The Tavern by the creek (all welcome, please!)

[TAOWolf]

She watches as Cyril stirs, and sips at her tea thoughtfully, letting him come full awake, before she starts asking him questions about his past. She has come to the conclusion that he might be the one to help her find out what these dreams are she has been having....~Tai'shar Manetheren, he HAS to be the one, he is IN my dreams, and showed up in time to help here.....it HAS to be an omen~ She sits back in the chair and stares absently at the fire, her amber eyes softly glowing with a faint light, reflecting the firelight onto the floor in front of her. She reaches for more tea, then settles back once again, and waits.........

[Cyril Darkcloud]

His movements are fluid and rapid. Even before his eyes have fully opened the cloak has been pulled aside and his wounded hand has found the handle of the axe lying by his chair. The absence of pain as he grasps the weapon is his first conscious signal that his condition has changed. In his surprise, he instinctively tests the range of motion in his arm – swinging the axe with sudden forcefulness. The impact of the blade biting deeply into the wall runs the length of his arm snapping him fully into consciousness with the realization that he is indoors.

Hearing her surprised gasp and sudden laughter, he shakes the remaining sleep from his eyes and looks to KayLisa. “Can’t take me anywhere,” he smiles and pulls the blade from the wall – all the while wondering how many shades of red his face has just displayed. Setting the axe down, he looks at his right hand, slowly opening and closing the fingers. The burns are still present, but not as severe and there is no pain – the result no doubt of the streaks of crushed herb that have dried onto his palm. “Thank you,” he says simply without looking up.

“I am sorry,” he continues. “I should not have fallen asleep.” He turns to her again, eyes narrowed in concern, “The laughter and smile speak of recovered humor and your eyes carry more questions than I care to count, but your movements while you slept told a different tale. Tell me, KayLisa, how are you?”

[TAOWolf]

Her attention focused on the fire, she doesn't notice when he reaches for his axe, still half asleep. She startles when the axe hits the wall, then bursts into a fit of giggles when she sees what he has done.....~oh goddess, remind me not to sneak up on him when he's asleep *L* ~.She regains her composure, and leans back in the chair, sipping whats left of her tea..~that is what tea didn't end up on the floor~ Being gracious enough not to call to attention how well the color red fits his ears, she softly tells him "you are quite welcome" for the herb pack. She waves off his concern with a gloved hand and smiles. "I am fine, I just used to much rune power with that last cast". ~frowns slightly, thinking about that~. "I am more concerned with whether or not you are rested enough". She leans forward and offers him some tea laced with honey and wild lavendar. "Drink this, it will help heal the burns".
~she has so many questions, but she will be patient~.
"Thank you for your..."timely" help yesterday...."She trails off, and the glow in her eyes intensifies briefly, the runes on her forehead glowing through her hair, and she reaches up, brushing her bangs over them, unconsciously. "I know your name, and that you are a skilled bowsman" ~she tries to suppress a giggle~ "and that you can kill walls with a single stroke....." She stops, trying to bring the giggles under control, hoping he doesn't think rude of her laughing...."but I know nothing else about you....other than...."She stops again, trying to figure out how to bring out her questions, and whether he has dreamed of her too..........

[ 02-19-2002: Message edited by: TAOWolf ]

[Cyril Darkcloud]

His begins to reach for the tea and then stops short and looks again at his right hand. "No," he says simply, "that would not be wise." He sees her surprise but offers no explanation. As her hand moves to her hair, he recalls her quick movements with her gloves on the roof.

Glancing again about the room, he frowns at the closeness of the space. "I have rested as much as I can here." He moves to the window -- pushes the shutters wide and sits on the sill and waits for her giggles to subside -- start again -- and subside once more, looking intently at her in the simple manner he had learned as a child. Look with simplicity, one of his uncles had taught him, look to see nothing other than the person who is there.

