Now Play Nice (Solo)

by **Ariel** on December 20th, 2010, 6:48 pm

24 Winter, 510 AV

Ariel was sitting by a large campfire that appeared to be in the center of Endrykas, or at least, as close to the center as one could get. She was sitting on a flat rock, one that was rather close to the ground, watching as people moved past her without paying her any mind.

Ariel sighed, they all seemed to be exactly the same- too caught up in their daily lives to notice anyone else's existence. They just walked on by, Ariel tried not to let it get to her, and instead turned to look at those who were also seated around the fire. Women and children maybe, holding their hands out in front of them towards the fire in an attempt to get warm.

"Hey," Ariel called, hoping to get someone's attention, to talk a little, but no one turned to face her. Instead, they continued to try and warm themselves, perhaps in vain, because, as far as she could tell, from where she was sitting, everyone was still shivering, except herself.

"Oh well," Ariel whispered into the wind, "you can't always get what you want," she then rested her elbow on her knee, and her face in the palm of her hand. She looked as though she were deep in thought.

Just then, a shadow crept across her vision. It was splayed against the trodden earth directly in front of her. But unlike all the other shadows she had noticed of late, this one was short, close to the ground, and its owner had four legs instead of the amount she deemed typical- two.

Not exactly startled, intrigued is a better word, Ariel looked up to find a kitten weaving itself in-between people's legs, stones, and sitting logs. The kitten had short fur, which had a slightly translucent look to it. Its sorrel-colored fur appeared to have a very fine texture. It bore several dark bands of a warm copper red over a lighter shade of a chocolate red-brown. It marked the kitten's coat evenly giving it a ticked coat pattern.

The kitten had both a muscular, and lean appearance, and couldn't weigh all that much more than Ariel- perhaps 9 pounds, she guessed. The kitten's body was also rather long.

The kitten's eyes were rather large, as though the size would account for its nature, which Ariel guessed was a curious one. They were amber-colored eyes with dark rims around each of them. The kitten had large ears that were cupped with tufts of fur at the tips. It had slender legs and small paws, with sharp claws that curved downwards towards the ground. The kitten also had a long tail, which Ariel guessed to be about three-quarters of its size, that swished back and forth with each of its silent steps across the ground. Near the tip of the kitten's tail, was a band of cinnamon-colored fur.

Ariel clapped her hands happily as the kitten bent over and sniffed the ground, its whiskers twitching, it was just too cute for words, she thought, as its ears started to twitch, as though they were picking up the sound of her clapping. It was then that the kitten walked another few steps, before lifting its head, and looking right up at her with its big amber eyes. It seemed to stare at her, and she at it. Ariel couldn't blink, after all.

by **Ariel** on December 22nd, 2010, 5:26 pm

Ariel did not like the way the kitten was looking at her, but she wasn't sure why. She refused to take her eyes off the kitten as it padded a little closer to her, sticking its neck out, and sniffing her. It scrunched up its nose a moment later, and retracted its neck a bit, taking another step closer to where Ariel was now standing on the flat rock.

The kitten's whiskers twitched. It raised it's front left paw a little, and put it down again, Ariel kept glancing at it, as she tilted her head to the side, eyes still locked on the kitten's amber ones. The kitten raised its paw again, its claws sticking out, the pale pink pads of its under-paw exposed.It swatted at Ariel, playfully, although, for Ariel, it was strong enough to knock her over, and off the rock.

Ariel landed in the nearby dirt, clutching her right elbow in her left hand, she had landed on it, and it was rather sore. Thank goodness she wasn't human, Ariel thought to herself, because that would leave a nasty mark in the morning.

Ariel slowly got to her feet, and slowly picked the small dirt bits that had clung to her claw dress, and wings with her fingernails. She flicked them to the ground, and when she looked up the kitten was standing over her. Its small pink nose practically in her face. Its thin whiskers brushing up against her wings from time to time. It sent a little tremor through them, it kind of tickled Ariel.

Ariel stifled a low gasp, clutching her right hand over her heart, which was starting to speed up again. She then placed her left hand on her left hip, and moved her right hand over towards the kitten's nose, and said, "that," she paused, "wasn't very nice," as she lightly poked the kitten's nose, and it retracted its face again, before getting right back in her face.

