Great Haven - sup

Dogsnake needs a hat. He's just sad because someone took the cat off of his tail.

"Now listen. You might have agreed to stay under the Sparsen's watch, but you still have to be under my watch. If you try to pull anything and I catch you, you can be sure I will personally see to your punishment. Do you understand?"

You get two or three good steps away from him, but his head and his knife don't seem to get any farther away. He's a presence, gliding oh so nearer to you. At this point, you're starting to suspect that he might be racist, or drunk. Probably both. The real sad thing is that you can't blame him for either of those; Rozo and Alcohol go hand in hand, probably for biological reasons.



"Now you listen." You look up in time to see the driver saving your hide. "I will not have you acting so hostile. Hiiri are people too; they have lives just like everybody else, and you know it. I'm going to tell you to put the knife down, since you are clearly in no state of mind to be owning it."

Looking behind him, you see Maya preparing some kind of spell, but she's shaking.

He analyzes the situation, but doesn't move.. "....I get your point. Back away, and I will sheathe it."

"I don't think you understand. Put your weapon down and we'll let you away."

Grab onto the Sparsen. Hug tight for safety.

>What is the driver's name?

Thinking it best to get away yourself, you shamble over to the driver for a hug... and things get silent quick. You try to break it by asking his name. "...Is there something I can call you, Sparsen sir?"

It takes a second for him to respond. "...That's not really important."

"Ahem," Mort starts, "I am not comfortable with all these spears and magics pointed on me."

Maya reminds him of the terms without skipping a beat. "And how do you think Raoul felt when you did just that the last two times? Put it down! ...Sheesh, you're acting more insufferable than usual."

"Why would I do that?" He says, "You could attack me at any time with those weapons of yours, and I would be defenseless! I say you back off first, and I will agree to sheathe my knife."

ask if you can sit on tricycledog

>Check out the ridiculous dog-thing. Finally!

You might be curious, but you know better than to poke around without asking first. "Can I climb the dog?"

More silence.

The sparsen waits for you to go do it, but realizes you won't do anything without answer. "...Yes, you may climb the dog."



You peek out at it at first, now ignoring the argument around you. What a mysterious beast. How could such a being pull this cart while balancing so precisely on those wheels? It's so perfect and still, like a statue! Those perfect, glowing green eyes, and that sleek, chiseled black form...



...That's just a statue, isn't it? That raises even more questi-



OH.



Your ears are filled with the booming sound of his voice as you're hoisted into the air! "Is this what you were afraid of? Is it? Get away from me!"

You're terrified. You've got to do something!

Try to get your inventory satchel loose and stuff his knife in it.

>Tricycle Dog: intervene, and come to the rescue!

Satchel! Satchel!

Bite him! Use your magic! Fight back!

Your back locks up from the stress put on your tail, in combination with the mental stress that comes with being taken hostage in this way. It all weighs down on you, making you realize just how tired and helpless you really are. You feel like you're just some poor animal caught in a predator's trap, dangling uselessly as his dagger waves ever so closely to your face and belly, ready to strike at any second. Your ears can hear their yells, muffled in the adrenaline, but your eyes can't see the other two caravan members surrounding you. They're likely just as surprised as you are, but nowhere near as afraid. The blood is already starting to rush to your head.

Bite him!

> Pull some sweet Hiiri ninja moves on this racist drunkard.

Drawing a deep breath, you take a brief moment to assess your situation. He's carrying you a healthy distance away from himself; he's got both of his arms ready either to defend himself or to gut you out. The closest part of him is probably his tail behind you, and you are by no means enough of an acrobat to pull yourself up or even turn around in this position. Was it ever mentioned how much it hurts to have all your body weight supported by only the base of your tail!?

That knife he's got pointed toward you seems to be the most tangible thing around you. Looks like you're going to have to try and disarm him somehow.

Try to get your inventory satchel loose and stuff his knife in it.

Much to your advantage, the rozo is barely paying attention to you; you're just the object of negotiation here. All you have to do is wait for the right moment, and... voip! Push your bag right over it. You hold your paws as tightly as you can around the flap. That thing is yours now.

It takes him a moment to realize what's up. "What did you just...?"



Maya is the first to act, but she whiffs it. Both of you probably forgot that, aside from his spear and his knife, he also has claws. They've got you good by your bandanna.



In that next instant, the driver makes his move and tries to get at his arms with the spear. Things are moving around much too quickly, and a spear isn't exactly a precision instrument; He ends up cutting the strap to your satchel, causing it to fly off from the tension and void itself of its contents...



