| Logs |
2003 January 05
| Idlewild |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
 |
| Realms: Idlewild Logs |
January 5
Steven sits up from his meditations, sighing. That was an... unpleasant vision. He didn't want to see that...but obviously Lord Pelor wanted him to see it.
Then he looks around. No Aiden.
He has a brief moment of panic, then bites his lip, and lets out a breath. He can't blame Aiden, and pauses a moment to catch his breath. That's when his gaze falls on Seodil.
Steven looks around. Lotte and Penny are away helping Rui back safely to the healers. Willow is there, but asleep. Even if he stayed awake in abject fear while they were gone, he watched over the camp.
He looks over to Seodil. Oh, well. Nothing else to do.... "Seodil," he asks, geting the elf's attnetion. "Out of curiosity... do your people have a tradition of drinking the blood of your enemies?"
Seodil looks up balefully, fine pale jaw slightly swollen where Steven knocked him out earlier, and smiles, silver eyes narrowing. He says silkily, "Blood is the essence of life, and far more than a simple drink. The civillized understand this. In short terms for your understanding, however... our traditions include many rituals with blood. One drinks it at the conclusion of a successful hunt, perhaps, to keep the hunters strong and renew our bonds as packbrothers. It is possible that magic can be taken this way, as well."
Steven closes his eyes, and lets out a breath. "Yes, I thought it would be something like that." His eyes snap open. "Uhm.. magic, you say? In what way?"
Aiden returns to the camp, looking none the worse for his time back in the caves on his own. In fact, he even looks cheerful. Sol is with him when he arrives. He grins at Steven, "Sorry. I forgot to send word. I found Sol, uhm, obviously."
Steven looks up, looking a little shaken, but smiles. "Aiden! That's all right. I'm glad you found Sol!" He stands, and goes over to the elf. "We have to talk," he murmurs.
Aiden nods, frowning a little. "Privately?"
The elf's silver hair is in disarray, but his smile is self-assured in the absence of the great wolf Aiden became to help interrogate him. "The magic of life. Life is magic, in a way... the spark that keeps even you alive is unavoidably magical. For the truly powerful, another's magic can be used to strengthen that of the drinker-- or simply the spiller, if done--" his tone falters as he sees Aiden return-- "properly."
Steven nods. "The three of us -- uh, you, Sol, and I." He looks back to Sodeil and nods. "Thank you for the answer," he says, and lets out a breath. "That makes things... complicated."
Soleil is elven under the moon's light, and quite naked. He doesn't seem to care. He smiles back at Steven, cheerful, and scowls at Seodil, hands flexing. "As soon as you like, Steven... though that one should not be left unguarded."
Aiden nods again and indicates for Steven to lead the way. He shakes his head suddenly and turns back to Sol. "You want to get dressed first?"
Steven nods, "We'll only step back a little ways....
Steven doesn't seem at all distracted by Sol, stepping to a place about a dozen paces away, still keeping Seodil in view.
Sol shrugs, causing interesting secondary movements. "No need. It's not cold." He follows Steven blithely.
Aiden follows Steven. When Steven stops he turns to half-face him, keeping one eye on their captive.
Steven glances back to Seodil, then lets out a soft breath. "Not too long ago, I had a vision. I think it was of the Castle of Blood on Snow, the palace of the King of Winter. Inside, there was the king and some of his elves -- hunters, I think." He hesitates. "It looked like they've gotten Birch. I didn't get a good look at what they'd done to her, but she looked pretty dead." He glances to Seodil. "And if he's telling the truth, they were drinking her blood to celebrate the success of a hunt for her. And if he's further right, then they were doing it to partake of her magic, but that might be just the ritual meaning of it. The point is, the King of Winter got Birch."
Aiden frowns. "Steven, I certainly hope you don't mind if I don't break out the mourning colours.."
Steven says, "I don't blame you. I'm not, either. It's not that Birch is dead, it's that these elves were looking for her, as well. And found her."
Sol says, "I'm sorry about your sister, but I have to confirm that sounds like a scene the current King would enjoy. When my mother ruled, we did not drink the blood of innocents against their will. I cannot say this for the present leadership... on the other hand, from what you have said, your sister was not that innocent. Murder negates that status."
Aiden nods. "I see your point. If they're looking for her than it's likely they're looking for us too."
Sol frowns, and says, "I agree. I think that they have taken Lua, now that I see who you have found, and that they will want you as well in order to get to me. I'm... sorry." He looks suddenly much older, and very tired. "I did not expect this to happen."
Steven nods to Sol. "Well, honestly, if Birch is dead... I didn't exactly know her well enough outside of her trying to kill us to form an ubiased opinion. But... if they were drinking her blood, does that mean they, I don't know... what does that mean in relation to whatever magic she has? Er, had?
