Short Al'traum Scenes

[Kayla]

SHORT SCENE ONE

“Look what I discovered Nyx!” an excited young Senka shouted from across the canyon's gap. In the pink and blue glow of the crystal cluster beside him, he held up what appeared to be a piece of one. “Fly over and come see!”

The younger girl shook her head. She nervously pushed a cluster of her green hair over one of her eyes. She held her ears folded inward toward her head and kept her arms wrapped around herself. “It is too far Ebos.”

He rolled his eyes and opened his red wings, gliding easily over to her. He even did a loop in the air. “Just because your foot is hurt does not mean you cannot fly. You have to learn sooner or later. I cannot always stay with you.”

“I know, I know. It is because you are a male. You have to go into hiding like Father.”

Ebos put a black hand on top of her head, ruffling the hair between her tiny, white horns. “Let us not talk of this now. Look.”

Nyx took the little piece of crystal into her hands, staring into the glow. “It is beautiful!”

“And more importantly it is powerful. This one can be absorbed. Perhaps it can heal your foot?” he suggested.

Her visible eye widened and she shoved the palm sized crystal piece back into his hands. “Mother did not teach me how. I could not.”

Ebos rolled his eyes and pressed it back into her palm. This time he held his hand on top of hers and intertwined their fingers. “Relax. Close your eyes. I will assist you.”

Nyx did as told. A low hum of energy traveled its way up her fingers and arms. It made its way to her chest and pulsated as if wrapping its invisible threads around her heart in a warm blanket of energy. Then it traveled down her body, shooting down her leg in a brilliant sensation of heat. She let out a little gasp of surprise. Never before had she experienced such a sensation. She tried to put a word to it but there just wasn't anything like it on their planet. Everything was too cold and even the glow from the brightest crystals couldn't compare. Her brother released his grip.

“There now how do you feel?”

She carefully balanced on one foot and flexed her ankle, rolling it in small circles. “I do not feel anything. I am cured! That was incredible!” Nyx looked down at the clear stone in her hand. It no longer held any energy at all. “But this looks so dead now.”

“Do not fret. It is a fact of life. Just as animals die so too can everything else.”

“What of us Brother? Will we?”

“One day Nyx, but not now,” Ebos said. He pointed to the ground. “If you bury it, it will return to Al'traum and return in another form. Everything helps everything else in the end.”

She shook her head and clutched it close to her heart. “It fixed me. I want to keep it.”

There was a pause and a begrudged sigh. “Alright, you may but remember that you should bury them otherwise.” Ebos paused and unclipped what appeared to be a ring of braided metal from his wrist. He placed it around Nyx's ankle and took the piece of crystal from his sister. With little magical effort he attached it and gave her a hug.

“I have to go now. Remember me. This will keep you safe and remind you of this day, Nyx. Remember that I love you.”

He turned to go. As he did Nyx turned the other way. She bit her lip to stop herself from sniffling. “Stupid male... Why must he leave me all alone?” she mumbled in misery.

(c) Katelyn "KaylaAlex" 2012

[Kayla]

SHORT SCENE 2

The soft pink and blue glow of the coastline’s crystal fragments made Ma’ibri’s coast look eerie compared to the surrounding darkness. Sounds echoed through the shadows as creatures went about their hunting. A bird’s shrill, shrieking song reverberated off of the island. A similar cry chimed back as the two called to one another in the lonely permanent night.

A lone figure leaned with his back against the glowing sand, creating a clear outline of his black and white body. He had his tail wrapped around a small rodent. He held it over his chest as he watched it attempt to scurry through the air even though it was getting nowhere. He smirked. That’s what it got for being blind.

To his left there were a couple clusters of scraggly plants. Their dark, thorny leaves ranged from healthy to wilting and light grey. Survival of the fittest he supposed. His attention was grabbed by a pale pink light in the sky. It was alone and he found this odd. Normally they hunted in packs. Still, it looked large enough to be able to latch onto his face and he had no intention of wrestling a row of razor sharp teeth.

He closed his eyes in concentration and slowly two red wings slipped out of his back. The bottom edges of them shifted in shape, rippling as he flexed them. The rodent in his grip responded with a flail. The pink light drifted closer, moving at a faster and more excited pace. He tossed the creature to it and allowed his wings to disappear. It seized the rodent hungrily, wrapping its greedy tentacles around it.

The Senka male watched in amusement and rolled over onto his side, staring out past the glow of the beach at the ice beyond it. A sorrow wrapped its icy hand around his heart and clenched it tight. Somewhere out there was his sister. He just had yet to find her. A stale, almost vile, taste rested on his tongue. He felt sick but he wasn’t sure if it was from guilt or from the crunching of the rodent’s bones in the jellyfish’s mouth.

(c) Katelyn "KaylaAlex" 2012

[Deleted]

At first I was a little confused as to what the characters were (which made me interpret it a little wrong) But i really liked it. I liked the use of magic and the magic gem. How old is the girl/sister? I just want to make sure cause, depending on her age, the dialogue might not match it. Also, How far is the second scene from the first?

[Kayla]

The second scene is about a year or two from the first. The characters are a creature called a Senka which you can see HERE (click). They're people shaped and have black and white skin patterns. If you read the other post I did about setting development you'd have some information about their world and race.

The characters in the first scene are about 10 (Ebos) and 7 (Nyx) at that time. Keep in mind Senka are fully functional on their own at age 5 and age differently than humans. They speak very elevated/formal, which is probably why the dialogue seems stiff and unfitting.

[Deleted]

Thanks for all of the clarity. And it wasn't that it was stiff. It was that the sister sounded really young so I wanted to make sure. You know that she wasnt the equivalent of being fifteen or eighteen, but her age goes perfectly with the dialogue.

[Kayla]

No trouble. I'm glad her age no longer throws you. I did an interview with Ebos as well, pinpointing his age between the scenes and currently.