[PRP] A Rusty Start ( Cada + Oxiin ) -complete-

[Kuuro Kitten]

Cadaver and Oxiin as dust spin plus guardian...


Feet tapped the pavement with hefty steps, a child though taller then the usual was hurrying down the path way, he had a basket in hand, half filled with various herbs and remedies. The sound of a man calling his name was not too far in the distance, "Cadaver! Have you found it yet?"

"No! There's nothing over here either..." Cada stopped his run crouching over to catch his breath as he held up his basket. "I got a lot of the usual but I couldn't find any lavender." At least not on the outskirts of the forest, he was certain there were more deeper inside but he was forbade not to go in there. Sighing he looked off into the thicket of the trees and shrubs wondering if his friend had returned.

"Come here lad." His guardian called.

"Yes..." Hurrying over her crouched low watching as Marijus pulled what looked to be lavender from small sedement of rocks. "Why would it grow here?" He wondered out loud but no answer was forth coming.

"Does nay matter, as long as we have some. I think dats enough for now, lets head back. I'll show you how to make some household remedies for common illnesses. If ya gonna be under mah roof ya gotta understand the basics." Marijus smiled fixing his glasses firmly to his face. "Lets go to the market first, I need some extra ingredients we won't find out here."

"Okay." Gathering their belongs guardian and dust left the outskirts of Whi forest, the young dust taking another longing glance back before catching up with his guardian in the distance.

 

[X Purple--Platypus X]

Travelling to Whi Forest was certainly an experience for the young fisherman's son who had previously hardly taken a step outside the city of Aimes. His blue eyes gazed around him at the pillars of light that cut through the canopy, flowers blossoming in the rays like little gardens. The reason for the teen and father for being in there was that Jeremiah had some fishing business with an old acquaintance who lived by one of the forests deep pools. As per usual during his father's meetings with strangers Inge had chosen to explore by himself, sticking to the well trodden path and exploring the world that had been opened up to him.

Currently he was a little way behind a pair of strangers who appeared to be picking herbs and flowers. He smiled, this was such a peaceful place - the sound of bird twittering and chirping was warming to the soul. Inge was tempted to make conversation with the herb pickers but they seemed to be leaving the forest and he couldn't do that - if his father decided to look for him he would end up in heaps of bother..

However, he did find a small bundle of herbs at the foot of a tree as he passed where the pair of gatherers had been. Kneeling he picked it up and examined it. He wasn't sure what the plant was, his knowledge of herb lore was rather stunted from living on a boat, but he thought he'd better return it to them, just in case it was important. He jogged to the edge of the woods where they'd left and called out to them, luckily they hadn't gone very far and the younger boy was trailing behind.

"Excuse me! I think you left something behind."  

[Kuuro Kitten]

Cada turned first hearing the voice, "Oh.." he exclaimed smiling as the other came up to him. His father was long gone, never one to wait on him and probably would be upset when he did meet up with him again. "Ah that's the lavender we were looking for, thank you." Good thing the teen had stopped him or his guardian, Marijus would be upset for not having the lavender. Taking it he placed it in the herbal basket he had with him smiling happily. Tilting his head he gave a curious blink of an eye. "Do you live close by here? You smell like fish, I like fish they have a salty taste to them."  

[X Purple--Platypus X]

Ah, lavender.. Inge smiled, that was a nice smelling herb if he remembered correctly. Once or twice he'd seen it at market - and now he did recall the flower merchant selling the purple plants, shouting into the crowds how delightful the scent was. He sniffed his callused fingertips - rough from handling the frayed ropes of the fishing nets - and yes they did smell perfumed, resulting in a grin on the teen's face. Evidently the rest of him didn't smell so pleasant as the wide eyed child gazed at him, commenting on the scent of fish.

