Dolce bambina, the time has come (Minerva)

[Lauda Cavataio]

Trials by Fire were an exciting time. Lauda had loved her own, waiting for it for so long. By the time her own had come about, the Witch had already read up on all the written descriptions on it. But that was centuries ago. Since then, she had had the chance to see all her children again and while she had missed her granddaughter go through it, now she could actually attend hers as well.

Lauda was at the bottom of the mountain, watching the empty valley ahead of her. Once, it was filled with rancors of their herd. Now, with how long the Morte Mountain had been quiet, they had all gone, merged with the wilderness. And Lauda missed them to no end. Pervicax first and foremost. He was a unique creature. She wrapped her arms around her and sighed, glancing behind her. Minerva would be here soon, she had sent one of the slaves to tell Minerva to come and find her. In the meantime, Lauda set up the blanket and lay the scrolls there, along with her old spellbook. It was old but somehow, had remained through all this centuries, carefully protected. Lauda could only assume it was Blade who had done that.

[member="Minerva Vessia"]

 

[Minerva Vessia]

Cavataio Estate, Morte Mountain

Ivory, spun softer then silk.
Scent, sweat as honey suckle.

Dellicate fingers reached out to touch the petals. They were so soft! They smelled so sweet, and Minerva was momentarily enthralled. It was a native flower set with others within very an expensive looking crystal vase. Electric blue and see through the vase did have elegant wavy designed patterns.

“Mistress Minerva”, the silence and the moment was interrupted. Startled Minerva jumped, bumped the table. The table wobbled and the vase fell. An audible gasp left Mini’s pink pastel lips and the lips of the female slave who called her name. Both stunned were frozen in place as the vase fell from the table.

One of the male guards did have his wits about him. Diving with both hands reaching out he slammed upon the ground. The vase in his hands remained unbroken just mere inches from the ground. The stone floor was a bit wet. A few of the flowers fell out. Disaster was avoided this time.

“I got it”, the soldier proudly got back to his feet holding the vase.

“Thank you”, Mini smiled so sweetly the soldier grew even prouder of what he had accomplished. She just seemed so sweet and innocent, it seemed to have an alluring enduring charm from the guards and the slaves. Slaves came running over to help clean up the mess. They put the vase back where it belonged, cleaned up the water, and begin to rearrange the flowers back to the way there was.

“Mistress”, the slave who called out Mini’s name before called again. Mid twenties, curly blonde trusses the slave was a beauty. It was more then likely why she had the honor to work in a Cavataio Estate. “It is time, you're being summoned”, the slave walked over with shawl fit for a young lady. Soft cloth made of light pink and white embroidery. Around the collar silky soft white fur graced it not just with beauty but looked as if it was designed to help the young girl warm.

“Here Little Mistress”, one of the other slaves took some of the flowers, Another had brought a new head band, a darker one that would be more fitting for her hair to be held in place from the strong wind that sometimes blows through the mountains. One slave had already taken the pink ribbon out of her hair. With how efficiently they worked together it appeared to be something they had done numerously of times.

“I will need my inhaler if I’m going to be going for a walk”, fretting over this detail was actually highly important. Minerva was asthmatic and walking in the high altitudes it could be fatal if she did not have it.

“Right here Mistress”, the slave with the golden hair took it out of her pocket and placed it within Minerva’s. “Are you ready now Mistress? Should we go now?”, she asked not daring to tell the Mistress what to do.

Minerva left with the slave. It was an easy climb for the slave. It was not that step of an incline. In fact it was all down hill. Still, it was an arduous journey for Minerva. She had to stop at least twelve different times, at least that many times. Minerva had lost count and was more concerned on catching her breath. It was good for her though. She got to be out in the fresh air and got good exercise. Her doctor did tell her the more she worked her lungs in this way it could help to improve her breathing. She did not know if she believed that. How could torture herself help her?


