There are 2 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. [DL-N] Unsettling Tales
From: Bianca Payne <biancaknox@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
2. [DL-C] A Linking of Generations (JP)
From: John Pepper <trissana@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2005 10:44:29 -0700 (PDT)
From: Bianca Payne <biancaknox@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: [DL-N] Unsettling Tales
Day 8
Night- After the Party
Cherry collapsed against S'ran, breathing hard but replete. Rolling
over on her side, she shifted her body against him, pushed her damp
hair back from her face and settled to a stop with her head oh his
shoulder, snuggled against him. He sighed contentedly and tugged her
closer, as they both recovered.
Cherry could barely hold her eyes open. It had been a long day and a
longer night. She wouldn't have traded it for the world, but it was
taking it's toll on her. Nearly drifting, she was surprised to hear
Kaanette's quiet, solemn mindvoice speaking in her head.
[Chosen, if you finished, one of my hatchmates is relaying a story told
by the cloaked one. Will you listen?]
[Sure.] Cherry replied sleepily to her dragon.
*Snip from Jim's post What a Night*
"Long ago here in Norwall a young boy of about ten, named Cornard
dreamed of being a great entertainer, but his father, a great
fletcher.." *end snip*
Cherry listened to the story, as Kaanette relayed the tale Woodlenn was
telling about a boy who defied his father's dreams of being a fletcher
to play music and who ran off to join a band in Ravendale, fell in love
with another man's woman, married a coal miner's daughter at the ripe
age of 13, then abandoned her when his first love was killed and he was
accused of the crime, only to return to his parent's shop to find they
had passed on, so he settled down in hiding and turned into a master
fletcher in just 5 years.
It was a falsehood obviously. Master fletcher in 5 years, indeed.
Her own mother had been apprenticed to the weavers guild in Ravendale
at the age of 9 and despite her talent, had only just been ranked a
Master Weaver a few years ago at the age of 41. It took decades to
master an craft, and many never managed it even during a lifetime.
Besides that, even in a mining town, in these modern times no sane
father would let his daughter marry at 13, or marry a boy of that same
age. And assuming he had married the young girl, surely no man would
abandon his wife to find for herself with no income while he ran off
and hid, knowing she'd be shunned as the wife of a murderer and forced
to live with that shame, and worst of all, he'd obviously spun the
story from another's tale, because she vaguely remembered a story of a
young dancer being killed in Ravensdale by her musician lover. She
recalled how the Ravendale guardsmen had gone door to door trying to
find signs of the murderer who
had disappeared, leaving a wife behind with no home and no income to
bear his shame. She'd had nightmares for a week afterwards.
All thoughts of sleep having faded from her mind now, Cherry lay in the
dark of S'ran's apartment wondering what to do. She half wanted to
get up and go kick the young man for trying to romanticize the story.
Honoring his wife by playing her song. Bah! While this supposed
murderer-in-hiding plays his song and sells his arrows, his wife was
probably out there trying to scrap out what living she could in a hovel
outside of town or begging in the streets. Though, why she should
assume any man who could commit murder would bother to care what
happened to his wife. What if he was the murderer?
Cherry shivered in the dark, and S'ran, who's breathing had begun to
drop into the deep evenness of sleep, stirred, turned on his side, and
pulled her up until her back was settled against his chest, fitted
close to his warmth. Tugging sleepily at the thick blankets until
they were both covered, he kissed the top of her head and settled back
into his doze. Cherry still felt uneasy, but there wasn't anything to
do about it tonight. Tomorrow, she'd have a talk with some of the
warrenfolk to check out this "story" of Woodlenn's.
Wrapped in S'ran's strong, warm arms, she let sleep claim her finally,
but her dreams were uneasy.
-Respectfully submitted by
Cherry and Kaanette
aka Bianca Payne
Summary:
Day 8 Late night
Cherry is settling in to sleep at S'ran's apartment when Kaanette
relays Woodlenn's story. Cherry is sure it's a falsehood, but it
reminds her of a real crime near her villiage, and she begins to wonder
if maybe Woodlenn is a murderer.
