Occurs simultaneously with Junior Checkup
Xanadu Weyr - Deep Forest Waterfall
"How could I have possibly missed this?" Anyone who frequently travels the deep woods between Xanadu Weyr and the mountains to the west might ask themselves that question upon stumbling onto this place for the first time. A waterfall, easily a hundred feet tall, dominates the immediate area, commanding attention. Like something from a storybook, it stands before you, flanked on either side by sentinel trees and mountain brush mired in stone-spotted soil. Water cascades over a beaten rock face at its peak, flowing down in a white-capped torrent to crash into a small, crystal clear pond below.
Not content to remain where it is, the pond appears to have carved a great trench into the earth, through which a stream now flows, traveling further west towards a massive rock wall in the distance. The stream bisects the area, and a narrow point some 30 feet away from the pond itself makes for an easy jump to the other side. The shore around the pond's immediate edge appears to be mostly soil and large slabs of rock, but that gives way to a grass field after only a few feet, a touch that gives the entire area an idyllic feel. The air is fresh and clean with the bite of cool mountain water and the tang of forest life. It is alive, this place.
Tenebrous all but dives out from the rock wall, arms and legs spidering along the rocks with reckless speed. He lands on that right leg, but does not plant, rolling instead and coming up on both feet. Away from the waterfall does he storm, throwing a burning glare at the blue dragon D'had arrived with. "Your master is a fool," he shouts as he passes. "He has NO idea what he has! No idea what he risks! No grasp of her worth!" He bites off more words, starting towards the rock wall in the distance.
Phylicia is far enough behind, and not reckless enough to do what Tenebrous just did. But instead, this leaves quite a gap between the pair as she finally reaches solid ground, and she pitches her voice to carry, screaming above the roar of the waterfall. "Tenebrous! What're you doing?" She may have scaled small rock faces as a child, but it's been awhile since she's done it, and the faces were maybe ten feet tall, not a wall of rock. "Wait!" And she does take off at a jog, so she won't be winded by the time she reaches him.
Tenebrous rounds on the woman, face full of rage for the first time. "I don't know!" he shouts at her. "What? What do you want?" Both of his hands come up, fingers hooked liked claws, and he turns away. "I don't know!" He takes another few steps and then leans against a tree, shuddering.
His face of rage makes Phylicia skid to a halt a little farther away than she was first intending. Her breath is coming faster, but its not solely because of the trot across the area. "What … do I want?" She repeats the question. She watches as he goes to lean against that tree, but doesn't take any steps closer, instead remaining a few yards away. "I want to make sure you're not going to throw yourself off that waterfall again, or anything else like it." Her arms cross, for the lack of anything better to do with them. "If you'll stop looking at me like a silly little girl with her head in the clouds, you'd find that I /can/ understand things."
Tenebrous rounds on her again, a million different things crossing his face. Finally, he exhales and lowers his eyes. "The falls are back that way," he mumbles, point in the opposite direction. "Besides…I told her that …I'd be just outside. I just…" He clenches one of his fists and then releases it. "Empty egg, I just…flew off in there," he whispers, moving over to sit on a large rock.
Phylicia quivers as he rounds on her again, but she stubbornly doesn't budge. "You did." Her voice comes softly. She still hasn't moved. She might not be /able/ to move right now. "Though I think you were partially right for doing it. He /was/ being a pompous jerk." At least as far as she was concerned, D'had would be sleeping somewhere else for a few nights if she were Thea.
Tenebrous looks down at his hands for a few moments before closing them. "I didn't do her any favors in there…All I wanted was to make sure that D'had didn't make her recovery any more difficulty…" He stands after a moment. "But I can't go back in there now." Then he makes a face and turns back towards the falls. "Into my home, where my…" He swallows. "Where Thea is." He glances at the blue dragon, a scowl crawling onto his face. "He came here. HERE! Of all places, HERE! And…tainted this place…" His hand shakes for a moment before he exhales again. "I've never been …angry like this," he breaths.
"I can." Phylicia offers gently and quietly. "Thea has to be tired by now. I remember my head injury. I was tired all the time." She can be scarily good at reading people sometimes, being raised with a Mindhealer, but she isn't using any tricks on Ten. She's just being a human being and friend right now. "Were you not expecting someone to come get her here?" She asks just as softly, reasonably. "When you agreed to look after her, away from the infirmary?" And then she actually smiles into his anger. "I wouldn't call this place tainted, either way. Not even now." It's absurd how tranquil a roaring waterfall can be.
Tenebrous shakes his head. "But…*I* want to go back in there, Phylicia," he says softly. "Me. And it's…selfish, and I don't understand it." He glances back at her. "She just…I'm normally so objective. You know that…I don't care about your thighs or wooing you, Phylicia. I made you drop your pants because there was legitimate concern. I never even peeked at your legs. It never occured to me. It was just something that had to be done…" He shakes his head again. "I don't have any objectivity with her. All I knew when I was walking out of that hole was that I had her and I was going to make it better." He rubs one side of his face. "I have no idea why I'm telling you this," he says after a moment, starting towards the waterfall again.
Phylicia's face flushes a little bit, though the reason is unknown, even to her. "So go back in." She says, trailing after him, never getting any closer than she was. "You've already apologized. There's no reason for you to stay out of your home." Ah, logic. She stays staring at his back, long enough to make sure he isn't going to go jump off that waterfall again. "I think I'm going to go collect that rope, if you haven't already." She calls out to his back. There's enough light to safely see by, and she knows better than to go running. Plus, Ciaran is still on her shoulder, ever the silent guardian.
Tenebrous stops near the wall. "I don't know if I should…They're having a private conversation right now, I have little doubt of that." He reaches out, running his fingers over the wall. "It's…not really *my* home, I just…live there. I don't own the forest…" He glances over his shoulder at her. "Actually, no. I never did have a chance to go and get it. If you're going to, be careful. I expect to see you in a half hour, or at least your flit with a note if you don't want to make the climb."
Phylicia half-glowers at his back again. "It's your home. You sleep there. Anyways. You're her Healer, and you should make sure he's not taxing her too much!" That seems to be the end of the 'argument' from Phylicia's side, as she turns around, looking at the waking sun. Though she's never been good at telling time by the sun. "Thirty minutes. Right." And that's all Tenebrous gets from her for now as she slips off in the direction of last night, taking her time and moving as quietly as is possible for her. If he's paying attention, he might note she's sounding a little crisp.
Tenebrous watches Phylicia leave before he places his back to the rock wall and slowly slides to the ground. "Damn you, Fraille," he whispers, holding his head.
Continues in Come Into My Tree, Sir