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oz

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Registered: 2016-11-20

Posts: 1,659

Storm At Sea scares dibbuns-Happen Tuesday June 23nd....

Most of the Dibbuns have gotten used to the rolling of the ship. But today it has gotten a lot worse, and even Dibbuns who didn't have seasickness before are starting to suffer. Squirrelbabe herself is starting to feel a little nauseated as the ship begins to buck as the seas get rougher. Since she's stuck below decks, she isn't sure what's happening, although the boom of the thunder and the drumming of the rain are good clues. The Ringleader tries to stay on her feet, but the movement of the ship knocks her over. "Wha's goin' on?" She shouts over the rain and the wailing of some of the other Dibbuns.   

Isa wasn't feeling well either and it was perhaps a blessing she didn't have enough food in her to lose any to the seasickness. She'd dug her claws in to the wood floor but even that wasn't stopping her from moving every time the ship went over a big wave and crashed in to another. The wind was howling, the vermin were shouting above deck as they fought to keep control of the ship. Isa's fur went poof at the sudden boom of the thunder and she jumped in surprise before quickly scrambling over towards Squirrelbabe who weirdly on this journey was a comfort "Angry storm" she answers quietly, crouching down as he eyes flicked wildly around the hold, waiting for more lightening to appear through the cracks.   

Ciana whimpers "Why boat being mean!" She starts wailing and crying.

Squirrelbabe sees how poufy the kitten is, but is too alarmed to laugh about it. "Why storm angwy? What we do?" Another big BOOM of thunder rattles the walls of the hold, sending many of the Dibbuns into screams of terror. The Ringleader tries to move, but she's only used to the gentle rocking of a normal day at sea -- the chaotic tipping and bucking of the storm is more than even her innate squirrel agility can handle. She reaches out to Ciana. "Hey, it be okay." She practically has to yell to be heard.   

Mistclaw ears go flat as she grumbles, "What in the seasons!" Of course another is captain of this ship....so there is no help she can offer and the captain just glares at her to shut up.   

Isa digs her claws in to the floor again and stays low, not trying to get up and walk anywhere "It's not the ship, it's a storm but worse. Y'can't do anythin' about storms, they don't listen if y'ask them to stop" it sounds like she's tries in the past.   

Leigh wakes up as she hears the cries and wails " What's...happening?"   
   
Ciana starts crying as the rain gets harder and so it's louder and as a wave hits the ship she whimpers "Are we gonnas die?" Tears go down her face as she is truly scared of this.   

Squirrelbabe is troubled. Martin said the Dibbuns would be fine and they'd get rescued, but this storm is absolutely terrifying and not anything she expected. She has always doubted adults, ever since she saw her family be murdered, and so now her natural doubt and cynicism start to worm their way back into her heart. Could Martin be wrong? But she puts on a brave face. "We norra gonna die, Ciana, I /suwe/ of it," she lies, trying to army crawl to the weeping leveret since walking is impossible right now. "Wight, Leigh? We gonna be okies." She gives the adult a look like HELP ME CALM THEM DOWN.   

Mistclaw is just....peeved , yes be peeved off at the storm as she opens the trap door to yell at the dibbuns "Shut ya brats.!" She errrks as the trap door is , luckily blown shut, and she is slammed into the side of the boat, wet and even more peeved she grabs a rope and looks at the crew"Morons..do something!"   

Isa is already too afraid of the storm to really be scared of Mistclaw when she yells at them though her ears perk as the trap door blows shut and she can hear beasts up above getting thrown around "...We're better down 'ere than they are out there" she says quietly, taking some comfort from this.   

Leigh frowns she has seen storms, been in one but not one on sea, she takes a deep breath and speaks " I am..sure who ever sails the ship..can handle this, it may just get really..rough for a while "
   
Ciana gulps as she whimpers again, she never liked storms much, and her father isnt here to sing to her and calm her down as she curls up a little.   

Squirrelbabe shakes a fist at the trapdoor. "YOU SHUTS UP, DUMB FOXIE!!" She then turns to the leveret and goes to pat her on the shoulder. "It....it be okay...." she looks at the adult, her eyes wide with fear and worry. "Y....yeah.....dey....dey know what dey doin'...." she turns her gaze to the kitten now. "How you knows dat?" She doesn't fully comprehend the danger they're in, which is probably a good thing. Most of the Dibbuns are still wailing and crying, trying to huddle close together, and closer to Leigh and the Ringleader. Everyone is absolutely terrified.   

