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Post by spender on Jun 22, 2010 9:29:38 GMT -5
Spender stumbled, fallin forwards onto all four paws for a second or two before bouncing right back up. What? What was this ferret's problem? Peskers was acting just like—well, just like his sisters did when he took something from them. Spender wrinkled his nose. Surely Peskers wasn't... but, the Zorilla...? No...
"Weirdo," Spender scowled, rubbing his yanked paw. Higher standards? What was all that talk about? Spender didn't have any flags. He thought it would be neat to do that job, but soon as he'd asked what signal was being sent out, his mind flopped and he lost interest.
"I'm not gonna spend money on... on..." He looked back at the Zorilla, who was pouting and tapping her footpaw, beckoning him back. "Some..."
"You don't even know her name!"
"She's not a skunk!" Spender shouted, making as if to stamp on Peskers' tail.
"Did I say she was? Don't you go back there!"
"She's my friend!" Spender spat. "She's bein' nice t'me! What d'you care? All y'ever do is kick my blocks over an' shove me!"
Spender fumed as he stomped away. That Peskers was in for it, one of these days. They'd had a scrap two weeks ago that had started this whole rivalry off, and Spender could still feel the lash for it. Peskers had a death wish, knocking him over every other meal! He'd lost all his meat last time—it had gone skidding across the deck and some poor beast had trod on it before they knew what had happened. And the crew just laughed at "clumsy liddle Spendy-wendy."
Peskers had laughed the loudest.
Spender reached out and took the Zorilla's paw again. She smiled at him, batting her eye-whiskers. There was a curious smell in the air—all at once highly unpleasant, like weasel musk but far stronger, and yet also sickly sweet, like someone had taken a hundred watermelons and compressed them into a puff of perfume. It was exotic.
He rather liked it.
"Er," he said. "What's your name? Your... name? I'm Spender. Speeeennnnn-durrr."
"Durr, durr, durr," Peskers mocked in the distance.
"Spendurr," the Zorilla said, petting his paw. She placed her other paw under his chin and lifted his muzzle, then pecked him on the nose. He blushed furiously and only just held back an "ew". It had been quite... interesting. Not at all like the kisses his mother gave. Or the ones his little sister tried to torture him with if he found himself on the bottom of a tacklepile.
His tail bottlebrushed a bit.
"My name... Ixtapa."
"Her name's Ixtapa!" Spender said loudly, sticking his tongue out at Peskers.
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Post by Ladorak on Jun 22, 2010 10:23:10 GMT -5
"Well met then good sir!" Caden said, taking the offered paw and pumping it. He was glad to see such a cheery and welcoming face in the crowd. Their first real Ferlusanian they had talked to. And he was most certainly very upbeat about something. It was almost infectious, and Caden, in spite of himself, found a smile breaking out across his features.
"Indeed, I suppose I do know a bit about it...still new to it." he admitted, wondering how the long tail had correctly judged his age. He wasn't...showing anything visible was he? He quickly looked down just to make sure, but was relieved to find his slops still in place. Then what was it that gave him away, he wondered as he released his grip.
"Let me tell you this is the first time any of us have been to Ferlusan, or Crittenden on that note. We're stopping here from Welkin. Traveling Navy beasts is what we are." the albino said, a bit proudly at that. "We're on our way to the Cobalt Sea via the Straits of Gibarbary, and decided to stop at one of our allied nations in this large war. Good to know we're on the same side of things." For once in fact. Ferlusan and Welkin were normally rather large enemies and naval rivals. Ferlusan almost always combined its naval strength with Rosferia to challenge the supergiant of Welkin on the high seas. Both nations had religious and ideological differences as well, but Rosferia had attacked first, and Ferlusan was fighting back in order to restore Rosferia's monarchy and recover the status quo. Such circumstances had forced them into allying with Welkin, their long time enemy.
Though that didn't mean they weren't hospitable. Far from it. Admiral Langara was offering the Welkin officers a chance to dine with him tonight aboard one of the flagships, and was taking them to a bull fight in a few days as well. Far from being hostile, Ferlusanian hospitality was quite overwhelming.
