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 Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 11:44 am
“Well, yeah, this now, but later.” Having an escape plan was important to Audra. She’d tried a time or two to just not go when her parents called her, but Papa would just pick her up anyway.
At first she didn’t pick up on the sound her sister was hearing, but when another whine cropped up Audra furrowed her brow. “What is that?” Raising up from her spot on the blanket, the young hybrid bunched a hand into her skirt and motioned to the aforementioned hole. Maybe it was something on the other side? Or if there was a hole then maybe it had made it’s way in?
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 11:45 am
[Sabra via Discord / 9]
"I don't know." Azeria whispered back before glancing around to make certain the coast was clear. "It might be stuck?" That did sound like a pitiful whine and she really didn't want to go back inside knowing there was something in trouble out here. Unless it was a trap? The youngling bit her bottom lip nervously. She had read stories where villains would use trickery to get away with things....was that the case here? Another whine made her chest twist and she realized that she couldn't take it, she would have to take the risk.
"I'm going to check it out." She decided, looking at her sister with determination. "If I don't come back, you can't take all of my stuff. Okay?" Azeria crouched and got on her belly so that she could move herself forward on her elbows, the branches of the azelea bushes tugging at her clothing as she tried to avoid the direct route...just in case. And then there was the board, still for a moment before wiggling again as a pair of hazel eyes stared at her as a small animal continued struggling against the hole in the fence.
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 11:46 am
“Just don’t go past the fence,” Audra murmured tensely. She looked over her shoulder toward the house, as if someone was watching at that very moment, before turning back to see Azeria already moving away. Audra gave a disgruntled whine. If they were caught sneaking out of the yard they’d be in trouble…So maybe if she followed her she could drag Azeria back through if she went too far? That seemed better than sitting on the blanket, anyway.
So before her sister could get to far the little hybrid got to her feet and slowly crept along behind her. From this angle she couldn’t see anything, but she could hear it moving. “What is it?”
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 11:48 am
[Sabra via Discord / 10]
"A puppy...I think?" Azeria whispered, frowning as she tried to see through the shadows that made it hard to pick out details. Either way it didn't look dangerous enough for her to be afraid. If anything she was more concerned about it. "We might need to help him." She added as she looked at the fence and the little duruf puppy trying to get through. "Could you help tug him free or hold up this piece of the fence? I'll do whichever, I don't mind as long as we can help. We might be able to tug it back to help him through."
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 11:49 am
“I’ll hold up the fence, you pull.” She wasn’t going to admit that she didn’t want to touch it, but…well, what if it was dirty? The closer she got the more easily she could see the little thing, but Audra wasn’t so quick to jump to it’s defense. The last time she’d done that it had been with an averin and it snapped at her fingers!
She hedged her way up to the fence, careful not to let her skirt get tangled in the brush and reached for the fencing. When she looked down at the duruf Audra felt a little guiltier for her earlier thoughts…but still maintained her distance.
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 11:49 am
[Sabra via Discord / 11]
"That's fine." It was a rare moment that Azeria was so willing to get dirty, but the sight of the pitiful duruf moved her into action. As Audra reached for the piece of fence, the girl nodded and as soon as she heard the creaking noise of the board the girl started tugging at the little duruf's front paws. "Shh, it'll be okay." She whispered, trying to appear as harmless as possible to the frightened creature as she helped it wiggle towards freedom. "Just a bit more....almost....there!" Azeria let out a little gasp as she tumbled backwards with the freed duruf, the pair tumbling into the azelea bushes with an umph.
"We did it!" She cheered, hugging the duruf to her chest even as it covered her clothing in muck. The poor thing was so covered in dirt and grime that it was even hard to tell his true fur colors, the matted pieces looking like there could be reddish or golden hues under all that brown if not maybe even a cream coat. Of course once the duruf registered it was free the little paws pushed against Azeria, the puppy not certain what to do next even as the youngling held onto him. "We might need some water...if he'll let us." Azeria mused, afraid to let the duruf go in case he got stuck somewhere else in the yard.
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 11:51 am
“Azeria!” As soon as the duruf was free she let go of the fence and moved to the fallen girl’s side. Audra held her hands out, unsure of where she should go or how she should help. Now that she was able to see the little thing it was so much smaller than she’d initially thought and her heart went out to it. “It’s so skinny.” And filthy. She might have reached out to touch it if it wasn’t so nasty. Maybe they should clean it off first…?
“Oh, yes, water. Uhm…give me a minute. Hold onto it?” She lifted her skirt and plucked her way through the brush out into the open yard. Going back inside for a bowl wasn’t hard; making sure no one heard her was. Thankfully no one was around to question the girl, much less so when she went outside to where the rain water was collected for the plants. When she came back it was with a sloshing bowl and a hesitant smile.
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 11:51 am
[Sabra via Discord / 12]
"I'll do my best." Azeria nodded as she watched her sister run off to gather them some water. In hindsight she probably should have asked for some soap too, right? "Though I guess just getting some of this muck off first is good." The girl mused as she held onto the puppy, trying to calm him down a bit more before finally holding him out a bit away from her chest to try to see more. It did look like mostly mud, probably from how dirty the ground was after all the rain yesterday, and thankfully she didn't seem to see any really bad injuries if any. If anything she was more injured with her dress now covered in grim and scratched a bit from the duruf's wiggling in her arms. Still, Azeria didn't seem to mind as she gave Audra a hesistant smile in return. "I guess I can try to hold him while we rinse off some of the dirt?" She asked, biting her bottom lip nervously as she looked between the duruf and the bowl of water.
