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 Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:58 am
Hand made scarves, 'exotic pots,' and was that a broken pocket watch? Honestly, this place had everything that was findable in Gaia. Including a half demon and a rather intimidated rabbit.
Tsuya wasn't big on crowds, but curiosity had drug him out to the flea market. What with their advertisements that they had anything and everything. Curiosity could do a lot to anyone, even drag a hermit out into a crowd. Harle had just been drug along as he was sort of his responsibility today. And socialization was important for children. Or so Raja had claimed that morning. The fact of the matter was he was holding tightly to the child who continued to try and shrink back behind him.
Harle liked people, she really did, but she didn't like strange one's she knew nothing about. Afterall, who knew what they might do. It wasn't like dragons, or family. She knew them, they were nice. But who knew what these might do. Some internal instinct in her said to be wary. Thus, she just stared large eyed at the crowds and scampered along behind the guardian before her, who wasn't much older than her brother really. Still, he was some defense...
Why were they here anyway? It was too loud? A frown planted itself on her face as her ears fell flat as a rather loud holler was heard as someone protested the price of an object. Likely meaning that the pair would now be working on the price over time. God only knew what about, she just wanted out. Even if some of the trinkets did catch her eye.
"Hmm..?" Tsuya paused suddenly, noting an object on a table a moment before inching closer to take a better look. What.. exactly was it? Likely some piece of modern art in truth, but at the same time he couldn't resist picking it up briefly to get a better look, which meant releasing the child's hand for a moment. "Stay put please, Harle." He mumbled quietly to the girl before suddenly glancing up at a loud voice. Apparently the shopkeep was quick to notice possible customers as he nearly launched himself at the boy with claims about the object. Needless to say, Tsuya was soon distracted with the stream of utter nonsense that was being issued from the man's mouth.
Which left Harle starring up in some form of paranoia as she battled with the new lack of attachment to something. Even was was the fact that within a minute she was nearly knocked over by a mob moving by, and within a few seconds of bouncing from one foot to the next to keep her balance and keep from being trampled she'd lost sight of the pale aqua head she'd been trying to keep sight off. There was now a firm barrier between herself and the only known safety she'd had previously.
...oh this was bad. She didn't even have Ymir around to protect her from the noises. A low squeak of a whimper escaped her as she backed up another few steps from the oncoming legs and glanced around trying to find her target. No such luck, which left the orange haired child to wander the masses in hopes of bumping into him again. "Tsuya?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:25 am
The nature of a flea market seemed absurd. Kenneth was uncertain of what had compelled him to peek inside. He had never really been to one; it had been years, he was confident. Nevertheless, there was an evident charm to the slogan of 'anything and everything you desire'. The jack-of-all trades, world of antiques and items, had driven him forward. With wary curiosity in tact, it had become the task of the day, preceding his former idea of picking up a few books. If he were lucky, the trip wouldn't even be considered a pit stop - there was the chance he might find them floating around! Not to mention, he supposed, it would be a bit of an experience. Hopefully of the good variety.
As he passed the entry way, looking back at the car with a grimace, a feeling of dread had settled into his stomach. The man he was, he only gave a sigh and stuffed a hand into his jacket's pocket. The other had thoughtfully stroked his beard in pace with his step.
"Goooldfish!" The howl had echoed throughout the area, loud and out of key. Max had been excited. Before they had began the trip, Kenneth had grabbed something from the cabinet - a box - and had said 'see if you like these?' as if it were an actual question. The cheesy goodness, the fishy appeal. It was superb! And as he clattered to the flea market's proximity, all Max could do was shove the snack-treat into his mouth. He had chomped. He had whistled, sputtered crumbs in the messy manner of an all too eager little boy.His tail had clacked with the pool rings as he bounced, scurrying and twirling with the box in hand. "T-t-t-the snack tha-tha-that smiles back!" He had howled again. His fingers had jittered against the box, only calming when he had paused a moment to eye thing. Suddenly, he had dropped his snack. His face had grown long; his whiskers had twitched after depleting the formerly happy smile. The expression of surprise had seemed to over-take his face.
