Re: A Long Awaited Vacation - 119 4A

by **Nara-pyon** Tue Aug 18, 2015 10:01 pm

"Oh, I am most certain that is correct," Aragost agreed. "And I am certain that come Stirring, Haradhel will be happy to help them out. The ground is rather too hard during the Winter, however. I must admit, though, that I am very glad that the cellars here are so well made. Especially with so many people relying on it keep them through the long season, it is very important."

He smiled. "On that note, since Arahad has vanished on us - yes, I am aware that he is doing some necessary work - it is to me to offer you, for the first time in our acquaintance, some refreshment. It is a cold walk from the valley, yes? Would either of you like something warm?"

by **Kara Winters** Wed Aug 19, 2015 8:49 pm

"Apple cider if you have it," Toshiro replied.

It was that or tea, but the only tea here seemed to be mint tea and he wasn't sure if either of them were in the mood for that. He glanced at Miyu, who nodded in agreement with that request.

by **Nara-pyon** Wed Aug 19, 2015 11:32 pm

"We do," Aragost nodded, and he headed to the kitchen to fetch the requested drinks.

When dinner time rolled around in the valley, Ulani was just finishing setting the table when there was a quick knock at the door. Ulrich was relaxing in the living room with their guests, but he didn't have to get up. Before he even had the chance, the door opened and three people entered: Leilani, flakes of freshly fallen snow in her long golden hair, her husband Aric, who had pulled a hood over his head; and Remiel, seven years old now and whip-thin, even with his bulky winter clothes on. All three of them kicked off their boots and removed their cloaks and moved to put them away.

"Hey, hey!" Ulrich grinned. "About time you got here."

"We're not late," Leilani retorted, though her voice was soft. Her cheeks were pink, and she avoided eye contact with anyone else as she helped Remiel with his cloak.

Aric chuckled softly. "Hello," he said softly but warmly to Kara and Donovan. "We've not yet been introduced, I believe."

Ulrich grinned and still didn't get up. "Kara and Donovan, friends from Gaia, and two of their daughters, Hope and Faith. You'll have to ask them which is which." Then, looking to Donovan and Kara, he added, "And this is my sister, Leilani, her husband, Aric, and their youngest, Remiel."

by **Kara Winters** Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:59 pm

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Kara smiled and nodded her head to the family.

Donovan also nodded, "Same, we've heard a bit about you."

Mainly from Feng, Ryu and Naida, which as a whole wasn't a lot. Just enough to know about the near scare the Ranch got many years prior.

by **Nara-pyon** Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:08 pm

"Indeed?" Aric smiled, appearing a little surprised. "We've heard much about you, but of course you're the ones who brought all the excitement to the area. What could they possibly have told you about us?"

Once his boots and cloak here off, Remiel ran to the kitchen to see his aunt. Aric grinned and put one arm around his wife's shoulders, ushering her towards the couch where Ulrich was sitting so that they could sit with him. Once they were sitting, Leilani shifted closer to her husband and refused to let go of his hand.

by **Kara Winters** Fri Aug 21, 2015 12:05 am

"Not so much Ulrich and Ulani, but rather our children," Kara explained, "Lin is one of our younger daughters, while Feng and Ryu are one of our older children."

Though they hadn't heard from Lin since she set sailed with her family, but they had heard from Feng and Ryu. Only because the mers had to head back once the main group set out to explore the new land they found. As much as the mers would have liked the go too, the unpredictability of when they would find a body of water made it impossible for them.

by **Nara-pyon** Fri Aug 21, 2015 12:09 am

Aric smiled. "I see. They are very kind, especially considering how we met."

Even Leilani had to smile at that.

"Everyone scaring the life out of everyone else," Ulrich laughed. "I really do wish I'd been there at the time. It would have been such fun."

"Or nothing at all would have happened," Aric pointed out logically. "If we'd seen you, we wouldn't have been suspicious, and if we hadn't been suspicious, there wouldn't have been a standoff."

by **Kara Winters** Fri Aug 21, 2015 10:27 pm

Donovan chuckled, "That is a fair point. We had first visited here back when it was just one house in this valley..."

