In the Dark

Amberle sat alone (at least she hoped) in the forest far enough away from the clearing and the campfire that she was only bathed in moonlight. The only sound in her ears was the gentle whisper of the trees overhead as a breeze reached down to caress Amberle's cheek as if to comfort her.

Her father's people were out here. Possibly keeping an eye on her. She hadn't had time or energy to turn her fury on him and begin to ask him about her mother. Was her mother actually still alive? Had she ran off to be with him and left Amberle behind?

There was a slight rustle of the leaves behind her as if someone who normally walked quietly through the forest were trying to make noise so as not to startle her.

"Leave me alone!" She called out in greeting.


Amberle saw Leander's green eyes before he even stepped out from the trees. Even in the pale moonlight, his large bright eyes shone.

"Would you please talk to me?"

"No."


Leander didn't listen. He sat down on the grass near her. "We call your father's people 'the nameless ones.' They are a group of elves that live in the forest." Leander sat quietly for a moment biting on his lip as he seemed to turn over thoughts. She was almost ready to tell him to spit it out when he started talking again. "The problem is that there is bad blood between our people. They've killed elves, Amberle. Our kind of elves. The kind of elf your mother was."

Leander paused again, and this time Amberle let him sit until he was ready to speak. "That's why we told everyone who didn't know that you were half sim. The stigma would still be bad, but it could have been worse." He turned his head so that he was looking her in the eyes. "The council wanted to train you to be a soldier due to your 'heritage'. They foresaw that there could be a war on our hands and they hoped to use you as one of the foot soldiers that rushes in first.


"But I couldn't let them do that. So I convinced them you were bad luck and would bring our ruin if they taught you magic and put you on the battlefield."

His words brought to mind the day Leander, acting on the council's decision, sent her away. That day he had been so strongly insistent that she leave; it was as if he had sliced her chest open with a silver sword. The wound had festered at the thought that her one friend-- the one person who seemed at all on her side-- had wanted her to leave to badly.


Amberle brought her hand to her chest and pressed her cotton shirt against her skin. "You told me in town that the council feared for the elves' safety with me around."

"That's not what I said exactly. I only said that the council feared for our safety. They knew a war was coming. You were sent away in case one of the enemies got their hands on you." Leander glanced over at her. She was sure he was thinking of Henry. "Actually, there is something else I have to talk to you about. To explain." Leander's green eyes flashed in concern, though Amberle wondered if there wasn't also a little bit of guilt. "You know that some elves have special abilities that make them stronger in one area than in others? Like the way some elves can talk to animals? Well, you have that ability too. But you... ah... 'talk' to fire."

Amberle had nothing to say. There were no words. Fire was NOT her friend. If anything, she had spent more time on fire than any other elf. She wouldn't consider that a power.

"Amberle? I can't completely explain it, and it wasn't something we could be sure of until you became older. And by the time we were sure, you were sent away." Leander quietly watched her for a moment. "Will you say something?"

"NO. WAY."

"Was that you saying you're not going to say something?"

"That was me denying everything in two words. NO. WAY."

"Listen, would you be serious? It is a very rare gift among the elves. It is another reason why no one could teach you. There simply was no one else who could. But it doesn't make you immune to fire. You can still die, so it's a very danger--"

"NO."

"Amberle..."


"WAY." Amberle stood up. "That's it. I'm ready to head back now. Good bye. I'll see you around."

**************************************

For the longest time, I have had a story in my head about a girl who could control the wind but was afraid of flying.

Well, sparked by a certain event ("sparked" ahaha-- see what I did there?), I combined the older story with this story.


And Leander is so darn cute! He's always either scowling or looking concerned in game.

Also, sorry for two night time/photoshopped posts in a row. I suppose it's fitting in a way to have the two styles of these last two posts be similar. But with the extra shopping, the dark pictures are so much easier to see!

The tutorial is by Mao and can be found here.

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Amberle's Outsting

Just an FYI: There is a player at the bottom of this entry that will start playing music automatically.

The last time we saw Amberle


Time: About 20 years ago...



Amberle had waited all afternoon for word from the elven council. She wore the first fine dress she had ever worn in her life. The soft fabric gently rubbed against her skin as if to calm her.

The two sisters sat on a wooden bench cackling as they whispered softly. Leander’s mother looked up. “Have a seat dear. He’ll be here soon.”



Amberle sat down impatiently though she tried to keep a smile so as not to ruin the good mood of the ladies before her. It was unlike them to invite Amberle to have a seat. Her entire childhood was filled with memories of their horribly sweet voices ordering her to clean or behave. They had remained as distant from her as possible so that they wouldn't waste any energy or life force on Amberle-- "the little beast" as they often called her.


