"Oi, Maxie, hon, you in?"
"Yeah. Wait, Colin, is that you!?"
"Aye, sure is, lass. Jus' got in off the Hoarfrost's Halberd. Brought some friends wit' me as well."
"Oh?"
Maxine stepped forth from the kitchen, her body moving with subtle and fluid movements that were akin to when a breeze blows through the branches of a tree, or when water flows through a narrow riverbed. In some ways, she was a mystery. Though pursued by many, she had always remained unobtainable, to all except Colin. A fact Colin knew, left many envious of him. As he had often been asked, what was his secret behind snaring the affections of the one woman in Ravenmist Glen, whom to all others had been but a fleeting, evanescent dream? A woman, often described as having inexplicable natural beauty, which no sane Mintaran could entirely comprehend. Maxine, simply was a force of nature, who was evocative, beautiful, sensual, and in Colin's mind, still capable of making him speechless when she entered a room. Even, if it was for something so simple, as to ask a question.
Colin smiled and shook his head, as he managed to regain his composure. "Uh...Aye," he murmured with a smirk, a bit embarrassed, he'd let himself fall apart like that, particularly in front of his new friends. "Ah've asked 'em tah' stay wit' us a while, if that's okay. Ah'm actually repayin' a favor, one of 'em did for me on the ship."
"What did they do?"
Colin motioned for Valorisa and Donovan to come further inside. "This one," he said nodding to Donovan whilst the male marten was entering further into the house. "Pretty much saved mah' tail, excuse mah' language, while ah' was tryin' tah' deal with that brute of a corsair Ghulius Gutgore."
"Gutgore!" Maxine hissed. "By the four houses, I thank your friend for his intervention, whatever he did, but Colin Jeremiah Leonard, what did I say to you about getting involved with that bear? He is trouble. T-r-o-u-b-l-e, TROUBLE. I mean...ugh. Just tell me, what is it he's got you involved in this time? Another errand? Another one of his schemes, to make money quick? That's what it is isn't it? Another of his get rich quick schemes, isn't it?"
Colin nodded. "Sort of," he replied. "I mean," he added. "There is more to this than that. Gutgore, he and I had an agreement. He needed someone skilled in medical practices for his most recent voyage, I needed a safe place to stash a valuable artifact, which I was bringing back here, to the home monastery of the Labyrinthian Order."
"And?"
"And," Colin said with a sigh, "He cheated me. He disposed of the paper signifying my terms of the agreement. He nullified the contract, making it impossible for me to contest, that we had ever entered one in the first place."
Maxine sighed. "Oh Colin," she murmured. "What am I going to do with you? So, great. He has the artifact you were supposed to deliver. Now what? Is it lost forever, or..."
Colin shook his head. "Not yet," he replied. "I mean, that is, Gutgore gave me three months to get it back. He apparently, has this very bright ermine working for him. A Dylan..."
"Dylan Frostwood."
"You know her?"
"Mmm-hmm." Maxine ran one of her long black bangs between left thumb and left pointer finger. "Yeah," she said. "I know of her at least. I mean, from the stories I've heard sailors tell when I'm down at the docks, dealing for fresh seafood and sea products...yeah. They say she's very bright, can be very cruel and intimidating, and some even think she's more worthy of the title of captain, than Gutgore himself. Those are just rumors I've heard, though. I've never met the woman, so I can't say how much of it is true.
Colin looked to Donovan. "From what we saw..." he murmured, "Probably a lot of it, wouldn't you say?"
Donovan nodded. "Yeah," he replied quietly, speaking for the first time since he and his sister had entered the house. "She also knows," he noted, "A lot about linguistics, history, and those matters. In fact, she's the one who not only translated the writing on the stone, but who also told Gutgore about it being a valuable artifact related to some local legend."
"What local legend?"
Colin sighed. "The legend of Aloysius St. Abbot," he clarified, as he turned back to his wife whose eyes now were wide as saucers, after hearing the mention of the mythic figure's name. For as was the case of most native Mintarans, she was very well versed in the lore of Aloysius St. Abbot's life. She knew of the miracles, of the companions, and even of the stories regarding his tomb. Most infamous of which, were the tales that Colin had already told to Donovan. The tales in which men set out seeking fame and glory, only to die brutal deaths in the Mintaran wilderness, or to go mad because they could not figure out for the life of them, how to navigate the tests and traps which the companions had designed, so to ensure that only the worthy would ever find their way to their master's resting place.
The fox shivered. "Why..." she asked, still thinking about how this tomb was likely a place better off left untouched and undisturbed, "Does Gutgore even have an interest, in something like that? I mean, greed, I get that. That's just who he is. But this? This feels more than just another scheme to add coin to his coffers, love. It feels wrong. It feels...different. Like he has something else, in mind. I mean...wouldn't you agree? Or am I being too wary?"
