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Post by Kahlan Lothair on Jan 8, 2005 22:05:58 GMT -5
Stepping out into the warm sunshine seems to be an treat to Kahlan's weary bones. A smile comes to her lips when she thinks about the last time she entered the garden. Shaking her head slightly, Kahlan steps forward and the door shuts behind them. In reality the doorway looks more like a tear in a veil.
Lacing her long fingers together, Kahlan smiles some more but this time toward the expression on Naavah's face. It was somewhere between relief and reverence. "This is not the Great Forest. This is the realm of Tuatha. Many call it the Fae Realm. Here there is no age. I am a part of this race many generations removed."
Turning to look at Naavah, Kahlan smiles lightly to her. Crossing her arms she glances over to a small stream nearby. The place where her old home should be is no longer visible, as it often was in this changing world. Because the realm did not age did not mean that it would not change. Pushing her hair out of her eyes, she motions Naavah forward. "Explore. If ever you want to return to this place simply remeber it. This realm works far differently than the above realm. If you wish to stay with me I understand. I may be able to explain things you may not understand here."
This place is exquisite in beauty and seems so clean and fresh that its a wonder that Kahlan could ever possibly part herself from it. In reality because time is of no influence here it could have three different outcomes above ground. Upon exiting this realm no time may have passed when it feels as if one has been here for years (and if mortal often ones appearance changes. *The realm and natural inhabitants of this realm will not age. Mortals are free game.**). Upon exiting it may appear as if many days have passed when one feels as if they have spent many years in this realm, or on the contrary only a few minutes. The third could possibly pass as years when one feels as if they have been here for a short period of time (days: usually adding up to and not exceeding 2-3 months).
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Post by Naavah on Jan 9, 2005 2:39:49 GMT -5
It was too warm to be the Great Forest anyway. She smiled softly to Kahlan imediatly kicked off her shoes. She unbuttoned her tunic so that the warm breeze could play against her rounded belly and boyish chest. This was why she like the summer, there was far less need for clothing. Having been given the permission to roam free, she set down the nearest hill at full speed, her bare feet landing hard on the ground, nearly to the point where she tumbled head over heel into a tree stump. Having reached the bottom, she turned back up to Kahlan, breathless. It was the little child in her who would to cart wheels if she knew how, who would laugh if she didn't find the sounds strange to her voice. Despite her basic urge to run herself ragged, simply because there was an opportunity to do so, her mind was overflowing with questions. For a moment, she began to speak, then stopped and restarted, slower, in the correct language.
"Is to hunting okay? Where is your tribe? Why... is the land awake... not cold? Where in Muna are we?" Her eyes were dark and alive. She hated the winter, when the sun moved far away and Muna and the spirits slept. To have stumbled onto summer was the most amazing of discoveries. It was similar to the discovery of the Western Woods that Adam had brought her. There she had finally found a place that the Others could not touch, a kinsman of sorts, animals that acted as though bewitched. She had spent the first week there as though she were certainly in a dream, waiting to wake up. Here, once more, her eyes sparkled with wonder.
So many children in this world, are raised to believe in magic, sheltered in worlds that accept stories that adults could no longer believe. Naavah had been born outside this world, in a realm where her beliefs in the impossible were greeted by scoffs and condescention. Thus, there was no greater pleasure in this world, than to be proved right. There were pockets of paradise in this world and all those who had stopped looking were fools. Somewhere, there was also her own world, the one she ought to have never been forced to leave. There, the men would be leaving on mammoth hunts, and the women preparing the caves to hold the sudden glut of meat. It would be hard labor, and already the fruits and vegetables they had stored would be beginning to go bad. But Naavah, their bad luck child, stood in the glories of the afternoon sun, besides a Queen in a land where time had no meaning. Wasn't life grand?
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Post by Kahlan Lothair on Jan 9, 2005 20:48:59 GMT -5
Kahlan allows her hand to trail down to the top of Naavah's head for a brief moment. She enjoyed the thrill that was so evident on the child's face. It was obvious that she was full of questions and Kahlan motions with her hand to their surroundings.
