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 Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 9:48 am
Hallucinations From a Spirit Called Rat
Kibarango is usually a pretty happy-go-lucky child. But what happens when he accidentally enters a state of Rapture? And what causes it?
It is often hard to explain the many states of mind that a Ratkin can experience, simply because of the many forces at work in the world around them. It all begins with the Triat, the three spiritual beings who create, harness and destroy. The three beings of the Triat, known as The Wyld, The Weaver, and the Wyrm, rank quite high in the hierarchy of spiritual creatures. The Wyld creates chaos, which is ordered by the Weaver and then destroyed and returned to chaos by the Wyrm. Thus is the cycle of the world.
Ratkin are one of the few creatures of the changing breed who are considered to be Wyld-touched, thus allowing them their two most prominent states of mind: Frenzy and Rapture. The others come from their ability to change shape. Frenzy is the more common state, born from a Ratkin's permanent Rage. Much more than anger or wrath, Rage takes over the mind and removes all vulnerabilities. Under the influence of Rage and in the state of Frenzy, a Ratkin can ignore pain, overcome injury, ignore the normal stunning effects of weapons, and even move faster than under normal conditions. However, in a state of Frenzy, a Ratkin often cannot recognize friend from foe, and will attack anything that moves.
Similar in its otherworldly experience is the state of Rapture. Unlike Frenzy, Rapture is not affected by the anger of Gaia, but by Her spiritual power, known as Gnosis. It is Gnosis that counteracts Rage, and makes sure that it does not totally overwhelm the chaos-prone minds of the Ratkin. Gnosis, however, is just as dangerous as Rage, in that if it consumes a Ratkin it disconnects them from the current world and sends them into a world of visions and hallucinations. According to the Ratkin, they believed that these visions are sent to them by their god, and thus welcome Rapture in much the same way they welcome Rage.
One would have to intimately know the Ratkin and their tendencies to expect anything of this nature in Kibarango. One would also have to have identified him as a Ratkin from the start, which at this moment in time would be quite difficult. He was not even old enough to go through the Rite of the Birthing Plague. Regardless, Bantu didn’t have the slightest clue what to expect from her baby that came from a stick, and this is where our story begins.
Nothing had been out of the ordinary when Bantu had decided "screw paperwork" and take her little ratling out of his crib and downstairs. Kiba had seemed quite pleased to have her company (for a change) and was especially pleased when he was joined by the twin Ermines and their yellow dog thing. Twitch had declared it was painting time, and had brought out a rather mismatched collection of different coloured paints and some rather worn paper. Twitch, upon catching the look his boss gave him, declared that he had borrowed them from a friend the day before. "He was quite happy to give them to us," Spark had added, as though that settled the matter. Secretly, Bantu had suspected that all of the items had been pilfered in the twins' days as petty thieves, but she decided not to comment. The fact that they hadn't bothered to "borrowed" any paintbrushes with the art set was a sure sign that they were stolen.
But boys will be boys, and she had put their talents to much better use these days. They had more than enough money to go and buy a proper paint set if they wanted to. Alas, old habits did indeed die hard. With a small sigh, Bantu neatly set the rat baby in front of her lap, amber eyes roving around for paint brushes. Twitch had already unrolled the paper, and he and his brother were starting to take the tops off of the mismatched containers of paint. "You don't happen to have 'borrowed' any brushes along with this, did you?" It was hard not to put in the invisible quotation marks, and Bantu was never very good about beating about the bush. The ermines would know that they were allowed to do it by the fact that she hadn't told them to go visit Beatz.
"Er, no we didn't," Twitch replied hastily, reaching across his brother for another jar of paint. "We um…." "We're finger-painting today. Thought it would be best for the little one who might not hold a paint brush too well."
