|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 9:36 pm
"Annelie-- good to make your acquaintance!" Okassis seemed to get past whatever moment of humility he had, and was his usual grinning self in no time flat. "I think Nan must have mentioned you; you must've Impressed at the last clutch, right?" It was a bit of a stretch to extrapolate "there probably won't be a queen egg this Hatching, since there was one last time" to someone having mentioned the young goldrider specifically - but more likely, she'd be flattered, right? Either that, or Okassis would seem like a total dweeb for stating the obvious.
"And what about...?" he gestured to the dragon and flitt, yet unacquainted.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 5:28 pm
Annelie lowered her chin and gave a small bob of her body in some sort of 'curtsy' with her hands behind her back.
"Y-yes...?" she replied. A small amount of confusion crossed over her face as she tried to think of who Nan would be. ...She didn't recall knowing anyone by that name -- which was probably for the better -- and she found it a little odd that someone knew her when she didn't know them herself. She opened her mouth again to ask about this Nan person, but was instantly pushed off that track when a gold head butted itself into her thigh.
Anneliee... introduce Gnattie and me!
"Oh.. oh, right... Uhm," the young woman fumbled as she untangled her fingers from behind her back. Once free, she laid one hand on Yansanth's head, "this is Yansanth. ....And this," she pointed a finger on her other hand up at her shoulder with the green flit, "is Gnattie."
Yansanth gave a happy bugle to the man, swishing her heavy tail noisily on the dirty ground behind her.
Gnattie.... just glared.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:38 pm
Was it strange, if the flitt intimidated him more than the dragon? Okassis thought it ought to be, but Gnattie had a rather... unfriendly air about her. As much respect and awe as he had for dragons, and guilty appreciation for their younger cousins, he felt suddenly and acutely wary of the little green. How much damage could one of those things do, he suddenly wondered? He'd always thought of them as mischievous scamps, harmless, but now he was beginning to reconsider that evaluation....
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all," Okassis said, shifting a bit uncomfortably under that angry stare. His gaze slipped away, trying to find something new to focus on. Quickly, he spotted a stack of smallish barrels, containing grains - he'd been sent here to fetch things, he suddenly remembered. "I'd uh... I've got some work to see to. Better get on it before I get the Kitchenmaster on my back." Grinning sheepfully, the young Trader inclined his head and went to fetch the crates, taking a challenging two at once, with every intention of completing his first trip back to the kitchen.
Then something moved by his foot - from the corner of his eye, Okassis thought he saw it striking at his boots, and sucked in a quick gasp. His fingers slipped, scrabbling desperately to try and maintain the heavy load even as he retreated back. He managed to retain the bottom-most of the barrels, They struck the top corner of a crate stack noisily, and the pile shifted and tumbled. And the poor tunnelsnake that had managed to surprise him was directly in the path of the falling containers--
Oh shards, please tell me I didn't just kill Yansanth's pet!, Okassis thought, stunned and cringing, as the crates collapsed. The little creature might have escaped, right? Maybe the young Queen hadn't noticed the tunnelsnake there....
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 9:53 am
Annelie had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her something was going to go sour when Okassis tried to carry both crates at once. She took a small step forward unconsciously, but the damage had already began to play out. ...And there was nothing she could do. Clapping her hands to her mouth, she watched with wide eyes as the boxes swayed and then inevitably tumbled down with shuttering crunches.
Yansanth had also watched the creates sway, her own eyes swirling green and yellow. She didn't know what the outcome was going to be, though, but she at least had enough sense to stay away and near Hers. When the crates did crash, however, she jumped and soon found her back against the wall, eyes completely yellow.
[color#FFD700] Mine, what happened!? Why'd those things just go BOOM? the young dragonet questioned a moment later. She came off the wall a little and stretched out her neck towards the wreckage, showing intent of moving closer.
But Annelie waved a hand and forbid it, silently telling her bonded to stay put as she went over to the wreckage.
"What happened, Okassis?" she said, her voice slightly hushed. It was apparent that she had not seen the culprit of the incident, and thus she had no idea that there may be a dead...squashed tunnelsnake underneath the wreckage.
From the woman's shoulder, Gnattie bunched up and hissed at the crashing crates and their splintered selves, then at the man who had dropped them. When Annelie put her palm in front of the flit's head, Gnattie swerved around and then took to the air, alighting onto a part of one of the broken crates to further inspect the damage.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 10:33 pm
Shards, shards, SHARDS--
He couldn't tell her what happened. There was no way. There was NO WAY that he could admit what had happened. Oh, shards. What would happen if Yansanth thought that he killed off the little tunnel snake?
