Sunflower—After the Blast (EG_004)

[hengest]

You feel a touch of rain, a very fine mist.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

<thinking> It's got a way to go to get that out.

I look around as the misty rain is coming down.

I say, "I guess it's time we checked out that path with the rain coming in" as I walk over towards Alla.

"You ready?"

[hengest]

The mushroom-giver continues scrabbling away, now focused more on that one spot. He looks up as you stand to move away, then continues.

Alla is standing with the fluffy bird on her shoulder. Its beak is nearly inside her ear. She appears to be listening with wonderment and does not respond to you.

The misty rain continues but does not change in intensity or drop size.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

I pause at the sight of Alla with the bird on her shoulder.

<thinking> It won't hurt to wait a bit. The rain hasn't picked up.

"Alla, you seem to have found a friend. What's he saying?", I ask as I stand there waiting for an answer.

[hengest]

As you look at Alla's face, she looks rapt, overjoyed, an expression you have never seen on her face before during your acquaintance.

She says nothing in reply to your question, but uses her hand to transfer the bird to your shoulder with a familiar gesture. The bird leans in and makes some bird-noises in your ear, neither song nor any of the calls that are familiar to you. Alla is looking into your face with an expectant, radiant smile.

The rain grows even softer. There must be clouds up ahead, but there is still plenty of light here at the edge of the wood.

The sounds of earth-scraping continue at a little distance.

You still hold a mushroom in your hand.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

<thinking> I wonder if these bird sounds are all she heard?

I continue to listen for a few more moments.

<thinking> She seems so pleased...I don't want to ruin it by asking.

The bird sounds have amused me, and I do let out a slight giggle.

I point in the direction of the digger and ask, "He's still going at it, isn't he?".

I bring the mushroom up towards my chest and hold it there for a few moments. After a few more moments of listening to the bird, I bring the mushroom up by his face and say, "Here you go.".

As I wait to see if the bird is going to bite the mushroom I ask Alla, "What kind of noises did the bird make in your ear?" and wait for answer.

[hengest]

Alla ignores your remark about the digger as her face changes from excited expectation to incredulity and disappointment. She now looks more like the "old" Alla again, but still there is more than a trace of the joy you witnessed just a few moments ago. For an instant you can see the girl and the matron together in her person.

"He didn't make noises! You...you just hear noises?" She raises one eyebrow while almost squinting with her other eye.

The bird pauses and looks at you, its eyes inhumanly wide, as you offer it the mushroom, then lowers its head and nudges the mushroom toward your face.

Again the wind kicks up just a touch as these events take place. It is hard to say what tells you that this area is different from Bottleton, different from the strange city where you got your boots, different from the underground passage with the imps.

Your boots feel good on your feet.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

"Alla...this is good news! Don't be irritated," I pause before continuing with, "Maybe you have a blessing upon you that enables you to understand?". I pause for a few more moments hoping that will brighten her mood again.

<thinking> There has to be some reason she can understand the bird and I cannot.

I look at the bird and then the mushroom. My eyes turn towards Alla as I state, "I'm going to take a bite of this mushroom. This bird seems to want me to do that.".

I hesitate for a few more moments.

"I feel like this place is..."different" from the odd city we started from and definitely different from other places I've been. I'm not sure how...just different.".

As I wait for an answer I raise the mushroom up to my lips to take a bite.

[hengest]

She looks around, wondering what you mean by "different" and if she feels it, too.

"It...doesn't feel like a blessing, but..." She hesitates and watches you with a neutral-positive expression as you appear about to bite the fruiting body of some unknown fungus. Seeing you about to bite it, the bird shifts its weight a little on your shoulder. It seems calmer now, expectant.

Snurfling and the soft rain continue as the gentle wind blows by you into the wood.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

<thinking> Maybe I'm just stating the obvious? Sure, it's different...we're in a different place.

I pause with the mushroom still in the air as I feel the bird shuffle a bit on my shoulder.

<thinking> Maybe not a good idea...

"Trying a bite of this mushroom probably isn't a good idea.". I say to no one in particular as I look at Alla and wait for a response.

After a few moments I continue, "We are in another strange, new place and we really don't know much about it. This might look perfectly fine but turn out not to be so.".

I lean down and try to coax the digging snurfling into taking the mushroom back.

<thinking> He seemed interested in the mushroom so maybe he will want it...

[hengest]

The snurfler looks up at you and pushes the mushroom back at you with one paw. He makes some noises, to you of the type expected from such a beast. Alla laughs aloud. The bird knocks the mushroom with its head again, hops onto the ground, back onto your shoulder, gestures at the mushroom again with its face, then taps its face to your ear.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

I stand there momentarily with a dumbfounded look on my face.

