Chapter 41

Looking even more bewilderd than usuall, thinking to himself, 'you would think that being courteous to someone is a crime' Aaron simply shakes his head. To all outward appearances he seems to let the words blow over him like the gentle westward sea wind, but somewhere in his eyes is a look of offended dignity. But since they don't seem to apprecate someone being nice to them, Aaron resolves to keep his distance from this point on.

Letting none of this show in voice, gesture or glance Aaron gracefully slides to his feet, his runeblade and runebag in hand. Quietly he says to the room at large something to the effect of needing to talk to the stars and that he should be back in a few hours. It's really annoying sometimes the way the views between the sexes clash. Were that all he were after, well there are any number of comley and perhaps equally to better talented women around who don't argue over mores just over cash. The nearby town probably has any number of them much more compliant and less complex to deal with should he descide to take that route.

His lean but powerful fram blocking the doorway for a moment as his fluid strides take him out the door and past the two departing females. Not saying a word to either as he heads off to a nearby point at the same stream. Looking for something he spotted earlier on the way into the area.

Espying the old oak that he is looking for, noting that the branches of the hoary elder are drinking deeply from the stream itself. The connection between sky, earth and water represented by the tree part of the ancient magic he intends to call on. Bringing with him fire and spirit to complete the cycle and pull all five elements together.

Driving his blade into the ground, the moonlight dancing along the length of steel and setting the carved runic symbols to glimmering, Aaron next unties his rune bundle, spreading the leather pouch out into a wide square on the grass. A soft clatter of small objects bounce to a rest on the leather square, the entirety of which is coverd in a complex tooled series of designs.

The scattering of white, wooden, objects each with symbols representing the forces of eternity, fate and time, life, past and present, white ash runes, like the blade non magical but an extention of and the tools of his talent. All of which have been crafted by his own hand and sealed to his soul by his own blood.

Leting his mind drift free, letting his thoughts settle to calmness. The impressions of the past few days falling into neat patterns of probability as his gift of Second Sight finds the order of possibilites inherent in current events. Needing to find a clearer answer as to his role in this, Aaron decided a deeper probe into the minds of the Fates is in order.

Stripping off his tunic, leaving well defined chest and shoulders bare, the pale light of the moon setting off the signs of deep scarring on his chest, arms and back. Old sword wounds, and marks of other weapons badly healed. They offer no clerical healing for gladiators. In amoung his scars and the runic tatooing that marks him a runecaster is another small insignificant marking, unremarkable amongst the rest. SPQR.

Aaron starts a small fire near him. Part of the ritual magic, the spirit within completeing the circle of five elements.

Needing no words of enchantment, this being an older lore lost to all but a few of his kin, Aaron simply gathers the bundle of runes in his hands and then proceeds to scatter them across the surface of the leather sqaure again. The pattern of their landing and the places each rune lands on the square showing him the tangled skein of events as clear as a woven tapestry. The skill is not in the runes. It's how his gifts interprest the pattern formed. The tangle of events of the near future forming as a series of clear immages in his head. Showing him the interrelations of the party members, and delenating the fundamental truths of the hidden things about each one around him. The main thing he needed to know, however, being what his role is to be in the comming events.

Not a hint of what he see's will escape his lips. Part of the code of his profession, not to change events, but to guide to the most desired outcome. Keeping what he knows close for when he needs to give events a nudge.

Preparing to put away the tools of his craft, Aaron pauses as he notes the individual runes moving by themselves, lifting into the air and starting to circle around his seated form. Each rune passing through the fire and trailing an ambient red orange glow in their wake. Untill it seems as though he has a gathering of fireflies hovering around him. The runes on his sword glowing the same colour in sympathy......

---

There is a branch of the world-tree filled with lithe, laughing forms. They have magic in their blood and clever, artistic fingers. Some are allies against the giants on the Day That Will Come. Others, traitors, seek to aid the hellspawn.

