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

Bekkah, Pietro, Lyric, Cesare, Keiko … and Most Everyone Else …

In an odd way the fact that the Dwarven trap, the drawbridge that separated Pietro from Bekkah at the very start, turned out to be a very good thing. Because that rumbling thunder, the steam explosion that occurred when thousands of gallons of water hit the forges did more than just rumble. The top wall of the keep splintered and spit, collapsing as its structural underpinnings were shattered by the death of the flesh and darksteel forges.

Luckily, the Forest Folk, their allies and their new kin were halfway across the lake before that happened anda ble to stay ahead of the sudden surge of the lake to fill the well that was once Loch Faast Keep.

Some escaped easier than others. Once the Mice had a place they could see they could go to it. Rats moved things, including their own kind, including the makeshift armada of rafts and boats. First there was the trip to the dam, which no longer had the same amount of water to hold back. The spillways were dry, the water level having dropped perhaps three to four feet. It would take a while, perhaps a season, for the river that fed the lake to refill the reservoir. It was true, the lake had flooded a huge amount of forest land but in the generations that followed it had become part of the Forest – a place for fish, waterfowl and the like.

Nature was like that.

From the dam it was the trek back to the swamp. Those not Forest Folk were ferried, those that were miners were carefully escorted by Pack and those who had already claimed their freedom.

Person Cat prowled, disappointed that it was still dark, giving the Pack a wary eye, sizing himself up against each of them and deciding that the probable costs far outweighed his curious nature. It was also difficult to look ferocious when surrounded by Mice. You see, being brave, Tomomi had at him poked him just as they started down the forest path. To make sure he’d keep his promise. Then – with a surprised gasp – she said the one and perhaps the only thing that both could and did seal his fate. He looked down fiercely, but she just gave Keiko the most wonderfully surprised look.

“He’s softer than Soft!”

Then they had arrived Home.



Lady and Girl met them on the piers.

They had an arm full of blankets, with travel cloaks and tunics and a bushel of apples set out next to them. Lady smiled.

“Welcome to Home … come, upstairs there is warmth and companionship. You are safe. There are nooks if you are scared, food and drink to restore one's spirits, water to wash and bathe …”

It was a time of welcoming. This time was not for her, her family, for those who had done the rescue, those that had helped. It was time for those who were lost, scared and never ever having known kindness and care as something other than rare and fleeting. Time to be shown they now had a home.

Thanks and rewards and remembering would come later

“… and … and … and …”

Lady winced.

From above came the most out-of-tune singing. Obviously someone had not been determined to make a dramatic last stand against the Dwarves and equally obvious that certain Lordlings had ways to travel that were swifter than boats and rivers.

Lady simply closed her eyes.

“Would someone mind tossing the three of them into the swamp for me?”

… oh don't let 'em in till it's all drunk up
And somebody shouted Macintyre! Macintyre!
And we all got blue-blind paralytic drunk …
When the Old Dun Cow caught fire …

Cesare

Now the adrenalin rush is fading, he is starting to feel tired, tired but elated. He watches as more folk arrive, amazed at the numbers but he is still waiting for his friends. He needs to see them safe before he can fully relax.

But he is still wearing a big grin.

Lyric, racing against the Dawn

Once outside, and still keeping the boy with her, the small Minstrel looked up to her much larger guardian and whispered a statement and a question.

"I will need my cloak, my friend... The heavy tartan one, I left it in our boat."

"Do you know how soon until the dawn breaks?"

****

(Will be continued as I play this out a bit)

One Fang

The big wuff blinked, blinked and tilted his head.

Their boats were a chaos and finding one particular boat quickly would have stretched even the slimmest chance of coincidence. That and if it was in a boat, it was probably already claimed by one of their refugees - since it was something warm, protective and comforting.

But there was nothing to worry for.

All One Fang did was shrug as he transferred his travel cloak from his shoulders to the Minstrel's. It might have been truly heavy and very bloodstained but it was also nicely oversized and had a very nice hood.

"We should get to Home beforrre dawn ... She will rise a little bit later; but the woods are so dense it won't actually get brighter until after that."

Lyric, running out of time

Lyric accepted the oversized cloak from the protective Wuff. It was as if she was engulfed within it. The hood hung far out over her head, draping her face in deep shadows. One would actually have to get well below her to see up into the darkness to glimpse her features.

The Minstrel gathered up as much of the length that would hang in front of her, to minimize the risk of a trip and a fall, within her hands and let the cloak trail and drag the ground behind her like a short bridal train.

Still keeping the boy before her, Lyric could see him from her concealment. She replied to One Fang.

"It is not the Dawn herself that concerns me," she said. "But rather the number of heartbeats in a day and a night. Candlemarks, might be more appropriate a term."

She nudged the boy forward, his pace would be hers as it had been all the way up and out of the evil keep.

Keiko
[pronounced KAY-ko]

The Rhoni stayed close to the Cat during their escape from the Keep. Some cats don’t mind water and other would avoid it in any way they possibly could. Keiko didn’t know which type of cat Person Cat was. But more than that, he was alone — there wasn’t another like him. She, too, was fiercely independent, but that didn’t mean she liked being alone as a stranger among so many people not like herself. Of course, right now, she was absolutely not alone. Nor was she a stranger.

Besides, she rather liked him.

She giggled when he was surrounded by the Mice.

“Well, there’s no hope for you now, Hinata Anzen-sei. You will now be well-loved, especially by Mice. You have a family now. If you wish, you will also have friends.”

She smiled at Lady and Girl, then nodded to Tomomi and Hinata. “I know hardtack is terrible, but there are ways to make it less awful.” She had started toward Home before the next refrain paused her where she stood. She grimaced this time.

“His Lady must find that ever so amusing. I suspect Divine Beings don’t ears that work the way the of ours do.”

But it was then that she noted who was on the pier. Or rather, who wasn’t on the pier. Keiko made her way over to One Fang and Lyric, who looked as though she was ready for a trip to the Market, so engulfed in One Fang’s cloak she was.

She looked from one to the other, once more afraid and worried.

“Lyric, One Fang. What of Lady Kadri?”

Lyric

If One Fang had further question or comment it would have to wait a moment, for Keiko had slipped up along side and spoke. Lyric didn't see her nor her her approach because of the heavy concealing cloak. She lifted her head enough to see out from the darkened depths of the hood.

"I have not seen her since we got separated in a weasel attack on the way down," she said. Then to the raccoon boy, she turned him to face Lady and Girl and nudged him, "You should introduce yourself to her young Stitch," she said. "Lady will help you find food and water and something warm to wear."

When the boy departed, Lyric continued speaking to Keiko, "Over there is Cesare," she said with one hidden hand an outstretched arm. She noticed two more and pointed them out too. "And Pietro and Bekkah... I have not had a chance to look around. But I am sure she is here... somewhere... Maybe finding food and water for herself and others."

Keiko
[pronounced KAY-ko]

Keiko nodded. “I’m sure you’re right.” She looked over at the Lost Rhoni, watching him for several long heartbeats.

“Hinata — a name meaning sunshine in the Rhoni way of saying things, for you have already revealed your desire for all the sunbeams — these are two of my friends, Lyric and One Fang. She is a Minstrel with a voice of beauty itself. He is the surprising Archer of whom I already spoke.

“My friends, Hinata is... well, obviously, a Cat person who has softer fur than even Soft, at least according to Tomomi and other reliable Mouse sources.” She smiled at the very idea of Mice being drawn to a big Cat.

Glancing around the area again and noting that the only person unmistakably missing was Dama Kadri, she sighed almost silently.

“Pardon the intrusion, Friends. I owe Hinata a ribbon and need to take this hardtack to the kitchen first.” Her smile turned wry. “There are ways to make it palatable.”

Having bid her friends a brief farewell, allowing them to continue whatever conversation they had been engaged in, Keiko and Tomomi led Hinata into Home itself.

“As Lady said, there are many nooks for sleeping if you desire privacy. I have lived most of my life outdoors and in a traveling wagon. Home is very much like our Caravans for all its inability to travel along the roads.” While Rhoni and Mouse did not take the Cat through the entire structure, they did point out numerous locations — hygiene areas, Tomomi’s nook, several balconies, and finally the kitchen area.

