| Logs |
2011 April 10
| Neverneverwhere |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
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| Realms: Taps Logs |
A Wreath of Flowers
Dominic waits a while, after Mary appears to have fallen into sleep... it certainly seems like the storm has died down some, likely in response to Mary no longer making it any worse. But he lingers to make sure she's not going to wake up the second he turns around, murmuring a soothing tune his mother used to sing for him, stroking her hair and feeling fiercely protective of this poor, scared child. He looks solemnly up at Sabrina finally, "Can you keep watch over her while I check in with the Lady and Ohkwari?"
It takes some hollering back and forth and some searching to find a good place for it, but both of the big riverboats pull as close to the bank as they can to weigh anchor. The Proud Mary sends a dinghy across with Jacko, Alan, and Travis. They bring an oilskin-wrapped package of dry clothes with them and wait for the party from the barge. Del and a couple of the others are arranging for some of the caravan's horses to be taken ashore as well, since there will need to be at least a couple of swift folk scouting downriver.
Chanticleer is saddling Chevrefoil as fast as he can, but being also careful and precise. He takes a moment to be sure he is dry, and packs a couple of blankets if he manages to find Suraksha and Roy. He says to Ohkwari, "Anything you can suggest?" as he takes up some apples for Chevrefoil, to help the stag keep up his strength for this unexpected jaunt.
Okhwari turns his head and looks downriver, "The water would have taken them downriver, most likely... unless they hit the bank sometime before we realized they were gone. I'd send the bulk of the party along the road, calling for them. Put some folks with good night sight right along the bank."
Chanticleer nods, "Where should I go? And who do you want to come with me?"
The manitou doesn't even have to think, "Downriver. Take Dom with you and get near the bank. He'll be able to tell where the bank is solid, and you've got the eyesight for it." Chanticleer nods to Ohkwari, and looks around for Dominic.
Dominic, after leaving the cabin, finds out in short order that things are not quite calmed down, what with the Lady and Roy being absent... where he was gathering some measure of calm before, that quickly disappears. Fortunately Chanti already has his marching orders, and he finds the young man while on Dominic is on his way to Ohkwari. When Chanti explains, he nods curtly. "Right, let's get about it, then," he murmurs, his tone tense and urgent. "Do we need any equipment?"
Chanticleer considers, then nods, "Let's see. Rope, perhaps. We've got blankets. Some way to signal the other searchers."
Dominic nods. "I'll round that up then, you get the punt ready," he barks, and dashes off before Chanti can argue. In short order he has a coil of rope and a signal lantern from off one of the wagons. He's already got his knife on him, and he makes sure his hat is tied on securely... he ponders his cloak, but that will drown him if he goes overboard, so leaves it. He's already wet anyway.
Chanticleer blinks after Dominic, then looks to Chevrefoil and purses his lips. "Well," he says, "It makes sense. You and I can go get help once we find them, and you should be able to fit in the punt."
With all the backing and forthing and finding of supplies, it takes several trips to get everyone that's going ashore off the boats. Travis, the youngest of Roy's men to come ashore, is sent upriver along with Del and one of the caravan's horses. Jacko and Alan go with a pair of the Sokoloff boys and several horses down the road that parallels the river, leaving Chanti, Chevre, and Dom to stick close to the banks of the river. Dominic is doing his best to remain on an even keel. He knows this is not his fault, couldn't possibly be, and yet it eats at him. "We just need to find them, and everything will be okay. The Lady's smart. She'll keep the King safe, till we can find them. She laughs at storms," he says to Chevrefoil, holding the lantern high... he doesn't have Chanti's eyes; he needs the light.
Chanticleer says, as he looks over the waters to the approaching shore, "Absolutely she does." He squints a little, frowning. "They'll be fine. She knows how to swim, and I'm sure she could get Roy to shore in a storm." The rain is still coming down, though not as torrentially, and the sound of the river lapping at the banks is just about all there is. The scent of wet earth is heavy this close to the Big Muddy and Dom's lantern provides some much-needed light. Even with dawn coming on, the clouds are keeping it dim. Chanticleer shakes his head. "If they're conscious," he says, "they'll be trying to make themselves as noticeable as possible."
