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 Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 12:12 pm
In the shadow of the great Kola tree, the small and shaded form of the small brown hare might have been lost to most individuals sights. And for her purposes- that was probably a good thing. It was hard gathering the supplies she needed when it seemed like everyone seemed to think she was on the menu! With a huff, the small rabbit rose her head, pressing the end of her paws together and quickly rubbing her paws against her whiskers.
“The nerve.” She spoke softly, her pink nose twitching. “Like they don’t have better things t’ be eating.” Arcadia uttered, and sunk her paws down. Her vision cleared for the moment, she focused on better things. Namely- where all the nuts had gone. Just the day before there had been literally hundreds of them! And then that flock of birds had just decimated them. Not to mention the small skinny boys from some nearby tribe had had their take of them–! It was to taxing!
Arc moved slowly, circulating around the large tree, her nose to the earth, while still keeping one ear pivoted to the sky. It was second nature to any of her kind. Nose down- ears up. That’s what her mother had always told her.
Suddenly- she spotted it in the grass. A bright green nut, circular and about as large as a marble. Eagerly she puffed her chest up and bounded forward, picking up the green nut in her paws, and smelling it for any imperfections. It wasn’t as ripe as she’d like- but it would do.
“Aha!” Arc gleamed, and placed the nut on top of the three others she had found. “But what about the others-?” She mused to herself, and bitterly crossed her paws. Taking her nuts!
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 12:30 pm
A hawk flew overhead, apperently not noticing the female hare. If one ould tell its expression, it would be one of complete suprize, ad if one looked close, they'd perhaps notice one ortwo missing feathers. Perrhaps it had been attacked by a lion! Well, the answer came running afte rit, probably the most unlikely one.
A red-ish brown blur came racing after the hawk from below, two feathers clamped in the hare's mouth, fur fluffed up in annoyance. "Ye better not try dat 'gain, pal! " The hare spat, muffled through the feathers in his mouth.
Iva, odd as it was for a rabbit, had gained a habbit in stealing feathers from any hawk, or bird that tried to hunt him down. Perhaps this was a sign that the world was coming to an end, a hare scaring off birds of prey, and still keeping some little prizes.
The hawk was much faster, though, and in a few moments the hare had fallen behind, only still squealing as loudly as he could to 'threaten' the hawk.
That tree loked like a nice place to rest, and he was tired. Like the hawk, the hare didn't seem to notice the female untill he got closer. He blinked, slowing down.
How were you to start a conversation if you hadjust done one of the most unnatural things for a hare? He dropped his feathers and held a paw over them not to be blown away. "Uhh.. "
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 12:47 pm
The sight of the hawk suddenly bursting out from the trees, shrieking overhead, was enough to stop the poor girl’s heart. At once her body went rigid and she froze, her ears perking upwards in sharp points as she felt the shadow slowly curl across her body. But after just a few seconds of paranoia- the feeling faded when it seemed that the hawk had not spotted her. In fact- it wasn’t even paying attention to anything; and it seemed to be writhing about as it flew as if it had just gone through something rather uncomfortable-
And then the voice! She normally wasn’t a jumpy creature, but coupled with the hawk, it chilled her heart as well. At once Arcadia turned around, her bright pink eyes widened at the sight of the larger male running out from one of the nooks, clutching a pair of feathers in his mouth. He was shouting at something- and after a few moments, she realized with a mixture of awe and surprise that it was the hawk!
Shrinking, the doe pressed her paw to the nuts she had been collecting, and watched the sky. The bird was leaving- and now the other hare was starting at her somewhat slack-jawed. There certainly was a kind of collective surprise over the matter.
But one thing Arc was good at- and that was running her mouth. “Ah!” She peeped, and alighted her ears again. “What are you mad, chasing hawks like that?” She gasped, but then, as if she couldn’t make up her mind if he was either very brave or insane, “Did you really get those feathers off of ‘em?”
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 12:54 pm
The male blinked, sitting down, front paws pressed agains this chest, left hind one holding the feathers in place. "its about sometime that someone shows them we're not cute fluffy meals! " He squeaked, even though the true ide a of his hawk hunting had nothing to do with showing that he shouldn't be toyd with- feathers! Simple answer.
He looked down at his feathers, and puffed his chest proudly. "Yup! An' I got loads more! in some.. Den I think. " He blinked, and looked back from the direction he came. "Over.. uh, there.. Or there.. " He'd definately have to find all his feathers again-- he even had some nice, pretty owl feathers! And some parrot ones. Parrots didn't hunt hares, but he thought they could, annnd he had wandered just a bit too close to a parrot nest.
"Who're you? "
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 1:02 pm
She followed his pointing, each time looking for a den in the directions he offered. She didn’t see a den in any of those places, but she took his word for it. “Why feathers?” Arcadia asked. “Do you sleep on them?” Her voice rang softly, and eagerly, she picked up an armful of her kola nuts, and carried them towards where he was.
