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Beachcombing for Iron	By : dweller_of_roots Category: +G through L > Lighthouse: The Dark Being Views: 1025 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Lighthouse: The Dark Being, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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After that embrace finally broke in it's awkward close, I felt as if a wave of doubt had been swept from my soul, against the coast of the temple. I moved to help Liryl back up, but she insisted on climbing back into the contraption she rode on her own. The strain was clearly visible on her face as her fingers tightened around the sides of the shell-like vehicle, and for the first time I was aware how light she was, of how strong her arms must be as she pulled herself off me - and of the fleeting sensation of her body, warm as it held mine.
I guess I must've still been embracing the air, and my cheeks went red. Coughing, I clambered to my own feet - she looked slightly amused, or at least in better spirits than she had been before.
"Is it normal to stare at the ceiling so long... Where you come from? I would be glad to... Leave you alone with it, if you like."
"Nope, I'm just abnormal, here and there. I was just wondering on what you were working on earlier, actually. Ermn. Must've been really fascinating to me, and I guess I just got lost... Looking at the ceiling. Very geometric. The priests do that?"
Crap - I could've kicked myself, figuring that maybe bringing up the priests wasn't the best thing I could do. I mean, they were gone - and they weren't coming back. But Liryl seemed unperturbed, perhaps simply glad to have someone to talk. And really -it seemed like the historians here had placed a lot of importance on living memories. Liryl was as much a part of that as any written word.
"Yes. They - liked the idea that buildings should feel... As natural as any tree, or surface in the earth. They also found that certain shapes were stronger, more long-lasting - I would not be able to maintain these grounds on my own, had they not... Discovered that." Liryl paused, eyes clouding. "But you had asked what I was... Working on? Before - "
Her lips pursing slightly, Liryl cast her eyes over her shoulder, just a little. Not for the first time, I wondered what the inside of the rooms she called her own looked like. I could see a little - a spartan-seeming floor much like the one I had recently been collapsed against, and a few loose wires.
"... I have been, trying... For some months, to fix - Martin's friend. I have been... A little unsuccessful."
Smiling ruefully, Liryl tilted her head to the side.
"Do you know much... About machines?"
Well, barring the interdimensional portal I'd fixed pretty much through luck, and my old friends trial and error... I gave a shrug of my shoulders.
"Not a clue, really. Especially not the ones you have here. Where I come from, most machinery is made from iron, steel - lots of tiny movable parts. Much like the ancient machines you have left over in the basement... I've written about machinery, but trust me - writers are the worst people to ask for help about stuff like this. I can't even fix my VCR."
"Oh..? And what do you write about, then..?"
Liryl hesitantly brushed a strand of hair away from her eye, now extremely curious. I couldn't tell if she was asking what else I wrote about - or what else there *WAS* to write about machines. I couldn't shake the feeling that she was mocking me - albiet good-naturedly.
"Uh... Well, other worlds. The stars, bad cigarettes... People, mostly. But I try to spice things up by thinking up places that most folks haven't visited."
Liryl crossed her arms with a slight effort, grinning.
"Isn't that... Cheating? Though I would not mind visiting the stars, I... Cigaretttes?"
Her thought derailed itself as she said the unfamiliar word. I considered the moral implications of introducing the tarry cancer-sticks to a lush garden-world and it's sole inhabitant, who'd probably never had anything like them - and decided it was a bit morally dubious. To put it lightly.
"Devices that people on our side use to poison ourselves, to take our minds off the world. It's a pretty dreary place, some times!.. Not that it doesn't have it's upsides. Where I come from, there are a lot of forests - seas of green as far as the eye can see."
I hadn't seen too many forests around here; I'd sort of come to the conclusion that whatever the dark being had done on the footheels of the industrial calamities, they'd made greenery a rarity.
"There are forests here... Too. Just, not so many. Would you like to visit one, some time..?"
"Is that even possible -"
I'd meant to say for you but the words sounded callous even as I thought them, so instead I trailed off. It was still rude, and probably stupid - but Liryl took it in stride, with a nod of her head.
"Of course. I wouldn't have offered... To take you there, if I could not, or did not want to. Those are... Some of my favorite places to think. Besides - I'd like you to see more of Planet then just what you've seen on your own. Though... Perhaps not tonight. It is... Rather late."
She sounded hesitant - it was clear she still wanted to do something. My mind raced - all I could think of was the seashore, and how brightly she had spoken of it. If it were possible for her to visit the forest, or forests... Surely it was possible for her to visit the beach?
"Liryl -"
Her eyes perked up as I said her name, staring at me intently.
"... Would it be possible for us to visit the seashore, together?"
She was silent for some time - though I could make out the faint lines of her smile as she tried her best to hide it.
"Please... Can you wait here, for a moment?"
