daisyfrost
New member
I'm going to put all my short stories on this thread now so I don't have to make a new thread every time I write one. This first one's called Thunderbird.
My name is Kaythe. I live in a place called Thunderbird Crest, and all of the outsiders who come to our small village when I was very young asked about the name—and for some reason, they were never given a straight answer. When I got older, I finally understood why, as I answered them myself sometimes.
“Maybe it’s because a thunderbird used to live here,” I would say. “Three, in fact.” They might give me an awry look, or shuffle their feet nervously, sometimes leaving town faster than a newcomer normally would. Nobody liked to hear that there used to be thunderbirds around…and even if nobody told them, they would soon find something for themselves that they didn’t like and leave anyway. Newcomers didn’t last long here. And it wasn’t our fault. I myself missed the Thunderbirds terribly—when I was eight, and my bird Saria was sent away, I had thrown a horrible fit as if I were a small child. It had broken my heart.
But that was forever ago. And though outsiders might not last long here, our village had yet to grow.
I was leaning against the kitchen doorpost of the town kitchen. Meetings and parties were held there, in the center of town, like the one Mom was preparing for now—baked squash and smashed potatoes for the autumn festival. Soon the meat cooking would start to smell delicious too. Only it had been quite a barren year for produce this time around, so what were we all celebrating?
“Message, message!” A loud cry rang out close to my ear. A flipped around and saw our messenger standing at the doorway.
“What?” I gasped. My heart was already pounding. We were far away from civilization and a message for us was like…well, gold. Mom stopped cooking and the other woman with her scrambled into a little crowd to be the first to hear the good news—everybody always assumed it would be good news; even me, when I got excited enough. “What?!” I repeated. Apparently he’d been waiting for everyone to gather. At last he shouted,
“Captain Ertheron Benjust and his army are returning to the village! They will be here within a few hours!”
~**~
Two Hours Later
The crowd of us stood at the edge of town. We resolved to stay there until they came—the soldiers that had gone off twelve years ago, to fight the goblins. Apparently, that war was over now. I would finally get to meet my biological father—the strange man I’d heard about, who my mother seemed to despise and long for all at the same time. I didn’t understand how he could have left his wife and four-year-old to go off killing monsters, but she said it had been necessary. The goblins were stealing our food, hunting the thunderbirds, and killing babies. That was before the king had banished the thunderbirds, of course.
“Hey, I see something!” The watchman squinted through his telescope. “Dust! Horses! Flags!” we looked. All we could see was a very small black smudge far out west, but it made my blood race all the same, and the few people still preparing for the festival gathered ‘round too.
Eventually, they got close enough so we could see their heads and arms. A few of us decided to meet them halfway—they must be tired from such a long journey, Mom said, and to bring them a basket of fresh biscuits. I grinned as I hitched it on like a backpack and rode out with the others. A gleeful wind twisted around my pink ears.
Despite my excitement, the closer I got, the more afraid I felt. The only thing I remembered about my father was that he was big, and dark—would he even remember me? I had obviously changed. And after so many years of fighting, he might be horribly disfigured and frightening. Perhaps he wasn’t even in his right mind anymore, from all that goblin-slaughtering. Oh, how I wished to know for sure! Just a few more minutes, Kaythe. And then you’ll see…and then you’ll know.
As we drew closer, the others around me started cheering. We could see their faces now! I felt a rush go through me as I saw the leader, obviously, in his red-dipped cape unlike the others who wore solid black—the man who must be my father; he wore the armor of a general, and had a hood over most of his face. The sun shone from behind them as it began to set, and he was almost a silhouette. We stopped our horses and everyone started jumping off and greeting each other.
“Welcome home! Welcome home!” shouts of glee went up around me. The tired soldiers let themselves be hugged and gladly shook hands. Ertheron Benjust, my father, stood alone—and I made my way up to him shyly.
“Hello,” I said. He took off his hood.
“Hannah?” two strange blue eyes, the kind that were so pale they nearly looked blind in this light, squinted at me. His face was very tan—and a bit wrinkled, I thought, for his age. He had so many scars in such little space! Nevertheless, I could see a half-exposed tenderness behind the rough features and a faraway similarity with some of mine—or at least what I’d seen of myself from a water reflection. Thunderbird Crest has no mirrors.
