It was dawn on the Plane of Fire. The capital was peacefully quiet, as morning should be. Everyone was sleeping, except for a certain elven farmer by the name of Phena Anelmonde who lived at the edge of town.
Phena, a rather short elf with whitish sand colored hair and brown eyes, was pacing among her fields, waiting and watching. Waiting and watching for her new farmhand, Raishilliah Mosetale. Phena was old, and she needed help running her farm, which grew scarlet leaved plants in the dusty soil that tasted somewhat of... lettuce . (In case you're wondering, the ground is somewhat to the nature of Mars's.) Raishilliah was over twenty minutes late, and Phena remembered hauntingly the warnings that her few living friends had given her about Rai.
She's always late for everything... even when you need her. If anyone doesn't know the concept of being early, it's Rai.
Don't hire her.. ever.
But it was too late now, the deed had been done. Phena regretted it, certainly, but she had some faith in Rai. Phena kept waiting. Thirty minutes late... an hour late...an hour and fifteen minutes late. She was frustrated, by all means, and started to check her plants for signs of harvesting readiness by herself. A sudden sound like nails on a chalkboard startled her greatly. Was someone else there, watching her work? Phena looked up from her work and saw nothing but a slight shimmer by the edge of her farthest field, near the onkalyfe trees (Onkalyfe trees are like trees in perpetual autumn.).
"What in the name of fire is going on here? Ah... my old eyes must be playing tricks on me... but maybe I should go check it out. One of the town leaders did mention some sort of transportation system near my house..."
She walked over to where the noise had come from. There was nothing there. Nothing at all.
"I must be going crazy," Phena muttered, shaking her head and turning back to her plants. Unconsciously, she felt driven to get out of her field. She had moved about three feet to the right when she saw someone thrown out of seemingly nowhere. Phena let out a startled shriek and ran to it. Lying on the ground in the middle of her field was a man, clothed in a black cloak and midnight blue robe. She instantly concluded that he was some sort of mage, judging by his appearance.
"Where did HE come from?" she asked herself, stooping down to check his pulse. He was unconscios.
"I need to get him to the hospital," Phena said, taking in the bruised face, the bedraggled brown hair, and the general thinness of him. "He looks like he's been beaten up and then abandoned." That was
nearly what happened to the young mage before her. Phena desperately tried to lift him, but dropped under the weight.
"Rai has wings. She can fly him to the hospital," she concluded.
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Raishilliah Mosetale woke with a start. She had had another nightmare, this time of humans invading the plane. This was a reacurring dream, but it seemed more... vivid then the rest.
"I have to get up," Rai told herself. She knew that her job started that day. Rai sat up and looked at her lava clock.
"Oh great! I'm almost an hour and a half late for my job. Phena is going to kill me..." She peered down at her pet fire salamander and sighed.
"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"
It made a noise somewhat like a laugh and just pranced around the room. Rai got out of bed and started searching for some breakfast in her obsidian cabinet.
She looked in a large mirror and sighed. Rai hated mirrors. They showed her just how abnormal she really was. Her hair and skin looked like they had gone through a bleaching machine, she had only one color eyes, and she had wings, due to the fact that she was half phoenix and half elf. Her hair was light orange and her skin was almost the color of paper. Rai despised her eyes. They were solely lime green and they glowed in the dark. Everyone she knew was terrified of her at nighttime. In the dark, all they could see was two glowing green eyes and golden flaming wings. She wore a
white hooded robe and a green cape. Rai let out a sigh and went back to eating her sunseed bread and firebrul leaves.
Once she had finished, she ran out of her house and took to the air. Rai looked around her as she sped off. There were many people in the market that day, and, much to her puzzlement, Phena was not there. She usually went to the market at midday to sell her firebrul. Strange. Rai reasoned that Phena had already left.
"All the more reason to hurry," she said.
Some fifteen minutes later, Rai arrived at the farm. She landed and called out, "Phena, I'm sorry that I'm..."
Phena was not there. She began to be truly worried. What if Phena had become sick and went to the hospital?
"PHENA!" she yelled. Rai listened closely for an answer. She heard something very faint coming from the farthest field. "Rai... come... help..." Raishilliah took off running towards the field, hoping that nothing very bad had happened.
"Phena, I'm coming. Hang on!"
