DISCLAIMER: References to features of religions or faith beliefs do not necessarily mean that the authors, Terry Wilson, Matthew Costello, and Yoshitoshi ABe (or anyone else for that matter), take them seriously. All characters featured are new; none appear in either FWL, Doom 3, or Haibane Renmei. Also, don't forget that this is a work of fiction, not prophecy. This means that what is said about these characters is not what fans call "canon", that is, it is not a part of their existence in their own worlds. This story was written by Terry Wilson, who makes no copyright claims against the concepts of the other authors. This work will never be commercially published without the permission of the copyright holders for all three worlds.
The italic lines are the lyrics to the Cascada Song, Perfect Day, title track of the album Perfect Day, Track 5 on the Robbins Entertainment release in North America, March 2008.
I know what it takes
I won’t hesitate
Thought I told you not to call
‘cus I don’t care at all
Guards come to take the young brunette from her cell. She wears a brilliant orange prison uniform. They lead her in irons down a corridor. Fellow inmates are rather quiet. She, however, quietly smiles.
Here’s my point of view:
I’m all through with you
Guess there’s nothing left to say
And I’m not gonna wait
A last look at your sacred text, sweetie?" one of the guards asks her derisively, "Seek your beloved Saviour for some last minute advice? You will die just as easily as he did."
The girl looks up at him and says, "And I will come back ... just like he did."
The guard gives her a smart swat. Her hair blows about as she recoils from the swing. The other guard grabs his hand and says, "Boss wants her pretty for her execution."
‘Cus I’m all right
Yeah yeah
And I don’t mind
Yeah yeah
Baby you’re no longer
creeping in my head
The girl strides so proudly into the square that the guards can hardly keep up. Once in the middle, she just stands there.
And I’m okay
Yeah yeah
I’m on my way
Yeah yeah
And it’s time for me to face that
Perfect Day
The executioner stands there, annoyed at her impudence. "Are you in a hurry to die, little girl?" he growls.
"Why shouldn't I be? Every drop of blood spilt from the veins of his followers hastens the return of the Saviour," she nods over to a caged creature brought along to watch the procedings [Doom 3 Imp]. "And, do you really think he gives any more of a crap about you than I do?"
The creature screams and bangs loudly against his bars, briefly startling the girl.
Yeah yeah
Yeah yeah
"Soon it will be war," she explains, "and you will be on the wrong side, or worse: We will be divided against our common foe. My side with the light of the Saviour, yours," she shrugs playfully, "with no hope at all."
Then she sings from one of her favorite songs:
Boy you’ve gone too far
This is who you are
Now your back’s against the wall
But I don’t care at all
She continues to sing as the executioner grabs her shoulders angrily.
Made me spin around
Now I’m touching ground
She indicates the executioner's sword lying in its cradle beside the pillory that will hold her for her final breath.
Here’s the price you have to pay
And I can’t hardly wait
She keeps singing as the guards force her into the pillory and clap it shut around her neck. Over the course of the chorus, the executioner picks up his weapon and brandishes it for her and the few spectators.
‘Cus I’m all right
Yeah yeah
And I don’t mind
Yeah yeah
Baby you’re no longer
creeping in my head
And I’m okay
Yeah yeah
I’m on my way
Yeah yeah
It’s time for me to face that
Perfect
The Perfect
Perf-
(This is the actual song; she's not getting nervous at the last instant ... or is she? I'll leave that up to your imagination.)
The head of the Saviour-spawn is severed from her body by a single swing from the anodized black sword held by the executioner, momentarily ending her defiant singing. Her twitching body also falls free from the bloodied restraint that held her. The executioner begins, "So ends the pitiful life of another-"
The words of her song continue as though her disembodied voice echoes off the walls, unnerving everyone in attendance, especially the creatures and the executioner himself.
Tired of having you around
I don’t need you
I won’t let you bring me down
------------
Okay, this is different, she thinks as she comes awake floating in her cocoon. She looks down at her body, seeing the white robe she expected. She reaches for the wall of the cocoon, feeling its soft inner lining.
"Hello," says Tatakai in her chair just outside the cocoon. "Take your time coming out. You'll probably be disappointed to know that it is Saturday in the dead of winter. I arrived on a Saturday last winter, the first Haibane to arrive in the winter in 54 years."
Nothing for it, the cocoon's occupant thinks, I can't possibly get back to sleep anyway. She tears through the lining, then gives the shell a good punch. She breaks a hole in it and suddenly finds herself pressed against it, her shoulder stopped against the jagged edge of the hole. If she won't help me, I'll just have to wait for the fluid to drain out, I think.
Tatakai takes her hand. She pushes herself against her host, letting the fluid drain out through the small hole. This is helped when the girl uses her other hand to punch a hole in the top of the cocoon to let air in. Once the fluid is down enough, she pulls her hand back in and expands it large enough for her to crawl out into Tatakai's arms. She lowers herself to the floor and expels the fluid from her lungs, spending about a minute coughing up the rest before she can speak again.
"Where's the Saviour?" she asks.
Tatakai shakes her head, "He's not back yet."
"Where am I?" is her next question.
"Under the altar, I think," answers Tatakai, "The town is called Glie, we are the special creatures in it called Haibane, Ash Feathers."
"F-," she nearly remembers the name of the old angel-like creatures hunted as fiercely by the new regime as the Saviour-spawn. Featherwing, she remembers the creature, but not the name. "The wings," she gasps, "six metre span ... flyers ... shared by love?"
"No," Tatakai says, "they are extinct today."
The new girl shakes, "Then what are?" she indicates Tatakai's wings.
Tatakai responds, "something different ... I was a flyer before ... a warrior in the last battle ... my final memory was being blown out of the sky. According to records, the final memory of all Haibane before I arrived was ... suicide."
The girl says, "Not suicide ... I was executed by the new regime as a follower of the Saviour ... they had the demons from the portals developed on the red planet ... they are the ones who are really in charge."
"No, sister," Tatakai says, "The Saviour is in charge ... always has been."
The new girl smiles from under her soaked grey-brunette hair.
"Let's get you to the guest room, the next twenty four hours are going to be quite a challenge for you."
After some time passes, the new girl has shared her unsettling dream. Shimoni says, "Now for a name, how about ナイフ, Naifu?"
