Tiddly Turtles for Two

[Tad_MacLaren]

The monk peered over his glasses at the young lad standing before him, barefoot, wearing aught but a breechclout. "Most unusual, child. Most unusual indeed... however... I suppose..." The monk shook his head but capitulated, "As you wish, lad. As you wish."

Tad grinned at the monk. He was quite excited to play the Citadel game. He had heard about it, but had never even been to the capital before. The city was interesting, but the buildings were so... dead. Tad felt most comfortable in his native forest lands but comfort was a small price to pay for curiosity satisfied. "Goody! Tank you!!!" he exclaimed -- for a moment he had feared the monk wouldn't do as he had asked, or worse might turn him away entirely. Though he was no normal child, Tad worried the Citadel might be the exclusive domain of "Grown-Ups" (growing up was a fate worse than death, but he hadn't yet discovered a way to avoid it).

Tad started down the corridor to find his room, then stopped suddenly. He ran back to the monk, fishing about in his sack. "I almos' forgotted! They'll need these!". Tad handed the monk a handful of small wooden discs. Most we're of a similar size and colored a bright blue. Several we're larger and varied in thickness and color. "I already has mine" he added before dashing back down the corridor to find his chamber.

[Tad_MacLaren]

Stepping cautiously into the "chamber", Tad paused and stared about him. How had they managed to capture a small bit of the Concordia inside this building, not just a forest, but THE forest -- HIS forest?! Tad ran through the meadow laughing with joy. He hadn't realized just how homesick he was until he stepped into this magickal slice of home. Over there was his favorite climbing tree, the den yonder where the wolf mother had whelped her pups. Even the stone dolmen rose forbiddingly at the edge of the moors.

After dashing from tree to meadow and running his fingers over familiar stones, Tad scrambled up into "his" tree. He sat on a wide branch, dirty feet dangling in the cool breeze, and pulled out a small silver flute. A hauntingly fae melody ensued, evoking a longing for home overlaid with a strange satisfaction deep in ones soul, reminiscent of the pure joy seldom experienced except by young children.

[Krausus]

Well, since i PM'd you bout this, i assume this is the battle, if you dont mind, im sorta taking advantage of the "Reacts to the occupants" part of the arena, and having it form a small hut that one of Sirius's past lives grew up in

Sirius walked out of the other battle he just finished with a broken leg, and a concussion, two nights stay at the healing room, he felt better than he had in ages, his hair was as wild as ever. He threw his hat into the waiting space that was his "Locker" but was actually a tiny dimension created by the monks to hold things while you battled.

"Well, Id never thought..." He said as he looked at the picture of the boy he was to battle. He had just seen him in Glofir's shop not two days ago... What happens is not his to control, he then walked into the arena and was hit by a barrage of sensory input from his ears and nose.

He listened to the music and smiled as he heard a fae tune, the one a small fairy used to play when he talked to her, she was one of his only friends from one of his past lives, but the pasts it the past. Sirius stood up tall, grabbed his walking stick out of his bag, and let Shade clamber to the top of it.

"Concordia i smell, that unmistakable stench of ever-wood and oak. So, fae, you test me? Then face me down here on the even ground, i mean no harm beyond what you could expect in this place."

Before he could get his sword out though, a whossh and a bang sounded behind him as the doors slid shut and vanished and a small wood and rock hut formed, but it was no ordinary hut, it was carved with a small layer of fine sawdust, and scratches and holes in the wood from something insanely sharp. This was the hut Evecktus, the young lord of Door, grew up in, with his father the wood cutter. And sirius looked in awe as the door opened to show the wood fireplace, the runes etched around it. The perfect hand made chairs and table, the old knife, thrown as Evecktus' naming, to break the magic that bound him to a fate worse than death...

"It cannot be, i was in this hut, it's thousands of years old, and here it stands, on the edge of the forest, not the same one but, close enough..."

Sirius straightened his back and shoved his staff into the "Locker" and drew his swords, saying the names "Voldar, Exus" and they flared to life in golden light, shimmering like fire on the surface of water.

"Your move, boy."

[Tad_MacLaren]

The young lad sitting in the tree stopped playing and tucked his flute back into his sack. He looked at the newcomer, tilted his head to one side, and started giggling. "Whas those for?" he asked, motioning to the warrior's swords. Rolling his eyes, Tad muttered to himself "Grown-ups... can't take them nowhere" as he slipped from the tree branch to the ground.

"How on earth is you going to catch a turtle wif a sword in each hand? You's not sposed to KILL the turtle. I guess it's not 'gainst the rules, but it sure makes it easier for me if'n you kills the turtle. You'd better not kill Toby tho, he's my friend!".

The lad stood there, hands on his hip, glaring at the warrior as if just DARING him to kill Toby... whoever or whatever that might be.

[Krausus]

We're supposed to be catching turtles?


-OOC

[Tad_MacLaren]

Yes, though clearly Sirius doesn't know that yet lol. I'm sure the wee fae would be more than happy to explain if asked

Tad tapped his foot, glaring at the dumbfounded warrior. "Well, gonna come catch a turtle or is you gonna make me catch one for you?". Tad giggled at the thought. "I'll be glad to catch you one if'n you wants, but you's gonna get a slooooooooooow turtle in that case!" The wee lad winked at his opponent and turned to walk towards the stone dolmen at the edge of the moors.

[Krausus]

NOOOOOOO, i wanted to spill fairy blood. But ok.

Sirius looked at his swords for a second, then at the kid.

"Catching turtles? What?!"

