[Mkguild] A Warm Midsummer's Day

[Mark Ewing]

Here is one of my latest stories. I hope that you all enjoy it,  comments
are always welcome.


A Warm Midsummer's Day



Oberon Snowcat



            I awoke early in the morning and sat up in my bed. It had been
four days since Misha and my other friends had dragged me, kicking and
screaming, to the realization that I couldn't live the rest of my life
alone. The person who had actually helped me the most was in fact the person
who was responsible in a way for my presence here in the Keep.

Today I had promised him, the former Knight of the Order of the Protector
and now juvenile wildcat morph, that I would take him out to view the
festival today. I didn't really have to do much of anything for the next
month because both George and Misha had quite bluntly told me that I was to
take a vacation from patrolling the valley up north, so I intended to take
full advantage of this vacation that they had given me, but for today I was
going to take advantage of the first day of the Summer Solstice Festival,
tomorrow and the next day would be when the real fun would begin because
that would be when all of the contests that I was going participate in were
going to be held. On the last night of the Festival I had been invited to
the Duke's Summer Solstice feast, which was taking place in his main banquet
hall. I think it was Misha who was responsible for that very short notice
miracle but then again all of my friends knew that I was formally the
Clanlord of the Sundering Stone Clan and therefore a nobleman of some rank.

I looked in my small wardrobe and finally selected one of my nicer black
vests with a chasing of silver and gold thread around the seams. Compared to
what I was planning on wearing to the feast this was actually quite
understated. The rest of my clothing was actually fairly similar to what I
had been wearing ever since I had arrived at the Keep. The only difference
was the fact that this time I was dressing for appearance instead of for
utility. My swordbelt was one of my more fancy ones with subtle, yet
elegant, stampings in the black leather. The highlights on the belt were
emphasized with sapphires and gold and silver thread. As was my custom the
Claw of the Dragon, a short sword, and a dagger were in plain sight attached
to my belt. The last things that I put on was my gold and silver edged black
velvet red lined cloak, my signet ring, which I had only recently taken to
wearing again, my most recent macabre lutin thumb necklace, and my silver
and gold circlet, which I hadn't worn in thirty years. This circlet was
subdued compared to my other circlet, which I planned to wear at the feast
in two days.

Once I was properly dressed I left the room and headed for the room where
Father Hugh and Guy DeHarancourt lived so that I could pick up the young
cat. For some unknown reason he had undergone two of Metamor's three curses.
One of those curses had turned him into a wildcat morph and the second one
had reduced his apparent age to that of a young child. For his mind the
strain had been too much to bear and it had cracked and shattered, leaving
the young wildcat morph with the mind and appearance of a very young child.
As soon as I knocked on the door it was opened from the inside by a boy of
about thirteen years old, in his hands he was holding a towel and I could
tell from the expression on his face that he was a little frustrated with
his charge this morning. I bowed my head in respect

            "Father Hugh. How are you this morning?"

The boy looked at me slowly before he replied, "I am having a real difficult
time this morning getting that boy dressed for the day. For some reason he's
been trying to evade me all morning long, ever since his morning bath in
fact. It wouldn't be such a problem if he had the form of a slightly older
child, but as he is so young that leaves me with no real choice."

I nodded in understanding and just then I was tackled in the legs by Guy who
was tearing around the room stark naked. I picked him up and turned to
Father Hugh and said, "I believe that this is something that you've lost."

Father Hugh nodded and then with much apparent effort took Guy from my arms
and headed into one of the other rooms in the apartment to dress Guy for the
day.

Five minutes later Father Hugh came back into the main room with a medium
sized bag over his shoulder and Guy toddling along in his wake. He shook his
head before he said; "I wish that he would choose an older age because
taking care of him right now is a challenge."

I nodded my head and took the bag from Father Hugh before I bent down to
pick up the child and headed out of the room. Now that I had Guy in my
custody for the day I quickly made my way out of the Keep, through Euper,
and down to the Festival grounds where numerous tents and pavilions had
already been put up and opened.

My charge was a feline and at a similar level of change as I was therefore I
knew that there were certain foods that his body wouldn't accept. I stopped
at a small stand that was selling meat pies and grabbed three for a two
crescents and a silver penny. Once I had the meat pies I saw down at a
nearby table and gave one to Guy while I consumed the other two. As soon as
he got the meat pie he made an absolute mess of trying to eat it, getting
pastry and filling all over his muzzle and shirt. I tolerantly shook my head
and used a damp cloth to clean off his face before we continued exploring
the festival.

