Here's the lore entry! ^^
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They knew they were on their way. It had been scheduled, of course, and they had been informed, but they knew exactly how late they would be and by now they must be trooping down the hill, all frills and gossip and empty chatter. They knew their ways even if they were so different now from the way John had been all those years ago.
John didn't care for fuss. He saw the potential of this land and worked tirelessly to see that potential cultivated into the lush, thriving farm that Gold-brook was today.
Well... not at lush and thriving as it had been. she thought a little resentfully.
It made him consider simply remaining in the stream. Just staying there and letting the family stand out there, all arrayed in their finest for this yet another bonding presentation. Let them slowly realize his disdain for their groping, grasping ways, for their pride which prevented them from listening to the needs of the very plants upon which they depended to fulfill that poisonous greed of theirs.
He considered it. And then sighed to themself.
No... not only would they not get the point of their protest, they didn't like needlessly disappointing children, especially of the family.
And so they rose from the brook to face them. He at least kept an austere silence as he stepped forward to meet the child all dressed in white with a colorful basket in her hands.
Oh.She hadn't realized it would be Olivia, though now that she considered it made sense. The quiet child's steps had been mostly steady for a while now and when she did very occasionally speak, her tone was clear, barely an infant's lisp remaining. And she was really the only young child left in this generation. Of course it would be Olivia.
Well, at least this won't be altogether unpleasant.She couldn't deny, though, that she had been taken by surprise. With Olivia becoming such a common presence in their pavilion when they occasionally visited, they hadn't noticed she was growing.
She had almost always been a silent presence, but that was not altogether a bad thing. And she would listen when Lappi would comment on the state of the crops. With half amusement, she remembered catching the little mite of a child lugging a far-too-big watering can to a local field. She was trying to make up for the lack of moisture in the air which prevented Lappi from bringing in the rain the plants cried out for. The act had warmed her heart.
Not that that made her a new John, of course.
Lappi focused in on the child now who, oddly, almost seemed to be glaring at them, hands of her aunt Celia on either of her shoulders.
"Go on, then." Celia commanded, giving the child a light push.
There were some impatient sighs from some of the assembled, older cousins, obviously wishing to be done with this ceremony so they could go to their dances and courtships and gold hunts.
He let out an irritated snort which he regretted when they saw Olivia stumble slightly and halt before properly approaching him. Inwardly he sighed and forced himself to relax, lowering his head to be at eye level with the child.
Olivia continued forward and her own expression also softened.
"I- made them all m-myself." she nearly gasped out, as if she wasn't getting enough air to speak properly.
"We
told her it wasn't necessary." Celia drawled from behind, looking at the child with faint annoyance, "We
told her the servants could do far better than her little hands, but she's stubborn, I'm afraid."
Olivia's glare returned and Lappi now understood it was not meant for themself. They felt a chord of empathy with the child.
"I-
only wanted to give you things I-I made my-myself."
Lappi blinked.
She could see it. Could see it in the one untrimmed edge of the basket and its slightly clumsy weaving. They noted with approval that it was still sturdy for all that.
They could see it in the blue silk ribbon, only slightly frayed at one corner where Olivia must have struggled to hem it properly.
And the plate of somewhat crumbly cookies, simple but still well-made for a six year old.
And they smiled at the few glittering river stones from some other water source as they were nothing like her own stones.
"I thought- you might like them." Olivia murmured, seeing the fable's nose twitch when her eyes landed on the stones.
"I do." she answered, not entirely voluntarily.
There was something about this child, something she hadn't expected even in knowing her before. There was... more, a lot more to her than she'd thought. And that- 'more'...
"I like the ribbon also." she continued, bending down to nose the shimmering bit of cloth, "And those cookies look delightful."
A smile at last broke over Olivia's face and it nearly made the fable start. They realized they had never seen the child smile before. It was... stunningly beautiful, bringing sunshine to her entire face. It did make her think of John's smile too.
But it was not that which had made the decision for them. No, it was the gifts themselves and her determination to present them which had decided for Dolce'lapis who her next bonded would be.
"And I like you too." she said with decision.
Behind Olivia the rest of the family seemed to pause in their bored mannerisms.
"What..?" Celia asked, her expression quickly growing sour, obviously remembering her own unsuccessful bonding. Not that she was unbonded still, but of course this would have been different. It was different, for Olivia.
"I accept your gifts *and* the bond you offer with them." Lappi announced, lifting up her head and arching her neck as she officially stated the words.
"Oh!" Olivia gasped, her eyes going wide with utter surprise.
The child only made these as gifts without any expectation of true favor. Dolce'lapis realized, greater warmth strengthening her resolve.
"Um..." Olivia murmured, now looking a little panicked before she took a wide eyed breath, "Th-then I... I present to you... a- a... name..?"
Her little voice squeaked, making what was meant to be a statement into a question.
"You do." Lappi confirmed, warmly amused.
"Yes, ok. Then I shall name you- Dolce'lapis." Olivia offered, still looking a little panicked.
"And I shall accept that as well." Lappi agreed, still amused but also pleased that the child hadn't tried to offer her a new name. A few had in the past and that particularly irked him.
Lappi sighed pleasantly as the warmth of the connection settled upon and between them and their new bonded.
Olivia was still looking rather stunned. Of course it would be a new experience for her, poor child.
"For now, I believe it is best you return to your family." the fable encouraged, "I believe it is tradition to celebrate when one of the family bonds with me."
"Oh..." that was from Celia, who sounded particularly sour before putting on a too wide, false grin, "riiight, of course! Come along, Ollie, we must inform the kitchen staff of the great,
big party you're going to be having. Isn't that just
wonderful?"
For a moment the fable almost considered requesting Olivia stay with her after all. But no. The family was many things, but murderous was not one of them.
Still, they felt a little bad for the girl who obviously was not actually looking forward to her own celebration.
"I do hope you will visit me tomorrow, though," they called after her, by way of consolation, "at your earliest convenience."
Olivia, already held fast by her aunt's hand, could only glance back and nod before having to continue on with the rest of her murmuring and muttering family.
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And I believe I shall stop here, because this is already a lot (1,311 words). ^^'
But as I said before, Lappi, or Dulci as Olivia would call them from time to time in the future, continued on to mentor the quiet child, helping her to stand her ground before her older relatives. Might add more tidbits at some point about that process. We shall see. ^^'
Edit: forgot to remove the '*'s ^^'
