Charles (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
saltprince) wrote2012-05-14 03:44 pm
saltprince) wrote2012-05-14 03:44 pm
"Chicks and Stuff" I
(Yeah Batty and I don't have a working title so far)
001
This is an island where nothing really happens.
It's not the most pleasant of thoughts, but it's one the young woman find herself coming back to quite regularly as she went about her days on the island. Keeping things tidy, assisting the kitchen with putting out the evening meals, and helping her mother manage the laundry. A simple lot in life, and one which she was resigned to at birth. Almost everyone on this island is like that, floating in and out of their days, performing things according to a schedule and doing the duty which they were born into. A destiny that was handed right to them as opposed to one which they forged themselves.
It's not that she hated this island, however. Far from it, really - it was all that she knew, and as such it would be nothing short of madness to hate it. When you only have one experience in your life, hating it would just make your life miserable and as such it would be more accurate to say that the petite young woman loved the island. She loved the heat of it, the feel of the sea at the outer parts of the it along the cliffs and beaches, she loved the people and her family, but most of all, she loved the birds. It was a pure love, one which was born mostly out of ignorance for any other way of life.
It was not, however, an unintelligible love. Because, La well knew, her love for the birds was because she was envious of their freedom - how the birds could come and eat seed out of her hand in one moment, only to depart for other islands, other locations, perhaps even the mainland with complete impunity, while she would live and die as one of the numerous caretakers of this facility, just like generations before her of her family. All of them had served the headmasters of this facility, lived and worked alongside dozens of other families born in "servitude" to the masters of the island, the Guardians of the Chosen. As was noted, it was a simple existence, one filled with duty and with care.
Today, as she often did, La was with the birds. Mostly seagulls, of course, but today there was one odd bird she had never seen before. The slight young woman was immediately compelled to reach out and touch the creature when she came into her corner of the highest balcony on the east side of the facility, such was the beauty of this animal.
The bird in question was a brilliant bright blue in color. Piercing green eyes which implied intelligence far beyond the seagulls flanking it followed La as she closed in on it, while wide - a wingspan at least as wide as she was tall - wings spread to stretch itself out. Its bill was more like a sparrow's than a gull's. Regardless of where the bird had come from though, while feeding on the shredded bed La often brought up here, it offered no resistance to La reaching out and petting its plumage, the way the gulls no doubt would have.
It was warm to the touch. Far warmer than La had expected, and thus briefly was taken aback.
My, what a gorgeous thing you are.
La's petting continued as long as the green eyes of the large bird allowed, and when it had finished eating, it gently shoved her arm aside with a brush of one of its large wings. La smiled as the bird took off, a sad smile stuck on her face as she waved goodbye. She was envious of that bird, like she was all the others. But this time, that strange and majestic looking creature she could not help but take as an omen that something entirely out of the ordinary might happen today. A rare day indeed on this island.
She was thus grinning ear to ear as she descended the staircase back to the lower levels of the East side of the facility.
The facility itself was an intensive training camp for the Chosen located on an island several miles off the coast of the mainland. Removed from society, the purpose of it was to both reinforce key values into the Chosen to prepare them for their destiny and also to make sure that they could use their abilities to the best of their advantage. Martial arts, weapons training, and perhaps most importantly meditation to learn to control their own energy flux power was absolutely vital in the eyes of the sages who had constructed the original version of this facility several centuries ago. Far enough removed to make them not be foolishly wasted, but close enough that they could return to fulfill their role when the time came. Such was the ideal.
Physically, the island was maybe only five miles long and two wide. The Facility took up most of the Eastern side of the island, where the land was highest and the way down to the base of the island was mostly cliff-face. Going down from that peak, you entered a small village where the families who had worked at the facility for generations lived and where there were a few small farms. The island had not be self-sufficient for decades, despite the original ideals, so this "middle part" also had a port wherein merchants could bring goods to sell to the village and their masters up at the Facility itself.
And finally, at the far western end of the island laid a wide expanse of sandy beach, set apart from the village by a small tropical forest. This was the preferred playing ground of the children of the island, and where La herself had spend much of her youth, playing alongside other children in the village. As she got older and more intensive in her duties to the Facility she saw these other children - now young adults - less and less but if she were asked about it she would still consider herself "friends" with most of them. After all, it was not a lonely existence she had, merely... a somewhat stagnated one.
As La reached the bottom level, still grinning, she spied a certain elderly man. Her smile didn't fade, but it still lessen slightly as she gave a polite half-bow to the man named Master Fetu.
Fetu, who was alone and reviewing some scrolls, turned to her with a similarly polite smile and a nod. Evidently, he didn't have anything for her to do, because he immediately returned to his notes.
La breathed a small sigh of relief as she walked past the man. It wasn't that Fetu was a bad person - in truth, he was probably one of the most understanding of the five "Masters" who oversaw the other trainers at the facility. Rather, it was that he was a demanding person, and La suspected that if he knew about her spending some of her cleaning shift feeding the birds like she always did he would scold her. Fetu's soft voice tended to carry a supreme sort of authority which often made her even more uncomfortable than some of his colleague's shouts in the rare instances she had been privy to their temper over the years.
La allowed herself to get lost in thought as she took out a wet rag to clean the floors of the base level of the eastern wing. It was curious though... if Fetu was there doing much of nothing but studying a piece of paper, where was the Chosen herself? La, as a simple girl didn't suppose to know the whole of the Chosen's schedule, but she certainly knew that on the fifth day of the week the Chosen usually worked almost exclusively with one of the five masters, often working with one or two while the others observed and gave insight. If Master Fetu was aimless at the moment, then was it possible that the Chosen was doing something out of the ordinary?
Not that this line of thought would amount to anything, on her second row of base-washing she allowed herself to picture the Chosen sprouting wings akin to that of the blue bird earlier. It was a rather charming image, she had to admit. So charming, in fact, that a slightly jealous little smile played at her lips as she completed this simple chore over the next hour or so. She watched Master Fetu retreat back into the facility and several other lesser trainers walk around past her. A few other serving family's sons and daughters walked past as well, going about their other duties. She greeted all of them politely, of course, but La was the type of person who preferred to be absorbed in her own work if she was actually doing it and as such none of the "conversations" really lasted any significant length of time.
