Chapter 25 - Beautiful
Submitted November 24, 2005 Updated June 26, 2007 Status Complete | Shonen-ai/Slash! For DD_DM. A black-winged angel finds himself caught up in the fate of a young boy that defies existence itself, a boy with paradoxed wings, a boy named 'Iris'...
Category:
Fantasy |
Chapter 25 - Beautiful
Chapter 25 - Beautiful
Iris
+--
Flickering lights, like the fluttering heartbeat of a songsparrow, clutched tightly but delicately between warm fingers, ruffle of downy feathers as they were stirred by the soft, sighing wind that swept and turned the buildings to stone, remaining immobile and still. The lights flickered.
Gray and black, steel and glass. Humans and others alike hurrying down the shadowed streets, the maze of towers competing to reach the sky. Dark, thick smog turning to the same dark gray of clouds, shredded bits floating on the intangible wind. Steel and glass striving to catch his eyes, begging to be seen.
Everything served a purpose. Everything.
Iris closed his eyes as a soft gust of wind blew over him, clouds in slow motion skudding past, newspapers and bits of plastic tumbling down the streets beneath.
The edge of the stone was beneath his bare feet, sharp and real, heavy and gray. His toes curled over the edge, the corner outside of a cliff that tumbled down to world below drawn away, one lined like a grid, buildings following the streets and curbs and cold black pavement.
The boy swayed slightly back and forth, but he blinked his eyes back open, smell of smog and asphalt and oil fading, dulled. Iris stared down at the city-scape, slowly absorbing the shattered-mirror windows of the buildings, orderly like the street's grid, the darkness fought back weakly and in tentative pushes from the streetlamps and other lights inside of the buildings, gray and patched white, black and brick and colorless.
Glass bits glittered brightly from beneath a streetlamp, waiting to be crushed to dust. Everything moved so slowly now, heavy weight of the inky night settling over their shoulders, making them sluggish, tired.
Day would be a long time in breaking as dawn.
Another light sweep of the wind, nothing more than a sigh. Iris felt the tearstone around his neck bobble, tapping gently under his collarbone. He closed his eyes again, feeling the hot and cold and stiff and soft and stilled blood flowing through him. Subdued, but it wouldn't work. Not forever. Not ever.
"Iris."
The voice was familiar now, soft and low. Like another sigh of the wind.
The boy looked over his shoulder, saw the figure standing behind him on the roof, dark hair ruffled lightly, knapsack slung over his shoulder. The rich violet eyes held him, patient and understanding. ...Could he understand? Ever? ...Please?
The angel stepped closer slowly, boots crunching on the cement. Glitter again of glass.
"...What do you see?"
The city lay sprawled out before them, magnificent and uprising, defiant and triumphant. Defeated and battered, wasteland and darkness, confusion and coldness. Beautiful and ugly.
Iris didn't speak, but he stepped back just slightly from the edge, reaching out slowly and touching the other's fingertips.
Valkyre responded with just a faint twitch of his hand, smiling lightly, as if only to himself. Delicate, so fragile. Beautiful.
"...Ready to go?"
Iris smiled softly in reply, lowering his eyes and nodding slightly. Move on. Forget. Don't forget.
Live. Ready to die, waiting to die. Live. Please.
The boy was startled as the angel suddenly stepped behind him and swept his light frame up into against his body, arms against the back of his neck and behind his knees, holding him gently and warmly above the ground, swinging.
Valkyre grinned down at the boy, eyes bright in the darkness, alive. More beautiful than the gray-black night.
"It'll be faster this way."
The angel's seal was already out of sight, and he spread his black wings that edged and blended into the dark. Ebony silk and velvet, eternal.
"...Okay?"
Iris didn't reply, only let his head rest against the other's shoulder, closing his eyes. He felt the tensing in the body around him, then the whirl and rush as they rose up into the air, weightless, travelling with the clouds, black on black on black.
Beautiful. Eternal.
+--
AN: Chapter of rather a lot of nothingness...
But good news! I've been plotting a lot of things out, and I have the next coupla chappies all thought-out and begun! Lotsa stuff are going to be happening, as I've decided to step up the pace a bit. :)
So new charries and plotline and super-crunchy-action! ^_______^-
So be patient and keep commenting please! If a chapter is taking a while, and you have not commented, then comment! -And then the chapter will probably come out faster! :3
So a rather uneventful chapter, but hope you like it nonetheless. I'm trying to get out a tone for Iris. :)
Thank you, and see you next!
+--
Flickering lights, like the fluttering heartbeat of a songsparrow, clutched tightly but delicately between warm fingers, ruffle of downy feathers as they were stirred by the soft, sighing wind that swept and turned the buildings to stone, remaining immobile and still. The lights flickered.
