Young Writers Society

Alright, here is the second chapter to Chime Endlessly. At this moment in time though I'm actually thinking of renaming this piece. I want there to still be something to do with chiming but I just cant seem to figure out a title for it.. I guess that could come later.

Again, please, if you have the time, could you give me a nice harsh review? Dont be afraid to be cruel. I can take it. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews for the first chapter though! They were marvellous!

Chapter 2: A Gentle Chime of Bells

“Shh,” My eyes watched calculating as the sack of water dangled loosely from a branch right before the door of the one roomed school. The teacher would be walking out very shortly, that I knew for sure for it was his routine. In only a few seconds he would make his exit and the sack of water would fall on his head exactly as planned.

“Kirun this isn’t such a good idea…” the gentle voice beside me whispered, breathing perfectly soft and even. I hated the fact that his voice had broke through the adrenaline rush that I had been so excited about experiencing again. Those few seconds before a plan was about to be fulfilled… those were moments that made the most difference and almost every time Ezra interrupted them. The only person in the world who could possibly ruin my excitement… I turned my eyes towards him for a brief second, seeing his defined, fourteen year old face, his wide mulberry eyes staring calmly at me.

“It’ll be fine,” I chuckled lightly although I was very sure he was right. Still, my adolescence pushed me forward to continue on. “And if we get caught just blame it on me.”

“No!” he said loudly, then quickly covered his mouth embarrassed. “I-I mean I-I wouldn’t…”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at his soft tenderness, something he did not display so blatantly to anyone else. Of course, he saw things that no one else ever saw about me. Our relationship had always been as such. Suddenly though my attention was once again averted back towards the door that was slowly creaking open, Mr Yerna walking out. His frail hands were light against the doorknob, white beard long and curled although his head was completely bald. Papa said he just celebrated his 283rd birthday. A long life for an elf. Mr Yerna was very old fashioned though and strict. He didn’t let anyone get away with anything, and maybe that’s why I sat here, string fastened in my hand, ready for the second to set the sack of water crashing down.

“Kirun…” Ezra whispered again breaking my train of thought ever so persuasively. I groaned and with an annoyed sigh and let the rope slip through my fingers, the sack dumping all its contents on Mr Yerna’s head. He looked up bewildered, his wide iceberg eyes filled with anger and annoyance. I broke out in laughter, hands suddenly clutching my stomach as I nearly rolled off the side of the tree. Of course Ezra steadied me without a second thought, worry still besmirching his features.

“You blasted kids!” I could hear Mr. Yerna yell in his feeble voice that I had come to know very well in the past few years of my life.

“Kirun, we should get out of here,” Ezra whispered, voice rash. “Mr Yerna is going to kill us…”

“You always ruin the fun,” I bit my lip trying to hold all the laughter inside. Of course this only lead to my howls of chuckles as I rested against the trunk of the tree joyously.

“I don’t want you to get in trouble,” Ezra turned his mulberry eyes this way and that, long pointed ears twitching somewhat, searching for any traces of movement coming nearer. I knew it would be best to listen to Ezra for he was normally right about these things but I was finding it terribly hard to do so.

“I get it, I get it,” my chuckles slowly subsided as I crouched up on the branch. “Race yah to the training area?”

“You bet,” he smiled for the first time that whole morning. Maybe that was why I had a hard time getting through any pranks when he was around. The bewildered face he always made when I was scheming was always so disheartening. It made it way to complicated to plan.

Crouching down even lower to gain force, I finally sprung from the branch like a flying squirrel, arms outstretched, hair flying wildly around my face as I went. The feeling of the air against my cheeks and up into my lungs was once again making it more and more enjoyable to fly like this and I was sad to land back down on another thick branch fifty yards away. It was uncommon for an elf of my age to be this reckless but I couldn’t care less. I was too busy enjoying the amazing feel of air in my lungs and the sun beating down on my face… and the best part of all was the person who I had called brother for so long now followed behind with just as much ease and grace to every step.

Of course, I bounded forward, this time not such a squirrel-like jump, but a leap up to a taller branch in a closer tree. I could feel my braids swishing against my cheeks, hair tussled this way and that.

Most of all though was that I loved knowing, every time I turned around, the face I always wanted to see was staring back at me with those same wide, expectant orbs.

Most people didn’t really understand the strange relationship between Ezra and I, but that was how we preferred it to be. Strange, unusual, but accepted and secret. The only two people in this world who knew of the truth of the matter though was Esmeralda, and Father.

