It was cool and damp out. The moon was barely
negligible in a black sky. Jack, Jill and Korelia were
the only life out on the beach. Jill was lying on her
side near the burnt out remnants of their bonfire with
a bottle of Scotch Ripple next to her. Jack was
jumping from sandy rock to sandy rock as the spray
from the waves soaked his clothing. He turned to
Korelia who was sitting in the sand near Jill.
�Will you check and see if my sister is dead yet?" He asked her.
Kore raised her eyebrows and glanced over at Jill. Jill turned over and started snoring. "Yeah. She's done for�.
Jack laughed and turned back throwing his arms open to the Sea. "Well, it�s not the first time she's done that."
Kore smiled slightly and patted Jill's face. "That's our baby."
Jack laughed again and closed his eyes. "Will you get a tape recorder so I can prove that she DOES snore? We've been fighting about it since we were little."
Korelia pulled a tape recorder from behind her. "I already thought of that." She put the recorder back down and stumbled to her feet with a broken giggle.
Jack, who had been slowly walking to the edge of the jetty, turned around quickly. He cocked his head to the side and looked at Korelia. "Where are you going?"
Kore looked at him with huge and innocent green eyes. "Who? Me? No where.� She then stumbled and fell down in a heap of laughter.
�You are so drunk." He said shaking his head and letting his arms fall to his sides. He then jumped backwards off the jetty and into the semi-shallow water.
Kore looked at the spot where he had been a moment before. Her eyes were still big, as if she was taking in the night as a newborn. She half walked half crawled to the end of the jetty. She could see a wavering reflection as the waves hit sand and stone. She dropped to her knees and bent over, letting her hair fall into the water.
Sitting up she looks around. "I anmot. I an perfectly fine thankyoumistersleepwithme. I am...." Korelia paused and leaned back to catch her balance. �drunk."
Jack splashed up on the other side of the jetty. He pulled himself out of the water and rung out his braid. Walking up behind her he said, "Yes m'dear, you are very...... Drunk."
Kore flung her hair back and into Jack's face. She giggled again. And said �Oh, what? And your NOT drunk?"
Jack rubbed his face and looked soberly at the far away lights of the village. �Nope. I have no tolerance for alcohol. You know, cause dad......with the eyes and stuff...."
�Mm. Fucking prick. Someone should string him up by his testicles. Sonufashiteatnharpy." Jack looked over at his sleeping counterpart. "He's not so bad when you ignore me. Although mother really didn't want him to give us those tattoos. It could've been worse."
Kore looked at him and her eye twitched. "Yeah? Well you don't have one on your fucking tit do you?" She wrinkled her nose and then such thoughts suddenly disappeared. Turning to Jack enthusiastically. "I got a great idea! Lets spar!."
Jack shook out his hair like a dog. "No, let's not. We'll both fall and/or hurt ourselves. Wait till I have eyes for the light and we can use our sparring room.�
Kore shrugged and immediately tried to regain her balance.
"And at least he only touches your tit, I wish he'd leave my ass alone." Jack added morosely.
Jack frowned back at her overdramatically reminding her of a normal father talking to an overzealous child. "Yes, it means we're not gonna spar right now, hun."
Kore turned up her nose and primly looks very competent........ "What, you don't think I can hold my own?� ....for two seconds and then teetered to one side and tried again to stop herself from falling.
Jack shook his head and sat down beside her, looking out at the sea. "No, I just don't know of any equal fighting grounds we could meet on."
She turned around in the sand and put her head on Jack shoulder while staring at the sea. "Will things get better? I mean really ever get better?"
Jack sighed and dug something out of his soggy pocket with some difficulty. "Can they get any worse?"
Her face screwed up for a moment in contemplation. "Well I suppose that monsters could fall from the moon and devour us....... Wait. That would be an improvement. I suppose your right. Things can't get much worse."
�But if they do...." Jack grabbed Kore's hand and plunked something cold and wet into it.
Kore gave him a bewildered look to him before inspecting the object. It was a silver dragon armlet.
Jack started to stare into the stars. "Found that in the sea just now.�
Kore turned it around in her hands. It was a combination of chain and plate mail. She could tell it was made to cover from elbow to wrist and was molded to look as if a dragon were devouring the wearers arm. It was greatly tarnished but strangely not rusted.
