Two rivers flow over a series of cliffs into a massive lake and water system. Jungle and tropical foliage surround the waterfalls. The sound of the falls can be heard from far around and a thick mist hangs in the air.
The waterfalls roared as the water tumbled down over the rocks, carving away the earth as easy as one makes marks in the sand. It was high noon currently and the sun was high in the sky, beaming down on her with harsh warm rays. Though the air temperature remained relatively warm despite the season, the rays brought an extra warmth and comfort to her. She had bathed recently in the calmer waters that the waterfalls emptied into and had found herself a nice boulder to stretch out on to dry her pelt. Living along the cove had left her pelt matted with sea salt and sand. Normally it didn't bother Reed, but she found herself suddenly wanting to keep herself tidier than usual, so as Balthazar slept the day away peacefully, she'd gone and made a point of washing herself and her gear down.
Well, she hadn't taken care of the gear part of her plan yet. She'd been delaying on it in favor of soaking up the warm sun. As she laid on the rock stretched out and enjoying nature, she hummed a tune to herself, working up a song in her head. Once she had secured a rhythm she liked, she broke out into pleasant song.
Oh, the sun's on the rise, and the wind's in our sails,
We’ve got the whole world, and we’re chasing the gales.
From the Caribbean blue to the wild, wide sea,
The sun’s our compass, it’s where we’ll be free!
As she sang, she tapped a paw against the rock to keep the tempo of her tune.
So hoist up the flag, let the warm sun shine,
We’re pirates of the sea, and the sun’s ours to find!
Through the storm and the night, we’ll sail ‘til the dawn,
With the sun in our hearts and the sea rolling on!
Reed grew more animated as she flipped over from her lay to rest on her belly, her head now bobbing as she sang the tune. She continued on with lyrics she made up on the spot, borrowing versus from other songs she'd heard through her travels.
So here’s to the sun, and the ocean so wide,
We’ll follow its path, and let the tides guide.
With the sun on our side, we’re forever unbound,
Pirates of the sea, where the sun’s always found!
She finished her song and had pushed herself up into a stand on the boulder. She felt proud of herself as the tune came to a close. She hummed the end of the tune, drawing it out, and let it finish with a higher note and a smile stretched across her face. "Oh, I need to remember this one. I bet it will be a hit" Maybe not everyone would like it, but she bet Balthazar might. She bet Roxanne and Matthias might too. "I wonder where they've been?" she questioned absently as she averted her green gaze to her harness and weapons she'd laid out on the grass beside the boulder. She supposed it was probably time to get those cleaned up.
Flying from the cove, Matthias looked down when he heard the tune. Bright eyes lit up even more when he realized it was Reed. Finally, we've found her! Wasn't it supposed to be the women chasing after him? He can't remember the last he ever put this much effort into following a chick.
Actually, he can remember. He looked to Roxanne, thinking of her mother.
Snapping out of that, he motions his head towards a hill further away from Reed once Roxanne looks back at him. Thankfully, she either hasn't noticed Reed or hasn't said anything, because they'd definitely be discovered if either were the case. Once they landed, Matthias would duck low and whisper to the leopard, "Turn us into trees," they were surrounded by trees already in this cliff side, but their bright fur would surely get them discovered. Hopefully her magic will work on Reed long enough for him to pull this off.
Holding back a giggle, Matthias began to use his powers to pick up a rock closest to Reed's field of vision. It would float over to the ground in front of her and began to write markings into the earth. It wouldn't take long, and would spell out the phrase "u r butt".
Smiling from ear to ear, Matthias felt that wasn't quite enough. After all, he couldn't assume she came from a world where writing was a thing, right? So he took it a step farther. About a length of earth a few feet wide would begin to rise and move, piling on top of one another until they formed the shape of an obvious, fat pair of butt cheeks, pointed right at Reed.
His mission complete, the lion would wait in joy for her reaction.
Roxanne, too, had heard the song, but she was too tired from all the flying to be loud about it. Apparently that was a good thing - her father motioned them to hide on top of one of the cliff-faces covered in trees and foliage, and she followed beside him as they landed. 'Turn us into trees,'
What? He wanted to hide from Reed? What was he up to? Quietly, she obeyed, closing her eyes for a moment to focus and conjure up illusion, intending to make it so that if Reed were to look their way, she would see only two trees blending into the others around them. There was no way to tell if it'd work until Reed looked, so she waited with suspense and watched.