She had an early memory of the particularly difficult time she had adjusting after Anthea (the elf who took her in) passed away. Amberle had often cried, and one day Honeydew Hazelbone looked at her and said in a voice that simply dripped like honey, "Amberle, civilized elves do not behave in this way. Which would you rather be? A civilized elf or a little beast?" Amberle had shouted, "BEAST!" then kicked her in front of her sister and her son, Leander.

Amberle had paid for it, but she had to admit now that she was older that it was the only response really.

The sound of Leander’s boots sounded securely on the stone steps of the hallway.

Leander stepped into the room, his bright white and traditional garment drawing all eyes to him. But his large green eyes fell only on Amberle.



********************



Amberle felt disheartened upon the sight of the little boat she was supposed to use to travel across the sea. “I’m supposed to go away in THAT?”

Leander used his calming voice on her. She hated that voice. “You'll be fine. I’ll cast a spell that will put you to sleep and protect you until you reach land.”

Amberle’s voice was hardly a whisper. “You won’t know… I could drown out there.”

“You will not drown.” Leander’s voice was suddenly strong and urgent. He wanted nothing more than for her to get in the boat. He wanted to be rid of her the same as all the other elves.

The anger welled up in her chest and spilled over so that the words that fell out of her mouth hardly sounded like her own. “You’re just SO glad to get rid of me, aren’t you?” She wanted to kick the boat, and she would have but for Leander’s suddenly stern voice sounding strongly over her thoughts.


“Amberle Silverring there happens to be plenty you don’t know. Quit feeling sorry for yourself and just get in the boat.”

He had never yelled at her before. Amberle hesitated. His yelling almost hurt worse than the abandonment. She thought back to the time he had snuck her out so she could play in the forest in the rain. After that, although they didn't sneak out again, she had felt closer to him than the other elves.

“Amberle,” his voice was low, “Get in the boat.”

She didn’t want to. She didn’t want to leave her home or the forest she had grown up in and loved since she was a little girl. But she couldn’t say so after he had yelled and then followed up with a low warning growl. So she climbed into the boat while trying to hold back her tears as Leander started to cast the spells.


Amberle's eyelids became heavy as the spells infused her consciousness with dreams of the forest. She lay on a bed of lady's mantle; the yellow flowers surrounded her, comforting her as the first few drops of a warm rain gently splashed her face, running down her temple.

The wind gently touched her face carrying soft words to her elfen ears. “… a new start…” Leander’s voice was but a whisper in her ear. “Good luck, Amber…” It seemed he said something else, one last phrase which drifted away with her conscious as she slipped completely into the dream state...



********************


What a weekend! I went to a local anime festival (Fanime) with my boyfriend and best friend. We had no internet though, so I'm still catching up on all the entries I missed.

Plus, I didn't get a chance to play before I left, so I just took these pictures. Phew!

I also had a little bit of trouble getting the words out for this entry. I've had it written, but it didn't sound right. I hope I managed to do it justice.

Here is the music I listened to while I tried to re-write and edit. The first is actually from my favorite game Final Fantasy 4 (on the Super Nintendo). The second is from the anime series Record of Lodoss war which also deals with magic and elves. *shoves glasses up nose*

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"When the sun came up"

"Amberle, it's good to see you. I hope Ama hasn't been causing more trouble."



Amberle sat down in the chair before Orlando Centowski's desk. The poor man looked a bit more frazzled than usual. Even the fact that Amália Centowski was his daughter was not enough to explain the tired look in his eyes.

"No-- er, well no more than usual." Amberle looked off to the side as she though on how to frame her next statement. "I'm actually here because we were thinking of having a spring dance for the high school students. But, uh, Ama was asking me some odd questions a few weeks ago, and well, I thought I should ask you."



Orlando sighed as he lifted his eyebrows and tilted his head in what could have been disbelief.

"She mentioned something about a murder that occurred a while back. And she was asking me about, uhm, vampires."

Orlando didn't say a word at first. He sat with a hand on his desk and his eyes on his hand as if he were waiting for it to do something without his knowledge. "That girl. I should have known better." He sighed again. "There's been two more murders since the last time. Two in one night and killed the same way."



Amberle gasped. "So it's true?" The elves had stories about vampires. Folk tales claimed that the vampires now dwelled underground, resting and waiting for their return.