After an hour walking around the grounds of the Festival I stopped at the
FADGER booth where Misha Brightleaf and Will Hardy sold clocks and
jewellery. Last time I had seen this booth Misha had been at the booth, but
this time I saw a badger behind the counter who I didn't recognize. Even
though I didn't recognize him I was able to guess that he was Will Hardy. I
slowly looked down at him, that was one of my biggest problems, at 7'4" I
was taller than most of the people that I had run into so far at the Keep.

He looked up at me before he asked me. "Is there anything that I can get for
you sir?"

I shook my head before I replied, "Not really, I'm just looking. Though, I
was hoping to run into Misha this morning."

He nodded before he said, "Misha and Caroline are out enjoying the festival,
and each other's company." Will answered. "Who might you be?"

            "My name is Adon Naharel, but they know me as Oberon, as do most
people who know me at the Keep. This," I hefted the young wildcat morph in
my arms a little. ", Is Guy DeHarancourt."

Will's face broke into a smile. "So YOU'RE Oberon. Misha and Caroline have
had a lot to say about you!"

            "I hope that some of it is good."

He laughed. "Most of it is."

            "Well I would think that part of the time they would say that at
times I can be a stubborn, bloody minded fool, and that would all be true.
After all why else would I have a necklace like this?" I indicated the
necklace of lutin thumbs that I was wearing around my neck."

Will shook his head. "You remind me too much of Misha."

            "Is that a problem?"

            "I'm not sure. Misha still collects the ears from the lutins
that he kills."

 I smiled slightly with my ears, tail, and a little bit of a grin. "Have you
seen the new sword that Misha's been using these days?"

He nodded. "I have. Very nice looking weapon, you made it?"

            "Yes I did make it. Actually I am going to make a set like that
for the Duke, but I don't think that I can decorate them properly for a man
of his rank myself."

            "Oh?" the badger asks. "You will need the help of a master
jeweller like me."

            "If you can decorate the hilt of a weapon like that then I would
much appreciate it. Who knows maybe we will have to collaborate in the
future as well." I pulled my short sword from its scabbard on my left side
and held it out to him, hilt first, across my right arm.

He took the weapon and carefully examined it. "What do you want on it? Gold?
Silver? Jewels, rubies?"

            "I would prefer something that is elegant and understated, but
at the same time it still has to be a practical weapon. The decorations must
not disturb the inherent balance of the weapon."

            "Gold and silver trimming with a few small gems for highlights."
He commented. "We could use mithral if you don't mind the expense."

            "I know of mithral." I replied before I put Guy down before I
drew the Claw and held it up so that the morning sun glimmered off of the
silvery blade.

            "Interesting weapon." He said. "Very fine craftsmanship."

            "Considering the fact that it is three thousand years old."

            "I see." He said sounding unimpressed. "I am not a warrior like
Misha and my daughter."

            "You do know of Misha's axe?"

He laughed. "Of course! I've seen it often enough. I am just not a man that
is impressed by weaponry."

            "Well the Claw here is like that weapon in most respects." I
reversed the weapon to show him the large eyeball sized heart shaped faceted
ruby that served as both pommel-stone and vessel for the soul of the
weapon."

Will showed quite a bit more interest in the ruby than he had shown for the
rest of the weapon. "VERY impressive. I've never seen anything like it
before. That stone alone is worth a king's ransom."

            "You can look but please don't touch. He takes offence when
someone who isn't a member of my family touches him."

Will nodded and examined the gem closely. "Fine work. Most definitely one of
a kind."

I nodded and then finally brought the weapon back and replaced it in its
scabbard before I sniffed the air and said, "I think that I have to go and
take care of my charge."

Will wrinkled his nose. "Agreed. He needs a changing." the badger said
slowly backing away. "I've had enough of that for my lifetime. I don't even
want to do that for my grandchildren, when they arrive some day."

            "He's actually Father Hough's ward, but he seems to have
attached himself to me since that little meeting that I had with all of my
friends the other day, not that I mind at all."

Will laughed. "So I see. He's a cute child."

            "A cute child, but a little fragrant right now. Oh can I have my
short sword back?"

Will handed me the weapon and I slid it back into its scabbard as he said,
"I can help you, but to decorate a weapon will take gold."

            "I have plenty of that. The first time that Misha saw my
stockpile he said that I could buy Euper with all of the money that I have."

            "Then there is only the matter of cost." Will answered.

            "Well we can discuss it later after I deal with certain matters
that are, at present, urgently demanding my attention."

