Log Date: 10/16, 10/23/96 Log Cast: Dart, Trouble, Quickfire, Doreel Dart paces the clearing like a caged wolf, carrying on an involved conversation with himself as he considers where he's at and how to get out. Audible snippets "How''re we going..." "If he finds out..." "I don't want to go near those..." Trouble is nowhere in immediate sight, and hasn't been, ever since the argument between her travelling companion and their... host. Sulking, perhaps. Certainly when she vanished off across the grove, the huntress had looked quite perturbed. Dart halts his pacing to take a look around, he grumbles loudly and continues the pace. He says loudly, "I'm _not_ going tramp around here looking for you, Trouble. Not with those things prowling around." Dart says "I suppose you're planning on staying here with him, aren't you?" The trail of the maiden's scent winds off around the central tree; from that direction, after a few moments, comes a sending from her. ** I promised I'd stay for a little while if he healed you. ** Her tone is short and sharp. Dart says "I don't care if you promised to join with him from dusk to dawn for the rest of your days, we can't stay here!" Dart says "_And_ your days are getting a whole lot shorter, Doreel said there's no meat here." Trouble doesn't answer immediately; when she does, her tone has turned sharper, suggesting that although she's not in sight she's very likely blushing hotly. ** And with only eight arrows and my bow between us, how do you plan on getting past the spiders? ** "Well if someone runs the right way this time..." he leaves his statement dangling knowing full well the effect it'll generate. Sparked with fury, Trouble's sending lashes back in reply, ** I got your blasted arrows for you like you asked! ** There is a slight thump as of her body dropping down out of branches, and after a moment, she comes stalking into sight from behind the tree, her face white and set. ** What else was I supposed to? Did you want me to leave you here as food for those things? ** Dart says "You were supposed to get out of here and at least try to get some help" Trouble yells, "I _found_ help! We haven't seen any other elves in moons!" Dart says "You knew about Doreel and you were supposed to get out of the grove, not go deeper in!" Both Trouble's fists clench. "Where was I supposed to go, then? All the way back to Lostholt? Or maybe you'd have preferred me to take all the time to go to Sorrow's End, get Mender, come all the way back here, and Howl for you not having anything left of you but a wrapstuffed pile of bones!" "You don't understand a thing do you!?" He stabs a thumb to his chest, "I'm worth a whole lot more alive to Doreel, he can get back at my sire if he keeps me here long enough." Dart scowls, "I'm nothing more than bait for a trap. He didn't heal me because of your promise, he healed me because of whose son I am." Dart says "At least if you'd gotten away there'd be a better chance of getting out of here." Exasperated, Trouble explodes, "Timmorn's Blood, of COURSE he couldn't have healed you just because you were full of spider poison, or because I promised to actually stay around and talk with him instead of treating him like the next Winnowill! Nobody ever does ANYTHING with you unless it's because of your sire! I suppose next you'll be telling me that the only reason I let you come with me in the first place was because Strongbow's your sire!" She then looses a mirthless bark of laughter. "High Ones, Dart, the nearest healer I know about is at least two eights of days away! Do you really think the spiders would have let you stay wrapped that long?" Dart glares at you for a few moments, but his expression gradually softens to a frown. "Doreel's not just anyone and you know it. There are enough in this world that look at me and see Dart instead of one of Strongbow's cubs." He points towards the large tree in the center of the grove, "He might see me as Dart like some do, but he also sees my sire and a way to get to him." His features darken again, "I've left my tribe, I've left my home, and I've put my life on hold to make sure you stay safe and come into your own. I've yelled at my freinds, put my cub in a position he neither wanted or was ready for for longer time than I had ever wanted. There's one thing for certain, I won't let you get hurt because of foolishness or my problems. I didn't care wether the spiders sucked