RP:Niawtu's Playdate - Little Kassy's Tales

Background

Sophie invites Niawtu, the troubled lycan cub, to come play with her children while she minds her shop.

Tall stories and true stories, and combinations thereof keep the children entertained.

Tales, tails, and assorted mischief

Sophie welcomes Ranok and the small Lycan Child. and introduces just two of her children for now. A nine year old human. "This is little Kassy, named for my dear friend Kasyr." and a seven year old pixie lad"This brave pixie knight is Sanmichel." The pixie is riding along the counter top on his warhamster Champion. His mother smiles "I hope you have fun playing with my unique and precious bundles of joy, Niawtu my dear."She is suddenly distracted by Sanmichel, who is waving his wooden sword dramatically. "Yeah my brothers and sisters are precious and unique, and I am here to protect em all!" Sophie then turns to Ty, assuming she is a customer. "Can I help you miss?" .

Ranok shoos Nia into the shop, somewhat akin to a father duck. If such things existed. He figured that she would be shy, so he was attempting to encourage her, "It's hokay, Nia. Hy'll be right here. Hy promise. Chust meet zum pipple you age. Make zum nev friends. Sounds eksitink, doesn' it?" He wasn't wearing the plate that was his armour. Instead, more casual clothes. The only armour-like thing he wore was two well used bracers on his wrists. And he was underarmed, as well. Only a knife, and the contraption on the small of his back he called Mirabelle. He was trying to play nice himself, for the sake of the children. He was noticeably paler where the armour usually laid. A slight farmer's tan, though not by much. His desert born skin held onto its colour for a long, long time.

Tysinni had given up the struggle as soon as she was 'dragged' out of the tavern. She follows her friends into the establishment, looking around curiously. Really, people should stop taking her to such interesting locales full of valuables. The thief eyes a particularly nice looking item before her attention is caught by someone speaking to her. Ty shakes her head emphatically, not wanting to draw so much attention to herself. "I'm with them." Ranok and Niawtu are indicated with her good hand. Following up on her statement, she offers Nia a small smile. "Hey kiddo."

Niawtu yips and hides behind Ranok as quickly as possible. She had met Sophie once before, and was not shy of her, It was the children she was shy of. The girl was used to more normal children picking on her for having a tail, wolf ears, black claw-like nails on hands and feet, and wolf-like teeth. She glances up at Ty, with a smile, as she clings to her dragon friend behind Ranok. Soon she pops her head out from around him, glancing at the children. She then quickly hides back behind him when she sees Kassy glance at her. After all, Nia had a thought that she was a monster her whole life, so being around children her age scared her. As she hides her body temperature drops greatly and she accidentally almost touches Ranok's arm while she's cold. It's not a coldness that could harm anyone though. More-so the type of coldness that an ice cube would hold. Niawtu then murmurs, more towards both Ty and Ranok "Does I -really- gotta meet other children? I not like this..." she didn't want to be rude, but she was simply scared, is all.

Sophie's children are not going to pick on little Nia for being a werewolf, after all their mother is a Lycan too. The merchant has a gift for the little girl visiting, wrapped up in pink paper with a bow, it is a clockwork toy tiger. Once wound up, it will walk along and open and close its jaws impressively." To the adults she asks "Can I offer you a cup of tea?" Kassy introduces himself. "I am Kassy the pirate, the scourge of the seven seas." Sophie gave 1 mechanical tiger to Niawtu.

Ranok again tries to get Nia out from behind him, saying gently, "Go on, Nia. Dey look very friendly. See? Dey vant to play vith hyu. Vy don' hyu gimmee Freezia und go say hello? It's hokay, dere's no need to be schy..." He glances at Ty, a clear request for the woman to help him out. It was hard to imagine Ranok ever having a childhood, and if he had one, he probably hid it somewhere in a closet or the like. He doesn't really even know what kids did when they played with each other. He was rather out of his depth. Sophie gets a shake of his head, "No, Hy'm goot. Tenks, tough."

Tysinni looks down at Nia, smiling encouragingly before gently bumping the girl with her hip. "Personally, I've always wanted to meet a pirate who could claim to be 'the scourge of the seven seas.'" Noticing Ranok's look, she steps forward and introduces herself to Kassy and incidentally all the others in the shop. "Hello there. My name is Tysinni and this is my friend Nia." She turns to Nia, tilting her head to indicate she should continue the conversation. "Being a pirate sounds fascinating, doesn't it?" Leaving the decision of whether or not to talk to the boy to Nia, she turns to their hostess. "Er....yes please." She seemed rather discomfited by the courtesy.

