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Post by Shaehern Azhrarn on Apr 20, 2011 19:40:27 GMT -5
Deep in the Crimson Woods was an old shack. Human slaves made up a great many stories about its origins, but so far as Boogies were concerned it was little more than a recent construction that was abandoned some years back. Occasionally, someone would choose to take up a temporary residence in the Broken Soul Shack, but it never lasted long. It was simply too far away from everything.
"It's been a few years," Shaehern mumbled as he stepped inside the shack. "I'm somewhat amazed it still has a roof." That was very important, considering that it was raining pretty badly. He held the door open for his smaller traveling companion to step inside.
Most of the furnishings had been stolen or broken apart some time ago, but it was not hard to imagine that it may have once been a place of reasonable comfort. However, it was small. Shaehern doubted it would have held more than one person for very long.
With just a quick snap of his fingers a puff of gas combusted into one of his friendly little wisps. The light provided by his little apparition would be sufficient to navigate the inside safely.
Once he was certain that Jasmine would make it inside without tripping or stumbling, he followed suit. With the miserable weather this place seemed to have even more of a spooky atmosphere. It was very well suited to telling horror stories.
Shaehern was not so keen on starting up such a contest with Jasmine. He seemed to be of the opinion that she would have some heavy hitters in that department.
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Post by Jasmine Krisp on Apr 21, 2011 16:23:56 GMT -5
Indeed, the shack did seem of something out an old story, didn’t it? To humans there could be a number of tales to tell about its creation or creator, and Jasmine would bet a fair number of such accounts spoke of a human building it to run away. Jazz had been too and fro a lot in her youth (what she could remember), so she knew the little was-a-cabin had been built within the last five hundred or less years…such a long time for some, and yet a blink for others.
Jazz blinked once, either from rain in her eyes or confusion. “You’ve visited here before?” It was amazing that such a broken down place had a roof, much less all (or most) of its walls. Shelter was shelter. She, unlike her familiar, was not too picky of places to hide from the rain.
Hades wouldn’t have flown to this place, much less come inside, the prideful little brat.
Gold eyes only glanced up at her friend once before dashing into the safety of the shack. It was eerie, yes, but she’d seen much worse in the deeper parts of the palace then a creaky little cottage. The wisp shed more light on the single room so the plum looked it over. “It’s quant…I assume it was a nice home to someone once upon a time…” a ghost of a smile lit up her pale face, “I wonder who lived here. Do you know anything of them, Shaehern?"
If anyone did, I assume it’s you.
A keen of wind rippled overhead, causing the little Boogie to look up, before she smiled a little brighter. "Windy…look out for falling trees.”
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Post by Shaehern Azhrarn on Apr 21, 2011 19:54:50 GMT -5
"Knowledge is one of my many talents. Foolhardy as I can be, I would not drag us around the woods in circles looking for a shack that may or may not have fallen down unless I knew precisely where it could be located." Shaehern gazed around quietly. Assessing the integrity of the structure seemed to be an important step before taking a seat.
There was significantly less pest damage than Shaehern had anticipated. At the very least he did not see any webs that looked active in the corners. He prayed that it was all just dust and none of the wispy clouds gathered in the corners were webs.
"The Broken Soul Shack is something of a local legend and I make certain to acquaint myself with a variety of the local legends and rumors. Runaways that go the way of the woods tend to try and make it here. Sometimes it is for their own good when you catch them here and keep them from running any further." After all, beyond the woods here was nothing but a slow and miserable death for humans.
With his wet foot Shaehern casually brushed off a spot on the floor and had himself a seat. He folded his legs and rested his hands in his lap, but not before setting the basket down gently on the ground.
"Many someones have lived here, but the origins are something of a curiosity. The most mundane story I have heard was that it is one of the last standing remnants of cheap worker housing for the reconstruction of the Palace a few centuries back." Shaehern ran his fingers through his wet hair. It felt like he could wring a little moisture out if he wanted, but there was no desire just yet.
Curiosity got the better of him and he stood up from his seat. Carefully he circled around and stopped while facing the old stone fireplace. He gathered scraps of wood from around the house and placed them into the recess. With his back to Jasmine he started working the magic of his hands in trying to start a fire.
