Battle of the Weeds

Orin Takekuro · 01-02-2011, 06:03 PM

[html]

WC 700

Her white pyramid like ears stood erect and the girl’s posture shot straight when Skye spoke the magic word: library. The short girl had no hope of containing her excitement at the thought, her tail lashing furiously in an exuberant display of delight. She clasped her hands together in front of her face and looked at Skye with eyes that begged please don’t be joking!

“Halifax library?!” She blurted, nearly bouncing on her tiptoes. “No, I have never been there. I’ve never even been to Halifax. I’ve never even been to a good library. Sure, I’ve seen some bookstores and schools, but mostly they were so destroyed there was little that Niro or I to salvage from them. I want to go!” Her voice became breathy, taking on a dreamy lilt as her eyes cast upwards to the sky with fantasies. Could a place really exist where there were walls of precious books just ripe for the picking? So much knowledge. Books were so delicate, so easily damaged, yet so direly important. Orin knew that her kind could benefit from the knowledge encased in those tomes – she herself already had. Yet few Luperci even seemed to know how to read. It was a shame, really. She would teach everyone in the world, if she could.

Her golden eyes flicked back to Skye and she realized her mind had trailed off for a moment, but she could not make herself look apologetic. Not when she had trailed off to think of books. “Are there really hundreds? It sounds like heaven.” She pondered the library for a moment more as Skye turned her attention to the flourishing garden, but snapped her attention back to Skye when the second in command addressed her again.

Half of her mind was still preoccupied with fantasies of the library, but she did manage to focus on the plants again for a minute. She took a step closer to the ones Skye pointed out and inspected their labels, and then the plants themselves. “Those aren’t bad colors to have. You can get all kinds of other shades from those two. All shades of blues, violet, red, and pinks.”

At the thought, she moved closer to Skye and reached out with tiny fingers, running delicate digits through a length of Skye’s russet hair. “We should make you some purple dye,” she giggled excitedly. “Purple is the color of royalty.” She paused for a beat and then waved her hand as though predicting a protest that she was sure would come. “Okay okay, we don’t have to dye your hair if you don’t want to. But my dyes have worked pretty well for clothing, too.”

Her eyes trailed off over the garden again, but it was not the plants that she was thinking about. The thought of the library came back, and in place of the crops she imagined walls lined with books, ceiling to floor. She was about to say something more about the library just as Skye spoke. Her words died in her throat, and she sat with her mouth hanging open for a moment. The offer from Skye was a surprise, and caught her off guard like a good left hook. Her eyes bulged and her mouth pulled back in the tightest, toothiest grin she could muster. It almost looked as though she would burst out in tears of happiness.

“Do you mean that?!” she squeaked. “Pack historian? That would be such an honor! I would love to. I’ve already got just about everything written down about the founding of Cerctori D’Arte. Well, all that I know, anyway. I could transfer it into a new journal and… and maybe I could interview you and Shawchert to make sure I get it all down. Cercatori will live on forever, and all the generations long after we’re gone-” she made a sweeping motion with her hand “-would be able to know the full, true story about the founding of the pack. It could keep things from ever going awry. I would love to do it!” With little forewarning she leaped at Skye and wrapped her small arms around her Secondo Capitano, catching her up in a tight embrace.

Login




Remember me Lost Password?