Adventures in Azibra: Zecora's past

Zecora headed from the library to her bedroom. Her feet did the guiding, not her eyes, for she was just too tired... As she she looked out the window, she couldn't believe that it wad already sunset. Had not it been just earlier, much, much earlier that day that she had running about in the lush, outer grounds of the palace? It had been... so long... and Zecora wasn't even sure how, but she loved it!

"If I always spend this much time in the library, everyday, then I will certainly learn a lot of stuff!" Zecora thought. She was soon close to her room... She looked about her, at the corridor she was in; it was pretty long, and she passed a window every now and then, all of them curtain-less, and let in just so much light... She guessed the reason for the windows to be curtain-less, would be because of all of the plants in the the hallway; some hanging from the ceiling, and others lining both walls... Zecora was observing the area around her, when she turned her back in the direction she was walking. She saw someone approaching her, she stopped  The figure approaching her whore a long dark robe, a veil covering most of their face, and head.

"A tutor?" Zecora wondered. He moved swiftly, taking long strides... As he passed by her, he turned to look at her; he gave a nod and kept walking.

Zecora just slowly turned back towards her destination, and slowly began to walk again... "Was he... was that tutor just in my room? Zecora wondered. There were no other rooms down that way, and the hallway was simply a passage to getting to her room; nowhere else. Zecora sped up at these thoughts, and was soon standing in the doorway of her room. She was surprised to see her brother and a few other Zebrain males she had never even met or seen before....

Her brother stood against the the edge of the wall, right before her actual room met the other area where she kept her books... In fact, it was a book that she noticed Zecoy was holding... reading...Zecora looked about to see a few Zebrain males picking up her stuff - one of them came over to the door carrying a drawer.

"He - Hey!" Zecora said, as she passed her by; she had to quickly move out of the way.

"Sorry, didn't see you there." The male said, not bothering to look back. Zecora wanted to say something to him, but she just turned back to her room and just to see others taking more things down the hall, away from her room... None of them seemed to notice her...

"Wha - Hey!" Zecora said, "What's going on?" Her voice was quieter, now and she wondered into her room, but still managed to stay, mostly in the door frame. She saw Zecoy kneeling before her bed, and looking through a chest... "Zecoy...!"" Zecora said, "What's going on?!" She rested one hand against the door frame, the other down at her side.

Zecoy's ears perked, and he turned his head to look at his sister...There was a firm and serious expression on his face, but Zecora saw it for no more than a second. Zecoy smiled when  he saw her, and stood. He approached her. Zecora couldn't help noticing his earrings that dangled from his ears, that swung back and forth with every movement. She stared at them until his face became level with hers... She blinked and then met his gaze. He was squatting in front of her so that his and her face were level...

"Well good afternoon, princess." Zecoy said, softly, "You had a good time in the library, yes?" When he waited for her response, he let his fingers brush her skin and he stoked her hair...

"Yes." Zecora answered, gently taking his hand off of her head, "But that has nothing to do to with this."

"Well, now, Princess - what did I miss? Tell me, what do you mean by this?" Zecoy asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean, what are you doing?" Zecora said, folding both arms across her chest.

Zecoy leaned forward and kissed Zecora's forehead. He then stood and turned away from her. Zecora was about to protest, but Zecoy then said, hands behind his back, "Well it is not what I am doing, but what you are doing." He answered, but did not look at her.

` "And... what is that?" Zecora asked, cautiously.

"Moving." Zecoy said.

"Moving?" Zecora said, a bit taken aback.

"Moving. Zecoy answered. He went over and took down her mirror, off the wall...

"Hey, that's - Zecora did not get to finish.

"I know." He brother answered, "But that is why it needs to go."

Zecora now stood near her bed, and she watched as her brother gave the mirror to a zebrain male; one who had just returned from wherever. Zecoy gave the zebrain instructions, quietly, and then the zebrain left...

"What... was all that about?" Zecora asked, eyebrow cocked, arms still crossed over her chest.