Tatakai giggles, "Too English, might as well just call her Blade" [Author's note: there is a fictional vampire killer by that name, the title character of two movies who's played by Wesley Snipes.]
"刃, [ヤイバ], Yaiba," the girl suggests, "blade."
Menmo says, "That actually sounds kinda cute!"
"Yeah," Tatakai says, "unlike my name, it won't sound like you're ticked off all the time."
"But you are ticked off all the time, Tatakai," Kurai blurts.
"Only at the end of the month," Tatakai retorts.
"And the rest of us," says Shinomi, "Yaiba, we all get it at the same time, I'm not sure why."
"Get what?" Yaiba asks.
Kurai giggles, it's obvious hers is mildest.
"PMS," Tatakai explains.
[Edit: paragraph spacing ... why do I seem unable to tell the computer how many linefeeds I want?]
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Remix Chapter 6: The Communicator
DISCLAIMER: References to features of religions or faith beliefs do not necessarily mean that the authors, Terry Wilson, Matthew Costello, and Yoshitoshi ABe (or anyone else for that matter), take them seriously. All characters featured are new; none appear in either FWL, Doom 3, or Haibane Renmei. Also, don't forget that this is a work of fiction, not prophecy. Past characters created by the other authors are mentioned in this story. Their histories and personalities are modified and filled out by Terry Wilson in ways that the original authors probably do not intend. This means that what is said about these characters is not what fans call "canon", that is, it is not a part of their existence in their own worlds. This story was written by Terry Wilson, who makes no copyright claims against the concepts of the other authors. This work will never be commercially published without the permission of the copyright holders for all three worlds.
The Communicator walks with Tatakai in the garden. He wears costume wings and a one-eyed mask just like in the anime series. Looks like a cyclops, but unlike in the anime, he is a few inches taller and walks without a cane.
"I missed it," he laments.
"Missed what?" Tatakai asks, her white wings are smartly folded over her back. As a Featherwing, she normally did this because Featherwing wings are so much larger than Haibane wings. On her as a Haibane, it looks very unusual because Haibane wings aren't large enough to be so inconvenient.
"My Day of Flight," the Communicator says.
Tatakai reads his tone, and asks him, "Do you wear that mask to hide your tears?"
He does not answer, and Tatakai decides that it is better not to press. Instead he talks about someone else, "You remind me of Rakka," he says, "she is unique in the history of the Haibane. The only Communicator that was not a Fallen. The longest lived Haibane, at forty-seven years. She kept histories beneath the wall, kept it in repair. She was something else."
Tatakai then asks, "How is the Communicator chosen?"
The Communicator says, "He ... or she ... really isn't chosen, but a willing person, almost always a Fallen, never a human, simply assumes the role. When the Communicator of Rakka's time died, no one knew his name, not even Rakka herself ... there were no Fallen."
Tatakai then says, "So why isn't anyone studying her work?"
The Communicator answers, "It is too hard for most. Rakka wrote it in Toganese."
Tatakai asks him, "Can you teach me?"
The Communicator nods, "Rakka taught me, but according to her histories ... she learned it on her own."
After a few weeks, Tatakai knows this new language, and this morning goes under the wall. She has become familiar with the robe. "Dang, these things are heavy," she gripes.
The Communicator answers, "Well anything beats that ... what did you call it?"
Tatakai answers, "Delta radiation. The place glows with the stuff. If this wall collapses, we're screwed. All of Glie would have a lethal dose within a few hours. This hikarinium," she points out the light leaves scattering the tablets, "is not where it is coming from. Somehow these little irritations," she pauses, holds out her hands and zaps an invisible creature [Doom 3 Wraith] with the Saviour's light, "are getting in here."
The Communicator says, "From reading Rakka's histories, they have been getting in here since at least her time. You are the only Haibane to even see them let alone actually be able to deal with them. That light of yours-"
"Not mine," Tatakai says, "The Saviour's. If I ever call it mine, it'll quit working. It's sure a lot handier than the weapons I was used to before I came here. I'm glad I don't have to use it as often." After a pause, she says, "Also, I don't see them, I hear them. From Rakka's records, they have been seen before, I know that they have to become visible to attack. I know what they look like from my previous life."
She picks up a tablet and starts reading, flicking hikarinium bits into her collector, "Sweeeeet," she says, "This is the part of the wall the Saviour's light repaired, that time I got sick, remember?" Shrugging her robe, she adds, "Should have brought one of these."
For the first time in Tatakai's memory, the Communicator might have chuckled.
The next morning, she's walking down the halls of the North Wing with her friend. The North Wing is slowly being demolished from the top down for materials to build more habitable houses just to its west. It's roof has been replaced by a series of sturdy tarps held up by a scaffold around the building.
"Shimoni," asks Tatakai, "if the humans see us as lesser beings, why the blazes don't they ever stare down their fears and ask about Rakka's histories, or the dangers of the walls? These are things we better under-"
"What?" Shimoni notices Tatakai's startlement.
"It came from this room," says Tatakai, wheeling around and swinging open a door. Seeing it, she asks, "Do they like, always appear in the coldest, messiest rooms?"
Shimoni admires the watermelon sized cocoon, "Wow."
Tatakai kneels beside it, as Shimoni warns, "Don't touch it."
"Silly," Tatakai says, "I had no such intention. Nobody touched mine."
Tatakai smiles at it, "See you in about," she ponders, "five months."
Shimoni laments, "The winter again? Maybe it's a colleague of yours."
Tatakai says, "Menmo might have been. She had my type of wings in her dream. But she showed up in spring. Rakka wrote that seven years before her appearance, Reki appeared in winter ... the day of her emergence went unobserved, and she was discovered by Kuramori some time after her wings emerged. She emerged Sin-Bound and almost missed her Day of Flight. ... We're in no hurry this time."
Shimoni says, "I still can't wait to get back and tell everyone."
---------
The Communicator walks with Tatakai in the garden. He wears costume wings and a one-eyed mask just like in the anime series. Looks like a cyclops, but unlike in the anime, he is a few inches taller and walks without a cane.
"I missed it," he laments.
