Post by mairi on Jun 8, 2008 14:06:40 GMT -6
Pride of Eireann [10:35 P.M.]: Mairi sat with Seanna, looking out to the sea, sitting on the docks. She felt safe enough, being within sight of the Mistress. Absently, she thought about the hard work involved in rebuilding ulster. It would be a chore. The Ceannfort, tonight, looked rather striking in something she had purchased in the market that day--a deep red dress. The sleeves were long, but made of a flimsy fabric to allow for her to remain cool in the sudden hot sun. With her skin the way it was, Mairi didn't stay out too long
Pride of Eireann [10:38 P.M.]: during the day, and sat now with a firm hold on Seanna on the docks. Dog was there, too, obediently resting by Mairi's side. She looked down at herself and hoped that Jack would approve of the dress. It was not as flamboyant of something a younger woman might wear, and it was loose enough for her to run in. It was plain in the style of the day, but fitted, showing off the beginning of her pregnant figure. She wore pinned to her hair a matching scarlet veil, flipped back and blowing in the cool breeze. Her
Pride of Eireann [10:41 P.M.]: daughter stared out to sea, thoughts there. This didn't surprise Mairi in the least. That was only a half-regret though, because Jack had actually returned. Despite the fancy dress, irrepressible Mairi wore the same worn sturdy black boots she normally did. She was beginning to feel like the Ceannfort again, and it showed. Due to the heat, her complexion was healthy and glowing. She sat, amazed at how still Seanna sat. In the nearby lantern light, Mairi saw a gentle bubble in the sea below. "Look, Seanna,
Pride of Eireann [10:42 P.M.]: what's there?" It must have been a fish or a crab--unless someone had tossed a stone or something of the sort into the water. (d)
CaptainJackFlynn [10:50 P.M.]: What the water revealed was not a fish or a crab, but it could remain just as elusive in the dark of the evening. What had broken through the surface was the small, black, nose of a seal. The nose would disappear, but then, in the lamplight, they would see a form slowly swimming closer. Into the circle of light cast upon the waves the form swam, before slowly the beast slid it's upper torso out of the water. As the waves gently rolled into the docks, the creature bobbed on the surface. It seemed as
CaptainJackFlynn [10:53 P.M.]: though the creature were unafraid of being observed by these two strange creatures that went about on two legs. And it was equally unafraid of the two legs knowing that it was watching them. The seal used it's fore-flippers to swim closer toward the pair sitting on the docks. The seal canted its head to the side, leaving the distinct impression that it was studying the two. That it possessed more intelligence than a seal ought. Slowly, the seal smiled. Surely, it was a trick of the light..... wasn't
CaptainJackFlynn [10:55 P.M.]: it? Seals could not smile. But, this one did. This one was. As the brazen creature bobbed in the sea, there would come another sound. The sound of boots in the dock and the gentle rattle of planks as another body joined them. Jack smiled softly seeing Mairi and Seanna. As he drifted closer, he paused. There was a queer look on his face, as he saw the seal bobbing so close. The seal looked at Jack and smiled lovingly, maternally. Then the seal slid beneath the waves once again. And was gone. (d)
Pride of Eireann [11:00 P.M.]: Mairi could hardly believe it, and Seanna and Dog did not stir. The trio seemed enchanted by the creature, which Mairi was firmly convinced was of the supernatural. "Ye've just seen a Selkie, methinks," she whispered into her daughter's ear. Mairi would be certain to write to Eirianwyn about this experience, and Carrick, too. Declan would never believe her. She had seen seals before, once aboard the Bann Sidhe and once a corpse, cut up for its meat and fat and skins by Norsemen. Mairi didn't realize Jack
Pride of Eireann [11:01 P.M.]: was even there until Dog turned his head towards his master. Radiant in her clothing, beauty and health only enhanced by the faint lantern light, Mairi looked up at her husband. "Ye nearly frightened me--did ye see that, just then? At the very first I thought it was a crab, comin' up to the dock as they often do at night... did ye see it?" She was no longer transfixed, but she had taken it seriously more than she was amused by it, and had obviously felt safe the entire time letting Seanna stay so close by
Pride of Eireann [11:02 P.M.]: the animal. Seanna, still so calm in mood, smiled up at her father and waved. Mairi still held her securely on her lap, so close to the water. Dog licked at Seanna's hand then looked up toward Jack, also serene in mood. (d)
CaptainJackFlynn [11:07 P.M.]: What an odd thing to see, those tears in Jack's eyes. Quietly, he reached up and wiped them away. It seemed that he was just now waking from the entracement that the seal -- or was it, for true, a selkie? -- had placed upon them. After a time, the Irishman said quietly, "Aye, t'was a selkie...." Although it was quiet, one did not need to strain to hear the authority in his voice. There was a faint swallow, before he said, "Dae ye recall tha' the storys say tha' I am 'alf fay?" Then he sat beside her.