“Oh, Blue Triangle, it’s good to see you! May I use this bowl for a little while? Thank you! I promise to do something interesting with the hardtack so that folks won’t realize that’s what it was. My grandmother taught me many inventive ways to turn dull travel rations into more enjoyable meals.”

By the time the three of them arrived in the Common Room, Keiko suspected Hinata was either thoroughly confused or pretending to be more confused than he actually was. She smiled to herself as she claimed the window seat with Tomomi.

“There will eventually be a sunbeam there on the floor, which you may claim now if you like. Although it might be wiser to choose a chair once the room begins to crowd with Mice. You are, after all, very soft.”

Opening her pack on her lap, she began going through the ribbons. She actually found three silver ribbons — one was the length of her arm from shoulder to wrist, a second as long as her forearm from elbow to wrist, and the third about half as long as the second. The last she might have stitched onto another bit of fabric as trim.

She also has to wonder just where Dommi had found silver ribbons. She had heard they were prevalent in Dawnview Vale, and quite fashionable even for non-Dayalans. She’d never seen them in the Trundle or Khy’Lhy’Ra markets.

Well, it didn’t really matter. She handed all three of them to Hinata.

“As we bargained, here you have my first gift to you.”

Keiko smiled as she set the pack on the floor and leaned her head against Tomomi’s.

“I am weary, and yet I doubt I could sleep. It is good to feel safe again. Many were rescued this night, and the Dragons are no longer being tortured.” She hugged Tomomi. “I hope we have sufficiently fulfilled the promise Lady Bekkah made to her Goddess.”


[OOC: Yes. I’ve run ahead and tucked myself away with a couple of Native Characters. We have a code freeze this week, which freaks out the functional users; classes start next week, which makes the entire campus a Zone of Chaos. So I don’t have any idea what my availability will be in the next couple of weeks.]

Cesare

He greets everyone with a broad grin but his eyes are searching for the other forest folk that he knows well enough to name.. and most importantly all of his friends.. and there is one missing. And apart from Bekka, the only one left of the original group that arrived here. Kadri.

Here can hear the singing from behind him, one voice belonging to her husband, at least in name. He doesn't sound concerned but that could mean one or two of four things. Either he doesn't know she is missing, he doesn't care, she is safe and he, Cesare, missed seeing her return or he is drunk. He is fairly sure the latter applies but not which of the first three.

He moves forward to Lyric as she seemed to be shepherding most of the small folk.

"Lyric, have you seen Kadri?"

Lyric, a worrying Minstrel

Draped in the heavy hooded cloak, the Minstrel embraced the young Rhoni man. It was a relief to not only see him safe but to feel him in the reality of Here and Now.

From beneath the cowl she shook her head.

"No... and now you have me concerned. We got separated on the way down. We ran into several weasels. Most of the pack was ahead, or further down already. But Kadri, One-fang and I were trailing... It was hard to keep up. Then the weasels came at us..."

There story was more involved, but Lyric wasn't ready to start telling it as though it were an evening's entertainment. Her voice was clearly clipped and her tone was concern.

"If not for Dama Kadri though, we might all have died right then. But we got split up. The pack had told us to keep going down... and so I did... Maybe I should have looked for her then... but she knew we would meet up at the forges... But I didn't see her again."

There was a hidden sigh from the shadows of the hood, and a sense of agitation mixed with her concern in her next words.

"I hoped and believed she made it out... that she was in another of the boats... already here."

She knew she was going to run out of time now. She tried resting on the boat coming to Home, but replenishing magical power was more than just the passage of time.

"We should go looking for her... Maybe she's here, hurt, but safe... I want that to be truth more than words can convey."

Cesare

The grin he had been wearing since he arrived at Home had gone now.

"She is very good at hiding.. but has no reason to hide here. You are right we must look for her."

He turns as if to go but then stops.

"But if she is back there.. I flooded the mine."

Lyric, hearing the heart of her concern


Lyric drew back the hood and reached out with two hands for the Rhoni's shoulders.

"Do not put that weight upon yourself."

Of course the subtext that had troubled the Minstrel since the fight that could have been the Pack's final stand was clearly defined in the last four words spoken by Cesare.

I... Me... I flooded the mine."

There were two members of the Pack who were not there when the pack made good the retreat and return to the actual mission. Tawny and Grey. Lyric didn't know what happened to them. No one had told her. There hadn't been time. The plan moved forward and waited for no one.

That was the nature of such a plan. It had a timing and rhythm. It had its own consequences and with that came a finality. Everyone who travelled on this journey knew there were risks and everyone knew that some would not come home.

But that was a truth that was different from words spoken and understood to the cold and harsh reality that not everyone did come back to Home. It was something that Lyric struggled with. It tore at a part of her she didn't know she possessed. It weighed upon her and threatened to engulf her. But it was her burden. She accepted the role and created a plan and a means to rescue as many of the slaves as possible... and even then, to rescue them when things looked to be impossible.

No plan could be perfect. And yet she held herself in a state of conviction now because it wasn't perfect and that made her guilty of failing those that trusted her.

"But it is not time to think the worst... maybe she returned here and the Lady can show us to her."

Cesare

"Yes.. we should ask everyone."

Then in a quieter voice he adds..

"But I can't help the guilt, she was my friend.. and.. and I took such joy in arranging the flooding.."

That's the rub of the matter. That he didn't consider the consequences fully enough.

Lyric

The Minstrel was only slightly taller than the Atteran healer, and Dama Kadri for that matter. She looked so young, standing there, draped over by the Wuff Archer's cloak. And One Fang, standing in the near background as though her were some kind of guardian or protector, or a guide at the very least, only furthered that waifish child look.

But it was Lyric's eyes that told a different story. The depth seemed infinite, like a deep still lake that tried to reflect the world around it, hiding the heart deep within.

"Please don't conflate the two. We haven't found her... Yet. But what was done at the Keep, even the things we wish we didn't have to do, were done for a greater good. An Evil was vanquished this day... and without you and your gentle soul, to lead those that needed a one like you we could not have prevailed in our efforts to escape."

Cesare

He takes a deep breath, almost a sigh, and then nods.

"Hoping for the best but expecting the worst is a Rhoni trait. I need to embrace the first part."

He gives her a quick hug.

"Let's find her."

He turns and looks for the person person or folk that he knows would recognise Kadri and moves to them to ask the question - 'have you seen her?'.

Pietro


When they joined up with the others of their group, Pietro looked around with a rather glum expression. He looked around and then spoke.

"It seems to have worked out. Did we have any losses?"

The squire of Lord Rames blinked a couple of times as he realized whom he had not seen.

"Where is Dama Kadri?"

Cesare

"Have you not seen her either?"

He addresses his question to both Pietro and Bekkah, wanting.. needing to be thorough.

"Lyric says they got separated as they moved down the shaft. There were weasels around.. but I was hoping she made it out."

He is clinging to that at the moment, otherwise half the group they arrived here with have gone.. and he is the last of the original group. That doesn't sit well with him. He feels he has achieved much, grown much, but under inspired leadership such as Daxia and Mikal. He is not a leader. So who would fill that role in future? Lyric? But is she even going to journey on with them? In fact his whole future is at one of those life crossroads. Whilst he has loved getting to know and helping the forest folk, he could not settle here. His feet need to be on the move, probably the Rhoni in him.

Bekkah

"No, we saw none of you. It was just the two of us, some dwarves, weasels and someone who believed I should marry him." she said with a straight face as if this happened all the time.

"When was she last seen? Who was she with?"

Lyric

Pietro the kind Squire of Rames, with the Aterran Healer in his company, approached. He too was taking stock of the gathering at the Forest Kin's Home. He had seen herself and Cesare and now they were four. Lyric that Keiko was not too very far away, and at least accounted for in the chaos of this refugee gathering.

For a brief moment Lyric was reminded of the sinno-mon bread that Pietro offered her on the wagon path when they first met. Oh, and the apple too. She smiled a little at the pleasant memory and wished she had a little of each right now.

