Re: Revisiting Garnelia - 120 4A

[Kara Winters]

"Honestly, I have no clue," Lin grinned, "Miyuki? Iadrim spent a lot of time with you the last we were here."

Miyuki tilted her head, thinking about it, "I guess so? I mean, we were always doing something exciting last time sooo...."

Well, it wasn't always exciting, she was exaggerating, but since Miyuki knew Iadrim watched a lot of her magic experiments, she assumed Iadrim found it exciting from the way she had always watched Miyuki.

[Nara-pyon]

"Exciting?" Nadya asked with a smile.

Gion raised his hands and signed to his wife, who nodded again. "True." To the others, she explained, "He says that new things are usually exciting, whatever it might be."

The palace was not large, so it was not long before they made it to the conference room. The door was open, and inside, Mari, Kyrie and Iadrim's parents were seated at the long table, chatting together.

"Welcome!" Mari greeted them all warmly when she spotted them. She rose from her seat and gestured for everyone to seat themselves.

Immediately, Uruloki emerged from his usual resting place on Kyrie's abdomen and hopped onto the table, hatchling-sized.

[Kara Winters]

"Hope you weren't waiting too long, we weren't aware you were waiting on us," Lin murmured in greeting.

Considering on how it must have taken to get everything set up for the portal.

[Nara-pyon]

"Iadrim said that she was going to tell everyone to meet us here," said Dae'er with a bemused glance at her daughter.

Iadrim had the grace to blush, and clasped her hands behind her back. "Sorry, Mama," she murmured. "I'll go get the others now."

As she hurried off again, Cael laughed heartily. "She gets so caught up in the excitement of the moment," he grinned as he took a seat next to his father, pushing back the chair next to him for his wife to sit down.

"You two had better come over here," Uruloki told Gion and Nadya, pointing with his tail at the two chairs directly in front of him.

[Kara Winters]

Miyuki chuckled, "Well it was exciting there for a moment."

What with the portal opening and having people from another land come through. To Miyuki, this was oddly normal, after all her mother's family did it all the time. Now that Miyuki thought about it, why didn't they have the energy drainage and how did they make that permanent portal in the first place? She filed it away for something to think about another time.

[Nara-pyon]

While the others chatted together, Kyrie and Uruloki went through the necessary procedure to give Nadya and Gion some of Uruloki's blood and the gift of tongues. Nadya proceeded immediately to join in the conversation with the others, while Gion focused on a seemingly empty seat across the table from him.

Only a few minutes later, Iadrim was back with Andarien, Shoneah and Twig in tow. Shoneah was carrying the boy, piggy-back style, and after greeting those in the room, she helped him off her back and onto a chair.

"Are we ready to begin?" Mari asked, looking around at everyone who had gathered, after introductions had been made.

[Kara Winters]

There were nods all around, hopefully it would go a bit easier now that there was someone else that could see the way Twig saw.

Hopefully, Twig would be okay now, there was uncertainly if he was still taking what his grandfather and mother said badly.

[Nara-pyon]

All eyes turned to Gion, but he didn't seem to know quite how to start. He looked around at everyone, his mouth moving silently as he spoke to himself. Finally, he turned to his wife and nodded at her, then looked at the queen and began to sign.

"Gion would like to try to create something called a dreamscape," Nadya explained on behalf of her husband. "It is a skill he learned from a dear friend, and one he has been experimenting with. He has never tried it before with so many people, but since we are all in close proximity to one another, he doesn't foresee any problems."

Gion nodded, then added something else.

"He says," Nadya went on, her eyes on Gion's hands, "that you all will be able to see those with whom you wish to speak, as well. If they are not naturally visible in the dreamscape, he can recreate their images for you all."

Gion nodded his agreement with his wife's explanation, then looked at the others expectantly.

"I must admit, it sounds both more interesting and less time consuming," the queen agreed without hesitation. "What do we have to do?"

Gion smiled, folded his hands in his lap, and relaxed against the back of his chair.

[Kara Winters]

"Isn't that normally works with sleep? Or would a relaxing meditation do?" Miyuki asked with a blink.

Miyuki had heard of the concept once, a long time ago when she last visited Gaia as a child, but she had never heard of anyone making a dreamscape before. Still, it sounded like such an interesting concept.

[Nara-pyon]

Immediately, Gion's fingers began to flicker rapidly, and again Nadya translated for him.

"It is not called a dreamscape because it takes place in a dream while a person is asleep, but because you enter a dream-like world that exists only in the minds of those participating in it," the two explained together. "As long as your mind is relaxed and willing, he can create an illusory place for all of us."

