| Logs |
2013 May 15
| Neverneverwhere |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
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| Realms: Taps Logs |
Donner Pass
Roy had been a father before. His twins with his beloved Jacqueline had been the light of his life, but he'd had far too little time with them. No time to spoil his daughter with pretty baubles. No time to take his son on his first hunting trip. No time for anything.
After the death of his first family, it would be decades before the river-rat king would want anyone that close to him again. He worked as a mercenary and soldier. He took lovers -- his affair with Geraldine had been fairly long-lived for what it was -- but he never had partners. The philandering king's reign in Baton Rouge as he used his Tapping abilities to calm the Big Muddy was full of assignations and flirtations with nothing more than affection and admiration.
Until Sulochana.
There were some rough spots there. It took a while before the pair of them finally took off the masks to look at one another as they were instead of how they presented themselves to the world. Instead of the roguish, capricious, shallow prettyboy who had somehow won a throne, there was the one-time soldier, widower, and powerful Tap who was using his abilities to bring prosperity to his people. Instead of the haughty, beautiful, expensive Hetaera, there was the adventuresome, hard-working, caravan-leading Naga.
If it had not been love at first sight, it had been love at first true sight.
There were still dalliances after that -- neither of them were monogamous, after all -- but no one was going to get to be the Queen of Baton Rouge through seduction and romance. Roy had said more than once that his city had all the Queen it needed in the river. He intended it to stay that way, too. He had his beloved 'Chana and she didn't want to marry him and he wasn't going to marry anyone else, so he figured that would be that. When he passed on, he would try to name an heir he thought would be able to rule his beloved city fairly and lovingly. Somehow.
Mary had been even more of a shock than Sulochana had: a foundling child the caravaneers had chanced upon, with frighteningly powerful Water Tapping abilities. Abandoned by her anti-supernatural parents as an abomination, she had come into his life in the same amazing span of time that included him finally putting aside his pride and telling 'Chana that he loved her and wanted to court her. Someone had to train the child before she caused more harm or death, and it fell to Roy as the only powerful Water Tap the caravaneers knew.
It hadn't been hard for Roy to pass Mary off as a by-blow. The womanizing reputation stood him in good stead there, as did his occasional travels for diplomacy. It meant that he could say she was the daughter of a woman in another city, that none of the people of Baton Rouge would know. Sometimes it stung a little that people simply accepted that of him, but he'd worked hard at being underestimated, so it wasn't really something he could complain about. In truth, there were folks that were surprised he didn't have more bastards hiding here and there. It was mostly down to the fact that the stronger Taps, like many other supernatural folk, tended to be not very fertile.
The girl had been nervous at first. Her only experience of parents had been the strait-laced and bigoted people that had literally abandoned her in the middle of the night on the road. Being told she would have a father was frightening at first, but then she'd actually met Roy. He'd been sweet to her, so she thought that maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
Once they were settled in Baton Rouge, Roy's inner circle of guards and confidantes were apprised of the situation, and Mary herself had the story explained to her. She was young, but she understood having to keep secrets to keep herself safe.
There were all sorts of lessons. There were lessons in deportment (which Roy explained as being what you had to do when around uptight people) that were backed up with lessons on how to not so much be polite but to treat people the way that made them feel truly good. The girl learned to dance and to be a good hostess, and she started learning statecraft because the king wanted her to be able to hold her own as she grew up in the court.
There were what Roy called book-learnin' lessons. In fact, he insisted on Mary having as much of a Classical education as was possible in a place where a person having more than two books to their name was considered an excess of riches. She learned languages -- French, Latin, Spanish, and Creole -- the last of which was taught on-the-go as the girl spent time with her adopted father. It helped that Creole was really sort of an amalgam of English, French, and Spanish, with some words that had made their way in from African languages. There were math lessons, which Mary took to with an ease that rather surprised Roy -- until he reminded himself that he wasn't actually her father. She learned about sciences in a variety of ways. Pierce taught her human and, to a lesser extent, humanoid supernatural biology. Keynes, the king's farrier, taught her about animal biology. Mary spent time in the gardens learning about plants, and she spent time in the swamps learning about how ecology worked.
She learned about religion by being introduced to the various pastors and preachers and holy people in the city. Roy was not a bit shy about letting her know which ones he thought were frauds, either. They went to mass at the Catholic church. They attended a few services at some of the various protestant congregations. They went to a witch's circle. They went to a ritual with the shaman that had replaced Mother Therese when the holy woman had been murdered. But when it was time for Roy to practice his own personal religion, they went to Froid Jacques. Roy told Mary he intended for her to choose for herself what was her true religion. He was extremely happy when the girl told him that she felt the same as he did about Froid Jacques.
