Salvus and homeward

[Jack Rothwell]

OOC It's been a blast guys. And I'll be able to stick around to get Tammy on her way home. I'm sure I'll be back in the future. Thanks for all the fun! /OOC

[Graybeard]

[OOC: OK, so we'll make it so for Tamina. It's still up to Desiree to decide how to wrap up that sub-thread -- no hurry -- so:]

Sister Rose's mothering instincts managed to break through the shock and grief, and she smiled faintly at Tamina. "Of course you can come with us as far as Saus," she said. "We'll insist. And we can get you back to your people from there."

Therese was about to say something (although she wasn't sure exactly what), but before her half-formed thoughts could coalesce into words, a rustic-looking man appeared at her side. "Be 'scusin' me, ladies," he slurred, "but I be hearin' you be wantin' a ride to Sanny-warry-el. I be takin' a load o' turnips up there, and be havin' room f'r a couple o' passy-gers, if ye be int'rested." He indicated a horse-drawn wagon that was indeed brimming with turnips.

Therese swallowed hard and turned to Desiree. "Well," she said, "what do you think?"

[Drusia]

Therese swallowed hard and turned to Desiree. "Well," she said, "what do you think?"

I give her a lop-sided smile. "I think we've got a fairy demi-goddess to find. And then, one way or another, I'd like to see where you come from. And... show you where I come from."

I take her hands in mine. Did she think I'd go harrying off with Rose again? Not likely. I've had enough of her crazy church business.

"Oh, and once we're on the road, there's this theory I've had for a while..."

-- Desiree

OOC: I'll be sad to see it end, but I suppose there's nothing for it.

It was fun everyone. **hugs**

[Graybeard]

[OOC: I think Therese and Desiree can continue moving things toward a conclusion at their own, uh, pace. I'm certainly up for that. As for everyone else, thanks for years of fun!]

Sister Rose watched as Therese's and Desiree's eyes switched their focus from each other to herself and Argus, then back again, back, back again.

"We'll be all right," she finally said, stepping forward to squeeze her unimaginably distant cousin's hand. "You go work on this theory and save the world." She had a feeling that the "theory" was going to involve lots of world-saving-by-sex, but that was all right too; she had every plan for that to be a big part of her own continuing world-saving. Which meant there was that one thing that they needed to know ... and this was as awkward a time to say it as any she'd had recently. Well, there was a solution to that, and one she'd been thinking about for a while anyway.

"Wait just a minute," she said, and she began rummaging around in her traveling pack, the one equipped with the Tsuirakuan Pocket DImension gadget (I'm going to getting a lot more use out of that from now on, she reflected), eventually emerging with a wire birdcage. "This is for the messenger parrots," she continued. "Carry it with you and they'll have something to home in on if I need to send you one. Actually, I'll send one as soon as we're back in Saus so you'll have it available to get a message to me. I think they'll indulge me with one for this purpose, as they've been declassified." Although I don't know how indulgent they'll be once they find out that I ... I ...

A small airship was coming rapidly into view from the south, bearing Veracian liveries.

[Drusia]

"This is for the messenger parrots," she continued. "Carry it with you and they'll have something to home in on if I need to send you one. Actually, I'll send one as soon as we're back in Saus so you'll have it available to get a message to me. I think they'll indulge me with one for this purpose, as they've been declassified."

I accept the parrot cage with a smile, silently wishing that her church had a less... messy method for communication. One that didn't involve bird poop, for instance. Oh well, nothing to be done about it now.

"I'll miss you," I say to Rose instead. I set the cage down and clasp her hands. Once upon a time, I hated her. Now... she's family. I wonder if I'll ever see her again after this.

"Safe travels," I add softly. I would wipe the tears away, but my hands are occupied.

-- Desiree

[Graybeard]

"And I you," Sister Rose answered softly, her own eyes filling with tears. Therese was practical enough to take the cage and hold it for long enough for Rose and Desiree to exchange one last hug. "Godspeed," Rose almost whispered, "and I hope you find what you're looking for. Tell Brad and Lillith hi for us. We'll be in touch." The hug finally released, she, Argus and Tamina started toward the makeshift airship mooring tower, the fact that it was occupied by the garish Tsuirakuan airship as well as the austere Veracian one forgotten for the moment.

