Peanut Butter. Ambrosia. Whipped Cream. (Horizon Tales)
AUTHOR: Shrimp
CHALLENGE: Peanut Butter 1: fire; Ambrosia 8. "But that is another tale, and as I said in the beginning, this is just a story meant to be read in bed in an old house on a rainy night." ; whipped cream
WORD COUNT: 808
RATING: G
NOTES: I don't think I've posted anything with Vala and her father really interacting. I figured I should get on that since their relationship is important to her character. So, here's just a little story time!
Vala stood at the entrance to her father’s study for a moment. There was a fire roaring and it cast flickering light into the corners. Her father was sitting in front of it in a big, oversized chair. Vala could see the glint of silverware as he picked at whatever late night snack he had been brought. He was working, though Vala wasn’t one hundred percent sure what that entailed, and shouldn’t be disturbed. Anxiously she chewed her lip and shifted in place. She didn’t want to get in trouble, but she wanted to hear a story. “Da?” She asked from where she stood. His posture straightened a bit and he glanced over at her with a wide smile. Vala couldn’t see for certain what he had had in his hands but he put it to the side and gestured for her to enter. Relief and elation filled her tiny body. She bounded in, all reckless energy, and clambered onto his lap.
“Hello, Vala,” he said with laughter on the edge of the words. “What can I do for you?” The fire was to her back and it was warm and comforting. Her father looked younger in the shaded light.
“I asked Ma to tell me the story of Cadfael and the secret sword but she said she didn’t know it.” Vala threw her hands up in the air with exasperation. How could anyone not know the story of Cadfael? It was one of her favorites. She probably could have recited it herself but she wasn’t as good at it as her mother and father were. Maybe if she practiced she could one day recount tales in the same enrapturing way that the adults had.
“Well, that makes sense.” Derwyn Dorsett smiled warmly at his daughter. He adjusted her on his lap so that they might both sit more comfortably. Vala immediately shifted back to the way she had originally placed herself. He relented. He always relented when it came to Vala. “My father is the one that told it to me and his father to him and so on.” He twirled his finger in the air as he spoke. Vala watched him intently. She was young but she was attentive and beneath her rambunctiousness there was a kernel of severity. “See the Dorsetts aren’t originally from here.”
“Shore Shine?” The child supplied. Her father nodded.
“Nope. Not from Uniss either. Our family comes from a different island. One that sank hundreds of years ago.” Vala inhaled sharply. She had never heard this story before. Or rather this part of her family’s history. She knew how the Dorsetts had come to hold Shore Shine as their home and how they had not been nobles before that point. She knew about her mother’s family too, the Morses, and all their ancient tales. But not this.
“Islands can sink?”
“Apparently.” Her father laughed when he saw her glance around the study. “Don’t worry. I don’t think Uniss will be sinking any time soon.” He reassured, giving her shoulders a brief squeeze. Vala frowned a little as if trying to decide whether or not she believed him.
“How did it sink?” She asked after a short pause. Derwyn lowered his voice to a whisper.
“Magic.” Vala shuddered. He continued in regular volume, “Or at least that’s the story that my father told me.” His daughter was intrigued. She shifted, the firelight dancing off her hair.
“Like the kind that the witches in the woods use?” She asked excitedly. That was a story she knew from her mother. Old women who lived in the forests and used sick, strange magic. They kidnapped children and feasted on the flesh of men and women who wandered too far away from home. She loved that story too. It made her scared and excited.
“Probably similar enough,” her father consented. “It was a wizard that sank the island.”
“Why?”
“He was angry and he could.” Derwyn shrugged. The answer did little to satisfy Vala’s curiosity though. She wanted to know everything. She needed to know! She had come here looking for the familiar tale of Cadfael and the sword he kept hidden in the sea. Now all she could imagine hearing about was this new tale, this tale of her family’s sunken homeland.
“Why?” She pressed. Her father smiled down at her.
“Well, I don’t really know for certain. I only heard the tale from my father who didn’t know for sure either. By the time he had heard it our family had been living on ships for hundreds of years.” Vala frowned overenthusiastically. She crossed her arms over chest. Derwyn smiled at her exaggerated mannerisms.
“You can still tell me the story, Da,” she said with a roll of her eyes. He laughed out loud and placed a hand on her head.