            "Yes! And can you PLEASE go downwind and spare this old badger's
nose."

I nodded and then went over and scooped up my odoriferous charge and headed
to the far side of the festival grounds where the latrine tents had been
placed.

            Once that issue had been dealt with I headed back out with him,
now thankfully smelling a lot better than before, in the crook of my right
arm. He looked up into my eyes and then began to whine, a sound that bore
straight through what little emotional armour that I had left and struck my
heartstrings. I dug into the bag that Father Hough had given me, and the
located a small glass bottle with some sort of pliant nipple on the end. I
carefully inserted it into the child's mouth and he stopped with his whining
and eagerly began to consume the contents of the bottle.

He had eaten a meat pie earlier in the day, but it seemed that his body ran
through food rather quickly. I smiled indulgently at his appetite before as
I walked around until I stopped by a booth that was selling strips of smoked
meat and bought five of the strips for my own consumption, since Guy was
content with his liquid meal. I was just finishing my second meat strip when
I came around a corner onto the main thoroughfare in the small town of tents
that had been established in the field and literally bumped into Misha and
Caroline. The impact sent both of them sprawling while I rocked back on my
feet.

I quickly shifted Guy to my left arm before I offered Caroline a hand to
help her regain her feet.

As Misha regained his feet he looked up at me and said, "You certainly know
how to sneak up on a guy Oberon."

I looked at him before I replied, "I'm sorry Misha I wasn't aware that you
were coming down the road."

Caroline laughed at my comment and then I heard a sucking sound coming from
Guy.

I looked down at him and realized that he had consumed the contents of the
bottle and now was sucking on air. I smiled down at the boy and gently took
the bottle from him, removed the nipple, capped the empty bottle and placed
it in the bag before I took a small towel and placed it on my shoulder. Then
I patted Guy on the back a couple of times until he let loose a belch that
was surprising for one so small.

Finally as I finished the operation Caroline softly said, "You look
comfortable doing that Oberon. You appear to have some experience, and for
some reason it seems to agree with you."

I looked over to her before I slowly said in a more sombre tone of voice.
"Back thirty two years ago I helped my youngest sister with her daughter, so
yes I do know how to take care of small children."

In my arms Guy had started to purr sleepily and I could tell that he wasn't
all that far away from falling asleep.

            "You two look perfect together. Like a father and son." Caroline
commented.

            "I don't know why but I feel much closer to Guy than I've ever
felt for any other child, including my cousins and my nephews or nieces."

Caroline smiled. "You two are family," she said cheerfully.

            "Do you ever get used to someone depending on you for
everything?"

            "It's part of being a parent," Caroline answered.

I looked at here with a calculating glance before I carefully asked, "How in
the world would you know what its like? As far as I know you don't have any
children yet?"

            "I've helped raise my nieces and nephews. Doesn't that count a
little?"

I smiled slowly before I responded in an even tone of voice. "I guess that
you have the same amount of experience as I did before now."

            "We don't have any children yet Oberon." Misha answered. "You
want someone with experience speak to Lisa =96 she has two children."

            "Well Misha are you going to be getting into the competitions
tomorrow?" The fox nodded enthusiastically.

            "We both are! I'm entering the archery distance and accuracy
competitions, and Caroline is doing just the accuracy with her bow. What are
you planning on entering?"

            "I plan on entering the swordsmanship contest, the spear
throwing competition, the barehanded fighting competition, and the archery
range competition."

Misha let out a yip of laugher. "Is there a contest that you're NOT
entering?"

            "The Joust."

            "I think that you'd rather eat a horse then ride it,"

Caroline joked. "I prefer to walk," Misha added.

            "I don't think that there are many horses that could support my
weight, and even few that would actually tolerate me."

            "True, that is the problem with being as large a tiger as you
are." Misha said.

            "I've been able to get along pretty well so far by simply
walking, I don't really miss riding horses all that much anyways."

            "As a long scout you'll be walking most of the time anyway, that
is unless you are running."

            "I just hope that you don't intend on me sprinting all out for
miles on end."

            "Would you prefer to be crawling through mud all of the time?"
Caroline teased.

"Not really. If the lutins pursue me too closely they will find themselves
suffering from a serious and permanent condition that is known as DEAD."

            "But what if there are forty of them, backed up by a mage?"
Misha asked. "Can you defeat them all?"

            "I can if I picked them off one by one. They may find themselves
being hunted instead of them hunting me. After all that is how I operated
when I was alone out there."

