Respite in the Vale

[Talas Anthavin]

When the door to the hut closes, there is just enough noise to rouse Ta'las from his sleep.  The Shendar shakes his head and looks around the hut.  Though it is dark, there is just enough moonlight shining through the poorly shuttered window for him to notice that everyone but Talia and Terra are present.  He sighs, wishing he had had a chance to speak with Lady Terra before the healing could begin, but the two of them need to focus on themselves.

The Shendar lays back down and puts his hands behind his head.  He grins as the quiet murmuring of the others in their sleep is occasionally interrupted by someone's snoring.  As the time creeps by, the night sky grows lighter, and air starts to fill with the chirping of birds, but Ta'las is no longer awake to enjoy the first rays of the morning.

[Capher]

Capher felt Talia and Terra leave. He opened one eye and watched as they were led out by the brownies.  He stirred and looked around the hut at the remaining companions; they were all asleep. He noticed that Morcaanan had either conciously or unconciously lay down with his back toward Teri, who had curled up into a ball with her back toward him; not touching, but touching just the same.  Capher wondered what was between the two and if it would ultimately make one or the other leave, or if they stayed together, would they be able to work side by side without distraction?

All of the companions needed to have clear heads and that meant himself as well and though he did not want to admit it, that meant he had to be healed as well and so instead of going to the prominent mountains, they had to go to Ximax first. Capher clenched his fist in anger and frustration; it was just more time lost and more time for Eckra shade to gain more power and control over the lands and his master.

He forced his eyes to close, but he did not sleep, instead his mind whirrled like a dust storm throwing questions, ideas, plans, and a myriad of other problems that needed to be sorted, catagorized and taken care of.

[Capher]

Something kept on nagging at Capher as he tried to sleep, but he could not, so he finally woke. It was still dark out, but it was not night, Capher was sure of that. He crept outside, went a far distance from the camp and relieved himself.  His mind kept on working on a problem he did not even know, it was just at the tip of his thought but it kept on nagging him.  Finished, he made his way back to the camp, the cool air of the early morning was refreshing as he passed the camp and made his way to the river.

He stood upon the banks and watched the water trip and trickle over rocks and saw fish in their eddies, some fairly good sized ones, coming to the surface to suck off a bug unfortunate enough to land on the water.  He took a deep breath and welcomed the fresh air into his lungs.  He turned around and looked upriver and then downriver and then as if he were hit in the face the thought that had nagged him most of the night and even now, finally became clear; how to retrieve their animals?

He quickly rushed back to the Council Tree and the hut and went in. His companions were still sleeping. "Awake, Tal'as, Morcaanan, Ken, awake. I need to speak with you.  He noticed Tulpje had slept above Tal'as's head. She must like him, he thought as he waited for his companions to awake.

[Morcaanan]

The "Awake" was barely out into the air when the rasp of hard steel joined it and a Korweynite blade was leveled in Capher's direction.

"What's the meaning of this, Old Wolf?" snarled the man in a growl that was wolf-like itself when he realized that Capher wasn't a foe. "Hasn't anyone ever told you about how to wake sleeping people?" He was still grumpy from the events of yesterday - that, and a night of little sleep didn't help his mood at the sudden rousing.

[Talas Anthavin]

Capher's voice and the rasp of steel rouses Ta'las, who leaps to his feet.  The Shendar looks around the hut and sees Morcaanan's weapon is levelled at Capher.  Ta'las is at least five paces from the two of them and doubts he will be able to stop Morcaanan from attacking Capher, if that is the Korweynite's intention.  However, judging by the tone of Morcaanan's voice, the man seems perturbed, rather than hostile.

Ta'las narrows his eyes as he looks at the pair of men.  "What is happening here?"

[Kenriil]

"...would be a good place to rest... from waking up."

Ken isn't sure what he'd been talking about; he rarely cares. He has heard his name called, and sits up a little to see who has done the calling. Of course, it must be Capher, who is currently inspecting Morcaanan's blade, which Ken notes aloud seems rather odd. Reluctantly, Ken stands, climbing up the wall with his hands and remarking on what time it must be; even before sunrise. What use has he of getting up in the dead of night? Then again, if Capher wants them awake, they'll be awake. Vaguely, he thinks of the animals, and the fellow they left to guard them - a fellow he can't well remember - but the thought passes without words, Ken narrating instead the time of day, and from thence onward.

[Capher]

Capher stood stock still when he heard the sound of steel being drawn and executed in his direction. Morcaanan's blade was mere nailsbreath's from Capher's torso. Capher had been so excited about finally figuring out what had been nagging him most of the night and into the early hours of the morning that he did not think that rushing into the hut and yelling would produce unwanted action, instead of wanted ones.

"Morcaanan, I apologize for waking you up so abruptly, I apologize to you all, but I could explain myself better if you would sheath your blade; somehow steel makes me forget what I was about to say," Capher said with a small smile.

[Talas Anthavin]

"For my part, there is no need to apologize, Capher.  However, it is wise advice never to wake a warrior with a raised voice, unless you mean it as a call to arms.  A weapon may be more than a fore away from a warrior's hands, but it is always less than a thought from an enemy's belly."

Ta'las looks to Morcaanan and nods.  "I think that we should listen to Capher - I expect he has good reason for waking us as he's done."

"Don't you Capher?"  The Shendar steps near Capher and grins at his friend, as he claps him on the shoulder.

[Capher]

"Wise words of advise my friend," Capher acknowledges Tal'as, "I will remember them well."

