Saturday, November 24, 2012

Chapter 25: The Falcon and the Turtle


"Wake up, mistress."

"Mist?" Aouregan murmurs, opening her eyes, "What is it?"

"You have a visitor."


Aouregan dresses herself and goes down to the door.

"Sir Falcon," she greets her visitor, "What can I do for you?"


"The giants have locked my wife in their castle," the falcon says, hopping up onto Aouregan's extended arm, "You must help me rescue her."


"Of course I will help you, good falcon," Aouregan answers, and together the woman, her cat and the bird set off on their mission.



"The castle is well guarded," Mist remarks, "You won't be able to get in through the front door."

"I know another way in," the falcon promises.




The falcon leads them deeper into the woods, to a stone well.

"To get to the Land-Under-Waves, we must go through the water," Aouregan says as she takes Mist in her arms, "Your fur will get wet. Are you sure you want to come with me?"

"I will follow you anywhere you go, mistress," the cat assures her.


"But I cannot go with you to the Land-Under-Waves," the falcon says, "For I am a creature of air. I cannot go myself, but I can give you my keen eyesight, so that you might see what needs to be done."

"Thank you, good Falcon," Aouregan says, "I will bring your wife back to you."


Aouregan steps up the edge of the well, and dives into its depths, with Mist right behind her.


After a long swim, they arrive on the shore of the Land-Under-Waves.

"Here we are, mistress," Mist says, shaking the water from his fur, "Now, which way do we go?"


"If you mean to reach the castle of the giants, you'll need to swim across the sea to the Isle of Winter," a  deep, slow voice says.

Looking down, Aouregan sees a spotted turtle at her feet.


"It's long way to swim, good Sir Turtle," she says, taking him into her hands. 

"Maybe for you," the turtle says, "But for me it is nothing. Here, take my shell, it will carry you across the sea in no time. All I ask in return is that you bring me the golden key the giants stole from me."

"I will do as you ask, Sir Turtle," Aouregan promises, and takes the offered shell.


"Come, Mist," Aouregan calls to her faithful cat, "We must sail to the Isle of Winter to rescue the falcon's wife, and retrieve the golden key."


"I had a strange dream," Aouregan says as her husband wakes beside her, "Mist and I were going to rescue the wife of a falcon from a castle owned by giants."

"I used to have dreams like that, when MorcuCorp had you," Farrell says, "Nightmares of searching for you, and never being able to find you. Or finally getting to where they had you, only to find you'd been moved..."


"My poor darling, you must have suffered so much, " she sighs, caressing him, "This wasn't a nightmare born of anxiety, like yours were. It was like the tales my mother used to tell when I was a child. This dream was a message, I was being given instructions..."

"Sometimes, when you've thought too long on a problem, your unconscious mind continues to work on it. That's what your dream was, Aouregan."

"No, this was no ordinary dream," Aouregan insists, "Nor was it a vision of the future. But it was important, a message I need to decipher...I wish you could believe me," she finishes, recognizing the look in his eyes.

"I can't help being skeptical," Farrel says, "It's my nature to question everything. But I believe in you, Aouregan. And if this dream leads you somewhere, you know I will come with you. I'll follow you anywhere you go."

Aouregan smiles as he speaks his last sentence, his words oddly echoing Mist's statement to her before she jumped into the well in her dream.


"If you're the cat, then the falcon must be Suchandra," she muses, "But who was the turtle, and what is his golden key? And where is the Land-Under-Waves and the Isle of Winter?" Farrell doesn't answer, his lips too busy kissing her neck to speak, and Aouregan follows him down the path of desire, forgetting, for the moment, her dream and the puzzle it presents.

36 comments:

  1. Awww. This chapter was so cool. I never would've thought of making the animals talk while Aouregan was collecting them.

    Not to mention she and Farrell are too FHJDHSJKDHJKSD cute together.

    Although I admit, when I read "finally getting to where they had you, only to find you'd been moved," it popped into my head: "I'm sorry, Farrell! But your wife has is in another castle.."