me dry or not, I thought you had gotten away... that was enough." Trouble's face remains stubbornly set as you begin to speak. As you continue, and as you seem to relax, her own expression falters a little, the hot glare in her green eyes subsiding. At last, blushing just a bit, she glances away and mutters, "I... didn't want to go, get help, and come back... only to find you dead." Dart's scowl fades to a blank expression, "It'll take a lot more than a hand or two of spiders to kill me. I've been close enough to dying once to know what it takes to make a wolf give up fighting." [And meanwhile....] Doreel walks down the stairs from the heart of the tree. Doreel has arrived. Quickfire clambers down from the central tree, a hand on his head. The grove's keeper kneels under a tree not far from that central tree, hands tangled in the grass just before him. Quickfire looks around, confused, unsure of where he is, he stumbles down the last couple of steps, landing in the grass on his face. Doreel looks up, eventually, and over towards the tree. He watches Quickfire distantly for a few moments, shakes his head, and bows it once again. Quickfire rubs his head and sits up, he grabs for a stick to use as a staff and drags himself to his feet. Doreel sits motionless again, only the faint glow of the ground before him giving any sign that the old elf hasn't actually fallen asleep. Quickfire looks over at Doreel,he starts to remember where he is... Nothing else in the grove moves. .. Or does it? Quickfire looks around, nervously, his vision is still apparently blurry, he shakes out his head. Doreel still doesn't move. In fact, he barely breathes. Now while there isn't anything quite so boring as still-life, the old one never really does -just- sit there. Quickfire watches Doreel curiously, and then hobbles over towards him. The closer one gets, the more apparent what the ancient elf is doing becomes. His hands glow, as do some blades of grass, but more intense is the golden glow that illuminates the mushrooms in a circle around him. Quickfire stands over Doreel's shoulder leaning on his staff, watching the ancient one shaping. The glow fades quite abruptly. "Quickfire." Quickfire jumps slightly, "Huh?" Doreel looks up again, retracting his hands from the grass. He turns a little, shifting positions so that he sits in the center of the ring, rather than kneeling in it. "You're awake." He's -so- good at pointing out the obvious. Quickfire nods, "How long have I been sleeping... it seems like an eternity." "Long enough." Doreel doesn't quite smile. "Did you sleep well?" Quickfire rubs his head "A bit fuzzy headed, like after eating too many dream berries, but other than that, I'm fine." Doreel hmms thoughtfully, nodding once or twice. He looks intently at Quickfire, folding his hands together. "It isn't unpleasant, then?" Quickfire hmms and shakes his head slightly, "No... disorienting.. Not that that is anything new for me. Doreel nods again. Quickfire pushes his hair back away from his face, "You are growing more mushrooms? Same as the one I ate before?" The other shakes his head, glancing toward said shrooms. "No. These are.. different." Quickfire ohs and nods, "I think that I'm going to stay away from these if I've been sleeping for so long that I dont remeber how long." Doreel chuckles softly, really to himself. He glances off toward the far end of the grove, nodding another time. "These aren't for you." Quickfire ohs and nods and sits down in the grass, still apparently woozy. A smirk crosses his face, "Have you managed to lure someone else in here to test your magical shrooms, old one?" "I didn't lure them here." Doreel looks almost slightly offended. "Didn't test the mushrooms on them, either." Quickfire smiles slightly "I was just..." he shakes his head, seemingly the joke was lost on the elf. Apparently, it was. In any event, Doreel looks down at the mushrooms again. "These are to.. help." Quickfire says "Help? How?" Quickfire looks curious. Doreel contemplates the question for a moment, reaching out to touch one of the faintly purple caps. "Just to help." Quickfire looks over at the shrooms, "They are strange looking." "What colour are dreamberries?" Doreel glances up again, quirking an eyebrow. Quickfire says "Uhmm... Purplish." "Purple." He frowns, now. "What kind of purple?" Quickfire hmms and sends a weak image of what a dreamberry looks like. Quickfire