| Logs |
2010 December 13
| Neverneverwhere |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
 |
| Realms: Taps Logs |
New Kid in Town
Suraksha sits tiredly on the tailgate of Buddy's chuckwagon, sipping her coffee and resting as she stares silently down the trail, glowering at the upcoming rider. As he gets closer, she murmurs quietly, "Buddy, Chanti, he's doubtless going to expect you both to be the ones actually in charge. I would like to ask you both to back me up by turning to me with any questions he has, please? The usual act, you know?" Buddy snorts dismissively at mention of Zachariah's expectations, nodding in dour agreement. Sura has another sip of coffee before she adds just as quietly, "And no mention of Diana, please."
The young man on the horse starts to speed up as he realizes the caravan is paused. He calls out as he gets close, knowing it is polite and safe to announce yourself, "Halloo, the wagon train!"
Chanticleer nods quietly to Suraksha. "The usual play, Lady. Of course." He raises his hand in greeting to the rider, already making himself out to be the dour, stony-faced deacon he had been the night before last; evincing only a faint distaste of the entire world around him but being pleasant enough to the rider. He lets Suraksha address the boy, trying to see if he recognizes the rider. He's hoping but guessing it probably isn't Zachariah.
Chanticleer is, he realizes in a moment of unhappiness, mistaken -- the rider is indeed Zachariah, the young man who was looking at Fantine with calves' eyes the other night. The young man seems relieved to see a familiar face, but stays on his horse and keeps back a dozen feet or so. The sidhe arches a brow slowly and archingly, the eyebrow looking like it's about to pop off the top of his head, and makes a mental note to, at the first opportunity, get word to Fantine for her to remain as out of sight as possible -- especially if Zachariah is going to be here for any length of time. Suraksha sits silently on the tailgate of the chuckwagon, studying the young man. She times her silent glare to the point where Zachariah is starting to fidget... at which point she says coolly, "Hello. Zachariah, is it not? How might we help you?" She's perfectly willing to let the young man become somewhat uncomfortable, so he's feeling out of his depth.
Zacharaiah blinks a time or two as he realizes this is the apparently respectable young widow-woman he saw the other night. She certainly looks different now! He touches the brim of his hat, "Ma'am," then fidgets and turns to Chanticleer, "I was wondering if you had need of an extra pair of hands for the trip?"
Suraksha continues to stare at the young man, and her voice is now icy, "Do you make a habit of ignoring direct questions, young man?"
The young man flushes and clears his throat, "No, ma'am. I'm sorry about that, ma'am."
Chanticleer swaps brows slowly, and just as slowly turns to -- unobviously -- look at Suraksha at Zachariah's question. Suraksha nods silently to Chanticleer, as if the two of them have just had a bet fulfilled... then she turns and looks back at Zachariah, one brow raised in patient inquiry. Buddy just growls, then carefully pours more coffee in Sura's mug, adding cream and sugar as she continues to stare at Zachariah. The young man clears his throat and flicks his eyes from Chanti to Suraksha and back, obviously uncomfortable. Finally he settles for looking somewhere between them, "Well, ma'am, I was wondering if you might need an extra hand?"
The tiny woman accepts the refilled coffee mug from the huge man without comment, and he steps back again. She has a thoughtful sip, nods once to Buddy, then looks back at Zachariah, "That depends. Can you work for a woman, or will that dirty your precious religious morals too much?" Chanticleer remains silent, and tries to make his body language clearly deferential to Suraksha.
Zachariah's jaw drops open a little and then he closes it again. He is clearly quite confused, "I... that is..." He's flushed right up to the hat. Without meaning to, he glances to Chanticleer again, "I'm not like my uncle."
Suraksha tilts her head thoughtfully, although her voice is still cool, "Indeed? How are you different? Is it that you wish to court the young lady you spotted the other night?" She adds dryly, "You've still not answered directly whether you can work for a woman, too. Considering you're having trouble even just looking at me..." her voice gets amused, "I'd say the odds aren't good?"
Young Zach is starting to get truly flustered, muttering, "I'm sorry, ma'am. I'm just... you seem different."
