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Post by Lucca on Mar 15, 2011 8:09:32 GMT -5
Shelby winced as Heike's voice cut into his thoughts. His ears were pulled back still further against his head, and his whiskers twitched a bit, once, twice. He swallowed and played with his ring some more, as if that would make a topic of conversation appropriate for this moment magically appear. Well...
"I found a magic ring," he blurted. It was a stupid thing to say and he instantly regretted it. But now that he had started, well, he could hardly let the subject slide. "I...I think it causes fevers...it's not very magical, just...just a little bit." He realized, the more he spoke, how much the magical items he'd found had been helping him to cope with all the danger he'd been through. He didn't really want his Father-Jack to take the ring away, which half of him was worried he would do. After all, Leverets were not supposed to have magical items, were they? That was reserved for Jacks, and maybe, maybe Does if they were favored.
Shelby also noticed he hadn't mentioned his dagger. And he had no intentions of doing so unless Heike actually asked.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Mar 15, 2011 20:57:10 GMT -5
Heike raised an eyebrow at the ring comment. It reminded him that he had found something of interest as well. He'd make sure to actually research a bit before trying it on. He eyed the ring that the the leveret was playing with, it didn't look particularly special.
It was a good thing it didn't have a negative effect on Shelby, considering all he had been through. "You should be a bit more careful around magical objects. The ring could have had an ill side effect that goes with it. Be careful if you decided to use its powers..." He sounded like a stuffed shirt, didn't he? He wrinkled his nose and the weight of the box in his arms.
"I found a little ring myself, I'm going to have to investigate the thing," he reached into his breast pocket and produced a small little ring. "Cards make dangerous little trinkets, so I'm a little suspicious. "
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Post by Lucca on Mar 16, 2011 9:11:22 GMT -5
Shelby relaxed visibly when Heike said nothing about taking the ring away. Worrier that the Leveret was, he really didn't need to be told to be careful with something. He wasn't going to use it just for fun, no of course not. He would only use it if he had to, if he or someone he cared about was in danger. For some reason that put him in mind of Maeve again, but he pushed the thought aside. No, he couldn't think about that other Leveret. He probably wouldn't ever see her again, really.
"I'll be careful," he said, expression open and honest. But he couldn't help but look curiously when Heike pulled out a ring as well. It was quite a bit prettier to look at than his own, wasn't it? And even Heike was nervous about bad side effects from magical items? Well, that was a bit strange. "Oh? Did a Card make it? But I found mine in a Warren." Shelby tilted his head, remembering when the ring had practically fallen on him out of the tea cupboard. Of course, it hadn't at all been a normal Warren in the first place, had it?
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Post by Kari Muffin on Mar 16, 2011 22:34:16 GMT -5
"Cards make a good deal of enchanted things, your ring could have easily been something made by them and acquired by a Rabbit. I've come across a few items that were Card made myself. Then again I did go to the market more often than others when I was younger," He slipped the ring back into his breast pocket.
"That... "Jack" that was with you. He obviously wasn't a rabbit considering he changed into that... thing. It's possible that he was one of those Cards from fairy tales that can change shape. Though I honestly didn't think something like that could exist..." He snorted, "Which is a silly thing to say at this point."
With everything that had happened he had to sit back and question all the fairy tales. There was a good deal of reading he had to do when things were settled. That would probably be a little while considering he didn't know how Seena was going to react.
He picked up the pace a bit more.
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Post by Lucca on Mar 17, 2011 8:06:10 GMT -5
"Oh," Shelby said, voice taking on a curious tone. So the ring could have been made by a Card? Actually that sounded about right. Now that he was thinking about it, he remembered something his Mother-Doe had told him once...that Cards were better than Rabbits at actually enchanting items, and most magical trinkets, even if they ended up in a Rabbit's paws, were probably made by Cards. Which...was pretty much what Heike had just said.
In his defense, Shelby had never really payed attention to such things. After all, what use would it be for a Leveret who never really ventured far out of the Warren to know anything of magical items? He played with the ring a bit more. "But Father, don't the Cards think we're a fairy tale too?" he had to ask. After all, the looks he'd seen all those Cards giving him and Maeve...and the reaction of that Snake he and Fleur had met before...
The thought of Fleur made his eyes blur, and he quickly blinked away the tears.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Mar 17, 2011 17:46:13 GMT -5
"Yes, we are just fairy tales to them. From the reactions I got from a lot of the Cards, it seems that we're supposed to look far more frightening than we actually do, or something." His nose wrinkled as he spoke, clutching the box hard enough for the blood to rush out of his fingers. Cards. Gah. "They have a lot of fairy tales though, and the idea of something being capable of changing its shape at will seems a bit more like a work of fiction."
