stella, lyall's roommate (romsca) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
seabeast) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
savetheearth2013-04-15 11:52 am
seabeast) wrote in savetheearth2013-04-15 11:52 am
01
[ action ]
The other animals had driven Queenie out of the stand of trees she had been hiding in for the last few months. They had been normal enough for the earlier part of the year, but the little black bugs had changed all that; sure, on their own, even Queenie could give them what for, but the infected birds and beasts by the ton had cost her sleepless night after sleepless night, until even her stubborn pride could see that this was a lost cause. She had retreated after a couple of days.
For the next few days, she had been stumbling through hairless walker territory, where at least the packs were easier to spot. Staying mostly out of sight, making sure all the little insects she ran across died a toothy, fanged death (it hurt, and she probably has scald marks in her mouth from the process, but it was necessary), she made her way to a group of buildings that seemed mostly abandoned, taking shelter in the driest, sturdiest waterspouts she could fit in. She was getting hungry and very, very tired.
But a week ago, she hadn't awakened to the sound of crows desperately trying to ram their way into the water spout. A few more hours of investigation had revealed that half of the animals she had shared the Dead Zone with were outright dead; nests abandoned, holes filled with bodies. Not a pretty sight.
Today is the eighth day of blessed peace; right now, she's sitting as pretty as a very bedraggled princess in a space between a rain gutter and a roof, where she'd found yet another abandoned bird's nest. She's making a meal of some birds' eggs and watching the abandoned roads, considering going back to her forest. There's something in this group of buildings that's making her nervous... As easy as food was to come by around here, she didn't want to stick around while that feeling made her fur stand on end.
[[ ooc: lyall will be coming by to pick her up, but if your character has been in the dead zone at all for the last week and a half, feel free to assume that they've seen her wandering around, especially since the vermini disappearance. ]]
The other animals had driven Queenie out of the stand of trees she had been hiding in for the last few months. They had been normal enough for the earlier part of the year, but the little black bugs had changed all that; sure, on their own, even Queenie could give them what for, but the infected birds and beasts by the ton had cost her sleepless night after sleepless night, until even her stubborn pride could see that this was a lost cause. She had retreated after a couple of days.
For the next few days, she had been stumbling through hairless walker territory, where at least the packs were easier to spot. Staying mostly out of sight, making sure all the little insects she ran across died a toothy, fanged death (it hurt, and she probably has scald marks in her mouth from the process, but it was necessary), she made her way to a group of buildings that seemed mostly abandoned, taking shelter in the driest, sturdiest waterspouts she could fit in. She was getting hungry and very, very tired.
But a week ago, she hadn't awakened to the sound of crows desperately trying to ram their way into the water spout. A few more hours of investigation had revealed that half of the animals she had shared the Dead Zone with were outright dead; nests abandoned, holes filled with bodies. Not a pretty sight.
Today is the eighth day of blessed peace; right now, she's sitting as pretty as a very bedraggled princess in a space between a rain gutter and a roof, where she'd found yet another abandoned bird's nest. She's making a meal of some birds' eggs and watching the abandoned roads, considering going back to her forest. There's something in this group of buildings that's making her nervous... As easy as food was to come by around here, she didn't want to stick around while that feeling made her fur stand on end.
[[ ooc: lyall will be coming by to pick her up, but if your character has been in the dead zone at all for the last week and a half, feel free to assume that they've seen her wandering around, especially since the vermini disappearance. ]]
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The spicy little scent of ferret was unexpected, though, and he paused, looking around with narrowed eyes. He wasn't entirely sure what that scent belonged to, but if it was unexpected, he was suspicious. Investigators who smelled like sheep and asked dangerous quesstions had him on edge.
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Queenie quietly puts the egg she had been eating back into the nest, backing away along the gutter and crouching down. As long as he doesn't look up, she should be all right, but the lightness of her fur did nothing to mask her, even in the gathering darkness. Ferret musk is strong, though, and the one safe way up to the gutter, the crates she climbed to get there, are right next to the fellow now hunting for her. She's basically trapped up there with her own personal scent beacon.
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"Didn't think we had wild ferrets out here...." Lyall watches her from under the brim of his hat. "Are you someone's pet?"
((eta: wanna meet Aragorn for Tuesday? Lyall needs to visit him, and would be happy to bring her along >.> ))
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With her mind distracted, she immediately reacts to his question with a headshake in the negative before she can stop herself. Bad idea, bad idea! There is absolutely no reason to let on that she can understand these creatures, especially when she knows that would make her an anomaly, and then a target from there. It's best not to risk it.