Niawtu looks between Ranok and Ty and then, sighing and reluctant, steps out from behind Ranok, handing him Frezia as he suggested. She's looking upon the ground shyly and says "Hello..." she wears a thin pure white dress, with simple designs, and a pair of slightly baggy pure white pants. She also has a diamond butterfly hairclip holding her bangs back out of her face, her hair being long and straight, reaching down to just below where the base of her tail would be. She wears no shoes, and has a pure white travellers cloak on her. You can't really see her white tail, because of the cloak. She has a lyre tied to her back, over her cloak. Shyly, she accepts the gift from Sophie and looks upon the pink paper for a bit. In truth, she hated girly colours. But, she would never say so to anyone. The child then opens the gift and looks upon the toy. She had never seen a mechanical toy before and so she cocks her head towards it, questioningly. When she realises Tysinni had asked her a question she looks up at her and says "I think so... But Ganjimu not seem to be thrilled by it." she spoke of when she had once met him several weeks before. The child had never had anyone to play games of imagination with, so she didn't know much else to say. The ten year old then looks back, shyly, towards Kassy and Sanmichel, smirking momentarily at their bright imaginations. But she then looks back to the ground. In retrospect the child was far more adult, than she was child. She liked peppermint tea, sometimes practices playing her lyre harp until her fingers bleed, befriended a myriad of animals that would scare most people (i.e. Eek the black tarantula, whose body is the size of Ranok's fist) and she seemed to have as much knowledge about being a normal child as Ranok did. However she then seems to remember something, and shyly says "Thank you for tiger thing." she didn't want to forget her manners around her sister, Gwen's, sister.

Kumorohyou quietly enters the shop, the exotic looking shaman surveying the small crowd within the building. Just about everyone he had seen at least once. Turning to Sophie, a smile forms on his lips as he approaches. In a voice as foreign as his appearance, Kumori greets the woman, "Sophie, it has been awhile since I saw you last."

Sophie beams at her dear shaman friend, it is always wonderful to see the incredibly compassionate feline. Little Sanmichel is not going to be outdone by his big brother, even if in the pixie lad's case his big brother is many hundreds of times his size. The pixie lad has a huge heart, and plenty of courage. "I am Sanmichel, the brave pixie Knight. I am the lady Sophie's bodyguard and champion and my noble steed is a champion too, cause his name is Champion." The three inch tall boy indicates the finely groomed warhamster, he has been riding around on the shop counter."I am such a famous warrior that even the brave pirate Leoxander is afraid of me! He always keeps his distance whenever we run into each other." Sophie smiles indulgently at her tiny son, she suspects he knows that Leo only keeps away from him because he is allergic to pixie dust, suffering terrible fits of sneezing should he breathe in the magical substance all pixies emit from their beautiful wings. But the allergy explanation would not make nearly so impressive a story, now, would it?

Ranok steps back from Nia, giving her both space and little option then to move forward. He moves to put his left hand on a sword hilt that wasn't there, and instead opts to simply let it hang there a tad awkwardly. To Sophie, he says, "Tenk hyu for doink dis, Sophie. She really doesn' hef much uf a childhood. Und so hyung. It's a krime not to chust try. Even if she chust gets zum nev friends, Hy vould be heppy."

Tysinni rolls her eyes at her friends' awkwardness. Clearly, she had found some strange people to hang around. Having grown up running around and getting in trouble with other children, she was pretty comfortable around them. A brief, considering look is given to the newcomer, before she turns to the small pixie boy who had spoken. "Being that small must come in quite handy in your adventures. I can think of any number of times that such stature would come in handy." Ty again tries to coax Nia into interacting with the other children. "Look at that Nia, you've met a pirate and a knight all in one day. You should tell them about yourself too."

