And now to be completely random
Sep. 22nd, 2004 06:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maderrSing a song of sixpence
Pocket full of rye
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened,
the birds began to sing
Was this not a dainty dish
to set before the king?
The man took one last drag of his cigarette as two dark figures approached him, then dropped it to the ground and stamped it out. The smell of cigarette smoke was acrid and sharp in the sweet spring air of the cool evening. A few last rays of sunlight struggled to reach the three men gathering behind an old, scruffy brick building.
What little light did reach them revealed only that there was no lighting up the two walking toward the smoker. They were dark - of skin, of hair, of everything except their white teeth and pink tongues, and eyes so blue and bright it almost hurt to look at them.
"You're late, Blackbirds."
"Sorry boss," spoke the man on the left. To the casual eye they looked exactly alike. Even to the especially observant, and those familiar with the two men, it was hard to tell them apart. but their boss did not seem to have any trouble.
"No luck," said the one on the right. "We've checked with everyone. No one knows a thing."
Lips tight with displeasure - and to the practiced eye, worry - the smoker reached inside his long, deep blue coat and pulled out a fresh cigarette. He ignored the looks of the other two men and lit it. The wind ruffled his blue-black hair. His midnight blue eyes were grim as he stared at his subordinates. "Look again. I don't want you to upturn stones - I want you to shatter them. We have to find Sixpence. No matter what."
"Easier said than done boss."
"Don't I know it," he muttered, pulling deeply on his cigarette.
The man on the left shook his head, long pitch-black hair spilling over his shoulder. Irritably he brushed it back. "What should we do with the stones that don't feel like cooperating? Cause I can tell you, they're already pissed enough as is."
"I. Don't. Care." The man finished his cigarette. "Sixpence must be found. Every day he's missing lessens our chances of finding him." Frustrated, he shoved up his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose, "Four and Twenty are helping me look down here. If you guys don't find anything on your second search, then I'll probably put you down here as well."
The twin grimaced, "Shit. Things are worse than I thought. What in the hell is going on?"
"What in the hell indeed. If the problem were that simple, we wouldn't be having this meeting. Now get going, the sooner we figure out what's going on, the better."
"Right, boss." The twins nodded, then stepped back and with a flash of shadowy, muted light wings sprouted from their backs, the feathers as dark as the rest of them.
"Be careful, Nakir, Munkar," the man whispered in a voice full of the worry he had until then hidden. "Above all else, be careful."
"Don't worry about us, boss." Nakir smiled.
Munkar nodded, "Yeah, we'll be fine."
Unconvinced, Azrael nodded and watched them until they vanished.
Pocket full of rye
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened,
the birds began to sing
Was this not a dainty dish
to set before the king?
The man took one last drag of his cigarette as two dark figures approached him, then dropped it to the ground and stamped it out. The smell of cigarette smoke was acrid and sharp in the sweet spring air of the cool evening. A few last rays of sunlight struggled to reach the three men gathering behind an old, scruffy brick building.
What little light did reach them revealed only that there was no lighting up the two walking toward the smoker. They were dark - of skin, of hair, of everything except their white teeth and pink tongues, and eyes so blue and bright it almost hurt to look at them.
"You're late, Blackbirds."
"Sorry boss," spoke the man on the left. To the casual eye they looked exactly alike. Even to the especially observant, and those familiar with the two men, it was hard to tell them apart. but their boss did not seem to have any trouble.
"No luck," said the one on the right. "We've checked with everyone. No one knows a thing."
Lips tight with displeasure - and to the practiced eye, worry - the smoker reached inside his long, deep blue coat and pulled out a fresh cigarette. He ignored the looks of the other two men and lit it. The wind ruffled his blue-black hair. His midnight blue eyes were grim as he stared at his subordinates. "Look again. I don't want you to upturn stones - I want you to shatter them. We have to find Sixpence. No matter what."
"Easier said than done boss."
"Don't I know it," he muttered, pulling deeply on his cigarette.
The man on the left shook his head, long pitch-black hair spilling over his shoulder. Irritably he brushed it back. "What should we do with the stones that don't feel like cooperating? Cause I can tell you, they're already pissed enough as is."
"I. Don't. Care." The man finished his cigarette. "Sixpence must be found. Every day he's missing lessens our chances of finding him." Frustrated, he shoved up his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose, "Four and Twenty are helping me look down here. If you guys don't find anything on your second search, then I'll probably put you down here as well."
The twin grimaced, "Shit. Things are worse than I thought. What in the hell is going on?"
"What in the hell indeed. If the problem were that simple, we wouldn't be having this meeting. Now get going, the sooner we figure out what's going on, the better."
"Right, boss." The twins nodded, then stepped back and with a flash of shadowy, muted light wings sprouted from their backs, the feathers as dark as the rest of them.
"Be careful, Nakir, Munkar," the man whispered in a voice full of the worry he had until then hidden. "Above all else, be careful."
"Don't worry about us, boss." Nakir smiled.
Munkar nodded, "Yeah, we'll be fine."
Unconvinced, Azrael nodded and watched them until they vanished.
