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Post by Ethereal Panda on Jul 26, 2009 8:52:50 GMT 9.5
Retracting his foot, Cliff cradled his ankle pressing the water bag tightly against it. The boy looked up from his bandaged foot. Felinor looked about his age and she was pretty, at least he thought so. With a reminiscing expression, he stared at her hair blankly for what was most certainly too long. As though awaken abruptly, he blinked twice rapidly before looking back at his foot. Flatly, he said, "It looks nice."
Looking to Monopa and then back to Felinor, he asked, "Are you sisters?"
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Post by Treijim on Jul 26, 2009 9:06:17 GMT 9.5
Monopa actually laughed. "No chance," she said. "None of us are related except Larr and Nierra, and Joy and Herring. The rest of us only met each other when we c..." She stopped and composed herself. "The rest of us are just friends."
Cliff was sent to Larr to receive a walking stick but as he went around the tent he could hear the girls talking inside:
"You almost told him!" Felinor hissed.
"But I didn't. I kept the rules... unlike others."
"You think Larr told him?"
"It's possible. They seem good friends, as though they've shared something..."
"Cliff!" Larr said, surprised. "It's been eventful, huh? It's not normally like this. We're lucky if one interesting thing happens all week."
Cliff told him about his need for a walking stick and Larr nodded, agreeing to work on something right away. Tex soon joined them with a pair of old-looking boots. He offered them to Cliff with a silent grin.
"They're your old boots," Larr said scornfully as he looked up from his new carving assignment.
"So? If they fit, they fit! Do ya like 'em, Cliff?"
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Post by Ethereal Panda on Jul 26, 2009 9:15:53 GMT 9.5
Cliff took the boots and sat down in the dirt. He put the right one on first which was a bit loose, but it certainly beat walking barefoot. With a grimace, he carefully slipped the other one on. The bandages actually made this one fit rather snugly. He laced them tightly and looked up. Rather than giving into the boy's prank, Cliff thanked him generously.
Cliff looked over at Larr who was working away at the walking stick. It was then that Cliff decided he wouldn't try to get him to admit to anything that should be a secret. Cliff would rather not know than get him it trouble. Without standing up, he scooted over to a tree by Larr's side, and started watching a trail of ants march by.
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Post by Treijim on Jul 26, 2009 9:22:42 GMT 9.5
Larr watched Cliff out of the corner of his eye. Tex left them.
"You like bugs?" Larr asked. "You were watching a beetle when I showed you the map, and I'm pretty sure you've done it before. Gerit writes down everything he finds. I'm sure you two could work together and record heaps of stuff."
He smiled and worked some more on carving the handle of the stick, as the most of it was more or less complete. It took some time to take shape, but it soon became clear that he was carving a beetle's shell which acted as the handle. He showed it to Cliff to let him see the progress he was making. A soft breeze rushed past them. It smelled like leaves and smoke.
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Post by Ethereal Panda on Jul 26, 2009 9:31:15 GMT 9.5
Cliff blushed at having been figured out so easily, and then he remained quiet some time before replying. "Yes... I liked to study them at the chapel and in the mountains. It is not important. I just like looking at them." Realizing Larr was trying to show him something, he looked up. With a grin Cliff nodded rapidly several times. "This is perfect. I really like it." He smiled brightly up at Larr.
Cliff's expression transformed into an odd inquisitive look. He sniffed in a very audible manner twice, and then he lifted himself up slightly to turn to look back beyond the tree behind him. "I did not know there was a fire back there." He looked intently trying to identify the source.
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Post by Treijim on Jul 26, 2009 15:39:43 GMT 9.5
"Joy probably burnt the bread again," Larr suggested.
He looked up and over the camp. There were no visible fumes of smoke, so he went back to work, satisfied. The overall beetle shape was mostly done and he began to carve letters into the back of it. At first they appeared familiar but as he detailed them they became foreign and seemingly jargon. Still, he worked with such carefulness that he appeared to know exactly what he was carving.
"You've been asking lots of questions lately, so I'm gonna ask you some," he said, still working intently on his woodwork. "Firstly, what is a boat and what is a chapel? Second, why do you want to stay here? I'm sure your parents and family are missing you already. Third, who or what are you trying to hide from?" He blew some fragments off his carving. "But you know, you don't have to tell me anything. I'm just curious. It's okay if you prefer to watch ants or sniff smoke." He looked up for a moment and smiled.
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Post by Ethereal Panda on Jul 27, 2009 5:14:28 GMT 9.5
[Larr's such a smart ass. ;D I think I turned the drama up to high, lol.]
