define('WP_CACHE', true); Borah – Crossed Paths – Logs https://crossed-paths.com/logs The Story Thus Far... Fri, 29 Jun 2012 05:59:22 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.6 Chapter 14: A Bath https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/111 https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/111#comments Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:21:07 +0000 https://crossed-paths.com/logs/?p=111

Continue reading]]> Chapter 14: A Bath

In Which the Companions Enjoy the Hospitality Of the SSMC.

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Catamount says: The pair follow Borah down the tunnels in silence, the young mouse seems to be quite shy. After a bit she ventures, “I guess you know my name… What’s yours?”

Arrin says: He grins. “T’name’s Soquan.”

Catamount says: The ferret smiles as well. “I’m Jozra.  Pleased to meet you, Borah.”

Arrin says: He nods. “Aye, same here.”

Catamount says: Presently, the trio reach another curtained doorway, this one with wisps of steam escaping the edges now and then. Borah stops and explains. “You can get cleaned up here.  It’s pretty easy to keep the water hot.  We just ask that you clean up after yourselves.”

Arrin says: He nods. “Of course, thank you Borah.”

Catamount says: The mouse bows slightly. “Will you two be able to find your way back?”

Arrin says: He nods. “I think so.”

Catamount says: Borah nods. “I’ll head back down this way in about a half an hour, just in case. If you get lost, you can ask anyone how to get back to Trey’s office.” Jozra nods. “Thanks, Borah.”

Arrin says: “He nods. “Aye, thank you.” He steps through the curtain.

Catamount says: The ferret follows Soquan and gazes around at the room.  Here and there are a few stone basins with recesses carved under them for heating.  Each tub is full of comfortably steaming water.  On a shelf are several large towels and a basket nearby half full of used towels.  Bathing paraphernalia is lined up on other shelves.

Arrin says: He nudges Jozra. “What do you see?”

Catamount says: Jozra relates everything that she sees while guiding Soquan towards one of the large tubs. “There seems to be a few tables over there too, I’ll go grab a couple and some towels and be right back.”

Arrin says: He nods. “Get some soap too.”

Catamount says: The ferret checks her trajectory and heads towards the shelf holding the soap. “Right.”

Arrin says: He nods and strips off his shirt. “Thank you.”

Catamount says: The ferret slips some soap into her pocket and then heads for the towel rack where she props a couple of towels on her shoulder while gathering up a couple of small tables.  She clunkly returns to the initial washtub. “Here we are…” She sets down the tables, places the towels on top of one of them and fishes the soap out of her pocket and sticks that on top of the towels.

Arrin says: He grins at her. “Thank you.”

Arrin says: After stripping down completely, he slips into the water with a groan. “Wait until you feel this Jozra…”

Yazeth: Jozra grins before lifting her tunic over her head. “As nice as the hot pools?”

Arrin Woodgreen: He nods. “Aye, if possible, even better.”

Yazeth: The ferret completes disrobing and grabs some of the soap before climbing into the tub. “Ooooh… So much better than that frozen pond!”

Arrin Woodgreen: He nods and begins to clean the dirt and grime from his fur. “Aye, much better.”

Yazeth: Jozra ducks her head beneath the water and rubs at the fur on her face and between her ears before resurfacing. “So tell me about Trey.  You two seem to know each other well.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He nods. “Him and I have been friends since we were toddlers. Our mothers used to be friends.”

Yazeth: The ferret scrubs at her foot paws where mud had caked on. “Oh?”

Arrin Woodgreen: He begins picking the twigs, sap, rocks and other things from his tail. “Yeah, we’d explore all the time. Came back home wet, muddy and hungry!”

Yazeth: She chuckles as she suds up her arms. “I can believe that…”

Arrin Woodgreen: He laughs as well, getting a few pebbles out from in between his toes. “We’ve always been really close friends. We’ve been though heartbreak, the coming of siblings, mothers that died and injuries.  All that and much more…”

Yazeth: The ferret smiles as she lathers soap onto her shoulders. “You two sound like you were very close.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He lathers up his chest and stomach before replying with a nod. “We still are, but not as much.”

Yazeth: Jozra rinses a bit and inspects her paws before soaping up again. “How come?”

Arrin Woodgreen: He picks the dirt out from under his claws as he replies. “Our interests diverged, and we drifted apart. We’re still friends though.”

Yazeth: The ferret nods as she twists around to scrub at her back. “Kinda sad how that happens. So you’re co-founder of this mining company?”

Arrin Woodgreen: He nods. “Aye, I am. We found this place completely by accident though, we were caught in the rain and we needed shelter.”

