Sortir's Rainbow (Peregrine x WhisperingWillow)

[Peregrine]

The first thing the Beloved knew was cold. It was not the brisk kind of cold that seems to play tag along the spine, nor was it a deep cold that worms its way into the center of bones and slowly saps the heat from everything around it. This was a true, perfectly frigid cold. It was the kind of cold that steals fire directly from the heart, and forces the soul to curl in on itself in some futile attempt at self-protection. The twelve new lives that lay uncertainly on the surface of a grey planet unconsciously drew closer together. Without thought, they began to seek some way to shelter themselves from the cold that wanted to steal their fledgeling lives before they had a chance to do more than try and draw anything from the nothingness that surrounded them into burning chests, and listen to the flurry of desperate heartbeats that rang in their ears, still struggling to beat even though they were in a place that had no capability to support their nascent existence. Soon enough these vibrant souls would crumble, and all that would be left behind were the bright gems that had been brought down to the surface of this lifeless world only moments before.

Those six who watched them from above, beings of indistinct form and color as vivid as the hair of those who lay on the surface of the grey world, did nothing to end this risk. This was not due to cruelty on their part, nor any desire to watch these new children of theirs die, but was rather due to simple ignorance of the fact that anything was wrong. They existed just fine in this place, dancing and twirling under the light of the iridescent rainbow that gleamed in the heavens above the world, and did not yet understand the differences between themselves and the beings they had just created. Instead, they watched the wriggling movements of their new children with curiosity and affection, too afraid to actually reach down and touch them, lest they end up injuring the small things.

Instead they watched with doting smiles as a large boy with reddish orange hair protectively curled himself around two smaller girls, folding them into his broad chest. The tremors that passed through his body increased slightly, while the two girls' shaking lessened somewhat. These actions were watched with fascination, and the gods quietly murmured among themselves. Was this some form of communication?

But as the desperate need of these little beloved creatures grew greater, the pleasure and contentment of the gods observing them began to change into concern. With every second that passed, the shaking of the twelve grew worse and worse. Two boys with greenish hair pressed themselves closer together. One reddish haired girl drew two other girls closer, pressing them in on both sides. The others curled in on themselves so small it seemed as though they hoped to simply disappear.

With every passing moment, the gods grew more and more concerned, and less and less certain about what they should do. They were beginning to understand that there was something wrong, but without knowing what was wrong there was no way for them to know how to go about fixing it. They knew these little things they had created were suffering, but what way was there to do that except snatch their lives in one brisk moment, rather than letting it be painfully dragged out before they finally withered away? They drew a little bit closer, wondering if their presence could somehow shelter their little beloved from whatever tormented them. But their presence seemed to bring no benefit. Yet neither could any of them bring themselves to abruptly end the lives of the things they had created.

Ahdar, the Green One, was the one who finally steeled himself to the task. He did not long to destroy the Beloved any more than any of the other gods, but he knew what had to be done. They could not allow their beautiful creations to suffer unnecessarily.

It was at that point that Ksagi, the formless yellow mist that was the only one of the gods who had not drawn closer to the planet at the sight of the Beloved's suffering, turned away in full and began to return to the rainbow. This unexpected action froze Ahdar's hand, as shock and indignation consumed him. It was one thing to not want to witness the Beloved destroyed, but to turn away from them so casually when their suffering was so great? None of the gods could understand it, and Ahdar was not the only one who moved out, as though intending to grab the deity and drag them back to witness the end. Ksagi had been a part of this just as much as the rest of them. Two of the gems had been in the Yellow One's hands, same as everyone else. The rest of the deities would not allow Ksagi to leave so callously.

It was only Mavi, the Blue One, who seemed to sense something else in Ksagi's actions. The only one of the deities to remain completely calm, at least in appearances, at the sight of the Beloved's suffering, to Mavi there seemed to be a sort of intense purpose to Ksagi's motion. And so, instead of attempting to stall the furious motions of their brothers and sisters, Mavi instead turned away as well, racing through the size and emptiness of space to chase after the Formless One.

