Looking for some shinnies to make a gift of for Lyra, Merrill was now scouring some human made long since abandon cave system. She had learned that such places were not only entertaining but also a good place to find some trinkets. This was a place she had been before so almost all the traps had been set off on her previous trips. Still erring on the side of caution Merrill crept along the sides of the tunnels and was carful to sniff out and set of the traps she could safely. Somehow as strange as Merrill was when she wasn’t exploring when she explored she actually managed to become competent. Seeing movement Merrill crouched down low and tried to move even quiter. Peeking round the corner ahead she saw a blue ribbon peeking out from under a jarred door. Deciding that would make a nice gift for Lyra Merrill moved forward. She knew that room was dead end so whatever was moving in there would be trapped if she pushed the heavy door shut. Placing a paw on the ribbon she jerked it back. Rather then having the ribbon come free and then shutting the door like she expected she heard a scream. “Oops?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
Yelping loudly Chander tried to skitter away but whatever had him was holding him by the ribbon he had tied around his tail. This wasn’t fair. This wasn’t right. Here he was minding his own business and something just caught him, like it was nothing. Gritting his teeth and deciding that he wasn’t going out without a fight he pulled along the length of the door so that he could get on the other side and face his captor. As he managed to get his head around the door all ideas of fighting went out of his mind. There was a H-U-G-E armored fox holding him captive. He squeaked in fear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
Was it bad of Lyra to follow Merrill? She figured it must be because of the feeling she had in her gut. She felt guilty about it, but Lyra had always been curious where the other vixen she go off to on adventures without her. And then there was the overwhelming fear that something would happen to her beautiful Merrill and Lyra would never see her again. No! That could never happen, Lyra would never let anything take her Merrill away. She was far too precious to her. And she hadn't even been able to tell the vixen about the stirring growing inside of her.
It had been coming for weeks now. Lyra could feel the emotions growing inside of her. She was falling in love with the phim. She could no more control her feelings then she could control the wind outside. But the funny thing is, she didn't want to control it. Falling in love was the most amazing thing that had ever happened to Lyra. She embraced it, cherished it. But the thought that she might not be able to share it was tearing her insides out. She had to tell Merrill the truth. As soon as she found her again. She would scream it to her, 'I love you!' Yes, that was exactly what she was going to do.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
“Oh I’m so sorry little one. I just thought some creepy crawly was in the room and I’d be able to shut the door on it.” Quickly taking her paw of the ribbon she watched as it disappeared from under the door and then reappeared as the kit moved out completely to her side of the door. He looked like he was about to cry so Merrill couldn’t help herself. She scooped the kit up. “It’ll be ok. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t expect a kit to be in the ruins. I really didn’t.” Come to think on it why was the little kit in the ruins? Where his parents also adventuring here somewhere further in? If not why was he alone? She had to figure it out, after all she couldn’t very well leave the kit and keep looking for gifts for Lyra. “Hey little one.. um what is your name? I’m Merrill and I’m wondering where your parents are it doesn’t seem like a good thing to leave a kit all alone in a place like this.. I know some of the traps are still intact and can be dangerous unless you’ve got armor of some kind.” Merrill used one paw to tap her own armor to prove her point.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
“uhh…” Pulling his tail to the side of the door his body was on Chander was a bit confused. Creepy crawlie? What was that some kind of spider. It certainly sounded like a spider to him. He was about to say something when all of a sudden he was hulled up by the other fox. His fur caught in the small bits of her armor making her cuddling him quite painful. Finally he managed to squeak out a statement.“I’m ok.” She stopped moving for a moment and he thought she would just set him down, but no instead he started a barrage of questions. “Chander, and no. My parents didn’t lave me here or anything. After all I don’t have any parents.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
After hearing raised voice, Lyra frowned. Shouldn't a place like this be silent. Merrill came here to find treasures, unless....was she coming here to meet someone? Her heart fell to her stomach sadly. Was Merrill sneaking out of the cave to meet with another fox? Could that explain all her sneakiness, and refusing Lyra to come with her.
No, Lyra didn't want to believe that. Merrill was such a sweet phim, she could never lie to her face. Could she? Frowning slightly, Lyra crept to where the voices originated and peeked around the corner, trying to see who was talking. The one voice she could make out was Merrill, but who belonged to the other voice.
