The tale of the caring departed

The tale of the caring departed.

Brigan D’Alor put down the needle she just used to sow the last of the parts together. The seam was nearly perfect, as close as one could make it perfect at least. She was happy with the result, and so should she be. Carefully she attached the shoulder to the Light Armor she was working on, even though it was made for rough usage as she were soon to apply some health boost as this armor was intended for battle against the Kitins, the creation of such a sturdy object was still a fine process of careful application of the different parts. If just one seam were to break, it could cause damage to the entire armor. Carefulness and calmness was the key to perfection, and Brigan had both.
She had always crafted Light Armors, ever since the first day her mother took her into her shop where she did her work with Medium and Heavy Armors Brigan had held a great interest in making the Light kind. It was not because she wanted to do the same as her mother, but it was rather the opposite, she wanted to apply all that her mother had taught her into something new, but still the same. Therefore it came out to be Light Armors that would peak her interest, still holding true to the heritage of armor crafting brought down by her mother. And with this dedication also came passion.
Brigan had made a name for herself almost instantly in the early days, her armors being associated with stability, durability and being well affordable. It even went as far as she managed to hire two whom worked in her shop while she was doing the more rare craft and special orders for weddings and such. Things went along both fine and well for her for a few years, but one day she was sent a terrible note. Her mother, whom had retired from her work as Brigan’s career had taken off, had suddenly passed away calmly in her sleep. Still it was unexpected as she had always had so much energy that no one would ever imagine her not living at least ten more years.
Despite the heavy duty of caring for the estate and sorting everything around it Brigan was not really sad for some reason. Of course she missed her mother dearly, who would not, but still there was something that she found comfort in and this kept her mood. She recalled one time when she had spoken to her mother about the passing from this world. She had asked as she had never had a father in her life. He had died in a Kitin war just a month before she was born, but that had not affected her mothers love and dedication to raise her. In fact, her mother said it made her love her twice as much as she knew her father also did so from beyond. She was quite young then and could not really grasp the meaning of it all, but there had been one thing her mother had said during that conversation that had popped into her mind, soothing it, something important. Her mother had said that when the time came for her to move into the beyond, she would not be alone as Brigan’s father would be there waiting for her and they could finally be together again, forever. There was something with those words that kept her mood up during this hard time.
In fact, it took almost a year for her to sort everything out, during this time she had left the shop and the works into the hands of her employees so that she would not have to worry about it, they had insisted on at least helping her with that burden.

Brigan had kept her mothers house and moved her things there instead, it was both larger and had more space, but mostly it held all the memories from her growing up. Despite it being just a house, four walls and a roof, every bit of bark, every nail and plank held memories of her life together with her mother. And the memories should remain as they are, as good ones.
One day, nearly a year after her mothers passing Brigan’s two employees came to her house with the weekly report and with the intention of having a rather serious talk with her regarding something important. As they had studied under her teachings their crafts were almost on par with her skill, yet they both openly admitted that her knowledge and skill was hard to acquire and surpass. But during the year they had managed her shop word had spread of their skills. And so they had decided to ask Brigan of the possibility to leave the town and travel the planet hoping to settle down in another town, each, and there bring her knowledge further. Brigan was not surprised hearing this request, they wanted to be free just as she wanted earlier in her life, the time where she decided what to craft, so without any objection she agreed and welcomed their request. It almost took them by surprise that she agreed so easily, but they were happy indeed. Besides, almost a year had passed, and it was time for Brigan to get back to her craft and old life again. Even though they did not want to stress anything from Brigan a date of their farewell was soon decided, within a month they were free to leave at their own disposal. Brigan even saw to it that they would get some goods with them on their travel so it would be easier for them to set up a small shop.

The word that Brigan had returned to the shop did bring in quite some orders almost directly as everyone wanted a Light Armor bearing her name. She was delighted that she was able to take up her old craft so quickly. But the times had changed a bit. After the initial it slowed down to a more ordinary flow of orders and repairs. The days started passing on as normal again, still something seemed, or felt, a bit out of place for Brigan. She tought it to be the loss of her mother that kept itself reminded at times when she could not focus as much as she used to. Some orders were delayed with a few days now and then, because she was not able to finish them with the quality she wanted. Of course this was no problem for the customers to wait a few extra days. Still it was sometimes irritating to Brigan that she could not hold her mind on her craft when she needed to. But things worked.

