Origins of Fire

[Atrium]

Chapter 1

On the morning of Syth’s birth, there was a great celebration. He was the youngest addition to the royal Drow family Flora, but not their last. He had a sister named Jaquelyn and a brother named Drake. They lived on Aquarius, a large cerulean sphere ransacked by perpetual war. Castle Flora, however, was usually in the eye of the storm. This was either because they had no quarrels with other nations, or because their defenses proved intimidating.

Syth’s birth was an exceptionally big event because this gave the Flora House two princes for the throne. The first, of course, would be Drake, but Syth would inherit the crown after his brother passed or could no longer fulfill his duties.

Syth’s parents were very loving. They taught him things like walking and talking as soon as was possible. Syth learned to talk after about eighteen months. He learned to walk at age two.

Jaquelyn was the oldest of the three at fifteen, and she treasured Syth with all the love a sister could give. She and their mother, however, could not get along, and so just a few days after Syth had turned three, she ran way and didn’t come back. After Syth realized she was not playing Hide-and-Seek and couldn’t find her, it was a few days before he smiled again.

He had caught on quite fast to walking and would wander all over the castle, so it was a surprise when he couldn’t find Jacki (as he called her). He loved his sister dearly, and it took a long time to get over her absence. He always showed unusual understanding for these things, despite his age.

As soon as he could hold a sword, his brother began teaching Syth how to fight. His brother was almost five years older than he was. Syth was introduced to many different weapons, but he preferred the sword overall and stubbornly stuck with it. His brother happily taught him the basics for sword fighting. Syth was a little slow to catch on at first, but once taught, he never forgot what he learned.

One day, while he was training with a dummy made from hay and rope, his mother came up to him, walking like a queen with her hands folded in front of her. Syth delivered a stab to his opponent’s “kidney” as she approached; she gave a small, but proud, smile.

“Syth, I have a surprise for you.”

He looked up at his mother. Her beautiful steel-blue eyes were both lovely and wise. She could look stern and comforting at the same time, depending on who was looking at her. Her silver bangs were braided and tied around her head like a band while the rest hung down. This was accented by a tiara. This tiara was interesting. It was white gold with a gem in the middle. She never wore it except on special occasions, so whatever Syth’s surprise was, it was a special occasion.

He sheathed his sword and stepped over to her. He was very excited, but tried to keep calm and act as a prince should. He simply held out his hands and closed his eyes. His mother smiled and tapped his head. He opened an eye.

“No, this isn’t a material surprise,” she said. “This is a bigger surprise than any object.” she looked over her shoulder. “You can come out now Elazule, it’s alright.”

A small girl, about Syth’s age, moved slowly out from behind her. Her hands were folded in the same fashion as Syth’s mother’s hands were. She wasn’t too shy, and bowed to Syth without hesitation. He bowed back and they looked at each other, both had a friendly smile.

Elazule was very pretty for her age. She wore a dark blue kimono-style dress, which brought out her dark purple hair. Her eyes were a hypnotic crimson, but a bit darker. Syth was a five year old, same as her, so she wasn’t so much pretty to him as she was “cool-looking”.

“Syth,” his mother spoke up. “Elazule wants to be your new friend. She is from the East Continent. Her family was moved here during…the Big Fight.”

She wasn’t quite ready to spoil his thoughts that everyone in the world was generally nice. As far as he still knew, sword fighting was just a game. People got into arguments and fist-fought, but he didn’t know what a war was. She figured ignorance was bliss, so she hadn’t taught him about war just yet, for fear he may grow aggressive or worried. It wasn’t sheltering him, it was just procrastinating.

He knew more than she gave him credit for. Syth observed a lot in his castle adventures. He once walked by a room in which his father and the military general were discussing the wars.

“No, we’re fine,” his father was saying. The two were seated with drinks in hand. “No one’s come to us with war in mind for years. But keep training the troops. I have a feeling that when someone does come, it’s going to be a big fight.”

Syth had put two and two together. His mother’s recent words just proved him right. He knew what War was alright; he just didn’t know the details, except that it was a bad thing.

He had been looking at Elazule this entire time, thinking about War. He shook his head and smiled at his mother.

“What should we do?” he asked innocently. Elazule didn’t look very interested in swords.

“Well,” his mother started, thinking. “What have you found around the castle lately?”

His mind flashed to his father’s War talk, but he wasn’t going to tell his mother about that.

