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The Heartwood
The Dirkwood Forest
Home
Attaday, the Eighth Day of Yrick


Bekkah, Keiko, Lyric, Dominic Korie, Miss Emerald, Lady, Miss Tomomi, Wuff-Wuff, Left and Right


“Thank you for your concern …”

The tall wuffess looked back to Lyric as they spoke. Soft actually smiled. Of all the Pack, her smile was the kindest and least fierce. She was their den mother, after all.

“In this case it might actually be a good thing. Because it seems the One who has noticed me is the only One this Forest would never harm. Come … walk with me a bit …”

Thus Lyric missed the arrival of Cesare, Pietro and Kadri to the docks. Soft walked silently and lead her down the docks towards the shore. She then continued along one of their paths. It was a short circuit, a little loop into the Woods and back. It was also an odd little trip. Walking beneath the forest canopy was strangely quiet. Peaceful. As if – while she was in Soft’s company – she suddenly belonged here.

“I thought so.”

Soft smiled.

“Just don’t try that without me.”

When they returned to Home Lyric saw that the others had begun their trip, heading to the Blackwater in their little boats. One Fang remained, tapping his foot on the wooden planks.

“I am being chastised it seems.”

The wuffess smiled again.

“I guess the two of us have to catch up. Have a fair day Minstrel.”

As expected, One Fang gave his elder a well put-upon look. He did, however, remember to include a nod to the Minstrel.

“That’s a good promise.”

They then vanished into the Dirkwood, leaving Lyric alone on the docks, at least, for the moment.

Upstairs breakfast was over, leaving Bekkah to her own devices. She couldn’t return to the room allotted her because Lady would be there. It was the Vixen’s turn to sleep. This morning was different than her previous one here. While Home had felt warm and welcoming, today it also felt more alive.

It felt as if there were many things possible now that there would not have been before. The Gods and Goddesses could see them now. This was good and bad, but it was mostly good. Most Gods liked having worshippers. Some were probably chomping at the divine bit, seeking new followers. Also, more simple and more pragmatic, healing magic should work on them now.

Maybe now they wouldn’t need Forges to have families.

Maybe some would show their thanks by following her Lady.

Bekkah had not made a little change to the small community. This change would echo across the mainland. That by itself was a bit disconcerting. Maybe she should find her friends for more some less portentous and more normal, everyday conversation.

Though the conversation that was currently going on in Tomomi’s window seat might not exactly qualify.

“My Lady! You wound me! Twice!”

Dominic Korie looked to Keiko and Tomomi. He could only put one hand dramatically on his hip, because the other was around his companion Mouse. That Mouse gave him a look and nudged him with her elbow.

“First you accuse me of having a plan!”

That was the statement that got him the nudge. What he said next, however, was accompanied by a very serious look from Miss Emerald, a very protective one.

“Second. It’s Dominic. Or Dom. Or Dommi, Or Dominic Dominie. Or even hey, you, Korie guy. Not the other. Not that title. Whether it’s true or not is one thing, but it is a dangerous title to use, for both you and me.

“Besides. I am not a title.

“I have a name. Dommi is a good name. The best name! Fine, not as pretty as Emmi or Keiko or Tomomi, but I’m a guy! It’s a handsome name. I know, I know, I’ve said my village was so small we all had to share the same name, but that only proves the point. We couldn’t settle for a second rate, easily worn out name. We had to chose one name, one name that was very good, tough, heroic, strong, monumental and …”

Miss Emerald spoke two words.

“And silly.”

Dommi did not miss a beat.

“Fine. That too!”

Tomomi had to take one of her hands back to cover her mouth to stop from giggling.

“As for the others? Ja, they drove off their Dayalan. But they do have a Squire. And from what I have heard, he’s a good squire. In some ways I think that might be better. This is a problem created by Imperials. That a Squire and a Priestess be part of its undoing may be more proper. One could say the shaft is a well, but truth? There will be places of Lord Rames’ power in that Keep that will serve him very well.

“Hastur and Rames is a horrible combination. Rames and Attera? That is the other side of the coin. Those two together can make miracles.

“And as for humor?”

Dominic smiled.

“Think about it. There I was, bound and caught. In the darkness, chained and manacled. Trapped. Me! The paragon of mischief, a master at dancing in the Sunset! And how did I escape? Not by summoning the world’s largest demon! Not by surprise and magic triumphant! Not by the Army of Talantal storming the ramparts! Not by the Unexpected Arrival of Eagles or by a Giant with a Wheelbarrow and Holocaust Cloak!

“Instead …

“I got rescued by a Mouse.”

Emmi nodded.

“The Dwarves are never going to live that one down.”

Dominic chose that time to join them on the small window seat. It was a very comfortable seat, but now everyone had to be friendly. Not that Dominic seemed to mind. Tomomi squeaked and Emerald claimed a noble lap.

“It’s all in how you look at it. Most of what I do is extremely serious. Humor is where you find it. Laughter comes from the heart. Rescuing the Forest Kin is an extremely serious matter. But think of all the smiles we will see when those of the mines look up to the sun for their very first time. When they learn what stars are. When they feel the rain fall upon them.

“No. It is not a joke. None of it is a joke. But if we succeed, I am sure My Lady will be smiling.

“And the sleeping dreamers?”

Dominic’s shoulders rose and fell.

“I suspect they will continue to sleep. Like being on the trail, settled in for the night, discovering a rock at your back and then the rock suddenly vanishes. If they do wake?

“How many people can say a Dragon owes them a favor?”

He then smiled.

“As for the last, there is another way to look at it. You are riding a wave for your family. Fine. Do you trust that wave? Because if you truly believe in the currents of the world you know they have brought you here for a reason. You are still here because it is not time to be elsewhere. Your task here is not finished.

“Speaking of that …”

Dominic leaned out the open window and looked down.

“Hoi Minstrel! We are talking of things profound and whimsical. Come join us. Today is not a day to be alone!

“Then again, no day is!”

Below, on the little docks, Lyric heard her name called. It was a familiar and irreverent voice. But it was an invitation and the first she had received this day. Looking up she saw the young Master of Waverider’s Watch leaning out from Home above her. Not too far, either. He waved and motioned for her to join them.

“We have sheets, we can make a rope for …”

Tomomi’s eyes went wide. Dominic blinked.

“Or take any stair to the main hall, then it’s the first stair on the right, up three landings and then turn left.

“I think.”

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Lyric

The minstrel stood on the docks for a time, still and quiet. She watched after Soft and One-Fang as they walked out into the woods. Having finished her own small walk with Soft, Lyric was still trying to process what she felt and what it might mean. Soft accepted the wisdom Lyric offered but in the end, perhaps, it only helped the wuffess resolve to experiment with what she felt, even if Lyric didn't understand it. Regardless, the feeling she experienced on the walk was worth the effort expended because every new experience was priceless to her.

Hearing Dommi's voice call out to her, assuming she was the Minstrel he was addressing, she looked around first and then up into the boughs of the Home Tree to find the right structure from whence the call came.

She nodded with a slight cant to the right and started for the closest means to climb higher into the Forestkin home, to find her way.

