1st Trap ♪

[lucky_breath]

Hang on, Stocke! I'll save you!

[Pause. This isn't...]

Gafka? Eruca? Where--where did everyone go? Answer me! Please? This isn't funny! Don't hide from me! Anyone? Raynie?

[...She whirls around.]Stocke, where are you? You promised you wouldn't go away! Come back, Stocke, please! I don't want Eruca to take you away. I-I have to save you! Th-that

Comments

[faun_tumnus]

[Now, Tumnus isn't particularly having the time of his life here at the Keep. Actually, he's been keeping fairly to himself since finding out he'd been sucked into this place and from his own homeworld.

Harder still was taking in that letter from the lord of this place.

So, he's kept mostly to his own room and has been coming out mostly for food and that's about it. Still, as much as he'd like to, he knows he can't just stay in there forever and that doing so won't change anything.

Acclimation, although he'd prefer to deny all of this, seems the best option.

He'd been examining the barracks kitchen facilities and was just coming back from there when he heard the crying. Cue the good faun doing what the good faun does.]

Hello?

[When he actually sees Aht, however, he has a moment of pause where his eyes widen just a bit.]

Oh my! Child, are you alright?

[He clips forward, his own hooves clicking against the stone of the floor.]

[lucky_breath]

[!!! She hears the clicking hooves and looks up.]

Uncle Vanoss?!

[...No, not Uncle Vanoss. Still he looks like one of her kind.]

W-where are we?

[faun_tumnus]

[Tumnus makes his way over to the young faun, shaking his head at her sniffled question.]

No, child, not your uncle, I am quite afraid. My name is Tumnus.

[He looks her over, and apart from her rather brilliantly coloured hair, he might have thought her from his own home. He reaches out a hand and gently brushes a tear from her cheek.]

Now, now .. none of that, hmm? We are at a place known as Holloway's Keep .. [She's a bit shorter than he, but not terribly. He was rather on the short side for a faun. Still, he squats down so he is in a half kneeling position, one hoofed leg bracing and balancing him against the ground.]

Where are you from, child?

[lucky_breath]

[He's nice. She likes him.]

What's a Holloway's Keep?

[There's nothing like that back home and she's been all over.]

Celestia.

[faun_tumnus]

[His smile is a soft one.]

It's a place a lot of people have been brought to in order keep us all safe.

[Just as he thought, he's never heard of her home land.]

You're from a place called Celestia and I'm from a place called Narnia. There's people here from many different places, though..

[lucky_breath]

[So...]

You're not a satyros?

[faun_tumnus]

[Tumnus smiles.]

Well, I am a faun, or a satyr if you'd prefer .. I believe they are of a kind with your own satyros.

[At the very least they looked pretty darned similar, save for her rather splendid horns at such a young age.]

[lucky_breath]

[Faun. She's never heard that one before! She looks like she's processing this, as she stands.]

My name is Aht.

[faun_tumnus]

[He leans back to give her proper room as she regains her feet, moving to rise a moment later. There is something adorable about a pair of clip-clop nooves on the floor! ♥ ]

Hello, Aht. My name is Tumnus .. It is a pleasure to make you aquaintance.

Now then, let's have a proper look at you, hmm?

[Now that she's up on her hooves, Tumnus can properly size her up. My, what lovely horns she has! Horns like that would make her a grown adult faun in Narnia, but she was clearly still a child. He holds his hand to his chest, measuring her against himself. When he makes his next guess for age, he decides to over-estimate, as it tends to go over better than asking if someone was much younger than they actually were.

Courteous faun is courteous.]

Let's see here .. you're about .. ten? Eleven? Not a day over twelve, surely ..

[lucky_breath]

[She offers him a bright grin and shakes her head. But you're close Mr. Tumnas!]

I'm nine!

[faun_tumnus]

[And he smiles right back, his eyes opening a bit wide at her declaration.]

Nine?! Young lady, you are practically a grown-up! Look, you're already up to here on me and I'm a good number of years older than you!

[Like, almost a hundred or so ..]

[lucky_breath]

[Oh my! See how she beams, Mr. Tumnas? This pleases her greatly. You've earned two bounces and a happy spin.]

If I'm grown up I can stay with Stocke!

[faun_tumnus]

[He sees that beaming and thinks she is utterly adorable! Her little bounces and spin earn her a wide grin and gentle ruffling of her pretty head of hair.

Now, he had heard her calling for Stocke with no small amount of concern in her voice, so he's certain this person is important to her, but still he thinks it best to clarify.]

Now, whom is this Stocke person, hmm?