In tenth grade I started writing a story involving certain figures from Irish mythology. I got to hand-written page number 146 (approximately, counting my illustrations) before wandering away just before the end. I started writing it in Latin class, and things took off from there. So I thought I should type it up. This is the story as originally written.
"Wow, what a day," Kirin sighed. She rolled over on her back and stared at the ceiling. It was still cold at night, but the ground was soft; it was planting time, and everyone was needed in the fields. Kirin was bone weary after the day's work, too tired to sleep. Everyone else was asleep, and Kirin could hear crickets chirring to themselves outside.
'I'll bet it's beautiful out tonight,' Kirin thought to herself, 'What harm could it do to go out and get some fresh air?'
Of course, as you may have guessed, that was precisely the wrong question to ask.
Kirin got up silently and tiptoed out the back door, pausing only to pull on her shoes.
The night was just as beautiful as Kirin had predicted. The moon was gibbous, and its light bathed the scene in silver. The newly plowed fields were soft beneath her feet, and wet with dew. The forest swished and muttered to itself in the intermitiant breeze.
Kirin wandered about the fields a bit, always careful not to get too close to the forest. She was afraid of the forest, and it was scarier at night. Kirin got bored eventually, though, and sat down by her house. Leaning against the wall, she soon fell into a soft doze.
Kirin was awakened by the sound of running footsteps. Sitting up in alarm, she watched a young boy come skidding around the corner of the house, and pelt, full speed, toward her. "Eee-" Kirin began to scream, sure that the boy was going to smash into her. Instead, he skidded to a halt behind her, whipped around with almost inhuman speed, and clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Shut up!" he whispered, so quietly that Kirin almost couldn't hear him, even though he was so close to her that his breath stirred the hairs on her neck. This was not a very comfortable position for Kirin to be in. the 'young boy' was taller than she was, which was irritating, but not altogether new. He smelled like the forest, all bruised leaves and rich decay. This was worrying. She didn't have long to think about this though.
"Get down. And, whatever happens, don't move."
The boy pulled Kirin painfully to her knees. As they crouched in the darkness, Kirin began to hear a sound like a swarm of bees. It grew and grew, until the sound was almost deafening in its intensity. Suddenly a swarm of {Things get a little tricky here, because I never actually decided quite what the swarm was or how it looked. I had just assumed I would fill it in later. So now I will. The bracketed parts are the new writing.}[glowing, blue wasps] shot around the corner of the house. They followed exactly the path of the boy, until they were hovering in the air right in front of Kirin. Behind her, the boy was totally still; Kirin didn't think he was even breathing. One of the [wasps] came out of the group and landed on her right forearm. It looked like all the others[, luminescent and as big as her father's thumb, with large, black, faceted eyes and a cruel-looking sting]. It [twiddled its mandibles] as if thinking, then it opened its jaws, lowered its head, and bit her, very slowly. Some of Kirin's blood welled out, then the [wasps] took off, and they left the way they had come. The [blue wasps'] buzzing died slowly away.
The boy shoved Kirin aside and stood up quickly. "Who are you?" he asked.
She swallowed nervously; he was glaring at her. Well, he was glaring down at her. That made Kirin angry. "I should be asking you that!" said Kirin, standing up. 'Damn him and his tallness,' she thought, 'I'm still shorter!' Kirin looked down at the bite on her arm. It was already starting to swell. "What were those things? Why did it bite me?!"
The boy jumped. "Wait. You mean you can see them?"
"Yeah, of course. Answer my questions already!"
"No. I'm leaving. Go back to sleep, mortal. Forget this." The boy turned around and began walking away.
Kirin thought back quickly. The [strange wasps] had been following his path... "Why," Kirin asked, "were they following you?"
The boy turned around slowly, and looked at Kirin. He looked her in the eye, for the first time.
"I'm [Liam Cu Aos Sidhe], mortal. Remember it," he said, and, in a trice, he was gone.
* * *
When Kirin awoke the next morning she felt stiff and sore. "Was it a dream?" she muttered groggily to herself as she rolled over. Suddenly a fiery pain shot up her arm. When Kirin forced herself to look, she found that her right forearm was red and swollen and that there was a small, star-shaped bite mark in the middle of it. the bite fitfully leaked green puss and was generally unwholesome-looking. "Wahh!!" Kirin screamed, "I can't believe it!!"
"Kirin! Kirin, what is it?" Kirin's grandmother, Nanna, cried, hurrying into the room. Nanna was still beautiful at seventy-five years old. She had long, white, cloud-soft hair, and her weathered face was creased with smiles.Nana wasn't smiling at the moment, though. In fact, she was frowning with worry.
"My dear!" Nanna hurried forward and sat down on the bed beside Kirin.
"Nana, what do I do?!" Kirin asked, frantically sticking out her swollen arm.
