Stormclouds

i look at the vile evil turkey and say "you know i actually might have my handler call guns and garters".

I smirk and grab the pot of sauce to bring to the table "Sure but you need to get the dishware out, Liv. And Sori i wouldn't advise it they shaft there models on pay, and not in the good way either" I turn back for the drained noodles. "I promise no noodle wig from me"

"You better be true to your word, or you'll regret it." I reply teasingly.

"have I ever gone back on it that you have seen?" I smirk in reply "come on dig in, it isn't like it is going anywhere"

I come in and sit at the table confused as to where the meal is. Foreign spices assault me and I look over the plate of food offered to me. It smells not unlike the pizza I ate earlier although this is far different and appears messy. "Is... it supposed to look like this?"

I can't help but chuckle "Yes it is, the noodles are too bland alone, though garlic bread goes good with it we didn't make any this time" I glance over "I suggest using a fork instead of fingers or chopsticks with this" I say holding up my own.

"A fuck?" I'm too focused on the food to hear clearly. I fully understand the concept of noodles but this type of noodle is far larger and rounder than I am accustomed to.

I burst out laughing at the comment for a moment "Not quite, A foRk" I emphasize the 'r' while still holding that up "one of these." I shake my head a little catching her expression "No offense is meant by my laughter, by some obscene twist of fate i am a generally cheerful person, and a Fuck is what we were all joking about when we were on the street and you were blushing so much"

I look up at the fork and hear the explanation only to realize what I have said. My face drains of color first in sheer horror before it feels as though all of my blood is trying to find a place in my cheeks. It burns so hotly that i look to my food hoping to simply forget that I had not said such a thing. "I... I r-require a fork then."

I get up to get the fork after a pointed look from both Liv and Kaija. "hey better it happened here that at one of the various clubs, they would have taken you at your word. All it was is a is a slip of the tongue. Breath" as i hand her the fork "you will get used to it or end up with a permanent blush one of the two"

"T-Thank you." I take the fork and wait to watch the others eat. I didn't know how to use this strange fork thing but I will watch and learn as I did with the pizza.

"Like this Kiou." I start slowly "I don't know if the others know how to use chopsticks so you might be able to show them at some point." trying to head off any possibility of wounded pride. as i run my fork into the noodles and begin spinning it to wrap them around it "this way seems to be the least messy anyways"

"I gave up on chopsticks; my fingers are too long to handle them properly." I comment between bites. "But thanks anyway." From the hall, Djhuety emerges, leaning against a wall. He lets his gaze rest on me.
I swallow hard.
"Folks, after dinner let's go into the living room. I have some things that perhaps you ought to know. If things are going to go as they are."
Very slightly, my beloved smiles.

"there is a statement that always holds foreboding" I smile chasing some of the turkey around the plate before muttering a curse at it and picking it up with my fingers "old habits" I shrug

As we finish the meal, I take up my favorite seat on the couch where the arm meets the back. Slowly, my friends take up seats here and there around the room.
"There are things I haven't told you, because I didn't think they were your problems. To tell truth I didn't want to believe they were my problems.But I was wrong about that, and I'd be remiss in my duties as bard if I did not give you the information you needed to protect yourselves." I take a breath. "You're getting hurt because of me, and you need to know why."

"I find it hard to believe that in our last confrontation that your were both comrade and enemy. Unless you are trying to say you are a spy for some reason..." I look to Liv confused with just how that turn of events could be considered her fault at all.

I sigh. "I mean I was the cause. I, and the battles that will spring up around me."

"I don't completely buy that Liv, You think lack of information that you feel you should have shared is part of the reason people got hurt." I answer before liv "and she is forgetting that some of us have been at such things for so long that they should be able to notice a threat at two miles not miss them at 20 meters." the last is a little pointed "so you can't take all the blame but more information is always helpful."

