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 Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 7:22 pm
Applewood was fretting.
All she had heard about lately was her cousin Basil's misfortunes. As she sat in her little tree thinking to herself, she could not take her mind off the awful stain embarassment he must be causing her family.
What was wrong with him? Admittedly, her cousin had been through some hard times lately, but this was just silly. There was no reason he should have let his mate run off like that. Even fine pure couples like Basil and his mate were susceptible to... defects in their offspring. They could always have more eggs. Pretend nothing happened. No problem.
Then again, if the chick that had survived to hatch was as horrible as everyone was saying, maybe it had driven her dear cousin a bit out of his head. Why else would he think he couldn't do any better than... um... Friskfire? Whatever her name was. It didn't matter.
Preening idly, Applewood mulled over her options. She absolutely craved more details on what exactly had happened between her cousin and his mate (only to help Basil, of course... or so she told herself). She could talk to Bushfire... but she didn't know her all that well, and besides, she was probably mad with grief if she'd gone so far as to leave a mate as fine as Basil. There was always the option of having a Seeker nose around for some new information. However, her family had already been shamed enough by the whole incedent, and Involving an outsider would have to be a last resort.
There was, in her mind, only one thing to do. She would go talk to Basil herself.
And on that thought, without any preparation or notice, she left. It would only take her a short time to reach Basil's territory, if her aunt's description of his new home was correct.
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Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 10:59 pm
Never one to put trouble from his mind for long, Basil is quietly fretting over his own predicaments as he goes about absently shaving the unfortunate tool into nothing. What was it about people that required them to gossip so? What good would it do them? Couldn't he just be left alone with what remained of his pride?... all the stress he'd been put through over his failed pairing, both before and after... it's pathetic. This whole thing is so pathetic!
*Crack*
“Gah, another one!” Basil pouts to himself, flinging the snapped tool's remains from the hollow. There's already a small pile of rejects accumulating down below his tree. After sullenly preening some stray wood chips from with feathers, Basil wills a fresh branch towards him from a nearby pile and begins anew. “... concentrate this time...”
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 10:34 pm
Flap. Flap. Flap.
Apple sailed absentmindedly through the trees. What was for dinner? Hmmm. A skurri would be nice. Wait. Should she have brought food with her for Basil? No. No. He lives with that trapper. He probably has too much. It would be all right to come as she is..... It would, right?
Shouldn't she be there already, anyway? It seemed like she should be there. Could she have gone past it? No...
“Gah, another one!”
Yes. She had. That was Basil's voice, she was almost certain, behind and to the right. She'd flown right past his tree.
Maneuvering a wide U-turn, she wondered what he could be yelling about. Another what? Mus? Bees? Pinecones? Maybe... Maybe Basil really had gone crazy and had somehow made more freakish babies with that Trapper already.
The flapping intensified.
Alighting in a tree near the source of the cryptic exclamation, the young watcher let out a soft hoot to inform Basil, if it was Basil, that he had a visitor.
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Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 8:03 pm
The menacing look that suddenly appears on Basil's face would likely have been quite alarming, if only his cousin could have seen it. Callers... terrific. He doesn't need this right now. Whoever it is, business or otherwise, he has it in mind to send them packing straight away.
Poking his head through the hollow chamber's portal, Basil fixes the immediate area with a frosty glare. It takes him a good moment or two before he spots the uninvited guest. “Well bless me... Apple! What are you doing here?!” he declares, filling the entryway further with his form.
A visit from family could mean one of two things. Either she was here with some sort of message... or perhaps she'd managed to ruffle some stuffy old feathers of her own, and now she'd come to take solace with another 'pariah'. What was to become of the neighborhood, eh?
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Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:16 pm
Taken aback for a moment by Basil's stern expression,
"Basil, dear cousin," she said, cocking her head coyly. "I thought it was about time for a visit to my favorite relative, but you seem a bit cross. Is something troubling you?"
Yes. Oh, please yes. Let there be trouble. Good, juicy trouble.
Maybe he'd finally realised what a poor companion that Trapper girl made and was ashamed of himself. He'd been pining over Bushfire just now, and only Apple's cheery spirit and endearing eartufts had at last been able to pull him from his deep depression. But there was no need to worry. Bushfire was wanting him back too, and she'd help them get back together, and they'd have tons of adorable hatchlings in the perfect shade of honey brown everyone envied in Basil's line, and everything would be perfect.
They were in love. They still had to be. There was no other way things could go.
