|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:12 pm
It was dewy, and cold, and dark; early enough that the sun had yet to wake beyond the horizon. But as the girl had aged, her caretaker had started waking her at the same time that she, herself, woke - before even the birds had started singing in the trees. It's the best time to gather berries, before the birds get a hold of them all, she'd explained to Aurélie and her baby brother when she gave them the baskets. Be sure that they're ripe; the ripe ones come off easily, without needing to tug. Aurélie pressed a palm to her mouth as she let out a wide yawn, picking through the underbrush and gazing around sleepily.
It sure is pretty... she thought as she gazed about the brambles of berry bushes. There was a faint mist covering the world, and particularly dark patches of shade still held unmelted piles of snow. The deer's little tail twitched as she continued searching for berries in the prickly bushes. Few of the berries were ripe the way Alazne said they should be; most of them were still hard and pale, not yet ready to be eaten; it was no wonder, with snow still on the ground, but the wolftaur wasn't very experienced with feeding herbivores. Sometimes Aurélie wished that she could share the food that her caretaker and the little ursataur tore away at; dried and roasted meats, always smelling rich and flavourful and wet, next to her tart little berries of early winter. There were other things about that looked delicious, plants and flowers and other delicious produce, but the anxious woman declared that they didn't know the woods well enough to know what was poisonous and what wasn't.
The little cervitaur huffed softly, tugging a small, plump blackberry from its stem and popping it into her mouth, only to scrunch her face up in distaste. Berries could be so sour!
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2013 12:47 pm
Every year the cattaur traveled between lands, a wanderer of two worlds who fully belonged to neither. Up in the north where the snow was constant and the icy weather blissful was his true magic's home. It was only there that he thrived the strongest during the warm summers of the south. Still during winter when he felt the strongest in the other lands, he traveled to his childhood home where he had family and friends who welcomed him. Still it had been a while since the cattaur had made such a trip and with summer present once again he had strayed north, surprisingly this time still close to the border of the lands where the summer sun shone.
Hidden by a cloak of the darkest gray the cattaur blended in perfectly with the shadows of the dark. Walking among the trees Triston briefly glanced up at the gray sky. Dawn was near, but still far away enough that he felt comfortable in the cool air. He still had a way to go before reaching the northern mountains, but it was no rush. His way of traveling late into the night to early morning and resting during the day was normal to him. But once back into these lands moving during the day was not so bad.
As he walked closer to the edge of the forest and past berry bushes the male cattaur radiated cold and the land seemed to welcome the familiar presence as the snow glistened and shimmering frost followed in his wake.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 11:20 pm
Maybe she'll stew them up? Aurélie stuck her nose into the air, sniffing heavily at the distant, cool smell that meant mint was in the area. The tip of her little tail twitched. The stew that Alazne brewed was always delicious, a mushed up blend of different berries, sometimes with the inclusion of different spices -- the little deerling had found her local favourite to be mint. Nose scrunching with the effort, the young taur leaped over the smaller shrubs, heading upwind in the direction of the smell.
The closer she got, the stranger the smell became. What was once the cool, clear scent of mountain mint was now deeper, a touch darker, with a musk that she wasn't familiar with. What kind of creature smelled like that? It wasn't the rich, red smell of her Alazne or her baby brother, nor was it the leafy, brown scent that followed her less evolved brethren. She slowed, little nose wrinkling in the misty air -- even that seemed to grow colder as she followed the smell. Tiny brown ears twitched in the direction of the soft crunch of footprints in the frosty ground, and her form straightened. Was there... someone else here?
Panic clutched her for a moment, instinct begging that she go back to Alazne, curiosity freezing her in her place. She hadn't even seen this stranger, she had no reason to judge them simply because they were nearby. Pink eyes scanned the surrounding area until she spotted a shimmering path at the edge of the bushes. Her hooves took her closer to it, but didn't help her understand. Aurélie followed the path even as it melted, mint-and-berry quest long forgotten in favour of this new stranger who had come to call. She could practically hear Alazne's scoldings already as she smiled faintly to herself, feeling a surge of willfulness before her vision was filled with black and white stripes.