Niawtu's Tale

Niawtu opens her eyes wide for a moment, at Sanmichel's comment about Leo, and bites her tongue about any comment of such nature. She had seen his allergies first hand, after all, from being around Gwen. She then gives Ranok a small glare for saying such about her childhood. The child then looks up at Tysinni when she asks her to tell them about herself and, hiding behind a look of shyness (rather than a thinking look) she then decides upon this. "I am a frost wolf from land -way- colder than Frostmaw. I am this lands princess, and that why I am pretty white wolf with glittery hair. I am alpha and leader of many creatures, too. Like giant spiders, and I protect Ranok from anything bad that would hurt him." now she was just saying that to get back at Ranok for mentioning her childhood, but it was evident that she was allowing her imagination to take some flight. "Leoxander fears me, too, for he know I'll be stronger Alpha then him when I older." she stifles a giggle at that point "I strong monstery wolf, though, and I not fear anything. Not pirate or knight." she says with a smirk, she wasn't saying it in a rude way, she meant it in a challenging way. After she finishes her words she suddenly decides to change into her wolf form. She was fairly tall for a ten year old (almost 11) so she decided to play fair. Her way of transforming was not graphic or painful looking, it was a simple cloud of frost and when it settled one would see her as a wolf, no clothing or anything laying about, though the tiger toy now lay beside her on the ground. She hadn't changed in a couple of days and when she does, Ranok would notice some differences. She was now, at least, 1 1/2 foot tall and 2 1/2 feet long (whereas before she was only 1 x 2) Her fur was white but had icy blue markings riddled all over her in patterns like frost upon a window, and her fur was no longer poofy but hung down more straight (closer to a collie's fur) though it was still slightly puffy like a wolf's. She also held herself higher and prouder looking (although this was for the sake of imagination) But her eyes didn't have an intense look, merely a look of happiness.

Sophie smiles encouragingly at the ten year old Lycan girl as she thanks her for the clockwork tiger. "You are most welcome my dear. I hope you have fun with it." Sanmichel grins at Ty and flies over to speak with her, leaving Champion the warhamster happily exploring on his own for a bit. The hamster sniffs at Nia in a friendly, curious manner. The tiny pixie lad turns somersaults in the air, for his new friend Ty, he loves having people to show off to. "Yeah, being small is great. If I wasn't this size, why I couldn't ride my valiant warhamster. Also I am one of the few people in the land who has actually seen the inside of Rowen's biscuit palace. The kid flies closer to whisper in Ty's ear as if imparting a great secret."You know, sometimes I suspect that Rowen isn't the supreme empress of the entire universe at all." Kassy, the lil scourge of the seven seas, listens to Ranok's comments about Nia not having a real childhood or any child friends and decides to try to help by inviting both Niawtu and him to join his pirate crew. "It is the best pirate crew in Hollow and no mistake, we run rings around all pirates in Rynvale, except for Leoxander cos he's like our family what with him and our mom being wolf packmates see...anyhow, my crew has...Thea the Queen of Enchantment who is incredibly special because she is a pixie like me. Rheven the king of Venturil and my first mate is King Rheven's racoon. We are the only crew ever with a racoon as first mate, that makes us the best crew ever too, obviously." The two boys understand that Niawtu's claiming to be an alpha wolf at her age is much like their games of being a Knight or a pirate. Sanmichel the 3" tall pixie grins at her as she calls herself a monstrous wolf."I know lots of wolves, and blind foxes, and a rat too, we play with the wolf cubs sometimes. They are like our cousins or something, not monsters at all!"

Ranok decides to go along with it, "Hy tenk hyu for de invitation, but Hy already em Hy pirate. Hyu see..." He leans in and imparts his own 'secret', "Hy sail schtars, not de seas. Gun about de nebula klouds und battlink hall sorts uf fierce monsters in my schip, de Lundale. Hy em here on schore leaff because Hy liked you planet so much. So Hy em visitink for a liddle vile before Hy leap back among de schtars." He said it so convincingly, that it was hard not to believe him for a split second. But, of course, the man couldn't possibly be serious.

Tysinni grins at Nia's description of herself, quite happy with the way the little girl seemed to be opening up. She of course felt rather proud of herself, but that might've been because she had so far resisted the urge to 'case the joint.' She wrinkles her nose at the adorableness of Sanmichel, willing to go along with his stories of grandeur. "I would surely love to ride a warhamster. And see the inside of Rowen's biscuit palace. I confess to being quite jealous of you." The thief nods in understanding as the little pixie imparts his secret. "I fear you may be correct. But she seems rather fond of her delusions and as long as she doesn't try to lock me in her asylum, I shall go along with it." Both of Sophie's children are completely charming and she can't help but find herself glad that Ranok had dragged her along. Speaking of Ranok, his story is met with a great dealing of snorting and other various sounds of disbelief that she only thinly veils as coughing. Not being able to look at him whilst he was engaging in such foolishness, she turns away and notices something rather shiny and valuable looking. Glancing over at the others, she takes a step closer to the object, hoping to take a discreet examination.

