Silenced Melody

Chapter Five: Dolce Remembering

By: Midnight Siren

As the walked along something began to slither in the brush until a large black ball of fur rolled out and looked up at them with bright blue eyes, the canine before them was the size of a great dane but was obviously a puppy. Walking forward something else jumped from the brush and began snarling and snapping at the sapphire haired girl before she ran forward and threw her arms around the ebonir's thick neck.

"Syx!" she shouted happily as the giant black wolf finally recognized her scent and began licking her face.

"What the hell? What kind of dog is that?" Orisiel wondered when he saw the Ebonir jump out of the brush.

"She's not a dog! She's an ebonir! And a mother it looks like, huh Syx?" she retorted kneeling down to the giant wolf cub that now stood on its huge wobbly paws. She held her hand out for the pup to sniff before it all but bowled her over as it licked her face and arms playfully. "Does he have a name yet Syx?"

Silence was all there was but the silent message was sent between them as Alea shouted happily and scratched the puppies ears. "That's great! Can I name him? Please?" she asked hopefully as Arenri walked forward to tentatively pet the giant black ebonir cub. "You want to name him Arenri?"

"Huh?! Me?!" she squeaked in surprise.

"Yeah you can choose any name you like, Syx says it's okay." she replied smiling as the mother ebonir snorted and wagged her tail.

"She understands you? All of us?" Arenri asked in amazement.

"Of course! Ebonirs are really smart!" Alea replied laughing as the chocolate haired teen became silent as she thought.

"Tassimro." she said finally as she scratched the pup's ears affectionately. "Tassimro fits... it was the name of the boy I loved."

Alea smiled and said goodbye to the ebonir duo before continuing to the village as the Auzui girl decided to challenge Arenri to a race. "First one to the village gets to draw first during spars for a year!"

"You're on Alea!" she exclaimed, anticipation burning in her mismatched eyes as they both leaned forward in a runner's start before Alea suddenly jumped up.

"Hang on! Each of us has to carry someone, I'll take Kamurai and you take Iseall!" she said suddenly, kneeling down in front of the old man so he could climb onto her back as Arenri did the same with Iseall. "All right hang on! Iseall you tell us when to go!"

"All right get ready... " she laughed gripping Arenri tightly. "Go!"

Alea sped off faster than she remembered she was able to, Orisiel shouting inside her head with excitement at the speed she was going. He was yelling about how exhilarating it was going so fast after being sealed in a stone prison for two hundred some-odd years. Apparently he was a speed demon more than anything while he seemed to love it when she poured more energy into her legs and lost sight of Arenri behind her, Kamurai laughed brightly at their speed while he gripped her shoulders tight. Finally the village came into sight as they ran and Alea slowed her pace so Arenri and Iseall could catch up, she was surprised at how far behind she had gotten in the short amount of time between her awakening and now.

As Alea came to a stop, she and Kamurai had to wait for a short while until Arenri and Iseall even came into sight and even a bit longer until they were standing with them wit Arenri drenched with sweat. Iseall seemed to be irritated as they came into view but she quickly became laughing and a good sport to losing but her expression still worried Alea until the older woman gave her a strange look and she pushed it to the back of her mind for later inspection.

'I don't trust that woman... be careful kid.' Orisiel warned cautiously before Alea snapped at him.

'Shut up!' she yelled silently, angry that he would be so disrespectful about Iseall. 'She's like a mother to me! She's protected me for over two years now! Don't you dare say anything bad about her demon!'

'OI! I'm just telling you what I think!' he retorted irritably, recoiling from her anger so he didn't get caught in the crossfire. 'I'm not being disrespectful either, I just don't like her.'

She huffed and tuned the silver haired man out and then finally returned to the outside world instead of her mind. Iseall walked beside her as they walked beneath the arch of the gates, she smiled at her as Alea gave her a sideways glance as the teen looked away quickly and fell into deep thought only to have it interrupted by Orisiel's annoying commentary.

'I'm telling you she's not someone you should trust!' he warned again no matter how many times he was told to 'shut the hell up' or she'd find some way to injure him. 'Such violence in children these days... '

'When I want your opinion about my family I'll ask for it!' she snapped knowing he would flinch back from her emotions again.

