[combines The Lone Watcher: Hero's Fall and The Lone Watcher: Steelstar.]
[continues from The Lone Watcher: Hero's Fall]
The mists swirl around her, as if trying to pull her further from the light of the house. She hears a voice from the distance, in the fog.
"Angel, why didn't you come with me." Cries the voice of the cat-woman. "You are my daughter, and should be safe, but I need you now... oh, I need y-"
"Ma'am?" //What's the lady's name again?...//
Aranya's voice sounds somewhat hollow, like it's eaten in the thickness of the fog. The striking of the metal grows louder in her ears.
//That sounds like a smithy! And I'm sure we didn't pass any on the way here.// "Hello?" Aranya says softly, not sure whether it's best to be heard or stay silent.
The sound of her voice echoes, as if in a cavern or wide chamber, and the sounds of the smithy go silent.
She feels for her knife in her pack, only to find she has left both inside. //Blast!// She glances back in the direction of the door anxiously....
When she turns, she sees a figure of metal moving toward her from the fog, it's sheen showing a reddish glow of her own reflection. The arms of this creature raise, and it reaches toward her. It's shiny, smooth surface threatening to crush her with it's vice-like hands. As the fog begins to disperse, she sees the monster's multi-faceted staring at her with a reddish cast, a glow emitting from them as if it were driven by a demonic mind.
Aranya stares at it for one terrified moment, then bolts for where the house should be -- surely the door is only two steps behind her....
She sees a great forge wheere the door should be, and realizes that the fog is actually steam from an oversized vat that holds cooling metal. There is a dark gery felinoid looking at her with a grin. "Greetings, Aranya. You are more than welcome in my workroom. I was waiting for your arrival, wonderign when you would finally come to take your gift."
Aranya realizes her mouth is open, and closes it abruptly. "My gift?..."
He again smiles at her, after he has examined the gear he holds up in a pair of tongs, inspecting it for it's craftsmanship. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Camdar, Father of Invention and Technology." his steely blue eyes watch her for signs of any fear or other emotion.
Bewilderment and some caution show in her face as she meets his eyes. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. It seems you already know who I am...."
After a moment, he smiles again. "Would you care to sit, or perhaps something to drink, maybe some mild tea to help calm your nerves?" His tail unwraps the wrench it had been holding, dropping it to a workbench behind him with a *thud*. Then, he moves over to the forge, and with anothe pair of tongs, takes out a blackened pot and pours some light-brown liquid form it. "Perhpas some coffee instead?"
Disarmed by such a commonplace suggestion, Aranya smiles, remembering the dragonbane tea she had only minutes ago. //Perhaps it has been fogging my brain.// "Coffee is fine, thank you. I don't suppose you have sugar also?"
"Of course I do." He smiles, disarmingly full of charm. "But what type of sugar do you wish for?" Within a few moments he sets out a tray full of different sweeteners and two cups of the dark drink. "Now, tell me Aranya, do you wish to meet family members that you never even knew of? Do you want to learn more magical arts, and practice skills that will make you the talk of your quiet little town for the rest of your life? Or do you just want to go back to the drab misery of the seamstress life; never having taken the opportunity to find the cat-child and help return him to a home of love?"
Aranya picks up a jar of something resembling brown sugar and spoons a couple of spoonfuls into her coffee. She stirs thoughtfully before speaking.
Camdar smiles, as he watches her choose; then, he seems to have made a decision in his mind.
His eyes sparkle, tempting her as he watches each movement she makes. It is as if he knows secrets that he would share with her, if she told him just the right words. Those eyes continue to stare into her, perhaps to her soul. Hiding mysteries that she knows she is not meant to learn, but also showing beautiful patterns for her to design; whether in cloth or spirit, she cannot tell.
"Who are you, Camdar? How do you know of me?"
"I have told you who I am. I know of you because I have watched you, and your family line, for many ages. I have been waiting for one of you to make the decsion to follow the stirrings in your blood." Again he smiles with that mysterious look in his eye. "The question is, do you feel pressured to make this quest, when you would rather be at home; or do you prefer to try to make a difference in the world around you?" He sets the pot back on the forge, and moves to the workbench where he has been tinkering with some device.
"Why I --" Aranya pauses, caution battling with irritation at cat man's smugness.
The felinoid smiles, knowing she is affronted. It seems as if he is goading her.
He begins to handle a few gadgets on a work table, as if he just can't quit fidgeting. Then she realiseds that he is in the middle fo bulding some device, but what it is she has no idea.
Aranya watches him tinker with the gadgets, wondering what they are intended for.
"I do what I think is right. If you know of a way for me to help Corbyn, then please tell me, but I have no wish to become the 'talk of the town.' And what do you mean by the 'father of invention and technology?'"
Camdar looks at her, seriousness in his eyes. "I cannot _give_ you all the answers, dear lady. If you think it right to rescue the child, then perhaps you should, but if you think it right to save a world, or an entire universe, then you should try to make a difference where _you_ believe you are able to count."
She hears a bells chime behind her, and a whirring motor begins to rotate a tub of something there. Cmadar glances at the tub, then back to her, finally he sets to his work at the table agian. As he adjust peices of the project, and places some of them together, she sees what looks like an elaborate pair of shears, one blade looks as if it might be removed easily to act as a knife, rather than scissors.
Again he smiles. "As fot being the father of invention and technology..." he pulls out a pair of good industrial shears, then turns a small knob on the side, and they begin to glow, as if they are magically endowed. "Observe." he says, as he moves over to a table where a finely spun peice of cloth sits. Then Aranya realises that it is not cloth at all, but a delicately meshed metal. He places the shears to one side of it, and slowly they begin to "cut" the metal, just from the glowing at the blades.
Her eyes widen as the mesh parts without being touched by the shears.
