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A Christmas of Melancholy, a story of Autumn/Stranded World for the Giraffe Call

Jan6

For KC_Obrien‘s prompt.

Stranded world, after her other Christmas story
“I’m afraid,” her mother told her, before she’d managed to stop crying, “that this Yule may only get stranger.”

“Stranger?” she asked, tucking the box with the pendant in a pocket. “I’m not sure I can handle that.”

“You’re a strong girl, Autumn. You’ve always been the strongest of my children.”

“I…” That was a weird thing to say, and she wasn’t sure it was true. But with Tattercoats’ gift still sitting heavily in her pocket, she just nodded. “What is it, Mom?”

“Your father left you a gift.”

The bottom dropped out of the world. “My… Mom!” She swayed uncertainly, leaning hard against Gregor’s arm. “Mom,” she repeated quietly, blinking back sudden tears. “That’s not funny.”

“It’s not… well, he left these a long time ago, honey. One for each of you, on your twenty-third Christmas.”

“Why twenty-third?” That question paled as another one took its place. “Wait, that means Winter knew about this already.”

“Yes. And I swore him to secrecy, as I’m going to do with you – and you, Gregor, don’t look at me like that. It would have been nice if he could have arranged to be here with you, but you have Gregor, and he’s a nice young man for such things.”

Gregor smirked at Autumn’s mother. “And many other things too,” he joked, giving Autumn a chance to calm herself down.

“Don’t I just bet. It’s in here, honey, under the tree.”

“Of course.” Her voice was a raw croak; when had that happened? She let Gregor guide her, not feeling all that steady. “This is a dirty trick,” she muttered. “You’ll be lucky if Spring doesn’t burn the house down when it’s her turn.”

“I’m always lucky that Spring doesn’t burn the house down.” It wasn’t a big box, but the outdated paper made it stand out from the rest of the tree immediately. Minnie Mouse. Autumn swallowed a sob.

“Twisted Strands, Mom, this is macabre.”

“This wasn’t my choice, Autumn. This was your father’s call. And I’m sorry, baby girl. I’d have done this differently.”

She took a ragged breath. “I know. I know, Mom. So. What did Dad leave me?” And why now? She knelt on the floor, feeling four years old again, the shadows of her siblings pressing in on her. Whatcha get, Auttie? What is it? Her hands shook as she opened the box. Alone, not alone. Winter had done this before her. Winter had done everything before her.

First, a slip of paper, with her father’s unmistakable handwriting. Autumn. Save this for the one that really needs it. She moved the paper gingerly, afraid it would disintegrate.

Underneath, nestled in silk and twined in protective strands, sat a small cobalt glass bottle, corked and sealed in wax. It looked, to her eye, mostly-full of a dark liquid. “Ink,” she whispered, nearly falling over. “He left me ink.”

“Your father,” Gregor murmured, “seems to have been a very wise man.”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/222285.html. You can comment here or there.

Linkback Incentive Story – A Family Tree

Dec21

Five years ago

“Aren’t I supposed to be the twister, the chaos-bringer?”

Spring looked at her older sister, trying to hide her amusement and really not succeeding at all. Her sister, in return, looked back at her with a glare that could melt paint.

“You are supposed to be, at the moment, helping me, and not telling Mom.”

“Have no fear, I still owe you for that… incident. But I want a picture.”

“Spring, if you don’t get me out of this damn tree, I’m going to get Winter to organize your sock drawer!”

“Coming, coming. Oy, Autumn, when did you get so cranky?”

Four years ago

“Explain to me again what you’re doing?” Summer sat on her sister’s bed, watching the haphazard packing and surreptitiously smoothing everything out, organizing it, and, just because she could, laying luck and happiness charms in every single shirt and pair of panties.

“I’m going on the road, more or less.”

“The RV thingy in the driveway would suggest that, yes. Weren’t you going to do college?”

“I was going to, but, well, Winter’s good at school and you’re going to be brilliant and… and I won’t be, either of those things. So the money’s for you two.”

“Nobel of you.”

“Ain’t it?”

Three years ago

“So how long are you going to do this?” Winter studied Autumn’s chaotic receipts, and, with a long-suffering sigh, began stacking them into organized piles.

“As long as I can afford to, as long as it’s fun, as long as it teaches me something.”

“You know you sound like Spring, right?”

