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Post by Silver on Jul 7, 2020 6:45:45 GMT -6
Silver's heart melted a little bit when they heard the catterfly purr. There was nothing quite like a purr. It instantly lifted their spirits and made them smile. The creature really seemed to like them, though perhaps only because they smelled like treats. Either way, they were willing to run with that and see if they could convince it to follow them all the way home. After a little bit of time with it, they were sure to be fast friends. They knew how to raise small fluffy creatures, after all.
They stood up slowly and took a few tentative steps away, and when it seemed like the catterfly would follow, they kept doing it until they got to the mansion's gate. Sanguis sighed in an annoyed way as if he wanted to say 'finally we're out of here'. He really wanted to go home, weird golden cat or no, but he had to wait while they patiently led the catterfly out of the mansion and back to where they lived.
25 [110.5, 5]
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Post by Nadia on Jul 7, 2020 9:53:33 GMT -6
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Inertia
Jul 21, 2020 7:28:22 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Jul 21, 2020 7:28:22 GMT -6
The mansion was a strange and interesting place. Even with as much time as they spent there, there were always more things to see. The fact that it changed constantly was another reason to keep visiting and exploring as often as possible. They often wondered why they never bumped into anyone else while they were at the mansion. They were certain that other people must come by to explore as well, but they had never seen one. Not that they could remember. Perhaps it was one of those things the mansion engineered with its mysterious magic. Since they knew they'd probably be alone, and were relatively certain by now that they could overcome anything that tried to hurt them, Silver decided to bring two creatures with them that they wanted to get better acquainted with. One was a long furry crossbreed, no doubt of Salaves blood, and the other was an actual full blooded Salaves. The thing that they had in common, other than their purple stripes and distant lineage, was that they both had a spark of cleverness in their eyes. Silver was relatively certain that they could even learn to speak if they spent enough time with them. Watching after two creatures they didn't know very well was enough, so they asked Kumoya to babysit Quin for them. She didn't seem enthused, but they were sure it would be fine. 1[110.9, 0.2, 0.2] [Silver casts Sever Bond.]
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Inertia
Jul 21, 2020 7:51:07 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Jul 21, 2020 7:51:07 GMT -6
"Ah, here we are," Silver said, pulling on the gate. Of all the things that constantly changed, the gate stayed relatively the same. They were an expert now at unlatching it and letting themselves inside. Nothing had ever stopped them before, so they were no longer slightly anxious as they let themselves inside without any clear indication that they were allowed there.
"See this?" they said, waving to the driftwood castle. "This is the uh... the weird mansion place. I guess I don't know what it's supposed to be called," they admitted. All this time they had just referred to it casually as 'that mansion' or something. They would have to come up with a better nickname for it, even if they were the only one to use it.
Louise was curious. She stretched up from her hind legs and tilted her head at the odd building in front of them. It was weird looking. Not like anything she knew. Grapes was a little less sure. It looked dangerous to him. He slithered around so that he was slightly behind Silver for protection. Nevermind the fact that the small humanish person was much less intimidating than he was. Large snakes with wing-hoods and giant fangs would scare off most things, though not as many as one would think around this crazy place.
2 [110.95, 0.4, 0.4]
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Inertia
Jul 26, 2020 7:10:48 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Jul 26, 2020 7:10:48 GMT -6
"C'mon now," Silver said. They rested their paw on Grapes' head idly. "We'll go inside and look around, there's a lot to see. ... I think. There usually is, anyway. Just stay close to me, and I will keep you safe." Silver sounded confident, but it was a bit of a bluff. They didn't actually know what they'd do if they came across some kind of serious threat. That probably wouldn't even happen, right? If they worried about it too much, surely that would make it happen, so they decided to push it out of their mind and carry on.
Grapes still felt unsure, so he clung to Silver like a shadow, never leaving their close vicinity. The huge driftwood castle was intimidating, and so was everything else moving all around him. The whole place was teeming with life, and all of it was strange and new.
On the other hand, Louise wanted to know more. Every time she saw something move out of the corner of her eye, she resisted the urge to chase after it. As much as she wanted to learn and explore, she also knew that she should stay near the others for safety. She had no idea what was going on around here, but it seemed like the person she was with did, so she decided to trust them for now. What else could she do?
3 [111, 0.6, 0.6]
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Inertia
Jul 28, 2020 3:51:23 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Jul 28, 2020 3:51:23 GMT -6
What was usually a garden or even a forest filled with trees was now just an endless sea of sand. Silver hadn't been expecting that, but they often had no idea what to expect around here. They had to admit that they were looking forward to the trees or flowers so that they could show them to their new companions, and not seeing any was a bit disappointing. The sands had to be interested in their own way, though. There's no way there was that much nothingness around. The mansion just wasn't like that.
