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 Natali shakes her head "Uh uh... not a clue. I must have walked in /after/ all of whatever it was happened because it was rather quiet when I returned. Where'd Ara go?" she questions. Ula shrugs. "I don't know," she replies, shaking her head. "I just got a general impression of nastiness when I was at the farmer gather." Natali nods, remembering that same feeling that her bronze had given her "That's right... gosh, I guess I had forgotten that... with all that was going through my mind. Speaking of leaving, I'm going to have to go back to Keroon sometime in the near future..." Ula nods, smiling. "Lucky you. Can I come too? Hmmm. I wonder how long it'll take me to finish up all my requirements, get journeyman, and get out of here..." Noticing Bryon, she amends, "Umm, not that I'm itching to leave or anything..." Natali covers up her giggle "Suuuuuure your not. Well, I wasn't, I just got sent there for--other reasons." Ula nods. "I know." She takes a sip of klah, and munches happily on her roll. Natali shudders at such memories "I wouldn't be there if Evan knew how to control his outrage, expecially with his knives!" "Evan's a jackass. That's all there is to it. He's got a temper and he doesn't know how to control it." That said, Ula sighs. "He'd be a decent person if he would just take 5 seconds to think before throwing those sharding knives." Linora walks softly in from the Courtyard. Lukelance walks in from the Courtyard. Ula waves, swallowing her bite of roll before calling out, "Hi Linora... welcome back." She turns to Natali. "These are a bunch of StarCrafters," she explains, then stands up to greet them. Lukelance seems to glide into the room. He sees Natali on the other side of the hall, and approaches her. "It's nice to see you again Natali." Linora beams as her name is called. "Hi, Ula!" She looks back over her shoulder. "This is... um... Etain, and..." she looks around. Where'd Nao end up? Etain follows Nora in. SO many new people, ewww. "Ummm...hi. I'm Etain," she practically mumbles, haistly sticking out a hand and offering it to each person. Natali knows /that/ feeling, that's for sure "No kidding! He's such an--GAH! I can't stand being anywhere near him again! In fact, once I go back to Keroon, I never want to return to here /again/... not unless he retires or dies first!" Suddenly, her attention is diverted to the group, as she offers a sheepish grin before turning in Lukelances direction "Ah, right back at ya!" Evan glides silently in from the CraftMaster's Room. Lukelance walks up to Etain and grasps his hand with both of his and shakes it. "I am Lukelance of the Gar Hold." Ula smiles at Linora and her entourage. "Hi, Etain," she replies, then turns to Nati and finishes, "You're lucky. But Evan's my biggest motivation to do my work." She chuckles. "The faster I do it, the quicker I get out of here." Linora grins right back at Ula, even as she wonders who Evan is. Does she /want/ to know? Hm. A quick glance at the big man in the black robe as he takes Etain's hand. Her eyes get /big/ and she finds something else to look at. Lukelance glides over to Ula and Linora to greet them. "Hello, I am Lukelance of the Gar Hold, I wish to become a Smith Apprentice but with Evan as the craft master... Well you know." Ula looks at Linora, then at Lukelance, then at Natali. Eeeep. "Umm, yes... Let's see. Bryon's here, Lukelance, if you'd like an interview?" Naomi scurries in, having gotten lost -- somehow -- on her way into the hall. "Linora?" That's her name, yes. "Etain? Can we go home now?" Lukelance gets a very odd glance, before she looks towards Ula, instead. "Um. Hello." How friendly... Lukelance grins when he sees that the choice has arisen. "That would be great if you could get me an interview." Bonehead> Linora stares at Nao. "No,
we just /got/ here." She grins back at Ula. "Ula, this
is Naomi." The last straggling appy. Another look at Lukelance,
then back to Ula. "You busy? We wanted ta ask about optics