...Right onto Mort. He staggers a little bit; the spear must have cut through the spacebending thread. Thank goodness the knife hit him hilt-first, but he's got a bit of a mess to clean up now.

Use your magic!

Now that he's distracted with that, you take matters into your own hands and prepare to give him a little bit of a shock. You twist around and reach for his hands; Hopefully it'll be just enough to loosen his grip, and you can scamper off home free to the dog statue!





That can't be right.





Mort is down for the count.



Maya looks like she somehow caught a bite of that, as well. Thankfully, she's a bit more resilient. "W-what in the heck was that?!"

SpoilerShow

Have I told recently how much I like this adventure? Because I do!

Aww, thank you! Any sort of encouragement really helps. I've been stuck with a bit of a rough patch lately, so I haven't had much time to work on this. Now that the new year is starting soon, I should have a little more time for projects such as this one.

In the meantime, if anybody has something to say about my art, writing, world or etc, feel free to say it. I'm always looking to improve, and any sort ofcritique - good AND bad - is greatly appreciated.

Similarly, if anybody is having trouble with commands, but has questions about the world or how it works, feel free to ask, and Raoul will do his best to try and explain.

Thank you so much for sticking with me so far on this, and I hope you all are enjoying it!

woah strong mighty mouse magics

> Do all Hirii get trained to do that

You wouldn't believe how much static this fur builds up.

Question tricycle dog for not assisting
also cook rozo for dinner

run off into the forest in blind fear

> Do all Hiiri get trained to do that

Not, uh... really. Hiiri generally aren't geared for magical work. In fact, you could consider yourself quite lucky; you learned to throw sparks at a pretty early age with almost no effort, whereas most hiiri take years upon years to do that. Maya seems pretty adept, though... so you can only assume that torills are more naturally able.

Turning to your bag, you witness its broken state. Without the intact spacebending thread, its not as useful as it was, aside from storing small meals like you did before. That knife is way too big and cumbersome for you to just carry around, so you suppose you'll have to leave it be, and hopefully you'll figure out a new way to lug the thing. Of course, that's only if you remember to pick it up. As for the other part of your inventory... that... can stay where it is.

Check if victim survived.

Well, he has a pulse, which is good. You don't want to be charged with murder as well as possible theft. He's unconscious, though. Hopefully things will be a bit more calm around here.



Maya is quick to get back to her feet, evidently catching only a mild dose of your unexpected sparkshow. She tiptoes her way around to the sparsen's side, remaining cautious about the scene before her. It's pretty clear now that what you did wasn't normal to these guys; the sparsen even remarks, "There's no way a hiir could have done that."

>Lie like there's no tomorrow, to make yourself look more dangerous than you are.

You don't even skip a beat in taking advantage of their doubt. Still dizzy from the experience, you stand yourself as proudly as your wobbly legs will allow, and puff your chest to boast. "W-well, you can't know that for sure! You s-saw me do it with your own eyes! He almost hurt me..." You pause. Your throat grows parched as you think of the next thing to say "S-so just... just..."



They look like they're either worried or unconvinced. It's not really looking good, and your lack of confidence over the matter is crushing you. Your insecurity is making you deflate.

Tell the truth.

Feeling self-defeated, you pull your ears over your eyes, hiding your face from embarrassment. "J-just... stay away from me. I can't control it. I-I'm... c-cursed..."

"Cursed?" Maya doesn't seem to buy that either, but... she at least has the decency to go along with it. "You poor little g-"



"You're cursed? No no no no, that doesn't sound good for business at all! I'll have the decency to take you into the capital, but as soon as we're through with out business with the authorities, you'll have to find your own way." Maya seems to have just silenced herself; she's looking pretty uncomfortable, and you can certainly say you are too. It feels like all those countless times you've been scolded by your elders, for things entirely out of control. The sort of thing that ultimately drove you away.

The driver goes on to ask, "What are the details of this curse of yours? The more we know, the more losses we can avoid." It sounds humiliating at first, but he continues. "...And, the closer we'll be to finding a cure for you." You feel a little flutter of hope fly within your chest.

But, where to begin? It's something you were accused of having since birth, apparently, but "curse" is really the only thing you've been able to call it. You hate superstition, but after living your whole life with it breathing down your neck, you can't deny that it's a very real possibility. It's been the blame for a great number of things, but the only things you could personally pin it down to were loud noises during raids, and sudden electric outbursts like the one you just gave. Between that, your satchel situation, and the unconscious Mort laying behind you, you're quite reasonably distressed. What can you even say or do?

my curse is that i give powerful electric shocks whenever i'm scared or my life is threatened!

it's a good self defense curse but my family is reeeaal scary-lookin' and my life is often threatened by earthquakes and tornadoes, electric shocks only make things worse when that happens,

You take a deep breath... you aren't going to like talking about this to unfamiliar people, but you suppose it was for the greater good... you wouldn't want to be responsible for a second man down. And they did try to defend your life there.