Arriving at the field, she froze. Phena was bent over a human, trying to get it to wake.
"What happened, Phena?" asked Rai gently.
"There's no time! We need to get him to the hospital quickly," pressed the old elf. Rai nodded, took the man and lifted him up with Phena's help, and leapt into the air.
"Meet... me... at... the... hos...pital." Rai called from high in the air.
About half an hour later...
Phena arrived at the green marble hospital and hobbled to the waiting room, a place that smelled like medecine, where she found Raishilliah. Rai did not even look up before she asked, "Phena, what happened out there?"
"Child, I do not know. I heard a terrible noise and saw a shimmer in the air, and then he just... appeared. Hurtled out of nowhere, it seems."
"Do you not know that the Phoenixgates are by your fields?"
"Phoenixgates?" inquired the bewildered elf.
Raishilliah sighed and explained.
"Phoenixgates were around before the Fifteen Year Demon War. They were transportation for phoenixes only, because
they are invisible to other races."
"Child, why can you see them?" asked Phena.
"Please don't interupt, but... oh all right. If someone has
any phoenix blood in their veins they can see them. Anyways, during the Demon War, the makers of these Gates and their work were destroyed. They became almost useless, because no one else knew where they were. Also, the scientists had not finished stabilizing them, so they can throw you to any point in time. I think that that man found a Phoenixgate, and was thrown here. The gates seem to have a mind of their own." She shook her head vigorously. "If only they weren't invisble."
Rai stood up and walked to the doctors, asking, "Is he going to be alright?"
One of them nodded.
"It was good of you to bring him here. He was nearly dead of starvation. Told me so himself."
"He's awake?"
"Certainly, Miss Raishilliah. You can go in if you'd like."
Rai walked quietly towards the man, who had just regained consciousness barely a five minutes earlier.
"Hello..." he said weakly. "Thank... you... for bringing... me here."
"What's your name?"
"Kenaz Anerson."
Rai nodded and backed out of the room. She returned to the waiting room.
"Phena, shall I call a town council? We need to figure out how to get him home."
The old elf smiled.
"Yes, child, that would be a good idea. See how many people we can find."
Rai exited the building and flew to the town square.
"Ring the bell, please," she said to the bell elf. Ringing the bell was a traditional way to let everyone know that there was a meeting about to take place. Soon, there were over a hundred creatures there, and Rai began the meeting.
"Good afternoon. We have an issue to discuss regarding something that happened this morning."
Almost everyone there appeared puzzled. A young phoenix who had a reputation for stating the obvious yelled from the back, "Something happened this morning?"
His comment was met generally with people telling him to shut up and listen.
"Yes, Sikel, something happened this morning. It concerns a human who came here against his will. As you all know, or should, this jeopardizes the whole plane. Humans jump to conclusions quickly. They might assume that he has been kidnapped when, truthfully, a Gate caused him to come here. Think about that." She paused for a moment to let the statement sink in.
"But..." cried a phoenix, realizing the truth of the matter, "if he is an important person in... what do they call it?"
"Gaera," said Rai gently.
"If he is a figure of importance in... Gaera, then that could mean war possibly!"
Rai nodded and sighed.
"That's why we need to get him back to his world as soon as possible."
A scientist named Meyrien piped up, "We could stabilize the Gate!"
"How?" said Rai suspiciously.
"Easily... we need an artifact. The only problem is..."
"Is what?"
"The artifact is on the Holy Plane."
Rai looked at him worriedly.
"Are you sure that that is the only way?"
"Quite sure."
Rai sighed and nodded.
"Bring Kenaz in."
A moment later, four doctors escorted him into the building, as he was still not fully recovered.
"We are found a way to get you home. Will you come with me?" Rai asked of him, while explaining about the artifact.
He nodded and said, "I've heard of that. Anyone else coming?"
"Well?" Rai asked of the crowd. "Who will come?"
While decisions were being made, Meyrien asked Rai, "But Miss Raishilliah, why are you so worried? What could go wrong?"
"I do not know, Meyrien, but it could be bad. Very bad." Turning to speak to everyone else, Rai asked, "Have the decisions been made? Who is to come?"
(OOC: This is the point where you come in. Happy Trails!)
Edited by: Angel of Fire at: 6/22/03 2:49 pm