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 Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 1:36 pm
(( Calvin and Rhenus :: Jan 31 2009 ))
Calvin slid backwards down the trunk of the tree, ignoring the scraping her underside took as she scrabbled against the bark with her claws to no avail. With a sigh and a huff she fell backwards into the dirt and rolled over a couple of times to release some extra energy. Then she hopped back up, took several steps backwards and took a running start at the tree once more, again getting nowhere. When she was lying in the dirt once more, she rolled over kicking off of a large rock and sending a small tuft of snow flying into the air...
This took her attention away from the tree and she started running in little circles, kicking up tufts of snow, and sometimes even trying to grab them in the air with her teeth before they fell all the way to the ground...
apparently... apparently she had some extra energy that needed running out.
He had been to the Center several times, living near it, but never actually run into any Jivvins there. Oh, sure, he knew of them. He had met Jack several times, and Kama had spoken to him once or twice. He even had a friend in that strange Uuthli who bounced about the forest. (Ah, how he envied her her wings.) But the Center had always, on the occasions he had ventured out to explore it with Coen, been empty.
Today, however, Coen was not with him, and today, of all days, someone was actually here. Coen would be disappointed. Rhenus was not. For a long moment the young Afya watched the other Drada's antics from where he stood at the beginning of the path through the forest. She certainly seemed to be having a good time, having a snow fight with herself.
Snow fights were not something unusual to Rhenus. Coen happened to have an incredible fondness for snow, and Rhenus had come to enjoy it quite as much as his bonded. He hadn't even tried to have a snow fight with himself, however, as this girl seemed to be doing. He made his presence known by trotting forward to join the battle and sweeping his long tail around like a broom to fling snow her way.
Calvin dodged the snow and bounded off to the right. "Hey!" She hollered in mild irritation before using her tail to fling snow in his direction... then the irritation was forgotten as she realized that another person for the game could only make the game better, no matter what Rusty said. She ran towards the other jivvin and skidded to a stop in front of him, showering quite a bit of snow in his direction on purpose... oh so on purpose.
"What do yoooou want?" The question was almost as accusation, although not alltogether unfriendly. Without waiting for an answer, or even a response she plopped down in front of him, as her sudden lack of activity caught up to her and she found herself out of breath. She grinned up at him. "Snow is great."
"Hey!" he countered in a tone that perfectly mimicked hers, and sunk into a crouch with a challenging grin for the Olplyn. Abruptly, however, he ducked away as her skid showered her in snow, and straightened up with only a rather baffled expression in response to her question. And then she had flopped, and she too was grinning, and he realized he was in fact allowed to play.
"Snow -is- great," Rhenus wholeheartedly agreed, which was all the more reason she should continue to play and not rest! Taking to his feet, he trotted a circle around her, giving her a curious look-over. "Don't get tired now! The battle just started!"
"maybe for you, my troops have been attacking for hours" But that didn't stop her, for in a moment she bounded to her feet again, ignoring the fact that she was panting, and flung a particularly large tailfull of snow in his direction. "Troops, belay that rest! Make way for the Captain, I'll show you how it's done!" She'd toyed with titles all morning, and even though general was higher than captain (as Rusty had so helpfully pointed out) Captain Calvin sounded so much better. As she bounded circles around him, she looked him over. He was green. Green was a good colour... now he was green with snow in his fur... better than green with yellow snow in his fur. That particular thoguht made her laugh. He looked about her age... that made two jivvins her age that she'd met recently... he seemed to be having fun despite the fact that she was flinging snow at him... that was a good sign.... good sign of what though?
She stopped suddenly and regarded him with a puzzled look. What did he want? "No seriously, though. What are you doing here?" It didn't occur to her to be more kind or less abrasive.
"Who've they been attacking, if my army's only just arrived?" He was genuinely curious as he looked about the area. Was there someone else here too, playing with her? Two new people in one day would be exceptionally successful, on his first venture alone. Coen would be so jealous. Her blunt question called his attention back to her, though her manner didn't seem to phase him.
"I'm on a grand adventure," he replied matter-of-factly, "because Coen is learning to play the piano, and I don't have fingers. You were just here."