They are elves. They are not the warp and weft of the world, as Aaron's people are, but they are a pleasing pattern woven into it. They are a part of the world-tapestry the Wyrd weaves.

The serpent has moved from the roots to gnaw at this branch. Already it has eaten almost halfway through it. Sawdust like sand spills from its maw. If the branch falls, the pattern will be spoiled.

The tapestry-thread that is Aaron - and the threads that he believes to be his companions - are gently pulled together from diverse places in the weaving. They twist slightly together to form a cord, which is wending its way to the rippling rent in the fabric.

The cord will either stop the tear or come apart in its path.

---

Feo stayed silent and still high in the branches of the oak - where she had been hiding and waiting for the right moment to slip away out of town - peering down through the leaves at the scene below. She couldn't quite make out what was going on but it intrigued her none-the-less. In her right hand Kaei and Leix struggled slightly in her grip but, thankfully, made no noise.

Feo's golden eyes glowed in the darkness. There was a certain animal like quality to her that suited her chosen occupation as a thief. Kaei and Leix remained, pretty much, her only companions. Two ferrel pine martens, mischevious and more than willing to aid her at work...or make it as difficult as possible for her...! An intricate pattern of tattoo's trailed her face and dissapeared down her neck beneath the collar of her loosely fitted, slightly worse-for-wear shirt. The only other place they remained unhidden by clothing were across the across the backs of her hands.

Intrigued by the glowing that had surrounded the man beneath Feo's grip on her mishchevious companions loosened and they proceeded to dissapear into the void beneath her. Feo silently cursed them, they were 'supposed' to make her life easier but they continually insisted on testing her tollerance with their 'games'. She traced them via their thoughts - simple thoughts bent on self amusement - and considered the world through their eyes trying, unsuccssfully, to convince them to return before they were detected. In all respects they probably were better use out of her life, but her emotional attachment to them.... She turned back to her own mind and watched the man who seemed to have attracted a gathering of glow bugs to himself hoping he was either too submerged in his own dealings to care about two cheeky rodents or too slow to catch them....

A terrible sound splits the darkness as Aaron seems to spring from his seated position, letting out a yell of alarm, batting away at his loose pants in a mad panic all the while. Something small, furry and somewhat rodentlike hanging from his pants, latched on by means of sharp teeth that seemed hell bent on altering his religion.

Both glowing flying runes and the flare of red eched steel wink out as the magic that had, moments before, expanded to show him vista's of probability, flash away in an instant.

In his agitation with the rodent life that seeks to make of his future children a meal, he does not notice his audience. Being at first too preocupied with his now lost vision and now with the furry retroactive assasin to notice the pair of bewildering females.

Falling over, losing his balance as he grabs for his blade and fortunately misses, in his anger not considering the damage to himself he could do should he mishandle his stroke, life gets even more complex as a new devlopment drops in his lap, in the literal sense of the word...

Meanwhile, nearby, Jazel and Gwenh prepare for their baths.

Jazel was mesmerized as she slowly peeled away her clothing, leaving only the light chemise for modesty ... although in prior instances, she'd even forego that in company. But she felt that Gwenh would be offended, so she left it on. What had her soul captured was the movements of the runecaster. She'd never seen one work his craft and was fascinated. Like a moth to a flame, she slowly approached, gasping lightly as the runes flew up to circle around Aaron. Afraid to say a word, she simply watched, the moonlight creating shadows on her lithe frame.

She'd put her foot in her mouth again. Before reaching here, she'd noted his coolness and felt terrible. She'd interrupted something between the two of them and she wondered if she could somehow fix it. But where to start?

Gwenh kept her elven form covered in order to be modest to those who she thought appreciated it. Dragons really didn't wear cloths, it hampered flying. Before she could peel off the thin dress she wore, the only covering on her body, she too was mesmerized by Aaron's display.

His wild dance and the rodent clinging to him was enough to break her trance though, enough to where she gasped, and put her mind in a possition to cast a spell, as something, or someone more importantly, fell into his lap.

