Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Aug 31, 2019 17:10:30 GMT -6
Most of the gaps had leaked water all the way to the shoreline, though fortunately in small, gradual drops, having left the manta ray plenty of space and liquid to still breathe comfortably. Good, for temporary, few minutes' worth of transport. But for taking it all the way home to the kennel? It wasn’t nearly study enough.
The sphinx rose to her feet, scouring the nearby wreckage for anything useful, much to the dismay of the manta looking to use her feet as a body rest. A short while of digging later, she returned to the water’s edge with some splinters of wood and opaque lumps of something looking almost doughy. Small pieces of the opaque material were broken off, rolled between palms to soften them up with a little heat and then gently pressed into the bucket’s gaps. Wrist blade flicked out to whittle some of the wooden pieces down to size and shape, after which she set those into the gaps and pressed down on the excess wax that protruded as a result.
As she repeated this for any uneven seal she could find in the bucket’s sides, the work came at the price of dodging occasional sprays of water, as the dynamic water duo played their games of chase up and down the shore.
(38) August Darky: 38 Bilious: 19 (3/5) / 44 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Aug 31, 2019 17:11:09 GMT -6
Or, well, almost up and down. For the mareliev it was more restricted to the side-to-side rather than up-and-down. In the water the two were fairly evenly matched, each slightly better in their own way, whether it was the ability to turn or just the speeds they could reach. The script flipped the second the mareliev attempted to follow the equillion ashore, however. Suddenly the grace and agility seemed to melt away, and it could only but wobble forward on its fins, click-meeping for the equillion to wait up. Bilious had no issue stopping to wait for it to catch up, though every time he seemed almost as surprised over being so far ahead as the mareliev was at his ability to run so effortlessly on the hot dry stuff.
The sphinx ended up being pelted with not just water sprays, but also with flecks of sand and the occasional pebble, when the two got that much closer. While it made the work on the bucket a little more concentration-requiring, antics of creatures everywhere around her were pretty much the staple flavour of existence in the Hideout kennel. You either learned to deal with it, or you began to lose shreds of patience, piece by piece.
In so far a she could tell, hers was still fairly healthy.
(39) August Darky: 39 Bilious: 19 (4/5) / 44 (3/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Aug 31, 2019 17:11:45 GMT -6
Speaking of healthy.
Darky raised the bucket up to the light, turning it slowly all the way around and then finally raising it bottom-side up as well. The light faintly glowed through some spots, but didn’t seem to outright beam through from any of them. The wax would have helped keep the sides water-resistant long enough for them to make it home, after which the manta ray could find itself a new home among the enclosures. A few tests of filling it with water and waiting to see what dripped gave proof to theory, allowing her to scoop up the manta and carry it to the shoreline.
A bit of reflective metal attracted the sea bird back to her again, keeping it near by as she tacked it onto the outside of the bag. Then, finally, there were Those Two..
Having Bilious follow her around would have been a simple job with his training, but doing so in good conscience when he was enjoying himself so much was another matter. Likewise, this new creature already had a home, but seemed to enjoy their company enough to, perhaps, be seeking a new one? There was only one way to find out.
Picking up the bag, the bucket and making sure the bird followed, Darky began to trek back towards the original dune and their entrance, calling for the equillion to follow along. It worked well enough, though he kept stopping and looking back at his newly made friend. They had barely begun the day and it felt like it was already over..
Perhaps the mareliev felt the same way, for it still continued to hobble after them, despite the dry sandy beaches being difficult for it to traverse. In a bit of a method of testing, the mammalian and equillion walked for a couple of minutes, before she finally lowered their pace enough to help match the mareliev and allow it to follow along with them, as they began to make their way home.
(40) August Darky: 40 - (added) Bilious: 20 (0/5) / 45 (0/5)
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Post by Renathan on Aug 31, 2019 17:34:36 GMT -6
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Sept 22, 2019 7:28:06 GMT -6
Equillion could not have, perhaps, been considered the most expressive of creatures at times, and Darky certainly didn’t have the closeness of bond with Bilious just yet to feel what he felt on a higher level. However, despite all this, the sheer amount of disappointment coming off of the kelpie upon their return to the Mansion was palpable. It had been a short little side-stop, long enough to drop off the mareliev and rest up a little, before they returned only to find everything changed.