"Mm..." Around the corner all she could see was Merrill's back. And there was no one else in the room. But how could that be. She had heard voices. And one of them could not belong to her friend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
No parents? Merrill felt her eye lid twitch. Her own family hadn’t been the sweetest foxes in the world, but at least they were there. Keeper Marethari had looked after her even when the rest of the Sabrae clan kept their distance from her. Holding the little male close Merrill sighed loudly. “Well I didna expect to find a little one like you here, but this place is too dangerous to just leave you here… So I suppose you can come with me for a ways.” Her ears flopped down to her sides. “And I can’t just keep looking for treasure for Lyra with a kit with me. So I suppose this the end of my hunt for shinnies too.” Merrill thought of the way back to the entrance and some of the traps that where and decided that it might be easier to just carry the little one. “Do you think you could ride on my back and hold onto my hair, armor, or belt. I want ta get us out of here and not set off any of the traps that could still be intact.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
Traps? Chander hadn’t even thought of traps being in a place like this. He knew some of the stones looked a bit out of place but he just examined them and then moved around them. So he now felt a bit nervous looking up at the large fox, she seemed serious about the danger. He would have normally argued and tried to leave, but he could at least get out of the ruins with her. “Lyra is your partner or friend?” Chander reached a paw up to start climbing on the large fox. He clung to her hair and then put his hind paws on the piece of material that wasn’t metal around the larger fox’s waist. That must be her belt. He thought he caught some movement out of the side of his eye but when he looked nothing was there. Looking back to the back of Merrill’s head he made a noise before speaking. “I’m ready miss.” He squeaked when she stood up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
Lyra spotted the kit, and her heart melted. Merrill wasn't with another fox, she was with the most adorable kit that she had ever seen in her entire life. And now that she knew that Merrill wasn't sneaking around on her, she stepped out of the place she was hiding to look at the vixen. "Merrill?" She called out softly, so as not to alarm either one of them.
"Um.....I erm....I followed you here." The phim had the grace to blush slightly, "I'm sorry. But I was curious where you were going...and then I saw you with that adorable little kit." The vixen walked over to her friend beaming happily, "Can we keep him?" She looked down at the lil boy and grinned happily, "I'm Lyra....what is your name sweetheart?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
Freezing at the noise Merrill’s ears twitched. It sounded like Lyra but why would her friend be all the way out her in a dungeon like this? Turning her head she blinked. It really was Lyra. Oh dear well that could be good or bad. It was always nice to see Lyra but Merrill really hoped that her friend hadn’t set off any of the traps on the way. She had a horrible image in her head of Lyra getting hurt. She moved closer to the other vixen hurriedly. “Lyra are you alright? You didn’t get hurt on anything did you?” She immediately started to look Lyra over. She seemed a little dusty but thank goodness Merrill didn’t see any blood or patches of fur missing. What if Lyra had gotten hurt or by the dread wolf what if she had died?!? Merrill felt her heart jump to her mouth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
Getting jostled as the armored phim move Chander stared at the other fox. It seemed like she had just walked out of the stone. How many other foxes were here? He looked around expecting more and settling on only the two big foxes one of whom he was one he starred at the purple phim slightly scared. This was Lyra? She was really big. What was a sweetheart? She wanted to keep him? What if he didn’t want to be kept would she be mad at him. He made a small whine not really sure if he should answer her or not. Finally he found his voice and pushed out his name. it was very quiet but it sounded loud to him. “C-Chander.”
(RP with Inara before she left 1,824 words. Technically I own both of these foxes now, but since the past start of this RP was two people I don’t know if it’s 2k words each *which I will have to do alone* or just 2k words.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
Lyra looked at Merrill and rolled her eyes just a bit. “I’m fine Merrill. I just wanted to see where you go and what all the fuss was about.” She would have put a small pout but there was that cute little kit in front of her. “Well hello there Chander” He really was so small and adorable. She scooped him up without another word said right off Merrill’s back. He made a small little squeaking sound that cute too. She looked at the armored phim with a soft smile. A wistful thought crossed her mind. Of her and Merrill having kits of their own. She was hopelessly in love with Merrill and she couldn’t deny that fact. Still she knew in her heart that the other phim wasn’t ready for such a open declaration as Lyra wanted to do. In time she would definitely be able to tell her shy friend, though and when that happened. Well be honest Lyra wasn’t really sure what would happen. All she saw in her mind was Merrill and she curled up together just happy to be in one another’s company as they were as friends. “Merrill we really should take the kit out of a place like this if it’s dangerous.”
