Windchaser - Dawn of a New Day
#2 of Windchaser
Character: Cosmo Windchaser, belongs to me...blah blah blah etc etc. You know the drill peeps, just ask ^.^
Feel free to leave any comments and/or criticisms. :3
Humming softly, a young red fox furre approaches the door to Cosmo's house. Her tail swishing from side to side slightly and moving with a bounce in her step. Looking around just outside the house, she notices the horse sleeping peacefully on the hay pile next to the house.
"Here as always I see." She said outloud to herself.
Continuing up to the door way, she notices it is slightly ajar. That's odd she comments to herself, but shrugs it off as she comes up to the doorway and knocks loudly three times, and then another two to announce that it's a little after sunrise.
Cosmo was sleeping fairly peacefully considering the ordeal he went through yesterday when he awoke from the knocks. With his better than normal hearing, he awoke and felt his way around the bed to gain his bearings before pushing himself up into a sitting position.
"You can come in, i'm somewhat awake now." He said loudly enough so that it would carry to the front door.
The fox wasted no time in entering and going to the bedroom, noting the cloak hung up and the guide stick resting neatly against the wall. Her small but lithe figure practically jumping when she came to a stop at the doorway to the bedroom.
"So, how are you feeling today Cosmo?" The figure asked, a smile brimming from ear to ear, as if someone had just told her the best news ever.
"I'm doing alright.." Cosmo replied, his hearing picked up the bounce in the fox's stance, as though she was going to explode from excitement "You seem a lot happier than normal, what's got you all cheery?"
"You know how fast word can travel Cosmo, the whole village is in good cheer after they heard all about you leaving this house." Replied the fox, the grin still there and growing slightly bigger.
Cosmo allowed himself a smile and replied "Six months of waiting eh? At this rate, if everyone is as happy as you Tanya, there will be a party going on to match that of a city fete"
Tanya kept grinning before walking over and sitting down on a small stool near the bed, Cosmo using his hearing to track her movement so he can 'look' in her direction while she talks.
"So, are you going to say anything about the trip..." Tanya said before slyly adding "or do I have to kink your tail to get the information?"
Cosmo laughed at the tail kink "What if I wanted my tail kinked?" Sticking his tongue out to show he was teasing.
"Why you..." Tanya said whilst laughing herself.
"The journey to and from passed fairly quickly, but Taloi itself..." Cosmo started, before shuddering a little "The sounds and smells overwhelmed me at first, it was hard to adjust to it all an before you know it. I walked into someone by accident. Thankfully, there was no harm done and he was able to direct me towards the market, he was a pretty smart furre, since he noticed my stick and gave me precise directions."
"At least you didn't get the gratuitous town dopey." Tanya interjected
"Glad I didn't, but anyway, the traders were all nice and friendly...and from what I gathered I didn't get scammed or miss sold anything." Cosmo added, still smiling. Tanya was the only one who Cosmo could talk to easily, her constant happy mood was infectious. After yesterday, Cosmo couldn't have asked for a better cheering up.
"So, what did you end up buying?" Tanya knew Cosmo didn't have much coin. For the past six months, he's been living of the good will of the village and the compensation from the tiger. Said tiger promised never to touch mead again, and soon he went onto becoming a treasure hunter. He used Tanya to pass a small portion of all his finds onto Cosmo, as way of apology.
"Have a look yourself, the pouch is somewhere in the study...I think" Cosmo said, gesturing in the completely wrong direction.
Tanya got up and slowly went to look for the pouch. It only took her less than a minute before she was bouncing her way back to the stool in Cosmo's bedroom.
"With the coin I took, I only got a few things I was missing from my pantry." Cosmo said, mentally recalling what he went to buy.
Tanya opened the pouch carefully and withdrew three small, wrapped packages. The first of which was the smallest and lightest, and contained a small amount of spices, all of which she recognized as being some of the minor spices. Ones that don't have much taste to the normal furre.
While Cosmo heard her examining the pouch, he felt his way around the bed before leaning over to the side, feeling near the bed and trying to find his breeches. It was after she finished checking the second package, a small amount of material for repairing his breeches, before finding them and leaning up. Thankful the covers were still over his lower body, he put the breeches under the covers and managed to put them near his feet before attempting to put them on.
Tanya was focusing too much on the packages to notice the shuffle dance going on under the covers. The third package intrigued her. It was a small box with some engravings on it. The engravings looked weird to her eyes. Running her paw tips over the box, she could only just feel a slight difference to the engravings.
"What's with the small box Cosmo?" Tanya asked, taking her eyes off the box at the wrong time before blushing and looking back at the box, trying to push the image of what she just saw outside her mind.
