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The Sandbox => Borderlands => Topic started by: Random the Navigator on April 09, 2018, 02:02:31 PM
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[Shhhh...Enya's about to wake up.]
Rowellan kept her silence; suddenly there was a fragile magic in the atmosphere she didn't want to disturb.
Enya's lids fluttered, then drifted open as she emitted a small "Oh...!" Not in alarm; more as if she'd been reminded of something - which she had, by the mists and the light peering through them in Bjorn's music and the Sun's gentle warmth in Rowellan's caresses. The Seafolk girl slowly sat up and said "Ahh, yes; someone gotta sing the Dawn Song... You know it?" she asked Bjorn. "If you not know it, you gonna..."
She straightened and smoothed her tunic and arranged her cloak around herself, still fending off the draft. Facing the little window, she elaborated: "Seafolk be from Eastern Sea. My People have always believed that Sun say Hi to us first in the morning. So we greet it like so, all of us together; men, women, little-kids, everyone; if you not can walk, can get carried. All come out to seashore for the Dawn Song. Is not a song with words. Music be in how we blend together... I start; you come in whenever your spirit be ready."
It was barely dawn in Midgard; the Sun wouldn't rise over Alola for another several hours. That realisation, months and leagues in the making, was still working its way through her senses of Place and Self, and the shift had been profound... She turned back towards the window and, still seated, raised her arms in greeting to the Islands' still-sleeping Sun from this place called Midgard, the new eastern rim of the world.
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[After completely waking up and a hearty breakfast our group of travellers heads out right away]
...They stepped out into the cool crisp air of a new Midgard morning. Weather indeed looked promising. From the east the sun was rising, sending the first almost warm rays over the Jamtland mountains, starting to light up the sky and the air lacked that certain smell that spoke of snow.
"A good day for travelling," Bjorn stated as they walked away from the keep.
There was a well-kept path leading South, but it didn't take long until Rowellan led the group away from that. "If we want to go hunting that path won't do," she stated, and so far the area was easy going enough even without a path. There were softly rolling hills, low bushes and a few patches of snow here and there, but the landscape had its very own harsh beauty to it.
Still, both Midgardians were wary and alert as they walked through this early morning. As peaceful as everything looked right now, these were still the Borderlands.
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Enya strode along behind the Norsefolk pair, making much better time now that she was shod. Her six orbs gleamed on either side of her capacious belt-pouch - even the empty one; for she'd promised Auryn a day out, he being "not meant for ball-travelling", and the Griffin was now on point, paws and talons making divots in the ground as he leapt and bucked and pranced.
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It would have taken more heavy-hearted people than Rowellan and Bjorn to not smirk at the Griffin's antics. "He's feeling that hint of spring in the air," Bjorn stated, in the back of his mind already forming a little melody about that. "Like a foal when it's out of the stable for the first time."
"I feel with him," Rowellan replied. "I'm used to our weather and love our home, but at the end of Winter there are moments I'm seriously considering to move to Hib..."
She stopped mid-sentence, even more on alert than before. In the last hour or so the patches of snow on the ground had become more coherent, and there also were more fir trees; and if the huntress had had ears like Enya's, they would have swiveled around constantly. Instead she slightly tilted her head now, slowly reaching for her bow. "Ssssshhh," she said, all playfulness gone in an instant. "I think I've heard something."
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It didn't surprise Enya much that there'd be more snow away from the roads. Out here, so far from anything manmade, the snow didn't get trampled or ridden over or compacted by wagon-wheels. All the same, walking through it was a slog and definitely took more effort than wading through anything else, including water. Ahh, warm, shallow water, just up to the shoulders; water fit for swimming, splashing, or making love in... Yes, Seafolk did that too.
But her daydream went *poof* when her companions stilled. Of course, she *did* have mobile ears, so she heard something too, though in this strange land she couldn't have told you what. She could, however, tell exactly which direction it was in; swivelling ears were good for triangulation.
She considered for a moment. Tayu would be the best person by far to investigate on his ghost-silent wings. But his elements were Grass and Spirit, and snow and ice were very hard on grass. On earth too, for that matter, so as odd as it seemed, she'd have to be careful with Kilvanä... Well, as long as the owl flew, he wouldn't be on ice; and the Ghost in him didn't have much to fear from melee attacks that wouldn't harm grass. Ranged attacks were another matter; birds of any kind tended to fare poorly against them.
A-yeh, she and her companions hadn't made it this far without taking risks. And her Soul-friends were long overdue for a battle...
She detached Tayu's orb and sent him out on ghost-silent wings.
-
The owl flew off in the direction where Rowellan had heard the noise, and the huntress nodded. "Probably frost spectres," she whispered to her companions. "They're a bit out of their area, but I think I've heard that certain sizzle..."
"Ugh!" Bjorn made a face and readied his sword and shield. "And it was such a beautiful morning so far..." He hated those creatures.
With two arms, two legs and something remotely reminding of a head on their not quite material bodies, they could be called humanoid. Kind of. If you forgot the fact that they didn't have faces or any other structures - or anything resembling intelligence. Nobody knew where they came from; even the old songs just mentioned their existence. Some thought they were lost souls of people frozen to death out there; others were deeply convinced that they were the Northern Winds come to life.
But whatever else they were, they mostly were an annoyance for travellers. Never alone, coming in small groups, they just attacked whatever came their way. Their attacks - mostly frostbite, icy winds and surprisingly solid blows from aetherial creatures - weren't deadly right away, but definitely could kill someone over time.
On the bright side, there were two things they didn't like at all: Fire and steel. "Wish we had a torch or something," Rowellan muttered. Arrows didn't help much with frost spectres, so she put her bow away again and too pulled her sword, then looked at Enya with a half smile. "Or maybe a Soul-friend with a fiery spirit?" She wouldn't tell the girl about how to fight; Enya had held her own pretty well out here, and maybe she already had met frost spectres and knew what to expect…
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Whatever Enya's friends might have known about the creatures, they had spoken little of it out loud. It was a good thing, then, that her awareness of the supernatural and Tayu's Spirit aspect were one and the same, because it made her aware of Tayu himself and enabled the airborne archer to 'speak' with her soul-to-soul. Were the creatures she sensed through him actually spectres, spirits? Only a ghost could hurt another ghost. Or a Feral could; she'd never understood why that was, but a Soul-friend whose element was wilderness and survival would be hell on anything not of the natural world.
All that was certain about the oncoming creatures was that the 'frost' part of their moniker was well-earned.
Enya took stock of her available resources, not all of which (or whom) she was carrying. By their actions Bjorn and Rowellan, who knew the beasts, felt that arrows weren't going to be much use. That probably meant the spectres weren't Flying-types, at least. Her friends had swords; they meant to answer the things with Steel. For her own part, yes, she had a Soul-friend of Fire; and one of Rock (chuck a stone at an icicle and see which one breaks...); and one of Lightning which, while not especially effective against Ice, had no weakness to it either.
And then there was Auryn; protean Auryn, who could, at need, take on any of her natures that wasn't strong enough in her to manifest separately.
With Ice, the best things to do were to either melt it or shatter it. Pepper could do the melting. But Wuffels might appreciate a little help with the shattering... Besides Rock and Steel, the other thing that could break down Ice was physical strength and power, the kind that fuelled the blows her homeland's boxers and wrestlers could apply even to stone. So Enya went to the Griffin, touched foreheads with him and said: "Auryn...you be Force today."
After a few minutes of communing, Auryn nodded as if in understanding. Then Enya released Pepper, Wuffels and 'Iheyu...and they waited.
-
While waiting, Bjorn called up his own little brand of magic - a hum, a song, a chant, almost inaudible - something that would encourage the other fighters in their little group. It wouldn't make them superheroes or anything, but it might be the last little bit that helped in a strained situation, the one little encouragement that helped overcome desperation - although he hoped the situation wouldn't get desperate; he and Rowellan were experienced fighters, and Enya looked very well as if she knew what she was doing - as did her companions. He had practised this often enough and could keep it up even in the heat of battle without even having to think of it. Silently he wondered if the magic would work for Enya and her Soul-friends too; but if it was a matter of intention, as his teachers had often enough told him, it would.
They didn't have to wait very long though. The crackling, sizzling noise that had alerted Rowellan in the first place got louder and then a few shapes made their ways through the trees. Three... five... seven - no, there was another one, eight vaguely humanoid shapes in different sizes showed up. Their basic colour was white, with a shimmer of blue, but they didn't look quite massive. More as if a snow cloud had taken shape; and indeed there were little ice crystals flying around them as if there was a little blizzard blowing them up.
The creatures, now finally spotting their prey, howled and it was like the howling of the wind. Arms stretched wide, with icey claws, the creatures made their way forwards.
"They're not very fast," Rowellan informed Enya and her little group of Soul-friends, "but better get out of the way when they suddenly get all-still, that's when they're preparing an extra blow." She took a breath and grabbed the hilt of her two-handed sword. "Good luck!"
And then she charged. If the Ice Spectres were not very fast, the huntress was. Knowing very well that she couldn't match their strength, she knew she had to go for speed and agility instead, attacking the first and smallest one before the creature even knew what hit it. The Ice Spectre crumbled in a little heap of ice and dust. But even as slow and unintelligent as the others were, that got their attention and Rowellan quickly dove away, getting out of the way of Bjorn or everyone else who would get into the fight now.
The Skald let out one of his battle cries, stunning two of the Ice Spectres into silence; then he stormed forwards, managed to separate an arm from one of the bigger ones with his first attack, then his shield shot up and he was busy blocking the blows. Wearing a heavy chain mail as an armour, he wasn't quite as mobile as Rowellan, but far better equipped to stand up to the monsters' attacks.
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Enya, for her part, was wearing nothing but her regular Northlander tunic, vest and leggings...and a rune-bordered cloak that protected her against the cold of these wild lands. All the same, a transformation came over her too as she straightened up, her stance proud and erect as she faced into the winds, ears pinned, eyes blazing, her muscles firm and her countenance fiercely alight. In that moment she didn't look like a child at all, but exactly what she'd compared herself to last night in the stables: A confident mage, sure of her power, her beasts and their elements and, ultimately, herself.
Or perhaps there was something childlike about her expression after all; for what stuffy, studious wizard ever looked so full of glee?
She saw the first spectre collapse into just another snowdrift and it hit her: These creatures weren't really *ice*, except on the business end; they were made of snow, of frost, a much less substantial material. In that moment she wondered if this was going to be a real battle at all, then decided to go easy on the beasts so her Soul-friends would get in a proper training session... No, that wouldn't do. The extra turns she'd take for that would be turns her travelling companions would be at further risk of getting hurt. She and her team would have to wrap this one up quick.
It helped that this wasn't a formal battle. In a formal battle, each of her Soul-friends would have been restricted to using only four moves chosen in advance, whether physical ones, magical ones, or ones that helped her team (a lot like Bjorn's song, though she didn't know it) or hindered the opponent without actually harming it. In a situation like this, when life, health and welfare were at stake and the other side wasn't playing by the rules, her team could use any moves they knew. They'd been together a long time...so that was a lot of moves.
