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Post by Amaranth on Jan 28, 2007 11:31:22 GMT -5
It was, rather oddly, not a dark and stormy night when the doors to the Guild creaked open. It was actually a bright and rather cheerful day, around noon, six months after Amaranth left and five months after Amber's birth, but it was about to seem quite a bit less cheerful for certain persons inside the Guild. A peasant girl, clad in absolutely filthy clothes, entered, looking warily around. "'ey." She reached out with a very quick hand to grab the sleeve of a servant who was bustling by, doing whatever it was that servants do. The man looked down at the hand. It was filthy, but there was something wrong with it, as though it was being viewed through a slight haze. He put it down as nothing, and returned his attention to the girl. "What do you want?" he demanded. He didn't have to be respectful to this person. "'ey, I'm lookin' fer a... a Mister... Oh, righ', a Mister Zeth. I need t'see a Mister Zeth. S'pposed t'be 'round here somewhere. Fin' 'im, there's a chap." The servant grimaced at her, and then went off to fetch the mage, who had been rather mopey and very annoying lately, in his opinion. The peasant girl clicked her tongue rudely as she waited, rocking back and forth on her feet.
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Post by Jeni on Jan 28, 2007 11:40:23 GMT -5
Someone's comming. Yamamoto announced as he sat in a chair by window, reading a book, his gaze never left the text. "Mmm?" Zeth responed lazily, lifting his head from the paper he was currently reading. He listened, and could hear the footsteps approching his room. As he got up there was a knock on the door and he went to answer it. Several seconds later he was walking through the corridors with the servant, looking rather confused, wondering just who the girl was and what she wanted to see him about. Somewhere in his subconcious he vaguely wondered if it had something to do with Amaranth, the dissappearance of his wife had been somewhere in his thoughts each day since she had left. It wasn't really worry, just emptiness. However, he wasn't thinking about that now, only about what the strange girl wanted to tell him.
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Post by Amaranth on Jan 28, 2007 11:56:08 GMT -5
The girl stared at him suspiciously. "You Mister Zeth?" she demanded. Once she was satisfied that he was, indeed, 'Mister Zeth,' she chewed on her lip, continuing to rock for a moment. Then she said. "'Ey, I got somethin' I got t'give ya, bu' firs' I'm s'posed to say somethin' like casserole, 'cept not... erm... oh, righ', condolences. Righ'. Tha' means I'm s'posed t'be nice t'you an' say sorry for.. uh.. righ', 'bout the lady. Was she yer wife? Eh. Well, I'm s'posed t'give this t'you." The other arm appeared from under the filthy and tattered cloak. From inside a rather too-large bundle of cloths, a pair of rather incredible eyes stared up at him. They were wide, somber, and very strangely colored. Colors flitted across the surface as on a soap bubble, never resting in one place for long but always swirling gently around the slitted pupils. The baby hiccuped. "Yeah," the girl went on, "Quiet thing, i'is. Hasn't made much of a soun' th'whole way. Oh, yeah, 's a lil' girl. Yeah. Th' lady, righ', she had sorta, uh, blue hair, righ', an' she was wit' a little bugger who kep' tryin' t'bite me an' some other lady, silver hair, real annoying giggle. Yeah. Sorry. We couldn' stop th'bleedin' after th'baby was born, so sh' died. Sorry. Yeah. Anyway, after tha' we couldn' find th'other lady, th'annoying one, righ', or th'little bugger. Th'bitey one. Righ'. Tha's wha' I was s'posed t'tell ya. Oh, yeah. Condolences. Righ'."