Cesare replied to the squire, recounting what she had said to him. It was a simple statement and hardly worthy of the terror of that event but more than enough to convey to the Squire and the Healer the cause for concern. But his mention of the weasels made that memory displace the imaginary smell of the sinnomon bread. Her injury was not yet fully healed, but enough so that she could bear the continuing discomfort without wince or grimace.

Lyric then glanced upwards into the canopy of the trees. And each moment now was another moment lost. It was odd, this sensation she felt, like an anxiety, especially over the passing of time. But it was very real to her though.

But what to do now? She needed to rest and restore her energy. But Kadri needed to be located. She wanted to do both. She needed to do both, but she couldn't... That was a dilemma that now began to worry her expression.

"I was probably the last, but I do not know for certain this is true. We were separated in the fight with several weasels. The Pack was on the move and ahead of us, below us. One Fang had been gravely injured and fell into the shaft because he was protecting the Dama and I who were too slow to keep up with the Pack. The Dama and I killed a weasel but there were more. It was in that fight that I lost her and for a time I was alone, but I heard One Fang and so I made my way further down the shaft to where he had fallen. She was not there. I did not see her again..."

"I would suggest speaking with the Lady. If Kadri is here, she will know of it. Please forgive me though... I must rest, even for a little bit. I extended myself in ways that... that have consequences if I don't."

Lyric glanced to the ever-present Wuff archer and nodded. She drew the hood back over her head and turned to slip away in search of someplace quiet. "I'm sorry," she said she she did so, "Finding the Dama seems so much more important. Again, forgive me."

Keiko
[pronounced KAY-ko]

Gazing out the window, she could see some of the rescued No Longer Miners being reassured and comforted by Lady, by Girl, by the residents of Home. She watched as Lady Bekkah and the Squire spoke to the Lost Rhoni and Lyric. Her friend looked so small in One Fang’s cloak — it belied the reality Keiko was coming to understand: Lyric was not just an exceptional Minstrel, but a fierce warrior. While the Rhoni could spend more than a little time ruminating on the juxtaposition, she stayed in the Now, brows furrowing as Lyric turned to move away from the others.

“She looks so weary,” Keiko whispered. In truth, they all did. Cesare was the only person who seemed to have maintained some semblance of energy after all of this.

And there was no question she could think to formulate about Dama Kadri that her Cards could answer.

Perhaps later.

She no longer heard the wailing that passed for singing to the Tone-Deaf Lord and the Pack Leader. It seemed likely that some enterprising Rats had taken Lady’s request seriously and tossed both of them — along with Emmi, in all likelihood — into the swamp.

There were several who might beseech their Deities regarding Dama Kadri’s fate. Two of them, the Priestess of Krysta and the Shadowlord of Arilys, were bobbing like corks in the water. But there was one other who might know... something, anything.

“Tomomi, can you find Lockpick? Ask her to join us if you find her?”

Not knowing more than the teaching her elders had shared about the Deities — not insignificant, but assuredly not complete — Keiko wasn’t sure if it was unusual or ordinary that so many of Lady Arilys’ followers had been part of this endeavor. Perhaps the craftiness said Lady asked of her followers was the reason so many had been here — their skills had been needed. Certainly, she could not have done her part without Dommi’s help.

Lady Arilys would know where one of Her own was. The Rhoni assumed, correctly or perhaps not, that the Deity would know if one of Hers was now resting with Lady Krysta. Keiko would like to know the answer to the question, although she didn’t have much hope that Dama Kadri walked among them. Weasels. A flooded keep. She was smart enough to understand the very real possibility that the Dama was dead.

Despite the fact that they had seemed to be like oil and water from the very beginning, despite the fact that the Rhoni understood as well as any Covener the fact that death was a part of life, it still made her a little sad. In the coming day, they might discover others who were also with Krysta.

She accepted that death followed life as inevitably as night followed day. And she understood that mourning death was less important than celebrating the life that had passed.

None of that prevented her from feeling sad.

One-Fang and The Lockpick

With Lyric and Company

The black wuff-ish archer was quiet as the refugees and rescuers made their way into the twisted treehouse, the new comers discovering that there were different ways to live than those carved in stone or forged from black, bloody metal. Throughout the conversation his ears were flat and his quiet was not one of mourning. It had a harsher edge, a warrior's edge, of one who had been on death's edge.

"I do not know what happened to herrr on the stairs. I was too busy dealing with the Wease'ah that rained down from above ..."

It was a carefully toned reply. A little too quiet and a little too matter of fact.

"In fact, I shou'd not be here myse'ef ..."



With Keiko

Tomomi, she blinked at the question asked her before her eyes went a little wide when she came to a quick understanding.

"Oh ... not lockpick, not a lockpick, but The Lockpick ...."

With a pop of air she was off. It actually took a bit before she returned. As opposed to a certain other Mouse she could only go to places she knew, not people, so it was a matter of trying to determine where The Lockpick might be found. When she reappeared - with a pop of air beside Keiko - a few heartbeats later and she was followed by the black hooded Mouse. This was not a shy Mouse, but one who intoned most hauntingly, her features obscured by the shadow cast by her hood.

"Who dares disturbs my mushrooo ...."

All of sudden The Lockpick's head snapped forward as if she had just been swatted from behind.

"Hey! Not my turn to watch her.

"SQUEAK!"

The squeak meant it happened a again! Bop! The dour Mouse just grumbled and wrinkled unseen whiskers. The air whipped around her cloak once more.

"Fine! Fine! Fine!"

The mischievous breeze stopped. The Lockpick sighed.

"I'm supposed to tell you that only two of - of - of - fine - of My Lady's - there I said it - only two of Her Children entered the Keep and both returned safe.

"For various definitions of safe.

"One of us just got tossed in a swamp."

Hinata Cat

... just a little earlier ...

The odd and completely rare feline simply cast a narrowed eyed gaze across the commons, especially the collection of Mice that seemed to have created a crescent in his wake. The gaze made them step back a bit, a couple of them suddenly vanishing. But those that stayed carefully - when they thought he was no longer looking - retook those steps.

"I believe ... chair not matter."

The big warrior once again crossed his arms.

"How can be proper Cat Person and not eat Mice. Sad eyed Mice. Old Masters forget Cat. Mice bring bread. Mice bring soup. Look. Look this Mouse. Not know how cut hair."

The big Cat gave Tomomi a very fierce look. really fierce. And then he just shook his head and yowled.

"Yoooowwwrrrrrl! Impossible. See. Try. Mad at Mice imposible."

His whiskers twisted and got all tangled.

"World stupid."

So there he stood, a fierce and immovable Cat-object. And yet, through slitted eyes he did watch everything that went on in the Commons hall, especially taking in all the various kinds of Forest Folk their were. His ears perked at the smell of dinner and he almost, almost smiled, caught himself almost smiling and returned to his stillness.

Ribbons?

Those he batted at once and then stole them away. He looked between Keiko and the ribbons and back again, checking their strength and their length. He considered them and reaching up gather up his long white hair and used all three to bind his hair in a top not. Because he had a lot of it it fell very rakishly.

"Good start."

Cesare

"Thank you One Fang and yes Lyric, go and rest. I will let you know if we discover anything one way or the other."

He smiles but his eyes reflect the worry he feels.

Looking at Bekkah and Pietro he makes a suggestion.

"Maybe we should split up, each take a different direction and spend a half hour asking everyone we find if they have seen Kadri? That way we cover more ground, more folk and everyone will know we are searching for her. Then meet back here."

His eyes are sad.

"If she is not here, I am not sure what we can do but it is not an option to do nothing, at least for me."

Pietro


The squire considered Cesare's idea, frowned and then nodded to the other two.

"It is always better to know than not to know," he said.

"Which area would you like me to search?"

Cesare

"Maybe Bekkak could check inside and you and I pick left or right out here? Any preference?"

Pietro


"I will take the right quadrant," he said and then looked to the lady of Attera to gauge her response.

