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Post by dandan on Apr 16, 2007 15:27:04 GMT -5
“I just want to say…that…I’m…well thank you Dan-Dan…I never realized how much I needed you,” Kulap told her husband, her words almost making Dan-dan's cheeks turn scarlet.
"Weren't no prolem," he replied, looking away slightly to hide his blush, "Jus' keepin' mah promise I made when we got married... To Love and Protect ya."
As Kulap began to scrounge up some kindling for a fire, Dan-dan decided to retrieve the rest of their supplies and deposited them beside the ring of stones. He removed a rough blanket from one pack and rolled it out with a snap of the wrists. The fisherman laid the fabric down smoothly along the ground and then picked up the other traveling sack. He turned it upside down and out fell a few crab-apples and a bag of fried grasshoppers. A decent snack, but he figured Kulap could use something a bit more substantial to aid in her recovery.
The fisherman glanced at his wife and saw that she was still trying to breathe some life into the campfire. While she was occuppied, he pulled out the utility knife that they had stored securely in one of the packs and walked down to the pool. Still frozen in a block of ice, the snapper-squid's long tentacles still hung in a limp arc in the air. They were barely moving anymore, so with only slight caution did Dan-dan hack off the limb at its visible base. The tentacle squirmed a bit at that point, but he quickly sawed off a four inch segment from the thick end and started back toward the camp where Kulap had finally got the fire to make some progress.
Dan-dan swung by the tree line as her came back and picked up a long stick from the ground. He speared the chunk of squid on the pointy end and then sat down on the blanket, letting the meat hang over the flames. Kulap suprised him slightly by crawling over and reclining into his chest. He shifted the hold on the stick with the calamari into his left hand so he could hold it off to the side while he wrapped the other arm around Kulap for comfort.
“I think I finally realized that I love you,” she said quietly, almost as though she were thinking aloud. Dan-dan's eyes widened a little bit, but he couldn't keep a smile off his face. Hearing something like that was very touching, even if it had come several months after their actual marriage. He was at a loss for what to say in return, but after opening his mouth and not being able to stammer out more than half a syllable, he contented himself with hugging her a bit tighter and kissing the top of her head.
"Me too..."
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Post by choji on Apr 16, 2007 20:07:21 GMT -5
The fire crackled with light and light giving a warm glow to the couple as the rested and waited for dawn. Butchie layed belly up by the warm fire as Kulap continued to stoke. She felt Dan-Dan left but when he came back he brough a speared tentencule of the snapper-squid.
Kulap raised an eyebrow at the limb that nearly killed her. She watched it fry and cook as she munched on some fried grasshoppers, enjoying the crunch. When she whisper that she loved Dan-Dan. She felt very vunerable. Until she was reasured by kiss on her head. Me too..."
Kulap smiled shily and giggled a bit. It felt strange almost child-like. But then again. Kulap has never been in love before. The shaman closed her eyes and she thinks back to her relationship with Dan-Dan at the start.
She was nervous and untrusting at first. Still mourning Mulkat. But as time wore on, Dan-Dan grew on her. His smile, his chuckle, the way seem to carry on things, with a sort of lay-back wisdom. It truly complamented Kulap's, fiery rashness, and straight forwardness. She smiled a bit as she made a bit of an ephiany. She and Dan-Dan were courting.
It started slow at first then it went along as most relationships did. Now it was confirmed. They were in love. Kulap opened her eyes, looking at Dan-Dan at new light. Not as her just as her husband but as her consort. As her beloved and equal.
She took a peice of the squid and nibbled on it as she layed back on Dan-Dan's chest and listenting to his heartbeat.
"Ya know Dan-Dan if ya think about it. We were courting all those months together. Jest gittin' to know eachother, but now...we can say that were are married. We love eachother now and we can well...have sex without the feelin' of makin' love to a stranger. Maybe the real miracle of this night wasn't that I was saved from death. But that....you even bothered at all, that you showed that you loved me. and that I discovered that I wasn't jest livin' and tolerating you, that I accually had feelings for you. I bet Grandad is laughin' his butt of right now. Heh I hope that fat bastard is happy." Kulap smiled as she munch on her meal feeling better as time passed.