But Apple was getting ahead of herself (just a touch). First was the hatchling.
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Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 4:17 pm
“Flattered, to be sure.” he replies while stepping out from the doorway, avoiding her question for a few more moments yet. “I should have expected you would come to visit eventually, though I must confess, right now might not have been the best choice of times.” It was true, he actually was quite busy, or at least he should be. The tell-tale signs of several other odd jobs, all littered around the inside of the hollow, are proof enough of that fact. Basil had more then enough ready excuses that could potentially remove him from this initially unwelcome visit, and yet...
Of the majority of his relatives, Applewood had often been the most agreeable... or rather, the most endurable. His memories of her were of a mostly pleasant nature, if not for her naturally intrusive personality. Oh bother... he might as well make the best of it, considering. “... I suppose I could do with a break.” he sighs. “... seeing as you've come all this way. Come on in then.” he adds, spreading a wing to indicate the direction of the nearby nesting tree.
“As for your concern...” Basil seems to grow a touch uneasy at this moment. “I'm fine, I've just been thinking- that is to say... ... uhh, why are you here?” he asks rather bluntly, turning his body towards the indicated location, though still maintaining eye contact.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 8:03 pm
"Why, whatever do you mean?" No no no, they had been playing such a lovely roundabout game! Now Basil had to spoil it with his unrefined petulance. Were she anyone else, she would have been highly uncomfortable. But at most, she was a little taken aback by his straightforward method. Thank Noctus only his talons and imagination were what he has to keep keen.
"How delightfully rude of you, Basil," She hooted softly, amusedly. She seemed to forget the invitation over for the moment. Really, she was unsure about entering the cite where so much sin to their morales was being housed. It was like bad luck.
"I told you before, I came to see you! Have I not always been one to keep in touch? Now, I can't say there haven't been some things floating around the neighborhood as to this new... arrangement of yours, but my concerns are completely for you. You act as if you dreaded my appearance," Her bright green eyes peered sidelong at him, "Is there something wrong that makes you feel the need to be wary of your own family?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 10:34 pm
Basil very nearly catches himself rolling his eyes. It would seem that she's bound and determined to make a nuisance of herself, as usual. Though all the same, he can't help but allow himself a slight grin at her manner of speaking. Apple has always had her own special way with words. Accompanied by her disarming [removed](it really is the ear-tufts) and amiable tone, Basil is rarely able to resist one of her “cheerful interrogation” sessions.
... however, he's never really been completely sure of her. He can't decide if she's simply naïve... or just enjoys playing at these little word games of her's. Noting that she makes no move as to follow him back to the nest, Basil casually shifts himself back towards her. “Only that I may have my pin-feathers chattered off by a certain dear sweet cousin of mine...” he fibs, a wisp of the former smile playing around the corners of his beak. “No one's sent you from back home, have they?”
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 11:21 pm
She issued something of an affectionate croon at that, good-humored despite the weight of the situation. Well, she seemed to be rather good at that, but today she had come to listen. At least, she had planned to.
"No one sent me, though a lot has been said," That was an understatement, really. No one, especially her aunt, bless her heart, could keep their beak shut about the scandal. Her expression, bright so far, faded a bit to a more solemn one, and her tufts had begun to droop back toward her head. Her next words were softer, gentle, "I came to hear your side. Basil- what is going on? First Bushfire, now... a Mist?"
You really couldn't beat sincerity. She was going to give him a chance to speak for himself. And fill in some details for her, if she could get away with it.
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 1:06 am
“Her name's Fiercefire.” he corrects, though not unkindly. “I've no idea what you may have heard from mother, but the majority is quiet likely true I'm afraid. She's not often one to exaggerate.” Basil had taken it for granted that, at least by now, the events surrounding his departure from familial grace would've been common knowledge to one such as Apple. It would seem that he'd misjudged her this time.
Regardless, never one to refuse the ear of a potential ally, Basil could only make do and oblige her curiosity. “We...” he pauses for a moment in thought. “...a'heh. I'll admit, I first met her not long after I'd left home."
"After a couple nights spent wandering out on my own, she spotted me eying one of her sprung traps. To be fair, I'd been watching the rat inside it well before it had been anywhere near it... but it's hard to argue that point when... well...” Basil's posture seems to straighten a little as the sudden need to preen finds him nibbling at his chest feathers. “... she's... I, uh... I'd never met someone so... ah, lovely...” he slowly trails off into a mumble, clearly feeling rather self-conscious.
