Before the Siege
=====

Mikage is sitting by a tree, playing the flute.

Corrine asks around various people to find out where Mikage is, and 
finally finds him.  She heads in his general direction, and her ears 
perk a bit at the sound of him playing the flute.  She puckers her 
lips, and whistles to join in the melody as she approaches, gesturing 
for Azaka and Kamidake to stay within visible if not audible range.

Mikage's song is upbeat, if with a hint of sadness. It's a slower 
version of the song he's been playing all throughout the march to 
bolster the spirits of the troops.

Corrine quirks a rueful smile at that, and continues to join in, 
providing a possibly happier counterpoint to it.  She finally gets 
close enough, and questioningly gestures at the space next to Mikage.

Mikage ends the song after the second refrain. "Oh, your Majesty... I 
was just... do you know the name of the song I was playing?"

Corrine quirks a slight smile, and sits nearby.  "Please, we don't 
need the formality here... Corrine or Aunt Corrine will work just as 
well."  She then considers.  "... 'The Dream that Dreams Dream', isn't 
it?"

Mikage smiles. "Corrine, then. I... suppose it was a bit of reverie, 
on my part." An expression you've never seen before passes his face, 
but quickly fades.

Corrine raises her eyebrows, and smiles a bit.  She looks up at the 
stars, and chuckles.  "I shan't pry if you don't wish it, then.  
Reveries tend to be personal things, only given out when felt 
appropriate."

Mikage says, "...I was told, to never give up that which could have 
been, and might yet be..."

Corrine says, "It was quite a good song, though.  I could tell that 
the troops that heard it were uplifted by it."

Corrine pauses at that, and nods.  "Quite good and sensible advice."

Mikage asks, "Could you tell me... about Eowyn?"

Corrine blinks at that.

Corrine asks, "Eowyn?"

Corrine says, "... Which one?"

Corrine looks at Mikage, somewhat curiously, and somewhat confused.

Mikage turns to Corrine. "What do you mean, which one?"

Corrine scratches her head.  "Well, there's three that I've known or 
heard of.  My eldest blood sister, Eowyn, who died when I was eight, 
out on the ice of Lake Harad in Winter.  There Eowyn Arisugawa, my 
Commander of the Castle Guard, who got templated after her.  And 
there's reports of somebody -claiming- to be 'Eowyn' leading a revolt 
out in Western Harad that Saionji's trying to conteract."

Mikage says, "..."

Mikage says, "Your sister, then."

Mikage says, "...or would you rather not? It's all right, I won't 
pry."

Corrine chuckles a bit, and then sighs, looking up again... "Eowyn of 
Amber?  Not... as much as I'd like to have known about her, sad to 
say.  She was strong, and good in combat, a big sister who could beat 
up people pretty easily, but..."  She shrugs. "... not, perhaps, the 
brightest apple in the barrel?" She chuckles a bit again.

Corrine then glances over at Mikage.  "No, it's all right.  I'm just 
sorry I don't have more -to- tell you about her.  I didn't really -
know- her in any specific sense, 'cause I was young then."

Mikage says, "I see..."

Corrine says, "She just went out one day with her troops and... didn't 
come back."  She looks down.  "They fished her body out that spring."

Mikage says, "Last night, before we met for the siege... I lived a 
lifetime in the span of a dream..."

Corrine blinks at that.  She looks at Mikage, eyebrows raised.  "... 
you met Eowyn in it?  Some dream..."

Mikage says, "I met Gendo before he became king, became his most 
trusted friend... Stopped the Euboeans, stopped the Cimbri at the 
frozen lake, discovered what happened to Charlotte, prevented the 
storm that killed Mara and Lorelei..."

Mikage chuckles, softly. "Prevented Gil-Galad from getting himself 
captured and tortured for centuries..."

Mikage says, "...and I... I married Eowyn."

Corrine's eyes widen a that, her voice quiet.  "Oh my."

Corrine says, "That... is one really, really -really- detailed dream."

Corrine says, "How... was she, as a person?  I never got to know her, 
myself, as an adult, as I said."

Mikage's eyes grow wistful, almost to the point of tears. "They dream 
of us, Corrine, even as we dream of them..."

Corrine quirks a slight smile. "... 'might have beens, and what might 
be's'..." She offers a hankercheif to Mikage if he needs it.

Mikage smiles as he notices the hankerchief. "No thank you."

Mikage says, "Where do I begin? Eowyn..."

Corrine hehs, and tucks it away.  "Suit yourself."  She then goes 
quiet as Mikage continues.

Mikage says, "Beautiful, fiery as the color of her hair, passionate 
about everything... yet loving, gentle... She would've died out on the 
lake if I hadn't..." His hand goes to his left side, remembering...

Mikage says, "She made me... happy..."

Corrine mmms, quietly.  "... true happiness is a precious and 
treasured thing," she murmurs softly, reflectively running a finger 
along her gold+ruby cuff bracelet.

Mikage falls silent, looking up at the sky. "There are other patterns, 
Corrine, and she lives, within one of them... Dreaming of me as I 
dream of her..."

Mikage asks, "Would that I could open the Gate of Revolution and make 
my way to her... but that isn't the point, is it?"

