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Whoot! Another addition to the story. Don't get too used to such frequent supplies of story, tho'. It all depends on what lay ahead in my schedule.

She carefully navigated Stormrunner through the crowds, he didn't seem to appreciate being bumped and jostled any more than Mayve. She had forgone armor this morning in favor of a simple white blouse and a soft well-worn pair of leather trousers over matching boots. She blew a strand of hair out of her eyes that had escaped the bundle of hair at the back of her head. While she waited for the crowds to thin at a pass in the road she patted Stormrunner's neck to sooth him, he whinnied softly and stirred up some dirt with one hoof.

Spotting a break in the stream of people milling around the gates to the next section of the city she gestured to the armored gaurds posted at the doors and nudged Stormrunner forward. The rumble of crowds were muted almost imediately as she crossed under the emerald and gold light filtered through the tree canopy. Mayve smiled and took a deep breath inhaling the sweet scented air and closely examined her surroundings. Few people took much notice that they were in a forrest inside of a city, but Mayve purposely took this route because of the envrionment.

The next gate rose up at the next bend in the path and horse and rider were thrust back into streams of bodies and the tumult and rumble of the crowds. Turning down a lane she found herself on a street that was little more than an alley. Next to an inn stood a great green and thriving Oak that was just a few shade brighter green and more lustrous a brown than the other trees nearby. Nodding in the direction Mayve dismounted Stormrunner and walked him to the stables. The stable hand took the reigns and turned to take the horse in when Mayve placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Take a little extra care around his mouth, he's in a little bit of a mood today." The girl tilted her head frowning, but seemed to think better of it and asked. "Can he be bribed, with sweets?" Mayve smiled brightly and said. "Absolutely. But then who can't?" The girl chuckled as she led the horse away.

Going into the bulding Mayve padded up the steps to a door with faded numbers painted on it and knocked softly. A smooth bass filtered through the wood along with the aroma of brewing tea. With a click of the latch and the low soft sound of well oiled hinges the door opened.

Mayve stood with her hands clasped behind her back and head tilted and she didn't even flinch when the man dropped the cloth back he was holding and exclaimed. "Yume?! Pardon I mean, Mayve. What brings you here? You didn't say you were planning on coming by anytime soon."
"Hi Fath-Dad. Its okay call me Yume, you know I don't mind anymore...may I come in?"
"Yes of course, but I should warn you things are a mess right now ."


Mayve bent down to help the man who didn't look much older than her pick up the spilled tea leaves. She chuckled and said.
"Here let me help you with that...come on Dad your definition of mess is my definition of immaculate and you know it. It smells good in here, did you cook?"
The man's hazel eyes crinkeled as he smiled warmly. "I still find it hard to believe that you like my cooking. Would you like some tea?"
"Yes please."


Mayve walked into the sparsely furnished room, a bed, a table, a few chairs, a book shelf (all wooden except one overstuffed cloth seat in a corner), and an iron stove with a matching teapot resting on it.
She smiled as she sat the small cloth bag on the table. "Well you remember Mom's cooking, it wasn't done unless it was black on one side...but it did taste good and how she always made such perfect potions..."


The man smiled and shrugged. "She hated to cook, but I liked her steaks and besides, you're good at what you're passionate about. So tell me, what brings you here? Is everything okay?"
"Always straight to the mark, that's one thing I can count on with you Dad."
"Archer's don't miss, so are you going to tell me or not?"
"What can I say? I never thought it would happen, but I made the same mistake you did."

The man blinked a few times and absent-mindely pushed a strand of black hair behind one pointed ear. Then said smiling sadly. "Which one? I've made so many."

"The one you and I both agree wasn't really a mistake even if it ended in heart ache."

He furrowed his brow a moment examining the look on his daughter's face, then his eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he smiled. "Who is he?"

Mayve nearly laughed, not sure what response she expected, this one still caught her off-guard. "I think I'm glad you guessed it. His name is Kain and he oddly reminds me a lot of you."
"Now I know we're in trouble."
"You don't know the half of it. Pass me a cup of tea and a chair and I'll tell you all about it."
He went over to the stove and as he poured the tea into two simple white mugs he asked over his shoulder half joking, half not."I'm not going to be a grandfather anytime soon am I?"
At first mayve was just going to laugh it off, it was actually a common joke between them, but after a moment of thinking about it she answered in a somber tone. "No..., but that would add an interesting twist to the current situation."
"Holy Tunare, how bad is it?"

They spent the next few hours talking about everything. Including the description of how Mayve found her life in the hands of a two dark-elves, a necromancer and a shadowknight and how that turned out to be not such a bad thing. Iyves A'waranai Twi'lyte seemed to take his daughter's exploits rather well. She understood why, because the next few hours he spent telling her the whole story of how he and her mother Saerdra Locke the Necromancer had met, nearly killed each other, and consequently fallen in love. For Mayve, at least for a few hours, it was like her father and her had never spent any time apart and a little like her mother was alive again.

He'd said as more of a statement than a question, that she knew she had to go after this man now, right? He knew she had her mother's stubborness and even though Kain had said he'd kill her the next time they met, Ives knew she'd still made up her mind. She promised to write as soon as she could, but warned that she may have to be slightly cryptic in her letters due to the nature of the content. Then he said something that really surprised her.

"You know you can trust me no matter what, but if things get really bad and I can't help....I didn't leave my family on the best of terms because of your mother, but if you ever get into any truly difficult situations, I know they would take good care of you, Faydwer was always a fairly neutral place and my family there would take you in. I can't say they might do the same for me, but I know they'd help you."

She didn't know what to say so she just nodded and hugged her father goodbye. "Please take care."
"I love you Dad, and you know I will."
"And I you, and I know you will."
As she stepped through the doorway she glanced at the spilled tea leaves they'd missed and she thought one clump might have resembled a heart, she smirked. Finding shapes in tea leaves or clouds, it couldn't tell her any better what she would find on the road ahead, but it reminded her that whether the warnings were subtle or obvious, real or imagined, the path ahead of her was not going to be the least bit easy.

Okay I really hope everyone enjoyed this addition to the story. As always, comments and constructive critiques are appreciated. I'm not a writer, but I do love to tell stories and I hope this one contributed something good to someone.
-Yume