#earthrunes

"What am I doing here? Dude.. I see a BOOM of glamour while I'm shopping for a gift and I'm off to the rescue. What about you? I thought you were on a date with Minerva?" he says

"I was." His voice is tight, strangled. "This bitch killed her."

"Mind your tone," the sidhe says... her voice one of authority "I did not kill her. I took her form and sent her into the Dreaming. And what are you anway? I sense... a kindred soul in you..another sidhe yet.. it is ... not whole, and somehow slumbers? Are you some abberition? Some stillborn dream?"

"holy shit" Zane says. he was so caught up in this beauty that he forgot to look at her mortal self. "It is..." He corrects "Was Minerva. Holy shit"

Adam breathes in wetly and swallows.

Zane recovers first and says "Adam is.. unique. But he is protected by the Escheat and the nobles of Earth Runes where we are going, and by the Lodge of Rivervale in a far off land as well"

"Why did he assualt me then if he is so cheerished? he tried to freeze me to die by denying me my new body" The Sidhe says coldly "I have done nothing to this.. 'unique' individual"

The creak of tension in his jaw is audible.

His eyes well up again, spilling over.

His angry driving is now blurred as well.

"It's.. complicated. He doesn't know how mostsidhe.. it's.. complicated" Zane says

"Well, tell me more of this.. earth Runes at least" 'Minerva' (If one can bring them to call her that) says

And Zane does, what he knows of it, which is pretty fair... and the Sidhe seems to absorb it like a sponge

Adam rubs at his eyes with his wrist, wiping.

And they pull into Earth Runes, to see...

Well, a lot of folks ready to go on the 'rescue'. Thanes and knights and more

Adam stomps on the brake and throws the car on park.

He grips the steering wheel, shoulders stiff, staring out the windshield, and doesn't speak. His cheeks shine.

“What’s what? Here now, all is well.” Vince appears to be directing traffic. Or rather, mincing about and not QUITE getting in the way?

Adam doesn't budge.

Recognizing the car - how could he not, a Noble Puss knows his comrade’s pussy-wagon- he waves to Adam, beckoning with a smile.

Adam doesn't smile, or change his stony expression. He looks, frankly, like he'd like to kill someone.

And out comes a new sidhe.

"Adam, are you all right?" Dame Bondraste asks

She has slipped in among the warriors , knights, and thanes and looks concerned

"Get her out." Very tightly. A beat. "Please."

He looks and sounds like he has been crying.

"Get her out?" Her eyes fall upon the new sidhe, then realization, and Bondraste strokes his hair "Oh my precious boy. You saw.. you knew her before. This is.. oh"

The only change in expression is one he can't control. His mouth curls downward, trembling.

"Come with me, we have much to talk about. The others will.. help the new Fledge." She starts to lead him away.

Adam hesitates..... No, he almost flat out refuses.... but then he wrenches the door open and storms after her, fists clenched.

And Vince is left hanging... but Zane explains as the sidhe is guided "That was Adam's date"

Adam follows Dame Bondraste blindly, eyes hot, face fixed.

And Bondraste says "Adam, could you pour us some drinks?" She gestures to a small bar and beverage area "Something hard I think"

Did he hear her?

Then, soft. "Not for me. Thank you." He crosses to the bar and, if he knows her tastes, pours something she'd like.

She gets a brandy, and she says "Adam, I am so sorry. Sidhe are... well, most of us do not undergo the Changeling way. We're..both older and newer... "

"Is there anything else I can get for you, Dame?" Monotone quiet.

"Just your company" She motions him to sit.

Again, he almost refuses, or argues..... but then sits, stiffly, as if on broken glass.

"Arcadians don't have a way to survive in this world. We take bodies for our own...and the mortal soul goes off into the Dreaming. It ..varies a great deal how it goes about. I take it you saw?"

"Yes."

"I take it , it wasn't gentle?"

He turns away and doesn't speak.

She nods "I see" that answers the question "Sometimes, I'm told, it's gentle.. a mortal soul EAGER to adventure into the dreaming. Some Liam are said to have used it for healing.. if you can believe that. I hope they do. It would be nice. Most have limited or no control .. the sidhe I mean... but some are..brutally direct."

No response.

"It's a banishment for most...kicked out of Arcadia, though some claim they went bravely volunteering. " The woman savors the brandy slowly "The Changeling Way is..rarer. House Scathach, ever the scamps, took to that fast. House Liam.. also when it was time.. though they're hardly all Autumn Sidhe... the rest of the houses? Far less"

Nada.

"That's why, when those wishes were made,it was such a.. the Chieftain, in her wisdom, wished you sidhe without risking the YOU that is is, Adam. I give credit to her. I would hate to lose you"

Silence.