Isa keeps her ears tuned on the deck above, listening to the slavers stumbling around and shouting "Yeah, we'll be fine. We're dry yeah? The storm's out there, we're alright in here" she's trying to be reassuring and ignore the fact they're rocking around all over the place. She glances quickly at Squirrelbabe after her question "They can fall off" there was no way to end up overboard while trapped inside the ship.   
Leigh frowns " Lets hope they...know how to sail in a storm" She goes to stand and then stumbles so bad idea as she just sits. " maybe a story or..song?"   

Ciana frowns, she looks at the shrew "Song?..Daddy would hum..when bad storms came, I no like storms"   

Squirrelbabe smiles wickedly at the thought. "I 'opes they all fall offa da ship an' dwowns! Den we cans gets fwee an' sail back 'ome!" Being a Dibbun, she doesn't see all the huge faults in her plan, such as none of them actually know how to sail a ship, or which way is home. But, hey, she can dream, right? The Dibbuns have moved as close as they can to the grown up, and they start begging for a song, even the ones that are still crying. The Ringleader says nothing, trying to look tough, but secretly she wants to hear a song, too. She's terrified.   

Isa has the same wicked smile as Squirrelbabe. She also hopes they all drown "They're already gettin' all wet an' we're not" she's smug. Any misfortune of the slavers is the only good thing to happen to her recently. She jumps as the thunder BOOMS again and she stops listening to the deck, her ears going back instead. She tries to calm down from the fright and nods quickly at Leigh "Yeah, both, do both...but maybe start with the song"   

Ciana frowns, the storm starts to get a little worse but maybe it is a lot better down here where they keep the dibbuns, though the rocking is no fun, or the thunder as the hare whimpers again"When it gonna stops?"   

The ship continues to buck and roll and rock, although the Dibbuns aren't being tossed around as much now that they're all huddled together. Squirrelbabe scowls at the ceiling as another big BOOM of thunder shakes the hull. "I 'opes it goes aways soons. We no need mowe wain." She tries to stand and fails yet again, which is obviously making her a little cranky.   

Isa's fur puffs out a little at the latest thunder and she desperately wants a distraction too. The story or song was a good idea. She knows silly songs from her mother but she's normally a quiet child, she doesn't feel quite bold enough to sing any so she quickly thinks hard, her eyes snapping on to Ciana as she makes up something less scary "Thunder's just giants playin' games, they don't mean no harm...tha's why stuff's shakin' about too, cause they're runnin' around outside"   

Ciana whimpers "Giants....theys gonna gets us!" A loud boom and she screams and curls up shaking again!   

Squirrelbabe gives the kitten a LOOK as a bunch of the other Dibbuns start screaming, too. "Oh, yeah, dat not scawy at all." She tries to hug the leveret. "It okay, it jus' a funny stowy! My mammy..." she hesitates. She's never really told anyone anything about her parents, except that they had been killed by foxes and fire. She swallows as sorrow threatens to make her cry. But she continues, "Mammy said dat thundew were howsies gallopin' in da sky! She dwawed me some howsies once, said dey were ware. But dey like t'run around in da sky when it waining." She is about ready to cry. Remembering her family is hard.   

Isa snorts as if the idea of giants being scary is just silly. She's acting very calm now at least, she liked her idea "Giants don't go after dibbuns, silly! We're too little for them t'see.../and/ they're playin' games. Tha's not somethin' mean beasts do" she tilts her head at Squirrelbabe as she's starting to look upset. She never really knew the squirrel well enough before to know that this was a big deal for her, she just figured everyone would be missing their parents here "My mum never told me about horsies...she told me about wishes, stars an' poofle flowers but not storms...What's a horsie?"   

Ciana frowns but manages to calm a little bit, a little anyways as she yawns as she is tried.   

Squirrelbabe is trying to hold herself together, and the kitten's question is just what she needed to get herself out of her sad and frightening memories. "A howsie is....uh...well, it a cweatuwe like us, but it run on all fouw feet, but dey called /hooves/ 'cause dey /hawd/, like /wocks/. Dey weally stwong an' weally ware. Dey has long fuw on dey tails an' necks. Dey wun /weally/ fast. I nevew seen one, but....Mammy did, once, so she knowed." She just had to mention her mother again, and and now she's on the verge of tears once more.   
Isa tilts her head as she tries to imagine a horse and pictures something entirely different from reality "I never seen anythin' like tha'" she says but she can see Squirrelbabe is getting upset about her mother. Isa still misses her mother, she can understand that which with her always helps her figure things out. She carefully and wobbly walks over to the pair and goes to join in the hug on Ciana because attempting to directly give Squirrelbabe a hug seemed like a bad plan "Maybe we can look for horsies when we get back"   

Ciana listens and tries to get closer to squirrelbabe as if she can help if something bad comes, she looks up at the trapdoor, its still noisey..."I still hopes we no die.....the bad beasts can dies right?"   