"Uh," he took a sniff, worried now that he smelt strongly of fish; a rather unpleasant odour.. He personally couldn't smell what the child was talking about, but he bet that a skunk would probably say the same thing, if skunks could talk. He was used to the smell of fish so ignoring it came naturally to him. "Yes, I live on a boat in Aimes.. My father is here for business, we catch fish for our living." He crossed his arms and gestured to the man who was fast disappearing into the distance. "Is that your father? Won't he be worried if you don't catch him up?" He grimaced slightly, he would not want to cause the boy any trouble - Inge knew all too well the annoyance of having a grumpy parent. If the poor kid got lectured for talking to strangers or trailing behind Inge would feel so guilty..  

[Kuuro Kitten]

Cada nodded as the teen spoke eager to learn of new places and activities. When Inge suggested toward his papa, Cada looked over his shoulder with a shrug. "I disappear on him all the time. He's used to it so long as I'm home by dinner he won't fuss... at least not a lot. But he'll be a bit upset since I have the lavender he needs." The dust child giggled not much worried about his papa, the man was a loner before he had appeared in his life and he was pretty much the same now. Though Marijus was mindful to be a parent ever so often.

"What about you... won't your papa worry if you don't return home?" Although Cada didn't know where Inge's papa was or if he had come with him. It was a simple question in return. "Oh! Maybe you're lost! Is that it, you got lost?" Way to jump to conclusions.

 

[X Purple--Platypus X]

Inge couldn't help but smile at the little boy's carefree attitude, although a pang of concern did twitch in his chest - he knew that if he ever became a father, not for a while he hoped, he wouldn't let his kid out of his sight.. The world was a wide and wild place, who knew what could snatch up a child in the woods? He'd heard tales of all manner of beast; griffins, imps, dragons even! But then again, he couldn't help but smirk when he heard tales of the massive sea beasts that were rumoured to frequent the sea around Aimes. He'd never seen such a thing, so maybe it was the same with all the creatures rumoured to live on the mainland? But all the same, the child's naivety that had been displayed so far could make him an easy target - after all, danger didn't come exclusively in the form of nasty beasties; humans could be pretty awful too.

The question regarding his father being worried made Inge nearly snort with laughter, he contained himself but couldn't hold back his amusement from forming in a large grin. "Somehow I think he wouldn't be too bothered. Although he'd moan a lot when he had to do all the work himself.." And in response to the boy's question about Inge being lost the teen shook his head, gesturing backwards into the sun filled forest.

"No, my father is just down the path. Visiting a friend at one of the forest pools." Polite as always he continued the conversation - despite the fact he should be encourage the child to return to his dad. "Have you seen the pools? They're lovely."  

[Kuuro Kitten]

"Pools?" Cada inquired he'd never really saw them. A few streams here and there but he never went into the forest without his papa or Hymn. Was it okay to go with this stranger. "Ah! I can't go with strangers... um.. um.. what is your name? I'm Cadaver!" An odd name to be sure but he seemed quite pleased with it, not disturbed at all. By introducing himself the rule of wandering around with a stranger was thrown out, he would no longer be an unknown person.

"I have to be careful of strange people. There's boys out here that like to pick on me but you seem nice so I thought we should stop being strangers. Then I can go with you to see the pools." A naive boy's logic but it worked best for him.

 

[X Purple--Platypus X]

Inge couldn't help but smile, the boy's naive logic was charming to say the least, exchanging names so that they wouldn't be strangers - it made the teenage boy's soul smile, children were so adorable at points. It brought back memories of when he'd been at the orphanage, he'd always been good with the younger kids, he seemed to have a natural affinity with youngsters. "Nice to meet you Cadaver." Inge smiled and tapped a hand to his chest, "I'm Inge, and I'd be honoured to show you the pools, so long as you don't blame your lateness in returning home on me when your father asks where you've been?" He chuckled, offering a hand to the child.

"And as for those other children picking on you.. Well that's not very nice of them is it?" He paused, observing the boy. He couldn't begin to consider why they'd bully him - he seemed nice enough, no obvious deformations like a big nose or glasses.. Albeit, Cadaver was a little on the tall side, but he couldn't comprehend why this would result in him being picked on.. Curious, he decided to ask;

"Why do they pick on you? You've never done anything to them, right?"  

