08-13-05

Characters involved: Taye & Audri.

Western Shore

Taye, having dragged the small dinghy back out to the shore, currently has the boat on its back. He is hunkered down beside it whilst examining the wooden planks. Some are given tentative taps.

Audri wanders along the shoreline, paws stuffed in her pockets thoughtfully. Her eyes wander off to the ocean, before she looks farther along shore, spotting the buck and the boat. "'lo Taye. Whatcha doin'?"

Taye looks around at Audri's voice. He grins sheepishly and shrugs. "Jus'... thought I'd look it ovah fer you."

Audri grins, making her way over. "That's awful nice o' ya. So, how's it look?"

Taye sits back on his haunches, arms resting on his knees. "Looks like some o' the wood was replaced at some point... Wasn't treated righ'. It's all warped 'n' rotted." He thunks two that are right next to each other - it's a meaty sound. "Bet if ya replace those... you'll be set."

Audri nods, crouching down, ears perking at the meaty sounding boards. "Right. Well, just have ta get some wood then. 'n some nails. Shouldn't be ta hard ta fix up.

Taye nods. "An' I bet we could find some linseed oil t' treat the wood with..." He picks at the chipped paint with a claw-tip. "Could sand it down 'n' treat the whole thing, then paint it back up nice." He hms and moves to stand, brushing his paws off on his trousers.

Audri grins, sitting back on her haunches."That sounds nice. I could look around for the stuff we need. Sure it won't be ta hard ta find. Could fashion us some fishin' poles too 'n go fishin' when its done."

Taye grins cheerfully at the possibility. "That'd be righ' fun... I can't remembah the last time I went fishin'."

Audri says, "Then its set. We can fix up the boat then go get some fish for the hares at the mountain.""

Taye crosses his arms over his chest, looking the boat over thoughtfully. "It should have a name... What d'ya wanna name it, Audri?"

Audri shrugs, glancing over the boat as well. "Dunno. Never really been good with names."

Taye looks across at Audri. "What about... Duncan?"

Audri nods, smiling faintly. "I think Duncan is perfect."

Taye steps back from the boat with a proud grin. "... Good."

Audri nods again, looking thoughtfully over the dinghy before standing, brushing loose sand from her form. "So, what do ya wanna do? Or do ya have duty soon?"

Taye glances back towards the village and shrugs. "Nah... I worked a shift this mornin'. And... I dunno."

Audri wanders off towards the water, standing right where the tide brushes along the sand. "Anythin' interestin' happen on ya shift?" She asks, hesitantly dipping her footpaw in the cool water.

Taye shucks off his boots and follows Audri, dipping his toes into the cool water. "Nah... nothin' too interestin'. Though I saw one o' the Colonels headin' int' the village earliah.."

Audri ears perk, looking over at Taye. "Really? Bet they're plannin' a attack or somethin' then." She wades into the water, stopping at her knees while her brushtail slowly begins to fluff up.

Taye grins a little, though it's bitter-sweet. "Yeah... I bet. S'pose I'll be hearin' soon enough. I'll let ya know."

Audri walks around in little circles, taking tentative glances to the deeper waters. "K. Just be careful 'n all if ya do gotta fight. No fun if ya stuck in the infirmary."

Taye reaches out and tousles her headfur, grinning. He then turns, moving over to the boat which he begins turning over. It lands right-side up with a thump. "I will." He then picks up the rope. "Ya wanna head back t' the village?"

Audri giggles, brushing back down her hair. "Sure." Giving one last look to the water, she follows along after Taye, paws going back into her pockets.

Taye begins tugging the boat up the sand. "Well... sure yer no one where near everythin' if there /is/ a fight, a'right?"

Audri nods, falling into step beside him. "I'll stay out o' sight. Don't worry."

Taye is leaned slightly forward to get mover leverage on his tugging, and he grins to the side at Audri. "Good. I'd have t' hit ya m'self if ya went 'n' got yerself hurt."

Audri smiles, looking off to the village. "I'm gonna go get hurt. It'd be silly ta go near the fightin' since I don't really no that much about defendin' myself. Ya just make sure ya stay safe as ya can."

Taye slows in his tugging to give Audri a serious nod. "I'll be s'safe as I can, Audri. I mean... I made it outta the last battle a'right, figure I'll be okay with the next'un." Slightly flawed logic, that, but all the same.

Audri nods, stuffing her paws in her pockets. "Good. So, when do ya think that next fight will be?"

Taye grins faintly. "Well... if there's a Colonel in the mix now, I wouldn't be surprised if'n the battle picked back up t'morrah."