"Playing the piano would be about as hard as climbing trees." She nodded at him knowingly. "Lily plays the piano, but it's kind of sad music. And I don't have fingers either, so I know where you're coming from there." Calvin sat a moment and gave her perdicament some thought.
"The french... or the Germans." She scrunched up her face a moment. "Both. I'm fighting both. The French and the Germans have teamed up with... um... legions of the vampire race... and um... they're hiding around the trees here, and in the snow... I was just making sure that they're not going to interefere with my afternoon." She stammered to a halt, because she realized that she didn't really care for the lie anymore. It bored her.
"What kind of grand adventure? Would it be good for a Piratey Captain, that's me, and whoever you are?"
"Which is hard," he agreed solemnly. "Coen's not very good at the piano. He only plays the Hokey Pokey, faster and faster and faster until you can't tell it's the Hokey Pokey anymore." Rhenus was terribly sick of the Hokey Pokey, and had tripped over his feet more than once trying to keep up with Coen's frantic playing.
"Never fear! The french and germans and their respective vampires won't interfere with your afternoon. They've allied under my banners, you see, because I conquered them all yesterday. Them and the Aztecs." Again he nodded solemnly. "Coen says that makes me their king, but the Aztecs seem to think that I'm a god, so maybe the french and germans and vampires will pick that up too." He didn't seem terribly concerned as to the magnitude of his title.
"Don't Piratey Captains have to stay on their ships? Ships can't go up stairs," he pointed out, with a nod towards the Center's broad back porch.
Calvin took in all that he said with a grin and decided imediately that she liked him. He would be good company for someone such as herself who got bored way to easily. He also seemed to be able to keep up with her, which was even better.
"That is EXACTLY why I'm not on my ship right now!" She grinned at him and started to walk towards the steps. "There we are, my crew and I, sailing up the river chasing the otter vice regent, he's a nasty fellow, and then next thing I know he's running up the stairs to a great big building! And since he stole the crown jewels of the mermaid princess, I couldn't just let him go, it was a matter of honor! But I also couldn't let my crew get into danger chasing the Vice Regent up those stairs, so I left the ship in the command of... um the second in command, and I took off up those stairs... I didn't catch him, he was too slippery. I hear he bathes in butter." She reached the stairs and bounded up them. "Anyway, when I went back to the ship I couldn't remember where I'd parked it... been searching ever since."
Calvin turned and bounded down the stairs with a grin for the Aztec King. "You doing anything? I'm thinking the Polish are getting a little over zealous with thier sausages. I could use a King slash God who knows how to handle groups like the Germans and Vampires on my side. Whatdaya say?"
Oh, she was good, this Piratey Captain. He watched and listened with no little fascination as she enthusiastically told her tale, and was sure to follow with proper commentary, scowling in horror for the evil that was the Vice Regent, and nodding dutifully in approval for her valiant effort to return to mermaid princess's jewels. He considered pointing out that the Vice Regent had undoubtedly beaten her back to the ship and made off with it, but decided it was better not to offend his new friend by suggesting such a thing. She would undoubtedly figure it out herself later, anyway.
"The Polish?" He scoffed. "I eat their sausages for breakfast. Easy-peasy, after the Aztecs," he replied proudly, strutting up the stairs past her to strike an impressive pose at the top, surveying the snow-covered lawn. "Rally the troops!"
She turned and surveyed the imaginary troops in front of her. "They like to be called the wolf pack. They're a special unit that I borrowed." Hah! borrowed, more like stole. "They have special commands that I can't remember, so I just holler at them." She stood up straight and proud and then yelled, in about as gruff a voice as she could muster, at the imaginary people in front of her and The King. "Get up you lousy bunch of layabouts! This is as sorry a pack as I've ever seen. You've fought the German Vampires, and you've fought the Vampire French, but all of that was just pure luck! Now you're gonna go and take the sausages right off the plates of the polish, and if you live to tell the tale THEN you can call yourselves soldiers!" She turned and grinned at The King. "The Aztec King here is gonna help whip you into shape and show you how... to... eat... sausages..." She sighed. It was a terrible thing when a story drove itself into a wall. "Anyway, you'll answer to him almost as much as you answer to me, but it's important that you remember..." Damn. remember what exactly?. Damn. "Remember.... who... you belong to." She narrowed her eyes at the soldiers and paced a moment as if she were glaring at each one, then she turned and looked over her shoulder at The King. "I got'em all softened up for you. Go ahead and give'em a talking to."
