Reference: http://rdi.dragonsmark.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=27600/
((Thank you to the player of Jack Scot, for obliging me with your mystery and magic.
Thanks to the players of Gemethyst, Mamie Clover, Tina and Audrey Horne, for sharing the story))
A Walk with Jack Coyote
The night before last, blood spilled down the wall of Mamie Clover's room. It was not Mamie's blood, but that of the Crow that had stepped in to defend - bound by ribbon, and honor. So it was, that Gem, his sweet and darling, had endangered the one she loved, and placed him around her, on the other side of shadows. The one who put the stars back into her eyes, had lost some of those that glittered in his. Fate, she can be cruel.
What did this mean, for the ones of the Westling Wind?
That Mamie was in Rhy'din for more than the science and art of cartography and curiosity. She was a pair of eyes, for those who, by distance, and danger, could not see. And, it was believed, a pair of hands. It meant that, by mere association, Madison was in threat. That the fears of those beyond the mirror were justified. It was, as Jack says, enough.
After some enquiry from Tina, progeny of Artsblood Shusburg, the name of the intent was given shape. Mamie's words, after the night of fallen blood, had expressed the scope, the range, and the potential. Where they were vast canyons without detail, Jack filled them up.
__________________________________________________
The Crow and the Gunslinger's shadows fell ahead of them, eventually bleeding into the grayscales and chiaroscuro's of West End's alleys and lanes. She had been quiet most of the way from the Inn, where Tina sat with that rebar, and just in case, she kept looking back occasionally. Her body was a wired thing. Just seeing Morgan Wright earlier had elicited a mood in her that she hadn't meant to allow herself to walk. Then there
was Jack, singing the blues. Her eyes watched his profile in the dark. Troubled by the lack of stars in his eyes.
"Jack? You doing okay?"
His steps were steady. He was a life long traveller and most of it on his feet. He could sleep and still walk. Maybe he had been until Madison broke the silence that was not. The WestEnd never slept. There was noise of the doings and goings and comings all around them if one knew how to listen. "Wings got clipped."
"What happened? Mamie says Gem tried to stab her? I am new to the logic of this other world, of Susie and the end of kin. But... how were you stabbed? Why?"
She slowed her steps, to place a hand, gently, gently, on Scottie's
arm. Eyes shadowed by that concern, still bloomed on her face.
"I am not sure of the history of this story, luv." The ribbons on his sleeves had escaped unharmed. It was the front of his coat that was in ruins. "Mamie Clover is looking for the bairn of a friend of ours. And the way Mamie explained it, it seems whoever is wanting this child found means it harm. Gem is near sister to the mothers of this child. Do you see?"
Nodding, a hand tucked a few erstwhile curls beyond an ear. Thoughts fitting into thoughts, layers beneath layers, the twisted mosaic coming to be. "I do see." Her voice thick with the knowledge. Uneasiness spread lukewarm through her.
"I don't wish to sound bias, Jack, but from what Mamie has told me, and by
... her expressions about the Mother, she means only to learn.. I don't believe Mamie seeks to set the child to harm."
"She's here to... to seek, to form an opinion. This progeny is no ordinary child, and I think Mamie knows fear because of that, but .... Mamie isn't a killer." Or was that a hope against a hope? Mamie wasn't a killer. Yet. There was intake of a breath.
"Mamie's motives don't matter. I am sorry. It's perception. I know them.
Anything like this is a threat, luv." He sighed and gazed high up into the star
blanketed sky.
Madison's eyes tracked his above.
He continued. "They will assume that whatever judgement is given will be the one that threatens their family." "And they will act. That is what will happen. That is what has happened."
"That makes me feel awful sad, Jack."Eyes pulled back to the ground. She
exhaled.
"It may end me."
Madison, eyes wide, looked to him. "How so?" A thumb travelled a ribbon, and then the hand fell to her side.
"Because I am bound to them and to you and Mamie Clover and sweet Gem. You all have a piece of me. I don't know how I am to protect you all. And then there's Manon...my heart, my home. She is ...I don't even know how to explain it. She and this child's mother are soul sisters? Lovers once. If I help you and Mamie..." he trailed off. What could he do. He was between rock and hard with an anvil dropping.