By the time she finished, it was nearly dinner, and it was her turn to assist in serving so she collected all her cleaning supplies, paused to admire her own work on the floor - what, a girl needs a little vanity - and set off to the kitchens to see if Hopo and the others had finished evening meal. En route to the kitchens, she dropped off her cleaning supplies in one of the closets, greeted a few more people along the way, including one of Fetu's colleagues, and avoided one of the local feral cats which sometimes wandered the outer parts of the facility. Outer, of course, because she was taking an outside route as opposed to going in the inner hallways.
Finally outside the kitchens, she peeked her head in to see Hopo still hard at work ordering around the others. She liked Hopo - the man was slightly older than her, in his early twenties with strong features and a bright smile which hid his very assertive attitude when it came to the kitchens. He had been one of the children she had played with in her youth, and though he was older than her and they rarely did much together outside of work, she liked to think that they were still good friends. She looked a little sheepish to see that they weren't done though, and before she was spotted and distracted them more, popped back out to the outer porch and sat down on one of the steps to watch the sunset while she waited.
It was a gorgeous sunset. All the ones on this island were. This island which never really changed.
Of course, one shouldn't think these things often, it invites someone to come and defy that thought process. In this instance, a strong hand clapped La on the back, sending her lurching forward and almost off the steps.
"Hey there, La! Haven't seen you all day!"
La looked up and her eyes widened slightly, because there, looking down at her with a grin as she went to take a seat next to her was the Chosen herself. Aurelia. The young woman this entire island existed to be in the service of. Her surprise wasn't that the Chosen was talking to her - no, they talked fairly regularly, and La suspected that Aurelia considered her a "friend," even if she wasn't entirely sure about that label herself. No, her surprise had more to do with the timing of this encounter, and it was for this reason she ended up bowing her head before working to formulate a response to the older and taller girl's more boisterous attitude. Which mean, naturally, that the Chosen just pressed on without abandon, grinning that thousand-volt grin so many people (herself included) admired.
"I know you have chores and stuff, but c'mon, I was hoping I would at least see you for lunch. But nope, I got stuck having it with two of the masters 'cus I never caught you earlier. Do you know how weird it is to have lunch with two old people who have some sort of romantic history they're in denial about? I don't even want to know." Aurelia shivered as she completed that statement.
La laughed at that. The Chosen - Aurelia's - gusto really was contagious. "You meet Master Sefu and Master Makana, right?"
"Ugh, yes. Sefu might as well be making kissy faces at her. And with his wrinkles, that's disturbing."
"I feel a little bad for Master Makana, actually..." Okay, more than a little, if La was honest. Her late husband passed some years ago and Master Sefu had been becoming increasingly interested in her since then based on what she could theorize was a childhood crush. To have to deal with that at an old age just struck her as being very tiresome. Not that she would word of all this, particularly to Aurelia.
The Chosen herself nodded, and then adopted a mote pensive expression, playing a bit with the choker on her neck. She had made the necklace herself years ago. La studied her; Aurelia was notably taller than her and slightly older, with a firm muscular build. Her skin tanned like everyone else on the island, but it was tanned a different tint than most here, and the same was true of her hair, notably darker than most people on the island. This was of course probably due to her heritage being from a far off city as opposed to being born and raised here the way La and Hopo had been. Still, she had adapted naturally to the environment, so she was far from a stranger - just distinct "apart" from everyone else on the island if La were to be honest with herself. Perhaps the most distinct reason way were Aurelia's eyes, which now turned to look at La back.
La held the gaze for a moment, but eventually shifted away. Aurelia's eyes weren't piercing, but they were somewhat overwhelming. Gray, but far from lifeless - to her they looked like bright silver pools of the sort of radiance which didn't entirely suit this stagnant island. In her effort to look away from the eyes of the Chosen, she instead focused on her shoulder, to study the current temporary marking she had there.
Aurelia often had markings on her shoulder. Certain natural plants on the island could be used to make effective and lasting temporary tattoos which would even stand up for a time to salt water. As such, she exploited this and made her own designs. Her current one was not unlike many of the old ones - tribal in nature and a series of connected lines, circles, and shapes which roughly formed an image. But on closer inspection... La couldn't help but feel that this current mark in the center of it had something whish resembled the head of that blue-feathered bird she encountered earlier that day, the one she took as an omen.
It was for this reason that La was taken back once again to allow Aurelia to continue to control the conversation.
"Do you ever look at the sunset and think about the mainland?"
La did not expect that. Perhaps because she was already a bit flummoxed, she answered with absolute honesty. "Actually, I usually think about the birds."
Aurelia blinked, leaning over a bit to eye La more intently. "Birds, really?"
La blushed- she had. Oh the hell with it, "Yes, the birds. They're able to fly wherever they please - to this island, away from it, into the distance, all the way to the far reaches of the mainland and back if they wanted. While we're here, they have true freedom."
Aurelia looked pensive again for a moment, but then her lips quirked up into something which was not quite a smirk, but not quite a smile and nodded. She leapt to her feet. She had come to a decision! And as such, with one more pat on La's back and a quick thanks she sprinted off to who even knows where.
La, for her part, felt more invigorated, if slightly confused as she stood herself. Hopo had to be done by now, right? With that in mind and still pondering what Aurelia had said and done she stepped into the kitchens to get the plates and serve them to the various masters, trainers, caretakers, and servers who were to be in the dining hall. These actions were automatic, for the most part, broken only by her having short and friendly conversation with Hopo and thus allowed her a great deal of time to think while her body went about doing what it had been doing for years now.
The Chosen were a long line of female warriors and leaders who went back as far as history existed. No one truly knew the origin, but in almost every generation in certainly in almost every major conflict in history, one of the Chosen rose to prominence and collected humanity towards a fate most in line with their continued survival in this world. Almost two thousand years ago, when the Raels had risen up in rebellion against the then all-powerful Vendil Empire it was a Chosen who lead them to victory in establishing their independence. Similarly, at the very dawn of the Vendil Empire two thousand years before that, it was a Chosen who rallied the scattered tribes of that region to oppose the savage domination of the ogres who once held dominion over humankind. A thousand years past, it was a Chosen and her closest allies who defeated an upstart despot who sought to plunge the budding city-states of the mainland in war before it had even begun. Time and time again, the very fabric of history was confirmed and pushed towards its true path by the efforts of these brave women.
