In Absentia Memoriam (Jing Theme #15 - Lost)
Community: 50_themes
Characters: Jing + Kir (friendship category)
Fandom: King of Bandits Jing
Full list of themes can be found HERE. X-posted to 50_themes, ankhutenshi, kingofbandit
*
Title: In Absentia Memoriam
Theme: #15 - Lost
Notes: 3524 words, finished Nov 6/06
There was silence on the cliff, broken only by the flapping of yellow material in the wind and the clinking of chains. Yet even these sounds were muted by the heavy fog which cut the two opponents off from the rest world as they faced each other down. The only things visible were the stars, high overhead.
"Give up, boy," The bounty hunter called. "You've run yourself into a dead end."
Grey eyes flicked to the sound of the river far below, then back at the large man. Blood had begun to stain the white spiral on his shoulder, and he'd have been annoyed if he hadn't felt so serenely calm. "It would seem so."
"No prey can escape Tonic." The man answered, equally placid. "Yet you ran well. What did you do with that animal of yours?"
The youth smiled and said nothing. He'd gained enough of a lead on his pursuer to hide the unconscious albatross in a small cave where he'd be safe before fleeing again. Yet he hadn't counted on the wholly unfamiliar territory, and hadn't seen the cliff until he'd almost walked over the edge. His adversary had caught up to him before he could find an alternate route.
The bounty hunter scowled when there was no response, and then shrugged. "It does not matter. Now, are you going to come quietly, Bandit King?"
His target shook his head, and the man frowned reproachfully. "Children never know when to admit they've been bested by their elders," He muttered, advancing. The long iron chains jangled as they dragged across the rocky ground. The smaller one took a step towards the edge of the cliff; small pebbles were dislodged by the movement and went clattering down the steep face of the cliff.
"This is not the future I've changed my past to be," The youth said simply, and closing his eyes, leaned back into open air.
A blur of black feathers flashed just over Tonic's shoulder, and Kir's talons latched onto the sleeve of the yellow coat. Jing's eyes snapped open, and time seemed to slow as the two locked gazes; one scared and the other only mildly puzzled.
Recovering from his shock, Tonic cursed, dashing forward, hand outstretched --
"Jing," Kir said desperately. "Stop..."
But gravity did not obey, and as the mass of the boy proved greater than the strength of the bird, the sleeve tore. Jing plunged silently down through the haze and disappeared, and with a cry, Kir dove after him.
Tonic's grasp caught only air, and he pounded the edge in frustration, scowling fiercely... it would take him hours to navigate the tricky path down to the bottom of the cliff into the gorge below. He weighed his options as he stood; could the boy have survived such a fall? Even if he'd been lucky enough to land in the river, the current would have carried him through the rapids. There was a good chance he'd find the body floating in the lake a few miles away. He decided to head there once the sun was up... there was always a chance someone would pay for the corpse of the infamous Bandit King.
---
He'd lost him.
The fog, Kir discovered, was mostly due to the fact that the river was icy cold. The haze extended almost to the water's surface, and the bird pulled up just shy of having dived in headfirst. He scanned the water frantically, searching for a glimpse of yellow. "Jing? Jing!"
No answer made its way to him, although he crisscrossed the wide river for hours until he was hoarse. There was simply no sign of his human companion that could be found in the dark water. Finally, wings aching, Kir settled on a dead branch on the shoreline to wait for first light.
---
Dawn brought with it a frail attempt to burn off the low-lying mist which cloaked the area. It was marginally better than the blackness of the night before, and Kir shook his wings free of dew and took off. He was cold, with a feeling that had nothing to do with the temperature, and the shredded piece of coat he'd torn accidentally was still clenched in his talons.
It didn't take him long to spot the small white knapsack, its straps caught in the protruding roots from one of the trees on the bank. The albatross wrestled it free and checked the contents, specifically for the long green gem; it was still inside. "You're here," Kir muttered. "Now where is he?"
The gem had no answer.
There's no reason to worry, Kir told himself, trying to banish the doubt and guilt which had lodged inside of him. Jing knows what he's doing. He wouldn't have gone over the edge if he didn't know a way to get down safely. It was just a ploy to throw that Tonic guy off our trail for a while...
"Jing? Where are you? Jing!" The bird flew low over the rapids, dodging rocks where they thrust up out of the water and were crashed against by the force of the river. He followed it until he came to a lake, pushed up against the face of another cliff, this one much higher than the last. The water was choppy, which made sense given the turbulence of the river flowing into it.