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Date: 2004-09-22 03:56 pm (UTC)Will the dish and the spoon be next, I wonder? [wink, wink, HEART]
(And aside from that, Flash and Mikah are still being obstinate. Maybe you can help?)
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Date: 2004-09-22 06:39 pm (UTC)Heh, busted. I knew you'd call me on that. Couldn't help it. I was bored at work and something just suddenly clicked.
Hey diddle diddle, the cat
didand the fiddle.The cow jumped [over] the moon.
The little dog laughed to see such
smutsport,While the dish
made outran away with the spoon.no subject
Date: 2004-09-22 04:15 pm (UTC)0_0
...I love you.
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Date: 2004-09-22 04:18 pm (UTC)I might be late tonight, just got hit with a last minute project. What's the house number? I'll call you at like ten to eight and let you know for sure.
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Date: 2004-09-22 04:19 pm (UTC)Call me if you are and give me 10 minutes and I'll come get you... the weather is nice and I feel like a drive. If you say no I'll show up anyway ;)
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Date: 2004-09-22 06:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-22 06:31 pm (UTC)Anyway, real review. I adore the way you incorporated the rhyme into a short story. It seems like a prologue to a longer story though (which I wouldn't complain if you wrote, of course). But, yes, very nice indeed!
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Date: 2004-09-22 06:43 pm (UTC)It is going to be a longer story, I just sort of wrote this in ten minutes while I was really bored at work.
Nakir and Munkar are angels from Islamic lore, and Azrael is an angel of death - I think some say he's fallen, but I don't believe he actually is.
Thankee muchly ^_^
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Date: 2004-09-22 10:10 pm (UTC)Ah, gotcha...wait a sec. There's debate as to whether Azrael Fell or not? Don't people usually agree on things like that? You know, like...Michael and Uriel never Fell, but the Morningstar did, in fact Fall? Huh. I really, really wish I had a book on Angels and Fallen Angels now. Hm.
^_^
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Date: 2004-09-23 04:46 am (UTC)Actually, I just meant in ficdom here online. A lot of authors write him as fallen, though I don't think he is. I wasn't very clear sorry!
Dude, I would kill to have a good book on angels.
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Date: 2004-09-23 05:38 am (UTC)Why would authors write him as fallen, though? (I might only still be confused because it's too damned early...)
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Date: 2004-09-23 05:59 am (UTC)Because he's an angel of death - I think people tend to assume they're fallen. But that's only in the few fics I've stumbled across.
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Date: 2004-09-22 06:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-22 06:57 pm (UTC)You knew that off the top of your head? And here you said I knew interesting stuff.
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Date: 2004-09-22 07:07 pm (UTC)(See? Told you I had a weird sort of memory thing. :P)
I used to remember them by their English names, which are actually the /translations/ of their function (more or less) but now I've forgotten those. o_o;;; I think it's Memory and... Knowledge? Munnin is memory, anyway, I know that much.
OH! I remember where they imprinted on me from. -_-;;; Laurell K. Hamilton uses Norse mythology a lot for her werewolf heirachy. Like Ulfric is the pack leader. And munnin is the spirit of the wolf pack, made up of the souls/essences/spirits of the dead members. (that's probably why I remember Memory and not the other one. :P)
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Date: 2004-09-22 07:09 pm (UTC)O_o
You do have a weird memory. But a cool one.
I love Norse mythology. Greek is my fav, but Norse and Egyptian are really close.
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Date: 2004-09-22 07:15 pm (UTC)Greek is fun, but I'm not very good at remembering the not-so-mainstream stuff. And Egyptian mythology is wonderfully fascinating, but the names keep throwing me off. x_X I can never remember them properly.
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Date: 2004-09-22 10:19 pm (UTC)On the off chance, do you know of a really good, comprehensive book of Norse mythology?
Sorry for cutting in at random!
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Date: 2004-09-23 03:54 am (UTC)Hmm, it really depends on what country you're in? ^^;;; Over here the Puffin books produce mythology books (heavily censored) for kids, so...
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Date: 2004-09-22 09:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-23 03:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-22 06:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-22 06:44 pm (UTC)Lol. As my sister said, I've always been oddly obsessed with this old nursery rhyme.
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Date: 2004-09-22 06:56 pm (UTC)you know the mind coruption must end!
loved it still. makes me wonder what other nursery rhymes you can mess with ....
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Date: 2004-09-23 06:00 am (UTC)Mind corruption! Long live the corruption!
And don't tempt me, "Georgie Porgie" is beggging for maltreatment.
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Date: 2004-09-23 06:56 am (UTC)And that was just...So. Cool!!
Gyah...I love your take on that rhyme. So, so original.
Yummmmmm....*tackle glomps*
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Date: 2004-09-23 07:55 am (UTC)My ego loves you. If you're that happy about the prologue, I can't wait to see what happens when I post more. ^_^
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Date: 2004-09-23 12:08 pm (UTC)Seriously, I always love seeing what you come up with because it *is* so original. Well, that and your stories have that whole soul-sucking-I-have-to-stay-up-until-five-in-the-morning addictiveness to them.
I wanna know what's up with Sixpence...*puppy eyes*