says "Kind of like that." Doreel frowns thoughtfully, looking yet again at the shroom. "Alright." Quickfire says "Why?" "Nevermind.." Quickfire shrugs slightly and nods, his gaze flickering around the grove, he then spots Trouble, "Uhm... who is that?" Trouble can be seen across the grove, apparently conversing hotly with another elf; the taller one, the male with the dark skin, scowls and whirls, stalking off into the trees. The maiden, tall herself, pale of skin with a thatch of multihued reddish-gold hair, stalks towards the center of the grove. Quickfire glances back at Doreel, holding up two of his remaining fingers "Two of them?" Doreel ehs? glancing off toward the designated who. Silent for a time, he watches her, then nods to himself. "That's.. eh.." He pauses, frowning to himself. "Visitors." Quickfire says "You don't remember her name?" Quickfire looks at Doreel, slightly bemused. Doreel frowns ever so faintly. "Of course I remember it." Quickfire quirks a brow, "Well then." Quickfire has a teasing tone in his voice, perhaps an effect of the mushrooms' long effect on him. Trouble comes into earshot, and once she spies the two elves by the central tree, she pauses, frowning. Quickfire smirks, "I think she's frowning at you for not remembering her name old one." "Trouble," says Doreel, still frowning faintly. "Her name is Trouble." Trouble crosses her arms, and eyes the stranger -- who must be the Quickfire that Doreel had mentioned before. But what she says is clearly directed to Doreel: "Dart thinks you're going to harm us, and use him to get back at his sire. He wants to leave." Quickfire quirks a brow, and listens, curious. "Do you think I'm going to do that?" Doreel folds his hands together, looking toward the she-elf. "Surely you have some say in things." Trouble replies bluntly, "I promised you I'd stay with you for a time, and you haven't harmed us yet." Her green eyes glint, though, as she stares now at the old elf rather than the other visitor. Quickfire points at Doreel, "Hrm anyone? Him? I could never imagine. He's practically a high one." Doreel sighs quietly, reaching out to poke at one of the mushrooms with a long, pale finger. "If I were going to hurt either of you, would I have done it by now?" Trouble flicks a curt look at Quickfire, then back to Doreel. "You tell me," she says, still bluntly. "You haven't harmed either of us yet, as I said." Quickfire seems distraught at the thought of Doreel ever hurting anyone.. Doreel's fingertip glows for a moment when he touches it to the shroom's cap, then fades as he retracts it. "I wouldn't hurt you." You say "Neither me, nor Dart?" Doreel nods once. Quickfire says "He's never done a thing to harm me. I would trust him with my life." That seems to satisfy the maiden, for her stern expression relaxes, at least somewhat. "Then I'll tell Dart we'll stay a time. We'll have to, anyway, to figure out a safe way past the spiders." Quickfire says "Running always works." Doreel glances sideways at Quickfire, shaking his head sadly. "When the time comes for you to go, I will help you past them." Trouble smirks, a bit. "Didn't work for Dart." She flicks her regard back to Doreel. "Dart and I will also need to figure out a way to hunt meat in these woods. If the spiders can do it, so can we. If you want us to stay, we'll have to hunt." Quickfire says "You tried cutting open some of the cocoons nearer to the edge of the grove?" Trouble frowns, considering. "No. But if the spider poison taints the kills..." "You'll be able to hunt," puts in Doreel. "If it's tainted, I'll help." Quickfire hmms and shrugs slightly, licking his lips, "Was fine by my palate." Trouble studies the two elves, then nods, slowly. "I'll tell Dart, then." She pauses, then adds gruffly, "Thank you." Doreel smiles almost fondly, now, nodding once. "You're welcome." Quickfire smirks slightly as he watches the two. Trouble turns, glancing over her shoulder. Dart has vanished off across the grove, and Trouble frowns to herself, as she apparently sends to him. Her shoulders slump, slightly. "Is something wrong?" Doreel quirks a pale brow, watching Trouble. The huntress smirks, but doesn't meet the old one's eyes. "Dart still doesn't trust you. He's looking for a path out of the grove." Her voice has dropped. Quickfire says "Why leave the grove? The old one is nearly a high one, the grove is peaecful and gaurded from humans." Trouble