Something yellow floated near the shore.
He dropped the knapsack carelessly on the shoreline and snagged the material, beating his wings against the still air to lift it up. The coat was empty, but so waterlogged and heavy that it may as well not have been. Kir managed to tow it back to shore where he could get a better look at it. In addition to the slashed sleeve -- that bounty hunter had been awfully damned fast, and Jing had been lucky to escape with only a gash rather than losing his arm -- the coat was nearly shredded, ripped in many other places from the treacherous course through the rapids.
Kir looked around, scanning the shore, but his partner was no where to be found. "Jing! Answer me!"
The more he called, the worse he felt.
---
It was Postino who suggested he check the village on the other side of the mountain, for which Kir appreciated since he hadn't known there was one nearby. The fact that Postino had come to the shore of the lake, which was nowhere near a road, remained unspoken because the albatross wasn't sure what to make of it. For three days he'd been waiting, too fearful of missing some rustle of leaves or the snapping of a twig, and so he hadn't slept. The deliveryman must have taken pity on him, because Kir got a ride on the back of the motorcycle, and Postino's mailbag was empty.
The town was less than reputable, this Blavod (1), but seemed to function well enough as the day progressed. Kir checked the doctor's office, but no one had been admitted with any unusual injuries, and no one had seen any unfamiliar faces in the town. Out of desperation, he stopped a few random people on the street, but they only shooed him away and went about their business.
Two more days passed.
---
It had been purely by chance that he'd heard the voice, but the rush of relief it brought left him almost lightheaded (or was it the exhaustion? he hadn't been able to sleep in days) and he arrowed for it without a second thought.
The young man was just picking himself up from the ground in front of the barn, where he'd apparently fallen out of the hayloft above. He raised his hand and made a rude gesture at the trio of scruffy faces still smirking down at him. One of them called down, "Too bad you lost the bet! Are you going to run off and cry to Lady Cello (2) or stick it out?"
The loft door slammed shut.
It didn't matter that the scene he'd just witnessed didn't fit. All the mattered was that his partner was alive and here and Kir latched onto the black shirt with such force that the youth was thrown off balance and sat down hard on the ground.
"What the--?"
"You're awful!" Kir cried, voice cracking slightly as he beat one wing against the side of the boy's head. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been, you big jerk? And you're laughing it up with your new friends! If you ever do something like this again, I'm outta here! You hear me? End of contract! I'm not fooling around!" He finally looked up, expecting to see relief and hopefully chagrin in Jing's eyes... but instead, saw only uncertainty and a bit of fear.
"Jing?" Kir asked, wondering if his words had been taken too seriously. Jing should know he'd never carry out any of those threats...
"I must have hit my head harder than I thought..." The boy brought a hand to his temple with a wince. "Now I'm seeing talking animals."
Kir stared, speechless. He's just teasing me... His mind insisted weakly. He'll laugh, any minute now... With much less brashness in his tone than normal, he prompted, "Jing?"
The boy clapped his hands over his ears. "Stop talking! Birds don't talk!"
"Stop acting stupid!" Kir exploded, hitting him again. Despite this, his voice had gained a faint edge of hysteria, and his vision blurred. "This isn’t funny, Jing!"
"I don't know any Jing! My name is Rye!"
The sheer absurdity of the statement, combined with his lack of sleep and overall frayed nerves, left Kir to chuckle in a manner that suggested unsteady sanity. It gradually developed into full laughter, as the youth looked on in morbid fascination.
Oh hell, Kir thought, and having reached the limit of his endurance for the moment, passed out.
---
The albatross slept for several hours, dead to the world, although when he work he only felt marginally better. What an awful nightmare, Kir groaned, shaking straw from his feathers. Wait... straw?
He looked around, noting that he appeared to be in a dark barn, in an empty stall to be precise. His mind reeled; had it not been a dream? He spread his wings, ready to begin his search (once more, why did he have to keep searching?) when the creaking of the barn door and an orange light caught his attention. It approached, and he tensed, and when the lantern was raised, he saw a familiar curious face in the backwash of light. "Jing?" He asked hopefully.
The grey-eyed boy's expression fell, and he hung the lantern on a metal hook before sitting down on the straw next to the bird. "Aw, man... I was hoping you'd wake up and y'know... not be able to talk any more."
Kir recoiled as though struck, not sure he could deal with another round of this behavior. It hurt, dammit, seeing his partner act so cruelly towards him... but cruel wasn't the right word. Unfamiliar. "What's happened to you?" He asked, almost more to himself than the human.
