"Tales of Timmain" Log Date: 3/12/99 Log Cast: Joy, Vale, Rillwhisper, Wayfound (emitted by Rillwhisper), Summit (emitted by Joy) Log Intro: Now that Summit has been born to Joy and Vale, the Willowholt abounds in cubs. There's little Summit, but there's also Midnight, the son of Dusk... and Wayfound, the daughter of the chieftess, who has recently stunned her tribesmates by beginning to talk. With a vengeance. The cubling has an adult's vocabulary--and apparently an adult's intellect--for all that she hasn't managed to get the hang of an adult's pronunciation yet. Stunned by her loquacious, clever offspring, Rillwhisper has striven so far to keep up with her as best she can. But as it turns out, the sire of Joy's new son has had experiences in his past that can throw even the redoubtable Wayfound for a loop, and amuse and astonish her mother as well.... ---------- Clearing by the Old Willow(#123RHJ) Here in the heart of the Willowholt, the air is thick with the scents of the Newgreen -- regardless of season. Green growing things crowd the clearing, from the myriad bright 'mushrooms' hiding among tall shoots of grass, to dreamberry bushes sandwiched between the trees, to the mighty, massive 'Old Willow' that dominates everything in sight. A fallen 'log' under the Old Willow's branches provides a place to sit; a gurgling 'fountain' provides a constant song of water. Amidst the almost overwhelming weight of Newgreen scents, the air, to elfin senses, is alive with magic. Immediately to the northeast, overlooked by the mighty willow, lies a small pond; to the southeast, south, and west, paths to the Holt's more secluded parts; to the east, the distant marshes. The sun is rising over the green Holt, climbing towards the zenith. Mother Moon is a barely visible crescent as light fills the hot summer skies. Contents: Wayfound Silversong Prowlfar(#39Jaes) Fallberry(#111IMOQV$j) Obvious exits: Branch Old Willow Hillside Path Starwillow Copse Marsh Pond Joy A calm and thoughtful elf, she has matured before her parents' eyes into the maiden you see before you. Her frame is tall like her father's, yet a tad on the skinny side. Black hair hangs long and in loose curls around her pale face, framing large eyes of a clear violet color. She dons a simple dress. Soft and shimmering, the color of violets in the spring, the color of her eyes. A rather short dress with a W shaped neckline and brief sleeves, it hugs to her mature figure, complimenting it nicely. She is crowned with a green and purple headband designed in abstract but organic looking patterns threaded through with black. It holds her hair at bay, with the exception of one small wisp allowed to dangle freely in her face. A trademark she has taken from her father. Vale Vale is a young elf of slightly unusual proportions, with broad shoulders and a slender waist. Dark eyes flash from beneath a wild array of bangs pushed back over a colorful, intricate leather braided headband. His hair is a rich dark brown, thick and long enough to fall just below his shoulderblades; his expressions and movements are wolfish, feral, but not ungraceful. He wears an unusual shirt that somehow matches his form, created from something that shimmers rainbow, dancing with the light. It is tucked into thin leather leggings, tan and perfect for warm weather. On his neck hangs a necklace of gold, three white claws hanging against his chest. His hair is quite wild over the headband, and it looks like this lad has gone quite to nature recently. Joy slips into view from the past to the west, stretching and mid-yawn. Joy takes a few more steps into the clearing and pauses to rub her eyes. She murmurs softly, "I think I know why Wolfriders sleep so much." Vale arrives from the side of the Old Willow. Vale has arrived. Vale quietly pads through the greenery. In the middle of the clearing, at least, is one Wolfrider who isn't asleep -- Rillwhisper, looking a bit ragged around the edges, for Wayfound is wide awake and showering her mother with a veritable torrent of words. "But _Mother_," the cub is piping, "why did you bring the Preservers home to begin with...?" A chuckle is heard from Joy's general direction as she pauses to glance over at the other new cub in the holt. Another yawn escapes her lips and she smiles, just shaking her head. Vale walks quietly over Joy and touches her hair gently, silent still. Rillwhisper, sitting on the grass before her tiny daughter, blinks and looks up drowsily at the pair entering the clearing. "Joy, Vale," she greets each, her voice husky with her lack of slumber. "They just don't make sense," Wayfound goes on anxiously, "putting the wrapstuff on everything, and--" The little elfling cuts off in mid-sentence -- a rather prodigious feat, from what she's been demonstrating to her tribesmates the past season or so -- and swivels her puff-flower head about to follow her mother's gaze. "Hello, Joy, Hello, Vale!" she pipes politely. Vale nods back, settling down beside Joy. Joy slowly turns her head to smile tiredly at her