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Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Jun 21, 2009 10:08:40 GMT -5
The Acetanium Lighthouse thrust into the air like a silent guardian, a watcher made of stone. It could not move, could not intercede in the events of the world, only offer safety in its own right, too often ignored. Even now the sentinel's beacon was growing dim, nearly lost in the fresh rays of the rising sun. A long shadow stretched from the tower, and a bright morning light made every blade of grass shine.
There was a small shore on connecting to the sea, sandy and secluded, but just as much of it was rimmed by rocky cliffs. Everything looked brand new, untouched, as another night was chased away.
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Noro
Freshman
[M:7500]
I believe my fate lies with ice, though I desire the deep reaches of fire.
Posts: 244
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Post by Noro on Jun 21, 2009 12:54:13 GMT -5
Azuintaeya breathed in deeply. The taste of saltwater was dominating, but she pushed it to the side in order to take in the rest of the world around her. The natural earthy-metallic scent of the rocks swirled around in her head with the thick haze of the dew covered grass. She drank in all of it, clearing her own head.
After a moment of awe, Azu let her hand fall lightly out of Angelo's and proceeded forward slowly on all fours. The grass was longer to her this way, reaching past her shoulders.
She froze for a second, a complete statue, then burst into a run at full speed. Her laughter rang through the air like bells. the wind rushed through her hair, blowing it back. It was almost as if the steady breeze rolling in from the sea had fueled her with energy and she didn't know what to do with it. Azu's muscles tensed and she sprinted faster, adding height to her leaps until she was practically flying.
Still in a slight frenzy she turned her direction towards Angelo, who probably thought she was crazy by now. She jumped over him from behind and landed in a sprawled heap at his feet. Azu shook with a fit of uncontrollable laughter before she could contain herself enough to speak. Finally, she turned over and looked at Angelo, face full of her immense joy.
"I believe,"she began, calming down slightly, "I am content."
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Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Jun 22, 2009 16:10:11 GMT -5
"Azu!" he said, even his shout faint, because Angelo had misinterpretted her energy as panic. After a few steps he realized her motive, however, and moved to join her. He ran, but his gait was deliberate, more of a jog than an all out burst of energy. No matter how refreshing the land around the lighthouse was, it could not restore him fully. He was still weary from the journey.
Even so, Angelo's pale eyes sparkled at her joy, which turned out to be infectuous. he laughed with her, shaking his head for some reason. "You..." he said, but he had started talking before he had thought, and thus was unable to finish the sentence coherently. Instead, he simply answered her statement. "This place will always have a deep meaning for me, and I am glad it can also restore you."
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Noro
Freshman
[M:7500]
I believe my fate lies with ice, though I desire the deep reaches of fire.
Posts: 244
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Post by Noro on Jun 22, 2009 17:54:54 GMT -5
Azu sat up and hugged her knees to her chest. She laughed again when she saw Angelo shaking his head at her. She was overcome. By what though, she wasn't sure. It was a simple feeling, peaceful and completely electric at the same time. She felt it flowing through her and knew there was nothing she could do about it. It didn't bother her; she simply acknowledged it and accepted it as a new part of her, hoping it would stay.
Azuintaeya looked past Angelo to the sea. The wind still blew slightly, carrying with it traces of salt that lingered as it passed through her hair. Her ears flicked a little, but other than that, there was no sign that it affected her any more than the blades of grass against her legs. Her smile, normally absent from her face, was natural and welcoming. It sooted her well.
After watching an osprey that had flown in over the rocks to land near the lighthouse, she broke out of her meditative state. Instead, her mood took a turn towards curiousity. Her gaze locked onto the light house, she turned her face to Angelo. Her eyes glinted misheviously and the corners of her mouth were still angled upwards. She slowly rose till she was standing.
"Have you ever been in the lighthouse?" Azu spoke, and even though she sensed fatigue in him, she couldn't contain her urge to move.
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Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Jun 23, 2009 13:10:11 GMT -5
His gaze followed hers to the lighthouse, and it occured to him that he had not. Her curiousity kindled Angelo's, and he nodded at her unspoken suggestion.
"Would you like to explore it? I have only seen the outside."
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Noro
Freshman
[M:7500]
I believe my fate lies with ice, though I desire the deep reaches of fire.
