{"id":1115,"date":"2013-01-06T17:23:58","date_gmt":"2013-01-06T21:23:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/?p=1115"},"modified":"2013-01-06T17:23:58","modified_gmt":"2013-01-06T21:23:58","slug":"inkstains-day-1-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/?p=1115","title":{"rendered":"InkStains: Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

NOTE: This entry is almost verbatim out of my Moleskine; it is just the words that spilled, as ink, from my fountain pen. A few have been corrected in transition, but mostly these words have not been massaged into a final story. This is from the first day of InkStains.<\/em>
\nUNTITLED<\/p>\n

The moon, overhead, she smiles on me, she guides me, she offers me the greatest of gifts, even if I cannot recognize them at the time.<\/p>\n

The moon, high above, sends her blessings, sends her archers, sends her poisonous children, to aid me in the great things I must, in this lifetime, accomplish.<\/p>\n

The moon, behind her veil or fully exposed, she doesn\u2019t merely watch. She manipulates. She plans. She changes. She\u2019s responsible for the most intricate machinations.<\/p>\n

The moon, hanging low, tonight, eyes focused on me, angry, disappointed, dissatisfied — she\u2019s taken her blessings, she\u2019s sent her archers and poisons, she means to eradicate me.<\/p>\n

I won\u2019t let her.<\/p>\n

I have learned a great many things, and fostered a great many talents. As fine as her archers may be, I am swift, agile, light as the wind and fluid like no thing these men have ever seen.<\/p>\n

Arrows in the air, a rain of them, a storm, but I retreat to city streets and narrow alleys. I make them chase me into close quarters. They are archers, designed for long range assault, and have little protection from my knives.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t make them suffer. I am quick, merciful, merely fighting for my life, my own life, perhaps the fate of the world. I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m bold enough to make such an assertion.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the moon\u2019s archers fail, and the moon\u2019s archers fall.<\/p>\n

I have devoted myself to the study of a great many poisons. The powders do not tempt me. The smokes dissipate. The odorless, colorless, invisible and undetectable poisons that she sends, the moon up in her sky, swim uselessly in my veins. They fight amongst themselves, acting and counteracting, and yes they make me ill, they bring a sickly color to my cheeks, they steal my strength, but they fail to bring me down. My lungs still draw breath. My heart beats. In an uncomfortable, unsightly moment, I am purged.<\/p>\n

Almost, I admit, the venom of a lover threatens me, but even against impossible beauty I emerge triumphant. I would like to say I changed my lover\u2019s heart, that Love conquered, but this night, that would be a lie.<\/p>\n

Finally, atop a hill, still within sight of the city and my former lover\u2019s fresh grave, the moon comes down from the sky wrapped in elegant darkness, shadows cascading from her hair, eyes like diamonds, lips and hips dangerously curved.<\/p>\n

We circle each other on the hilltop. I can defeat her archers and her poisons, her plans and designs. I can overcome the loss of her favor. I do not know if I am capable of defying the moon directly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy will you not die?\u201d she asks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will. But not tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy must you resist me?\u201d she asks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou mock me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNever would I dare.\u201d<\/p>\n

She smiles. It\u2019s the sharpest weapon in her arsenal. She says to me, \u201cI may have fallen in love.\u201d<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t presume to ask, so I say nothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have proven yourself worthy,\u201d she tells me. She steps forward. I step back. Her smile trembles.<\/p>\n

I say, \u201cYou turned away from me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTis my nature,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou set your archers on me, and your poisons.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shrugs. \u201cI have more archers, and more poisons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou wanted me dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDeath,\u201d she says, \u201cis not an end.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will not die this night,\u201d I tell her. \u201cI will not fall for your lies, your machinations, your fabrications. I will not fall for you. You\u2019d be gone within a fortnight.\u201d<\/p>\n

She looks away. A moonlit tear slips from her eye. Sadly, she admits, \u201cTis my nature.\u201d Then she looks to me again and extends a hand, a final invitation. \u201cBut I can promise a glorious fortnight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NOTE: This entry is almost verbatim out of my Moleskine; it is just the words that spilled, as ink, from my fountain pen. A few […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6,22,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1115"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1115\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.darkfluidity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}