Fantasy Unlikely Partners

[Flutterby]

Ilaria walked past Elm, to look at the entrance of the mine. It really was partially collapsed, and had been boarded up. Ilaria picked up on of the boards, looking at the nails as Elm suggested, and then turned it over in her hands. There was a set of deep, four-pronged claw marks on the other side, from it being pried out with a good bit of force. She swallowed softly, and set it back down.
She would easily squeeze through the opening, even with her backpack on, but hesitated. She pulled out a flashlight, and shined it in to try to get a better look, but she couldn't quite see. She had no idea if the space behind the boards and rocks was empty or not.
"What do you think?" She said, turning to Chris, "We could go in now.. but it's getting late, and I don't want to be down there after its dark up here."

 

[Tharivle]

Chris piered in as well. He to was nervous about going underground at night. "I think you are right. It would be better to wait till daytime. Even underground, demons are weaker during the day."
"I will block the entrance for now, then we can come back tomorrow." Elmmriss said. Before waiting for an answer he stepped forward and placed his hands on the side of the entrance. Then just like with the chairs, branches started growing out from his palms. Twisting together to form a solid wall that blocked the entrance to the mine. When he was done he placed his hand on the wood and a small wisp of golden energy rippled down his arm then spiderwebbed across the wall. The stood up and turned to them, "I will be alerted if this wall is broken in any way. I can lead you back to your car, or take you back to my clearing. Where would you like to go?"

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria gave a small nod, and backed up to let Elmmriss seal off the mine. Hopefully, it would be a quite night up here.
"The car, please, Elm." She said quietly, glancing up at the sky. They didn't have a ton of time until it got dark, and even though she would love a night hike, it wasn't a good idea to do it in an unfamiliar area infested with demons. And, she needed time to process what they had learned that day. And to sleep, she was tired.
The dryad gave a nod, and started to lead them down the mountain without another word. They stayed off the trails, to avoid any stray other hikers, but the way down still took a lot less time than the way up. Suddenly, Elmmriss stopped and motioned a little with his arm.
"Your car is just through this line of trees. Since you will return in the morning, I will meet you at this spot to guide you back to the mine." His face was still rather stoic, and he had made himself more tree-like as they got closer to the road.
Ilaria gave him a nod, and said, "Thank you, Elm. See you tomorrow." In the fading light, the dryad's face glowed a little, and she wondered if the twitch of his mouth was a smile.

 

[Tharivle]

Chris nodded at Elmmriss and said, "Thank you for your help." And turned to follow Ilaria.
"Wait Chris." Elm said. Chris stopped and turned back a little confused. "I wish to apologize for my initial treatment of you. It was unfair to assume that after so much time, the Golden Flame had not changed their views."
As Elmmriss talked Chris turned fully back to face him and remained neutral wile the Dryad spoke. Then he answered, "It is I that should apologize. You lost your home, your friends, and your station. All because a few people were jealous and scared." There was a short awkward pause. Then Chris broke the silence, "Thank you again for your help. See you tomorrow morning."
Elmmriss nodded and turned and walked off into the woods. As he walked away they saw the golden light emanating from the Dryad stop, even though they could still see him walking away. He must be able to block our sight. Explains how he snuck up on us.
Chris let Rex into the car then got in himself. When Ilaria sat down he asked, "Is that what you expected when you pictured meeting a Warrior Dryad?"
He turned the car on and started pulling away while waiting for her to answer.

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria walked to the car and waited, watching from afar as the dryad stopped Chris and talked with him. She could hear them, but pretended like she couldn't. When Chris turned to come to the car, she looked away, leaning her back against her door to look out over the ridges of mountains.
She didn't say anything until they were pulling out, and then said, "I thought they would be scarier." Ari gave him a glance, and added, "And less alive." She was being facetious, of course, but then was serious. "I don't exactly appreciate the fact that the Golden Flame lied to me about what they did. But I get that's it's not something they want to own up to, or think they'll ever have to, since the warriors are all supposed to be dead."
She gave a shrug, and was quiet again. The hike had tired her out, and the potion was wearing off. But at the same time, the sun was leaving, and it felt like her body couldn't decide to be awake or tired.