Ksagi was moving so fast it was impossible for Mavi to catch up, at least not until the yellow deity came to a halt at the edge of the rainbow. It was only then that the rest of the deities saw Ksagi pluck more gems from the rainbow, quickly snagging gems of every shade and color, from all across the spectrum of the rainbow. Within moments, Ksagi had become so laden with gems that the deity seemed to sag under their weight. None of them were larger than the gems that had been carried down to form the beloved, which was remarkably tiny compared to the size of most of the gems in the rainbow, they were simply so numerous that a couple of them even tumbled out of Ksagi's overburdened grasp. Mavi rapidly moved forward, intercepting them before they could return to the rainbow. Ksagi shivered in relief at the actions of the Natural One, before allowing more of the gems to tumble from their grasp as the other deities raced up. They did not know what Ksagi was doing, they could only pray that the Formless One had some plan to save the lives of the Beloved.

On the surface of their new home, the Beloved's shaking had begun to weaken, their bodies losing the will to fight. The Deities returned, and forcibly calmed the fear in their hearts. Right now they had to act, and fear would only get in the way.

Silently following Ksagi's lead, the Deities formed into a circle around the Beloved, and the gems in their hands fanned out, creating a dome. Their consciousness slowly unfocused, as each deity turned their effort to channeling their essences through the innumerable gem dome.

When they began to focus on the Beloved once more, the scene before them had completely changed.

The dome of gems was completely gone. In its place was a space that seemed to practically hum with life. The forms of the beloved had been cradled in rich, green grass, which sprung from the surface of the grey planet. At the tip of each blade of grass, smaller than a teardrop, a crystalline gem hung. The blades of grass and the gossamer strands of the beloved's hair faintly stirred, as a gust of air casually played with both. The deities could feel the warmth of life that seemed to suffuse the space. Finally, they had made a place where their Beloved would be able to rest, and recover. It was not a large space, as even the smallest of the beloved would be able to cross it in ten quick strides, but it was safe, and it was alive. That was what mattered right now.

Comforted by the sense of relief that had built up inside of them, and wearied by their effort, the deities settled back to wait, and watch their beloved recover.

The first of the Beloved to properly awaken was a small girl with rich yellow hair. A stray breeze had been slowly pushing a blade of grass back and forth, and it bumped a couple of times against the tip of her nose, causing her to abruptly sneeze. Her eyes shot open in surprise at the action, and for a moment she simply lay there, taking in the brilliant light and color around her. Finally, after several moments, she stretched curiously, only to find herself held in place by another arm. Her round eyes, just as brilliantly yellow as her hair, went wide with surprise and trace indignation, and she wiggled a little more intensely, trying to escape not only the large arm, but also the body of another, orange haired girl who also seemed trapped by the boy, and was certainly also trapping her. However, the more she squirmed the tighter the arm wrapped around her,making it impossible to writhe her way out. Ready to be released and already quickly forgetting the fear of the cold she barely remembered, the yellow-haired girl didn't see the protectiveness that was contained in the boy's efforts, and only saw it as further entrapment.

Finally getting fed up with the whole situation, she kicked violently, and the boy holding her released her immediately, letting out a surprised "oof" in the process. He rolled away from the abuse, which only served to send him crashing into two green-haired boys that had been positioned behind him. One yelped in fear, quickly releasing his former source of warmth to scramble back, while the other quickly sat up and shoved back. Unbalanced and not used to moving, the orange haired boy wobbled, before landing butt-first back on the ground with a heavy thump. For a moment he sat there, stunned, before an unexpected laugh slipped from between his lips. He lay back down on the ground, spreading his arms out wide, and a wide grin spread across his face. He felt safe. He didn't know why, or how, but whatever danger had chilled his heart before, it was gone now. Instead he smiled up at the sky, and the six, swirling colors that circled overhead.

They were safe.