Chanticleer remains quite stony and each time Zachariah looks at him, he looks -- slowly and pointedly -- to Suraksha. Chanti and Buddy both know Sura well, and can see the corners of her mouth are twitching slightly with amusement. She raises an eyebrow again as she has a sip of coffee, then murmurs even more dryly, "Really. Do go on."
Zachariah finally takes a deep breath, "I... well, I think I could, ma'am. It might... it might take a while. But..." He gathers up all his courage and rushes on, "ButIwouldreallylikethechance!"
Suraksha studies Zachariah thoughtfully for a few heartbeats, then scans for his chakras as she murmurs, "Why?" Chanticleer finds it difficult to be derisive towards Zachariah, since the boy has taken a step outside of his comfort zone into really difficult territory. There are half a dozen pointed questions the sidhe would want to ask, but not without Suraksha's permission -- and really, it's not worth breaking the moment where Suraksha has the boy's entire attention. That seems to be such a rare thing for Zach to do. Suraksha frowns slightly as she realizes from Zachariah's root, third eye, and will chakras, that he's confused and scared to death. That concerns her: why is he afraid? Surely the mayor isn't that vindictive? She doesn't fire any further questions at the poor boy, though -- she just waits for him to gather his wits and answer as best he can.
Elsewhere along the wagon-train, Diana is moving along with Dom with wide and curious eyes, not quite gaping but definitely rapt. Dominic guides the swaddled young Diana, assuring the folks who curiously come out that it's just a minor delay, and trying to smooth over any concern if people recognize Diana from the other night by introducing her to some of the other caravan folk. He stops at Sura's wagon so Diana can see and touch the fascinating and exotic Amanda; no reason not to start with something as exciting and new as a good-natured white camel. After that Dominic brings the girl to the bunk wagon, waving to Sabrina and reintroducing Diana. "Is everyone decent enough I might show the lady where folk hang their hats?" he queries.
Sabrina smiles warmly at the child and at Dom, "Indeed. No one's sleeping while we travel today -- too busy for that. Come on in." She opens the doors of the close-quarters bunk-wagon so Diana can see in.
Dominic helps Diana into the wagon then, where she can see better and take note of cramped quarters, pointing out his own bunk. "Unlike the Lady that's got her own wagon because o' who she is and her personal duties, most folk stay in here nights," he explains. He talks about the cycle of travel -- that caravans typically make ten miles, maybe twelve on a good day, and sometimes as little as a mile in bad weather or on bad roads. "And doing that means getting up early before sun-up to make breakfast and get all the animals together and hitched back up to get on the road. If we take time for bathin', it's most often cold water. At the end of the day we circle back up like we did at your town, do our chores -- there's a lot of chores to do, and everyone's helping, even the young'ns -- before we settle in for the evening meal... that's when we get to relax and spend actual time together and what not. Plan our journey, performances we might do at the next stop. There's story telling and song singing with the meal, most nights."
Diana's brows draw together and she says, "A lot of people stay here together?" She's young enough and honest enough that her emotions show clearly on her face. This doesn't seem as romantic as having her own special wagon with lots of little cubbyholes.
Dominic nods sagely. "It's not like any city or town, where most times people get their own room, or at least are only sharing it with a sibling, or a husband or wife. Space is precious, see? We've got a wagon to carry food, wagons to carry goods that we sell, a wagon to carry supplies and props... alla those wagons add up, so in the end most caravans have one, maybe two wagons that everyone without their own family wagon has to share to sleep in and keep their things, including folks what choose to travel with us. Sure, on some nights when it's warm or good weather or both, we'll be sleeping out of doors under the beautiful stars... but sometimes it gets bad. Bad storms, high winds, cold too. Weather can be a big problem sometimes." He grins. "Not a bad day today, though. Come along, let me introduce you to our dogs. They'll love you." He does not add that Alg will be there, but he's not worried about Alg getting that skittish -- not around a little girl.
Back at the end of the wagon-train, the young man pulls his hat off, exposing very close-shorn hair, "And... yes, I would very much like to meet the young lady in question. Though... is... I thought she might still be back in town." Chanticleer blinks at that, frowning. Why in the world would he think that?
