Caryl woke up gradually, first, all she had was sound. She could hear
a creaking sound, and the shishing of air. Then, she regained smell,
getting the smell of the forest within seconds. With that smell suddenly
came memory, and she then refused to open her eyes. 'If I don't open my
eyes, the furry ones won't have appeared, and I'll be back in my room with
the window open.' Unfortunately, when she finally did work up the courage
to open her eyes, she wasn't in her room.
She was in a room that looked like an upturned bowl with holes cut out of it on each side. The walls reminded her of a tree, maybe even the inside of one. The woody grains seemed to spiral from the bottom of the room to the top, with the top of the room ending in a blunted point. She was lying on a curved ledge that seemed to be grown out of the side of the room, with thick rushes as a beding. The large opening near her feet opened out into another room, so she figured it was a door. The opening by her head, on the other head, seemed to open up into the open air, so she got up to see what was out there. Immediately she fell back onto her bed in agonizing pain. Gasping for air, she rolled onto her side, getting her weight off of the inflamed slashes down her back. After a minute of suffering, the pain died down again, and she was a lot more careful in getting up that time.
She looked about her, once her dizzy spells were over. There was another ledge, thinner and higher than her bed one, sticking out of the wall opposite of her. She immediately recognized it as a table, and the small tree rounds sitting around it as seats. Gingerly, she walked over to the window. Resting her arms on the bottom half of the circular window, she looked out onto an amazing sight. She was looking out onto what seemed to be a valley in the middle of a forest. No, that didn't quite describe it. It was a hollow surrounded by an inpenetrable ring of trees. Huge trees jutted up sporadically all around the hollow, and she realized she was IN one of them. She noticed that all the huge trees had windows rotating in a spiral around the tree. They seemed to be like 1-room-per-floor apartments. On the ground around the apartmemt trees were dirt streets, with people milling around on each of them. Besides the apartment trees were lower mounds of trees, she thought they were mini-forests in the.. city. She looked up, and was surprised to see that the apartment tree's branches formed a nearly solid roof over the hollow, effectively hiding it from view from the air.
Caryl abandoned the window to get a look out her door. She noticed a red fabric hanging to the side of the door, and guessed that it was to cover the door for privacy. She looked out the door, was shocked. To her left, there was a sheer wall, with a ledge about 10 feet up. To her right, about 3 feet past her door, was a drop. She moved over to the drop, and was even more shocked. At the bottom of the drop, was another door, and another drop beyond that. These drops were the stairs to get from one room to the other, and presumably to the exit of the tree. Everything about the hallway was like her room, treeish, and too smooth the have been carved.
She turned to go back into her room, but slipped. She fell straight over the drop, and landed hard on the floor 10 feet beneath. Letting out a yelp of pain, she doubled over on her side and lay immobile. The combination of the old pain from her back and the new pain from her fall combined to keep her eyes watered for several minutes. She was laying with her back less than a foot from the wall she just came over, so she had a clear view of the door on that level, and the drop not 9 feet from her. She heard a clatter from inside the room, and saw a guy poke his head out. He ran out and looked over the ledge to the floor below his, then, seeing nothing, turned back and looked over toward where Caryl lay. He walked over to her swiftly, knelt next to her, and helped her sit up.
"Dang, are you ok? I knew they shouldn't have put you up on a high floor."
"Huh?" Was all Caryl could say. Anything more explicit, and she thought her sides would split from the pain.
"The Council. When I brought you back, they insisted that you go into a room near either Telik or I, for your protection. They should have known this would happen. Did you land on something wrong, or is it your back that's causing you all this pain?" The guy was looking her over gently, checking her sides and legs for any signs of pain.
"I think.. It's mainly my back." She was wondering what he was talking about, with him bringing her here. Until then, she hadn't thought of how she'd gotten here. When he mentioned Telik, she guessed that he was somehow one of the werewolves that was in the clearing with her. "Nathan?" she guessed.
"Yes. Recognize me?" He leaned back a little, so that she could get a better view of him. She thought she recognized his eyes, but she was still missing where all the fur went.
"Umm... fur?" She still didn't trust her voice for more than a word or two at a time. He laughed, seeing her obvious confusion.
