Seas Of Erin > Lorrain > When I once was fearless, innocence roared


Posted by: Curr Sep 23 2007, 08:43 PM
Fresh from his conversation with Jochy, Curr came out from below deck fairly quickly, frowning and looking a bit lost in his own head. But after a moment's pause on deck, Curr's frown faded and was replaced by a small, pleased little smile, rather like a cat who had caught the mouse he'd been hunting.

Well.

That had actually gone really well.

He had gotten -his- day off to a good start. He hoped Jochy's was off to a bad one, or at least a less-than-good one.

Curr began to hum happily as he walked to the railing to look back into the city.

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 23 2007, 08:45 PM
"What're you so happy about?" Sylvie asked, as she skipped up to greet the boy. "How're you feeling?"

Posted by: Curr Sep 23 2007, 08:47 PM
Curr blinked, turning to look at Si and cocking his head, birdlike. "Uhm. Nothin'," he replied, with a shrug. "Just happy, s'all."

There wasn't any use -gloating-. Especially since Si wouldn't even understand why it made him happy to talk back like that without any violent repercussions.

"Uhm, I feel fine," he said hesitantly, blinking. "How're you? Am I supposed to feel bad?"

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 23 2007, 08:49 PM
Sylvie raised an eyebrow. "No," she answered. "Not really."

She shot him a grin. "You did a pretty impressive job yesterday, you know," she informed him. "You pretty much saved us all."

Posted by: Curr Sep 23 2007, 08:51 PM
Curr blinked, and shrugged again, as if to push back what she had said entirely.

"Orun an' Scarlet did a lot of it," he said dismissively. "I were only directin'." And pushing.

Which reminded him.

"Can you sing?" He asked her, eyeing her as if he might see the answer just by looking her up and down.

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 23 2007, 08:55 PM
Sylvie laughed. "I can," she answered. "I don't know if I can sing well. And mostly I can sing dirty things I learned on the ship. You want real singing, you need Elaine. She's a choir girl."

She stuck her tongue out to show just what she thought of Elaine's singing.

Posted by: Curr Sep 23 2007, 08:57 PM
Curr frowned, vaguely, then let out a sigh. "It'll have to do," he said with a comically adult tone to his voice.

"Can you follow this, then?" He asked, and then began, in the simplest way possible, to sing the lilting, wild, up-and-down song he had improvised to throw off the lines. Even in the simple version he sang, it made one think of wild things, birds and bushes, trees crowding in, the way the air underneath a real canopy of trees always -feels- humid and earthy.

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 23 2007, 09:04 PM
The girl attempted to mimic it to the best of her ability, which was sub-par but at least managed to carry the tune. "Like that?" she asked him, looking a bit wary, as if she expected him to rebuke her attempt. "I know what Jochy was doing yesterday. I know what it's for. How much more do you have to do?"

Posted by: Curr Sep 23 2007, 09:06 PM
"What was Jochy doin' yesterday?" Curr asked, wrinkling his nose. "He can't sing enough to carry it off..." He trailed off, frowning, crossing his arms in front of him and regarding her with a strangely serious expression.

"Well, either you help me or him, dependin' on what you want to do. Jochy's goin' to go kill th' cultists. All of 'em. I'm... not. I'm makin' it so we can -leave-. Or I was goin' to try."

He sighed. "I can't move enough on my own."


Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 23 2007, 09:12 PM
Sylvie frowned. "Jochy tried to...you know, hum along?" she answered. "He was trying to send his power to you; he could sense it."

She sighed. "I'd rather help you," she answered. "We have to get out; the cultists...you know...they don't have to die."

Posted by: Curr Sep 23 2007, 09:16 PM
"He thinks they do," Curr replied. "We... talked about it." The little smile came back to his face, remembering particularly nice little barbs he'd made in that conversation. "He maintains they're needin' to all die." That made him twist his face back into its little mask of dislike.

"I weren't feelin' it, but it's possible Scarlet dealt with that," Curr murmured thoughtfully. "She were the one in front at th' end."

He watched her again, trying to think of some way to test how much Si could help him.