Okassis flicked his gaze toward the little queen nervously, then planted his eyes very solidly on Annelie. "Just... trick of the eyes. Lost my grip," he fibbed, somehow sounding perfectly confident even while he was obviously not telling the whole truth. If she's got any sense, any sense at all, she will take Yansanth and beat it toward the nearest exit right now--
Then came the first of the tiny, desperate scrabbles from underneath the unintended pile of crates. Okassis's eyes snapped, not down to the mysterious noises, but immediately to the gold dragon.
Yeeeep, I'm fardled.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 1:13 pm
Annelie shifted her eyes away from Okassis' solid gaze out of habit, but his words were still clearly heard. Initially she failed to catch on to his lie, and while she had sense, she apparently didn't have the type of sense that Okassis was wishing for. Instead of straightening to leave, Annelie bent down to start picking up some of the broken bits of crate, and that's when she heard the scabbles under the pile.
She startled slightly, her eyes momentarily going wide. She looked up at Okassis and took notice of his intense stare, and when she turned to look over her shoulder and followed the said stare to Yansanth. ... well... she put two and two together in a few seconds or so.
"Well," Annelie began suddenly, her voice a little louder than she had intended. "If you don't need any help with mess, we'll be on our way." With that she stood up and went over to the little queen, trying to keep some sort of composure and not seem too obvious that they needed to leave RIGHT NOW.
Yansanth, however, was not ready to let things lie so quickly, and she scampered closer to the wreckage to help with the mess -- Okassis had helped her and shared information about tunnelsnakes, so she thought she should help too... because that's how it all worked, right? Without looking back to Hers, Yansanth extended her head to nudge some debris, but immediately jumped when the scuttling was finally heard.
ANNELIE! she called, bugling aloud for added measure as she lifted her head away from the wreckage. There's something under there! It's trapped -- it needs help!!
"No... No nothing's there, Yansanth. It's just the glass."
Glass?
"Yes. ...The glass. It... it sometimes likes to uh, um, reform after it has been broken....?" Annelie struggled with some sort of remotely logical explanation that had nothing to do with a living creature.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 8:11 pm
It took everything Okassis had not to wince as Annelie tried to rationalize the little Gold away from the scene. Not because Annelie was necessarily a horrible liar - though by the Egg, did she think that Yansanth wouldn't discover that was a lie someday?! - but because she was a motherly liar. She was the sort of insecure liar that any child would regard with suspicion.
And Okassis, Faranth help him, couldn't think of anything better to do but to support her shaky efforts.
"That's right," he answered idly, making a show out of picking up his mess (though in reality, he was really just moving vestigal pieces back and forth in an effort to make it seem like he was working - he couldn't actually start digging the poor thing out, not with Yansanth still right there!) "I've got it taken care of here, don't you worry about it. Though if you could do me a favor, maybe you could stop by the Kitchens and let them know there was an accident, and I'll be a bit more in getting this over to them?"
There, perfect. Every excuse that Annelie would need, and he backed it up with one of his winning smiles. Now, as long as Yansanth was willing to ignore the wriggling noises under the wreckage, they'd be in the clear....
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 8:36 pm
It was true; Annelie was a horrible liar, especially to Yansanth, and she preferred to be dry and honest. But since she couldn't in this given case, she continued on, glad that Okassis suggested a reason for them to leave -- it was his first bit of 'help' that had actually been helpful.
"Yes, of course. ...Yansanth, come on, we need to help Okassis by making sure he doesn't uh, get into trouble."
Yansanth looked from Annelie to the man -- his name being forgotten already -- in some confusion. She wasn't exactly skeptical of the whole superfluous remarks about glass reforming, but more confused that if that was the case, why weren't they letting it reform? It just wanted to be whole again.
But Mine... shouldn't we help it? What if it doesn't form back right?
Yansanth, it's glass. It'll be fine. Annelie replied, then continued on verbally. "Now come on, you don't want anyone to get in trouble now, right? Let's go to the kitchens -- there's food there."
The little queen looked back at Okassis and the mess, the scrabbling still audible under the splintered wood. When she looked back at Annelie, she whined and chirped, but Hers gave a stern motion of her hand and Yansanth only felt compelled to move away from the wreckage. She passed by Annelie and then waited, her tail swishing slowly at first and then getting faster as her attention began to focus on going to the kitchens.
Come on, Mine! He can't get in trouubblleee!
Annelie looked over her shoulder and then back at Okassis. She said nothing else, and just gave some sort of hurried curtsy, Gnattie landing on her shoulder as she straightened once more, and went through the doorway.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