>Explain that it's not a big thing, it's just something you were born with and cannot change.

You tell them... you don't really know how you ended up cursed. Perhaps your father or mother were being too irresponsible around the torill gypsies, and their punishment was passed to the runt of the litter instead of them. Perhaps it was just bad timing, being born at the wrong time and under the wrong sign and at the wrong hour. Maybe you simply had terrible luck the entire time; the entire world around you arranged in just the perfect way to trip you up every step you take. Regardless, you don't know for sure... so unless you get an expert opinion, you're stuck like this.

You hold off a little on what you think it does. For the most part... you'll say you fumble a lot, and overshoot your magic. That's all they need to know. As for preventative measures... you simply tell them to keep you safe, so you don't end up in a position where you're forced to take action, and therefore make things even worse.

The Sparsen looks unsatisfied with your explanation, but.. he nods his head in agreement, and begins work on packing up. Maya has a look of pity.

> Apologise for the satchel getting ripped.

Since you still had her attention, you take the opportunity to move on, trying to forget about the previous conversation as fast as possible. Grabbing the broken satchel next to you, force yourself to speak again, praying she isn't upset over it. "Well... My bag needs to be fixed.. again. I'm sorry... That spacebending thread doesn't sound very easy to get... a-and... I'm sorry about breaking it again after you worked on it so much! But.. now that it's here, I was gonna ask if you, uh..."



Maya doesn't hesitate in taking it back from you. "Oh, nonsense; I have plenty more where that came from."



"Spacebending thread isn't as expensive as you think," she says, beaming. "It only took a little while to patch it up last time. Don't you worry about it sweetie! I'll have it all fixed up for you again in a jiffy."



A wave of relief washes over you as you sit down, watching her join the driver in putting away all the supplies. Hauling away Mort, turning off the artificial fire, all that. You're much too small to really be of much help; it was as awkward to watch as it was tedious to do. Finally, after a few minutes, Maya scoops you up, and everyone boards through the back.



The statue up front hums to life, and the vehicle starts rolling away toward its destination once more. As you huddle under the blanket from before, you look over the other side of the car; Mort's motionless body is definitely unsettling, especially surrounded by all his things... just out in the open. The driver calls from upfront to remind you of your suggestion, but says it's entirely up to you what you want to do; he never really intended to force you into anything. You see he brought the knife and the spear up there with him. Maya is just as busy as she was before, working away on your satchel... but she can't help but notice your silence. "...I hope you're feeling alright after that, Raoul."

...You could probably poke around if you wanted to.

nah you're good for now :O

I wonder how the not!dog statue works.

Check out the dog! dog dog dog

For the time being, you decide to wait it out. You suppose you were never really obligated to get up from this cozy blanket and do anything, were you? So, huddling up in your corner, you just relax and try to forget about all the things that keep happening. Running away from what you once thought of as home, starving, nearly getting killed twice in the last 24 hours... and as exhausted as you are, the most unfortunate thing about it all is that you can't even sleep. Nobody talks... its just a demanding silence. The sounds of Maya's needlework and the bouncing of the carriage fill the air, and while they aren't exactly intrusive, they are a nice distraction for the boring hours that go by. Perhaps you simply aren't used to sleeping in motion. Or maybe its the fact that your adrenaline levels have been on a roller coaster ride.

Or maybe something in the room has been gnawing at the back of your thoughts.

> Check up those interesting looking bottles~

That is alcohol. You say with 99% certainty that that is alcohol. If it weren't for your numbed senses at the moment, you could probably smell it from over here... And you would drink it, excepting the fact that it would be wise to stay vigilant in these confusing circumstances of yours. You can usually take a few of the greater races' shots, but a container that size is ridiculous. That whole bottle is like something the clan would steal to last a whole week; it's almost larger than yourself. And he has two of the things. And aside from that, you don't know what he'll do if he wakes up.

At least it's comforting knowing that it's an available option.

nah you're good for now :O

Check out the dog! dog dog dog

Now there is a plan.



You wearily hobble yourself out to the front. You're much too short to see over the edge, but you can tell from all the wobbly motion and the trees overhead that the carriage is moving pretty fast. The driver notices you almost immediately.

"Oh. I was wondering when you were going to show up. Glad you did, because it was getting pretty boring out here, and I sold my book in the last town."

Well, at least he could read. Who knew driving was easy enough to distract yourself with something as hard as that?