Cliff was slightly embarrassed that the seemingly endless drama of the last two days had gotten him so antsy that even the smell of a fire alerted him. He turned his attention away from the ants and leaned against the tree in an attempt to relax. Watching Larr dexterously work away at the walking stick, he twirled circles in some loose dirt with his fingers. Although lately Cliff tended to dread personal questions, he nodded seeing how it was only fair that he should answer some at this point.
"A boat is like a raft, but it is shaped like this." Dusting off his dirty fingers on the side of his pants, Cliff cupped his hands making a wedge shape that somewhat resembled a boat. "And a chapel is like," he paused searching for a good analogy. "Monopa's shrine, but much bigger." Cliff picked up a near by twig and carved the rough shape of his chapel in the dirt. He added a crude stick figure of himself outside to give Larr some perspective of size. "Like that."
The first question was the easy one. Thus, it was not surprising that Cliff waited a minute collecting his thoughts before trying to answering the last two. Although he didn't want to tell everyone else, Cliff wanted nothing but honesty between Larr and himself. However, even even with this in mind, he wasn't sure Larr would understand. "I like it here," Cliff said in a almost whining voice.
The boy pulled his knees up to his head and buried his face in them. "And, I ran away." He didn't say anything for about a minute. To Cliff the silence felt like a thick fog weighing down on him. "I ran away a year ago," he clarified. "My parents are the ones I have hid from." Cliff's voice was muffled due to speaking from between his shins, but the emotion carried in his words was quite clear. Almost as though he had suddenly grown impatiently, he stated with a whisper, "The treated me like such a child!" Cliff realized that this probably did not make much sense to Larr. After all, he was a child.
"I was really sick when I was a baby. I almost died a few times, and they never forgot. They never forgot how weak I was," the emphasis in Cliff's words seemed to imply anger with himself instead of his caregivers.
"They treated me like glass, but I am not glass," he stated with frustration. "I break," Cliff pulled his face from between his legs long enough to motion towards his left foot. "But, I can be fixed. They never understood that. So, I ran away." As emotional as Cliff was, even now this didn't seem like a very good excuse to him. The boy shook his head and leaned back against the tree closing his eyes this time.
"I have been living with a priest named Velisies for the last year. I disappear sometimes. He is used to it," Cliff concluded in a now drained voice.
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Post by Treijim on Jul 27, 2009 10:51:55 GMT 9.5
Larr let Cliff speak as long as he needed to, fixing most of his attention on his work but occasionally watching Cliff to see if he had started getting upset at all. He smiled, grateful for the trust they shared, and nodded as he took everything his friend said on-board.
"I know you're not glass," Larr said. "You climbed the cliffs the first time even when Tex almost hurt you. The first time I tried to climb them, I slipped and skidded down to the bottom and hit my head. I didn't try again for a long time."
He blew on the carving, brushing away stubborn shards with his gloves and rubbing the shell gently. It seemed to be near completion.
"Don't worry, I think you did the right thing. I won't tell anyone." He stood and stretched his back, yawning. "How's your foot? Need this yet?" He offered Cliff the walking stick with a big smile.
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Post by Ethereal Panda on Jul 27, 2009 11:14:57 GMT 9.5
Cliff opened his eyes to inspect his friend's head, as though to discover some relic of the injury. He tried to hide a growing grin, "Well it is not the cliffs I have to look out for, but roots it seems." Laughing a little, he hopped up onto his right foot and gladly accepted the stick. "Thank you Larr. This will work perfectly."
Giving it a try, he hobbled over to Larr's side. They walked down the central path of the village. Cliff was now carefully inspecting the contents of his temporary home. "I will ask Gerit about the bugs tomorrow," Cliff stated interrupting the silence. "But, I also want to help here. I do not desire to be a burden," he said with an emotionless tone. "So... let me know what I can do."
Cliff stopped their walk short of the opposite end of the Village when he noticed a girl with light brown hair and hazel eyes standing by one of the tents. "Who is she?" Cliff casually inquired.
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Post by Treijim on Jul 27, 2009 11:29:24 GMT 9.5
"Oh her," Larr said. "That's Tania. She's really quiet. She barely talks to me so she probably wouldn't talk to you. Don't worry about it."
Against everything Larr had just said, Tania spotted them and began walking up to them. Larr stopped, stunned at the unrealistic turn of events. She walked to them and stood before them, looking down at the ground, as though unaware of her own actions and now suddenly too embarrassed to withdraw. Finally she looked at Cliff with dazzling hazel eyes.
