Okay. So Like, First Time Posting Anything I Wrote.

Jan 16, 2010 10:56

 

Talia would like to say a few things first. Alright, she was an idiot-she’ll admit to that-but some things, some things she couldn’t control even if she wanted to. Like, you know, the fact that Eden liked her. Controlling Eden’s feelings was one of those things that was a bit beyond her. Sure, she could’ve read them better, but she has always been kind of bad at that.

But it all started when they were thirteen. Thirteen was the year for partnerships. It was the year when life-defining bonds were formed, or at least that’s what they say. Talia is in no position to argue that point, because if it weren’t for Eden, Talia wouldn’t be saying all this right now.

So, Talia’s going to start with that. The partnership thing.

Talia is thirteen, and feels like she is on top of the world. She is running through the halls reeking of sweat, dirt, and morning dew because she lost track of time during her morning drills and forgot she’s supposed to meet her partner today. She kind of wants to hit herself, because she wrote a memo on her arm just last night too, but it’s smudged from her workout and Talia can’t quite make out what it says any more. She thinks it looks a bit like a deformed bird.

She runs past an acolyte, half-knocking the kid over and scatters his papers across the floor. She yells a quick apology back over her shoulder, and skids to avoid smashing into a wall. She turns to the right-the room they’re meeting in is just down the hall-and wonders what her partner would be like. She’d be stuck with him or her for life, after all. She’ll probably get one of those really uptight ones. Talia shudders. She throws open the heavy oak door and sheepishly grins.

“Hi.”

Turns out, she was right about the uptight bit. Her partner is Eden.

She didn’t know Eden that well, if she had to be completely honest. They were in the same class of graduating acolytes, so they’ve passed each other in the halls a couple of times, ran into each other in the library. She put Eden’s notes out of order -on a dare, she says, on a dare-and prays to Celeste that Eden does not remember.

Eden adjusts her glasses to they sit a bit higher on her nose.

“Hello, Talia.”

“Let’s be friends?” Talia asks, and wants to hit herself. Of course they’d be friends; they’d be partners.

“Friends is fine,” says Eden, taking Talia’s outstretched hand into hers. She squeezes slightly, for reassurance. Eden’s just as scared as she is, Talia realizes, and it’s comforting.

She squeezes back. She makes a note to make sure Eden doesn’t study too much.

It happens anyways though, so after a week or two Talia’s gotten into the habit of looking for Eden in the main library. Sanctuary is the largest settlement in the Order, the heart of Order politics and research and large enough to be considered a city. It’s split into seven towers, a large main tower in the center surrounded by six smaller ones. The smaller towers are the headquarters of each division and contain archives specific to each division as well as lodgings. The central tower contains the main library and public areas. The library is huge, spanning multiple floors with massive windows and bookshelves. A thick, musty smell hangs in the air. Sunlight floods through the glass and the floors are covered with plush, but faded, carpets, but the stone walls and marble staircases keep it cold and Talia shivers.

She finds Eden where she always is, tucked away neatly in a sunny corner near a window, hunched over a book.

“What are you looking at now?” Talia flops into the chair next to Eden and squints to get a better look at the runes in the book she’s taking notes on. They’re not evenly spaced, cramped in some places and written smaller towards the end of pages.

“Interplanar distortions.” Eden’s fingers, long and slender, reach for another sheet of parchment as she scribbles down a cramped note in the only blank corner left.

“What?”

“Portals, although it’s a broader topic than that.” She glances at the back of a page before turning back. “This specifically deals with time travel and its potential after effects on humans.”

“Ah,” Talia replies, but that’s a lie. She doesn’t get it at all. Theoretical magic wasn’t one of the fields Talia studied deeply, because hey, if the spell worked, it worked, right?

“It’s one of the earlier ones,” Eden continues. “Large portions of it have been disproved or were misleading but there’s truth to it. There’s this chapter….”

Talia’s not paying attention anymore, because by Celeste, how many skipped baths does it take for hair to get that oily?

“Are you listening?”

“You know what? I still haven’t seen your combat skills.” Talia slams both her hands against the table as she stands. Acolytes around them give them looks and an older apprentice hisses a warning.