Ever the vault of insensible Merrill was staring at Lyra for a full minute while she processed that her friend was sitting her unharmed in a dungeon holding a kit that was just found. Thankfully Lyra seemed be off in her own little land in her mind herself which made things easier and a bit less embarrassing when Lyra came out of her mind and gently tugged Merrill form hers. “Y-yes, right.” Merril felt very clunky in her armor moving next to Lyra on their way out of the cave. Her eyes strayed back to Lyra several times in the trip but the purple fox was just strolling along like they were in the meadow and not in a set of trapped ruins. She had a lot of questions but for some reason her mind couldn’t seem to keep up with itself and most of the questions evaporated before they made it all the way down to her mouth. It was kind of frustrating to be honest. A good part of her wanted to scold Lyra for being so reckless. There was no way that Merrill could stand the thought of losing her best and only friend in this world. It felt odd to be so silent but the thumping of her heart in her throat was more than loud enough for Merrill.
Chander didn’t have to be a genius to figure out the vast amount of tension between the two giants. He had ended up placed on Lyra’s back and told he could hang on to hair or wings. Honestly the phims were so big to him that it really wouldn’t have mattered he could lie down on her back and still had plenty of room. He was silent as a stone and tried really hard not to push too much with his paws into Lyra after all that would be very very impolite. It was odd to ride another fox. It was warm and nice at the same time it was scary. He could see the world go by so much faster. It wasn’t as fast as a full out run but it was fast enough to make him wonder what would happen if he had long legs like these two did. Could he cover the world in a day. He was pretty sure he could.
Lyra was starting to get a little worried. Merrill hadn’t said a word since they started out of the ruins. Was she mad? Or maybe was she hurt? Feeling a bit guilty for following Merrill now she looked back and had to admit following another fox into a ruin wasn’t the best idea but how could she stay away from Merrill? The other phim was normally such a chatter box that not hearing a word from her was wrong. She noticed that Merrill’s ears cocked to the side every so often as odd sounds swam up around them. Merrill being serious was wrong too. Green eyes kept looking her way and out of reflex Lyra smiled right at Merrill. There was a ghost of a smile given in return but it was strained and Lyra could tell. Her heart was filled with dread and Lyra knew she was going to have to have a talk with Merrill soon. The only sounds in the ruins from the group was that of breathing and the rhythmic click of armor covering the sound of their steps.
(795 words + the 1,824= 2,619 words) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
Outside the ruins Merrill took a deep breath and visibly sagged. The kit was let down off Lyra’s back and Merrill heard Lyra tell him not to run off too far, that he was safe with them. Her head was still spinning and when a black paw was waving in front of her face Merrill jerked. “oh! Oh Lyra. Sorry about that I was just… thinkin’.” It was clear that Lyra had a thing or two on her mind as well when she plopped down in front of Merrill and starred at her for a few long moments. Merrill squirmed uncomfortably. “Lyra what are ya doing?” The reply surprised Merrill more than anything it wasn’t a statement but a question.
“Figuring out if you’re mad at me or not.”
“What do ya mean? Why would I be mad at ya?”
Lyra looked down blushing a bit. “Because I followed you out while you were adventuring.”
Blinking Merrill put a few things together and leaned forward to hug Lyra careful with her armor. “Do not be silly. I care for ya no matter what. I was just worried in the ruins about a creepy cawlie sneaking up on us and ya and the little one getting hurt. That tis a though I cannot stand.” For some reason Lyra was blushing bright red now so Merrill let her go wondering what was going on.
“Merrill.” Lyra looked at her friends face and wanted to smack her own mind for taking that more out of context than was needed. “I care about you too.” There was a moment of silence while Lyra debated what to say. “Let’s take Chander home with us now and you can come back and go adventuring later. Her friend wasn’t ready yet. “After all he’s kind of been just plucked out of the world by us so we should take some responsibility.” Lyra gave an easy smile seeing the surprise and determination on Merrill’s face. Merrill was just so cute herself.
Chander found himself swept up in the green winged phim’s arms and carried a really long way. Panic and fear are simply inadequate words for the emotion he felt, even gut wrenching terror is a pathetic word choice for his fright. He wasn’t sure how long it was because he closed his eyes once he was a few feet off the ground. Clutching on to her paws until he heard a laugh and the purple gaint telling him it was safe and they were on the ground so he could let go. He peeked open one eye and forced himself to let go. There was a strange bloodless sensation as his forepaws felt like they had small pricks in them and it was hard to stand up. The den he was lead into was messier than anything he had ever seen and he had been living in ruins. Small scraps of thin things were stacked up high and there were things that had different smells all over them and things he had seen in ruins before. He stayed close to the giants but they didn’t seem to mind if he wandered a few steps away. He looked over the oddities and then came back to the purple giant wondering if it was time to leave. She was busy making a small nest out of soft things. “what is that for?”
