Idlewild -- Logs

The story last left Steven and Lotte at a stone table, with a ring of fine black hairs on Steven's finger that seemed like a good idea at the time, an assortment of other things that fell from their waitress' cleavage when she had Lotte fish there for a menu, and neither has eaten much-- both had some bread, and Lotte did not drink her tea, though Steven did drink his. In their personal time, after exploring this strange new area by themselves and then being left here at this outdoor tavern for awhile, it is definitely approaching a late lunch or early dinnertime. Their first waitress stepped offshift, but the last waiter to serve them said to call for Aylex if they decided to order food, and discreetly took himself and his... fur pants... away.

Steven gives a pleasant nod to Aylex as he moves away, and looks over the small green scroll. "Well," he says quietly, "I'm kind of hungry. I wonder if we can read this...."

Lotte nods. "I'm getting hungry too."

Aylex the waiter is quickly out of sight, but a few other folks are up and moving around. Some of them are very strange; some just very ugly, others remarkably pretty. Almost no one is average. Several tables have just emptied; the lunch rush appears to be clearing out, perhaps, and the early dinner are trickling in. The table immediately across from Lotte and Steven is just being taken by new arrivals-- a young man in mundane hiking clothes, a slender woman in mottled pale white, grey, blue and lavender leathers, and a golden-bronze, slender dog.

Lotte stares in confusion at the young man.

Steven glances over to the other table, then to Lotte. "Think maybe he's in the same boat as us?" he asks quietly.

Lotte just shrugs, and says, "I guess we should introduce ourselves."

Steven fidgets a little, then nods. "Might be a good idea, actually...." He stands, waiting for Lotte to stand as well before moving.

Aiden looks around the room carefully, glancing with interest at all of the strange and attractive folk that seem to have gathered here. His eyes stop for a moment on the table of "normal" looking people and he smiles faintly at them before looking around at some of the others.

Lotte stands and walks over to the table.

Lotte says, "Hi there!"

Aiden blinks and looks up at Lotte.. He looks a little on the nervous side and smiles shyly. "Hi.."

A young man with no shirt and furry pants scurries by with a heavily laden tray behind Lotte, in Aiden's view.

Lotte says, "My name's Lotte."

Steven follows along behind Lotte. Crowds -- that is, more than two people -- make him a bit nervous. Especially here, oddly. He remains quietly behind and to the side of Lotte, smiling and nodding to the others.

Aiden takes only the briefest look at the man's face, before his eyes shift lower, to the fur pants. Nice pants. I sure hope you didn't kill anything I'm trying to save for them.

Aiden nods at Lotte, still slightly distracted by the fur pants. "Hi.. I'm nice to meet you. I mean, Aiden. Sorry."

Steven says, "I'm Steven, hi...."

Aiden smiles at Steven. "Hi, Steven."

Lotte is a petite 24 year old with eye-catching features. Her abundance of freckles and mop of brilliant red hair more than make up for her pale, blemished skin and short stature. Large hazel eyes sparkle with mischief above an up-turned nose and an open heart-shaped mouth. If Lotte isn't talking, she's singing. She wears a faded Indigo Girls t-shirt under a dark green sherpa hoodie, and a green, maroon, and calico patchwork skirt that pools around her feet- completing her 'folk-rock chic' look.

Steven is a young man, of creme de cocoa skin and black, dreadlocked hair. He appears to be in his mid-to-late twenties, but with a quiet, almost distant solemnity or serenity that adds a few years to his appearance. The indistinct shape of dark tattos is barely visible on his back, at the back of his neck and shoulders. His clothing is simple and well-worn, apparently having seen many miles of travel. He wears a faded, black pullover with the sleeves at some point having been cut from it, and light blue cargo pants rolled up to his knees. Well-worn, pale sandals are on his feet -- in fact they're so well-worn they look about to fall apart if not for the very careful tending that they've received.

