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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Dec 1, 2008 19:40:31 GMT -5
The night before Rhiannon was set to leave with her mother on a trip to the Raemblen Bog, the land of her ancestory, the young woman had stayed awake nearly all night long packing her belongings and worrying about the next day. She was extremely excited about the trip, to be sure, but she was feeling rather apprehensive about leaving her family for as long as she was planning to. Everyone knew about it, of course, and she'd spent the last several days spending every minute with her Queen, her lover, and her children. Suits knew she'd spent far too much time away from them in the past several years. Things were finally getting back on-track. The King could feel her paranoia tugging at the back of her mind, making her wonder if she should go at all. She shook it off as she tossed in her bed, brow furrowing slightly. No, damnit all, she wanted to go. She had always wanted to go, and it was an exellent opportunity for her to spend time with her mother. Rhiannon tossed and turned, struggling to get comfortable in her bed, staring open-eyed at the ceiling. She couldn't remember falling asleep. The only indication that she had was when she was suddenly jolted awake by something purple, yellow, white, and squirming. Green eyes peered down at her, and the woman had to laugh at her younger sibling. Her own apprehension at the trip was completely shattered by Sorcha's eagerness over it, and the younger Heart gave her sister a playful nip. Rhiannon took a moment to wrestle with the other bat-coyote hybrid, rolling onto her back and pawing at the girl's snout with a small grin. "< All set?[/b]>" she growled cheerily, slipping into the Bog language as a sort of test. "< More than you,>" Sorcha responded fluently, a teasing note in her voice. "< I was packed three days ago, and you were still getting your shit together last night.>" Rhiannon had to laugh as she bopped the girl on the head. "< Language, 'Cha. Let's go find mom.[/b]>" Things were looking up already. |
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Post by Satra on Dec 1, 2008 20:38:26 GMT -5
Heilyn had spent the past several days spending as much time as she could with her own lover, the children she would not be seeing during her trip, and Bernard. She'd taken down a list of more things she would bring back for him. He was out of Bog water and had somehow managed to blow up the last vial of Bog mud. She thought she could also maybe bring back some tissue and plant samples for him. She'd also spent the last few days with the headache of arguing with Tegan why she couldn't go, too. It was complicated. Moreso than the girl at her young age could understand. This wasn't just a vacation, it was also a way to convince her father to be more accepting of Seth and the 'abomination of a so-called family' she birthed. Bringing along two healthy, beautiful, and strong children of pure Bog blood would bring him around. She was marrying the man whether or not Odhran liked it, but she wanted to at least try to mend some of the gaps that had come between them because of Seth. Of all the parents she could have had, why was Heilyn the one with the most xenophobic citizen the Bog had to offer? Gently, she fingered the ring on her hand and smiled softly to herself. Then got up to look for Andrei and Sascha. Sascha was always off exploring, and Andrei was hardly one to say 'no' to the promise of an adventure. She'd already said her goodbyes... she just wanted to remind them to be good for their father before she left. The poor man was going to be left with 6 children. Hardly something she felt good about doing to her future husband. |
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Dec 1, 2008 21:30:42 GMT -5
A moment later, Rhiannon had swung her bag up over her head and walked out of the room, her young sister eagerly trotting behind. It didn't take long before the older Bogdweller had outpaced her sister entirely, and she paused to look back at the girl. A thoughtful expression crossed her face. Sorcha had a light build from her primarily-bat heritage, and Rhiannon's own bag wasn't particularly heavy. She gave the girl a small smile, and a nod.
It didn't take any more than that. Sorcha eagerly clawed her way onto Rhiannon's back, nipping at the other hybrid playfully as she held onto the thick brown fur. Rhiannon growled softly before she set out in search of her mother.
~*~
Ooookay, not in their bedroom. Seth was there, covered in their other siblings, and they took the opportunity to say goodbye one last time, gaining information about where they would find Heilyn. Rhiannon set off through the courts at a brisk pace, keeping a lookout for the other King as Sorcha did the same - only in the opposite direction.
