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Post by Choice on Aug 29, 2022 21:26:16 GMT 1
OOC: This thread is for those who stay behind in the Holt during the search-and-rescue for the hunters. It takes place on Day 33, right after Waiting Out the Storm. If your elf isn't out on the hunt and didn't go with the search-and-rescue, feel free to post here! IC:Choice had cuddled up with both Sneak and Dance since the hunters-of-the-hunters had departed. He hated waiting, but bothering those out searching surely would do no good - rather the opposite. "Do you think anyone's seriously hurt?" he asked no one in particular, speaking out loud more for the comfort of his own voice. Outside the winds howled loud enough to be heard through stone.
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Post by SL2657F on Aug 29, 2022 23:26:36 GMT 1
SL2657F turned to look at Choice, still standing in the entrance to the outside. She still worried she should have gone after the sled but her lack of mind-talk and very limited Elven would complicate things. She was unaware that Tambri and FarSight both had a small grasp of Human tongues from where they were from, but she still felt it'd be more burden than help in a situation that seemed urgent, from how the small preserver had explained.
She didn't answer immediately. When she did, habit caught her speaking Human. <"Bad storm... cold... I do hope they found shelter... Freezing is a bad way to go.">
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Post by Choice on Aug 31, 2022 19:10:09 GMT 1
Choice started at hearing strange words spoken, still so unused to hearing anything but elven language - though not a complete stranger to humans having other words than theirs, what SL2657F spoke was nothing like the language of the five-fingers where he'd lived before.
"I-I'm sorry?" he stuttered, staring at her. "I don't understand."
Dance and Sneak, sensing his unease, huddled yet closer to him. The Beacon Room's fire warmed them, yes, but the chill of tension and nerves fought against that. Even the maned-wolves could understand that part of their group had gone missing, based on tension and sending-images from Choice. They were getting a little protective over 'their' elf.
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Post by Keleero on Aug 31, 2022 19:14:25 GMT 1
Keleero, who'd been keeping to the cave with warm water to stave off the cold of the blizzard he was far too unused to - having grown up deep within a mountain with plenty of magical solutions to warmth - finally ventured into the Beacon Room in search of food. He found the cave much emptier than expected and full of stiff shoulder and worried frowns.
"What has happened?" he asked, having only caught the tail-end of SL2657F's strange words and Choice's confused reply. "Where is everyone?" Some had left to hunt earlier, yes, but not this many.
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Post by Milo on Sept 1, 2022 1:10:35 GMT 1
Milo had settled in with the cubs, easily handling them thanks to being a good deal taller than FarSight had been. Just been quiet, since a new elf meant another one to explain to who and what he was, deal with the consequences. Even for elves friendly with humans, he couldn't imagine them approving of his existence. Many here might trace their linage to some beast, but who'd been the first of that? How'd they got treated?
With Keleero coming in, any reply to Choice got cut off. The elder didn't exactly like him, so the boy had made a habit of being as quiet and out-of-the-way as he could be in this cramped surroundings.
(OOC: We didn't talk about that before I think, but with Milo and Crispin there's now two fluent human-speakers around – do you want them to understand SL2657F or would you rather it's a different dialect? I'd sort Crispin in somewhere ancient egypt, with arabic influences (she probably learned more than one human language in her long life) and Milo is medieval britain)
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Post by SL2657F on Sept 8, 2022 20:33:48 GMT 1
Ooc: the dialect used where SL2657F comes from would be similar to modern English though a bit advanced. Probably honestly more like how they spoke in the tv show Firefly with a mix of Chinese splattered throughout the language. So some would literally be Chinese and other words would literally be modern English.
The Snow-Leopard looking elf continued to stare out into the snow before finally turning back inside. Her feline features made it difficult to read her thoughts though the way she moved suggested she didn't like the fact she'd been left behind. Even if the others didn't know her intent to go.
She rarely spoke with any of them as it was. She was still convinced that this was somehow a trick and she had thought to use the excursion to rescue missing tribesmates as a way to better see the terrain. Perhaps she could pinpoint her location that way?
As it was, she still wondered if she was being too cautious. She reached up and brushed furry fingertips over the embroidered letters of her designation and turned to look back towards the hallway leading to the sleeping chambers. The yellow-green light on the back of the collar was lit. She was still a little unwell after her ordeal but it was nothing requiring healing.
Finally she glanced around at those gathered. The wolf cubs caught her attention quickly at that point and a grin could be seen easily enough. Who didn't like baby animals?
