This page conserves the character fiction forum of the Agora forums. The posts have been left unformatted to make it easier for users to copy them here and paste them into the new forums.

Oren Itanooren12/10/08 18:25View
Missy12/10/08 22:22View
The backstory of Vulpes.Vulpes12/11/08 01:46View
Erica KesselErica Kessel12/11/08 07:52View
Missy's Story.. a Do-over and another ChapterMissy12/11/08 22:38View
UsrBinPerl12/11/08 23:48View
oren12/11/08 23:57View
Kwekwe's BackstoryKwekwe Karu12/12/08 01:02View
UsrBinPerl12/13/08 00:35View
Eternal SunsetMissy12/13/08 12:19View
Kit Ristow12/14/08 00:01View
ShyMathys12/14/08 00:27View
MasksAlissa12/14/08 00:58View
Lorae12/14/08 01:24View
UsrBinPerl12/14/08 22:07View
Missy's Story Continued..Part 3Missy12/16/08 08:43View
Missy's Story Part 4: Innocence ShatteredMissy12/16/08 18:34View
Missy's Story Part 5: Innocence AnnihilatedMissy12/18/08 17:16View
Small DangersVox12/18/08 21:36View
Saint of The Abyss: Part 1Luciferiel12/19/08 05:21View
Zero....-1Justa Zero12/19/08 17:38View
Zero....1Justa Zero12/19/08 18:26View
Óðr’s Daughter. Chapter I: A Guiding DreamAsil Karu12/20/08 02:39View
Omega To Alphaerinnic12/23/08 16:49View
Her Bloody Tears [-Past Event-]Methias12/23/08 18:09View
Lost Kitsune - A Shattered MindKiera12/25/08 18:51View
Usr's story Part IVUsrBinPerl12/27/08 20:34View
The EssexHeir Maelstrom12/29/08 04:23View
Kwekwe's shameKwekwe Karu12/30/08 18:11View
Joint Round Robin Fic Anyone...?erinnic12/30/08 19:07View
God Was On Her Lips As She Diederinnic01/02/09 23:31View
Love and Betrayal - A New Beginningkessjuliesse01/03/09 13:46View
The Diary of Cody Woodhencodywoodhen01/05/09 21:35View
Missy's Story Part 6: Innocence AbductedMissy01/07/09 06:23View
Cursed BladeYannis_Martynov01/08/09 21:27View
Story Thread: Community Round Robin Ficerinnic01/09/09 23:25View
The demon withinCanly Fargis01/11/09 16:14View
Ziau- CoLA's Very Own CasanovaZiau01/13/09 02:09View
Twisted Attentionserinnic01/21/09 20:34View
Inspiration- music and roleplayZiau01/26/09 08:01View
Compilation! Where were you when it all happened?Ziau01/28/09 09:12View
The Clock Struck MidnightMalice Ashdene01/28/09 22:31View
With Precision- a poem by Kelly Welch A.k.A Ziau Jua.Ziau01/29/09 04:36View
Alisa's dicovery of a new world (character sheet + story)Alisa Draconia01/30/09 19:17View
The Shadow Stepper- Ziau the Enshadowed.Ziau02/01/09 07:26View
Krista Lemon arrives to the streets of Lost AngelsKrista02/03/09 00:09View
Back Story Upto the Excile of Rune.RuneCrimson02/03/09 21:59View
War with the Brood, war with the Coven, and the Pack.Ziau02/07/09 04:11View
-- Halcyon's Backstory --Halcyon Nacht02/08/09 00:22View
Planer/Exonar family (aka, Erinyse, Khalan, Viridian, Cummere, Selena)Cummere Mayo02/08/09 03:53View
Kit's BackstoryKit Ristow02/10/09 18:40View
Eyes in the DarkKeyla02/11/09 09:47View
Surfacing Part ILlyr02/13/09 22:21View
Surfacing Part IILlyr02/13/09 22:35View
Tama-Chan: A Cat's Story (Tamara's background)Tamara02/17/09 07:35View
Project: A map of Post Apocalypse North AmericaTamara02/17/09 19:21View
Dreamtime RevelationsWinter02/19/09 18:08View
Reaver-the echo of the BlackwindAntiZero02/23/09 00:43View
On the Origin of SpeciesTamara02/25/09 22:38View
ConfessionKit Ristow02/26/09 01:39View
Personnel File: Pointe, Zsuzsanna C. (Inactive, Deceased)Su Pointe02/26/09 03:32View
Malice, in a Different Kind of WonderlandMalice Ashdene02/27/09 18:07View
The Dark of InspirationKit Ristow03/01/09 21:42View
Jheric: CrucifiedKayle Ashdene03/03/09 10:53View
It's my lifearsene_Braveheart03/05/09 18:18View
The Tradgedy of the HybridDigital Enigma03/29/09 07:09View
The Sin of Wrathmolly switchblade04/02/09 21:28View
Golden BoyEphran Ehrler04/15/09 06:12View
Story About A GirlAesendria04/24/09 15:34View
