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 Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 10:20 pm
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 Udide had just been living in Castrum de Drac for about a week and a half. She'd spent most of it exploring the theater, meeting various members of the cast and crew, and getting settled into her new home. The suite in the theater could easily be described as luxurious, with soft yellow lighting provided by mushrooms, and soft cushions to lay on. Her one misgiving about the otherwise lovely room was the door--on account of it was blocked by a wooden screen. That part of the room was her guard's. He said it was a way to protect her and screen anyone who entered the room. Personally, Udide thought it was a fire hazard more than anything else, but the argument that many parts of her room were flammable fell on deaf ears. Deaf ears that pointed out that very few people in Castrum de Drac bothered to use candles or lanterns, what with mushrooms so readily available and soot and smoke being undesirable in the extreme. So she'd had to put up with that, as well as the paranoia her guard seemed to constantly display.
But other than that, she was finding herself rather enjoying Castrum de Drac. Sure, there was the regular blood donation, but it was a beautiful place, very artistic. And the people here were rather interesting. She felt like she was watching something important starting to bloom--and, in fact, participating in that flowering of culture. But she wasn't the only outsider who'd been blessed with a part in the show. Decebal had mentioned in passing that one of his fellow guards had been assigned to a new Blood Giver a few days ago. He'd instantly regretted it when she sent him to the other Blood Giver to deliver an invitation for tea in her suite. It would be nice to have some company and meet other people around here. She filled the tea pot with hot water from the kettle in the fireplace and set the tea to brew.
This was a mistake. A very grave mistake, possibly. And Decebal hated making mistakes. For a guard, it was the difference between a job well done and the death of a charge, and that was very far from the tahtll's goals. He had delivered the message as his charge had asked, but that didn't mean he had to approve of this. The new blood giver was a member of Wind tribe. Decebal had never met a member of Wind Tribe before, but you never knew when one B'alam might be hostile to another. This "Canaria" might take a dislike to his own charge and attack her, and he'd be too busy taking care of her guard to protect Udide. This was why you didn't just arrange some meeting with someone you didn't even know and had never met! But nooooooooo, they had to invite everyone in the city to tea!
What did Udide like about tea, anyway? It was just dead leaves soaked in hot water. A waste of time, so far as the guard was concerned. He stormed from one end of his living space--large enough to accommodate two B'alam other than himself, as well as a cushion for him to sleep on (he did his daily stretches in the hall outside)--to another, tail lashing and wing claws twitching irritably.
He wouldn't be attacking this Canaria if he could, anyway. It would be a bad idea, for so many reasons. Second among these, and the one that was sticking the most to the inside of his skull, was the fact of her guard. The population of Castrum de Drac, while daily growing, was still not very large, and almost every guard in the citadel knew each other. Decebal had met Andrei, although they hadn't had much interaction since given their respective assignments. Andrei had enormous claws, like that of Fire tribe. The last thing Decebal wanted to do was pick a fight with his fellow guard. Not only could he probably tear Decebal to ribbons, but to attack a fellow guard...well, there were some things Decebal would only do in desperation, and he hoped Andrei understood that.
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 11:11 pm
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Geyser Eelborn Gosh darn he's a smexy boy Gey!
It had been several days since her terrifying experience, rescue, and return to her rescuer's home. Canaria found she'd adapted fairly well to the caves her guard called home. It was so much better during the day to be able to hide in the deepest parts of the caves to avoid that horrifying open space during the day. She found that at night it wasn't nearly so bad and that she could tolerate going out if Andrei went with her just in case. Still she avoided going out as much at possible and usually had to be convinced, or dragged, outside. She was a bit more comfortable with her surroundings, but still startled easily.
Canaria had been surprised as another guard showed up suddenly. He seemed frightening, and disapproving, and she remembered Andrei's words that there were some dark tribe to be wary of. She wondered if this was one of them. He brought an interesting offer though. It seemed another Blood Giver wished to meet. She kept her wings, that's what Andrei called them anyhow, tucked tightly close to her body while the guard was there delivering his message. The bright yellow female would much rather her guard had been able to greet him instead of her. After a brief talk with Andrei to confirm he knew this guard, she hesitantly agreed. She knew nothing about this other blood giver! Only they wanted to have tea together. It didn't sound bad.
On the appointed day, with her guard firmly at her side to provide support, Canaria made her way though the caves to the den of the guard and blood giver. Timidly she peeked around the corner. The guard was there pacing and looking intimidating. It was very tempting to just turn tail and run right then; but she had given her word to meet. Twice she cleared her throat before she could speak.
