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Over the River and Through The Woods...
a @Doctor Jax and @Elle Joyner collab
After a long -- and somewhat loud -- conversation with Jack's mother, Jack set out with Fi towards the mountain's face. The young man had been on the mountain more times than he could count. Yes, he'd been told it was dangerous. Yes, he had perhaps risked his life on more than several different occasions.
But goodness gracious, someone had to go and collect all those gorgeous flowers that grew on the mountainside.
"Just make sure you stay on the path, cuz it's mighty treach'rous past the village," Jack warned... off the path, grabbing a handful of beautiful golden blooms and stuffing them in his pockets. "And make lotsa noise! There are bears."
Looking to Jack, Fiora made a face, shaking her head as she pointed to his pocket, then to him and the path. If he was going to expect her to listen, he was going to have to, as well... or at least try to.
Making noise, however, was another story, and one that made her smile, as she shook her head and lastly gestured to her throat, a reminder he probably didn't need. it seemed he was going to need to make the noise for the both of them... Though she didn't mind - she rather enjoyed his conversations.
Jack looked up from his flower picking to see her rather obvious gesture to her handicap, and he smacked his forehead.
"O' course, o' course -- my 'pologies, Fi, I didn't mean to forget," he said, tramping down the hillside towards her. The path around the mountain was actually surprisingly clear, at least to the cutoff near Frog Rock which, incidentally, looked exactly like a frog. He handed her the flowers he'd picked -- what were they? Buttercups? Whatever they were they were pretty -- and removed his lute from his bag. Ahead, Goose honked impatiently.
"Here, this oughta keep the bears away," Jack said, strumming the lute experimentally. "Sometimes I wonder if I never got ate by a bear because I kept this all the time with me. A wonder I left it at home..."
As Jack strummed, Fi's smile brightened, and she turned her gaze back tot he path ahead, bringing the flowers he'd handed her to her nose to smell the fragrance of the little yellow blooms.
The smile faded ever so slightly, as she considered just what they were getting into... what she had gotten him into. There was so much about what had happened that she didn't understand, but what was clear was the danger of it all, and she had pulled Jack... sweet, innocent Jack into it.
Looking to him, her eyes misted over and she shook her head. When they found her aunt, she made up her mind she was going to send him home. Not matter how much it hurt to, she wasn't going to risk losing him... not when he meant so very much to her.
Jack, as ever, was oblivious to the turmoil going on next to him, strumming a merry ditty.
"When I was goin' over
the far and fair mountain
there saw Cap'n Farrel
and his money he were countin'..."
Jack leaned against Fi teasingly as he bounced in time with the rhythm, his fingers flying over the fretboard. It was quite clear the young man was enjoying himself -- perhaps too much. Goose honked and flapped his wings at the young man as the fowl traversed the trail.
And this, Jack did until they reached Frog Rock, at which point the trail ended -- and there was naught but dark forest ahead up the mountain.
Fi's shift in temperament was brief, and as Jack leaned against her, she beamed at him, shaking her head with a small laugh. It was only when they stopped that the frown returned and her eyes moved to the forest as she swallowed a bundle of nerves. There was quite nothing, she was sure, as menacing looking...
Looking to Jack, she reached out, absently, for his hand, clinging to it as she nodded.
Jack swallowed and stowed the lute bravely across his back, Goose leading the way already into the underbrush. Luckily, his white plumage was quite easy to see against the dark foliage, and Jack set forth with Fi.
"Don't worry! Just bears and things up here, you know, the usual for a mountain. I mean, they say there are.... are mountain witches up here, and drowned men, and ghosts, and witchlights...." Jack said, feeling less and less assured as the light seemed to grow darker the deeper into the forests they went. Behind them, Jacks' hometown was no more than a smattering of buildings less the size of a playing card.
Keeping close, while keeping her eye on goose, Fiora shook her head. She wasn't bold enough to assume there were no such things... Particularly since she had come up against magic before, but she didn't think it would do either of them much good to dwell on the possibility.
Still... That didn't stop her from jumping at every snap of a twig or rustle of a leaf along the way. Looking to Jack, her nerves exposed in frightened eyes, she mouthed the word 'story', in desperate need of distraction.
Jack nodded frantically. He was in need of distraction himself, and nothing quite got his mind off things like telling a story.
"Well, there was this one time that I went to the tavern -- cuz my brothers, they said, 'Jackaboy, you need to learn to put down a drink, otherwise how're you going to show people you're a man? You won't get a wife, and no one will--' Anyways, I went to the tavern there, and I guess -- I don't know how -- leaned up against a barrel that'd just been pitched."
Jack grimaced at the memory, a faint smile on his face.
" 'N then I had it all over my hip and my back, and Teagan was trying to get it off a me... and I bumped into Shelly O'Connel."
