[open -- nest]

[new_inglewoodblues]

The nest Ragnelle has been building in the woods needed a few more blankets now that the temperature has dropped a few more degrees, so this morning she was in the mansion raiding cupboards. Now she's outside in the lee of Nightingale's summer house with a basket of comforters, cutting them into pieces with a little knife so they'll be easier to incorporate, like leaves in a squirrels' nest. The time indoors has warmed her up, and her hands move quickly with the knife.

Comments

[new_inglewoodblues]

"Hath a tree a need to eat in winter? Nay, I'll stay outside the while."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina smiles, then looks up, taking in the trees around them. "I used to be such a city girl. But now I appreciate the silence more."

[new_inglewoodblues]

"'Tis not silent," amused. "Soft and listen."

Indeed, there's a hushed sound of wind in the leaves that remain on the trees, the almost eerie sound of a squirrel alerting, the scratch of the peacock-pheasant kicking up leaves in the understory. A wren trills distantly.

[ravkanwitch]

Nina stands still and listens, taking in all the sounds of the forest with a little smile on her face.

[new_inglewoodblues]

"If it were still, I could not sleep at all."

[ravkanwitch]

"Do you dream?" Nina asks, curious. There's obviously something otherworldly about Ragnelle; the comment about not having to eat notwithstanding, she can still sense it.

[new_inglewoodblues]

She smiles; she likes that Nina asked. "I do. All things do."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina smiles back. "I would love to see more of the forest, if you'd like to show me."

[new_inglewoodblues]

For a moment there's a flash of pleased surprise, as if Nina had done something wholly unexpected. Then Ragnelle reaches for her hand, and pulls her off the path towards a stand of hazelnuts that are thick with smooth-shelled nuts. Magnus' squirrel family is chattering in the branches, but she ignores them. "These are kin. They prattle on and on, like old women spinning."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina follows gamely, looking up at the chattering squirrels. "It sounds like they're gossiping."

[new_inglewoodblues]

"Thou must ask Magnus an thou wouldst know what words they say. I know not the language of creatures, only trees."

[ravkanwitch]

"What are the trees saying?"

[new_inglewoodblues]

"As I said, the nut-trees prattle, these especial since they stand together. There are others more sensible."

[ravkanwitch]

“Do they ever talk about us humans, or are we beneath them?”

[new_inglewoodblues]

"They notice thee, but thou livest so briefly next to them. Thou canst make an impression by some doing, that may linger awhile, or be shared among them, an thou wouldst try."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina thinks about it for a long moment... and then she smiles. She has an idea. With just the flick of her hand, she pulls some bones -- clearly small animal bones -- from the ground. With a spreading motion of both hands, she breaks the bones down to a powdery white dust, then another motion and the bone dust is back in the ground, the broken down minerals feeding the roots of the surrounding trees.

"There," she says, quite pleased with herself.

[new_inglewoodblues]

Ragnelle laughs, but her look is sharper than it was before -- she's paying attention to Nina, who has surprised her now more than once. Ordinarily she doesn't like being surprised, but she does like this little bonewitch. "Mary, they will remember that."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina shrugs a little. "It's just something I learned." She can't even remember where she learned it... maybe David Kostyk, during one of his ramblings about minerals? Zoya, who knew a suspicious amount about gardening?

[new_inglewoodblues]

"It's well that thou knowst it. Thou'rt a clever one."