She had eventually reached the conclusion as an adult elf that the stories were simply to frighten young children so that they wouldn't play too rambunctiously for fear the vampires would get them. But if it was true, if there was a vampire and Leander found out, it wouldn't bode well for the town. She hadn't seen him since their last chat, but she continued to keep an eye out for him. As if he could be seen if he didn't want to be seen.



"We've been trying to keep it quiet. We're on it, but this is definitely beyond the books."

Amberle was feeling quite tired herself, so she could only imagine how Orlando was feeling. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Just report anything suspicious. That's all. We'll figure something out." Orlando tried his best to smile. "Hey, don't worry. We'll help you with the dance too, as best we can. We're enforcing a curfew though, so you'll have to be sure to let the kids know that they have to head straight home after the dance."

Amberle nodded, trying her best not to show how shaken she really was. "Thank you, Orlando. I know Sam's really looking forward to it."




*********

Welcome to Spring. :D

This spring turned into one large story. But at least the two story lines I've been playing with are resolved in their own ways.

As I post this, I have pretty much played through the conclusion of spring. Everything is written, pictures have been gotten for all but one entry. I'm most likely set for the next four weeks (excluding this week).

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Memories made to be forgotten

“Oh Amberle, get up.” As he always did when he meant to be imposing, he had his arms crossed, but she could see that Leander was turning his head in an attempt to not laugh.



Amberle stood on her knees, her hands clasped dramatically before her. “Please, can’t I stay out a little longer?” She did her best to be as overly dramatic as possible. An unfortunate by product of this was that her knee pressed her skirt into the mud that was forming quickly at his feet. She could feel the cold water and grains of the coarse mud pressing against her knee, but it would clean itself off if she could stay out in the rain longer.

“Amberle, stop it. Look, your dress is muddy now. You know how my mother and aunt are.” He rolled his eyes at her. Amberle couldn't help noticing that his own thin shirt was also getting drenched. For a moment, she felt bad for forcing him stand out in the rain while she behaved in a silly manner, and she felt worse for even daring to look.



She stood up before him, doing her best not to look at his arms crossed over his shirt. “It’s not my fault they’re so… so…” Amberle tried to bite her tongue. Let it be known that she tried to not say a bad work about those who had "graciously" brought her into their home after her mother’s death. Of course, just like her feet sometimes got out from under her and sent her flying, he mouth did the same. “Mean, horrible, awful, and.. and mean!”

“You already said mean.”

“I know, I’m repeating for effect!” She knew she was making it difficult on him. Leander rarely got involved. This was the first time he had taken a stand, and even then it was a stand only she knew about as they had snuck out of the house. She sighed. “Okay, I’m done.”



There had been a pause just before they headed back. Leander stood before her, the corners of his mouth turned up as if he were noticing for the first time that she was indeed a silly creature. Amberle had only stood there awkwardly waiting for Leander to start heading back home as she wouldn’t do it unless he made her do it.






Amberle sat up with the lingering pieces of the dream sticking to her mind like honey. She was sorely disappointed to find out that not only was she dreaming, but the sun hadn’t risen yet. It had taken a while to find a comfortable way to sleep on her back while not putting too much pressure on her still sunburned skin. Perhaps she had finally just gotten too tired trying to get comfortable and had fallen asleep in some position that was uncomfortable enough to eventually wake her again.

The dream had been so real she had felt cold and was surprised to find herself waking up and not wet. She had been in the forest she used to live in when she was a girl.



Amberle brought up her knees, kicking off the blanket in the process, so she could wrap her arms around her legs and think.

It was a memory she cherished, but one she had forgotten about until recently. It was one of her few happy memories, but it contained the last person she wanted to think about again. Wasn’t it just her luck that he would be the one sent by The Council? It was like a bad romance novel, only this could not end well. He did not mean well for her or her newly adopted people. That her mind had called forth that particular memory so vividly was cruel.

Amberle’s mind touched on the facts of her life. After Anthea, her adopted mother, had passed away, Amberle had been shuttled to the household of Anthea's sisters, Honey and Snowdew. They refused to waste their life force raising her as their sister had though. Amberle was little better than a servant. There she had met her “cousin” Leander, son of Honey.

Most of her memories were better off forgotten. For a while they had been, but now she could see they would come back. She had hidden from them for long enough.



She refused to think on it anymore. Amberle stood up, intent on getting a glass of water. Perhaps she would be able to banish the thoughts and memories long enough to at least get a few more minutes of rest before she woke to get ready for school.

