What is Gone Story by Renn [email protected]
Disclaimer: I don't own ANY of them! Not the Gargoyles, (Buena Vista) Not the lyrics, (written by Jim Steinman; sung by Celine Dion), however..all you'll get out of me if you ARE the suing type is....a rather anti-social cat, and many, MANY creativity demons. Author's note: well, hi there! It's not a parody, so please, don't go into shock ;). The lyrics are in ~~(insert lyrics)~~, so hope- fully, things won't be too confusing. Praise Email would be nice, however, constructive criticism would be better. After all, how can I improve without feedback of what you do and do not like? (Oh yeah, if I can rewrite this to be better, I'll post a second version...*profuse apologies to an editor below*) Dedication: Okay, I'm not listing everyone, BUT, Thanks to: Tim (Gabriel) Reynard (read his stuff! His name is RIGHT next to mine in garg-org archive!), DemonSpawn (editing AND for kinda sparking off the story idea, he's in the garg-org archive, too!), Maradydd (look! not EVERYTHING I write is goofy!), Scott (Abram Wintersmith) Rogoff (you liked it, and that's an amazing compliment..), and to Nate (Wraith) Bryant (Oh, look what you're in for oh editing master! hehheh. Oh, and next story you edit? I'll do what you suggest in your edits.). Last but not least..my husband. Thanks for your patience with my fits and bouts of creativity, no matter WHAT form they take shape in. (Ahem....you'd understand if you saw my sketchbook, other disks of a zillion short stories, and the compulsiveness of, 'I NEED to find something RIGHT NOW THIS MINUTE!!! :) I also dedicate this to all garg fans, as well as the chatters that I kill time with. Enjoy.
Description: Much was lost when the massacre happened. More than was thought.
*********************************************************************** What is Gone All Hallow's Eve, night of the new moon. Brooklyn had prepared for this night. Unlike other years, he wasn't getting dressed up to party in the city. His rookery brothers Broadway and Lexington couldn't understand why he wasn't joining in on the festivities this year. Nor could the rest of the clan. Even Angela was a little huffy at his withdrawal from this, the time of year she'd been waiting to see. To walk amongst the humans without fearing Quarrymen; that no one would CARE that they were gargoyles, was this not reason enough for celebration? Goliath would have spoken to his second, but Hudson had asked him to leave the lad be. Surely, not getting all dressed up and acting like a beggar was nothing to be overly concerned about. Elisa Maza wasn't sure of that, but she agreed that Brooklyn should have his space for now. Though, considering how excited he'd been in taking part of Halloween in the past; it was disconcerting to see him more sober than exuberant.
********************************************************************** Brooklyn knelt in the shadows of Central Park, near the pond. As it was a new moon, there was less light than usual. He placed the boom box down and set a compact disk into it. Then turning, he shut his onyx eyes and whispered the spell he had felt compelled to memorize from when his clan had had the Grimorum Achnoram. Shuddering, he stood then hit the play button. As the crash of piano chords rang over the water and through the air he extended his left hand. The air shimmered, and a translucent shape seemed to accept his invitation.
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~~There were nights when the wind was so cold That my body froze in bed If I just listened to it Right outside the window..~~ *************************************************************************
"Look!"
"Over there!"
"What IS it?"
"Gargoyle.."
"Uh-oh." whispered Broadway. "Be ready to run."
Lexington sounded odd. "I....don't think so. Look!" He stretched out a winged arm to point over the lake. Faintly but clearly, the song reached over the water. Goliath frowned, then gasped quietly.
"This...explains much," he murmured.
"Aye, that it does, lad, that it does," sighed Hudson as he spotted what the rest of the crowd was watching. They didn't seem alarmed, but amazed.
Angela squinted, "But..what is Brooklyn doing? And who's that with him?"
************************************************************************** ~~There were days the sun was so cruel That all the tears turned to dust And I just knew my eyes were Drying up forever..~~ **************************************************************************
Demona caught an updraft, when music reached her ears.
"What is this?" She looked about, then stopped cold. Her eyes grew misty as she whispered,
"Skydancing..." *************************************************************************** ~~I finished crying in the instant that you left And I can't remember where or when or how And I banished every memory you and I had ever made..~~ *************************************************************************** "Brooklyn was a skydancer in the old castle days, Angela." Hudson sounded subdued. "Only certain body types of gargoyles can do that." Elisa's breath sighed out slowly. The gliding, twisting, turning shapes over the lake so beautiful, it couldn't help but touch all who saw it.
"But..who is that with him?" Angela persisted. Somberly, Goliath recalled,
"That...was...his partner." ************************************************************************** ~~But when you touch me like this And you hold me like that I just have to admit That it's all coming back to me..~~
Brooklyn normally didn't listen to softer rock ballads, but this song had appealed to him for some reason. His shimmering, light silver companion seemed to approve as they dipped and floated. He remembered when she had been flesh and bone, as he was.
~~When I touch you like this And I hold you like that It's so hard to believe but it's all coming back to me It's all coming back, it's all coming back to me now..~~
************************************************************************** Demona watched; the long forgotten beauty of the skydancing filling her senses. She remembered when Brooklyn was younger, not as filled out. And the clan cousin that now danced with him, so fragile looking in life, though not as gossamer as she seemed now, in..no, she would not think of that. Instead, she absorbed the sight of Brooklyn and his partner as they met in mid air; meeting and holding each other for a moment as the song echoed through the night. ************************************************************************** ~~There were moments of gold And there were flashes of light There were things I'd never do again But then they'd always seem right There were nights of endless pleasure It was more than any laws allow Baby Baby..~~ ************************************************************************* The crowd gasped, then sighed as they watched the male gargoyle toss the female up, then catch her about the waist with his hands. She perched on his shoulder, her hair and wings streaming back in the wind.
