Mosquito is now a bit confuzzled. Should he tell Laura the bad news or what?
He thought to himself: "how can I tell her that when I went hunting for deers, I came across this group of freshly released from the swamp deers. When I approached them with my hunting rope **side note: I usually use hunting ropes to catch deers then when they are tied up, I tickle them in their feet to death** so when I approached them with my rope, suddenly and promptly and abruptly and mysteriously, the earth under them moved a a large dinosaur came out of it and swallowed all the deer inside his large mouth then disappeared again."
Mosquito told himself: "how can I tell her that? How? How?"
Mosquito fell asleep trying to find an answer to his question and when he woke up he decided not to tell her what happened to her deer and just let her find out herself.
:snipersmile: :eggface: :crazyeyes: :2gunfire: :shocked!:
Laura was trying to call for the deer, but it did not come and Laura's heart sank. Something bad must have happened to it.
Orophin yawned and streched as he awoke from his slumber induced by the excellent meal JV had prepared earlier. He heard someone calling out, he looked up and noticed it was Laura. He got off the ground, dusted himself off and walked up to Laura......"Whats up? Looking for something?"
'Nah, it's probably nothing... I may be overreacting' Laura began, not really wanting to bother Orophin who undoubtedly had so much more important things on his mind now that he was the crowend king. 'It's just, the Deer. I've been calling its name and usually it comes to me but this time I haven't been able to find it. I have a bad feeling about this...' she continued. '...but as I said, it's probably nothing.' she finished the sentence, trying ot brush the whole thing out of her mind.
Orophin put hsi hand to his chin and thought, then he offered to help, afterall he loved the animals of the swamp and he had looked after most of them for generations.
He used is psychic sense to find them...[why?]....[cos' it saves time :P].....all he could get was a faint fading...."Oh no!!" he gave a horrified look ..."i have to move fast!!!" he flew up and double backed down into the ground, creating a big hole.
A few minutes of ground trembling passed and then he flew back out of the hole clutching in one arm the deer family and in the other arm, what looked like the bloddy remains of some sort of giant dinosaur serpent creature....[correct term is Graboid].....[i knew that :P ]
"Phew!! They are a little dazed but they will be fine" he smiled as the animals staggered to their feet, covered in 'graboid' blood and digestive fluids.
�Thank god you found them in time and saved them� Laura cheered as she saw Orophin arrive with the deer. �I was such an idiot when I released them� she blamed herself �they are of perfect breed and of course would be hunted down first�. Perfect breed indeed, Laura realized now that the deer may also be a little more than just a bunch of ordinary animals, who knows what magical abilities they possessed. She started to feel a bit uneasy, she looked at everything around her with a different view now, is anything what it seems? But Orophin�s eyes were the same, although different colour than before they still made her feel warm inside.
�Poor Orophin� she continued laughing �you have that disgusting slime all over you. I just hate graboids!�
Mosquito can be seen standing there cursing and swearing and shouting out loud:
"damn that magical supernatural elf"
"I payed that dinosaur to eat the stupid deer so that I can get back at Laura"
"Why does all my plans have to fall apart some way or the other"
And the bushveldt breezes gently whispered back at him 'because crime doesn't pay'
Mosquito can be seen running around aimlessly in all directions and shouting at the voice he hears:
"Someday I'm gonna come back stronger to stand up in the face of the elf. Someday."
Mosquito having said that, he ran out of sight to disappear into oblivion and never to be seen again in the swamp for some time. Some long time.
And the bushveldt breezes gently whispered 'someday'.
Orophin stood there perplexed as mosquito ran off ranting to the wind...."that bug has some issues!!".
He sighed and looked down at his clothes..."Eww!! Looks like its hot-springs time again" he grinned excitedly and stripped off on the spot...."EEEP!!!" he squeaked as he just remembered that Laura was sitting right there in front of him.
He picked up the bigger of deers to cover his modesty and he blushed a bright crimson red.
Since this is a swamp for all audiences, Laura will not comment on what she saw. But her breathing definitively changed pace and although she tried to look the other way, her eyes were glued to the.... errmmm... deer. Luckily Jadeviper was walking a short distance away and provided the much needed distraction. 'Ahh, there's ...mmm... JV...' Laura struggled to create a coherent sentence 'I'd better go and... mmm... help her with... mmm.. whatever....' She went stumbling in her direction with her knees feeling very weak.
Orophin nodded his head nervously as Laura made her excuses to leave. He put on his trusty speedos...[with sorcery?]....[do i need to explain that after all this time...lol]...[hey, just asking!!]....and settled into the pool.
He looked over at Laura with JV and sighed, he wondered if she remembered his proposal to her before the swamp went of hiatus, cos' with his new status he could bestow on her all the wonders of the universe and his heart.
He turned round to relax in the pool, then he put on his mp3 player and listened to 2 hours of Tenacious D.....[ROCK ON!!!]....[shut up!!!]
