who thought moose guards was a good idea anyway?!

[rebella]

Who: Ella & you!
Broadcast: Audio, Fleet-wide?
Action: On Planet
When: Now

Hello? Is this working?

( Ella's keeping her voice low. Something whines near her communicator. She make a hushing sound in return before continuing to talk. )

I really hope it is... uh, if anyone's out there, do you have any... pointers... on how to escape a guard deer when you've been treed in an ice sculpture with a fox?

( Problems where children demand your assistance in rescuing their lost fox. Problems when you have to listen to direct orders. There' a loud THWACK and Ella tucks the fox in closer to her abdomen and pull her legs up while she hauls herself up another branch of the odd sculpture. There's one heck of a big moose huffing and circling this ice-carving tree-bird-angel she's climbed into. )

Comments

audio

[ladiesss]

[h-hey crewmate. as quiet as she is, she sounds kind of... concerned.]

Dude... Dude.

I think that's a moose.

[rebella]

( Hey crewmate!

... What's a moose )

Is that the word for what it is? The deer that have those big, massive antlers that look like they could double as paddles?

[ladiesss]

Yeah, and the big long noses? They're, uh, kind of territorial.

You should probably stay in that ice tree or wherever you are.

[rebella]

Oh.

... I'll stay here, but... how long do you think it'll be before he wanders away?

[ladiesss]

I don't know. [a pause.] God, I wish I had the internet. I could just Google this. Um...

[rebella]

I don't know if it's more disturbing that I think I understood what you just said or the fact this moose is starting to size up how high it thinks it can get in the sculpture tree thing. Come on, fox, don't fight against me right now -

( Oof! Audible as she wiggles her way higher with a squirming fox in arm. )

[ladiesss]

Oh, okay. Um. I guess I can try to come help. If nothing else, I could--

[oh, she... shouldn't talk about that kind of thing. or should she? eek...]

--Um, nevermind. Where are you? I'll at least show up and be a distraction.

[rebella]

You could what?

( Ella thinks she just didn't hear that part since she's, well, distracted. )

I'm up the hill past where the big sculpture of the snow family is in that one open market area with all the stores?

[ladiesss]

Oh, okay...! I think I know where that is. Hang on, buddy...

[aaand she disappears. hopefully she'll, uh, show up soon...]

[rebella]

I don't mind doing just that, thank you.

( Though she does. Have to hang on. Now. Sobs. )

[ladiesss]

[yeah so uh in a little while (she sure wishes her quicksilver bracelet wasn't currently being sold for space infomercial fun and games...) Krista shows up at the edge of this madness and just... walks... in a WIDE circle around the moose.

makin' her way to the base of the statue that poor Ella is trapped in, hey gurl what up.]

[rebella]

( it's so unfair the MOOSE JUST DOES NOT CARE ABOUT KRISTA )

... If it's that easy to get around the stupid animal I'm going to kick myself in the head later.

[ladiesss]

[s-she tries to shush her because she really doesn't want the moose to start paying attention to her! she needs to think of something... she could create a wall of flame, but she doesn't want to startle it into a stampede or accidentally melt the ice statue, or... most likely, set the forest on fire.

...oh, she's got it! she drops down in the snow and appears to start making a small snowman. :|]

[rebella]

...

( Okay, so Ella falls silent, but now she's craning out with the fox held against her chest to see what in the world Krista's doing.

Because this really does not seem to be the appropriate time for snowpeople??? )

[ladiesss]

[it kind of does seem like the worst time for snow people, doesn't it?? in fact, the moose seems to have finally noticed she's there... but the moment it takes a couple of agressive steps in her direction, she smashes the snowman down and...

the moose suddenly turns into a bunny. a cute little white rabbit, like what magicians pull out of hats. it looks confused, and very, very small.]

Oh... Boy, oh boy, oh boy... [s-she runs over and follows the rabbit as it tries to hop, disoriented, away...] Come on, come here...!

[rebella]

... What in the world?!

( Okay, so she's seen the aftermath of transformation magic before, but that - is not a squirrel. Not at all! Though she takes the opportunity to scramble down with the fox, falling more than jumping back into the snow. )

Is he going to turn back?!

[ladiesss]

Oof-- [she finally swoops down and catches the rabbit in her hands, quickly scooping it up into her arms to get it to calm down...] There, there, little moose-rabbit... [a sigh] You're gonna be okay...

[--and now that they're safe, she walks back towards Ella so she can be heard.]

Yeah, don't worry. It'll be a moose again in a couple of hours. Just long enough for me to put it back in the forest where it won't bother anyone, I think.

[rebella]

( For weeks after this, some landowner is going to wonder where the heck his guard moose went, and no one is going to have an answer.

Let alone when it's found raiding the neighbor's barn, totally content with itself. )

Just like that? ( That's... impressive, but the whole concept of Big Magic is sitting right there, and Ella has no idea what to do with it. This isn't the same as with Lucinda, but... she doesn't have as much time to mull over that as she'd like. The fox is struggling again, and she makes a hushing noise and shifts him so he's looking at her face and looking quite disgruntled. )

That's - impressive magic? There's no backlash from doing that?

( Asked while making tracks to the fence line and alternately talking to the fox asking him to behave a little longer and not run off again until Ella is well and far away. )

[ladiesss]

[ab-so-lutely.]

Oh, I-- Well-- [she follows her, carrying that cute rabbit still...]

Well, I had to make the snowman as part of a bunk to get the magic to work, and I also used some of my own magic, and... Uh... I think this is the part where I should just make it easy and confess that I'm, um... Kind of...

[rebella]

( Ella slips out through the bars with the fox still in arms somehow, though it tries again to get away. )

I'm sorry, you're what?

( Feeling sick? Confessing she's a wizard? She has snow magic??? )

[ladiesss]

...A fairy with a lot of magic?

[she says this kind of like she's expecting a freakout... which might also be why she is hesitating on this side of the fence.]

[rebella]

( She can't help it. Ella glances down toward Krista's feet at the admission, eyebrows arching upward. )

Oh! Oh. ... This is kind of a silly question, but... how big are your feet?

[ladiesss]

Uh...

[she... looks down at her own feet, like she's missing something. her boots are pretty cute. definitely not that weird.]

...Size eight and a half?

[rebella]

Not so tiny as fairy feet where I'm from.

( She makes it a joke, though she's not kidding around. It's true. )

It's one of the ways you can identify a fairy. They all have small feet. I do, too, but that's left over from a little fairy blood that was on my mother's side of the family, years ago.

( Clarifying since she does, in fact, have very petite feet. Lest she be misunderstood! )

[ladiesss]

Oh... I had no idea.

[she looks down at Ella's feet... she's never actually bothered looking before, but she supposes they are rather cute feet...]

So... I guess that means you're a little bit like me, huh? Just a little...