A Change of Heart

The world around her keeps spinning,
Filled with people who taught her grinning.
Bolstered and glad,
Heart no longer mad,
She took what life gave and kept dancing.

Roiling Inside Out

Confident on the outside she goes about her business,
On the inside she doubts if her business is right.

People see the happy and loving and kind side of her,
While she looks in the mirror and sees frailty and lies.

Things seems fine to those around her,
Yet she struggles with the puzzle pieces of her life.

She can't hide her emotions much longer,
With her heart roiling on the inside out.

Forestik Limmerick

Looking to skies newly darkened,

Wandering among trees and lichen,

The traveler looks around,

Trying to maintain his ground,

Gazing toward the distant, fierce lightning.

Fiery Red, Episode 2

The twisting hallways of the palace always annoyed her, because they made her think of a maze and the Minotaur. The rings and bracelets on her hands weighed heavier than usual, but on days like this, they always weighed more. She really wished these days would never come, but in her heart, she knew full well that someone needed to be here. Turning a corner, she walks into the chest of a tall man, knocking them both to the ground.

Embarassed by her clumsiness, she pushes herself off of his chest and says, "I'm so sorry. I was thinking about court today, and I didn't bother to look where I was going. Are you okay?"

She paused in her apology as the man began to laugh uncontrolably beneath her. In between laughs, he manages to say, "I've been trying to get closer to you for weeks, and here I find you running around a corner, tackling me in the process. How charming, my lady."

Lightly grabbing her wrists, he helps her off his chest. Still embarassed, she looks at his face and realizes who she bumped into. His deep laugh echoed in the hallway as she tries to help him off the floor. Grabbing his hand, her thoughts and words freeze. Her heart skips a beat and her brain stops functioning as she helps him up. "Aliya?" he concernly asks.

Shaken from her daze, Aliya quickly removes her hands from his, grabs her head, and says, "I'm fine, just a little dizzy from the fall. I must be off though, it's nearly time for me to be in court."

Before he can respond, she rushes off in the direction of the palace's main hall. He scratches his head, walking in the opposite direction of Aliya, wondering if he will be able to see her again. "I wonder if she'll run into me again," he thought to himself, chuckling.

Walking into the main hall, Aliya stops to take in the scene. People of all ages, walks of life and ethnicities are bunched waiting for her to appear so court could begin for the day. Waiting on her chair was a sealed envelop, and as she walked toward her chair, she notices the envelop. Picking it up, she notices that the seal is from the Bond Guild and apprehension shoots through her.

"What is the Guild wanting with me this time? There won't be a hatching for a while... why have they sent me a letter in this season," Aliya wonders.

Fate Pulls

Skipping on to greater things,
Clasping the treasure tightly
This adventurer hides a past
While looking to a future.

She picks daisies by the sea.
Nothing pulls at her
As she drifts blissfully by.
Winds begin to change.

Unknown to the other,
their paths are slowly converging.
Events are spinning,
Fate begining to take control.

The daisies, no longer in bloom,
Still draw her to the sea.
The adventurer tiredly watches
Her graceful movements.

Their future is not written,
Nor will Fate pull that much.
They choose on their own
What step they take next.

Fiery Red, Episode 1

Overlooking the mist veiled forest, a cool morning breeze sends chills down her back. Her long, fiery hair dances in the breeze as her thoughts wander to previous days. Chin craddled in the palm of her hand, she recalls the day she received her first invitation to the hatchling ceremony. "Was it so long ago? I still remember my reaction to the smell and noise of the nesting grounds," she thinks.

The roaring crowd intimidates the young who gathered to earn the privilage of a bonding. They knew well that if a bond were to form, they would have a lifelong friend and companion. These youth also knew that they might not receive this privilage again in their life. Bondings were tricky because the hatchlings could not be forced to bond to a specific youth. "I can feel the excitement of the youth in the nesting grounds," I thought.

"It's contagious, I almost want to be down there with them," I said to my escort.

Looking with distain, the escort replies, "In that filth? Why would you subject yourself to such potential for failure?"

"Failure? Just receiving an invitation to the hatchling ceremony is amazing enough, but to participate would be even better!" I retorted excitedly.

Seeing his words were falling on deaf ears, the escort stopped trying to reason with me and let me absorb more of the arena. A smell of rotting and cleanliness invaded my senses. The nests of the hatchlings usually smelled of life and death, or so I was told. When people around me heard that I had been given my first invitation to a hatchling ceremony, I received many words of advice. Few of the people seemed to know what they were talking about, but as I sit here, smelling a stench that soothes and upsets me, I find my energy focuses on the center of the arena where the chosen youth stand in nervous anticipation for the ceremony to start.

"Now, my dear, is the time to enjoy the entertainment that is the selection process. Though the nominees have been trained and taught by those who have been through the bonding, many ignore what they were taught," the escort whispered into my ear as the eggs in the center began to quiver.

In a moment, the eggs were replaced by hatchlings, crying for want of attention and need. Aimless, they wander around the grounds, looking for the person they will bond to. Cheering begins on the far left of the arena as a blue stays close to a female youth of middling height and slim build. The pride on her face at being chosen almost outshines the sun.

The next chosen will always stand out in my mind. He was the most handsome youth I have ever seen, and at that moment, I wished violently that he would notice me among the thousands of onlookers. I even envied the red that protectively circled this young man.

"My memories always bring me back to that young man. He turned into my closest friend and confidant. His red has even adopted me and accepts me into their world," she thinks with a sigh.

Turning from the morning light and breeze, she steps back into her apartment, pulling the curtains closed behind her. Coals still burned in her fireplace from the previous night and a pot was placed about the coals, no doubt filled with breakfast. Reluctantly, she slipped off her robe and nightgown. She stood, for a moment, allowing the full force of the spring morning to cool her. As with the rest of her days in the palace, her day's clothes were laid out for her to choose from, and as she stood in her small clothes, she felt alive.

Sanctuary is Here

Sanctuary is here for you.
Can't you feel it?
Can't you see it?
Are you aware that it's even within your grasp?
I gave it up, I bled for it, and yet why is this distain you feel for me?
I wasn't looking for more than a little trust.
Seems only fitting that you, of all people, would hurt me this way.

Trapped, i couldn't breathe or see.
Feeling, how could I feel but not breathe?
I only saw their lust.
Everything bound me too tightly.
It's not you I was feeling that for, yet it was...
I don't think I even realized that there wouldn't be trust.
It shouldn't fit that I would do this to you, hurt you so.

I find my feet lead me to a place I never wanted to be again.
The lights are off now and the doors are locked.
Dozens of people pass me without a second thought.
This isn't my home yet I have no other place to call my own.

Despite the neon colors of the night life, my world is dull.
My chest throbs as the heart inside feels like withering.
I don't care who sees me, I hardly see anything else.
It's my time to leave this metal can and seek sanctuary at home.

Maybe I was wrong in what I did.
I don't feel like what I did was entirely wrong though...

Maybe I was wrong in what I did.
I don't feel I was entirely out of line though...