Thread: An Overdue Proposal WHO: Cress and Kaden WHEN: Aug. 2 WHERE: Yellowstone National Park, and then faculty room at the Academy NPC: and introducing Tobias, the dwarf
The forest was a place of solace and as a bear, Kaden wandered. His giant wet black nose snuffed around bushes and under logs, long claws raking away rotted wood to get to the nutrition rich grubs beneath them. He huffed and puffed his way through the trees as a hulking figure that gave even the most ferocious hunters in the Yellowstone park pause. With a nose like his, Kaden was able to avoid mankind. Hikers and backpackers and campers were given wide berth. Kaden was the bear and the bear was Kaden, and the grief of his mother’s passing was buried deep inside his strong heart.
Until he ran into Tobias. Tobias was a short hairy man that Kaden’s bear nose recognized as a Dwarf and as a friend. The campfire Tobias the park ranger had going brought the welcoming smells of cooking meats. Kaden lumbered up to the location rumbling a bear-like greeting to which Tobias gave barely a start.
“Kaden? Kaden! Gods be praised, I thought you were something else. Come, join me! Plenty of meat to go around!”
***
There wasn’t plenty of meat. Kaden ate more than his fair share and was still hungry, snuffing around in Tobias’ bags. This brought a worried frown to the dwarf’s bearded face and he confronted Kaden over what he was doing out in the woods, lost in his animal form, refusing to transform. It took a great deal of coaxing, but eventually, one night and on a full belly of fresh deer kills, Kaden finally transformed back into a man.
Tobias wrapped his naked shoulders in a blanket and sat next to him as the fire crackled and Kaden poured out his heart. His mother was gone. How she died. Her last words. The grief that overcame Kaden and had driven him into the woods as a bear.
Tobias scratched his beard and thought a moment, then gave Kaden a very stern dwarven scowl. “Sounds to me like you’d better listen to your mum, my friend.” When Kaden didn’t respond, Tobias continued more earnestly. “She wanted only for her only child to be happy. She knows this Cressida woman brings you happiness, fulfills you.” He nudged Kaden’s shoulder roughly to rouse his friend. “Way I see it, you’re doing your mother a disservice by moping out here in the trees, pissing on bushes and wallowing in puddles. Go and get your woman!”
Kaden’s eyes sparked at the words and he’d turned to Tobias with such an intense look that the dwarf reached for his axe, thinking Kaden about to attack. But instead, the werebear stood abruptly and the blanket fell to the ground. Naked and looking like some kind of god under the golden firelight, Kaden’s resolve burned bright. “You’re right. I’ve been wasting time. So much time. I need to go. Right now.”
He started off into the woods again but paused and turned back to his friend. Before he transformed back into a bear to race through the forest back to civilization, he said: “I won’t forget this, Toby.”
***
The Academy was preparing for the new school year and most students and teachers were already back. New Standards were being shown their rooms and Kaden was reminded that he’d need to name a new pair of House Mentors and get his class lesson plans started and... But first, he needed to see Cressida.
Kaden burst into the faculty office where Cressida was talking to some other teachers and he went straight to his girlfriend. Instead of sweeping her up into an embrace and kissing her after their long months apart, Kaden dropped down to one knee and clasped her hands in his.
“Cress,” he whispered urgently, his earthy colored eyes bright. “My mother was right. I’ve been wasting precious time that should have been spent entirely devoted to you. You make me feel hopeful, Cress. In a way no one else has done in a long time. I— I want to— Will you take me, despite all my weaknesses and flaws, and do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
From his flannel shirt pocket Kaden produced a small black box and opened it. Inside was a simple ring by appearances, but crafted with such skill that it could only be forged by a dwarven hand. The jewels in the center - a sapphire, a ruby, a topaz, and an emerald - were the same four stones that his mother had worn at her wedding.