'What will happen while you're in my head?' she asked curiously, wondering what would happen while he was inside of her.

'Hell if I know... you'd have to ask someone who knows about that stuff.' he replied uselessly. 'I'm not sure if I can overshadow you or what while I'm in this damned cage you made for me.'

'You want me to ask a voodoo priestess or something?' she asked skeptically as the village houses came into view.

'It might just be your best bet kid. I can't think of anyone else besides a fortune teller or psychic, voodoo priestesses are still your best bet with their vast knowledge of the unusual and magical.' he explained patiently for once, speaking as if he was explaining to a child. 'I have no desire to be in a body that keeps me prisoner so I will gladly leave you and find another.'

'You and I both.' she replied irritably as they walked into the main part of the village where people looked up and smiled and waved at Alea, welcoming her back home as they asked her how her visit with her mother was.

"It was great, I didn't realize how much I missed her." she lied easily as many people commented her now prominent beauty and delicate pale skin that seemed to glow in the daylight while Alea could only imagine how pretty it would be under the moon.

"Did you bring anything back with you?" one of the older women asked as the young mothers all giggled and laughed.

"Mother please!" the old woman's daughter laughed as she gave Alea a hug and the women's daughters all crowded around her and Arenri to squeal in delight and watch them with envious glances. Glancing around Alea realized that no boys had come to greet her even though she had more in common with the guys in the village more than the girls because they all trained together to become warriors in the future. Finally she found them milling around a good ways away from them, watching her and her runaway friend with nervous stares that left Alea baffled as she squeezed through the throng of girls. She dragged Arenri by her wrist towards the boys and their distress grew as they got closer.

"Hey guys!" she greeted them smiling as they all flinched before their faces went red and Alea understood why they were hiding from her. She was a pretty girl and they were a bunch of teenage boys, their illusion of the warrior Alea was now shattered and replaced with a beautiful girl that they would all compete to impress. Sighing she walked forward and punched one in the arm, holding back so she didn't hurt him but still gave him a bruise he would feel for a while after tomorrow. They finally seemed to relax as she gave them a scowl and they began to talk to her and Arenri as if nothing had changed, she knew them well and knew a couple of harsh words and punches would make them stop worrying.

'What the hell kid?' Orisiel's echoing voice rumbled in her head. 'You seriously that interested in having so many male friends? Some people could take that the wrong way when you get older.'

'You calling me a slut?' she growled, knowing that he wouldn't be able to dodge the emotion this time.

'No.' he replied in his annoyingly calm voice, only half listening to him rant while she spoke to the boys. 'I'm saying that human men are pigs and are quick to turn against something that intimidates them. They could easily see you as a threat if you getting integrated into male society.'

'I know. That's why I'm glad I'm not human.' she replied slyly becoming used to speaking to him and other people without slipping. 'Auzui are demigods. I'm full blooded so I don't worry about human affairs and prejudice until it's my business. It's usually male human mages that discriminate against us. Some of us learn healing and stamina charms but that's it unless we decide to make it the focus of our training, that's when they get antsy and start calling us demons and saying that women are only good for bearing children and cleaning.'

'So physical and magical warriors that don't give a damn until someone pisses them off?' he asked in interest as Alea felt something worm through her mind. 'Don't panic, I'm not doing anything.'

'What is it then?' she asked silently as she and Arenri said goodbye to the guys and followed Iseall and Kamurai to his home.

Concentrating she felt the well of her power in the base of her soul, the power she used for her strength and speed and finding that nothing seemed out of the ordinary as she sent a probe through the rest of her body. Scowling inwardly she walked alongside Arenri back to Iseall and Kamurai who were speaking to some of the women that had stayed behind after their children and husbands had gone back to what they had been doing before. She flashed a dazzling smile that left the others stunned for a moment before the women said goodbye and hurried off after their smaller children that had run off to play with the older kids.

"Come on ladies, let's go to my house. I left some stew on the stove, you must be hungry Alea." Kamurai laughed as he heard the sapphire haired teen's growling stomach. She blushed as her stomach demanded food and realized that she hadn't eaten in over a year and she had burned what little baby fat she had had in childhood but as that thought crossed her mind she realized she hadn't had a childhood.