One day when Brigan came home after a hard day at work, they felt like they were starting to stack up on her now she thought, she went to the kitchen to make herself some tea to try and relax and put the day behind her. She went upstairs into the room where her mother, and she, used to sit together and craft when she was a little girl. She had kept it just as it were of course, she sat here sometimes when she wanted to gather herself and relax. With the tea in her hand, sipping now and then, she walked around in the room looking at the various tools and materials what were laid out on the workbench. Then she notices that the closet where they stored the materials and crafts they were working on was slightly open. She knew that the door had been carefully closed the last time she had been in the room because she had taken the materials in there and handed it to her former employees. She looked inside the closet and noted something in there that she had not seen the last time she was in there, something she was certain of was not there the last time. At least not as far as she could recall. The shelfs had been gaping empty when she had gathered the materials the last time, there were only some tools left in their place.
In the back of the closet hanged something strange, something she had not seen before in there and should really not seen since it was nearly empty the last time. It was an old Light Armor hanging on a hanger, covered with dust as if it had hanged there for years. But she could not recall ever seeing it before.
Brigan carefully took out the Light Armor and gave it a good dust off coughing from all the dust. She then gave it a close look, it seemed familiar but still she could not place it. It was getting late so she put the armor back into the closet and closed the door. It was time to sleep and then prepare for tomorrows work.

The following day passed as the prior one, though it felt a bit heavier for Brigan when she came home. As she entered her kitchen she noticed that her cup stood on the table and it was filled with tea. Had she forgotten it when she had breakfast this morning? She could have as she had not slept too well and was a bit confused today. As she grabbed the cup to empty it for some new and fresh tea she was surprised to find out that it was not cold at all. In fact it was as if the tea was freshly made. She looked around in case there was someone else in the house, which there really could not be as the door was firmly locked. But there was none, and she could not hear anyone either. Still she stood there with the warm tea in her hand. It was then she noticed that the flavor of the tea was not the same as the one she drank yesterday. This one was also familiar somehow, for some odd reason she knew this taste. Suddenly she remembered the flavor, it was the one her mother used to give her when she was ill as a little girl. It always cheered her up during those times. But, strangely enough, she did not have that flavor in her home. Not since the days he had come back to the house after her mother had died and she had used the last one to make herself a cup trying to lessen the burden. But now she stood there in the kitchen holding a cup full of it. Carefully she took a sip and it did feel just like when she was a little girl. Warmth spread throughout her body and she felt relaxed almost instantly. It was as if she was a little girl again.
Almost as if the tea made her, she walked up into the workroom and sit down in her chair drinking more tea and calming down.

Brigan woke up about half an hour later, still sitting in the chair holding the almost empty cup of tea. She had slept so well she was surprised how little time really had passed. But had it all been a dream? She took a sip of the tea, still luke warm, and the familiar taste spread across her tongue again. Then she noticed that the closet door was slightly open again, how come since she closed it yesterday and the only thing she had done in here today was to sit in the chair and having some tea. Almost frightening herself she almost did not dare looking into the closet. But as she did she found it to be as when she left it yesterday. She grabbed the armor she had found yesterday and took it outside and put it on the mannequin and gave it a thorough look. It was aged she could easily tell, but there was something about it that she wanted to find out, but what? She looked closely at the seams, they were all sturdy like the ones she make. The materials was well worked and prepared, it was as if she or her mother had made this armor. But the aging had taken its toll on it, there were seams and materials that needed to be replaced, and most likely the previous boost gems had faded and needed replacing. Brigan left the armor hanging on the mannequin and went to bed. Tomorrow she would bring some materials from the shop back home to see if she could not renovate the armor somehow.

The next day seemed to have passed along quite quickly and without any problems as Brigan returned home full of energy. She even took the way past the tea shop and bought a bag of the tea she had yesterday. As the water was warming up on the stove she brought up the materials into the workroom and placed them on the other table to get a better overlook of them. The armor was still hanging on the mannequin and it was almost as it shined as the sun casted its glares upon it through the window. This would be a good evening Brigan thought to herself as she went down to the kitchen to fetch her tea. She quickly returned back to the workroom and sat down in the chair and looked at the armor and then at the materials. It did not take long before she started replacing some seams along the bottom of the armor, this went with an unexpected ease for her and she could not help but to smile a little as she continued working on the armor. Suddenly she reached a special kind of seam where she needed another tool to make and she had none of the tools on the table. So Brigan got up and looked in the closet, there was a shelf with tools there and soon she found a handle that she recognized. The shelf being a bit up she could not see everything on it, so she, or well her mother really, had put the tools on it showing the handles so that they would not need to climb up to see which was what.
As she grabbed the tool and pulled it down something else fell from the shelf onto the floor with a thud. She looked around and soon found an old amber cube lying below the shelf. Strange, she had not seen that before. She picked it up and gave it a close look. Its light was almost faded but she was able to make out a face on it, it was her mothers! What was this old cube? She did not know that her mother would have it lying in here. Still the armor called so she took both the tool and the amber cube out into the workroom. She placed the cube on a dresser that was standing at a wall and then got back to the armor.
Some hours later Brigan went to bed, tired, worn and very pleased with the progress of the armor. It was coming along nicely.

