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 Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 3:46 pm
Feeling the smack on her head, Ashierra's teeth bared themselves into her hands as she fought to keep her head down. She shouldn't be mad at Jade. "In time? When does something like that give you time to think?" Spreading her fingers, she looked through their veil to the floor. A short drop. "What ifs are what keep us alive, if you live to learn them. The only way to remember a what if for the future is to think about it."
Actually, the main reason for her what if was to see how she'd react if Alek had been hurt, or worse. For her, it should only be a one day loss, then move on. Yet something was telling her, that was not how it would have been at all. Why?
At first, Tuula was reluctant. She'd been working on these buggers for a while now. She wanted to finish them herself. But... maybe she did need help to do so. "All right."
Following Alek's look back at the village, her tail twitched impatiently. "Gonna go get them girls of yours too? Or they too pretty to get their claws dirty?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 4:13 pm
"Less than a second is enough time for any cattaur's magic to flare to life." Replied Jade softly as she stood. Really, she was half hoping that Ashierra would've at least gotten mad at her slap. 'Maybe I should have actually hit her?"
Her mouth twitched though when she heard Ashierra's 'philosophy' concerning 'what ifs'. "Well then think about it, but don't get so depressed by it. Learning is fine, but what point is there to learning if you mop about it so much?"
Her gaze flickered back to the window, "I hope Alek's not one of the reasons that whole incident is making you so upset." A small sigh of breath escaped her lips as she looked back to the other cattaur.
Alek laughed at Tuula, " 'Them girls' of mine aren't mine. And they're pretty tough thank you. Actually I was thinking maybe I should have some mercy after all." Just the thought of some of the things he had remembered Jade participating made the cattaur grin. Though his mouth turned down into a slight frown as he gazed back once more, "I'm just worried about Ashierra. That fall must have upset her. Should I ask her to get involved in this as well? It's already my fault for her nearly dying in the mountains."
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Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 4:31 pm
Jade was right. It should have taken less than a second for her magic to play up. Either Jade had caught them really fast, or she was becoming weak...
With all the thoughts flying through her head, Ashierra couldn't hide it when her muscles tensed at Jade's proposal of hope. She could feel the gaze of Jade's eyes, sharper than the shoulder blades that tried to break through her skin as the muscles contracted tightly.
"You have no idea how much I wish I could relieve your hope for you." She sighed softly, blinking at frusterated tears. She wasn't supposed to care for anyone! Then came Alek, and... now everything was off.
Tuula's anger abedded slightly as she watched Alek's face. "Mercy for whom?"
She cocked her head and purred a giggle. "What you do to make her fall, handsome? You give her a kiss and make her weak in the knees?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 5:31 pm
Jade's tail flicked behind her as she patted Ashierra's head, "Ah." Her eyes shone with mixed emotions including sympathy for this other cattaur as she stood there quietly. Her voice was unusually soft once more, "Hey, let it out if you want. I won't tell Alek, I promise."
"I failed in getting her safely over the gap. She lost her balance because of a bad landing." Alek replied with a small sigh. "No, I'm sure if I had kissed her then I'd receive a punch. No weak knees on that cattaur." He joked playfully before thinking back to the bandits. "So are they around here?" Actually...maybe they should go to the camp first then. 'It would be an opportune time, maybe.'
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Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 6:15 pm
"I can't- He-" She stuttered in a whisper, insure of what to do. There was a lot indeed that she wanted to say, but what could possibly describe it well enough? She took a deep breath and started talking, but it was soft, as if she were mearly talking outloud to herself.
"I don't want to get close to anyone. So much loss already... Then they say, 'at least you have the memories.'" She snorted angrily. "Memories. They don't last. You always forget. Always." Of the numerous memories bottled inside her, one tipped and broke open, sending Ashierra into uncontrollable tears.
Tuula laughed loudly. "Ah, she's a firey one then?" With the return of bandit talk, her playfulness left.
"They's up in a small pass. Gotta go through a small cave-like tunnel first." She pointed up where the path to the village deviated and seemed to vanish into the rock.
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 3:47 pm
Jade's arms reached around Ashierra as she hugged her. Silent sympathy and understanding came from the cattaur as she held onto Ashierra. Her tail curled around them both as she allowed the other to speak and to cry.
