Post by awinita on Jul 17, 2010 16:48:27 GMT -5
Location:
Fallen Log
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Amongst the bramble and vegetation of the forest, settled on the soft dirt and fallen leaves from nearby trees, is large log. It is covered in rough gray-brown bark, with a few patches of moss found here and there along its length, rotting at one end. A hole on one side - the entrance to what was perhaps the home of a mink or porcupine - is blocked partly by the ground, but there is enough open space for a small animal to fit. The log is a reminder that all that lives must eventually come to an end. And yet, a tiny flower with delicate gold petals blossoms next to the log; a reminder that all is not lost, however, for when one thing dies, another is born.
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Characters Involved:
Tsidi, an adult female Rat
Sacha, an adult female Rat
-------------------
The quiet of the forest presses against the small figure who sits calmly atop the fallen log, cleaning her face with her paws and humming a quiet tune. After a moment or two, the rat ceases her cleaning to lean down and press the side of her head against the bark, looking very much like a child trying to listen through a door; though what she is listening for is anybody's guess.
While it has been days since the encounter with the Mad Bear, Sacha still has not found sleep. Looking ragged and weary, the young rat makes her way slowly through the grasses, heading for a place she knows of, but has not had to use in a while; a log, a hidden spot in which she might, might find sleep for a while, some place that could be protected. But as she approaches, heavy oil-spot eyes find another person already set atop the log; a member of her same specie no less. She pauses, tail curling about her hip, before she sets up a little in the grass, and chirps a noise in the other rat's direction curiously.
Tsidi raises her head, her ears perking forward. She does not look at Sacha, but instead keeps her head turned so that the left side of it is facing the other rat. A returning chirp is followed by a polite, unimposing voice. "Oh, I'm sorry, is this your sideways tree?"
"No, no it's not, I just come here occasionally for a rest," Sacha says, returning the rat's politeness with her own, smiling a little. "If you wish to take it, go ahead, I can find somewhere else. Been thinking I should get out of the forest anyway. There's something here that... Well, it's very unpleasent and dangerous." She frowns some, whiskers twitching a bit.
Tsidi rests her front paws against the log and turns a twitching nose in the general direction of Sacha. "Oh, I'm fine, really, just passing through." A small smile is offered, though her ears twitch back a little "Unpleasent and dangerous? I don't much like the sound of that." she sniffs the air for a few seconds. "You smell tired, it must be unpleasant enough to lose sleep over." She taps the log experimentally with a paw before scurrying to the edge and jumping off, landing with a soft 'phump'.
"Yes.. yes, quite. I.. I can't sleep. No, it'll find me then, can't sleep." She grimaces, ears laying back, before she comes a bit closer. "There's a bear.. I think... I think he has The Madness. He can also.. tell, where a person is, where you are, small, large, he knows. He sees you with his mind. He knows. And he wants to destroy the world. He was that way," A look, rapid, wary, is cast in the direction of the clearing, and a shudder runs through her tiny frame.
Tsidi blinks, ears flattening nervously. "...That is unpleasant and dark." she pushes herself onto her back paws, clasping the two front ones nervously. "Can you not hide where a bear cannot reach? High in a tree, or deep underground?" It sounded logical to Tsi, and instinctively she sniffs the air and listens hard, but no one was approaching them. At least, not at the moment.
"Tree? Tree. I have not tried tree. Underground, though, oh, no. No no, he dug the ground up, he ate at the earth, until all I could do was hope for the best and run out the hole at those chomping fangs. I was lucky, so lucky, that he was distracted by The Madness enough to be angrier at the dirt by then for hiding me." Sacha shakes her head, and then closes her eyes a little, half resting where she sets, at least to let her body rest. She then murmurs, "And he hunts me in my dreams, my nightmares, in the dark. I don't dare sleep, he could find me there, too."
Tsidi frowns, unsure whether to be worried for Sacha's safety, or her sanity. "You...you need to sleep. Everyone does - even this bear..." She scurries a few steps forward "I assure you that we are alone right now, no one is moving around anywhere near us - well, theres a squirrel over there, but he can't hurt us - and nothing can kill you in a dream." She gives what she hopes is a warm, reassuring smile.
