ic Roughin' It (IC)

[Raveled]

Tona rolled her eyes at Subito's dramatic storytelling. "Very entertaining," she said dryly. "Um. I don't have any stories of my own, but..." She sat up suddenly, staring into the fire. "Okay. This is a story that ma mere told me, through ma oncle. It's about the beginning and end of the world.

 

"In the beginning, the Great Earth Mother had two sons. Gloskap was wise, brave, and true. He lived with the world and in it, and he knew the names and purposes of all the animals and plants. He was a leader, and a hunter, and while he sometimes killed it was always to help more life. Malsum was evil, a liar and a thief. He uprooted mountains to take their bounty, leveled entire forests to make a single chair, and he hunted for the pleasure of killing.

 

"The whole of the world knew Gloskap and Malsum, and they clashed many times. Gloskap always won though, and even death could not keep him bound. In time Malsum was cast out of the sun, to wander in darkness. There he cried out to the darkness, calling for a way to overcome his brother. And the darkness answered him, speaking in red and bone-white words. It led Malsum to the secret heart of the world, where a great tree grew -- a tree of silvery metal and dark wood." Tona touched one pierced earlobe when she spoke about the tree, stroking the wood-and-metal stud there. "Malsum formed an army of dead things from the heart-tree, and went out into the world.

 

"Gloskap heard of his brother's return and confronted him with an army made up of all the warriors of the world. The two brothers fought while their armies clashed. For seven days and seven nights they fought, and as the sun set on midnight of the seventh day Malsum drew a knife given to him by the darkness and stabbed his brother in the heart. It was a mortal wound, and Gloskap fell down, dead.

 

"That's not a problem, because Gloskap had died before. Always, when the sun touched his dead face he was filled with life and bounded to his feet again. But this time, he... He --" Tona stopped abruptly, her voice choking on the story. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply for a moment before continuing. "This time, Malsum dragged Gloskap's body into the darkness, where the sun couldn't reach him. And he reshaped and twisted his brother's form, until Gloskap was a wolf with red eyes and bone-white fur. Then Malsum sent Gloskap-the-wolf back into the world, and Gloskap found the armies -- still fighting -- and gobbled up the souls of his own warriors."

 

She bowed her head for a minute, and it seemed like the story was over. Then she spoke up again, her voice louder and firmer, but she didn't raise her head to look at the rest of the group. "So Malsum finally won, or thought he had, but when he called Gloskap-the-wolf back his dead brother didn't heed him. And then the darkness came out and covered the sun, and said to Malsum, 'Gloskap is our wolf now. You shall be our prince, and this world is ours.' And so the people who did not want their souls eaten by Gloskap fled into the forests, where it was never quite bright enough for the wolf to find them and never quite dark enough for Malsum's darkness to find them."

 

Tona leaned against Sam, resting her head on the other girl's shoulder. So it was only Sam that felt her tears falling.

[Tiffany Korta]

“It seem’s that what they say about the Celt’s applies to us as well, For their battle’s are all merry, And their song are all sad.â€

 

As the other had told there tale Blodeuwedd was trying to decide what story to tell. She’d been tempted to tell stories about perseverance, about Rhiannon and Pwyll how he persured her and eventually wed her or how Rhiannon and Pryderi carried on when all the Welsh disappeared. But one tale was close to her heart one she knew so very well.

 

“When Arianhod gave birth to Lleu Llaw Gyffes she cursed him so denying her an important position in the court of Math. The worst of these was the final curse, that he would never find a wife from any race’s living on Earth or beyond. But Gwyidon and Math were wise and cunning and devised a way to circumvent the curse. Taking the flowers of the oak, bloom and the meadowsweet they conjured up the fairest and most beautiful maiden anyone has ever seen. And they baptised her Blodeuwedd.â€

 

She paused a few second and hoped they all wouldn’t consider her choice of story a vanity. In no way did she consider herself the fairest and most beautiful of women.

