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Post by doreyg on Jul 3, 2008 12:41:01 GMT -8
There’s a girl wondering through the city, a girl who’s not all that there and who people shy away from when they bother to notice her.
And they always notice her, notice the dread that sweeps over them, notice the girl staring at them with a slightly sad expression and hurry on to their next appointment… Shuddering every single step of the way.
They’ll all die; the ones she stares at will all die within a day, a week or a month… It is the way of the world, when the girl stares at you intently death is not too far away… In fact it is right in front of you, with a breathing, beating body of its own.
Of her own.
The girls name is Cora, nobody knows if that is her full first name and nobody knows what her last name is… Including herself, it’s long forgotten beneath the madness now… Just a distant echo which humans can’t hear or contemplate.
Or witches, or vampires, or shapeshifters or…
A easier way to refer to her is death, not that anybody would dare contemplate that though… They’ll just carry on with their daily lives, forever blocking out the creeping sensation of how close they came to the gaping grave…
They’re doing it now, forgetting almost instantly the moment they glance away from Cora… But Cora remembers, remembers every death, feels every death, knows every…
There’s a girl wondering right through the middle of the city on the pavements, a girl who’s not all that there.
A girl once called Death. |
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Post by lily tomlinson on Jul 3, 2008 13:07:23 GMT -8
In the middle of the city, beneath the heat of the sun, a caravan of gypsies was set out to rest. Tents had been erected, children were playing, the eldest were sitting around tables, drinking and laughing and singing merrily.
And one of these tents let in little of the sun, an emblazoned sign that read 'Palm Reading' at it's entrance. It was just a little something that Tabitha was known to do for her family, use her powers to read people, so that her family would have money to feed itself. Not everyone who came to her left happy though.
Like now, a middle aged woman had left in a fit of screaming, simply because Tabitha had announced that there was no marriage in her future, simply affairs with married men. It wasn't Tabitha's fault the woman was only attracted to married men. She was just merely stating what she saw. People could just be so touchy. Oh well.
With a shrug, she leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling of the tent. She was not bored, or really all that tired. It was merely a moment of idleness, as she waited for another to enter her tent.
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Post by doreyg on Jul 3, 2008 13:21:41 GMT -8
Cora wanders a lot, she’s seen destruction and hatred and love and purity… She’s seen some gypsies before and usually she would pass this lot by… There is no death for any in the near future and they are happy and content… Not at all evil or threatening to her.
But Cora can sense something about those travellers, there’s a slight difference to them which is enough to hook her tattered mind and drag her limp form out of the water.
So she walks in, head raised into the air, eyes straight ahead… And they are not afraid of dark Cora here, or at least not as afraid as other places, here they do not shy, or stare or scream… They just continue on, barely noticing the dark cloud that shifts between them.
She has it! A tent, a girl inside the tent… No readings at all, not even vague, not even as to how long the girl has left.
And it draws her, signs to her.
She enters the tent, stops inside and looks around with the fixed eyes.
She can sense something, she’s not sure what. |
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Post by lily tomlinson on Jul 3, 2008 15:36:33 GMT -8
Tabitha pulled her gaze away from the ceiling as she felt, rather than heard another enter her tent. Familiarity struck her, a sense of opposites, of madness and grief descended upon her, but it didn't frighten her. Instead, she found interest in the girl. The differences and the power.
Instead of fear, she smiled, a soft greeting and extended her hand for the girl to sit and lend over her palm to read. She had a feeling of who it was, a hopeful wishing, but she would not know for sure unless she looked.
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Post by doreyg on Jul 8, 2008 9:02:48 GMT -8
Cora glances, and her eyes seem to clear slightly and she smiles jsut slightly timidly back, edging forward to the seat and sitting, brushing back dark hair over her shoulder and extending her palm automatically to be read.
It's the girl that's the curiosity, muzzy in her mind is the girl and she can't sense anything about her.
It's like... She's so filled with life, Cora can't do anything at all. |
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Post by lily tomlinson on Jul 9, 2008 4:11:47 GMT -8
Tabitha did not drop her smile, not once. Not even when she looked down at the girl's palm and could not read her life line, could not tell where it began or where it ended. Shock showed quite plainly on her face, and then glee as she realized she just had to be right. It just had to be her!
