Theodore
Rabbit Tribe
Posts: 73
Profession: Artisan/Merchant
Affinity: Dark
Profile: Theodore
OoC Alias: Sigma
|
Post by Theodore on Jul 7, 2017 15:36:54 GMT -6
The next word she spoke struck a chord deep inside of the taguel's mind. A monster eh? It already feels like I've heard that title too many times already... Quietly sighing, he decided to share a bit of his philosophy with the poor girl.
"Well to be fair, humans are monsters all the same. I mean, have you ever seen them cut down a forest with no intent to be responsible and preserve the fauna? What you did to that squirrel hardly compares if you ask me... And please, don't justify their genocides. Any senseless killing is stupid. I don't know what you are but almost completely wiping you guys out was most likely NOT something you deserved. Honestly, I don't personally about that stuff, but I can still identify humans as being as worse as us. We taguels can't look past our gigantic egos one single bit, humans are so xenophobic, it's not even funny and from what you said, you people let your emotions run wild. Now, I do like it when people are free, so I don't think you should try to be like humans. To have self-restraint or not simply depends on your own beliefs, so don't let somebody else influence what you should be doing. For example, I may not agree with you killing an animal, but if you personally believe that it is in your right to do so, I don't have any authority over you to stop you.
Grabbing the dead squirrel, he quickly got to work to remove the meat and make a skewer. While skinning the animal, he loked at her from the corner of his eye, grinning a bit. "So come on, dry those tears. There's no point in crying for spilt milk. I also apologize for the harsh things I said earlier, I can see it in your eyes that you don't want to hurt nature. Guess we both let our emotions get the better of us, huh?
|
|
Aea
Manakete
"Music can heal even the most broken soul."
Posts: 54
Profession: Wanderer/Entertainer
Affiliation: Sacae
Affinity: Wind
Dragon Element: Air
Profile: ~Aea~
OoC Alias: Kyra
|
Post by Aea on Jul 7, 2017 16:25:52 GMT -6
As Theo began talking to Aea, eventually going into a long lecture about his own philosophy on life, she found herself growing a but calmer, with the combination of his voice and the nearby crackling of the fire helping to soothe her distressed thoughts. When he had finished, Aea spoke up a bit. "Wow, Theo... If you'd told me earlier today that you had a kind side to you, I might not have even believed you. I... didn't realize that you thought so much on the ways or the world either. I must say, you're quite the philosopher, especially for someone who I think is a good bit younger than myself, who doesn't really have a set-in-stone outlook just yet. Of course, if things don't go downhill anytime soon, I should still have plenty of time to work that kind of stuff out. I'm still relatively young amongst my own people, after all."
After waiting for Theo's response, Aea was mostly quiet for a bit before speaking again. "Theo, do you ever see a future where those like us can freely be ourselves and not be judged by ignorant people for what we had no control over? Or are we destined to always be the monsters of human society, hunted to the verge of extinction and forced into hiding? I find it hard not to assume the latter... I just want to... well... be me. But I can't do that with humans all around me everywhere I go. I'm forced to mold to their etiquette and society to some degree, just so I don't raise suspicion, and sometimes it just gets to be too much. Sometimes I want to just let myself loose, but the paranoia of being spotted is too oppressive for me..."
|
|
Theodore
Rabbit Tribe
Posts: 73
Profession: Artisan/Merchant
Affinity: Dark
Profile: Theodore
OoC Alias: Sigma
|
Post by Theodore on Jul 7, 2017 21:41:41 GMT -6
As she started to compliment him fo being an excellent philosopher, Theo visibly started to blush. "W-well it's nothing. Just what somebody does when he's an outcast of his own tribe... You simply start trying to find an explanation for why things are the way they are. My tribe was very traditionalistic, so it's normal I turned to libertarianism and individualism...