She immediately starts grooming herself, hoping that a show of being easily distracted will throw him off.
[[ sounds grand to me! just let me know when he's about to join the turn order :) ]]
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Actually, it just makes him smile. The headshake at the moment doesn't register as an actual answer, lucky for her, but considering she doesn't look particularly nervous at the one-sided conversation, he's going to assume she is. He drops slowly to one knee and swings his laptop bag off his shoulder, fishing around inside for his snacks.
Jerky, today, because it just... sounded good, and it was the only thing that sounded good that would keep. He opened the packet and pulled out a strip.
"Hungry, little guy-- er. Girl?" The scent is rather female... ish. He thinks. He's still learning this stuff.
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... Well, two-leg food always tasted a lot better than grasshoppers, to say the least. Whatever he had in his hand was dark and hard to make out, but it was too small to be immediately dangerous. Still... she narrows her eyes and inches her way back towards the edge of the gutter, trying to gauge this beast and his offering. She doesn't exactly know why these creatures seemed to be so generous with their food, but so far, no one's gone as far as to feed her poison or anything. Yet.
She's interested, and she doesn't exactly gauge his sudden change in his reference to her as more than simple politeness, but she's still a bit wary. She'll just stare, the pause lengthening as she tries to make up her mind about him.
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The talk is mostly to amuse himself and get her accustomed to his voice, though the smell of the jerky still in its package is tempting enough to cut it off for a minute as he has a bite, himself. "Can't believe I'm actually eating this stuff," he mutters to himself. He'd never been a fan of jerky before.
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The sight of him eating another one of those things at least convinces her that the food itself is safe. She backs up and hops down to a nearby crate, slinking her way down each box until she makes it down to the ground, then slowly approaches the dark thing, her nose sniffing hard at it while he eyes kept track of the tall two-legged beast.
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He chews down some more of the jerky thoughfully while she nibbles. "It really is too bad. Cute thing like you shouldn't be out here on your own. Especially not with those sprites and that invasion... thing." He can just imagine those little bugs trying to infest her. Even if no one's seen them in a while, it's still possible they're out there.
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She was planning on letting him yammer on, but the minute the word "invasion" leaves his mouth, she pauses in mid-bite, looking up at him seriously. Did he know about the little black insects that left scalding steam whenever she killed one? Because she certainly knew about them... Nothing pleasant, of course, but if they had the walkers' attention, maybe they were why they all disappeared all of a sudden.
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He gingerly holds out his fingers for her to get a sniff on, testing to see if she'll run away. Sorry, Romsca, he isn't going to share any more details on the demonic little bugs just yet.
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She licks her paws daintily before considering his outstretched fingers... this is dangerous territory. He still hasn't done anything suspicious, but Queenie was always a choosy creature, no exceptions. She'll eye his hand for a long moment before resting on her haunches, turning her attention elsewhere, and then another elsewhere right behind her. The quickest way to make someone believe you aren't as smart as they are is to act as though everything in the world grabs your attention, a lesson that she had learned early on.
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At the proffered strip of jerky, she takes another step forward, then another, before the goal behind his actions strikes her. This is the flattest look a mustelid has ever given anyone in the entire world. Really? Trust exercises? This was completely beneath her.
... Ugh. But she was supposed to be acting like a ferret, right? The instinct to just follow the food is still there, sure, but something else was telling her to be cautious, be cautious, never be too quick to trust. She compromises by stopping in her tracks, but weaving her head through the air, as though she's willing the meat to come closing to her.
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--and loses his balance, flailing briefly before falling onto his hands and knees. At least it's not his face, but it was close there for a second. "Oh, hell." He's also entirely sure that's going to scare her off. At least there's nobody here to laugh at him....
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She considers the situation again. Well, if he's more of a danger to himself than he is to others, then surely the situation calls for a little sympathy. She lopes forward again, trilling right in front of him, sniffing at his hands and head. Any scrapes?
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That someday is not now. He huffs a sigh that's almost a laugh, and smiles down at her. "All right, so I didn't just scare you off... I'm all right. Just lost my balance, that's all." He pushes back up, and instead of standing, drops to his rear end on the pavement. "There, can't fall down from that."
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Nevermind that bargaining with a ferret is just silly.
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He tucks her and her snacky-bit against his chest, hoping that doesn't scare her off, and started climbing carefully to his feet. This time, his balance at least is good.
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She's about to see if this two-legger has noticed that. She'll just remain still and quiet, happily chewing away at her meat strip.
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Of which there are actually very few. He frowns, taking a second and more obvious sniff of the air. "Where is everything...?"
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