The most important lessons, as far as the girl and the man were concerned, were spent with her father. Roy explained to Mary that keeping what she could do a little bit under wraps was important. That was actually also one of the statecraft lessons. He put it like so: "Godda play de cards close to d' ches', mouche ŕ miellé. Need t' be able t' pull oudda s'prise sometime, you. If it somebody ya like, be a nice s'prise. Somebody you doan like so much? Mean dey wrong if t'inkin' dey got one over on ya. Sometime dat mean look calm when y' ain't."
Before Mary learned to control water better, they worked together on controlling her emotions. Roy admitted freely to her that he wasn't always good at that himself, but that it was important. Together, they worked on breathing carefully when you were angry or sad or scared. They worked on ways to distract yourself from fear -- especially since it seemed to be fear that caused the most problems for Mary.
"Way I t'ink a' it, ma 'tite choux, is I reach out to de waddah f' soothin'. Like a bebe in maman's womb. Feel it. Leddit slide t'rough yo' min' 'steada callin' it t' ya in de world." Roy had given this particular lesson with the pair of them floating in a pair of bathtubs. They had both been clothed in the Baton Rouge version of swimsuits because it was proper, even though Mary was also going to be raised believing that the body is nothing to be ashamed of. "People mos'ly waddah anyway, us. Doan godda call de outside waddah t' us when we scairt. Jes' godda reach down inside, ouais?"
Those same tubs came in handy when it came time to learn how to work on actually controlling the water rather than just letting the Tapping ability run wild. Once Mary learned not to fear the water, she learned to love it just as much as did the man that they both eventually thought of as her real father. They would spend hours making eddies and waterspouts, learning to stop running water or to create a current where there was none, as well as the fun and frivolous things. One of Roy's favorite tricks was making all the water slide off himself and back into the tub when it was time to get dressed after a bath. Before long, Mary loved water just as much as she loved her Papa Roy, and as much as he himself loved the water.
It's late in the year and the winter snows have started early. Donner Pass isn't quite closed yet, but as the old-timers sagely note, it's only a matter of hours now. Suraksha is exasperated, standing with her mittened fists on her hips and glaring upwards at the pass; Ohkwa stands patiently behind her, looking like he could do so all winter, while Del is restlessly tapping a hoof on the frozen ground, her tail swishing restlessly. With the possible exception of Ohkwa's size, though, it's hard to tell who is who. Winter clothing, being made of layers of silk, wool, leather, and fur, tends to pad everyone out to an anonymous similarity of form.
Small flurries of snow dance delicately around them, tossed by a dangerously playful wind that ruffles the fur lining their hoods, as well as the thick manes of the shaggy horses standing behind them. Sura pushes back the hood on her leather parka and nods brusquely to the grizzled mountainman standing before her, "All right, thank you. Yes, we'll be careful -- we don't want to get trapped with the angry dead in the pass there either." He nods, his expression hidden behind a thick beard, and turns to head off -- he's done his duty and warned of the dangers of trying to get through during the current storm. Sura waits until he trudges off through the snow, his long spear cradled over one arm, then turns to the others and scowls, "Dammit. I wanted to get through, but I'm not going to risk everyone for my desire to spend Solstice at home."
Del scowls, stamping her hoof, and insists they could likely do it! All they need to do is keep the scouts moving ahead of them, making sure the wagons progress only from clear turn-around point to clear turn-around point -- that way they wouldn't get trapped, and could at least try! She wants to get back to San Francisco too -- she winters with the Sesha family on their compound. Ohkwa, calmer, smiles and points out he's forged a path through mountains for the caravan before... perhaps little Sura ought to call a meeting and hear what everyone else has to say before she gives up? Suraksha nods slowly at that, relaxing at Ohkwa's serene good advice.
Shortly thereafter a hasty meeting is called in the overcast, cloud-darkened morning, and everyone has a listen and a say over their steaming hot mugs of breakfast coffee as they stand in the snow. Sura is careful to explain their options clearly to everyone, since they're all risking their lives with this. The caravan can play it safe, the way the mountainman suggested, by not attempting the dangerously snowy pass -- they won't be either the first, or the last to do so. Instead they'd give up on traveling further for that year, and camp here to wait for the spring thaw.
