"Making Plans" Log Date: 11/6/02 Log Cast: Cutter, Rillwhisper, Strongbow Log Intro: Many of those who have been out of Lostholt for a while have returned as of late to the Holt--but even as he's come home, Strongbow has been livid to discover what his soul-sister Rillwhisper has done on her own little expedition away from the Holt's protections. The Wolfbringer has captured the mad Firstborn Doreel, and for all that he is secured in wrapstuff and under constant guard both physical and magical, she has brought him _into the Holt_. As far as Strongbow is concerned this is madness, and he doesn't hesitate to let Rillwhisper know it. The archer and the Wolfbringer have a blistering argument about it as well as about Rill's cub's strange fixation with keeping company with Tall Ones--and although they work through the conflict, it's a bone-tired, soul-weary Rillwhisper who goes in search of Cutter to seek his wishes on what ought to be done about Doreel. A bit to her surprise, Strongbow shows up during their talk--and Rill learns something of what _else_ is preying on the archer's mind.... ---------- Pool by Rivers Edge(#933RFJa$) The lands of the Abode surround you. The waters of the pool are cool and calm as they gently lap up against the rocks that shelter it from the rivers currents. There are a few flattened stones you can use to 'wash' something with or you can take a lazy 'swim' in the deeper section, closer to the dark rocks. The inviting waters make you just want to 'soak' and relax. Contents: Cutter Obvious exits: Out Cutter is leaning against the bank enjoying a quiet soak in the early part of the newgreen evening. He appears to be half asleep as well with only the barest slit of blue showing between his eyelids. Rillwhisper, the Wolfbringer, is by far not the largest elf in the Holt. There are times when she feels it, too, and now is one of them, as she steps on weary silent feet in the wake of the scent-trail laid down by the elf she's made her new chieftain... new, still, on some levels to her instincts, despite the many seasons she and her lifemates and the other refugees of the tribe she once led have been at Lostholt. It has been some time since she has had to just be _Rillwhisper_... and she is not yet really used to it. And so her sending, as it reaches out ahead of her, is a tentative one: ** Cutter? You here? ** Cutter cracks one eye open just a bit further and peers around with curiosity flickering across his features. His mind reaches out in response to that send **I'm here.** The send is calm and relaxed with a certain amount of curiosity tossed in as well. After all, it's not often that Rillwhisper seeks him out. Rillwhisper comes into view on the tail end of her sending, then, her features pale and drawn beneath her tousled mop of red-golden hair. She pauses to survey the sight of the Blood of Ten Chiefs at ease, which calls up a small crooked smile and a taste of apology as she offers, ** Sorry for coming to disturb you... I need to talk to you, though. Haven't had a chance since you and the others returned, and after the fight I just had with Strongbow... well. ** A brow lifts on Cutter's forehead at the mention of someone else having an argument with Strongbow. He smiles and shakes his head, **You're not disturbing me, Rillwhisper.** It's that whole chief thing which Rill should completely understand... there is almost no such thing as quiet time when you're the leader. He doesn't change the way he's sitting but, his eyes open fully and he gives Rillwhisper his full attention, **What burr's crawled under Strongbow's tail this time?** She's not so blunt as Strongbow -- but then again, Rillwhisper does share some of the archer's forthrightness. It is gentled in her, but it is there, as she answers gravely and without hesitation, ** The fact that we've got Doreel in the Holt. In wrapstuff and under constant guard... but he's here. I should have brought this to you the moment you were in sending range... ** Again, that tang of apology in her thoughts, though unlike the irascible archer might do, she also puts that apology into consciously formed words. ** ... and I'm sorry. Half the time though I've been guarding him myself. And I need to know if you think it's safe to keep him here for the time being. If you don't, I'll take him out of the Holt. ** Cutter chuckles softly and nods, **So I've heard,** he sends. His expression then becomes serious, **Do you think he's any threat to us in his current state?** Her relief is palpable, and as Rillwhisper sinks down into an easy wolf-crouch at the edge of the pool, her green eyes lighten significantly... though they remain solemn and tired. ** I think he's enough of a threat that I've got Fhen and Ynderra taking turns keeping a lid on his shaping, if he rouses up enough to try to do something even within the wrapstuff... and Leetah and Ynderra have been trying to keep him calm. He's... cracked, Cutter. I don't think he's rotten inside... like Tash or Winnowill. But he's definitely cracked, and he's got a Firstborn's power behind it. And he's _not_ happy. He didn't get angry at us when we broke into his grove, until we tried to take away the elf he had with him and that's another story entirely. ** Cutter nods his head, **Do you think he's the one behind the creatures?