Keiko
[pronounced KAY-ko]

She watched the Cat and listened to his words. And she smiled.

“You make a good case, Hinata. But let me ask you this: Do you know anything about the natural cats of the Tarn and the Black Mountains? There are small ones — bouncers and shadowcats— that have coloring closer to yours although certainly not as elegant or refined. There are the slinks...” At this, she shuddered. “If they didn’t fall out of trees on people they might be pleasant enough. Or not.

“These are the natural cats that would eat natural mice. They are the right size, they are proportional to one another for the cycle of life and death, for hunter and prey to exist and be hunter and prey.

“But then there are the softpads. They are bigger. They prey on horses and harts... and sometimes humans, though that is rare.

“Perhaps Mice are not your natural prey. Who is to say but you? It is a truth that being angry with a Mouse is an impossible task! Perhaps — now that you are free — you might find other food to your liking.” Keiko paused and glanced toward the cooking area. “You might wish to refrain from accepting mushrooms from The Lockpick, however. She is, ah, mischievous. But because she is a Mouse, it is difficult to be angry, even with her mischief.”

Watching the Mice gather ever closer to the Cat, she nodded to them and addressed Hinata once more.

“They know what your second name means without knowing. Anzen-sei... it means safety. That is what they see, that is what they know.” She shrugged. “A warrior can be both fierce and kind, yes? Lyric is such a warrior. Lady Bekkah has said her sister is such a warrior.”

Then she grinned at his inspection and use of the ribbons.

“Yes. A good start, indeed.”

While waiting for Tomomi to return, Keiko watched Hinata and the Mice; she glanced out the window at all the others still outside.

When The Lockpick arrived, the Rhoni watched the interaction between the Mouse and her unseen Deity and tried not to smile, for the follower of the Lady Vixen tried to give the impression that she was A Very Serious Mouse.

But then she blinked and stared.

So many questions!

After a couple of breaths, however, Keiko said mildly and perhaps with some small amount of confusion, “Is there something wrong with admitting that you follow the Lady Arilys in your own home, Mistress Mouse? I ask in earnestness, I truly do. I do not know the customs of following a Deity, for I follow none. The Young Master admonished me not to use his title. Of course, he also suggested that I not speak one of the languages I’ve spoken since a young child, so I do have some cause for confusion,” she mused. “Perhaps he meant that not everyone understands that the Rhoni often speak more than one language? I only learned to speak Eastern because our Caravan traveled to Kh’Lhy’Ra each year.” She seemed to address the question and comment more to herself than anyone in the room. Then she shrugged philosophically. “I suppose I shall ask him later.”

“But...” Keiko looked worried. “I have never heard of a Deity disavowing one of their followers despite knowing the Lore that tells such a thing is possible. This had actually happened?”

She shook her head and gave The Lockpick a crooked smile. “Dommi is safe. Emmi would not allow him to come to real harm. He’s just very wet. And he stopped that dreadful caterwauling, too!”

Emmi, then, would be the one to ask about Dama Kadri, she thought. After she dries off, of course.

“A last question before you return to your gathering and study of mushrooms — and I hope you take no offense in my curiosity. Tomomi reminded me that your name, like Emmi’s former name, is also a title. Would it be impolite of me to say your name as Lockpick when speaking to you? I shall remember — quite likely with help from Tomomi — to use your proper title if that is your wish when speaking of you.”

Lyric a weary Minstrel

It was time time cast off the mantle of warrior and strategist... and even leader. It was time to rest, and maybe there would be the chance to become just the Minstrel again. Probably not. Sometimes you can retrace your steps, but you can only go someplace once. It is a different place after your passing.

Enough metaphors.

She tugged at the hood and walked along.

"Someplace quiet and private If you would be so kind One-Fang. When I have rested enough, I will be able to return for news on Kadri... and to present myself before the Lady, and any other leaders of Home who wish to speak to me. And the Pack as well. I have questions but they will wait."

Another few steps.

"Maybe no one will want to speak with me..."

Cesare

"Then I will take the left.. if we are all agreed."

He looks at Bekkah to see if she is happy with the arrangements. But he is eager to get going, to do something, to avoid this sinking feeling deep down.

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

Bekkah, Pietro, Lyric, Cesare, Keiko … and Most Everyone Else …

Lyric and One Fang

The black wuff looked down at Lyric, his dark eyes taking her measure.

“Trust me.”

They were two simple words spoken, as he led her into Home. From the piers, still wrapped in his far too large cloak, he took her up the stairs, past many landings and nooks. As they climbed higher it became warmer and of all things, softer. No stone, just wood and cloth and leather, nothing designed just to do a job in the best way possible but the chaotic concatenation of spaces that had grown because they were just needed or just because someone thought a window seat here would just be nice.

It was the opposite of the Keep – which was a vast machine to plunder dragon’s blood – and it was vastly different from the great halls of her small village where rooms were laid out according to arcane formalities and barely remembered traditions.

One Fang stopped, not at some private nook, but in the commons itself. A commons that was slowly starting to bustle, with the work of those who had remained was making sure that those who had been rescued were welcomed and those who had done the rescuing would find blankets and hot soup and warm bread to reward and restore.

There, with strong hands on a weary Minstrel's shoulders, One Fang directed her to the heart, the big stone fireplace, and set her down right next to it, so one shoulder could rest against its warmth.

“Sit.”

He sat down next to Lyric, his large frame providing shelter. Maybe it was because he was a wuff, a member of a Pack and completely unable to comprehend a need to be alone. On the other hand maybe, just maybe, he had a point. Here she was sheltered, protected from the bustle of others.

But not alone. She was still a part of everything, of everybody. With One Fang at her side she would not be disturbed but neither had he let her separate herself from everyone else. This was something not considered a value in her small home village.

As for her last words, he met her gaze.

“Humility is a virtue.

“But do not insult yourself.”


The Searchers

Sinking feelings were impossible to vanquish. They grew with each moment, with each heartbeat. Pietro and Cesare chose their sections of the swamp to search and though the morning grayness vanished with each step there was no sign of the missing Amber Noble.

The area of their search was necessarily limited. They could not leave the swamp, indeed they could not get close to the Forest’s edge without creating a disturbance. The tree branches would swing in their direction, vines with long and sharp thorns would slip into the water to snake towards them. Then there was the unseen noise of hunting creatures just beyond the brush line. As if something very hungry and fierce was just waiting for them to take a wrong step.

Bekkah’s question had been answered by Lyric and One Fang. Kadri had last been seen when the Weasels attacked the rescuer’s rear guard. One Fang’s temperament considering the matter was equally disturbing; something had gone wrong, very wrong, to have had a Weasel come at him, unexpected, from behind.

If Kadri was still in the Keep when it was broken and flooded, there was a very egalitarian answer to their question. Anyone caught inside would have had a slim chance of survival.

If Kadri had escaped and then found herself in the Forest, that slim chance very quickly became none.

In the swamp they only found one Noble. There was a splash and once the source of the noise was found it was a curious sight. There were three in an ungainly and wet collection. A mouse was wrapped in a black cloak, held and protected. The black cloak was Dominic’s and the Mouse was Emmi. He in turn was wrapped beneath the shelter of a worn travel cloak.

Broke’s.

Neither of the three looked happy. If they had been drinking, the reason was certainly something other than relaxation or a release after a too hard of a day. If approached they would have been met by the Pack Leader’s low growling. She didn’t need to speak to make the meaning clear.

Stay away.

That left only Home to be searched, on the off chance, like Dominic, Broke and Emmi , their missing companion had somehow gotten there first.

Up the stairs and through the tangle of hallways, when Pietro, Bekkah and Cesare finally returned to the commons hall they were sure the missing princess was not t Home or in the Swamp.

The chances that Kadri was walking in the wake of Tawny and Grey were slowly becoming a certainty.


Rhoni, Mouse and Cat

The big feline, who stood with crossed arms, looked down on the smaller Rhoni and the even much smaller Mouse.

“Heard rumor. Burned fish. Taste better. How can be true? World truly crazy.”

