Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice
- Robert Frost
Pronounciation: Khyre: Kai (as in Kite)-yer (like Fire with a K) Linder: Lin-der Ember: Em-ber Serra: Sarah Hestia: Hest-tia Cu Sith: Q- sith
Chapter 4- Goddess of the Hearth
Hestia stood from atop a pile of rocks, balancing a little but not doing so well. Khyre got up from the ground to help her. Hestia was a weak girl, despite her breeding. He was a little shocked from the fact that she was out and about, especially at night. She batted him away and shouted, "Don't fuss about me or I'll pummel you with a rock." Despite her condition, she was very lovely. Her hair was raven black, the tips highlighted gold, as if somebody brushed her hair while fanned out behind her with a brush dipped in gold. Her eyes were also black with viens of gold running through them, and she was abnormally pale for someone who had been in the sun for long moments. All the same, her loveliness couldn't distract from the fact that she was a fire goddess with poor health. On her command, he let go and she fell over. Trying to stiffle a laugh by biting on his finger, he murmured, "You okay?" Hestia rubbed her backside gingerly before saying, "Might be a bruise, but I'll live." Khyre smiled and swallowed the laugh hard. "Khyre, I hope you realize that nobody's fooled by your sneaking out..." She crossed her arms, "Or at least, anybody who's important..." Khyre raised an eyebrow, "Oh?" Hestia reached up and brushed through his hair, ice falling like snow from his tresses with a bemused smile. ".... s**t." Khyre turned five shades darker. "Just be proud I'm not the lord or else you'd be toast, boy." she sat down on the ground next to the fire. "One thing I don't understand though," she put her hands out in front of her, "Why are you not allowed to go into the outer territories? I mean, you're not considerably weak, and there's no realllll reason why you shouldn't leave. Sure, there are conflicts between the races, but it's not such a rift as a kill or be killed anymore. People mingle all the time now. It's not completely socially accepted, but it's still an unpunishable act. Even our lord communicates a lot with the Koritaka..." "I have no clue." Khyre sat down next to her, "He made it clear to everyone to punish me if they caught me outside of the fire territories... so he has to have a reason... unless he just likes to bully me..." "No... it's got to be something deeper than singling you out for amusement." Hestia tapped her chin with her finger before she balled it into a fist to cough into. "You okay?" Khyre said. "Fuss equals rock to the face," Hestia managed to say after she finished her session. "Okay, sorry." Khyre backed off. "I'm sick of being like this," She picked up a stick and poked around in the embers of the little fire, "always fussed over... always coughing," she narrowed her eyes, "It's a major pain in my backside." "I bet. I can't even fly." "You glide a little... give yourself some credit." ".... gliding... ha... some usefulness that is." "You can fall out a window and not end up flatbread." "... that is a plus." Khyre laughed. Hestia smiled and went back to poking around in the fire, "Well, you do have your uses. They're training you to be an awfully good jester." "I'm not a jester!" Khyre shouted. "Keep your voice down." Hestia put a finger to her lips, "You'll wake up the neighborhood and then you'll get a swarm of angry phoenixes wanting to jam red hot pokers up your a**." Khyre gulped and they both began laughing, each trying to shut up the other, which equalled louder laughter. "...You two having fun out here?" Hestia and Khyre froze as they turned toward the new voice. Ember stood there, aura blazing darkly. ".... Heya Ember..." Khyre smiled nervously. ".... Hello Khyre...." Ember managed to keep her voice on a stable level, though cool was not an appropriate term, what with the grinding of her teeth to maintain that level constant. "Did...we wake you?" "....yes.... you did." "I'm sorry. It's my fault." ".... Khyre..." "Yeah?" "... if you're going to do things like this, do it quietly." "Do things like what?" A little cough from below made him notice what she meant. He and Hestia had gotten a little tangled from trying to silence eachother. Somehow he had ended up on top of her with his hand over her mouth and her hands pressing up against his chest. His face went scarlet before he scrambled backwards, "I'm sorry!" Hestia blinked before exploding into laughter. Khyre, out of habit, went behind Ember and hugged her legs, peaking out from behind them at Hestia. "Khyre, I think you're a little old to keep using me like that---" Ember tried to shake him off but he clung to her. Finally she stopped and sighed. "Is he really that...shy when it comes to things like that?" "Oddly enough, yes." Ember sighed and smiled, "You're gonna have to knock that off Khyre... when mating season comes around, you're not gonna have any time to go hiding behind me whenever a girl gets interested." Khyre let go of her and stood up, rubbing his cheek as if to rid of the blush. "Hmm... you're so odd." Hestia smiled and got up, "but that's okay." She smiled and kissed him on the cheek, his eyes blooming wide on contact, "You're cute." Ember smiled, "Well, look at that." Khyre was catatonic, touching his cheek gingerly as he watched Hestia disappear around the corner. "Looks like I won't have to worry about you after all." she nudged him. "Shut up..." Khyre said. "Now, I'm not going to tell you get your a** home. I'm going to demand it. Go home or I'll rain Hell upon your head for waking me up, boy." "Okay, okay! I'm going home!" Khyre sprinted off, leaving the smouldering stones of the fire to glow a deep red before dying. Ember sighed and looked off into the embers, 'Sometimes I wonder... He doesn't look like him... besides his eyes... You can tell it's him because of the eyes... but his attitude... so mild compared to how he used to be... has he lost so much that he has become what Khyre is? Oh well... he's been happy. Or... he'll be happy.' She rubbed the back of her neck before turning around and heading back to the villiage.
**Note: Chapter 3 has been given a little more length.**
Rozencard · Thu Dec 13, 2007 @ 06:30pm · 1 Comments |