Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Nov 30, 2019 22:22:45 GMT -6
Maronith Stamina: 5 Strength: 6 Resistance: 4 Dexterity: 7 Mentality: 3 Special Abilities: Fly, Pack Instincts, Buoyancy Moves: Water Spear, Peck, Wing Buff, Dodge, Healing Aura, Cure
- Character Profile -
Of all the jobs tackled thus far, the most recent little ‘assignment’ wasn’t perhaps the most strangest (that one still had to have gone to the mage’s tower incident and the near-death experience) but it certainly had the opportunity to be the most urgent. A creature potentially injured or sick was no idle matter, and depending on the severity of the condition, a veritable ticking time bomb to boot.
The sphinx had made it back to the kennel in a fair rush, though once there became presented with the ever present problem once more - who even among the small horde had any capability to handle a situation like that? The immediate thought went to the tat-lung, seeing as they had the capacity to reason, but quickly dismissed since none of them had any particular knowledge about the healing arts (Thalassina’s method of simply zapping wounds until they cauterized closed not withstanding). Of her trained creatures the only one with such such ability was perhaps Ander, ideal for he was also still but a toddler and would have provided a wonderful playmate if nothing else. However.. he was also just a toddler and in no shape or form in control of his abilities.
No, the option of choice landed a little more up in that particular bloodline, when following a short moment to pack a few more essentials, the mammalian left the kennel with the seabird gallor in tow.
(1) Maronith: 1 (0/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Nov 30, 2019 22:23:49 GMT -6
There hadn’t had been much time in her current business of things for the mammalian and gallor to properly know one another, but Maronith had two distinct aspects going for her: she had an innate ability to heal, even by simply having other be around her, and she had a very maternal nature so despite the fact the mammalian could hardly make the gallor do anything, the chances of her acting as required of her own accord were quite high.
And if no injury or sickness was present, well, the letter did denote the rakai pup to be just that - a pup - and Maronith was never all too picky on what manner or shape the small ones that come under her care come in. To her, they were all to be preened and cared for.
As to the matter of guiding her along there was a fair bit of luck on their side - by her very nature she wasn’t all to reticent to being guided, even if it may have occasionally taken a few treats or two to get her attentions back on track through the City’s side-streets. Darky could certainly count on her not wandering off so far as to cause problems, but one could never count out the option that troubles may end up finding them.
(2) Maronith: 1 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Nov 30, 2019 22:24:23 GMT -6
Fortunately, as tenuous as it was to guide a full-grown gallor who didnt’t get out all too much through the City, the two made it to the address without incident. At least.. what the sphinx had assumed to have been the address. There was indeed a plot of land next to them, house and all, but the small scribbled text on the slip of paper had more instructions. There was a patch of woods behind the house and a path that started from an old stone signpost that lead into it. Following some searching, the two managed to locate the path and begin to follow along it, even as Darky tried to puzzle the meaning of the address. It wasn’t even five minutes before the two could hear some sounds further up ahead and came to a small clearing. There, a young ungulate child, no more than eight or nine years old, looked up from among cardboard walls, studied the arrivals and excited jumped up.
“Are you here help Poppy?” he asked, leaning on a cardboard wall that had a crude drawing of a castle crenelation on it.
The sphinx didn’t get to answer immediately, partly because her brain was still taking in all this vastly different information, but mostly because the ungulate child didn’t stop there with his questions.
“What is your name? Your dress is strange. Is it from outside the City? That looks like a gallor! Is it yours? What’s its name? What kind of gallor is it? Have you trained it? Is it hard to train gallor?”
(3) Maronith: 1 (2/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Nov 30, 2019 22:25:11 GMT -6
In all honesty, the mammalian’s history with small children was surprisingly limited. Sure, there were other kids in her tribe back home and even a few that had been her age, plus Sels once upon a time, but beyond that it seemed she had managed to mostly meet youngsters that were at least in the teen range of things rather than less than a decade.
“Ah..” was all the sphinx could utter at first, in between a few of the questions. Finally, in a desperate moment, she held up the slip of paper with a copy of the ad, “I’m here for this. Was this yours?”