Niawtu looks up at Ranok and grins speaking towards the two children "Aye, but I am -far- scarier than any wolves you know." as an emphasis to this she gets in a more fighting stance appearance and lets out a low, though non-threatening, growl and bristles her fur. "Actually *she says with an emphasise on the word and a smirk* The very cold place I from is planet that Ranok found me at. He save me from monsters -far- worse than I! So now I stay and keep 'im safe." she says holding back a giggle at this goofy meeting. "Ah, and I know Rowen as well. She say I her 'noble imperial steed' 'cause when she was injured I helped her by allowing her to ride on my back." she looks up at where Sanmichel and adds to Ty's words "And, she -may- be lying about being Supreme Empress of Known Universe... But I not risk going against it. I only princess, not empress." she says, (in her wolf form she speaks wolf tongue through her mouth, but common tongue through her head, which is able to be heard by all like a normal voice) as she is about to continue further on with her story until she notices her soon-to-be stealth teacher scooching closer to something. Quickly the child, watching out for any stray warhamsters, darts over to her and grabs her clothing surrounding her ankle with her teeth (careful not to get Ty's ankle itself) she then pulls on the cloth with a growl, acting as though she was just acting like the monster she claimed to be.

Kassy has now moved on to boasting about his pirate vessel. We keep the raft er...er I mean the mighty galleon on the River Vibrance in Larket. She is called the Tenebrae after my mom's friend Jolie. My mom and a load of her friends built it with their own hands. My mom is really clever and she is the greatest healer who has ever lived, she can heal anything, anything at all, even...even two grazed knees and a nettle sting - at the same time! -. Sophie smiles in amusement glad to know her son thinks so highly of her, but gently comments."I'm not the greatest healer who ever lived at all! I am good, but dear Gwenilyn is even better. You don't have to be -the- best ever to be proud of your accomplishments, Kassy, you just have to be the best that -you- can -possibly- be." Kassy's eyes go wide in awe as Ranok tells his tale of sailing between the stars. He is obviously impressed. "That is really something, I've never met anyone who sailed between the stars before, but....aren't the stars like really tiny, not like islands that are full of coconuts, buried pirate treasure, exiled orcs and strange tribes of people who try to eat you and lots of other cool stuff. Are there perhaps a race of really tiny sparkly people who live on the stars?" The kid plays with the lion's tooth on a leather cord around his neck for a moment thinking. "What kind of fierce monsters did you battle up in the sky? Rocs and Angels and suchlike? Also what's a planet mister Ranok?" Sanmichel thinks his new friend Ty is really, really clever, as they two are the only ones not to have been taken in by Rowen's claims of being supreme empress. The seven year old pixie decides he wants to show Ty their ice-construct snake Muffin, who was made especially for the pirate mad Kassy by his 'Auntie Satoshi.' "Auntie Satoshi is cool! She says my brother Kassy is her favourite person called Kassy, and the other Kassy who she is married to is only the second best Kassy. "Lil' Sanny flies off into the back room to fetch Muffin, leaving Ty free to rob the Soph Shop without a sharp eyed lil' seven year old chattering away and showing off to his new friend."

Ranok gives Ty a look that said 'busted'. He seems amused by this. He explains to Kassy, "A planet iz de islunds dat lay in betveen de schtars, und de schtars are de tides dat bind dem. Each iz different. Hy hef visited a planet hall in ice, vunce, but it vas much too kold und Hy nearly kould not escape due to frozen sails! But, dat hain't de most dangerous tink. No, de schpace dragons hain't eidder, nor are de livink krystals dat float. De most dangerous tink dat lay in de schtars are de Lucidi!" He pronounced it 'Lu-sa-dee'. "Dey are a fierce race dat fly schips dat glow vile green. Dey hef kannonade dat none onderstund und hall fear. Dey say..." The man looked like he was enjoying this, goofiness or not, "Dey say dat de Lucidi are a race dat vas korrupted by a magician made virus dat schpread among de races. Dat der schips are bigger den hennyddink else, und it's true. Dey kapture de sailors dey kome across if dey do not destroy hyu. For vat, nobody knows. But, dat iz enough schtory tellink from me for now. Go und tell Nia zum schtories. Maybe schow her you own schip, hm?"

Tysinni watches the little pixie flutter away even as she sidles closer to the item that had caught her attention. She would be happy to examine and admire this ice snake named Muffin when the boy came back....She pauses as she feels something tug at the bottom of her pants. A quick look down informs her of exactly who was impeding her progress. The thief attempts to communicate with Nia using her eyebrows, signifying that she shouldn't draw attention to the half-elf. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Ranok smirking at her and she frowns, rather put out at being 'caught'. Not giving up, she decides a new approach is needed. Obviously more people needed to be distracted. Ty pretends to not know why Nia had stopped her, bending over to give the wolf-girl a pat on the head. "You're so very ferocious. I nearly found myself in need of new pants." Ranok's story is given exactly as much belief as it deserves, causing another fit of eye rolling and snorting before she subsides and tries to get distract Nia with her new friends. "You should hear what our young pirate king has to say. I'm sure he has many grand stories of adventure and...er...swashbuckling!"

