Post by Pyra on Oct 7, 2007 22:17:26 GMT -5
Chapter the Twenty-sixth: Parting Words
Sunrise, a week later
I was neatening up my temporary lair yester eve for my leave-taking today, when Mother dropped by. She mentioned that the Eldest wanted to speak with me before I departed again. Why, she did not know, but this was not entirely unexpected. The Eldest talks with everyone before they embark on a foray in the wider world.
I traveled to the Lairs without encountering anyone else. It was a quiet evening, now that the Guardians have the Lowlands more or less cleared of large predators again. She was waiting at the entrance, inscrutable as Thuul, with a half filled sack of something resting nearby. I landed beside her and waited for her to explain what she wanted to speak about. After the opening polite phrases, the conversation took off on an unexpected angle.
<How do you speak to distant members of your adopted clan?>
<We speak mind to mind.>
<That you have already told me. How?>
< I form a coherent thought, and dispatch it into the “ether” to the one or ones I wish to converse with.>
<Similar to the method you use to send what you wish to say where all Gifted can hear if they wish?>
<Quite similar, but targeted only to those who need to hear.>
<Can you speak so to me?>
< If I try, I can sense you exist, but my thought is blocked. It is so with any but those like me.> I felt a passing pain in my mind then, and knew Grandmother had connected her mind to mine.
<Try now. Think first what you want to say, and then send it as you would to another Gifted.>
I did as she bade, with the expected failure to reach her mind on my part. She could sense my effort however, and thought for a time after that. The sack contained a collection of various gems, which upon reflection makes perfect sense. The Clan has no need for such as a medium of exchange but I know they are valuable for Psionicists as tools, as well as a method to fix certain enchantments on arms or armor. She handed me an onyx.
<I see how your communication works. It is merely on a different 'band' than I can use. Send your speech again while you hold that stone.>
This time my failure had a different feel, as if my bespeaking had been directed a different way. Grandmother nodded, took the onyx, and handed me a garnet instead. We repeated this experiment many times with many different gems. The final time, I held a carnelian near the same shade as my scales, and when I sent 'Can you hear me now.' to the Eldest as I would bespeak one of my adopted clan, she heard my words, not just the intent of the sending.
I asked, <Why do you need to bespeak me?>
Grandmother replied, <If you wish to walk the full distance next time you visit, you may do so, but I think you would prefer for Khar’solae to open a portal for you.>
< Then I am welcome to return!?>
She snorted. <Child, you are blood of our blood. You may not wear the body you were hatched in, but your soul is of the Clan. We protect our own, always.>
<And if a time comes when the needs of our clan and the needs of my adopted clan are in conflict? What will be thought of me then?>
<You will do what you should, in honor. That is all anyone can do.>
Unexpectedly, she abruptly decided to explain something that I hadn’t realized I was worrying about.
<Skir’tarn will never be entirely whole again. He was lessened by his wounds, but it was a price he paid willingly. The conflict would have happened whether you had returned or not, and the price of safety could have been dearer.> She sighed softly. <Among the clan of his birth, it was held that the males must pass their knowledge to a son or grandson lest it be lost, and they be honor broken for all times. Not that that prevented the scattering of that clan, but the concept is sound. Everyone should pass their knowledge to the younger generation so nothing that could aid in survival is lost. Even my knowledge.> she commented wryly. <The worlds have moved on and I must as well.> The sudden imaginings of what my sister would be like if she could read minds froze me in my tracks, causing chuckles from the Eldest.
She resumed, <Skir would have taught your brother had he lived, but because he did not, and because all of his descendents then were female, he felt himself honor-broke, even if no one else considered him so. Now though, he has killed the one responsible for the children’s deaths, and I can ‘see’ that the young twins will be much fonder of weapons work than any magical spells. He will be able to pass on his skills, even one-handed. You need not fret about your close kin young one. There was a reason for Skir’s distress and the reason no longer exists.>
There are benefits to having a clan matriarch who can read minds. I hope one day I will be old enough that I do not have to have some things explained to me, but there is so much I need to learn. After that, she took the carnelian from me, cast a spell on it to slightly remove its substance from the physical plane, then set it between my eyes and cancelled the spell, fusing the stone to my scales. I can bespeak the Eldest where ever I am now, and to visit home is only a thought away. And now I know I don’t need to worry about Grandfather. I knew he was acting different but I haven’t seen him since the twins were born. If I had, I’d already have known things were better.
My journal is packed, my borrowed gear has been returned, and I said goodbye to my family. I can come back any time I want to. And I miss hunting and exploring and causing trouble with my friends. It will be good to be home again. And it is only a portal away.