“No, actually, I’m…her daughter. I’m your daughter.” I saw the surprise register on his face. “Um…want a biscuit?” I pulled one out of the basket and offered it to him. He studied me intently while he took the bread and chewed about half of it in one bite. Then the rest. He finally swallowed and said,
“Well, that makes more sense. ‘Cause I was gonna say…You haven’t aged a day!” He laughed loud, very loud. Apparently he wasn’t too bad, I guess, so I kind of laughed with him. “But your mom is still around, isn’t she? I mean, she isn’t…dead, is she?” He lifted a sad, prepared eyebrow.
“Oh no, of course not! She just baked these biscuits for you.” I handed him another one, not really sure what else to do with myself. He inhaled deeply and ate it like the last one. “Mmmmm, fresh food. I haven’t had any bread in twelve years.”
“Really?” I asked awkwardly. Every time one of spoke there was a strange silence in between.
“Nothing but wild meat and edible plants. That’s what was around. You know we were on our own out there, right? Killing those goblins…getting rid of that dragon…” His eyes flicked up to my surprised face. Dragon? He changed the subject. “We’d better get over to that little town of yours. There’s gotta be more than one person anxious to see me, right?” He chuckled. “Go tell your Mom I’m alright. All limbs intact.” He smiled.
“Okay,” I sighed. I didn’t want to go back yet. I was about to climb back on the horse, but then I thought of a better idea. “Hey…your horse must be really tired from coming so far, and everybody’s dying for you guys to get here. Why don’t you take Sunny?” I pet the palomino’s neck.
Ertheron looked a little unsure at first, but he said, “Well, I guess so. Ride this one slow, he’s had one too many battles I think.” I felt ready to explode with excitement. Ride! It woul;d have been enough just to walk the poor horse. But I got to ride him! He mounted my horse and galloped her back, while I mounted his stallion slowly and let him go as slow as he wanted.
“Hey, did he say you could do that?” One of the other soldiers asked me gruffly.
“Yeah,” I said, grinning broadly. “I’m his daughter.
~**~
That night was and autumn festival to remember—now we had something to celebrate for. First of all, every age group displayed something they’d been taught by an adult learned in the skill, and mine was fencing. It was like a play, too, since fencing isn’t much fun to watch if you’re just practicing like usual. We had a magician among us, and two fire artists, and in between acts there was food and dances and stories told by the soldiers in the firelight.
Everybody could eat as much as he wanted for once. Except there wasn’t as much food as usual, and all of those extra people were here, so it didn’t really work out like I’d planned. All of the fancier meats were gone before I could get more than a taste. “Farewell, sweet honey-dunked pork kabobs,” I lamented under a wild shrub. Me and my best friend had snuck off to a less populated spot with the last of the meat. He’d been my fencing partner on the stage tonight, and as usual, I had beat him. But he claimed in was only because of the play, and otherwise, he would have sliced me. He laughed at what I’d said.
“Well I know what we could do to distract ourselves,” he told me.
“From that kind of loss? I don’t think I can live another day without my sweetness, let alone…wait, what were you thinking?” I sobered up a little.
“We could totally sneak into the barn and fence with real swords.” He whispered it in my ear. I turned to face him. That sounded fantastic!
“But if we got caught…” I groaned.
“We’d be dead,” He grinned. “Wanna?”
~**~
The barn seemed extra-creepy and extra-dark tonight. Okkenek moved as silently as a cat and knew exactly where the weapons were being kept tonight. He and his father were the ones who’d helped the soldiers unload.
“Ooooh, this is awesome. Look, this one still has some blood on it!” He held it up with the lantern so I could shudder.
“I wonder why he didn’t clean it. Swords can rust too, you know,” I said.
“I don’t think he planned on using it again—like, maybe he was gonna display it? Dad said he heard them talk about basically retiring.”
“What? Who’ll protect us then? Hey, here’s another sword.” Its sheath hung on the side of my father’s saddle. Okkenek held the lantern up to see, and as I pulled it out, we both said,
“Whoa.”
“Is this a diamond sword?” I breathed, touching the crystal-clear blade. It was like smooth ice.