"Missed what?" Tatakai asks, her white wings are smartly folded over her back. As a Featherwing, she normally did this because Featherwing wings are so much larger than Haibane wings. On her as a Haibane, it looks very unusual because Haibane wings aren't large enough to be so inconvenient.
"My Day of Flight," the Communicator says.
Tatakai reads his tone, and asks him, "Do you wear that mask to hide your tears?"
He does not answer, and Tatakai decides that it is better not to press. Instead he talks about someone else, "You remind me of Rakka," he says, "she is unique in the history of the Haibane. The only Communicator that was not a Fallen. The longest lived Haibane, at forty-seven years. She kept histories beneath the wall, kept it in repair. She was something else."
Tatakai then asks, "How is the Communicator chosen?"
The Communicator says, "He ... or she ... really isn't chosen, but a willing person, almost always a Fallen, never a human, simply assumes the role. When the Communicator of Rakka's time died, no one knew his name, not even Rakka herself ... there were no Fallen."
Tatakai then says, "So why isn't anyone studying her work?"
The Communicator answers, "It is too hard for most. Rakka wrote it in Toganese."
Tatakai asks him, "Can you teach me?"
The Communicator nods, "Rakka taught me, but according to her histories ... she learned it on her own."
After a few weeks, Tatakai knows this new language, and this morning goes under the wall. She has become familiar with the robe. "Dang, these things are heavy," she gripes.
The Communicator answers, "Well anything beats that ... what did you call it?"
Tatakai answers, "Delta radiation. The place glows with the stuff. If this wall collapses, we're screwed. All of Glie would have a lethal dose within a few hours. This hikarinium," she points out the light leaves scattering the tablets, "is not where it is coming from. Somehow these little irritations," she pauses, holds out her hands and zaps an invisible creature [Doom 3 Wraith] with the Saviour's light, "are getting in here."
The Communicator says, "From reading Rakka's histories, they have been getting in here since at least her time. You are the only Haibane to even see them let alone actually be able to deal with them. That light of yours-"
"Not mine," Tatakai says, "The Saviour's. If I ever call it mine, it'll quit working. It's sure a lot handier than the weapons I was used to before I came here. I'm glad I don't have to use it as often." After a pause, she says, "Also, I don't see them, I hear them. From Rakka's records, they have been seen before, I know that they have to become visible to attack. I know what they look like from my previous life."
She picks up a tablet and starts reading, flicking hikarinium bits into her collector, "Sweeeeet," she says, "This is the part of the wall the Saviour's light repaired, that time I got sick, remember?" Shrugging her robe, she adds, "Should have brought one of these."
For the first time in Tatakai's memory, the Communicator might have chuckled.
The next morning, she's walking down the halls of the North Wing with her friend. The North Wing is slowly being demolished from the top down for materials to build more habitable houses just to its west. It's roof has been replaced by a series of sturdy tarps held up by a scaffold around the building.
"Shimoni," asks Tatakai, "if the humans see us as lesser beings, why the blazes don't they ever stare down their fears and ask about Rakka's histories, or the dangers of the walls? These are things we better under-"
"What?" Shimoni notices Tatakai's startlement.
"It came from this room," says Tatakai, wheeling around and swinging open a door. Seeing it, she asks, "Do they like, always appear in the coldest, messiest rooms?"
Shimoni admires the watermelon sized cocoon, "Wow."
Tatakai kneels beside it, as Shimoni warns, "Don't touch it."
"Silly," Tatakai says, "I had no such intention. Nobody touched mine."
Tatakai smiles at it, "See you in about," she ponders, "five months."
Shimoni laments, "The winter again? Maybe it's a colleague of yours."
Tatakai says, "Menmo might have been. She had my type of wings in her dream. But she showed up in spring. Rakka wrote that seven years before her appearance, Reki appeared in winter ... the day of her emergence went unobserved, and she was discovered by Kuramori some time after her wings emerged. She emerged Sin-Bound and almost missed her Day of Flight. ... We're in no hurry this time."
Shimoni says, "I still can't wait to get back and tell everyone."
---------
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Autumn Rain Plane Crash
In February, a few days before the crash of Colgan 3407 in the Clarence region of Buffalo, NY, I thought of an interesting scenario that would be unique to the world of the featherwings: A passenger airliner crashes because of icing problems, directly over a cold front backed up by an hard core arctic high pressure system. The aircraft is totally destroyed on impact, but at least two of the passengers survive the impact. The two ultimate survivors (anyone else surviving the impact would freeze to death in a few minutes.) One of them is the only featherwing passenger, badly injured, but able to survive the cold by deploying her wings, thus covering her body in the invisible featherwing down, increasing her metabolism, and escaping a quick death. The other is an uninjured human who is so badly underdressed for the weather that he can't build a shelter against the cold before freezing to death. He finds the injured featherwing being and takes shelter under her wings. The two quickly realize that their only hope of surviving is by sharing the wings, an extremely romantic act. The featherwing lady is unable to build a shelter because of her injuries. The wings alone are not enough to save them from the dropping temperatures (for several reasons.) The human is unable to build a shelter because, outside her wings, he will freeze to death before he can even get a decent start.
So they share the wings. At this point in the conception, the Storyvoice whispers, "He has a wife and two kids...deal with it." I, the author of this disaster, cried. I also realized that the story has an important message.
This is the Cascada Song, Track 6 of Perfect Day (Robbins Entertainment 2008)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyk5PDrP7YI (haleymeadows lyrics; rip has skips)
----Begin----
The Autumn Rain is falling down
through the clouds, hits the ground
wash away traces in the sand
And yesterday is so far away
You disappeared, love was here
I close my eyes to be with you again
You're still alive, the world is in your hand
Dream on dreamer
and the sun will always shine down on you
Keep on dreaming
It's alright, feel alive
Dream on dreamer
and the world keeps spinning 'round and 'round you go
Don't stop dreaming
It's alright, we're alive
We're alive
...