Aiden says, "She looked like she was raised in the same world as we were. Whose to say she had any more magic than you or I? Maybe she was just really good at bluffing."
Aiden shrugs at Sol. "Look, you didn't get us into anything. Someone else got us into this mess and you've been nothing but gracious about helping us try to get out of it. We're not about to start laying blame at your feet. You've helped us, I intend to return that favour."
Steven nods. "We don't blame you for any of this, Sol, neither you nor Lua. You've both been really good to us, and we trust you, and we'll keep on trusting you. But we're in this now and now we just need to find a way to all live through this...."
Sol doesn't look Aiden in the eye. "Aiden, my dear friend... Steven. If Seodil is here, they came for Lua and for me. Despite his looks, he is a hunter of the Court, and he does not leave it on idle errands. We were fools to think we had been forgotten."
The golden-haired elf says somberly, "I don't know if you would have been this important on your own. It's possible, I suppose. But Lua is the one who should be sitting on the throne this moment in the Winter Palace, and I am her heir if she dies childless. The King our uncle has not forgotten this despite long years. It may very well be our fault."
Aiden says, "So, we just have to make sure they don't find you, then get Lua out, figure out a way for all of us to escape them permanantly and live through it all. No problem." Aiden looks like he's trying to convince himself of the truth of that. He half-grins, "If I can live through hazing, this should be a snap, right?"
Steven says quietly, "But they were after Birch, as well." He shakes his head. "Well. Offhand, if they want you, they can have you two over my dead body." He nods to Aiden. "'Nothing is impossible to the focussed mind.'"
Aiden grins at Steven. "Focussed mind or terribly erratic.."
Steven grins, "That works as well."
Soleil gives both men a dumbfounded look as his head rises slowly, then flings himself at them each in turn for a naked elf hug. He says nothing; it's possible he can't talk past a lump in his throat right now. The amber-gold eyes say enough, though.
Aiden returns Sol's hug, chuckling. "We'll find a way out of this. What do we do about Captain Hunter over there?"
Steven blinks in surprise, having never been hugged by a naked elf before, though he returns the hug with as much aplomb as he can manage. He glances over, and nods. "We know little or nothing about Seodil ourselves, or the hunters of the King."
Sol swallows and says a bit huskily, "So. What do you want to know? The whole sordid history of my Court is yours for the asking. Seodil, for a start-- we should kill him. He will kill us as soon as we slip, for that is surely his mission here. Has he said if there are others searching, and if they found Lua?"
Aiden looks over at Seodil. "Who else is with you, Seodil? Did you find Lua?"
Sol mutters, "He will never be trustworthy. He is the King's dog."
Steven bites his lip. It's one thing to kill someone who's trying to kill you. It's another to just kill someone in cold blood because they're inconvenient. But Sol did say he wold try to kill us....
Seodil raises his narrowed, icy gaze to say, "I hunt alone. A small pack has also come, and they may well have the princess... but you will never find them without me."
Steven glances to Seodil, then says quietly to Sol, "Is he right, Sol? Do we have a hope of finding Lua without him?"
Aiden watches Seodil, pondering. Even if there were others with them, and they did find Lua, would he lead us to them, or would he just place us into a trap. "Steven, I don't think we want his help finding his comrades.."
Soleil says reluctantly, "Since I am cursed and cannot change freely... he could be an asset. I see Aiden has taken his skin, and should not give it back lest we all die, but even without it Seodil may lead us to the others, if only in hopes of catching us unawares and using their help to take us."
Sol cocks his head and says curiously, "How did you capture him before he changed shape and killed you all? No offense."
Steven pauses for a moment, then nods. "You're right. We'd have to be realy really clever if we were going to get him to take us to Lua...."
Aiden grins at Sol. "He was too busy insulting us to notice me trying to get his cloak off."
Sol shakes his head. "Clever, yes, but I think they must either have her or be close, for her not to return to us. He will want to take us there if he was instructed to bring anyone alive... which I begin to wonder."
Steven says, "What... what do you mean, Sol?"
Aiden nods at Sol. "I don't know. I get the feeling that he'll tell us he's taking us to his companions, only to kill us."
The golden elf says, "If he insulted you, he was expecting you to be very easy prey, someone he could toy with and not worry. Still... it's possible he wants at least one of us alive-- one of you, or me. Lua is not here, but she is not dead, and that makes me wonder."
Steven says, "What does it make you wonder about, Sol?"
Aiden says, "Maybe they wanted you alive and us dead."
Sol says seriously, "Perhaps, Aiden. Steven, it makes me wonder who is important here, and why. I do not know yet. What has he said about his goals? Anything?"
Steven purses his lips, trying to remember. "He was asking Otter and Rui about... oh, what was it he was interrogating them about?
Aiden looks at Steven, "The coin, remember? He wanted to know where it came from.."