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Keiko

The Rhoni snorted. “Then perhaps Lord Tone-Deaf is a good name for someone from a village so small the names must be reused and shared. Surely, there cannot be so many Tone-Deaf lords in your small village that you’d need to share such a fine and respectable name, can there?” She did smile at him, however. “Although, if you are extraordinarily fond of ‘Dommi’ as your favorite, I would be pleased enough to use that name, too. Besides! Dommi and Emmi has such a musical quality to it, don’t you think? Well, perhaps you wouldn’t, being tone-deaf and all. But I assure you that it does. And it’s truly... well, poetic sounding, too.”

She watched and listened as he rambled, catching herself up on one phrase of his and losing much of what he said until he spoke of rescuing the Forest Kin and those who slept.

Keiko shook her head, as though to clear it, as though she couldn’t believe what the Young Master had said, as though it was another of his tall tales.

“By Water and Wind, by the Fates and Ancestors! Who would drive a Dayalan from their party? And was it not Lady Bekkah’s own sister?” Once more the violet-eyed young woman shook her head. “Surely, m’lord, I am forced to call you a rapscallion for spreading such an incredible and unseemly tale! Why, rumors have even spread to the Caravans that one such fierce and formidable warrior broke the curse on the old temple of theirs at Bordertown.” Tilting her head to one side, she shrugged. “I'll grant that the rumor could be a wild exaggeration, I suppose... even though there are two stars how guarding the Dark Patch.”



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Lyric

However long it took, however many levels and turns and times around the trunk, Lyric did not count. Time was meaningless when compared to experience. She would find her destination, the place she had been summoned, or invited, sooner or later.

So, when finally she found her way to the place where she would find Friend Keiko, Dommi and the Mouses, she couldn't explain how long it had taken or how she had managed to find her way. She really hadn't paid attention to any of that.

You can't be lost, if you don't know where you are going in the first place... and wherever you end up is always the place you are. The journey is always more important than the destination.

Entering the room she smiles and nods, almost deferentially to all in the room, as though this were their demesnes and she was simply a guest honored to be included.

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At The Window Seat

“Well … one would think that from a Village so small the inability to carry a tune might just be passed down from parent to child, especially considering we don’t have that many traits to go around in the first place.

“That …”

Dominic rubbed his chin.

“And it may also explain why a certain Noble family always hires minstrels for their feasts.”

He shrugged his shoulders and looked to his companion. Miss Emerald nodded.

“However, being musically challenged does not lesson one’s ability to enjoy good song or recognize a proper melody. Dommi and Emmi. That does have a very nice ring to it.”

Resting his head upon Miss Emerald’s shoulder, Dominic chewed on his lower lip.

“As for Lady Bekkah’s sister, well you should know by now that wrangling a simple truth from me is like finding a mellow merebeast. On the other hand, one of the reasons I am no threat to a hereditary title is that I have no desire to lead that kind of chase – I suspect she feels the same way too. Now that my Brother no longer needs my protection, I can understand why she might no longer wish to wear the manacles of leadership and instead spend some time walking next to one particular person. Duties change, responsibilities change, and sometimes you need to discover a new path.

“As for Bordertown rumors … they must truly be pure flights of fancy, tales of whimsical dreams and the fact that there are new stars in the sky mere coincidence.

“Ouch!”

His bodyguard once again elbowed the Korie Lord. Once more Tomomi snickered. Tomomi looked between the two, then to Keiko and then to Dominic and back to Keiko.

“I don’t think he was telling the truth right there, at the end, was he?”

About that time Lyric rounded the corner. And while they were not in a room proper, the four had claimed a window seat in a place where the hallway grew wide enough such that anyone using the seat would not be overly disturbed. Motioning her over, Dominic grinned once more.

“Good day, fair Lyric.

“Please join us. We are discussing various and sundry things, such as names, reputations and rumors from afar. We have yet, however, to discuss finding something bright and colorful for Miss Emmi to wear and I was hoping to find some suggestions this morning, since my choice in garb tends to fall to black and black and – uhm – black.”

That unexpected turn in the conversation drew forth a single word from Dominic’s companion.

“SQUEAK!”

Emmi suddenly blushed, her ears turning the deepest shade of pink. She immediately pulled up the hood of her travel cloak, turned and sheltered herself deeper and closer beneath Dominc’s arm.

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Keiko

She listened to the Young Master.

It was like being in the middle of a wind storm in the mountains — snow blowing from every direction so one couldn’t see their hand in front of their face, the wind howling so that nothing but the sound of the storm could be heard.

Keiko blinked once... then a second time... and finally a third time before reaching over to rummage in her pack. The ribbon she pulled out was red and very long. If she accidentally poked the Young Master while reaching for a dagger to slice off a bit of the fabric, that was only to be expected. The window seat, after all, was quite cozy. She did stand up, however, after tucking the much longer piece of ribbon back in her back so that returning the dagger to its sheath wouldn’t inconvenience the Noble a second time.

“Good morning, Lyric,” she said, her tone one of both cheerfulness and bemusement. “Please... take my seat and enjoy the company of our hosts while I attend to my morning rituals.

“I am nearly certain I remember the way. Well, unless Dommi’s attempts to spin a tale have spun me into too many whirlpools,” she added with a smile.

Keiko did stop for a moment to tuck the ribbon she had cut into one of the many folds that were part of the Mouse-shaped cloak hiding Miss Emmi.

“Here you are, Miss Emmi! A beginning of your color collection! I would search out more, but Tomomi brilliantly realized that the rescued Kin might appreciate something special all their own.” Smiling at her friend, she added, “If red it not to your liking, perhaps you and Tomomi might enjoy a bartering session — there are very few colors of ribbon I have not traded for the lovely pigments she brings me.”

She shrugged as she turned to Tomomi. “I am only going to find that little room you showed me the other morning so that I might wash up and do what one must do after drinking so much cider.” It was an invitation for her friend to join her in her short journey, as well as an invitation to stay and enjoy the company of others, for Keiko did not plan to be gone long at all.

Slipping out of the window seat nook, Keiko started down the stairs.


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Bekkah

She walked about the small village, her thoughts to her friends as they had headed down river. She should have gone with them despite whatever protests they would have put up. This was her Goddess' doing after all so she felt more than a little responsibility.

She heard Dominic's voice call to Lyric and she smiled. She knew how irreverent the young lord could be.

*Which might be exactly what I need to take my mind off of the others.*

She headed for their rooms. She began up the stairs when she sees Keiko.

"Good morning Keiko." she said in greeting, a smile on her face as she looked up to the girl.

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Lyric

At Lyric's arrival, Dommi tried to pull her into a conversation immediately with barely a preface and little context. She looked at him wide-eyed, that is, until Emerald 'Squeaked' and her eye shifted there. Without proper context Lyric was lost in the moment.

Friend Keiko seemed unconcerned by the outburst, but she rose and offered her seat to the 'fair' minstrel. Not her word...

