Dia dhaoibh,

Well... this is just a wee story i wrote a few years ago, back in 2001, i think, while sitting in the corridors at university, waiting for a lesson to start (crazy place for writing, isn't it? :) ). Some notes on it can be found at the end of the post, don't feel like spoiling the story for those wanting to read it ;-)

FALLEN ANGELS
By Keltic Banshee

She knew she had broken the rules. She had loved, she had surrendered to the warmth of a presence, the bitterness of farewells and the happiness of meeting again, knowing the consequences. And even knowing them, she never cared, because she never though they would dare to do it. But there she was, alone among her equals, silent but still clam, as she had always been, waiting for her punishment. Her eyes seemed to look far beyond everything that was before them, and when they stared at any of those surrounding her, they seemed to pierce them to the deepest, trying to understand the reason for that situation. How ironic, how hypocritical, that beings born from love and to love, were punishing her for loving.

There was no compassion in the eyes of those surrounding him, only scorn, not a drop of understanding. He shook his head, moving his dark curls; they could never understand why he had done it, they could never feel what he had felt, they could never understand how hate could change into something completely different. They could never understand what made him smile now, being just about to suffer the hardest of punishments, what was that light shining in his eyes. He looked at them, one by one, any hope to make them understand already lost, challenging them to do it.

She looked around, her head up, a calm look in her eyes, not a single tears in them, not because she couldn't cry, as it was said, but because she didn't consider what was about to happen as a punishment. Had they looked at her, they might have noticed that she was nearly smiling in her calmness, as a contrast to many times her smile had hidden her tears. Yet, nobody dared to keep her look, as if they all knew there was no reason for that. Maybe they expected her to plead for mercy, she thought, but she would never do it, as it meant admitting she had done something wrong, and she didn't consider she had.

Suddenly, without a warning, he felt the dagger piercing his back, just where his wings met his body, tearing the joint. An unbearable pain shocked him while he started to fall, attracted by the light he had always hidden from. He closed his eyes, blinded by brightness, and clasped his teeth to prevent a cry of agony. Looking down, he could see his siblings turning their backs to him while he irremediably felt to that intermediate point between light and darkness that many called reality.

Nobody spoke, but she heard the words: "thus she wanted, thus be it". Deadly slowly, one of them approached her from behind, and she felt a soft touch in the back when the dagger hit her. She instantly started falling; her wings cut, nothing could keep her in that realm of light. She closed her eyes while she fell faster and faster, not wanting to see what she left behind. She fell during what felt like eternity, feeling how little by little the light that once made up her essence unwove from her, making her mortal. She didn't care; her senses had not awakened yet, so she couldn't feel the pain of being torn in two, of losing part of herself in the fall.

He felt as if part of him was snatched from him as he fell, he opened his eyes for a second and saw the trace of darkness he was leaving behind as he moved. He smiled bitterly while he tried to prevent the pain from making him scream; the reward was worth it

She noticed how she hit the ground, but not even then did she feel it; she felt terribly empty and that feeling could hide any other one, and her body was still numb from the cold. She slowly opened her eyes, dark as had never been seen in a Light, and looked around. She was by his side, in that small room, softly lighted, full of little details that made her feel at home, where they had shared days and night of forbidden love, memories and calm.

He felt how he fell on a hard surface, and it took him a little to understand that he had hit the ground, probably (at least thus he hoped) the ground of their haven. He tried to move, but he couldn't, because of both the falling and the losing of his wings. The last traces of darkness were still slowly leaving him, as if they weren't very sure of the punishment... they should have looked for something worse, but there was nothing they could do now.

He was by her side, still and pale, the darkness that had always accompanied him unweaving around him, still falling (or rising?) from his own world of shadows. The fact that his wings were taken form him was easier to understand than her own punishment, as he was created as a creature of hate. However, he had loved. Couldn't that have saved her, even changed the colour of his wings? That wouldn't have changed the situation, because sooner or later they would have decided to fall, leaving a world that could not understand them, to find their own one.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, blue as ice, and looked at her. They smiled, shyly, as if they saw each other for the first time, and somehow it was true. At last mortals, at last together, they got lost in each other's eyes without feeling caught in a whirlwind of black and white that threatened to destroy them, for after what they had gone thought that night nothing would ever manage to do so. It was then when all doubts disappeared. What they felt was strong, not the hate of the Black Wings; what they felt was love, not what that bunch of hypocritical White Wings talked about.