The seas.. were gone. The water replaced with wheat fields, the beaches with orchards, the small pools and puddles with.. okay, so technically not much had changed there at least. But the weather had also taken a turn for the colder, promising winter like a subtle threat laced with follow-through, given enough time.
Winter and the cold were the worst of times for the kelpie, for everything outside was frozen over and the indoor was fine but eventually everything seemed just a little too small.
(1) September Darky: 41 Bilious: 20 (1/5) / 45 (2/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Sept 22, 2019 7:28:43 GMT -6
So this was probably Bilious’ last chance to enjoy the great expansive outdoors outside the farm, before they battened down the proverbial hatches and everyone got moved indoors for the winter. It was chilly, but not so much just yet as to become cumbersome.
At least for Bilious, technically he was always a little cold to the touch from being drenched. For the mammalian, warm-blooded as she was and already bundled in two more layers than normal, winter might as well have already arrived.
How was it people in these parts could stand the frozen water-fluff? Snow was nice and all, but its novelty wore off about as fast as her ability to keep a steady internal body temperature. And fall was the worst, for it rarely seemed to make up its mind on what it wanted to be - sometimes it was a warm sunny day, then the next moment is pouring rain and freezing cold.
Dressing for the weather was like carrying around a portable wardrobe.
(2) September Darky: 42 Bilious: 20 (2/5) / 45 (4/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Sept 22, 2019 7:29:10 GMT -6
But it was also a time of celebration - Serpent’s Dawn, the harvest festival. Try as she may have been tempted to stay indoors until spring came around again, there was a pull to the fall atmosphere she could not ignore. Perhaps it was how everything was shades of red, yellow, brown and purple, colours most well known to her; perhaps the scents of foods and a sense of community among the populace; or perhaps she simply enjoyed all the plant-themed paraphernalia.
Whichever the case, here they were, yet again, facing down the drastically different Mansion. While she had been here a few years before with Terry, the Mansion had been a completely new experience for Bilious last month, much less now with everything changed. For the worse, in his mind, for he had just become excited about being able to swim in a giant body of water again, though thankfully a disappointment that was also as short as his attention span.
Darky patted his side, comforting with a few words and the equillion perked up, giving her a curious look, then, as if remembering something, looked towards the orchards.
(3) September Darky: 43 Bilious: 20 (3/5) / 46 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Sept 22, 2019 7:29:37 GMT -6
Anybody who would have been surprised about him suddenly dashing off into the Mansion’s back yard would have had to temper their expectations of Bilious a considerable amount. His nostrils had flared mere seconds before the dash and Darky had no doubt they had picked up the fresh scent of ripe fruit from there. While water was a good motivator, food was still better yet.
At a casual pace, bundled with jacket, scarf and hand and all, the mammalian began to wander after him. At least here she didn’t need to be too concerned about him (or her) ending up stumbling into sharp objects. All too much, anyway.. And as long as they stayed away from the hedge-maze the equillion couldn’t technically get lost - the grounds and yard weren’t nearly as expansive as the beach had been.
Which didn’t mean other things couldn’t find them but out of all the months, this one had seemed to be the calmest of the lot. At least, thus far.
(4) September Darky: 44 Bilious: 20 (4/5) / 46 (3/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Sept 22, 2019 7:30:10 GMT -6
The equillion bounded forwards and into the paths between the trees. There was a distinct inability in him to decide, it seemed, for all the trees seemed to bear different kind of fruit. He wasn’t entirely wrong, but Darky didn’t quite have the heart to tell him most of those ‘different’ fruit were just various coloured apples. Although she was both surprised and pleasantly impressed to find some more uncommon fruit trees like peaches and oranges among all the apples, pears and plums as well. Not all too many middle-Pethians grew those.
Bilious eventually seemed to come to some form of conclusion, or at the very least a decision and bounded up to one of the trees (though, as things were, it could have just as well been a randomly picked tree), scenting the fruit hanging down from its branches. They were bright yellow with slight red striping, some brand of apples.
The equillion craned his neck, chomped down on one and pulled it off of the branch, happily munching on it on the ground.
