Drops of Jupiter

[Legend]

((A bit of a sneak-peek at the next Legendary creation. xD))

It was exactly what everybody had said it would be. Great, glittering balls of light like fireflies sparkling against the pitch black canvas of space. Glimmering swirls of rock and ice floating about. Orbs in painted mixtures of orange and red, blue and white. The majesty of space. At least, the beauty was everything I'd expected.

I had always wanted to know more about where I'd come from. My father had not been mine from birth. I knew the story, though it was hard to imagine any life without him or Lluvin. Years ago, when I was still just old enough to walk, there'd been a raid. They'd come and plundered my home. They'd killed my parents, and everyone else in the area, but somehow, I survived.

Lluvin told me I'd snuck on board somehow. They still don't know how. I guess I must have, because I know my father wouldn't have hesitated to kill me along with my family. But once I was on board...well, what harm could it do to keep me? Besides, Lluvin took a fancy to me-- he needed a playmate. He was only a few years old himself at the time, not much more than a child.

We grew up together amongst them. They were a ragged lot at best, my family. Scoundrels the lot of them, but I didn't know any better. I learned to fight and they kept me safe. Father got attached after a while, and wouldn't allow me to be put at risk. Lluvin was the only one who understood my desire to prove myself. It didn't matter that I was a girl, I could fight with the lot of them. He'd been given his first real chance at twelve, and even when I was fifteen I had to stay planet-side.

The boys always told me stories about their adventures, though. I grew more and more desperate to join them on their exploits. I was tired of staying behind.

I worked so hard to get to space, too. I spent years practicing, training, begging. My father refused. He said that it was too dangerous. For years I worked to prove myself worthy. Lluvin helped. He got them to take me on missions planet-side. Small raids, nothing big. Nothing really dangerous. At least, not as long as he was with me. He always protected me.

He told me about space. He'd been there before. I thought that somewhere as magnificent as space must hold all the answers. It was so vast. There were so many people, so much left still unexplored. And the stars...the stars were so beautiful from Yitik, they must be more beautiful from the bow of a ship.

The poets wrote about the song of the stars. How beautiful it was to hear their voices. How listening to the stars made them at peace with the world, gave them insight into the condition of it. Gave them inspiration.

I spun around on the deck, dancing in the starlight. Beautiful as it was, though, I heard no song. No secrets of the universe were divined to me. I understood the world just as well after bathing in the glory of the cosmos as I did before.

I realized that in the end, all the answers I was seeking had been right there next to me all along. I knew who I was and where I was going. I knew what I needed. I had to find him. He was out there, somewhere. While I danced amongst the stars, he was out there searching for the truth.

I had carved my name in the stars, so to speak. It had only taken a few years before the Elite knew my name.

Unlike my father, I focused on them. I wanted to take from those who had more to give-- from those who denied others their due. I stole from an Elite Elder once. It was probably what got me my name as a Great. They upped the bounty by 700,000 Dina, then.

I told him

I don't know why I told Lluvin about the Light, though. I guess I just found the story so intriguing...it must've been an accident. I knew, even then, what he would do. I'd never have told him if I'd been thinking clearly. It was like something came over me, though. I started speaking in a language I didn't know I understood, and he yelled. He'd never yelled at me before, but he looked furious. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but it wasn't good.

He wasn't one of us. He didn't understand.

He asked me what I'd said, and I told him, though I hadn't thought I'd known. It hadn't made sense when I said it. His eyes got so wide. I hadn't seen him since I'd gone to space, and then, a minute after I saw him, he left. He just...ran off.

I was mistaken.

I know he's going after it, but he can't. It's too dangerous. Even for him. Even for me. Nobody could get to the Light except the Gods Incarnate, and that's just a myth anyhow. Bells, I'm not even sure the Light's real.

I must fix my mistake.

But I have to go after him. He'll destroy the world if he takes it away.

I have to stop him, whatever the cost

I can't let him...but I don't know if I can stop him, either.

I must find the others

But I have to do this on my own. If I get help, Lluvin could get hurt.

No. I must find the others.

I must...

[Maika]

super awesome so far, I love your work.

[ScrumYummy]

O____O is this your space-drama, Legend? <3 ahhhhhh. I really liked it. Especially

I spun around on the deck, dancing in the starlight. Beautiful as it was, though, I heard no song. No secrets of the universe were divined to me. I understood the world just as well after bathing in the glory of the cosmos as I did before.

That was my favorite bit. I love that imagery.

Please post more! <3

[Legend]

Yes, this is sort've what I've been playing with for my Space Pirate deal so far. ^^

Scrum-- I rather liked that part as well. That and the first paragraph. I'll try to put up some more tonight-- I need to start making myself write, even if it's crap. xD

[ScrumYummy]

[Legend]

(( More character introductions...))

A dark alley stretched out before them. Almost as an afterthought, he sliced through the neck of the man begging him for mercy, kneeling before him.

"Come, Iess," his voice left no doubt that she would be behind him whether he said the words or not. They were merely a formality. Taking up the bag of Dina the man had dropped, he wiped his blade on her cloak and continued forward.

The raid had gone well. This town had been a fairly easy target, made more so by his own skill and Iess' particular abilities. His eyes remained alert, checking every where around him as he walked easily back onto his ship.

"Captain!" a desperate voice cried out, pushing through the throng of returning pirates to get to his side,
"Captain, there's a visitor for you. She's waiting in your quarters."

One dark eyebrow raised immediately. His crew knew better than to let anyone who wanted a word with him inside of his quarters. Or even to let them on board without his consent. Jiral in particular was aware of this-- he was one of Ioor's most trusted men.