"Well..." he tried to think of some small thing. Something they might have the new little kids learn at the College, some simple way... which only reminded him that when he'd been there they'd sort of suggested -he- start off in the littlest classes, and Curr remembered considering standing out that much and-

cutting off that mortifying train of thought, Curr sighed himself.

"Okay. We need to be testin' what you've got as far as bein' able to somethin' out. It's Tuatha an' not t... -human- magic, so it works a little different... but you might be able to do it anyway."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 23 2007, 09:19 PM
Sylvie frowned, then nodded. "Okay," she agreed, nodding. "It won't matter too much, anyway, to be honest. I only just started learning mage-type-stuff. What d'you need me to do?"

Posted by: Curr Sep 23 2007, 09:28 PM
Curr frowned, still trying to think. "Well... when we're -doin'- it, we're goin' to draw in th' dirt the basic lines as they're bein' set -now-. Or... or on th' wood. Whichever," he corrected himself hastily. "An' then I'm goin' to sing, an' I need you to sing with me. An' push. I don't think Scarlet's around to help now, she hasn't said anythin' all night."

He thought of something, stepping up to her, strangely businesslike.

"Hold still," he said quietly, and began to hum, soft and gentle, the same song, but then his humming grew louder and louder. He began to push the softest suggestion at her through the song-it was beginning to amaze him how easily stuff came once he had figured out how to do it at all-that she should sing along.

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 23 2007, 09:38 PM
Sylvie squirmed, then giggled. "Jochy just showed me how to stop people from doing that," she said, squirming again before she shut her eyes, trying to focus on the suggestion.

She hummed back what Curr was putting into her head. "Like that?"

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 24 2007, 05:03 PM
"And he probably should," Curr said, voice strangely flat. "Good for him." When she started to hum along, though, Curr's expression gentled into a smile again, without the sharpness.

"Good," he said softly. "I'm hopin' you can keep up, it's gonna get more complicated than that."

He tilted his head at her, eyes slightly narrowed.

"A lot more complicated. And it's not what your magic's bred to do, but somethin' else."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 24 2007, 05:08 PM
"What d'you mean, what my magic's bred to do?" Sylvie asked. pausing in the humming for a moment. "How is it different? Do you need to show me the rest of the tune now?"

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 24 2007, 05:11 PM
He wrinkled his nose in thought. "Everything I do is song," he said finally, softly. "Every bit of power there is in me has to be sung out, or... or it doesn't -have- to be, but it's what it does. Every bit of strength I've got. If I had... If I had finished I'd be older, but I'd have the marks, an' I could hold every bit of history in me with music. Your magic's not made to be sung... we're askin' it to do what it ain't used to doin'. But I think it'll work."

Curr sighed, then shrugged.

"I can't do it myself."

It didn't bother him so much to admit that as he'd thought it might.


Posted by: Elaine Romain Sep 24 2007, 05:16 PM
Sylvie grinned. "So far, I think mine is made for kicking at people," she informed Curr cheerfully. "Either that, or it's the only thing Jochy's taught me to do. So...so it's sort of like you're an instrument, and the magic's all wind, or something?" she asked, frowning. "I...I don't know how well I can make mine do that, but I'll help. You know I will."

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 24 2007, 05:19 PM
Curr smiled, a little bit. "You can do it," he said, with a little more certainty suddenly in his voice. "Magic's... I don't know. It seems like it's doin' a lot more'n we ever think it can. I weren't even knowin' how to glam 'til I got out th' -second- time, an' it came real naturally. I bet this'll work easy for you if you don't think too hard on it."

Curr closed his eyes, thinking about the symbol on the floor, but thinking about the outline of it, not the inside. He could picture the outside lines really well, if not the inner lines...

"Oh, and Sylvie?"

Posted by: Elaine Romain Sep 24 2007, 05:28 PM
Sylvie had shut her eyes, her head bobbing along as she kept humming. "I'm glad you think so," she teased.

Then she paused. "What, Curr?"

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 24 2007, 05:37 PM
He shot her a bright smile.

"You should -really- stop teasin' people."

After which statement he leaned forwards and kissed her, without the shy uncertainty he'd kissed Elaine but instead of surprising confidence.