She picked the largest of the spectres as the first target for one of Pepper's Fire attacks. Once that one was down, the rest would be leaderless if that mattered to them, and in any case her side would be free of the most dangerous opponent... Hmm, melee attack or ranged? She obviously didn't want the creatures to come any closer than this, but getting run over by a pony-sized dog who could cloak himself in flames would have to be pretty effective...
"Pepper! Flame Wheel!!" she cried; whereupon the already-glowing canine flared, tucked his head in and did something like a series of somersaults, plowing into the spectre with all his mass and velocity behind him.
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Rowellan, who had started to circle the group of Spectres, heard Enya's yell and ducked out of the way - fast enough to make way for Pepper to do whatever he did there, but not quite fast enough to evade the claw of one of the bigger Ice Spirits she was fighting right that moment, getting a slash along her cheekbone. She started cursing and answered the hit with one of her own, separating the offending claw from its owner. Not that she really felt the injury; for one, the cold claw made her face slightly numb. What was more, for a split second she stood there, mouth agape and eyes wide to watch the maneuver of the huge dog who had just kind of turned into a flaming cartwheel or something.
She had seen a lot of impressive spells cast by Runemasters or magic users from the other realms, she had seen thanes call down Mjolnir's hammer out of the sky, but she had never seen something like this.
Bjorn was even closer to the whole thing, much closer - close enough that he could feel the heat radiating off Pepper in his attack. The skald's eyes, too, widened at the sight while he was still busy holding off three or four of the middle-sized Ice Spectres. So he saw right away what happened…
With all the speed and mass Pepper had built up, he crashed right into the biggest Ice Spectre, toppling the creature over. But this Spectre was a little tougher than the small one Rowellan had killed in her first attack. Yes, it started melting and dissolving everywhere Pepper's fire was touching it, but although it was already doomed it still clawed and hissed at its attacker.
Bjorn decided to make a go for it. With a grunt he pulled himself free from the smaller ones and tried to attack the big one too - only to realize he couldn't. Too hot was the fire Pepper radiated, so the Skald went back to at least hold off the other ones, having Pepper's back in that.
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The survival of the largest Spectre irked Enya to no end--not to say how much it chapped Pepper's hide as he cooled off a little by crunching the creature's icicle-talons between his teeth unbidden. Fine, Tayu was still up there somewhere; yes, Grass was weak to Ice...but she wasn't planning to have him make real contact, and her only worry for him was that the Spectre might turn an icy wind or a snowstorm on him.
"Tayu! Aerial Ace!!"
At that, the owl tucked in his wings high overhead and dove, extending his talons as he levelled out and smashed into the creature's "head" in passing.
And then, because this was a "multi-battle" with more than one opponent, she sent Wuffels after the Spectre that had wounded Rowellan. "Wuffels! Stone Edge!!"
The little dog growled, and a small cluster of very sharp stones suddenly erupted from the ground right under where the offending creature was standing; it would have been the equivalent of a spike-pit in a dungeon if Enya had ever heard of such a thing.
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There was no chance the biggest Ice Spectre could have to send anything against anyone. Pepper's first attack had already wounded it fatally, it had just been too stubborn and stupid to die. But with the owl not only smashing the "head" but the air coming from his wings also fueling Pepper's fire again, the icy creature finally collapsed, a heap of dirty ice and snow, steam fogging up the air.
Wuffel's attack too added the final stroke to *his* opponent: already having lost its two arms to Rowellan's sword, it had also lost its balance and now for a moment hung almost motionless from those sharp stones...and then crumbled too.
"Three down," Rowellan yelled to the others, readying herself for her next opponent.
"Make that four," Bjorn called back. His own strokes had been more in defense than anything else, but he also had managed to get rid of one of the smaller ones of the group. "I wish they weren't too stupid to retreat when they see they're losing!"
For a moment there was confusion among the Ice Spectres, but then two of them - not realizing that it had been Wuffel's attack that had just impaled one of them - decided to attack the, in their limited minds, weakest opponent.
"Oh no, you won't!" In a second Rowellan was there, spreading blows left and right.
And then she paled, as from the corner of her eye she noticed that one of the remaining Ice Spectres stopped attacking Bjorn's shield and instead turned around, making its steady way towards the tall blue girl sending her Soul-friends against them. "Enya!" she yelled, unable to drag herself loose from the frenzied fight she was in.
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"Ohh, Wuffels," Enya grinned, shacking her head bemusedly as the little dog bowed low, preparing to send a spray of small stones at the two creatures bearing down on her. No, Enya wasn't worried about Wuffels; the pup could hold her own as long as she managed to keep from getting under Rowellan's feet.
The Seafolk girl's eyes darted as she quickly mentally charted where everyone was. Tayu had ended his flight by swooping up into the nearest tree. Pepper, wincing from the steam his opponent had released as it died, spit embers at a Spectre that was swooshing its way towards Bjorn's position. 'Iheyu and Auryn were still waiting for a chance to get in on the fun... Well, she had a job for Auryn, at least. He would help her test out whether these 'Spectres' were actually spirits of some kind; if they were, she had some fairly nasty surprises in store for them... "Auryn! Razor Wind!!"
It was a Feral move, one that sent blades of air spinning towards the back of one of Rowellan's foes. If it did more than slice a few wedges out of the creature's frosty hide, she'd have her answer...
Only she wouldn't. Too late, she saw movement and only just managed to focus her vision on the Spectre that was bearing down on her, whether blindly or by some greater cunning than its fellows...and from then on she was in no position to monitor an experiment.
She leapt sideways to evade the creature. All the same, she wasn't quite out of reach when its first raking blow ripped her cloak away...the Rune-cloak that protected her from the cold.
She didn't have to think about what that meant. She was suddenly at a huge disadvantage, even with 'Iheyu springing to her defense and darting around and between the beast's feet, nipping its ankles in an attempt to hamstring it if it even had hamstrings. She had no time to call her other animal companions to her aid; they were already occupied with defending Bjorn, Rowellan and each other.
She had to survive this. Her Soul-friends could exist apart from her...but not without her.
'Iheyu created an electrified field all around the monster, a move which would have paralysed most creatures but didn't seem to bother the Spectre unduly.
Its second swipe caught Enya just behind one ear and sent her flying. She came up mad and got her legs firmly under her even as that whole side of her face purpled from frostbite. "Eh-YAH-yeh!!!" she shrieked, alerting the rest of her team. But could they break away?
Tayu released several feather-arrows from his perch and found out the hard way why neither feathers nor arrows were any use against animated snowmen.
Enya staggered, the effort behind the yell leaving her dizzy again. There wasn't much to like about this situation... ~ Aiee, 'least in this cold I not will bleed very much... ~
-
The next moment Bjorn was there. He had noticed one of his opponents turning away and then heard both girls' yells and outcries. With a few choice words - and Skalds can get very graphic when they set their minds on it - he got rid of the last Ice Spectre he had been fighting (five down) and was sprinting over to Enya as fast as he could.
Not fast enough to stop those first two hits, but when Enya was staggering, recovering from that last blow and her yell, Bjorn was there, slamming his shield into the Ice Spectre that had attacked the blue girl, making the creature stagger back for a moment. He was breathing heavily right now; with the killing blow on his former opponent he had lost his sword, and it took him a few moments to find his foothold, but he stood his ground, gripping the shield with two hands now, so the next few blows of the monster just hit solid steel instead of blue striped skin.
Rowellan noticed Bjorn running over, but she was too focused on her own fight. The little stones Wuffels was raining on the two Ice Spectres were just the distraction and additional damage she needed to slowly chop them down. With some very distant corner of her mind she noticed how well the pup managed to not get under her feet or hit her with any of her attacks - Wuffels knew what she was doing, fighting in a team.
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That teamwork was about to be demonstrated two more ways.
Auryn, who'd just split the air with the Razor Winds, heard Enya's war-cry and knew the next move was up to him, up to all of her Soul-friends. They were independent enough and intelligent enough to decide their own courses of action in the absence of Enya's guidance. They knew the moves they knew, whether those were requested or not. And Auryn in particular thought he had something to prove... After all, she hadn't named him Feral for the day; she had named him Force.
The pale white crescents of air hit one of Rowellan's opponents with a satisfying *chuff*. Thin slits appeared in the Spectre's hide. Behind it Auryn stood alarmed and angry yet resolute, gathering the power those emotions gave him for something else; and when he'd charged up enough for it, he released an Aura Sphere made of his pride and rage and love for his trainer. The thing took solid form as a kind of psychic cannonball of fighting spirit, almost as if he'd manifested a Soul-friend himself, and if the shock wave it made in front of it didn't pulverise the lurching monstrosity, the impact itself most certainly would.
Meanwhile, 'Iheyu and Pepper locked eyes. Enya saw this and had a hunch about what they were going to do... "Get DOWN!!" she shouted at the Norsefolk...just before Pepper, who'd learned well about the steam, sent a heatwave at Enya's assailant that stripped the snow off the rises in the land between himself and his intended prey. The blast did what it was supposed to; it caused that whole side of the creature to boil up and away.
But that wasn't the clever part. The clever part was that with enough moisture in the air to conduct it, 'Iheyu's electrical field suddenly became much more effective on the beast; and rather than wait for the sparks to stop flying, she bristled and summoned a Fusion Bolt--a strong thunderbolt in itself, but made even more deadly when helped along by very hot air or a very large flame.
Enya herself was sprawled face-down in a low spot, mostly because that gave her cover from the forces being released around her--minimal cover, but cover nonetheless. As she lay there with her arms protecting her head, the punctures and lacerations behind her left ear served notice that they, too, would appreciate it if she took a little downtime...
The Seafolk wanderer was in no shape to contest the point. She barely had the time to pack some snow over the now-seeping wounds before she passed out.
-
With Auryn literally slicing apart one of the Ice Spectres Rowellan and Wuffels were fighting, it didn't take long until those two monsters weren't a threat anymore - the first one fell under Auryn's wind, the other one under Rowellan's sword.
So she could indeed drop to her stomach the moment she heard Enya yell her "down" - she didn't even think about it, it was pure instinct that made her react. Still she felt the heat racing over her head when Pepper's heatwave smashed into the last standing Ice Spectre
Bjorn too had dropped flat on his belly, his shield still trying to cover as much of the girl and himself as possible. So the heatwave passed harmlessly over his head - the thunderbolt, not so much. None of the people in this little group knew much of "electricity" or that metal and steel made a perfect conductor for that kind of energy - the only thing Bjorn felt was the tingle and tickle that 'Iheyu's attack sent through his armour and body, and he was lucky that he wore his armour over a layer of wool and leather, both making for enough isolation that tingling and tickling were the only things he felt, together with his hair standing up and a certain dizziness.
The Ice Spectre on the other hand was not as lucky - between the damage it had already taken, Pepper's heatwave, Auryn's pure force and 'Iheyu's thunderbolt it almost immediately dissolved into a cloud of steam.