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Post by Jeni on Jan 28, 2007 14:06:21 GMT -5
Condolences. The word kept ringing in Zeth's head from the first time the strange girl had uttered it. He tried to register what she was saying, but it seemed so hard. His mouth hung slightly ajar as he stared at the girl in a state of shock. He tired to form words, but they wouldn't come out at the moment, the only sound he made was the ragged breathing comming from his lungs, which felt like there was almost some sort of pressure on them. There was a lot of pressure actually, as the words sunk in and everything became real. He looked at the baby girl she was holding disbelievingly. Condolences. Everything came back to that one terrible word. Damn that word for existing. No, she couldn't be gone. Right? Right?! We couldn' stop th'bleedin' after th'baby was born, so sh' died. "She's... really... gone...?" Zeth whispered in disbelief. It was more like he was asking himself than the girl. He didn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. But, what reason did this girl have to lie about it. But she said she'd be back in a year. It had only been half that time. She'd be back in 6 months. Right? So sh' died. And the baby. He couldn't believe it. More shock to add to the list. What the hell was he going to do now?!
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Post by Amaranth on Jan 28, 2007 14:12:55 GMT -5
"Who? Y'mean th'lady? Well, 'less y'wan' a zombie..." The girl eyed him nervously. "Bu' 'ey, y'got th'li'l' one now, righ'? 'Ey?" Uh-oh. She'd killed him. "Oh, righ'. Sh'had this wi'her. I'was 'dressed t'you, s'I figured you was th'father..." Amaranth seemed fond of notes. The girl held out another. The handwriting wasn't quite as neat as usual. Zeth- Oh, dear... I feel such the fool. Why in the world did I leave? Well, I know why, but now it does not make sense to me... In any case, I left because I am with child, and that is all. I did not know how to deal with it, so I left. I am very, very sorry for any worry I may have caused you. But please, feel better now! I am sending this with Naphtali back to the Guild, and I am on my way home, so I will be back in just a little while! Syrene wishes to inform you that I have been very cruel to her and have given her no sugar. Squishy... well... Squishy... is... Squishy. There is no other way to describe it, I fear. In any case, I shall see you soon! -Amaranth There were some doodles. Amaranth always doodled on important documents. One of them appeared to be a duck.
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Post by Jeni on Jan 28, 2007 14:23:36 GMT -5
Zeth took the note from the girl and read it silently. He sighed once he had finished, not knowing what else to do. 'I shall see you soon!' His eyes stayed on that sentence for a moment as the realization that she really was gone began to slowly sink in. And he didn't like. (Obviously) Who would? Anyway, he held the note loosly in his hand as he looked back at the girl, still in a fairly large state of shock. Why did she have to leave? If only she had stayed! Then maybe this wouldn't have happened. She could have lived. She wouldn't have died. And then the three of them would be here, right now, safe and happy. Zeth put a hand over his mouth and he closed his eyes. He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to make the horrible feeling go away. Yet, he knew it wouldn't. He opened his eyes again, looking as if he were maybe about to cry, but the shock wouldn't allow it. The shock consumed everything. "Did Amaranth give her a name?" He finally choked out after a moments silence, looking at the baby girl. He still didn't want to face the truth.
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Post by Amaranth on Jan 28, 2007 14:29:51 GMT -5
The girl looked uncomfortable. "Ah.. no... no, mister... Sh'didn't... D'you wanna take the baby now...?" Said baby was staring up at her father with a very strange expression on her face. It was one that didn't belong on the face of a baby. It was an expression of shock and of hurt and of sorrow. And then the baby started to cry. It wasn't the sort of crying babies were supposed to do, it was different. Quiet tears over a motionless face. The baby didn't even whimper. The girl stared at it nervously. "I's never dun' tha' b'fore..."
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Post by Jeni on Jan 28, 2007 14:37:50 GMT -5
Zeth nodded slowly as he took the baby carefully in his arms. He saw the expression on her small face, mirroring his own feelings of shock, hurt and sorrow. When she started to cry he just couldn't hold back his own tears anymore, and they silently slipped out of his eyes, making little wet trails down his cheeks. He didn't even bother to try and wipe them off, he knew it would do no good anyway. Besides, he couldn't anyway as he held the baby girl closely to his chest. "Thank you." He whispered quietly to the girl in front of him. He wasn't thankful for the news, naturally, it upset his=m grately and the sorrow was quite overwehlming. But, he was at least thankful for his daughter.
