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Post by hengest on Mar 30, 2024 22:00:36 GMT -5
"Ready to fight your old man's battles?" He looks at you, half-closing one eye in a look you know well: not insult or indignance but a kind of cheerful resignation. "No, I never did get a straight story. And now...well, I guess the tale will have grown in the telling or else will have been forgotten by now. No reason you can't go to Helpston, though, if you've a mind to. Your mother can make do, and I can stretch my legs more than I have been doing. You're a man grown and all. But I don't know what answers you'll find. Likely nothing at all. Many hurts in the world. Most don't mean anything. He went back into the wild and didn't come home again. Or that was his home, after all. Who knows? Here."
He takes the weight back from you, replaces it, pulls out a thin book from the row of books, and gingerly opens it, looking for something. Not finding what he wants, he puts the book back, adjusts the letter lying atop the row, and pulls out another book. Opening this one, he finds a slip of parchment stowed inside and shows it to you.
"See. I don't think he drew this himself, but it came to me with his words. It shows the land here. Moonbloom, Helpston, and these other towns, even some of the villages. Then the copses and great Royce Wood here. All that you know. Think of it as if you were a bird, kind of." He gestures as if moving your perspective up from the map into the air above it. "Then, on the far side of Royce Wood, this...this eye and these figures here. I don't know what they mean, but I suppose that's where he wanted to get to. Had he heard a tale? Was it all in his head? I wish I had heard more. Asked more."
He shrugs. "Just for me to wonder about now. There's no great deed in this, Edwin. Barely a good deed. Just an old man who didn't keep up with his friend." He looks you in the eye again. "Why are you asking about all this tonight, anyway? Why tonight and not last night or tomorrow?"
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Mar 30, 2024 22:08:06 GMT -5
Edwin opens his mouth to answer but pauses as he scratches his head and looks from the floor to the bookshelf before gathering his thoughts.
"All of this recent talk about the fruit being delivered at random doorsteps and the tales told down in the hall by you and some of the others - I feel like I want to go in search of...answers. I haven't even heard anyone come up with a reasonable explanation for that fruit, you know?". Edwin shrugs in a moment of silence and the finishes answering, "Maybe I'm being silly. I just want an adventure of my own.".
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Post by hengest on Mar 30, 2024 22:20:56 GMT -5
Ethan turns away and replaces the book and map on the shelf. "No adventure in this, just some questions for old men, I expect. Or maybe not so old. I don't even know who all he took with him, in the end. And that fruit...I thought it was a prank, at first. But the fruits are real, and too fresh and strange for a prank from one your age. It's true what they say. Fairy fruit. But I don't know. Good or bad, I don't know. Some things, you never find the answers. Reminds me of someplace. Or maybe it was a dream I had. You get muddled as time goes on. Some things are so strange, you don't trust your own self. Your own picture of them."
"Well. If you have a mind to go see what you can see in Helpston, let your mother outfit you and pack you some rations, and go. If you sneak off without so much as a crust of bread, she'll serve me to the guests before you can tell us your tale. Though the snow may be deep after tonight, you can make it. Not like in the old days, I guess. But I don't know, boy." He touches his forehead near one eyebrow and gives another shrug.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Mar 31, 2024 8:57:41 GMT -5
Edwin snaps his finger and says, "I knew there was something about the fairy fruit! What little I know has drawn me to the same conclusion about it not being a prank by some of the younger townsfolk.". Pausing briefly Edwin continues, "I've even had the offer to try some by Emma but I'm a little more concerned about her trying to stake a claim to me than whether the fruit is weird or whatever...". Edwin breaks into a hardy chuckle before continuing on, "No offense at all. She's pretty enough for sure and I hear she knows the home skills quite well but I'm not sure if the season is right, if you follow.".
Edwin takes a few brief moments to think in the silence.
"It's not so much that I have to leave on some grand adventure right this moment. No, I just want to expand my horizons a bit and go see a bit of the world by myself. I'll heed your advice about getting with mother before leaving. Any other advice before I set out sometime soon?" asks Edwin.
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Post by hengest on Mar 31, 2024 11:54:23 GMT -5
Ethan looks resigned at further talk of the fairy fruit, raising his hands as if to show that he has no useful knowledge of this. "No counsel from me--you've heard it all more than once. And Emma? Don't be too sure of yourself. I heard her pushing her cooking on more than a few folk earlier tonight. You may just be skipping a hot meal. But you do right not to look to be courting when you aren't. I'd try the stuff, if someone offered it to me. In any case, talk to me if you need anything aside from what your mother...oh." His eyes lock on something behind you, and you feel someone known to you just before her hand touches your shoulder.
"What is it you need from mother, and for what?" her voice says. You can tell by your father's slight change body language that he is yielding to her in the matter of outfitting you.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Mar 31, 2024 12:49:35 GMT -5
"Uhhh....I want to go to Helpston. Get some answers for Dad. Maybe they know about this fairy fruit as well. I can feel the pull of discovery calling on me...". Edwin blurts out in a rapid-fire response to get the complete answer out before his mother asks more questions.
As his mother takes it all in, Edwin finishes by stating, "That's it. Now you know. Father wanted me to ask for you to outfit me before leaving.".
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Post by hengest on Mar 31, 2024 20:13:30 GMT -5
Anne looks at Edwin, then past him at her husband, then back to Edwin.
"Go to bed. If the snow stops by morning, I won't keep you back. And I'll have your pack ready. Now I need to speak to your father."
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Apr 1, 2024 2:15:54 GMT -5
Anne looks at Edwin, then past him at her husband, then back to Edwin. "Go to bed. If the snow stops by morning, I won't keep you back. And I'll have your pack ready. Now I need to speak to your father." Without an utterance Edwin nods his head and turns to go. As he gets to the door of the bedroom he pauses to say, "Good night." before continuing on his journey to his own room. I don't know if she's mad or worried or what... |
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Post by hengest on Apr 1, 2024 11:41:55 GMT -5
Thread closed, please see this thread to continue... |
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