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 11:33 am
(( 2009 Meta, Drada and Ust Scenes Continued :: ))
A stream would be easy to find, Rhenus had said. Follow your nose, or follow your ears, said Harmony. But neither remark had offered much help just yet; the stone statue was several hours behind them by this point, and the sun was sinking low in the sky. Most of the party was growing restless, or worried, or sick of the whole attempt. But what more could they do? The Center was at least a half day's walk behind them. The couldn't make that before the sun went down.
"It's gonna get dark soon," Harley pointed out for perhaps the umpteenth time from where she trotted along as the head of the group. "Are we gonna have to sleep out here?"
Lusivan and Shenta were worried about the time as well. Elminith was going to be furious when they got back. But at this point, there was nothing to do but to go onwards.
Lusivan glanced back at his sister. She was obviously tiring quickly - not surprising, given how young she was. "Hey, get up on my back. I can carry you for a bit."
Shenta blinked up at her big brother, then threw herself over his ribs. THey'd done this before - not often, they got in trouble for it, jivvin backs weren't made like horse's after all - and they both knew Lusivan's limits. He couldn't carry her for long, but it'd be long enough to give her little legs and feet some rest.
"No way I'm sleeping out here." She shook her head. "At least... Not unless someone's going to take turn watching for stuff. That's what adventurers do, you know. They take turns watching while the other one sleeps so nothing sneaks up on them while they're all sleeping. That'd be bad, y'know."
Molly wasn't worried about anyone looking for her... she doubted that they'd even notice that she was gone really (and in truth she was right), but she didn't really want to spend the night out in the woods with a bunch of jivvin children that she'd just met. She wanted her bed with all it's little blankets and pillows. With a sigh she padded along beside Rhenus. "Do you think the grown ups will come looking for us at all?" She asked the question to the group rather than anyone in particular.
Calvin was still in good spirits and had a measurable energy about her. This whole real life advertureing was just as good as the imaginary kind. She'd never have been able to think up a rock like that one they'd seen just a little while ago... and now they were looking for a stream... at least everyone else was... Calvin wasn't looking for anything. She was adventuring, and had better things to do than actually keep an eye out. "My brothers will come looking for me if I don't come home soon... so that'll be at least two grownups out here looking." She nodded her head proudly.
Canaan wasn't doing too badly, actually. Sure, he was rather lazy, as his rank was wont to be, however, living with Jan had made him used to physical activity. On his back was the knapsack the blonde had given him, one he was able to reach into with his mouth to pull things out, and after an hour of carrying the stupid map in his teeth, he'd give up and shoved it inside. Now, though, he stopped walking, to sit, frowning.
"Let's think. We won't make it back." At least he'd brought some food. "We should stop walking when it gets dark, cuz we won't find anythin' that way. So, let's all stop talking, and listen for water as we walk, and when the sun sets, find a place to sleep."
He'd gone camping before. This was different, but at least there were a lot of them.
"The grown-ups'll come looking," Rhenus assured Molly brightly, even after Calvin admitted as much. He was sure Moo would send a few people after them once Coen announced he was missing. He wasn't entirely sure if he liked the idea of people coming after them. Yes, they were out late, but nothing bad had happened! "But if the grown-ups find us first, they might make us go back without the book."
"Canaan's got the right idea of it, though," he decided aloud, nodding. "Harmony too. We'll walk until the sun goes down and, if we don't find the stream by then, we'll take turns sleeping and watching so that nothing sneaks up one us."
"We should make sure that we hide real good when we stop then; so the grown ups don't find us... And so no bad guys find us either." Her nose wrinkled as she upped her step, somehow finding a new burst of energy. "I can take one of the first watches! I'm not tired yet."