I can't help but laugh at the situation.

"Well, I guess it would be rude to not try it." I say as I bring the mushroom up to my mouth and take a bite.

[hengest]

You notice nothing as your teeth begin to sink into the flesh of the mushroom, but once it touches your tongue, your senses seem to change. You see each tree more clearly, each fallen leaf seems to have its own personality. It is almost too much for a second until the change becomes so extreme that you can no longer resist it by preferring your previous mode of perception.

As you chew, the process continues. You are not totally sure what is happening, but it does not feel frightening or destructive. The bird hops off your shoulder, flutters to the ground, and hops onto the snurfler's back. You see now that the bird's feathers look different than you thought, although the same. Now you see clearly what you did not perceive before, that the pattern on its feathers is like the heavy mail you have seen a few times on honored soldiers or knights. Its head is covered by a helm, although the helm is also simply its feathers.

It looks up at you, continuing its vocalizations, which sound as they did but now have meaning that takes shape in your mind. The individual sounds no longer distract you. As you get oriented, you "hear" something like this:

"...understand me now? We hear you, you don't hear us, how is that for fairness? Are you listening now, man? What is your business here and how does the lady put up with you?"

Alla laughs again, and the snurfler makes a sound that might be sympathetic laughter, although it continues its earth-clearing task with the bird on its back.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

I gaze in wonderment at the revelation that a bird is now talking to me, and I can understand what it is saying!

"Alla, I can hear the bird now!" I exclaim to her as I turn back towards the bird sitting atop the snurfler.

I laugh for just a second and reply to the bird.

"YES! I can understand you."

"Yes, I am listening. How is this possible? We just kind of stumbled onto this place.".

I can still hear Alla laughing as I'm trying to engage in a conversation with the bird.

[hengest]

Alla's face relaxes and she looks again more like herself, sober and a small smile, but still with a touch of joy. You can see that she heard you as she draws nearer to you to observe the beasts.

The bird hops back and forth between the snurfler and the ground. Your sights clears a little more and you can see that it is as much a little knight as it is a bird. Seated atop his friend, or mount, he goes on.

"How is it possible? How is it possible? How are you possible? You looked like a starved ghost til you bit that swammet! No one here would have given you so much as a howdy-do if not for the lady! Just stumbled on us? A pack of river rocks he thinks we are! Chip-chop's the order of the day around here! Work, work, and more work! Ward the wood, ward the meadow! And you just come up out of belly of the earth and off you step to pick berries! I saw you, I see a long way!"

The snurfler sits up, knocking the bird to the ground, although the latter looks unruffled and immediately rights himself. Gesturing toward the ground, the snurfler says in a crude voice, "Little men home," as if this means something.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

<thinking> I think I ruffled his feathers.

"We meant no intrusion. We came from below, escaping from the imps that were trying to...," I pause in my explanation because I'm not quite sure they will know anything about the other place.

I look to All for help in the explanation of what has taken place recently as I say, "They seem to...prefer you.".

"What is the name of this place? Are you here to protect it?", pausing momentarily before continuing, "Little men? Home?".

I stand there in silence in the hopes that they will either answer me or talk to Alla.

[hengest]

"Home! Home is the name! Our place, the real place!"

Alla breaks in to repair your story. She seems more confident than you feel, but still hesitates to explain what she herself does not understand.

"Under the earth...those little creatures were going to run us down. After I used this, they...stopped and we walked up a staircase and found ourselves where you saw us." She holds up her fused rings.

The bird flutters over to Alla's shoulder to examine them, agape as a bird can be. He looks very closely, more like a jeweler than a feathered knight. "Craft of the old ruined kingdom, I see, I see! We know that craft! But you don't!" He peers at Alla and then stretches his head toward you as if searching for something he lost, at first in your left eye, then your left ear. 

"In over your heads!" He sounds a touch less displeased and a bit more sympathetic. "Come to the right place, then! They're in over their heads, too! Mine flies about with me! Nothing over my head but the sky!"

He looks down at the scraped earth and the smooth thing that the snurfler uncovered with such effort. No one you can see is touching it, but it is moving. Tiny hands appear from underneath and push it awkwardly off to one side. You are looking down into a small chamber. Before you can even get a clear idea what exactly this is, you see two tiny figures reaching up to squeeze 'hands' with the snurfler. He emits a grunt that your mind does not interpret, then says "Little men home. Everyone awake again after quiet time."