After that, Aea asked Theo about the question which in their situation, everyone wanted the answer to it: Would they always have to hide? As he continued to prepare both of their food, his face scrunched up a bit as he was seriously asking himself the same question... "I get where you're coming from. Although I really like some things about human culture, I think you can guess I'm still quite strange with the clothes I wear and the way I speak to people. It's almost like I end up being a separate entity from humans because of the fascination I have for their culture... if that makes any sense. I guess the only I can see our kinds being accepted by humans would be if people like you and me can show what good we can bring to them. Though I don't really see that happening. I'm not the kind of person to console others with fake hope either, sorry. Taguels and humans will fight until one of them abandons, that's how it is. All I can hope is to prove how I don't associate with them and humans then decide to bring me in so I can start making weapons in my own forge.
I guess for now, we just have to deal with it, risking to be found out and whatnot... I personally don't mind the challenge, but I guess for you I could think of something... he paused, bringing his hand to his chin to think a bit now that both of their food was roasting near the fire. Although you did say humans killed a lot of your people, I assume that some of them must've survived like you did. If you really need something to hang on to, try working towards finding them. Or if you've got a lot of guts, maybe try to find humans with open enough minds to accept you as you are."
He continud to watch the food cook, not making eye contact. It was usual for Theo when he talked about this stuff to not be very expressive.
|
|
Aea
Manakete
"Music can heal even the most broken soul."
Posts: 54
Profession: Wanderer/Entertainer
Affiliation: Sacae
Affinity: Wind
Dragon Element: Air
Profile: ~Aea~
OoC Alias: Kyra
|
Post by Aea on Jul 7, 2017 22:52:10 GMT -6
Aea felt a mix of love and hate for Theo's outlook on the world. While she felt it was probably the realistic way of looking at things, it didn't really help her own struggle with making sense of things. She wanted to believe that there was some good possible, but this conversation made it seem that humans and those who were not were simply destined to be in an eternal conflict. "I hope that one day, something can be worked out. Unfortunately, I'm sort of inclined to agree with you to an extent... I just wish the world wasn't stacked against those who are like us... It's unfair..."
Pausing for a moment, Aea turned away from the fire to face Theo once again. "You know, Theo, you're really not half bad. You may have seemed crass and rude when I first met you earlier today, but the more we've spoken, the more I realize that were really not that different from each other. You're the first person I've seen in years that is at least similar to me in many respects, and I think I already trust you a lot more than almost every human I've ever met. It's very strange..."
"I do have to say though, I doubt I'll ever be able to find a human open minded enough to witness my transformation and be okay with it. I'm guessing you wouldn't understand, what with not being from Elibe and all, but human hatred of my kind runs very deep. I'd say it's almost ingrained naturally at this point..." Pausing a moment, Aea continued, this time a bit awkwardly, "Y-you know, I was about to say that I'm almost ready to just say screw it, and shift already, with all this talk of being free that we've been having, heheh. I think all these trees would be kind of problematic though. I wouldn't exactly have much room, I think. Plus, there should be plenty of room for you, just in case you decide it's best to run away from me..."
|
|
Theodore
Rabbit Tribe
Posts: 73
Profession: Artisan/Merchant
Affinity: Dark
Profile: Theodore
OoC Alias: Sigma
|
Post by Theodore on Jul 7, 2017 23:18:16 GMT -6
Ambiance Music"Well think of it this way Aea, wouldn't life be boring if everything was fair, perfect and just? No more conflict, no more hate. To me, a world like that just shouts the words "stale and boring"."Hearing her compliment him once again, he decided this time to not look like a fumbling idiot and actually stay calm. Smiling, he raised his shoulders and lifted his hands while saying: "At least someone seems to enjoy my presence... And I guess I too like to talk to you Aea. It's rare to find people who can actually look past my cynical comments. It's surprisingly fun even if it's pretty strange at first." After that, he finally remembered how he was getting pretty curious about what she was when she mentionned a kind of hate that humans had that was so deep, it was actually engrained in their culture. Ouch, how the hell do you piss off a species that much? However, the truly interesting part was when she awkwardly mentioned just shifting right here. Damn, could you have said that before I actually started to consider you as a friend?Almost looking defeated, but still smiling, he grabbed the skewers, one with meat and the other with mushrooms and veggies, and brought them over to her while handing her the squirrel skewer. "Let's eat first, anyways now because of you, I give enough of a damn to actually want to make sure you aren't doing something you might regret..." Sitting down, he quickly dived right in by eating one of the shiitakes whole. His ears raised and pointed to the sky as the food made him a happy rabbit. Nothing like fresh veggies...He turned to her after and said: "I think if you can handle seeing me crush a man's skull while looking like a bloodthirsty rabbit monster, I think I can at least be respectful and not run away with my tail tucked in between my legs at the sight of you."
|
|
Aea
Manakete
"Music can heal even the most broken soul."
