Lark (Timi) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
reachforthesky) wrote2011-09-26 11:21 pm
reachforthesky) wrote2011-09-26 11:21 pm
[MEMORIES # 16, 17, 18, 19]
* The Griffin flock returns. Altercation between Carving Knife, Jon, and the Queen. (significant neutral, shareable)
At that word a dark shadow swept over the courtyard and those who looked up saw, as they thought, a flock of great birds flying between them and the sun. They saw too, with silent astonishment, that the Chinese Dragon was waving his great claws and signalling them to land. The birds seemed to hesitate in their flight. Then the leader wheeled round and the whole flock followed him. They swept down on the Old Palace and settled on every pinnacle and turret and chimney. And Timi cried, "The Griffins have come back."
The Chinese Dragon uncurled his tail from the chimney and climbed carefully down. The crowd saw that he and the black leader of the Griffins met behind the battlements. Then the Dragon disappeared. The crowd was still silent when the Head Cook broke through the people surrounding Jon Dumpling and seized him by the arm so roughly that Timi nearly overbalanced.
"You will come to the Queen," bellowed the Head Cook.
"I will," said Jon Dumpling, and there was no gentleness in his voice.
The crowd opened for them as they made their way back to the Royal platform. The Queen did not wait for the Head Cook to speak.
"Oh, Jon Dumpling," she cried. "I told the Court Physician to keep you in bed until you were strong enough to go home, and when I sent a message over this morning, he told me you were sleeping. You are still weak--why are you here?"
"I'd left Timi alone in the cottage," said Jonathan. "I was going home."
The Queen looked puzzled. "Timi? Who is Timi?"
"This little Griffin is Timi."
The Head Cook pushed forward.
"Your Majesty--poor Jonathan has a fever and his mind is wandering. He has never seen this Griffin before and she has never seen him. She belongs to me and I allowed no one to see her until yesterday. When the eagle on the Great Gate was blown down it seemed to me right--as your Majesty knows--that this little Griffin take the eagle's place. I beg that you will send poor Jonathan back to his bed, which he should never have left, and I will take Timi home."
* The Dragon offering proof to the Queen. (significant positive)
The Head Cook said softly, "Your Majesty sees how Jon Dumpling has upset my Griffin. She is a timid creature and always stammers when she is afraid."
The Queen frowned. "How am I to judge?" she said in a troubled voice. "Have you any proof, Jon, that Timi belongs to you?"
The crowd at the foot of the platform parted suddenly and the Chinese Dragon scrambled clumsily up the steps. He bowed to the Emperor and then padded, on three legs, across to the Queen and sat back on his haunches.
"Pruff," he said in his strange, creaking Dragon's voice. "PRUFF!" And he held out a small china cup. The Queen took it and looked at the blue flowers and the gilt crown.
"But this is the cup I gave to Jon Dumpling when he made me the hundredth apple pie," she said.
"It is also," said the Emperor, "the cup that the little Griffin was carrying last night when she brought that wonderful--er--cake to my Dragon."
And Timi said, without a stammer, "It was the best thing I could find to carry Jon's last apple dumpling in."
The Queen smiled. "That is proof enough," she said.
* Watching the Emperor arrive. Sneezing fit. Conversing with the Imperial Dragon. (significant neutral, shareable)
[This one is REALLY long so I'm just going to summarize. Timi, posing as a stone eagle, tries her hardest to stay perfectly still and keep the apple dumpling covered. At noon the Queen, her ladies and courtiers come out to greet the Emperor, who arrives in a golden coach. He steps out and helps down the Chinese Dragon.
The Emperor introduces the Dragon and tells the Queen he's the only Dragon left in China! The sun comes out. And Timi starts sneezing. And sneezing. And sneezing. The Emperor is delighted to find out that "'here too, you have dragons.'"
The Dragon takes interest; he walks up to the pillar Timi's standing on and talks to her in their common language. He complains about the ills of a journey to a foreign country. Timi answers in the same language, expressing her sympathies. The Emperor is even happier--the Dragon hasn't been doing well, but surely he'll improve now that he's found a friend.