“I’m Arcadia- a healer and priestess of Amédia.” She sat the nuts down in a clutter, and gently arranged them. “Kola nuts- take one please. You’re supposed to eat them when you meet new people, and the oil inside of them is good for warding off disease.” She said as-a-matter-of-factly, and ushered one towards him. “This one is a bit too ripe, but you shouldn’t mind. Bite it in half, and give the rest back to me.”
She was the kind of person who could do multiple things at once- and as she proffered the kola, she tilted her head to the side and mused on the feathers. “I have a feather- but just one. It’s a very special feather.”
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 1:22 pm
"They're pretty, I guess.. and some are good to sleep on, yeah. Especially down feathers! Just they're harder to get. " He beams. Back at his den, he had those nice fluffy down feathers!.. Great, now he wanted to sleep.
"Healer eh? " He had no idea who média was, but that didn't really matter. "Good! So if on a rare occasion a hawk gets me, I'll come over here. " He grins stupidly, tail twiching slightly.
He blinks slightly at the mention of a 'special' feather. "Special? Can I see? " He asked curiously. What did she mean by special? Maybe it was some colorfull feather, those were neat.
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 1:54 pm
“You should,” She said, very seriously as she picked to kola nuts back up. “I am a very good healer you know. There’s not any kind of herb I don’t know. I’ve cured plenty of stuff-“ Arcadia spoke. “-hares, birds, lions. You name it. Of course, not without some blessings.” She continued, and rose herself up to look at the other rabbit.
“I’m sorry- I’m all up on nuts and I don’t even know your name. What is your name? I’ll have to know it you know if I’m to fix you up when some hawk gets the better of you. I should give you something in prevention-“ She rummaged her paws. There was nothing in front of her, but mentally, she was remembering the contents of her own den. “Yes! I don’t know anything to prevent hawk attacks, but I’ve got some luck charms.”
She had plenty of luck charms, actually. She was a hare, after all.
“Feather-?” Arc squeaked. “Oh, yes. It is very special. Here, come.” She directed, and bounded off quickly. Rabbits did not have much of a sense of patience- or at least, Arcadia did not.
She circled around the base of the kola tree, before suddenly diving into a gap between the roots. “You are very luck you know-“ She called from the darkness. “I was just getting ready to move.”
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 2:03 pm
Ah yes, those nuts, he compleetly forgot about it. He chewed on the nut she had offered early, then gave it back to her. "I'm Iva. Something to do with red I think. " He shrugged, he never kept much trackof whateer a name mant.
"But I don't want to prevent them, " He said cheekly. "Or else I don't get feathers. " a hawk flew overhead again, semed to see the hares and dive slightly, before swerving and flying quickly away, tail missing a few featherswobbling slightly. "Aaand I think I'm scaring them off enough for now. " He said meekly. "I don't remember that one, but it sure remembers me! "
He followed her towards the den. "Move? Is that because of them walking sticks that live round here? "He meant humans, but then again, each creature might as well come up with a different name for them.
He pushed himself into the dark den, blinking a few times to adjust his vision. "Well, if you want help, I could help. " He shrugged. That might be a good way to find his own den again, too.
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 2:18 pm
Arc grinned, and picked up the nut and placed the other half in her mouth. “You may call me Arc- I’m glad we have met.” She spoke, and chewed the rest of the nut pleasantly. With the fragments of the small round object in her mouth, she began to paw around the den mercilessly.
It was a strange looking den made from the roots. It stretched far back into the mirid of roots, but it was very thin, and barely fit her lean frame in. As she ducked in and out of the den, she returned with various clusters of dried herbs and odd pieces of root, and lined them up on the grass out front.
“I have many sorts of things. It’s too bad I’ll have to get rid of most of it.” She emerged again with half of rosehip. “But most of this will soon go bad anyways. Some of the rarer things I’ll keep. Can’t find black kinds of these anymore-“ She spoke, holding a black kola nut. “Only the white ones. They’re green. I never knew why they’re called white.”
"No no- not the men with sticks. I had a dream! Yes, I'm meant to be somewhere else I think." She arranged her herbs. She was no seer- but, she was superstitious. "I think I will go uplands a bit. To the red land. There will be herbs there that I'll need. I can't wait to see them!" She sighed, and wriggled her tail. "I don't think I need help- but I can give you plenty of things. Here, here- this is for migranes. This will make you have many babies. This will cure infection-" She spoke, and piled some stuff ontop of him, before vanishing again.
Finally, Arcadia arose from the den, this time a bit hesitantly. In truth- she was a bit reluctant to give this particular luck charm up. But she was sure she could meander another one at some point- and Goddess knows, this Iva certainly needed some kind of protection.
“Here-“ Arcadia quirked, and picked a small and dainty white feather from her mouth. Despite the fact that it had been underground- it had not collected any dirt. “This is a good feather. I can’t imagine why you want to go chasing hawks, but I think it must be a brave thing- so you should probably take this. It’s a feather.” Obviously. “This isn’t any hawk feather though. It’s a feather from a goddess, you know. I am sure it will bring good luck.”