 

[Tharivle]

Chris smiled at her joke, then nodded in response to her more serious commit. Then he smiled again, "To be fair. He could have been much scarier. If you think he was imposing there, you should see what one looks like when they have their armor on and are fighting." As Chris finished making his joke he realized that he sounded like he has seen one before so he quickly added, "I haven't ever seen one before. Just read how they grow armor as they go into battle. There was a comparison picture in one of the books. The same Dryad standing the same way, one with and one without armor and weapons. The first was beautiful and calming, and the second was very imposing. That picture plus what I read about their powers... Well let's just say that it was a very good thing that he was willing to listen."
The drive back into town was uneventful. As they got closer Chris asked, "What do you want to do for dinner?"

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria nodded vaguely as he spoke, because she had picked her phone back up and was reading one of several texts she had gotten that day. They required all of her attention to get through, with all the blubbering and apologies hiding the information. Her jaw clenched before she put the phone down, as Chris asked her about dinner.
"Uh.. well I'll be honest, that potion doesn't leave me with much of an appetite, so I would just as soon not eat at all." She said, looking over at him. "But I'll go wherever you want to, and have some.. soup, or something, I guess." She tucked back some hair that had fallen in her face, and remembered just how much she wanted a shower. Her phone buzzed in the console, and she ignored it.
"Or we could go back to the hotel, and eat what's in the fridge."

 

[Tharivle]

Chris glanced over at her phone as it buzzed, curious who she was talking to, but said nothing and returned his attention to the road. "I am not all that hungry. I'll make a sandwich or something when we get back."
It was a short drive back to the hotel. Chris let Rex out and grabbed his pack and followed Ilaria inside as Rex stealthily slipped around the back.
Rex jumped over the railing from the outside and laid down outside the slider door.
Chris made himself a sandwich and grabbed an apple after opening the glass door for Rex, so he could smell and hear inside. Then he took a bit and set his food down wile he searched in the bottom of his duffle bag. He pulled out a leather bound notebook of medium size. He sat down in the armchair and took another bite while opening the book to about the middle. There was a pen in a pocket on the spine of the book and he took it out and started writing.

