History According to Aeden

It\'s early march and while winter still clings to the land, each day is getting warmer. The sun is nearly to the top of the sky as lunchtime approaches, but it\'s mostly hidden behind the thick clouds overhead. A powdery snow drifts down, reminding people that spring isn\'t quite arrived.

In the yard of the keep is the usual activity. Warriors of the Bear clan practice with weaponry, other folks move about tending business. At the gate a couple of guards are posted to inspect all that come and go.

Standing next to one of the guards is a young boy, perhaps eight years old, with a thick shock of brown hair and dark skin. He\'s wearing a winter cloak, with a scarf wrapped about his neck, and is chattering non-stop to the guard. \"But what if it was a big army, and the Ceann was gone, and no other Fian was here, and my grandpa was gone too. -Then-.. you would need to listen to me, right?\"

[Verge(#32426)] Making her way towards the Creatrach Keep along the much-travelled road just a few yards outside the gates, is a tall, dark-haired young woman walking along at a moderate and careful pace, meandering around a few others heading back towards the keep. Strapped to her back she carries a bow, and a container holding not more than four or five arrows. Perhaps she needs to pay a visit to the fletcher? As she nears the gate, the young woman wraps her dark grey cloak closely around herself as a shield from the cold already on her head a thin layer of snow has started to accumulate. As of yet, the woman seems to pay no attention to anything she may hear nearby she merely minds her own business. A curious thing one may notice about her is that she seems to keep her gaze fixed in one sole direction -- looking straight, and not seeming to glance at anyone she happens to pass on her way.

The guard is answering in a droll voice, \"I don\'t think the Ceann would want the fate of the keep to rest in the hands of an eight year-old, boy.. no matter who your grandfather is.\" He pauses, squinting his eyes against the diffused bright light that reflects of the snow, watching the woman that approaches. \"-In fact-, were such a situation to arise, I\'m confident that you would be drug off by one of your grandpa\'s guards and stuffed into a closet somewhere for safekeeping.\" His tone is bored, and just hinted with annoyance.

Neither of the guards make any move to impede the progress of the woman, but the youth is finding his conversation partner to be less than satisfactory and turns his attention to the stranger that draws near. \"Hi!..\" He says brightly, taking a few steps to stand in her path.

[Verge(#32426)] The guards\' conversation with the boy seems to draw no attention from the woman, and it is not until the guard speaks up that she slows, and stops in her tracks after hearing a slight \'slush\' sound from footsteps walking across the snow. She lifts her face upwards towards the sound of the man\'s voice, and replies with a curt, \"Good morrow,\" A slight smile tugs at her lips, \"is that boy being bothersome?\" She turns towards the direction from where she last heard the young boy for a second, and then back to the guard. \"Don\'t think I\'ve seen \'im before,\" she says, as if she could see the boy.

The guard simply shrugs. \"No more than usual.\" He answers with a smirk, and his partner chuckles, nodding in agreement.

The child, meanwhile, looks rather suddenly offended. \"I\'m standing right here. I can -hear- you.\" He grumbles. Then the boy asks, \"Who are you? Why did you come to the keep?\"

The guard lets out a sigh. \"Aeden, go find someone else to bother for a while! Leave the woman alone.\"

[Verge(#32426)] Turning back to the boy, a slight brow is raised. \"Why should it matter to you?\" She asks in a calm voice, although the question is rather accusatory. \"I\'ve come to see the fletcher -- I\'ve nearly run out of arrows. I need t\' practice with my bow.\" A slight pause while the guard mentions the boy\'s name. \"Aedan, eh? Don\'t think I\'ve heard of you b\'fore. Shouldn\'t y\' be off helping your parents with someothing, or whatever?\" The woman ignores his question as to who exactly she is, and instead decides to do all the asking. Her tone is slightly mocking, yet lacking any trace of annoyance with the kid.

Aeden screws his face up into a frown for a moment, then gives her a shrug. \"My mother is down in Cragh Na Dun, with my sister. My father got killed in battle.\" The boy takes a few steps back so that she can walk into the yard of the keep. \"What\'s your name?\"

[Verge(#32426)] \"Oh.\" She rubs her hands against her arms for warmth while she stands there, collecting snow her face remaining expressionless until she forms a look of sympathy with her brows, \".. I\'m sorry about your father.\" Hearing the boy step back towards the Keep, she takes a few steps forward, and towards the inside of the gates. \"Verge,\" she answers simply when asked for a name. \"Cragh Na Dun\'s a bit far off, isn\'t it?\" The woman slows in her pace as she asks this, eventually coming to another stop not too far from Aedan.