"I... ummm... very well," she managed to reply as Keiko spoke to Tomomi and then took her leave of the gathering for however long it took in the room of cider ablution... or something like that. Lyric had only taken a step forward, closer to Tomomi, Dommi and the reclusive squeaking Emmi but paused as Keiko was gone from sight now. She looked after her until she couldn't see her, and then back to those remaining. She smiled but it was clear she wasn't sure what had just happened. She blinked several times as she looked at the remaining 'hosts'... not her word. Several questions came to mind as she tried to find that much needed context. She asked them one after the other. If she could have asked them all at once, she would have done that, and it sounded from the rapid verbalization that she might be trying.

"Have I done something wrong? Is Miss Emerald displeased with my presence? Has Keiko had a change of heart where I am concerned? Dommi, did I mistake your call for an invitation where none was offered?"

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Keiko

“Oh, good morning, Lady Bekkah!” The Rhoni smiled brightly at the Healer. “I’m off to wash up for the day, but Lyric and Dommi and Emmi and Tomomi are right up the stairs here,” she said, pointing out the way. “I know they’ll be as pleased to see you as everyone else here at Home.

“I won’t be very long at all. Perhaps you can add to our thoughts on helping the rescued Kin feel safe once they have been rescued.”

With that, Keiko continued down the stairs in search of a chamber pot.


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Bekkah

"Thank you. I need something to take my mind off my friends. I will go with them the next time. I don't like at all, sitting and waiting." she said with a smile.

She proceeded upstairs, opening the door.

"Would it be okay if I joined you. I need something to take my mind off things." she said with a smile.

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Dommi

The red ribbon was accepted with a smile, that and a very well practiced disentanglement from a surprised and suddenly, uncharacteristically, shy Mouse. Miss Emerald's ears were still bright pink as he gathered her long silver hair into a pony tail and then tied it with the gifted ribbon. Dominic might not be able to sing, but he sure could tie a pretty bow.

"Perfect."

He nodded once.

"Accents your eyes and compliments your hair ..."

He paused for a heartbeat.

"And we were told ... that it's your tradition now, ja? To be bright and light colorful. You have been forgiven ... and this is a wonderful first step in forgiving yourself."

Then things got complicated. Lyric arrived. Keiko left. Bekkah arrived. Or maybe not. Tomomi seemed poised, suddenly looking uncomfortable and caught in the middle, knowing that one shouldn't always be everywhere together but scared and worried for her friend. She hopped off the window seat, looked to Miss Emerald and then down the hall a little way.

Emerald looked back, to Lyric, to the departing Rhoni and then just reached up and cuffed her Lord just above his ear with the ball of her small hand. Her eyes narrowed and she didn't have to say a word.

"Gah."

Dominic called out.

"Aiee! Being whimsical is a very dangerous thing. When the joke doesn't work, it just doesn't work. And we know whose fault that is, right? All mine. Apologies! Sometimes I get all caught up, and well - uhm - fine, I went too far. I'm sorry."

The Korie Lord sunk down in the cushions.

"No Miss Lyric ..."

Emerald crossed her arms and gave the minstrel a very satisfied nod.

"I was waxing far far far too eloquent and ended up having my own foot for breakfast. You have done nothing wrong, Miss Emmi is still recovering from yesterday's events and it appears that if I was a ruff I'd be banished to the ruffhouse.

"I did invite you, I think you are still on good terms with Keiko, but that's for her to say. It is a good morning, though.

He then offered one more call down the hall.

"It's safe to come back now ...

"I'll behave."

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Lyric

Lyric nodded. Things still were not clear enough for comprehension, but she had missed the actual conversation and a summary would have to do.

"Very well, then... I will sit..."

But she paused again as she got to right about the spot where she would turn herself around and set her butt in the open space. "If that's okay... Sometimes a quiet romantic spot is best left to it's intended purpose..."

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The Heartwood
The Dirkwood Forest
Home
Attaday, the Eighth Day of Yrick


Bekkah, Keiko, Lyric, Dominic Korie, Miss Emerald, and Miss Tomomi.

For Bekkah and Keiko their morning ablutions were easily completed, leaving them to return when they wished.

For Lyric, Tomomi, Dominic and Emerald, for the moment they waited at the window seat.

“Well if we should be leaving … it should be the three of us. Because this isn’t our romantic spot …”

Dominic looked back to Lyric, while Miss Emerald dealt with having her hood down and her hair tied in a bright red ribbon. She shook her ponytail back and forth, pulled on it, getting used to the change in weight and feeling.

She smiled quietly when she was done.

“Oh … it’s fine …”

Tomomi spoke, looking down and holding her small hands together in front of her. One foot scuffed across the wooden floorboards.

“I’ve never had guests. It’s kind of new. And kind of nice. And I’m just not sure what to do right now. Should I stay, should I follow, some things are private and she did say she would be back so I should trust her, right? But I don’t know if she is happy or somehow hurt and if she’s actually waiting for me to follow her.”

The little mouse’s shoulders drooped.

“Being a friend is so very hard, and I’m so new at it, and I am afraid I’m of not being a very good one.”

Sitting in Dominic’s lap, Miss Emerald was quiet for a long set of heartbeats. She rested her head against Dominic’s shoulder, as if needing a bit of unspoken support before speaking.

“For the longest time I didn’t have a name, just a title. My dance was a lost one, my dance was a sad one. Eventually I met a blind man, one who just cannot see titles or duties or ranks. He looked at me and didn’t even see a Mouse. Well he did. But only because being a Mouse is part and parcel of being, of being …

“Being me.

“I’ve always known my dance is inevitable and I have always, always tried to be quick and without pain. When I returned to my cell, I often found myself crying, because no one would cry for them.

“Last night I was told I was a Good Mouse. And that my dance does not have to be sad, it does not have to be cruel. That I should wear bright colors and smile more. The inevitable is the inevitable, so we should make sure we live as well as we can while we can? Isn’t that what life is about? Make friends. See new things. Take chances. And most importantly …

“Be happy.”

Dominic slowly nodded.

“There’s your answer, Tomomi.

“And that’s why we should share a window seat, Lyric.”

Tomomi’s whiskers twitched, her brow furrowed. Then she smiled.

“I trust Keiko.

“I’ve never had anyone I could trust before.”

Dominc smiled and tugged at Miss Emerald’s ponytail.

“It’s a good feeling, isn’t it?”

Miss Emmi nudged the Young Master in the side with her elbow.

But this time, not very hard at all.

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Lyric

Lyric nodded and started to actually sit, but as soon as she did she twisted to look out over the balustrade, the same one that Dommi had leaned out over to call her up to join them when she was near the docks.

The conversation proceeded around her a bit. She heard it and some thoughts occurred to her in terms of how to counsel both Emerald and Tomomi, but other thoughts seemed to hold her attention more fully for the moment.

She brushed them off and then twisted back around. The thoughts were mildly unsettling and that was one feeling that Lyric didn't like to experience... anxiety. Even fear was better because fear sharpened other senses and charged the mind and body with energy. But anxiety dulled the mind and body and paralyzed a a person in doubt and indecision.

Brushing it off... yes. She smiled and nodded toward Emerald as if to supplicate her next words as a humble offering and nothing more.

