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Post by The Jenn on Nov 13, 2007 8:17:37 GMT -5
((OOC: This is a private quest thread for Aderlass. Feel free to watch, but please don't interfere. Thanks much. <3))
Snow dusted the hills and fields of Morganberry, powdery white and too thin for any winter sports but enough to cover most of the visible landscape. It had been enough to excite children with the promise of play and make parents dread the onset of colds. A few small decorations had begun to appear in windows and shop fronts, heralding the winter holiday and everything that came with it.
The day was cold and sunny, a bit too chilly for traveling but with little wind to make things truly miserable. People were out and about, clearing off walkways in the small town or just generally going about their business, either ignoring or revelling in the pale covering that fell over everything.
Several children, all the blazing sunset colors of their region, were busily collecting all of the snow they could from their lawn and the street in front of their small home, trying to scrape together enough for some kind of play. It wasn't clear whether they were attempting a snowman of sorts, or just gathering a big enough pile to start a snowball fight, but they were working at it nonetheless. Two of them were mice and the third was a kitten of some sort, possibly a lion or tiger. It was hard to tell at that age. They weren't paying any attention to the world around them beyond where they could find the next patch of snow for their obscure little project.
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Post by Kasatsu on Nov 13, 2007 8:58:34 GMT -5
He hated the snow. There was no warm fuzzy feeling, no sighs of longing, and no cravings for fires, cocoa, and cookies. Okay the fire part was not true. He hated the cold just as much. Even bundled in his thick coat as well as coat of fur, he shivered as the gusted his way causing him to wish for a fire to warm him more vehemently.
Having received a letter from his older brother, “We have not heard from you as you promised,” his presence had been demanded. Thus, here he was, cold and full of hatred for it. This journey is going quite nicely he thought sardonically.
Seeing a town up ahead he decided to make his way there in hopes of refuge from the cold. As he entered the streets he sneered slightly at the decorations in the windows. Holidays were never his favorite. As he came across the citizens out and about, cleaning their walkways, talking with friends, shopping, etc, he kept his face down, hoping no one saw his face, especially his horns.
Coming across the front lawn of small house, he stopped a moment his attention caught by the activities of some children who were busy gathering snow. For what he could not figure out, tilting his head he watched them silently from the road.
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Post by The Jenn on Nov 13, 2007 10:07:27 GMT -5
No one seemed to pay much attention to the enigmatic rodent, too busy with their own business to bother with an unapproachable stranger. The little town seemed picturesque for the holidays, but like all Morganberry towns, discontent ran deep in the bones of its residents. If one looked closely, the decorations of each house seemed to be a step up from their neighbors, the action no doubt deliberate. Only someone familiar with the region - or naturally disagreeable and observant - would really spot it.
As the children played their game, currently consisting of collecting as much snow as possible, they ventured into the yards around them. This area of town seemed rather well-to-do and the houses were decently sized. As one brave mouseling ventured even further out for a tempting drift of snow, something burst out from the front door of the house yapping and barking and making a general racket.
It zipped towards the child at an alarming rate and the little thing squealed in terror, running full-tilt back to its companions and up the street. The brilliantly colored and extremely large puffball stopped when it reached the boundary of its own yard and panted, yips turning to breathless laughter as it surveyed the scattered snow left in the wake of the frightened children.
In its search, orange eyes glanced over Aderlass's hunched form and it suddenly stilled, staring. "Aderlass?!" it queried in a disbelieving voice before breaking into a canine grin and running once again at full-speed, this time towards the traveling mouse. It was a large Pomeranian, covered head to toe in fur, and a strikingly familiar figure.
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Post by Kasatsu on Nov 13, 2007 10:34:06 GMT -5
Eyes widening the mouse watched in horror as the . . . the creature came bounding towards him. Letting lose a loud squeak he stumbled back trying to escape the creature. His hood was knocked back, Juris thrown from his warm hiding place, as his horns were revealed from his scuttle backwards. The blue Tove made soft clicking noises, withering in various shapes of warning. Already aware of the immediate danger, the mouse continued to try and make his escape, getting tangled in his cloak.
Finding that he could make no more attempts to run away, due to his limbs being entangled, he tried to take a defensive stance – which was hindered by the cloak. While he took off his gloves, preparing his hands for action, he took a closer look at the creature he was about to be attacked by, thinking of strategy. Though it took a moment, it appeared that the creature was a large Pomeranian; the figure was slightly familiar, though it had been far too long a time for him to be certain.
It knew his name apparently, not that his name wasn’t known in Morganberry; it was not often that a mouse was born with antelope antlers. He was a creature that was kind of hard to forget after all. As the creature neared, the creature became more and more familiar. Deciding to give the chance a try, it was not like he was about to be eaten or anything, he called out to the creature as it neared him in surprise.
“Is that you?”
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Post by The Jenn on Nov 14, 2007 21:01:02 GMT -5
The canine didn't seem to notice his imminent peril and continued running at full speed towards the rodent until he was almost in his face, stopping with a sudden bracing halt and panting excitedly. "Yes, of course it's me! Who else would it be? And really, who else could you be, a mouse with horns and gloves! Nice to see you've got yourself a better pair now, at any rate." He clearly remembered the rodent and expected that to be reciprocated, despite the many years that had passed since their meeting. The thought of Aderlass not remembering him never seemed to cross his mind.