"He was helping out."Zecoy answered, calmly, "I gave it to him to take somewhere; do not think it is just for him to carry about."

"I... I know..." Zecora said, "But -

"But what?" He brother asked, coming to stand before her.

"I just... where is it all going - where am I going?" Zecora asked, staring up at her brother.

"You are going to be staying in another room, elsewhere... It is done out of tradition, no less, but I am sure you'll like it there." Zecoy said, placing a hand on Zecora's shoulder.

"What? Where? What room?" Zecora asked.

"Come, sister, with me. There is something I want you to see." Zecoy said, moving towards the door and motioning to Zecora.

Zecora followed him through the door. He walked a ways and the turned and looked up. Zecora followed him, turned and then looked to where he was. "What are you looking at?" She asked.

Zecoy pointed towards the area over top the door. There was a large space above the door that was covered by what seemed to be a large golden, rectangular plate. Within the golden plate was engraved elaborate patterns... Zecora's eyes followed the patterns for some time - they all led to the center of the design, where  there was a large oval. The oval was actually set as a frame. A frame around the figure of a head... The image, to Zecora, looked like a woman's head. On her head she wore nothing, but her ears were adorned with large earrings and her neck, three rings. As Zecora looked at the image, she fingered her earrings and touched the rings on her neck.

"What do you notice, about this, Princess?" Zecoy's voice was directly in Zecora's ear, and she felt his breath on her skin. She tilted her head, some, reacting to its warmth. She thought...

"Hm. Well... it... kind of..." Zecora didn't want to tell her the image of the beautiful, obviously Ethiopian - woman, reminded Zecora of herself - at least what she was wearing, anyways.

"Hm?" Zecoy said.

"Uh..." Zecora said, thinking, "She... uh... She wears rings."

"Mhm?" Zecoy said, urging her on.

"And..." Zecora said, "She... looks like a... princess..."

"And?" Zecoy said.

"And... she is obviously a Zebrain..." Zecora said.

"And?" Zecoy said.

"And what?" Zecora said, turning her head to look at him. It startled her, a little, when she saw his face right in front of hers - but not for long. Zecoy stood.

"She is a princess, Princess." Zecoy said, "And yes, she's female, she's a zebrain, and she wears the royal's attire, as we do. But the point is that she  - the image - is supposed to be a representation of you."

"Of... me?!" Zecora said, nearly choking it out.

"Yes, Princess." Zecoy said, nodding. "And notice the rings -" Zecoy ran his fingers gently over the rings around Zecora's neck. "Know that your power is shown, only, by these things."

"My... power...?" Zecora said, looking at her brother in wonder.

"Yes," Zecoy answered, looking down at his sister, "Know that your status, you power, your place, is shown by these things, alone - without them, you are basically unknown."

Zecora was taken aback. "Wha - what?" She said.

"Do not worry, Princess, you can't even take them off, if you tried," Zecoy said, smiling knowingly. "Besides, why would you? It not only shows power,but a sense of pride."

Zecora nodded, and turned from her brother. She didn't care about any of the other stuff... just... what he said... with out... with out her apparel.. she would be... unknown?

That disturbed her, but she was snapped out of fractured thought when her brother said, "Princess... you are alright... yes?"

"Ye - yeah, uh, sure Zecoy... I am alright." Zecora was unsure why she felt so funny... probably because she didn't feel comfortable talking to her brother so... normally... Of course, before, she hadn't actually been thinking about it, but now... Now was different.

Zecoy responded by taking his sister's hand. She walked with her, down the hallway, saying, "It is important for you to be in the room you are meant to be... it is tradition; think it not something petty, irrelevant or silly... Of course, I don't have to be anywhere - I can locate myself wherever and no one will care..." He paused before going on, saying, "Do not think that I am any special case, no. I simply need to stay in my place..." His voice trailed off.

"Oh... alright... " Zecora said. "But she didn't really care. She was still thinking about earlier...

