hopewrites
Crochet Streamer
I found this in my old writing stuff. I'm trying to figure out what happens next for Rhy and Sha, but in the mean time I thought I'd throw this up and see if it was a head hop done right. (Or not a hop at all.) And maybe get some grammar check. I did what I could for it to bring it up to my current writing standard, but any and all help in the red pen department is appreciated. (Just before posting this I thought, "haven't I posted this before?" quick search shows I did post a bit of it back in '13 asking different questions. I think it's grown enough since then to give it a new thread rather than necro the old one.)
Thanks!!
---
Sha waited in the darkness. She hated waiting, but Rhy would be cross if she didn’t. Her black tail tip twitched back and forth ticking off how much longer it would be till he returned.
Footsteps sounded in the street outside her ally hiding place.
She crouched lower, using the shadows and her dappled fur to conceal her position, closing her eyes as much as she dared to keep their reflective light from giving her away.
There shouldn’t be footsteps here; it was too late at night. What was that human doing? What if it found her? What if Rhy had given her away? No! He would never. He was more than her littermate; he was her best friend, her protector, her confidant. No. What ever happened, Rhy would always be there to get her out of scrapes.
The footsteps faded into the distance; unaware.
So what was taking him so long? Maybe he found a library and stopped to read it. Selfish bookworm! No. Rhy wasn’t the selfish one. If he stopped at a library and got distracted it wasn’t out of selfishness or neglect. He was addicted to learning, and she couldn’t fault him for that.
Sha herself was found of learning. She just preferred to do it with her paws, and whiskers, and nose, and eyes; rather than try and make sense of a jumble of symbols sitting boringly on a page.
Thinking of this she pulled her notebook out of the satchel on her back and began leafing through her notes, -indecipherable claw marks to anyone but herself.
A familiar voice floated out of the darkness. “I thought I told you to keep still.”
Silently, Rhy padded up from behind her; so she couldn’t pounce on him in welcome and give away their position.
“Where have you been!” Sha hissed, though her eyes sparkled with delight.
“Hush. They’re still looking for you. When will you learn to be more cautious?”
Sha smiled mischievously. “When you learn to be adventurous. I know you wont be cross with me when I tell you what I’ve learned.”
His broad grin held as much danger as love. “I’ll always be cross with you little sister. Come on. I found a way out.”
The winding narrow allies between and tight crawlspaces through the maze of buildings further disoriented Sha.
Without her brother she would have remained lost forever, but she couldn’t imagine life without him, so this thought didn’t trouble her.
Once safely nestled in the lofty branches of an old maple Rhy gave into curiosity “So what have you learned that will make all this trouble so easy to forgive?” He tried to look stern, a task made easier by his sisters reckless confidence.
“The sickness is affecting humans too. But they have a name for it,” she paused drawing out the most important part of her discoveries. “And a cure.” It had taken hours of crouching silently and heart pounding moments of daring espionage to find out not only that there was one, but what it was and exactly how to bring it about. She couldn’t help reveling in the triumph of her success.
Rhy dropped all pretense of anger. “A cure, are you sure? Why didn’t you say so then! I could have taken us right to… what?” the crestfallen look on his sisters face was so uncharacteristic of her it halted his train of thought.
“Its complicated. I’ll need medicines and time to prepare them. First you have to sweat the fervor out, then bless the victim with a special wash to keep the sickness out while they recover. There are incenses for the lungs and waters to make the bowels flow. The herbs to make the waters must steeped just right, if it's made too strongly the bowels will not close up again and the victim will die of the cure rather than the disease, too weak and they will only be in more pain.”
Rhy pressed his warm nose to his sisters to calm and silence her. “Are you up to it?”
Lost in her brothers eyes Sha felt her confidence return. Yes it would be complicated, humans always had complicated cures. But she could do it. She had beaten harder things than this Peg, as the humans called it.
She sat down and cleaned her fur with a noncommittal air. “Of course I can. But we’ll need our sleep, tomorrow is going to be a long day.”
Rhy smiled as he stretched out along his branch; trust Sha to rope him into helping her without even asking.
Thanks!!
---
Sha waited in the darkness. She hated waiting, but Rhy would be cross if she didn’t. Her black tail tip twitched back and forth ticking off how much longer it would be till he returned.
Footsteps sounded in the street outside her ally hiding place.
She crouched lower, using the shadows and her dappled fur to conceal her position, closing her eyes as much as she dared to keep their reflective light from giving her away.
There shouldn’t be footsteps here; it was too late at night. What was that human doing? What if it found her? What if Rhy had given her away? No! He would never. He was more than her littermate; he was her best friend, her protector, her confidant. No. What ever happened, Rhy would always be there to get her out of scrapes.
The footsteps faded into the distance; unaware.
So what was taking him so long? Maybe he found a library and stopped to read it. Selfish bookworm! No. Rhy wasn’t the selfish one. If he stopped at a library and got distracted it wasn’t out of selfishness or neglect. He was addicted to learning, and she couldn’t fault him for that.
Sha herself was found of learning. She just preferred to do it with her paws, and whiskers, and nose, and eyes; rather than try and make sense of a jumble of symbols sitting boringly on a page.
Thinking of this she pulled her notebook out of the satchel on her back and began leafing through her notes, -indecipherable claw marks to anyone but herself.
A familiar voice floated out of the darkness. “I thought I told you to keep still.”
Silently, Rhy padded up from behind her; so she couldn’t pounce on him in welcome and give away their position.
“Where have you been!” Sha hissed, though her eyes sparkled with delight.
“Hush. They’re still looking for you. When will you learn to be more cautious?”
Sha smiled mischievously. “When you learn to be adventurous. I know you wont be cross with me when I tell you what I’ve learned.”
His broad grin held as much danger as love. “I’ll always be cross with you little sister. Come on. I found a way out.”
The winding narrow allies between and tight crawlspaces through the maze of buildings further disoriented Sha.
Without her brother she would have remained lost forever, but she couldn’t imagine life without him, so this thought didn’t trouble her.
Once safely nestled in the lofty branches of an old maple Rhy gave into curiosity “So what have you learned that will make all this trouble so easy to forgive?” He tried to look stern, a task made easier by his sisters reckless confidence.
“The sickness is affecting humans too. But they have a name for it,” she paused drawing out the most important part of her discoveries. “And a cure.” It had taken hours of crouching silently and heart pounding moments of daring espionage to find out not only that there was one, but what it was and exactly how to bring it about. She couldn’t help reveling in the triumph of her success.
Rhy dropped all pretense of anger. “A cure, are you sure? Why didn’t you say so then! I could have taken us right to… what?” the crestfallen look on his sisters face was so uncharacteristic of her it halted his train of thought.
“Its complicated. I’ll need medicines and time to prepare them. First you have to sweat the fervor out, then bless the victim with a special wash to keep the sickness out while they recover. There are incenses for the lungs and waters to make the bowels flow. The herbs to make the waters must steeped just right, if it's made too strongly the bowels will not close up again and the victim will die of the cure rather than the disease, too weak and they will only be in more pain.”
Rhy pressed his warm nose to his sisters to calm and silence her. “Are you up to it?”
Lost in her brothers eyes Sha felt her confidence return. Yes it would be complicated, humans always had complicated cures. But she could do it. She had beaten harder things than this Peg, as the humans called it.
She sat down and cleaned her fur with a noncommittal air. “Of course I can. But we’ll need our sleep, tomorrow is going to be a long day.”
Rhy smiled as he stretched out along his branch; trust Sha to rope him into helping her without even asking.
