Spirits in the Sky

Liam tracks down Hannah with a note on marbled green stationary, sealed with a golden wax unicorn.

Hannah,

I need a friend to talk to, and since I didn't scare you away back in Amber, I thought I could convince you to join me tonight. I can't entice you with a drink. How about sweets?

Paige

Hannah sends Liam back to let Paige know she'll be there. When she shows up later, she's actually empty-handed, for once.

Hannah grins at Paige. "Well, you've found the trick for tempting me. Solange made me a cake though. A big one." Her smile grows. "Or she had it made," Hannah adds, with a laugh.

"I've only got some of my stash of chocolate covered expresso beans," Paige says offering the small stonewear jar to her cousin.

Hannah looks only a little dubious as she pulls one out.

"So, how is Xanadu finding you?" Paige asks. "I heard that you've recently returned yourself."

"Yup. Xanadu is finding me curious. It's like being seven again, and everything is a question to be answered. How are the children?" Hannah asks and bites into a bean. She makes a face, deciding if she likes this. "And what is an expresso bean?"

"Well, I suppose there is no such thing, not really," Paige admits. "They're coffee beans. Espresso is a term for a small shot of pressure-brewed coffee using about a Tablespoon of finely ground coffee. When they make it right, it has this little layer of rich golden crema on top." She sighs, remembering the coffee shop she had frequented in San Francisco.

"The children are well, I think," Paige says. "In fact, it's almost about them that I need to ask you." The redhead seems unsure how to broach the topic.

"Almost?" Hannah asks, and makes herself comfortable. "Is something wrong?" She pops another coffee bean.

"In this family? Always," she smiles wryly. "I'm having problems making decisions. It's like I've no rudder, the wind just blowing me as it will. The cards are of no help even, reflecting my own indecision.

"I'm concerned for the children's safety and what it will mean to them if in Julian's solution of the problems with the Dragon..." Paige hesitates, not wanting to give voice to her fears. "If he creates a hole in their very being."

Hannah's eyebrows go up. "Well, alright. How would that happen?" she asks, and tilts her head, considering. "You're easy enough to anchor, I bet, if you chose to be anchored, Paige. And, you can't protect children from everything. Does this have something to do with Adonis?"

Paige nods. "His maternal grandmother is The Dragon, a primeval force, that happens to be family as well, enough to ensure that the twins have a greater sanguinity with my Grandfather than I do." She waves that tangent away as proof of her ramblings.

"Well, whatever she is, she's a threat to Amber and the children, and Julian's solution is her disolution, which may lead to the destruction of Adonis's home shadow, Arcadia. The children are tied to it metaphysically and it's destruction may have unseen repurcussions."

"We're talking about the destruction of an entire world? It would have foreseeable repurcussions, even." Hannah looks more than a bit disturbed, but all she does is sigh. "I thought I was metaphysically tied to where I came from, but now I wonder. I wonder if I'd know if it was destroyed. Maybe the trick is to tie them to someplace else. Will they be strong enough to walk the Pattern, do you think, when they're old enough?"

"Yes, I hope so," Paige thinks. "Adonis had a role of godhood in Arcadia, so there's more invested there than his birth, I believe. The children would have roles and could turn the seasons without their Ordered birthright.

"But they're not formed enough to walk the Pattern, not yet I don't think, and to put them on it prematurely..."

Hannah looks worried. "No, that would be a bad idea. Has their growth rate settled out yet, or is it still this seasonal spurt? I'm not suggesting you take any risks with the Pattern, at all, but I also don't know how you know when they're ready. What I was asking was, when they are old enough, do you think they'll be strong enough to walk it?"

"Nothing new of late, but we're still shy of the next season," Paige shrugs. "I understand the Pattern question, and yes, I think they'll be fine, in time.

"I suppose that's the question, isn't it? Will a tie to Reality fill a lost godhood?"

"I think perhaps the question should be will it help them survive it? I don't think anything can fill it, if it is what you think it is. And I do think it would help them survive it because it would strongly connect them to another place. And this place is powerful, Paige. It's... amazing. I'm afraid to spirit walk here, but I'm going to do it anyway, but what exists out there? I just hope the land has connected to me the way I've connected to it," Hannah smiles.

"Spirit walk?" Paige asks curiously.

"Um... It's hard to explain. Going walking around with your mind and leaving your body behind so you might see and communicate with people or things your earthbound senses block you from. Sometimes, it can help me find answers, find non-traditional ways of healing. Sometimes, it just gives you more questions. Somewhat dangerous, because sometimes you have to bargain for answers. You just never know what you'll find. Never know what you'll find out," Hannah grins. "I'm going to do it in the woods." She pops another bean in her mouth.

"Funny you should mention that. The woods are officially off-limits to the populace at the moment," Paige says. "Of course you're Family and the new Warden of Broceliande likes you." She smile and helps herself to a bean.

"I'd suggest caution, because the Shadows come closest to Xanadu there, specifically those near Arcadia," she advises her cousin. "Wixer's up there, you know?" Obviously she's mulling over some question, but she doesn't decide to press.

"I didn't know that," Hannah says, with a frown. "I wonder if Dworkin knows that. You haven't seen him, have you?"

"Wixer or Dworkin?" Paige asks. "Wixer, yes. Dworkin? I've never had the pleasure."

"Well, if Wixer is in the woods, Dworkin might just show up to check on him. I wonder how that works... doesn't seem like it should work that way." Hannah stares off for a moment, lost in thought.

With a sigh, she looks back at Paige. "I don't plan on going in that deep, physically. Since you're the... Lorax," Hannah grins, "maybe you can assign me a guard. Oh, another question - trumps. Is there a way to block trump callings for someone who shouldn't be getting them to begin with? Let's say your children, for example - is there a charm or something you could give them that could block callings so they didn't even reach them?"

"I could possibly teach them to block if they were aware of the contact, but without traversing an anchor and allowing Order to define Image I don't know if such a Trump would work," Paige offers.

She bites her bottom lip as she considers this. "Of course, Merlin had a better hand at the Cards before he ever walked the Parisian anchor. I suppose the sense of self is a stronger instinct in a shapeshifter and that might have something to contribute."

"No, I don't know of anyway specifically, but I wouldn't let them sit for a Trump yet, either. Is this theory or something that's happening in practice?" Paige asks with a little concern.

"There's a theory this is happening, and that if someone... possibly didn't have enough of the family blood in them, it would hurt them. I need to find a way to make it stop happening. I know this must mean first, there is someone who has to make a card for someone it wouldn't work for to begin with, and second, then they'd have to use it and have it work... and if the side-effect is trauma because these minds are not developed in such a way as to be able to take trumps, and it causes pain, that logically means pushing a call is causing damage to some area of the brain... and since I think taking out parts of the brain to keep people from getting trump calls they can't answer is a bad idea, I'm looking for another solution. But honestly, if someone is hurt badly enough, and we can identify the damage, a partial lobotomy might be the only solution. Except it can't be," Hannah says, setting her mouth. "The easiest solution would be to find out who is doing the trumping and make an example of them."

