[PRP] Rock & a Hard Place? (Cora, Corwin,Fletcher, Thatcher)

[Cajmera]

Corwin was relieved when both Fletcher and Thatcher seemed willing to pursue the Hail Mary pass of casual twin-related conversation, but he knew that such conversation would peter out very quickly. There was only so long a Soquili could spend talking about looks without growing bored, after all! Besides, if the brothers being twins was as unique as they seemed to be saying, they were probably quite sick of having their 'twin-ness' remarked on. Clearly, another conversation topic would be needed, and soon, to keep potentially simmering tempers low.

That said, neither Cora not Corwin was expecting Thatcher's comment. It was obvious he believed what he was saying, though whether it was in reference to an actually occurring event or simple allegory was lost on both twins. What wasn't lost was the almost explosive effect that the words 'take on an entire Kalona herd had on both of them; if they hadn't already been white of coat, they would be now. Corwin immediately tensed, his jaw setting and his entire body becoming rigid, his wings drawing back rapidly to cover his exposed sides. Cora's eyes and nostrils flared, her lips instinctively curling back into a snarl as she drew up next to her brother, her side touching his. He was ice, frozen in a moment of horror; she was fire, ready to flare up and lash out at the threat.

Fletcher's question, innocent and provoked as it was, only served to heighten the distress of both siblings; months had passed, but the memory would linger for years. Realizing that she was only making things worse for her brother with her 'battle-ready' pose, Cora was the first to relax, leaning closer to Corwin and looking at the brothers in what she hoped was a measured and composed way. Even now, any semblance of composure was a challenge; just thinking about that day was enough to send her into a fit of rage! "Aye, weh wehre. Thehre was a massive hehrd of Kalona, hundrehds o' them...an' those idiots wouldnae leave!"

Her words were disjointed, but the fury and upset they provoked were obvious in the rising level of her voice, the tautness of her pose and the fire in her eyes. The deaths of their old herdmates had been terrible, but the worst part of the situation for Cora was that they'd had the chance to flee, and the idiot oldsters in the herd had refused, thinking they'd be safe if they just stay small and hidden in their old hollow tree. Pure idiocy, and the herd had paid for it, even those who had voted to leave. Never again would she allow them to be put into such a situation...

Suddenly, Cora felt Corwin's wing on her back, soothing her. She glanced sideways, seeing some of that terrible rigidity had passed from his face. In a soft voice, accompanied by a faraway stare that passed right through Fletcher and Thatcher, he explained, "Weh wehre part o' a hehrd o' sixty-eight flootters. The herd decided tae try tae hide, hopin the massive Kalona hehrd would be leavin' wi'oot findin' oos. Weh wehre discoovered by a small band o the Kalona..." He fell silent, a tic in his cheek working rapidly even as his tongue failed him.

Flatly, Cora finished what Corwin couldn't say. "Four o' us lived. An' a damned loocky four, at tha'." Both twins fell silent, Corwin still staring into space, Coralia giving Fletcher and Thatcher the same challenging look. She didn't know what she expected them to do; not attack, obviously, but judge? Criticize? She wasn't sure, but she wasn't going to take anything lying down. They'd been through too much for her to take anything without a fight!

Nisshou H

 

[Nisshou H]

It became readily apparent that Fletcher seemed to share his brother’s knack for saying the exact wrong thing when Cora exploded. They’d already been agitated by something that Thatcher had said but Fletcher hadn’t known what until just now. It was the kalona. Wasn’t it always the kalona though? And if not them then it was skinwalkers. It was always something else and something horrible.

Fletcher and Thatcher both settled into solemn silence as Cora and Corwin explained what had befallen their herd. They both wore the same grim expression and if they were as much twins as Thatcher thought they were then Fletcher’s stomach was probably churning as badly as Thatcher’s was. They’d had many run-ins with kalona before but never on such a scale. The herd that often gave them trouble was a small one in comparison, and while they were known for having no compassion or care for others it was different. Lorenna and her little ragtag group had managed to best them over and over again. To their knowledge the Mazoku had never been part of such a slaughter in the time that Lorenna had been running interference against them. They also didn’t number in the hundreds; at the last count they had numbered just over a dozen. Fletcher and Thatcher exchanged looks, suddenly their accomplishments didn’t feel so great.

