Haven in the Woods

[Ander Valman]

Ander followed Gelden's example, laying himself on the slope on his back and cushioning his head under his arms after being rid of the useless piece of bark under his rump.

The silence of the forest wasn't quite like the silence of the city. In the dead of night in the city, there was almost no sound except, perhaps, for the soughing of the wind through the eaves. In the forest, the wind brought about the rustle of leaves and the clicking and clacking of bare tree branches bouncing off each other; the sound of life could be heard from every direction, even down to the rustling rustling of leaves near his ear where a beetle scampered away after being displaced by Ander's head.

He turned his head to the side so he could see Gelden out of the corner of his eye as she began to speak. Her words made him sad for her, and even a little more sad for himself. That surprised him, since he hadn't thought he could get any more sad. But, as Ander was discovering, human emotion was a well that reached down for a very, very long way.

His mood weighed on him heavily, and he didn't really feel like talking about his family. He tried to bring back the buoyancy of moments before, but it was already fast receding, nearly lost to him. Instead, he looked back into the empty tree branches above, watching as the cloudy sky slowly became more indistinct as the sun continued its passing through the afternoon sky. He watched the clouds skate across the sky, chasing each other as they were pushed by the wind in varying directions.

And he listened to Geldenwing, if she chose to continue. His silence spoke volumes, but he still listened.

[Geldenwing]

Ander had braced himself for nothing; the thoughts were already gone from the fae's mind. She was remembering Illilli's story from before about Gelden's friend Anna. She thought maybe Illilli would want some time alone, but they'd been outside playing for a long while now. A person could only want so much alone time before they were just lonely.

"We should get back 'cause Illilli's all alone and that's no fun."

Completely contradicting her own words, she reached out a fist in front of him and stuck up her tiny thumb with a grin that was just as luminous and cheerful as before; if her thoughts had distressed her, there was no sign of that distress in her features.

"Thumb-wrestle?"

[Ander Valman]

Ander was surprised when a small hand reached in front of his face. He had been lost momentarily in thought, and the sudden movement startled him.

He looked up into Gelden's beaming face, and couldn't help but smile. He hadn't really heard what she said about going back to the cave, so it didn't seem odd that she went straight into thinking of a thumb-war.

Ander held his own hand up towards Gelden, marveling at how small her hand was compared to his own. He grabbed her hand, and waited for her to start. It had been a long time since he had played, and he couldn't quite remember how to play.

"I can't remember how to play, Gelden. You'll have to show me again."

[Illilli]

Illillli continued her puttering around in the cave.

It was the work of a few short, painful, and slightly disorienting moments to return to what she considered her normal self. Well, as normal as someone who shifted forms could be. She looked for and put on her ratty-tatty and much worse for the slime, leathers and grabbed her broom.

She had cleaned the rest of the waterfall and pond earlier while moping about and decided it was high time to haul off dead and over grown vines from the main room and give it all a good sweep. The vines she trimmed back to the walls and rolled up into several large balls that resembled tumbleweeds. She took the time to drag and bounce the vine bundles far out into the woods in different directions, trying not to leave too obvious a trail. She took the remains of the beat up furniture and did the same. It was long past usefulness and it didn't do to have a messy pile of junk near the entrance to their home. The wood was so far gone it couldn't be carved into smaller items it was so filled with dry rot.

Next came the sweeping...

Illilli carefully put the lid on the stew before she started.

Great gobs of dust were stirred up as she swept the entire main hall and the several small bedrooms. She chased leaves, twigs, beetles, bugs, spiders, grubs, a few grumpy lizards, dust, dirt and grime out the front door with her homemade broom. Soon she worked up blisters that popped and bled, but by the time evening was coming she had reclaimed the main hall of the tavern, the bedrooms, and had gingerly wiped down the old stone tables and chairs.

She found a small collection of rusted silverware and some odd bits and bobs in the dirt and dust she removed. She placed these treasures in a neat pile for Geldenwing to look at later.