I'll light your name across the sky
I'll be with you 'til the end of time
Don't wake me up
I'm reaching for your hands
I'll never go to break your heart
No matter if you're near or far
Just close your eyes, to be with me again
You're still alive, the world is in your hand
Dream on dreamer
and the sun will always shine down on you
Keep on dreaming
It's alright, feel alive
Dream on dreamer
and the world keeps spinning 'round and 'round you go
Don't stop dreaming
It's alright, we're alive (We're alive)
Dream on dreamer
and the sun will always shine down on you
Keep on dreaming
It's alright, feel alive
Dream on dreamer
and the world keeps spinning 'round and 'round you go
Don't stop dreaming
It's alright, we're alive
----End----
Natalie, Yanou and Manian probably do not yet know that this song is about a plane crash. This song communicates the hope that the two characters have in their new life together.
This song gave the name to the aircraft, Autumn Rain: a NorSTOL K270 turboprop airliner on Mountain Lights Flight 929, which went down in the Rocky Mountains in either Alberta or BC, around 57deg lattitude north in early December of the year 12BFR (Before Flying Romance). The story has developed considerably since its conception, but I'll leave further details for publication.
On 16 June 2009, after the third pass of script work, I queried Youtube for "Autumn Rain" and found a shocker: Tears of Autumn Rain by Eternal Tears of Sorrow. It was the only significant hit. It is Track 3 of Children of The Dark (no North American distributor; Massacre Records for Europe; Marquee/Avalon for Asia)
I cried again. It even has the sound of an aircraft alarm in the background of the second verse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSi5dJlVxcQ
----Begin----
It's autumn night, the pale moon reveals my emptiness
And the hollow wrath and fear inside
I close my eyes to sense her nightly lust again
But my rage and thirst won't fade away
The nightly mist, the scent of autumn in my heart
I can hear the winter's song again
My will of life falls away like golden leaves
I'm just a flame who dies in shades
Let me feel your pain, tears of Autumn Rain
Words of blood on shore: "There is light no more"
Freezing gale of night silent stream of night
Lay us down to sleep on the crimson leaves
...
Let me feel your pain, tears of Autumn Rain
Words of blood on shore: "There is light no more"
Freezing gale of night silent stream of light
Lay us down to sleep on the crimson leaves
Let me feel your pain, tears of Autumn Rain
Words of blood on shore: "There is light no more"
Freezing gale of night silent stream of light
Lay us down to sleep on the crimson leaves
----End----
The male character realizes later that he has destroyed his family worse than he would have if he had not accepted the gift of wings. This song confirms to me that he made the wrong decision. Storyvoice has affirmed that he made the wrong decision several different ways; I think it wants me to express why adultery is so destructive ... that adultery is so destructive in fact, that it is not worth committing to gain the wings of an angel!
(25 June edit: Buffalo, not Denver (sheesh), and several paragraph spacing glitches; also added exact discography for EToS ToAR)
So they share the wings. At this point in the conception, the Storyvoice whispers, "He has a wife and two kids...deal with it." I, the author of this disaster, cried. I also realized that the story has an important message.
This is the Cascada Song, Track 6 of Perfect Day (Robbins Entertainment 2008)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyk5PDrP7YI (haleymeadows lyrics; rip has skips)
----Begin----
The Autumn Rain is falling down
through the clouds, hits the ground
wash away traces in the sand
And yesterday is so far away
You disappeared, love was here
I close my eyes to be with you again
You're still alive, the world is in your hand
Dream on dreamer
and the sun will always shine down on you
Keep on dreaming
It's alright, feel alive
Dream on dreamer
and the world keeps spinning 'round and 'round you go
Don't stop dreaming
It's alright, we're alive
We're alive
...
I'll light your name across the sky
I'll be with you 'til the end of time
Don't wake me up
I'm reaching for your hands
I'll never go to break your heart
No matter if you're near or far
Just close your eyes, to be with me again
You're still alive, the world is in your hand
Dream on dreamer
and the sun will always shine down on you
Keep on dreaming
It's alright, feel alive
Dream on dreamer
and the world keeps spinning 'round and 'round you go
Don't stop dreaming
It's alright, we're alive (We're alive)
Dream on dreamer
and the sun will always shine down on you
Keep on dreaming
It's alright, feel alive
Dream on dreamer
and the world keeps spinning 'round and 'round you go
Don't stop dreaming
It's alright, we're alive
----End----
Natalie, Yanou and Manian probably do not yet know that this song is about a plane crash. This song communicates the hope that the two characters have in their new life together.
This song gave the name to the aircraft, Autumn Rain: a NorSTOL K270 turboprop airliner on Mountain Lights Flight 929, which went down in the Rocky Mountains in either Alberta or BC, around 57deg lattitude north in early December of the year 12BFR (Before Flying Romance). The story has developed considerably since its conception, but I'll leave further details for publication.
On 16 June 2009, after the third pass of script work, I queried Youtube for "Autumn Rain" and found a shocker: Tears of Autumn Rain by Eternal Tears of Sorrow. It was the only significant hit. It is Track 3 of Children of The Dark (no North American distributor; Massacre Records for Europe; Marquee/Avalon for Asia)
I cried again. It even has the sound of an aircraft alarm in the background of the second verse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSi5dJlVxcQ
----Begin----
It's autumn night, the pale moon reveals my emptiness
And the hollow wrath and fear inside
I close my eyes to sense her nightly lust again
But my rage and thirst won't fade away
The nightly mist, the scent of autumn in my heart
I can hear the winter's song again
My will of life falls away like golden leaves
I'm just a flame who dies in shades
Let me feel your pain, tears of Autumn Rain
Words of blood on shore: "There is light no more"
Freezing gale of night silent stream of night
Lay us down to sleep on the crimson leaves
...
Let me feel your pain, tears of Autumn Rain
Words of blood on shore: "There is light no more"
Freezing gale of night silent stream of light
Lay us down to sleep on the crimson leaves
Let me feel your pain, tears of Autumn Rain
Words of blood on shore: "There is light no more"
Freezing gale of night silent stream of light
Lay us down to sleep on the crimson leaves
----End----
The male character realizes later that he has destroyed his family worse than he would have if he had not accepted the gift of wings. This song confirms to me that he made the wrong decision. Storyvoice has affirmed that he made the wrong decision several different ways; I think it wants me to express why adultery is so destructive ... that adultery is so destructive in fact, that it is not worth committing to gain the wings of an angel!