It was like a playground. Boas had been strung within some small shops, sea shells, jewelry, toys, baskets of unidentified items. He was unsure of what half of the items were, but they were intriguing enough to have stopped him immediately. "Whoa." He had breathed; then he had looked down to see his cheese crackers scattered. The fish were splayed everywhere, motionless, dead, and unappealing. His toes had wriggled as he leaned over to grab his box, not bothering to pick up what had fallen. In a loving manner, he had sealed the thing. He had tucked it under his arm, and had smoothed the shirt Kenneth had forced onto him. The thing was enormous, and, though Max had not protested much, he had felt as if he were ... Wearing a dress. But, as Kenneth had said: 'you can't walk around without a shirt all of the time and swim-trunks. It's like walking in your underwear, get dressed'. Max didn't want to be in his underwear.
Smiling broadly, he had began to move without direction. His eyes had fleeted frantically as his pace took to a wild bound. He had jumped to the air, then landed, then repeated. All the while he had seemed to laugh and twist. He had tripped. He had stumbled, nearly dropping his box several times. Soon he had lost sight of Kenneth, his spinning having left him dizzy.
It was a short-lived euphoria, however. Soon he had heard his name echo over the crowds. He had stumbled, crashing into a basket of soft blankets (which had toppled over with him in it). His multi-toned hair had frenzied as he rolled beneath a clothing rack - and there he had been caught. He had been entangled by a seeming dozen blankets and clothing items. He had bee trapped to the point of which he seemed incapable of moving. What was worse? He had lost sight of his goldfish box ... "Owww...."
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Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:51 am
Deep breaths, deeeeeeeep breaths. Ok, that didn't work time to panic. Only a few seconds had passed since she lost sight of the boy and already the feel of death seemed to be clouding over her. Not that she recognized what it was, just a sinking fear in the pit of her stomach that made it harder to stand there by the second. And then another loud noise from behind, a shout really, and she was off zipping through the crowd at top speed. Which wasn't too fast considering her age, but she was actually quite good at ducking between the sea of legs.
A few flashes of orange hair between the various shades of jeans, slacks, and all sorts of leggings. A slight trip as she hit a shoe and used her hands to catch herself as someone hollered a 'watch it at her' which sent her scampering even further away from her original position. Both ears laid flat against her head as she ducked under a bag swinging at a woman's side and glanced back to ensure whatever thing that was causing this dread wasn't following her. Which lead to a new problem as her foot snagged something soft causing her to fall forward with an squeal of dismay. A few moments of thrashing as she tried to free herself from the new enemy only further tangled her in the mess which sent the child into more of a frenzy.
Oh god, oh god what was she going to do!? It had caught her!. "NOOOOO!" A loud whine escaped her as she gave a for more futile thrashes, not thoroughly caught up in the mess before finally stopping with her struggling long enough to observe her situation. She was still panting loudly as she eyed her captor, a set of blankets, pretty soft actually.
"...leggo." She grumbled trying to shove herself up again hang pressing against something too squishy to be a blanket, which brought to her knowledge the presence of another thing in the blankets. A quick glance and she found the identity of the 'thing.' A child with brown hair that looked about her age. Sadly, that didn't compute as a good thing. Instead Max's presence earned a moment of shock before one arm raised to attempt to shove him away. "Strangersisbad!"
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Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:07 pm
Max had been squiggling loosely within the blankets. With little care, he had tried to worm his way to freedom, but the hold had been too great. He had been trapped, held and locked as a wild occurrence had taken the stage. He had heard a shrill squeal; the rush of thrashes startling him. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he was screaming within his mind. His tail had thrashed. His rings had jiggled, threatening to disperse from their proper location. The more the blankets moved, the more he had began to feel unnerved himself. He was in a situation not easily rectified. It was nothing like crashing into a trash can, or venturing outdoors alone. He could not move. He could not react to his surroundings beyond his own grunts and 'oofs'.