"You are no longer bound by the rules of the life you once led. You are not governed by the determinations, commands, and restrictions that others imposed upon you. You are now free, possessed of a soul and given free-will, and if there is a guilt or a sadness for actions in your past, then harness that into a greater good in the life that is now yours to control."

She looked next to Tomomi.

"You are feeling anxiety Tomomi. Your friend has gone to do something without you. This is not to say you don't have a right to feel something for this unexpected moment, but please know that anxiety can cripple you in doubt. Your mind seeks to give your heart answers at a time when your own mind should not be trusted. It makes you question your own value when you have not enough facts to make such a judgment. Consider this, perhaps this separation is merely an act of friendship to reinforce to you that you are a whole person, also possessed of a soul, that has unique value... but you need to see it for yourself, experience it for yourself. Overcome this anxiety, friend Tomomi, and you are a step closer to realizing your full potential as a person and discovering the greater purpose for your life."

With that, the minstrel brought her thoughts inward again. Her eyes appeared to go unfocused for a moment as she was trying to do much the very same thing she advised Tomomi. She had a question to ask, but feared hearing the answer, and yet she wasn't sure why this was the case...

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Emerald, Tomomi and Dominic

"Your words are kind ..."

Miss Emerald opened her eyes, sat a little bit straighter and then shook out her long silver hair, that brand new pony tail slashing back and forth.

"And perhaps, perhaps for most of yesterday they were correct. Last night maybe but today, not so. But it is not a bad thing. It was curious, to meet one's Lady for the first time, unexpected and yet, to be shown, that I truly had been walking in Her path for all of my days. To be apologized to - and forgiven - because I had been set upon my tasks without proper guidance or learning and yet somehow never fell into the dark or became numb and stopped caring."

The little Mouse lightly elbowed Dominic, who was just listening, listening and smiling.

"Stop that. I know you are proud of me."

Turning back to Lyric the Mouse nodded once.

"I can't call him my Owner any more. Because now we are peers and my Lady is just as jealous as his Lady. Did you even wonder why I am to look for ribbons and bright clothing?

"They are my vestments, it seems.

"Krysta's Chosen may be the hands of Death but that is all the more reason, so I have been told, that we should celebrate life."

Her nose wrinkled and her whiskers went this way and that.

"I am still getting used to this whole thing. It will take some time. Priestess. Me. Who would have thought. I am just a Mouse."

Tomomi's eyes went wide, swallowing and then she bounced on her heels. She took a breath, almost looked as if she were going to rush down the hall and decided not to. Instead she sat down at the foot of her window seat.

"No."

Keiko's friend gave her Kin a serious look.

"A Mouse. Not just. A Mouse. And now we are People. I think, I think maybe we should stop talking about what is a person and just get on with being one. It would be far less confusing and it is not good for us Kin to get confused. We get lost really easily."

Dominic finally spoke up.

"Very true.

"Yesterday was strange and last night was full of surprises. Especially for Emmi and Soft. Which has me more than a little curious, because things like this usually come in threes.

"And you, Miss Minstrel?

"This is the second time this morning you've looked like a question was about to explode from inside you. Are we going to have to wait for a third time before you will actually ask that question? Who knows, you might actually get an answer."

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Lyric

Beyond individual aesthetic and personal taste, Lyric did not wonder about anyone's choice in garments. It was beyond her ken to understand why people did what they did, and despite the curiosity of it all, she simply accepted it as presented for that was simplest.

But Emerald explained and it involved Divine Beings. That was two such conversations in one passing of She, and that had to be significant. To them? No doubt. To Lyric? Well that would be a curiosity for another moment of fanciful consideration.

Before she knew it, Dommi was addressing her. She remained still and silent for a moment, maybe three, seemingly lost in her thoughts, as she chased them down, herded back into her mind's 'corral', and smiled before she looked up at Dommi with that wide-eyed innocence of naivete.

"Threes? I am certain I am not a three. Nor am I a Priestess of a Divine Being... No... But I do suppose I have been preoccupied by a thought. The question though... I think I already know the answer."

She shrugged and 'floomphed' herself onto the bench sill with a bit of whimsy, her hair out of sorts, and herself forced to sort the folds and layers of her gossamer frock.

And then she leaned forward, looking at Tomomi in particular, but making eye contact with the other two members of her 'audience'

"I was hoping to see this keep on the lake. The vile abode of the Dwarven slavers. As scary and foreboding as I have heard tell this place to be, I couldn't help but think it might have been a memorable experience, as merely an observer mind you and not to make light of it's true evil nature."

She spoke in a voice that invited a person to listen, engaging them in cadence and volume changes that might seem subtle or even noticeable to the untrained. She used jer hands in sweeping gestures as she 'painted' her scene.

"A moment that preceded greatness and glory... of true epic heroism. But more than that, the story of courage and the unrelenting will to survive by those held in bondage. As a minstrel of some bardic ability I thought I might bear witness to the gallant nature of those with whom I have taken up company and a testament to the indomitable spirit of those who have struggled for freedom against staggering odds.... An fantastic tale in the offing, dwarves and dragons, and forestkin, first made tools, but vessels filled with souls by the gifting of Divine Beings... Yes, this tale seen in its most formative stages, where true courage and strategic brilliance first come to terms with the scale of the daunting challenge before them..."

She paused and sat back in the seat, cast a glance over her shoulder wistfully toward the docks, though she couldn't see down to those docks without leaning out over the edge more. "All of that, and... well, I like rocks, and things made out of rocks... Walking in woods and on rocks. Keeps and Castles made of Rocks."

"But, I must assume they have gone already and I am left behind."

The wistfulness was suddenly discarded though as she shifted her mood back to that whimsical side of herself.

"No matter. There is much I can see and do right here... No less important, and probably a lot less messy. I am not really dressed for stomping around in mud and crawling through ravenous brambles."

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Keiko

Keiko returned to Tomomi’s person-filled sleeping nook while Emmi was describing her apparent meeting with the Lady Krysta. Such an honor!

Dommi’s question to Lyric was more on the confusing side. However, the Rhoni thought she might be starting to understand the way to navigate the currents that tended to move unpredictably when one of Lady Arilys’ followers was a significant presence in a group — take what made sense and simply remember the rest for later. And because Dommi was a priest of said Lady in addition to being naturally fond of telling extravagant tales, or so it seemed to her, most of was he said was in the latter rather than the former category.

She smiled and winked at Tomomi as she stood on the step watching and listening. The minstrel from Kethy’s Woods was almost as much an enigma as the Shadowlord, although the currents surrounding her and her desire to witness grand, glorious, and heroic deeds were considerably clearer — much easier to see and navigate, if necessary. In the end, Keiko smiled more broadly as she took that last step into the little nook and gracefully dropping into a seated position on the floor as she pulled her pack into her lap.

“I don’t think there’s cause for much concern, Friend Lyric, on missing the viewing all the things you wish to see. Tomomi has said that those Kin who are to be rescued will be variously frightened and lost and particularly unsure of what they are to do as free Persons.”

As she spoke, she dug through the contents of the pack, obviously looking for something specific and not immediately finding it.

