Log Date: 1/22/96
Log Intro: In Doreel's hidden grove, Rillwhisper has succeeded in a task
she'd feared was going to be fruitless: the rescue of Strongbow from the
clutches of the spiders in the surrounding woods. She's been dismayed
to discover that the spider venom has made the archer hallucinate badly,
but at least for now, Rillwhisper is simply elated and relieved to have
recovered him, as the grove's inhabits begin to discover what she's done....

----------
Lar crawls out from a hidden hole off to one side of the grove.
Lar has arrived.

Rillwhisper sleeps fitfully, holding Strongbow to her in a protective embrace. 
  Her slumber is often barely that, and after a time, with a small jerk, she 
  wakes. The first thought in her head is for her friend, and she props 
  herself up to look down at him, anxiously.

Lar blinks at the new Other, then looks over towards Doreel in puzzlement.

Finding her arm has gone to sleep under the archer's head, Rillwhisper stiffly 
  eases it free, and sits up, lowering the other elf to her lap. "Strongbow?" 
  she murmurs, unaware that she's under scrutiny by at least one pair of eyes, 
  for now.

Rillwhisper sends, too, to the prone form beside her. Attention completely 
  held by him, she checks his thoughts to see if he truly sleeps, or wildly 
  dreams. One of her hands smooths his hair back from his face.

Lar looks back towards the pair of elves, then to Rillwhisper. "That the 
  Strongbow?" He looks slightly doubtful.

Rillwhisper starts, at the voice of Lar, right at her elbow. She looks up 
  hastily, then relaxes, and grins weakly. "I found him." There's pride in her 
  voice, despite its tiredness. "He heard me send."

Lar blinks again, in obvious surprise. He shakes his head in some wonder. "No 
  one gets past preservers! Can't be! Was gone too long..."

Rillwhisper glances down at the unmoving elf, sending lowly, ** Archer? ** 
  Still mostly focuses on her companion, she says quietly to Lar, "He was 
  trapped in the spider webs. But he was still fighting... still moving. I-I 
  guess that's why they didn't eat him. He heard me send..."

Doreel wanders from behind the the tree, muttering to himself, looking at the 
  ground.

Lar looks over at Doreel as she enters, then runs over, tugging at his arm. 
  "Doreel! Doreel!"

Strongbow sleeps on, outwardly, though his mind spirals in mazes of 
  self-wrought memory, hastened by spider venom, dreaming answers to the 
  green-eyed elf.

Doreel blinks and looks down at Lar, "What is it little one?"

Rillwhisper sighs, when all she gets are random images, disjointed glimpses of 
  both childhood and maturity, in her friend's head. Once again smoothing long 
  tangled red-violet hair, she then frowns briefly at Lar's cry, then follows 
  his gaze to the arriving master of the grove.

Lar points towards Strongbow and Rillwhisper. "The other Other got out of the 
  preservers! He needs healing...looks bad. Bit lots." His voice almost 
  degenerates into excited babbling as he tries to tell everything at once.

Doreel glances over at Rillwhisper and Strongbow. His face lowers slightly, 
  "You went in again..." he aims at Rillwhisper.

Rillwhisper sucks in a breath, and lets Lar tell the tale first. Her attention 
  settles on Doreel, though she keeps Strongbow's head in her lap, and one 
  hand near his face and hair. "I had to see if he was really dead," she 
  answers calmly, "and he heard me send. I had to find him."

Doreel shakes his head slightly, an unemotional look in his face. He walks 
  towards the two other elves slowly, not cautiously though, "You should have 
  listened to me. You could have fallen."

Lar nodsnods at that, running over to Lira. "Lira! Lira! The other came back 
  out! Didn't get eaten by the preservers!" He is obviously in wonder. As 
  though this is totally unexpected to him.

Doreel talks to Rillwhisper like she was nothing more than a child.

Her mouth curling up slightly on one corner, Rillwhisper says steadily, with a 
  trace of pride, "I might have, Doreel, but I didn't. And I hope you 
  understand..." With that, her tone grows solemn, earnest. "I _had_ to free 
  him. He's my friend. I couldn't let him die!"

Doreel shrugs, "Perhaps not. But still. You would expect a visitor in your 
  'holt' to listen to you, wouldn't you?"

Rillwhisper blinks, taken aback by what is, arguably, the most coherent 
  argument she's gotten out of her -- for lack of a better word -- host since 
  she's arrived. She sighs, and after a moment's thought, replies, "Yes... but 
  if a visitor in my Holt had to risk her life to help a friend, I couldn't 
  stop them. In fact... I've had to make choices like that, before."

