[The Farm] The Yearning of Danzig

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Kokuten
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Re: [The Farm] The Yearning of Danzig

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"Ope, ope..." Eryl chirped as she climbed into No Name's saddle, with less needed, and more desired, assistance. Despite recent memories of a shade running a blade through her stomach, Eryl had reinforced more positive thoughts over them. Particularly, if she had been allowed to ride, it was with No Name, and that gave her the most joy.

She wiggled in the saddle, her feet secured in the stirrups. Being in her proverbial happy place, Eryl was not quite alert, and hadn't been paying the best attention up until Jane blew out the stable. A short gasp straightened her spine, and she bounced her knees against No Name's sides to canter him out.

"I suppose a headstart is only fair, but," Eryl circled the reins on her hand and gave a more urgent snap with her legs to fire him off into a gallop. "Let us see how fair it is!"

Among the hammering sounds of hooves, her laughter bubbled above.
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Re: [The Farm] The Yearning of Danzig

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The race through the woods wasn't much of a race on account of the narrow trail, but No Name did catch up. Sensing the other horse on her tail, Nuada sped up. Jane smiled, watching the path ahead and listening to Nuada give it her all. The 'race' ended a few minutes later at the first and only fork in the path. Left would have taken them onto the open back field, past Jane's small orchard. The right path took them to a small clearing in the trees. There was a small pond and before it a handmade sitting bench crafted of the surrounding wood. Through the gap one could look up at part of the mountains that encircled Osaka and see the Japanese beauty landscape artists always captured so dramatically.

Jane tethered both horses to a nearby tree, treated them both for their great performance, then sat on the bench in silence, arms folded, and face smiling up at the mountain.
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Kokuten
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Re: [The Farm] The Yearning of Danzig

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Upon a wave of thundering hooves, Eryl was reminded how she liked to go fast, and rode hard in the wake of Jane. She was no cowgirl, but her affinity for the reins came back to her more strongly each time she mounted into the saddle. The first time had been rough, rusty and nostalgic, but now she was focused on the backend of the pair ahead of them. She didn't see the mountains until they had finally stopped, as she had been enthralled by the feeling of charging along.

Remaining in the saddle to admire the scene, Eryl was struck by something. Perhaps it was the feeling of inspiration, she thought, the feeling that struck artists when they felt they had to capture things like this. Perhaps this was why the people of this time felt they needed to take pictures of everything with their blocks. In fact, she had to resist getting her little block out, as she had become susceptible to the same type of inspiration.

Enriched, she stepped down from No-name, and affectionately pat his face in a saccharine sort of way before she stepped towards the pond. The rancher had already come to sit on the bench, and there was still space for the abjurer. Next to her.

Next to Jane.

Eryl's chest shook like a rumbling earthquake as an unwelcome feeling she had tried to banish before rose against her. Before she knew it, her face felt much hotter than the sun had been able to roast, and her breathing became unsteady. This was why she couldn't come the week prior, why she had accepted work through a special weekend. Facing off against a nightmare was more comforting than trying to face this.

Calm down.

She grit her teeth, her mind racing in clinical calculations of her noise, the time spent in approaching and the method at which she could silence the look of her own face. This feeling of infatuation made her feel like an assassin some times.

Infatuation! Eryl, pull your mind together. This is Jane! Jane of all people! There's nothing there.

Her eyes stared hopefully at Jane's back.

There's nothing there.

The seconds counting in her head were starting to go over, so she began walking, trying to cool her mind and heart. This was Jane. Jane was a friend. Jane was a good friend. Jane was her finest friend. This was the place she felt safe.

Don't ruin it.

Safe. The word continued to repeat in her mind as she sat down flush against the gunslinger in mindless, affectionate closeness.

"Oh!" Eryl jolted, earnestly shocked and appalled, before putting a bit of space between the two of them and finding her spot on the other end. "Apologies. A little woozy, I think."
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Re: [The Farm] The Yearning of Danzig

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Jane looked to her friend, inspecting her. Whatever she saw, she had little to say about it. "Yer alright." Her smile was reassuring as it turned back toward the vista. For Jane, the silence was comfortable.

"It took me awhile, but I get it." That hung in the air a few moments before Jane realized she was being vague and pointed up above. "Japan. The culture. The love o symbols n metaphor. S'hard not t see the world that way when errythin round ye's so... picturesque. Or maybe I jus been here too long." She glanced at Eryl to get her opinion.
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Re: [The Farm] The Yearning of Danzig

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Eryl preferred the reflection of the pond and the barest sight of the mountain over the trees. Thinking on Jane's question helped clear her mind.