The next day went as the prior one, first work in the shop, then back home for some tea and then continue working on the armor again. To Brigan it was a warm feeling seeing the old armor slowly turning from the aged cloth into a fresh and shining piece of armor. She worked hard and long perfecting every seam, making certain that the materials used were top notch to hold through the toughest of battles while being light to carry. Since this was a light armor it was supposed to be as easy to wear, so Brigan worked hard on the materials to ensure that they were as soft as possible while having adequate protection.

At the end of the week Brigan finished the last seam on the armor, it was now complete! Time had flown during her work with the armor and still she felt nothing but satisfaction as she looked at the armor as it hang on the mannequin. The colors of it shined clearly in the sunlight and a small breeze from the window made it flap gently back and forth. It was a lovely sight for her eyes indeed. She felt proud over what she had done and took a deep breath and turned around to head into the kitchen downstairs. It was then she saw the amber cube on the dresser. The sunlight that hit it showed her that there was more then one face on it! She quickly picked it up and looked at it closely. It was her mothers face and the face of a man. Could this be? Could that man be her father? She was not certain, but who else could it be?
She could not remember any other man during her growing up either, so it must be her father! She tried to extinguish some more details of the image in the cube, but it was hard so Brigan decided to get some more tea and then have another look on the cube.

She soon returned with a fresh cup of tea, still the same as her mother made when she was a little girl and looked at the cube. Somehow the picture on it was stronger now, in fact the more she looked at it the more it seemed to appear, as if the amber cube was regenerating its glow.
She could see how the contours of the man started to appear stronger and stronger, his body appearing and so the body of her mother and to her big surprise Brigan saw the dress her mother was wearing, it was the same dress she spent the week renovating! Brigan could not believe it, still she could now clearly see the picture now, it was almost as if her mother and the man was staring back at her. She placed the amber cube on the dresser and just stared at it for a few minutes. Then she noticed that there was something written below the picture. She took a piece of cloth and polished the cube carefully and then read the words “There is no obstacle large enough to keep us apart, together forever”.

This must be a picture of her mother and father! Brigan was certain of this. She did not know why her mother never showed this to her, but it did not matter. She knew them both now and with a smile she put the amber cube on the dresser again in a position so that she could always see her parents whenever she was working on her craft. There was a small note lying where the cube had stood previously, but she could not recall it being there before. Who could have placed it there she wondered as she started reading it.

Dear Brigan
There are things in this world that are best discovered by your own. Like the day when I met your father, it was something that took speed
quickly, almost too fast it felt like. But still it was a pace we both felt comfortable in. But we had just only got married before he was
called into duty. And just before you were to be born I received a note that he had not made it alive from the last battle. This tore my heart apart
to have lost him without saying good bye.

But then you were born and from that day I knew that even if he was not by my side he would always be with me. There is so much of him in you
my dear daughter, our dear daughter, that I loved you twice as much as possible. He lived on within you, as I do too. Even if we are no longer
in this world, we are not apart from it. We are both part of you, as you are part of us. I wished that you would have had a chance to meet your
father, he is every bit as good as you feel he is. I wanted you to discover this by yourself, therefore I did not speak of him too often.
And, I did have my hands full raising you!

But you have already gotten to know him a bit, all the focus and energy that you put into sorting the armor, it is a part of what he left in you. Trust your instinct and feelings about your father, for they are right.
There are also things that are not really meant to be understood, but there is one thing I would like to tell you, my dear daughter.
Do with your life whatever you want, as long as it is your own choice. Your life is yours alone, and you decide how to live it, as we did.

With all Love,
Your mother

Brigan had to grab the dresser as she read the letter, for a second she had trouble standing up but it quickly passed. She looked at the letter again to be certain that it was from her mother and she could feel that it truly was. A tear fell from her cheek and landed on the letter. Brigan looked at the cube, suddenly a breeze entered the room making the armor flap about a little as Brigan looked at it. Next to it on the table stood her cup of warm tea, the steam from it could be seen in the sunlight. Brigan looked at the letter again, and it was blank! Well, except for two words that were now written in the center of the paper “Together, forever”. Brigan smiled and gently folded the letter and placed it on the amber cube. She could see her parents smiling back at her.

From that day on Brigan moved the shop from the town into the house. She knew what she wanted to do and it was to craft the finest Light Armors she could possibly do. And so she does sitting in the workroom always being able to see her parents while drinking her tea and doing her craft.

This be the tale of the caring departed.