Aiden is a slender male in his early twenties. He has shoulder-length dark blonde hair and green eyes. He is wearing hiking pants made of nylon that can be zipped off above the knee to become shorts. He has a pair of hiking boots on and a UNBC baseball cap on his head. He has a grey long-sleeved shirt on, with a green, short-sleeved "Parks Canada" T-shirt, complete with the simplified yellow beaver enclosed in a downward triangle that makes up the Parks symbol. He's wearing a backpack and his three-in-one jacket is currently strapped to the backpack. He's carrying a walking stick in one hand.

Aiden pales, almost comically as he watches the man in fur pants. It is apparent to a careful observer that the furry fellow is not actually wearing pants of any kind... and is definitely a boy. "Good god.. I've just fallen into a Grimm Story."

The slender woman in leathers at the table stays quiet, watching the introductions with a slight air of puzzlement.

Lotte looks at Aiden's seeming companions. "Hello there."

Steven blinks a bit, looking at where Aiden is looking. Seeing the fur-pantsed... well, fur-not-pantsed fellow... he can only grin weakly to Aiden. "Well, er... somewhat, it seems...

Aiden laughs, nervously. "Well.. It was nice to meet you both. Any moment now I'm going to wake up and you'll be gone and I'll be curled up in my sleeping bag at the side of a lake."

Lotte says, "So you just kinda woke up here too?"

Aiden nods, "I was fishing on the lake where I went camping and I.. tipped the canoe. Are we dead?"

Steven says, "Uhm... I don't think we are.... Just... in a different place...."

Lotte nods. "I definitely don't think we're dead."

The woman looks back at Lotte, and smiles softly. "Hello, little one." She blinks at the revelation that these people are confused, and asks, "Are you lost?" Her tone is a bit odd; jumbled.

Aiden nods, "Then I amend my previous decision that I've fallen into a Grimm fairytale. Down, down, down into the rabbit-hole she went." He blushes, "Sorry, I'm not making much sense, am I?"

Lotte looks at the woman. "Yes, we three seem to be very lost."

Steven blinks to the woman. "Er... lost? A... little bit, actually. We're not sure how we got here...."

Aiden says, "I'm not certain that I'm lost. I think I've been misplaced. I'm supposed to be drowning in a lake right now..."

The slender woman with Aiden is a dainty but not tiny lady at about 5'5", with clean pale skin and a shock of short silvery hair that could almost be rabbit-fur. Slightly elongated, sharply pointed ears do not quite hide in her two-inch pouf of soft hair. She has big, luminous silver-grey eyes that barely possess any color at all, but seem almost like moonstone in their pale gathering of the light. She is dressed almost head to toe in layers of thin, fine leather with ragged edges, mostly white and grey with a blue and lavender mottling like barbaric tie-dye, or camoflouge for a snowy, lumpy field at twilight. The overall effect is something between haute couture and an ambitious Renaissance Fair outfit by a well-meaning, treehugging fantasy reader. She wears a dark, braided leather thong around her neck, pulled through a small, pierced amethyst point.

Her dog is a large, mottled golden-bronze greyhound with distinctly orange eyes. He stands about three feet at the shoulder, and looks no worse fed than a normal pet; his leanness is clearly a species trait, not starvation. His fine, long head looks around at the world, his tail is untucked, and his eyes are burning bright. He wears a dark, braided leather thong around his neck, pulled through a small, pierced amethyst point.

Lotte stops to look at the woman, her eyes getting bigger and bigger. "You're... beautiful..."

The silver-haired woman laughs softly, and her slanted moonstone eyes sparkle. She says gravely, "Thank you, Lotte," and turns to Aiden. "Shall we share our lunch with these polite children, kinsman?"

Aiden decides to keep his mouth shut before the only two normal people in the room decide that he's terminally weird.. Not that he'd be any stranger than anything else in here. Faun.. This officially gets marked down as The Strangest Day of My Entire Life. This has got to be a dream.

Aiden blinks at the woman, "Me?"

The fey lady's smile broadens a hair. Under perfect lips, a hint of rather sharp teeth show. "You did say to call you Aiden, yes?"

Aiden nods slowly, "Yes.. That's my name.."

