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Post by briala on Apr 7, 2008 17:48:32 GMT -5
The first mouse, Linx, asked a weird question. Tavi frowned, thinking very hard for a moment. "Nope, don't have lots of family. Just had Mommy and Daddy." He scowled, then added, "They didn't like me. Said I was 'disobedient.'" He said the last word slowly and carefully, wanting to be sure he pronounced it right. "So I ran away!" He finished cheerfully, clearly proud of himself.
"Oh!" Tavi suddenly remembered. "I used to have a sister! I never knew her though. Mommy said she died, long long time ago." His face took on a slight expression of sadness, but he couldn't properly mourn a sister he had never known, could he? "So I don't fink anyone could look for me'z. Why you ask?"
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Post by Linx Exotic on Apr 7, 2008 18:01:38 GMT -5
"You had a sister," Linx repeated slowly. This was beginning to click together. And she came here an-BRIALA. That's her name. That's it! I got it! He turned to look at Tavi while keeping up the pace towards the barracks. This otter had been horribly misinformed by some parents almost as awful as his own and now he was going to have to fix a few things. "Briala Dawnstar?"
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Post by briala on Apr 7, 2008 18:13:18 GMT -5
Tavi had to jog to keep up with the bigger mice, but he could still hear what Linx asked. He wrinkled his nose in confusion. "Don't know Bree-ay-la, but I'm Dawnstar!" He didn't understand why the mouse was talking about someone else; he was the Dawnstar! But now, he had more important worries. Like the fact that they didn't seem to be getting food right now.
"Linx-Mouse, when Tavi get food?" Tavi tugged on the mouse's sleeve. "Tavi don't need to see 'racks, just food," he reminded Linx.
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Post by Linx Exotic on Apr 7, 2008 18:22:09 GMT -5
"I'm not taking you to get any food because your sister is alive," Linx explained as they approached the inner gates. His presence gave them quite a wide berth in the marketplace, which allowed for easy conversation. This might be a good thing in talking about a family member who was allegedly dead residing in the fort. "I figure she's in the barracks right now, so we're going there."
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Post by briala on Apr 7, 2008 18:50:25 GMT -5
Tavi frowned, but the frown slowly faded to a grin that was on the verge of breaking out into laughter. His sister, alive? No, she had been mentioned only once: when his parents had said that he couldn't end up like her: dead and alone. A bit too frank to be telling a 4 year old, but little things like morals never bothered his mommy and daddy. But still, he could play along with whatever game Linx-Mouse was playing.
"Okey dokey, if you say so," he said happily, skipping along behind the mouse. They were going through a marketplace, and everyone was giving the two of them a wide berth. Tavi assumed it was his fearsome presence, so he drew his dagger and scowled comically, trying to look scary.
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Post by Linx Exotic on Apr 7, 2008 19:09:11 GMT -5
"Put that away! Do you want to stab someone in the leg?" Linx gave Tavi a moment to comply before continuing. The fact that such a small child was armed in the first place gave him the impression that his upbringing had been awful. All he could do now was try and reunite him with some family, though. "There's no need to have that out... And I'm serious, she is alive. And she lives here. Do you think I'm joking?"
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Post by briala on Apr 7, 2008 19:13:52 GMT -5
Tavi huffily put away Prentiss, muttering angrily under his breath. "Is mah sword, other beasties get outta my way afore I chop off dere feets!" And the Linx-Mouse continued with the game! It was more fun than anything else Tavi had played; normally people gave up after a while. Never any fun that way.
"Sister can't be here silly! Unless she a ghostie!" He giggled, skipping along behind the mouse. "And if she is, I don't want to see her. I'm not afraid," he added hastily, worried that Linx-Mouse might think he was scared of a ghost. "I just don't wanna see the ghost." What a fun game! Now there was a ghost!
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Post by Linx Exotic on Apr 7, 2008 19:18:44 GMT -5
Eventually, they cleared through the minor residences and passed under the gates. Linx felt the cooler air beneath its shadow wash over him as he turned to look at Tavi again. "No, no ghost, actually... How do you like a living, breathing otter who's your big sister? She is here, and she's... In the barracks right now, unless she's really off schedule." Not that he expected Tavi to absorb anything he was saying. All he could do was buy time by keeping talking until they reached the barracks.
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Post by briala on Apr 10, 2008 19:26:59 GMT -5
Tavi rolled his eyes with exaggeration. "Silly! There can't be a living breathing ghost!" He was soon distracted from their topic of his not-dead or alive sister as he gazed around with wide-eyed amazement. They were at the real fort part now, instead of looking at boring houses. It was a lot...bigger than he could have imagined, and he instinctively clutched at the hilt of his dagger, much the way a child would grab the hand of their parent when they're scared.