 

[Absyinthe_Artica]

As the warmth returned to the beloveds, a girl with light blue hair stirred gently. She sat up feeling the world around her tenderly. The deep green grass felt soft and comfortable against her bare skin as she pulled up a few blades with her fists. The girl squinted at the swirling colors above her head and finally noticed the rest of them.

Each person that lay sprawled across the new grass, made Beatrice smile. She could hardly remember how she got to this world, but she knew she and the others belonged here. As Bee lifted herself off the ground and stretched she saw two others already awake and she carefully picked her way to them. As she neared them she tilted her head slightly to the left and a sound came out of her mouth, surprising her.
"Hello." was all she managed to speak and she made a small wave of her hand to the others. A name popped into her head before she tried to speak again, not used to hearing the sound of her voice.
"My…my name..is Beatrice." She nodded in confirmation and pointed at the two others who were awake.
"Do..do you know what I should call you?" She asked carefully, somehow liking the way her mouth moved to form words and sounds.

Before they could properly answer a bright green haired boy jolted awake and yelled out. Beatrice snapped her head in his direction and laughed. That is when she noticed all the various colored gems sprouting from the flora. Her eyes widened and she felt as though, she was connected to these gems. As she beckoned the green haired male to her and the others, she turned back to them and waited to see if they would talk to her.

 

[Peregrine]

All across the small bubble of living space, the Beloved were stirring, beginning to properly awaken under the watchful eyes of the gods who had brought them life. The quick set of movements that had heralded the awakening of the young people was still the most aggressive actions that had taken place. Now that those moments had passed, things seemed to settle down.

Released from the confining grip of the large young man, the yellow haired girl delicately used one hand to straighten out her rumpled hair, until it once more lay flat and smooth along her skull. Satisfied with her work, Shayri's eyes drifted around, passing briefly over the aqua haired young woman who was approaching, to land on the soft, still sleeping face of an orange haired girl who had been comfortably enfolded next to her. Curiously, Shayri's eyes lingered for several moments, before her hand finally stretched out, lightly dusting fingertips across the side of the girl's nose and the line of her cheekbone. Satisfied, she flopped back in the grass, smiling up at the sky where the lights of a glorious rainbow gleamed.

The yellow haired Shayri wasn't the only one to notice the blue haired girl's approach. Still sprawled in the grass, in almost the exact same position as Shayri, Aidean suddenly saw another face upside down in his vision, at least that part that wasn't blocked by a fringe of carnelian hair. He rolled over, a lopsided smile crossing his face as he lifted himself back into a sitting position. Following his movement, Shayri sat up as well, and a short ways away a boy with light green hair slowly drew himself to his feet. Cideth offered a hesitant smile to the boy with rich green hair who was on the ground in front of him, his eyes filled with gratefulness for the "rescue" from Aidean, however incidental or reflexive it might have been. Politely, he stuck out a hand, offering aid in return to pull the other boy up to his feet.

On the other side of the little patch of life, while the first group of people were gathering together, another pair of Beloved were waking up. Rich violet eyes behind long lashes slowly blinked open, to find the face of another girl right in front of her eyes, covered with a tangled mass of raspberry hair across her face. Mirikai blinked a few times in confusion, before a strand of bright green grass dipped in between the two. Somehow feeling relieved that the entire world wasn't comprised of that vivid shade of red-violet, Mirikai rolled away from the girl, staring out at the world around her. She took a deep breath, steeling her resolve to lift herself away from the ground, before pushing herself upwards.

Once she was firmly settled in a vertical position, Miri looked around again. Just on the other side of the raspberry girl, another girl was lifting herself to a sitting position. Her hair was the shade of lavender, and her large, gentle eyes seemed soft and beautiful. However, the moment their eyes met across the figure of the sleeping girl in between them, and a hopeful smile began to spread its way across Miri's face, that gaze went from soft to distant in the blink of an eye.