Posts: 244
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Post by Noro on Jun 23, 2009 13:16:06 GMT -5
"That would be nice... Are you still tired?" she ventured. Her tail was flicking from side to side rapidly. She was still a little bit calmer than she was a few seconds ago, now that she knew an exploration was planned. She felt fine enough to rest if Angelo needed to. He had been hospitable enough to her; she felt the need to return the favor.
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Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Jun 24, 2009 18:14:47 GMT -5
Angelo shrugged, face taking that remote cast again, as if he were distracted. "I am, but nothing can be done for it. Let us go and see. Something so ancient is bound to have secrets."
He started his way toward it, glancing back to make sure he was not leaving her behind. As long as they stayed in this general area, he would be fine. There was enough of a connection to keep them both safe, and he did not sense anything dark or demonic in nature. Any other danger the two of them could easily handle, he believed.
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Noro
Freshman
[M:7500]
I believe my fate lies with ice, though I desire the deep reaches of fire.
Posts: 244
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Post by Noro on Jun 25, 2009 8:06:27 GMT -5
Azu followed Angelo at first, but then decided to come up beside him instead. She walked quietly, unsure of what to say. She really didn't have anything to say.
The lighthouse began to draw nearer, its details more visible. The crumbling ruins seemed so fragile that the mere wind would knock it down, but then again, there was a strange sense of strength that seemed to pulse from it. As if the lighthouse were defiant from mother nature and refused to fall. It had to be magic, but the thought still moved her. She took an immense liking to the lighthouse, though it was old.
There were vines growing up the side of it, seeping into cracks and flowing out of them, living off of the beacon. Azu tried to look for a way into the lighthouse, but couldn't find one. She turned to Angelo, wondering if he could sense something she couldn't.
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Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Jun 26, 2009 11:37:54 GMT -5
Angelo scrutinized the weathered base, moving slowly around it. He greatly respected old buildings. It seeemed as if, after all those years, they had absorbed the experiences of the people who had been there. The broken down structures almost seemed to gain a consciousness of their own; a simple one, nostaglic.
He raised on finger to her in a silent gesture to wait, and then he walked into the building. Not through any doorway, or opening. Angelo walked through the solid, slightly rotted stone and disappeared. For a few moments, there was nothing, and then a yard or two away a piece of the wall slid aside. He poked his head out, a faint smile of triumph on his face.
"I found the door."
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Noro
Freshman
[M:7500]
I believe my fate lies with ice, though I desire the deep reaches of fire.
Posts: 244
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Post by Noro on Jun 26, 2009 12:07:47 GMT -5
Azu had gotten too used to him to even bother questioning his abilities. She simply smiled and advanced on into the structure, lightly brushing past Angelo in the doorway. It was interesting and had a damp smell to it. But it was extremely comforting at the same time. The lighthouse seemed to be one of those buildings that would be inhabited by ghosts. Not the malevolent ones, though. More like the ones that simply had no where to go. She could almost hear the voices of a mother perhaps, who had died old, but still wasn't quite ready to let go, singing her last lullaby to her already gone children.
Einini, einini Codaligi, codaligi Einini, einini Codaligi, codaligi Codaligi, codaligi Cois a klai mau, Cois a klai mau, Codaligi, codaligi Cois a klai mau, Cois a klai mau...
It was a simple, somewhat repetitive lullaby she had heard many times when she was young. It was so long ago, though, she couldn't remember who it was that sang it to her. It reverberated in her head as she began to wander around the lighthouse.
The floor was stone and seemed warm under her bare feet. There was a various assortment of weeds growing through the haphazardly lain slabs. They didn't seem like they were intruding by growing there. They actually seemed rather sweet in their existence, somehow. In every weed, there is a flower in disguise. The quote popped into her head; but like the lullaby, she couldn't quite place its origins.
She kept walking. The lighthouse wasn't very wide at its base. Soon she ran into a set of stairs that spiraled around the wall to the next floor. Each stone step was inlaid into the core of the building and had a set of designs carved into them. Azu bent down momentarily to touch then before beginning her ascent up the stairs. She had barely reached the sixth step before the stone had crumbled beneath her. Her breath caught as she quickly dug her nails into the wall beside her.
