Log Date: 10/14/96
Log Cast:
	Dart, Trouble, Doreel
Log Intro:
	After a conversation with Doreel that disturbed her -- for in it,
Trouble admitted to the mad ancient her internal turmoil about her name
and her parents -- Trouble has returned to keeping watch on Dart and
waiting for him to awaken. And after a time he does...

----------
Dart yawns tiredly and rubs his eyes. Slowly opening his eyes he glances 
  around getting his bearings on just where he is.

Leaves overhead, dotted with multicolored, multishaped fruits. Scents, too, of 
  green growing things... and nearby, the scent of Trouble.
Not so nearby, but definatly present, the scent of Doreel as well, mingling 
  through the pervading greenness. Everything is remarkably still.

Dart sits up slowly, his stomach grumbling to let both Dart and anyone else 
  know that it's empty and not likeing it. "Something tells me, there's not 
  many ravvits around here." he mutters softly.

At the sound of her companion's voice, Trouble suddenly jerks awake. She sits 
  nestled in a hollow between the roots of the great central tree, just an 
  arm's length away; now, she blinks rapidly and leans forward. "You're awake!"

Dart nods, "Awake and hungry." He glances overhead at all the fruit and 
  frowns, "Just when I was getting used to eating meat all the time instead of 
  grazing like a zwoot..."

Trouble glances upward herself, and shrugs a little. She offers, "I had a 
  couple of the red ones... they're alright. I wouldn't mind some meat, 
  either, though.... that might be a problem." Her voice drops to a husky 
  whisper, as if she wants only Dart to hear it.

Off on the other side of the grove, beneath one of the fruit trees, Doreel 
  sits leaned well against it, lost to sleep or his thoughts or something 
  somewhere in between. If he knows either of you are awake, he either doesn't 
  care, or doesn't care for you to know he knows.

Dart grimaces as he stands, "Think I slept on a rock." He reaches over head, 
  "Red ones... hmm.. the orange ones look like the ones in the village." He 
  plucks and orange fruit and sets to pulling off the skin of the fruit, 
  letting the skin drop where it will.

Trouble adds, then, studying Dart, "There's mushrooms, too, but I don't know 
  if they're good for food. Doreel sent that they wouldn't harm me, but they 
  made my arms and feet all... tingly." Her brow furrows, and she goes on, 
  unusually talkative, "Are... you feeling better?"

Dart nods, "Heh, Eagle was chattering about mushrooms when I was getting ready 
  to leave. Seems Wing told him a little about the ones at Willowholt." What 
  little smile he had in remembering, fades quickly as he glances at the now 
  peeled fruit in his hands. The frown's probably not for the fruit, but for 
  something else.

Trouble smirks slightly. "Willowholt's full of shrooms that put dreams in your 
  head, or so Ynderra says." Her expression, too, fades into sobriety, as the 
  mention of that Holt triggers a chain of reminders. Willowholt. Its 
  chieftess. And Dart's father, both stranded here.

Still the old one stays quiet, and motionless, a living, breathing, growing 
  part of the grove itself, like the tree behind him, or the grass, or perhaps 
  the mushrooms that grow in a ring about him. And still he listens.

Uncomfortable, now, Trouble glances at random about her, and blurts out, 
  "Found your arrows, by the way..." She gestures at her bow and the quiver 
  with an eight or so of arrows, lying nearby.

Dart blinks and nods a few times, "Good... " He instinctively reaches behind 
  his back checking for his arrow-whip.. it's not there. "You didn't happen to 
  find my whip as well did you?"

Trouble catches herself, then scowls, and shakes her head. Softly, annoyedly: 
  "No."

Dart sits down again and eats the orange fruit quietly, glancing around the 
  grove.

Trouble pokes at her own weapon, and continues gruffly, still with more words 
  and at a faster pace than is usual for her, "Maybe we can get one of 
  Doreel's helpers to look for it... or something... or maybe he wouldn't mind 
  if we went for a bit into the trees to search? We'll have to try to hunt, 
  we'll need the meat, don't want to get into the same trouble Rillwhisper 
  and, um, your father did... if we're going to stay, that is."
You say "Doreel says... he's lonely. There's another elf in the grove, though, 
  somebody named Quickfire..."
Trouble trails off at last, and fidgets, apparently disturbed.

Dart says "We won't get into the same trouble as my sire and Rillwhisper, 
  hopefully we'll be out of here before that happens."

Doreel straightens now, sitting up and stretching. Might as well make a show 
  of it, neh? He stretches again, slowly, then sighs to himself.

It finally hits Dart that his comapnion is being entirely to chatty, "Are you 
  alright, Trouble?"

"I..." Trouble looks up at Dart, plaintively.
Trouble finally sends to Dart, for his ears alone, and quite embarrassedly, ** 
  I'm... scared. ** As she sends, her face flushes over, crimson.

Dart moves closer to Trouble, sending openly ** I won't let him or anyone else 
  hurt you, not when you've enough courage to admit something I can't. **

Doreel ignores the both of you. Quite possibly a little too obviously. Instead, 
  he closes his eyes again.