"Let's go... this way," they said, picking a direction at random. If it turned out that they didn't find anything before they got to the driftwood castle, well, they would just go inside and see what was in there. The ultimate trick the mansion might play on them was to be utterly uninteresting when they were trying to impress someone new. Was that what they were doing? Trying to impress them? Well, not exactly, but the thought was the same regardless.
Louise was keen to look around so she hopped onto the sand and took the lead. She didn't like the way her paws sank in and she could already feel it getting stuck in her fur. Grapes continued to hover close to Silver, occasionally using his tongue to probe the air for anything suspicious.
4 [111.85, 0.8, 0.8]
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Inertia
Jul 28, 2020 6:03:13 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Jul 28, 2020 6:03:13 GMT -6
"Ah, okay," Silver said. They awkwardly stepped around Louise as she scampered past. They hadn't been expecting her to do that, but it put a smile on their face nonetheless. She seemed really curious and interested in what was going on, which was what they wanted. Louise bounced around in the sand, still uncertain about the way it made her paws feel. With every step she picked up her paws and shook them a bit. Later she might realize just how persistent those last few grains of sand really were.
"Lead the way," they laughed softly, then followed after her. Grapes had no choice but to climb up on the sand behind them. The warm sand felt nice on his belly scales. It was oddly... natural. This he could get used to. He decided to relax long enough to enjoy the sensation.
Now that she was getting used to it, Louise was able to travel a bit more gracefully through the thick sand. She still didn't dare to go too fast, however, since she didn't want to lose her companions. She had no idea what was around here but she didn't want to find out the hard way what it was like to get caught without them. She would continually hop a few feet ahead, then turn back to watch them catch up.
5 [111.9, 1, 1]
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Inertia
Jul 28, 2020 6:11:32 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Jul 28, 2020 6:11:32 GMT -6
There was a large dune between them and... everything else. If they wanted to explore the mansion they had no choice but to go up and over it. Louise was already determined to get a head start. She bounced up the dune, flapping her wings in vain as though she was trying to take off. Silver smiled at how cute she looked and wondered if she could ever be taught to fly with such small wings. Where did they even come from?
Silver had a lot of companions that were weird genetic mixes from the labs. They hated the idea of what experiments the labs must do to the creatures and tried to save as many as they could. They had to wonder if their taking care of so many only made room for more to exist. They didn't want to think about it that way. They loved all of their creatures, regardless of how they came into the world. Louise in particular was a bit of a mystery. She was clearly smart, and long, and fluffy... the only thing they could guess was that she was related to a Salaves, since she had a serpentine body and purple stripes. The ones with purple stripes were able to speak, right? They glanced back over their shoulder at Grapes, who also had purple stripes. Could he speak, too?
6 [111.95, 1.2, 1.2]
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Inertia
Jul 28, 2020 6:22:16 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Jul 28, 2020 6:22:16 GMT -6
Silver would have to remember to talk to them often and see if they picked anything up. It was only a hunch, but it felt like they could almost remember something just out of reach. If it was true that Louise was smart enough to learn to speak, then they only felt even more conflicted about the past they imagined for her. It couldn't have been a good one. Then again, perhaps their opinion of the labs was tainting their assumptions, and none of the horrible stuff they imagined was even remotely true. They would have to ask her about it some day.
"Hold on Louise!" Silver said. "Wait for Grapes to catch up. Will you be alright there? I know it's a bit of an odd climb, the sand is so silky..."
They were about to think of a way to help the Salaves slither up the hill when he unfurled his large scales and uncoiled his long, insectoid legs. Silver had briefly forgotten that he could do that. They stood there in stunned silence for a moment while Grapes used his legs to pull himself up the sand with little issue. Then they were the only one left behind. They chuckled at their own silliness and stomped up the dune to join the others.
7 [112, 1.4, 1.4]
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Inertia
Jul 28, 2020 6:29:20 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Jul 28, 2020 6:29:20 GMT -6
"You both beat me up here," they said, panting from the effort. "I guess I shouldn't underestimate ya." They took a few deep breaths and brushed the hair out of their face. Was it just them, or was it getting hotter? The sun baked the sand and made it radiate with heat. Even though it hadn't been too bad on the way here, they were already starting to feel uncomfortable with the temperature here in the dunes. Grapes, however, never looked happier. He was closer to the sun and its radiating warmth, which was always a good thing from his perspective.
