Friday, February 08, 2008

The Boy


Added 2/23/08 Thank you Shiyu-Chan for another beautiful illustration!

“Jen?” I mumbled as I reached out and grabbed straw to steady myself.

“No one here but you and me today.” A young voice answered.

I was cold and confused. “I was with…then…” I paused to think harder as I tried to recall. “Someone attached us.” A moment passed before I groaned and squeezed my eyes closed at the pain of betrayal. Curling up tightly I held myself in a moment of indulgence. “Kallo.” I said painfully. “Where are my friends?”

“You are the only one they brought.” He answered.

I was in a cell about ten feet by twenty feet with hay piled up in one corner and a water trough in the other like an animal stall. It was dark and had no windows. Only torches in the hallway dimly illuminated the darkness making long shadows.

“Who are you?” I asked the boy. He was a tall adolescent and pale skinned with long wavy black hair peeking out from his hooded cloak. The torch he held reflected off the most captivating sky blue shade of eyes I had ever seen.

“I’m the caretaker. This is my section. They give me responsibility over the very most special things. You are the first person ever though. They said to watch you very close. I have to tell Sinless as soon as you start to act oddly. They said you’re my very most special thing yet.”

“Are you a human or an elvaan?” I asked. I couldn’t tell. He was tall and slender featured like an elvaan except for one important thing. His cloak draped snugly against his head without the support of elegant elvaan ears. The boy dropped his face and turned away from me.

“I’m elvaan. I’m sorry if I offend you. With my hideous deformity I stay here where Sinless protects me from the eyes of normal elvaans. He’s like a father to me.” He held his hand over his ear and slumped down in a nearby chair.

My mind raced. What if it wasn’t a deformity at all? What if this child was like mine. My moogle had told me my baby would look either hume or elvaan and no one would be able to tell the child was blended but one looked pretty blended to me.

“I’m a healer. May I touch them? Maybe I can help.” I lied.

He turned and looked at me with a shocked expression. “You could heal them?” His eyes were wide with hope.

“I’m not sure but I would like to look and see what I can do.” I said with a warm motherly smile.

Slowly he approached the bars and removed his hood. His face flushing red with shame but his eyes wide and full of trust as he knelt in front of me looking up at me with his jaw and hands clinched bravely. How could someone so innocent and trusting be in a place like this?

He was remarkable. He looked as I had hoped, an oddly beautiful marriage of the two races. His ears where those of a hume except for a lovely upward point at the top rear. On his chin he had the youthful beginnings of a hume beard. His neck was too short like a hume and but other than these clues he was the perfect picture of a young elvaan nearing adulthood.

“Can you help me?” he whispered anxiously.

“My name is Alison. What is yours?” I asked warmly.

“Michael.” He answered.

I reached out and pushed the hair away from his unique ear. “I am very glad to meet you.” I said as I smiled reassuringly to the young man.

“It’s not a curse that can be magically erased. I think you are one of the most special and handsome boys I’ve ever seen. Sometimes it’s good to be a different.”

He looked sad and disappointed as he stood up and dropped his eyes. “You’re very nice. I’ll bring you your breakfast.” He shuffled down the hall kicking rocks. The light went will him leaving me in near total darkness to take in what my eyes had just witnessed. I couldn’t help but wonder how many more there were like him. Meeting him almost made me forget the desperate situation I myself was in but not quite.

I knew where I must be. Deep under the stone walls of the Chateau D’Oraguille in Bostaunieux Oubliette is where I would expect knights from my home country to take me. In the dim light I looked around for some way out. A trap door, a lock I could pick, a loose bar, anything. I pulled at every bar of the cold cage until I was sure none were weak or loose in any way before falling down on the pile of hay to rest and think as my stomach growled to let me know the day was moving on and I was hungry. What I would do for a good cookie.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

nice job Alison, very nice. Great imagery and personality in it. I would send you a cookie but its hard to fit a file in it lol. Oh hell take the cookies.. we'll be there shortly to tear the place down anyway ~.o

Anonymous said...

Gurok, if you'd stop carrying your brain in the same scabbard as your sword, we'd all be better off...

Think for a moment, if she IS where she claims, stealth would be the best action. Were you to attack the CAPITOL building of San d'Oria, you'd be cut down like grain. Some times, there are just TOO many for a small group to fight.

Sometimes, one or two people can do a better job than an entire army.

Alison the Amazing Thief said...

Beldin is mean!

Anonymous said...

The "DREAD PIRATE" Beldin -Please check it.-

Zero teh mithra stealer! said...

In this situation I would actually have to agree with Beldin (THE WORLD WILL END SOON!). As far as I know there's only 2 entrances to the oubliette...1 is through the chateau, and the other is in a high cave in east ronfaure. And going into the chateau would be certain death, I don't care who you are. Which, unfortunetely for Beldin and Garness, means unless they're doing a diversion in the middle of Northern San d'orea, they're not going to be in the escape plans. :( Bummer, blood and gore is fun.

