A Dwarf runs with the deer

[Rorig]

His heart beat in his chest as though it would burst through his ribs. The deer all around him leaped and ran with ease, gliding through the woods. He, on the other hand, got further and further from his initial position at the front to the herd. But just as the last of his companions darted ahead of him, the whole group came to a stop. They mulled around the spring, drinking and splashing. The old alpha male, He With Many Points, stood watch over the group from a wide, low rock.. He was majestic, with his wide rack of antlers and collar of white fur.

He fell down on his face at the pool, drinking deeply. The cold water cascaded down his dry throat and he scooped it up into his hands. The splashed it over his face, the cooling effect immediately refreshing. He nuzzled the nearest deer, happy to be together with some of the only family he ever knew. Nearby, chipmunks and mice played and drank. Even an old badger, ill tempered with its bad left hind leg, waddled down to the water’s edge. All was peaceful. As it usually was.

[Anne]

To anyone else the sight of a dwarf running around like a crazed rabbit would have had then sending for the wagon to the Looney bin. Not so Geordie he thought he looked like fun and someone who could be worth cultivating if he could just capture his attention. He was particularly impressive when it came to beating his chest. Geordie was almost tempted to try it himself but he was somewhat afraid of scaring him off. He saw his chance at conversation when the strange dwarf stopped to take a drink from the pool. Geordie did not find anything strange in the fact that the hirsute male was overly friendly with the deer, that just added to the I want to get to know him appeal.

Creeping slowly closer to the pool through the long grasses that surrounded the area Geordie made it almost within touching distance of the dwarf’s legs. Not wanting to bring any harm upon himself he took a deep breath

”I say do you think you can show me how you do that?” he called out tentatively. One could not be too careful when they were little more than six inches tall and most definitely not quite at all fully growed. The little pixe cocked his head to one side with an errant lock of pale honey colored hair falling over one rather round blue eye whilst the other looked up at the giant dwarf.

[Rorig]

Rorig looked around, then down. He sprang back and crouched low when he saw the tiny figure. It walked on its hind legs, as he did, and looked vaguely like him, though with less fur and it had wings. Its call was unlike anything he had ever heard before. It sung out to him, unlike any call of any other animal. There was a rhythm to it that was sweeter than the chirp of the cricket and softer than the bleat of the elk. He was unsure what the call meant. A challenge? A greeting? Its fur was of a color he had never seen on an animal before, tawny and shining, like a drop of honey from the honeycomb. He stared into the eyes that looked like a pair of robin’s eggs.

As it stood there, still and waving like the grass, Rorig did not sense danger or malice from it. It did not seem to want to eat him. So, he crept forward on all fours. He sniffed the little animal and examined it closely. What kind of a curious creature was this?

[Anne]

Geordie’s eyes widened noticeably as the wild dwarf sprang back, crouching like a cabbit ready to pounce. This was not going at all to plan after all he had only wanted to know how to make that funny noise when beating his chest.

The dwarf moved slowly sniffing the air, testing to see if something was dangerous near by, it couldn’t be him because after all he was just a half growed pixie.

Geordie’s eyes grew even wider when it seemed like the dwarf was sniffing him.

”Oi!! I’m not a meal you know!” he shouted at the dwarf hoping that it would put him off thinking he was a meal. Geordie didn’t feel as if he was going to be a meal but he wasn’t quite sure.

”My name’s Geordie and I just wanted to ask how you made that noise when you were beating your chest. It looked like fun.” he said as he reached out a hand to dwarf so he would realize he was friend, not foe.

[Rorig]

When the little animal yelled up at him, Rorig was startled and jumped back a good 5 feet. Such a loud noise from such a little being. It was something unknown to him, and like all unknowns it was something to be wary of. But it held out a paw to him. And he looked at it for a long time. He crept up closer and gently, slowly reached out and touched the outstretched leg.

It felt soft, like the belly of a doe, and very delicate. He was almost afraid to grab hold for fear of hurting it, but he gently folded his thumb over the little things paw in some kind of greeting. He heard a sound from it, a call of some kind of cheerful sound and tried to copy it himself.

“Fooon.”

No, that was not quite right.

“Fooowwwnn?”

No, shorter.

“Fown, faun, fun?”

Yes, that sounded right. He was not sure what it meant, hopefully not something like ‘I’m going to eat you now.’ He could feel warm feelings in him, like he felt when he was running with the deer or wrestling with a friendly bear. A feeling like being in one’s herd, snuggled safe next to the large doe’s flank.

“Fun?” he said again.

[Anne]

Geordie almost laughed out loud; perhaps would have laughed out loud if something about this situation didn’t strike him as serious.

Patience was what was needed here his intuition told him, so he stood patiently while whilst Rorig decided what to do. The eventual acceptance of his offer of friendship bought a big grin to Geordies small face. Now this was progress, he might just get to find out about the chest beating after all. However the grin faded slightly and wrinkles began to appear on his smooth forehead as the dwarf attempted to emulate speech. That common tongue was not something that the dwarf knew was at odds with anything Geordie had ever known of the race of hirsute people. Still he had grasped the concept of fun or at least the pronunciation of the word, it was progress.