"Yeah, a very fiery one indeed." Alek laughed before looking to where she pointed. "Well I believe that they're gone right now." A sly smirk, "Let's go pay their camp a visit." He nearly turned to quickly gather the other two from the inn, but a wind of warning brushed past him. "Umm...let's not bother them yet." He muttered with a flick of his tail, hiding his surprise.
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 4:20 pm
Ashierra didn't react when she felt Jade's arms. Her body shook sporadicly with her convulsive sobbing as if it didn't remember how to react to sadness, only that it thought to shake for most of the time. What else was one to do when crying?
Desperatly, her mind grappled with her training, struggling to cap the emotional flow again. By the time she was able to get any kind of hold on herself, the tears had turned into a trickling stream. A cool sweat made her red hot face shimmer. The cut on her lip reopened with the pressure of her hands. She felt the hairs on the nape of her neck spark with emberassment as she suddenly stood and walked quickly into the side bathroom without a word, slamming the door shut. Within seconds, water was heard running and a gasp resulting from the touch of that icy liquid on hot skin.
Tuula cocked her head in thought, then nodded. "As long as they truly are gone, we can go check it out ourselves. Unfortunatly, this means we also have to take a slightly longer route. We don't want them knowing we were there. I'm sure at least one of them is a wolftaur. Good senses they have. They already know my scent, but I'd like you to stay a suprise." She smirked slightly, tail flicking with pleasure.
"No touchin' the ground now!" With a giggle, she leapt up onto a short rock wall, ran a little ways and jumped onto what had appeared to be a straight drop, but really had enough angle for someone agile, like cattaurs, to grip. "Up we go then."
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 5:32 pm
Sadness flickered in Jade's eyes as she watched Ashierra leave the room. "Ah." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, twirling the caught strands in her fingers as she patiently went to sit by the window. Jade realized that somethings had to be handled alone. 'But hopefully she'll be alright.' She thought with a small frown, before casting her gaze out towards the mountains.
"Good plan." Replied Alek with a smirk before leaping onto the wall. With ease the cattaur was already following Tuula's lead into the mountains. Flames flicked along his tail, nearly starting a great fire but the magic kept under control...for now.
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 5:55 pm
Only able to handle to cold water for so long, Ashierra got out of the bath as soon as the water stopped steaming from her touch. Shivering, she wiped condensation from the mirror, looking into golden eyes that were now surrounded by red. What was she doing?
Glancing at the door, a heavy sigh slipped through pursed lips. Who was this woman, making her remember? Making her feel. Feel? She looked into the mirror again to wonder why Alek wasn't back yet, and why she cared about this fact so much.
Tuula smiled as Alek came after her. Finally, she would have an edge on those ruffians. Slinking along, she reached a spot that carried the ledge into opposite directions. "All right. From here on, we need to be silent until we're sure they're gone. The rock can be loose sometimes since it's used so little, so watch your step. Even a fallen rock would be noticed by them." Her tone showed she wasn't exaggerating as she turned and stalked along the wall, paws silent on the rock.
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 2:21 pm
A breeze brushed around Jade creating a tiny tornado that only touched the cattaur as it whipped about before dissipating back into the chilly mountain air. "Oh, really?" She smirked a small purr escaping her throat. Already in her mind eye she could imagine Alek hoping over the mountain side.
Her eyes flickered towards the door where behind it, was Ashierra. "I wonder...if she'll-" Jade shook her head and just clasped her hands together as she remembered Ashierra's emotional state. Things would happen as they would. With or without her and Ashierra's help. Plus, she had known Alek for a while and realized when to trust him...though she still wondered. 'Already it seems that she is being very thoughtful and I don't wish to disturb her.'
"Ah." Alek's paws lightly went over the rocks, but he still wasn't used to such terrain. Yet after scattering a small shower of pebbles only once made the cattaur pause with worry. Alek tensed and his gazed about them, hoping that nothing had heard that small gasp of sound. Blinking he nodded, it seemed nothing was disturbed. 'Easily blamed on a small animal.' He decided with relief before continuing to follow Tuula.