Dominic says nothing for a long bit, quietly tense as he follows behind so the light doesn't get in Chanti's eyes and screw up the sidhe's night vision. The young man curses inside as, minute after minute they see nothing -- yet he's sure they just haven't gone far enough, that all will be well. "We needed to be more careful. I think Mary might have made the storm worse... I should have thought of that. I should have been with her, dammit." He does not add that the King should have known too, what with him knowing she's a Water Tap and all. But the frightened young man doesn't want to cast that blame, because it's really no one's fault. Still, he's wound tight and feels the need to say something into the grim dawn. Reaching out with his senses too, he works to make sure they don't get into quickmud, or any other unstable earth made worse by the torrent of rain.
Chanticleer says soothingly, "I wouldn't be worried about it, for now at least. She'll learn in time. As it is, if Lady and the King got a swim, and that was the worst that happened in this storm, I think we mostly came out ahead. The girl will get the training she needs -- from someone who's been trained to train Taps."
Dominic growls. "That's the worst part of it, right there."
Chanticleer blinks and half looks back at Dominic. "Er... what is?"
Dominic looks wry. "You know that whole talk I was having with the Lady at the edge of the boat? Part of the reason I was in that mood to begin with was me thinking, after we took Mary back, that I should train her. That that would be right, somehow -- that it would mean something lasting. But let's be fair... I'm only starting to really learn how to make the most of my own powers. I'm not ready to train a girl. But she was just so lost and scared... I wanted to protect her. But her going with Roy, getting a proper mentor... that really is the best solution. Someone who really is right to give her the help she needs. Not someone who feels like they have to prove something to anyone."
Chanticleer is quiet for a little while. "Do you really think you have something you need to prove, Dominic?"
Dominic shakes his head. "Sometimes. I don't know. I just feel most of the time like I'm not who I need to be yet, even though I try so hard. I know the Lady just wants me happy. I just want to be happy, too. But it feels like there's something missing. And I hope Ohkwari can help me figure out what that is." The earnest young man looks at Chanti. "You ever feel like that? Like a hundred years ago, when you were my age?" he queries.
Chanticleer says, "Well... it wasn't a hundred years ago. But I did, for a time. Then I got into my first large-scale fight and I realized the only thing I had to prove was that I could survive. There were a few other things I had to learn, but the main thing is, 'proving yourself' is a form of hubris. You have to ask yourself, what are you trying to prove? To whom are you trying to prove it? Is it just feeling like a lack of experience, a lack of control? Is it respect, either earning or claiming? When you say something's missing, what is missing?"
Dominic's mouth purses into a bow. It's a good thing Chanti asks the question, it helps him actually understand what he's feeling -- and it distracts him from the worry about Sura and Roy. "It feels like I'm not... ready." He knows that's not enough, and works harder. "Not ambitious enough, maybe. It's too easy for me to settle, for me to be happy with what I have, rather than want something more. That's what's missing. The drive. The desire for... anything, really."
Chanticleer says gently, "We never feel ready, Dominic. Not for anything. Ambition, though... that can be a dangerous thing. You have to have a goal, well-set in your mind. Otherwise ambition is directionless. You reach out and grab everything you can within reach, until you try to grasp something beyond your reach. There's nothing wrong with being content with who and what you are. And if you want to be more than that, you can be. You don't have to be a master tap quakelord overnight -- it can be a goal, certainly, but you need goals, incremental achievements, as milestones. Seven leagues can still be divided by seventeen-inch steps.
The silence stretches out for a moment... and then Dom finally speaks. "Mastertap QuakeLord? is that an actual rank?" he queries dubiously.
Chanticleer laughs softly, "No, it's not. Sorry. To be honest, I have no experience at all with human taps, so I just made that up."
Dominic is listening to what Chanti says, though. "It's that I'm not content with who and what I am. I mean, I guess I was -- but something's changed. I think maybe it was talking to Diana. She wanted so bad to come with us, for one, not knowing what she was in for but wanting it anyway. But I had to send her back so she could learn and figure herself out better. So I look at me, and I wonder why I don't have that same fire. Talking with her, telling her about the Lady..." He's clearly working towards something in his head, but it's just out of reach.
Chanticleer listens to Dominic quietly, letting him come to his own conclusions with just a little prodding. "You saw what you want to be in her?"
Dominic sighs. "Sort of. I mean... I wanted to be more than I was. I wanted to be like... well, like Sura a little. I wanted to be the amazing person Diana seemed to think I was." He shakes his head. "Silly, maybe. Like reverse hero worship."