Ariel sighed, this thing sure didn't understand personal space, she thought to herself, or have any manners, and it seemed to be a rather curious little thing. The kitten's back legs started to twitch, Ariel glanced at them nervously, just as the kitten raised it's front right paw. Ariel pointed to it, "no!" she said as she took a nervous step back, and the cat bowled her over with its paw again. This time, she didn't momentarily fly through the air, she just got knocked over.

Ariel fell on her right side, her arms splayed beneath her, her wings out behind her, she could feel that the top feathers of her right one had chipped a bit. "Would you stop that!" she called over to the kitten who was rubbing its nose against her head now. "That really isn't very nice you know," knowing that there was no way this kitten understood her. Ariel didn't speak cat, and she doubted the cat spoke or even understood the three languages she did know- Common, Kontinese, and Pavi.

The kitten backed up a bit at Ariel's outburst, and looked at her up and down. Ariel patted herself off again, after she had once again, gotten to her feet. When she glanced up, she noticed the kitten's tail wagging furiously, and that it was crouching down. "Oh no," she muttered to nothing and no one in particular, as the kitten sprang to its feet and attempted to pounce on her.

Ariel dodged it just in top, barely missing her the rock she had been knocked off of. Ariel started to breath heavily. That was close, too close she thought, as the cat started to run in the opposite direction she was in, looking for her, tail and ears twitching.

Suddenly, it turned as if hearing her breathing had alerted it to her location. "Great," she muttered, as the kitten lunged for her, and she leapt out of the way, the kitten tripping over the rock, and falling over. It took the kitten another moment to get back up, before it turned to look back at her. Ariel was still on the ground, and was having some trouble getting to her feet.

Just what I needed right now, she thought to herself, as the kitten licked its chops, got into the crouching position again, and then sprang on top of her, claws outstretched and picking at her clay body, thankfully, avoiding her face. Ariel looked up at the kitten who was staring down at her, swishing its tale.

"You do realize I'm not a mouse right!" she hollered up at the silly creature, as she felt her right wing crack down the middle, which sent a shooting pain through her body, causing her to scrunch up her face, close her eyes, and grit her teeth in pain.

The kitten shifted Ariel's body lightly with her paw, and that was enough to allow the broken portion of Ariel's wing to crumble away onto the grass. Ariel was now missing half of her right wing. The portion that remained attached to her body was cracked and hung in jagged edges. Her left wing, however, was merely a little chipped, and looked glorious in comparison to her right one. Ariel sighed, hoping that it would grow back within a reasonable amount of time, she had to look ridiculous.

The kitten looked at her fallen wing, head tilted to the right, wondering what had happened. The kitten had let up a bit, and was no longer resting its claws on her chest, so Ariel slowly got up. "Yes, you see what you did," she said as she waved her finger at the kitten, "you broke my wing off," she finished as the kitten looked back at her, before swatting her broken wing back and forth.

Ariel reached into her bag, which surprisingly, hadn't fallen off in all of this, and pulled out a piece of clay. She quickly munched on it, chewing furiously, hoping that putting something in her system would make her feel a little better as she watched the kitten continuously pounce on the jagged portion of her broken-off wing, until it crumbled into nothingness, and it turned back to her, a sad look in its eyes, almost saying, what happened? Don't you want to play with me anymore Ariel sighed, "no, I never wanted to play with you in the first place." Well, at least, not at this capacity, Ariel thought to herself, as the kitten walked back to her and licked the top of her head.

"Eeeew!" Ariel said, as she furiously wiped cat slobber off her head, and the kitten wiped at its tongue with its front left paw, as if to say, eeeeeewwwww is right, or maybe that was simply Ariel's wishful thinking, and the kitten was really thinking, hmmmmm.... quite the acquired taste, but perhaps I could grow used to it. Ariel sighed, she had finally gotten all of the kitty slobber off, and had managed to get to her feet. Ariel pointed her finger at the kitten, staring it right in the eye, puffing up her chest a little bit, so she'd appear larger, "now do you see I'm not a mouse?" she asked, "or some stupid plaything?" she asked as she moved both of her hands onto her hips, before thinking better of it now that her body was rather sore, thanks to the kitten's supposedly playful and good-natured antics. Ariel couldn't say she agreed.