I nod. "Well enough. If you are to know the tale, you must hear that from whence it sprang. You see, at one time, Kindred and Men were both of this world. A very long time ago. Before the Parting. We call the tale of how it came to be the Parting of the Ways.” I say softly, then glance sharply at Sori. “No Tolkien jokes, please.” I sigh. I don’t think I’ve ever told this story to anyone who wasn’t Kin, and not often among them either. No one likes to be reminded.
Then I draw a breath. “Long and long ago, Kindred and animals and those who would be called men lived together, strands of the same web. Creatures that they call Powers and Dominations in the Nightside strode the land, with no form save what they chose, before the thoughts and fears and dreams of man molded them. They say these were the days before men were men. I’ve read about Neanderthals; I think that’s what the story means. In time men grew quicker and stronger, until they were equal to the Kindred. All shared the land; some hunted by strength, some by guile, and some by magic, all in balance. But then the Being that men call God today came to mankind, and offered them a promise; a world with a logic they could follow, a world of simple cause and effect, a world with solid rules they could trust. No wild magic that made the world changing and untrustworthy. In exchange for this, they would pay it fealty and honor. And enough men agreed that the Being took hold here, and began laying down its laws. The Kindred couldn’t bear these new laws. Some can't survive in a world devoid of magic, and some, like spoiled children, can't stand to be told 'no'. I'm not saying it was right; I'm only saying that it happened.
The Kindred grew desperate in the years that followed, and cried out for help, and another Being came. They call her Danu, which only means ‘mother’ in the Old Tongue. And she came, and taught the oldest of the Kindred, the great Sidhe, how to make worlds. She helped the Kindred weave a new reality, sideways to the sun, sideways to the worlds of men. A place of their own, where they can be what they are. Some of them still call themselves Tuatha de Dannan, and we all name ourselves as the Kindred of Danu, in honor of that Being.” I take a breath. “It’s said that God, Danu’s sibling, had wished to follow the Kin and punish them, but it got distracted by one of its constructs starting a rebellion, and another one of its beings became great and broke away from its control, so God had other things on its mind and the Kindred were left in peace. And one by one, the Kinds began to slip away into their own realm. Some left quickly, and some took centuries, but most left, in time. Only the Elves refused to go, and tried to fight Men for the land. They lost, and were too proud to come Home. They lived instead in Shadow's Fall now, and in the Sundered Lands. These days, very few of the Kindred still live in this world. The Gamkin of course, the Dryads here and there, the Hobs, the Pictsies and the Brownies and the Borrowers and the Flower Fairies. A few who have adapted. But this is Man’s world now. And the Kindred have their own place. That is how it stands." For a moment, there is silence. "But I do not it can stand as it is much longer. I've been thinking, a little, over time. And I think...I think I know what has to happen."

"Balance, Love." Djehuty smiles. "Whatever the truth of the story, its end is to illustrate the disruption of balance in this world."

I nod. "I know. And I am afraid that is where the trouble lies. Once, our two worlds were as close as lovers in a bed, when they were first seperated. It was easy to slip between the two, and common. But as time passed, anger and resentment crept in like weeds in a cracked stone. Anger for wrongs done on either side grew, and as men spread and proliferated, a great fear as well: the fear that Kindred, who live so long and breed so slow, would be outbred, overwhemed, their blood diluted out of existence. That was when the laws against interbreeding began to be set down, and the concerns with purity began. And as time has passed, it has gotten more and more difficult to pass between worlds. Even in my lifetime, a bare score of years, it's gotten harder. And I think, though it sounds insane, I think the way our peoples are thinking, the way they are acting, is pushing the worlds apart. It's crazy...but it's the only thing that makes sense, given what I know. And much as Kin say they don't need Men, they're wrong. To lose the connection with this world would be a disaster. Like you said, balance. We'd lose it. And in that...I think we'd lose ourselves. I've already seen it, somewhat. And if it continues..." I shake my head.

"they were close as lovers, and they were very much still entwined, the two great powers revered and Mother and Father, still polarities, without one...." I trail off "anyone with eyes can see that duality exists in nature for a reason so rather then falling apart, they should be being pulled together as best we can" I try to sum up my understanding "and those like you two are proof of the ability for that to flourish"

"Yes. Without Men, Kin lose their sense of...I guess you'd call it causality. We lose our sense of cause and effect, of what matters, until..." I shrug. "I was born by the borders with the human world. But I've known those who live deeper inside. They don't do anything. They never grow. They lose all sense of time, all urgency. They just...drift. Always looking for something to make them feel something, anything. Our world isn't really a world, it's an approximation of one. And without our connection to this true world...we lose all sense of being real, being alive." I straighten. "I thought about that, and I thought about the prophecy we were given. We were given it in English, but English is not their native tongue. If it were in the Old Tongue..." I raise my voice. The words are liquid, shining, with a taste of resolve and power to them. I finish the recitation with the traditional twist of the hand. "The thing is, the word 'royal' doesn't mean 'royal' exactly. It's something more like 'the one with the ability to lead.' You can't rule the Kindred. No one can. It's not possible." I pause, thinking through my words carefully. "But you can lead them. I think...I think if this is to be stopped, if the worlds are to be brought back into balance, I'm going to have to revive the Ard Ri. It's the only thing that will do it. If I can pull it off."

"Isn't that something Like a High King or High Queen?" my eyes rolling back a little as I think trying to run through where i have heard the term before "I once having my fortune read by a wandering woman when i was still a corps and there was the 'Ard Ri of Tine' that came up." I shake my head a little remembering what she looked like the next time i saw her "some days it doesn't pay to be a fortune teller"

I tilt my head in thought. "So then you would not be the one ruling, but this other would rule in your place?" Liv's explanation of just what is going on seems so hard to follow but I am doing my best to understand.