“I believe the others have merely gone to view it in a way that will allow for strategies and tactics to be developed. I know nothing of such things and will leave it to those who are more suited to those roles. But Tomomi says I might help her keep the Kin calm once they are free, for getting lost is not a good thing at all.”

She held her bottom lip between her teeth as her fingers moved around in the back.

“So you’ll be back,” she said to Lyric, “and I believe you will write the most marvelous of ballads at the journey’s end! But even before that, you might help us! I have ribbons and my whistling potato...”

Keiko stopped rummaging for a moment as she looked at Tomomi and giggled. “Ocarina... Ah-kah-ree-nah.”

“...that apparently sparkles when I play,” she continued both her rummaging and explanation to Lyric. “Music is good for calming, or so I’ve always thought.”

She nodded to the minstrel almost absently before exclaiming, “Ah! Found it!!”

What she withdrew from her back was a small rectangle of fabric — not really a ribbon, certainly not lace. It was barely as wide as two of her fingers and not quite as long as her first finger, but it was stitched with almost expert precision with every imaginable color a thread could be, including a meandering of silver.

Holding it in her palm, she regarded it for a moment. “My grandfather found it in the market of Kh’Lhy’ra. It was probably just a practice piece, perhaps done by a lady in waiting in one of the courts. He said the merchant didn’t even want a penny for it because what can one do with something so small? But I’ve always thought it was very pretty, even as I have often wondered why I’ve kept it.”

She smiled and placed it gently in Emmi’s lap. “Perhaps I’ve kept it because the currents led me to a Priestess of Krysta who needed to patch together her vestments, ja?”


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The Heartwood
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Attaday, the Eighth Day of Yrick


Bekkah, Keiko, Lyric, Dominic Korie, Miss Emerald, and Miss Tomomi.

“Oh I know it isn’t you, Lyric. I have my suspicions for the third, but only because there is one person who’d think it would be terribly funny to make such an invitation and not mention it to me. If you ever have to choose, Lady Lyric, be very careful about following a whimsical deity because half the time the joke is on you.”

The Korie Lord paused, momentarily interrupted.

“Ahhhhh-kaaaah-reeeeee-naaaaah …”

Tomomi carefully repeated the offered word with a smile. And then added, so very softly, a simple confirmation.

“It does. Sparkle and all. At least I think so.

“Oh my.”

The last was at the offering of the precious gift. Both Mice looked at the colorful cloth with wide eyes. Then it was Tomomi’s turn to rustle through a small drawer built into the bottom of the seat, until she drew out a par of scissors, a needle, some thread and some lace.

“May I?”

Tomomi asked the question of Miss Emmi, who just nodded, caught by complete surprise. Tomomi took up the brightly colored cloth and began to work. She had a fine hand, skilled as a seamstress and well deserving of the title given to her before she got her name.

As Tomomi worked, Dominic continued.

“And miss Keiko’s got the right of it. If you were out there now, true, you’d be seeing the dam they built to make the lake and the strange shaft they sunk through the water deep into the earth. It is the opposite of a well. A well is a hole in the ground that, from its depths, you draw out water. The keep is a ring-like shaft in the middle of a lake that water flows into, to power great waterwheels and other Dwarven works.

“Is it grand and epic? That is a different matter. It is certainly large. Grand and epic is what storytellers like you and I add after all is said and done. In truth, I suspect, if this works, it will because a handful of ordinary people decided to take a stand against many, to stop a wrong. What makes a hero? I doubt folks are born to the task. Who is a hero? An alley orphan who had no other choice if she wanted to live past thirteen summers? A scholar, who looked down a funereal well and discovered that if she didn’t do anything, no one else would?

“Legends are created. I think true heroes are ordinary folk who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. I hope I haven’t ruined your day, Lyric. Or burst a soap bubble.

“You will have your trees to walk beneath, your rocks to walk on, carven steps of stones descending deep into the bones of the Heartwood. You will hear the grinding of the gears, feel the heat of molten darksteel, shiver at the husking hiss of a Weasel on the hunt, see lamplight sparkle like stars falling across the edge of a Dwarven axe, look into a lost soul’s eyes and realize they have never ever seen themselves as anything but a worthless object.

“The question then, will be, what do ordinary folk like you or Keiko or myself do?”

The Korie Lord shrugged his shoulders.

“Tomomi is also correct. I think if we look at this as how do we fight the Dwarves and rescue the Forest Kin, then it does seem like a warrior’s task.

“But if we look at this as how do we rescue the Forest Kin from under the Dwarven noses, it becomes a very different matter.”

Dominic was interrupted by a Mouse’s smile and a brightly spoken word.

“Finished!”

And with that, Tomomi rose up on her knees to face Miss Emerald.

“I … I hope I’m right.”

Tomomi reached up and pushed back Emmi’s long silver hair, until a small and cute mouse ear was almost completely revealed. Her smile widened as she saw that Emmi indeed had earrings. Emmi’s ears pinked deeply as she blushed and Dominic tried to look completely innocent.

The little seamstress had taken the fancy cloth and cut it in half, then carefully stitched each of them to a piece of white lace – obviously to keep the valuable little scrap from fraying into nothingness. With a heavier piece of thread she then hung the fancy pieces from the earrings, so they world fall in a splash of color, a bright accent peeking out from long soft locks.

“There we go.”

Tomomi tilted her head.

“Maybe we are like that small piece of cloth. What can be done with something that small?

“We just have to figure it out, ja? I have it on good authority that even a Mouse can have worth.

“Every day I believe it more and more.”



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Lyric

"You encourage me so, Friend Keiko. I thought I wanted to see this place when the first opportunity allowed, but you are right. My fanciful wishes for new experiences must not overshadow the purpose of the trip. I might very well be a hindrance and a distraction."

She winked at her Rhoni friend.

"It has been known to happen. Either I am distracted or I am a distraction..."

She shrugged in mock-shyness.

"It is the way of things I am for certain with us creative types..."

She watched as the bit of fabric finery was exchanged and the story behind it told. Lyric loved stories. True ones, False ones, ones meant to humor, ones meant to teach, long ones and short ones. Why, if she had a bit of a rhyme to her thoughts right now, she might be quite like a feline in search of a millinery shop... not that this was how she actually considered a thought such as this. But you understand, right?

"That is ver' probably sage advice Dommi. Heed and care when dealing with Divine beings, ja?"

She smiled and shrugged. "I have never met one myself though... Not yet... maybe never..."

The conversation whirled a bit, around the room, Mouses and Scraps of Cloth but after a time and after the presentation of the pretty piece of finery that was bordered and sewn together with care and love. That was the nature of good people and good souls.

"I have many questions, I think..." interjected Lyric as she stared upwards into the canopy above, and without directly addressing anyone in particular. "...sometimes I don't think of them at the same time but today and now, I have more questions than I have answers... Well, I have no answers... so one question would be the equal of that statement, but I do have more than one question..."

Slowly she cast her attention down again to those gathered around her.

"Do forgive if I ask of things that have already been told. I have not heard much of the Why and the How of things... The Dwarves mine deep into the earth of the Heartwood, and do terrible things to both the forest and the dwellers within, this I know, but Why? There is more darksteel than around here than could be held in the armories of all the cities of the whole land, a fortune in such metal. This is not what they mine though, is it? What do they mine that makes them do such terrible things to so many?"

