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 Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 10:50 am
Kasumi snickered softly, amused; she was pretty sure that was why shinobi as a whole tended to be rather... strange. They tended to hide their trauma with their 'eccentric' nature.
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Merrick smiled faintly, shifting his weight. A soft scrape followed as he momentarily dragged one foot in the dust, humming under his breath.
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Lorcán shrugged. "Well, we've gotten off light, and I don't mean those of us that have... " he said as he grinned at Cassandra, fairly sure she'd realize he was referring to himself and her.
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Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 4:24 pm
Cassandra grinned back at Lorcan, her cheeks flushing slightly. Oh she had a good idea to what he was referring to. She walked close to him, their arms brushing against each other. His nearness was calming to her. Otherwise she was sure she would be going a bit crazy right about now. After all she had learned. She shook her head slightly. "So, how far is this place," Constance asked as she glanced over at Merrick. She saw the small smile on his face and it made her smile. His smile was beautiful to her. "Shouldn't be too far," Amelia said as her head tilted to the side. Without anyone realizing it she had taken off her shoes and her feet moved lightly across the ground. She could feel the change in the earth as they got closer to the water.
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Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 6:48 pm
Kasumi tilted her head as a breeze blew past; she noticed a hint of damp warmth, but remained quiet.
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Merrick chuckled softly before he answered. "It's only a few hundred yards more, tenshi-kitsu," he said with amusement as the.path curved to their left before changing into a set of sweeping switchbacks that led into an old tunnel that he knew had once held a very infamous adder. The tunnel was dimly lit but led to a wide open and ancient quarry that held a small waterfall that emptied into the hot spring.
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Lorcán was surprised to find, half hidden under a tree root, a full greenish black snake scale that was easily six inches from end to end and a good three inches wide; he didn't know that the serpent Merrick had mentioned had left it behind.
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Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 7:02 pm
Cassandra grinned, getting excited about being close to the hot spring. She looked over at Lorcan as he found the scale. She sighed and shook her head a little. "That is a scale from the serpent," she said to him softly. "This is nice," Constance said as they came closer to the hot spring. She could feel the change in the air before it came into site completely. All her senses seemed more acute now. Nala ran ahead of the rest of them, disappearing around a corner. Amelia chuckled and shook her head. "A strange feline who actually enjoys water." She smirked a little bit.
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 12:00 pm
Kasumi chuckled at Lorcan's shocked look. "Very intimidating to think about, eh?" she murmured.
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Merrick tilted his head as Haname darted down the path after Nala. It was obvious the young vixen was very fond of Nala and likely Constance as well. He half turned when Constance spoke seconds before his foot slid on a few loose stones, sending him skidding down on his rear all the way down almost to the tunnel.
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Lorcán flinched momentarily, dropping the scale. He exhaled at Kasumi's mildly teasing tone. "If that's one scale, the snake itself had to be... ridiculously massive," he murmured. "You were what, ten or eleven?" he said softly, thoughtfully.
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 12:20 pm
Constance giggled and shook her head as Merrick slipped and skidded down the slope. She jogged to catch up to him and looked down at him, laughter still in her eyes. "Are you okay?"Cassandra's head tilted to the side slightly as she listened to Lorcan. She sighed and nodded slowly. "It was very intimidating. I am not going to lie. I was scared out of my mind. I can't remember exactly how old I was, but it would scare anyone of any age." She shuddered a little and shook her head. She hated to think about that time. She looked to the side just in time to see Merrick slide down the slope. Cassandra grinned and held back laughter. Merida's eyes had widened when she saw the scale and Cassandra said that was from the serpent. She shuddered and rubbed her arms. She couldn't imagine facing something that large. When Merrick suddenly slipped and slid down the slope with Constance jogging to catch up with him, she burst out into laughter.
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 12:47 pm
Kasumi blinked when her son slipped, but giggled slightly when Constance loped after him. She shifted her gaze down the path to the tunnel to keep herself from subtly doing something a bit embarrassing. It'd be extremely embarrassing if I admitted or gave a sign I was interested in my son's mate in that way, she thought sheepishly, unconsciously meeting Carolyn's eyes.
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Merrick grunted slightly as he got his feet under him. "Yeah; the good thing about embarrassing incidents like this, if nothing else, is that it keeps one from getting too large of an ego," he said with mild amusement, glancing back at Merida when she laughed though he didn't mind it.
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Lorcán exhaled. "I don't blame you; the idea of a snake with hundreds of scales that size," he said with a shiver; one of the few animals he didn't like was snakes.