She propped what was left of the broom, mostly just the handle with a few remaining twigs feebly hanging on, in the corner near the big hearth.

Carefully she walked into the big hearth, meant to heat the whole room, and looked up and listened to see if there was still a decent draft. She figured she might need to check it out in her other form later to see if it was clear.

Hmmm... Might want to start laying in a store of wood. It could be a long cold winter...

Dinner was getting near done and she added a bit more water to replace what had boiled off. She thought it would be a tasty yet simple meal.

She decided to enjoy a nice long soak, in the big tub this time, with plenty of nice lavender soap. The soap stung in her broken blisters but it was a good reminder of having accomplished something. It felt good to get things clean and then get cleaned up herself.

The old rooms were empty and just waiting to be refilled with life again. They just needed to be claimed. This reminded her that she needed to check the small fireplaces in those rooms as well.

"Well, those can wait 'till the others get back, I want back up if I go up those..." she told the leather shirt she was pounding soap into.

"Oooh..."

Pound. Smack. She flipped the halter top over and worked the other side.

"Particularly that tunnel in the pond." she smacked the leather again. She knew washing the leather would make it tough as rawhide until she had time to work it soft again, but she had limits to what amount of filth she'd wear on her clothes.

The tunnel in the pond called to her imagination. Who knew what could be in there? It was thrilling and chilling all at the same time.

[Geldenwing]

Ander's normal-sized human hand dwarfed the small fae's as a father's holding his baby girl's might. Obviously he would have to let Gelden win a few rounds or she would have no hope of doing so on her own - not that the faerie would care either way. Her cheerfulness was hard to defeat.

"Oh, well here, you clasp like this - "

She wove and curled her fingers into his, adjusting their grips until she was satisfied with how it looked.

"And now before you play you have to say the rhyme. And you tap your thumb on either side while you do it. Like this!"

She wiggled her thumb quickly, tapping her hand and then his with a beaming grin.

"Do you remember the rhyme? It goes like this: One, two, three, four, I declare thumb war!"

If there had ever been a second verse, she didn't remember. And like any younger sibling eager to play, she didn't wait to see if he understood. The battle was joined!

[Ander Valman]

He listened carefully to her instructions, the half-remembered game becoming clearer in his mind as she spoke.

And then it began! With a swiftness that was less surprising when viewed next to a little girl with wings, Ander found his thumb pinned beneath the tiny girl's own thumb. Remembering suddenly that she had to hold his thumb down for three full seconds, Ander wrenched quickly, pulling his thumb from beneath hers with a grunted, "HA!"

The game was on, and Ander didn't intend to lose, even if it was nice to let younger... well, smaller anyways, he surmised... people win. Their thumbs darted about, trying to pin each other while Ander tried not to pull Gelden from her feet as he moved his arm around. Even kneeling, Ander was a good head taller than the little girl.

Finally, Ander managed to put his thumb over Gelden's and hold it in place. He waited for the girl's reaction, a small grin on his face.

[Geldenwing]

She shrieked with laughter as the teen joined in the fight, then stuck her tongue out in immense concentration, focusing on not being pinned. Despite her hands being far smaller than the boy's, she felt that she put up a good fight, even almost winning at one point. But alas, the teen's longer digit finally pressed her own flat against their combined fist, and he looked expectantly at her, waiting for a reaction.

His reward was a beaming bright smile, open and honest in her cheer.

"You won! Good job!"

She winked as though she'd let him win, then started to stand. She left their hands locked together, and if Ander didn't pull away would hold his hand all the way back.

"Let's get some wildflowers and then go see Illilli. Maybe they'll make her happy."

[Illilli]

Illilli enjoyed soaking in the hot water until her fingers got all pruny. She climbed out of the tub and contemplated her clothing situation as she wrung out her hair and looked for something to hang her leathers on. The scent of the lavender soap hung about her in a relaxing cloud.

She clipped a length of the smooth linen about two and a half yards long off the bolt that she and Geldenwing had aquired. This was going to be rough worked for now but hopefully clean and comfortable... in this form. She thought the linen should be thick enough and comfortable enough for what she had planned.

