glacial_queen: (Gentle)
[personal profile] glacial_queen
Invitations had gone out, letting people know that Karla was planning to take a trip back to Kaeleer. Nothing special, just a short day-long trip, complete with picnic.

Of course, that was nothing special if you didn't know about the kind of picnic Mrs. Beale was capable of putting together with a bit of notice. Or if you weren't impressed with visiting unicorns all day. Whichever.

The portal opened up at the Hall, where the staff was packing up a single Coach with all of the supplies a group that size might need: sweetfeed, sugar cubes, apples, carrots--and provender for the picnickers, too. Guests would find themselves ushered into other Coaches; large wheeled conveyances that were powered by Craft and could be drawn by horses on roads or powered by Craft to travel over the Winds. Karla, Jaenelle, and Lucivar were not there to greet the Fandom folks; the latter two had gone ahead to ready everything on Sceval's end, and the former had vanished that morning, offering apologies and deliberately vague explanations of an errand that needed running.

Not that anyone at the Hall was going to let her absence slow down their timetable any. As soon as the last person was seated and comfortable and the last basket stowed, the Coaches took off, catching the nearby Opal Wind to speed them along.

The ride was on the longish side, lasting about an hour--apologies had been made, but Sceval was a closed Territory and portals were not permitted--but soon enough they were touching down again. This time, there was no extended hike through the woods, the Coaches landed in a large open meadow, next to a cheerful brook. Large blankets were already laid out, and the coachmen clambered down to open the doors and then begin unpacking the mountains of food they'd brought.

There were two people waiting for everyone when they climbed out. One was Karla, the other was a solemn dark-haired girl who looked about eight or nine. She gave the assembled group a tremulous smile and clutched Karla's hand tightly. Karla gave her a fond smile before looking up at her assembled friends.

"Welcome to Sceval," she said, waving with her free hand. "Lucivar and Jaenelle are already out visiting the herd, which you're welcome to do. There's food to eat if you're hungry and plenty of places to explore if you get restless. I didn't, uhh, plan any activities, so hopefully there's enough here to keep you entertained!"

[NFB for off-islandness]

Re: Arrive and Mingle in Sceval

Date: 2012-02-05 09:42 pm (UTC)
momslilassassin: ([pos] adorkable)
From: [personal profile] momslilassassin
Ben leaned in for a quick kiss to that forehead. "Good to know."

Re: Arrive and Mingle in Sceval

Date: 2012-02-05 09:44 pm (UTC)
endsthegame: (is always watching)
From: [personal profile] endsthegame
Ender poked him gently in the side. "I should see if I can catch Jaenelle, though."

Re: Arrive and Mingle in Sceval

Date: 2012-02-05 09:54 pm (UTC)
momslilassassin: ([neg] uncertain)
From: [personal profile] momslilassassin
"Tell her I say hello," Ben said.

He wasn't easily intimidated, but the amount of power that Jaenelle threw off had him generally giving her a fairly wide margin.

Re: Arrive and Mingle in Sceval

Date: 2012-02-06 12:35 am (UTC)
endsthegame: (comic: gotcha!)
From: [personal profile] endsthegame
Ender identified with her strongly, and his smile thinned somewhat.

"Or you could try waving at her from a distance," he said, choosing to frame it as a joke.

Re: Arrive and Mingle in Sceval

Date: 2012-02-06 01:32 am (UTC)
momslilassassin: ([neu] bw scruffy)
From: [personal profile] momslilassassin
Ben knew Ender's face well enough to realize he'd mis-stepped somehow. "Or I'll talk to her when you're finished," Ben said, "and not isolate her."

Re: Arrive and Mingle in Sceval

Date: 2012-02-06 01:49 am (UTC)
endsthegame: (is investigating)
From: [personal profile] endsthegame
"If you feel like it," Ender said lightly. "She just doesn't know a great deal of people who don't define her by her Jewel strength."

There was a very gentle rebuke in there, somewhere.

Re: Arrive and Mingle in Sceval

Date: 2012-02-06 01:53 am (UTC)
momslilassassin: ([neu] contemplative)
From: [personal profile] momslilassassin
Ben nodded. "I'll say hi," he promised. "It's been a long time since Agio."

Re: Arrive and Mingle in Sceval

Date: 2012-02-06 01:55 am (UTC)
endsthegame: (headtilt)
From: [personal profile] endsthegame
"I wonder whether it's a terrible thing or a good thing, how long ago it seems," Ender admitted.

Re: Arrive and Mingle in Sceval

Date: 2012-02-06 02:06 am (UTC)
momslilassassin: ([neu] bw staring)
From: [personal profile] momslilassassin
"Probably a little bit of both," Ben said. "It's good that it's not waking us up at night."

Bad that other things had replaced it to...

Re: Arrive and Mingle in Sceval

Date: 2012-02-06 02:15 am (UTC)
endsthegame: (problematic relationship with the world)
From: [personal profile] endsthegame
"Doesn't it?" Ender asked, his eyes sliding up to the clear sky above.

Re: Arrive and Mingle in Sceval

Date: 2012-02-06 05:09 pm (UTC)
endsthegame: (comic: gotcha!)
From: [personal profile] endsthegame
Ender shook his head.

Then he returned his attention to Ben. "But let's put that aside for now," he said. "You've got bruises waiting for you."

He gave Ben's fingers a quick squeeze.

Re: Arrive and Mingle in Sceval

Date: 2012-02-06 05:30 pm (UTC)
momslilassassin: ([pos] looking down with a smile)
From: [personal profile] momslilassassin
Ben squeezed back. "It's probably some kind of character flaw that I'm looking forward to the spar," he said, leaning in to give Ender a swift kiss on the mouth. "Have fun with the unicorns."

Re: Arrive and Mingle in Sceval

Date: 2012-02-06 05:34 pm (UTC)
endsthegame: (in the background)
From: [personal profile] endsthegame
"I'll do my best," Ender assured him.

Strange as Ben's statement might seem to the average person who knew Ender back home.

"Just give a yell if you need those patches."

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