** he queries then. Rillwhisper considers this, and lets out a soft snort. ** I asked him that, point blank. He claims he wouldn't do such abominations... and he _sent_ it. But he _is_ cracked. He did have this other elf with him... she came out of his tree, while we were talking to him. And... ** Shaking her head, looking disquieted, the older elf goes on, ** I'd never seen anything like it. She wouldn't let go of the tree, and she was all wrapped up in vines. It was like she thought she _was_ a tree, except she also sent to us for help. Doreel did that to her. And Timmorn's Blood... I've _seen_ the spiders. We killed at least three eights of them, the others and the humans and I. If he can do these things, I'm not sure yet whether he might have made the monsters in the middle of just being... _crazy_, even if he isn't _evil_. ** Cutter considers this for a very long moment then sighs and nods, **Well, until Leetah and Ynderra can find a way to make him whole again, I think he's probably in the best possible place. He's wrapstuffed and kept under close watch so, I don't see that he should be removed from the holt... That would only make it more difficult for Leetah to tend to him.** He doesn't include Ynderra in that because he knows that the younger healer would probably go with Rillwhisper but still, the task is too much for just one healer. From the bank, Strongbow arrives from the south. From the bank, Strongbow has arrived. From the bank, Strongbow steps carefully into the pool. From the bank, Strongbow has left. Strongbow steps carefully into the pool. Strongbow has arrived. Rillwhisper blows out a soft breath. ** All right. He stays where he is then... and Leetah and Ynderra, fixing a broken elf... that's their strength. ** She half-smiles. ** Mine is to keep a knife at his throat and make sure to use it if he so much as sends cockeyed. ** Then the Wolfbringer tilts her head, adding, ** And we've got the other elf too... she's in wrapstuff as well. It was like she'd been eating nothing but rain, Cutter... Ynderra thought it was safer to bring her back here in wrapstuff rather than make her hold up to the journey. She's... cracked too. Badly. Do you think we might want to bring other healers here? ** The wordless send precedes scent or sound of the approaching elf, perhaps seeing where the two elves are...or seeing if the pool is occupied or not. Most likely it is the former. If he is told he isn't welcome, well, he'll grumble and turn back to the Holt. But if not, he'll drop down from one of the trees and sit on one of the stones, brooding as usual. Cutter's scent and Rillwhisper's signify their presence in this place even before the archer's keen dark eyes can pick them out. The Wolfbringer's ears twitch, though, and she lifts her head, swiveling her gaze around at the first heralding of Strongbow's approach. She still looks tired, but she also looks welcoming, and she offers forth a tentative sending of greeting to her soul-brother. Speak of the devil. Cutter chuckles softly and offers his own send of greeting to the archer but, he still doesn't move from his comfortable spot against the bank. To Rillwhisper he sends, **I understand that Mender is visiting the Plainsrunners.. I'll send someone to see if he will come help us when he is finished there.** That's really the best he can do unless he tries carrying the already cracked elf to the Mountain which would be really stupid. Boots are pulled off and bare feet are left to dangle in the pool as the bow is lifted from the archer's shoulder. ** I saw the visitors from Sorrow's End... ** the ones who sent just recently. Is it him or is the Holt getting rather crowded with these Humans, Doreel and the other elf, and now his kin from the desert. There is an underlying current of...displeasure/frustration/confusion as he sends the few words. Rillwhisper blinks, there where she's crouched on her haunches at the pool's edge -- for the visitors from the Sun Village are a surprise to her. Or at least, a presence she'd only barely registered, with the need to keep the Firstborn guarded foremost in her thoughts. ** What do they want? ** she asks of Strongbow, startled. Strongbow merely shrugs and shakes his head. If it was to annoy him, they're going about it an awkward way, but he doesn't think they would make the journey just for that. ** Snowstorm is with them... ** he finally adds, glancing to Cutter. No, the elder isn't pleased with that bit of news he found out...it's almost like the Holt is turning into something he doesn't know. Humans, Doreels, and now mad elves. You go to the Plains for a season or two... Strongbow locksends ** Snowstorm was exiled from here when her son...my grandcub was very little. ** It would seem that Strongbow is still irked at something, the enmity centered around the female elf's name. ** Now she has another cub...young...she'll harm him the way she harmed Gentlestorm. ** Rillwhisper blinks again, a sudden glimmer of comprehension coming into her eyes after a sidelong glance at Strongbow. ** I see, ** is all she sends, ever so slightly subdued. Cutter's brow knits just a bit at the mention of the visitors, he had been busy at the time they arrived and will get to them as quickly as possible. His brow furrows further at mention of Snowstorm arriving with them, clearly he's not exactly pleased to hear about that particular event. **Is she still mad?