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    1. Thanks, misslaheela!
      I've pulled out my old fairy tale books recently, and this chapter is heavily influenced by that. The talking animals giving aid and dropping quests on the hero is very common in a lot of these tales, and reflect the shamanistic backgrounds of the cultures that tell these tales. LOL, I was actually reading this stuff again for inspiration for what I'm doing in Summerdream lately with my young shaman, but the inspiration spills over to my legacy, too.
      And, yes, I was rather consciously making a reference to the princess in another castle trope, lol.

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  2. Looks like fate has chosen Aouregan to be part of the rescue mission. Can't wait to see what happens. =)

    And who the turtle is.

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    1. Well, the walrus is Paul...lol.
      Aouregan is indeed going to be part of the rescue mission, a very big part. And I', looking forward to introducing the turtle.
      And the Eggman...oh, wait....

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  3. Aww, what a neat chapter! I love fairy tales, and I thought it read like one! (I love the show Once Upon a Time, lol)

    I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next! :)

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    1. Thanks, Nirar! I really did try to make it read like a fairy tale, so I'm glad that worked. =D

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  4. Oooh, things are getting interesting! I love the fairytale references and the talking animals helping! I can't wait to find out about what the dream means and all the references within it!

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    1. Thanks, Ali! Fairy tales and legends have always had a huge influence on my stories, but that influence certainly has become more overt in this part of my legacy.

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  5. Can I just go slightly o/t to say that your pictures are always beautiful, but in this chapter they were especially, especially beautiful. I wish I had 1/10 of your creativity when it came to setting up scenes! :D

    Anyway, back on topic, very interesting chapter, and I'm excited to see what the dream means, and how it fits into the larger story. Can't wait!

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    1. Thanks, Elly! I was really happy about the pictures for this chapter too.
      Aouregan's medieval cottage is one of my favorite places to shoot scenes, I spent a lot of time decorating that and love using it in pictures. The world I use for medieval settings is called Rownshire, it's completely empty, with dirt roads, and the atmosphere really works well for the era.

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  6. I loved the fairy tale dream that is a hidden message!!

    I can't wait to find out who the turtle is - if Mist is Farrell and Suchandra the falcon, how cool! A land under the waves and Island of winter suggest seasons stuff - woohoo!!

    *happy happy joy joy dance*

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    1. Thanks, Envie!
      I m looking forward to introducing the turtle. But the Land-Under-Waves and Isle of Winter shouldn't be taken too literally. They are places in the Celtic fairy tales Aouregan would have been told as a child, so they are the places named in her dream. Sorry to disappoint,but the actual mission will be in the boring mundane world.

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    2. Your worlds are NEVER boring and mundane my dear. :)

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    3. Aw, shucks! That's so sweet of you to say. =D

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  7. What a fun little chapter. It reminded me of RPG gameplay...completing the first leg of a quest, only to find out that you need to pick up an additional quest in order to advance. Definitely a cool way to go about things! :D

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    1. I didn't think of that, but it's true, RPG missions are a lot like these kinds of fairy tales, which also have a tendency to end the hero on a bunch of little quests that are required before he/she can advance.

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  8. That was an amazing chapter! I loved the creativity that went into it. I can't wait to see what this dream leads to. And I'm quite interested in who the turtle might be as well.

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    1. Thank you so much, Tsuki! I had a lot of fun setting up and shooting this chapter. =D

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  9. I have read this whole legacy in one day, lol. as im not a strong reader that should tell you how amazing i think this is! i took a few breaks to rest my eyes and found myself wondering what happens next! i really love all the cc you use, especially the naked skin, where did you get that? i have just started my own random legacy and im looking around at everyone elses for ideas of how to make the whole thing more exciting. i know i definately cant re-create what youve done, but im getting supernatural at christmas and i would think ill be adding in some supes to my legacy soon after ;)

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    1. Thank you so much, I'm happy you enjoyed it.