Kore looked at it in wonder and then looked at her best friend and only brother. "Thank you Jack." She said softly without knowing any other words that seemed appropriate.
Her brows furrowed as she smoothed the gauntlet in her lap. "You have been one of the few comforts to me in this world and I thank you for that." She squeezed her eyes closed trying to block memories fighting to be heard. "You don't know how much you mean."
�Well that seems to be my use in this life, huh? Comforting people. In so many ways." He graced his face with half a smile. He threw his arm around Kore and gave her a soft squeeze. "But I don't mind comforting you, even if you kick my ass in sparing most of the time, you're still pretty fun to hang around with when things get shitty." Jack looked over at Jill who rolled onto her stomach and snored louder. "And her.... Will you always look out for her, too?"
An unbidden tear slipped down her cheek and she hugged him back with a smile. �That's what I do." She smirked slightly. "Keep your asses out of fires." Kore yawned softly. "You know its funny. I suddenly don't want anything to change."
Jack wiped away her tear that had suddenly become four or five with his thumb. He placed a light kiss on her forehead. "Me either. If it changes, everything will fall apart."
She gave him another squeeze. "Then lets never change. Lets never grow apart and always be the loving family we wouldn't have otherwise."
Jack looked down and let go of Kore. "But... It can't. You, and I, and the passed out drunk girl over there know it. It'll have to change, so things can get rock bottom, and then better." He shrugged. "Or we all die and reincarnate and find each other again."
She smiles and laughed a little. "Sounds like a plan to me." She paused and in sisterly way said "I love you Jack."
Jack got up and ruffled her hair. With a bored air, he flipped into a handstand. �I love you too, munchkin."
Korelia's eyebrow lifted and she turned to glare at him. "What did you call me? Do you know what I could do to you?"
Jack flipped back to his feet and laughed nervously. He danced backwards a little, lifting his bare feet in a high marching motion. "Well.... you wouldn't take advantage of someone who was just operated on, would you? He then eloquently stumbled on a loose rock and fell, straddling the jetty he had backed himself onto. �I mean," he winced and started crab-walking away. �......that would be just cruel......"
�Damn. You know very well I couldn't." *twitch* "And your right," *twitchtwich* "It would be horribly mean of me." *twitchspasm*
Jack looked over as Kore's shoulders jerked and went limp.
�Nyao?" She licked her hand and started rubbing her face.
Jack blinked confusedly and got up, keeping a distance, but still watching Kore. "You're....alright, right?�
Hearing Jack speak seems to suddenly attract her attention and she turns her body to face him. At first she seems unconcerned but then quickly shifts to a crouch and her leg muscles bunch. Her head cocks to the side before lowering to align with her body and she starts to smirk solemnly.
�Ah crap." Jack turned and started into a light run, glancing over his shoulder frequently.
Korelia busted out laughing. She fell over onto her side and started to cackle cruelly. Jill woke up and looked at her. She Shook her head only slightly before falling back to sleep.
�Jack! Jack! I'm sorry. I was joking! Wuhaha!" Kore clutched her stomach and staring as he tuned around and started to stare at her. "I was only playing."
He circled around Jill, putting her in between them, stood, still keeping tense with his shoulders up and being more than ready to start running again. "Joking? Right, I've seen what you do to the couch cushions when you're 'playing'. I'm not too interested or coordinated enough to play with a tiger."
�He he. Hell, you'll just have to remember not to call me that again. Or...." Kore bunched and pounced quickly and landed with enough precision to knock Jack down but not hurt him..... much. "You get pounced.� She carefully settled into the sand beside him feeling very satisfied with herself.
Jack his head trying not to puke from dizziness. "Whatever, munchkin."
Kore raised her eyebrow at the name again and put one hand on Jacks head. She channeled her healing into him. "Sure thing Jackle."
Jack pulled away and rolled onto his side into the sand, squeezing his eyes closed. "Don't. Please. Magic REALLY messes with the medicine. Remember? It hurts. Always."
Kore shrugged in the sand "Sorry."
� S'ok."
�You know, I have a feeling that we're going to be great grown-ups one day. Just no time in the next two and a half decades." She smiled and reached out her arm to Jack.
He tensed at first when he felt her hand, then loosened, turning to smile at her over his shoulder. �You think so? Wow, that's a long time to think we'll live through."
