• Memory • [Lair]How to Catch a Stray

[Zunylanih]

12th of Ashan 697

In the days since his brithday in Cylus, Geneva had been more aloof than ordinary. Often absorbed in what she called 'her work' and the continuously ailing health of Minerva, she had little time left to care for poor Zunylanih. The other mothers were barely to be seen, and even Helena hadn't come to find her child in a while, busy as she was making money for the Fallacy Funhouse.

So Zuny found himself with a long leash, with which to get into all sorts of mischief. His first order of business had already been decided. Since sister Geneva and the mothers wouldn't pay attention to him, he turned elsewhere for company. He looked for friends among the urchins, with mixed success. Some laughed along with him, others laughed at him, however one particularly mean one plucked a silver bell off of his hat. That led to a fight that earned Zuny a bruised eye.

Finally sick of looking for company in all the wrong places, he knew what he must do. He needed to find his stray girl that had sneaked out of the Fallacy. Like a stray cat that'd gone feral, she was dynamic, but that dynamism led to an uncomfortability with being confined. He needed to lure her, to persuade her to be his stray girl. Then they could play whenever they wanted.

So he thought of what might lure her out of hiding. Zuny remembered she had a fondness for pretty jewels and things. So for the first time, he took to gathering nels, jewels, earrings, anything he could tie to a little twine and then use as a lure to bring out the stray girl. Zuny knew she must live on the street, having spotted her on his excursions from the Fallacy.

He knew many of her favorite places to dance, sing, and play. It was just a matter of being there when she followed the lures.

So on the 12th of Ashan, he made his way to an old, burned out garden in the middle of the Lair. Where once, there might've stood large trees and sprawling vines, there now was ash-laden grounds, with mushrooms of all sizes. There were also sculptures, remnants of an age of decadence long gone, but not preceding the Creep, for they were shaped in the form of dead and burned out trees.

Without further waiting, he'd already lain a daisy chain of shiny things for the stray girl Carma to follow. In the abandoned park, he began hanging things from anything that would hold them. Nels from twine, shone in the glint of dawnlight. Seashells and mother of pearl earrings, opal rings, all manner of shiny things were left in the entire grove.

Meanwhile, Zuny hid himself behind a particularly thick mushroom, waiting for the sound of Carma's singing. He hoped she'd find her way this way again, especially with the chain he'd left out for her to follow.

All he had now was to wait, and see if she would show up.

[Omesintihlih]

12 Ashan 697

By Ashan, Omesintihlih found herself alone. Cylus had been frigid in the last few trials, but now that the sun rose again, she was able to spend more and more breaks outside rather than hidden away in storage rooms or even performing for a chance to stay in a room. Boy and Girl had both left her troupe. They simply couldn't bear being beside someone as marvelous as Omesintihlih was. At first, she felt quiet angry about it. For Girl had put on quite a show for Boy, complete with wailing and blood and all manner of over-the-top crude acting. Omesintihlih did have to hand it to Girl that it was likely the best performance she'd made in their entire time together.

Boy had taken Girl away then, and they didn't follow her around anymore. Omesintihlih saw them from time to time, playing and performing with other children. The children eyed her warily, however. So, the Yludih retreated from playing with the pitiful and pathetic urchins for the first few trials of Ashan. She didn't require them, after all she had her friends in the shadows to always watch and applaud and guide her when she didn't know what to do or where to go.

This trial, it was no different. She'd awoken on a cot, brushed her hair some though the comb snapped against the tangles and she gave up, then she swiped some food left out on the table. Omesintihlih tucked the blanket over the sleeping woman who laid on the floor, then gently pressed her away from the door so that she could leave without using the window this time. She shut the front door to the apartment behind her, then skipped down the hall, and down the stairs and out to the street.

