|
*Aramis clenches his eyes shut as he chokes back a cough* |
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Hey," Aramis says with a slight frown, thin wisps of smoke curling from his nostrils. He seems to be struggling with his breath, or at the very least, biting back a severe cough. He knows it's from the cigarette he's smoking, but he isn't ready to blame his illness on his smoky, newfound companion. "I know I should give up smoking," he continues, staring at the smoldering tip of the cigarette between his index and middle finger. "But it calms my nerves. Anyway, back to Kissie Voluun. Yeah, I remembered THAT name pretty well, didn't I? I didnt' have to think about where I left off, or what the heck I was talking about the last time we met. I couldn't get Kissie out of my head if I tried."
"She was a sweet kid," he sighed, taking a light-hearted puff on his cigarette, a hint of a smile forming on his lips. "Didn't say much back then, but maybe because she was afraid. Afraid of going home, afraid of Seraphim, afraid of Deedra and Magus and me. She had a cute face, with big, wide blue eyes like the sky on a clear summer day. Her hair was such a bright shade of blonde it was almost like looking at a crown of sunlight hoovering over that pretty little head of hers."
"I guess I liked her, as well as I liked anyone else in Seraphim at the time. She really wasn't my type, though... too quiet for my tastes. I like to hear what people have to say, I like to form my opinions and outlook on things from how they react to certain situations. And Kissie never had a real opinion on anything, I guess. But what did I know? She could have felt strongly about anything from the judicial system in Teehs to how a rock was positioned on the ground, but she never said anything too extreme. So I guess I took her for a mild person, a timid creature that needed other people to protect and look after her. Maybe that's why she clung to Magus the way she did. Maybe she felt he would protect her. I guess he did, though--nobody ever bothered Kissie. She followed him like she was his shadow. Thinking back, maybe I did like her a little. She was nice... she cracked a smile every now and then, a smile I saw myself staring at a little too long. In any case, yeah, Kissie Voluun. When we were a part of Seraphim, she never picked up a sword and fought alongside us. Come to think of it, I don't think we ever allowed her to. Pretty much everyone thought she was too frail for battle... REAL battle. Screams and bloods and sweat and pieces of people lying in the dust here and there. We all tried to protect her, I guess. She was everyone's little sister, even if she was older than a lot of people in Seraphim. When I left the clan at fifteen years old, I thought I left everyone involved with it far, far behind. That simply wasn't the case."
"I'd walked my way clear out of Meenah and into the neighboring country of Dulkar, a people known for their friendliness and willingness to welcome travelers. It was a cool day when I crossed the Dulkai border, the sun blocked out by thick, billowing, hostile clouds overhead. The evening was coming along quickly, and I didn't know the area at all. My primary concern was finding a place to rest my head for the night. By the time night came around, the air became acrid with the stink of impending rain. I'm sure I shouted some unmentionable explicative then, damning my horrible luck. Then, the downpour began. I remember dropping to my knees and slamming my fists into the muddy ground before me, screaming my grievances to whatever god would hear me. I don't know how long I'd been there. I was just tired... tired of wandering around this stupid world of ours without a place to call home. Tired of living day-to-day, wondering where my next meal was coming from. Tired of having no one to talk to, to share my joys and fears with. And that's when I saw the light--literally. A tiny sliver of light, from a door that opened and closed quickly. A door? A door... a door means a roof... and a roof means shelter from the rain. Quickly, I stood up, sloshing the mud off of my shins and knees and gathering my belongings. I quickly made for the light, my heart palpitating with hope. In just half a minute, I was knocking furiously on the door, my knuckles raw against the splintering wood. And then the door opened again, slowly, a hint of light shining through the doorjamb. My ears were blessed by a soft, angelic voice I hadn't heard in two years."
'Aramis...?' she said.
My eyes widened with surprise. The soft, gently sloping lines of her face seemed to glow all on its own.
'Kissie...?' I said.
She embraced me then, her small, almost frail arms wrapping around my shoulders and pulling me close. She was wonderfully warm and dry, smelling of jasmine and roses, so unlike myself. 'Aramis! It really is you!' she continued, pushing me away from her, giving me the once-over. Her smile was radiant, and I almost felt at home. 'Oh, Deus, where on earth have you been?! What on earth has happened to you?! Why are you out there in the rain?! Come in, come in!' I stepped in out of the rain and helped myself to a spot in front of the fireplace, holding my hands against the blazing embers in a feeble attempt to warm myself. Kissie threw a blanket around my shoulders. 'It's so good to see you again,' she said with a smile, setting a cup of tea down on a small end table beside me. 'What happened to you? Why did you leave...?' I pulled the blanked around my shoulders, taking the tea in my hand and holding it up to my face, trying to warm my skin. '...You know why I left,' I said quietly, closing my eyes. 'It was...because of Alaan, wasn't it?' she inquired, taking a seat beside me. '...Yeah,' I answered, taking a sip of the tea. It was distinctly Dulkai, with its telltale hint of honey and peppermint. 'I'm sorry,' she whispered, placing a hand on my shoulder. 'I didn't know what to say back then... But I truly am sorry.' I turned to look at her then, and I guess that's when she noticed my scar. It was still relatively new, so it must have looked absolutely horrific. I could see the disgusted terror in her eyes. 'What happened?!" she gasped, her fingertips tracing the outline of my anomaly. 'I'd... rather not get into that now,' I replied, 'I just want to catch up. So... how are you? How's everything since Meenah?' She went on to tell me that she left Seraphim with Magus not long after I made my great escape, and they went their separate ways in Dulkar's capitol. She met a guy named Xavi Geist and they married soon afterwards, so she didn't have to worry about where she'd be resting her head ever again. She'd been living in Dulkar ever since, and she was happy with her new life. She embraced the role of housewife, a person who, in her mind, was forever loved by her husband and society. I was happy for her. But more than that, I was happy to see her, to see a familiar face after nearly drowning in that sea of strangers I'd encountered after I left Seraphim. "I can let you stay here tonight," she smiled warmy, looking first into my blue eye, then my green one. 'But you're going to have to leave immediately after the sun rises. My husband is away tonight, and although I'm sure he'd let you stay here until you can find somewhere else to sleep, I don't think he'd take kindly to another man having breakfast in his house without his say-so!' She led me to a small guest room in her house, a room packed tightly with random trinkets and doo-hickeys in boxes stacked one on top of the next. I cleared away a spot on the floor and took the blankets Kissie gave me, creating my makeshift mattress and blanket. Before she left, she stood in the doorway of the room a moment, an almost telling look in her eyes. I understood then, why she clung to Magus so tightly all that time we were in Seraphim. I couldn't look into her eyes any longer. I turned around and muttered a feeble, 'Goodnight, Kissie.' She nodded slightly and closed the door behind her, leaving me to my thoughts."
*Aramis pauses a moment, flicking the ashes off of the tip of his cigarette with barely a thought. He leans back in his chair and puts the cigarette in his mouth again, crossing his arms over his chest*
"Ah... I think that's enough for today," he says with a sigh. "Come back another time and I'll let you in on more, okay? Goodnight."
 Bleeding Apocalypse · Sat Dec 18, 2004 @ 03:04am · 1 Comments |
|
|
|
|
|