Nodding my head, I waited as the rail-bound craft she occupied vanished once more into the confines of her room, taking Liryl with it. Several minutes passed, and I let my thoughts wonder. What had brought me back to this place? No, that was wrong. Perhaps - what had kept me from coming back..? Fear? What of? It seemed ridiculous, more than ridiculous as I stood amongst the serenity of the temple. A strange script ran up the pillars holding the place together - it reminded me of a favorite teacher who'd lectured at length about cuneiform. I couldn't remember who used it - the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, or Babylonians - but I'd remembered thinking it was beautiful.
... My fingers traced the writing on the wall as I tried to imagine what it might mean. My only clue were the clothes they wore - more elaborate robes then the tunic-like ones Liryl wore, and dyed blue as the sky. Their faces seemed to smile brightly, not stern like the divine figures I was used to. I was interupted from my reverie by the sound of wheels, somewhat unused to the temple floor.
Liryl rode out in what could only be described as a wheelchair - though somewhat more hastily made then the ones I was used to back in the other world. It had been repaired a lot if the salvaged gears were any indication, and it took some effort for Liryl to move it on her own - but she looked happier than I think I'd ever seen her in our interactions before.
"Thank you for waiting!... I promise, I won't slow you down - "
"I know you won't. Besides, we'll be taking our time, right..? I want to catch up, somewhat. We'd had a lot to talk about in a short time, last time we'd met. I wouldn't mind hearing about you, for once..."
We made our way to the beach at a leisurely pace. Liryl occasionally had to stop and get her bearings, and I realized that her means of transportation weren't frequently repaired, but new. She noticed me eyeing it and gave a bob of her head, grimacing as that only caused more strands of her blond hair to throw themselves in the way of her eyes.
"After I... Realized that the priests would not be coming back, I felt it would be... Prudent to have some means to leave the temple. So - I made this. I thought - maybe if I got used enough to using it... I might find someone else, out here."
She gave me a sad little smile.
"And after that, I simply decided... I would try to enjoy this place as much as I could, and engrave... The memories if it into our history."
I knew she meant the history of the denizens of this world - Planet, I suppose - but I smiled a little at her phrase, regardless - then felt a little self-conscious, and blushed. Much to Liryl's amusement...
"Well - I'm impressed. If it were me, I'd probably have just stood around watching the sky all day. It's what I do most of the time. Sometimes, I feel like it gives me inspiration, you know?"
As I gestured to the heavens, my eyes unconsciously looked up - the sky was a dark blue, darker than the deep waters of the sea - but no stars peeked out from behind the other-wise clear sky, though I felt I could see their outlines, faint and immaterial, if I strained my vision. Turning my eyes from the dimming sky, I lowered my gaze - to see Liryl staring at me once again, with the same intensity as before.
It was her turn to blush, though she hid it well.
"I - Ah... Inspiration? That's... A good quality to find in the world around you. You shouldn't be too impressed with me, though..! I just... Think about things, until I find a solution to them. It was nothing, really... Much of the machinery around here is in... Disuse. Forgotten. It felt... Lonely, so I tried to give it... A new purpose."
She smiled as I once more felt the tide licking along my skin - we'd reached the coast, the sand seeming to have become an ink-stained brown under the falling of the light. We traced around the beach as it snaked around the temple perimeter, perhaps a good mile and a half in either direction. Old habits died hard, and I felt my gaze drift towards the beach as we made our way forwards.
To my surprise - although I shouldn't have been - I caught Liryl doing the same, eyes narrowed as they darted around the surface of the sand frenetically, looking for wreckage lost to the tide. Our eyes locked, and she smiled mischieviously. Soon, it'd become a sort of competition - she'd call out her finds, and I'd take them, as well as my own. We were about evenly matched at first, but her unflagging energy finally wore me down - and before long, my hand-bag was stuffed full of shells, smooth rocks, and chunks of polished glass.
But the real find stood out as we'd almost made a full circle around the beach - scraps of jagged iron, engraved with more of the symbol-writing that was so unfamiliar to my eye, had buried themselves into the sand. Perhaps they'd once been part of the boat the priests had set sail on - or perhaps they were from a craft, destroyed by the rise of the dark being, not so long ago. Regardless, Liryl nearly gasped at the sight, her chair lurching to a stop as we reached it.
"Would it be possible... To carry this back with us? I can... Do things with this..!"
The phrase seemed eerily close to the excitement Doctor Krick had when he discussed science, but the brightness in Liryl's eyes was too compelling to just refuse. Unfortunately, the wreck of iron and beachwood was far too large for me to carry on my own - even if I'd emptied out my handbag first, I mused ruefully.
"Not at the moment, no. But... I've got an idea. It'll have to wait until daybreak, though. That all right?"