"We're here for about a week while we provision and get ready to head into the Cobalt. Perhaps you could show us around then while we're here? Oh! Of course, you have your show to perform!" the marten apologized hastily. "Um...I don't have any change on me at the moment, but once I start spending some money elsewhere I'm sure I'd be able to throw some pence your way for your act. Wouldn't want to leave you high and dry after all." he stated, realizing that's probably why the weasel had approached them in the first place. For him, Caden was willing to paw over a whole shilling and maybe a few pence if given the opportunity. This mustelid seemed deserving enough after all.
~~~~~~~~~~
Peskers was seething inside at this. Especially that kiss! That blasted jerk! Who was he to flaunt himself in front of her like that!? Did Spender really want to pay for such a disgusting service!? She had a mind to go up and shove him off the dock into the water...but the only thing that stayed her paw was that massive three decker Santa Ana alongside the quay. If he fell in alongside it...he might get crushed by the thing as it bobbed against its moorings and occasionally touched the dock from time to time. And she couldn't shove him the other way because Agamemnon was there.
Stupid ferret...I'll get you back for this...if you even DARE to go with her...
"That's all it'll cost you know! A good half of your pay! She ain't interested in you for anything other than your money oaf! If you seriously want to spend money on THAT...wench then go right ahead. I don't care!" She spun about, looking away from him, tears welling up in her eyes and her chest feeling like it was going to explode.
How could he do that!? Her irrational anger was made all the more so by her forgetting she was still in disguise. Of course Spender wouldn't like her...she was a jack for all he knew. She kicked at a pair of cleats on the dock morosely, the very same ones tying up Santa Ana to the quay. The ship of course didn't budge except on the swell. Where was a good fruit vendor when you needed one? She'd get him so covered in tomatoes that NO jills aside from her would be looking his way by the end of the day. Spotting one, far off on the street that stretched beyond the dock, she narrowed her eyes. Could she really do that to him though?
Taking a glance over her shoulder and keeping her hat low, her eyes were almost invisible to him as she watched his reactions and what he would do next. That would determine it...in her mind at least.
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Post by Carrow on Jun 22, 2010 14:40:18 GMT -5
There had been no glaringly obvious signs that Caden was going through puberty, but Selvis had used logic to piece things together. The mouse's voice had not begun breaking yet. It stood to reason that the pine marten would want to hang around with creatures his own age, so from those two points he would have been able to deduce that his fellow mustelid was 12, 13 years of age. The height of the creature had been the giveaway, though; while the marten hadn't exactly hit a growth spurt, he was growing all the same, and had an inch or two of an advantage over the weasel. Put it all together, he thought, and we have a creature who's going through some changes. As it was, the voice had confirmed it. It wasn't all over the place, but it was certainly noticeable, like his own.
"Hmm, show you around, you say?," he murmured in response to the albino's suggestion. "I do have my show to do, but I can tap into my routine whenever the mood takes me. I'm not working on a schedule or anything. Rather flexible line of work, this is," he told Caden, flashing a set of pearly white teeth. "I'd quite like to show you around, too, so I guess that's as good as settled... er..."
He didn't know his name, and so trailed of momentarily, but Carrow quickly came to his rescue. "This here is Caden Fugate!," he told the long tail, smiling, "and we also have another marten here: Elliot McNamee. He's a little quiet at times, so you'll have to forgive him if he doesn't speak all that much."
"I don't mind that at all," Selvis responded, "so long as he's a good listener, it's fine by me." He winked at Elliot, smiling a little. He then turned to face Caden again. "Right, so there's the whole introductions thing taken care of!," he said, chuckling. "There are two things in particular I'm picking up on, from what you just said, and both are rather intriguing.
"Firstly, you said you had some money on you. In that case I'm assuming you'd like to go and investigate some shops? I can show you around, as said, but it'd be much speedier if there was anything in particular that took your fancy. That goes for you as well Carrow," he told the rodent.