“They use those for killing dragons,” Okkenek said. We both looked at each other.
~**~
My name is Kaythe. I live in a place called Thunderbird Crest, and all of the outsiders who come to our small village when I was very young asked about the name—and for some reason, they were never given a straight answer. When I got older, I finally understood why, as I answered them myself sometimes.
“Maybe it’s because a thunderbird used to live here,” I would say. “Three, in fact.” They might give me an awry look, or shuffle their feet nervously, sometimes leaving town faster than a newcomer normally would. Nobody liked to hear that there used to be thunderbirds around…and even if nobody told them, they would soon find something for themselves that they didn’t like and leave anyway. Newcomers didn’t last long here. And it wasn’t our fault. I myself missed the Thunderbirds terribly—when I was eight, and my bird Saria was sent away, I had thrown a horrible fit as if I were a small child. It had broken my heart.
But that was forever ago. And though outsiders might not last long here, our village had yet to grow.
I was leaning against the kitchen doorpost of the town kitchen. Meetings and parties were held there, in the center of town, like the one Mom was preparing for now—baked squash and smashed potatoes for the autumn festival. Soon the meat cooking would start to smell delicious too. Only it had been quite a barren year for produce this time around, so what were we all celebrating?
“Message, message!” A loud cry rang out close to my ear. A flipped around and saw our messenger standing at the doorway.
“What?” I gasped. My heart was already pounding. We were far away from civilization and a message for us was like…well, gold. Mom stopped cooking and the other woman with her scrambled into a little crowd to be the first to hear the good news—everybody always assumed it would be good news; even me, when I got excited enough. “What?!” I repeated. Apparently he’d been waiting for everyone to gather. At last he shouted,
“Captain Ertheron Benjust and his army are returning to the village! They will be here within a few hours!”
~**~
Two Hours Later
The crowd of us stood at the edge of town. We resolved to stay there until they came—the soldiers that had gone off twelve years ago, to fight the goblins. Apparently, that war was over now. I would finally get to meet my biological father—the strange man I’d heard about, who my mother seemed to despise and long for all at the same time. I didn’t understand how he could have left his wife and four-year-old to go off killing monsters, but she said it had been necessary. The goblins were stealing our food, hunting the thunderbirds, and killing babies. That was before the king had banished the thunderbirds, of course.
“Hey, I see something!” The watchman squinted through his telescope. “Dust! Horses! Flags!” we looked. All we could see was a very small black smudge far out west, but it made my blood race all the same, and the few people still preparing for the festival gathered ‘round too.
Eventually, they got close enough so we could see their heads and arms. A few of us decided to meet them halfway—they must be tired from such a long journey, Mom said, and to bring them a basket of fresh biscuits. I grinned as I hitched it on like a backpack and rode out with the others. A gleeful wind twisted around my pink ears.
Despite my excitement, the closer I got, the more afraid I felt. The only thing I remembered about my father was that he was big, and dark—would he even remember me? I had obviously changed. And after so many years of fighting, he might be horribly disfigured and frightening. Perhaps he wasn’t even in his right mind anymore, from all that goblin-slaughtering. Oh, how I wished to know for sure! Just a few more minutes, Kaythe. And then you’ll see…and then you’ll know.
As we drew closer, the others around me started cheering. We could see their faces now! I felt a rush go through me as I saw the leader, obviously, in his red-dipped cape unlike the others who wore solid black—the man who must be my father; he wore the armor of a general, and had a hood over most of his face. The sun shone from behind them as it began to set, and he was almost a silhouette. We stopped our horses and everyone started jumping off and greeting each other.
“Welcome home! Welcome home!” shouts of glee went up around me. The tired soldiers let themselves be hugged and gladly shook hands. Ertheron Benjust, my father, stood alone—and I made my way up to him shyly.
“Hello,” I said. He took off his hood.
“Hannah?” two strange blue eyes, the kind that were so pale they nearly looked blind in this light, squinted at me. His face was very tan—and a bit wrinkled, I thought, for his age. He had so many scars in such little space! Nevertheless, I could see a half-exposed tenderness behind the rough features and a faraway similarity with some of mine—or at least what I’d seen of myself from a water reflection. Thunderbird Crest has no mirrors.