Doreel says "If it is a matter to save yourself, or save another. Always 
  choose yourself. Self-sacrifice does no good."
Doreel speaks slowly as he says this... perhaps unsure, or not even believing 
  what he says.

Lira climbs out of the Helper's Hole, looking around, almost immediately she 
  heads to the garden.

Rillwhisper looks down at the pale, lean face of the elf she's cradling, and 
  her green eyes soften, with a visible look of relief. When she looks up 
  again, that relief is still there, and she says gently, "This time... it 
  has. He's not dead. He's..." She hesitates, then goes on, "The poison's made 
  him sick, but at least he's not dead. This is _good_!"

Lar nods and looks to Lira again. "Lira! Have any more of the herbs?"

Rillwhisper tells Lar, pleased, "Lira helped me save his life, when I brought 
  him in."

Doreel stands and watches the two elves, his gaze looking them both up and 
  down.

Rillwhisper, under Doreel's scrutiny, is ragged of clothing, pale herself, but 
  more clear-eyed and composed than she's been since her arrival. The elf in 
  her lap remains senseless, his head occasionally shifting, as he follows 
  some dream in his mind; he is paler even than Rillwhisper, with the 
  unhealthy color of one with the 'Preserver' poison in him. Rillwhisper's 
  hands remain lightly on his form, as if she might at any moment draw him up 
  into her arms.

Doreel folds his arms across his chest and looks stern, "You do not expect me 
  to heal him now that you have gone against my wishes." It is more a 
  statement or an order than a question...

Lira seems to listen to what the elves are saying, though she does not answer 
  Lar's call to her. Her face intent on the work in the garden.

Rillwhisper returns the shaper-healer's regard, striving not to look _too_ 
  hopeful. If Doreel can stay aware, she thinks, perhaps... but no. Her 
  expression flickers when he speaks again, disappointedly. And with that, she 
  looks back down at Strongbow, answering, "I will expect nothing of you. 
  You've already been very kind to heal me; when Fallberry finds my tribe, 
  I'll take Strongbow home, and his tribe's healers can help him. We won't 
  burden you any more than we need to."

Lar watches Lira for a while, then turns back to the pair of elves and Doreel. 
  Lira'll finish up soon enough...maybe Doreel told her to work.

Doreel says "The Preserver's poison will not let him survive for more than a 
  few days."
Doreel seems quiet aware that he may be causing the elf's death.

Rillwhisper is quiet for a few moments, her eyes very full. Gently, lovingly, 
  she brushes her fingers along the drawn features of her unconscious 
  companion, thinking -- sending -- at him. Half-plea, half-command, that he 
  continue fighting for his life. ** You've done it this long, my friend... ** 
  Aloud, she tells Doreel, gravely, "Then I'll have to do what I can to keep 
  him alive."

Doreel nods, "Do what you will. However, if he dies, it will be because you 
  did not let him rest where you should have."

Rillwhisper says without looking up, "I promised I'd take care of him, Doreel, 
  and return him whole to his mate." She almost smiles, still studying the 
  inert face before her with affectionate pride and worry. "He's held on this 
  long... you don't know Strongbow, if you think he'll let this keep him down."

Lar turns towards the garden to help Lira, watching just over his shoulder at 
  the pair of elves.

Doreel says "No. I don't. And from the looks of him, I may not ever know him. 
  Perhaps if he does get better, I will have that chance."

Lira looks up to see Lar approaching, she smiles but does not stop pulling 
  unwanted vegetation from the garden.

Lar helps her pull out a few of the weeds, watching the elves over his 
  shoulder for the most part. His hands are knowledgeable enough to do this on 
  their own, almost.

Rillwhisper flashes Doreel a brief look, grateful for that unexpected 
  sentiment. "I'll do my best," she promises softly, "and when my tribe finds 
  us.... you'll have more elves to get to know."

Doreel shakes his head slightly, "The small ones would not like that I don't 
  think. Themselves, and me, are all they have ever known."

Rillwhisper glances at Lira and Lar, and chews one corner of her lip, then 
  says forthrightly, "You could ask them."

Lira keeps her eyes on the task at hand. Not daring to look up.

Doreel says "They know what they are afraid of, as do I. You see how they stay 
  away now, and say nothing."

Lira leans over and whispers something to Lar, her work not even slowing as 
  she ensures all plants are properly rooted and safe from pests.