Posts: 54
Profession: Wanderer/Entertainer
Affiliation: Sacae
Affinity: Wind
Dragon Element: Air
Profile: ~Aea~
OoC Alias: Kyra
|
Post by Aea on Jul 7, 2017 23:48:46 GMT -6
Once Aea had finished eating the cooked squirrel, which she still felt somewhat guilty for needlessly murdering, she listened to what Theo had to say in regards to her considering shifting in front of him. "Heh, I suppose you're right. I'll admit that I was decently afraid when I first saw you shift into a rabbit, but then again, what I am is probably way more intimidating, if I'm honest. I'm just glad you're willing to at least try and look at what I really am. It's more than anyone else has offered me in the last eight decades or so... A-anyways, um, thank you.." At that, Aea scooted over to Theo, with the cloak still wrapped around her, and wrapped her arms around his waist quickly in a friendly embrace before moving back away again, worried that she might embarrass the taguel if she hugged him for too long.
Once she had given him a moment to react if needed, she started speaking again. "So, um.. I guess I could shift for you in the morning or something, once we're out of these woods? Like I said, there isn't much room here. Plus..." Aea paused, letting out a small yawn and rubbing one of her eyes, "Plus, I think I'm starting to get kinda tired... It sucks, cause I've had one of the best days I've had in a long time today, all things considered, and I just kind of want it to keep going. Stupid Time, always ruining all the good times by making them end..."
|
|
Theodore
Rabbit Tribe
Posts: 73
Profession: Artisan/Merchant
Affinity: Dark
Profile: Theodore
OoC Alias: Sigma
|
Post by Theodore on Jul 8, 2017 1:54:46 GMT -6
Being thanked for wanting to see in her transformed state, Theo started to thank her until... "Ah, don't worry about it. Anyways, I- eugh!" Being hugged quite litteraly stole the air from his lungs as he just stared at Aea, once again feeling his cheeks flush with red. Damn you woman! Catching me off guard like that! Shaking his head as she backed away, Theodore managed to give her an awkward smile, just to show he wasn't angry at her in any way. "Hehe, you got me good with that one."
She then went on about how their really wasn't enough room to shift around here anyways. Just how big are we talking here? Because if that girl turns into something the size of a boat, I'll be thouroughly impressed, that's for damn sure. Seeing her yawn made Theodore realise that the sun had set a couple minutes ago. "Time really does fly by huh? But at the same time, if moments like this kept going on forever, how would we be able to know if they really are good or not?"
Suddenly, Theodore realised something. He had lost his bedroll too... Are we going to sleep directly on the dirt under that overhang? Ugh, damn humans, alienating me with their superior bedding apparatuses. Quickly going through his satchel, he was saddened to find absolutely nothing that could function as a blanket. Well this is a bummer... Hmm...
Oh what the hell, she already broke me and made me act nicely to her, it's not like another act of kindness is gonna kill me... I swear to Earth Mother however, if somebody else is able to bring out that side of me, I'll personally go jump into a lake! looking over to her, he said: Welp, no reason we both have to sleep on the ground... You're gonna catch a cold with this cold and humid dirt!
Quickly shifting once again for the third time today, he started heading under the overhang, slowly laying down on his side, ready for bed himself. Ugh, I can't believe I actually enjoyed being hugged. And now I'm litteraly offering her to sleep on me, just what the hell is happening to me...
|
|
Aea
Manakete
"Music can heal even the most broken soul."