Niawtu reluctantly releases Ty's clothing from her fangs, after all, if she got in trouble it would be her own doing. Niawtu then goes and sits beside Ranok's feet as she looks back towards Kassy, wondering what stories there possibly were within his imagination. She didn't seem to be going any further into her little 'story' herself, for she didn't want Sophie to know of the truth behind her imaginative story, like Ranok did. But the child seemed a bit more relieved and at ease when the two other children were more focused on Ranok and Ty's stories. Now that the attention was possibly be back upon her she seems to get shy once more. Niawtu decides to shift back into her human form, as well. Shifting this way is a vice-versa of shifting into a wolf. As Niawtu moves to straighten up in her human form she picks up the toy tiger from the floor. Any details that went unnoticed before are clearly visible now. Her eyes were an icy silver, her skin was pale like the moon, her lips are naturally black, and the two major oddities about her are that she wears a Symbol of Chekari earring in each ear (which, of course, is a symbol for one of the Preklek gods) and she has a 13 deeply branded into her upper right arm, which is visible due to that she has no sleeves upon her dress. The child looks shyly down at the floor, once more.

Aela the Paladin of Olric and Arkhen.

Aela steps into the shop, mismatched armour clanking loudly with each movement. Quietly, she peruses the shelves for items of interest. Her eyes are immediately drawn to the armour of light. As she is moving toward the armour, she catches sight of the Desert Legion Captain that is near the shop's owner. Turning toward the man, the Knight snaps a sharp salute. Once the gesture has been returned, the girl moves back to the shelves, eyes captivated by the armour before her.

Sophie has finally got around to making tea for those of the adults who want some. It is brewed is a large fine china teapot with a colourful floral design and a set of matching cups and saucers. Kassy beams at young Niawtu, as all the adults seem to think she would love to hear his pirate stories. He notices her brand and is quiet for a minute before confiding. "I was a slave serving a noble family of the Archmosian Empire, before I got sent to the slave market, and my mom bought me and set me free and adopted me. I didn't even have a name back then, I just got called slaveboy. My mom named me Kassy after her friend Kasyr, the 'Sword of Daedria.'" Thinking he has been serious for long enough and not really wanting to remember his life as a slave too much, the kid goes back to his tales of daring do. "Sure I have lots of stories about buckling my squashes, and about other stuff too, like lions." The human boy shows Niawtu the lion's tooth that he wears on a cord around his neck. "It was a present from my friend Lucien, he is really brave and slew the lion with his bare hands, he was the one to think up my nickname, 'the lil' scourge'. I spent ages at sea with Lucien once. You see I stowed away in a barrel on Leoxander's pirate ship 'The Eternity' Not because I wanted to be one of his pirates, after all I am already a pirate captain of my own vessel. Naw, you see I stowed away as a kind of industrial espionage, to see if The Eternity's crew have developed any cutting edge innovations in piracy techniques what me and my crew can make pirate copies of." The lad pauses, to remember what point in his tale he had reached before he digressed into a discussion of industrial espionage."Anyhow I hid in a barrel aboard the Eternity, and everything was going swimmingly until Jolie decided it was a good idea to do some target practise with her crossbow shooting at a barrel, so she drags out the barrel with the famous scourge of the seven seas inside it for her target, and I thought it somewhat to my advantage, to holler out and let her know I was in there before I got a crossbow bolt through me. I wasn't scared, no of course I wasn't scared. I wasn't scared at all. I just didn't want to get shot cause I didn't want to get blood on my nice new shirt you see."

Ranok does that thing that adults do when a kid is chattering inanities. He nods, makes polite noises, and all that. Meanwhile, he drifts over to Ty. Maybe to give her some cover for her would be five fingered discount...but more likely, to be a pest, because he was much better at that. He givers her an overly cheery smile that cemented the latter possibility as the correct one, "You know, Ty has some interesting stories herself. Hyu should tell dem about you giant boyfriend. He vas very fond uf hyu." His best winning smile at the woman follows.

Tysinni shoots Ranok a glare rife with annoyance. It was clear that he knew what she was up to and was doing his best to interfere. "Like daughter, like father..." She mutters under her breath, following the statement with several seconds of an unintelligible rant. Presumably about people keeping her from her business. She glances longingly at the shelf with the items that had fascinated her so, before looking back at those assembled. "He is not and never was my boyfriend. Maybe you should tell them how you were able to 'fly' off a cliff to save me." She offers a saccharine sweet smile back at him, hoping that he would look away as she takes a few more steps back towards the shelf.