“Well, it’s not as if she has a monopoly on making a mess, you know. She just happens to be the best at Tangling the world up.”

“All you seem to tangle up is your own life.”

She sighed. “That’s only the half of it, big brother, trust me.”

Two years ago

“I’m just saying, Autumn, you could bring someone home you actually intend to have a relationship with. He’s a nice boy, and he’s very appreciative of my cooking, but isn’t there going to be a special someone in your life? Even Spring has boyfriends.”

“Spring, generally, has boyfriends for about an hour. Maybe a month and a half if she’s been around Winter a lot.”

“Well, that’s Spring. You don’t need to be a chaos-demon, you know. One of those in the family is really quite enough.”

Autumn shook her head at her mother. “Mom,” she sighed, “I don’t TRY to make messes.”

One year ago
“I love your family, Autumn m’dear, but I get the feeling they’re not quite as fond of me.”

“It’s not that they don’t like you, Gregor, it’s that…”

“That I’m not the sort of boy that’s going to bring any grandkids. Although with a family of four, you’d think your mother would cut you some slack.”

“I’m supposed to be the ‘family’ one. Winter’s in charge of being level-headed, I’m in charge of being good with people…”

“Summer’s in charge of bad relationship decisions?”

“You saw that, too? Well, someone has to make the bad choices.” It shouldn’t always be her.

Thanksgiving, this year

“I know what it is,” Spring muttered to Winter. “I know what she’s doing.”

“Do you?” he asked gently, looking over at Autumn; his date and Spring’s were discussing business, much to everyone’s surprise; Autumn was making bad jokes with Summer’s dates and her own perpetual escort.

“You taught me how to see the tangles, Winter, I know you can see that one. The wild knot around her heart? The mess she’s pretending isn’t there?”

“Spring,” he answered, just as gently, “she’s always been a tangle. Chaos follows her.”

His littlest sister sulked. “Being a chaos-harbinger is my job.”

“It is. It’s her destiny, however.”

~fin~

This is Tir na Cali. Cali has a landing page here (or on LJ)

This story comes after Revenge of the Pumpkins (DW), When in Rome (and on LJ), which is after Too Hot for Prime Time (and on LJ) from September’s Giraffe Call.

“Lady, ma’am, Mistress,” Jason gulped, “I have no idea what is going on.”

Her eyes met his in the rear-view mirror, and her voice was gentle as she spoke to him. “You know the important things, Jason. I have bought you, and you are mine now, correct?”

“Yes, Mistress,” he answered, too nervous to even feel resentful.

“When nobody else was interested, because of your spunk and attitude. That part’s important, don’t forget that.”

“Yes, Mistress,” he echoed, and, because she had mentioned his spunk, he added, “so you shopped the bargain bin for me. I get it.”

“That, too,” she agreed. “But it’s important to remember that I bought you for that spunk, not just because no-one else wanted it.”

He nodded slowly. “You wanted someone with… a personality?”

“Among other things. I wanted someone with some life left in them.”

“You make me sound like a bull in the arena,” he complained.

“That’s exactly right.” Before he could balk at that analogy, she continued. “You know you belong to me. You know why I bought you. You know that today is Samhain, Hallowe’en. And you know that I have a costume waiting for you. What else do you need?”

“Why are they dragging that woman away?” he tried. “Okay, revenge of the food, but this seems a little extreme. She’s crying.”

“You would, too. She’s been picked to tithe to the poor and needy for the next year.”

“Like that? By being hit with a stick?”

“Just like that.”

Jason shook his head. “You people are crazy, Mistress. Absolutely buck nutty.”

“Foreign,” she corrected. “We’re a lot different from your people, but that’s not the same as crazy.”

“Looks the same from here,” he admitted.

“Well, you’ll have to learn.” Stopped at a light, she looked back at him. “Make no mistake, Jason, while I’m interested in your ‘spunk,’ I am not interested in disobedience. I will give you clear rules. If you do not follow them, you will be punished. If you continue to disobey, I will sell you. And the place I will sell you to will make the work camps look like a vacation resort. Do you understand?”

Jason gulped, and nodded. “Yes, Mistress.” Shit, shit shit. “I understand. I’ll be obedient.”

“I know you will.” Her smile, this time, was sharp and predatory. “Mind you, there’s nothing saying you can’t be a brat. You just have to be an obedient brat.”