Posts: 54
Profession: Wanderer/Entertainer
Affiliation: Sacae
Affinity: Wind
Dragon Element: Air
Profile: ~Aea~
OoC Alias: Kyra
|
Post by Aea on Jul 8, 2017 7:57:06 GMT -6
Aea was just getting ready to lay herself down to sleep, when she noticed Theo shifting again. Confused at first, she was soon happy at the fact he was offering himself as a soft and warm place to rest as opposed to the less than comfortable dirt at her feet. Moving over, still wrapped in their cloak for extra warmth, she climbed onto the body of the massive rabbit, curling herself up so that she looked even smaller by comparison than she already was. She rested one hand on the fluffy fur coat of the rabbit, speaking aloud, "Thank you again, Theo.. I enjoyed the riding on your back earlier, and I was legitimately interested in all that philosophy stuff you spoke about.. Even if we did sorta get off to a rough start, I think it ended up alright by the end of the day.."
After a long pause, in fact, long enough to assume she had probably fallen asleep, she piped in again. "Oh yeah, and, uh, sorry again for calling you a rat earlier.. I didn't mean it.." Interrupting her own talking with another yawn, Aea said, "Good night, Theo.. Now I can't.. wait until.. morning" As if on cue, the moment her words ended, Aea was completely out of it, breathing slowly, showing she had fallen asleep. If she was going to start snoring, it had yet to begin, as the silence of the campsite grew upon her falling asleep. Though nobody could see what she was thinking about, Aea was having the first purely happy dreams that she'd had in a while.
|
|
Theodore
Rabbit Tribe
Posts: 73
Profession: Artisan/Merchant
Affinity: Dark
Profile: Theodore
OoC Alias: Sigma
|
Post by Theodore on Jul 8, 2017 14:46:27 GMT -6
He couldn't help but find the tiny girl on his back to be absolutely adorable as she curled herself up on his back. Feeling her put a hand on his fur while thanking him for the day she had had, Theo let out a low gutural sound as a sort of "no problem" considering he didn't want to try and speak again in his animal form, it worked but it sure as hell wasn't pleasant to do so. After a bit, Theo was woken up from his half asleep state as she apologised for calling him a rat. Hmm, I wonder how a rat taguel would look like... OH DEAR GOD GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD, THAT'S NOT CUTE AT ALL. As she finally fell asleep, Theo decided to simply look around a bit and relax before falling asleep himself, also he wanted to be sure she wasn't going to fall off.
For a few minutes now, the girl had started softly snoring as the fire cracked and popped and embers raised into the air. Theo's breathing could be heard thanks to his much bigger size. Hearing bushes being shuffled, Theo moved his ears around, trying to hear what was going on... The distinc sound of human footsteps could easily be heard as Theo stopped breathing for a moment, hoping they wouldn't notice them. Two of them, from what he could tell. It definitely seemed they were speaking of the dead hunters he had took care of earlier that day. Damn, either they're really persistent, or they also warned neighboring tribes to be prepared if Theodore showed up.
After a while however, the two hunters seemed to move away. They probably didn't even see the campsite... Gonna have to be extra careful tommorow until we leave this place.
Suddenly as the adrenaline fell, he finally got very sleepy, deciding things were calm enough for him to sleep.
|
|
Aea
Manakete
"Music can heal even the most broken soul."
Posts: 54
Profession: Wanderer/Entertainer
Affiliation: Sacae
Affinity: Wind
Dragon Element: Air
Profile: ~Aea~
OoC Alias: Kyra
|
Post by Aea on Jul 8, 2017 17:00:28 GMT -6
When Aea woke up, the sun was just barely peeking over the horizon, slowly lighting up the land. Sitting up slowly, so as not to wake up Theo too early, she began rubbing her eyes and stretching her arms straight up. Then, she hopped off his back, stretching her legs upon landing in the still cold dirt. Looking around, she thought she could see faint footprints just beyond the bushes, but they seemed quite a few hours old. Hmm, I hope nobody spotted us in the night and sent for help or anything... That's gonna suck if they did. Guess I should get Theo up just to be safe.
Moving over to the taguel's face, she giggled to herself a bit as she moved her hand closer and poked his nose a few times. "Wakey, wakey, sleepy bunny! I was gonna let you sleep a bit longer, but I think there might be been some hunters around last night. I dunno if they're still around, or went to get backup or anything, but we should probably get moving fairly soon, just to be safe. I hope getting you up early doesn't make you grumpy today or anything."