(25 June edit: Buffalo, not Denver (sheesh), and several paragraph spacing glitches; also added exact discography for EToS ToAR)
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Visions: Inside The Fire
I happened to first hit this song on Youtube right after typing this:16.23: Juubi winces, “If we join now … we will become our monsters … You … the Haifun I want to spend the rest of my life with,” she reacts with surprise at those words as he continues, “you do not need this.” (090607 14:15 MDT) This is merely the latest experience that tells me this story is emerging from the mind of the universe through my hands and is not actually my own creation
The original name for the character is "Devon"; Haifun's name is actually more prescient since it is Japanese (and other Asian languages) for Ashes.
The voice of the song is very similar to that of Juubi's "monster", the unhealthy fantasies in his mind that have taken on a life of their own. Haifun's monster is not based on her fantasies, but her experience (I'm concerned this song might contain a nasty spoiler about that.)
-----------------
(Laughs)
Oooooh, Haifun won't go to heaven
she's just another lost soul about to be mine again
Leave her, we will receive her
It is beyond your control, will you ever meet again?
Haifun, no longer living
Who had been rendered unwhole as a little child
She was taken, and then forsaken
You will remember it all, let it blow your mind again
Haifun lies beyond this portal
Take the word of one immortal
Give your soul to me for eternity
Release your life to begin another time with her
End your grief with me, there's another way
Release your life, take your place inside the fire with her
Sever, now and forever
You're just another lost soul about to be mine again
See her, you'll never free her
You must surrender it all if you'd like to meet again
Fire for your desire
As she begins to turn cold for the final time
You will shiver, till you deliver
You will remember it all, let it blow your mind again
Haifun lies beyond this portal
Take the word of one immortal
Give your soul to me for eternity
Release your life to begin another time with her
End your grief with me, there's another way
Release your life, take your place inside the fire with her
...
Take me away, yeah
...
Give your soul to me for eternity
Release your life to begin another time with her
End your grief with me, there's another way
Release your life, take your place inside the fire with her
Oooooh, Haifun, no longer living
Who had been rendered unwhole as a little child
She was taken, and then forsaken
You will remember it all, let it blow your mind again, man
The original name for the character is "Devon"; Haifun's name is actually more prescient since it is Japanese (and other Asian languages) for Ashes.
The voice of the song is very similar to that of Juubi's "monster", the unhealthy fantasies in his mind that have taken on a life of their own. Haifun's monster is not based on her fantasies, but her experience (I'm concerned this song might contain a nasty spoiler about that.)
-----------------
(Laughs)
Oooooh, Haifun won't go to heaven
she's just another lost soul about to be mine again
Leave her, we will receive her
It is beyond your control, will you ever meet again?
Haifun, no longer living
Who had been rendered unwhole as a little child
She was taken, and then forsaken
You will remember it all, let it blow your mind again
Haifun lies beyond this portal
Take the word of one immortal
Give your soul to me for eternity
Release your life to begin another time with her
End your grief with me, there's another way
Release your life, take your place inside the fire with her
Sever, now and forever
You're just another lost soul about to be mine again
See her, you'll never free her
You must surrender it all if you'd like to meet again
Fire for your desire
As she begins to turn cold for the final time
You will shiver, till you deliver
You will remember it all, let it blow your mind again
Haifun lies beyond this portal
Take the word of one immortal
Give your soul to me for eternity
Release your life to begin another time with her
End your grief with me, there's another way
Release your life, take your place inside the fire with her
...
Take me away, yeah
...
Give your soul to me for eternity
Release your life to begin another time with her
End your grief with me, there's another way
Release your life, take your place inside the fire with her
Oooooh, Haifun, no longer living
Who had been rendered unwhole as a little child
She was taken, and then forsaken
You will remember it all, let it blow your mind again, man
Monday, June 8, 2009
Remix Chapter 5: Recovery
Read first if you haven't already: http://featherwinglove.blogspot.com/2009/06/remix-visions-indestructible.html
DISCLAIMER: References to features of religions or faith beliefs do not necessarily mean that the authors, Terry Wilson, Matthew Costello, and Yoshitoshi ABe (or anyone else for that matter), take them seriously. All characters featured are new; none appear in either FWL, Doom 3, or Haibane Renmei. Also, don't forget that this is a work of fiction, not prophecy. This story was written by Terry Wilson, who makes no copyright claims against the concepts of the other authors. This work will never be commercially published without the permission of the copyright holders for all three worlds.
---------------
"I wasn't planning to touch the wall when I came out here, so it's a good thing you followed me," Tatakai says.
Shinomi responds, "I'm glad we found enough string to make it all the way. We don't have the same ability to navigate like you, Tatakai."
"It can be learned," Tatakai explains, then gasps, "I can feel it already, the dose must be huge. You drive. In about an hour, I will have no sense of balance."
They mount the scooter Tatakai left at the bridge and start driving. Shinomi says, "No one has ever touched the wall before. I don't know what to do."
Tatakai responds, "I seriously doubt you're correct. I remember my own kind had trouble remembering their history very far back. It seems like the Haibane have the same problem. If no one had ever touched the wall before, It doesn't seem likely that the Temple Garden would have everything we need to treat delta radiation poisoning. I'll write up a list when we get back. Who knows the garden best?"
"Kurai," says Shinomi.
"Just as I thought," says Tatakai.
Back at the guest room, Tatakai sits in a chair at the table. Menmo tapes a pencil to her right index finger. "You are freezing cold," she gasps, "How can you stand it."
"Easily," sighs Tatakai, "the radiation has screwed up my nerves so much that I barely feel anything. It also feels like I've lost a couple of stones of weight ... like I'm being vaporized from the inside out. I remember how it messed up the extra senses I had in my previous life ... it was quite unnerving to not hear the ground any more."
Tatakai continues to write her list of herbal ingredients. "Pick them in this order," she says, "The ones that need to be fresh are at the end. If you pick them first, they will lose their medicinal value before you get back. I don't remember how this remedy works, although I'm sure I once knew. All I know is that this is it. Hurry, I might be the only person in the city who can defend it."
Shimoni drives with Kurai to the temple. Shimoni is the only person who can take a scooter around the catwalk, although this will the first time she's ever done it with a passenger.
"Menmo," Tatakai sighs, "help me to the bed." At this point Tatakai can't walk on her own. Unable to even stand, Menmo picks her off her feet and carries her to the bed.
