{"id":1121,"date":"2014-06-20T10:00:23","date_gmt":"2014-06-20T14:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/?p=1121"},"modified":"2014-06-02T16:08:41","modified_gmt":"2014-06-02T20:08:41","slug":"rhiallis-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/2014\/06\/rhiallis-song\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhiallis: Song"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Today\u2019s snippet, titled \u201cSong\u201d, is a piece I wrote about my PC in Mark&#8217;s new (Good) Pathfinder Campaign.<br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Be forewarned, there are mature themes and naughty language below.<br \/>\n&#8211; \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 &#8211;<br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \tAn hour later, with her belly full and her mind roiling with anxiety, Rhiallis lay back on her sleeping furs and wrapped an arm around Song. The big speckled canine licked her throat and stretched her long legs, obviously pleased to be reunited at last.<br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \t\u201cShe,\u201d Kumiko said, laying a hand upon Song\u2019s flank. \u201cPretty\u2026 inu. How to say? Inu?\u201d<br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \t\u201cDog.\u201d<br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \t\u201cHai. Yes, she pretty dog.\u201d<br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \tRhiallis smiled. \u201cSong\u2019s great-grand-dam was my first friend when I left home. She was cast off too, exiled from the pack. She followed Molly and I around the countryside for years and one year, when she came into her season, we were wintering with a crofter\u2019s family. Their big, shaggy mountain dog &#8211; the kind that can take a full grown deer down, do you have those in your land?\u201d<br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \tKumiko gave a polite shrug and Rhiallis continued anyway, talking just to talk.<br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \t\u201cI think his name was Charlie. At any rate, they tied, and before too long, there were puppies. I must have seemed half-mad, or half-a-druid, for while the litter grew they trailed after me on my travels. As must happen for all living things, she grew old and passed on, but her third litter was full grown at that time, and the biggest male became fiercely protective of me.<br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \t\u201cFang, I called him. I admit, I am not terribly clever with names. But Fang was a good boy and he saved my life &#8211; and virtue &#8211; more than once. A girl alone upon the road\u2026 is a vulnerable thing. Fang sired a litter, and from his get, I chose a smaller, prettier pup this time. Snowy. Pure white coat\u2026 not very bright, but\u2026 I liked her.<br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \t\u201cThen\u2026\u201d Rhiallis closed her eyes, holding back a tear and pulling Song closer against her. \u201cSnowy gave me Song. And Song kept me going when there seemed to be no other reason.\u201d<br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \t\u201cI understand this,\u201d Kumiko said, softly. For a time, it seemed that she would elaborate, but those dark eyes closed and her lips were sealed. After a moment she withdrew to her own bed and turned her face to the wall.<br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \tRhiallis kept stroking Song\u2019s soft fur while the sounds of sleep bubbled around her.<br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \t<em>I was certain you were gone, sweet girl<\/em>, she thought, casting a fond smile down at her long-time companion. <em>But I am so happy you survived, Song. How in all the Hells did we get reunited in all this chaos? Iomedae must still be looking out for me. My Lady must have had a hand in this\u2026<\/em><br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \t<em>&#8230;I pray She will continue to watch over us, for the night is long and full of shadow. So much depends on our success when we waken. So much. By the Glory and Grace, we must win the day &#8211; no matter what &#8211; that wardstone cannot fall into Areelu\u2019s hands.<\/em><br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \tShe rolled to her side, spooning the warm, furry friend beside her.<br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \t\u201cIt must not. Cannot.\u201d Rhiallis closed her eyes once again, seeking the respite of sleep. \u201cIt will not.\u201d<br \/>\n&#8211; \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 &#8211;<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/signature.jpg\" alt=\"Signed, Josie\" width=\"92\" height=\"139\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13\" \/><br \/>\n<i>Note: Image is &#8220;King Jagiello Statue Central&#8221; by (Mulligand) from SXC.hu; edited by me<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Today\u2019s snippet, titled \u201cSong\u201d, is a piece I wrote about my PC in Mark&#8217;s new (Good) Pathfinder Campaign. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Be forewarned, there are mature themes and naughty language below. &#8211; \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 &#8211; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; An hour later, with her belly full&hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/2014\/06\/rhiallis-song\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,14,1],"tags":[4,121,147],"class_list":["post-1121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaming-2","category-snippet","category-uncategorized","tag-gaming","tag-pathfinder","tag-rhiallis","xfolkentry","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1121"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1122,"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1121\/revisions\/1122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}