GhostPine
07-03-14, 06:10 AM
“What are you looking at, Jack?” Merrin called as she glanced over from the bubbling pot on the woodstove. Usually the precocious seven year old stayed near while she cooked, soaking up the heat and giggling when the logs popped behind the iron door but tonight he was at the far window, his faced pressed against the glass and his breath fogging as he watched the darkness. “Stargazing?” she asked when he didn’t respond after a moment.
“No,” the boy finally answered, his voice as far away as his attention. “The Doremi are looking for something.”
“What?” his mother asked as she stirred the stew and shook her head. The Doremi were the imaginary forest spirits the children spoke of when they came in from playing.
“They’re looking in windows of houses. I think they’re looking for something.” Jack insisted.
The hair rose down Merrin’s spine. She refused to believe in childish fairy tales, but something nagged at her in her son’s voice, his conviction and faith. Pursing her lips she went to the window and pulled him away, whisking the curtains closed. As she ushered him to the kitchen, urging him to clean up at washbasin she couldn’t help but feel she might have saw something at the window when she walked over. However, when she snuck a peek as the boy set the table, there was nothing but the clean expanse of snow, shining like crushed pearl in the light of the stars.
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The grandfather clock in the living room punctuated the silence of the night. It was some time before dawn yet, but Merrin found herself slowly waking. It was as if she had to move the cobwebs from her consciousness, and slowly she was aware of the clock, the creak of the roof as the wind blew, the deep rhythmic breathing of her husband, and the warmth of the covers of the family bed. She reached out, across a gap of cool covers and rubbed her husband’s shoulders. It only took a moment of that peaceful motion before she knew why she woke. Jack was gone. She sat up, and listened. The house was too quiet for him to be up. Rising and grabbing for her robe, she moved from the bedroom. His small boots were still at the door. He hadn’t gone to the outhouse. Her voice was gone. She wanted to yell, to call her son to her, but she felt frozen in place. Across the room from where she stood, the window Jack had been looking out was still shut, but the curtains had been ripped to the side, the glass of the window covered in a thick layer of frost.
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The search party had been gone for two days when Merrin’s front door flew open. The neighbors where there, their cheeks red from cold and effort, their breaths panting. “Come quick! They’ve found something!”
“Is it Jack?” she asked hopefully, but they were already gone. Rushing to put her boots on, throwing a blanket about her shoulders, she rushed outside, sloughing through the destroyed remnants of the snow to the edge of town where the small log buildings gave way to the rocky path leading into the woods. Men were filtering through the treeline, approaching her. Her husband was in the lead, his grey eyes dark and his mouth a thin line. They hadn’t found Jack. She didn’t need to ask, she could see the disappointment and defeat. What had they found, then? She rushed into his arms for a moment, and then moved past. A group of men were pulling a sled with something lashed down upon it. At first glance she thought it was a deer. There was the hooved legs and velveted horns, but there was also the torso and face a girl, a very young girl it looked like.
“What is that?” Merrin asked in wonder and fear. Behind her one of the children stepped forward.
“It’s Seda! She’s one of them. One of the Doremi.” Merrin looked from the boy to the creature before her. Jack had been talking about this the night he disappeared? Anger sparked behind her eyes and she started to rush at the sled. Someone grabbed her shoulders, holding her back but just barely. Spittle flew from her mouth, her voice twisted in rage and grief. “What have you done with my son!? “
No answer came.
-------------------------------------
Name: Seda
Race: Dryadic spirit
Height: 5’7” at the top of her head,
Weight: 170 lbs
Appearance: Seda is a forest spirit that appears half deer, half human. Arranged much like a centaur, with a doe’s body and the torso of what appears to be a very young woman, about 14 years old. Her face still has the roundness of childhood, with large brown eyes and light brown hair that falls to the middle of her back. Two small antlers grow from her skull and stay low, wrapping forward as if the tines made a sort of bone crown. Her antlers are covered with velvet, the hair on her body course and thick for the winter. Her humanoid torso is pale and thin, a lack of breasts or nipples adding to the otherworldly strangeness she carries.