[Tad_MacLaren]

Oh I won't prevent you from spilling faerie blood if it makes you happy, but you'll have to live with yourself afterwards ;)

"Don' you know ANYFING?" Tad rolled his eyes, and sighed heavily. He then proceeded to speak very slowly, as clearly the warrior was having trouble understanding. "You cannae play Turtle Tiddly wifout a turtle. Well, wifout two turtles really. Or one turtle per person. Or one turtle per team. But you hasta haf at least two turtles. Since there's jus the two of us, we each needs a turtle."

The child pointed to the moors past the stone dolmen. "Turtles lives over there. So to start wif, we goes and each catches a turtle. You wansa catch the fastestest turtle you can catch." The child's eyes twinkled with pleasure, as if he knew something his opponent didn't. Something other than how to play Tiddly Turtles, that is.

"Then once we each has a turtle we can come back o'er here and play". The slim lad pointed to an open space of packed dirt with one hand, while rummaging in his sack with the other. "Aha, here they are." Tad pulled out two shallow dishes, each with a strangely concave bottom, as if they were intended to sit on a domed surface. "You can haf whiche'er one you wants. I forgotted to leave one wif the monk. Dids he gif you your winks and squiger?"

[Krausus]

meh. It's been about a month now. I should be able to reincarnate. I like Sirius though.

With a smirk on his face the boy walked down.

"Umm, kid, where i come from, we don't play "Tiddly Turtles." and i don't want to, i came here for a proper sword to weapon fight, not some insane fairy-child's game. But, ill do it if you promise to get me something for my birthday (OOC-Woot, hitting 19 tomorrow. Also moving away from my dad :/)

Sirius walked down to the shore and looked at the turtles, picked a small one with long legs, that was sunbathing itself. He brought it up the slope to the place where the boy was and stood there with a turtle in his hand.

"Umm, what next? Put it down? Shell it? Make turtle stew?!?"

[Tad_MacLaren]

Tad shook his head, muttering to himself, "I told him to get a fast one. Grown-Ups ne'er listen". He then crept into the shallow swampy water, squishing his toes in the mud. He bypassed numerous turtles sunning on the rocks, watching for a shadow swimming beneath the surface. Tad's eyes narrowed as he spotted what he was looking for. He crouched down, waiting silently for the shadow to come near.

Suddenly Tad sprang into action, leaping with outstretched hands.... SPLASH! "Ha!!" He exclaimed victoriously, rising from the water with a squirming shape held tightly in both hands. Tad whispered quietly to the frantic turtle as he strode back to the clearing, leaving drips of muddy water in his wake.

[Tad_MacLaren]

Tad set his turtle (now much calmer) down in the clearing and set one of the shallow dishes on it's back. The concave bottom of the dish fit nearly perfectly on his turtle's shell. He the gently took the turtle from Sirius' grasp and set it down before adorning it with a similar dish on its back. Reaching into his sack one last time, he dropped a handful of small red disks on the ground near the turtles and held up a larger disk, this one made of polished ebony.

Herding the turtles with his feet to keep them in the clearing, Tad proceeded to explain the rest of the game. "Firs' you puts your winks on the ground, like tha". Tad pointed to the scattering of red disks. "Then you takes your Squiger," he held up the polished ebony disk, "an uses it to twiddle your winks into the dish on MY turtle's back. Tha's why you wants a fast one... You has a lazy turtle, he's not gonna hardly move'". At this Tad had to get a fit of giggling under control.

The lad squatted down on his heels and demonstrated, pushing down on the edge or a red disk (apparently the "wink") with his ebony squiger. When the larger disk slipped off the edge, the smaller wink flipped up into the air landing neatly in the dish on the back of the basking turtle. "If'n you gets one in, you gets to go again! But if'n one of my winks is on top of yours, you cannae twiddle that one."

Tad looked up inquiringly to see if the warrior understood. "You cans go firstest if'n
you wants to, since is your birfday!"

[Krausus]

sorry for my lateness. Totally forgot.

With careful precision and a quick mental calculation Sirius pressed his squiger onto a wink and it flipped into the air, landing in the middle of the dish on his turtles back. He smirked, and then slid his sword all the way back into his sheath fully and then looked at the boy across from him.

"I find this incredibly boring, and i came here to spill blood. Still, thank you for this, I find it entertaining."

He then leaned against a tree and allowed his mind to wander through the world, being the free spirit that was the nature of man. Exploration. To see the world. In his black dreams of half aware was he saw the world through sight, not the shadows that he could see now, his eyes wracked husks in a box hidden in a safe behind a cabinet that is locked with a logic riddle. He saw it in the place it was. Under the couch. But after that, he saw a glowing light streaking through a forest, and crackling like lightning.

"What is this forest anyway?"

[Tad_MacLaren]

no worries.
Tad was impressed, he was not expecting the warrior to be any good at tiddly winks, much less tiddly turtle. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve, though. Getting a wink onto a stationary turtle is one thing, but a moving turtle is something entirely different.

"You's posed to tiddle it into the dish on MY turtle, not your turtle silly." Tad shook his head and bent over to whisper something to the turtles. He smiled as his turtle started walking around a bit faster, but his opponent's turtle simply sat down and tucked it's head into it's shell. "Is still your turn, you can haf that as a freebie since you din' know the rules. Nex' one has to go on THAT turtle though" Tad pointed to the far more active turtle wandering around the patch of dirt.

Having straightened out the rules of the game, Tad addressed the man's questions. "This Forest? Is my home. I donnae know how they didded it, but this is where I lives. O'er that way is the Underhill." He pointed deeper into the forest. "At least it is in the real Concordia. I dunno if'n it's here. I didnae have time to look afore you showed up. But this is where I growed up, since I was a wee little bairn." Tad ran his fingers through the dirt and closed his eyes. He hadn't been gone all that long, but already he missed it.