The ungulate studied the note, mouth slightly moving as he read the lines. It took him a solid half a minute. Then, the face brightened, “Yes! I put it at the work place! I asked our neighbour if there was anywhere to find help if you really needed help for special, secret things, and they said to write down what you needed and give it to the lady at the work place. She wasn’t there, but I saw all the other papers, so I put mine there too!”
The sphinx processed again, a pause following before she nodded calmly, “That checks out.”
(4) Maronith: 1 (3/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Nov 30, 2019 22:25:44 GMT -6
Tucking the paper away, the sphinx crouched down to eye level with the child, “So.. your rakai, Poppy was it? He needs help?”
The smile tarnished on the ungulate face, fading in an instant. He glanced down, playing with his finger-hooves, “Yes.. He used to play with me all day, but then yesterday morning I came to find him, and he was in his house, but he made sad noises and didn’t want to move too much. I brought him food and water and everything, but he still didn’t want to play with me. He’s been playing a little today, but he still makes sad noises every now and again. I think he might be hurt..”
Darky’s ears lowered, a sympathetic look on her face, “Hey, it’s alright, sometimes creatures can get hurt, but they’re quite tough, especially rakai. Can you show us where he is?”
There was a brief, almost strange look of hesitation on the ungulates face, as if he was having second thoughts for reasons unknown. The moment stretched a couple of seconds before he finally nodded, “This way,” and hopped the cardboard ‘wall’ towards what the mammalian assumed was the ‘castle’ inside the walled in ‘courtyard’ of the self-made structure.
(5) Maronith: 1 (4/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Nov 30, 2019 22:26:15 GMT -6
Crossing the structure unharmed required the mammalian to navigate the gallor around in a longer path, forcing them to take the side entrance with a cardboard ‘gate-bridge’ laid out flat against the ground. While obviously built to the size sensibilities of a small child, they were lucky this little ungulate seemed to like thinking in big scale, for the ‘courtyard’ was enough to fit them both and have room to spare. Elsewise they would have had to wait outside and the sphinx pray to all manner of spirits that the gallor could restrain herself from playing with the pup in a manner that would flatten the entire playground.
In so far the gallor had been rather impassive in the lead up to the job, more curious to things around her as sights she could finally see and take in as opposed to understanding there was a specific purpose to their journey. All that came to an abrupt stop when the first small whine sounded in the air, as the ungulate had picked up the little rakai and brought him out of the make-shift cardboard castle, holding him gently. The gallor’s face immediately snapped to the two and her ears moved up, sensing and hearing something to be quite off. Darky watched her warily, not for fear she would do something dangerous, but from worry she could take her concern a little too far, too fast.
(6) Maronith: 2 (0/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Nov 30, 2019 22:26:46 GMT -6
“This is Poppy,” the ungulate introduced, kneeling down to gently put the small rakai puppy onto the ground. It was obviously a Fury, from the rich and red scales, even though it seemed barely a few weeks old. “And he needs help..”
“Hello Poppy,” the sphinx smiled to the rakai, more hoping to make the ungulate feel better if truth be told. Her bed-side manner was something she decidedly sorely lacked in a lot of other circumstances, but trying to console a child was a cause worthy enough to double one’s efforts. “Does he bite?”
“Well.. sometimes, but not usually.. He doesn’t like his tail touched, but doesn’t bite if you don’t touch it.”
Darky nodded, kneeling down and reaching towards the little rakai. He sniffed and watched her in a mixture of wary and curious, taking in the scent. The great big gallor right next to her probably didn’t help the puppy feel quite as secure as normal, especially if it was feeling a little under the weather. And the sphinx suspected there was more to this story than the ungulate was letting on..
(7) Maronith: 2 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Nov 30, 2019 22:27:17 GMT -6
When the rakai was familiar with her scent, she reached for Maronith and gently guided the gallor to lay down beside her with a few gentle, but specific, nudges. Then, allowed her to reach her head closer and inspect the pupper just as the pupper was inspecting her. It seemed obvious this little guy had not encountered anything all to large up until now, the apprehension passing as soon as he was able to realize the gallor was of no threat. Worry was slowly replaced with a spark of playfulness, and he stood up, doing a few slow jump and starts to prompt the big blue one into playing. Darky kept a hand on the gallor’s neck, gently scratching her and also ensuring she didn’t quite join in just yet, however. There were still a few questions to ask.