“I’m sorry.” It was Thatcher that found his voice first. It was such a little thing to say over such a horrific loss but it was all he could think of. Fletcher was struggling to find words. Surviving that didn’t seem lucky to him at all, living with the memory of all the souls for the rest of your life seemed like an unfortunate burden. Still, they had lived and that seemed to be what the other twins were focusing on, or at least Cora was.

“That never should have happened to you.” Fletcher said finally, his voice low. He kept his gaze on what he could see of Corwin’s back. “It shouldn’t have happened to anyone.” It wasn’t that Fletcher hated kalona as a whole, there were a few out there with the potential to be good, but most of them seemed to revel in causing pain. It was why Lorenna had started her fight against them and it was why both Fletcher and Thatcher had committed themselves to her cause. By all rights she had tried to keep them out of it but both boys had wanted to help and things like what had happened to Cora and Corwin were why.

Cajmera

 

[Cajmera]

Well, color her surprised. Surprised, and no small amount relieved. Whatever Coralia had been expecting from the brothers (and Thatcher in particular!), it was not this; not such kind consideration and regret. If Cora had been alone, she didn't think she would have shared so much; it simply wasn't her way to be so communicative and expressive, especially not with strangers. Experience had made her wary and untrusting; she would much rather keep strangers at an arm's length, out of her past and out of her story. It was safer that way.

But that had never been the way with Corwin. Even in their darkest hours, he had wanted to reach out, not in. Losing their mother, their father, their adopted herd; none of that had been enough to drive him into himself, or to squelch his belief that life was only worth living with others. He was not ashamed of their past; it still terrified him, it still tended to haunt his dreams when he least expected it. Obviously, he had a long way to go to overcome the mental scars, but he found talking to be therapuetic. He wanted to reach out to the world, not to shut it out; losing so many he loved only made him want more to make new friends. On this, he and Coralia remained sharply divided; one, desperate to find a new home, a new 'social group; the other, terrified to experience any additional loss. It certainly was a dilemna.

Both Cora and Corwin began to relax visibly in the wake of Fletcher and Thatcher's restrained comments. They may have unknowing set off a violent reaction in the butterfly twins, but they had done a decent job of rolling with it.

"Thenk yeh," Corwin finally said, inclining his head gratefully to Thatcher. "It isnae necessary fehr yeh tae be sayin' so, boot weh definiately appreyciate the sentiment. Oonfehrtunately, this wasnae the fehrst tragedy we've had, an' I dinnae thenk it will be the last," he said with a sideways glance at his sister. "Tha' joost makes it all the mehre impoortant tae be keepin' a poositive attitude and movin' fehrward, as mooch as weh can. Tha's why we're hehre in thehse lands, Cora an' I, tae be gettin' a fresh start, loike."

Cora wasn't she thought of Corwin sharing that last tidbit; even less did she like the suggestion that they'd experience even more tragedy in their lives. Well, all that she had left to lose was her brother; she wasn't about to let THAT happen any time soon! Raising her chin a bit stubbornly, she jumped in with a few choice remarks of her own. "Pehrhaps I was a wee beht hahrd on yeh, Thetcher, boot pehrhaps yeh can oonderstahnd a little bit o' meh reasonin'. Corwin an' I, weh're all we have, yeh moost oonderstand," she said with a slight bump into her brother. "Weh survived famine togeyther, weh saw our Mam pass froom a bad mooshroom togeyther, weh loost our Da tae a skinwalker togeyther, weh lost our hehrd tae Kalona togeyther. Boot weh havenae, and we WILLNAE, lose each oother! No' if there is one chance fehr meh tae be preventin' it."

Even Corwin was surprised as he looked at Cora, not so much for her vehemence, but for her sharing so much. He knew she disagreed with his desire for socialization and sharing, but here she was, adding even more information to this little conversation, He didn't know whether or not he ought to pity Fletcher and Thatcher; somehow, he doubted they'd expected to get into such a dark discussion when they'd come upon his sister! Feeling that they were really putting a lot on the twins' shoulders, Corwin gave them a slightly weak smile. "An' here weh are, monopolozing the coonversaytion, loike. I'm sure yeh dinna want tae be spending all yehr time listening tae soome sad stories."

