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Snowbird---8
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((Shizz Ivi, you just screwed me. Now I can't post cos it's so freakin awesome and deep. XD))
The spot from which the pillar of fire emanates is just at the edge of the horizon. All around the pillar, untouched by its intense heat is the stark nothingness of fresh fallen snow. Deep within the pillar of fire is a perfect cube of ice;a transparent prison. Frozen within,as if in mid flight ,is the mate of the bird of destiny. The bird of hope had been perched on the scorched tree far away with his mate....but,that was before the snowfall and the pillar of fire...
The snowbird breaks its beautiful form. Its wings spread gracefully as it soars into the air with its tailfeathers flowing in the air currents. Snowflakes are drawn to it as it glides through the clouds, bringing winter in its wake. It is searching.
Destiny the fourth Snowbird spotted her mates ahead, tiny specks of white almost like the ephemeral snowflakes around.The Snow Goddess Krystal had made a gift of five Snowbirds to Man. She had named them Love, Hope,Destiny and Life.
Each Snowbird was a Guardian of the essence of its name.Krystal had given Man three clear instructions:
1. Take good care of the Snowbirds
2.Beware of the SnowRavens Desire and Misery
3.Should an emergency arise any Snowbird could invoke the Pillar of fire by singing a Siren Song.
It was probably time to heed those instructions as Destiny had spotted two dark spots hovering way up in the otherwise pristine blue skies two days earlier. Instinct told her this meant the SnowRavens were closing in on the location of Krystal's Snow Palace.
It was a place of eternal winter. Trees flourished without the need of sunlight. Snow was all that was needed. As fire ripped through the sky, the patch of white disappeared beneath it, revealing lush green grass. The grass, however, unused to such radiating heat, wilted and died away as more and more of the field disappeared.
The song of the snowbird played through the vast world, spreading in all directions, ensuring eternal winter.
Though, every being loses its power at one point, and down the gracious bird fell, exhausted from its beautiful song.
Destiny heard the Life's Siren Song and knew that life as it had been known to Man and Snowbirds alike would now have to change.The feared Time of Retribution was finally upon them.Somewhere beyond the vast canvas of pure white Man had broken his word and had sheltered Desire little realizing her twin Misery would soon grace their lives.The appearance of the Pillar of Fire did little to reassure the frantic beating of her heart which seemed to be playing a drum roll welcoming oblivion and death.
Pure,soft,loving flakes of snow caressed her feathers as she arced gracefuly as she changed direction and swooped down to the spot closest to the Pillar of Fire. She spotted the form of Life looking like something that had been tossed aside .
She gently clutched Life with the claws of her feet and lifted her away into the sky where snowflake lovingly caressed her back to full strength. Destiny felt the change and released Life and they flew alongside just close enough to the Pillar but at a safe enough distance
As Life stared into the Pillar of certain death, she chanted a soft melody in the language of Men. "A prophet am I, a future I see,
A future of the Undesirable fiends
Plaguing the fields of snow
With bitter greens of woe.
Where life as we know it shall cease,
Only to be replaced by rancid disease."
The murmuring song echoed across the frosty fields as Life herself fly began to fly towards the Pillar of Fire.
In a village of man, perched two birds, both the colour of night. Bright orange were their beaks, bright orange were their feet. Humans were around them, enchanted by their odd appearance.
Man had only known seven colors; the stark whiteness of fresh fallen snow, the intense red,yellow & orange of the fire and the Sun, the blue of clear skies, the green of leaves and the furtive fleeting black seen amidst the dying embers of a fire hidden between ash and cinders.Seeing the birds in such glossy black tugged at a new heartstring man didn't realize was inside his chest. He felt both happiness and a lack of it . This lack of happiness which man decided to call sadness seemed to indicate the depths of happiness although in inverse. It was this powerful blend of emotion that felled man to his emotional knees. He liked it, he WANTED it!
Observant at ever it was now Destiny who sang in the tongue of man:
What the future may hold
When fate is crossed by Desire
No mortal may be told
For what may seem cause for much glee
May often end in the lap of Misery
((... My computer died last night and I lost my post. -.-'))The chant of her prophecy died away as Life flew closer still to the Pillar. An ember reached her cold wings, defrosting an area of snow by the village, bringing a fire that destroyed one man's home along with the man himself.
Life, of course, knew the day would come where Man would betray what it had set out for. She knew she would end it eventually. But she wouldn't yet. She would wait, and watch them suffer for their betrayal before destroying them completely.