Very smooth Spark. Bantu crooned inwardly, and settled for giving the twins a toothy grin. "Finger-painting? Never seen it done before. You two going to demonstrate it for me?" Back in her home world, paint was rarely used so flippantly. You painted all your beautiful carvings and jewellery with it, and it was very hard to acquire. Over on Gaia, however, you could buy paint at the dollar store. Mind you, it was cheaper and didn't stay as well as real Ajaba paint, but it would do for "finger-painting", as the twins had said.
"'course Boss! See you just dip your finger in the paint like so," Spark demonstrated, dipping his finger into the pot of what appeared to be blue, and drawing a squiggle across the page. He dipped more fingers into the blue, and made the squiggly line wider. "There. 's a river, see? You don’t need brushes to make good art!"
Bantu was rather sceptical about this whole ordeal, but Kiba seemed to be quite excited. Already he was reaching for the pots of paint, giggling and chattering amiably to himself. With a small, inward sigh, the Ajaba reached for the pot of green paint and set it close to the ratling at her feet. "There you go, kiddo. Try not to fling it around." Kiba gave a low croon, before dipping his hand in the paint and splatting it down on the paper. Hooray! This was fun! He gave a happy squeak before repeating what he did, resulting in several splatted footprints across the page.
"Hey look, he's got like little rat feet!"
Twitch exclaimed, grinning broadly. "Here, let's see if we can make a little trail!" With help from his brother, Twitch dipped both of Kiba's hands into the red paint and began making a little trail of prints across the page. Once they were finished, the twins set the ratling back down against Bantu's legs, and admired their work. "Look at that! Nice little hands he's got there!" Twitch raised his hand to give Spark a high-five, before realizing that it was covered in blue paint. Whoops. "You made it look like there's rats running all over my river," Spark griped, but he didn't seem too upset by it.
Meanwhile, Kiba was staring quite intently at the prints he had made across the page. They looked so… familiar. For some reason, the thought occurred to him that there should have been more than one set of prints. No, it was more than a should be. There needed to be more. It was wrong for a rat to travel by himself. Where was his family? The world slanted suddenly, as things began to change colour. The footprints remained red but the white paper turned to brown, like dirt. There were more footprints now, spanning across the page and up all over the walls and the ceiling. He could hear chittering, and red eyes peered at him from the corners.
Despite the rather strange things that occurred around him, Kiba did not feel afraid. He felt… in awe, as though he was being shown something even more incredible than a jar of peanut butter or a fuzzy blanket to sleep with. The chittering got louder, but there were words mixed in, as though he could only translate half of what was being said to him. "-- coming!" They were afraid. Kiba did not know who or what they were, but they were afraid. "Chitter. Shuffle. Chitter.--left, from-- Chitter.—darkness -- sideways! Chitter. Click. Leave! Chitter. --coming!"
All too soon the world reverted back to its normal colours, and Kiba found himself staring up at the livid face of his mother.
"It must be the paint! He's allergic to the paint you idiots!"
"We didn't know! He was painting fine before!" The voice sounded worried, frightened.
"YOU STARTED THIS! IF HE DIES BECAUSE OF THIS-" Angry. Why was she angry? He was alright. Tired, but alright.
Kiba blinked his eyes several times before squeaking, staring up intently at the angry face of his mother. When she didn't look away from her prey he squeaked again, louder this time. He was okay! Don't be angry! It was only at his second squeak did she look down, and then Kiba found himself almost crushed in his mother's arms. Soothing words were whispered in his ear as he was whisked away, but the ratling hardly listened to them. He was relaxed already. By the time his head touched the pillow, Kiba was already asleep, tired from his accidental exposure to a state of Rapture.