Doreel starts to pace slightly, towards the tree, and then back towards the 
  two elves again, "You have not heard them speak of the Others who have been 
  here..."

Lar nods slightly, his hands not slowing as he checks the soil.

Lira frowns as she and Lar speak to one another quietly.

Lar wrenches out a particularly stubborn weed, crushing it before tossing it 
  aside.

Lira looks at Lar and almost giggles, "Don't tear out what belongs, Master 
  won't like"

Lar grins at that, his grim expression vanishing quickly.

Doreel glances over his shoulder at the two helpers, letting a small smirk 
  cross his face before looking back at Rillwhisper.

Rillwhisper looks from the helpers to Doreel and back again, and finally, 
  distractedly, down to Strongbow when some dream-fragment he sends to her 
  catches her attention.
Rillwhisper says quietly to Doreel, "Alright, well, if you don't want elves to 
  come visit you, that's for you to say, of course. But you might at least 
  talk to your helpers." She keeps her tone unpressing.

Doreel says "It is my grove, my paradise. They have no choice as to whether
  other elves come here."

Rillwhisper smiles a bit, glancing up at Doreel over her shoulder. "Not saying 
  they do. But..." Carefully, she goes on, "Don't you get lonely, having no 
  one to talk to?"

Doreel shrugs, "I have talked enough in my time."
Doreel says "I have my memories..."

Rillwhisper's dark golden eyebrows quirk, then she looks down again, hands 
  moving softly to soothe a fleeting dark frown across Strongbow's face. To 
  Doreel, she says resignedly, "As you wish; I'll not bother you with 
  conversation, then."

Doreel says hastily, but not as though he is trying to get you to keep 
  talking, "I did not say I did not wish to talk now."

Lar rolls a leaf in between his fingers as he watches, then looks back to 
  Lira, murmering.

Lira looks over at Lar, motioning for him to hush, her face obviously the 
  Master might hear

Lar nods slightly, voice lowering further, but still continuing.

For a moment, Rillwhisper keeps her attention on her stricken friend, humming 
  a bit to him, her voice low and husky. In answer to that, Strongbow seems to 
  sigh relievedly, and he shifts towards the little green-eyed elf in her 
  tattered tunic, features settling for the nonce into peace. But when Doreel 
  speaks again, Rillwhisper blinks, and then keeps her tone light, as she 
  answers, "Well... would you like to talk?"

Doreel says "You do not seem to be all that interested in it... unless it is 
  to put bad ideas into their heads."
Doreel points towards Lira and Lar as he tries to switch the wanting 
  'no-conversation' towards Rillwhisper.

Rillwhisper looks round, to be sure Doreel sees her eyes as she speaks. "I'll 
  happily talk with anyone who wants to," she states unruffledly.

Lar blinks and looks surprised. "What?" He flushes, going back to work and 
  letting his voice lower again, embarrased.

Doreel hmms and shrugs slightly and starts to pace again, his gaze does not 
  move off of Rillwhisper.

Lira doesn't speak with Lar for a bit, so sure the Master heard the outburst, 
  however quiet it might have been.
Lira picks up her conversation again, watching the Master and the Rillwhisper 
  closely.

_Tread carefully here, chieftess_, Rillwhisper advises herself. _He's skittish 
  as a new cub._ That thought briefly makes her mouth twist in worry, as her 
  gaze falls on Strongbow's sleeping form; perhaps as if cold, the archer 
  shivers and curls up closer to her. Letting him curl as he will, Rillwhisper 
  strokes his head, humming fragments of song, and waits patiently for Doreel 
  to speak again.

Doreel says "This one is not your mate then?"
Doreel motions towards Strongbow.

Rillwhisper looks up and smiles quietly. "No. My mate Woodhawk looks like him, 
  as much as if they were brothers, though. There's also my mate Trollkiller. 
  Strongbow is my friend..." She pauses, and adds, "And my soul-brother."

Doreel hmms and nods slightly as he gazes off for a moment, towards the land 
  of white cold.

Lira looks over at Doreel, then back at Lar.

Lar starts slightly at something whispered.

Doreel mutters quietly, "I had friends once... brothers... sisters..."

Rillwhisper, still occasionally humming little bits of song to her sleeping 
  friend, studies Doreel, searchingly. "I've got a brother," she offers. "He 
  shapes trees, like you."

Doreel nods and looks around the beauty all around, "He certainly cannot know 
  shaping like this... like what mother told me about."

Lira bites her lower lip as she works, very careful not to pull up the wrong 
  thing while she thinks.

