When he opened his front door he was surprised to find Lex's younger sister Katia pacing inside. He
frowned and made his way to the kitchen, where Chambri stood next to Levi. The boy was perched on the
counter, his eyes were red and raw. Chambri lifted a cold cloth off the angry cut on Levi's knee and began to
bandage it up. Ion turned to Katia, who had followed him in like a shadow.
"Your brother's a poor teacher."
"Yep!" She agreed, grinning from ear to ear. Katia looked a perfect mimiature of Lex: Straight
blonde hair, big green eyes and even bigger smile.
"Shut up, you two!" Lex shouted from the corner. Katia covered her giggle with a tiny hand and
scurried back into the hall. "There was a bump in the sidewalk! A bump! Not my fault! It's not..." At the
group silence Lex turned to Chambri. "It's my fault, isn't it?"
"Yes!" Levi answered for her. They all laughed as Lex and Levi wore matching pouts.
When Lex and Katia left, Chambri offered to take Levi home. Ion followed silently. Quinn already had Levi's
dinner ready. She fussed over his scraped knee perfectly and messed his curly blond hair. He sulked,
muttering about her doing embarrasing things in front of Ion.
On the way home the road had changed. The edges of the concrete had become cracked and
rocky. The trees had grown up over the ditch, making their way onto the road. Chambri frowned but gave
no vocal indication that she noticed. After all, what could they do about it? It had nothing to do with them.
Archer Oracle looked much the way he did when he found Ion. A few more lines of laughter and
exhaustion decorated his face. Age had given his hair natural highlights but his eyes remained bright as ever as
he slurped strong coffee across the table from Ion. Ingred prefered to sip Chambri's rose, glancing up at her
son from under a curtain of dark red hair. Neither of them had seen the forest consume the road so quickly
either.
Suddenly, with a speed no one could have imagined, Archer grabbed Ions arm and peeled his
fingers away from his palm. Two full-sized adult leaves were now etched in black ink across Ions hand.
"Did you change it?"
"It changed without my help... Itches like crazy."
"So I see." Archer frowned at the shallow scratches on the younger mans palm, obviously dug by his
own, short fingernails. "Stop scratching... It'll get infected." Ion shifted his weight and pulled away from his
father.
"Like Chambri would let me get an infection." he gave a shallow, humorless laugh.
"Ion... that place I took you... five years ago... go back there... soon. Maybe you'll find something
the team and I missed. And take this..." From inside the knife drawer Archer pulled out a secret \
compartment. The drawer had a false bottom. Beneith it was a small, brown paper package. Ion frowned
but took it from his fathers hand.
"What is it?"
"After you went to the hospital...that night, the squad and I returned to where I found you. 23
bodies of children were found in that hollow trunk. All were barely pre-pubescent. All of them had been
there for different amounts of time... generations, some of them. None of the bodies were ever I.D.'d. Under
the last one we found this. I suppose it belongs to you as much as anyone else."
Ion slowly unwrapped the crackling paper to find an old coin. It was made from stone, rather than
metal and bore a carving in the exact image of the leafy thorns that had been growing under Ions skin.
Archer smiled with an aching sadness at his only son.
"Don't know Where that will lead you, but no matter who you meet: You're my son, and this is
your home."
The walk back to the appartment was silent. The roads had continued to return to nature since
they had passed them earlier. After the Archers door closed behind them Chambri muttered "That was
ominous." and neither sibling said anything else. What else was there to say, really?
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Ion part 2
"Ion... Ion!" Ion was awakened unceremoniously by an enormous high-speed impact to his chest
and a tangle of scrawny arms and legs.
"Hello, Levi." Ion muttered blearily. "What you let him in for Chambri?"
"It's always a good show." Countered Ions sister, her dark eyes laughing. "Quinn needed to run
errands today so I get to play Nanny with Levi."
Ion hefted the boy into the air with one arm and glared at Chambri, who hid behind her curtain of dark red hair. In three strides he was across the room dumping the Levi in her arms. "I told you of you feed those things they keep coming back." His sister laughed and shook her head.