turns to look at Quickfire again. "Not my Holt," she says, tone rough, words a little too rapid. "Not Dart's, either." Quickfire says "It was not my home either when I first got here, but now, it is." Quickfire says "As long as the ancient allows me to stay." Doreel sits, quietly, and listens to the exchange. Trouble's brow furrows. "Do you have... a family anywhere?" she asks of Quickfire. Quickfire shakes his head, his brow winkles slightly for a moment, "It does not matter now, I have not need of another family other than the high one." Quickfire motions towards Doreel. Quickfire says "My family, my tribe shunned me, this one, he accepts me and allows me to stay." Doreel again quirks an eyebrow, apparently not quite ready for that admission. He blinks once, and twice, then shrugs a bit. Trouble's green gaze shifts between the two elves, and something that might almost be a wistful look flickers across her face. "Glad... to hear it," she mutters, after a moment. Quickfire says "Hopefully I'll eventaully be able to learn from him, and then go out into the world and teach others what I have learned." Doreel looks curiously at Quickfire for just a moment before shifting his attentions back to the mushrooms. [And back with Dart...] Dart is staring into the grove, fidgetting nervously. Lostholt could probably hear the chieftain's stomach rumbling. Dart sends openly ** Have to get out of here..and soon. ** Trouble can be seen off across the Grove with the master of the place -- and another elf. At the sending, she looks at the other two, then comes toward Dart, warily. Once she's in earshot, she says, softly, "Quickfire had a plan for getting us food..." Dart whirls around to look at Trouble, "Meat or.. or more fruit that he's tampered with?" Trouble scowls. "Quickfire _said_," she snaps, "that we could try cutting open some of the cocoons near the edge of the trees, to get meat out." Dart says "It'll be tainted by the spiders..." Trouble crosses her arms. "Doreel promised to cleanse it." Dart sneers, "He won't clean it, he'll make it worse." Trouble's scowl deepens, and she snaps back, "Timmorn's Blood, Dart, you don't kknow that! He promised he wouldn't harm us, how's he supposed to keep his word if you don't even give him a chance?" Dart grabs you by the shoulders hard, "We can't stay here, we'll end up like Father and Rillwhisper!" Setting herself firmly against being shaken, Trouble scowls even more, and hisses at you in sending, ** Yes, we will, if we're so hidebound that we can't allow a chance when we see it! What's wrong with trying the cocoons? Make Doreel eat the meat, too, if you don't trust him! ** Dart growls, his anger brought on more from hunger than actual distrust, "I'm not going to suffer here like my sire did, and I won't let you suffer either." Trouble rolls her eyes. ** _Strongbow_ didn't try this idea, and _you_ haven't answered my question! What's wrong with trying the cocoons? ** Dart sends openly ** What's wrong with trying the cocoons!? Who know's what he's done to them since the spiders made them! And the spiders? you think they just asked nicely to wrap up what's inside!? ** Dart sends openly ** Doreel won't take the poison out, not when he can heal himself of it. ** Trouble clenches her fists. ** How many times do I have to say it? He promised not to harm us! ** Dart sends openly ** He could swear til he was blue in the face that he won't, I don't care! We can't stay here! ** ** I _promised_. ** Trouble's eyes blaze. ** Did it ever occur to you that if we try to make friends with him, maybe, just maybe, we could get him _healed_? ** Dart takes a long deep breath. If Newstar were here she'd likely yell something to the effect of 'take cover' but since she's not.... His tone starts out softly, growing in volume with each word, "Did you _every_ think that maybe HE'll lie to get you to stay here with him1? Did you ever think that maybe he doesn't want to be healed of his madness!? DID YOU EVER THINK THAT MAYBE ONE OF THESE DAY'S HE'LL GET SICK OF YOUR PRESENCE AND KILL YOU OR TOSS YOU TO THE SPIDERS?!" Dart continues his rant, "How can you even think about staying here, you told me that Cutter and the elders forbid any one from coming here. Don't you think they might've had a good reason for making rules like that?! What do you think they'll say if they find out where we are!?" Trouble watches you through all of this, her expression