"I was reading a biography of a dutch painter from a bit after my time. He wrote on Japan's art, saying that you will find a man that is undoubtably wise. Instead of studying science or maths, he studies a single blade of grass," As if to emphasize this, Eryl plucked a strand of grass near her boot, "But this blade of grass leads him to draw every plant and then the seasons, the wide aspects of the countryside, then animals, then the human figure. He will do this his whole life, but his life is too short to complete the entire work."

Pfoo. With a sharp exhale, she sent the strand on the wind, "One may call it perfectionism, but there is an appreciation for the smallest detail in every thing. Each detail is equally important. No forest without the trees, no mountain without the stone."

Her eyes turned to look back at Jane, finally pulling away from the rippling water. "If anything, were you to ask the artists, now that you see the tree and the stone, you have only just begun to live in Japan."
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Re: [The Farm] The Yearning of Danzig

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Jane nodded her agreement. “Sounds zackly like what they’d say. Maybe yer Japanese.” She pondered art and life for a moment. “Since I left home, this is the longest I set in one place. Strange t think on. Thirteen years n I never set down for more n two of em in any place. But I look at that mountain n think I could prolly do ten more.”

Then she sighed. “But I reckon not. That ain’t the hand I was dealt.”
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Re: [The Farm] The Yearning of Danzig

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"What ever do you mean?" asked Eryl, now looking at Jane with a bit more concern, but tried to smile for her nonetheless. "If you told me I could live here, I would never leave. And if you left..."

She brought a hand to her mouth, her blue eyes considering such a future. The idea hardened her face a bit, a bit of her mentor's stoicism darkening her expression. Jane had always given Eryl an impression of steadfast independence, but deep down there was a presence that held a tight reign on her agency. "Something is bothering you, isn't it? Something is trying to take you away from here, and it sounds like you do not wish to answer it readily."
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Re: [The Farm] The Yearning of Danzig

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Jane watched her friend with a strangely pensive expression. Strange because it was rare that the gunslinger needed more than a breath to judge her proper course.

But how could she explain the Calling? That it was both a duty and a satisfaction? That she simultaneously believed in its purpose and felt manipulated?

Thankfully, Eryl asked a second question that was much easier, but still relevant. “I’m sayin that day ain’t come yet, but I fear it will. An the longer I stay the more I ain’t sure I’ll answer that call. I started a life here. A real livin.” Jane looked like she was about to say more, but the words never came. She couldn’t find them— wasn’t sure the proper arrangement of sounds even existed to accurately explain her feelings. So she said nothing.
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Re: [The Farm] The Yearning of Danzig

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"Jane, dear," Eryl placed her hand on the other woman's arm, trying to convey some support, "life is not so short that this world you have wrought will be gone when you come back to it. More importantly, you can take some of it with you."

She bit her lip when she realized her words didn't make much sense. What Jane had said touched close to the feeling she had in the summoning of the Maw that nearly ended her. Aurus had forced her hand and she always questioned that earnest desire to do good for Caxton. That offered hand on Jane's arm curled away, as if it couldn't bear the touch anymore. "What I mean to say, that... Whatever it is... Whatever is urging you to leave or go..."

The amount she struggled with the words made her laugh, and after a reflexive apology she said, "If you must address it, then you must force your answer to this call to be on your own terms. Otherwise it... they... you will never know if it was your own will to answer it."
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Re: [The Farm] The Yearning of Danzig

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Jane found herself treading new and uncharted waters. She’d never been at a loss for words before and it made her grimace. It was like stepping into a gambling den only to realize both revolvers were empty. Her uncertainty was as implausible as her lack of preparation.

She stood up. Her body wanted to act but there was nothing she could do about this. The urge to fidget was suppressed by planting her hands on her hips. They felt suddenly bare without her belts.

“I ain’t been home half my life. I ain’t been nothin but a gunslinger. A hound on hell’s heels. Till I happened through here again n Mr. Flynn offered me a job. A teacher. A rancher.” She exhaled sharply through her nose and shook her head in amazement. “Never thought I’d see the day. Thought pigs would fly fore I stopped killin.”

Then she frowned and looked from the mountain to Eryl. “But thas jus it, I spose. There’s still evil what needs killin. So that places like this can exist in peace. So people like you— n people like my students can preciate em in peace.”

“Like them Librarians. I will kill ‘em.” Her eyes were the steely blue of a warrior ready for battle, and she fixed them on Eryl. That look said, Yes, I know they’re your people.

Then she looked away. “World wouldn’t need folks like me if there were less folks like them."
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