Calvin snorted her disgust at the idea of her taking a watch, and Molly found herself inclined to agree. Though the little Ust was starting to relish the idea of settling down as her paws were covered in dirt and mud of varying colours. As she wondered when they were going to hear this stream, she realized she wasn't entirely sure what a stream would sound like... "Does a stream sound like a lake?" She wondered out loud before remembering that Canaan had told them all to stop talking.
Calvin either didn't remember that they weren't supposed to be talking, or she didn't care. "Don't be stupid, water doesn't all sound the same." Padding to the front of the group, she made a show of looking around her for whatever, but once again didn't really look around at all. "Streams sound like a water faucet that's been left on a little." She glanced back at the other Drada "Right?"
Rhenus shrugged. "I think so?" He was familiar only with lakes and ponds as well. But he, unlike Calvin apparently, was inclined to believe that water sounded like water. So that was what he was listening for.
Even with their (relative) silence, the sun was just visible through the trees when the sounds of moving water finally reached them. From there, however, it was only a short walk until the stream made its appearance--though stream it certainly was not. In the years since the map had been written, the winding stream had swelled into a hearty, swift-moving river several meters across. The banks were densely covered in thick reeds, but beyond that the water itself was crystal clear, made dark and glittering by the setting sun.
Rhenus, pausing before the reeds, frowned. "...We can't cross that in the dark."
"Then we should make camp here... Since we've got water all we'd need would be food, right? Or a bridge." A bridge, in this instance, would be ideal... Or larger wings, her mind added as an afterthought, prompting her to turn and glare at her two tiny appendages. "Why can't you be useful?" She muttered to herself.
Shenta now fast asleep, once again on his aching back, Lusivan found himself wishing for human hands. That would make crafting a bridge or raft much easier.
"Maybe we should wait for morning then? I'm sure we can find somewhere to hide on this side of the river."
Princeton couldn't frown any deeper. What about his bonded? He'd be worried! By now it was certain that the boy would have come by to pick him up and found that his Jivvin was nowhere to be found. What if Harvard thought he'd run away? Worse- what if he replaced him? The Afya issued a soft whimper as he stared out across the body of water, tail whipping around to better muffle himself. No matter what, though, he couldn't leave. They had gone for hours, and his sense of direction was horrible! He'd never make it back home. It was all or nothing.
"There's gotta be some way," He insisted softly, "Maybe there's already a place to cross?" But his paws were aching. Maybe they should stay...
Calvin scoffed at the group. "You're all a bunch of ninnies. It's not dark yet, it's just mostly dark." She glanced up at the sky and saw that she quickly being proven wrong... it would only be a matter of minutes before they could really say it was night. Striding over to the river she looked out across it and squinted at the opposite bank. It wasn't all that far away it seemed, and so Calvin took two steps into the shallow part of the river....
it was cold.
Really really cold, and Calvin had to fight the sudden impulse to leap out of the water shouting about how cold it really is. Instead she turned to the group and saw the looks on the faces of her friends... "We can stay here though. It probably is better than getting wet in the middle of the night."
Molly just nodded and glanced out over the river... it sounded like a messier lake to her, and she made a mental note not to take everything Calvin said as truth. "Do we want to stay here? Or find a better place to camp?" She asked it of Calvin.
Calvin grinned over at Harmony, and the othe dradas. "What do you guys think? You want to camp here at the water's edge or move back into the woods a little bit?"
"I think we should stay here. If we go into the woods the bad guys could surround us completely. If we stay here then we've got at least one uncrossable boundary." She nodded, smiling brightly. Someone had been watching more television since her first encounter with Calvin; and listening to more far-out stories told by the dragon's elder children. "Who wants to take first watch with me?"
"I will. I'm used to being up late." Lusivan stepped forward, sister still on his back, asleep. He doubted he'd be able to sleep anyway, he'd be wanting to keep an eye on her.
Canaan had taken his own advice, falling silent and listening, and in fact, it didn't take them long to find the river, after that, he'd moved a bit away from the group, investigating the water himself. He was definitely not attempting to cross that in semi-darkness. "We need to wait. We don't know how dark it is... And there may be a place to cross." A sigh and he considered the group. He was, quite probably, unless they'd hidden it well, the only one with food, and he wasn't exactly the most generous jivvin.