Yazeth: Jozra pauses and grins before continuing to comb mud out of her tail. “Sounds familiar.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He nods and begins sudsing up completely. “Aye it does.” He submerges himself, washing off all the soap.

Yazeth: The ferret washes her face and suds places she missed before or were still dirty. “Do you know any of the other mice here or just Trey?”

Arrin Woodgreen: He washes his face also before replying. “Only Trey I’m afraid, or else that whole “adventure” when we got here probably wouldn’t have happened.”

Yazeth: She slicks the water back from her face and inspects her fur.  Cleans up pretty good, don’t she? “I see.  It sounded like you weren’t expecting them in this area of the caves.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He nods. “I wasn’t. They were much further back last time, and on a lower level.”

Yazeth: The ferret stands and squeezes some of the water out of her fur before stepping out and shaking. “It sounds as though the two of you have done well by this find.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He nods. “Aye, we have.” He stands also and steps out of the tub, he reaches for a towel and unfolds it.  He feels the irregularity and chuckles. “Jorza, these are spare robes.”

Yazeth: The ferret lifts up the other one and looks at it. “So they are…” She grins sheepishly before going back over to the towel shelf.  She checks first this time that what she is grabbing are indeed towels before returning. “Here you go. Sorry about that.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He smiles and begins to dry off. “It’s okay.”

 

]]> https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/111/feed 1 Chapter 13: 5-1 Pieces https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/108 https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/108#comments Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:09:45 +0000 https://crossed-paths.com/logs/?p=108

Continue reading]]> Chapter 13: 5-1 Pieces

In Which Soquan and Trey Settle On the Share the Otter Will Take.

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Catamount says: Soon the crush of mice behind the travelers and Trey begins to dissipate as they return to their work in side tunnels. Jozra makes note of the few who are rather reluctant to leave, though. The three finally come to a curtain suspended across a doorway carved into the rock.

Arrin says: He murmurs to Jozra. “What do you see?”

Catamount says: She gazes about. “It’s really quite marvelous. Seems as though they carved an office right out of the rock. And it’s a large office too. Looks like there are tunnels leading off to other places too.”

Arrin says: He grins, old memories flooding in. “Wonderful.”

Catamount says: Trey indicates a pair of comfy looking armchairs. “Have a seat.”

Arrin says: He nods and he feels his way towards the chairs. He flops down with a contented sigh.

Catamount says: Jozra follows and sits in the other comfortable chair. “Ahh…”

Arrin says: He grins. “So how’ve you been?”

Catamount says: The mouse sits in the large chair behind a desk. “Quite well, actually. We’ve had quite a run of successes recently.”

Arrin says: He nods. “That’s good.”

Catamount says: Trey nods and settles back. “So! What brings the two of you down our way?”

Arrin says: He sits back, crossing one leg over the other. “I’m here for a bit of my share.”

Catamount says: Both mouse and ferret quirk their eyebrows, though for different reasons. Trey says, “Go on…”

Arrin says: “Come on, when we found this place, we agreed everything went 50/50.”

Catamount says: Jozra simply stares between the two. MOST unexpected indeed. Trey frowns slightly. “ Everything, Soquan? And right away? I’ve had to expand the effort and many of these mice now take home a share in compensation for their efforts…”

Arrin says: He frowns, thinking. “Then how much of my share is left?”

Catamount says: Trey steeples his fingers. “That depends on how much you’re planning on taking at the moment. It fluctuates, my friend. There will, of course, always be the reserve for you to take. It just depends on how much of your current share that you want.”

Arrin says: He shakes his head. “Not a lot, two or four of the class 5-1 pieces.”

Catamount says: The mouse breathes a sigh of relief. “I was afraid you were here to take it all!  That’s no problem at all, my friend.”

Arrin says: He grins. “Good, now what do you say about getting us a nice bath and some food?”

Catamount says: Trey smiles and bobs his head. “I’ll have Borah take you two to the field respite for that bath and you can join us in about an hour for dinner. I’ll take care of those 5-1 pieces in the meantime.”

Arrin says: He nods. “I hope we get a bed afterwards…”

Catamount says: The mouse laughs. “But of course!”

Arrin says: He nods again. “Alright then, it’s set.”

Catamount says: Jozra stands as a small gray mouse, obviously Borah, approaches. She touches Soquan’s shoulder and smiles gratefully at Trey.

Arrin says: He grins at Trey. “Thank you.”

Catamount says: The ferret bobs her head and echoes Soquan’s sentiment before turning to the other mouse who leads the two out of the cave and back into the tunnels.

Arrin says: He follows the mouse also, his paw gently resting on Jozra’s arm to know which way to go.

 

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