It was about eight centuries ago when this island and its training facility was established. In that age, there was much chaos as the city states all pushed their own power forward, and it was a concern that one of the states might use a Chosen who happened to be born to them to achieve an undue level of dominance; using her powers for the falsification instead of the confirmation of the "true path." The ancient sages began taking in the Chosen when she was very young to train her apart from the world and so it had been since, with the initially begrudging agreement of city-states. For many hundreds of years, this practice worked effectively, but in the last several decades, in this modern world they now found themselves in, it seemed as though there wasn't a need for a Chosen anymore. The last five Chosen before Aurelia had not committed any heroic deeds the historians would record and indeed two of those five had never even left this island once they were on it.
It had become common, she was told by merchants on the mainland, for the people in the cities to no longer respect the history of the Chosen, and see the whole of her beloved stagnant island as being a fail experiment, wrought with superstition which was no longer needed in an age of magi-science and technology. In essence, humanity knew what it was doing and no longer needed a strong woman to pull them back to the correct path. The belief was that they were walking it all on their own.
La herself didn't really think about that history much herself, if she was honest. What she thought about was the incredibly radiant girl, the Chosen which she saw almost daily on this island living beside her. While the history was easy enough to dismiss as not being relevant, one only needed to watch Aurelia surf to know that there was something truly amazing about her.
Aurelia had arrived when La was six, and the other girl was a year older than her. The moment La saw Master Fetu leading Aurelia in to the facility even way back then, La had known that she was special. She had followed them in, watching from a distance as the Chosen was introduced to the other four masters. When Aurelia had been scolded by Master Sefu she had winced. When Aurelia had shown up Master Makana she had silently cheered. La recalled how in her youth she had talked with Hopo for such a long time about that first day, about how cool Aurelia was and how much she wanted to be like her. How much she wanted to display that same power and confidence, and perhaps most importantly, how she wanted to know something which was not merely this one island.
And, if she was honest with herself, that feeling had never really left her. Sure, she idealized the birds more these days when it came to freedom, but in other ways... she was jealous of Aurelia as well for her power, her personality, and just how attractive she was in general. It wasn't an overwhelming jealousy though, more of a silent observation about who the Chosen was, and who she was. They were two very different people.
Soon enough, dinner was finished being served, and she was eating privately in the back room with all the chefs. She sat across from Hopo, alone at their own table. There was silence for the time, but La in her odd mood decided to break it first.
"This is very good." Okay so it wasn't the most efficient break.
Hopo snorted at that, and gave a thumbs up before he finished chewing. It was crass, but in La's opinion it was also pretty cute. Once he swallowed, he responded. "It's all in the peppers. We got a great shipment last month of peppers, and it's made everything I make ten times better."
La shifted and took another bite of the fish. Swallowed, "I'm sure that's a part of it, but you've also gotten really talented."
Hopo grinned and nodded, "Well it's what I've been doing since I became a man. Sure hope I can dazzle a girl like you with my dishes by now."
A girl like you. La couldn't help but wonder what he meant by that. The way he said it was certainly affectionate, but she didn't know for certain if it was complimentary, commenting on her plainness, or both. Either way, she found her face feeling irritating red at him saying that and she shook her head.
"I'm not the only one, the Masters were all impressed too, and I'm sure Aurelia would agree too..."
Hopo, finishing her last bite, arched an eyebrow at the casual address of the Chosen. It wasn't unusual for almost anyone on the island to do so, but La always seemed respectful to the bone, as was the way she was raised by her father. La's blush increased, and she felt even smaller than usual . She averted her hazel eyes away from him entirely. He simply shrugged, not quite sure how to respond to that one right off. This bought La more time to think and collect herself.
"I mean to say, Hopo, you don't cook only for me." ...Okay that isn't what she meant either.
And now it was Hopo's turn to blush, and look around to hope none of the other chefs had heard that one. It was a component of their relationship the two of them were acutely aware of, but neither ever really commented on. They were on a small island with a small population and were close childhood friends. Even if they were somewhat more distant now and there was an age difference, the fact of the matter is that there were only about two dozen children in their age group on the island. It was relatively expected that they would marry one of the other two dozen, and in all likelihood, someday La would be Hopo's bride because of their shared history, even if it didn't seem like it now. It was simply one of the things which was a universal truth in a small community like this.
La, for her part, didn't know how she felt about that likely possibility. She also didn't know how Hopo felt about that possibility. It was one of the great unknowns in her life. Fortunately, Hopo broke the silence and freed her from her own thoughts.
"Speaking of the Chosen, I don't think I saw her at dinner tonight. I wonder where she is?"
"Really?" La thought back to when she was running on automatic and no, Aurelia wasn't there, "I guess she wasn't. That's strange, I saw her right before I came into the kitchens too."
"I bet she's out surfing. You know how she loves the waves, and this looks like it'll be a warm night anyway."
La nodded in agreement. That most likely was it. Maybe she would trek down the beach. It would be a bit far to go on foot, but if she managed to convince someone to give her a ride - there were after all a few treks on the island. After a brief moment of consideration, thinking about that bird-like marking on Aurelia's arm she couldn't help but take as an omen, and finally swallowing her last bite, she resolved to do just that. She didn't leave quickly by any means, but after some polite conversation with Hopo and finishing her own meal, she excused herself before the dishes actually started.
Leaving the Facility was actually a surprisingly painless process. She didn't have any structured chores she needed to do right now, and despite passing Master Fetu again in the halls before she left (really? This many times in one day?) she was able to make it to the village quick enough. Now... she just needed to find a trek. She knew that the general store's owner had one he used to get the port and bring supplies up, so she headed there first to ask their daughter for a favor.
But before she even made it there something jumped out of the bushes at her. Startled, La ended up tripping back a bit only to hear the admittedly somewhat boyish laughter of the Chosen.
"I was just coming to get you too! Hey La."
Flustered, La dusted off her blouse and frowned, her round face looking more and more like a darker version of a tomato. Stupid Aurelia, she was just going to go see her surf and she had to- ...Wait, look for her?
"I have somewhere to take you, hop on." And then the Chosen bent down, clearly imply La should get on her back.
...What? "You don't mean that-"
"I said hop on! C'mon, time's wasting!"
La screwed up her eyes for a moment, willing herself not to feel like a red in the face little girl before she finally complied and got onto Aurelia's back. Her shoulders were very broad for a girl, so it was easy enough for her to get all the way up on to them for a piggy back ride. Aurelia smirked and stood, wrapping her arms around La's legs to keep her on there.