The wood mouse's ears twitched gently, a sign of his contentment. He was rather liking the looks of this particular weasel, alright. "Any bookshops nearby? I'm not really *planning* on picking anything up, as such, but I'm definitely up for a browse of some kind." "You do? Well isn't that just peachy: I enjoy books too, and of many different kinds at that!" The rodent's response was met with a grin from Selvis. Here was another who liked to read, then: one interest they'd already discovered they shared, and they'd known each other for, well, not very long at all.
"There's one relatively close by, now that you mention it, so we can certainly drop in and see what's what. I can see you'd enjoy that; good interest to have, of course. How about you, Caden?," he addressed the pine marten, a friendly light evident in his blue eyes. "Anything in particular you're after, or are you just hoping to see what you might find?"
He turned and began heading along the street again, Carrow jogging to catch up. "I figure we can talk on the move as well, mates. No sense standing around all morning; we'd probably take root or something, hehe. I can act as a much better guide this way, I think." He held back, wanting to address one final point before the group set off properly. "Oh, and Caden? I leave any tipping of coins entirely up to you three. I would quite appreciate any show of generosity, of course."
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Post by Ladorak on Jun 26, 2010 8:36:53 GMT -5
Caden immediately felt like kicking himself in the rump. Why didn't he introduce himself!? Stupid albino, what's gotten into you!? It wasn't like him, but the white furred marten found he had a lot on his mind. Being in a new place for the first time tended to do that to you. He was contemplating a lot of things, and trying to process all this weasel was saying at the same time.
Something he wanted to see? He was about to open his mouth and respond when Carrow stepped in, and Caden promptly closed the fraction of opening he had managed in the time it took for Carrow to step in. OK...let the mouse speak...he seemed to be on top of the mainmast today with that anyway. Here Caden was, forgetting to give his own name!
A bookstore? That might be interesting...but Caden figured most of the books for sale would be in the native Ferlusanian tongue and not Common. Funny as only Welkin seemed to call their language the Common tongue. It was vying with Rosferian to become the language of diplomacy, replacing a dying language that was in use less and less that had originated in the ancient world and had formed the basis of much of the new present day languages. Caden had heard rumors it was just a bunch of clicking of teeth, growling, and dooking. He wouldn't know. There were even rumors of a mysterious sound called a zheep, but as Caden wasn't from this continent, he couldn't say for certain if such stories were true or not.
They started walking now, making their way to the bookshop. Caden waited patiently while Carrow and Selvis talked, discussing their hobbies and interests. When it finally came time for the marten to speak, he gave an uneasy smile and shake of his head. "Oh no, no. As much as I like books, I'm afraid the only reading I would be able to do over my time at sea are the nautical charts, Articles of War, and Midshipjacks' guides. I'm hoping to be a Lieutenant someday after all, and that means a lot of studying ahead yet. It's a long path, but I think Captain Fugate, our Captain, wants to push me to take it earlier than is normally the case for aspiring officers."
It was his guess that Ladorak would take great pride in seeing Caden advance ahead of the game, and the young stripling knew that if he didn't start studying now, he was liable to make a fool of himself by the time he made Midshipjack. What he really wanted to see in this town though...was something else. "Say...you wouldn't know of any shops that make...well model ships would you?" he asked, his ears perking up now after having lain flat on his skull. "If you could point me in the right direction I'm sure I could find it while you two checked out the bookstore. As tempting as it sounds, I know I should probably stay away from excess reading for the moment." he offered another smile.
Models...Ladorak always collected a model of the ships he'd served on. And it was an interest of Caden's as well. The young stripling had practically been given the HMS Boreas as a paw-me-down by Ladorak, but what if he could find a certain model here? Something exclusive only to Ferlusan or Crittenden? Yes...that thought suited the albino marten rather well.
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Post by spender on Jun 26, 2010 10:49:52 GMT -5
Peskers was nuts, Spender decided. Ixtapa was a friend; even as socially awkward as he was, he knew you didn't pay friends...