mate, a look of relief passing at a send. "I think as soon as Mother awakes, I'm going to apologize to her, profusely." She smirks and glances back to mother and daughter in the clearing, a hand grasping Vale's. She begins walking toward the two, stifling yet another yawn. "Hello, pretty one." She grins a bit and then nods with a smirk to Rill. Vale smiles silently, lead without complaint. He has a quiet air of distraction about him, though not at anything in particular. Wayfound bobs her head at the two newcomers and inquires, "Perhaps you know why Preservers put wrapstuff all over everything? Mother says that she never got a good answer out of any of the Preservers here, but maybe you have talked to them?" "Wayfound," Rillwhisper puts in dryly, "woke me up to get wrapstuff off a squirrel-hole." Vale says quietly in a low, rumbling tone, "Because they were told to." Joy settles down beside Rill, not without ruffling the hair of the little cubling. She chuckles at the posed question. About to answer, she pauses and looks to Rillwhisper with a sympathetic expression. "I've never much cared for preservers, myself. That's a good question, though, Wayfound." She turns again to regard the little Rill-cub. Joy glances to Vale, curiousity piqued. Joy locksends ** Summit -just- fell asleep, finally. And this is your second cub. Poor thing. ** "Mother's hands are bigger than mine," Wayfound explains wisely, "and she has a knife." By way of visual aid, the cub holds up her miniscule hands, and then peers at them critically, as if taking stock of how long it will be before they match her dam's in size. But Vale's proferred comment immediately distracts her, and she pins the older elf with a sharply intent gaze entirely too old for her toddler face. "Who told them?" she asks, her ambergreen gaze brightening with unmistakable interest. Rillwhisper murmurs wryly towards Vale, "You're in for it now, cousin." And she flicks a lopsided grin at Joy. Vale smiles a little and glances skyward. He says nothing for a moment, looking at Wayfound then says, "Who would they listen to?" You locksend ** She makes about five of No-fur, from what I remember of when _he_ was that size. I've started wondering if she _ever_ sleeps. ** to Joy. Joy blinks a bit, her own gaze rising up to the sky. Joy locksends ** They'll be wonderful playmates, I'm sure. ** Wayfound starts to pop her thumb into her mouth, and then gives her own hand another critical look, deciding against it; it's difficult to talk around your thumb, after all, and she hasn't gotten down the knack of sending yet! Her wee brow crinkles in thought, and then she finally muses aloud, "I would think it would be the High Ones. That seems the best possibility." If she sees anything particularly odd about her words being delivered with imperfect pronunication and an impossibly high childlike voice, the cub gives no sign of it. Vale nods quietly, more a bowing of the head. Joy furrows a brow and turns her gaze to the cubling a moment, then to Rill. She chuckles again, "She doesn't miss a beat, does she?" the question is posed to the mother. You locksend ** Between your boycub and Dusk's, I hope one of 'em can remind her it's all right to _play_. ** to Joy. Rillwhisper grins her lopsided grin again; the Wolfbringer is eying her daughter with a measure of wonder. "At least I know she's been paying attention when I tell her her sleep-time tales," she says dryly. Joy locksends ** I'm not so sure about my cub. He's ...he reminds me of Simmel. ...when he was younger. That is. ** "Well, of _course_ I pay attention," Wayfound pipes, affronted. "I learn most of my words from you, Mother." But then the cub promptly swivels her head back to Vale and goes on intently, "Why did the High Ones tell the Preservers to make wrapstuff?" Joy smiles inwardly and glances between inquisitor and her mate. "Perhaps I'll tell you what Timmain told me," says Vale with a faraway smile, "when I'm not watching Summit." Wayfound blinks, looking momentarily nonplussed; this, too, is something of a prodigious feat for this cub. She peers at Vale, who seems to have no sign of the boycub about his person. She peers at Joy; ditto. Just to be certain that the other cub hasn't somehow come into the clearing when she wasn't looking, the small girl swings a glance all around her; still no Summit. "Strange," the chieftain's daughter breathes, mispronouncing her 'R'. But there are _two_ oddities in those words of Vale's, and she decides for the moment to explore the other one. Toddletrotting closer to Vale, she goes on, "I know who Timmain is! She talked to you?" Rillwhisper, for that matter, knows who Timmain is too, and also noted Vale's mention of watching his obvioiusly absent son. And she lifts her dark golden eyebrows, intrigued. Vale nods, glancing downward, all matter-of-fact. Vale's knowlege of cubs is extremely limited, so he seems to be treating them like short adults. "For a winter. Maybe more." Joy nods a bit and sighs, glancing to the west and up, momentarily. Well, as