*  *  *  *  *  *

Later on, Zecora found herself in another room, in another area of the palace. It was different - it looked nothing like her old room and didn't have anything she'd thought she'd be interested in, inside of it. She sat on her bed and watched as furniture items were brought into the room and watched as her brother told everyone what to do... Zecora just looked on, mostly. Watching her brother, watching the others... She sighed as she she watched her brother; who was he really?   She couldn't help having mixed feelings for him... When he was speaking to her, he was one thing, and when he wasn't... she wasn't sure. Was he something else? Did he really mean what he said and did to her?

A firm, serious expression replaced the soft, playful looks her only ever gave her, when he spoke with others.. He seemed to take everything very seriously... She didn't know what to think of him, at this point - both of the looks suited him, perfectly... how could he manage to be that way? She was also afraid she would certainly not even know him, at all, if he kept being around those tutors... And that was the other thing. Hadn't she seen a tutor come from the direction of her old room earlier? What was all that about? Zecora lay on her stomach, with her chin on her palms, as her elbows dug into the bed and bed sheets... She turned over, and as her earrings brushed her skin, her dress pulled at itself, under her.

She had changed her apparel, as well as her brother. She wore a white two-piece, the top supported by a golden network of straps that led around her neck and around her back. The bottom piece was a white skirt, as soft and as silky as the top, but it was plain. Zecora sat up and tugged at the skirt, stroking and observing it... When her brother brought her to her room, he had closed the door behind her and told her to get dressed. She asked what he meant and why - he only smiled and said "you'll see". She had turned around to fins the out fit on what was the be her new bed... What was so important about these clothes, anyways? ... Zecora grew tired just staying there and watching everyone... Besides... she was sleepy, anyways, so...Why not just fall asleep?

...And sleep, she did.

*  *  *  *  *  *

There was that face, again... the face of that beautiful woman. Behind her there was a vast, cloud speckled sky... Colors of yellow, pink, orange, white. It seems like the woman's face was as a sun, set in the center f the sky, rising above an literally invisible sky... Come to think of it; there was nothing thing to see other than the sky... and the woman's face, of course.

The woman's face was no longer one of a profile, but was set so that she looked straight ahead... Here large eyes glowed with a bright, white/yellow light... So that was it... the sun... that light - so, beautiful, so warm, so comforting and heavenly... It seemed to shine straight through her, branching away from her in golden rays...

Just then, the light began to get brighter.. and brighter.... and brighter... and then - ! And then there was land. From a bird's eye view, the land was great and vast. It was covered in valleys and rivers, large lakes and bodies off water. Trees and plants of every kind dotted the vast landscape.

There was a large variety of birds, too; all kinds of shapes and sizes, colors and... powers too? That didn't make any sense, but none the less, those with powers were very beautiful. Like the fire bird, with its colors of warmness and fire; red, orange, yellow...

Just then, other creatures seemed to appear out of nowhere. Large, bulky creatures - with horns - oh, weren't they a sight! And another kind, also, a more peaceful kind; four-legged creatures, with skin that was white as snow and smoother, softer than silk. There were also other, stranger looking creatures, who walked upon four legs, as well; one of those racing being the Manticore.

And another race-and what a variety they had! Some had wings, others, none. Some had horns, others, none, yet they all had four legs and seemed to live in peace... Some even had all three traits, (but their kind were few)...

Just then, there seemed to be a tremendous quaking of the earth! The creatures below were frantic, each running, some screaming, others; hiding! But what a sight it was to see the more strange and horrible looking creatures begin to attack the humble, more peaceful races! A bird fell from the sky, but hit the earth with hardly a thump. It's eyes saw all of this, and more. It saw the lands crack, split into pieces and divide. It watched in horror as many races separate and went their own ways, walking, calmly, into the deeper parts of their newly found land.

*No!

As the lands separated, the earth began to tremble even more! A monster of a Manticore had come to close - he had fallen beneath the earth, before capturing the bird it had aimed for. It was a horrible sight! Waters quickly rushed up and over some of the divided land, swallowing them, burying them, forever.