Suraksha sits silently for a long moment... then smiles and shakes her head, "You're telling me you wish to join a cross-continental caravan, with all the danger and hardship and deprivation it entails... solely because you want to meet a girl? One who, if I remember correctly, is rather shy of you?" She adds quietly, "Buddy, a cup of coffee for the young man, please. Zach, get off that poor plow horse and loosen the girths so he can recover." She watches silently to see how Zachariah handles orders.
Zachariah is halfway to the ground before he realizes he has obeyed. That makes him flush even darker red. He stops his descent and stays his seat, "Well... that is... is she here?" His heart is pounding as he starts to fear she's not. He turns to Chanti instinctively, "I thought... that is... I think she was at Mr. Bradley's home."
Suraksha shakes her head amusedly and sighs, "Never mind, Zach. I don't think we can help you, since even after you've said you want a chance to learn to follow orders from a woman, and you get very simple orders -- that you should have known to do yourself for that poor horse! -you still can't seem to follow through." She has another sip of coffee, then adds, "Take a break with the coffee anyway. Your horse needs the rest before you head back."
Zach looks like someone just kicked his puppy. He climbs slowly down off the horse and runs his hands carefully over the saddle's girth to make sure it's not too tight, "He's not a plow horse. He used to be a racer, but he was seized..." Abruptly he realizes he is running off at the mouth. He takes a deep breath and, trying not to sound too accusatory, says, "You left her back there, didn't you? With that... man."
Suraksha raises an eyebrow, "Certainly not. She is safe with us, and 'that man' is named Jerome Bradley, as you well know." Her voice gets dry as she adds, "Seized, mm? Care to explain that?"
Zachariah clears his throat, starting to get flustered enough to be angry at himself, though it comes across as sheer sullenness, "There was an illegal racetrack. They had been given notice and time to dismantle. They didn't."
Chanticleer switches brows again; the arched one just was getting too much exercise. 'Seized'? 'Left her back there'? He frowns. Zach isn't talking about Diana, is he? No, not when he was making such googly eyes at Fantine. Suraksha sighs and shakes her head again, "Oh, Zach. Do you really want to be doing this? Think carefully before you answer, please, all right?"
Zachariah raises his head from his work and glowers, but doesn't quite meet Suraksha's eyes. To Chanticleer he says, "Is this really how it is out here?"
Suraksha laughs and throws her hands up in mock exasperation as she exclaims to Buddy and Chanticleer, "What?! Is it me? Am I really that terrifying?" The bull-man snorts amusedly, stepping forward to offer a mug of coffee to Zach.
Having the big man hand him the coffee just seems to fluster the young townie more, but he mumbles a thanks and then says a short prayer over the coffee before drinking it, "I'm just... women don't give orders back home."
Suraksha grins and murmurs dryly, "Yes, they do, actually. You just don't listen." She smiles and nods at Chanticleer so he feels free to answer.
Chanticleer nods to Suraksha, then turns and leans down and a little closer to Zach. "Out here... is not your town. I hate to be the one to break this to you," [no, I don't,] "but your town is... atypical."
Suraksha laughs softly, murmuring, "Ain't that the truth," to her mug.
Zachariah looks at Chanticleer and is beginning to seem as if he's realized just how much he's screwed up. "That's doesn't mean it's bad. Uncle is a bit stuffy..."
Chanticleer doesn't want to say much more, but Zach's answer compels him to say, "And you are comfortable there? Safe? Content. Familiar. Then that is where you should stay. There are many things far more confusing and weirder out beyond this valley than a lady in charge of a caravan. You would be tested. You would be challenged. You would not be at all comfortable. Or safe."
Suraksha nods in agreement with Chanticleer. She sighs, then looks at Zachariah and smiles, "All right, Zachariah, I will offer you a choice, since you had the courage to come out here and face us. You can come with us, which will entail a lot of long hours and taking orders from women and very hard work and possibly dangerous situations... maybe even give you a chance to learn to be a real man who's not afraid of those different from him." She has a sip of her coffee, then smiles mischievously as she adds quietly, "Or you can return home, if you wish... and always wonder."