Steven says, "That's right. I remember now, he was asking about the cons Otter and Rui had... Urgh, something about children..."
Sol says, "What coin? One we gave you?"
Aiden frowns and closes his eyes in thought. He nods his confirmation at Sol. "That one, yes."
Sol smacks his forehead and says something that doesn't sound like English. "I think we gave you the wrong bag."
The golden elf adds, "Did you say there was an otter involved?"
Steven blinks. "The... wrong bag?"
Aiden opens his eyes and nods at Sol again. "She said she was called Otter. She worked at the baths. She said she was "always loyal"."
Soleil says sheepishly to Steven, "When my sister and I fled our home, our old nurse gave us coins to help us, but when my uncle took the throne, the coins changed to his face and he outlawed the old. We had to work to get coin we could use-- except in certain places, the old stuff is unusable. We still have some. It has Mother's face." He blinks at Aiden. "The otterfolk were indeed always friendly during her reign. She had friends... you must have found a loyalist." He looks slightly cheered.
Steven arches hius eyebrows slowly. "Our New Special Friend over there said something about the Resistance..."
Aiden says, "They captured her, but we freed her before we left the caves."
Soleil looks more cheerful, then downcast. "There's active resistance among at least some non-elves at Uncle's rule, then. That could help us. I'm sorry your friend was captured.. I will have to apologize." He looks very serious, and as if he assumes there was torture involved.
Aiden puts a hand on Sol's.. he pauses for a moment.. he'd know where to put his hand if the elf was clothed, but this is a little awkward. He settles for the shoulder. "She's safe, Sol. That's what matters. Don't blame yourself for every little thing."
The naked Soleil gives Aiden a grateful smile, amber eyes warm and once again willing to meet Aiden's own.
Steven nods quietly. "Well. I guess we know what to do then. We'lll let the Klanself over there lead us to Lua."
Aiden grins at Sol, meeting his eyes. "Besides, if I'm not allowed to mope, neither are you. We're going to be far too busy for that."
Soleil's warm and grateful expression is turned on Steven next, accompanied by a low but heartfelt "Thank you. Someday I'll make it up to you."
Steven smiles quietly. "Hey. Don't worry about it. You and Lua... you've helped us out a lot."
Sol smiles back, though he says nothing and looks rather determined.
Aiden says, "Well. Let's get Seodil on his feet, then. He's not much use to us sitting there glaring daggers at us all."
Steven nods, stretching a little. "Let's see if we can get him to tell us what direction to set out in."
The naked elf reaches out to stroke the wolf-pelt on Aiden's back. "It would be useful if one of us could use this," he says wistfully.
Aiden blinks at Sol. "See the scared look he shot at me when we walked in? I can use it."
Steven looks surprised. "Aiden can, though. Oh, that's right. You didn't see the bite-marks on the Captain over there." Then he blinks, looking between Aiden and Sol, considers, then coughs, and turns back to regard Seodil.
Soleil appears nothing short of shocked, then a creeping sort of delight-- or something-- comes into his eyes. He says, "Really," and starts to grin.
Aiden nods at Sol. "It worked a bit better the first time. I'm not great at it. The first time I ended up being almost as tall as I am now. The second time, I was smaller. I'm hoping I don't turn into a wolf cub next time.."
Soleil tilts his head to one side and grins viciously. "Oh, you won't. Trust me. It's working just right."
Aiden blinks. "Oh?"
Soleil says with relish, "You, my dear friend, are very successfully in harmony with that skin's packmates. W-They change species, you see. Together. Sometimes they prefer to hunt as one thing; other times, another. Do you see? You're linked to them, though you're not one of them, though Seodil's skin."
Aiden nods a little. "So, the time that I changed into the big wolf, they were hunting that way as well?"
Steven blinks, glancing curiously to Sol briefly.
Sol nods.
Steven nods quietly. "All right. Is this what we all want to do, then? Get Seodil to lead us to Lua?"
Aiden nods at Steven. "I'd rather that they not get any further away than they likely already have."
Soleil nods slowly, "It seems the best of many bad choices, yes. Where are Lotte and her pets?"
Steven nods, "Agreed. All right. We'll tell him that we want him to lead us to the Lua or we'll feed him to Aiden. He'll probably be arrogant enough to think that all his friends will be enough to take us down. Oh! Lotte and Penny went to help Rui to the healers in town.
Sol says, "Will she come? What of the blue-haired pet?"
Steven says, "Willow is back at the camp, sleeping. He stayed wide awake while we were gone." He grimaces a little. "We can't really leave him behind. As for Lotte..."
Both Aiden and Steven look up reflexively as they hear something large fly overhead. Seconds later, a very agitated Rui lands hard in the middle of camp, wincing at the landing and holding one wing like it hurts. She looks wildly around, spots the group of men, and comes over at a painful trot, wings half-furled. "They took her!"