"But this something CAN," Hisses Sacha warily, and wearily alike, as she jumps awake again from dozing on her feet; she shakes her head, "No.. No, I need.. I need to warn the forest, that this thing, this bear, his Madness, is coming, will bring dark days, will bring an end to everything.." The little rat creeps a little closer, eying the hole in the log hungrilly; it would be so easy, wouldn't it, to slip into there, to sleep. "He comes in dreams, he finds you by your dreams. He has The Madness.. and he has Sight, too." She frowns, shakes her head, wonders how she can make this rat understand. "He /sees/. Like the Spirits do. And he hunts with his Sight. And the Madness.. It.. Surely, if he should bite you, you would be Mad too in days.."
Tsidi refrains from pointing out that if this bear bit one as small as Sacha or herself, they would not live to catch the madness, but she merely nods - a little nervously. "I understand, please calm down." she scratches at the top of her head, thinking. "If you do not sleep, you will collapse, and you will be unable to run from him." her tail wraps around her lower "But you say he can find you in your dreams...If you wish to sleep for a few moments I will keep watch -" though the correct word would be 'feel' "- and if I sense any approaching, or if you grow disquieted in your sleep I will wake you." It sounds like a good plan to Tsi, at least.
Ears twitch, and Sacha seems to find it a good idea, too. "y.. Yes. That would work. Just.. just a little while, just a little bit of time," the Sighted (in both senses) rat murmurs, as she comes a little closer, waving a bit on her feet, before she settles down on her side, shivering even through a small yawn. "Just.. Just watch for him, listen for him." She lets her eyelids droop some, then lets them close, trusting Tsidi for the moment to watch out for her; even though a stranger she only just met, Sacha will trust this one because she can sense something benign about her.
Placing all four paws firmly against the ground, the blind rat feels both the gentle vibration of Sacha's body, and then turns her intuition outward, feeling for the slightest tremor to raise an alarm. Tsidi's dreams consist of sound and sensation, and has never before had to worry about nightmares; however, a feeling unease has settled against her with the thought of a beast that tracks through sleep, and has only one ambition, and it is a bloody one...
Fallen Log
------------------
Amongst the bramble and vegetation of the forest, settled on the soft dirt and fallen leaves from nearby trees, is large log. It is covered in rough gray-brown bark, with a few patches of moss found here and there along its length, rotting at one end. A hole on one side - the entrance to what was perhaps the home of a mink or porcupine - is blocked partly by the ground, but there is enough open space for a small animal to fit. The log is a reminder that all that lives must eventually come to an end. And yet, a tiny flower with delicate gold petals blossoms next to the log; a reminder that all is not lost, however, for when one thing dies, another is born.
-------------------
Characters Involved:
Tsidi, an adult female Rat
Sacha, an adult female Rat
-------------------
The quiet of the forest presses against the small figure who sits calmly atop the fallen log, cleaning her face with her paws and humming a quiet tune. After a moment or two, the rat ceases her cleaning to lean down and press the side of her head against the bark, looking very much like a child trying to listen through a door; though what she is listening for is anybody's guess.
While it has been days since the encounter with the Mad Bear, Sacha still has not found sleep. Looking ragged and weary, the young rat makes her way slowly through the grasses, heading for a place she knows of, but has not had to use in a while; a log, a hidden spot in which she might, might find sleep for a while, some place that could be protected. But as she approaches, heavy oil-spot eyes find another person already set atop the log; a member of her same specie no less. She pauses, tail curling about her hip, before she sets up a little in the grass, and chirps a noise in the other rat's direction curiously.
Tsidi raises her head, her ears perking forward. She does not look at Sacha, but instead keeps her head turned so that the left side of it is facing the other rat. A returning chirp is followed by a polite, unimposing voice. "Oh, I'm sorry, is this your sideways tree?"
"No, no it's not, I just come here occasionally for a rest," Sacha says, returning the rat's politeness with her own, smiling a little. "If you wish to take it, go ahead, I can find somewhere else. Been thinking I should get out of the forest anyway. There's something here that... Well, it's very unpleasent and dangerous." She frowns some, whiskers twitching a bit.