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The End of Summer 2 Amberle's Problem(s)

Amberle had just built up the campfire and sat down in front of it when out of the darkness, Ash Stratton appeared. The light from the fire lit up his pale face as he came within the ring of its warmth. "This seat taken?"



"No; please." Amberle gestured to the sand next to her with a smile. Although she hadn't seen him since long before the Great Move, Amberle's memories of Ash were fond ones. He had been the first person to welcome her when she had first moved out on her own which meant he was also the first (other than the woman she had called "mother") to be truly kind to her. It was not something she was likely to forget.



"Where is your wife?" Amberle said as she absentmindedly itched at her sun burned skin.

"At home with the kids-- er, well I mean the girls. They aren't exactly kids anymore, and so they didn't want to come. Said something about us embarrassing them. Aurora stayed behind to keep an eye on them."

Amberle smiled at him, but the mention of his wife and children brought up a twinge of jealousy that surprised her. Had she known she would have that reaction, she would not have brought the subject up.

Ash didn't help when he said, "So are you married yet?" He smiled at his joke without realizing just how cruel it was.



"Well, no. Dating is... still very awkward."

He waved his hand, his smile gone now. "Don't feel bad. It's always awkward. If it isn't, then you've either found your perfect mate or you've found someone too practiced."


They sat quietly for a while with the fire crackling at their feet. Amberle could almost imagine it telling her a story in an attempt to comfort her in her loneliness. None of that would be necessary, she thought towards the fire, if he hadn't shown up.



Perhaps it was partially her fault as well; she should have known better than to come back. She remembered his words, harshly spoken in her memory. "We're not worried about the Sims, we're more worried about your return," he had said. She wasn't sure if he was honestly worried about the Sims knowing the location of the elves or if he was only taking a dig at her famously (and very un-elven like) bad luck.

Of course he had also mentioned the council. "You know the Council needs to approve of the settlement here." What would they do if they didn't approve? Amberle's experience with "her people" (if she could really count herself among them) had been limited, but she knew of the council. They made tough decisions and then had others carry them out. She was not sure what they were capable of doing because what was done depended on who was chosen to do it.

Despite the heat from the fire, Amberle shivered. She tried to pull herself back into the present where Ash was asking her if she was ok and others were joining them around the small fire, but she found that she couldn't look them in the eyes while worrying about something she knew that they didn't.



She excused herself and headed up the hill towards the road. Those at the campfire sweetly smiled and bid her good bye as if they had always known her even though she only knew Ash formally. It was a gesture that strengthened her love for the people she called neighbors and made her promise that she would do whatever she could to protect them.

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Leander Hazlebone

He stood still at the fence watching her. She didn't look like the young one he had known so many phases previous. Her silky hair was cropped short. Each time she moved her head, her ears were visible. He winced at the thought. Did the sims here believe that she was a true representative of the elves?



Once the bus left, she glanced around quickly as if she were expecting someone. Her eyes fell on his still form just as the bus pulled away.

For a heart beat, they stood still staring at one another. Her arms dropped to her side as her eyes widened. It only took a second before her surprise turned into a grimace.

He stepped through the gate and walked towards her. Although he tried to walk slow, to give her time to work on her forced smile, he realized that she would need more time than he could give.

He stood before her and crossed his arms. "Amberle."



"Leander." Her small lips curled cautiously into a smile. "What're you doing here?"

He found her lilac eyes brighter than he remembered them. "I think the question is, what are you doing back?" His crossed arms made his slender body appear wider. It seemed to have the desired effect.

Amberle stumbled over her words as she tried to come up with some sort of excuse. "Well... everyone moved here, and they invited me along as well. This is my home now. Why shouldn't I have come with them?"



"Because you were sent away. The Council fears for our safety."

Amberle raised an eyebrow at him. "And so they sent you out to walk around with your ears showing? I haven't told anyone anything, but don't you think they'll wonder why there is another elf with ears like myself wandering around town?"



Involuntarily, his face scrunched up angrily at her stupidity. "You know they can't see my ears. The S.E.P Charm won't allow them to see what they don't want to see. Besides, we're not worried about the Sims, we're more worried about your return." He kept his arms crossed as he waited for her reaction.



She simply turned away from him. Her voice became flat and lifeless. "Don't worry. I'm not going back. Ever." He had expected her to yell and to hit him, possibly tripping and falling on the concrete, but he hadn't expected this reaction.

She refused to look at him. Her hair slipped over her eyes letting her small elfen ear peek through.



"Well, I'll be in town for a short while. You know the Council needs to approve of the settlement here." When she still refused to look at him, he simply walked away to check out the rest of town.

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