and stuff." Deep in the heart of Southern, an old man lay dying. Around his cot is his clan members, those closest to him in blood ties watch as the old one calls over and over one name: "Ara." The oldest son scowls deeply as the name reverbrates off the cave walls, a name that has been forbidden to utter for turns. A messenger is sent to the cold north to the Smith Hall on Ista Island. The dark cloaked messenger carries the message carved on an old dagger. Ara or more formally "Arakiel," once a rengade -- trained in knife work, now wife to the Smith's Mastersmith Evan, turned from her family for the love of her son Nicholai and her greater love for the crafter, but turns of watching over her shoulders made her wary of strangers. Her family has sworn to kill her and although several attempts were tried, she and Evan prevailed. Time is the healer of sorts. Turns passed and the attempts grew fewer and fewer as Threadfall and daily living took their toll. The messenger arrived at the Hall but didn't deliver the message right away. He once knew the girl named "Ara" and wanted to see what she has become. This older Ara stunned him with her matured beauty, but more so, he's impressed with the man called 'Evan,' her husband. This man would be worthy to be called clan brother. Too bad, he's a crafter. After delivering his message, the messenger stayed a few more days, watching, waiting. Not surprisingly, Ara didn't try to seek him out. She could've, if she wanted to. He watched the argument between Evan and Ara, and her leaving with an aged bronze rider, alone. He was disappointed that Evan stayed behind, if it have been his wife... The ensuing argument between Evan and the rider once the rider returned surprised him. He didn't quite understand 'timing it,' but it told him this Evan isn't as tamed as Ara thought. Then a thought nagged at him, 'But would she have stayed this long if he was?' -------- Natali shakes her head at Dennia's inquiry "He was down here earlier, but he's left since then. Don't know for sure where though..." Her attention turns back towards the 'girl' "No no, not at all... have a seat, stay awile." she lowers her head at the child before peering at Kilana "I think she likes you!" she giggles "At least more than anyone else..." Turning back to Alain, she takes the hint "Oh, I'm Natali by the way." Dennia smiles at Natali's news, "He's still here, then!" Off she skips to get klah. G'rwin strides quickly in from the Balcony Landing. Kilana shakes her head as she crosses the /long/ way around to sit in a nearby chair. "Don' know why..." Natali shrugs. "I don't know either! There's only a selective amount of people she doesn't cry for--" Why, speak of the devil, there's one now. A small wave is given to the rider as he enters from the stairs "Hey." she offers as her greeting. G'rwin comes trudging down the stairs, whistling to himself, /obviously/ in a good mood, and spots Dennia. "Dennie, oh Dennie! Therefore art thou, oh Dennie!" He steps right up behind the Smith and all but picks her up, landing a kiss on her cheek from behind. He casts a wary glance around then murmurs, "Bryon's not around is he? He'd kill me...best friend or not!" Alain offers a quick duck of head, keeping an ear peeled for sounds of an approaching killer braid, "Well met, Journeywoman Natali." is beamed, bright eyes peering at the baby, though you could almost swear that there's a little less affection in the gaze now. "Who's the lucky daddy?" Natali shrugs "Some healer guy--Natel." she replies briskly. "Suppose I should let him see her sometime soon? He's up at Paradise...maybe I should go there before I head back to Keroon? Not that I really want to, but it's only fair." Dennia smiles slightly as she turns to see G'rwin. "Hi there," shed says, voice a bit duller than usual. "I'm not sure he'd care, G'rwin. I'm not sure he's here anymore. But they say they've seen him," she nods towards Natali. "What brings you to us today?" G'rwin follows Dennia's glance toward Natali and offers a quick nod of his head toward the other smith. "H'llo, Nati." he calls, tone still light, but quickly turning back to Dennia, his eyes taking on a more serious look and his voice dropping a notch. "What do you mean by that, Dennie?" he asks, snagging a chair and straddling it, facing Dennia. Dennia shrugs, favoring her right shoulder. "He thinks I've been uh," she leans closer and whispers "Unfaithful," and nods and sits back. "He's very angry" Alain flushes a polite pink and snags the end of the ribbon-clad braid. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so flippant. I don't think it's my business anyway, is it?" Alain offers an embarrassed giggle, and squeezes the braid, almost as if giving it a warning to be good. Dennia smiles at Alain and whispers to G'rwin Natali shakes her head with a chuckle "It wasn't a problem, really." she replies to Alain, taking the occasional glance down at the suddenly quiet infant. Okay...that thing is /really/ starting to get on her nerves. Kilana leans forward, saying in a conspirator's tone, "Ya know...I've a real sharp knife here...I could cut it for ya."