far as Wayfound is concerned, she _is_ a short adult. Vale's claim makes a noticeable impact upon her -- but while Rillwhisper's visage reflects surprise and amazement, and she sits up a bit to pay more attention to what Joy's Recognized has to say, Rillwhisper's daughter seems to sort through several reactions. Her little face is not without wonder; the thought of spending time with a High One, it seems, can provoke a cub-like reaction out of her. But those ambergreen eyes, wide though they've gone, are still full of calculation. "Mother says that Timmain became a wolf to make us Wolfriders," she pronounces, "and wolves can't talk. How did she talk to you?" "She can send," says Vale quietly. "She is an elf, even if she looks like a wolf." Joy returns her gaze to the curious cubling, happening to catch the Wolfbringer's expression. She does a doubletake and looks back to her chieftain. Apparently, her thoughts have been elsewhere as the current topic has escaped her. She looks back to Vale at his words, trying to catch up. Joy nods a bit to Vale, "Perhaps I should return to the den, then?" Vale smiles and says, "If you want. Will you be back, or are you going to rest?" Joy lets go of Vale's hand and begins to stand, "I'll be back. Hopefully I won't wake him." She smiles warmly to her mate and disappears west. Joy slips down the path around the Old Willow. Joy has left. 'Is'. Intrigued by that 'is', Wayfound opens her little mouther for another river of questions, only to be thrown off by the distraction of Joy slipping off out of the clearing. And Rillwhisper puts in, tiredly but lightly, "Cub, Vale may not want to answer all your questions right now." "But _Mother_," Wayfound protests, "if he knows about Timmain, I _must_ ask!" The little girl vertiable bounces up and down, eyes beginning to turn rather fervent with the desire to Know. Joy arrives from the side of the Old Willow. Joy has arrived. Joy reemergers once again, sleeping bundle in her arms. Carefully, she steps back to Vale's side and sits. Joy lets out a soft sigh as she settles, cubling undisturbed. Vale says softly to Rillwhisper, "It's alright." Rillwhisper smiles tiredly, conceding; if Vale wants to field her daughter's questions, he's welcome. And Wayfound, though she doesn't actually smile per se, nevertheless visibly brightens. So many things to ask! The cub actually has to sort through the storm of questions in her little head, trying to determine which one she wants to put forth first. With barely concealed restlessness, she nevertheless restrains herself to demanding, "What did Timmain tell you?" Rill, in the meantime, glances at Joy and the little one in her arms, and her smile turns rather warmer. Vale relaxes more when he sees Joy, shaking his head and ... there is an entirely new Vale. He smiles and kneels down, mostly beside Joy but this pulling attraction of questions. "Mostly about the crash, and some of what had gone before. She was tired from the journeys and was doubtful of herself but she was generous and wise, and even Rayek was kind to her." Joy smiles softly, her hand rising to touch Vale's cheek gently before returning to cradle their cub. At the mention of Rayek, Joy's expression becomes curious, thoughtful, "I met him, once." Vale says "Mother didn't like him. I can't remember why." Joy nods a bit, considering her words carefully. "He seemed kind, but troubled." Joy shrugs ever so slightly, careful not to stir too much, lest she awake her cub. Vale nods. "He seemed like that to me, too. Like he could see outside his own thoughts, but disliked what was there and chose not to." Wayfound might do a fine impression of a foot-high adult, but still, she is a cub, and some of the subtleties and implications of Vale's words are beyond her immediate ken. For a few moments, she actually falls silent, her little face screwed up in thought. Journeys? What journeys? Rayek is a name that Rillwhisper knows, and she turns to regard both of the younger parents, saying consideringly, "From what I remember of Rayek, kindness would be something that doesn't easily come to him. I remember that from Sorrow's End... and when he was here, once." Joy turns her gaze to her chieftain yet again, curious. "That is where I came upon him, as well. Sorrow's End. He was always on the ledge of that bridge..." She falls silent, perhaps remembering some of the words exchanged between them. Vale smiles a little and glances at the little scholar. Wait a minute -- the subject is changing, and Wayfound is _not_ done with her questions, not by a long shot! She trottrottrots over closer to her mother, shooting a sharp glance at each adult face in turn; Summit gets barely a glance, for the boy is asleep, and Wayfound figured out a long time ago that she can't converse with someone that's sleeping. Waving her tiny hands over her fluff-haired head, the cub pipes up, "What journeys? Where did Timmain go? Do you mean when she came here with the other High Ones?" Just barely, Rillwhisper manages to stifle a snort of