The Sword And The Song

[Jarkarll 314]

Jarkarll reflects thoughtfully on this, “Eurhur, so lat blahin dat Ash agh Unlys vurk togeda. Agh dat togeda dey shar a much bub’hosh life, yub? Diz make senz tu me, I lyke dis gruk. Id bub’hosh.”

( Mhmm, so your saying that One and Onlys work together. And that together they share a much better life, right? That makes sense to me, I like the idea, It’s good.)

[Jutra 51]

Jutra smiled at his reaction to this, then said, “Frum wut Ugroth blah too me dis nub wut orc mates du.” (From what Ugroth told me, this isn’t what orc mates do.)

Urukz mates are fur habing cubbies. Dey hab many matez...me neber want dat with lat.“ Jarkarll confessed. (Orc mates are fur having cubs . Orcs have many mates...I never want that with you.

“I wud neber want to be ash of many” (I would never want to be one of many) she said with a small frown.

[Jarkarll 314]

Jarkarll picks up Jutra and puts her in his lap so he can look her in the eyes, “Lat neba be dat Jutra. Lat be da unly ash fo me.(You will never be that Jutra. You are the only one for me.)

Ash agh Unly?( One and only?)she asks quietly.

Jarkarll gently grabs one of her hands, locking it with his, still looking into her eyes, he says “Ash agh Unly”.( One and only.)

From somewhere deep inside Jarkarll , a urge arises, small at first then it grows and grows until he his helpless to stop it. He takes her hand and places it where his heart is, “Diz be me zemar, agh id be latz nuw”(This is my heart, and now it’s yours.)

[Jutra 51]

Jutra finds herself needing to follow Jarkarlls lead, she takes Jarkarll’s hand and places it where her heart is repearts, “Diz be me zemar, it’s latz nuw”(This is my heart, it’s yours now.)

“Den lat agh me be ash”,(Then you and I are one) he whispers softly in her ear.

“Lat agh me be ash”, (You and I be one) she whispers almost reverentially.

Having said what seems to be vows to each other, they embrace and rub noses. Smiling and a little bewildered, they let go. Jutra finding her composure, locates then opens the pickle jar, she sets one between her lips, then offers the jar to Jarkarll.

[Jarkarll 314]

Taking it, Jarkarll grabs one and pops it into his mouth making a few faces as he “discovers” what they taste like.

“Des like lat” (These are like you) he states, smiling down at her. “Like me? How so?” she asks.

He chomps another one and smiles putting the jar down. Taking her arm, he starts to “‘nibble” up it. “hmmm Yub, like lat, ...small,” (hmmm Yes, like you...small,) he nibbles up to her shoulder, which tickles her so she giggles, “...green” he whispers into her ear, which makes her breath hitch.”...agh tart” (...and tart) his voice now a deep low growl. A primal desire takes hold of him, and in an instance he has her on her back, his big body straddling her. Growling, grunting and no longer cognisant of his actions, the orc continues his “nibbling”, working all along her neck in a hypnotic pattern dictated by his orcish instinct. His task complete, he tries to get his senses back only to be throw off course when he finds himself on his back with his little pickle, groaning and “nibbling” on his neck, heeding her own orcish instinct.

[Jutra 51]

Jutra, finally, coming down from her instinct induced high, tries to take stock of what just happened. She freezes when she finds herself hunched over Jarkarll`s big body. Something red catches her eyes, and she sees a macabre “necklace” of small wounds and bloody scratches crisscrossed along his neck.

Mortified, she looks for something to clean up the wounds, whispering harshly, `Me did diz to lat? Me didn’t gruk wut me waz doing, me sorry, I sorry..” (I did this to you? I didn’t know what I was doing, I’m sorry, I’m sorry...) She berates herself until her words disintegrate into sobs while trying in vain to find something to clean him. Jarkarll finally takes both her hands in one of his and puts his other on her cheek, he wipes away her tears and gently tilts her head until their eyes meet.

[Jarkarll 314]

Taking it, Jarkarll grabs one and pops it into his mouth making a few faces as he “discovers” what they taste like.

“Des like lat” (These are like you) he states, smiling down at her. “Like me? How so?” she asks.

