08-09-05 1

Characters involved: Audri & Taye.

Halyard Village: Antique Store

A faint glow comes from the antique store window, while a brushtail flicks infront of it every few moments. Audri is crouched infront of the locked door, peering through the small keyhole at the darkness beyond. Glancing over her shoulder, she soon pulls out a small metal pick, inserting it in the keyhole, jimmying it around a bit with her ears perked fully.

Now where has Audri gone to? Taye's just gotten off sentry duty for the evening, and he's already checked the house they'd slept in last night. Now, he's just wandering through the square. The first thing that draws his attention is the glow from the store window, and next, the huddled form standing at its door. Hm. The buck jogs over that way.

Audri keeps at her lock picking, hmphing under her breath as the lock refuses to make that clicking sound. Her ear's flick when the faint sound of someone approaching reaches her. Audri quickly stows away her little pick, glancing over her shoulder to spot Taye. "'lo Taye. Ya off duty a'ready?"

Taye eyes Audri speculatively, and grins. "Whatcha doin' way ovah here?" He glances to the door and then back to her, one eyebrow raising. Then, "Oh! Yeah, 'm off duty fer the night."

Audri rests back against the door, shrugging her shoulders while trying to look innocent. "Nothin'. Just tryin' te see if anyone was in there. So, how was duty? Anythin' excitin' happen?"

Taye looks back to the door again, and whether he strictly believes her or not, he doesn't mind if she was doing something else. Heh. At the question, he looks thoughtful and then leans against the wall, arms crossing over his chest. "Well, there was a bit o' somethin' earlier... Coupla hares got arrows stickin' outta them."

Audri nods, ears flicking up. "Oh, I saw one o' em. Zeraph or somethin' like that. His wound looked really cool." She takes another peek through the keyhole, tail twitching thoughtfully before her attention goes back to the runner. "So, since ya off duty, do ya wanna do somethin'? Or do ya have te do patrol stuff?"

Taye's nose wrinkles slightly at the thought of a wound looking cool. He's seen a few too many injuries since coming to Halyard, he has. He shakes this thought away with a shudder, and looks off towards main street. "Sure, we c'n do somethin'... What d'ya wanna do?"

Audri shrugs, glancing off at the various streets around them. "I dunno. Any interestin' places te see round here?"

Taye looks around thoughtfully, glancing first up one street and then the other. "Well... I'd show ya where I used t' live, but that's ovah on main street." The buck shrugs uncertainly, glancing towards said main street.

Audri watches Taye curiously, head tilting in thought. "..Is that one o' the bad streets? Cause, I mean..we could just take a walk on the beach or go te the tavern iffen ya want."

Taye nods and points towards main street, the way to which is blocked by the barricade. "It's kinda free territory righ' now, but you're likely t' get arrows flyin' at ya if ya go ovah there..." He shrugs lightly and turns, looking in the direction of the shore. "S'pose we could go take a bit o' a walk..."

"A walk sounds nice. Its better than endin' up a pincushion." Audri says quietly, pushing herself up from her spot. She lightly dusts off her tunic, glancing back towards the main street. "So I should keep away from that street then?"

Taye nods. "If ya come t' a big ole barricade like thing, ya know ya oughtn't go any furthah." With that, he steps away from the wall and back towards the entrance of the village, though a glance is sent to Audri to make sure she's following.

Audri nods, taking a quick look at the store before following along after Taye, a limp still in her step.

Taye slows down 'til he's level with Audri so that he can sling an arm around her shoulder. This done, he offers her a small grin and a playful shake. "So... ya bored o' Halyard, yet?"

Audri wraps her own arm around Taye's waist, leaning on the buck to give her ankle a rest. "Nah. I've been findin' way te entertain myself. But its better than bein' couped up inside the mountain."

Taye gives the sentry who guards the village entrance a nod and a small explanation as they continue past. "Yeah... I s'pose it'd be more interestin' than the mountain." He then hms thoughtfully. "Y'know, now that I won't have t' be doin' recruit trainin' anymore, I could teach ya some o' the stuff I learned... Y'know, even if ya can't... y'know. Join. No reason ya can't learn the stuff, all the same. Righ'?"

Audri nods. "Yes, it is. Course, the mountain's just dull cause it seems no one interestin' is in it." The squirrel halts in her hop/walk at his suggestion, wearing a look between disbelief and pure excitement. "Ya really mean it?"

Taye can't help but halt as well, with his arm around her. This he does, with a laugh. "Yeah, 'course I mean it... I'd rathah ya be ready fer anythin' that comes yer way. What's it mattah that yer a squirrel?" He grins at her.

Audri grins in return, looking unbelievably happy. "Yea, that's true. I jsust always thought it was only for the hares te know. But I'd really really appreciate it if ya did."

Taye shakes his head, "Nah... it's jus' the Patrol's way, not teachin' anyone else. I mean... I s'pose I c'n see it. Trainin' just hares, ya c'n train 'em exactly the way a hare ought t' be trained, rathah than havin' t' curtail everythin' t' different sorts o' folks." It's obvious that he understands the idea, he just doesn't think it holds much water. "Anyway! Yeah, we'll train ya up good. I bet Miyrr'd help, too, 'n' maybe Terr. They're both still trainin', so they'd be able t' keep ya updated one what they've been learnin' in their classes 'n' all..." He's thinking. You can tell, because he's scratching the back of his head. Thoughtfully. Er... yes.

