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Post by choji on Jan 25, 2007 12:21:02 GMT -5
"Great yer home," Kulap commented as she put a plate of hogmonkey on the table, as well as bowls of potatoes and swamp apple. "'ere we go, we have cider too, dig in Dan." Kulap filled her plate with meat and potatoes and drunk another cup of cider while munching on the meat. She licked her fingers and took a few more apples as she dined on the spicy hogmonkey. She covered her mouth when she gave a perticularly large burp.
"Well nothing happened after you went back to work. Baijeong came with Ranka and bugged me. But other than that it was pretty dull." Kulap sipped her cider and looked at the setting sun.
"Ahhh twilight, it's so purdy sometimes. I use to watch them with Grandad when he wus alive. I dunno...You wanna sit on the balcony with me and just....watch the sunset?" It was a honest question. Kulap looked out and cought the streaks of red and gold outside.
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Post by dandan on Jan 26, 2007 13:57:32 GMT -5
The dinner was especially delicious, and Dan-dan suddenly remembered why he loved this woman. If it wasn't the looks or the waterbending or the lucrative position of ribe shaman, it was definitely the cooking that kept him around. He tore into his portion of meat with the gusto of one who hadn't eaten in days, even though he'd had a hearty breakfast and lunch. Throughout his animalistic feasting, though, he was listening to Kulap recount her day and gave the appropriate nods or hums of interest.
Wiping away the remnants of his dinner from his lips with a small cloth, he responded to Kulap's remark about Beijong and her daughter by saying, "Ya should'a given 'er kid something to make her sit still for a while." He smiled and gave a slight laugh to show that he was only joking, and drained a whole cup of cider in one guzzle.
Kulap turned her gaze toward the front entrance to the tree-house where some red rays of the sun could be seen shining through the dense foliage. "We might need to climb a lot higher to see the sun itself, but I'll with ya," he answered her. Dan-dan gathered up his dirty wooden plates along with kulaps and dropped them in a shallow tub of water against the wall where they would soak for a little while.
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Post by choji on Jan 26, 2007 19:30:14 GMT -5
Kulap laced her fingers as she leaned on the balcony, the sun casting a warm shadow on her back, giving her a soft glow as her breasts dangle from below.
"I wish folks could just child for a few seconds and take a gander at whut around them Eh Dan? People are so hilter-skilter that they forget what makes life....good." Kulap smiled widely as she leaned on Dan-Dan as dusk setted in. She laced her fingers in his hand and enjoyed the sounds of the insects humming and hogmonkey whooping.
"Ahhh twilight in the swamp. Makes girl feel alive."
"And do you know what else Shaman? Life itself." Kulap whirled around to face a old croan. "Whut do you want." It sounded harsh, but it was more out of surprise. The woman smiled, she looked like she was in her seventies and seem quiet spry for her age. "I need your strong bones and youthful engery Kulap. I have job for you."
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Post by dandan on Jan 29, 2007 21:12:36 GMT -5
The old woman stood on the inner edge of the spiraling walkway of the tree house, leaning one hand against the bark of the thick tree's trunk for support. She was wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a cloth-covered surface and a fine net hanging around the sides and back of her head. The section of netting in the front was flipped up to reveal a severely wrinkled face. Here robes were voluminous and emerald green in color, and seemed miraculously unscathed by the normal hazards traveling through the swamp.
"Who are ya?" Dan-dan asked the elder woman, not sounding particularly alarmed, but also not showing any effort at friendliness. He had a hand on Kulap's shoulder, almost instinctively. The wizened old woman smile in response, her closed eyes disappearing in a sea of creases on her skin.
"If you'd be so kind as to offer me a cup of tea, I'd be happy to explain myself to you," she said, prompting the waterbending fisherman to glance at his wife before nodding and gesturing for the old lady to follow them in.
A short while later, the old lady was sitting comfortably on a fur rug in front of the fire that was still burning inside the house's clay oven. Dan-dan carefully guided a stream of steamin water out of the pot set above the flames and into a cup where the old lady had produced a tea leaf from inside her wide sleeve. "My thanks for your hospitality," she told the Swamp couple. She swirled the leaf around in the hot water and a soothing aroma filled the room. Dan-dan took a seat on a rather uncomfortabl stool and awaited the old lady's promised explanation.
"My name is Indah," the elder began, still swirling her tea leaf absently in her cup. "For longer than I care to remember, I've been studying herbology and learning everything there is to know about the plants of this world and their various uses and properties. My family was uprooted early during the war and I've seen nearly every inch of this continent during a lifetime of migration from town to town.... In fact, I once made a journey to the Banyon grove tree when I was in my prime and Hue was still as youthful as your husband here." Indah smiled at Dan-dan who returned the expression and gave a slight blush.