Rillwhisper, after a look to see that Strongbow has quieted, says softly, "My 
  brother is very old... very powerful. He shaped the Holt we live in. But he 
  hasn't done those images, like yours..." She nods towards the great central 
  tree.

Doreel shakes his head, "No... Of course not... he is not my brother..."
Doreel mutters cryptically.

Lira looks down at her belly and back over to Lir. Quickly continuing with her 
  work in the garden.

Rillwhisper, not quite knowing how to answer that, just smiles a bit awkwardly 
  to Doreel. "Tell me about your brother?" she suggests.

Doreel blinks, "Brother?"

Rillwhisper says patiently, "You said you had brothers and sisters?"

Doreel shakes his head, "Like... well... friends... I am Reeya's only child."

Rillwhisper nods softly. Hand resting on Strongbow's sleeping form, she 
  agrees, "You can have brothers that aren't in blood." She then tilts her 
  head, and says, "Tell me of your mother, then?"

Doreel shrugs slightly, "What is to tell?"

"You know that better that I... what would you like to say?" Rillwhisper 
  smiles.

Doreel sends an image of a tall, elven woman... perhaps the perfect example of 
  one. Long, dark hair tied into a loose bun with a pair of braid hoops 
  hanging down the back of her head.
The elf's skin is pale, as if not used to the sun, her green eyes looking 
  around at everything.

Lira looks at Lar and nods emphatically, pulling out a diseased plant no good 
  for the Master or his Helpers.

Lar looks over his shoulder at Doreel, perhaps with some unsurety.

Rillwhisper takes in the image, unconsciously taking in a breath with it. ** 
  Beautiful, ** she sends, simply.

The image changes course suddenly, for the worse, a scream leaves the elf's 
  mouth, a hoarse scream of terror as blood sprays from her front, followed by 
  a flint tipped spear.

Doreel's face contorts with anquish and terror as he sends this.

Lar is perhaps fortuate that he doesn't recieve the send, but looks slightly 
  concerned at Doreel's face. Is the Master 'remembering' again?

Rillwhisper stiffens, listening, and her eyes sadden. Reflexively, she reaches 
  for Strongbow again -- the sending seems to reach him, too, and even as she 
  can't help but blink tears out of her vision, at Doreel's relaying, the elf 
  in her lap demands her attention as well. Hugging Strongbow to her, she 
  watches Doreel again, over the archer's dark head. ** <sorrow> ** she 
  offers, quietly.

Doreel shakes his head, tears streaming down his face.

Lira looks up and sees Doreel, obviously he has been 'remembering' again.

Lar nods slightly to a whisper, then looks back to Lira.

Rillwhisper considers. Does she dare leave Strongbow? She glances down at him, 
  eyes still teary from that anguished sending, then up at Doreel. ** I'm so 
  sorry, ** she sendmurmurs.

Doreel cuts the send off suddenly, "It is over now."

Rillwhisper lowers the hand she'd started to lift, perhaps thinking to offer 
  it to Doreel. She nods, awkwardly. "I know elves who have lost kin to the 
  Tall Ones. I've lost tribe to them, before."

Lira looks at Lar and shrugs, her eyes darting back to Doreel and the 
  Rillwhisper.

Doreel shakes his head, "It is different."

Lar blinks as Doreel pulls himself out of his remembering, then looks back at 
  Lira, possibly with some excitement.

Rillwhisper casts a worried glance down to Strongbow, and says softly, "He 
  lost a cub to them, he told me, once."

Lira nods excitedly though keeping her voice very very low.

Strongbow's sleep-self, melting in dreams from youth to elder, as often out of 
  time with his battles, losses, and exultations as with them, seems to 
  register something solid. His form shifts slightly near Rillwhisper, brow 
  creasing.

Lar looks over at Doreel, looking slightly meek. "Master...are going to heal 
  the Other? Needs be healed...otherwise preserver poison will kill..."

Doreel says "It is still not a mother... a father... a large number of the 
  ones who first came here. The loss was great."

Rillwhisper blinkblinks. "You said... your mother told you of... TImmain."

Doreel glances over at Lar briefly and shakes his head, and then back at 
  Rillwhisper and nods quietly.
Doreel says "She was the only one who did not seem to be effected by this 
  world at first... before the crash."

Lira watches Doreel's response to Lar and frowns though she does not pause in 
  tending to the section Lar had just worked in.

