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 Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 11:19 pm
For a while, Fjorgyn did not even register that Erasmus' face was level with her own -- she was too entranced by the wondrous painted sights that adorned the walls. There was something...familiar about some of the landscapes, or as familiar as any city or desert, in any case. The one depicting a forest struck a particularly strong resonance with her. Whoever had created this work of art had truly been a skilled painter; the dappled sunlight sifting through the leaves seemed all too real, and Fjorgyn couldn't help but reach out one hand, fingertips just a breath away from the painted blue shimmer of a river.
It was only when Erasmus landed that Fjorgyn noticed his now-absent height. So he could fly, and probably fairly high. She wished that he would do it more often, as now that he was back at ground level, she realized that she missed being able to actually make eye contact.
Another thing she liked about Erasmus was that he talked a lot. It allowed her to keep her silence, and she still felt self-conscious about how loud her first 'hello!' had been. If only he didn't ask so many questions, especially ones which required an answer more elaborate than a nod or a shrug. How exactly does one pantomime, I sent Ostara ahead to look for the next path to take -- by the way, if you haven't figured it out yet, I can speak to animals?
Fortunately, at that moment Fjorgyn was spared from answering. There was a squeak from beyond the door, and the appearance of something furry and white squeezing through the crack between the bottom edge and the floor. Ostara looked remarkably flat as he wriggled his way out into the open, but when he finally made it through, his body rebounded back to its normal fluffy roundness.
Fjorgyn knelt and held out her hand; Ostara scampered up her glove to perch on her shoulder. I saw a series of stone cliffs, the rabbit reported, one after another, each dropping about the same distance as the top of my ears to my tail.
That took a moment for Fjorgyn to visualize, but a smile split her face as the picture came into her mind. She turned to Erasmus, still kneeling. "Stairs," she said, pointing at the door.
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Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 12:37 am
Erasmus's first thought was, How did the rabbit get under a door that low?
His next was, How can I use the rabbit to get through that door...?
He turned to Fjorgyn. The rabbit had obviously told her that there were stairs on the other side of the door. This just confirmed his earlier theory that she could speak Rabbit. On a larger scale, it meant that the door led somewhere beyond the nursery; possibly to a kitchen--but anywhere new was better than this stuffy room.
"Tell your rabbit to open the door," he said bluntly, then paused to reconsider. He could hardly expect something so small to reach a latch just over his own head. Tell your rabbit, he thought, to find a key that opens the door? No; the key was likely in a drawer somewhere. Perhaps it was in one of the tables. "Wait," he said quickly, and pulled the nearest drawer towards himself. It was empty. So was the next. Without another word to Fjorgyn, he flew around the perimeter of the room, pulling drawers open and leaving them there. Most were empty; those that weren't, he rifled through and closed again. Here was a key--it looked too small, but it wouldn't hurt to try. This one was brass, but the handle on the door was black. Would it fit anyway? He searched the remainder of the drawers hastily, sticking his candle into the ones near unlit sconces, but couldn't find any more keys. Well, in that case, one of the two clenched in his fist must unlock the door. He flew back to Fjorgyn and her rabbit to try them.
Neither worked.
Erasmus reconsidered his approach again. Now that he really thought about it, it was obvious that the key wasn't locked in with them. Whoever had locked the door would have ended up on the same side as the key--and he was alone here with Fjorgyn. Also the rabbit.
Maybe this wasn't the door out, after all? Come to think of it, he was almost sure that he'd flown past another door along the next wall, but it had been too dark on that side of the room to properly see. He wished the light from the sconces reached a little farther.
"Make your rabbit look for a drawer or something on the other side," he said, finally. "I'm going to keep looking through the drawers here." He wasn't sure why he didn't mention the third door--he just knew that he wanted to investigate it on his own. It was probably locked, too, he told himself: there was no point getting her hopes up only to lower them.
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Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 11:14 am
Fjorgyn wanted to follow, but Erasmus had told her to wait, and after all he was the leader in this little two-sprite expedition. So she watched with interest as he flitted nimbly around the room. The odd placement of his wings meant his pattern of flight was unlike that of any creature she was familiar with (though, where did this innate knowledge of animals come from? Fjorgyn had to wonder, seeing as she'd technically only just woken up).
He returned swiftly, to Fjorgyn's relief, with the addition of two keys. The giantess regarded the tiny bits of metal dubiously; they didn't seem as if they'd fit a door of this size and style. Her suspicions were confirmed as Erasmus unsuccessfully tried both in the lock.