 

“And when Lleu Llaw Gyffes save her he was instantly smitted with her and they were wed, and for a while they were happy all in the kingdom was well. But no one ask Blodeuwedd opionion on the matter and she meet and feel in loe with another and hunter called Gronw Pebr. Together they plotted to kill Lleu Llaw Gyffes and she learned in what circumstances that her current husband could be killed. Gronw did the deed but Lleu was no normal man and the blow didn’t kill him and he escaped by turning into an eagle. When Gwydion found out this plan he tracked down Lleu and transfored him back to human form. He tracked Gronw down hiding behind a rock and struck him dead with a blow from a spear straight through the boulder. And for Blodeuwedd part in the plan she was transformed into a Owl and cursed to live only in darkness shunned by all the other birds.â€

[Blue Rose]

We are one seriously messed up bunch, Sam thinks to herself.  To see Elias actually express emotion is a surprise, but the reason's a damn good one.  Though all the talk of gods rubs her the wrong way.  Where she comes from, she was never a fan, and she always finds it strange when people are.

 

When Tona gets done with her tale, Sam knows what's important.  She lends a shoulder to cry on and holds her close, trying not to advertise the situation as she gives Cerys the nod to take next story.  A rather shorter one than she'd hoped, unfortunately, but long enough.  She gives Tona a smile and a kiss on the forehead, then rises.

 

"Most of you probably know, whether I've already told you or not.  I'm heir to the Phantom Fox.  World's greatest thief."  The fallout when Fox blew up a Foundry installation and actually killed people for the first time in her career had made national news a couple years back, and anyone who'd cared to find out knew about the master thief's sidekick defecting after the incident.  Plus, all the instructors get briefed on the 'ex-supervillains' in particular.

 

"She and Masque'd been rivals for over a decade, and you could say they had a... 'working relationship' as these things go.  They saved Chicago together a time or twelve, too.  So, a few years into my apprenticeship, Fox decided to get her a 'birthday present.'"  As usual, any time she speaks of her mentor, the incidence rate of air quotes rises dramatically.

 

"The Runners were a bunch of gangsters.  Secured access to some alien tech and used the weapons to come onto the scene in the Chicago crime world pretty fierce.  Turns out it's a lot easier to raid a bank vault when your typical handgun can melt the lock on a vault.  They weren't the cleverest, but they were ruthless and good at hiding, at least at first.  Then, they started laying down roots and buying allies with the gear.  Chicago PD knew they had to crack down on these guys hard before they got out of hand.  It was shaping up to be war, and they were bringing Masque in working overtime to help back 'em into a corner."

 

"Fox found that corner first.  Local scum hadn't seemed to've figure out she wasn't one of 'em, and this time, it netted her some useful information.  Their HQ, which they were prepping for a siege. So, we went in."

 

"The ruse was basic enough.  Overtures of alliance.  They were tripping over themselves to get someone of Fox's caliber on their side.  We'd retrieved a crate of their super guns to earn their trust, and took it right through the front door.  I was playing the part of Fox."  With a thought, she raises her illusion, appearing as her mentor, a tall, slender woman with long blonde hair, with a white long coat and a matching wide-brimmed hat.  She tips her hat, then the image fades and it's Sam again.  "The genuine article was in a secret compartment we'd added to the bottom of the crate.  That got her to weapon storage, which let her drop a tracer for me to get in there while she slipped into the ventilation system and made her way around the building to get the lay of the land before we did our switcheroo.  She filled in her own place as honored guest to start 'negotiations' proper.  I 'ported into weapon storage and started swapping gear crates with empty ones we had in a warehouse.  They didn't trust their goons with the goods off-duty, so once that was done, they were pretty much helpless.  That done, I slipped around making thugs snap, starting riots where I could while Fox used the confusion to knick and stow what guns were left, and to go after the big bosses.  Of course, the way she did it, that was the easy part.  Half were already on their way out their escape route, which Fox'd already rigged with knockout gas, and the other half?  Fox had 'em down before they even saw her coming.  Zip-line in for a high-speed leg sweep on two men with a gas pellet to take out another, then the coup de grace.  Not her usual approach, but sometimes, she takes the direct approach just to keep it sharp."

 

"By the time the Masque 'n the cops got Fox's anonymous tip on HQ's locale, the place was a mess.  The rank and file had taken each other out, and I'd ported the guns back in, with the bosses on top, all wrapped up and pretty with a bow and both our signatures.  War, averted."

.

Just the telling is enough to bring a smile to her face, as she returns to Tona, wrapping an arm around her.