"How far could they have gone?" the glowing girl complained, but the look on her face was anything but discontent. She was having fun, especially since she wasn't having to walk herself all over the place. Rhiannon's back was pretty comfortable. "I mean, the palace is only so big, right?"
The other woman nodded slightly, ears flicking back as she turned a corner. At the end of her hall, she spotted a familiar human form and broke into a fast trot, not wanting to shake her sister free but eager to get going. When she neared her mother's side, she slowed her pace, a small smile on her long snout. "Finally found you. Did you manage to track down Andrei and Sascha?[/b]" she asked, as he sister moved forward, stretching wing-claws to her mother. After all, Heilyn was normally charged with carting the girl around.
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Post by Satra on Dec 1, 2008 23:16:32 GMT -5
She thought she heard their voices this way... Then a voice came up behind her.
"<Ah,... I think I have,>" she whispered, using the Bog tongue to keep the girls' skills sharp. She smiled, reaching out to pick up the child. Ohh, she was getting big. In a few years she'd be too be to let hang by her claws on Heilyn's clothing. She lifted up the child and let the girl adjust herself. She looked back around the corner for them, "<Yeah, those are their voices... Which do you think would be more merciful? Catching them and dumping them on Seth along with all the other kids, or just letting them run around and cause trouble from afar?>" Poor man. There would be some serious making up for this when she got back. She pondered how she would catch them. Calling for their attention never faithfully worked. Sometimes it made them run and hide, pretending the adults were the antagonist in whatever game they were playing, and sometimes it made them come. That, and she could just leave it alone. That was a perfectly viable option, too.
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Dec 2, 2008 0:28:31 GMT -5
Rhiannon considered the choices that her mother had presented her for a minute or so. Less, if she was going to be more honest. Probably a few seconds. The grin that worked its way onto her face was wide and, to be entirely honest, at least a little bit cruel. "<What he doesn't know won't hurt him,[/b]>" she replied, shaking her head ever so slightly, golden eyes glinting with mischief. A moment later, she finished her thought. "<Yet.[/b]>"
Sorcha practically howled with laughter, her glow brightening with the delight she felt. Yes, give papa as much trouble as they could. The girl spent every day doing it, so it only made sense that she'd continue now that she was going on a trip.
"<But let's go soon, okay?>" she said once she'd finished laughing, climbing first onto her mother's shoulder and then over her back, using her thumbs to hold on. She knew she was getting too big, but it was the nicest way to travel. "<I wanna see things while it's still light out.>"
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Post by Satra on Dec 2, 2008 1:23:18 GMT -5
Heilyn shook her head. Though, they did have a point: what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. And if she did get found out? Well, she knew she would be in the same predicament as he was now when he took Hadrian to the Glacier. Besides, the thought tickled her a bit. She thought, but how could she...? Hmm.... that idea might just work... "Rhi," she said loud enough to be heard from the other room, "and you too, Sorcha. I have a secret to tell you two."The young boy's ears perked at the sound of his mother's voice. A secret? He had to know! His curiosity wouldn't let him have it any other way. "Sasha!" he whispered. At the moment he was wearing a very odd assortment of random scraps of fabric and trinkets as some for of costume. Some of which they had pilfered from Sid's secret stash, "Listen! Mom's telling big sister and Sorcha a secret!" His ears strained to hear the secret! However, he remained out of sight. He learned that people didn't like it if they knew you knew their secrets. |
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Dec 2, 2008 1:41:30 GMT -5
Sorcha found it almost impossible to keep from giggling, but she did her best as she climbed up, looking at her mother with feigned interest. At least partially feigned, at least. She was actually incredibly curious as to what the elder Bogdweller had in mind, and her green eyes went round. She had to bite her tongue to keep quiet. " What is it, mom?" she asked before glancing around animatedly, as if looking out for people. Rhiannon didn't have trouble keeping from giggling, but she did smirk to herself as she padded closer to the human King. This was going to be fun, wasn't it? " I'm all ears.[/b]" she said easily, and her ears did indeed perk forward slightly. Sascha was currently climbing one of the curtains that covered the windows in the hall of this section of the Court, using the little thumbs on his wings and his bird-like feet to grip the material and haul his feathered butt up the wall. He wanted to get to the ceiling, but his wings weren't quite strong enough to carry him that far yet. When he heard his brother's voice, his large ears perked and he looked down rather sharply, laughing when he saw what Andrei was wearing. " Wait, a secret? Huh, one second... Oh, o-oops! OOF!" With a resounding crash, the curtain, boy and all, hit the floor. The eagle-bat pulled himself to his feet, a sheepish grin on his face as he shrugged at Andrei. " I'm okay," he commented to no one in particular, moving to his brother's side. They didn't seem to have noticed the commotion, all he could do was hope they'd still divulge whatever secret that the brothers were hoping to overhear. |
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Post by Satra on Dec 2, 2008 2:19:34 GMT -5
Andrei's eyes went wide as he let out a very strange half squawk-half screech. His wings flailed as he tried to bat-waddle as quickly as he could out the way of the large falling object. He squeaked as the bar crashed to the floor and the fabric settled slowly over them. He unscrambled himself from the curtain, only to be seen as a little lump wiggling itself to the edge of the ornate, embroidered cloth. A wiggling pink, leaf-shaped nose and over sized ears ears poked out.
