Flora Gets Puzzled - RPLOG
From Rusted Promises
Participants
Date
25/2/480
Log
It is hot out, despite the gentle rain and overcast skies. Fenris is standing near the edge of a grassy knoll overlooking the bay. Across the water, the harbor and its busy denizens can be seen, but are too distant to hear over the rush of the water crashing against the cliffs down below. "I'm not sure why I need to be here for this," he says, looking out over the water.
A flick of the ears, a swish of the tails, as Flora looks out over the cove. She's smilig, and clearly in a good mood. "Friend Fenris doesn't like the scenery? Friend Fenris doesn't -have- to stay," she offers with a smile on her lips, as she gestures behind her.
"No," Fenris says, "I like the scenery, I just sort of thought this was more of a private thing. I'm not really sure why you invited me along, is all." The tiger looks up into the falling rain and closes his eyes. "Why are you doing this, anyway?" he asks, "Why call two Spirits?"
"Why not? Flora is already asking questions. If mister Puzzlefox wants to help with that, Flora sees no issues, if the deal is fair, yes. Has friend Fenris not considered the same, at least some times?"
"Miss Snowfeather saw a reason to ally with two spirits. Not one Flora agrees with, probably, but there are other reasons to do it, yes."
"Besides... Beings could ask the same thing about calling a single spirit... Why?"
"Why is friend Fenris a caller of mister Puzzlefox?"
Fenris shrugs. "I don't know," he admits, "It just seemed right. I guess that maybe I feel a little possessive of the Puzzler and that is why I keep questioning you. It's silly, I know. And I am pretty sure that I don't care to be compared with Snowfeather, thank you." The tiger finds a comfortable spot in the soft grass and settles down, closing his eyes. "I'll be right here if you need me," he says.
"What Flora is saying, is that there's a reason for everything. Some reasons are personal, others not. Miss Snowfeather presumably has less-honorable reasons for her choices, but she still has her reasons."
"Figure out her reasons, and you figure out her goals, her plan," the she-cat rumbles with a smile on her lips. "Isn't that what mister puzzlefox stands for? To question everything, so that you may learn new things?"
"Hmm," Fenris rumbles, his eyes closed in an attitude of meditation. He does not give Flora any other answer, but a vibrant, green ? appears on the white fur of his cheek.
"As phrases go, that one is trite," another voice says, "But more or less, you've got it right." The Puzzler is lounging in a long sun-chair that definitely was not there before, wearing his signature suit and hat, along with a pair of tinted glasses and holding a glass filled with a slightly luminous, blue beverage.
While the increasingly heavy rain pelts down over Fenris and Flora, the Puzzler has taken refuge under a gigantic green and white umbrella.
"Ah. Mister Puzzlefox, yes. Flora has riddles. Three of them, yes. Does... Flora just ask them? Or did mister Puzzlefox have something else in mind?" the she-cat offers, tails still swaying behind her. It doesn't seem she's -super- bothered by the rain, although it also doesn't appear she's enjoying the water all too much.
"Riddle me this, and riddle me that," the Puzzler says, then stops to slurp some of his drink through a straw, "Riddle away my dear striped cat. I'm a fox on the go, I've places to be. But I'm here, here and now so riddle with me." The Puzzler waves Flora closer, under the umbra of his umbrella.
Flora smiles and nods, moving under the umbrella with a flick of the tails. "A tale without words, woven by hand. Without a sound, it show what was, what is, and what will be. What is it?" the tigress rumbles, looking out over the alcove once again.
"If I must guess," the Puzzler says, still lounging on his chair as if he were under full sun, rather than pouring rain, "And guess I will, since puzzle's end's my wont to fill. This tale unsaid that still tells all is a tapestry upon a wall." The fox tilts his tinted spectacles down and peers over them at Flora to see if he has riddled her aright.
A broad smile, a nod, and the she-cat flicks her tails once again. "It has but one eye, but whatever it looks at, it freezes for eternity. What is it?" she offers, seemingly quite eager to offer up the next riddle.