[Kuuro Kitten]

Cada thought a moment then smiled, "I won't blame you." He promised then took the boys hand smiling as they walked at a moderate pace. At Inge's question he gave a slight shrug, his usual hoodie slipping back to show a few disfigurations along his face. His arms were always covered so they never really showed but the boys had found him on a particular day when he decided to wear short sleeved clothing.

"I'm different I guess." He offered. "Mr. Happy made them sick when they were picking on me one day. I'm not sure how but they all got the flu at the same time and I hadn't heard from them for a while. Papa told me because he's a doctor and he had to go tend to them to make sure they were okay." He gave another shrug not really sure how else to explain. He just knew some people didn't like him for whatever reason but he didn't spend too much time worrying about it. "I told Mr. Happy not to be so mean but when other's pick on me he gets so angry."  

[X Purple--Platypus X]

Smiling as they walked into the woods Inge felt a warmth creep into him. He'd missed the youngsters in the orphanage, but he'd been kept so busy he hadn't had time to pine over leaving them. Now that he was holding Cadavers hand he felt the familiar feeling of acting a bit like an older brother. He did however frown at the disfigurations on Cadaver's face.. They looked a bit like scars and Inge thought it was better to not ask how they child had gained them..

He was however too curious to refrain from asking who 'Mr Happy' was. "May I ask, who is this Mr Happy? How did he make them sick?" Inge's eyes examined the boy, looking for more clues on how he was different. He felt himself staring rather rudely as he realised what was poking out from the boy's back - a pair of skeletal wings! They looked almost disease ridden with only a few lank feathers clutching onto the bone frame. Evidently this boy was more 'different' than what Inge had first thought, perhaps he wasn't even human.

He chewed his lip, directing his eyes away from the boy's wings to look at the sunlight path ahead.. The boy hadn't done anything wrong, he seemed really nice actually, so Inge would continue to treat him pleasantly as he had been before.. It wasn't fair to persecute him for being different; that would make Inge as bad as the boy who'd bullied him.  

[Kuuro Kitten]

"Ah Mr. Happy... well he's my friend." He offered as a simple explanation. "I left him home, papa says I'm too old for stuff animals." He gave a slight pout but smiled bright at the older boy. "It's okay, he needs to get washed cause he's been out in the dirt too much. So papa hung him out to dry while we came to pick herbs for his medicine."

As they kept walking Cada didn't say much else, his attention was on their environment though vaguely he could feel the older boy's eyes on him. He had grown used to it over time but even then it never truly bothered him. Most of the towns folk didn't seem to mind his strange complexion or the dusty wings. Half the time he forgot he even had them, they didn't seem to respond to any commands aside from when moving his arms about they would move with him. He even wondered if they had grown correctly would he have been able to fly?

"I remember a dream of being surrounding in darkness. It was really really black and felt like shadows were grabbing on to me. I felt cold and wet, and there were pretty white feathers but then they began to wither and decay, molting. People all around got sick and some even died. I saw a girl holding a stuffed toy, that was Mr. Happy... but she was sick too. She died. That's when I saw papa, he was crying. Mr. Happy told me I had to come and protect papa before he got sick too cause he was drinking a lot and wouldn't eat." He seemed to look solemn as he spoke but managed another bright smile. "I haven't' told papa yet so it's our secret. He'll worry if I tell him about strange dreams..." Looking up to Inge with curious yellow-green eyes he tilted his head. "What do you suppose the dream meant?"  