Alternatively, they could try the pass, hoping it hasn't yet been closed by the incipient snowstorm building up there even now. They'd have to go very slowly, moving the wagons only as far as the scouts said was clear, then waiting until news of the next clear turn-around spot -- and even then disaster could strike: a wagon could break down, someone could get hurt -- and they'd either be terminally stuck, or have to turn back regardless. However... it was also possible they might make it. What do people think? There is much talking back and forth as people consider and debate -- although everyone is keenly aware the longer they talk, the more likely Donner Pass will become impassable.
Finally the decision is made: they will attempt the crossing! There's a small cheer, and then everyone scatters to prepare. About four or five hours later the caravan has been fed a hot meal, received the rueful best wishes of the mountainman who lives there -- who bluntly expects to see them either get trapped with the dead up there, or return here until spring -- and traveled laboriously up the last steep parts of the path to the head of the pass. At that point the going gets rough... and the rough get weird.
Ohkwa shifts into bear form, with Dominic mounted on his massive, powerfully humped shoulders, and pads silently forward into the whirling snow. The Earth Tap will keep the bear from straying off a cliff by accident, and there's nothing better than a big, lazy bear for finding the easiest path. Behind them are the mounted Pippa and Poly, with Fantine in fireball form -- the two Amazons will stay behind the bear, each of them alternating darting back to alert the caravan and lead it forward a bit further, as soon as the forward scout team of Bear and Tap give the go-ahead. Fantine will make sure the single traveling rider is safe and able to see if it gets even darker in the fitful storm.
Glamours are dropped for more efficient energy use, and the wagon order of go has been re-arranged: the heavy chuckwagon with its double hitch of stolid oxen is followed by Del and her ‘big boys' pulling the largest cargo wagon. Buddy snorts soft plumes of steam, pawing the snow restlessly where he waits right before his oxen; in his gloved hands he has the biggest shovel they could find, and he's going to break trail if necessary as he leads the caravan from safe point to safe point each time an Amazon comes back and says it's safe to forge ahead a little bit further. The bigger, heavier wagons are first, since they'll push more snow aside and make more clearance; the smaller, lighter house wagons are behind them... and the last one is Suraksha's, so she knows no one is left behind or forgotten. On top of the wagons, and darting around underneath them while they are not moving, are the children, being kept busy brushing away the snow while the wagons aren't moving -- every bit less weight for the animals to haul is a win, at this point.
Little Joe is in the middle of the caravan on Sabrina's wagon with her, keeping his senses alert for unpleasant or dangerous changes in the storm. During the actual crossing most of the adults are, if not actively driving or leading animals, trudging through the snow with walking sticks of one sort or another -- there's enough sticky snowdrifts by now that it's a constant battle to knock snow off the wheels and undersides of the wagons to keep them going. Suraksha is in tiger form as well; she plans to keep moving back and forth along the entire caravan line during the whole process, making sure everyone is fine. She does weigh half a ton, which means she can shove a stuck wagon or help break trail... and the sheer size of her big paws means she can forge along somewhat atop the snow as well, if necessary.
Alg and the dogs roam back and forth agitatedly through the wagons, making sure no one is rolled over by a wagonwheel, should they fall on the path -- while tailgating the entire collection is Chanticleer on Chevrefoil. The fey stag is the most surefooted riding creature in the entire caravan, and Chanticleer's sharp eyes mean both that no one will be accidentally lost -- and nothing will creep up on them from behind. Suraksha only whispers her instructions to Chanti, not wishing to scare anyone else -- but if they have really disastrous luck, and there's an avalanche... then she's trusting him and Chevre to do their best to grab out everyone they can ahead of it...
In Roseville, the manitou is relatively content. The conservative alliance of town fathers had been shaken badly when the mayor's nephew Zachariah was discovered to have run away to "join the circus," and it had collapsed entirely when the fire-and-brimstone minister was publicly caught in bed with the mayor's wife. She was a far more sensual woman than the mayor was comfortable with (or deserved, the manitou privately thought), and she'd thrown up her hands at the ensuing furor and divorced her stultifying husband, settling down happily with one of the manitou's retainers after the disgraced minister was hounded out of town.
In addition, the manitou has successfully held onto his increased lands -- even nudged a few spots out a little further with the unwitting assistance of some of his people settling along well-traveled roads. Also, Bradley's beloved Diana will turn 13 in the spring, and she's going to be a beautiful and poised young woman. He hugs her where they stand in the snowy garden, telling her he'll be in for their shared early-evening meal in about ten minutes; his heart swells with pride as he watches her head into the house. Then he turns his face away from Roseville, stepping through shadow towards the furthest reach of his demesne along the Donner Pass road.