stubbornly set, her gaze hot. ** I'm staying because I promised I would, you idiot, because he saved your life! ** she finally lashes back. Dart switches to sends, ** FINE! Keep your promise, do whatever you want! Like I ever slowed you down! I'm getting out of here and getting out of here NOW! ** He leans to one side to look around Trouble at the grove's master, ** Not even your cursed spiders will stop me, Doreel. ** Trouble freezes, then, her eyes glittering. Finally, gruffly, she barks out, "Go, then," and whirls away, clutching her arms to herself. Dart let's got of your shoulders roughly, giving you a bit of a shove. Turning on his heel, his takes off in a sprint. heading the opposite direction of the way he remembers stumbling in. Dart leaves the grove behind with a sigh, heading towards the edge of the forest. Dart has left. [And after Dart goes...] Doreel, having sent Quickfire off to find meat, sits once again in the center of his latest crop of mushrooms, contemplating them. The shouting voices, and equally angry sends, from across the grove have subsided. Trouble remains standing there, hugging herself, eyes clenched tightly shut. Trouble trembles, violently, and struggles to keep herself from doing so. _He left, I can't believe he left, my fault why couldn't I make him understand he left..._ The grove's ancient tender stays non-intrusive, quiet. His attention, and maybe his thoughts, stay centered on the mottled surface of a particularly large dusky purple shroom most directly in front of him. Perchance he waits, mayhaps he bides his time. After a time the maiden, still trembling, still taut and distraught of expression, looks up. Seeing Doreel, she swallows, then impulsively heads toward him. Trouble blurts out huskily, voice roughened with tears, "Dart's left, I guess you heard all that, didn't you?" The other nods once, looking up and fixing a terribly calm, if faintly distant, sky blue gaze on the troubled one. "I did." He says, softly. Trouble's own eyes are damp with the same tears that have rougened her voice. "I just... wanted to tell you that I know what the tribe has s-said about you, and, I want t-to give you a chance to prove you can be f... friendly, so I-I'm still going to stay!" Clearly, she is struggling to sound firm, but she continues to shake. And weep. Doreel tsks softly, watching. "I thank you for that.." He trails off, unfolding his hands. "Though I'm sorry your choice has caused you such grief." Trouble opens her mouth as if to speak, but does not. She simply trembles harder, and more tears course down her cheeks. Trouble then groans out, "He left, c-can't believe he left, th-the spiders, they're going to..." Her eyes wild, she turns, staring at the trees as if considering bolting into them.. He sighs quietly, looking away from you now, gaze drifting again to the growth in front of him. "He left. If he goes fast enough, perhaps they won't catch him." Trouble babbles hoarsely, "Yes... perhaps... if he runs...." She slowly sinks to the earth, curling her arms around herself again, and sobbing. Oh dear.. she's crying again. Doreel frowns, possibly to himself, glancing over at you again. "You shouldn't worry so much about him.. obviously he didn't worry about you.." Trouble wails, "He said he did!" Rocking back and forth where she sits, she rambles on, "I-I-I should make sure he gets out alright... but, but, but, I-I can't outrun the spiders, I-I-I..." Doreel timidly reaches out a hand, pausing a bit before frowning. "If only there was something I could do.." He pauses, going much quieter. "It's terrible.. being left.." Trouble quivers like a leaf; should your hand actually rest on her, you can feel her shuddering convulsively. She doesn't look up, as she continues to sob. "He doesn't understaaaaaand!" "Shhhh.. I know." Gently his fingertips come to rest on wherever happens to be closest. "They never do." Touching her seems to be safe enough; she doesn't try to knock your hand away, though she does jerk a little at the brush of fingers against her leather-clad shoulder. But she also turns towards you, still sobbing vehemently. Doreel watches you intently for a minute, frowning to himself. Then he rubs, gently, there on your shoulder. "They go away when they don't want you. They didn't want me.." This is said mostly to himself.. but it is indeed said. Trouble looks up miserably. "D-Dart said he wanted me..." she whispers. "But