She paused, watching her husband's hands for a moment; and then she looked around at the others, looking very curious. "What kind of place do you think would be the most comfortable for Twig?" she asked. "What setting? A city? A town? Inside a home? A forest? Near the ocean? A river?"

"Tent," Twin piped up, his voice cracking slightly. He had left his chair now and was curled up in Kaito's lap.

Nadya and Gion both smiled, and Nadya murmured softly, "A tent it is."

Gion lowered his head and put his hands together, concentrating, and Nadya softly instructed everyone: "Relax in your seats and try not to think about anything. It works the best if you close your eyes."

[Kara Winters]

For those who were use to meditating, this request was quite simple. For others, it would be more difficult, it was hard to not think about anything.
Closing their eyes, they did (or tried to do) as Gion had requested.

[Nara-pyon]

Gion didn't begin the dreamscape right away, but gave the others time to relax their bodies and their minds.

Before relaxing himself, Shiro glanced at Holly to see how she was doing. As far as he knew (which was quite a bit, considering they had been dating a while now), she had never studied magic, so she might not know how to meditate properly.

[Kara Winters]

Holly had heard of the theory behind meditation (it was hard not to when one lived in one of Gaia's trading hubs) but she had never practiced it herself. She knew breathing exercises were involved, but she had a lot of trouble focusing. Or rather, she had trouble not thinking of anything.

She wasn't even sure how that even worked to be honest and she was already getting antsy.

[Nara-pyon]

Shiro reached over and put his hand on Holly's, hoping that he wouldn't take her by surprise.

"Slow, even breaths," he murmured. "It gets your heart rate down and relaxes your body."

Overhearing the comment, Gion opened one eye and glanced at his nephew. Raising his hands, he signed: If she can't get into the dreamscape herself, you can bring her into it by holding her hands.

Shiro nodded and relayed the message to Holly. "If you need, you just tell me, all right?" he told her quietly.

[Kara Winters]

Holly took a deep breath and thought about it. She honestly felt like she was grasping straws at the moment so she nodded slowly.

"I would like that bit of help," she admitted softly to him.

[Nara-pyon]

Shiro nodded encouragingly and cupped his hands around Holly's. Then he lowered his head and closed his eyes.

Gion also closed his eyes again, and began the dreamscape.

For those who were able to enter, they suddenly found themselves seated in the same arrangement as the conference room, not on chairs but on large cushions, surrounded by the cloth walls of a large traveling tent. A small, cozy fire crackled in the middle of the circle, and the low light indicated an evening setting outside - though there were no flaps in the tent to peer out of.

It was comfortable, but small enough that Gion could project it easily to many people without using too much energy.

There were, however, two additional bodies in the tent. A man was seated cross-legged on a cushion across from Gion, as obviously Asian as he was human to those who were Gaian. Next to the man was a woman, her features nearly as Asian as his, though she looked more elven than human. These, the group knew immediately, had to be Twig's mother and grandfather, despite the fact that they both appeared to be close to the same age, their early twenties.

Gion's eyes flickered around the group, counting those who had appeared in the dreamscape.

"Did everyone make it?" he asked in a light tenor voice. Those who had been in a dreamscape with him before were unsurprised, but many of the group jumped to hear him speak.

[Kara Winters]

Which was pretty much most people who were startled by Gion's 'voice' since very few had ever been in a dreamscape with him. It was probably more startling to those who had known him for a long time like Lin.

Still, Lin had enough mind to look around and take count, "I think so everyone did?"

There had been a lot of people in the room.

[Nara-pyon]

No one spoke up to say that anyone was missing, so Gion assumed that they had all made it. Instead of commenting on that, he asked, "Can everyone see them?"

The Asian man across from him looked solemnly around at the group. "And can everyone hear us?" he asked in Japanese, though those present who had partaken of dragon's blood at some point could understand him.

"And understand?" the woman added, speaking in the Ancient Tongue of the Garnelians' dialect.

[Kara Winters]

Slowly, those present began to nod, though it was difficult to tell if the understanding was the result of those who had taken dragon's blood, or it was the result of the fact they were in a dreamscape.

"It seems so?" Lin murmured as she looked around.

[Nara-pyon]

There were nods all around, and comments of agreement.

"Excellent," Gion murmured, folding his arms across his chest and giving a satisfied smile. "I wasn't sure if this would work."

"Then perhaps we should begin with introductions," Mari suggested, settling comfortably into the cushion she was sitting on. "I-"

"We know who you are," the man interrupted her, holding up one hand. "Forgive my rudeness, but we have been observing your group since you came across my grandson." He leaned forward, bowing his head almost all the way to the fur-covered floor. "For that you have my thanks, and the thanks of my daughter."

The woman bowed as low as her father, her silky black hair spreading over her back and across the ground.