She cut a band about a hand and a half span wide the length of the fabric she had cut off and placed it behind her back, pulling each end up across her chest to cover her small breasts. She tied the ends of the fabric behind her neck. The ends draped down her back hanging prettily if a little stiffly. The rest of the fabric became a very simple loincloth held up by a length of soft rope. The flaps of the loincloth almost covered all her thighs and hung down in front and back to just above her ankles.

"Not too shabby..." Illilli mused to herself. She wished she were a bit thinner in the waist, but what the hell, she was clean, comfortable and covered. She contented herself that she at least had what could be defined as a waist. Some in her family were not as lucky. In her mind she would always prefer being comfortably plump to being a walking skeleton or too plump to see her own toes.

Her bare feet made plopping sounds as she walked over and sat down at a large round stone table to detangle her long brown hair. The glowvine flowers on the walls sparkled down on her and the light colored garb made her look almost like a temple priestess.

[Ander Valman]

Ander outright laughed when Gelden congratulated him on his win. He wished he could be as happy as that little being was most of the time. It was as if she could completely forget any sadness she had had within moments.

But her quicksilver changes only reminded Ander that he couldn't simply forget the bad things in his life. Like an infected wound, the memories festered at the back of his mind, rising to the front of his consciousness with fresh pain when even lightly brushed by a whisper of thought.

Shaking his head and forcing the dreary thoughts from his mind, Ander smiled hugely at Gelden. "I'm sure Illilli would love some flowers. Let's go!"

Ander turned and darted off into the forest before Gelden could say anything, turning it into a game. He was trying his hardest to forget the pain of having his family and friends completely reject him, and working at keeping his new little friend happy.

His voice drifted back over his shoulder as he headed vaguely in the direction of the cavern. "I bet I find more and prettier flowers than you do!"

His first stop was by a large tree stump. The upper portion of the tree had fallen, creating a small area of cover where not much grew in the lessened sunlight. However, on the side of the stump where the sunlight could now stream in due to the path cleared above by the huge tree's crushing descent, grew a large patch of bluebells. Ander carefully picked a few of the largest and fullest flowers, and a flash of pain suddenly coursed through his body.

An image of his mother floated before him, and Ander remembered a moment several years before when he had run through the forest picking flowers for her. The joy and love on her face had him dropping to a knee, but he forced the image away and thought of the look appearing on the saddened Illilli's face.

As he stood to look for more flowers, he plastered a smile on his face that actually looked genuine. As time moved on and he practiced, he was finding it easier to repress those memories and move on to happier thoughts. Perhaps he would be able to forget forever...

[Geldenwing]

The fae took up the cause with single-minded intensity, aiming to pick the bestest wildflowers that ever did exist. She had no problem ripping the flowers from their respective homes, and within minutes had a nice bundle of assorted shapes and sizes, ranging from leafy vines to buttercups to those odd purple ones that make tea.

She found her wayward teenager picking bluebells and squealed with delight. If she could've heard his thoughts, she would've been perfectly happy. She thought that some things were best left forgotten and pushed aside rather than dwelt on. She'd never understood the human need to fondle one's misery. It just seemed so...so...sad.

She sounded as cheerful and excited as ever, trusting the smile on his face as genuine.

"Oh Ander, you found the most beautiful for sure! You're sure good at this stuff!"

Rather than being jealous and Ander's perceived flower-finding superiority, she only looked proud and honestly happy for him. If he could spot such pretty flowers, he at least remembered the beautiful stuff in the world.

"C'mon, let's go show Illilli and tell her how we played and make her happy! Race ya!"

She squeaked with excitement as she finished this sentence and began running back in the direction of the cave, giggling merrily. The race back was everything she expected - fun, thrilling, and fast. By the time the entrance came into view, she was out of breath. She'd stayed on the ground to be fair to her teenager, 'cause flying made it so unfair.

She raced inside of the entrance, laughing and not really caring who won, and froze when she saw Illilli sitting there, looking for all the world like a large gleaming pile of gold should be sitting next to her. Or maybe a man with a collar and leash...