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 11:52 am
“We’re washing it?” Audra baulked. “I thought you just wanted the water so it could drink. It’s filthy, and this is my good dress!” It was Azeria’s good dress too, but she’d already ruined hers. What was the point in Audra ruining hers too?! She would have changed if she’d known this was Azeria’s plan, but that would have gotten her caught. Getting to their room would have meant passing both of her older siblings rooms and if they were home it was over.
“This isn’t really enough…” She looked down at the water in the bowl with a grimace. “What if we took it inside? Then I could grab a towel” – and change – “and we could just…stick it in the tub?”
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 11:53 am
[Sabra via discord / 13]
Azeria opened her mouth and then closed it. Oh. The youngling listened to her sister and then nodded, a light flush of embarrassment decorating her cheeks. Was it that bad to clean him up a little bit before going inside? Then again if he was thirsty....well that was a good thing too, right? "Okay. But how do we get him inside without anyone noticing?" She didn't want to get in trouble for bringing in a messy duruf, but at the same time she knew that they couldn't bring a whole tub outside. "My dress is already ruined...." Azeria shifted so that she could pulled up her skirts, using them to cradle the duruf closer since her dress was already forfeit. "Do you think he'll try to drink anything or should we just go inside? He's kind of calmer now." He wasn't kicking or wiggling quite as often and if anything was just letting out a soft whimper here and there as she held onto him. Azeria was trying her best to be gentle, but kept a firm enough grip to keep him from jumping...just in case.
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 11:54 am
We leave him outside, that's how. The thought of this thing tracking mud on the floors and her stepping on it sent a shiver down her spine. He was cute, with that sort of mouth breathing way duruf's had, but from a distance. From this distance all she could focus on was the musky smell coming off it and the wheezing. "Let him drink while we think." It might have been cooling off, but if the pup had been struggling for a while it might have gotten over head. She thought about setting the bowl down, thought better of it, and held it up to it instead. "What if I acted like a look out and you snuck it to the washroom? Or I can look for a bucket, I guess..." She didn't really want to, but she would.
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 11:55 am
[Sabra via discord / 14]
It was one thing to plan a tea party and another thing entirely to take charge with a duruf. Azeria was thankful for Audra's help the girl actually floundering with what to do now that she actually had the duruf in her arms. Perhaps it was the shock that kept her nose from curling at the state of the distressed creature, the muck and smell something she normally would never imagine dealing with, but still Azeria held on and allowed the little duruf to nose the bowl before taking a hesitant lick of the water. It took a moment, but eventually the puppy lapped up more while she listened to her sister's idea. At least he was drinking, that was a relief then. "Well, Mama is busy in her study with a project and Papa might still be at the bakery sooo....there's a chance we can sneak in." She admitted after another moment, nodding at the idea since she truly didn't know what else to do. "We can lock the washroom door and he wouldn't have anywhere to run." Azeria smiled sheepishly, trying to imagine the chaos that could happen if they tried washing the puppy elsewhere or in a bucket outside.
"Let's do it. I'll keep hold of him in my skirts and meet you in the washroom." She allowed the puppy to take a few more thirsty gulps of water, the girl's gaze softening at the sight, and then once he seemed somewhat sated she bundled him right back up in her skirts for the walk towards the house and then to the washroom. The true challenge would be getting through without being spotted and keeping him from running away inside the house and making a big mess of things.
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 11:56 am
It was a risk. If they puppy got too loud then they wouldn’t be able to hide, no matter what they tried, but she had a feeling this was going to happen whether she was on board or not. Once it drank it’s fill, Audra set the bowl aside and followed the pair toward the house. She kept quiet as she moved past Azeria to open the door, cautiously sticking her head through before leading the charge inside.
She could hear some noises coming from upstairs, but thankfully there wasn’t anything from the ground floor. Audra held up one finger, signaling for them to wait so she could walk through and have a proper look. When it was clear she waved Azeria on. If she stood where she was she would be able to spot anyone coming downstairs early enough that she could warn the other girl.
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 11:57 am
[Sabra via discord / 15]
Azeria almost felt like she was in one of those theater productions where someone was going through a whole spy montage. The orchestration music was going on in her mind as she slunk around the corners of the house, trying to keep the puppy as calm as possible to quiet down the whimpers as she followed Audra's guidance towards the house. Dun, dun, dun, dun... She twisted through another shadow and once the coast was clear she went inside, only freezing for a moment when she heard something from upstairs where her mother's study was. But then it was quiet again, the doors she worried about the most remained closed, and so Azeria made a dive for the washroom.
Once she was inside she glanced around, looking at the tub and then back towards the doorway to watch for Audra. "I'll stay still." She whispered as quietly as possible, hoping her sister got the hint and would change quickly so that they could close the door and tackle this problem together.
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Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 11:59 am
Audra nodded and slipped off her shoes before heading for the stairs. She hoped if she stayed quiet and didn’t look too suspicious no one would think twice. So, she slowly – but not too slowly – scuttled up to their room. The little one shucked off her nicer gown, messing up her perfect hair in the process, and picked up a ‘play’ outfit. A simple cotton skirt and a top that already had a stain on the bottom. A few more wouldn’t hurt, especially if they were going to get dirty.
On her way out she picked up her pace around their mother’s office before taking the stairs and coming down to the main landing. Before she went to the washroom, though, Audra picked up a few things. A big towel from the linen cabinet, a pair of gardening gloves that she slipped into, and some of the washing mix papa used for the pans. When she got to the washroom she scuttled her way in before leaning on the closed door. “I thought this would be better than the stuff we use. The smells might make it’s nose itch.”
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