Biting her lip, Fiora kept her laughter at bay, but it sparker in her eyes, burning away the anxiety almost as swift as magic might. With a nod, she gestured for him to continue...
"Well, Shelley O Connel got stuck to me, and we kinda tried to get unstuck, but I tripped on someone's shoe, and we fell on a keg that fell over, broke, and doused is in ale...."
Jack shrugged sheepishly.
"Shelly's sister slipped trying to help, clocked Shelly in the head, and got stuck in the pitch. So all three of us were stuck together...."
Shaking her head, Fiora chuckled, picturing the entire episode in detail. She'd never been around people much, but she could only imagine how everyone might have laughed... Well, everyone except perhaps Shelly and her sister, but no doubt they were amused by it, now... after the fact.
She opened her mouth to ask how they got unstuck, but ahead of them, there was a crack and Fiora paused, catching sight of something large and black, barreling towards them, through the thick forest foliage. Her hand found Jack's again, and she grasped it tightly, moving closer to him.
Jack saw the black blur perhaps a second later than his female compatriot, and immediately he stepped in front of Fi, thinking a moment later that it would have been better to drag her out of he way instead.
Whatever the case, he stood his ground, hands tightly wound in front of his face.
It was no bear, however. And while Fiora would not soon forget Jack's selfless notions... there appeared no reason. There, through the treeline broke a black buck, antlers of absolute, glistening silver. Fiora gasped, seeing the magnificent creature from over Jack's shoulder, and the deer cast a beadlike stare in their direction, before turning it's gaze pointedly to goose, nodding to the bird, then turning round, breaking through the trees at a pace that suggested they ought to follow.
Jack stared, open mouthed, as the deer took off.
"Should we....?" Jack asked, pointing, but Goose had already made that decision for them. The large fowl grabbed hold of Jack's pants and tugged backwards.
Looking to Goose, Fiora frowned softly. He was their guide, and certainly seemed to know best... but the deer...
Turning to Jack, Fiora shrugged, pointing to Goose.
With that, Jack shrugged with sheepish look, following behind the waddling bird. Goose seemed to have a certain predilection to follow said large black buck that had disappeared into the forest, and while Jack was not sure he trusted so much forest creatures so dark, he decided that Goose certainly knew better -- not to mention, Fi's aunt told him that somehow Goose knew the way.
"I'm sure Goose knows what he's doing. Right, Goose?"
The goose honked as it stopped in front of a rather large wall of rock about ten feet tall, flapped his wings, and flew over the top. Jack stared dumbfounded and huffed in frustration.
Fiora blinked and looked up at the wall, then back in the direction they had come. It wasn't usual, the creature that had seen, and it certainly hadn't seemed intent on harming them, but Goose was determined and if she had learned anything it was that Goose, while perhaps not the most charming sort of water fowl, seemed to have Jack's best interests at heart... even if only to protect his own interests.
Turning back to Jack, she pointed to the wall and shrugged, mouthing 'Up or around?'
Jack craned his neck and stated, "Up is fastest. The sun is setting."
Indeed, it was growing darker by now, the mountain quickly falling shadow where the sun has set on the other side. Jack made a stirrup with his hands and gestured for her to step.
"I'll follow after."
Her own eyes followed the sun's descent, the uncertainty returning as she looked to Jack. It wasn't too late to turn back, surely... But then, they had come this far.
Nodding, she stepped into the cup of his hands and pulled herself up onto the wall, before leaning down to give Jack a hand.
Jack stepped back before grabbing her hand, taking a running leap instead. He easily grabbed hold of the rocky ledge, though he did grip Fi's hand as he hauled himself over the edge.
Goose was already partway up a steep path, one that Jack had never seen before.
"Huh. I didn't know someone had cleared this out... looks like an old road," stated Jack, kneeling down to inspect the faint outline of cobbles. "Course, Fool's Foot used to be lots bigger than it is now, so maybe there used to be something up on the mountain..."
Following him onwards, Fiora shook her head, looking around them. As night continued to encroach, she grabbed Jack's hand once more, frowning delicately.
In the distance, a rapid fluttering sound was the precursor to a sudden swarm of what appeared to be large black birds, their squawking, raspy calls resonating through the darkening forest. They swung low, then swept high into the sky, disappearing against the smokey grey of the heavens, their flight carrying the sense of fleeing.
In the silence that followed their rapid ascension, there was a low growling sound, and moving closer to Jack, Fiora swallowed. It was no buck, this time...
Jack, this time with his bearings about him this time, immediately dragged Fiora after him along the path, looking over his shoulder frantically to see if there was something in pursuit. He hurriedly pushed her ahead. He couldn't remember what it was that Teagan had said to do if he ever ran into a bear -- was it to flee? No, drop down and play dead! No-- run up a tree! Oh, but if only he could remember....[/hr]
a @Doctor Jax and @Elle Joyner collab
After a long -- and somewhat loud -- conversation with Jack's mother, Jack set out with Fi towards the mountain's face. The young man had been on the mountain more times than he could count. Yes, he'd been told it was dangerous. Yes, he had perhaps risked his life on more than several different occasions.