The kitten sat next to her, cleaning it's paws, licking them, then wiping its face with them, repeating the motion over and over. Ariel glared the thing, yeah now you want to play nice and groom your dirty self, she thought, before thinking, wait, now is my chance, this is when I silently slip away into the night... of course it wasn't night, so daylight would have to do. Slowly, as silently as she could, Ariel started to tip-toe backwards, not bothering to look behind her, and silently praying to Harameus that nothing was there, and nothing would get in her way.

The kitten didn't seem to notice, being too engrossed in its task of grooming itself. So silently, Ariel began to slip away, and hit behind a blade of grass, and a large pointy rock, or at least, it was large enough to hide her. The rock was about 5 inches hide, and 3 wide, so it was good enough as far as camouflage and protection goes as any, least for her.

Did she lose it? Ariel wondered, as she peered around the side of the rock at the kitten who was still grooming itself, picking out whatever was stuck in the bottom of its paws with its teeth. Ariel sighed, that's good, doesn't seem to notice the non-existence of the cute little pycon play thing she thought to herself, as she tuned into the kitten's aura, just to be safe.

The aura didn't tell her much, it was a swirl of both yellow and a deep brown that reminded her of the color of her father's clay skin. Of course, Ariel was horrid when it came to interpreting brown auras. So, that portion told her nothing, the yellow portion, at least, suggested that the kitten was happy, or at least content with its day and what it was doing. Well, that's good, she thought to herself, thinking of how this encounter had cost her half of a wing.

The kitten eventually stopped what it was doing, and Ariel quickly jerked her head back behind the rock, eyes wider than usual, heart pounding in her little clay chest, darn it, did it see me? she wondered, as she heard tiny footsteps on the grass as what she assumed to be the kitten, and the occasional drykas prowled around the area.

Oh how she wished she could see through rocks and know exactly where that kitten had gotten to.

Wish granted: the kitten was standing right in front of her, nose outstretched towards Ariel, whiskers twitching.

"Haven't you had enough fun and games for one day?" she asked the kitten, from where she sat, leaning up straight against the rock she had used to hide behind just a few minutes before, "or should I say," she began, "tormenting me and destroyingmypreciouswing?" Ariel huffed as the kitten continued to peer down at her, eyes wide, but not seeming to understand.

The kitten swatted Ariel again with its right paw, and Ariel skidded across the ground, picking up some dirt, and flying over a small pebble along the way before she came to a stop a few feet away, the kitten started prodding after her, and that's when adrenaline kicked in.

Ariel sprang to her feet, and started to run as quickly as her little pycon legs would carry her, which unfortunately, wasn't anywhere near as quickly as she would like.

Ariel pushed past blades of grass, jumped over pebbles, weaved in between sitting logs, and drykas legs and garments, not caring about the pain that seared through her body, or how dirty and covered in earthen materials she was, or that her bag would fly behind her, and then bump into her with each step. Ariel didn't care at all, she just wanted to get away from that kitten.

Ariel's breath was coming fast, and furious, her heart was pounding in her chest, and she wasn't thinking or listening much, just running, occasionally, she'd look behind her to see the cat sniffing the ground, trying to pick her scent out of the crowd, and sometimes hot on her trail, mowing through the area like there was nothing and no one there besides the two of them. Not caring that the drykas had to quickly lift their legs as the little kitten ran through, so as not to impede its run. Not noticing that it was chasing a pycon, whose wing it had essentially, clawed off.

Gosh, Ariel hated the unobservant nature of people sometimes, and now was definitely one of those times, she thought to herself as she tried to pick up speed, starting to grow rather tired, legs feeling like leg, as she swished her arms forward with each step, right leg going forward with right arm, left with left, wishing the force of her hands was enough to give her a little extra speed so she could get away.

Ariel wasn't really thinking, only running, not really seeing, so when a large rock approached, just a foot away, she hardly had time to dig her heels into the ground, and force her body to stop so she wouldn't smush into the thing. Yes, she successfully stopped herself, and yes, she fell to the ground, her hands out to catch her, her bag bumping her butt behind her. At least, she thought, she hadn't lost her things, because that would really suck. One of the few ways this day could get any worse.

Ariel looked behind her, willing her exhausted form up, when the kitten skidded to a halt behind her, before scooping her up it its mouth, dangling her frail form between its teeth.

