Zariah's Trip Home

[Zariah]

(OOC:With Wyvern's suggestions, I decided to rewrite/edit this piece to make it flow better and be more interactive. So if you've read this before, read it again please and enjoy! And for those reading for the first time, there is more to come!)

 

There was a gentle pecking on her door, and Zariah instantly knew that Crow had come to visit her. She had not seen Crow since around the Fall Festival and was eager to catch up. Crow entered and they gave each other a gentle hug.

 

“Hi Crow! It’s been quite a while! How have you been?”

 

“Caw! Kaw caw kah kaah!” Crow exclaimed.

 

“Oh, I’m so sorry! Well if you bump into Nyyark, let him know I plan to be back around Winter Festival, if he wants to see me….I’m not sure if he even thinks about me, since he stood me up at the Ball….anyways, I’m packing tonight for my visit back home!”

 

“Cah?! Cah cah kaw???” she questioned.

 

“Wow! I can’t believe I haven’t told you about my family! You know Wanderer from the forest around here and his clan? Well, he and I are visiting my family clan, the ones who I grew up with! Mother wing sent me an invitation around Thanksgiving and it’s been over two years since I’ve seen them!”

 

In a moment of silence, Zariah recalled her last trip. Her last visit had been a sorrowful one, for one of the Elder Crows, whom she called Jack, had passed on to the Afterlife. The ceremony was 3 long days, and she had little time to visit with everyone. This time, she vowed to spend time with everyone, especially Mother-Wing and her four closest siblings (who were the real children of Mother-Wing).

 

As Zariah packed her large brown sack with clothes and food, she chatted with Crow. “Anyways, I’m getting ready for an early start tomorrow.”

 

“Kaw kah cah.”

 

“Thanks, I will miss you too! Thanks for stopping by! See you soon!”

 

“Kaw! Cah!” Crow said as she turned toward the door.

 

“Bye!” Zariah bid as she waved goodbye.

 

Zariah turned her attention back to packing, and reached into her cabinet drawer to retrieve her final item to pack. The purple velvet cloth was tied with a silk ribbon, and Zariah set it on her bed and unwrapped it. Inside she produced 15 silver hand-made chains. She thought, “ I hope my family likes them! I think they will though because anything shiny is a treasure….but I wonder if they will wear them on their necks?”

 

She tucked them back inside the cloth and placed them at the bottom of the sack. She tucked the bag in the corner of her room and changed into her sleepwear. She crawled into bed for a good night’s sleep before the long journey ahead. However, a good night’s sleep turned into restless hours of darkness filled with prophetic and terrifying dreams.

 

In her first dream, she relived the nightmare of the fire which destroyed her parents and her town. She had forgotten all the details, but in this vision, she saw everything. She was being held in her mother’s arms. Her security and safety ended in one solitary moment. Two men in black cloaks and hoods broke into their home. Her father was out for the evening at a meeting that’s location was even unknown to Zariah’s mom. The two men took Zariah from her mother’s arms and headed to the door. There was screaming and a loud bang. In rushed her Father and a strange old woman wearing a red hooded cloak. Her Father handed her to her Mother and she kissed Zariah many times and she could feel her mother’s tears as they hit her cheeks. She was handed back to her Father, who gently stroked her head and passed her to the strange woman. She was wrapped in a soft blanket and hidden against the woman’s breast as she was carried hurriedly out of the home. That was the last time Zariah saw her parents. Zariah then saw an image of the town in flames and could hear the townsfolk screaming for their lives.

 

The Mystic Woman carried her to the edge of the town, near a forest where she hid her deep in the brushes. She was crying, and the woman spoke ancient words to calm and protect her. In the stillness, Zariah could see the woman change before her eyes. She became Crow-like, and a shining half moon shone on her forehead. Her eyes became pitch black and her nose shaped like a beak. She was not scared, but laughed- a soft laugh, as if it were the only thing that would make her new life okay. The woman summoned the Crows with her crow speak and chanted as she disappeared, while echoes of her language kept Zariah silent and bewildered.

 

Suddenly, Zariah awoke in a sweat. She had not remembered much at all about her past, and now the memory remained crystal clear in her mind. She rolled out of bed and crept down the hall to the bathroom where she washed her face and glanced in the mirror. To her horror, she saw the same Crescent moon on her forehead. She shut her eyes tight and furiously shook her head. When she looked again, the crescent was gone. Zariah began to tremble.

 

“What is going on? Who was that lady? How am I connected with her? Why did she take me out of the village and away from my parents? She could speak Crow like me….she called for the Crows….MY Crow family! I MUST find out about my past and who I am!”

 

She walked back to her room and sat stiffly in her bed. She was no longer tired and lay contemplating. Outside her window she heard footsteps and turned to peek out of the curtains, but she instantly fell onto her bed and back into her dreams.

 

TBC.

Edited January 14, 2005 by Zariah

[Zariah]

(OOC: Anyone who wants to give feedback or ideas, feel free to start a post in the Critic's Corner maybe? I will eventually delete this post so my story flows uninterrupted. Thanks!)

Edited January 14, 2005 by Zariah