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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 9:49 am
The following two messages were left on Bantu's desk, one written neatly on a piece of parchment, and the other scrawled on a scrap piece of paper:
Quote: Bantu Paper came from a very old printing house two town over from here. No curses or wards on the place as far as I can tell, though the family is devoutly religious. I searched for any kind of jinx or charm that could have been on the paper, but I found none. They grow the trees themselves, and I can find no record of there being any historical problem with the ground or the trees. Looks like the paper comes from a good and trustworthy source. It is very doubtful that anything was done to tamper with the borrowed paper. The paper itself had a minor protection charm residue, but it was much too old to be of any trouble now. Most likely gave T&S some nasty bad luck when they borrowed it originally though. I'll get back to you on the paint. Hope Beatz finds something. ~ Gyp
A final note was added onto the first in neat handwriting, the same kind of writing as the original writer:
Quote: Later: Checked for jinxes in the paint. Did cleansing rituals, and got back nothing. Whatever it was that got him either isn't around anymore or wasn't in the paint. Write to your mother and ask her. ~ G
Quote: Yo, Not allergic to the paint. Nothing in the paint that would have caused any sort of bizarre allergic reaction, at least not like the one you described to me. Paint is standard paint, nothing strange was added to it, and if there was, the worst it would have caused was mild skin irritation, seeing as he didn't eat it. Get Gyp to check for curses in paint, there's nothing unusual in it. ~ Beatz
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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 9:51 am
Dear Mama,
I'm hoping that this will be legible, since my hand is shaking so badly I can barely hold my pen properly. Words cannot begin to describe what happened today with the rat baby. I don't even know what happened, to be honest, which is why I'm writing to you so hastily. I will explain to the best of my memory the events that happened, and I'm hoping you can find some answers, or at least ask the Shaman's opinion of it all.
Everything started out normally. I got up, fed Kiba, put him to bed in his crib where he usually is while I work. Nothing was weird or strange about the crib, and he did nothing out of the ordinary while he was in there with me. I started working on my paperwork. Shortly after lunch time I decided I was finished with my work for that day, and I took Kiba out of his crib and with my downstairs into the Great Hall. Everything is kept very well heated these days, so it was not too cold for him. He was even dressed appropriately.
Once in the Great Hall, Twitch and Spark showed up and decided that they were going to entertain Kiba for me. Which, was fine, seeing as they do this often when I'm not there. They brought with them several large pieces of paper – which they borrowed from a printer that had been harassing them in their earlier years – and several containers of coloured paint. Yes, as you probably have found out, paint is dirt cheap here on Gaia, even if the quality leaves much to be desired. Regardless, Twitch and Spark showed us how to "finger-paint" and we did so.
Kiba joined in the "finger-painting", and began adding his own hand prints to the picture that we were making. Nothing happened when he touched the paint, but when Twitch and Spark had him make a little trail of his hand prints he just went... crazy. I don't even know what happened. His eyes rolled back and he lay on the floor twitching, chittering away in his own little language. He'd stop sometimes and his ears would wiggle, as though he was listening to something we couldn't hear. In about ten minutes he was back again, and showed no signs of distress. He went to sleep right after, and when he woke up he seemed normal again.
I made Gyp check out the paint for curses or jinxes, but she couldn't find anything. The paper wasn't cursed, otherwise Twitch and Spark would have felt it too. I even had Beatz make sure he didn't have an allergic reaction to it. Nothing we did with the paint could get him to repeat what had happened. I even made a trail of my own hand prints across the page and he didn't even twitch. Is there any kind of curse you know that can be passed on through skin contact, and can live in paint? Write back to me soon.
~ Bantu
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Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 8:03 pm
"Holy crapmuffins~!" Twitch squeaked, as he stared at the baby – scratch that, toddler – that was sitting upright in the blanket. He had just turned away to watch his brother search for Puck and look what had happened! The fuzzy thing had... had ... well gotten bigger! Was this supposed to happen? Did they trigger some sort of reaction by exposing him to finger painting? "Spark! Spark! Spark c'mere!" The ermine called desperately, looking back and forth between the ratling and his brother.
Spark looked up from behind the sofa at his brother's tone, a small frown forming on his face. "What are you--" He stopped dead at the sight of the now quite a bit bigger ratling. "By the gods... What did you do to him, Twitch?" The ermine was now standing next to his brother, blue eyes narrowed.