The boy shrugged uncertainly, apparently not sure whether the question had been intended as rhetorical or not. "Don't make too much noise, or Lady Cello will hear you," He advised, then wrinkled his nose, "And I'll have to do more chores. I just finished the ones I had to do because I lost that bet." He flopped down on the pile of straw. "And they cheated, too."
"Chores?" Kir repeated, as though testing the idea; it didn't mesh, because Jing did chores about as well as he cooked, which was not at all.
"Yeah, chores. You think I live here for free? Lady Cello's got the biggest stables in all of Blavod."
Faint desperation colored the insistent tone, "You don't live here, Jing."
"Rye. My name's Rye, bird."
"D-Don't call me that," Kir snapped, hurt. "My name's Kir -- you know that!"
The youth rolled over and propped himself up on one elbow to regard the albatross. "All I know is you're really weird, and you've mistaken me for someone else... your master, maybe? If you can talk, you're probably some rich person's pet or something. Aren't they going to want you back at some point?"
It was too much.
With a frustrated cry, Kir spread his wings and flew out of the barn, wondering if he flew far enough, he'd somehow get back in time to before this whole mess happened. It's my fault! I should have pulled him back from the cliff... and I couldn't. Guilt twisted inside him, but he kept flying until he'd reached the spot where Postino had dropped him off, and found the coat and bag exactly where he'd left them.
Determined to make one last attempt, Kir retrieved the white knapsack and flew back to the barn. The boy had since curled up in the straw with a blanket and gone to sleep, but the albatross landed and jumped up and down on his back until he sat up, scowling.
"Not you again! What do you want now?" He asked, his voice a hushed whisper.
"Shut up," Kir said roughly. "Just... shut up and listen for a few minutes, okay?" When the youth reluctantly nodded his consent, the bird took a steadying breath. "Your name is Jing... we've known each other for a long time now, almost ten years. We're partners," He added earnestly, looking hopefully up at the black-haired one for some sign of recognition. When there was none, he dug the green gem out of the knapsack and pushed it into the boy's hands.
"C'mon, Jing, you have to remember! Living in Amarcord, and your mom... and Cassis! Don't you remember Cassis? And Clove and Pomme and Mint? You had an accident, Jing, and you must've lost your memory, that's the only explanation. But the accident... it was my fault and I'm sorry, but you fell off a cliff --"
"A cliff?!"
Kir continued as though he hadn't been interrupted. "--'cause we were being chased by that Tonic guy, and I've been looking for you for the last week and I've been going out of my mind and now... and now you're acting like this." His stopped to catch his breath, which hitched, and looked down at the straw. "So... quit it, Jing. Please? This ain't funny anymore..."
Silence.
The boy didn't speak for so long that Kir almost risked a glance up to see if he'd gone back to sleep, but then he felt an uncertain pat on top of his head, and the boy said awkwardly, "Uhh... there, there. Look, if... if you don't have anywhere else to go, you can stay here tonight, okay?"
The albatross slumped, snatching back the green gem and stuffing it into the knapsack so that he wouldn't have to look up. He didn't know what else to do, and as the boy rolled over and went back to sleep, he could do little else but follow suit.
Jing -- or Rye, as he'd insisted -- had said birds shouldn't be able to talk. They shouldn't be able to cry, either, but Kir managed admirably.
---
Days blurred into a week, then two. To Kir's despair, Jing -- for he couldn't think of him by the name Rye -- seemed genuinely happy in this simple life, coming back from his chores in the stables with a tired smile every night to fall into a dreamless, untroubled sleep. Although he didn't seem eager to converse with the bird, he also didn't evict him from the barn, which was a mixed blessing since Kir had nowhere to go.
Yet watching the young man, day after day, in a life he knew wasn't his own...
I've lost him... I want my partner back... he's my best friend...
---
One chilly morning, Kir was awakened by shouting from the stable yard. The shrill scream of an angered stallion cut through the air, followed by shouts. "A doctor! Get the doctor!" He flew to the doorway, shocked to see a cluster of people working to calm the fighting animal... and Jing in a heap on the ground, being narrowly missed by the wildly flailing hooves.
He didn't think twice, but flew straight for the horse, yelling. "Get outta here! Scram!" The horse reared and struck out at him with its hooves, but Kir dodged easily. "Back off! Beat it! Get lost! Leave my Jing alone, you--!"