By the time she reached the street, the music had begun. She whistled the tune, and her arms swung back and forth while she skipped through the streets of Lair. Omesintihlih saw a bum up ahead, recognized him even, but before she reached him, he scurried away into the nearby alley and away from her. It was getting harder to find audiences willing to sit still. No one had any patience these trials, it seemed. Well, that's what we get for enduring miserable performers like Boy and Girl. It truly is a lesson to be taken, isn't it? But Omesintihlih cannot remain alone forever... Why not have Boy and Girl join us? Could apologize to Girl... Apologize, Ha! Omesintihlih, apologize to yourself for enduring such boringness for far too long.

Omesintihlih continued to whistle while The Things bickered with each other in the shadows around her. Dawn was rising, but darkness stretched out before her. The girl took to spinning, toward one of her favorite corners to perform. A gleam caught her eye, however. She fell down to the flat of her feet, halted in her twirls, and stared at... a nel?

The girl smiled. A gift from the Immortals? She ran forward and picked up the silver nel, then pocketed it. Her green dress had become something of a mess. Not only had it shortened due to being torn so much, but now there were other fabrics patchwork-sewn into it. Brighter colors though stained with blackened grapejuice, of satins and cloth and every fabric but leather that had gotten stitched into the faded green. She'd even twisted ribbons with knots to keep them in the tattered holes along her skirt in an attempt to create bows. Her cloak was long gone, but the tied twine that held it around her neck remained like a choker with a narrow strip of black fabric at the back.

Her slippers were worn through. The soles rubbed away by the ice of Cylus and the dancing. She still wore them, but barely as her toes poked out of the ragged openings. If it weren't for the straps around the ankles, the shoes likely would've fallen completely off. Luckily, her stockings were thick and woolen rather than thin.

Her long black hair had some red in it - still a ringlet curl that she'd stolen from the woman at Lust's Fallacy. It was the last ringlet she had though, the rest having fallen away during performances. On the other side of her head, she had some dirty blond and pale brown strands tied and kept in place by strings that matted the hair together.

She lightly danced to another shiny object, this time an earring, and then a bracelet. So many gifts! She must have truly pleased the Immortals with her last performance.

The Things were undecided about this trail of treasures, however. Some encouraged her to ignore it, and still one kept harping on about going to her family's home. Omesintihlih listened but as she did so, she collected the items...

...until she found herself in the abandoned park that she liked. It had a great echoing effect to her singing. Omesintihlih noticed it was different though. There were nels and jewelry hanging from the sculptures. The girl leaped her way over to one of the larger mushrooms, then climbed atop it.

"Oh, thank you, thank you," she told the Immortals who had gifted her. She reached to pluck some of the nels down but her heart swelled and she simply couldn't restrain herself. She left the objects hanging from the sculpture and burst into a wordless song. First scales, then an attempt to find the highest possible note she could hit. Omesintihlih sat on the fungi bloom, legs out in front of her and hands gestured to the various nels and trinkets that hung in front of her while the light glinted off them. Her breath went in and out, making it harder to sustain notes for long.

Omesintihlih gathered herself to her feet, carefully as the fungus stage had ways of giving out sometimes, even under her slight weight. She found herself able to breathe easier and sing louder, however, while standing rather than sitting. Her voice echoed through the ashen space in her pitchy, wordless, improvisational aria.

[Zunylanih]

Success!

Zunylanih had caught her, the treasure he'd left in his wake worked! For a few moments, he only sat behind the large mushroom, listening and enjoying her crystal voice. He didn't notice the pitchiness or when she went off key. To his untrained ears, her music was something beyond beautiful. At any rate, hearing her voice made him feel less lonely than he had of late.

He sighed, as he sat plopped behind the large mushroom. The thoughts of what he might say to her, to entice her to join him, or let him join her troupe, they puzzled him. She seemed to like nothing more than to play pretend, everything was constructed from pure imagination for her. It was part of what made her such a fun playmate.

It was determined, and perhaps it was preordained, that she be his stray girl. And as he sat behind the mushroom, the perfect scene played out before his mind's eye.

So without waiting another moment, he stalked out from behind the mushroom, and bellowed out in a deeper voice than he could fully register. "Who takes to the great Fungal Throne! I, Grand Poobah of the Mushroom Kingdom demand that you..."

