[Elora]

Whilst the skirts of a gown were not the habitual garb of choice for woodworkers, Vanwe was glad of them nonetheless as she lacked a hankerchief. Instead she wiped down her hands on the folds of fabric at her hip and followed Derufin to the shade of the maple. Ponies snorted as they arrived and she folded down to sit next to him.

She accepted the apple with a bemused smile that only someone who had been raised as she had would perhaps appreciate. His question was the second surprise and she blinked at the apple in her hand.

"It very much depends on the wood," she started. Derufin chewed another mouthful of apple and hungry she started on her own apple. The fruit in her hand was prevalent in the north, and a rareity in her land of childhood. It was amazing how quickly she had begun to feel hungry, even after the large feast that had comprised breakfast.

"The wood knows what it holds. I simply set it free," she added after a moment's more thought. "Sometimes it is small things, containers, goblets, platters, small figures. Sometimes it is larger things, like tables, chairs, houses even. But I have never been able to make those larger things - it wasn't allowed..."

Vanwe took another bite as a thought occured to her. "And sometimes a whole tree has very large ambitions," she added. "Not even the largest tree could make a whole ship." As she chewed on her apple, she grinned a little until another thought dawned upon her. Had she said too much? She took a sip of the cool drink by her and ventured her own question.

"What of you? What sorts of things do you make other than shelves... m'lord? You are very good with the timber, and I can see that you know more than pantry shelves."

She threw the title in playfully, for she had not missed the m'lady he had tossed in her direction. She had, around her words, managed to devour the apple. The ponies only got from her a meagre apple core that she had flicked in their direction. A few slim strands that had escaped her braid drifted around her face in the shade as she wondered how he would respond to her own curiosity.

[ May 28, 2003: Message edited by: Elora ]