With the dregs of a tumultuous dream, and other recent concerns of a more corporeal nature, still pounding in the back of her head, Maple Milk took a walk. She left her cave early in the morning and walked straight out for hours, taking brief rests when she wearied, trying very hard not to think about anything.
It wasn't working.
She was alone. This had never bothered her before now, but... For years and years, she'd been fine - she'd been strong, clever, wily enough to make her way. And she was still as sharp as the thorns around her home, but... Friends had tried to push themselves into her life - but always, always, always, she pushed them out again, let them drift away from her naturally. Even the coven had dissolved eventually. But -
[imgright]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... lt_tia.gif[/imgright]
She stopped suddenly, her worries coalescing to a solid weight in her chest. "But I'm old, now," she grumbled. Old, frail, and alone - and vulnerable like she'd never been.
It wasn't working.
She was alone. This had never bothered her before now, but... For years and years, she'd been fine - she'd been strong, clever, wily enough to make her way. And she was still as sharp as the thorns around her home, but... Friends had tried to push themselves into her life - but always, always, always, she pushed them out again, let them drift away from her naturally. Even the coven had dissolved eventually. But -
[imgright]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... lt_tia.gif[/imgright]
She stopped suddenly, her worries coalescing to a solid weight in her chest. "But I'm old, now," she grumbled. Old, frail, and alone - and vulnerable like she'd never been.
"You certainly are," said Melt agreeably, from out of nowhere. He had been shading himself under a tree nearby, and he took his own sweet time standing up. "So we meet again."
With a hiss, Maple creakily spun to face her detractor - and found him familiar. It was the accursed blanket-man. She took a deep breath to begin berating him... and let it out again, deflating rather, her stance weakening. He was only agreeing with what she herself had said, after all - simply confirming the weakness she'd witnessed herself.
"It seems we do," she said dully, her head low and ears drawn slightly back. "What a surprise."
"It seems we do," she said dully, her head low and ears drawn slightly back. "What a surprise."
"Oh?" said Melt, and took a step closer. This was not the response he was expecting. "You seem a little strange today. Are you quite alright?"
Maple favored him with an impressive grimace. "No, as a matter of fact, I am not," she croaked, "but I'm not about to regale you with my life's story. I doubt you're interested in that."
Melt looked around and laughed. "What do we have if not time, dear?" He pushed some dry leaves into a pile at the base of the tree. "Kin always have time for stories. Now, you sit down right here and I'll go find something to eat." The kiokote trotted off, and soon returned with a squirrel clutched in his mouth, which he ripped in two, and offered the choicest half to Maple.
Time, time, time! That was the very crux of the matter, wasn't it? Time, which was the faithful dog of the fate of all kin, slowly worrying you apart with blunted teeth so that you hardly noticed it was happening until it was far too late. Before she could tell him as much, at length, that ridiculous kiokote had bustled off to find food.
Well. Good riddance. She could get away while he was gone and be alone with her thoughts. She certainly wasn't going to nestle down into that pile of leaves and wait for him, even if she was fairly hungry - she hadn't stopped to eat at all on her long walk - and sort of tired. It didn't look comfortable at all, she thought stubbornly, nudging it sullenly with one leg. Still, she could probably afford to rest for a moment before she left - it probably wouldn't be too uncomfortable, and might be sort of warm...
Maple woke from a light doze to the sounds of Melt returning - with some small fuzzy morsel to share. While her nap had left her slightly - very slightly - less cranky, it hadn't moved her troubles far from her mind, or made her any less hungry. He even offered her the better half of the critter he'd caught. That was properly respectful of him. Like a wary wild animal, she hesitated a moment, then snatched her portion, staring at him all the while.
Well. Good riddance. She could get away while he was gone and be alone with her thoughts. She certainly wasn't going to nestle down into that pile of leaves and wait for him, even if she was fairly hungry - she hadn't stopped to eat at all on her long walk - and sort of tired. It didn't look comfortable at all, she thought stubbornly, nudging it sullenly with one leg. Still, she could probably afford to rest for a moment before she left - it probably wouldn't be too uncomfortable, and might be sort of warm...
Maple woke from a light doze to the sounds of Melt returning - with some small fuzzy morsel to share. While her nap had left her slightly - very slightly - less cranky, it hadn't moved her troubles far from her mind, or made her any less hungry. He even offered her the better half of the critter he'd caught. That was properly respectful of him. Like a wary wild animal, she hesitated a moment, then snatched her portion, staring at him all the while.
Melt lay down next to her and pulled at the stringy squirrel meat for a second. "So, now that we're comfortable, care to share what's on your mind?"
Maple's only response was a wordless growling grumble sound as she ate.
"My, you haven't eaten in a while, have you," said Melt, raising a brow. "But do try to articulate."
She lifted her head to tear a strip of the stringy meat off the skin and swallowed it down, staring down at the carcass sullenly and licking her lips clean of blood. Finally, she said with a sigh, "I'm old. And -" she glanced sideways at him somewhat distrustfully - "... frail. Vulnerable. I find it disagreeable," she concluded with a sniff, and bent to her meal again.
