The Wood Between the Worlds
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.
Who is online?
In total there are 4 users online :: 0 Registered, 0 Hidden and 4 Guests :: 1 Bot

None

[ View the whole list ]


Most users ever online was 77 on Wed Apr 07, 2021 12:40 am
Latest topics
» The "Bored at work" thread
2nd of Uktar - Second Watch - Dagadar EmptyWed Jul 19, 2023 9:31 pm by Magyc

» Fangwood Map
2nd of Uktar - Second Watch - Dagadar EmptySat Jul 15, 2023 8:04 pm by Magyc

» Introduction to Kestrillon
2nd of Uktar - Second Watch - Dagadar EmptyMon Jul 03, 2023 5:56 am by Eddick the Steady (XIV)

» Picturesque
2nd of Uktar - Second Watch - Dagadar EmptyMon Mar 13, 2023 1:11 pm by Magyc

» Pathfinder
2nd of Uktar - Second Watch - Dagadar EmptySun Nov 27, 2022 10:31 pm by TRU

» High Jumping
2nd of Uktar - Second Watch - Dagadar EmptyTue Oct 18, 2022 10:31 am by Magyc

» The Adolescence of Silas Trester
2nd of Uktar - Second Watch - Dagadar EmptyThu Jul 07, 2022 7:22 pm by The Sub-Creator

» Prophecy from the Vistani
2nd of Uktar - Second Watch - Dagadar EmptySun Jun 19, 2022 12:47 am by TRU

» Lettters of Correspondence
2nd of Uktar - Second Watch - Dagadar EmptyThu Apr 07, 2022 4:59 am by Colin Marcus


2nd of Uktar - Second Watch - Dagadar

Go down

2nd of Uktar - Second Watch - Dagadar Empty 2nd of Uktar - Second Watch - Dagadar

Post  Colin Marcus Sat Sep 19, 2009 10:00 am

It was time for the second watch of the night. Even though Gwilly considered herself "on duty" all night long, second watch was the time when she was joined by a sleepy Kaber, the Minotaur on whose horn she sat on most of the night while he slept. This particular watch happened the be the most happening time of the night, Gwilly had noticed. If anything was going to attack the group it would happen on second watch. Gwilly sincerely hoped that nothing would attack them tonight because she was to distracted with wedding plans to keep a faithful eye out for predators.

Her mind swam with details. How many caskets of wine would she need to make? What should she have served for food? Of course the normal fair of the best fruits and berries would be delightful, but what will be in season? How long was it going to take to get out of Dagadar (for, surely they would want to have the wedding as soon as possible)? So many details!

Gwilly could barely contain her excitement. The very fact that Ashara had charged her with the responsibility of planning her wedding party was one of the best things that had ever happened to her! She had to share her joy with someone, and the only one awake at the moment was Kaber.

"Oh, Kaber," Gwilly squealed with excitement, "Ashara and Elric are going to be married! Or rather, they should be married. I mean, Ashara loves Elric, and I'm sure he knows it, and if he doesn't marry her he is a crazy stupid head! Oh, but isn't it wonderful?" Gwilly let out a dreamy sigh.

"Oh, and I'm in charge of planning the wedding party! I've never planned a wedding in all my born days! Its such an honored responsibility! I can't believe it! I have no clue where to begin. I mean, I'm sure the wedding will be held in Impresk, just as soon as we get out of this hole. How many people live there (I'm sure they will all want to come)? Now I wish I had paid better attention when we were all there last. Goodness knows it would have helped me now. I'll just have to plan for a rough few thousand. And of course the wedding will have to be outside. I hope the weather holds. It is getting rather late in the year for an outdoor wedding. I don't have to worry about flowers though, I can conjure up just what I need. But food! What to do about the food!?! Berries and fruits would be the best but we may not be able to find much once we get back. And food is something that I'm not so good at conjuring up, satisfying food that is. I suppose that fresh harvest vegatables would do in a pinch but that doesn't seem festive enough. And the wine I have to make. Thinking about that alone gives me a headache. Though I'm sure not many mortals can handle my kind of wine. I'm sure I could have some honey mead brewed, and maybe I'll procure some of that awful stuff that humans call wine and doctor it up a little. I suppose that might do. But, oh, I don't want to 'just make do'! Everything has to be the best! Everything must be perfect! I mean, this is Ashara and Elric, the fated lovers, our friends and almost family! There will be NO SKIMPING! And wouldn't it but just perfect to have the wedding at sunrise? Those two are always up at that time anyway, why not get married then. Strong and fearless Elric, practicing his fighting stances with dawn's first rays shining over his sinewy body and sweet, demure Ashara praying devotedly to Lathander as the pink glow of the sunrise kisses her beautiful face and highlights her perfect features. *sigh* Oh, I can just see it now..."

--------------------------------------------

Kaber sat on watch with his thoughts. Gwilly was there, but he tended to ignore her at times like this. He never did it out of any cruelty, it was more of, she talked fast about so many things that it was hard to keep up. The minotaur wasn't slow by any standards. He wasn't sure if any of the group were able to keep up with her.