Korelia smiled. "Have hope. I'll figure out a way to keep us alive. It'll be good lives that you and I live." She beamed at him again. "trust me. We have a lot to look forward to."
Jack laughed and shook his head slowly. "And a lot not to look forward to, I'm sure." He sat up and looked back at the lights of the village. "My old man is gonna kill me for this."
Kore sat up as well and moved closer putting her arms around him. "If you can be certain of that, then also be certain that I'll do everything I can to stop him." She buried her face in his arm. "You deserve better than all this."
�Deserve better than what? This is enough to live on. A home, food, parents. I can't ask for more without being selfish."
Kore lifted her head to stare at him with disbelieving eyes. "What about love, devotion, safety? Those are the rights that all have. Anything less is injustice. Inhuman."
Jack laughed bitterly. "Injustice is fair in life. That's how the strong get by." He looked up into stars and heavens where no one cared what happened to him. Or, to the girl next to him. �Fuck, Kore. You're happier than me and you don't even have that shit."
Kore pulled away from him and crossed an arm over her chest to grasp her shoulder. �Does that make me weak?" She touched her arm softly. "Hold out some hope. If not for you then save it for me." She kissed him tenderly on the cheek as another tear slid down her face. She then slowly got up and brushed the sand from her clothes. She then turned away.
Jack got up and looked curiously out to where Kore faced. "You're leavin'?�
She turned to face him. "I don't know. I think my ego is trying to make me prove you wrong. I want to show you that we don't need the shit others give us." She took a precarious step away from him. "It doesn't have to be a life full of pain. Even though that's usually what it is." Another step. "Maybe...."
�Kore..." Jack walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "We don't need it. We crave it until we need it. The pain... It can be dealt with. Lived with."
�Maybe I can't stop it for you or I. But I will stop it for someone. I have to. otherwise, there isn't a reason to live. Not in a world like this." She looked down into the sand.
He dropped his hand and did the same. "Now you know how I feel." He laughed lightly. "Most of the time when we stop others from hurting, we injure ourselves in the process, and then we don't receive any gratitude." Jack shook his head and lifted her face to look at him. "Stopping someone else's pain isn't always worth it."
Kore pushed back her tears and moved forward into Jack not so much to lean but to just have the closeness.
He looked out at the approaching dawn at the horizon over Kore's shoulder. "You're gonna have to help me back soon. I hope everyone will be asleep."
Kore turned to watch as the sun started to shine. "My sister once said that the dawn always brought a fresh day without any mistakes in it and no bad memories."
Jack shielded his eyes behind his hand. "My sister once swore she never snored."
Kore smiled against her will and looked up into Jacks face. "We have to remedy that don't we?" She broke contact and shook Jill awake, but she stubbornly refused to move. �Should we leave her?"
Jack shook his head and bent down to scoop her up and throw her over his shoulder. He put his hand out for Kore, his sightless pupils skittering about for a hold. �I'll carry her if you won't let me trip on anything."
�You shouldn't. You could pull a stitch. But your not the kind to relent easily." She slipped her hand into his and took the lead.
He walked slowly with his head down, carefully feeling the ground under his bare feet as he went. "Glad to see you've learned my tendencies."
Kore couldn't help but laugh softly. "Of course. I know you, Jack. Your family."
Jack shook his head and tripped over a small rock. he recovered quickly and Korelia started to pull him forward again. "Nice to know someone does, I suppose."
*Twitch* �What can I say? You both are the only things I've got. Oh, and Jack. one day I will prove you wrong."
Jack chuckled and put a hand on the door to the Skal residence when they reach it. He turned for a moment, looking back out at nothingness.�Please do."
�It's beautiful, isn't it?"
�I miss the dawn very much, and I can almost see it where the shadows still linger."
Another tear rolled from her eye. Knowing that Jack was the only one that would see her cry for a very long time was somehow comforting, though. �You won't have to miss it forever. you'll be able to se it again some day.�
Jack turned in the direction of her voice, barely seeing the outlines of her face. �We'll see how much progress comes along today. You gonna crash here again today?"
�Don't have anywhere else to go. Tired or hungry?"
Jack nodded, then turned and stepped inside, dropping Jill off his shoulder onto the couch and drawing the shades.�Both and neither. The pain makes me nauseated and I'm starving. I need sleep, but I'll probably have insomnia again. My eyes hurt when I close them and it makes my head throb and its very hard to rest."