"I vote to stay on the riverbank. At least then we can see what's coming." He would do a watch, too, if only because he didn't trust Lusivan to protect them as they slept. "I'll take the second watch." He pause and he glanced back out at the warer. "None of the babies should take one, so." That was his opinion, anyway.
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 11:40 am
(( 2009 Meta, Drada and Ust Scenes Continued :: ))
Calvin glanced at Rhenus for dissagreement quickly and when she found none, she turned back to the others with a grin. "That settles it then, we'll camp here where it's safer, and Harmony and Luisivan can take first shift." She nodded for Molly and Harley to settle down closer to the water. "I don't think that Usts should take shifts at all, they're a little too young really... and as for that Lusivan, why don't you leave your sister here with the others? She looks like she's mostly asleep anyway." Cally turned and looked over her remaining troups.
"Um... We'll decide here at camp who should get next shift on watch... We've got enough Drada to make a couple rounds before we'll be repeating anyone." Glancing at Harmony she spared her 'sister' a grin. "You gonna be okay out there?"
"Of course I'll be okay." She grinned, wings twittering. "I mean... I get to stay up late and watch for bad guys and..." Okay, so there was something that should be potentially frightening about the entire situation and maybe she'd realize that the moment something decided to go 'bump' in the night but, for the moment, she'd be fine. "So Lusivan and I will go first... And when we get tired we'll come back and wake whoever's going next up. That's how watches go, I think."
Lusivan nodded and gently set his sister down among the other Usts. She mumbled and almost-but not quite-turned over, but that was all. He then walked over to join Harmony. Interesting that the first watch consisted of Uuthli - maybe they should watch from trees, since they wouldn't be bothered by heights the way some others might.
"Harmony, right? What do you say we take our posts in the trees? Better view, from there."
Canaan resisted the urge to make a face, instead shifting around for a bit toward the edges of the group, taking a seat as he stared at the water. Watch from the trees? It was hard to climb trees, in his opinion. "If you do see something, won't it be a bit hard to run back and wake us all if you're in the trees?"
The sun was definitely down now, and he was more than a little displeased about being stuck out here. Sure, when he went camping with Jan she didn't bring a tent or anything, but at least she usually had a fire and music. Cane loved music. Now he was stuck with Jivvins he didn't even know [other than Calvin, and she busy being buddies with that Rhenus, who didn't seem so bad, but still], and NOW they were pairing up to do watch?
No one was gonna volunteer to pair with him, after all, they didn't have enough even numbers to go around. A sigh and he shrugged off his pack, resting his jaw on it. "We're gonna run out of watchers real fast if we go in pairs." A pause. "Though, it might be safer to go in pairs, and they can keep each other awake." He wasn't one to deny the pros of a situation, even if they irked him.
The Afya sighed and resigned to his fate. Harvard was just going to have to deal with a night without him, though he certainly hadn't planned it this way. There were mentions of watches going on, and Princeton didn't have the faintest idea of why it was called for. Then again, he had been raised in captivity, spoiled, protected. What could be so evil that it would harm a bunch of rag-tag children?
He quirked his ears at the babble, but was a little beyond it all. But he had to agree- if they could afford it, the smaller Jivvins shouldn't be expected to stay up. And he was older.
"I'll watch with you?" He offered Canaan, quirking a hopeful smile at the other. This Jivvin seemed to be knowing what he was doing. "As far as I understand, we only have to watch the night."
The Afya sighed and resigned to his fate. Harvard was just going to have to deal with a night without him, though he certainly hadn't planned it this way. There were mentions of watches going on, and Princeton didn't have the faintest idea of why it was called for. Then again, he had been raised in captivity, spoiled, protected. What could be so evil that it would harm a bunch of rag-tag children?
He quirked his ears at the babble, but was a little beyond it all. But he had to agree- if they could afford it, the smaller Jivvins shouldn't be expected to stay up. And he was older.
"I'll watch with you?" He offered Canaan, quirking a hopeful smile at the other. This Jivvin seemed to be knowing what he was doing. "As far as I understand, we only have to watch the night."