Pushing that thought away for Orisiel to contemplate it floated past as a mirror that showed her memories to the astral man before disappearing into the darkness of the vast space of her mind. He stared after it in confusion and interest as it floated away from him, wondering what the flashes of memories meant as he had watched them flash before his eyes and burn into his memory. Flashes of extreme training on the brink of cruel as he watched how Alea's tattoos had been seared into her skin at only a couple years of age, when she first started training with an azure haired woman as she all but beat Alea into the ground. Vicious training sessions where the sapphire haired girl as a child was attacked by flames and weapons of all kinds, turning her heart to stone as the ferocity only intensified in her prolonged childhood.

Orisiel now understood the scars that had riddled even Alea's astral body, the attacks hadn't only been skin deep they had been combined with most likely illusions that scarred her mind the same as her flesh even going so deep as the spirit. Frowning he sent out a tiny tendril of his own power that even hadn't gone undetected by Alea's energy but seemed to not perceive the small presence as a threat and mearly followed it through her consciousness. Creating a small probe that he could see through to look through Alea's memories no matter how small, he gathered an understanding of her through the memories. He understood why she was so quick to destroy every small threat, because she knew that something small could be extremely dangerous while something that was large could be weak and pathetic in actuality.

Alea had been taught lessons that took humans a lifetime to learn themselves then died before the burden of the realization could crush their already feeble spirits and drive them to insanity. The Auzui had to learn young and remember for a long time, it was one of the many reasons that their warriors were cold hearted and some of the most vicious and unyielding opponents one could face. Then another flash of information drifted by as he milled about Alea's memory this one happier as a shadowed man held her warmly and whispered mysterious stories in her ears before she went to sleep.

He reached out to grab it, before it disappeared, and was suddenly sucked into the memory the second he touched it and he was standing in a spacious room with pale tan stone walls, wooden beams along the roof and furnished for a child. Turning he realized he was not the only one in the room, a very young Alea sat in a plush bed with a thick, multicolored quilt over her while a man laid beside her with his arms around her.

His sea foam eyes blazed beneath his long black locks while he told her stories of his younger days, when he was a knight that protected the weak and slew ferocious beasts as they attacked innocent villages and people. Then a woman's voice cut into the story as the owner of the voice walked in and took the seat opposite the man beside Alea as the curious child looked between them with wonder in the eyes that anyone would know as her father's. The man that sat to her right had long black hair that tumbled down to his waist like ruffled black silk while his sea foam eyes and dark skin were defined and palpable to the point were you immediately looked at him twice. To Alea's left was a tall and beautiful woman that had the same pale skin as her along with azure colored hair that was a dark sky blue that glittered as her daughter's did while her eyes gleamed a beautiful deep burgundy. Her eyes flashed over to her daughter's and softened as she looked her neon colored eyes that seemed to delve deep into her soul.

"Ema! Isa!" Alea exclaimed happily, Orisiel recognizing the Estonian words for mother and father as the sapphire haired girl turned to each of them as she spoke their names. "Tell me the story about Isa and the evil Tillarai!"

The azure haired woman laughed heartily at the child's request, she knew how much her daughter loved hearing of her father's courageous battles in the times of constant war between them and the Tillarai that threatened them.

"All right little one... Tillarai were a beast-like humanoid race that rivaled the Auzui in strength and tactics and they were the only ones the Auzui respected as equals but both races' fighting spirit couldn't stop them from going to war with each other. While the humans thought that the Auzui were mearly bloodthirsty warriors that would start a fight for the pure joy of battle." her mother began in a mysterious voice as Orisiel strained to stay in the memory as long as he could without being thrown back into the electric blue cage. He wanted to know more about his host so he could know what subjects to avoid so she wouldn't shock him. "While we do pick fights for the joy of battle we also settle disputes with our weapons, like if someone does us a wrong or harms us in some way."

"Like daddy's scars?" Alea questioned as she turned to the dark haired man who laughed loudly before mussing his daughter's hair.

Suddenly something strong pulled on his being and he was ripped from the memory as screams of pain were the last thing he heard echo from the small cottage and Alea's voice yelling those familiar Estonian words. He was back in his prison of blue lightning as he opened his eyes with distaste and wondered why he had been dragged back when he realized that Alea was yelling at him to get his attention.

