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 Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 8:03 pm
Skimming over the written words on the pages, Howl nodded his head slightly. Even if it was absolutely fruitless to continue glancing over the words to get a gist of what this book was about, the lad couldn't help but continue to glance over a few pages, nodding his head slightly. True, it was just a log of business transactions, but it still still interesting, nonetheless.
After skimming over about 10 pages, Howl seemed satisfied and closed the book just as carefully as he had opened it. "That was indeed intriguing" he commented with a slight chuckle. "Not helpful in the slightest, but it was still rather interesting."
Once more, he retrieved the saddlebag and returned the book back to its original resting place before glancing to the carpet.
"Well, if a name is in need, then we can come up with something elegant enough to suit such a lovely carpet." With a smile, he drew a hand close to the fabric, trailing fingers appreciatively over the beautiful designs.
"However, if it were not for the fact it is an animated inanimate object, I would be more prone to naming it something feminine. It is a rather affectionate and emotional carpet."
Already, the teal-haired fellow was already brainstorming various names, gender neutral and feminine.
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 11:31 am
"Something elegant? Like Tapestry-ella? That's different and pretty."
Boreas patted the carpet once more and grabbed the corners loosely. He was ready to go, to explore the desert on their new ride, or at the very least find a way out of the heat. Speaking of the heat, why hadn't the sun set? Why did it seem as if they were stuck in the middle of the day with a blaring hot sun that refused to set? When did he even get here? How did he get here?
Boreas puzzled over these questions for a few minutes. The easiest answer that came to mind would be that there wasn't any answer to these questions. The desert was some form of extreme torture and Boreas was going to experience it to the fullest.
"How about we try to get the carpet to take us somewhere again. Wait... I can't believe this hasn't been asked before. Why did someone with a floating carpet have a camel? Is that why there was only one set of footprints at time?"
Just what the pair of travelers needed: more questions.
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 12:45 pm
There was more than enough room for both of them on the carpet; in fact, they could've both stretched out on it comfortably for a nap, if not for the damaged quadrant. That seemed to lend some validity to Boreas's question: if the man or the camel was always riding on the carpet, resulting in the single set of footprints, why didn't they both ride? The answer seemed to be on the tip of his tongue.
The carpet had responded favorably to Boreas and Howl's friendlier entreaties -- perhaps one of them had inadvertently said the magic word after all. It flew around them in a slow circle before settling in place in the air again -- whereupon Boreas had climbed back up on it and was tugging at its two remaining tassels.
In response, the carpet obediently went the direction he indicated -- but something wasn't quite right.
Instead of shooting forward in a straight line, the carpet swung to the right in a dizzying amusement-park-teacup rotation, as though caught in an endless hairpin turn. Oh, dear. They wouldn't get very far that way.
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 1:57 pm
"Nelumbo."
The word seemed to come out of nowhere, but as the less worn of the pair approached the carpet and gently stroked a hand over the woven cloth, he mentioned "The genus of plants such as water lilies. It is simple, yet a foreign and attractive name." It went unmentioned that it was also feminine. If it had to do with a flowering plant, Howl most certainly knew a decent amount of information about it.
Howl had not yet climbed up on the carpet when it began to float along. For a while, he attempted to keep in pace with the mystical cloth as it floated along, but when the path it was taking became evident, Howl's feet stopped in place. It wasn't any use to kick up all this sand with his feet if they were just going in a circle.
"There is always the possibility that the camel was something the owner valued. Much like a pet."
There was a pause.
"Perhaps you should attempt tugging less with the right hand. Nelumbo is missing a decent chunk of her fabric and is probably not used to it yet. So I would imagine maybe treating her tassels in a similar fashion to reins on a horse may assist in righting her lack in balance?"
His eyes followed along with the moving carpet and his companion on said moving carpet. "If that does not work, I suppose I could walk along the side for a bit and assist in guiding the carpet onto a straight pathway." A small smile found a way onto his dried lips. It was obvious the teal-haired lad figured it was finally his turn to walk along the desert.
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 8:00 pm
"Nelumbo works for me, how about you, Carpet?"
Not that Boreas knew how the carpet would respond, but he felt it a polite enough gesture. He especially didn't want it going crazy after what just happened.
Boreas felt dizzy. After wondering in the hot, smoldering desert without any water and then feeling fatigued by the camel carcass situation, he didn't handle being thrown into a circle by his new found companion. His expression was one of not only nausea, but also fatigue. Whatever option the group decided on, it needed to be made fast, before Boreas became dead weight like their old friend the camel carcass.
"Ugh, that wasn't what I had hoped for."
He then took a deep breathe and tried to push the nausea away. After clearing his head for a moment, he then examined the carpet again. It certainly seemed capable of flying in a proper manner, but for some reason didn't.
"Do you think it can't fly properly because of the the tattered corner? Not that I can think of a way to fix that, but do you suppose that is the reason? If you want to try flying low with one of us on it and the other guiding, that is fine by me."
He gave Howl another smile and sat with his legs hanging off the side of the carpet. He could manage to walk or he would prefer to if the carpet decided to go on another roller coaster rampage.
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 8:25 pm
Without any particular instructions, the carpet wavered in place, weak and weary. (It seemed to be trying to make Boreas more comfortable, however, by shaping itself to his frame.)
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 8:33 pm
"Would you be able to walk properly if you were missing a foot? Perhaps missing your foot all the way up to your shin?" It seemed like an appropriate comparison.
As Nelumbo remained hovering over the sand, Howl rounded the carpet, letting his fingers trail over the fine cloth. It was almost as if he was petting a cat delicately. Yet, Howl would have never pet a cat. He was allergic to their fur.