For a moment there was silence in the little open space between the fir trees, nothing but the last crackling of electricity in the air and the fighters' heavy breathing. Then, with an audible groan, Rowellan made it into a kneeling position, looking around, checking for any danger that might still be lurking around, all senses still on high alert. But there was nothing left of the Ice Spectres but a few heaps of ice crystals, some steam in the air and the wounds they had left behind.
"You okay?" Rowellan finally asked Bjorn, the Skald slowly getting up again too.
Bjorn nodded. "Yepp. Just a few bruises..." He looked around, noticing Enya laying there, very obviously passed out. "Dang - Enya's out," he cursed. "My fault; that last one should have never gotten to her." That was the way it worked in all the groups he had been travelling so far; people wearing heavy armour defended magic users and healers.
"They were just one too many." Rowellan shook her head, suddenly tired as hell, but still making it upright to her feet. The cut on her cheekbone had stopped bleeding so far, but it hadn't stayed the only one - there was a second on her forehead and a slash over her left arm that could have gotten ugly if it hadn't slashed just through her studded leather tunic, losing momentum there. And she felt as if she'd been run over by a Troll stampede. Still she shuffled back to where she had dropped her backpack, sorting through it for a moment, bringing out a small wooden box that had runes carved in and smelled of herbs.
She sceptically eyed Enya's spirit companions, not knowing how they'd react to anyone getting close to their friend now. Tied as closely as they were, they'd probably know that neither Bjorn nor Rowellan would be a threat to Enya; just the opposite. But she had seen enough hunters' companions suddenly turn feral when their owner was passed out. So she very cautiously made her way back to where Bjorn was still trying to shake off the last impact of the electrical discharge, holding the little box in front of her.
"I hope you're letting me close," she said, addressing Enya's Soul-friends. "I just want to check on your friend and patch her up a bit."
-
'Iheyu flopped down on her belly right where she was, panting. The bolt had been one of her most powerful attacks; she wouldn't be sending any more of them today.
Wuffles came bounding over to Enya's side, nuzzling and whimpering to rouse her friend, then turning wet blue eyes on Rowellan when her efforts proved unsuccessful.
Tayu flew down and extended both wings, mantling the trio, both claiming and protecting them in the tent of his wings.
Auryn stood by, looking perplexed. He had not been with Enya as long as the others, and it might have been the first time he'd seen her fall in battle.
But everyone seemed to be waiting on Pepper; by which it might have begun to dawn on Enya's human companions that he, and not Tayu, was the leader of her animal allies. Tayu might have been her first Soul-friend, who'd been with her from the beginning of her singular career. But Pepper had been her second; and, being of a communal species, he had become the strength of the group as a team, understanding what so many human leaders did not: that leadership wasn't about lording it over people, but about safeguarding them so that they could live their best lives. Enya had chosen a risky life. But it was her team, led by Pepper, that kept it from being deadly. She, too, was living her best life, thanks in great part to this huge, stalwart, fatherly canine, whose inner warmth only echoed her own, whether by the hearthfire or in the middle of a maelstrom.
Pepper picked through the bare path he'd made, stopping once in a while to crunch on another icicle-claw; a fire-dog was still a dog, and dogs got thirsty. When he reached Enya, he simply nuzzled her over until his red steel orb came into view; then he gave Auryn a questioning look, complete with a raised eyebrow--if not for the situation, it might have almost been comical. The Griffin, understanding, extended a talon, which was the closest any of them had to a finger, and pressed the latch, sending Pepper back into his ball. He did the same for Wuffels, for 'Iheyu, and for Tayu; Enya needed them all this way right now more than fretting over her or prancing around celebrating their victory.
Auryn nodded at Rowellan and Bjorn, then turned back to Enya to make sure what Pepper and the others had done was going to work the way it was supposed to. And it did; with her soul-shards returned to her and already healing in their orbs, she found the strength to break through the surface of consciousness, grunt and groan a bit, and open her eyes.
"Hei..." she murmured with a weak smile, sounding exhausted enough for all of them.
-
"Hey..." Rowellan replied, more than a little relieved that Enya had woken up again. She as well as Bjorn knew some battlefield medicine, but in a way treating Enya would be an unknown. And Wuffels' pleading gaze sure had touched a string inside Rowellan's heart. Both huntress and Skald had looked on in fascination at how the fighting companions had retreated into their orbs and now, besides Auryn, were resting themselves - or giving Enya back some of her strength, maybe both.
"How you're feeling?" Rowellan now asked while she sat down besides the blue girl, putting down the little wooden box and opening it. "Let me check where those beasts have hit you." She could see the purple frostbite on one side of Enya's face as well as the clawmarks behind the ear. "Did they get you anywhere else besides your face?"
Inside the box was a little assortment of vials and tiny bottles, all wrapped in linen, with differently coloured strings of wool closing and marking them. Rowellan now opened the biggest one of the bottles and took a fresh piece of linen cloth. "I'll have to clean this first," she said, meaning the seeping wound behind Enya's ear. But before doing so she pointed at one of the vials. "That's something against frostbite," she explained. "Like all my salves they're made out of different herbs, oils and some healing magic." She had no idea if the healing magic would work on Enya too, as she came from so far away, but the runes in the cloak had worked. Plus, the herbs would work anyway. And whatever healing salves Enya might carry around on her own, Rowellan guessed that a cure for frostbite wasn't on the menu.
Very carefully now, Rowellan poured some of the aromatic liquid in the bottle on the cloth and started cleaning away blood and dirt and the rest of the snow crystals Enya had put on it herself.
In the meantime Bjorn had made it halfway to his feet as well, picking up the torn-away cloak, draping it around the girl's shoulders. Warmth always was important, even more so for someone who wasn't used to the climate to begin with.
-
Enya didn't answer Rowellan's first question immediately, her eyes instead darting around in concern for her companions' whereabouts. "Where everyone be...?" she mumbled, then caught sight of Auryn, whose front legs did a little dance when their eyes met. "And ev'ryone else...? --Oh." She'd figured it out, or at least come to a satisfactory guess. "Heh...got to see to Soul-friends 'fore I see to me... They safe, yes?
"So...do feel like tried to fly like Ikran but found out I be Teylu instead--is baby bug, goes squish. And Spectre only got me once--but got me good! What be those things, anyway? You not did say much 'bout them before I send Soul-friends."
But as Rowellan began probing and cleaning her wounds, the noises she made were even more fearsome than anything the Ice Spectres could have come up with. She yowled, she screeched, she "Aiee!!"d, she hissed, and the racket pretty much assured that there would be absolutely no game within three miles of this place.
Finally the stinging and throbbing subsided, and so did Enya. She gave her friends a forlorn look. "This means I not gonna get to see Frostfoals today, huh?" she said miserably.
-
Rowellan bit her lip at Enya's reaction to her cleaning her wounds. "It shouldn't hurt like that," she stated, looking a bit helpless. "Sting, maybe, but only a little, and then cool down." She shared a helpless look with Bjorn. "I'm not sure if I should dare to give you anything else from my medicine."
"And we did tell you everything we know about Ice Spectres," the Skald added. "They're slow, they can be killed by steel and fire, and we don't know exactly who and what they are. There are a few old legends about that, but none really has proven true so far." He shook his head. "Anyway - I'm sorry that I failed here...should have been my job to keep someone like you safe."
"Bjorn..." Rowellan started again, then sighed. She knew that Bjorn took his responsibility as shield wearer really seriously. So instead she turned back to Enya. "Your Soul-friends," she said, "they were awesome today and sure saved our rears. Eight Ice Spectres are serious opponents for a group our size, especially with no healer around." A small smile appeared on her face. "They make a great team - Wuffels knew very well how to aid someone she never before had fought with and Pepper knew that it'd be best for all of you if they went into their orbs again after the fight. None of them looked seriously hurt - just tired. And worried about you, especially Wuffels."
"About those frostfoals..." This time it was Bjorn speaking. "I'm not sure. The salve against frostbite should help, at least for Rowellan once she lets me patch her up; and one of those little potions she and I carry around will help to get some of our strength back after a short rest. But the way you reacted to just the cleaning lotion..." He scratched his beard. "We might have to rest first and slow down a bit later. Because right now we're not in the shape for fast travel, although I'd like to disappear as fast as possible." He shook his head. "My ears are still ringing from that last attack."
-
Enya winced at Bjorn's comment. "Oooo...lightning and metal...'fraid I not did think 'bout that... Was face-down in snowbank when did happen, but did see Pepper and 'Iheyu plotting first. Sorry... Bjorn, you sure you okay?"
She sat up slowly and blew another big sigh. "Ice Spectres...yah, maybe you tell me all you know yourself; but if there be stories about them, might want to share those too. Maybe some be true and some be not, but they give me more to be ready for just in case. Fine, no time for stories before a big fight; I know that. But at least tell me if they maybe actual spirits. Coulda fought way differently then."
Then she gave Rowellan a rueful smile. "And all that noise I make? ...You forget I cat-girl, and cats gonna yowl!"
-
Rowellan's mouth formed an almost perfect 'o' at that last piece. Having grown up in a rough environment, she had learned early to not whine about something like cleaning her wounds - and that came quite handy as her parents had to use disinfectant on her rather often when she came home with her knees or elbows bloody from falling down somewhere or trying to sneak through narrow crevices.
"Alright." She blew out her breath. "So you think you might be ready for some of that salve?" She lifted the little vial. "It should numb the pain - from the frostbite and from anything else."
Bjorn did wince, though. "Uh... lightning, yeah. Not a good idea to wear armour through a thunderstorm, so I guess I got lucky here." He started rummaging through his own backpack, bringing out a box not too different from Rowellan's. "I'd rather have something stronger right now, but I guess some of this stuff will have to do to get rid of the last effects. Don't worry, gonna be fine." He uncorked one of the bottles, the one with the green woolen thread around it, sniffed at the content and took the tiniest sip, making a face. "I wonder why it has to taste that ugly though."
-
"Yah, gimme salve, 'least 'til wizards make healing-ball for me," Enya grumbled. "All hurting be on back of head...here, right under ear...yah, like th--YOWCH!! ...Aww; do wonder 'f that ear ever gonna come up again..." Her concern was justified; at least one of the claw-marks was deep enough to have possibly done some muscle or tendon damage. If the Spectre's blow had caught her at a slightly different angle, she would have lost the ear entirely...
She grinned at Bjorn. "Medicine gotta taste nasty, or little-kids gonna get hurt all the time on purpose so they can have some! 'Specially the boys." She wrinkled her nose playfully, then thought she'd better not try that again until her face muscles were fully-functional again.
Then she considered certain other aspects of their predicament. "So you wanna go faster, hmm?" she finally said with a sly smile. "Fine; I ride Pepper...and you two can share Kilvanä!!"
-
"If this stuff works on you like it's supposed to, your ear should be alright sooner than you think. Alright then." Rowellan took a tiny amount of the salve on one of her fingertips and very gently started rubbing - more like dabbing - the salve on Enya's wound. "Might tickle for a moment, but that's it." She grinned. "And that's due to the herbs in there, not the healing magic."
