[story] of the ghost in the wind
Aug. 2nd, 2008 03:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ib_archiveauthor: cendri (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
venefica_aura)
She needed help carrying the wings, even if her help was nothing more than a skinny boy. Percival knew not to chuckle, snicker, or otherwise make light of this auspicious occasion, but the sight of two preteens carrying the large frame did look somewhat silly. He had to admit that AJ certainly could build anything she put her mind to. First him, from nothing but his probably molding brain and some scrap metal, and now an upgrade. He half expected her to bring out a whole mechanical circus that they could take on the road with them.
He suspected that the freedom he had felt as an aeronaut would not compare to literally having wings.
"I wish we had more time to test them out," AJ muttered, her mind completely missing the point of them running away. If Percival had a foot to stand on that had not been built by her, he would have tried to talk her out of this trip. Her surly friend Dragon had explained that the only reason the crumbling house they stayed in had not been turned over to the state was the ingenious forgeries he had made out in order to make it seem as if a distant uncle had taken over the property. With AJ and him- - the pet automaton as he had heard Dragon call him - out of the picture, it was going to be obvious the place was abandoned.
But if there was anything that dying the first time had taught him, it was the impermanence of things.
"I wish you had more time to test it too. I don't quite trust your contraption."
"Percy is a trained aeronaut."
"He's a mechanical corpse!"
"You don't have to be rude."
He largely stayed out of their arguments. Not because he did not care what they were arguing about - Dragon usually had valid and practical points that AJ tended to overlook. He stayed out because AJ tended to win on sheer force of will. Or possibly Dragon's weak will. It was hard to tell sometimes. Of course, the both of them were missing the most obvious problem. That being a flying man, mechanical or not, carrying a basket with a couple of children was likely to garner some attention.
That, or the world had really changed much more than he expected.
A bumpy start was an understatement. They had not even gotten fully off the ground and he had nearly lost a foot already.
"I've changed my mind! I want to go home!"
"Where's your sense of adventure? All boys are supposed to have it at our age."
It was one thing to be an aeronaut, but another thing entirely to be an aero craft. In fact, Percival now felt rather bad that he had not taken better care of his craft before he'ad died. He imagined himself lovingly cleaning the propellers and making sure they were tucked under an appropriate tarp at night. Then again, perhaps his perceptions were becoming more warped now that the only thing that was originally his was the mushy innards of his old head.
"Percy, let's try the take off again. Remember you have to run into the wind. I've adjusted your legs for this."
"And I'll get off here, thanks!"
He could almost feel the eyeroll that AJ was giving. Dragon had done nothing but complain, but for reasons that only childhood friends can understand, he would go along with whatever AJ wanted. Which today was to fly across some farmland and land in a settlement that Percival had never heard of. Bliteough or something unpleasant sounding like it. And since he was thinking about it, he realized he had not the slightest clue what town they currently were in, only that it was dank, dark, and not at all a place for children. A fine layer of soot seemed to cover everything. It was no wonder that AJ's windows were perpetually dirty.
Maybe it was time to interject. "AJ, do you think that maybe we could wait a while? Plan this more thoroughly?" Percival had always been the practical one of his family, aero craft notwithstanding.
She had hopped out of the basket and tinkered with the bracing on his upper back, effectively shielding her face. He had been around enough to know that AJ tended to shield her face, either through the ridiculous oculars she wore or by keeping her dirty blonde hair in her face when she wasn't working. Percival had not been around enough to entirely understand why she did this.
"If we don't go now, we won't go ever," she said, with the certainty that Percival had lost when he had turned twenty in his first life. And when he thought about it, as he was wont to, there was a grain of truth to it, if small. A girl in a family of ghosts really had nothing to tie her to a place other than fancy. The boy had the unfortunate luck of being born first in his family, but neither strong nor particularly brilliant. If he stayed as a Clerk, he was likely to end up as a glorified librarian even if there was nothing wrong with a mundane profession like that.
"Then hold on tight. And make sure your skull cap is on."
AJ had made his arms strong, so it was no strain on his wiring to lift the basket with both of them. Supplies had been attached utility belt style around his waist; he looked like an overloaded Trader, possibly selling these children to some more savage place. He certainly hoped Dragon's quick thinking could handle it if they were stopped by any Authority.
He ran much faster this time and the phantom memory of actual muscles only made him push harder. As a man he had to rely on artificial means to go higher, go faster, be above and beyond the squabbles of his family and the problems of normal people. But now, he was the means and he could not understand why birds would ever want to land.
The destination and reason did not matter when the wind finally caught him, cradling him like no parent or lover ever had.
"You must have been a great aeronaut."
Dragon was asleep, the excitement had finally gotten to him. AJ would stay awake with him, for a while at least. It was her way.
"Everyone needs somewhere they can go. For themselves. All people are just a little selfish."
"I almost don't want to land. Do you think we could just keep going, until something forces us down?"
"I think that could only happen in dreams, AJ. Even I would eventually break down, or someone would spot us. There really is no forever."
She chewed on that. If his eyes were not watching the horizon, he imagined he would see her push her hair aside and study the concept like a springet or gear.
"If there's no forever, how come you exist?"
Percival thought first the answer was death but he knew that AJ had already learned that lesson. And even then, it clearly was not eternal. But she was not looking for the destination, just another place to go. Another circuit to connect and another wheel to set in motion.
"Because you wanted me to exist. That is all there is to it, really."
That answer would satisfy for now. Maybe eventually, if he continued to unlive, he would find a wiser answer. For now they did not need to think about the destination.
"I still wish we didn't have to land."
