. Then she let it go, walking out to join the shadows of the other winged people that spread over the grass. She gave one last look from over her shoulder as she put her little sack on the Dragons.
Lucci watched the huge Dragons spreading their wings. One by one, the great beasts alighted from the Island, taking to the skies as if they bore no burdens at all. Gusts from their wings caused the leaves of the tree to scatter, raining across the crowds that spoke their mournful farewells to the city of Ceiswyr.
In small flocks they began to take flight, held together like tiny fists of people. Some held hands as they lifted off, gathering strength from each other…. or guiding the youngest ones from going astray through the misty morning clouds.
Lucci didn’t know how far away Wyndor was… except that he heard talk that it was a place that lay beyond the borders of the Inner Realms. He didn’t know how long it would take for the people of Ceiswyr to fly there. But he knew that it was not going to be an easy pilgrimage for them to make.
The Dragons served as guides, as well. The great beasts winged about, each of them gathering up a number of Cyngan under their golden, watchful eyes. The sky began to fill with shimmers of fluttering white, the wings of the flocks catching and reflecting the morning sunlight like day-stars. The rainbowed hues of the Dragons spun in and out of the diamond dapples, leaving an after impression of brilliant color and light.
But the sky was hung with the sense of deep sadness. The sorrow of those journeying far away from their home, not knowing if they were ever to return to it again.
Their graceful flight was a lonely sort of beauty, lacing over the clouds, touching their undersides with mourning. Very slowly, they began to fade off over the horizon.
Lucci’s silver eyes watch them vanish, searching for the one spot of darkness among the light. Something of him was with them… and felt their flight — felt the cool winds on his face, the lightness of their limbs… as if he were among them. Despite the fact he had no wings of his own.
And when the last shimmer of wings and color faded, the sky became a lonely place.
That must have been a sight to see– everyone taking off from the Islands. I assumed they’d all ride the Dragons somehow, but it seems I forgot the Cyngan have their own wingpower.
At the same time, they seem so fragile now. People flying are small and frail-looking… A whole lot of them taking off, even accompanied by Dragons, is like a flock of sparrows being startled. Which is, I suppose, what they are…
Oh, this war will be tragic. I can tell.
Somehow, war usually is.
Especially since war might be exactly what Zerom wants. After all, few things involve as much chaos as warfare.
Hit the nail on the head with that one. There’s a lot going on under the surface that Zemi’s not letting people know on top of it.
Tragic… well… I think one of my future goals is going to be trying to figure out how to write Book 5 without it becoming too depressing… ^^;
Always depressing when you have to write about how the universe got messed up before the heroes started fixing things, yes? Though the situation here with the entire Dreigiau/Shimmer/Darkstar/Wayrift cycle is… slightly more complex than that simple sentence indicates.
Yeah… it gets messed up and patched up and messed up and patched up and whoops — there goes another planet! And patch it up. And great evil comes and let’s all save the world!
And then Kip spits in the soup.
Ahem.
Yes. Quite a cosmic cycle. The scary thing is… there’s ponderings of story lines even in between THOSE.
*scuffles away*
Well, hey… it’s a good sign?
Heh… not when you have as many stories going at once as I do!
No, as in, your universe has enough loose ends and such in it that it’s still a living, interesting place. At least, one would assume that’s why you can have story ideas hanging off of it everywhere.
That rings true… thanks Al. I needed to hear something like that tonight.
*Bows* One is always happy to help.
The Moody Blues avatar should bring you a smile. ^_^
I played their music for my friend’s dad when he drove us back south on Sunday, and we talked FOREVER about old music… boring the other kids to tears, but it made him happy to hear that the MBs didn’t die with his generation.
I’ve been listening to them a lot lately again. I picked up one of their new concert DVDs a while back and watched a bit of it the other night. Reminded me of my more careless highschool years (gosh.. makes me sound old). I’ve been trying to find a new avatar for a long time… so this came to mind. I’m glad someone recognized it! I had a feeling you might.
I’m also happy that the MBs didn’t die with that generation — there’s still a lot of younger fans that grew up with the music thanks to their parents. And I try to spread the luv around when I get the feeling that someone might appreciate their kind of music.
Of course I recognize the logo! It’s right on the cover of the Red Rocks CD. ^_^ Man, Wren in high school… I’m trying to imagine that.
I like their music. Some songs have to grow on me. The later group of songs you sent me seem like they’re more recent, more polished, and I liked them right off the bat, whereas the others– the big hits, I guess– took me a little while longer. But my roommate said she wouldn’t mind hearing them again, so there’s another potential convert. And if the KoH soundtrack is ever more than a playlist on my computer, MB-luv would be spread then, too.
“And then Kip spits in the soup.”
I nearly made (not-so-hot) hot chocolate come out my nose. XD I couldn’t stop laughing for about ten minutes flat. Yes, very cosmic…
Was rereading this and decided to look at the comments this time through. (Is also a MB fan)
“After all, few things involve as much chaos as warfare.”
I’m going to leave a very late and surprisingly non-grammar related comment.
War is, for the most part, not the fighting. War is logistics, strategies, ranks, order. War is probably less chaotic than everyday life.
Fighting, sure – chaos on a small scale, (hopefully) order on a large scale.
Of course, Chaos is an urge to destroy in Dreigiau, so that fits rather well.
“War is, for the most part, not the fighting. War is logistics, strategies, ranks, order. War is probably less chaotic than everyday life.”
Maybe if you’re thinking modern day warfare, I’m sure you’re right. And I agree, there’s a lot of strategies, logistics, tactics, etc, even in the Dreigiau culture. But as a whole, there are no military ranks among the Nefolian peoples — they haven’t quite gotten around to organizing their fighting forces. Heck… these were a people who have just learned about settling in cities rather than living nomadic lives. Their civilizations aren’t anywhere as advanced as ours.
So I’m sure there’s far more chaos and fighting in their warfare than can be said for ours.
First off. I love the Moody Blues. I’ve apparently seen them in concert, but was too small to remember. Then again, I also love music far older then the Moody Blues as well. It takes a lot for me to grudgingly admit that some newer music isn’t terrible…
Second, war. Ah yes, some nations (read, Romans) had/have war down to a science. For others it is an “art”. Art will always be more chaotic than science, though most of the time that isn’t a bad thing. Ironically, the more scientific we make war, the more likely we are to kill everyone off (see the Gatling Gun and nukes).
I quite think that war is Zerom’s thing to a T. Zerom is, ironically, quite scientifically minded himself (not to insult scientists!). This makes him devious and relentless. Fighting something truly chaotic and random means that there is a good chance they will make some kind of foolish mistake. In war, the cooler more calculating heads often prevail. Hannibal almost beat the early Roman Republic into the dust because the Romans lost their cool and became impetuous. Zerom is far more calm and methodical than Zemi is. In a sense, their personalities stand opposite to their allegiances. Just thought it ironic.
Anyway, proofing:
““But I thought you just said that you were coming to Wyndor?” (I think this is Suzume) He scratched at the lobe of his ear and frowned. “Well, I think it depends on who wins the fight.” (And I think this is Lucci, shouldn’t they be separate paragraphs?)”
“Their graceful flight was a lonely sort of beauty, lacing over the clouds, touching their (you mean the people touching the cloud’s undersides I think, but it isn’t clear due to “their” appearing with different meanings) undersides with mourning. Very slowly, they began to fade off over the horizon.”
“Lucci’s silver eyes watch(ed, past tense?) them vanish, searching for the one spot of darkness among the light. Something of him was…”
Done.