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Message: 2
Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2005 20:44:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Pepper <trissana@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: [DL-C] A Linking of Generations (JP)
Trevor
Late Afternoon, Day 2
Trevor took just a moment to wipe off the dragon-oil as he watched
Andahar take over the task of scrubbing and oiling Syren. Then he
walked over to his own freshly oiled dragon. *Don't forget to have
Syren tell Cynthia that we'll be at Keldarra overnight. *
[I will, although you have already told Syren's rider so many times
that I do not see how she could possibly forget,] came the response.
Trevor got himself mounted, and moments later the pair were soaring
skyward over Cleft.
*You remember where we're going, right?* he asked.
[Yes, the funny-looking round place,] she affirmed. [Ready?]
*Ready,* he told her, and no sooner had he said that than they were
spiraling down over that "funny round place" that was Trissana's
description of Keldarra Warren. They landed on the Keldarra green
moments later, where they were met by a representative of Dragonlady
Christalla. With the other rider's help he unsaddled the anxious
Triss, who quickly trotted off to find her dam, the great queen Tymor.
Trevor paid a courtesy call to Christalla, where he announced that the
Cleft Warrenlady was now a mother and also left off a few maps he had
completed. He also briefed Christalla on the problems that Cleft
Warren had been having with the Nadusi, a fact that concerned the
Dragonlady greatly. However, she did not keep him, as she knew that he
had really come to see someone else. And so, his interview with the
Dragonlady completed, he went off to find his grandmother Merilan.
After searching for some time, he found the old woman standing in front
of an easel, paintbrush poised above an empty canvas. Not wanting to
disturb her in a moment of creativity, Trevor waited. And waited. And
waited. Finally, she made a downward stroke, leaving a bright red line
across the canvas. She stared at it for a long time, then slowly put
the brush down and sighed deeply.
Trevor looked at the line on the canvas. He remembered seeing an art
exhibition at Ralengarde during his time there, and one well-known
artist had displayed a painting that had had just a single red line
running down the canvas and nothing more. He suspected, however, that
his grandmother had something much more in mind for this particular
canvas. "Hello Grandmother," he said softly, so as not to startle her.
She turned around and her eyes flew open wide. The disappointed look
that had been on her face a moment before was replaced with a broad,
welcoming smile. "Trevor! What a surprise! What brings you here?"
He went over to put his arms around her, and held her for a moment.
"It's so good to see you!" he said. "There's some news you need to
hear...from Cleft." At her questioning look, he cleared his throat and
said, "I've been taking your advice and practicing my drawing, and I
think I'm getting better at it." Then, as though he were simply
imparting a piece of minor information, he added, "Oh, by the
way...you're now officially a great-grandmother!"
"Good, you're drawing... Wait, what did you say?" Merilan stared open
mouthed, "How did this happen? WHEN did this happen?"
Trevor smiled. "Well, as to the 'how' part, I guess you could say it
happened in the usual way." He decided that later was a good time to
explain the part about there being two separate fathers. He wasn't
sure he quite understood that part himself, yet. "As to when, it was
just the other day. We were just in process of graduating new riders
into the wing, and the next thing I knew we were rushing Cynthia to the
med center to deliver the babies. I don't remember much; actually, I
think they had me off boiling water or something like that. But you
should know that there is, once again, a K'rald in the family!"
Merilan swatted Trevor lightly as he joked about the "how" and smiled
at the description, only momentarily missing that he'd said "babies".
She sighed with a mixture of gladness and sorrow with the announcement
that Trevor had chosen "K'rald" for his son's name. "K'rald! Oh,
Trevor! I must thank Cynthia for agreeing. But... you said babies?
Didn't you? So... one is a boy, and what of the other?"
"The other is a girl," Trevor said. "She, um, doesn't look quite as
much like me as little K'rald does. Actually, I was hoping that maybe
you'd..well, that you'd like to come to Cleft to see them for yourself.
You did say that when the weather wasn't cold, you'd come for a
visit?" He waited for her answer, hoping that she would agree!