"Nothing!" Twitch replied indignantly, upset that his brother would even blame him for doing this. They were supposed to be this together! That was how it always went. "Besides, it doesn't matter who did it, what do we do now?"
"What do you mean 'what do we do now?'"
The twins nearly had a heart attack, and both of them whirled around to face their boss. Bantu simply raised an eyebrow at them, hands on her hips as she waited for an answer. They had left her a note to say they were going to play with Kiba in the common room while she did her paper work. After the whole finger painting incident she was reluctant to let them touch him again, but Gyp and Beat had assured her that it hadn't been the twins' fault. Still, the looks on their faces nearly made Bantu regret her decision. Amber eyes narrowed as she pushed both of them aside to get a good look at her baby.
"We didn't do anything!" Two voices chorused instantly, the owners looking like they were about to bolt any minute. The memory of Bantu after the whole finger painting incident was still fresh in their minds, and neither of them wanted Bantu's rage directed towards them again. Because if one got punished, it was always the fault of the other was well for not stopping his twin. Thus, the ermine twins cowered away from their boss, watching with wide blue eyes as she studied the child.
"We just looked away for two seconds..." Spark began shakily, unable to tell if Bantu was upset or just confused. Her expression was unusually blank, which either meant she was thinking or she was just about ready to explode in a rage. Right now, neither Spark nor Twitch could tell what she was going to do, which made it very hard to decide what to do. If they ran and she was thinking, they would be safe. If they ran and she was angry, they would be lucky if they could sit for a week. By the same token, if they ran they could at least prolong their punishment. If they stayed, she might beat the crap out of them now, where as later she would have just yelled at them. It was a tough decision.
In the silence that followed, nobody moved. Then, as though he was unaware of the scrutiny and the fear, Kiba picked up one of his plushies and offered it to his mother. "Sheeee?" He asked, head tilted as he blinked up at her. Did she want the plushie? She could have it to look at if that was what she wanted. He would share with her!
"He got bigger," Twitch supplied cautiously, clinging to his brother's arm in attempt to make him feel a little braver.
"Quite a bit bigger," Spark echoed, making a small noise of pain when Twitch tightened his grip. His twin murmured a soft apology, but didn't let go of his arm. Both of them had said their pieces, and now it was up to Bantu to decide what she was going to do. It wasn't their fault this had happened, right?
"Sheeee?" Kiba asked again, ears flattening a little when his first question was met with silence. Did she not want it? It was a very pretty plushie. Had he done something to make her upset?
It was the lowering of his ears that seemed to pull Bantu from her daze, and she bent down and scooped up the not-so-little ratling. "Hey there little guy. These jokers haven't been messing with you, have they?" The only response she got was a giggle, as Kiba snuggled closer to her body. The Ajaba gave a soft chuckle, before turning her attention to the cowering ermine twins. They both flinched when she looked at them, ears hidden in their white hair. Heh, poor idiots. They probably thought she was going to beat the crap out of them. Not that she wouldn't have, if something had happened to him again in their presence, but they were safe for now.
"Don't look at me like that, you two. You didn't do anything to hurt him, and we can't really expect this kind of thing, can we? You're free to go now."
She laughed again at the visible relief on the twins' faces, before turning and heading up the stairs. So much for normal growth rate, but what can you expect from a baby that comes from a wand?
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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 6:53 pm
Dear Mama,
How have you been? I know we haven't been over to visit like we promised, but things have been a little hectic around here. Okay, more than a little hectic, seeing as we had another little scare. You remember I've been letting several people take Kiba during the day to keep him company, right? Gyp, my social relations manger, Beatz my cook, and then the two weasel twins that Papa doesn't like? I told you the story about how it was the twin's turn to watch him but I was joining them, and then he went all funky right? You remember that one? Well, after we ran all those tests and proved the twins innocent, I decided to let them have another go at watching Kiba. The next day, when he was with the twins again, all of a sudden he just shoots up and grows. Just like that. No gradual growth over three or four years, just bam. Toddler. It must be something in this wand, I'm telling you. I've never seen anything like it, and neither have the twins. Gyp says anything's possible on Gaia, but that thought isn't very reassuring.
