Friday, November 26, 2004

Etude 18: still too lazy to name this one

So... I stopped in the middle of the sentence cause the time ran out. It also makes me more eager to return for the next session. Or something.

Edit: Put in the rest of the etude.


     Rocky greeted them in the morning with a friendly rumble. "I have had a chance to talk with the elders here, and they have promised to help you."

     "Really? Great!"

     "Is there any other news?"

     "Yes. Apparently there have been some troubling events occuring... Incursions of wolves where there should be none, and some of the more peaceful folk have reported that some of their member have become strangely metallic and insane."

     "Uh-oh," said Sarah. "Were any of them of the Butterfly People?"

     "I have heard nothing about them, but it is possible that they are too far away at this time."

     "Ahh." She turned to Armand. "Do you think Lysshander is all right?"

     He shrugged. "I don't know. You were the one who had the dreams."

     "Yeah... I wish I knew what to do."

     "Well, we can at least try to find the Sword of Peace. Or the Eyes of the Whirlwind. Or both."

     "You sound like you want to find the Sword first."

     "I'm worried about it. I don't think the burden of debt lifted when I lost the sword, so that means that we will be struggling against it without the help of the Sword. Which sounds like a bad thing."

     "Okay then." She turned to the ceiling. "Rocky, when can we meet the elders?"

     "Now, if you wish. I will let you out, and you can find your way to them. The largest hills are the elders. The one with the stand of trees growing out of him is Richsoil. You should talk to him." Rocky paused for a moment. "All of them are awake, so you will not need to use your talents to speak with them."

     "Oh, good."

     "My head still kinda aches from yesterday."

     "You may have a little more of the farris root, but too much is not good for you."

     "I know. Seraiel taught me about it."

     "Then I can trust you to do what is necessary. I am still recovering from my unnatural movement, I am afraid, so I will not be of much help."

     "You're still a great host."

     "Thank you, young ones. I would be a poor specimen of my race indeed if I could not still provide basic hospitality."

     Armand finished chewing on his breakfast vegetables. "Sarah, are you ready to go?"

     "In a bit. I want to let the root take effect first so I'm not walking around with a migraine."

     "Okay. Should we take our stuff?"

     "Yeah, might as well."

     "I'll check the packs." He moved off to their scavenged supplies and started going through them, making sure that they had everything they would need.
"Everything there?"
"Yeah, they're good."
"Yay. My headache's going."
"Let's go then." He stood and handed one of the packs to her. "Here."
"Goodbye, my friends," rumbled Rocky.
"We'll see you again, probably," said Sarah.
"Thanks for the stuff." And then they were off.

Outside was an area that looked somewhat like the Living Hills, but smaller. The Baby Hills, perhaps. Everywhere were small mounds, some of them darting about excitedly and apparently chasing each other and playing tag. There were a handful of full-sized hills around. One of them, the largest, had a stand of trees on it.
Armand pointed. "That must be Richsoil."
"Yeah, let's go."
As they walked, one of the little mounds came up to them and put itself in their way. "Hello!" It squeaked excitedly, its voice a high-pitched version of Rocky's deep rumble.
Sarah bent down to greet it. "Hello! What's your name?"
"I'm too little to have a proper name yet, but since I'm so fast, they call me Quickling! See, look at me go!" And it zoomed in a circle around them.
Sarah laughed. "You really are very fast, aren't you."
"Uh-huh!" A little crevice on the mound opened in the shape of broad grin. "What are you here for? I heard there's bad stuff going on and I know Rocky's not supposed to be here because he's too old and he's not one of the Elders who take care of us."
"There is some bad stuff going on. We're going to see Richsoil about it."
"Richsoil's my granddaddy! I'll race you there! Zoom!" And it zoomed off.
Sarah turned to Armand. "I'm not racing that kid."
He shook his head. "Me neither."
Quickling paused and turned around. "Slowpokes!"
"We're just lulling you into a false sense of security," shouted Armand.
"Yeah, right," muttered Sarah, giggling.
He elbowed her. "Oh, and I suppose you can outrun him?"
"Nope!" She shifted her pack. "Come on, I think Quickling's getting impatient."

After only a little more time, they reached Richsoil. Richsoil seemed to deserve its name, as not only trees, but grass, bushes, and flowers grew in profusion over the Mound Person's body. Quickling insisted on accompanying them, frequently running about them in circles and yelling for them to hurry up. At one point Armand dared him to spin in circles for a count of 30, after which Quickling was very dizzy and started weaving around unsteadily. After he recovered, though, he gleefully did it again.
"That is one hyperactive kid," said Armand.
"He's cute."
"I guess. Come on, we're here." He turned to the mound. "Richsoil?"
There was a low, soft, rumbling. "Are you the two that Rocky spoke of?"
"Yes, we are."
"You have brought bad news with you..." The mound shifted in what appeared to be a sigh. "But then, it is better to know of bad news and be able to prepare for its consequences, than to never hear it until the consequences have manifested themselves." It paused for a moment, thinking.
"Granddaddy!" Shouted Quickling gleefully, having just recovered from his last spin.
The mound shifted again. "Ahh, there you are, Quickling. What have you been up to?"
"I've been walking with these strangers. They're funny! The taller one told me to walk around in really small circles, smaller and smaller and faster and faster and then when I stopped I got this weird feeling like the world was still moving around me and it was fun!"

[getting bored with this... they talk to Richsoil and find out more about what's going on and get their supplies added to and they go off and Quickling follows them. end chapter.]

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