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 Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 9:07 am
Odd Haleifr Odd stretched, extending his needle-like claws as far as he could before relaxing once more and looking around. He'd had quite enough of lazing around for one morning, and thought it was time to do something. Doing something meant that he had to find someone to do something with, because while he could amuse himself perfectly well without company, he much preferred to have one or more of his siblings to play with. Then they could go on adventures or play chasing games or hiding games or, well, anything. The first sibling he noticed was Calder, who looked so much like him, but was not quite identical. He never had any dificulty telling any of his siblings apart, whether it was the dark-furred girls or the orange-coated boys. His mother didn't either. It had never occurred to him that anyone might have that difficulty. The identification came naturally for him. After all, one had a light mane and the other had a dark one. How difficult was it? "Calder," he said. "We need to find a magic stone because we've been turned into deer." Being a deer meant he got to bounce around a lot. Calder Calder looked up from his examination of a bird feather and spotted his brother, Odd. His name was truly suiting for his little odd-ball brother. Calder considered himself to be first born, there for the leader of the group. However, Odd was his second-hand man. The two would cause so much noise and chaos, that more often than not ,they got into trouble because of it. Odd is playing another game... A grin spread on his face when he said they had been turned into deer. That meant lots of jumping. How fun! Bouncing was something he and all his siblings did quite well. "I knew we shouldn't have drank from that magic water. I told you it was a bad idea." Oh the imagination of a cub. "Did the witch come and tell you we need to find this stone? She did try to warn us about the water."
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 9:40 am
Odd Odd peered with interest at the feather Calder had been examining and he wondered briefly where he'd found it. Odd would like to take a look at it sometime. Perhaps he could figure out a way to work that into the game he was trying to come up with. He filed the idea in the back of his mind and kept his eyes on the intriguing feather. "Well, it looked safe enough," Odd argued, catching on to this new twist his brother had introduced and deciding not to take issue with the fact that it had suddenly become his fault that they were deer. "Besides, it could have done something really wonderful, like give us the ability to see things through our enemies eyes. Or at least see where our enemies are." He closed his eyes as he thought, a habit he would have to break eventually, since it meant he was closing off one of his senses entirely to send his mind somewhere else. "No. A bird whispered it to me while I was sleeping. It said it would leave a feather that would give me the first clue where to find the rock. Would have been nice if it could've just left the rock." Calder He looked down the the feather in his paws and gave a little smirk. So many twists and turns! Maybe this would be his and Odd's favorite game, hm? The male laughed a little and pushed the feather to his brother. "If this bird told you, then you should carry it." It was blue feather with pink stripes all through it and a star at the bace. Clearly it came from some very colorful bird that had flown by, perfect for a fantasy game such as this. This was becoming more and more interesting. "Come on then, brother. We must do like the bird said and find this rock! We can't be deer all day. Deer don't eat meat and we might get eaten by the others!" He bounded off like fawn would, bouncing away in a random direction. No doubt it was probably the completely wrong way, but what did that matter in this game?
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 9:50 am
Odd "Hey, come back!" Odd called after his bounding brother. He wanted to get to the bounding part of the game, too, but they had to do things in order. Odd hadn't actually considered that he might end up in possession of the feather. "I can't take it from you. It's yours. The bird left it for you. But I think we both have to look at it to try to figure out what the clue means. You were doing that earlier, even before you knew why it was left for us. Do you think you found anything clue-ish?" A large part of that was because Odd didn't want to be in the position of carrying the feather around. Without the right kind of means of securing them, feathers were difficult to carry. You couldn't keep them in your paws - hooves - because you had to walk and if you put them in your mouth you ended up breathing them almost invariably. They were inconvenient. But really, really interesting, and this one was so vibrant, Odd couldn't help being fascinated. "We'll definitely be deer all day if you don't help me make out the feather's clue." Calder And then he wasn't bouncing. Why did Odd have to be so logical. Go with your gut! That's what his outlook on life was. He groaned and then looked at the feather at his brother's paws and then bounded back to him to examine it again. Well. It was bright, that much was for sure. "Maybe by some flowers? Maybe we gotta do it at night. The star could be a clue." He really had no idea. It sounded good though, right? That's waht this game was all about, having fun and guessing. Making up everything as they go. "Ooh! There's a tree by the boarder with a star carved on it. Think that could be it?" He'd been there once in his journey out of the den. He'd snuck out, compltely unnoticed, which made him really happy.
