#anywhere

----------------------

A new morning, and outside of a Pennsylvanian farmhouse, so she won't wake her family, a woman's voice breaks out

"Fear not this night
You will not go astray
Though shadows fall
Still the stars find their way"

The stars plummet, and the dawn invades, shadows do indeed flee

"Waken from a quiet sleep
Hear the whispering of the wind
Awaken as the silence grows
In the solitude of the night
Darkness spreads throughout the land
And your weary eyes open silently
Sunsets have forsaken all
The most far off horizons"

"Fear not this night
You will not go astray
Though shadows fall
Still the stars find their way"

The voice pure, rich and builiding.

Enough perhaps to impress satyrs.

"Nightmares come when shadows grow
Eyes close and heartbeats slow"

"Fear not this night
You will not go astray
Though shadows fall
Still the stars find their way (find their way)"

And the singer assures, she promises "And you can always be strong
Lift your voice with the first light of dawn
Dawn's just a heartbeat away
Hope's just a sunrise away!"

The song is not done, but she lets it end there, Tove stretches and stops singing "Yes very pretty ditty. Not sure.. Pennons is going to require something more. An original song is best, but...if not that, something rarer than a video game song. Maybe a transition, one genre to another"

A chuckle, "Jon Coulton did Baby Got back as the loving ballad it was always meant to be."

A soft clapping from nearby.

Tove turns the tall woman a classic nordic beauty, but that's pretty typical around here "Why thank you. "

"Sorry to intrude... I was on my way over to the lodge, and I heard singing... not just singing, that was amazing." She clips over, the wilder Satyr, though her fae mein is rather... misty at the moment, more of a suggestion rather than a firm statement.

Tove smiles but then looks concerned at the girl's state "Well thank you again, you must be Piper? Sally Mae mentioned your help. Oh my. I can see why you need to hit the lodge. I'm Tove, Dagmar's mother. The songs from a video game I don't even play. I just love it. Amazing creativity out there musically in a lot of areas. You play?" She doesn't assume it despite the girl's kith.

"Oh, I do. I didn't know such a beautiful tune could come from a video game, though. I've never been much for them... I suppose inspiration can come from anywhere, right? Right now I'm bullish on guitar, but, not to toot my own horn, pun intended, there's not really an instrument I've come across that I haven't wanted to learn." A grin.

Tove smiles "That's the spirit. "

"Pleased to meet you! Dagmar has been super nice so far. She mentioned you taught her to sing. Are you performing something for Pennons?"

"I'm afraid most of my instruments are pretty old school, where I was from didn't have synthesizers so I've been taking a crash course... flute, harp and lute are still my go tos," The taller older wilder smiles at the mention of Pennons, "I hope to win a prize or two, but I fear I maybe outmatched be a cockerel" a chuckle.

"I know it's all about the martial skills, mostly, but I've always loved the music and craftsmen and stories. Oh, stories!" She pats her pockets, searching for something, and eventually comes up with a tiny notepad and scratches down her idea. "That might be something to distract that boy..." She mutters to herself as she jots the note.

"That boy?" curious tilt

"Oh, he's really very sweet. An eshu lad, Ikenna - he's one of Thane Tiffany's new wards, and I was just thinking that the prospect of, hmmm, maybe he wants to tell the story of their rescue at pennons. It might keep him out of mischief for a bit."

"Sweet is not the word I've heard to describe him," She chuckles "But maybe. There will be tale tellling to. Yes, Pennons tends to go to the militants, but I will say arts and crafts are also big. Come to think of it, I wonder if the Chieftain will be submitting a wood carving? Possibly not- she's very good but doesnt' seem to want glory for it . I'm told you're really helping with the childings going so far as to drop kick a lego bomb. Is..did that actually happen that way?"

"Well..." She grants, "He might be hiding it deep down. Just as Margalita is really a darling if you look past her... explosive personality." A grin. "Oh, yes. I.. well, I don't know how she managed it, but that girl is PRECOCIOUS. I think the Thane is going to steer her towards glitter rather than shrapnel in the future, which is... well, I hope she doesn't regret it when she realizes how much floor she has to vacuum in that new place. But yeah, it wasn't really much, I just booted the thing out of harm's way. Anyone would have done the same. Or maybe a smarter solution."

