PM to join Snow Doon Library

[Una Tanta]

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The cheer when her tale finished made her blush brightly the pink creeping from her eyes to splash along her cheeks. Prancing up to her like a boy fresh from his mothers breast a man addressed her, "That was beautiful! And your voice, where did you learn to speak Vani like that?" Smiling at the comment Una nodded gently, "I am glad you enjoy-Oh! I learned it from my late-husband actually...I-" She was interrupted when a woman approaching her with a paper and quill.

"Here. Miss Lorelle asked me to write it down?" The woman offered the paper to her smiling. Una turned away from the man to receive it. The words were scrawled across the paper as was typical of Vanthan writing but Una received it with a childish grin on her face. "Thank you! Thank you very much!" Una hugged the womans hand with her own in their handshake delighted.

The woman laughed and nodded wandering back to her group. In her excitement she struggled not to ignore the man and turn her attention to the parchment. As always, she was very aware of Vanthan manners and turned back to Skidril. "Oh-I...yes. My native tongue is actually Char, I imagine THAT is the unusual accent that makes me speak like so." Una explained feeling self concious as she analyzed her own voice.

Spotting Jack having wandered out of his office she nodded to the man, "I'm sorry, but there is someone I should speak with. I am glad you enjoyed it though." She threw the last part over her shoulder as she moved toward Jack's grim face.

"Still unhappy?" Una asked when she had drawn closer. Jack's face softened slightly as he gazed at the room, "you were here almost everyday...doesn't this bother you?" Una shook her head turning to stand beside Jack.

"THIS is exactly what a library should be like in Avanthal. This isn't a place of study, it's a place of entertainment. The more you make it such, the more people you will have writing and reading. Isn't that what you want?"

"Yes...but this isn't how I imagined it."

Una smiled softly, "Come on." She murmured looping her arm into his and drawing him into his office. He had begun teaching her to write here but work and the frosthawk had quickly demanded all her time.

"Why are we in here?" Jack asked suspiciously.

"Lets write. It will distract you from what's going on out there."

"But shouldn't someone wa-"

"You have Lorelle out there right? I'm sure she is capable of taking care of the books?"

Jack paused before acquiescing haltingly. Taking a seat and patting the one beside her Una drew out a quill and slid some of the scattered parchment over to her. "What now?" Una asked smiling as she quickly corrected her posture as he had instructed her previously.

OOCI'm so sorry this took so long to get out, with Exams and ST stuff >_< Not enough time. I promise my responses will be much faster.

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[Skidril]