As the scene had unfolded, he had heard a reign of noises. A voice belonging to someone he did not know. That had not come as a surprise, but it had certainly been a discomfort until the blankets were shifted. His eyes had met those belonging to a girl. He had seemed to stare at her with wide, confused eyes. The entire rush had been a torrent faster than even he could comprehend.
His whiskers had twitched. His jaw had dropped as if he were about to say something to her - but, before he could even formulate a sentence, he had felt a brutal bout of pressure. Smack! The shove had reeled him, weakening the tangles of the blankets and clothing. He had not fallen out of his mess, but he had fallen back. His tail had flickered, the rings rattling wildly as he kicked a bit himself. Strandersisbad!? What had she just said?
"S-s-s-stop! Stop it! What're you doing?!" Max had snapped, rolling himself around. Through luck, he had managed to free his arms enough to try and wiggle his way further out. "Hittin' is bad - no hittin', Tornado." The instant name for the phenomena. Tornado. " What'chu do that for? What'd I do - what'd I do?" He had been whining, rubbing at his head and fixing the over-sized shirt. After a while, he had simply torn the thing off and tossed it aside in anger. Underwear or no underwear, he hated shirts.
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Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:24 pm
Whack, direct hit, she'd gotten rid of that threat for the moment. It was even retreating. A few huffs as she tried to untangle her legs, shoving the blankets away as she wriggled away more, ears twitching as the other person made noise. Eyes turned away from the binding folds to watch the creature as it protested, claiming that hitting was bad. "'Strangersisthebadones." She quickly chirped in reply, snapping her mouth shut before managing to pull free finally and tug her legs up closer to her. "Soeesok." As if a bad and a bad equaled each other out, then again, what more logic could you expect from a frightened child?
"Youbeenthere." She huffed at the question, hunching down into something of a ball, hands wrapping around her legs before clenching into fits with bunches of her skirt in each. "Gonnadobadstuffcausestrangersisbad." Obviously this was a memorized phrase taught by an overprotective parent. Where that parent was at the moment was the problem. "Soeesyour fault." She grumbled, ears drooping down on each side of her head as the boy tugged off his shirt. "Dadsayseesbadtonotwearstuff." And suddenly it seemed as if she'd temporarily forgotten that- "WHICHPROVESYOU'REABADSTRANGER!" She hollered, apparently back on the subject at hand.
A few quick breaths as the panic once more started to take over, hands clenching harder around the pale green fabric of her skirt. "Idunwannagethurtbyth'badstrangers!" She wailed, this time whining more than anything. Not that there was anyone around to do anything about it. Oddly enough, most of the adults seemed too busy shopping to notice two young children spazzing out in a bunch of blankets.
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Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 1:49 pm
It was a taste of his own medicine. Max could feel his chest tightening. He could feel the swimming awkwardness of looking at the girl, of listening to her. As he tended to his half-bit sore from being nudged, he had winced. His brows had been drawn together. His head and shoulders had sank as he curled over, rocking back and forth a moment; then he had take a deep breath. The sting had remained. A contact he was not used to, and one which had thrown him as off guard as his crash into the basket of blankets and the clothing rack. Kenneth would kill him when he found the mess, he was sure - but, by the look of it, the girl would kill him too. Thinking the worst of either situation, he had not run himself. He had only tended, glaring half-heartedly when he could.
His whiskers had wriggled again as he processed what she was rambling about. Gonna do bad stuff. Who was going to do bad stuff? His face had grown longer; then he had began laughing. He had rocked out of his entanglement, falling over to roll onto his stomach int the blankets. He was the bad guy - the one doing bad stuff? It seemed funny - she was the one who had come out of no where.