Man has always been superstitious.It didn't take the wisest to realize that doom was upon them.
But amongst the wisest of the wise was a seven year old, Karl. Karl the Silent One he was called because he rarely spoke. But when he did they did precisely as told for he was always right.
Karl had been equally fascinated when he'd seen the SnowRavens at first. But soon after the awe had vaned it was replaced with a nagging doubt that their presence meant doom. Shivers ran down his spine like the icy cold water droplets that find their way through clothing at the neckline when snow melts.
Karl knew one thing though, Man was resilient!
He started thinking, "If there is a problem , there is definitely a solution and I won't rest till I manage to find out what it is! "
.............
Krystal gazed into her viewing wall filled with mixed emotions.
"I trusted them!", she cursed inwardly,"How difficult is it to shoo a bird away?!!"
But then she grinned when she realized it was impossible to 'just chase' the SnowRavens away.
Man's hopes rested squarely on Karl's shoulders. She just hoped he realized that all could be sacrified except HOPE!
Man knew not the true form of Love. Love had found a way of snaking herself into the hearts of man, yet falling out before they could truly grasp the luscious bird. She flew away, swearing to never return. Then came the ravens, and all their filth. Love became twisted to Desire. Desire for a forbidden love between the two forms of Man. Disgust, it brough to others. They knew not of the sensation.
Man had became sinful over time. Desire had stolen their souls. Misery plagued them. None but the pale, frail Karl knew of the reasons for sudden infatuaion and grief they experienced.
Life flew closer still. So ready to plunge to death.
"Run, child," she whispered, voice echoeing to the village. "For I will spare your life."
Tossing and turning in the twilight hours of deepest sleep Karl dreamed of a soft voice saying,"Run Child! Run! I am the Snowbird Life and I will spare but one life in the end, yours!"He woke up with a start. He had always trusted his instincts and as he wasn't given to normal fanciful dreaming , something told me he'd better heed the voice.
He'd been pensive over the last two days just after a thought struck him. Man had just been man till the Queen Krystal had bestowed the gifts of the songbirds to them. They were the guardians of virtues she seemed to want Man to understand better.
If he understood one thing clearer now it was of man's weakness for Greed and Desire. That one SnowRaven seemed to be capable of the minutest changes like the fine shades between Yellow and Red.
Each one of these shades was a shadow of despair much worser than the one they'd already experienced.
He remained optimistic, for is it not after the darkest day that we greet Dawn. The voice had given him a clue. He had to now find the missing links that connected Queen Krystal to the Snowbirds and SnowRavens even if it meant his Life , as without hope what was the point of Life!
>>>>>>
Queen Krystal smiled as she sat watching her viewing wall of smooth bluish ice. "I've underestimated the boy!" she thought, "He's already on the right track of thought!".
But in her heart she was worried that the seven year old Karl might end up being just as naive as she had been when she'd first encountered the Snowbirds when she was seven, twenty summers ago!
Year of the Snow Fox, Summer :
"Mom!", called out seven year old Krystal, "tell me the story about the Snowbird Hope"
It is Summer, the time for 2 weeks of change. Every Summer they'd leave the SnowPalace to visit the Royal aviary and walk through its meadow.
"Sure,dearest!" .....
"Hope was pure. She loved those who cherished her in their time of need. She made them see the light in the darkness that fogged their thoughts clouded their judgement. She gave them something to look forward to. "Hope was a gentle spirit. She brought peace to the lives of Men. Unless they did not believe. She left them be, if they turned their backs to her.
"One day, all of mankind turned their backs on Hope as war had broken out. Many lives were not spare by Life. As a few of bee feathers drifted away, so did the lives of men. They forgot Hope. And so Hope faded away with Love. Unlike Love, she did not return."
For many years Man suffered. His numbers dwindled. Not many children were born. The few who did either died in childbirth or were born mutilated.Then one day, a little girl was born. The picture of perfectness. Her skin as smooth as fallen snow and her hair the same sparkle the Sun would make at the edge of clouds. It seemed to be a sign that Man was finally forgiven if they'd truly learned something from all that suffering. They named her 'Hope' and the name was apt, for life slowly limped back to normalcy.