“They’re hardly that impressive. I chose to-Ah!” Talia drags Eden out of her chair by the arm. Eden would’ve stumbled to the ground if Talia hadn’t caught her. “What are you doing?”

“Taking you to the training grounds. Duh,” Talia replies, tugging on Eden’s sleeve.

“No, this is hardly necessary, and I should pack up my books and stationary before I leave anyways-”

Corking the ink bottle, Talia slips it and the quill into her pocket. “Problem solved. Can we go now?”

“No, I need to check out that book; the library will be closed by the time you’re done and-”

Talia rolls her eyes, grips Eden by the wrist and runs, just slow enough that Eden can keep up without too much trouble.

“You said it was an old book anyways!”

“So you were listening. Watch it!” Eden snarls as they round a corner and it nearly smashes her face.

“Don’t worry; I do this a lot.” Talia laughs as she throws open the door to the training areas. It’s loud and noisy with shouts and thuds of wood against wood. Talia smells sweat and iron and feels like she’s home. One of the in-door lots would probably suit Eden better, she decides. “Hey, what do you use as a weapon?”

Eden rubs her wrist as Talia finally lets go to fumble through the weapons closet. “Bows usually. I underwent basic training in swords as well-”

“Great!” Talia’s eyes light up as she reaches for two wooden practice swords. She tosses one at Eden. “We can use Lot B.”

It doesn’t go quite like how Talia planned it. Eden hasn’t used a sword in years-Talia’s experienced enough to tell that her movements are awkward and sloppy-that much Talia expected, but Talia didn’t plan on Eden tripping over her robes. And falling onto Talia. That bit was completely unexpected for both of them. They stare into each other’s faces for a long moment.

Eden shoves Talia away and trudges toward the exit. Her shoulders are hunched, and she reeks of bruised pride. Talia watches as she shuts the door with a slam, and thinks, shit, I fucked up.

They don’t speak for a while after that. It’s not that Talia doesn’t try. She does, she really does. Talia walks up to Eden and sort of sits there, waits. She struggles to find something to say, but an awkward, uncomfortable silence smothers them, and eventually drives Talia away. She gives up after a few tries and avoids Eden entirely.

It isn’t until a man named Leiken approaches her that Talia does talk to Eden again. Leiken is tall and thin, dressed in black robes decorated with deep blue and embroidered with gold. Talia remembers him as the man Eden was apprenticed to.

“There was a lab accident,” Leiken says, and his eyebrows draw together in a frown. Talia heard about it; an explosion in lab fifteen. She remembers though, as cold dread creeps from her stomach to her fingertips and toes, that Eden was on duty as an aide in lab fifteen today. Eden always followed her schedule to a t. “Eden was caught in it,” Leiken adds. “Aren’t you going to see her?”

The dread transforms into red-hot panic and Talia’s breath gets caught in her throat and never seems to get back to her lungs. “Where is she? Is it bad?”

“No, only minor burns. Her robes protected her. She is in ward twenty-eight, bed four. I am sure she would be happy if you visited.”

And that’s all Talia needs to break into a run. Each breath she draws burns her throat but she doesn’t feel it. Panic causes her heart to beat fast and the steady one-two, one-two, beat thuds loud and deep in her ear. She throws open the thin curtain that separates Eden from the outside and lets herself catch her breath.

Eden is propped up on a couple of pillows, dressed in an off-white gown. She’s a little paler than usual, and some soot is still scattered across her face, but she’s alright except for the bandages covering her arm. Eden body is bony and thin, and she raises her head to stare at Talia like a doe.

“Talia?”

“I’m,” Talia stutters. “I’m really sorry. I was ignoring you because I was hurt so like, yeah, and then this happens and I’m like, I don’t know what to do-and Celeste, I was so worried-so I came here as fast as I could once I heard, from Master Leiken, I should’ve known myself, but-”

Eden shushes her. “I am fine. Don’t worry about it.” She sucks in a breath. I’m sorry too, she doesn’t say, but Talia can tell.

“I’m Talia,” she says, reaching out a hand. They're going to get it right this time.

Eden blinks before she takes Talia’s hand into hers. “I am Eden.” She says, and smiles.

This is multi-part. I have no clue when the next part's getting posted though. @_@

talia, original, eden

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