      The skin I use is this:
      http://www.digitalperversion.net/gardenofshadows/index.php?PHPSESSID=v8gtvio5hv48la8t81sfpua962&topic=14345.0

      It has nipples and pubic hair, but the male genitalia is a separate thing, found here:
      http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,20690.0.html

      I hope you have fun with SN when you get it.

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    2. Thankyou :) and i will haha, getting showtime and seasons too, so will add a lot to my game! cant wait for next chapter :)

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  10. I absolutely adore the chapters that I missed, especially this one. It's so nice to see Aouregan and Farrell together again.

    It was sad to see Elliot and Shelly break up (I was hoping she would... grow up, is probably the nicest way to put it), but I'm glad he is starting to move on. I just hope she doesn't pop up again for the sole purpose of making Elliot's life hell - because I could see her doing something like that, for selfish reasons of course (whatever those reasons may be).

    And all the kids are so darn adorable!!

    But I'm more intrigued by the dream-puzzle. WHAAAA DOES IT MEAN?!

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    1. Thanks, Giga!
      Breaking Elliot's marriage up was sad for me, too. Originally, my plan was for them to stay together and Farrell would have to wait to reunite with Aouregan. But I figured that wait would kind of destroy Farrell, and that there was a built in self-destruct mechanism in Shelly and Elliot's relationship that I could use to sap out Shelly for Aouregan.
      You are right, Shelly does have it in her to show up just to make life miserable for Elliot, but they are in hiding in their current town, and she'd have a hard time finding him.
      I'm having a great time with this batch of kids.
      the dream puzzle thing will become clearer in the next chapter. =D

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    2. Ah! I forgot that Dragon's Hollow (that's the name right?) has those fading, ancient traps in place to make it difficult for others to find the town.

      Well played! :D

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    3. Drake's Hollow..close enough. =D
      Even without that, Shelly has other reasons not to be harassing Elliot, anyway, which I'll mention next time the story focuses on Elliot again.

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    4. *facepalm* I wrote that on 3 hours sleep. Sorry for the mess-ups. :(

      And oooohhhh! What's Shelly up to???

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  11. Love the fairy-tale aspects of this chapter and the use of dream puzzles. Looking forward to seeing where it leads!

    I love Mist. Such a fuzzy, adorable kitty! Sir Turtle is a very handsome turtle, too.

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    1. Thanks, Hayley! I'm ridiculously into fairy and folk tales, I've got tons of different books of them.

      Mist is a sweet kitty. Then, I love all kitties. I'm a real cat person.
      I'm not as much of a turtle person, but I am glad Pets came with enough small animals to do talking animal scenes with.

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  12. For some reason, the dream made me think of Jim Henson's The Storyteller's tale of the griffon. There was a ferryman ... I wish I could remember it better! ... and he hated serving the griffon. But the only way to attain his freedom was something to do with someone offering to take the rudder from his hand willingly. Maybe I'm mixing my stories... I'm bad about that because I forget specifics. Makes for excellent reading when I pick up a book I haven't read in years because I've forgotten intricate plot details. What's scary is I forget my Own stories sometimes n have to reread.

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    1. I don't know that one, but it is a common theme in fairy tales.
      I have to reread my own stories too, for continuity purposes if nothing else, lol. Before I write anything I usually have the scene played out in my head. Then I change things as I'm writing and sometimes forget what actually went into the written version and what just stayed in my head. If I'm not careful, I'll refer to stuff that I only thought about writing as though it's part of the canon.

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  13. Such a short chapter for you :)

    But that's a very interesting vision. I'm interested what all the symbolism is behind the animal choices :)

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    1. This one was a little short, but fun.
      There wasn't too much symbolism in the animal choices. I picked the falcon for Suchandra because gandharva sometimes take the form of birds. And the cat was Farrell because Mist was her familiar, so very close to her. And the turtle was kind of random, lol.

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  14. This was a neat little chapter! I loved the dream sequence and can't wait to find out what it's all about.

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    1. I really love fairy tales, so this dream sequence was especially fun for me.

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