With a bit of a skip in her step now, Aea walked around the campsite as she waited for Theo to rouse completely from his slumber, hoping to find some more proof of humans being nearby. Unfortunately, she could know find more footprints, equally old, if not more than the first ones she'd seen. Hmm.. I can't really tell honestly.. At least I know if we are jumped, Theo can take like three people at once! And I could maybe do some damage too, especially if I absolutely needed to shift...
|
|
Theodore
Rabbit Tribe
Posts: 73
Profession: Artisan/Merchant
Affinity: Dark
Profile: Theodore
OoC Alias: Sigma
|
Post by Theodore on Jul 9, 2017 1:56:01 GMT -6
Theo could feel his nose getting poked as he instantly opened up his left eye to look at Aea. Honestly, he would've been pretty angry if it was anybody else, but he just couldn't bring himself to be angry at her now that he knew her cries would make him all mushy again. Slowly shifting back into his human form, the first he did was to stretch as much as he could, finally looking around and breathing the fresh morning breeze... Sadly the humidity didn't help with his massive case of bedhead. "Good morning sunshine, could I get a side of hunters with that poke on the nose? Oh wait, they're already here... ugh." Walking towards the now pile of ash which was once the camp fire, he started covering it in dirt to make sure to put it out entirely. "Let's just keep walking normally. Running with me in my rabbit form would create too much noise. Also, we still have the chance of simply looking like typical travelers if I cover my ears with this." he then went to grab the cloak on Aea's back, putting it on himself.
Although I do say that this is quite a bummer. I would've loved to see your "other" self today. Guess those hunters just want to ruin whatever fun I can have... Eh, guess I could also just take care of them if one sees you. If you seem so hated around here, I bet they'll probably try to do something even more serious than what they've been doing to catch me... Wouldn't want to see my hopes of seeing a new kind of shapeshifter end down the drain, you know?"
Pointing south towards Bern, Theo said with great determination: "Onward! Let us make haste and rid ourselves of these unwanted close minded humans!"[/b]
|
|
Aea
Manakete
"Music can heal even the most broken soul."
Posts: 54
Profession: Wanderer/Entertainer
Affiliation: Sacae
Affinity: Wind
Dragon Element: Air
Profile: ~Aea~
OoC Alias: Kyra
|
Post by Aea on Jul 9, 2017 10:58:30 GMT -6
Theo made a fair point. If he shifted into a rabbit when hunters were possibly so close, that'd be bad news for both of them. At least the cloak offered him decent coverage of his ears, and Aea had the advantage of not having any glaring abnormalities, provided her hair wasn't moved back to reveal her pointed ears or anything. It was white the bummer, as Aea had anticipated the since she fell asleep that she would be shifting for Theo, something that she had to spend a lot of time mentally preparing herself for, and now it might just not even happen at all. "Yeah, I suppose we should just keep going. I still don't even know what I even want to go to Bern for exactly. There's lots to do there, it's just... I don't exactly have a plan."
As they continued walking, Aea spoke up, making conversation in light of things not going as planned. "So, um, is there anything else on your mind you wanna talk about, Theo? Since plans kinda got, well, ruined, I figure we might as well still have some mind more interesting discussions, if we can." As Aea asked the question, she had the strangest feeling that they were being watched. Being in the middle of nowhere now, the only things nearby were mostly some small trees and a few rocky outcroppings. Perhaps someone, or multiple people were observing them, but everytime Aea tried to even slightly glance over to where she thought she'd seen a glimpse, nothing was there. Am I just on edge now because of those footprints? I kind of hope so. It'd be preferable to having to fight again, though I suppose we both have the advantage of being nowhere near any populated area, at least not for a good few miles, probably more.
|
|
Theodore
Rabbit Tribe
Posts: 73
Profession: Artisan/Merchant
Affinity: Dark
Profile: Theodore
OoC Alias: Sigma
|
Post by Theodore on Jul 10, 2017 12:29:26 GMT -6
"Eh, in any it's much better than staying here. I personally don't have any plans either considering I lost all of my wares yesterday... Actually I'm probably going to need to make some new ones, I wonder if Gadolt could still afford to have me around..." he continued to mumble to himself about what he could do when in Bern.