So he's a toddler now, and we're all out of clothes for him. He's wearing some of the old clothes we have for the thieves since I got nothing, but I sent Beatz out to get more. I was wondering if you had any of our old stuff lying around? I know it's really sudden to ask, but I honestly wasn't expecting him to grow like a shoot. I hope this doesn't happen again in a few months, but even so, I'm going to start stalking up on more clothes. You can definitely count on us not being caught off guard clothes-wise when he grows up to being a kid. The change seems to be purely physical though, as the age jump hasn't let his mental state catch up yet. He still had to be taught to walk like every other child, and so far he's been doing fairly well. The little guys quite steady on his feet. We gotta work on the talking though, since all he wants to do is squeak and chitter.
Anyways, pass on my wishes to Chagina for me. We'll visit soon.
~ Bantu
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Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 6:55 pm
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Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 4:53 pm
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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 5:35 pm
Hey Bantu!
Thanks for letting me keep the little ratling longer than usual! We were having a great time in the kitchen and I didn't want to disturb him. Now that he can toddle around he wants in on everything. Let it be said that the days of the peanut butter on the spoon have passed. Now he's helping me however he can. Don't worry though! I'm not letting him do anything dangerous. I'm smart enough for that, you can trust me on that one. No chopping or touching heated objects. Goodness knows I don't want him to have another one of those little fits he had in the living room. Whoops, sorry about that. I forgot we weren't supposed to talk about it.
Anyways, he's been helping out around the kitchen, mixing stuff and whatnot. He's still my official taste-tester, and I'm hoping when Gyp gets him tomorrow she continues to work on his speech. Not that I can't understand the difference between a raspberry and a happy squeak, but it would be much better if he could tell me what was wrong rather than just saying it's wrong. I'll ask her to teach him to try and say stuff like too sweet, too sour, or maybe just too.... That's cool with you, right? If you want his first word to be your name or Mama or something sentimental like that, that's definitely okay. Just thought I'd ask Gyp to teach him something a little practical, that's all.
I've set up a little cot for him in the kitchen – you know, that one your ma sent us – so he can have his afternoon naps there. So don't freak out when you notice it's gone, I just moved it down there. He gets real sleepy when he's working all morning, and it's easier if I just let him sleep there. I keep the dog away from him 'cause he doesn't like her, so don't worry about that either. Anyways, I gotta run. Just wanted to update you on what we were doing. : )
Cheers!
~Beatz
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Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 7:44 pm
Learning the Alphabet
It was Gyp's turn to mind Kiba, seeing as Beatz was having one of her creative moments in the kitchen and didn't want the rat baby to get hit in the head with flying utensils. The time spent with Gyp usually involved going with her to the market, being introduced to a few choice customers, and then coming home. Bantu had initially been a little hesitant to let the ratling out into the big, scary world, but the soothsayer had simply said that he would have to face the world at some point. Better now when he was innocent then later when he was jaded. During Gyp's last marketplace adventure they had met a pirate cripple and his pretty unicorn daughter. The time before it had been a silly two headed man. Seeing as Kiba had returned unscathed from both encounters, Gyp believed her point still stood.
Today, however, they were not going to the fox woman's market stall. Today, Kiba was going to learn his alphabet. It was about time he stopped squeaking and started speaking. Gyp didn't want to rush him too much – after all, his capacity for language may not be so good – but she needed to at least start him off on the right foot. Gyp wanted to hear words by the time Kiba was starting into his childhood. At the very least, he should know the names of his family (not to mention his own name) in English rather than 'rat speak'. Thus, when Kiba woke up from his afternoon nap, Gyp set him up in his booster seat with some crayons and paper. It was time for the lessons to begin.
Kiba, for his part, seemed quite entertained by his current situation. There were brightly coloured objects in front of him, paper like the kind he painted on, and he had Gyp's undivided attention. Life was pretty good.