"I come back today because I fear I am nearing the end of my rope and there is one last quest I wished to complete before I bid this world farewell..." Indah's tone became more serious then, and her gaze fell upon Kulap.
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Post by choji on Jan 29, 2007 21:46:25 GMT -5
Kulap sipped her tea as night fell and she heard the old lady speak.
"I come back today because I fear I am nearing the end of my rope and there is one last quest I wished to complete before I bid this world farewell..."
Kulap rolled her eyes and added a drop of brandy to the tea. "And that would be?"
"I need to find the Twilight Orchid." Indah said sipping her tea, Kulap choked and pounded her chest.
"Yew want that!? But Grandad said that, flower was a myth!" Kulap replied incrediously she looked at the ground and at Indah. "Well I guess I could find it why?"
"The Orchid has the the ablity to ressurected the dead and restore heath to the living, I need it for a cure. I'm too old and from what I heard, Mulkat is dead, so you are his heir. Hmph! Looks like you have a lot to catch up too." Kulap frowned and crossed her arms over her large breasts "I ain't gonna do it for free. How much woman?" Indah pulled out roll of what looked like pure silk, she un rolled to display a fine set of earrings, necklaces and other finery "SHINEHS!" Kulap squealed and she dropped the cup of tea at the sigh of the wonderful jewery. "Half now, half later, Can you get me my flower shaman?" Kulap nodded happily.
"Sure, We're up for an adventure? Right lover?"
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Post by dandan on Jan 31, 2007 12:31:36 GMT -5
Despite Dan-dan's upbringing in the Swamp, and his relative ignorace of what most people considered common knowledge, he was in no way as stupid as some often thought him to be. And as much as he did enjoy the occasional break from the tedium of being a fisherman, he was never one to agree to strange tasks without at least some prior thought.
"Idunno," he said to Kulap, crossing his arms in thought as he studied the older herbalist. "Where is it that you can't reach it yerself?" Indah smiled back at him, seemingly amused by the Swamp dweller's display of caution.
"It supposedly grows at the center of the Forgotten Pools within the Southeastern quarter of the Swamp," she said. Immediately Dan-dan's eyes widened and he turned sharply toward Kulap.
"We ain't supposed to go there..." he said gravely to Kulap. "Any time mah Pa found out me an' mah friends went near there he'd gimme' a whack with a stick... And it takes a lot to make my Pa mad."
Indah sighed as she wrapped up the jewels and placed them beside her. "Yes, this journey will likely be dangerous, which is why I feel the need to hire some one more capable and familiar with the terrain," she said. She then fished through her wide sleeved and extracted a small wooden case. Dan-dan leaned forward to see what it was, almost falling forward on his tip-toes. The ancient herbalist opened the tiny box and gingerly pulled from it a single petal of a flower. It seemed to be in perfect, crisp condition even though it had likely been pluced a long time ago, and the bottom edge seemed to be a clean cut. It was a beautiful shade of scarlet near the base and faded perfectly into a deep indigo near the tip, much like the sky at twilight.
"I came across this petal entirely by accident 3 years ago," she said, "I found many miles away in a stream... I recognized it immediately for what it was, and I traced the current that carried it all the way to the Swamp and more specifically, the the area which contained your fabled Forgotten Pools... It became apparent that I would not be able to pass through on my own and I contented myself with this small consolation." She sighed and held the petal up for the couple to see clearly. "Over three years of testing, this sample alone has showed almost limitless potential in curing nearly any ailment I have ever heard of.... Even old age. If you can return a full sample of the flower to me, you very well could be providing the world with a miracle cure..."
Dan-dan was suddenly struck with a strong feeling of obligation. The way Indah had worded it, she had more or less dropped the responsibility of curing the world's sickness on his and Kulap's shoulders. He was still quite aware of the potential dangers that awaited them on this quest, but he couldn't help nodding despite himself.
Indah's wrinkled face stretched in a wide grin.
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Post by choji on Jan 31, 2007 13:26:14 GMT -5
Kulap crossed her arms and lisented to Indah and Dan-Dan talk.
"It supposedly grows at the center of the Forgotten Pools within the Southeastern quarter of the Swamp," She heard Indah say. Kulap eyes widen and heard Dan-Dan speak to her about Forgotten Pools. Kulap nodded too.