Nisshou H

 

[Nisshou H]

Fletcher wasn’t sure that suspecting more tragedy would come was actually keeping a positive attitude at all but he kept that thought to himself. Thatcher was having a similar thought making him squint his eyes slightly. Fletcher caught Thatcher’s eye for a moment and gave him a stern “no” face. Thatcher snorted softly and turned away, he hadn’t been planning on saying anything anyway.

“A new start seems like it was in order.” Fletcher said recomposing himself after his mild outburst earlier. Lorenna often emphasized the necessity to keep a calm head even when faced with terrible circumstances. Fletcher had often found that she was probably reminding herself along with everyone else. He had seen her charging head first into battle to save them and her eyes had been blazing at that time. It was pretty far from the picture of level-headedness that she said they should have. That was battle though. This was a discussion of things long past if he understood correctly. And what a hard past it had been, it sounded as though no shortage of trouble had been following them.

Thatcher frowned deeply at the new information provided by Cora. “I think I do understand.” He said completely seriously. Maybe he and Fletcher hadn’t lost everything that they knew of but that was only because they hadn’t known it. Maybe they had been from a big herd, maybe something had happened to them and maybe that was why Lorenna hadn’t been able to locate their parents yet. He hadn’t ever really cared about these things but thinking about what might have happened before they were even free from whicker sent a chill down his spine. “We don’t have parents anymore either. Climbed out of our baskets one day and it was just us.”

Fletcher looked at his brother sadly. He’d never sounded upset about that before. It seemed likely that he was just sympathizing or possibly empathizing with the other twins. He did tend to wear whatever he was feeling out in the open.

“Don’t worry about that, Corwin. It helps to have someone to speak to about these things.” He paused for a moment then decided to add, “Also listening to this sort of news is kind of in our job description. See we try to stop these things from happening.”

cajmera

 

[Cajmera]

Perhaps Corwin's view point was a somewhat peculiar one; however, life experience had hammered home for the stallion that life could be violent, unpredictable, and short. Sometimes you could control the negatives, oftentimes you couldn't, and short of living out the rest of his life in a box, he knew there would be further loss. Even the happiest life had to end sometime; that end might be peaceful, but it would be tragic for those left behind all the same. As the one who most intensely connected with other Soquili, Corwin had felt the greatest pangs of loss from the deaths of their herdmates; since the death of their father, Cora had held herself at an arm's length. Neither really understood how the other could live as they did, with Cora baffled that Corwin was willing to keep hurting himself with new loss and Corwin confused as to why Cora denied herself the chance to heal through new companionship.

But one thing they had been in agreement on had been moving on; though their choice of land had been relatively arbitrary, perhaps there had been some guiding force there. Perhaps there was something that had driven them here, to this moment.

At Thatcher's explanation of his and Fletcher's own circumstances, Coralia pursed her lips in sympathy. "Sae, then yeh oonderstahnd the boond even behtter than moost oother twins; nae joost twins, boot yehr sole familiy as well, loike. It isnae a boond tae be taken loightly; yeh're loocky tha' yeh wehrenae aloone, emergin' intae the world in sooch a soolitary way, loike." She sighed, shaking her head slightly. "Thae I cannae say which is worse, tae be havin' family an then havin' it ripped away, loike, or nae knowing wha' yeh're missing tae be startin' wi'. Oftimes, I thenk I would hae preyferred tae have had nae parents at all," she said with quiet intensity. If they'd had no parents, they never would have had to lose them, to adjust to life without them. They had been wonderful parents, before her mother died; but losing her, they could just have easily lost their father too. He was never the same after her loss, becoming withdrawn and isolated, a true space cadet. Some members of the flutter herd had even whispered that Eoghan had gone out to meet that skinwalker on purpose; no one had said this horrible thought to the twins, but the rumor had reached them all the same. The idea that their father would choose to leave them in such a way had been horrible; much as they would have liked to dismiss it, Coralia, at least, had never been able to truly rule it out.

So as she looked at the brothers, she found herself feeling a trifle jealous; even though they had experienced their own tragedy, they hadn't had to watch it unfold in front of them. Sometimes, life was unnecessarily cruel.

