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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 5:42 pm
"uhh yeah, thanks for the bail" he picked up the bridle glad to have an excuse to drop eye contact, "its in here somewhere I was gonna clean it up with everything else" said Zak, as he fished through the pile of dirty jangling leather bits he blushed a bit on the ears at the manliness comment, Tam was ok if a bit giggly and the brown girl with the birds was... worrisome, some how. as were all of the kids. most everyone else was somebody's unwed mother and it was unthinkably impolite to ask about that kind of thing. "think this is it, yeah" he held up the collar to the gypsey-head honchessa or whatever they called the leader.
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:08 pm
Val smiled as she saw the collar and she felt the Meji tugging at her consciousness. "Ah, yes. That would be it." She sat suddenly in a fluid movement. "That was something that used to belong to a very dear friend of mine. I've been keeping it for years, letting it sit and gain dust where it's easily forgotten in a trunk... " She held her hand out for it, took it from him and smiled down at it. "This name... this Romana. It was his dog. He loved that dog, followed him everywhere. When she died... well, that's another story." She handed the collar back to him.
"Now I've given it to you, because I saw that it was yours. I don't expect to understand any of it myself so I'd be shocked if you didn't have any questions, but that doesn't mean that you can't ask them. Up front, though, I'll tell you that I don't know why the Meij wanted you to have this, but they did." She smiled at him again.
"I hope you'll take care of it."
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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 9:34 pm
Zak scooched over to give the gypsy some space for her skirts of the stoop." 's how it always is," Zak shrugged, all the dog's he'd known were serious working dogs kept for helping with the herds "they don't live as long as us" madge, magic, right more weirdness, well these people weren't exactly normal, and its not like I'm going to argue with my ladlady's landlady even if she's talking crazy at me "So what can I do with a collar I can't use?" Zak asked remembering the instructions Ki had read to him "I'm guessin' using it to jury rig this loose strap" he half smiled for the half joke being made and showed a worn patch on part of the rig "would be out of the question."
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Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:07 pm
Val looked over the rig. "It's not the most advisable, but certainly not out of the question. I'm sure that Romana would have wanted her collar to become something useful to us now that she's been gone for so long." She smiled suddenly and stood, stretching. "Seems like you know how to clean leather though. Why don't you give that dusty old collar a good scrubbing and then set it out to dry overnight... decide what it's useful for in the morning."
Then she started to walk away, back towards the front of the line where her wagon was. "I wish you pleasant dreams, Zak."
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Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:59 pm
"uhh" he was unsure of how to reply to that, politeness kicked in "Thank you, I will" said Zak he bent back to work on the re-dusted up bridle. worked it over with the cloth again and then hung it up with the other clean leather stashed in the eaves in case it rained in the night. She's right about giving it a going over before I scrap it, 's got a good buckle on it anyway Zak thought unbuckling the collar and taking the soap rag to it first working off the old lived in grime and crud then polishing and wiping it down. the old leather was a little creaky and had been rained on some time in the past but was worked back into relative bendyness even as it kept a bit of a curve. it went on another nail next to the wide straps that fitted the arms of the wagon. he finished up the rest of the gear and sighed stretching his arms out then wincing but working it out anyway. the hell are my ribs going to get better anyway? he thought, it's been weeks! he thought, before deciding what had to be done next.
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Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 8:59 am
At some point during the night, unbeknownst to anyone but Val herself, she stood looking into the night towards Ki's wagon. She fancied that she could see the dark form of Zak's body sleeping under the wooden wagon, and so she watched until suddenly the from of another creature... this time four legged, walked over to the wagon and then crawled underneath.  She smiled at the vision, and then retreated calmly back into her own wagon to catch some sleep for the night. The morning would bring new challenges... it always did.
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Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 3:51 pm
Zak rolled over and felt something warm and furry beside him. waking up with a "wstfgl?" he woke up the thing, dog, Godsdamnit do they make dogs that big?! he thought the dog gave him a look like yeah so? and went back to sleep on more of the blanket with a "huff" noise. Zak shivered in the dark, damn thing was on his blanket-roll, well part of it, may as well share or he'd get no sleep at all. "move it you fuzzy frog, dog, beats, thing" he muttered wrestleing some of the blanket back over himself. I can deal with this in the morning. he thought.
occ yay doggie!
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Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 7:11 pm
morning came or was about to come some instincts don't die, Zak still woke before the sun everyday. It wasn't voluntary. it was more of a startle reaction at not having woken up yet.