"Beautiful."
"Are you getting this on tape?"
"Why does she look..almost ghostly?"
Lexington gasped, and swallowed hard as he overheard a few comments. He mumbled to Hudson, "No wonder he can't forgive."
"Or forget, " his elder agreed. "The dancing's in his soul. But with- out his partner?"
"It explains why he's so intense now." nodded Broadway. "No, Angela, if Brooklyn wants you to know, he'll tell you." The female gargoyle looked hurt, then went back to watching the ariel ballet. ************************************************************************* ~~If I kiss you like this And you whisper like that It was lost long ago But it's all coming back to me If you want me like this And if you need me like that It was dead long ago But it's all coming back to me It's so hard to resist And it's all coming back to me I can barely recall But it's all coming back to me now..~~
He remembered, and embraced the joy racing through his body, his mind. She, so light, glided under him; his tail lashed about her waist to assist with balance. Brooklyn was nearly undone when he felt a slight resistance, too slight to be flesh, but more than the mere smoke and whispers of forgotten dreams. ************************************************************************** ~~There were those empty threats and hollow lies And whenever you tried to hurt me I just hurt you even worse And so much deeper..~~ ************************************************************************** Elisa held Goliath's hand tightly as he shivered. The grace of the dancing couldn't shake old memories. Indeed, it demanded recall of them. Of when there had been more skydancers; when he'd watch them with his beloved angel. ************************************************************************** ~~There were hours that just went on for days When alone at last we'd count up all the chances That were lost forever..~~ ************************************************************************** Demona swallowed a sob as her eyes filled. She recalled a time when she'd had no name, and was second to her love. Then she remembered when she had no name, no clan, when she'd had....nothing but sorrow and rage. She held her tears firmly in check. ************************************************************************** ~~But you were history with the slamming of the door And I made myself so strong again somehow And I never wasted any of my time on you since then..~~ ************************************************************************** The camera rolling would catch the song, the sounds from the crowd, and the near heartbreaking roll that the gliding gargoyles did as they abruptly parted and circled widely...away from each other...
************************************************************************** ~~But if I touch you like this And if you kiss me like that It was so long ago But it's all coming back to me..~~
The dancers dipped and swooped..in time to the music, but not in time to each other. Each a joy to watch separately, but heart rending when seen in the same sky.
~~If you touch me like this And if I kiss you like that It was gone with the wind But it's all coming back to me It's all coming back, it's all coming back to me now..~~
The lake shimmered darkly beneath them. Brooklyn and his partner were in synch. The thrill of the dance racing through the air, so infectious. The music dictated over them. A harsh, demanding, loving, gentle dictator.
~~There were moments of gold And there were flashes of light There were things we'd never do again But then they'd always seemed right There were nights of endless pleasure It was more than any laws allow Baby, Baby, Baby..~~
************************************************************************ The crowd was mostly silent; seeming to realize the rarity of what they were now witnessing. And some opinions changed that night, whether the person knew it or not. Any creature this graceful, this spirit touching, couldn't be a monster. Tears streamed down many a face on this, the night of supposed demons.
************************************************************************* ~~When you touch me like this And when you hold me like that It was gone with the wind But it's all coming back to me When you see me like this And when I see you like that Then we see what we want to see All coming back to me The flesh and the fantasies All coming back to me I can barely recall But it's all coming back to me now..~~
Dipping and soaring, the two skydancers seemed to be joined to something that others could never quite hear. As well as joined to each other by the music; for the music dictated closeness. Closeness that they were only too happy to provide, be it with tails, hands, wings...the demands of the music were met.
~~If you forgive me all this And I forgive you all that We forgive and forget And it's all coming back to me When you see me like this And when I see you like that We see just what we want to see All coming back to me I can barely recall but it's all coming back to me now..~~
************************************************************************ Lovers, new and old, just found and lost, felt to their bones the sentiments the dancing wrought. Emotions that had been on the back burner tonight flowed as the music swelled, and quieted.
************************************************************************** ~~It's all coming back to me now And when you kiss me like that It's all coming back to me now And when I touch you like that It's all coming back to me now If you do it like this It's all coming back to me now And if we..~~ *************************************************************************** Brooklyn's tears flowed freely as his dancing partner shimmered then vanished as the last notes faded. He was not alone in his tears. The whole of the Wyvern clan, indeed, all who had been transfixed by the skydancing wept silently in sorrow for the suddenly alone gargoyle. All who had been transfixed, including Demona. She quietly glided up to the red gargoyle, and hesitantly called out to him.
"Brooklyn?" He turned, and she paled at his stare. Tonight, there was no rage, no hate. There was a soul deep mourning in its place.
His voice was quiet as he very softly and determinedly said, "Damn you, Demona." She couldn't say anything to him. His weariness, his aloneness, they touched her. Yet all she could do was watch, tears freely flowing, as he glided off, so very alone.
Demona's voice trembled as she whispered, "What have I...." her fist clenched as her mind rebelled from the thought, and her soul wept harder than her body as she harshly finished, "What have THEY done.."