"Ah, well, Cynthia is lovely, and a daughter who looks like her mother
must be beautiful," The old woman gushed, "And to see my new
great-grandbabies, I'd brave the winter of Norwall or the oceans of
Jasra! But I will have to pack some things... and of course a present
for the mother and babies! Oh... so much to do!" She spun back to her
canvas and snatched it from the easel, stowing it under one arm, before
gathering up her paintbrushes. She stared perplexed at the easel and
paints before commanding, "Bring those, will you Trevor?" And led the
way toward her ground-level apartment.
Trevor smiled. "There's no great rush, Grandmother," he said.
"Cynthia isn't expecting me back until tomorrow, and I didn't mean to
come up and haul you out of here without giving you at least a decent
amount of time to get ready. And if you're going to do any paintings
at Cleft, you'd better check your stock to make sure you've got lots of
brown shades! Besides, I know Trissana wants to spend the evening with
Tymor."
"Yes, of course. I was just... so excited! Imagine, me, a
great-grandmother!" She laughed. "Oh! And a gift for the babies...
that would take some time, as well. Do they need anything that you
could get here that you couldn't in Cleft?"
Trevor thought a moment. "Well, I'm sure there is...what with Keldarra
being such a long-established place, and Cleft's still pretty much on
the fringes with most of the stuff being brought in being basic
necessities and all. I don't know much about baby gifts, of
course...come to think of it, I don't know anything about baby gifts.
But I'm sure that we could get better toys or stuff like that here.
Gee..what does one get for a baby?"
Merilan shook her head and laughed, "Oh, my darling! You have a lot to
learn!" They had arrived back at her apartment and she had put her
painting supplies down, and wiping her hands on her smock before she
removed it. She looked Trevor up and down, sobering, "Babies don't come
with a map, and the road ahead is all uncharted territory."
Merilan sighed and smiled wistfully, "And before you know it, he will
be all grown up." She looked at Trevor meaningfully, "And having
babies of his own." She took the drawing from Trevor's hand and
nodded, "Very nice. But what of your daughter? Don't you expect her
to be a dragonrider, too? Don't tell me you've gone and taken on those
backwoods notions of the Nomads!"
"No, not yet," he said. "I even still cook my meat instead of eating
it raw!" He handed her another picture he'd done. "But, seriously, I
don't know that either of them will become riders...though Triss is
worried that they'll both join at the same time, and she won't know
which hatchling to bequeath her little blanket to. I'm not sure what
to do about...well, I'm sure Cynthia can explain it to you MUCH better
than I ever could! Lets just say I hope they both do well!"
"Good!" Merilan nodded with approval. "Now, about the gifts... There
are a few shops in Ralengarde that might be nice to visit -- if
Trissana would be kind enough to drop us off there? And I know just
the jeweler for you to get the one for Cynthia..."
"I may have to pry her away from Tymor, but I'm sure we can manage
that," he told her. He took Merilan by the arm, and together they
walked down to the green. By the time they got there, Triss was
standing at the edge of the green waiting for them. "This is my dragon,
Trissana," he told Merilan. Triss bent her head down to peer closely
at her.
"Ah, and what a beautiful dragon she is!" She enthused. "Would you be
a dear and take us to Ralengarde for a little shopping?" Merilan
asked, quite sure the dragon wouldn't understand but that Trevor would
be translating as she spoke.
Triss preened at Merilan's words, and turned to present what she
considered to be her "best profile" for her rider's grand-dam to see.
Trevor grinned. "She actually does understand our speech," he said.
"I taught her by reading her storybooks." He looked up at Triss.
*Okay, Cupcake, she's had time to properly admire you, now we need a
ride.*
Triss crouched down extra low, virtually flattening herself against the
ground so that Merilan could mount more easily once Trevor had put the
saddle back on her. Soon they were flying in the direction of
Ralengarde. Merilan told him where the place was she wanted to go, and
fortunately he remembered the location and knew there was a broad
square there where one could land a dragon without problem. Moments
later, they were on the ground.
The appearance of a dragon was very common in Ralengarde; however, the
appearance of such a large, pealescent dragon did create a bit of a
stir, and Trevor and Merilan left Trissana to a small crowd of
admirers.
Merilan took the lead again, and soon they were surrounded by the
hustle and bustle of city folk going about their mid-day business.
