In short order Ruarc was back and inspecting the gauntlet as his apprentice spoke to Laoise. Analyzing the leatherwork with more of a craftsman’s eye than an engineer’s, the Irishman was already making mental notes for when he would use the gauntlet; if he was going to be training a Third then he needed to make sure his field work was up to their standards. It looked like his apprentice had paid attention when she had heard him talking about the runic gauntlet he had used in the Elementia.
“I recognize the glove, but how about this little guy?” Laoise inquired as she leaned closer to look at the ME-6.
[The Keep] Walking to Skye
Re: [The Keep] Walking to Skye
"A utilitarian tool," buzzed Drysi's voice elegantly with a husky, snakelike tone, "important for the Keeper who thinks creatively and needs to make their way in mundane societies."
The apprentice made some distance between Laoise and herself, maintaining eye contact, her elegant posture giving way to excitement with each ginger, tapping step. With a tense pinch and a glow, she channeled mana. The ladder grew to full size in a snap, and Drysi braced herself against it, still channeling.
"All the utility of a ladder," Drysi pitched up the rungs, getting all the way to the top. The ladder did not move, and she jumped off the top, holding the top rung on the way down. The ME-6 shrunk quickly, and Drysi dunked it into her bag as she landed, "In your pocket. Ah, but what if ya need to get somewhere laterally? Perhaps ya need to get into a place where ya don't quite have access..."
She bounced along behind a tree in the yard and appeared out the other side with the ladder over her shoulder.
"... you can go anywhere with a ladder!"
Finishing her prance she went around the tree again, reappearing empty-handed.
The apprentice made some distance between Laoise and herself, maintaining eye contact, her elegant posture giving way to excitement with each ginger, tapping step. With a tense pinch and a glow, she channeled mana. The ladder grew to full size in a snap, and Drysi braced herself against it, still channeling.
"All the utility of a ladder," Drysi pitched up the rungs, getting all the way to the top. The ladder did not move, and she jumped off the top, holding the top rung on the way down. The ME-6 shrunk quickly, and Drysi dunked it into her bag as she landed, "In your pocket. Ah, but what if ya need to get somewhere laterally? Perhaps ya need to get into a place where ya don't quite have access..."
She bounced along behind a tree in the yard and appeared out the other side with the ladder over her shoulder.
"... you can go anywhere with a ladder!"
Finishing her prance she went around the tree again, reappearing empty-handed.
Re: [The Keep] Walking to Skye
“Positively deliteful, and even ready for a turn on Dragon’s Den~! Or however Mastrogiacomo handles inventions,” Laoise gave a dainty bit of applause to Drysi’s presentation as she rested her stave in the crook of her arm; as Drysi returned, Laoise deftly spun it up and across her shoulders before gripping it with both hands. She then looked sidelong to Ruarc who was now trying on the leather gauntlet. “Your Master here could use more tools like that. He’s pretty fond of disguises when out on missions, which is how he usually ends up without: A, his tome; B, his staff; C, his armor; or D, all of the above.”
Ruarc looked up, and then stiffly over to Laoise who smiled primly and waggled her fingers in greeting. The Irishman sighed, but had no rebuttal against a factual statement; regardless of how smarmy it had been. Returning to the gauntlet, he removed the piece and handed it back to Drysi.
“Morning, Drysi; morning, Gideon,” Ruarc said, finally getting an opportunity to greet his apprentice without getting hit with a stick. “Now that ya got some good sleep in, get some food, and settle on what you want to bring out into the field. Pack efficiently, but don’t sacrifice effectiveness. We’ll be heading out in two hours. I’ll have the truck parked out front.”
From there, Ruarc ushered his apprentice on her way to get a meal in. Along with a couple pieces of flakey fried fish and chips, Saoirse gave the Welshgirl a neatly bundled sack of food; enough for her, Ruarc, Laoise, and a separate little bag with a field mouse for Gideon. She had a little time following her meal to prepare a bag, and then a little before one in the afternoon she met her mentor out in front of the Iron Glory Inn. Ruarc was loading a golf bag and a backpack into the back of a pickup truck while Laoise and Maeve looked at a roadmap unfolded on the bonnet.