he left." Again, the obvious is stated. Tears well up anew in Trouble's green eyes, and quite without warning, she flings herself at you, buries her face against your shoulder, and sobs. The old one starts, blinking as you do. But then he sighs, quietly, folding his arms around you and hugging you gently, smoothing out your hair with one hand and rubbing your back with the other. Trouble cries, until she seems to cry herself out. Still huddling in the hug, she lifts her head a little, and mumbles embarrassedly, "I-I'm sorry..." Just faintly red-faced, Doreel shakes his head. "Don't be?" Okay, so maybe he isn't terribly sure of that himself, but still. Trouble whispers, "I-I don't know what's wrong with me, I-I never cried s... so much before..." Doreel sighs softly, nodding. His eyes cloud for a moment, looking distant, somewhere beyond the trees at the edge of the grove. "Cry when they leave.." Trouble sits up a little, looking abashedly down at herself. After another pause, Doreel leans sideways to pick the mushroom that had held his attention before. He looks thoughtfully at it, and then at you. "I can help this time, I think." Trouble scrubs her hand across her eyes, and blinks at you. Doreel offers the shroom, looking if anything slightly embarrassed again. "Here." Trouble sniffles a little and asks, "That... another one that does the fizzies?" Doreel shakes his head. "It shouldn't." Another sniffle. "What's it do?" Her voice is still low and hoarse. "It'll make all the trouble go away." He almost smiles. Trouble blinkblinks, and takes the shroom, sniffing at it, tearily. Trouble mumbles, "It's dreamberry colored." Doreel nods a little. This shroom, unlike the fizzies, has a scent. It smells.. well, it smells purple. And maybe blue. And even sort of like twilight. Trouble pauses at the strange odor of the thing... it smells like colors? "I wouldn't mind being drunk for once, right now," she mumbles, and experimentally, she takes a nibble. The flesh of the thing melts in your mouth, its flavour not at all unplesant, although it isn't exactly comparable to anything. The shaper watches, curious. Trouble tells you hoarsely, "I-I'm going to trust you on this, alright?" And bites at the shroom, chewing slowly. Doreel does smile now, nodding. "I know." That mushroom tastes like everything and nothing, all at the same time. The more of it you eat, the more that becomes obvious. Also becoming apparent, though more slowly, is the sensation of floating. Trouble's face gradually calms, and she blinks, once. ** Blue, ** she sends vaguely, then looks at you again. ** It smells like blue... ** Doreel tips his head slightly to one side. "Does it?" Trouble finishes the shroom, swallows, and drops her hands to her lap. Her gaze drops slightly to the earth, and for a moment she looks surprised, as if not expecting to find herself still sitting there. ** I feel... like I'm floating... ** "Do you?" Still he watches you, not moving. At least he's not supposed to be moving. He's just getting fuzzy. Yes, fuzzy.. not fizzy. Trouble's brow furrows a little, as she watches her vision unfocus. "What..." Her mouth seems dry, and she licks her lips before continuing, "What does... this do?" Trouble then affirms, placidly, "Floating..." Doreel smiles, somewhere.. "You tell me what it does." As the grove seems to grow strangely distant around her, Trouble blinks very slowly, and lowers each hand to the ground to support herself. "I... like the floating," she hears herself say. Then she remembers: "I feel better now... maybe... I could look for Dart, if I'm not upset..." "Wouldn't you rather stay here.. with me?" Folding his hands in his lap, Doreel frowns faintly. "You wanted to find something else, didn't you? Something other than Trouble?" Trouble starts to nod, then sways a little as it makes her surroundings blur more noticeably. "Yes... I want... something else... promised I'd stay...." Let the mushroom help you find it. .. Maybe he says it, maybe he sends it.. or maybe the ingested shroom has something to do with it? Trouble says slowly, "I was looking for my soulname...." Fascinatedly, she gazes at you, and adds in sending that your face seems to be intriguingly softened around its edges. Doreel watches you still, quietly. "That name would be inside you, would it not?" He tips his head to the other side. "Find it." "I'm.... how... I'm floating?" She sounds unsure. "How can... I