But just as he thought this, he saw one of the weasel corporals, Henley or Clements - they were so hard to tell apart when they weren't shouting at you - arm in arm with a weasel jill from the same group that Ixtapa had been waiting at the docks with. As they passed Spender by, the corporal sorted some of his paw into his paw and held it open, and the jill took it, giggling pleasantly.
Hm. Spender thought hard. It was likely, yes, very likely, that the corporal was just so unlikable, that he had to bribe one of the jills to cling to him like that. Surely.
Oh, well! Ixtapa was pretty, and she liked him, and that was enough to make Spender happy.
"I want to go get chocolate," he declared suddenly. Ever since the most unfortunate incident of Caden's birthday cake, Spender had been hankering. And now he had money. It was the perfect plan. Except...
"Ixtapa... d'you know where th'chocolate store is?"
She pursed her lips, deciphering. "Choc-o-late... store? Spendurr buy... coin... with choc-o-late?"
"Yeah!" he said, bouncing a little, and completely ignoring her grammatical error.
"Come!" she said, grinning and pulling him along. An odd request, but hey - whatever made the jacks happy.
In just a few minutes they were at the shop, bell tinkling above their heads. Spender ran to the display, pressing his entire face up against it. So... much... chocolate. He was in heaven.
"Ahem," the clerk cleared his throat.
Spender glanced up. Then he took his pay out of his pockets - every last coin - and clicked them down on the counter.
"How much chocolate can I get for this?" he said.
Ixtapa's eyes nearly popped out of her head. What was he doing? Surely - oh, no. He was serious. What a charmingly amusing ... bloody little idiot! She nudged him aside and barked a series of phrases at the clerk in Ferlusian.
He nodded, sorting out the coins and pushing the majority of them back at Spender, who pouted. Only that many coins? That wouldn't nearly be enough chocolate...
But the box he was given was, indeed, enough chocolate. It was as if someone had taken a large cobblestone out of the street, cut it into squares, and crammed it into a box. It was a chocolate slab. And it was all his! Hahaha!
... he offered a piece to Ixtapa. She took it, popped it in her mouth, and he bit into his own piece.
They closed their eyes, giggling and dooking together in sheer chocolate ecstasy.
That was when the first tomato hit.
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Post by Carrow on Jun 26, 2010 12:12:43 GMT -5
Carrow nudged his marten companion playfully, smiling at Caden as he met his gaze. "Now, I will have absolutely none of that here, Master Fugate!," he commented, winking at the mustelid. "Model ships, you say? Well, er, now that you mention it, right, it's not something I've ever taken an interest in, but I've been rather intrigued by it for a while, I'll admit. So, way I see it, we're all going to have a look - might even find something that takes my fancy, and in a place like this it's highly probable. Isn't that right, Selvis?," he addressed the weasel now, looking from one mustelid to another. This whole thing was in fact right up his street. Could be that a new interest is born today, he thought. FanTASTIC call, Caden!
"You got that right, Carrow," the chipper longtail responded. "Caden, I'll have you know I'm in the same position as our mouse friend here, more or less: just starting to take an interest in that sort of thing. I was planning to show you the shop anyway when you told me you lot were naval beasts, so you've just played right into my paws!" He swished his long, yellow-striped tail in a cheerful manner. "It's actually rather near the bookshop here, 'bout a minute or so away from there on paw. I propose we go there first, that is if you don't have any objections, Carrow, Elliot?"
Wood mouse and beech marten shook their heads in unison. "That suits me just fine, Selvis. I'm actually rather excited about this whole thing!," Carrow responded, his eagerness showing in his voice. "Never know what we might find in there, and that's the best part of course. Caden would obviously be quite a lot more knowledgeable about this than both of us, Selvis, as we're both starting out, but there's nothing in particular I'm looking for anyway, so I'll just have a general look around and see what comes up."
