Wondering when next to fly

Sophie Hughes · 01-27-2012, 07:48 PM

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For Susquehanna, maybe Leon! :: Word Count → 580

That day found Sophie parading herself through the market, wrapped up in the warm rabbit fur Miss X'yrin had given her and blending in quite splendidly with the snow. Boothe was around, somewhere, as they were playing a game, once again out of the sight of their caretakers. But if things happened at the festival that Leon didn't like, he simply wouldn't bring them back, right? And Sophie didn't think he was too angry with them for entertaining themselves. Besides, he should be more concerned about Trigger, who had gotten startlingly thin and suddenly needed quite a lot of food and energy. He could take himself up on two legs, though; both of the younger siblings were slightly envious of that. He'd come to the fair too, and was wandering around somewhere, making Sophie extra careful where she went. Trigger could enforce the rules too, after all, and punishment was still an ideal the little family hadn't discussed.

There was suddenly a nose against her haunch, and Sophie gave a strangled gasp in surprise, turning quickly to see who was there. It was only Boothe, though, grinning fervently with his own black marten pelt hanging off his shoulders. Before they'd returned that morning, Sophie had begged Trigger to tie her pelt around her so that she wouldn't lose it, and Boothe had followed her example. Though his was somewhat dirtier than hers was--and more obviously so, as there were clumps of things sticking out of it everywhere--Sophie knew that, just like last night and the night they'd been given the pelts, Boothe would clean his out, just like she did every night. Only difference was she did it in the morning, too; white rabbit fur was harder to keep clean. Despite all that, they looked impeccable, and quite ready for whatever little gathering they'd attend today.

Boothe, deciding that his darker coat made him the quiet, sneaky one, nudged his sister's shoulder again and began pacing his way along the edge of the carnival, slinking low to the ground with the edges of his pelt dragging along behind him. It fit him much better than the first one he'd tried on, but it was still quite large, and allowed him to do this trick, believing himself to be completely hidden. Sophie grinned and wagged her tail, quite happy to play this new game--they hadn't stopped playing since yesterday, when Leon had finished doing his adult thing and actually let them play with their gifts. She followed his sneaky-stride with her own, long-legged version of a rabbit, or a deer; stretching her paws out to the very tip-toes and bouncing from one to the other. She wasn't very good at it, yet, her legs not quite long enough to keep her from stumbling, but Trigger had nodded in approval when he saw her practicing, and said it would be very graceful. Sophie liked that word; she wanted to be graceful.

She also quite liked walking like this because the fur hanging from her shoulders and strapping around her chest and underbelly didn't actually touch the snow or get dirty. She was quite pleased with it, as a matter of fact. Together, doing their strange dance and communicating in little whines as they played, finally making their way to the main marketplace, away from any of the actual activities. Painting didn't interest them today; Sophie was going to see if someone would explain what trade meant.

Sophie speaks Boothe Speaks

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Susquehanna · 01-28-2012, 04:28 AM

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WC: 1001, worth 10 points in Anathema game.

Hanna's perch upon Galilahi gave her a perfect view of the festival. She had finally gathered a few things to trade - a fur here, some herbs there - and headed out with Esmerelda in tow. She had heard tell of the daily classes being held and was interested in more than one of them; she just hoped she'd have time to devote to each of the packs' lessons. The woman was constantly in search of knowledge, be it something she knew about already in part, or something brand new to file away.

Esmerelda was less enthused with the idea of attending the festival. There would be people to meet, but aside from that, the girl did not know what she was supposed to do while her mom was off doing two-legged stuff with the other shifters. Essie could not shift yet, and it was a major problem to her. She knew that as with everything she would gain the ability when she got it, but that did not sweeten the waiting, not in the slightest. So it was with a fractionally sour face that the girl perched behind her mother, rocking with Gali's not quite plodding gait as the powerful hindquarters beneath her swayed and sharing the space with her mother's large messenger bag styled satchel.

Movement caught the brown girl's eye, to the right of where they were standing. Upon first glance, the pup would have sworn there was a rabbit and a mink parading through the middle of the festival grounds along the far side of some fencing. She could see only the top part of the "quarry", however, so she could not be sure... weren't rabbits smaller than that? And what was that darker thing? Licking Hanna's cheek and motioning to where she was going to be, roughly, Esmerelda jumped from Gali's rump and began stalking her prey.

Her mid-brown fur with its darker stripe above stuck out like a sore thumb amidst the snow, but she was coming from the rear, masking her approach. She trotted at first, slowing to a walk which was about all she needed to do to keep up. Now she was closer, she saw the "rabbit's" paws were brown with darker toes, like her own. She followed a moment more, then asked, quietly, "What are you two doing?"

