Log file from Cutter. 1/13/2000 10:43:50 PM Title: The Knight Errant and the Visiting Challenger Characters: Cutter, Leetah, Ember, Icerain, ShenShen and Suntop Synopsis: ShenShen has a run in with a horrible spider and Icerain comes to visit, sending Ember into a tailspin. Ember locksends ** There's a visitor coming... ** You locksend ** Oh? Another Glider? ** to Ember. Ember locksends ** No. A wolfrider. His name is Icerain... I know him. ** You locksend ** I see.. I suppose you'd better make sure that there's a place for him to sleep, then. ** to Ember. Ember locksends ** He has a tent, father. He will be fine. ** You locksend ** Oh.. well I guess you'll just need to invite him in. ** to Ember. Ember locksends ** !!! ** Cutter steps out of the fathertree wearing a smile that suggests he's highly amused at something or someone. Suntop seems to have fallen asleep once more in the middle of the day. He's curled up in the crook of a branch, seemingly deep in sleep. His hands are laced on his stomach, rising and falling with his sleep-slow breaths. While her son sleeps in the branches of the Father Tree, Leetah sits on one of the more prominent roots. Her legs are tucked under her thighs, as it's hardly high enough to permit normal sitting, the healer's green-clad back easily resting against the trunk of the massive tree. The heat is well-suited for sleeping, one could guess: her leaf-green eyes are fully lidded and her breathing is slow. You locksend to Ember, Cutter seems to be surpressing a bit of laughter at that, **You /don't/ want to invite him in?** Ember locksends ** ... ** Cutter notes that the two of you appear to be enjoying a late afternoon nap and pads quietly over to Leetah's side, where he settles himself on the ground, at the point where the root meets the trunk. His shoulders shake with a chuckle at a private send. Ahh.. this is the life, family and home all together and completely safe... Safe and sound and sleeping -- that's Leetah at this moment. She looks perfectly at ease with the world at this moment, yet also perfectly ignorant of her lifemate's presence and his sending-humor. Some leaves are dislodged as Suntop comes awake with a start, just catching himself before he rolls off of the branch. As he catches his balance, he presses his hands to his forehead and works next on catching his breath. You locksend to Ember, Cutter really works to keep the majority of his laughter out of his thoughts, **Well? What burr's under your tail over this visitor?** You sense in a locksend, Ember is (just to make you laugh harder) actually rather distracted by this visitor. ** Hm?... Oh. He likes to challenge me. ** Cutter's amusement fades as the branch rattles and he looks up with sudden concern furrowing his brow. He reaches out with a locksend, hoping to let Leetah sleep a little longer as he gets to his feet and walks over to look up at his son. You locksend ** Another dream? <> ** to Suntop. Suntop locksends ** Yes...<> I had to wake up...it tried to pull me in... ** Such a considerate lifemate! Blocked from the send from the chieftain to Suntop, the healer continues in her light sleep. At one time, she shifts her shoulders slightly into a more comfortable position against the tree trunk. Shenshen has arrived. You locksend to Ember, Cutter is really curious about this one now, **Why does he challenge you when you're not the chief? <>** Ember locksends ** He first came when /you/ were not here. <> ** Suntop uses one hand to brace against the tree for support as he tries to clear the dream from his head. He's not about to get down until he's feeling a little more...grounded. The corners of Cutter's lips twitch as his gaze takes on a far away look for an instant and then the expression is gone as he looks back up at Suntop, his brow furrowing once more. You locksend ** You're sure? You don't look alright. ** to Suntop. You locksend ** Well, he's got nothing to battle over now, does he? ** to Ember. It's a good thing that the healer does not snore as she sleeps, else she'd be annoying her lifemate and cub to no end. In fact, Suntop probably wouldn't have fallen asleep on that branch in the first place had that been the case. Leetah sighs softly as one might just before awakening, but offers no other sign of shedding the cloak of somnolence just yet. Ember locksends ** No. ** A choked squeal breaks the peaceful silence, and not two seconds later, Shenshen's scrambling out of the Father Tree, tumbling from