Some comments on the story
This story was originally written in Spanish, and later on translated into English. The translation is not really that good, despite having been reworked a few times, mainly because when I originally wrote it I played with a feature of the spanish language that allowed me not to write a single "he" or "she" 'till the last paragraph, which helped to make the reader quite lost in it... but well... I did my best when translating it :-) If anyone is interested in the original version, just let me know

Hope you like it, any comments are welcome... and I would be grateful for any spelling corrections, as well... I tend to type quite fast, and automatic correctors sometimes don't get all my typing mistakes.

*phew* Writing this post was hard... this is the first time I let one of my stories "go public" :unsure: ... but... hope you enjoy it :-)

Sl�n,
Keltic Banshee

muy bien hecho, me gusta mucho

i am really starting to like this sub-forum from this very first topic on... :) nice

something poetry related : can anyone get me the text of "paddy's dream" as performed by the Wolfe Tones of Live - Alive ' Oh ???

A nice story.
Without further comments

Mo sc�al th�, a st�r!
;)

Maite zaitut, ene laztana. :wub:

...I even understand parts of the spanish version... seems my spanish has not yet vanished completely... ;)

Hi again,

Thanks for the comments :-) It's nice to hear that other people like what I write...
Well... someone just convinced me to post the original version of the story, just in case anyone would like to read it in Spanish... so, here it is :-)

�NGELES CAIDOS
By Keltic Banshee

Hab�a roto las reglas, lo sab�a. Hab�a amado, se hab�a entregado al calor de una presencia, al amargor de las despedidas y la alegr�a de los reencuentros, sabiendo cu�les eran las consecuencias. Y a�n conociendolas nunca le importaron porque jam�s pens� que se atrever�an a hacerlo. Y sin embargo, all� estaba, sola entre sus iguales, silenciosa pero a�n altiva como siempre hab�a sido, esperando su castigo. Sus ojos parec�an mirar m�s all� de todo lo que hab�a ante ellos, y cuando se fijaban en uno de los personajes que la rodeaban, parec�an atravesarle hasta lo m�s hondo de su ser, intentando entender el por qu� de aquella situaci�n. Qu� ir�nico, qu� hip�crita, que unos seres nacidos por y para amar la castigaran precisamente por ello.

No hab�a compasi�n en los rostros que le rodeaban, tan solo desprecio, incomprensi�n. Sacudi� la cabeza moviendo al hacerlo sus negros rizos; jam�s entender�an por qu� lo hab�a hecho, jam�s ser�an capaces de sentir lo que �l hab�a sentido, de ver c�mo el odio se transformaba en algo totalmente opuesto. Jam�s comprender�an qu� era lo que ahora, a punto de sufrir el m�s duro castigo, le hac�a sonreir, qu� era ese punto de luz que brillaba en su mirada. Los mir� a todos uno por uno, perdida ya la esperanza de hacerles comprender, desafiandoles con la mirada a cumplir su castigo.

Mir� a su alrededor, la cabeza alta, la mirada limpia y calmada. No hab�a l�grimas en sus ojos, y eso no deb�a a que no pudiera llorar, como algunos afirmaban, sino a que lo que para otros pudiera ser un castigo a ella no le parec�a tan malo. Si se hubieran parado a mirarla, quiz� habr�an notado que casi parec�a sonreir en su serenidad, en contraste con tantas veces que su sonrisa ocult� las l�grimas. Sin embargo nadie era capaz de resistir su mirada, como si todos supieran que aquel castigo no ten�a sentido. Quiz� esperasen que suplicara perdon, pens� ella, pero no lo har�a, ya que eso supondr�a admitir un error, una falta, y ella no consideraba que hubiera cometido ninguna.

