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Post by Badger on Jul 22, 2024 15:56:48 GMT 1
OoC: Year 1, Day 50, daytime, partially concurrent with Unity of Differences
~*~
Badger nodded her confirmation to the plans of splitting to find the Preserver. At times, the fae-like thing was easy to find, but somehow Badger felt it might see this as some kind of a hide-and-seek game.
"We will try to find the Preserver, in hopes of better translations and communication.", she said to the group as they splintered off from the main posse. Although ... some might have argued that the Preserver and its speech made things eight times more difficult.
They walked along some of the pathways the Beacon-pulled elves had made in the outside, and it took the wolfrider a while to notice that she had at some point taken No-Sting's hand, and was still holding onto it. She looked at their connected hands, and then toward the treetops, as if to avoid eye-contact -- and yet, she did not let the hand go.
Maybe Badger was partially afraid of No-Sting vanishing into thin air, just like Jaseio had done some time ago. At one point she had been there, and then Badger's grip had slipped and Jaseio was gone, like a sigh in the wind. The memories of the storm and all that had happened during that day made the wolfrider maiden tighten her grip of No-Sting's hand.
"So, magpie nests, you said, where the Preserver might be?", she then reassured, hoping to find something else to think about.
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Post by No-Sting on Jul 23, 2024 23:03:39 GMT 1
No-Sting did her best to pretend she hadn't noticed Badger taking her hand, in case drawing attention to it would cause Badger to pull away. The sudden tightening of her grip was a little startling, but it was a tense scene they were leaving. Not strange to be a bit jumpy when whatever was happening with Esseltu hadn't been resolved yet.
"Yes," she answered Badger's question, trying to keep her tone light. "It seems to have some sort of grudge against the magpies. I think they keep stealing shiny trinkets back and forth."
As amusing as that usually was to dwell on, No-Sting couldn't fully distract herself from the scene they'd just left. "What do you think happened back there?" she asked once they were well out of earshot from the gathering place outside the mountain. "With Esseltu, I mean. Other than the Recognition." She'd never seen a Recognition take that kind of turn before.
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Post by Badger on Aug 2, 2024 16:20:09 GMT 1
There was a thoughtful mumble from the wolfrider maiden as the tuft-eared elf mentioned that 'other thing' besides Recognition with Esseltu. A frown appeared on her face -- Badger had not gotten to know the weird looking elf too well, but she now released the hold of No-Sting's hand to gesture around her own neck.
"I have a theory that the 'sayyanteests' ..."
There was a pause as she tried to figure out the word. She could not think of any, so she stopped and made a frustrated growl.
"The thingimabob around her neck, it is hand-made, not naturally occurring...", Badger theorized, and AT LEAST hoped the box was made -- because if it was not, she did not want to see the tree that bore strange fruit.
"There was something about ... death, if the thing is touched or tried to pry off of her?", Badger sighed, unsure of it all. That had been the gist and about the only thing she had gotten from the discussion. "Uhhhh, maybe Recognition is taboo among her kind. Or ... forbidden?"
The wolfrider was not sure what think of that. It was as if sleeping or breathing was forbidden.
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Post by No-Sting on Aug 12, 2024 22:29:53 GMT 1
Brief disappointment hit No-Sting as Badger let go of her hand to bring gestures into her explanation, but tried not to show said disappointment. She didn't want to embarrass herself by looking needy, nor pressure Badger into anything. "I've been trying to wrap my head around the world Esseltu comes from and I've had little luck as of yet," she confessed, dangling her hand ever so close to where Badger's might brush against it again. "It all sounds like madness to me. Then again, I'm sure things about my old life sound mad to people who've never lived in my clan." Though some worlds, like the one Flint described coming from, were definitely crazier than others... "The thing around her neck does look handmade. Like a very strange troll-made necklace." Humans making things like trolls - it wasn't that much of a stretch, was it? "Did you have trolls where you were before this? Eh, sorry, my memory is still trying to learn to remember so many new things." She hoped to get better at it one of these days and not lose herself to the here and now too often. At least she still could recall her own home clearly. For now. "Whatever that necklace is, it's clearly bad for her. It seems able to kill her for more than one reason, if I understood right. Strange that Recognition should be such a thing." That's at least the impression No-Sting had gotten. "And Recognition being forbidden is beyond strange to me. It'd be like forbidding breathing!" she unknowingly echoed Badger's thoughts. "It's not something you can just 'not do'. Is it?" There had been so much said at the gathering, No-Sting was still sorting through all that had been shared. Hadn't there been elves who claimed their people had 'stopped' Recognizing? Or had she imagined that? OOC: Sorry for the wait! The "new post" e-mail ended up in my spam folder this time for some reason  I've hopefully fixed that, but will check in on the forum more often in case there's still issues on my end! |
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Post by Badger on Aug 19, 2024 9:20:15 GMT 1
OoC: No worries about the late reply. I tend to keep Beacon Call less intense anyway, so no harm done.
~*~
“It does seem quite fantastical, or like a fever dream.”, Badger agreed when the world where Esseltu came from was briefly mentioned. Same with Flint’s world, but then she considered the many other origin places she had heard of. Eryk and Choice seemed to be from fairly similar-ish worlds, same with Juniper and some others… They were different— of course — but still not … hm, feverish.
Badger felt unsure if the thing around the neck could be called necklace — it worked like one, but it did not seem to have any decorative value. Only functional, as a punishment. Her thoughtful gaze turned back to the top of the trees, hoping to find some magpie’s nest where Shinefind might be looting.
