44.2 Little Crow

General Summary

Days 745 - 750

  It takes another week to reach the meeting point with Bran's party. Midmorning after we have arrived, a catamaran speeds towards us with Bran waving from halfway up the mast. Mireen is with them, dressed in proper elvish apprentice robes and looking particularly meek. There is nowhere to hide on a catamaran and I don't spot Sehla along with them.   Introductions are made - Skyen, Zehi, Starfield, Qishali, Aestien, Jia Hara.   As people get acquainted, Bran pulls me aside to tell me that Yneir is a little muddled and unable to scry on herself, nor will Bran or Vaneili interfere. Whatever fate comes to her will be manually created, and that is good but Bran is nervous as well. Yneir has evidently become more important to him than he expected.   The group we take up the mountain should be small, and Mireen certainly isn't ready to be involved in something like this. He had expected to have Vaneili stay below to watch the apprentice but I wave it off - everyone will want Vaneili with us, and Starfiend and Aestien are more than capable of handling Mireen's particular issues.   Jia Hara tells us that the Vermillion Birds aren't exactly thriving in the Fire Bird Empire even though they are part of it. This Northern section of the River was once spirit territory, and now it has changed hands to the fire birds. The Vermillion Birds haven't thrived under either rulership and so they will likely dislike him and Qishali equally. But spirit cores can be used as an ingredient, and that might make some birds covetous. We conclude that all the kids will stay at the base of the mountain while Bran, Vaneili, Yneir, Ausha, Jia Hara, and I ascend the mountain. Tomorrow, of course.   For now, we revel in being all together again. Minus Sehla, who has been sent home because Mireen can't grow if she has a nanny taking care of her.  

Day 751

The next day, our smaller party heads out. Bran and I get a chance to swap notes on Camellia's doings and the massively overpowered rescue team I have sent her way. I can't wait to see what rumours Nettle and Whisp create.   Soon enough, we are spotted by a dragon-sized iridescent red bird who swoops down and transforms into an elegant elderly woman.  

Clearly you're seeking healing. Young girl, you don't need to hide your face behind a mask unless you are hiding some disfigurement - it's impolite. Go on, off with it.

  Yneir, somewhat huffy at the implication that she might be disfigured, removes her mask and her charm oozes out of her. The woman is stunned for a moment at the strength of her magic, and allows Yneir to don her mask again. When Jia Hara introduces himself and names his Vermillion Bird friend, she rolls her eyes good-naturedly.   Nevertheless, she guides us to a humble cottage equipped with a lush vegetable and herb garden - seemingly to let us bypass the arduous hike. Proper introductions follow, including Ausha, who manifests once we are no longer hiking. Hou Rili recognizes her as a soul remnant and nods with satisfaction to see that she has a sister taking care of her.   And then, she recognizes Yneir as the 'runaway princess', which Bran seems surprised by. From the context of the spirit lands and whatever Yneir had told me previously, this does not come as a surprise at all. Hou Rili points out, also, that I am likely more powerful than her own magic and asks why I am not the one to heal Yneir. But Yneir needs a spirit healer, not the kind of healing I can provide.   She tells the Vermillion Bird that she wants to seize hold of her future and become whole again, but Hou Rili waves it off and asks what she wants, specifically. Poor Yneir struggles again with this - she can't see her possible futures so she can't decide for herself.  

You're her lady - what do you think she needs?   I don't want to solve this problem for her any more than you do!

  The problem she has is a cracked spirit core, the meaning of which is completely opaque to any non-spirits in attendance. Hou Rili explains - spirit folk nurture their spirit core as they grow into themself and it contains the accumulation of their true self and nature. To fix it, she could destroy it and create a new one (akin to dying and being reborn) or cleave off the damage and build from a smaller core. Or it could be replaced...which runs the risk of her simply becoming another person. She would need to be inherently stronger and hold onto a sense of purpose to resist the core's own spirituality.  

I don't think I'm strong enough to shatter it and rebuild...

  Bran snorts at this. Yneir was prepared to sacrifice her entire fate for Vaneili and Bran and she still thinks she's not strong and wilful enough to destroy herself and start again. It would be the second time for her.   Ausha suggests that Yneir could be like her, and bond to someone else (like Bran) to give her strength while she heals. But even that is flawed - she would need to bond to a true spirit.  

So little crow, what's it going to be? Cleave of the parts you don't need anymore? Or start over?

  I ask Yneir - what do you do when you encounter something you're not strong enough to do? What happens? In the past, she has simply moved on. But sometimes something is so shiny that she keeps working on it, like Bran. But in this case, she seems unable to summon the will to believe in herself. Vaneili, too, advises her to stop flinching.   We eventually set the issue aside and let the three fateful folks discuss while Hou Rili and I move to discussing healing, gardens, and other types of fae. She is old enough to have heard legends of other fae, and she has seen the illusory origin tree on the river. What's more - she knows of the stump to the West, where many interesting herbs grow. She shows me one she calls 'life leaf', and tells me that it cures many ailments, including depression. It only survives for ten years away from the stump, but recently they have been growing thicker and she wonders if that sort of fae is coming back.   I have to hide my excitement and speak something like a wise immortal myself - refusing to give away the secret of my origin tree or untangle any of the mysteries implied by the illusion and the stump. All I will say is that the stump is my next stop, and she wishes me good luck with whatever I am doing.   Hou Rili expresses some sorrow for me being both elf and fae - both races which have suffered so much. Personally, I think that the heaviness of my legacy is more about knowing the details than the races to which I belong. I think the same could be said for any human, dwarf, troll who knows their history. Presumably the same is true for spirit folk.   At this, Hou Rili nods. Spirit folk tend to forget their history to avoid confronting it. The Eternal Firebird Empire, for example, was founded only after hunting the Golden Crows to extinction. Golden Crows are rare because they married into a normal crow tribe, not because they are some genetic gift that occurs sporadically within a crow tribe. But the phoenixes don't teach that, nor do they confront the bloodshed in their story. The Vermillion Birds only survive because they are on the outskirts, where they can't gather social capital and become a threat to the rulers.   It is the sort of complicated social and political problem that I am accustomed to taking on, but I know this one is not my problem. Still - I can't help but wonder what might happen if new people started popping up here and there, full of hope and compassion. Or maybe focused and thoughtful people who know the depths of pain made possible by casual cruelty. I want more fae to start showing up.   Eventually, the two of us begin to prepare stew for dinner, and Hou Rili mentions that she has a dream taproot that might help Ausha anchor herself further.