** he asks hoping that the she elf has, at least, garnered some help from the elves at Sorrow's End. You locksend to Strongbow, Rillwhisper's acknowledgement is there for you to touch as your thoughts brush hers; so, too, is the notion of the scent and taste and feel of having to kick someone out of the tribe. It's old, but it's there lurking in her memory, a recollection of Stormwolf leaving Willowholt. And, for that matter, a far older recollection -- Redbear and Freefoot. Exile from the tribe that was a forebear to this one. She was a cub at the time... but on a cub's level... she remembers it. ** I think so. But Gentlestorm says she's trying to be around others now. ** As if that constitutes whether one is mad or not. ** I wonder if he has not taken some of her madness as well... ** as he tried to defend his mother. But then, he only had memories of Cutter sending the young cub away with the mother...not much of a comprehension as to the why of it. Glancing to Rillwhisper, Strongbow gives a nod but then another half-shrug. He was not the one who threw the she-elf out...although he would have done the same. Strongbow locksends ** The elf was madder than a wolf with foaming-sickness. Now I feel that it sis a madness such as Doreel has...or the Snake. Hiding it under words of friendship and calm. She even -looks- like the Snake... ** He sends a mental image of a female elf with cold silver eyes and ankle-length black hair. ** Rillwhisper seems to consider, then offers to Cutter, ** Perhaps under the circumstances... I should send Wayfound and her, ah... friend to the Plains after Mender. They're camped outside the Holt, keeping low. I wouldn't let Wayfound bring her friend in, and she wouldn't enter without him. ** Her brow knits at this, and her mouth curls into a slight smirk. You locksend to Strongbow, Rillwhisper murmursends wearily back to you, ** Winnowill's rotten inside... I'm not sure Doreel is. But then again... there's not much difference between rotten inside and just plain crazy, when you're about to be killed. ** You sense in a locksend, Strongbow gives a mental snort, ** I won't kill her...and I won't kill the Snake or Doreel for fear that their spirits would do worse than they already do alive. ** But the thought of that elf raising another...of his own blood, as thin as it's getting down the generations. ** The youngest is only a cubling. Who knows how she'll poison him. Cutter chuckles and nods, **That might be the best way to go about it, Rillwhisper.... <> Yes.. see if she will go.** he finally decides. He then looks at Strongbow, **I will have to give the matter much consideration before deciding whether to allow them into the holt or not.** Of course, the Plainsrunners might not like humans either, but that's not the archer's problem, is it? No big thing if they cut the human up...and he'd feel better about the protection of the Holt. But to Cutter he sends, ** You can let the others in without her. She was exiled. What has she done to be permitted back? ** Even for a visit? You locksend to Strongbow, Rillwhisper does not try to argue; her impressions of Doreel are there for you to glean, and she does not _need_ to press them. She has not forgotten the stories she's been told of Madcoil... and for all that she hasn't yet decided whether Doreel is a Madcoil or just a crazed, wounded bear, she still acknowledges his power to rampage -- and take innocent elves down as he does. She senses your own impressions, too... and what she sends now, along with the wordless acknowledgement that she is taking them to heart, is her feeling for your distress on behalf of the cub. Cutter sighs, **Perhaps she has changed, Strongbow.. and if she has changed for the better, then I will allow her to visit. If not....** well, he leaves that part unsaid. Rillwhisper settles back where she sits, shifting off her haunches to tuck one leg beneath her. Green eyes flick a glance back and forth between the two other elves, while she applies herself at least for a moment or two to trying to restore a semblance of order to the bird's nest that is the current state of her red-golden hair. Why was he afraid that the cub of a chief would say something like that? ** And how are you going to tell if she's changed? ** Well, so much for relaxing. The archer is once more bristled, his eyes narrowed at Cutter, ** Do you think talking with her will tell you? Look what happens when you talk to the Snake. ** Apparently he's convinced that Snowstorm is still rather dangerous. You sense in a locksend, Strongbow feels that he's let down Gentlestorm, allowing his elder great-grandson to grow up with her around. Especially after meeting with them today and hearing how he defends his mother. How he wants there to be peace even though she caused him and the family harm. Cutter finally does deign to move from his comfortable spot and gets out of the pool to dry off in the cool evening breeze. His expression shows that he is relatively unbothered by Strongbow's bristling, **No but, then again, I don't expect anyone to turn their backs on her.. besides, you'll be watching her closely. Won't you Strongbow?