He glanced down at the young rabbit. Was he....?
He stared at the box that he was still holding. Fleur. In all of this mess he hadn't even had time to properly think about her demise. The girl had been nothing but trouble for everyone but... she certainly didn't deserve a death like this. A death at the hand of strange magic that was probably the fault of Cards....
Though their magic could potentially fix Shelby.
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Post by Lucca on Mar 18, 2011 7:50:42 GMT -5
Shelby shrugged unhappily. His Father-Jack probably wasn't too frightening to the Cards, no, but he had a feeling he himself would be. After all, he was not a proper Rabbit at all, nor was he a Card by any stretch of the imagination. He was just...something he couldn't put a word to. An anomaly, perhaps. His ears went down at the thought, and he tried to think of something else to say.
Fleur. His thoughts inevitably went back to her. She had been more than a sister to him, she had been a friend, too. His only one. She had been a chance to get away from responsibility that otherwise dogged his every step. At least he'd be more useful around the Warren now? If they'd even let him stay. He doubted they would. Even if Mother-Doe and Father-Jack could accept him...how would the other Does and Leverets react to seeing such a monster in the kitchen? In the garden? Sleeping next to them in the shared quarters of the Leverets? It would just be too much.
As the territory around them gave way to more and more familiar coverings of trees, he found himself shaking.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Mar 18, 2011 21:31:02 GMT -5
The walk seemed endless. However, they were getting closer and closer to home. The Jack seemed to relax a bit when they entered the forest that was Avington. He could feel reality slowly creeping back, and the fact that his daughter was dead, his son was potentially a monster, and he had to face Seena and give her the news. Then he had to see how Igni and Rhosyn reacted, and then there were the leverets to deal with.
He glanced back at Shelby, his eyebrow twitching upwards when he noticed that the leveret seemed to be shaking. That could have been his imagination, but he was fairly certain it wasn't.
"Relax," he said quietly. It probably didn't mean much coming from him, but it was worth a shot.
They came to the warren after what seemed like an eternity for the Jack. He pulled out the small set of keys out of his coat and unlocked the front door.
At first glance, everything seemed to be in order. He let out a small sigh of relief.
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Post by Lucca on Mar 21, 2011 7:18:56 GMT -5
Shelby's ears twitched at Heike's voice, but unfortunately for the nervous Leveret, he processed it as an order instead of a reassurance, and he found himself unable to stop the shaking he knew his Father-Jack had noticed. He tried to at least steady his breathing and put his mismatched hands at his sides as they approached home. At least it seemed like nothing had destroyed it. That was good. For one fleeting, shining moment, the words 'back to normal' flitted across Shelby's brain, but... But things could never go back to normal. Not really. His ears drooped as he peeked into the Warren behind Heike, and the twitched as they heard running pawsteps. He quickly ducked into the shadows near the door.  " Heike?" cried a voice, pitched much higher and more frantic than anyone was used to hearing it. A white-and-blue Rabbit skittered into the room, eyes wide and mane in slight disarray. Her jewelry was all taken off, as if they'd caught her sleeping, although given the dark circles under her eyes it might have been more accurate to say they'd caught her attempting it. Seena rushed Heike as soon as she saw him, and to her embarrassment she felt her eyes welling up with relief. " Heike, I was so worried, I'm glad to see you're uninjured. You are uninjured right? Please tell me what..." Her eyes fell on the box in his hands and she paused, tensing a bit. " ...happened." Shelby stood in the shadows as if frozen, terrified to actually go out and see what his Mother would think of him now. |
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Post by Kari Muffin on Mar 21, 2011 19:31:57 GMT -5
The Jack gave a sigh of relief when he saw Seena. So everything was fine in the warren, he just had to deal with the tasks of sorting out the trouble with Fleur and Shelby. His ears drooped a bit as he muttered something to his sister about making tea.
On closer inspection Seena didn't look particularly well taken care of. She had bags under her eyes and looked a mess--they must have caught her trying to take a nap. He brushed a hand through his own mane as he listened to her words. He could feel his stomach churn in protest.
"We need to have a talk, can you meet me in the sitting room, Seena?" his voice was quieter than it usual was. It was quite clear that there was something wrong, and it was impossible to hide at this point. "Please, I want to make this as easy as possible. A lot went on."
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