Then, his eyes flew wide, exagerratedly as if in surprise, as he beheld Carma. "Could it be true!? Can it be? Has the Princess of the Mushroom kingdom come to ME?!"

So saying, he removed the 'singing hat' his jester motley hat with the silver bells, and held it up in the air, his sandy blonde hair blowing in the slight Ashan breeze. "Would that the Mushroom Princess assumes the Fungal Crown, then so much treasure would we bestow upon her! All the glories of the Underground Fungal Gardens! Would that she break the curse of the Mushroom Kingdom, and resume her proper role!"

As he approached her, where she stood on the stage or 'Fungal Throne' as he called it, he knelt, lowering his head and offering the Jester's hat to her. The Fungal Crown awaited her acceptance or naught.

He felt his asterism warm in happiness he hadn't felt since Cylus, as he had found his stray girl again. Now they could play and have fun, and share hugs and pretend to be whatever they wanted!

[Omesintihlih]

A squeak broke the high-pitched note in half when the boy stalked into her view. Her green eyes went round. She placed a hand to the pocket of her dress, but eased when she recognized him and gasped, "Keque..."

She grinned at his performance, then when he recognized her. Well, of course he recognized her. How could he not? The girl twirled her hair and then fixed the invisible tiara on the top of her head. Only the boy offered his very own singing crown to her...

Omesintihlih reached up, plucked the invisible tiara, and tossed it aside. She jumped down from the mushroom, and landed in front of the kneeling Keque with a grin still on her features. Up closer, the girl had some bruises on her face and dried blood on the corner of her mouth. Her hair hung straight and long, strands fallen over her face, and she looked over him then she fixed her posture and declared, "It is indeed I! Princess of the mushrooms! I shall take this crown and-"

She suddenly broke character. The girl giggled wildly, without sense. There was no thought that had caused it, no statement made by The Things, nothing but pure and raw laughter. And perhaps if one bothered to delve into the deepest depths of analysis, they may theorize it had to do with her asterism and the jolted shocks it sent through the Yludih girl. Shocks that excited her to non-thought. Young, unrefined, and ignorant of herself, Omesintihlih blushed and took the motley hat from the boy.

The girl ran away from him in a sprint. She darted around the mushroom, then the sculpture and then to a copse of mushrooms across the way. Sinking down to her knees, she placed the hat on the top of her head, then carefully stroked the blond hair strands tied into her dark hair. She lifted soon enough, energetic, and twirled with outstretched arms to cause the hat to jingle and she mimicked the noises of the bells with her voice.

She spun right toward the boy, then grabbed his hand and dragged him along to spin around with her. Omesintihlih kept going until she was so dizzy that her vision spun around, then she fell against him and hugged him with her arms around his neck. She sang, "You and me! Mushroom king and queen! But I must confess," she drew away with him, and shuddered a theatrical gasp and whispered to a spattering of mushrooms with a gesture as if they were an audience. "It is I who first placed the curse! My trickery has worked! My plan succeeds! The kingdom is now mine!"

Omesintihlih turned back to Keque, her hands upon his shoulders, and she sang loud enough to echo in the abandoned park, "Oh little fool! What have you dooone? All the treasures shall be mine but we need more, MOOoooOoooooOoooRE!!!"

She danced away and ran her fingers over the hanging nels and trinkets. The girl hit at them so they swayed and the light beams dappled the ground while she danced around the various refractive spotlights. Her slender limbs went about, leggy spins and twists of her waist. She'd been spying on some dancers in Lair and had gathered a few more ideas of what to do, especially with how often she danced these trials. She felt the hat slip and had to grab onto it to keep it from falling down. After enough dance, she returned to the boy and handed the hat over with little explanation about it. Her face had gotten flushed from the exertion of dancing, and her hair seemed all the more wild. She pulled at her lower lip with dirty fingertips, then grinned at him.

