Post by Lursa the Orc on Jan 14, 2005 13:48:03 GMT -5
The new banner fluttered in the breeze atop the parapet. With a satisfied sigh Tatsumi reached into her backpack. After some searching she pulled out two small horse figurines. One appeared to shimmer and be made out of glass, the other was as blue as the ocean. Tatsumi held the glass horse out to Keiko. Keiko had seen the small blue figurine of course, Tatsumi used it all the time…it was an ethereal mount…a horse. Keiko followed Tatsumi’s actions and soon there where two horses standing in front of them…only one of them blue. Keiko’s mount shimmered in the light. It was like translucent glass; she could see the snow bank through the horse. Keiko looked up at Tatsumi and spoke first.
“How come this ethereal mount isn’t blue like yours. Aren’t all ethereal mounts blue?”
“No,” Tatsumi replied, “actually most of them are translucent like yours. Mine is only blue because I dyed it with a universal dye tub.”
Tatsumi gave her reply in a manner of fact manner as if she expected Keiko to no the answer because…well…everyone would know the answer…of course. Trying to look as nonchalant as possible, and not wanting to appear foolish, Keiko replied simply…
“…oh…”
Tatsumi and Keiko were the oldest of friends…Tatsumi would know that look anywhere.
“You, know Keiko, I had a heck of a time find all those different color dye tubs, especially the blue one that dyed this ethereal mount the color it is.”
Tatsumi watched out of the corner of her eye as Keiko managed her best “I knew that all along” look.
“Yes indeed, dear Keiko, imagine that! A dye tub that will dye ANYTHING!”
Tatsumi mounted her horse and looked down at Keiko who was in the process of mounting hers. Keiko settled into the saddle with a huff and turned to Tatsumi…
“So Tats, where are we going. Hunting?”
“Sort of,” came replied Tatsumi. She handed Keiko a small leather pouch saying, “Here. You’ll need this.”
With that Tatsumi sped off to the north, leaving Keiko lagging behind with a puzzled look on her face. She peered inside the bag and there in the bottom was one of the "magical piles of snow" ... a source of endless snowballs. She shrugged her shoulders and headed after Tatsumi.
------------------------------------
Maxine liked being a bear. She liked being a polar bear especially; it was just the thing for a bear going through menopause. The colder it got, the better she felt, and this was one COLD winter. The morning sunlight made the new fallen snow glisten like thousands of diamonds. She basked in the comfort of a snow drift, now quite comfortable. She enjoyed the sunrise as she finished her breakfast…a delicious, juicy fish…mmmmm. She was about to take another bite when it hit her…
SMACK!
Right In the side of the face. A huge wet snowball. It stung for a moment. Shaking the herself off, like some giant puppy, she looked up.
What greeted her was one of the oddest sights she had ever seen. There was Ted, the biggest toughest polar bear on the island, followed by his “entourage” all in hot pursuit of two women on horseback. What was odd, wasn’t that Ted was chasing someone…that in fact was his usual pastime. What was odd was the ammunition that his attackers fired back at him…ammunition that hit her square in the face the second she looked up…
SMACK!
Maxine was so startled by the second snowball that she dropped the fish she was holding in her mouth…which unfortunately, slipped back into the water and quickly vanished.
“That was IT,” she thought to herself, “make me loose my breakfast will they!”
And so with a growl, Maxine joined the pursuit. 14 bears chasing after two women. One with a bit of a worried look on her face, and another dressed all in white…laughing like a maniac.
--------------------------------------
Goldar stood alert, peering into the fog that drifted over the snow to the south. It was his turn at watch and he took his duty seriously…as serious as his usual demeanor. In fact it was just last night that his best friend told him to “lighten up”. Goldar thought back to last night when Ernie…His BEST FRIEND…took a sip of ale and looking him straight in the eye, and through his laughter managed to say….
“Goldar, you are so uptight that if anyone ever hit you in the stomach you would sound high G.”
Goldar continued to pace back and forth…trying to keep his mind on his duty. With a sigh and a grim look of determination he went back about his duties. Just as he turned back to the south something hit him in the side of the face…hard…
SMACK!
A slush ball…someone had hit him…HIM GOLDAR…smack dab in the side of the face with a slush ball…how DARE they. He looked about to see who would have the effrontery to do such a thing. Half expecting to see his friend Ernie, he saw one of the strangest “trains”….two women laughing and screeching, followed by 20 angry bears. Each bear with a face full of snow. One bear growled and as his mouth opened he got a snowball right down his gullet. The woman in front screamed “Bull’s eye” and yelled in delight.