(5) September Darky: 45 Bilious: 21 (0/5) / 47 (0/5)
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Post by Renathan on Sept 22, 2019 8:16:01 GMT -6
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Sept 28, 2019 8:03:06 GMT -6
One was soon followed by another and it was only five apples later that the equillion’s interests (and attentions) finally swayed elsewhere. Specifically to another tree, where after three plums, he continued onward down the line of trees in the orchard. The crusade for delicious fruit was abruptly ended at the orange tree, where the equillion a little too eagerly chomped into one, before rapidly and alarmingly realizing he did not, in fact, like sour-tasting things.
Bilious backtracked from the orange tree as if he had been stung, and for a moment Darky feared that he had been, before the equillion began to spit water all over the ground, tongue lolling out as if trying to wash it. The benefits of his kelpie blood being there was never a shortage of water to keep himself clean.
Darky stifled a chuckle, and although the kelpie would have been the last creature on earth to take offense, she decided against making any further comment.
(6) September Darky: 46 Bilious: 21 (1/5) / 47 (2/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Sept 28, 2019 8:05:04 GMT -6
From thereon out the equillion wasn’t entirely disinterested in the orchard trees, although his posture seemed to denote some suspicion towards them, or perhaps a temptation - he definitely still wanted the fruit just.. wasn’t sure which ones were the ‘safe’ ones to take. Wandering from tree to tree only to eye it while his nostrils slowly did a small twitch for a couple of seconds.
After a while the mammalian felt sorry enough for him that she walked up to one of the red apple trees and plucked a few of the apples, taking them over to the equillion and offering them up to be eaten. Bilious eyed the red fruit at first, but within a second his entire posture seemed to perk and he ever so carefully (but excitedly) ate them up from her palm. She hadn’t even needed to cut them into slices or anything, although one did have to wonder how a kelpie’s stomach normally did with this many acidulous fruits digesting.
Best.. perhaps not think too much on that one.
(7) September Darky: 47 Bilious: 21 (2/5) / 47 (4/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Sept 28, 2019 8:05:30 GMT -6
And besides, it wasn’t as if their stable was kept pristine by the equillion family as was, flammable bedding notwithstanding. Worst comes to it, Nightmare can just file a complaint later.
All the same, she began to start heading to the opening in the orchard fence to the other parts of the yard. Along the way she grabbed a peach or two for her own self, such delicious fruits something of a decadence in the desert lands, so why not treat herself a little while here. It was in grabbing a few more that she first noticed a strange sight - a stick, with vines entwined around it, ending in a lump of some sort. When she picked it up she had to correct herself - ending in a rock of some sort, if one was the consider the weight.
For all intents and purposes it seemed to be a weapon, and yet she couldn’t really figure out how to effectively use it. Surely the rock was far too heavy for the vines to support it? You swing it once and the whole thing rips itself free.
(8) September Darky: 48 Bilious: 21 (3/5) / 48 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Sept 28, 2019 8:05:56 GMT -6
That was a fact any jungle-dweller would have been able to easily correct her own, as certain types of vines could even be strong enough to use in house construction. Certainly, not one made out of rocks, at least not easily, but all the same. There was a temptation to try it, to swing it a few times, but her hardhat was at home and in any case flails were really not her style of weapons, so she instead safely wrapped the length around the handle and tucked it into the bag.
Turning to leave a glint caught her eye and she stopped, looking back once more. There was something else, at first hidden among the yellow and orange of the tree’s leaves, but made up of something completely different. Darky plucked it out of the tree hollow, to Bilious curious look, and brought it into daylight.
A little marble. This one she knew - a serpent’s eye.
(9) September Darky: 49 Bilious: 21 (4/5) / 48 (3/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Sept 28, 2019 8:06:19 GMT -6
There was a place for these, she knew, though to use them they’d need a fair few more. Fortunately for the harvest festival, the serpent’s eyes seemed in abundance. Pocketing the small marble she smiled at Bilious and lead them to the little gate between yards.
Stepping through, the other side seemed to be more of the same, though not quite exactly. The orchard continued, but in place of purely just trees, here there were bushes and small shrubs of various kinds, even rows of various vegetable fields on the far side. The sheer abundance, and above all variety of the yard was still a breath-taking sight to behold, for someone whose life had mostly been dominated by the colour of sandy yellow. Here there seemed to be more kinds of food growing out of plants than the entire desert, plant and animal, combined.
One could certainly see why Harvest was the patron for the month, for they were not wrong.
(10) September Darky: 50 Bilious: 22 (0/5) / 49 (0/5)
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