"Iiiooooooooooooonnnnn" It was two hours later in his history of art class. As usual Mai Sado leaned close to Ion and whined in his ear.
"Why are you here? It has nothing to do with fashion. Go take your own classes."
"But..." Mai was cut offby a low grunt from Ion.
"Still waiting for someone to carry your weight for you? Invest some interest in your future. The last thing our society needs is another parasite leaching off everyone else's hard work. Stop fishing for an M.R.S. degree and take care of yourself." Mai looked struck, but slid out of the class. Aparently headed to some sort of colors and fabrics class. Just when Ion thought he could focus on his work her seat was filled... by Lex.
"Man! Did you have yo lay it on her so hard?"
"I have no interest in lazy people."
"Whatever you say, man. If I were you I'd get interested. Next time she might scratch your eyes out! Right, Thorn?"
Ion started. Thorn Ravenwood had taken the seat on his opposite side without him noticing... sneaky.
"No."
Thorn was creepy. For some reason Ion felt as though the older man was always watching him. despite this Ion tried to focus on the prof while Lex babbled next to him about teaching Levi how to skateboard that night. The two of them seperated when Ion made for the green houses. Plant care had nothing to do with his animation major, but it was a fair elective and the gardens calmed him. Today was roses. He pruned aggressively, gaining more than a few raised eyebrows but he knew his plant
would be perfect in the end. They always were. One of the thorny branches wound its way around him from behind. In his mind there was a brief flash of darkness, of his fathers frightened eyes. The smell of death replaced the smell of roses.
He frowned and shook his head, trying not to think of that night eleven years ago. Trying not to think of who he may have been before that. It had nothing to do with who he was now. His left index finger traced the tatoo on his right wrist, pausing at his palm. His pulse hitched as he inspected it. The vine tatoo on his arm now ended in a small bud that had never been there before.
It suddenly itched like crazy. The vines and blossoms of the roses felt like they were closing in on him. His mind focused on a bright sunny garden. The people around him were laughing and their faced seemed to emit a dull glow. Their hair was wild and uncombed. Ion shook his head harder this time. He gathered his bag and rose clippings for Chambri, before bolting out the door. He scratched furiously at his palm as the bud on his skin slowly spread to a single tiny leaf.
and a tangle of scrawny arms and legs.
"Hello, Levi." Ion muttered blearily. "What you let him in for Chambri?"
"It's always a good show." Countered Ions sister, her dark eyes laughing. "Quinn needed to run
errands today so I get to play Nanny with Levi."
Ion hefted the boy into the air with one arm and glared at Chambri, who hid behind her curtain of dark red hair. In three strides he was across the room dumping the Levi in her arms. "I told you of you feed those things they keep coming back." His sister laughed and shook her head.
"Iiiooooooooooooonnnnn" It was two hours later in his history of art class. As usual Mai Sado leaned close to Ion and whined in his ear.
"Why are you here? It has nothing to do with fashion. Go take your own classes."
"But..." Mai was cut offby a low grunt from Ion.
"Still waiting for someone to carry your weight for you? Invest some interest in your future. The last thing our society needs is another parasite leaching off everyone else's hard work. Stop fishing for an M.R.S. degree and take care of yourself." Mai looked struck, but slid out of the class. Aparently headed to some sort of colors and fabrics class. Just when Ion thought he could focus on his work her seat was filled... by Lex.
"Man! Did you have yo lay it on her so hard?"
"I have no interest in lazy people."
"Whatever you say, man. If I were you I'd get interested. Next time she might scratch your eyes out! Right, Thorn?"
Ion started. Thorn Ravenwood had taken the seat on his opposite side without him noticing... sneaky.
"No."
Thorn was creepy. For some reason Ion felt as though the older man was always watching him. despite this Ion tried to focus on the prof while Lex babbled next to him about teaching Levi how to skateboard that night. The two of them seperated when Ion made for the green houses. Plant care had nothing to do with his animation major, but it was a fair elective and the gardens calmed him. Today was roses. He pruned aggressively, gaining more than a few raised eyebrows but he knew his plant
would be perfect in the end. They always were. One of the thorny branches wound its way around him from behind. In his mind there was a brief flash of darkness, of his fathers frightened eyes. The smell of death replaced the smell of roses.