Squirrelbabe sniffles. Hugging her directly may work this time, but it's understandable that anyone would be hesitant to do so. She nods. "Maybe DwowaWose an' 'Tildy an' da Abbot knows wheres ta finds howsies." She looks up at the trapdoor. "Yeah, dey can a' fall ovah da side an' get /dwowneded/ an' then I laugh at dem!" Finding her anger at their captors is also helping her sorrow, but the hug is helping, too, even though she would refuse to admit it if asked.   

Isa doesn't find the rocking of the boat or the sounds of the wind, rain and thunder quite so scary once she starts thinking of everything else they've been through. Parents lost, alone and then kidnapped. What was a storm on top of all that? Just the weather "Maybe. The abbey beasts know lots of stuff, they must know about horsies" Maybe she just cared less when she was sad which made her harder to scare. She didn't jump at the rumble of thunder this time, just nodded to the other two "Bad beasts are good at dyin'"   

Ciana nods as she has calms down, a small whimper as seems the storm is slowing some and the vermin above cuss a few times, the hare frowns and whispers "They said...bad words...they needs soap in mouths"   

Squirrelbabe nods, being distracted from thoughts and memories of her parents and grandparents. Everything else she's lost pales in comparison to that. She scowls up at the vermin voices coming from above deck. "No, dey needs a sword in da heawt, da ugly --" and she spouts of some very naughty words to describe the slavers, shaking a fist at the still-closed trap door. Because the vermin aren't the only ones who need their mouths washed out with soap    

Isa frowns and her tail swishes angrily "No they don't" she says to Ciana before nodding at Squirrelbabe since she articulates so well exactly what the slavers deserve complete with all the bad words. Isa knows the words too, she had her own colourful upbringing "Lily said t'forgive beasts and y'shouldn't get revenge" admittedly she said this when Isa was upset about a dibbun pushing her in the mud, the situation is a little different "I don't want t'forgive. They took us from 'ome" possibly one of the few times Isa has called the abbey home, she usually doesn't "They locked us up" the rumble of thunder is fitting as she's getting angry "They killed Burfy, took Oz an' they want us t'do wha' they say as a slave forever...They can choke t'death on tha' soap"   

Ciana is just about asleep now, but every so often she jerks awake at some thunder and frowns again, "Wanna...wanna go home"   
Squirrelbabe nods vigorously. "Yeah! Dey deserve evewytink dat 'appens t' dem! Evewyfink bad! I can'ts waits 'til 'Tildy an' dem gets hew an' chops 'em ups inta soups!!" She goes to pet the leveret between her ears. "Me, toos. An' we will....I'm /suwe/..." but the kitten can surely see the doubt playing in the Ringleader's eyes. Everything is really hard and scary for her right now. Especially since she's not so sure she trusts Martin's words anymore.

Isa is starting to look really angry, she has a bit of wildcat temper in her and without her father around she's been getting bolder "If the grown ups don't get them I'll do it m'self" doesn't matter that she's just a small cat, she sounds determined anyway. She frowns angrily but flicks her eyes to Ciana briefly "We're goin' home" she sound determined.   

Ciana smiles a little "Wanna go home soons...."She does frown a little as she knows its very unlikely they are heading home now but if she is told they will one day she can...well keep that hope in her like a tiny spark.   

Squirrelbabe thinks for a moment, then nods. "Yeah, you's an' me, Isa! We take 'em out togevvew!" She goes to pat the leveret on the head again. "Don'ts you wowwies -- evewfing'll be okies in da end. Dat's 'ow a' da bes' stowies go, so we knows it a' gets bettew in da end!" Makes sense to her, so it must be true!   

Isa looks back at the squirrel, she smiles faintly and nods once "Together" and she goes to give Squirrelbabe the briefest of hugs before she nods to Ciana too "Every story 'as a bad bit before the good guys win"   

Ciana yawns, the storm seems to finally come to an end, course some more cussing up above as likely the slavers are looking at what needs repaired or something, the hare dibbun soon is asleep.   

Squirrelbabe isn't sure how she feels about getting a hug. She usually resists (read: violently fights) any kind of loving action taken towards her. But her heart has been softening this whole trip, and she's discovered that hugs make her feel better. So she isn't sure what to do. So instead she ignores the hug and yawns. "Yeah....th' good end's comin'..." she lays down "Good night, Isa," she mumbles, and is soon asleep.   

This is why Isa kept the hug very brief! She's relieved when the storm starts to calm down and the rocking of the ship slows. Maybe now she'd stop feeling ill from the seasickness and they'd take the time to feed everyone. She nodded a little as the other two fell asleep "G'night" she mutters but she ends up sat up for a while, listening to the tail end of the storm.

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I play:
Oz-  Badger-young adult-Wanderer