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Post by dandan on Apr 17, 2007 19:45:32 GMT -5
Dan-dan offered a smile and replied, "I'm thinkin' he's happy yer not talkin' to him in person right now." The fisherman removed the piece of roasted calamari from the fire and blew on it for a few moments to help it cool faster. "But yer right about whatcha said-Ow!" he yelped slightly as he tried to rip off a piece of the cooked tentacle with his hand, but ended up burning a finger on the hot meat. He stuck the digit in his mouth for a moment to soothe the pain, and then blew on the roasted tentacle once more. This time, however, he used a bit of his bending to put a bit of cold mist nto that breath that did the job of reducing its temerature to something more manageable.
Dan-dan moved the stick closer to his mouth and bit off a chunk for himself. And as he chewed for a moment, he realized he'd gotten off his train of thought and continued through his chewing, "We were kinda puttin... the cart before the ostrich-horse... Hard to have a happy marriage when ya don't know the person yer married to."
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Post by choji on Apr 17, 2007 20:08:32 GMT -5
Kulap giggled and yawned she blinked her eyes. She crawled over and pulled out a lighter warmer blanket and wrapped it around her. Her grandmother Aneelah made for mother as wedding gift many years ago. Kulap still kept it. It's bright colors and patterns of birds and flowers, made Kulap feel a hundred times more safe. Kulap crawled down and yawned to Dan-Dan that he was free to crawl over and snuggle with her...for warmth of course. Kulap thought of grandfather, tugging on long beard, her grandmother weaving, her father and mother talking and holding hand before the thought of Dan-Dan next to her lulled into sleep.
"Night Dan...love ya."
Morning has risen with out the caphony of birds bugs an it has been a peaceful night. Kulap slept rather well, no dreams or nightmares bothered the shaman. Though she couldn't help but feel someone was watching her. She wanted to go for her spear but when she opened her eyes and looked at the presense behind her. She smiled.
"Yew up all night watching me Dan-Dan?"
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Post by dandan on Apr 18, 2007 10:23:54 GMT -5
Dan-dan rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and offered a slight smile at Kulap. "Just keepin' watch since the fire died down," he admitted, letting out a yawn. In truth, he'd hardly gone to sleep at all that night, as much as he was tempted to. Once Kulap had dozed off, he had taken up a seat beside the fire and waited there for nearly the whole night with his oar in hand and a skin of water on his hip. He'd only nodded off for a few minutes at a time, so he wasn't entirely sleep-deprived, but there were visible bags forming under his eyes.
Using his blackwood oar like a crutch, he hoisted himself to a standing position and brushed off the dirt and twigs that had clung to his loin cloth and legs. By the edge of the Forgotten Pool, Dan-dan heard the sound of sloshing water and turned his head to see Butchie waddling onto dry land. The catfish-gator had been swimming around the shallows of the pool, making a morning snack out of the remains of the still mostly-frozen snapper squid. The fisherman smiled at that sight, thinking it appropriate that the creature that would have eaten his wife was now being eaten itself.
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Post by choji on Apr 19, 2007 18:13:27 GMT -5
Butchie scuttled over and nudged his mistress to stand. Kulap groaned and got up. She rubbed her back and stretched as she looked at her legs and wrists. "Hey Dan-Dan, the bruises are gone, on mah legs and arms at least...it feels a little easier to breathe now too. Amazing." It in awe of what happened last night Kulap took her shamanic spear and gathered her bags.
"C'mon Dan-Dan! Lets go home!"
Kulap followed Butchie who remembered the path back to the skift, Kulap followed him walking past the snake carrass and then pass down hill to were the skift was. "C'mon Dan Were almost home!" Kulap almost had to laugh. It was quiet an adventure, she jump into the skift laughing. "Wow...jest think for a moment....can't you believe it? We had one hell of adventure.." Kulap closed her eye and sighed as she leaned back in the skift. Butchie hopped in and she waited for Dan-Dan to come in.
"Looks like we have some explaining to do for Indah."
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Post by dandan on Apr 20, 2007 10:47:25 GMT -5
Dan-dan took up his usual spot at the back of the skiff. He dropped the traveling bag off his shoulder and took up his oar. With a wave of the paddled end, he pulled a small wave from the nearby waterway under the craft and the boat floated down into the water. The fisherman wobbled a bit as the skiff settled into the water and he pushed off the bottom of the shallows with his oar to propel them into a deeper section.
