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 Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 6:23 pm
They’d kept this camp a while now, but every time Ouen got to figuring that he just about knew every square inch of the surroundings, he was surprised. This evening, as he was returning from a job with two others from the band (they had escorted a traders’ caravan to the border, just about the opposite of their job a year or so ago). They were coming from an odd direction, not one they often travelled, when Ouen spotted it -- a huge tree, wrapped all around with vines that just begged to be used as ladders for clambering on.
They were close enough to the camp now, so he dismounted and told the others to go ahead. Turning to Shenandoah, he tapped the radaku on the nose to get his attention.
“Shen. Go get Jax. He’ll wanna see this.”
The creature let out a whirr or acknowledgement and set off through the jungle, easily outpacing the two mercenaries and arriving at camp within minutes. He sniffed around until he found the hybrid boy in question, and ran up alongside him. Once the kid was on his feet, Shen let out a happy whine and nudged him insistently in the direction of his father.
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2017 12:44 pm
Jax was busy trying to carve a long stick so that it had a pointed tip when Shen came over to him. At first the little one thought the radaku was happy to be home but when it started to nudge him he huffed. "Wha' gives Shen? Can't ya see I'm tryin' ta do sumthin'!" Another push and he dropped the stick and the small knife. Jax frowned. "A'right! A'right. I gets it. Mamma said no sharp things." As he was nudged again, this time in a specific direction, the boy moved and looked at the radaku. He was being corralled. With a raised brow he finally understood. Jax sighed and headed in the direction he was nudged. On the way he passed the mercenaries that had been with his dad on their last job. That just meant Ouen had sent Shen ahead to get him. Quickly he grinned and picked up the pace, eager to see what it was his dad wanted! When he finally did get to the shifter Jax ran toward him. He was happy to see his dad. "Yer back! Wha' was it like? Did'ja fight off an enemies?" Hearing about the latest adventure always made him excited. Jax couldn't wait until he was big enough to go out on a mission!
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Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2017 7:56 am
He tested some of the lower vines as he waited for Shenandoah to run his errand. Jax was a good climber -- as good as Ouen had been when he was a kid, easily. But this was no normal tree. It this sort of beast had had the fortune to be growing closer to Neued or some other settlement, it would have no doubt been turned into the base of a house. And a big house, at that! There's be rope-bridges and walkways from branch to branch, the genuine Shifter equivalent of those Oban mansions he'd seen down south.
A few minutes later, the radaku and hybrid boy came bounding down the trail. Ouen scooped Jax up into his arms and grinned.
"Hey, kiddo. Naw, there wasn't no enemies this time, me an' the boys done scared them off before they even thought about doin' anythin'. I's walked up front of the caravan with my lance all ready, an' the other two stayed at the back. Would've taken real guts for anyone to go an' take us off, an'... well, most'a these thieves ain't got no guts."
He turned them both towards the tree then, pointing at the thick trunk.
"See this 'ere? You know what kinda tree it is?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2017 3:51 am
There was a boyish laugh that came from him at being scooped up. Jax had half expected it so he was holding tight to his dad as he listened to the tale of his mission. "Awe, no enemies." While it was a let down to know there had been no fight he was proud that his dad and the others had been enough to scare any away. That just meant that his dad had that kind of presence. Something he wanted to have when he was older. "My Da' is fearsome!" He said with a grin. It was clear that the boy idolized his father. As he was shown the tree and asked what kind it was he blinked and looked at it before leaning his head back to stare at the branches and leaves. Jax was wracking his brain for the answer but the name of the tree eluded him. So he looked back at Ouen and shook his head slowly. "No. Wha's is it Da'?" He looked back at the tree. It was an amazing thing to look at. Certainly one of the biggest he'd seen. Though he wondered how he had missed it when it was so close to the camp. "We should'a build Mamma a house in it."
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 8:04 pm
"Fearsome's right!" Ouen bared his teeth, growling like Shenandoah might. And imagine that! All that without killing folks left and right like Talin. He'd said it once, and he stood by his word -- that was just cowardice. But Jax was probably too young to hear about that, so the shifter filed it away for later. It would be a good lesson one day.
Now, for the lesson at hand.