"Now, Kiba, we're going to be learning the alphabet today. I'm going to teach you the letters as I draw them, so you just have to listen and repeat. Then you can colour all you want, okay?"
The ratling nodded eagerly, understanding the world "colour" more than anything else she had said. So long as he had her attention he would be absolutely happy. Kiba turned his attention to the blank paper, watching with great interest as she brought a crayon to it. He squeaked excitedly when the crayon produced a beautiful blue colour, and then formed a strange angular shape. Kiba blinked at it, before touching his finger to the paper curiously.
"A," Gyp said firmly and guided Kiba's finger to trace the letter. "A like apple." She drew an apple next to the letter.
"Ayee?" Kiba repeated carefully, and traced the letter again. "Ayee." He was quite proud of himself, especially when Gyp patted him on the head. He had done it! Quinn would be so proud! He wiggled excitedly when Gyp got a fresh sheet and drew another shape on the paper. Oh! He knew that one! Beatz had shown him it before.
"Bee!"
"Very good Kiba. B for bumblebee, Beatz and Bantu."
"Beez? Batoo?"
It was close enough. Gyp continued through the rest of the alphabet, drawing pictures for each one. In her opinon, Kiba did quite well. The 's' sounds, as well as 'f" and several others had caused some problems, but that was to be expected. His front teeth were unusually large after all. Still, he had been enthusiastic about it despite his faults. If she kept up these lessons, Gyp was close to positive that he would be speaking in no time. She would start teaching him words once he had a better grasp of the sounds. The fox returned Kiba to his "mother" looking quite smug, before she whisked off to her office the moment she was sure he was settled.
Now... where had she seen those letter-shaped magnets...
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 7:59 pm
A Family Visit
Clang clang clang!
The brass knocker on the front of Bramble Manor resounded loudly through the stone corridors. All residents stopped what they were doing as though momentarily confused. At the sound of Bantu coming down the stairs they returned hastily to their previous activities. It was only once the footsteps faded away did the members of the thieves' guild exchange curious glances. Who on earth would enter Bramble Manor through the front door? Not to mention, who used that brass knocker? They had always thought it was there for purely decorative purposes. As usual, it was Twitch who answered the unspoken questions. "I think her mother's coming over. Maybe her sister too. Doubtful about her brother, though there's a fifty-fifty chance her dad's here too."
"Doesn't look like it," Spark replied from where he was peering out the front window. "Older woman, pregnant woman and a strange looking man."
"Sister's husband I'd say." The twins nodded to each other. "Best to either mind your manners or stay out of the way. Don't want no trouble with the Boss." There was a collective flinch from all the thieves in the room. Nobody went out of their way to annoy Bantu unless they were completely out of their mind. There were dire consequences for anyone who thought baiting their boss was a good idea. Thus, at the sound of an approaching group, the collection of thieves wisely gathered their things and slunk out of the room.
It seemed Bantu had been expecting this sudden exodus as she showed no sign of surprise when she showed her family into the living room. "You can have a seat just there and I'll go and get Kiba. Did you want me to send for anything from the kitchen? Food? Drinks?"
"We just came from lunch so we'll be fine. Unless Chagina wants something?" Mama Bonecrusher turned to look at her daughter, who shook her head. "Excellent," the old Ajaba continued with a bright smile. "Now, hurry up and bring the little one so we can see him!"
Bantu couldn't help but grin at her mother's excitement. The ratling had become her pride and joy, and it was nice that he was so appreciated by his family. Very soon he would have to share the limelight with her sister's child. It would feel weird having a niece or nephew of her own, but she supposed having her own children before her sister was even weirder. It was all a matter of perspective.
The hyena woman made her way to the kitchen where she found Kiba licking a spoon that Beatz had clearly used to mix icing. "You're going to rot his teeth, Beatz," she complained as she scooped the toddler up. The badger simply waved her hand dismissively. Kiba's teeth were already a mess and she didn't see any reason why he couldn't have a couple of sweets now and then. His guardian was just stingy, that was all. Shifting Kiba to one arm, Bantu turned and headed back towards the living room. "I have a surprise for you in there, kiddo."