Rillwhisper continues gravely, "We... the Wolfriders... remember Timmain, too. 
  And we remember the loss of the High Ones....." Her eyes have widened a bit, 
  as she remembers -- Doreel, it seems, is bogglingly old.

Lar looks disturbed, but doesn't want to interrupt any more than he has to. 
  Still, his soft voice slips out, just briefly. "Please?" He then goes 
  hurriedly back to work.

Doreel blinks and peers at Rillwhisper, "You are only a child though," he 
  holds his hand down at Rillwhisper's height, "Little more."
Doreel says "I do not know how you could remember her."

Rillwhisper nibbles her lip, considering again. And allows, "I'm very young, I 
  know... but... we've got the stories, in my tribe, of Timmain." She drops 
  her voice, reverently, looking up at Doreel's face as she finishes. "She is 
  how our tribe began." _Dare_ she tell him that Timmain -- at least, to hear 
  Cutter's tribe tell it -- is still alive?

The archer's eyes narrow, yet still closed. His breathing catches once, and 
  for a moment, his sending flutters open upon a brown-eyed face, less lined 
  than his own, framed in brown locks of swirls. The huge gaze blinks, almost 
  violet in a strike of moonlight, and bends, lengthens, wolfish. The skin 
  pales and the hair becomes pure starlight-colored wind, and eyes that show 
  the stars they've seen. Like bowstring singing, his mind closes with a 
  start, and his face relaxes, almost consciously so.

Doreel nods slightly, "I suppose if I remember... then others must also..."

You sense in a locksend, Strongbow reaches slightly out. ** Runnel. ** Yet it 
  is the archer's elder mind that calls, almost for help.

Rillwhisper starts, looking down suddenly at Strongbow.
Rillwhisper murmurs, "Archer....?"

You locksend to Strongbow, Rillwhisper immediately answers you, but coaxes, ** 
  It's Rillwhisper... I'm here. I'm here. **

Doreel glances down at Strongbow.

Rillwhisper breathes, "Does he wake?" Uncertainly, she touches his face.

Lira smiles to Lar, hoping to make him do so, though also fearful for him as 
  well.

You sense in a locksend, Strongbow tries to grasp that. In his mind, you are 
  Runnel...he vaguely remembers another place he has been, green and gentle, 
  which he thought was safe...he remembers a flash of a chieftain's lock on 
  tossing golden hair, fading into memory. ** Rillwhisper, ** he collects, at 
  last. ** Place-time...lost. Every Now is Now. ** For a moment, he is -- at 
  least in intonation -- coherent, saying what he means to say.
Strongbow's brow creases again, as if in concentration, and his lashes flutter.

Lar smiles at the waking elf before turning back towards Lira.

Lira looks over towards the Other in the Rillwhisper's lap and nods.

You locksend to Strongbow, Rillwhisper sends gently, wistfully, ** I'm 
  Rillwhisper now, my friend... it's alright..... **
Rillwhisper smiles, tremulously, when Strongbow stirs.

Lar runs his hands along the garden soil, as if searching for some other 
  excuse to stay here and mutter, though the garden is weeded.

Doreel stands, watching quietly.

Strongbow's countenance relaxes, his eyes slowly cracking open into the 
  glade's gentle light.

You locksend to Strongbow, Rillwhisper, hoping to allay your confusion, sends 
  soothingly, ** You're still sick, my friend... just take it easy... stay 
  with me... **
Rillwhisper can't help it. She beams, relieved. "With me, archer?" she murmurs 
  huskily.

Strongbow sends, murkily, in a tone just a little too youthish, ** 
  Rillwhisper. ** For a moment he seems unable to place the word, then nods 
  very slightly at the face his eyes finally register.

Rillwhisper breathes, softly, "Rillwhisper. Yes. How do you feel?"

Strongbow frowns inwardly, expression slight. ** Falling...hunt... ** Still 
  for a moment in one thought-time, his sensations are unfirm, and his clarity 
  brief.

Lar stands slightly, wiping the dirt off his hands before squatting at the 
  garden again. "Master...the Strong-bow awake. You heal now, yes?"

Doreel glances towards Lar, somewhat surprised at his vocalness.

Lira watches with averted eyes, not sure what Master will do.

Rillwhisper flicks Doreel a glance, not daring to beg such a thing of him, but 
  hoping his helpers can talk him into it. She carefully lifts Strongbow a 
  bit, so he can see his surroundings better... as well as Doreel.

Doreel looks towards Strongbow, his gaze moves away for a moment, "You went 
  against what I ask Rillwhisper."