[Ari]

Subito had clapped quietly and politely at the close of the girls' stories, and as the tale of Kit and the Phantom Fox's exploit came to a close he gave a sigh of relief. Turning to the lithe young agent he smiled apologetically, waving over at the Branded girl as he said "Sorry Cerys! I like the tale of Blodeuwedd as much as the next guy, but in this case I gotta go with the other awesome story with a happy ending. We're still on to meet your famly in Wales, right?" He fell back against the nearby log with a thud "Seriously, we all need to learn some better stories. Pro'lly from each other."

 

Turning to Mr. Landis he said cheerfully "What do you think, sir?"

[Raveled]

Tona put her arms around Sam, holding the other girl close. "I vote for Sam's," she said simply. She nuzzled against Sam's shoulder. "Sorry I've been such a downer tonight," she whispered. "We can... we can talk about it later, if you want?" She wasn't sure if this was the right time to open up to Sam, but if not now then when?

[Tiffany Korta]

“Well it’s nice to see someone has some loyalty towards there loved one.†She gave Subito a pointed look, but there was also a little twinkle in her eye.

 

“Personally I’m a fan of myths over fact; I would have gone for Tona story. But it’s not really our place to decide the winner that would be the one who didn’t tell a story. And just happens to be the responsible adult.â€

 

She wasn’t particularly worried or upset that no one preferred her story, to everyone else it was just a story To her and the Order the story, the real complete story, was part of the history of their involvement in first Gwynedd and then Wales.

[Blue Rose]

"Whenever you feel ready," is Sam's answer as she cuddles with Tona.  In all honesty, she would be happy if they could go the trip without talk of Terminus, since Tona definitely needs a chance to relax without having to worry about such things, but that's not exactly something she can force.  Well, it is, but that would be wrong.

 

"Sam," she calls out as her vote, though the joking smile she offers up right after tells how serious that one was.  "Nah, I'm voting Elias."  Gods really do rub her the wrong way, but more importantly, she thinks it was really a very good story.  Elias doesn't emote much, but when he does, especially to that level, it's pretty raw, and despite the rough, stream-of-consciousness telling, it conveyed what he was coming from very effectively.  Not necessarily entertaining, but definitely interesting.

[TheAbsurdist]

GM

 

 

Mr. Landis smiled a little, his arm crossed on his chest.  "I have to admit, I am a sap, kids... So, I like Subitos.  But then I liked them all, and I am not really one to support competition like this.  Unless you want me to lauch into stuff they pounded into my head at teacher school.  Especially since this would be among my students who may, or may not, have been sniping at each other before the stories started."  He grinned at the kids then, and shrugged a little bit.

 

He lifted a hand then and pointed the palms towards then, making small, pushing motions.  "I know, I know, it's a cop out, but that's what is going to happen right now kids.  Otherwise I am kind of choosing a favorite kid too."

[Ari]

"Pfft, I'm not even technically your boyfriend yet Cerys, I can do what I want!" Subito declared with a mock-haughty toss of his hair. With a fond smile he added "And besides, we still haven't read all the story of Peredur, we need to do that sometime, maybe after supper?"  he suggested with a casual smile and innocent look. Mr. Landis's decision brought a lot of relief to him. Both because their chaperone appreciated his own story, and understood the dangers of playing favorites like that. "So we all won? Awesome! Now we can make each other chairs!" he sat up sharply, arms supported on his knees and eyes shining in the firelight "Now, who wants to take first crack at some campfire songs?" he asked with a flash of brilliantly clean teeth.

 

'That worked out way better'n I thought it would Well yes, no stakes and the superiors are easy to see Tota-! Wait, what? Use your imagination'

Edited March 8, 2013 by Arichamus

[TheAbsurdist]

GM

 

"Kids it is not wise to talk about your significant other, you know when the teacher is standing only a couple feet away.  It is still early enough, and I have spare enough tents that I will separate all of you."  He smiled lightly, but it was clear he was being serious, but then.  There were some rules the staff had to adhere to.  And this was one of them.

 

"I do have activities planned, and since Tona has gracefully demonstrated some skills, I was thinking that perhaps she could show us how to construct simple snares, and if we catch anymore squirrels she can show us beginning preservation and skinning.  And if Elias will come back, he can start to show us foraging techniques as well.  Also later I was thinking we'll do some improv when it gets really dark."

 

Grinning at them, "Plus you all have to get some sleep tonight, we are up bright and early for a hike."  And then his grin was pure malevolence.  "You get credit for this, so I hope you don't think it was all going to be goofing off the whole weekend?"

 

 

 

-fin-