Post by stardust12 on Jan 1, 2012 16:04:27 GMT -5
Wow, it's been so long since I've been here last. But here's the update! ;D Also, Happy New Year to everyone!
At first, Laura didn’t think she had heard right. But the sincere look in Sara’s sea green eyes told her that was precisely what she had said.
“My…father?” she echoed back; the words felt distant to her, as if she was watching someone else speak.
The goddess nodded. Laura let her fingers run over the engraving on the shield. Moondust knelt towards it and gave the piece of armour an inquisitive sniff.
“We have had our suspicions for some time, but these past events have proven it true,” began Bella. “Your father was the head of Rolandsgaard’s Royal Armoury, as was his father, and his father before that. That is his insignia on the shield. In the time of your father, though the need for armour was greatest as Feral’s evil had begun to greatly desecrate the North of North, the splendour and glory of the Armoury had faded with Sigga’s line.”
Sara clapped her hands, “But oh! The things he could do with metal! It was if it responded to his every whim; he may as well have been moulding the pieces with his mind alone! And his horse, was beautiful. A stallion as dark as the tunnels in the mines, and everywhere dappled with streaks of silver. Fulgor, he was called.” The goddess’ eyes widened in memory of what had no doubt been a magnificent horse.
Laura gazed at Sara and Bella as they explained this; she had lost all hope of having anything that connected her to her father. And, for that matter, her mother...
As if continuing off of Laura's thoughts, Bella said,"And your mother did have a way with plants. Your father always teased that she may have been half dryad the way they grew for her."
"Is that why the Armoury symbol is a tree?" Laura wondered.
"No," answered Bella. "That symbol was used before your father's time. We don't know why the symbol is what it is. We did think it was Drasilmare, but if you look closely, you can see that it is different."
"So," Laura said slowly, "You knew my parents well."
"We did keep an eye out when it came to Demetri and Linea. But not close enough,"Sara said sadly. Laura recalled what the Watchers had told her.
"Well," Laura sighed, "at least I have something left of them now."
"Something?" Sara questioned. "You have much more than something! Besides the fact that this shield may have been one of the most beautiful pieces your father ever crafted, but where, may I ask, did you find it again?"
Laura thought for a moment. Sara lifted an eyebrow and seemed to be suppressing a smile.
"A cottage!" the girl exclaimed, already realizing what this meant.
"Close enough," Bella commended. "You would have come across Demetri's personal workshop. His and Linea's cottage would have been beyond that."
Laura recalled what the abandoned structure would have looked like in its younger days, and to think that this was only the workshop, what would the cottage look like? "Could the key be there, do you think?" Laura wondered.
"Possibly," Moondust mused, beating her wings in anticipation. The morning sunlight streamed in through the ledge where she and Wings had entered from, and it shone right past her wings, giving them a sort of brilliant translucence.
"Though, I'm not sure if I can remember the way," Laura admitted. In fact, she was reminded that it was Gryffin, and not her, that had first noticed the workshop that they had taken for a cottage.
"Come," Moondust pawed the ground. "We'll retrace your steps, and if the cottage is as grand as it sounds, then we will have no trouble finding it."
'Or what's left of it,' Laura thought to herself. Still, she could see that Moondust was eager to stretch her wings, and the sooner they started, the closer they would be to finding the key. Besides, Laura was happy to once again be setting off on a quest with Moondust with her. So, with best wishes from both girls and horses, the winged mare took to the air.
The soft breeze that flowed past them also stirred the wisps of clouds that hung in the bright, blue sky. Though, Laura knew that despite the cheerful weather, and even the jubilant chitter of the birds they flew by, there was a malevolent power that was still seeping its way into the land. And they could only really begin to stop it when Laura fulfilled her part and found the key to open her Ballad, and more importantly, found out much more about Sephyr, the world she had realized, what had seemed like ages ago, that she was meant to protect. This thought often bothered her, but she had never really given it her full attention, because every time Laura got to thinking of what exactly she could do to earn an entire world's allegiance in order to drive back Feral, she was overwhelmed with the impossibility of it all.
"Here we are," declared Moondust, already descending after a very short flight. "The edge of Darkcomb Forest."
Laura hopped off, but left the shield strapped to Moondust. They walked along the only path in the forest for a couple of minutes before Laura had to stop. It had been pitch black the night she had began her search for Moondust, and had consequently found the abandoned building. The girl tried to think back to then, but her head felt filled with fog, and everything became muddled when she tried to remember just how she had gotten to the workshop.
"I am not sure which is worse: watching you walk around in circles like a lost lamb, or that you actually cannot recall which way we went," a voice interlaced with growls remarked. The voice was alarmingly close, and Laura started,and turned to the side to see that Gryffin was walking alongside her.
"Do you think you could, just once, give some indication of your arrival before you actually get here?" Laura asked, slowing her breathing after the gasp the wolf had just invoked.
"There is no fun in being expected," Gryffin answered. "Besides, it is good to know fear once in a while. I've seen many who have forgotten it and ended up in very...unpleasant circumstances."
Not that Laura needed help in remembering this particular emotion, what with all that was happening. Nonetheless, she was happy to see the mysterious wolf.
"So will you help us?" posed Laura. Gryffin gave her a look that seemed to say, 'That's what I'm here for.' But Laura detected something like a smile in his eyes as well. As Gryffin loped ahead to lead them, he muttered, "Humans. When their memory fails them, they don't have a decent nose to rely on."
