Storymania - Destination Starlight by Nathaniel A Miller

Destination Starlight (9)
Nathaniel A Miller

He put her up in a hotel, and stayed with her as they laughed and carried on all night. He had indicated he was with a sick friend to his family and would return in the morning.

The next day Natil was there, as always, and they seemed to hit it off together. The Harper was magnificent as a person, having told him stories about the Inquisition and being in the dungeons. e shared a few about this century, and warned her to be wary that people in this century would not understand her appearance and take advantage of it. People here were not a good as where she was the world very harsh and cruel as it had been back in her own century.

He led her, the maiden hanging off his arm as he approached the quad and his fellow classmates were sitting there. Nathaniel took her to and bought her lunch, at the dismay of the others, who gasped when they beheld the beautiful Harper at his side, as-if she belonged there always.

He held her hand as he showed her around the campus, teachers peering at the young woman in astonishment, clad as she was in her old-fashioned garb. Mister Fiori had been walking to the activities room, and he spied Natil and the young man together.

     "Greetings Mister Miller�" He chortled, "How are you?"

     "Good Mister F." The young man replied, glancing at his companion.

    "And who do we have here?"

    "May I present, Natil of Malvern." He replied, "A young maiden from across the sea." He replied, motioning to her and the teacher shook her hand warmly.

    "This is Mister Fiori, he is the dynamic activities director here." Nathaniel said and the teacher grinned at his introduction.

    "Welcome to Wilcox." He replied, and the youth glanced at Natil, who was blushing slightly.

    "With no disrespect�" Natil started, bowing formally, "I am a visitor to these lands."

"Oh!" He said, and glanced at the youth.

"I am her sponsor into this country." He replied, "I met her from far away once, and we stayed pen pals."

"You know you and Natil make a beautiful couple and I would hope you take her to the Junior Prom that is coming up."

He glanced at Natil who he knew never heard of that, from where she had come from. He shook his head slightly.

Natil smiled, coloring even more.

"With thanks." She replied, and he put out his arm, which she took.

"If I may, I have to get to the bus here shortly, and Natil will be tagging along with permission." Nathaniel told him, deliberately making stuff up to mask the young woman in a world that was probably, even in this century, very friendly to her kind and from a different place in time.

They walked together, and Fiori sighed as he peered at them, enchanted by her beauty and the wonderful accent of being abroad.

He went to the P.E Quad and he nodded to her.

"Stay out of sight, in this grove and you should not be spotted, I will be back at four, or you could come with me." He offered.

"It is a place south of here called Trade College." Nathaniel told her, "If you pretend to be a student somewhere and or a teacher, you could blend in while I am there and leave together."

Natil smiled, and shook her head.

"I will return for you in four hours." He said, "I am eager to show you man things more than you ever have seen, Mistress Harper. You will be amazed."

"I look forward to it." She replied, and he nodded. He bowed to kiss her hand gently.

She camped in the grove, unnoticed by passing cars, people or anyone for that matter. At four, he met her and he nodded as she gathered her stuff.

He walked with her to his locker, and the others in the group had gasped to see him with the beautiful maiden. They discreetly followed and he then walked with her down the street.

"You are welcome to spent it with my family. I can tell them you are my girlfriend, and they would be hospitable for a while." He offered, "Or I can put you up in a hotel."

"Er� sorry, a tavern."

"You are a very sweet young man, and are such a gentleman." She said, "No finer noble you can be."

He led her down the street, holding her hand, and he showed her the many things, taking her on a back route quickly getting them both to the Cal train tracks to cross and to the other side. They both rest at the station and she put her hand on his leg.

    "I appreciate you being so nice to me." The Harper told him and he took up her hand.

"My thanks for you being here, confirming what I thought for so many years about folklore." He said, "And being what I expected, beautiful, charming, witty, and magnificent."

Natil blushed furiously, a deep red and he grinned to touch her cheek. He peered into her blue eyes and he leaned over to kiss her passionately on the lips. Natil put her arms around him, as he did her and they held it for five minutes, as the train came in and passengers smiled as they saw the pair. They broke and turned their heads to the people who passed them, glancing as they both blushed this time.

"Magnificent." He told her, and she smiled.

"I-I�" She stammered, and he nodded.

"I did not mean to offend by stealing a kiss." He told her and she shook her head. The kiss was not her problem, it had been superb and magnificent and very passionate. It was whom she was seeing before her. Natil was flabbergasted by this young man, as someone who actually understood her and actually was kind.

"Ready?" He asked, "Where I have to go is right over there. A block away at a company I work for there."

Natil nodded and he put out his arm and she took it, smiling at him, a perfect gentle man. Natil, found herself growing very fond, if not in love with him.

She had departed a few days later, at the dismay of his family whom she was introduced as his girlfriend, telling them she had to return to her country. He had promised to write her, if not join her where she was going and hugged her often before she departed. He did not know about Elven Home in the Colorado Rockies and the others there.

     The now transformed elf shook his head, clearing those memories in which he had grimaced many times. He had found the shop in Eastridge, and had gone to college, planning to move to Colorado in which he would be with her. However, that never happened, as he had found the shop in Eastridge and now he was here. Rijiin peered at the young maiden in the corner, overwhelmed by her beauty.

"It cannot be!" He thought, staring at the familiar round face, the magnificent lean figure, the long red hair and blue eyes. The elf gasped aloud at the familiar beauty of the Harper, his second love when they met in downtown Sunnyvale, and coming over to spend time with him during High School at lunch. His first one had been back in high school a long time ago in the east that he still missed for a long time. Rijiin wore a broad smile on his fair features despite it.
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��"It is!" He thought, "Natil!" He had half shouted the last past elated, and the maiden looked up in surprise from her music when she heard her name. The others watched as he rushed toward her. She stood up, setting her harp down, and he took the Harper's hands to gaze longingly into her eyes.

The elf, after a moment, embraced her warmly and kissed her full on the lips.�Terrill, Mirya, Talla, Varden, Sana, even Cara had been surprised when Rijiin had charged the Harper and all had had smiled openly as he planted the passionate kiss on her lips. Natil had gasped when he had embraced her and felt the kiss on her lips. A very sweet one and filled with a promise. She sensed his longing, loneliness and doom. Those emotions seemed to fall away as he held her in his arms, and the young maiden was startled to hear his thoughts.

"MY God Natil, I am whole again. I missed you and never knew what I had until you were gone." His thoughts had startled her. She felt butterflies in her stomach and turmoil rushing through her very soul. Her face showed astonishment and confusion. They held the kiss for at least five minutes, making the other elves glance at each other in question. They sensed affection toward the Harper, and wondered about Rijiin.

When they broke the kiss and Natil, in a slight daze, had glanced at the other elves and grimaced at her kinfolk who were grinning openly at the display of passionate affection. The Harper had blushed about three shades of red, totally embarrassed by the passionate kiss, although to her, it had been very good.
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��"I have missed you." Rijiin declared, peering into her blue eyes. �More than you will ever know. It is so good to see you again and hold you in my arms again.�

He smiled, seeing the warm but confused expression on her face. The elf held her hands as he took a half step backward.

Natil tried to speak, but found she could not for a moment. The others were still smiling, as brightly as Rijiin was, at this very moment, sensing her embarrassment.

"I�I appreciate the greeting, quite warm that it is, but�" Natil began, but shook her head a moment later. Her mind was a whirl of emotion as she stared at the young man before her. "Have we met before Messier?"

��"We met a while ago, but you may not remember me." He replied formally and here the young Harper had managed a slow nod. Rijiin was astonished by her reply and not sure what else to say. He sensed something amiss here. Something had changed and was not sure what it was.

��"It must have been a lifetime ago." She replied with an unsure tone.

"It has." Rijiin told her, "Very much so beloved, Aye.�

Natil's mouth had dropped open when he had said the word 'beloved', and the Harper feeling more confused, only stared at him in wonder.

��"I think you have made a mistake." The Harper confessed solemnly, "If we have met, I do not remember you. What is your name messier? Perhaps that will help."

��"Rijiin, Rijiin L'Theil, at your service." Rijiin replied, and she shook her head. The elf suddenly realized there was something different about the young Harper, and sensed that she did not recognize or remember him. He realized that he had used his RPG name from the games and not his given name, which she would not know. He shook his head gently, still holding her hands.

�It is me, Natil, Nathaniel.� He murmured, having to take a moment to remember the identity he once was.

The maiden peered at him in silent astonishment, but shook her head quietly after a moment.

She was smiling, thinking of the kiss, which to her was absolutely, so magnificent and so passionate. Natil was still stunned by his greeting and wondered about him so much that this young man was.

The newly transforming elf quickly remembered where he was. He realized that she would definitely have no memory of their meeting because their relationship, as it had been before, would not have happened yet. It would not happen for the next four hundred plus years, if it happened at all. He backed off immediately on a gut feeling he had.

�� "I am not sure if I remember you, are you certain we have met before?" She asked, and Rijiin smiled as he nodded his head affirmatively.

�We met in a different time, in a different place, in another world far away from here.� He said, �As I said, it has been a while young Harper. Perhaps I am not certain myself, and I may have mistakenly thought you are someone I knew."