He lifts you up, giving you a nice open look at the road and the scenery whooshing on by. The speed is ludicrous; This is easily over ten times the speed you could go walking! It makes you wonder why you didn't consider hitching a ride when you left days earlier. You did think the cities were closer together... And the control panel isn't like anything you've seen before. You've seen the parts, for sure, but never have you seen them in use. It's almost alien. You can't decide if it looks janky and hastily thrown together or planned and precise.

The Sparsen offers an explanation. "There's really not much to it... you use the dial in the middle to speed up and slow down, or go in reverse; however, if you did that, the lead would end up backing right into us, so it's forward only. The other two dials are for steering. You use the band in between to keep them even. Any questions?"

You thought there was something funny about the reverse feature. "Why can you do backwards at all?"

He chuckles a little. "Usually you can, but I sold the metal cage and replaced it with straps. It's all you really need."

You're not sure if you like sitting up here watching the ground whoosh by.

sit on the not!dog

do it

How does the dog get the signals?
Why is it shaped like a dog? not that we're objecting it's awesome.

Ask if you can slow down a little :P

>So what's the dog thing? Is it alive, like a sparsen?

You try to push off your fears for now; you've never seen anything like this, so its all probably normal anyways. There are questions that need questioning!

First thing is first, you suppose. "O-okay... but, how does it work?"

He doesn't even hesitate to answer the question. "The same way everything works; by magic. Each of these diodes sends a signal to a set of diodes on the lead, which in turn control the speed and direction of each of those wheels. I wired them up myself."

Why is it shaped like a dog? not that we're objecting it's awesome.

"...And as for that... well, you could really use anything you want as a lead for these things, if you have the know-how. I just happened to have this piece of junk with me. It hasn't failed me yet, in plenty of situations. I don't think I could ever bring myself to selling it after all its been through." He pauses for a bit.



"...Ehh... give me a moment."



With a sleight of his... flipper, the driver narrowly prevents a collision with a fellow caravan. The whole cart hinges on its wheels before thunking back to the ground on all fours.



"...Alright, we're all clear."

> Ask if he could slow it down just a little.

No! No no no no! This caravan is moving too fast, and you can hardly stomach it! Why is everyone else unfazed?

"Slowing down isn't really an option," he says. "As long as we keep to this pace, we'll make it to town before we have to stop for breakfast. Its only a few dozen more kilometers. I'll have you know I'm a very experienced driver, if it's of any comfort."

"We could have died," you protest! "We almost got smashed! Slow down, pleaase!"

Maya chimes in from the back as the sparsen tries to console you with physical pats between your ears. "Sweetie.. we really aren't moving very fast at all. You're just... smaller than the rest of us, is all."

Figures. You're still scared out of your wits!

maybe you shhould go back indoors..

Get big! Yeah you should probably head back inside, lest you be flung from the whole dealio when driver here makes his next turn.

maybe you should go back indoors..

"Eeh..." He apologizes. "Sorry if this is only making you spooked. Try and get some rest, alright?"

That would be ideal. You don't waste any more time on making that decision, and climb up and over the sparsen's arm, hopping off to the wagon floor.

>Hide under a bench until you arrive at the city.

Hightailing it to the nearest hiding spot, you bury yourself into Maya's pile of yarnwork, leaving the gentle rumble of the wheels and floor as the only reminders of your inexperience riding in these contraptions. And sheesh, it sure beats the hell out of that other blanket you were hoveled up in! You have to ask yourself why you didn't dive in here earlier. You hope she doesn't mind...



Judging by the fact that she was just giggling at you, she probably doesn't. Which is nice, since you would certainly mind having to leave. The pile mostly composed of scarves and hats... and a sweater or two. It's all very meticulously crafted.

> So Maya where are ya traveling to?

You don't really have anything to do on your own after you reach the capital. Of the three other people on this thing, you'd think Maya would be the only one to let you stick around. The driver doesn't like curses, and Mort... is a jerk.

"Aah... Maya?" You begin to ask, "What are you gonna do when you get to Arioch?"

She's hesitant. "...Why you askin', little guy?"

"To... tell the truth, I don't really know where I'm going. I'm lost."

There's a few more moments of silence before she starts to speak again. "...Well, after this job is finished and I have my payment for the season, I'll have enough money to head back to my hometown and raise my children."

"You have children?" You ask.

She nods, and that's the end of your conversation. You keep quiet for the rest of the trip, as its probably not your place to be asking about her family matters. Before you know it, your exhausted body is asleep again.


______





You awake, and there's a hawren onboard. Everyone else is gone.