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Post by Jasmine Krisp on Apr 22, 2011 18:21:09 GMT -5
Jazz continued to walk around the small cabin rather than looking to take a seat. It was strange, such a broken little place in the middle of the woods…it must have been nicer back when somebody lived here. But why all the way out here? A hundred years or so ago the castle was still mostly rubble. The little woman knew this because she’d used to hang around where the markets now stood. Back then it had been mostly traveling traders, merchants, and slave-trades alike.
Seemed like only yesterday to her.
Maybe whoever lived here wanted to get away from it all.
“A safe haven is only safe when nobody knows about it…” the little woman mused as she approached a wall. Seemed like there had been another room branching off from this main one…had it caved in? Gold eyes narrowed in thought, then caught sight of something small and buggy lowering itself from the corner of the ceiling. A harmless little spider. She smiled at it as Shae continued to speak. “You’re about as old as this house, Shae-hen. Did you know the ones who lived here?”
With his back turned to try and make a fire, her own little pale hand reached up to let the little black spider land in her palm. “Hello there, friend…” a wicked smile spread on her innocent face. Something was brewing in her impish little mind. “Want to help me with a trick?”
Jasmine turned around to face her friend, spider hidden from view. “Shaehern, why don’t we tell stories to pass the time?”
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Post by Shaehern Azhrarn on Apr 26, 2011 19:27:52 GMT -5
"No place is safe, only safer." Strong words to live by. Nothing could be kept as a safe secret forever. It seemed like an odd thing to envy in humans, but Shaehern found it refreshing that humans had the potential to keep something secret for the entirety of their short existence. However, he would rather shove bamboo up his fingernails than let them keep dirty little secrets from him.
There was a snap and a crackle and swirls of smoke rising from the fireplace. With a few gentle and well placed breaths he managed to get a rise from the fledgling fire. He smirked as the orange tongue started to lap the air. "Fire becomes a great deal more erotic when you think about it in the right terms," Shaehern said in a voice filled with delight.
He turned about while the glow from the fire steadily grew. "I suppose the shack and I have similar ages. When I was younger I ran with the trader circles. What I know of the shack could certainly be woven into an entertaining tale to tell by the firelight."
Shaehern shifted and made himself comfortable. Something about Jasmine's body language suggested she was up to something. Was she testing him? Maybe she was trying to see if he'd slip up at some point during the stories. Well, it was wishful thinking, but Shae thought there was little chance of it.
"It was a nomadic lifestyle, but there was plenty of freedom. I was young and still did not understand much about the world, but my ears and eyes were open. The shack was something of a rumor, but the resident at the time was a lonesome shut-in. He would occasionally make a brief appearance to trade a slave for some supplies and then he'd be on his way."
Shaehern paused for a moment. If he had a cigarette, then he might have put it in his mouth for dramatic effect. Swirls of smoke rising from the end of a fag hanging from his lips would certainly have held the right effect. However, Shaehern did not smoke--cheap human cigarettes or otherwise. "We think he might have been on the run from the authorities, so we never spoke much about him. Plausible deniability and all that, you know?"
Shaehern leaned back. "Anyways, he stopped showing up after a while. Curiosity got the better of me, so I checked it out. I found this place. Rotten food was on the table and a couple of cheap tallow candles completely burned out in their stands. No sign of a struggle, even. It was like he just up and vanished one day."
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Post by Jasmine Krisp on Apr 26, 2011 21:02:34 GMT -5
Jasmine started to walk toward the fire, little pale hands behind her back, keeping her new pet spider hidden. Drying off from that rain seemed to be the best idea. She didn’t need to get sick right at the birth of spring, not when there were things to do and stories to get to the bottom of. Even if she was sure she could tag blame for her pneumonia on Shaehern and maybe get some soup or something out of it, it seemed like a waste of good health. Plus her hair would never forgive her. Of course that little line of Shae’s made her roll her eyes.
“Everything becomes a deal more erotic around you, Shae-hen.”
Waiting a moment to feel the little black spider move to a better-shaded part of her arm, the plum woman plopped down next to her blue friend and the warm blaze, letting her free hand reach up to start undoing her braid. It would never dry in the ties. As she did so she listened to this story of Shaehern’s, bright eyes only leaving him once when the fire popped and she looked to it automatically. If he was lying, she would find out eventually…but she did wonder why he would lie to a friend. “Freedom is a wonderful thing,” she hummed to herself, “But it is awfully lonely sometimes. I hope you didn’t worry your parents too much with such a life.”