Ariel pounded on the side of its mouth. "THAT. IS. SO. NOT. NICE!" Ariel huffed. "BAD KITTY! VERY BAD!" she screamed as she swiped at the kitten again, as it crunched into her remaining wing, and it fell to the ground at the kittens feet. The kitten seemed to think nothing of it, and continued walking, stepping over another fallen piece of Ariel's body. It didn't seem to notice Ariel's kicking and screaming, or her punches into its mouth, it was like she was doing nothing.

No matter how she pushed against the kitten's mouth, trying to break free, Ariel couldn't. Her broken wings remained crushed in the kitten's mouth, only her head and her feet dangling out the sides.

The kitten's tongue was cold, wet, and rough like sandpaper beneath her. But she barely felt that, all she felt was the excruciating pain of her broken body beneath her as the kitten's delicate steps, slight movements, sent lightning pain through her body. All she felt was the kitten's teeth slowly chipping away at her, and Ariel wondered how much longer could she hold on? And was Harameus watching? And if he was, why was he allowing this to happen to her? It just didn't seem fair.

The kitten continued walking, and Ariel tried not to scream, letting out the occasional groan as the kitten walked along happily with its prize.

Another add on to the infinite list of things to avoid: playful and curious kittens, Ariel thought to herself, as finally, the kitten leaned its head down, and dropped Ariel in the grass at its feet, a thin line of saliva dripping from its mouth and onto Ariel, but Ariel was too tired to do anything about it. Too beaten, to wipe it away and declare it absolutely disgusting.

So instead, Ariel merely lay in the grass, the kitten standing over her, peering down at her, as her legs lay crooked beneath her, her hands resting on her chest, as she drew in breath after breath, so slowly, she wondered if she would simply fail to continue doing so, and stop altogether.

Ariel tried to concentrate on the subtle smell of the grass. The cold feel of the grass beneath her. The cold feel of the earth. To concentrate on the wind, which rustled the grass slightly, and the clouds up in the sky. But Ariel couldn't hold on anymore, and everything simply became pitch black, like the insides of a deep cave, and cold, very cold, and it was a long time, perhaps a few hours, before Ariel opened her eyes again.

by **Ariel** on December 23rd, 2010, 3:30 am

When Ariel first opened her eyes, she failed to notice much other than the pain in her head. She clutched it, slowly sitting up, and shutting her eyes again as the world around her started to spin. Ariel gave herself a moment, before opening them again, the world still spinning a bit before coming to a sudden halt just when she was about to hurl.

Ariel looked around her, but she couldn't see much of anything. Just grass, the occasional pesky fly, what she assumed to be a row of tents and some smoke off in the distance, and the kitten resting on its side a few feet away, eyes close, chest rising and falling with each inhale and exhale.

Ariel breathed in deeply, it would take her a rather long time to get back to the row of tents, or the smoke, or whatever it was she saw so darn far away, especially in her current state.

Ariel glanced over at the sleeping kitten, it seemed so peaceful to her. Then she glanced back over at the smoke that was billowing out into the clouds. She sighed again, it would take her days, most likely, to get back there.

Slowly, Ariel eased herself onto her feet. The process was slow-going and painful. Her feet hurt tremendously. Ariel took a few steps toward the camp, but stumbled a bit. "This is hopeless!" she called as she looked up at the sky and pounded the ground with her fists in frustration.

Ariel turned her head, slowly, to look behind her, back at the kitten, it was still resting, but its tail keep hitting the ground, and its ears and its whiskers kept on twitching.

Ariel sighed again, knowing somewhere inside that she needed this kitten to help her get back into the heart of Endrykas. So Ariel crawled over to it, well, practically dragged herself over, slowly and painfully, wincing with the pain, but doing her level best to ignore it. She grit her teeth, and paid no mind to the little dirt clods that hung to her clay clothing.

When she got to the kitten, she patted its stomach for a moment, and the kitten barely stirred. There was merely a twitch of its ears and whiskers, but otherwise, the creature was still sound asleep.