“Well, his scales are still a rich red colour, so I can safely say it’s probably not any kind of sickness,” the mammalian began, switching between observing the rakai and the ungulate. There was a definitely look of relief on his face at the news, but once again the hands went to rub his hoof-fingers together almost nervously. Darky tilted her head, asking calmly, “It could be he’s just hit himself against something during play. Do you have any thoughts on how he might have hurt himself?”
The ungulate shook his head, quite fast, “No.. We play around here, but I’ve thrown all the rocks and the big branches into the forest over there, to make room for the castle, see?” and he gestured around. “It’s cardboard, actually, not a real castle. But it doesn’t hurt when you fall into it.”
(8) Maronith: 2 (2/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Nov 30, 2019 22:27:49 GMT -6
With Maronith kept mostly in line by the mammalian’s side, there was no jumping into playing with the pupper on a more physical level. Given they were still unsure of the rakai’s injury, it was probably for the best, as well. However, it didn’t stop the gallor from at least entertaining the small hatchling in other ways - her tail stretched out to her side, tip slowly flicking and sway, inviting the small one to chase and catch it. The invitation was well received, as the small fury was waddling after it in no time. He didn’t quite have the grace of gallor, infant or otherwise, but Marolinth was pleased to see him try none the less.
The sphinx nodded, perhaps a little more theatrically than she had intended. A small bit of acting went a long way when it came to small children, that much she knew - their world was one of imagination and play-pretend every day. To get to their level one had to forget some parts of their ‘adult’ mind and discover those ‘pretend’ parts once more. The kid had confirmed what she had suspected at first - this was definitely more a playground than a make-shift home for someone without one, especially since he had neighbours to ask questions from. So, the kid probably had a family and the family probably lived in the house they had passed before the stone marker.
(9) Maronith: 2 (3/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Nov 30, 2019 22:28:24 GMT -6
That begged a new question - why did a child with a family well enough to own a house have to resort to a questing board in order to get help for their beloved pet? Her mind flashed back to what he had said before, about how the neighbour had helped him find a place to help with particular tasks.. secret tasks.
“Has.. Poppy been here at the castle this entire time?” she asked, half-cautiously, half-curiously.
“Yes, he likes the castle!” the ungulate seemed intent on proving a point, “He sleeps there, he eats there, he drinks water there. I think he also peed in there once, but I cleaned it up. He usually pees in the forest.”
“Do you take him into the forest when he needs to pee?”
“Sometimes,” the ungulate seemed to think, “But when I’m not here he sometimes goes on his own. There’s a few special trees he likes to pee at specially. Our neighbour said that rakai sometimes like to ‘mark their home’ like that, so other rakai know not to come here.”
Ah. And there it was.
(10) Maronith: 2 (4/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Nov 30, 2019 22:28:54 GMT -6
The fury chased the gallor’s tail around somewhat slowly, pausing and starting again in various turns, not quite sure of the rules of this game just yet. Perhaps the ungulate’s method of playing had been more scratches and wrestling, perhaps it was more throwing things instead. Whichever the case, while the rules were new and the rakai quite young, he was eager to learn, much to Maronith’s increasing delight. The sphinx watched and took her hand off the gallor’s neck, a signal for her to go ahead and play with the little pupper for directly. Despite her size, the sphinx wasn’t all too concerned, since the gallor was tried and proven to be a gentle soul with the small ones and wouldn’t ever live intentionally or otherwise cause one harm.
Which isn’t to say other creatures in the area wouldn’t be up to it.
“Can I ask.. where did you get Poppy from?” the sphinx turned back to the ungulate and though her expression was mild and curious, her eyes searched. They weren’t disappointed, the change to discomfort was immediate and poorly hidden.
“Oh, um, uh.. We, uh.. That is I found him.. Or our neighbour found him..” The tangle of a sentence seemed to only twist itself up tighter.