Among the many at-home lessons was also lessons on how to write, but she didn't practice it much in favor of more active activities. She had to lean forward and strained to make out the words on the ground, and what was written was a very simple, albeit grammatically incorrect, phrase. "u r butt".
She giggled. Oh, does her magic cover sound too? Better make sure, "You should draw a butt," and just as she said that, the earth in front of Reed began to move, forming itself into the shape of a butt. Butt jokes are hilarious! She burst out laughing, putting a paw on him to right herself as she joked, "You should be an artist! That's a good butt!" like father like daughter; butt jokes are classic.
Character Diceroll 1: Success Diceroll must be above 500 to be successful.
0 was added for Deception.
523 was added for Level 4.
0 was added for A. No Enchantment.
8 was deducted for C. Vagrant Penalty.
"Hmmmmmmmmmm" Reed hummed to herself as she stared at her tools and leathers. She needed to take them apart before she could properly give them a washing. If she grabbed her sword, though, then she might be pulled into further delaying the chore in favor of practice and play. She hated scrubbing the leathers, and hated conditioning them with oils even more. She stared and stared, delaying the task until some movement drew her eyes.
Magically, a rock started to rise up from the ground and float before her, do a little circle, then settled to the earth to begin carving something into it. "Huh?" Reed rose from her sit into a curious stand. Her chores had suddenly been completely forgotten as she watched with incredible interest. The line curved, then circled halfway back up. A bowl? A coconut half? The rock lifted up into the air and settled once more, drawing another shape in the soil. First came a straight line, then a curvy line. Wait, were these letters being spelled out? Was someone trying to tell her something important? Was this going to be some fantastic chance at some crazy adventure into chaos that she would one day live to tell the tale about? Her shortened tail wiggled with growing excitement as she considered the idea.
'U r'. You are. "You are what?!" she urged eagerly as the rock lifted up once more to begin writing out more letters. A B was formed. U r bold? U r Brave? U r b-destined for some heroic adventure? A 'u' was drawn. Burned? Burdened? Bunches of fun? 't' came another letter. Butter? U r butter? No, the last letter left in the soil was the second 't'. U r butt. "I am not!" she declared as she huffed at the rock, only to see a mound of dirt rise up in the shape of a butt. What the heck was going on here??? "If I'm a butt, then you are too! It takes a butt to know a butt, you butt!" Reed, in true lady-like fashion, then stuck her tongue out at the dirt-butt and blew a raspberry at it.
Matthias had already been laughing at his own joke, but it turned into a real fit to see Reed's reaction. He knew she'd have a good sense of humor! Wings would rise, carrying him up and over the cliff side to land loudly by Reed's side. He'd attempt to bump his shoulder against her own as he landed, the laughter finally fading away enough for a retort, "Nah, I've just seen enough butts in my lifetime to say you're the biggest one!" a double entendre; both a jest and a flirt that would likely go over Roxanne's head. A final chuckle would escape him. If Roxanne followed, he'd give her a wing-bump of congratulation for her performance. She was getting better at it every day.
Matthias would then turn to circle and look at the equipment on the ground in interest, "Soo where've you been? Roxanne's been dying to see you, and you're not easy to track down. I even met Balthazar before I found you," at this, he would turn to see her reaction to the male's name. Would hearing the hyena's name elicit a particular response?
She had been laughing so much that surely her illusion must've slipped away by now, but it didn't matter anyway, because after the initial bout of laughs ensued, her father began to descend to meet up with Reed. She eagerly followed, keeping the grip of her wooden sword in her maw tight as she landed carefully next to him, nearly tripping over herself. The flirting indeed went over her head, as she just giggled between gritted teeth at the comment, putting her sword down only long enough to stick her tongue out at Reed. Ever since she had shown off her own sword and her display of bravery, it stuck with the young child and never left. It would be really cool to be like Reed. Roxanne's sword had a little twist, though; it was clearly a dead branch with two pronged ends, the other branches having been cut off. Both of the remaining branches were carved to a sharp point, and while one branch almost stuck straight out like a regular sword, the other branch curved to the side, so that even when Roxanne held onto it lengthwise, she could still thrust the sharp point forward.