Tsidi rests her front paws against the log and turns a twitching nose in the general direction of Sacha. "Oh, I'm fine, really, just passing through." A small smile is offered, though her ears twitch back a little "Unpleasent and dangerous? I don't much like the sound of that." she sniffs the air for a few seconds. "You smell tired, it must be unpleasant enough to lose sleep over." She taps the log experimentally with a paw before scurrying to the edge and jumping off, landing with a soft 'phump'.
"Yes.. yes, quite. I.. I can't sleep. No, it'll find me then, can't sleep." She grimaces, ears laying back, before she comes a bit closer. "There's a bear.. I think... I think he has The Madness. He can also.. tell, where a person is, where you are, small, large, he knows. He sees you with his mind. He knows. And he wants to destroy the world. He was that way," A look, rapid, wary, is cast in the direction of the clearing, and a shudder runs through her tiny frame.
Tsidi blinks, ears flattening nervously. "...That is unpleasant and dark." she pushes herself onto her back paws, clasping the two front ones nervously. "Can you not hide where a bear cannot reach? High in a tree, or deep underground?" It sounded logical to Tsi, and instinctively she sniffs the air and listens hard, but no one was approaching them. At least, not at the moment.
"Tree? Tree. I have not tried tree. Underground, though, oh, no. No no, he dug the ground up, he ate at the earth, until all I could do was hope for the best and run out the hole at those chomping fangs. I was lucky, so lucky, that he was distracted by The Madness enough to be angrier at the dirt by then for hiding me." Sacha shakes her head, and then closes her eyes a little, half resting where she sets, at least to let her body rest. She then murmurs, "And he hunts me in my dreams, my nightmares, in the dark. I don't dare sleep, he could find me there, too."
Tsidi frowns, unsure whether to be worried for Sacha's safety, or her sanity. "You...you need to sleep. Everyone does - even this bear..." She scurries a few steps forward "I assure you that we are alone right now, no one is moving around anywhere near us - well, theres a squirrel over there, but he can't hurt us - and nothing can kill you in a dream." She gives what she hopes is a warm, reassuring smile.
"But this something CAN," Hisses Sacha warily, and wearily alike, as she jumps awake again from dozing on her feet; she shakes her head, "No.. No, I need.. I need to warn the forest, that this thing, this bear, his Madness, is coming, will bring dark days, will bring an end to everything.." The little rat creeps a little closer, eying the hole in the log hungrilly; it would be so easy, wouldn't it, to slip into there, to sleep. "He comes in dreams, he finds you by your dreams. He has The Madness.. and he has Sight, too." She frowns, shakes her head, wonders how she can make this rat understand. "He /sees/. Like the Spirits do. And he hunts with his Sight. And the Madness.. It.. Surely, if he should bite you, you would be Mad too in days.."
Tsidi refrains from pointing out that if this bear bit one as small as Sacha or herself, they would not live to catch the madness, but she merely nods - a little nervously. "I understand, please calm down." she scratches at the top of her head, thinking. "If you do not sleep, you will collapse, and you will be unable to run from him." her tail wraps around her lower "But you say he can find you in your dreams...If you wish to sleep for a few moments I will keep watch -" though the correct word would be 'feel' "- and if I sense any approaching, or if you grow disquieted in your sleep I will wake you." It sounds like a good plan to Tsi, at least.
Ears twitch, and Sacha seems to find it a good idea, too. "y.. Yes. That would work. Just.. just a little while, just a little bit of time," the Sighted (in both senses) rat murmurs, as she comes a little closer, waving a bit on her feet, before she settles down on her side, shivering even through a small yawn. "Just.. Just watch for him, listen for him." She lets her eyelids droop some, then lets them close, trusting Tsidi for the moment to watch out for her; even though a stranger she only just met, Sacha will trust this one because she can sense something benign about her.
Placing all four paws firmly against the ground, the blind rat feels both the gentle vibration of Sacha's body, and then turns her intuition outward, feeling for the slightest tremor to raise an alarm. Tsidi's dreams consist of sound and sensation, and has never before had to worry about nightmares; however, a feeling unease has settled against her with the thought of a beast that tracks through sleep, and has only one ambition, and it is a bloody one...