"The land is awake because it is not like the surface land. The land here is always in summer and never sleeps as the land does above." As she tries to think of a way to express where they are, she leans against the trunk of a nearby oak that must be centuries old for the canopy is obscured by other shorter trees. "We are in the Sacred Garden. Some might call it the land of the faeries but not many believe in it anymore. Its magic is limited to this place here. Beyond this..." again she acknowledges the land with a wave of her hand, "You will find there are gateways to other places. You speak of Muna where I speak of a different reality. Something like your dream world but different."
This would no doubt perplex the girl so Kahlan chuckles, "I do not mean to confuse you Naavah but there is no easy way to understand this world. It is almost like a go between. If you decide to stay here there is no telling how this realm will affect you timewise. Eventually you will have to leave and come back, but the forest is willing to allow you to stay for a while. Maybe your young heart needs its solace. Am I right?" Tilting her gaze down to meet that of Naavah's, Kahlan smiles gently. "You will not be able to access the other gateways without a guide. In essence I am the only remaining Gateway Guide and you would have to find me to open it. The one gateway that I cannot allow you to pass into however is the Gateway of Stars. It is a gateway into death my child, if you were wondering." So much knowledge courses through Kahlan's veins that it is almost astounding that she, looking as young as she does, could know so much.
"My tribe is everywhere in this realm. You may see them periodically if they allow you to. However, they are creatures of habit and do not like much the association with humans. Its part of the reason they retired here to this realm." Turning to look around a little more, Kahlan is almost forlorn to have not seen one of her kindred in so long. Halfblood though she might be, her other half was something that her Kindred revered here. It was disheartening to see that they might not recognize her for what she was. Then again the last two times she had the chance of coming here she was with another. Perhaps one day she would bring Willow here and let her see part of her heritage. Yes, one day...
"I will stay here a while longer and then I must leave. By the time I leave you must answer my question of whether you plan to stay or if you would rather come back above ground with me."
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Post by Naavah on Jan 10, 2005 2:52:39 GMT -5
Naavah listened to Kahlan carefully. She did her best to internalize what Kahlan tried to explain about where they were, but most of it was beyond her. Instead she filed the information away, hopeful that at some point she would be able to make it all make sense. The idea of being affected by time washed over her as well, without making much of an impact. What was time for a child if it was not something to struggle against. Everything would be perfect when she was old enough. Was that not the opionion of all children. Only when grown would she look back at these years with a nostalgic sigh. Her feet were cushioned in the warm grass and her head was pulled all the way back as she searched for the tips of the trees, obscured by the canopy. There was something that she could not explain about this place. She was a child always out of her element. Her place in this world had been within a tribe, along side a mother, in a time that could not be recalled. Everywhere else was a fight to survive, to belong, to stay true. Yet here, in the land of faeries, Naavah felt it all drift away. She was accepted here by the earth itself and that was as close to heaven as she was ready to get.
When Kahlan spoke of many doors, she considered asking her if there was a door back home, back to the waking world. If there was one anywhere, it was here. As a littler girl, she would have done just about anything to return there, but older and wiser, she knew it had nothing to hold for her. No tribe wanted her then or wanted her now, there would be no remaining kin except for perhaps her step father, for whom her passionate hatred had never faded. There would be no stepping backwards. "If I stay a while, where it is warm, and I hunt here, will you make Adam know where I am? I don't want him to forget... or be angry." If Kahlan had seen Naavah and Adam together, she would know that the beast man would never be forget or be angry at the little girl, though it was possible that he would miss her greatly. "And... when I want to go back... I just go or do I wait for you." She had already decided in her heart to stay, though in her mind she was still debating. A cage, no matter how large and exquisite, was still a cage. Naavah did not like the idea of staying anywhere that she didn't have the freedom to leave. This garden was calling her to stay, it was already pulling the little girl inwards . "I think that maybe your tribe will let me see them. I am not all human, I am wolf spirit too." Already her eyes strained to see the faeries, perhaps jsut to show that she could. After a moment she looked back to Kahlan, seeking encouragement and agreement on her little life decision.
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