"The known artists in the family have a limited number of teachers. Dworkin taught Reid who taught Brita, Dworkin taught Brand who taught me, who taught Merlin, and Dworkin taught Brand who taught Ossian. Beyond that, I suppose any of those number might've had other students. I don't have an easy answer, but I'm willing to help you look."

"As to Broceliande, I suppose I could go with you. As a guard, not a spiritwalker," she caveats. "Or could I?"

"Go with me on a spiritwalk? I think you could. But then we'd both need a guard," Hannah grins, "and you'd have to do what I say."

"I can get us a guard, one who's been to the wood already, in fact. Do you think I might find answers there?" she asked hesitantly.

"Honestly, there's no telling. I don't even know if we'll find spirits to talk to. This place is so new. We can try it out, and see what happens," Hannah shrugs. "You always learn something on a spirit walk, it just may be something other than what you went looking for. So you want to try?"

"Sure. What do we need to do to prepare?" Paige asks, containing her enthusiasm, or maybe it's just the caffiene from the beans and chocolate.

"Fasting. I really think it's a good idea for the first time. I think it won't be too hard for you, since you already have the idea it's possible, from dealing with enough improbable," Hannah smiles. "How are they, the children, really?"

"Overnight suit? Just water? Or are we talking about a sweat lodge or something?" Paige asks.

"They're children. I'm not sure what else I can say," she chuckles. "Most parents have a decade of rearing under their belts before dealing with adolescents. Me? I'm just lucky it seems."

"Well, no one can blame you for their raising, either," Hannah grins. "Just water is fine, but it should be for as long as it takes you to get past the hunger and have your body start relying on itself for a bit. Do you know what I mean?"

Paige nods. She may not be good at denial of self, but she understands it.

"I was thinking we could do something like a sweat lodge, only... without the steam. Here's hoping someone in this city brought in some good tobacco. Highly potent tobacco, we need some of that. It'll probably be enough. I'm real interested to see if the spirits I know traveled with me, or if they're everywhere, or if there are different spirits, or maybe, there aren't any here. That would be... sad, though," Hannah sighs.

"I have good tobacco packed away someplace, along with my share of... other... plants that have at least a suggested tie to such spiritualism," Paige offers. "I mean, I've had a smoke or two after a few damn near spiritual moments," her grin is mischevious and suggestive, "But I never thought of it as a gateway, unless you were summoning the Legba. I've never been ridden."

"By the spirit?" Hannah clarifies, looking worried. "That's a good thing. Predisposition to possession isn't a trait you want to carry over - although I've never met a spirit who'd be willing to confine themselves to a body unless they wanted something very badly. The tobacco is more of an offering to the spirits. No, that's not right. More like... a bribe." She shrugs. "At least, they really liked it where I came from. The stronger, the better. If there are spirits here, they might like something else, but I have no idea." Hannah chews on her lip.

"Yes, that's similar to how Marie believed, but she was a horse for both Dambala and Papa Legba. They both spoke through her at times." She shrugs. "Alright then, no more coffee beans for me, and I'll scare up the best tobacco I can find.

"In case I forget to mention it later, thanks," Paige says.

"Hey, don't thank me yet. We could always get eaten by something bigger," Hannah grins.

Bright and early [on whatever morning we're now on] Hannah is provisioned with blanket rolls on her back, her knife on her hip, and a purple feather in her hair.

She's at Paige's door and knocking, anxious to get going, but happy to see the kids a minute, if they're up.

Paige opens the door, dressed in dark green trousers and midcalf boots suited for walking. Her hair is pulled back and tied with a leather thong. The leather vest over the loose cotton blouse has several pockets. "Ready," she answers. "Just need... this," she says as she grabs her satchel and swordbelt that are on a stand beside the door. "Oh, and..." She presents Hannah with a large pouch.

Hannah takes the pouch with a grin, presses her nose against it and inhales. She sighs. "Oh, that's nice." She opens it up and rolls a pinch of tobacco between her fingers. She looks satisfied.

Hannah pulls two corded pouches out of her jeans pocket. She fills each of them with the tobacco, and puts one over Paige's head. "Wear it against your skin. It'll help." She puts her own on and slips it inside her shirt. "Is your source here in the city, then? You'll have to introduce me."

Paige slips the pouch over her neck and under the shirt. She flips her red hair back over her collar and nods. "I'm not sure where her source is, but I'll gladly introduce you.

"Couth's going to join us in the courtyard," Paige explains with a wry smile. "Or Vans or Mace. I'm not sure who's on call at the moment and what the three of them agreed to, but I had hoped Couth would accompany us, as he's familiar with Broceliande." She steps out into the hall and closes the door behind her. As they walk she throws the satchel over her shoulder and fastens the swordbelt. "Are we riding or hiking?" Paige figures that free climbing the cliff face was out, at least this trip.

"Let's hike. I'd really like to stop by and check on Wixer on the way, if it's possible. So has Couth been exploring Broceliande?" Hannah asks.

Paige shakes her head. "I don't have the Rangers to support patrols yet and haven't had the time to accompany him. That's the first thing I'll be attending to once we return."

"Familairity is where it ends after our little encounter with Arcadian hoplites up there earlier in the week."

"Well, then it's up to us. I hope there's enough old wood or grass there to get a good fire going." Hannah opines. "But if not, we don't really need it. I can cheat it. Now, as far as you know, this dragon doesn't live in the spirit world too, right?"

"No, I've no experience with her other than her possession of the children while we were in Amber," Paige answers as they come down the stair toward the courtyard. "Of course, such an... act... would suggest that the Deep Green has some path... or access to the realm through those means, or she did in Amber once the Pattern had been sundered."

Vanguard is waiting by the fountain. "Couth asked me to accompany you, my Lady."

Hannah smiles at Vanguard and introduces herself.

Paige seems happy to see the young Altamarean, but doesn't waste any time on niceties before they set off.

"As to the Dragon," she goes on, "yes, it would mean it had a path in. Here's hoping it doesn't. I've never had to deal with a dragon. Not certain how to go about it." Hannah leads the way to the woods. Her posture relaxes some now that she's outside and headed where she wants to be, although she doesn't let her guard all the way down.

"Do you have a question in your mind Paige? It's better to have one ready, even if you end up asking something else later," Hannah suggests.

Paige has made this ride before, but is content to follow Hannah's lead as they hike toward the greensward at the falls. "I've something in mind, yes," she admits. "Should we talk about it, or is it like birthday wishes, something to be internalized?"

"We don't need to talk about it, unless you want to. More that you should be able to articulate it. Sometimes people try to go in with a vague idea of what they're looking for. That's fine to do, but you're a lot less likely to get the answer you need that way. You'd certainly learn something about yourself, or, I should say, most people would. You've already traveled to other worlds and places and seen strange things, so it might not be the same sort of journey for one of this family," Hannah muses. "Of course, I don't know that shadow shifting works in the spirit world."

Van follows, his movements like water.

"My only connection to the other worlds was through Shadow initiates and I'm not sure how such powers truely interact with Reality," Paige admits. "But I understand how to center myself for allowing the Trumps to speak through me, so I figure I can be receptive to other aspects as well. Can the walk and visions be divinatory as well as working toward a solution or answer?"

"Well, you're divining a solution or answer, so yes," Hannah laughs. "You're always divining an answer, even if you don't know the question. I just like to be ready when I run into Grandfather Bear, who doesn't take lightly to people wasting his time."

"I wouldn't be too worried about any of it, Paige, but stepping lightly, so to speak, is a good idea."

"I'm thinking more along the lines of predestination, I suppose, when I suggest divinatory, but I take your meaning," the redhead nods as the trail becomes a little thinner. "Grandfather Bear," she muses. "Totem anima?"

"I don't know if he's my guide or if I'm his animal," Hannah laughs. She stretches her hand out to run along the foilage. "He likes to make me see when I'm being foolish, but he's protective too. Gerard reminds me a little of him, in fact.

"So, you think the Trumps predestin-ize? It sounds like that's what you just said," Hannah asks, eyesbrows raising.

"No, not in and of themselves," Paige offers shaking her head. "They're attuned to the Pattern and thus the initiates of our family and to some extent the whole of Shadow. I think that as Shadow reflects reality, Trumps return those reflections, at times reflections of things that might not yet have come to be. It may be that the suggestion of likely reflections in turn inform and direct our actions and become a self-fulfilling prophecy."

"That's facinating. I have never looked for the future on a spirit walk. I was always too busy trying to help in the present. I don't know if it would work or not. I have no reason to believe it wouldn't," Hannah shrugs. "If you want to try it, we can, but let me quest my way toward the answer I'm looking for first. Last thing I need is an answer for the wrong time."

"I plan to follow your lead in most all of this," Paige admits. "I wonder if I've a totem out there someplace." She takes hold of a small sapling to help herself over a few larger rocks, taking a more direct path than when she an Couth had ridden to Broceliande. Turning, she offers a hand back to Hannah. "Probably a promiscuous sort of rodent, maybe a goat," she chuckles.

As they continue on, she looks a little thoughtful. "In my dreams, I've been a bird, winging over these cliffs, but I always just thought that might be my soul trying to escape my responsibilities."

"I believe everyone has a guide, but not all guides will show themselves. And I don't think... I do think your guide can always be seen as a reflection of who you are. It may be a reflection of what you need, or just an animal that wants to protect or teach you. Dreaming of flying as a bird, where I come from, usually means you are becoming more spiritual. Does Xanadu sing to you then? Dreaming of flying and searching out spirit walks?" Hannah wonders.

"I'd like to think that I'm trying to embrace her," Paige admits. "It's often the same, black and white, the bird, not the dream. I fly from a gauntled hand on the balcony and dive toward the falls, more as if I'm falling, but before I reach the cool waters a thermal catches my wings and I rise." She indicates where she rises over the cliff face that they're matching and continues. "I soar over the greensward and under the branches of Broceliande and when I come to Wixer's clearing, there's a shadow pacing me. At first I think it's the griffon, but I hear his call and the shadow looms larger. Before I can ever see what or who it is, I wake."

Hannah leans closer and whispers, "It's probably just the King trying to get a look under your feathers. He seems to like flying."

Paige chuckles. "While I can appreciate it, I doubt he'd go soaring with me. If you haven't heard, I used to flit around with his eldest son."

Hannah opens her mouth on some comment, but snaps it shut almost as quickly. She looks up at the sky, and then about at the view. "We don't have to go far in, I think," she says, eyes coming back to survey the area. "In fact, I think right over there will do." Hannah gestures to an area where the sun only just dapples through into a circle of trees. It might just be a big enough spot to set up camp in."

Paige strides across the greensward and toward the treeline. "Yes, if I remember it right it'll be fine for just the three of us. I might want for more space if we had brought horses, but that's not a concern. Van will be near enough the river should he need water and in fact, I feel more comfortable when I can hear the water. It just seems like my element.

"So, never one to know when to shut up," she begins, "Did you have a comment on Martin or his father that you bit down on and abruptly changed the subject?"

Hannah snorts and turns to look at Paige, much amused. "If I wanted to say something, I would have," she says, and pulls down a thin, supple tree branch.

"So here is what we need to do. We need seven of these, about as long as this one," Hannah cuts it with her knife, "and we're going to tie them together into a dome, drape them with these blankets on my pack, and we'll be ready to move on." Hannah lays the branch down, and takes off her pack. She tosses twine and blankets on the ground, and strips the branch she just cut of foilage.

Paige sets her own gear down and begins as well, offering a whispered prayer of thanks to the tree. It's something she's never done before, but if she was going to take Randoms' offer of the job to heart, this place would have to become her heart. Last time here she had observed the rules she held to in Arden and had cut no living timber, only gathering deadfall for their fires. She didn't claim to have the knowledge of such things like Hannah, but didn't see how the thanks could hurt.

"Vans, why don't you make yourself useful and refill the water skins?" she suggested as she began to strip her branch.

Vans nods and moves off to give the ladies room to speak quietly without him. He is in earshot in case they call for him.

Hannah gives Paige a curious eyebrow, but keeps at the work. Once they have the limbs down Hannah shows Paige how to tie it all together. In short order, they have a dome, covered in blankets, just tall enough for them to sit inside. "I hope small spaces don't bother you," Hannah says, looking at their work. "Try it out, let me just gather up a few things. If you want to scrape a little depression in the middle, that'd be helpful."

Paige flips up a section of blanket and crawls in, leaving it up so she has light to dig a bowl with her knife beneath the apex of the lodge. She loosens the ties on her shirt and tugs off her boots to sit comfortably crosslegged opposite the flap she left open, expectant and excited. Her fingers itch to sketch the view from within the lodge and they absent-mindedly brush at the medicine bag that feels warm against her skin. "Here and now I being my charge," she offers to Broceliande filling her lungs with the scents of the green grass, the fresh soil and the sweet tree sap of the arching branches.

Hannah can be seen, in the near distance, gathering up some plants in her arms. She comes back with an armful, and digs around with her knife butt outside the dome to plant them there.

"Vans, if you could keep these wet for me while we are busy, I would appreciate it," she asks with enthusiasm, obviously thrilled with what she's found. Some of it is recognizable as marigold and pennywort.

Hannah crawls into the tent lugging her bag before her, and with some other stems of small foilage in her mouth. She settles herself and pulls a left off the end and hands it to Paige. "Taste this. Tastes like enlightenment, doesn't it?"

It's pungent at first, with a sweetness that follows. "For the fire," Hannah explains, and pulls just a few small twigs from her pocket. She breaks them up even smaller. "I can't even tell you what a relief it is to do this without fear of arrest," she smiles, the wide smile of freedom.

"Arrest?" Paige asks, wetting her lips gently and trying to identify the plant. "I take it in your home this was something illegal?"

"Oh, not the plant!" she laughs. "It is illegal to spirit walk, or practice medicine-magic, or even to be a medicine man. Or even to encourage someone else to be." Hannah's smile fades, and she looks far away for a moment, and very sad. "Sometimes, we have to make choices, and it leaves paths behind us, but everything moves in a circle. Eventually."

"It's taken over two centuries, but I can believe that," Paige says. "The twins..." She smiles, not sure how to continue. Just thinking on the children lightens her whole expression and posture, even sitting there in the lodge. "Cycles of birth and rebirth. I think we exist outside what so many cultures believe as lifecycles, living so far beyond, but I'd like to think that motherhood is a new beginning for me."

Hannah smiles. "Every day I try a new beginning. Sometimes, it even works."

Hannah sets up her twigs in the little hole Paige has made. She pulls out four rocks, and uses them to mark compass points, and speaks with each.

"When I was in the North I met a generous man who was hard and lonely. He gave me better clothes and took me to see every person in his village, though he spoke to none of them."

"When I was in the South, I saw the sun fall into the water, and the stars bloom with her kiss still all around, and once she faded away, the moon came. I stayed awake until I could thank the sun, again."

"When I was in the East a little boy came to me with bad dreams. He had not slept in a week, and his mother was frantic he would die of it. She begged me in my mentor's office to use my people's magic to help him. People are the same, everywhere."

"When I was in the West, I dreamed visions. They came to me and called me home. There is no place where the spirit world and the earths do not touch."

Hannah takes out a small pipe and the tobacco. She fills the pipe and sets it aside while she gets the twigs lit into a small fire. Then she lights the pipe. She turns her head and blows smoke toward the East, and says, "Spirit of the East, help us succeed in our endeavors." She repeats this in Siouan.

"You can call to them, Paige, however you would," Hannah says. She offers Paige the pipe.

Paige takes it solemnly and slips into Creole invoking Papa Legba to open the ways for her and Hannah to speak with the Iwa, that they might understand the words and accept this offering. She then takes a long drag, allowing the smoke to fill her. She imagines it taking the form of her self and keeping that essence as she expels it from this corporeal form.

Hannah repeats this ritual for each direction, puts a pinch of tobacco on the fire, slips a few sprigs of the new plant she likes around the edges, and takes one of Paige's hands. She closes her eyes, and waits to feel that amazing presence again, as she did when she first came to Xanadu.

If the first time was a shout, this time is perhaps a whisper. Either nothing has happened, or else this place was practically in the spirit world to begin with.

Hannah opens her eyes, squeezes Paige's hand, and leans forward to blow gently into the fire's smoke. She intends to have it roll into the shapes of galloping mustangs.

The smoke rolls away gently, forming the shape of smoke-colored mustangs with smoke-colored manes behind them. The crackle of the fire takes on the sound of distant hoofbeats.

It occurs to Hannah that what she is doing is an act of will, like walking in shadows.

Hannah smiles brightly. "We have arrived, Paige." She grabs the pipe and her pack and scrambles out of the tent. "Now, let us see what we can find out."

Hannah heads off through the woods, seeking Grandfather Bear, but not exluding other contact from her desires.

Paige takes her own satchel with Trumps and sketchbook and follows, with no expectations, just leaving herself open to the experience, drinking it in and absorbing what she can, allowing Hannah to guide her.

The woods are amazing, with perfect sunlight filtering through canopy high above. It's entirely possible that there is another woods there, in the high tree-tops. The shadows and the breeze make it pleasantly cool on the forest floor. After perhaps a half hour with the occasional sighting high in the trees, a large brown bear comes into view. A female bear.

"Did you speak to my husband?" asks the bear.

Hannah comes up short. "I am not certain if he is the one I know. Is he the Great Bear of Mahkato?" Hannah wonders, reaching to take Paige's hand. "If that is he, I have been dreaming him, but have not spoken to him in some time."

Paige watches the bear's eyes, looking for some familiar... something. Adonis flashes through her thoughts, but she dismisses him just as quickly. Her hand tightens ever so slightly about Hannah's.

The bear takes three steps and changes with each one. First to something scaled, then to a woman on all fours, then she stands. She looks at Paige. "My husband, Prince Julian. You were to speak to him for me. Have you done so?"

Hannah's eyebrows go up, and she looks at Paige.

"Yes, I passed the message you offered once he had recovered his son," she answers cursing herself for not remembering Artemis's form from her attack on Heather Vale.

She feels awkward not explaining to Hannah, but hopes that her cousin will catch on quick enough. Paige had accepted Julian's explanation, but it still hadn't sat well for her. If she could prevent hurting the childen..."He seems determined that your mother must perish and thus Arcadia. Is there no way to protect the realm without her?" A mother's eyes pleaded with one who had lost both her children.

She seems stunned. "She is the realm. We are near her here, but not with her, or more accurately she is not with us. Some will survive, as your children, by not being in Arcadia when it is destroyed, but most have no where to go and hostile forces of my sisters' and my husband's between them and safety."

Hannah bites her lip and her eyes are sympathetic, but she says nothing.

Paige considers for a moment. "Would they swear loyalty to your husband's brother if I can offer a path to safety?"

"Yes," says the Goddess. "Can you?"

"Not yet, but with such assurances I might be able to find one," she agrees. "But it would not be the true realm that casts this spirit reflection until your mother's taint is gone. I will not bring any such hazards unto my children."

Hannah nods.

"Do what you must to make it so. Our time is short as my husband seeks to kill my mother. I will organize my people to protect themselves as they can and prepare to depart for safer lands. Safest would be a seaward departure, as my mother is a creature of forests, as am I. If my people lose their connection to the land, they will re-forge one, but if they are lost, all is gone." She stops and looks behind her. "Go!," she says. Artemis takes three steps and is a bear again, and three more and is gone from sight.

Hannah and Paige stand alone in the clearing that is suddenly utterly quiet.

"I can't believe this is what we came here to find, Hannah," Paige says. "And without a Trump of the King, or a watch to sketch something suitable, it's not like I'm going to be able to contact him immediately in any case.

"But any of her Maenads that survive would be wonderful recruits," she chuckles. "Perhaps I might Trump someone that has his Trump. It'd be an interesting experiment if nothing else." She's the novice here and seems to wait on Hannah's approval.

Hannah grins. "You may as well try. Here is what I think - trumps are mostly a communication of the mind. I wouldn't go through one, and I wouldn't bring anyone through one, because I wouldn't want to risk ripping anyone out of their body to bring them here, and I'm not sure what would happen to your connection to your body if you went through. Now, if trumps actually *require* you have a real body to use them, then I think it won't work. But, I don't know. I think what we're doing is either walking around in our minds, or walking around a shadow close to Xanadu, bodiless. I don't see why that'd make it dangerous to use trumps.

"All that said, I don't know. It's your mind, you'll have to decide," Hannah shrugs.

Paige nods and withdraws her Trumps from her satchel. Unwapping them from the green silk scarf she flips through, looking for her Father. Upon finding his countenance, she hands the card to Hannah for a moment before wrapping the cards and replacing them gently.

Regaining the card, she concentrates on the eyes, eternally young, no more lines to them than decades ago when she drew this card, but always filled with ageless depth...

Bleys looks at her and starts to move. He's dusty, and it looks like he's riding down a slope in some desert. Over his shoulder is the stock of a rifle. "Who calls?"

Paige seems amazed that she actualy made contact. "It's Paige, I'm spiritwalking with Hannah in Broceliande and find myself in need of the King's Trump. But beyond that simple request, are you well?" There's obvious concern in her voice, but she does appear happy to see him.

Bleys smiles and it positively gleams in the bright sunlight of whatever foreign lands he's found himself in. "Oh, I'm well enough. I'm engaging in my favorite pass-time, of course."

Bleys looks away, then back at Paige. "So, if spiritwalking means what I think it does, there are several possibilities. Either I can hand you a trump from here and it will go into your actual hand or I can't. If I can't, I can try going to you or you coming to me, both of which risk the creation of orphans. I'd say the best odds are if you pass a message to his most serene highness. Which bet do you care to lay?"

Hannah looks surprised. She scans the area to make sure nothing is sneaking up on them, and that the environment isn't suddenly changing.

It's not suddenly changing, but it's clear to Hannah that people have a great influence over this place. The forest thins to the south.

"I'd figured we could try passing the card and if not, ask you to pose a question to him for me," Paige explains extending a hand toward him while she explains. "Artemis wandered into our walk. She's concerned for her people, people which she claims would swear allegiance to Random if I can lead them to safety from between St. Julian and the Dragon. Figured I'm not Folly or Martin so I can't presume to speak for him.

"Oh, and to bring you up to date, I'm the nominal Warden of Broceliande. Next stop after spiritwalking is Amber to recruit my Rangers on order of His Sereneness. This came after a discussion with the Warden of Arden in which he is decided that destroying the Dragon and thus Arcadia and, by extention of that, part of your grandchildrens' souls is the only way to honor his promises to Grandfather."

Bleys nods. "I'd make the deal, and let the King decide to repudiate it or accept it. If you're the Warden, it's well within your purview. How many of Artemis' children can you take into the Rangers?"

Hannah's gaze shifts back to Paige with this last, great concern entering her eyes.

"Well, as I don't believe in souls, I'm not that worried. Has he shared his plans for mass destruction with anyone else?"

There's a flash of light to the south, and the air smells of ozone.

Paige seems annoyed with her father''s apparently flippant answer, but doesn't argue or draw her attention from the Trump card to investigate. "One would suppose His Sereneness. I suppose you can ask if passing the card doesn't work."

Hannah says to Paige, "I think you should hurry."

Bleys looks as if he's about to say something and then doesn't. He reaches into a belt-pouch and, without looking, pulls out a card, holding it out to Paige.

"If they'd make a good army, we could always lead them to safety somewhere. We've done it before."

Paige attempts to accept the card from her father. "It's an option, but I think if they'd make a good army, that they'd take a side in their own conflict." An amused look crosses her face for a moment. "Although I'd be willing to recruit a few of her Maenads into my Rangers.

"We should make this quick. Might be a storm brewing here, whatever that might mean in the the spiritrealm," she adds.

Paige takes the card and it seems momentarily real, but as Bleys releases it, it falls through Paige's fingers. It falls through her foot and disappears into the ground.

"Maybe Thunderbirds," Hannah says quietly from beside her. There is a deep excitement to that simple suggestion.

"Well, you'll have to paint me a new one," says Bleys. "Perhaps you can capture his serenity."

"Unless it made it to my true hand," Paige suggests with a wry frown.

Hannah notes it is darker to the south, where the trees thin.

"Or maybe it is a storm," Hannah muses out loud. "I think you should hurry," she repeats.

"I've got to go, but I'll be in touch soon," Paige tells her father. "If you should hear from him, please pass on my news." If he doesn't stop her, she'll close the contact after he says his farewells.

"What does a storm signify?" Paige asks, returning her father's card to the others in the silk scarf.

Hannah laughs. "Well, it could mean one or both of us is troubled, or some spirit here is troubled, or the Thunderbirds are having relations, or a spirit is trying to travel between worlds or use a storm as a means to connect to another, or that there's a storm." Hannah shrugs.

"I really want to go see, though. You can run fast, right?" she asks.

Paige looks a little surprised, bites her bottom lip in consideration, shrugs and smiles. A little nod of her head, "Sure."

"Okay, we stay together. I think if we tried shadow shifting it might work, but let's not do anything like that until we have to. Let's not fight unless we have to. But really, it could be nothing but Nature," Hannah say, and grabs Paige's hand, heading off toward the south.

Not far south of the clearing the forest abruptly ends in a seaside cliff. The cliff is bathed in moonlight, but out to sea there is a storm brewing. The waters are choppy and it would not make for a pleasant moonlight sail.

As the two Amberites arrive, the moonlight alights on a rock outcropping and a dazzling white staircase forms of moonbeams, leading upwards towards a bright cloud.

"Damn, Tir..." Paige says. "What a chance, but no one to catch us if we fall.

"Do we try it?" she asks, stepping closer to the cliff. "Storm coming that'll obscure the moonlight, but will that apply here? Or can we turn the storm from here?" Obviously she wants to walk the stairs.

"Paige..." Hannah starts, and then sighs. "I want to too, but really, we can come back. We can. With a plan. The question is, it is only here? Or is it out over Xanadu too? Do we try to trump someone else and ask?"

"No, we ask them if they saw it too when we get back," Paige says, heading for the stairs. "I don't know if you understand them, but who knows where I'll be the next time they appear?

"The point here is looking for answers and this is the first thing that this walk has actually offered me in finding them. I'm not going to walk away from it."

Hannah takes three steps and grabs Paige's arm and yanks. The calm facade that usually sits over her face cracks. She's pissed. "Hold on a damn minute. You are in the Spirit World, girl. The whole place is full of answers. We've hardly even started, and you want to take off to the cloud city you can fall out of - just because it's appeared. A place that was supposedly a reflection of Amber, Folly told me, just like Rebma - only maybe not - come on! Leave it for the Seers."

Hannah lets go, but she points to the ground. "What you do here, Paige, it says things about you. Are you of the woods now, or of the sky? Every full moon they say the thing appears, and here it is. If it really needs a Pattern for an anchor, it has one. What can't wait a month, assuming you don't find it here? I do have something to seek here. I'm not seeking blindly - I have a bold need. I can't stand around while you go galavanting off to the castle in the sky, Paige. The answer isn't up there - it's in you!"

Paige frowns. "You seem a lot more sure of that than I am. Tir is here, perhaps for you even more than me." She seems determined to start up the steps.

(Was it a full moon when they left?)

(Due to the magic of absolutely regular calendars, it's easy to tell! Full Moon is always on the 15th, and it was the 2nd of Harp (Sunday) when you went spiritwalking. The moon should be a thin sliver, waxing...)

"I suppose it's that I know what we're already doing is dangerous enough. I can wait for life-threatening until another day. A day when we can figure out how to do it without risking a neck-breaking fall. What I need to do is find a path toward healing Gerard. I just don't think the answer is up there. The last element I think of when I think of him is Air." Hannah meets Paige's eyes. Hers do have regrets in them. "I'm not going to stop you. I'm not going to adopt your children either, if you get yourself killed."

Paige doesn't say anymore, just spreads her hand, suggesting that her cousin should lead on.

Hannah sighs and grabs Paige's hand. Then she grins. "Sorry I called you 'girl'. I hate it when they do that to me," she offers, and turns toward the west. Hannah is looking for a bear trail again.

Hannah finds one, crossing through a stream and going into the forest to the west.

Paige pauses for one last look back to the steps and with an almost invisible shrug tightens her grip on Hannah's hand and lets herself just be in the moment again, focusing on her own question.

Hannah whispers, "Okay, grandfather..." and follows the trail. She picks up the pace as she gets a good feel for where the bear is rambling around to.

The bear leads Hannah and Paige on a winding path, through thickets and clearings, below the nests of giant birds high in the canopy of the trees. The trees are larger than any Hannah has seen, and seem to pulse with a slow forest rhythm, one that makes years seem as days.

Paige soaks in the peace of Broceliande's heart as they walk, considering that maybe this would be a place for her, to serve the children's safety and that of Xanadu and maybe even herself. She doesn't speak, not wishing to break the trees' spell.

After quite some time, the trail ends in a clearing with a great stone basin in. A very familiar stone basin, guarded at one end by a rock. Next to a cave on the far side is Wixer. Here, Wixer is wearing a collar, but no chain.

Paige smiles at the griffon, but makes no quick moves. She looks to Hannah as this is her track, her trail.

"Well, this means something. I think I have been stupid," Hannah mutters, and starts making her way slowly toward Wixer. "Hello, good Wixer. You didn't eat my spirit guide, did you?" she asks, only half joking. She judges the griffon's behavior as she gets within range, hoping he's going to let her check him.

He doesn't seem agitated. He does seem disappointed that you didn't bring him food. [ed note: assuming I recall correctly and you're on foot and didn't come

Wixer doesn't shy away from Hannah, but doesn't seem inclined to suffer too much attention.

Bear tracks lead into the cave behind the griffon.

Paige is intrigued by the difference that here he doesn't wear fetters, but will follow Hannah's lead. She's sure it must say something about while his body is chained his spirit isn't, or something like that.

Hannah doesn't patronize him too much, but does check his leg.

She then moves gingerly toward the cave, and calls, "Grandfather? Are you here?"

"Hmm? Yes, of course. Come in!" The voice is echoing, but familiar.

Hannah motions to Paige to come on, and heads into the cave. "Of course?" She calls along in front of her. "Have you been here long?"

Paige follows with obvious wonder.

The cave opens into a wierd, melted hybrid. The room looks from some angles like a dungeon, from others like a small cottage. A stream runs past, but it doesn't fit with the geography of the region outside. The floor is covered with rugs, strewn at all angles. Dworkin is sitting cross-legged at a low table, and unbends his lanky frame as they walk in.

"Hello, Children! What brings you here?" He beams at the two women.

There are no bear tracks in the cottage/dungeon.

"We're on a spirit walk. Paige, this is our great-grandfather." Hannah looks at Paige, and then back to Dworkin. "Do you know Paige? Bear tracks brought us here actually."

Paige bows to him. "We've never met, but he taught the man who taught me Artistry," she explains.

Dworkin smiles a big, lopsided grin. "Hello, Paige! You must be Brand's apprentice. He was my best student, you know."

Paige nods, a little dumbfounded.

"You're trying to be on a spirtwalk, but this place may be too strong for that, when it's paying attention," he says to Hannah. "This place, for all that it is new, is new in an ancient way, and is bent by the will and memory and knowing of a half dozen people, all quite determined to make reality the way they wanted it, and all of whom succeeded.

"It's unclear to me if I am really here, absent the way in which I am always everywhere. I thought I was being a portraitist in a whorehouse, but that's neither here nor there."

He looks at Paige, then back at Hannah. He drops the grin and the jovial tone. "Tell me what you expect to have happen in a spirit walk and I'll tell you what I can of how to achieve it."

Paige looks like she wants to jump in, excited and wary at the same time, but Hannah is the expert here and Paige respects that, not really wishing to fight anymore with her cousin.

Hannah smiles at Paige, but turns back to Dworkin. "I expect to be sans corps, and some level of manipulation over space and time, and from there it is trickier. I'm not certain how it works, but I expect answers to be embodied in spirits - even if they're not always the answer to the question I'm asking. I've been pretty good at knowing the question, though."

"What is your question? Oh, and can you swim?"

"How do I heal Gerard in the way he needs to be healed, is mine. And yes, I can swim," [Hannah] adds warily, glancing at Paige.

"I swam in Broceliande's Grove before Random anchored the realm, before he had even returned from Chaos," Paige answers as if it explains her ability. "My question may have changed even if the focus remains... How might I best serve my children's safety?

"I've thought that..." she begins before catching herself and shaking her head ruefully. "Well, if I knew the answer, I wouldn't be asking it, would I?"

"Of course you would! This place is ideal for when you know the answer but need to ask. That's how it works. Dive into the labyrinth of yourself and see what is to be found."

He turns to Hannah. "So if I ask back 'Does Gerard need to be healed? At any cost?', then that comes from your mind." He smiles at Paige. "Or hers, perhaps, it gets fuzzy. There's even some chance it's from mine or Random's or even someone else's. But from a mind, is the point!

"In any case, would you feel that Gerard needed to be healed if the price was Paige's children? It's not, of course. I don't think it could be, but that an example." He looks at both women. "Well?"

Paige's reaction is immediate and instinctive. "No."

Hannah smiles compassionately at Paige's reaction. "I make my choices and Gerard makes his. My choice would probably be not to tell him it'd cost Paige's children. These are simple ethical questions. Well, nothing simple about them, but I know what I'd do. I could tell Gerard and he wouldn't consider taking them to heal himself, but that doesn't mean someone else in the family might not."

Paige is obviously working over the implications of what Dworkin's saying, but not fully following. "So walking in the spirit realm is not really different than divination with the Trumps? They're going to reflect, if not what I bring to the reading, what the questioner or someone does. From a mind, is the point."

