I dedicate my tale to everyone who has ever truly loved and cared for those whom they are close.
~
(1 )Billowing Branches and Buttercup Fairies
The morning came as swiftly as a woodsman could strike an axe. It was bright and sunny beyond belief. By noon it had got so wonderful that many families had gone to the nearby park. Although most preferred a walk through the forest while their children were still at school,leaving the playground practically deserted.
A black haired woman sat on a bench smoking a cigarette. The only children were a boy and a girl running around happily. And unbeknownst to them a tall woman with thick spectacles emerging from the forest and muttering to herself.
(3) On the S.S. Rosemary
Not all that far away by the peaceful settlement of Leva Harbor Town was a big boat decorated with many great red flags. This was not at all out of the ordinary to the inhabitants of the small,rather cozy looking place. Similar ships arrived daily; it was a wonder there was only one now.
There were two compartments at the stern and another at the bow. The latter of which held the equipment,the steering wheel,maps and such. Each of the back ones were for the males and females in the crew. The male's was considerably larger,although not by a huge extent,and was also where the snoring was loudest.
A tall,freckly,light haired and jolly looking -even so in his sleep- younger man lay fast asleep in his bed,dreaming deeply.
Thoughts strayed to an odd mixture of things. First a ghost had been holding his hand while an unfamiliar woman gave birth to a chubby child. Then ,suddenly and for no reason,it was midnight. Patrolers...parachuting off buildings? Nonsense continued to make it's way steadily through his head. For example,he walked barefoot in a desert and then a book was stolen by a crow. What exactly was the meaning? He did not know. And eyes stared from the darkness.
“Blivvion...” A soft hissing voice,gentle but in no way sweet called out to him.
“Bli.” It continued gleefully,a bit of a chuckle hidden behind it's words.
“Come with me. Fetch the fabric of your life and help me...”The voice was neither male nor female and somehow no good or bad. “help me and you will live a life of purpose.You will-”
“Bli!”
A sudden pain came to Blivvion's stomach as he regained consciousness. He was only just realizing what he had heard. This voice was different. It sounded oddly far away.
“Bli!”
The voice repeated itself and this time he could tell who it was (and was relieved to find it sounding ordinary). Eyes opened. Shaking his head a bit and yawning Bli replied.
“Mornin' Kendall.”
The young girl sprawled across his bed gave the impression of a sweet lovely child at the same time as a very dangerous villain. This of course was true,in a manner of speaking. Bli himself had never completely understood her,even now. Her complexion was milk and honey, eyes: a vibrant orange,and hair only slightly darker then skin, a creamy dirty blonde. A masquerade mask made of cloth and tied with an elasticy material was always worn by her. It served (having only one eye hole) as an eye patch of a sort. Her face was covered in soot which she had deliberately put into patterns and designs on her face. Scars stood out. Yes,Kendall was no lady.
“Bli! Kendall!”
Alecc,Captain of the S.S. Rosemary poked his head into the room,looking exhausted.
“Oh good! We've been looking. Sent Zachary into town 'bout twenty minutes ago,you know. Didn't realize we hadn't even checked the cabins!”
Bli grinned as he stood up. To him Alecc seemed a rather likeable person. He was the one you went to when you needed a laugh for sure. But he could be serious too,when he needed to. When he got closer Bli saw that the captain had forced his smile if only slightly and that he looked tired. He did not mention this.
“Kenny...” Alecc started a bit cautiously using his pet name for the young dragon rider. “c - could you go and help...” he looked a bit stuck for a moment but then carried on “Candace? She's...uh, doing something .I think. Go find her,please.” he sounded unsure whether it would work, however he needn't worry.
“Aye aye captain!” Kenndall cried skipping happily out of the room without another word.
Alecc stared fondly after her for a second,then turned to Bli.
“Let's walk and talk,shall we?” he suggested cheerfully.
They stepped out of the room and began to make their way across the deck. They stopped at the railing.
“What's up Alecc?”
“We have a new recruit.” he sounded much older then he really was .And much tireder then he ought to have been. “We're going to Valdion to pick her up at noon.”
Bli understood instantly. Valdion Village was a town full of people looking to make a quick buck. Scam artists. They were called that -so to be polite enough for this to be a kid's book according to Dezmond (who will be introduced later and is quite the colorful character) – yet there was nothing artistic about it. No one on the S.S. Rosemary,especially Timber who was an artist and did not like being associated with the people he didn't think much of, disagreed. Bli had been to Valdion plenty of times and did not like it one bit.
“Again. Do you think?”
“No. Seems unlikely they'd try twice in one week. Unless they're really stupid.No, I think it's a real one.”
“But...should we really trust them?”
"Why not?Candace and Kenny could use another girl on the team.Maybe she won't be so...reckless."
"Alecc..." he paused for a second,unsure how to approach this gently. "You know she won't be.Not a training sword-carrier.Not if she's signed up for it."
Before Alecc could answer this ,however, a man came rushing into the room and all thoughts of sword-carriers,by choice or otherwise,were cleared from their heads...The man's usual I-couldn't-care-less expression was replaced with one of utter horror. His face was too pale,far too pale. Shaking from head to toe. Trembling in fear. No one had ever seen him freak out like this before ,yet...
he began to say something but stopped. He looked as though he was being tortured.
“What's wrong? Tell me Timber!” the captain cried urgently “I need to know! Please!”
Timber sunk to the floor in front of Alecc.
“Zachary...”
“What's happened to him?” Bli barked “What do you know?”
Timber cleared his throat looking a bit more confident,knowing he needed to tell but every bit as pale.
“Zachary fields is dead.” he said it in a whisper that was barely heard. Indeed both of the others wondered if they had misheard,even hoped they had. And then Timber passed out cold on the deck of the old wooden boat while surrounding faces shone with terror and rain poured silently over their heads.
