"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
04-01-2022, 09:08 AM (This post was last modified: 04-08-2022, 01:16 PM by Random Event.)
He's a small thing, orange and red and black. Much like a fox, except not quite. The features are right, but he walks on two legs and wears...a hat? A hat of sorts anyway, made of straw and twigs and leaves. The hat is clearly trying to be a top hat, though it falls quite short of the actual look since it's made of natural vegetation. How the fox-like creature made it is also anyone's guess really. Are paws that dexterous? Hard to say in this case, since he's not quite a fox.
The whole thing is a little bizarre. But then again, this is Beqanna, and most won't bat an eye at the little fox. Well, that is, until he cries out. "Presents!" says the fox in a high-pitched voice. "I have presents!"
It is early morning yet, and the fox does indeed have presents (where did those come from?). There's a pile of stuff next to him that looks like he probably scavenged it from all over, though how those are presents is somewhat unclear. Mostly it looks like the little fox piled trash nearby and is trying to give it away. Well, regardless of what it is, he is definitely trying to give it away. If anyone is brave (or fool) enough to approach him, he asks, "Would you like one?"
****
This is a very easy "writing" quest. Writing only insomuch as you have to actually post a reply. It can be short, it can have all the spelling errors you want, etc. It's just got to be a real post. And what exactly do you need to do? Well, answer the fox's question. Do you want a gift?
Results will be posted on April 8th (probably). You can enter up until I actually stick up the results, though try to have them in before the 8th if you want in for sure. You can enter as many characters as you like, though do me the courtesy of being reasonable so this isn't gigantic. Prizes will be given to the character you entered and cannot be transferred (but can be temporary).
could you help me push aside all that I have left behind?
Despite not taking heed to most of his father’s advice on safety, the Mountain is a place where he avoids and gives a wide berth. He had witnessed enough of Ledger’s nightmares to know that the Mountain was a place of ill will for his sire. Even if the thought of the fairies helping him find his family was enticing, the stories that sounded like a grim fairytale had lingered long enough to cast the entire place in some doubt. So he has no attention of seeking the summit when he passes by but he finds himself stopping at its base when a curious creature, a fox standing on his back legs and wearing some sort of… vegetation on his head begins to call out. Presents? Well… Who doesn’t like Presents?
Would you like one? asks the fox and he glances over at the pile of stuff with a warm brown eye. It is not in him to be impolite, even if it looks like there’s just a pile of garbage to sift through, and so he grins at the creature and gives an enthusiastic nod. Besides, if the fox was trying to get rid of these things at least he was helping in the long run. “I would love a present!”
With a full belly and nothing to do, the Kelpie-girl shifts into her earthen-bound form, four slender legs under a muscular equine body; the morph is seamless as she emerges from the dark seawaves. Salty water slicks from her scales as they slowly change to sleek fur, and as her tongue flicks over her lips her sharp glowing teeth show brightly in her mouth. Her dual-color gaze glimmers in the morning light, only a fraction of their usual radiance when it is not daylight (they glow). She stands for a moment on the beach looking around, seabirds calling loudly, and seals scattering away from her as she grins insidiously at the delicious blubbery creatures. Their oily meat makes her equine coat shine and her scales bolder in color as she moves through the ocean waters. She’s not hunting at the moment though, and so these particular seals are quite lucky; she’s much faster than them by land and sea.
Her boredom brings her inland, following the river from the sea’s edge. She travels with curiosity, meandering and with no real goal or purpose in mind, only following the river. If nothing of note catches her attention she will eventually reach the northern shores, the other end of the river’s flowing waters.
The landscape changes, and eventually it is rock and bitter winds. The Mountain, she muses, looking up into the misty sky, the peaks reaching up far into the clouds. This place was eerie, mystical and amazing, but equally terrifying. She’s got no time to think more about it though, for a creature comes forth, a collection of things and an offering of gifts. Claudia looks over each shoulder ̶ did anyone else see this thing? ̶ and it appears yes, another has, and also approaches.
The Kelpie-girl is tentative as she approaches, like a cautious cat, sniffing and stepping, ready to flee. She gets close, but stays at a distance where she may survive an explosion. “...presents, you say?” she tilts her head curiously, eyeing the little creature.
