Where the Treetops Glisten and Children Listen
(The following was made from play between Rachael, Seiri and Rekah's player and myself. Thank you.)
Huyglen's portal was an evergreen color with bright green, sparkly magic. A fairy realm in infinite springtime. The portal to Adenna was a finicky thing; always changing. But in these months? It was the most tantalizing of all the magic doors to Jack Skellington's discovery in the forest to different worlds. Christmas time... in Adenna.
http://static.desktopnexus.com/thumbnails/190101-bigthumbnail.jpg
The blues and the whites swirled together to make a cold cloud color with that silver that even helped to decrease the temperature further. Stepping through this "door" into Adenna quickly closed behind Dyarhk, Rekah and Rachael; as was the even stricter "portal code" the Liltu mages were monitoring and enforcing during this season. Brief portal windows, small parties, etc. It was a time to be cautious. Almost immediately the harsh winds bellowed out to their ears and seemed to call their names in a both a blowing and cold language. The snow had taken over the city entirely: its streets, homes, and even the air.
Dyarhk immediately shivered with a bit of forceful bringing on, just to get it out in the open. But that look on his face? One could tell very, very easily how he loved this setting. The people of Adenna were mostly indoors, but it still had moderately busy streets. Citizens walked down the sidewalks, crossed the road, already adapted to the cold and their winter wardrobes. Dyarhk exhaled a cloud of breath and set his feet in the snow with a few sloshes.
"My house is not far from here? Do you two think you can make it??"
"Oui, it is most, how do you say, bracing weather, non?" The chill air gave a rosiness to her tanned and scarred features, and her words escaped her lips in puffs of mist. The tiny kitten in her arms snuggled closer for both warmth and comfort. "The question is, can you make it, mon Hache?" There was a light, almost fond teasing quality to her words, much like that between siblings.
"Si, si." Not that her trip would be extremely difficult as she was still latched onto Dyarhk. In fact Rekah was stunned into silence. It was winter. But, it had been summer. Her brain was currently trying to adjust to this.
"I can make it! Can you, Mallow?" Getting his smiling face down in-front of the kitten in question and meeting noses, even pushing against it before returning to his tall 6'4" height and filling his lungs once more. "Now, there's something I must brief you both on. Rachael, you are probably fine, with your glasses... but Rekah, we are going to play a game, okay..? Until we get to my home, try and keep your eyes focused on mine. Adennian women do not know either of you, and are very quick to fight with the slightest of eye contact. And I fear the only the toughest would dare brave being out in this weather." Dyarhk's eyes were focused over to the group of women gathered by a street light, laughing, joking, conversing... It was no trouble, so long as Rachael and Rekah did as they were instructed. "If we are not called upon, do not speak to them. Are we ready?"
He reaffirmed his cradle he held Rekah in and begun the march from the road over to the street and down it where his house would lead. Mallow yowled with that ferocity only tiny kittens could get away with.
Rekah nodded and focused her mismatched eyes on his. She wasn't sure if she was allowed to blink. So, she went ahead and did not blink. Except that the cold was making her eyes water something fierce. Luckily for the trio she was still in shock and awe at the winterwonderland and stuck in stunned silence.
Rachael's gloved fingers lightly stroked the soft white fur to comfort Mallow. "Oui, I will remember." Her measured strides easily kept up with the axe-man's through the snow and sludge. "Mallow will likely wish some heated milk or broth once we arrive upon our destination." The group of women were taken in by that rogue part of her brain, analyzed for threats, and she dismissed that possibility for now. But she still kept alert.
"You are quick to get into my groceries, Rachael. " A big handsome smile over to her while they walked down the street. It did not take long to close the distance to the women. Dyarhk had done a great deal for Adenna, the most he was known for being the 'Chains' disaster. He was a hero, and that bought him a great deal of respect, but it was not an infinite or infallible status. It just meant they poked fun with him on a much lesser front. And so it began.
"Little cold for just a shirt, isn't it Dyarhk?" One of the women asked, indeed looking to start trouble, as only Adenna women could do.
"It is very cold for just a shirt, Laura." Dyarhk replied in kind, sparing a quick glance down to Rekah to make sure she was faring well at keeping her eyes trained off of the women. "We are racing home to the fire. You lot are well?" Passing by them but slowing enough to wait at this close distance, respectfully, for their answer, being a lot of nods. One thing, however... was their paying attention to Rachael.
"Who is your friend? Does she know it is not daylight out?" Eliciting the group into laughter at the sight of a woman wearing sunglasses.
"Hey, come now, Laura. That song Sunglasses At Night is really cool." Dyarhk defended.