go inside...?" "Try." Trouble's eyes half-close, and she sends blurred agreement. Look inside self. Her send ripples out of her, bringing an impression of turning her attention to the blue-purple-twilight shades in her thoughts, and how she... floats. The grove diminishes in her consciousness. Look inside self... Look inside.. yes, do. Things over there, on the fringes of your consciousness, things that are not readily familiar and yet somehow might possibly belong. But do they? These things are coloured by the mushroom, as it were. Maybe. Trouble considers what would be flashes of memory if they moved quickly in her mind; these, though, flow like a slow-running stream. Memories of Self, of Holt and den and hunt... but what's that, those other shapes in her awareness? Trouble begins, her voice softened, slurred, "I... see... I remember..." Trouble's brow then furrows ever so vaguely. "Mother.... dark inside Mother..." Amongst your memories sit those other things, things that feel like memories, but they are fragmented, like pieces of cloth frayed around the edges. Images of this place, in another time.. other elves.. most prominent among them is a she-elf who is not ever very distinct.. sometimes she resembles Rillwhisper, and other times her features are more those that would belong to Myriel, and at other times still they are neither.. "Want me to come out... but... hurts..." Trouble frowns, anxiously. Then her head begins to tilt, as she ponders these fragments of recollection. She breathes, "Mo... mother?" Doreel stays terribly quiet, observing. Trouble murmurs liquidly, "Why... why is she... changing?" Is it Mother? Is this what you remember? It would be so easy to accept it, to believe it, wouldn't it? .. The features change, melting between the three individuals, each shift becoming slightly less dramatic than the one before it. It blends, becoming fuzzy like the outside is. Trouble blinks a time or two, confused, but finally accepts the indistinct image, fuzzy those it is; it yet retains a feel of 'motherness', and this makes the maiden whisper longingly, "Mother..." As it is accepted, the image becomes a shade clearer, but not so much that it no longer melts in. And there is a name to accompany it. Tasheya. The twilight wavers, there. That's right, isn't it? Trouble frowns a little, and sends to you, baffled. Trouble sends openly ** M... mother's... different? ** "Mother left long ago." So says Doreel, quietly. "Left and didn't come back. Took the daughter with her. My daughter." Trouble's eyes well over in tears. "Left you," she mumbles. Doreel nods once, quietly. Trouble reels slightly, then blinks at herself, as surprised by this surge of sympathy as she was by the floating... the floating. Her frown lessens. Trouble sends openly ** Strange.... dream, if Mother's... different... what.... I need to look more? ** "Do you want to look more?" Trouble starts to nod, then utters a tiny giggle. ** Dizzy, ** she sends, obediently reporting effects. "Perhaps you should lie down." As he speaks, the other reaches for another one of the mushrooms, his hand glowing briefly as he picks it and hands it to you. Trouble agrees dreamily, ** Lie down... ** She shifts, feeling for the ground; unsteadily, she lowers herself to it, to stretch out before you. As your hand shimmers, she stares at it, following its path into her immediate line of sight. Trouble lifts her hand to the shroom, and as it's offered, closes her fingers around it and brings it to her mouth, chewing languorously. Doreel smiles faintly, withdrawing his hand and settling back to watch you. Trouble's features go utterly tranquil, as she consumes the second shroom; at last, her hand drops slowly down to lie across her chest. The blue-violetness is there again, auratic. A new form is there, waiting for you to find it, this one larger than the first ones were. You locksend to Doreel, Trouble sends, liquidly, telling you that the canopy of branches overhead seems to be... spinning.... turning in a slow and stately circle. A great wheel of branches, turning. And she peers through the blue-violet sparkles in her head, spotting the new shape in her dream, and studying it curiously. Doreel reaches out again to rest a hand on your shoulder, his fingers glowing faintly once more. His mind reaches as well, yet manages to remain distant, almost as though he weren't really here anymore. That shape.. it is