Sunrise, a week later
I was neatening up my temporary lair yester eve for my leave-taking today, when Mother dropped by. She mentioned that the Eldest wanted to speak with me before I departed again. Why, she did not know, but this was not entirely unexpected. The Eldest talks with everyone before they embark on a foray in the wider world.
I traveled to the Lairs without encountering anyone else. It was a quiet evening, now that the Guardians have the Lowlands more or less cleared of large predators again. She was waiting at the entrance, inscrutable as Thuul, with a half filled sack of something resting nearby. I landed beside her and waited for her to explain what she wanted to speak about. After the opening polite phrases, the conversation took off on an unexpected angle.
<How do you speak to distant members of your adopted clan?>
<We speak mind to mind.>
<That you have already told me. How?>
< I form a coherent thought, and dispatch it into the “ether” to the one or ones I wish to converse with.>
<Similar to the method you use to send what you wish to say where all Gifted can hear if they wish?>
<Quite similar, but targeted only to those who need to hear.>
<Can you speak so to me?>
< If I try, I can sense you exist, but my thought is blocked. It is so with any but those like me.> I felt a passing pain in my mind then, and knew Grandmother had connected her mind to mine.
<Try now. Think first what you want to say, and then send it as you would to another Gifted.>
I did as she bade, with the expected failure to reach her mind on my part. She could sense my effort however, and thought for a time after that. The sack contained a collection of various gems, which upon reflection makes perfect sense. The Clan has no need for such as a medium of exchange but I know they are valuable for Psionicists as tools, as well as a method to fix certain enchantments on arms or armor. She handed me an onyx.
<I see how your communication works. It is merely on a different 'band' than I can use. Send your speech again while you hold that stone.>
This time my failure had a different feel, as if my bespeaking had been directed a different way. Grandmother nodded, took the onyx, and handed me a garnet instead. We repeated this experiment many times with many different gems. The final time, I held a carnelian near the same shade as my scales, and when I sent 'Can you hear me now.' to the Eldest as I would bespeak one of my adopted clan, she heard my words, not just the intent of the sending.
I asked, <Why do you need to bespeak me?>
Grandmother replied, <If you wish to walk the full distance next time you visit, you may do so, but I think you would prefer for Khar’solae to open a portal for you.>
< Then I am welcome to return!?>
She snorted. <Child, you are blood of our blood. You may not wear the body you were hatched in, but your soul is of the Clan. We protect our own, always.>
<And if a time comes when the needs of our clan and the needs of my adopted clan are in conflict? What will be thought of me then?>
<You will do what you should, in honor. That is all anyone can do.>
Unexpectedly, she abruptly decided to explain something that I hadn’t realized I was worrying about.
<Skir’tarn will never be entirely whole again. He was lessened by his wounds, but it was a price he paid willingly. The conflict would have happened whether you had returned or not, and the price of safety could have been dearer.> She sighed softly. <Among the clan of his birth, it was held that the males must pass their knowledge to a son or grandson lest it be lost, and they be honor broken for all times. Not that that prevented the scattering of that clan, but the concept is sound. Everyone should pass their knowledge to the younger generation so nothing that could aid in survival is lost. Even my knowledge.> she commented wryly. <The worlds have moved on and I must as well.> The sudden imaginings of what my sister would be like if she could read minds froze me in my tracks, causing chuckles from the Eldest.
She resumed, <Skir would have taught your brother had he lived, but because he did not, and because all of his descendents then were female, he felt himself honor-broke, even if no one else considered him so. Now though, he has killed the one responsible for the children’s deaths, and I can ‘see’ that the young twins will be much fonder of weapons work than any magical spells. He will be able to pass on his skills, even one-handed. You need not fret about your close kin young one. There was a reason for Skir’s distress and the reason no longer exists.>
There are benefits to having a clan matriarch who can read minds. I hope one day I will be old enough that I do not have to have some things explained to me, but there is so much I need to learn. After that, she took the carnelian from me, cast a spell on it to slightly remove its substance from the physical plane, then set it between my eyes and cancelled the spell, fusing the stone to my scales. I can bespeak the Eldest where ever I am now, and to visit home is only a thought away. And now I know I don’t need to worry about Grandfather. I knew he was acting different but I haven’t seen him since the twins were born. If I had, I’d already have known things were better.
My journal is packed, my borrowed gear has been returned, and I said goodbye to my family. I can come back any time I want to. And I miss hunting and exploring and causing trouble with my friends. It will be good to be home again. And it is only a portal away.