[X Purple--Platypus X]

Taken aback by the peculiar and slightly disturbing dream involving so much death and a peculiar illness inducing talking doll, Inge couldn't quite muster up the words to reply.. After all, what could you reply to that story with? He considered his reply carefully before saying it, "Well, I'm just as perplexed as you are.." He tried to think of something he could say to comfort the boy, he knew that if he had strange dreams like that he would be confused or even scared by them. "Perhaps you ask a dream reader?" He suggested, drawing on his memories at the market. Often he'd seen a shady occult stall in the corner of the market selling bizarre magical trinkets and offering services like tarot card reading and if he remembered correctly they offered explanations of dreams too. "There's a stall in the Aimes market.. Perhaps they could explain it better?"

Luckily before the rather grim conversation on the peculiar dream could go much further the path led them to their destination. The avenue of trees they'd been walking down opened up into a clearing in which was a wide deep pool. Sun glimmered off the surface and a thin blanket of mist hung over it. There were a few people bathing in the water - the medicinal properties that people claimed the springs had were well known. Inge grinned at Cadaver, gesturing towards the shimmering pool. "Worth the little trip isn't it?" Underfoot there was a blanket of lush green grass and delicate flowers. Inge crouched and plucked one.

"Has this got any herbal uses?" He inquired, sniffing the pretty blue bud; It had a slight peppermint smell... Very pleasant.  

[Kuuro Kitten]

Cada's mind whirled with thoughts. Maybe he should go into town and check that out. It wouldn't hurt to get a better understanding of his dreams. They seemed to get much worse as time continued maybe they were warnings of things to come or a key to where he came from.

"Ah!" Cadaver's eyes widen at the sight before him. He looked eager to splash in the pool before him but was mindful of his manner. All thoughts of his morbid dream had left him as he looked upon the flower sniffing at the pleasant scent. "Oh I don't know but I'm sure papa would. I'll take some back with me just in case." He offered. Wiggling with excitement and curiosity he watched the pool then looked to Inge for approval to enter. He'd like nothing more than to splash around and enjoy the fresh liquid.

 

[X Purple--Platypus X]

Cadaver certainly seemed excited at the prospect of playing in the pool and Inge laughed as the boy looked expectantly at Inge for some sort of permission. He shrugged and waved a hand at him, "Sure, go ahead and go in, but remember you've got to go home in those clothes so if you get them wet you'll be in for a soggy walk home." He realised however that if the boy did decide to venture into the spring pool a small donation was required, a wooden box with a slot in the top was nearby. Inge dug around in his pocket and pulled out one silver peice - plenty enough to validate a child's satisfaction in the pool.

He considered going in himself.. His father would probably be grumpy if Inge came back soaked, but Inge was certain that if he rolled up his trouser legs and made sure to be careful, it wouldn't hurt to have a quick wade in the refreshing pool with the kid. Plus, it wasn't like he had anything better to do - if he hadn't started talking to Cadaver he'd simply be wandering around still.. Waiting for his father's meeting to finish so that they could return to Aimes. This was a rare snippet of freedom from his adopted father and as much as Inge appreciated and respected the bad tempered man he couldn't help but relish the chance to do what he wanted for once.

And so he dropped the coin in the slot in the box and rolled up his trousers till they were above the knee. Grinning with child-like excitement the teen strode forward over the soft bed of grass and flowers till he was standing at the waters edge.. "You going to come in too?"  

[Kuuro Kitten]

Cada squealed with delight removing his hoody and setting it neatly off to the side so it wouldn't get wet. Whatever rolling up his pants would do was little to none as he practically tossed himself into the pool cannonball style. "Weeee!" Flopping in he kicked up quite a splash but settled comfortably when he came to stand at the water's surface. It wasn't a very deep pool but it was perfect for soaking if one needed. Fairly cool but not too warm on the other hand. A nice blend of comfortable temperature.

Sitting on a rock at the edge Cada hummed softly to himself, his feet kicking into the water with a lazy, carefree appeal. "Water is so refreshing. It's really nice." He commented absently. "My papa used to have to chase me around the house before I took a bath but eventually it would get cold so I'd jump in on my own. He would tell me silly stories while I bathed too."

"What's it like living with the fish? I mean on a boat? Don't you get sea sick?"