Skills: None
Abilities: None
Inventory: None
Weapons: None
Armor: None
“No,” the boy finally answered, his voice as far away as his attention. “The Doremi are looking for something.”
“What?” his mother asked as she stirred the stew and shook her head. The Doremi were the imaginary forest spirits the children spoke of when they came in from playing.
“They’re looking in windows of houses. I think they’re looking for something.” Jack insisted.
The hair rose down Merrin’s spine. She refused to believe in childish fairy tales, but something nagged at her in her son’s voice, his conviction and faith. Pursing her lips she went to the window and pulled him away, whisking the curtains closed. As she ushered him to the kitchen, urging him to clean up at washbasin she couldn’t help but feel she might have saw something at the window when she walked over. However, when she snuck a peek as the boy set the table, there was nothing but the clean expanse of snow, shining like crushed pearl in the light of the stars.
--------
The grandfather clock in the living room punctuated the silence of the night. It was some time before dawn yet, but Merrin found herself slowly waking. It was as if she had to move the cobwebs from her consciousness, and slowly she was aware of the clock, the creak of the roof as the wind blew, the deep rhythmic breathing of her husband, and the warmth of the covers of the family bed. She reached out, across a gap of cool covers and rubbed her husband’s shoulders. It only took a moment of that peaceful motion before she knew why she woke. Jack was gone. She sat up, and listened. The house was too quiet for him to be up. Rising and grabbing for her robe, she moved from the bedroom. His small boots were still at the door. He hadn’t gone to the outhouse. Her voice was gone. She wanted to yell, to call her son to her, but she felt frozen in place. Across the room from where she stood, the window Jack had been looking out was still shut, but the curtains had been ripped to the side, the glass of the window covered in a thick layer of frost.
--------------
The search party had been gone for two days when Merrin’s front door flew open. The neighbors where there, their cheeks red from cold and effort, their breaths panting. “Come quick! They’ve found something!”
“Is it Jack?” she asked hopefully, but they were already gone. Rushing to put her boots on, throwing a blanket about her shoulders, she rushed outside, sloughing through the destroyed remnants of the snow to the edge of town where the small log buildings gave way to the rocky path leading into the woods. Men were filtering through the treeline, approaching her. Her husband was in the lead, his grey eyes dark and his mouth a thin line. They hadn’t found Jack. She didn’t need to ask, she could see the disappointment and defeat. What had they found, then? She rushed into his arms for a moment, and then moved past. A group of men were pulling a sled with something lashed down upon it. At first glance she thought it was a deer. There was the hooved legs and velveted horns, but there was also the torso and face a girl, a very young girl it looked like.
“What is that?” Merrin asked in wonder and fear. Behind her one of the children stepped forward.
“It’s Seda! She’s one of them. One of the Doremi.” Merrin looked from the boy to the creature before her. Jack had been talking about this the night he disappeared? Anger sparked behind her eyes and she started to rush at the sled. Someone grabbed her shoulders, holding her back but just barely. Spittle flew from her mouth, her voice twisted in rage and grief. “What have you done with my son!? “
No answer came.
-------------------------------------
Name: Seda
Race: Dryadic spirit
Height: 5’7” at the top of her head,
Weight: 170 lbs
Appearance: Seda is a forest spirit that appears half deer, half human. Arranged much like a centaur, with a doe’s body and the torso of what appears to be a very young woman, about 14 years old. Her face still has the roundness of childhood, with large brown eyes and light brown hair that falls to the middle of her back. Two small antlers grow from her skull and stay low, wrapping forward as if the tines made a sort of bone crown. Her antlers are covered with velvet, the hair on her body course and thick for the winter. Her humanoid torso is pale and thin, a lack of breasts or nipples adding to the otherworldly strangeness she carries.
Skills: None
Abilities: None
Inventory: None
Weapons: None
Armor: None