Maybe that was why people thought it so strange. The fact that the two who did not have a pair, were the two who spent nearly every waking minute with each other. I’m sure everyone had their suspicions, but I didn’t care. As long as I could block them, and Ezra could block them, there was no need to fear the unexplainable truth.

So, things were good, even if we could not understand them.

“Kirun! You’re going to far!” Ezra yelled from behind me, and I turned to see him sitting on the branch of our tree, his feet swaying lazily as he watched me stride further and further into the trees.

My eyes widened, surprised, before I dug my heels right into the nearest branch, body slamming forward from the loss of speed. I could feel the shock running through my body like a vibration, and then grasped hold of the branch with my fingernails roughly, balancing myself. Fast stops like that weren’t exactly the smartest of things to do.

I high-tailed it back to Ezra’s side, reaching into my pocket as I did. I had been waiting to give him this but it had slipped my mind in the process of constructing the prank. I took at seat next to him, my calves still sore from the heavy landing, but I didn’t let that affect me for long.

“I got you something,” I murmured, passing him the little box that I had stowed in my pocket. “It isn’t much or anything…”

Ezra looked at me, stunned, then back down at the box with the same bewildered expression. His slender fingers grasped the box so delicately you’d think it was made of the finest glass. “Kirun, there is no reason.”

“Well technically there is!” I corrected him smugly. “Something I have always had an issue with to be honest, and I’m sure you know enough already.”

Ezra looked down at the box again, and then back up into my own eyes. I blinked, surprised. It wasn’t like Ezra to start reading my heart first. He normally just let me read his, and then he’d read mine a little in the process. I quickly blocked off all the memories of the days of silence, where he had scared me to bits, walking up behind me so silently I hadn’t believed anything there. He was so smooth, so flawless in his movements he was almost like an apparition, completely unbeknownst to the ability he held.

“You’re getting better at blocks,” he admitted meekly, his eyes staring down at the box once more. “Are they bells?”

I stared at him awestruck. I was so sure I had blocked him off of every memory of those silent times… were my blocks really that weak? It looked like I would have another long amount of training to do if that were so.

“You got through my blocks?” I asked finally, half-expecting the answer I was thinking.

“No, your blocks are too strong for me,” Ezra said scratching the back of his head, a light pink forming in his cheeks. His black hair which was normally set loose down his back, was now tied in a very loose plait over his right shoulder, shiny and gleaming beautifully in the light of the afternoon sun. He looked so marvellous when his mulberry eyes lit up as they did now.

“Then how?” I asked, nearly losing my place. I hated to admit it but sometimes I would lose complete track of thought just looking at him so. His beauty intoxicated me pleasantly.

“Process of elimination,” he shrugged. “From everything I’ve seen, and everything I haven’t, I realised that the moments you had become frightened when I was not there were suddenly gone from your subconscious. I thought it over and realised maybe you got me something so that you would always be able to find me, and you would never be afraid when I approached.”

I had forgotten how witty he had become over the years, so quick to come to an answer. I myself admittedly know that I could not come up with such a quick answer, but was alright knowing I tried. He was brilliant, as he was beautiful. Most never saw those sides of Ezra though. They saw the obvious flaws in his character, the stuttering when I was not there or the meekness he never grew out of. The fact that his looks were very feminine also didn’t help his cause, but I didn’t care about any of those things or what anyone had to say about my Ezra. He was perfect the way he was.

“Although I’m sad you realised it so quickly, I’m glad you found out for yourself,” I smiled.

“I’m sorry for ruining the surprise,” he opened the box slowly but surely, his fingers grasping the string that held the two bells. He lifted them lightly sending a peel of sound throughout the area, beautiful as a siren’s call. Of course, they were no ordinary bells. Only the ears of an elf could hear them, making the noise virtually silent to all but our kind.

“It’s alright,” I put my hand against his shoulder comfortingly. “Now let me put them in your hair.”

“My hair?” he asked surprised.

“I thought it would look dashing and fine in your locks,” I raised my hand out to him which he placed the two bells on very softly. I then proceeded to undo his plait, tying it up in a tight ponytail with the bells dangling loosely along with his beautiful silken hair. When I was through with my ministrations, I let my hands fall back to my side and he turned back towards me again with that flare in his eyes I had come to love.

“They sound beautiful,” he murmured thoughtfully. “But wont they get annoying?”

