Respite in the Vale

[Talas Anthavin]

Ta'las

The way the brownies look from one to another, it is obvious none of them speak Tharian.  “Capher – the old one with the silver hair and bald spot on his head?”  Ta’las makes a circular motion with his finger on the crown of his head to indicate where he is bald, and one of the brownies begins speaking to the others.  There is some tittering laughter, and then the brownies turn back to him.

The greenbark brownie points a finger at Ta’las and then at the ground, and then sends one of the other brownbarks back to the tree and then into the woods.  The Shendar waits patiently until the brownbark returns with Capher, who has an amused expression on his face.

Capher

“What can I do for you Ta’las?”

The Shendar hesitates a moment.  “I wish to see Lady Terra.”  Then, obviously realising he has admitted much, quickly adds, “and Talia too.  They left before we could speak.  To wish – I mean to give them – uhh, I don’t know what I mean.”

Capher smiles patiently and places a hand on Ta’las’ shoulder.  “You know you cannot interrupt their healing – even I dare not interfere with the brownies’ Life Magic.  But I will ask Primrose to give them your message.”

Ta’las almost squirms under Capher’s penetrating gaze.  “You know what is in my heart, don’t you?”

The Old Wolf chuckles a little.  “I think we all do – you wear your emotions quite openly, my friend.  I think it helps to explain why you are so poor at games of chance.”

The Shendar sighs and blushes a little.  “I cannot ask you to relay that, but I would ask that Primrose tell her – I mean them – that they are in our thoughts.  That we are with them in spirit, and to be strong.”

Capher nods.  “It will be done.  Now go back to the others – there is nothing more you can do here.”  With that, he claps Ta’las on the back and returns to the brownies.  Later that evening, he does tell Primrose everything the Shendar has asked of him.

Ta'las

Ta’las, meanwhile, returns to the small cabin, and then goes to find the others.  His first destination is the small clearing where he’d left Morcaanan earlier that day. 

[Aueniteri]

'Teri evades by hopping backwards once, twice for the vertical slashes, then ducked for the horizontal cleave. She fights against a sad frown that pulls at her face, and stands directly in front of him as her eyes moisten. She doesn't try to return his attack, simply stands there, her blade hanging limply in her hand. With her throat tightening, she managed only a weak, "Morcaanan?"

[Kenriil]

The crowd around Ken is getting noticeably unfriendly. At first, a word here and there, and then finally, a sharpened stick is thrown at him, landing into the ground very near him.

Ken begins to ask what's wrong, but the answer comes very plainly with a shouted, "Don't speak to us, demon!"

Then, the cries of demon begin. "Begone, demon!", they shout, and, "Leave our valley!"

An owl flutters out of a tree and claws at Ken's face, and he tries to flee, but is attacked again. This time, the offending owl doesn't have time to calculate for Ken's quickly drawn shortsword, and it falls to the ground, flapping about and screaming in pain while its master dismounts, trying to assist his fallen ally, all the while joining in the cry, and the tension increases fourfold.

[Morcaanan]

The look on her face, and the tears in her eyes made Jeharaid hesitate - it occurred to him that this could have cost him his life.

"Morcaanan?"

He lowered his blade and stared at her. What did she want? What did he want?
He tossed the sword to the ground and crossed his arms. "I'm listening, if you need to say something."

[Aueniteri]

"I do. I need to say I'm sorry. Morcaanan, I'm sorry. I need to thank you for everything you've done for me."

She lets her blade fall to the ground, and reaches out to him, her hand open almost completely, the palm facing up. "I was so... so stupid; so foolish. I'm sorry," she begs, looking imploringly to him.

[Morcaanan]

He looked at her hand and then back at her face, weighing her apology.

"You may be sorry" he said slowly, "but do you really care? Being grateful is one thing - but that's not why I came back, and you know it." He spread his hands. "Is that all? You are sorry and you are grateful? Is that all?"

[Talas Anthavin]

Up ahead of him, Ta'las hears movement from the clearing, and breaks into a light jog.  He is about to call out to his fellow warrior, but before he reaches the clearing, he catches the last few words spoken by Morcaanan. 

"Is that all?"  The serious tone of Morcaanan's voice causes him to rethink his intentions, and rather than interrupting the conversation, he stops beyond the edge of the clearing where Tulpje is waiting.

He looks up at the little brownie and smiles.  "Hello, Tulpje.  How are you doing today?"

[Aueniteri]

"What m-"

'Teri bites her lip, forcing herself to not respond through sheer emotion. She closes her eyes tightly, and tries to form an answer. Slowly, gradually, she comes out with, "There is more, Morcaanan. I've hurt you, and it hurts me, too, to think that you're in pain. Morcaanan, I was wrong, very wrong. I... can I make it right? Will you forgive me? It isn't just... apologizing..." Then, her voice dropping to a whisper, she finishes, "I want you back."

[Morcaanan]

Morcaanan had rarely - if ever - felt so torn in his life.

He slowly reached down and picked up his sword, purposefully keeping his eyes averted from 'Teri.

Forget your troubled past
and brave the future‘s tasks...

With slow, deliberate movements, he sheathed the weapon and began to turn away.

...new sorrow deep and vast
will cease and bliss will last.

The thought made him pause in mid-stride: was this what it meant? New sorrow...will cease? Had it been meant for this moment?
He looked skyward and shut his eyes in a silent prayer.
If he walked away now, it would never be the same, and he knew he couldn't live with that.

The sword dropped to the ground with a muffled thud, and he turned back to 'Teri. He reached for her hands. "If you want me back, you may have me." He smiled slightly. "Though I warn you, I am not easily gotten rid of."