The Queen asks who owns the Griffin, and Carving Knife barges forward and claims that he's had Timi ever since she was small. He adds that he's spent forever trying to teach her to talk but that she's stupid and can only say things that make no sense. Timi tries to say she lived with Jon, but she still thinks he's dead at this point and her grief freezes her up. Carving Knife gets her down from the wall and threatens her again. The Queen directs that Timi be brought inside to warm up.]
* "Come and see us sometimes!" (significant positive, shareable)
"Aha!" croaked the Black Grandfather. "Aha ha-ha-ha-ha! This grasshopper! This tadpole! This Timi! She has more courage than all the other Griffins--Stay then, Timi," he gasped. "Stay with your dumpling man. But come and see us sometimes."
And all the Griffins on the turrets and chimneys flapped their wings and shouted, "Come and see us sometimes."
Now the ladies at the windows were waving, the people in the courtyard were cheering and the little boys along the wall were shouting and throwing up their caps.
"Hurrah for the Queen!"
"Hurrah for the Emperor and his Dragon!"
"Hurrah for Timi."
"Timi! Timi! Timi!"
+ These might have had different effects if they were taken spread out as was originally intended, but she took all four in succession (and in worst memory -> best memory order, too), so what happened is A LOT OF MOOD WHIPLASH and A LOT OF HOLES IN HER STORY FILLED IN.
+ The two sig neutrals are actually times when her situation was improving; meeting the Imperial Dragon was a good thing, and so was finding that Jon was alive! What makes them so awful is how crippled and passive she was during both--she sees now that being too terrified to speak up for herself led to the bad situation going on and on.
+ To reinforce that, the two sig positives are someone speaking for her, and the excellent results of finally standing up for herself. In the first the Queen stopped believing lies, and in the second she was allowed to choose where she wanted to live. LESSON LEARNED.
+ Timi will be a lot less afraid to speak her mind, and while forcing the issue was a brutal way to tackle it, the '4 x fear of memories' effect from her heartgame is about 75% repaired. She will still be fidgety and balky about it, but it won't paralyze her anymore.
+ She is now aware that ... well, there are very few gaps in her memory left! So she'll probably be a little more low-key and sad, now, because she's facing up to the possibility that she might go home soon.
At that word a dark shadow swept over the courtyard and those who looked up saw, as they thought, a flock of great birds flying between them and the sun. They saw too, with silent astonishment, that the Chinese Dragon was waving his great claws and signalling them to land. The birds seemed to hesitate in their flight. Then the leader wheeled round and the whole flock followed him. They swept down on the Old Palace and settled on every pinnacle and turret and chimney. And Timi cried, "The Griffins have come back."
The Chinese Dragon uncurled his tail from the chimney and climbed carefully down. The crowd saw that he and the black leader of the Griffins met behind the battlements. Then the Dragon disappeared. The crowd was still silent when the Head Cook broke through the people surrounding Jon Dumpling and seized him by the arm so roughly that Timi nearly overbalanced.
"You will come to the Queen," bellowed the Head Cook.
"I will," said Jon Dumpling, and there was no gentleness in his voice.
The crowd opened for them as they made their way back to the Royal platform. The Queen did not wait for the Head Cook to speak.
"Oh, Jon Dumpling," she cried. "I told the Court Physician to keep you in bed until you were strong enough to go home, and when I sent a message over this morning, he told me you were sleeping. You are still weak--why are you here?"
"I'd left Timi alone in the cottage," said Jonathan. "I was going home."
The Queen looked puzzled. "Timi? Who is Timi?"
"This little Griffin is Timi."
The Head Cook pushed forward.
"Your Majesty--poor Jonathan has a fever and his mind is wandering. He has never seen this Griffin before and she has never seen him. She belongs to me and I allowed no one to see her until yesterday. When the eagle on the Great Gate was blown down it seemed to me right--as your Majesty knows--that this little Griffin take the eagle's place. I beg that you will send poor Jonathan back to his bed, which he should never have left, and I will take Timi home."
* The Dragon offering proof to the Queen. (significant positive)
The Head Cook said softly, "Your Majesty sees how Jon Dumpling has upset my Griffin. She is a timid creature and always stammers when she is afraid."
