Can't stay away from the horses, can I? LOL Here's a photo I might want to use as inspiration since I have a feeling in my gut that the mounts of the Young Ones aren't likely to be any more hesitant to assert themselves than their riders. Oh boy.
Here's a bit of a preview for you, so you'll kind of know what to expect from these 'new' Characters. I've snagged this out of the rough draft working copy of COME HELL AND HIGH WATER.
While our Younglings are heading into their young adult years, these Young Ones are picking up where their older cousins left off, and going them one better.
XXX
"It’s time to check in on the Young Ones of
Dunnottar.
They’re keeping themselves busy with their schooling, with Dedan and
Saba coaching them along. Marra and Mamm the Younger are a pair of holy
terrors, exponentially worse than even Rua ever was. These Young Ones are
unrepentant rapscallions who charm their way out of trouble time and again.
Mounted [on the most rambunctious four horses that the Silver Herds of Dunnottar have ever produced, true throw-backs to Ordha and Rogue, with more than a dash of Oillt's attitude to top it off, I kid you not], they spread the joy of their escapades
through the general vicinity.
In Stonehaven they go thundering along the main
street scaring little old ladies and providing entertainment for littles and
younglings who admire them greatly. Then they come back through from the other
direction, sedate little saints come to share serenity and good works. They
look around, find people who could use a hand, and pitch in with whatever tasks
they can find. Then they do the thundering bit again on their way out of town.
In Northwest they helpfully clear the streams for a mile
around and dig a well in the middle of town, pat themselves on the back, and then
stock the well with fish when nobody’s looking.
In Forest they yell and scream their way along
the paths, horns bellowing, thoroughly disrupting the peace that generally
reigns in the quiet of the woods. The first few times they set the forest
animals into panics, which in turn sets the Forest Folk into panics. Then
everyone gets used to it. They order massive quantities of lumber and the other
products produced by Forest, and pay for it in gold and silver and jewels. All
of the stuff they ordered and paid for shows up on the doorsteps of the folk
who most need it.
Out in the territory of Beyond, on the other
side of the forest, they take to making loud appearances in the communities in
the middle of the night, clanging and banging, hooting and hollering, then
disappearing when lights begin to show in windows. When morning comes the folk
of Beyond are surprised to find barns cleaned, haystacks in place that hadn’t
been there the day before, cattle gathered, and new supplies for the making of
their instruments piled neatly in the town square.
The basket-makers of Southwest get scared out of
their wits when they hear moanings and groanings in the night, punctuated by
sudden shrieks and wails. It’s darned spooky and the Young Ones take great
delight in seeing who can create the most eerie sounds with their voices and
their horns. Here too they order an amazing array of basketry, pay for it with
the coin of Dunnottar, and show up with a huge wain pulled by all four of their
silvers to collect their purchases. Even the wain has been a special order. It
is a great big basket shaped like a boat. They drive their boat all over the
place dropping off baskets to all and sundry. The wain-boat itself they give to
South.
One calm night they sneak down to South and set
all of their fishing boats adrift so they aren’t there come morning when the
South Folk want to use them. In their own little currachs, out far enough to
not be visible from South, they’ve got the boats corralled by dolphins Called
for the purpose by the girls. When a hue and cry is raised by South at
daylight, the naughty Young Ones ride some of the dolphins back to shore while
the others push the boats back AND herd an astonishing catch of fish along with
them.
Yes, these Young Ones are busy. They are wild
and reckless but so well-loved that they get away with whatever they can think
of to do.
Dunnottar herself is not spared.
They go into the smithy when Thann is called
away to help somebody with something or other, probably something they rigged
up their own selves to get him out of their way. They want to forge a sword that even Thann can’t wield.
The fire they get started is so big and so hot that it goes right up the
chimney where the wind catches it and sets fire to the thatched roof of the
roundhouse. Quickly extinguished, it causes no real harm but the Young Ones
have to work their tails off mending the burnt place on the roof.
And they’ve just taken themselves over the line,
yep. They’ve gone too far this time.
They have to face the wrath of Dunnottar, not a
pleasant prospect for anyone involved.
Dedan and Saba are in tears over the whole
thing. They’re supposed to be the Guardians of Dunnottar and the roundhouse
could have gone up in flames. To make it worse, it is their own charges, the
Young Ones, who have caused this trouble.
Said Young Ones don’t feel all that bad about
the roof of the roundhouse, truth be told. That's something that is fixable even though with great
effort.
But when they realize how badly they have hurt Dedan and Saba they are
for the first time in their lives truly repentant. This has in no way been
their intent – yet they have harmed the ones who perhaps love them at least as
much as their own parents do, maybe more at times.
The tears of Dedan and Saba do what nothing else
has been able to accomplish.
Those tears bring the Young Ones to their knees.
Finally, just as Merri is about to drag them off
to the disciplined life of the Fienne, Ullin himself shows up and carts them
off to Iona, lock stock and barrel."
XXX
If you've read the short story books, you'll have met this batch briefly.
They are Colum and Saorsa, born kin-twins to Caileen and Aine of Dunnottar (born at the same time, and in close proximity, to full sisters), and Marra and Mamm the Younger, the fire-headed twin daughters of Sass. The two pairs are born within a year on Dunnottar.
When we meet them in the short story, and again now, they are 12/13 years old.
This is the only group within our story line that doesn't have a shorty among them, although with Dedan and Saba as their teachers, mentors, guides, guardians, and friends they do have a couple of short folk closely associated with them. The four cousins are all long-legged and tall.
They are the collective 'baby of the family' and maybe a little over-indulged.
Colum is the son of Caileen and Talorc - teachers, diplomats, and leaders of Dunnottar.
Caileen has long thick hair of brown generously streaked with copper and gold, with the copper eyes of her father Danann of Dunnottar that go back in our lineages to David of Chattan.
Talorc is a powerfully built man of 'normal' height with short dark hair and very dark eyes.
Saorsa (whose name means 'freedom' in Scots Gaelic) is the daughter of Aine and Kalann, half sister to Aine's son Brann.
Aine and Kalann are scholars, warriors, and general cut-ups but very serious about what's important in life.
Aine has light brown curls and blue eyes; Kalann is, like Talorc, a powerfully built man with dark hair and eyes, although their facial features are pretty different.
Marra and Mamm the Younger are the twin daughters of Sass and Thann (who adopted the brother-pair of the Old Ones, Dedan and Saba)
Sass is tall and slender with blonde hair and sea-eyes that change to and from all of the colors of the waters of Earth. She is our Healer.
Thann is what we call 'Danann sized' - which is to say he is six and a half feet tall and well-muscled. Thann is our smith.
Marra and Mamm the Younger would be the spittin' images of the 'original' Warrior Twins Sass and Saille except that their eyes are the deep blue of their great-great-grandfather Alaric instead of bright grass-green.
We don't have physical descriptions (yet) of either Colum or Saorsa, except for their height and long legs. I'm thinking that Colum will carry the dark eyes and dark hair of his father Talorc while Soarsa might be blonde and green-eyed.
At any rate, the Young Ones welcome you to our midst, and we welcome them (most of the time) to our Story Line.
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