"Make your rabbit look for a drawer or something on the other side," he said to her. "I'm going to keep looking through the drawers here." His order to send Ostara for the key irked her, for reasons somewhat unclear. Perhaps it was the underlying assumption that Ostara would do anything Fjorgyn told him to do, like a servant. Ostara was being quite kind in helping Fjorgyn (albeit with the ulterior motive of finding some superior food stuffs), but he certainly was not under any contract to follow her orders. Besides, she doubted she'd be able to properly explain the concept of drawers or keys to the rabbit. She decided not to mention it to Ostara at all -- it wasn't like Erasmus could hear what the two said to each other.
Instead, as Erasmus perused the drawers once more, Fjorgyn took a good long look at the door. She tried the knob again; it did not budge. She twisted again, harder. With a grating shriek, the door handle came off in her hand, plate and all. The door creaked open, a gaping hole in the wood where the knob and lock mechanism had once been.
Fjorgyn looked back guiltily at Erm, unsure whether to call his attention to this new development or to cover up her accidental act of vandalism.
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Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 6:34 pm
At the sound of metal being torn from the wood of the door, Erasmus spun around. He stared at Fjorgyn, standing guiltily in front of the splintered wood with the handle.
Well, now they'd both broken things. It was a good job no one else was around to see them.
"...I suppose that solves our problem," he said finally. He flew back across the room and tugged on the broken door. It opened easily. Beyond, just as the rabbit had observed, was a set of stairs descending below the nursery. Erasmus could see a faint light coming from just around the corner of the landing.
There was nothing else for it. Someone else had obviously been lighting fires down there, and Erm would have to go down and find them sooner or later. So much for his isolation theory.
Erasmus crept down cautiously at first, and flew as quietly as he could from the first landing--just in case Someone Else was waiting for them around the corner. But when he reached the bottom of the staircase, there was no one in sight. He looked up and down the long, dimly lit hallway. Was that a person disappearing around the far corner...? --No, it was surely his mind playing tricks on him. He waited for Fjorgyn to come down before venturing further into the hall.
It was largely empty, decorated in the same style as the antechamber above them, and Erasmus calculated that it must run directly under the nursery itself. He walked a little to the left, staring up at where he thought his bed must be. The room they were currently in was not as tall as the nursery, though it came close. The ceiling was flat instead of arched, and the carpets--though dusty--were certainly not as dirty as in the rooms above.
He looked again from side to side. "What do you think?" he muttered to Fjorgyn. "Left or right?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 8:59 pm
With considerable relief, Fjorgyn could not detect any judgement or accusation in Erasmus' stare. She supposed he was simply glad that the door was openable now. It wasn't like anyone was around to judge them on their manners, in any case, and whatever worked, worked. Right?
Navigating the stairs was a bit of a tricky business, as each step was a tad too narrow to be completely comfortable for her feet. Eventually, Fjorgyn struck up a rhythm of taking the steps two at a time, always keeping an eye on Erasmus' back so as not to run into him.
The ceiling of the next room was closer to her head than the nursery's. Fjorgyn noted this with some anxiety; what if the rooms got smaller and smaller as they moved closer to the ground? Perhaps they should be moving up instead of down. Apparently, directionality was also on Erasmus' mind. "Left or right?" he asked her.
She looked left. She looked right. They both looked the same to her. Ostara? she asked tentatively. Left or right? When the rabbit didn't answer, she amended, This way or that?
The rabbit wrinkled his nose. There is a strange smell coming from that way. Better to go this way.
Strange, how? Fjorgyn pressed, but Ostara had no coherent answer. Apparently, the language barrier went both ways. Fjorgyn had to make a decision on her own: on one hand, a strange smell likely meant something...strange, so the safest course of action would be avoidance. On the other hand, strange could be interesting, and at least strange was something, whereas smell-less areas promised a whole lot of nothing.
Fjorgyn pointed: that way. "Left," she said, with a hint of uncertainty in her whisper.
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Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 12:30 pm
Erasmus shrugged and continued to the left, looking around. There were a few doors, but none looked like they lead anywhere promising; and after having seen Someone Else just a few moments previously (or maybe not--he was jumpy, after all, and the candles made the shadows flicker so), he didn't want to break anything else.
He reached the end of the hall and glanced back to check that Fjorgyn was still trailing behind him. The carpeting here gave way to smooth stone, cool against his feet. The hall narrowed to a single doorway--still tall enough for Fjorgyn, thankfully--but the passage beyond was well-lit, and Erasmus could feel air flowing toward him from somewhere beyond. He stuck his head into the passage, confirmed that no one else was around, and crept cautiously around the corner.
After a few minutes he recognized a large doorway in the wall ahead. The hall beyond it was dim and carpeted, just like the hall they had left behind. He went in.
There were a few doors, but none of them looked very promising; and in the center of the left-hand wall was a staircase going up. Erasmus looked at Fjorgyn. "I'm going to see what's up there," he said. "Coming?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 1:51 pm
Fjorgyn looked from door to door to staircase to door, her befuddlement plain. This place is far too complicated, she remarked to Ostara. She could barely visualize the layout of the few rooms they'd already explored, let alone predict where this staircase might lead to.