Still blushing, Trouble meets Dart's dark gaze with her green one, long enough 
  for hers to soften a little. Perhaps in acknowledgement, perhaps in 
  gratitude. She nods at last, trying to look firm.

Dart frowns slightly and whispers, "He's listening.. Does he know who my sire 
  is yet?"

Trouble bites her lip, glances sideways, then finally nods.

Dart stands up and clears his throat, ** Doreel? ** The send is as terse as 
  possible and if he were in the Sun Village, cause a few elves to flinch at 
  it's tone.

"Yes?" comes the reply, quiet and easy and as absolutely non-threatening as 
  the old elf can make it.

Dart says "Trouble and I are going to need to hunt, or at least get some meat. 
  I doubt you want her to get ill, and she will without it."

Not opening his eyes, Doreel quirks a pale brow. "And where will you hunt?"

Dart says "I suppose you'll have to tell us where there's some meat nearby 
  since you're intent on keeping Trouble here. And somewhere where those 
  spiders won't try to attack us like they did before."

"There is no meat in the grove." points out the elder, quietly. "You'll have 
  to leave it, and that, as you might have guessed, is difficult."

Dart frowns, "Then we'll just have to find a way because I'm not going to let 
  Trouble get sick because you're lonely."

Doreel nods lightly. "We'll see."

Dart says "You could send a few of your little helpers to get some meat, that 
  way you wouldn't have to worry about finding some more spiders to protect 
  this place."

Doreel opens his eyes, looking rather levelly at Dart. "They do not like the 
  preservers any more than you seem to. As I said, we'll see. If you must have 
  meat, a way will be found to provide it."

Dart hmmphs, "If she gets sick..."

Doreel tsks softly. "You don't trust me either, eh?"

Dart says quickly and not all to carefully, "Why should after what happened to 
  my sire here?"

Doreel shrugs a bit. "Then live always by your sire's judgement, ever in his 
  shadow."

Dart snaps, "I make my own judgements, my sire's just happens to be a sound 
  one for a change."

Doreel baits the wolf. "You've made one of your own about me, then? Even 
  though you haven't really had the opportunity to establish one?" Calm, 
  serene, he remains seated. "What have I ever done to you, besides heal you?"

Dart scowls, "What have you done to me? You're keeping Trouble here for no 
  good reason other than you're lonely. You only healed me because Trouble 
  asked.. begged you to."

Doreel reaches out a hand to one of the mushrooms beside him, running a 
  now-glowing fingertip over its cap. "Are you sure?"

Dart growls, "IF there's another reason, you'd better forget it and stick to 
  just loneliness."

Doreel mmmmhms softly.

Dart glares at Doreel, "Anything... anything at all happens to her... " He 
  leaves the threat dangling for the imagination to complete.

"You'll have yourself to blame. Yes, I know." Doreel smiles mellowly. "Don't 
  worry so much."

Dart scowls darkly, "And you'll find yourself seeing the Palace of the High 
  Ones without any skin."

Doreel tsks softly. "Such threats, son of Strongbow."

Dart says "Not threats, Mad One, promises."

"I have lived this long.." Doreel shifts positions, moving to stand up. "I 
  fail to see much reason why I won't go on living."

Trouble, listening to this conversation, grows more and more disturbed of 
  expression, fiercer of eye. Finally she stands and barks out, "Enough of 
  this!"

Dart continues to glare at Doreel.

Doreel, still quite calm, nods once to Trouble. "As you wish."

Trouble puts in, fiercely, "Dart, please...is he keeping me, if I chose to 
  stay here for a time to ease him being lonely? And you, old one..." She 
  whirls to Doreel. "Don't criticize him for being Strongbow's son. You don't 
  know anything of it!"

Dart breaks off his glare at Doreel, looking at his feet instead.

Doreel ever so faintly lifts a brow. "I wasn't criticizing, only making an 
  observation." But he shrugs. "Perhaps I do know something, perhaps I don't."

Trouble's mouth tightens into a small line. ** If you'd like us to stay 
  willingly, to give you someone to talk to, it'd help if you didn't insult 
  us. **

Dart sends openly ** I'm not staying here, not to starve or to be some twisted 
  revenge against my sire. **

"I'm not insulting." Doreel folds his arms over his chest. "He's making 
  threats." He looks now at Dart. "If you'd like to leave, please, feel free 
  to go. I'm sure the preservers would like another chance to bring you down."

Dart growls, "I won't leave Trouble here with you."

** Curse it, will you two please stop it? ** Trouble audibly growls now, 
  herself -- and trembles a little. ** I won't stay with either of you if you 
  keep snapping at one another like angry wolves! **

Silent once more, Doreel turns, reaching up into the nearest tree to pick a 
  few pieces of fruit. That done, he nods once shortly to you both, then moves 
  toward the tree in the grove's center.

Trouble whirls away, hugging her arms to herself, furious.

Doreel climbs up the winding stairs around the tree, and then moves inside.
Doreel has left.

[End log.]