            "Sometimes Oberon you have to use your discretion and just run
for safety. I've had to do that a dozen times." Misha explained.

I nodded slowly before I pointed out, "There have been a couple of times
when I had to do that, but as soon as I got out of their sight I would
usually head up a tree and watch them run by. Once they had all gone a
goodly distance I would come down out of my tree and start hunting them
again."

            "Of course. I've run dozens of times, but never for very long.
You always have to strike back at them."

            "That is what I did every time they forced me to run."

            "Good. Always make them fear chasing you. It keeps them from
getting too close."

I smiled in a particularly vicious manner before I asked, "Misha I was
wondering if you could make one of your clocks with a metal case so that I
can put it on a shelf in my forge. You can understand why wood wouldn't
really work in there."

Misha nodded. "Easily done. It will no be as well decorated as my wooden
ones."

            "Well this clock is meant for my forge. It doesn't really need
to me fancy, all I need it for is so that I don't lose track of time in
there when I'm working on a project. Unless you enjoy banging on my door at
all hours of the night."

            "All right, I'll need to use some special metal =96 ones meant =
to
withstand higher heats. But it shouldn't be hard."

            "I would appreciate it very much Misha." Just as I finished
saying that a whine from Guy interrupted my train of thought. He didn't
smell, other than the normal smells for one of his age, so I guessed that he
just wanted to be held close. I held him closely but for some reason he
wouldn't stop crying. I tried every little trick that I had learned from my
older sister, but it didn't seem to help at all.

Caroline shook her head and then extended her hands. "Here let me hold him
before his crying drives us all crazy."

I nodded slowly, and then handed the child over before I said, "Caroline for
some reason you are one of the few people that I would even think of
allowing to hold Guy."

            "I'm honoured." She said as she gently cradled guy in her arms
rocking him back and forth. Soon his crying slowed before stopping
completely.

            "How are you able to do that?"

She laughed, "It's a female thing. It will come to you with time and
practice, even though you are a male."

            "I will have to learn that skill before he moves in, whenever
that is."

            "Everything comes with practice," she said. "I'm sure Father
Hough will help and so will I."

I nodded my head to her before I replied, "There will probably be times when
I will need your help. After all I am just on man."

            "We're all a family in the Longs Oberon. We help each other,"
the fox explained.

I smiled before I took Guy back from Caroline and said, "Well I have to be
going. I have some work that needs to get done in my forge, and Misha before
you scold me; this work needs to be done. I've already been putting it off
for far too long."

            "All right, but try and relax a little," the fox ordered.

I nodded and smiled. "Beating on white hot metal is somewhat enjoyable for
me, after all that is why I sometimes lose track of time."

            "Sometimes the best thing to work out your frustrations is to
just smash something!"

            "I don't like to work in the forge when I'm angry because I just
end up ruining the metal. That is when I prefer to be on the practice field
chopping targets to kindling with the Claw."

            "And ruin all of our practice dummies," Misha joked. "We've
already had to replace four of them."

            "That is better that ruining hours, if not days of work on a new
sword blade."

            "I understand. At least it keeps the carpenter employed."

I wiggled my left ear in response and then turned and tossed a, "Enjoy your
day you two, and have fun." At the two young Keepers, after all they were
much, much younger than I was.

I quickly made my way back to the Keep where I handed Guy back to Father
Hough, though Guy protested the switch at the top of his lungs. As soon as I
had handed him back I made my way back to my forge as quickly as possible so
that I could finish up on some projects that I hadn't had a chance to work
on while I was out killing lutins. The most important was an un-enchanted
bow that I had built for the purpose of competing in the long-range archery
competition. All that I had left to do on the bow was put the final coat of
lacquer on it and test it to see what its capabilities were.

            Four hours later I made my way to the practice field with the
six foot, seven inch long monster of longbow and strung with a fair amount
of effort. Once the thing was strung I picked up one of the twenty-five four
and a half foot long arrows that I had made for use with this bow. I knocked
the arrow, paused and then pulled back the string, again with a fair amount
of effort and released the string with a deep twang. An instant later the
arrow completely buried itself into the butt at the far end of the range,
not even the feathers were showing. I shook my head and felt a slight twinge
of pity for Misha and the others that would come up against me in the long
rang archery competition.

            Finally later that evening I finished work on my second longbow
of the day. This one I was going to give to a friend without charging him.
After all I owed him that much. With the bows finished I turned in for the
night. I was looking forward to having myself some fun tomorrow at the
Festival competitions.
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