|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 12:33 pm
 "Read it again?" The sound of her daughter's pleading voice made Lenta chuckle. That would be the fifth time today her daughter would hear the story of Joan of Arc, and though Lenta was tired, her girls' eagerness to learn tickled her. But instead of caving, she shut the book in her hands and fondly stroked Tryst's head.
"It's time for bed, sweetie." Lenta responded, holding back a grin as Tryst sighed.
"But I want to hear about Joan again..." The young Skull Monkey murmured. Lenta shook her head.
"We'll read it again tomorrow. Right now, we need to sleep." Placing the book on Tryst's bedside table (for her young daughter had been given Mauli's old room), Lenta planted a kiss on Tryst's skull-forehead, and laughed as Tryst giggled and snuggled deeper into the covers.
"Night, Ash." Lenta spoke softly, then stood, beaming to herself as Tryst murmured an 'I love you' behind her. The lights were cut off, and Tryst's door closed softly as Lenta exited.
Tryst waited a few minutes until she heard the soft snoring of her mother down the hall, then clumsily tugged her bedside table's drawer open, hauling a huge flashlight up into her bed. She squeaked as it rolled over her tail, then came to a stop in a wrinkle in the bed. Ears perked, she waited to see if Lenta had heard the squeak, but the snores weren't interrupted; so, nudging the flashlight into place and pulling the book onto the bed, Tryst flipped the light on and began flipping through it.
By now she had memorized the whole thing, despite the relatively large amount of pages; she especially loved the sketched pictures on the pages, depicting Joan's childhood, her ride to France, and her various battles. She hated the end, where Joan was held in prison and killed on the pretense that she was a witch, but Tryst was enamored with Joan's life before then. A martyr at nineteen... And regarded as the saviour of France before her death! Truly a miraculous life this Joan led, even if it was short.
This wasn't the only story of knights and honor that Tryst loved; even before Joan, Tryst had learned of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table, and of Richard the Lionhearted, and even of Charlemagne. She was hooked. She knew chivalry was dead; how many hundreds of years were between her heroes' stories and herself? But maybe, just maybe, if she believed hard enough...
Her thoughts were pierced as a soft trotting seemed to fill the hallways of the House's second floor. Tryst quickly shut the flashlight off, fumbling to get it back into the drawer and the book on top, and ducked under the covers just as her bedroom door cracked open. Vetch entered, sleepy-eyed and fluffed, and slowly made his way into his sister's bed. Tryst giggled at him, and scooched over to make room, and she fell asleep with her head resting on his back, dreaming of herself in a white tabard with a red cross on the front, and Joan of Arc smiling fondly from astride her white charger...
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 12:34 pm
It was a warm, yet cloudy day, perfect for dreaming. Tryst had found Obsession, a coin that Lenta spoke to like it was another child of hers, resting on her mother's dresser, and had dragged it outside and into a hammock. She settled it on her chest, then yawned, eyes closing as she drifted off to sleep.
Her dream came quickly. It was herself, resting in the same hammock, garbed in armor and a tabard, with Obsession still on top of her. She lifted her head, glancing at Obsession, and to her surprise, the coin stood and looked back at her!
"AH!" Tryst yelped, trying to wriggle away. Obsession laughed, putting its stick-like hands on its... er... coin-hips.
"What's all that yelling for?" It asked. Tryst swallowed, then shuddered.
"You're a coin. You shouldn't be able to talk..."
"This is a dream, isn't it?" Obsession asked, and Tryst nodded. Obsession grinned. "Then why shouldn't I be able to? You can do anything in a dream."
"But this is my dream." Tryst said, frowning.
"Says who?" Obsession replied, snorting. Tryst recoiled. How could she be in someone else's dream? Unless... Unless she was just dreaming that she was in someone else's dream.
"It has to be, because I'm here." Tryst responded. Obsession laughed.
"But so am I." It said, then leapt daintily off Tryst's chest, and landed on the ground below. Tryst rolled off of the hammock, landing beside Obsession. The coin climbed onto her back, settling itself on top of the belt that kept her tabard in place.
"So, let's explore!" The coin exclaimed, and Tryst nodded. She leapt off, going at a much faster pace than she ever could in real time. They soon came to a giant field, covered with purple grass, and inhabited by a giant group of multicolored creatures. Tryst simply leapt past them, speeding along through the grass. The creatures turned to look as she went, then raced after her. They all ran in silence, hearts thumping against their chests in tune with one another. As Tryst reached the edge of the field, the creatures changed course, running back to their places. Tryst and Obsession entered a forest that bordered the field, and landed smack-dab in the middle of what looked like a wooden hospital room.
"What is this?" Tryst asked, tilting her head. Obsession glanced around, then shrugged.
"Let's ask the locals." It began making clicking noises to the tune of Popcorn, and with each new click, a squirrel poked its head out of a tree nearby. Tryst bobbed her head along to the tune, and watched the squirrels with a mixture of amusement and curiosity. When the song had finished, a large red squirrel landed in front of them, and thumped its chest with one thick paw.
"This room to keep all animals hurt by Amatta." It spoke, an odd grin on its face. Tryst blinked.
"What's Amatta?" She asked, and the squirrel's grin grew.