"It was a trinket that I found neat." Cosmo replied easily. Not knowing of the blush that was showing through her white patch on her face. "The engravings hide some pattern that you can only solve by feeling the box carefully. The trader who sold it me said it is a great way of passing time. What's inside it however, I don't know."
Finally getting the breeches on, he pushed the covers off the rest of his lower body and stood up to stretch.
"Since you're fully awake now, try solving it" Tanya said. Standing up, she walked over to Cosmo and reached for his hand before placing the box on his palm.
"You just want to see me get frustrated over a simple puzzle" Cosmo said, grinning.
Tanya giggled before adding in "Maybe I do, but you start to solve it and I'll put the pouch and its content in the right places for you" Patting his arm she walked away and went towards the pantry in another room.
Cosmo felt his way around the room to gain his bearings again before guiding himself towards his study. Once there, he went towards his chair and sat down. His paws were already feeling around the box, noting anything and everything about it. For a minute or two this was all he did. Examining the box with his paws and building a picture of it and it's workings in his mind's eye.
The small curves and bumps on the box revealed nothing. But Cosmo knew, there had to be some trick to opening the lock on the box. For the next few minutes he was concentrating so intently on the box, moving sides of it, trying to match up certain pattern's and combinations but to no avail.
Tanya silently entered the room after putting the contents of the other two packages into the correctly places in the pantry. It was her and a few of the villager's idea to have carvings to identify what is what in the pantry. It was still a trouble for him to prepare any kind of meal, but there was always someone with free time who would happily help Cosmo. The villagers have always been a kind bunch, and with the recent incident involving Cosmo and the tiger. They have been more helpful than ever. Members of such a close knit community look out for each as each other looks out for them.
Tanya was about to say something but stopped herself when she noticed Cosmo was lost in his own mind on the puzzle. She had to stop herself from giggling at some of the faces he pulled while he was thinking. She simply stood at the doorway and watched him, helping to push out the earlier...sight.
Time passed by, the sun rose to its peak before Cosmo finally put the puzzle down. Something so simple, proved so frustrating.
"Argh, cannot..solve..this bloody thing" Cosmo said, annoyance throughout his voice.
Giggling, Tanya walked in and sat on the corner of the desk. "Looks like this will be a good distraction for you whenever you find yourself thinking too much."
"I was hoping to find a trade to go into but..."Cosmo stopped himself there
"Hey now" Tanya interjected and put a paw on Cosmo's muzzle "Your heightened senses are useful for a lot of things if you put the effort in."
"Everything requires sight though." Cosmo replied wearily while putting one of his paws on top of hers "Something most people take for granted...Without it, I.."
Tanya gave up trying to reason Cosmo while he was spiralling into depression again. She had seen it happen before and he forgot to eat for a few days and she took it upon herself to stay and help him get better. She just couldn't do nothing. She was a good friend of Cosmo for a few years before the incident. They were an inseparable pair during their early teen years. Always going off and getting themselves into trouble, spending days in the forest trying to learn about the plants....Anything and everything they did together, they were a damn good pair when they put their minds at it. Most were say they were oblivious to how close they were to each other, but to them. They were just good friends.
Acting on impulse she got up and pulled Cosmo to his feet, his head being above hers due to the height difference. Looking up at him, she said bluntly "You can do what you feel like. Sight does not make you, you Cosmo."
Cosmo was about to say something but before the words formed in his mouth, he felt a small, but slightly warm pressure against his lips.
Tanya just let her impulse drive her. She kissed him to help him gather his mind. Only a light kiss but she couldn't deny she enjoyed it herself.
"Cosmo....Whatever happens, whatever you want to do just remember. I am behind you all the way." She emphasised this by taking a hold of his paw and holding it in both of hers.
Cosmo felt as though, with Tanya by his side, it'll be like before. They would be an unmatched duo. He guided his free paw to the box and when he examined it this time. With Tanya here he noticed something even more. As if she helped him to notice something he didn't. The combination for the puzzle was clear. A few small twist and the box was flat on all sides except for a small engraving of a dragon. Without opening the box Cosmo simply put it down.
"Would you look at that." Cosmo smiled and carefully guided his free paw to Tanya's muzzle where he gently rubbed it, ruffling the white patch slightly.
Tanya blushed again and smiled slightly before saying, "So, how about we find something you're good at then? There's still plenty of day left you know"
Cosmo's smile grew "Lead on Tanya" he replied happily
Maybe being blind has allowed me to see something that I never noticed before Cosmo thought as Tanya carefully lead him to the door.