You hear Alla make a little sound, and she crouches beside the chamber. The bird lands on your right shoulder, looks you in the eye again, then cranes his head down.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

<thinking> I'm sure that makes sense to them.

"Alla, thank you for the explanation." I say as I nod to her.

<thinking> Remember to ask about the old, ruined kingdom.

I stare on in wonder as I step forward and kneel down on one knee next to Alla.

"Who are these little men and why were they asleep?" I ask of the snurfler as I look on.

[hengest]

As you peer into the little chamber, just a couple inches underground, you see a mini-version, somewhat simplified, of comfortable living. There is a tiny hardwood floor, but there is something off about the grain, you sense. A book lies open on a reading stand. You doubt your eyes could ever make out the writing, if that is writing. There may be a picture on the right-hand page, as well. There is a kind of dressing area with some objects that you cannot recognize at a glance.

On one wall there hangs what looks like a coin with a human profile on it, and what may be writing around the rim.

The two little people have your attention. They look well-groomed. Although you are able to take in some information about the chamber rather swiftly, the man and woman are hard to read. You are not used to evaluating folk at this size. They seem to move a bit too quickly for you to get your bearings. You can see, however, in their movements and their facial expressions, that they are awake and alert.

The man is standing on something to peer out of the chamber. He casts his eyes over you all, unspeaking. The woman only looks up at you for a moment and then goes to the book and begins turning its pages.

To your question, the snurfler just grunts and shrugs with a brief one-paw gesture all around. The avian knight eyes this inadequate response and says "Most everyone was asleep after the ruin! Only our folk deep in the wood kept watch to make sure the sun kept rising! Now we'll see!"

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

I take all of this in for a few moments and turn towards the bird.

"The ruin? I've heard you mention that a few times. What happened?" I ask of the avian knight.

[hengest]

"The ruin!" the knight explains. "Everything fell and was stomped down. That's what we call the ruin. Not the rubble and leftovers, no, but the ruin, the falling! Then everyone had to sleep for a time, everyone but us. We kept everything going. Not us two alone, you understand," he adds modestly. "Our folk."

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

I listen intently as the avian knight relays this information.

"I understand, brave sirs." I say as I present my open hand towards both of them in the honorific salute that is customary back home.

"What caused all the ruin & how long have your folk been keeping watch?".

[hengest]

Even the snurfler looks up at this and sits back on his haunches. The knight hops down to the ground. You have posed a difficult question.

"A long watch! Since my grandsire was an egg at least! He didn't speak much, so I don't know, maybe when his grandfather was an egg too." He looks thoughtful. "A good question! How long have we been on watch? Wait here." He flies off along the edge of the wood.

Alla is still peering into the tiny chamber, apparently overtaken by her curiosity. Her face is emotionless now, blank with interest, but you can see clearly that she was once a girl. The little man is clambering out in her direction. At first he tries to climb up onto the "lid" which he and his partner pushes off to the side, but it acts unsteady when he tries to put his weight on it. It may not weigh that much. Alla steadies it for him and moves it further off, then lets him climb up over her hand.

The little woman is still looking for something in that book, no longer concerned with you big folk.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

I soak in the explanation that bird gives to me, and respond with, "I'll wait for you to get back." as the bird flies off to the edge of the wood.

<thinking> This should be interesting.

I turn towards Alla and ask, "What have you found out?".

[hengest]

The knight flies out of sight.

The rain has diminished to almost nothing and the light is a little brighter. If you look up, you see that the cloud cover is moving away in the direction of the wood.

Alla just shakes her head after you speak. The little man does not say anything, but motions her up, signalling that he wants to look around. She stands up with him on her hand and he looks in all directions, then nods and she places him back down on the ground. He climbs back into the chamber and goes over to the woman, still turning the pages of that book. He taps her on the shoulder, and when she looks up, performs a series of gestures. You are sure you have seen at least one deaf child communicate in this way, or in a similar way, with its family and acquaintances. She replies in kind and they seem to "talk" over each other, at least to your incomprehending eyes.

They both look a little familiar, now that you have peered at them long enough. You think the man has a faint stubble beard, but you cannot tell whether it is cultivated or simply the result of not shaving.

The snurfler has wandered a little ways away, and just into the edge of the wood.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

<thinking> I wonder where the knight is flying off to?

"The rain is moving out." I state to no one in particular but loud enough for all to hear.

"Alla, I think they are communicating with those hand signals. It looks similar to the way I have seen deaf people communicate." I say as we're standing there. Then I ask Alla, "Did he happen to say anything to you?".

<thinking> For some reason these small people look familiar to me.

I look over as the snurfler is just at the edge of the wood and say, "Is he taking off now also?".