He chomps another one and smiles putting the jar down. Taking her arm, he starts to “‘nibble” up it. “hmmm Yub, like lat, ...small,” (hmmm Yes, like you...small,) he nibbles up to her shoulder, which tickles her so she giggles, “...green” he whispers into her ear, which makes her breath hitch.”...agh tart” (...and tart) his voice now a deep low growl. A primal desire takes hold of him, and in an instance he has her on her back, his big body straddling her. Growling, grunting and no longer cognisant of his actions, the orc continues his “nibbling”, working all along her neck in a hypnotic pattern dictated by his orcish instinct. His task complete, he tries to get his senses back only to be throw off course when he finds himself on his back with his little pickle, groaning and “nibbling” on his neck, heeding her own orcish instinct.

[Jutra 51]

She looks down where he was touching, but can only feel them. As he pulls his hand away, she can see fresh blood on his finger tips. Her gaze follows his fingers as they raise to his face. There with her blood, he make several tattoos on his face. Still mesmerised by what he is doing, she watches him make one more over his heart. Moving his fingers along his own necklace he then then proceeds to paint a tattoo over her heart and locks his hand with hers. With both symbols drawn, he smears more blood on his fingers and runs a line from the symbol over his heart, down his forearm, crossing over from his hand to hers, up her forearm and over to the symbol on her heart. “ Peep dat? ” (See that?) he asks, making sure she has taken everything in,” lat agh me be ash.” (you and I are one.) He moves his fingers back to where his necklace lies, lowering his lips to her ear he grunts, Me wear dis wid miburr, ...will lat? (I wear this with pride....will you?)

Watching Jarkarll painting his face and chest with her blood piques her orcish nature, a need to answer his challenge comes to life within her, unlocking their hands, she gathers her hair together and plies a quick braid in it, displaying her necklace fully. Moving both her hands to his chest, and her lips to his ear, she growls softly, “...wid miburr”. (...with pride)

[Jarkarll 314]

The two continue their canoodling for many songs, long after the sun had set. The cooling night air and rustling of nearby beasts, their cue to go. They gathered up the food and blanket leaving the spot as they had found it. Jarkarll puts Jutra up on his shoulders and they travelled back to the farm they had camped at.

Upon reaching the farm they found it in complete darkness, indication no one was there still. Jarkarll decided the visit with Syrila could be done at a later date. He put Jutra down and ,making sure they were indeed alone, had them soulstone back to the valley of Strigzgoi.

[Jutra 51]

At home, and squared away from their adventure, Jarkarll sits on the couch relaxing. Jutra meanwhile, had taken a quick bath to get all the travel dirt and grim off of her ..and of course the blood. Everything washed off except for the tattoo over her heart. She didn’t give much thought, figuring it would wash away over time.

Refreshed, with a fresh set of clothes, Jutra walked back to her cookery. She starts gathering items together to make the last meal of the passing. As she works on it, she decides on how to approach the next parts of the One and Only tradition.

“Jarkarll....lat iz Targoth and Huntzgoth, lat hab a bub’hosh Blarg in da city yub?

(Jarkarll....you are Warmaster and Huntmaster, you have a big huge house in the city yes?)

Me lib in da Strigzgoi, above da smitthy. (I live in the city above the smithy) Jarkall says and starts smiling because he knows what she is working up to asking him.

Jutra frowns, “Lat bub’hosh orc with bub’hosh titles and honour and lat juz lib ober da smithy?

(You are a great orc with great titles and honour and you just live over the smith?)

Jarkarll shrugs still grinning and says “Yub” (Yes)

Jutra stops her work and looks at Jarkarll. “Well this settles the “who’s burrow do we live in” part of the tradition” she thinks. Cleaning her hands on the scrap of cloth she kept near her countertops, she moves over to where Jarkarll is sitting. For the sake of tradition she had to ask him formally, but she just knew he was going to say yes.

“Jarkarll...part ob Ash and Unly’s iz mobing into ash ob dere burrows tugedder, ib lat dun hab ash den...” (Jarkarll..part of the One and Only tradition is moving into one of their burrows together, if you don’t have one then...) .Jarkarll grins, congratulating himself for guessing correctly, “... would lat lib ‘ere wid me? (...would you live here with me?))

Jarkarll faces Jutra, still grinning. “ Jutra, dat bub’hosh. Me gun lib vid lat ere!” (Jutra that’s great, I’m going to live with you here.)

Jutra sits next to Jarkarll and slids her arms around him, silently patting herself on the back for being right “Lat ‘appy with dis, lat want tu lib wid me ‘ere? (You’re happy with this, you want to live with me here?) she asks.