Lar watches over his shoulder, trying not to be obtrusive about it.

Strongbow growls weakly at the movement, head swirling and sending fading. He 
  catches sight of Doreel, and stares for a moment, trying to grasp the idea.

Rillwhisper looks more fully at Doreel now, and says quietly, "I explained 
  why."

Lira tugs at Lars vest, making as if to say something for his ears only.

Lar looks back over at her.

Doreel shakes his head slightly, turning away, so not looking directly towards 
  Strongbow or Rillwhisper's look.

Rillwhisper steadies Strongbow, propping him against her shoulder, giving him 
  something to lean against. "This is Doreel, Strongbow," she says, 
  enunciating clearly, hoping that'll make him understand her better.

Strongbow's expression doesn't change, but one thing in wordless sending comes 
  through: he's been talked to, and can't quite figure why. Voice almost a 
  growl and halting with unuse, sleep, and instability, he repeats, "Doreel?"

Rillwhisper sighs to herself, as Doreel turns away. Well, _that_ looks like a 
  no. She cannot, she thinks, press the clearly ancient healer into doing a 
  healing if he doesn't want it. So she looks back down at her companion, and 
  nods to him, sending assent. "He healed me."

Doreel mutters, "Twice. After she continuously went against what I asked her 
  not to do."

Suspecting it would not be prudent to argue whether she was asked or ordered, 
  Rillwhisper does not remark on Doreel's comment, but focuses instead on the 
  muddled archer. ** Talk to me, Strongbow. Do you need water? Food? **

Doreel looks towards Lar and Lira, nodding at them, as if telling them to get 
  the other elf food, he mutters, "Food," he nods at towards the two elves.

Strongbow sends vague assent, not a request, nor even really a statement of 
  need so much as a recollection of having wanted those things before. He 
  tries to keep a focus on Doreel, scenting tensely at the air.

Rillwhisper agrees quietly to Strongbow, ** You'll need to eat, to get your 
  strength back. ** More privately, she sends again to him....

Lar nods, standing and brushing himself off, scurrying off to get the elves 
  some food.

You locksend to Strongbow, Rillwhisper hugs you to her in her thoughts, again 
  providing that beacon of stable consciousness. ** You're going to stay with 
  me, right, my friend? We have to get you better. But you're going to have to 
  help me, alright? **

Lira dusts herself off and follows after Lar, a bit slower, but just as intent 
  on following the Masters order

You sense in a locksend, Strongbow agrees, swirlingly, distracted...

Lira climbs up the winding stairs around the tree, and then moves inside.
Lira has left.
Lira walks down the stairs from the heart of the tree.
Lira has arrived.

Rillwhisper, her brow furrowing in determined concentration -- Doreel or no 
  Doreel, she won't let Strongbow die -- continues to send, on many levels, 
  not sure which ones will get through best. ** I need you to pay attention to 
  my sending, alright? ** she coaxes the archer.

Strongbow locksends to Doreel, Strongbow tries to gather up the piercing 
  clarity he knows he can possess, and fires it at you; the send swirls a bit, 
  but stays mostly together. ** Healer. **

Doreel turns and looks towards Strongbow with an eyebrow raised.

Lira walks towards Master with a bowl of some vegetation for food along with 
  another one with water. She waits for him to allow her to approach the 
  Others.

Strongbow's eyes darken and glitter brownly; if the archer had more strength, 
  he might let a smile tug at the edges of his lips as much as it does at the 
  corners of his eyes. He sends vague agreement at Rillwhisper, 
  and...approval? at Doreel.

You locksend to Strongbow, Rillwhisper tugs at you, with all the earnest hope 
  of little Runnel and her treasured stream-rocks, but with the command of 
  grown Rillwhisper. ** Good. Stay with me. ** She threads all of her love of 
  you into that sending.

Doreel nods at Lira.

Strongbow locksends to Doreel, Strongbow gathers another effort, pleased with 
  any reaction. ** Send. ** It is a request, unflavored, not an order nor even a
  preference. His mind swirls, faces swirling elf and wolf, and he loses the
  contact.

Doreel shakes his head towards Strongbow, "No."

Lira with bowl in hand, she takes a deep breath and tugs on Doreels clothing, 
  her eyes asking for permission to go forward with the food and water.

Rillwhisper blinks, then, realizing Strongbow must be sending at the tall elf, 
  and her brow furrows again. Well, that's something -- keep him conscious, 
  keep him thinking. And something else, she remembers, needs to be done. 
  Seeing Lira with water and food, she turns Strongbow's head, very slightly, 
  so he can see her too.