"What in the world possessed you to bring her there?" he asked, his voice severe. The punishment for such a thing would ultimately be quite high.

Jiral faltered,
"I...I don't know...she's...Captain, you'll have to meet her."

Ioor was less than pleased. He tugged on Iess' chain angrily, causing her to rocket forward and find herself cringing at his ankles,
"I am not pleased."

Iess reached up, brushing a hand along his arm,
"Master," she said softly, silkily, soothingly,
"I will go in first, I will keep you safe."

He pushed her hand off, admiring the delicate scars lacing it. She'd have a few more tonight, that was certain. He was not pleased at all. He charged forward, all but dragging Iess along with him. She seemed to float above the ground to those who looked closely.

And in fact, this was the truth. Iess' form was only kept somewhat solid by the chain that bound her to him. She still had many of the abilities her natural state gifted her with-- and among those abilities, the ability to float.

Ioor slammed the door open angrily,
"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.

The woman before him didn't look that impressive. By her garb he could tell she was a pirate-- probably from one of the Eastern sects. She was small, though fierce-looking. She looked almost as though she'd been carved of ice, truth to be told. Her skin was a shade of pure white he'd never seen before, and her hair started deep blue at the roots, but faded to lighter blue at the ends.

She couldn't be from one of the inner planets, then. They were all inhuman. She had a Captain's badge on her hat as well, but that did not excuse her behaviour.

Her icy eyes flickered briefly, and words popped into his head. She must be a telepath.
The time has come

A strange feeling came over him. A filmy haziness. He couldn't think.

What have you done, Psuche? The words were not so much spoken as felt. They seemed to rip through the barriers of space and time, to travel on the very threads of existence itself. It was unnerving, but he couldn't stop it.

There is one who would find the Light.

He pulled back, stunned. He didn't know what she was talking about on the one hand, but something within him did, and it was furious. It was beyond furious, in fact.

You fool!

The threads of the universe shook with fury. There was a dull thud in the cabin above them. Iess whimpered in fear.

We must kill him, then. Have you found the others?]

She shook her head, now watching Iess as though she'd just noticed her for the first time. He wondered how that could be. She was really quite hard to miss-- particularly given how rare her kind had become after the Triad had found their home planet.

She got to her feet,
"I will take my leave now, then. Be on the watch."

He didn't see her leave, but the next moment she was gone and he was wondering what had happened. Furious, he pulled on Iess' chain again and sent her flying into the wall,
"This is -not- acceptable!" he shouted, and the woman cringed. She knew what was coming. This would certainly be a very long night, and a very unpleasant one.

[Legend]

((And the last character, as well as a better look at Iza/Psuche.))

"Would you -stop- hovering, Turin?" the petite girl settled her hands on her hips in a position he knew all too well. He backed away, a small smile on his lips,
"Iza, my love, I just wanted to know if you'd figured it out yet..."

She pursed those delicate blue lips together fiercely, showing all the wildness he knew to expect from her kind,
"I don't know why you always expect me to figure everything out. You're perfectly capable yourself, you know."

"Ah, but you're so much better at it."

She sighed, but there was a flush of colour to her cheek that let him know he'd pleased her. She bent back over the maps, re-checking each and every pin she'd pushed into it,
"I haven't the faintest idea where it came from, to be honest."

There was one pin in the middle of the map that seemed to be the source of their trouble. This one was larger than the rest, and a bright gold against the burnished copper of the rest. It had appeared overnight, along with the impression that Iza had been out and about though she'd had no intention to leave the ship and didn't remember doing so.

She tapped the map gently with one blue fingernail and it rolled itself up as she got to her feet,
"And Turin," she said, walking out of the cabin, "If you ever call me 'love' again, I will return to my natural form and eat you."

The man laughed, saluting sardonically, "Of course, of course. A small joke, Iza," he assured her, though his voice was not really reassuring so much as laughing,
"Though one day..."

Iza's icy eyes bored into him, and she looked about to say something when a noise caught her ear and she turned abruptly, pulling her sword from her side in a heartbeat,
"What's going on?" she demanded of a rather slimy creature oozing up the main mast.

"Under attack, Cap'n. Can't see a thing, though, this far out, and they haven't breached the shields yet."

Who would be out here, other than them? And why in the world would they be attacking her ship? The only ships likely to be out in this area were pirate ones, and as a matter of honour pirate ships almost never attacked one another. She didn't remember offending anyone deeply enough to surpass that rule.

"Turin!" The man was already headed for his own ship, though, shouting out directions to those under his command. Sighing angrily, she charged forward to the aft, peering out into the blackness. The goo may not have seen anything, but its eyes were not nearly as good as her own. A few specks of light flashed off her pupils and she roared in anger,
"TO ARMS!" the woman shrieked, propelling herself forward,
"ATTACK!"

This ship was indeed not a pirate ship. She wasn't sure how they'd made it this far out into deep space-- their ships were usually incapable of it, but she knew that she did not want them breaching the shields and setting foot on her ship.

Her sword arced gracefully through the air towards the first of the creatures, a pitch black male with horrendously disfigured features,
"The Light...." it groaned, propelling itself forward with a sickening thud, "Must...find..."

The Light? What were they on about? There was nothing like that on board, and she'd never heard of anything that would meet the description. Why did the Treasure Hunters want her ship?

((TBC, must run for now.))

[shadokastur]

And... and.... AAANNNDDD?! What's next? I just saw this almost at the bottom of the page and remembered that I hadn't finished it.

You're an incredible writer, K. And after reading that I'd like to get your opinion on some of mine. Maybe some editing tips. Ok, a lot of editing tips. Your story flows very well and you make it easy to form the images.

[Shino]

[Shandriz]