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[npc-excolo.livejournal.com]

Time has little meaning here, though your body back home may disagree.

Dream.

A forest.

A forest of the oldest sort, thick with brambles, trees snarled with centuries of life. It stretches for miles, many of them very dark, because the trees grow so close that it is hard to see. From a high vantage point, on one of the hills of the forest, one may glimpse a tower at the heart of the forest, a great graceful column of grey stone. Here and there there are clearings, bright with sunlight, and streams running with clear water. But mostly there is dark.

In the distance, the howl of a wolf.

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[edmund-white.livejournal.com]

"Greetings and welcome, are you lost as well?
We walk until we reach a clearing, one with a bit of a pool and a cave. And in front of a it a man I don't know, and a lady who looks quite familiar, "Thank you ma'am. We haven't quite lost our way. Perhaps misplaced it."

Smile at her, but something about him...I don't like the way he looks at my princess, "Pardon my asking, but do you know each other?"
Wrap my arm around her before I answer, "Of course we do. What about you?"

[lei-miao-shan.livejournal.com]

I am sorely puzzled, and my head is in a whirl. So many years spent alone, and now there are all of these people, all here at my home. I try desperately to remember the rules of hospitality that I was taught in my youth... "Would any of you like some tea, or have you hunger?" I ask after a moment. The blond man seems very protective of the girl. Perhaps she is his wife. I see that her feet are not bound, however...she is very lucky to have such a fine husband when she has such large feet!

[hopenotfaith.livejournal.com]

"It is only that they are not well-suited for running. And there are things here that-- this forest seems to harbour a few quite unpleasant creatures," says Westin. 'Ope this don't turn into a nightmare, that'd be just my luck.

"Would any of you like some tea, or have you hunger?"

"Tea'd be lovely," I say, smiling at Miao. "I'm Hope, this is Edmund. Do you live by this pond?" I look into it. "Ooh," I say, spotting the fish. "'E's a pretty one."

[westin-sagert.livejournal.com]

"Of course we do. What about you?" the man says, and I give him a perfunctory sort of smile. I find I do not particularly like him, he seems--I would not say over-familiar, I suppose, if they know each other, but-- Drat.

"No, I have just met... our hostess," I say, looking to her with a question in my voice and hoping she will catch it. I find I rather do not like not knowing people's names.

Our hostess seems rather flustered by it all, but manages to pull herself together enough to offer tea or... I cannot imagine there is much to eat here, but the offer is kind. And there must be something after all, I mean she is apparently living here. "I'm quite well, thank you," I say.

Then the young woman says "I'm Hope, this is Edmund," and I smile and give her a slight bow.

"I`m Westin, myself," and oh, is that what it was? Yes, of course. She notices something in the pond, and I glance over and take a step closer to see what it is that she is commenting on. It seems rather agitated, at the moment, and it strikes me as rather large for the pond. "Do either of you know the way to the tower?" I ask her (and Edmund, I suppose). "I don't wish to be rude, and it's very pleasant to meet you both--all--but I do need to find it, and this forest is a touch inimical. As I may have said."

[edmund-white.livejournal.com]

My princess wanders over to look into the pond the smaller woman stands by as the man- Westin, speaks.
"Do either of you know the way to the tower? I don't wish to be rude, and it's very pleasant to meet you both--all--but I do need to find it, and this forest is a touch inimical. As I may have said."

"We were headed in that direction ourselves. I don't know a direct way, but it's tall enough to reliably head towards. Are you questing for something sir?" I don't think that I like him. But I'll still be polite.

[lei-miao-shan.livejournal.com]

"Tea'd be lovely," says the golden-haired girl, and she smiles at me. "I'm Hope, this is Edmund. Do you live by this pond?"

I return her smile, for she seems very kind, and it has been such a long time since I last had folk to talk to. "Hello Hope. I am..." for a moment, just a moment, my name slips away. There is a queer sort of doubling in my mind, and for a moment I very nearly say Yeh-Shen. But that is not correct. "My name is Miao," I say, and I hope that I am right. I think that I am. But why do I feel so very strange?

Hope leans over to look in the pond, and she sees my golden fish as he swims and circles. "Ooh, 'e's a pretty one." She says.

Instantly, my anxiety disappears. "He is my friend," I smile. "I raised him from a tiny minnow, and I feed him every day. Is he not lovely?" My golden fish twists in the water, flashing his shining scales as though he understands us.

I had set a pot of water on to boil before coming out, and now I slip into the cave to pour it into a teapot. The leaves in this area are of fine quality, and I hope that they will enjoy it. It takes me a moment to find four cups, and when I come back out the darker man is speaking, "I`m Westin, myself," he says, and looks into the pond as well. "Do either of you know the way to the tower? I don't wish to be rude, and it's very pleasant to meet you both--all--but I do need to find it, and this forest is a touch inimical. As I may have said."

"I fear that I cannot help you, good sir," I say, kneeling at the pond's edge and laying out the wooden tray (http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/pitroviz/pitroviz0902/pitroviz090200100/4363925-isolated-chinese-traditional-clay-teapot-and-two-cups-on-bamboo-tea-tray.jpg). As I speak, I begin to pour the tea for my guests. "I was born here, and have never been away. I know nothing of the paths through the wood."

"We were headed in that direction ourselves. I don't know a direct way, but it's tall enough to reliably head towards. Are you questing for something sir?" The golden man, Edmund, asks. The dark man does not seems garbed for traveling.

"Please," I say. "If you are questing, then allow me to refresh you before you go. It has been so very long since I have had company, and some rest and tea will give you strength for your journey."

[hopenotfaith.livejournal.com]

I smile at Miao as she gives us tea. Strange seein' Miao be all timid, though she's as polite as she is in real life.

"'E is lovely indeed," I agree about her fish. Wonder if 'e's magic. Watch 'is fins swish. Can't see anythin' day to day, now, so I enjoy the lookin'.

Take a cup o'tea an' sit down on the grass, an' then look up as I hear the sound o' footsteps (http://community.livejournal.com/estdeus_innobis/405098.html?thread=10301034#t10301034).