The grin turned into a chuckle about Enya's comment on ugly-tasting medicine. "That could be an explanation - boys always like to have their noses in something sweet. No chance to keep my brother out of the dried berries - ever." When Bjorn offered her the bottle she accepted it, and, just like him, took a tiny little sip, then held it over to Enya. "Unfortunately that means we girls have to deal with that stuff too. Just a tiny sip," she warned the girl. "More like wetting the tip of your tongue in there, that's enough. It will help our strength to recover much faster than it would without that potion."
"And in the meantime I will patch you up," Bjorn said to Rowellan. "You got your share of cuts and bruises too... and to be honest, I wouldn't mind a ride while we wait for our medicine to kick in. I don't think there'd be anything left in an area with such a big pack of Ice Spectres, but... better safe than sorry, and right now we're not in fighting condition."
While he was working on Rowellan's face and they were waiting for Enya to try the potion, he frowned at Auryn, who was still waiting patiently besides them. "Why ain't he in his ball, by the way?" he asked. "Is it because he's the one operating them?" There was so much he didn't quite know about how the whole thing worked.
-
"Auryn put ev'ryone back in balls?" Enya said, surprised. "Ahh, he clever, yes...but that be new one. --Auryn, you sooo smart!" she cooed at him. "Do think you got the hang of this already!" She fished around in her pack a little bit, then tossed him an especially tasty poffin; and where only his front legs had been tap-dancing before, once he gobbled up the tidbit his hindquarters finally joined in the merriment.
"Is Griffin," Enya said, as if that explained everything. "Sometimes think he got bird-mind and cat-mind and they not always agree!"
She took a tentative whiff of the contents of Bjorn's vial and recoiled. "Whoof...smell must be enough to cure me; I tingling already!!" Which, given her much keener nose, was quite possibly true; the airborne droplets that made up the scent might indeed have been as effective for her as an actual sip would have been for a human. "All right...I fetch our rides; gotta let ev'ryone out and fuss over them anyways, 'cause they done good."
Which she did; and all five of her other Soul-friends gobbled up their well-earned poffins and made themselves available for petting, they weren't picky who from.
But Auryn came over and nudged his orb, asking to be taken back inside. Enya understood why, and she planned to explain his situation for real once they got on the road again. She was pretty sure he knew this, and pretty sure he would allow it--as long as he himself didn't have to listen. Some things just didn't need to be relived...
She recalled him and most of the rest besides Wuffels and the transports, then had Bjorn help her up and onto Pepper before they collected their things, scaled Mount Kilvanä, and were ready to be on their way.
-:- -:- -:-
[They move on, chatting about "done good" and hero-songs and how miffed Bjorn's lute would have been to be dragged out in weather like this...]
"...Talk 'bout 'miffed' and 'not want to come out', we maybe not gonna see too much of Tayu rest of today, 'less we need him," Enya chuckled. "He shoot lots of feather-arrows today, yes?" The Norse pair had already told her what had happened while she was unconscious. "Sooo, he looking kinda tattered too, and he not like anybody to see him like that; you know he fussy 'bout his feathers! Is prob'ly why he go back in his ball so fast."
She fell silent for a while, pondering the question Bjorn had put to her when they'd first set out again after the battle. How would she answer this without giving away more of the story than Auryn would have wanted her to tell? Well she knew his sensitivity on the subject of his origins... But she'd trusted these two with everything else, and they needed to understand if they were to know what to expect of him--and what not to.
"And while we talking 'bout balls," she began, "maybe now I tell you why I say Auryn not meant for ball-travelling..."
-
That first part made the grin in Rowellan's face widen even more. She had seen Tayu's very first appearance, still back at the Wall, and knew that the owl - besides being a very competent archer - also had a high opinion of himself plus a certain amount of vanity. So she could very well imagine Tayu curling up in his ball, recovering and waiting until all the feathers in his wings were back to their initial glory again. "The gods beware we ever see *Tayu* tattered," she teased - a good natured teasing, showing a lot of affection for the bird that had, after all, lost and shot all these feathers in defense of Enya and the little group they were travelling in.
Bjorn couldn't help but grin about that too. He hadn't seen Tayu's initial prancing around, but the way the girls were talking about the owl he started to get an idea. "Hey, I feel for him. A guy has to keep up his appearance," he said, stroking his well-kept beard.
He then curiously eyed Auryn's orb. Not made for ball-travel? He felt a story in the making here and - as he knew that it took time and focus to tell it the right way - waited for Enya to start hers. Or better: Auryn's.
-
"Auryn, he not exactly a Soul-friend," Enya began; "Is to say, he not appear to me as body for part of my spirit. He not has been with me for very long at all. Juuuust getting good enough at going into and out of balls... If anything, maybe I be his Soul-friend. He need one real bad when I found him...
"You see, did find Auryn in Albion. They had him in big dungeon in chains, with iron mask on his face so he not could bite anybody, and chains be so he not could scratch. And they did mean things to him. Albion fighters, mages, whoever, all practice on him. Tayu find out about it, so *I* find out about it, and ev'ryone wanna do something for him, so we did. Field Pepper torched was between us with Auryn and lobster-guys in metal suits.
"Had lotsa trouble getting him outta there; he not like bad stuff, but was familiar bad stuff, and he 'fraid of everything else 'cause he not did know outside world at all, or maybe knew and forgot. Or maybe he not see enough through that mask to understand what he looking at. Hadda get that offa him first thing, and Tayu hadda take us all into spirit-world to make it happen at all... Hadda find his own spirit, spirit he lost being beat up all the time. Then had to convince him that was really him, not poor sorry creature in chains...and that he could become this spirit, 'least long enough to go in and out of balls, and more and more long enough to help in fights. So maybe now you understand why he seem a little unsure of himself, little shy, little standoffish; why he try so hard to please me; and why me and Soul-friends got a thing 'gainst Albion."
-
For a moment Enya's story took some time to sink in. Then Rowellan's eyes first widened, then narrowed, shooting angry glances. "Oh - those... those..." A bunch of swearwords burnt the air for a while. "Well - that much for their approach to being oh so honorable!" The hunter spirit in her, the one that was able to bond with animals and had decided long ago that forcing any creature to fight against their will was wrong on so many levels she didn't even know where to start, revolted against the mere thought of using a caught creature as training dummy.
Finally the huntress took a breath, calming herself down again a bit. "Sorry," she said, "but I hate every kind of abuse." She too glanced at Auryn's orb. "He's been more than lucky then that you came along and helped him out. Of course he has any right to be shy or standoffish. You and your Soul-friends must have had a good piece of hard work to earn his trust at all."
"And there's another hero song," Bjorn added. He had let Rowellan let it all out, knowing how she thought about abuse in general and especially of creatures of Nature. "One of the silent ones. For him - that he was able to keep his spirit somewhere and find it back somehow. Makes him really strong in my eyes." He gave the orb a respectful nod. "If he'd even want one or feel comfortable about being singled out that way."
"That!" Rowellan agreed. "Not everyone might have survived this." The initial anger left her eyes. "He's been really lucky that you came along - not only for setting his body free, but the rest of him as well." She wasn't quite sure how exactly Enya and her Soul-friends had done it - but taking them all to the spirit world was something that had a certain shaman ring to it, and she knew enough about Troll customs and rites to know how powerful those could be.
-
Oddly, Enya was beginning to look a little irked after these conversational high-fives. Normally she liked praise and admiration as much as the next person her age, and when she was feeling flush with accomplishment any compliments at all would set her tail wagging furiously. But this was not one of those times.
"Lemme know when you two be all done nodding and smiling at me," she said in a tone of impatient annoyance. "Story was not to celebrate or plan what kinda fuss you gonna make or not make next time Auryn comes out of his ball. I go back to travelling on my own 'fore I subject him to that. But you missing point, a big one. Maybe think 'bout things I share with you 'stead of being all noddy and smiley and 'Yah, we agree'.
"Look at me. Look at my belt. Six orbs; six Soul-friends. Only Auryn not really a Soul-friend. So, six orbs; five Soul-friends, when did come to Albion. Where the other one? Or why I had an extra ball? Why carry one with no Soul-friend inside? What Enya thinking, making that journey with more balls than she needs, huh? --Na, Auryn needed safe place, and orb needed someone to keep safe. Like before, when did have six Soul-friends. Why that ball empty now? And why be it blue? Look at this and tell me you gonna make a song out of it."
The orb was indeed blue, a metallic sky-blue with a symbol on it that could only be waves.
-
Rowellan's face fell. "Hey... we were just talking about hero stories a moment ago," she protested, but then some pieces clicked together in her mind. "Guess...well, kinda thought you'd carry spare ones for emergencies. Like - when one broke or something, it's not as if you could go to the trader at the next corner to buy a new one, and I don't know how they're made. And you're very far from home... but..."
She swallowed. "You don't carry spare ones, don't ya? You've lost one of your Soul-friends."
"And that means," Bjorn added quietly, "that you've lost some part of yourself out there." He shook his head, as understanding dawned on his face. "Nope - that's not a subject for a song. Sometimes being a Skald also means to know when to keep your mouth shut about other peoples' business."
"The part related to water?" Rowellan's voice sounded more than hesitating, trying to figure her way through what had to be more than a sore spot. "The way that orb looks... and still Auryn somehow fit in there." By now she knew better than to pour something like pity over Enya. "You once said, he can be your everything..."
Back then, still at the wall, Rowellan had taken that at face value. But now she wondered if that really was enough, if Auryn was able to fill what had to be a major hole in Enya's spirit. She couldn't even imagine how this had to be, having literally a part of your own soul missing.
-
"Did lose my Water-friend," Enya confirmed, her voice subdued. "What kinda Islander not got a Water-friend? What kinda sailor? I raise her from little butt-ugly fish to beautiful sea-dragon...took long time...ai, how pretty she sing!...and we ride...and..."
But there weren't really any words for the hollow in her soul, the missing Element--and of all the Elements that could have been lost or changed their faces, surely Water was the most vital of them all.
Finally she looked up. "Auryn try so hard... I not know what happen to his wings; maybe Albion magic too. But do think this is why me-Auryn can work how we do: I have lost Sea, and he has lost Sky."
-
"Both the major parts of what makes them," Rowellan whispered, more to herself than anything else. "Helping each other to fill the holes, maybe making them feel less empty, but never complete." Maybe the only thing she could imagine that fit would be if she lost connection to Skadi, the goddess that she prayed to, the one that helped her melt with the shadows or protected her bond with Venn. Or maybe like a mother losing a child - there could be other children, but none would fill this certain space in a parents' heart.
"Makes me wonder," Bjorn hesitated too, "and I don't know if there's even an answer for that, if Auryn is the part of someone else's Spirit? Some other traveller who got lost in the Albion border, leaving nothing behind but this strong part of his soul?" Could a lost part of a spirit even survive on its own? Because with a bond that close, Bjorn guessed that - once free from his torturers - this lost part of someone's soul must have been drawn back to where it belonged...or not?