laughter. Vale may have been quiet and reserved, but years of travel have made him keen, and his recent return to civilization -- or at least a kind of social setting -- has changed his gruff wolfish exterior. The goback in him has a little fun, and a smile lights upon his lips. "Timmain travels now. Maybe she's watching over us and we would never know." Cubling eyes go blink, blink blink blink. Aye, though she may well almost talk like an adult, there's enough of the cub in Wayfound that her little mouth tightens up into an 'o' of awe at the notion that a High One in wolf form might possibly be watching over _her_. It takes her a few moments to wrestle with this notion, and while she does, her mother remarks straightfacedly, locksending to the other two adults, ** Vale, you're the first one I've seen throw her for a loop since she started talking. ** The chieftain's green eyes are alight with fond amusement, now. Vale sendlocks back to the Willowholt Chieftess and to Joy, ** I hope I didn't break her. I don't know if I could fix it. ** Joy grins, her gaze remaining on the sleepycub in her arms. She speaks softly, "Come to think of it, I think I saw some very rare wolfprints near the pond the other day." She grins then, glancing sidelong at the pondering cub. It would seem that the Wolfbringer is having a very hard time keeping her laughter within; she shoots a merry glance to Joy and Vale, winking at the latter in acknowledgement of his sending, while her daughter's face scrunches up in such concentration that you'd almost think she'd just bitten into a puckernut. A High One in wolf form... well, Wayfound hasn't _seen_ it, but the grownups say it happened, so for now the cub is willing to accept the premise. But a High One in wolf form, _here_? She stares hard at Vale, and then at Joy, and then finally bursts out with, "How are her tracks different from other wolves?" Vale says studiously and seriously, "Because she's really an elf. She just has the form of a wolf." Joy glances up, about to answer, but then glances to her mate and smiles, shrugging. That's good enough for her. "But, but, but, if her _feet_ are _wolf feet_," cries the cubling, her voice going even higher than normal in her agitation, and her little form bouncing up and down anxiously, "then she would leave wolf tracks, right? Right?" She then runs to her mother, tugging at Rillwhisper's leathern sleeve for assurance. "Right, Mother?" "Mmm?" Joy, trying to bite back a chuckle, lets out a soft sigh as Wayfound's voice pipes up. Simultaneously, Summit's stirs and repeats again, "Hmmm?" Vale smiles a little, settling beside Joy moreso, glancing to her and the dozing young boy in her arms. Shamelessly, he lets the Wayfound's mother answer the odd question. As deadpan as she can manage, Rillwhisper informs her offspring, "Well, cub, wolf feet leave wolf tracks... but elf feet that have become wolf feet?" She blows out a breath, shaking her head in the manner of one pondering matters not meant for the minds of mortal elves. "I don't think I could say." Joy settles back a bit, adjusting her arms for an awaking cubling. Summit sniffles a bit and sits up, wrapping an arm around Joy's neck and rubbing his eyes with his hand. Eventually his sleepy gaze finds it's way to Wayfound, then to Rillwhisper. Wayfound bites her tiny lip, looking about to explode with the force of her agitation, now. She finally lets out a tiny frustrated squeak -- oh, these adults aren't telling her ANYTHING! -- and cries, "I have to go look for the tracks now!" And she promptly whirls and runrunrunruns off, little face afire with the need to investigate this new, dazzling, urgent thing to Learn. Wayfound vanishes northward into the trees. Wayfound has left. Rillwhisper, once her daughter scampers off, slumps over on the grass and starts twitching with silent but vehement gales of laughter. Summit blinkblinkblinks and stares after the fleeing Wayfound. Joy giggles softly and shakes her head, "I'm sorry, Rill." Vale watches the inquisitive one go. How curious. "Hello, Summit." The boycub blinks once more and swivels his head around, smiling brightly at noticing Vale nearby as well. Still not exactly awake, he doesn't say anything, merely outstretches his arms to Vale in greeting. Vale leans close and hoists Summit into his arms, sharing silent thoughts with the boy. Rillwhisper rolls onto her back on the grass, looking up with eyes turned teary with that burst of hilarity, and beams at Joy. "Don't worry, tribesmate," she says cheerfully, just barely managing to rein in the chuckles bubbling under her voice, "she's going to have to learn how to track someday, might as well start now...!" Joy grins, eyeing Father and Cub a moment before glancing over at Rill, amused. "Wisely spoken." Joy turns her gaze back to Vale briefly, sending. Joy furrows a brow. Vale smiles to Joy quietly. Summit start climbing over his father in attempt to grab a likely-looking low branch. Joy sighs a bit and glances after Wayfound, "I think I'll go help the