She blinked at a thought. “I wonder if we knew the same people…do you remember any names of your fellow traders?”
The spider had crawled up to rest on the black loop of her shoulder, still hidden from sight, just as Jasmine reached both hands to undo the last bind in her hair. It stayed in the braids shape before she started to run her little fingers through it, straightening it a little. “Maybe he wanted to move on. Some people just can’t stand when life gets boring…maybe he began to seek something a little more interesting.”
Her hands paused, and Jazz looked into the fire. “Maybe he just got lonely...” a wicked chuckle escaped her serious face, “Or maybe he was eaten by spiders.”
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Post by Shaehern Azhrarn on Apr 27, 2011 18:02:51 GMT -5
She wanted names? Shaehern was not certain that he could honestly remember any of them. Even as that thought crossed his mind it seemed that one name was brought to the surface. "Reshteron Tynamor: young fellow in charge of general goods and services." That was a fellow whose luck ran out one day in the woods, and Shaehern would not care to remember what was left of him.
"Can't imagine why he would have left. Maybe he was wrought with guilt for whatever it was he did to land him there in the first place." He suddenly shuddered at the consideration that the inhabitant would be eaten by spiders. "That... is disgusting and I'd care not to imagine such a fate."
It really was more probable than Shaehern would care to imagine. The creepy crawlers easily could have infiltrated the shack. They would have loved the corners and dark spots and thrived here. Even worse if any of the spiders had been large or venomous. One bite, even if the spider couldn't eat you, might mean certain death in your sleep.
Fuzzy hairs bristling all over their body as they stared at you through a plethora of glistening black eyes. Murderous intent was the only thing they could possibly be concerned with. They were horrific predators and they could lay their egg sac inside you and wait for it to hatch into a thousand young, each ready to spurn its former biological nest by bursting out of the appendix or some equally volatile organ.
Shaehern seemed to turn pale and started to pant heavily. "Yeah... spiders. Let's not talk about those anymore."
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Post by Jasmine Krisp on Apr 27, 2011 18:20:43 GMT -5
“Reshteron…oh my, I did know him. Poor soul.” Jasmine covered her mouth, remembering the face she’d seen now and then in the market. He’d never been her ‘friend’, but they’d struck up conversation now and then. But some people were just the unlucky ones, as Jasmine noticed after four thousand years of just happening to meet people whose luck had just run out. She really was a little blackbird of misfortune…though nothing seemed to be looming around the corner for her best friend.
Not that she could see.
His visible shudder made the plum twitch, as did the bug on her shoulder. He was a sitting duck! One of her pale hands rested on her cheek as she released a little sigh. “Such awful things, spiders. At least the ones near the palace are little…I heard there were some as big as a horse roaming in the labyrinth…and those are the smaller ones!” The little black spider was slowly crawling down her arm, toward the hand placed on her lap. It was very good at staying where the fire didn’t light.
Gold eyes closed for a moment. It was taking a lot of effort to keep her blank face now, feeling just as eight legs crawled down and into her awaiting palm. “Yes, let’s not talk about them...” Jazz snapped her eyes open then, and let out a gasp of mock-surprise, “Oh no! Shaehern--” With reflexes of a cat, the littler woman snapped her hand to eye-level with Shaehern, palm up, showing the little black spider in all its (harmless) multi-eyed glory.
“It’s eating me!!”
Don’t laugh. Not yet…!~
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Post by Shaehern Azhrarn on Apr 27, 2011 19:05:13 GMT -5
Creeping and crawling in the corners of the darkness. Shaehern could swear that he saw the spiders moving now. It made his skin crawl and that only worsened his condition. It was like his entire skin was now made of creeping little eight-legged monstrosities that would nibble at his skin a one of the only fashions he could never find erotic.
He squirmed and flinched as Jasmine mentioned the ones in the Labyrinth. As it was, he imagined that place had only the very worst possibilities of supernatural creatures. The fact that spiders would suck the blood until their prey was a lifeless husk did not help the image of giant spiders in his mind. What was the term called? Shaehern did not even want to be thinking about this.
And then Jasmine revealed her hand and made her exclamation.
Shaehern could move quickly when he had the chance to wind himself up. He was wound up far tighter than any clock spring should be. So he sprung back from his position in a little crab-walk against the floor with a high-pitched squeal. Best friend or not, he was not getting over his fear of spiders to save her life from the monstrosity that threatened to eat her.
