Resolutions - February 21, 1996

[Panther]

He worked his way north, following upstream along a small creek bed. The colder than usual winter had nearly frozen the stream over... unusual for this creek that is fed primarily from warm spring waters... which is why he had picked the location he had. The recent warm weather had things flowing swiftly again. Hints of an early spring were all around him, something that would bring joy to anyone... except for him. His heart was heavy, his mind troubled.

It was still early morning when he reached his destination... his, no their home. It was a small and simple cabin.. with the stable outside. The roof still half done.. a project he started back last spring, when Mika and the twins started out on their trip. A project that was interrupted when they disappeared. A shiver runs though his body.. not at the chill in the air.. but from his own memories. The months spent searching, not just the lands around RhyDin, but areas that could not be described in physical terms.

His searching brought him to a port town on the eastern shores, where rumors of other missing people were being spoken of in hushed voices. Such rumors brought up comparisons to a terror dealt with a few years back. While he dismissed most of the rumors as coincidence, the possibility was still there, but even after more searching he could find nothing further than the fact his fiance and children had been to this town. When and how they left remained unknown.

The whole time he searched, he could not help but fear the worst... due to the very nature of their connection to each other... he knew she would contact him if she could. And while he couldn't bring himself to admit it, the thought was there.

Shaking it off, he moved around to the front of the cabin and to the door. Reaching for the handle, he hesitated a moment before turning it and pushing it open. It swung open silently, and various scents drifted towards him. He closed his eyes as he stepped in and closed the door behind him, letting his memories show him the room about him. To his left was the stone hearth, with comfortable chairs and a couch forming a semi-circle about it. He could almost see himself rolling about on the floor, the twins tumbling over him as they played around. Mika would be curled up on the couch watching, laughing, taunting, before the three of them would turn on her, with them all ending up in a pile back on the floor.

Too the right was the kitchen and dining area.. with it's wood stove and cooking hearth. The meals shared at the large oak table he refinished himself.. and was now sporting some fresh scratches from the time 'elle decided she didn't want to finish her strained carrots.

The back of the cabin was sectioned off to make the nursery, which probably had grooves worn in the floor from Mika and himself pacing back and forth, coaxing fussy newborns back to sleep. The master bedroom was in the other corner.. many lazy mornings were spent in that bed. He almost chuckled as he remembered the morning they were startled to find deer grazing right outside the bedrooms large bay window.

Then he opened his eyes. Things looked just like he remembered.. but as he moved his way back towards the bedroom, he knew they weren't. it wasn't how things looked.. it was how they felt. He didn't hesitate long, he went to the bureau in the bedroom and grabbed a couple things from the drawer, sticking them in his side pouch, then quickly moved out of the room.

Without looking back, he hurried to the door and exited the cabin, for what to him was the last time. Silently he moved towards the path leading east to the mountains, and if there had been anyone to notice, they would have seen a hint of tears in his eyes.

[Panther]

[size=18]Journey Home - Part 1[/size]
1996-MAR-02

The sun was dipping low in the sky before he stopped again. He was traveling east, along the base of some foot hills to the north, keeping just inside the tree line of aspen and pine. Over him loomed a large oak... it may have been centuries old for all he knew. it was immense. It's size was compounded by the fact that it was the only such tree for miles, all around it were aspen and pine of different types, but no other oak.

From here he turned north, moving up the embankment. The hills here were very rocky, with a few patches of undergrowth here and there and an occasional tree. Legends say these was once a large mountain range.. one that was home to all sorts of folks, from highland elves, to the funneling dwarves. But ages ago, some great force.. an enormous dragon or other such being was angered by the mountain dwellers and brought his fury upon them. The results of his attacks were that the tops of the mountains had been smashed, letting the large rocks and boulders avalanche down, killing the elves in the process, and trapping the dwarves in the tunnels below them. With no way to come out for more provisions, they too soon perished.

