Post by Bethany on Apr 7, 2007 22:26:21 GMT -5
- chapter 2-
silver
*****
People like to argue that Black and White are not colors, that they don’t count.
Relating to light, Black is the absence of all light, and White is the inclusion of all light.
Relating to pigments, however, White is the absence of pigments, and Black is the inclusion of all pigments.
But despite these facts, Black and White are still colors. Just simple colors; attributes; adjectives. They are opposites, but all colors have opposites on the color wheel.
People give too much thought to opposites, constantly watching them, while they should be watching the grey matter in between.
*****
The weak sun rose, through bleeding clouds, and gazed upon the earth. It would gain power over the chains of winter soon enough; but for now, cold dominated the land more than usual. Jerez was asleep in Malachi’s room in the inn.
“Hey.” Malachi said impatiently. “Hey… Wake up!” Jerez inhaled deeply, and stretched his arms wide. “Come on. Get up. I need to be somewhere.” Jerez buried his head deep in the pillow in protest. “NOW!” Malachi yelled, rolling Jerez off onto the floor. He landed with a thud.
*****
They walked into the town’s square; Jerez leading groggily, and Malachi stopping frequently to scan the small crowd. They walked to an inn, and Jerez waited outside for Malachi to ask the innkeeper certain questions. This process was repeated at every bar, pub, and shady hangout that the small town had to offer. By the time the sun had started to sink into bruised, purple clouds, Jerez was tired, and Malachi was seething with frustration.
“Nothing! I couldn’t find anything!” Malachi raged, pacing in the room of the inn. Jerez tilted his head in sympathy, though his mind was on something else completely. “Where could he be?” he mumbled to himself, sitting down in a chair and marinating in his anger. Jerez sighed, bored with Malachi’s mood.
“What are you looking for?”
“Information.” Malachi replied, half-lying.
“Well, if you’d have told me that earlier,” Jerez said, annoyed, “than I would have taken you to the archives.”
“No, not that kind of…” Malachi stopped mid-sentence. “Wait.” He said, ideas forming in his head. “What kind of archives?” Jerez thought for a second.
“Well, they’ve got all kinds of books; histories and spell caster’s stuff, you know. I think they’ve even got one or two ancient scroll dealies there…” Jerez said, trying to remember the last time he’d been there.
“Of course! That’s where he went! That’s why he came here!” Malachi exclaimed, grinning widely.
“Who?” Jerez asked, confused.
“The person I’m looking for.” Malachi said, very pleased with himself. “We will go to the archives tomorrow morning!” He said triumphantly.
****
“This is it.” Jerez said unenthusiastically, showing Malachi a small, wooden building. It was completely lacking in prestige, and Malachi half-expected to see a board or two swing out of place and fall to the ground.
Dingy, red carpet tried to make the inside look regal, and the many candles served as the only source of heating, as well as light. “Of course.” Malachi muttered to himself, cautiously walking around the place. “It’s just like Silver to hang out in a place like this…”
‘Silver?’ Jerez asked himself, questioning the name. Malachi walked off, and he stayed behind, like usual. He leaned on a shelf of books, but it wasn’t very sturdy, and so, it started to lean too. He caught himself, and as the shelf went back to it’s original position, it threw a book from it’s top shelf. It was a black book, without a title. So, he picked it up, and opened it.
The first thing Jerez noticed was that the text wasn’t in black, it was in light grey. Besides that, it was handwritten. He grabbed another book off the shelf; it was from a printed from a press, he put it back. Another book had the same result, and another. And all the books were written in the common Icemarrow dialect. This book, however, was in a different language altogether. He turned to the title page, and the words looked completely indecipherable. But as he read the words, images started to form in his mind. This book was about a Raven.
A loud crash of bookshelves startled Jerez out of reading. Looking up, he saw Malachi, enraged, and another man. The other man's pale skin was magnified by the white clothes he was wearing. He was tall and lanky, with long, flowing white hair and a smooth, young face. The expression on his face could be described only as calm, despite the fact that Malachi had just tried to attack him.
Malachi winced as the strange man dug his long nails into the back of his neck. After straightening his white hair with his spare hand, and nodding a polite good-bye to the terrified archive-keeper, he forced Malachi out of the building.
Jerez watched as thick, red blood dripped down from the back of the brown haired man’s neck onto the cold, white snow. “Silver!” Malachi said, his eyes turning as far right as they could to try and see his opponent behind him. Silver remained unruffled, with the same unconcerned look on his face, and dug his fingers deeper.
“What do you want?” Silver asked flatly. This was the first time he’d spoken, and Jerez was surprised how rich and melodic his voice was.
“Let… go…” Malachi begged, beginning to panic for his life.
“Why should I?” Silver asked sweetly, as an amused smile spread across his face.
“Please!” Malachi cried. The white haired man frowned in distaste, and all at once released his grip, letting his victim fall to the ground. Silver bent down and turned him over, onto his back, and stared into the man’s eyes.
“I thought I told your guild that I would pay them when I decided to pay them.” He sneered, starting to show real emotion.
“I- I’ll tell them…” Malachi started, looking desperately for a lie to deliver him from this man.
“Malachi,” Silver said, annoyed, “Good-bye.”
Malachi’s blue eyes grew wide as he watched Silver’s bloody hand reach for his neck. To Jerez’s horror, Silver did it all with a smile. He started to lick the blood that was dripping off his hand, when he noticed Jerez gaping at him.
“Who are you?” He asked suspiciously, stepping closer to him. His crystalline, icy eyes locked into Jerez’s stone grey ones. Jerez backed up, only to be stopped by the side of the old building. Silver stepped even closer.