The silver lady points a long, slender finger at Aiden. "You are not dreaming, kinsman... so, answer, please. Shall we dine with your fellow not-dreamers?"

Aiden nods, "Yes.. of course. I mean, if that's okay with you."

The lady looks kindly at Lotte and Steven, and adds, "They're hungry. I would not like to be lost here. Yes, we shall take them in... for a meal, at least. Young ones, please, join us. I believe that I may have heard a story like yours before."

Aiden's fey companion pats him approvingly on one knee, under the table.

Aiden smiles a little at Lua. "Thanks.>"

Lotte raises an eyebrow at Aiden. "Why did she call you kinsmen?"

Aiden says, "I.. " he looks at Lua, "Why did you call me kinsman? I don't get it.."

Lua reaches out gently in answer toward the side of Aiden's head, and pauses before taking off his hat. "May I?"

Aiden blinks and lifts his hands, "Sorry.. I should have taken that off. My mother would be horrified." He slips the hat off, and tosses it onto the top of his backpack, which is near his feet.

The fey woman reaches out to brush Aiden's shoulder-length blond hair back behind one of his ears, and nods in satisfaction as it is exposed... it's a rather pointy ear. She tilts her own sharp-eared head, where her delicately pointed ears are not quite hidden by her fur-length hair..

Lotte's eyes widen, and she visibly pouts.

Lua says, "I called you kin because you and I share blood, though it is so distant that our kinship is polite, not a matter of sharing an uncle, Aiden. I thought you smelled right. I'm rarely wrong about that, these days-- and Soleil has a distinct advantage over me in that sense at the moment, and agrees."

Aiden brushes his hair back over his ear. "It's just genetic.. It's not like I'm one of Tolkein's Elves or something."

The dog Soleil, whose head is in Lotte's lap, makes a low sound almost like a laugh. He raises his head and then in an abrupt movement is licking Lotte's cheek.

Aiden blinks, "Lua.. Is Soleil.. laughing at me?"

Lotte smiles happily at the dog.

Lua says simply to Aiden, "Yes." She looks amused, too.

Lotte looks at Aiden. "I would be proud, if I were you."

Aiden looks down at the dog. "I guess I was wrong. Dogs aren't supposed to grin.. wink.. or laugh. But you seem to do all of those things."

Aiden looks up at Lotte and shrugs a little. "I used to get teased about it all the time. There's no such thing as elves."

Lotte points to Lua.

Lua adds, "I haven't read Tolkien, though I was once told to. I've had little time for books lately, though... and Aiden, you are indeed of elven blood."

Soleil swipes Lotte's cheek again with his tongue, before going over to inspect Steven with similar treatment.

Lotte gives the dog a pat before he leaves.

Aiden looks at the two women like they're crazy. "That can't be. There are no elves. They only exist in fantasy novels."

Lua tilts her head again. "I assure you, I exist. So does yonder pretty girl, though she smells less of elves and more of human milk, still. I suspect you have more of the blood than she, or..." Lua pauses to look at Sol, who nods at her, "...or her companion Steven."

Lotte frowns at Aiden and looks a little annoyed. "Can't you suspend your disbelief at all? Or is your mind too watered down by our world's obsession with logic."

Lotte looks crushed at Lua's words.

Aiden says, "I have to be logical! I'm a biologist and there's no proof at all that elves exist. None. I mean.. I don't want to hurt your feelings or anything Lotte, but they just don't exist, no matter how much we'd want them to.."

Lotte rolls her eyes and stops listening.

Lotte says, "You're just like everyone else. I'd give anything to..."

Aiden looks sheepish, "I didn't mean to offend you."

Lua notices, and Soleil reappears to nudge Lotte's hand insistently. The fey woman says, "Lotte, blood is only blood. It does not confer talent... and your magic comes from the human side, if I am not mistaken. Most of the best bards do."

Lotte ignores Aiden and Lua and stares off into space.

Aiden looks at Lua. "Am I the only one that doesn't believe?"