Pike's den, barefoot and dishevelled. One of her topknots has tilted askew, hanging just barely above one ear, making her seem almost as comical as the look on her face. Her round features are wide eyed with startled fright. "Spider!" She managed to pant out. Suntop turns baleful eyes on Shenshen before slowly climbing down from the tree. ** I'll be fine... ** He answers a locksend, leaning up against the tree for a moment while some disorientation passes. Cutter's head snaps around toward the fathertree and the sight of Leetah's sister scrambling across the clearing. He glances toward Suntop and gives him a nod, though the look on his face shows his concern before he shakes his head and starts toward ShenShen, **A spider?** he asks as he starts toward the den she just exited. **Is Pike taking care of it?** Well, if that ruckus is not enough to rouse Leetah out of her sleep, not even the arrival of the Palace of the High Ones itself smack-dab in front of her nose would wake her up. At the shrill squeal and exclamation, summer green eyes flicker open and settle unwaveringly upon Shenshen. ** ....A spider? ** she echoes blearily, not entirely awake yet. Ember walks around from behind the Father Tree. Ember has arrived. Icerain walks around from behind the Father Tree. Icerain has arrived. Ember enters the clearing, Icerain coming along behind her. "Ayooah." she greets as they arrive. Shenshen's head bobs quickly, and she points at the den tree. "In my boot!" Her voice sounds indignant. "And Skot ignored me when I asked him to take it out." It's hard to tell which she's more indignant about--the shoes or being ignored. Her small mouth purses into a bit of an unhappy look, one hand going to try and fix her sleep-mussed hair. At the sight of Ember entering the clearing, her enthusiasm returns and she gives her a cheerful wave in greeting. "Ember! How good are you at catching spiders?" Cutter has just stuck his head into Pike's den looking for the cause of the bedraggled ShenShen's apparent alarm so, he doesn't appear to notice the newcomers as he ducks and enters the den. Cutter sends openly ** I'll get it.. ** Suntop continues rubbing at his temples, offering a distracted, "Shade..." as he leans up against the trunk of the Father tree. Ember blinks at her aunt. "Spiders?" She grins wryly, picking the problem from the rest of her words. "Out to get you again, are they?" Icerain's feet halts a few steps away from the Tree, as he comes around with Ember. Eyes quickly sweep over the gathered elves, offering his own greeting. "Safe paths." Leetah sits on one of the larger roots of the Father Tree. She's still half- asleep, of course, not daring to open those slanted, wide eyes of hers all the way just yet lest the last vestiges of sunlight damage their newly-opened pupils. At this time, she's confused. One moment to account for just what's going on: Shenshen has fallen out of Pike's den, cowed by a spider..Cutter -- ever the hero -- is going to hunt down the eightlegs and get rid of it..Suntop's high above on his shady perch..And Ember's entering the clearing before the Father Tree with a guest. Okay. "Shade, daughter." she greets the fire-maned Ember, eyes scanning over the newcomer. Shenshen's olive eyes widen in pleased surprise at the sight of a new face, and she begins to fuss with her curly hair even more. "Ember, you didn't tell me you had a new lovemate," She begins coyly, glancing over at the rest of the small group with an accusing look. How could they not mention such juicy gossip to her? Maybe because he's not a lovemate, though the thought appears to strike him amusing. Icerain's eyes twinkle slightly, a crooked grin slipping in place on his lips. Ember arches a brow at Shenshen's assumption. "Oh. No. This is Icerain." Her words imply that he is definitely /not/ her lovemate. Not at all. Cutter soon returns holding ShenShen's crushed attacker by a single leg. He walks over to her and holds it up as he queries, "Is that the one?" Without waiting for a reply, he glances over at Ember and the newcomer and grins, "Ember, is this the visitor you were telling me about?" he asks while apparently sizing said visitor up with a quick glance. Suntop looks to the visitor as well. Seems things were busy when he was in Sorrow's End. But Suntop doesn't want to deal with it until he feels a little better. Ember nods once to her father. "Aye. This is Icerain." She already said that, didn't she? "He was here just before