”FUN!!” Geordie said his face breaking out with a big grin again as he attempted to emulate the dwarf’s chest beating of a few minutes ago.

Geordie felt that he had found himself a new friend! This was going to make life much more interesting now he thought as waited for the dwarf to acknowledge his attempts at fun.

[Rorig]

Rorig watched the little being bare his teeth. Usually when he saw bared teeth it was a challenge or a threat, like a wolf about to attack. But this was different. He cocked his head to one side, an inquiring look on his face. Surely this little, friendly fellow was not going to challenge him? It was like matching a mother bear against a field mouse. Then he saw it slap his chest, a shallow, hollow sound, and bare its teeth again.

Rorig tried to copy. He pulled his lips back, tenatively at first, then as far as he could. He lifted his eyebrows as well. He did not know why, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Then he slapped his chest, a rapid, thumping sound like the wingbeats of a hummingbird. Then he tried something different. He thumped his chest to mimic the galloping of the wild horse.

thump thump thump THUMP

thump thump thump THUMP

thump thump thump THUMP

[Kyonos Weatherstone]

It was a long journey from Paxia but the Dwarf was not in the least tired however he was thirsty. He soon spotted a spring upwind from him. The water would not be as refreshing as a tankard of ale but at least it would be wet. He was about to go there until he he heard a sound that gradually grew. Kyonos took cover behind a large bush and looked toward what was by now a commotion. Before long he saw a herd of deer approaching the spring. He had never before seen more than one or two deer at one time. This was a surprise to him. Then the surprise was compounded when he saw a Dwarf just behind the stragglers of the herd. His first thought was that the Dwarf was chasing the herd in order to snag one of these animals for dinner. Then to the amazement of Kyonos the deer stopped at the water to drink. Shortly, the other Dwarf came up among them and drank as well. He could hardly believe his eyes. How could any self respecting Dwarf mingle with deer as if there was a friendship between them. That was something to perhaps be expected from an Elf or one of that sort.

Before long a small creature no taller than the length of Kyonos' hand appeared among the strange group and started talking to the Dwarf. Kyonos could not hear what be being said but it seemed to be an amicable enough conversation. Then the little creature tried to emulate the Dwarf pounding his chest. When he saw this, Kyonos could not keep from laughing. He then stepped from behind the bush and strolled over toward the odd group before him.

Kyonos was armed with a Battle Axe and a Hammer but he made no attempt to draw either weapon. The group he was approaching was certainly strange but the other Dwarf and that tiny thing showed no indication of hostility.

[Rorig]

The babble of new speech drew Rorig’s attention away from the little being. What he saw was almost as perplexing as the little creature with which he had been trying to communicate. This new creature had a very familiar face. It looked a lot like him, only with hair the color of a suns set. However, the rest of him was completely alien. Odd shaped protrusions grew out of his body and some round thing that looked like a turtle bit onto his arm up to the shoulder, though it did not seem to bother him. Couldn’t he see that thing was eating his arm?

Then it approached. This creature was menacing in appearance. As the deer scattered, Rorig got the impulse to run as well. But that would mean leaving the little being here. He had started to grow fond of the animal; even if it did look like most its fur had fallen out from the fur losing disease. Was this new creature dangerous? He had never seen its kind before and was unsure. He stood up tall, like a bear, to his full 5 feet. He held his hands down in the gesture the bears used to show curiosity and at the same time the willingness to wrestle. Then he called out the call the bears had used when referring to him.

“Rorig!”

He tilted his head to one side and opened his mouth wide, baring his teeth.

“Rorig?”

It was more of a question this time. He was not sure what exactly the call ‘Rorig’ meant. He supposed it was the name for his kind, or maybe him specifically. He just did not know.

[Anne]

This was fun!! To say Geordie was really getting to like this dwarf was an understatement. He was not in the least grumpy and seemed to enjoy just hanging around with a few friends. (Strange though his friends were) Geordie was about to try the chest thumping again when the deer suddenly departed leaving the pixie and dwarf alone with the newcomer. Turning around Geordie took in the appearance of another dwarf. This one looked a little more traditional if the weapons on his back were anything to go by and his speech was more fluent than that of his newfound friend.

Geordie was about to say something when his friend suddenly introduced himself to the newcomer (or at least it seemed like he was)

Rorig odd name he thought to himself as he moved a little closer to his newfound friend.

”Serale, I’m Geordie and this is my friend Rorig and you scared the deer away you silly dork!” he said by way of introduction with a touch of insult at the end for disturbing their fun.

[Kyonos Weatherstone]

It was not surprising that the Deer scattered. What was surprising was that they were there to begin with. The other Dwarf stood up, acknowledging the presence of the approaching Kyonos. He called out, 'Rorig' in a fairly emphatic manner. Kyonos assumed that was his name. Then he followed it with the same word but it was voiced as a question. This was quite confusing. Acting on his first hunch, Kyonos called out his own name, "Kyonos"!