Therese watched them go in silence for a while, then turned to Desiree and extended the cage. The man with the turnip wagon was waiting patiently, puffing on a carved pipe that made him look like a garden gnome. "We'd better get going," Therese said softly, and took Desiree's hand as they boarded the wagon.

[OOC: And with that, Rose, Argus and Tamina go off to live Happily Ever After, unless someone/something brings them back in. It isn't quite that simple, of course, and after I get the Lorrin Elle fanfic finished -- new installment on that one finally coming later today, btw -- I'll probably write up some of Rose's continuing adventures. But for now, it's Therese and Desiree.]

[Drusia]

Another journey in the back of a wagon.

This one's different, though. I lean against Therese, enjoying her presence. We're alone, apart from the driver. There's no Luminosans, no weird transportation devices, no strange drifters. Just Therese and I in the back of a wagon.

And an empty parrot cage.

I think things are going well so far.

-- Desiree

[Graybeard]

For a while, Therese also snuggled back against Desiree, enjoying the peace and tranquility of their means of transport. If anyone had told me six weeks ago that I'd be snuggling with a new lover in the back of a turnip truck, I'd probably have come after them with a sword, she reflected. But things that one considers mockery the first time they are mentioned sometimes turn out ... well.

As the cart jostled its way along the road through the wilderness, one thought began to intrude on her mood. Finally she had to let it out. Leaning over toward Desiree, so the driver couldn't hear (who knows what his own religious views might be), she whispered, "So let's say that we do succeed in finding this Sasha, and she has the fairy with her. And let us further suppose we can talk to the fairy, and we find out that she is either another one of your Paedagogusi, or another of my Great Mothers, or both.

"What then?"

[Drusia]

"So let's say that we do succeed in finding this Sasha, and she has the fairy with her. And let us further suppose we can talk to the fairy, and we find out that she is either another one of your Paedagogusi, or another of my Great Mothers, or both.
"What then?"

"We ask Compassion about her mission and message," I reply. "And, if she really is one of the Paedagogusi, and if she has a message for the elves, then we escort her to -" I lower my voice further - "Snamish, my home." I let the fact that this is the first time I've ever mentioned the name of my home sink in for a moment, then continue. "So she can speak with my mother. And if that goes well... then I think my mother will want to take Compassion to the last elven city. And, if her message is what I think it is, she will end the elven policy of murdering my kind and we won't have to hide ourselves away anymore."

"On the other hand," I continue, "It is also possible that the Paedagogusi have given up on the elves entirely. If that's the case, then we should probably take her to your home. If Compassion is here for human kind rather than elven kind, then she'll need to join her five predecessors."

-- Desire

[Graybeard]

"If Compassion is here for human kind rather than elven kind, then she'll need to join her five predecessors."

Therese thought about that for a minute. "Well, truthfully, we don't know whether the Five Great Mothers themselves are really 'for' humankind," she finally said. "We know they're real; the power of the figurines is proof of that." She patted the small pouch at her side. "Remember when I gave one to Rose, so we could home in on each other, and--"

Then she stopped short as something dawned on her.

"Snamish," she said.

It had not been lost on Therese that Desiree never gave the name of her own home town. She didn't need Sister Rose's powers of magical Empathy to figure out why: wherever it was, it was a place that absolutely had to maintain its secrecy. And that Desiree would be willing to name it, here and now, could only mean one thing.

She trusts me.

Her eyes got wide, and she was ready to envelop Desiree in a hug (one that might have been a little surprising, given what they'd been talking about when she stopped mid-sentence), but she was interrupted by a call from the wagon driver. "Hang on, we be stoppin' for a minute, there be traffic on th' side road up here." He waved with his pipe in the direction of an intersection a few hundred yards ahead, where another wagon, and a few men on horseback, were approaching.

[OOC: Last call for Udo to link up here. I think it's not going to happen, though, so D, if you want to do anything with a band of travelers to Santuariel who are in need of some medical attention for their child, have at it!]