“Trolls? Oh, yeah, my world had trolls. Not warmongering, like Eryk has told of his, but rather peaceful. Greedy and lazy, no doubt, but not aggressive.”, she added as No-Sting asked about the trolls. At least some things were in common with them, and Badger could not help but feel joy and relief to some of the similarities in between them.
As No-Sting mentioned the Recognition being forbidden, the wolfrider maiden considered the thought.
“If they always avert eye contact?”, she suggested and huddled a little, now talking to the tuft-eared maiden’s feet, covering her eyes a bit for a good measure. “Like this?”
It felt odd and not to mention bad manners, so she stopped and straightened up again.
“But of course cubs can happen without Recognition. Maybe they are forbidden from … hm, relations as well.”, she considered and felt more and more distaste and dislike to the world of Esseltu.
She was about to continue this trail of thought, but then spotted a collection of twigs and things in a limb of a tree.
“Oh, oh, is that a nest?”, the wolfrider exclaimed and pointed at the thing. “Let me climb and check it out!”
Badger probably was not as good as a climber as No-Sting, but maybe she needed a little more action and less thinking of Esseltu’s world.
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Post by No-Sting on Aug 31, 2024 8:49:51 GMT 1
"So many strange worlds…" No-Sting muttered as Badger talked, more to herself than in any attempt to interrupt. As much as she enjoyed listening to Badger this whole situation kept bordering on morbid. She didn't wish to dwell on all the horrors some of their now tribemates had lived through. Not when there was nothing she could do about them.
She grabbed on to the steadiest handhold she could find in this exchange of ideas and said, "Our trolls could definitely be lazy and greedy. But some of them could build wonders. Not just pretty things, but helpful ones, like arrows sharper and steadier than anything we could make of bone and wood." She furrowed her brow. "They must have been awful to fight."
'Warmongering' wasn't a word she'd known before coming to this place. Poor Eryk's people, what a place their home must be. Then again, her own had had its fair share of other dangers.
No-Sting was grateful when Badger again moved the talk along to new territory. She stifled a snort when Badger demonstrated how Esseltu's people might go about their days (or nights?) avoiding all eye-contact.
"I still can't imagine how they make new elves if the elves that are already there can't touch or look at each other," she said, trying to recall what little she'd retained of Esseltu's explanation of <scientists>. Then she thought of saying something flirtatious, but stopped herself before she could be that foolish. Esseltu's homeworld was too horrific a thing to make light of.
When Badger spotted the potential nest, No-Sting choked back a sigh of relief. She wanted to stay in Badger's company, but would rather leave the dark thoughts and realities of other worlds, seeing as she had no idea how to speak of them without risking hurt or offense - like walking on a thin snow crust without knowing if it would hold your weight.
"I'll give you hand up," she said and positioned herself by the tree trunk, hands cupped to offer a step up for Badger. "And keep an eye out for angry magpies. Their nests should be full of eggs right around now, if the seasons work the same here as where I'm from."
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Post by Badger on Sept 2, 2024 18:28:32 GMT 1
"Well, if I fall as an egg thief, you can catch me as my accomplice.", Badger said and started to climb the tree. It was not very nimble or fast, but she did not mind the moment of being alone, after the suggestion of being caught. It brought her an embarrassed sheen on her cheeks, not to mention the discussion of how Esseltu's people made new generations. Badger stopped for a little while as she mulled the ideas over, and then sent to No-Sting, to avoid shouting.
**If they are allowed relations, but the <scientists> are egg thieves, so to speak?**, she suggested in sending, and made a face at the thought. The thought was not THAT much better than the other possible influences that the people might have in Esseltu's world. Finally, she reached the limb with the nest, but sighed in disappointment.
**I think this is an old, abandoned nest, and not a new one.**, she informed No-Sting, but dug in the contents anyway. There were no eggs, and there was not much anything else to go along with... But, the wolfrider maiden did find something, a silver earring, partially shiny and partially tarnished. She watched the thing for a moment, maybe it had belonged to Nettle or Jaseio, she was not entirely sure. Badger pocketed it still, and began to climb down.
Now, even if the season of Newgreen was going on, there was still some ice and snow on some places. And Badger failed to notice her foot placing was indeed icy -- or maybe it was a dead branch altogether. Anyway, the step cracked and fell beneath her, while the maiden had tried to grip onto something. Bad timing, she had nothing to hold onto, and nothing to steady herself beneath her feet, and so the wolfrider fell.
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Post by No-Sting on Sept 22, 2024 7:27:51 GMT 1
"I promise to aid you in all your crimes," No-Sting quipped back, both charmed and relieved to be making lighter conversation. Even though it lasted for a far too short moment. It wasn't so much that Badger picked up the conversation on <scientists> via sending as it was her climb up the tree. No-Sting, who'd practically lived in the trees, only then recalled that not all elves were as at home in them as her. She didn't want to shame Badger by offering to go instead - Badger wasn't doing badly, simply not as well as a Tuftear would have been expected to climb - but her heart rate spiked none the less. This had been a day of strange disasters already. The poor luck could spread. **The <scientists> stealing away the elf children would make horrible sense. Maybe that's what they do. Break up families and pretend they can pull children out of thin air, like magic. Sounds about right, with how-** Badger slipped and fell. Cursing herself and the tree and the magpies for good measure, No-Sting did her best to brace and try to catch her falling friend. OOC: I'll let you decide if No-Sting manages to catch Badger  |
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I've hopefully fixed that, but will check in on the forum more often in case there's still issues on my end! 