But goodness gracious, someone had to go and collect all those gorgeous flowers that grew on the mountainside.
"Just make sure you stay on the path, cuz it's mighty treach'rous past the village," Jack warned... off the path, grabbing a handful of beautiful golden blooms and stuffing them in his pockets. "And make lotsa noise! There are bears."
Looking to Jack, Fiora made a face, shaking her head as she pointed to his pocket, then to him and the path. If he was going to expect her to listen, he was going to have to, as well... or at least try to.
Making noise, however, was another story, and one that made her smile, as she shook her head and lastly gestured to her throat, a reminder he probably didn't need. it seemed he was going to need to make the noise for the both of them... Though she didn't mind - she rather enjoyed his conversations.
Jack looked up from his flower picking to see her rather obvious gesture to her handicap, and he smacked his forehead.
"O' course, o' course -- my 'pologies, Fi, I didn't mean to forget," he said, tramping down the hillside towards her. The path around the mountain was actually surprisingly clear, at least to the cutoff near Frog Rock which, incidentally, looked exactly like a frog. He handed her the flowers he'd picked -- what were they? Buttercups? Whatever they were they were pretty -- and removed his lute from his bag. Ahead, Goose honked impatiently.
"Here, this oughta keep the bears away," Jack said, strumming the lute experimentally. "Sometimes I wonder if I never got ate by a bear because I kept this all the time with me. A wonder I left it at home..."
As Jack strummed, Fi's smile brightened, and she turned her gaze back tot he path ahead, bringing the flowers he'd handed her to her nose to smell the fragrance of the little yellow blooms.
The smile faded ever so slightly, as she considered just what they were getting into... what she had gotten him into. There was so much about what had happened that she didn't understand, but what was clear was the danger of it all, and she had pulled Jack... sweet, innocent Jack into it.
Looking to him, her eyes misted over and she shook her head. When they found her aunt, she made up her mind she was going to send him home. Not matter how much it hurt to, she wasn't going to risk losing him... not when he meant so very much to her.
Jack, as ever, was oblivious to the turmoil going on next to him, strumming a merry ditty.
"When I was goin' over
the far and fair mountain
there saw Cap'n Farrel
and his money he were countin'..."
Jack leaned against Fi teasingly as he bounced in time with the rhythm, his fingers flying over the fretboard. It was quite clear the young man was enjoying himself -- perhaps too much. Goose honked and flapped his wings at the young man as the fowl traversed the trail.
And this, Jack did until they reached Frog Rock, at which point the trail ended -- and there was naught but dark forest ahead up the mountain.
Fi's shift in temperament was brief, and as Jack leaned against her, she beamed at him, shaking her head with a small laugh. It was only when they stopped that the frown returned and her eyes moved to the forest as she swallowed a bundle of nerves. There was quite nothing, she was sure, as menacing looking...
Looking to Jack, she reached out, absently, for his hand, clinging to it as she nodded.
Jack swallowed and stowed the lute bravely across his back, Goose leading the way already into the underbrush. Luckily, his white plumage was quite easy to see against the dark foliage, and Jack set forth with Fi.
"Don't worry! Just bears and things up here, you know, the usual for a mountain. I mean, they say there are.... are mountain witches up here, and drowned men, and ghosts, and witchlights...." Jack said, feeling less and less assured as the light seemed to grow darker the deeper into the forests they went. Behind them, Jacks' hometown was no more than a smattering of buildings less the size of a playing card.
Keeping close, while keeping her eye on goose, Fiora shook her head. She wasn't bold enough to assume there were no such things... Particularly since she had come up against magic before, but she didn't think it would do either of them much good to dwell on the possibility.
Still... That didn't stop her from jumping at every snap of a twig or rustle of a leaf along the way. Looking to Jack, her nerves exposed in frightened eyes, she mouthed the word 'story', in desperate need of distraction.
Jack nodded frantically. He was in need of distraction himself, and nothing quite got his mind off things like telling a story.
"Well, there was this one time that I went to the tavern -- cuz my brothers, they said, 'Jackaboy, you need to learn to put down a drink, otherwise how're you going to show people you're a man? You won't get a wife, and no one will--' Anyways, I went to the tavern there, and I guess -- I don't know how -- leaned up against a barrel that'd just been pitched."
Jack grimaced at the memory, a faint smile on his face.
" 'N then I had it all over my hip and my back, and Teagan was trying to get it off a me... and I bumped into Shelly O'Connel."