Liryl nodded her head gleefully, not even paying attention to her hair as it fell in front of her face like a curtain. Unconsciously, I reached up to brush it out of her eyes - we both hesitated for a moment, then laughed nervously. Her laugh was sharp, and punctuated by the stiltedness with which she spoke - and yet all the more beautiful for it.
"That is... That is fine. Besides, it is late..! Though, I am not truly tired.. Have - have you eaten?"
I muttered non-comitally. Up until recently, my diet had consisted of coffee, the occasional cigarette, and possibly a pastry if I was feeling up-scale. Liryl smirked.
"I... See. Well, we'll have to... Do something about that."

Having filled out our collection of sea-salvage nicely, the way back was devoted entirely to conversation. Between the two of us, we'd pretty much picked the beach clean - though Liryl had been adamant we check every shell for life before taking it with us.
"How have things been since the incident? Is the weather always this nice?"
It was just warm enough to make me feel over-dressed. I'd long since chucked my tie into my bag, and my jacket over my shoulder. Liryl had found both very amusing - or possibly just that I'd forgotten how mild and temperate the climate in Planet was.
"The priests said - that ever since... The first accidents, the temperature has always been like this. I... Do not mind it, though I have also heard that long ago... There used to be other weather."
Smiling wistfully to herself, and clearly recalling some long-forgotten conversation I had not been party to, Liryl continued.
"But I would not know. Mostly I have been... Working. There is too much land for me to explore on... My own. I felt that if I created my own machines... I could observe other islands, other places. Maybe even stare... into the sea. Though - I have not had as much luck as I would like with my... Projects. It would not be bad to have someone to... Talk to, while I work."
I felt my fingers tapping against the cloth of my slacks as we walked. I had half a mind to get a pencil and paper, even just some charcoal and write as we spoke. The idea sounded delightful; I guess delightful enough that I was smiling into space, because before I'd noticed, Liryl had rolled over my bare feet, looking a little cross.
"Were you... You aren't bored, are you?"
"Not in the slighest. What you said just sounded nice, that's all."
Once again, a peal of red fire lit up Liryl's cheeks. She opened her mouth and stuttered several times, but no words emerged fully formed from her open lips.
"We should do that when we've hauled that junker-steel back into the temple. I'm assuming you wouldn't mind if I wrote, right? I don't quite have my inspiration back, but -"
I don't feel like I need it. It just gives me an excuse to listen to you, and that's enough for me, right now.
"That is - that would be... I would like that."
We reached the steps back into the temple - I gave Liryl a little boost, though she insisted on pulling herself the rest of the way, and we stepped inside. Once again, Liryl made me wait while she went into her room; and this time emerged with stones plates of what looked to be some sort of peculiar salad, composed largely of vegetables that looked like greens that had the colorations of beets balanced a little precariously on her knees.
Given the difference between our worlds, and the possibility there was some difference between our digestive systems, I probably should've exhibited some caution - but I've always been a bit of a xenophile, and I dug right in. The flavor was bitter at first, sour and tangy. I enjoyed every bite, and since no strange symptoms showed up, declared the experiment a success.
Liryl watched me bemusedly, only starting to eat as I'd finished mine - and asking a question before she did.
"Do you... Usually eat with such... Relish?"
"Only when I'm with people I enjoy spending time with.
She paused, looking as if she wanted to say something - then shoveled more of this world's greenery into her teeth without saying anything, and looking anywhere but my direction.
I stifled a yawn as she finished chewing.
"Are you..? You aren't tired already, are you..?"
Liryl sounded a little disappointed, but I nodded.
"Yeah, exhausted. Don't worry - I'll be here in the morning. Er, where do I - "
"There should be... bedding in the basement. But you should - sleep up here. The sound of the waves is... Calming."
I couldn't say no to that, and nodded my head, assuring her I'd be able to find everything on my own. We bade each other good night far more than was necessary before she finally retreated to her chambers, after I'd delayed her exit several times with thanks and extraneous good evenings.
... Then, after waiting several minutes to make certain that she wasn't coming back out, I strode out towards the sea, jacket in hand.
It took a little effort to dig enough of a footing out from under the wreck to slide it onto my jacket; and after hooking it in, the clothing was ruined forever. But that didn't seem particularly important as I hauled it back towards the temple. It was slow going, and I took my time, pacing myself to make sure the flotsam didn't escape and bury itself into the sand - this time, perhaps permanently.
I found myself yawning increasingly as the sky begin to lighten, this time seriously. It must have been several hours since I'd set out, and it wasn't as if it were that many more steps back; my body ached even from the very moderate pace I'd been dragging at. It wouldn't hurt to rest, just for awhile - and like Liryl had said, the sound of the waves was almost hypnotic. Yawning once more, I sank into the increasingly stretched remains of my jacket - the sand sheltering the rest of me as my eyes drifted shut...
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Beachcombing for Iron