"Take a deep breath, Kirin, and relax." Kirin tried to take her advice, finally succeeding after five shuddering breaths. "Good. Now Kirin, you need to [tell me] how you got this, alright?"
So she did. It didn't take a terribly long time, but all the while the pain in Kirin's arm kept growing, and by the end it seemed nearly unbearable. "...and then he said, 'I'm L-"
"Skip that part for now, Kirin."
"...and then he turned around and left."
Nanna looked anything but happy. "Well dear," she said, with an attempt at her usual cheer, "I'll go fix you a cup of tea and think what is best to do. Try to rest." Nanna left the room, looking back worriedly one last time before softly closing the door.
Kirin lay back with a sigh. She ached all over now, it wasn't just her arm, though that felt as if it were about to fall off.
It seemed forever until Nanna was back with the tea, and by that time Kirin was floating in and out of consciousness...
...Nanna, bending over her, an expression very like fear on her face. Kirin tried to tell her that it would be alright, but she didn't really believe it herself, and she hurt...
...She was being carried. Kirin could see green leaves above her. She was in the forest, but she wasn't afraid. Kirin wondered about this for a second, but then decided that she had enough else to worry about...
...She was lying under a tree. It was a very strange tree, but Kirin couldn't focus her eyes well enough to see what was different about it. Where was Nanna?
Kirin's shoulder felt almost as terrible as her arm. Was she dying? It was possible, Kirin supposed, but she'd never really given it much thought, and now that she was thinking about it she found she was afraid to die. Kirin didn't want to die. She was dying because of that boy...
That boy...
What was his name again?
...Aos Sidhe...
...Something Aos Sidhe...
...Oh...
"Liam...Cu...Aos Sidhe..."
And suddenly he was there, yelling at her, "What in the Dagda's name were you..." he trailed off. The boy's eyes were fixed on something to Kirin's right, so Kirin looked that way too. There was an arm there. At least, Kirin supposed it was an arm; it had fingers. She tried to ask the boy whose it was, but the words didn't really come out.
'Oh well,' Kirin thought as she faded away, 'I'll ask him some other time.'
Chapter 2
Liam was beginning to regret ever leaving his world. It had been fun for the first minute, but then those sluagh had shown up and he had been running for his life. And then that girl had shown up. Why had he told her his name? His father had told him never to tell a human his name. "Names hold power for us, Liam," his father had said, "don't give that power away." Now he had given it away...
"Wow, brother," said a voice behind him.
Liam didn't flinch. It took a lot of self-dicipline, but he managed it. He didn't turn around at once either, no, first he said, "Yes, Cian?" Then he turned.
Cian was watching him, a small smile playing hide-and-seek in his otherwise emotionless face. First it would flicker in his green-black eyes, only to dissappear a second later and reappear, tugging on the corner of his mouth. The smile made Liam distinctly uneasy. Cian began walking, circling Liam slowly. "Well, it seems that our little sister has very little love for me, and has now become hysterical."
'Oh, good,' Liam thought, 'this isn't about me... Wait...'
"What? Why?" he asked, turning so that he could watch Cian.
"Yes. Shocking, I know," Cian drawled, never taking his eyes off his brother's face, "we were going to go hunting today, too. She's locked herself in her room. You would be doing all of us a service if you went up to her and talked her out of it."
"Thank you for telling me," Liam replied, "I will definitely speak with her."
"Good," said Cian, and turned to leave. As he walked out the door , Cian seemed strangely triumphant.
Liam had a bad feeling about it, but went to speak with his sister anyway. He had given up using the door long ago; it was hardly ever unlocked. Instead, Liam went to the north garden and started climbing the wall. Blair's room was five stories off the ground, but Liam had no trouble with it. Climbing was his Gift, and he was the best. Liam reached his sister's window quickly, pried it open, and slipped inside. It was very dark in her room and the black-painted walls made the gloom seem even more intense.
Shutting the window, Liam turned to face the room again. "Blair?" he called softly into the dusk, "Blair, it's Liam. What's wrong?"
A small black-clad shape hurtled out of the gloom and collapsed at his feet. "Li~am!" she cried, latching onto his leg. "HewantstokillmehelpwhatdoIdo, Liam! HELP!!"
Kneeling down, Liam pried his sister off his leg and picked her up, saying, "Alright, calm down. Tell me from the beginning. Who wants to kill you?"
"Cian!" Blair screamed, "Cian wants to kill me!"
"What?" asked Liam, genuinely shocked, "I know he's never very nice, but he wouldn't try to kill you."
Blair sniffed loudly and looked up at him with watery eyes. "You don't believe me." Liam hung his head. "Well, I won't come out, for a while, at least.
"Hey Liam?" said Blair, as he set her down and got up to leave, "why did you tell her your name, anyway?"
"I don't know," he said, and slipped out the window. Liam was halfway down before he realized he hadn't told Blair anything about the girl and his name. He thought about this as he wandered around the garden. How had she known?