At first, Laura didn’t think she had heard right. But the sincere look in Sara’s sea green eyes told her that was precisely what she had said.
“My…father?” she echoed back; the words felt distant to her, as if she was watching someone else speak.
The goddess nodded. Laura let her fingers run over the engraving on the shield. Moondust knelt towards it and gave the piece of armour an inquisitive sniff.
“We have had our suspicions for some time, but these past events have proven it true,” began Bella. “Your father was the head of Rolandsgaard’s Royal Armoury, as was his father, and his father before that. That is his insignia on the shield. In the time of your father, though the need for armour was greatest as Feral’s evil had begun to greatly desecrate the North of North, the splendour and glory of the Armoury had faded with Sigga’s line.”
Sara clapped her hands, “But oh! The things he could do with metal! It was if it responded to his every whim; he may as well have been moulding the pieces with his mind alone! And his horse, was beautiful. A stallion as dark as the tunnels in the mines, and everywhere dappled with streaks of silver. Fulgor, he was called.” The goddess’ eyes widened in memory of what had no doubt been a magnificent horse.
Laura gazed at Sara and Bella as they explained this; she had lost all hope of having anything that connected her to her father. And, for that matter, her mother...
As if continuing off of Laura's thoughts, Bella said,"And your mother did have a way with plants. Your father always teased that she may have been half dryad the way they grew for her."
"Is that why the Armoury symbol is a tree?" Laura wondered.
"No," answered Bella. "That symbol was used before your father's time. We don't know why the symbol is what it is. We did think it was Drasilmare, but if you look closely, you can see that it is different."
"So," Laura said slowly, "You knew my parents well."
"We did keep an eye out when it came to Demetri and Linea. But not close enough,"Sara said sadly. Laura recalled what the Watchers had told her.
"Well," Laura sighed, "at least I have something left of them now."
"Something?" Sara questioned. "You have much more than something! Besides the fact that this shield may have been one of the most beautiful pieces your father ever crafted, but where, may I ask, did you find it again?"
Laura thought for a moment. Sara lifted an eyebrow and seemed to be suppressing a smile.
"A cottage!" the girl exclaimed, already realizing what this meant.
"Close enough," Bella commended. "You would have come across Demetri's personal workshop. His and Linea's cottage would have been beyond that."
Laura recalled what the abandoned structure would have looked like in its younger days, and to think that this was only the workshop, what would the cottage look like? "Could the key be there, do you think?" Laura wondered.
"Possibly," Moondust mused, beating her wings in anticipation. The morning sunlight streamed in through the ledge where she and Wings had entered from, and it shone right past her wings, giving them a sort of brilliant translucence.
"Though, I'm not sure if I can remember the way," Laura admitted. In fact, she was reminded that it was Gryffin, and not her, that had first noticed the workshop that they had taken for a cottage.
"Come," Moondust pawed the ground. "We'll retrace your steps, and if the cottage is as grand as it sounds, then we will have no trouble finding it."
'Or what's left of it,' Laura thought to herself. Still, she could see that Moondust was eager to stretch her wings, and the sooner they started, the closer they would be to finding the key. Besides, Laura was happy to once again be setting off on a quest with Moondust with her. So, with best wishes from both girls and horses, the winged mare took to the air.
The soft breeze that flowed past them also stirred the wisps of clouds that hung in the bright, blue sky. Though, Laura knew that despite the cheerful weather, and even the jubilant chitter of the birds they flew by, there was a malevolent power that was still seeping its way into the land. And they could only really begin to stop it when Laura fulfilled her part and found the key to open her Ballad, and more importantly, found out much more about Sephyr, the world she had realized, what had seemed like ages ago, that she was meant to protect. This thought often bothered her, but she had never really given it her full attention, because every time Laura got to thinking of what exactly she could do to earn an entire world's allegiance in order to drive back Feral, she was overwhelmed with the impossibility of it all.
"Here we are," declared Moondust, already descending after a very short flight. "The edge of Darkcomb Forest."
Laura hopped off, but left the shield strapped to Moondust. They walked along the only path in the forest for a couple of minutes before Laura had to stop. It had been pitch black the night she had began her search for Moondust, and had consequently found the abandoned building. The girl tried to think back to then, but her head felt filled with fog, and everything became muddled when she tried to remember just how she had gotten to the workshop.
"I am not sure which is worse: watching you walk around in circles like a lost lamb, or that you actually cannot recall which way we went," a voice interlaced with growls remarked. The voice was alarmingly close, and Laura started,and turned to the side to see that Gryffin was walking alongside her.
"Do you think you could, just once, give some indication of your arrival before you actually get here?" Laura asked, slowing her breathing after the gasp the wolf had just invoked.
"There is no fun in being expected," Gryffin answered. "Besides, it is good to know fear once in a while. I've seen many who have forgotten it and ended up in very...unpleasant circumstances."
Not that Laura needed help in remembering this particular emotion, what with all that was happening. Nonetheless, she was happy to see the mysterious wolf.
"So will you help us?" posed Laura. Gryffin gave her a look that seemed to say, 'That's what I'm here for.' But Laura detected something like a smile in his eyes as well. As Gryffin loped ahead to lead them, he muttered, "Humans. When their memory fails them, they don't have a decent nose to rely on."