** This isn't exactly her business; this came from before what was left of her own shattered tribe joined this one. Truth be told it takes Rillwhisper a few moments to try to reconstruct who this Snowstorm _is_. Gentlerock, she has met. Not his Recognized, not that she can remember. But because these elves before her are Cutter and Strongbow -- the ones who came to Blue Mountain, after all, when the remnants of Willowholt needed them -- she puts in as she tugs her fingers through her snarled hair, ** You two know this one better than I. But I'll make sure Wayfound takes her Tall One away... and make sure Doreel stays quiet. So you can spare the eye to keep on her. ** Brown eyes widen slightly as that wasn't the response he was expecting from Cutter. Strongbow looks 'speechless' for a moment before his lips purse and he send-growls, ** As my chief wishes.** Glancing to Rillwhisper he gives a nod and offers only, ** Have a Preserver handy in case this one needs healing... ** meaning, of course, Snowstorm. Setting his now-wet feet on the stone, the elder fluidly stands, taking up his boots and bow, apparently deciding he doesn't want to be here any longer. Amusement flashes momentarily in Rill's eyes at Cutter's words... though she checks it at the surprise from the archer. If there's one thing she _has_ begun to grow accustomed to, and even amused by, it's the thrust and parry of the ongoing interactions between her irritable soul-brother and his young chief. Not that she'd ever dream of admitting it. ** We've got plenty, ** she answers in perfect truth. Not only Wayfound's, but the bugs that like to follow Dewshine and Tyleet around, too. ** She needs wrapping, I'm sure they'll be all over it. ** Cutter can't help but smile a little at Strongbow's momentary speechlessness. Oh sure, he's going to hear about it later but, he's just feeling too blasted good right now to let anything destroy the mood, including one surly archer. He does finally sigh though as he notices Strongbow preparing to leave, **Strongbow... I haven't decided which way it will be yet.. and I do have the best interest in the holt to keep in mind.** His send is sincere. Hopefully, that will smooth the ruffled feathers at least a little. Strongbow gives another snort. Right, the best interest of the Holt. ** Letting in mad elves and Humans. That's not protecting the tribe. ** But then again, the archer has always been a firm believer in how things were done in the past. Even if there was no change, it was familiar. Change is too...different. ** I may bring the youngest cub in...** Just for Cutter's information. So there. Oh, it's always a push and pull between the two. It's almost as if things like this touch upon an old wound...Bearclaw. No doubt the archer misses him whenever Cutter tries something daring and *gasp* novel. Cutter nods his head, **The cub has done nothing to warrant being left outside of the holt.** he sends in agreement.. and he didn't let the humans actually enter the holt.. just let them camp on the edge of it. It's really not the same thing but, to get that through Strongbow's head will probably take more than a simple sending... more like one of Picknose's hammers. Or, maybe a sending from Rillwhisper. ** The humans haven't set foot in the Holt, ** the Wolfbringer points out, ** and they won't. Wayfound knows better than that, and so do I. Apparently, so does Wayfound's Tall One, now. ** This last tastes of deep surprise in her thoughts; for all that she's not as set in her ways as Strongbow is, it still startles her immensely that there are actually humans in the world who are acting respectful of her own kind. Oh, no doubt...if not something even heavier. But as it is, the archer merely gives a dismissive gesture and makes his way back towards the Holt, no doubt to brood some more. He'll brood, he'll complain a bit, and then he'll go keep a near-constant vigil on Snowstorm until Cutter makes his decision regarding her. He doesn't even want to think about the Humans...this close to the Holt, it nauseates him. Strongbow steps out of the pool. Strongbow has left. From the bank, Strongbow steps carefully from out of the pool. From the bank, Strongbow has arrived. From the bank, Strongbow goes home. From the bank, Strongbow has left. Cutter sighs and shakes his head as Strongbow departs. He doesn't send or or say anything though but, apparantly his mood has shifted some.. he's not looking nearly as happy with himself now. [End log.]