Word Count → 420
out of character text
Terra's amazement at the bench was amusing and in Hotaru's mind it was a compliment. After all, her pieces didn't often strike wonder and interest. And if they did, it was often times for the wrong reason. Hotaru's attention turned from Terra's wonderment to the strange object in her hands. Eventually almost the entire world had been blocked out until it contained just the ball and a shadow of her companions. What ever it was, the coywolf wasn't about to tell and her words only made the blind wolf more determined to figure things out.
While his master fiddled with the round wood Fawkes fumed on his perch. He hated to be ignored and the coywolf had completely ignored his gesture. The indignant bird flapped his wings a little before he finally decided to take off. It was a quick flight to Terra's shoulder, but he made a big show it. Fawkes flapped his large wings an unnecessary amount as he landed on her shoulder before he quietly folded them. His powerful claws gently flexed against her skin, more for show then balance. And just for added attention he reached up and playfully yanked on her ear. This would teach her that he was not one to be ignored.
The rustle of wings caught Hotaru's attention, but when the expected weight didn't arrive the blind wolf started paying attention. Fawkes had landed somewhere else. Terra? It wasn't unlikely, although to what end? Hotaru was completely unaware of the silent confrontation occurring between Fawkes and Terra; although it wouldn't surprise the grey wolf to find out that they were going at again. As Hotaru pondered Fawkes's behavior she paid less attention to the ball in her hand until a faint click brought her focus back to the strange object. Click? It moved? Hotaru rubbed her hands along the ball, sure enough there was a depression where her thumb had just been. A puzzle! It was a puzzle! The carver's mind began to spin as she worked out how not only to solve the puzzle, but how to replicate one. Once the trick had been found out, it didn't take her long to find the rest of the pressure points and open the ball.
Hotaru rubbed the flat surface of the opened puzzle ball, the runes etched into the stone unfamiliar to her. Was it another puzzle? Finally her curiosity got the better of her. "Terra, what's on the inside? It's lettering of some sort, but I can't quite make it out."
Quote by: Maurice Freehill
<style type="text/css">.character-HotaruBlind b {font-weight:bold; color:#FFD700 ; letter-spacing:1px; }
.character-HotaruBlind .ooc { font-style:italic; padding:0px; font-family:verdana, sans-serif; font-size:11px;}
.character-HotaruBlind p {text-indent:25px; padding:5px 10px; margin:0px;}
.character-HotaruBlind {margin:0px auto; width:450px; background-color:#000000; background-image:url(http://i.imgur.com/ZWce2.png); background-position: top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #000000; padding: 353px 0px 5px 0px; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size:12px; color:#DCDCDC; line-height:16px; letter-spacing:.5px; text-align:justify;}
</style>
[/html]