The other stable hands tried to wrestle the creature under control, but the reins were pulled free and then the horse was bolting across the courtyard, with the whole contingent of frantic people running after it. Two of the boys were ordered back, however, and grudgingly dragged their unconscious workmate back to the stall which served as his bed.
Kir fidgeted nervously as the doctor checked the youth over. "He's all right, ain't he?"
The doctor, a wizened elderly man, tsk'd and set about cleaning the gash on the youth's forehead. "Oh, he'll be just fine. No lasting damage here, looks like he just caught the edge of the hoof. Probably won't even be a scar to worry about, although that'd give the ladies something to coo over, wouldn't it?" He laughed to himself at the attempted joke, then placed a small bandage over the cut and stood, brushing straw from his pants. "I'll make sure to tell Lady Cello to give this nice young man a day or two on light duty."
After the doctor had exited the barn, Kir settled himself into the small nest he'd made in the corner of the stall. Unlike Jing, Rye didn't like him sleeping too close, and the bird had obliged the wish with a heavy heart. Tucking his head under one wing, Kir thought, I wish... I wish everything could be back the way it was...
---
Several hours passed before the young man stirred, a groan issuing from him as he tried to open his eyes to focus on the wooden rafters high above. Kir raised his head at the sound -- he'd been too stressed to sleep -- and said wryly, "Bet you've got a hell of a headache, huh?"
Another groan. "What happened?"
Kir fluffed his feathers, a reproachful tone coloring his words. "You were kicked in the head. By a horse, of all things. I suppose this sort of thing was inevitable, living in a barn and all--"
"I don't remember a horse..."
"-- I mean, isn't it pretty likely that some horse comes home, drunk one night, and wanders into the wrong stall? It could happen, you know, horses ain't exactly the smartest bunch of--"
The boy flopped onto his back with a wince. "Stop talking, partner, my head feels like someone's using it for a drum..."
Partner...? Kir stopped mid-sentence, his breath catching. Did he just...? Hardly daring to believe, he asked, "... Jing?"
The grey-eyed boy sat up, looking as though he couldn't fathom why the albatross' voice had become so hesitant and small and hopeful. "What? What's the matter, Kir?"
And he was struck speechless as the bird suddenly latched onto him, talons and all, with a relieved cry. Jing hugged him back instinctively, unsure what could have prompted such a reaction, and when he asked, the albatross only answered, "You're back and I missed you, so can we go now please?"
---
Jing listened silently as Kir recounted the events of the past three weeks. Although some parts prompted flashes of images in his mind, the intervening time remained largely a gaping blank to him. But he never once doubted the veracity of the near-impossible tale; one look at his companion, who seemed almost harrowed by the ordeal, and he knew it was all true.
"I'm sorry," He said, because he didn't know what else to say. "But... thank you."
Kir looked uncertain. "For tellin' you what happened?"
"No, Kir... for staying." Jing looked down at Blavod, the lamps on the streets just being lit for the evening. "I wasn't even me anymore, and you still stayed... you didn't leave. Thank you for that."
"Rye's an awful name for you, you know. Doesn't suit you at all. But still..." The bird looked down, almost seeming ashamed of his observations. "You seemed like you were really happy, you know? I mean... you didn't remember any of the bad stuff that happened, when you were young. You were just... happier."
Jing gave Kir a smile, and got to his feet. "They say ignorance is bliss, don't they? Even if I seemed happy... it wasn't me. And even if this life isn't as simple as that one, I still wouldn't change a thing. Whatever happened to Tonic, though?"
"Dunno," Kir said. "He just disappeared. You think we've seen the last of him? Maybe he thinks you're dead."
"Well, I guess we'll have to make headlines again, just to prove him wrong, eh partner?"
The bird sighed, exasperated, as they left Blavod behind. "Yeah, you're definitely back."
---
Notes
(1) Blavod (blah-VOD) is a premium quality vodka from the U.K. The only difference from regular vodkas is that it is black. The black color is 100% natural and come from a little-known Burmese herb by the name of Black Catcheu. Like regular vodkas, Blavod has no smell or taste, and even if it is black it will not stain your tongue, teeth, or clothing. Alcoholic content: 40.0% (80-proof). Source: Webtender.com
(2) Lady Cello: Ingredients: 1 oz Limoncello, 1 oz Rum, 1 tsp Grenadine, 1/2 oz Lemon juice, Sugar. Shake with ice and pour into a sugar and Limoncello rimmed highball glass. Garnish with a cherry. To coat rim of glass, first dip in Limoncello, then in a bowl of sugar. Source: Webtender.com
Characters: Jing + Kir (friendship category)
Fandom: King of Bandits Jing
Full list of themes can be found HERE. X-posted to 50_themes, ankhutenshi, kingofbandit
*
Title: In Absentia Memoriam
Theme: #15 - Lost
Notes: 3524 words, finished Nov 6/06
There was silence on the cliff, broken only by the flapping of yellow material in the wind and the clinking of chains. Yet even these sounds were muted by the heavy fog which cut the two opponents off from the rest world as they faced each other down. The only things visible were the stars, high overhead.