"Now, you... you gotta bring me slaves," she told him. "Princesses and Queens have lots of slaves." She meant servants but it was all the same to the Quacian girl. "And an army! So I can throw dances before the soldiers leave to die to the Creep."

The Yludih girl turned around and happily hummed a simple tune while she waited, in expectation that Keque would find something or someone to fulfill the roles of slaves and soldiers.

[Zunylanih]

She recognized him! Zuny wasn't sure that she would, afterall, her mind being everywhere and nowhere at once it seemed at times. Like a feral stray, she was utterly unpredictable and unkempt. When she got close to him, he noticed with some concern the bruises and blood on her lip. He wondered if they were self-inflicted, or from fights with other lost children. It was then that he decided his new overarching role in their troupe would be to protect her, clear the way, lay out a carpet wherever she went. She was afterall, a Princess.

When she laughed, it made him laugh in return, and so their laughter chaotic and random in cadence echoed across the abandoned park. Each peal of mirth rang through and against the geometrical sculptures that stood in the ruined garden. Then she took the hat, and went off, around, sprinting through the mushrooms and sculptures, with all the speed and grace of a cat.

His eyes went wide as she approached him, and then gave him a hug. At first he started, nearly flinched, but then he felt the warmth of her asterism radiating throughout the rest of her. She wasn't as cold as he imagined. In fact, the warmth of her asterism mingled with his, coupling the rhythm of their radiations for just a moment, that gave Zuny a vision of Uleuda for just a mere moment, though he didn't know from whence it came.

He shook his head out of his reverie, and soon she was spinning with him in tow again. She spoke her speechy song about how they were both Mushroom King and Queen. Yes this was as it should be. Yet he found himself speechless in the moment. This was too good to be true, was he dreaming in the cellar of the Fallacy again?

But no, her asterism pulsed with his as they twirled and danced around each other.

Finally she settled down, and announced in what he took to be her day-to-day voice, that he should gather slaves for the Queen, and also soldiers to throw dances before sending them off to die to the creep.

Zuny smiled widely at this. He'd anticipated that she'd have additional demands, and so had brought along a basket full of picnic materials. Some bottles of bloodwine he'd filched from his mother's cabinet, plus pastries and chocolate candies. All very expensive treats given to her by her 'friends'. He didn't think she'd miss them.

So he laid them all out in rows on the ground, and gestured grandly, "Here your majesty, your Myconoid Highness! Your subjects await your commands! And they bring a gift of bloodwine, to nourish you that you might spread your spores for the ground to grow fertile and rich!"

This said, he ran out of candies before he got to introduce a grand army. There were but a few mushroom flour baguettes in the picnic basket.

Suddenly he had an idea, and ran off to the market. "I shall return my Queeeeen! Your army has returned from campaign, and awaits inspection!"

Soon enough, as he bolted through the streets, dodging passersby and carts and clotheslines, he found his way to a small market. There, he found all manner of small treats, bland bites of mushroom bread. Those would have to do. He gathered them up in a napkin, and nodded to the merchant, "Put that tab on my mum!" He said to the merchant, to which he grinned in a way that was nearly unsettling, but Zuny didn't have time to try to decipher a silly adult's body language. His Queen waited!

However, every army needed a general, and the mushroom bread bite foot soldiers were no exception. As he worked his way through the market, he found a grand set of toys on display. It was rare that in the Lair they'd find such treasures, that are geared toward children. Yet here they were!

He tucked his bell hat under his arm, and approached stealthily from the side. There was no way his mother would be able to pay for such a grand thing, so he swiftly snatched one of the smaller figurines from the bottom of the stall, and wrapped it in his hat.

He laughed and giggled and snickered as the shouts of passersby who detected what he'd done called after him.

Yet Zuny was fast and fleet of foot, and agile to boot. He was able to lose them in the twists and turns, and ducking under gapes in the dividers and fences. Until at last, he returned to his Queen.

He laid out the mushroom bite foot soldiers, and then carefully placed the well-crafted nutcracker doll at the head of their ranks. "Your army, my Queen! Awaits your command after a successful campaign against the Yari!"