“It’s for you Chander. Since you’re going to be living with us I thought a nice bed would in order.” The look on the kits face was wide and blank. It made Lyra laugh. “Don’t worry you don’t have to stay forever if you don’t want to, but here with us is warmer than in those ruins right?” The kit gave a small not. “Good.” For a while she and Merrill watched Chander explore the den with delight. Merrill seemed a bit worried about Chander getting into dangerous things but after he showed a fair about of common sense Merrill seemed to relax a bit more. “Merrill has your den ever been this full?” When Merrill shook her head no Lyra felt a small pang of pity. She had been with Merrill long enough to know how sweet the phim was even if she did ramble a bit or get flustered easily. Merrill was so cute like that. She nudged Merrill. “Well get used to it. If I have my way you’ll have more company sooner or later.” She understood Merrill’s panicked look and commented with a laugh before the other phim could even respond. “And Yes! I’ll help you clean.” The relief on Merrill’s face made Lyra giggle even more. Yep tonight she would tell Merrill. Oh she went over it back and forth for most of the evening to tell Merrill or not but when it was all said and done she finally decided tonight was the night. Of course it would be hard and maybe Merrill might not be ready for it but maybe there was that chance and that’s all it took for Lyra. She had faith it would work out. She let the evening pass uneventfully until after Chander was asleep. She knew he asleep by the way his breathing changed and evened. She got up from her bed and tiptoed across the floor of the den like was as trap filled as the ruins she had been in earlier that day. She paused several times across the floor each time she bumped a paper or her wing knocked a nick knack. There was no rousing the kit or the other phim thankfully. Lyra felt like she was a super fox on an adventure which brought her almost to giggles. She managed to suppress them as she snuck up on Merrill who was curled up in her own bed. She leaned down and blew in Merrill’s ear. The ear twitched and flicked before Merrill started to rouse. She was out of her armor and so beautiful all curled up and small for a change. Lyra didn’t bother to wake her up all the way just enough that Merrill’s mind was half there. “Merrill…. Merrill…” As Merrill’s eye lid’s fluttered Lyra extended a wing and lay down next to Merrill to keep Merrill warm enough to stay asleep. “Merrill I just want to say that I love you so much. I was determined to protect you and look out for you when we first met so no one would pick on you, but since then I’ve been falling in love with you. You’re funny and smart, and very cute too. Sooner or later I think I’ll ask you to be my mate, but for now I just want you to know I love you with all my heart.” Gently she kissed Merrill and as much as she wanted to stay there curled around Merrill she pulled herself away to creep back to her own bed. It was so hard to love so deep and yet not be able to say it all the way.
The next morning Merrill woke up feeling very happy and a touch confused. She had a dream were Lyra had come to her and confessed that she loved her. Well of course Lyra loved her. It was fine to love friends, but this dream felt different. This was more like mates and Merrill never had a mate so she was feeling a bit confused why she would be dreaming of Lyra that way. She wanted to tell Lyra about it but found herself blushing each time she thought about it. That day they spent cleaning with Chander and showing all the nooks and crannies of the den. He seemed quite hesitant at first but soon enough he was darting about and asking all kinds of questions about where things came from just like Lyra had when she first spent a night in the den. That night Merrill had another dream about Lyra waking her up and telling her that she loved her. Again Merrill really couldn’t talk about this dream, but it seemed a bit different from the other one. Every night Merrill had the dream and it made her so happy soon she enjoyed heading to bed each night and hoping to have that dream. One night she lay down and no matter how much she tried she just couldn’t seem to fall asleep. She kept her breathing slow and was in a half awake state, but her mind was still going about like it was while she was awake during the day. She heard movement in the den and figured that Chander or Lyra was getting up to relieve themselves or just take a short walk because the night air always felt so good. She was surprised when she felt Lyra slide along her sharing in her warmth and whispering words in her ear. Merrill had no idea what to say, in fact her mind stopped working all together but somehow her mouth decided all on its own to say.
“I love you too Lyra.” Her eyes opened and she found herself looking into the eyes of her friend. A first there was shock and surprise but that faded into a grin and low chuckle.
“Oh here I thought you were sleeping.” Lyra leaned forward and kissed Merrill. “You know I think it took you long enough to actually wake up. I’ve been doing this for a while now.” It didn’t matter what else was said that night. Chander was fast asleep in a place that he was starting to consider his home, while Lyra and Merrill had to discusses building a bigger bed because it was rather uncomfortable to be half on the floor to snuggle up to one’s new mate.
(1,658 words +2,619 words= 4,277 words…. And this is why Reo should never be left alone at home when she is bored. Things they happen)