Happy Pig Day, everyone. ‘Everyone.’ Like anyone reads this. 😀 Anyway, today is Pig Day and also the first day of March, which means fanfic month. I know, I know. I failed twice already, but writing stuff on the go is much easier than finding some kind of craft to do on the go, so that’s good. And I kind of have experience writing 50,000 words in a month? Anyway, here’s my first fanfic thing starring my characters with a kind of (?) cameo (?) from one of Miss Moonstone’s characters. … Vaughn is mentioned so it is not canon. Word count of fanfic is 1,669 words, so there.
Sokola moved through the market, slowly, not wanting to miss anything being sold, her baby clutched to her breast. It was but a few days before her birthday… and, by extension, her father’s, and she had yet to get anything for him. Silniev hadn’t bought anything for either one of them, but she didn’t know that that was why he had come along with her.
It wasn’t their fault, of course. Vonvarya was an infant of only two months of age… no, less than that, and time had seemed to slip by as they had remained focused on the baby, and all of the other little things that required attention on a daily basis. January turned to February, and February threatened to turn into March too soon, if they did not do anything about it.
“Too late to make anything,” Sokola repeated for about the thousandth time, rocking Vonny gently. The baby had, thank the gods, fallen asleep in her mother’s arms, so that was one less thing to worry about at the present moment.
“You could make something small,” Silniev said in reply. “Fol’ed paper, a poem…”
“I don’t want to give him something small. It’s gotta be big and wonderful. He’s the only dad I’ve got,” Sokola said. “Besides, you know I can’t write poems.
“You wrote one when you were eleven.”
“I was stupid when I was eleven. You know that.”
They had had that exact conversations a number of times that day, and a few times the night before as well.
The market was a pirates’ market, and therefore filled with every exotic thing one could ever ask for. Cages of wicker or wrought iron held mangy ratters and colorful dragons, neither of which would be a good gift for Vaughn. Another stall sold rare books and scrolls, but most were written in the High Demon tongue, which Vaughn would not understand. Those that remained were deemed ‘too boring’ or ‘too flowery’ by Sokola and Silniev, and promptly discarded. Yet other stalls—and many of them—sold gold and jewelry. These would not be a gift that Vaughn would want, although Silniev saw many of these trinkets about his wife’s arm or breast in his mind’s eye. Here is a transcript of another conversation they had had at least ten times:
“You look tired. You wanna head back?”
“I’m fine to walk.”
“You just had a baby.”
“Two months ago. I’m fine.”
“Aye, but Vonny looks a mite tired.” Or fussy, or hungry, or gassy. “You ought to go back.”
“I need to get a birthday present for Vaughn, and I ain’t leaving ‘til I got one for him.”
“I can pick one out for you… we can get something big from the both of us, if you want.”
“I don’t want. I wanna pick it out myself.”
And then, sometimes, Silniev would add, “You could always make something back home,” which would promptly set Sokola into the beginning of the first conversation above.
And so was the trouble. They were husband and wife, but they were working at odds with each other. Silniev could not buy anything for Sokola without her seeing it, and it was imperative that she not see. Birthday gifts were meant to be surprises. He couldn’t leave Sokola alone in a pirate market with a baby either, as much as he knew she could take care of her self in any other situation. The baby took two arms to hold, and was fragile. Silniev would hate himself if he left Sokola alone, and she were harmed in the process of making sure that their daughter wasn’t. So he tried to convince her to go back home.
Sokola, on the other hand, was determined not to go back home, as she refuted all of her husband’s attempts to send her away. Even when her daughter fell asleep in her arms, something that would usually send Sokola running for the cradle to relieve herself of the sleepy burden, she refused to go back to the ship.
“Why do you want me to go home?” Sokola asked, finally. “You planning to meet with some girl I don’t know about or something?”
“I ain’t had time buy anything for you either,” Silniev said irritably. “And I wanted to make it a surprise.”
“You could always make something back home,” Sokola replied, devilish grin on her face.
Silniev didn’t reply, as he had made something… a song… but he had been hoping to get something physical for her to have as well. He didn’t want the father to think that he was mistreating the daughter… that seemed to be the normal state of things, in his mind. The suspicion, not the actuality of mistreatment, at least not in Silniev’s mind.