Chanticleer smiles quietly. "Not silly at all. But like I said: set goals -- incremental ones -- and you'll be better able to go where you need to go." He pauses. "Like I said, I'm not familiar with human Taps... but I'm going to guess you may not be too familiar with them either. Oh, we hear all the time of warlords trying to re recruit or press-gang them, but... do you know many experienced Taps? Maybe you might want to speak with whatever tutor Mary will be speaking with?"
Dominic perks then. "That's... actually yes, a very good idea. Because you're right -- I don't. I mean, none of the folks with the wagon are Taps -- well, except for Little Joe... I got my first real instruction in a long time from the earth woman. Before that it was a journeyman in my home village... all the rest is just experience -- which plateaued a long while back."
Chanticleer says a touch wryly, "I suspect you have more experience than you think, but there may be subtleties to what Taps do that might have an effect on what they can do."
Dominic can't help but wonder then what might have happened if Suraksha hadn't rescued him. He means yes, no one wants to be forced into service, but... maybe he would have learned better how to be a Tap. "Just listening to what Regina told me was a real eye opener. Almost a paradigm shift," he admits, "and then there was the thing with Mary, and that was a real trial by fire. Er, so to speak."
Chanticleer says, "What was it that Regina told you?"
Dominic gestures. "Well, it wasn't about how to do things, exactly. We didn't get that far. It's more like... how to ask for it. It changed the way I see the earth. Most of the time it was simply asking questions of the world around me. Now I can actually... ask it to do favors for me. Like we're family, and the Earth is helping me out."
Chanticleer considers that carefully. "Sounds almost like an apprenticeship?"
Dominic blinks, then laughs a little. "Really? Why? Feels to me more like I've got a mother or big sister that helps me out if I ask nicely, and make sure to give them attention and love they deserve."
Chanticleer says, "Well, let me ask another question: You feel like you haven't reached your full potential?"
Dominic purses his lips. "I don't know, to be honest. I mean, I din't know everything a Tap can do, really. But it's less about being a Master Tap specifically, and more with just being... better. Stronger. More able to meet and deal with challenges -- with having those actual goals, and growing, and making a difference." He looks at Chanti. "You know. Like you."
Chanticleer blinks, then stifles a laugh, looking back at Dominic. "Like me? Dom... there's a serious difference between what I can do and what you can do. I can't protect the caravan from an earthquake or another Tap -- I've not a chance in Heavens or Hells to do that. You do." He looks back, scanning the shoreline. "Besides... all I was really trained how to do is stick a piece of sharp bronze into someone -- and all I can do is learn how to do that better." [And keep from being killed by the Court, but that goes without saying... literally.] "You... you've got so much more to look forward to learning, if even half of what I've heard of Taps being capable of is true."
Dominic is feeling all self-conscious now! "Well, okay, I suppose it is a big thing, being a Tap. I never really thought about it like that... but that's also not what I meant. And it's not like it's a race, or a competition. I just meant... you're very good at what you do, and you have the confidence to go after what you want. You know what you want, and that helps you no matter what you want to learn, or how you want to grow."
The sky around them is beginning to lighten, giving them less need for the lantern and making it easier to see along the muddy banks of the river. The rain is also beginning to slacken around them. Dominic has been so engrossed, between the conversation and looking for Sura, that he completely lost track of other things. "I am never going to be dry again," he grumbles. "My bones are drenched."
Chanticleer makes a quiet sound. "Confidence? Well... I wish I had your faith in me. But... there was a training regimen they taught before I got my spurs: To build confidence, do what you know best. Then work on something you know how to do but aren't comfortable doing, and build from that. A squire's not made into a knight in a week, after all." He nods, looking around. "That was a heck of a storm. If Mary did help it along, she's definitely going to need a tutor -- else Baton Rouge is going to start being called 'Baton Humide.'"
Dominic nods agreeably. "Sure, I get it. Kind of like what Sura was recommending." Now it's coming back: the itch at his spine, his worry. "Dammit, we'd better find her soon. That water's damn cold, and they're in danger of catching hypothermia." Because there's no possibility that they drowned. No way.
Chanticleer makes a quiet sound, continuing to look. "Yeah, it's starting to get urgent now. I don't know of any settlements around this area where they might have taken shelter."