Merilan stopped and browsed along the way, checking out hawkers and
vendors as they strolled, all the while chatting to Trevor, attempting
to draw him out. It saddened her that the boy was still so reticent
about talking about himself. She had no trouble getting him to chat on
about his dragon, but trying to get him to discuss his relationship
with the Cleft Warrenlady was like pulling teeth. What was he hiding?
Soon they'd arrived at the little shop which was filled from floor to
rafters with everything baby, from cradles to toys. "What about a
pram?" Merilan asked as she showed Trevor the fancy baby carriage.
"Oh, I suppose you don't have sidewalks and such to push a baby
around... okay, how about this cradle? Or this diaper-changing table?"
"Well, we've got cradles," Trevor told her. "But I didn't know there
was such a thing as a diaper changing table! I'm pretty sure we don't
have one of those!"
Merilan smiled and nodded. "Then you certainly need that. And what
about toys?"
The shop-owner, hearing that he'd already made a sale, scurried over to
help. He demonstrated several baby toys, including an exerciser, that
looked like nothing more than two small A-frames linked with a stick,
with some items dangling below -- but he assured Trevor that this was
exactly what his son would need to grow healthy and strong.
Merilan frowned again as Trevor looked at all the little boy items.
Perhaps being male he just couldn't relate to the little girl toys?
She held up a cute little stuffed bunny, "What about this for your
daughter?"
Trevor scratched his head, wondering what to say. He knew it must look
strange that he was concentrating on only his son...but how to tell
Merilan that the girl baby wasn't...or at least probably wasn't...his
daughter, and therefore not Merilan's great-granddaughter. Then again,
now was not the time or place to try to explain something like that. He
didn't quite know how to explain it in any case, which was why he'd
have preferred to have the more articulate Cynthia take care of that.
Cynthia... "Um...I'm sure that Cynthia would think that was a...a
wonderful present for her daughter." He was pretty certain that
Merilan would have insisted on bringing presents for both babies, even
if she knew what he did.
The shop-owner was rubbing his hands as he added the bunny to the
growing pile of merchandise. He hadn't missed the exchange, "So you do
not know if the baby is going to be a boy or a girl?"
Trevor managed to look a bit affronted. "If I couldn't tell the
difference between a boy and a girl, I would have had difficulty in
siring children in the first place, now wouldn't I?" He turned to
Merilan. "I assume we want the exerciser in blue wrapping paper and
the bunny in pink?"
He put a hand to his chin. "You know...I was going to get Cynthia a
present too, to celebrate this. Maybe a bracelet or a pendant,
something like that. Something with her birthstone and theirs,
maybe.."
Merilan nodded, "I know just the place." Turning to the shop owner she
stated, "Please wrap this all up. We'll be back to pick it up in about
a half hour."
Again, she led the way, this time it was almost across town, past the
courthouse square, and down a small alley, which emerged onto one of
the busiest streets that Trevor had ever seen. But Merilan seemed to
know where she was going, and shortly they were in front of a shop with
a large diamond shaped sign hanging above the door.
They spent some time looking in the shop, and Trevor did see some
jewels that particularly caught his eye. They weren't large, which was
all right, because had they been big enough to be at all ostentatious,
Cynthia would have kissed him for giving them to her and then never
worn them. "Well, here's her birthstone," he said. "But the
babies...their two birthstones would be the same, of course...think I
should get two, or just one that would stand for both of them?"
Merilan was surprised that Trevor would even consider getting only one.
"Two, of course! They would always wonder which one of them it
represented if you only got one." She wondered herself if Trevor was
only considering the son again.
"Hm, ok, so three stones," he said, trying to visualize it. "Hers in
the middle, the babies' on either side. Actually, I don't see any
settings I really like, though. You know, we've got a rider at Cleft
who does real master-level jewelry settings, maybe I could get her to
do the setting. If she doesn't have time, I could always come back
here." He sighed, looking around the shop, wondering if he was
forgetting anything. "Do you still have that bracelet with father's
birthstone in it?"
Merilan nodded, "Your grandfather gave that bracelet to me when K'rald
was born. I don't wear it anymore. Why?"