"huf surkaaaahhh huf huf" the dog was whisper-barking in her sleep paws twitching furiously. that, that dog is still here, ******** that is a huge dog he thought as it flicked open a brown eye and twitched up one blond whiskered eyebrow. Zak hunkered down on the blanket staring at it in horror. why is that dog still here?
The dog crawled forward worriedly wrong? whats wrong? she thought I'm your dog you silly speckled person she hurried after Zak as he back pedaled out from under the wagon with a "Yeep" noise. Zak backed away from the wagon slowly, the monster dog was following him! oh ok mabie not. the huge dog had sat down next to the wagon, one ear was up and one was flopping slightly as she tilted her head to the side. her eyebrows looked more worried than serious out here and her tail was beating hopefully against the grass. -fuap fuap- you love me right? cause I'm adorable right? the ear was almost an overkill it popped back to a wolfish point.
"What? what do you want?" asked Zak the dog opened her mouth displaying a mundane array of weaponry and not the razor fanged horror that might be expected. she got up and went over to him butting her head against his side forcefully and was pushed away with an "Ouch! No!" she looked up hurt at the though that she had done wrong so pathetic, so abjectly shamed that Zak felt sorry for yelling "it's my ribs Ok dog? its not you" relief flooded in, she was loved!
"Ack Gahh No! don't do it again" Zak shoved her away again and she butted at his hands, ok alright it was a nice giant dog, it seemed to mean well even if the floating ribs were right at the height for running into. he gave the dog a pet behind her surprisingly soft ears she moved her head to put his hands right there ohh there ahhhh perfect ahh. "who's a good dog?" asked Zak pulling his hand back to a safe distance.
The dog perked her ears looked intently at Zak we're friends now right speckle person? yeah friends! "You look like a wolf, you know that?" the intent look continued you know what friends are, friends are people who do things for other friends "Only a wolf with a hobo beard" he started walking towards the horses, they would need new water, any fodder he could gather, and a rub down, before being fitted into harness for the trip today the dog followed, friends share things with their friends, things like food, it is very important, speckle-person, to the maintenance of something so delicate as a friendship.
there were giant things, the dog was not sure about them, they had four giant feet and swhishy tails and smelled like delicious grass farts, I must investigate! the dog trotted ahead to the giants, they snorted, tossed their heads, glared, and backed up but would not run. "No! dog! No! Godsdamnit I dunno your name, No! Come away from the horses" Zak snapped his fingers twice at the dog and she slunk back to him. I only wanted to make the giant things go places. she looked up at Zak he patted her on the head hesitatingly. "you remind me of my cousin Rana, she used to chase after horses too," the dog sat down as he went over to the mostly empty buckets and tipped out the scum, ice, and horse drool, "Cumon Rana" he said walking towards the river. Rana trotted after Zak, knocked into the left hand bucket and the darted ahead whipping her tail in circles and bouncing around. I got you, I got you, Rana play-bowed dipping her head between her outstretched forepaws what are ya goanna do about it?
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Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 1:15 am
Time Passes the wagon ordering ceremony was last night but it was hazy in Zak's recollection, there were beads that while possibly valuable he suspected had been made of painted pebbles to look like valuable glass or yet more valuable gemstones by the light of the moon and the fire. some how he was glad to be rid of them and glad to be awakening over here under the same old floor boards of the wagon beside the decidedly alive solid and warm Rana.
Zak rolled his shoulders and got up crawling out from his sandy indentation beneath the wagon shivering in the marine dawn. it seemed colder than usual for a half second but he shook his head and it passed. Rana soon followed with a hopeful look food time speckle guy? I know you're hungry tooo
Zak splashed down to the water and looked around. this was a serious beach, he never got over the look of the real ocean stretching out to the drop off at the edge of the world. there were fish out there in the water, he knew that, but no way to catch them even with the tide this far out after the full moon. he walked towards the water as Rana danced about him, confident that this bit of goofing off would be ignored by a well hungover caravan.
he stepped into the still wet sand and *squirt* up shot a jet of cold salt water from between his toes startling Rana and him into jumping back "the hells?" Zak muttered and began to dig into the rocks and sand with his bog calloused hands, something down there was hard and yet moving he pulled it up and washed off what at first seemed to be a rock but showed itself to be a shell like those littering the beach. a shell that did not want to come apart. he had seen these for sale in the market during the brief time he had seen it, among the other wares of the fishmonger, he turned it over in his hands and walked back up the beach for a basket from the cache of gear behind the wagon careful not to wake Ki from her liver's slumber and hustled back to the beach.
tides went in and out right? but when and how they did this was as much of a mystery as where exactly all the water went after it dropped off the edge of the sea, presumably it returned as rain but how this happened let alone how this happened with out causing rain as salty as the sea. well that was not the important part. the important part was that it did rain. likewise the important part of this endeavor was to gather enough of the shelled things for breakfast before the water covered them all back up again for gods knew how long, how to cook them could wait.
