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Post by The Jenn on Jan 23, 2010 16:37:47 GMT -5
Catching his own tail could hurt sometimes. Teo stared at the furry appendage in dismay, the only fur on his body besides the floppy stuff on his head. His expression also contained a touch of betrayal. That shouldn't have hurt so much! He debated crying, but he was probably far enough from Dad that he wouldn't be heard. So that was no good. Small wings flapped uselessly and he hopped a few feet, tiny feathers dusting along behind him with each good flap. His floors made a sporadic ticking on the tile from one hop to the next and the small tail stuck out behind him mostly straight. The pattern on the floor distracted him. There were different colors of tile here, but one color was only every three tiles. He stared at them, and then hopped onto a pale blue tile. Then, staring at the next, he hop-flapped towards it and managed to get his feet inside of it without anything touching the other colors. Pleased with himself, he did another hop. Then another. So the floor was made of water and it was full of sharks. The blue ones were the islands. He had to dodge the shark! Thus was the child entertained.
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Post by Lucca on Jan 23, 2010 16:56:04 GMT -5
" Too boring, too hard, too...needing other people." The little Bat shook her head, bright green ears flopping as she fluttered down the hallway of her home. Her brown eyes were staring straight ahead, but not really seeing anything; she was too deep in thought. She already had several Sprout badges, and was trying to figure out what one to get next. Specifically, what one she could get today, since she was bored and all her friends and caretakers were 'busy'. Blech. Why was everyone so 'busy' all the time? When she was an adult, would she be too busy to have fun too? Oh, she hoped not! Wait...what had she been thinking about? Oh, right! Sprout badges, which...a flash of color out of the corner of her eye made the Bat stop still in midair and whirl around to peer down at...oooh, what WAS that? Some sort of...mixed Realm bird child. She'd never seen him around here before! With an excited squeak, Mirriam dove down from the air to flutter eagerly in front of this new person. " HI! You're really pretty colors. I've never seen you before! How did you get here? Did you fly? Flying is fun isn't it?"
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Post by The Jenn on Jan 23, 2010 17:05:18 GMT -5
Teo was so intent on dodging the sharks and depriving them of a juicy, feathery meal that he failed to notice the person flying towards him until the sound of wing-beats was too loud to ignore. He looked up, confused until Mirriam flew in front of him. "Oh! Hi!"
She was safe from the sharks because she was flying. He felt a momentary jealousy before that melted away with the realization that any second she could land in treacherous waters and be gobbled up. "Don't stop!" he cried, staring up at her with earnest turquoise eyes. "Sharks are coming. Stay in the air!"
Carefully, considering his next move, he hop-flapped to the blue tile one over and looked at her from there. Those wings were too small to have anything but trouble flying, as his ungainly movements hinted. "You can have that one," he offered generously, indicating the tile with his stubby wing. "Blue ones are safe. The others have sharks."
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Post by Lucca on Jan 23, 2010 17:18:59 GMT -5
"Sharks?" Mirriam looked down at the floor and around the room for a moment, before a knowing grin came over her muzzle. She liked this kid already, she decided. Of course, she liked most people...not that it had ever occured to her why it shouldn't be that way. Kids, adults, any Region, any Breed...they were all of equal likelihood to be the new best friend she hadn't met yet.
"Oh, don't worry, I'll stay above the sharks!" she squeaked happily, fluttering a bit higher, looking down at the other tiles as if she could see the fins poking up and circling slowly. Just like in her Pirate Adventures book! "Do you have a plan for getting out of these shark-infested waters? Where's your ship parked?" she asked curiously. "There's way too many of them to try and kill in self defense! Even though we could eat them to survive!" This had been what the pirate in the book had done with the shark.
"...though I doubt they taste good," she added to herself with a small frown. "I'd rather find a coconut tree."
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Post by The Jenn on Jan 24, 2010 14:49:34 GMT -5
Well at least she was staying safe, even if she wasn't on an island. Teo approved. The sharks couldn't fly, so she'd be safe as long as she was in the air. They could jump, though. Maybe he should warn her. She probably wouldn't know otherwise.
"Sometimes they jump," he told her solemnly, wings tucked close to his body. "Careful."
He hopped a few more islands, almost wobbling over into the water before he snatched his foot back, before answering any more of her question. His eventual goal was one of the windows he could just barely clamber up onto, because they had such a big ledge made for sitting and perching. He looked around and pointed with his wing to the nearest ledge. "Don't have a ship. Just a base. There's lots of coconuts there." And in his head there were, straight out of the Midori picture book his father read to him once before returning it to the library. The water stretched on all around him and his special base with the coconuts was completely safe from sharks. There were no land sharks.
He was still too distracted by the game to pay a lot of attention to her, at least until he was safe and didn't have to worry about being eaten up by a shark.