"Wouldn't really be my thing," Elle admitted. "Never really been that much into collecting anything of that sort, I have to say - but I have to admit that it was a pastime for my grandfather and parents. I don't have any of my own, but the last thing you'll see me doing is going off alone! I like hanging around with you anyway, so I'll just tag along and see how things go."
Carrow smiled at seeing the mustelid pipe up. Elliot had been rather quiet the whole time, even moreso than usual, and he had in fact been wondering if the was anything bothering him, but that didn't appear to be the case. He was probably wondering about how things were back home. Oh, and speaking of which. "Selvis, there's a stationery shop around here isn't there? Need some things to write home with; don't have any pens or paper with me right now."
"No problem, Carrow," Selvis replied. "There's a separate shop just across the street from where we are now, but I'd be fairly certain there are things like that in the bookshop, somehow. You'll be able to get something done at some stage today, don't worry," he told the Dibbun with a reassuring smile. Then he looked ahead of him, and his eyes brightened. "Ah, there's the model ship shop just ahead of us, mates. Might look small, but of course, appearances can be deceptive." He moved to the back of the group, letting Carrow take the lead.
The mouse soon reached the entrance. Reaching up, he placed a paw on the doorknob and turned. The door swung inwards, and he stepped inside, ears twitching in anticipation. Something new, he thought. Wonderful.
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Post by Ladorak on Jun 26, 2010 17:51:32 GMT -5
Caden was going to respond to the long tail when once again the mouse and weasel began talking up a storm between the two of them. The albino could almost swear he could see clouds flecked with lightning forming in between the two, and he could only offer a half smile and remain tight lipped. Yeah...just let them talk it out. They seemed to be getting on well enough, though Caden was not admittedly used to not being the center of attention. It was that stupid survivalist mentality that Helandria had drilled into his head over the years, and it was more subconscious than anything else.
He started to zone out a bit, thinking about what sort of model he would buy, as the rodent and mustelid talked and talked. He figured they had misunderstood his intent. He was shopping for someone in particular, but doubted he'd be able to afford most of the models anyway, depending on the price.
Carrow was apparently going first, so Caden stood back, nodding at Selvis to follow Carrow, and then gallantly allowing Elliot to go second to last. Caden was the last one into the shop. It had a dusty atmosphere to it, the whalebone and wooden particles floating about like snow. It caused his nose to itch, but not too badly.
His mouth widened at the site. Forming a ring around a central table, models rested on all sides of them, framing the center table that contained the large three deckers of the Ferlusan Navy. Ships of every description were in here, from 112 gunners to frigates. Caden stood, transfixed by the models before him.
An elderly civet peered at the newcomers from behind a massive desk in the back of the shop. He furrowed his brow. What were striplings doing in here? Hopefully hadn't come to break anything...sailor types from the looks of them...but not Ferlusan sailors. Visitors?
Caden could hardly believe his eyes. He struggled to recall which paint scheme was associated with which ship, but thankfully the names were scrawled on the side at the bows and on the sterns. There were wooden models of the San Josef, San Hermenegildo, the black hulled Santa Ana, and the red hulled Prince of Asturias. His pink eyes rested on the Prince for a minute, as he knew she was to be the newest flagship of Ferlusan, replacing the Immaculate Conception when she was completed. And what was that on the right? The marten's jaw fell open a bit as he saw a full whalebone model of the three decker Royal Schilder, oft times a secondary flagship of the fleet. She was gorgeous, her yellow and black paint making her look very waspish and played a nice contrast to the pale white of the whalebone underneath.
Whalebone modeling was a true art, and a dying trade. It was rare enough to see one like this but...and there she was...in the center of the table. The biggest centerpiece he had ever seen...the Drenedel, painted all a rusted red color, the exact same as Ladorak's fur. Four decks high, 140 guns strong...largest warship in the world. He was hypnotized by her, unable to look away at first.
Gradually, his eyes strayed down to the price tag. Five pounds!? That was more than half his pay! 100 whole shillings! He felt his chest sinking and his heart beat a lot slower now. Blast! He couldn't spend that much for Ladorak...could he? But just think of how nice it would look sitting on the stoat Captain's table in his cabin! But five pounds...100 shillings...that was rather a lot.