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Post by Amaranth on Jan 28, 2007 14:43:49 GMT -5
"Okay... I'm jus' gonna... go now..." This got more and more disturbing. The girl fairly ran out the door. When she reached the forest, she stopped running, and glanced back. She pulled the filthy cape off, and made a face at it. "You are the most filthy, disgusting article of clothing I have ever seen," she informed it gravely. Apparently, her accent was affected. She removed the cap that had hidden her hair. She combed this absentmindedly with her fingers, and a feather fell out. She frowned at it, picked it up, and tucked it into her waistband. Picking up the cape and cap with come reluctance, she bundled them in her arms and went further into the forest, walking until she reached a clearing. There, she shook herself, spread out her wings, and flew away. A feather shook loose and floated to the ground. She would just have to hope that no one ever found out what she'd done, or she was going to be in so much trouble.
After some concentration, the as-of-yet-unnamed baby freed one of her arms, and reached out a tiny, pudgy hand to poke her father.
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Post by Jeni on Jan 28, 2007 14:53:24 GMT -5
Zeth watched as the strange girl left. He thought of asking her name, but it was to late now. Oh well. It didn't really matter right. He looked down at his daughter in his arms. He looked at her oddly colored eyes, still wondering what Amaranth might have wanted to call her. And, he could help but smile softly as she reached out a hand to give him a poke. He turned and began to slowly walk down the hallway, careful not to jostle her. Flame flew around the corner and landed neatly on Zeth's shoulder and looked curiously at the little baby girl.
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Post by Amaranth on Jan 28, 2007 14:59:24 GMT -5
The baby absentmindedly chewed on her finger, then yelped because unlike most babies, she had teeth. Very sharp, pointed little teeth. After this adventure, she looked around, squirmed a little, freed her other arm, and reached out to grab Flame as he flew by. She immediately hugged him to her. Her expression definitely conveyed that this was Mine. In fact, it was almost as if the baby had said so. But, of course, she hadn't.
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Post by Jeni on Jan 28, 2007 15:06:45 GMT -5
Zeth chuckled lightly as Flame gave a suprised little chirp as he was seized and squeezed. Although, he didn't really seem to mind. Zeth, who is this? The bird asked of his curiously. She's my daughter. Zeth answered, his thoughts seeming somewhat distant and a bit distraught. Well then, if she's your daughter, then why aren't you happy? You are hurt. Flame observed. Being the species he was, he always knew exactly how Zeth was feeling, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Though, now, it was very easy for Flame to tell as Zeth wasn't hidding anything. Because Amaranth is.... He still couldn't quite bring himself to say it. However, he didn't need to, Flame understood. I am very sorry. He said, shifting his wings slightly to a more comfortable position in the baby's grasp.
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Post by Amaranth on Jan 28, 2007 15:08:17 GMT -5
The baby squirmed again, and grabbed something from inside a fold of her swathe of blankets. It was Squishy, who chirped indignantly at being grabbed and hugged along with her brother. Owwwwwwwww! she whined. The baby merely continued to hug her.
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Post by Jeni on Jan 28, 2007 15:21:46 GMT -5
Zeth looked surprised to see the little bird, especially since Squishy had been pulled seemingly out of nowhere from within the blankets. Flame looked very happy to see his sister and happily chirped a greeting. Though, he did have a question for her, since he was still feeling Zeth's loss. Moonbeam, Mine says Your's is gone, is that really true? He asked as he was in the process of being hugged some more.
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Post by Amaranth on Jan 28, 2007 15:23:04 GMT -5
Squishy, who wasn't very intelligent, stared at him blankly, and then looked around. Not here...? Oooh... I feel sad... The baby continued to squish the living daylights out of the birds.
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