"Does it have any empty settings?" he asked. "Aren't those usually
designed with room for additional stones...for when more children are
born?"
"It does have an empty setting -- the spot where your..." She had
started to say brother but said instead, "... where M'del's ... stone
had been." Merilan sighed, "I have always meant to change that out and
put a plain link in that place. But the hole reminds me of the empty
spot in my heart." She shook her head, as if trying to clear it, "But
that isn't what you asked, is it? Here, like these bracelets. You can
have links removed and added, and the bracelet lays flat on the wrist.
But these here... You don't remove links, you add little 'charms' and
they dangle from the bracelet; all sorts of little charms, even little
dragon ones!"
"Well...what say we remove that old link, and I'll add three more for
you." He quickly picked out two identical links that had the babies'
birthstones, and one that had one that was completely different. "Do
you like these?" he asked hopefully.
"Three? Two for the babies... and who is this one for?" Merilan
looked surprised. "I do have your birthstone on it, and this is not
the right color."
Trevor smiled. "No, it's not mine. You've been officially adopted by
a dragon, though she says she is confused about whether she should
think of you as her grand-dam or her great grand-dam. Either way, she
didn't want to be left out. This is the stone for the month Triss was
hatched."
Merilan laughed, "Well, tell Miss Triss, that I am honored. And since
she is your soul-sister, I suppose grand-dam is correct."
"She will be pleased to hear that," Trevor said. He concluded the
purchase, and they left the store together. "Anywhere else you'd like
to go while we're in town?" Trevor asked. He wondered how often Merilan
got away from Keldarra Warren.
"It is getting rather late, we should probably just collect the toys
and other items and be getting back..." Merilan said, while wistfully
looking around the city. "It has been a lovely time, hasn't it? There
is just so much life here."
"I remember a very nice restaurant just one street over," Trevor told
her. "Very quiet, but great food and nice waiters. Unless you're tired
and want to get back, that is..." He thought this might be a nice
change from dining hall food. "Plus, they always have musicians going
around the tables playing for the customers."
Merilan's eyes lit up. "That sounds... wonderful. It has been a very
long time since I've been to a restaurant. I suppose they don't have
any in that desert where you are now, either?" She linked her hand
through her grandson's arm and affectionately patted his shoulder with
her other hand.
Once they were seated at the restaurant, Merilan looked curiously at
her grandson. "Now, Trevor... I don't think you've told me, or perhaps
I missed it. What is your daughter's name?" Merilan asked, suddenly
wondering why Trevor had avoided that, when he had been so eager to
tell her his son's name.
"Well, Triss suggested her own name," Trevor said nervously. "But I
thought it would be confusing to have two Triss'es around."
"Very wise," Merilan agreed. "And I suppose the same would hold true
if you named her Cynthia. So, just what did you name her?"
"Well...her name is, um...Bahb," he said. "I know it sounds a bit
unusual..."
"BOB?" Merilan gaped. "Why on earth would you name a little girl with
such a masculine name?" She shook her head, "Trevor, a daughter is a
jewel in a man's life. You should treasure her, not try to make her
into another son!"
Trevor was sure he was turning a deep shade of red. "Well, it's not
exactly like that," he said, spelling out the name for her. "It's a
Nomad name, very honorable or so I understand. Cynthia speaks their
language fluently, and I can...well, I know a few words. I'm best at
saying 'I don't understand you,' in their language. But believe me,
um...we...treasure her, we really do! Cynthia is really into
Nomads.and, um, vice-versa."
"Ah," Merilan said as if she understood, "You wanted to appease the
natives. Very wise of Cynthia. But... couldn't she have found a nicer
sounding name than that?"
"Well, you know what they say about beauty being in the ear of the
beholder," Trevor said. He really didn't want to get into the peculiar
circumstances under which the twins were conceived and born. He was
sure that Cynthia would be MUCH better at that than he would!
"Right, yes. Of course." Merilan smiled. She didn't want to say
anything more about it, but she certainly wouldn't call her little
granddaughter 'Bob' no matter how they spelled it. Perhaps 'Barb' or
.... yes! 'Bobbie', yes, that might do.
