11-23-03

Characters involved:
Rahier
Soleil


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Salamandastron *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Once one has ascended the stairs, they would come upon this room, the sentry room. Along one wall, thee are small, slitted windows, which look no more than cracks in the mountain wall, from the outside, and it looks down upon the niche, outside the mountain, where all creatures entering the mountain must pass. The room, sparse and basically un-furnished, while comfortable in the summer, is often quite cold in the winter, save for a small fireplace in one corner. During the winter, you had better believe that is kept alive most of the season long, by the sentries on duty who wish to remain unfrozen. There are always two hares on duty in this room, one to always remain and the other to sound the alarm to the rest of the mountain, if need be. Two chairs are situated beneath the slitted windows in the wall.
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Visible Exits:
[D]own to [P]assage

Brr. Approaching winter coldness! Rahier hops up the stairs into the sentry room, seeking refuge from the coolish passageway. ;p In contrast, perhaps, to when Soleil saw him last, the healer's fur is now a snowy shade of white, instead of the usual grey-blue. He steps to the fireplace, giving the crackling blaze a few stirring pokes with the poker. Depositing the iron tool back where it came, he holds his paws out to the fire. Ahh, warmth.

Loud racing paw-steps sound up the stairs, Soleil's voice calling out a greeting. She appears in the doorway, flushed from the cold and running. "H'lo y'lazy sentry. I bet yer...cold," she trails off as she realizes the beast she's talking to isn't the one she was expecting. "Er, 'scuze me, I didn' realize..." she stops again, and tilts her head to the side in puzzlement. "'Ave we met, sah?" she asks staring.

Rahier straightens from his 'nearly leaning into the fire' position, considerably warmer paws clasping behind his back as he turns to Soleil. "-Lazy- sentry?" Rahier adopts an officious tone. "An' just what're you doin' runnin' around like that for.. -recruit?-" However, a grin accompanies the mock-affronted reprimand. It's probably more apparent now just who he is. ;p His stance slackens, to one of ease. "I'd venture t'say we have." The healer snickers. "Do I really look that different?"

Soleil's eyes open wide as her jaw drops, realizing who the hare before her is. She grins, but a bewildered look is still quite plain on her face. "I was jus'...runnin' sah." She shakes her head again in amusement and confusion. "Yes sah, you look -very- different, I mean...yer turnin'...-white-!" she slaps a paw across her mouth, but not before a giggle escapes.

Rahier smiles, bringing one white paw up to his face in casual study for a moment, his gaze then flicking back to Soleil. "Yeh, well, y'don't gotta ogle like that." The smile turns to a grin, and he snickers, noting her apparent confusion. The healer's eyes turn toward the slitted windows... the obvious source of all the cold. "Why y'so surprised? 'Tis goin' on winter, ain't it?"

Soleil continues to giggle with her hand over her mouth, shaking her head. As he brings his -white- paw up, she giggles all the harder. Forcing herself to look at something other than Rahier, she takes a deep breathe and calms herself. Turning back she grins, laughter threatening to return. "Sorry sah. It's jus', well, -I've- nevah seen any beast turned white afore." She glances down at her own golden coat.

Rahier looks just as amused by her amusement, than she is of him. Of course, he's used to the yearly change. "Yeh, you an' everybeast else." The healer nods his head in an inward direction, towards the mountain. "As... not many o'them end up lookin' like this." The snickers seem to come easy, watching the giggly recruit. ;p An attempt at explanation. "Happens every wintry season, it does. 'Cause o'me bein' from up north, I s'pose."

Soleil can't seem to stop shaking her head while grinning. "Ya' mean others change colors too?" A quiet pause before exclaiming, "White! Like snow. An' let me guess, sah...come spring and yer coat'll go green!" It's too much for her, and she's back to wild giggles.

Rahier guffaws, imagining a green-furred Rahier. "No, y'little imp. It'll turn back th'way it was." He states this matter-of-factly, paws resting at his hips.. though there's that obvious grin behind it. "I may be changin' white, but I ain't a bloody rainbow." The healer shakes his head, exhaling quickly through his nose in an amused fashion. "'Sides.." He murmurs after a moment, striking a considering pose, "I do b'lieve it's terribly fashionable." XD

Soleil makes good-natured protesting noises, "Au! I'm a good little doe, hardly an imp! 'Sides, -I- think ya'd make a very nice rainbow, sah," she adds with a mischievous grin. "And of course sah, it's a beautiful fluffy -white- coat," another supressed giggle, followed by a suspicious glare. "Ya' sure ya' didn't dye it...?"

