Date: Wed, 2 Aug 95 10:21:10 PDT Subject: LOG: Kevlan and Berni's Trip to Estenar, Part 8 [Intro]: Kevlan Sharr and Bernadette have set off into the hills surrounding Bremany and the Sharr farmstead - the same hills which, according to local legend, are notorious for "not liking to be disturbed." To add to the mystery, young Fanna Sharr has worriedly informed her uncle and his fiancee that they are "gonna git lost" in the hills, but that nevertheless they _must_ go, since Kevlan has to find his voice again. Thinking the same, Kevlan and Bernadette have borrowed the Sharr family skimmer for their trip. And although the pair of Crystal Singers have no information on anything resembling a particular destination, Kevlan seems to be following some sort of inner instinct, which guides him to a high mountain meadow. From there, the pair have scouted into the surrounding trees, and from the top of one of these, Bernadette has spotted a gleam of light off in the distance.... ---------- Bernadette tips her head back to assess whether she can...and should...climb any higher in hopes of a better view. The tree in which Bernadette is crouched is a sturdy one... but higher up, the trunk narrows, and the branches twine almost netlike with their immediate neighbors. With a sigh, Berni begins her descent. Bits of moss and bark rain softly down on Kevlan's head, having been dislodged by her feet. Kevlan waits, patiently, though his blue eyes are alert and curious. He doesn't call after Berni to ask about her progress; he's seen her climb far worse things on Ballybran, after all. Nor does he seem particularly troubled by falling bracken, though he ducks his head slightly to avoid getting it in his eyes. Once Bernadette is on the ground again, Kevlan asks, still using the same hushed tone he had back at the house as if he's reluctant to speak any louder, "See anythin', honey?" Bernadette, having jumped the last six feet or so to the ground, brushes her hands off on her pants and looks up earnestly at Kevlan. "I saw something...shiny...off between those two hills..." she points in their direction, "...in a valley." Kevlan blinks, then considers this. "Ain't nobody livin' up heah... " Bernadette thinks and shrugs. "Couldn't make out what it was...might have been water...might have been someone else's skimmer..." She shrugs again helplessly. "We c'n try t' do a flyby in th' skimmer, Ah s'pose... see if we c'n git closah... " Bernadette considers this and nods. "I guess it couldn't hurt to check it out. It's not like we have much idea of where we're going to stick to a time schedule." She smiles at Kevlan. This plan is readily put into action, and the two Singers return to the skimmer. Kevlan pauses at its hatch, glancing at the woods almost regretfully, as if slightly troubled by the notion of leaving. But he does not hesitate long. And within minutes, the craft is once more aloft. Kevlan points the skimmer in the direction Bernadette indicates, flying in low and slow over the treetops. The hills are nestled closely together here, providing little enough space for the craft to navigate, and as the sun climbs higher in the sky, enough of a wind picks up that the skimmer bucks slightly on its course. Kevlan frowns at this, but keeps the vehicle level as he flies in a careful search pattern. Below, little can be seen except more of the tightly knit canopy of treetops. Only a slight dip in the even green expanse suggests a dip of the land down between the two hills - until the skimmer curves round one of the hills to find a third quite abruptly blocking further progress in that direction. Kevlan blurts out a startled exclamation and noses the skimmer up, fast enough to demonstrate that the skill with which he pilots the _Teesa Narie_ is reawakening with the practice. "Whew... " Kevlan frowns down out the side viewport as he nudges the skimmer skyward, then glances at his sweetheart. "Was it down theah you saw th' light, honey?" Bernadette doesn't look the least bit shaken by Kevlan's evasive maneuvering. She's squinting out the viewport, her brown eyes scanning the treetops carefully. She doesn't answer the question immediately and pauses to check their bearing. Finally she admits "I thought it was down here...but I don't see a break in the trees' canopy...." Angling the skimmer around for another pass, Kevlan frowns, and murmurs, "We might have t' go in on foot.... meadow's th' only landin' spot Ah saw neah, though.... " Bernadette peers down at the tree tops. "Well," she begins slowly, "We could try to force our way down, but I don't reckon that would go over very well with the forest itself." She looks over her shoulder and smiles at Kevlan, indicating that her last comment was made in jest. Kevlan blinks at Berni a bit, then smiles lopsidedly. But his eyes are solemn, like Fanna's had been that morning. "Prob'ly not a good ideah," he agrees. Turning a little more serious, she continues, "We can either go back to the meadow and walk in, sure. Only other option would be tricky and one that wouldn't be very desirable to any of the parties involved." She gives a little shrug. Bringing the skimmer around for another slow pass, Kevlan peers down out the side airshield, asking over his shoulder, "What, climbin' down that cliff theah? We ain't got climbin' geah... " Bernadette blinks and then chuckles. "Well, I hadn't even thought of that." She grins at her fiancee, her voice tinged with embarassment, "I was thinking get down as close to the treetops as you could and I'd jump out onto the canopy and climb down to the ground." She blushes. "Your idea sounds more likely." She eyes the cliff and asks Kev to fly in a little closer for her to get a better look. "Um, yeah, honey, Ah'd rather not letcha jump down theah...! Symbiont might fix your legs if you busted 'em, but not fast 'nough that we wouldn't hafta explain t' mah folks...!" Kevlan pales a bit as he speaks, as if unnerved by the idea, and with apparently eager haste directs the skimmer as Berni requests. As her eyes scan the rocky cliff-face, Bernadette mumbles "Wasn't plannin' on