-
Enya pondered this. "You think maybe Auryn been a Soul-friend before? He not seem to know how it works; is only just learning, but learning good... But you got wood-stoves and we have pit-ovens; they got same job, bake bread and cook meat. So maybe is something like Soul-friendship somewhere in Realms, and maybe does work a little different here than in Alola. Maybe is not a thing that needs orbs.
"But he not a Soul-friend like I know. They not can exist without the people who have them. Apart from, yes, but not without. So if Auryn be any kinda Soul-friend, his person still be alive and looking for him...and while me-Auryn still be getting to know each other, do think he would have told me that first thing, 'cause all a lost Soul-friend wanna do is get home."
Then she regarded Rowellan with something like her usual mischief coming to life again in her eyes. "So...when we gonna meet your Wolf-friend?" she grinned. "He gonna want to know all these promises you made for him!"
-
"I have no idea," Bjorn admitted. "I'm still trying to grasp how it works for you. Personally I know nothing similar, but hey - that doesn't mean it ain't there; until I met you I didn't know about *your* Soul Friends either." He nodded to Enya's last words. "That's what I guessed from what you've said...so he has to be something else." He eyed the blue orb again, knowing that this mystery might never be solved. "There are a lot of creatures out there in the Three Realms none of us has ever seen before. And between your home, Enya, and the Realms there have to be a lot of other lands with endless possibilities - you know probably better than me, because you've travelled there. One thing we know for sure though - whatever he's been before, right now he's at a much better place than in an Albion mine as a practice target."
He then eyed Rowellan with some amusement. "You could of course always ask this Wolf if he might want to try and fit into a ball that size..."
Rowellan gave the Skald an indignant 'Hrumph'. "Venn will bite your nose off if you suggest something like that, and you know it." She turned to Enya. "He'll show up sooner or later, the farther we get away from the wall and the more important border keeps. I've told him to stay away from those; it ain't safe for him, and I know he likes to run with a pack more in the southern part of the Borderlands. The bond between him and me is much different from the one you and your Soul-friends share. We're friends, but we're pretty much independant from each other. If something happened to him I'd grieve and cry, more than just a bit, and there'd be a scar on my soul too. Like it would if something happened to any of my family and friends. And in some way, yes, some part of me would be missing; we're friends since I was very young and he just a little puppy. And I'm sure he'd miss me the other way 'round, but he can survive without me." She looked into the distance where the sky was bright now, the sun having burnt away the last traces of the morning mist. "He'd come if I really needed him or called for him and he probably knows I've been in trouble this morning. You know, I *want* him to live a happy Wolf life. A free one - but that doesn't mean we don't like to spend time with each other and that he ain't deep in here." She put a hand over her heart.
-
"'How it work for me', huh?" Enya smiled a little and stroked her chin, looking thoughtful. "Yah, more fun talking 'bout when we get Soul-friends than whether we lose 'em. So... First Soul-friend be given you by Kahuna of your Island. He be like shaman or druid; he speak to Moon and Sun and Sea and small gods who protect the Islands, to Giants from smoking mountains and to Menehune under hills, the First People. And he give you first Soul-friend. He show you baby Grass Owl, baby Fire Cat, and baby Sea-lion, and he let you pick which one calls to you most. Other Islands, those first three be different; could be Grass Snake, Fire Pig and Water Otter--I know, it rhymes!" She giggled. "And Seafolk on most rugged Island, their Kahuna give toughest Soul-friends of all: little toad-lizard with vines, turtle who shoot water, or baby Dragon! But Tayu suits me, and anyhow he prettier than little toad-lizard, so I not mind if he not does tangle people with vines. He always tell me is not 'cause he can't, but 'cause he not feel like it! He got better tricks; more elegant ones, too.
"But all Soul-friends after that? Little-kids with first Soul-friend get sent on big long journey; is called Iknimaya. Is to explore, be challenged by world and by other people with Soul-friends, learn how to handle hunger and weather and rough land and hardships and things-not-go-right and, yah, things going right, too. Gotta visit ev'ry Island, get stronger, and beat their Kahuna 'fore you come home and battle yours. And is not always just a battle! Most Kahunas want to see that you're clever too, and wise, and coming closer to understanding Mother-god and all things being One.
"Is on Iknimaya that we meet rest of Soul-friends. Happens when part of you grows up. And you never know which part be next; I pick Grass-friend, and first one to show after that was Fire, and you almost never see those two kinds together. Guess I growing up weird! But I adventure with Fire and Grass, yes. Then Wuffels come, she Rock; she make my first pongu, 'cause Rock smother Fire, Fire burn Grass, and roots of Grass break up Rock. You got three who can help and hurt each other that way, you got a pongu. 'Course they not gonna hurt each other, but being three like that, balanced out, makes all stronger. Good pongu got a chance 'gainst anything.
"And how this happen, meeting Soul-friends? When part of your spirit becomes strong enough, you see an animal who stand for that part, maybe part you never knew you had. And you know is a part of you, 'cause what soul not does recognise itself once shown? So you name that part; when Pepper came, did say 'Ahh, Fire-friend.' Creature gonna nod...and then it attack you!! And you gotta fight it and win to show that you want it, you want that part of you to be strong and to help with Iknimaya, you accept that you got that part in you even if you not did know it before and it be big surprise. 'f you win, Soul-friend comes to you and goes in orb. 'f you not win, is okay too; it show up again later, 'cause is still part of you, 'cept fight gonna be harder 'cause that part of you has had time to grow stronger.
"After that...well, it not does end there. Pepper come to me as little puppy; Wuffels too, and 'Iheyu. Kilvanä was klutzy little foal, legs too long, feet too big; Tayu itty-bitty and look like he just fall out of nest; and have already told you 'bout Aroree, my Water-friend--she so shabby-looking that other kids laugh at her and say 'And where you get that ugly little fish?? Somebody pee in the water?' They laughing out other side ot their face now, 'specially after she grow up and shoot big water at them, real hard--HAH!!
"But Soul-friends be like this: They want to grow up and grow strong just like you. They want to do it with you. Pepper wanted to be big, magnificent Fire-dog, and when Fire in me was full-strength, he became so. Is wonderful to watch them change shape, sometimes become something totally diff'rent than how they started. Just look at Kilvanä now, or Tayu! But they had that power and beauty in them all along, and is only by adventuring and fighting that they find it for themselves. Once you got Soul-friends, you gotta help them do that. Feed 'em, play with 'em, but mostly help them grow their strongest."
-
If Rowellan and Bjorn hadn't been riding behind each other, they'd have shared a look about that. As that wasn't possible, each of them just stared at something along the way, processing what Enya had just said. And it was a lot to process, so for a good while they rode along in thoughtful silence.
"I think I see how it works," Bjorn finally said. "So, what kind of Soul-friends you'll have - and in which order they come to you - it all depends on how you grow. And I guess that there probably ain't two people out there in your home who have the same group of Soul Friends, because everyone's different in the end." He had seen and read about a lot of coming-of-age rites during his studies, but this was indeed the most hands-on approach he had seen, in some way. "Recognizing the part of your soul that has grown strong over time, that's something some people do and some never, no matter how old they get." And of course it also explained how Enya could be that sure that Auryn had never been part of somebody's soul.
He gave a wry grin. "Your people, Enya, are the only ones I've ever heard of that actually have to fight through to prove that they've mastered or recognized a special part of their personality. But of course they're also the only ones where parts of the soul actually take shape of a Soul-friend and can be carried around in an orb at your belt. Ya know, I like the part that you still have to care for them afterwards, until they're really as strong as they can get. After all, soul-searching is never over."
Rowellan leaned forwards, gently scratching Kilvanä's massive neck. "It's hard to imagine her as a foal," she mused, "all legs and hooves."
"Hey, you weren't born as apt with a bow or a sword either." Bjorn slightly nudged his friend's shoulder.
"Sure not." A small smile showed up on Rowellan's face. "Klutzy, thin as a twig, red-headed with tons of freckles, and not really knowing what to do with all my arms and legs while growing up, so I guess I can sympathize with foal-Kilvanä here. Or that little fish you're talking about."
A thought crossed her mind and her smile widened some more. "But what you say about your 'pongu', how all the elements balance each other out, it kind of reminds me of an old kids' game we played back home... 'Rock, Parchment, Blade' it was called; you played it with your fingers, usually to figure out who was about to do some unloved task." With each element she formed the shape with her hand. "Every element had its strength and weakness - stone could break blade, but could be wrapped by parchment. And parchment could be cut by blade... If you look at it the other way 'round, they balance each other out and support each other too: rock can also hone the blade much sharper, and parchment can wrap up and protect both stone and blade too. It's just a matter of perspective."
"Heck, I've almost forgotten about that one," Bjorn grinned. "But you're right, there is something of that in it, ain't it? Only that for you," he looked at Enya, "it's indeed about how those elements balance each other out and *support* each other - eh, that means bringing the idea of a 'well balanced mind' to a whole 'nother level." He scratched his head. "But there's one more thing I wonder - how about kids who aren't adventurous at all? Are all of your people born with the urge to travel and explore?"
-
"Just like that," Enya agreed to both Rowellan's game comparison and Bjorn's guess as to the uniqueness of each person's party of Soul-friends. " 'most ev'rybody find Fire, Water and Grass first, but is never gonna be same three animals for any two people. Me, I find Water-friend after Wuffels. Each Island got its own kinds of animals; some happen on more than one Island, but some in just one part of one Island--those be hard to get! So you maybe end up with Grass-friend from Melemele, Water-friend from Akala, and Fire-friend from Ula'ula...sure hope you got another kind of pongu before then, 'cause Ula'ula be dangerous place! Gots mountains, desert, beaches, towns... But is good place to find Lightning-, Ground-, Steel- and Water-friends, Ice-friends in tallest mountains, and even coupla Dragons."
She then answered Bjorn's question. "We walk, we ride, we sail, we fly. We be Ikran People of the Eastern Sea. Restless as waves. Live in house-boats. Of course we all made for wandering."
-
...
...And wander indeed they did, partly riding along, but also using their own feet to give their mounts time to recover now and then.
The area changed again, to softly rolling hills, most of them still snow-covered; but there were also free patches of ground where fresh green grass peeked up, showing the first signs that even in the Midgard borderlands there was something like Springtime.
And then the trees and hills parted, giving way to land a bit lower than what they had traveled before, then yielding to the sight of a huge body of water, glistening in the afternoon sun like a blue sapphire in a bed of diamonds. "This," Rowellan proudly declared, "is Yggdrasil Lake, the one lake that never freezes over." And indeed there was a slight haze over the water, as if there was eternal steam or fog over it. "And all the trees around it are called Yggdrasil Forest - although the really dense part is a bit away from the lake." She smiled. "If we want to see the frost foals at play, we need to get closer to the lake - they love the open land there."
