I stand upon a rather large train that had plowed through a still open portal and come crashing to a halt on Dr. Ibrahims fromt lawn, "So, You kids ready for your vacation?"
I stand upon a rather large train that had plowed through a still open portal and come crashing to a halt on Dr. Ibrahims fromt lawn, "So, You kids ready for your vacation?"
Gingerly, Ferra steps into the pen. She takes a few steps forward and pauses as he hops off the rock, moving cautiously. Keeping his eyes on her, he advances, not directly, but making small movements from side to side as he goes forward. She doesn't move as he comes within a short distance, but only turns to face him as he circles her with curiosity.
He sticks his nose forward and begins to sniff in her direction. She softly calls out to him, not using words, but a sing-song sound.
Upon hearing it he pulls back, slightly startled, and gives a chirruping bark. Again she makes the same sound, and after a moment, he sniffs again. Slowly, she raises her hand and extends it to him.
He inches closer, sniffing all the while, to the point to where he is almost touching her hand. She is grinning this whole time, watching him. Then, he opens his mouth and clamps down on her arm.
It isn't defensive, or even playful. It's an experimental bite, slow and deliberate, but even still, a man's arm would be broken.
Immediately she says "No!" But she does not jerk, or pull her arm away, or make any other movement. But, neither does he. After he begins to walk backwards, tugging her, he finds that she does not budge.
"NO!" She says again, but much louder. Startled, he lets go and takes a step back. After another cursory sniff, he steps forward and opens his mouth again.
"NO!" She repeats, and this time, he stops mid-bite and looks at her.
Slowly she reaches up and rubs him between the eyes, like one would a horse. Not petting, but a firm assurance.
She keeps rubbing. When he shows no signs of displeasure for a minute or two, she advances cautiously and begins rubbing him with both hands, one on his snout and one on his neck. A gurgling purr and wobbling legs let her know she's found the right spot.
After a minute, he unceremoniously flops down on his side with a chortling huff. She keeps rubbing him, moving down to his belly, and he begins a strange yowling purr, his tongue lolling from his jaws, his tail and wings flopping, his feet pawing.
Ferra turns and looks at Rep. She is smiling like the sun, and tears are streaming down her cheeks.
Aegis looks at Aabi. "Who, Lu? Oh, don't worry. I'll get her when she least expects it."
"Right," Lucida rolls her eyes. "I'll be careful."
"So how do we get ahold of one of those maids to show us to our roo - "
"Right this way, sir," a breathy voice says, right behind me.
I jump. "W-well, they certainly are efficient!"
"Thank you, sir," she smiles demurely.
"Very much so." Regina stares.
"Baby, don't start that again, please," I say as the ninja maid shows us and the kids to our accommodations.
I laugh while clapping, "I knew you were a natural kid! Your dad had his doubts but I knew it!"
The ninja maid proves to be a raptor as she leads the family theough the castle.
She takes them up a stair case, "You needn't worry madam. I am member of the Masters raptor pack. Only he is permitted to have such relations with me. If this man were to touch me in an inappropriate manner, I would simply have to remove the offending hand from his person."
After a good ten minutes of rubbing, Ferra has to go. The hatchling tries to follow her several times out of the pen, pushing her with his nose. She simply laughs and pushes back slightly until he gets the idea to stay put. Eventually, he gets bored and trots off.
"There. You see? Efficient in all ways, including dismemberment," I sigh. The doors to our rooms are opened.
"Wow. Very...spacious," I marvel, as the maid closes the door behind Regina and I. I look over. "And hey, a huge bed covered in silk sheets. Let's test it!" I grab her and flop onto the bed with her while she gives a small shout of surprise, trying to playfully squirm from my grip.
"Thomas, dinner will be soon!" She giggles.
"It was a huge fish. We have time."
The kids start unpacking and flopping around on their beds.
"When do you think we'll be allowed to go do our things?" Lu says, staring up at the ceiling with two hands behind her head and two on her stomach.
"Tomorrow, I suspect," Aurum says, "Although the sooner we can work on Aurora's clothing, the better." She looks around. "Where's Fers? Is she still with the King?"
"Probably," Aegis says, looking out a window, "so there's noooooo telling."
"Please, you don't have to spend your vacation time on me," Aurora says shyly.
"Well we're gonna, so theres no use protesting," Lucida says with a grin, rolling off the bed and flopping onto Aurora's. "Now c'mon, let's play something. How about War?" She digs out a pack of cards and begins shuffling them.
"Oh, no. The last time we played, Aegis tipped the table and called it Total War," Aurum says.
"How else am I supposed to play? I don't have hands!" Aegis says, laughing.
"You can still hold cards! And what about all those "interest-free loans" to yourself when you're the banker in Monopoly?" Lu raises a brow.
"Meh, aggressive acquisition," she shrugs.
"I swear, Aeg, sometimes I think you just play dumb to get to me," Lu says, shuffling cards with all four hands.
"Are you saying I'm smart?" She grins, flopping down on her stomach on the bed. "Deal me in."
Ischi continues to explore Rep's palace, looking in awe at everything. "Ni's former boss....has much.....much things." she says impressed
(BTW guys: I made the first real Transmorpher manamo: check out the Sky-Jinkx(Based on Sky Lynx) from the main Transmorpher page ifyou can)
(I was going to give a description of what was out the window... no matter I'll do it anyway. Basically the kids room is near the top of one of the castles towers and has a rather nice view of the city, the rolling plains leading out from the city, the mountains out in the distance as well as a smaller tower nearby.)
As Ferra returns I reach into my pocket, "I have one last thing for you before we go back."
I pull out an ocarina and hand it to her, "I got this for you back when you were mute. I figured you could use it in place of vocal commands. Maybe you can still find some use in it."
With that I from a summoning circle forms aroud the two of us.
Ferra and I appear in the middle of the room, "Argis, I want you to know that cheating in board games is punishable by having to clean up after Squeaker. You don't want to have to clean up after Squeaker."
"What?? That's malarkey! And since if I flew around here I'd get snatched by some ancient flying reptile I have to stay indoors, and the only indoor sport I know is annyoing Lucida. Go fish."
"Darn!" Aurora pulls a card from the deck.
"Majesty, what's that smaller tower?" Aurum says, putting her hair up.
"The Tower of DOOOOOOOOM!" Aegis says in a spooky voice.
I look over my shoulder at the tower then turn back to Aurum, "We used to store whoopie cushions and rubber chickens in it. But we've had to fill it in due to it being used as a molting post by a Kushula Daora. It's just solid brick and concrete now."
"Ooh, I'd like to see that!" Lucida says.
"Whoopie cushions and rubber chickens?" Aegis grins.
"You know what I mean, you dolt. Fives?"
"Ha! Go fish!"
"Since we have time before dinner, I think I'm going to walk around a bit," Aurum says. Want to come, Ferr?"
"Sure!" She nods enthusiastically.
"How long before dinner, Majesty? Is there anything you recommend seeing that is nearby?" Aurum looks to Rep.
I shrug, "The castle itself has quite a bit to see. My menagerie is full of reptile kingdom fauna. That might be of interest."
I glance over to Lucida, "We do have a storm rolling in tonight so you might get lucky kid. Though I should warn you, if you do hear a crash outside, don't draw attention to yourselves. Kushulas eat metal."
With that warning given I disappear from the room.
I appear in the middle of the room, interrupting the two, "Hey, just making sure you guys know where the bathroom is and what not."