Just then, a mountain rose from the depths of the water, a began to shoot smoke and fire from its top! The fire seemed to be as a liquid, and as it ran down the mountain, it became black and formed more land... And as this was taking place, the bird watched in wonder, astonishment and terror as huge, scaly, predator-like beasts shot up from the smoking mountain.

The beasts were huge are were colored in a variety, just as the bird had been...The birds eyes were fixed on watching the sky - it could also see the repugnant form of a Manticore creeping up behind it, even though it could do nothing... The beast came closer... closer... Just then, the Manticore's head was separated from its body, and blood splattered everywhere.

Everything that had happened, Zecora had seen. For somehow, she had been the bird, as well as an onlooker from other views... As of now, she was that bird; and just as the Manticore's body feel the to earth, lifeless, heaped in a bloody corpse - Zecora stood there in shock.

Zecora then looked to the left of her, looked up. Besides her stood a very tall zebrain male. He had the typical black mohawk of nearly every other zebrain, but his skin was neither black, brown, nor white. It was more-so yellow then anything else. The lines on his body were not straight, curvy, and regardless of how black they were, his body seemed to give off a radiant glow.

He held a spear, mightily, in one hand; it was placed firmly on the ground. He looked down at Zecora, eyes the same blue shade of hers, she realized, and his lips were set so that his expression was unreadable. Her eyes widened, and she wanted to say something, but he just looked ahead of them. Zecora took it as a sign to be quiet, and followed his gaze.

Before them was a vast terrain, and it looked much like Zecora's home of Azibra, except for the fact that there was no sand; just miles and miles of grass lands and lush fields... Zecora couldn't help being drawn towards it. At first she walked, but then her feet, with out warning, picked up speed as she began to run. She wished she could slow down, explore this seemingly new part of Azibra she had never even seen before, full of beauty and life...

Zecora then remembered the zebrain, and looked back over he shoulder. He still stood there, looking after her... Just then, though, it seemed like a small breeze came out of nowhere; his body began to disappear, disappear, in the wind, like grains of sand. His eyes never left Zecora's, until, they too, were swept away, up, up into the color heaven's, the heavens colored in pink, orange - all warm colors.

Zecora was standing so that she would have faced if, if he had still been there. She then slowly turned, eagerness rising as she remembered the land that waited to be explored... But it was not to be so. For just as soon as Zecora turned around, the land became a scorched and dry. There was hardly a tree in sight, and if there was, it was one that was bent, warn and aged; no life seemed to be left on that vast landscape.

Not truly thinking, Zecora began to run across the landscape, desperately in search of life. Life! It was all that she needed to find, all that she wanted! Oh if she could just find it, find something, something to make the landscape her beautiful home, again...

Just then, she began to hear voices talk to her as she ran:

"There is no life..."                        "All is lost..."                                                "Nothing... lost... here... go..."

                                       "There is nothing here, for you..."              "You must leave...."

"There is nothing for you, here..."

                                "Run on,  go!"                       "Go..."                                       "You must go... leave...

"There is nothing here for you..."                   "You must go, go!"          This land... barren... forever..."

                  "No life... nothing... you must... go.."                     "No life.... you... nothing... forever."

                                         "This barren land hold nothing for you... barren land..."

Zecora looked back over her shoulder, running, now, to escape the voices that seemed to come from everywhere. What she saw  nearly petrified her with fright and horror. The woman's head she saw, earlier... but now... but not the woman was no longer as beautiful as before, oh no.

The woman's face was surrounded by what seemed to be a dark fire, with half of her face haggard and old, while the other was well, lively and young. It was a scary sight, one that made Zecora both want to run, but also stay there and cower, hoping it'd all be over soon....

Just then, there was a large sound, in the sky. It sounded like thunder, but it was one of the noisiest and heart-freezing sound Zecora had ever heard. This was followed by a great flash of light, also in the sky - it seemed to represent lightning, but Zecora was unsure about that; such a light, so blinding, so bright, didn't even seem earthly.