As Keiko continued, Hinata Cat’s ears went from up to flat to up to flat again. Whiskers twitched as he slowly considered the circle of Mice behind him.

“I am Cat. Hear me growl. Walk alone. Protect no one.”

His taloned fingers drummed upon his arm, as he looked back at the Mice, who were now cowering just a little bit for his words were so fierce.

“Make deal. Burnt Fish. If good. Well. My benefit Fishbringers keep bringing fish.”

Tomomi had to put a small hand over her mouth to stop from giggling. Rising to tiptoes she again whispered in her Forever Friend’s ears.

“He is awful at being fierce. Must take to Market!”

Hinata Cat Anzen-sei was indeed a mercenary cat. As all the cat-following Mice suddenly vanished – probably to find the most tempting of Home’s meals – that was when one Very Serious Mouse appeared.

The Lockpick reached into her cloak, took out a strange polka-dotted mushroom and started to nibble.

“She says She is more important than Mushrooms!”

It was definitely a very serious grumble, a potentially paradigm changing one.

“Only makes sense. First, folks are more afraid of sneaky than of mushrooms. Second, very hard to be sneaky when people point at you and go ‘hey look, its sneaky!’. Fourth, if you hang around with sneaky folks think you are sneaky and then they don’t like you either.”

The Lockpick paused.

“Did I forget something?”

She reached into her cloak and pulled out a harmless looking brown and white striped mushroom.

“Third, want a mushroom?”

As for the next question, the odd Mouse reached up and rubbed the back of her head.

“I suspect falling out of favor with one’s Ladyship is a lot more dangerous than getting swatted on the back of one’s head.”

And the last, that brought a dark smile to the Mouse’s features.

“Aye, once they found out I could solve puzzles and find my way into difficult places I was called lockpick. I was the one who got the Pack out. Wrath. He was named by the Old Masters. Broke named herself. And me? I thought about names.

“I am not a lockpick.

“I am The Lockpick.

“I made the name mine.”

As for her final conclusion, the Rhoni knew she was correct. If someone lived or someone died, who would know better than one of Krysta’s priestesses? And once she dried out, where would she go? Where would Dominic, Emmi and Broke show up next? That was an easy conclusion too. Emmi would follow Dominic and Dominic would keep Broke company and Broke would return to the Pack.

Eventually all paths lead back to the commons hall.

Pietro


The squire had not known the noblewoman of Amber very long or very well, but that did not mean he had wished ill to become of her. She was an unusual woman, but a fierce warrior and the wife of an even more unusual nobleman.

"Neither hide nor hair of Dama Kadri could I find, Cesare," he said in dolorous tone of voice when he returned to the commons hall.

"Did you see Dominic and Emerald and Broke? I wanted to ask them if they had seen or heard anything of his wife, but Broke very obviously warned me away from their presence."

Keiko
[pronounced KAY-ko]

“Cooked fish is quite good, yes. And...” She paused and then shrugged. “Yes. Perhaps the world truly is crazy. It’s the one we have, though. Why not enjoy it?”

Keiko giggled along with Tomomi. “He would excel at bargaining in the Market! But he’s very tall and might alarm the human folks.”

To The Lockpick, she nodded. “Well, yes. I can see that this is all very reasonable. It seems like being a follower of a Deity is quite complicated. But no thank you, I’ll pass on the mushroom for now. It’s not only because I’ve yet to gauge the manner of your mischief, Mistress The Lockpick, but because...” The Rhoni sighed. “My stomach is a bit unsettled from all the terrible things I witnessed.”

She watched with concern as Lyric was led to the hearth by One Fang. They both looked so heart-sick. It was understandable, of course. One Fang lost two Pack mates. She could not imagine that kind of hurt, except to wonder how she would feel if her own siblings were to be killed. And Lyric...

The Minstrel had seemed every bit as reluctant as Keiko herself was to take up arms and fight. Lyric did what Keiko could not. It didn’t matter that Keiko had done things that perhaps Lyric could not have done. It was the doing of a thing that one did not want to do that Keiko understood all too well. Some Fates are thrust upon a person, and it didn’t matter if that person wanted to take that path or was even prepared for it.

She was pondering the warp and weft of living in this world when she heard the Squire speaking to the other Rhoni.

Glancing at One Fang and Lyric once last time, Keiko looked over at the Squire.

“She lost two of her own. She mourns in her way. The Young Master mourns with her. Leave them all be.”

She said the words kindly, for she felt their loss, too. Not anywhere near as profoundly as the Pack did, of course not. She had barely begun to know Tawny and Grey.

“Dama Kadri had been disavowed by her Deity. When Emmi is able to answer the question, we might verify that the Dama is sleeping now with Krysta.”

Glancing between the Squire and the Lost Rhoni, hugging her forever friend, she added, “Celebrate her life. Be sad, mourn in your own way. But death is always a part of life, and life is what should be celebrated.”

Keiko fixed her violet eyes on Cesare and seemed less somber although she didn’t actually smile. “There. You see? A reminder or a lesson about who you are. Here and Now are where you live.” And then she did smile — a small one, a sad one. “Choose your waves, Waverider. They will carry you forward.”

Lyric, hiding in plain sight

Being alone is what she knew so very well. It was a thing she understood. In its own way it was a thing of comfort to her. To be alone had it's own sense of safety.

Trust? That was hard for her. Her entire life had been spent in a web of oaths and promises and foreswearings. But never Trust. It was not the way of the people of her village.

But she had always been different though. So much so, it nearly cost Lyric her life. Within a few heartbeats for sure. But, Different was good. It had to be. She wanted more from life. She wanted to see the world. She wanted to experience things once only imagined before.

It had been harrowing days from the proclamation of her punishment. Stripped of her title, broken from her Clan and all her Oaths, she was exiled from her home and hunted like prey, driven to the the place where she had to make her final stand. She could no longer run, too weak, and her injuries too great.

A break in her Fate, and her death was forestalled. And so, she was exiled instead. Sent away, never to return. She became Banished.

Why dwell on such memories and thoughts? They were painful to bear the first time, let alone relive them while she settled into a rest and considered One Fang's promise that she could trust him.

"The Pack lost two," she began in a quiet, slow whisper. "And I fear that Dama Kadri is not returning to Home." Lyric was hidden deep withing the folds and recesses of the heavy travel cloak. "If you think my words were an insult to myself or an expression of my humility, then I have misspoken my friend."

She lowered her head, chin to chest, closed her eyes. Of course, no one would see this.

"I can't help but carry the burden for these losses upon my heart and soul. My plan failed them, all three, I think. Maybe not, and you would argue otherwise I am sure. But it is still how I feel and it hurts to feel this way. I do not understand this feeling, this grief."

Her words became slower and softer.

"My words might be better understood in this way... Maybe no one will speak with me, because I am not good company and I have nothing but sadness in my heart, and I am without light. I worry I will lose my way... and I will lose myself... lose who I am. I did the best I could and it wasn't enough. I must rest and then I must find meaning and reason to balance this sadness. I need to find joy again."

There were no more words to be spoken and she was silent and still.

Keiko
[pronounced KAY-ko]

The common room was not small, but neither was it large. And the hearth was not so far from the window seat that Lyric’s soft words could not be heard.

Keiko bit her lip. Comforting words for a Rhoni were one thing; even if he was Lost, he was still Rhoni. But Lyric was not. Still, there was an old song her Grandmother and Mother sang to her — perhaps it was a lullaby, perhaps it was something the Ancestors meant for all Rhoni to remember.

“Lyric...” The young woman’s voice was choked with emotion. “I will help light your way. You are my friend. You are sad because you need to be sad in the Now. You did your best, and that is all anyone could have asked of you. No one can do more than they can do.”

She glanced around at all the folk in the common room and nodded to herself. This was right.

“This is Home, Lyric, and you are here. Your friends are here, too, and want to help. Be how you need to be. Grief and sorrow are hard to bear, especially alone. But you are not alone. None of us are alone.”

Keiko looked at One Fang, an attempt at a smile the only way she had at the moment to thank him for lending Lyric some small amount of strength.

Pietro


"Did I not say that Broke warned me away and I in turn left them to their devices?"