Back when there was Tex, they had only met once but it was amazing how one could miss a person.

by **Nara-pyon** Fri Aug 21, 2015 10:34 pm

Leilani smiled softly and glanced at her brother. "We heard," she murmured, a blush rising once more in her cheeks. "You saved my brother, I'm told."

"Emotionally," Ulrich nodded immediately. "But let's not talk about that. It was a lifetime ago."

"Supper's ready!" Ulani called from the kitchen. "Come and sit!"

Aric and Ulrich stood, and Aric tugged Leilani to her feet. "I'm sure you must be rather pleased with how your venture here turned out," he said to Donovan as they headed towards the kitchen.

by **Kara Winters** Fri Aug 21, 2015 10:54 pm

"Very," Donovan replied with a nod, "I'm not sure what will happen now that it's original purpose isn't needed anymore, but it's been good to see it grow."

He and Kara didn't need to grab the twins, they were hungry and didn't need to be told twice that dinner was ready. Though they would need help getting onto the chairs. Chairs from back home were already big enough, but chairs meant for elves were giant sized to them.

by **Nara-pyon** Fri Aug 21, 2015 11:12 pm

"Well, from what I've seen," Aric mused, "it's become an entity to itself. I mean, here in the valley, we just ... live. We hunt, we till the ground, we cut our firewood ... but the ranch has almost got an economy of its own by now."

The kitchen table was longer than it was wide, so it was set for three on one long side, four on the other, and one each at the ends. Remiel was already sitting, and Leilani and Arie moved to sit on either side of him. Ulrich sat next to Aric, which filled up one side of the table.

Ulani motioned for Donovan and Kara and the girls to take the other long side and one of the end seats as Aric continued to speak.

"There are a lot of families there now, not just the men, so there are more fields, more horses are being bred, trained and sold, there are people working different trades now - pottery, tanning, building - and it's almost all an exchange of services rather than coin." Aric smiled. "Not to say that they aren't all quite wealthy. But they haven't much need of their wealth, except for when they travel. I think it's quite safe to say that the people there are quite happy."

"There have been a lot of changes at the ranch since the last time you were here, too," Ulani added, bringing the food to the table. "As a matter of fact, I think the stables are about the only things that haven't changed. Even the well has moved!"

by **Kara Winters** Fri Aug 21, 2015 11:36 pm

Kara giggled as she and Donovan helped the girls onto seats between them.

"We look forward to seeing everything then, it has been a long while, even if it doesn't feel like it completely for us."

"Though, even for us, it's been a long time," Donovan admitted.

by **Nara-pyon** Fri Aug 21, 2015 11:57 pm

"Now that's something we wouldn't know," Aric chuckled softly.

"The rest of us do," Ulrich smiled. "Also while you're here, do you plan on seeing the rest of your family? I'm sure Cindy would be eager to see you again, and Celebor and his family."

At least most of his family, anyways. Ruran was still ... Ruran.

by **Kara Winters** Sat Aug 22, 2015 10:23 pm

Kara nodded, "That is the plan. It would be nice to see how everyone is doing."

It was a surprise to them that Cindy still hadn't moved back to Gaia, but it could be more for Virgil's sake. The boy seemed to have trouble adjusting to things, and their whole family might be overwhelming.

by **Nara-pyon** Sat Aug 22, 2015 11:18 pm

There was much storytelling throughout dinner, and when it was over and Aric and Leilani were getting ready to leave, Ulrich and Ulani stood nearby with the others.

"Do you need anyone to walk you to the ranch?" Ulani offered to Kara and Donovan. "It hasn't moved, but the house is nothing like it used to be."

by **Kara Winters** Sun Aug 23, 2015 1:41 am

"Actually, we would like that," Kara admitted, "From your stories things have changed a lot, and with the twins..."

She glanced as Donovan had taken charge in getting the twins ready, which included making sure Faith didn't wander off and that Hope put on her boots.

by **Nara-pyon** Sun Aug 23, 2015 11:25 pm

"And I'm sure you'd be glad to get into a warm bed as soon as possible," Ulrich grinned. He reached for his own cloak. "There's probably already food for you to eat in the morning, too. Haradhel would have made sure of that."