Natalia did not return the smile of the girl who sat across from her. Instead, she quickly pushed herself away from the two bodies, forcing her way to her feet on unsteady legs. The first of the Beloved to do so, Natalia's gaze did not look at the wonders of life that surrounded her, but rather focused on the gray wasteland that surrounded them. The memory of the deadly cold, the lack of everything, that had surrounded her suddenly resurfaced, and she unconsciously drew her arms in to wrap around her chest once more. She took a few hesitant steps, making her way over to the gossamer sheen that seemed to separate the Beloved from that world of death like a curtain. Tightness constricted her chest. She was safe now, but what would happen if this diaphanous bubble failed? Would that frozen world return to try and smother her life once again?

Mirikai was unable to sense the worry in the stiff back that was walking away from her. All she felt was rejection. The girl who had sat between them was not moving yet, so Mirikai could only push away from her, getting to her feet as well. She was reluctant to remain by herself in this strange, new world, however beautiful it might be, and was just starting to consider following after the girl who had walked away when she caught sight of a group of other people standing and sitting right in the center of their little bubble of safety. Miri let out a short, relieved sigh, grateful she wouldn't have to chase after a girl who very obviously was not interested in her company, and began to make her way over to the other group.

At first their words were vague and indistinct, muted by distance, but as she got closer she distinctly caught the bright sound of the aqua-haired girl's laughter. A smile spread across Miri's face, and she moved her way a little bit closer, just in time to catch the words of a bloody orange haired boy.

"Adena," he replied, before wrinkling his brow in confusion. His eyes quickly glanced down, taking in the sight of his chest and legs below him, before his eyes flicked back to Bee. "Aidean." That name seemed to fit better with him, and he nodded his head once, abruptly. "Yes. That will do."

Names. They were sharing names. Somehow, even unknowing of what exactly a name was supposed to be, Mirikai understood that. As she took a couple steps forward she waited eagerly for the others to speak. But the two green haired boys remained silent, and the one other girl Mirikai could see seemed much more interested in something in the grass than she did in speaking. Did that mean it was her turn?

She only waited through a few more moments of silence before plunging forward.

"Cid…"

"Mirikai. I'm Mirikai."

Mirikai's hand flew up to cover her mouth as she realized in a flood of embarrassment that she had just cut off the light green haired man who had been about to share his name. Her head drooped in shame, and she sat down heavily in the grass. "Sorry."

 

[Absyinthe_Artica]

Beatrice was thrilled with all the names she heard and definitely thought that they fit the person who spoke it. When Mirikai blurted out to cut of Cid, Bee couldn't help but belt out in a fit of laughter at her eagerness and clapped her hands happily together making an unusual sound. Renaldo narrowed his eyebrows at the girl and clapped a hand on Cideth's shoulder protectively. He played a half smile on his lips as he spoke up to the others.
"My name is Ren…Renaldo. I believe that fits me alright." He pauses and turns to Cid and speaks to him gently, "I'm sure Cid wasn't your full name, am I right?" He winked and waited a few moments for him to complete his name. Beatrice tilted her head curiously at a violent motion of raspberry color in the far space of their safe haven. A loud scream was heard after this and it seemed that the girl was holding her head dramatically.
"WHAT IS THIS?! Why is this color all over my face and head??? IT IS HORRIBLE!" she started flailing at this point, crying like a child at the fact her hair was a brilliant shade of garnet.

It was then that a girl not far off from the red head called out to her.
"Will you shut up? We almost failed to exist and all you care about is the color of your hair?" Framelia crossed her arms tightly over her chest glaring at Amedara as she stalked away from her to the other group. Amedara grew silent than, contemplating her actions. Framelia turned her attention to Beatrice and the others and waved happily at them. She cheerfully called out to them.
"Wow, isn't this weird? How did we get here…?" She trailed off thoughtfully and didn't expect anyone to answer her at that moment, they probably had no idea like her. Beatrice patted a spot of grass besides her indicating that the girl should sit there. Bee then spoke to her excitedly.
"We were just sharing names we should call each other. I find it a good way to start off, don't you think?" She asked her as Framelia sat down. She nodded and spoke up.
"My name will be Framelia than. I think that works, right?" She bit her lip uncertainly and Bee just giggled at her and nodded. "Names are just there so we can be more personable with each other. I don't know how we got here, but it is for a reason right? We are all apart of something together." Bee gestured all around to the twelve people in their space of living. Renaldo nodded solemnly at that and casted a glance at Cid.