Soleil nips Lotte's hand, rather sharply. His orange eyes look reproving.

Lua looks at Aiden. "In what?"

Aiden says, "Elves."

Lotte looks fondly at the dog.

Aylex the furry waiter appears silently, respectfully. Lua looks up, pleased, and says, "Our usual, please. The rest shall have whatever they wish."

Lua says, "Those that are not sulking too deeply to order, that is."

Lotte grumps. "I'm not hungry."

Aiden takes a look down at his menu, suddenly hungry. He looks up at the Faun and smiles apologetically. "Sorry. I just need a moment more, if that's okay? I haven't even opened my menu yet."

Soleil snorts and walks away from Lotte to gaze at Steven.

Aylex bows shallowly to Aiden, "Yes, milord," smiles at Lotte, nods respectfully again to Lua and Soleil, and speaks quietly with Steven a moment before trotting off.

Aiden looks up at Lua. "Anything you'd recommend? There's so much on here.."

Lua says, "The mead here is quite nice, and that or juice might be most polite in our mixed company. As for food... I've ordered pad thai and rare meat for myself and Soleil, with a few appetizers."

Aiden nods, "Thai sounds good. I've been stuck in the backwoods on a tag-and-release program for a month.."

Appetizers arrive, and the smell is wonderful.

Aiden orders from the Faun as soon as he can. He settled on Thai, and gets a coke to go along with it.

Food arrives promptly. Lua nibbles crab rangoon, and looks at Lotte. "Still not hungry, little one?"

In response, Lotte gets up and stalks off in a random direction.

Aiden sighs, "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to offend her."

Lua arches an elegant eyebrow. "I wouldn't say it's all your fault. Bards are often tempermental, but that one has growing to do. Her manners smell of mother's milk still. If you decide to travel together, you might want to see if you can improve them. That temper will get her killed, here, if she chooses badly."

Aiden nods, "Just out of curiousity, Lua.. Where is 'here'?"

Lua sips from a wooden cup, and replies, "This establishment is the Outside Inn. It lies within a small cicle of enchantment that bars anyone from enterting or exiting without the proper token."

Aiden blinks. "How did I get in, then?"

Steven is gently and gingerly petting the dog. 'Soleil' the lady had called him -- is she really an elf? He barely read anything about them in the orphanage, Sister Paula had a habit of ripping all the fiction and fantasy books out of the already-meagre library. He orders an aesthetic platter of vegetarian food, and a refill of the tea kettle. He blinks in surprise as Lotte gets up and leaves.

Soleil walks over to Lua's backpack, grabs a tawny-mottled bundle of leather roughly the same color as his own fur, and trots silently off with it in the same direction that Lotte took.

Lua looks serious. "That's a good question, Aiden. I wonder if your answer will be the same as Steven's and Lotte's-- where did you awaken, Steven?"

Steven says, "Er... in a many-colored tent over.... uhm, over that way, I think...?"

Lua continues, to Aiden, "I suspect you are here either with the consent of the mage Haasha, whose spell walls this region off as a place of enforced truce... or at the design of one of his enemies."

The elf-woman looks thoughtfully at Steven. "In a tent? I would like to see that. Inside, or outside the wall?"

Aiden blinks, "I was just... fishing.. on a lake.."

Steven blinks. "The wall? I'm sorry... I don't recall a wall...?

Lua smiles sympathetically at Aiden, and says, "But you are not, now. Regardless of why-- though I myself would want to know 'why' very soon, as magic done without consent is often not well-meant-- you must accept that you are not on your lake anymore. And it is likely no longer you who are doing the fishing."

Aiden says, "W.. what do you mean by that?"

Lua says to Steven, "There is a wall you cannot see around this area-- a fairly small area, you would notice the boundaries by exploring for an hour or two. From the outside, you would be guided around this area, and never suspect you had walked in a curve and not straight through to the other side of the woods. From the inside, you will walk into the woods and continue straight as long as you please, but you will never move far from the woods' edge, and should you turn around, you will be in a meadow again in five minutes."