Pietro glanced at Cesare and shook his head, then turned back to Keiko. Apparently he did not appreciate being told to do what he'd already done on his own recognizance.

"I grieve in concert with anyone who has lost a loved one."

Lyric, a space between those moments called Here and Now

It would be unclear to any observers if she heard the words of comfort and encouragement from Keiko because she did not reply nor even stir from the curled up huddle, hidden in the cloak, upon the fireplace hearth.

Cesare

He looks at Keiko and nods.

"I always have. And this last big one is spent. I will be looking for another but that time is not here yet. Kadri will live on in memory and in the teachings she gave me. She taught me to ride and to care for a horse.. and I will look after Lisica in her memory."

He looks around all of those gathered.

"I will go and get some rest. Find me if there is any news."

He turns to head out and find a spot where he might rest. It had been a long day and a long night.

Keiko
[pronounced KAY-ko]

She had not expected a response from either Lyric or Cesare — their heartache was evident in the way they held themselves. She watched Cesare leave the common room, asking the Ancestors to grant him peace while he rested.

Keiko worried about her friend but needed to trust that Lyric knew best at this moment how to begin healing her heart. What modest balm she had to share had been shared.

As the first Mouse reappeared with some cooked fish for Hinata, she smiled crookedly. Zigzag Hem tried her best, though the fish didn’t look completely cooked and its bizarre legs were still attached. The walking fish were fairly tasty if one could get past the issue of clubbing them to death and the fact that they had the strange little legs. Keiko whispered to Tomomi before getting up and going to the cooking area. There, she gathered a plateful of vegetables and fruits that were especially good with the fish.

Returning to the common room, she had to consciously ignore the presence of the squire. She hadn’t expected a response from him either, primarily because he and Dama Kadri had so pointedly ignored her the entire time at Home, but also because there was no real need to say anything when one offered a gift of kindness. To have such a gift rebuffed...

She shook her head as she set the plate on the low table near Hinata.

“While fish is often quite good all on its own, many folks like to add the flavors and nutrients from vegetables and fruits to their meals. These are an excellent complement to that type of fish.” She grinned at the fierce sunshine-loving mercenary Cat. “I doubt you had the opportunity to sample fare such as this before, and I encourage you to try them! Perhaps you will not like everything. That’s okay. There are many enjoyable new things for you to learn now that you are free and discovering your favorite foods is one of those things.”

Keiko picked up a few of the berries and walked back to the window seat, giving most of the berries to Tomomi — they were her favorite, after all — before enjoying the three she kept for herself. As she looked out the window, she merely watched the Forest beyond the safety of Home. After many breaths and many heartbeats, she closed her eyes and bowed her head.

Some might interpret her posture as prayerfulness, but only because she still wore her cloak. No one could see how tightly her hands wrapped around the hilts of her daggers. After a few more heartbeats, she opened her eyes, relaxed her arms, turned, and walked with purpose, grace, and dignity to the Squire of Rames.

Looking up at him, she said quietly, “I am Rhoni. I have been trained to be a Lore Master as well as a Card Reader. I know what all people know about the Knights and Squires of Rames.

“I also know that not all Knights and Squires of Rames feel the need to adhere to the code of chivalry your Lord set before you. I know this because I am a Rhoni and I have traveled in places where the Knights and Squires do not treat women with respect. As your Lord commanded you to do.

“You have made a great effort since leaving Waveriders Watch to pretend that I do not exist. You and the Noble Lady, our Young Master’s wife, ignored my presence and my words. Today, you took what kindness I could gather for you and flung it back in my face.”

The Rhoni’s violet eyes narrowed as she regarded the man standing in front of her.

“If I wished, I could construe all of that as an insult to my honor. It was disrespectful to a woman and cowardly besides.

“If I wished, I could challenge you to a fight in which I would reclaim my honor by besmirching yours. But I do not wish to do such a thing. Not today.

“However, you have insulted me and for that I will demand from you an explanation for your actions. I will demand from you an apology. And I will demand that you atone for the insults you have given me.”

Pietro


The Squire of Rames took a long, slow, deep breath breath, held it several moments and then expelled it equally slowly.

He had never understood this Rhoni teller of fortunes or her odd - to him - point of view toward the world.

Perhaps he did owe her an apology. Certain it was that she thought so and it was definitely true that he had been acting oddly lately - even from his own point of view.

"By the grace of Lord Rames, Miss Keiko, I do apologize for whatever of my words or actions have been perceived by you as insulting." He proffered to her a small nod/half-bow of acknowledgment.

"I had not intended such. It was just when you ordered me to do what I had just told everyone I had done that bothered me. I see now that I should have allowed more leeway for your actions."

"Furthermore, I have not ignored you but I can see where my responses - or lack thereof - could be construed as such."

He nodded again and his shoulders moved up and down perhaps a half an inch.

"It is just that I have never met anyone like you and am frequently at a loss as to how I should respond to you."

Pietro was silent for a long moment again except for the drawing of another deep breath.

"Now, milady, how may I be of service to you?"

Keiko
[pronounced KAY-ko]

The Rhoni lass pondered the Squire’s words. Because she considered his words with all the gravity they deserved, it might seem that she spent several long moments practically peering into his very soul. Finally, she tilted her head slightly to the side.

“I see now. Other than the Ladies of Attera and the famous Captain Koromov, you have never met a woman, outspoken or otherwise, who has had a place in the world not defined by a man, ja? If this is so, then I understand how I might be a conundrum to you.”

She, too, shrugged but it was more expressive.

“While we have some strict constraints on our behavior, both women and men, we also have what could appear to be far more freedoms than many Gaija do. And I learned from my Grandmothers to speak my mind even as I learned the meanings of the Cards and how best to convey their messages.”

Again, she shrugged, although a hint of mischief glinted in her eyes.

“I would not suggest that you respond to me as my brother might, for that would only lead to more misunderstanding when I kick your feet out from under you and gloat as you lie on the ground wondering how you got there. No, please don’t interpret that as a threat. That is how I treat my brother when he teases me. I mean for it to be, perhaps, an example of how not to respond, ja?

“Would it be so difficult just to see that I am a person? I am not a damsel who needs saving — not any more or less than Lady Bekkah or Lyric do. I am not as wise as Lady Bekkah, but I possess some wisdom and more knowledge than many people. I am not the warrior Lyric is, but I can defend myself if the need arises. And like Lyric, I would rather things not come to such a place.

“I am just a person, one who happens to be a woman. I would ask that you not let the clothing I wear and the form that they conceal be the basis upon which you choose how to respond to me.”

Finally, Keiko smiled at him.

“When you are at a loss for how to respond, consider that saying or doing something foolish is better than saying or doing nothing — for in that moment, you have the opportunity to learn something you did not already know. I am often foolish. Dommi has admonished me about things that I still do not understand. But I wish to learn and understand, so I will speak to him when he has shed enough of his grief to enjoy teaching once more.

“You know so little about the Rhoni. You now have the opportunity to learn as much as any Gaija can learn about us.

“And this, m’lord Squire Pietro, is how you may be of service to me — leave your preconceived notions of me back in the keep of the Old Masters. Treat me like a person. Be willing to make mistakes and learn from them. I give you my word that I will do the same.

“Let us say that this day is a new beginning. While the Rhoni teachings would say every day, every moment can be a new beginning, I understand that this concept is sometimes a difficult one to grasp. So we can simply say that we will begin anew on this day.”

She held out one hand to him, palm up.

“Does this seem just and honorable to you, Squire Pietro?”

Pietro


The Squire did his best to keep his expression noncommittal as the Rhoni lass talked on and on as was her wont to do. It was not that he did not see her as a person; that had nothing to do with it at all.

It was just that she talked so much, so incessantly and, often in his estimation, about little or nothing but her own wants and needs as seen solely from her own point of view.

Pietro opened his mouth to speak but realized he was not yet ready to respond to her torrent of words and so he shut his mouth without speaking and pondered possible rejoinders for another long moment.