Ostara didn't reply, and instead had begun to tremble, digging his claws into her shoulder. ...Ostara? Fjorgyn prodded, gently.
The strange smell is coming from there, he said, nose twitching toward the staircase. Fjorgyn regarded it with a newfound interest, and after a moment, took a step toward it.
No! Fjorgyn heard, before feeling little rabbit paws leaving her shoulder. Ostara leapt from Fjorgyn's shoulder to Erasmus' head, then to the floor, and scampered away before the giantess could even blink. Meeting Erasmus' eyes, she shrugged, and started once more up the steps.
There was no doorway after the first or the second flight, only more steps leading up. Fjorgyn could smell something now, and though she wasn't sure what, it didn't seem like a bad smell. Rather, it made her feel quite hungry.
The third flight of stairs opened into a brightly lit room that was much less dusty than all other rooms prior. There was no one in sight, but a cheery fire roared in the hearth, evidently lit somewhat recently. Above the fire hung a pot, the source of the delicious smell. "Oh," said Fjorgyn. She took a closer look and inhaled deeply; it was rabbit stew. "Ohhh," she said, comprehension dawning.
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Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 7:15 pm
Erasmus jumped in surprise when Fjorgyn's rabbit lept, without warning, onto his head and away across the floor. He glared at Fjorgyn. If one was going to carry one's rabbit around with her, the least she might do was tell a fellow when she was going to launch it at him.
Fjorgyn shrugged in acknowledgement of his glare and led the way upstairs. Ah, well. The rabbit was probably just going to explore somewhere else. Erasmus was sure it would report back to her soon; he would just have to be sure to stay out of its way.
Three flights up, they found a more-or-less-clean room, and Erasmus smelled something delicious. "Oh," Fjorgyn said, and then, "Ohhh." Erasmus peeked around her to see a large pot hanging over the fire.
"Let's eat it," he said suddenly. He was hungry after his scare earlier, and after flying around all morning. There was one cupboard in the room, but it was empty of anything that they might use to eat. Erasmus thought about simply dipping a hand into the pot, but the fire was quite hot and the metal over it radiated a likewise uncomfortable heat. The room's only other contents were a table and some unchopped vegetables atop it, and he wasn't entirely sure that he was hungry enough to eat raw food.
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Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 3:14 pm
Fjorgyn was a little hesitant about consuming the contents of the pot -- on principle, she didn't mind eating meat, but what if the unfortunate rabbit in the stew was a relative or friend of Ostara? That would be awkward.
Still, it definitely smelled delicious. Fjorgyn's stomach growled audibly and she sighed wistfully, breathing in the savory aroma. Looking around, she couldn't find any plates or utensils, but there was an apron hung up on the wall which Fjorgyn wrapped around her hand as a makeshift oven mitt. She grasped the pot by the handle, quickly lowering it to the floor next to the fireplace. Steam rose instantly and copiously from the hot liquid. The pot made a loud clattering noise as it struck the floor.
A moment later, there was an answering clatter from beyond the doorway. Fjorgyn looked up, wide-eyed. "What...?" she started.
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Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 11:41 am
Erasmus almost missed the noise from outside the doorway, close behind the noise Fjorgyn was making as it was; but when he looked quickly at the doorway he saw a newcomer there. Her face was kindly, but white with shock. She recovered with admirable speed, picked up the tray she had dropped, and without missing a beat bustled right into the room.
"Out of bed already!" she said, not without warmth; and then to Fjorgyn, "Put that down now, sweets, before you burn yourself." She set down her tray, retrieved the apron from Fjorgyn's hand, and hung it back in its place on the wall.
"Well, I never," she said, standing back to size them up. Erasmus took the opportunity to do the same. She was much taller than he was, closer to Fjorgyn's height; her hair was pale. tied back in an enormous bun; and to Erasmus the most curious thing about her was the fact that she had three sets of eyes--one set on her face, and one lining either arm--and multiple horns crowning her head. Beyond this she looked capable and trustworthy, and was smiling at them with an expression full of happiness. Erasmus hated her immediately.
"I hope you haven't been awake long, poor dears," the woman said, sorting through her tray--which, Erasmus now saw, held various forms of dinnerware. She picked out two bowls and two spoons, one set much larger than the other, and set about ladling stew into them. "We thought that some of you might wake today, but--of course--these things are never certain. Still, I thought it best to be prepared, and I can't say I'm sorry." She handed the larger bowl to Fjorgyn and held the small bowl out to Erasmus. He hesitated mistrustfully. "It's rabbit," the woman said cheerfully. "Don't worry; you'll like it. Just the right thing. I'm sure you're starving." Erasmus took the bowl and ate some stew. Unfortunately, it was quite good. He pushed a carrot around with his spoon instead of looking at the woman again, but she had already resumed her lecture.