Resting a wing gently on his sister's back, Corwin gave Thatcher a nod as well. "Weh appreciate yehr pehrspective, Thetcher; clearly we dinnae have a monopoly on challenges in loife, which, while tragic, should heylp tae be remindin' oos tha' weh nehd tae kehp movin' forward, nae allowin' oos tae be bogged down in memories o' rough times. Clearly yeh have booth made a poositive loife out o' a hard beginnin', which is a grand thing, loike." Hopefully, time would help he and Cora reach that point themselves; he was already considering this meeting a beneficial one, and a step in the right direction for his sister. She really needed to get out and talk to more people!

Though it could be just as beneficial for him. The last thing Fletcher said had caught his attention, and he cocked his head curiously at the other stallion. "I'm afraid I dinnae quoite oonderstahnd what yeh are meanin' Fleytcher, boot I moost say I am entrigued, loike. How is it that' yeh wehrk towards stoopin' sooch things, loike? I dinnae mean tae be pehrsonal," he said with a slighly apologetic head bob, "Boot yeh seem rather small o' stature an' noomber tae be making a huge impact on Kalona. Or is this connected tae this Lorenna yeh mentioned?" Rationalizing it out as he spoke, he figured it must be the latter; they, and this Lorenna, were likely part of a herd.

Nisshou H

 

[Nisshou H]

Fletcher couldn’t help but think that Cora was on to something with that notion. Both he and Thatcher were quite content most days. They probably had Lorenna to thank for much of the joy in their life, if they’d truly been left alone to grow things likely would have turned out differently for them. Still, even without ever having known the love of their parents they had been fine. Cora and Corwin had scars that ran deeper than flesh. They had come from the loss of attachment and Fletcher never wanted to feel what that was like. He didn’t think saying any of this would help, however, so he focused on what Corwin had said and hoped that Thatcher would steer clear of the potentially treacherous line of thinking as well.

“I think anyone can make a bad situation good with a bit of effort.” He suggested wishing that it sounded less like a generic bandage of a statement.

“And a bit of luck.” Thatcher added giving his brother on odd look. He knew it was an odd conversation to be having with perfect strangers that hadn’t sought them out for help but it wasn’t like Fletcher to tiptoe like he was doing. “We got really lucky meeting Lorenna and I think you two got lucky meeting us.” A somewhat cocky grin settled on his face. He was quickly shaking off the horrifying train of ‘what ifs’ that he had previously been considering. Like Cora said they were fortunate and there was nothing to be fretting over now. If they wanted to move on this was the place to do it, they could make plenty of new and happy memories.

Fletcher wasn’t sure what Thatcher was talking about. How was it lucky for the four of them to meet? It clicked when Thatcher nodded at Corwin and mouthed something that looked like ‘more-rain-now.’ Lorenna. She wasn’t some fix all but if you really hated kalona she was a good person to know.

“Right… Lorenna.” He shook his head and smiled. “It’s not just the two of us no. Like you guessed we work for a mare named Lorenna. She has this network of spies and messengers that work to monitor and counter kalona and skinwalker attacks. We’re part of it working directly with her most of the time”

“Unless she’s kicked us out to get some peace.” Thatcher chimed in. Fletcher shot him a ‘not now’ look.

“We’re still a bit small, several dozen soquili members and nearly three times as many birds, but we’ve already stopped a few major attacks through our efforts. She saved a herd, the Padmapani, from having their fledgling alpha killed and we took down a group of them that have been terrorizing the area for years. Thatcher and I were part of that battle.” Fletcher’s voice trailed off as he looked at his brother’s shoulder. The wound there had been closed a long time ago but it had been a close call, a few inches to the side and Thatcher’s throat would have been cut open. Fletcher would have been strangled to death if Lorenna hadn’t interfered directly.

“Point is,” Thatcher said taking over for his brother. “Renna can give you the password so you can talk to the messenger birds and we can keep you updated on kalona movement. You won’t have to worry about them.” He grinned broadly for a moment but it faltered when he remembered something important, they didn’t have eyes on every single kalona out there. “At least mostly you won’t.” He amended sheepishly.

Cajmera

 

[Cajmera]

Growing up, Corwin and Coralia had been acutely aware of their differences; not only in terms of sex, but in terms of temperament. Even when they were foals, Cora had been the 'protective' one, refusing to let the fact she was female and younger stop her from stepping up and taking responsibility. Corwin had been the easy-going one, happy to take things as they came and enjoying the little things. They had been satisfied with their differences, feeling that they complemented each other, like a yin and yang. So it had driven them crazy when others, meeting them for the first time in the flutter herd or over the course of their travels, had rolled them into one package: 'the Cors', interchangeable by virtue of their looks and closeness.