The crack about Baton Humide seems to be coming back to haunt Chanticleer. With the rain stopping and the sun rising, a fog is coming off the river and crawling along the banks, obscuring vision much more surely than did the rain and the dark. Clouds overhead make it seem like a dreamworld, with trees appearing out of the fog just a couple of feet ahead of them. It slows Dom's and Chanti's progress to a crawl. Chanticleer makes a quiet sound. "All right," he mutters, "this isn't good. I'm open to suggestions." He's thinking hard. "Dom, I don't think we can see the shore well from here. We're going to lose time, but I think we should dismount and continue searching that way along the river, looking for any sign of them.
Chanticleer dismounts from Chevrefoil, leading the stag along the trail beside the water and looking for any indicator at all of where Suraksha might have come ashore with Roy. He realizes he's hoping Suraksha is with Roy. He really, really doesn't want them to have become separated. Dominic swears at the growing fogbank and, at Chanti's suggestion, starts calling out with him, hoping Roy or Sura can hear even if they can't see.
Abruptly, out of the fog comes a tremendous, shockingly loud noise -- a blast of trumpeting sound that seems to echo disorientingly around them! Instantly the quiet, normal sounds of the local wildlife go utterly silent -- there's only the swift rushing of the swollen river in the wet, dampening fog. Chanticleer's hand whips toward his sword as he holds his position. "What... was... that?" he murmurs to Dominic.
Dominic was nearly surprised out of his boots! He pulls his knife on instinct, looking suspiciously at the fog. "I have no damn idea," he mumbles. He crouches to touch the earth, sinking his senses into the ground to see if he can get any idea of what lies ahead.
Looming out of the fog comes an incredibly high gray wall or form. It moves forward in a swaying movement, a long and snake-like extension upraised and snuffing the air. Out of the fog comes a voice as well, though direction is impossible to tell. "What in hell was that?"
Dominic can unfortunately feel nothing other than a tremor deep in the earth, which he can only barely sense with his power... but the figure that comes out of the mist is a skosh more distracting, and he stumbles back, lifting his lantern and raising his blade to defend himself as he tries to understand what he's seeing. Chanticleer frowns, narrowing his eyes. "Dom, please tell me that's an elephant, and not some nameless squamous horror...."
Dominic shakes his head. "I can't tell you that... and to be fair, a startled elephant could squish us just as flat..." he mumbles.
The huge figure pauses, delicate ears flapping gently, and makes a quiet gurgling sound as the trunk reaches out towards the two men. Chanticleer relaxes a little. "Yes... so let's keep this one as calm as possible." He leaves his hand up in the air, letting the trunk brush against or sniff it. "Dom... what the hell is an elephant doing in North America? They're not native, are they?"
Dominic tries to remember what, if anything, he learned about elephants. "No, but there used to be lots of zoos, pre-Cataclysm-" The voice they heard earlier seems to come from the enormous creature, "Chanticleer?"
Chanticleer says, "Well... I suppose some of them could have escaped after the Dying and bred, but-" He blinks at the voice that goes through his mind as the trunk touches his fingers. "Uh... Dom, it just said 'hello' to me."
"Elephants can't usually talk," Dom informs Chanti helpfully. The long trunk drifts over towards Dominic, reaching for him as well. Dominic's curiosity overcomes his worry; he puts his knife away and reaches out a large hand.
As the trunk brushes against Dominic's hand, a quiet voice in his head murmurs amusedly, [Most can't, true.]
Dominic blinks. "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle," he murmurs in wonder. "A telepathic elephant?"
From behind the elephant's head the audible voice says with tired amusement, "Naw. But they're part of hers." The voice is male and is starting to sound awfully familiar.
Chanticleer perks his ears. "Roy? Is that you?"
The trunk snuffles lightly at Dominic's face, [You do not smell like a monkey. You smell human. Are you part of the tiger-woman's herd?]
Dominic looks at Chanti. "Oh, brave new world," he suggests. He remembers that line from a performance that happened once in his home town. When the elephant addresses him, he straightens. "Uh, yessir. Or is it Ma'am? We both are." He tries not to squirm as the trunk gives him a thorough sniffling, fighting a boyish giggle. This is so amazing!
Roy replies, "Yeah. It's me. Ya'll, this here's Gajara. She was nice 'nuff t' bash in a gator's head for us."
Chanticleer blinks to the telepathic elephant. "Uh... nice to meet you -- and hello to you."
Dominic breathes a sigh of relief. "You really put a scare into us, your Majesty." Then he quickly takes off his hat in respect. "Is the Lady well?"