Climaxe by Smith and WessonSloan04/28/09 06:19View
My new project ATTENTION Russian Characters!Ziau05/01/09 06:42View
**NSFW** A Typical Tuesday Night for MissyMissy05/06/09 20:48View
Post your profile links!Cortero Landar05/07/09 10:25View
Making Logan SufferAesendria05/12/09 07:09View
Jeanne VarunJeanne Varun05/14/09 08:24View
The Vanguard's True PurposeLogan05/16/09 01:03View
Cortero's Infernal ArmorCortero Landar05/16/09 06:52View
Bookstore SurpriseAesendria05/16/09 23:16View
Post your profile links if you have in-story info in them!Cortero Landar05/18/09 10:33View
PromisesAesendria05/24/09 02:44View
Cyber Evolution Bios, Anur Seda, Cyber Reaper, and Commander of CETheassassin06/08/09 11:28View
Was any of it real?Youko_Giha06/12/09 15:28View
A shift in prioritiesLogan06/17/09 04:21View
Going homeLudvig06/17/09 19:10View
'Ren in Japanoren06/18/09 23:11View
Thelma across the boardThelemaJuliesse06/26/09 15:09View
Pre-fiction: How Kayteear got here.Kayteear07/15/09 16:43View
Story TimeCharissa07/17/09 19:03View
Pack Airship RP.Tai07/27/09 02:49View
My CharacterLilith1308/05/09 22:34View
LilithLilith1308/06/09 09:30View
The Haunter in the DarkShadow08/14/09 21:50View
The Flying HeadsKwekwe Karu08/16/09 16:52View
Why selling coffins is impossible in CoLAZiau08/23/09 04:14View
Paint it red!Ziau08/23/09 07:51View
Young Cowards.Ziau08/23/09 08:28View
Great video for RPers and people passionate about writing.Ziau09/05/09 08:55View
Dux - 264 BCDux09/10/09 18:41View
The Thing at South Gate SanitariumShadow09/15/09 22:09View
♪♫ Do you wanna RP my avatar ♪♫Kayteear09/17/09 14:45View
Jessica's MotherJessica Susser09/21/09 04:19View
Ziau Challenged me to. NSFWChasityDawes09/21/09 07:17View
The Divine Machine.................Theassassin09/21/09 22:29View
I Bleed my Blood for Myself.Ziau09/22/09 22:28View
Cronicle of a deathKayteear09/24/09 01:34View
"Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself"DavidJoshua Artful09/26/09 17:07View
Old Versus NewDigital Enigma09/27/09 20:28View
The Shadowed Order, The Eternal Order, Ordo MachinaTheassassin10/06/09 06:55View
Elamyrath's HistoryElamyrath10/10/09 00:52View
The here, the now, the dead. The Minus.TheMinus Ziskey10/10/09 12:41View
Before bed ritual.Amy Guisse10/17/09 04:13View
Alone?Ike10/18/09 15:34View
IS this High School again?Theassassin10/24/09 12:49View
Sidhe vs DrowOrlok Lectar10/29/09 04:08View
Daddy bluesarsene_Braveheart11/17/09 19:01View
Chronicles of SIEagentlyseria11/22/09 12:27View
The Lady In Black(A Drokan Exile Twisted Love Story)AntiZero11/29/09 06:36View
The growing Darkness.Leirain Koray12/01/09 11:04View
The lycanKayteear12/01/09 16:00View
City of Lost Jackman: The Untold Hollywood BlockbusterAntiZero12/02/09 07:11View
Coming home for christmas ..Kes12/10/09 22:17View
Bunneh Vs. Lich, DBZ styleKarsha Yutani12/14/09 11:59View
A FarewellRoland12/16/09 20:50View
Of Death and RebirthDigital Enigma12/21/09 20:14View
The Story of ReocoReoko Farspire02/06/10 20:47View
Homecoming......... The Story of Orpheus DarkfoldOrpheusDarkfold03/11/10 02:27View
The Story of Orpheus Part 2OrpheusDarkfold03/13/10 23:15View
Who owns who?Kayteear03/22/10 22:03View
Missing the Oceanricercar03/23/10 22:27View
Letter to the editor: Manners in LATink03/25/10 16:58View
Chasity BackstoryChasityDawes06/14/10 19:43View
Something Black and Violent...DavidJoshua Artful06/19/10 22:23View
Doctor Visiterinnic07/12/10 04:26View
Gabby Perdidevacantghost07/19/10 04:42View
PosterMessageDate
LlyrThrough the green silence of the winter wood she comes. No branch rustles at her passing, no leaf stirs at her feet. She is a dream, an impossibility of grace, and in other woods than these men have died for having glimpsed her; turned to stags, torn apart by wolves.