Chanticleer looks to Suraksha, a little surprised at her offer. Saying 'you will always wonder' to a young man is like... is like teasing a fey with a conundrum or an enigma or, well, something shiny. But he is intrigued, and wonders what Zach will say. Next to them, the big bull-necked man leans against the chuckwagon and folds his arms, looking dour. Suraksha seems completely at ease as the big wagon creaks and shifts weight slightly; it's clear Buddy is a very sturdy man! Chanticleer wonders how Zach will deal with non-humans -- also, he's not sure what this will mean for Fantine. He doesn't want Zach to convince himself to stay in order to woo Fantine; that's not fair to her.
Zachariah struggles with the offer, eyes roaming down the line of wagons and then flicking back over his shoulder. Just then he catches a glimpse of a lithe and darting figure, familiar in her shyness: Fantine. He takes a deep breath, and in the tradition of being young, dumb, and full of... foolhardiness, he declares: "Yes. Yes, I want to try it!"
Chanticleer glances, seeing what -- or rather who -- makes Zachariah's face light up. He finds himself quite suddenly of two minds. On the one hand, there is the traditional sidhe knight reaction of, Ah I was that young and foolish once! Youth, such exuberant joyful silliness! Of course he's still a full century or two younger than when he can actually have the spurs to say something like that. On the other hand -- and somewhat more importantly -- he thinks, [Oh, bloody hells. You aren't thinking with your head, Zach. Or your heart.] He looks significantly to Suraksha.
Suraksha tilts her head in slight amusement, but simply nods, "All right, then." She rises, handing her mug to Buddy, "Thank you, dear -- that really hit the spot." She studies the young man with narrowed eyes for a moment... then nods and issues a flurry of orders, "All right. Buddy, take all the food on Zach's horse and stash it; we're moving in 15, please. Chanti, take Zach's horse to Del and tell Gramma Marcie we have a new recruit who needs to be signed in. Tell her who it is, to come find me and he, and that he's going to be under her direct command. Zach, pull your bedroll and personals and come with me." She turns and puts two fingers to her lips, giving a piercing whistle, then glances back impatiently at the young man to see if he's hopping to it.
Zach is standing there with his jaw hanging. He certainly didn't expect resistance to melt quite so quickly. He isn't completely stupid, however, and hops to in a clumsy sort of not-enough-hands kind of way. Chanticleer nods, not showing any questioning, and goes to take up Zach's horse to Del and then to go to Gramma. He really, really has a bad feeling about this. He doesn't think Suraksha's doing the wrong thing -- expanding the horizons of a young buck like Zach isn't bad -- but he does have a concern about Fantine. Chanti feels a particular protectiveness for the folk of the caravan who have had bad experiences with humans. He hopes Zach's initiation into such things is quick and decisive. Buddy is already quickly untying saddlebags and tossing them onto the chuckwagon. He rumbles tersely to the young man, "Don't worry, we all eat together; y' won't starve. Move it, kid -- don't keep the lady waiting!"
Daniel comes darting out from between two wagons, swaying agilely between horses and following Alg. Sura cheerfully shouts, "Moving in 15, pass it along!" and the boy waves and grins, whirls, and darts away again. The goblin bounds up to Suraksha to rub against her like an affectionate cat, then cackles at the wide-eyed young man. Suraksha rubs the goblin's ears as she murmurs to him, and he nods and darts off again, disappearing after Daniel. Sura's already striding swiftly alongside the stopped wagon train, and she barks, "Shake a leg, Zach! Lot of work to get done!"
Chanticleer thinks this would be the first time Zach's knowingly seen a non-human person. He pauses to see Zach's reaction to Alg. Zachariah stumbles after the lady, eyes wide and arms full of things. When Alg bounds up, the boy says, "Holy Father!" and actually fumbles a couple of his possessions when he takes a step back from the giggling, gleeful goblin. Chanticleer inwardly chuckles; Zach's reaction was not as bad as some he's seen. He heads off to get the horse to Del, then to Gramma's wagon to let her know the news.