Audri nods again, tail giving a small flick. "Maybe ya'll be home soon then."

Taye nods and looks around self-consciously towards the mountain in the distance. "That'd be nice. I miss... well, I miss a lot o' things." Miyrr in particular, by the love-sick way he's looking. XD

Audri notices the love-sick look, ears pinning back slightly. But she keeps quiet, staring off at the village again.

Taye notices that Audri notices, and he immediately blushes, looking down at the ground while he continues to tug the boat along. He clears his throat. "So, ah..." Cough, cough.

Audri sighs, rubbing her neck while she keeps staring at the village ahead of them.

Taye's flush deepens as Audri's silence lengthens, and his ears flatten back. "I miss m' Da', too," he adds lamely.

Pause. "Well, and m'sis. She's probably righ' miffed at me fer bein' away fer so long..."

Audri nods. "Yea. Sure he and Lynnie misses ya too. Maybe ya should bring them back somethin' from Haylard."

Taye's eyes light up at this suggestion and he looks around. "Y'know... that's not a bad idea. A souvenir. 'Lynnie'd love that."

Audri grins. "I'm sure she would. Ya could pick her out somethin' from one o' those stores in the square."

Taye grins thoughtfully. "Now... be honest. If ya had t' choose between a nick-nack from one o' the stores or an arrowhead from the battle... which'd you choose?"

Audri giggles. "An arrowhead o' course. But I wasn't sure if that'd be right for ya kid sister."

Taye glances back at Audri and looks her over thoughtfully. "Well... she's about yer age, I guess. Mayhaps a little youngah. Well, she seems youngah, anyway."

Audri nods. "Oh. I didn't know. I never really see her much. But I'm sure she'd love it."

Taye nods. "She keeps t'herself. Lots of explorin' around the mountain..."

Audri says, "That's always fun. There's lots of places ta explore at in there. Good for stashing stuff too."

Taye nods and looks around at Audri. "Ya ought t' go explorin' with her... Betcha the two o' ya could show each othah a few things."

Audri shrugs. "Maybe. But the other leverets don't really care for me much."

Taye stops as they come upon the sentries at the entrance to the village. He nods, and then continues past, though the dragging boat is given an odd look. "Yeah? Well, I bet 'Lynnie would."

"Maybe I'll see if she'd like ta go explorin' sometime then." Audri replies, glancing towards the sentries, before walking along.

Now on the dirt path, Taye keeps his eyes to the left and right towards the woods, not wanting to be caught unawares. "'M sure she'd appreciate it."

Audri glances off to her right, chewing her lip thoughtfully before she turns back to Taye. "Are ya 'n Miyrr..um..together?"

The question takes Taye by surprise, and he fumbles with the rope, dropping it to the ground. He crouches down to snatch it up, keeping his eyes everywhere but on Audri. "T'gethah?" He starts moving again, slowly so that he can think. "What d'ya mean... t'gethah? Um. I mean, she's at the mountain 'n' I'm here, so... no. Um. Strictly speakin', we're not t'gethah." Smoooooth.

Audri keeps her eyes on the ground, ears tinging red. "Well, I know that. I mean..like..oh forget it. It ain't important anyway."

Taye's ears flush and he bows his head, rubbing nervously at the back of his neck. "Aww hell, I know whatcha mean..." He jerks one shoulder up in a shrug. "... I dunno. I guess. I mean, we haven't... y'know. Talked about it or nothin'."

Audri nods, keeping her head down still. "Okay. I was just curious 'n everythin' y'know. Didn't mean ta embarrass ya."

Taye looks to the side at Audri quietly for a moment then shrugs and looks away again. "Ya didn't. Embarrassed m'self." He grins just barely, and for a second considers continuing to talk about it, but he soon decides to spare Audri that. After all, Audri's taking it considerably well. 'Lynnie would be making gagging noises by now.

Audri nods, stuffing her paws back into her pockets, staying oddly quiet.

Taye takes note of Audri's silence, his ears perking slightly before he looks to her. "... What?"

"Nothing." Audri mumbles, pausing infront of the locked stores. "So, where do ya want to stash the boat this time?"

Taye considers. "In the alley ovah in west square?" He continues to look at Audri for a moment longer but finally he relents, looking away.

Audri nods, walking off in that direction. "Sounds good. Do ya know where we can get the wood?"

Taye considers thoughtfully. "I dunno... mayhaps at the mountain they'd have some t' spare." He shrugs, and continues silently on into the village.