From alt.pub.dragons-inn Wed Nov 2 16:56:30 1994 Xref: netcom.com alt.pub.dragons-inn:7847 Path: netcom.com!ix.netcom.com!netcomsv!decwrl!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!math.ohio-state.edu!caen!crl.dec.com!crl.dec.com!jac.zko.dec.com!leggy.zk3.dec.com!orb!not-for-mail From: hutch@ibeam.jf.intel.com (Steve Hutchison) Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [KAN] A Year and a Day (1) Date: 27 Oct 1994 21:53:05 -0000 Organization: Duchy of Wabesylvan Obspauk Lines: 667 Sender: news@Orb.Nashua.NH.US Message-ID: X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL11] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Joy belongs to Liralen Li; Raphael belongs to Bernie Hsiung (who has vanished to the realm of the PostGrad Gnomes). They are used by permission. All of 'Raelf belong to me no matter what name they happen to be going by at the moment. This story is copyrighted (1994) by Stephen Hutchison. Permission is granted for the distribution of this story on the usual alt-net channels and for archival but all other rights, including repost, are reserved to the author. = == === == = It was dark outside the wall of the world. The only light, the only point of reference in the nothing, was provided by a tiny crack in the wall. The fog-tendrils of reality that leaked out made a perfect sphere, a lure and a beacon for anything that lived out here, in the hard cold emptiness between. A blur of malice and emptiness lurched away from the opening, back into the concealment of the nothing. Someone stepped through the crack. He appeared human enough, if you ignored the wings that extended from his back, each more than twice his height. The wings, and the light -- it wasn't so much blocked by his body as magnified by it. Raphael hung poised, wings extended. The malice shrouded itself in the surrounding gloom, then suddenly moved towards him. He swept his hand down, gathering the light into a lance that he held ready. "Thou may'st not come here," he said gently. The thing lurched into the sphere of reality and Raphael almost winced, seeing it for what it really was. It blurred to his left, and bounced off the sound of chimes and laughter. It blurred to the right, and ricocheted off the sunlight gilding a feather tied in the hair of a child, back into the dark. The echo of a mother's joyful laughter followed it as far as the edge of nothing. The thing whirled along lines of stressed nonbeing and approached slowly, a stalking malevolence. "I tell thee twice, thou may'st not come here." Raphael drew on the Fire of the Beacon and the lance became solid. His enemy struck again, growing claws like shards of ice and the edge of shadows. The lance snapped down and around in a circle, shattering claws and melting shadows. Light poured through him, tearing away the cloaking dark. What the light revealed, fled in panic along the hollow lines between. "It's gone, it's gone," a voice said behind him, sing-song. "But why did it think it could come here? What did it want? It wasn't a Reaverspawn, but it was doing their work. Though I don't understand why it was trying to torment that vampire." "Raphael," the voice said, laughing, "come back inside the world and let us fix this hole." The singer drew him back, and he pulled in the reality that had leaked to make a plug, to seal the tiny breach in the world. The light smoothed under his hand, gilding the tiny blond hairs on his arm. Something inside stirred -- the skin was the color of pale white marble, and that seemed wrong somehow. It seemed like it should be tanned a dark golden brown. Raphael shook his head abruptly. Something had just awakened in him, something he had borrowed too long ago. "I think it's time to give you back," he said, looking at his pale hand where it rested on the world wall. ======= A year and a day -- one of the more common ritual timespans. But Erik wanted it to be a day shorter. No respect for the greater rhythms, and that was a real surprise. The man used to live with elves, he should be used to things taking their own sweet time. Maybe it's just impatience. 'Raelf sighed, walking into the big circular room that had no doors. The safest way to keep strangers and guests from wandering into your private room: don't lock the door, just don't have one. He picked up the garden bucket and walked across the sand floor, stopping to water the plants that Raye had collected. Dozens on dozens of tropical flowers. Blue and silver orchids, a gift from an admirer on Catheya. Next to that, a waist high spray of orange veined leaves the shape of human hands, green-almost-black on top and white underneath. It had no name -- nobody lived on the world where it was found. Beyond, a spray of gold and brown fern, with a thready, top-heavy plume. The smell from the fern was too sour and sweet, a little over-ripe. The smell triggered a memory but it vanished again before