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 2:57 pm
Having extra energy inside her, Ashierra used it to dry the room. Using her magic, she used carefully controlled fire to dry every inch of the water room. The longer she controlled her magic, the more in control she felt of herself.
When not a drop of water remained, she put a hand to the door to the main room, and stopped it there.That Jade.... She was something else. Ashierra wondered if she could handle another encounter. But she had to. What would Alek think if she locked herself in? Yes, she did care what Alek would think.
Blinking, she left the bathroom and held a hand up quickly. "Please, lets leave it alone. You've started something... I do not understand. But it will be clear in time. I can tell that much." She glanced at Jade and shook her head with a small sigh. "So, what is there for a couple ladies to do in this village while the guy's away?"
Tuula hadn't noticed the sound of the pebbles through her focus of what was ahead. She was busy thinking about how nice it would be to have such an edge on the group of bandits, what to do if they were home and what they'd do if the group was away. She crosses the path swiftly, practiced paws knowing where to step and where not to.
It was almost too bad she hadn't heard. She would have stopped to remove the fallen rock. Very rarely did any other animal climb this high when the path was right there...
Finally she looked back, pausing to let the male catch up. Pressing her finger to her lips, she slowly scaled another rockface and listened a moment before peeking over the edge. The clan's camp was just on the other side. Was anyone home?
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 3:30 pm
"Aye, I won't touch on it." Jade replied softly before allowing a wide grin to split across her face. "Weeell..." She purred with a laugh, pushing aside any worry about the mountains. "There's always browsing around the shops or there's this really nice food place just a couple of lengths from here."
Alek nodded and carefully followed Tuula over the rockface. Was this it? The pads of his paws felt sore, but the cattaur was used to pain. Right now he was too focused on spotting the camp and surveying the area. His nose twitched, it still smelled the same as when Ashierra and he made the journey to the village. Surely that meant that the bandits were still gone.
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 4:01 pm
Ashierra smiled back and nodded. "I think a stroll would be rather nice. I could use a bite." She walked to the bed and picked up her pack, slinging it over her head to cross her chest as usual. "Shall we then?"
Watching Alek's face carefully, Tuula nodded when she was satisfied. 'All right then." She hopped gracefully over, landing on a small outcropping of rock, then down to the camp. "You can stay on that rock there." She said, looking back up at him. "Keep watch for if they return. And a look from a different perspective. See if you notice anythin' special." She shrugged and shook her head to show she didn't know what that special thing was. Then she turned and stalked along the camp edge, peering around for any pieces of the bridge. It had been good wood. Not the kind anyone smart would throw away.
And unfortunatly, these guys were one of the smart groups.
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 4:17 pm
"We shall, we shall." Replied Jade as she opened the door, "I'll lead the way, nya." She purred as she headed down the hallway and out of the inn towards the village square where several buildings loomed.
"But-" Alek shook his head with a small groan. 'Something special?' He thought nearly protesting, but finally the cattaur relented to watch duty. Though Alek would keep watch all right, he would still get down there in that camp before they left. His gaze looked over the mountains and he nearly wished that the other two had tagged along. But he realized that Ashierra's safety came first, and with an odd feeling understood that Jade would as usual know something about anything that happened. 'As long as a wind blows...' He frowned but soon chuckled as he noticed the wind was whipping lazily about the mountains.
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 4:26 pm
Ashierra shook her head at herself as she followed Jade. When was the last time she'd had a girl day? Not since her childhood probably. Before she had immersed herself in training. Walking next to Jade she felt a little awkward. Like she was skipping school. But there was nothing wrong here. She tried to relax.
"It'll be nice to relax for the evening." She ventured, even though her mind was telling her that if the day went on being uneventful she'd scream.
Tuula flicked her ears at Alek's groan and she giggled up at him. "You'll get your chance hun. Don't forget. You're supposed to stay a secret. No scent!" As her mouth flashed a smile, her eyes flashed a warning.
She paused at the sight of a pile of thick wood, each plank with a hole on the ends. "Well, there's my bridge." She snorted, going over and picking it up. They must have left the rope behind, which is what Alek saw at the gap. "Here ya go." She said, holding the wood up to him.
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