Jarkarll hugs her back and nods, he sits his big head on top of hers, all the while grinning. “Lat iz zo blessing frum Krug Jutra, trully zo blessing from Krug.”(You are my blessing from Krug, Jutra, truly my blessing from Krug.)

“Lat is zo, Jarkarll lat iz Zo Zemar.(You are mine Jarkarll, You are My Heart)

More cuddling ensues until their tummies growl at them. Jutra reluctantly goes back to the cookery to finish the meal.

Their supper finished, the couple retires to the living room couch. Jarkarll, up to his old tricks starts tickling her, making her giggle like a little girl. Her giggles meant she was happy and as sappy as it sounded all he truly cared about was her happiness. He chuckled as she tried to tickle him, these delightful “fights” usually ended in each other arms and this one was no different. Jutra, finally able to catch her breath from all her laughter, gives him another hug then untangles herself from him. Putting her hand up for him to stay, she runs down the hall and into her room, this was the last part of the tradition and she was sure she had picked the right gift for him. She had gotten it in hopes of this moment. Remembering he had brought the sound box on the ship.

She raced back to Jarkarll, her gift behind her back, she smiles as she hands it to him. Giddy with anticipation of his reaction.

As Jutra reveals what’s behind her back, Jarkarll’s grin grows bigger and bigger, he had a feeling she going give him a disk. He moves his hand to accept the gift, gently taking it from hers.

“Jutra...des dicz, I dun gruk wut tu blah, it bub’hosh lat gib id tu me.” (Jutra this disk...I don’t know what to say, it’s great that you give this to me) He turns the record round and round in his hands, a look of amazement on his face.

“me remembah lat hab da soundz box on da ship from da old lands, me gruked lat might wunt mur des soundz dicz tu play on it” (I remembered you had a sound box on the ship from the old lands and I thought you might like more sound disks to play on it.) she explains.

[Jarkarll 314]

Jarkarll asks her if it would be ok for him to go get his sound box and his few possessions from the smithy and bring them here. Jutra nods enthusiasticlly, they rub noses and he lumbers off towards the tunnel to the valley. While he’s away, she begins making a new room in the burrow for him; his own den complete with a cozy fireplace. She was just putting the finishing touches to his sandstone and light blue room when Jarkarll returns. His things put away, he sets up the sound box and puts on the record. As he listens to the music, he closes his eyes chuckling to himself “Id almozt soundz az Ugly az lat’s voiz”. (It almost sounds as beautiful as your voice), he says out loud The song done, he swings her into the air then sets her down and smiles into her eyes.

“Me neb lat tu du a thing fur me,” (I need you to do something for me) Jarkarll says pulling a small strange looking lump of metal from his bag on the floor. He hands Jutra the lump and asks her to squeeze it just enough to make an impression in it of her grip. She complies but not without questioning what it’s for. She had an inkling what it was for but wanted him to say it out loud. He smiles, picks her up and rubs her nose with his, putting her down, he tells his little pickle he’ll be back but much later and heads out the door with a big grin on his face.

Carrying the mold of Jutra’s grip gingerly, Jarkarll returns to the smithy, trying not to alter it. Setting it down, he takes out the unfinished blade he had been working on. Thus far all he had completed of it was the fuller, he had emblazoned three roses on it’s side.

Now that he had the grip, he could finish his project. He thought about how this sword would look. He wanted it to be very special and wanted to imbue as much meaning into it as he could. Chuckling as he dismissed a green pickle theme for it, he decided to go with his first notion of a rose, as it personified his pink loving, Jutra perfectly.

Decision made, he started on his work. He still had to make the pommel, the guard, and the quillan. He visualized the blade in his head. He labored away, fashioning the pommel and the grip. He put them together and admired it, It was a rose, the pommel the head, and the grip the stem.

Next was the quillan and guard. He mulled over several ideas for a second symbol to add to the design, finally deciding on a wolf to depict himself. That settled, his last need was a motto for it. Reflecting on what had transpired between them over the last few passings, his mind kept going back to the phrase “Lat and me be ash”. (You and I are one) He said it out loud, nodding as it embodied his true feelings for her.

He worked on the guard, paying attention to every detail, his masterpiece slowly taking shape. He fashioned the guard to look like a wolf baring it’s teeth, while the quillan was brandished to be a wolf sprinting. Then as it met in the middle with the grip, it melted slowly and elegantly into the rose’s stem. He put the hilt and the fuller together, grinning to himself as he poked the point.