"I dunno, what's Amatta with you?" It replied, and the woods rang with laughter. Tryst grinned.
"If somethings' Amatta, you can stay here, I 'spect." Obsession chimed in. Tryst and the squirrel blinked.
"....I don't get it." Tryst said. Obsession shrugged its' coin shoulders. The three rolled about, chortling, and the woods laughed harder.
SLAM.
Tryst awoke to find herself on the ground, with Obsession underneath her. Lenta was on the back porch, with the door to the House slammed shut behind her. Tryst groaned, then scooped Obsession up, wiping it clean of the dirt that had collected on the bottom.
"Now something's Amatta." She grumbled, making her way towards Lenta. "I'm sore all over and my fur is dirty, that's what's Amatta."
Obsession was silent. Tryst sighed.
"Maybe we can go back later." She mumbled, setting Obsession down by Lenta's feet.
"Ah! There you two are." Lenta grinned, scooping Tryst and Obsession up. "You're both filthy! What happened?"
"We fell out of the hammock while we were dreaming." Tryst replied, and Lenta chuckled, opening the door and slipping inside.
"Well then, why don't you tell me all about your dream while you get a bath?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:30 am
Teitei was miserable. Her nose was runny, her head felt swollen, and according to her mother, she had a terrible fever. Lenta wouldn't even let the others near her - afraid for her other children, she had 'quarentined' Teitei to her room, and moved Tryst, Kailee, and Kong's beds downstairs. All Teitei could do was sit in her nest (a pine box filled with blankets) at the foot of Lenta's bed and whine loudly at her mother, who was sitting with her head in her hands in an armchair by the door.
After a half-hour straight of whining, Lenta lifted her head, sighing softly at the furred-and-feathered SMO. "Teitei..."
Teitei stopped, tilting her head to one side. She cooed softly in response, ears perking.
Lenta smothered a laugh, and then stood, stepping over to her bed and lying across it. She lifted Teitei with one arm and held her close, then rested her head on the other.
"I'm sorry, baby girl." She murmured, idly scratching the fur on Teitei's neck. "Sorry you've gotta be stuck in here 'till you get better. I just don't want the others getting sick, too, y'know? Tryst already has a bad cough, and Lord knows what Kong may have... He's so quiet, he'd never say anything if he was hurting... You know, he may have picked that up from somewhere he went, all that silence, I mean, 'cause it just doesn't seem normal..." In that manner, Lenta rambled on, until Teitei couldn't focus on her words any longer and slowly drifted to sleep.
Tryst was down on the first floor, wrestling with Kong, when it hit her - a wave of dizziness, pain in her side, and an odd twitching in her tail. She wheezed, then coughed, settling herself down on the floor with her head against the carpet.
"Tryst?" Kong questioned, lowering his head and nudging his sibling. After getting no response, he tried again, this time with a note of worry in his voice. "Tryst...?"
"Water." Tryst whimpered, quivering all over. "Please."
Hesitating for a moment, Kong trembled, then dashed off towards the kitchen. "KAILEEEEEE!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 3:13 pm
"Water..." Tryst had been repeating that word over and over for ten minutes straight. Kailee had done everything to make her little aunt comfortable - placing her on a pillow, switching her from being beneath a fan to being beneath a blanket when she had hot and cold flashes, and giving her plenty of cool water to drink.
Kong was beside himself. All he could do was sit next to Tryst's pillow and stare, silently and unblinkingly, at the ceiling. He had won fights with all manner of rodents, birds, and small livestock, but how could he fight a virus? It wasn't a physical thing, it had no claws or teeth. How was he supposed to protect his sister from this?
A knock on the door pulled Lenta out of her rambling stupor. It also woke Teitei up. Teitei cried out in irritation.
"Yes?" Lenta said, brows knitting. If it was Mauli at the door... Could her piratess daughter catch the same thing her youngest had gotten?
"It's me, Mrs. Irvan." Said Vega, Mauli's second mate, through the door. Lenta breathed a sigh of relief.
"Come on in, Vega. Shut the door quickly, though. I don't want any of this sick air to..."
"Sorry to interrupt, ma'am," Vega blurted out, and opened the door to peer in at Lenta, "But your girl Tryst is already sick. Kailee needs you downstairs."
"Oh, Lord." Lenta groaned. "Vega... Kailee's a Skull Monkey, too... She could catch what Tryst and Teitei have!"
Vega's eyes grew wide. Without another word, she ran downstairs, with Lenta and Teitei hot on her heels.
"Kailee! Outside with Kong! Now!" Lenta ordered as soon as she was within shouting distance of her granddaughter. Kailee looked confused, but quickly left, Kong under one arm. The dark-haired mother kneeled at Tryst's side and whimpered.
"My little girls... Sick as dogs..." She whispered, curling up beside Tryst and feeling quite helpless.
Teitei blinked, then climbed out of her mother's arms and onto Tryst's back.
"Nnn?" Teitei murred, nudging Tryst with her paw. Tryst groaned in response. Tumbling down off her sister, Teitei squeaked, and helped herself to some of Tryst's water. Then, stretching, the baby SMO rested her head on her sister's stomach and fell asleep once more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