The elephant raises her trunk and makes a sort of squealing, trumpeting sound, then sways forward another step, stopping next to Dominic. She curls her trunk around him, tugging gently to get him to lean against her pillar-like foreleg, then reaches out to touch Chanticleer as well. They can both hear, in their heads, [Hello! I am a female, yes, and named Gajara. I am relieved to find you -- your tiger-woman was quite concerned.]
Roy hesitates and then says, "Wellll... we're both alive."
The elephant adds a bit worriedly, [She is broken. She sleeps now.]
Dominic makes a startled noise as he's brought into full contact with a large elephant... but apart from the initial startlement, he realizes what she was trying to do, and makes sure to touch the strong foreleg so they can converse. "She was concerned about us? She was the one that was swept..." He pauses at Roy's hesitation, his heart in his throat when Gajara confirms her status. "Oh dear gods. Will she... heal?"
As Gajara moves, they can see up along her side to where Roy is perched upon her neck, shirtless and looking quite the worse for wear. Suraksha, limply unconscious in Roy's arms, looks ghastly. Her dark hair is tangled, with a few leaves and twigs in it and her small body is clothed in nothing more than what looks like Roy's dingy, damp, and ragged shirt. What can be seen of her ordinarily dark-skinned form is liberally smeared with streaks of dried mud, while under that are some incredible bruises and dried blood. There's more blood under her fingernails and the smudges of exhaustion under her closed eyes seem even darker compared to her pale skin. The king is looking exhausted and muddy himself and is cradling Suraksha like a very fragile child, "I think so, yeah. It wa'n't a fun trip."
Chanticleer blinks. "Oh, good heavens...." he immediately swings up onto Chevrefoil's back. "I'll go to the landing and bring Sna'tha and Pierce back!"
Dominic makes a strangled noise in his throat. "We need to get her back to the ship... but she doesn't look good. I don't think a ride at full gallop..." He trails off, then nods at Chanti. "Right, what he said!"
The elephant coils her trunk back as the sidhe shifts out of reach, then murmurs to Dominic, [Can you lead me in the right direction? We can follow more smoothly, if so.]
Roy tries for his normal rogue's smile and it comes across as a thin shadow. "Anybody you can find might be good."
Dominic hesitates... the fog makes things more difficult. But this is what he's supposed to do, what he's trained to do: to scout and find a safe road. Even if his eyes fail him, Mother Earth will not. He can find his way. "Lady Gajara, I will," he says confidently. "Chanti, go! I'll stay with!"
Roy calls after Chanti, "Pierce isn't there! But one of the nurses might be." Chanticleer waves back to Roy to show he heard, then rides Chevrefoil as fast as he can back to where the barges are tied up to shore.
The huge elephant moves with surprising silence and delicacy, curling her trunk around one of Dominic's shoulders, [If you want me to speak to you, I need to touch. I can understand you just fine, though, if you speak. Are we going the right way?]
Dominic touches the trunk in fascination, but damps it down. "Yes, we are; this is the way we came. I will keep us on the safe ground." He expects safe ground is even more important when you weigh four tons!
Roy relaxes again, going back to concentrating on Suraksha. After a moment he asks, "The storm... is anyone else hurt?" He sounds truly concerned, despite his exhaustion.
Dominic shakes his head, before remembering King Roy can't see him. "No, your Majesty, not seriously. At last count you and the Lady were the only ones overboard... all the rest is a bit of property loss and some damage. If I may, what happened?"
The elephant resumes her gracefully slow, swaying pace through the fog, following Dominic. If he doesn't seem to mind, her trunk brushes against him occasionally as it swings with her walk. She remains silent for now, however. Roy's voice is wry, "I was watching during the storm. Saw her go overboard and went in after her. Got myself bashed in the head."
Dominic encourages the touching, fascinated by the thick skin of the trunk and the large flappy ears. "Incredible," he murmurs at the majestic creature. At Roy's explanation the young man scowls. "And what happened after that? You mentioned about Miss Gajara stepping on something for you?
Gajara murmurs amusedly, [Actually I flipped the alligator out of the water, so Tiger-Suraksha could eat it and become more energetic, she said.]
Roy rubs the back of his head with his free hand and then winces, "A lot of it's pretty fuzzy. I'm pretty sure it ended up bein' her savin' my ass instead of the other way around."