Doreel looks down at Lira, anything to not look towards Strongbow, "Yes Lira, 
  go ahead and give it to them."

You locksend ** Soul-brother... dear one... I need you to do something. Very 
  simple. Just say whether you want water or food first. Can you do that? ** 
  to Strongbow.

Lira moves slowly towards the two Others on the ground. She sets the food next 
  to the Rillwhisper and the water next to that. Smiling briefly she turns ad 
  goes abck to the garden.

Rillwhisper smiles to Lira, gratefully. "Thank you, little one..."

You sense in a locksend, Strongbow's mind swirls, lost for a breath to the 
  task of trying to think two things at once. ** Send, ** he offers, as if in 
  repetition, and a moment later, ** Runnel... **
Strongbow closes his eyes for a moment, struggling with concentration. After a 
  moment, he sends, with clarity, ** Water. **

Lira, walking by Lar, motions for him to go back to the garden with her. 
  Hoping he'll understand and follow.

You locksend ** <wistfully> I... I'm not Runnel, anymore, brother. I'm 
  Rillwhisper now. Remember.... ** to Strongbow.

Rillwhisper beams, then, and reaches for the water bowl, bringing it up for 
  the archer to drink from.

Lar nods, coming back over to the garden after passing his load of food to the 
  elves.

Doreel mutters quietly and shakes his head against Strongbow, "No..." He says 
  more vehemently as he quietly wanders off.

Lira watches Doreel walk away muttering to himself. She frowns and turns to 
  Lar.

Strongbow opens his eyes at the movement, then parts his lips to sip from the 
  bowl, watching the old elf leave his line of vision. Once Doreel is out of 
  sight, the effort of keeping his eyes open at all seems more than he can 
  spare, and he closes them once more.

Rillwhisper smiles down at Strongbow, pleased, and doesn't move the water 
  anyway until he gives her some sign that he's had enough.

You locksend ** Good... good! I _know_ you can get better, bold one...! ** to 
  Strongbow.

Strongbow swallows slowly, even thoughtfully, perhaps just a bit too much, and 
  sends gentle thanks, perhaps just a bit too gentle.

Lar nods, standing up from the garden, then looking to where Doreel had gone. 
  He almost looks fearful.

Rillwhisper, however, will take what she can get. She leans over a bit to peer 
  at the other bowl Lira brought, and wrinkles her nose a bit -- mostly 
  greens, she sees. Can she get the archer to eat what he's liable to think of 
  as ravvit food?

Lira urges Lar standing also.

Rillwhisper reaches over with her free hand to riffle through the bowl, and 
  she calls over to Lira, "Is there meat in this....?"

Strongbow's nose wrinkles slightly, mind rocking a bit.

Lira moves towards the Rillwhisper, urging Lar along as well. "No meat. Lar 
  bring back you when going for meat"

Puckernuts. Well, _she_ is hungry, so she takes a leaf or three herself, and 
  chews on them thoughtfully, to test their taste. Her Wolfrider stomach is 
  unimpressed, and her gaze uncertain as she sends.

You locksend ** They don't have meat yet, Strongbow, just greens. I know you 
  won't like it, but you need to eat something. Can you eat for me? ** to 
  Strongbow.

Strongbow slits one eye and growls very slightly in a less-dry throat than 
  before.
You sense in a locksend, Strongbow sends, sounding neither like elder nor like 
  cub but more like he might if talking to a wolf in the hunt, ** Some. Fill 
  belly. **

You locksend to Strongbow, Rillwhisper accepts that, and again mentally 
  nuzzles you, sending approval, and encouragement. Stay. Think with her. Be 
  with her. You can do it, archer.
Rillwhisper reaches for the greens again, but thinks better of bringing the 
  whole bowl up. Rather, she takes a bit at a time, and carefully offers them 
  to the archer in her arms.

Lar walks over. He looks confused at the 'meat' comment, then shakes his head, 
  mind obviously on something else.

Strongbow opens his eyes more fully and reaches slightly forward, realizing 
  with a wince just how difficult it is to move, to nip a leaf from his 
  companion's hand. He chews, making a disgusted but tolerant face.

