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Post by Gingivere-Greeneyes on Oct 5, 2015 20:05:19 GMT -5
"All right everyone, quiet! I think I hear them coming up now!"
Daniel stood in front of the babble of Dibbuns who had gathered in one of the Abbey rooms, with an air of a creature trying to appear older than he actually was. Father Cornelius had expressed how tired he felt that morning, so Ryan had volunteered (both of them) to help supervise the Dibbuns until Tsaron arrived to tell them a story. Something Daniel would not have so readily agreed too. Not that he didn't like the young creatures, he just didn't really know what to do with them.
They were surprisingly well-behaved though, as he soon found. His 'age group' had not been nearly obedient. Most of them did as they were told, and seemed rather well-ordered. Perhaps they were just excited about getting a story, and Daniel had managed to book them on a good day.
There was the odd few troublemakers though, who (predictably) were all crowded in the back under the stewardship of Ryan, who was leaning back dangerously on his chair and setting a horrendous example. "Ten points if you can get one down his neck," Daniel heard him say, as another bit of crumpled parchment flew inches past his head. Daniel shot him a look but said nothing. "All right everyone, form a circle for them then." he asked, and sat down on one of the larger chairs with a grateful look to the newcomers. He straightened his back and clasped his paws over his knees, clearly eager to set a model example.
Most of Ryan's group had vacated to the front meanwhile, and the mouse was now sitting backwards on it with his head and arms resting on the top. Beetee sat in a much smaller chair next to him, rather comically following his example.
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Post by Taurian on Oct 6, 2015 14:59:46 GMT -5
Laughing at the antics of Ryan and Beetee, Tsaron turned to Daniel. "Thank you, Daniel. And you too, Ryan. You're welcome to stay for the story, if you'd like," Tsaron offered, knowing that the pair were probably exhausted from their duties, and wanted nothing more than to leave the company of the rowdy abbeybabes. "It's the one about Bear the Wanderer," they added. It was a favorite tale among most of the abbeybeasts, a fantastical account of a badger founding a stronghold in the eastern estuaries. It was one of Tsaron's favorite stories as well, and they were not surprised when some of the dubbuns had specifically asked for "the water badger story".
{shameless self-insertion of character and story here. I needed a story that I could easily write about off the top of my head. So, there it is. Bear and their mythical Maelstrom.}
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mads
Dibbun
Posts: 49 
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Post by mads on Oct 7, 2015 14:40:11 GMT -5
Cypress looked distinctly amused at Tsaron using him to threaten the dibbuns, and smiled at the owl. He pulled a chair beside Beetee and sat in it much more placidly than the others were doing. He touched Beetee's shoulder to get his attention once the story had started and asked the dibbun how his paw was fairing.
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Post by Taurian on Oct 7, 2015 14:54:31 GMT -5
Turning back to the dibbuns, Tsaron began the story. "Once, in a frozen land far north of the abbey, there was a great badger stronghold. From above ground, you would never know it was there, for the fortress was a maze of tunnels at varying levels below the surface. This was Urthenhall, oldest of the badger places, founded by the great Lady Terrfor in days long past. Now, a badger named Malburr ruled, along with his wife, the Lady Ursine."
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Post by Gingivere-Greeneyes on Oct 7, 2015 19:38:36 GMT -5
"Oh, I'm sure that would be nice but we've really got some important studying to do-" Daniel stood up, clearly eager to leave the company of the raucous crowd as soon as possible. He cast them a smile and made towards the door "Thank you for the offer though and let us know any-AH!" He broke off mid sentence as he suddenly fell face-flat on the floor, and looked up to see that Ryan (who hadn't moved) had caught his tail on the way out and yanked it sharply. "We'd love to." he smirked, leaning back once more on his chair and tying Daniel's tail around it in a quick knot as a joke.
The now rather red-faced young mouse stood up with a snarl and a muffled (and hastily silenced) curse and began to tie to his tail free, only half-heartedly listening to the story, and wondering whether it was true or not.
Ryan wasn't so interested in if it was fact or not, and was more or less just glad to have an excuse not to do anything. He looked over as the hare infirmary keeper began whispering something to his new dibbun protegee. "Hi Cy," he shot a quick grin at the young hare, before turning his attention back to the owl.
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Post by Taurian on Oct 8, 2015 15:23:49 GMT -5
Not paying full mind to the antics of the mice, Tsaron continued with their story. "In the last weeks of winter, the Lady Ursine gave birth to a beautiful baby badger. Unfortunately, the winter had been rather hard on her, and she had been suffering with a number of seasonal illnesses. The strain of childbirth proved too much for her, and the Lady Ursine passed away before the spring." Tsaron looked up. Some of the more emotional dibbuns got tearful at this point. The owl mentioned for Daniel and Ryan, and Cypress if he was finished taking care of Beetee, to calm the teary-eyed dibbuns. "Malburr became moody after his wife's death, and blamed himself for her demise. The young badger was named Ursine in her name. Young Ursine grew up expected to be just the badger their mother was, and it weighed heavily on their young shoulders. Malburr and the young one got into fights often, and he refused to listen to Ursine's suggestions and complaints. Eventually, Ursine reached the age where they could leave Urthenhall, and wander the world. So they did. Tersely saying farewells, the young badger set off from the tundras, headed southwest. As they stood on the edges of the tundra, they cast off their birth name, and declared themself 'Bear,' a name honoring their mother, but in a way that felt truly right to Bear. After this declaration, Bear roared into the blue spring skies, 'I am Bear the Wanderer, and wander I shall, helping goodbeasts and following my path, wherever it may lead me!'"