Audri nods, still looking thrilled by the idea. "That sounds great. 'n ya sure ya 'n the others won't get in trouble for it? Cause I don't want te cause ya all any trouble or anythin'."

Taye shakes his head once more, and even throws in a snort for good measure. "Nah, we won't get in trouble. S'long as they don't fall back on their trainin' no one'll care." Taye playfully scruffs up her headfur and jogs on ahead a few steps, chuckling.

Audri says, "Long as ya sure 'n all." Audri squeaks, quickly moving to place any strands of hair back in place, smirking as Taye runs ahead. She carefully puts weigh on her wrapped ankle, a slight wince crossing her face before she sprints off past him."

Taye laughs as she sprints past him, and the young runner sprints out after her, easily overtaking her and, in fact, beginning to run circles around her. Hey, c'mon. He /is/ a runner, how else is he supposed to amuse himself?

Audri watches Taye, a frown slowly easing onto her muzzle while she slowly stops her sprint. Audri's ears flick thoughtfully before she crouches down, sweeping her good footpaw out behind Taye's and pulling it forward, hoping to cause the runner to fall flat on his backside.

Taye sees the footpaw /one/ step too late, and down he goes. "Agh!" He lands on his rump in the sand, his teeth clicking with an audible - and probably satisfying to Audri XD - sound. He doesn't miss a beat, though. He rolls over with a grin and grabs for her non-injured leg at the knee, hoping to pull her down with him. "Aha!"

Audri bursts into a fit of giggles, quite proud she brought down the runner. She does however miss the grab for her leg, giving a squeak of surprise, landing in the sand with an 'oof'. Audri's giggles begin to recede, a grin plastered on her muzzle. "Seems we're even now."

"Arrr, even's not good 'nough!" ... We're not sure if he's pretending to be a pirate or if he just likes r's a lot. Either way, the buck falls to tickling her mercilessly, grinning mischievously.

Audri tilts her head, getting ready to comment when she's suddenly overtaken by a tickling hare. o.o Audri bursts into giggles again, squirming in Taye's hold while her footpaws go about kicking, trying to get the hare off her.

Taye is nearly giggling himself, though it is, of course, a much more /manly/ laugh than all that. Erhem! Right. He's laughing... /right/ up to the point that Audri's foot knocks him in the jaw, at which point he bites his own tongue and his head jerks back. "Awk!" A paw goes to his mouth where his now-sticking-out tongue is examined. He feels more than sees the small bite marks running across it, and his eyes start to water. "Owth," he says, still holding onto his tongue with a couple of fingers.

Audri sits up slowly, unaware of poor Taye as she takes in a few deep breaths, looking down to her throbbing ankle. Finally she glances back up, only to have a look of horror cross her face. o.o "Oh no! I'm so sorry Taye. I didn't mean te kick ya in the mouth."

Taye grins sickly at Audri, watering eyes and all. His tongue is slowly released and allowed to return to its home, though his jaw is still given a few rubs. "Tha's okay..." He then proceeds to make a face and lean over, spitting out blood-tinged saliva. "Tha's what I geth fer messin'." He hehs softly, obviously not angry.

Audri looks on the brink of tears, fingers nervously running through her hair whilst she watches Taye with pinned ears. "I shouldn't o' kicked out though. I mean, I could have done worse or somethin'."

Awr. Taye wrinkles his nose at Audri's sadness, and reaches out to give her a playful poke. "Aww, c'mon, Audri. I'm thinkin' that, of anythin', you kickin' me's the least o' my worries bein' on duty in Halyard." He grins, trying to lighten her mood.

Audri offers a meek smile at the poke, nodding slowly. "Yea, that's true. Ya sure ya okay though? No broken teeth or nothin'?"

Taye gives her a big toothy grin to demonstrate the wholeness of his teeth, though that's possibly not the best idea right now seeing as how there's still blood in his mouth. Ah well. Point proven. He turns his head and spits again. "But... all the same, how 'bout we head back t' the village, now? It's gettin' a bit late. We don't want t' come up on sleepin' sentries 'n' surprise 'em int' shootin' us."

Audri looks carefully over his teeth, not seeming to mind the blood. Seeing none broke, she seems to relax a bit, looking off towards the town. "Suppose ya right. Plus ya probably need ya rest for duty tomorrow 'n anythin' else that comes up."

Taye admits this last bit with a resigned nod and slowly he stands, offering a paw down to her. "Yeah... well. Hopefully nothin' too excitin' t'morrah." He rubs at his jaw absently with his free paw, thinking of what sentry schedule he's on tomorrow.

Audri accepts the paw, dusting herself as she stands. "Hopefully ya right." Brushing back her hair, Audri tests her ankle, glancing back at Taye with a smirk. "We racin' again or just walkin' back?"

Taye notices Audri's tender handling of the ankle and gives a thoughtful frown. Then, he drops down to one knee. "Ya wanna ride back?" The buck offers her a quirking grin.

Audri, who doesn't want to show weakness, shakes her head at the offer, trying to hide any unpleasant looks on her face. "Nah, I'm fine Taye. Sides, I don't wanna make ya tired. Thanks anyway." Wrapping her arms about her waist, Audri starts to walk slowly in the direction of town.

Taye looks at Audri for a moment longer before rescinding the offer by way of standing back up. With a silent nod, he falls into step beside her and tucks his paws in his pockets. Back towards the village they head.