The usual twitch to Rachael's lips that hinted at her suppressed amusement was even more subtle than usual. Behind those dark lenses, her sapphires twinkled. As promised, she would let Dyarhk speak for her. Tiny puffs of misted air escaped from the kitten in her arms. The women did not get what they wanted. No fuel for their fire. This angered them. They wanted their fight, but they couldn't obtain it through Dyarhk, who was far too friendly because he was far too smart. But that only eliminated Dyarhk from their methods. He had planned things out well. He had obviously instructed his "company" on how to avoid conflict. But it far from flawless.
Laura held her arm out, half-assed, but far more demanding than her lesser knew to mess with. She stepped out of her way, and allowed Laura and the Asian woman behind her, Zoe, to approach the fleeting trio. Zoe spoke up first.
"What is with the cat? Isn't this a form of animal abuse?" She looked back to her posse with a grin; a forced laugh. The group joined in the laughter. "Why don't we take that off your hands?"
Dyarhk stopped. Better to face these things. But he knew the power of silence. A power he was exercising right now. He would listen to these women, for now. But so far it had only been simple bullying. Laura was the one that upped the ante.
"She should take her sunglasses off... Isn't it a little disrespectful? I mean... we're talking to her."
That rogue part of Rachael's brain floated to the surface again. There was a subtle tautness to her features, her posture, her movements, that the axe-man at her side might well have recognized from that one match of theirs in the Outback. The Watchwoman remained silent. Mallow, however, expressed her displeasure at the situation with one of those kitten fierce yowls. Those sunglasses remained in place.
Rachael's trust was a thing Dyarhk was truly appreciative of, particularly now. He would have to thank her later, in confidence, for what she had showed great strength and control in avoiding. She truly had been a member of the Watch, those people that vowed stick up for victims for all the right reasons. How they enforced them was no different from how Rachael was responding to the bullying. Did this teach the women any? No. Since Laura seemed to finally discard her teasing grin for a frown.
"Did you not hear me? When I am not heard I am to presume I am being disrespected. Perhaps Dyarhk should have affiliated you more with our customs before bringing you here."
His name spoken, Dyarhk saw fit more than ever to interject. "Alright, girls. You have had your fun. Please leave my friend alone. I know all of your faces. And I would like to give a positive report back to Seirichi." A name-drop, and with surprised faces, the women took their moment of silent stupor. Zoe immediately turned and walked back to the group by the lamp post. Laura took a moment longer to pocket her hands in her coat, but ultimately she did the same.
?Alright, alright. No need to go there. We were just playing. Tell our Siovanui we said hello. See ya.? Laura said, returning to her group.
Dyarhk kept focused green eyes on them while he turned, and then proceeded walking. Some 20 paces out, Dyarhk gave a look and grin to Rachael. "That was very impressive, Rachael."
"What was, mon Hache?" Now that they were safely away from the pack of women, that twitch to her lips came out, in full force. Mallow rumble-purred, sure that she had been the one to get the women to back off, fierce little kitten that she was.
"You did great too, Rekah! In the face of danger, I would not have rather faced it with anyone else!" He laughed up against the woman in his arms. At long last they had stepped upon the brick sidewalk that brought them into a whole other district of street that eventually lead to Warrior's Way. Different crowd there, more male-dominated, and strategically where Dyarhk's house had been risen. Speaking of, the walkway to Dyarhk's front steps was laid by a series of stone periodically walked upon, but enough of them to make it a walkway. They had froze long enough, and up the steps they went.
"I don't even know what just happened." Rekah finally spoke and from her tone she apparently did not want an explanation. She blinked at last because she couldn't see through the cold induced tears and she gave Dyarhk and Rachael two thumbs up. Or rather, one thumbs up and the other thumb had limited range of motion so it was almost like an 'eh-eh'. But, really, two thumbs up.
"Finally home. Let's get that fire going." Dyarhk spouted energetically, making funny how he missed twice to open the door with Rekah in his arms, though the third time he got it and laughed. "There."
In he stepped with her, stomping the snow off his boots on the rug while he gave a look around to the brightly lit foyer, living space, and what could be made from the kitchen.
Rekah Leaned up to get a better look at Dyarhk's home, peering around-wide eyed. And she was grateful to have been carried and to not have had to walk in the snow. Since she was now, moreso than ever adamant about not wearing shoes. "Oooh. Pretty." she said.
The last puffs of misted air left Rachael's lips before she finally stood within the inviting warmth of her dear friend's house. The snow was stomped off of her heeled pumps. Subtle proof that the extremes of weather did not seem to touch the Watchwoman. Mallow lazily stretched in the arms that held her. Keen blue eyes that matched her custodian's in color looked around with that well-known curiosity that felines of all sorts possessed, and the tiny white kitten had in spades.