"That' amazing. There's a story to tell." Thoughtful, "given how Tiffany feels about kids, I imagine folks are searching for new homes for them all fast," Tove says "iv'e thought about having another child, but Dagmar is such a wonderful daughter it almost feels greedy.... still,we'd have room for one more. "

"Oh, are you thinking of taking one of the foundlings in?" She looks over the Barn. "It does look like you have room... what does Dagmar think of it? I mean, I would have loved to have a brother or sister, but it was different for me, I was too young to remember being adopted."

"I.. haven't told Dagmar yet about it, and Jaymes isn't sure. Obviously both would get a say. And.. we'll " A blush

"Well, however it works out, I'm sure Tiffany will appreciate any help. And you certainly have a litter to pick from. Foam is so sweet, but will need a lot of reassurance. And Lauge and Lucjan keep each other in check. Margalita needs someone to encourage her skills, and Ikenna... well, he needs someone who will understand him, is all."

"Yes. Hate to break up the twins" She muses "So taht would be tight... but I know trolls best. and a son would be different."

"TWO sons. Well, I can't say I know your family well, but it does seem like Dagmar would be a great big sister to a pair like them. She was telling me about how she's helping ready a friend to squire for pennons, and teaching him how to care for the horses."

A small frown. "If I hadn't taken up the spare room with the Wayburtons, they might have had space to help out. So I'll do what I can, y'know?"

"Ah, mmm that would be Adam" Thoughtful then catching that frown, "Oh goodness Piper, you aren't 'taking up space' you're with family. Cousins aunt and uncle maybe but you are not a drain or a drag at all. Far from it. You've already kept childlings out of danger, and helped so much. " Tove shakes her head "Trust me. Sally Mae does not call someone a 'godsend' lightly"

That makes her blush a rather severe pink! "Oh. She said that? Ah, well. I'm just glad to help. And I do like kids."

"Well there you go, baby sitting jobs galore will rain down on you- blessing, curse, you decide later" Tove says then stops "Someone is helping pay you for this right?"

A confused look. "Pay for what?"

"Babysitting?" a smile

"Oh, no - you don't charge family for babysitting." She flips a hand dismissively. "I'll be glad enough for maybe a referral, and I can sit for some lil' dreamers sometime down the line. I'll just be glad for the chance to meet everyone, and a little 'juice' to keep me going until I hit my stride in a new town.

"Referral I can do" she says with a smile "Okay, let's head to the lodge to get you that juice unless you want some from me?"

"I wouldn't say no to a song along the way, but I think just a nap by the bale and I'll be right-as-rain."

A grin, and as they travel, Tove sings, "Oh, the Chieftain was a fair one, and little did she wish
But to roam the dreaming far and wide wiht her crew all blu-ish
They took to the seas of Avalon, forsaking all the land,
And though the crew all minded well, she kept them, frank, in hand.

"Ooooooh, she loved the seas, she loved them, but missed her mountain home!
So e'er through nights she dreamed a dream, that ever did she roam,
As the stars soared o'er the prow, sparkling with the light,
Well, the chieftain bed upon her ship climbed a Mountain every night!"

The tune continues on for several more verses, ribald yet managing to avoid being vulgar, singing praises for the subject whilst jesting lightly.

"And so they traveled homeward, towards river and vale,
Where once twas two and now were three, and toting quite a tale,
But far and wide, no treasure found, that either one could wish,
Could compare at all, not hardly, with her mountain-gifted Fish!"

Then she grins, "That's the song that took Pennons by a rooster pooka. Siv is the Fish"

She blinks... and blinks... and covers her mouth. "The mountain is Sir Franklyn... oh... MY." She can't contain the giggles. "Oh, what happened to that poor pooka?!"

"He beat a very hasty retreat... and won the prize in absentia I believe. " a smirk

She tries to stifle her giggles, but can't. "It will be fun to see if he comes back this year. I mean, maybe he has a sense of humor, but he seems very... stern. I'd not want to get on his bad side, I tell you what." This is a little sobering.

"Who the mountain? Yes, well, he and his brother are both quite quiet types"

Then she adds "But I would say Mountain Frank is a gentle man overall."

"Well, I should get used to the strong and stoic type, with the troll ratio around here." A smile over to Tove.

"Oh yes. I am one of the chatty ones though I'd like to think less so than Siv and Sir Vali. Jaymes, Frank, the Chieftain herself... more on the other degree. The Hearth and Olgar more in the middle."