21 Lage 4385*: Eek City Guards

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

(* I just noticed that the scroll dates things when I'm writing them. Which makes sense. But it's also confusing because I'm writing about something that happened yesterday so this is about the 20th).

Purrzhon leaped for me!

I giggled and sprinted away as he growled and chased me across the courtyard. I jumped over the low wall and he pounced after me, landing with his paws on my back. I toppled over as he pawed and snapped at me and generally made a totally unconvincing pretense of being a vicious monster. I mean he had his claws sheathed and his jaws snapping on air above me, he would've had to be the WORST SLEETH HUNTER EVER if that was the best he could do! So I giggled more and squirmed out of his paws and he chased me up a tree (which was a terrible tactical move on my part, of course he could climb better than I can). I jumped out of the tree and landed by the fountain, and he pounced me again and got a decent grip on the scruff of my neck. I tried to wriggle free but couldn't, so I cast Invoke the Mighty Puddle and water splashed all over both of us. I shrank into waterform while Purrzhon shook water out of his face, and I was able to slither free of my clothes and him both to escape into the fountain. Swishing my tail through the water, I taunted him: "Now you'll have to come swim with me if you want to Catch the Shimmery Purple Orren!"

Purrzhon growled "rrai!" with his tail lashing, and splashed after me. The fountain wasn't actually deep enough that he had to swim, but it was deep enough that I could. He splashed around ferociously after me, but I was slippery and squirmy and swam circles about him. It was pretty funny until the City Guard showed up to stop us.

That's when I cast The Raven's Beak, because playing with a Sleeth might not be an Adventure but anything that gets guards involved almost certainly is.

City Guard: "In the name of the Duke, halt, Sleeth!"
Purrzhon [halting]: "Rrr?"
Me: [halting too, even though I'm not a Sleeth]: "Hallo!"
City Guard: [to Purrzhon]: "You, Sleeth, out of the fountain! You're under arrest." [to me]: "Don't worry, miss, you're safe now."
Me: "Yay! Was I unsafe before? What are you arresting him for?"
Purrzhon [snarling and climbing out of the fountain, tail lashing again]: "This thing, I am wanting to know too."
City Guard: "...we were told that he was attacking an Orren girl?"
Me: "No, no, we were just playing." [climbing onto the fountain lip]. "See? I'm fine."
City Guard: "... you were just ... playing?"
Purrzhon: "Rrai! Yes. If I am killing her, she is already the dead and I am the gone before the city guard is even told there is trouble. She is the very alive! This is the proof. We are playing."
Me [nodding]: "Pretty much."
City Guard: "... you know this Sleeth?"
Me: "Uh huh."

The guards yelled at us a bit for Alarming the Populace and playing in the Academy's fountain and threatened to fine Purrzhon for Being a Sleeth Creating a Public Disturbance. But they let him off with a warning.

After they were done yelling at me but still not through with Purrzhon, I scampered back to my clothes, slithered into them, and tried two or three times to feather-cast Mother's Towel, until it finally worked and dried me off. Then I feather-cast it at Purrzhon because he looked wet and pissed off, all tail-lashy and flat-eared at the chewing-up he was getting from the guards. After the spell he looked dry and pissed off.

I sat on the lip of the fountain and waited until the guards finally left.

"Rrrr," Purrzhon said to me when they did. "The Vheshrame guard, they are needing a sense of humor."

"Sure do."

Purrzhon looked me up and down, then stuck his head in my lap and snuffled at me while I said "Hey!" and pushed him back.

He sat back on his haunches with ears tilted to either side of his head. "You are the very strange Orren. You change your fur with magic, and maybe I do not know your fur because of that. But you do not change your scent with magic, and I do not know your smell either. I do not know you. Why do you tell the guard you know me?"

"Well, I know you now," I said with a grin. I stuck out a hand. "Hallo! I'm Delight-in-Here."

Purrzhon twitched his tailtip, and put his paw in my hand. "I am Purrzhon. You are the very brave Orren, Delight-in-Here. Also the very foolish Orren."

"Aren't we all?"

Purrzhon grinned and stood. "I am going swimming with you now," he announced. "In the public pond, if the Sleeth can swim there without Creating a Public Disturbance."

"We'll find out!"

Comments

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

D'aww. ^_^ The very cute!

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

I like that you make sure to cast The Raven's Beak when you think you might be adventuring! That's very very prudent of you! Also, do you practice that spell (or any other spells that do similar things, cover a very very large number of nouns and verbs) outside of potential 'counts as adventuring' time? Like once a day if you have cley left at the end, just to make sure?

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

I do sometimes if I think about it but I usually only think about it when I'm doing something adventurous. Practicing when you're not adventuring is soooooo slooooow it takes forever to learn that way.