Perhaps it was because of those past annoyances that they were both making a subconscious point of differentiating between Fletcher and Thatcher, who, by virtue of their almost identical looks no doubt suffered even more from 'interchangeable' behavior. However, both Cora and Corwin had identified the intensely different personalities of their new acquaintances; Corwin via observation, and Cora through interaction. Though she might not appreciate the interaction while it was happening, there was no way she was going to mistake one brother for the other!

At Thatcher's somewhat cocky comment about their luck in meeting the Cerynei, one of Cora's brows arched in a somewhat skeptical expression. They might have moved past their earlier argument, but she wasn't going to be forgetting it anytime soon! Consequently, she still wasn't sure what she thought of this encounter. Yes, it was nice to have someone(s) to relate to, and it was nice to actually be having a real conversation with her brother (who tended to close up about what had happened to them whenever it came to his mind). But at the same time, she was wary; she had purposely avoided interaction with other Soquili for a reason. She didn't want to make new friends, she didn't want to join a new herd. All that Cora needed to be happy was to have a nice, safe secluded little meadow where she and Corwin could live out their days in safety; maybe, MAYBE joined by her brother's lifemate and suitably adorable children. But that was a long way off.

Nowhere in her plan was there any additional socialization; they had tried that route in the past with the flutter herd, and it had ended catastrophically. Once again, something she'd been fond of had been taken from her. Why would she want to put herself through that process yet again? But here, she was presented by a dilemma; she might not want to socialize, but her brother did. And she wasn't about to let him go off and meet others without her; her life of isolation with her brother would be wonderful, but by herself?

She wasn't sure where she liked where this encounter was going, though. They were getting too involved, and this particular subject, their herd and its 'mission,' was guaranteed to be interesting to Cora and Corwin. And Cora did not like the idea of being interested!

For his part, Corwin had no such qualms. He had been the one who nearly died in the Kalona fight; he had thought it fitting at the time, because it was because of him that they were there to be prey to the Kalona. Cora had been a vocal part of the herd arguing for leaving; Corwin had been a part of that group as well, until the herd majority decided to ride out the storm. Unable to turn his back on the herd who had done so much for them after their parents' deaths, Corwin had elected to stay, knowing that they were in great danger and would likely be killed if detected. The hardest part of that choice had been the knowledge he was potentially condemning his sister as well as himself; there was no way she would leave him. And she hadn't; she had been miserable company right up to the end, but she had been there.

As he'd lay teetering on the brink of unconsciousness, blood streaming out of what felt like a million bites and gashes, Corwin had been grateful he hadn't seen his sister in the awful battle. It had been hard enough seeing his friends die; he didn't think he could have borne seeing her. So much as he hated the idea of dying, he had been somewhat contented with the circumstances. The next thing he knew, he was waking up to the sight of his anxious sister, hovering fretfully over the shoulder of a unicorn who asked him if there was anywhere else he was hurting. It was thanks to Cora that any of them had survived; if she hadn't had the presence of mind to sneak off and hope there were still unicorns in the area, none of them would have made it out alive.

He'd survived, grateful to the unicorns, grateful to his sister, but anguished at the loss of so many friends and the senseless loss of life. The fact that the Kalona had taken unabashed pleasure in murder had been incomprehensible to Corwin; though he was a mild-tempered stallion, he couldn't forgive such deranged behavior. This didn't mean he was suicidal; he had no plans to go to to toe with any Kalona 'just because.' But he doubted he would ever forget, and he knew he would never forgive.

Needless to say, Corwin was very interested in what Fletcher and Thatcher were saying. What they and their Lorenna did was clearly a noble undertaking. Such coordination was common internally, but to have such a strong outward focus, protecting not only their own herd but the whole region, was admirable, and clever. It was a dangerous thing they did, but it would appear that these two, at least, had no regrets.