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mads
Dibbun
Posts: 49
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Post by mads on Oct 11, 2015 18:59:27 GMT -5
Cypress looked concerned when Daniel went down, and gave Ryan a rather disapproving look. He wasn't so much older than they were, but he often felt much older than he truly was. He suspected it was due to his job looking out for everybeast in the abbey. "All right, Daniel?" he asked, sounding concerned.
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Post by Gingivere-Greeneyes on Oct 11, 2015 19:50:48 GMT -5
"'m fine." Daniel reassured him, doggedly tugging at his knotted tail until it was finally free and whipped back behind him to where it belonged. "Just got a bad case of the Meadow-mumps is all." He shot a glare at his unashamedly grinning friend, and found himself unable to suppress a small smile. He had always rather admired the hare (having even had a minuscule awkward crush on him when he was very young) and didn't want to appear like an injured baby and more like a peer.
"Oh, uh-" he looked up as Tsaron motioned for them to try and comfort those among the Dibbuns who were distressed. He and Ryan shared a bewildered glance and a small chuckle, as the skinnier mouse moved among the Dibbuns and giving those who needed it awkward pats on the back.
Ryan meanwhile, had lounged back further on his chair, and was looking around at the seemingly contented faces of the Dibbuns now that the story had apparently ended. Well that was boring. Luckily he still knew all the best ways to get a pack of young creatures riled up.
"Well, what happened next?" he said into the silence, and before long almost every Dibbun was echoing the cry, though much louder and more agitated. "YEAH YEAH! WA'NEXT? WA'NEXT?" (Here Daniel crammed his paws over his ears and used his remaining limbs to kick Ryan swiftly in the behind).
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Post by Taurian on Oct 12, 2015 5:59:04 GMT -5
Tsaron laughed heartily at the antics of Ryan and the dibbuns. They were, in fact, far from the end of the story, but that was as far as Tsaron had previously got with most of the dibbuns, who at this point usually started shouting into the skies, pretending to be Bear.
"Well, if you all quiet down, so ye can hear me, I'll tell ye the rest!" The old owl retorted, waiting for a few minutes until the majority of the crowd settled. "Now, in a land far to the east, there was an estuary, where a river met the sea. In this estuary there had been an otter holt, Holt Maelstrom, named for the tempests that often swept over the estuary. But recently, a strange horde of beasts, led by one called Ferox, had stormed the estuary, and burned down the holt. Few of the otters of Maelstrom survived. We follow one, a tough otter by the name of Taurian Bullfang. Taurian lost her whole family to the Ferox, and was bitter and battle hardened, not given much to sympathy. She wandered about, full of vengeance, and attacked nearly every vermin she came across!
Twas whilst she was beating up a young stoat when Bear came upon her."
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mads
Dibbun
Posts: 49
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Post by mads on Oct 18, 2015 23:47:40 GMT -5
Cypress nodded and obediently sat and cuddled a few of the littler ones. He wasn't very good at comforting people his own age or older, but he always was willing to help a dibbun in need of a hug. He was quite enjoying the story, as well.
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Post by Taurian on Oct 21, 2015 19:30:41 GMT -5
"Bear heard a sound to their left, in the wood. Gripping their staff tighter in their paws, the badger crept towards the sound. As they grew closer, the sound became clearer. Battlenoise. Somebeast was fighting. Carefully, Bear approached the source, and found an otter engaged in combat with a young stoat, not nearly past adolescence. The otter was giving the stoat quite a beating. Deciding that the poor beast had taken enough, Bear strode into view, and soon sent the stoat on his way. The otter glared at Bear.
'I was 'andlin' that'un! Now 'e'll just be off tae bother other poor honest beasts!'
'That beast was near dead, and not nearly old enough for that much evil.'
'Ah can handle myself, ye great stripeydog!'
Bear sighed, and extended a paw. 'My name is Bear the Wanderer. I'm traveling, hoping to find adventure and help honest beasts like yourself.' The otter looked at their paw warily, before her face softened and she grasped it in her smaller ones.
'So yer that badger all the birds keep squakin' about. Nice tae meet ye, Bear. They'm calls me Taurian Bullfang, o' 'olt Maelstrom. When there was a Holt Maelstrom. T'ain't anythin' but ashes now.' Her face grew somber again.
Bear looked concerned. 'Pleasure to meet ye, Taurian. What happened to Holt Maelstrom, if I may inquire?'"
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bye!