Suraksha casually catches one of the saddlebags as it starts to slide free, tossing it easily back on top of the pile in Zachariah's arms. Amusedly she murmurs, "No, not holy father -- his name is Alg. I'll introduce you later. Come! We need to get you settled in before we start moving." She's heading for her wagon, where she suspects Gramma Marcie will have employment paperwork for the boy. She reviews quickly for him regardless, "All right, the caravan's corporation will be hiring you as a roustabout. You'll get food and shelter, you'll obey orders, you contribute a percentage of any outside monies you earn to the caravan, we take care of you and you take care of us -- that's the gist of it." She's keeping to the right hand side of the trail, in an effort to keep him away from both Diana and Fantine -- if they're heading towards the end of the train they'll likely be on what is their right hand side, like passing traffic -- and hopefully blocked from sight by the wagons.
Elsewhere on the wagon-train, Dominic has done the full gamut of things by the time the word on moving is getting passed around. He's shown off the dogs, introduced Diana to one of the men who was taking a moment to do some field maintenance on a wagon, and he's told her stories of the places he's been and the kinds of things she might be expected to help with on the road -- based on the things he himself learned from all those years ago when the Lady first rescued him from that press-gang. He even tells the girl he's a Tap, and the important work he does keeping the caravan safe by knowing ahead of time where the good and bad places are on the road ahead. He's doing his best to show Diana -- far more gently than Sura and Chanti are with Zachariah, perhaps -- that the road is an amazing place, but not for the faint of heart. Diana is already starting to think this whole adventuring thing isn't exactly as exciting as she thought it was.
Back near the end of the wagon-train, Suraksha adds to Zachariah, "Until we know what you're good for, you'll stay a roustabout. If you have a talent for something, let Gramma Marcie know." She pauses as Natalya comes trotting up, and the girl glances at Zachariah, then murmurs, "How long...?" as she glances significantly between Sura and Zach. Suraksha laughs softly, "Through the pass, please -- then we're clear to... change clothes. Pass it along, yes?" Natalya grins and nods, darting away to pass on the message to the entire caravan.
Zach is starting to stammer again, "Wh-what is that thing?" His eyes are bugging out a little bit. Adventure is one thing -- monsters are another!
Suraksha glances over her shoulder, her eyes narrowed in anger, "Alg is not a thing, and you will not refer so to anyone in the caravan, sirrah! Alg is a goblin, and he has proven his worth innumerable times over." Her voice is cool as she adds sharply, "He guards us all, and saved my life once. When you've done something equally worthwhile, then you may sneer -- not an instant before then!"
Chanticleer has been running along the top of the wagons from Marcie's wagon, as he is sometimes wont to do when in a hurry -- since his light frame lets him do so faster than weaving around the wagons. He catches Zach's comment and Suraksha's remonstrance, and smiles a little. He leans down from the edge of the wagon, not quite glamouring his eyes. "As we said, Zachariah," he says with some warmth, "tested and challenged. Far more confusing and weirder." He smiles. "You'll get used to it." He looks to Suraksha. "Gramma's here, Lady," he says, Marcie being quite nimbly beside him as well.
Zach stumbles back again as he catches a look at Chanti's eyes. This time his language is a little less gentlemanly, "Holy shit!" He then pales instantly -- swearing is severely frowned-upon by his uncle's sect. The young man manages to catch the things he fumbles, finding himself trembling like a leaf. Zachariah is having possibly the strangest day of his young life so far.
Suraksha looks up and smiles, "Gramma! What a relief." She glances back at Zachariah in concern, "Zach? You all right?" She puts a steadying hand on his shoulder as she adds to the apparently old woman scrambling lithely down from the roof with a hand from Chanti, "Listen, godsmama, the boy wants to join us. Can you take him in hand? He needs to learn to follow orders from women, as well as get his paperwork signed, his stuff tucked in with Sabrina's boys, and then put to work." She smiles encouragingly at Zach, squeezing gently as she adds, "Gramma'll take good care of you, all right?" She grins at the sidhe woman, adding, "We need to get safely through the Pass before we change clothes, all right? He's seen Alg, though, and Alg is covering for Fantine so we don't have any problems. Let's see, what else... Chanti, do you know where Poly and Pippa are? I need to get our errant child on the road home asap."