He sighed. The mighty minotaur, left his people to find a better way. A better way of what? He still didn't know. He had been amazed with himself lately. His views of the entire world had changed drastically. He was actually sitting with a pixie on his head. How did he come to this. It was strange, being around these people, things he never would have done, he found himself doing. When did Gwilly start riding him and he, who could crush an orc's skull with one mighty hand.

He didn't not like Gwilly, he knew that. In fact, she amused him, perhaps more than he let any of his companions know. Shaking his large head slightly, so as not to disturb her too much, he realized that he was protective of her, almost as much as Ashara. Kaber wondered what spell they held him in that would cause such a bloodthirsty creature to, care? He actually trusted these elves and humans, and yes, pixie, with his life, as he knew they trusted him with theirs.

Minotaur society isn't barbaric, but it is very much based around strength and battle hardend resolve. Kaber didn't feel any weaker. He actually felt as strong as ever, and constantly proved it in battle with these others who had accepted him, not as a beast, but a compatriot.

He half listened to Gwilly go on about something with Ashara and Elric. Something in the recesses of his memory struck a cord and he started to listen more. Humans had some strange practices that he still didn't understand fully, most of which he never concerned himself with learning any more of. There was something important about this though.

The way Gwilly was talking was harder to follow than usual. She seemed to be talking about a ceremony involving Ashara and Elric, and her homebrewed wine. Kaber had never seen them perform anything together, and the pixie's wine could send a giant reeling at times.

"What are you talking about? Does Ashara and Elric need help with something?"

--------------------------------------------

Gwilly was startled out of her reverie when the minotaur spoke. Even though she was talking to him she never expected him the reply. Every now and then she would get a grunt or two during these watches and that is what she had come to expect. But this, this was a surprise!

"So you are listening to me!" Gwilly exclaimed. "You know, I was beginning to wonder if you were ignoring me on purpose when I tell you things during our watch together. You should listen up more often! I may have important things to say and if you don't pay attention you may just miss out! Not everyone sees the things I see," she said with a huff.
Gwilly had half a mind to just let Kaber wonder what it was she said. If he wasn't listening the first time, why should he get a second chance? But this information was too important, too exciting to hold to herself. She had to tell him!

"Of course Elric and Ashara need our help! They are in love! Or at least I know Ashara loves Elric. And if Elric doesn't love her back, he's an idiot! We have to help their love grow and get them married as soon as we leave this place!"

---------------------------------------------------

"What does Ashara want to do to Elric? How do they need our help?"

Kaber had long ago realized that if you wanted to talk to Gwilly or ask her for information you had to assume that you've had several conversations previous to the one you were trying to have. She had a habit of having discussing bits with herself, then assuming that you knew what she had been talking about the entire time. That, and the pixie also assumed that everyone knew her entire life's story up to that point. Patience was not what Kaber was known for, but he knew he needed it to find out what she was speaking about and how it involved his companions.

He knew what love was, in a manner of speaking. The minotaur language had no word for it, so it was still difficult to understand its full meaning. What he couldn't understand is why one being would 'love' another. Kaber didn't have the slightest idea of what 'married' entailed, though he was sure he had heard the term before. It all had something to do with males and females.

What reason had he for understanding these social interactions? That's not the reason he left his people. He left looking for something more. A better way of life, not killing and conquering for the sake of it. Yet, he hadn't found anything more. Perhaps he had been looking in the wrong places. He wanted something more than living to fight. He was strong, both physically and in battle. What he wanted, was a reason to fight. Oh, they had a reason now, they were breaking a curse, and possibly saving many of the lands above. But, what about after?

Perhaps it was time to stop being ignorant of the other races. He might learn more from them, and this involved two whom he relied upon greatly.

"Why does Ashara love Elric?"

--------------------------------------------------

"What does Ashara want to do with Elric?"

The question made Gwilly's mind race (and cheeks tinge with pink). How was she going to explain this to the big, dumb beast sitting underneath her.

In his defense, Gwilly thought, Kaber isn't really that dumb. In fact he's really smart about somethngs--like killing stuff, but other times he really hasn't got a clue.

Gwilly sighed. "You really don't know anything about love, do you?" She smiled to herself and shook her head. "Let me try to explain it to you in the way my parents taught me."
" I only know what they have told me, and what I've seen in others, because I've never been in love before... Well, there was that one time," Gwilly blushes, "but that wasn't true love."
"Love comes in a few different shapes and sizes, you see. There is a kind of love that you feel for you family and close friends. You appreciate them for who they are, even if they annoy the heck out you. You feel safe with them and have a desire to protect them, if necessary. You know that your life would never be the same without that, and you don't really mind that. It's a feeling that isn't often called by the name of 'love', though, more often called by the name of 'caring'. When you really care about someone, you love them."

