exsilium | voice; forward dated to past midnight (action open to anyone around?)

voice; forward dated to past midnight (action open to anyone around?)

( there's a slight sound of rustling after the feed clicks on, as oz makes himself more comfortable on a seat in the observatory. why he's there late at night — night by circadian rhythms, anyway, simulated nights on the moon — is anyone's guess, or maybe it's obvious enough. in any case, when he speaks up a moment later, he sounds to be in a good enough mood. )

What's your favorite story? Scary ones are probably best for late at night, but what I really want to hear about are everyone's favorites. For instance, something about a princess and a dragon, or maybe a mystery with a twist ending, or something out of history....ah, if you make it up or adapt it from a book, that's fine too! Or even if it's a real one that's happened to someone you know, ( and a light laugh ) — don't worry, I don't tell anyone!

But it's rude to ask without giving my own preference, right? I can start with mine, if anyone wants.

( he'll tell people about holy knight. all about it!!!! don't ask him about it. )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No, no! I might not have even heard of them before anyway, so you should choose.

[She pauses a minute, tilting her head to the side as she thinks.]

Well, um, have you heard the story of the six swans?

Edited 2013-10-13 03:36 (UTC)

No, I haven't.

Okay! I haven't read it in a while, so if I make any mistakes, I'm sorry.

[A pause.]

Once upon a time, there was a king who was hunting in a forest when he realized he was lost. He tried hard to find his way, but he couldn't. Then an old woman came to him and said that she would tell him the way out of the woods if he'd marry her daughter. When he went into the woman's cottage and saw her daughter, he saw that she was very beautiful, but there was something about the girl that frightened him. Still, he realized he didn't have a choice if he wanted to get back to his kingdom, so he said he would do it.

...that seems like a big thing to do in exchange for getting directions someplace.

( HE'S JUST SAYING )

Well, he was going to starve to death if he didn't find the way out! So it was in exchange for his life.

Anyways, the woman showed him the way, and he took the girl back to his castle, where the wedding was celebrated. Now, the king had seven children from a previous marriage, six sons and one daughter. He loved them more than anything, and his new wife frightened him, so he was afraid she would hurt his children. He took them to a secluded house in the woods, but he was so fond of them that he visited them frequently. One day, the queen became so curious to what he was doing that she followed him to the house.

And he still hadn't found out what was so scary about her?

Nope! He just had a bad feeling about her. Like, intuition or whatever.

So, once she found out where the house was, she made these seven shirts of magic silk. Her mother was a witch and had taught her some of her trade. She took the shirts and went to the house, and when the children saw someone approaching in the distance they thought it was their father and hurried to greet him. When they came out, though, the woman threw one of the shirts over each of them. Just like that, they turned into swans and flew away into the woods. However, the daughter hadn't come out with her brothers, so she stayed human.

( wouldn't it have been easier to make a magic blanket then OKAY FINE he nods and listens!! )

[a magic blanket wouldn't have stayed on gosh!!]

The next day the king went to visit his children, but he only found his daughter. She told him how she had seen her brothers fly away into the woods. She showed him the feathers they had dropped near the house that she had collected. The king mourned for his sons, but he didn't think that the queen was behind it. He was afraid that his daughter would be taken from him as well. He wanted to take her back to the castle, but she was afraid of her stepmother and refused. She asked him to let her stay one more night in the house.

( gasp!!! he doesn't literally gasp but he is leaning her way a little, totally engrossed okok. )

During the night after he left, though, the girl decided she couldn't stay. She had to go find her brothers. She ran into the woods and continued all night and into the next day, until she was too tired to keep walking. Soon she found a hut in the forest and went in. She saw six beds in the home, but she was not bold enough to get into any of them. Instead, she crawled underneath one of the beds and slept.

Just as the sun was going down, she saw six swans fly in the window. Before her eyes, they transformed into humans, and the girl recognized her brothers. She came out from beneath the bed immediately, and all of the siblings were happy to see each other again. The brothers told her that she could not stay in the hut, though. It was a robbers den, and they would kill her if they found her. She asked if they could protect her, but they explained that they could only remain human for a quarter of an hour each day, and after that must go back to being swans.

So they must've had to leave.

Yeah. She asked them if there was a way for them to be restored, but they told her the conditions were too difficult. She wouldn't be able to speak or laugh for six years, and she would have to sew six shirts for them, made out of nettles. After they said this, their time for the day was over, and they flew back out through the window.

Despite what they had said, the girl decided she would save her brothers no matter the cost. She went and gathered some nettles, though it stung her hands, and began to sew. She found a tree in the middle of the forest and climbed it, deciding to rest there for the night.

That's terrible.

( though not unexpected, given how stories go )

Yeah. After she had rested some, she started to sew again. Before long, though, the king of the land - not her father, another king - was hunting in the woods. His huntsmen spotted her in her tree, and came to her, asking her who she was and what she was doing up there. She couldn't answer, of course, so she threw them her golden bracelet, hoping they would leave her alone. They persisted, though, and soon she had thrown everything she had to them except her dress and sewing. They climbed up the tree and pulled her down even despite this, and brought her to the king.

Well, that's rude.

( GOSH )

Right? Anyways, they brought her to the king, and he asked her who she was and what she was doing in the tree in every language he knew. She didn't answer, though. The king was struck by her beauty and her gentle nature. He fell in love with her, and took her back to his castle. Days later, he was so charmed by her manner and appearance that he decided he wanted to marry her. The wedding was a few days later.

However, the king had a wicked mother who did not trust the young woman and did not think she was worthy of her son. A year later, after the queen had her first child, the king's mother stole the child during the night and painted the woman's mouth red so she might convince everyone she was a cannibal. The king did not believe his mother, though. Meanwhile, the queen mourned, but she could not tell anyone about the woman's treachery.

( the fuck is even going on anymore tho

BUT HE NODS )

Later on, when the queen gave birth to a second boy, the king's mother repeated the act, but the king could still not bring himself to believe her. He would not allow anyone to harm his wife. However, when it happened a third time and the queen would not even speak a single word to defend herself and instead went on sewing all the time, seeming to care for nothing but the shirts, her husband could no longer ignore the problem and sentenced her to be burned at the stake.

( WHAT!!!! )

If he really loved her, he should've thought about what else might be going on.

Yeah, he pretty much seems like a jerk. But when the day came for her sentence to be carried out, it was the last day of the six years she was forced to be silent. She took the shirts with her to the pyre; they were finished except one, which was only missing one of the arms. As the preparations for the execution were going on, she saw six swans coming towards her on the horizon. When they were close enough, she threw the shirts to them, and watched as they all turned into men again. Since she could speak now, she told the king what had happened and what his mother had done. He wanted to execute the woman in the queen's place, but the queen, being of a gentle nature, declined. Moved by her kindness, the king's mother was finally assured of the young woman's worth. She thanked her and told her where she had been keeping her children, and they all lived happily ever after.

[actually they burned the king's mother at the stake but whatever this is a better ending]

Oh! So it does turn out happily, after all that — what a relief.

( THAT WAS SORT OF STRESSFUL TBH )

Yeah! I think what I like most about it is that she never gave up, even though she was about to die. And that she forgave the mother in the end, too.

[ahiru you made that part up]

And how much determination she had to save her brothers no matter what! I thought that was amazing.