Rahier tsks, though he does make a show of thinking about that. Rainbow, indeed. "...I do s'pose I would." At length, of course. ;D But this is actually not the first time he's been accused of dyeing his fur white. ;p An unsettled expression slips over his features. "Nah. S'all me. What makes y'think I would do that?" Not that he's vain, or anything. Hehehe.

Soleil shakes her head, "I don't really, sah. S'not like ya' could actually dye yer -whole- coat. 'Specially not that pure white. Ya couldn't, couldja?" She gives a curious glance in his direction, but seeing his truly white fur makes her think spring green and she has to look away, so as not to laugh again. ;p

Rahier blinks, a few times. Then shrugs. "I don't...think so. Not that I'd really know..." Heh. Well, he's obviously self-conscious enough about his fur that he wouldn't dare think of dyeing it. ;P "Wouldn't have any reason t'do this, anyway, an'.. stop that." As she looks away again. ;p The healer crosses his arms over his chest, leaning back against the wall of the small room. "Now, haven't seen y'in awhile. Busy?"

"Sorry, sah. I'm done, I swear," Soleil holds up a paw and offers a smile, looking directly at him to prove her point. Nodding, she moves closer to the fire as the evening gets colder, "A bit. Been learnin' lots though. All my teachers say I been makin' progress."

Rahier chuckles, waving a paw in a similar fashion, though it quickly returns to its previous position. Warmth, yes. ;p "I didn't expect no less from yeh," comments the healer, with an approving nod. "Y'are more'n capable of becomin' a full patroller. Y'won't be callin' me sir f'much longer, by my guess." The buck grins, tilting his head. "But. Didja ever expect that y'd be here in less'n a season when y'entered that tavern?" He's musing out loud, the grin receding to a dimly curious smile.

Soleil blushes slightly and looks down, "Thank you, sah." She too thinks back, and smiles remembering. With a buoyant shake of her head she goes on, "When I went in that tavern, all I wanted was a place to sleep. I didn't even know 'bout the patrol! Guess I was jus' lucky you were there." She gives him a grateful grin, her eyes trying to convey a deeper message of gratitude than she's comfortable expressing.

One corner of his muzzle turns upward in a perfect, lopsided grin. "Y'welcome." The healer's paws disengage from their chest-level position, and find their way to a more casual (and warmer) place... in his pockets. Rahier shrugs. "Well, all I was wantin' was a place t'sit. I was only there 'cause o' th'battle an' that little bonk on th'noggin I'd had." He does note the gratitude, and responds with a full smile, rather than verbally. "Musta been fate, eh?" Chuckle.

Soleil grins, "Musta' been." She starts walking around in small circles, rubbing her arms. Poking the fire up a bit more, she stands close relishing the heat. Glancing down at her rather worn apparel and sleeveless vest, "Where would I get a jacket, sah? I don't think this is gonna' last the winter very well..."

Rahier removes one paw from a pocket to cough into it, before tilting his head further and appraising her apparel. "Well.. ah, 'round th'baths, it shouldn't be too difficult t'pick up a new tunic an' th'like. A thick tunic. Ooh, and.. maybe one o' those winter cloaks, if they've been broken out already..." The healer tilts an ear, mulling over that for a moment. He'd rather like one, too. Rahier shrugs, again. "Still won't get as cold as it got up north." Said with no small amount of pride... along with the whiteness. ;p

Soleil nods and casts a longing glance back at the fire as she moves towards the entrance. "I'd best go and do that, seeing as I don't have a nice northern white coat," she comments, a small giggle on the end. "G'night, sah. I'll see yah' round?"

Rahier laughs, holding up that hilarious white paw. ;p "'Tis a pity, that. S'quite...warm." He jokes, grinning more widely. The paw turns, giving the younger hare a small wave from his position on the wall as she moves to depart. "Mos' certainly. G'night, Soleil."

With a return wave and a quick smile, Soleil departs down the stairs into the warmer part of the mountain.