"The love that Ashara has for Elric is a stronger love than that, though. You and I both know that Ashara loves us all with the caring love that I just described. And even though she loves us all, she is not 'in love' with us all. No, being 'in love', and this is talking about true love, is a much more passionate and wild feeling that goes along with caring for someone. It often does not make any sense, and yet, when you feel it, it can make the most sense in the world."

" That part of being in love is something I have a hard time trying to understand, but I know it must be true because I've seen people that are in love do some pretty crazy, and wild things! When my brother fell in love he couldn't eat or sleep for weeks. He claimed that just being near his love was enough to keep him living. I told him that he was crazy and decided to eat his portion of the berries just to spite him." Gwilly smiled at the memory.

" I think I have a better understanding of what it means to be passionate about something (or someone). To want to live and die for it and knowing that you will go crazy if you can't have it. Sometimes I feel that way about being a pixie. If I were to be changed in some way, I know I would go crazy. I think that is how Ashara feels about Elric, that she can't live without him and would die for him in a heart beat. And she is going crazy because she doesn't know if Elric feels the same."

"Now, even though all of this crazy 'in love' business sounds like it is more trouble than it is worth, I have to tell you that its not! Being 'in love' is the best thing that can happen to two people, because they can share in the joy of their love, get married and have lots of babies. Love is a powerful thing, and sometimes it feels like it can tear you apart, but it is also a joyous thing, to be celebrated by all!"

"That's why I want Elric and Ashara to get married. So they can share their joy with eachother and so we can share ours with them and have happy, good times!"

-------------------------------------------------

Kaber was silent for a moment while he digested all the pixie had said.

"So Ashara is going crazy being near Elric, but we can't separate them either? That isn't going to be good with the impending battle. Why doesn't she just ask him if he cares for her? That would solve everything."

Humans and such do strange things with their emotions. They seem to play games with them, and they like it. The minotaur never took much of an interest because he could never understand the point to the game.

"For that matter, why does it matter if he cares more for her or not? He does seem to care for her. Do they have to have love in order to mate? Is that a rule in their society? If a minotaur wished to take a female, he would, though I do not believe the female was ever willing. But she is a female, so if she wishes, she should take him and be done with it."

"Also, why do they have to have this 'married' ceremony to share their joy? or to make little ones? Is that another rule? If they wish to take part in the rearing of young, there have been plenty in Impresk to do so with. If they wish to have their own, they should and we shall all aid in the raising and education."

The logic of these people was strange. He knew that humans and elves and others had a need to produce their own offspring. Not for building the numbers of the race, but for some need to possess them. He wondered if he should be asking the pixie about these matters, she wasn't human or elven either. Yet, he felt somewhat ashamed to bring the matter up to Ashara, as if it would show that he did not care enough about her to know this himself.

Everything else aside, Kaber struck for the core of the problem, "Ashara cares for Elric more than the rest of us. That is fine. I guess I care about all of you," he paused, did he really say that? "And I guess I care about Ashara more than the rest of you, no offense, but I am not crazy around her or without her. What do we need to do to clear her mind and put her in the right mood for this battle?"

-----------------------------------------------------

Gwilly grabbed the minotaur by his horns as she made herself visible to him.
"Ashara loves Elric, Kaber." she said, giving his horns a little jerk. "And I think Elric loves Ashara, he just doesn't know it yet. If you think you're in love with Ashara than you're wrong and if you do anything to mess this up for Elric and Ashara I will kill you the slowest way I know how!"

"You crazy minotaur! I don't understand how you can be so thick headed sometimes! Of course humans and elves have different rules for "mating" (as you call it) in their society! The usual, acceptable terms are to find someone, marry them-which signifies that they are your mate for life, and then have a family. They perfer to raise their kids in a family with a man and woman caring for them than just leaving the kids to the community. And being in love with each other just helps things. I don't know exactly how, but it just does. They (and we pixies) just do things different then what you know."

"And as far as Ashara and Elric going crazy during our battles, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Ashara is a very smart person and knows when she needs to concentrate on the important things-like saving our lives. Just because she is in close proximity to Elric at the time doesn't mean she will fall apart on us. Trust her! This whole love thing may be new to her but I think she knows what she needs to do when it comes to battle! I think she is able to put her own mind right, without any of our help. She is a capable woman!"

Gwilly sighed as she let go of Kaber's horns. Trying to explain things to a minotaur was extremely exhusting. She wanted to sleep but she knew she should at least stay up for the rest of her watch (and maybe the next watch, too). Gwilly never realized how differently the minotaur thought about things. It must be really confusing for him to live with so many people that are so different than him. Some brains are just so strange, it would be so much easier if everyone thought like she did. It would sure make it easier to live with Therogeon, that was for certain!

The pixie giggled as she thought about a happier, pixie-like Therogeon. It was funny to think about, though she knew it would never happen. One could only dream.
Colin Marcus
Colin Marcus
Admin

Posts : 1850
Join date : 2009-09-19
Age : 46
Location : Impresk

Back to top Go down

Back to top

- Similar topics

 
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum