Tales of the Green

Robin puts away her Trump with a sigh and then turns to Pen.

"Okay, now what? We wait for the authorities to come and look innocent? Or should we deal with the firelillies first? Because I know some very brave and thoughtful firelizards who would love a nummy fire snack?" Robin finishes with a smile.

The firelizards dance around Robin delightedly for a moment. Chirrup starts to head over to the firelillies on his own, and Peep flies around him fussily, clearly telling him to stop. If it were possibly to look hangdog, Chirrup does.

If Oot were a human, he'd be laughing at Chirrup.

Pen tucks away the knife and unsheathes her gladius. "The firelillies are an immediate threat. I think we would do well to weed them before we take our rest." She smiles at the firelizards, "We can use all the help we can get."

Pen leads the way up a familiar path through her mother's old garden.

Pen has no trouble finding the firelillies: they are spilling down a hill. May and August must have arrived recently; someone would have noticed the firelillies if they'd been here more than a night.

It occurs to Robin that if their tale is true and the firelillies follow them, either they came across Pontian land where firelillies can be traced or they came through some shadow road unknown to anyone, or perhaps made one untrained.

The firelizards are champing at the bit to eat the lillies, but politely wait for Robin to release them to eat.

Which Robin does. She also finds it extremely probable that eating firelillies will not affect Peep's fertility. So everyone can snack.

Oh, delicious! Firelillies begin to disappear rapidly into the bellies of hungry lizards. As Robin and Pen watch, they begin to stalk the flowers, not unlike cats with mice, except the mice are pinned to one place by their tails. Oot and Chirrup like to pounce on them, as if to show off for Peep. She gets her own once in a while, but the two males offer her their catches on occasion; perhaps some of the flowers seem particularly delicious to draconic senses.

"I'd like to keep some of the firelillies alive - ones far from your home, Pen - to experiment on," Robin comments as she follows Pen through the garden. "I'm cooking up an idea that may be an answer to them."

When they get to the lilies, Robin will take a moment to sense the Shadow around them; seeking the Shadowpath that brought May and August to Pontus.

Robin will have to head further away from the city, probably from any human dwellings and into woodlands, to find that path. It is not in the immediate area, but with her Pattern senses she can feel that the lillies lead back that way. Pen may know how far it is to the right sort of place.

Robin grins at the firelizards' antics. As the firelillies disappear, Robin turns to Pen, "I should tell you about my Father's family as May and August are my half-sister and -brother. Do we have time for a longish tale?"

Pen points with her gladius towards a path hidden by overgrown tree branches. "You have good instincts for where we need to be. Let me sharpen them further. I used this shortcut many times with my childhood friends when we went exploring. It should save some time and keep us hidden from any unwanted eyes. Also, the ground is smooth, even, and easier to traverse."

Once they reach the path, Pen adds, "I would welcome a story about your father's family," and she pauses, "Know that I am truly grateful for your company in this struggle. I am blessed by fortune to have discovered such stalwart kin."

Robin knows she will have no trouble keeping her senses on the path while telling the story. She may have to call the firelizards to get them to stop eating and come to her, though.

Robin shrugs, a little uncomfortable at Pen's praise. She's never thought of herself as stalwart, more like trouble on the wing. She calls the firelizards to herself with a happy chirp. They can eat whatever firelillies they can 'catch' so long as they stay close.

The firelizards follow Robin's directions, chittering and chirping back to her as they seek nearby chances for snacking.

"I should start this tale with my mother, I think." Robin nods to herself as she walks along the path. "I am definitely the daughter of Ysabeau, Princess of Amber. She is the woman who bore me for nine months and gave birth to me. I never knew her. Hannah and Solange are also daughters of Ysabeau, though none of us share a father. Hannah was raised by her father and sire, but Solange and I don't know who our sires were. After Solange's birth, Ysabeau gave her to Prince Gerard and he raised her as his foster daughter. After I was born, Ysabeau gave me to Prince Julian. He – and the Rangers of Arden – raised me as though I was his own daughter. Though he never came out and said so. Still, the two of us consider him my Father. I don't know who my sire was and, even though it's sure to bite me in the butt, I don't care. Julian is my Father. That makes his sons and daughters my brothers and sisters. And their children, my nieces and nephews.

"And another digression, we have a long dead uncle named Prince Finndo of Amber. A long, long time ago, he and the Dragon of Arcadia had five daughters; Artemis, Kalliste, Britomartis and two others whose names I do not know. Those daughters have become the Goddesses of Arcadia. And for a long time, they rotated the power of Arcadia among themselves. Tracking so far?" Robin pauses to let Pen ask any questions she may have.

"Prince Julian seems a most admirable father. So the Arcadian Goddesses are descended from not only Arcadia, but also Amber?" asks Pen.

"Hang on, how did Prince Finndo, umm, fertilize a dragon?"

Robin chuckles a little -- and blushes -- that was her first thought too .

"The Dragon is an ancient and powerful being. And I know that, even while sleeping, she took on the form of a human-esque woman in order to have tea with my cousin, Edan. Soooo, sex might have been involved. Or there could have been some of a power-sharing thing. I don't really know.

"But yes, the Goddesses of Arcadia are also of Amber, though they've never partaken of any of the Family's agendas or squabbles. They've kept mostly to themselves. Until we come to a more recent time, but still a long time ago.

"I don't know the timing of these next two events, so we'll start with the one I think came first. I believe that my Father had been charged by King Oberon to guard Arden against the powers of Arcadia. Regardless, the Dragon and my Father fought. And in that battle, the Dragon maimed my Father in a way that is not my place to say. But the result is that there will never be peace between the Warden of Arden and the Dragon of Arcadia.

"The second event is that Artemis of Arcadia discovered a way to 'permanently' gain ascendancy over her sisters. She approached my Father and he agreed to sire two children -- twins -- with her. These would be my sister and brother -- Dione and Daeon. They were raised in Arcadia by Artemis and became gods of that realm themselves. I never knew Dione. She died during the Black Road War.

"But I have met and argued with my brother Daeon. He... well, we didn't have much time together, so we never really had a chance to settle into the relationship. Now Daeon was a fertility god, so I have a lot of nephews and probably nieces as well; some I know about, but there are sure to be many more that I don't know about. Most immediately though, while Daeon spent very little time in Arden and Amber, he did manage to sire his own set of twins -- Brooke and Leif -- with our cousin Paige. Paige is now the Warden of Broceliande, the great forest that surrounds Xanadu. And her children, who matured very quickly by the way, run the paths of that forest now.

"Now although Brooke and Leif have been raised in Amber and Xanadu, their very existence has meaning to the rites and rituals of Arcadia. And while they were infants, the Dragon reached into Amber in an attempt to... acquire them, I guess? It was in foiling this attempt that Daeon lost his life."

Robin pauses, her expression vacillating between peevishness and sorrow. Daeon is also going to be a complicated situation for her.

The path is dark and quiet for a stretch as Pen takes all of this in. "I'm very sorry for the loss of your brother, Daeon. Protecting one's children is the quintessential responsibility of any parent, difficult as it is, and dying for that cause is a worthy thing to be both honored and lamented."

Pen pauses to slow her pace and catch her breath.

"Amazons have to learn early on to deal with death in their own way, and it's never easy. In my reckless youth, more than once have I foolishly quarreled with a lover before battle and lost forever the opportunity to resolve our dispute, and I found myself grieving a wound that would never heal. I see now that I hardened myself in response, took solace in my service to the Queen and my sisters, and dulled my pain with honey wine and lonely, brief distractions rather than meaningful bonds.

"My true love, Chirope," and her voice breaks like the tide on that last word. She continues, "... left Pontus with her mother for other lands when both she and I had reached the age of womanhood, and I still see her in my dreams. My heart flutters at the mention of her name, but I don't expect she'll pass this way again."

The quiet fills the darkness for a moment as Pen quickly wipes her face dry. Pen tries to collect herself, "Please forgive my self-indulgence. My sentimental heart has been in hiding for an age but found genuine kinship in the story of your loss, and thanks to the kindness and compassion of you, Hannah, and Solange, it chose to voice its own grief, which is rude."

As if to change the subject, Pen points to how far she and Robin are from the city proper.

"Have we made enough distance to test your idea?"

"There's nothing to forgive," Robin states firmly, referring to Pen's earlier statements. "I'm glad your heart is finding its voice. And I'm glad I could be here with you. Thank you for your sympathies." The Ranger gestures awkwardly, seeing if Pen would like a hug.

Pen picks up on Robin's gesture of kindness and gladly accepts the hug. She really needed that and welcomes it, but doesn't linger. The return gesture is a sisterly hug.

"I don't know if we're far enough yet. I'll check in a minute. But I need to bring my story up to the May and August point. Sometime recently, before Daeon died, another goddess of Arcadia -- Kalliste -- coerced my Father somehow to sire another set of twins upon herself. These are May and August. And are likewise my brother and sister. They have been raised by Kalliste in Arcadia and have also matured very quickly. And now that Artemis' two children are dead and Kailliste's two children are alive, the power in Arcadia is shifting and Artemis is fighting to retain her primacy. But even given the little time we spent together, I'm not sure May and August are fully onboard with their mother's plans for Shadow-wide domination."

Pen nods, "I wonder if the Arcadians regard your goodly Father as a Fertility God? I mean no disrespect at all, but I hadn't realized how entangled he is in this matter. Perhaps May and August could change the course of this struggle."

Pen keeps pace with Robin as they continue along the path.

"I hope so. I really do," Robin affirms.

"Oh. And the firelillies? When Daeon and our cousin Lilly were returning from Chaos to Amber, they were stopped by... some beings. I really don't know. But these beings demanded a tribute in order for Lilly and Daeon to pass. So Daeon convinced Lilly to cut him with her sword and gifted the beings with the blood of Amber and Arcadia. It was from where his blood dropped that the firelillies first formed. The beings deemed the tribute worthy enough -- which is an understatement -- and Lilly and Daeon continued on to Amber. With Daeon dripping blood the entire way.

"That's at least how they started. I have no idea how they've become so proliferate. But let's see if we can do something about it."

Robin stops and Listens carefully to the Shadow to see if it's malleable enough to do a Pattern conjuration without too much disruption.

Robin nods to herself in satisfaction. "This will do."

She turns to Pen. "What I'm doing works better if no one is looking, so could you please watch the firelizards for a bit?"

Robin croons for her greedy gullet friends to stop eating the firelillies in the area and come to Pen.

Pen nods her understanding and turns away from Robin, reaching into a travel pouch and waves a few small fruits and dried meats, hoping to lure the firelizards toward her.

Fruits and dried meats are a winning combination. Soon all three firelizards are swooping and hovering nearby, vocalizing their desire for a share of the treats. Pen is learning to identify the firelizards by coloration and differences in their details after all the time together.

Robin has given them onomatopoeic names. The golden one, Peep, is clearly the Queen of the fair. When their attention isn't on Robin the other two are in attendance on Peep. Chirrup is the most interested in soaring overhead, doing slow, lazy spirals a dozen feet in the air. Ooot is more curious, and wants to investigate the food. They are definitely meat-eaters and the mouth that Pen is feeding doesn't look like it's good for eating vegetables. The two of them could be brothers, but Pen thinks that she sees small differences between them.

With Pen and the firelizards taken care of, Robin nods and seats herself near some of the remaining firelillies. Once she is settled, she calls on her Heritage of blood, lyre and lightning by bringing the recently-walked Primal Pattern to mind. Then she opens herself to the music of Pontus, taking careful notes of its weft and warp. That done, Robin begins to weave the shadow stuff, all the while humming as she adds new notes to the song of Pontus.

She's thinking of moths. Firstly and foremost, they need to be fire-proof. Secondly, they need to eat firelillies -- and only firelillies. After that, they should be able to follow the Shadow paths that the firelillies create. They should also be hearty, prolific, voracious, camouflaged to hide on the firelillies and taste bad to predators.

Robin will take as long as is needed to get a good result.

Robin gets started on trying to make the conditions right to change the moths that are in Pontus into the moths she wants to have in Pontus. It's daunting. It's too much for a watch or even a ten-day. Robin feels as if she could work on this for a month or a season and it might give her the time to do the job she wants to do, systematically and correctly.

It's possible to get some combination of the characteristics she wants, but it will be a couple of weeks between the eggs being laid, maturing into caterpillars, pupating, and emerging as Lilly-eating moths.

Once she feels like she is done, the Ranger reaches out and on the underside of one of the firelilly leaves, she looks for the twelve moth eggs she finds it very probable will be there.

The first batch might be done. There are definitely small eggs there. They should hatch in a week.

(Reference article: https://theforestspirit.wordpress.com/2014/05/01/the-dubious-relationship-of-the-lily-and-the-lily-moth/)

Robin nods to herself and stands. "Well, it's a start," she drawls. Then she cocks her head. "I'm going to need some flowerpots."

She smiles as she turns to Pen and the firelizards. "This is going to take a while, but I think it’ll be worth it.

"Soooo, should we head back to the house?"

The fire lizards don't like the smell of the eggs, and avoid eating the plants she's harvested. They seem ready to lazily go with. Chirrup moves to Pen's shoulder and wraps his tail firmly around her neck.

It's not quite panic-inducing, but it's definitely distracting. He's also breathing near her ear.

Pen is remembering experiences when she was younger with snakes and other kinds of lizards, and she purposefully calms herself, slowing her breathing and not startling Chirrup.

The lizard relaxes, sitting on her shoulder and probably not even realizing his claws are gently pricking through her clothes and into her skin.

She continues to demonstrate affection and trusts that if there's an issue, Robin will act.

If her bearings are correct, Pen makes a small detour to an overgrown abandoned garden of a long-gone neighbor. The garden fell victim to a warren of fast, hungry rabbits, but a few muddy pots are still visible. They're not pretty, but functional.

She hands them to Robin and once the eggs are settled they can head back. "I should be able to throw together something to eat when we reach the house."

Robin smiles, "I could eat," she affirms heartily.

Robin is very careful with the firelillies on the way back to Pen's mother’s home. Once there, she will situate the pots near the well in the center of the courtyard and will find it very probable that the lilies will not set the house on fire. Once done, she will croon and stroke the firelizards telling them what good fledglings they've been.

Pen jogs up to the left side of the house and turns the corner into the kitchen. It's quiet for a long minute.

"Did you need any help with the cooking, Pen?" Robin asks courteously.

There's the sudden sound of what must be a falling shelf and a few pieces of crashing pottery.

Suddenly the wall of limestone in the kitchen erupts as Pen is hurled with tremendous force through it, leaving a Pen-shaped hole.

Chirrup, who was apparently quite taken with Pen, hisses in anger.

Out through the Pen-shaped hole steps another creature; it's the size of a small tree, though shaped like a human. In fact, it is a small tree, something that both Robin and Pen would recognize as some form of Dryad. Though its arms are slender, when it struck Pen, its movements suggest it used both arms, which would still have been a significant force.

Robin was wondering where the Firelillies came from? The Dryad's hair is tangled with them. She stinks of the Green.

"Where are they? Where are the Mother's children?" the Dryad hisses, advancing on Pen and Robin, her hands growing thorns as she moves.

All three of the firelizards are ready to burn the corrupted Dryad to the ground.

Robin doesn't wait to talk. After all, this creature just threw her sister through a wall. She gives the order for the firelizards to light the dryad up, while she draws her sword of variable sharpness and prepares to do battle.

The firelizards rise in formation to approach the dryad and, having just eaten a load of lillies themselves, strafe her with fiery breath. She seems to catch in places but the flames seem to coalesce into rivers that lead back to the lillies in her leafy hair.

"Give me the Mother's children!" the dryad screams at the two women, her gnarly hands growing thornier as she speaks.

The dryad advances on Robin. Pen, apparently stunned, is between the two combatants. Robin is certainly fast enough to get past Pen and go directly into combat with the dryad, not least because the dryad moves slowly compared to a human or animal of her size. She is, after all, a tree.

Robin darts between the dryad and Pen. Over their emotional link, Robin directs the firelizards to snatch the firelillies in the dryad's 'hair' away from her. But not to eat them, 'cause they're bad.

Her strategy for herself is based on her own experience fighting the Green. She doesn't go for a kill shot, instead she aims to dice the dryad as quickly as possible – starting with any reaching appendages. She hopes her sword of variable sharpness will be especially sharp in the Shadow of Pontus, 'cause she's probably chopping wood with it. If possible, Robin will aim to cleave the non-burning bits first

Pen gets her wind back and quickly rises. She unsheathes her gladius and charges with a leaping step and a roar; the blade is held above her with both hands and coming down with all the force she can muster.

There's a moment when it seems the two sisters will get tangled up but both of them are experienced warriors.

Robin's used to guerilla fighting with Rangers where she's the toughest, or with her father where she's his backup, but his positions are carefully calculated, even if the plans change on the fly. Pen, on the other hand, fights more like Daeon, though without Daeon's carelessness of others.

Pen is used to being the strongest and toughest of the Amazons in her unit, regardless of size. It's the strength and endurance that mark her as an Amberite that made her the best of the best in Pontus. Here with Robin, though, Pen is battling alongside a sister who is truly her equal; she can afford to let Robin take fully half the battle on in a way she couldn't with her sisters in Pontus.

When Robin senses that Pen has risen and is moving to meet the dryad's charge with a mighty cry in the native tongue of Pontus, she's able to sidestep and attack on her own without disrupting either her own attack or Pen's.

The firelizards follow Robin's command and move to strip the lillies from the dryad's upper branches and greenery, which are now burning. Robin and Pen are both going to need some medication to sleep without pain by the time this is over.

Robin's first blow strikes the dryad's arm, weakening her two-handed blow.

Pen's mighty blow knocks the dryad back, leaving the blade stuck in the bark. (She can pull it out later during the combat if she wants.) The dryad sprays the sisters with thorns. Pen's speed and skill are such that she can catch them in midair as if they were arrows.

Robin's blade slices through all the limbs of the dryad it meets. Each blow causes it to scream in rage and pain as the lopped branches fall to the ground, still demanding to know where the children are.

Robin has a fierce grin on her face. Despite her injuries, she is obviously enjoying herself. This is what she was made for; monster fighting with a team-mate. She isn't quite laughing but her eyes are bright with excitement.

Robin fights like a wild thing. Though she coordinates with Pen, she doesn't fight to any pattern or school of swordplay. She is fast, so fast, and unpredictable. But she gets the job done, slicing away at the dryad for all she's worth.

From nearby, Pen and Robin can hear the Amazon sisters crying "Fire!" Pen knows they will be bringing water to douse the flames; she thinks they will arrive in a few minutes. They have the dryad on her back foot; they should defeat her before the Amazons arrive, especially with the help of the firelizards, who have taken to throwing the firelillies into the rain cistern, where they float on top of the water.

Oh, such clever firelizards. Robin beams through their connection.

While the dryad is on her back foot, Robin slices off her front foot. And moves to start carving huge chunks out of the main body of the dryad. Robin figures that once the dryad is in pieces (and all of her firelillies are gone), she'll round up the bits into a pile and have the firelizards ignite it, She will also find it very probable that Pen's mother's home will not catch on fire.

Robin's move topples the dryad, and Robin wastes no time in dismembering (defoliating?) the creature. The firelilies burn quietly in in the water, like so many floating votive candles. The parts that have been hacked off are still trying to attack, but they lack the coordination and, in most cases, eyes.

The firelizards are happy to apply flame to the formerly ambulatory bonfire, and the creature is burning nicely when the fire brigade shows up.

Pen will need to convince them not to put out the fire.

Every place the dryad touched either of them stings like nettles, except where it stings like getting kicked through a wall by a wooden mule.

To Robin, it looks like Chirrup was also hit with at least one flying nettle; his left rear leg is hurt, and Peep is licking him.

As Amazons charge up the hill with buckets, Pen runs forward, her hands raised to ward them off. "Hold, sisters! This emissary of the Green has to be left to burn lest it re-gathers its strength!"

They put down their buckets and ask if there are more infected creatures to battle nearby. The ones who have swords with them draw them.

Pen quickly drops into her Captain role, asserting that this appears to have been a singular threat, for now, but she sets up two patrols that will take alternating shifts in case the Arcadians return in numbers. She thanks them for their readiness and dismisses them.

Pen claps Robin on the shoulder. "That was fine work. Your blows fell like hammers, and your firelizards are well-trained."

Robin grins at Pen. "That was fun. You also fought well. We should do that again."

Pen looks at her blade stuck in what was the Dryad's chest and decides to wait until the fire dies down some to reclaim it. "I can only wonder what nightmare is next if this was their first response."

Robin shrugs as she scoops fiery dryad bits into a central burning area with her sword. "Whatever it is, we can handle it," she says with a confident smile.

But once the fire is centralized and hopefully not endangering the house, Robin's mien grows more serious and she calls Chirrup over to herself.

Robin inspects his wound carefully, looking for any signs of a Green infection.

There's no green infection, but it looks like the wound has been cauterized, either by Chirrup himself or by his partners. It seems tender to the touch, but clean. He probably shouldn't fly too much or he'll re-open the wound.

"We should be safe in the house tonight," Pen says to Robin. "Let me show you the kitchen," and she enters the house again, avoiding the large hole in the wall.

"Sure," Robin chirps while carefully wrapping Chirrup over her shoulders. She sends warm thoughts to her brave firelizards and gratefulness for their efforts. Giving one last look at the courtyard with its firelillies in the well, its firelillies in pots by the way and its bonfire of a former dryad, Robin decides to leave it to the ready and willing Amazons and follows Pen into the house.

Peep and Ooot have what looks like a bit of a discussion and Ooot flies off to join the Amazons at their work. Peep remains with Robin and Chirrup.

With the adrenaline of the fight receding, Pen suddenly realizes she's hurt. In fact, it hurts quite a lot. Pen has a number of thorns in her that were shed by the angry dryad, some scrapes and a number of superficial burns, but the worst, of course, comes from the dryad's initial strike. She probably has several broken or at least fractured ribs based on the way it feels to breathe.

Apparently even an Amberite can get their butt kicked in a hard fight with a supernatural being.

Robin also has minor injuries, but she's used to recovering after a battle like this and knows how to patch herself and others up. None of the visible injuries are obviously infected, and nothing indicates that either Robin or Pen has any Green injuries. If nothing else, the firelizards would have detected it, or Robin would have with her Pattern senses.

There should be bandages and supplies in the house somewhere, or they can send one of the Amazons off for some.

Pen's Mother's house is not surprisingly well-stocked with medical supplies given how often Pen would get injured.

Fruits, meats, and cheeses are set out as Pen makes sure to also grab antiseptics, bandages, and needle and thread. She does not stop to consider if tending to one's wounds while eating is a faux pax and remembers to grab both the water and wine, though she makes a point of only drinking the water.

"Robin, given these new developments, I would greatly appreciate your assessment of our current situation. I have mixed feelings about how we were received by the Queen, but we need every advantage we can get."

"Hmmm," Robin thinks as she applies balm to a burn on the back of her hand. "I think the incursion here was targeted due to my presence. May said she thought that the trail of firelillies was following me. And I suspect that the dryad was the one laying them down. Still, even with all of the firelillies my faire ate up, I think your Mother's house will be a weak point in Pontus' defenses. It should probably be watched.

"And since the Green follows the firelillies, and we suspect that there are firelillies in the upland vales, those should be dug up and burned wherever they can be found.

"The Green's first incursion into Arden was in the form of human slavers. So again, I think the upland vales should be patrolled for such.

"I also think your people should be taught how to fight the Green. When fighting a Green creature, it's best to dice then burn them. The dicing is important as the Green will fight on in parts that have been separated from the main body. I was once attacked by a horse's head that had been severed from its body." Robin fluffs her bangs. "Okay, technically I was attacked by a horse, but its head continued to attack me once it had been cut off.... It was icky.

"What are your mixed feelings about how we were received?" Robin asks.

"'The Death of the God of Springtime, or Adonis' Sacrifice', the play that the Queen had commissioned. It makes sense given Pontus' struggle against the Green so it may have just been a coincidence that we arrived exactly when she decided to have it performed, but the Queen is a subtle manipulator."

Pen catches her breath and runs her hands through her hair, "Perhaps I'm seeing things that aren't there. We've been promised troops to continue the fight, soldiers that I would trust with my life. Maybe that's enough."

And then, "So the Green is like the head of a hydra? It can fight on even after it's cut away from the beast. Gods, what a nightmare."

The firelizards politely wait until Robin has tended to her wounds to beg for tastes of her dinner. But they are interested nonetheless.

Robin smiles fondly at her well-mannered but bottomless firelizards. And she picks out bits of meat from her plate to feed to them.

"Yes," Robin nods, "A nightmare. I've fought worse. But not often...

"Will we meet with... Aristomache tomorrow? How do we arrange that?"

Pen nods, "I've known 'Risto for a very long time, and there's no one in Pontus I trust more. She's a remarkable soldier, born to the saddle - she taught me everything I know about horses, and much of what I know about battle. I expect we'll find her at the stables."

Pen gets up, gently holding her side. "I'm going upstairs, but my Mother's bedroom is down here and quite comfortable. These ribs are going to make sleeping an unexpected challenge, but I'm too tired to care. Good night, Robin."