She sits down opposite the old man. "So looking for some mystical answer from without isn't the path, but determining how to follow the path you already know, even if you don't know that you know it, that's the key. Yes?"

"If you like," he replies encouragingly. "It depends on how Dworkin-centric you're feeling. To some extent most of what there is is me, and all answers are answers that one part of me tells to another. While you're here, you're in a reality made concrete by several actors, so the answer might come from them. If it is a flip, expedient answer, for instance, it might come from Random's contribution."

"If you want a Random answer you might be best off naked spirit walking," Hannah mutters, then speaks up. "Are you saying in Shadow we are more likely to get a non-Dworkin-centric answer, which may still be right, but not Dworkin's right? More... self-right?"

Paige considers. She had originally thought that they might make this journey skyclad as it was, but she'd already had Random's answer. It was this Forest itself.

"No. I'm everywhere. Less Random or Oberon or Benedict right, for example." He looks at Hannah. "I suspect that you've always had touches of others in your inner visions. It's one of the reasons the cards are useful; they're harder to distract with your you-ness."

"Cambina's always been right about that," Paige agrees. "On the cards, if I Trumped someone from here and they tried to pass me something, say a Trump, what likely happened to its material form?

"And, do you believe you have a conscious answer to either of our questions, or do you expect that we've got to climb the stair and take the chance of falling and swimming home afterward?"

"As to the first, there's only one way to find out! Or did you already? And as to the second, I've never thought much of Lunamancy. It's not my favorite part of my mind."

Hannah doesn't seem too taken aback by the idea she's in Dworkin's mind and has been all along. "Oh, we lost a trump already. We're hoping it's sitting in Paige's physical lap. So, um, would you like a cigarette?" Hannah asks, since she's used to using tobacco to bargin with spirits.

Paige smiles at her cousin, but doesn't say anything.

Dworkin yawns, his hair flopping forward into his eyes at the end. "Certainly. Your aunt used to give me ones that were infused with mint. I never told her they were awful. Is there anything else I can do for you? I'm afraid I'm about to fade."

Hannah hands Dworkin a cigarette from the pack in her back pocket. "No mint here."

"So, you're not always here, at least not in these proportions, yes?" Paige muses. "What about the stairs and Tir?"

"And where do you think the most healing-knowledgeable you will be next?" Hannah asks.

Dworkin lights the cigarette and inhales.

"The Land of the Ever Young is where it is, and Faiella's blessing runs through it when it is."

Dworkin turns to Hannah. "Sometime when I'm very local, I imagine. Every answer is dead wrong somewhere, you know. It's the nature of everything. One of the first order locations, I imagine."

Dworkin looks transparent, the cave is clearly visible through him. The smoke from the cigarette is visible inside him.

"I'm headed for Amber when we're done here. I suppose there's a chance of finding you," Paige chuckles. "Maybe Hannah will follow me on that trip." She looks to her cousin. It's an offer, obviously, but also one she doesn't need to answer yet.

Curious, hoping to get an answer before he disipates, "If it wasn't about a fall from... the Land of the Ever Young, then why did you ask about swimming?"

Hannah is absolutely fascinated, watching how the smoke moves inside Dworkin.

"Hmm? Because the lake is so nice at this epichronal equivalency." Dworkin fades from sight, and the smoke lingers, then disperses as Wixer comes over and fans it away.

Hannah turns to smile up at Wixer. "Wixer, can you talk here?"

"I can, but only because you expect it. It is not clear that my other self will know what I say or even agree, in part because if he could speak, he'd ask for a haunch of horse."

Paige nods. "If I had known we'd meet you here, I'd have brought you some." she apologizes.

"Can you hunt for food?" Hannah asks.

"I'm not here, I don't need food, but I like to eat. Can you make more of those horses made of smoke?"

"Well, I rather meant the physical plane you, who you seem to know something about. I'm worried about how you were hurt, if you can gather enough food to be okay out there, or if someone should be taking care of you. But, I am happy to try to make some horses. I shouldn't even needs a big fire. Here," Hannah smiles and pulls out another cigarette. She lights it, draws off it, and focuses on blowing out a little stampede of horses.

Paige seems a little lost in thought. "Or perhaps, you might have a bit of my flesh," she offers, somewhat unsure where the idea came from.

The look Hannah turns on Paige is one of utter disbelief.

"I thought that sharing of one's self is part of a spiritual journey. This is all symbolism on a grand stage, correct? Wixer's already my ally in protecting Broceliande," she explains. "I see nothing wrong with strengthening those ties."

Wixer scratches at the ground with a talon, leaving a deep gouge in the bare rock.

"Nothing is without cost, of course. And yes, it would strengthen your tie to here and to me, if you freely give of yourself to a spirit during a spirit walk."

"I wouldn't do that unless Wixer was willing to share too," Hannah says warily. And, "Remember, it's Dworkin-Wixer, isn't it?"

"If you extend the Dworkin arguement to ridiculous, Dworkin is everywhere and everything, so I'm not sharing part of myself, but returning part of Dworkin to Dworkin," Paige argues.

She turns back to Wixer, trying to discern something in those great eyes. "And if I ask for something in return, I don't truly offer myself freely. If you honor me by returning the gesture, it is not something I demand."

A small shiver passes through her body as she opens her arms and her mind. "Take as you would, friend. My hands have shaped thought into image and again into thought. They bear the steel to protect your home and my children. My eyes have divined paths unseen. My lips bear my love as well as they declare my hatred. My flesh, such as it is here is yours. Choose and let your hungers be appeased, our ties bound."

"I am not my own being to give," says Wixer. The great gryphon comes over to Paige, breath hot from his nostrils. He smells of water. Wixer puts his head behind Paige's shoulder and snorts, blowing her hair into the air. It rises up with an ease that its weight would not suggest possible.

The great eagle-head moves again and there is a clacking sound, and a pulling, and Wixer has bitten off a great deal of Paige's hair. He takes it in his mouth and trots away, not answering further questions, if any were to be asked.

Paige's hand goes immediately to the missing hair, as her smile breaks across her face, tension she hadn't know was there flowing away from her. "It's all symbolic, so how else to share part of a redhead's essence?" Her laughter peals back from the surrounding rock. "Father is going to be wroth, I fear," she adds, seeming unconcerned.

With a wink for her cousin, she heads toward the entrance, shedding her clothes immodestly as she does. "Dworkin suggested we swim," she says. "Let's do that."

Hannah sighs, and follows after Paige. She comes out into the light and carefully removes her own clothes and puts them in a neat pile. She doesn't test the water, but wades right in. "You're brave or crazy, Paige. Now, even if you change your mind about the woods, you've got a tie here."

The water is cool and clear and pleasant.

Paige follows Hannah in, careful not to let her gaze linger too long on her cousin. Once she's waist deep she make a graceful shallow dive to immerse herself. "I'd prefer the former, but won't deny the latter," she chuckles shaking her head side to side, getting used to the different weight. "Wonder how this will transfer over to the Material.

