03-11-05

Characters involved: Audri & Taye.

Salamandastron: Northeast Mountainside

Audri has been thinking since her experience with the hawk, gathering all her stuff back into that large satchel of hers. Discovering the path, the kit carefully hopped down it, dragging her satchel along behind her, giving little squeaks as the wind picks up. Finally, Audri has reached the end, where she sits now, claw tapping her chin thoughtfully.

Having finally gotten over his alternately moping and brooding mood, Taye decided to seek out otherly contact in the form of Audri, but not locating her on the crater, he's gone looking, and eventually he wound up on the norther tip of the crater looking down, and sure enough, a bit further down along a path, there was Audri. Picking his way down the inhospitable path, he ducks his head at the still-strong wind gusts. "Auree?"

Audri has curled up, trying to hide from the wind, her little body shivering from the cold. Her ears perk up at her name, the kit tilting her head to see Taye coming down towards her. Drat. Audri sighs, hugging her legs closer since her little plan was probably ruined now. "'wo Taye."

Well, that's not quite the usual smile and a greeting he's used to. Once he reaches the end of the path, he hunkers down next to her, but not before removing his outer tunic and holding it out to the shivering dibbuny type. "Whatcha doin' all the way down here, Auree?"

Audri smiles faintly, reaching out for the offered tunic, wrapping it around herself slowly. "Fank 'oo." She sighs again, footpaw digging into the sand, ears falling. "Finkin. 'oo evah do any expwowin?"

"Um... well, I went on a patrol fer a long time. Guess that's kind of explorin'?" Blinky-blink. He tucks his paws deep into his pockets and hunches his shoulders, 'cause that'll help with the cold. Right. "Um... why? Ya thinkin' about doin' some explorin'?"

Audri nods, snuggling deeper into the tunic, nose sniffling a few times. "'a went on dat patwol too." Ooh. Audri decides to stare down at the sand, her footpaws digging deeper into it. "Maybe..."

"Maybe? Why maybe? Doncha like it here...?" Taye looks over at the repacked satchel and frowns thoughtfully. This is starting to look suspiciously like a 'running away' idea.

"Ah wike it 'ewe lots, but..wanna find somefing. And 'a aways busy now, ow tawkin wif Buck. So, Ah was gonna go find it, den come back weaw quick." Audri sniffles again, tail starting to poof up. Leaning over, Audri reaches into her satchel, grabbing a small slice of nutbread to nibble on.

"Whatcha wanna find?" No need to mention that Audri probably ought not go do the whole finding thing, just yet. That can, um. Wait. Yeeees. "And... y'know, y'should at least wait 'til it's not s'cold out. Explorin's not s'fun when yer cold all the time."

"Somefing fow 'a, but it a secwet so Ah can't teww 'oo. Not dat cowd out. And Ah wouwdn't be gone wong." Audri mumbles, setting her halfeaten bread back in her satchel.

"Well... ya should have yer da go with ya, 'm sure he could help ya out." Yeah, he's reaching. "I bet he'd like t' get away fer a coupla days, too."

"But 'e /awways/ busy! And 'e can't weave de mountain. Gots ta stay 'n do patwow stuff." Audri grumbles, voice reaching that whining stage. "'n it a suwpwise fow 'im, so no good if 'e goes." Audri sighs, throwing her paws up in the air all dramatic like.

"But I'd think Dark'd be /worried/ aboutcha if ya went alone, Auree." He shrugs a little uncertainly, not really feeling like he has the authority to say 'no', so much. "I know /I'd/ be worried if 'Lynnie went off by herself. So would m' da."

Audri hmphs, pulling the tunic over her head in attempts to hide. "Ah wasn't gonna go faw way. Ah be back fow 'e noticah." Audri mumbles, footpaws drawing in the sand again.

Well... okay. There's not much more to say than this: "Auree... ya shouldn't go off by yerself. Ya could get hurt, 'n' then yer da /would/ be sad." He stands up from his crouched position, and shuffles his feet a bit. It's just a teeeeeeny bit too chilly for an undershirt, especially for scrawny Taye.

Audri sighs, knowing that as coming sooner or later, peeking out from under the tunic. "'ay. Ah won't go no whewe." Audri sniffles again, standing up from her spot, making a little squeak as her leg is starting to ache. "'oo wanna go in now?"

Taye looks relieved, but not necessarily happy. He holds out a paw to the dibbun. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

Audri smiles faintly, taking hold of his paw while she hop/limps closer to Taye, making a few squeaks. "Can we gets some soop? Dat good fow gettin wawm. 'n 'oo cawwy mah bag pwease?"

"Aww, sure." He bends and picks up the bag, slinging it over his shoulder. "Yeh. Soup'd be good. I bet there's some good soup down in the kitchen." Nod. He starts up the path.

"Fank 'oo." Audri mumbles, hopping along beside him slowly. A little sneeze comes from the kit as she glances up at Taye. "oo won't teww 'a will 'oo?"

Taye pauses briefly, and looks down and to the side at Audri. "Only if ya promise me ya really won't go."

Audri stops, ears folding over. After a few moments, she nods slowly, paw rubbing her cheek. "'ay. Won't go way."

Taye nods. "Okay, good. Now let's go warm up, eh?" He tries at a grin, and gets moving again.

Audri nods, hopping along beside him. "Sound good."

Salamandastron: Dining Chamber

• -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Salamandastron *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

This is the dining chamber for the mountain of Salamandastron. It is a

veritable cavern, the necessity of feeding so many hares making the room

so big. Dominating the room is a huge banquet table made of solid oak.

