Log Date: 3/23/96 Log Intro: Rayek and Ekuar have been recovering at Lostholt during the Deathsleep season... but Rayek is still puzzling through the odd sensation of Leetah's forgiveness. And for all that the mother seems to have reconciled with him, Rayek is still troubled over the daughter. Ember, too, seems troubled over him..... ---------- Base of the Lost Holt Father Tree(#765RJ) A dense grove of grotesquely shaped trees dominated by one immense Grandfather of a tree whose age is no less great than its size. It is obvious that the old tree has survived a terrible tragedy and you can see some of the scars left by the terrible blaze on the branches as leaves turn yellow as flame and red as blood. Brown weeds and night blooming wildflowers lie dead or dying in natural disorder around the trees roots. Like old friends, the gnarled trees embrace one another, their many branches entwining to form a canopy high above the ground, though most of the leaves now decorate the ground and crunch under your feet. It grows cold as evening falls. Dry leaves whisper in the wind. Contents: Ember Mirrormoons Calmwind(#7032Jopq) Obvious exits: Into the Tree Around the Tree Clearing Rayek steps somewhat gingerly through the clearing, amber eyes narrowed as he stares absently at his surroundings. Ember comes from the den tree, by way of around the father tree, yawning so much that her eyes are mostly narrowed and all the way crossed. Is it because of some memory of former mental sharing? Or habits of listening to his own senses more intently since then? Whatever the reason, Rayek starts a little, and glances over his shoulder. Ember finishes her yawn, eyes tearing, and on the next breath, before her eyes are fully open, catches your scent. ** Rayek ** Rayek straightens a trifle, and inclines his head, gravely. ** Ember. ** Ember looks at you for a moment. Ember sends openly ** Your leg is better? ** Rayek nods, wordlessly. Ember says, "Good," and then just looks at you, somewhat at a loss. Ember locksends ** How are you ... otherwise? ** Rayek pulls in a breath, his gaze beginning to wander, somewhat at random. But he sends back, earnestly enough. You locksend ** Your... mother healed me. ** to Ember. You sense in a locksend, Ember seems to consider the implications of that, studying you, then, slowly, sends agreement. ** I am glad of that, airwalker. ** Rayek, again, gives a slow nod. And a strange expression flickers across his face... an uncertain smile. Ember, half as a distractor, aloud, says, "You're still wearing your leathers." She sounds a little surprised. You locksend ** I am... well -- ** to Ember. Rayek cuts off, and glances down at himself. Then the smile shifts into a kind of smirk. "I have no other clothes," he points out. Ember shrugs. "I'm sure you could get Monshade to make you some new ones. They'd still be leather, but they'd be finer, at lesat." She lets it traill off, and returns to the sendings. Ember locksends ** I... I'm glad. I've been worried about you. I was so relieved mother was glad to see you... ** Rayek glances away, and murmurs, "I... do not wish to impose upon your folk...." The further sending makes him blink, again strangely uncertainly. You locksend ** I... was surprised. ** to Ember. Ember snorts faintly. "Moonshade likes making leathers, Rayek, and I'm sure it hurts her sense of things to see you in ill-formed ones. Ask her. The worst that will happen is she'll say no." You sense in a locksend, Ember's sending is almost mixed with her spoken words. ** Surprised? That Mother found forgiveness in her heart? ** Rayek nods, barely; whether it is in answer to the spoken or send words, he doesn't clarify, till he sends in response. He is still looking away, amber gaze focused somewhere off across the trees, head slightly bowed. You locksend ** I... had not expected she would... ** to Ember. Ember sighs softly, looking elsewhere, into the trees. ** Mother is about love, Rayek, ** she sends, the mental voice still focused to only you. ** I knew she would. ** His expression still slightly... disoriented, perhaps, the airwalker gravely nods. ** It is... a relief. ** Ember glances at your expression, then looks away again. ** What is it that makes you look so? ** Rayek half-smiles, and leans against a nearby tree, studying a patch of ground and crossing his brown arms across his chest. ** I... am not sure how to explain it. ** Ember, with a lack of subtlty reminiscent of her father, suggests, ** Try. ** Rayek smirks, slightly. ** Your mother and I have been at odds... for some time, ** he sends, tone low. Ember nods, waiting for you to continue. You locksend ** I fear that... it is almost a new experience, to be... reconciled. ** to Ember. Ember half turns, to look at you, making a guess at the meaning of the word. ** Is it so hard to accept? ** Rayek's eyes glimmer a little, musingly, his expression almost tranquil save for the troubling of his gaze. ** No... it is simply that... ** A trace of a smirk. ** Rayek. ** Ember's send has a tinge of irritation to it. ** Will you finish your thoughts, please? ** After that, Rayek does answer, though he still does not look at you. But he sends with a trace of self-directed bemusement that he is somewhat at a loss as to what, now, to do regarding Leetah. Ember rakes a hand backwards throughher hair, ember curls tumbling back into her face immediately. ** I don't know, ** she says helpfully. ** What do you want? ** Rayek almost... smiles, though that bemused look hasn't quite left him. ** Before we arrived, I would have said that I wished your mother's