[Tulpje Sweetshade]

Tulpje was riveted by the scene she was watching. It seemed to her that 'Teri had found her way of solving her hurt. Tulpje was proud of her, even though she'd only known her for less than a day. She began to feel just a tad bit uncomfortable watching a scene so private - even though her natural curiosity still held the upper hand - when Ta'las interrupted her thoughts. She looked up at him and smiled. "I good. Talking with 'Teri. Not now more, her talking with Morc... Morc... Morcanan? Hurt inside 'Teri now beginning less, but now I not talking anyone of big people, and not see brownies here. I going with you, please?"

After that she took a deep breath. She wasn't sure if she'd said too much, but she figured that the other big people would see that something had changed. They ought to, at least. And it probably wouldn't take them long to see what exactly, certainly not this grey-eyed warrior who seemed to see more than he let be known.

[Talas Anthavin]

There is a brief moment of silence after Ta'las takes in what Tulpje has said - both with her words and her body language.  "Yes," he finally responds slowly.  "Morcaanan.  And of course, we will travel together," he adds with a nod, and gently offers his hand to help her onto his shoulder.

"We should leave these two to themselves for now, Tulpje.  It is thoughtful of you to keep 'Teri company," he adds with a smile.  "I am glad they have begun to work through their feelings.  I think Morcaanan was also feeling some hurt," he says quietly as he turns away from Morcaanan and 'Teri and heads back along the path to the small hut. 

The fact that the brownies were no longer in sight had not registered as unusual to him, but that is only because Ta'las does not know the brownies well.  However, the fact that Tulpje had felt it necessary to bring it to his attention raises his curiosity.  Perhaps it is just her manner of speech, Ta'las thinks.  Still, he asks, "is there anywhere you would like to be right now?" 

[Aueniteri]

'Teri takes his hands, draws herself to him and wraps her arms tightly around his neck. For a few moments, she lets herself sob quietly there, but it passes quickly, and she draws slightly away, smiling, giving the softest sniffle before offering, "Care to continue? If you don't, that's alright... I'm not sure I want to spar, myself. Jeharaid, thank you. I don't want to be rid of you anymore."

[Morcaanan]

He embraced her tightly, if briefly. He laughed a little at her offer to spar.

"No thank you. I think it might not be wise." He glanced ruefully at the nick in his shirt as he said this.

"Jeharaid, thank you. I don't want to be rid of you anymore."

"Nor I you." He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it tenderly. "Whatever happens, I will be there. I promise."

[Talas Anthavin]

With a shrug, Ta'las reads Tulpje's silence as uncertainty - perhaps he has spoken too quickly, or perhaps the little brownie has something else on her mind.  The Shendar continues back along the path, his long strides carrying him back toward the small hut where they are staying.  He stops suddenly, however, as he spies a pair of booted footprints - too small to be human but too large to be brownie - leading into the forest.  He bends low to investigate them.  "These look like Kenrill's prints," he murmurs to himself, but loud enough that Tulpje can hear.

"I wonder where our halfling friend has gone?"  He looks sidelong at Tulpje and raises his eyebrows.  "Let us see," he says with a smile.  Then he strides into the forest - carefully following the halfling's prints - but always listening for sound up ahead of him.

[Capher]

Capher sat quite comfortably on the EurOak log. His green and blue eyes twinkled with mischief as a broad smile crossed his face. Thousands of brownies surrounding him in the tree limbs above him and the roots and grass before him sat motionless as the listened to him tell them of their tales. He spoke quite conversationally in the Brownin tongue; as if he were native born.

The youngsters would ooh and ahh as he told of the exploits of Koldar the Knight of the Moonlight. They looked over their shoulders up at the mountain where Lady Talia and Terra had gone when they heard of how they battled the demon lord and how Morcaanan saved them in the caves and gave respect to Ta'las when they heard of how he had travelled from the land of Injera to help his Shendar sister and also to Terri for her fight against her brother Garrek. Grudingly they also gave respect to Kenrill for his selfless act in the caves as well. They made faces and shouted war cries as they pointed their little spears in the sky when he told them of the Rat brownies of Strata. They laughed when they heard the story of Bium. They giggled when he told them of the feelings of love some had for one another. The older ones just smiled and nodded once in a while, they had heard Capher's stories many times before and thought of them just as stories; make believe, after all was he not the Storyteller? They had no idea that he was telling them the truth.

Capher sighed as he gazed at them all; they had no idea how their world would change if he and his companions did not finish their task at hand. Each time they came close another distraction would be sent their way; he did not know if they were sent by Eckra or if it was just pure chance. Capher did not believe in chance, he believed that everything and everyone had a destiny. So was destiny, or more to the point, Seyella the Goddess of Destiny throwing these distractions their way and if so why? Capher could not believe Seyella was doing this. It just had to be destiny and though the Goddess knew the destiny of all things, she could not change it.

Suddenly there were many flutters of wings and several owls and even robins dropped out of the sky. Their riders talking excitedly and pointing farther into the forest. Capher listened and frowned. He tried to speak but the whole crowd was up in arms; shouting war cries. "Wait! Listen! Kenrill would not do those things!" Capher said in Brownin holding up his arms, but it was for naught for they were not listening and had left the area.

Capher sat there for a moment; thinking of what or why Ken would have done the things the Brownies were accusing him of and then standing up rushed to find out, being careful not to step on any of the Brownies heading that way as well.

He quickly outdistanced the ones on foot and found Ta'las heading in the same direction. "Ta'las, you heard?" Capher asked him as he came by the side of his friend.

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