He allows himself a few slow breaths as he weighs whether to speak what he thinks. His words are hesitant, but direct, "You say that you are well, KayLisa, but your movements say otherwise, there is a .... hauntedness ..... about them."

He keeps his eyes fixed on hers and his voice softens and a slight accent creeps into his words "I am asking for no explanation ..... but before one names the past, it is good to be clear where one stands in the present. And my past is, I believe, of some concern to you, is it not?"

[ 02-19-2002: Message edited by: Cyril Darkcloud ]

[TAOWolf]

She sets down her tea, her eyes never leaving his, and her cheeks color slightly ~I have never giggled like a child, what is this?~She regains her composure, and pulls out a sapphire hilted dagger, with runes carved into the blade, and slowly picks at a string on one of her gloves. She sighs, and looks him straight in the eye again, her amber eyes softly glowing, showing only briefly the hint of the shadow of wolves in them....."I...I saw you in some dreams...." ~she pauses, frustrated that she can't just spit it out~ "Or rather, in visions. I'm not sure what they mean, but....." ~tears come to her eyes, and she lays down the dagger, and turns from him, facing the fire~
"I saw......I saw you, and a .....a ...locket, and...and...."
~she closes her eyes at the memory, and puts her face in her gloved hands.........~

[Cyril Darkcloud]

The words spring from his lips – Shuka’lah sof kata’ma’im ha soph. [She has dreamed, then, of my heart]

Visions? Dreams? – What could possibly cause one of this land, so far from the sky, to dream of him? His hand moves slowly to his neck, to the locket resting under his tunic. “For her sake,” he thinks, “I hope that her dreams have gone no further than what she has described.” Leaving his seat in the window, he slowly crosses the room and places his right hand on her shoulder. Unsure of what her response will be to his touch he pauses and then relaxes slightly himself as she allows his hand to remain. He moves around her chair to kneel between her and the fire. Having removed the glove from his left hand – [it too is burned] – he reaches up and with a tenderness that surprises him, places both of his hands on hers and draws them from her face, speaking softly, “You have dreamed truly, woman.” As their eyes meet he places the locket into her hands.

[TAOWolf]

She looks at the locket in her hands, afraid to open it, afraid of what might be inside....She looks back up at him, noticing finally his other burned hand, and frowns. Reaching into a pouch at her belt she pulls out some valerian and sage, needing something to do to delay opening the locket. She lays the locket carefully in her lap, and starts crushing the herbs between her hands and adds them to her cup of tea, handing it to Cyril. "Please, drink this," She makes him take the cup, and returns her attention to the locket. Carefully she pulls off a glove, and lays the locket, unopened in her palm. The runes flare bright blue, then die down to a soft silver glow, and the locket raises an inch above her hand, spinning slowly in the firelight. ~a wolf howls in the distance, a mournful sound, full of pain and heartbreak~ She glances up quickly looking out the window, and tears stream down her face. She mumbles quietly, "I am sorry, brother...she was one of my favorites..." She glances up suddenly, realizing she spoke out loud, and watches Cyril's face, hoping he won't bolt. ~the wolf sends her a brief fragment of memory, in the way of pictures: (a silver female wolf, lying on the ground, a dagger thru her heart) (smoke in the distance, from a great fire), (and a shadow flying just above the trees)~ She looks quickly back at the locket, but what draws her attention, is Cyril's cloak. She looks intently at it, and with a burst of intuition, realizes what has entwined her fate with Cyril's. She closes her hand, and the locket falls into her hand still gloved and she clutches it tight. "What....what is in this locket? And what has your cloak done to me?" ~for the first time, she realizes she WAS sent to help this man~ She reaches out slowly with the ungloved hand, stopping just before touching his face.........

[ 02-19-2002: Message edited by: TAOWolf ]

[Cyril Darkcloud]

His eyes do not leave hers. Taking the cup from her hand, he sets it on the floor beside her chair. There is no hostility in his expression, but the refusal is firm. A storm is building within him – this confining space, claims of vision by a shaken woman, the simple fact of the nearly continuous physical proximity between them over the last two days, these dangerous offers to remove the pain from his hands and strip his weakness of meaning ......