"Give up, boy," The bounty hunter called. "You've run yourself into a dead end."
Grey eyes flicked to the sound of the river far below, then back at the large man. Blood had begun to stain the white spiral on his shoulder, and he'd have been annoyed if he hadn't felt so serenely calm. "It would seem so."
"No prey can escape Tonic." The man answered, equally placid. "Yet you ran well. What did you do with that animal of yours?"
The youth smiled and said nothing. He'd gained enough of a lead on his pursuer to hide the unconscious albatross in a small cave where he'd be safe before fleeing again. Yet he hadn't counted on the wholly unfamiliar territory, and hadn't seen the cliff until he'd almost walked over the edge. His adversary had caught up to him before he could find an alternate route.
The bounty hunter scowled when there was no response, and then shrugged. "It does not matter. Now, are you going to come quietly, Bandit King?"
His target shook his head, and the man frowned reproachfully. "Children never know when to admit they've been bested by their elders," He muttered, advancing. The long iron chains jangled as they dragged across the rocky ground. The smaller one took a step towards the edge of the cliff; small pebbles were dislodged by the movement and went clattering down the steep face of the cliff.
"This is not the future I've changed my past to be," The youth said simply, and closing his eyes, leaned back into open air.
A blur of black feathers flashed just over Tonic's shoulder, and Kir's talons latched onto the sleeve of the yellow coat. Jing's eyes snapped open, and time seemed to slow as the two locked gazes; one scared and the other only mildly puzzled.
Recovering from his shock, Tonic cursed, dashing forward, hand outstretched --
"Jing," Kir said desperately. "Stop..."
But gravity did not obey, and as the mass of the boy proved greater than the strength of the bird, the sleeve tore. Jing plunged silently down through the haze and disappeared, and with a cry, Kir dove after him.
Tonic's grasp caught only air, and he pounded the edge in frustration, scowling fiercely... it would take him hours to navigate the tricky path down to the bottom of the cliff into the gorge below. He weighed his options as he stood; could the boy have survived such a fall? Even if he'd been lucky enough to land in the river, the current would have carried him through the rapids. There was a good chance he'd find the body floating in the lake a few miles away. He decided to head there once the sun was up... there was always a chance someone would pay for the corpse of the infamous Bandit King.
---
He'd lost him.
The fog, Kir discovered, was mostly due to the fact that the river was icy cold. The haze extended almost to the water's surface, and the bird pulled up just shy of having dived in headfirst. He scanned the water frantically, searching for a glimpse of yellow. "Jing? Jing!"
No answer made its way to him, although he crisscrossed the wide river for hours until he was hoarse. There was simply no sign of his human companion that could be found in the dark water. Finally, wings aching, Kir settled on a dead branch on the shoreline to wait for first light.
---
Dawn brought with it a frail attempt to burn off the low-lying mist which cloaked the area. It was marginally better than the blackness of the night before, and Kir shook his wings free of dew and took off. He was cold, with a feeling that had nothing to do with the temperature, and the shredded piece of coat he'd torn accidentally was still clenched in his talons.
It didn't take him long to spot the small white knapsack, its straps caught in the protruding roots from one of the trees on the bank. The albatross wrestled it free and checked the contents, specifically for the long green gem; it was still inside. "You're here," Kir muttered. "Now where is he?"
The gem had no answer.
There's no reason to worry, Kir told himself, trying to banish the doubt and guilt which had lodged inside of him. Jing knows what he's doing. He wouldn't have gone over the edge if he didn't know a way to get down safely. It was just a ploy to throw that Tonic guy off our trail for a while...
"Jing? Where are you? Jing!" The bird flew low over the rapids, dodging rocks where they thrust up out of the water and were crashed against by the force of the river. He followed it until he came to a lake, pushed up against the face of another cliff, this one much higher than the last. The water was choppy, which made sense given the turbulence of the river flowing into it.
Something yellow floated near the shore.