"Bobbie, yeah," Trevor said weakly, wondering what Andahar would think
of that name.
* * * * *
Next Morning
Keldarra Green
Trevor finished packing their things - including the baby presents -
into the dragon's saddle packs. *So, how did you enjoy visiting
Tymor?* he asked.
[Oh, it was very nice,] she said. [Except that she wasn't feeling very
well this morning.]
*Well, I'm sure Brisse will take good care of her,* Trevor reassured
just as Merilan came outside. She was dressed for travel, by the look
of her.
"Shall we go?" he asked.
Merilan looked a little nervous, "You got all my things? My painting
supplies? The presents?"
"It's all loaded," he assured her as he helped her up onto the dragon's
saddle. He took a few moments to make sure they were securely strapped
in, then told Triss to launch herself off in as gentle as possible a
manner. She did, and they were soon high over the warren. After
warning Merilan, he had Triss teleport. And then they were in air that
was much warmer than what they had just left, and were descending
toward the great Cleft.
"The warren's built into both of the cliff faces, either side of the
river," he said, then pointed out the upper and lower greens.
Merilan gasped at the strangeness and the beauty of the land. She found
it difficult to breathe, the air was so dry! Her stomach lurched as
the dragon began her decent, and she clutched onto Trevor, fearfully,
but thankfully, they were aiming for the upper green and they didn't
have far to go.
Trevor sensed her nervousness, and cautioned Triss to make as smooth a
landing as possible. They set down moments later, and the dragon
quickly flattened herself out against the ground so that Merilan's
descent would be as easy as possible.
"Let me get you down to where Cynthia and I live," he told her. "It's
easy to get to from here, all downhill! Then I'll get Triss unloaded
and once you've rested a bit, we'll go see Cynthia."
Even though it was all downhill, Merilan was exhausted by the time they
reached the apartment. Not only was she unused to the heat and the dry
air, she wasn't used to any type of climbing, and the previous day's
jaunt through Ralengarde had already tired her. She grumbled about her
age and her condition, wishing she were 10 years younger, but then
laughed as she noted that if she were 10 years younger then Trevor
would have been 10 years younger, and she'd have been rather angry with
Trevor for having become a father at such a young age. Cheered by the
relatively cooler interior of the apartment, and the welcome drink of
water that Trevor brought her, she was once again much more agreeable.
She examined the blankets that were strewn in a wonderful pattern of
colors and textures across the furniture. "These are native blankets?
They are lovely."
"Yes, those are Nomad-crafted," he said. "So is Trissana's
blanket...she'll definitely be showing it to you later! Cynthia has
gone to a lot of trouble to learn about the Nomads. In fact, I'm sure
Andahar will be over to pay his respects, unless he's out on patrol.
His dragon would surely have seen Triss land."
"So did I," came a familiar voice from the entranceway. Trevor turned
and saw his mother, Kellie, striding in. She stopped abruptly when she
saw Merilan, and stared in surprise.
Merilan turned and eyed her grandson's mother critically, "Hello,
Kellie. My have we put on weight?"
Kellie sighed. "Trevor, your mate has been patiently waiting in the
med center for you to come back. Syren told Varie to keep a look out
for you. If you want to go see her, I'll keep Merilan company until
you get back."
Trevor felt a bit guilty, but certainly wanted to see Cynthia again.
And, now that Merilan was safely delivered to their quarters, there was
nothing to worry about on that front. Of course he wanted his
grandmother to meet her and the babies, but he also wanted some time
alone with his mate.
"The sooner you go, the sooner you can get back," Merilan said with a
wry smile. "And then, I'll want to come over to the med center,
provided the healer will allow her to have additional visitors."
Trevor nodded as he made his way out the door. "I'll unload Triss, and
then get right over. Have Varie call Triss if you need me!" And with
that, he was out the door.
Once he was gone, Trevor turned to Merilan. "I see even Cleft wasn't
far enough for us to be apart, she said resignedly.
(To be continued - in the next JP!)
Submitted by:
John
Trevor & Trissana
Kellie & Varie
Cleft Warren
and
Arlene
Merilan
Keldarra Warren
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