Post by Nako on May 28, 2008 3:02:25 GMT -5
Hell hath no fury like a little girl's scorn. One particular canine would figure this out as he fell backwards off the rocks and onto the sand below, blood spouting from his injured snout. Above him stood an angry quadruped squirrel, her wooden sword clasped bravely in one hand, and one paw still held up in the air in an angry fist. The knuckles of her paw stung, but that was nothing compared to the satisfaction in her heart to see that smug look smashed right out of the boy's face. The other children backed slowly away from her, shocked that the normally demure little squirrel would resort to such... violence.
Her chest still heaving with emotion, Zuberi spoke up, raising her voice so all could hear her. "Pinkbeard is -too- real! He was a real person with real adventures and real treasure!" This time, much to her satisfaction, no one laughed. The Midori canine was still staring with the most incredulous look on his face, blood showing up starkly on his neon green fur.
His silence though, wouldn't last long, and his face contorted into a mixture of rage and strain from holding back the sobs that so wanted to come out. "I.... I'm not playing with you any more! Who cares if stupid Pinkbeard exists or not?? You can't play with anyone without getting angry!
Zuberi was about to retort, but she noticed how the other kids were retreating as well. Even her best friend shook his head. "He's right, Zuberi. You can't play this game without getting upset... it's just a game.."
"Just... a game." But instead of the voice of a child, one of a grown woman whispered out those words.. sitting in the exact place she once stood so proudly. Tail curled around her, Zuberi looked from her perch out toward the sea, which poured so neatly into her quaint little cove.. her personal hiding place. Sure, the other children had joined her here when they played.. but as Zuberi had become more.. violent.. the children kept their distance. She'd gotten in so much trouble as a child.. but it was only when Pinkbeard was involved that she would get in trouble.. so much so that her mother stopped telling her the stories...
Trying to crush a child's dream. Well, it worked. It started with the rejection of tradition. It.. hurt her mother, but she didn't care. She had to escape it.. escape those urges.. that power that beat within her breast whenever she allowed the tales of fantasy into her life. The very heart of Midori culture made her... revert.. to something else.. something more.. primal.. powerful. No. She couldn't let it overcome her, for they were lies.
And when the Priestess.... no, that was too painful, too frightening to recall. Regardless, she had banished that from her thoughts just as she had her beloved Pinkbeard. She'd moved.. to the Capital... but things happened and that darkness came back. It came back, and it got her in trouble. Then, she found herself back here.. back where it all began.
Grimacing, Zuberi took another long drag of her Weed cigarette. It was a strong mixture. She felt she needed it, and with every drag she took from it, the sea danced even more with color and with life. It made her feel better. The cove certainly needed the help of weed to be beautiful in her eyes again, because a recent storm had certainly tore it up. Why, it even battered the great stone mountain which she played on as a child! As if to prove to herself that her dream had very much been destroyed, Zuberi pushed at an old rock that seemed too lose in its setting. When she had been younger, it had always been a stable foot and handhold as a child, but now it was pushed aside with relative ease.
But.. what was behind the stone made her stop in her tracks. There was a hole there... Zuberi stuck her arm into it, and was shocked when she felt.. a bottle. She brought up the smokey colored thing, and it felt relatively empty in her hand. Curious.. very curious.. Her paws worked the cork with great difficulty, her heart pounding.. that life.. that power was alive again... and finally the thing unplugged and the scent of ink and paper and.. something else caught her nose. Upturned... a rolled up parchment fell into her paw... and she knew... she felt it in her very soul just what it was.
"This... is no game."Her voice was strange to her own ears as she slid the rolled parchment open, her eyes wide and wild as she took in the sight... felt the fire burn within her."This... is real!"
((Teehee! Just wanted to play out the scenario of when Zuberi found Pinkbeard's map =D Later I'll have to elaborate on Zuberi's experience with the Voodoo Priestess =D ))