He frowned and shook his head, trying not to think of that night eleven years ago. Trying not to think of who he may have been before that. It had nothing to do with who he was now. His left index finger traced the tatoo on his right wrist, pausing at his palm. His pulse hitched as he inspected it. The vine tatoo on his arm now ended in a small bud that had never been there before.
It suddenly itched like crazy. The vines and blossoms of the roses felt like they were closing in on him. His mind focused on a bright sunny garden. The people around him were laughing and their faced seemed to emit a dull glow. Their hair was wild and uncombed. Ion shook his head harder this time. He gathered his bag and rose clippings for Chambri, before bolting out the door. He scratched furiously at his palm as the bud on his skin slowly spread to a single tiny leaf.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Ion pt 1
Ion Pt. 1
Strange sounds had been seeping from the woods on outside of town for years. When the wailing cries began the alarmed neighbors had called the police urgently, fearing some sort of gang activity. The squad had been sent into those woods hundreds of times and never found anything. The woods were rumored to ha haunted due to the strange, high pitched cries that leaked through the dark trees like blood from a shallow wound. As nothing was ever found in the wood the calls were dismissed as people over reacting to a prank pulled by local punks.
Thus it was with a heavy sigh and a huge dose of skepticism that Archer Oracle pulled his cruiser to the curb. He had quite literally drawn the short straw and had to listen to the rest of the guys chuckle and rib him over the radio while he looked at the tangled mess of landscape before him. The trees in Goyleswood had grown close together and formed a thick canopy that blotted out the little light the stars provided on the clear summer night. Archer had to wade throught thick brambles that grew high enough to touch the dripping spanish moss that draped from the trees like a curtain. A thick fog left droplets on his skin. Every few minutes one or both of his feet would slop wetly into the foul smelling swamp.
Between moments of sickly stillness, unbroken due to the lack of wildlife, was a sick high pitched cry. The voice was neither that of a woman nor a man. It cracked and broke through the night as if it had screamed for years.
Archer searched more than an hour but every time he came close enough to be right on top of the sounds source there was no one in sight. Fed up, he turned on his heel the next time the voice grew silent. He grumbled and cursed beneath his breath about kids their stupid sound recordings keeping him from a hot meal. Chambri would be in bed by the time he got home. Ingred would be furious.
"Please..." He was nearly out of earshot when the now tiny voice sounded. "Up."
Archer looked upwards into the trees. At first he saw nothing... then he saw a white skeletal hand reaching out of a blackened, charred whole near the top of a tree. After calling for backup, Archer slowly made his way up the ancient trunk. His skin was scraped raw on the rough bark. A massive canyon scarred the trees surface where it had once been struck by lightning. Archer tried not to gag as he moved the skeletal arm aside and hesitantly reached into the blackness of the hole.
The hand that gripped his was warm, shaking and small. Propping himself on his knees and elbows on a bough he pulled his flashlight out of his mouth with his free hand and looked down the hole. He immediately turned his head to the side and vomited. The entire hollow of the tree was filled with the bodies of children no older than the owner of the black eyes staring up at him. The boy was young, about twelve and had pale, clammy skin. He appeared frail and far too thin and was in obvious need of a bath. He was bound to the inside of the tree, his entire body wrapped in thorny vines. Around his wrist snaked a black tatoo that stood in sharp contrast against his cadaverous looking skin. A tatoo of sharply thorned vines. He hung onto Archer desperately, as if the older man was his lifeline.
It was the beginning of a long night for Archer. He spent a good portion of the rest of the night in the office trying to wrap blankets around the boy and coax some food and drink into him while medics checked him out. The boy spoke rapidly in some foreign tongue. His english was so bad that most toddlers were more fluent. After hours of talking all they could gather was that his name was Ion.
Someday soon his name would be Ion Oracle. Someday later everyone in the world would need his help...