"Maybe if you want it badly enough, we will not."
the end
venefica_aura)She needed help carrying the wings, even if her help was nothing more than a skinny boy. Percival knew not to chuckle, snicker, or otherwise make light of this auspicious occasion, but the sight of two preteens carrying the large frame did look somewhat silly. He had to admit that AJ certainly could build anything she put her mind to. First him, from nothing but his probably molding brain and some scrap metal, and now an upgrade. He half expected her to bring out a whole mechanical circus that they could take on the road with them.
He suspected that the freedom he had felt as an aeronaut would not compare to literally having wings.
"I wish we had more time to test them out," AJ muttered, her mind completely missing the point of them running away. If Percival had a foot to stand on that had not been built by her, he would have tried to talk her out of this trip. Her surly friend Dragon had explained that the only reason the crumbling house they stayed in had not been turned over to the state was the ingenious forgeries he had made out in order to make it seem as if a distant uncle had taken over the property. With AJ and him- - the pet automaton as he had heard Dragon call him - out of the picture, it was going to be obvious the place was abandoned.
But if there was anything that dying the first time had taught him, it was the impermanence of things.
"I wish you had more time to test it too. I don't quite trust your contraption."
"Percy is a trained aeronaut."
"He's a mechanical corpse!"
"You don't have to be rude."
He largely stayed out of their arguments. Not because he did not care what they were arguing about - Dragon usually had valid and practical points that AJ tended to overlook. He stayed out because AJ tended to win on sheer force of will. Or possibly Dragon's weak will. It was hard to tell sometimes. Of course, the both of them were missing the most obvious problem. That being a flying man, mechanical or not, carrying a basket with a couple of children was likely to garner some attention.
That, or the world had really changed much more than he expected.
A bumpy start was an understatement. They had not even gotten fully off the ground and he had nearly lost a foot already.
"I've changed my mind! I want to go home!"
"Where's your sense of adventure? All boys are supposed to have it at our age."
It was one thing to be an aeronaut, but another thing entirely to be an aero craft. In fact, Percival now felt rather bad that he had not taken better care of his craft before he'ad died. He imagined himself lovingly cleaning the propellers and making sure they were tucked under an appropriate tarp at night. Then again, perhaps his perceptions were becoming more warped now that the only thing that was originally his was the mushy innards of his old head.
"Percy, let's try the take off again. Remember you have to run into the wind. I've adjusted your legs for this."
"And I'll get off here, thanks!"
He could almost feel the eyeroll that AJ was giving. Dragon had done nothing but complain, but for reasons that only childhood friends can understand, he would go along with whatever AJ wanted. Which today was to fly across some farmland and land in a settlement that Percival had never heard of. Bliteough or something unpleasant sounding like it. And since he was thinking about it, he realized he had not the slightest clue what town they currently were in, only that it was dank, dark, and not at all a place for children. A fine layer of soot seemed to cover everything. It was no wonder that AJ's windows were perpetually dirty.
Maybe it was time to interject. "AJ, do you think that maybe we could wait a while? Plan this more thoroughly?" Percival had always been the practical one of his family, aero craft notwithstanding.
She had hopped out of the basket and tinkered with the bracing on his upper back, effectively shielding her face. He had been around enough to know that AJ tended to shield her face, either through the ridiculous oculars she wore or by keeping her dirty blonde hair in her face when she wasn't working. Percival had not been around enough to entirely understand why she did this.
"If we don't go now, we won't go ever," she said, with the certainty that Percival had lost when he had turned twenty in his first life. And when he thought about it, as he was wont to, there was a grain of truth to it, if small. A girl in a family of ghosts really had nothing to tie her to a place other than fancy. The boy had the unfortunate luck of being born first in his family, but neither strong nor particularly brilliant. If he stayed as a Clerk, he was likely to end up as a glorified librarian even if there was nothing wrong with a mundane profession like that.
"Then hold on tight. And make sure your skull cap is on."
AJ had made his arms strong, so it was no strain on his wiring to lift the basket with both of them. Supplies had been attached utility belt style around his waist; he looked like an overloaded Trader, possibly selling these children to some more savage place. He certainly hoped Dragon's quick thinking could handle it if they were stopped by any Authority.
He ran much faster this time and the phantom memory of actual muscles only made him push harder. As a man he had to rely on artificial means to go higher, go faster, be above and beyond the squabbles of his family and the problems of normal people. But now, he was the means and he could not understand why birds would ever want to land.
The destination and reason did not matter when the wind finally caught him, cradling him like no parent or lover ever had.
"You must have been a great aeronaut."
Dragon was asleep, the excitement had finally gotten to him. AJ would stay awake with him, for a while at least. It was her way.
"Everyone needs somewhere they can go. For themselves. All people are just a little selfish."
"I almost don't want to land. Do you think we could just keep going, until something forces us down?"
"I think that could only happen in dreams, AJ. Even I would eventually break down, or someone would spot us. There really is no forever."
She chewed on that. If his eyes were not watching the horizon, he imagined he would see her push her hair aside and study the concept like a springet or gear.
"If there's no forever, how come you exist?"
Percival thought first the answer was death but he knew that AJ had already learned that lesson. And even then, it clearly was not eternal. But she was not looking for the destination, just another place to go. Another circuit to connect and another wheel to set in motion.
"Because you wanted me to exist. That is all there is to it, really."
That answer would satisfy for now. Maybe eventually, if he continued to unlive, he would find a wiser answer. For now they did not need to think about the destination.
"I still wish we didn't have to land."
"Maybe if you want it badly enough, we will not."
the end
