Al and Erevain

Erevain sits quietly, respectful. When Simeon begins his work, the elf speaks softly. "I am no stranger to troubles of the mind. Sometimes I wished for people not to notice, and sometimes I wanted to scream for help. Does yours come from an injury?"

Simeon frowns as he considers this, rounding the edges of the cube with his knife.

"Alalla thinks so. She had to nurse me back to health you know, before we could come to Targos. That trip finished off what was left of my knee." Simeon taps his right knee with the flat of his knife, and Erevain can see through the cloth of his breeches that it is very swollen. "She's angry at me. I should have known better. Such a thing to put on her shoulders so young..." He frowns, and takes a piece of charcoal and sketches on the rounded wood.

Though the tall man has thinned from his confinement to a chair, Erevain can tell from his movements that Alalla had not inherited her strength and skill only from her mother.

"But who can say?" Simeon continues with a shrug. "Maybe its just how my mind ages. Where did your troubles come from?"

"Alalla has consistently displayed incredible fortitude and leadership on our travels. The group we adventure with looks to her when hard decisions must be made." Erevain's eyes trace the doorway Alalla passed through. "She may have learned her lessons young, but she has learned them very well."

Erevain leans back in his seat, a hand on his smooth chin. "My own malady stems... stemmed? It seems to have largely left me, now. But I have had it since adolescence, and it began with no injury. Perhaps I am just weak of spirit, rather than mind."

He shrugs and continues. "In any case, I do not think Alalla is angry at you. I have seen and felt her anger at orcs, fiends, and dragons. All I have ever perceived concerning her father is love and respect."

"Perhaps she has forgiven me, then," Simeon says mildly, "or perhaps her anger is buried. Alalla feels deeply, as Shelur did, but she has trained much of it out of herself, and hides the rest. We abandoned her. That's not hurt that passes easily."

Simeon is silent for a time, brow furrowed as though trying to grasp a loose thought. "Weak... weak? Weak spirited!" Simeon grunts softly. "Surely not. My daughter chooses hard roads, or else doesn't shirk them when they are chosen for her. Weak people fall away from her before long. Like this?" Simeon shows Erevain the now bead-shaped piece of wood. He has sketched Erevain's name around it in dwarvish runes. Receiving approval of the spelling, he withdraws it and begins to carve. "No. It takes strength of all kinds to handle my fierce girl. And she needs strength beside her to handle her loads."

Simeon looks up at Erevain with sharp eyes, weighing him up, examining him. Apparently satisfied he returns to his work. "Alalla named you sharuhk. The Orcish language as Shelur taught me does not have terms of endearment so I had to invent, but I did not chose idle words. No. You are not weak."

"Perhaps I was once," Erevain says, nodding. "But Alalla brings out the best in me. We have already faced a dragon and death together, and still accomplished much good for Kuldahar. I truly believe that Alalla and her friends have a great part to play in whatever events are unfolding in the North."

Before Simeon can answer, Alalla and Ellis enter, laughing at some joke.

"What's this about a dragon, Alalla? I must hear what else you have been up to while you were away!"

Ellis gapes. "Did he say a dragon?" he asks in Common. "I must have misunderstood. No? Come, Al! Tell us everything!" He sets down the roast chicken he is carrying and takes Alalla's load of bread, sweet rolls, and pickled fish they had brought from the market. The beginnings of a fine winter feast.

As Ellis prepares their meal Alalla begins the story, speaking in Orcish, with occasional clarifications in Common for Ellis. She tells them about Easthaven, where Ug sparks a feast day and Alalla employs herself for the evening entertaining guests with her skills. She tells her uncle and father about the handsome elf she sparred with, but hesitates in telling them about their breakfast date.

Erevain chuckles and takes up the story, and soon Simeon and Ellis are roaring with laughter over Al sending her date into the snow with broken ribs. Ellis almost sloshes Erevain's wine as he shakes with mirth, and does spill Alalla's water.

Soon their viewpoints split again, and Al takes over the tale about the avalanche and fighting orcs in the pass, then speaks about the Vale of Shadows and the horrors they found there, as well as the cloak and glaive she obtained. The story is long and soon dinner has been enjoyed and finished and Ellis and Erevain clear it away while Alalla talks about Arundel's death, and taking Keggruk into their party.

Ellis sits his niece between his knees and begins to work on her dreadlocs. He beckons Erevain over to show him how to tighten the roots and remove lint, and Alalla continues her tale.

On and on she speaks, while Ellis takes water warmed over the hearth and washes her hair in a bucket, and her father whittles away at his project. Aerie, the druid temple, the tunnels and trolls, Nym, yuan-ti and demons, Bilewing and lizardfolk, then back to Kuldahar for a wedding.