he could think about it. He watered the fern, then stared blankly at the empty water bucket. Something had just gone missing. Nothing specific, nothing that made sense. It was like ... He hissed in frustration. "'Raelf old boy, you gotta get your lives in order again." He put down the water bucket and wandered around the garden, thinking. In the center of the room two shallow bowl-shaped indentations marked the resting places, his and Raye's. If you stepped into the pocket of magical reality that pooled in the bottom of hers, there was a castle. His held the image of the island where he had been raised. A decent simulation, surprising at times. He stepped down into the bowl and he was on the beach. Right now it was slightly overcast, and a cool wind was blowing inland. Every twenty seconds or so, the area shook a little farther into one of the five elements: fire, water, air, earth, void. Then it went back to the "real" mundane world. Usually it wasn't dramatic enough to notice, except that it would really mess up any non-'kan unfortunate enough to wander in. Another reason there wasn't a door. 'Raelf purred quietly to himself, remembering playing in the sand, throwing water-balls, lying in the sun with his grandpa. This wasn't a bad place. Maybe his son was enjoying being raised in the original now. He heard a noise behind him -- Kev, on a skateboard, the wheels glowing blue with the Surface rune, so they wouldn't sink into the sand. He was sixteen, right now, the image of carelessness. He had a TrailBlazers baseball cap jammed down on his black curly hair, and a yellow-and-green plaid shirt over a long-sleeved brown wool tunic over shredded blue jeans. And Doc Martens. 'Raelf winced. It was way too hot for that outfit. Kev grinned, reading his mind. <> Kev asked. <> 'Raelf said. <> <> <> <> Kev grinned. <> <> 'Raf's voice said from behind them. 'Raf and Lex dropped in from nowhere, materializing on the sand. 'Raelf sighed when he saw that they were wearing posing trunks. 'Raf was in pure satyr shape, no hint of lion this time, and the image of masculine perfection, if you like goatboys. Lex was the fully-human image, tanned darker, hair blonder, but otherwise just as perfect. 'Raelf made a gagging noise in the back of his throat. <> <> Raf said. <> <> Kev said. <> <> 'Raf said. <> <> Lex grinned. <> <> 'Raelf growled. He sprinted across the sand to the surf, then dove into the water to let the cold shock to his skin bring him to full awareness. He surfaced and swam for a while, then body-surfed in towards shore. Something was coming clear to him: he had been injured, trapped in timefolding, for too long. Onshore, Kev was acting as judge for 'Raf and Lex while they posed, comparing identical bicep measurements. 'Raelf stood back letting the water drip to the sand. <<'Raf, you know those goat feet are a real disadvantage,>> he drawled. <> 'Raf started to argue, but he was interrupted. <> said a light elvish voice from the edge of the palm-tree forest. In the shadows, the grey-green of his cloak blurred his outline, but when he pulled back the hood and stepped into the sunlight the red of his hair stood out like a small bonfire. <> <> 'Raf growled. <<_SHE_ is the only one who gets to call me that.>> He sulked, and 'Raelf laughed and scratched the protesting satyrlion on the horns. 'Raf shoved, hard, with those horns, and Kev tackled him. They ended up all collapsed to the sand. <> Miro said to 'Raelf. <> 'Raelf shrugged, and let himself revert to the shape he was born with -- a humanoid cat woven from the Five Elements, with short yellow-gold fur. He looked a little ragged, though, covered with scars and scratches from a fight, not yet healed. The world around them flickered deep into Ocean, birds were fish and trees were seaweed. The salt tang of the water carried stories from other shores, recorded stories, not new. The simulation could only be so good, after all. 'Raelf waited a second for the surroundings to change back from Water, then looked steadily, not blinking, at Miro. The elf just smiled and sat down. <> 'Raelf demanded. <> Miro answered him. <> <> Lex said, startled. <> <> Lex sat down beside Miro. <> Kev folded to his knees beside Lex and slid his arm around the big man's shoulders. <> <> Lex sagged backward, as Kev and Miro moved to catch him. <> 'Raelf said. <> <> 'Raf said, apologetically. <> 'Raelf muttered something really vile, and it fell from the air and scuttled across the sand, but Miro impaled it on one of his swords and it evaporated. He shook his head at 'Raelf. <> Lex said quietly, still lying back against Kev and Miro. <> <> Miro said, his accent abandoned for the moment. <> <> Kev said, slowly. <> <> 'Raelf frowned and lashed his tail. <> <> Lex said. <> <> The cat stalked back and forth, then slumped and licked at the fur on his left arm where it was rumpled. 