Ariel grabbed onto its fur, and slowly, climbed up its side, losing her footing a number of times, and sliding back to the ground, only to have to start all over again. The kitten's fur was very fine, smooth, silky, hard to cling too, and also rather short. There were no foot rests, no place to rest if she got tired. If she got tired, Ariel fell, and had to start the process of mounting the kitten all over again.

But eventually, she made it, only to have the kitten roll over onto its other side, so that the side she was on, was rather close to the ground, maybe an inch above it. Thankfully, the kitten hadn't rolled over her, or on top of her, but still, the kitten was asleep, and Ariel still hadn't managed to mount it successfully.

Ariel sat with her back to the kitten, breathing deeply, trying to collect herself and her thoughts, she had to do this, if she wanted to return to Endrykas within a reasonable amount of time, she had to somehow mount the kitten, and then, somehow, get it to return to where she had come from earlier in the day.

So, once Ariel had collected herself, she nimbly climbed back onto the kitten, having practiced it so many times before. She sat on top of the kitten, clutching its soft fur in her hands, feeling triumphant, on top of the word, although she wasn't even one foot up in the air, she felt like a giant.

It was another few minutes before the kitten opened its eyes, and seemed to notice her existence. It didn't seem happy or mad to see her, it didn't seem upset with her being up there, but it didn't seem happy either.

The kitten pushed its front paws forward, let out its claws, digging them into the ground slightly, and arched its back, stretching itself, and sending soft vibrations through Ariel's body as it twitched its muscles, begging them to come back to life.

The kitten then broke the stretch, returning to its normal standing position, before shaking out each of its paws one at a time. Ariel slid around a bit, having a hard time clinging to the kitten's fur, and ensuring that her tiny and broken body remain in one place.

The kitten let out a yawn before taking a few steps forward, its muscles rippling through its back, the bones by the back of its neck sticking up with each forward step on its side, before disappearing as the other foot moved forward.

Ariel's bag hung limply in front of her, as the kitten stopped, and sniffed the air, before putting its nose to the ground, its ears and whiskers twitching, as if listening for some sort of disturbance.

Ariel risked giving the kitten a pat, leaning in a little, and whispering, "sense something?" as the kitten raised its head again, and began glancing around, its body tense. Muscles tight, highly alert.

Then something darted across their path, heading into the taller sections of grass to their left, the kitten's body started to twitch all over, and it crouched a bit. What on earth was that? Ariel wondered, just before the kitten sprang, in hot pursuit of whatever it was.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! Would you slow down!" Ariel yelled as the kitten picked up speed and she clung even more tightly to its fur, leaning into its head a bit, as she had seen various riders do with horses.

Ariel couldn't see anything, she was squeezing her eyes shut, praying to Harameus that she didn't fall off the crazy thing as it sprinted after some mysterious animal, what she assumed to be some sort of rodent.

The kitten ran through long stalks of grass, that continually hit Ariel in the face, one of them getting caught in her mouth, knowing that she'd fall should she try to pull it out with one of her hands, she merely spit and spit and spit, until it came out on its own, and toppled off the side of the kitten's pelt.

Ariel opened her eyes. She glanced up and over the kitten's head, at what lied ahead of them, her grip loosening a bit, so that she slipped farther back on the kitten, maybe a quarter of an inch.

The kitten seemed to be chasing a small gray mouse, with a long, banded looking pale pink tail, through the grass. "Now you see," Ariel shouted, "that's a mouse!" as the kitten picked up speed again, the mouse darting from left to right, trying to trick the kitten, trying to throw it off its trail, to lose it in the grass, but the mouse failed, and a moment later, the kitten, and Ariel on its back, were up in the air, Ariel screaming Harameus knows what as it came crashing down, landing on the grass with the mouse caught in its outstretched claws.

"You got it!" Ariel cried, as the kitten dug its claws into the mouse, drawing some blood, before letting it go a little bit, and stopping the mouse with its front paw on its tail as soon as it began to inch away. "Awww now," Ariel began, "my mama always said not to play with my food, and you shouldn't either," she laughed as she got her wish, the kitten bending its head down, and taking a bite out of the mouse, chewing profusely, crunching on a bone before stepping over it and heading straight, running parallel to the drykas camp.

"No no!" Ariel scolded, "not that way!" she moaned, as the kitten ignored her, walking in the entirely wrong direction.