“O… okay. So it’s safe to say I think you’re crazy?”

“In private, yes. In front of other people, I might not be so tolerant.”

“… you people are all nuts. Mistress.”

“And you will learn how to live with us, Jason. Or else.”

Jason gulped. “Yes, Mistress. And are you going to tell me why you have a costume for me?”

“I could tell you why,” she decided. “I knew I was buying someone today. And we always do a costume event at the ranch for Samhain, getting in the spirit, you know?”

Jason nodded nervously. “Okay. So you… have a costume for some slave you might buy?”

“Well, you wouldn’t want to be left out, would you?” she smirked. “When everyone else is getting into the celebration?”

“Mistress,” he answered, as honestly as he could, “I don’t know what I’d be being left out of.”

“You’ll see soon,” she assured him. “We’re almost there.”

“Oh, good,” he answered tiredly, and settled back into his seat. The cuffs were pressing against his back, his feet and other bits were getting chilled, but it wasn’t the slave shop anymore, not the auction hall, and not a work camp.

He didn’t want to think things were looking up, he really didn’t. That seemed like asking for more trouble. And there was this weird Hallowe’en thing to contend with, and the unknown costume…

And a garage. His new owner was pulling into a large garage, between an SUV and a Mustang. “I do well enough for myself,” she answered his unspoken question. “Wait here.”

“Yes, Mistress.” What else was he going to do? He waited, while she headed out into the garage and disappeared from sight, waited while his fingers and hands started to grow numb and he started drifting off.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/198573.html. You can comment here or there.

The Unexpected gift, a story of Stranded World/Autumn for the Giraffe Call

Dec20

For rix_scaedu‘s prompt.

Stranded world, after the Thanksgiving stories of recent.

Autumn’s mother greeted them warmly, hugging Gregor as if he was her own son, which, considering how often he showed up at family events, he might as well be. “Merry Christmas, Gregor. Merry Christmas, Autumn. Two holidays in a row! Truly I’m blessed.”

“Thank you, Mom.” Autumn smiled uncertainly at her mother’s effluvient happiness. “Summer said she wasn’t coming home for this one…?”

“Neither Summer nor Winter, but Spring will be home soon with her young man. I put your mail on your bed, honey.”

“Mail?” She blinked. “It came here and not my drop box? I’m sorry, Mom, I tried to get everything routed so it didn’t bother you…”

“Autumn, Autumn, helping out my daughter doesn’t bother me. Any of my daughters. It was just a couple things, anyway.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Feeling guilty, embarrassed, AND curious all at once, Autumn glanced at Gregor.

“I’ve seen your bedroom, Autumn. I’ve slept in your bedroom.”

“Shh, don’t tell my Mom,” she joked, winking at her mother. “I’ve sort of dying to see what this is,” she apologized.

“You and me both, darling.”

The mail was mostly prosaic – junk mail, a high school reunion letter, a mis-mailed bill. The small box, however, caught her eye, and she nearly opened it without reading the wrapping.

There was no return address, simply a postmark – Tucson, Arizona. She knew that handwriting, though, knew it better than she knew his voice.

“Tattercoats,” she whispered. “He always leaves things in the drops.”

“Maybe he didn’t want to risk it getting into the wrong hands?” Gregor offered.

“But what…” She opened the package with numb fingers. The box inside was no more explanatory, a simple carved box like you could buy in fairs and fests across the land. Her hands barely worked as she opened the small thing.

The paper was on top, and for a moment she was afraid this was a cruel joke, a prank of Tattercoats. He’d done small things of that sort before. She opened the paper without looking underneath, willing her fingers to feel again. Willing her heart to beat.

My Lady Fall, my Autumn Leaf.

I am a coward, and so a coward you find me, mailing this to your mother’s home rather than bringing it to you, sending you this instead of a ring that you so deserve, mailing you this instead of appearing, myself, with an apology. For an apology this is, and a hope that, after my dreadful behaviour, you may still consider me,

Your Bard for now and always,

Tattercoats.

She stared at the pendant, worked in gold, worked to look like one of her own trees, a ruby nestled in its trunk, its branches reaching up to hold the chain. “Bastard,” she whispered, her eyes wet with tears. She’d almost managed to walk away.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/202991.html. You can comment here or there.