Ruarc looked up, and then stiffly over to Laoise who smiled primly and waggled her fingers in greeting. The Irishman sighed, but had no rebuttal against a factual statement; regardless of how smarmy it had been. Returning to the gauntlet, he removed the piece and handed it back to Drysi.
“Morning, Drysi; morning, Gideon,” Ruarc said, finally getting an opportunity to greet his apprentice without getting hit with a stick. “Now that ya got some good sleep in, get some food, and settle on what you want to bring out into the field. Pack efficiently, but don’t sacrifice effectiveness. We’ll be heading out in two hours. I’ll have the truck parked out front.”
From there, Ruarc ushered his apprentice on her way to get a meal in. Along with a couple pieces of flakey fried fish and chips, Saoirse gave the Welshgirl a neatly bundled sack of food; enough for her, Ruarc, Laoise, and a separate little bag with a field mouse for Gideon. She had a little time following her meal to prepare a bag, and then a little before one in the afternoon she met her mentor out in front of the Iron Glory Inn. Ruarc was loading a golf bag and a backpack into the back of a pickup truck while Laoise and Maeve looked at a roadmap unfolded on the bonnet.
Re: [The Keep] Walking to Skye
Drysi didn't want to mention the number of times she had twisted her ankle practicing those stunts. After the first time, she had learned to take a healing rune out in the woods with her. The memory stung, but Laoise's praise felt like the warm sun, and Drysi basked in it. It made all the study, work and practice for flair feel worth it.
Her heart began to flutter when her master came over, and she expected a remark on the use of her runes in the ladder, or the potential uses of the gauntlet. A good job. Maybe a head pat. Drysi wasn't above a head pat, she was rather small after all.
She tried to stay attentive as he got down to business, but she was distracted by how badly she wanted him to say something about her work. Gideon pressed against her jaw, and she began to fidget, looking nervous. A combination of her trepidation and the burning desire in her heart colored her face.
"Two hours should be enough time," she pressed through pursed lips. The height of her caffeine rush having passed, her brain began to come back to earth. It helped her focus, but she still stared intently at her Master, waiting even for an opinion, or some notice.
When it became clear he had moved on, she put it out of her mind, focusing on more important things.
"He hates it," wailed Drysi, back in her room, throwing her heavy bag on the bed. Her meal had given her enough calories to feel again.
"He doesn't hate it," assuaged Gideon, sliding in and out of the discarded bag, arranging items on the sheet. "He probably has a lot on his mind, and, besides, he tried it on."
"I should've led with the body armor," she spat, picking out runes from the row Gideon was forming.
"Why didn't you?"
"I left it back at the cottage, because I thought we were going back yesterday morning. Damn it, damn it, damn it. He's probably regretting bringing me along."
"Those are your nerves talking, not you. Leave those here. Master Flynn needs you."
Drysi stared grimly at all the things she brought along, and opted for a small selection of runes and her book. She pocketed the wind step rune. Then, made a motion to grab her head and mimed leaving it on the bed.
Outside she padded up to her Master, considerably lighter without all her stationery, spare runes, and her research proposal. She kept a small stack of note cards, at least, but she felt naked without all of her pens and paper.
"What's the golf bag for?" was a question she couldn't leave for later.
Her heart began to flutter when her master came over, and she expected a remark on the use of her runes in the ladder, or the potential uses of the gauntlet. A good job. Maybe a head pat. Drysi wasn't above a head pat, she was rather small after all.
She tried to stay attentive as he got down to business, but she was distracted by how badly she wanted him to say something about her work. Gideon pressed against her jaw, and she began to fidget, looking nervous. A combination of her trepidation and the burning desire in her heart colored her face.