The Queen frowned. "How am I to judge?" she said in a troubled voice. "Have you any proof, Jon, that Timi belongs to you?"
The crowd at the foot of the platform parted suddenly and the Chinese Dragon scrambled clumsily up the steps. He bowed to the Emperor and then padded, on three legs, across to the Queen and sat back on his haunches.
"Pruff," he said in his strange, creaking Dragon's voice. "PRUFF!" And he held out a small china cup. The Queen took it and looked at the blue flowers and the gilt crown.
"But this is the cup I gave to Jon Dumpling when he made me the hundredth apple pie," she said.
"It is also," said the Emperor, "the cup that the little Griffin was carrying last night when she brought that wonderful--er--cake to my Dragon."
And Timi said, without a stammer, "It was the best thing I could find to carry Jon's last apple dumpling in."
The Queen smiled. "That is proof enough," she said.
* Watching the Emperor arrive. Sneezing fit. Conversing with the Imperial Dragon. (significant neutral, shareable)
[This one is REALLY long so I'm just going to summarize. Timi, posing as a stone eagle, tries her hardest to stay perfectly still and keep the apple dumpling covered. At noon the Queen, her ladies and courtiers come out to greet the Emperor, who arrives in a golden coach. He steps out and helps down the Chinese Dragon.
The Emperor introduces the Dragon and tells the Queen he's the only Dragon left in China! The sun comes out. And Timi starts sneezing. And sneezing. And sneezing. The Emperor is delighted to find out that "'here too, you have dragons.'"
The Dragon takes interest; he walks up to the pillar Timi's standing on and talks to her in their common language. He complains about the ills of a journey to a foreign country. Timi answers in the same language, expressing her sympathies. The Emperor is even happier--the Dragon hasn't been doing well, but surely he'll improve now that he's found a friend.
The Queen asks who owns the Griffin, and Carving Knife barges forward and claims that he's had Timi ever since she was small. He adds that he's spent forever trying to teach her to talk but that she's stupid and can only say things that make no sense. Timi tries to say she lived with Jon, but she still thinks he's dead at this point and her grief freezes her up. Carving Knife gets her down from the wall and threatens her again. The Queen directs that Timi be brought inside to warm up.]
* "Come and see us sometimes!" (significant positive, shareable)
"Aha!" croaked the Black Grandfather. "Aha ha-ha-ha-ha! This grasshopper! This tadpole! This Timi! She has more courage than all the other Griffins--Stay then, Timi," he gasped. "Stay with your dumpling man. But come and see us sometimes."
And all the Griffins on the turrets and chimneys flapped their wings and shouted, "Come and see us sometimes."
Now the ladies at the windows were waving, the people in the courtyard were cheering and the little boys along the wall were shouting and throwing up their caps.
"Hurrah for the Queen!"
"Hurrah for the Emperor and his Dragon!"
"Hurrah for Timi."
"Timi! Timi! Timi!"
+ These might have had different effects if they were taken spread out as was originally intended, but she took all four in succession (and in worst memory -> best memory order, too), so what happened is A LOT OF MOOD WHIPLASH and A LOT OF HOLES IN HER STORY FILLED IN.
+ The two sig neutrals are actually times when her situation was improving; meeting the Imperial Dragon was a good thing, and so was finding that Jon was alive! What makes them so awful is how crippled and passive she was during both--she sees now that being too terrified to speak up for herself led to the bad situation going on and on.
+ To reinforce that, the two sig positives are someone speaking for her, and the excellent results of finally standing up for herself. In the first the Queen stopped believing lies, and in the second she was allowed to choose where she wanted to live. LESSON LEARNED.
+ Timi will be a lot less afraid to speak her mind, and while forcing the issue was a brutal way to tackle it, the '4 x fear of memories' effect from her heartgame is about 75% repaired. She will still be fidgety and balky about it, but it won't paralyze her anymore.
+ She is now aware that ... well, there are very few gaps in her memory left! So she'll probably be a little more low-key and sad, now, because she's facing up to the possibility that she might go home soon.