"Some folks calls it an Old Lady tree. An 's true, big 'uns like this is pretty old. But my Ma said it was a konpeito tree. And you's right, they sure is good for houses. I dunno if your Ma's gonna wanna live in a tree, though. Her folks, they's live in houses on the ground. You'll see 'em when we visit. But listen, there's other special things about the konpeito tree. It's real tall -- betcha this one's the tallest 'round 'ere. And up top, there's the sweetest lil' flowers. Like little colourful fuzz-balls, theys are. You can eat 'em, but they's also nice gifts. You wanna go get some for Momma?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 8:19 pm
A squealing child's laugh came from Jax as his dad bared his teeth and growled. He found it amusing and so did his best to mimic the action, though he looked more like a grinning fool than anything else since he couldn't stop laughing. The little boy did manage to quiet down when he heard his father start to explain about the tree. "Kon.. pei.. to." Jax repeated the name of the tree slowly to make sure he said it right. Knowing that the tree before them was good for houses was great and he seemed to perk up at the mention. His red eyes taking in the size of the tree and thinking about how it would be with a nice house in it but before he could get a full mental picture he was told that his Mama didn't live in trees. Or rather, her people didn't. "Hows come? Trees is tha bestest!" He still couldn't understand how anyone didn't want to live in the trees. As it was explained to him that the tree in question was the tallest, likely in the whole area, he moved his head back and looked toward the top. "Yous thinkin' so?" If there was a chance then it was totally worth climbing. The pretty flowers at the top was basically like the prize. "Mama likes flowers! Lets go! Lets go!" Jax was practically bouncing with anticipation.
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Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 8:33 pm
"Well, they ain't got no trees in Oba, where's she comes from, thass why. Leastways they ain't got trees like this, not big 'nough for livin' in. See they ain't got too much water in Oba, and trees like this, they need a lotta water to grow right. Oba folks, they gotta settle for buildin' houses outta stones an' clay an' such, on the ground. Sometimes they build 'em up high, but it ain't the same as a tree. You'll see it yourself soon 'nough, an' then you can decide how's you feel about houses."
Ouen had had no doubts that Jax would be up to the challenge of climbing the big konpeito. It wouldn't be as easy as some of the smaller 'practice' trees they'd been exploring so far, and no doubt Kalli would give him a stern talking-to if she knew the risk he was letting his son take, but... hell, the only way to do something was to do it.
"Ok, kiddo. You start climbin' the vines 'till you get up to that first big branch up that way. I'll follows behind ya."
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Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 8:43 pm
Jax wasn't so sure he liked the idea of houses being built on the ground. It was bad enough they had their camp on the ground, for the most part. Luckily all of that was forgotten when his dad pointed out a branch and told him to start climbing. He nodded his head in understanding before he motioned that he wanted down. This tree needed climbing and he was gonna do it! Once he was out of his dad's arms he was off. Jax didn't wait for safety tips or pointers he just took to it. All the practice he'd had on other trees gave him enough strength to carry his own small body weight though he did have some issues with stretching to reach other foot holds. The boy was still young and so he didn't have the lengthy reach his father did but with a bit of maneuvering he managed to work his way up to the branch that he had been told to go to. Despite wanting to continue on up he stopped there and waited for Ouen to join him. Of course Jax looked antsy and bored at the same time as he watched the pure shifter.
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Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2017 8:17 am
Jax made quick work of the first bit of the climb -- he was small, of course, so finding grips and hand-holds within reach could be a bit of a challenge. But being small had it's upsides (as Ouen was apt to remember every time he tried to do the crazy things he had done as a kid). He was light and flexible, and within moments he had come to the first fork among the tree-branches.
"Hold ona sec!" Ouen called up, then set to climbing himself. He did so with practiced ease, scaling up near-impossible angles and throwing himself upwards when there were no good hand-holds. For now, he was still faster at it than Jax... but he had a strong feeling that that wasn't going to last much longer. By the time Jax grew into a prentice, he'd be flying across tree-tops like Ouen couldn't do anymore, not with his full-grown body weighing him down.
"Watcha think now?" He turned to the boy when they were together again, and waved up the rest of the tree. Here the trunk splint into three big stems, each one arching in a different direction towards the top of the canopy. "You go an' pick a way."
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Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2017 11:35 am
Once his dad was up in the tree with him he laughed and stuck his tongue out. "Slow poke." It was a small jest at his father's age. As he was then told to pick a way he turned his attention to the branches above. Jax took some time in looking from one to the other as well as what lay beyond. It seemed that his little mind was calculating the best way for him to get up the tree. When he thought he had it he lifted one hand up to point as he turned his attention to Ouen. "What about that'a ways?" He was fairly certain that it would work but he still sought the approval of his dad before he took action.
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