Zak and his basket and his much bewildered dog, who could not see how rocks were related to the breakfast that she was not yet eating, went down to the sea just as the sun was peeking over the water as if it too had not slept well and would have preferred to stay abed with his landlady. Zak chuckled at the thought of Ki and the sun abed together "they would be too much fire by half" he remarked to Rana with his harms elbow deep on muck and shell-thing shaped rocks,"might burn down our roof" Rana tilted her head at him and smiled with her tongue lolled out. you are a very silly speckle guy "Yeah, that's right you pretty beast, you, just let me do all the work, why don't you go find your own breakfast" Rana eyebrowed her speckle guy with each pretty eyebrow and he laughed and pulled up two more of the shell things out of the muck puddle he had made. only one was an unfortunately shaped rock. the shell things were also hanging on larger rocks farther out but those were a blue black color and covered in an almost indecent hair that attached them to their moorings if not securely enough to resist Zak's insistent tugs. those too were plopped into the basket along with a crab smaller than Zak's hand that had made the mistake of pinching Rana's toe to the point of being removed by being mostly bashed to bits. on the off chance the beach was the property of one of the local fishmongers zak headed back after that with a basket mostly full and threatening to stink of seaweed for the rest of forever.
this would either pay off or he'd be sleeping with this fishy basket for a pillow. he huffed and set the basket down beside the wagon's small campfire. still there was no stirring in camp. the horses were still bedded down in a way that looked as if their legs had been stolen in the night.
Zak regarded the basket of fishy stubborn things and shrugged, few things failed to cook upon boiling. he set about getting a large pot hooked to the tripod, filling it with water and then simply dumped the whole mess in, grit seaweed and all. then kindled the fire beneath and around it. Rana was not impressed. she looked in askance at the strips of drying meat hung off the back of the wagon to cure in the sun, specifically hung there out of her reach. not that I couldn't reach them by jumping you know, I'm just a Good Doggie and I don't want to just yet. "I agree but it's not happening," said Zak as his own stomach sent up a disgruntled grumble "we at the stores for the winter Ki'll have no trouble putting us up instead" the water in the pot was thinking about bubbling so he stirred it and up came a blue-shell that had cracked open already he fished it out, but dropped it as it burned his fingers. he would have let Rana eat it right there but of the shell, and even then it was a minor miracle she didn't choke on the morsel in one gulp before Zak could wrestle it away and remove the meat from the shell for her.
when all the shells had popped open and the crab was oozing white stuff he pulled the pot from the fire and doused it with some left over cold water. the dined there in the cold morning air on a feast that if not fit for land dwelling kings was kingly enough even without milk. Zak really missed milk. on the farm he was almost of not disgusted by dairy products at least bored to distraction by them now with fresh butter a distant memory and fresh milk a farther one Zak contemplated cheese. a good strong hard dry wheel of cheese that could take a real beating and keep on fighting for years. that's what Ki needed. they'd be thankful for it when hard times came, a good wheel of cheese the kind you had to saw through a cheese that would dent the teeth of any mouse that came close to it.
yeah, that would be perfect.
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Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 1:43 am
Zak took the rest of the shells and scraped them out into the pot, the animals were sandy and kind of chewy but they were free food and for a bottomless pit of a dog and an if possible even more bottomless pit of his own apatite they were good for misdirecting the ire of his landlady for another day. he gave the shelled animals to rana who scarfed them down one by one after sufferign small indignities of sitting or standing for the occasional one. it was breckfast and if she could get food out of pleaseig the speckle guy so simply well then so be it. snarf snarf snarf and the last of the orange fleshed purple animals were eaten. Zak stood up and walked to the door of the wagon he knocked and said "I'm taking Rana and we're gonna go get a cheese" to the muffled curses against daylight from within.
he walked off briskly towards the wharf. there had to be some kind of a job there hauling things, or lifting things that wouldn't require questions or heavy thinking. perfect. Rana dogged his heels and knocked at Zak's hand with her head angling for an itch behind her pointy ears. so what are we up for now speckle guy? she seemed to ask and does it involve more food? possibly food with less sand in it, I hear you omnivores need grit in your diet for digestion but that much seems excessive
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