"It is possible that my impressions of you, preconceived or not, were less than perfectly inferred, Miss Keiko, and I will try to learn as much as possible about you and your people as I can so I can act more just and honorable in your sight." He paused and shrugged slightly.

"Especially since I am descended from your people through my distaff side but was never able to learn of the Rhoni culture."

Pietro reached up and touched the wagon wheel ornament which dangled from the chain around his neck.

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

Bekkah, Lyric, Cesare, Keiko … and Most Everyone Else …

Vixen

Broke’s One Rule was simple and in its own way more than a little elegant. It kept the Peace of Home and yet allowed disagreements to be voiced. Perhaps it was the presumption that words may be harsh, but it was the actual action undertaken that proved one’s mettle.

Not that the harsh words and metaphorical dark clouds that surrounded Rhoni and Squire were not observed. They disturbed the refugees more than those at Home. Those who lived here were used to such tussling; the Pack played rough after all and not everyone was happy to wake up with a mushroom sprouting from the top of one’s head. For the refugees such tones were usually followed by punishment or by being taken away as a no longer usable tool.

It garnered a vixen’s attention. Ears perked as the conversation started and then they slowly fell as the conversation slowly fell to pieces, so much like a crystal goblet falling upon a hardwood floor.

Sometimes, it was the lack of action that spoke louder than any words. Two things happened when the Squire refused the offer of the lady’s hand.

Completely incongruous, like a grumble of thunder lasting as briefly as a flash of lightning, there was a harsh snap, like a branch breaking, except it was definitely a metallic sound.

It came from Pietro and he looked down to his scabbard.

Second, like a puppet, the Squire’s head rose. In a surprised tone he spoke.

“I am suddenly feeling very tired. Please excuse me.”

With that he turned and took his leave, taking the stairs that lead down from the common hall.

The vixen’s ears were still flat and gorgeous eyes but narrow slits. Her lips were curled down as she turned to her younger mirror. Seen together they could almost be Mother and Daughter. Lady and Girl were, obviously, made from the mold. Lady reached up and tugged on her own crimson locks.

“Girl. I need to wash all the day and night out of my hair.”

Her words were a combination of exhaustion and a dagger’s harsh edge. The younger vixen looked up and gasped, eyes wide, surprised and blinking and shocked.

“But I can’t … I don’t know how .”

The elder Forest Kin somehow managed a small smile.

“Yes you can. You know how. Tonight it is your most important lesson.

“That making someone else feel welcome and cared for can actually be a good thing.”

Cesare

Finding a place to rest was not a hard for the Rhoni lad. Finding an empty niche, bed room without a door or window bench that was empty, however, was another thing all together. Not even when he found a comfortable corner that he could claim for his own could he find solitude.

First it was light footsteps following in his wake, all sneaky like, as if he was being stalked. But stalked in Home, that was a ridiculous thing. Of course the feeling vanished as he wrapped his cloak around him and there was a whumf of air next to him, the telltale pop of a Mouse arriving.

“No fairs!”

Of course the Raccoon lass had to follow by foot, unable to use the same means of travel that was the specialty of Mice. So he found himself in the most surprising of places – between the two Forest kin who had adopted each other as sisters.

It had been a long night. They were all exhausted. And this was the Forest Folk way.

It was completely innocent. Just knowing that one was not alone – in their world it was a most important thing. It was a sharing of worth.

Instead of mischief they simply snuggled in comfortably. Both, at the same time, like mirror images, put their fingers to their lips and whispered a soft sssshhhhhhh.

There was good reason for the quiet. There, faint, winding up the stairs, came the sounds of stories shared. It was a familiar song, this time sung in key and with a melody that would still be heard generations from now.

… deer are first to raise the gates … turn that capstan round and round …

Lady Bekkah Yurisdotter

There were many who needed Attera’s kind touch this evening. Most were minor hurts; the scratches, bruises, cuts and scrapes associated with the harsh work of mining Darksteel. There were some wounds that were older, deeper, like a broken bone that had healed twisted that needed to be shattered again before it could be made whole.

Those, a touch of Sleep would make the temporary hurt nothing but a bad dream that would fade in time.

It should have taken more power than any one person could have.

But certainly, Someone was pleased and as morning slipped through Home’s diamond paned windows Bekkah had all the strength she needed.

Keiko

When the Rhoni lass returned to her place next to her Forever friend, she was greeted by a shy smile and hands upraised.

“Berries!”

Tomomi had saved some of the sweet Forest treats for Keiko. However, before she could accept the gift, a slice of fish steak on a slender stick was stuck in front of her nose.

“Burned Fish.”

“Berries.”

“Burned Fish.”

“Berries.”

“Burned Fish.”

“Berries.”

“Burned Fish.”

“I am her Forever Friend.”

“Bah.”

The fish was retrieved.

“More for me.”

Cat and Mouse just glared at each other. The Mouse settled everything by wrapping her warm through Keiko’s and drawing her down. The little Mouse nodded towards the Commons, where Lady Bekkah was able to use her skills and magics to sooth the new residents of Home. That her power now worked on the Forest Folk was more than a little miracle. Tomomi just whispered.

“I think … I think … I think I will be the last of us to get Homesick.

“I think … I think … why me? And it is a very sad thought.

“I think … I think … that it was me and no one else will ever feel that way and I got saved is a very happy thought.”

Lyric and One Fang

A strong hand reached up, grabbed a handful of Minstrel head and hood, and very slowly – with both an unmistakable gentleness and strength – drew up Lyric’s head, forcing her to view the crowded commons.

“Look.”

The commons was a slow bustle, but it was an intense one. A younger version of Lady moved from place to place, whispering to the miners, turning scared and frightened looks into something else. She even let herself become held to one spot, when a hand needed to be held for a moment longer, no matter how long that moment was. Lyric could see the shock in Girl’s own eyes, when she realized she did not even have to use her Power to offer those who needed warmth that gift.

“Look and see …”

Looking and seeing were two different things. Only one could look at something, very few could actually see what was going on.

A group of Horses and it was hard to tell, except by the way their clothes hung on undernourished frames, who was a refugee and who had been living here before. New things were shared, not because they were special, but because this was how folks were supposed to treat each other.

A sleepy Soft leaned against a shocked Deer and in turn was leaned upon by a collection of Rats and other Forest Kin, making sure each one of them understood that they had nothing to fear from legendary predators.

Wrath let a Very Brave Rat poke him. Stitch peered over a tabletop, the young lad fascinated by the lace trim on Tomomi’s sleeves. And then there was a Mouse girl absolutely bewitched with the tunic she had been given and a Rat lad spinning around and around in a brand new travel cloak.

Across the hall The Lockpick had been thinking of offering one of the refugees a mushroom and then decided that a bowl of stew was a better choice. There was a look of disbelief that turned into amazement when it was discovered that seconds were not just allowed but that it made the cooks happy.

Both old and new Mice were eyeing a Cat’s soft fur, already co-conspirators.

The simple pleasure of having a blanket to cover one’s self when asleep. That it was alright to cry and that it was alright to be held and that they weren’t going to be hurt for it.

That it was absolutely fine to go to sleep because they would, they really would, wake up in Home and find out that this was not just a dream.

Lyric was not the only one who was watching the commons. At one of the entries a very wet Broke now stood silently. Her hand was atop Dominic’s head as he leaned against the door frame. A pair of absolutely beautiful green eyes peered out from beneath his black cloak.

For the moment, he didn’t care who saw that tell tale cloak of his. This wasn’t his time.

It was theirs.

It was Broke, however, that stood the most still, as if she wore a mantling of heavy, heavy silence. The Minstrel found herself perfectly reflected in the Pack Leader’s eyes.

Were they looking at the same thing?

One Fang whispered.

“We are not warriors. We are not sell swords. We are not Knights or Squires or Heroes of Song.

“We are Guardians.”

“This is why. It doesn’t matter if their names are never spoken again.”

Croga and Quick-Quick were asleep. An exhausted Vixen was finally given the warmth she had spent the night offering others.

They each held one of Girl’s hands.

“This is Tawny and Grey’s legacy.”