As he got closer, Kyonos saw that the little creature was some sort of miniturized Elf with wings or perhaps a strange talking insect of some sort. Too bad that it did not run away with the deer. Then the runt introduced itself. The only useful thing about this puny squirt was that it verified the name of the other Dwarf as Rorig. It's final words were an insult by calling him silly. He had no idea what a Dork was, but being referred to as silly was enough to get his dander up. He did not tolerate an insult from a grown-up and he certainly was not about to take it from this talking fly.

"You had better crawl back into whatever hole you call home before a real being steps on you,"

[Rorig]

The approach of the new being and the gruff sound of the exchange it had with the small one confused him. Were they prey and predator? The large one seemed to be calling itself ‘Ki-nose’. Its race? Its name? He pointed to it with an outstretched paw and said, “Ki-nose!”. The call sounded right. Then he turned to the little one and called out what he figured was its name, “Dork!” Was it ‘dork’ or was it ‘fun’? What strange way these things communicated. So different from the grunts and trills and emotional based cooing he as used to. But then again, they were so unlike all the beings he had ever known all his life.

He looked around. All the deer were gone. The chipmunks were gone. Even the old badger had disappeared. Where did they all go? He stared around, confused and unsure. He had never been alone before. He had always been with the deer in the field or bears in the caves or up in the trees with the squirrels. Now, they were all gone and he was alone. That realization suddenly landed heavily on his heart. He was not sure what happened, but they had seemed to have cast him out, as if he had caught the belly worm. It was as if they feared not just the strangers, but even him.

[Kyonos Weatherstone]

The other Dwarf was lacking in communication skills to say the least. It made Kyonos wonder about him. At least he was able to articulate his own name. Then Rorig made an almost successful attempt at saying Kyonos' name. Then he pointed to the little fellow and called him Dork. That explained a lot. When the runt referred to Kyonos as a Dork, he obviously meant it as a compliment. After all referring to another as your own kind was significant. Geordie was it's name and it's race was Dork.

Wanting to put things in order and have them understand each other, Kyonos pointed to himself and said, "Kyonos". He then pointed to the other Dwarf and said, "Rorig". Finally he pointed to the Pixie and said, "Dork". That done, he walked over to Rorig and handed him a nut. He then turned to Pixie. Taking another nut, he held it between his thumb and index finger and cracked it. He handed the meat of the nut to Geordi.

ThojughKyonos was seldom as considerate as this, he realized that the other Dwarf needed to be handled in a special manner, else he would bolt away. As far as Geordie went, Kyonos could not care less.

[Anne]

Celinia was a nymph of the lake, as she rose out of the water her hair fell in a curtain of silver down her slender back. As she moved closer to the trio they were able to see that her eyes were delicate shade of green. The two dwarves and pixie that stood on the banks of the lake would never be quite certain if she wore clothes at all as she shimmered with a light gossamer film around her body; a trick of the light to give the appearance of clothing perhaps.

Celinia was curious as to why the little pixie was associating with two such as the dwarves; she had no feelings about the hairy creatures other than they were his companions. There was something about one of them though that had captured her interest initially when he first appeared with the deer. They say that curiosity killed the cat and satisfaction bought it back and Celenia was one who felt a need to be satisfied.

On the bank quite unaware of the nymph who was observing them quietly Geordie was giving Kyonos the ‘evil’ eye at telling Rorig that his name was Dork. If he had been a bit bigger he would have gone over and kicked the hairy person with his foot. He was somewhat appeased a moment or so later when Kyonos offered him a nut. He was feeling a bit hungry and a nut would just about fill the hole in his stomach.

Not far away in the shade of the trees the deer that had been with Rorig watched the interaction between their friend and the other of his kind. The little pixie had not bothered them but the other dwarf was an unknown quantity.

[Rorig]

With the animals gone, he was alone from all he held familiar. He felt, probably for the first time in his existence, naked and vulnerable. He looked at the two beings and wondered what kind of skin they had that looked so dark, hard and rough. Was that their skin or was it something else? Fear stirred in his stomach, but he pushed it down because his curiosity and interest in these newcomers was greater.

Kyonos pointed to himself and said his name, and Rorig finally understood. He tapped himself on the chest and said, “Rorig.” Then pointed to Kyonos and said, “Kyonos.” Then he pointed to Geordi. “Dork.” He said. He thought now he understood the names of the two new creatures. The communication gap was starting to be breeched, but it would likely take some time before he could converse intelligently.

The soft sound of a rush of water to one side drew his attention as the figure of Celinia rose ethereally out of the surface of the lake. Rorig was surprised that the nymph had gotten so close to him without him noticing. Just yesterday, he would have smelled her approach and ran with the rest of the deer. But he stood there, transfixed by the shimmering figure that was coming forward. ‘What now.’ Rorig thought to himself.