Strange sounds had been seeping from the woods on outside of town for years. When the wailing cries began the alarmed neighbors had called the police urgently, fearing some sort of gang activity. The squad had been sent into those woods hundreds of times and never found anything. The woods were rumored to ha haunted due to the strange, high pitched cries that leaked through the dark trees like blood from a shallow wound. As nothing was ever found in the wood the calls were dismissed as people over reacting to a prank pulled by local punks.
Thus it was with a heavy sigh and a huge dose of skepticism that Archer Oracle pulled his cruiser to the curb. He had quite literally drawn the short straw and had to listen to the rest of the guys chuckle and rib him over the radio while he looked at the tangled mess of landscape before him. The trees in Goyleswood had grown close together and formed a thick canopy that blotted out the little light the stars provided on the clear summer night. Archer had to wade throught thick brambles that grew high enough to touch the dripping spanish moss that draped from the trees like a curtain. A thick fog left droplets on his skin. Every few minutes one or both of his feet would slop wetly into the foul smelling swamp.
Between moments of sickly stillness, unbroken due to the lack of wildlife, was a sick high pitched cry. The voice was neither that of a woman nor a man. It cracked and broke through the night as if it had screamed for years.
Archer searched more than an hour but every time he came close enough to be right on top of the sounds source there was no one in sight. Fed up, he turned on his heel the next time the voice grew silent. He grumbled and cursed beneath his breath about kids their stupid sound recordings keeping him from a hot meal. Chambri would be in bed by the time he got home. Ingred would be furious.
"Please..." He was nearly out of earshot when the now tiny voice sounded. "Up."
Archer looked upwards into the trees. At first he saw nothing... then he saw a white skeletal hand reaching out of a blackened, charred whole near the top of a tree. After calling for backup, Archer slowly made his way up the ancient trunk. His skin was scraped raw on the rough bark. A massive canyon scarred the trees surface where it had once been struck by lightning. Archer tried not to gag as he moved the skeletal arm aside and hesitantly reached into the blackness of the hole.
The hand that gripped his was warm, shaking and small. Propping himself on his knees and elbows on a bough he pulled his flashlight out of his mouth with his free hand and looked down the hole. He immediately turned his head to the side and vomited. The entire hollow of the tree was filled with the bodies of children no older than the owner of the black eyes staring up at him. The boy was young, about twelve and had pale, clammy skin. He appeared frail and far too thin and was in obvious need of a bath. He was bound to the inside of the tree, his entire body wrapped in thorny vines. Around his wrist snaked a black tatoo that stood in sharp contrast against his cadaverous looking skin. A tatoo of sharply thorned vines. He hung onto Archer desperately, as if the older man was his lifeline.
It was the beginning of a long night for Archer. He spent a good portion of the rest of the night in the office trying to wrap blankets around the boy and coax some food and drink into him while medics checked him out. The boy spoke rapidly in some foreign tongue. His english was so bad that most toddlers were more fluent. After hours of talking all they could gather was that his name was Ion.
Someday soon his name would be Ion Oracle. Someday later everyone in the world would need his help...
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Day 2
Well, it's day two of using my new blog. already I am showing stunningly uncharacteristic commitment to this. :P Does anyone have any tips for better learning? I did not get a chance to study today because I worked alot. Still I'll give a word of the day because it's super fun.
Word of the Day:
Green (as in the color, not envy): Midori (Mee-dough-ree)
Word of the Day:
Green (as in the color, not envy): Midori (Mee-dough-ree)
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Hi there!
Hi there! Welcome the my very first blog. In this blog I will be chronicling my attept to learn and study the Japanese language. I will be including bits and pieces of what I learn as well as looking for tips and pointers. Thank you for reading. <3
Phrase of the Day:
Ohayogozaimasu: good morning (used until about 10 am) (Oh-hai-oh-go-za-ee-mah-soo)
- the u at the end of -masu is super short. Nearly silent.
Phrase of the Day:
Ohayogozaimasu: good morning (used until about 10 am) (Oh-hai-oh-go-za-ee-mah-soo)
- the u at the end of -masu is super short. Nearly silent.
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