The author gives some account of herself and family.

[lurkingkobold]

So, that was a party. It was nice, right up until it wasn't - almost like having a tribe again, if she didn't think too closely about it. But then it wasn't, and it really wasn't, and now here we are.

Here, in this case, is the floor of the closet of the room she's been sleeping in, in Miles' house, wrapped up as tight as she can manage in the blanket she took from the bed, waiting for her heart to calm enough that she can go back to sleep after a familiar and expected nightmare. The blanket is wrong - it's missing the smell and stiffness and most importantly the weight of the leather blanket she wishes she had - and the floor is wrong and the acoustics are wrong and being alone, with no other kobolds, is so wrong, and she wishes she could go home, just for a day, just for an hour, just for long enough to let everything be right again for a little while.

She can't, of course. In the light of day, with her new strange almost-tribe, she doesn't even want to, wouldn't want to even if she could. But here, now, in the dark, in this space that is right only in that it's less wrong than her other options, that it's small enough and closed enough that when she wakes, shaking, she can be sure that she is alone, that no one has snuck up on her - here and now, she would trade it all for the smell of cookfire smoke and the sound of a hundred sleeping bodies.

Remembering helps, a little. Even if she can't be there now, tribe is something she had, something she knows like breathing, like heartbeat. She can't be there, but, if she was.... it would sound like this, and it would look like this, and it would feel like this...

Eventually, her breathing slows, and she drifts back to sleep.

Comments

[greatcomposure]

Cordelia smiles.

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold lays there for another second or two, taking stock of her new knowledge, and basking in it a little. She flickers out, for a moment, experimentally, her grin even wider when she reappears. "Am mage? Am think am mage, am think am know of do."

She sits up and looks around the cave, settling on a stick from the remains of the campfire to experiment with. She holds it in one hand, and does something to one end with the other hand - when she's done, the stick appears to be a few inches shorter, and she nods, "mage!" She then taps the visible part of the stick, returning it to its full length, and breaks off the end that was invisible, just to be safe.

She then pauses, "hmh," and seems to be considering something, a little more seriously even though her smile hasn't faded at all. After a few moments, she blinks. "MP is of many, big of hand of hand of hand."

[greatcomposure]

...Cordelia observes all this.

When the kobold reports her new MP, she says/types, "Congratulations. Do you still need that plant? Will all this magic help you find it?"

[lurkingkobold]

Cordelia gets an impulsive hug while the kobold speaks.

"Am maybe no of need," she giggles, "but is good of idea of have; if need, wait is of danger. Am do of learn of gate, do of gate of tribe place?"

[greatcomposure]

Cordelia hugs back, then picks up her not-mirror again.

"Seems like a reasonable plan. Let's go back and get you a gate spellbook."

She casts a gate to her demiplane.

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold goes through, and heads to the collection of spellbooks, still giggling occasionally. "Magic!"

With a slightly smug grin, she casts Comprehend Language on the books, to allow herself to find the one she wants. A few moments later, she's ready to head out again. "Cordelia want of come?"

[greatcomposure]

Cordelia nods.

[lurkingkobold]

Demiplane, then, and Gate ("Gate!"), this one to a different but very similar patch of forest at the base of a cliff.

There were vines on this cliff, apparently; the cut stumps are still there. They're all gone now, though. The kobold seems confused.

[greatcomposure]

"Is that the plant?" she asks, indicating the stumps.

[lurkingkobold]

Nod.

"Am think of tribe do of take. Is strange of take of all of plant, am not of know of reason." She shrugs. "Is other of place, small of travel, am think of tribe no do of take of all of plant of other of place, is reason of not do." She nods toward a trail, rather wider and smoother than the deer trail they were on before, that apparently leads where she's suggesting they go.

[greatcomposure]

Cordelia nods in a yes-let's-do-that-then sort of way.

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold leads the way. She's more somber, now - still obviously happy, but not giggling or exclaiming, not radiating happiness like she had been.

After a few minutes, she slows her pace just a little, and begins explaining. "Place is of important of tribe," she starts, "important of kobold of tribe. Is..." she looks back, to gauge Cordelia's mood, "kobold is of tribe, kobold do if die, tribe do of put of place, do of ritual, is of important. Spring, tribe do of ritual, do of go of place, do of ritual of place. Other of time, tribe no do of go of place, if kobold go of place, kobold do of thing, tiny of ritual, small of important."

She pauses, not finished, but considering something.

[greatcomposure]

She listens attentively to this explanation.

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold seems subdued but not conflicted, so far - the kobold graveyard clearly has more sad associations than happy ones, but she's not afraid of it, or concerned about the acceptability of gathering plants there. She does seem less sure of the next bit, though.

"Am think is okay of bring of human of place. Place no is of hide. Is reason of bring, am think is of okay. Is... Cordelia do of tiny of ritual? Am do of show."

[greatcomposure]

Nod.

[lurkingkobold]

Nod.

They continue along the path for another fifteen or twenty minutes before reaching their destination - a large clearing, one half of which is dominated by a pile of grey stones, each stone small enough to have been carried there by a single kobold; the far side of the pile is covered with the vines that the kobold has been looking for. The other half of the clearing is grassy, but not overgrown, and contains a large firepit.

The path runs parallel to the grassy side of the clearing, rather than leading directly in; the kobold pauses to check on Cordelia before leaving it.

[greatcomposure]

Cordelia is following along and looking a little pensive but not particularly troubled.

[lurkingkobold]

Cordelia gets a reassuring nudge to the arm, then, and then the kobold continues into the clearing. She checks on the firepit first, briefly, then approaches the near side of the cairn and examines it. There are some rocks that appear to have fallen off of the pile, mostly smaller ones; she sets to putting them back in the spots that look most like they need to be reinforced, nodding silently to Cordelia to come help after she's done a few to demonstrate.

[greatcomposure]

She goes and helps.

[lurkingkobold]

It's a little bit meditative.

When they've taken care of about a quarter of the un-vined section of the cairn, the kobold gives Cordelia a complicated little nod-bow; not asking Cordelia to stop, but acknowledging that the kobold is going to.

[greatcomposure]

Cordelia nods acknowledgement, and places another couple of stones, and then also stops.

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold, meanwhile, goes around to the vined side of the cairn to collect what she came for. She takes five vines, cutting into each plant high enough that it can easily grow back and coiling the collected parts around her arm to make a conveniently sized loop.

[greatcomposure]

Cordelia takes a moment to study the vines, observing features that came through less clearly in the drawing, in case she ever needs to identify more of them.

[lurkingkobold]

When she's done, the kobold approaches Cordelia and nudges her arm again, smiling, calm and a little pleased. "Gate?", she asks, quietly.

[greatcomposure]

Cordelia nods, and stands a little ways away from the pile, and casts the gate back to her demiplane.