He dropped the knapsack carelessly on the shoreline and snagged the material, beating his wings against the still air to lift it up. The coat was empty, but so waterlogged and heavy that it may as well not have been. Kir managed to tow it back to shore where he could get a better look at it. In addition to the slashed sleeve -- that bounty hunter had been awfully damned fast, and Jing had been lucky to escape with only a gash rather than losing his arm -- the coat was nearly shredded, ripped in many other places from the treacherous course through the rapids.
Kir looked around, scanning the shore, but his partner was no where to be found. "Jing! Answer me!"
The more he called, the worse he felt.
---
It was Postino who suggested he check the village on the other side of the mountain, for which Kir appreciated since he hadn't known there was one nearby. The fact that Postino had come to the shore of the lake, which was nowhere near a road, remained unspoken because the albatross wasn't sure what to make of it. For three days he'd been waiting, too fearful of missing some rustle of leaves or the snapping of a twig, and so he hadn't slept. The deliveryman must have taken pity on him, because Kir got a ride on the back of the motorcycle, and Postino's mailbag was empty.
The town was less than reputable, this Blavod (1), but seemed to function well enough as the day progressed. Kir checked the doctor's office, but no one had been admitted with any unusual injuries, and no one had seen any unfamiliar faces in the town. Out of desperation, he stopped a few random people on the street, but they only shooed him away and went about their business.
Two more days passed.
---
It had been purely by chance that he'd heard the voice, but the rush of relief it brought left him almost lightheaded (or was it the exhaustion? he hadn't been able to sleep in days) and he arrowed for it without a second thought.
The young man was just picking himself up from the ground in front of the barn, where he'd apparently fallen out of the hayloft above. He raised his hand and made a rude gesture at the trio of scruffy faces still smirking down at him. One of them called down, "Too bad you lost the bet! Are you going to run off and cry to Lady Cello (2) or stick it out?"
The loft door slammed shut.
It didn't matter that the scene he'd just witnessed didn't fit. All the mattered was that his partner was alive and here and Kir latched onto the black shirt with such force that the youth was thrown off balance and sat down hard on the ground.
"What the--?"
"You're awful!" Kir cried, voice cracking slightly as he beat one wing against the side of the boy's head. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been, you big jerk? And you're laughing it up with your new friends! If you ever do something like this again, I'm outta here! You hear me? End of contract! I'm not fooling around!" He finally looked up, expecting to see relief and hopefully chagrin in Jing's eyes... but instead, saw only uncertainty and a bit of fear.
"Jing?" Kir asked, wondering if his words had been taken too seriously. Jing should know he'd never carry out any of those threats...
"I must have hit my head harder than I thought..." The boy brought a hand to his temple with a wince. "Now I'm seeing talking animals."
Kir stared, speechless. He's just teasing me... His mind insisted weakly. He'll laugh, any minute now... With much less brashness in his tone than normal, he prompted, "Jing?"
The boy clapped his hands over his ears. "Stop talking! Birds don't talk!"
"Stop acting stupid!" Kir exploded, hitting him again. Despite this, his voice had gained a faint edge of hysteria, and his vision blurred. "This isn’t funny, Jing!"
"I don't know any Jing! My name is Rye!"
The sheer absurdity of the statement, combined with his lack of sleep and overall frayed nerves, left Kir to chuckle in a manner that suggested unsteady sanity. It gradually developed into full laughter, as the youth looked on in morbid fascination.
Oh hell, Kir thought, and having reached the limit of his endurance for the moment, passed out.
---
The albatross slept for several hours, dead to the world, although when he work he only felt marginally better. What an awful nightmare, Kir groaned, shaking straw from his feathers. Wait... straw?
He looked around, noting that he appeared to be in a dark barn, in an empty stall to be precise. His mind reeled; had it not been a dream? He spread his wings, ready to begin his search (once more, why did he have to keep searching?) when the creaking of the barn door and an orange light caught his attention. It approached, and he tensed, and when the lantern was raised, he saw a familiar curious face in the backwash of light. "Jing?" He asked hopefully.
The grey-eyed boy's expression fell, and he hung the lantern on a metal hook before sitting down on the straw next to the bird. "Aw, man... I was hoping you'd wake up and y'know... not be able to talk any more."
Kir recoiled as though struck, not sure he could deal with another round of this behavior. It hurt, dammit, seeing his partner act so cruelly towards him... but cruel wasn't the right word. Unfamiliar. "What's happened to you?" He asked, almost more to himself than the human.