Alalla tells her family everything. Everything, save Shargaas' meddling, her own death and her experience with Gruumsh, as well as Poquelin's true nature and his gift of the dragon heart. These aspects she glosses over. She knows Erevain notices, but she pleads with her eyes for him to stay silent.

Finally the story is done, the food has been eaten, and the moon has climbed high into the sky.

"Amazing, fierce one." Simeon blows sawdust off the bead in fingers, then shakes his head. "Unbelievable. Your mother would be proud."

"Quite! Still, I would have believed the dragons sooner than an elf for a husband!" Ellis shoots them both a good natured wink. "And the lengths you went to get him!"

Simeon takes in the look of the husband and wife, sitting beside each other near the fire. "Yes. She would be very proud." He continues his sanding on the bead, but his shoulders look somewhat slumped, and his eyes foggy.

Ellis notices this, and yawns himself. "Well some of us have to work in the morning." He stands and helps Simeon from his chair. "Your room is as you left it, of course," he says to Al. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Erevain." Simeon nods in agreement, though his gaze is distant as he leans heavily on his brother.

Alalla stands and kisses them both on the forehead with a murmured, "Goodnight," and then the men depart, leaving Alalla and Erevain alone.

"Well, sharuhk," Al says, helping Erevain to his feet, "now all of my family has met each other."

Erevain wraps one arm around her and pulls her close. "They are both fine men. And your father's mind does not wander so much as I thought it might. I think he still has much to offer the world."

Al snuggles in happily, but her sigh is sad. "He is always better on first days. It's part of why I travel so much. When I get home we have lots of new things to talk about, and I have stories to get his attention with. The longer I'm home, the harder it is for his mind to keep on the present."

Al's attention is caught by the pale wooden bead that her father had left on his little table. She moves to pick it up and turns it over in her fingers. "He likes you," she says to her husband. "Or else he wouldn't be making this." Alalla laughs and holds it up to the three other family heads in her hair for Erevain to see. "When its varnished it will be the same colour as your hair." She places it back on the table and kisses Erevain's golden head. She then takes his hand and begins to lead him to her room.

They catch Ellis sneaking from her room as they approach. He gestures inside. "A gift from your father," he says. Then departs for his own room with a smile and nothing more.

Alalla gasps as they enter her room. It is fairly small, with a weapons rack on one side and a wardrobe on the other. Her large bed dominates the room, and it is that that she heads for.

Alalla caresses the large bear pelt spread over the blankets. "The Spring Bear!" she says with quiet disbelief. "He's given us the Spring Bear."

Erevain touches the pelt. "This was quite a large bear, once. What is its story?"

Alalla sits on the bed and beckons for Erevain to join her. She pulls him close and sets the bear pelt around their shoulders to guard against the chill trying to get in through the small window.

"The year I was born had a tough winter. Hunting was lean, and the ice on the small lake was so thick and froze so fast that fishing was nearly pointless. My parents had stored food, of course, but it was meant to be supplemented.

Winter stretched long and they had nearly eaten through the cellars. My father ate little, to provide for my mother and the babe in her womb. She grew thinner all the same.

To make matters worse, the bears emerged from their dens. Their fat was gone, but they awoke to snow instead of spring abundance, and they competed with my parents for food.

One bear in particular became a menace to my parents. He dug up their cellar and broke their fences. He even damaged the roof trying to eat the thatch. My parents could only do their best to clean up his messes, as they were spending their little energy trying to stretch through the winter and prepare for my arrival.

I came early and the spring was still late. My father said he had never seen a person so small.

'A runt,' my mother agreed, 'She will grow strong, but not if I have to eat another shriveled vegetable. I need strong food to eat to give my daughter strength. I need meat. I want bear. I want that bear.'

So my mother left me in my father's arms and went out into the snow. She used the afterbirth to lure the beast, and when he arrived, she strangled him to death with only her hands, then dragged her prize home to her family."

Alalla laughs. "That's the way my father tells it, anyway. I'm not sure if its embellished or not. Mama would only laugh and say that bear was her favourite, and that labour makes you hungry.

In any case, spring arrived soon after the bear was killed, hence the name. The Spring Bear made up for its leanness in size, and gave my parents plenty of food to live off of until the land could sustain them again.

This pelt has been on my parents' bed my whole life. I have so many memories of us all tucked beneath it during winter storms. Just like this." Al tugs Erevain a little closer.

Erevain chuckles in amazement. "Your mother...? It is no wonder, then, that you are as strong and capable as you are." The elf holds her close. "You told me that she was killed, but you never truly explained what happened to her." He waits patiently for a response, breathing calmly and easily.