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 Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 5:24 pm
Naramankh led the way. For fifteen minutes or so, the dragons had kept to soft earth and had left their prints. However, after that, they had strayed onto harder ground. Naramankh muttered a few choice oaths under her breath. She fished the hank of red hair out of her pocket. "Dust, seek," she commanded. Timidly, the little mutt sniffed at it. He delicately began to sniff at the ground.
He turned back to Naramankh and whined. She watched him and he went back to tracking, leading the way across the ground.
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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 9:57 pm
Godar laughed. "Dust's being uncommonly brave today, isn't he?" She smiled at Naramankh, and skipped along after Dust, all too happy to be away from the goats. "How big do you think this one is?" she asked. "And a girl or a boy? I vote girl. And a really, really big one, did you see those tracks?"
((OoC: *hides from Cart* Kee kee kee. >D))
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moineau bavarde Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 8:33 am
"Yeah, he is," she said absently. "Dunno...about the size of a wolf, I guess...and you may be right; it could be a girl."
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Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 10:46 pm
Godar turned back to look at the way they came, then checked the sun. "I hope we find him before we have to turn back for the night," she muttered. "Hey... if we don't, do you think we could come up with a good excuse for disappearing for several days? I can't think of anything good, though... what about you?"
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moineau bavarde Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:26 pm
"There's still that wretched goat," Naramankh pointed out. "These mountains are endless--they could stretch from here to the other side of the sea around the world, for all we know." She winked at Godar. "After all, we have to find that goat...what kind of goatherds would we be if we returned to camp without a goat?" She clapped Godar on the back and continued to follow her timid pup.
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 3:31 pm
Rikia sat numbly on the barrel that someone had rolled out for her. She was surrounded by goat herders and their families. The women looked at her, clucking to themselves in pity.
She could hear what they were whispering, although most people wouldn't have been able to. She had extraordinary ears... She supposed they partially made up for... Other things.
"Poor little thing," one woman mumbled to her friend. She must have turned a bit, because her voice wasn't as clear when Rikia next heard it. "... since birth ... had problems in Niffin ... Sent her here to ... Poor little thing..."
Rikia felt Jig's paws on her shoes as he pawed at her leg. She reached down and the small dog deposited something in her hand. She felt it between her fingers, trying to figure out what it might be... An old nail, she discovered as she felt a point with her fingers. You must be careful when you step around here, Rik, she thought to herself dully, The streets here aren't swept clean like the ones around your home
She stood, her bare feet making imprints in the dirt as she walked forward. There were murmurs from the crowd and a woman hurried forward to take her arm.
"Oh! Let me help you dear! The place where you'll be staying is this way!" she said quickly, steering her toward some unknown location. "Watch your step, deary!"
Jig rushed forward and gave a small yip, walking behind her, and tried to touch his nose to her left ankle, trying to make her turn. But the woman on the right side kept moving, pulling Rikia by the arm so that she couldn't have moved if she had tried.
"There's a milking stool in the path, deary," she chattered as they went, "watch your step!"
Watch my step where? Rikia thought to herself in annoyance, How high is the stool? Where is it in the path? How do I have to move to avoid it?
Jig tried again to get Rikia to turn by touching his nose to her right ankle.
"Shoo!" the woman swung her foot at him in annoyance, "Shoo, pup! You're going to tangle up her feet and make her fall!"
Rikia couldn't see the woman kick at Jig, but she felt the small dog move back from her leg, and could easily guess what had happened. Don't kick my dog! She screamed mentally, although she was too shy to say it aloud. If anyone's going to make me fall, it'll be you.
And fall Rikia did. As she tried to untangle her legs from the milking stool, the woman sucked in a deep breath and scolded Jig for being in the way when the poor little blind girl had to walk.
I should be wishing I had stayed in Niffin... Rikia thought to herself as she brushed the dust from her clothes. But nothing would make me wish that... I'll just have to put up with this Goat Camp... Or else where will I go?
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 5:28 pm
((Do you mind if I also play with this woman, Horse? I can always delete it later...))