Once he reached the front edge, he glanced first to his companion, then to Nelumbo. It was difficult to decide where the "eyes" on a carpet were, but Howl decided to look at the left corner towards the front as if he was talking to a person.
"Nelumbo, would you be so kind as to move forward again? In a straight path, but slow enough for me to walk beside you?" Casually, as if taking the hand of a young lady, he took a hold of the tassel at the corner. Nelumbo had been veering towards the right, so if Howl held onto the left hand tassle, then perhaps there could be some sort of balance.
Hopefully the carpet was not ridiculously strong. That would be rather embarrassing. To be physically weaker than a magic carpet.
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 9:38 pm
Boreas made himself comfortable as the carpet shifted. Their relationship had certainly improved. He gave Nelumbo a gentle pat and turned to Howl.
"That sounds like a really good idea. Starting slow may be the best way for us to work together, since Nelumbo is still injured."
Things were looking up for the new trio of companions. Boreas hoped they would only continue to do so.
"So, Nelumbo, you wouldn't perhaps know a way out of here?"
It was the first of many questions that puzzled Boreas. He wanted to ask about the previous traveler, the camel, the camel's attacker, the footprints and so so much more.
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 10:23 am
When Howl took hold of one of the tassels, the carpet again dipped into a clockwise turn as it had before -- but slowly, this time, as though trying to go gently on Boreas who was riding it. Howl's attempt to reorient it didn't seem to have any effect.
However, perhaps appreciating the gentle treatment of both its new companions, the carpet slowed to a stop and then paused for a moment, seemingly awaiting their attention.
Then, in a careful motion, it raised two of its corners, the ones whose tassels they'd been tugging on, and lowered them again. With equal deliberacy, a moment later, it raised its remaining corner, the one with the missing tassel, and then lowered it again. It repeated this sequence a few times.
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 12:27 pm
Boreas curiously watched as Nelumbo raised each side, minus the injured one. The movement and the repetition made Boreas believe that the floating carpet was trying to convey a message to the two travelers.
Boreas then grabbed hold of the two corners before him. He didn't grasp as much as hold up the two tassels. He then released them and waited a moment. After a few seconds he grabbed the remaining tassel and turned to Howl.
"I think Nelumbo is trying to show up something. Maybe if we both get aboard and move the tassels. Similar to the reins on a horse, perhaps? No offense Nelumbo."
Boreas didn't want to evoke the carpet's wrath after his first encounter.
Nelumbo presented an odd riddle and the pair were going to think outside the box to fully solve the enigma, especially since they couldn't communicate in ordinary language.
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 1:23 pm
The one who remained on the sand let out a gentle laugh as he walked for a moment or two in that strange clockwise arc. "Nelumbo, you most certainly are an interesting puzzle, I hope you realize this!"
When the carpet paused and began the new motions, Howl watched carefully, momentarily chewing on his bottom lip a bit. It was a horrid nervous habit to have, but he was slowly losing his tight guard upon how he maintained himself. Hours on end in a desert could do that to a lad.
"It is possible that the tassels serve as reins. Yet, it would seem we have been doing it wrong if they are. Perhaps the two we have been tugging on are equivalent to turning right and the one remaining is to turn left. Or, perhaps we need to hold all three tassels as we ride. Meaning that I would need to board."
Not being very presumptuous, he lifted the tassel he had been holding onto just earlier. "Nelumbo, my dear, with your permission, might I come aboard?" He was not going to risk being thrown off in a silly fashion like the Senshi almost had been just earlier.
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 1:33 pm
The carpet held itself very still for Howl to climb aboard. Once both boys had seated themselves, their new magical conveyance took off -- slowly, but giving them time to adjust. The carpet traveled in a straight line, but, considering that Howl and Boreas had both oriented themselves assuming the two intact tassels were the reins, and thus the front of the carpet, they seemed to be travelling in a straight line to their left, rather than directly ahead.
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 2:07 pm
As he climbed aboard, he uttered out a very polite "Thank you, my dear." When the carpet began to move, it was very obvious they were not spinning in any form of a circle. It also became blatantly obvious that the front was not where Boreas had assumed initially the front was. Since it came across that they were traveling left, the teal-haired fellow did not seem to find any trouble in readjusting himself into turning 90 degrees counterclockwise so he was facing the direction they were now going.
"Well, Mr. Boreas, I suspect that explains a lot. Come now, turn and face this direction so we can see what is coming up ahead." Casually, Howl plucked his sunglasses from his forehead and settled them over the bridge of his nose so the lenses were once more in front of his eyes.
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 2:54 pm
The sensation of the cool desert air created by Nelumbo's take off breathed new life into Boreas and revitalized his dried out husk of a body. He closed his eyes for a moment to let some of the sand blow off his face. After this long in the desert, Boreas had a while new layer of skin composed entirely of sand. He didn't mind they were going the wrong way for the moment, he needed the rest and the slight breeze it afforded him. Though he soon knew that he needed to to solve the puzzle that was Nelumbo.
"That does explain a lot. I'm glad we are finally able to fly properly. I hope you are too Nelumbo!"
He then turned around to the direction that Howl had advised. Boreas then adjusted himself and grabbed the other tassel. He hoped this would help them steer in the right direction.
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 3:35 pm
The instant Boreas reached down and grabbed the tassel, the carpet perked up and began swerving to the right as indicated.
All that would be needed to turn the carpet back to the left would be to pull on one of the tassels on that side, then --
Except that there were no tassels on the left hand side. That was the side with the corner that was missing its tassel, and the other corner that was missing entirely. What to do?
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