"Grandad told me that the spiritual engergy there is stagant and old. Not to mention dangerous." She scratched her head as Indah rolled up the jewerly, and pulled out a very beautiful petal
"I came across this petal entirely by accident 3 years ago," she said, "I found many miles away in a stream... I recognized it immediately for what it was, and I traced the current that carried it all the way to the Swamp and more specifically, the the area which contained your fabled Forgotten Pools... It became apparent that I would not be able to pass through on my own and I contented myself with this small consolation." She sighed and held the petal up for the couple to see clearly. "Over three years of testing, this sample alone has showed almost limitless potential in curing nearly any ailment I have ever heard of.... Even old age. If you can return a full sample of the flower to me, you very well could be providing the world with a miracle cure..."
She heard Indah say holding up the petal. Kulap had an intense look on her face. She seem to be thinking.
"And thats why you need a shaman. Someone who is sentsitive to the energies and find the flower quickly.....someone like me."
"Bingo! You fit the bill miss shaman. If you can find the flower that is. By three days." Kulaps eyes widen. "WHUT?!" Indah stood up and held out her hand. "Deal or no Deal Shaman?" Kulap paused for a moment and reluctanly shook her hand. "Well looks like we have a job."
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Post by dandan on Feb 5, 2007 21:48:34 GMT -5
"I guess we do," Dan-dan said with a sigh. He stood up then and refilled his cup with something a bit stronger. The waterbender uncorked a jug labeled with three X's that was tucked in the corner of their little pantry and poured himself a half-glass of ale. Dan-dan wasn't sure why he felt such a sense of forboding about this whole situation, but he always trusted his gut.
It was a bit too noticeable for him to ignore, anyway...
"So when do we start?" he asked the ancient woman, taking a gulp of his drink afterward. "No offense, but ya look like ya got one foot in the grave already, so I'm thinkin' ya want us on the trail at first light..."
Indah gave a high-pitched, creaking laugh at that remark and gave Dan-dan a bit of a shudder just listening to it. "You read my mind, young man," she replied. "Besides, you'll want all the daylight you can to travel. The Twilight orchid blooms only during that magic hour for which it's named and then recedes back into darkness. Even if you make it to the Forgotten Pools, you must get there before nightfall, or else you'll have to spend the hours of darkness there... And things rarely return from the Forgotten Pools after dark."
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Post by choji on Feb 7, 2007 13:36:15 GMT -5
Kulap gulped when she heard Indah's warning. "well I guess we'll see ya in three days." Indah tipped her hat and started out the door. "Yew look like grandad a bit, You have his eyes. Like muddy water. Too unclean to drink but still full of life. Good night shaman and consort." Indah left Kulap feeling bewildered and apprehensive. The shaman sighed and sat in the hammock and drew her legs up to her chin.
"Looks like we got a job." She said unethused as she gently rocked. "I don't like the sound of it though. Going into the Forgotten Pools is like walkin' into the Spirit World. Yew either end up dead or freaked out at all the weird stuff in there. But I guess I might as go through with it." Kulap stretched and took a comb and sat down and undid her hair. She gently brushed it and let the long lock cover her bare back. She got up and undid her long cloth, her leg and arm bands and crawled into the hammock. "Coming? Dan-Dan?" She asked as he pulled over the blanket
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Post by dandan on Feb 9, 2007 13:21:37 GMT -5
"Comin'," Dan-dan replied as he stood in the center of the room, staring blankly out the front door. He'd nearly forgotten the cup in his hand and he quickly drained the remaining ale down his throat. With a flick of the wrist he tossed the cup into a tub of water situated against the wall to await cleaning at some later time and then started toward the hammock.
"We're gonna need all the sleep we can get," he said as he came to a stop beside the hanging piece of mesh netting that served as their bed. Dan-dan didn't even bother to unwrap the bandages on his forearms and shins as he carefully took a seat on the hammock so as not to unbalance Kulap. If he took them off now, it'd just mean more time spent putting them back on tomorrow. Instead he just untied the long green loin cloth, leaving himself with his minimal undergarments and found a comfortable position beside Kulap.
"G'night..." he mumbled quietly as he slipped an arm around his wife's midsection to comfort her.
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Post by choji on Feb 9, 2007 13:44:56 GMT -5
Kulap leaned into Dan-Dan embrace enjoy the comfort of a warm bed and warm husband. She sighed as she let sleep take over and, let her dream some very unsettling dreams.
****
The next morning Kulap woke up early, as dawn just breeched the horizion. She opended her eyes and stretched, not getting much sleep last night she rubbed her eyes and looked at her sleeping mate. She brush a kiss against his cheek as she crawled out of the mesh hammock and got ready for her journey.