You locksend ** <ruefully> It's not much, but it'll keep us going, and you and 
  I both need it. We'll hunt later, I promise. But you have to get better 
  first. She lingers on the edge of your mind, sending continual low-level 
  encouragment of coherence, of stability, and awareness. ** to Strongbow.
Rillwhisper's eyes lighten, even as she remembers with a shiver how the venom 
  seemed to weight her down, keeping her from moving, too, as if encasing her 
  in... no. She won't allow herself to dwell on that, not when the archer 
  needs her. She feeds him slowly, as many of the leafy bits and roots that he 
  can handle, looking for the slightest trace of "no more, thanks" in his 
  expression.

Lar wanders over to Rillwhisper. "The Rillwhisper...help the Master?" He looks 
  over towards where Doreel vanished again, his voice slightly low.

You sense in a locksend, Strongbow grasps slightly to the concept of "hunt," 
  and his mind rollicks in sickening slow-motion through a handful of hunts, 
  from cub-play to stripling to young lad to grown elf to elder. Remembering 
  rolling with wolf-fur and wolf-tongue after a good chase, something flickers 
  in his grasp of when Now is. A wolfcub...the face is unclear.
Strongbow swallows, having finished chewing for a while, and takes more 
  leaves, absent-mindedly.

Rillwhisper looks over Strongbow's curled form to Lar. "I'm not sure I can, 
  Lar," she says, heavily. "What help does he need?"

Lar takes a deep breath. "The Master 'remembers' more now...might not stop 
  next time. Had to hit him to stop last time. If stop, preservers come. Kill 
  Master, kill Lar, kill Lira and baby."

You locksend to Strongbow, Rillwhisper, when the little helper speaks to her, 
  can't help but lose some of her attention on you. But nevertheless, she 
  offers you a reference point, her Now. You, the bearded elder and skilled 
  hunter; she, the Willowholt chieftess.
Rillwhisper frowns. "Wait... Doreel keeps the spid -- the 'preservers' out?"

Lar nods. "Yes. Sometimes they come, but Lar..." He grins, looking proud of 
  himself. "I make them go away. Or I kill."

Strongbow closes his mouth on, apparently, the last leaf he can bear, perhaps 
  listening, perhaps losing part of himself in dreams again.

Rillwhisper blinks. Lar, too, it seems, is brighter than Doreel believes. 
  Impressed by that "I", she says gravely, "What... does your master do, when 
  he remembers?"
You locksend to Strongbow, Rillwhisper holds that Now, for you, as if in one 
  hand, and holding you with the other. But her attention lessens, as Lar 
  presents her with his problem.

Lira stands beside Lar, saying nothing, though she looks a bit proud to have 
  gotten Lar over here to help Master.

Lar shrugs, returning to his more slumped position. "Master says names of 
  dead...sees dead...talks to dead...doesn't eat, doesn't sleep...just...
  'remembers.'"

Rillwhisper munches a few more of the leaves, herself, but it doesn't take her 
  long to give up on the contents of the bowl as well. In the meantime, she 
  listens to Lar, and finally says, worriedly, "I'm... not a healer. I can't 
  fix his mind." She eyes Strongbow, momentarily, sadly. "I know where other 
  healers are, but Doreel said he didn't want me to bring them here."

Lar shakes his head quickly. "Not need fix head. Need move. Need get Others. 
  If Others are around, the Master not remember so much...maybe not remember 
  again." He looks towards Lira. "Preservers kill if Master stops. Kill Lira 
  and baby, maybe kill Lar too..."

You locksend to Strongbow, Rillwhisper belatedly and hastily realizes she's 
  flagging in her mental support, and sends, ** With me, still, soul-brother? 
  **
Rillwhisper blinks, suddenly, utterly distracted. "Baby? Lira has a baby?"
You locksend ** <A moment of distraction, a void.> ** to Strongbow.

Strongbow's eyes open. ** Cub? **

Lar shakes his head, pointing at Lira. "Is in her." His hand drops.

Several emotions play across Rillwhisper's face. "A cub," she murmurs, then 
  giggles a little. She looks between Lar and Lira, then smiles, and promises, 
  "I'll do what I can... for you and your Master and the baby. My tribe... my 
  Others... are going to come find me."

Lira smiles and pats her slightly rounded belly. "Have baby soon. Want baby 
  live, preservers catch, kill eat babies, like Preservers catch kill eat 
  Master if Master forgets to quit remembering.

Strongbow closes his eyes again, the moment passed.

Rillwhisper confides to Lira, "I've had a baby before... I want another one. 
  And I don't want the, um, Preservers to keep me from doing that, either. So 
  I'll try to help."

Lira for a moment looks sad, as if she too has had many before now, all of 
  which are gone to the Preservers.

[Log break here, since Rillwhisper's player had to log off.]