"Whoa, steady, steady..." She shifted her weight from one leg to the other and then- "hold on tight!"
Hold on to what? La didn't have time to process this however before the Chosen leapt into the air, La being dragged with her. The Chosen's primary power was to adhere to the true history of the world, of course, but this played out in the form of understanding the natural world on a level no other human truly could. Translated, this meant that Aurelia had incredibly intuition, acute senses, and - as was at play here - incredibly physical reflexes. A standing leap brought her easily her own height up into the air, and she was able to repeat this leap over and over to have a jump-running session which La would be convinced, later, was probably faster than even the general store's trek could go.
Her heart was beating into her ears from something she couldn't decide if it was fear or excitement by the time they reached the beach. Once there, Aurelia let the smaller girl down, grinning but breathing just a bit heavy as she rolled her shoulders. La, for her part, didn't trust herself to stand and instead allowed herself to sink to her knees in the sand.
Regardless of this, she also spoke first, "S-so what are you showing me?"
"Well, what I'm going to show you actually isn't on this island." Aurelia answered simply, staring off into the horizon of the night sky.
What? But she was the Chosen, and La was- and how did she intend to get off- They weren't even at the port- Why was she even entertaining this idea in the first place, and why her?
Aurelia, as if to answer these questions, turned to La and offers her a hand to stand. La hesitated, but took it after a moment's pause, deciding she would be better off standing for this conversation, even if she was much shorter than the other girl with her. Even so, she shot the other an inquisitive look which demanded answers.
"I mean... you don't want to be stuck on this island your whole life, right?"
"Well... no, I don--"
"Exactly! And I don't either! I've actually been thinking about this for a while, but you're the one who inspired me. All that stuff about birds and freedom earlier today, remember? I'd like to fly too, go see what else there is in this world other than where I grew up and this island. Away from all the stuff old Masters and such. Doesn't that sound cool to you?"
It does, La thought, which is why she had to force herself to make the next bit of commentary. "But what about the Masters, and my parents-"
"They're all old anyway, they'll get over it. It's not like we're going to be gone forever."
"But how are you-" How are you going to do it? Oh La, you really are entertaining this, aren't you? She frowned, mostly at her own building excitement which was bubbling up despite her rational reluctance.
"Easy," Aurelia said, tapping the sandy ground with her feet. "the sea here is going to be totally calm in about thirty minutes. Right then, we'll be able to paddle out past the outer reef even if we're only on a surfboard."
You want to paddle to the mainland on a surfboard? That question was clearly written all over La's face as she stared at she Chosen, but the muscular young woman sighed and actually responded to it.
"Once we're past the reef, I'm sure we'll be able to find passer on a fishing boat or a Junker or something. We're not that far out to sea, if things go bad I bet I could paddle us there anyway."
Clearly, Aurelia had actually thought this out. In a rather haphazard way, admittedly, and in a way which La wasn't entirely sure would even be practical in real world terms, but enough that she, the Chosen, at least felt confident attempting it. And in this moment her eyes didn't look like silver. They instead looked like resolute and determined steel, something that knew what it wanted to do and was by all means going to do it. La knew it was mad, and suspected that this plan would have no chance of success but between those eyes, that blue bird early in the day, and that omen she could still see on Aurelia's arm, she knew what her answer was going to be. Inevitably, she was going to give in to the idea that they should go. That, however, did not mean that she should not address practical concerns.
"What about food?"
"We can fish for it."
"And what about water?"
"I've got a pouch full of it in the pack I made up."
"Clothes?"
"We can get some on the mainland."
"Money?"
"I've got all the money I have in my pack too."
So basically, Aurelia's plan was ill-thought out and entirely irresponsible. It didn't account for numerous factors and relied a lot on luck. But it was also her best chance at freedom. Her best chance to see more of the world. And as such when Aurelia offered a hand for La to shake, there was only a moment's hesitation before her own petite hand got pulled into the Chosen's firm grip. They shook.
"Alright, so... I'll go with you, Aurelia."
That thousand volt smile again, and, "That's what I wanted to hear, La!"
If La had any doubts before that smile (she did) most of them were alleviated simply by its existing. she sort of wished she was in a set of clothing that wasn't a blouse which would be prone to getting waterlogged, but she suspected if she made the hike back up to her parent's home she would lose her nerve to go with Aurelia. As it was, Aurelia planted her surfboard in the water with herself at the bottom, La on top of her, and her back in front of La, being held in place by the smaller girl. Thirty minutes passed, and as the Chosen had predicted, the sea was entirely calm. With her great strength and great intuition about where the shallow parts were, Aurelia paddled them out into the deep water in no time flat.
It was in the deep water La had her first real scare of this trip though. Aurelia herself ended up somewhat tired there, and it didn't seem like there were any ships around. When the currents picked up again, they began to drift, and La was briefly convinced they were going to die out here in the open ocean. Failing that, they would drift back to the island to be scolded by the Masters. Perhaps they would simply be picked up by some unsavory people and be sold off as slaves or something. Did the mainland still have slavery? Were there monsters out past the deep reef? She wasn't sure, and for a while she was panicking...
Until she spotted a light out in the distance. The young woman below her, who seemed to be expecting this somehow, grinned, while La whistled and waved to signal to the ship to come get them. The ship - which ended up being a Junker - came up and got them, and the two girls, their board, and the pack were hauled onto the ship. Aurelia, by now dead tired from paddling and steering this far, simple drifted off to sleep right there on the deck. this left La, of course, to negotiate where they were to be taken by the Junker.
The ship was a small one, only crewed by five sailors and a captain. Despite the initial confusion, La was able to quickly enough convince the sailors to allow her to meet with the captain herself and to take the Chosen (who she was hoping against hope they would not recognize) to a bunk in the lower decks. She was loathe to leave Aurelia to her own devices like that, but under the circumstances, getting them passage was far more important. Even so, she watched them carry Aurelia down and set her onto the bunk before she made her way back up to the top deck.
And finally, there she was in front the captain's door at the end of the longest day of her life. She was bone tired, perhaps even more so than Aurelia, but could not relax enough to nod off the way she had. She was breathing heavy, soaked in her blouse and flustered, but if it was the Chosen's job to make the mess, it would be her job to resolve it (though the irony did not escape her). Inhale, exhale... and she knocked on the captain's door.