"You're Cliff," she said. It wasn't a question; it was a fact. "My name... My name is Tania."
Her hands were behind her back. When she put them before her, they realised she was holding what seemed to be a coat or jacket. It seemed sufficiently warm, with a collar made of soft fur and heavy sleeves and a long body for extra warmth. It was a rich earthy brown and seemed to be tightly knitted and woven into leather, or something abstract like that. It was hard to discern just by looking at it. She held it towards Cliff.
"It's for you," she said, smiling softly. "The winters here are very cold; it snows."
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Post by Ethereal Panda on Jul 27, 2009 11:47:10 GMT 9.5
Surprised at the unprompted generosity, Cliff blinked a few times before actually responding. "Thank you Tania," he said in the most gentlemanly way he could muster. Propping his walking stick against the side of his hip, he took the coat and slipped on. It fit perfectly, and was indeed very warm and surprisingly soft.
"It is fantastic," he stated offering the girl a subtle bow of his head. Looking over at Cliff, he said with a smirk, "A nice cain, shoes, and a tailored coat; you really treat your guests like royalty." He laughed a short hah.
"Thank you again Tania," Cliff stated again, clearly flattering the girl into a shy submission. He retook the walking stick in hand, and turned to Larr tilting his head as to say, "Where to next?"
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Post by Treijim on Jul 27, 2009 12:09:33 GMT 9.5
They wandered around the camp for a while, talking to the odd person they came across. Everybody seemed at least accepting of Cliff's presence, even if the king said he was not currently acceptable. At one point, they saw Arka down by the river, kneeling in the water so it came up to his waist. He was splashing water over his face and arms and seemed to not want company. Larr and Cliff took to sitting on one of the benches Larr made toward the middle of the camp. For a short while they sat in silence and then Larr almost jumped off the seat.
"I have an idea!" he said. He looked at Cliff with excited eyes. "If you're staying here for a while then we can build a library! Think about it: we gather all the books everyone has, all the things you and Gerit will write about the animals and plants and Jed can tell us things about the places, we have enough books to put on a couple of shelves. I can build an extension on the commons or something. People can borrow books and we write down who has what to keep track of them. You can keep track of it all, so that you're doing work and not being useless. What do you think? Aren't I a genius?"
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Post by Ethereal Panda on Jul 27, 2009 12:21:16 GMT 9.5
Cliff didn't jump up to join his friend, but instead grinned wildly. "That's a great idea!" He leaned forward propping his elbows on his knees. "I love books. Do you think they will let me?" Cliff stood up with a groan, grabbing Larr's arm when he started to lose balance. He reclaimed the walking stick and started pacing a short elliptical walk. With the stick, it made him seem like a child's toy with a broken wheel, spinning in endless circles.
"Do you have extra paper?" Cliff inquired in a calculating tone.
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Post by Treijim on Jul 27, 2009 12:32:42 GMT 9.5
"I dunno. They might. Yeah we have extra paper, and we can make more anyway. It's not that hard. Let's ask Monopa now!" He went to head to Monopa's tent but then stopped. "Well, you stay here and I'll go ask then!"
He ran off to find Monopa.
"Shouldn't you be doing some work?" Jed asked, seemingly materialising out of nowhere. "Just because you can't walk far doesn't mean you can't be doing something useful."
Larr returned, "She said we can as long as we ask everybody first, and..." He saw Jed and stopped, losing track of his words. "Cliff and I are gonna make a library," he said. "Can we have your books for it? If you write your name in it, they'll still belong to you, but others will get to borrow them."
Jed frowned. "Books? Why would I have books? A library is a stupid idea. It doesn't feed us, or keep us warm, or give us clean water." He walked away, pushing his shoulder into Larr purposely.
Larr glared at Jed and then went and sat on the bench again. "Don't worry about him. He doesn't have books so his choice doesn't count." He looked down at the ground.
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Post by Ethereal Panda on Jul 27, 2009 12:43:02 GMT 9.5
Cliff stood expressionless watching the ordeal unfold before him. Suddenly he wasn't so confident, but looking to his friend, Cliff decided what the others thought didn't matter. Larr wanted to do it to, and that meant so did he. A breeze caused a leaf pinned under his shoe to flap rapidly. Lifting his toe, it was freed and twirled away skipping across the dirt.
"Maybe I can do something else too. That way no one could say it is stupid," Cliff casually suggested.
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