“Do you like exploring?” Syth asked Elazule out of consideration. His mother smiled at this.

Elazule nodded, putting a smile on Syth’s face as well.

“I know!” he exclaimed with childish triumph. He remembered something he’d found a few days ago. “Follow me!”

He began running toward the castle. Elazule looked up at the Queen in confusion, not sure what to do. Syth was the first boy she’d ever played with, so she didn’t know how to act. He was spontaneous at that, not something she knew how to handle.

“Go on,” his mother urged with a smile.

Elazule nodded and sort of ran to catch up. She finally unfolded her hands in her running, revealing that her sleeves were too long; they draped far over her hands. Syth waited for her, and then began walking toward the castle.

“So what does your dad do?” he asked her. Now that they were away from his mother, he could be more casual, using words like “dad” and other informalities suitable for a seven year old.

Elazule seemed to feel the same way. However, as an only child, she didn’t have much practice.

“My father is the king of our region on the Eastern Continent.”

Her accent was that of a royal child being taught diligently by tutors hired by her father; almost non-existent.

“My dad does the same thing here.” Syth replied, speaking as though their parents’ jobs were just that: jobs.

Elazule smiled and they walked through the doors leading into the castle. Elazule didn’t have time to take it in, for Syth immediately started leading her down corridor after corridor until she was convinced that, wherever this thing was, aimless wandering was about the only way it could have been found.

They went down many different hallways, down a few staircases, even behind a couple walls Syth swore he found on his own and not by following a servant. Finally, after about a half hour of walking, they stopped at the bottom of another staircase. Elazule thought they were in the heart of the castle. Syth had stopped them in front of a huge door.

It was a redwood colossus (to them at least), heavily bolted with a wooden block set in to make a point. Whatever was behind that door, even Elazule wanted to see.

“How did you find it?” she asked Syth in a whisper.

“During one of my adventures,” he explained. “I saw the stairs we just came down and they were all dark. I tried to see what was down here, but it’s a spinney staircase and I fell down.”

He looked at his feet as he said this with embarrassment. Elazule laughed as any child would at another’s pain. She stopped at covered her mouth apologetically with her sleeves. Syth just smiled sheepishly.

“One of these days,” he said. “Even if we’re grown up and I have to use a witch, we’ll open it,” then, looking around, “C’mon, let’s go get some food!”

Elazule nodded and they ran upstairs to the kitchen.

[Ayshela]

oooooooooh! can't wait to read more!

 

Welcome! Make yourself comfy, it might be a bit before Wyv has a chance to pry himself loose from the pillow - errr... sheep fight in the Conservatory.

 

Meanwhile, I brought some sandwiches, some coffee, and some tea since I didn't know which you'd prefer. *sets a tray down on the table by Silus' chair*

[Wyvern]

Silus jumps as the Office door swings open in a flash of red and white. Wyvern barges into the room, thorny and feather-tattered, an Almost Dragonic Brand Fourth Aid Kit™ clenched in one claw. Silus squints in disbelief at the reptilian Elder's protective attire, which consists of two sheep tied around the lizard's sides and a tarred tree branch for collecting feathers. Wyvern rushes to the table near Silus' chair and grabs the steaming tea kettle that sits there.

 

"I'll show them and their 'thirty sheeps at once.'" Wyvern guzzles the tea through the nozzle of the kettle, draining it in greedy gulps. "Just need to get myself a battering ram, with an emphasis on the 'ram.' Now, where's that couch...?"

 

"Excuse me." Silus taps Wyvern on the shoulder, careful to avoid the sheep head on the rear of his protective gear. "Don't want to be a bother, but I submitted my Pen application a few days back, and-"

 

"SSSsssshhhhhhh!" Wyvern turns to Silus and raises a claw to his mouth. "Don't don't DON'T make any 'ba' soundsss, please. There's a war going on out there. Now, what were you sayin'?"

 

"I, uhhh..." Silus scratches his head, then clears his throat. "I submitted my Pen application a few days ago."

 

"Lemme see."

 

Wyvern snatches Silus' application story from his desktop and tags it onto his tarred stick. The lizard then balances the stick near the table of food, and begins reading over Silus' story while stacking the available sandwiches on top of each other. Wyvern licks each of the layers of his twenty-story club sandwich once he's finished reading, then rips Silus' app back off of the tar.