Ariel sighed, I suck at this, she thought to herself, as the kitten kept walking, and she got the bright idea of trying to steer the kitten like one would a horse. Ariel tugged on the clump of fur she was holding in her left hand, and gave the kitten a little kick. It didn't do anything, she tried again, still nothing, again, but harder, that got the kitten to turn, but only walk slowly towards the camp.

"Well, at least now you're going the right way," Ariel commented as she gave the kitten a little kick with both of her legs. This didn't get the kitten to go any faster, it simply walked back towards Endrykas.

Ariel tried not to let herself feel disheartened, she was exhausted, in pain, and felt broken. She was going no where fast, even though she wanted to be, she tried not to let this get to her. She tried not to let the fact that there was no one around, as far as her tiny little eyes could see, for a long ways away get to her. The only sign of life was the smoke in the distance.

The wind began to pick up again, and it whistled around her. It made the grass dance, and the kitten's fur flutter a bit. It twisted it, made it move back and forth, made her frown a bit. Not that she was cold, but she feared the kitten may be soon, and that may cause problems, she also feared that if the wind picked up enough, it may knock her off her mount.

But Ariel soon realized that she didn't need to worry about that. The kitten's muscles soon tensed as the wind continued to howl. Ariel patted the kitten's back as it came to a halt, and looked over its left shoulder, amber eyes wide, as though afraid. "Something wrong?" Ariel whispered, as the wind blew a branch in front of them.

The kitten continued to tense, looking all around it, "it's ok," Ariel whispered, getting nervous that something lousy was about to happen, again, which it did. The wind must have spooked the kitten, because it darted in the direction of the camp.

Once again, Ariel was clinging to the thing for dear life, as it ran faster and faster as the wind continued to howl. It was like the poor creature was trying to outrun the wind, a hopeless task, which only Ariel seemed to understand. Yet, no matter how much Ariel tried to pull up on the kitten's fur, it wouldn't halt, in fact, sometimes it seemed like it was only going faster, so Ariel stopped trying, only to strengthen her efforts in holding on for dear life.

Ariel grew tired, pain seared through her body with each of the kitten's steps. Everything was excruciating, and the kitten didn't seem like it was about to stop.

The kitten was ambling through the tall grass, leaping over rocks, dodging a few, weaving between grassy and dirt patches. Ariel's hold began to slip, and she started to slide down the kitten, she was now in the middle of the kitten's back, and she couldn't pull herself forward again.

Ariel's bag was flying behind her, the kitten was moving forward, and Ariel couldn't really see where. All she saw was smoke in the distance, although it was closer before, and grass, lots and lots of grass.

The kitten kept running, the wind chasing, and Ariel slipping until she was at the edge of the kitten's body, next to its tail, then sliding down its tail as though it were indeed, a slide, and then grasping the tip of the tail, and flying behind the kitten screaming, "would you slow the heck down!" and "Harameus! You owe me for this... if I survive!"

Sometimes, as she held onto the tip of the kitten's tail, she would be flying through the air with the speed, only the kitten's tail keeping her grounded, sometimes, her feet would be on the ground, skidding over things, and she'd be running, as fast as she could, the kitten also pulling her forward. But it hurt, a lot, and after awhile, Ariel was simply too tired to do it anymore, so she let go.

Due to the momentum she had built up, it took Ariel a moment for her body to come to a complete halt, face down in the dirt, noticing that the kitten was still running ahead of her when she lifted her head up using the push-up position. Although, Ariel also noticed that she was only maybe 30 feet from the drykas camp now. She wasn't sure which pavilion she was by, and she didn't see a fire anymore, but at least there was civilization in sight, she thought, as she let herself collapse into the ground, her face smashing into it again, before turning over, and lying on her crumbled wings. They ached, reminding her of how she was broken, incomplete.

Silently she prayed that she'd be rebuilt, healed, in a reasonable amount of time. She prayed to Harameus that it was overnight.

Ariel blacked out again, coming too when it was dark in the sky. Not a star in sight, just the moon, which was a slim crescent.

It took a moment for Ariel to open her eyes, to realize that the kitten from before was standing over her, licking her awake, too tired to say, "eeeeeewwwwww," Ariel flashed a weak smile. "Hello you," she said as the kitten continued to lick her, a drop of dried blood, presumably from the mouse it had killed, on the edge of its nose. Ariel sat up, the kitten's nose was still in her face, it licked her again.