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Post by Lucca on Jan 25, 2010 7:53:22 GMT -5
Mirriam's bright brown eyes widened, and she turned to stare at the little bird in shock. "Really? They can jump? Just right out of the water?" She glanced down, as if expecting to see one leap into the air. Then she squeaked and dove quickly to the side. "You're right...there's one now! That was close, thanks for warning me!" She flapped a little higher, to get out of range. Why wouldn't they jump onto the islands, then? she wondered, and was about to ask when she realized the answer was obvious. They couldn't breathe on land! They could only breathe in the water. So they must have to hold their breath when they jumped!
She nodded, and looked up at the window ledge, perking up. "Oh, yay! Let's hurry there so we can eat the coconuts!" She actually had never had a coconut, but they seemed like standard fare for random islands. And they were a fruit, so they had to be good! Mirriam had never met a fruit she didn't like. They also usually grew in places surrounded by lots of spiky rocks, which was why the ships always broke. "Are you a pirate?" Mirriam asked suddenly, curious. "My friend Sid is a pirate! I bet he knows all about sharks! Oh but...pirates usually have ships, I guess...unless yours got crashed on some rocks or a reef or got torn to pieces by a giant squid!" That was her favorite water adventure story. The one about the giant squid. It had a special name, too...but she couldn't remember it...something with a K...
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Post by The Jenn on Jan 29, 2010 9:21:13 GMT -5
Teo's head whipped back around at her squeak and he watched with wide eyes as she was just barely not eaten by a shark! "That was really close! Good flying!" he agreed with an admiring tone to his voice. He really, really wanted to be able to fly. Dad just said he wasn't old enough yet and he needed more feathers on his wings.
But she didn't need feathers to fly. Lucky! But maybe she was just older. She looked older. He hopped a few more islands, just three away from his goal. They were small islands, and it was a big ocean. This was as close to flying as he could get right now.
The question about pirates threw him and he stared at her in confusion. He didn't know anything about giant squids. The one book he'd been read had only talked about the islands and the sharks and the octopus and the fish and the clams. It hadn't mentioned squid. Or pirates. "What's a pirate? I never had a ship. Just super island jumping. I can jump better than sharks. But I can't swim, so the water's bad."
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Post by Lucca on Jan 31, 2010 0:47:37 GMT -5
"Thanks!" Mirriam said, wondering why he couldn't fly...he had wings! Then again, her other friend Kaiesha had wings, too, and she couldn't fly either. She even have extra wings! She decided not to ask him, at least not yet. They had sharks to get away from, first! She stuck her tongue out at one whose fin was poking too far out of the water, then dodged back as it tried to retaliate. "Well you're good at jumping!" the Bat said, watching in awe as the pretty bird leapt from island to island gracefully. "I'm not made for bein' on the ground and it's hard for me to walk or jump like that."
Her eyes widened and she paused her flight toward the base, forgetting all about the sharks in her surprise. How could anyone not know what a pirate was? "Well, they own ships and they sail on the ocean and they have secret bases on islands a lot like yours and they bury treasure and gold and magic swords in a box under the sand and they eat lots of fish!" she said in a rush. "Also, they wear weird things, like eye patches and wooden legs, because I guess their real legs get bitten off by sharks. They say things like 'Avast you scurvy dogs!' and 'Arrrr, walk the plank matey!' and other things that make no sense and sounds funny. They live in Midori Beach mostly, I think, and when I get old enough I want to go there and find them!"
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Post by The Jenn on Mar 24, 2010 8:45:49 GMT -5
Beaming at the compliment, Teo hopped another island and tried not to wobble too bad on his landing. The claws made it hard sometimes. His fuzzy wings were spread for balance and he stared at the next island with a calculating look before turning back to her.
Pirates... sounded pretty cool, actually. He thought about it. But there was one thing that pestered at his mind. "Sharks are fish. The book said so. Do pirates eat sharks? The ones that get their legs? They should learn how to jump. Swimming with sharks isn't smart. I've never been to the beach. I go to Corvistowne with Dad. There are no beaches there. Mister Parsley lives there. I never saw a wooden leg before, but I saw an eye patch." Nodding, he hopped the last two islands and landed on 'safe ground'.
His triumphant caw was spoiled when he whacked one fleshy fuzz-wing on the side of the window casing. "Oww! Wah!" The distress was short-lived and he tucked the wing close, glaring at the wood. Maybe it wasn't as safe as he thought.
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Post by Lucca on Mar 25, 2010 21:59:19 GMT -5
Mirriam tilted her head and made a face, though her ears twitched thoughtfully as she fluttered to keep up with Teo. "I dunno. They might, if they can catch 'em, but I don't think they'd taste very good," the little Bat replied, with the best approximation of a shrug a flying Bat can manage. "I think I'll ask Sid next time I see him about that. I've never been to the beach either, unless you count the lake behind the Palace." Which she didn't. There were no sharks or islands or seaweed or giant squid or ANYTHING cool in the lake.
She flew up to perch on the windowsill with him, but gasped as he hit his wing. "Uh oh! Are you all right, Teo? It didn't tear, did it? Do bird wings tear?" Maybe not...and oh, he couldn't really fly anyway, so maybe it would be all right? Mirriam hooked her claws around the curtain rod on the window, hanging upside down above her new friend. There, this was more comfortable!
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