"You seem troubled young Liam," whispered an ancient voice.
"Liam tensed, but relaxed again almost immediately. "Oh, hello Dara." Dara was the oldest tree [Liam had ever known] and the only sentient tree in the castle. She was a huge oak, and she was Liam's particular friend. He wandered over and sat beside her trunk. "Have you ever heard of anyone," Liam asked, "with the Gift of mind-reading?"
Dara rustled her leaves in thought. "Yes," she whispered, "I once knew someone with that gift. But they're not called 'mind-readers,' Liam, they're Thoughtseers. Why did you bring it up?"
"Dara, I think my sister is a Thoughtseer."
"And why d-" the tree started.
Liam didn't hear the rest though. It felt as if he was being pulled by a giant metal hook, and if he didn't go that direction he'd be disembowled. The problem was that it wasn't pulling any direction. It was dragging him Somewhere Else.
Cian watched it through his bedroom window. He saw his brother
suddenly keel over with a look of intense pain on his face, and looked
on as Liam slowly dissappeared.
Cian chuckled as he turned away.
it was a beautiful, rich, warm sound, a sound that could almost fool
you into believing him a nice person. Almost.
Liam
sat up. The pulling had ceased almost as quickly as it had begun. No,
wait. It was still there, just a little bit, and it wanted him to go
forward. As Liam rounded the tree in front of him he noticed that it was
humming to itself. He forgot about it a second later though, as he got
around the tree and saw exactly what had brought him there. The girl.
"What's your prob-"
Liam stopped abruptly. The girl's right arm was swollen and red to the
shoulder, and she seemed barely conscious. The girl looked over at her
arm, then looked up at him, smiling a strange little half-smile. It
seemed like she was trying to say something, but she passed out before
she could start.
'It's my fault,' thought Liam in shock, 'It's all my fault for getting her involved.
'I don't even know her name,' he realized suddenly.
"Good," said an unfamiliar voice, "I'm glad you've finally arrived."
Liam went still. Not still as a mortal is still but still, in a way
that is uniquely Faerie. In that stillness they become unnoticeable,
which is almost as good as true invisibility.
An old woman came out from behind a tree and softly called, "Come out. It's no use hiding; I know your true name."
Liam decided not to show himself yet. "Who are you? Why were you hiding behind a tree?"
"I am Kirin's grandmother, and I was hiding to make sure you would come."
"I had no choice about coming, grandma!" Liam hissed. A thought struck him. "Who's Kirin?" he asked.
The old woman looked surprised, "Do you mean that you never even asked her name?"
"No." Liam hung his head, accidentally breaking the Faerie stillness
that had been keeping him unseen, but he felt so wretched about the girl
that he couldn't bring himself to care. 'No,' Liam corrected himself,
'not "the girl". She has a name now; Kirin.'
"I must admit, that is not very impressive," said the woman. She looked away. "Maybe you can't help Kirin after all."
"If there is something I can do to help, I will." She still seemed
disbelieving, so, "I give you my word, old woman," he said. Part of him
wondered what he was doing, the girl was going to die in sixty years
anyway. But she had a name now, which made her real, and he couldn't
just leave her like that.
She nodded once, very slowly. "Tell me what bit her."
"A sluagh."
"Ah, that helps a great deal. When did it bite her?"
"Beltane eve."
"After midnight, I presume?"
"Why does it matter?" Liam was confused; these questions didn't seem to be going anywhere.
"Answer my question." Her voice betrayed a tension her relaxed posture
had concealed. Whyever she was asking, it was important.
"Yes, after midnight."
"That explains it," the woman sighed. She suddenly seemed very tired
and fragile. "You must take Kirin back with you to the Otherworld-"
"I can't-"
"Silence! You must," her eyes were steely, her voice, hard, "Feed her. The food of the otherworld should revive her soul."
"If... She eats... the food there..." Liam said, speaking slowly and
clearly, "that girl... Kirin.... will die, or be trapped there. Forever.
"You understand that?"
"Yes."
"And you still want me to take her?"
"Yes."
This was quickly becoming the worst day of Liam's life. "Is there no other way?"
"No." Was that a hint of a smile on her face? No, he must be imagining
things. Liam turned to look at Kirin's body. He could carry her, he knew
he was strong enough, but how would he take her back with him? As he
pondered this question Liam took note of his surroundings for the first
time. He stood beside the trunk of a great tree. It hummed to itself,
and Liam got the impression it was watching them. Its trunk split in
half not far off the ground and rejoined about six feet up. The edges of
the split trunk glowed blue. The world Liam saw through the trunk
wasn't the world around him. Liam almost smiled. He didn't need to worry
about taking Kirin with him.
"All right. I'll bring her back with me."
"Good." Liam turned to go. "Be well, Liam Cu Aos Sidhe. And take care of Kirin or I will make you pay," the woman called him.
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