As they walked, Theo could hear the hunters... Some of them are definitely following us... sigh. For now we should probably continue walking unless they try to do something funny... They might simply be watching us out of curiosity. If I attack them, I run the risk of letting one escape to inform the others. I wonder if Aea noticed them. However, he was taken out of his inner thoughts as Aea seemed to ask him if they could continue talking about stuff. "I don't think I've ever been asked to do small talk from somebody else haha. Well let's see..." Ah geez, if I mention things related to taguels, those hunters will probably attack... Readjusting his hood, he decided to talk something a bit more common.
"Hmm, well I don't particularly know what to say.. Oh! I'm curious actually, have you seen all of Elibe? I think I might try to visit every country I can soon. Places like the Nabata desert and the Western Isles seem particularly special. Have you ever gone there before and if so, do you know of any particular ares I should visit?"
Yep, just two travelers talking about travelling, why don't you two hunters just leave us alone? Nothing to see here... Better leave before your curiosity makes you meet Mr. Big Bad Rabbit.
|
|
Aea
Manakete
"Music can heal even the most broken soul."
Posts: 54
Profession: Wanderer/Entertainer
Affiliation: Sacae
Affinity: Wind
Dragon Element: Air
Profile: ~Aea~
OoC Alias: Kyra
|
Post by Aea on Jul 10, 2017 13:10:19 GMT -6
Now I'm almost certain that we're being followed. I hope Theo is on guard as well, cause we may have to fight our way out of here if need be. Aea knew that based on how far they were from the nearest town, an ambush could prove fatal for them, and nobody would be able to back them up. It would just be the two of them against however many hunters there might possibly be.
Responding to Theo's question regarding her past travels, Aea said, "Well, while I do intend to eventually travel across all of Elibe, the truth of the matter is that so far, I've really just traveled up and down the eastern half of the continent, from Ilia to Bern, but mostly staying in Sacae. I've gone a bit into Lycia, but that was a long time ago, back when Ostia still, well, existed. I really have no immediate desire to go to Lycia or Etruria given recent events, but I'm sure I will someday. As for Nabata and the Isles, I've always been fascinated by both of them, but it is quite a trek to undergo to get there and back."
Hearing a twig snap off to the right, presumably behind one of the rocky outcroppings, Aea quickly but casually turned her head towards the noise, saying softly, "Theo, did you hear that?"
I guess it's possible that was just a wild animal or something, but I don't know... If it was one of the hunters, however many there might be, then perhaps he just made a grave error. I'll wait until I get Theo's input before doing anything stupid, though.
|
|
Theodore
Rabbit Tribe
Posts: 73
Profession: Artisan/Merchant
Affinity: Dark
Profile: Theodore
OoC Alias: Sigma
|
Post by Theodore on Jul 11, 2017 1:40:25 GMT -6
Hearing the branch snap loud and clear, Theodore instinctively turned his head towards the source of the noise... Damn,
i can't see anything... I still think their are only two of t- Oh no, more footsteps... They warned the others. Probably around five or six of them. If they keep up that pace, it'd take maybe a minute for them to show up...Tch, guess they already figured out I'm the one they're looking for...
Turning his towards Aea, Theodore one hand on her shoulder trying to act normal as if he didn,t knwo the hunters were there, ready to say something he didn't think he'd ever say to someone in his life... "They'll be here soon. You don't need to be here when it happens, this isn't your fight Aea. I don't want them finding out you've got shapeshifting abilities too,
alright?"
The sound of their footsteps kept getting progressively closer. Thankfully, Theodore saw a large rock for both of the mto hide. Pulling her by grabbing her shoulder, he hoped it'd give her enough to run. Taking off his cape, he tied it to Aea, saying: "I'll create a distraction, I need you to get as far away as you can. Don't stop running, I'll hold them off long enough for you to escape. We'll meet back after all's well and done."
He somehow doubted she'd agree to this, but he had to try. I still can't believe I'm carign this much for her well-being... Now if that's because I want to see her shifted or if I actually value her companionship, I'm still not sure myself...
Putting both hands on her shoulders, he awaited her answer, hoping she'd leave despite the fact that that option was pretty much near impossible now...
|
|