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 24 2007, 06:49 PM
Sylvie blinked, starting as the boy kissed her, and then resorted to kissing him back, rather enthusiastically, for a good long beat.

Then she sat back, licking her lips as she regarded Curr amusedly. "Hmm," she remarked. "Did you practice that?"

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 24 2007, 06:54 PM
Curr, to his own surprise, -didn't- pull away when she pressed in, but had a fairly pleasant expression on his face once she pulled away.

"Not a bit," he said a bit proudly. "Totally spur of the moment."

Then, pleasant expression still intact, he shrugged at her. "It was about time."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 24 2007, 06:59 PM
Sylvie snorted. "About time for what?" she asked. "You know you're still too young and not my type, right?"

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 24 2007, 07:00 PM
Curr raised an eyebrow at her.

"First off, it had nothin' to do with you, you just happened to be standin' here," he said rather serenely. "An' second, if you've got yourself narrowed into a -type- when you're, what, sixteen years old, you've got more problems than I care to admit." He sounded altogether far too smug.

"So. Back to singin'?"

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 24 2007, 07:09 PM
Sylvie rolled her eyes. "I know what I like," she informed the boy. "And you're still too young."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "It doesn't mean I don't like you."

Then she nodded, all business. "Back to singing," she agreed. "Do I have to actually sing words or anything, or is humming all right?"

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 24 2007, 07:11 PM
"I wouldn't've kissed you if I thought you -weren't- likin' me at all," he pointed out. "I'm not -that- creepy."

But, right. Back to business, he considered it.

"There aren't any words, it's all just singin' voice. It's not really a song. I just made it up to confuse th' lines so they'd be moved. Because there're hints of th' song they used before in it, that catch th' lines, an'..." He sighed. "it's complicated. But you don't need words."

He frowned, then.

"Th' hardest part is goin' to be pushin'. Because if it's just you an' me, or you me an' Orun, pushin's still goin' to be really, really hard."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 24 2007, 07:18 PM
"How come everybody else can't help?" Sylvie asked. "I mean, I know they don't all have magic, but can't they sing, too? Spider's part Tuatha, so's Hartley. They must be able to do something."

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 24 2007, 07:22 PM
Curr bit his lower lip, gnawing on it thoughtfully.

"Maybe," he said doubtfully. "But... I don't think either one of 'em's really got -magic-, you know?" Then he quirked a smle. "Plus, I'm not sure I want to hear Spider try'n sing."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 24 2007, 07:27 PM
Sylvie cackled, then flicked at Curr's shoulder. "She can't be worse than me. She can do that invisible thing; she must be able to do something."

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 24 2007, 07:30 PM
"Good point." Curr winced slightly, trying to imagine a whole chorus of people who couldn't sing. His inner sense of tone and pitch was protesting rather loudly such an injustice.

"But we just have to be movin' one outside line, I think," he said, frowning. "To break apart th' circle they made. If th' lines don't connect, they can't close th' city." His expression darkened. "And if JOchy kills all th' cultists like he says he will, they won't be movin' it again."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 24 2007, 07:37 PM
Sylvie frowned. "Why are we letting Jochy go do the killing part on his own?" she asked. "I mean. Why don't we...we should help him, and then do the lines together, if you and he really think they need to be stopped."

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 24 2007, 07:39 PM
Curr's expression darkened further, but more with guilt this time than anger.

"I'm not helpin' him -kill- people," he said quietly, emphasizing the word as much as he could.

"I don't care if they're th' bad guys. I'm not goin' to help him -slaughter- anyone."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 24 2007, 07:40 PM
"Well, maybe we don't have to," Sylvie answered, frowning. "Maybe there's another way to stop them, like...can you stop up someone's magic supply?"

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 24 2007, 07:42 PM
"If you can, I'm not knowin' how," Curr said, but that had gotten him thinking. Maybe they could find a way that wasn't...

"... I wonder if Orun's wild thing could help us with that."

((Actually, scratch that, I'm out of here. Later, kids! I think something cool may happen))

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 24 2007, 08:08 PM
"His what?" Sylvie asked, frowning at the boy. "You think he has something that could take away their magic?"