Una might've moved away at her own pace and for perfectly fine reasons, but something caused Skidril to doubt his tone moments ago. Had he said something wrong to upset the foreign creature? In any case, he surely didn't feel like he was at fault, but one could never know how completely out of place any of his comments might've seemed to strangers. And it, no, a she... he had to remind himself of that far too often for his tastes. And she could've easily misinterpreted his wonder for being condescending perhaps? Shaking his head rigorously, he wasn't sure how to mend his thoughts about this situation, but he knew where to turn them for the moment. Outside was still snowing and most of his attention turned to Neira who was still far away, under a roof somewhere. As if freshly out of trance, he turned around to try and figure out what to do next. The crowd, and he too, weren't going anywhere. Everyone was stuck, yet the taking away of their prime storyteller struck silence within most. The applause sure rose, and fell even more correctly after correct praise was provided. The creature's story would be one many a mouth would retell as far as their Vani tongues could take it, but he still kind of wanted to tell another tale. The fact that it wasn't his own seemed to bother him less than at any previous moment, but it was still far from flattering to try and follow up someone who managed to blow everyone else away. In his, perhaps a bit racist, eyes... Vantha were superior at story telling. Sure her late husband was Vantha enough to know Vani and teach it to the peculiar bipedal, but she was still less of a Vantha than he... yet was she more of a Vantha than his father whose story would've flooded from his mouth like a well prepared lie? Kicking caution to the wind, Skidril finally stepped out before the others and tried to calm the beating drum of his nerves before words turned cannibalistic upon each other. „Evening“ he louder than needed to the people still gathered in front of him „I guess it's my turn now, so allow me to demonstrate a tale to follow up on my great predecessor's fine creation“ then he raised his hand back to his lips to beg silence from those before him. Not taking too long to turn their shifting gazes to his constant one, they were soon enough ready to accept his father's heritage. „This tale is unlike the former. It is a calmer one“ he deepened his voice way too dramatically, his experience surely lacking „Do you know how those eyes upon your faces first gained color? „ and when people in the very front started shaking their heads, he continued, still doubting, but thankful that his eyes couldn't betray him. „Long before such a place as Avanthal stood in our far reach of the tundra, every one of you had eyes like mine. Eyes lacking reflection and wonder needed to be truly deservant of Morwen's grace were all there was. And as far as anyone could tell they would be all that ever remained, but then the unthinkable happened.“ And there he stopped abruptly, but intentionally – it was his idea of a hook „In those all but forgotten days, gods still warred with each other openly. It was back then that our great queen confronted Ivak, the fire lord. The battle was going in our favor as it was indeed our land they wanted to occupy, and the flicks of fire soon enough started to retreat back to the south from whence they came. We had won the war!“ and then he stopped again, sighing „But this success wasn't without cost. Soon enough, our people started falling down with a terrible ailment. Like barbarians, we witnessed our blood boil without having anything to turn this newfound heat to. The warmth rose and rose, and still we couldn't find any way to release it. Instead it started eating away at our flesh, our eyes reflecting the body's agony. The fire lord's spite was satisfied and his presence completely disappeared from the north. Our Icequeen would never abandon us though, but there was little she could do without taking a risk of her own. She did it anyway, and lost a great portion of her power in the process“ and then he'd explain „You see, Morwen was the greatest force Mizahar had ever seen, and whole of the world was what north is now. Her sacrifice, however noble, degraded her indomitable power. In her sacrifice, our people found a leader and became recognizable for what we are today“ and then he paused, purchasing some time to grab air. „The fire that was once eating us whole even defeated, would never be forgotten. And the power of our memory trapped the once bodily curse within our souls. Even the cycle itself was forced to obey this memory, and since then whenever our spirits burn with strong emotion, our eyes reflect it. In time, some eyes extinguished... like mine here... but then... then the lord of fire returned from his volcanic seat of power in spring of 512th. The curse started rumbling again, but the foreign influence once again lost out. And then, even those eyes that forgot the curse reignited with new lights...everyone once again reflected the aurora with all of their spirit... well almost everyone“ and then he was interrupted by one of the children at the front „Your eyes aren't changing!“ in response to this, Skidril, even with a prepared answer, still panicked. „I... well, I overslept!“ the laugh that ensued was so loud that it broke all remaining bonds of concentration he still held together. Nodding his head, he finally addressed „You'll have to pardon my execution of this tale, as a finer tongue has passed it down on me. Now that I ensured the story isn't forgotten, why not another take my place here?“ and then he stepped back down, melding with the crowd, happy he hasn't completely ransacked his father's legacy, but knowing that he should've come up with some sort of an ending for his thoughts. What happened next? Well, that was anyone's guess...

[Lorelle]

To the Vantha woman, each word said, each syllable spoken is like another needle pricking at her skull. She has become sensitive to sound. It being louder in her ears that it should be. Curled up with her legs drawn to her chest, Lorelle holds her hands over her ears. Wanting desperately for everyone to just be quiet. She doesn’t even know why she feels ill. She just does and she doesn’t know how to make it better. It seems impossible without some peace amongst the library. Will there ever be peace tonight? Lorelle wonders if these people ever decide to stop their talking, storytelling and singing. Just stop and go to sleep or something else. By the thoughts going through her mind, one would probably not think her a Vantha. And right now, she doesn’t feel like one.

With a groan, she rests her head against the wall. Her eyes open and watching. She spots Una and Jack. Raising an eyebrow as they go back into his office. How strange. What could they possibly have to do in there? Shaking her head slightly, Lorelle remembers something. She doesn’t care. Not now. Probably not ever. What they is their business and while she may be curious, Lorelle knows better than to pry. It never really turns out well for any of the parties involved.