And now without warning, or notice, the ground opened up beneath Zecora, like a large mouth, yet pitch black. The next thing she new, she was falling, tumbling into a blackness of space... Falling.... falling... falling...

*  *  *  *  *  *

Zecora awoke from her dream, screaming. Her eyes wide, sweat running in cold rivers down her body, and heart pounding, Zecora suddenly stopped screaming. It's not like it was helping her, any, no  in fact, it made it worse; she had probably never screamed like that in her entire life, at least not out of fear. The screaming had ceased, but not in her head. The scariest images of the dream - nightmare - whatever it had been, haunted her, and she could almost see that hideous face, in the dark. Peering at her from the shadows...

Just then, the door to her room swung open, a light from the hall outside shone like a beacon in the dark. A ray of hope, that may be whoever would enter could cure Zecora of the horrors she had just experienced. But just then she began to wonder... just how many people did hear her, just now? Zecora sheepishly burrowed deeper under the sheets of her bed. She covered her mouth, afraid that if she was to be touched, she would surely scream again...her hands and her body, sill trembled.

Just then she heard a voice. It sounded like - "Zecoy?" Zecora didn't dare turn to look, but she knew it was him. His words were incoherent, un clear, but she heard him say her name... She peek over her covers, at the door. Two older male zebrain stood in the doorway -

"You Highness, is she alright?" One said.

Just then, before she could even decide whether or not to respond, she felt something touch her, her back. Was it Zecoy? I guessed so, but his words were still incoherent, for some reason; all I heard was, "- are dismissed." She then heard the two go away from the door... Zecora was feeling a bit dizzy, and could still feel herself falling... She rubbed her arms, trying to get rid of gooseflesh.... She turned over. Just then, she realized that she was touching something... Her body lay pressed against something else.... somethng warm, it seemed.

"Hm? Z - Zecoy?" Zecora said, touching whatever it was, observantly. She was touching a soft, yet firm surface - she ran her hands, upwards, until she was sure she was touching Zecoy's face. She ran her hands upwards until she touched something hard and cold... One of his earrings,no doubt. "He was still wearing them? Even though Zecora felt half dazed and whatnot, she could tell it was night time.. Just how long had she slept?

Zecora then felt arms wrap around her, pulling her closer... She moved her hands until they both grasped her brother's arms. She was absolutely sure it was him, now. Everything told her so; the feelings, his scent, (one which she had just come to recognize), the warmth (there was just something about it...) She couldn't really see him, though, so just touching would have to do...

"Zecoy... I'm sorry..." Zecora said, her head resting against his chest. And she was sorry.. for a few things, even. She was sorry because she had probably woken up half the palace with her screaming. She was sorry because she had probably burdened Zecoy with having to come check on her... She was sorry because she acted so dramatically towards a simple nightmare - dream - whatever it was... (Zecora couldn't help thinking it had some significance, though.) Zecora didn't think she had to say anything to Zecoy, for somehow she felt that he could see straight through her, know her thoughts...

Zecora felt herself being laid down, onto her back. She saw the blurred, dark image of her brother, above her. He touched fer face and then said, "Do not worry, do not weep. Rest, now, Princess; go back to sleep." He then leaned down and kissed her, gingerly, on the forehead. Immediately, her body felt so light, relieved. There was no more trembling and every muscle was relaxed and no longer tense. She could see her brothers eyes glowing in the dark; its glow gave her only a hint of his expression - And the only exhaustion she felt was not the heavy kind that you feel after running forever, but the kind where you could just sleep... peacefully, even.

Feeling that comfortable didn't make any sense to Zecora but, naturally, feeling the way she did, tired and all, she would conclude with the proper position. She turned over onto her stomach... Her ear twitched as she heard her brother get off of the bed and leave her.

Zecoy stood by the door and looked back to make sure she looked as alright as she had seemed she was, he heard her muttering something about her being sorry or something. He only smiled a little as her muttering faded into soft breathing and he knew she was asleep.