-
Pepper and Kilvanä couldn't help it; while they'd seen their share of forest and even jungle on their travels, both of them were made for open spaces. As soon as the trees parted enough, both mounts took off and made a mad rush towards the lake, which, besides allowing them to see further, gave them a chance to slake their thirst. Kilvanä only seemed to remember at the last moment that she had guests, and pulled up just before charging into the water for a nice bout of frolicking in the shallows. But Enya let Pepper have his head so he could race along the shoreline, where indeed he resembled nothing so much as a flaring comet. She'd said he was swift. She hadn't gone into detail, but the Fire-dog could cover leagues at a gallop; if she so desired, he could have delivered her back to the Faste by late suppertime.
Finally returning, giddy and laughing and gasping for breath, Enya dismounted and checked on her human companions. " 'f we want to see Frost-foals," she opined, "we better hide good and stay as far from Lake as we can 'til they forget all 'bout Pepper!! He kinda like open land too."
-
"We noticed," Bjorn noted dryly, but couldn't hide the merry sparkle in his eyes. If ever something had betrayed Enya's love for open country and water, then it would have been this crazy, playful race along the waterline. Yes, it had been Pepper doing that, and both Norse by now knew that each and every one of Enya's Soul Friends had their own will and quirks; but they had also felt how happily Kilvanä had stepped to the shallows, so this had to be a part of Enya's personality that had rubbed off. Well, little wonder with someone who had grown up on a bunch of islands.
"And yepp, we better give the wildlife some time to recover from that," Rowellan grinned. "And I know just the place where we can do that - I was hoping we'd get there, 'cause it will make the perfect place for our night's rest." She swung a long leg over Kilvanä's neck and dismounted, right on the border between water and shoreline, then knelt down, slightly putting a hand into the water. "Can you feel it?" she asked. "It's not exactly hot, but a lot less cold than it should be in this area this time of the year." Actually, the lake had the temperature of a much smaller one on a Summer evening; it would have been cool to the skin, but not icy cold. "And that's 'cause it's fed by hot springs - most of them down on the ground, but not all of them.
We'll have warm water tonight!"
-
Finally relieved of her riders, Kilvanä sloshed into the lake right up to her chest, took a long drink, and then did a little dance that looked like a puppy chasing its tail. Finally she stood up tall and straight, stretched on her tiptoes with her chin held high...and keeled over with a huge splash, the titanic-equine equivalent of a cannonball dive, coming back up again to her own joyous braying and Enya's uproarious laughter.
"Ahh, this place be all backwards, huh?" Enya asked her Soul-friends, dismounting Pepper so he'd have the chance for a drink too. "Back home, is islands of land surrounded by ocean; here, is islands of water surrounded by land! ...Ahh, but even back home we have lakes, so we know what to do with 'em. Maybe even tell Bjorn 'bout Lake of the Moon, huh?"
She nudged the dog, then released everyone else. "Frost-foals gonna need a loooooong time to think 'bout us," she grinned at Rowellan. "Maybe we see 'em tomorrow! But now that we make all that noise and splash"--as an owl, a puppy, a fox and a Griffin were doing now, each in its own way--" 'least Foals know we not trying to sneak up on 'em; we must not be Foal-hunters, 'cause we got nothing to hide!"
And if she thought she couldn't be any merrier at that moment, it only lasted until Rowellan's announcement: "Warm water?? Ah-YAH-yeh!!!" she whooped. "Warm anything!! And leave supper to 'Iheyu. She *really* good at fishing!"
-
Skald and huntress watched the merry display with wide grins and giggles of their own - the Soul-friends' playfulness was just too infectuous. "Skadi's arrows," Rowellan finally managed, "it's a good thing that 'Iheyu's good at fishing then - 'cause I think we've successfully shooed off any game around here." She grinned widely. "And probably everybody else as well."
"Yeah, that was as far away from 'sneaking' as it can get," Bjorn confirmed with a wide grin. "No sneaking up on anything or anyone for this afternoon, evening or night." He gave Rowellan a sideways glance. "Warm water, huh?" he asked. "That wouldn't by chance be one of those famous hunter's dens?"
Rowellan tried to keep up a mysterious face - hard to do when the grin tugged at her lips, watching Tayu and Auryn having one of the most epic splashing fights she had ever seen. "And what do you happen to know about hunter's dens, Skald?" she asked, raising a brow.
"Ahhhhh...." said Skald spread his hands in mock innocence, "a guy has his sources." He turned to Enya. "You know, our hunters spend a lot of time outside in the wild, and they survive nights you'd never guess a human could. So there are rumours about dens they have, spread all over the Borderlands." He rubbed his bearded chin. "Now that I think about it, I might even have rested in one once or twice myself. So there'll be fish and warm water tonight? I can live with that!"
-
"So," Enya said around one of the rolls she'd saved from that morning, "be 'hunter's den' like hole-in-hill in Bjorn's long story? One with mark only magic-people can see?"
Then she spotted her Lightning-friend wading carefully into the water. No one in that era knew the physics of it, but Enya knew that the fox's electrical attacks were extremely effective against aquatic life. Enya tipped her head at Bjorn and asked "How many dozen fish you want? 'member, not more than we can eat or dry and carry!" Then she called after 'Iheyu: "Hei!! Wait 'til we get where we sleeping tonight!"
-
"A little bit like that," Rowellan nodded. "Not all of them are holes in a hill - although the one we'll be heading to tonight will indeed be not too far away from Bjorn's cave. But there are others as well - some are dug into the ground, some are niches between rocks, some are even actual huts, just that they're that overgrown nobody recognizes them as made by people anymore. Some of the lighter ones are built into trees; whatever the area provides. Some are more durable and comfortable than others, that too - some have to be given up after a while, maybe cause they get spotted by enemies or cause weather just finally gets to them. Young hunters learn all the locations and how to open them up, and every time we come back to our headquarters we share news and updates about them."
She smirked at Bjorn. "Now that I think of it, you might have indeed spent a night or two in one or another." Then she looked thoughtfully at 'Iheyu and then Enya. "Mmmmhm - depends on what she can find. If there's one of the big salmons around one of 'em would be enough for the three of us. Plus, of course, how many your friends need for themselves." Her face lit up. "We could have fire-salmon tonight! And she can catch right now, it's cold enough to keep fresh - the place I have in mind ain't too far away and I'd rather not attract any attention to it by any hunting activities in the immediate neighbourhood."
-
"'Iheyu not gonna catch any fish right now," Enya observed; "we done too much splashing. And she should know where 'home' be for tonight, 'cause she gotta have somewhere to bring fish home *to*. Fish come back by time we find that hole, but rest of animals prob'ly gonna hide 'til after Sun goes down. 'Iheyu like hunting at night anyway. And you not worry 'bout if she catch extra fish; if I not know how to jerk fish, I not be Seafolk!"
Then her face lit up at the news that they would be camping near Bjorn's cave. "Ahh, did think that was just place in a story!" she exclaimed, her tail swishing and her ears pricking so high that the tips almost met at the top of her head. " 'magine spending night under Menehune-rocks or in Mother-Tree 'f they only been tales to you, 'f you never seen them for reals... Gonna be like that for me. We gotta go see Bjorn's cave!"
-
Well - neither Rowellan nor Bjorn did know the real location from the cave in his story, so while none of them was actually sure that it was Bjorn's cave, they also couldn't say that it wasn't. And apart from that... the idea was kinda compelling. "Sleeping in something from a story," Rowellan mused, trusting Enya's judgement in 'Iheyu's fishing skills. "I've never thought of it that way, but I like it."
"So far I've mostly slept over a story," Bjorn said. "When I had to learn it and fell asleep over a scroll or a book." He eyed Enya's friends. "Ready to go and see this story for ourselves?"
-
By now Enya's Soul-friends were circling the lake, headed towards the further shore of that wide body of water. She could, of course, still summon them with her traditional calling-cry; but her expression of enthusiasm at the prospect of warmth, which wasn't much different, hadn't seemed to attract their attention any. So she went to her fallback option: "Look and listen," she told the Norsefolk. "Is how I call them when they not can hear me, either 'cause they too excited, too far away, or my voice be too weak."
She fished an item out of her belt-pouch--a smooth, pierced stone on a string. Swinging it over her head like a falcon's lure, she heard it whistle, then thrum in a vibration the others could feel in their bones. "Is Ikran-caller," she explained over the rumble. "Works on Soul-friends too."
And indeed the racing animals paused, pricking their ears, then made their way back to the near shore...albeit not in quite such a hurry. "They grumpy now 'cause I end their fun," Enya smirked, as if that needed explaining. But once she produced the poffins, all was well again; then, too, her Soul-friends might have been worried that they were going to be sent back into their orbs, and now that they saw this wasn't the case, they were as eager to trek with their human friends as Enya was.
"Ready!" she said once everyone was.
-
"I like that calling thing," Rowellan stated as they moved again. "At first it hurt my ears, but then everything I felt was something like...I don't know, some humming in my bones? And that's probably just because we stood nearby." She raised a brow. "Too bad we can't use it on stray group members - ya know, like that Dwarven healer that was once travelling with us, getting lost collecting herbs all the time? I know it was important, but it also got a bit old after a while... 'Too excited' hits the spot pretty much."
"Eh - you would probably have had to let that thing hit his helmet," Bjorn grinned back. "That was the only thing bringing poor Tarvi back to his senses once he got lost. He was a great healer anyway, and I hope he's fine now. Working as a village healer is a much better place for him than out here in the Borderlands."
They were following the banks of the lake for a while now until Rowellan finally headed east, following landmarks only she knew. They were walking a bit up again now, stones and rocks sprouting left and right, the forest getting denser again until the huntress finally stopped, slightly tilting her head as if listening to something. Then a smile spread on her face. "Wait here for a moment," she told the others. "I just felt Venn coming closer. I think he'd like to join us for a bit - once I have assured him that your Soul Friends won't bite."
-
"Why it not can work on 'ohana?" Enya asked, using her People's word for extended family...which, in her context, included fellow adventurers. "You teach them what to listen for, and we already know they gonna hear it... Or you gonna tell me Dwarf healer not pay as much 'tenshun as horses an' puppies an' butt-ugly fish?" She winked, grinning.
The pongu, counting Enya, padded along behind Rowellan and Bjorn, Pepper leaving his usual "skylights for grass-seeds" everywhere his footprints melted the ice, and Kilvanä's hooves breaking the trail though the heavier drifts. "Bjorn, you maybe wanna walk behind Kilvanä?" Enya offered. "You got most armor, legs be heaviest; is hardest for you to trudge in snow, but look! --No snow left anywhere behind Kilvanä and Pepper!"...a fact of which her smaller companions, especially frisking little Wuffels, were gratefully taking full advantage.
Tayu, of course, didn't need anyone to break trail for him. As the trees closed in again and he glided softly from one tree to the next, a sense of seclusion and the sacred seemed to come over the place, or maybe just over Enya. What was Rowellan following, indeed? Enya didn't know and maybe wasn't supposed to. But she noticed herself speaking less, treading more softly, and thinking long thoughts... Yggdrassil might not be here--Rowy had said that it wasn't--but this was still a special spot; and for one who had prayed at the foot of Eywa's Mother-tree, the peace in this forest approached sanctity. Whatever it was, the Seafolk girl felt as if she were being drawn into some sacred mystery...or maybe that she'd crossed over the fuzzy border between the heroic and the mythic.