Corrine says, "Then perhaps one day you'll find your way to her, or 
she to you, Mikage... for as we well know, movement between them is 
not impossible -- and not by the Gate of Revolution, either."  She 
considers something, and hehs.  "And your description of Eowyn, my 
blood sister, sounds pretty close to that of Eowyn, my Castle Guard."

Mikage says, "..."

Mikage says, "If she truly was templated after your sister, then I 
doubt she would remember me."

Corrine glances at Mikage, lips quirked at his "...".  "If you want, 
once this is all over, I could take you up to Ember if you wanted, so 
that you could meet her." She shrugs.  "But of course, it wouldn't be 
the -same-... I've learned that the hard way in my travels."

Corrine mmms, and nods.  "This is true. -Oh- so true.  Hell, my Eowyn 
doesn't think of me as 'sister', but as 'queen'.  Which took some 
getting used to."
Corrine shrugs.  "It was just a thought.  Pay it no mind if you wish."

Mikage smiles, sadly. "It would be... good... I suppose. If a bit 
painful."

Corrine nods at that again, and murmurs.  "... my Marshal of the 
Armies... Haruka Arisugawa... is not my mother, and never will be... 
but some days, the parallels between her and my mother are impossible 
to ignore, and it tears my heart to witness them.  But she is my 
Marshal, and I am her Queen, and such is life, and this is how I have 
learned to deal with it."

Mikage nods and looks back up at the sky. "Besides, the point that the 
middle son was trying to make, I think, was that I should never give 
up the dream..."

Corrine hrms, and starts humming something.  For those with any 
theatrical background whatsowhoever, it can be recognized as "The 
Impossible Dream", from The Man of La Mancha.  She then stops, and 
chudkles softly.  "... but Dreams can become Reality... in ways 
unexpected, but even more fulfilling than you can imagine."  She 
glances down at her Ruby Pyricorn Signet Ring.

Mikage says, "Perhaps..."

Mikage says, "I wonder, though... the middle son... three of one womb, 
one to create, one to destroy, and one to keep the peace between..."

Mikage asks, "Could the one to create be Fuyutsuki?"

Corrine considers, and thinks.  "You referring to Drake?"  She 
scratcher her head.  "Or Miki, perhaps?  That is, if you're talking 
about the kids father's had by his various wi----" She Blinks at that.

Corrine says, ".... I .... hadn't thought of -Grandfather- having 
siblings..." Her brow furrows.  "But at the same time, I've had 
suspicious that he -might- have them, but never a real chance to 
pursue."

Mikage asks, "And the one to destroy... Annadil, perhaps?"

Mikage says, "I met the middle son, hanging from the World Tree... the 
pain, he said. He hoped I'd enjoyed the pain..."

Mikage says, "The pain of the dream..."

Corrine hrms at that, considering.  "Thing is, Grandfather referred to 
Annadil as 'Nephew' at one point... though I could have been mistaken 
at that."  She then -stares- at Mikage, somewhat disbelieving, but at 
the same time.... "... oh my."

Mikage starts to laugh, softly... "The perils of being attuned to the 
Pattern of Tir-na'nog, I suppose..."

Corrine chuckles a bit at that, softly.  "... perhaps... I've walked 
the Pattern of Air once or twice, but..." 

Mikage takes the flute up once more, and plays a more melancholy song, 
"The Dream of the Shore Bordering Another World".

Corrine shrugs, and draws quiet as he plays.  "... well, I do hope you 
find your dream, and that we find ours as well," she murmurs under her 
breath.   She reaches over, gently squeezes his shoulder in 
reassurance, and then stands.

Mikage's eyes are closed, and tears begin to stream down his cheeks.
Then, he stops playing, unable to continue. 

Mikage says, "Eowyn..."

Corrine nods, quietly. "..sis..."

Mikage says, "I suppose... that I'm to bear the pain of what is not, 
and what may yet be, for the rest of my life, then. If it must be 
done, then..."

Mikage draws a shuddering breath, and begins to play again.

Corrine closes her eyes, and looks up at the night sky, and opens them 
again.  "Then such is life, I suppose.  But there's also strength in 
recognizing it, and bearing it."  She looks back down at Mikage.  
"You'd best go and get some rest, Mikage.  It's going to be the long 
haul, starting tomorrow early."

Mikage looks up at Corrine, and shakes his head as he plays. His eyes 
flicker blue for an instant, and the wind begins to pick up...

Corrine raises her eyebrows at that, as her hair starts to be stirred 
by the wind, and nods.  She leaves the man to his music, and heads 
back over to her bodyguards to turn in for the night.

Mikage lifts up from the ground, as he begins to play "Time's Scar". 
The sound of flute music begins to fill the camp, slow at first, then 
faster and faster, as the song begins to work its way to a 
crescendo...

Mikage . o O (your Gift to me, middle son, I give to everyone, then... 
the fire of that which may yet be...)

Corrine listens to the music, quietly, in her own tent, and a silent 
tear falls... for might have beens, and what might be's... and for 
hope, and for her family, past and present and future.

And across the camp, people listen and remember things gone by, and 
hope for things yet to come. 

- end -