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 1:12 pm
Carolyn had seen Kasumi watching Constance, and when Merrick's mother looked her way, she raised an eyebrow slightly. She grinned a little, shrugged, and began to walk again. She had a feeling she might know what kind of thoughts the other woman was having, but Carolyn wasn't going to say anything. Constance chuckled some more as she nodded and held her hand out to Merrick. "Everyone needs to have embarrassing moments to keep their egos in check. I will agree to that." She glanced over at Merida as she began to laugh. Cassandra placed her hand gently on Lorcan's arm. She knew how he hated snakes. They normally didn't bother her, but the one that had dropped that scale and terrified her beyond words. "Not all snakes are bad. This was was the exception though." Everyone had their own fears. Hers were spiders. It didn't matter the size or type. She hated them all.
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 1:40 pm
Kasumi shrugged back before she carefully moved down the pathway to the tunnel, cocking her head as she noticed clear and pale blue gemstones embedded in the top of the tunnel that shed light into the tunnel every few yards.
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Merrick chuckled as he took his mate's hand. "Could be worse; I could be a fat guy trying to take a swim in winter and belly flop straight onto the ice," he said with a laugh.
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Lorcán sighed. "At least we aren't dealing with giant spiders or giant... scorpions," he said softly.
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 1:50 pm
"Aye, that would be worse," Constance laughed as she helped Merrick to his feet. She looked at the tunnel, seeing the same thing that Kasumi was looking at. "Wow, that's nice," she said softly. "Yeah, good thing," Cassandra agreed with a nod. Scorpions and spiders...now those were two things she really didn't like at all. She went out of her way to avoid them. And if she came across one, she more than often tended to kill them. But only if they were inside her home. If they were outside she just walked the other way. Carolyn whistled softly as she entered the cave and saw the gemstones. "Those are beautiful."
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 2:08 pm
Kasumi tilted her head thoughtfully. "At least now we can see. Walking in the dark could be more frightening than encountering giant animals," she said wryly.
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Merrick tilted his head, amused; he wondered if they'd realize he'd embedded the stones in there; it was much harder to carve the channels that allowed the sunlight in, however, as the tunnel was actually a massive root of a petrified tree. "Looks like quartz crystals... and I think aquamarine crystals," he said thoughtfully as he walked towards the tunnel.
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Lorcán chuckled. "The fortunate thing is that there aren't any around here," he said with a chuckle.
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 2:20 pm
"You, afraid of the dark," Carolyn teased lightly as she walked ahead of Kasumi. The dark had never frightened her. She knew, however, that there were a lot of people who were terrified of it. Constance's arm linked with Merrick's as they walked to the tunnel. She liked the gemstones, they were absolutely beautiful. "Aquamarine has always been my favorite color," she said softly. "That and Amethyst.""Yes, we are very fortunate in that regard," Cassandra grinned at Lorcan. She was really looking forward to being able to relax here. She pushed some hair from her face as they made their way forward. Nala darted back towards the others, circled them, and then ran ahead again. Amelia chucked and shook her head. "She is anxious for us to arrive."
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 2:34 pm
Kasumi rolled her eyes. "It kinda comes from being stuck for twenty years in a dark cavern with torchlight being the only source of light, when I was lucky," she sighed.
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Merrick smiled faintly. "I'm not that surprised, though it seems she's more energetic than Haname," he remarked as he entered the tunnel, which was a little under forty feet in length.
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Lorcán tilted his head in a nod as he followed Merrick into the tunnel. He was mildly surprised to see a wooden gate at the end, surrounded by three different gemstones that were sky blue, crimson red, and brilliant golden orange. Sapphire, ruby, and unless I'm mistaken, a large chunk of amber, he thought.
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 3:13 pm
Carolyn nodded slowly as she listened to Kasumi. She had forgotten that the other woman had been held in darkness for so many years. She couldn't 'imagine that what Kasumi had gone through. "Nala has always been that way," Amelia said with a chuckle. "She is so full of energy when she decides that she wants to play. This is the first time in a long time that she has played like this."Cassandra smiled as she saw what had been done with the cave. The gems caught her eye and she studied them for a moment. They were beautiful. "Hmm, a nice place," Merida said as she looked around. "A nice getaway."
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 3:49 pm
Kasumi sighed. "All in all, considering what has happened thus far, I am happy to be free," she sighed wryly.
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Merrick tilted his head as he stepped closer to the gate which unlatched with a low twanging sound before he pushed lightly. "Wait until you see it," he said as he pushed the gate open to reveal the open air hot springs. One light gray changing shed was several yards away and held handwoven towels that were warned and dried.by the sun.
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Lorcán noticed the interlocking fence of reddish brown wood and was fairly sure there was an inner fence to separate the male and female sides. He took a couple of steps beyond the gate and tilted his head back with interest upon seeing the twin five and a half foot wide cascading waterfalls; he wondered how long it had taken to build all of this, especially handmade as it was. He also noticed.several shelves on both sides of the pathway leading into the spring itself stocked with bathing supplies. I guess that actually bathing is optional here; I wouldn't be surprised to find more... private.. pools as well, he thought.
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