*****
end chapter two.
silver
*****
People like to argue that Black and White are not colors, that they don’t count.
Relating to light, Black is the absence of all light, and White is the inclusion of all light.
Relating to pigments, however, White is the absence of pigments, and Black is the inclusion of all pigments.
But despite these facts, Black and White are still colors. Just simple colors; attributes; adjectives. They are opposites, but all colors have opposites on the color wheel.
People give too much thought to opposites, constantly watching them, while they should be watching the grey matter in between.
*****
The weak sun rose, through bleeding clouds, and gazed upon the earth. It would gain power over the chains of winter soon enough; but for now, cold dominated the land more than usual. Jerez was asleep in Malachi’s room in the inn.
“Hey.” Malachi said impatiently. “Hey… Wake up!” Jerez inhaled deeply, and stretched his arms wide. “Come on. Get up. I need to be somewhere.” Jerez buried his head deep in the pillow in protest. “NOW!” Malachi yelled, rolling Jerez off onto the floor. He landed with a thud.
*****
They walked into the town’s square; Jerez leading groggily, and Malachi stopping frequently to scan the small crowd. They walked to an inn, and Jerez waited outside for Malachi to ask the innkeeper certain questions. This process was repeated at every bar, pub, and shady hangout that the small town had to offer. By the time the sun had started to sink into bruised, purple clouds, Jerez was tired, and Malachi was seething with frustration.
“Nothing! I couldn’t find anything!” Malachi raged, pacing in the room of the inn. Jerez tilted his head in sympathy, though his mind was on something else completely. “Where could he be?” he mumbled to himself, sitting down in a chair and marinating in his anger. Jerez sighed, bored with Malachi’s mood.
“What are you looking for?”
“Information.” Malachi replied, half-lying.
“Well, if you’d have told me that earlier,” Jerez said, annoyed, “than I would have taken you to the archives.”
“No, not that kind of…” Malachi stopped mid-sentence. “Wait.” He said, ideas forming in his head. “What kind of archives?” Jerez thought for a second.
“Well, they’ve got all kinds of books; histories and spell caster’s stuff, you know. I think they’ve even got one or two ancient scroll dealies there…” Jerez said, trying to remember the last time he’d been there.
“Of course! That’s where he went! That’s why he came here!” Malachi exclaimed, grinning widely.
“Who?” Jerez asked, confused.
“The person I’m looking for.” Malachi said, very pleased with himself. “We will go to the archives tomorrow morning!” He said triumphantly.
****
“This is it.” Jerez said unenthusiastically, showing Malachi a small, wooden building. It was completely lacking in prestige, and Malachi half-expected to see a board or two swing out of place and fall to the ground.
Dingy, red carpet tried to make the inside look regal, and the many candles served as the only source of heating, as well as light. “Of course.” Malachi muttered to himself, cautiously walking around the place. “It’s just like Silver to hang out in a place like this…”
‘Silver?’ Jerez asked himself, questioning the name. Malachi walked off, and he stayed behind, like usual. He leaned on a shelf of books, but it wasn’t very sturdy, and so, it started to lean too. He caught himself, and as the shelf went back to it’s original position, it threw a book from it’s top shelf. It was a black book, without a title. So, he picked it up, and opened it.
The first thing Jerez noticed was that the text wasn’t in black, it was in light grey. Besides that, it was handwritten. He grabbed another book off the shelf; it was from a printed from a press, he put it back. Another book had the same result, and another. And all the books were written in the common Icemarrow dialect. This book, however, was in a different language altogether. He turned to the title page, and the words looked completely indecipherable. But as he read the words, images started to form in his mind. This book was about a Raven.
A loud crash of bookshelves startled Jerez out of reading. Looking up, he saw Malachi, enraged, and another man. The other man's pale skin was magnified by the white clothes he was wearing. He was tall and lanky, with long, flowing white hair and a smooth, young face. The expression on his face could be described only as calm, despite the fact that Malachi had just tried to attack him.
Malachi winced as the strange man dug his long nails into the back of his neck. After straightening his white hair with his spare hand, and nodding a polite good-bye to the terrified archive-keeper, he forced Malachi out of the building.
Jerez watched as thick, red blood dripped down from the back of the brown haired man’s neck onto the cold, white snow. “Silver!” Malachi said, his eyes turning as far right as they could to try and see his opponent behind him. Silver remained unruffled, with the same unconcerned look on his face, and dug his fingers deeper.
“What do you want?” Silver asked flatly. This was the first time he’d spoken, and Jerez was surprised how rich and melodic his voice was.
“Let… go…” Malachi begged, beginning to panic for his life.
“Why should I?” Silver asked sweetly, as an amused smile spread across his face.
“Please!” Malachi cried. The white haired man frowned in distaste, and all at once released his grip, letting his victim fall to the ground. Silver bent down and turned him over, onto his back, and stared into the man’s eyes.
“I thought I told your guild that I would pay them when I decided to pay them.” He sneered, starting to show real emotion.
“I- I’ll tell them…” Malachi started, looking desperately for a lie to deliver him from this man.
“Malachi,” Silver said, annoyed, “Good-bye.”
Malachi’s blue eyes grew wide as he watched Silver’s bloody hand reach for his neck. To Jerez’s horror, Silver did it all with a smile. He started to lick the blood that was dripping off his hand, when he noticed Jerez gaping at him.
“Who are you?” He asked suspiciously, stepping closer to him. His crystalline, icy eyes locked into Jerez’s stone grey ones. Jerez backed up, only to be stopped by the side of the old building. Silver stepped even closer.
*****
end chapter two.