It was this moment of distraction that cost him dearly…it cost him another slush ball right in the face from the smaller woman of the two.
------------------------------------
Yuki stood atop the parapet. Tatsumi and Keiko had been gone a long time and she was getting worried. To make matters worse a fog was rolling in. She strained her eyes against the fog as if, by sheer will power, she could manage to see through the fog.
As she stared into the fog Tatsumi came riding toward the keep. She was yelling something…
Straining, she heard it…
“OPEN THE GATES! OPEN THE GATES!”
Yuki ran down the back into the keep and down the stairs as fast as her legs would carry her. Hurling the door wide open, she looked up to lift the gates and there she saw it…
Tatsumi and Keiko, screaming and yelling, followed by at least 30 snarling bears, 12 men riding on polar bears, followed by 2 wolfs and a fat walrus who was barely keeping up.
“Oh no,” Yuki thought to herself, “they’re killing Tatsumi and Keiko.”
Tatsumi and Keiko barely managed to make it through the gates. Yuki let the gates drop and slammed the doors. Expecting to see the two woman, barely alive she turned…
…and saw Keiko and Tatsumi collapsed on the floor of the hallway, gasping with air and laughing…LAUGHING!
“That was great,” gasped Keiko, “Lets do it again!”
“Not for a while yet,” replied Tatsumi, “come and see why.”
The two woman, out of breath, struggled up the staircase to the parapet…outside, both peered over the edge. There below, surrounding the front of the keep, was a very angry crowd…a pack of wolves, bears, and humans…and one walrus that looked exhausted. They were all staring at front door to the keep as they milled around in circles like angry ants.
Tatsumi looked at Keiko. Both women had finally caught their breath. Turning to Keiko, Tatsumi pointed to the crowd below.
“That, my dear old friend, is our ‘anti-chaos’ guild first line of defense.”
A bit perplexed Keiko replied. “If they can’t get in, we also can’t get out.”
“Keiko, Keiko, my dear old friend. I know how much you hate magic but think for a moment. The advantage of a keep is that it has courtyards; courtyards that cannot be reached from outside the keep. Even if they could, they would be recalling right into Quan-Yen’s exercise yard.”
Keiko grinned as she imagined an intruder recalling into the keeps courtyard, only to be faced with a very large dragon.
“That means, dear Keiko, that we can go from home to town and back in absolute complete safety.”
Both woman looked at each other. A moment of understanding passed between the two such as is only possible between old friends…and the fight was on. Spears and arrows hurled up the side of the keep only to be returned by screams of laughter and well aimed slush balls.
“How come this ethereal mount isn’t blue like yours. Aren’t all ethereal mounts blue?”
“No,” Tatsumi replied, “actually most of them are translucent like yours. Mine is only blue because I dyed it with a universal dye tub.”
Tatsumi gave her reply in a manner of fact manner as if she expected Keiko to no the answer because…well…everyone would know the answer…of course. Trying to look as nonchalant as possible, and not wanting to appear foolish, Keiko replied simply…
“…oh…”
Tatsumi and Keiko were the oldest of friends…Tatsumi would know that look anywhere.
“You, know Keiko, I had a heck of a time find all those different color dye tubs, especially the blue one that dyed this ethereal mount the color it is.”
Tatsumi watched out of the corner of her eye as Keiko managed her best “I knew that all along” look.
“Yes indeed, dear Keiko, imagine that! A dye tub that will dye ANYTHING!”
Tatsumi mounted her horse and looked down at Keiko who was in the process of mounting hers. Keiko settled into the saddle with a huff and turned to Tatsumi…
“So Tats, where are we going. Hunting?”
“Sort of,” came replied Tatsumi. She handed Keiko a small leather pouch saying, “Here. You’ll need this.”
With that Tatsumi sped off to the north, leaving Keiko lagging behind with a puzzled look on her face. She peered inside the bag and there in the bottom was one of the "magical piles of snow" ... a source of endless snowballs. She shrugged her shoulders and headed after Tatsumi.
------------------------------------
Maxine liked being a bear. She liked being a polar bear especially; it was just the thing for a bear going through menopause. The colder it got, the better she felt, and this was one COLD winter. The morning sunlight made the new fallen snow glisten like thousands of diamonds. She basked in the comfort of a snow drift, now quite comfortable. She enjoyed the sunrise as she finished her breakfast…a delicious, juicy fish…mmmmm. She was about to take another bite when it hit her…
SMACK!