“No, actually, I’m…her daughter. I’m your daughter.” I saw the surprise register on his face. “Um…want a biscuit?” I pulled one out of the basket and offered it to him. He studied me intently while he took the bread and chewed about half of it in one bite. Then the rest. He finally swallowed and said,
“Well, that makes more sense. ‘Cause I was gonna say…You haven’t aged a day!” He laughed loud, very loud. Apparently he wasn’t too bad, I guess, so I kind of laughed with him. “But your mom is still around, isn’t she? I mean, she isn’t…dead, is she?” He lifted a sad, prepared eyebrow.
“Oh no, of course not! She just baked these biscuits for you.” I handed him another one, not really sure what else to do with myself. He inhaled deeply and ate it like the last one. “Mmmmm, fresh food. I haven’t had any bread in twelve years.”
“Really?” I asked awkwardly. Every time one of spoke there was a strange silence in between.
“Nothing but wild meat and edible plants. That’s what was around. You know we were on our own out there, right? Killing those goblins…getting rid of that dragon…” His eyes flicked up to my surprised face. Dragon? He changed the subject. “We’d better get over to that little town of yours. There’s gotta be more than one person anxious to see me, right?” He chuckled. “Go tell your Mom I’m alright. All limbs intact.” He smiled.
“Okay,” I sighed. I didn’t want to go back yet. I was about to climb back on the horse, but then I thought of a better idea. “Hey…your horse must be really tired from coming so far, and everybody’s dying for you guys to get here. Why don’t you take Sunny?” I pet the palomino’s neck.
Ertheron looked a little unsure at first, but he said, “Well, I guess so. Ride this one slow, he’s had one too many battles I think.” I felt ready to explode with excitement. Ride! It woul;d have been enough just to walk the poor horse. But I got to ride him! He mounted my horse and galloped her back, while I mounted his stallion slowly and let him go as slow as he wanted.
“Hey, did he say you could do that?” One of the other soldiers asked me gruffly.
“Yeah,” I said, grinning broadly. “I’m his daughter.
~**~
That night was and autumn festival to remember—now we had something to celebrate for. First of all, every age group displayed something they’d been taught by an adult learned in the skill, and mine was fencing. It was like a play, too, since fencing isn’t much fun to watch if you’re just practicing like usual. We had a magician among us, and two fire artists, and in between acts there was food and dances and stories told by the soldiers in the firelight.
Everybody could eat as much as he wanted for once. Except there wasn’t as much food as usual, and all of those extra people were here, so it didn’t really work out like I’d planned. All of the fancier meats were gone before I could get more than a taste. “Farewell, sweet honey-dunked pork kabobs,” I lamented under a wild shrub. Me and my best friend had snuck off to a less populated spot with the last of the meat. He’d been my fencing partner on the stage tonight, and as usual, I had beat him. But he claimed in was only because of the play, and otherwise, he would have sliced me. He laughed at what I’d said.
“Well I know what we could do to distract ourselves,” he told me.
“From that kind of loss? I don’t think I can live another day without my sweetness, let alone…wait, what were you thinking?” I sobered up a little.
“We could totally sneak into the barn and fence with real swords.” He whispered it in my ear. I turned to face him. That sounded fantastic!
“But if we got caught…” I groaned.
“We’d be dead,” He grinned. “Wanna?”
~**~
The barn seemed extra-creepy and extra-dark tonight. Okkenek moved as silently as a cat and knew exactly where the weapons were being kept tonight. He and his father were the ones who’d helped the soldiers unload.
“Ooooh, this is awesome. Look, this one still has some blood on it!” He held it up with the lantern so I could shudder.
“I wonder why he didn’t clean it. Swords can rust too, you know,” I said.
“I don’t think he planned on using it again—like, maybe he was gonna display it? Dad said he heard them talk about basically retiring.”
“What? Who’ll protect us then? Hey, here’s another sword.” Its sheath hung on the side of my father’s saddle. Okkenek held the lantern up to see, and as I pulled it out, we both said,
“Whoa.”
“Is this a diamond sword?” I breathed, touching the crystal-clear blade. It was like smooth ice.
“They use those for killing dragons,” Okkenek said. We both looked at each other.
~**~