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria lead the way inside, her feet clomping softly on the tile floor. She opened the door herself, and stepped inside. The sky outside was growing dark slowly. After picking at some vegetables, she set them aside and stood, turning a lamp on behind Chris's head to give him more light as he wrote.. whatever it was he was writing.
"I'm gonna grab a shower," She said, as she walked away, and disappeared in the bathroom with a pile of clothes and bottles of shampoo and conditioner.
~~~
Twenty minutes later, she re-emerged, opening the door and allowing a fair amount of steam into the room. Chris was where she had left him, and she looked over at him at she sat down on the edge of the bead. She started to brush her hair out, and asked, "What are you writing?"
She assumed it was a journal of some kind, but her curiosity got the better of her.

 

[Tharivle]

Chris had been slowly writing while eating the entire time Ilaria was in the shower. Chris looked up and smiled, "This is a flame journal." Chris lifted the book so she could see the cover. It had the sword and flame symbol of the Golden flame on the cover. "Much like our tattoos, the symbol on the cover can only be seen through someone with magical eyes. And it takes at least a secondary to read what is written on these pages." Chris slid the pen into its pocket and closed the book. "While everything I write is usually in another book somewhere. No other book will have my notes, my experiences, or my perspective of things. So this book is like an autobiography, but it is not just information on me. It is information on everything I have ever learned." Chris paused and tossed the book to her gently, so it landed next to her. "Literally everything I know is somewhere in that book. And one day this journal will be added to all the others in the library."
"I write daily. Two sections. The first is what happened during the day, and the second are bullet points of things I learned." Chris smiled at her, "If you want you can take a look any time you want. I keep it in my duffle bag."
Chris got up and retrieved some clothes from his bag, "My turn for a shower."

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria picked up the journal, turning it over in her hands a couple times before opening it. She paged through it gently, not really reading anything, but taking in the look of his handwriting. It was neater than she expected, but not as pretty as her own. He used short, definite strokes, forming his letters without any extra effort beyond making them neat and readable.
It felt a little weird, to hold 'everything he knew' in her hands. Strangely personal- too personal for her, right now. She stood, and tucked it back into his bag where she had seen him pull it from. Maybe some other day.
While he was in the shower, Ilaria was on the phone, talking in short, terse sentences that usually started with "no."
She could see Rex watching her and listening, and knew his concern would radiate to Chris, but there wasn't anything she could do about that.
At last everything was straightened out, and she hung up. She stood quietly for a moment, and then thought, I want a drink.
8 minutes later, she was walking back into the hotel room, with a bottle of win in her hands. It had been a very short trip down to the liquor store. She popped the cork with a multitool she had clipped to her bag, and poured (more than) a glass into one of the cheap plastic water cups.
She took it with her out onto the patio, and sat down with Rex to sip at the cheap alcohol as the sun set.

 

[Tharivle]

Chris heard Ilaria leave, and when she came back he was out of the shower getting dressed. When he came out of the bathroom he saw the bottle and then Ilaria sitting next to Rex outside. He poured himself a cup as well and went out to join them. He sat down on the other side of Rex. "Is she being nice to you?" He asked Rex in a teasing tone. Rex looked up at him then nosed Ilaria and put his head down. "Everything okay?" Chris asked Ilaria after taking a sip.

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria glanced up at Chris as he approached, smiling faintly when he addressed Rex. She rubbed the wolf-dog behind his ears when he put his head back down, and took another sip.
She nodded to Chris, as she swallowed, and said, "Everything will be fine." She glanced at him, and then looked back out to the sky. "This whole thing is just digging up more of my past than I thought it would. I wasn't really ready for that."
She gave a shrug, and took another sip, "Nothing a little wine and a good sleep can't fix. That, and the blocking feature that phones have these days." She laughed a little at her own comment, but it wasn't because it was funny. She was just trying to break the tension, keep him a little further away, emotionally. There was too much swirling around in her that she didn't really want to talk about.
"You haven't told me much about yourself, you know. You've gotten plenty of snippets of my life, but I haven't gotten many of yours." She paused, took a sip. "I don't think that's very fair."

 

[Tharivle]

Chris smiled at her question, because the snippets of her life that he got all just made more questions than answers. But she did have a point. The only thing she knew is that he was almost a 100 and that he was in WWII.
"My parents served in WWI together. Dad was grunt in the army, and mom was a nurse. They meet in the field hospital after he had gotten shot." Chris laughed a bit. "They way the story was told to me could have been a movie because of how stereotypical it was. But he wasn't badly hurt and they wrote to each other throughout the remainder of their service time. They found out that they lived in the same county back home and their service ended around the same time. They got married within a year of being home."
