(inspired by but not appearing in the book "the Story Teller" this features three of the seven children of Corn: Salt, Pepper and, Garlic)
“Discard your garbs, you’re covered in filth.” Jessica request of the children as they step inside, nether child nor mother protest. Jessica lead Corn into the back of the tiny house and binds her wounds with cloth and ropes “Gloomwings, hideous little beast” she whispers as she works.
Pepper still brandishing the branch he had found interrupts Jessica’s work “You’re Jessica the Weaver, the Medicine-mouse sad you’re a witch!”
Jessica need not look up from her bindings to respond “he is not wrong, but I would hardly call him right. What do you think little Pepper, slayer of crows” she playfully grins at the tiny warrior.
“You know my name?” he asks looking shocked.
“I now all your names: Pepper, you were the first born, eldest by fifty five whole minutes. You have four sisters in order they are: Cream, Butter, Salt, and Mint is the youngest of the girls, but she is younger than Garlic by only three minutes. Then add your other brother Onion and that makes seven. Strange that I don’t see him here.”
Pepper looks around for a moment as if to search the room for the key to salve this puzzle “how do you know?”
“I know because I must know.”
Pepper moves in cautiously almost hopping into Jessica “you whispered to the trees a name…”
“Kari.”
“Who is that?” Pepper stands noise to noise with Jessica.
Jessica faces him placing one hand atop his cheek “if every hart in the world filled with love belonged to me, then everyone filled with sadness would be hers.”
Peppers eyes turn soft with inquiry “why is she so sad?”
Jessica sets her hand to Corn’s stomach whispering to her “rest a spell, we will have much to discuss soon.” she turn her attention back on Pepper “you certainly want to know a lot don’t you?” Pepper nods. “the Crow always plays the melancholy heroes, A life filled with magic that can harm or heal any that she may wish, but never can she see the magic for herself. The Crows want only one thing but fate transpires to say never will they have it.”
Pepper leans in close, the two share a breath, with wide eyes he ask “what does the crow want?”
Jessica rest her noise to peppers ear speaking ever so softly as she hugs the boy “to draw a warm breath, then to feel soft skin.”
Pepper shutters in Jessica’s arms “why can’t they have it?”
Jessica’s lips touch his ear “the Crow traded her hart for wings and her skin to learn to fly.” she explains softly “Would you tread your skin to fly? It’s a titillating puzzle isn’t it?” Pepper mouth drops and eyes widen as he envision the diabolical nature of the Blackbirds. Jessica playfully wraps her teeth around one of his ears “now go watch after your sisters wiliest I finish up with your mother.”
Pepper walks out of the room, a slight jitter to his step, his tail slightly elevated from the unfamiliar feelings of both fear and excitement Jessica has inspired. “How old are they? They must be close to twelve sessions, practically adults already.”
Corn looks up feeling her bandages “heavens no, there not yet ten sessions.”
“did you spot Pepper's little skip there? He is already showing signs of...”
Corn cuts Jessica off “stop that. I'm not ready to think about that yet.”
“there are advantages to having mature offspring you know.”
“you naughty old hermit.” Corn slaps at Jessica, but then recoils as her wounds start hemorrhage. Jessica forces her into a laying posture “you most sit still girl or you'll bleed to death.” Corn calms herself “why isn't Onion with you? And for that matter what are you doing so far from the borrows? It's at-least half a day's walk to the village from here.”
“Onion is quit unwell. The Medicine-mouse sad he has Consumption, some inheritance form his father, the medicine-mouse thinks if I go to Elec mountain I will find the magic to heal him.”
“A mother's journey, I have been there. It is unfair to ask anyone to make that walk. To risk so much, only those who truly understand the weight of life dare to try. So why come to me?”
“The Crier told me about the road to Elec, told me to see to it my earthy affairs are inline. My only concern is that my children live to have young of their own. Should I not come home. I want you to choose mates for them, and protect them till they are strong enough to do so on their own.”
“And for that you beseech a witch? Aren’t we brave?”
“Storyteller when I was a girl I used to here you spine your webs day and night, you are no witch, you are a merciful angle.”
“You are to kind. You must sleep now. I will do your bidding.”
* * *
The diversity of Corn's children is overwhelmingly dynamic to spite all of them (supposedly) having the same father. Between the two boys Pepper is the more aggressive, Onion is a passivest, Garlic is by far the tallest of the kids standing even two inches over her mother but she is timid and homely most would say, Butter is short and plump but was the first of the girls to start showing signs of maturity, Cream is the most like her mother soft-spoken but still frisky when frightened or angry, Mint is wonder-struck always sniffing about looking for new thing, Salt is the most childish and a follower by nature will still mischievous more often than not reinforcing all of Garlic and Pepper's worst ideas.