<thinking> We have to find out what's going on here.

[hengest]

She shakes her head. "No, but I've seen that too." She looks down again at the couple. Perhaps it is their size, or that they are communicating manually as you observe them, but you realize you cannot get a read on their relationship. Are they married, siblings?  

The only general information you get from their conversation is that they are both doing a lot of talking, and that there seems to be a lot of overlap--they are both signing simultaneously a lot of the time, with little pauses. They are completely focused on each other visually, and are not looking up at you. You could peer closer into the room to see more detail, but it would be very obvious and would risk attracting their attention. 

Alla looks over at the snurfler, who is not obviously leaving, but is digging around again in a bushier area. This seems to be his main interest. 

"I...this place does feel different, like you said." She sniffs the air. "Richer? That city where you got those boots...it felt a little like...well, watery soup next to this place. But there seems to be less here."

She interlaces her fingers behind her back, and stretches her arms, raising her clasped hands up to beyond shoulder height, showing a degree of flexibility you did not expect. You hear a couple popping sounds. She releases her hands and exhales deeply.

She looks you in the eye, not the look of a henchman or a sidekick. "We have no idea what has happened, really. I'm planning to live, though, since I've come this far." She holds up her fused rings. "Look at this. I had no idea how these worked or why I wanted them. I paid hair for them. I never heard of such a thing before, never could have had two such rings. Then...in that cavern...they were silent and then so loud for a moment when I touched them again. Everything changed. You saw it, too. Maybe we shouldn't talk about it, but..." She falls silent.

"Well. I suppose that knight will return and say something, or won't. He seemed to know something, but also to be in a world of his own. I'm going to explore, but not out of earshot." She walks over to well within shouting distance and begins checking out the local flora. She is at the same forest edge as the snurfler, but about thirty feet away from him. 

Those flying snakelike creatures you saw before, or two much like them, appear in your peripheral vision and you turn to look at them. 

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

"Well, I thought it was worth checking but I guess we've both been left to guess for the moment." I reply.

Looking around momentarily, I reply to Alla.  "This place is both a place of wonder and... mystery.  Some things seem to be similar or work in a similar fashion but other things are quite different.  Like those rings you got with your hair.  Maybe something will come to light in the light in the next few days?".

I nod my head as she speaks.  "Yes, I wasn't sure what to make of the knight.  His focus seemed pulled in several directions.".  I watch her as she walks over towards the snurfler and say, "I'll be here.  Just let me know if you need something.".

As I turn to look at the snake-like creatures I say, "Hey, those flying snake looking things are coming around."

[hengest]

Alla accepts your words and steps off a ways. She seems to be less oriented to survival now and more to getting acclimated.

She does turn when you call that the snake-things are coming around. It may be the same pair you saw before. They continue whirling about each other in the air. You would call it fluttering if they had wings. Coming lower and lower, not more than ten feet from you they land and change their method of motion. Finally you can get a better look at their makeup. The long snakelike forebody slides along the ground in the usual manner, but then rises more than halfway back into a small raised "rump" with two lizardy legs attached. The remaining tail, variably curly while in the air, now straightens out. Perhaps its changing curliness in flight is used somehow to control its flight.

The overall appearance, as they move forward, is like a snake pulling a low wheelbarrow behind it, with its tail threaded "through" the bucket and then trailing along behind. The legs, of course, aid by pushing in the same direction as the snake's travel.

The creatures' attitude does not change: they seem still to be playfully oriented to each other, but their locomotion is now more obviously directed. They slither / run off in the direction of the woods, generally toward Alla but not headed directly for her.

As they move off, you feel a touch on your shoulder and hear a voice speaking in your ear before you can do much with your startle: the knight has returned and landed on you.

"A hundred moons ten times, then, wenning, thirteen or fourteen times that! Since the ruin! I got an answer without good sense! But I made it make sense for you, since you're here with the lady!" He sounds pleased with himself.

Alla is watching the snake things and does not notice the knight's return. 

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

<thinking> Alla seems calmer and more confident now after doing so well facing the challenges we have faced on our journey so far.

I observe the snake creatures and notice that although they mostly look unlike most anything I've seen.  They do look like some tiny relative of a dragon but not nearly as dangerous.

<thinking> Alla seems to be sparing a glance at the creatures now and then, but they don't appear to be a threat.  

"It's good to see you, Sir Knight." I say after a slight jump in surprise. "It sounds like the Ruin happened quite a bit ago and you were on watch for a considerable time, but not quite sure how to figure the exact length.  Can you help me out?".

<thinking> I think Alla will be happy the knight has returned now.