"Also, I get that what they are doing poisons the forest, the river... but it is more than that. I can feel it. The forest is cursed.... Why is that? What great sadness was wrought that might bring down such a terrible punishment?"

"And you Dommi," her focus narrowing to the young master, "You came from some far distance to enter a place that was gravely dangerous. I've heard you mention it, but in parts and pieces, like so much fine cloth shorn in scraps. What brought you to this dark place? I would be grateful to hear your story, for its seems an adventure, turned tragedy, became a love story, and there is no better kind I think."

"Please?"

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Keiko

Keiko chuckled at Lyric’s words. Distracted or a distraction... it was a perfectly ordinary and entirely accurate way of stating the obvious, yet Lyric had a gift for making it sound as though she was telling a story in which she was cast in both the role of rescuer and the fair maiden who needed rescuing. And that the story would be filled with comic misadventures.

She hugged her pack as she watched Tomomi’s small hands expertly transform a little piece of cast-off but beautiful fabric into the prettiest adornments for earrings she had ever seen. Watching her friend work was like watching her kinfolk work at their own specialties — the uncle who could turn ordinary steel into exquisite daggers, the old aunt who could read and write. Keiko realized, just as Tomomi attached the lace-backed fabric to Emmi’s earrings, that her face probably had that same expression of wonder her little sisters’ did when they watched her Dance.

Nodding, the Rhoni answered both the Young Master and Tomomi. “We know we have worth. I never saw the Forest Kin as people who lacked worth. So showing kindness and respect for their customs was not difficult.

“Giving comfort, showing kindness, letting the rescued Forest Kin know that there are those who are willing to help them be free... perhaps these are small things. But they are things we can do, ja?”

Then Keiko smiled at Tomomi. No other words needed to be said. A Mouse had found worth, and a Rhoni had found a forever friend. What began as a small thing had become a very grand thing — almost like one of the legends Dommi had spoken of.

But then... ah, she could only sigh at first when Lyric asked those questions. She refastened her pack and set it to the side before pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them. For long moments, Keiko merely looked at the toes of her books. Finally, however, she looked up at Lyric.

“There are few tales of the Dwarves, at least few that the Rhoni have heard. The elders always preface stories about them with the warning that there is no Truth about them that we know for they came with the Imperial Prince from the far off islands.

“Why they do what they do is a mystery, Lyric. Perhaps it is simply that they don’t know how to do anything else. They don’t know how to be any other thing than Miners of the Earth. But what is it that they mine?”

She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. Some stories were true whether or not the listeners believed them.

“First there was the Forest, and all else was the many changing forms of Chaos,” she whispered. Opening her eyes again, she looked at the Minstrel. “It is such a familiar story that the whole of the world must know it, ja? There are many stories of the Shattering Wars, but it seems they all begin that way.

“There are tales that tell of the Lords of the East being banished to a place known only as Beyond. There are tales of Others who came from that place... Unicorns, Dragons, and other Beings who could not have been born of the Shattering.

“Some ancient tales — from the First Age, the Age of Yrick’s Bright Empire — say that Dragons came from Beyond to hold up the world after the Shattering... that the little rumblings and great shakings of the earth are the Dragons moving in their sleep.

“And Darksteel is the blood of the Dragons.”

Keiko paused for a moment.

“The Forest, though?” She shook her head. “That is something different, something I do not fully understand for I am not a follower of the Coven ways. Something happened at the end of the last Age. It was something terrible, for the Forest was still seen as the true remnant of the World Forest before the Eastern Princes brought their armies across the Black Mountains the last time.” Keiko shuddered, knowing how close the world west of the Black Mountains had come to yet another invasion from the Eastern Princes.

“The stories we know of that time speak only of some terrible thing at the Battle of Silk Creek Bridge, but the stories don’t say what the terrible thing might have been.”

She was silent for a moment longer.

“Perhaps it is the presence of the Dwarves that does not allow the Forest to heal. I don’t know. Perhaps the Priests of the Horned God and the Priestesses of Mother Nature might understand how these things are related — if, indeed, they are.”

Keiko glanced out the nearby window. “To have hope that the Forest can heal is a good thing. That is a hope I have always had, despite not knowing how the illness came about or if it is even possible.”

She shrugged and rested her chin on her knees. No matter how much the Young Master’s stories might make her head spin, hearing the tales of their adventures and friendship and love would be something to lighten a somber mood.


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The Heartwood
The Dirkwood Forest
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Attaday, the Eighth Day of Yrick


Bekkah, Keiko, Lyric, Dominic Korie, Miss Emerald, and Miss Tomomi.

“Actually, holding a conversation with the divine doesn’t happen very often. While I happen to have garnered the favor of a particularly chatty one it is more a matter interpreting events. For example, I’m at a stream contemplating fish for lunch. If I am doing well and right, I can dash my hand in and catch me some lunch. If I am not doing well, the fish jumps out of the water and bites me on the nose.”

The Young Master’s eyes crossed then, as he reached up and rubbed his nose, as if soothing an old wound.

“And sometimes I get bitten on the nose because someone thinks it’s funny.”

Emerald nodded, adding her own observation.

“It usually is.”

Dommi chuckled and continued.

“Worse though is when nothing happens. That means you are no longer in your Deity’s care and have fallen out of favor. For some it’s easy to notice if that happens - Dayalans have their black unicorns and Coveners their wolves to keep them on their toes.”

The young Lord’s expression then darkened.

“As for your second question. Keiko has the gist of it and I agree that is the reason the Dwarves are here, to slake a thirst for the unattainable. It explains why Darksteel has the magic it does and why it is so dangerous to acquire. It sounds like something that just could not be, and yet we are sitting with those who have seen it first hand.”

Miss Emerald popped her head up a bit, looking to Tomomi before speaking, her first words a simple confirmation of Keiko’s tale.

“Deep in the earth the Dwarves are bleeding sleeping Dragons.”

Tomomi followed, continuing their story, her long whiskers twitching.

“It’s why we feel worthless. The Forge Masters make us because it is a dangerous life, working those mines. When we fail, we are replaced. When something goes wrong, we are the ones who die and they do not. They simply chose another place to have the Rats drive a shaft.

“Why is it so dangerous?

“Because sometimes the Dragons wake up.

“And Dragons do not like being mined.”

The silence that followed was heavy and long. Tomomi snuggled herself against Keiko as best she could. That had been her world when she first stepped into life and while it was now behind her it could never be forgotten.

And today? Today everyone was talking about a return to those Mines. The reason was undeniable; it was the right thing to do. But it did not make any of it less frightening.

Dominic spoke again, changing the subject to add to the answer of Lyric’s third question.

“As for the curse on the Forest, that is another tale all together. Again, it is not my tale to tell. But there is no one here at the moment whose it is. Obviously, Soft has discovered it’s secret, but I suspect she will be loathe to speak about it – the Gods are jealous and do not like their secrets spread like common gossip.

“Let me add to what Keiko said.