Closer now, it could be seen that he wasn't wholly a ball of orange, red, and yellow fur. There was a large splash of cream on his backend and stomach, lightly threaded with orange-red stripes, and his tail seemed to be 'missing'. Well, the fur and skin, at any rate. Bare bone wagged in excitement, a gruesome sight on an otherwise painfully 'cute' creature.
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Post by Kasatsu on Nov 15, 2007 7:11:12 GMT -5
The mouse looked the Pomeranian over, tilting his head hoping that it would jog his memory. He fondly remembered the splash of cream that decorated the Pomeranian’s backend and stomach that seemed out of place with the colors of orange, red, and yellow that covered the creature which showed that he was of a Morganberry and Hisstor Wastes mix. The ‘missing’ tail caused the creature to move from floating-ball-of-fluff to a gruesome-floating-ball-of-fluffy, which the mouse adored about the creature. He racked his brain, trying really hard to remember the missing name. Did it begin with a ‘K’? Or maybe it was an ‘M’.
He was distracted by his blue Tove, who seemed to have calmed down. “See Juris, I knew that we were not in trouble. We know this Pomeranian, though I seemed to have temporarily forgotten his name.” He whispered the last part, hoping that the canine would not be offended.
“It is nice to see you again.” The mouse said hoping he sounded cheerful. Looking at the Pomeranian, who was wagging his tail happily, he hoped that the canine would make some kind of introduction for himself since the name still had not come to mind.
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Post by The Jenn on Nov 16, 2007 9:53:20 GMT -5
The canine paused completely for all of two seconds, breath bated as he simply stared...
And then burst out laughing, the sound high and yippy and vaguely resembling some kind of midget hyena with hiccups. "Of course... of course! How silly of me! I mean, geez, it's been what, more than a decade now since I've seen you, and you've obviously been off doing big, great, important things with yourself. Got a fancy new Tove and everything, don't you, and that's definitely a Ten I see! Been making out well, huh? Better than me, I guess, though I really can't complain cause Mom's such a sweetie and she needs my help most of the time what with her leg now, and I didn't really want to go anywhere else anyway cause I kind of like it here, except I never really found a friend as fun as you since I left."
All of that was said on one or two long, gulped, laughing breaths, and he stopped to pant for a minute before laughing again. "And I still haven't told you my name, huh? Can you guess? Can you? Huh? Well, I'll tell you. Mick! M- I- C- K, Mick, but if you call me Mickey I'll bite your ankles." He grinned, tongue lolling, tail resuming its happy way. It almost rattled and scraped a little with the speed of the motion.
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Post by Kasatsu on Nov 16, 2007 10:40:29 GMT -5
Did the creature never breathe! The mouse was astonished at the canine’s amazing lung capacity. Blinking in stunned silence he tried to sort through the little bit of conversation he had captured from the Pomeranian.
The only thing that he could fully wrap his mind around was that of the last part: “Mick! M- I- C- K, Mick, but if you call me Mickey I'll bite your ankles."
That type of reaction to his name was definitely something that he did remember, quit fondly too. Chuckling a little to himself, he let himself remember a time when some of the older kids had decided to pick on the Pomeranian and had quit quickly – and painfully – had learned a lesson.
That one spill from the canine had brought back a lot of his memories of his dear old friend. How he had forgotten his name or even most of what he now recalled amazed him. Though, he had to admit, it had been nearly ten years since they had last seen each other.
“It is definitely nice to see you again, Mick, my friend.” he said a genuine smile spreading across his face and the urge to laugh, which he repressed firmly.
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Post by The Jenn on Nov 16, 2007 10:53:14 GMT -5
"You too, Laaaa~," the canine agreed in a sing-song voice and with an unequivocally happy expression. It practically radiated from him. In fact, with his bum wiggling like that, it may as well have been. He was a pleased pup.
"You've never seen our house here, have you? We've owned it ever since we left home-home, and it's home now, so you may as well bring your little snaky slithery friend and come see home! Mom won't mind, I'm sure, and you wouldn't know I guess but Dad's gone now and Lucy and Robin and Lane all moved out a while ago to start families or be successful or whatever, but Mom asked me to stay with her and help her out and she's always been so awesome so I mean, why not, right? She's got some fun hobbies anyway, and it's neat to watch sometimes."
While he spoke, he was walking forwards and leading the mouse towards the building he had run out from. The door was still ajar, handles adapted to suit animal mouths as so many were, and he nudged his way inside. It entered into a living room or den of sorts, lit by the open windows. Around the room were an odd assortment of knick-knacks, statues, and dust-collectors in general. They were all a bleached off-white in color, some perhaps faintly recognizable to Aderlass.
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Post by Kasatsu on Nov 16, 2007 11:07:37 GMT -5
”Sure,” he muttered uselessly since he was already following his old friend, having done it without second thought, falling back into old habits.
After the first year of trying to get away from the canine who seemed determined to succeed over anything and everything that the mouse had thrown at him, to make him leave him alone, he had gotten used to the Pomeranian’s unique behavior. While he would be the first to admit it, he did get annoyed at his friend at times; however, he was also one of those few who could stand him the longest. Most of it had come from practice – there were just certain times you could just ignore the canine and all would be fine.
Entering the house another familiar sight met his eyes, though this one was not nearly as potent in his mind. Some of the odd assortment of knick-knacks, statues, and dust-collectors decorating the shelves around the den and the bleached off-white color were more familiar then others.
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