"Tatakai," Menmo remarks gravely, "If this keeps up, you're going to start growing frost."
"It won't," Tatakai says, "In about an hour, my temperature will skyrocket so much you'll think I'll burn the place down." Uselessly feeling her own forehead, she adds, "Perhaps it will help if you get a bath started, one that is slightly cool to the touch," she gasps. "I'm scared, this is I think about four or five times the dose I got in my previous life."
The two Haibane on the scooter drive it around the catwalk at high speed. Shimoni says, "We can't slow down, or the lift of our wings will not hold us to the wall. Both are bent forward on the almost sideways moped.
Kurai responds, "You know how easily we could die right now?"
"Yeah," Shinomi squeals, "Our odds are still better than Tatakai's."
They halt at the temple, jumping off the scooter before it is even stopped. Kurai has her list out. Without waiting for permission to speak, she says to the Washi, "Tatakai has repaired the West Wood wall ... part of that light show you couldn't have missed if you were anywhere near a west facing window. She used the light of The Savior against an enemy that was attacking it from outside."
"Who flew?" the Washi asks.
Shinomi responds immediately, "No one, athough I'm sure Tatakai could fly whenever she dang well wants." (They refer to the Day of Flight for Haibane.)
The Washi gasps as Kurai starts going about, following her list. "This one," she points out a tree to Shinomi, "then that one ... second and third on the list ... I'll get the first, fourth and fifth ones over there."
The Washi says, "How do you know which herbs and what order?"
Kurai answers, "Tatakai made this list. She remembers the recipe from her previous life."
The two Haibane race through their list and have it ready in twenty minutes. The Washi notices, "How did you get the scooter here?"
"Very carefully," Shinomi points out as she takes off at high speed. The sun is just starting to rise.
They arrive at Old Home to an alarming scene. Tatakai (in her robe) is in a steaming bath with a towel over her head.
Kurai gasps, "Menmo, what the heck? A hot bath is the last thing she needs!"
Kurai says this just in time to see Menmo set an old freezer's evaporator coil in Tatakai's lap under the water. "This heat is coming from her," Menmo says, "I ran out of ice almost an hour ago." To Tatakai, she asks, "Is that helping?"
Tatakai nods. As Menmo pours some water over her head to cool the towel.
Kurai and Shinomi make haste to get the medicine prepared. "Oh, crap!" one mutters as she grinds up the herbs in a mortar.
Menmo comes in as the brew steeps, "What a stench!" she cries. She carries it into the washroom, where they hold it to Tatakai's lips. She can't lift her arms out of the water, but slinks lower into the tub to increase the angle, aggressively consuming the brew.
Once swallowed, Tatakai throws up half of it into the bath. "Ew ... the flavour's about right, I hope I got enough of it down."
Kurai then asks, "When will we know?"
Rasping, Tatakai answers, "About an hour ... either way."
DISCLAIMER: References to features of religions or faith beliefs do not necessarily mean that the authors, Terry Wilson, Matthew Costello, and Yoshitoshi ABe (or anyone else for that matter), take them seriously. All characters featured are new; none appear in either FWL, Doom 3, or Haibane Renmei. Also, don't forget that this is a work of fiction, not prophecy. This story was written by Terry Wilson, who makes no copyright claims against the concepts of the other authors. This work will never be commercially published without the permission of the copyright holders for all three worlds.
---------------
"I wasn't planning to touch the wall when I came out here, so it's a good thing you followed me," Tatakai says.
Shinomi responds, "I'm glad we found enough string to make it all the way. We don't have the same ability to navigate like you, Tatakai."
"It can be learned," Tatakai explains, then gasps, "I can feel it already, the dose must be huge. You drive. In about an hour, I will have no sense of balance."
They mount the scooter Tatakai left at the bridge and start driving. Shinomi says, "No one has ever touched the wall before. I don't know what to do."
Tatakai responds, "I seriously doubt you're correct. I remember my own kind had trouble remembering their history very far back. It seems like the Haibane have the same problem. If no one had ever touched the wall before, It doesn't seem likely that the Temple Garden would have everything we need to treat delta radiation poisoning. I'll write up a list when we get back. Who knows the garden best?"
"Kurai," says Shinomi.
"Just as I thought," says Tatakai.
Back at the guest room, Tatakai sits in a chair at the table. Menmo tapes a pencil to her right index finger. "You are freezing cold," she gasps, "How can you stand it."
"Easily," sighs Tatakai, "the radiation has screwed up my nerves so much that I barely feel anything. It also feels like I've lost a couple of stones of weight ... like I'm being vaporized from the inside out. I remember how it messed up the extra senses I had in my previous life ... it was quite unnerving to not hear the ground any more."
Tatakai continues to write her list of herbal ingredients. "Pick them in this order," she says, "The ones that need to be fresh are at the end. If you pick them first, they will lose their medicinal value before you get back. I don't remember how this remedy works, although I'm sure I once knew. All I know is that this is it. Hurry, I might be the only person in the city who can defend it."
Shimoni drives with Kurai to the temple. Shimoni is the only person who can take a scooter around the catwalk, although this will the first time she's ever done it with a passenger.
"Menmo," Tatakai sighs, "help me to the bed." At this point Tatakai can't walk on her own. Unable to even stand, Menmo picks her off her feet and carries her to the bed.
"Tatakai," Menmo remarks gravely, "If this keeps up, you're going to start growing frost."
"It won't," Tatakai says, "In about an hour, my temperature will skyrocket so much you'll think I'll burn the place down." Uselessly feeling her own forehead, she adds, "Perhaps it will help if you get a bath started, one that is slightly cool to the touch," she gasps. "I'm scared, this is I think about four or five times the dose I got in my previous life."
The two Haibane on the scooter drive it around the catwalk at high speed. Shimoni says, "We can't slow down, or the lift of our wings will not hold us to the wall. Both are bent forward on the almost sideways moped.
Kurai responds, "You know how easily we could die right now?"
"Yeah," Shinomi squeals, "Our odds are still better than Tatakai's."