In fact, she was so ecstatic that her usual calm nature went out the window. Her smile widened, and without reservation, she lunged from her seat, across the table and glomped-yes, glomped!- the girl across from her. Arms wrapped firmly around the girl's shoulders, the force of her tackle-hug knocked them both to the ground.
"Cousin!" Tabitha exclaimed, squeezing just a bit tighter. She didn't care if she sounded crazy, she was just so happy to see her 'cousin from the past life' again. "I knew it was you! I can't see anything about your life!"
Usually Tabitha was one to spout off philosophical phrases, cryptic and yet fitting, but she'd tossed normal routine off. This was the extent of her happiness.
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Post by doreyg on Jul 9, 2008 7:50:06 GMT -8
Cora was surprised, she may even have squeaked a little (and outside a rather unlucky spider stiffened and fell off of the tent) but nonetheless her eyes were clearing even more and a slightly shining grin was coming to her face.
"Cousin?" she asks softly trying to get a hand under herself to push them both up... Of course since she's trying to hug Tabitha at the same time it didn't work that well.
The mist was clearing, it hadn't been this clear since she had been four. |
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Post by lily tomlinson on Jul 9, 2008 8:18:14 GMT -8
Tabitha squeezed her tightly once more before sitting the both of them upright again. Instead she planted her hands on the girl's shoulders, grinning. She had no reason to be afraid or uneasy.
"Death," she gestured to the girl, and then to herself, "Life. Cousins in the past life. Remember? My name's Tabitha now, though. What's yours?"
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Post by doreyg on Jul 9, 2008 8:51:11 GMT -8
Cora nodded, and smiled and grinned "Yes... I remember you, Vita, Life... As you remember me, Death, Mors... Cora now, dark lady Cora, scary witch Cora."
Giggle, because even with the mist clearing she's still pretty insane.
She always has been, really. |
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Post by lily tomlinson on Aug 7, 2008 15:07:17 GMT -8
"Cora," Tabs said, not at all disturbed by the obvious-insanity. She'd grown used to it in the past, and it was a part of who her cousin was. After all, dealing with Death on your hands from birth was something that would make the strongest person go insane. "That's a lovely name. Derived from the Greek word for maiden, I believe. Mine is Aramaic for Gazelle. Perhaps it's the long neck."
Her laugh was easy, soft and musical, but easy in the company of her cousin. Her past, her best friend. She'd missed her greatly. After all, Life and Death shared destinies in the rand scheme of things. You couldn't have one without the other, 'lest they wished to remain incomplete.
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Post by doreyg on Aug 7, 2008 15:30:59 GMT -8
"Thank you" Cora muttered softly, giving way to a faint whispering smile and shaking out her dark hair "Cora, Kore, Persephone... Lady of the underworld... They never thought of that meaning."
And then she also laughs, it is slightly insane and seems to shake a little but granted... It is a lot calmer then it was in this lifetime, a lot happier... Death and Life had always gotten along rather well, had always been prone to been seen together... They needed each other. |
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Post by lily tomlinson on Aug 18, 2008 7:21:06 GMT -8
Cora's insanity was not something that put Tabitha at unease. It was not something that scared her, or made her uncomfortable. It was just a part of who her sister was. Just as Tabitha was always one who was quiet and unassuming, or could not sit still in one place for very long. It was just another layer of the whole. What made Death... Death.
But for Tabitha it wasn't just acceptance of the insanity, but a certain sense of affection that only a sister could have that she wrapped an arm around Cora's shoulders and said, "You're looking too thin these days," she smiled to show she meant no harm by the statement, but concern, "What do you say to getting the Little Death fed? And meet some of our modern family? Don't worry. They don't fear death, but have an acceptance and a reverence for the price that all men must pay."
Even without Life with them as they grew, the gypsies were known to cherish their lost loved ones. They all accepted that it would come eventually, and therefore lived their lives to the fullest while they still had time. With Tabitha around, it merely strengthened that feeling, had them cherishing what they had and what would come. That, and she was an added protection now. Death... life... They canceled each other out. Those around them, when their powers were not provoked, would die of natural death's at their proper times.
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