Gray and black, steel and glass. Humans and others alike hurrying down the shadowed streets, the maze of towers competing to reach the sky. Dark, thick smog turning to the same dark gray of clouds, shredded bits floating on the intangible wind. Steel and glass striving to catch his eyes, begging to be seen.
Everything served a purpose. Everything.
Iris closed his eyes as a soft gust of wind blew over him, clouds in slow motion skudding past, newspapers and bits of plastic tumbling down the streets beneath.
The edge of the stone was beneath his bare feet, sharp and real, heavy and gray. His toes curled over the edge, the corner outside of a cliff that tumbled down to world below drawn away, one lined like a grid, buildings following the streets and curbs and cold black pavement.
The boy swayed slightly back and forth, but he blinked his eyes back open, smell of smog and asphalt and oil fading, dulled. Iris stared down at the city-scape, slowly absorbing the shattered-mirror windows of the buildings, orderly like the street's grid, the darkness fought back weakly and in tentative pushes from the streetlamps and other lights inside of the buildings, gray and patched white, black and brick and colorless.
Glass bits glittered brightly from beneath a streetlamp, waiting to be crushed to dust. Everything moved so slowly now, heavy weight of the inky night settling over their shoulders, making them sluggish, tired.
Day would be a long time in breaking as dawn.
Another light sweep of the wind, nothing more than a sigh. Iris felt the tearstone around his neck bobble, tapping gently under his collarbone. He closed his eyes again, feeling the hot and cold and stiff and soft and stilled blood flowing through him. Subdued, but it wouldn't work. Not forever. Not ever.
"Iris."
The voice was familiar now, soft and low. Like another sigh of the wind.
The boy looked over his shoulder, saw the figure standing behind him on the roof, dark hair ruffled lightly, knapsack slung over his shoulder. The rich violet eyes held him, patient and understanding. ...Could he understand? Ever? ...Please?
The angel stepped closer slowly, boots crunching on the cement. Glitter again of glass.
"...What do you see?"
The city lay sprawled out before them, magnificent and uprising, defiant and triumphant. Defeated and battered, wasteland and darkness, confusion and coldness. Beautiful and ugly.
Iris didn't speak, but he stepped back just slightly from the edge, reaching out slowly and touching the other's fingertips.
Valkyre responded with just a faint twitch of his hand, smiling lightly, as if only to himself. Delicate, so fragile. Beautiful.
"...Ready to go?"
Iris smiled softly in reply, lowering his eyes and nodding slightly. Move on. Forget. Don't forget.
Live. Ready to die, waiting to die. Live. Please.
The boy was startled as the angel suddenly stepped behind him and swept his light frame up into against his body, arms against the back of his neck and behind his knees, holding him gently and warmly above the ground, swinging.
Valkyre grinned down at the boy, eyes bright in the darkness, alive. More beautiful than the gray-black night.
"It'll be faster this way."
The angel's seal was already out of sight, and he spread his black wings that edged and blended into the dark. Ebony silk and velvet, eternal.
"...Okay?"
Iris didn't reply, only let his head rest against the other's shoulder, closing his eyes. He felt the tensing in the body around him, then the whirl and rush as they rose up into the air, weightless, travelling with the clouds, black on black on black.
Beautiful. Eternal.
+--
AN: Chapter of rather a lot of nothingness...
But good news! I've been plotting a lot of things out, and I have the next coupla chappies all thought-out and begun! Lotsa stuff are going to be happening, as I've decided to step up the pace a bit. :)
So new charries and plotline and super-crunchy-action! ^_______^-
So be patient and keep commenting please! If a chapter is taking a while, and you have not commented, then comment! -And then the chapter will probably come out faster! :3
So a rather uneventful chapter, but hope you like it nonetheless. I'm trying to get out a tone for Iris. :)
Thank you, and see you next!
Comments
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Dark_Alchemist on January 31, 2007, 7:00:06 AM
Astri on August 5, 2006, 7:28:28 PM
Astri on
Actually, I do like this chapter. It comes at a good time; I was just starting to wonder how Iris is feeling about all this. And in reality, this chapter only whets my appetite as to that question. Curse you and your infernally capable way of pulling your readers along! (I kid, I kid ~.^) Now I must read still more, so as to see which secrets are next revealedâ¦crazy_jamaican_gurl on July 13, 2006, 12:59:28 PM
ahhh my head hurts. for some reason i couldn't really concentrate on this chappie. srry XD but i will try harder on the next ones!!SenayDragon on March 13, 2006, 11:58:58 AM
SenayDragon on
Poor Iris has so many conflicting emotions... ;-; Then again, Valkyre has a lot, too... >>
Hmm ... I hope I'm making sense.