'Raf snarled. <> 'Raelf sighed, or maybe hissed quietly. <> Miro said wryly. <> Lex frowned. <> <> Miro said curiously. 'Raelf 's answer was a hoarse rasp: <> <> Miro, and Lex, and Kev, said simultaneously. 'Raf just growled and wagged his head. <> The others ignored him and he sat down in the sand, muttering. <> Lex said. <> 'Raelf hissed again, still muttering. <> Miro said. <> Nothing happened. 'Raelf growled and lowered his ears. <> A subtle chime from nowhere accompanied a sphere of fog that materialized just above the sand. They waited for the communication spells to complete, and the image of the World Gate wormhole swirled briefly before them. Seconds passed, with 'Raelf fidgeting and muttering while Lex and Kev thumb-wrestled. <> -- the voice came from a very stylized representation of a feline face, eyes half-lidded. <> The image wavered and was replaced by the model from whom the icon had been constructed: a brown-furred feline with bright green eyes and a gold collar. <> <> <> <> <> <> <> The brown face assumed the haughty expression that only a cat can master. 'Raelf sighed. <> <> <> <> <> 'Raelf shrugged. <> <> <> <> 'Raelf looked helplessly at Lex, who shrugged and answered. <> <> She blinked, green eyes shifting to blue. <> <> Lex grinned. <> <> Kev snapped a twig through her image. <> <> Miro said before she could reply. <> <> Kev said. <> <> she replied. <> <> <> she sniffed, and the image changed. The figure displayed now was a yellow-furred feline, rangy and with a faint tabby bar-pattern in his fur. His eyes were mismatched, one blue, one faintly orange. <> 'Raelf said. <> <> 'Raelf's ears went flat. <> <> <> Miro asked, <> The orange eye flickered red for a moment, as he glanced over the assemblage. <> <> Lex answered. <> The older feline affected a moment's distraction, elaborately brushing imaginary lint from the back of his paw. <> <> Miro ordered, and Lex and 'Raelf flinched as their father's head snapped up in involuntary reaction to the Command in his voice. <> The older cat suddenly looked much more dangerous, ears tilted flat, fur fluffed. <> Miro answered. <> <> Kev spoke. <> <> the striped cat drew a black, curved clay pipe out of the plaid vest he wore, <> <> Lex and 'Raf spoke simultaneously. 'Raf continued. <> <> the cat said, blowing a ring of greasy black smoke. <> <> <> His father grinned, teeth not showing. <> 'Raelf growled. The tiger-stripe let the bottoms of his teeth show. <> Lex flashed with anger but Kev and 'Raf held him back. 'Raelf glared into the sphere. <> <> <> <> The image reverted to the flat icon, then went blank. Sand shot up and scattered in the air as the fog sphere dissipated. <> 'Raf said. <> <> Lex blinked, wiping grit from one eye. <> Miro nodded. <> <> Lex retorted. <> <> 'Raelf half-shouted. <> <> Miro said. <> <> 'Raf snarled. <> <> Kev said threateningly. <> 'Raelf said. <> <> Kev said. <> Lex shrugged. <> <> Kev pulled a twig from the air and started drawing on the sand. <> 'Raf said. <> Kev replied. <> Lex nodded. <> 'Raf nodded. <> <> Kev said. <> <> Lex replied. <> <> Kev said. <> <> 'Raelf said thoughtfully. <> They stood around the pattern that the black-haired youth had drawn in the sand. Equations, of a sort, and rules of balancing and mixing. Kev pointed with the stick. <> he said, <> <> Lex frowned. Miro stared, puzzled. <> <> Lex protested. <> Kev said. <> <> Lex argued. <> <> <> Lex replied. 'Raf nodded, while Miro just shook his head. <> 'Raf brushed sand out of his leg fur. <> 'Raelf said. <> <> Lex said, wonderingly. <> <> 'Raelf said. <> <> 'Raf said. <> <> <> Kev said, echoed by Lex and Miro. 'Raf looked at 'Raelf, puzzled. <> <> 'Raelf blinked slowly at them. They just stared back at him. <> <> He stared at 'Raelf. <> <> Miro said, staring at Lex. <> Kev glowered at him. <> Miro ignored him. <> <> 'Raelf asked. <> <> Miro ansered. <> <> He chewed the end of his tail thoughtfully. <> Miro said, pulling his hood up over his rust-colored hair. <> <> <> Lex said. <> Raelf jumped up, excited. <> and he put one handpaw on either side of Lexs head. A moment later, he let go. <> <> Kev asked. <> 'Raelf replied. <> The others looked blankly at him. <> He stood, walked over to the edge of the water. <> The mist fell to the ground, precipitated suddenly. The sands became more solidly sand, the sunlight was the major source of Fire, and the water that washed across the fur of 'Raelf's feet was liquidity, not a variation on Air. <> A swirl of colors began to flicker around 'Raelf, like a soap bubble. <> He held his hands to his mouth and shouted to Void: <> There was a moment's quiet, then the sound of wings in the distance. From around them, the wings folded, and closed across six dimensions. The tall, angular, blond form of the Healer stood on the sand. "I've been waiting for your call, he said. "It has been a year and a day since you freed me, and I took the name of Healer. Now I can repay my debt to you."