001
This is an island where nothing really happens.
It's not the most pleasant of thoughts, but it's one the young woman find herself coming back to quite regularly as she went about her days on the island. Keeping things tidy, assisting the kitchen with putting out the evening meals, and helping her mother manage the laundry. A simple lot in life, and one which she was resigned to at birth. Almost everyone on this island is like that, floating in and out of their days, performing things according to a schedule and doing the duty which they were born into. A destiny that was handed right to them as opposed to one which they forged themselves.
It's not that she hated this island, however. Far from it, really - it was all that she knew, and as such it would be nothing short of madness to hate it. When you only have one experience in your life, hating it would just make your life miserable and as such it would be more accurate to say that the petite young woman loved the island. She loved the heat of it, the feel of the sea at the outer parts of the it along the cliffs and beaches, she loved the people and her family, but most of all, she loved the birds. It was a pure love, one which was born mostly out of ignorance for any other way of life.
It was not, however, an unintelligible love. Because, La well knew, her love for the birds was because she was envious of their freedom - how the birds could come and eat seed out of her hand in one moment, only to depart for other islands, other locations, perhaps even the mainland with complete impunity, while she would live and die as one of the numerous caretakers of this facility, just like generations before her of her family. All of them had served the headmasters of this facility, lived and worked alongside dozens of other families born in "servitude" to the masters of the island, the Guardians of the Chosen. As was noted, it was a simple existence, one filled with duty and with care.
Today, as she often did, La was with the birds. Mostly seagulls, of course, but today there was one odd bird she had never seen before. The slight young woman was immediately compelled to reach out and touch the creature when she came into her corner of the highest balcony on the east side of the facility, such was the beauty of this animal.
The bird in question was a brilliant bright blue in color. Piercing green eyes which implied intelligence far beyond the seagulls flanking it followed La as she closed in on it, while wide - a wingspan at least as wide as she was tall - wings spread to stretch itself out. Its bill was more like a sparrow's than a gull's. Regardless of where the bird had come from though, while feeding on the shredded bed La often brought up here, it offered no resistance to La reaching out and petting its plumage, the way the gulls no doubt would have.
It was warm to the touch. Far warmer than La had expected, and thus briefly was taken aback.
My, what a gorgeous thing you are.
La's petting continued as long as the green eyes of the large bird allowed, and when it had finished eating, it gently shoved her arm aside with a brush of one of its large wings. La smiled as the bird took off, a sad smile stuck on her face as she waved goodbye. She was envious of that bird, like she was all the others. But this time, that strange and majestic looking creature she could not help but take as an omen that something entirely out of the ordinary might happen today. A rare day indeed on this island.
She was thus grinning ear to ear as she descended the staircase back to the lower levels of the East side of the facility.
The facility itself was an intensive training camp for the Chosen located on an island several miles off the coast of the mainland. Removed from society, the purpose of it was to both reinforce key values into the Chosen to prepare them for their destiny and also to make sure that they could use their abilities to the best of their advantage. Martial arts, weapons training, and perhaps most importantly meditation to learn to control their own energy flux power was absolutely vital in the eyes of the sages who had constructed the original version of this facility several centuries ago. Far enough removed to make them not be foolishly wasted, but close enough that they could return to fulfill their role when the time came. Such was the ideal.
Physically, the island was maybe only five miles long and two wide. The Facility took up most of the Eastern side of the island, where the land was highest and the way down to the base of the island was mostly cliff-face. Going down from that peak, you entered a small village where the families who had worked at the facility for generations lived and where there were a few small farms. The island had not be self-sufficient for decades, despite the original ideals, so this "middle part" also had a port wherein merchants could bring goods to sell to the village and their masters up at the Facility itself.
And finally, at the far western end of the island laid a wide expanse of sandy beach, set apart from the village by a small tropical forest. This was the preferred playing ground of the children of the island, and where La herself had spend much of her youth, playing alongside other children in the village. As she got older and more intensive in her duties to the Facility she saw these other children - now young adults - less and less but if she were asked about it she would still consider herself "friends" with most of them. After all, it was not a lonely existence she had, merely... a somewhat stagnated one.
As La reached the bottom level, still grinning, she spied a certain elderly man. Her smile didn't fade, but it still lessen slightly as she gave a polite half-bow to the man named Master Fetu.
Fetu, who was alone and reviewing some scrolls, turned to her with a similarly polite smile and a nod. Evidently, he didn't have anything for her to do, because he immediately returned to his notes.
La breathed a small sigh of relief as she walked past the man. It wasn't that Fetu was a bad person - in truth, he was probably one of the most understanding of the five "Masters" who oversaw the other trainers at the facility. Rather, it was that he was a demanding person, and La suspected that if he knew about her spending some of her cleaning shift feeding the birds like she always did he would scold her. Fetu's soft voice tended to carry a supreme sort of authority which often made her even more uncomfortable than some of his colleague's shouts in the rare instances she had been privy to their temper over the years.
La allowed herself to get lost in thought as she took out a wet rag to clean the floors of the base level of the eastern wing. It was curious though... if Fetu was there doing much of nothing but studying a piece of paper, where was the Chosen herself? La, as a simple girl didn't suppose to know the whole of the Chosen's schedule, but she certainly knew that on the fifth day of the week the Chosen usually worked almost exclusively with one of the five masters, often working with one or two while the others observed and gave insight. If Master Fetu was aimless at the moment, then was it possible that the Chosen was doing something out of the ordinary?
Not that this line of thought would amount to anything, on her second row of base-washing she allowed herself to picture the Chosen sprouting wings akin to that of the blue bird earlier. It was a rather charming image, she had to admit. So charming, in fact, that a slightly jealous little smile played at her lips as she completed this simple chore over the next hour or so. She watched Master Fetu retreat back into the facility and several other lesser trainers walk around past her. A few other serving family's sons and daughters walked past as well, going about their other duties. She greeted all of them politely, of course, but La was the type of person who preferred to be absorbed in her own work if she was actually doing it and as such none of the "conversations" really lasted any significant length of time.
