"You never told me how you got to that water lily. How did you reach it?" Mirras furry little face peeked out from between a few bluebells on Hrafnir's right shoulder. She was in the process of painting camouflage on herself and had green and brown streaks in zig-zag patterns all over, covering her naturally warm reddish brown features.
"It was given to me." He responded after a period of time, choosing his words carefully. Ghosts were not something one would just casually chat about meeting, he decided and firmly furrowed his brow.
"Given? In the middle of the night, by who? How? You know you shouldn't just accepts gifts from people, especially at strange ponds in the middle of the night. It all sounds a bit dodgy if you ask me."
He remained quiet and stomped onwards. She didn't push the matter further.
"You're more silent than usual, lumpy. What's up?"
"I'm thinking" he grunted back, scratching a particularly itchy patch on his belly where some stray roots were moving the rock about.
"The ocean is a pond so big that if you try to walk around it you just end up walking around yourself instead, that's what my mother told me once." A long pause followed. Misha kept silent waiting for her friend to continue.
"With all this walking about I think I'm starting to understand what she wanted to say. There is so much world in this place and if you stand on one spot" at this the big troll stopped, "and turn around" he said, turning, "and imagine that everything behind what you can see is the ocean" he said sitting down after having finished his little excersise, "it is indeed very big. Kind of like the sky, but more down to earth."
"Are you trying to tell me you're tired and want a break? I'm fine with that you know, you don't need to try to make my head explode just to make a point." She splattered a finishing dash of mud-coloured stuff on her face and jumped to Hrafnirs other shoulder where the squirrel sat, cleaning it's tail. It sniffed her and brushed it's head against her.
"Yes. I think I will sit here for a while. I would like to observe something very small for a while. That ant hill there will suit me fine" Hrafnir exhaled, ponderously nodding at a gathering of carefully arranged pine needles a few feet away.
"I'll run off for some supplies then, have fun thinking and stuff." With that she grabbed the squirrel's fur and launched herself onto its back.
After some exploring they came to a little clearing with rather obvious goblin markings around it. She didn't have complete control over the squirrel yet; it would take suggestions on direction but not much more than that and it showed a rather dangerous interest in the left over trash at the site. With a sharp shout and some serious convincing she managed to steer it clear of the camp and they rushed head first into the woods again.
They spend a few hours in the forest. Occasionally she would jump off to collect her various herbs and mushrooms as usual but mostly they spent the time practising jumping from twig to twig or tree to tree without losing balance.
They were on their way back to Hrafnir when the scent of goblins made Mirras nose twitch again. This time the squirrel wouldn't listen at all to her nudgings and instead it charged head first into a trap laying on the ground. Mirra tried to jump off before the little twig gate shut behind them, but only managed to hit her head on it instead. The last thing she heard when the darkness and stars closed in on her was a dim snicker and encroaching foot steps.
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
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