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 Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 9:05 am
Constance was amazed by all the trees around them. It was nice to see so many. Nature was beautiful and could also be terrifying. She turned to Merrick when he spoke and smiled. "What kind of tricks?" Her head tilted to the side. She, of course, had seen the streaks above them. She had caught a glimpse of Kasumi and someone else she didn't recognize. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Merida walking in the distance. ~~~~~ Cassandra chuckled and rolled her eyes a little. "Yes, Lorcan is strong and cunning. But that isn't the reason for us being together. What drew me was his kindness and caring." That had always been what she was looking for in someone. Strength and cunning were all well and good. But one also needed compassion.
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 9:29 am
Merrick grinned as he knew Constance had noticed his uncle as well. "That second blur was my uncle, my mother's brother; he's pretty much the closest family I have that I actually know, but some of the things he taught me are rather... surprising to one who's never seen them before," he said with amusement before he lightly pressed one foot to the tree next to them, knowing it seemed like he was simply resting against the tree.... until he lifted his other foot and pressed it to the side of the tree and simply straightened so that he was standing exactly parallel to the ground on the side of the tree as if it were the ground itself.
-_-_-_-_-_-
Kasumi had glanced down when she'd heard a slight creak to spot two cleverly hidden doors opening before she noticed Merida walking around.
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Lorcán cocked an eyebrow at the mention of the male squirrel he'd noticed in the Great Hall; he had looked to be mid to late 20s in age.
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Mother Mellus laughed softly. "I am surprised you didn't fall for Arven," she said with amusement; she knew that Cassandra, when she'd been younger, had been friends with Arven and Tansy both. She also knew that Cassandra had been friends with Grath Longfletch, an ottermaid that was extraordinarily skilled with a bow. She knew that Cassandra had stubbornly been one of the group that had stormed the island of Sampetra a couple of days' journey offshore.
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 10:00 am
Constance was interested to hear that Kasumi had a brother. She wondered if he was anything like her. When she turned to look at Merrick again, he was standing on the tree! Her eyes widened and then she chuckled. "That is definitely interesting. How do you do it?"~~~~ Cassandra chuckled softly and shook her head. "Arven and I have only ever been friends. He's more like a brother to me anyway." She looked around the room. "I am glad to see you have been doing well. What about everyone else?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 10:29 am
Merrick tilted his head. "Just focus a little energy through your body into your feet; too much energy, and it'll blow you..." he explained before the wood beneath his feet detonated with a pop, hurling him off the tree though he somersaulted and landed in a skidding crouch. "Off the tree... too little, and nothing will happen; supposedly, to quote my uncle's words 'it is an exercise to control the energy within our bodies and one that can take several forms, including walking on water, parting waterfalls, and running up waterfalls'," he said, his voice deepening slightly as he quoted his uncle's words. He paused when he heard laughter and looked behind him to see his mother hanging from the underside of a branch.
-_-_-_-_-_-
Kasumi had stopped several dozen feet away from where Merrick and Constance were and she saw his revelation of the Nobori no Shugyō technique. She laughed when Merrick was launched off of the tree, leaning backwards and hanging inverted from the branch easily.
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Lorcán tilted his head fractionally.
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Mother Mellus cocked her head thoughtfully. "Pretty much the same as ever, really; Dannflor took over as Foremole," she said thoughtfully; usually moles took the position, since it worked mostly underground in the cellar but did tend to move to the surface to gather herbs and fruits that weren't grown inside the Abbey. Surprisingly, Dannflor was skilled at the position though he was an otter. Martin II had retired to the gatehouse now that he was an older mouse but was still impressively skilled though he was no longer as flexible or agile as he had once been.
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 10:38 am
Constance grinned as Merrick quoted his uncle, his voice deepening a little. When he got blown off of the tree she winced a little, an instant reflex, but knew that he was okay. Constance looked up when she saw Kasumi and smiled. "Hello Kasumi," she called up to Merrick's mother. She wondered where her brother had gone off to. They were together just moments before. ~~~ Merida heard voices in the distance so she stopped in her tracks, looking around. She then caught sight of Merrick and Constance and smiled. Her face went slack when she saw how Merrick was standing on the tree. It was not an easy task to do that. It took a lot of concentration. When he got blown off the tree she shook her head a little and smirked. ~~~ Cassandra nodded slowly as she listened to Mother Mellus. It was good that things were practically the same. "Yes, well I can't wait to see all my old friends. It really has been too long since I have been back here. I guess--I just wasn't ready."