Aela reaches up to feel the armour that has captured her attention. As her fingers near the metal, however, her eyes draw toward the price tag. The air escapes her lungs in a quick gasp as she jerks her hand away as if it's been burned. Red-faced, she turns and makes her way toward the other side of the shop where the seemingly lower priced goods might be found. Her gaze strays toward the two that are having such a strange conversation. Something about the girl doesn't seem right, though the knight can't figure out what it is.

Kassy was listening enthralled as Ranok told him about other planets, space dragons and the scary sounding Lucidi, earlier. Suddenly something seems to click in the boy's head as he makes the connection. "Ah!"He exclaims, leaping in the air with energetic enthusiasm. "I understand what a planet is now! I've been to another planet too! Me, and my brothers Nasurate and Cyllarus, and our sister Arysel decided to sneak off and explore the Preklek planet, we stayed for a week and had lots of fun, but our mom got really really worried about us being missing for a week, so she and her giant friend Gunnar, came to find us. Mom sat on one of Gunnar's shoulders and Sanmichel sat on the other so they had a good view of the Preklek planet, and they found us hiding behind some special black carriage that we had seen earlier moving all on it's own, I wanted to stay and learn all about the Prekleks and their weird stuff what is a bit like magic but not, but I decided I had to come back home to this planet, so my mom wouldn't be all worried about me, and the rest of my siblings made the same decision. We love our mom very much, but she does tend to worry for no reason, just cos four of her kids had run away to another planet full of Prekleks."

Niawtu is quiet for a while as she listens to Kassy's early life. She knew, quite well, that there were many other children who are used as slaves as well, although the child would never understand the severity of her situation, unless she were to tell him. And, oh, how she wanted to. She had never spoken of her time as a slave. Never once made mention of what it was like being a slave to Prekleks. But in essence she had fled the place that her slaver had lived in with less than a thread of life. But her instincts to flee danger are what kept her moving and winding up in Kelay. As the child spoke of his adventures, she smirked. Indeed, her shyness seemed to be ebbing away when he speaks of stowing away in Leoxander's ship. She had never been anything more than shy about being around other children, but she seemed fine around him. Once he finished his tail Niawtu said "Aye, that is quite a situation to be in. I have many stories, too, but I don' think they'd interest you." she shrugs. Her stories, of course, would more than likely be edited versions of the true stories that had happened to her (i.e. Life in her homeland, being captured by the Preklek's, meeting Ranok, and being captured by an orc shaman) All her stories, of course, would be wrapped around the one Ranok had come up with, as well, and she'd more than likely change the Prekleks to a creature called a Pookaklek, as she was certain that Kassy wouldn't get what they truly were.

Ranok just says to the woman he was pestering, "Remember de rules, Ty. Hyu know de vuns." The rules of thievery, which he was alluding to. Seems he was eavesdropping when Ty was being the upstanding role model to the children in the Temple during it's cleaning, after all. He says to Kassy, then, "Dat sounds like a very goot schtory. Hyu must hef been very braff to face de Preklek. Hy see dem among de schtars, zumtimes. Und dey are alvays onfriendly. Alvays avoeed de Prek ven hyu kan." He moves back over to Nia, giving her another gesture of encouragement. He wanted her to keep going, since she seemed to be relaxing a little.

Tysinni makes a face at the back of Ranok's head as he turns toward Kassy. Of course she knew the rules, she had made them. Rules were for law abiding citizens though, which left her free to pursue her passions. Besides, this wasn't her first time doing something like this. Casually, the thief sidles the last couple steps to the shelves, her back to them. It was only too easy to lean back against the shelf, to pretend just tired enough to need the support. She settles her left arm in its sling up against the front of her body, the other hand moving swiftly behind her, intending to make the grab when the attention of all persons in the shop was fixated elsewhere.

Niawtu glances swiftly at Ty, for pointers when Ty begins to teach her stealth, but then swiftly moves her eyes back to Kassy, nodding in agreement to Ranok's words about staying clear of the Prek. However, when Ranok gestures to her with encouragement she simply turns and whispers, just barely audible enough for others to hear "I not tell story unless I can hold Frezia again, I not want her getting warmed up..." Naturally it was a mere excuse to not tell stories at all. She preferred telling stories through her music, although she was also a fair story teller in the normal fashion of doing so. "An', even so, I not tell my stories 'less anyone want to hear them." it was more of a statement then it was a way of encouraging someone's curiosity. But, even at that, she would still tell if it truly peaked ones curiosity.