Posted by: Curr Sep 24 2007, 10:58 PM
"I don't know," Curr said, but some idea had lit behind his eyes. "Let's be askin' him, ja? Otherwise, we'll sing an' let Jochy do th' murderin', but maybe..."

He bit his lip again.

"Maybe nobody else is havin' to die."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 24 2007, 11:13 PM
Sylvie nudged Curr's elbow. "I'd feel better that way, too," she assured the boy. "It's just...I don't want to leave Spider's family alone with those people. If we can't stop them...we'll have to do it Jochy's way."

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 25 2007, 09:14 PM
"No, -Jochy'll- do it Jochy's way," curr said, stubborn dislike creeping back into his voice. "-He- can do th' murderin'. I'll do th' part what -don't- kill people. He'll sleep better at night than I would."

His tone seemed to suggest that Jochy could spend his days raping small children and never feel an ounce of regret.

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 25 2007, 09:23 PM
Sylvie gave Curr a dubious look. "I don't know," she answered. "I don't think he does it because he doesn't care. I think he does it to keep the rest of us from having to, sort of."

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 25 2007, 09:25 PM
"he weren't even really -considerin'- that he might not have to," Curr said with a casual shrug.

"... but, it's not bein' th' most important part, honestly. What he does." Another dismissive shrug. "He can do what he wills."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 25 2007, 09:30 PM
"Right," Sylvie answered, not trying to push the issue. "So, we need to get Orun, and see who else can help, and then what?" she asked the boy. "Do we have to go anywhere in particular? Are we all ready?"

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 25 2007, 09:32 PM
"I think bein' on land would help," Curr said vaguely. "But beyond that. I know what th' outside shape looks like... that's what we need, I think." He frowned thoughtfully.

"Your da'll want to be there, since he won't want to be leavin' us alone," Curr pointed out. "Which means probably him an' Spider... there'll be more of us than the -cultists."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 25 2007, 09:41 PM
"And Orun, and Hartley, and we can find out if the doctor sings too," Sylvie offered helpfully. "We'll decimate them," she said eagerly. "They won't know what hit them."

Then she looked thoughtful. "Mind if I try something?"

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 25 2007, 09:43 PM
Curr cocked his head, birdlike, curious.

"What?"

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 25 2007, 09:46 PM
"If I tell you, it won't work," Sylvie answered, climbing to her feet. "It's just a magic thing. It won't hurt or anything," she lied.

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 25 2007, 09:47 PM
Curr took a step back and away from her immediately, eyes narrowing.

"You wouldn't ask permission if it weren't gonna hurt," he said suspiciously.

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 25 2007, 09:48 PM
Sylvie groaned. "It's only going to hurt a little, all right? I'm not going to stab you or anything."

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 25 2007, 09:50 PM
He hesitated. Curr wasn't very good at saying no.

"... this isn't one of those -tallfolk- things Jochy taught you, is it?"

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 25 2007, 09:52 PM
"I'm not going to grab your balls or anything like that, okay?!" Sylvie objected. "I swear. I only do things like that to Jochy, because he's teaching me and he can't complain."

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 25 2007, 09:56 PM
"He probably likes it, since you look like El," Curr muttered uneasily. But it was hard to keep refusing when she was pressuring him like this, and the way she talked was sort of making Curr wonder if maybe she thought he was acting like a little kid, saying no.

He -wasn't- a little kid. He was tired of being treated like one and having everyone talk down to him and act like he was four or something just because he was younger than them. It was starting to make him angry, when it happened, really angry. All the talk about his height, which wasn't even something he could -help-, and how Andre really -liked- him like a -son-, but he -wasn't- Andre's son... and Si wasn't going to -like- him if he kept telling her no about stuff...

"If it hurts a -whole- lot, I'll..." curr trailed off. he'd been about to say he'd go tell Andre. But that sounded entirely too much like a little kid's way of talking.

"I won't do anythin' about it," he said instead, his voice gruffer and self-conciously lowered.

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 25 2007, 09:58 PM
"It won't," Sylvie assured him, rolling her eyes, before she mentally threw a punch-- although not a hard one-- at Curr's arm.

"You feel that?"