-
"Does the sound of this Ikran-caller really reach out for human ears for so far?" Bjorn asked curiously. "When you were done swinging it I actually didn't really hear it anymore, it was more like a feeling than anything else." Then he grinned. "And for this special healer - he actually did pay less 'tenshun as horses an' puppies an' butt-ugly fish." He had indeed fallen in behind Kilvanä¤ now - walking in snow was a lot easier when someone else trampled down a path, or, in Pepper's case, simply melted the snow. Now he just stopped. "Let's see how this other puppy listens now..."
While her companions were discussing the reach of an Ikran-caller on stubborn dwarven healers, Rowellan had walked a bit away and out of sight from the group, a bit deeper between the trees. Now she let out a low whistle, undulating in a very distinctive way. Then she cowered down and waited...
...just to get run over by something white and furry just a few moments later. She grinned, when a long, pink tongue thoroughly washed her face and then, for a moment, she and her friend were just rolling on the ground, yipping and giggling and renewing a friendship that had started so many years ago, when Rowellan had found a lost puppy on a cold Winter afternoon. Now he had grown much taller, a male wolf in his prime, reaching up to Rowellan's hip, white and silver-grey shaggy, shiny fur with golden, intelligent eyes that now held joy and the mischief of play.
After a while the rough game changed into a softer cuddling and petting session, and finally Norse Huntress and Snow Wolf rested side by side, happy to be in each other's company again.
Rowellan and Venn didn't share a bond like Enya did with her Soul-friends. Their bond was founded on friendship, familiarity and trust, like any friendship between man and dog that had ever started in history - and still it had a mental component as well, that came from the goddess Skadi's gift to all hunters. So even though the huntress couldn't see through her animal companion's eyes, she could still sense his feelings inside, and now she knew that Venn was more than a little bit unsure about Enya's companions. The wolf had seen his share of strange animals out here in the Borderlands, and his sharp senses told him that Enya's friends were something else. Not just animals, not even strange-looking ones, even if they seemed that way.
"No, they're not," Rowellan told Venn, knowing that the wolf understood much more of her words than other people thought. Especially when she also projected her feelings along with that. "They're something completely different. But they're still friends you can trust - right now they're running with our pack. Come - let me introduce you." And because the wolf trusted the huntress, he wagged his tail once and then stood, ready to follow along.
Side by side, huntress and wolf now stepped out between the trees, Rowellan smiling widely. "Now," she said, "let me introduce my friend Venn to you."
-
Enya's response was immediate and instinctive for a dog-lover: Her face lit up; an "Oooooo!" escaped her mouth; she went down on one knee to make herself small and non-threatening, then extended an arm towards the newcomer, the better to be either carefully sniffed over or pounced upon and kissed to death, pup's preference. And in at least one respect they spoke the same language; her ears were relaxed playfully, and the gentle sweep of her tail brushed away the snow behind her.
"I Enya," she introduced herself. "And these...they Enya too in a way, a big way; so I not hurt you, and they not gonna hurt you either. Even 'f you play rough. Have said." - the last two words being all it took to seal an oath among her People.
-
Venn looked up first at Rowellan and when she nodded he made a step forwards, towards the stranger. He knew Bjorn from before and would renew that acquaintance later, but for now Enya - and her companions - were much more interesting. So he cautiously stepped forwards. Enya's body language (even if the body itself was unfamiliar) spoke of someone who knew the language of canines - hey, she even had a tail and ears that spoke his language! -, so he stepped up to the stranger, taking a first cautious sniff.
And there were so many unfamiliar scents on this hand. Somehow she smelled like sunshine. And something salty. And a million of other things Venn had never smelled before. But also of familiar things. She had a little bit of Rowellan's scent, a little bit of Bjorn's too, and she smelled of wool and leather and snow as well. Venn sniffed again and decided he liked that scent, his long tail wagging once, then twice, then it turned into a steady, happy wagging and then he licked the hand with all those interesting scents, his ears perked up and there was definitely a wolfish smile on his face.
Rowellan beamed. "He likes you!" she stated. Silently she wondered what Venn would make out of Pepper and Wuffels, but that was a second step.
-
"Most of 'em do," said Enya to Rowellan...but her eyes were totally on the wolf and learning from him how he liked to be petted. She stroked his cheek with one hand, rubbed behind his ear with the other, then sank all ten fingers into his thick mane and scratched it all the way down to his skin while her Soul-friends, standing a ways back to make room for the pair, looked on with varying degrees of amusement, tolerance or disdain as their temperaments suited them.
"Pretty wolf...Silver wolf...Wolf with dancing eyes," she murmured as they communed. "And you See me, I know you do; animals do that, not gotta think about it, where even Seafolk gotta learn from wee-small.
"But maybe you not used to Seeing someone in pieces. Here, sniff me again..." She cupped a hand under Venn's snout; then, half-turning, she held the other hand out to Pepper. She let the Fire-dog snuffle and lick it, the hand not incidentally serving as proxy for the wolf; she smelled like Venn to Pepper, and when she brought that hand back she also smelled like Pepper to Venn. "...And again," she instructed. " 'nother sniff. Me-scent and Pepper-scent pretty close, huh? Yah, be reason for that... Pepper smell like that part of me, but all the way. When he make fire, is my fire he make.
"Other Soul-friends, same-same," she continued. "This one be Wuffels--ahh, you must like Wuffels; she been dancing around your feet all this time and you not have swallowed her yet! Is good, 'cause she a handful, and prob'ly a mouthful too!" She repeated the minor diplomacy of letting each animal take in the scent of the other from her palm rather than directly from each other. "She small, yes, but mighty, like mountain seen from long way off. Have had same things said 'bout me... Is something in me that make Wuffels how she is. Maybe is part that likes to turn world upside-down over dinner!" She grinned at Rowellan, remembering well their discussion of the Realm Wars that first night in the Great Hall.
From there she let the rest of her pongu decide for themselves whether they wanted her to convey their essences to the wolf. The golden fox 'Iheyu, being another canine, was amenable to this, and considered it only polite to tickle Enya's palm with a little static so Venn could take in that part of Enya's nature too.
Kilvanä lowered her head and nickered at the wolf, then blew into Enya's cupped hands obligingly.
Tayu stayed right where he was, ever-watchful of the proceedings, with only the tightness of his feathers indicating how ready he was to fly to the others' defense if the land-bound predator made a false move.
And Auryn danced nervously, an outsider to Soul-friendship and a little ashamed of that, though it was no one's fault, and even though Enya spoke of him as warmly and admiringly as she did of everyone else.
-
At first Venn took some time to take in Enya's scent completely - and enjoy the petting he got. Oh yes, this stranger definitely knew how to read a wolf right, finding just the right spots...
But then she introduced her companions and Venn felt some confusion rise in him again. Those animals - the huge canine with the fire inside, the little one who indeed had been dancing between his feet, they all had their own scent...but at the same time they definitely were *Enya* too. The same instinct that bonded Venn to Rowellan made him feel the bond between Enya and her companions - those companions being part of Enya's essence, but still somehow they were their own.
Pepper, the one with the fire inside, while being part of Enya's essence, also had something that called 'alpha' written into him, something that made Venn alert. He knew very well that packs that consisted of two-legs had different, usually more complex structures from a wolf pack, and the vibe Venn caught from Pepper just proved that. The wolf also knew that trying to fight out anything about status in a pack with humans was a bad idea - so his body language showed that he recognized and respected Pepper's status, both as part of Enya and as alpha of this little group of companions.
Wuffels, on the other hand, was something completely different. After the first, cautious introduction Venn sniffed her over directly, then licked straight across the small dog's face. Yes, he could sense the power inside, same as the connection to Enya Wuffels shared with Pepper and all the others; but all the same the little one had just too much of a puppy inside to not trigger all the right instincts inside Venn's being. Whatever Wuffels did, as long as she wouldn't directly attack either Venn himself or Rowellan - and that didn't seem very probable, as the huntress had hunkered down too now, smiling and sending confidence and trust over to Venn, at one point looking up and grinning back at Enya - the little one would have the same free pass every whelp would have in any pack Venn had been running with.
'Iheyu's little static, though, made Venn jump back, sneezing and shaking his fur. This one definitely was new to him. "It's alright," Rowellan, who felt his confusion, calmed the wolf quietly. "It's part of who she is and she wants to show you." And it was questionable if she was talking about Enya or 'Iheyu right then. Those two *were* interwoven, after all...
Kilvanä wasn't much of a problem - Venn knew horses, knew to not come underfoot, and when he took up her scent he had grasped enough of the duality of companion and Enya to accept her as another facet of the whole, greeting her with a graceful wag of his long tail. Tayu on the other hand - Venn felt the bird's alertness more than he could read it (he hadn't much experience with birds besides hunting them), but the vibes coming from that one too made clear that Tayu too belonged to Enya's little pack, so he greeted the bird too - with a wolfish grin that said that arrow-shooting owls wouldn't be on Venn's menu for now.
And then there was Auryn. Auryn smelled of Enya, true enough; he was a member of the pack as much as everyone else here. But there wasn't a part of Enya's *essence* in the gryphon, not the way the others seemed to be like parts of her. The bond of Auryn just seemed to be more like the one Venn and Rowellan shared - close, founded on friendship and trust, but neither one part of the other. Plus - it was clear that he almost seemed to be a bit of an outsider, maybe a little bit like Venn himself. Running and hunting with a pack, but not connected by blood, just by free choice and loyalty.
Venn, after making his way from one of Enya's Soul-friends to the other, finally looked up to the Gryphon with a tilted head, favouring the creature with a woof and a wag, then he ran back to Rowellan who now was petting him too, scratching behind his ear. "I'm proud of you," she whispered in the wolf's ear. "You're figuring out things that took us a lot of words to explain."
She looked up to Enya. "Do you know that he feels some kind of kinship with Auryn?" she said. "He thinks they share a similar position in their packs."
-
Enya shot Auryn a gentle smile. "See? You not so alone. Wolf-friend, he a lot like you...and he likes you!" At which the Griffin's ears came up a little further and he made a shy but pleased-sounding murmur in his throat.
Her other companions were already ambling off to take in more of the lake country. She turned back to Venn, her expression both earnest and urgent. She wasn't sure she had the right to ask of him what she was about to, but Rowellan had already made so many other promises for him that surely he wouldn't mind one that involved just playing or hunting or watching the Moon rise in the company of a new friend... "So...maybe you teach him how to be free?" she suggested in a whisper that was almost a plea.
-
Venn heard the plea in Enya's voice and again licked her hand. He wasn't quite sure what exactly the girl wanted, so he did what he always did when he needed some help with human (or other two-legger) behaviour: He looked up to Rowellan for some help.