Ariel nudged its nose. "Ok ok!" she said, as the kitten stepped back, tilting its face to the side, as she got up painfully slow, only to stumble over again. "Owww," Ariel muttered, as the kitten nudged her with its nose, sending more lightning strikes of pain through her tiny body.

"Would you quick it?" she said, "that kind of hurts."

by **Ariel** on December 24th, 2010, 2:41 am

The kitten nudged Ariel with its nose again, before moving its face away, and letting out a low meow.

"Yeah meow to you too," Ariel said, slightly irritated. "See what you did?" she asked, waving a finger half-heartedly up at the kitten who was still looking down at her with its big amber eyes. "Can't... get... up..." Ariel muttered dramatically, as she threw her hand over her face and closed her eyes as though she were a true damsel in distress.

The kitten nudged her yet again, "ok ok! I'm up!" Ariel called as she moved her hand out of her face and looked up at the kitten. Its whiskers were twitching. Ariel sighed.

"Still need to get over there," Ariel said as she pointed over at the drykas camp before dropping her hand again, and forcing herself to sit up slowly, scrunching her eyes shut in the process, and gritting her teeth.

"Meow," the kitten said as it stuck its nose in her face again. Ariel playfully swatted it away. The kitten merely blinked, retracting its nose for a moment, before putting it right back. "Meow."

"Sorry, don't speak cat," Ariel commented as the kitten started to push her with its nose. Ariel toppled over to her left. Face flat in the dirt. "Well I love you too," Ariel said as she got up again, the kitten still forcing her to the left with its nose. Ariel was rolling, not too gracefully, in the grass, thanks to the kitten's nudges, with the tip of its cold, and slightly wet nose.

"Can't you push me towards the camp?" Ariel muttered as she rolled along, getting a little dizzy, her head hurting a bit since she rolled over a pebble. Just be thankful you're not dead, she kept telling herself. Just be thankful...

But Ariel didn't feel thankful, her body hurt all over, and each time she rolled, her bag would hit her in the face, "well this day has been a smack in the face," she commented, as she rolled along, "literally," perhaps it was in bad taste to say such a thing, but Ariel didn't really care, no one was around to listen, and the kitten and her bag weren't going to stop tormenting her any time soon, or at least, it sure as heck seemed that way.

Ariel tried to tuck her head in as she rolled along, so it wouldn't hurt too much, but it didn't seem to make much difference, so she simply kept rolling to the left, parallel of the camp, where she needed to go, gritting her teeth, and then she didn't feel the kitten's nose against her back anymore.

Eventually, Ariel's body came to a halt after she flew over a gray rock, which served as a sort of ramp. She landed flat on her behind, rubbing it a bit now that it was insanely sore, despite her spinning head.

When that had calmed down, she looked behind her and saw the kitten looking wildly around, as if something had frightened it. Great, my only hope of reaching civilization by the end of the day is being a fraidy cat again, Ariel thought angrily to herself, just as the kitten padded up to her, delicately picked her up in its mouth, and ran off in the direction of the nearest drykas tent.

Ariel pounded on the side of its mouth with her right arm, only her right arm and head were free of the kitten's mouth. Her legs were feet-first in the kitten's mouth, her head facing the outside, the ground, saliva was pouring down her body. "EEEEEEWWWW," she said as soon as she noticed, even though the kitten didn't understand.

The kitten's tongue felt cold and sand-papery beneath her, but she ignored it to the best of her ability, that and the whole saliva thing kind of toned down just how gross and annoying she found the feel of the kitten's tongue.

And at least the kitten was walking towards camp now, well as far as Ariel could tell, all she could see for the most part, since it was difficult to turn her head, was that it was getting darker and darker, and the moon seemed brighter and brighter in contrast.

Suddenly, the kitten dropped Ariel at the foot of a tent. "Meow," it said. Ariel held her arms out, saliva dripping off of her and onto the grass. Her clay skin looked darker now that it was moist, and the sun was no longer shining in the sky. "Eww," she said, as she wiped some of the saliva off.