By the time she finished, it was nearly dinner, and it was her turn to assist in serving so she collected all her cleaning supplies, paused to admire her own work on the floor - what, a girl needs a little vanity - and set off to the kitchens to see if Hopo and the others had finished evening meal. En route to the kitchens, she dropped off her cleaning supplies in one of the closets, greeted a few more people along the way, including one of Fetu's colleagues, and avoided one of the local feral cats which sometimes wandered the outer parts of the facility. Outer, of course, because she was taking an outside route as opposed to going in the inner hallways.
Finally outside the kitchens, she peeked her head in to see Hopo still hard at work ordering around the others. She liked Hopo - the man was slightly older than her, in his early twenties with strong features and a bright smile which hid his very assertive attitude when it came to the kitchens. He had been one of the children she had played with in her youth, and though he was older than her and they rarely did much together outside of work, she liked to think that they were still good friends. She looked a little sheepish to see that they weren't done though, and before she was spotted and distracted them more, popped back out to the outer porch and sat down on one of the steps to watch the sunset while she waited.
It was a gorgeous sunset. All the ones on this island were. This island which never really changed.
Of course, one shouldn't think these things often, it invites someone to come and defy that thought process. In this instance, a strong hand clapped La on the back, sending her lurching forward and almost off the steps.
"Hey there, La! Haven't seen you all day!"
La looked up and her eyes widened slightly, because there, looking down at her with a grin as she went to take a seat next to her was the Chosen herself. Aurelia. The young woman this entire island existed to be in the service of. Her surprise wasn't that the Chosen was talking to her - no, they talked fairly regularly, and La suspected that Aurelia considered her a "friend," even if she wasn't entirely sure about that label herself. No, her surprise had more to do with the timing of this encounter, and it was for this reason she ended up bowing her head before working to formulate a response to the older and taller girl's more boisterous attitude. Which mean, naturally, that the Chosen just pressed on without abandon, grinning that thousand-volt grin so many people (herself included) admired.
"I know you have chores and stuff, but c'mon, I was hoping I would at least see you for lunch. But nope, I got stuck having it with two of the masters 'cus I never caught you earlier. Do you know how weird it is to have lunch with two old people who have some sort of romantic history they're in denial about? I don't even want to know." Aurelia shivered as she completed that statement.
La laughed at that. The Chosen - Aurelia's - gusto really was contagious. "You meet Master Sefu and Master Makana, right?"
"Ugh, yes. Sefu might as well be making kissy faces at her. And with his wrinkles, that's disturbing."
"I feel a little bad for Master Makana, actually..." Okay, more than a little, if La was honest. Her late husband passed some years ago and Master Sefu had been becoming increasingly interested in her since then based on what she could theorize was a childhood crush. To have to deal with that at an old age just struck her as being very tiresome. Not that she would word of all this, particularly to Aurelia.
The Chosen herself nodded, and then adopted a mote pensive expression, playing a bit with the choker on her neck. She had made the necklace herself years ago. La studied her; Aurelia was notably taller than her and slightly older, with a firm muscular build. Her skin tanned like everyone else on the island, but it was tanned a different tint than most here, and the same was true of her hair, notably darker than most people on the island. This was of course probably due to her heritage being from a far off city as opposed to being born and raised here the way La and Hopo had been. Still, she had adapted naturally to the environment, so she was far from a stranger - just distinct "apart" from everyone else on the island if La were to be honest with herself. Perhaps the most distinct reason way were Aurelia's eyes, which now turned to look at La back.
La held the gaze for a moment, but eventually shifted away. Aurelia's eyes weren't piercing, but they were somewhat overwhelming. Gray, but far from lifeless - to her they looked like bright silver pools of the sort of radiance which didn't entirely suit this stagnant island. In her effort to look away from the eyes of the Chosen, she instead focused on her shoulder, to study the current temporary marking she had there.
Aurelia often had markings on her shoulder. Certain natural plants on the island could be used to make effective and lasting temporary tattoos which would even stand up for a time to salt water. As such, she exploited this and made her own designs. Her current one was not unlike many of the old ones - tribal in nature and a series of connected lines, circles, and shapes which roughly formed an image. But on closer inspection... La couldn't help but feel that this current mark in the center of it had something whish resembled the head of that blue-feathered bird she encountered earlier that day, the one she took as an omen.
It was for this reason that La was taken back once again to allow Aurelia to continue to control the conversation.
"Do you ever look at the sunset and think about the mainland?"
La did not expect that. Perhaps because she was already a bit flummoxed, she answered with absolute honesty. "Actually, I usually think about the birds."
Aurelia blinked, leaning over a bit to eye La more intently. "Birds, really?"
La blushed- she had. Oh the hell with it, "Yes, the birds. They're able to fly wherever they please - to this island, away from it, into the distance, all the way to the far reaches of the mainland and back if they wanted. While we're here, they have true freedom."
Aurelia looked pensive again for a moment, but then her lips quirked up into something which was not quite a smirk, but not quite a smile and nodded. She leapt to her feet. She had come to a decision! And as such, with one more pat on La's back and a quick thanks she sprinted off to who even knows where.
La, for her part, felt more invigorated, if slightly confused as she stood herself. Hopo had to be done by now, right? With that in mind and still pondering what Aurelia had said and done she stepped into the kitchens to get the plates and serve them to the various masters, trainers, caretakers, and servers who were to be in the dining hall. These actions were automatic, for the most part, broken only by her having short and friendly conversation with Hopo and thus allowed her a great deal of time to think while her body went about doing what it had been doing for years now.
The Chosen were a long line of female warriors and leaders who went back as far as history existed. No one truly knew the origin, but in almost every generation in certainly in almost every major conflict in history, one of the Chosen rose to prominence and collected humanity towards a fate most in line with their continued survival in this world. Almost two thousand years ago, when the Raels had risen up in rebellion against the then all-powerful Vendil Empire it was a Chosen who lead them to victory in establishing their independence. Similarly, at the very dawn of the Vendil Empire two thousand years before that, it was a Chosen who rallied the scattered tribes of that region to oppose the savage domination of the ogres who once held dominion over humankind. A thousand years past, it was a Chosen and her closest allies who defeated an upstart despot who sought to plunge the budding city-states of the mainland in war before it had even begun. Time and time again, the very fabric of history was confirmed and pushed towards its true path by the efforts of these brave women.