"Two hours should be enough time," she pressed through pursed lips. The height of her caffeine rush having passed, her brain began to come back to earth. It helped her focus, but she still stared intently at her Master, waiting even for an opinion, or some notice.
When it became clear he had moved on, she put it out of her mind, focusing on more important things.
"He hates it," wailed Drysi, back in her room, throwing her heavy bag on the bed. Her meal had given her enough calories to feel again.
"He doesn't hate it," assuaged Gideon, sliding in and out of the discarded bag, arranging items on the sheet. "He probably has a lot on his mind, and, besides, he tried it on."
"I should've led with the body armor," she spat, picking out runes from the row Gideon was forming.
"Why didn't you?"
"I left it back at the cottage, because I thought we were going back yesterday morning. Damn it, damn it, damn it. He's probably regretting bringing me along."
"Those are your nerves talking, not you. Leave those here. Master Flynn needs you."
Drysi stared grimly at all the things she brought along, and opted for a small selection of runes and her book. She pocketed the wind step rune. Then, made a motion to grab her head and mimed leaving it on the bed.
Outside she padded up to her Master, considerably lighter without all her stationery, spare runes, and her research proposal. She kept a small stack of note cards, at least, but she felt naked without all of her pens and paper.
"What's the golf bag for?" was a question she couldn't leave for later.
Re: [The Keep] Walking to Skye
Ruarc looked over and gave Drysi an amiable wave as she approached the truck. With a motion, he had her hand over her pack so he could put it in the bed of the truck alongside the golf bag and his own pack. Once he had it settled in Ruarc couldn’t resist smiling a little at his apprentice before lifting the golf bag out of the bed and setting it on the ground. Unzipping the top he revealed a normal looking set of golf clubs; and a couple of wooden druid staffs. One of the staffs looked charred black with a topaz set into the finger-like branches at the top, and a young work-in-progress staff.
“A man of the Isles with a golf bag doesn’t stand out as much as a tall bloke with a fancy stick,” Ruarc explained.
“See? Disguises,” Laoise spoke up from the front of the truck.
“A man of the Isles with a golf bag doesn’t stand out as much as a tall bloke with a fancy stick,” Ruarc explained.
“See? Disguises,” Laoise spoke up from the front of the truck.
Re: [The Keep] Walking to Skye
This was a whole new side of Mr. Flynn that Drysi had never seen before. It was one thing to theorize him performing deception with a ladder, it was another to see it in practice. What happened to that dorky, older-brother looking man who had wiggled in excitement at the idea of Willow and herself being roommates? He wasn't supposed to be anything but a wrecking-ball hero type.
"Oh," she said finally, having marvelled at her Master's preparedness. Instead of trying to pose some false persona on the spot, her eyes were drawn, almost instinctively, to the staff with the topaz, "Oh! That's the staff, the one that got you the nickname."
It looked so mundane, sharing lodging with a set of golf clubs, but she felt the urge to look deeper. For the first time since the forest challenge, she opened her mind through her eyes.
Outwardly, Drysi's eyes shifted hues from emerald to a topaz that matched the head of the staff. Her pupils dilated sharply as the very essence of the focus overwhelmed her. Normally she only saw auras in color, but the staff jumped out into her mind. She relived moments from its history so fierce and sudden that her eyes began to water.
A flash of power against a dark god.
The catastrophic explosion that charred the wood.
A flurry of memories as the staff lived in Ruarc's hands, becoming his.
Then came the moment he attached the topaz to the head. She felt herself about to jump deeper, but the Ruarc in the memory looked directly at her. He was a man much younger, much closer to her in age, but his eyes said, 'Look away.' So, she did, blinking away tears, shying away from what looked like an abyss off the oceanic shelf that was the history of the gem that sat at the head of the blackened staff.
Her eyes became sparkling emerald in color again, and she blinked away more tears.