"Then perhaps you could introduce yourselves?" Kyrie suggested, pulling one knee up and draping an arm over it.

Both of them straightened and nodded. The man went first.

"I am Koizumi Daijiro," he introduced himself. He gestured towards the woman. "My daughter, Ava."

Ava bowed low once more. "I am most grateful for all that you have done for my son," she said sincerely.

"Ava," Cael repeated slowly, rubbing his chin. Suddenly his eyes grew wide. "You used to work in the palace! In the kitchen for a long time, and then serving ..." His brow furrowed. "And then you vanished ..."

The woman raised her head and looked at him in surprise. "I ... yes. I ... was there for a time."

[Kara Winters]

"Daijiro... san," Hikaru hesitated, it had been way too long (several centuries in fact) since he had referred to anyone by an honorific.

Hikaru didn't even know if Daijiro was even using his family name first or last, he just knew it was tradition in this world to use it last. He also didn't know if Daijiro even prescribed to the tradition of only using the family name when being spoken to because family names here were unusual. Mainly royalty or nobles only had family names.

"Would it be okay if you started your story from the beginning?" the kitsune asked.

Because there were too many questions.

[Nara-pyon]

Daijiro nodded once and began to speak.

"The Koizumi clan holds land outside of Kyoto, in Japan, in the world of Gaia," he began. He looked at Lin and Miyuki. "Some of you, I know, will be familiar with at least some of those location names."

Shiro nodded. It seemed Gaia and Arda were more connected than they would ever have suspected.

The man continued. "Back home, I was a Tai Chi master. My dojo was located on the clan grounds, about half a kilometer walk from my house. One day, walking to the dojo after breakfast, I found myself suddenly in a forest."

He watched as his grandson left Kaito's lap and moved to crawl into his mother's lap instead.

"Of course I had no idea where I was, and by the time I found someone, I was so glad to see a friendly face that it took a few moments to realize that she was not Japanese, and that she was not even human. We tried to speak, but we had no common words. But she took me to her home in the forest and gave me food. She offered me a place to stay, and in exchange, I helped her with her garden. Very quickly, we became friends. And then, one day, we discovered that we could communicate when we were in direct physical contact with one another."

He fell silent then, and his eyes lowered, the corners of his mouth turning down sadly.

After a moment, Shiro murmured, "Daijiro-san?"

The man blinked and raised his head again, and his eyes were glistening with moisture. "Forgive me," he murmured. "Even in death, memories are powerful things."

[Kara Winters]

Hikaru tried to whack his brain about the clan, but it had been so long that he couldn't remember what the family was well known for. Then again, Daijiro had stated that he was from Kyoto, which mean he wasn't local to Hikaru's family. That made a world of difference, he was far more familiar to clans closer in location to his.

Lin felt like she should know about Daijiro's family, Vincent had been a harsh taskmaster in that subject (and all subjects he taught her). Despite the fact Lin would have no say in anything related to her own family or his.

"It's fine," Hikaru assured Daijiro, "Take your time."

Holly was fascinated, because she knew how things could have gone wrong for Daijiro and to know he not only found a friendly face but fell in love as well, how lucky he must have been. At least, it seems until the General came into their lives if this was any guess.

[Nara-pyon]

Ava, who had Twig wrapped in her arms and was rocking him back and forth, reached out to touch her father on the shoulder, comforting him.

Daijiro took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "In time, we were married. Shalandra and I. Not according to Japanese culture, but according to the elves of this country. Shortly after, we were betrayed. A man who would occasionally bring Shalandra meat from his hunts spoke of my arrival to someone in the city. Within a week of our marriage, I was sent an invitation to come to the palace and meet the General. A meal to welcome the foreigner to the country, I was told. I did not want to go, as Shalandra was not invited to come with me, but I was told that it was not acceptable to refuse an invitation from the General. So I went."

He shook his head. "I was dead before we reached the city. It is a strange and terrifying thing to watch as your own body is discarded into a grove of trees. When I found myself calm enough to think, I thought only of Shalandra. What the discovery of my death did to her ..."

He shook his head again. "Gone though he is, I will never forgive the General for what he did to her."

Shiro leaned over to Holly and murmured, "You've not spent much time with the elves, so I'm not sure if you're aware - heartache is one of the only ways that they can die. The death of a loved one is the most common cause."

[Kara Winters]

And knowing how people could be, Hikaru could only imagine the reason for that betrayal. He had wondered how Daijiro's descendants came to stay in this country when mixed marriages were frowned upon. Knowing that the poor man was killed a week after being married answered that.

"There are many I'm sure who feel the same way," Hikaru murmured sadly.

Holly nodded at Shiro's words slowly, she hadn't known that, but as he said, she hadn't spent a lot of time around elves before this.

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