poor thing search." She smiles a bit and excuses herself. Joy vanishes northward into the trees. Joy has left. Rillwhisper watches Joy go, her expression one of peace, and never mind her interrupted slumber. Content to lie there in the sun-dappled light, the chieftess just grins, a few lingering tremors of merriment shaking her frame, before she turns her leaf-hued gaze back to the remaining sire and cub. Vale watches as Summit tries to stand on his shoulders, holding on to the cub's legs. The boy seems content to grab the branch and just hang there for a moment. Sleepily, Summit pulls himself up the branch and drapes over it, folded in half. A third cub in the Willowholt; its chieftess couldn't be happier. Eyes full of profound contentment, she gazes benignly upon little Summit and his sire, and speaks up lightly, "I see it's just my cub that talks your leg off, so far. Wonder if it was something I ate." Vale glances at Rill about the same time Summit does, but the latter finds more interest in playing with the hair of the head just below him. Vale himself is stunned for a moment, then says, trying to even understand his own question, "How ... does eating ... and talking ... what do these things do with each other?" Rillwhisper rolls onto her side, propping herself up on one elbow, and says affably, "Just trying to figure out what's different with my wolfling." She shakes her dishevled head, marvelling. "No-fur wasn't like that when _he_ was a cub -- I don't know. Maybe it was her sire." Vale says "The very spin of Time and the will of the Universe choses these things. Everything is as it should be when it is comfortable. When there is a choice to be made, we may either chose it, or ask it to be made another way. Sometimes the Universe listens, and sometimes it says 'no'." Rillwhisper's eyebrows go up at this, and abruptly, a broad grin spreads out across her face. "Well, if nothing else, you sound like you've talked with High Ones," she observes amiably. But Wayfound's mother is not without her own cleverness; where some elves might have just smiled and looked blank, there is the beginning of comprehension in Rillwhisper's deep green regard. Vale smiles quietly and reaches up to tickle the sqirming feet above him, to stop the tyke from pulling his hair anymore. Summit lets out a peal of giggles and curls up tightly around the branch, pulling his feet close. Then, that game over for now, or at least on to its next phase, says to the chieftess, "Only Timmain. But I've been alone with this world for company for more seasons than I can remember." Rill nods, eyes turning full for a moment. The awe isn't as sudden or sharp as it had been in the face of her daughter, but it _is_ there. "I have never seen her," Rillwhisper says softly, "but some of the Lostholters have told me of when they walked the Palace, during the war with the trolls." Vale nods. "This was before that. I have not seen her since." That stops Rillwhisper, makes her go still for a long moment, green eyes fixing a searching gaze upon the younger... younger? Suddenly she is not so sure... elf. He smells part wolf, but.... "Still in the frozen north?" she hazards to guess, trying to fathom where the High One would have been, before Cutter's folk and the Go-Backs discovered her near the Palace. Vale does not understand, and ponders to the meaning of the question. "She ... I do not truly know where she is." Flicker of magic -- a query of deepsense -- helps him get the answer right. To this, Rillwhisper sits up a bit now, nodding gravely. It wasn't quite the answer she wanted, but it'll suffice, and she smiles crookedly. "I'd envy you meeting her, but I don't think I'd quite know what to say to a High One. I picked up enough of that from the send-pictures Strongbow gave me." Vale smiles. "At the time I did not know she was a High One. I don't think Mother said one word to her, though, because she was so awed." The more Rillwhisper considers Vale, the more he niggles at something in the back of her memory, a half-formed suspicion that she has seen him before, perhaps in her very Holt, but long enough ago that memories touched by the wolf-blood have begun to blur. Something, too, about the mention of his mother touches on her recollection, but she can't quite bring it to the front of her mind. And so, the chieftess just tilts her head a bit, curiously, one corner of her mouth still curled up. "Aye," she muses, "I expect I'd be struck speechless myself." After a bit, she chuckles, earlier merriment still lighting her eyes. "Maybe not my cub, but me, definitely." Vale says "Yes. Well. She will learn. We all do." The chieftess grins a bit more broadly, agreeing simply, "Aye." And she rises easily up off the ground, gaze resting kindly upon little Summit for a moment, before she addresses both father and son, "But for me, I think I'd like to learn again what it means to get some sleep before my cub gets herself into another mishap. If you'll excuse me...?" [And with that, Rillwhisper retreats to her den. End log.]