"Fookin' hell, is there anything you do or deal with in this job that's ordinary?"
"Oh," she said finally, having marvelled at her Master's preparedness. Instead of trying to pose some false persona on the spot, her eyes were drawn, almost instinctively, to the staff with the topaz, "Oh! That's the staff, the one that got you the nickname."
It looked so mundane, sharing lodging with a set of golf clubs, but she felt the urge to look deeper. For the first time since the forest challenge, she opened her mind through her eyes.
Outwardly, Drysi's eyes shifted hues from emerald to a topaz that matched the head of the staff. Her pupils dilated sharply as the very essence of the focus overwhelmed her. Normally she only saw auras in color, but the staff jumped out into her mind. She relived moments from its history so fierce and sudden that her eyes began to water.
A flash of power against a dark god.
The catastrophic explosion that charred the wood.
A flurry of memories as the staff lived in Ruarc's hands, becoming his.
Then came the moment he attached the topaz to the head. She felt herself about to jump deeper, but the Ruarc in the memory looked directly at her. He was a man much younger, much closer to her in age, but his eyes said, 'Look away.' So, she did, blinking away tears, shying away from what looked like an abyss off the oceanic shelf that was the history of the gem that sat at the head of the blackened staff.
Her eyes became sparkling emerald in color again, and she blinked away more tears.
"Fookin' hell, is there anything you do or deal with in this job that's ordinary?"
Re: [The Keep] Walking to Skye
“Expense reports,” Ruarc said flatly as he held out a handkerchief for Drysi. While he only had a loose idea of what just happened, the question was easy enough to answer with little thought on the matter. “Then there are the quarterly reports about my case files, and annual reviews with physical evaluations to make sure I am fit enough to be serving as a Keeper. That said, Laoise having thumbs has been a big help on the paperwork side of things.”
“From Guide to Secretary,” Laoise’s tones was even flatter than Ruarc’s while not looking away from the map.
“Also, I have a nickname?” came a hushed mumble from the Irishman as he repacked the golf bag and stowed it. Shortly thereafter Laoise stepped over with the now folded map to hand off to her druid.
“Alright, looks like we’re ready to ship out. Ready, Navigator?” Ruarc gently tapped the map onto Drysi’s head.
“From Guide to Secretary,” Laoise’s tones was even flatter than Ruarc’s while not looking away from the map.
“Also, I have a nickname?” came a hushed mumble from the Irishman as he repacked the golf bag and stowed it. Shortly thereafter Laoise stepped over with the now folded map to hand off to her druid.
“Alright, looks like we’re ready to ship out. Ready, Navigator?” Ruarc gently tapped the map onto Drysi’s head.
Re: [The Keep] Walking to Skye
After a reflexive wince and a yip, Drysi's hands clapped to the map on her head. It hadn't hurt, but the surprise inspired the response, just in case. She tugged it off her head, the paperish material unfurling in her hands. Again, her eyes responded with a wide dilation, but this time due to dopamine.
Drysi loved maps, especially old maps, but regular road maps would do. What imagery in her laptop's hard drives that wasn't of questionable depictions of men and women were maps. Treasure maps, world maps, fantasy maps; they were all remnants of a cringe-worthy period of Drysi's life where she fancied herself a kind of mystic cartographer with world changing inks and quills. Now that she was thinking of it, she never knew what happened to those two contacts that made her look like she had three different colored eyes.
Gut wrenching embarrassment of old memories aside, Drysi liked the idea of being the navigator, and answered Ruarc with a crisp salute.
"Ready!"
Then, amongst the reverie of map-based pleasure, she remembered her phone.
"But, why don't we just use GPS?"
Drysi loved maps, especially old maps, but regular road maps would do. What imagery in her laptop's hard drives that wasn't of questionable depictions of men and women were maps. Treasure maps, world maps, fantasy maps; they were all remnants of a cringe-worthy period of Drysi's life where she fancied herself a kind of mystic cartographer with world changing inks and quills. Now that she was thinking of it, she never knew what happened to those two contacts that made her look like she had three different colored eyes.