The sound of her laughter swells around them, echoing from the shadows of the surrounding forest and the empty mouths of the elk. She does nothing to hide her discomfort, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, ears finding themselves buried among the dreadlocked knots of her mane. Her gaze jumps from one spot to another until the sound fades, the hairs along her spine raised at the eerie familiarity of his trick. Ducking her head, she peers at him out of the corner of her eyes. “High standards? Hardly.” Her tone nearly uncovers the self-deprecation, the sense of hopelessness that has been a constant companion for as long as her memory stretches … She wakes with a start. She always had the most vivid dreams, an intermix of memories real and imagined, when she occupies the smallest creatures’ forms; as if by nature their small stature requires they dream bigger and bolder than those greater than they. Yawning wide, she stretches out two small, leathery wings before clamping them tightly back against herself when the chilly morning air of the Mountain hits her. A small figure passes beneath Bat-Dretch. It is a very odd figure, made even odder by her upside-down vantage point. She blinks owlishly, shifting her vision to her own and craning her neck as she tries to sus out what exactly she’s looking at … “Presents!” he squeak-shouts, startling her. Tiny claws let loose of the branch she’d roosted in for the evening – Bat-Dretch doesn’t have to hunt at night like real-bats do – and she plummets to the earth, shifting to her favorite form as she does. She is fascinated, not by the fact that he walks on two legs, wears a hat, and has a trash-treasure trove in a pile next to him, but that he speaks aloud. Her familiarity with the Mountain, and it’s intrinsic magical properties, is next to nothing. Where she comes from, fox do not speak aloud ... but he’s not quite a fox, is he?
Largely unencumbered by the adventure-dulling properties of caution and well-being, the grey-eyed mare steps closer. “Would you like one?” he asks the first, the second, and then Dretch. She chuffs quietly, nostrils flaring with the motion. “I would like a present …,” she replies slowly, her gaze shifting to the pile of random bits next to him and then back to the fox-creature again. In vain, she searches his alien features for some sign of deception (foxes are known to be tricky, you see). “But what do you want in exchange?” She’s never received anything without the expectation of something in return – so, by definition, has never received a present before – and it does not occur to her that this time might be different.
No one typically walked the mountain trails this early in the morning.
Kestrell almost never walked, regardless. And anyone who did never went alone, like he was now.
The journey was a quiet one. Soon enough his thumping pace was forgotten, and the pegasus kept his eyes on the road but saw nothing. He was pleasantly detached and absorbed by his thoughts, not expecting to see another one of his kind before noon.
So! Imagine his surprise when all at once he snapped out of his daydream and came to a complete stop because of a little fox? In the road, wearing a tiny self-assembled hat of twigs, and trying to give away things Kestrell had no words for, the vulpine "creature" took him completely by surprise. He hadn’t even seen it come out of the forest, there wasn’t a rustle in the leaves or a change in the wind.
“Presents?” He muttered, jerking his shoulders to try and shake the suspicion off his back.
He looked at the pile of … stuff. Then Kestrell looked at the upright animal and its towering crown of twigs. Then the stuff again.
“Free?! Um yea, of course I want a present!” He blurted out.
Ceris should not have roamed this far alone but she has a mother who does not care.
Somewhere along the route to the Den, the girl had gotten misplaced and nobody had bothered to go looking for her. (It was all the same in the end to Allora – whether it be the little foal’s father or the faeries or a passerby, somebody else would take the child.) So she wanders aimlessly, her spindly legs carrying her through the open fields and the newly-minted meadows lush with spring grass.
(Not that she knows this. All Ceris knows is that she is hungry, and that staying still doesn’t seem help the gnawing in her belly.)
So she walks and walks and walks until a voice rings out against the stones that surround her. There is the sound of crushed rock under her dainty hooves and the young pegasus turns to see a small creature in the early morning light. His voice calls out – to her? – and so she lowers her petite head to ground, flaring her dark wings wide in warning. (She doesn’t know why she does this, either. It’s instinct, she’ll later learn. She only knows in this moment to appear bigger than she actually is.)
Until she spies the pile of oddities beside him, something far more intriguing at this moment than her own self-preservation.
"Present.” She mimics back to the strange animal, lisping it out through baby fangs, her very first word.
"Presents!" The little voice rings through the woods.
Sintra is not inclined to investigate, but the little amazon wings away from her like a green comet.
"I have presents!"
Presents! it shouts in reply, endlessly, tiresomely, curious. The translucent mare follows at a cautious distance, only following because some piece of her aches when the bird is too far away, though if he feels the same pain, it never stops him from leaving her.