And then, from further away, he realized that it was only one tiny spider. Yet he was terribly short of breath and could not speak. His throat was dry. Where was that lemonade? Back near the plum and her spider. "G-g-get... rid of it." The poor blue man was trembling.
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Post by Jasmine Krisp on Apr 27, 2011 19:31:03 GMT -5
And the award for ‘Best Performance for Freaking Out’ goes to…
Saving her laughter paid off big time, as it gave Jasmine an even better reason to giggle. Wow. Shaehern was utterly terrified of spiders, wasn’t he. The man who normally seemed to playful and aloof just did a freaking crab-walk to get away from a little bug! Even the spider seemed pleased with itself, crawling along the middle of her palm like it was dancing. Jazz didn’t mind little spiders. They were actually kind of cute. Shaehern, on the other end of the spectrum…the plum woman’s laughing slowed to a chortle and she placed her hand to the floor.
“Hurry, scurry, and don’t let him see you again, okay?”
The spider disappeared in the darkness outside the fires touch.
Back to the panicking smurf, Jasmine’s gold eyes held no ill-will. The joke had been all in good natured fun. Seeing Shaehern scream was just an added bonus. Giggling once the little Boogie woman waved her hand to show the absence of bugs and to motion him closer. “Sorry, love. It was too much fun to resist.” The basket and the white cloth were close enough for Jasmine to reach over to, lifting the cloth and top to nab an un-touched bottle of lemonade. She'd packed three to begin with...but one was spilled and one was in the clearing in the rain.
“Here,” she said as she rolled it to him, “For your throat.”
But Jasmine couldn't remember which kind of lemonade she'd double-packed. Oh well...she'd find out soon enough, wouldn't she.
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Post by Shaehern Azhrarn on Apr 29, 2011 10:53:27 GMT -5
Why would she even do that to him? It was not nice or fair, and Shaehern hardly could express his lack of appreciation of the act. Was she whispering to the little eight-legged beast? "Y-you conspired with the monster to do that to me." It was almost enough to make Shaehern curl up into a fetal position and just rock back and forth at his current location, but at the last moment he realized that there might be more spiders hiding in the dark.
He scooted his way across the floor more closely to Jasmine. He only allowed himself to be close enough to snatch the lemonade away from her. So far as the blue man was concerned, Jasmine might be plotting something else in that dastardly mind of hers.
"I'm terrified of spiders, in case you missed it." His hands feebly attempted to work the top off of the lemonade, but he could not get a proper grip on the lid. He resorted to using his teeth to pry the top off before he took a drink.
As soon as the liquid hit his throat something felt off. Sort of like how you knew something was weird when you drank a beverage that was mixed with sulfurous water, but you couldn't quite place it until later when your throat was sore from drinking too much. "It's warm," he muttered.
Suddenly he seemed to regret taking such a large pull without checking the contents of the bottle.
"Anyways. Now you know something that terrifies me. Is there anything which warrants a similar response out of you?"
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Post by Jasmine Krisp on Apr 29, 2011 17:48:09 GMT -5
Jasmine simply smiled a bright, innocent smile at the accusation. Sure she’d planned to freak her friend out with a spider. His reaction was simply much funnier than she’d expected it to be. Without her little bug to play with the plum woman went back to trying to handle her damp hair, enjoying the warm fire from a safe distance. “It wasn’t a monster. Spiders can be very sweet, and they eat other pesky bugs. Haven’t you ever read Charlotte’s Web?”
She doubted her friend would read a book about a spider with a crippling fear of them, but who knew.
“I knew you had to have one weakness or two. Should I apologize?” the older Boogie mused as the fire crackled and Shae tried in vain to make his hands work. This just made Jazz laugh more. “That drink will end up shaken, not stirred.” Gold eyes stayed on him as Shae proceeded to open the bottle with his teeth. If that didn’t scream ‘kinky’ she didn’t know what would. Then again, it was Shaehern. Everything the man did was a little erotic.
…oh damn. I remember now. It was the alcoholic one.
Jasmine closed her eyes and pinched her brows, remembering what she should have remembered a second ago. No duh it tasted warm: there was booze in it. She should tell Shae before he took another sip…and yet, something told her that seeing her fruit basket buddy a little tipsy would be interesting. She didn’t remember him getting drunk the last time they’d drank together. But onto the subject of scares now.
