Strange Portents - Printable Version

Hoping that she understood the vague sense of calling, the Visitor been waiting for the hyena for quite some time, sat back on a folding camping chair with one leg up over the other, ankle on knee; it was hiding among the trees like some kind of novice stalker. It was comfortable in the woods and thought it had picked a pretty good spot to watch the hillside, having shown her that much in her dream—until, finally, her painted fur and rattling adornments of bones glimmered beneath the planet-light. The Visitor did not immediately greet her, instead choosing to observe her for some time.

Ah, Giggle. Poor ole' Giggle. How much had she truly been through these last ten years? Shaking its head, the Visitor quietly reflected on the good and bad times, and the even worse times—man, she'd really been through the wringer! It was quietly munching on gummy worms when it accidentally knocked its canned drink from the flimsy camping chair cup holder—"ah- SHIT!" it whispered loudly—and a clattering of fumbles followed: the drink can clinking to the ground, the shuffle of robes, the crinkling of its multiple bags of snacks spilling to the ground... ugh!

Well, the time for chilling was over, it seemed.

Red eyes caught Giggle from the treeline as the Visitor waved her way. Maybe it had been pushing its time anyway; the hyena would need to return to the caves soon, but she had been through worse than just magic sickness. It scooped up a staff by its feet, hid it behind its back, and ambled out to greet her.

"Yooo Giggle," it said, its voice on the edge of masculine and feminine, like it had no true weight one way or the other. "Gotcha somethin'!" it exclaimed quietly, like it was going to present her a gift between old friends.

It brought the staff from behind its back and held it horizontally across upturned palms as it kneeled in the grass to bring itself eye-level with her. The staff was darkened ash wood and tall enough for a man, with subtle streaks of petrified opal running through its smoothed gnarled bark. At its end, the wood arched into a crescent shape and a wedge of rainbow moonstone sat within the crescent. Poking from the backside of the wedge were various tines of antlers and horns that had been melded on seamlessly, from which hung dried lavender and ivy and other sorts of plants, black and grey ribbons, and miscellaneous small bones and teeth (most of which were lamb bones). The base of the crescent was wrapped in even more ribbon, strands of which fluttered freely at varying lengths. It was a design that could easily be added to or adjusted.

"Check this out," the Visitor said as it pointed to the crescent-shaped rainbow moonstone that shimmered with blue and hints of gold in the starlight. "This staff is imbued with magic by the great enchanter, Tallulah." It wasn't really—probably—but there was a great enchanter named Tallulah. Somewhere. Sometime. Who died to cancer. (Fuck cancer!) The Visitor eyed a piece of elk antler that had been merged at the back of the crescent and brushed it gently, trailing its finger down a piece of starry blue ribbon where two canines were tied and dangling—one was noticeably smaller than the other, as if each from an adult lion and young wolf respectively.

"Arcane." It broke from its thoughts and tapped the moonstone as if the significance should be immediately obvious. "It's just enough magic for you, and the Halfteeth* life sleeping inside is waiting for you," explained the Visitor as its glowing eyes lifted to meet her own. "When you return to your home in Canis, give a piece of your stone in a space large enough to hold a chrysalis," it said with a wink (that is, one glowy eye twinkling off for a moment) and then nodded its head. "Pretty cool, right?" Of course it was. "Anyway, it's thanks, to you, for putting up with so much of our shit. Thank you."

* gm disclaimer: not actually a true halfteeth but resembles the bipedal half-transformation between animal and person - or aka werehyena

Giggle was more thankful than the Visitor had anticipated—if it had an eyebrow to raise, it would raise one. But despite everything she had been through, the hyena had come out on top and at this point, the Visitor was truly rooting for her.

"Naaaaah," the leonine-skull shook side-to-side briskly as it rattled out the sound. A baubled item or something would have been cool, but it didn't want to risk her trying her magic this far from the reservoir, and the thought didn't occur to it until she had asked. Pushing up from its kneeling position, the Visitor resisted the urge to reach out and pet her. Actually...

Its hands balled at its sides as it looked to her with glowing red eyes, peering down at her from over its angular cheek bones with its jaw pointed slightly upward.

"May I... pat your head?" it asked in a near-whisper, almost embarrassed by the question. "You absolutely can say no." Consent was paramount, of course.

It refrained from a fist-pump even though the urge bubbled up through its arm. Instead, the Visitor removed the glove on its right hand to reveal bony fingers and quietly leaned down to gently pat Giggle's head, at first as little taps and then resting its whole palm between her ears and brushing softly; it was careful to avoid going too far forward, lest it touch her gem. Not that anything bad would have happened, but were the gems sensitive? Was it like poking someone's heart? It didn't want to find out. The idea of it sent chills through its own body and it didn't even have a gem!

Though it could not exactly feel her fur, it was a nice moment that it did not think it could afford: a moment of nothing? Relaxation? In this economy? Ridiculous!

After a few moments, it removed its hand, replaced its glove, and gave Giggle a happy thumbs-up.

"Thank you, I appreciate it..." the Visitor said cheekily; it wouldn't ask that of her again, of course, but it hadn't had any plans to ask anything of her. That opportunity was too much to pass up. She'd been through enough, right? The Visitor didn't want to overstay its welcome or burden her with any more strange requests. It had been so tired lately, so busy, so full of life and things to know and do—this was the break it needed, if only for a few minutes.

"Be seein' ya," it said, and in a gesture that might be lost on her, the Visitor pointed at Giggle with two finger-guns and snapped, making a short clicking sound with its mouth before turning sideways to her to mosey back toward its sitting area. It left the staff in her care but angled itself in a way that made it approachable if she had anything else to say or ask as it gathered its spilled snacks and drink can. It was crouched, shoving things randomly into a tote, making sure it left nothing behind. Please! Do Not Litter! Help Keep The Forests Clean!