Leif

6- An Illusion of Smoke

Dead. Done.

An unexpected, malevolent blade stabs into the base of my neck, cutting off my link to the world. A breathless, choking, numbing feeling coats my lungs in ice. What- how-? I didn't even hear the hiss of a lethal weapon being hurled sharply my way- I had no way of knowing.

And in a second- time had just barely paused to blink the sleep from its eyes- I am beheaded. Nothing more than a stump, now more useless and cowardly in death than ever before in life.

Surely this must be the price I pay for taking a foolish moment to dance in the sun. I am ready for it- whatever the next level may be. I lift my eyes to the crimson sky above and prepare to rise.

But I don't move anywhere. The red tint that had plagues my vision vanishes into tiny bursts of rufescent color. I am, apparently, alive as ever. My pulsing, throbbing heartbeat and the prickling sensation in my spine assure me of my existence. You're too dramatic, I chastise myself, swaying on my feet. You always fear the illusion of smoke before you even begin to see a flame. Coward.

I stay still for a little longer, then reach up to pull the hood of my cloak away from the force that clutches it, my hands trembling uncontrollably. I turn around.

Behind me stands a form beyond what I have ever dreamed in my lifetime to see.

Pale as the moon's rippling reflection within a freezing pond in the chill of midnight. The fresh skin such an opaque, faint cerulean shade, it's nearly translucent in the glint of morning rays. The eyes are piercing beads of cobalt, shooting bright beams of intensity that paralyze my own wary gaze. And the wavy, bright silver locks of hair are twisted into a spiral of a braid on it's- on her head. A thin wisp of a girl, adorning a black cloak that attempts to conceal her extraordinary appearance, stands before me.

She clears her throat - a clear, cutting sound - but hesitates before speaking. I decide to go first, struggling to materialize a thought worthy of words.

"Um. Why... why did you grab me? Is there something you, um, want?"

Her eyes widen at my question and somehow I feel like the peculiar being. But then her narrow lips curl into a clouded frown. Her eyes, the glowing orbs, flash with confusion, then annoyance and eventually anger.

"I thought," she begins, her voice surprisingly thick and strong, "you were my sister. She ran again today, the demon child! Your damned cloak looks just like hers." The girl crosses her arms and scowls, her dark hood sliding down to reveal more elaborately braided hair.

Her fierce tone encourages me to be straightforward in asking. "So, where did you... come from? I haven't seen you anywhere here before. Do you wear black robes to hide the way you look?"

The girl blinks and stares at me blankly for a second, while I silently cheer myself on for catching her off guard. But her surprise quickly fades, leaving a harsh glare in its wake. I start to back away, but curiosity holds me in place.

"Seriously? Is that even a question? Most Trees I've meet are fairly ignorant, but I didn't know someone could have such an empty skull. You, my friend, may be the epitome of a twig's idiocy."

My confidence dissolves on my tounge. "Um, 'twig'? That's not even a...never mind... what I mean is, you're the one that pulled me back, so I at least deserve, um, an answer." I tell her lamely.

"What you deserve is to rot with all the rest of your kind! Don't think I haven't seen the your truth, okay? I don't care how much of an almighty entity your consider yourself. For all I care, you could be the freaking sun floating above us! Take all the wealth of the world, but still. You. Cannot. Move. Me. I will stay, even if I have to kill for it."

She spits the seemingly rehearsed speech out of clenched teeth. Stunned, I try to match her heat, her rage. But I can't find anything inside of my chest other than confusion and a twinge of hurt.

"Um, what are you saying? I don't even... so you're not a Tree? Is that why..." I trail off. Of course she's not a Tree. A Tree would never be caught in a sudden public outburst. Trees are stable, rational.

It's just that I've never actually seen anyone who doesn't share my roots. Chloris only has one poulation after all- and nobody in it looks like the stranger with the shadows in her blindingly bright eyes. I have heard all about people with different genes, but hearing lectures about diversity definitely was not enough to prepare me for this.

"To hell with you," snaps the girl, and she spins on her heel, darting away in the opposite direction. I am left standing alone in my thoughts, wondering just how much of creation I would never discover.