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 Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 9:44 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 9:47 pm
popping the bottle
location northport
time winter, 1798
summary taxes makes her first entrance a timely one The Amanranta had put into port half a week ago, reuniting Ollie with his younger brother and the rest of the crew he so loved. They had all been family to him since he had been a tender lad of 12, and the long months away from sea had been an odd, if rewarding, experience.
No part of Ollie wanted to go through the past months again. The land did not rock beneath his feet as a deck did and the world was frustratingly quiet without the constant rustle of waves against hull. Being on land for such an extended period of time had been an odd and almost dreamlike experience but hardly pleasant. The whisper of wind through the leaves of the Wardwood had been mildly reassuring, but the trees themselves, all dark and looming, had not.
For all that Ollie had suffered through, he could at least say that he had gained something from the experience. The weeks of riding until his backside had protested at the mere thought of a chair, the countless sleepless nights spent tossing under the eerie silence... it had all come down to the tiny wooden totem now strung around his neck, so perfect and utterly natural that it had to be magic.
Sometimes Ollie could swear he felt it pulsing against his collarbone, increasing his excitement in face of the impending young life that was bound to appear because of it. He wasn't too sure what to make of it or how he would nurture it to adulthood, or even what he ought to do with it when it did come. He would figure it out afterward; for now, the totem was just his lucky charm.
And lucky he certainly felt tonight. As Ollie swept his cup and dice up for the next roll, he could feel the winds of favor blowing his way. He needed the money from this next round. Winter meant that he and Rob would be able to go back to Palisade and they required sufficient funds to buy their mother a present. Which was why Ollie was here, on one of the neighboring ships, one of the rare ones from up north crewed by an entirely foreign crew. It was good money, and the Belastranans on this ship were fond of the game.
Ollie let his breath go whistling from his mouth as he shook the cup and turned it upside down on the table. Two fours and three fives. He cast a glance at his five opponents and said, "Three fours."
"Five fours."
"Five fives."
And so it went once around the circle, and then the wagers started coming down. Ollie grinned. This was where it got exciting. He reached into his pocket and drew out a small handful of coins, scattering them onto the table. "Twelve fives."
The money began to pile. "... Eighteen sixes."
That gave Ollie pause. He studied the other man carefully, and opened his mouth to call liar... when suddenly, the table shook beneath their money and dice and one of his opponents leaped out of his seat with a curse in Belastranan. Ollie's head reeled as the vision of that sailor came to him in two different images, one... considerably lower and shrouded in darkness than the other.
"What..." It felt as though he was hearing things from all around and seeing things from all around and... WHAT WAS THAT?? Except that... that wasn't his thought...
He shoved his chair back to peer under the table... and there, huddled under the wood, was a little blonde critter that looked at once familiar and unfamiliar. Familiar because he had seen it a hundred times before, familiar because he had its likeness strung about his neck. But utterly unfamiliar in that this living, breathing rendition of his little wooden totem was new to the world. So very new.
And yet, huddled as she was, he could tell she was not afraid. Curiosity was the emotion that dominated. It was pulsing out of her and into him, the strangest sensation he had ever had. It was as though he could read her thoughts and feelings, and she his.
The fawn was surveying the gathered sailors with wide, unblinking silver eyes. Humans? Yes? But when her gaze landed on her Chosen, both of them knew without a doubt. Her demeanor shifted instantly. She straightened and seemed to grin and approached him with tail twitching, happy to finally get to meet him.
She chose, of course, the shortest route to her Chosen, which was over the table instead of around it. Little as she was, the fawn scrambled up and over, in the process sending a handful of cups and dice flying, and when she reached him, she wrinkled her nose at him and bleated as if to say, Hello, mine! Where have you been all my life?
There was no fear in her eyes whatsoever which surprised him more than he would have imagined. In those shining spots of silver, there was only intelligence and love, and there might even have been a lop-sided little smile on her face as she peered up at him eagerly. A fawn after his own heart. Ollie grinned and smoothed the fur on her face. She was soft as down and incredibly warm for the cold winter day.
"The better question, little lass, is where have you been."