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 11:03 am
Merrick chuckled as he saw his mother's descent. He remembered how the monks in the monastery had freaked out when he'd done the very same thing leaping from the nearly fifty foot tall belltower. "Damn," he yelped when his uncle spoke suddenly, startling him.
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Kasumi grinned before she shifted, dropping towards the ground though she slid down the last dozen or so feet with only one hand touching the side of the tree with a slight flicker of pale lavender-purple flame trailing from her hand where it made contact. "Whatcha doin?" Naruto said loudly as he seemed to melt out of the side of the tree, though only his upper body was visible.
-_-_-_-_-_-
Lorcán tilted his head fractionally.
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Mother Mellus cocked her head as she shifted her weight. "Meh... after all that happened over the past twenty or so seasons, we all needed time to heal,"she sighed with a shrug; she was nearly sixty years old herself.
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 11:39 am
Constance jumped when Merrick's uncle seemed to appear out of nowhere. He was sneaky, very sneaky. Her heart pounded in her chest and she took a deep breath to calm herself down as she laughed. "You startled me!" She looked back and forth between the brother and sister. ~~~~ "Yes, that is true." Cassandra said with a nod. "Martha and I were just showing Lorcan around. We have several others here as well. Merrick is here with us." She wasn't for sure if Mother Mellus knew him, but there was a good chance she did.
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 11:52 am
Merrick rolled his eyes as he shrugged, a faint half smile flickering over his face as he chuckled. "Trust me, he isn't the only one who pulled a few pranks... no doubt Hobbs is just discovering the trick I played on him with the 'water' that he used to rinse the frosting off. Fortunately I used dye that'll flake off in a couple of hours though he'll be dark burgundy and pink until then," he said wryly.
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Kasumi chuckled. "Grew up doing that to people for fun; got kinda bored just waiting around, so I decided to have a little fun," Naruto said as he shrugged, melding fully free from the tree. 'Hopefully you didn't pull any of your old 'tricks'," Kasumi sighed, though she knew immediately from Naruto's grin that he had. "Not really," Naruto said innocently. Kasumi's eyes narrowed: there was one word that never described Naruto under any circumstances, and that word was 'innocent'.
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Lorcán cocked an eyebrow at Mother Mellus' words, curious as to what she meant. Martha blinked as Hobbs came around the corner; his fur had changed color from its usual dark brown and gold to a deep burgundy and pink. She giggled before she realized it.
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Mother Mellus blinked with surprise. "Seems that a lot of our 'prank masters' are dropping by for a meal, among other things,"she laughed.
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 11:58 am
Constance laughed and shook her head. "Well I am sure Hobbs will be just thrilled." She stood there with her hands on her hips, looking at all three of them. You could see the family resemblance. She smiled a little. She was glad Merrick had his mother and uncle. She only wished her own mother were able to be here, but she was still held captive by Constance's uncle, her mother's own brother. ~~~~~ Cassandra heard Martha giggle and she turned, seeing Hobbs. She grinned a little and held back the laugh that wanted to fight free. "Well Hobbs, you seem a little different." She tiled her head to the side slightly.
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 12:17 pm
Merrick shrugged. "If she's anything like you, she's stubborn but kind," he said wryly.
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Kasumi laughed softly. "We'll find a way to get her out, trust me Constance," she said quietly, noticing the slight sadness on the girl's face. She nodded at her son's inexperienced description of Rosaline. The woman was stubborn, but friendly. She could also be brutally honest, sarcastic, and blunt.
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Lorcán chuckled. "Trust me, I know about that. I heard about one guy that liked to read in our manor but frankly wasn't pleasant socially at all to be around, and Merrick glued the guy's favorite book to his forehead while he was asleep," he said wryly, shrugging slightly.