Bradley had gotten into the habit of checking there during the early winter of the second year since his lady priestess and Hetaera Sulochana Xopuchmata departed with her caravan for the continent's interior. He'd been wistful but unsurprised to not see her that year, but he had cautious hopes she might make it this year before Donner Pass was closed for the season -- or maybe the following spring? He carefully does not allow himself to consider the alternative: that in a dangerous and uncertain world the priestess and holy woman who'd awakened him once more, and been the complementary feminine partner to his masculine power and hunger... might simply be dead. He's sure he'd know if that were actually the case -- he'd somehow feel it.
It's a blustery, stormy, and very dark evening, and even for the owl-headed manitou it's hard to see up to the narrow cut that is the entrance to Donner Pass. He steps out of shadow in the last flat spot where caravans will sometimes pause before or after taking the pass, checking carefully before he emerges to see if anyone is encamped. No one waiting there for him, alas -- so he paces to its edge through the knee-deep snow and stares intently up the mountain's side. The wind howls his frustration and desire, whipping snow into his dished face and ruffling his feathers unpleasantly. He fluffs up his wings, crosses his arms, and stands there in silent solidity, part of the night as he waits and watches for a few minutes. Finally he sighs, his breath an icy cloud before his curved beak, and starts to turn away. He has people waiting for him... and by this hour of the night, anyone who attempted the pass would surely be through -- or trapped within it in the snow. Either way, it looks like his lady priestess and Hetaera will not be making it this year...
It's the faintest flash of dark motion where there shouldn't be any that catches the edge of his supernatural vision. He turns his owl head 180 degrees to glance over his shoulder, checking to see what caught his attention -- but it's just a dark bear slogging slowly through the heavy white snowdrifts at the mouth of the pass. Bringer of Night and Passion is about to turn away again when it hits him: to be visible that far away and in this weather... that must be a damn big bear! The first flutter of excitement rises in his stomach as he turns around, shading his eyes from the wind and snow as he stares. Even as he watches, the bear stands up on its hind legs, and something small and dark seems to tumble from its shoulders into the snow. Was that... a rider?!
Bringer leans against the viscous edge of his domain, hunger starting to kindle within him -- she traveled with the Bear manitou! Could that be her riding the bear? As he watches, something comes bursting through the snow behind the bear, sailing aloft past it and landing in a sudden whirling, blinding burst of snow. The bear's head turns to watch it... then it settles wearily down on its haunches, just sitting. The human-like rider struggles upright in the snow next to it, and the two of them watch as the third creature rockets up out of the snow again, dives into another drift... bursts out of that one and bounds around the bear and human... slowly it registers to the manitou, watching intently a mile or so away: is the third creature playing?!
Bringer can't get a clear look at what the monstrous form is, but it moves with lithe grace when visible, even though it -- like the bear -- is heavily caked with snow. The entire scene is eerily silent and hard to see, due to the screaming wind and the occasional obscuring gusts of snow. When a small, blindingly bright dot of light starts dancing around the third entity's head in the darkness, though, causing it to bat playfully at the little spark -- is the spark playing tag with the huge monster?! -then Bringer is convinced. It's them! That's just got to be Sulochana standing there with Bear, watching her loogaroo and some other monster of hers playing! He hoots aloud his laughter, turning away with delight to scan the snow-drifted camping spot he's standing on -- what can he do to prepare for their arrival?
It takes the caravan all that day and slightly into the night to slowly, cautiously wend its way through the treacherously snowy pass. Were it not for the sheer muscle of some of the entities there, they'd have had to turn back more than once, abandoning a wagon, or maybe even losing someone in the blinding, heavy, sticky snowdrifts. Sna'tha had been invaluable, leaping like a mountain goat from wagon top to wagon top and keeping an eye on everyone, making sure those who needed rest or to eat did so -- while Sura had more than once wriggled her way entirely under a wagon, then shoved herself to stand upright, bearing the weight on her back while others hastily cleared enough snow away that it could continue to be dragged forward. Sabrina and Natalya too had swapped out driving her wagon so someone could keep energizing trail mix or solid (if cold) food coming to the hard-working caravaneers. Even so, little by little people are giving out -- almost all the children are exhaustedly asleep in the wagons, while the more delicate adults are slowly but surely being shifted into driving positions when they can no longer keep up on foot.