Character Development Meme (morning Warmup), Questions 7 and 8

Nov23

As discussed here and on LJ, I’m going to do this meme for a few characters (I’m rotating seasonal sibs to not totally overwhelm myself).

Questions 5 & 4 are here and on LJ.

7.) Is there one event or happening your character would like to erase from their past? Why?

Spring (well, really, all 4 RoundTree Siblings): Their father’s death. Dad RoundTree died when Mom was pregnant with Spring, leaving Winter as parental figure for his three little sisters (Mom’s not all that good at the parenting thing). The three that remember him miss him horribly, and Spring has always felt his loss.

Conrad: I’d have to say that what happened to Kai with Anatoliy wins here. He’s had a pretty easy life, even up to his first year of Addergoole

Rin: Hrm. This one is harder. Rin’s seen a number of deaths she couldn’t prevent, and handled any number of really unpleasant situations. I don’t think any one of those stands out to her, however.

8.) Day of Favorites! What’s your character’s favorite ice cream flavor? Color? Song? Flower?

Spring: Rocky Road, Green, “Hate Me,” Orchid
Summer: Chocolate, Pink (yes, really), the soundtrack to Rent, roses
Autumn: Maple Walnut, Red, Something loud and full of fiddles, and irises.
Winter: Vanilla, White (or blue), Mozart, Crocuses.

Rin: they don’t have ice cream. Her favorite colors are green and blue. She likes the marching songs, although she’ll rarely admit it, and she loves the snowblossoms that grown on the cold sides of the mountains.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/183716.html. You can comment here or there.

Character Development Meme (morning Warmup), Questions 5 and 6

Nov22

As discussed here and on LJ, I’m going to do this meme for a few characters (I’m rotating seasonal sibs to not totally overwhelm myself).

Questions 3 & 4 are here and on LJ.

Questions 7 & 8 are here and on LJ.

5.) What’s your character’s ranking on the KINSEY SCALE?

Spring: Varies depending on her mood
Summer: 3
Autumn: 2
Winter: 0

Conrad: I get the feeling about a low 1.

Rin: I’m really not certain. She’s not a very high sex-drive character any way you slice it, but probably about a 1-2.

6.) Describe your character’s happiest memory.

Winter: Winter being who he is, his happiest memory is one colored bittersweet. He was about five years old, sitting on the dock at the family cottage. The whole family was there: his parents, his mother’s mother, and his two little sisters. Autumn, about three then, was drawing pictures in the puddles of water on the dock. Summer was tiny, under a year old, and Winter was holding her in his arms, as he leaned against his father.

“Hold her carefully,” his dad murmured. “They’re a great responsibility, little sisters, and often great difficulty,” the latter as Summer tried to squirm out of his arms. “You have to know just how much to hold them, and when it’s time to let go.”

Conrad: (can I pick a memory in the future? No? Hrmm.) Everything right now for Conrad is covered by the bliss-bond of making his Keeper happy, but a memory from before the storyline…
… kicking a ball around the Village field with Cassidy and Vlad, the summer between years Four and Five. Just hanging out, not talking about anything all that important.

Rin: In a temple in an ocean-side city, her apprentice as a healer finished, she stood over her first solo patient, a woman of middling years who had injured her leg in a fishing accident. Slowly, patiently, Rin brought forth the energy, and coaxed the body to heal itself.

When she awoke, the grateful fisherwoman, generally an reserved type from an reserved group, hugged Rin tightly against her chest in thanks, and gifted her with a small, delicately-woven pendant of copper replicating a fishing net in miniature. She carries this pendant with her in her packs, only pulling it out for special occasions.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/182912.html. You can comment here or there.

Character Development Meme (morning Warmup), Questions 3 and 4

Nov21

As discussed here and on LJ, I’m going to do this meme for a few characters (I’m rotating seasonal sibs to not totally overwhelm myself).

Feel free to suggest another character, and I’ll work through them in rotation.

Question 2 here and on LJ.

Questions 5 and 6 are here and here on LJ.

3.) Name one scar your character has, and tell us where it came from. If they don’t have any, is there a reason?

Summer: Summer had an active, wild childhood, and, as such, has more than a few of those childhood scraped-knee and cut-hand scars. More notable is one across her collarbone, gotten when a piece of a set fell on her, nail-side down.

Conrad: most noticeable on Conrad is his nose, which was broken and not healed properly in his teens (soccer accident). He’s gotten in a few training scrapes since coming to Addergoole, but those heal scarless.