Zach is looking like his brain may have short-circuited. Chanticleer tilts his head to the side at the decidedly irreligious cussing. There's a part of every sidhe which enjoys playing the Trickster: bringing chaos and change into the world, being a disruption, making people challenge their perceptions -- and sometimes being a merry scamp. Not glamouring his eyes, Chanti decides, is his 'scamp' quota for the year. He nods. "I'll find them, Lady. I think I saw them with Del." He goes to find the two Amazons.
Further along the wagon-train, Diana is staying close by Dom and swallows hard at the mention of some of the less-fun things she might encounter on the road. She is still very young, after all -- even younger than her years, in some ways. Dominic finds himself not wanting to be so scary. It's difficult, perhaps, to shatter dreams... then again, taking Diana on now? It's just asking for trouble, in more ways than one.
The young man says, "One day, perhaps, you might be like Lady Sulochana -- head of your own caravan and the guest of amazing people, getting to go to parties and dressing up all pretty. But it will take a lot of hard work to get there, and the Lady is special, with talents and abilities apart from a simple fella like me. I been working this route with her since I was fifteen, and even though I'm someone she can count on to do what she needs, I'm nothing like her. What you need to do, really, is find out what you're good at, where your strengths are, hmm? And maybe, maybe you'll be fit, more than fit, to be on the road... but maybe you'll also find out that there's other things you'd rather do, that you're better at. And if that's so, then you need to chase those dreams with the same courage you showed in coming out on the road to find us," he tells the nervous girl.
Back at the tail end of the caravan, Suraksha slaps Zachariah's shoulder encouragingly, "There you go! Gramma's the best there is at what she does -- you're in excellent hands. Got to run now -- talk to you later!" She darts between two wagons, glancing up and down the trail as she calls to the driver of the closer one, "Dom?" The woman smiles and points, and Sura thanks her, then dashes forward, suddenly accompanied by a cheerful bevy of huge barking dogs and laughing children who want to know if the pretty girl is staying with them. She chuckles and sends them all off to finish their chores, and comes up on Dominic and Diana just in time to hear that last comment from him. She smiles, listening and not butting in; she's very proud of Dominic.
Diana is looking decidedly torn and holding tightly to Dom's hand as they walk. Her voice is very soft as she says, "Maybe I'm not ready... well, not yet."
Dominic makes a sympathetic sound, finding himself stroking the girl's hair with a gentle hand. "Not yet. Not yet is a good thing, sometimes. It's better than 'never,' isn't it?"
Suraksha steps forward and smiles as she hears that, and her voice is gentle, "It takes courage to admit that, dear heart. Good for you." She holds out a hand as she adds, "I've got Poly and Pippa saddling up horses for us; we'll return your pony later so he can rest a bit first, all right? You can ride with me, and we'll try and sneak you back so no one's upset. Does that sound like a plan?" She smiles warmly at Dominic too, saying softly, "Thank you, dear." Dominic nods to his Lady, glowing a little at her approval. This is uncharted territory for him and he wanted to do well -- for her, and for Diana's sake.
Diana's eyes are suspiciously shiny as she whispers, "Maybe. I guess so." She turns and hugs the gruff man, burying her face in his stomach to hide that she's crying.
Elsewhere, Zachariah looks wide-eyed at Gramma Marcie and asks with the voice of a child lost in the woods, "Why are we waiting to change clothes? The weather's supposed to be fine..."
The sidhe woman, who looks especially eerie clambering over wagons in the guise of an elderly human, smiles with every seeming of kindness at the boy and then says, "No time for silly questions now. Besides, nosy questions aren't allowed in the caravan. We're very strict about that."
Zachariah opens his mouth and then closes it again -- then looks at Chanti and asks, fear and curiosity in his voice, "Is... are... what..." Then he just grinds to a halt for the moment.