Conversely, looks like Kjarbo may get to play the role of hero, this is more up his alley lol. Or...Ali, if you have a ninja, this would be a great place to bring them in also. :D

Oh well, can't wait to see how this goes. Very good job, keep 'em coming and keep 'em rolling out faster! I need something to read in class!

Anonymous said...

All you silly silly small plan little people cannot possibly fathom the level of destruction and mayhem I can cause.

AHEM. I do have a dragon.

Cough cough and I can summon a lot of critters.

AHEM AND My dragon has dragon friends!!

So before you go all ninja steathy on me and discretion and tactics, rememer what Da Big Fella always says, how do you get rid of a bad guy in a building, you destroy the building. :)

I personally may write my own version of the rescue which involve mostly me( cause i'm my most favorite character :) ), maybe 3 or 4 dozen dragons and about a bazzillion worms casting tremors all over the place.

Sadly however, the death toll would be very high and Sandoria would likely get quite messed up, which would annoy most Sandorians, but since most of them hatr me already its not such a big deal to me. :P

Nuff Said!! Where's my lance WOOT!!

ROVER go get some of your foul tempered friends, we're a gonna have use a bar b que and drink Sandoria dry!!!!!

GARNESS!! <--believes his own hype!

Anonymous said...

But then again, if I did write the story, all the effort put into all the previous stories would probably be thrown out the window so maybe its not such a good idea.....

But I do like the imagery of dragons cooking Sandoria!! :)

GARNESS

Anonymous said...

It's a sad sad day when only Zero and I are the rational ones >.>

Anonymous said...

Who ever said I was rational??

Explosions and the screams of the terrified are a good thing if you ask me.....

Now all I gotta do is find my HQ+3 socks of mudhole stomping......

GARNESS

Zero teh mithra stealer! said...

lol. Now now now, Calm down big fella. I didn't say I wouldn't enjoy seeing that happen. tbh, I hate the city and would love to see it destroyed. However, it is Ali writing it, and she is a thief, just saying that it's more her style to go skulking around in shadows than it it would be for her to take a battering ram to castle walls. But, who knows, I've been surprised by her before. Seriously can't wait to see what she does for that part.

Also nice description of the half-breed.

Anonymous said...

LOL too funny. I have a hard time relating to how thieves do things.

it's hard to be sneaky when you are 10 feet tall and weigh 1000 pounds.

Like a redwood trying to be un-noticeable in a field of daisies. it looses something in the translation but you get the idea.

Although, knowing full well how pregnant women move around, I am confident Alison will be as stealthy as a pengquin on a rollerskates in a hurricane. :P

GARNESS

Anonymous said...

well first Beldin at least I have a brain to be kept anywhere.. second, who said we are a small group? there are obviously people and resources who are involved here you have no idea of since your "demise"... third, their soldiers arent all that great anymore as anyone playing campaign should have noticed in comparison to their "days of glory" (you elvaans live in the past too much)..last, sandoria just might be busy handling something else when we make our move for alison.. so next time before you open your mouth to talk.. stick something large in it, like a polearm maybe

Anonymous said...

>< gurok be have, i was on the phone talking with jon and he was reading this so i did as well, and we came up with a new plan send a "new" friend in to see her. ali i will send an e-mail later to tell you what were thinking *HUUUUUGGGGGGS*

Anonymous said...

I'm glad they left you with your dignity~

Anonymous said...

and as far as Beldin and Zero being the only "rational" ones.. I'd have to go with just completely unimaginative. There would be several ways for a group or several small groups consistinng of our LS members to make an attack on sandoria and get away with it. All in all I must say one thing is most important.. this is Alison's story and I am sure she will wrap it up her way regardless of what we all think is the best. I cant wait to read it^^

Alison the Amazing Thief said...

You all are very sweet and as you know I do use your ideas cause they rock. You gotta make sure your aggression is focused outward on bad guys and not in on each other cause I love you all and I'm oh so sensitive. Love you guys. <3 Thanks for the support.

Anonymous said...

very well done ali *cheer*
as for atking sandy im thinking more on the lines of a multy wave atk useing sneaking, bombs, and taking out key ppl but not killing just subduing and once in the Chateau D’Oraguille start putting them in there own cells and if they realy annoy us, down the hole.
once we get down to you , even give Michael and invit to the TM and out of sandy to where ever he wants to go so he dont feel like a freek and not hide his face but stand tall and proud for what and who he is.

as for gar and his dragons and worms kool but tell me before you plan on doing that so i can get my stuff out of the mh ok?

Reuprulian The Blackmage said...

A good read as always miss Alison.
And a greating from the Laksmir server /bow
Keep up the good work.

Guankim said...

Excellent story of course...and hell, here's a special batch of cookies, cooked up with some prism powder in a pan greased with silent oil. Cooking is a great skill to slip things by guards. And no files needed! Also, who needs a ninja when you have a resident RDM?

On a totally unrelated note, Summoner is a damn fun job to play ^^

Zero teh mithra stealer! said...

lol Yes Guan, yes it is.