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 2:37 am
Fiercefire. Yes, whatever. For now the girl was of no real consequence to her, though she sat patiently and listened to what Basil had to say about her... them. By the end of his words, her ear tufts were fully erect as she leaned a little closer to catch the end. Then she sat back and thought about it.
Her insides felt like they were curdling, which was not at all a proper thing for a lady to think about. She was really beginning to feel dread for the first time. Here she was, thinking on the bright side, hoping that this was all a horrible phase Basil was putting himself through due to his twisted failure of a hatchling. To think, he might actually like her?
Poor, sweet, discombobulated Basil!
This was not good.
For all her inward panic, Applewood failed to look anymore than shocked, shuffling in her place and turning about her perch a little as if in thought. "What about Bushfire?" She inquired, tentatively, "Just... what happened there? Between the two of you? Did you not love each other?" She was still confused about that. Why hadn't they stayed together? Such a lovely pair...
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 1:10 am
Basil is only able to wear an expression of slight hopefulness on his face for mere moments, before promptly fading back into resigned disappointment. It would seem there's just no reasoning with decades of staunch tradition and prejudice... not that Basil believes himself some kind of exception to the rule. Recent history has seen enough proof against that thought, he reminds himself spitefully. Staring back at Apple's concern, Basil attempts to put words to his thoughts.
“That's a simple question.” he starts calmly. “We were a poor match for each other... we had to call it off in the end.” he says 'we', but in truth, he remembers better then that how things had been. It was neither mutual nor without some measure of difficulty.
He'd left the nest that night without much discussion or fanfare. There had been a particularly stressful argument between them that dusk, and by the end of it, Basil had made up his mind. He would finally take his leave of all that was wrong in his life... starting with the very symbol of that wrong. His failed excuse for a mating. “I tried, and it wouldn't work...” he finally answers in response to her last question. “You know what it was like. You can't tell me you've never felt... pressured into something not of your own choosing.”
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 7:29 pm
That was one of the first things they were ever taught, how could she just forget? Why, you didn't mate a skurri with a squirrel or a mus with a rat, did you? It was just a waste! There was nothing wrong with either type, but the two deserved to stay in their own spheres, just as the types needed to remain pure. And to go and fall in love without at least considering the consequences...
But this wasn't love, she interrupted herself, this was Basil doing what he always does- flying away from his problems instead of trying to sort them out. Just because you loved someone and they were related to you didn't exempt them of their nasty little idiosyncrasies. And while Applewood was self-obligated to love the young male, right now she certainly didn't have to like him.
"Strange, I heard that Bushfire was taking it pretty hard. Perhaps it wasn't quite so clean as you profess," That was her way of suggesting he was a bold-faced liar. His statement about their family made her pick at her feathers for a moment, shaking her head. "It was good for my sisters, why should I not be expected to follow them? I'm not better than any of them, not talented, not special."
While it was true almost every aspect of her life was predetermined, she was strangely comfortable with it. "But am I to understand that you are doing this all because it is specifically against our family's beliefs? Is this supposed to be some sort of message from you?" She was completely calm, saving her emotion for when things became more clear.
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:49 pm
“Oh...” Basil fumbles uncomfortably. “... is she?” Something inside informs him that he sounds ridiculous just now. “I... uh, I don't think... you understand my meaning. No doubt your sisters were well prepared for the life ahead of them, bless them. No doubt... I'm sure it was what they wanted for themselves.” he replies, suddenly grateful for the change in subject.
Throughout the early days of his young life, Basil was regularly made aware of the place his family occupied within the forest. Whether it was the way his father would speak of “propriety” and “the ever-watching clan”, or the chattering elders with their gossip and their oft patronizing stares. His place was one of predetermination by the talons of another. Of course you had a choice, so long as the details aligned with their's.
Basil had seen what would eventually become of his predestined life, it was being lived out through the lives of most of his older siblings and cousins. All contentedly paired off and mated in their perfectly groomed reflections of ancestors past. It was all perfectly sick, if you asked him. They didn't.
“No... my intention is that we should be left alone, without our family's interfering influence.” The statement isn't really meant as a barb against Applewood, the thought that it might be taken as such will likely only occur to him later. “... I've never intended for there to be any message in my actions... but if you feel you should tell them anything, and they should ask...” Basil pauses for a few moments in thought. They will ask eventually. “... tell my parents, I love them, and goodbye.”
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