The boy shrugged uncertainly, apparently not sure whether the question had been intended as rhetorical or not. "Don't make too much noise, or Lady Cello will hear you," He advised, then wrinkled his nose, "And I'll have to do more chores. I just finished the ones I had to do because I lost that bet." He flopped down on the pile of straw. "And they cheated, too."
"Chores?" Kir repeated, as though testing the idea; it didn't mesh, because Jing did chores about as well as he cooked, which was not at all.
"Yeah, chores. You think I live here for free? Lady Cello's got the biggest stables in all of Blavod."
Faint desperation colored the insistent tone, "You don't live here, Jing."
"Rye. My name's Rye, bird."
"D-Don't call me that," Kir snapped, hurt. "My name's Kir -- you know that!"
The youth rolled over and propped himself up on one elbow to regard the albatross. "All I know is you're really weird, and you've mistaken me for someone else... your master, maybe? If you can talk, you're probably some rich person's pet or something. Aren't they going to want you back at some point?"
It was too much.
With a frustrated cry, Kir spread his wings and flew out of the barn, wondering if he flew far enough, he'd somehow get back in time to before this whole mess happened. It's my fault! I should have pulled him back from the cliff... and I couldn't. Guilt twisted inside him, but he kept flying until he'd reached the spot where Postino had dropped him off, and found the coat and bag exactly where he'd left them.
Determined to make one last attempt, Kir retrieved the white knapsack and flew back to the barn. The boy had since curled up in the straw with a blanket and gone to sleep, but the albatross landed and jumped up and down on his back until he sat up, scowling.
"Not you again! What do you want now?" He asked, his voice a hushed whisper.
"Shut up," Kir said roughly. "Just... shut up and listen for a few minutes, okay?" When the youth reluctantly nodded his consent, the bird took a steadying breath. "Your name is Jing... we've known each other for a long time now, almost ten years. We're partners," He added earnestly, looking hopefully up at the black-haired one for some sign of recognition. When there was none, he dug the green gem out of the knapsack and pushed it into the boy's hands.
"C'mon, Jing, you have to remember! Living in Amarcord, and your mom... and Cassis! Don't you remember Cassis? And Clove and Pomme and Mint? You had an accident, Jing, and you must've lost your memory, that's the only explanation. But the accident... it was my fault and I'm sorry, but you fell off a cliff --"
"A cliff?!"
Kir continued as though he hadn't been interrupted. "--'cause we were being chased by that Tonic guy, and I've been looking for you for the last week and I've been going out of my mind and now... and now you're acting like this." His stopped to catch his breath, which hitched, and looked down at the straw. "So... quit it, Jing. Please? This ain't funny anymore..."
Silence.
The boy didn't speak for so long that Kir almost risked a glance up to see if he'd gone back to sleep, but then he felt an uncertain pat on top of his head, and the boy said awkwardly, "Uhh... there, there. Look, if... if you don't have anywhere else to go, you can stay here tonight, okay?"
The albatross slumped, snatching back the green gem and stuffing it into the knapsack so that he wouldn't have to look up. He didn't know what else to do, and as the boy rolled over and went back to sleep, he could do little else but follow suit.
Jing -- or Rye, as he'd insisted -- had said birds shouldn't be able to talk. They shouldn't be able to cry, either, but Kir managed admirably.
---
Days blurred into a week, then two. To Kir's despair, Jing -- for he couldn't think of him by the name Rye -- seemed genuinely happy in this simple life, coming back from his chores in the stables with a tired smile every night to fall into a dreamless, untroubled sleep. Although he didn't seem eager to converse with the bird, he also didn't evict him from the barn, which was a mixed blessing since Kir had nowhere to go.
Yet watching the young man, day after day, in a life he knew wasn't his own...
I've lost him... I want my partner back... he's my best friend...
---
One chilly morning, Kir was awakened by shouting from the stable yard. The shrill scream of an angered stallion cut through the air, followed by shouts. "A doctor! Get the doctor!" He flew to the doorway, shocked to see a cluster of people working to calm the fighting animal... and Jing in a heap on the ground, being narrowly missed by the wildly flailing hooves.
He didn't think twice, but flew straight for the horse, yelling. "Get outta here! Scram!" The horse reared and struck out at him with its hooves, but Kir dodged easily. "Back off! Beat it! Get lost! Leave my Jing alone, you--!"