He was reaching for his boots when he thought of something else.

"And ... don't be too shocked if you see Aragost," he added, pulling his first boot on. "He's ... shall we say, very different from the last time you saw him."

by **Kara Winters** Sun Aug 23, 2015 11:56 pm

"Different?" Donovan asked.

He knew that Miyu and Toshiro had gone on ahead, and figured the two had stayed for dinner over there. Honestly, he felt the kids knew the man better than he did (and it was kind of funny how well loved Aragost was by the children of the area).

Once the twins were ready, Kara and Donovan each grabbed a little hand, knowing the girls would probably grab each other's hand.

by **Nara-pyon** Mon Aug 24, 2015 12:18 am

Ulrich hesitated, then shook his head. "No, I'll let you see for yourselves."

He chuckled and opened the door for them. "We'll see if you recognize him."

Which of course already meant that he had changed quite a bit.

by **Kara Winters** Mon Aug 24, 2015 9:34 pm

Now that was being mysterious, the couple thought as they began their trek out. It was dark already, being Winter.

"Now you've made us curious," Donovan commented.

by **Nara-pyon** Tue Aug 25, 2015 10:31 am

Ulrich didn't feel guilty about that at all; on the contrary he was rather pleased with himself.

"Mission accomplished!" he said with a grin.

Thanks to the calm weather, it was a relatively quick walk to the ranch, and despite the darkness of the night, the light of two lanterns, one on each side of the door, and the reflection of moonlight on the snow created just enough light to see the house and even many of its details. Smoke rose from several chimneys, and the sight of it pleased Ulrich.

"Your wing has been prepared," he told Kara and Donovan as they approached the house. "That's good news - you'll be warm."

He opened the door for them and let them go into the foyer first.

by **Kara Winters** Tue Aug 25, 2015 9:57 pm

"Is that a glass dome?" Kara inquired.

While glass domes/houses weren't unheard of in Gaia, she knew that must have been really expensive to make. Granted, when you could make nearly everything here one only needed to use currency for whatever they couldn't make. This gave most people here a lot of buying power, not that it seemed like there was much they couldn't make here.

"It looks like a small town," Donovan commented.

by **Nara-pyon** Tue Aug 25, 2015 10:23 pm

Ulrich chuckled at their reactions.

"It is, and it is," he grinned. "It took some practice, but Haradhel has grown rather adept at creating glass, which is what made the courtyard possible. And like we told you before, the ranch has birthed something of an economy of its own, without the use of gold for the most part. Explore it all tomorrow. It'll probably take you the whole day."

In the foyer, he headed straight to the further door on the right. "Here, your wing. Would you like me to show you around?"

He wondered briefly if Miyu and Toshiro would already be in there or if they would still be visiting with Aragost and Arahad.

by **Kara Winters** Tue Aug 25, 2015 10:57 pm

"Please, after so many visits with the same layout, this is certainly a large change," Kara replied.

Even though she understood why, there wasn't a need to house children anymore, and now it could become a proper home.

by **Nara-pyon** Tue Aug 25, 2015 11:20 pm

Ulrich grinned and hung up his cloak. He wouldn't need it until he headed home again, after all.

"Well, to start with, there are four wings in this house, and each one is a home of its own," he began. He pointed at each door, starting with the one he had already directed them to, and went clockwise. "Guests, Arahad, outside, Haradhel and Elrohir, Ahren and Shiara, courtyard."

He opened the door to the guest wing and motioned for Kara and Donovan and the kids to go in first. The entryway was identical to Arahad's, but mirrored, and the living room beyond it was quite different. Rather than rustic in appearance, the floor rugs were woven, not simple animal skins, and dyed a single colour - as were the plush couch and chairs. The colour scheme of the room was a deep hunter green, and even the curtains and the runners on the tables matched. A fire was lit in the fireplace, and the room was comfortably warm.

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