"Wehl, it soonds loike yehr hehrd is oone tae be prood o', Fleytcher, Thehtcher. Pehrhaps i' more o' the hehrd oot thehre wehre tae be takin' sooch a 'greater good' saert o' approach tae safety, thehre wouldnae be any nehd fehr any o' the Soquili tae be worryin', or tae be losin' anyone." Nodding his head, Corwin gave both brothers a suddenly intense look, his dark eyes flitting from one to the other. "I thenk weh'd loike tae be receivin' the infehrmation yeh're speakin' o', and I thenk I'd loike tae be thankin' yehr Lorenna in pehrson, loike. Wha' she's doin' is vehry brave and should be commended. What yeh're ALL doin' is brave and should be commended," he corrected with a smile and slight bow to both Cerynei.

Coralia very nearly groaned aloud. Oh, he was a clever one, her brother, but she knew him better than to be fooled by his polite words. He wasn't wanting to thank anyone; at least, he wasn't wanting to thank anyone and walk away! She'd seen that look in his eye, and she was suddenly very afraid. Things had been going so well for them, out here on their own! Yes, Corwin had been pushing for a bit more conversation, but that didn't mean he had to...whatever it was he was contemplating. Best to try to n** this in the bud!

Trying to sound casual but failing to disguise the fierceness in her expression, she looked from the brothers to her own brother and back again. "I dinna thenk thehre's any nehd fehr oos tae be intrudin' intae a hehrd, Cory; doesnae it soond loike they're a vehry busy group, loike? Pehrhaps Fleytcher and Thetcher could give oos the infehrmation and coonvey our gratitude tae Lorenna fehr oos, loike." As she looked back at Fletcher and Thatcher, the mask of fierceness slipped briefly, exposing an expression of pure, naked terror. She couldn't go through this again, she just couldn't!

Nisshou H

Sorry, long post is long!

 

[Nisshou H]

It seemed there was some dissention in the ranks. Fletcher glanced at his brother for support. Thatcher only shook his head slightly with a puzzled look, they hadn’t ever had a pitch rejected and while Cora was only against meeting Lorenna it seemed odd to both the boys. Nearly everyone always wanted to speak to Lorenna directly to see who was in command of the situation. At one time she’d been met with some apprehension, being a flutter and all there were some that doubted her ability to perform the tasks at hand. Those worries were few and far between now that she’d gone through her elderly transformation. They had all found it a bit odd at first but it certainly seemed to come in handy. People she’d never met almost always respected her before she even opened her mouth to persuade them. Fletcher was still pretty sure that irritated her but at the end of the day if it worked it worked.

Fletcher looked between Cora and Corwin a few times trying to decide the best course of action. “We can give you the information ourselves and pass everything on to Lorenna. If you’re sure that’s what you want?”

Something was bothering Thatcher as his brother was handling the more official matters at hand. Both Corwin and Cora had mentioned a herd. Thatcher wasn’t sure what herd they were talking about but if it was Lorenna’s organization they were talking about they had it all wrong.

“What herd?” Thatcher asked suddenly. “You keep talking about our herd and we don’t have one. It’s us, Lorenna, and Khaa who’s a bird. The rest of the network lives wherever they live. We travel. Checking in on the herds and stuff.” Thatcher wasn’t quite sure why but being mistaken for a herd was actually getting on his nerves. The way he saw it what made them so effective was that they weren’t tied to anyone place. Lorenna’s name was the one that was attached to the network and most of the people that patched in remained unknown to the kalona they tracked. That way those kalona couldn’t find the soquili accessing the information any easier than they could find the one directing it.

Cajmera

 

[Cajmera]

Corwin hadn't exactly been shocked by Coralia's sentiments, but it still startled him to hear her so flatly reject the idea of meeting the twins' Lorenna. She hadn't been rude, exactly, but one only had to look at the expressions on Fletcher and Thatcher's faces to see that his sister's attempt at tactful avoidance had failed miserably. For his own part, Corwin had a niggling suspicion that Cora's words weren't born out of concern for Lorenna's busy schedule, but out of a desire to keep her distance...or rather, keep their distance, from any other Soquili. In fact, it was more than a suspicion; at this point, with their history, he knew it was a fact as much as if she'd said so.

He sighed and shook his head slightly at his sister, as though by the action he could banish away her fears and prejudices. She seemed so certain that terrible things would come from socialization; how long would it take before she learned that wasn't the case?

