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 Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:09 pm
Last Whisper holds her breath while the buck makes his decision. And instead of rushing into an answer, she closes her eyes for a moment takes a deep breath and then opens them again. Calmly, sincerely, she says, "Yes, I understand. I promise to be very very careful." Once having said that, she put on a grin and her tail began to wag again. Her eyes asking 'Can we go now?'
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:16 pm
Golden-Spider grins, even though he's trying very hard to look like a stern father figure. Something he's finding harder and harder to do as the little filly makes him feel like a mischievous colt again. "Of course. So, the plan is for you to use me as a step to get on the branch, right?" Not waiting for an answer, he strides up to the tree, kneeling down so Last Whisper can climb on his back.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:28 pm
She nods, and then trots upto the buck, taking a moment to figure out how to clamber onto his back. She puts her front hooves up and then hooks her neck over his back to help pull herself up as she hops the rest of her up on top of the golden kimeti.
She crouched on his back, pretty much hugging him, and waited for him to stand up and get her closer to the ivory up in the tree.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:40 pm
Carefully, Golden-Spider stands, adjusting as he does so to keep Last Whisper from sliding off. Fully upright now, he moves closer to the branch, being just as careful. When it's in reach, Golden-Spider stays very still, keeping close to the trunk to give Last Whisper one solid wall.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 9:14 pm
Once upon the buck's back, she balances until he is upright, at which time she slowly straightens out her legs, bringing herself to a full standing position on top of the buck's broad back. From there, she stretched her neck out to the branch, confident that she could make her way up there without an issue. One hoof at a time, she transferred herself over to the branch, once there, she lies down and smiles down at Golden-Spider. She'd made it onto the branch!
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 9:30 pm
Golden-Spider waits for her to slide over before attempting to clamber up himself. First, he stands hooking his front legs over the branch. Next he scrambles up with his back legs, finding perches on the trunk with one leg. His other leg, with nothing to push against once he leaves the ground, just flails a bit. Finally, with much grunting and moving, the orange buck is up on the branch.
He rests for a bit, breath puffing from his lips. When he's ready, Golden-Spider repositions himself, much like he had on the ground, for Last Whisper to climb on his back again. "Ready when you are."
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 9:41 pm
The filly patiently lays on the branch while the buck flails up next to her. He huffs and puffs for a little, but she simply restrains herself by repeating in her mind, I'm almost there. Almost there. Almost there.
Once he steadied himself and declared himself ready, Last Whisper stands up and then walks forward to repeat the process one more time. The second branch is a little skinnier, but she manages to clamber up and hugs it even tighter than the last, to stay steady. Once up there, she found herself face to face with a partial skeleton. The skull of what was obviously some sort of carnivore was attached to a neck that went down to the ribcage (fully intact!) and along into a tail. "Woahhhhh..." She breathed, captivated by it's beauty and by it's empty gaze.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 10:19 pm
Biting his tongue to keep from fretting, and therefore breaking Last Whisper's concentration, Golden-Spider watches her. After giving her a few moments to admire her skeleton, he clears his throat. "Ahem, the sooner you pass them down, the sooner we can get out of the tree, and you can take them home."
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 10:27 pm
"Right!" she exclaims when the golden buck speaks to her. She had lost herself in this skeleton's gaze and zoned out. But he brought her back into the now, and she set to work on releasing her treasure.
She shimmied forward carefully until she could easily reach the skeleton. Assessing the situation a moment, she stretched forward and looked at every angle. Having decided what to do, she pushed her nose forward and nudged the rib cage so that it would roll onto it's side and not get caught on anything. After having done so, she wrapped her small maw around the last vertebrae before the ribcage. Once she was sure it was secure in her grip, she began tilting her head to the side to pull it over the edge of the branch, head first down toward Golden-Spider. She stretched down until it was loose except for her own grip on the thing.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 10:41 pm
Golden-Spider watches Last Whisper, stretching himself to get at her skeleton. When it's in his reach, he gently takes it between his lips, careful to keep his teeth clear of it. "Gorb ibt." he mumbles past the bones, fully taking them as Last Whisper lets go.
He takes a moment to set them down, carefully rearranging them so as to get a better grip. Then he picks them up again, lest they get trampled while he helps Last Whisper down. Lastly, he repositions himself, so he's at the branch base, giving the filly a way to slide onto his back, then down to the branch he occupies.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 10:49 pm
With her treasure safely in the buck's grip, she releases it and watches him reposition until he looks ready for her to come back down. She manages to turn herself about on the branch so that when she pushes her rump over the edge, her back legs hang from it first, dangle a moment and then find the orange buck's back. After a moment of readjustment, the rest of her follows, and she easily slides down his back, and onto the branch next to him.
Once there, she stretches her neck up and takes the skeleton back from him so that he may continue down the tree, and make it back to safety on the ground.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 11:06 pm
Golden-Spider watches the filly, as much as he can while being her stepping stone. When she reaches up, he waits to release the skeleton, to make sure she's got a good grip on it. That finished, he simply jumps to the ground, the distance not being far for his fully grown legs. Turning, he pulls his front legs up, to rest on the tree. One knee against a lower bend in the branch, the other on the trunk itself. Craning his neck to reach the bones from Last Whisper. After making sure he's got a grip on them, and she's let go, Golden-Spider takes the time to set them in a safe spot. A rock nearby, half buried in the soil.
Returning, the gold buck repeats his position. Coming up to the tree trunk, close enough so Last Whisper can use it as a steadying point, and under the branch. "Okay, I'm ready for you." he says, watching her ready herself to climb down.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 11:12 pm
Brow furrowed, the little filly re-arranges her limbs so that she can climb down safely, concentrating so hard that her tongue manages to find itself caught between her lips without her notice. Once more, she repeats her process: hind legs first, find grounding, and then forelegs, followed by slowly measured steps to make it to the ground.
There! She takes the last small bound to the ground and trots a half-circle back to face the orange buck. She smiles up at him and says, "We did it!! We did it, Golden-Spider! We got it and nothing bad happened!"
She ran into his chest and nuzzled him, smiling as wide as her little jaw would allow. She was the happiest foal in the swamp.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 11:30 pm
He chuckles, nuzzling her back. "So we did. You did good, much more careful then I was at your age." He gives her a last nuzzle, then nudges Last Whisper toward her prize. "It's right there, waiting for you.." he trails off, knowing this is the end of the adventure. While this saddens him, Golden-Spider knows there are likely to be more. Just to be sure, he adds. "Can I see your collection, sometime? And there's still Fish Bones to meet, I'm sure you'd like him. He may only collect fish bones, but I think you two would get along none the less."
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 11:39 pm
She had been itching to go over and inspect her treasure, but was being polite and showering her helper with affection first. The moment he let her go, though, she was off. She trotted over to the ivory skeleton that lay on the rock, staring back at her and crouched down to return it's gaze. Her ears flicked back to listen to Golden-Spider, but her eyes were still trained on the bones. She didn't reply at first, as she was much too busy with this...
Last Whisper had walked around behind the ribcage, crouched down and wiggled in nose-first until the entire thing sat on top of her like a very large second skin. The rib-cage almost brushed the ground when she stood up and the skull sat rather heavily on her head, but when she straightened up and stood on her toes, she could easily keep it off the ground and wear it more than comfortably. Looking through the predator's eye-holes, the filly answered the buck,"I'd like that, I'd like that a lot! Thanks again, Golden-Spider!" Once last nuzzle, through the skeleton that she now bore on her back and off she went, prancing the entire way home, humming some unknown tune, happy to have finally gotten a hold of the treasure that had teased her for many moons.
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