"But, Mom!", asked Krystal, "I don't get it! If Hope the Snowbird had left , never to return, how could the young girl make a difference"
"That, my dear" said her mother, "you'll realize when you are finally ready to become Queen after me"
And that she did as her mother passed and she rose to power. She was a gentle spirit. Hope recided within them. ~
Another man fell in the center of the villiage while he watched the ravens. It happened so suddenly, it appeared he had simply slipped. But as his blood spilt onto the snow, more and more realized he would never rise. They pitied his family.
A feather burned away. And another.
Weeks later, his wife committed the sin of suicide, unable to be without her husband.
They were all dying, Karl realized. Time was short.
Flee, child. And you may keep your life, whispered the voice.
Karl remembered the 'Three Warnings'.Man had failed Queen Krystal on the first two. But what about the enigmatic third warning? What was the role of that tall Pillar of fire that the Queen deemed so important so as to state it would be summoned in emergency.
......
Destiny knew why Hope had been taken by the Pillar of Fire. She guessed Queen Krystal finally knew how to ensure another chance could be given to Man.
But it all depending on Karl and Life now. Was the boy brave enough to do what he had to do when the time came?
The boy in question stared off into the distance, noting the pillar of light. How strange it was, that light. It gave off a brilliant aura. "Karl..." a voice breathed. He turned. A girl, his age, possibly younger, stood before him, her soft blonde curls falling to her shoulders. Opalecent blue eyes stared at him, wide.
"What do you see?"
Anfisa, he recalled her name being. Last name, he couldn't remember. He pointed at the spiraling light in the distance.
Anfisa narrowed her eyes, a pondering expression on her face.
"What is that?"
Karl merely shrugged.
"I am not so sure, the Pillar is so intensly bright!", replied Karl, "But way up there where the clouds part can you see something circling the Pillar?""Hmm!Ye-es!", she replied hesitantly at first, but then with growing conviction she asked with growing amazement, "Is that a bird? Karl!! Is that a SNOWBIRD??!!"
((just a side note about grammar; if your using something like "...!/?/." you don't need a comma after the quotation mark.))Karl shrugged, resuming his placid nature. Anfisa frowned, though smiled once more
"Let's go look!" she suggested. Before he had a chance to reply, she grabbed his gloved hand with her own hands, and she raced through the snow, Karl stumbling after her.
((Thanks!Will do... was 'almost' sure I was wrong when I was doing it...will back trace and edit...could you do the same with (a few stood out quite prominently) :
desolate (instead of desolated),
bird covers(instead of cover)
sleet being rain+snow doesn't fall as flakes..but as this is fiction it is okay,
need for sunlight(IO of),
turn their backs on her (IO to)
Anfisa frowned, though smiling (IO smile)
great story weaving so far Ivi! ...I'll continue below for now...we'll edit our grammar when the story is at its 20th post, deal? :-)))
((Oh my God. I'm STUPID. >_<"
I should have caught those. I'm sorry. I'm on my iPod and it has the auto spell-check. I didn't see all the stuff changes. *goes to edit*))
((No no, dear Ivi...editing can be done later at leisure. I am on my Blackberry and can understand the trade off .I guess we are so enthralled by the almost perfect story weaving we can't get all the grammar straight...we'll sit back and edit and even discuss a little later..I'll even want an autographed print out after post 50 as a souvenir of very good collaborating dear friend :-))
A little later they were close enough to the Pillar to feel its heat, but at a safe enough distance.Karl looked up and there high up in the sky he could make out the Snowbird. It now clearly looked as if she was allowing the Pillar to agonizingly singe feather by feather in what looked like a narrowing spiral into the Pillar and certain death.
He understood one thing. For some reason this Guardian was bent on putting an end to one of the gifts Queen Krystal had bestowed man with! He stood up bold and straight, cupped his hands to his mouth and hollered, "Oh Noble Bird! Please Listen to my plea!"
Sure enough the Snowbird stopped, such was the purity of faith, kindness and wisdom in the boy's voice. She gracefully swooped down close to where he was standing. He boldly extending his arm and she gently perched her self on it so that they were eye to eye.
"Oh Noble Guardian, must you do that?" he asked, tears in his eyes as he noticed the badly burnt feathers.
"Oh, Noble and compassionate child! The only way out is for Life to end" said Life.
"Then let my Life be taken, if you consider such a sacrifice worthy" said Karl.
It was as if the whole Universe stopped for a millisecond as Anfisa, Life, Destiny and Queen Krystal watching from afar realized the boy had done it! But now for the final test? Would Life spare him or actually test him?