"Did you think that werewolves stay in fur all the time? We're not considered shapeshifters in legend for a reason. We're only in fur when we need the strength and protection of it. Come on, let me get you to my room. You can rest, and I'll answer any question you have."
She was in a room that looked like an upturned bowl with holes cut out of it on each side. The walls reminded her of a tree, maybe even the inside of one. The woody grains seemed to spiral from the bottom of the room to the top, with the top of the room ending in a blunted point. She was lying on a curved ledge that seemed to be grown out of the side of the room, with thick rushes as a beding. The large opening near her feet opened out into another room, so she figured it was a door. The opening by her head, on the other head, seemed to open up into the open air, so she got up to see what was out there. Immediately she fell back onto her bed in agonizing pain. Gasping for air, she rolled onto her side, getting her weight off of the inflamed slashes down her back. After a minute of suffering, the pain died down again, and she was a lot more careful in getting up that time.
She looked about her, once her dizzy spells were over. There was another ledge, thinner and higher than her bed one, sticking out of the wall opposite of her. She immediately recognized it as a table, and the small tree rounds sitting around it as seats. Gingerly, she walked over to the window. Resting her arms on the bottom half of the circular window, she looked out onto an amazing sight. She was looking out onto what seemed to be a valley in the middle of a forest. No, that didn't quite describe it. It was a hollow surrounded by an inpenetrable ring of trees. Huge trees jutted up sporadically all around the hollow, and she realized she was IN one of them. She noticed that all the huge trees had windows rotating in a spiral around the tree. They seemed to be like 1-room-per-floor apartments. On the ground around the apartmemt trees were dirt streets, with people milling around on each of them. Besides the apartment trees were lower mounds of trees, she thought they were mini-forests in the.. city. She looked up, and was surprised to see that the apartment tree's branches formed a nearly solid roof over the hollow, effectively hiding it from view from the air.
Caryl abandoned the window to get a look out her door. She noticed a red fabric hanging to the side of the door, and guessed that it was to cover the door for privacy. She looked out the door, was shocked. To her left, there was a sheer wall, with a ledge about 10 feet up. To her right, about 3 feet past her door, was a drop. She moved over to the drop, and was even more shocked. At the bottom of the drop, was another door, and another drop beyond that. These drops were the stairs to get from one room to the other, and presumably to the exit of the tree. Everything about the hallway was like her room, treeish, and too smooth the have been carved.
She turned to go back into her room, but slipped. She fell straight over the drop, and landed hard on the floor 10 feet beneath. Letting out a yelp of pain, she doubled over on her side and lay immobile. The combination of the old pain from her back and the new pain from her fall combined to keep her eyes watered for several minutes. She was laying with her back less than a foot from the wall she just came over, so she had a clear view of the door on that level, and the drop not 9 feet from her. She heard a clatter from inside the room, and saw a guy poke his head out. He ran out and looked over the ledge to the floor below his, then, seeing nothing, turned back and looked over toward where Caryl lay. He walked over to her swiftly, knelt next to her, and helped her sit up.
"Dang, are you ok? I knew they shouldn't have put you up on a high floor."
"Huh?" Was all Caryl could say. Anything more explicit, and she thought her sides would split from the pain.
"The Council. When I brought you back, they insisted that you go into a room near either Telik or I, for your protection. They should have known this would happen. Did you land on something wrong, or is it your back that's causing you all this pain?" The guy was looking her over gently, checking her sides and legs for any signs of pain.
"I think.. It's mainly my back." She was wondering what he was talking about, with him bringing her here. Until then, she hadn't thought of how she'd gotten here. When he mentioned Telik, she guessed that he was somehow one of the werewolves that was in the clearing with her. "Nathan?" she guessed.
"Yes. Recognize me?" He leaned back a little, so that she could get a better view of him. She thought she recognized his eyes, but she was still missing where all the fur went.
"Umm... fur?" She still didn't trust her voice for more than a word or two at a time. He laughed, seeing her obvious confusion.
"Did you think that werewolves stay in fur all the time? We're not considered shapeshifters in legend for a reason. We're only in fur when we need the strength and protection of it. Come on, let me get you to my room. You can rest, and I'll answer any question you have."