Jazz lifted her face from her hand and looked at the fire. “Well you know I’m scared of cats. Dogs sometimes too, but only mean ones. All cats freak me out though…even kittens,” even adorable little Scottish-fold kittens, “Though I don’t squeal like you.”
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Post by Shaehern Azhrarn on Apr 29, 2011 20:22:57 GMT -5
"Itteh bitteh kittehs?" It was amusing to imagine Jasmine being chased around by something like Kender. Then again, if it warranted anything like the response a spider got from Shaehern, then it might be worthwhile payback. Something told him that he already knew or should have suspected the fear of cats, but he was not entirely certain why it was plausible.
"Don't see why you'd be afraid of cats. You've got that overgrown bird pet of yours. A bird doesn't get that big without eating a few cats." What a fitting reversal of the way nature seemed to intend to make things. It was sort of like the spunky kitten that suddenly decided to pick a fight with a bald eagle; it was doomed from the beginning.
Dogs, on the other hand, came as a complete surprise. Another person who would want to keep away from the Labyrinth at all times. It seemed strange to consider what history brought such fears to his plum chickadee. "I had an infestation in a favorite stuffed toy when I was younger. The venomous little things forced me to torch it. Little black specks came out of every imaginable orifice while the entire thing burned." It was not a pleasant memory, but there it was.
Shaehern reached up and felt his face flushing. From somewhere in his robes he managed to procure a fan and he gently generated his own light breeze. "I think I've had entirely enough of that for now," he mumbled as he gently nudged the lemonade away.
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Post by Jasmine Krisp on Apr 29, 2011 20:54:41 GMT -5
Jasmine’s face felt a little warmer at Shae’s teasing. Okay, she just tormented him with a spider. She deserved it, didn’t she? Leaning back on her hands the little Boogie stared at the floating sparks and smoke, gold eyes almost as bright as the fire itself. Her voice sounded a little chilled despite the warmth. “Darion’s familiar was a cat. There’s some deep-seeded hatred of the species after you get maimed by one.” Although she didn’t remember the full story, one of her clearest images as that blasted creature digging its claws into her shoulders, holding her to the wall, to keep her from Darion.
Keeping me from him…for what reason?
She still couldn’t see that far.
“Hades?” this earned the man a laugh, “That brat of a bird hates cats too much to eat them, believe it or not. He’s a picky glutton.” It was true; Hades wouldn’t eat a cat if it was the last thing in Wonderland. She’d seen him eat a mouse once but it was back when they’d just run away…he’d been a little less of a pain back then, less picky and he didn’t knock her about as much, but still a arrogant pest. “I have seen him drop one into the pool once though."
I don’t think that Boogie ever forgave us.
Gold eyes went from the warm fire to Shae’s warming face. Silly boy, he’d barely had a sip! Jazz just chuckled and took the bottle from him. “That sounds less than fun. Poor little Shae-hen...your mother better have bought you another toy to replace it.” Jasmine nodded like it was the obvious thing for a mom to do after such an incident. It was what she would have done, had it happened to Pax. Lithe pale fingers tapped the glass bottle.
“Dear, exactly how do you fare with alcohol? You look a little purple.”
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Post by Shaehern Azhrarn on Apr 30, 2011 20:39:44 GMT -5
So far as Shaehern was concerned Hades was a marvelous feathered friend of fine plumage and pleasantries. His actions were jocular in the most delightful of manners, but it was more so a slapstick scenario wherein Jasmine was both victim and villain. Foul-mannered fowl and unpleasant plum matched in multiple whimsical ways.
But that was quite enough of that.
Shaehern was snickering at his own trail of thoughts at this particular moment. The only thing to quiet his jovial outburst was the answering of a particular question pertaining to his constitution.
"I fare fairly fair, save when fair's fair is the fare. Now would you say fairly purple? Or is it violet? I would think maybe I'd look more indigo, personally." Shaehern seemed to miss the greater point of the statement. Or that the two were even really connected in logic and reasoning. Such was the wonder that was him.
Shae made a motion with his thumb and pinkie against his mouth to emulate a drinking motion. "Usually I drink a bit of wine. On a bad day I might break out the brandy. Hah! I didn't even mean to do that one." He returned to giggling fits for a moment.
"Oh, my. Seems I've had just enough to loosen my tongue."
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