"I don't want you..you don't have to protect *me*, or Mamie." Teary, she stumbled through her words. "As... gracious, and sweet, and .... well, it's more than you owe me so soon... but ... How can I undo this?" At that, her hand had floated to her blouse, and the breast pocket. Inside, sat two ribbons. One sunflower yellow, one sparkling emerald green.
"I will not have you... at risk, for me. Even if there are others you have to protect. You've no need to be put that way on my, or her, account." She wouldn't have it.
Jack smiled, tired and haggard. "You can't. This is what happens when you play with faeries."
Madison could only mirror his smile.
"Sounds like the West, Jack Coyote."
"Wild and wilder." Said Jack.
A shiver ran through her, then.
"I will do my best for you, Madison Rye." He stopped to take her face in his hands. A few stars twinkled in his eyes as he looked into hers. "And Mamie, because you need me on your side."
The woman was a girl, there. Stripped of all the bravado, swagger and wild wind attitude. She tilted her head into that clasp, and smiled. A few tears did touch her cheeks. They shimmered, where they parted the dirt on her
face. "Then by such, as am I, to you."
Madison wondered if a person could drown into those starry eyes. Perhaps, she finally saw what Gem did - not that the man was not without his
looks, and a charming personality, but it was a registering instead, here, of the Crow's depth, and breadth, and scope. She closed eyes to blink away the tears.
"Gonna turn me to mush."
"I'm gonna kiss you."
And he did. On the mouth, not quite chaste because he was who he was. And he deserved a kiss, darnit. He took stab wounds for Mamie.
If she melted at that, she could only hope Mamie, and Gem, and Ben.Jamin, didn't kill her. She smiled and let the moment flow as it would. Surprise and unexpected delight made the pale cheeks pink. "Well, take that as a round of thanks", she whispered, her grin breathed with sunlight.
That put a spark of the old coyote in his eye and a bolster in his step. His arm swept around her waist to hold her high and keep her from slipping. The truth pealed and clanged beneath their skin. On into the West End's night.
((Thank you to the player of Jack Scot, for obliging me with your mystery and magic.
Thanks to the players of Gemethyst, Mamie Clover, Tina and Audrey Horne, for sharing the story))
A Walk with Jack Coyote
The night before last, blood spilled down the wall of Mamie Clover's room. It was not Mamie's blood, but that of the Crow that had stepped in to defend - bound by ribbon, and honor. So it was, that Gem, his sweet and darling, had endangered the one she loved, and placed him around her, on the other side of shadows. The one who put the stars back into her eyes, had lost some of those that glittered in his. Fate, she can be cruel.
What did this mean, for the ones of the Westling Wind?
That Mamie was in Rhy'din for more than the science and art of cartography and curiosity. She was a pair of eyes, for those who, by distance, and danger, could not see. And, it was believed, a pair of hands. It meant that, by mere association, Madison was in threat. That the fears of those beyond the mirror were justified. It was, as Jack says, enough.
After some enquiry from Tina, progeny of Artsblood Shusburg, the name of the intent was given shape. Mamie's words, after the night of fallen blood, had expressed the scope, the range, and the potential. Where they were vast canyons without detail, Jack filled them up.
__________________________________________________
The Crow and the Gunslinger's shadows fell ahead of them, eventually bleeding into the grayscales and chiaroscuro's of West End's alleys and lanes. She had been quiet most of the way from the Inn, where Tina sat with that rebar, and just in case, she kept looking back occasionally. Her body was a wired thing. Just seeing Morgan Wright earlier had elicited a mood in her that she hadn't meant to allow herself to walk. Then there
was Jack, singing the blues. Her eyes watched his profile in the dark. Troubled by the lack of stars in his eyes.
"Jack? You doing okay?"
His steps were steady. He was a life long traveller and most of it on his feet. He could sleep and still walk. Maybe he had been until Madison broke the silence that was not. The WestEnd never slept. There was noise of the doings and goings and comings all around them if one knew how to listen. "Wings got clipped."
