trans_9 | Island of Sanity

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Island of Sanity

Dragonroost Isle rose out of the sea as a living volcano, sleeping, but with a fire in it's belly that warmed the rock-hewn nesting caverns of the Rito no matter the weather. A true island paradise for an airborne people, all spires, stone and strong prevailing winds, hot thermals rising off the deep-heated rock that made flying a pleasure. Palm trees and coconuts, crabs and sand-flowers that bore enormous blue-black fruits...a beautiful and serene life.

And, in this simulation, empty. Not a living thing except plants, seagulls and little skitter red crabs in the sand. Somewhere far off a bird calls, a mournful, mooing caw. Another answers, then falls silent, leaving nothing but the wind and the faint sound of a small child crying.

Komali sat on the bed that was a sensorium recreation of his own, in a room that was the same, curled arms around his knees and cried.

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Fate had been passing by, minding her own business, when a faint sound reached her ears. The sound of a child crying. She was not someone who could ignore a child in need, so she entered the Sensoriums, making her way through the volcano until she found the room Komali was in.

Frowning a little, she crouched down near him, speaking in a soft voice. "Hey there... are you okay?"

Komali sniffled and peered up with red eyes at Fate through his bangs. For a little while he was quiet, as if considering her trustworthiness.

"Hi," He murmured, and wiped his nose on his sleeve, "I had a bad dream."

Ah. The Nightmare King's influence again. If the poor child's nightmares had been anything like hers(--her daughter in the clutches of her somehow-alive psychotic mother, hell-bent on revenge--), she definitely felt bad for him.

"Well, I won't ask you to talk about it if you don't want to..." She offered him a smile. "But just remember, bad dreams are just that; dreams. No matter how scary they can be, they're not real, and they can't hurt you."

Oh, Fate. If only you knew.

Fate's smile is so kind and infectious that Komali can't help but return it, "Yeah, I guess. I'm Komali."

Poor girl's going to be regretting she ever said that soon.

"It's nice to meet you, Komali," Fate said, holding out a hand. "I'm Fate."

Komali hesitated again, then reached out his hand to touch Fate's. It was soft, covered in a very fine layer of brown feathers. His smile widened a little at the touch.

"Do you have nightmares too?"

"Komali?"

Samus had somehow found her way to his room. She wasn't entirely sure how, but she got lucky and found him early on in her search. Her nightmare had worried her more than she cared to admit, and she wanted to see him. She wanted to make sure he was okay.

"I've been looking for you," her voice was a mixture of things. Relief that she had found him, genuine concern about his well-being, and a hint of an almost apologetic tone. She was shaken by the events that had occurred in her nightmare, so she couldn't imagine how Komali felt.

Komali sniffled, and peered up at her through his bangs. Seeing who it was, he lifted his head and wiped his face on the sleeves of his christmas tunic.

"I had a bad dream," He explained, and sniffed again with eyes that were puffy and bloodshot, "I don't like it."

Samus sat down on the edge of his bed, offering a sympathetic look, "No, nightmares aren't fun. I had one, too."

After a moment of thought, he uncurled a littler further and scooted over until he was beside her, "You get nightmares?"

She nodded, "I do."

And more often than she cared to admit, but the more recent ones had been particularly striking.

"I'm scared of dragons," He told her solemnly, and suddenly there was a little birdchild leaning against her side. It was lonely here, with the wind and the sea-birds. There were no simulations of Rito to give even the robotic impression of habitation, and Komali found he just wanted to be held.

"At home, a dragon lives on top of the mountain. I'm supposed to climb up an' face him, but..." A soft sniff, the last of them as he trailed off, looking at his feet. It was so very quiet.

Her arm slipped around him, holding him, before she really thought about it. It was a kind of instinctive action. She wasn't sure what compelled her to do it (and it was an awkward motion for the hunter), but what's done was done. She settled in soon enough.

"Sometimes we have to face our fears. It's very difficult, though."

He pressed just a little more against Samus' side. How long had it been since someone had actually wanted to hold him? The nightmare still chilled the roots of his feathers and he shivered, but it was fading. Samus felt... Safe.

"I thought you weren't scared of anything."

She offered a small smile, "I try not to be. That's part of my job, to take care of the scary stuff so others don't have to deal with it. But sometimes even I'm afraid."

Like in her nightmares.

"Wow..." the return smile was hesitant, but eventually widened into a bright grin, "You're really brave!"

He hopped up— literally hopped, because the bed was taller than his legs were long, and put both hands on Samus' knees, looking up at her happily, "Hey, do you want to see the island? This is my island, where all the Rito live!"

"Sure," she gave a slightly bigger smile as she stood up, "Lead the way, Komali."

Seizing Samus' hand, he led her around the interior structure, with it's spiral ramp and mail-sorting room, explaining the message- and package-delivery-based economy of it. He showed her the gliding stones and told about crazy Orvil who'd decided he wanted to be a Rito and dressed himelf in a false beak and sleeves painted like Rito feathers— and who'd nearly drowned trying to learn to fly.