Finally, it was finished. He had been working all through the night, making this sword for Jutra. His body, acknowledging the task at hand was done, finally gave into the exhaustion his enthusiasm for getting the masterpiece done had kept at bay. He found his bed over the smithy and slept most of the next passing to catch up on the sleep he had missed. Upon waking he noticed that it was close to last meal time. He felt certain Jutra would be expecting him for dinner. He wrapped the sword in brown wool and tied it with the string. It looked merely like a pole, not like a blade or anything special. He chuckled to himself, this would surely surprise her. Gift in hand, he stolled over to their burrow, grinning at calling it theirs.

[Jutra 51]

As Jarkall left their burrow the passing before, Jutra, had decided to do some cooking to occupy her time, she had the feeling that he wasn’t going to be coming back anytime soon and though she missed him, she felt he was ok and there wasn’t anything to worry about. When she finished up filling the food cellar chests, she cleaned up her kitchen and went to bed for the night.

Waking the next morning, she felt Jarkarll was still asleep. She shrugged and went about feeding ,breeding and culling the livestock which took up most of her morning. Mid passing she took a break making a quick meal for herself. She then walked over to the wheat and melon fields to see what needed to be done. She worked diligently though the afternoon harvesting the fields that were mature and reseeding them. By darkfall she was finished in the fields and had put away the crops for use later on. She started making dinner and proceeded to make enough for both them since he was going to show up at their burrow about that time.

[Jarkarll 314]

Last meal was on the table when he walked into their burrow. He was right, she had set the table for two and had made enough to feed a army. He put the gift aside wanting to wait till after the meal was done.

Last meal was eaten in relative silence, it wasn’t awkward or ominous , each was content to simply be in the other’s presence. Once done, the table cleared, dished washed and the cookery cleaned up, the two ajourn to Jarkarll’s den, sitting near the fireplace, her record playing on the sound box while they both sipped hot coco, another Halfling “thing” Jarkarll secretly enjoyed with her.

Jarkarl had brought his gift with him to the den, laying it on his lap, “Da dicz, lat gift to me waz bub’hosh Jutra, ib meanz a lob tu me. (The disk, you gift to me was great, it means a lot to me.) “ Dis” he picks up his gift for her,“be fur lat.” ( this, is for you) He explains as he unwrapes it, “Diz be the pommel Da lul on id reprzentz lat, it am ugly jud lyke lat. ( This is the pommel, the rose on it represents you, it is beautiful just like you.) “He caresses her cheek and then continues. He moves on to the guard. “ Diz da guard, diz am Ulfv runnin, dat reprezent me, agh peep diz,” (This is the guard, these are running wolves, the represent me, and see this,) “puts his hand over the middle of the guard. The stem of the rose slowly meshes into the wolves running, and so do the wolves to the rose. He takes her hand and places it over the area that meshes. “ Deze dub togeda meen lat agh me... becud lat agh me be..” (These two together mean that you and I...because you and I are...) He gently takes her hand and places it on the fuller. On the fuller are the words “ Lat agh me be ash,” (You and I are one), engraved upon it. Finished his description of it, Jarkarll hands her the sword, quietly awaiting her reaction.

[Jutra 51]

Jutra, trying hard not to cry, over all the work and thought Jarkarll had put into his gift to her, sets the sword aside and wraps her arms around him. “Zo zemar, lat honourah me wid dis bub’hosh gift.” Me lub id becauz id shuw lat bub’hosh lub fur me. Me display dis sword so eberash will peep it.. (My heart, you honour me with this amazing gift. I love it because it shows your great love for me. I will display it so everyone will see it.) Jarkarll wraps his arms around her to embrace her. “ Zo vogal tursh, lat gruk me lub lat. Agh me du anytin fo lat.” (My little pickle, you know I love you. And I will do anything for you.)

[Jarkarll 314]

Already prepared for this question Jarkarll takes the sword from Jutra , setting it carefully aside, he places her on his lap, hugging her gently, he whispers in her ear, “ Ve vill kall id Mushof Zemar. Becud nar oda ash gruk wud lat agh me ab fo eech oda.” (We will call it Hidden Heart. Because no one knows what you and I have for each other)

Gifts exchanged, the record playing in the background and her sword set aside, The two finish the passing in each others embrace, cradled in the warm of their love, wrapped contently in the knowledge that their lives were going to be better together.

-THE END-