"Meeeooow," the kitten said as it nudged her with its nose. "Still don't speak cat," Ariel replied as she finished wiping away as much of the saliva as she could, and patted the kitten's nose; maybe the thing wasn't always bad. In fact, in a way, Ariel couldn't help but feel as though she were growing, almost fond of the cuddly critter.

The kitten had rolled over and was batting at her with its paws. Ariel's heart started to melt. It's so cute! she thought to herself, as it playfully batted at her, not enough to hurt though, even though the claws were out. It would simply tap her, or miss by a fraction of an inch, before moving its paw away, and starting over again, although it were playing a very poor game of tennis. Ariel simply laughed into the night, light and strangely free.

The kitten got up a few minutes later, Ariel assumed it was simply because it had gotten bored. "Not good enough for you," she laughed as she eyed the kitten, watching the moon's reflection in its eyes.

The kitten sat before her, its head tilted to the side. Ariel looked at it, its tail twitching, which gave her an idea. Ariel dragged herself over to the kitten's tail, lying down on it, feet towards the end of the tale, head towards the base. Her stomach was flat on the kitten's tail, and its fur tickled her a bit. The kitten turned to look behind her, curious, or maybe confused, as Ariel clung to small clumps of fur.

"It's ok," Ariel said, as the kitten looked at her, seeming to say, "if you say so." Ariel just laughed. The kitten seemed to get it, walking deeper into the cat, dragging its tail and the broken Ariel behind it.

Ariel just clung to the tail, the kitten's fur tickling her chin, and sometimes getting up her nose, so she'd have to blow really hard to get it out, or face the possibility of sneezing it made her nose so itchy.

The kitten's fur felt soft, and it felt warm, and Ariel liked it. She closed her eyes and leaned in closer as the kitten walked deeper and deeper into the camp, passing people occasionally, who didn't seem to notice either of them. Didn't seem to notice much of anything, but Ariel didn't care, despite the hardships of her day, she was in a fairly good mood.

The kitten walked back to the fire, and came to a halt. It sat and looked behind it. Last stop, everybody off now, it seemed to say to her, as it stared at her with its big amber eyes.

Ariel let go of the kitten's fur, and rolled off its tail so she wound up lying near the fire, on her side. Everyone seemed to be going in for the night, and it was just her and the kitten.

The kitten looked at her, "meow" it said.

"How many times do I have to tell you I don't speak cat?" Ariel laughed, as she looked up at the kitten, as it circled her body before lying down next to her, its body curled around her.

The kitten was purring softly. Ariel smiled, then whispered, "I love you too," as she pet the kitten's soft fur as it let out a small yawn, exposing its teeth, and scrunching its eyes, before putting its head down, resting them in its paws before closing its eyes, and falling asleep, breathing softly. The warm exhalations emitting from its nose landing atop Ariel's clay head and helping her feel warm and loved.

All Ariel needed was a few good night's sleep and she'd be better. So, she inched a little closer to the kitten's body, lying as close to its slowly rising chest, listening to its heart steadily beating as she slowly closed her eyes, and soon drifted to sleep beneath the dark, and starless sky, beneath the crescent moon.

by **Mixcoatl** on January 4th, 2011, 1:06 pm

The Lord of the Hunt is Pleased!

The Lord of the Hunt showers you with gifts in joyous celebration!

Ariel

Experience
+1 Stealth
+1 Auristics
+1 Acrobatics
+1 Running
+2 Riding
+3 Animal Husbandry

Lore
Winning a Staring Contest Against a Cat
Being Attacked By Kittens
Losing Your Wings
Being Lovingly Abused by Furballs
Being Loved

Additional Notes: I had to dock you a bit of Riding experience, because you were not playing as according to your skill level. Riding bareback is hard, especially with no prior experience riding.

Ariel's wounds will take ten days to heal if she gets an ample amount of clay everyday. Please mention gathering clay to repair these wounds in at least one other thread this season, and PM me when you do.

In regards to the Kitten, I hereby grant it to you, but please send me a PM containing the physical appearence of the cat. From there, I shall add it's personality quirks for future storytellers, and re-send it to you.

Also, to continue riding Mr. Kitty Cat, I'd advise you get a saddle or harness of some sort. A self-mod where you talk to a leatherworker could take care of the saddle and the clay-eating in one or two posts.

If you feel like I missed anything, or if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, do not hesitate to send me a PM. <3