Pepper walks back into the main room of the hovel, Salt is whispering with Garlic who is in turn blushing bashfully, Garlic offers Salt a playful push away and just barley loud enough to here softly yells “no I won’t, you filth little rat!”
Mint and Butter turn their attention to the quit bantering. Cream shacks herself off and looks back to Pepper “is Mother well?”
“The witch clams she needs sleep.” Pepper replies
“Weaver!” Garlic corrects him
“Whatever!” Pepper yells at her
Cream cuts them off “will you two hush down!”
Mint’s noise twitches as she falls onto all fours and starts looking about. Butter reaches down to pull her tail as she walks past, she tugs up on it and Mint snarls in turn “what are you sniffing at?” Butter ask
“Smells like burnt meat.” Mint explains
Cream looks about, “I don’t smell anything but sunbaked flowers.”
“My noise is stranger than yours, its old meat, like, salt-packed meat.” Mint goes on
Pepper looks confused “like that fake skin dad had?”
Garlic scoffs “it wasn’t fake, it just wasn’t his, he killed a bear and cooked the skin into a blanket.”
Mint pushes a spice cabinet aside to reveal a hidden door. Without giving it a second thought Mint swings open the door to reveal a room filled with cabinets overflowing with leather parchments and a fire pit, an armchair and arched treasure-chest, a caldron, flowers that glow like a captive flam, and a tapestry for a rug showing some beast of an ancient race with powder white hair and pastel robs gathered around a table reading a pyros.
The children nearly pile atop one another to look into the room. “What is this place?” Mint, Cream, Butter and Salt all ask looking to Garlic and Pepper
Pepper looks down to Mint at the bottom of the dog pile “you opened the door, you tell us.”
Mint takes the lead waling in, she walks around a moment then looks back “It’s Jessica’s bedroom.”
“I don’t see a bed?” Garlic questions as nibbling on one of her fingers.
Cream speaks up “who hides there bedroom anyway?”
Pepper picks up one of the parchments “it’s clearly a store room for whatever these are.”
Salt bonces up and down “is it delicious? Put it in your mouth and see.”
“Don’t, it’s some kind of cloth.” Garlic cuts in
Jessica sneaks in the room behind them “That is the sources of the Weaver’s power.” The kids scream and huddle around each other. Jessica walks around and takes the scroll form Pepper, she unrolls it to look at the first lines “The Late Autumns Ride” she smiles “for so long as most can remember history has been kept by the Weavers, in an audible format. We tell our children stories and they tell them to their children in turn. But there was a time when the ‘Huma’ had to many stories to remember so they learned to draw sounds, so they wouldn’t have to remember.”
Salt cuts in “what is a Huma?”
“they were the third grate race: after the Tamriel, and the Fay, came the Huma, then the Gedira, the Darkling, and finial us the Kobolt, The Huma where the most powerful of the grate and Ancient ones, there power only rivaled by Kari.” Jessica explains
“Then why are they gone” Cream ask
“If the words in these scrolls are true it is because they fought Kari for control of time and space and lost.”
Pepper comes in “that doesn’t sound so grate and mighty. Kari is afraid of you after all.”
“Her minions fear me.” Jessica points out, “birds and wolves flee from me. But Kari as we know her today is only a memory of a greater beast called Cravixs, the god king of our world.” Brightly Jessica smiles as her eyes lower “but that was a distant time, when the god kings where cruel. Today is a different day. So long as we stay near our holes the gods and their kin keep their distances and to that we are thankful. Vindictive gods are a troublesome thing.”
Garlic pipes in “you talk as if you remembered a time when they were.”
“I do. At-least I can see what things looked like before the peace tax. These scrolls talk about that time to grate length. As far back as Huma history goes they fought the god. Ill-content with the weakness and sickness bred into their being, if ever one was fight to overthrow the natural order and become masters of creation it would have been them.”
Butter sits alongside Jessica looking up to her “you idolize them.”
“I feel they are deserving. Even the tong we speak with today was inherited form them. Your name Butter was one they made up; in Huma it means a spun cream or milk.” She places a hand between Butter’s ears and rubs down her noise. Butter laughs in turn. “would you like me to read form one of the Huma scrolls for you?” The kids move in close sighting at Jessica’s feet. “Ill start with that one you found Pepper.”
Keywords
male
1,170,733,
female
1,060,167,
cub
267,971,
young
64,882,
mouse
53,023,
kobold
11,492,
clean
10,335,
playing
4,753,
playful
4,483,
mice
2,536,
children
2,463,
dizzy
708
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Published:
10 years, 5 months ago
28 May 2014 16:38 CEST
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