forgiveness. ** Ember cannot, she decides, stand the inactivity any longer, and moves loosely to bend and pick up a handful of drying leaves. ** And now? ** Rayek replies, firmly, ** I must return to the Palace. ** Ember glances up at you, unmoving for a few moments, and then a smirk to equal the best of yours crosses over her features. "Aye, I suppose you must." Rayek finally glances over at you. ** I have a promise to keep. ** Ember says "Have you? To whom?" Rayek replies solemnly, ** I told Lursa that if I regained the ability to fly the Palace, I would return it to the Go-Backs. ** Ember smiles faintly, and finds another tree to stare at. "You've regained that, then, you think? I'm glad for you." Rayek rolls a shoulder by way of a shrug. ** I do not know. I must, however, see. ** He does not miss that you've suddenly switched back to speech, and he regards you levelly, a black eyebrow quirked. Ember didn't think you'd missed it. Hoped, perhaps, but didn't really think you had. Fortunately, her attention is focused on the unfortunate tree, and so she doesn't actually see the look leveled at her. "I wish you luck." She's talking to you, not the tree. You sense in a locksend, Ember's sending, quite soft, comes after a moment or two. ** I will miss you, airwalker. ** If he suspects you did not really mean your spoken sentiment, Rayek does not call you on it. Is he still looking at you? Difficult to say with your own gaze averted. He does, however, send: ** And I you. ** After a beat, gruffly, ** Thank you. ** Ember did, in truth, mean the words she spoke; the use of speech was to cover mental dismay at your impending departure. And, at your sending, she does look back at you, startled. ** Thanks? For what? ** ** For helping me... ** His brow furrows, slightly; his tone is gruff still, oddly tentative, as though the sentiment is difficult. ** In your own fashion. ** Ember smiles wryly, and looks away again. ** For all the good it did. ** Then, after a moment, not quite as gruffly, but a little off balance, ** You're welcome. ** Rayek, again, gives a hint of a smile. ** When Ekuar is ready to travel... ** Ember draws in a breath, as if to speak, and lets it go again. The process repeats itself; after the third time, she growls out, "Puckernuts," and digs a hole in the ground with one heel. Rayek blinks, studying this apparent discomfiture. After a moment, he sends, ** I... am also sorry. ** Ember takes a step back, to lean against the Father Tree, her head tilted back against it. ** For what? ** Didn't we just do this? You locksend ** For... distressing you. ** to Ember. Ember glances at you, through half-lidded eyes, and gives a quiet laugh. "It's all right," she says quietly, and a wordless sending echoes the sentiment. ** I ... ** She snorts, and shrugs. Ember's sending reaches out after a little while, her eyes not quite on you. ** Does Mother still haunt you, Rayek? ** Rayek's breath catches, a small and startled sound. He finally sends, ** ... I will always... care for her. ** Ember moves a hand slightly, a gesture of acknowledgement, and her sending is peculiarly quiet. ** But you remember now ... there isn't the loss of memory to m-make you .. to ... ** Lost, the sending fades away, and Ember's cheeks flare a slow crimson. "Nevermind," she mumbles after a moment. For a time, Rayek is silent. Finally, however, he points out, ** His soul belongs to Cutter; his to her. As do their hearts. I cannot begrudge her that. ** ** I envy them. ** The sending is abruptly truncated, and Ember shuts her mouth tightly as well, as if the words had escaped her lips rather than her mind. Rayek half-smiles. He sends the amused sense that it is a relaxation of his pride to acknowledge the same sentiment, but then, you've seen his pride more relaxed before. Ember's matching half-smile flashes, then fades, and her jaw sets. After a moment she clears her throat, and, both aloud and fighting against her own pride, murmurs, "I know...I am not she. But I w..wonder if y-you..." To her own surprise, she lets out a quick, sharp laugh, tears suddenly filling her eyes, and she turns away entirely, moving halfway around the protective body of the father tree. Rayek watches you move off; without your gaze directed to him, you miss the regretful softening of his amber regard. A few moments of quiet pass. Then, with a bluntness which makes him almost sound like the proud hunter who courted Leetah long before Cutter ever was born, he observes, ** You are as lovely as she. ** Ember's answering send is ragged, frustrated, very nearly disbelieving. ** Am I? ** Rayek dryly replies, ** I am not in the habit of sending things I don't mean. ** That earns a laugh, of sorts, and then a sigh. Unable to see you, and with the compliment, she is able to swallow pride to send, ** Would you want to, Rayek? Join with me? ** The sending is almost regretful, definetly shy. ** Yes. ** Safely hidden by the tree, Ember gapes. And, in fact, after a moment, slowly comes back around the tree to gape at you. ** Y...es? ** Rayek's golden gaze is steady on you as you come back into sight. ** That IS what I sent... ** Ember's expression changes rapidly, from gaping to irritation, and then settling in to a kind of bemused embarrassment. ** I didn't think ... that I could be hearing right ... ** she sends, somewhat lamely, and then she catches her lower lip in her teeth, slowly extending a hand toward you. For whatever reason, Rayek does not choose to explain himself, but he does reach forth his own hand to grasp yours. [And with that, Ember escorts Rayek up to her den... end log.]