Chanticleer glances to Gramma, then back to Zach. He drops to the ground and puts a hand on the young man's shoulder. "It's as I said," he says with sympathy. "The world outside your town is weird and wild. Humans aren't alone, nor are they the clear majority of people we encounter. But they're all people, and you'll meet hundreds of them, thousands in all their wild and wonderful panoply and variety. You'll meet people that are beyond anything you can imagine, and you'll see things you've not even dreamed of."
Next to Dominic and Diana, Suraksha looks surprised, then concerned, "Diana!" She goes to one knee next to Dominic and the girl, stroking the child's back and murmuring reassuringly, "Sweet baby, what's wrong? You've been a very brave girl -- tell us why you're crying, please?" Dominic blinks at being hugged. He doesn't... actually, he doesn't remember the last time he was hugged. He hugs back once he's over his surprise, doing his best to comfort the girl physically, since he's kind of vocally flummoxed at the moment. He's glad Sura's there, then.
Diana's voice is muffled against Dom's stomach, "I wanted to be so very brave!" She's unaware she's echoing some of a very different-from-her young man's thoughts as Zach listens to Chanti's words. The shaken young man licks his lips and says, "I've never -- I mean, non-humans come through town, sure... but I've never met one. Our family was very... we didn't mix much until recently."
Suraksha chuckles with gentle affection to Diana, "Oh, sweetheart -- you are brave! Don't you see? You've done all sorts of good and successful planning to join us, and you had the cleverness and courage to realize you need to learn a bit more before you try this! Think of this as a dry run, dear: now you know you have excellent instincts!" She smiles as she glances up, "Don't you think so too, Dominic?"
Dominic nods firmly. "Listen to her, Diana. No one is discounting what it took to take this step -- to want to be a part of a larger world. But bravery alone is not enough. Knowing is just as important. When I left home I had worked very hard to feel ready to do so, and I was still caught unawares by unfriendly people. You have strength in you. Now you just need experience."
Diana sniffles her way to a halt and takes a hankie out of her sleeve to dab at her eyes and blow her nose, sighing dramatically, "I guess I'll have to wait until I'm older." She says this as if she's been told it a lot.
Dominic would help Diana with her hankie, but he doesn't want her to think he feels she can't even blow her own nose. "Don't look at it as 'older,' Diana. Just accept that learning things is going to take time. Don't wait. Start now. Go home, and immediately start exploring all avenues open to you. The sooner you start, then sooner you can be done, hmm?"
Elsewhere, Chanticleer smiles a touch impishly at Zachariah. "Come on. Let's get you someplace where you can fill out the paperwork. You'll be meeting a great many 'non-human' folk in the next hour, Zach, and many more that you hadn't realized. Keep an open heart and an open mind. That, I think will be the hardest for you. I... do have to say that your religion doesn't make friends with nonhuman folk easily or well. But one thing you'll find out, out here on the road, is this: folks is folks. No matter if you're in San Francisco, Baton Rouge, or Chicago."
Zachariah is nervously fidgeting a little bit as he's led along. His mind is whirling. That means this caravan... he should have known that by the way the old woman moved, and the man's eyes -- he's definitely not a deacon! The young townie hesitates and then ventures to say, "I... think I can handle it... maybe?"
Chanticleer smiles again and very lightly slaps Zach's shoulder. "It's easy. Just think of them as exactly what they are: people. Maybe they have a different shape, or different colors, or different prehensile tails... not that you have one of those. But they're still just people." He walks with Zach to a place to fill out the paperwork. "Some of us can change the way we look. It's a defensive thing." [Not really, but...] "Obviously a lot of people don't take kindly to people who are different. Some of us can change the way we look. Some of us can't. We make sure that the people who can't aren't seen by people who don't like folks who are different from them." He hopes his implication is clear.
Zachariah whispers in amazed realization, "You... you all fooled my uncle." There's a moment of stunned silence -- and then a big, big grin.
Chanticleer smiles a little. "A little bit, yes." His smile disappears. "What would your uncle have done if he'd known how many of us were not like him?"
Zach licks his lips nervously, "Those torches... they might have been used for something other than light." He's paling as he realizes what he might have been bullied into doing.