"It's biiiiiiiiiiiiiiig!" He gasped, his voice light with wonder. He stumbled to keep up with Linx-Mouse, trying to crane his neck around all the way so he could see everything. However, he didn't want to get left behind; he knew he would get lost real quick, and he didn't want that. He was curious about where Linx-Mouse was actually taking him. Plus, he was still hungry.
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Post by Linx Exotic on Apr 10, 2008 19:34:45 GMT -5
"Relax... It's the walls, the... The sickbay over there, the training grounds over there, and... The important part... The barracks. Right there. That big building." Linx pointed to a structure which appeared to be partially integrated with the outer wall. "That would be where your sister is... Your sister isn't a ghost, by the way."
Apparently, that particular idea had yet to sink into Tavi, but again, Linx was content with letting just seeing Briala take care of that for him. ...So long as this otter accepted that she was his sister. It could potentially turn out badly, but something had to happen. "She lives in there. Yes, I said lives. Ghosts don't live. Living beasts live... And Briala Dawnstar is a living beast who never died."
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Post by briala on Apr 10, 2008 19:59:20 GMT -5
Linx's words bounced off Tavi, except for what mattered to him. "Ooooooh, training grounds! That's where I train to be warrior, right?" He drew his sword and began to stab at the air again, though he didn't have any real warriors to imitate.
"You a warrior then?" He asked curiously, looking over at the mouse again. He seemed big and scary, and he had a weird weapon thing. Seemed enough like a warrior to set off the little otter. "Oooh, so you fight and stuff? Have you ever killed a vermin? Did you get deaded? Was there a big battle?" The questions poured out of Tavi as he looked up at the Linx-Mouse with eager eyes.
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Post by Linx Exotic on Apr 10, 2008 20:04:20 GMT -5
"Actually, I've killed so many vermin that I stopped counting them one by one a while ago... Fives are a lot faster, you know?" Smirking at his little opportunity to slip in a facet of his actual battle lifestyle, Linx headed straight for the barracks doors. He couldn't stop himself from wondering how Tavi would actually respond to this sudden familial addition. Of course, there never should have been a subtraction in the first place, but the otter had been misled already.
He opened the doors for Tavi and allowed the substantially younger beast to enter first. "But if I got killed, I wouldn't even be here to talk to you. So I fight and stuff, yes, I've killed vermin, I didn't get 'deaded' and there have been plenty of big battles."
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Post by briala on Apr 10, 2008 20:21:27 GMT -5
Tavi's eyes grew almost too wide for his head, and he gaped for a second. "Whoooooooooooooa," he finally breathed in an awed voice as Linx bragged about his warrior-ness. He wasn't even paying attention to his surroundings anymore as he chattered away to his new idol.
"Wow, I never met a real warrior before! Did you ever get scared? No..." he thought for a moment, wrinkling his nose. "Warriors don't get scared! But I bet you gots loads of weapons and stuff! I just have Prentiss, but I want a sling, and...and a spear too! I never been in real battle before, but I runned away, and that was brave." Tavi puffed out his chest in pride; he had been so excited when he first left home.
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Post by Linx Exotic on Apr 10, 2008 21:34:20 GMT -5
"Well, you raise an interesting point, Tavi," Linx started as he opened the barracks doors. He had to walk far more slowly than normal so as to accommodate for Tavi's shorter legs and thus slower gait. "You used the word 'brave' there, and before we go any further in this talk, I figure we should touch on it for a second. A typical otter your age... Probably thinks that bravery means not feeling fear."
He couldn't help but scoff at the idea. It just didn't fit. Not feeling fear? "The idea is ridiculous. Everyone feels fear, warrior or not. But a brave beast is able to feel fear but at the same time be able to do whatever the beast is afraid of. That is bravery... And that's your sister's door over there." Linx pointed to a door near the beginning of the ground floor hallway. She'd been lucky enough to get a ground floor room while it was vacant, which wasn't often.
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Post by briala on Apr 11, 2008 20:53:00 GMT -5
Tavi frowned slightly as Linx's words sank through his bubbly exterior. It would be something worth thinking about; that fear wasn't a bad thing, and even brave warriors felt fear. However, right now, the game seemed to be over, for they had stopped outside a plain door, and according to Linx, his sister was there. Curious as to what was behind the door, Tavi shoved it open and peeked inside.
~Briala~ Briala cursed under her breath as she struggled to buckle on her belt with her daggers without hurting herself or them. She had been training late, and thus was late for dinner. And she was starving. And at this rate, she wouldn't be leaving any time soon. No, wait! The belt was on, and she could leave! She bounded to the door and wrenched it open, only to trip over a very small someone that was standing right there. "Holy..." she gasped, stumbling and almost falling into someone else who was standing right behind the first.
"Linx! Wha...Who...What?" She stuttered, sounding confused as she recognized the mouse. She glanced back down at the tiny otter, who gave her a cheerful grin. "'Lo! I Tavi! Who're you?" She slowly looked back at Linx, bewilderment written all across her face.
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