The huntress, knowing Auryn's story, had to swallow a lump in her throat, then lovingly looked at her companion, rubbing his ears. "It's not that hard, I think," she said; and over the bond they shared she sent out feelings and pictures, adding a wordless question. She didn't dive into Auryn's past, just that the Gryphon still was new to this way of living - and that he might like someone who showed him the beauty of running like the wind over a snow-covered meadow. Or hunting in early dawn, free like the moonshine and the wind...or howling at the clear sky, up to the stars, just for the joy of it; things that were in Venn's bones and veins from the day he was born, that might be there for Auryn too, if he just had a chance to find out about it - and someone to show him.
Venn looked up to Rowellan, then to Enya, back to Auryn, and then understanding shone up in his eyes as well as over the bond. He had grown up with humans, and although that had been a happy time he still had needed a while to find out about being a wolf. Auryn clearly wasn't a wolf, he was like no creature Venn had ever seen before. But the Gryphon looked and smelled like someone who'd make a great playmate and hunting companion. So the wolf again made a woof and wagged his tail, his tongue hanging out in a wolfish grin.
Rowellan chuckled. "That's a 'yes'," she explained. "I say that once we found our place for the night our companions might be out for a long, long run in the night."
-
Enya beamed. "Says you!" she sassed. "I not think anybody gonna stay up late tonight - we been in big fight, 'member? So maybe Auryn wanna rest first, since he gotta work harder than ev'rybody else to fight just as good. --And he did!" she proclaimed, loud enough for the Griffin to hear. "Wuffels and Bjorn in front, Auryn behind, that snow-thing tumble down into ice cubes--YAH!!" She tossed up her arms in an exultant victory gesture, then lowered her voice again. "So maybe he like to curl up outside his ball for the night, feel wind flowing over him, ground warming under him 'fore he go 'sploring under new Sun? Is what someone needs to become part of a place."
She looked around. "Say, what be Bjorn up to over there? Whatever it be, Pepper likes it!"--this as the huge fire-dog head-butted the storyteller from behind.
-
"Hey... what the...?" Actually the skald had been sharing his attention between the wolf and the blue girl, her Soul-friends, and the surroundings, while patiently waiting for his turn to renew his acquaintance with Venn himself. Now he stumbled a few steps forward - right in front of the wolf, who took the chance to just jump at the man and lick across his face, and if a wolf could look mischievous Venn did right then and there.
"Hello Venn," Bjorn sighed, scratching the animal's neck, remembering very well the spot the wolf liked so much, and let himself get thoroughly sniffed over, in case his scent had changed in the past years. "Love ya too!" He turned his head back to Pepper and grinned at the fire-dog. "Yes, you too. At least your headbutts give me a warm butt... and that's something that doesn't hurt around here."
He scratched his neck. "Talking about 'around here' - no matter who's gonna spend the night in- or outside, I suggest we move on for a bit. We're still close to the lake, we made quite the ruckus out there, and somehow I'm not quite in the mood to explain to a group of grumpy Relic Keep guards our little group here. Not before a good night's sleep, because Enya here's right - we all had a long day and feel it in our bones." He pointed to where the late afternoon dusk settled over the lake in the distance. "Grallahorn is on the other side; and whatever it takes to become one of the guards there, 'an open mind' and 'sense of humour' ain't on top of that list."
Rowellan, who had been giggling about Pepper's and Venn's antics, made a face. "Yes - you're right." She turned to Enya. "That keep and its guards are a little bit different from the ones you know so far. It's one of the Relic Keeps and they're heavily guarded. All the other keeps are used to travellers of all kinds. Someone like you, who's from far away but obviously not from Albion or Hibernia, makes people curious there, but you being with us is enough to give you safe passage." She blinked into the dusk too. "Grallahorn - well, that keep's as out of the way as it can get, and that's for a reason. People don't stumble in there per chance. I usually keep my patrol route to the North side of the lake - that's as far as they usually go, and they know I've got a right to be there; when we meet we exchange a few polite greetings and keep out of each other's hair. We are still at the North side of the lake and on one of the more common travel routes, so that's alright. But - let's be honest - you and your Soul Friends are unusual, and if we run into those guards - they don't like 'unusual'. They won't be as kind or open as Sven or Harverg." She looked over to Bjorn. "Something tells me we'll have to talk very, very fast should we run into them tomorrow."
-
"Relic Keep...?" Enya asked; then "...Like where you hide your Sacred Stuff? Oooo, do wanna see!!" She bounced on her toes a little, then grew serious again. "But...yah, do understand I be stranger here, and Soul-friends maybe just strange to anyone who not be used to them. And they not gonna let weird cat-girl beast-wizard anywhere near Sacred Stuff, and good thing too, 'cause Rowy, you 'member how we talk at dinner table? --Uh, huh, they gonna see *that* idea right through my head! So maybe is a good thing we not go there. Unless Sacred Stuff be missing, then we can try to find it... Is kind of quest just meant for little-kid with Soul-friends." She smiled; no one could say she didn't have confidence in her abilities or pride in her work.
Then she cocked her head. "But really, they not even let other Norsefolk in there? Do think maybe your gods might stay strong better if someone visit them sometimes, and maybe bring new people to meet... Maybe guards run us off; is fair, is their job; but you tell 'em I be little-kid, you think they gonna put me all fulla holes? Maybe they give me meeeannn look, and I squeak and run to you and cry on your shoulder - 'Help! O, help! Scary guys gonna hurt me!!' You think they lay off us then? Listen--NObody stay mad at Enya when she cry!"
Then she grinned. "Sooo, maybe we talk slow and walk into them? Or 'least not run when they find us!"
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"Yeah, Relic Keep as in 'where we keep our Sacred Stuff'," Rowellan confirmed. "And yeah, they don't let many people near." She started counting on her fingers. "The guards, of course; the priests; then of course the wagons that bring in new food and stuff, and they're tested thoroughly - that's as far as it goes. Sure no cat-girl beast-wizard, even if she's still just a kid. If you ask me, they're a bit paranoid over there. Other Norsefolk only get to see the place when someone steals our 'Sacred Stuff'. Then it is when people go there to pray or bring flowers." She swallowed. "And I'd say we better keep our dinner table conversation to ourselves around those guys."
"We sure won't run away," Bjorn stated. "Cause that's the best way go get shot 'fulla holes' by them. If we'll have the bad luck to somehow cross their way we better stand, wait and explain. Well, that thing about you being a kid will probably help." He shook his head. "You know, I sometimes think our Gods rarely visit the Relic Keeps either - we've got many more temples and altars where we can pray to them." Then one of his brows shot up, noticing that Rowellan had grown a bit pale beneath her freckles and tan. "Ummmm... what exactly is that dinner table conversation you girls are talking about?"
Rowellan swallowed again. "Well..." She scratched her head, trying to find the right beginning for her explanation. "Well," she started for a second time, "it all started with me explaining to Enya a few things about our Gods and their Blessings. Sacred Stuff - the Relics. And about how our Realms are fighting about them all the time."
"And?" It would have taken a denser man than Bjorn not to figure out there was more to that.
"And..." Rowellan turned a bit helplessly to look at Enya. "She is a kid, after all, so she came up with one of those simple, clever solutions that would work out perfectly fine if grown-ups wouldn't be so stubborn and set in our ways: A good blessing is enough, for every realm, so if everybody had their own Relics back there wouldn't be much reason for fighting anymore besides bad habit - 'cause we'd all have the blessing of our Gods and could live our lives in peace." She swallowed for a third time. "And Enya... well, she volunteered. As someone not involved in our strife, she could just go out and bring everything back to where it belongs - 'cause as she doesn't belong to any of our Realms, nobody would see her as an enemy." She took a breath. "It's been going around in the back of my mind for a while now," she admitted, "once I got my breath back."
Bjorn's eyes had widened with every word Rowellan had spoken, and now they almost popped out of his head. "Oh All Ye Gods!" he coughed, staring with something between chagrin and awe at the blue Seafolk girl, then sat down on the ground when it all sunk in, completely ignoring the fact he'd have to get up again with all his armour. "Bragi - Enya, nope, you definitely not tell that around any guards." He laughed helplessly. "Yeah - it's a simple idea and actually not a bad one... because all that fighting causes more hurt than the additional blessing might be worth. But, phew..." And for a moment the Skald was speechless.
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Enya had been standing by the whole time, bouncing in anticipation of Bjorn's reaction and beaming cheek-to-cheek. The bard's 'eyes expand, jaw drop', accompanied as they were by his sputtering, was all she could have wished for in the realm of blowing people's minds, and she totally cracked up. "Ahh, Bjorn, you not much of a Skald; is second time already that I make you speechless!!" she crowed.
Then, stealth having become a consideration, she recalled everyone into their orbs except Auryn, because she'd promised him the day out, and as far as she was concerned that meant the night, too. "Think we made 'nuff noise for the next two days--maybe we better find that cave now." She punctuated the sentiment with a pair of flopped-over ears, a dragging tail, and a huge yawn that exposed her fangs.
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"That's something you can be proud of," Rowellan grinned. "Not many people in this world can say that about themselves." She reached out to help Bjorn up, enthusiastically being supported by Venn who had licked Bjorn's face again - maybe it was the presence of Wuffels or that he was already practising to show Auryn how that "playing" thing was done - until the Skald stood again on his own two, if a bit shaky, feet.
"Hey, it's a good thing for a Skald to get speechless now or then," Bjorn protested. "Occupational hazard: It shakes my brain upside down and you never know what shiny new idea falls out in the end." He slowly started to collect his wits again - kind of. "Although I think that for today my brain was shaken well enough. So - you're right, Enya. Time to find that cave."
"The cave it is, then." Rowellan adjusted her backpack and, with Venn close at her side, she led them maybe one or two kilometers further into the forest. By now there were more rock outcrops and piles than there had been close to the lake, with the occasional creeks leading to the lake. Most of those creeks were still frozen at the banks. But one was not just free-flowing, there was actually a bit of steam coming from the surface. And right where that creek came out of the ground was another one of those rock piles. Rowellan now put a hand on a certain spot, muttering a word; waited a moment; and then started to push at the stone. And - almost like in the story Bjorn had told - the stone slowly rotated, opening up to a dark crack in the pile.
"Come on, let's go inside," Rowellan said. "That will be our home for tonight."
The crack led into a small corridor, made out of stones leaning together like a roof, only letting in a bit of the slowly dying daylight - and the torch Rowellan took from a little stack lying there, which Bjorn lit with his firestone. The path was leading down a bit until it finally widened into an open cave. And it was warm inside - a lot warmer than it should have been in a dark cave in Springtime in the Midgard borderland.
Rowellan lit a few more torches that were waiting in halters at the walls, and now the little group of travellers could see the place more clearly. There was a firepit in the middle, a pile of dried wood at one wall...and on the other wall was a rock pool, shallow and clear - and obviously the source of the warmth in the place.
The huntress beamed. "We'll have to sleep on the ground tonight," she said, "but we'll be warm the whole while." The smile widened even more. "Aaaaand - we might even have a bath!"