After her father spoke, she forgot all about her sword for a moment as she asked, "What was that song you were singing? It was really nice!" she cleared her throat instinctively, as if she were about to try and sing it herself. She wanted to, at least.
Laughter drew Reed's attention away from the dirt-butt and she turned to see Matthias gliding down from the cliff above. When he landed, Reed met his shoulder bump with her own, a long smile on her face as she continued to laugh, realizing now that it was Matthias who'd pulled the little trick. Roxanne glided down behind Matthias and Reed immediately noticed the stick between her jaws. She'd need to ask about that. "If that's the case, then ya gotta do some more lookin' around, like at yerself, Mr. Biggest of Butts." Matthias' flirting had gone completely over Reed's head as well, but it wouldn't stop her from throwing another retort back at him.
However, when Balthazar's name was mentioned, Reed's smile grew even larger. "You did? He didn't tell me about that. I hope he didn't scare ya too much." She knew that he had an intimidating presence. "I've been tryin' to stay busy. Figured it's been uh, way too long since I'd had a proper bath, an' the equipment needs some cleanin' too, so here I am! Out cleanin' myself and my stuff." Reed gestured at her leathers, which still needed to be taken apart to be cleaned. "I hate oilin' leather though. Makes my fur all gross." She shook the paw she'd used to gesture towards her belongings as a reaction to the thought.
Roxanne suddenly spoke up and Reed moved towards her to give her a gentle bump with her muzzle in a friendly greeting. "Somethin' that the pirates used to sing when storms rolled across the skies. It's said that callin' to Tyr, singin' to him, can scare the storms away. And I'll tell ya, it works." Reed winked, then, with her uncovered eye at Roxanne. "Thanks for the compliment, though. I like singin'. It's fun. You should try it sometime! But first, what is that all about?" Reed motioned towards Roxanne's stick which had clearly been sharpened on each end to turn it into a weapon. "Did you make that yourself?"
"Well... We actually didn't even know we both knew you. We started talking about other stuff. *I helped him find gear for his goggles," he began to lay down, back legs on one side while he propped his first half up with his forelegs, "The water is unbearably cold this time of year. We should go to the hot springs if you want to take a bath and not get hyperthermia afterwards," Reed's reaction to Balthazar's name didn't seem to elicit any particular response, and he wasn't sure how to feel about that. Being direct wasn't his kind of thing when it came to the game of romance, and there was no telling how long it'd take to see them both together and see how they act. Maybe it would be better to just ask. But then, Roxanne was here, and that added another layer of complexity to the situation. If she weren't here, I could easily figure out what makes her clicks. But alas. While Roxanne presumably showed off her sword, Matthias took to cleaning his paws and grooming his feathers, which was probably a wasted effort, but he always prided himself in looking clean and presentable, and this meeting was no exception.
"You smell different. Like Verdantis. Are they treating you well?"
code by naboo, with alterations.
*That thread is still ongoing and this hasn't happened yet, but I doubt anything will happen that would make them suddenly not do it. Still, worth mentioning this just in case.
Roxanne was fascinated. A song could have that much power? Of course! This was my solution all along! And just like that, Roxanne had a new goal: creating a song worthy enough for the Gods to answer her wishes. More magic!! She was going to tell Reed all about it, but didn't in favor of answering the wolf's question first. With excitement, the girl picked up her sword, but this time she propped it up with her front paws to keep it upright, with the hilt touching the ground so she could still speak. Proudly, she touted her craft, "My latest invention -- a double-edged sword! I've been waiting to show it off to you. Ever since we met in the Ruins, I've wanted to learn how to use one 'cause I think it's so cool. So, the reason it looks like this is because if I hold it like this," she started to pick it up with her mouth, then realized she was about to put herself back in the same trap of explaining it with her mouth full, so she just placed it flat on the ground and imitated holding it with her mouth, "Then I'd have to thrust sideways if it were a regular sword. But this way, I can thrust forward too, so it's twice as deadly!" she was all bright smiles then, looking up at Reed with an eager look of approval. Would she be proud? Would she think it was stupid?