 

"Y'know, this could very well be the story of young Thinas and Nimue in some alternate dimension." Wyvern grins in Silus' direction and attempts to toss the application sheet back onto his desktop, only to find it stuck to his claw. "Heck, if there's a treasury behind those large doors, that could even be a young me! And I always appreciate stories that have positive insinuations about me in them. Nicccely done."

 

Silus gets a headache as he tries to register the extent of Wyvern's narcissism in his head. He raises a finger to deny any connections that the story may coincidentally have to pennites, but pauses as he watches Wyvern stamp his application ACCEPTED.

 

"There ya go." Wyvern grunts and pulls at the sheet in his claw, only to frown as it tears a little. He grumbles to himself, then shrugs to Silus. "Well, I can't seem to give it back at this time, but I'll drop by here as soon as it gets unstuck."

 

Silus' jaw drops as Wyvern snatches the coffee pot and races out of the Recruiter's Office with the application story still stuck to his claw.

 

"And if you decide to step out, pleaaaasssse miiiinnnnnnd the sheeeeeeeeeeep!"

 

;-)

 

OOC: On a more serious note: an ACCEPTED application , Silus. Welcome to the Mighty Pen! I look forward to reading more of your stuff, as well as to participating with you in community writing projects. I hope that you find the Pen an open and friendly environment to share your writing with. Apologies for the wait, and welcome once again.

[Sweetcherrie]

Little Sweet had been following everything through the keyhole of the door (who had been so nice to open it open just wide enough for her to see), and as Wyvern races by with the coffeepot in his claws, she decides to comfort the astonished Silus a bit.

 

She hops into the recruiter’s office, and bounces over to sit next to Silus. She looks a bit sad at the empty sandwich plate, but then grins at Silus.

 

“That was one remarkable story you had there, are you gonna tell more stories?”

 

She bounces up from the chair, and starts dancing around Silus. “Cause I ssoooooo have to know what Syth found down that staircase!”

 

She lands back on the chair after having finished her sing-song and grins widely at Silus again, but before he can reply she’s already continuing her monologue.

 

“And oh, you shouldn’t worry about Wyvern, he’s a bit silly ya know, but cool,” The little girl giggles, “Plus, it’s carnival around here now, so we all tend to get a bit silly around that time.”

 

She sits back and suddenly frowns, as if something has just slipped her mind, and she can’t grab hold of it anymore. Then she lightens up.

 

“I wanted to tell you something else, but I think I forgot.”

 

She jumps up and starts pulling Silus out of the chair, “C’mon, you should join in the sheepfight too, I’ve already seen lots of people there.”

 

OOC: A warm welcome at the Pen, Silus. Hope to read the continuation of this story soon

[Savage Dragon]

In his attempts to stay neutral in the Hundred Sheep War that has decimated certain portions, and certain members, of the Pen community, Savage Dragon bravely seeks out a place to hide. Seeing as he has observed Wyvern in the middle of the battlefield for quite some time he decides that the Recuiter's Office must be empty.

 

Entering the hall that contains said office, he lunges down the hall way only to find Wyvern lunging down the same hallway in the opposite direction. After a brief period of tumbling, grumbling, and detangling himself from Wyvern's "armor" of fluffly mammals, Savage Dragon makes it to the door, with a strange peice of paper firmly attached to he left shoe.

 

And so he greets Silus for the first time after running into him, whilest hopping in the door on one foot, trying to read the wool and tarr covered application.

 

"Is this yours?" he asks as he crawls up off the floor a second time, "it's good. I'm Savage Dragon and let me say welcome to the pen, keep up the good work..."

 

he hands Silus his shoe with the app still attached and gives a reassuring nod of his head, which also serves the purpose of removing a few more feathers from his hair. he then dashes for the door, adding as he goes

 

"... and word of advice, keep your head down."

[Atrium]

Chapter 2

A few months passed and the two became very good friends. Syth began to look upon Elazule as a sister. They played many games and most of the time Syth would protect her from the “monsters” they were facing. He didn’t always because she said sometimes that she wanted to do it herself, which he was perfectly fine with.

They adventured all over the never ending castle, sometimes Elazule would be the instigator. She grew to love it as much as Syth did; adventuring, that is. As she was a resident of the castle, Syth’s father made sure Elazule learned the trick walls and trap doors and shortcuts necessary for protection in case of attack , and (she added silently to herself) to find Syth’s room and wake him up in the middle of the night for entertainment. Yes, she moved in quite fast. The first few months were pretty awkward, but by the fourth month, she felt right at home, feeling comfortable breaking Syth’s father’s rules and such.