Was the Pack Leader looking at the same thing as the Minstrel?

Yes.

Lyric, a long way from Kethy's Woods

There was no way for Lyric to know how much time had passed, hidden as she was within the depths of One Fang's cloak. When she first woke though, she was absolutely still and silent. She took in the sounds of this common hall around her. She closed her eyes, even in the sheltering darkness of the leathers and fabrics, and let the the sounds resolve themselves into images within her mind's eye. And she knew that One Fang was still close to her. There was a comfort in that, but also a sense of matters unresolved.

Soon enough One Fang would also know she was awake. He probably had very acute senses and would hear her breathing change and also her heart rate resume a pace more akin to the the woken. But if not, then when she drew her arms about herself within the cloak, the movements would betray her.

When Lyric was ready to face the world, or those of Home, shifted on the hearth, sitting more upright and putting her feet to the floor. From within the depths of her hood she could hear a simple song in the background and it made her smile. Music always made her feel better, even if it was just a small measure. There was also a natural cadence to the banter about burned fish and berries.

One Fang put his hands on either side of Lyric's face now as he slipped around behind her. His strong hands directed her attention and , in do ing so, he drew the cloak back far enough for her to do what he asked of her her... or what he directed of her.

Look.

Look and See.

And Lyric did and even as One Fang finished speaking his testament to the Fallen Pack Members, Lyric still focused on Broke.

Lyric drew back the hood, her own hands reaching up and back to take One Fang's pawish hands, one in each of her own, on either side of her face, and held them with an affirming and grateful squeeze.

"Shhh... Guardians I understand, and I also accept that you are not the things that you are not... But it is not for you to tell the Minstrel who is and who isn't a Hero of Song."

Still she kept her attention on Broke.

"When everyone else might run from danger, those that run toward it and face it head on... those are the ones that the world should remember.

"When an ordinary person is placed in an extraordinary situation and they can overcome their fears to rise above the obstacles and challenges, they become extraordinary themselves. When they are willing to sacrifice everything to do what is right, when every instinct tells them to do what is safe, they become heroes.

She glanced back over her shoulder, still holding One Fang's large hands. Her own seemed tiny in comparison.

"Oh... Those are the deeds that inspire hope that any one of us can find those qualities in ourselves. And so, while many here may not know the names, Tawny and Grey, they know their deeds... Your deeds, all of you. The Pack, the Mice, the Rats... from the largest to the smallest of all the Forest Kin and the Friends who helped.

"Tawny and Grey will live on through all of you. They will live on through me and I will never forget. The same is true for any who did not return, my own companion included, and for any who fell trying to get here for the first time. They risked everything for something better, something right, something true.

"Your people have overcome obstacles just to survive, and now you have done something extraordinary to make that survival mean something more... and that is worthy beyond words. I am humbled to have been give a chance to witness this, and to be given a chance to help."

She had looked all around the room and finally rested her attention on Keiko, and she smiled.

Ceasare

He is in a light sleep already and did not hear the footsteps approaching. Perhaps it was the 'pop' in the air that brought his consciousness to the surface and then he could feel the wriggling of two small furry bodies snuggling close. He didn't need to look. He knew who they were. His arms moved also instinctively, creating a safety cordon of warmth around each of the sisters, maybe even a pillow for sleepy heads to lie on. A faint song comes to his ears and he smiles.

Moments later there is a soft snoring.. but still a smile..

Bekkah

She'd always believed they'd be successful, but it had taken all of them. All their skills and talents and all their differences. She'd done nothing more than talk and be some kind of inspiration. Now that they were done, it was her turn to work. She seemed tireless as she healed those that desperately needed before they could get home and then once home she healed each hurt with a gentle touch. She shared her Lady's love with all of them. She knew her Lady was providing her with far more power than she'd ever had and she was more than happy to share it. She worked through the night, finishing up as She arose in the sky. It wasn't directly visible here, but she knew.

She sat by herself, a smile on her face, facing where the sun would be. She sipped on a soothing drink, not even feeling the exhaustion she should be feeling.

"Thank you for allowing me to help my lady." she said to her Goddess that she always felt around her.

Keiko
[pronounced KAY-ko]

Her hand had stretched out to offer the Squire friendship... or at least a path that might lead there someday. Keiko wasn’t sure what she had said or done to offend him, but the longer her hand held nothing but the air of Home, the more certain she was that some integral part of her personality had done just that. She was about to withdraw her hand when she heard the sound of a blade snapping.

Keiko knew that sound. She had heard inferior blades snap and break all her life. The fact that a Squire of Rames’ blade broke of its own accord...

She gasped, and her hand flew up to cover her mouth; her violet eyes widened in shock. There was nothing she could say as he took his leave. Despite the fact that he had made her doubt herself... Yes, despite everything, she felt sorry for him. Not pity, no. It was genuine sorrow.

Shaking her head, she returned to the window seat to be accosted by friends and food. Tomomi and Hinata brought back her smile.

“Friend Hinata, I am telling you quite truthfully that I am not hungry now. Yes, yes! More burned fish for you because you were forgotten by the Old Masters and didn’t get nearly enough food. Please, regain your strength for there will be sunbeams to catch and claim once She rises high enough in the sky to peek into the Forest.”

Then she laughed softly as Tomomi pulled her down onto the cushion. “And you, my Forever Friend, are very silly. Did you know that one single berry — when eaten on a stomach too full or not ready for food — can make a person explode? Uncle Toshi always said so, and his death scenes were never rivaled.

“I just want to rest, Tomomi. I want to enjoy Home, for I think it might be a long time before I return once I leave here.” She smiled and tucked herself close to her friend.

And the Mouse’s words brought a nod and a quiet sigh from the Rhoni.

“Yes, I think you are right. You will be the last to have gotten Homesick. But why you? Well, you understand something about being so very lost and then being found again — it is something even I don’t truly understand, Tomomi. Maybe it gives you a different perspective on what it means to be a friend and have friends. Dommi and Emmi saved one another. I saved you and maybe in some way that I haven’t learned yet you saved me.”

Keiko shrugged.

“I believe one of the things I am to do while walking the world, while riding the waves, before finally sleeping with Emmi’s Lady, is to always keep learning new things. Mother said I’m to teach what I can to others — and maybe she only meant whatever children I might have someday. But I did try my best to share what I know of the world with...” She trailed off, not wanting to think about the pain of those who had not wanted to learn. For some reason, it made her miss her Grandmothers very much... and Renyard, too.

“It’s a very good thing, though, that no one else will need to learn the lesson you did.

“You know, I believe you are the one who started all this. You were Homesick and I worried about you. So Lady and Renyard brought Lady Bekkah and me here. Lady Bekkah saw that a Great Healing was needed and I saw a small, lonely, scared and pretty Mouse who needed a friend. And then?” Keiko glanced around the common room. “All of this. It was like a waterfall — one deed, one drop of water, and before you know it, rainbows are sparkling from the flowing water as She touches it, and many lives are made better.”

At some point, she must have dozed off. She remembered whiskers tickling her face and soft fur keeping the foot resting on the floor warm as she dreamed of voices speaking to her in a language that didn’t exist.

Gurama’hagat.

Guramyan.

Ta’pahlet.

As she floated up out of sleep, Keiko found herself thinking, almost replying to the strange words of the dream.

Pash'ahlah'shrah.

Dendeken.

You’re welcome.

As strange as the dream had been, it had been a comforting one. Keiko was tempted to remain wrapped in that comfort, but the soft warmth that had covered her foot was now a velvety but insistent band around her ankle.

Opening her eyes, she saw Lyric and return her smile. Then she looked down at her foot to see that Hinata had encircled her ankle with one hand. He was either still sleeping or doing an excellent job pretending. Then she looked back at Lyric and shrugged the shoulder not being used as a pillow by Tomomi, smiling more brightly.

The not-fierce Cat was doing a good job of making Keiko wish there might be a way to include him in their group and on their journeys. It would certainly be a difficult thing. And Hinata would likely deny having any such motivations. After all, it was so much more efficient to let the sunbeams come to him than for him to seek them out far and wide.