(The following was made from play between Rachael, Seiri and Rekah's player and myself. Thank you.)
Huyglen's portal was an evergreen color with bright green, sparkly magic. A fairy realm in infinite springtime. The portal to Adenna was a finicky thing; always changing. But in these months? It was the most tantalizing of all the magic doors to Jack Skellington's discovery in the forest to different worlds. Christmas time... in Adenna.
http://static.desktopnexus.com/thumbnails/190101-bigthumbnail.jpg
The blues and the whites swirled together to make a cold cloud color with that silver that even helped to decrease the temperature further. Stepping through this "door" into Adenna quickly closed behind Dyarhk, Rekah and Rachael; as was the even stricter "portal code" the Liltu mages were monitoring and enforcing during this season. Brief portal windows, small parties, etc. It was a time to be cautious. Almost immediately the harsh winds bellowed out to their ears and seemed to call their names in a both a blowing and cold language. The snow had taken over the city entirely: its streets, homes, and even the air.
Dyarhk immediately shivered with a bit of forceful bringing on, just to get it out in the open. But that look on his face? One could tell very, very easily how he loved this setting. The people of Adenna were mostly indoors, but it still had moderately busy streets. Citizens walked down the sidewalks, crossed the road, already adapted to the cold and their winter wardrobes. Dyarhk exhaled a cloud of breath and set his feet in the snow with a few sloshes.
"My house is not far from here? Do you two think you can make it??"
"Oui, it is most, how do you say, bracing weather, non?" The chill air gave a rosiness to her tanned and scarred features, and her words escaped her lips in puffs of mist. The tiny kitten in her arms snuggled closer for both warmth and comfort. "The question is, can you make it, mon Hache?" There was a light, almost fond teasing quality to her words, much like that between siblings.
"Si, si." Not that her trip would be extremely difficult as she was still latched onto Dyarhk. In fact Rekah was stunned into silence. It was winter. But, it had been summer. Her brain was currently trying to adjust to this.
"I can make it! Can you, Mallow?" Getting his smiling face down in-front of the kitten in question and meeting noses, even pushing against it before returning to his tall 6'4" height and filling his lungs once more. "Now, there's something I must brief you both on. Rachael, you are probably fine, with your glasses... but Rekah, we are going to play a game, okay..? Until we get to my home, try and keep your eyes focused on mine. Adennian women do not know either of you, and are very quick to fight with the slightest of eye contact. And I fear the only the toughest would dare brave being out in this weather." Dyarhk's eyes were focused over to the group of women gathered by a street light, laughing, joking, conversing... It was no trouble, so long as Rachael and Rekah did as they were instructed. "If we are not called upon, do not speak to them. Are we ready?"
He reaffirmed his cradle he held Rekah in and begun the march from the road over to the street and down it where his house would lead. Mallow yowled with that ferocity only tiny kittens could get away with.
Rekah nodded and focused her mismatched eyes on his. She wasn't sure if she was allowed to blink. So, she went ahead and did not blink. Except that the cold was making her eyes water something fierce. Luckily for the trio she was still in shock and awe at the winterwonderland and stuck in stunned silence.
Rachael's gloved fingers lightly stroked the soft white fur to comfort Mallow. "Oui, I will remember." Her measured strides easily kept up with the axe-man's through the snow and sludge. "Mallow will likely wish some heated milk or broth once we arrive upon our destination." The group of women were taken in by that rogue part of her brain, analyzed for threats, and she dismissed that possibility for now. But she still kept alert.
"You are quick to get into my groceries, Rachael. " A big handsome smile over to her while they walked down the street. It did not take long to close the distance to the women. Dyarhk had done a great deal for Adenna, the most he was known for being the 'Chains' disaster. He was a hero, and that bought him a great deal of respect, but it was not an infinite or infallible status. It just meant they poked fun with him on a much lesser front. And so it began.
"Little cold for just a shirt, isn't it Dyarhk?" One of the women asked, indeed looking to start trouble, as only Adenna women could do.
"It is very cold for just a shirt, Laura." Dyarhk replied in kind, sparing a quick glance down to Rekah to make sure she was faring well at keeping her eyes trained off of the women. "We are racing home to the fire. You lot are well?" Passing by them but slowing enough to wait at this close distance, respectfully, for their answer, being a lot of nods. One thing, however... was their paying attention to Rachael.
"Who is your friend? Does she know it is not daylight out?" Eliciting the group into laughter at the sight of a woman wearing sunglasses.
"Hey, come now, Laura. That song Sunglasses At Night is really cool." Dyarhk defended.
