Dandelyon's Worlds

It feels good to be back writing this story! I've missed Orchid, especially. To the people who've been following her story, welcome back!

To my new friends, Welcome to the world of the fireborn, where, according to the myth, people were divided into different forms so that there would be no more fear and hatred and prejudice.

(If this is your first visit, the myth is better recounted here, and this story starts with Wings on His Fingers.)

ORCHID

The rocks felt very heavy. Orchid would have laughed at their weight a week ago. Of course, she reflected, yesterday she’d barely been able to fly with a net full of food.
( In which Orchid finds... )
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This story isn't making me rich, but it has introduced me to new friends. So I hope you'll take a moment to comment or at least wave before you move on.

Welcome back to the world of the Fireborn! If you are new to Fireborn, or if you may have missed any installments, here are links to all the installments. 


ORCHID

Orchid ate the seaweed raw, though it got less appetizing with every bite. But she was exhausted, and hungry enough that she wouldn’t sleep unless she ate.

Once she had finished it, she wedged herself high in the tree, sinking her claws deep into the bark, and closed her eyes. Soon, maybe even before sunrise, her mother would wake her, and this nightmare would be over. They could fly home together, and be safe. Then she sighed. She didn’t really believe her mother would fly off to safety leaving any child in danger. ( Read more... )
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Please feel free to friend me, and to refer my stories to your friends.

Thank you for reading!

Welcome back to the world of the fireborn, where, according to the myth, people were divided into different forms so that there would be no more fear and hatred and prejudice.

(If this is your first visit, the myth is better recounted here, and this story starts with Wings on His Fingers.)

DRAGON

Dragon swam on top of the water as he approached the huge old oak tree they’d chosen for their rendezvous, so she would know it was him. Orchid was finishing the last of the huge bag of food he’d cooked for their lunch as he pulled out of the water under the tree.

He really had thought he was going overboard when he gathered more seaweed while he swam, just in case.

Orchid greeted him with a smile and a huge yawn, the empty net bag dangling from one foot. ( Read more... )

The story continues here.)

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This work is supported solely by crowdfunding. You, my readers, are the patrons who support this work, both financially and with your words. If you enjoyed it, please take a moment to let me know, or refer me to a friend. Your comments can help shape the story, and funds received speed the posting of the next chapter.

And I love to hear from you!

I guess this is my catch-up weekend. :-D

It's been too long since we all visited the world of the windborn, the lakeborn, and the magically-talented fireborn.

For my new friends (and anyone who's lost track) the story starts here and the chapters are listed here. But now, back to the story:

Black Berries and Butterfish

ORCHID

Orchid dreamed she was traveling with her mother, sleeping on a beach and waking in the silent twilight before dawn to eat berries from a bowlful they’d gathered the night before. Mist, who was very young, just a teenager, was crying for a little boy in a distant town, who’d been killed because he was fireborn, and the grownups around him feared him, and attacked him. Even little children fight back when cornered, though the effort is doomed.

The weeping embarrassed Orchid; it seemed too private to intrude on, so she pretended she didn’t hear the sobs and very quietly ate the berries to calm her stomach. As she ate, she noticed the bowl was a shell of some sort. It looked very bright on the dark sand, and slightly blue, the berries inside like black stones. Somehow she knew black stones were safe, at least this week.

That didn’t make sense, ( but... )

The next chapter is one of Dragon's:  Homecoming, with Tea
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Thank you all for your patience and support!  I hope you'll take a moment to let me know you were here.

Welcome back to the world of the Fireborn. (If this is your first visit, and you don't enjoy starting stories in the middle, or if you missed a few, the story starts here and links to other chapters are here.)
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ORCHID

The food Dragon had cooked for her stayed down, but while Orchid was hiding in the trees, she started shivering again. Her sense of up and down seemed unreliable, so she curled into as small a ball as she could, dug her toe-claws into a branch, and wrapped her wings around herself. She would have to hope Skimmer would leave without searching the island.

Curled up like that, she could barely hear Dragon and Skimmer talking on the beach, and she fell asleep, to endless nightmares of Skimmer tying her up, Skimmer beating her, and Skimmer attacking Dragon. In her dreams, when she managed to fly away, Skimmer shifted forms, and flew after her. How could Skimmer be a shifter?

But then, how could she herself be a fireborn?

(  The nightmares changed... )

Continued in Black Berries and Butterfish

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Thank you all for your patience and support!  Please let me know what you think.

Welcome to my new friends and readers! We're kind of in the middle of things here; if you'd rather start at the beginning, you'll find that here: Wings On His Fingers.
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MIST

It was still light when Starfish and Lotus came for her, both looking grim. Starfish picked her up like a child and walked into the water with her. ( The water was shockingly cold... )

The story continues here.
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This work is supported solely by crowdfunding. You, my readers, are the patrons who support this work, both financially and with your words. If you enjoyed it, please take a moment to let me know. Your comments can help shape the story, and funds received speed the posting of the next chapter.

Besides, comments are like chocolate!

I have a new Torn World story published. Wide Sky With Small Critters is a rewritten version of one of the Muse Fusion stories I posted here.  If you want to see the benefits of having readers and editors critique a story, you could check it out even if you read the rough draft.

Also, if you want me to post the next Fireborn chapter before Monday Night, go vote in my poll.  Yes, I know it's underneath distractingly cute kitten pictures.  Well, pictures of distractingly cute kittens, anyway.  I've done better pictures.  These guys aren't exactly willing to sit still, much less pose, at this point.

I have been working on a story from the prompts you kindly gave me, but this working full time cuts into my writing time. However, the people who played along and suggested things that are appearing in the story will probably get to see the first draft later this week.

And I have a new chapter of Fireborn drafted; I wanted to read it over and post it lastnight, but bedtime came too early.

I'm doing something a little different -- with Dragon suddenly deciding to be a viewpoint character, I figure we need to see some of what's going on from his point of view before he meets Orchid and Mist. This chapter will be a bonus for people who've shown support for Fireborn by commenting or by sponsoring it. I'm planning to post it tonight, hopefully before Criminal Minds.

So if you've been lurking, you're welcome to come out of hiding! There's a nice comment link below, and a pretty painting of a hat on my profile for people who would prefer to catch my attention that way. And for sponsors who don't have an LJ, let me know that and I'll e-mail the chapter to you.

Before I head to bed, to be rested for the temp job, I wanted to get this posted.

For my new friends and readers, Fireborn starts here.

MIST

Over the next day, people started returning from the searches Eel had sent them on, mostly empty-handed. One surly man had a couple of samples of herbs that were so clearly different from the drawings she had made that even the children laughed at him. This did not improve his disposition, but after he was introduced as Crab, Mist had to guess that, perhaps, nothing would.

Still, she listened to his report, and all the others, treating each obviously half-hearted member of Eel’s search parties with careful respect.

( Read more... )

I love to hear from my readers.  I hope you'll take a moment to let me know what you think.

And thank you, again, to my patrons. 

Welcome to my new readers. Fireborn starts here: Wings on His Fingers.
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DRAGON

When he had finally found her—or, more accurately, when she found him, Orchid had looked so sick and miserable, he could barely credit that she could still fly. Windborns were always slender; now she was past gaunt to skeletal, her boniness softened only by her fur.

He’d wanted to get her to somewhere that he could feed her; take care of her if she collapsed. It was only after they were on the other island that he thought to worry—if she collapsed, and Skimmer showed up, could he protect her? He was trying to figure out a plan for that when she started seeing the clams—not their air holes, but the clams themselves, right through the sand.

It was spooky.

It was very spooky.
( Read more... )
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