Colin shook his head. "Nay," he replied with a reassuring smile. "Nah, I wouldn't say you're bein' too wary at all, mum. In fact, Ah'm glad ah'm not the only one here who's suspect of the bear's actions an' his intentions. Particularly so, when regardin' the fact, that he wants Donovan and I to obtain the treasure in three months' time."
"He what!?"
Things started to click for Maxine as she shook her head. "Wait..." she murmured. Wait just one minute! I thought what you were trying to say, was he was going after the tomb and its treasure. A statement which on its own, is bad enough. Now what you're saying is... by the four houses of Kitsune no Kuni... he actually wants you to obtain it for him? Great spirits, the gall! No! I won't stand for it! I mean, yes, I expect underhanded things of him, but this? This is just...just..."
"The worst?" Colin chuckled. "I know," he whispered as he kissed his wife. "And that's why Donovan and I aren't goin' into this unprepared. We know we at the very least, will need more than two people, to complete this quest. So come first light tomorrow, we'll talk with Gloriana tah' see if she can help us in findin' more adventurers who are willin' tah' take on a quest as perilous as this."
"Gloriana!?" Maxine spat on the ground. "Colin, you know how I feel about that woman. Why would you even ask..."
"To go see her?" Colin smiled. "I promise," he reassured Maxine, "this is strictly business. We'll go in, get the help we need, and be back in time for breakfast. No lollygaggin' or shenanigans, whatsoever."
Maxine looked to her mate anxiously. "You promise?" she asked, clearly wanting to trust Colin and wanting to believe he knew what he was doing. "I mean..." she murmured, "Gloriana is very manipulative. She is a true artist, when it comes to subtly knowing how to work what she wants into any favor. And I happen to know for a fact, the thing she wants more than anything, is you dear. So, be careful, okay?"
Colin laughed. "Oh, ah' will, Maxie," he replied. "Ah' happen tah' know the only person I want more than anything, is you. So, don't worry about Glori's wiles and charms. They will have no effect on me. I promise."
Maxine sighed. "Uh-huh," she stated with skepticism and caution in her voice, as she headed back to the kitchen. "Just...stay alert, okay? I mean, I honestly don't want to have to interfere, and have to show her what happens when she tries to put her paws on my man," the vixen growled as she picked up a meat cleaver and brought the blade down hard into a piece of choice, grade-A, Yakobi Beef. The sound of blade meeting with the half-frozen block of meat, thus caused everyone to jump a little excluding Colin. He who was not only well aware of how protective his wife was of him. But who also was the only one in the room privileged to know about Maxine's dark past. A history she only shared, with those she most intimately trusted; it was a question on Colin's mind, whether she would keep those secrets safely guarded to herself around Donovan and Valorisa. Or would she eventually open up, and tell them everything including, why it was best not to cross her when she feeling this protective?
Colin sighed, and shook his head as he joined the Dashraft siblings in the living area. He knew as he seated himself in a burgundy recliner, that in the end to trust or not to trust, had to be Maxine's decision. He had learned early on in their relationship, that she did not deal well with being pressured. So thus, it was better he thought, to just let things play out at their own pace, as he relaxed for a bit. The prairie dog in his casual observations, took in the sights of his family's small burrow, from which he'd been isolated for so long.
Colin admitted it always felt a bit strange, coming back to his house after a missionary trip or a retreat, or whatever it was the order assigned him to do. He knew it was his house, sure. But it seemed like it always took some readjustment, to settle back into the familiar settings things like this favorite recliner in which he was now sitting and of the scents produced by Maxine's home cooking. Something he missed, while traveling. As it was common for him to sleep in shall we say, 'less than luxurious,' accommodations, when he would stay at a tavern or an inn. Usually, a mattress stuffed with straw and feathers. Sometimes the beds even had broken springs... Colin shivered. He perished the thought, and looked forward to sharing a warm, comfortable bed with his loving wife, for the first time in six months.
Colin sank deeper into the chair and was just starting to fall asleep, when he heard the back door open near the kitchen. He squinted one eye open while keeping the other one closed, as he heard a heated discussion between Maxine and what sounded like a much younger individual. She, who Colin knew, had to be their daughter Searciara. As she was the only other one on the property who had yet to show herself, and the only one he knew of, who could make her presence known, in such a boisterous fashion.
"Child, calm yourself!" he heard Maxine state, from the kitchen as she apparently was trying to settle her eight-year-old daughter while also trying to cook dinner at the same time. "Now what," Colin heard his wife ask, "has got you all ruffled up this time? Did someone say something offensive to you, that I need to address? Because if they did..."