'I'm not gonna answer you until you change the scenery kid!' he shouted back indignantly as could just feel her anger surge. She wasn't used to being stonewalled it seemed or maybe she was just irritated at him already for nosing around in her memories since she had been the one to yank him out after all. Suddenly his cage disappeared and his surroundings became completely black all around.

'Well?' her voice echoed. 'What do you want in there?'

He sent her a mental picture and she immediately went to work as the blackness surrounding him back white clouds and gold tinged pillars as if it were a home for a god, he could feel her grin as he did.

'Nice kid... ' he complimented, falling back into a chair made of clouds and settling in it comfortably. 'All right, what do you want?'

'That's all it takes to make you listen?' she thought indignantly as her irritation flared. She could hear him chuckle and her irritation became genuine annoyance as she let her power lash out at him and make him squeak in shock, she giggled as her started cursing her and everything else under the sun.

'Who the hell do you think you are?!' he shouted at her thinking she had a screw loose, while Orisiel had been floating around her subconcious Kamurai and Arenri had said goodnight to Alea and Iseall as they left the healer's home and returned to their own.

'I'm someone who's tired and going to bed that's who I think I am.' she replied scratching her head and glancing at her reflection in the full body mirror on one wall, Iseall must have placed it there while she had been sleeping.

'You've slept for an entire year and you want to sleep more?' he asked with a strange expression. 'You might want to get that checked out.'

'Shut it... ' she replied a bit distractedly as she saw her reflection, the sun had set while Orisiel had been flitting about her memories but she knew what he had seen was nothing compared to what she fully remembered. As she looked in the mirror she was breathless, her skin was like fine polished ivory, pale, smooth and delicately soft to the touch as her fingers brushed her cheek. Her eyes were an even more vibrant sea foam green than last she had seen them as her long billowing sapphire locks rippled down to the small of her back, glittering like water as she moved. Her limbs were long and slim while her chest and hips were in perfect proportions with each other and her clothes hung delicately off her curves. The familiar but foreign face looked slightly shocked as the pale pink lips were slightly parted in surprise as she felt Orisiel also flinch at the reflection as if it had frightened him.

'Is that me?' she wondered as Orisiel's voice cut into her thoughts.

'You look good kid... ' he complimented in a dreamy voice.

'I really do don't I?' she asked, her happiness making Orisiel's surroundings glow slightly as the moon rose overhead like the outside world's did over Alea's. She was happy, childish if nothing else, she was amazed at how she had changed and giddy with realization that she was beautiful. But why was she so happy about it? Was there something from her past that caused such happiness or was it just that she had wished to look her age and be treated as a true warrior?

'Why are you so happy?' he asked finally, curious at the cause of her cheerfulness.

'I'm pretty... it's every girl's dream. Even the warriors of the Auzui work to their farthest extent to keep scars limited only to their bodies and not their faces. Even female warriors care about how they look... my mother was one... ' she explained, her voice becoming solemn. 'My mother was injured once... she lost her eye and she has a big scar on her face now, she was devastated for a long time and thought that my father wouldn't love her anymore.'

She stripped off her clothes as she spoke not noticing Orisiel's raging emotions as she did so and walked over to the dresser to find it full of long nightgowns made of silk and lace. A thought flashed through her mind as she wondered where Iseall had gotten the money to pay for all the nice things she had in the house, the soothe sayer didn't have a job that payed that well so where was it all coming from?

'Maybe she stole it... ' Orisiel offered simply not knowing she would get mad at him as the clouds in her mindscape became dark and stormy as lightning shot up beside him. He leapt up from his seat and backed away but stopped as he felt the ground stop and he turned to see he had reached the edge of the imagined space, a village sat far below while only it's dim torches were all the illumination it held.

'Don't say those kind of things about Iseall!' she replied angrily slamming the closet doors in her irritation and slipping into the silk nightgown she flopped down on her bed and pulled the sheets to her chin. She didn't like how Orisiel thought... it made too much sense... she squeezed her eyes shut and blocked him out so she could sleep, her thoughts spinning with wondering about Iseall.

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Voot! w Chappy five! I'm happy! The snow! Mah kitteh! ... okay I'm done, luv y'all see y'all! =D