“If they are annoying to you then you can take them out…” I looked down at my hands. I hadn’t thought that the noise would bug him. The sound of those bells had always been so calming to me.

“Oh no I didn’t mean it like that!” he added quickly. “I just thought, after hearing them a lot, you might get annoyed with the sound is all.”

“You don’t tilt you head much,” I turned my eyes towards his again, chuckling. “You’re too graceful. When I’d least expect it, I would hear it, as I least expect it when you move.”

“You’re silly,” he chuckled as well, but there was a softness to his tone that made me feel thrilled, as if I had done something good after all.

After chuckling for a few moments, we went completely silent. Something that sometimes happened, but that was alright. We embraced the silent times of thought and just basked in each others presence. I grabbed his hand gently within mine, sending an electric current through our veins. I closed my eyes, his memories pushing up and into my brain smoothly, my own emitting memories to him as well.

Sometimes we would do this for hours on end, sitting hand and hand like this. Moments that meant the world to me, as I breathed in his familiar scent, the sun beating down on us with just the right amount of shade from the leafy trees. His breathing was slow, calming, relaxing me into the memories he showed me. Ones he would give me to make me smile and chuckle, too swoon and feel completely at ease. The memories of when we first met, or when we had started to grow, become who we were. There were times of great trial though and confusion. Times that we struggled through together because only we ourselves could understand the pain that we knew was slowly coming.

Father didn’t want me to see… he tried his hardest to guard it from my eyes, but Ezra saw it all. Ezra’s eyes were mine, and mine, Ezra’s. Esmeralda never held back information from us, but the hard truth of the matter was that both Ezra and I were males. In the fabricated world we seemed to have created for ourselves, there was only him and I, where everything was beautiful and wonderful, but in the actual world, this would not be so easy. Our time of peace was coming to an end.

“Kirun, you’re thoughts are sad,” Ezra’s voice was so soft I barely heard it at all.

“I’m sorry,” I turned my head, ashamed.

“Ah, that,” Ezra murmured. “It’s been on your mind a lot lately.”

“How can it not be?” I asked a little defensively. “It’s right around the corner, staring me deadpanned in the face.”

“You know it cannot be helped Kirun,” Ezra’s eyes tilted downwards, face becoming distraught. “We must pray for the best.”

“There is no best in these matters,” I turned to him again, hand reaching out to caress his cheek sombrely. “You know the truth.”

“It is one festival,” he grimaced, staring down at his feet. “We have missed many festivals. Why don’t we skip this one?”

“The one that we shall be named our kind?” I asked, flabbergasted. “That is even worse then our situation! We cannot miss that festival!”

“I know..” Ezra hesitated. “But I’m afraid.”

This festival was one that we had been told of since we were kids. The festival that ran so deep within our tradition that we could no longer forget its judging call. The day we were to find out what sort of elf we actually were.

In our culture, elves were not merely just elves of the same kind. We each were set up into subcategories, each different and unique, for each elf was born with a marking above their brow. One that is invisible to the naked eye, but on the night of the blue moon of your 14th year, the time would come to see the marking.

Each marking was specific though, one a swirl, one a strip, one a star, one a smudge. One curled up into what looked like a flame, the marking of a warrior. And then there was a very special one, that marked most of the female population of the elves. It was a dot, merely that and nothing more, but it was a sign of something immense. Each of them in fact meant something special, a trait unknown to us. The swirl meant water, the strip, earth, the star meaning air and the one that curled slight up into what looked like a flame meant fire. The smudge meant healing, and the dot… the dot meant shielding, protecting.

And that category that you lie under is the element that you have full control over. The one that will render you capable of many things, the fire being the strongest and most lethal of the bunch. The healing was the one that normally came to those of meek souls, the quiet types. I had a feeling that Ezra would be one of them, and hoped the best for him in that sense.

But it was not the categories that scared me.

The queen herself would bless each and everyone of us with a kiss to the brow. A soft blessing, but one that would send our markings alight and we would find out who we truly were. Of course, in this act of touching, she would be able to see everything, everything we’ve ever felt, everything we’ve ever seen… and she would see Ezra in my heart. She would know the truth no matter how many blocks I would try to put up against it.

And our fabricated world would be ripped open.

That day… that fateful day was mere inches away, staring me angrily in the face, and I staring back fearfully.

