A large, single, blue fur-topped thistle seed rolls from the edge of Dragnid Forest towards the worn path towards the Lake. It is difficult to discern if the seed had help finding its destination, or nature simply dislodged it and that's where it landed.
There are no others in the immediate area.
((Happy Birthday, Teigra! heart This is a special little gift for you, and it's up to you how you investigate the mystery surrounding this seed. wink
Note for others: As a special thank you for my good friend and partner in crime in FA, I wanted to let her have the first of this sub-type of Pae. There will be some available for others once the mystery is solved. This is as much a surprise to her, as it is to everyone else, so only I know what's going on. wink
~dia.))
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 4:53 pm
After some time had passed, a strange creature traveled up the path towards the lake. It appeared to be a...penguin? With...bat wings? It had some sort of pouch strapped to its front, and it was carrying a large ceramic bowl. Well, large in comparison to the small creature.
Large enough that the creature was waddling along, unable to see where it was going, in an attempt to counterbalance the large bowl in front of it.
"OOF!" The creature stumbled over the large seed, loosing what seemed to be a precarious grip on the bowl in the process, which sailed through the air and hit the rocky path with a crash. Face down on the ground, it moaned, "...doooooood..." Pushing up on its flippers, the penguin-thing looked at the shattered ceramic in dismay. "Master Etna's gonna' kill me, dood." It wasn't like bowls just grew on trees or anything. They'd have to find somewhere else to steal err...acquire one as a replacement.
He was supposed to be getting water to cook something to eat, but now what was he supposed to do? Realizing he still hadn't quite pieced together what had happened, he turned, looking at the odd seed in the pathway. "Dood, what is it?" He stood and waddled over to the spiny thistle, poking it experimentally with a flipper. "...ow, dood."
He looked back to the broken bowl. He couldn't get the water for cooking now, that was for sure. But he couldn't come back empty-handed either. Looking at the giant thistle seed again, he tilted his head. Never seen one of these before. Maybe it was valuable?
Better than a bowl? Or even water? Maybe not food, but maybe it could lead to more food! That'd make Master Etna happy!
Decision made, the little demon penguin attempted to pick up the fuzzy, spiky seed in its flippers, settling it on top of the pouch on its stomach and muttering, "...ow...dood, ow...stoppit, dood," as he toddled back up the path the way he'd come.
The teenage demon Pae'il yawned, rolling over to rest her head on her arm about the time the grumbling Prinny returned. She had two more that looked just like it, one fanning her with a palm leaf, the other was supposed to be massaging her bootless feet.
It turns out flippers didn't work so well for that.
She opened her eyes to see that her minion hadn't returned with what he'd been sent for. Sitting up, she grumbled and pushed the other Prinny away from her foot. "The last I checked, that's not a bowl of water," she said sweetly. "I'm sure it was very confusing."
"B-b-b-b-b-but, Master Etna! Dood! Lookit! It might be worth something!" the Prinny blurted out in a panic, flailing to drop the giant thistle seed on the ground in front of the teen.
Etna merely blinked at it for a moment, then turning to one of the other Prinnies, said, "You! Prinny Prime. Fetch some water and make me dinner."
The thistle-bearing Prinny slouched, looking dejected. "But...I thought I was Prinny Prime...?"
Etna whirled on the hapless minion, eyes flashing. "Not anymore. He is," she said, pointing over her shoulder at what could have been the first Prinny's identical twin. She looked around for a moment, picked up a magnolia leaf, then placed it on the newly-dubbed Prinny Prime's head. "There. You've been promoted," she said smugly.
Throwing Etna a smart salute, the leaf-wearing Prinny toddled off to begin meal preperation, seeming pleased.
"Now...what the heck is this thing...?" she mused aloud, eyeing the large, prickly seed. She sat up, pulled her boots back on, then waving away her fanning Prinny and ignoring the pouting one nearby, moved to investigate her new possession.
Her Prinny found it and brought it back, so obviously it was hers now.
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 10:25 pm
The thistleseed has grown warm, gotten a little bigger and wiggles intermittently.
Closer investigation and observation would show that the seed seems to respond to the sounds of voices, particularly the loud ones.
It also has an interesting, different response the closer it gets to Dragnid Forest. The thistleseed hums and appears restless. Conversely, the further from Dragnid, the quieter the thistleseed is.
The scale-like seed casing appears to be shedding.
Sighing softly, the teenage demon watched the fuzzy blue seed with a mixture of interest and frustration. Normally, she'd be out with the Prinnies, seeing what they might acquire that had been so foolishly left unattended, but she'd sent them out unsupervised today. Perhaps not the best idea, but she'd been preoccupied. Besides, if anything happened, well...she could summon more later.