whitecold." Leetah, who was not here before Whitecold, simply watches her daughter and the other Wolfrider. Icerain, eh? Slender, brown hands fold complacently in her lap as green eyes dart back and forth, from spiderbearing Cutter to the well-at-ease Icerain. Shenshen shudders with disgust as the dead spider is brandished. "Ugh. It wouldn't come live in my boots if Pike would clean his den sometimes." Wrinkling her nose, she shrugs, listening to Ember introduce the new elf. The midwife gives a small, trilling giggle. "I was about to say you had very good taste, Ember. But I guess I won't." She gives her niece a teasing look, and a friendly smile to Icerain, giving him a good look-over through a veil of lashes. Icerain's eyes skim over the other, still with an apparent amused gleam. That done, he gives the appropriate sign of throat but not for a second give too much. Suntop manages a slightly forced smirk, aiming it to his twin, "Are you going to introduce us, or shall we make him guess?" Ember rolls her eyes at the teasing. She moves away from Icerain and closer to her mother, smiling, now. "You never did finish telling me about Briarholt." she says, by way of conversation. Let Cutter and ShenShen do their examination. That has Icerain turn his head towards Ember, his voice rich with amusement. "I wouldn't mind if she did introduce us, at all." Cutter tosses the dead eightlegs out of the clearing as he shakes his head at ShenShen's fussing over so small an adversary. He gives Icerain an acknowledging nod as he walks toward the newcomer, "Welcome, Icerain. " He glances over his shoulder at Ember, seeming amused at something himself. Ember glances over to Suntop "Oh..." and then to Icerain. She scowls at his jibing.. "This is Icerain." She says it a third time. "And this," she points them out in turn, "is Shenshen, Suntop, my brother, Leetah, my mother, and Cutter. My father." You locksend ** You're sure you wish to welcome him? <> ** to Ember. Ember rolls her eyes slightly at ShenShen, but then blinks at her father. Locksends. Gotta love 'em. Blindside you everytime. As her daughter accuses her of not finishing the wonderful tale of Briarholt, Leetah breathes in sharply, as if to speak. As Icerain's words steal the place the desert healer's would have occupied, however, the unspoken words die a premature death and she simply waits for a more opportune time to share the rest of her story. You sense in a locksend, Ember hrfs. ** Aye... He's... annoying. But he's okay. ** Sh. Don't tell. She like him. Icerain brushes the scowl directed at him away as easily as Cutter disposed of the eight-feet, his chuckle now revealing his amusement. He nods to each and every one, then glances up at Cutter as he nears. "Thank you. I'll hunt and scout for my stay, I'll not put burden on your tribe Chieftain." Beside maybe prodding at Ember's so easily pushed buttons, every now and then. Shenshen waves a hand idly at Icerain, giggling. "Oh, you can burden them just like me, Icerain. You've just got to earn your keep in some way." She gives him a playful wink and turns to crawl back into the Father Tree, pushing the messy curls off of her face. "I'm going to go see if Pike's up yet. Be back down in a bit." She grins at the others and disappears into the Father Tree. Suntop is just doing his job, even if it is rather feeble of late. Hunting and scouting, eh? It seems to be more than Suntop is doing at the moment...but then again he doesn't really eat much. With a soft sigh and apologetic look to everyone, Suntop straightens, and starts to go a little deeper into the forest. To be alone, probably...and chase some of these dreams away. Cutter stops, several steps away from Icerain, knowing that his height alone could be considered somewhat imposing. He gives a nod of affirmation and replies, "It's always good to have an extra hunter around." Ember wrinkles her nose as it occurs to her that her father just might be gearing up to ask the visitor a whole pile of questions. She smiles, then, and turns to Icerain. "Come on. I'll show you where you can set up your tent." she says, glancing back to her father as she does so. Automatically, she begins to move. "Maybe you can finish that story later, Mother?" Icerain offers a smile to a disappearing Shenshen, before nodding to the Chieftain. The very tall Chieftain. Set up his tent, hm? So, chances of him sharing a certain den is out of the question. "I suppose." He moves after Ember. To Ember's combination