Chanticleer nods quietly. He'd been concerned about that. "Your uncle's people aren't the only ones who would do that," he says quietly. "Zach... I'll be blunt here. You already know a lot more about us than your uncle does -- or ever will, we hope. For our sakes, as well as your own, you have to be honest about if you can live and work with non-human folks. Can you do that?"
Zach hesitates -- then, feeling honesty is best, he says, "I don't know. But I think I'd like to try."
Chanticleer nods, smiling a little. "Good. Thank you, Zach. Thank you."
Gramma Marcie smiles quietly, her sharp eyes missing nothing as she apparently hobbles along next to the two young men. She introduces Zach to Sabrina, then has him toss his goods into the wagon onto a free bunk. After that she produces the paperwork, swiftly reads it aloud to the young man, and offers him a pen to sign, "You can write, yes? Or at least sign your name?" Zach starts to retort sharply, then catches himself and signs his name: Zachariah Benedictus. The older woman nods approvingly, "Excellent. First lesson: knowing when to keep your mouth shut."
Elsewhere along the wagon-train, Diana is still snuffling to a halt, "C-can we get home before Papa wakes up?"
Suraksha smiles and gently hugs the girl, "Listen to Dominic -- he's giving you very good advice! -and we'll give it our best shot, sweetheart, I promise." She glances up at the sound of hoof beats, then grins in relief at sight of Poly and Pippa, each mounted on their sturdy, scruffy mustangs and with another on a long lead. Both Diana's things and a bag for 'Chana are tied to the various saddles. "Here's our ride! Ready to go, Diana?"
Diana, despite her mourning of her great adventure, lights up as she sees the mustangs and the Amazons, "Are you coming back with me, Miss Sulochana?" The girl is still unconsciously clutching Dom's shirttail. Dominic notices this, and replaces his shirt with his hand, warm and comforting.
Suraksha rises, smiling and patting Dominic's arm, "Thanks, dear." She chuckles and nods, "Of course, sweetheart! You think I'd miss out on such an adventurous wild ride with you and my foster daughters?" The ponies are snorting and pawing the ground, restless and ready to run, and Sura swings up onto the back of the third, then scootches back a bit and holds out an arm, "Lift her up here, Dominic, please?" The two feral-eyed Amazons grin, and Pippa winks at Diana; they're clearly as ready to gallop as their mounts.
Dominic is quite happy to help Diana onto her mount... but before doing so he kisses her on the cheek -- which probably tickles, what with Dom having a very fuzzy face. "Don't you dare stop being brave," he insists to Diana. "I'll be back this way eventually, and I'll want to know all about everything you've done if you're still in town." He's firm, but in a friendly and kind way, wanting to encourage the sweet girl.
The girl giggles and blushes deep pink at the fuzzy, tickly kiss, "I promise, Mr. Dom!" She is apparently used to riding this way and settles in easily.
Suraksha grins at Dominic, wrapping an arm about Diana's middle. "Dominic, dear, Gramma's got Zach well in hand -- give yourself some relax time and let her break him in. Tell Ohkwa and Del the Amazons will return when they're ready, and I'll be back in the morning; I'll spend the night there. We'll return the pony as soon as we can. Diana, grab onto the mane, dear -- it's going to be a wild ride!"
Dominic smiles... and then he's inspired to actually back up his words. He takes off his hat -- the hat that was given him so many years ago by his mother, the one he's worn for over a decade -- and gives it to Diana. "That's your hat, now. It's a little big for you, but even if you don't want to wear it, you keep it safe. Remember that someone believes in you." Diana shoves the hat on her head and ties the ties under her chin. It is comically large, but she sits up straighter for having it.
Suraksha's eyes brighten at Dominic, over Diana's head, and she silently mouths, 'Thank you!' Dominic nods approvingly at Diana, and smiles at Sura under all that beard. He can see she's proud of him... but more importantly, he's proud of himself -- feels like he's made a mark, something that will outlast him. The small woman laughs aloud as Pippa's pony squeals and gives a happy buck, then darts forward. "We're solid, Hippolyta -- let 'em rip!" The three horses take off with a small thunder of hooves, heading back to town.
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