CaptainJackFlynn [11:10 P.M.]: He reached over quietly, scratching dog between the ears. She could see that he was struggling to come up with words. "I t'was born an' raised near Donegal, upon tha shores..... an' I seen plenty o' seals in those waters..." He hesitated, "T'was tha' island, thou, t'was Roan Inish, tha' always seemed ta intrigue me. When I was a boy, tha first outtin' I made in a boat was ta Roan Inish.... tha seas were calm...." He was quiet again. "I remember gaein' ashore, an' walkin' on tha beach. There were some
CaptainJackFlynn [11:12 P.M.]: seals upon tha shore.... loungin' on tha rocks like they dae... an' they let me walk close ta 'em. They did nae e'en bat an eye..." He looked at her quietly. "One e'en came down from tha' rocks, an' came close ta me. T'was a female, nae one o' tha bulls....An' she stared at me. Ta this day, I swear she smiled at me." Could see she in Jack's face, the young boy that had been so amazed at being so close to seals? Had, even then, understood what true creaturs he had been so close too? "I could nae stay.
CaptainJackFlynn [11:17 P.M.]: I 'ad gone out at night, an' I could hear me ma an' da callin' for me. I did nae want ta gae... but tha tha lady seal nodge me wit' 'er nose, an' I went back. She looked sad." He was quiet for a while. There was more, she could sense it. He just need his own time. "When I was a boy, an' I 'ad been beaten by me da an' he was gonin' on ta me mum.... I used ta dream tha' a pale skinned woman, wit' seal dark hair an' sea green eyes t'would come inta my room at night. She would be mendin' me 'urts... an'
CaptainJackFlynn: she would 'old me.... just as ye 'old Seanna know." Jack was quiet for a long while, wondering what she would make of this story. Wondering what *he* made of the sory. (d)
Pride of Eireann [11:19 P.M.]: Mairi had always believed the rumors about Jack...but she knew, regardless of them, that he was only part fey. After all, men that were more than half...they did not stay, and he had returned to her. There was a legend that said if a woman shed seven tears or seven drops of blood into the sea, it would call forth a Selkie man. Mairi had shed at least seven of each, in the cove of Dunluce. It was rumored that Mairi's cries of mourning and revenge for Sean still echoed in that cove, frightening English
Pride of Eireann [11:23 P.M.]: sailors who tried to do their work there. Seanna remained calm, and listened to the story too. Her eyes were forever those of her biological father, grey and changing, like the sea, but her mouth was a perfect replica of Mairi's right now, moving in a half-frown, saddened and frightened by the tone of it. Seanna was always captivated when Jack spoke, and now was no time different. Mairi kept her thoughts to herself, about legend and the tears and blood she'd given to the sea--and never on purpose. She had
Pride of Eireann [11:25 P.M.]: hated the sea for a long time, and disliked offering it anything, reserving any accidental or intentional sacrifice for the Goddess only. Mairi maintained a serene look before leaning over and simply kissing Jack on the cheek. His childhood had not been easy, and she knew that he tried making up for it by being good to Seanna. He was a good father to the girl. There was sympathy in her eyes as she thought upon the story, and answered it with one of her own. "That is not so unusual. It's not safe to mention
Pride of Eireann [11:27 P.M.]: to many anymore that I hear from Epona from time to time. She warned me, when we sailed from Solurius to Dunluce the first time on the Bann Sidhe, that something would happen to me horse, so I was down there right after a storm rolled up. Later that same horse suffered deeply from a wound, an' I had to end her life so that the sufferin' would be through...there was nothin' I could do for her an' before that I had a dream in which I was told never to kill a horse." That was something few knew about her--in
Pride of Eireann [11:28 P.M.]: the form of true mythological protagonists, Mairi had a geis, and she violated it. "I think the price I paid for doin' it was losin' Sean." She didn't bring up Sean now to be mean or spiteful or to cause hurt, but to sympathize with Jack in the way that such events had touched her life as well. "That's why when ye found me I had no horse of me own. I was so down on me luck I didn't want to risk losin' another. I used to be an expert rider though; competed in many horse races with me Friesian." (d)
[to be continued]