fallin'...," unconsciously affecting a much milder version of the Sharr drawl. She continues her scrutinizing appraisal of the cliff. Kevlan doesn't appear to notice the softening of Berni's accent, but just smiles crookedly. "Ah know, sweetie... jes' shouldn't take no chances, if we don't hafta. Ah ain't figgered out yet how t' tell Pa 'bout what th' symbiont gives us... " At this, Bernadette frowns and looks at Kevlan, the cliff face momentarily forgotten. "D'you think it's wise to tell him? Or any of your kin? It's one thing to admit to being able to see Fanna's starlight... he already thinks I'm a witch or something..." "Aww, honey... Pa's jes' kinda nervous. See... folks like Fanna... ain't really known offa Estenar. Or heck, even outside these parts 'round heah." Kevlan sends the skimmer into a slow glide as he speaks. "Ah guess... hearin' you talk 'bout Fanna glowin' shook 'im up some." Bernadette looks unconvinced, as she sidles her glance back out the viewscreen. "Well, I'd think it'd really shake him up if he were to know about our healin' properties...not to mention enhanced strength." She chuckles suddenly and quips "Bet it would be interestin' for me to arm wrestle your pa, Danyel and Morten, though." She grins at Kevlan. "All at once," Kevlan says with a laugh, as he keeps the skimmer on a course that lets Bernadette inspect the ridge as easily as possible. After doing so, Bernadette shrugs. "It doesn't look that bad." She points to a number of ridges. "Plenty of hand and footholds." Looking at Kev with a wry grin, she declares "We've scaled worse before...without climbing gear." Peering down thoughtfully as Berni directs, Kevlan nods; the ridge isn't nearly as daunting as a lot of rock faces Singers desperate to find crystal have braved on Ballybran. "We could prob'ly free-climb down... you wanna try it, or walk in from th' meadah?" Bernadette chuckles and looks over at Kev, a teasing glint in her eye. "Now, which do _you_ think I'll choose?" Still, grinning, she folds her arms across her chest and leans back against the frame of the skimmer. He giggles a little, and nods, and angles the skimmer up to the top of the ridge. It doesn't take too long before he finds a suitably clear place in which to land it... and not very long before the two Singers can get out and peer down the side of the rock face. Doing so, Kevlan announces succintly, "Well, Ah better not carry mah gitar down thattaway." Bernadette stands near the edge of the cliff, gazing down into the valley and at the rough surface of the cliff's wall. She nods in agreement. "I reckon it'd be best to leave it up here...unless you're sure you're not gonna fall and break it." She looks around at Kevlan now with a little sigh, "If we had a gravitational lift, we could just float it down. Or if we had a really long rope..." she stops as she recalls the coil of rope that was among the parcel of provisions Orynn and Tammany had prepared. "How long is that coil we got? Maybe we can lower it down?" Kevlan looks taken aback momentarily, as he considers. Then he grins a little, and asks sheepishly, "You think Ah really oughtta bring it? Ah-Ah mean... Ah jes' kinda grabbed it at th' time, but Ah dunno if Ah was really thinkin'... " He glances back at the skimmer, eyebrows drawn together in thought. With a smile, Bernadette scampers back to the skimmer to withdraw Kevlan's gitar and dig the coil of rope out of the parcel. Returning to her sweetheart's side, she grins up at him. "I've noticed that you find it easier to sing when you can accompany yourself on your gitar." "Well, uh, yeah... " Kevlan sheepishly watches her remove the gitar from its case, uncertainly. "So why not bring it down? Just in case." She sets about tying one end of the rope securely about the neck of the gitar. "If we do find what we're lookin' for, I certainly don't wanna climb all the way back up here just for the gitar." She finished tying off the knot and looks up at her love, grinning. "That's true, Ah guess," Kevlan allows. He casts a glance back to the skimmer, then shrugs and gingerly takes the gitar. After a moment's consideration he slings the instrument's strap over his shoulder, settling the gitar, stringed side in, against his back. Another moment, and he twines the rope about himself, to help secure the gitar. Seeing Bernadette eye him questioningly, he clarifies, "Don't wanna bang 'er on th' rocks. 'Sides... this'll leave mah hands free." Bernadette grins and nods approvingly. "Just be careful not to fall... if you feel yourself slippin', grab onto my foot or whatever." She chuckles ruefully, "Of course, that might not help too much, and might end with us both fallin', but..." She shrugs, sobering some. "I'd rather we both go than just one of us." She shivers a little at the thought, as she peers once more over the edge of the cliff. "Aww, honey, well, you an' Ah're both less breakable than th' gitar." Kevlan giggles a little, and with that, crouches down, finds a foothold, and begins to make his way down the side of the ridge. After a moment or two his voice sails up from below, "C'mon, Berni, Ah think we c'n handle this... jes' take it slow... " As Bernadette follows Kevlan over the side, the going _is_ slow, but not too unnerving. Kevlan periodically yells up locations of good handholds and footholds; his fair head provides a provides a marker for where to descend next, as Bernadette makes her way after him. Under grasping fingers and carefully placed boot-shod feet, the rocks are jagged and occasionally slip, but neither Singer finds the going any worse than anything they've encountered on Ballybran. At last, breathless, covered in sweat, and with aching palms, Kevlan and Bernadette find themselves at the bottom of the ridge. There is a boundary of perhaps three meters of clear space along the cliff before the trees dominate the surrounding area: tall trees, like the ones around the meadow, ancient, gnarled, and twined about with innumerable vines. The air here is thick and humid, and filled with a recurring, but difficult to pinpoint, floral scent.... [End log.]