Biting her lip, Fiora kept her laughter at bay, but it sparker in her eyes, burning away the anxiety almost as swift as magic might. With a nod, she gestured for him to continue...
"Well, Shelley O Connel got stuck to me, and we kinda tried to get unstuck, but I tripped on someone's shoe, and we fell on a keg that fell over, broke, and doused is in ale...."
Jack shrugged sheepishly.
"Shelly's sister slipped trying to help, clocked Shelly in the head, and got stuck in the pitch. So all three of us were stuck together...."
Shaking her head, Fiora chuckled, picturing the entire episode in detail. She'd never been around people much, but she could only imagine how everyone might have laughed... Well, everyone except perhaps Shelly and her sister, but no doubt they were amused by it, now... after the fact.
She opened her mouth to ask how they got unstuck, but ahead of them, there was a crack and Fiora paused, catching sight of something large and black, barreling towards them, through the thick forest foliage. Her hand found Jack's again, and she grasped it tightly, moving closer to him.
Jack saw the black blur perhaps a second later than his female compatriot, and immediately he stepped in front of Fi, thinking a moment later that it would have been better to drag her out of he way instead.
Whatever the case, he stood his ground, hands tightly wound in front of his face.
It was no bear, however. And while Fiora would not soon forget Jack's selfless notions... there appeared no reason. There, through the treeline broke a black buck, antlers of absolute, glistening silver. Fiora gasped, seeing the magnificent creature from over Jack's shoulder, and the deer cast a beadlike stare in their direction, before turning it's gaze pointedly to goose, nodding to the bird, then turning round, breaking through the trees at a pace that suggested they ought to follow.
Jack stared, open mouthed, as the deer took off.
"Should we....?" Jack asked, pointing, but Goose had already made that decision for them. The large fowl grabbed hold of Jack's pants and tugged backwards.
Looking to Goose, Fiora frowned softly. He was their guide, and certainly seemed to know best... but the deer...
Turning to Jack, Fiora shrugged, pointing to Goose.
With that, Jack shrugged with sheepish look, following behind the waddling bird. Goose seemed to have a certain predilection to follow said large black buck that had disappeared into the forest, and while Jack was not sure he trusted so much forest creatures so dark, he decided that Goose certainly knew better -- not to mention, Fi's aunt told him that somehow Goose knew the way.
"I'm sure Goose knows what he's doing. Right, Goose?"
The goose honked as it stopped in front of a rather large wall of rock about ten feet tall, flapped his wings, and flew over the top. Jack stared dumbfounded and huffed in frustration.
Fiora blinked and looked up at the wall, then back in the direction they had come. It wasn't usual, the creature that had seen, and it certainly hadn't seemed intent on harming them, but Goose was determined and if she had learned anything it was that Goose, while perhaps not the most charming sort of water fowl, seemed to have Jack's best interests at heart... even if only to protect his own interests.
Turning back to Jack, she pointed to the wall and shrugged, mouthing 'Up or around?'
Jack craned his neck and stated, "Up is fastest. The sun is setting."
Indeed, it was growing darker by now, the mountain quickly falling shadow where the sun has set on the other side. Jack made a stirrup with his hands and gestured for her to step.
"I'll follow after."
Her own eyes followed the sun's descent, the uncertainty returning as she looked to Jack. It wasn't too late to turn back, surely... But then, they had come this far.
Nodding, she stepped into the cup of his hands and pulled herself up onto the wall, before leaning down to give Jack a hand.
Jack stepped back before grabbing her hand, taking a running leap instead. He easily grabbed hold of the rocky ledge, though he did grip Fi's hand as he hauled himself over the edge.
Goose was already partway up a steep path, one that Jack had never seen before.
"Huh. I didn't know someone had cleared this out... looks like an old road," stated Jack, kneeling down to inspect the faint outline of cobbles. "Course, Fool's Foot used to be lots bigger than it is now, so maybe there used to be something up on the mountain..."
Following him onwards, Fiora shook her head, looking around them. As night continued to encroach, she grabbed Jack's hand once more, frowning delicately.
In the distance, a rapid fluttering sound was the precursor to a sudden swarm of what appeared to be large black birds, their squawking, raspy calls resonating through the darkening forest. They swung low, then swept high into the sky, disappearing against the smokey grey of the heavens, their flight carrying the sense of fleeing.
In the silence that followed their rapid ascension, there was a low growling sound, and moving closer to Jack, Fiora swallowed. It was no buck, this time...
Jack, this time with his bearings about him this time, immediately dragged Fiora after him along the path, looking over his shoulder frantically to see if there was something in pursuit. He hurriedly pushed her ahead. He couldn't remember what it was that Teagan had said to do if he ever ran into a bear -- was it to flee? No, drop down and play dead! No-- run up a tree! Oh, but if only he could remember....[/hr]