The usual twitch to Rachael's lips that hinted at her suppressed amusement was even more subtle than usual. Behind those dark lenses, her sapphires twinkled. As promised, she would let Dyarhk speak for her. Tiny puffs of misted air escaped from the kitten in her arms. The women did not get what they wanted. No fuel for their fire. This angered them. They wanted their fight, but they couldn't obtain it through Dyarhk, who was far too friendly because he was far too smart. But that only eliminated Dyarhk from their methods. He had planned things out well. He had obviously instructed his "company" on how to avoid conflict. But it far from flawless.
Laura held her arm out, half-assed, but far more demanding than her lesser knew to mess with. She stepped out of her way, and allowed Laura and the Asian woman behind her, Zoe, to approach the fleeting trio. Zoe spoke up first.
"What is with the cat? Isn't this a form of animal abuse?" She looked back to her posse with a grin; a forced laugh. The group joined in the laughter. "Why don't we take that off your hands?"
Dyarhk stopped. Better to face these things. But he knew the power of silence. A power he was exercising right now. He would listen to these women, for now. But so far it had only been simple bullying. Laura was the one that upped the ante.
"She should take her sunglasses off... Isn't it a little disrespectful? I mean... we're talking to her."
That rogue part of Rachael's brain floated to the surface again. There was a subtle tautness to her features, her posture, her movements, that the axe-man at her side might well have recognized from that one match of theirs in the Outback. The Watchwoman remained silent. Mallow, however, expressed her displeasure at the situation with one of those kitten fierce yowls. Those sunglasses remained in place.
Rachael's trust was a thing Dyarhk was truly appreciative of, particularly now. He would have to thank her later, in confidence, for what she had showed great strength and control in avoiding. She truly had been a member of the Watch, those people that vowed stick up for victims for all the right reasons. How they enforced them was no different from how Rachael was responding to the bullying. Did this teach the women any? No. Since Laura seemed to finally discard her teasing grin for a frown.
"Did you not hear me? When I am not heard I am to presume I am being disrespected. Perhaps Dyarhk should have affiliated you more with our customs before bringing you here."
His name spoken, Dyarhk saw fit more than ever to interject. "Alright, girls. You have had your fun. Please leave my friend alone. I know all of your faces. And I would like to give a positive report back to Seirichi." A name-drop, and with surprised faces, the women took their moment of silent stupor. Zoe immediately turned and walked back to the group by the lamp post. Laura took a moment longer to pocket her hands in her coat, but ultimately she did the same.
?Alright, alright. No need to go there. We were just playing. Tell our Siovanui we said hello. See ya.? Laura said, returning to her group.
Dyarhk kept focused green eyes on them while he turned, and then proceeded walking. Some 20 paces out, Dyarhk gave a look and grin to Rachael. "That was very impressive, Rachael."
"What was, mon Hache?" Now that they were safely away from the pack of women, that twitch to her lips came out, in full force. Mallow rumble-purred, sure that she had been the one to get the women to back off, fierce little kitten that she was.
"You did great too, Rekah! In the face of danger, I would not have rather faced it with anyone else!" He laughed up against the woman in his arms. At long last they had stepped upon the brick sidewalk that brought them into a whole other district of street that eventually lead to Warrior's Way. Different crowd there, more male-dominated, and strategically where Dyarhk's house had been risen. Speaking of, the walkway to Dyarhk's front steps was laid by a series of stone periodically walked upon, but enough of them to make it a walkway. They had froze long enough, and up the steps they went.
"I don't even know what just happened." Rekah finally spoke and from her tone she apparently did not want an explanation. She blinked at last because she couldn't see through the cold induced tears and she gave Dyarhk and Rachael two thumbs up. Or rather, one thumbs up and the other thumb had limited range of motion so it was almost like an 'eh-eh'. But, really, two thumbs up.
"Finally home. Let's get that fire going." Dyarhk spouted energetically, making funny how he missed twice to open the door with Rekah in his arms, though the third time he got it and laughed. "There."
In he stepped with her, stomping the snow off his boots on the rug while he gave a look around to the brightly lit foyer, living space, and what could be made from the kitchen.
Rekah Leaned up to get a better look at Dyarhk's home, peering around-wide eyed. And she was grateful to have been carried and to not have had to walk in the snow. Since she was now, moreso than ever adamant about not wearing shoes. "Oooh. Pretty." she said.
The last puffs of misted air left Rachael's lips before she finally stood within the inviting warmth of her dear friend's house. The snow was stomped off of her heeled pumps. Subtle proof that the extremes of weather did not seem to touch the Watchwoman. Mallow lazily stretched in the arms that held her. Keen blue eyes that matched her custodian's in color looked around with that well-known curiosity that felines of all sorts possessed, and the tiny white kitten had in spades.