Kassy is delighted by Ranok's praise of both his story and his bravery. "Well of course I am brave, you don't get to be the scourge of the seven seas without being brave and stuff." The lad now continues the interrupted tale of his adventure when he stowed away with pirates. "So I yelled out and Jolie found out I hiding in the barrel, she told all of the rest of the crew except for Captain Leoxander, because everyone was scared Captain Leoxander might get really angry and keelhaul me or something even worse like make me go to school whenever the ship was in port. " The lad smiles to himself remembering the carefree days of adventure on the Eternity, with the entire crew conspiring to hide the presence of the 'Lil scourge' from the captain. "There were lots of nice sailors who taught me stuff, and Jolie, and Lucien, and a Capuchin monkey called Lulu, and two rats and a mouse. One of the rats was Rowen, and the other was Sam who is another rat friend of Leoxander's and the great great great grandson of the original ships rat called Sam. Captain Leoxander says he and Rowen are friends from way back, he says the two of them tend to turn up hand in hand, or rather paws on shoulder. Now the mouse was a white mouse, but it wasn't an ordinary white mouse, it was white because it was a skellington." He grins at Niawtu as he explains this odd bit of the story." The skellington mouse's name is Nibbles. Rowen told me all about him..."It seems that the pirate mad kid's story, when published in novel form is going to contain several long chapters detailing everything about the various rodents aboard.

Ranok makes a face. Kassy just seemed to keep going. In order to get the subject changed, he hands Nia back Freezia, so she could show him off and maybe get Kassy's interest. The man glances back at Ty, almost as if he knew what she was up to.

Tysinni is looking quite innocent of any wrong doings even as she wraps her hand about the intended object of her theft. She returns Ranok's look with a stubborn, unwavering gaze of denial. The thief would note the positions of the other people in the room, waiting for the perfect opportunity to swiftly purloin her prize into the safe confines of her sling. Really, it was quite handy to have an injured arm. People looked at you with sympathy and not suspicion and it was nice to carry things around in.

Sophie gave 1 gold wedding-band to Tysinni.

Niawtu smirks, after Frezia is given back to her. As she grabs Frezia she makes a certain whistle as though it were a whistle for Frezia (but in truth Ty would soon be finding that Eek the tarantula had just crawled onto her hand as she grasped the object. No one was going to steal from Gwen's sister while she was there.) After her whistle she turns back toward Kassy and says "I forget to introduce Frezia. She is frost dragon hatchling, and Nia's friend." after introducing the dragon she then goes on to say "And I agree tha' goin' to school would be worse than keel hauling..." she issues a glare up towards Ranok when he's not looking and then swiftly turns back to Kassy. "I tink your stories of a Preklek planet are interesting. That sounds like my planet *says the planet thing as seriously as she can to make her story seem real* except the Pookaleks are -much- meaner. They capture me from out of my castle, it was a castle made -completely- of ice! My people love cold, see, and we all have frost abilities. Niawtu was very beloved by everyone and was gonna be queen one day. But then Pookaleks came an' took 'Lil Niawtu away... Ah, but I no bore you with story of Planet Alicorn." she says with a shrug. A good number of what she said was turned around. Her homeland was Alicorn, but it is on this planet so far from the mainland that only Preks could get there, and so cold that only their technologies would keep them warm in the weather. Even the whole thing about being beloved by her people was turned around. She was treated like a monster by all but her mother, and her skeleton skin body enhanced their thoughts. For they were skinny, but not -nearly- that much. Also she didn't mention that she had a twin brother who was meant to be the leader. But she continues to look at Kassy and await his response.

A real princess and a real nanny goat.

Kassy listens openmouthed to Niawtu's story. He is impressed."So are you a real princess? Really? Like in stories? Did you ever sleep on top of a dozen mattress with a pea right underneath the bottom one and get all bruised? Have you tried going around kissing all the frogs you can find in case one of them might be a handsome prince under an evil enchantment?" All three children are quite agreed that going to school is far worse than keelhauling. Sanmichel has finally returned from the back room. He turns somersaults in the air playfully as he flies over to Tysinni. "Sorry, but I couldn't find Muffin. She'll be alright, she is magical, and made by Auntie Satoshi. I think she must have gone out exploring the world sitting in my brother Nasurate's pocket again. Nasurate is at home at the light house with Griselda. Griselda is our nanny she is a lycan, a were-goat. We are the only kids I know about who have a nanny goat." The tiny pixie boy is delighted that Kassy has reached a part of his story all about rats and mice. Sanny is very fond of rodents himself, naturally his favourites are hamsters like his noble steed Champion, but the lad quite likes rats and mice and capybara too. He flies over to his brother and sits on top of Kassy's head so as to be able the hear the story in comfort. "Did you get to the bit about the three mouseketeers and the fluffy pink bunny rabbit slipper sleeping bags for Rowen and Nibbles yet Kassy? And how Lucien made Rowen tiny little flippers so that she could dive down to Davey Jones' Locker? And the bit about Basil and the flying carpet?" The three inch lad asks enthusiastically. He tells the lycan girl...."This is a great story Niawtu, my favourite. I think you are really going to enjoy it. Especially as Rowen is in it, and you are her Imperial Steed." Kassy pauses at the barrage of questions. "Not yet Sanny. Storytelling is a fine art you see, you have to tell it in the right order, and build up 'sus pents' too, to make it a good tale." Sanny settles down in his brother's hair to enjoy the well-loved tale, with plenty of cute rodents.