“You know, we still gotta get something for Abbi, too,” Silniev said, remembering that there were actually three birthdays to remember for March. He near expected Mrs. Richmond to pop on the first, as well, being as that seemed to be when everyone was born.
“Shit.”
“Don’t curse in front of the baby,” Silniev said, chuckling.
“You say much worse,” Sokola said. She stuck out her tongue. In another place, Silniev would’ve kissed her outright… he had the overwhelming urge to do so… but they were in a crowded marketplace, she held the baby, and there were people watching. The baby was not a big deterrent, it only made it a bit awkward for Silniev to pull his wife to him when he feared to crush the baby between them. He did not like appearing so sentimental to anyone who was not his wife, however, so he simply led her to another stall.
“We’ll find something good for Vaughn, then jus’ pick up something pretty for Abbi, aye?”
“Aye.”
“What’s he like?” Silniev asked.
Sokola thought for a bit. “No shirts, pigs, and tying knots.”
“We could get him rope or something to tie knots.”
Sokola made a face.
“Oh, right. Bad idea.”
They settled on buying a large, black coat, which would be big enough to cover Vaughn’s wings if he needed to go to the human world. For Abbi, they picked up the first ‘pretty’ thing they found that she would like. Then they went back home. Silniev was disappointed that he hadn’t a chance to pick something up for Sokola herself, but he was glad that she looked so happy with her gift choices.
When her birthday came, he pulled out his guitar and sang to her:
They say that life is full of storms
Is full of rainy days,
And full of trouble, fear and rage and strife,
They say that life is difficult,
Devoid of joy and praise
Well, if that’s true, then I’m not living life.
She came upon my ship one day,
To set out on the sea
The look of dragon’s fire in her eyes
One glare fixed out to kill the world,
One death-glare set on me
Who would’ve known that she would be my prize?
Her eyes were green like earth and grass
Green like the land below,
Gods know the land, it holds no love for me
But when I sat among the trees
That’s when I’d come to know
Her eyes were green like the sea
When I am stuck upon the solid ground
And there seems to be no ‘scape for me
I know that there’s hope, for when I look around
I find her eyes green as the sea
‘Cause when I hold her,
And when she holds me,
I know I hold something as wild as the sea
And though I know there’s no ship ‘neath me
I spend my nights rocking ‘pon the sea.
We sailed ‘cross oceans near and far,
We sailed across the skies
‘Til every mortal feared both her and me.
But nothin’ sets my heart ablaze
Like lookin’ in her eyes,
Those eyes as green as the sea
When I am stuck upon the solid ground
And there seems to be no ‘scape for me
I know that there’s hope, for when I look around
I find her eyes green as the sea
‘Cause when I hold her,
And when she holds me,
I know I hold something as wild as the sea
And though I know there’s no ship ‘neath me
I spend my nights rocking ‘pon the sea.
I know that I shall die someday
I ain’t so fool to think
That death won’t be a’comin’ home to me
But if my death boat don’t have her
I think my boat should sink
Without eyes as green as the sea
When I am stuck upon the solid ground
And there seems to be no ‘scape for me
I know that there’s hope, for when I look around
I find her eyes green as the sea
‘Cause when I hold her,
And when she holds me,
I know I hold something as wild as the sea
And though I know there’s no ship ‘neath me
I spend my nights rocking ‘pon the sea.
It wasn’t the best song, and he knew it, but he had wrote it with love, every line and word, so that was what mattered. She smiled as he played, not just with her mouth, but with her eyes, and she held their baby close to her breast as he sang. After he finished, he held his two favorite girls in his arms, kissing them and telling them just how much he loved them. He knew that Vonny didn’t understand the words, although he hoped she understood on some level, but Sokola sure did understand.
In the end, he hadn’t been able to buy something for his wife… he hadn’t gotten the nerve to buy something in front of her, and there had been no time for it afterwards, but he didn’t mind that he had nothing to give her. He had already given her his heart, so he supposed that it would need to be enough for the time being.
Ticket to 1,000 Worlds 