Chris paused and took a sip of his wine, "I was born a few years later. I had a very normal childhood. Enlisted in the army right out of high school. Then less than a year out of boot camp the US got dragged into WWII...." Chris paused and was staring off into the woods with a blank look. "I was at Pearl Harbor."
Then he shock his head and continued, "The battle group I was assigned to was destroyed and the US worried about Germany before Japan. So I got reassigned to the Atlantic fleet and made my way to Great Britain then inland throughout the war until I got shot and was sent home."
Chris laughed again, "When I got home my dad asked me if I meet a shockingly beautiful nurse in the hospital I was at... I did not... I had the mean old nurse that looked like she could kill you with a look." Chris laughed a little at his own joke.
Soon after I got plucked from my police job and thrown head first into a world that I didn't knew existed. And Rex and I have been moving around every 10 years or so to keep from being noticed."
Chris paused to take a sip then asked, "You have any questions? I know that was a lot of information."

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria watched him talk, taking a small sip every few seconds. Her chin was tucked slightly, and she watched him from under her lashes with a small smile.
His life made sense- it all seemed perfectly American. She had bounced around enough to not have been so patriotic, but she found it admirable in him. The moon child chuckled a little at his comment about the old nurse- she had a similar experience in her first orphanage, with a cranky old lady for a "nanny." She thought that 10 years seemed like a long time to be in one place, especially in the age of technology they were in now, but she was running from a little bit more than she was.
"Did you ever find a woman? Did you have a wife, during your human lifetime?" She reached over and petted Rex softly. "Or did you run out of time before the Golden Flame came along?"

 

[Tharivle]

Chris chuckled and answered, "The Golden Flame got me before I settled down. I had a girlfriend in high school. But that ended before boot camp started."
Chris smiled sadly, "There were a few times when I found someone that was more than a one night thing. The first one ended badly, and the rest I let go before anything could happen."
Chris looked at her for a second then continued, "Members of the Golden Flame don't get to settle down. If you fall for a human you have to watch that person die of old age while you stay young. And while getting married to another member is okay, having children is not a good idea."

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria looked at him over her cup, catching his eyes as he paused. Was he thinking of her, of how he didn't have to let her go? He had hinted at it once before. She nodded slowly when he talked about humans- she loved humans and being around them, like her Moon Mother, but couldn't be too near them, because of their horribly short lifespans. His next statement caused her to furrow her brow.
"Why is it a bad idea? Just because they can't be a part of your world, with the fixed number of members now?" She asked, her voice relatively gentle.

 

[Tharivle]

"Yes, there would not be enough power to go around if everyone was getting married and having kids. But more importantly, power is not transferred by blood. It is given based on ones character and willingness to serve." Chris paused while he tried to think of his next words, "There are few people that get married and fewer that decide to have children. There was one couple that had two children, twin boys. They grew up in the grove, as secondary's. And when they turned 18 there were a few spots open and both could have become mergers... But only one brother was chosen to be granted power..."
Chris paused to see how she would react but then continued before she could say anything, " It is not a public thing when you get chosen. You hear a voice and you say yes or no after a discussion with someone you can't see. So when the younger of the two agreed, he didn't know that his brother would not be chosen. At first the older brother was happy for him, then a few weeks later a rift grew between them as the older of the two grew jealous."
Chris paused again then finished the story, "One night the older brother went to the Sun Tree and asked why he had not been called upon to serve. And the Sun Spirit told him that he had not been chosen because he wasn't going to be. That night in a jealous rage the older brother killed his younger brother."
Chris paused again and took a sip of his drink. "There were a few other cases of single children not being chosen to become members, but for obvious reasons the story of the two brothers is the most remembered and talked about. The point is... Just because both parents are members, doesn't mean the children will be. At best they live a long healthy life as a secondary in the grove or depart and live a life away from the grove only visiting every once in a while. At worst they do something awful that highlights the parts of them that made them not get chosen. Either way the parents still outlive their child by anywhere from 100 to 400 years."

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria listened to the story quietly, the wine making her feel the sadness deeper than she usually would.
"That's really, really too bad." She paused, and then said, "And its really too bad, that you all live such lonely lives. Without a person of your own, and little people to take care off."
She took another drink, and considered what she had just said. "Although, maybe the Golden Flame are the type of people that think of the entire world as their people, and find fulfillment in defending humanity.."
Ilaria gave him a sad look, like the thought that they believed that, was almost as sad as the fact most of them didn't find love.
The Moon Mother loved love- she loved that lovers met underneath the moon's rays, she loved that people danced to romantic songs in the dead of night, she loved that people held each other in bed with only the stars and moon for light. It would make her sad, too, to know her brother's people lived without love and romance.