He took a deep breath, "Yes I do have a good reason. There had been something nagging at me all night and just now, when I was down by the river, I remembered what it was. How are we to get our animals here?  I wanted to talk to Morcaanan here, to ask him how he got to the caves and beyond us as there was only one way into the vale, or so we thought.  There must be another way, a pass perhaps through the mountains that we can use to bring our animals here.  Terri's brother, Garrek and his allies disappeared into the forest and since we did not see them come before us, yet they were waiting for us, inside the caves, their must be a way without using the caves to reach the vale from where we left our animals."

He took another breath, "Did I just repeat myself?" He asked, uncertainly.

[Aueniteri]

"Capher, have you considered that some people might could climb over these mountains? Also, it's possible that the caves we went through have more than one path through them. As for Garrek... I wouldn't be surprised if he simply hid in the trees until we were a good distance from the opening and slipped back through, which would explain why we haven't heard of him here."

'Teri hadn't meant to interrupt, but she has been listening in, unable to sleep ever since Capher began stirring. Now, she adds her opinion, and is silent, still laying on the cot, though she has turned to face them.

[Tulpje Sweetshade]

Tulpje, who had been sleeping close to Ta'las, woke up when people started talking. She sat up and silently listened to the discussion. She wasn't entirely sure, but she thought they were talking about ways out of the Vale. Here was something she could help them with. A good thing she had stayed here, even though nobody had formally invited her. When 'Teri stopped speaking, there was a small break in which started talking, knowing that if she started when someone else was speaking, they wouldn't hear her.

"Pass is place... cross mountains, yes? Is not here. Mountains much high, much danger. You fall, you dead. No horsebeasts there, they also fall. Only way in Vale be em... Gorge. Also only out, unless fly, but you not fly. Horsebeasts better out, much big for Vale. You back to gorge for out Vale, back to horsebeasts. You no needing in Vale."

If the big people really needed the horses, Tulpje could ask the other brownies if they knew a way for them to come here, but for herself she was quite certain that the mountains at least wouldn't let them through. If they would, many more big people would have found the vale by now, and the vale brownies would probably have scattered as a result. The Council tree would probably have ended in some person's fireplace, or perhaps as a closet. It was much better the way it was, but it meant that the valley hadn't seen any horses yet.

[Talas Anthavin]

Ta'las furrows his brow when Capher mentions bringing the animals into the Vale.  "I'm sorry my friend, but I do not understand the need to bring our mounts here.  We left them outside the gorge expecting to return that way, and though I would prefer to have Desert Rose with me, I don't see why we need them here."

"To me the greater problem, if there is not an alternate route through the gorge, is how to get across the chasm where we fought Garrek, now that the bridge is out."

He looks around at the others.  "What am I missing?"

[Morcaanan]

Morcaanan sheathed his weapon and sat back on his sleeping place. "I don't know how Garrek came to be here" he said, "but I merely beat you here to the Vale. I followed some tracks that led away from what was clearly a short battle you had and encountered some mercenaries. Rather than picking up your trail again and follow you there I made straight for the Gorge, following the elves directions. I expected to arrive after you." He shrugged. "I pushed my horse pretty hard - then turned him loose before entering the caves." His eyes narrowed at that thought. "Which means we are an animal short, if I stay with you after leaving here."

He looked up at Capher. "And speaking of which, where are we going after leaving here? I remember the elves mentioning the Magic City while we were there, and they told me to expect you to go there after we finished here. Just what are our plans once the healing is over?"

[Aueniteri]

'Teri listens intently to Tulpje speaking, a smile working across her face. It is fun to listen to this little one talk; genuinely amusing to try to understand what she is saying, her simple structure and minute vocabulary. Eventually, she slowly sits up and leans down toward the little one, keeping a good distance away yet. "Tulpje," 'Teri addressed her, a little abruptly to make sure she got the brownie's attention, "would you come outside with me? We can talk about... the Vale. About... all kinds of things."

[Tulpje Sweetshade]

Tulpje looks around a little surprised as 'Teri addresses her. A smile lights up her face as soon as she has worked out what she has been offered exactly. She liked 'Teri. She was, after all, the first of the Big People she'd met, even before Ta'las (who, as it happened, she also liked very much). She hadn't forgotten the fall yesterday, and that she hadn't been able to help, even though she seemed better now, thanks to the life magic of Tulpje's race.

She nods in answer to 'Teri's offer. "You carry?" she asks, but she doesn't really wait for an answer. She gets up, limps over to where the woman's arm is resting not too far from where she'd been sitting, and climbs up easily using the sleeve. She's had quite some practice climbing up people's sleeves in the past year. A shoulder was by far the best place to sit if she wanted to talk to someone, so long as she didn't have to hide from other people, which she had also had to do on a number of occasions, mostly because many people didn't know anything about Brownies.

She doesn't stop to think if maybe 'Teri doesn't want her so near. But after all, she had proposed walking out together, and there was no way that Tulpje could keep up with the strides of the big people, however slowly they tried to walk.

She pushes some hair out of the way and makes herself comfortable on 'Teri's shoulder. "Ok," she says, "we walk. You all right now? Not hurting now?" she asks, only a little concerned. The life magic of the Brownie healers is usually enough to let anyone feel better, especially if the wounds were not too deep to begin with. But still, life magic did not always work, as her own leg was daily proof. It had been broken a long time ago, and none of the healers had been able to mend it completely back then, even though many had tried. It had left them baffled, and it had also left Tulpje with a limp.

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