“In my travels I once met a wonderful ditz. She was bright, friendly, strange and dangerous, and most folks though she was a complete idiot.

“I suspect that was what she wanted folks to think. Yet she said something that, to me, solved the Mystery of the End of The Second Age. That is, how could a tremendously powerful and pervasive Church be taken down in a handful of months? What this ditzy girl said was an obvious truth, once you thought about it:

“With a big enough sacrifice anything can be summoned.”

Dominic tugged on a lock of his own hair.

“I believe the massacre at Bordertown was a very well planned sacrifice designed to draw two deities down into the mortal lands. And it worked. I believe one of the deities was then slain.

“The timing makes sense. Everything I’ve read and heard confirms the Rhoni’s understanding of their legends. The tales of Keiko’s grandparents are probably the most consistent and the most accurate of all who lived through that time. You heard what she said.

“The Forest was still the Heartwood, until the Eastern Princes tried their last invasion. Which means it happened after Bordertown, after the Flowered Path and after The Battle at Silk Creek Bridge.

“That last bit is scary one. Because it means neither was an accident, both the cursing of the Forest and the betrayal at the Bridge. Think. With the Bridge gone, there would have been no other way to invade the last remaining western territories without going through the Forest.

“I believe that the cursing of the Heartwood is the fault of an insanely angry, bitter and hurt Husband’s revenge.”

The young master let out a long breath.

“Now let us close our eyes and take a trip back in time, a handful or more years ago, when a young Lord had just discovered he had lands, and decided to go visit them.”

Dominic adjusted his black cloak until it covered both his shoulders and Miss Emmi’s.

“Because I think we need, right now, a story with a happy ending.”

Dominic took a breath and continued.

“It was like coming home. Here was, in truth, a Village so small it probably needed to share names, could only fit one holiday on their small calendar, and the meat pies had to be delicious because they didn’t have space for bad ingredients. I think I fell in love with Waverider’s Watch when I saw it, riding down the trail from the Farmer’s Compound. The girl there had helped me fix up my horse and we were still getting used to each other, but here we were, in a quiet country place.

“And so, I remember that first Marketday and meeting Broke for the first time, glowering over me like some ornery gigantic merebeast and informing me of the One Rule. I replied that’s a right smart rule and I was right powerful pleased with her and all.

“Meanwhile, in his travel-cloak, Renyard was laughing his head off, which thoroughly confused Broke, so she barked at him and asked why and Renyard asked her if she had any idea who she was talking to and then she called me what, an annoying short stuff, to which I replied that’s Lord Short Stuff to you and then she said bah when has any Lord done us any good and that’s when I pointed to my saddlebags and Rory’s cask sitting on it and said I brought the beer.

“And we’ve been best friends ever since.”

Dominic paused, just a few moments to catch his breath.

“Well I wrangled myself an invitation to Home – mostly because I proved to Broke that she couldn’t stop me and Renyard vouched for me being harmless. That night I let them know that as long as they were in my lands they were welcome. That got both smiles and odd looks of concern.

“For that’s when they told me about the Mines.

“Of course I had to go look. And of course I had to look close. The Forest Kin are nice folks. And what they told me about the mines was horrific. How could I not go look and see? How could I not try and do something? On one hand, I was foolishly over confident. I knew what skills I had. I also knew that if things went bad, I could always escape. Even if I knew then what I knew now, I still probably would have chanced it. These were good folks in need of help. And I was their Lord. This, this was my job. If it wasn’t, I would have been just as bad and as empty as the sycophants that circle my Father day in and day out.

“So I have seen the Halls of Men, now mostly empty, those that live there still more disturbing than any dark story. Immortality does strange things to people. They lose touch with what is important in life, what it means to actually be alive. I have seen the Halls of the Earthen Folk, and those that live there. I thought their Weasels would be a fun challenge.

“I was wrong.

“They caught me.”

He closed his eyes for a beat. Then he opened them.

“I awoke in a small stone cell, with no light. And worse. They had taken my cloak. They didn’t know what to do with me. If they let me go they thought I’d bring all the Mainland after their riches. So they decided to question me, learn all they could about their escaped tools from me so they could be retrieved and then have me visited by someone they called The Executioner. That did not sound good at all.

“I surprised myself. I lasted a whole lot longer than they ever expected. Long enough.

“I learned there was someone in a cell next to me. After I had been taken from the questioning room, we discovered if we whispered we could hear each other. She sounded small and just as lost as I was. But she sounded kind, at least that’s what I thought. She didn’t know there was a world outside the stone and the mines. So I told her about all the places I had seen. Talantal is actually very pretty in the spring. Dawnview Castle on a winter’s morning. Riding the Highland Path in the summer where all you can see to the horizon is forever fields of green. I told her of blue skies and clouds and when she fell silent I asked if she was crying. She said yes. She said it was wonderful that there were good places in the world. Even if she would never see them, never deserve to feel warm sunlight on her shoulders, just knowing that there was something else, somewhere good, for someone else, was … the nicest thing that had ever felt.

“She told me she was just a Mouse.

“I told her, she was anything but just.

“I mentioned my cloak once.

“Uncounted days later there was this oddest whhumf in my cell. And I knew I was not alone. She stood there, all in rags, dirty, brown, torn, barely enough to provide any modesty. She was the prettiest girl I had ever seen, frail and small, and lost. Her face was pale, stained with grime and dirt. Stuck in a rope belt were two of the deadliest black knives I had ever seen.

“And under her other arm was my Cloak.

“That cut straight to the heart. She was carrying my cloak …

“ … and my cloak hadn’t eaten her. In fact, it was purring.”

“As she handed me my Cloak she told we didn’t have much time. She was right. There were noises outside and they were very very angry noises. She told me she had just been a very very Bad Mouse. That I needed to go. Now.

“I started to fall back into my cloak, and realized, realized I had to trust her. I realized …

“… I hadn’t even asked her name.

“Just before the shadows swallowed me, I glimpsed her in the lamplight. I heard her whisper.

“I don’t have a name. I am The Executioner.”

Dominic looked down.

“I came out of Broke’s shadow. It took them a week to put me back together. And that was supposed to be that. I had seen the Dwarven holdfast. It was over.”

Dominic stopped speaking.

“The Dwarves hurt me really bad after I got the prisoner’s cloak back to him. But I deserved it.”

Miss Emmi had picked up where Dominic had left off.

“I had been a Bad Mouse. They couldn’t conceive that somehow I had decided to break their laws. But I was too valuable to recycle. My gift was so rare and they needed it.

“So they punished me.

“They were beating me. They had brought me to the questioning room and then they suddenly stopped. I didn’t know, because it was behind me. I couldn’t see the demon that arose from my shadow and then there were arms wrapped around me and I almost panicked and screamed and went elsewhere but then the demon had taken us all and the next thing I knew I was tumbling in green stuff and it was so bright I could barely see. I covered my eyes. I heard a gentle and familiar voice try and stop me. No no no no - its fine, you are safe, open your eyes, no one is going to hurt you any more, never more, I promise - just open your eyes, they will have to go through me first …

“And so I did. And he just said. Oh Goddess, you have the prettiest green eyes in the whole world.