"In another time, another place, I'd name a fearsome monster's face," the Puzzler says, swirling his drink around, "But since we're here, instead of there, I'd say that answer's hardly fair. Your camera it is, I think, that stops the world with one-eyed blink." One must wonder if that rhyming is the Spirit's way of thumbing his nose at the world, or some sort of curse.
A single clap from Flora's paws, before she regains her composure again. "Third riddle, yes. This ancient invention allows a being to walk through walls," the tigress rumbles, a grin on her muzzle. That's definitely a different kind of riddle.
The Puzzler raises an eyebrow and peers again over his tinted glasses, slurping at his oddly colored drink. He rolls his eyes.
"It has been written,
You're so clever you might cut
Yourself. It's a door."
The strange fox sighs and looks over at where Fenris is sitting in the pouring rain, his visible fur spotted with ?s in remarkable abundance. The fox smirks, then looks back at Flora. "Your riddles are like cake to me, sweet in their simplicity," he says, "What is it that you truly seek? What mysteries cause your skull to creak?"
"Flora is not one for riddles, no. Flora is one for mysteries. To discover that which is hidden in plain sight, yes. To see how different reagents react, and to understand why. Flora questions the world itself, yes."
"The scholarly arts. They are nothing if not a constant series of questions about the world, no?"
"Not my normal cup of tea," the Puzzler says, slurping again at his drink, "You're looking for Discovery. To see things that were never seen, to wish for what has never been. I am questions for the question's sake, are you sure my path is the one to take? I'll claim you mine, if it's your desire, but I'm not so sure I light YOUR fire."
"Like Flora said, two sides of the same coin, yes. To find a discovery, one has to start by questioning, yes? And as far as Flora understands it, any question is fair game, yes? Whether it is a puzzle of words, or a puzzle of nature? Flora does not see why one puzzle would be more worth mister Puzzlefox's time than another," she offers with a smile on her lips.
The Puzzler shrugs and sets his seemingly endless drink aside, though it vanishes the moment he lets go of it. The suited fox stands and dusts off his coat, though he stays well beneath his huge umbrella and out of the rain.
"So be it then," he says, "Your soul's at stake, it's up to you what vows you'll take.
Inspiration, mark me here, Spark, I ask you lend an ear. Your caller Flora named my name and on my power stakes a claim." He focuses surprisingly green eyes on Flora. "I offer you my second sight," he says, "Like second thoughts to cast some light. You'll ever seek, though rarely find and to every puzzle devote your mind. I'll come when 'ere you call on me. And you will come should I call thee."
The fox extends his hand to Flora, obviously waiting for her to take it and seal the pact.
A nod, a smile, a flick of the ears, as Flora takes a short, deep breath. And then, she takes the Puzzler's hand, clearly not entirely comfortable with the gesture, still.
Soon enough, she seems to be ready, steeling her nerves at being touched, and waiting anxiously for the ordeal to be complete.
The Puzzler grins and takes Flora's hand in a firm shake. . .
Then he is gone.
No gust of wind, no strike of lightning, no sense of smallness in the infinite universe. He is just gone, and Flora is left standing in the rain, suddenly wearing a strange new hat with a ridiculously oversized brim and a little purple feather tucked into the band.
Flora smiles and flicks her tails, sighing as the rain begins falling down again, though this time, she's relatively dry due to her newfound hat. "That was a thing, yes."
Fenris seems to have finished his meditation, and apparently come to some kind of conclusion, since his abundant ? markings have vanished. The dripping wet tiger slogs over through the wet grass. "Welcome to the club, I guess," he says.
"Friend Fenris seems to be unenthused? Fenris does realize mister Puzzlefox had other callers beside Fenris, yes?"
"Flora sees Fenris reached a conclusion about something?"
"Me?" Fenris asks, "Nah. Just soggy. And of course he has other callers! I just sort of thought that I would be the first being with multiple patrons. With all the time I have spent around Spirits, you'll forgive me if I am a little disappointed." The tiger turns his face up to the falling rain again. "And yes, I have. Nothing all that important, though."