The Bottom of the Mountain

Finally they had made it. Minerva acted as though it was a miracle. She looked up to the sky and quietly praised the Winged Goddess. Maybe she could call one of the big strong male slaves to carry her back up the mountain when it was time. Her thoughts went there trying to think of a way to get back up the mountain later on.

Nearly out of breath Minerva walked over to where [member="Lauda Cavataio"] was. Sitting down on the rock she pulled out her inhaler again. She could feel the effects of the medicine right away. Opening up the passage ways in her lungs in was not so painful to breathe. “It is a beautiful valley. It seems so empty though”, she did try to smile despite having a hard time breathing.

 

[Lauda Cavataio]

She had felt the child come. Turning around, she watched the girl as she watched the sky for a big before she sat herself down on a rock and used her inhaler. Lauda remained quiet for that, letting her granddaughter gather herself. Only after she had spoken, commenting on the valley, did Lauda move over to her, kneeling down beside her. "It is. But once it was even more beautiful, full of rancors of our herd."

Offering a tiny smile, she watched the girl for a few seconds. "You alright? Need a few more moments?"

Her chocolate glance moved on to the inhaler for a moment before looked back up at [member="Minerva Vessia"]'s face. "Would you like me to heal you?" It wouldn't solve the problem, of course. That would require far more power and knowledge and even to this Lauda had not yet gotten to that point. But if it would help her for now, Lauda would be willing to do so.

 

[Minerva Vessia]

Nether dismissed or asked to do anything, the slave with the curly blonde hair stood at a distance. When the valley was mention she could not help but look upon lush green fields. It was a little bit hard for her to see where she was but she could see a small brook in the valley. Naturally it must have been one of the water sources the Rancors drank from. As her Mistress talked she imagined how the stream was feed by some glacier high up in the Morte mountain tops.

In quiet contemplation Mini looked to the rolling fields of green trying to imagine how huge the herd must have been. With a child’s mind everything looked bigger then what it was. She was naturally thinking of large numbers that would be a exaggeration of how large the herd would have been.

It was a little bit painful to still breathe, when she was asked if she needed a few moments and if she would liked to be healed. Honestly Mini had no idea that magical healing could help take away the pain. It was nothing she had ever contemplated. “Could it take the pain away even for a little while”, looking at her Grandmother now Mini was curious to know.

She look from her Grandmother [member="Lauda Cavataio"] back over to the valley, “Where did all the rancors go?” Not that Mini was good at taking care of pets. That did not mean she was not interested.

 

[Lauda Cavataio]

Lauda smiled and nodded. "It will fix your current pain, yes. I can't make it go away permanently though." What she could do, the Witch would do fro her grandchild in a heartbeat. However, she didn't want to startle the child by simply doing it. This was completely up to [member="Minerva Vessia"] on whether she wanted it or not.

The rancors. Lauda sighed and looked back into the open valley. Inside her mind, the memories played. She could see there what it used to be, how full and wonderful it once was. How happy she used to be coming here each day. Even long before she had her own rancor, she was happy here. The rancors were family.

"Once upon a time, this was their place. We could look from the stronghold and see them all here," she paused, looking back at Minerva. "That was centuries ago. When the Morte mountain went quiet, the rancors drifted off, blended in with the wild ones. When there was no clan to be their family, they made their own families." Another sigh escaped her lips. "But we can rebuild the herd again. My own rancor, Pervicax was a wild bull rancor. He had come from the wilderness and I earned his trust. We can do that too. Though it's a far more dangerous task than simply finding your rancor among our herd." Yes, Lauda indented to have a rancor again. She was incomplete without one. And Minerva would have hers as well. However it would take time.

 

[Minerva Vessia]

Just sitting there not exerting herself the pain in her lunges from breathing so hard had faded a little bit more. Minerva was very tempted by her Grandmother’s offer to heal her and take the pain away. The spell could not make it go away permanently and reminded Minerva that she would still have to life with it the rest of her life. It was a bitter sweet moment. The hope the pain can be taken away momentarily and the realization she may have asthma for the rest of her life.