He didn't know how much truth was in these legends. He knew some of it was true, for the caverns under the hills still existed, he had been living in them, exploring them for the last few years. He found many entrances that were covered by the great rocks... from some long ago avalanche... so that much of the legends were true. The rest however, that harder to believe. He knew such legends were more often made up to explain why something happened rather than be the actual reasons behind something happening.

A short distance up the hill he came to a familiar crag. By habit, he quickly glanced about, his feline senses searching for anyone... anything... that may be watching him. Sensing none he steps about a large, upright stone and drops into a crack behind it. The crevice runs about 2 meters deep. There he moves to a crouch as he hits the bottom, and slides to his left. The uphill side of the crevice forms a lip that he moves under. There is little light this time of day, and the shadows from the rocks overhead make it almost pitch black here. His feline eyes make the most of what light there is, showing him the floor of a small tunnel as it slopes away from him. Not that he needs to see where he's going... between his other senses and his memory of having taken this route so many times, he's able to negotiate the incline with ease.

There are one or two twists in the tunnel, and after about 50 yards or so, the tunnel opens to a small cavern. The cavern widens as it moves down, and towards the center of the hill. There is literally no light here, he has to rely on other senses as he moves. His steps are sure and sound as he moves, the trickling sound of water can be heard... running more or less west to east... then felt as he steps through the cool water. Tunnels can be seen, or rather not seen, as spots of blackness on the cavern walls. Two follow the path of the water, and one other on the eastern wall.

As he moves from the stream of water, the cavern floor angles sharply back up. He steps directly to a spot in the back wall that if you looked hard enough, you could see is black against the dark grey of the cavern walls. Stepping through the opening, he reaches out, taking a flint and steel in his hand. Striking them, once, then a second time, before the small oil lamp lights... casting a warm glow about him.

[Panther]

[size=18]Journey Home - Part 2[/size]
1996-MAR-02

A small "cave" is lit under the glow of the lamp... about 5 meters deep, maybe 7 meters wide. The entrance he just came in would be in the south-west corner, just inside the doorway is a small table where the lamp is sitting. The walls are square, and well polished up to about eye level.. then they start curving inward, creating a domed ceiling about 4 meters tall at it's highest point. On the floor near entrance, along the western wall are numerous clay jugs, holding a good supply of fresh water. The jugs are obviously very old.. and there is a variety in their designs. They are all things he found while exploring the various tunnels.

In the other three corners of the rooms are cupboards, all of similar design, hand crafted of hardwood. One of them was in the room when he discovered it, the others he found in other caves and brought here to use for storing food, as a basin and another for storing some of his belongings. Along the northern wall, in the center is a small table with a couple of chairs. the table is made from lengths of aspen branches, stripped of their bark, and lashed together with strips of leather. It's something he made when he first started staying here.The chairs are made in a similar fashion, with furs for padding.

Just inside the door, the side opposite of the lamp table is a large box full of wood and kindling. On the other side of it, and directly across from the table is a hearth. The fireplace built into the wall, with a mantle carved into the rock wall. The fireplace is equipped with an iron spit, as well as a good sized cooking kettle. A variety of furs lay about on the floor in front of the hearth. Still holding the flint and steel, he steps to the hearth. Grabbing some kindling from the box, he puts it around a couple of logs still in the hearth and with a few strikes of the flint has them glowing, then burning.

Depositing the flint back on the table, he extinguishes the lamp, letting the glow from the hearth light the room. Then he moves over to the basin, pouring some fresh water in the bowl and using it to wash up a bit. Then it's over to the cupboard near the hearth. The smell of dried meats and cheese fill his nostrils as he opens it.. as well as the smell of what he's searching for. Ale... he grabs a large earthenware jug, and a carved wooden cup and moves back to the hearth. Pulling the cork from the jug he fills the cup then quickly drains the cup in one drink and refills it again before sitting down. His gaze is on the flickering flames, yet he doesn't really see them.. for his mind is soon wandering... thoughts move in and out of his mind.. the dancing fire slightly mezmerizing him.