"What happened? Mamie says Gem tried to stab her? I am new to the logic of this other world, of Susie and the end of kin. But... how were you stabbed? Why?"
She slowed her steps, to place a hand, gently, gently, on Scottie's
arm. Eyes shadowed by that concern, still bloomed on her face.
"I am not sure of the history of this story, luv." The ribbons on his sleeves had escaped unharmed. It was the front of his coat that was in ruins. "Mamie Clover is looking for the bairn of a friend of ours. And the way Mamie explained it, it seems whoever is wanting this child found means it harm. Gem is near sister to the mothers of this child. Do you see?"
Nodding, a hand tucked a few erstwhile curls beyond an ear. Thoughts fitting into thoughts, layers beneath layers, the twisted mosaic coming to be. "I do see." Her voice thick with the knowledge. Uneasiness spread lukewarm through her.
"I don't wish to sound bias, Jack, but from what Mamie has told me, and by
... her expressions about the Mother, she means only to learn.. I don't believe Mamie seeks to set the child to harm."
"She's here to... to seek, to form an opinion. This progeny is no ordinary child, and I think Mamie knows fear because of that, but .... Mamie isn't a killer." Or was that a hope against a hope? Mamie wasn't a killer. Yet. There was intake of a breath.
"Mamie's motives don't matter. I am sorry. It's perception. I know them.
Anything like this is a threat, luv." He sighed and gazed high up into the star
blanketed sky.
Madison's eyes tracked his above.
He continued. "They will assume that whatever judgement is given will be the one that threatens their family." "And they will act. That is what will happen. That is what has happened."
"That makes me feel awful sad, Jack."Eyes pulled back to the ground. She
exhaled.
"It may end me."
Madison, eyes wide, looked to him. "How so?" A thumb travelled a ribbon, and then the hand fell to her side.
"Because I am bound to them and to you and Mamie Clover and sweet Gem. You all have a piece of me. I don't know how I am to protect you all. And then there's Manon...my heart, my home. She is ...I don't even know how to explain it. She and this child's mother are soul sisters? Lovers once. If I help you and Mamie..." he trailed off. What could he do. He was between rock and hard with an anvil dropping.
"I don't want you..you don't have to protect *me*, or Mamie." Teary, she stumbled through her words. "As... gracious, and sweet, and .... well, it's more than you owe me so soon... but ... How can I undo this?" At that, her hand had floated to her blouse, and the breast pocket. Inside, sat two ribbons. One sunflower yellow, one sparkling emerald green.
"I will not have you... at risk, for me. Even if there are others you have to protect. You've no need to be put that way on my, or her, account." She wouldn't have it.
Jack smiled, tired and haggard. "You can't. This is what happens when you play with faeries."
Madison could only mirror his smile.
"Sounds like the West, Jack Coyote."
"Wild and wilder." Said Jack.
A shiver ran through her, then.
"I will do my best for you, Madison Rye." He stopped to take her face in his hands. A few stars twinkled in his eyes as he looked into hers. "And Mamie, because you need me on your side."
The woman was a girl, there. Stripped of all the bravado, swagger and wild wind attitude. She tilted her head into that clasp, and smiled. A few tears did touch her cheeks. They shimmered, where they parted the dirt on her
face. "Then by such, as am I, to you."
Madison wondered if a person could drown into those starry eyes. Perhaps, she finally saw what Gem did - not that the man was not without his
looks, and a charming personality, but it was a registering instead, here, of the Crow's depth, and breadth, and scope. She closed eyes to blink away the tears.
"Gonna turn me to mush."
"I'm gonna kiss you."
And he did. On the mouth, not quite chaste because he was who he was. And he deserved a kiss, darnit. He took stab wounds for Mamie.
If she melted at that, she could only hope Mamie, and Gem, and Ben.Jamin, didn't kill her. She smiled and let the moment flow as it would. Surprise and unexpected delight made the pale cheeks pink. "Well, take that as a round of thanks", she whispered, her grin breathed with sunlight.
That put a spark of the old coyote in his eye and a bolster in his step. His arm swept around her waist to hold her high and keep her from slipping. The truth pealed and clanged beneath their skin. On into the West End's night.