They halt at the temple, jumping off the scooter before it is even stopped. Kurai has her list out. Without waiting for permission to speak, she says to the Washi, "Tatakai has repaired the West Wood wall ... part of that light show you couldn't have missed if you were anywhere near a west facing window. She used the light of The Savior against an enemy that was attacking it from outside."
"Who flew?" the Washi asks.
Shinomi responds immediately, "No one, athough I'm sure Tatakai could fly whenever she dang well wants." (They refer to the Day of Flight for Haibane.)
The Washi gasps as Kurai starts going about, following her list. "This one," she points out a tree to Shinomi, "then that one ... second and third on the list ... I'll get the first, fourth and fifth ones over there."
The Washi says, "How do you know which herbs and what order?"
Kurai answers, "Tatakai made this list. She remembers the recipe from her previous life."
The two Haibane race through their list and have it ready in twenty minutes. The Washi notices, "How did you get the scooter here?"
"Very carefully," Shinomi points out as she takes off at high speed. The sun is just starting to rise.
They arrive at Old Home to an alarming scene. Tatakai (in her robe) is in a steaming bath with a towel over her head.
Kurai gasps, "Menmo, what the heck? A hot bath is the last thing she needs!"
Kurai says this just in time to see Menmo set an old freezer's evaporator coil in Tatakai's lap under the water. "This heat is coming from her," Menmo says, "I ran out of ice almost an hour ago." To Tatakai, she asks, "Is that helping?"
Tatakai nods. As Menmo pours some water over her head to cool the towel.
Kurai and Shinomi make haste to get the medicine prepared. "Oh, crap!" one mutters as she grinds up the herbs in a mortar.
Menmo comes in as the brew steeps, "What a stench!" she cries. She carries it into the washroom, where they hold it to Tatakai's lips. She can't lift her arms out of the water, but slinks lower into the tub to increase the angle, aggressively consuming the brew.
Once swallowed, Tatakai throws up half of it into the bath. "Ew ... the flavour's about right, I hope I got enough of it down."
Kurai then asks, "When will we know?"
Rasping, Tatakai answers, "About an hour ... either way."
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Remix Visions: Indestructible
It is a song she heard as a child in her previous life, even before her flying wings had grown. Almost a hundred years before she was born, it was written by a band named Disturbed, but she doesn't remember that part.
First the sounds of an ancient battle fill her ears, ancient even by the standards she was used to as a Featherwing, although today she can't help but imagine the characteristic final cry of the creature she forgets is called an "Imp" or the discharge buzz of her super-cannon [BFG 9000] The sounds of her kind flapping through the air, and the ancient cry of an airstrike warning siren.
She walks up to the wall on the other side of the West Wood, very easily keeping her bearings this cloudless night. Even without the moon, stars, and watch, she could find her way back by a series of distinctive trees she looked at for that purpose. She was compelled to come here, knowing that she was going to return. She stares purposefully at it, then begins to sing her song.
"Another mission: the powers have called me away
Another time to carry the colors again
My motivation: An oath I've sworn to defend
To win the honor of coming back home again
"No explanation will matter after we begin
Unlock the dark destroyer that's buried within
My true vocation, and now my unfortunate friend"
She defiantly points her finger at the wall, remembering, even as those ancient forces of darkness obviously won her war. No power can stand up to The Saviour.
"You will discover a war you're unable to win"
"I'll have you know
That I've become
Indestructible"
Her wings begin to glow, starting to outshine her halo ... maybe she hasn't noticed.
"Determination that is incorruptible
From the other side, a terror to behold
Annihilation will be unavoidable
Every broken enemy will know
That their opponent had to be invincible
Take a last look around
While you're alive
I'm an indestructible
Master of War"
A straight bolt of light flies straight up out of her body into the sky for a few seconds. She starts pacing back and forth in front of the wall, either ignoring or encouraged by this light. It fades as she continues to sing.
"Another reason, another cause for me to fight
Another fuse uncovered for now for me to light
My dedication to all that I've sworn to protect
I carry on my orders with not a regret "
She reaches over and strokes her own wings while she continues to sing:
"A declaration embedded deep under my skin
A permanent reminder of how we began
No hesitation when I am commanding the strike
You need to know that you're in for the fight of your life"
The glow starts again.
"You will be shown
How I've become..."
Flashes in several directions accompany the song's title word
"Indestructible"
She starts pointing her arms and gesturing, to see how much command she has over this new light.
"Determination that is incorruptible
From the other side, a terror to behold
Annihilation will be unavoidable
Every broken enemy will know
That their opponent had to be invincible
Take a last look around
While you're alive
I'm an indestructible
Master of War"
For thirty six seconds she is silent, listening to the song in her head. She realizes that the light she now wields is combatting the darkness of the night, and the evil just on the other side of the badly deteriorated wall. She figure that it's probably been neglected because of the delta radiation seeping through it. Suddenly sensing that the evil she chants against is trying to regroup, she holds out her arms and continues to sing:
"I'm Indestructible
Determination that is incorruptible
From the other side, a terror to behold
Annihilation will be unavoidable
Every broken enemy will know
That their opponent had to be invincible
Take a last look around
While you're alive
I am indestructible, indestructible"
She reaches out and plants both hands flat on the face of the wall, singing ever more loudly, commanding her light through the wall to the other side. She has no idea what she's battling. The light swirls off her fingers, along and through the wall.
"Indestructible
Determination that is incorruptible
From the other side, a terror to behold
Annihilation will be unavoidable
Every broken enemy will know
That their opponent had to be invincible"
The light is somehow repairing the wall in front of her. She spreads her arms wide in front of the wall, commanding her light to repair the entire height in front of her.
"Take a last look around
While you're alive
I'm an indestructible
Master of War"
On the other side of the wall is a frustrated and mortally injured Hogosho, a modern evolution of the ancient Guardian, Tatakai could so easily defeat on the wing with BFGs and rocket launchers. This Hogosho had built in eyes, and was by her reckoning, entirely invulnerable to any weapon she had previously encountered. But she hadn't previously encountered this. She had been ramming herself against this part of the wall for well over a year, learning from the Toga that it was not inhabited on the other side. She thought the Haibane were harmless, especially these little girls, scared not just of the wall itself, but of the woods between it and their home. The Hogosho had been looking forward to a feathery snack, curious as to how similar they might be to the extinct Featherwing creatures that almost wiped them out at Armageddon.