Laura and Jadeviper were busy with their errands for some time. Every now and then Laura would glanze over at Orophin's direction and see him plunged into listening his mp3s. She was thinking about the promise she had once made to an elf she once knew. There was no doubt in her mind that this newly crowned king of the Draconis family with green - instead of blue - eyes indeed was the one her heart had once chosen. Hearts do not make mistakes in things like this. But since he had shown signs of amnesia, she hesitated and was unsure if he would still remember those days. 'An elvish king... how could he still want a human mortal?' she wondered.
When the night suddendly falls (it gets real dark real quickly at the swamp), Laura makes up her mind and follows Orophin to the pool. Jadeviper may or may not follow, this is something she just has to clear out herself. She dives in (looking ravishing in the swimming suit with golden shimmer mentioned before) and removes the headset Orophin is wearing. 'Hey there, are you comfortable?' she asks, just as an opening line, just to have something to say.
Orophin opened his eyes, looking up at the sky he was amazed how dark it got all of a sudden....but that wasnt what woke him up, no, it was a soft angelic voice...{was it really?}...[yes it was. now shush!!]....{ok ok!}.....that seemed to echo in his dreams and bring him back to reality.
He took gulped at the sight but he composed himself....."I'm fine thanks. Just thought i'd take a break" he smiled and thought 'maybe i should ask her again'.....[good idea?]....{maybe!}
He was lost in her eyes, lost for words, he felt abit uncomfortable.....{the nail?}....[yup! its the nail]......"oww!!" he reached down and pulled out a piece of graboid nail still lodged in his thigh from the battle. He looked up at Laura..."well, thats a keeper...." he smiled and fainted, as brave as he was, he didnt like the sight of his own blood......{shame!}...[hey!! hes a sensitive guy!]....{huh! sure he is!}
Jadeviper hears Laura's cry of alarm and leaps to her feet. Seeing Laura standing in the pool, she grabs her bag and runs to her. She gasps as she sees the water blue with elven blood and the slumped form of the elf (no less attractive in unconsciousness). She quickly checks his vitals signs and determines that he's weakening from blood loss. Taking a firm hold round his chest, she pulls him out of the pool and lays him gently on the bank. The wound is immediately obvious. Taking a piece of gauze from her bag, she quickly checks the wound for foreign bodies and then pinches it closed, pressing hard with the gauze. Beckoning Laura, she asks her to sit with Orophin's foot in her lap, keeping his leg elevated and keeping pressure on the wound while she gathers herbs and plants.
Jadeviper scurries off, muttering under her breath "Bloody magical creatures... know nothing about mortal wounds... pulling out the nail! that was the only thing stopping the bleeding..."
Laura gazes down at the insensate form as she tries not to think about the wound beneath her hands. She takes this opportunity to have a really good look at the changes in the elf while Jadeviper is gone.
Jadeviper returns, making a lot of deliberate noise to announce her arrival. She sets a small fire and busies herself preparing decoctions and poultices.
JV's return wake Laura from her thoughts. She had been carefully observing the elf and doing that much more intensively than just to keep an eye on his vital signs. 'I'm so glad you're here' Laura says to her friend with a sigh of relief, 'I would have been totally helpless here alone and Orophin might have... oh, I don't even want to think about what could have happened...'.
Berating herself for not replenishing her stocks after treating the lion cub for similar injuries, Jadeviper gets to work making willowbark tea for pain relief and a comfrey poultice with a good pinch of salt to ward off infection. Pounding some moss to release the iodine, she adds a few drops to the mash and sets it to one side to cool. Coming next to Laura now, she slowly lifts her hands from the wound. The bleeding has slowed to a very slow trickle, which is good. Taking some cool salt water, she slowly washes the wound, trying to peel away the soaked gauze without disturbing the clotting blood underneath. When that's done, she applies a thick layer of the confrey paste and binds it with a clean bandage.
"He'll probably heal much faster than a human, so I'll check on him in an hour or two. In the meantime, would you mind sitting with him in case he wakes, keeping him cool and keeping that leg elevated?"
Feeling rather exhausted, Jadeviper goes for a lie down, and possibly even a short sleep.
Orophin felt a tingling....{spidey senses?}...[no!!]....on his left leg, it felt painful and at that point he opened his eyes. He looked over at his leg saw it was bound in some natural bandage, then he he smiled when he saw who was supporting the wounded limb. He sat up, clutching his painful head..."wow!! i hope you got he number of the truck that hit me" he laughed acknowledging the massive headache he had now....."Thanks!" he placed his hand on Laura's then looked over to where JV was resting..."dont know what i'd do without you two".