Kore grabbed a tissue from a table and blew her nose. "Come to the kitchen. I'll make breakfast and you can decide if you want to eat when it's ready.� She walked confidently into the kitchen she spent most of her time in but never really felt as together as she was making herself look.
Jack nodded again and picked Jill back up with a little bit of protest from the prone form. He carried her back to her room. "I'll be right there."
Kore started cracking eggs into a bowl and whisked flour in deftly. She set a frying pan onto the cooking range and then pulled out the preserved fruit and dough already prepared from the fridge.
Jack set Jill on her bed, took off her shoes and sandy clothes, and tucked her in like any good brother fro a smashed sibling. He went across the hall to his room and striped off his wet clothes, finding dry boxers and a plain white t-shirt.
Kore pulled out pots and pans filling some with water and others with oil and setting them out to heat. She started rolling the dough and started to place the fruit on squared pieces. She folded them over a scalloped the edges together with her efficient but preoccupied demeanor.
Jack came back out to the kitchen, seeing his mother getting up on the way, he gave her a peck on the cheek. He entered the kitchen and stretched salty and stiff muscles. He then plopped down on a stool and watched Kore at her daily routine.
Kore was far away though and thinking thoughts she didn't like. She knew she would have to leave soon. She was afraid of leaving the others though. Afraid they would feel abandoned.
�You think I'll have time to eat before he gets up and starts to work?" Jack said as he popped his neck.
�Well, I've never known him to pass up my fried fruit dumplings. she said coming out of her mind and scooping rice into two bowls. She set them in front of Jack and Mrs. Skal, who had just walked in. �I'm making okinomiaki as well." Seeing Jack's face she forced her self to give a lighthearted laugh and say, "You can decide if you want them later."
�Thanks. He took a few bites but stopped as he heard some rustling from the back of the house and running water. "Will you put up a plate for me?" he said hurriedly before scarfing the rest of his plate. He quickly gave his mother and Kore another kiss on their cheeks and puts his dish in the sink.
�Please, be Jill." Korelia said as she too heard the sounds of movement coming from elsewhere in the house.
�I don't want to risk it, if it isn't her. You can sleep in Jill's room again today, she won't notice. If...." Jack stopped and looked Kore in the eyes. "You get up at some point and I'm in the lab or dad's in my room....� He paused and again and looked at her imploringly. "Don't try to play the hero, 'kay?"
The water in the back turned off.
Kore clenched her jaw and looked into his eyes. Her resolve dissipated and she felt like crying. "Alright Jack." She couldn't look at his face. She forced her gaze to the cooking range and her eyes seemed vacant. She didn�t show how much she wanted to scream at him and pound him into the black and white linoleum for what he was asking her to ignore. Instead all she could do was push herself into his arms for a split second and pull away again. She turned back the range instead of look at him.�I love you."
Jack clenched his hands. He hated it when she turned inside. It always meant she was going to do something like not speak for and week or pull away from them emotionally. he didn't want that right now. But, for now, it would have to sit. �See you at dinner." He then sprinted out of the kitchen and into his room where he buried himself under the covers of his small bed.
Korelia watched him disappear and turned to face the stove. Another unwanted and abnormal tear slid down her face and spilled into the oil for the Dumplings.
Janet Skal had moved to stand next to Kore and help her some with the cooking. She quietly looked at her from the corner of her eye and sighed softly. "You know you're like a daughter to me, Korelia. Your helping out more around the house makes it not so lonely." She tuned the okinomiaki that was sizzling on the frying pan while Kore slipped dumplings into the hot oil. "You know you'll always have a home here for however long you need it."
Kore gave a slight half smile. "Well, I really 'aught to be doing more than I am. It so very kind of you to take me in so openly." Her answers to such praise from Mrs. Skal had become almost automatic. But, a profound sadness and a regret for something that she hadn't done yet was seeping through her and her carefully monitored phrases didnt really matter anymore. Maybe truth was better. �If I had known my mother I would like to imagine she was something like you."
Janet smiled over with the face of a loving mother. "That's very sweet of you, dear. And you pull more than yours, Jack's and Jill's weight around here.�
�He he, Kore sweat dropped. "It's the least I can do for your hospitality."
Dr. Brad Skal walked into the kitchen with the paper and sat down at the table. He threw his wife and their 'guest' and quick glance before opening the paper and starting to read the 'Medical Achievements' article. Surprise. His name was in bold print in numerous areas in the courier font.