By the time Ohkwa trudges wearily out into the open of the western side of Donner Pass, poor Dominic is exhausted and nearly frozen. He'd just eaten some food Sura had trotted forward with for him, the Amazons, and Ohkwa, and when the tiger realized they'd made it her exuberance had burst out of her in a tired but cheerful roar as she bounced out and delightedly celebrated their success, rolling around exuberantly in the snowy night. She'd been really concerned, knowing they dared not camp for the night in the pass and maybe become snowed in -- but also knowing her people were starting to slow down and occasionally drop from exhaustion. She laughed in relief and batted playfully at Fantine with one huge paw when the little loogaroo darted teasingly about her head outside the pass... and then she jumped up and excitedly sent the tired Ohkwa, Dominic, and Amazon back to the caravan, to tell them all that rest was only one last push away -- they'd made it!
Suraksha herself, with the assistance of the sparkling little loogaroo, bounds tiredly but steadily down the trail through the snow, to check out a place for the caravan to settle for the night -- it's got to be close, but it must also be large, flat, and hopefully somewhat sheltered by trees or something against the screeching, snowy wind. She's pleased when she discovers the clearing at trail's edge -- it is new to her, since Bradley had it created in the year when he extended his domain, after the caravan departed. Tail carried high, she trots with a high stepping gait out into the snowy middle, chuffs a cheerful, "Ghoo'dt!" to the loogaroo, and starts to forge her way back and forth through the snow to snow-plow it aside, clearing it for her caravan -- then she freezes, staring down at a set of relatively fresh tracks she's just stumbled across. She knows that scent, doesn't she? But... who would be out here in this weather? It's hard to catch smell in the snow-laden wind, and she lowers her head to draw in a deep breath -- then leaps aside with a startled snarl as a shadowy figure steps abruptly out of the trees she's standing next to!
Fantine darts over instantly, dancing around the dark figure's head to try and blind the intruder so Suraksha has time to escape invisibly into the night. The tiger bounds away, her ears flattened in irritation at having so completely missed sensing someone there in the shadows -- then she stops abruptly, looking back over her shoulder in surprise when she hears the irritated screech of an owl! She yowls softly to call the loogaroo away, studying the dark form intently. Now she has a moment, she can see the odd shape of the horned-looking head... she raises her nose into the icy wind and sniffs intently -- just as the humanoid form goes to one knee, holding out a hand to her. Even as she watches, the form ripples in the darkness -- and she hears Jerome's voice, low and happy and rumbling like thunder, "Sulochana Xopuchmata? I've missed you so! Welcome back, my dear lady."
For an instant Sura wavers -- should she flee to keep her secret? Then she laughs internally -- it's a bit late for that! The massive tiger's eyes brighten, and she bounds forward with a happy growl, accidentally bowling the manitou over into the snow as she rears up to hug him -- he hadn't braced for over half a ton of excited tiger! He laughs as she purrs and rubs her heavy head along him, and her big tongue rasps along his hair, "A tiger shapeshifter, eh?" He coughs and spits snow in amusement, then adds, "You are certainly larger than I expected!"
It takes another couple of hours to get all the caravan safely down out of the pass and settled for the night, and Jerome has dropped things off, been back to his home for dinner with his daughter, and returned with more, by then. People are a bit surprised to see Jerome there, but most of them are too tired to care by this point. Suraksha doesn't seem to mind? Okay, they won't either.
The manitou has brought firewood and hot, sweet drinks from his home, and Sabrina thanks him with a tired smile as she makes sure everyone gets some. A big fire soon roars in the center of the clearing, and children are curled up tiredly next to it, eating hot food while the adults bustle around making sure all the myriad details of camping are dealt with. Ohkwari and Buddy are carefully shoving the last heavy wagon into place as a windbreak, Fantine is manning (loogaroo'ing?) the chuckwagon to serve the hot food, while Sulochana is back in human shape again, her slight form almost indistinguishable from everyone else due to the heavy protective clothing. She too thanks Jerome with a weary smile for his invaluable assistance -- the manitou helped out physically as well, and has made this entire settling-in go much more smoothly and quickly than usual, especially during a snowstorm! The small woman stands on tiptoe to give him a quick, grateful kiss on the cheek.
Jerome slides an arm about her and gently pushes back her hood with the other hand, leaning to inhaling the blissfully-remembered scent of her hair... then asks hopefully if she might come to his place to spend the night? She glances around thoughtfully, then looks back at Jerome with a small, rueful laugh -- she can't, really. She's very sorry... but she'd feel bad, leaving her tired, snowy caravan family while she went off to be warm, dry, well-fed, and pampered! The manitou nods slowly and regretfully -- he understands. He glances around thoughtfully... then grins and asks almost shyly -- causing her to laugh delightedly -- could he stay here with her tonight instead, perhaps?
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