[Omesintihlih]

While Keque went away to gather what she'd asked for... Omesintihlih forgot why he'd left. For a while she stared at the picnic materials. She grabbed one of the pastries, licked it, then promptly started to lick every single thing there was to drag her tongue over. Rather than eat them, she licked everything then threw it back down into the basket. She sat near the copse of mushrooms and pulled apart some of the fungi. She took out her scissors and cut at the stalks of the growing blooms of new mushrooms. She crawled, whistling and singing and telling the various little subjects that flitted in and out of her vision to do various things. She snipped away at the burgeoning life under the shadows of Quacia. Some of the red and blond strands had fallen out from their knotted spots in her hair.

"Why won't my hair turn color?" She randomly asked The Things that lurked between the wiry blackened statues of the dead trees and the larger mushrooms. You look so much nicer with black hair. I firmly disagree, red would suit her much better. Red and black, that's what I thought we decided on. No, no, it was black and red most definitely. We know where there is more though, don't we? Omesintihlih, it's merely a matter of focus. All you have to do is think about your hair to be red and it will be. You are Yludih.

The girl sat on the ground then. She stabbed her scissors into the stump of a larger mushroom, for safe keeping, then she pulled at her hair. Omesintihlih tore out the ringlet curl in a momentary fit of frustration. She yanked out the blond hairs, then closed her eyes and tried to change her hair. When she opened her eyes, she lifted the hair to notice that it had gotten a bit more curly but was darker than ever.

"It's no use," she wailed. "Maybe I'm not Yludih!"

She grabbed her scissors and started to stab the trunk of the mushroom in fevered slashes while she muttered, "Maybe mama and papa lied. Maybe I'm human all along and they only wanted to tease me. To trick me. Nasty tricks, nasty boring, awful, I don't want to go back, never ever. I don't want to do chores. I want to sing and dance. Don't say that. I'd rather starve while dancing than ever go back! Nasty. Tricksy. I'll show them tricksy. I'll be the best and-"

Omesintihlih paused. Bits and chunks of fungus surrounded her. Her hand and wrist and arm up to her elbow had gotten sticky with the demolished mushroom that now bent over at an angle. She giggled, then jumped up on the broken stalk. Scissors spun between her fingers, the point sliced her shoulder but she didn't seem to notice the thin cut. She kicked her leg out then back, then twirled down the stalk.

When she landed at the bottom, she saw Keque had returned. She looked at him with surprise, then grinned and said, "Oh, King Keque, you've returned... finally!"

She watched as he laid out the various soldiers, perfectly understanding the representation of them, and she made small hums of inspection herself. Omesintihlih placed a hand on her hip, walked back and forth, and nodded solemnly like she'd seen adults at the markets do. Her green eyes widened at the nutcracker doll. She looked at Keque, then at the doll, then at the doll. The grin on her face hurt her face. She leaned forward, long hair falling around her face, and she pocketed her scissors.

It was almost enough for her to forget the performance. Then she shook her head and forced herself back. But... she wanted to play with the doll. Omesintihlih hummed, then sang a few notes but the words made no sense, only bits of whatever went on in her head. She couldn't keep restrained much longer and she picked up the nutcracker doll. Her dirty fingers dully raked over the dimensions as she turned it over with curiosity.

Omesintihlih swayed side to side, then she hugged the doll close and glanced at Keque. Her asterism crackled with warmth, she felt it spike through her, and she shrilly giggled. She bit on her lower lip, gnawed at the flesh, then said, "Okay, you can be in my troupe. You passed the audition."

She reached out, grabbed Keque's hand and brought him over to where she'd demolished the mushrooms. The girl plopped down, skirt spread wide in the non-ladylike posture, and she placed the doll between her knees. She pulled at its arm, curious how it worked, then stuck one of her fingers in its open mouth. When she fiddled with its back, the teeth chomped down on her finger and she yelped.