Rin: Rin is a healer. She bears no scars on her skin because she’s healed them all.

4.) How vain is your character? Do they find themselves attractive?

Autumn: Autumn is not a narcissist, but she’s a flirt, in a profession that encourages flirtation, and in subcultures that really encourage flirtation. She knows what she’d got, and she likes showing it off; she dresses to that end most of the time. Although she will not sacrifice practicality for vanity, she also won’t sacrifice vanity for practicality.

Conrad isn’t particularly vain. He knows he’s decent-looking, but in Addergoole that’s mostly a function of not getting a bad Change. No-one there is all that unattractive on base.

He attributes his skill with girls – Kai is certainly not his first girlfriend – more to social finesse and less to his appearance.

Rin: Rin has her mother’s nose, her grandmother’s hair, and a family chin. She exemplifies the royal phenotype, looking like a Callanthe and a royal. On some level, she knows this makes her look attractive, especially to other Callanthe, and she’s spent enough time in Bithrain to know that, there, this makes her exotic.

She takes enough care of her appearance to not let down what people expect of her as a healer, as a member of the army, or as a princess, depending on what role she’s filling at the moment.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/182359.html. You can comment here or there.

Character Development Meme (morning Warmup), Question 2

Nov17

As discussed here and on LJ, I’m going to do this meme for a few characters (I’m rotating seasonal sibs to not totally overwhelm myself).

Feel free to suggest another character, and I’ll work through them in rotation.

Question 1 here and on LJ.

Question 3 here and on LJ.

2.) What are your characters most prominent physical features?

The RoundTree Siblings:
They share a stubborn chin they inherited from their father and a strong nose they got from their mother, a build that is sturdy or athletic rather than willowy, and a medium height that is neither tiny not giant.

Winter’s hair went prematurely white (his sisters blame Spring); he wears it long and in a ponytail, and it’s arrow-straight.

Autumn’s hair is a curly mess of russet, which she wears mostly-loose.

Summer’s hair is golden blonde, and as straight as Winter’s. It spends much of its time in a ponytail.

Spring’s hair is dirty blonde, light brown, and worn feathered and, no surprise, a little chaotic.

Conrad: The tail is probably the most notable, and his oversized, extra-digits-and-knuckles hands and feet. With his Mask hiding those Changes, the hands and feet are still oversized, and his once-broken nose and blue, blue eyes stand out more strongly.

Rin: Rin is a model of her ethnicity, as is not all that surprising from a member of the royal family. Her long black hair and small mouth with its rather generous smile are most notable; her skin is a light mocha-tan in the cold season, but, after several seasons at war and on the road, is burnished to a dark very-slightly-olive tan.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/178529.html. You can comment here or there.

The family that knots together…

Nov15

For eseme‘s prompt.

This is in the Stranded World Setting, which has a landing page here. this comes after the donor-perk story The RoundTree Siblings Prepare for Thanksgiving (On LJ.)

They took a moment, the four of them, away from their respective dates (or non-dates), all feeling a little bit guilty about that, to stand on the porch and look at each other.

It wasn’t that uncommon for those who knew the strands to slide their vision sideways when looking at someone else, to see what was going on with them in a more meta sense. For an outside observer, though, those four minutes of staring not-quite-at-each-other might have seemed surreal, even creepy.

Summer reached out first, to sketch a good-luck charm in the air over the foreheads of each of her siblings. That got her three variations on their family wide-mouthed crooked smile, and then Winter took his turn, smoothing out bumps and rough spots. They were a volatile, wild set of sisters, and there were more than a few knots in each of their patterns.

He paused by a tangle near Spring’s heart, question in his expression; she moved his hand gently away, towards a tight knot of conflicted emotion in a similar spot on Autumn. She, in return, flinched, shrugging uncomfortably, but submitted, like a kitten to an older cat’s grooming, to her brother’s ministrations.

That caused Spring to make some nice little tangles in the air around them, nothing too messy, but nothing too smooth; she’d been tangling Winter’s lines since she was born. He patted her head in revenge, and they all glanced at Autumn.

She already had her pen out, and, while there was still a small knot near her heart, she was smiling warmly as she drew, on the underside of each of her siblings’ left wrist, a small pattern. Family, the sigil said. Love. Warmth. Peace.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/176596.html. You can comment here or there.