"No, no! No one said anything offensive! Haven't heard anything anyway. Doesn't mean they haven't. Might've said it quiet enough that I didn't hear it..."
"Searciara."
"Hmm?"
"You were trying to tell me something?"
"Oh...Oh yes! Right, well, I was down by the wastes, you know where all the Human era junk is piled up?"
"Yes, I know the area, child. I also happen to know I told you not to go down to that area unsupervised. It's dangerous. There's lots of rusty junk there, and a lot of the stuff is stacked so high, it could fall on you if you aren't careful." Maxine sighed. "Anyway," she noted. "I suppose we'll talk about discipline later. For now, finish the story. What is it you found and drug back this time?"
Searciara's sea green eyes sparkled passionately. "I found," she said, brushing chestnut-highlighted bangs from in front of her face, "a human era 1963 Sebring silver Split-window Corvette. An extremely rare and valuable vehicle, it is a make and model of which only 400 of its kind, were ever made."
"Oh really?"
"Yes, really!" Searciara exclaimed as she jumped a few inches from off the floor and shot her arms up into the air. They young marmot/vulpine hybrid, thus received a stern glance from her mother, as Searciara almost knocked a salad bowl off the counter, while doing this.
"Careful!" Maxine snapped, as she caught the bowl, just as it went over the lip of the counter. "By the four houses," she snarled, "how many times do I have to tell you, don't jump around in the kitchen when I'm cooking? Not only could this bowl have been filled with salad, and you could've created a mess by knocking it on the floor, but what if that bowl had been sitting on something sharp like say, a knife?"
Maxine sighed and shook her head as Searciara tucked her head down between her shoulders.
"I'm sorry," Maxine stated softly, as she crouched down to pat her daughter on the head. "Just...be careful, okay? I don't know what I'd do, if something happened to you. It's why your father and I have house rules. Not to make you feel as if you can't do anything, but so you stay safe, okay?
Searciara nodded. "Okay," she whispered, as she held her right arm with her left paw. "I mean..." she added, "...I'm sorry I almost knocked the salad bowl over, mother. I just forgot myself for a moment, while I was thinking about what it is I plan to do with this rare and magnificent find."
"And that is...?"
"Restore it."
Maxine's staggered backward. "Say what?" she replied whilst grabbing the counter to steady herself. "Uh, no." The fox stated sharply. "No, no, no..."
"But mother..."
"Searciara!"
"What!?"
"I said no! You have too many projects already! You can trade it, you can arrange to have it displayed in a museum, but no restorations! Not until you finish another project, you hear me?"
Searcey snarled.
"Ijime tsuko kitsune!" she snapped, at which her mother's eyes got wide, hearing these words.
Nani to ii mashii ta ka!? She snapped back. Telling Searcey rather bluntly in the Kitsuni tongue, "What did you say!?" To which Searciara again replied, "Ijime tsuko kitsune! Anata wa ijime tsuko no kitsune desu!" A phrase which roughly translated to, "Bully fox! You are a bully fox!" Something Maxine was not about to take laying down, as she prepared yet another retort, before pausing at the approach of her husband Colin. His soft, steady footsteps, indicating he was here to act as mediator, after hearing how the exchange had gone from a heated discussion to a full out verbal brawl.
Colin placed a paw on his wife's shoulder and on the shoulder of his daughter.
"Kore ni shushifuwoutsu," He murmured, embracing them both. "Put an end tah' this. It's not worth it, ah'm sure. Especially, on a certain someone's birthday," he said with a smile as he gently turned Searciara to face him. "Besides," he whispered, "I need my little foxglove's help with an even bigger project than restoring a human age car."
"An even bigger project? Oh...I'd love to help on that papa. Really. But you heard mother. She said..."
Maxine waved dismissively. "I know what I said," she replied. "Your father and I talked about this though, before you came in. This is different. It's something important that your father really needs help with, and thus doesn't count, okay?"
"Okay..." Searciara looked anxiously between her parents. "You're both sure this is, okay? That you won't be angry or anything later, if I do this?"
Colin shook his head. "We said it's fine," he reassured his daughter, as he kissed her on the head. "And besides, it's probably best if I get yeh' out of the kitchen fer' a while. I don't think the house can take another blow-up like the last one."
Maxine chuckled. "Oh, you'll receive no argument from me there," she said, as she again returned to expertly chopping vegetables and to the work of peeling a tuber like plant called a Marshwart. A descendant of the potato that was even heartier than its ancestor, and which could thrive in moist damp climates as well as in cooler ones.