"It bit me! The Commander bit me, my King!" She yanked away her hand, dramatically, and holding it close as if the doll was rabid. Despite the show, she added, "B-but be nice to him." She didn't want the doll to be broken or hurt.

Omesintihlih felt a rumble in her stomach and rather than return to grab the pastries that laid licked in the basket, she reached over and picked a mushroom. She sniffed it, eyed it, listened to The Things, then bit off the head in a sudden chomp in mimic of how the nutcracker doll had bit her finger.

[Zunylanih]

When she looked at him with her green eyes, Zuny skipped a bit, happy that she’d stayed put this time. He arranged the mushroom bread bites in rows and colums, and moved them about in ranks, one at a time, with the Nutcracker Commander in the front.

She called him King Keque, and his asterism thrilled to it. Carma was different from the other kids on the streets, he could tell. While she looked to be a year older than him, and outpacing his growth at the moment, she acted about half her age half the time. Always playing and living in her private world. When she called him King Keque, it made him feel like he belonged to that world. This made him very happy.

He grinned broadly as she noticed the Nutcracker commander, and was drawn directly toward it. ”The Commander wishes to dance, your Majesty! Oh! Look out…”

But he was too late, before she fiddled with the lever at his back at the same time she was exploring the commander’s mouth part. It bit down on her finger.

He smiled and nodded when she said that the doll had bitten her, then took it gently from her hands, so he could voice the Commander in the lowest, deepest, tone he could manage. ”I sorry your majesty. Your fingers looked like nuts, the kind we find east of the Creep. I was told there would be a banquet in your honor, and thought I was being given a nut.”

Zuny took up his own voice again, and spoke to the commander, as he placed him back down before Carma. Then he reached into the picnic basket, and removed a particularly stale bread bite. It was stiff as any nut.

Zuny held the stale bite in front of the Nutcracker Commander’s mouth, right on it, and said in a feigned muffled voice, behind his other hand, ”Your majesty, will thou kindly lift my coattail, that I might open my mouth?”

Supposing she followed the instruction, Zuny would shove the bread bite into its open mouth, ”Now! Release!” And so the bagel bite crumbled into crumbs. ”Mmmmm, thank ye Majesty. I was famished! Let the feast begin!” Zuny said it all behind his hand, and then let his hand drop and looked up at Carma, "You should eat and drink too, you look hungry and thirsty."

[Omesintihlih]

Omesintihlih stared at Keque, with her vivid green eyes round from slight surprise while he voiced the nutcracker doll. Almost unblinking, she paused as if in serious thought and then she hurriedly raised her hands to look at her fingers. Her brow furrowed and she laughed, "My fingers do not look like nuts!"

Regardless, she didn't seem to hold it against the Commander as she nodded. She liked the doll, that much was obvious, as she picked him back up. The girl peered into the mouth, as if searching the inside to see if she could find something. She poked around it again, despite getting bit last time. When Keque returned with a stale bite of bread, she handed the doll over with ease. She smiled at the offer to lift the lever again and did so, fiercely so that the chomp nearly dissolved what bread had been between the teeth.

Omesintihlih giggled, "You're very welcome, Commander. What strong teeth you have."

She gathered the doll again, taking it away from Keque, and started to search for things to shove in the nutcracker's mouth to watch it bite down. Bread and mushroom bits and whatever else she could find. Every time it gnawed away at something, she giggled. Soon, she was on her feet and running about to find other things to feed the Commander. She jumped about, and spun, and then what Keque had said finally reached her.

Omesintihlih scratched at her unkempt hair, then shrugged. She was hungry and thirsty... What if the food is poisoned? Now why would it be poisoned? Why wouldn't it be, you never know these trials with people. That's true, I heard about the lady down the lane who accepted a slice of pie from her neighbor and she fell dead within the first three bites. Keque wouldn't poison you, Omesintihlih. Oh yes, he most certainly would. She already licked all of them, you paranoid shade. But she didn't eat them!