“Maybe she will be forgiving,” Ezra grasped my face between his hands, his eyes wide and fearful. “We shall explain our case. Say it isn’t our fault! She couldn’t possibly tell us that what we have isn’t real!” His face was so close I could feel his breath against my face as he spoke so frantically. “Please don’t give up hope!”

“I wont,” My words were breath-like, soft, my eyes still wide in surprise. Ezra was never the one to grasp me. I stared at him awestruck, his frantic eyes now filling with confusion, lips then forming a light o. My body tensed up, heart now racing unfamiliarly quickly. His lips were only inches away…

“Kirun…” Ezra’s normally wide eyes were half-lidded now, his hands falling away from my face slowly. I leaned in unsurely, out of impulse, my lips barely inches from his when my senses finally kicked in and I pulled back, my cheeks flooding with colour. Ezra’s eyes widened again, his cheeks also filling with colour. “You stopped.”

“You know we cant,” My eyes stared off into the distance, the shame now becoming apparent. I almost…

“I don’t see what’s so bad about it,” Ezra’s voice was gentle. “The rest of the elves…”

“The rest of the elves what?” I cocked an eyebrow challengingly. “The rest of the elves kiss their other halves? Is that what you were going to say? We aren’t like the other elves.”

“And why not?” this was one of the first time Ezra had ever really snapped back at me in such a manner. “Because we’re both male? Is that it? If we are made this way then why should it even matter? You and your father think that this is an abomination right?”

“I don’t think it’s and abomin…”

“No, you do!” Ezra raised his voice. “You think this is wrong and you probably always will! I get it! You’re ashamed of me! Well sorry for thinking that maybe it wasn’t as such…”

“Ezra…”

“I’m going home,” he stated, his eyes not meeting mine. “Come talk to me when you don’t think I’m such a burden, and if that’s never then the better.”

I grabbed his wrist, frightened, before he could jump away, my heart racing. He just looked at me with such reproach I was afraid that he would just push me away anyways.

“What?”

“I’m not ashamed…”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying to you…”

“I said don’t lie to me!” He shoved my hand away angrily, the flare in his eyes now fiery and uncontrollable. “What is it with you? Get your story straight and tell me the truth! I know your eyes like the back of my hand and there is shame in them! Cold, hard shame…”

I leaned in, pressing my lips against his with such a flurry of passion and excitement I was unsure if I actually did it or just thought it up in my head. It was such a random and strange act I never really thought myself capable of such a thing, but the moment I did was when everything really changed.

I saw everything. Everything he had ever felt, from first breaths to his first day of school. I saw everything from his eyes, everything that I could not see from merely touching his hand or holding him close. Everything was so real, so wonderful. The sights, the smells, even how things felt to his fingertips.

And then I became hyperaware of the fact that my lips were pressed ever so wonderfully against Ezra’s. Bumps seemed to have erupted across my arms and up my spine, a sense of happiness becoming very apparent within me. I had wanted this for so long. He had wanted this for so long. I was starting to forget the reasons why this was so wrong.

Ezra was the first to pull back, hesitant and slow, but enough so I knew I must resist as well. I peaked my eyes open gently, just to see his beautiful face, eyes still half-lidded, cheeks rosy.

“Wow,” he murmured and I couldn’t help but chuckle. It all seemed so superfluous. “I… that was better then I thought it was going to be.”

“Yah,” I swung my feet back and forth unsurely. I heard a gentle chime of bells, knowing he had turned as well. “It was really nice.”

“Then why is it wrong?” he asked blatantly.

“Ask the queen, or maybe the elders,” I shrugged, turning my eyes back on him swiftly. “I don’t know, and I don’t care anymore. If they think they can take you away from me then they are dead wrong. This is right.”

Ezra smiled, so sweetly it nearly took my breath away. This was the first time I really felt this close to anyone, especially another male. Maybe that was why it was so strange. I loved Ezra. Everything about him I loved. It just took some time for me to realise that this love I had for him was the reason why I could no longer stand to watch, to reach out but never grasp what rightfully should be in my arms.

“Do you think we could…” Ezra seemed to colour at this statement.

“I think that could be in order,” I smiled before pressing my lips to his again.

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And that concludes the second chapter. I was also thinking of posting the preface one day for this, if anyone is interested in reading it. It's a little bizarre and I wasnt sure if people really cared enough to read it.

Thank you all for reading the first chapter and reading this one as well!

Ciao

-Dreamwalker