Gut wrenching embarrassment of old memories aside, Drysi liked the idea of being the navigator, and answered Ruarc with a crisp salute.
"Ready!"
Then, amongst the reverie of map-based pleasure, she remembered her phone.
"But, why don't we just use GPS?"
Re: [The Keep] Walking to Skye
Cocking his head, Ruarc seemed a little caught off guard by the question. The look on his face suggesting he was expecting more of her initial reaction than the latter. As this was going on, Laiose got into the truck, ducked her head, and didn’t pop back up. Following after, Maeve did the same. Shortly after, an owl poked its head up and a dove landed atop. Apparently finding his response, Master Flynn simply shrugged.
“Where’s the fun in that?” he asked in return as he got into the driver’s seat. “Or for a more formal response, something something testing practical analog deduction of traditional methods of geo-navigation for the purpose of auto-location whilst seeking a specific destination.”
The Ruarc that Drysi was seeing was a different kind of work mode. He was away from his administration position of Safeholme, and he was away from the Menagerie that he’d been working alongside since he was around Drysi’s age. This was Case File Ruarc; who usually only worked with Laoise, who already knew he was a bit of a dork. Save for his familiar, and when drinking at the pub with Percy, Ruarc was relaxing a bit as best he could so his apprentice could get a better sense of how field work functioned.
“Where’s the fun in that?” he asked in return as he got into the driver’s seat. “Or for a more formal response, something something testing practical analog deduction of traditional methods of geo-navigation for the purpose of auto-location whilst seeking a specific destination.”
The Ruarc that Drysi was seeing was a different kind of work mode. He was away from his administration position of Safeholme, and he was away from the Menagerie that he’d been working alongside since he was around Drysi’s age. This was Case File Ruarc; who usually only worked with Laoise, who already knew he was a bit of a dork. Save for his familiar, and when drinking at the pub with Percy, Ruarc was relaxing a bit as best he could so his apprentice could get a better sense of how field work functioned.
Re: [The Keep] Walking to Skye
In that moment, Drysi saw a bit of Brooke in Mr. Flynn.
No... She saw a bit of Chief Brennan in him.
That wasn't it. Roan? The two of them looked a lot alike.
The memory of the training grounds came to mind, and she realized it was something quite Keeperish about him. Something bred into them. Something that jumped out to her in the manuals, mannerisms, legends, and bravado of the Keepers. Up until now, Mr. Flynn had felt separate from all of that, an alien among rebels, but here Ruarc seemed to be one of his kind.
It excited Drysi, and she opened the door to scramble her way into the front seat. She was also a bit Keeperish, she found, because despite having the best method in her hand, she placed it on the dash and spread out the map before her.
"Ya don' know this, but I made a map from the account of a fish to find you in a forest," proudly admitted Drysi, already tracing her finger along the road, "So you'll find my navigation skills to be more than adequate, and my voice a lot more pleasin' than that a' Siri's."
No... She saw a bit of Chief Brennan in him.
That wasn't it. Roan? The two of them looked a lot alike.
The memory of the training grounds came to mind, and she realized it was something quite Keeperish about him. Something bred into them. Something that jumped out to her in the manuals, mannerisms, legends, and bravado of the Keepers. Up until now, Mr. Flynn had felt separate from all of that, an alien among rebels, but here Ruarc seemed to be one of his kind.
It excited Drysi, and she opened the door to scramble her way into the front seat. She was also a bit Keeperish, she found, because despite having the best method in her hand, she placed it on the dash and spread out the map before her.
"Ya don' know this, but I made a map from the account of a fish to find you in a forest," proudly admitted Drysi, already tracing her finger along the road, "So you'll find my navigation skills to be more than adequate, and my voice a lot more pleasin' than that a' Siri's."