The other stable hands tried to wrestle the creature under control, but the reins were pulled free and then the horse was bolting across the courtyard, with the whole contingent of frantic people running after it. Two of the boys were ordered back, however, and grudgingly dragged their unconscious workmate back to the stall which served as his bed.
Kir fidgeted nervously as the doctor checked the youth over. "He's all right, ain't he?"
The doctor, a wizened elderly man, tsk'd and set about cleaning the gash on the youth's forehead. "Oh, he'll be just fine. No lasting damage here, looks like he just caught the edge of the hoof. Probably won't even be a scar to worry about, although that'd give the ladies something to coo over, wouldn't it?" He laughed to himself at the attempted joke, then placed a small bandage over the cut and stood, brushing straw from his pants. "I'll make sure to tell Lady Cello to give this nice young man a day or two on light duty."
After the doctor had exited the barn, Kir settled himself into the small nest he'd made in the corner of the stall. Unlike Jing, Rye didn't like him sleeping too close, and the bird had obliged the wish with a heavy heart. Tucking his head under one wing, Kir thought, I wish... I wish everything could be back the way it was...
---
Several hours passed before the young man stirred, a groan issuing from him as he tried to open his eyes to focus on the wooden rafters high above. Kir raised his head at the sound -- he'd been too stressed to sleep -- and said wryly, "Bet you've got a hell of a headache, huh?"
Another groan. "What happened?"
Kir fluffed his feathers, a reproachful tone coloring his words. "You were kicked in the head. By a horse, of all things. I suppose this sort of thing was inevitable, living in a barn and all--"
"I don't remember a horse..."
"-- I mean, isn't it pretty likely that some horse comes home, drunk one night, and wanders into the wrong stall? It could happen, you know, horses ain't exactly the smartest bunch of--"
The boy flopped onto his back with a wince. "Stop talking, partner, my head feels like someone's using it for a drum..."
Partner...? Kir stopped mid-sentence, his breath catching. Did he just...? Hardly daring to believe, he asked, "... Jing?"
The grey-eyed boy sat up, looking as though he couldn't fathom why the albatross' voice had become so hesitant and small and hopeful. "What? What's the matter, Kir?"
And he was struck speechless as the bird suddenly latched onto him, talons and all, with a relieved cry. Jing hugged him back instinctively, unsure what could have prompted such a reaction, and when he asked, the albatross only answered, "You're back and I missed you, so can we go now please?"
---
Jing listened silently as Kir recounted the events of the past three weeks. Although some parts prompted flashes of images in his mind, the intervening time remained largely a gaping blank to him. But he never once doubted the veracity of the near-impossible tale; one look at his companion, who seemed almost harrowed by the ordeal, and he knew it was all true.
"I'm sorry," He said, because he didn't know what else to say. "But... thank you."
Kir looked uncertain. "For tellin' you what happened?"
"No, Kir... for staying." Jing looked down at Blavod, the lamps on the streets just being lit for the evening. "I wasn't even me anymore, and you still stayed... you didn't leave. Thank you for that."
"Rye's an awful name for you, you know. Doesn't suit you at all. But still..." The bird looked down, almost seeming ashamed of his observations. "You seemed like you were really happy, you know? I mean... you didn't remember any of the bad stuff that happened, when you were young. You were just... happier."
Jing gave Kir a smile, and got to his feet. "They say ignorance is bliss, don't they? Even if I seemed happy... it wasn't me. And even if this life isn't as simple as that one, I still wouldn't change a thing. Whatever happened to Tonic, though?"
"Dunno," Kir said. "He just disappeared. You think we've seen the last of him? Maybe he thinks you're dead."
"Well, I guess we'll have to make headlines again, just to prove him wrong, eh partner?"
The bird sighed, exasperated, as they left Blavod behind. "Yeah, you're definitely back."
---
Notes
(1) Blavod (blah-VOD) is a premium quality vodka from the U.K. The only difference from regular vodkas is that it is black. The black color is 100% natural and come from a little-known Burmese herb by the name of Black Catcheu. Like regular vodkas, Blavod has no smell or taste, and even if it is black it will not stain your tongue, teeth, or clothing. Alcoholic content: 40.0% (80-proof). Source: Webtender.com
(2) Lady Cello: Ingredients: 1 oz Limoncello, 1 oz Rum, 1 tsp Grenadine, 1/2 oz Lemon juice, Sugar. Shake with ice and pour into a sugar and Limoncello rimmed highball glass. Garnish with a cherry. To coat rim of glass, first dip in Limoncello, then in a bowl of sugar. Source: Webtender.com