Suddenly, Max was amused. The entire situation had taken on a comedic life as he grinned at the girl. Strangers were bad. He was a stranger. Not wearing things is bad. Sounded just like Kenneth. "It's too big - big." He had snorted, sitting himself up again. His head had quirked, a devious expression finding its home. "You'reafunnygirl." He had huffed at his own pace, slowly only when he felt the desire to stand up. His legs had wobbled a bit from his lack of good balance. "It's not mine; Pie's. Pie's shirt - he's big. Biiiig." Max had gestured, bloating out his cheeks and exaggerating fatness.
All the more reason it was good that Kenneth were not present.
"And no! Nooope! Hittin' bad. Hittin' is bad, 'kay, Tornado? KAY!" He had snickered again, kicking one of the blankets with his foot. In a slightly tidy manner, he had smoothed out crinkles of his red shorts. "Strangers ain't bad. 'less they grab you - then they're bad, but they never grab me." His nose had wriggled as he looked over his shoulder. He could still hear Kenneth looking for him, but he was preoccupied. Shrugging it off, he had turned back to the girl. His tongue had clucked as he thought. Kenneth had never explained what a stranger was to him. The word itself was almost foreign, known only through its occasional use within a reading that Max had forced upon his warden. "Strangers are people you dun know, yeah?"
He had paused a moment, eying the girl as she panicked and clung to her skirt. He had never seen anyone so nervous. "M-m-m-my name's M-maxi...Maxi....Maximill..." He would never understand that long name. Why he continued with it, he would never know. He simply felt compelled to pronounce it. "Max. My name's Max!" He had stated after a while, taking a few steps backwards for his own security. "You gotta say you're sorry, 'cus you hit me - say 'I'm sorry, Max'." He had tapped his foot, puffing out his lips irritably. Once more he glanced over his shoulder, though more in desire for his Goldfish. Maybe he could enlist her in helping him find it? He bet it had skidded all across the place!
"Lost my Goldfish. You seen 'em. They're ... Yellow - an' a red box - like this!" He had whirled around, grasping one of his red rings from his tail to show her.
Kenneth would have to wait on him. He was finding his fish if it were the last thing he'd ever do. Then he'd hunt the man down and pretend he hadn't knocked anything over. The last thing he wanted was to get yelled at when he had a book in need of reading. He could not read. Kenneth was his video-tape. All he had to do was say 'Read, Pie', and he read ... But only if he had behaved. A little. Sort of. In his own way.
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Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 2:37 pm
The girl nibbled at her lip absent minded as she tried to figure out a solution to all of this. Normally she'd employ her favourite plush for that, but as of current Carroh' was no where to be found, so her lip had to do. A brief glance over her shoulder to see if her current pillar of safety had magically surfaced and she slumped down again. Hopeless, this was hopeless. She was surrounded by bad, bad strangers and- this one was laughing.
Oh that couldn't be good, not at all. Fingers loosened then tightened again as she rocked lightly, watching as he spoke up. Too big? So it was bad to wear big clothes. She thought a moment before nodding. "Tolargeisbadtoo." She'd had to borrow something from a sibling before and it wasn't comfortable. And funny? Well that wasn't so bad, Ymir was funny and she liked Ymir. So he liked her for being funny? Well maybe he wasn't so bad, less of a stranger anyway. "WhoisPie? Big? Sothat'skindofbad?" Though her brother was bigger so that couldn't be right. "Butnottoobigsoit'salright." She added as an after thought more to herself than anything as she glanced up, briefly ignoring the boy.
And then he went on with calling her some name. She was not a tornado thing, not that she knew what that was, she was a Harle. "HAR-LEE!" She called, ignoring what he'd said besides that. "Nottonadothing. Harle." A simple name to pronounce really, something she'd been blessed to receive.