For now, it was just her and the seed thing, here in her home base of sorts, the place where she kept all her treasures. Alright, so it wasn't a palace...yet. It would be one day. A palace befitting a queen. For now, she had a couple of rooms, dug by Prinnies, of course, beneath an seemingly ordinary hollow tree. Those rooms were filled with luxurious treasures...such as the mound of pillows where she currently lounged, watching the thistle seed. It was interesting, in a way, yet frustrating, like a mystery that she couldn't quite solve. The answer hovered just out of her reach, just out of sight.
She sighed again, leaning on one elbow, and picking up a long wooden spoon to poke at the seed thing idly. Every once in a while, it moved of its own accord, as if alive, but then would go still again and cease doing anything interesting. Could it be alive? Well, seeds were technically alive, yes, but plants didn't move a whole lot on their own. Not that she'd seen. Attempts to open the prickly thing and find out for herself hadn't gone very well. It was tougher than it seemed...also, prickly. Hence the poking with the spoon.
"What are you?" she muttered half to herself, cause obviously the seed wasn't going to answer. She poked at some of the shedding bits, making a face. Ugh, if it was going to start making a mess in here with her nice things...she'd have to have the Prinnies clean that up later. What a pain.
Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 4:45 pm
As if responding to what Etna asked, the thistleseed wiggled, shed the last few bits of scales, prickly bits and husk, revealing a hard, spotted endocarp. The fluffy blue flower also fell to the floor, leaving only what looked like a jumbo-sized coconut.
The "coconut" vibrated softly before cracking. When the crack was deep enough to expose what was inside, dark purple smoke started billowing out and without any warning or hint of anything else, the seed exploded in a magnificent display of red and purple pyrotechnics.
The aftermath left a lingering purple smoke, and sitting where the seed had been, was a small ball of blue-spotted fur with big soulful purple eyes.
((A few notes about the little ball of fur: Newly hatched, he has brand new needle-sharp claws, he is from Dragnid, so he's Tainted. He looks sweet and innocent, but there is a very short-tempered little beastie in there. He is omnivorous, but like most Dragnid beasts, they prefer meat. Not much else is known about what he is, or how he came to be, so feel free to investigate and explore.))
A coconut? All that fuss over a coconut?!? Irate, Etna swatted at the object with the spoon about the time the shell split with a sharp crack. And then, smoke started billowing out.
Coconuts didn't smoke. They were filled with a milky juice...not smoke.
Squeaking and scrambling backwards (she'd deny it if anyone asked afterwards), Etna snatched one of the pillows from the pile to hold it in front of her like a shield. Yep, seemed legit. Besides, what was it supposed to protect her from? Smoke?
She was glad she'd taken what had seemed like nonsensical action at the time a few moments later when the coconut-thing exploded in a flash of red and purple brilliance. Her eyes closed tightly, she instinctively curled in on herself trying to keep as much of herself behind the pillow as possible for whatever slight protection it might afford. When silence fell once more, she waited a few moments before daring peek around her pillow shield.
A purple haze lingered in the air, making the already-small space seem downright stifling. Bits and pieces of...shell, or seed pod, or whatever the thing had been littered the floor and were cast all over the room. Something else for the Prinnies to clean up when they got back, Etna noted.
Most importantly, there was now a fuzzy...thing sitting in the middle of her home. Peering around her pillow at the wide-eyed blinking babe, she scowled, "What in the Underworld are you?"
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 12:44 pm
Blinking slowly, the tot turned his curious gaze on the large thing nearby. What was it? Where was he? What was going on?
Etna met the wide-eyed stare with a slightly narrower one. Plus an arched eyebrow. Well, wasn't this an interesting situation? She had no need for any brat. Or did she?
Her mind turning quickly, she entertained the possibilities of such an occurrence, weighing the pros versus the cons. Sure, there'd be some work required to take care of the thing, but that's what the Prinnies were for, right? And if she started now while it was still young, molding and shaping his thoughts, behaviors...
"Hello there, Minion," she purred, reaching out to lift the tot from the remains of shell scattered on her floor. The innocent stare from the tot swiftly shifted, accompanied by a growl. She swore she'd spotted sharp little fangs being bared at her as well. Her grin swiftly turned into a frown and she immediately dropped the tot, no more than a couple inches, but directly onto his fuzzy little tail, which elicited a startled squeak from the boy. "Well, we'll have to n** that sort of behavior in the bud. I won't have any minions of mine back-talking me, you hear? You just do what I say and you'll do just fine," she chuckled, grinning down at the fuzzy, blue toddler.