Right In the side of the face. A huge wet snowball. It stung for a moment. Shaking the herself off, like some giant puppy, she looked up.
What greeted her was one of the oddest sights she had ever seen. There was Ted, the biggest toughest polar bear on the island, followed by his “entourage” all in hot pursuit of two women on horseback. What was odd, wasn’t that Ted was chasing someone…that in fact was his usual pastime. What was odd was the ammunition that his attackers fired back at him…ammunition that hit her square in the face the second she looked up…
SMACK!
Maxine was so startled by the second snowball that she dropped the fish she was holding in her mouth…which unfortunately, slipped back into the water and quickly vanished.
“That was IT,” she thought to herself, “make me loose my breakfast will they!”
And so with a growl, Maxine joined the pursuit. 14 bears chasing after two women. One with a bit of a worried look on her face, and another dressed all in white…laughing like a maniac.
--------------------------------------
Goldar stood alert, peering into the fog that drifted over the snow to the south. It was his turn at watch and he took his duty seriously…as serious as his usual demeanor. In fact it was just last night that his best friend told him to “lighten up”. Goldar thought back to last night when Ernie…His BEST FRIEND…took a sip of ale and looking him straight in the eye, and through his laughter managed to say….
“Goldar, you are so uptight that if anyone ever hit you in the stomach you would sound high G.”
Goldar continued to pace back and forth…trying to keep his mind on his duty. With a sigh and a grim look of determination he went back about his duties. Just as he turned back to the south something hit him in the side of the face…hard…
SMACK!
A slush ball…someone had hit him…HIM GOLDAR…smack dab in the side of the face with a slush ball…how DARE they. He looked about to see who would have the effrontery to do such a thing. Half expecting to see his friend Ernie, he saw one of the strangest “trains”….two women laughing and screeching, followed by 20 angry bears. Each bear with a face full of snow. One bear growled and as his mouth opened he got a snowball right down his gullet. The woman in front screamed “Bull’s eye” and yelled in delight.
It was this moment of distraction that cost him dearly…it cost him another slush ball right in the face from the smaller woman of the two.
------------------------------------
Yuki stood atop the parapet. Tatsumi and Keiko had been gone a long time and she was getting worried. To make matters worse a fog was rolling in. She strained her eyes against the fog as if, by sheer will power, she could manage to see through the fog.
As she stared into the fog Tatsumi came riding toward the keep. She was yelling something…
Straining, she heard it…
“OPEN THE GATES! OPEN THE GATES!”
Yuki ran down the back into the keep and down the stairs as fast as her legs would carry her. Hurling the door wide open, she looked up to lift the gates and there she saw it…
Tatsumi and Keiko, screaming and yelling, followed by at least 30 snarling bears, 12 men riding on polar bears, followed by 2 wolfs and a fat walrus who was barely keeping up.
“Oh no,” Yuki thought to herself, “they’re killing Tatsumi and Keiko.”
Tatsumi and Keiko barely managed to make it through the gates. Yuki let the gates drop and slammed the doors. Expecting to see the two woman, barely alive she turned…
…and saw Keiko and Tatsumi collapsed on the floor of the hallway, gasping with air and laughing…LAUGHING!
“That was great,” gasped Keiko, “Lets do it again!”
“Not for a while yet,” replied Tatsumi, “come and see why.”
The two woman, out of breath, struggled up the staircase to the parapet…outside, both peered over the edge. There below, surrounding the front of the keep, was a very angry crowd…a pack of wolves, bears, and humans…and one walrus that looked exhausted. They were all staring at front door to the keep as they milled around in circles like angry ants.
Tatsumi looked at Keiko. Both women had finally caught their breath. Turning to Keiko, Tatsumi pointed to the crowd below.
“That, my dear old friend, is our ‘anti-chaos’ guild first line of defense.”
A bit perplexed Keiko replied. “If they can’t get in, we also can’t get out.”
“Keiko, Keiko, my dear old friend. I know how much you hate magic but think for a moment. The advantage of a keep is that it has courtyards; courtyards that cannot be reached from outside the keep. Even if they could, they would be recalling right into Quan-Yen’s exercise yard.”
Keiko grinned as she imagined an intruder recalling into the keeps courtyard, only to be faced with a very large dragon.
“That means, dear Keiko, that we can go from home to town and back in absolute complete safety.”
Both woman looked at each other. A moment of understanding passed between the two such as is only possible between old friends…and the fight was on. Spears and arrows hurled up the side of the keep only to be returned by screams of laughter and well aimed slush balls.