Now that they had a high place to look from, Louise and Silver both looked around to see where they should go next. There was always the castle itself, of course. It stood like a mountain in the middle of the sand, a spire jutting out from the ground and reaching out to the sky. That seemed too obvious, though. What else could they see before they headed there.
Louise made a chirping noise like a cat who had found a bug it wanted to chase. Silver's attention snapped to her in an almost automatic way. "What is it?" they asked. They noticed that she was looking intently at something, so they turned their head to look in the same way she was.
8 [112.05, 1.6, 1.6]
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Inertia
Jul 28, 2020 6:37:42 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Jul 28, 2020 6:37:42 GMT -6
There was a huge lake in the middle of the sand, and out if it jutted some huge structure. Silver squinted at the glare from the sun and tried to determine what it was, but they couldn't make it out. To them, it looked like some kind of trees or something. Well, whatever it was, it was more interesting than sand. They decided to go take a look.
"Good catch," Silver said. "Well spotted." They were slowly slipping back into the habit of saying things twice like they did around the children and hatchlings, so that they might pick up more words and their similar meanings. Louise looked at them when they spoke, but they had no idea of how much she was actually picking up.
"Do you want to go over there and check it out?" Silver had already determined that they wanted to go over and look, but it did occur to them to ask if Louise was interested, too. It would be polite to ask Grapes as well, but so far he had been less emotive. It was perhaps best to give him a bit of time to warm up to the idea of exploring before letting him make any big decisions. For now he seemed content to follow Silver around wherever they decided to go.
9 [112.1, 1.8, 1.8]
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Inertia
Jul 28, 2020 6:42:47 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Jul 28, 2020 6:42:47 GMT -6
Louise pawed at the air in the direction of the water she could see and waved her tail back and forth slowly. Silver assumed that meant she was on board for the adventure. They looked down at the sand below them and tried to decide what the best approach would be to getting down. Before they made a decision, they could feel the sand get loose beneath their feet. Next thing they knew, they were tumbling down the dune at an alarming rate. They squeaked audibly and breathed in a heap of sand.
Grapes had tried to get closer to Silver, since the wide open area made him feel exposed. Unfortunately, due to his size and the way he moved his tail just so, he had caused a sand-alanche and sent the both of them cascading down the dune. He quickly pulled his legs back in to their protective covers and hoped for the best.
By the time they hit the bottom, the two of them were tangled up in each other's tails. Grapes felt very sorry about this, of course. He tried frantically to free himself. He really didn't want Silver to be angry with him for what happened. Louise looked down from where she was standing, and Silver could swear they heard her snicker.
10 [112.15, 2, 2]
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Inertia
Jul 28, 2020 9:17:33 GMT -6
Post by Nadia on Jul 28, 2020 9:17:33 GMT -6
A järvivaimo is watching you from the water. It saw you fall, but doesn't seem alarmed - rather, it appears to be guarding a small treasure trove of goodies.
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Inertia
Jul 29, 2020 6:01:08 GMT -6
Post by Silver on Jul 29, 2020 6:01:08 GMT -6
Grapes wanted desperately to free himself, but so did Silver. Each of them moved in such a way that they only ended up even more tangled than before. The Salaves was wrapped around Silver like he was going to squeeze and then eat them, but he really had not intended it. Finally, they froze still, took a deep breath, and tried to puzzle their way out of the situation logically instead of flailing around.
"Okay buddy," Silver said. "You have to relax for a sec, and let me go, okay?" Grapes seemed to understand, in that he at least stopped constricting around them. Once they were both still for a moment, he realized how to untie himself and he did so slowly and deliberately. "Thank you," Silver said. They pulled themselves to their feet and brushed the sand off their clothes.
Meanwhile, Louise used her flightless wings to help her catch the air and hop gently down the dune and all the way to the edge of a small pool nearby. She was quite thirsty, now that she thought about it. She leaned down to drink from the water while keeping her gazed fixed straight ahead. It was then that she noticed the odd creature in the water, watching her. Was it safe? Was it friendly? Did it want to eat her? She tilted her head slowly and considered what she should do next.
11 [112.2, 2.2, 2.2]
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Inertia
Jul 30, 2020 12:43:02 GMT -6
Post by Nadia on Jul 30, 2020 12:43:02 GMT -6
The järvivaimo observes Louise, and cocks its head in imitation. It's never seen something like that before! It gains enough courage to slip forward slightly in the pool.
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