But today she does not hide from presumptuous eyes. Instead, she herself is seeking a man. Knowing the woods as well as she does (did she not create them, after all?) she should find him without effort. It is mildly irritating to her that she does not.

When at length she locates his camp, she feels a grudging admiration. It was extraordinarily well hidden. Even now, not twenty feet from the boulder that shields the eyrie from the view of anyone passing below, she might have missed it were it not for the faintest tang of smoke on the wind. The site is halfway up a steep cliff that juts from the skirts of the forest like a shrugging shoulder, difficult to see, even more difficult to reach.

She frowns a moment in concentration and gravity obligingly relinquishes its hold. Upwards like spider silk caught on a warm breeze she drifts and in moments her slender white feet touch the granite ledge, high above the forest floor.

The camp is simple and orderly: a small timber and thatch structure, a stone-ringed fire-pit, cold and swept clean of ashes, a small store of firewood. It is also apparently empty. With a small frown, she glides to the cabin to peer within.

Her surprise when someone speaks behind her is beyond measure. In her own woods, the place of her power, it shouldn’t be possible to evade her notice so completely.

“Who might you be, lass?”

She turns, consternation hidden behind a brilliant smile, showing small, even teeth and the tip of a pale pink tongue, and takes a long moment to appraise the object of her search before responding.

He is tall, enormous really, with breadth of shoulder to match his height. By rights, no one so massive should be able to move with such complete silence. His hair is ragged, a long mane of unremarkable brown reaching midway down his back, his only clothing a kilt of tanned deer-hide, neatly stitched and belted to his waist with a band of heavier leather –elk? His grey eyes are deep-set and dominate a craggy, unhandsome face. The longbow in his hands is bent into an arc, a flint-tipped arrow aimed at her throat. It’s thicker than her forearm and must draw at more than fourteen stone, but he holds it without apparent strain.

But two things strike her more forcefully than the threat of arrow and unwavering gaze.