With Cat by his side, Senweskhet stormed through camp, his hands barely straying from the hilt of his knife tucked into his belt. He breathed in the dusty mountain air and cursed it under his breath. Damn dust, damn mountains, damn goats, and damn world! His sandals made more clouds of that detested substance. I've been banished to this stupid place--why couldn't they have just sent me off on a voyage?! he thought sullenly. It would have gotten me away from that...person who dared insult my little sister!
Sen stopped at the sound of a commotion up ahead. One of the few older women in the tiny village of Goat Camp was helping a young girl to a stool. Anger boiled inside Sen at the resemblance of the woman to Ryano Stevvan, the boy he had been fighting with to be sent here. Must be...aunt? Lemme see, Mistress Stevvan had only one sister and they look alike; she married Landross, so it must be... "I'm sure you have something better to do," he snapped at Mistress Maunt," he snapped at the older woman. "Some other kid to control and manipulate."
Muttering something under her breath about ingrates and just trying to help, Mistress Maunt bustled off. Sen walked up to the girl. "Hey, who are you?" he asked. "I don't think I know you; what was that fat gossip doing to you, anyway?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:38 pm
((No, that's fine. I was just playing her a bit because there were no other humans in the goat camp at that time. xd How old is Sen? Rikia is around fifteen, if I'm remembering right...))
Rikia finally got her legs untangled from the stool. She resisted the urge to grumble as she got to her feet. Apparently the woman had gone away. Good riddance.
Jig sniffed at her ankle worriedly, and she patted him on on the head to reassure him.
"Good boy," she told him quietly, "wasn't your fault."
"Hey, who are you?" Apparently some guy had come up... Perhaps he was the reason why the lady had left? "I don't think I know you; what was that fat gossip doing to you, anyway?"
"Oh... Nothing," she scowled. Suddenly, she forced the look from her face. She didn't want anyone to think she was some angry, troubled teen. She'd rather have them all think she was a 'poor little blind girl'. "She just accidentally got in the way, and I couldn't keep from tripping over a stool."
Jig went up to sniff the strange man (or was he just a boy? She couldn't tell from the voice alone) and Rikia waited for the dog's reaction carefully. The dog paused, then yipped happily and licked the man/boy's boots.
"Alright, so this guy seems safe enough to be around," she thought to herself, "but I guess I don't really know for sure... There's always a chance Jig's oppinion could be wrong..."
Suddenly, Jig noticed the cat padding along beside the man/boy. He tensed up a bit, but in the end simply retreated to Rikia's side. He wasn't going to start something with Rikia around... After all, if a big fight started with the cat, she'd be utterly in the dark! She wouldn't have a clue what was going on. And his duty first and foremost was to take care of Rik.
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 7:40 pm
((Sen's about 18 ))
Sen noticed the scowl slip from the girl's face. So...looks like she's got a spark in her... He recoiled slightly as the girl's dog licked his toes. "Urgh!" Why wasn't Nara here?! She liked dogs far better than he did.
Cat meowed imperiously, gave the dog a contemptuous glance, and leapt onto Sen's shoulders. "So who are you?" he repeated. He didn't remember ever seeing her around...
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:02 pm
((I see, I see... *nods importantly* So now Rik's gotta decide if she'll refer to him as a 'boy' or 'man'... Hmm... *scratches head*))
"Urgh!"
Apparently the boy didn't appreciate Jig's sign of approval, thought Rikia to herself, trying to keep a wry grin from spreading onto her face. She heard a small meow and this time really did smile.
"So that's why Jig came back with his tail between his legs," she grinned, "you have a cat."
Stupid. Of course he has a cat. That's obvious! And he'll know there has to be a reason you didn't see that right off... If he didn't know before, he'll know now that you're blind.
"Ah... I'm Rikia," the girl answered hurriedly, attempting to draw attention from her mistake, "I just got sent up from Niffin... And this is Jig, who doesn't seem to like your cat much..."
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:48 pm
Sen shrugged. "Most dogs don't. Cat's an imperious queen. My name's Senweskhet--Sen for short. I've been banished here by most of Niffin for a minor quarrel with another young man." He didn't notice that the girl hadn't noticed Cat. She didn't like revealing herself too soon--a queen was only noticed when she wanted to be. "So how long you been here, Rikia?" he asked quickly to divert her attention from his mention of why he was here. The [Vulgar Term Deleted] deserved it, anyway, saying such things about our family...