Looking about him, he wandered over to where Carrow was. "Um...it's kinda pricey. I was well...I dunno. Looking for something for Ladorak I guess. Had my eyes on Drenedel but wow...five pounds. Sure is a beautiful model though. Maybe I'll come back after thinking about it for the day. How about you? See anything that suits your fancy?" the marten asked, keeping his voice low so as not to disturb the shopkeeper.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peskers had been pushed over the edge. That was it! Him walking about with Ixtapa on his arm and heading to a chocolate shop of all things! That...was...it! She was going to get him! Smother him in tomatoes!
Racing over to a fruit stand, she pointed to five of the roundest tomatoes she could pick out. "Three shillings." the vendor grunted. She quickly pawed over the coinage. Oh well...she had plenty to spare. That pound went a long way after all...
Taking them in her arms, the ferret moved stealthily over to the shop's entrance. Let the war commence...she had one pound, 10 shillings and ninepence left...more than enough to deal with Spender if need be...
Peeking around the jamb and into shop, she narrowed her eyes. Line up your target...aim carefully...and...whipping into the door frame, the ferret sent a fruit sailing through the air straight towards Spender's snout and slightly to his left...as that way he had nowhere to go. To his left was Ixtapa, so he'd have to shove her to move that way and to his right was the counter, meaning he couldn't break that way either. Perfect! With glee she watched that fruit hurtle towards the object of her affections in slow motion...
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Post by Carrow on Jun 26, 2010 23:35:42 GMT -5
Ellie had already decided she wasn't going to buy anything, even admitting to her friends that she wasn't interested at all, but such a look crossed Elle MacNamee's when she walked into the shop that the casual observer would have thought that she'd been planning to have a look all along. She simply couldn't hide her astonishment, no matter how hard she tried. Even to someone who had seen a few of these in her life, this was rather impressive.
She was snapped out of her daze when she bumped into Selvis, who had stopped up ahead. She grasped his paw to steady herself. "Oh... sorry," she murmured sheepishly. "It's just that I was looking at all these ships. They're rather nice now I think about it. Ha, and there I was, saying I had no interest. Still not planning on buying anything, but suddenly I'm intrigued. Funny how that works, right? I can see why they were such a big thing back home!"
Selvis felt a paw land heavily on his shoulder, and turned to see Elliot behind him, steadying himself. He looks rather fascinated by all this, the mustelid thought. 's probably what led him to stumble in the first place. He shrugged off his apology, smiling a little. "Oh, no problem. I can tell you've never seen anything like this before, so it stands to reason you'd be more than a little surprised about all this. Have a good look around, then, and let us know if you find something - you know it could very well happen that you do, and you end up, well, continuing that tradition."
She chuckled, smiling at the weasel before heading off to look around some more. The beech marten had little knowledge of these sorts of things - she'd been more of a casual observer at home - but she supposed that studying them would help her with living on board their own vessel, and so viewed a certain few models with a keen eye, marvelling at the detail on display.
Selvis was impressed too, but he didn't want to get carried away. Even though there was rather a lot in here, the weasel had to remind himself that this was still a relatively small shop. It wasn't like this place was the largest one of its kind in the entire country or anything, after all.
He turned again and saw that Caden was nowhere to be found. That's alright, he thought. He knew the pine marten'd had plans for this visit anyway, and reasoned that he'd set right to them when they'd entered the shop. He murmured in Carrow's ear, not wanting to disturb the civet shopkeeper who was studying the pair in a rather suspicious-looking manner. "So, what do you think?," he asked, curious as to the mouse's reaction to the sights that met his eyes.
"It looks rather impressive, i think - but also expensive, and I haven't even glanced at those price tags yet. Think I'm going to have to give purchasing anything in here a miss. My word, but they do have a lot of ships here! Couldn't all be Ferlusanian, surely? I know that you lot have one of the largest navies in the world, but this takes the cake," was the rodent's response. He whistled softly, before padding off to have a closer look.