Gajara raises her trunk and gives another small, grunting squeal which somehow sounds amused. Touching Dominic again, she murmurs, [I pulled them both out of the water. The male human was over a tree branch, held on by the female tiger. The alligator was trying to attack the tiger. I do not like gators -- they make it hard to drink.] Roy grunts at that and stays quiet. He isn't happy that he got to be the one being saved. The elephant concludes, [She ate the gator. I was pleased to help. She said I could join your herd. I am very strong; I will work hard.]
Dominic blinks at the idea of having an actual elephant with the caravan. "This is, uh... huh." He thinks about it a bit, then assures the elephant, "You'll be really popular, Gajara. Although I certainly hope you won't have to step on any more gators for a while." He looks up at the king. "Seriously? She ate a whole gator?" he asks.
Roy nods, stroking the hair out of Suraksha's face, "She ate a lot of it. Ain't much even she can do for digestin' bones."
The elephant throws up her trunk and trumpets again, then wraps her trunk around Dominic in a snug hug, [Thank you! I am so glad to hear that. I have been alone for a very long time.] Wistfully she adds, [I do not like being lonely] followed by, [Oh, I did not step on it. I flipped it out of the water with my trunk and slammed it against a boulder. Your tiger actually slew it.]
Dominic can't help but laugh at being hugged by a large elephant trunk! This is so surreal. "Somehow I think you'll fit right in, Gajara -- and that's still damn impressive: flipping a gator."
As they move slowly back upriver Roy asks, "Is little Mary all right?"
Dominic rubs his forehead, making a discontented sound. "She was fine when I left her... sleeping. I fear the storm scared her, and being scared just made things spiral out of control. She doesn't have good control over not letting what she senses get to her. Maybe I can help her with that -- at least before we can get her to your excellent tutors, Majesty."
Roy sighs and says, "Poor kid. I'll make sure her... tutors know that."
At the place where the boats are anchored, Chanticleer finds people doing their best to keep busy and not worry; what repairs can be done are being worked on. He returns to the encampment quickly, faster than normal, and he dismounts almost before Chevrefoil stops, calling for horses and one of the nurses from the Royal barge. He goes to find Sna'tha on his own, to tell her; for some reason, he doesn't feel it proper to shout high and low for her.
The nurse is looking a little pale when she's brought from the paddleboat, but she's carrying a leather bag of medical supplies and is ready to go whenever Chanticleer comes back. Sna'tha is easy to find: she has been helping Ohkwa keep people busy. Chanticleer quietly tells her what they saw and what happened. "She looks in bad shape," he murmurs to her. "Do you wish to come?" Sna'tha is immediately ready to come. Jacko, having returned from his own search, insists on being with them as well. Chanticleer considers, then nods to Jacko as well. He arranges for the horses for the other three.
Between Jacko and Sna'tha, Chanticleer is pretty much bombarded with questions the whole way back to the king, the elephant, and the unconscious woman. Chanticleer tries to answer them as best as he can, but he does point out: as soon as he found out Suraksha was badly hurt, as soon as the elephant said she was 'broken' -- and he acknowledges the ludicrousness of a talking elephant under other circumstances -- he rode back quickly.
Jyotsana and her godsmother Sna'tha are working out in the Sesha mansion's gym. It's been a long, hot, frustrating day for the child, and Sna'tha is nearly buzzing with frustration at her. The sidhe knows the girl can do better than this... this obstreperous clumsiness! There's a combination of weariness, rebellious desire to be playing elsewhere, and plain old mule-headed stubbornness bubbling in the child, and she's passive-aggressively refusing to learn. Admittedly, Jyotsana knows better than to run out of the dojo to hide behind her parents or grandmother. Not only is Sna'tha faster than she, but when she does so her family tends to give her comforting hugs... and then insist she return to training.After the umpteenth time Jyotsana has incorrectly performed a simple move Sna'tha has seen her do perfectly on previous days, the sidhe just dumps the girl onto the mat. Jyotsana is in tears by now, refusing to get up again, sweaty and tired and utterly sick of the whole charade. She wails miserably over Sna'tha's irritated tirade at her, "Why are you so mean, godsmama? I hate you!"