G'rwin blinks in surprise at Dennia, at her statement about Bryon, then at her question, all but jumps out of his chair--only his vice-like grip on the back of it keeping him from doing so. "No!" he practically shouts, then blushes and shakes his head. "No--you wouldn't really be...you know." he huriedly adds, trying to cover his outburst. "Besides..." he leans forward with a wink, "I know you never would because /I/ would be jealous!" He grins, shooting a nervous little glance toward the other group, then fixing Dennia with a firm look and giving a little shake of his head. Dennia smiles and reaches a hand for G'rwin. "He saw me giving a small kiss to a journeyman who had been having a horrible hard time with his love, and ," she sighs "Thought the worst." Her head tilts and she ask, smiling, "Would you really be jealous?" she smiles softly. Linnet continues to burble to herself, her eyes blinking up at Mommy occasionally with a happy grin. Grin...er...strained grin? Errgh.... Ah, yes...much better now. Alain shivers and urks, blue eyes wide as they whip around to stare at Kilana before hands protectively clutch the braid, and the young'un /does/ hop up from the backwards chair and yell, "No!" My braid! Bad woman! Alain stands looking a little sheepishly around, then covers a giggle with finger tips, "Hee hee...I mean, no, thank you!" kn :chuckles I tried. I just wrote it this morning. Couldn't concentrate at church. Natali whips her own head around to the woman, now pondering if she should protect her own braids. Tucking them in front of her, she picks Linnie up once again, patting her back with another embrace. G'rwin peers at Dennia's hand, then reaches forward and takes it, giving it a little squeeze and shooting her a wink and a soft smile. "Of course I'd be jealous. I'd be more jealous than Bryon would ever be!" The bluerider gives Dennia's hand another squeeze, but doesn't release it just yet. "So...how are /you/ doing?" he asks in a lowered tone. Kilana leans back, hands held up. "Jus' askin'. You seemed ta be havin some trouble with it, so I jus' thought..." Grin. Empty-headed Prissy Females. Humph! Dennia smiles but her eyes show her distress, and water just a little. "I'm not doing well at all... he's going to leave." Her eyes search G'rwin's and then lower to her lap as she sighs. Alain gives the braid a haughty flip (the braid of course coming back with a happy li'l slap to Alain's stomach), "Thank you /so/ much for the offer, but it's fine." Is that sarcasm? Yes, dripping sarcasm. Alain shoots Kilana another of those wary looks, and turns the chair around the perch on the edge of it, feet on tip-toe, hands gripping the seat of the chair firmly, skinny legs pulled primly together. "When are you returning to Keroon, Journeywoman?" Yet another polite enquiry, though a slightly offended look begins to creep over Alain's face. G'rwin's previously cheery mood is abandoned and the bluerider frowns, brows knit together in thought as he peers at Dennia. He doesn't say anything for a long time, then takes a deep breath and leans forward, reaching into his pocket, then holding out the contents of his hand to Dennia--a handkerchief. "Hey, none of that." he murmurs with another impish grin. "We'll have to have a talk with that looney Master and maybe knock a little sense into his head." he grins, again, giving Dennia's hand another squeeze. Natali gives a wave in the air and shakes her head "Please, just Natali's fine...Keroon? I dunno... sometime soon... sometime before that /craftmaster/" she clearly emphasizes "Attempts to toss his knives at me again!" Little does she know how loudly her tone of voice had been at that point until a few random faces turn to look at her, causing her to slump down in her chair with a deep shade of crimson taking over. Dennia takes the offered hanky and smiles at G'rwin as she wipes her face dry and then pulls and kneads it in her hands, her worry showing in her fingers. "I.. I was just trying to help Pith and had been telling him how Bryon makes me happy and the things he does and was just trying to make it so the girl he loves know... and he had been so blue .. and Bryon just hates me now," she sniffles. "I must be very horrid." G'rwin is one of the faces that turns to shoot Natali a little questioning glance, but as Dennia speaks he quickly shifts out of his chair, slipping around to sit beside her and disentangling one of her hands from the hankie to clasp it firmly in his own. "You are /not/ horrid." he insists quietly, giving a little glance around the hall, then ducking to whisper to Dennia. Dennia looks up and scans the room before nodding to G'rwin, her cheeks a bit more pink than one might expect. "If there's no Thread today, I suppose. I haven't even kept up with the schedules." G'rwin chuckles and shakes his head, standing up and scooting the chair back with his legs, and giving Dennie's hand a little tug. "C'mon, Kiddo." he says, heading toward the door. G'rwin strides quickly to the Courtyard. Dennia walks to the Courtyard. ***Meanwhile up in Evan's Office ***** Paradigm drops a note on Evan's desk before him before landing on the edge of the desk. The note reads: 'Evan, I'm taking a leave from the Hall... don't know when I'll be back. Signed, Bryon..' in a quick scrawl. Evan blinks and scowls. He picks up a pen and scrawls on the note, giving it to Paradigm. He does his best to image Bryon for the firelizard, "Take this to Bryon please..." Paradigm goes between with the note, reappearing a few minutes later with another note, dropping it and landing again. 'Too late' are the only words on the note Evan scowls, grumbling to himself. 'Why' is scrawled on the note. After another few minutes Paradigm returns with a final note, "Ask Dennia" before he disappears Paradigm suddenly disappears ::between::! Evan looks at the disappearing Paradigm and mutters, "Your lifemate had better have a good explanation..." Feisty blinks in from ::Between::
Date: Sun Feb 4 16:50:56 2001 CST The old man calls for the daughter that abandon
her clan. His heart is heavy for wanting to see once more his
beautiful dark wild girl. She must be a grandmother by now.
Suddenly, she's there, standing at the foot
of his cot. Her dark eyes warily studying him, standing defiant,
proud. "I've come old man." The old man sighs, closing his eyes. Wild, untamed as a girl, she's the image of his dear departed wife. What passed then and later between Arakiel and her father isn't known or shared, only this: Blood called to blood and blood answered.
-------------------------- **** end of Ara's tp part 3. Looks like Dennia
is starting her own tp. ***** Eight full days have passed. One day more
then he allowed but it couldn't have been helped. Arakiel watched
as the clan buried the old man, her father, far back deep in
the cave. She watched expressionless, with hands clinching and
unclinghing as the clan files past her to the living area. Her
brother last to come, caught her eyes as he stepped around her. |