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Post by Choice on Sept 8, 2022 21:32:12 GMT 1
Choice jumped as Keleero entered the room. For an elf with so little out-of-den wits the glider could move disturbingly quietly when he wished it - or when he forgot to walk. Choice had noted Keleero's habit of trying to stay on the ground when in larger groups or around people he didn't seem comfortable with - which, from what Choice could tell, appeared to be pretty much everyone. Unsettling. But, he'd asked a question. "Some of the others have gone out to see to the hunters. We're...worried something might have happened to them. The new elf, eh, FarSight went with them. I-I think we should prepare for the worst, just to be safe." He sent a shaky smile toward Crispin . "It warms my heart to know we have good aid to depend on here." Not that healing magic could solve any injury, and for death there was no cure, but the possibility of magical healing brought far more hope than its lack. Choice moved to stand between Keleero and Milo, not having forgotten the tension between them and seeing how Milo looked to make himself as small and quite as his long limbs would allow. Despite how much taller than him Milo was, Choice still felt protective, almost fatherly toward the younger elf. Maybe it was stolen Recognition still echoing through him, but if Keleero chose to make any rude comments, Choice would answer in kind, and more. He didn't seek to shield Milo from SL2657F though - she was strange to Choice, yes, but she hadn't shown the open, targeted hostility toward Milo that Keleero had. He'd give her the benefit of the doubt, for now. |
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Post by Keleero on Sept 8, 2022 21:42:04 GMT 1
Keleero took in the cold atmosphere of the Beacon Room, far too chilled to be credited even to the raging blizzard outside. Choice's explanation as to why made a lot of terrible sense. The hunters, out to get them more much needed food, possibly dead or dying - that was the weight to Choice's words, even if he hadn't said exactly that. Keleero wasn't so shocked as not to notice Choice's protective stance between him and the... half-elf, over by the small beasts. And then there was the other, equally strange and disturbing though different half-elf, whose voice had echoed human-sounding words through the Beacon Room before Keleero entered it. He'd learn to know her voice, though he still hadn't been able to learn her name, the sound of it so strange. Though, to be honest, he had tried to not think on her or Milo too often since their arrivals. Best keep away, keep to the safety of work. Speaking of: "I'll go back to my work, to make sure we have all the warmth we need," he said, stiff and uncomfortable. Nothing good would come of him insisting on staying in the Beacon Room and if there was a time they could do with even more hot water in the cave walls, it was now. He left as swiftly as he'd come, remembering to put his feet on the floor this time around. OOC: Sending Keleero out of the Beacon Room cave so we can have someone discover that so many elves in the Sleeping Chamber will disappear later on in this thread  |
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Post by Crispin on Sept 9, 2022 5:19:11 GMT 1
Crispin smiled reassuringly at Choice. She was confident in her abilities to help as much as any healer could and failing that, knew at least how to ease a passing and the pain of those left behind. Though this was a shaky holt, plenty of tensions running under the surface. Her people might've been scattered throughout human lands, robbed of their freedom, but at least they were united. **All will be well** she repeated with calmness, a voice of hope in these times. Someone had to be.
Following Keleeros decision to leave, she rose too. **I think I'll finish that bath now, while there is time.** FarSights arrival and the pups needing help had interrupted that, so her hair still was in a disarray and her scarves missing. Getting some sleep in after that would be a good call too, before an unknown number of injuries kept her up caring for patients. **Do not hesitate to get me, should anyone return in need of assistance.** Healers had no downtime after all, not in emergencies.
(OOC: Taking Crispin out here too – bathing first, than later sleeping, unless someone wishes to talk worries with her)
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Post by Milo on Sept 9, 2022 5:35:59 GMT 1
Milo appreciated Choice stepping between him and Keleero, even if he couldn't quite sort how to feel about that. There hadn't exactly been many instances of people protecting him in his life, least of all with no hidden interests. It felt odd. And he knew that this situation couldn't go on forever, but then he hardly could leave in the middle of winter, least of all a blizzard. There weren't even any other accommodations the elves built here to evade the elder better, not that he'd know how to live in the wilderness. Still he let out a breath at the encounter ending so soon.
Glancing at the human-speaking elf, he smiled slightly at her lighting up about the cubs. <”Do you want to pet them?”> he asked, enunciating slowly and clearly – whatever language she spoke was not quite like the one he grew up with, but it was enough to understand most and hopefully be understood too. Skys knew that he had experience feeling left out for being different.
(OOC: Got it! Milo should understand her then, though with some difficulties, while Crispin doesn't. Though she'd be patient enough to try and learn.)
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Post by Nightbird on Sept 9, 2022 6:11:54 GMT 1
The sun had just set, and Nightbird stared up at the stars winking into existence against the Indigo sky. Her wolf friend, living up to his name, only sat up to whuff into her hair because he was hungry.