Kiba's ears perked instantly. "Pwise?" He sat up straighter in his guardian's arms, spoon forgotten. His excitement only heightened when he caught sight of Mama Bonecrusher. The ratling chattered and squeaked until he was put down, before racing over to see his grandmother the moment his little pink feet touched the ground. "Use your words, Kiba," Bantu reminded him as she settled down in a nearby chair. Kiba licked his lips and grinned brightly.
"Gwana an' aunty!" He proclaimed proudly, and then faltered when his gaze landed on Chagina's husband. "Unk?" When the man smiled he stomped his feet gleefully. He had got that one right! Hooray! He was forced to focus back on his grandmother when she scooped him up and placed him neatly on her lap.
"So how are you today, Kiba? Glad to see us?"
The ratling nodded enthusiastically. "Good!"
Mama Bonecrusher chuckled. "Very good! Because I'm very glad to see you too! Have you been working with Beatz?" The Ajaba continued to ask simple questions and encourage her grandson to talk until the ratling began to yawn widely. She announced then that it was time to go, and after a hearty goodbye she left with promises to write soon. Chagina and her husband also said their goodbyes, and Bantu wished them both good luck with their new baby when he or she arrived. Kiba waved until he could no longer see them, and then was escorted to his bedroom for an afternoon nap. All that talking had been tiring!
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 8:00 pm
Move Night
“Movie movie movie!” Puck bounced around Bantu’s feet excitedly as the hyena woman made her way towards the DVD player. The “family pet” had recently been absolutely fascinated with the television and wanted to watch it whenever possible. It never mattered what was actually playing on the TV – the moving pictures were amusement enough – however Puck had found that she enjoyed movies best. Romantic movies were her absolute favourite, however Bantu had ordered all members of the guild to refrain from letting her watch them. She was too young for that sort of thing, or so Bantu said.
Still, the hyena woman had promised that tonight she could watch a movie, so long as it was appropriate for Kiba. Said ratling was currently seated on the couch, large brown eyes peering intently at the screen. He had been allowed to watch a couple of kids shows after Gyp decided it would help him learn to speak. Beatz had initially been quite against the idea, grumbling about TV rotting his brain, however Bantu had agreed that one hour a week couldn’t hurt. Besides, he was only watching those ridiculous children’s shows. There was probably more violence going on around him in the house than on TV, so she couldn’t bring herself to be too worried.
Today, she had brought him a movie that her mother had recommended. It was about animals, something she knew Kiba would enjoy, on an adventure to find their lost comrade. The last movie she had brought home had been something along the same lines, but it had involved dogs. The moment Kiba saw talking dogs he started hissing, and refused to be touched until the dogs were “gone.” Bantu had since then put dogs on the “stay far far away from” list, and had gotten a movie about deer instead. Kids liked deer, right? Perhaps she should have gotten that movie about mice. She didn’t know if rats got offended when they were mistaken for mice, and she didn’t need another hissing incident.
“Puck, go sit on the sofa! If you trip me there won’t be any movies!” Bantu growled, watching as the Jivvin skittered for the couch. She was far too excited for her own good. It was just a kid’s movie. Still, it would keep them occupied, and so the Ajaba shoved the DVD in the player and pressed play. She stayed only long enough to make sure it was the right movie, before she returned upstairs to her paperwork. Beatz had promised to keep an ear out for Kiba, so all would be well downstairs. She could only hope that Kiba would enjoy the movie.
It seemed that her mother had been right about Kiba’s movie tastes. Even from her study she could hear his high-pitched giggles as he laughed at whatever was going on on the screen. He even sounded like he was repeating what was being said at times, which made the hyena woman smile. The squeaks and the chitters were cute, but you never really knew what he wanted. The faster he started speaking the better. She managed to make it through a good third of her paperwork before she gave up and went down to join her son. Apparently the movie was over, as Kiba and Puck came to greet her when she came down the stairs.