..... and now this intrusion! – Placing the locket in her hands was done at no small cost, and she soils it with magic. “I gave her no leave to probe it,” the building sense of violation is becoming more difficult to contain.

She does not realize ..... she meant no offense ...... how could she even begin to know? Such justifications no longer matter. Wittingly or unwittingly she holds what she has no right to hold and asks what she has no right to know. He places his burned hands around her gloved fist, clasping it firmly but making no move to retrieve the locket. “A moment longer,” he decides, “I will trust her a moment longer.”

With the last of his patience, he speaks, “You verge on violating a very sacred place, woman. I trust you have exceedingly grave reasons for doing so.”

[ 02-19-2002: Message edited by: Cyril Darkcloud ]

[TAOWolf]

~She cries out when he grabs her gloved fist, opening her hand, letting the locket fall into his....she rips her hand away, holding her head. She looks at him with a heart-breaking look on her face~ She stands suddenly, knocking the chair she was sitting in forcefully backwards against the wall. Turning she drives her fists into the wall, over and over. ~the fury she felt when he touched her.......the pain.......the sorrow........~ It is more than she can bear, so she hits the wall, over and over. Her mind is a confusing mix of turmoil, images, memories ~hers, his, and the wolfs~ merging together till their is no distinction. She falls to her knees, and looks over her shoulder, her eyes now glowing silver, and she snarls....almost wolf-like. "I meant you no harm, I did NOT attempt to open the locket or look inside, all I did was raise it in the air to look at it with no distraction........" She screams, holding her head again.
She looks to the window, and jumps up, running to it. Sticking her head out the window, she screams with a voice not heard for 200 years.
Answers in the distance of wolves, dragons, cougars are heard. ~the people in the tavern stand or sit still in shock, not knowing where or what they are hearing~ Finally, she collapses by the window, and sits there peeling off her gloves. Looking up at Cyril with incredible sadness in her eyes ~still glowing a faint silver~, she tries twice to speak before she can actually say anything.
"I....I...I am sorry you think I would do anything to hurt you. I am not evil...my magic is in the light, not dark....never dark!" She lowers her eyes, looking down at the scars and runes on her hands, and holds them up for him to see.
"THIS was done to me a long time ago." She lifts her leather pant leg up, and pulls off her boot, showing him her calf. "This was done yesterday. Your CLOAK did it....HOW? And why do I feel so drawn to you....oh..oh bullocks" She shakes her head again. ~she looks like a trapped animal. The confined space is stifling her, she longs to be in the forest, in the wind. The closeness of this man has stirred something in her she thought had died long ago, and her heart almost breaks just for the knowing he will probably now have nothing ever to do with her, because he thinks she violated his beliefs~ Finally, she just sits there by the window, hands clenched in fists, looking to the forest...........She whispers softly, not knowing he overhears, "No, my life will never be easy, but by the goddess, will I never find life or love again? Will you curse me to walk the earth, everyone I meet afraid of me?......."

[ 02-19-2002: Message edited by: TAOWolf ]

[Cyril Darkcloud]

The winds had begun building even before her cry had faded into mournful echoes. He has gathered her belongings and moves swiftly to where she sits beside the window. The winds carry her whispered speech to his ears as he reaches down with no hesitation, taking her ungloved hand in his own ** he will not be affected by her touch while in this state**. He closes her fingers over the locket, speaking in a whisper that is impossibly clear, “Keep it safe while we travel.” The winds surround her as he lifts her to her feet, never loosening his hold upon her hand. He speaks softly in the ancient dialect of his people and the building shakes in the screaming of the wind. The wall around the window explodes outward. Dropping her hand, he stretches his arm around her, pulling her close to himself. “Your storms it seems, have called to mine,” he whispers and steps forward, taking her with him out of the building and into the storm.