"Well, that took you all of five seconds to say, and is, in fact, entirely obvious just by looking at you. I thought you had more to say than that," Melt said, a little sullen himself.
The old hag spluttered indignantly, "Look, don't come wise with me because I'm not spilling my guts the instant you ask, you nosy, overgrown jackrabbit! I just got done saying I don't like being vulnerable. That includes talking about it." She nosed restlessly at the carcass for a moment, then sighed and turned her gaze skywards.
"If you must know," she grumbled, "I'm feeling my mortality particularly strongly this season. I never..."
"If you must know," she grumbled, "I'm feeling my mortality particularly strongly this season. I never..."
"Sorry, sorry," Melt said soothingly. "It's hard to talk about yourself when you don't do it often."
"You never...," he echoed expectantly.
"You never...," he echoed expectantly.
"I never thought I'd live this long," she admitted quietly.
--page--
He nodded. "Most think they'll die young, before they ever have a chance to get old. And that's often true, but certainly not always."
She snorted and shook her head. "Most kin haven't had the kind of life I have, either. I had damned good reason to think I'd die in the wild days of my youth."
"Wild days? You? I don't believe it," Melt said, in a tone that implied that he also wasn't surprised. Well, the scars were obvious.
Maple hummed assent, nodding. "Wild days indeed, my friend. They'd make your hair curl - all of it," she added in a drawl, glancing up and down his length.
"Is that so? Well, now you have to regale me with these tales of your youth."
"Mmmm, well. I can tell one story, I suppose," she mumbled, ears flicking. "I ah... once... once there was a beautiful white doe," she said hesitantly, "and her hair was straight and fine and shone in the sun. Her eyes were bright and blue as the sky, and wise and sparkling with secrets."
"She sounds like the fairest doe in all the land," Melt nodded approvingly.
"She was. I was," she confirmed. "Long ago. I was - she was - the apprentice of her tribe's medicine woman. Before she had quite finished her training, however, her master died, and she had to take over the full duties of the office on her own. The medicine woman was a position of great importance, so it was also prestigious - but because she had come into it so young, the kin of her tribe did not afford her proper respect. So she pretended to hear the spirits, and to hear the swamp's guidance.
"She couldn't really, of course," Maple said. "She had no more knowledge than others had access to. What she did have, though, were sharp ears and a clever mind - she was able to put information together faster and more ably than others, and use it to her advantage. She also had a flair for theatrics, knew how to play the part and hold their attention, and how to deliver her advice in mystic style. So, they did come to duly respect and fear her wisdom."
"She couldn't really, of course," Maple said. "She had no more knowledge than others had access to. What she did have, though, were sharp ears and a clever mind - she was able to put information together faster and more ably than others, and use it to her advantage. She also had a flair for theatrics, knew how to play the part and hold their attention, and how to deliver her advice in mystic style. So, they did come to duly respect and fear her wisdom."
"That's a lot of responsibility for one so young," Melt observed.
Maple tilted her head slightly to acknowledge this. "It may well have been," she mused, "but she handled it well.
"The aged leader of the tribe and his mate were alright leaders, and fair to their people, but foolish in many ways... and easily suggestible. While they seemed at first doubtful of her, the medicine woman's words were never wrong, and so they also came to trust her, in time. They came to depend on her wisdom quite thoroughly.
"Now... this next part gets a little tricky," she said, glancing up at her one-man audience. "In this tribe, only certain bloodlines were seen as fit to lead. The belief was they were descended from certain important kin in Matope's history, but there is no way to know for sure if that was true. In any event, the tribe leaders and their prospective mates were from a very few carefully maintained family trees, and only members of these families could assume control of the tribe, could guide the people.
"The medicine woman this story is about, she was not part of one of these families. But she came to enjoy leading the people of her tribe. Protecting them from harm, and healing their ills when she could not; indirectly managing their resources, and directly benefiting from the richness of them; being praised, respected, sometimes feared, for her knowledge. She knew that some day, a new leader would come into power, and they might not rely so heavily on her wisdom, and she might lose the power she had worked so hard to gain. Naturally, she did not want this to happen.
"So she came up with a plan."
"The aged leader of the tribe and his mate were alright leaders, and fair to their people, but foolish in many ways... and easily suggestible. While they seemed at first doubtful of her, the medicine woman's words were never wrong, and so they also came to trust her, in time. They came to depend on her wisdom quite thoroughly.
"Now... this next part gets a little tricky," she said, glancing up at her one-man audience. "In this tribe, only certain bloodlines were seen as fit to lead. The belief was they were descended from certain important kin in Matope's history, but there is no way to know for sure if that was true. In any event, the tribe leaders and their prospective mates were from a very few carefully maintained family trees, and only members of these families could assume control of the tribe, could guide the people.
"The medicine woman this story is about, she was not part of one of these families. But she came to enjoy leading the people of her tribe. Protecting them from harm, and healing their ills when she could not; indirectly managing their resources, and directly benefiting from the richness of them; being praised, respected, sometimes feared, for her knowledge. She knew that some day, a new leader would come into power, and they might not rely so heavily on her wisdom, and she might lose the power she had worked so hard to gain. Naturally, she did not want this to happen.
"So she came up with a plan."