The pair of them looked positively thrilled. Kiba was already chattering away in his own language, while Puck added her two cents practically over top of him. Neither seemed bothered by the fact that they were talking at the same time, however the noise was getting to Bantu.
“Sounds like a good movie!” She interrupted as they got louder, “Why don’t you go see what Beatz has for you in the kitchen?”
Bantu couldn’t help but laugh as the pair raced off to the kitchen, eager for whatever the badger cook would have in store. Still chuckling, she stopped the movie and put the disc back into its case. It looked like she was going to buying the rest of this series after all.
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 8:09 pm
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Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:11 am
Dear Mama,
Thanks for the movie! It was a real hit. Kiba and Puck really, really enjoyed it. They made me replay it about ten bazillion times (I honestly thought the disc was going to break before they were done with it). If he could speak, I’m sure he would be quoting it by now. Instead, he started asking the twins if they would help him build puppets so he could put on his own show. I made them promise not to get any supplies from shady places – a well reputable craft store would be ideal – and then we’re going to make him some new sock puppets to add to his collection of strange and unusual action figures. I don’t really mind the idea, even if it does sort of look like we’re making voodoo dolls. Spark assures me that they’re just puppets and they’ll help with his creativity. He already plays so well by himself that I don’t see why he can’t have puppets as well. I’ll see if I can convince him to hold still so I can send you a picture.
Speaking of pictures, he’s gotten his hands on the paint again. I nearly had a heart attack when I came down to find him playing with it in the living room, but Twitch told me that they were making him use brushes instead of his hands. I supposed that’s better, but I wish they would have told me before they reintroduced him to paint. It’s from a new source, and they had it tested, so I guess all I can do is applaud them for being thorough. Kiba, on the other hand, is absolutely thrilled that he’s allowed to paint again. He’s started painting pictures left, right, and centre for me and the other thieves. I think he’s going to do one of you guys, and I’ll send that to you for him. He seems to really like the way Papa’s face looks, so expect lots and lots of art!
Hope you all are well, and we’ll visit again soon!
Bantu
P.S. Could you possibly tell me where to get more of that movie series? I’d like to buy them for Kiba. Thanks!
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Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:27 pm
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Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:36 pm
Bantu,
It appears that Kiba has taken a liking to the crayons that I bought in order to teach him the alphabet. I've been trying to encourage him to draw with them rather than eat them, but I think getting some of that green crayon stuck to his teeth has deterred him better than my words can. We've been doing alphabet lessons every morning while I wait for customers, and I've also developed a little bit of a game to help him learn better. There's always the alphabet song, which he seems to like, but I'm positive that's just simple memorization rather than actual learning. You can encourage him to sing the song, don't get me wrong, but I'm going to try a different method.
What we're doing – and you can tell this to Beatz as well (and the twins I suppose) – is getting him to recognize which objects start with letters he knows. Obviously we don't have that many that start with obscure letters, but I've just been trying to get him to recognize simple things. Don't worry about him differentiating between j and g, as well as c and k. We can always fix that later. So far, I've just been pointing to random objects around my little tent and he has to say the letter they start with. He's getting better the more we repeat it, so I'm going to try to work on some words every now and then. Just simple, useful words such as hungry, thirsty, and stuff like that. If we could all try and encourage him to speak English rather than Rat in order to work with my efforts rather than against them that would be excellent.
Since he seems to really like drawing and painting, I've been hoping that the use of pictures can help him with his words. Already he recognizes several drawings that I've associated with letters (apple, for example, as well as bumblebee and cat), and he's very into learning the names of the people around him. I've been trying to get him to say your name right, but you might have to help him a little on this one. It's harder than my name.
Anyways, I'm going out to buy more crayons for Kiba since he has broken a good chunk of the ones I bought him last time, so let me know before noon if you need anything.
- Gyp
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