"Looks like we have some explaining to do for Indah." Kulap remarked as they started to backtrack toward their home. Dan-dan huffed loudly and with no small hint of centempt.
"More like she's got some 'splainin' to do fer us," he said as he paddled the skiff with his bending. "If she so much as looks at us wrong fer not gettin' the stupid flower after all we been through, I'ma paddle her butt right out the door!" Dan-dan went on to grumble a few things about snakes and monsters and quicksand, but for the most part he seemed to let it go after that.
The two made it back home after an hour or so of travel with Butchie keeping rear guard the whole way. They docked the skiff at the tribe's makeshift wharf and headed swiftly toward their treehouse, not botherring to stay long enough for some of the other villagers to inquire about their trip.
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Post by choji on Apr 21, 2007 11:02:41 GMT -5
Kulap walked into the house with her arms outstretched and smiling. "Ahhhh home at last!" Kulap laid on the hammock with a big smile on her face eyes sparking with relief. Butchie flopped on his bed and made a noise like purr. Kulap swung on the hammock feeling very much like a little girl again. She took a deep breath before she heard a voice
"I heard you just came back." Kulap looked over to the door and saw Indah. Kulap groaned and got her staff. "Look woman we-" Kulap was cut off as Indah stepped in with smile. "Do you have it?! Do you have the orchid." Kulap sighed. "Lady...look we did have it...but well it nearly cost us our lives. In fact.." Kulap unraveled her chest bandages. Indah did not seem impressed. Her chest bruise was gone."
"Well were is the flower?" Indah asked lookeing more and more annoyed, Kulap got hesident and said meekly "Well we used it..." Indah looked furious.
"What! Why? Spirits I don't even want to know! You stupid hick! I just wanted you to retrieve it! But no! You can't do a stupid task!" Kulap "eeped" And sat on the hammock looking very ashamed and embarrsed
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Post by dandan on Apr 21, 2007 11:42:30 GMT -5
At this point, Dan-dan stepped between his wife and the irate herbalist. He stood easily a head taller than the old woman, and he made sure to emphasize that by standing as straight as he could with his arms over his chest. "I'ma ask you not to insult my wife," he told Indah, his voice low and serious. The fisherman narrowed his eyes at the old woman, his nostrils flared, and his mouth set into a deep frown.
"Now you listen up," he said after a pause in which indah had seemed to comprehend just how angry Dan-dan really was. "We been attacked by snakes, lost in mist, and mah wife was nearly killed by giant snapper-squid... An' we did all that just as a favor! Now I think that at least gives us dibs on first use o' yer stupid Miracle Cure... And if you even think about given us trouble after all we been through, I'ma have Butchie here take a bite outta yer wrinkly hide."
Indah's eyes seemed to go wide with a mix of shock, indignation, and fear. Here was this young man theatening to sic a catfish-gator on an old lady! Apparently respect for the elderly was not proper ettiquette in this mud-hole. She looked down her nose at Dan-dan and Kulap, which required a severe tilt of her head considering the fisherman's height.
Dan-dan seemed unaffected by her reaction and merely asked, "Got it?"
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Post by choji on Apr 21, 2007 12:34:05 GMT -5
Indah snarled something low and glared at Kulap. "You're just as foolish as your Grandfather." With that Indah left cursing in her wake. Kulap was rocking slowly in her hammock feeling tired and sleepy.
"After all that we went through, all that we got is a near death experiance and a chew out. Boy and I'm still tired..." Kulap sighed and saw that Butchie was pulling something to her. It was the jewerly that Indah left. Kulap giggled and took the shinehs to the back room.
"Well at least he left us the goods." Kulap laid in the hammock agian and closed her eyes. "Dan-Dan Imma beat, can ya stay with me tonight...ya know and just well keep me comfy." Kulap asked with a yawn. She laid on her side and rocked on the hammock a bit tired from the adventure. Butchie scutted to the door growling at Indah as she left almost say AND DON'T COME BACK
Kulap was happy at least he had her adventure and she was content...for now at least
((KULAP LEFT THE RP))
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