"Would you have children, if you could?" The question came out without her really wanting it to, but she couldn't take it back once it was out, so she just waited for his answer.

 

[Tharivle]

Chris was in the middle of taking a sip when she asked if he would have kids if he could have kids. He held the cup at his lips for a second then he brought the cup down to his lap and answered, "Yes... Yes I would."
He looked down at his half empty cup then added, "If there was such thing as retiring so I could raise a child and grow old like normal. Or if it was a guaranty that my child would become a member, so there was no chance of me naturally outliving my child. I would very much like to have a child."
Chris paused again and looked a little sad, "But there is no unvolentering from the Golden Flame. There is no guaranty that someone will be picked, no mater who the parents are or how they were raised."
Chris looked up at Ilaria. "Growing up in the grove would be the best childhood ever. The kids could go to school in Mullbrook or any other town within driving distance of the fast flight post. Then they could come home to a house that is latterly alive and can talk to you after you throw yourself on your bed if you were having a bad day. It would be like having a grandparent with you every time you want one. They would never have to worry about being sick, because even if you are not a member the energy of the grove heals people. In addition to school they could learn so many cool things, like blacksmithing, or jewel crafting, leathermaking, and all the outdoor things that people who live here know, and many other things."
Chris got to rambling and stopped himself, "Even though not many people get married and extremely few have kids, I will say that we are not a lonely bunch. The camaraderie you see in the great hall is not a front for a large group of lonely people. Everyone here has friends here, and nobody ever sits alone."

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria listened patiently, nodding thoughtfully at the appropriate places. At the end, she gave him a small smile and said, "Maybe lonely is the wrong word." She didn't say more about that though, because the next word she would use would be 'incomplete' and that sounded even worse.
"Or maybe I just don't understand non-traditional families. I'm not used to those," She said, smiling as she finish the cup of wine. She leaned her head back, resting it against the wall, and watched the sky for a moment. It was beginning to grow dark, and the moon had finally started to move out of her dying phase.
Ilaria considered getting up and pouring herself more wine, but she didn't want to be too drunk, in case something happened. The moon child sighed, and looked over at Chris. "I'd like to see the moon mother tonight, but its probably too risky. And too difficult, away from the sea and tipsy." She smiled a little, and then looked down at Rex to pet him again. She had never had a dog, and even though she knew Rex wasn't a pet, she did like snuggling him.

 

[Tharivle]

Rex's ears flicked as she pet his head, and he leaned into her hand as she scratched his ears. Chris smiled and said, "Trader. I get the butt wile the pretty girl gets all the attention." Rex lifted his head and looked over his shoulder at Chris. Then lazily set his head back down next to Ilaria.
Chris chuckled at Rex's response and said, "We will be back on the beach in no time Ari."
Chris finished his drink and set the cup down, "We will want to get to the park around 9 so we should start thinking about sleep."

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria gave Chris another smile, and was quiet for a moment before she nodded. It would be an early start and a long day.
"Alright, then, bedtime," She said softly, and stood slowly. The moon child re-corked the wine and put it in the fridge before pulling the covers back on the bed, with a soft sigh. She sighed again, when she laid down and all of her muscles relaxed.
"I love hotel beds," She mumbled, stretching out and taking up most of the bed, before curling onto her side. "Set an alarm for whatever time," She said, her eyes already drifting shut.

 

[Tharivle]

Chris set the alarm on his phone for 7:00. That would give them an hour and a half to get ready and a half an hour to drive. Then he crawled into bed and went to sleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow saying, "Goodnight Ilaria..."

Chris's alarm was set quietly but it woke him up easily. He shut it off and looked over at Ilaria who appeared to have slept through the quiet alarm. He reached over and lightly shook her awake, "Ari, its time to wake up."
Chris rolled out of bed and Rex was standing next to the door. "You have an hour to hunt. I have something if you don't find anything." Rex barked lightly in response and jumped over the railing and trotted off into the woods.
Chris prepped the Keurig for coffee and hit brew. "Do you want something? There is coffee and tea."

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria woke up when his hand touched her skin, and groaned softly as he shook her. As he got up, she rolled over and wiggled herself deeper into the covers.
She heard the door slide open, and Rex bark softly, and then a soft beeping of some sort of machine. He said something about tea..
She rolled over, and squinted her eyes to look at him. "Mm.." She had to clear her throat, and wet her lips, and then said, "Tea, if there's green tea, coffee if there isn't."
Slowly, she sat up and swung her legs out from under the blankets. One of her hips popped softly as she stood, and she stretched to the edges of her skin with a soft grunt. "Its too early," She mumbled, as she shuffled over to him. She dropped her forehead lightly onto his shoulder, watching him work the little beverage maker.