Still, it was nice of Fletcher to be so accommodating, even if Cora was being a nutter, and Corwin gave him a courteous nod. "Yeh're very accoomodatin', loike, but yeh dinna have tae be actin' as a middleman, Flehtcher. Cora an' I will be bein' moost cordial an' timely when weh go tae be meetin' Lorenna, sae I'm sure weh willnae be the inconvenience Cora thenks an' weh can pass our message on ourselves, loike." He was speaking to Fletcher, but as he spoke his gaze kept flicking to his sister, waiting to see how she responded to his contravention of her master plan. He was sorry to thwart her like this, but surely she could see what a great opportunity this was, and how important it was to follow up!

Coralia was appalled. Completely and utterly appalled, and she didn't know who she was more upset with. Damnit, he KNEW how she felt! And here he was, denying her her out, pulling even farther towards this previously unknown herd and the dangerous of the past reliving itself. How could he!

Thatcher's sudden query came at the perfect moment, giving Cora something to latch onto before she completely lost her dignity. With one last glare at her brother, she turned towards Thatcher with an honest frown. "Yeh dinna have a herhd, then? Isnae tha' an awkward soort o' arrangement, bein' togaether wi'out kennin' wha' the oothers are doin', loike?" She wasn't sure she really understood the concept; they'd never encountered such a thing before! Though honestly....

Narrowing her eyes in thought rather than anger, she looked from Fletcher to Thatcher once again, this time in puzzlement. "Sae...yeh're a group o' acquaintances who dinna actually live togaether, is tha' it?"

Maybe meeting Lorenna wouldn't be so terrible after all, not if there was no herd!

Nisshou H

 

[Nisshou H]

“I really don’t mind.” Fletcher reiterated. Odd as it was it truly wasn’t a problem and if Cora was concerned about the meeting he wouldn’t push it even if her brother seemed intent on doing just that. He laughed internally. Family. They would always find a way to drag you into doing things that you didn’t want to do. He glanced at his brother who seemed to have jumped on something entirely different from what Fletcher was focused on. Why did he get the feeling that Thatcher was about to drag him down some path none of them wanted to be on with his new line of questioning?

Thatcher hadn’t noticed that he was being watched. He was listening intently to what Cora was saying to him. It was making even less sense than normal. “Kennin?” He wrinkled his nose and pulled his head back in confusion. He was pretty sure she was just making up words now. Thatcher opened his mouth to say something but paused momentarily when Fletcher coughed. Thatcher glanced back at his older brother to find him shaking his head with a note of warning. Thatcher just snorted, rolled his eyes, and turned back to Cora again.

“And how is it awkward? Who wants to be like everyone else anyway?” He demanded not noticing the change in Cora’s demeanor. “We like it the way it is. Just me and Fletcher and Lorenna and Lorenna’s birds. It’s better that way. There’s more freedom.” Fletcher chose this moment to physically intervene. He stepped closer to Cora to draw her attention away from his brother. Knowing him he could rant on about how amazing their little unit was until he turned blue in the face and fell over.

“That’s what the network is, yes. Some of the members are solitary and some live in proper herds but we’re all connected by a chain of information that is managed by Lorenna.” This was all information Lorenna normally went over with everyone but it seemed as though they were suffering from a small misunderstanding about precisely what the network was. “Lorenna herself travels alone except for the two of us; she doesn’t stay in one spot very long which is why it could be good fortune that we ran into you now. We can get you initiated into the network, like I said earlier, and then we can keep you updated on anything of interest through the network.”

Cajmera

So I may have just spent the last four months being dumb and thinking I was waiting on your reply. >>; I am SO SORRY for the stupidly long delay!

 

[Cajmera]

Well, whatever stereotypes were true about twins, one thing was certainly NOT the case: that twins shared the same mindset. One only had to look at the little group of four to see dramatic differences in body language and attitude, and to listen to a snippet of the conversation to realize that emotion seemed to run a lot higher in two unrelated parties.

Frowning at Thatcher seemed to be the safest outlet for Cora's current annoyance with that brother, and she gave him yet another scowl at his reaction to her perfectly legitimate use of the obvious word 'kenning.' Clearly he was trying to bait her; there could be no other explanation for him latching on that item, out of everything she said! "Aye, kennin.' A fehrm o' the wehrd 'ken?' As in, dinna yeh ken the soon is up an' the day is pretty, loike?" It was perfectly clear to her, but obviously languag was not Thatcher's strong suit!