Nobeast knows how such a venerable object came to be here, but its

presence is undeniable. Smaller tables skirt the outside of the room,

each sitting near a large torch burning brightly in its sconce. The chair

at the head of the table is different from the plain maple chairs that

occupy the rest of the room - it belongs to the Badger Lord. The massive

object is graced with a carving of the very mountain it is in, with the

sun setting over the sea.

• -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Visible Exits:

[M]ain [H]all [K]itchens

[O]ut

Pushing open the door to the dining chamber, Taye looks back into the hallway, holding the door open for the following Audri. "Aftah you." He bows his head politely.

Audri finally reaches the dining chamber, hopping rather slowly since her leg is starting to throb now. She mumbles a 'fank 'oo' to Taye, hopping past him and plopping down on the floor. Whew.

Aww. Dropping Audri's off at a nearby table, Taye then returns to Audri's side, and turns his back to her, crouches, and offers an arm over his shoulder. The universal sign for a piggyback. XD As explanation, "Ya look kinda tired."

Audri watches him carry her stuff to the table, slipping his oversized tunic over her since she was still chilled. "Don't wike hoppin 'wound. Tis 'awd." Audri smiles some, grabbing his arm and climbing on his back. "'oo fink dewe soop weft?"

Boosting Audri up a bit higher, Taye carries her on over to the table and turns, lowering her 'til she's level with the table's surface. She can climb off, of course. "I c'n check."

Audri rests her head on Taye's shoudler, enjoying the small ride. She slides down onto the table, glancing down at the oversized tunic she's wear curiously. "Ooh. 'oo wook for some scones too? 'n 'ooce? Pwease."

"Sure, I'll see what I c'n get outta the cook." He waves a paw, and off to the kitchen he jogs. Aaaaand... not unexpectedly, he hurries back out a couple of minutes later, with a scone flying after him. This strikes him squarely on the back of his head, and he ducks his head a bit - but at least he's got two bowls of soup, and a couple /other/ scones tucked tucked into his pockets. Hehe. At the request for juice, the cook got a little, uh. Excitable. XD He sets the goods down on the table, and grins a bit sheepishly. "Couldn't getcha any juice... Sorry."

o.o Audri covers her mouth, as she sees the flying scone and runner come out. Must have been a battle. "Tis otay. Gots anyfing ewse ta dwink?" She reaches over into his pocket, helping herself to a scone which she dunks into her soup before munching on it.

Taye looks around for anything drink-like, and spies a jug of water further down the table. Grabbing it and a couple of the mugs set out, he returns to Audri and drops down into a seat, pouring a water for her and for himself. "Guess this'll have t' do.." Heh.

Audri nods, nose crinkling at the water. "Fank 'oo fow gettin it." She dunks her scone into her soup again, being careful of the tunic as she starts to nibble on it again, trying not to let any soup drip down it. "Why 'oo wants in da patwow?"

"I dunno... just seemed like I ought t'. My da's in the patrol 'n' all." Heh. He shrugs a bit, and tugs his own scone out of his pocket. Nibble-nibble. "It's nice t' learn about stuff, too. The officahs're really smart." Nod.

Audri finishes her scone after a few more dunks of it in her soup. "What 'oo weawn bout?" She grabs for her mug, slowly taking a sip of water, with a little dribbling down her chin.

Nibble-nibble-nibble. "Y'know... just stuff. I learned a lot about how t' track beasts while we were on patrol. Y'know - lookin' fer their signs, like broken branches 'n' paw prints 'n' stuff like that." Talking about it, he sits up a bit straighter. Is that pride, there?

Audri sips her water, nose crinkling up at the lack of taste. Ickyness. Setting down her mug, Audri sets her paws in her lap again, looking over at Taye. "Oh. So, 'oo gonna twack beasts 'n stuff? 'n what kinda beasts 'oo twack?"

Taye doesn't really... know. But the default answer, of course, is, "I dunno. Vermin, I guess." Yeah, this is the future of the LP. Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

"Vewminies icky. Vewy icky. 'n not nice t'aww." Audri nods, tail laying across her lap while her paw smooths it out. "'oo go on patwow wots?"

"Nah... I've only been on jus' the one. I think we're goin' on anothah one in a coupla weeks, just fer a coupla days, though." Shruuuug. "Just more trainin' stuff." He remembers his soup, and gets to eating it. Yus.

Audri has forgotten about her soup, finding this more interesting. Her ears fall at the mention of another patrol, shoulders slumping. "Oh. Whewe is 'oo aww gonna go dis time?"

Taye notices the shoulder slump, and is quick to add, "But it's only gonna be fer recruits in a coupla officahs t' teach us, so... I don't think Dark'd have any reason he'd have t' go fer." Nod. He bows his head to his soup for a minute, and then remembers that there was actually a question, there. Ooh. He looks back up. "Um. I dunno. Just somewhere 'round the mountain, I guess."

Audri nods, though she still doesn't look to sure of this news. "'ay." She finally falls silent, hugging her tail close, while glancing around the deserted dining chamber.

Hmm. Taye looks over at the quiet Audri, and reaches out, to give her ear a playful flick. "Ya okay?"

Audri shrinks back from the earflick, nose wrinkling up as she peeks over at him. "U'uh. Ah fine. Just tiwah.."

Taye pulls his paw back as she draws back, and hmms. He asks, quietly. "Ya want a ride up t' yer room, then?"

Audri nods slowly, hugging her tail closer. "Yesh pwease."

Taye stands, and turns, again offering his back an arm. "Up ya go, then."

Audri releases her tail, taking the offered arm and scrambling up his back. Yawning, she rests her head on his shoulder, while wrapping her arms loosely around his neck.

Keeping an arm underneath her so that her loose grip doesn't result in falling, Taye turns and heads for the door, smiling the smallest bit at Audri's yawn and her sleepiness. "Off we go," he murmurs quietly, moving through the doorway and out.