Jan 6, 2004
CHAPTER (currently) 7
Finder cut more off the pig's carcass and handed the plate back to Saryn. He started to cut the pig on his plate apart with his knife. I could smell it, mixing with the taste of the fire, swirling up into the night's sky.
"So, Ser, where exactly are we?"
Saryn slurped down another hunk of hog. I wondered if she even chewed it. The slurp stuck for a second, as if it had caught on a branch in the wind. I casually brushed it away. Finder looked over at me, wondering what I had brushed at. I just shrugged. He raised an eyebrow, and turned his attention back to Saryn.
She was apparently chewing after all, because after some hefty unching she finally swallowed. I watched the food go down her throat, could almost feel the angry wet darkness that it met. I shrugged myself out of the path.
She finally opened her mouth to speak, and I couldn't feel any undertones in her voice, just pure conviction.
"Yellowstone National Park," she said.
Finder didn't even look startled, but I could see those words like a golden lining in the air. Something shuddered far away. I reached out and touched the words, and for a moment, they were there, hanging in air. Finder and Saryn stared at me, and I jerked my hand away. The words, as suddenly as they had appeared, were gone. Finder was going to raise his eyebrow. Saryn was going to shake her head. They did.
"I wonder if he'll ever stop surprising me," Finder said. I was surprised, he generally took my discoveries in stride. The mice in my head seemed amused, like they new it could only get worse.
Finder had a cigarette in his hand, he was lighting it. He took a drag, and then dropped his hand to his side.
Saryn stared at me for a long time. Then she continued. "Yellowstone is home to Homo Iracundia lapis, or the Yellowstone troll. Not a very friendly creature, it's been known to eat tourists on occasion."
I shuddered. the thought of one of our "cousins" eating someone bothered me.
She continued. "The Yellowstone troll is a bit above the level of the chimpanzee, it can make some stone tools, and use them to effective means."
I interupted. "What do the trolls have anything to do with us being in Yellowstone?" I asked. "We haven't seen any."
"And I doubt we will, trolls are very secretive, and tend to stay away from centers of power." She looked at me and Finder. "We are definetly a center of power."
Finder crushed the little left of his cigarette, and tossed it over his shoulder. It never landed. I looked at him. "Well, can't have us littering in the park, can we?"
"Anyway, as I was thrown over one of you guys' shoulders, I saw a troll-marked tree. They leave a very distinctive slash on trees to mark their territories, and I recognized the marking. So I knew we were in yellowstone."
Finder sighed. "Why yellowstone? Is there something here we needed?"
I remembered the creature in the cave. "I wonder if we were sent here for a good purpose. Whatever that thing in the cave was, we woke it up."
Finder looked at me. "I did recover something from the creature, though. and it may be the reason you are 'waking up.'"
I thought about it for a second. It was possible, the 'mice' had stirred around this time, and he did get something out of the cave.
"Plus," Saryn offered, "I absorbed the light that the creature emitted, and we might need that later, too."
The mice in my head did not agree. They stalked angrily around my mind, like they were trying to shake something lose in my memory.
"I suppose it's possible," I said.
"You have doubts," Finder stated.
It was my turn to sigh. "Yes, I have doubts. Both of you offered good points, But something still seems amiss." I shook my head. "There's something else." I remembered the Taramote.
Finder seemed to have a paralell thought. "There was the taramote," he said. "That surely has some significance."
"I was just thinking about that," I said.
"Taramotes only show up in dire circimstances. Some say they are the lesser heralds of the end of things." Taryn added.
Finder looked at me, looked at Saryn. "We knew that," he said. He wanted to have another cigarette. I shook my head, and looked at him. He didn't have his cigarette.
"Saryn, you have a degree in Supernatural Zoology, right?" I asked her.
She looked startled. "Yes, but I never told you guys that, did I?"
"I just knew." I explained.
She wanted to glare at me. "I don't like it when you do stuff like that," she said.
I was tired, and I was annoyed. "I can't not do it," I snapped. "It just happens."
Saryn looked hurt. I was even more annoyed by that. Her eyes blazed orange.
Finder held up his hands. "I think we should all get some rest. Tomorrow we'll be in a town or a city. We can ask if anything strange has been going on."
"you're right," i said. Sleep sounds good. Saryn didn't say anything.
As I lay down, wrapped in my sleeping bag, I could feel shadows surrounding me, gathering to me. I wondered if I would dream tonight. I was somehow comforted by their presence, Like a man comforted by the warmth of a fire.
THe creepings in my head wandered off into lazy snores as I fell asleep.