She collapses, dying in front of the intact wall, twitching and groaning. She realizes as she slips out of consciousness, that there was only one power left that could have defeated her at all, let alone so easily: that of The Savior.
........
Menmo catches up to the ancient warrior first, rather surprised to see Tatakai standing there in front of the wall. Kurai is next.
"You're still here!" she cries.
Tatakai scoffs, "What? Where else would I be?"
Menmo explains, "The light we saw looked just like a Day of Flight. We thought you had left us forever. I was a little skittish because you've only been with us for two months."
Shinomi catches up, then gasps, "Oh my! They fixed it!"
Tatakai turns and asks in an almost disgusted tone, "Who's they?"
Shinomi says, "The Toga, I think."
Tatakai turns back to the wall and says, "I fixed it myself ... with help from the Savior, of course. The enemy was damaging it on the other side, so I sent some light through the wall." Then she asks Kurai, "Do you know your way around that herb garden? ... I have a nasty case of delta radiation poisoning. Something was trying to get through ... perhaps I'll never know what."
First the sounds of an ancient battle fill her ears, ancient even by the standards she was used to as a Featherwing, although today she can't help but imagine the characteristic final cry of the creature she forgets is called an "Imp" or the discharge buzz of her super-cannon [BFG 9000] The sounds of her kind flapping through the air, and the ancient cry of an airstrike warning siren.
She walks up to the wall on the other side of the West Wood, very easily keeping her bearings this cloudless night. Even without the moon, stars, and watch, she could find her way back by a series of distinctive trees she looked at for that purpose. She was compelled to come here, knowing that she was going to return. She stares purposefully at it, then begins to sing her song.
"Another mission: the powers have called me away
Another time to carry the colors again
My motivation: An oath I've sworn to defend
To win the honor of coming back home again
"No explanation will matter after we begin
Unlock the dark destroyer that's buried within
My true vocation, and now my unfortunate friend"
She defiantly points her finger at the wall, remembering, even as those ancient forces of darkness obviously won her war. No power can stand up to The Saviour.
"You will discover a war you're unable to win"
"I'll have you know
That I've become
Indestructible"
Her wings begin to glow, starting to outshine her halo ... maybe she hasn't noticed.
"Determination that is incorruptible
From the other side, a terror to behold
Annihilation will be unavoidable
Every broken enemy will know
That their opponent had to be invincible
Take a last look around
While you're alive
I'm an indestructible
Master of War"
A straight bolt of light flies straight up out of her body into the sky for a few seconds. She starts pacing back and forth in front of the wall, either ignoring or encouraged by this light. It fades as she continues to sing.
"Another reason, another cause for me to fight
Another fuse uncovered for now for me to light
My dedication to all that I've sworn to protect
I carry on my orders with not a regret "
She reaches over and strokes her own wings while she continues to sing:
"A declaration embedded deep under my skin
A permanent reminder of how we began
No hesitation when I am commanding the strike
You need to know that you're in for the fight of your life"
The glow starts again.
"You will be shown
How I've become..."
Flashes in several directions accompany the song's title word
"Indestructible"
She starts pointing her arms and gesturing, to see how much command she has over this new light.
"Determination that is incorruptible
From the other side, a terror to behold
Annihilation will be unavoidable
Every broken enemy will know
That their opponent had to be invincible
Take a last look around
While you're alive
I'm an indestructible
Master of War"
For thirty six seconds she is silent, listening to the song in her head. She realizes that the light she now wields is combatting the darkness of the night, and the evil just on the other side of the badly deteriorated wall. She figure that it's probably been neglected because of the delta radiation seeping through it. Suddenly sensing that the evil she chants against is trying to regroup, she holds out her arms and continues to sing:
"I'm Indestructible
Determination that is incorruptible
From the other side, a terror to behold
Annihilation will be unavoidable
Every broken enemy will know
That their opponent had to be invincible
Take a last look around
While you're alive
I am indestructible, indestructible"
She reaches out and plants both hands flat on the face of the wall, singing ever more loudly, commanding her light through the wall to the other side. She has no idea what she's battling. The light swirls off her fingers, along and through the wall.
"Indestructible
Determination that is incorruptible
From the other side, a terror to behold
Annihilation will be unavoidable
Every broken enemy will know
That their opponent had to be invincible"
The light is somehow repairing the wall in front of her. She spreads her arms wide in front of the wall, commanding her light to repair the entire height in front of her.
"Take a last look around
While you're alive
I'm an indestructible
Master of War"
On the other side of the wall is a frustrated and mortally injured Hogosho, a modern evolution of the ancient Guardian, Tatakai could so easily defeat on the wing with BFGs and rocket launchers. This Hogosho had built in eyes, and was by her reckoning, entirely invulnerable to any weapon she had previously encountered. But she hadn't previously encountered this. She had been ramming herself against this part of the wall for well over a year, learning from the Toga that it was not inhabited on the other side. She thought the Haibane were harmless, especially these little girls, scared not just of the wall itself, but of the woods between it and their home. The Hogosho had been looking forward to a feathery snack, curious as to how similar they might be to the extinct Featherwing creatures that almost wiped them out at Armageddon.
She collapses, dying in front of the intact wall, twitching and groaning. She realizes as she slips out of consciousness, that there was only one power left that could have defeated her at all, let alone so easily: that of The Savior.
........
Menmo catches up to the ancient warrior first, rather surprised to see Tatakai standing there in front of the wall. Kurai is next.
"You're still here!" she cries.
Tatakai scoffs, "What? Where else would I be?"
Menmo explains, "The light we saw looked just like a Day of Flight. We thought you had left us forever. I was a little skittish because you've only been with us for two months."
Shinomi catches up, then gasps, "Oh my! They fixed it!"
Tatakai turns and asks in an almost disgusted tone, "Who's they?"
Shinomi says, "The Toga, I think."
Tatakai turns back to the wall and says, "I fixed it myself ... with help from the Savior, of course. The enemy was damaging it on the other side, so I sent some light through the wall." Then she asks Kurai, "Do you know your way around that herb garden? ... I have a nasty case of delta radiation poisoning. Something was trying to get through ... perhaps I'll never know what."
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