Little Aurélie gasped, stumbling backward to keep from colliding with the cattaur's behind, succeeding in falling on her own. The berries she'd gathered were scattered everywhere, the poorly-woven basket on its side in the dirt. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, gazing in wonder and terror at the size and strangeness of this creature. It was as though the frost oozed from the core of his very being... He's one of the magic cattaurs. She was certain of it. Magic was foreign in her short-lived world, something that lived only in the tales she was told as she went to sleep, but she knew in her heart that there was truth to the worlds. Only now, it seemed that she had lost her tongue, not sure if she should jump for joy or run for her very life.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 12:44 pm
Was there someone else out here? Pausing by where he had taken a berry from a bush to eat the cattaur looked back over his shoulder. His quiet gaze scanned the forest before he looked away again. He wasn’t looking low on the ground for a little one after all. It would be too rare to see a small child wandering out here on their own. So he was honestly surprised when he heard the soft gasp from behind him. So there was someone? Turning Triston watched as the berries scattered and a small cervitaur blinked up at him. Immediately he frowned. Not from being disturbed by her, but rather from worry. What was she doing out here all alone?
Bending down he reached out and caught one of the rolling berries between his fingers and as frost made the berry gleam he looked at the cervitaur. “You alright?” The words weren’t harsh, but rather soft and quiet. Moving he picked up the basket and sat it back down next to the girl. Seeing how he had startled her and how quiet she was the cattaur turned about to nearly leave before pausing. She had probably worked so hard on gathering all those berries and he had been the cause of her dropping the basket. Sighing quietly to himself Triston turned back around and began to gather the berries to place back into the basket. Every so often he would peek up at the cervitaur through his dark bangs with a gaze of brilliant blue.
As he worked he suddenly stopped again to look back at her, "Where is your home little one?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 2:20 pm
Aurélie was positively aghast, mouth frozen open as she stared at the frost-covered berry in the man's hand. The cool overwhelmed her when he turned and bent down, making goosebumps raise all along her arms and shoulders. Thickly, the little girl swallowed and reached out to retrieve the basket that had been upended by her startled spill, staring even as the cattaur turned to walk away. Then... he didn't. Much to her surprise, the stranger turned around and started gathering the berries that she'd spilled, despite not a single word having passed her lips. How rude you must look, 'Reli!
Numbly, the little girl nodded in response to the first question, placing her basket back on the ground and glancing over the cool-coloured array of berries that had tumbled from her arms. The feel of his gaze was as tangible as the cool air that surrounded him, her own pale pink eyes flicking up whenever she felt the weight of that gaze. A sour pout came over her face as she picked up a tiny blackberry that was still green on one end, tossing it off into the brambles before she found her gaze flicking back to the equally pale gaze of the cattaur, little tail twitching. "Th-the berries don't get rully sweet here... not wif all the snow on th' ground," she explained in a high, soft little voice.
The question caught her off-guard, her thin legs stiffening as she looked back toward the nook that they'd slept in the last night, then back toward the stranger. 'Never trust anyone.' That's what Ma-- er, Alazne always said, but what threat was this man? Sure, he was mysterious-looking, maybe a bit dramatic, and the sword on his back was a threatening-looking weapon, but she'd seen her guardian take on other beasts and taur; between the three of them, she was sure he couldn't hurt them.
"Over there," she said quietly, pointing down the trail she'd come. "But I dun'no if it'sa home. My brother and my- my Mama are sleepin' there, in a little fort. Do... do you wan'na come see? You're awful cold, an' we've got a fire if you wan'na warm up...?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2013 8:25 am
Of course she would have that reaction towards him. Triston wasn’t surprised and had long gotten used to the reaction most would have to his icy aura. Still he was surprised to see a small cervitaur child out here near the northern borders by herself like this. If she wandered any further north she could get lost in the icy tundra which was out there. He frowned at the thought. Surely she had a family around here to protect her.
At her reaction to the berry he nodded, a faint smile playing on his lips, “I see.” The snow ruining even berries for such little ones. At the thought he was even more careful to keep his touch from freezing the berries that he had gathered and was currently emptying into the basket. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin them for her as well. Still even though he had finished gathering the berries the cattaur didn’t immediately stand. Instead Triston posed himself in a crouch that way he could look at the cervitaur girl without towering over her.
So she did have a family. But not a true home? Was this a family of wanderers then? That would explain why he hadn’t seen anyone living up here before this trip. A small breath of relief left him and the cattaur’s tail curled up in amusement at the offer of a warm fire. As much as he didn’t need it Triston would feel bad if he just left this little one to wander on her own out here. She was fortunate that it had just been him who she had stumbled into. The thought made him nervous. He needed to see her make it back to her family. “Alright,” He started before pausing, “Lead the way then.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