“And for the first time I wasn’t just a Mouse.

“This was the truth.

“It would never be a question again.

“He had come back for me.

“I had worth.

“How could I not have fallen in love with him right then and there?”

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Keiko

Conversing with a Deity wasn’t something the young Rhoni had ever contemplated. She always had just thought it was something like talking to the Ancestors — rather pointless, as they were never going to answer back what with them being dead. It wasn’t even like the odd affectation she had for conversing with her Cards. Each had a meaning, and there were various ways to interpret the Cards, of course. But it wasn’t actually... well, a conversation.

As the Young Master’s tale continued and she felt Tomomi snuggle closer, Keiko loosened one arm from around her legs and wrapped it around her friend’s shoulders — effectively hugging herself and the Mouse.

While the thought of the Mines obviously and with good reason unnerved Tomomi, Keiko was somewhat more shaken by the words Dommi shared about the Forest and the end of the Second Age. She wasn’t some very special or fancy person who could read, but she knew more of their Stories than most Rhoni did.

Did he just confirm one of the Question Tales? And set the blame for the Cursing of the Heartwood in the hands of a Deity??

“So...” Keiko blinked and regarded the Young Master intently for a handful of heartbeats. She could barely speak above a whisper. “So there were followers of the Sun Lady at the Bridge when it collapsed? This is not another one of your tales of misdirection and confusion?”

An angry, bitter, grievously hurt husband was not a concept unknown to her — although it was something she had never seen for herself. It was just another Teaching of the elders. To add insanity and divinity to the mix? That simple description allowed her to weave together so many of the Rhoni stories that it almost had to be the Truth. And how does one heal something a God had cursed?

That was surely a question for the great scholars!

And yet, as she listened to the story Dommi and Emmi wove of their meeting — interspersed with tidbits of information about the Dwarves and the Mines — she knew it was exactly the kind of True Love story her mother believed was possible for everyone. And maybe, just maybe, Mother wasn’t completely wrong. That made her smile.


"Everything is bad except unicorns." -- Phoebe
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Lyric


Lyric appeared fixated by the storytelling, first by Keiko, then Dommi and finally Emmi. There was so much more she wanted to hear and many more questions filled her mind, to the point where she began to misplace them as more stories were told and new questions filled the newly vacated 'question space'.

This look was quite similar to the one where conversation occurring around her moved too quickly, as though she understood some but not all and was perhaps translating somethings in her head as best she could.

Her face revealed a wide range of emotions, from happiness and joy through sympathy to sorrow and back again... finally settling on contentment at the end of Emmi's part of the story.

Keiko replied first though, to Dommi. So, Lyric turned her attention to Emmi to offer a simple reply.

"That is true... How could you not?"

"But let me say this though, if you possessed the capacity to love and be loved... it must be true that even then you had worth. I might even argue a soul, but I suppose I would be using that word in a poetic sense. Regardless, you were no mere tool even from your creation."

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The Heartwood
The Dirkwood Forest
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Attaday, the Eighth Day of Yrick


Bekkah, Keiko, Lyric, Dominic Korie, Miss Emerald, and Miss Tomomi.

Tomomi buried her head against Keiko as Lyric spoke, the little Mouse shivering just a bit. Because it had only been a few days that she had been named. Only a few days since she had fallen into homesickness and then somehow been drawn back into the real world. She still didn’t understand, the how and whys of her rescue, it was far far bigger than she was. She was just thankful and would be thankful would be forever.

“How can we not be who we are? We are made as tools and we can never escape that. We were born as simple Kin, we aren’t even supposed to understand what it is to be, just to live and run and scamper.”

She tried to answer Lyric, because she was much closer to the unspoken question than Miss Emmi – Tomomi still remembered the Little House, the place she first met Keiko.

“Words confuse us. We can be told many things. There is a distance, a distance, between what words tell us and the truth of things. When you are a tool all the world is your use. When a Tool remembers she is supposed to be a Mouse, the tool breaks and is replaced. All the words in the world cannot explain that away.

“When a Tool is shown they are more than just a Tool – then – then there is hope.

“Maybe you are right, Miss Lyric

“To care and be cared for.”

The little Mouse suddenly hugged Keiko so tight.

“Maybe that’s all that matters in the whole wide scary world.”

The little Mouse’s worlds brought a mote of silence to the morning conversation. But this time it was not an uncomfortable silence; it was a warm and comfortable one. Emerald simply cuddled beneath her companion’s black cloak, her fine simple fingers trailing across Dominic’s.

“It’s very easy to say you care. It’s very hard to show it. But that’s what friendship is all about.”

Dominic returned to his tales then, looking to answer Keiko’s questions.

“And why betrayal cuts so deeply.

“They were not only upon the Silk Creek Bridge when it was brought down, the Sun Lady’s finest had been put there, placed there, tasked with holding that stone arch as if it were the last bulwark against the Eastern Armies.

“They were not told it was a trap.

“They were not told that the decision had been made to sacrifice them.”

The young lord closed his eyes.

“I wish it was whimsy and misdirection. Never stay the night in Highside Heather, not unless you wish to see that betrayal played out in the evening fog and have to watch, knowing there is nothing you can do to stop it.”

Dark eyes opened once more.

“Things go so wrong when people stop caring. It’s why what we do right now is so important. In the middle of the lake, deep down that Dwarven shaft, there are Forest Folk who know neither sun or starlight. As we undertake this adventure we cannot loose sight that they are the reason we are doing this.

“Not because it is what a Hero would do, not because the Dwarves need to be punished, not for glory, not for renown, not for the minstrels to sing or to be told around campfires by our children’s children.

“But because they are worth caring for and that caring is more than just soft words.”

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Lyric

As much as she loved stories and had heard so many in her life, they had always come to her in bits and pieces. Just fragments of much greater tales that spanned ages. Her people lived remotely, by choice, and had been long isolated. Most of them, perhaps almost all, did not care for anything that happened beyond the boundaries of their hidden enclave. But Lyric was different than they, and it had always been that way with her. She was fascinated by the stories and songs. She had always wanted to see the fabulous places mentioned in tale and poem. She finally got her wish, though not quite in the way she ever imagined. But here she was...

...and Dommi and Keiko parsed out parts of a tale that gripped her to the point of total enthrallment. And yet, she still couldn't put it all together. Sometimes they spoke more poetically than she could follow. They spoke as though a more complete telling would risk the ire of divine beings like this grieving and angry God. And maybe it would. Lyric certainly didn't want to risk that, but she was desperate for understanding. Sometimes the poetic and nuanced retellings just didn't work for someone who hadn't the same foundation as most others who grew up with such things, told to them from a very young age as lessons and warnings.

"What I know from tales I already heard, and what I hear now... Facing terrible odds, these brave warriors of the Sun Lady stood before the coming evil from the East Beyond the Mountains, but those they were aligned with betrayed them so that they might bring down a Divine Being... and the betrayers then found a way to sacrifice the divine being as well... in order to stop the Eastern Darkness? But in so doing they brought on the wrath of another Divine Being who destroyed the betrayers as well? Am I understanding this in the right way?"

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