There was a smooth voice from behind Beatrice. A man with deep blue hair had awoken and came upon the group.
"I'm really curious as to how these gems got here…I remember nothing this beautiful…before." He shuttered and crossed his arms closer to his chest. He added as a side note, "Ah, yeah I guess you can call me Vancen." He stayed at the edge of the group surveying the others around the space of life.

 

[Peregrine]

A hesitant smile crossed Cideth's face as Ren's hand was placed on his shoulder. It was only the smallest of motions, a slight crinkle in the corners of his eyes, and it was gone a split second later. All the same, he nodded. "Thanks… Renaldo. Cideth. You can call me Cideth." The young man, with hair a brilliant shade of yellow chartreuse, offered another small smile, only a modicum larger than the one a moment before had been, before the expression abruptly fell off his face as his eyes widened in trace fear.

Cideth wasn't the only one to react to the abrupt shout that followed. Aidean lifted his head back out of the grass, eyes narrowing in frustration, and he was only moments away from shouting at the girl to shut up and calm down when he was suddenly beaten to the punch. Whoever it was pretty much summed up his own thoughts on the matter, and he sat up more fully to see if he could locate the source of the voice. His eyes locked onto a girl with brilliant orange hair, and he abruptly recognized her as one of the girls that had been in his arms when he had first woken up from… before. He offered her a smile and a slight wave as she drew closer, but flopped back into the grass a moment later, laying spread eagled. As his arm flung out the tips of his fingers brushed against Shayri's back.

The yellow-haired girl flinched in surprise, causing her hand to jerk and pull the blade of grass she had been fingering up out of the ground. Frowning in slight disappointment at the ruined blade, she cast aside the ruined stalk, turning her eyes across the surrounding grass in hopes of finding another one that had such a brilliantly yellow gem at its tip.

She was distracted from her quest by a flicker of movement in the corner of her eye as Framelia sat down. She lifted her head, eyes wide.

Shayri found herself staring at a familiar face. She rubbed her fingers together absentmindedly, gaze hardly straying from Framelia's face as the girl offered her name. Almost perfectly silently, Shayri lips formed the correct shapes to pronounce Framelia's name.

Even Vancen's arrival didn't start her from her studious observation of the orange haired girl's face. However, what finally caught her attention was Mirikai.

"And you?"

Mirikai was asking for her name. The purple haired girl had noticed as soon as Shayri's attention turned towards the rest of the group. She could only assume that the girl had finally taken an interest in names, since Framelia had been offering her own at that moment. Turning her attention to Vancen, who stood over everyone, the purple haired girl didn't notice that Shayri's gaze didn't shift with the presentation of a new person, and a new name.

After Vancen had finished speaking, Miri had cast a quick gaze over the gathered group of people, running the new names through her head. Aidean, with his shaggy red-orange hair. Beatrice, who was so interested in gaining people's names. Cideth and Renaldo, who still sat right next to each other. Framelia,who had just sat down a moment ago. Vancen, who still hadn't sat down. And herself, of course. She'd given her name earlier. That only left one.

It took Shayri a moment to realize that Mirikai had been talking to her, but the purple eyes locked on her quickly gave away Miri's intentions. Shayri blinked a couple times, before offering a distracted "hmm?"

"What's your name?" Shayri's obliviousness didn't seem to bother Mirikai in the least.

"Oh." The yellow-haired girl considered it for a moment. "Shayri." The smile that followed that announcement seemed to contain a blinding radiance.

Mirikai nodded, offering a smile of her own. She couldn't match Beatrice's enthusiasm, but she was still glad that Shayri had given her name.