The King, meanwhile, had made arrangements with her father that they would discuss with the two when they were a bit older. As an old friend to the Floras, Elazule’s parents got settled quicker than she, and Syth’s parents started to treat her as a second daughter. None of them, Syth, the Queen, or the King, would admit, however, that it was partly the loss of Jacki that attracted them to her so quickly. Syth’s brother Drake, was fairly indifferent to her. If she didn’t bother him, he left her alone as well.

A day came when Syth’s mother called him away from the lunch table via maid to speak with him in her room. He got up, confusedly, and wandered up to his parents’ room; the biggest one in the castle.

“Syth,” his mother began, sitting down. He sat beside her. “I wanted to tell you something very important.”

Syth suddenly became a little concerned. His first thought was that Elazule’s family was moving away. He didn’t allow himself to become paranoid, though, until he found out what his mother wanted.

“You’re going to have a baby brother Syth,” she said, smiling. “I’ll need you to start taking on a little responsibility. You will no longer be the youngest and we, your father and I, will expect you to protect your little brother.”

Syth brightened up at this. He loved playing the protector. A new little brother could be fun. He could teach him like Drake taught Syth, only a little different, disregarding the teachings Syth didn’t like or think were necessary. Elazule might be happy too!

“Elie!” Syth shouted, running down the hall back to lunch. “Elie! Come here!”

He had started calling her Elie some time in the past month and didn’t remember how, it just sort of started. Now Elazule came out of the kitchen in confusion. Syth stopped in front of her, catching his breath.

“Mom’s,” he panted. “Gonna have a baby!”

Elazule’s eyes widened in surprise and joy. She clasped her hands over her mouth girlishly.

“I’m gonna have a brother!” Syth said in a sing-song voice.

“A brother?!” Elazule practically shrieked. She calmed herself and cleared her throat.

Syth went back to the table happily to finish eating. A little brother is cool and all, but he was still hungry. Elazule questioned him about the baby while he ate.

Months passed and changes occurred. After eight years, the Flora family was going to produce another heir. Normally, families in their position (royalty) stopped after their second prince. Syth’s father, however, as his mother put it, was a ‘tamed lecher’; this also led to explain their meeting.

Plans were made and decorations were designed. The Flora household was transformed from a King’s castle to and oversized nursery. Presents flowed in from allied nations and family. They did everything but celebrate right up to the birth day.

 

Puck was born into the family in the evening around six moons, eight years after Syth. Syth looked at his brother with all the love Jacki gave him and decided he would protect Puck to the death (he’d heard knights say this about those they loved).

The celebration for Puck was almost as big as Syth’s. However, because of the circumstances, Syth’s was a bit bigger. Nonetheless, the castle was once again taken over by friends and family.

Syth wasn’t fond of crowds, so after he made his rounds, greeting those his mother wanted him to greet, he ran off with Elazule to hide. He would have gone to see Puck, but the crowd had beaten him to it, closing off his crib like a wooden door.

Elazule went with him, uncomfortable because she didn’t know anyone else. They traveled inside for food from the kitchen. There was a thirty-foot buffet outside, but they didn’t want party food, they wanted sandwiches. The maid inside got them each one and they were happy for the time being. Syth still really wanted to see Puck. They were extremely bored and restless to add to it. Syth wanted people to leave.

Then a miracle happened.

As Syth led Elazule out of the castle, he heard two voices. One was his mother’s voice, but the first he didn’t know.

“Thank you for the hospitality,” it said. “We will write you.” It was a man’s voice.

“You’re welcome here any time,” his mother replied politely. “Have a safe journey home.”

People were leaving! The party was coming to an end, finally. Syth smiled inside.

“Let’s go, hon,” another voice, female, was saying.

“Aww bu’ it’s only two suns,” a slurred voice argued.

Syth looked up at the stars. The moon was in the position implied; two suns. Syth suddenly realized how tired he was. He’d never stayed up to the morning hours before. His mother smiled at him.

“You can go to sleep now if you want,” she whispered. “I’ll take care of the guests.”

Syth nodded and gave her a hug. Elazule hugged her too and they traveled back inside. They parted ways at a set of stairs and said good-night. Syth was all too eager to sleep. The sooner he went to bed, the sooner he could wake up and see his new brother.