Shifting the focus of her attention, she tries to zone in one voice and just listen to it. Let everything else fade into background noise. Unfortunately for her, she focuses on the loudest voice in the room. The storyteller’s voice. She doesn’t recognize the voice. A man. Someone who seems to know Vani but isn’t speaking it with the lyrical fluidity of the Vantha. Not a native. And the story he tells, it doesn’t sit well with Lorelle. She doesn’t know why her eyes change. She doesn’t know why anyone’s eyes change. All she knows is that awhile ago they stopped changing, making emotions freeze in place as well. What pesky business that was. However, she doesn’t think this story is correctly telling the people in the library why their eyes change. How can someone who doesn’t have shifting eyes know anything about it anyway?

Soon enough the story is over and the chair opened once more. Lorelle thinks about just staying in her spot. Hiding from everyone and trying to get rid of this head ache. However, this man’s story is just not sitting well with her. With a soft moan, she presses herself up to her feet and walks out from the rows of bookshelves she has been hiding between. It doesn’t take long to find the non Vantha man in the room. He looks completely normal. For a human anyway. In this crowd he is the outsider. Aside from Una anyway. But the Charoda is far from Lorelle’s mind at the moment as she walks up to the man who was previously telling the story.

“Where did you learn that story?” she asks, standing in front of him with her arms crossed and eyes mixed in colors. Her voice comes out unexpectedly sharp and blunt. The pain in her head is stronger than ever and she feels like just hiding in a hole, but tries to push it away. Wanting to talk to this man. “Excuse, that was mean,” she admits, her voice not loosing its sharp, blunt nature, “I’m Lorelle. Clerk here at the library. Who are you? And how could you possibly know the history behind a Vantha’s eyes?”

[Una Tanta]

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OOCI am ready to end this whenever you guys are :3 Can keep threading too though if you want to complete or achieve anything else of course.

The cacophony could still be heard, dulled by the heavy wooden door separating the two from the rest of the Vantha. She knew Jacks attention was still on the potential damage occurring outside but her own was far from Lorelle and Skidril.

"Look at this." Una gestured to the piece of paper upon which her poem was written. Distracted by the words placed before him he looked down at the rough parchment upon which her poem was scrawled.

"Who did this?"

"I asked Lorelle to, she handed it off to one of them women in the crowd."

"Hm..."

"Can I do that?"

"With time...I hope much better." He offered with a small smile. Not typically sweet with compliments Una grinned at the small offering.

Reaching out to snatch some low quality parchment and a quill he wrote out each of the Vanthan letters. "Copy these?" Nodding as a reply she leaned over the parchment to begin only to pause as he rose.

"I'm going to go check on the library."

"Jack..." Una groaned to herself. She was thrilled by his reserved and adult nature, so different from all the Vantha she had met thus far. However, moments like these she wished he could relax. Reaching out, Una caught his arm, "Stay." "No." "Why?" Both Jack and Una were minimalist speakers and entire conversations often took place in less than a hundred words.

Pausing, Jack glanced at the door. "Out there is my responsibility. You aren't." He muttered blatantly, not meeting her gaze. Recoiling, Una withdrew her hand from his arm choking on the angry words she wished to utter. Their first meeting, at the top of the Kalina observation deck, had been the first and only time he had shown vulnerability. The first and only time they had shared in their memory of Cy. She had thought that was enough, beneath the firm didactic man he proclaimed to be there was a sincerity. While many of the Vantha reveled in that boyish sincerity, Una loathed its rampant exhibitionism. Jack had been a breath of fresh air, a man as true as Cy. Maybe, she wondered, she had fallen too fast or believed too easily in their friendship.

"You belonged to Cy, you were his responsibility and he was yours. Now, he's gone and I've moved on. I've built this library up and you've...." He turned to her, pity and frustration etched in the lines of his face. "You've let his death kill you too." His words were sandpaper, slowly and painfully rubbing along her body working away any shell or pretense before it. It was true, Cys wings were always encircling her as heavy as if Icestone were piled on her back.Emotion and tension strung between them slicing half formed thoughts before their inception.