Shayri seemed to have completely forgotten about Framelia on the other side of the circle, and crawled past Aidean's sprawled form, sitting down partially in front of Mirikai. A casual toss of her head sent her long, yellow hair cascading through the air. A strand struck Miri's face, and she flinched uncertainly, only to find the mass of hair had landed fully in her lap. She touched it uncertainly, carting her fingers through the strands.

Shayri seemed to ooze with self-satisfaction.

---

Somewhere towards the edge of the circle of life, Amedara's shout succeeded in disturbing another person. A figure with brilliantly red hair and eyes sat bolt upright from within the grass, turning his head rapidly back and forth as his shoulders tensed. Only once he managed to identify the source of the disturbance and fully determine that he was at no risk did Kadisen allow himself to relax, running fingers through his spikey hair. For a couple of moments he simply lingered there, before his eyes focused more fully on the large group of people. He bit hesitantly on his lower lip as he considered the scene, wondering if he was expected to go over and join the group. The idea didn't particularly appeal to him, and he cast his eyes further afield, hoping to find some sort of diversion that would allow him to remain separate from everyone else without appearing rude or dismissive.

The first possible option he found was Amedara, and her vivid garnet hair. The slight frustration on his lips turned into a full frown. He had absolutely no intention of going over to join her, not after that outburst. He'd rather join the large group. Luckily, as his eyes moved just a little further, he found another girl, this one with hair a bright shade of blue-purple. She stood in profile to him, fine nose and cheekbones in stark relief, even as her gaze remained intently fixed out into the distance. He turned his head in that direction, wondering what could necessitate such rapt attention, and saw…. nothing. A field of blank grey and black greeted his eyes, and the sight sent a small shiver up his back. He was close enough to the barrier that protected the small group that he was able to reach out his hand and touch it. It seemed firm and inflexible, yet he still didn't dare push too hard, afraid of accidentally puncturing their bubble of safety.

Could that be what she was watching for? Some sign that the bubble was about to fail, and that cold, grey world would come racing in to claim them once more? He stood up hesitantly, following the edge of the bubble over towards Natalia.

She heard him approaching when he was only a couple feet away and turned to look at him. However, he earned only a glance from her before she returned her gaze to the nothingness that surrounded them.

"What are you doing?" he asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"I could ask you the same. " Natalia's brisk reply seemed almost pre-prepared, and if it wasn't for the fact that Kadisen really didn't have anywhere else to go her sharp words might have almost served to drive him away. Despite her words, it was obvious she wasn't really looking for an answer.

The only thing he could think to do was answer her anyways. "Waiting to see if it is going to fall apart."

This reply seemed to garner Natalia's attention, and she turned to look at him once more. However, this glance was far from passing, and instead lingered on his face, almost seeming to study him. Whatever she was looking for he seemed to pass the test, and it earned him a crisp nod. He stepped up next to her, turning to look out over the grey landscape with her.

"It can't last forever."

Natalia's voice had softened somewhat, replaced with faint traces of worry.

Kade looked at her out of the corner of his eye, before turning away slight to catch sight of the larger group. Another person had joined their number since he had last looked, raising their number to eight. "I'm not sure I would want it to."

"Really?"

"I couldn't imagine being in this space forever."

Natalia turned to look away, but her eyes landed, instead, on Amedara's red hair. "I think I know what you mean. But if the alternative is out there…" Her gaze turned back forwards, and a slightly sad look entered into her eyes. "We might be stuck here."

The two individuals were wrapped in a bubble of silence, the pressure of their brief conversation, and the vast empty greyness that surrounded them, seeming to weigh upon their shoulders, stifling further conversation. Their staring was interrupted when the grey landscape was briefly tinged with purple light. Kade glanced up in surprise, only to see that one of the lights that had been circling their dome had briefly halted in place, and was now casting its radiance out over the landscape.

Kade stared at it for a moment, waiting for something to happen, but in the end the light faded, and it resumed circling the dome. Kadisen lowered his gaze again, before glancing at Natalia. "Do you think it was… wondering what we were looking at?"

"No."