Heilyn paused. A strange expression made its way onto her face as she pretended not to notice the huge crash noise. Taking in a small breath, she continued, repeating to herself over and over in her head: I didn't hear that, I didn't hear...
"Yeah. Your father has been hiding a secret box from me. I found out about it today. I saw the box with my own two eyes. It definitely has treasure in it." She tried keeping her language simple. She knew the boys tended to zone out when adults used big word, "I think he has the key hidden in our room... Why do you think he would hide it from me?" Not the subtlest of tricks, but she wasn't trying to fool the cleverest of politicians. They were boys with ages in the single digits and overactive imaginations.
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Dec 2, 2008 2:38:29 GMT -5
Rhiannon reacted in much the same way as her mother did to the crashing noise, flinching slightly before quickly smoothing over her composure. She could hear the quiet cry of "I'm okay!", and she was sure that he was. She just worried about what had been broken. "<I'm sure they're fine.[/b]>" she said quickly when she saw her mother's expression, and the game continued as planned.
Sorcha snorted at the crash, then giggled again when Heilyn began to weave her tale. She glanced up at her older sister, expression strange for a second - she'd seen a box like that once before. It had smelled weird, so she hadn't wanted to open it. But she didn't want to say that, she felt like it would ruin the surprise.
"Maybe it's a haunted family heirloom?[/b]" Rhiannon said out loud, looking at her mother. She was making things up on the spot, but she knew the boys loved ghost stories. Her thick tail waved slowly and thoughtfully from side to side. "Maybe something he collected back when he was travelling the realms. It must be worth a lot of money! Probably a fortune...[/b]"
Those words did it. Sascha turned to his brother, brown eyes extremely wide as he wrestled with the fabric that surrounded him. "Treasure!" he gasped, the fur on the back of his neck standing on end. "We've gotta find it, Captain Andrei!" he announced this with no small excitement, practically vibrating in place with the desire to find his father's secret treasure. The boy was quick to extract himself from the curtain fully, setting off down the hall at an eager pace. If he hadn't already used his Spade ability, he would have moved a lot faster.
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Post by Satra on Dec 2, 2008 18:19:25 GMT -5
They must've been fine. She didn't hear any pained screaming or panicking, and the 'I'm okay' helped some, but she couldn't help but feel a little... she couldn't even describe the feeling from hearing that noise. I was somewhere in between exasperation and a satisfaction of having her expectations being correct.
"Oh, I wouldn't doubt it," she nodded in agreement, "He always..." she went to continue the story, but a little flash of white, blue, and brown followed by the awkward waddle-hopping figure of the other Bat-Eagle hybrid gave her no reason to continue. Andrei raced after Sasha as quickly as he could, shaking with excitement. This was real treasure! Not just a game that the two of them made up.
"Yes, Lieutenant!" squeaked the boy, somewhat ignorant of actual military rank names.
"...I've already got a servant taking my stuff to the carriage. Let's leave before Seth finds us," remarked Heilyn with a smirk, then set off in the other direction to the exit.
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