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:34 am
Odd "Oh, spirits, not at night," Odd grumbled. Their mother frequently went out into the woods at night, doing secret things. She had made it very clear that her cubs were not welcome and should not follow her. Odd didn't want to be accused of following her, even accidentally. The way she looked when she told them not to follow had put the fear of the spirits and the gods into him thoroughly enough that he had no intention of testing her on it. Fortunately Calder came up with another possible meaning for the feather's message. Odd looked at the feather, squinting as though trying to see something protrayed in minute detail, and then followed his brother's gaze to the tree. It was outside of where they were supposed to go, but it was also far enough away that they could do lots of bounding. "That's probably it. Well-spotted." Calder He puffed up proudly and smirked. "Of course it's it. I'm a genius. I'm the oldest after all." Who cared about technicalities? It's what he believed. Mother didn't scare him. Not at all. He just took everything in stride. If someone started screaming at him, he's just blow them off. It would, no doubt, get him into a ton of trouble one day, but for now, it's what cubs were known for. Taking the feather in his mouth, snuggly putting it betwen two teeth, he looked over at his brother, then to the tree, yellow eyes flashing with excitement. "Ready?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 12:14 pm
Odd Whatever Odd's private thoughts on the matter of his brother's genius were, he kept them to himself. It certainly wasn't worth arguing over, and just because Calder said he was a genius and the oldest didn't mean Odd couldn't also be a genius. And being the oldest, well, he didn't much care about that. There wasn't anything he could do to change it, and there didn't seem to be any real advantages, unless being a genius was a side effect of being born first, which Odd privately doubted. "Of course I'm ready," Odd said, and immediately began bounding toward the tree. Bounding took a lot of energy, but it was hugely fun to travel so quickly and go high with every leap forward. The only real problem with bounding was stopping, because a lion could accrue a lot of momentum doing that, and trying to stop suddenly was a good way to end up tumbling nose over tail, which deer never did. So as he drew nearer the tree he endeavored to slow himself, his last few leaps more like lurches. "I think," he said breathlessly, "that the star means we're supposed to have the others with us. One point for each of us, you know? But we're deer and they're still lions." Calder "So we got to get them to drink the water too. But we have to find the others." And that wasn't always an easy task. Finding all the siblings in one place at one time, that wasn't at night, was hard. They did their own things all the time, under the supervision of their mother, most of the time. Either way, it wasn't something he was looking forward too. Unlike his logical brother, he didn't think about stopping. He just tried too and ended up going butt over head from momentum build up. He rolled a ways and landed flat on his back in a cloud of dust. "Ooof..." His front legs were throbbing now, from trying to stop it from happening and digging down in the dirt.
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 12:56 pm
Odd Odd made no effort to hide or disguise his laughter at his brother's predicament. It was simply too funny to see his genius older brother sprawled on his back in the dust. Of course, he wouldn't think it was funny if it turned out that Calder was actually injured, but until or unless that proved to be the case, Odd was definitely amused and laughing boyishly at Calder. "I could be mistaken," he admitted, redirecting his attention from Calder to the carved star. It had to be a sign of some sort. That kind of thing didn't just happen. But it seemed like it belonged to something outside of the game he and his brother were playing. Something done by the spirits of the forest. He wasn't sure he and Calder ought to be messing about with it. His mind groped for some other explanation which wouldn't contradict Calder's initial idea that the star was the next clue. "Maybe it's just a sign that we're going in the right direction and we should keep going in the direction of the top point." That sounded plausible. Calder The unhidden laughter made his blood boil. A sudden urge to just push his brother around because of that bubbled forth like hot water from some of the springs he's heard about. Oh, how could Odd do that? That was BEYOND not cool. But then his mind got back into the game and he shrugged a little. "Maybe you are." The whole spirits were playing games with the two brothers. Calder just knew it. He looked around, upward, with sceptical eyes before looking back to his brother. "We can't go any further this way, though. Momma will be SO mad. She's gonna be mad already if she finds out were out of the boarder she told us 'bout." It was true. He didn't to be in even more trouble than necessary.
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:30 am
Odd Odd was oblivious to the momentary danger he had placed himself in by laughing at his brother. He was quick-witted, but in this instance he just wasn't clever enough to make the connection that his laughter would probably serve to annoy his brother more than anything else. Had their positions been reversed, Odd definitely wouldn't have been irritated at his brother's laughter. But Odd was not as prideful as Calder, for better or for worse. "So we're just going to stay deer forever?" Odd was not okay with that. He was also not okay with the idea of simply abandoning a quest because completing it meant breaking a few rules. "I think it's part of it. We have to be able to pull this off without getting in trouble. And remember? We're deer! Momma won't be mad about two deer going through here. It's like...um...camouflage!" Calder Calder would be classified as bi-polar in his later life, most likely. His annoyance grew sometimes, to the point he wanted to push siblings around or rough them up. A part of his mind knew it was bad, and he needed to control it, but for the most part, he calked it up to being a fatherless cub. Sighing when Odd continued talking, the look-alike looked in the direction the star was pointing and nodded. He had a point. "Well, we are deer. So... I guess it's OK. She won't recognize us. So...." He let his words drift off, unable to think of how to end it. "Anyway. Maybe we have to do like... five big leaps to get to this thing. Maybe that's why it's got five points?" He was just pulling things out of thin air now. "Ooh, or maybe five other rocks will be around the rock and we pick the one in the middle!" That made more sense.