It was about eight centuries ago when this island and its training facility was established. In that age, there was much chaos as the city states all pushed their own power forward, and it was a concern that one of the states might use a Chosen who happened to be born to them to achieve an undue level of dominance; using her powers for the falsification instead of the confirmation of the "true path." The ancient sages began taking in the Chosen when she was very young to train her apart from the world and so it had been since, with the initially begrudging agreement of city-states. For many hundreds of years, this practice worked effectively, but in the last several decades, in this modern world they now found themselves in, it seemed as though there wasn't a need for a Chosen anymore. The last five Chosen before Aurelia had not committed any heroic deeds the historians would record and indeed two of those five had never even left this island once they were on it.
It had become common, she was told by merchants on the mainland, for the people in the cities to no longer respect the history of the Chosen, and see the whole of her beloved stagnant island as being a fail experiment, wrought with superstition which was no longer needed in an age of magi-science and technology. In essence, humanity knew what it was doing and no longer needed a strong woman to pull them back to the correct path. The belief was that they were walking it all on their own.
La herself didn't really think about that history much herself, if she was honest. What she thought about was the incredibly radiant girl, the Chosen which she saw almost daily on this island living beside her. While the history was easy enough to dismiss as not being relevant, one only needed to watch Aurelia surf to know that there was something truly amazing about her.
Aurelia had arrived when La was six, and the other girl was a year older than her. The moment La saw Master Fetu leading Aurelia in to the facility even way back then, La had known that she was special. She had followed them in, watching from a distance as the Chosen was introduced to the other four masters. When Aurelia had been scolded by Master Sefu she had winced. When Aurelia had shown up Master Makana she had silently cheered. La recalled how in her youth she had talked with Hopo for such a long time about that first day, about how cool Aurelia was and how much she wanted to be like her. How much she wanted to display that same power and confidence, and perhaps most importantly, how she wanted to know something which was not merely this one island.
And, if she was honest with herself, that feeling had never really left her. Sure, she idealized the birds more these days when it came to freedom, but in other ways... she was jealous of Aurelia as well for her power, her personality, and just how attractive she was in general. It wasn't an overwhelming jealousy though, more of a silent observation about who the Chosen was, and who she was. They were two very different people.
Soon enough, dinner was finished being served, and she was eating privately in the back room with all the chefs. She sat across from Hopo, alone at their own table. There was silence for the time, but La in her odd mood decided to break it first.
"This is very good." Okay so it wasn't the most efficient break.
Hopo snorted at that, and gave a thumbs up before he finished chewing. It was crass, but in La's opinion it was also pretty cute. Once he swallowed, he responded. "It's all in the peppers. We got a great shipment last month of peppers, and it's made everything I make ten times better."
La shifted and took another bite of the fish. Swallowed, "I'm sure that's a part of it, but you've also gotten really talented."
Hopo grinned and nodded, "Well it's what I've been doing since I became a man. Sure hope I can dazzle a girl like you with my dishes by now."
A girl like you. La couldn't help but wonder what he meant by that. The way he said it was certainly affectionate, but she didn't know for certain if it was complimentary, commenting on her plainness, or both. Either way, she found her face feeling irritating red at him saying that and she shook her head.
"I'm not the only one, the Masters were all impressed too, and I'm sure Aurelia would agree too..."
Hopo, finishing her last bite, arched an eyebrow at the casual address of the Chosen. It wasn't unusual for almost anyone on the island to do so, but La always seemed respectful to the bone, as was the way she was raised by her father. La's blush increased, and she felt even smaller than usual . She averted her hazel eyes away from him entirely. He simply shrugged, not quite sure how to respond to that one right off. This bought La more time to think and collect herself.
"I mean to say, Hopo, you don't cook only for me." ...Okay that isn't what she meant either.
And now it was Hopo's turn to blush, and look around to hope none of the other chefs had heard that one. It was a component of their relationship the two of them were acutely aware of, but neither ever really commented on. They were on a small island with a small population and were close childhood friends. Even if they were somewhat more distant now and there was an age difference, the fact of the matter is that there were only about two dozen children in their age group on the island. It was relatively expected that they would marry one of the other two dozen, and in all likelihood, someday La would be Hopo's bride because of their shared history, even if it didn't seem like it now. It was simply one of the things which was a universal truth in a small community like this.
La, for her part, didn't know how she felt about that likely possibility. She also didn't know how Hopo felt about that possibility. It was one of the great unknowns in her life. Fortunately, Hopo broke the silence and freed her from her own thoughts.
"Speaking of the Chosen, I don't think I saw her at dinner tonight. I wonder where she is?"
"Really?" La thought back to when she was running on automatic and no, Aurelia wasn't there, "I guess she wasn't. That's strange, I saw her right before I came into the kitchens too."
"I bet she's out surfing. You know how she loves the waves, and this looks like it'll be a warm night anyway."
La nodded in agreement. That most likely was it. Maybe she would trek down the beach. It would be a bit far to go on foot, but if she managed to convince someone to give her a ride - there were after all a few treks on the island. After a brief moment of consideration, thinking about that bird-like marking on Aurelia's arm she couldn't help but take as an omen, and finally swallowing her last bite, she resolved to do just that. She didn't leave quickly by any means, but after some polite conversation with Hopo and finishing her own meal, she excused herself before the dishes actually started.
Leaving the Facility was actually a surprisingly painless process. She didn't have any structured chores she needed to do right now, and despite passing Master Fetu again in the halls before she left (really? This many times in one day?) she was able to make it to the village quick enough. Now... she just needed to find a trek. She knew that the general store's owner had one he used to get the port and bring supplies up, so she headed there first to ask their daughter for a favor.
But before she even made it there something jumped out of the bushes at her. Startled, La ended up tripping back a bit only to hear the admittedly somewhat boyish laughter of the Chosen.
"I was just coming to get you too! Hey La."
Flustered, La dusted off her blouse and frowned, her round face looking more and more like a darker version of a tomato. Stupid Aurelia, she was just going to go see her surf and she had to- ...Wait, look for her?
"I have somewhere to take you, hop on." And then the Chosen bent down, clearly imply La should get on her back.
...What? "You don't mean that-"
"I said hop on! C'mon, time's wasting!"
La screwed up her eyes for a moment, willing herself not to feel like a red in the face little girl before she finally complied and got onto Aurelia's back. Her shoulders were very broad for a girl, so it was easy enough for her to get all the way up on to them for a piggy back ride. Aurelia smirked and stood, wrapping her arms around La's legs to keep her on there.