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:00 am
"Jig usually doesn't care about cats either way. He's not really scared or aggressive toward them, but he's not overly fond of them either," Rikia gave the pup an affectionate scratch between the ears. She paused when he said he'd been 'banished' to Goat Camp... Well, that was a pleasant way to put it... It might actually fit her circumstances for coming as well.
I was banished here. Yup! Sounded much better than 'They sent me here because I was 'having difficulties' in Niffin.
"I've been here... about five minutes," she sighed, trying to keep the sarcastic tone from her voice. She was tired, but that was no reason to make him run screaming for the hills, thinking she was a cynical teen that held a grudge or something like that. "I was sent up on one of the transport wagons. It smelled like goat hair and old cheese the entire ride up." Once again she knelt to stratch Jig. "My poor little puppy had so many disgusting smells to examine, he almost had a heart attack."
Jig sneezed, as if to say 'I didn't enjoy it any more than you did. You don't like smelling goats, so why would you think I would?'
"And how long have you been here?" Rikia asked Sen, "weeks... Months... Years... How long?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:41 pm
Sen snorted, paused to fix another youth with a penetratingly murderous glare, and turned back to Rikia. "About five minutes--but I was deported here a couple years ago, and my sister came here a couple months ago. I don't think I've ever met you even in Niffin, and I'm pretty steady on who's who in Niffin. And I canoed here. You'll either want to canoe or walk, canoe for preference." He didn't admit that speed and smell were far from the primary factors; in fact, speed was the last factor. He just wanted some quality time on the wet and wild before resigning himself to the dry and dreary until summer was over.
Another boy jeered at Sen as he passed. With the sudden turn of attitude of a striking shark, he whirled around and threw the youth to the ground. All thoughts were driven from his head as he balled up his fists and pounded at the luckless lad, hissing and snarling like an animal.
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Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 4:51 pm
Rikia smiled slightly as Sen spoke of a canoe. Her family would never let her ride in one of those. Not without at least ten guides with her. And Jig probably wouldn't like it either... He'd never really had a great love for water...
She was just about to tell as much to Sen when she heard some disturbing sounds. From the way it sounded, Sen had just turned and started beating up a young boy for no particular reason. She couldn't see what was going on, but she heard Jig's whimpering. She didn't know what to do. Her first reaction was to take a few steps backward and try to keep away so that they wouldn't tangle up her feet and make her fall again, but the second reaction was what really won out.
"Stop!" she yelled, a trace of anger in her voice. She followed the noise and tried to untangle the two bodies. Then she tripped over a flailing appendage and landed face down in the dust.
Seeing his master on the ground, Jig growled ferociously and leaped forward, sinking his jaws into the offending arm.
((I'll leave it up to you to decide if it's Sen or the unnamed guy that got bit. wink ))
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Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 5:06 pm
As both young men tumbled in the dust, fumbling at their belts for the knives they carried for practical, everyday use, Sen was aware that Rikia was trying to pull them apart. That, however, was through a red haze. The bulk of his mind was centered on the boy who had dared remind Sen of his disgraceful banishment. Sen snarled and spat profanities, shoving at the girl as she tried to pull them apart. "No, Rikia. He's not getting aAAAAAAAAARGH!!" The rest of his sentence ended with a shout of pain as Rikia's dog bit his arm. He was surprisingly strong and fierce, drawing some blood as Sen kicked his way out of his opponent.
What would Nara do? the sensible minority of his brain wondered. Luckily, it was that part that controlled his free arm and not the roiling mass of molten rock that made up the majority. He squeezed the jaws apart until the dog would be forced to let go--didn't hurt the dog and got his arm out of its grip. When Sen could trust himself enough to speak without swearing, he hissed, "Leave me alone, girl! I've got more than one score to settle here, and if I'm to keep my head high in this dirthole, I'm going to have to have a little respect around here, and I'll pound the respect into every skull in all of this dungheap if I have to!"
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