\"Yeah, me too.\" Aeden answers, disappointment in his voice. One of the guards snorts, \"That makes two that care, now.\" He mutters, chuckling. The boy scowls at the man at the gate, but disregards him a moment later.

\"It is pretty far, but I don\'t care. Gregoir said I could stay here, anyway. He\'s the Ceann now. Did you know that? The fletcher is over here..\" The child turns and begins walking towards one of the buildings, his boots crunching through the snow and gravel.

[Verge(#32426)] As wrong as it may be, the young woman must suppress a slight grin at the guard\'s comment, even though it was directed at her, too. \"No, I didn\'t know.. haven\'t been keepin\' up with the news, lately.\" Following slowly after the sound of his footsteps towards the fletcher, she mentions, \"I was jus\' gonna invite ya t\' come along it\'s getting a bit chilly.\" Besides, she hadn\'t really planned on being delayed like this. \"I \'aven\'t been back here for quite a while -- jus\' gettin\' back from Kierkgard,\" she mentions briefly, not being much of a conversation starter herself. \".. Y\'know, on the way here I\'d heard that Wulf took back the Redvyrne Keep. Did y\'know about that?\" Probably not, she suspects. The boy would be too young to really care about such matters, she imagines.

\"Oh, yeah. I knew that.\" Aeden answers quickly, without really thinking about that. There\'s a decided silence that follows though, as he actually takes the time to remember if he really did know. \"I remember. That\'s when everyone was really angry, right after Gregoir became the Ceann. There was a huge fight, out here. They were trying to break down the doors of the keep.. all the Fianni\'s men. I\'m not sure why, I think because Gregoir didn\'t do anything.\"

[Verge(#32426)] Verge listens calmly as he describes the attack to the Keep. A slightly uncomfortable feeling grows in her, though, as she tries to think of the reason why there would be such a battle, but can\'t seem to recall hearing about the tensions between Fianni and the Ceann. This kid knows more about it than she does, the woman thinks. \"Oh, somethin\' must\'ve caused them to attack,\" she says in response to the boy\'s thoughts that Gregoir did nothing. There is a long pause, as she makes her way through the crunchy, slushy snow. Turning back down to where she thinks Aedn is, she asks, \"Er.. say, why exactly did the Wulf take over Redvyrne again? I thought they already had control of that.\" The woman\'s not a very good historian, as one may tell.

Aeden stops when he reaches the door of the proper building, turning to look back. \"Well.. People say that it was because my papa and Kedhern both were down in Redvyrne, trying to steal their lands. Papa always said it was good, because the Wulf don\'t deserve the land they have. I think he was right.. but.. umm, don\'t tell anyone that.\" The boy ammends quickly.

\"And, anyway.. Some of Diarmad\'s men were down in Redvyrne. They had tricked the Wulf. My grandpa was going to go down there with Diarmad, and then I was going to be Fian. But all the army got killed, and my grandpa stayed here as warmaster for Gregoir. That\'s when everyone was really angry and the fight broke out. I think it was because Gregoir didn\'t make an army to go take it back. That\'s what he should have done. The Wulf killed all of our men and we should go pay them back!\"

[Verge(#32426)] More names that Verge doesn\'t seem to recall are mentioned by the boy, such as Diarmad. Rather than reveal her ignorance, though, she remains silent as she listens to the brief history lesson. Inside, the young Bear woman would agree that the Wulf deserved to have their land taken away, as most from her clan would also want. \"Yeah, but, you wouldn\'t want them to send another army down there only to have them be wiped out like the others.\" She stops somewhere next to Aedan, not knowing where the door would be. A slight sigh, and she reaches out her hand to feel for the entrance to the fletchers\', grabbing at the air at first. After stretching out a second hand, she then finds where the door is, and slides her hand down to the handle, pulling on it to gain entrance.

The boy is far too oblivious to realize her disadvantage. His brown eyes are looking around the yard. He points towards the keep door. \"That\'s where all the men were fighting. They were demanding that the door be opened and Gregoir be sent out. But then, Gregoir opened the door and he was standing with -all- the Fianni, and he bashed one man. Then everyone shut up and stopped fighting.\"

\"It got better after that.\" Aeden continues talking, \"And then all the Fianni left and that\'s when I got to go hunti-.. Oh! That\'s my grandpa! I have to go! Bye!\" And rather abruptly the boy rushes off.