She giggled at this thought.

"Illilli you're so pretty!"

[Illilli]

Illilli grinned, the return of her friends and the work she had accomplished had restored her spirit.

"Thanks! I figured it was about time I got some things done in here. Clean feels so good." Illilli leaned back and spread her arms wide indicating the much more orderly and roomy feeling cavern.

"I thinned out the glowvines some, pond's clean, got things swept, cleaned out the rooms, and dinner's bubbling on the fire!" she babbled, chuckled and got up to start getting things organized to serve dinner. The collection of odds and ends found during her cleaning gleamed from the table top near the bowls Illilli filled with her latest home cooked meal.

Stew... Again.

"And am I tired. What have you two been up to? What pretty flowers!" Illilli looked up quite curious as to what Ander and Geldenwing were carrying.

[Ander Valman]

By the time Gelden found Ander, he had moved on, picking a few white daisies to go with the bluebells, and was working on a few purple flowers that he didn't know the name of.

He blushed when Gelden complimented him on his taste, and when she decided to race him back to the cave, he followed gamely. He may have even beaten her too, even though her legs pumped fast enough to be a blur to Ander's eyes, except that he was concerned for the flowers that were tightly clamped in his fist.

Ander followed Gelden into the cave, stopping short when he saw Illilli standing by the fire. He smiled at her shyly, and was only a little annoyed that she had decided his sweeping job of earlier wasn't good enough. He shrugged it off, his moods shifting as quickly as Gelden's of late, for he somehow sensed his irritation towards Illilli's cleaning over his work was simply due to teenage angst.

He looked around briefly, then asked, "Where can we put these flowers?" as he held them out towards Illilli with another shy smile.

[Geldenwing]

"You've both made it so pretty! And dinner sounds good, I'm all tired. We was playin' and then we were sad and then we played again! Ander sure knows some fun games."

She grinned at Ander and Illilli in turn, grateful for all of their hard work at making the cavern practically sparkle and shine.

"It all looks amazing! Just like before!"

The fae trotted about this way and that, inspecting every nook and cranny that she could find. Illilli and Ander had both done such a good job that she beamed with pleasure. Her naturally bouncy step bounced even more as she skipped into the center of the room, holding her flowers out in offering to their very own dragoness and giggling with a curtsy.

"For you!"

[Illilli]

"Those are fantastic! What a wonderfull collection of flowers you two have found! Lets get them in some water."

Illilli grabbed an empty pot that looked big enough and put water in it for the flowers. She set the pot on the closest table and made a gesture to invite them over so they could all have fun arranging them in the pot. Illilli believed that this was going to be a much more colorful and fun dinner than most lately.

"I don't even recognize that variety." She pointed and beamed excited by the flowers. The riot of color and scent of the flower set her off smiling again. Her blue eyes were almost lost in the crinkle between her cheeks and eyebrows she was grinning so largely.

"This place is really starting to feel like a home now isn't it?" she sat down on a stone stool next to the table looking foward to sorting through the flowers with Ander and Geldenwing.

[Ander Valman]

Ander walked quickly towards Illilli, the shy smile still on his face. He held out the flowers for her to take, then instead plopped them into the bowl on the table next to her. He arranged the bluebells with some white ones between them, then added a few small purple ones that looked similar to the bluebells, but were much smaller and much more delicate. When he finished, he pushed the bowl a little towards Illilli so she could make any adjustments she felt were necessary.

He sat as well, just out of arm's reach of Illilli, and sniffed the air. Ander was suddenly hungry from the activity he and Gelden had enjoyed, and he didn't even think it was close to dinner time yet.

With another sniff, Ander turned to Illilli, a question on his lips.

"When is the stew going to be ready?" he asked with the typical teenage enthusiasm for food. His stomach grumbled to punctuate the question, quite loud enough to be heard by the two females. Ander grinned sheepishly at both of them, before his eyes were dragged back to the steaming cauldron.