He showed her the bomb-flowers, and told the story of the time the pirates had shown up and scowled at them, but hadn't dared lay a hand on a single feather because of they knew Lord Valoo would roast them if they did.

"...After that we didn't see any boats for a long time," He finished. They were standing on the sand, looking out at the ocean and the simulated horizon, "Quill told me that the islands had all got together and promised to protect us, because we're the only ones who can carry the mail."

Samus listened diligently, taking note of the different aspects of Rito society. They were quite different from the Chozo. In her own universe, the Chozo took the duty of being the protectors; the Rito, obviously, did not. Regardless, she felt a sort of kinship with them and their small island.

"It's very peaceful," she stated simply when he was done, "It must be nice to live here."

"Yeah, sometimes..." He trailed off, kicking idly at the sand "After Grandma died, it wasn't so good. Lord Valoo became angry. You can hear him roaring no matter what, even in the middle of the night."

Little Komali never knew the role his people had as guardians as well as messengers. They were not the the warrior Chozo, but descended from the reticent Zora, who lived apart and guarded deep secrets and places of power.

"Was your grandmother a very important person on the island?" she asked.

He nodded solemnly, "Uh-huh. It was he duty to speak with Lord Valoo and interpret his will."

"I see. Understandable that he would be upset after that," she pursed her lips and thought for a moment. "And you were supposed to see him after that?"

"Uh-uh, you hafta be a girl to talk to Lord Valoo," he informed her with an enthusiastic shake of his head, "But if I don't go and get a scale from him I'll be stuck on the ground your whole life. Like a baby."

She nodded, "Sometimes we must face or fears to accomplish greater feats."

"...I can only assume this is a place of familiarity to you."

Truth be told, Gray Voice had discovered where Komali had been several minutes prior to actually making his presence known. He had briefly contemplated leaving the hatchling to his simulation for the moment, but had decided against it. As to how he'd found him; it was doubtful he'd reveal the truth, but it was that he'd already been looking for him for quite a bit.

"Are you homesick?"

"Uh-huh," he sniffed, rubbing at his nares unhappily "All of us live here together."

Still shaking from his nightmare, Komali had wanted to be somewhere safe and familiar. Somewhere that....smelled right, and sounded right. But this wasn't it, not empty like this, "I had a bad dream."

"I see..." Gray Voice slowly looked around the room. "You said that all of you lived in your home because of the 'mail', wasn't it?" He asked.

It was a small room, square and fairly spartan. Boxes were piled in one corner, but the bed was fairly nice. The walls, floor and ceiling were all of the same brown-black volcanic stone as the mountain itself.

"Yeah. The ocean goes on forever, with sharks and monsters in the water. It's not safe to sail out there unless you're a warrior," He explained softly, watching Gray Voice suspiciously; the territorial gaze of a child in his own room, even if it was illusory, "But Rito can fly in the sky, so we can go anywhere safely. It's faster than boats."

"I see. So the Rito keep your world connected." Gray Voice said. He slowly turned and looked Komali up and down. "It would seem you haven't grown into your own wings yet, however."

Self-consciously, Komali wrapped his arms around each other, clenching his fists in the fabric around his elbows. Gray Voice might not have known the exact structure of a Rito's wings, but Komali was very aware that he still wore sleeves, like a child. He pretended not to care, but it ate at him.

"I know," he grumped, sullenly, "You have to get a scale from Lord Valoo the dragon in order to fly."

"Hey! Stop crying." Lash behind him and crossed her arms. She didn't care for the tiny baby bird she had met during her first days out of the pod (at least not much), but his crying was certainly annoying. She was going to continue when one of the projected seagulls flew near her face and she had to shoo it away.

"MY HAIR IS NOT A NEST!"

"NO YOU STOP CRYING!" Komali shouted back, not realizing until too late that that made no sense, and that Lash would probably kick sand on him for it. He sniffed deeply, "I had a nightmare and I'm allowed to cry if I want to, and I don't have to listen to you, you're NOT MY MOMMY!"

"I'M NOT CRYING!" she yelled, still driving the seagulls away. It was a loosing battle, and when she finally turned to look at him, one of them was setting itself quite comfortably in her hair. "Ow! Don't try to pull it out, you stupid bird." The girl did tense up when Komali mentioned the dreams, as hers hadn't been all that fun either. Lash finally just plopped down next to him, crossing her arms. There was no way he was getting the last word.

"I might not be your mom, but at least I know it's stupid to cry."

"It's not, it's not!" Komali cried, standing up. Looking around, he found a sand-pear nearby and snatched it up. With an almighty heave, he chucked the fruit at Lash's poofy head. It ricocheted high, and the seagulls all dove after it in a mass.

"You're stupid! I'm not stupid, you're stupid!"

"Nuh-uh! I'm sooo not stupid! They didn't call me the wunderkind genius for nothing you know! I'm not afraid of anything!" Oh good, more seagulls for her to swat, why didn't she just have a raygun and they'd be all be dead.

"Hey hey! Shooo!"

Edited 2010-01-26 05:41 (UTC)

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Island of Sanity

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