Though then she had much to think about. Perhaps not all strangers were bad then? She twitched an ear, obviously thinking hard on the matter. "So'slongastheydungrabmeitisok?" She asked suddenly, leaning forward obviously curious as to the answer. "Thenth'blankiesarebad?" So her concept of strangers was a bit skewed, it was better than nothing. "S'thingsyadunknowyea." Things, people, same difference. If she didn't know it it could be a danger. Or so she'd been told to assume.
"Max?" She thought a moment then nodded. "SorrytoMax. Notabadstrangerdidn'tgrab." She did know right from wrong though, and since he wasn't a BAD stranger, nor technically a stranger anymore, he deserved an apology. Afterall, strangers didn't have names. "MynameisHarle." She added in case the earlier snap hadn't gotten the point across before letting the boy continue. He did seem a bit preoccupied suddenly. "Fishies?" She babbled under her breath looking around. "Nono,onlysawMaxan'blankies." She replied, obviously peering around at the floor. "SeenaTsuya?" She asked, glancing back at him. "Tsuyaseesspottyandblue." Close enough.
Ah yes, she certainly needed to find Tsuya, perhaps this Max had seen him. They both had a goal afterall. "NeedafindhimsoIdungetsnatchedbybadstrangers." She drummed her wings along her legs, standing up as well finally obviously now intending to use the new non-stranger as her protection from the bad things. As long as there was something that wouldn't do bad around it was enough.
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Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 9:14 am
Max's lips had curled with seeming satisfaction; he was please to see that the girl was calming down, or trying to calm down. Skittish, frantic. She seemed a little paranoid and fidgety, but he supposed that was how some kids were. It was difficult for him to understand still. He loved people, things, and wandering. The strange girl seemed utterly different - but why? He bet her parents had instilled the strangers are bad thing into her mind.
His tail had seemed to wiggle a little, his rings jingling in their customary, rhythmic way. "Pie is Pie... Uhm." Max had paused briefly, seeming to pout at the idea of having to explain who the man was. He knew so little about 'Pie'. He was a teacher, who Max had never seen teach a class, and who liked his books, didn't like drinking, but did it anyway when he was angry, and who liked to talk a lot ... And who lived by himself, and who was funny, but mean and strict and never wanted to go outside when it was rainin' even if he promised. Oh! And who read to Max whenever he asked because Max couldn't read well and wanted to understand the pictures to his book! Yes. Yes. Kenneth was a lot of things. He was many things. Some were bad. Some were good. He wasn't sure how to explain that. "Pie is ... 'Kenneth'." He had began as his pool rings jingled again. "Pie is Kenneth - I live with 'im." Max had nodded his head, satisfied with the simplicity. It was easier to make sense of than the convoluted mess that was the man he called 'Pie'.
"He's biiiiig." Max had puffed out his cheeks, exaggerating some form of pudginess. Blatantly false, but it entertained him to think of it. "But Pie isn't bad - Pie is'a good stranger. Sometimes." His nose had twitched. "It's hard. But, no, no. Bad strangers are ... Bad strangers take you away without you saying 'okay!', and they try to hurt you. But strangers aren't always bad. I talk to 'em all the time!" Max had boasted, seeming proud. "An' nothin' happens."
He had glanced over his shoulder idly, shrugging off the apology he had demanded. Goldfish. Ah. He wanted his delicious snacks! If he lost the whole box, there was no way he would be getting another one! That was how his mind dramatically played out the circumstance. "Fish. They're inna box. Red 'n' Orange." He had explained again, frowning out at the crowds - but then an idea had hit him. She needed to find someone? A 'Tsuya', blue and spotty? Sounded weird! But...
"Nope - no Tsuya. I got stuck in there. Went -vrooooooooooom- and fell into 'em, and couldn't get out." His cheeks had puffed out, seeming almost frustrated with something. "I gotta find my fish; you gotta find ... A Tsuya ... And I gotta find Pie." A hand had tugged on his hair anxiously. "If we find Fish, then we find Pie, Pie can find Tsuya. Pie's good at that."
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