-_-_-_-_-_-.
Mother Mellus laughed loudly. "He got you again, eh? It's better than the time Saro got that powdered poison ivy down your vest," she laughed.
Hobbs rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me... Saro and Merrick are nearly as bad as all three of them. I remember one time Brag got Merrick with an herb that had him laughing nonstop for three hours," he said wryly, shrugging.
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 12:36 pm
Constance looked at Merrick and Kasumi with a bit of surprise before smiling a little. It was amazing how they both knew what she had been thinking about. "Yes, I am sure we will." She said in response to Kasumi's words. Right now she didn't want to think about it. She just wanted to have a good time. "So, where to next." She asked Merrick with a smile. ~~~~~ Cassandra chuckled and shook her head. "Well children will be children. It's a little worse when they are natural born pranksters." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Well as long as we're here you're gonna see a lot more pranks."
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 12:49 pm
Merrick tilted his head with a shrug. "I don't know, to be honest.... I didn't really think this far ahead," he said wryly, rubbing the back of his neck with his gauntleted hand.
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Kasumi tilted her head thoughtfully as Naruto grinned, not all that surprised at the familiar embarrassment signal she recognized all too well as one Naruto tended to use often.
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Lorcán chuckled at the ottermaid healer's words; they were extraordinarily true.
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Mother Mellus chuckled. "That's one of the best thing about pranksters. They keep us alert and on our toes in our 'old age'," she said with a wink.
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 1:33 pm
Constance chuckled. "Well we can always just relax here for a little while. It is nice here." She tilted her head up to look at the trees before looking back to Merrick. ~~~~~ "Oh that is very true," Cassandra said with a laugh. "They definitely keep us on our toes. Wait until you meet Merrick's mother. She really loves to prank others." She looked over to where Martha was. "Was there something you wanted to talk to Mother Mellus about?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 2:16 pm
Kasumi cocked her head thoughtfully, tapping the tips of her fingers on her chin. "What about a little lesson? As I recall, Constance, you had strong affinities to both wind and water, which can create the bi-element of ice. Merrick, on the other hand, has affinities towards wind, water, earth, and fire. Different elemental affinities can create what is known as 'bi-elements' that use the energy of both elements to create a 'new' element. Also, I know about your Dōjutsu, Merrick, as well as Lorcan's; the interesting detail is that his and ours are actually related... but that can be gone into another time," she said with a shrug. Naruto chuckled. "For example, the different elemental affinities have strengths and weaknesses to one another, though bi-elements can nullify said weaknesses to some extent. Take a water affinity for example. They'd naturally be strong against fire and weak against lightning for obvious reasons, yet if the person in question has a secondary earth affinity like you, Merrick, they may be able to manipulate 'Mokuton', or 'Wood Release', which nullifies the weakness to lightning," he said with a shrug.
-_-_-_-_-_-
Merrick blinked as both his mother and uncle leaned against their respective trees and began explaining their elemental talents to himself and Constance.
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Lorcán cocked his head as he heard an odd popping sound, but dismissed it when Martha shook her head. "I was surprised to see her up here, but then, she's up here a lot with the mischief the Dibbuns get into," she said wryly.
-_-_-_-_-_-.
Mother Mellus pouted momentarily in a comical way. "You don't want to brighten an old woman's day? I'm hurt," she said with a hurt tone that was obviously faked as she was fighting back a laugh.
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 5:44 pm
Constance's gaze went back and forth between Naruto and Kasumi. They were both explaining hers and Merrick's elemental talents. Well they had come here to learn and train. She was hoping for some alone time with Merrick, but that would come about later. She listened carefully to Kasumi and Naruto, trying to remember what they were saying. ~~~~~ "Aww, and I thought seeing me would brighten your day," Cassandra said with a teasing pout. She crossed her arms over her chest, giving the molemaid a glare that didn't have any malice behind it. ~~~~ Merida could hear Naruto and Kasumi speaking to Merrick and Constance, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. She moved closer to them and leaned against a tree, listening quietly.
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