The girl fiddled with the tailcoat of the nutcracker doll. She shuffled her feet against the ground, then said, "I can eat mushrooms! But... if you share it with me and swallow first?" She walked back over and sat down. Omesintihlih fixed the doll, though there was nothing to fix, and she adjusted the Commander's coat. She looked at Keque, in expectation that he'd do so. Once he displayed a willingness to eat first, she opened her mouth in a mimic of the nutcracker and waited... and then she pointed at her mouth and said, "You gotta."

Keque would have to be careful now, if he followed her gesture to feed her, as the girl bit forward swift and hard enough that her teeth clacked together. She grinned. The new way of chomping at food like the nutcracker doll would soon be her favorite way to eat for the next few trials.

[Zunylanih]

"Oh, apologies my Queen, my eyes aren't what they used to be. They used to be Marbles, in fact."

Zuny smiled and watched as Carma went about playing with the doll, enjoying herself. Though he'd stolen that doll, it was probably his favorite thing he'd ever done for another person.

So he just watched her for a few bits while she tested the mechanism of the Nutcracker toy against the mushrooms all around. The Commander equitted himself well in the fight against the Mushroom rebellion.

When it came time to have their picnic, Zuny nodded eagerly at the idea of sharing the food. He was most certainly hungry. So he made it a point to bite everything he had on hand. From the mushroom bread men he'd stolen from his mother's larder, to the mushroom bites.

He tentatively reached over to feed her the remains of whatever morsel he'd taken a bite out of, eager to give her some much needed food, but careful of the glint of mischief in her eye. Sure enough, when he fed her the food, her teeth chomped down like a vice. The mushroom bite crumbled into crumbs in her mouth.

He repeated the same process with all the ginger bread men. Eating half before feeding the rest to her. Then it came time to share the bloodwine, the very best part of the picnic. It was a good vintage, and sweet as any juice of cavewine. He drank half of it down in one long swallow. Yludih didn't need to breath, so it wasn't necessary for him to take breaths between chugging it down. It might've seemed comical, as even Yludih liked to take on the appearance of having to breathe, just by instinct.

When it was half gone, he handed it over to her. "Now... Don't bite this one, Carma, not hard anyway. It's for drinking."

As he watched her down the drink, he had thoughts to what they might do next. Perhaps he could steal some brushes and other beauty supplies from the Mothers to fix what was going on with her hair. He had to take care of his girl if he was going to keep her.

[Abra]

Zunylanih

Rewards

Knowledges:

Skill:

Acting: Playing with dolls is an early form of acting.
Acting: Puppet show with a Nutcracker toy.
Acting: Telling a bad joke.
Acting: Play: The Reunion of the Mushroom Monarchs.
Negotiation: Putting the food on someone else's tab.
Pickpocket: Stealing a Nutcracker Doll
Stealth: Hiding behind a large mushroom.
Stealth: Remaining still for an extended time.
Trap-making: Setting bait for your intended.
Trap-making: Springing the ambush!

Loot: From what I read, he gave the doll to Ome
Injuries:
Wealth:
Renown: 10 little thief

EXP: 15

Feedback

Nice to see that Zunylanih has a sense of urgency to find her, going as far as to set a trap to get her back. The performance Zuny put on was typical for his character and I enjoyed his sense of imagination. I hope his friend sticks around for the long term. Enjoy your rewards

Omesintihlih

Rewards

Knowledges:

Skill:
Acting: Playing with dolls is an early form of acting.
Acting: Play: The Reunion of the Mushroom Monarchs.
Acting: Imagination helps build subtext.
Acting: Subtext adds depth to a performance.
Dancing: Spinning about with a dance partner.
Dancing: Using props while dancing.
Design: Shiny things reflect sunlight in similar designs as their shapes.
Singing: Technique: Vibrato.
Singing: Technique: Vocal Trill.

Loot: +1 nutcracker doll
Injuries:
Wealth:
Renown:

EXP: 15

Feedback

It was fun reading another thread with you two together. I enjoyed ome’s naivety and how much she enjoyed playing with the doll. It looks like you two are in it for the long haul now. Enjoy your rewards.