Aiden says, "Who are they and who did they take, Rui?"
Steven gives a start. "Rui? Who? Who did they... no! Lotte?!"
Rui nods, white face pinched. "They went back to my place to wait for me and rest, there was no room at the healers' for them... when I came back after my session, they were gone... Mostly."
Aiden blinks, "Mostly?"
The red-eyed angel holds out a folded scrap of paper, mute.
Aiden comes forward and takes the paper, opening it up to read it, if it's in a language he understands.
The tip of Penny's tail falls out of the blood-damp paper. A lock of Lotte's hair, its copper cooled by the moonlight, is slower to hit the ground, drifting.
Steven *gnrks* and fights down a bit of nausea at the grim missive.
Aiden watches the hair drift to the ground and swears.
Steven swallows and looks over at the paper, seeing if he recognizes the writing there, either.
The language is legible even to the English speakers, but the words are few. "Bring the heir alive to the Palace, and reunite the pieces." It is not signed.
Aiden turns the paper over to Sol. "Does that mean anything to you?"
Steven blinks. "That's odd. Who is--" He breaks off, and bites his lip as he realizes who the heir is.
Sol says softly, "I will go."
Aiden says, "Not without us you won't."
Steven shakes his head. "no, Sol. We find Lua first, then we'll worry about dealing with these butchers. They don't know where we are, or where we're going. So, as long as we keep moving, they'll think we're on the way to this palace, and they'll keep Lotte and Penny alive so long as there's any hint that we might be doing what they're saying."
Sol nods shortly. "Then we go together. If you bring me to the Palace, as if you chose reward or your companions over me, you may save them. If we have Lua, all the better, but she would agree with me."
Steven says wryly, "Well, then we'll need to find Lua and ask her, first." His expression becomes grim. "But I won't condone handing you two over to them. There is always an option one hasn't thought of yet."
Aiden nods his agreement. "Let's find Lua."
Sol says grimly, "On our way, then. We have no reason to stay here."
Rui says, "I wish I could go with you. I'm sorry. I'm not healed and I can't travel by day..." Her blood-red eyes are teary.
Steven says, "It's okay, Rui. Thank you for bringing this to us." He smiles encourgingly. "Can you get to the healer's...?"
Aiden nods at Rui. "Don't worry. We'll find her." He pauses, "Steven, what about the kid?"
Willow comes blearily to the tent's entrance, rubbing his own eyes. His long blue hair and Aiden's borrowed clothes are tousled. "What's happening?"
Rui nods. "I can. I'm half-done, just not finished. I won't keep you... good luck. I hope to see you again, and write songs about you." She lays a hand briefly on Aiden and Sol, then leans in to kiss Steven's cheek gently before turning to walk away.
Aiden says, "Wait, Rui, don't go yet." Aiden looks over at Willow. "We're leaving, to find Lua and Lotte.. and Penny."
The white winged elf pauses. "Yes? What can I do?" She waits quietly.
Steven considers for a moment, then looks to Willow. "I'm not sure, Aiden. If we leave him, the temple will just get their hands on him again. Probably punish him."
Willow starts to look frantic. "Why? Where are they?"
Aiden looks at Steven, then looks at Willow and Rui, before looking back at Steven.
Steven blinks a bit with the kiss, and actually blushes shyly a bit with it.
Willow looks yet more worried at the words "leave him." He yelps, "NO! I'm coming to help!"
Steven grimaces a bit. "Willow," he says, mildly and yet firmly. "Calm," he says with much more gentleness. "We won't be able to do anything if we aren't calm, and fully collected. All right?"
Willow looks ready to wet his pants. "All right! I'll be calm, just don't leave me, I swear I can help! I'll do anything to come help!"
The electric-blue waterfall of Willow's butt-length hair trembles as he whispers, "Please." He is, otherwise, outwardly calm after some effort.
Steven takes in a slow breath, and looks to Aiden. "I can't just leave him here. I'll take responsibility for him," he says quietly. "I promise, on my faith in Pelor."
Steven looks to Willow. "While you are with us,' he says quietly, "I will teach you to be calm in mind and body. I will teach you, to the best of my ability, to work with the group as one of several people working towards a common goal -- which I suspect is what you wish as well, after all. I will not ask you to forswear your Lady but I will expect an inner strength of a different sort from you, if we are to be successful in finding Lua and thence finding Lotte and Penny. Do you understand, Willow? Coming with us is dependant upon this. We cannot do this as a group unless we are all in this together.
Willow kneels in front of Steven and says, "I hear and will obey. I accept your training."
Steven says quietly, reaching down to help Willow up, "First off... I am not a master. It isn't a matter of obeying. It's a matter of recognizing truth for yourself. But we'll talk more as we travel."
Aiden rubs his hands over his eyes. Maybe in exasperation, or something..
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