Pride of Eireann [10:38 P.M.]: during the day, and sat now with a firm hold on Seanna on the docks. Dog was there, too, obediently resting by Mairi's side. She looked down at herself and hoped that Jack would approve of the dress. It was not as flamboyant of something a younger woman might wear, and it was loose enough for her to run in. It was plain in the style of the day, but fitted, showing off the beginning of her pregnant figure. She wore pinned to her hair a matching scarlet veil, flipped back and blowing in the cool breeze. Her
Pride of Eireann [10:41 P.M.]: daughter stared out to sea, thoughts there. This didn't surprise Mairi in the least. That was only a half-regret though, because Jack had actually returned. Despite the fancy dress, irrepressible Mairi wore the same worn sturdy black boots she normally did. She was beginning to feel like the Ceannfort again, and it showed. Due to the heat, her complexion was healthy and glowing. She sat, amazed at how still Seanna sat. In the nearby lantern light, Mairi saw a gentle bubble in the sea below. "Look, Seanna,
Pride of Eireann [10:42 P.M.]: what's there?" It must have been a fish or a crab--unless someone had tossed a stone or something of the sort into the water. (d)
CaptainJackFlynn [10:50 P.M.]: What the water revealed was not a fish or a crab, but it could remain just as elusive in the dark of the evening. What had broken through the surface was the small, black, nose of a seal. The nose would disappear, but then, in the lamplight, they would see a form slowly swimming closer. Into the circle of light cast upon the waves the form swam, before slowly the beast slid it's upper torso out of the water. As the waves gently rolled into the docks, the creature bobbed on the surface. It seemed as
CaptainJackFlynn [10:53 P.M.]: though the creature were unafraid of being observed by these two strange creatures that went about on two legs. And it was equally unafraid of the two legs knowing that it was watching them. The seal used it's fore-flippers to swim closer toward the pair sitting on the docks. The seal canted its head to the side, leaving the distinct impression that it was studying the two. That it possessed more intelligence than a seal ought. Slowly, the seal smiled. Surely, it was a trick of the light..... wasn't
CaptainJackFlynn [10:55 P.M.]: it? Seals could not smile. But, this one did. This one was. As the brazen creature bobbed in the sea, there would come another sound. The sound of boots in the dock and the gentle rattle of planks as another body joined them. Jack smiled softly seeing Mairi and Seanna. As he drifted closer, he paused. There was a queer look on his face, as he saw the seal bobbing so close. The seal looked at Jack and smiled lovingly, maternally. Then the seal slid beneath the waves once again. And was gone. (d)
Pride of Eireann [11:00 P.M.]: Mairi could hardly believe it, and Seanna and Dog did not stir. The trio seemed enchanted by the creature, which Mairi was firmly convinced was of the supernatural. "Ye've just seen a Selkie, methinks," she whispered into her daughter's ear. Mairi would be certain to write to Eirianwyn about this experience, and Carrick, too. Declan would never believe her. She had seen seals before, once aboard the Bann Sidhe and once a corpse, cut up for its meat and fat and skins by Norsemen. Mairi didn't realize Jack
Pride of Eireann [11:01 P.M.]: was even there until Dog turned his head towards his master. Radiant in her clothing, beauty and health only enhanced by the faint lantern light, Mairi looked up at her husband. "Ye nearly frightened me--did ye see that, just then? At the very first I thought it was a crab, comin' up to the dock as they often do at night... did ye see it?" She was no longer transfixed, but she had taken it seriously more than she was amused by it, and had obviously felt safe the entire time letting Seanna stay so close by
Pride of Eireann [11:02 P.M.]: the animal. Seanna, still so calm in mood, smiled up at her father and waved. Mairi still held her securely on her lap, so close to the water. Dog licked at Seanna's hand then looked up toward Jack, also serene in mood. (d)
CaptainJackFlynn [11:07 P.M.]: What an odd thing to see, those tears in Jack's eyes. Quietly, he reached up and wiped them away. It seemed that he was just now waking from the entracement that the seal -- or was it, for true, a selkie? -- had placed upon them. After a time, the Irishman said quietly, "Aye, t'was a selkie...." Although it was quiet, one did not need to strain to hear the authority in his voice. There was a faint swallow, before he said, "Dae ye recall tha' the storys say tha' I am 'alf fay?" Then he sat beside her.