"Now, dears, you'll be spending much of your time here--and I suppose you've already seen most of the place--but we'll go outside to play sometimes. You need the fresh air. Of course, here the focus is on your education. I'll be tutoring you in Somnium history, geography, and literature; mathematics; and we'll learn about dreamcasting, of course. I'm also the one who will be taking care of you. During class time you may call me Teacher, and the rest of the time you may call me Nanny. I have some rules for you to follow. You shouldn't leave the nursery unless I am accompanying you; not that you can, of course, but it's good to know. There won't be any running around or being disruptive when we are focused on our studies--" she glared at Fjorgyn-- "and that includes getting into places not meant for small children." This glare was directed at both of them. "I imagine you've gotten into plenty of trouble already, so after you've finished eating, we'll walk around the Nursery and you can show me what I need to clean up. Yes?"
Erasmus glanced at Fjorgyn guiltily. He was thinking about the jars he'd flown into, and he was sure she was thinking about the door she'd opened. Just as he'd forseen, adults were nothing but trouble... but perhaps there would be an opportunity for him to escape later.
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Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 6:33 pm
Fjorgyn tried her best to hide upon hearing the sound of someone approaching, but all that was at hand was the soup pot. She held it up high to cover her face, in her panic thinking, If I can't see them, they can't see me!
Naturally, her foolish nonlogic failed to do much. Fjorygn saw from behind the pot a pair of practical no-nonsense boots capping two sturdy and well-covered legs. They were not Erasmus', whose legs and feet were much daintier in size and coordination. "Put that down, sweets, before you burn yourself," said the voice accompanied with those tree trunk legs, and Fjorgyn immediately did as she was told. Her eyes immediately observed a face that was somehow both warm and kind but stern and disapproving. A motherly face. It felt odd for Fjorgyn to feel belittled by somebody just as tall as she was, but there was something about the lady that made Fjorgyn not question her authority.
Wordlessly, Fjorygn allowed the lady to take the apron from her and she accepted the large bowl that was proffered to her. She hesitated, like Erasmus, upon presentation of the stew, but eventually she succumbed to her hunger and took a bite. It was good, and Fjorgyn allowed the savory warmth wash over her.
As Nanny lectured on and on about rules this and rules that, Fjorgyn found a wariness creeping over her. Her mind was reeling at the thought of all these restrictions. With Erasmus, everything had been so uncertain and a little scary, but also exciting and free. She wasn't quite sure what to make of this sudden imposition of society. Still, occasional order and occasional chaos were both good for the soul. And she did feel bad about that door. Maybe Nanny could fix it.
Fjorgyn finished her soup in no time at all, finding herself somewhat surprised when her spoon scraped the bottom of the bowl and returned soup-less. She looked over at Erasmus with a questioning gaze in her eyes, curious to know what he thought of this turn of events. She wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly just decided to make a run for it, and if that was the case, she most certainly did not want to be left behind!
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Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 2:33 pm
Erasmus looked at the floor, pushing away a creeping sense of guilt. He did indeed want out, but he didn't know what to do about Fjorgyn. One one hand, she and her rabbit had been surprisingly useful thus far; on the other, her rabbit had disappeared, and while Fjorgyn's strength was a bonus, he could fly just as high as she could reach without much difficulty.
Erasmus glanced up--Nanny was still glaring expectantly at them both. He smiled brightly and nodded. This seemed to satisfy her; she nodded back with a "hmph" and turned to refill Fjorgyn's bowl. Here was his chance! Without a second thought for the other small sprite, he dropped his bowl, kicked off the ground, and flew quickly out the doorway.
During their earlier exploration, Erasmus had discovered that short bouts of gentle flight wouldn't cause the world to disappear--of course, quick movement was probably the key to triggering it, but no matter. Regardless of what happened next, his initial movement would be sufficient to shoot him down the stairs and out into the hall like an ungainly feathered bullet.
...Well. That at least was the theory.
In reality, just as soon as Erasmus kicked off, he was stopped short: one of his wings had caught on something right near its base. Blast! He was searching for a stronger word to describe the pain in his ankle when he realized that whatever he had been caught on was now dangling him upside-down in midair.
"You haven't finished eating," Nanny said mildly. She plopped Erasmus down on the table and handed him the dropped bowl. "Eat up, it's good for you!" Erasmus reddened, embarrassed. Was Fjorgyn staring? He looked up defiantly, but she was eating her stew, and Nanny was now watching them both much more carefully. There would be no more opportunity for escape; at least not until they were finished eating--but he doubted Nanny would let him out of her reach now.
Grumpily, Erasmus began to eat. It seemed that life in the nursery would not be as simple as he had thought.
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