Both mouse and weasel saw many different kinds of ships before them. There were a few foreign ones dotted here and there (he prided himself on being able to tell certain types apart; he of course would not have been able to have done so three months previously), but indeed, it was mostly ships of Ferlusanian origin that he espied.
Selvis hadn't been planning on purchasing anything either - mainly because he couldn't afford it on what he had with him at that moment - but he had to admit that there were more than a couple he would have considered under different circumstances. All the models that met his eyes were incredibly well designed, miniature masterpieces in their own right. There was one particular ship he was thinking of that put all the others to shame - little guessing that Caden was nearby, gazing at it, transfixed by its majesty.
Carrow was content to simply look, by now well aware that more than just a few of the models on offer were out of his price range. He figured that he probably should keep some of it for expenses on board Agamemnon anyway, so he was certain he wouldn't be buying a thing here. He thought of Caden's eagerness to get inside, and then of what had happened on the docks earlier. Now, what was the name of that ship...?
He did a little more searching, and soon had a rather good view of the four-decker. Drenedel, that was its name! He backed off a little, resuming his browsing. These things sure were nice to look at, even though he knew he'd need something like double the money he had on him now to even think of buying something and having anything to spare afterwards. He wasn't too disheartened though; it was perhaps something for another time.
He saw Caden heading towards him now, and he smiled as he noted the direction from which his companion was coming. As he'd suspected, the marten's attention had once again been caught by the 140-gunner. He listened to the albino's words, snorting dismissively as the subject of price was brought up. "Oh, there's plenty here that takes my fancy, but nothing I can even remotely afford it seems. Drenedel really does seem worth the five shillings, in my opinion, but in the end the choice is yours, of course."
Selvis wandered over to the wood mouse and pine marten, smiling when he heard the word 'Drenedel' mentioned. "Ah, you're thinking of buying a model of the jewel in our Navy's crown? It's expensive - most everything here is, sadly - but like Carrow says, it's worth the money. She's the most famous ship in Ferlusan!," he exclaimed, eyes shining. "Most every creature I know has at the very least heard the name! I'm sure you can see why we hold her in such high regard; she is magnificent."
He looked from one creature to the other, smiling still. He was not a patriot by any stretch of the imagination, but certainly took pride in his country's more notable achievements, and the creation of the behemoth had certainly been one of them. He thought that the smaller scale model did the real ship a relative amount of justice, which was an achievement in itself.
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Post by spender on Jun 27, 2010 6:22:56 GMT -5
The tomato bounced off his nose.
For a few seconds, Spender stayed perfectly still, his little brain whirring. What had hit him? His eyes, seconds too late, followed the flash of red to the tomato now resting between his footpaws. Where had it come from? His head snapped up, eyes focusing on the flicker of brown fur in the doorway.
"Huh?" he said, when he had swallowed.
"Spendurr, okay? Okay?" Ixtapa waved her paw in front of his face. The stripling ferret seemed stunned by the blow.
But if the first blow stunned him, the second tomato set off an explosion within him. He saw it clearly this time, arcing through the air, whirling...
Splat!
It was a perfect hit on the bridge of his nose; the tomato broke in two at first, each half exploding apart in that split-second of impact. Juice stung his eyes and dripped off his whiskers. Shreds of skin dangled from his nose and hung off his ear. The remains plopped down onto the lid of his box of chocolate.
Peskers was laughing.
Spender narrowed his eyes. He strode out of the chocolate shop. Passing his box to Ixtapa, he rolled up his sleeves. It had been ages since he'd gotten in a proper scrap! He was almost excited for it, if he hadn't already been utterly embarrassed in front of his new friend. He prodded Peskers sharply in the chest.
"You!" he snarled. Peskers smirked. For a while, all Spender could do was wobble his lips and growl. Then the perfect insult came.
"You throw like a jill!"