((:D You've don't brilliantly yourself. it bugs me that I didn't find those mistakes earlier. They irk me... Very much. Mainly because I come from a family of second-language learners, and my mom has horrible grammar. >_<"))
(( Dear Ivi, we'll do one thing instead. As this is just an area for practicing or making a rough draft, we'll help each other and others by letting our mistakes remain, pointing them out to one another in the discussion area and boldly allowing them to remain both here and there for others to learn from our mistakes even if we don't...you just might catch me putting in commas again 'in the heat of thumb typing' :-) best wishes again P))
((Thank you.))"Should I spare your life," began the bird., "you would remain in tact along with your led ones who still believe in Hope, who disappeared from our world. Love will find you."
Anfisa frowned, as any normal child would. She took a tentative step towards the boy, breath wavering. "And if he decides to die?" she asked quietly.
"Then all of humanity will rise and become a society in which he who has power controls all. In that society, no man would be safe. Discrimination will be highly prominent. Vanity as well. Ravens will triumph. And the snowbirds will fade, but never quite disappear."
"O noble Bird!" asked Karl, " If you spare my life , I don't think I can remain in peace with myself unless you promise me you will stop hurting yourself!""Sure my dear" the bird clucked," a bit of attention seeking is required to make people listen right?!"
Tension eased and although the semblance of a smile broke out on Karl's face, he being the serious one, it was Anfisa who broke out in giggles.
"I do it with Mom all the time" she said, " and always feel bad about it later!"
"Man needed to see the gravity of the error committed " said Life. "Yes! It is sad lives had to be sacrified " she continued , "but in the larger plan of things it was a sad requirement!"
"And you!Brave young Man!" Life asked " what took you so long?!"
Karl was shell shocked! But then Life said she was just playing around with the boy she still saw in him!
"Karl!" she commanded, "never ever let the boy inside you run away!"
"O Noble Bird!" replied Karl, "I think I know what you mean!Thank you!"
"Go now. Be free and flee your wretched village. Do not look back. Take Anfisa. She is a bright, young soul with promising talent. Do not look back. Build a land where Man one day might find sanctuary after they realize their sins," Life commanded. The boy nodded. The bird took off, leaving behind a wiser child, and a very confused girl, who, in all essence, was still a little girl. Karl, returning to his quiet nature, took Anfisa's hand, and ran to the snow covered forests.
HOPE /Queen Krystal's Palace:Meanwhile at Queen Krystal's palace...
"what do you think of that Hope?" Queen Krystal asked her trusted adviser Hope.
Hope was no less beautiful than when she was born but exuded not arrogance in her beauty but rather something that made you want to be by her side. She had an air of simplicity and benevolence that Queen Krystal had learnt to mimic to avoid looking cruel when compared to her aide.
Hope had remained silent for quite some time before she answered in her husky soft voice that reminded Queen Krystal of her Mother's warmth, the taste of honey and the warmth of Summer all at once every single time she heard it.
Knowing the effect she had on people Hope limited her interaction and now she just said three words, "Very promising indeed!".
Queen Krystal wanted more than that even if she had to concentrate to avoid the confusion Hope's voice created and she said so quite curtly.
"The future of the boy and Man as such is now secure and holds promise" elaborates Hope.
While the elaborate version didn't really serve to satisfy her numerous questions, Queen Krystal knew the virtue of patience. She dismissed Hope and returned to her bed chamber for what she felt was a well deserved nap.
Hope returned back to her chamber and finally shed her poise of grace and attitude of comfort. She pulled up her skirt and yes, the long spiral shaped birthmark she'd had for as long as she could remember was still all red , painful and throbbing!
She was an intelligent enough girl to realize there was some link between her birthmark's soreness and the Pillar of Fire, for once she gazed upon the Pillar of fire the first think that occurred to her was that her birthmark looked just the same. Little did she expect it start throbbing and being a bother like this.
The Village :
The last Human had fallen and all the village had been razed to the ground by fire that seemed to appear out of nowhere. The Snowravens hung on for just a few more heartbeats, obviously their own, as no human heart had been spared.
There was nothing else left for them to do . With a final look of disgust directed towards the carnage they were to leave behind the SnowRaven kicked off and with wings flapping they rose leaving a trail of ashes slowly trickling off their feathers.
The song is a Siren's song.
The storm rages on, though the sleet falls in gentle flakes. The serenity is breathtaking.
A sound from the distance is heard. A patch of bright orange flame rips the sky. The snowstorm dissipates.