rougher than the first, newly cut and patched from many things.. a fire, is it? A seperation, though of whom is up to interpretation, though it seems that he is involved and that the she-elf.. Tasheya, is it? ..is there as well. Something echoes up out of the shadows.. a certain loneliness.. so terribly familiar. You're missing something, but what is it? Trouble lies peacefully still now, barely blinking as you touch her. Her eyes close softly, though, and her head turns slightly to you. In her sending, which remains trustingly open to you, she floats through blue-violet shimmers of light and pauses as the fire-shape makes itself known. Her mind ripples in dismay at the loneliness, and at the thought that she is missing something. She _was_ looking. For... for... a name. Yes. Her adult name, and her soulname... so that she could go Home.... Find your name and go home.. or find your name and find that you -are- home. Are they really that different? Maybe. Or, maybe not. Trouble floats, and sways in the floating. Find her name. The thought fills her with longing, and so does the thought of a Home. Drawn, she drifts towards the fire-shape, captivated. Doreel again gently rubs your shoulder, flickers of magic spilling out and into you, not serving any purpose other than to soothe. And he watches, quietly, somewhat dreamy himself. Trouble's already tranquil face changes slightly, a soft smile curving her mouth, as the soothing flickers enter her. She feels so calm... so good. Assured, she reaches for the fire-shape, trying to touch it. There seem to be three flavours to this new shape.. the one is old, very old, before the sorrow paints it, a remembrance of happiness, of belonging. The second is the very newest, the rending, the burning, seperation. The third is most familiar, much newer than the first, and yet not quite so much as the one just before it. This one seems tinged with belonging as well, but it is missing something. When it is touched some of the shadows clear away, and it seems to beckon you to fill the holes in the weave. Trouble sends dreamily of the memory-fragments she can see: herself, learning the bow... a council, of the tribe... wolves. Hopefully, she tries to nudge a memory or two into those holes; perhaps this will lead her to her soulname. The thought fills her with pleasure. Those fall into place behind the shape, lacing into the edges, smoothing them out. Trouble sends a blurred trickle of happiness to you, and in childlike entrancement, 'reaches' through the blue-violet to touch the lacing edges. They are sticky, and cling to you, seeking to become a part of you. The colour melts away, or some of it does, fading the whole of it slightly. Trouble, or perhaps the Trouble-in-sending, tilts her head in slight disappointment at the fading of color. But she watches the lacework cling to her, and does not forbid it; still quite fascinated, she lifts a hand in her thoughts, watching the lacework weight her limb's movement. Trouble giggles, without opening her mouth; she simply quivers a little under your glowing touch. ** Wrapstuff... ** It flows, running in slow, softly toned runnels down your 'hand'. The emotions remain the same, the play of belonging into seperation into not-belonging washing together. The coating smoothes itself out, the flow pulling itself out, until it becomes comparable perhaps to a glove. The healer's hand follows the line of your arm, onto the hand corresponding to the one in your mind, slow and soft. Now, though, the blue-purple begins to fade, like fog melting away, too slow to watch, but obvious as it continues. Trouble's real hand has lifted slightly, off her chest; your hand's slight weight on it presses it gently back again. In her mind, Trouble stares in wonder at her encoated hand, and moves it slightly through the blue-violet light. ** Pretty... ** Trouble then blinks, slowly. ** Going...? No... Don't... ** "It doesn't last forever.. not yet, anyway." Trouble opens her eyes and tries to focus on you, at the sound of your voice. Her brow furrows, and she sends wordless, slurred disappointment. Another mushroom is offered, even as the effects of the first two begin to wear off. ** You have to look, now. ** Trouble cannot manage the effort of speaking, but she can manage to lift her heavy hands to the mushroom held over her. ** Have to look, ** she echoes pliantly, as she begins to nibble again.... [End log.]