(11) Maronith: 3 (0/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Nov 30, 2019 22:29:20 GMT -6
At his panicked expression, the sphinx sat back and smiled warmly, gently waving a hand, “It’s alright, it’s alright. Look, I’m only asking because it might help us understand what caused Poppy to get hurt. He is very young and creatures his age have a lot of dangers around them. If we want to help him, we need to figure out what it is that’s dangerous to him here.” She paused, searching the ungulate’s face before quietly and softly adding, “I’m guessing he isn’t allowed into the house, is he..”
The ungulate looked down, seeming to shrink and deflate at the same time. It was a strange sight to the contrast of playful gallor and rakai just a couple of feet beside them, but after a while, he drew a long-winded sigh and rubbed his arm nervously. “No,” he replied, avoiding eye contact.
“Why is that?”
“Because..” and there was a note of quivering in the voice, to the point the mammalian almost felt a sudden panic at having made him cry, but it was swallowed down quickly as the ungulate looked off into the forest, towards where the aforementioned house would have been. “Because mama said I’m too young..”
(12) Maronith: 3 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Nov 30, 2019 22:29:47 GMT -6
Darky’s ears perked, a new development in the unravelling of the situation, “Too young? Too young for what?”
“She said the City has all these beast trainers, and that beast training is very dangerous. I like going to the park sometimes, to walk around and watch them. All sorts of big creatures and small creatures and flying and swimming and running and burning and…” the voice trailed off after the sudden spike of excitement. “I told mama I wanted to be a beast trainer too.. but mama said I was too young and that I couldn’t get a pet of my own until I was older. She said the pets here can be very dangerous and I might get badly hurt if I tried to train anything.”
Darky figured the parent in question wasn’t oblivious to things like the Pit, and technically speaking, she wouldn’t have been wrong either. Hell, the sphinx’s own skin beneath the short fur was a roadmap of different smaller scrapes she’d gone through in her years of training her own horde, and that’s with her having been a fully grown adult. To see a small child decide to pursue the same kind of profession would stop the heart of any parent for a solid three seconds.
(13) Maronith: 3 (2/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Nov 30, 2019 22:30:18 GMT -6
But at the same time, she also knew it wasn’t entirely black and white as that as well. Her own scrapes and cuts and bruises (and more rarer severe damage, few as it fortunately has been) were in no small part because she had chosen to train things dangerous. It was a wilful choice. The ungulate could become a trainer and simply keep to small baby creatures for the rest of his life and never risk even a fraction of what she had.
“So.. then, how did you end up with Poppy, if your mother didn’t want you to get a pet?”
There was hesitation again, as if he feared to incriminate himself further now that a truth he had hoped to obscure was being revealed. A glance to the side, to where the gallor gently pawed at the little rakai puppy as he rolled around on his back, however, seemed to cement more resolve into him. “Our neighbour called me over to their place about a week ago. They said they had something on their porch that they wanted me to see. When I went to see, I found Poppy there, sitting under a blanket. The neighbour said they couldn’t keep him, that would I want him. I told him mama wouldn’t let me, so they said they’d need to take Poppy to the APAA then. I couldn’t let him do that, so afterwards, when it got dark, I snuck to the porch and I took Poppy with me to here. I put him in the castle and he liked it there and I figured if I could keep him here, then mama wouldn’t find out and maybe when I got older she would let me keep him for real..”
(14) Maronith: 3 (3/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Nov 30, 2019 22:30:53 GMT -6
Darky watched and listened to the confession with a small smile, even if deep inside there was a strong urge to go ‘oh sweet child..’. There was a definitive naivety to the little kid’s plan, but then, at that age all the world is made up of rules you could just change if you thought hard enough and believed strongly enough. She didn’t have the heart to tell him the rakai would be growing a lot faster than he would and that by that point there would be far more trouble than it was worth. Rakai weren’t as bad as some species in terms of their temperament, but any creature if left without proper obedience training that grows up to be five times your own size will be a package deal for disaster.
All that she didn’t say, however. Instead, she simply asked, “So you found Poppy about a week ago? Has he always disliked his tail being touched?”
The ungulate nodded, appearing quite miserable at having had his big little secret revealed, but likewise looking glad that any sort of lecture he had feared was forthcoming seemed to be replaced with talk about his pet. “The neighbour said some creatures are like that. They said the malii are also known for not liking their tails touched.”
Yes, but not rakai, the mammalian mused.
(15) Maronith: 3 (4/5)
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