His skin is smooth and brown and entirely without scar or blemish.

And he has no wings.

Neither had been the case when last she’d seen him.

“Do you not recognize me then, Llyr? Am I so different?” Her voice is a ripple of silver bells. He frowns, the tip of the arrow lowers fractionally.

“You… you’re Manannan’s lady. Fand?”

She claps her hands delightedly.

“You’ve changed a great deal Angel, but I was sure you’d not have lost your memory of me. Your skin is new but your memories are old. And I see that your habits are unchanged. This could be a military outpost – were you expecting an invasion?”

“Where am I?” He ignores the barb, his voice thick with disuse. “There’s a place prepared for Angels when they die th’ true death, but this canna be it. I’ve travelled fer months t’ each point of the compass an’ seen not a soul. Not ‘til you, an’ yer no angel.”

“That could almost hurt my feelings, Caomhnoir An Fanan.”

“I’m a watcher o’ nothin’ here, Fand. There’s none t’guard.”

“And yet you live like a soldier, and you’ve equipped yourself with the tools of battle.” She gestures towards the bow that now rests on one tip at his side. He glances down at it. “You can take the angel out of the war, but ….”

“It’s fer huntin’ deer an’ such. This body needs t’eat.”

“Indeed,” she responds drily. “And how many deer do you intend to kill with each shot? A bow like that is for piercing armor.”

He grimaces in irritation, takes a half step forward, his eyes intent on her own.

“It’s a bloody bow. It’s how I make ‘em. Answer th’ bloody question, Fand: Where am I?”

She shakes her head ruefully, but she smiles as she does it, “What, no gratitude, Llyr? We saved you.”

“Saved me?” His face is blank.

“Well, perhaps save is not the ideal term. But we made arrangements for you to be brought here, should you ever perish, to be given a second chance at life should you wish it.”

“I don’t understand.”

Slowly and carefully, as if explaining to a child, “In payment of the debt the Sidhe owe you for fighting on our behalf in the Asharim wars. We made this place, a tiny world in a fold of the universe just for you, to house your soul upon the event of your death. So that you could choose, if you wished, to live again.

The grey eyes fill with anger for a moment. “But y’ve left me here, alone fer more’n a year. I’ve..”

“You should thank us for that, Llyr. After so many years of strife and conflict, we thought to give you a space to rest and be at peace. Have you not been… happy here?”

His jaw works for a moment, a huge hand clenches and unclenches. At length he nods brusquely.

“It’s been fine. Better’n I deserved. I just wish I’d known. Can’t understand yer doin’ this fer me in th’ first place.”

“The Sidhe repay their debts, Llyr. You know how important balance is to us.” She drifts closer, tilting her chin to look up into his face.

“And what do you wish now? Would you go on to that final resting place of angels? Or would you return to the mortal world?”

He is silent a long moment. “How long has passed?”

“Time moves faster here. There it’s been a little over six months. Those you care for have mourned your loss and their lives have gone on.”

“And Michael?” The name is grated through clenched teeth.

She chuckles. “He’s alive. You struck his arm from his body with Answer, but he was saved and has been healed of the wound, as much as any can ever recover from the bite of one of the Great Swords. The pain of it will never leave him entirely.”

“Then I’ll go. If Michael’s still alive, I’ve a reason t’be there.” His voice is hard and certain. Long before he was Retribution, he was shaped to protect the innocent; for him there is no question.

Fand smiles, dazzlingly. “We’d hoped as much.”

He frowns. “Why? What stake have you Sidhe in this?”

“We have as great a desire to see the colour of Michael’s blood as you, Llyr, and beyond that…” she shrugs, “War is coming in the mortal world. Before long Cul Din will be tested against the Shining City, and the Wells of Darkness to the west. Your City of Angels will doubtless be involved also. You have been a strong ally to the Sidhe in the past; we will have need of such again.”