"H...h-ello?" |
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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:01 am
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A clearing of the throat heralded the guests' appearance. Decebal looked up from his pacing to look at the yellow wind nantil. He'd met her the day before, when she'd been acting timid and shy. The question was, was it honest, or a ploy? Andrei had wrapped a wing around her to protect her, but what if she was fooling him into thinking she was weak and frightened? She could be hostile, she could be a threat, she could be here to hurt his charge--
The sound of other B'alam behind the screen brought Udide to the front. There a golden stranger and her guard were waiting nervously. Well, the wind triber was nervous; the guard just looked annoyed. One glance at her own guard confirmed her suspicion as to why. She flicked Decebal's ear with the tip of her tail. "Decebal, be nice! These are my guests. I'm not in any danger." She turned back to her guests and smiled. Not for the first time, she was uncomfortably aware of the large fangs that grew out of her upper jaw. She'd been woven with them, but she knew that some found them intimidating. Her abnormally large claws she kept hidden in their sheathes, so there was no worry there of trouble. She looked fearsome, that was the problem. It had always been troubling to her.
"I am Udide," she said, "and I cannot emphasize how pleased I am to meet you, Lady Canaria. Please excuse my guard." Here she gave Decebal a sharp glare. "He's overly paranoid."
Decebal's face stayed stony and still, but his eyes creased in sheepish embarrassment. He could feel Udide's disappointment pouring off of her like heat from a volcano, and he felt it fill him with shame. It wasn't the first time that she'd made him feel so...discomforted. She had an amazing talent for making him feel like he was doing something wrong. It was disturbing and frustrating all in one. One of these days, he'd have to have a long, long talk with his charge about acceptable behaviors and acceptable risks. He'd tried to have that conversation when they'd first met, but it hadn't stuck. Drat and drat again!
He nodded to the strangers and mumbled something under his breath that sounded vaguely like an apology. It wasn't--he still didn't trust Canaria, and he doubted he ever would. But he let his tail fall still and his wings fold up against his body to decrease the illusion of his size. He would play nice--unless he had to.
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Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 1:01 pm
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To be honest, it had never crossed Udide's mind that she could not scold her guard. It wasn't that she thought herself better than him, it was just...well, if people did things that they shouldn't do, and no one ever told them they shouldn't do it, they'd just keep doing it, right? Besides, she'd been told when Decebal had first been assigned to her that he was her guard. And she didn't want her guard to be the kind of person who curtailed her freedom (and threatening her guests, making them feel unwelcome and thus limiting her own ability to interact socially and make friends, was a form of freedom curtailing). That wasn't a guard, was it? Well, it wasn't a bodyguard. It was a prison guard, and blood givers were supposed to be members of the community, not, not slaves to be fed on against their will.
Besides, she knew that her...relationship...with Decebal would be a long one. She hoped to be friends with him someday--and she knew she couldn't be friends with someone who didn't let her have other friends. Not to mention the way it hurt that he questioned her every decision. She was an adult, she'd had experience in the world. Didn't she have the right to make decisions for herself? The right to make judgement calls and not always have them be called into question? Yes, alright, no one had given her the right to flick her guard on the ear, but no one had given him the right to threaten someone who obviously looked so nervous.
And was so endearing, too! Udide smiled and shook her head. "Oh, no, if you're not a lady, then neither am I. It's a pleasure to meet you, Canaria, it really is. And it's a pleasure to meet you as well, Andrei." She gave him a big, warm smile. Hopefully it would set him at ease.
She motioned towards her own guardian. "This is Decebal. I promise you, he's usually nicer than this." With that, she lead her guests into the main part of the room. Here, at last, she started to get a little nervous. Being social was what people did, right? Like, talk or something? She wanted to be the kind of person who was social, but she was uncomfortably aware of the fact that she hadn't had that much experience, all told... "So, how long have you been living here, Canaria?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 9:58 pm
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Udide's quarters were not quite as comfortable as she wanted them to be--yet. But there would be time later to make them even more so. She did not need them to be lavish, just...comfortable. Pleasurable to be in, and, of course, pleasant for other B'alam to be in as well. Cozy, really, was the feeling she wanted to give the place. It needed to be cozy, and warm, and inviting for all who might find their way to this place. Udide hoped, privately, that that would include cubs someday. She loved the idea of the cubs of the tribe playing in her quarters, and meeting them. A safe place to talk to them and teach them about acting and about the theater. The backstage was a big, scary, and ultimately dangerous place, after all.
"I'm sure you'll have time to make it nice and comfortable," she said warmly. "What sort of ideas do you have, Canaria?" She settled herself across from the brightly-colored nantlil, aware of Decebal's presence setting in at her back. "I came to Castrum de Drac when I heard about their theater from a wandering member of Dark Tribe. I enjoy acting--it's my passion, really--and the idea of performing for someone beside myself was too tempting! So I live here now. What brought you to Dark Tribe?"
Decebal was as lost and clueless as Andrei was. He had never heard of a social like this in his admittedly not-very-long life. He understood--vaguely--its purpose, but when both the guest and the host were accompanied by bodyguards, what were the bodyguards supposed to do? Especially since the greatest threat in this room to either of their wards was...each other? He caught Andrei's glance and shrugged his wings, head tilted to one side as if to say, Your guess is as good as mine! Odd, that he should be comforted by another knight's confusion. It did not seem right, somehow, but then again, little, if any, of this seemed right.
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