He looked at the wound, composing himself, he removed the dressing to reveal the now completely healed skin...no scar even. He saw the shock on Laura's face and he proceeded to explain......."it ok really! we normaly self heal very quickly, but at my point of dvelopment...the dragon thing and stuff...we are very vulnerable before the process if complete. normaly we are not supposed to engage in dangerous stuff during this time" he grinned nervously knowing that his mother had warned him about that fact.....{naughty naughty!!}....[hehe! too right]
Laura was relieved to see the grin back at Orophin's face. He was still holding her hand and she was just about to say something when the earth started to tremble and then there was a flood of water pouring over them. 'Iiik, what the heck is this?' she screamed. Earthquake and monsoon rains? No, it was Tembo again. It had snuck in (well, elephants can't really sneak, hence the trembling of the earth...) and had decided they needed a proper shower. Once it had emptied the trunk it gave a joyful trumpet - it was so happy to see Orophin healthy again. Then the big animal filled its trunk with water again and started to lumber along at Jadeviper's direction. 'There will be more screaming in just a second' Laura anticipated with a laughter.
The ordeal with the graboid was now behind them and the species extinct... or was it? Jadeviper has tossed away the nail and it now lay hidden under thick ferns just outside the camp boundaries. There, out of sight, the regenerative process had already started. Graboids have in their DNA sequence the codes needed to regenerate the whole beast from the tiniest bit of flesh or bone tissue that's left. The process is slow but steady. Depending on the size of the tissue matter left it may take days or weeks but eventually the beast always reappears.
A sleepy voice can be heard roaring from al directions:
"I'll be back. I'll spread havoc in here. I'll be back with my graboids, dragons and 666 monesters"
"Enjoy your peace now but prepare for my return"
"I will stop at nothing until I take the woman I love"
"I will never leave the swamp princess alone. never"
Then the voice gave the most ugliest laugh in the world:
"Huhuha!"
Off course no one knows till now what this voice was and where it came from. I think now everybody was just wondering: "Could it be? The gnat? Could have mutated into a giant gnat?"
Jadeviper squeals as Tembo wakes her up with a cold shower. Leaping up and running out of range, she rubs her eyes and sees the elf sitting up, laughing with Laura. Pleased that he seems well, she sorts herself out. Peeling off her wet clothes, she walks over to the pool and calls to Tembo. With a happy little trot that makes the trees tremble on their roots, he joins her and starts squirting water at her while she quickly washes. Reaching into her bad for a towel, she dries off and dresses in a dry outfit. Joining the others, she glances at Orophin's leg as she sits down, startled again by the healing capacity of the elves. Taking a wide toothed comb from her pocket, she begins the long process of detangling her hair.
For a short while Laura felt uneasy... like a cloud passing and temporarily shrouding the sun she suddendly felt chilly... and the bushvelt breezes... what did they say? She shuddered, and then the feeling was gone. She looked at Jadeviper combing her beautiful hair and at Orophin fooling around with Tembo and she was completely happy again.
Jadeviper sees a dark look pass across Laura's face and feels rather than sees the tremble pass through her. Then in a heartbeat, it's gone. Jadeviper says nothing, but will think on this at length as she continues to do battle with her hair.
Orophin still in his trunks, was playing with tembo, tossing him in the air like a baby....{gah!!}...{boy, is he strong!!}....[amazing!]....Tembo enjoyed the game. Orophin felt a slight chill, and what sounded like a deranged cricket, he dismissed that but not the cold. He dropped the elephant gently and summoned up his usual clothes.
JV had finished with her beautiful locks and was now preparing a meal in her amazing way, he looked forward to that and Laura was siting, looking at him. The thoughts of before came flodding back, he wondered what to do, how to ask.
'A disco!!' he thought...."A disco party. We need a party to celebrate our return" he remarked excitedly to the women. They looked at him abit confused.
'A disco... but of course' Laura's face then lightened up. 'Great idea. The chimps that I trained long ago - for the sanctuary opening that never happened, remember? - can serve as our house band' she went on explaining. Since then the chimps had developed a genuine sound of their own, a kind of etno chill out style and the group had been named Zwampy Lounge orchestra. 'ZLO can play while we sip the drinks at the bar, and Orophin, you can provide more music from your mp3 collection' Laura suggested. 'This is just perfect, don't you think so too JV?'
"Excellent idea!! A chimp band, what more could one need!!"....he walked up to Laura, kissed her forehead and smiled.
Jadeviper just smiles, already planning an extensive cocktail list. With her knowledge of herbs, her mixtures can be quite.... potent
Laura went straight over to see the chimps. The band was delighted at the idea of getting to throw a gig at the swamp. Chimps however are not the most organized of creatures and their music sheet were all over the place. It took some time to get the program together. Not many of the chimps are actually able to read music, they just pretend to look at their notes while in fact they play purely by ear. They want to look professional however, that's why they always have their music stands and the sheets in front of them. Most of the time the music indeed sounds good and the occasional disharmonies just make the sound interesting. When Laura had helped them prepare the program and they had started to tune their instruments, she came back to Jadeviper who was already experimenting with the coctails. 'Hmm, green... are you sure it tastes good?' Laura asked suspiciously although she knew JV's expertese in herbs.
Jadeviper smiles at Laura "It's supposed to be green. The ravens are a great help bringing me ingredients. I heard the chimps practicing, they're sounding really good. You've done a fantastic job with them".
Jadeviper takes another pitcher and starts pouring liquids from unmarked dark bottles full of herbs, flowers and roots.