"Go on," Maxine motioned, as she continued work on the vegetables and as she dropped the peeled marshwart in a pot of boiling water with some salt and butter. "And take Donovan with you, okay? Better to leave the business of cooking and of organizing a proper dinner to me and Valorisa. Not because we're women, but because I can tell she and I are the only ones here with a fiber of kitchen sense in our entire bodies. Isn't that right dear?"
Valorisa chuckled. "That's right," she replied confidently, as she already was pushing Donovan to join Colin and Searciara. "You three go out and talk whatever business it is you need to discuss."
"But..."
"GO." Valorisa commanded. The female marten as she pushed her brother out the back door, then issued an exasperated huff followed by a small laugh.
"Originator" she murmured, as she walked over to where Maxine was fixing dinner. "I don't know how I do it sometimes."
Maxine chuckled as she made room for the female marten. "Do what?" she asked, not sure what Valorisa was referring to. "Get your brother to listen to you? I think you do a fine job. You're firm. You assert yourself, but you don't make it sound as if you're trying to boss him around. Houses, you heard that blowout between me and my daughter. I think at the least, you're doing better than I am. Heh."
Valorisa smiled faintly. "Really?" she inquired, as she kept an eye on the boiling marshroots, while Maxine prepared a roast with the yakobi beef and the chopped vegetables. "I mean, I try, sure. But sometimes I question whether I do as good a job, as our parents would've. I mean you and Colin, your role with your daughter Searciara, has always been clear. She is your child and you are her parents. And there is nothing beyond that. But for me and Donovan...well. Our parents were killed by a lily tiger. Our father in the initial attack, and our mother from the contact with the poisonous powder the flowers on their bodies emit. We would've likely been left on the streets, had I not made the sacrifice of forgoing the rest of my childhood and becoming the adult for both of us. I became both parent and sister to my brother. An aspect that confuses even me, at times. And I taught myself, to do all the things my parents would've done. I taught myself to hunt, to fish, to forage. I essentially had to become a self-made marten, literally overnight."
Maxine paused for a moment. "But you survived," she murmured as she looked up and over to Valorisa.
"That is the important thing," the fox noted as she came over to place a consoling arm around the marten's shoulders and to check on the marshwarts for herself. "Is that despite the hardships, you realize it did not break you. It instead shaped you and readied you, for whatever hard trials may lie ahead. That's what makes us kindred sisters, dear. Not only do I understand what it is like to struggle with doubt when raising someone, but I also know that feeling you described, where you feel you have no one to rely on but yourself, and where you have to continuously fight life tooth and claw, just to get to a better place. It's why...I think you should have these."
Maxine opened a drawer and pulled out what looked like two long wooden bars that each had a shorter second bar, protruding out from the base. "They're called tonfas," she explained, as she provided a gentle smile to Valorisa who took them and examined them. A mixed expression of gratitude and confusion, apparent on the marten's face. "They were mine," Maxine explained, "when I lived a life as someone else. As something else, I suppose you even could say. I dunno really how to talk about it. I don't like to talk or think about it. Who I was. The things I did...Mmf. Let's just say, I've left that behind me. That I'm a housewife now, who uses her skills in a different way, and that's all there is to it."
Maxine paused.
"Well... maybe not all there is to it," she murmured, looking away for just a second, before turning to face Val once more with a cryptic smile painted on her vulpine muzzle. "You..." she said with a sigh. "I see something in you. Maybe, you don't see it yourself, I dunno, darling. But the reason I'm giving you my tonfas. The real reason...is I would be honored if you would consider me your sister by blood of the blade."
"Huh?"
Maxine smiled softly. "An ancient vulpine ritual, held in high regard by the order I once belonged to," she explained. "We believe family exists in two forms in this world. There is your blood family, those whose line you are born into. And then there is an equally strong form of bond. Your spirit family. I wish to perform the ritual of sister by blood of the blade to adopt you as a spirit sister. We may not be bound by blood but are bonds would be forged by something just as strong."
"What's that?"
Maxine sighed. "We understand we are cut of the same cloth," she whispered. "We are, to state a fact, both cut from the loom of sacrifice. Of hardship. Of enduring the trials, know one else can ever fully fathom, because who can even fathom such a thing, until they've faced it? Who can say, I have faced death and endured it, until it is truly so?"
"Who can sacrifice for others without gratitude," Valorisa murmured, "and do so with grace; unless they have first faced the trial of losing everything themselves? Of knowing what is at stake, is they complain about every little trifle?"
Valorisa smiled, as she took the tonfas. "Thank you," she whispered.
Maxine shook her head. "No, thank you...sister." She said with a smile. The fox then wiped a tear from her eye, before giving Valorisa a hug. "Oh, and I will be there for anything you need," she said. "I promise."
Valorisa nodded. "Same here," she replied quietly, still letting it sink in she now had a sister, as they went back to preparing dinner.