Llyr chuckles, a rumble like a small landslide. “I should ha’ guessed as much. There’s always reason behind reason wi’ you folk. Fair enough though, long as I see yer cause as just I’ll do what I can t’aid th’ Sidhe, keep ‘em safe.”

“There is one other small matter: a bargain we thought we might strike with you. It would be to your advantage as much as to ours. The form you wear now, we would like you to have it when we return you.”

He frowns. “But this is no Angel’s form.”

“No, it is Sidhe. But it has its own strengths that you would learn, and you could be as formidable as ever you were with the shape the Archangels slew. That body is entombed in your cathedral in Los Angeles. It has been made whole but… “she grimaces, “as well you know, it carries the burden of millennia of war. And that was before Michael. And Wrath.”

He nods slowly in comprehension. “An’ the price fer this new body then?”

“It is a small thing really,” she waves a hand dismissively. “You might almost consider the body a simple gift.”

The grey gaze narrows. “Yer folk give nothin’ wi’out takin’ payment in equal measure. As y’just reminded me not a moment ago. Th’ price?”

She sighs “There is a leanan sidhe; you know her. She has… transgressed in ways too grievous to ignore. We have decreed her death. We would ask that you not interfere.”

He stands frozen. And then, unexpectedly he laughs.

“After all th’ years I’ve spent wi’ yer folk, an’ y’ still know me so little. My answer’s no. Th’ old bucket may be banged up, but it’ll do me fine.

For the first time, she looks completely disconcerted.

“You… you can’t be serious, Llyr. What is one girl’s life? Michael will live forever with the fire of Answer’s wound, but what he and Wrath did to you was much worse. The Great Blade touched your heart; you…don’t you see? You’ll never have a moment free of pain as long as you live. I don’ know that you’ll ever regain your full strength. What good is a new life for a guardian like you if you lack…”

“I’ll manage. I’ve been wounded before. This isn’ subject t’debate, Fand. If y’choose t’ keep me here in consequence, so be it, but I won’t betray someone I’ve sworn t’ protect fer this –“ a fist taps the broad chest, “or fer any other bauble y’could tempt me with.”

A long silence stretches between them, and at length she sighs once more. The cliff face looks less obdurate.
“As you will then. I’ll send you back.”

A measure of tension leaves the broad shoulders.

“Thank you, lass. May I have a moment first?”

She nods, and watches the huge form walk lightly to the cabin, and place the bow carefully within. As he straightens, the lowering sun gilds the camp for a moment and he inhales deeply, facing into the light. His eyes close and he nods.

“I’m ready. An’ Fand? Thank you, all o’ you. I’ll not ferget th’ grace o’ this.

Her voice is soft in the golden light. “I’m glad you take something good back with you then, even if it’s not as much as we wished to give.”

And then he is gone.
And then she is gone.
And then the world ceases to be.
02/13/09 22:35
Winter[center]Llyr,

once again, truly a wonderful story. I can't wait for you to be online again... after all, I do have a certain sword that is, no doubt even now, yelling it's head off to be returned to you. *grins* Oh.. and *snickers* since winter was in charge of the body... i put it somewhere safe, though not in the church, even if everyone thinks's its there. can't have mikey going after it.

ps.. check your forum email if you haven't already.

hugs

[/center]
02/14/09 00:22
Kit Ristow. . .so, I probably shouldn't squee-bounce, should I? It'd be completely undignified.

Not that that stops me. . .

And I'm glad to see your fiction-y words again. This was cool.
02/14/09 15:31
Soriel ShepherdWelcome Back Llyr.... Looking forward to seeing your silhouette grace the rooftops of the City once more.02/14/09 19:15
Keylaonce again, I bow to your skills as a writer, Llyr.
the two piece is great. I hope there'll be much more to come, of course. ;)

And it's great to have Llyr back. I still owe you a stealing of your kilt *grins*
02/14/09 22:04
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