question and suggestion, the healer nods. "Come and see me later, Ember. I will finish what I did not get to earlier." comes the languid assurance. Cutter starts to say something to Icerain but, is cut off by Ember's sudden interjection. Both brows lift in surprise as he snaps him mouth shut and looks at his daughter as if she's got a treewee staked out on her head. Ember smiles. "I will." And she disappears behind the tree, ignoring her father's look. Ember walks around to the back of the Father Tree. Ember has left. Icerain walks around to the back of the Father Tree. Icerain has left. Cutter watches the two exit the clearing and turns to Leetah shaking his head as a chuckle starts deep within his chest and slowly bubbles its way out. You locksend ** Who would have thought... ** to Leetah. You sense in a locksend, Leetah's send holds the mental equivalent of a delicately arched brow. ** Who would have thought what? ** She must not be in on the loop on this right here. ** He seems as perfectly normal a visitor as they come. ** You locksend ** It seems that Ember's got her eye on that one.. <> ** to Leetah. Leetah locksends ** She did not say so when Shenshen suggested that was the case, though. ** You locksend ** I don't think she knows it. ** to Leetah. Leetah locksends ** Indeed? ** There comes a brief pause. ** Perhaps you are right. He does seem to have an eye for her.. ** Cutter crosses the clearing and sits down beside you again. A smile crosses his face as he reaches over to toy with one of your fiery curls as he nods in agreement. You locksend ** Aye and judging from her sends, she's quite taken with him. Didn't you notice how she was acting? ** to Leetah. Smiling playfully, a glitter easily detected in her vernal eyes, Leetah snakes an arm around your shoulders, the fingers curling to rest delicately as you please on your collarbone. Still, she sends. You sense in a locksend, Leetah is mentally quiet for a time. Remembering. ** She was friendly around him..Yet not so friendly as she might be to one of her lovemates..Nor was she tense as she might be around one she has her eye on. ** The little chieftess's mother is still skeptical of her romantic inclinations toward the visitor in question. Cutter chuckles at that and gently taps a fingertip on the end of your nose as he gives you one of his most charming, lopsided grins and winks a bright, azure eye. You locksend ** I'll eat my boots if she's not. ** to Leetah. Leetah, with reflexes honed from what they once were in the languorous Sun Village by you yourself, manages to make an attempt to snatch the tapping finger by her own thumb and forefinger. The smile remains, spreading to what might even be called a grin. Leetah locksends ** Truly? I will look forward to seeing that! ** Cutter chuckles as his finger is caught by you. A wolfish grin crosses his face as his free hand catches your waist and he tugs you into his lap, **Don't count on it!** he sends sounding very sure of himself and his opnion of Ember's situation. A soft 'whoop!' might be caught as little more than an exhalation from the healer as she is snatched from the root and onto her lifemate's lap. Somehow, though, she manages to keep her arm around your shoulders, though the exact positioning of it shifts. Her elbow is now aligned roughly with the side of your neck rather than your spine. ** We'll see. ** is all she offers, a sort of mysterious tone overtaking the bright smile that once graced her countenance. Cutter chuckles as he nuzzles your cheek, **And what will you do if you're wrong?** he asks and draws back a little to meet your gaze. Leetah manages to tangle her desert-dark fingers among the flaxen strands that cascade around your shoulders, the dark and light colors contrasting sharply in the light of the full Mother Moon. ** If I am wrong.. ** she begins, pondering. ** ..I will.. ** Feeling uncreative? ** I will eat what's left of Shenshen's travelling boots. ** There. It's said. Cutter's shoulders shake though the laughter never makes it past his lips as he tugs you into a tight, though not uncomfortable hug, loosely twining his fingers into the dark locks that cascade down your back, **It's good to have you home.** As her lifemate's arms wrap around her own ribs and shoulders, the healer's other arm finds its way to join the first around his neck, and the embrace is returned. ** It's good to be back. As pleasant as Sorrow's End and Briarholt were, it's best to be back with family. **