Minerva was happy for the distraction, of the fairy tale that was not so quite fiction, but a past realty that could be once again a realty. She could picture in her mind a herd of rancors in this valley once more. Listening to the story she imagined how she could help. How she could save the day by some how waving her hands and magical summoning the herd back to see a smile on her Grandmother’s face.

There was no hand waving. She knew that there was no one spell that could fix this. Sadly, she frowned thinking about it. She did not have even one spell to help with. She could not even keep one space weeil alive for a week, without killing it somehow, with her lack of being able to take care of anything alive. It seemed sometimes she could not even water planets correctly.

“I would like to help”, she shook her head not believing there was anything she could do to help, “I’m not going to be able to round them up like a herd of bantha. I do not know any spells at all. I can hardly even make myself a sandwich. The last pet I had starved to death and I can’t even remember most of the time to water planets daily. I might do more to help by not helping”, she was more then a little saddened. She felt like she could not do anything right.

[member="Lauda Cavataio"]

 

[Lauda Cavataio]

As [member="Minerva Vessia"] expressed her desire to help, Lauda smiled widely. Even if Dharma was adopted, here Lauda could almost see herself in Minerva as she threw herself into helping even if she wasn't quite aware yet how she would do it. The Witch listened to the girl reason herself for a bit before she finally chuckled.

"We don't round rancors like a herd of bantha. They are spells we could use to earn their trust but my own personal experience is that you have to approach them as you would anyone and earn their trust. And you don't have to worry about feeding a rancor, they figure that one on their own." Those were the answers to the girl's questions. Now on to what she could actually do. "I will need your help though. You see, as I said, we can't round them up like a herd of bantha and bring them here. We need to earn their trust. First step is that we each get our own rancor," Lauda paused then, watching Minerva curiously. She wanted to know how she would feel about having her very own companion.

 

[Minerva Vessia]

Making a mental list Minerva continued to listen. No herding rancors like bantha, check. Spells check. More then one spells, check double check. Gain their thrust, check. Do not have to worry about feeding rancors, check. OK so far she had no idea how she could help. In her mind this was not going well at all.

Then her Grandmother [member="Lauda Cavataio"] said there was one way she could help. Gain their trust, check. Wait how was she supposed to do that? Wait, what, get her own rancor? Minerva’s eye went wide. What was she going to do with a rancor? How large of a starship would she need for one. Would her mother allow the rancor in the castle? Why would a racnor thrust her? Why would a rancor want a weak human friend? She almost felt slightly intimated by the idea. She just envisioned a situation where the rancor had to go pee and went on her mother great rug in the grand parlor back home. Mini rolling up a news paper and smacking the rancor on the nose. Said rancor getting mad and eating her. “You sure that is a good idea Grandma? Me having a rancor!”

 

[Lauda Cavataio]

She remained quiet as she watched [member="Minerva Vessia"] process what she had been told. Lauda could almost see the little wheels in her head turning as she processed everything.

Then when she finally asked her question, Lauda just chuckled. "It's a good idea, believe me. Petra's rancor was like an Aunt to me. She was so good with me when I was your age. And when I found Pervicax, he became my best friend. It's not like having a house pet, Minerva. A rancor is your friend for life. Once the bond is made, you'll always be connected." Pausing for a moment, the Witch took a good look at her granddaughter. She realized then that she had grown up on this planet and rancors had been her family since the moment she could remember. Without them, she felt incomplete in an odd way. Not as incomplete as she felt without Blade but very close so. They were indeed family.

"Don't be afraid of this, Minerva. It's a completely natural moment in a Witch's life to have her own rancor. Once this valley begins to fill again, you'll see what wonderful and protective creatures they are." It was all true, every word. Minerva only had to see it.