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 2:43 pm
He didn't understand half of the things she was saying, but he understood 'many babies' a bit too well. "I don't want many babies! ' He groaned. "My mother made enough of them for me and all my brothers put together. " He grinned stupidly.
"Red land..? " He blinked, but it didn't take that long for him to remember where that was. "Thats far. You can stay at my den today if you want. " He shrugged. "I'm going to try and get some own feathers tonight, so its not like I'll use it. "
He blinked though, when presented the white feather. He took it carefully, seeing as it meant something to this female. "Goddess? " He asked to himself. Well, he better keep this feather then! But it seemed important to this Arc too. Even though he could be quite hot-headed, Iva wasen't so greedy.
"You sure? " He asked, picking his two feathers from the hawk and setting them somewhere between the pile of stuff Arcadia had created.
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 3:07 pm
“You come from a big family too?” Arcadia grinned, settling some of his stuff together. “My mother had thirty kids, I only ever knew about twenty. I always had to watch the little ones.” She picked up some of the rose hip, and placed it next to the pyguem. “That’s how I decided I want to be a healer. But no one knew much about herbs and stuff- so, I had to teach myself what I could. I always made sure to leave little offerings for my Goddess- and one day, an old rabbit came by and told me everything she knew.” Arc spoke.
She listened to him speak, and smiled with a gentle nod of her head. “Yes, yes. Keep it. You’ll need more luck then me, and I have plenty of charms. Who knows- maybe you are meant to fight with hawks.” Arcadia mused, “I believe we are all meant to do something. I am sure with that you’ll be looked after.”
“Are hawks easier to catch at night?” Arcadia asked, as she shuffled her herbs around. She was using a few to tie up the other, and then placing them on the giant pile of stuff for him- occasionally giving a brief disclaimer on it’s use. “This is for stomach aches, but it will go bad soon, so it might give you an ache.”
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 3:19 pm
"I was in my moms.. Uhh.. I think maybe tenth litter? I met most of my siblings-- don't remember ay of them tho'. Lost my patience of babysitting. " He said, tail flicking. "i think my mom prolly had more than thirty. " He shrugged, only had to sidestep as he had almost made the pile fall.
"You don't find many hawks at night.. Night is more owl time, i guess. Owls hae fine, softfeathers tho, so I like getting them. " He grinned. "But they are harder to outsmart. " He frowned, he had almost been caught many more times by an owl than by anything else.
"Uhh.. lets take these to my den, then. I gotta make room for them-- Puku won't like it, but it is my den. " He grins meekly. Puku was a mouse that lived there. He probably only let the mouse remain because it took good care of his feather collection. "You wanna stay at my den or not? "
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 3:54 pm
The idea of stalking owls in the dark was so surreal that she had to press a dainty paw over her mouth. “My-“ She peeped. “I can’t imagine doing anything like that. Why do you do such things? Just because you like feathers?” Her wide eyes blinked, trying to wrap her mind around it. “I mean- not that feathers are not a good motivation. But I like feathers just as much as the next person so-“ She mused. Had a hawk messed with the wrong rabbit someday? She could hardly imagine it!
“Sure, sure. I can help you put them where they’ll keep dry.” She smiled, and picked up some of the small bundles. She was a bit embarrassed about answering his other question though. She’d never imagined being asked over to some other hare’s burrow. But she supposed if he was out, it was an innocent request, so she decided to take him up on that.
“I will then, if you want.” She smiled. “Tomorrow I will start my trip. Who is Puku? A friend of yours?”
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 4:49 pm
He grinned, standing on his hind paws with the pile balanced on his front, walking forewards as carefully as he could. "The feathers are neat, but if you pluck it off the owl itself, it'd probably not try and hunt you again. " He said contently. Not many of the birds he'd stolen from still tried to catch him.
"And I can make neat things with the feathers. " He said, tail swishing slightly, loosing balance slightly but recovering it before falling over.
"Puku is a mouse. He lives in my den-- sorta. He takes care of my feathers too, if he wants to. i suppose he likes a tidyden. " Iva shrugged slightly, and began to experiment a few hops, slowly getting used to these packages, and the non-usage of his hind legs.
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 4:58 pm
Arcadia was good at carrying things; hours of collecting had made her quite the avid handler. She placed a few of the nontoxic, or liquid soluble, trinkets in her mouth, and picked the rest up in her paws. A few of the small roots had to be left behind- but they were probably all bad anyways. With a kola nut wedged in her mouth, she managed to usher some slurred speech out, although she looked somewhat comical as she did.
“You make things out of feathers?” She asked, genuinely surprised. She sort of made clusters out of herbs- so the idea of using feathers to create things sounded very clever. “What sort of things?”
Another slow hop, and she had determined a pace for herself as she followed behind Iva. He had been a bit nondescript as to his location before- this time, they seemed to go in one direction. “A mouse? I ‘never seen much of a mouse before living with one of us. He must be a good fellow then. I can imagine he’d like the feathers.”
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