She wondered, as she had done many times, what had happened to Mahrak and Longsleep. She'd just gotten used to their company when they vanished. Literally. Mid-stride, racing through the grass, the wolf's shorter strides pushing to keep up with the tiger's longer ones and -
She'd never forget how it looked for him to just...wink out like that. It had been moons, and the image was as fresh as if it had just happened.
With a sigh, Nightbird rolled to her feet, scratching Lazybones behind the ears. "C'mon, then, old man. Time to find some breakfast."
Mounting up, she blinked as Bones whined and she felt a twisting in her stomach, opening her mouth to mutter -
- when she was suddenly somewhere else. She blinked again, stunned into silence and lack of movement.
A blinking light caught her attention and she turned her head, vastly confused, and then stared at the collected elves, expression one of complete bafflement.
Still sitting on Lazybones, who seemed just as confused, the raven-haired artist said, "Um. Hello."
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Post by SL2657F on Sept 9, 2022 7:24:35 GMT 1
SL2657F glanced at the retreating elves. Any sends were still met with a solid wall of nothingness where her mind would otherwise be. She didn't know that words had been exchanged, she just noted elves enter and silently leave. She glanced back to Milo and tilted her head slightly before nodding. She didn't think many would be able to communicate with her. She was trying to learn their words. The few she knew would only appear hostile toward them and that was not what she wanted. The fact that a near-human looking elf existed made her even more curious. Was he a possible failed experiment? Something gone wrong? Did they try to mix elf with human blood only to find it didn't take so they swapped to the bonded animals of elves? She had questions but didn't want to ask them. She partially didn't want to upset the male.
She moved over, the soles of her combat boots making soft thuds against the floor of the cave before she sat down. She reached out toward the smaller of the two cubs when a flash caught her attention. Her ears shot upright and she jolted back in surprise. She wasn't present when the sled and its rider had arrived only a few hours earlier, so she didn't know just how bright it got. She saw, once the flash died down and vision returned, another elf and another wolf. She glanced towards Milo, not sure what to say. Or do, for that matter.
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Post by Choice on Sept 10, 2022 15:05:43 GMT 1
Crispin's calmness set Choice at ease. Things would be well. They had to be. **We will be sure to let you know if anyone is hurt, Crispin. Though I hope we won't have you. Enjoy your bath!**
Choice watched Crispin go deeper into the mountain, as Keleero had done, while trying to keep from interrupting the dawning talk between Milo and their half-cat friend. Choice had only just begun to put a word to the very idea of 'language', so understanding that it went beyond that elves and humans both could talk but only to their own kin was still beyond his understanding. He was happy, though, seeing that Milo seemed to have managed to actually say something the half-cat understood. He also was relieved to have the two of them tending to the wolf pups; he'd already had a tricky time interacting with the wolves such as Badger was bonded too, very different from his own maned-wolves. These pups were far larger than he assumed those other stranger-wolves' cubs would be, so doing something wrong while playing with them could end even more poorly.
Choice started when the Beacon lit up. He'd almost gotten used to it happening, but after FarSight's recent arrival he'd sort of assumed it would take a while before the next appearance.
When the bright light died down, Choice was more than surprised to see a familiar face - if only familiar through shared sendings.
"I know you!" he let out in a rush of breath. "I-I mean, I've seen you, in a sending." He held up his hands to show he meant no harm despite his loud sort-of-greeting. "Sorry, you must be very confused. We all were, at first. You do know Mahrak, don't you?" He added a tentative sending of the elf in question at the end of his words, showing an image Mahrak and his strange not-lion bond-friend.
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Post by Keleero on Sept 10, 2022 16:57:07 GMT 1
The flash of the Beacon was followed by a sudden, cold and stunned open-sending from Keleero:
**We...are now missing a number of people. The bed-bowls in the Sleeping Chamber are much emptier now than when I last passed them.**
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Post by Milo on Sept 10, 2022 23:52:36 GMT 1
He was sure Spotfur could learn to talk, with enough practice and some help. There were more elves here who spoke human, so even without sending it should be possible. Even without that, there still were gestures – there'd been monks sworn to silence, never speaking outside of prayer. A fate many wished he would take, if only to make him even less noticeable. The less questions anyone asked about his heritage, about the why of all his misshaped body, the better it would be.
The beacon bringing another elf distracted him from the cubs for a moment, the light leaving him blinded for a moment, blinking till he could make the new figure out – and her wolf. Milo shifted to keep the cubs closer, remembering the warning about another wolf hurting them already, the reason for FarSights journey. At least Choice seemed to know this new elf, hopefully making introductions easier. “Welcome... to the Beacon” was all he threw in carefully. Better not to draw too much attention, have someone question why there was a human here.
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