Sna'tha stops speaking, standing insect-still as she watches the girl. Jyotsana sniffles uncertainly, curling up self-protectively -- Sna'tha has on occasion used unexpected strikes in training -- and rubbing her eyes with one hand. Finally the tall, slender woman comes stalking over the mat to the girl, offering her a hand, "Enough training for today, sweet baby. Come... I want to show you something, and tell you a story." Jyotsana isn't sure about this, but she hesitantly accepts the extended hand, and Sna'tha lifts her easily to her feet, adding, "Someday I hope you will tell this story to your chosen beloved as well. Perhaps it will explain things to him too." She leads the tired, unhappy girl out of the dojo to her personal quarters...
Suraksha smiles in quiet nostalgia as she slowly strokes Roy's sweaty hair out of his face, where he tiredly lies with his head on her lap after another exhausting training session with Sna'thaid. "She told me being immortal is sometimes more effort than it's worth... that it teaches you to treasure family and friends, because you must get used to everyone dying before you. She said natural death was something you learned was just part of life; it was a good thing for those ready to die, and you grieved those you loved but you went on, because they would want you to. But she said violent, stupid, unnecessary deaths... over the centuries those were the ones you learned to hate -- because they could have been prevented, and because you lost a piece of your soul when that happened... a piece ripped violently away, without warning, instead of going gently into that good night."
Sura leans her head back against the wall behind her, sighing softly as she rests a hand on Roy and continues, "As I've told you, my grandfather was murdered in a stupid accidental gang shooting -- they weren't even aiming at him, from what we could tell -- and Fearsome Grandmother went mad the night they brought his body to her, slithering out for revenge without regard for her own safety. Godsmama told me she went with Grandmama because she was already broken-hearted at the loss of my grandfather, a dear friend, and she could not bear to lose her dearest, oldest, and longest-lived friend as well. When you live forever, having friends that also live forever helps anchor you, she said -- and you'll do just about anything to help them survive and not leave you facing eternity alone."
Sura's voice is slow and thoughtful as she muses, "Sna'tha showed me an old strand of silk with multiple knots in it, that she'd tied into a necklace. Each of those knots was someone she'd murdered that night -- a stupid, senseless, violent death to keep Fearsome Grandmother alive. She did not want the dead to be forgotten or ignored, as my grandfather's death had been... but she did not know what else to do. She kept Fearsome Grandmother and my mother alive, but it nearly broke her heart. She took some time off to work out her pain, and that was where she experimented with assassination on the East Coast, as an alternative to the messiness of the nights of the Imperial Dragon's madness, in San Francisco."
Sura looks down at Roy, her face still as she quietly adds, "Did you know she has a silk necklace for that century too? The two necklaces have almost the equal number of knots, oddly enough..." Her voice trails off as she simply sits and reminisces for a bit, her fingers stroking slowly and sensually through his hair while her thoughts are far, far away.
Finally Suraksha continues, "Sna'tha told me... when she received the letter from Fearsome Grandmother asking her to be my godsmother, she knew I had to already be hatched, since it takes anywhere from 10 to 12 months to get a letter across the continent. Consequently she also knew by the time she returned to San Francisco for the ceremony I would be at least a year old. She was at that time coming to the conclusion that surgically precise assassinations were not the answer either -- because fearful people will cheerfully kill the innocent, if they believe they will also eliminate the source of their fear. She'd had to deal with a few bombs by that point, and understood the humans had simply learned to up the damage, rather than to leave assassination to careful, precise specialists -- which is what she'd hoped they'd learn.
"So Sna'tha sent a note back to Grandmama telling her she would be honored to be my godsmother... if Amma and Fearsome Grandmother would allow her to train her godsdaughter -- and them! -to protect ourselves. Sna'tha did not wish to have another night of madness where she ran the risk of losing more dear and beloved family members -- she preferred to spend the time *before* a murder attempt in doing her best to render us very, very difficult to kill. She said in the note she would return soon, and would need to spend a few years making sure she had a suitable training regimen for us... and then she would teach it to us -- and to all our beloveds and our children, for as long as she lived."
Suraksha smiles down at Roy, her eyes unaccustomedly tender as she trails her fingers lightly along his skin, "So that's why Sna'thaid is being so hard on you, sweet man. She's not malicious or a sadist, and she's not enjoying seeing you all suffer. What she's doing is keeping her promise to my Amma and Grandmother... doing her best to keep you and I, and someday our child, as safe as she can make us -- ensuring she does not lose those she loves." She leans down to brush a gentle kiss along Roy's lips, adding softly, "I don't want to lose you either, lovely man; that's why I want you to take this training, hard and aggravating though it may be. She's keeping you safe, after all... for me."
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