CaptainJackFlynn [11:10 P.M.]: He reached over quietly, scratching dog between the ears. She could see that he was struggling to come up with words. "I t'was born an' raised near Donegal, upon tha shores..... an' I seen plenty o' seals in those waters..." He hesitated, "T'was tha' island, thou, t'was Roan Inish, tha' always seemed ta intrigue me. When I was a boy, tha first outtin' I made in a boat was ta Roan Inish.... tha seas were calm...." He was quiet again. "I remember gaein' ashore, an' walkin' on tha beach. There were some
CaptainJackFlynn [11:12 P.M.]: seals upon tha shore.... loungin' on tha rocks like they dae... an' they let me walk close ta 'em. They did nae e'en bat an eye..." He looked at her quietly. "One e'en came down from tha' rocks, an' came close ta me. T'was a female, nae one o' tha bulls....An' she stared at me. Ta this day, I swear she smiled at me." Could see she in Jack's face, the young boy that had been so amazed at being so close to seals? Had, even then, understood what true creaturs he had been so close too? "I could nae stay.
CaptainJackFlynn [11:17 P.M.]: I 'ad gone out at night, an' I could hear me ma an' da callin' for me. I did nae want ta gae... but tha tha lady seal nodge me wit' 'er nose, an' I went back. She looked sad." He was quiet for a while. There was more, she could sense it. He just need his own time. "When I was a boy, an' I 'ad been beaten by me da an' he was gonin' on ta me mum.... I used ta dream tha' a pale skinned woman, wit' seal dark hair an' sea green eyes t'would come inta my room at night. She would be mendin' me 'urts... an'
CaptainJackFlynn: she would 'old me.... just as ye 'old Seanna know." Jack was quiet for a long while, wondering what she would make of this story. Wondering what *he* made of the sory. (d)
Pride of Eireann [11:19 P.M.]: Mairi had always believed the rumors about Jack...but she knew, regardless of them, that he was only part fey. After all, men that were more than half...they did not stay, and he had returned to her. There was a legend that said if a woman shed seven tears or seven drops of blood into the sea, it would call forth a Selkie man. Mairi had shed at least seven of each, in the cove of Dunluce. It was rumored that Mairi's cries of mourning and revenge for Sean still echoed in that cove, frightening English
Pride of Eireann [11:23 P.M.]: sailors who tried to do their work there. Seanna remained calm, and listened to the story too. Her eyes were forever those of her biological father, grey and changing, like the sea, but her mouth was a perfect replica of Mairi's right now, moving in a half-frown, saddened and frightened by the tone of it. Seanna was always captivated when Jack spoke, and now was no time different. Mairi kept her thoughts to herself, about legend and the tears and blood she'd given to the sea--and never on purpose. She had
Pride of Eireann [11:25 P.M.]: hated the sea for a long time, and disliked offering it anything, reserving any accidental or intentional sacrifice for the Goddess only. Mairi maintained a serene look before leaning over and simply kissing Jack on the cheek. His childhood had not been easy, and she knew that he tried making up for it by being good to Seanna. He was a good father to the girl. There was sympathy in her eyes as she thought upon the story, and answered it with one of her own. "That is not so unusual. It's not safe to mention
Pride of Eireann [11:27 P.M.]: to many anymore that I hear from Epona from time to time. She warned me, when we sailed from Solurius to Dunluce the first time on the Bann Sidhe, that something would happen to me horse, so I was down there right after a storm rolled up. Later that same horse suffered deeply from a wound, an' I had to end her life so that the sufferin' would be through...there was nothin' I could do for her an' before that I had a dream in which I was told never to kill a horse." That was something few knew about her--in
Pride of Eireann [11:28 P.M.]: the form of true mythological protagonists, Mairi had a geis, and she violated it. "I think the price I paid for doin' it was losin' Sean." She didn't bring up Sean now to be mean or spiteful or to cause hurt, but to sympathize with Jack in the way that such events had touched her life as well. "That's why when ye found me I had no horse of me own. I was so down on me luck I didn't want to risk losin' another. I used to be an expert rider though; competed in many horse races with me Friesian." (d)
[to be continued]