Around the table, the Belastranans had begun to protest both the fact that there was a deer on their table and the fact that she had well and truly interrupted their game of Liar's Dice. Ollie looked up, reluctantly pulling his attention away from the beautiful little deer. "Ah, m'terribly sorry, lads. This is my fault. We ought to just restart the game, oughtn't we?" He stooped to rescue some of the fallen dice that had came to a stop by his feet, scooping them up just as several of the soldiers began to babble in further protest. "Oh, don't worry none, lads, the game's ruined any--" His words were cut short when he tossed the dice back onto the table and together, the dice landed on six. A frown took the place of Ollie's usual smile as the Belastranans sank into sullen silence. He reached for the dice and rolled them again. Sixes, all three. He cast a glance at the guilty-looking sailors, feeling his temper rise.
"I'd say I hope you lads weren't pullin' me leg, but... seems plenty obvious to me." He put a hand on the fawn's neck and gently guided her off the table and onto the ground. "See, I thought we 'ad a gentleman's system goin' here. Honor amongst thieves'n all that. Was I wrong?" One of his hands balled into a fist.
For moments, silence reigned until one of the sailors shook his head and said with a heavy accent, "We don't want trouble. You take the money, we settle this."
If they were sure. Ollie swept the wagers laying on the table toward him and stuffed it into his pockets. "In that case, I'll be leaving. Wouldn't want any of you t'rub off on me lass here."
The fawn followed with a jaunty step, pleased that he was pleased though she knew not why. As they stepped off the boat and onto the dock, Ollie looked down at her and smiled. "Thank ye, little lass."
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Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 6:02 pm
[meta] double dare
location oldcastle
time the queen's masque
summary ollie and taxes are left to their own devices during the gathering Ollie wasn't sure how much of this wine he had had, but more than enough seemed to be an accurate guess. He wasn't sure what he would have done without it, so welcome a distraction from a party - or, rather, a masque - that left him feeling like a fish out of water in every possible way.
"Now I know what how those poor buggers feel floppin' right round on our deck," he told the pale fawn trailing loyally behind him. Taxes understood. There was a certain propriety to be kept in this place, packed as it was with royalty and nobility and otherwise rich men and women, and the fawn was in an unusually careful mood, walking on eggshells with every step. She had chosen Ollie's knee as an anchor, and her head never bobbed far from it as they crossed the courtyard in search of Rob.
Ollie paused to tug at his collar. Much of the day had passed with him in mild agony, feeling unwelcomely restricted by the collar and the sleeves and the tails and the pants and the shoes and... he'd long since lost track of just how many places felt uncomfortable in this formal costume he wore.
The food carried on trays passed by in flashes and the food so fancy that he could hardly tell what it was before he'd swallowed it.
The people seemed to come from all walks of life, but many of the nobles had clustered together on one side of the courtyard, ever the elites of society.
"Where's the ocean when y'need it, eh lassie?" He was reaching to give Taxes a reassuring pat when the fawn suddenly perked her ears. "What?" When he turned, he saw. The leaves were budding, then blooming, and suddenly birds came winging overhead to visit from tree to tree.
And even as he watched, the flowers fell, the fruit grew. Ollie could only stare. "What in the name of... Is it real, d'you think, lassie?" Nearest to them, a wine of grapes crawled along the wall. "Smells right nice, they do." He poked a grape experimentally while Taxes came up beside him to nose curiously at the vine.
"I shouldn't... s'bad luck to eat the fruit of spirits," he warned, trying to convince Taxes as much as himself. "I don't want to be caught in no otherworld for the rest o' me life, no sir." Beside him, Taxes snorted and shook her head, a small frown across her face. "Well don't ye laugh, it could be true, so don't you come blamin' me when you're stuck in the middle of nowhere for all eternity. I'll be safe an' sound right here on me darlin' Amaranta."
His gaze slid sideways to catch the fawn's. "But then... I s'ppose there isn't much fun in that..." Taxes stopped frowning. "No, you cheeky little bugger! I won't be fallin' for it that easy this time." She nosed the grapes again. "Well don't ye be sayin' that! I en't a coward! I am not. That's right, I'll prove it!" He snatched a handful of grapes from the vine and stuffed them into his mouth. "That's right. Yea. I ate them."
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