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:46 am
Odd Odd peered into the distance, searching for something within five bounds of the tree in that direction which looked appropriately rock-like and magical. He didn't really see anything, which wasn't promising. Just the same, he didn't want to shoot down his brother's idea. It wasn't a bad one, it just didn't quite seem to be correct and suit the needs of their game of pretend. "Maybe," Odd said slowly, but it was still clear he wasn't sure that was the right explanation. He liked Calder's second try better. It did make a lot more sense, but the likelihood of finding five rocks arranged around a sixth rock seemed slim. But just the same, it did fit into the game better, and Odd liked a challenge. He grinned. "So we go this direction and we'll eventually find a circle of rocks or something, and the one in the center is the magic one? Okay. Let's try that. We can always come back here and think of something else if it doesn't work." Calder Calder nodded and got a head start on the bounding. The whole time, he wasn't really paying attention looking for a circle of magic rocks. Instead, his mind was on how much trouble they'd be in when their mother found out. She always found out. Even if they were super, super secret about it. It might take a few days, but eventually she'd find out. And with all the siblings scattered right now, it would be a few days for stories to get around. But there was no proof they were gone away from the safe area, right? Momma couldn't see pawprints as tiny as theirs. Especially bouncing ones. The game was fun, yes, and a good distraction, but as the slef proclaimed eldest brother, he had to set a good example. Eventually, though, they did, indeed find a circle of rocks. Only there was more than six. There were five rocks around one big one in the middle, and then rocks around the five rocks. like someone had purposely put them there. "Oh, spirits.." he whispered before calling back to his brother. "Odd, look!"
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 12:05 pm
Odd Odd finished bounding to catch up with Calder and then he stopped and stared. That was just eerie on a level the cub only tended to associate with things their mother did. She was particularly good at being eerie and unnerving when she wanted to. An older Odd would one day describe her as being positively occult, but also the most wildly spiritual creature he had ever known. As an older lion he would be in awe of her, but not afraid of her. Even at this age, he wasn't really afraid of her so much of he was uneasy with the potential consequences of her displeasure. "That's...unexpected," Odd said, demonstrating an early talent for understatement. It also dawned on him very quickly that this was not something he and Calder ought to be messing around with. Likely it was something to do with their mother's communion with the spirits of the wood, and she would definitely know if they did anything to disturb it. Maybe she'd know if they touched it, even if it was only the briefest of touches. "I guess we just touch it and we'll change back," he said. He really didn't think it would be a good idea to touch it. Calder Oh, how he did NOT want to touch the rocks. He was thinking the same thing as Odd, and it was so unnerving. He didn't want to touch it. Mother would somehow find out, the Spirits would tell her! They were in so much trouble. He swallowed and shook his head. "You first. ......I don't mind staying a deer. It's not so bad." He could cope with eating leaves and stuff. How hard could it be. And his legs would get good and strong with all the bouncing he did. Then he got it in his head that he was older and he should do it first. He wouldn't want a younger sibling to get hurt because he was too chicken to say it was dangerous. Though, this practically screamed danger, there was no evidence it was. "...Fine, I"ll.... go first." He quickly pushed a paw out, touched the middle rock and jumped back like something would bite his paw off. Nothing happened. The rocks didn't move, the wind didn't pick up and their mother didnt pop out from behind something and scare them. They were in the clear now, weren't they? Keeping with the game, me made whooshing noises for his 'transformation' scene and jumped a bit. "Look! I'm a lion now!"
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 12:31 pm
Odd Odd looked horrified when his brother suggested that he be the first to touch the stones. Like Calder, his mind was running along the lines of how it might not be so bad to stay a deer. Of course, people would be trying to eat him all the time, but he'd grow bigger and faster, and Calder was a deer, too. They could work together to keep from being eaten. When Calder relented and volunteered to go first Odd almost swatted his paw away from the stone. He had managed in a very short time to convince himself that something perfectly dreadful would happen if either one of them touched the stone, and he was positive that it would be doing his brother a favor to keep him from touching it. But he didn't quite have the thought quickly enough, or at least he didn't act on it quickly enough, because Calder had touched the rock. When Calder jumped backward Odd had to bite back a squeak, but then when he saw his brother was unharmed, and even a lion again, he found the courage to do the same as Calder, touching the stone just a very little with one paw and then jumping back. Soon he was making his own whooshing noises for the transformation. "So'm I," he observed. "Now let's get home before we get in trouble!" Calder Calder smirked when his brother copied him, unaware that they were thinking the same thing at one point or another. Calder was sure Odd wouldn't mind he turned into a lion first. After all, what if Calder died? Odd would know not to touch it! So basically, he saved Odd's life. He liked thinking positive. But when Odd said run, that's what he did. They would probably get yelled at later!
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