Ranok would wonder how Eek came along, as he didn't recall the spider catching a ride and ones the size of *his* hand tended to be difficult to miss. Unfortunately, this one couldn't just be squashed like he did the others, and would go over to 'rescue' Ty from being 'eaten', as she would almost surely be hollering about. He was glad for the distraction, but he wasn't going to say that. "Vat iz it vith hyu und spiders?"

Tysinni is looking quite pleased with herself as she tucks her prize against her arm inside the sling. Her elation is short lived however, for a second later she notices the strange weight and slightly ticklish feeling happening on the back of her hand. As if in slow motion, Ty looks downward only to see her dreaded spider nemesis clinging to her thieving hand. "Graghlllllungh." The strangled sound coming from her throat resembles no words, but her horror and terror are quite apparent to anyone watching her. The ring is still tucked safely away as the thief yanks her hand up out of the sling and starts waving it around wildly, desperate to dislodge the 'monster.' "Get it off, get it off!" She's glad for Ranok's interference, holding out her hand and closing her eyes. "Help!"

Niawtu smirks for a moment, but slightly scowls when she sees Ranok pull Eek away. "Awww... Eek only wanted to see how Ty's arm was doing." she says with another smirk growing upon her lips. She then turns back to the boys and says "Well, I not do any of -those- things as princess. We sleep on piles of soft fluffy snow, not mattresses, an' there no frogs or such on Alicorn either... But what Nia -did- like most is tha' me an' my twin brother were taught many things. Such as music and frost abilities" she lifted up one hand and moved it in a circular fashion, causing frost to come forth and glitter as it went to touch the ground. Niawtu was clearly enjoying this story telling, very much. Though she was, perhaps, going a tiny bit over board. "Oh, an we not speak with mouth, as you see. We speak with mind. Any creature of any language can understand our words, even spiders." she adds glancing over at Eek. "But, like Nia said, I not wanna bore you with my story. Go on, finish yours. I tink Ranok enjoying your story -very- much." she says to Kassy. "Especially since you brother wanna hear it so much."

Sophie is very busy for a while with a customer who comes into the shop with an odd assortment of items to sell. Kassy grins at Ranok convinced he finds the lives of rodents just as fascinating as the two lads do, then continues to tell the life story of the Lil' bone mouse Nibbles. "Nibbles was made by the drow Vaelustil. Vaelustil is a Necrodancer." The lad pauses as if unsure he has got the word right. "Yeah he is a Necrodancer....it's a bit like a belly dancer only with your neck. Anyway he made the little Skellington mouse Nibbles, and then one time he needed a baby sitter cos he was going out, so Rowen volunteered to look after the lil fellow....."

Ranok grumbles as he plucks off Eek. This was beginning to get out of hand. Oh vell, as he would say. "Nia. Hy told hyu to leaff you pets at home. Dey'll get hurt vun uf dese times. Especially since hyu alvays seem to schtash Eek near poor Ty." To Ty he says, "Dis iz de tird time Hy've saved you life, hyu know. Ven are hyu gunna return on my investment, hm? Hy'm gonna schtart chargink hyu interest." He absently follows along with Kassy's story, the child likely too enraptured in it to notice how little attention was being paid, "So dat's vat a necrodancer iz. How interestink."

Sophie gently reminds the lads that it is their bedtime. "You can tell Nia the rest of the story another day, and take her to see your raft, I am sure she will like that."

Tysinni gives Ranok an outraged look, her fear fading as quickly as the spider was removed. "I'll have you know, that none of the near-death experiences were my fault." She gives Nia a pointed look, before turning her attention back to Sophie and her family. She quite liked these new people, especially the little pixie boy. He really was quite adorable.