"Even if Arcadia does fall, and is no longer a threat to the twins, they're creatures of Nature. Broceliande is likely where they belong, so it's where I belong too. But this still hasn't helped you and Uncle Gerard. Unless..." Paige seems thoughtful for a moment. "I'm not much more than a nurse and a midwife and my skills are fairly antiquated at that, but what about aquatherapy?" She waves at the water around her. "His body keeps trying to repair itself, but the stresses on it are too much. Would a different medium offer different results? More natural bouyancy means less weight on the areas and less stress, but again, I'm not the healer you are, just rambling, things that come to mind."

"I don't know that he'd do it. And, honestly, I'm sure a lack of gravity will not fix the important problems. But, here, let's try an experiment. Come here and let me scratch you - let's see if this is healing water." Hannah motions over next to her.

"Well, that's a much more literal interpretation of Dworkin directing us toward the pool," she said running her hand over the nape of her neck, the bare nape of her neck. Paige steps closer, water running down her arm as she extends it toward her cousin. She shrugs and shakes her head. "Why not?"

Hannah takes her cousin's arm. "I didn't think it'd scare you. This may hurt a bit," she grins, putting on her best doctor tone. Hannah drags a fingernail harshly across Paige's arm, deep enough to draw out beads of blood. Hannah lets them well up a minute, and then moves the wound under the water and watches it.

"Ow," Paige says softly. "I always suspected most doctors have a closet where they keep their inner sadist locked up." She sticks her tongue out at her cousin, not truely upset.

The wound doesn't close abnormally quickly, nor does the cessation of bleeding seem to be slower than expected.

What Hannah does notice is that the blood dissipates in the pond almost immediately, leaving it pure and clear almost immediately.

"This might be Wixer's Pond in Broceliande, but it's the closest analog to the Unicorn's Grove in Amber," Paige muses. "Legends differ on how it was formed, whether the unicorn's hoof or horn split the rock, but have you tested the waters there in Amber? It may not be anchor of Order any longer, but even in Shadow the unicorn's horn is reputed to be healing.

"Maybe you need to hunt the unicorn. If the royal line is born of her blood, I'd think that her magic would be strong enough to endure the rigors of something like the Pattern. Or maybe hunting the "medical" answer is the problem, maybe it's something spiritual. Maybe he needs this spiritwalk more than I do? I wonder if he could walk here..."

"I have thought about that, and I've considered bringing it up to him, but... how devastating would it be to walk around here, and have to go back into your injured body? How bad would that be? What if he could be painfree and withdrawl free here? How would I ever get him to leave? You see the complications," she notes.

"I think the Unicorn can purify... but healing... if she could just heal, why would she come across shadows to get me to set Wixer's leg? The wound was clean. She didn't stick around to answer my questions. As for aquatherapy, I don't think taking Gerard out of an environment where he's got work to do and putting him into one where he doesn't is a good idea yet. Work obviously kept him alive. Work, and stubborn." Hannah smiles.

"But it's pure water. I thought this and the Unicorn's Grove in Amber were really the same thing."

"Perhaps here they are," Paige agrees. "But I don't suppose that I can use it as a short cut to get back there, my body being back in Broceliande and all."

"I don't mean to sound dismissive, Paige. I really would try anything I thought might heal him. I'm glad so many people care. It strikes me not everyone would receive the same level of concern." Hannah smiles, but it's sad.

"No, I don't think so," the redhead agrees. "More so than most of his brothers, I think Gerard... I think he's willing to trust people. Maybe it's being younger than some of the others, he's not as jaded or distant, or something. I just know that when I was at rock bottom and his responsibility was all of Amber, he believed in me, when I didn't. He let me prove myself and regain the trust I don't think he ever fully withdrew."

Paige chuckles darkly. "Then again, not all of us had breakdowns over some asshole of a Prince who's already knocked up his wife to keep me out of her bed."

Hannah gives Paige a concerned look. "I have to admit, Paige, I don't understand the... logistics that would keep one woman from another during pregnancy. Maybe you can explain it to me."

Her eyes darken, as does her whole expression. "No, I'm not sure I could," Paige answers. Lifting her arm from the water, she sucks at the wound and without saying any more turns and dives beneath the pool's shimmering surface.

Hannah watches her cousin with a sigh. She looks to the sky for a moment, hoping to find guidance there. "Well, it's not every day you get to bathe in purifying waters," she mutters, and starts unbraiding her hair.

Paige breaks the surface across the water and tosses her head, still getting used to the difference in weight of her hair. "It's a wonderful little place. If it were out in Shadow, I think I'd have to build a day spa," she jests, trying to lighten the mood again. "Not sure Random would patronize a masseuse that doesn't offer... ahem... full body work."

Hannah smiles and shakes her head as she runs her hands through her hair. "Maybe not."

Hannah dips underwater long enough to get her hair wet. When she comes up she asks. "What do you think Paige? Should I keep looking here, or try a spiritwalk in Shadow prop..." She stops suddenly. "Let's try this. Let's try looking through the pure water at the sky and see if we see anything. Or maybe we look at each other?"

"It seems worth a try," Paige agrees. Gracefully again, she submerges, this time not swimming away from her cousin, but easily treading water to keep herself beneath the surface until they can both investigate each other through the water's lens and what they can see of their surroundings as well.

The water is surprisingly empty of living creatures, but Paige and Hannah feel that it could sustain a bounty of fish and plants. It's clear but rich and vivid: each of the women looks more alive to the others than through the air. The images are distorted by the movement of the water from where each of them is treading water or swimming to maintain depth.

Paige cocks her head, examining her cousin, a small smile playing on her lips as the dark mass of hair spreads behind her. Unwilling to break the surface before she found some hint at enlightenment, she lets herself float a bit shallower and turns her attention back to what she can see of the world above the water.

The lens of the water distorts things, and Paige has to contend with keeping just enough air pressure to keep from breathing the water. She sees a shape come between her and the sun, a silhouette of some four-legged animal. It gracefully leaps from the rock overlooking in basin and out of Paige's line of sight.

Hannah watches Paige through the water, trying to figure out what exactly is different. Is it like seeing an Aura? She smiles at the happy memories from childhood of playing games of who could hold their breath longer in the Old Elk River.

Paige swings her long legs down and kicks strongly toward the shore, her eyes scanning for what she thinks just cleared the pool. Naked and dripping, she takes off in the direction that the creature was heading, trying to catch another glimpse.

Hannah pops her head out of the water to try to figure out what has gotten into Paige now.

Paige sees a flash of white and plants that look as if they have been recently passed. She can continue to give chase if she wishes, plunging headlong into the woods. What does Paige do?

"Unicorn!" Paige calls optomistically behind her, never taking her eyes from where she saw the flash. Her clothes forgotten, she takes off after the creature

Hannah again looks to the sky for guidance. "Great Father, please, please, let it be that she is following a unicorn, rather than thinking she is one," she sighs.