"Whoa, steady, steady..." She shifted her weight from one leg to the other and then- "hold on tight!"
Hold on to what? La didn't have time to process this however before the Chosen leapt into the air, La being dragged with her. The Chosen's primary power was to adhere to the true history of the world, of course, but this played out in the form of understanding the natural world on a level no other human truly could. Translated, this meant that Aurelia had incredibly intuition, acute senses, and - as was at play here - incredibly physical reflexes. A standing leap brought her easily her own height up into the air, and she was able to repeat this leap over and over to have a jump-running session which La would be convinced, later, was probably faster than even the general store's trek could go.
Her heart was beating into her ears from something she couldn't decide if it was fear or excitement by the time they reached the beach. Once there, Aurelia let the smaller girl down, grinning but breathing just a bit heavy as she rolled her shoulders. La, for her part, didn't trust herself to stand and instead allowed herself to sink to her knees in the sand.
Regardless of this, she also spoke first, "S-so what are you showing me?"
"Well, what I'm going to show you actually isn't on this island." Aurelia answered simply, staring off into the horizon of the night sky.
What? But she was the Chosen, and La was- and how did she intend to get off- They weren't even at the port- Why was she even entertaining this idea in the first place, and why her?
Aurelia, as if to answer these questions, turned to La and offers her a hand to stand. La hesitated, but took it after a moment's pause, deciding she would be better off standing for this conversation, even if she was much shorter than the other girl with her. Even so, she shot the other an inquisitive look which demanded answers.
"I mean... you don't want to be stuck on this island your whole life, right?"
"Well... no, I don--"
"Exactly! And I don't either! I've actually been thinking about this for a while, but you're the one who inspired me. All that stuff about birds and freedom earlier today, remember? I'd like to fly too, go see what else there is in this world other than where I grew up and this island. Away from all the stuff old Masters and such. Doesn't that sound cool to you?"
It does, La thought, which is why she had to force herself to make the next bit of commentary. "But what about the Masters, and my parents-"
"They're all old anyway, they'll get over it. It's not like we're going to be gone forever."
"But how are you-" How are you going to do it? Oh La, you really are entertaining this, aren't you? She frowned, mostly at her own building excitement which was bubbling up despite her rational reluctance.
"Easy," Aurelia said, tapping the sandy ground with her feet. "the sea here is going to be totally calm in about thirty minutes. Right then, we'll be able to paddle out past the outer reef even if we're only on a surfboard."
You want to paddle to the mainland on a surfboard? That question was clearly written all over La's face as she stared at she Chosen, but the muscular young woman sighed and actually responded to it.
"Once we're past the reef, I'm sure we'll be able to find passer on a fishing boat or a Junker or something. We're not that far out to sea, if things go bad I bet I could paddle us there anyway."
Clearly, Aurelia had actually thought this out. In a rather haphazard way, admittedly, and in a way which La wasn't entirely sure would even be practical in real world terms, but enough that she, the Chosen, at least felt confident attempting it. And in this moment her eyes didn't look like silver. They instead looked like resolute and determined steel, something that knew what it wanted to do and was by all means going to do it. La knew it was mad, and suspected that this plan would have no chance of success but between those eyes, that blue bird early in the day, and that omen she could still see on Aurelia's arm, she knew what her answer was going to be. Inevitably, she was going to give in to the idea that they should go. That, however, did not mean that she should not address practical concerns.
"What about food?"
"We can fish for it."
"And what about water?"
"I've got a pouch full of it in the pack I made up."
"Clothes?"
"We can get some on the mainland."
"Money?"
"I've got all the money I have in my pack too."
So basically, Aurelia's plan was ill-thought out and entirely irresponsible. It didn't account for numerous factors and relied a lot on luck. But it was also her best chance at freedom. Her best chance to see more of the world. And as such when Aurelia offered a hand for La to shake, there was only a moment's hesitation before her own petite hand got pulled into the Chosen's firm grip. They shook.
"Alright, so... I'll go with you, Aurelia."
That thousand volt smile again, and, "That's what I wanted to hear, La!"
If La had any doubts before that smile (she did) most of them were alleviated simply by its existing. she sort of wished she was in a set of clothing that wasn't a blouse which would be prone to getting waterlogged, but she suspected if she made the hike back up to her parent's home she would lose her nerve to go with Aurelia. As it was, Aurelia planted her surfboard in the water with herself at the bottom, La on top of her, and her back in front of La, being held in place by the smaller girl. Thirty minutes passed, and as the Chosen had predicted, the sea was entirely calm. With her great strength and great intuition about where the shallow parts were, Aurelia paddled them out into the deep water in no time flat.
It was in the deep water La had her first real scare of this trip though. Aurelia herself ended up somewhat tired there, and it didn't seem like there were any ships around. When the currents picked up again, they began to drift, and La was briefly convinced they were going to die out here in the open ocean. Failing that, they would drift back to the island to be scolded by the Masters. Perhaps they would simply be picked up by some unsavory people and be sold off as slaves or something. Did the mainland still have slavery? Were there monsters out past the deep reef? She wasn't sure, and for a while she was panicking...
Until she spotted a light out in the distance. The young woman below her, who seemed to be expecting this somehow, grinned, while La whistled and waved to signal to the ship to come get them. The ship - which ended up being a Junker - came up and got them, and the two girls, their board, and the pack were hauled onto the ship. Aurelia, by now dead tired from paddling and steering this far, simple drifted off to sleep right there on the deck. this left La, of course, to negotiate where they were to be taken by the Junker.
The ship was a small one, only crewed by five sailors and a captain. Despite the initial confusion, La was able to quickly enough convince the sailors to allow her to meet with the captain herself and to take the Chosen (who she was hoping against hope they would not recognize) to a bunk in the lower decks. She was loathe to leave Aurelia to her own devices like that, but under the circumstances, getting them passage was far more important. Even so, she watched them carry Aurelia down and set her onto the bunk before she made her way back up to the top deck.
And finally, there she was in front the captain's door at the end of the longest day of her life. She was bone tired, perhaps even more so than Aurelia, but could not relax enough to nod off the way she had. She was breathing heavy, soaked in her blouse and flustered, but if it was the Chosen's job to make the mess, it would be her job to resolve it (though the irony did not escape her). Inhale, exhale... and she knocked on the captain's door.