Meanwhile, Hanna had approached one of the stalls to barter. She introduced herself, name and rank, and chatted up the merchant, who happened to be a female by the name of Sydney. This particular merchant, the Anatheman woman found, specialized in herbs and seeds. Seeds were something Hanna had not much stocked in besides where seeds themselves were the medicine, because her tendency to move locations would prove to make cultivating the plants difficult at best and impossible at worst. Now that she was in one place, however, she felt she could afford the risk of buying seeds. She selected a pair of willow tree seeds; even if she did leave Anathema the trees would be there for Naniko or any other healer's usage. She also picked up several varieties of flowers she identified as useful both as medicine and as use for her dyeing, and a smallish pouch of salt. Then she laid her first pelt, a raccoon who'd been silvery with age and part of a packet of a plant which she did not readily see on the table, and looked to the other woman.

Sydney tilted her head from side to side, then picked up the pelt. She rubbed the fur along the grain, then against it, testing how much came loose as she did. It was not much. Then she flipped it over and examined the underside, how smooth it was and if there was any flesh left on the skin. Finally she called one of Luci's sons over for his opinion. As his mother worked skins, the boy had picked up on alot of things. He explained any blemishes he found, including a couple nicks in the skin she had not seen and a place near the tail where the coon had likely been injured and the fur was sparser -- Hanna learned from him that she could have taken some of the hair from elsewhere and sewed it in and made it look nearly perfect. Finally, the woman trader nodded, picking up the partial packet of herbs and folding the pelt to be put away. Hanna thanked the woman and backed away, tucking her buy into her satchel. As she turned away, however, Hanna's eyes fell on the wares of another of the merchants and made her pause, turn back and approach.

A small carving of a tiger rested on the table amid several necklaces and bangles. The figure, though small, reminded her of Cian. She had not seen the spirit guide for a long time. She assumed it was because she no longer lived in AniWaya, but she supposed she would not ever get a definite answer. Palming the wooden figure and picking up also a three foot line of hemp and a small geode of a delicate rose hue, of which there were several others there. She promptly extended a burnished red fox pelt to the male, who accepted it with a cursory look. If it was a steal, the male knew it might bring her back to his stall some time if she wished for one of the tooth necklaces or the like. Then Hanna turned and walked back to Gali, leading her just outside the clearing to where she could sit largely unnoticed, by a tree, and work on the project she had just given herself. The medic figured she could wait there till Esmerelda got tired of doing whatever she had wandered off to do, but she was not out of earshot if she or any other wolf needed her help with something. Accidents did happen, after all. And Essie was still fairly young, if seeming independent now. Hanna trusted her, though.

Sophie Hughes · 01-28-2012, 06:48 PM

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OOC here! :: Word Count → 486

Sophie and Boothe slowly made their way around the outer edges of the festival, slinking and stepping and twirling at times, in their own little wondrous dance. After a moment, Boothe barked sharply, calling a halt to their little parade, and shook himself all over, making the marten fur along his back slide along with him before settling, slightly crooked, against him. "We gonna hunt." He announced, and looked at Sophie, who stared back with wide eyes, blinking from under the white rabbit fur. "We gonna hunt stick meat." Boothe nodded firmly, and his tail lifted and waved about eagerly, causing Sophie to grin and yap, sidling up beside him and nosing his extra pelt back into its proper place with a little giggle.

"To the hunt!" She agreed readily, and shook herself a bit, pleased when her rabbit fur only trembled a little; Trigger had wrapped it extra tight, and even tied the feather Light had given her into the fur behind her flopped ear, though it was hardly visible beneath the pelt. They had only just set off again to their crawling, ready to stalk back into the fair and to the stall where one Luperci was trading sticks of spiced meat, when a larger, older puppy came up to them, asking quietly after their activities. Boothe stuck his head in the air, placing his feet wide apart and stiffening his whole body as he faced her. "We're hunting!" He proclaimed proudly, and Sophie nodded in agreement, stepping up to sniff at the older girl curiously.

"More playin' around, really," She said, much to her brother's chagrin, and grinned at his rueful expression, bumping his shoulder playfully with his nose. "We got these th' other day, see, and now we look like sneaky warrior spies! S'that's what we are!" She shrugged, as the game seemed simple to her, and got a decisive nod from her brother, who eyed the older girl warily for a moment. After a few seconds, though, he seemed to deem her no threat, and gave a hearty shrug, shaking himself again to scratch an itch and growling slightly when the pelt slipped again.

Giggling, Sophie corrected it again, sliding it back into place by tugging gently with her teeth, and then licked the place she'd grasped, smoothing the fur back out before turning to the girl and adding hesitantly, "You can play with us, if you want. Dunno what you can do, though..." She added a bit more uncertainly, as the girl had no pelt to play with, and that was sort of the whole point of their game...Sophie didn't want to just leave her out, though; that would be mean.

Boothe came to the rescue, sort of. "Oh, I know! We could hunt you!" His grin was toothy and would have been somewhat scary, if he were older and a little less puppyish. It still made Sophie shiver.

Sophie speaks Boothe Speaks

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