Lua says, "By what, Aiden? The fishing? Just that you are not in control here, as long as you do not know why you are here. You are a fish, and you must be wary of hooks in the water."

Lua adds, "I feel certain there is a fisherman. I myself would not rest easy til I knew what that fisherman wanted-- dinner, a pet, bait... I do not think that you are here because you were thrown back into the water as too small to bother with. You would not be here, in that case; you would be in your boat, or dead."

Aiden pales and nods a little.. "Hard to be skeptical here.. Hard to believe what's going on to. Damn. What in the hell have I gotten myself into.."

Aiden says, "Were you brought here too? Or are you from here?"

Lua's smooth pale face stays serene but for a flicker of something that passes too quickly to identify. "I was not brought here... this is my token of passage." She fingers the tiny purple pyramid at her neck, on a thong.

Aiden nods. "So you have free passage in and out?"

Lua nods, "Yes."

"It's a place of truce, so Sol and I like to come here to rest now and then; we wander a great deal in less friendly lands."

Aiden nods again. "I just can't help but wonder why I was brought here.."

Lua suggests, "You might ask Haasha-- he's more likely to know than anyone else, as it's his domain here. I don't envy your position, though. You may pay dearly to learn what he knows. The man fancies himself a rightful member of the Winter Court."

Aiden says, "What's the Winter Court?"

The silver lady gives Aiden a sharp look, and sighs. "This is a conversation better had in a more private place. A moment, if you please, and I will make the best of what we have."

Aiden nods, "I can wait."

Lua reaches to unfasten the thong holding her amethyst pyramid around her neck, and places it in the center of the table, under a quickly overturned, empty sauce bowl from the appetizer tray. The stone starts to glow purple as the darkness covers it, then vanishes from sight under the dish.

Aiden just watches, quietly..

The elf-lady makes a small face. "I'm not much of a mage, but we will not be heard while we sit here, now, for long enough to talk freely. Haasha may notice that there is a place he cannot see in his tavern, but he is not foolish enough to break his own truce by forcing his way past even a simple spell. Not yet, at least."

Lua actually grins, briefly. "His own token acts against him, too-- it's made to resist his magic, to let the wearer pass his boundaries. There's a certain satisfaction in that, too. Haasha is no friend of mine. Now... the Winter Court."

Aiden nods. He looks vaguely worried..

Lua smiles at Aiden and Steven, wearily. "You should worry, kinsfolk, and watch your distant cousin with the hot hair and temper carefully. If Haasha brought you here to serve his own ends, you are not safe; you are tools. He has higher goals than maintaining his current small domain, lucrative though this place is. This mage desires a place at the most infamous court in my travels, and the respect of those he wishes were his peers. Once, it was known as the Winter Court, one of four sister kingdoms in this land, and the place I was born. Now, it calls itself the Palace of Blood on Snow, and its pleasures have changed and warped with time and the death of its old queen."

Aiden says, "I suppose we'll find out what our purpose here is eventually. If he intends to use us, he'll find us when he's ready."

Lua seems caught in a reverie for a moment, as she looks into the middle distance. "It was no worse than any other court when I was a child. Summer, Fall and Spring were our guests, and we gave silver and crystal presents to the noble, the beautiful, the talented... you could have gone there safely, children, and made yourself an honest place. I would not advise that you go there now..." She blinks, and nods quietly to Aiden. "I'm sure you have the right of it, kinsman. I am sorry to see you in such a predicament, but I cannot steal you away. Soleil and I live already by avoiding notice more than we attract it."

Aiden nods at Lua. "This isn't your struggle to be fought. Looks like it's ours, though. I wouldn't ask you to put yourself in danger for my sake."

Lua lays a light hand briefly on Aiden's arm, and smiles wryly. "You are young, but of a good heart... as are your fellow fish. Soleil and I are sympathetic-- odd as that may sound from a stranger, after I warn you to beware of strangers. If we can help in our quiet way, ask."

Aiden smiles, "Thank you, Lua."

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Last modified: 2001-Jun-12 14:20:21

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