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 25 2007, 10:01 PM
Curr flinched slightly, and stared down at his arm, then up at her.

"... you -hit- me?"

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 25 2007, 10:05 PM
Sylvie grinned, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet. "Yes!" she exclaimed. "Yes, you got it! You could really feel that?!"

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 25 2007, 10:07 PM
"Ja," Curr said, looking a little confused by her excitement. "You hit me on th' arm. I felt it. Could you not be doin' that before? Is that a new thing?" He wasn't sure exactly how he was meant to respond, but was sort of smiling along with her anyway automatically. He rubbed at his arm slightly, then shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged his shoulders.

"There you go, you're learnin' fast, then," he said, more to fill the silence than for any good reason to speak.

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 25 2007, 10:13 PM
Sylvie grinned. "I've never done it before," she answered, beaming excitedly. "Sorry," she said, eyeing his arm. "I really tried not to make it hurt. But, see, that means, maybe I can use that to help with the lines? If you show me where they are, I can think about moving them, right?"

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 25 2007, 10:18 PM
"Well, it's not..." He paused, trying to think of how he wanted to say it. "We're not goin' to do whta they did, walk around an' move things. That won't work right with th' way I need to do it. I'm goin to draw 'em on the ground, in chalk, an' then you an' I'll -push- at a line. If you got enough in you, an' Orun does, an' all... to push more'n one, we can start movin' all of 'em back to a place where they're feelin' more natural."

He smiled, slightly.

"S'why we need more people. They're -hard- to move. With th' three of us pushin' before, it nearly broke my eyes to move 'em. I think. So people keep sayin'. I noticed we aren't actually havin' any mirrors in this ship. Plenty of iron, no mirrors."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 25 2007, 10:21 PM
Sylvie snorted. "They'd probably make Andre self-conscious if we did," she answered cheerfully. "You look better today, but you'd better be careful this time, right? If you-- you know-- if it starts to hurt, you'll tell one of us about it, right?"

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 25 2007, 10:24 PM
Curr shrugged. "I'll be fine, it'll be easier now that I'm knowin' what to do, mostly," he said dismissively. "It was only so hard because I were pushin' somethin' I weren't understandin'. It'll be fine."

He thought about asking her if she honestly thought he would stop if it would work. It wasn't like he was going to cause himself serious injury. He could -see- fine. It was just that his eyes were apparently all red.

"It's gonna hurt anyway. Havin' you all is gonna spread it all out between us so it don't hurt so much for any one person."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 25 2007, 10:28 PM
Sylvie nodded agreeably. "Well, we'll try to take the burden off you as much as possible," she assured him. "Promise. You got any idea when or where we're doing this?"

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 25 2007, 10:35 PM
"I don't care when," He said softly. "I just wanna leave. I don't like bein' trapped in anyplace. I always wanna start movin'..." He glanced around, somewhat uneasily, but then smiled, a little faintly.

"But I want us t' be on city land. In a street, maybe. Or in a sideyard. We can do it as soon as we've got people together."

He laughed, slightly.

"At least we're knowin' everyone's on one boat. Since I killed th' inn."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 25 2007, 10:41 PM
Sylvie laughed out loud. "At least that was good for something, huh?" she asked. "But I don't think it was you, Curr," she said thoughtfully. "Jochy and I heard something that sounded like a gunshot. I think the cultists killed someone just when you were doing that. You didn't break anything, you just kept the whole city from crashing into the ground."

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 25 2007, 10:44 PM
Curr shook his head stubbornly. "It was me. Or... Scarlet, really," he admitted. "Every time I pushed, th' inn fell in more. An' when I finally got th' line to -move-, th' inn fell in. I think they were tryin' to call her down last minute before we could stop 'em. But she were -already- in me."

Posted by: Sylvie Romain Sep 25 2007, 10:55 PM
"Oh," Sylvie answered, frowning at the boy. "Well, we all got out safe," she answered, looking a bit awkward over the subject. She sighed. "We should go talk to Papa. And everyone else. Gather people together, get a plan, huh?"

Posted by: Lukas Klein Sep 25 2007, 10:56 PM
"That sounds good," Curr said softly, smiling. "Get this over with."