Anxious to avoid the conversation taking yet another unnecessarily hostile turn, Corwin gently laid a wing on his sister's back. "I thenk the roight way to phrase it in these parts is 'know,' Cora; they dinna sehm tae be using 'ken' in the same way weh do, loike." Confident that he'd diffused that little awkwardness, he gave Thatcher a shurg. "Pehrhaps awkward isnae the roight word for it, Thetcher. We just dinna have experience wi' an...arrangement o' this sort, joost herhds an' singular Soquili, loike. It is a wee bit strange in thaht respehct, but yeh're roight, it would provide a nice bit o' freedom." Smiling from Thatcher to Fletcher, he asked, "Sae what do we need tae be doin' to be able to get information, loike?"

To say Coralia was having mixed emotions about this meeting at this point was an understatement, though 'mixed' was becoming farther and farther from the truth with every moment. At Corwin's subtle touch, she had stopped herself from saying anything provoking, but she was still glaring at Thatcher, even through the intervention of both Corwin and Fletcher. Really, socialization was overrated! And here was Corwin, jumping in with all four feet, ready to mingle...

No, she reminded herself with a slight shake of her head. He wasn't 'mingling', not in the true sense; they had both Fletcher and Thatcher's word that theirs was not a herd, but a loose association of some sort that just kept each other informed on dangers and whatnot. It wouldn't be a bad thing to know if there were Kalona in an area, or if there were Skinwalkers sighted, Cora told herself. Just because they shared information didn't mean she had to SEE other Soquili, and it definitely didn't mean they had to live with them!

After a few long minutes of internal convincing, she nodded to herself and looked up at the end of Corwin's question, though she looked pointedly at Fletcher rather than Thatcher. "Aye, we would be intehrested in havin' a connection, loike. Cory is roight; sech a theng could be beneficial, an' we'll all have our privacy."

Nisshou H

 

[Nisshou H]

“Ken, ken, ken.” Thatcher imitated. “It sounds like you’re tryin’ to say ‘can’ and no one says ‘yeh can the sun is up’ here. Or anywhere.” Why did Cora have to be so frustrating all the time?

The longer the conversation continued the more Fletcher felt he’d be able to sympathize with Corwin. After all, Corwin’s sister was just as hot headed as Thatcher. Keeping the two together for much longer seemed like a recipe for disaster as his brother seemed to have a knack for pushing Cora’s buttons and she seemed more than happy to take the bait every single time. Whether Thatcher knew he was baiting her or not was an entirely different matter to be discussed for another day. He was grateful for Corwin’s explanation but knowing his brother the way he did knew it would only add fuel to the fire if not handled carefully.

“There you go, Thatcher. It means ‘know.’ Have fun now that you ken that.” Fletcher said with good humor to his brother. Thatcher snickered at his brother’s use of the word but made no further comment about the language difference. Fletcher could only hope that Corwin continuing to address his brother would keep Cora and Thatcher from getting into another round of bickering. It helped that they were talking about Lorenna and her network. That could keep all of them busy for days.

“I think you’d like it.” Thatcher said enthusiastically. “You get to know what’s up around the area without the hassle of being swarmed and smothered by people all the time!”

Fletcher snorted. The attention hog that was Thatcher talking about being smothered, what was the world coming to? Instead of giving Thatcher a good ribbing about this and potentially starting another quarrel he decided to focus on the business at hand.

“To get the information you just need to talk to one of our birds. There’s a password or phrase that you tell them and they can update you on everything that’s going on. You can also give them updates to pass along to others. You can always find at least one bird at special tree stations that are scattered about. I can give you directions to the nearest one. Also, if you have a bird familiar of your own Lorenna can teach it the procedures and you can have a full time informant of your own.” Fletcher hadn’t seen any birds with them but you never knew. “Just don’t send false information or give out any of the passwords yourself. You either need to send the people to Lorenna-”

“Or us.” Thatcher chimed in.

“Or us. Or you can send a bird to fetch Lorenna to meet with them. It’s for everyone’s safety.” Fletcher wasn’t so fond of giving out that last bit of information. It felt like they were being distrustful of the people seeking their help but the network had been tapped into once before and it had ended poorly. That’s when they had started using passwords. It would be bad if someone on their side accidentally let an ill wishing fiend in. “So, shall I give you two the current password?”

Cajmera

Fletcher not trying to ignore Cora... he's just so much super serious business right now.