Rijiin backed away as he made his rounds with the other eves. Turning he embraced Mirya and shook Terrill's hand warmly. Turning, the elf returned Talla's embrace, before accepting a cup of wine from her. Behind him, a very confused Harper sat in the corner. He turned his head and winked at her. She smiled warmly at him.

"There is one good thing from this homecoming at least." He thought, with a grimace, "I do belong here as Mirya has said and I am finally home where I belong. I have indeed have found some peace."

Rijiin with that notion, cast a slow panning look throughout the cave they were gathered. The elf, despite the low light could see his surroundings clearly, highlighted in the purple and lavender colors. Here, the elf glanced at the now familiar surroundings and his new home after arriving here, for him, in a fresh new century.

"Kind of barbaric, primitive, but it's cozy, safe among friends." He thought and he nodded slowly. He let the soothing melody of Natil's harp calm his senses as he peered into the fire at the crackling flames and glowing embers. There he sat, sipping the wine, as the memories of the past moved through his brain, and of his journey bringing him to this place.

Many times during the next three days, he sat with Natil, as she strummed on her harp. He put the instrument from the future to his lips and began to play. He was amazed that he was able to, not expecting to have any abilities in the way of music. He seamlessly added a melody to her harp notes. She gasped, and stared at him, as did the others who smiled at the elf as he circulated the small group, playing the sax that he had brought with him.

Between times of playing, Rijiin sat with her, his arm around her, sipping the wine as they made small talk and as he tried to get to know the young Harper as he did before. He already knew about Natil from the meeting in the future, and as she talked with him, he chimed in, knowing so much about her. It made the young Harper gasp annoyed, frowning that he knew so much about her. He tried telling her about himself, but always faltered, trying to keep from telling her of the future where they would meet. She frowned at him, shrugging off his arm, or his advances often.

Deep down inside, however, Natil was flattered by the feelings of Rijiin toward her. After all, he was handsome, lean, had wonderful eyes and a sweet, gentleness about him that she had never seen in anyone before. She usually would smile when she saw him, but always be evasive and not share anything that he already seemed to know with the newly transformed elf.

Natil only allowed him to get close to her with his strange music he played on the instrument of the future. That was the only thing in common they shared. When he played, it made her smile, sharing a moment as he played tunes from the future.

For a month, Rijiin attempting to get close to her but usually was pushed away. He finally started to stay distant from the others, sitting alone in the adjoining chambers, and not really playing much anymore, even by the encouragement of Mirya and Cara who really liked his music.

The newly transforming elf, a few days later, left the encampment early and from here, he traveled the realm. He tried to keep busy, and acclimate himself more to the new region and his home. He did not go far, and stayed around the village of Saint Brigid, in the thick forests of Malvern or in the Aleser Mountains. The elf was high above the forest canopy at the beginning of the Rhillion River where he found a place he could truly call his in this new time.

As he climbed onto the rocks, free hand, and lifted himself up that, he found himself in a clearing. He gasped when he saw it and turned, as he stood on an overhang looking from the mountains into the valley below. Rijiin stood there in astonished silence, panning a long gaze from one end to the other end of this spectacular view in which he could see many miles. On the northern horizon, he could clearly see the castles of Hypperex, and the sea, but scattered throughout the green of the forest between, the cities of Saint Blaise, Alm, even Furze on the eastern side of the valley could be seen too. He managed a whistle at the view.

�Wow, this is a large place.� He thought, �And here I am in the middle of it.�

He put down the quilt, and he sat cross-legged on it, his blade on his lap, with his eyes closed staring at the starlight in the darkness. Here, he meditated, focusing on the images that came and went, trying to control what he saw. Rijiin saw the gruesome images of the gully and the body that lay on the cement strip, pooled with blood and gore throughout. He managed a quiet gasp as his awareness flowed and he moved around the body, able to see everything as the event happened. Rijiin was vaguely familiar with the surroundings, reminded something in perhaps a dream as he sat with his eyes closed, staring for hours at the starlight.

�By our lady, what exactly am I seeing?� He thought, still seeing Eastridge and the gully where he saw a body laying there exposed on the white cement. He was still confused by the images. Rijiin grimaced at the sight, and opened his eyes, panning a gaze around the clearing. The elf realized that he was breathing in gasps, the images draining him of what he felt to be strength.

�I wonder if what I saw was of the future.� He asked himself, shaking the previous images before settling himself again in quiet meditation.

The newly transformed elf peered silently at the starlight in the darkness, focusing on a star that seemed to call to him. As he sat there, a moment later, it seemed to draw him toward it, pulling him through the white-hot cornea of the star. As he passed through it, there was a flash, and he settled on what appeared to be a grassy plain.

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