Post by Tom M on May 16, 2023 12:33:29 GMT
Kem slid the bolt out on the back door of his caravan, opened the door, and hauled a heavy steel cage up onto the lip with a grunt. Reaching over with one hand, he slid the door up off the side now facing away from him and shook it until a disgruntled hare tumbled out.
It thrashed on the floor for a second and then was suddenly bolt upright, staring him dead in the eyes, considering its options as it sat the small square of moonlight let in to the otherwise pitch dark caravan interior.
The hare glanced into the darkness and took a single hop away from its captor, exploring the new environment cautiously. A second hop and it was no longer visible.
Kem hefted the trap back down and quickly shut the caravan door. He meandered around it to a stool set against the side facing a smouldering campfire and a barrel with a blanket on top.
Taking the blanket and seating himself on the stool he put his feet up on the barrel and rested his head and shoulders against the caravan wall, looking up at the stars that dotted the skies over Kantas on this warm, clear, night.
He listened to the hare hopping, still cautiously, around the interior of the caravan. Just one or two at a time, occasionally scratching at the wood with its front paws, until suddenly there was a squeak of fear, a crack, and silence other than a faint trickling of liquid.
Kem closed his eyes and exhaled deeply.
“Another… hare.” Came a rasping voice from inside the caravan after a few minutes of silence.
Kem didn’t open his eyes, “Yes. All I could find.”
He wrapped the blanket around himself and shuffled to get more comfortable.
“No... humanoids at all then?” came the voice
“Nope. Sorry. Not a single one.”
There was a long pause.
“You are honour bound to care for me.”
“I am caring for you.”
“You have not brought me a human since we left Faerûn.”
Kem kicked his feet off the barrel, planting them on the ground and looking up toward the caravan's darkened window, he opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it and instead balled his fists tightly before relaxing them over and over.
Another pregnant pause.
“I grow tired of hares.”
“Well then, let me tell you a story to make it up to you.”
Kem put his feet back up on the barrel and rested the back of his head against the caravan.
There was a long wait for a reply.
“One day you will run out of stories, and when you do, we will revisit this conversation.”
“One day perhaps bulibașă, but for now let me tell you one you can’t have heard before.”
Kem took a drink from the waterskin at his side to moisten his throat.
“It starts with a charming Vistana bard meeting four other colourful adventurers to answer a flyer they all saw on the wall of a tavern…”
It thrashed on the floor for a second and then was suddenly bolt upright, staring him dead in the eyes, considering its options as it sat the small square of moonlight let in to the otherwise pitch dark caravan interior.
The hare glanced into the darkness and took a single hop away from its captor, exploring the new environment cautiously. A second hop and it was no longer visible.
Kem hefted the trap back down and quickly shut the caravan door. He meandered around it to a stool set against the side facing a smouldering campfire and a barrel with a blanket on top.
Taking the blanket and seating himself on the stool he put his feet up on the barrel and rested his head and shoulders against the caravan wall, looking up at the stars that dotted the skies over Kantas on this warm, clear, night.
He listened to the hare hopping, still cautiously, around the interior of the caravan. Just one or two at a time, occasionally scratching at the wood with its front paws, until suddenly there was a squeak of fear, a crack, and silence other than a faint trickling of liquid.
Kem closed his eyes and exhaled deeply.
“Another… hare.” Came a rasping voice from inside the caravan after a few minutes of silence.
Kem didn’t open his eyes, “Yes. All I could find.”
He wrapped the blanket around himself and shuffled to get more comfortable.
“No... humanoids at all then?” came the voice
“Nope. Sorry. Not a single one.”
There was a long pause.
“You are honour bound to care for me.”
“I am caring for you.”
“You have not brought me a human since we left Faerûn.”
Kem kicked his feet off the barrel, planting them on the ground and looking up toward the caravan's darkened window, he opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it and instead balled his fists tightly before relaxing them over and over.
Another pregnant pause.
“I grow tired of hares.”
“Well then, let me tell you a story to make it up to you.”
Kem put his feet back up on the barrel and rested the back of his head against the caravan.
There was a long wait for a reply.
“One day you will run out of stories, and when you do, we will revisit this conversation.”
“One day perhaps bulibașă, but for now let me tell you one you can’t have heard before.”
Kem took a drink from the waterskin at his side to moisten his throat.
“It starts with a charming Vistana bard meeting four other colourful adventurers to answer a flyer they all saw on the wall of a tavern…”