“If you insist…”
CHALLENGE: Peanut Butter 1: fire; Ambrosia 8. "But that is another tale, and as I said in the beginning, this is just a story meant to be read in bed in an old house on a rainy night." ; whipped cream
WORD COUNT: 808
RATING: G
NOTES: I don't think I've posted anything with Vala and her father really interacting. I figured I should get on that since their relationship is important to her character. So, here's just a little story time!
Vala stood at the entrance to her father’s study for a moment. There was a fire roaring and it cast flickering light into the corners. Her father was sitting in front of it in a big, oversized chair. Vala could see the glint of silverware as he picked at whatever late night snack he had been brought. He was working, though Vala wasn’t one hundred percent sure what that entailed, and shouldn’t be disturbed. Anxiously she chewed her lip and shifted in place. She didn’t want to get in trouble, but she wanted to hear a story. “Da?” She asked from where she stood. His posture straightened a bit and he glanced over at her with a wide smile. Vala couldn’t see for certain what he had had in his hands but he put it to the side and gestured for her to enter. Relief and elation filled her tiny body. She bounded in, all reckless energy, and clambered onto his lap.
“Hello, Vala,” he said with laughter on the edge of the words. “What can I do for you?” The fire was to her back and it was warm and comforting. Her father looked younger in the shaded light.
“I asked Ma to tell me the story of Cadfael and the secret sword but she said she didn’t know it.” Vala threw her hands up in the air with exasperation. How could anyone not know the story of Cadfael? It was one of her favorites. She probably could have recited it herself but she wasn’t as good at it as her mother and father were. Maybe if she practiced she could one day recount tales in the same enrapturing way that the adults had.
“Well, that makes sense.” Derwyn Dorsett smiled warmly at his daughter. He adjusted her on his lap so that they might both sit more comfortably. Vala immediately shifted back to the way she had originally placed herself. He relented. He always relented when it came to Vala. “My father is the one that told it to me and his father to him and so on.” He twirled his finger in the air as he spoke. Vala watched him intently. She was young but she was attentive and beneath her rambunctiousness there was a kernel of severity. “See the Dorsetts aren’t originally from here.”
“Shore Shine?” The child supplied. Her father nodded.
“Nope. Not from Uniss either. Our family comes from a different island. One that sank hundreds of years ago.” Vala inhaled sharply. She had never heard this story before. Or rather this part of her family’s history. She knew how the Dorsetts had come to hold Shore Shine as their home and how they had not been nobles before that point. She knew about her mother’s family too, the Morses, and all their ancient tales. But not this.
“Islands can sink?”
“Apparently.” Her father laughed when he saw her glance around the study. “Don’t worry. I don’t think Uniss will be sinking any time soon.” He reassured, giving her shoulders a brief squeeze. Vala frowned a little as if trying to decide whether or not she believed him.
“How did it sink?” She asked after a short pause. Derwyn lowered his voice to a whisper.
“Magic.” Vala shuddered. He continued in regular volume, “Or at least that’s the story that my father told me.” His daughter was intrigued. She shifted, the firelight dancing off her hair.
“Like the kind that the witches in the woods use?” She asked excitedly. That was a story she knew from her mother. Old women who lived in the forests and used sick, strange magic. They kidnapped children and feasted on the flesh of men and women who wandered too far away from home. She loved that story too. It made her scared and excited.
“Probably similar enough,” her father consented. “It was a wizard that sank the island.”
“Why?”
“He was angry and he could.” Derwyn shrugged. The answer did little to satisfy Vala’s curiosity though. She wanted to know everything. She needed to know! She had come here looking for the familiar tale of Cadfael and the sword he kept hidden in the sea. Now all she could imagine hearing about was this new tale, this tale of her family’s sunken homeland.
“Why?” She pressed. Her father smiled down at her.
“Well, I don’t really know for certain. I only heard the tale from my father who didn’t know for sure either. By the time he had heard it our family had been living on ships for hundreds of years.” Vala frowned overenthusiastically. She crossed her arms over chest. Derwyn smiled at her exaggerated mannerisms.
“You can still tell me the story, Da,” she said with a roll of her eyes. He laughed out loud and placed a hand on her head.
“If you insist…”