"We both belong to Cy. You can deny it all you want, but I know what he was to you. No matter what you build or do with your life his wings bear as heavily on your shoulders as they do mine." As she spoke her infrequently used fury made her hands shake and clench. The words spilled from her flushed lips without pause or thought. He might pity her, but she pitied him.

"But there is a difference between us Jack. He never chose to leave me. He was taken from me. He left everything; home, drinking, and you for me. You weren't good enough for him. He would rather drink and drown than give it up for you. You have had 5 years to deal with your own incompetence. I have had 1 year. 1 year to deal with his DEATH! He was in my head, in my heart. I flew with him, I swam with him. I KNEW him, was inside him as much as he was inside me. Your relationship with him was purely external...purely physical. You look at me with such pity but I pity you Jack. I pity you for never knowing him. Never being his. Nev-"

The pink handprint on her cheek burned as hot as the building rage her words had unleashed. His hand froze in the air, and both of them stared. The silence as loud as a scream. "How dare you..." Una muttered shaking. Her arms and legs flushed with tingles and blood, the physiological response to such an attack. Violence was so unprecedented in her past, in her very culture her thoughts already blurred by fury went completely blank with lack of understanding.

"Goodbye Jack." She finally sputtered out shoving past him toward the door. "Wait Una." He whispered grabbing her upper arm. "I'm sorry, I did-" "Don't touch me!" She snarled yanking her arm from his grasp. Both fury and fear elicited the response. The room had shrunk and shook since the smack. Baring her sharp teeth in her snarl she felt Jack hesitate through his grip. She knew her pupilless eyes unnerved many of the humans and stared Jack down. Slim and short compared to his stature she knew intimidation must come from her exotic and unusual features to force him to release her.

Jack wasn't a physical man and she knew he couldn't hold her against her will much longer, "Jack...don't be this person." She murmured, eyes softening when her anger and fury hadn't made his grip ease. She could feel the panic beating like wings in her breast. She was trapped, and she couldn't read the emotions flitting through his eyes. Like a poisonous fish panicked his mind flitted and all Una could hope was she could escape without being stung by the venomous tail.

"Una," He replied and pulled himself close to her his warm human lips brushing the soft coral-like texture of hers. Eyes widening she yanked on her arm, over and over backing away from his kiss. What was he thinking? Why? Was he betraying Cy? Was he trying to get control? She didn't understand. Instinct was stronger than reason in the amphibian and she wrestled for control as strongly as if she wrestled for control against an orca.

"Una. Una. Una," Jack murmured trying to calm her, "You are right. We both love Cy. We both carry him on our chests, and he's as heavy in death as in life. Please. Let us carry him together." His eyes beseeched her, begging for his words to ease her instinct to flee.

"Make up your mind Jack! First I am one thing, and now I am your second elk to pull Cys sleigh?" Una had stopped fighting at the mention of Cys name but she was discomforted by Jacks presence. His exterior was as carefully constructed as Cys and equally as tenuous and weak. A man can only hide his true nature for so long. If she pushed him again, would he snap again?

"I lied. I thought...you remind me of Cy....when I see you it pains and elates me. I want you far away as badly as I want you near." Jack gave the appearance of self-understanding and contentment. He never appeared to question anything but others ability and yet here he was as broken and fragile as she herself. Whether it be because she was easily manipulated by seeing herself in another, or whether it be because she so desperately wished for him to be as he portrayed she nodded acquiescing.

"Alright." With that single word their fight was seemingly forgotten. Though what one thought and what one said might be mightily different things, in Unas simple and concrete thinking he was an unstable partner but she had borne the weight of Cy alone for so long should be stumble, she could easily bear the weight anew.

Leaning in Jacks lips brushed her own and cupped her cheeks with both hands as if he sipped his evening tea. Amongst the quills and ink they moved about each other as they had moved about Cy. His wings brushing their cheeks, backs and bare legs as they moved together. As they both cried out, pleasure so steep they plummeted towards the ground immediately, Cy's name was on both of their lips.

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Pink with heat and clothes almost too carefully readjusted Una emerged from the room to take a quiet seat amongst the other Vantha as giddy and happy as if the being that had been within her only moments before had truly been her husband.

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