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Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Jun 28, 2009 21:41:23 GMT -5
Angelo was very sensitive to the spiritual. Few things dead were hidden from him. The melody was soft and beautiful, and though he could not understand the words, it reminded him of days long past. Days that were like delicate photos in his mind, so weathered that to even touch them was to destroy them.
He was examining a rusting old table when Azu fell, a finely worked piece of spun wire. Angelo heard the staircase crack and the slap of her hands catching the stone. He turned, moving to help, but found that the action was already over. He shook his head and walked over, a smile still gracing his face.
"Have care. I would be sad to see you hurt here," he said. That glow surrounded him again, and he held out his hands in an offer to catch her, if she wanted to let go.
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Noro
Freshman
[M:7500]
I believe my fate lies with ice, though I desire the deep reaches of fire.
Posts: 244
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Post by Noro on Jun 29, 2009 16:05:44 GMT -5
Yes, it would be terribly unfortunate, wouldn't it? Azu thought almost bluntly. She looked down into Angelo's arms and was about to jump, but something held her back. The step that had crumbled under her weight had taken a few other parts of the staircase down with it. She looked across until she saw the next step up and felt another overwhelming sense of curiousity flow through her. "How about you come and join me, instead?" Azu offered back. She dug the nails on her other hand into the wall managed to get enough leverage to scuffle across the wall and onto the other stair. She stood up lightly and poised as if ready to spring should this one fall from beneath her. The platform stayed, though and Azu looked back somewhat triumphantly. She beckoned to Angelo with a flick of her tail and cocked her head to the side a little, smirking. "Are you coming?"
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Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Jun 29, 2009 21:28:21 GMT -5
Angelo nodded and grinned, accepting her challenge. He moved up the stairs after her quickly, his feet barely touching the stone stairs. He jumped over the gap and landed next to her, and the stair did not even shudder at his landing.
"I must have lost more weight than I had thought," he said with a shrug, passing off the phenomenon as something light. There was a beam of light coming from the next floor, suggesting some opening that let in the day. Motes danced as they crossed it, swirled and stirred by the presence of the strangers.
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Noro
Freshman
[M:7500]
I believe my fate lies with ice, though I desire the deep reaches of fire.
Posts: 244
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Post by Noro on Jul 1, 2009 11:37:21 GMT -5
((I am extremely irritated right now... I had my laptop taken away and my mother said she's not going to give it back for a week, so now i'm on her computer, since she's not home. I swear i logged on yesterday and posted back, but when i got on today, it wasn't here... do you have any idea how mad I am?))
Azu stepped gingerly over the remaining stairs and looked upon the source of the light. Across from her was a wall with a fair amount missing from it. The opening resembled a large ceiling to floor window and immediately called caught her interest. She walked over to the edge and struggled to keep her breath as she looked over the edge. The view was amazing. The sun was low in the sky, but it appeared as if it weren't ready to set yet. She watched as osprey and seagulls flew in indistinct patterns over the many air currents; the backdrop behind them, a mixture of blues, purples, and the beginnings of pink tinges. The seaspray was near enough to taste, but not quite near enough to cover her again. Azu leaned lightly against the openings border and sighed deeply. "You should come see this," she spoke softly towards Angelo without turning her head. Even the malevolent looking cliffs below no longer seemed dangerous, simply misunderstood. Azu smiled at the thought.
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Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Jul 5, 2009 21:11:56 GMT -5
Angelo followed her steps, as intrigued as she was at the marvelous landscape before them. It was odd that this tower, this lighthouse, was empty. Who would leave such a scene when one had the chance to stare at it at any time? But perhaps that was it. Day after day, the beauty would become mundane, even boring. So maybe after many years, it would be as easy to leave as the crumbling home. No doubt the lighthouse was once as majestic. Why was it that nature never decayed, only the works man made with it? Not that he'd ever want it to.
Not a very talkative person, Angelo returned her grin but said nothing, content to watch the bobbing of the ocean and its gulls.
As the sun set, several occupants of the lighthouse awoke. Large hairy bats, on their way out into the soon-coming night, heard intruders in their home. Not only intruders, but a fresh meal! The hungry beasts started squealing to better see, flying down from their high perches and coming at the the two of them with stretched fangs.
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