�Oh, Nonsense." Janet said good naturedly. She then tuned to her husband. "Good morning, honey. Breakfast?"
Brad Skal looked up from the paper only briefly to mumble, "Only a little, I have to be in Esthar in an hour."
Korelia avoided looking at him as much as possible. She dished out another bowl of rice and set it with a cup of coffee in front the Dr. "Good Morning, Sir.�
�Morning, Kore, you're up early." he said eating and still reading at the same time. "You kids out late? I didn't see you come in before Janet and I went to bed."
�Ah, yes." Kore said softly. "Last night wasn't very good for sleeping. There was a beautiful moon, though." Kore's eyes alighted at the thought of it. "Very..... inspiring."
�Oh yes," Janet said with a similar look on her face. "I saw it through my window. Did you kids have fun?" she said with a wink.
Kore smiled and her cheeks reddened a bit. Janet most likely knew full well that they had gotten trashed and hadn't done much else.
�Moon? Rubbish. It's full of monsters anyways. A destructive force." Brad said in his set tone that shouted his belief that he was always right.
Kore�s eyebrow raised at a jaunty and purposefully defiant angle as she replied. �It may be that. But, there is beauty in everything. This includes destruction and......... that which causes destruction." 'I hope.� she thought.
Brad stood and folded his paper. He gave his wife a kiss and nodded to Kore. He walked over a grabbed a couple of the fruit pastries that were cooling on a plate. �I'm off then. Shuttle leaves in fifteen minutes from the cape."
�Will you be home for lunch, today?" Janet asked with a pleasant smile.
�I only have a short errand to run for Dr. Odine, and a few things I need for the lab here. I'll be back around noon." He tuned and headed for the door and called to Kore over his shoulder, "Thanks for breakfast."
�Have a good day, Sir." Kore called before he slammed the front door closed behind him.
Janet sighed and put a hand on her waist and rested her chin in the other one. �What a prick."
She shook her head as Kore reminded herself to breathe. She gave a chuckle at the statement and agreed quite readily.
�Kore, what was I thinking when I married him?"
Korelia didnt have to think long to answer her. �I have no doubt that he did not seem the same man then. Many evil beings try to hide what they are until there is no way for they're prey to escape."
She cocked her head to the side and looked at the front door where he had left. "He seems like one such evil thing. I can barely call him human any more."
Janet laughed hollowly. "I almost wish he'd sleep with me again, for hopes it would call off his venting on my children."
�If that would keep him from harming them, I would invite him into my own bed." Kore said with a touch of disgust.
Janet sighed. "I know it wouldn't help, though." She said looking at the stove. Turning back she said, "Don't think I haven't tried." Janet put her hand on Korelia's shoulder and rested her head on top of the young girl's. She sighed again. "We have too much in common, I think."
Kore smiled and put her arm around Janet. "All I know is that such trouble cannot last indefinitely. Nor can anything else." After a moment more Kore responded to Mrs. Skal's statement.�Yes, Janet. I think you and I are alike, We would sell our souls to saves those we love..... or loved."
Janet huffed a bit into her hand in agreement. She left Kore's side with a soft squeeze and started pacing about. "The part that annoys me is not being able to do anything about it now. Hyne knows there's no one to sell our souls to."
Kore smiled softly as she started doing the dishes. "No. Not yet. But they will come. And he will regret."
Janet came over and started to help her at the sink. "We'll see when the offer comes, right?" she said smiling and pouriong some water into a plant on the window sill.
�Yes. We will know. And he'll know it afterwards. Death is never quick for the evil. I know this." Her eyes became vacant again as her body mechanically sponged and rinsed plates and glasses. �I know this because I am not dead yet."
Janet raised and eyebrow. "Don't we all. Each of Hyne's children see death everyday and hurt for it."
Kore smiled hiding soft pain and kissed Janet on the cheek. "I am no one's child." She kissed her again and left the kitchen. She walked to Jill's room and quietly crept in discarding clothes and donning new ones from a duffle in the corner. She practically fell to the small cot against one wall and tried to fall asleep without thinking of him.
Janet sighed a stared after Kore as she left. �You should've been mine, but should I have known the curse to fall upon them, I'd have cut out my womb years before."
(TBC...)