She first got dress, shivering at the fact that she was competely nude. She got on her loincloth, and arm and leg wrappings. Kulap braided her hair quickly as she looked for bindings for her breasts. Normally she doesn't wear them because they are unconforable. But considering she might need the protection...
"Dan-Dan! It's to get up, we have work to do. Hurry and get dressed." She called as she got a sling-pack and filled it with food and a knife as well as some healing herbs. She has her bindings on and she was muching on an apple. "There is some fruit and bread for breakfast. We need to have an early start alright?" She took her spear and whisled for Butchie, who slithered from the back room.
"Lets get to work Dan." She said as she went out side
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Post by dandan on Feb 9, 2007 14:14:56 GMT -5
By the time Kulap stirred the hammock as she sgot up, Dan-dan's eyes flickered open in the dawn-lit tree house. The fire from last night had died and everything seemed to be cast in a shade of hazy blue. The humid swamp air was made almost tangible by the thick mist that collected each morning. The sleepy waterbender's eye caught sight of Kulap's bare form walking around to collect her clothing and he couldn't help staring despite himself. For a moment he forgot what it was they were charged with doing that day.
"I'm up, I'm up," he grumbled, finally speaking after Kulap had put on a few articles of clothing. He rolled off the hammock to the side and straightened up, cracking a few stiff joints in his neck and shoulders. He was already fully-dressed from the night before, so by the time Kulap had finished her own preparations he had retrieved his hat, his oar, and filled his waterskin with fresh water.
Dan-dan plucked a stalk of sawtooth grass out from their pantry, shaking off the water it had been soaking in, and chewed on the root of the otherwise painful plant. Sawtooth grass grew abundantly in some of the less densely forested parts of the swamp and could slice open flesh quite easily if you brushed by them in the wrong direction. Though the root of those long blades of grass was an excellent source of nurtients.
Within another minute, he was on Kulap's heels as the two started out the door and on their way to the Forgotten Pools.
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Post by choji on Feb 9, 2007 14:31:44 GMT -5
Kulap walked down the spiral walk way looking at a map. "I fetched this from grandad's before while I was doin' my hair. The Forgotten pools should be on this map. But looks like the aren't however...
'Thar izza smallish creek that leads to the southern edge o' the swamp near the estuaries. I have heard rumors of that place. It's full of darkness and smells of danger.' Kulap read on the paper. This is the smallish creek that grandad wus talkin' 'bout. We should get there by mid mornin' and spend o' the rest of that time murkin' about that part of the swamp." She rolled up the map as she got into the skift with Butchie. She sat in the back with the rudder.
"I have a bad feelin' even grandad, never ventured into the darker areas into the swamp. Still, have to admit. It beats a borin' day in tha house. Still we should be on our gaurd. Who knows what kind of critters live there."
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Post by dandan on Feb 11, 2007 20:41:23 GMT -5
Dan-dan assumed his position at the head of the skift and deposited his waterskin on the floor of the boat. "We still got the chance to stop," he thought out loud, even as he hefted up his oar into a ready grip. "Idunn' care what the old lady says or if ya don't get yer shinies, but there ain't no flower worth yer life... If things get too dangerous we're headin' back."
On that note, Dan-dan set his feet into a shoulder-width stance for stability and began rotating his oar in an easy figure-8 motion. He let it make a few revolutions before he settled into the rythm and then began focusing his bending through the medium of the wooden oar and let the paddles at the end amplify its strength with their surface area. Immediately, the water around the boat began to stir and with each downstroke of the oar it began to build up[. After a few seconds more, the boat started to lean back as the water dipped and then the skift shot forward on a steady, maintained wave.
Kulap's hand on the rudder still controlled the boat's direction, but Dan-dan's bending providing the power. Together they could quickly navigate the waterways surrounding the village and could cover the distance to their desired location in a little under two hours.
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Post by choji on Feb 13, 2007 9:52:08 GMT -5
Kulap's eyes glanced the other direction a bit and sighed, she new this was going be very tricky. Still she nodded as Dan-Dan took off, Kulap steered eaisly as the ventured into the swamp in the cool morning air. The shaman looked up and watched the fog rise up as she and her husband boated down the waterways.
Butchie porpioused near the bow, swimming along side his mistress. Kulap looked up and saw squrile-macaws fluttering, Tanuki-cats climbing trees, and even a herd of tapir-elk. Grazing in the early morning light. Kulap crack the a grin as she was the beasts, fowl and fish gather in the dawn.
"It's kinda purdy, Seein' all them beasts out and bout." She commented softly, she looked at the map. "Dan-Dan! It's right here, you enter here!" She said pointing to a tiny creek near a huge groove of forest. "Thats were we start."
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