The pile of debris beside the creature does not strike her as much, but to a parrot anything might be treasure. To Sintra, anything might be danger. She lingers at the treeline, one nervous violet eye following her bright companion whose pupils flash large and small as he lands atop the pile with a whistling flutter of feathers, dropping a few of his own into the mix. Her heart stops.
Presents! he shouts again in triumphant reply, I have presents!
This is the first time that Gilda has come to the Mountain. Perhaps it should not be, there is much to thank the Fairies for, for the way they have gifted the residents of Beqanna, for the protection they have offered, for fighting off the monsters of the Eclipse. It is a difficult task, and a thankless one, the scale-marked girl thinks as she ponders the high, invisible peak.
And then, the voice calls out again. Presents, it says, and she is a curious thing, lured easily by its joyful voice. At the mountain's foot she pauses and presses her lips to the soil there for a breath. Thank you, its a solemn thought. She has no questions for the fae now, though, and would not like to bother them. In the next moment, she trots to the curious little foxy beast, glittering and grinning.
"I would like a present if there is one to spare."
04-08-2022, 01:16 PM (This post was last modified: 04-08-2022, 04:37 PM by Kyra.)
The little fox's grin is ever so pleased as horses start to approach him. He seems genuine in his desire to give gifts. Maybe he doesn't realize that his pile of trash is probably not another man's treasure, or maybe he's just very good at pretending. You can't be certain.
The first, a young purple stallion, gets the longest gift. It looks like an old, dried out piece of bamboo. Bamboo? Where'd the fox even find bamboo? Well...here it is anyway. "Enjoy! he says, before turning to the next taker.
The second is a mare, brown and blue and kinda scary. He digs through the pile, rummaging until he comes out with a dripping wet pile of seaweed. He hands it over with a pleased grin.
The bat one (also kinda creepy) comes third, and he pulls out an...um. Honestly, if you are a horse, you won't have a clue what the little fox is trying to give you. It's an umbrella made from large leaves and sticks, but what horse would have any idea what its purpose was? Still, he looks pleased as punch even if he's mildly insulted that she thinks he wants something in return. "I don't want anything. It's just yours. I hope you like it!"
Fourth is a winged stallion who also seems concerned that there's a catch. The little fox glowers slightly but then perks up as he goes back to digging in his trash pile. The gift he pulls out is a rock that looks mostly like a rock but if you squint, kind of like a hand grenade. "Yes yes, free free." He says with a vigorous nod as he hands it over.
Then, a tiny little thing that's not actually quite a horse yet (she's mostly just legs and ears so far as the fox can tell) arrives. He plucks what is decidedly a ball of hair from the pile and hands it to her. "Present," he mimics back with a playful smile and a wink.
Then, two more, one with a bird and one without. The parrot is clearly more interested in the gifts than the mare with him, though he's a little too interested for the fox's taste. He shoos at the bird, trying to get him off the pile of presents, but he plucks a nearly translucent stone from the pile and offers it to the bird in a gesture of goodwill (or good riddance, maybe). The other mare actually appears to want a gift, and so, his pile dwindling, the fox fishes out what looks like a small collection of scales from waht was once probably a lovely fish. He hands these over with a grin.
"That's all!" he says when there are no more horses and no presents left to give. Without warning, the little fox and his pile of trash disappear, leaving you standing there with your strange present and an even stranger feeling of creeping magic in your stomach.
***
Congrats on being brave! Your very awesome presents give you some strange and funky traits. You must use your newfound traits in at least 2 threads, and then you can keep using it for as long as you feel inclined or throw your present away and get rid of the trait. You can also choose to keep the trait and it can be genetic - if you want it forever and ever, post on the updates board.
@Link - Uncontrollable Bamboo Creation (uncontrollably causes bamboo to grow around him)
@Claudia - Water Drops (constantly drips water when on land)@Dretch - Emotional Rain Cloud (a rain cloud appears over her head whenever she is sad, upset, etc. The cloud may or may not rain on her.)
@Kestrell - Glitter Bomb (whenever he sneezes/coughs/make sudden movement/or similar, a small glitter explosion erupts from his body)
@ceris - Cat Sounds (sometimes meows instead of actually speaking words)
@Sintra - Uncontrollable invisibility (will randomly become invisible, usually at the most inconvenient times)
@Gilda - Stone scales (will periodically grow scales in small - or large if you wish - areas on her body, though these are strangely red and itchy and may be filled with puss)