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Post by Ladorak on Jun 27, 2010 10:15:56 GMT -5
Caden started at Carrow's words. "Ummm...might wanna take a closer look at that price tag mate." he tried to keep his voice down, so as not to offend the shopkeeper. "It's 100 shillings! It's five POUNDS..." he stressed the word, motioning at the price tag with his paw. "Pounds mate...that's a hundred shillings right there..." he trailed off, but Selvis soon came up to them.
He was talking about how it was literally the crown jewel of the collection...and Caden knew for certain it most definitely was. All these one of a kind vessels...he doubted other nations would make Ferlusanian ships after all. And Selvis was right...much as the albino knew it. When WOULD he get the opportunity to find models like this again? He might never come back to Crittenden...hell he might be killed in their very first combat, though he was hoping that wouldn't be the case.
He had to buy this for Ladorak...and it was perfect too because it even matched the color of his fur. It was THE ship for him! Or at least the model for him...who knew...maybe he WOULD get to Captain it someday...
Caden knew what he had to do. "You're right Selvis. I might not get this chance again. Might as well live the way I wanna live." he strode up to the counter, the civet regarding him with a skeptical look. "Um...excuse me sir." the albino began. "I would...like to buy that...Drenedel model please." The civet's head rocked back. Really? This...stripling wanted to make a purchase of his most expensive piece?
"It's five pounds." he said, telling Caden what he already knew. A sudden thought occurred to the marten now, and he realized that there was no way he could carry that massive model under his arm all day. He'd look weird and there was a good chance it would be damaged.
"Uh...do you deliver?" he asked now. The civet sniffed, speaking the best Common he could muster.
"It's a two shilling charge."
"I could do that. You'd have to break an extra pound for me though." Reaching into his pocket, the marten pulled out six gold coins, pawing them over the counter to the modeler. He received 18 shillings as change. So he was down to three pounds and 18 shillings. Well...that was still enough to live off of here. 78 shillings altogether. Wasn't bad. But very expensive present. He just hoped Ladorak wouldn't have a heart attack when the stoat returned to the ship and found THAT sitting on his desk.
"Where would you like it delivered to then?" the civet's voice was flat, with a knife's edge of being a tad nasally.
"Um...the HMS Agamemnon please. She's at pier 28, next to the Santa Ana. Deliver it to Captain Ladorak Fugate's cabin if you can. Since I've already paid for it they should let you on board." The civet sniffed again, shrugging. He reached for a quill and quickly scribbled the ship's name and asked Caden to spell Ladorak's first and last name for him.
"There we go...it'll be delivered this afternoon."
"Thanks." Caden said, backing away and turning to his friends. "Can't believe I just did that. I just hope Ladorak won't throw a fit over me spending so much money on him. I still got enough with me though, about 78 shillings. I'll count that as his Birthday present this year I guess...three months early. So Selvis." he turned to the long tail. "You like the Navy? You seem to be partial to models at the very least."
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Peskers stared Spender down. She wasn't going to be intimidated by this worm who tried to pass himself off for a ferret! A very...plushy and handsome ferret that was...but a worm all the same!
Her real intent was just to get him away from Ixtapa and MAYBE try spending time with her but...she knew that would be a long shot at this rate. Well...if it was a fight he wanted...as that's what it looked like...
And then she blinked. Hit...like a jill? "Ralph" narrowed her eyes to stilettos. "Oh? Is that what you think?" she challenged, using her best jack's voice. "Well YOU look like ketchup!" she said, and to drive her point home she rammed her third tomato (leaving her with two left) onto his chest, smearing his shirt with the bright red juice.
She backed up now, unable to suppress a giggle as she looked at him. "Oh Spender!" her voice was straying dangerously into the realm of jill...
"You look so...incredibly..." handsome she ALMOST said, but realized what was happening and stopped, staring at him for a second before frowning again. "Ridiculous!" Really though? Tomato juice made him look handsome? Maybe it was the way the sun kinda flickered and shone off of that red coating on his fur...or maybe it was all that tasty juice...whatever it was she found she rather liked it, but wasn't going to dare to say anything on that end!
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