De pronto, sin previo aviso, sinti� el pu�al atravesando su espalda, justo en el punto en que las alas se un�an a su cuerpo, desgarrando la uni�n. Un dolor insoportable le atraves� mientras comenzaba a caer, atraido por la luz de la que siempre se hab�a mantenido oculto. Cerr� los ojos, cegados por la claridad, y apret� los dientes ahogando un grito de dolor. Mirando hacia abajo pod�a ver a sus hermanos volviendole la espalda mientras �l ca�a irremediablemente hacia ese punto intermedio entre la luz y la oscuridad que muchos llaman realidad.

Nadie habl�, y, sin embargo, ella oy� las palabras: "ella lo ha querido, que as� sea". Con una lentitud mortal, uno de ellos se acerc� por detr�s, y ella not� un leve roce en la espalda cuando la daga se clav� en ella. Al instante sinti� c�mo ca�a; cortadas sus alas, nada pod�a ya mantenerla en ese reino de luces. Cerr� los ojos mientras ca�a, cada vez m�s deprisa, neg�ndose a ver lo que dejaba atr�s. Cay� durante lo que le pareci� una eternidad, sintiendo c�mo poco a poco la luz que hab�a sido su esencia se destej�a de su ser, volviendola mortal. No le import�, sus sentidos a�n no hab�an despertado, as� que no pod�a sentir el dolor de estarse desgarrando en dos, de estar perdiendo parte de s� misma en la caida.

Sinti� como si le arrancaran parte de s� mismo mientras ca�a, entreabri� los ojos un instante y pudo ver el rastro de oscuridad que iba dejando al moverse. Sonri� amargamente mientras intentaba evitar que el dolor le dominara y le hiciera gritar; la recompensa merec�a la pena.

Fue consciente de golpearse contra el suelo, pero ni siquiera entonces lo sinti�; un vac�o atenazaba su interior y enmascaraba cualquier otra sensaci�n, a la vez que su cuerpo estaba a�n entumecido por el fr�o. Lentamente abri� los ojos, oscuros como hab�a visto pocos entre las luces, y mir� a su alrededor. Se encontraba junto a �l, en aquella habitaci�n peque�a y levemente iluminada, llena de peque�os detalles que la hac�an sentirse en casa, en la que tantas veces compartieron dias y noches de amor prohibido, recuerdos y calma.

Se sinti� caer sobre algo s�lido, y le cost� comprender que se trataba del suelo, posiblemente (al menos as� lo esperaba) el de su refugio. Intent� moverse, pero a�n le era imposible, en parte por la caida, en parte pos su debilidad al perder las alas. Los �ltimos jirones de oscuridad le abandonaban, lentamente, como si a pesar de todo no estuvieran tan seguros del castigo impuesto... posiblemente deber�an haber buscado algo peor, pero ahora ya no pod�an hacer nada.

A su lado estaba �l, inm�vil, p�lido, la oscuridad que siempre le hab�a acompa�ado deshilachandose a su alrededor, a�n cayendo (�o ascendiendo?) desde su propio mundo de tinieblas. Que a �l le quitaran sus alas era quiz� m�s comprensible que su castigo, pues se esperaba que �l fuera una criatura de odio. Sin embargo, hab�a amado. �No deber�a eso haber sido suficiente para redimirle a ella, incluso para cambiar el color de las alas de �l? Tampoco habr�a servido de mucho, pues tarde o temprano ambos habr�an acabado decidiendo caer, abandonando un mundo que no les comprend�a.

Lentamente �l abri� los ojos, azules como el hielo, y la mir�. Sonrieron, t�midamente, casi como si se vieran por primera vez, y en parte, as� era. Por fin mortales, por f�n juntos, se perdieron el uno en la mirada del otro sin sentirse atrapados en un remolino de blancos y negros que amenazaba con destruirles, pues despu�s de lo que hab�an vivido esa noche nada podr�a destruirlos. Entonces fue cuando todas sus dudas se disiparon. Aquello era fuerte, no el odio que enorgullecia a los alas negras; aquello era amor, no lo que esa pandilla de hip�critas pregonaba.

Sl�n,

Keltic Banshee

I am very happy to see this Sub-forum as well.
Such talent :D
Keep up the great work everyone.