Finder cut more off the pig's carcass and handed the plate back to Saryn. He started to cut the pig on his plate apart with his knife. I could smell it, mixing with the taste of the fire, swirling up into the night's sky.
"So, Ser, where exactly are we?"
Saryn slurped down another hunk of hog. I wondered if she even chewed it. The slurp stuck for a second, as if it had caught on a branch in the wind. I casually brushed it away. Finder looked over at me, wondering what I had brushed at. I just shrugged. He raised an eyebrow, and turned his attention back to Saryn.
She was apparently chewing after all, because after some hefty unching she finally swallowed. I watched the food go down her throat, could almost feel the angry wet darkness that it met. I shrugged myself out of the path.
She finally opened her mouth to speak, and I couldn't feel any undertones in her voice, just pure conviction.
"Yellowstone National Park," she said.
Finder didn't even look startled, but I could see those words like a golden lining in the air. Something shuddered far away. I reached out and touched the words, and for a moment, they were there, hanging in air. Finder and Saryn stared at me, and I jerked my hand away. The words, as suddenly as they had appeared, were gone. Finder was going to raise his eyebrow. Saryn was going to shake her head. They did.
"I wonder if he'll ever stop surprising me," Finder said. I was surprised, he generally took my discoveries in stride. The mice in my head seemed amused, like they new it could only get worse.
Finder had a cigarette in his hand, he was lighting it. He took a drag, and then dropped his hand to his side.
Saryn stared at me for a long time. Then she continued. "Yellowstone is home to Homo Iracundia lapis, or the Yellowstone troll. Not a very friendly creature, it's been known to eat tourists on occasion."
I shuddered. the thought of one of our "cousins" eating someone bothered me.
She continued. "The Yellowstone troll is a bit above the level of the chimpanzee, it can make some stone tools, and use them to effective means."
I interupted. "What do the trolls have anything to do with us being in Yellowstone?" I asked. "We haven't seen any."
"And I doubt we will, trolls are very secretive, and tend to stay away from centers of power." She looked at me and Finder. "We are definetly a center of power."
Finder crushed the little left of his cigarette, and tossed it over his shoulder. It never landed. I looked at him. "Well, can't have us littering in the park, can we?"
"Anyway, as I was thrown over one of you guys' shoulders, I saw a troll-marked tree. They leave a very distinctive slash on trees to mark their territories, and I recognized the marking. So I knew we were in yellowstone."
Finder sighed. "Why yellowstone? Is there something here we needed?"
I remembered the creature in the cave. "I wonder if we were sent here for a good purpose. Whatever that thing in the cave was, we woke it up."
Finder looked at me. "I did recover something from the creature, though. and it may be the reason you are 'waking up.'"
I thought about it for a second. It was possible, the 'mice' had stirred around this time, and he did get something out of the cave.
"Plus," Saryn offered, "I absorbed the light that the creature emitted, and we might need that later, too."
The mice in my head did not agree. They stalked angrily around my mind, like they were trying to shake something lose in my memory.
"I suppose it's possible," I said.
"You have doubts," Finder stated.
It was my turn to sigh. "Yes, I have doubts. Both of you offered good points, But something still seems amiss." I shook my head. "There's something else." I remembered the Taramote.
Finder seemed to have a paralell thought. "There was the taramote," he said. "That surely has some significance."
"I was just thinking about that," I said.
"Taramotes only show up in dire circimstances. Some say they are the lesser heralds of the end of things." Taryn added.
Finder looked at me, looked at Saryn. "We knew that," he said. He wanted to have another cigarette. I shook my head, and looked at him. He didn't have his cigarette.
"Saryn, you have a degree in Supernatural Zoology, right?" I asked her.
She looked startled. "Yes, but I never told you guys that, did I?"
"I just knew." I explained.
She wanted to glare at me. "I don't like it when you do stuff like that," she said.
I was tired, and I was annoyed. "I can't not do it," I snapped. "It just happens."
Saryn looked hurt. I was even more annoyed by that. Her eyes blazed orange.
Finder held up his hands. "I think we should all get some rest. Tomorrow we'll be in a town or a city. We can ask if anything strange has been going on."
"you're right," i said. Sleep sounds good. Saryn didn't say anything.
As I lay down, wrapped in my sleeping bag, I could feel shadows surrounding me, gathering to me. I wondered if I would dream tonight. I was somehow comforted by their presence, Like a man comforted by the warmth of a fire.
THe creepings in my head wandered off into lazy snores as I fell asleep.
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