Feeling helpless and torn between concealing herself and saving her misshappen companions who'd once again, it would seem, gotten themselves into more trouble than they were worth Feo leant out further from her perch, entrusting her weight to her tenuous grip on the branch above her head. She peered down into the chaos below not even bothering to try the world through Kaei or Leix's eyes.

She frantically tried to sort the situation out in her head when her balance became severly compromised by a resounding crack and the loss of support through her hand. She came crashing down towards the ground and landed in her problems lap.

Shock and confusion were overtaken by the sheer irony of the situation. Feo turned to look her unlikely breakfall in the eye, preparing herself to get out of the way at the first sign of aggression...a dawn of recognition spread across her face, "Aaron?" She burst out laughing, "Is that you?" Kaei busied herself with trying to hide down Feo's back, and Feo glanced at the two scantly clad females and turned an assuming grin towards him, "I'm so sorry to have intruded"

Lucky for her Jazel snapped out of her staring as Aaron tried desparately to dislodge the rodent, or the woman would have been turned into ... well, she didn't really know. Hiding a smile behind the hand that had raised instinctively, she looked to Aaron.

"You poor man, are you injured?" Stepping closer, she extended her hand to help the woman up. "I am Jazel, and you certainly aren't intruding on us," she said, motioning to Gwenh. "On this gentleman, however, I cannot answer." She grinned brightly at Aaron, amusement and a touch of longing in her eyes for a missed opportunity. "Does this happen to you often, sir?"

At first Aaron's reaction is one of shock as the armful bounces into his lap. Then recognition comes with a wash of warm feeling as he catches her up in a very warm and affectionate hug, "Feowyn! It's been...." Flashing back on memories he rcalls over a decade passing since he had seen this particular bundle of mischief, sans private gnawing pets of course. The furry little imps being a new addition to the prankish girl's arsenal.

His eyes laugh as he says to the armful of bounce, "Interrupted? You know me" he exchanges a look with her that only two that have known each other well can share and flicks his glance at the very cold water of the stream. Indicating that he is having his usual luck with the female persuasion.

Aaron's look somewhat detached as his glance shifts to cover the concernd Jazel and then regards the interupted spell casting posture of Gwenh, "OH yes...this sort of thing happens to me all the time." His statement rife with multiple meanings.

Nearby, the runestones have settled to the square of cut leather again. This time in a peculiar ordered design wholely unlike the previous one. Were Aaron in any state to pay attention he would see the signs of an impending life change, but before any can regard it, the actions of a playful animal scatter the stones....

Feo considered him with a warm smile. It certainly had been a long time since she'd seen him. And judging by the scene she'd fallen into he was still pretty much the same old Aaron. She bit her tongue to prevent herself from laughing at his indications of his current situation, and it was always suggested she was trouble?!

She smiled mockingly and pinched a hair from the top of his head assuming to take great interest in it, "You're getting too old. Look," she announced - waving the hair back and forth for his eyes to follow but never see - "you're going grey." She let the breeze carry her 'evidence' away and turned her attention to the two females.

Feo nodded a greeting to Jazel and accepted her offer of a hand up, "Feowyn" she announced herself simply, flicking a glance towards the apparent spell caster in anticipation of a name to go by...

Seeing Leix scampering amongst Aaron's possessions she grabbed him before he could get away with too much damage, mentally both rebuffing and crooning over the two mischief makers, "Sorry about that," she flicked a gaze to Aaron, "Guess they thought you smelt good enough to devour..." She smiled sardonically as she re-released Leix from her grasp and sent him scurrying back up the tree to find her sack and bring it back, "They usually have better taste." She stuck her tongue out at Aaron...oh, it had been so long since she'd last seen him...so many exchanges to catch up on...