Lusivan barely resisted glaring at Canaan. "We're Uuthli. I don't know about Harmony, but even though my wings aren't fully grown in yet, I haven't had a problem jumping off of anything under twenty feet since I reached Drada. Fifteen or so feet up would be plenty to get a good view of the camp and surrounding area."
"I've gotten better at climbing trees..." She nodded slowly after a moment, pausing to glance at the trees in their general area. It'd be easier if they could find one with branches to grab onto low enough that it'd make for an easier climb. "Alright. Everyone who's not watching first should get some rest so we can start out again as soon as there's first light!"
Canaan smirked, sitting up, and flashed his teeth at Lusivan in what could've been a grin, or a barring of teeth. "I'm well aware of your rank. Stop wasting my time and go play guard, wingboy. I'm tired of you."
The Olplyn, having dismissed the Uuthli in his mind and physically as well, picked up his pack in his teeth, shifting past the other Drada to sit near Princeton. He would be with Calvin? That was alright. A grin. "Princeton, right? I'm Canaan." Might as well attempt to be sociable.
He was a little confused as Calvin made another suggestion for a partner to him. Looking a little sheepish, he hoped for something to happen that would make the choice for him. The Olplyn seemed to have accepted his offer, and the Afya visibly perked as the other came to join him. He kept his opinion to himself over the brief trade between the Uuthli and his new watch partner, although he was a little uneasy toward the vibe of ill feelings.
"Yes, that's right," He confirmed, brightening a little more. "Nice to meet you, Canaan." Then, glancing around the group, he leaned his head slightly closer to the Olplyn, his voice fading to a humble whisper. "I've never held watch before, I hope you don't mind...?"
She managed to find a tree with branches low enough that she could pull herself up, making it no higher than maybe ten feet before stopping, resisting the urge to cling to the branch she was balanced on. Taking a deep breath she glanced down. Alright, so maybe this wasn't all that bad... "So... You let me know if you see anything, alright, Lusivan? And I'll let you know too... And when we get too tired we'll go back and wake u whoever's next."
"That works. Let me know when you get tired." Lusivan trotted over to a tree at the opposite side of the camp, and quickly climbed to a branch about fourteen feet from the ground. He had climbed trees a lot, even as an Ust. They made good hiding places. Humans rarely thought to look up.
Calvin shook quickly to try and get the last of the cold water out of her leg fur and then she settled down close to the nearly sleeping Usts. This was good, and she didn't care who went next on watch, because they should have a good deal of time before the Uuthlis got done with their shift. She watched Canaan and Princeton getting to know each other, and smiled at Rhenus once before staring out over the river. Somewhere on the other side of that river was a book. A book that had something really really useful in it, maybe a map to treasure, or the formula for everlasting life... or something. She was so glad she was on this adventure and she'd take whatever punishment Lily gave her when she got back.
Molly let her head droop onto the dirt in front of her... apparently she had been more tired than she'd realized, and it had really set in once she'd stopped moving.
Canaan's grin was actually reassuring, and he nodded at Princeton. "Eh, don't worry about it, it's mainly just paying attention." Glancing around he saw that the babies had all pretty much fallen asleep, that was good. "Hey, Calvin?" A smile that was a mix of resignation and helpfullness. "If anyone's hungry, I've a good amount of food. I figure we'll feed the babies as they wake up, at this point."
She didn't know whether or not she should be expecting something exciting to happen or not, certain that her mind was better at making things up instead. Every now and then she'd swear that she saw something moving only to find out that it was nothing more than the breeze... Or her tail ticking a bit too close to one of her legs.
Eventually, what had to be a fewl hours later, she felt her eyes starting to droop, her body threatening to slide off of her branch. "Lusivan? Lusi?" Her voice was a hushed whisper as she spoke out in the darkness, not wanting to wake anyone up or alert anything that might be lurking to her presence. "Hey... Are you sleepy?"
Lusivan decided that standing watch suited him. Part of him had always felt like a warrior or a guard, and this fit perfectly. He barely noticed the time passing as he kept alert, watching over the other jivvins and listening for anything out of the ordinary, until he heard Harmony.
"Not really, but if you are we can wake the next watch. I get the feeling that I won't feel tired until I stop."
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