Camdar smiles, with the joy that one of his toys being appreciated.
"See. Can you show me a pair of shears that will do the same thing?" He grins broadly.
//Is it magic?// she thinks, and then remembers tales brought by travelers of wondrous items. "Not I...."
"See, this is why I'm called the father of invention." He says, smiling warmly to her.
And she finds herself smiling back despite herself.
He offers the device to Aranya, a gleam in his eye. "Would you like to try them?"
"Oh, yes please!"
With another grin, he offers her the shears, and then sets more of the "cloth" in front of her. It's feel is as fine as sueded silk, and it's weave is the tighttest she has ever seen.
He [Bryon] stepped out from the portal of shadow several minutes ago, but he could not show himself yet. He was still angery, and didn't want his emotionsto get the best of him. He watches as his gradnson shows the young lady his toys. //He is alwasy so exhuberant about the creations of his. And she seems as if she's willing to learn anything. Such a pretty young woman, I wonder where he's come from?//
"This was made by The Weaver of Fates." he [Camdar] says, matter of factly, as if he might be instructing a child. "It's possible that you have her talent within your viens." again he smiles, "That would make us very distantly related."
Bryon smiles. Weaver, his daughter, had allowed her children to grow as they chose to, but still many of them took up the same skills she had. //You knew how to raise the young, daughter. I was always proud of your accopmlishments.// He thinks, knowing that she will hear his words if she chooses. //I only wish I could have been there for you when you needed me.// After dwelling for a monet more on his own losses in life, Bryon sighs lightly, and continues to watch the figures in the room.
"The Weaver of Fates is a real person?" Aranya blinks. "Related to me?"
"Yes." Camdar chuckles, "She is very real, she once kept a mortal form, but grew to weary to continue it's requirements. You see she doesn't have much time to dally with other things that keep her from her loom any more. And she bore many children; eight, in fact. Her mortal form was used to the ways of pleasure, and her mate was lost in the void of the Shadowrealm, long ago. Rather than be tempted by other flesh, she cast off the physical body and now tends her duties, hoping her mate will one day show his thread again in her weaving." He smiles again, this time a sad smile. "There aren't many of us left who keep this form, and he's been gone so long... none can say what his fate is."
The young weaver listens wide-eyed. //A real person? With a family??//
"But you," he looks directly at her, touching her nose with his index finger; and his next words show his changing of subject, "have the look of the Weaver about you. A similarity, and I bet your magic deals with cottons and fabrics." The Cat-man smiles,as if in the know of some great secret.
Aranya blinks a second time. "I don't have any magic..." //Don't fool yourself, girl, because you probably can't fool him.// "...well, a few little tricks with string, they hardly amount to anything."
Camdar grins broadly, "You know you shouldn't lie to one of us. We don't like that. But I'll forgive you." he grins again, and winks at the human woman, a sparkle lighting his eye. And then Arayna has the feeling he's up to some mischief.
Bryon smiles as well. //You do like to play wiht the minds and hearts of beautiful young women, don't you Camdar?//
His [Camdar] whiskers touch her cheek gently, as he shows her how to hold the unusual shears, then helps her begin a cut. "If you adjust the button on the side, it becomes a seem-ripper, rather than a pair of shears. Do you think you'd like something like them?"
"I, sir?" Aranya smiles. "I work with ordinary cloth, not fine stuff like this... um, this."
"The cloth is called Vitron, it is a metal that is wrought by my own kind, great smiths and craftsmen. I taught them the art to make it, so that they would be able to trade with other kinds." He takes her hand, and leads her to his work bench. "I've already started to make a gift for you. It was inspired by knowing beforehand what you were like, and that you would be coming here. You have been watched a long time, Aranya. And now you are ready to find your true potential." he smiles again, this time winking to her as he hands over what looks like a simple pair of cloth shears.
She takes the shears in one hand and examines them, opening and closing them experimentally.
As she does so, there is a feel to them, as if they were her favorite sheers from back home. She sees a pair of small knobs on the handles near the thumb loop, and another knob at the base of the loop for the fingers.
"These two will allow you to cut, like that otehr pair of scissors I just showed you." Camdar points to the top knob. "This one turns on the circulation chaimber, so you get the lazer-sheer..." and then he gestures to the lowwer dial. "And this one allows you to guage what you want to cut, the higher you turn it, the thicker and more dense material it will slice through." He smiles to the lovely woman again, then looks up for a moment, as if lost in an idea.
Bryon slowly approaches, stepping from the shadows of the corner of the room. His cloak draped over his shoulders regally, and face hidden under the hood, he is a very imposing figure to gaze upon.
Aranya looks up at the new arrival and suppresses a sudden impulse to step backward.
"Greetings, Camdar." he says in a rumbling voice, sounding as if he could either attack or clasp the man in a hug. "Who is the most lovely lady with you? Did I hear right, that this woman's name is Aranya?" As he says her name, the r rolls on his tongue, as if he were savoring the word like a fine wine. "The most unique and beautiful names for and equally charming lady." He says to her, bowing and kissing her hand gently.
Aranya curtseys as best she can in trousers, the color rising in her cheeks at this courtly treatment. It takes her a moment to find her voice. "Aye sir, that's my name. May I know yours?"
"Um..." Camdar looks a touch nervous. 'Lady Aranya, this is Master Ice, the most esteemed Magician of these lands. It was his talent that opened magic to this world." The Felinoid seems to be in a mental exchange with the tall warrior for a moment, but then he looks away, and goes toward his workbench again. "I have one more gift for you, Aranya Weaver. It is one that you must not relinquish from your person at any time, for without it, you will be easy prey for the dark forces on the fields were you now go."
[continues in Shadowlands.]
Do not copy or quote the above material without the express consent of the owner of this page.