Letting her hands fall to her sides, Gwenh watched Aaron, this new woman and Jazel's interactions. Thinking herself rather bored all of a sudden, Gwenh was suprised when attention was turned to her for a second. "Gwenhwyfar Silvanious. These...two, call me Gwenh." Something not quite elvish about her, her posture, the way she talked, everything really, the fact that her hair and eyes were silver would make her rare indeed amung the elves. She sighed.

"But you kids have fun...ok?" She looked at Aaron, the look of one who was starting to hope that he choked on his own tounge on her face. Walking off, she went back to where her and Jazel were going to jump into the stream, finished stripping off her gown and jumped in.

Modesty, after all, was for the race's who naturally lived in those forms.

Feo smiled a small amused and, yet, confused smile as she looked from the retreating Gwenh to Jazel to Aaron; her golden eyes flashing with interest. She gave a slight, noncommital, shake of her head and turned back to the tree...where had that damned blasted animal got to!?

With slightly more grace than her descent had been, Feo easily climbed up into the tree to find where she had left her sack and where Leix had gotten to. She found the two together, hanging where she'd left, it Leix had crawled inside and attacked what was left of her food. She clucked her tongue in irritation but left it at that, after all, the animal rarely remembered a lecture on what not to do. So with a resigned sigh she encouraged Kaei from out of the back of her shirt and re-introduced her to the inside of the sack before clambering back down and swinging out of the tree to land in a curiously controlled manner on all fours.

She had no idea what she was doing really, she had thought Aaron long dead. Instinct said to slip away and leave but her curiosity was piqued and she surmised that if she left now it would be the last time she'd see him. Really it surprised her that that simple fact bothered her so much...

Jazel was amazed by the agility of the woman that fell in Aaron's lap ... and the fact that they knew each other brought a grin to her face. Hearing the splash, she turned to see Gwenh in the water, her clothes on the bank, bringing a full blown smile to her face. With a sigh, she turned back to the stream, removed her chemise and walked in. The water was refreshing after such a long journey. Before long, she was completely clean, thanks to the fragrant root she'd found. Stepping out, she'd noted how quiet everyone had gotten and shrugged. "Gwenh, you are free to share the bed with me, although, I shall fall into dreams before any words can be spoken. I hope you understand."

Redressing into a light blue linen dress, she made it back to the quiet tavern, ascending the stairs to Kvelti's room. Much cleaner than downstairs, she fell onto the soft mattress with a groan.

Aaron looks up at the scampering figure in the tree as he gathers up his scattered runes, frowning for a moment at the half erased pattern that tickles the back of his instincts in irritation, tieing up the bundle again. Slinging the pouch over one shoulder after he has put his tunic back on.

The soft thud, as Feo lands like a cat, sending small life forms scattering into the trees. Aaron smiles, amused, as certain memories of her frightening the wits out of the locals by droping from the tree's, come flooding into his mind.

"Do you want soms milk miss kitty?" Aaron says amusedly to Feo. "I'm headed to town to see about a few things and get some much needed suplies." Adding some mutterings about padding for a horse if they are going to insist on him riding one of those spawns of Hel all over the firmament.

Seeming to disregard the other pair as, without waiting for an answer, he gathers his toys and sets off to the town. Should Feo want to go she can catch up to his long strides.

With a slightly pained expression Feo settled for following Aaron, figuring there wasn't much else to do and, anyway, the thought of towns and supplies made her fingers itch at the possible oppertunities. Where there were towns there were people, and where there were people there were pockets of loose change and whatever else a person like Feo would be happy to "acquire", and a person with pockets would be perplexed at losing.

And in the long run...she had not much else to do, and she was far too young and strong willed to consider an honest job or returning home. After all, where was the fun in that!?

Listening to Aaron's eternal cursings about horses and padding, grinning at vivid thoughts of a boy clinging like grim death to the back of a confused and bewildered beast, Feowyn kept her questions to herself and settled into keeping pace with him...

The town settled dissapointment upon her at the realisation that there probably wasn't going to be much she could "acquire" here...